0:00

What's

0:05

going

0:10

on

0:16

Junky

0:21

Nation?

0:26

Gorgeous Georgian goes checking in here

0:28

on a Thursday and we're excited

0:30

to talk to you for the

0:33

next hour or so and guess

0:35

what? No guest today Because we

0:37

have a few things to talk

0:39

about USC 314. That's the Saturday

0:41

goes and I will be doing

0:43

a watch alone. It starts at

0:45

8 p.m. Eastern 5 p.m. Pacific

0:47

for free prelims. That's that block

0:49

of time Then at 10 p.m.m. Eastern

0:51

7 p.m.m. Pacific that's the paper

0:53

view portion or if many of

0:55

you choose not to get the paper

0:57

view, we'll be your eyes and ears. So

1:00

hang out with us for nine fights.

1:02

Fun times as always. We got

1:04

to talk about PFL. They got their

1:06

second week of the first round

1:08

of fights in their world tournament.

1:10

So all these weight classes, it's

1:13

eight fighters, some of my finals,

1:15

finals. We're still going through the

1:17

quarter final stage right now. Let

1:19

me see, we've got women's fly

1:22

weight and middle weights. So that's

1:24

following last week's wealth weights and

1:26

feather weights. We've got some GFL

1:28

news as well. It's not good

1:31

stuff, but there might be a glimmer

1:33

of hope. And lastly, folks, guess

1:35

what? Tomorrow, let's call it

1:37

today, is our 18 year anniversary

1:40

of doing the show. We started

1:42

on April 11th, 2007. Today's

1:44

April 10th, 2025. So one

1:46

day shy, but you know we're a

1:48

Monday, Thursday show, and we had put

1:51

some thought. into doing a live

1:53

Friday, but we don't know if that

1:55

turn around would work. This

1:57

is a big show happening.

1:59

It really would have. stretched

2:01

our team thin. We'll get

2:04

into that when we

2:06

come back. Right now

2:09

because I'm finishing up

2:11

a bagel. Mm-hmm. Coffee.

2:14

Want me to buy

2:17

some time? No. I'll

2:19

just talk with my

2:22

mouthful for a second. But

2:24

I was thinking the first

2:26

show. We drank vodka. It

2:29

was the morning. It was

2:31

9 a.m. sharp because it

2:33

was live. And I remember we

2:36

did shots of vodka. We probably

2:38

did or didn't have breakfast.

2:40

I don't know, but we were

2:42

nervous and now we're just older

2:45

fatter men having a bagel and

2:47

coffee. We didn't because we

2:49

went to Tustin Brewery afterwards

2:52

to kind of celebrate our

2:54

first show. So we had just picked

2:56

up Trig at the airport. Sat

2:58

down started setting things up

3:01

computer guy Jeff was Was

3:03

there and we? Yeah, it was to

3:05

take the edge off But then one

3:07

led to another and we were

3:09

sir slurs a lot probably

3:12

about halfway through the first

3:14

show It was only a one-hour

3:16

show and it was fun and

3:18

after about five ten minutes

3:20

the nerves were gone. It

3:22

was a blast I just got

3:24

thinking it's over thinking it's

3:26

over it's over Like, I could

3:29

have gone longer. But

3:31

we stuck to about an

3:33

hour long. Oh boy, I

3:35

have to get some thought.

3:38

Officially, because we would

3:40

always go over, but

3:42

we were officially stuck

3:45

to about an hour long.

3:47

Did I just do that?

3:49

I was wondering, because

3:52

I heard a click. Sorry.

3:54

And... We

3:58

eventually moved to 90. minutes

4:00

and then two hours live every day

4:02

so times have definitely changed but a

4:04

lot of you are still here with

4:06

us we have some new fans and

4:09

listeners and we have some old fans

4:11

that still check in they might catch

4:13

a show or two or just track

4:15

us and so thank you all for

4:17

that type of ride now I guess

4:19

I'll tell you real quick we did

4:21

want to do a live show but

4:23

see when we're done with the podcast

4:25

We then turn it over to our

4:27

producer game. He tightens it up. And

4:29

then the editorial decides when they want

4:31

to place it, right? The goal is

4:33

always Mondays and Thursdays. Now this is

4:35

a heavy week because we got PFL

4:37

and then this massive USC 314 show.

4:40

So the plan was to do it

4:42

right before the press conference. The USC

4:44

2016 press conference with Marabs Balash-Reely and

4:46

Sean O'Malley. And the first thing we

4:48

were asked was, can you line up

4:50

guess? We just thought of it too

4:52

late, guys. That's what it boiled down

4:54

to. I'm sure we could have pulled

4:56

it off. But the reality is, all

4:58

these good contacts that we have, friends,

5:00

some of them are friends, that will

5:02

easily do the show. They're all getting

5:04

pulled in many directions on a fight

5:06

week like this, because there's a lot

5:08

of shows like ours. So that and

5:11

the fact that, again, how many of

5:13

you are going to listen to any

5:15

of us talking about 314 this late

5:17

in the game? And so then the

5:19

last thing was goes me to point.

5:21

I'm not trying to throw him on

5:23

the bus, but he had a point.

5:25

18's a nice number. It's not a

5:27

round number. And we just did a

5:29

massive 3,500 show and we'll probably do

5:31

3,600. You know, it's like, I don't

5:33

know, we're not trying to phone it

5:35

in by any means and not think

5:37

of this date as something significant. That's

5:39

not the case. It's just a lot

5:41

of factors. So best we could do

5:44

and we were in California. celebrating our

5:46

mom's birthday. Many of you wished her

5:48

happy birthday. Thanks for doing so.

5:50

So kind of our

5:52

hands were tied,

5:54

but this is the

5:56

18 year anniversary

5:58

show. So thank you

6:00

on my behalf

6:02

and I'm sure goes

6:04

will have some

6:06

words to say. You

6:09

want to say now goes or

6:11

should we just kick off the

6:13

show? Well, just it was kind

6:15

of like a hundred little things.

6:18

You know, we have two videographers

6:20

like two people that can kind

6:22

of handle broadcasts. One of them

6:24

at 314. The other one's kind

6:26

of taking all that information that

6:28

they're getting and producing it to

6:30

get it out as quickly as

6:32

possible. So we would have to

6:34

kind of pull one of those

6:36

guys off of those duties. And

6:38

then like George said, by the

6:40

time we're done and they wrap

6:42

up editing our show and all

6:44

that, we could potentially get this

6:46

thing out to you midday on

6:48

a Friday, which means you'd have

6:50

to listen to it between then

6:52

and 13 and 314. It was

6:54

just a lot of little things

6:56

and, you know, us being with

6:58

our mom. But this week was

7:01

kind of cool, some cool messages

7:03

and even during spinning back click,

7:05

which is our live show, which

7:07

was essentially made up and intended

7:09

to make up for the fact

7:11

that our show went two days

7:13

a week. It was kind of

7:15

like our unofficial third episode. So

7:17

if you guys have never given

7:19

that a shot, obviously if you

7:21

like George and I, you're going

7:23

to like the show, it's different.

7:25

And it is available on audio

7:27

only, but you can go to

7:29

YouTube and watch it live. And

7:31

a lot of people in the

7:33

chat room that have now just

7:35

become regulars, we

7:37

get people that are sprinkled in that

7:39

are old school tag people. Just this

7:41

week, there was somebody in there going,

7:43

man, I listened to like episode five.

7:45

I've been listening since. So it's cool,

7:47

the support that we've gotten throughout the

7:49

years as the show has evolved and

7:51

changed into different things, but we still

7:53

love doing it. And we still love

7:56

interacting with you guys. And a big

7:58

thing that's coming up is the

8:00

The Expo or what? What was it called?

8:02

The U.C. Pan Expo and Expo? It's

8:04

international fight week and part of

8:06

international fight week is the two-day

8:09

U of C fan Expo Well,

8:11

yeah, the convention center in Las

8:13

Vegas the it's actually called the

8:15

Las Vegas Convention Center, and I

8:17

think that's where they're gonna have

8:19

it again. Well, we run into

8:22

you guys all the time there.

8:24

So, you know if you're ever see us pop

8:26

pop up and say hello and We'd love

8:28

to meet you, but yeah, thank

8:30

you for everything. All these years,

8:32

it's so cool to reminisce on

8:34

some of the cool things that

8:37

have happened in our lives and

8:39

the travels that have come from

8:41

this show. It's great times. We

8:43

were out in California and

8:46

our mom celebrated her 82nd

8:48

birthday. And a lot of you who,

8:50

you know, when we started the show,

8:52

I don't even think I was

8:54

on Facebook. and then through Twitter

8:56

and Facebook and our junkie gatherings

8:58

a lot of you have met

9:00

her parents so a lot of you wished

9:03

her happy birthday and that was very

9:05

nice of you. She loves her birthday

9:07

I think that's where I get it

9:09

for me and so the more the merrier

9:11

you know and so I was reading comments

9:13

to her and things like that and she

9:16

loved it. All right we're gonna get

9:18

to 314 I think our best vet

9:20

is to finish with 314 so let's

9:22

just get some other housekeeping out of

9:24

the way. Right? Big names. At one time

9:26

they were big names. Some of them

9:28

still are. Some of them are still

9:30

bigger names than the current fighters we

9:32

have now. It's just that there are

9:35

a few years removed from their elite

9:37

years or their title run years or

9:39

whatever they were. And so I was

9:41

anxious to see them because I felt

9:43

like some of them might still

9:45

have some gas left in the

9:48

tank and they were matched up

9:50

appropriately at thoughts. They were reigniting

9:52

some rivalries or giving us fights. So

9:54

the two shows out in LA are just

9:56

not happening. Now, this is what's happened since

9:58

then. This was, came courtesy. a tweet

10:00

from Ariel Hawani where he stated

10:03

that fact right and he said

10:05

there had been some rumors rumblings that

10:07

this could even be the end of

10:09

the promotion now that a

10:11

little that hurt even more because remember

10:14

their whole thing was we're gonna share

10:16

revenue with the fighters and the monies

10:19

some of them were saying it's as

10:21

good as what they've received in the

10:23

in the boxing world or things like

10:26

that. So maybe like that one last

10:28

chance for some of these guys and

10:30

gals to just cash in because they

10:32

haven't been resigned to their promotions

10:34

right whether in the PFL for example

10:36

they phased out one fifty five they

10:39

faced out one forty five they've never

10:41

had a one thirty five or one

10:43

fifteen for the women. So a lot

10:45

of those ladies kind of felt like they

10:48

could land there same with the you

10:50

see one forty five gone one thirty five.

10:52

There's not that many there either.

10:54

And yeah. you know, fighters like that just

10:56

ran their course. So they were going

10:58

to get a payday and they were

11:00

going to match them up and it

11:02

looked cool. I was all in on

11:04

going. I was telling good. This looks

11:06

like fun because you can knock off

11:09

two shows and back to back

11:11

days. Now, Darren Owen, who's kind

11:13

of one of their top executives

11:15

at GFL, he then came back and said,

11:17

hey, a big supporter, what he

11:19

called, investor, did not fulfill an

11:21

obligation. And so he probably did

11:23

the right thing and obviously not

11:26

having the show and then going

11:28

we can pay you which we've

11:30

seen before in our 18 years

11:32

and even before that we've been

11:35

fans since 1993 USC1 we've just

11:37

heard of shows that have happened

11:39

where fighters didn't get paid

11:41

remember that one goes out in North

11:44

Carolina San Diego too yeah and

11:46

yeah like it's the worst so in that

11:48

regards he did the right thing

11:50

but Then when people said, hey, this

11:52

could even mark the end, that really,

11:54

really shook things up for a few

11:56

people, I imagine. He has come out

11:59

since and said. But we're now looking

12:01

at June and the plan is

12:03

to go forward. So that's kind

12:05

of all we know. And honestly,

12:07

until we get to show one

12:09

and it happens, show two and

12:11

it happens, you know, we really

12:13

won't know. We really won't know what

12:16

their future is. We won't know how

12:18

these shows, you know, what happens or.

12:20

Whatever. Look at Diaz and Mazovar.

12:23

They got together and co-promoted and

12:25

sold out Anaheim. I mean, it

12:27

was mayhem in Anaheim. And I

12:29

just thought, holy cow, they should

12:31

almost do it again. You know, they're

12:33

kind of one-one if you think

12:35

about the BMF and now this. And

12:38

just maybe change the rules to

12:40

boxing, but no, you know, four ounce gloves,

12:42

I don't know. Or just do a

12:44

trilogy, get paid, everyone had a blast.

12:46

But they haven't. So it's an easy

12:49

thing to do. It's not definitely

12:51

easy to maintain an actual fight

12:53

league with you know, whatever it

12:55

is that they were promoting insurances

12:58

Split the gates split revenues 50-50

13:00

this that whatever So yeah, it

13:02

just needs to happen and then

13:05

obviously we'll start talking about GFL

13:07

three and GFL four, but we're not

13:09

even at GFL one Any final thoughts

13:11

there goes? It's unfortunate that

13:13

it happened obviously it's bad

13:15

news But the one thing that I will

13:17

take out of it is at least they

13:20

came out and they spoke on

13:22

it and they said, this is

13:24

what happened, this is how we're

13:26

trying to fix it. And I think

13:28

so much piece of mine comes with

13:30

actually knowing that a mistake

13:33

has been made and that they're

13:35

working on a way to fix it.

13:37

A lot of times, and I know

13:39

we come at the PFL, but

13:41

there's times where you're just

13:43

kind of like, but what's

13:45

going on? What's going on behind

13:48

the scenes? Why did you how

13:50

did you come to this decision? Why

13:52

is this like that? We don't

13:54

get that here All we're left to

13:57

do now is just wait

13:59

because they've told us what's going

14:01

on and how they plan on

14:03

trying to fix this. Hopefully they

14:05

come through, you know, this is

14:07

something that could last one show,

14:09

two shows, maybe a year, maybe

14:12

two, we don't know, but we

14:14

hope it's successful. Yeah. I was hoping

14:16

that one of the two nights

14:19

resembled Diaz and Mazuadol. You

14:21

know, I think the next

14:23

night was a Sunday, I think

14:25

it was a Saturday Sunday. Sundays

14:27

are tougher but who knows I

14:29

just was hoping for that type

14:32

of either crowd or buzz I don't

14:34

know just I remember walking

14:36

out at a high and going well

14:38

I remember walking in going god

14:40

damn like we were I think

14:43

it was 10 boxing matches we

14:45

got there at number three

14:47

or something and it was jam

14:49

packed it was loud and it

14:51

just kept building throughout and I

14:54

was like ooh toos good for

14:56

you too Good fights too. Yeah,

14:58

heck yeah. Okay, next up, PFL,

15:00

that's tomorrow. Remember, last week

15:02

they went on a Thursday

15:04

and we've been telling you,

15:06

this week it's a Friday.

15:08

So it's not tonight, April

15:10

10th, it's tomorrow, which is

15:13

our real 18 year anniversary.

15:15

Four, eleven, two thousand

15:17

seven. Tomorrow will be

15:19

four, eleven, twenty-five. So

15:21

there, they'll still be on the

15:23

SPN2 and ESP&ESPN

15:25

Plus. They start at 11 p.m.

15:28

Eastern, 8 p.m. Pacific for

15:30

the main card. And I

15:32

imagine they're gonna go with

15:34

9 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m.

15:36

Pacific for the prelims. And

15:39

on this fight card, they have

15:41

nine fights altogether. Why

15:43

nine? I don't know. Last

15:45

week they went with eight,

15:47

but it's quarterfinals. So it sounds

15:49

to me like. Eight and eight

15:52

is 16. That's eight

15:54

fights not nine, but

15:56

maybe there's an alternate or

15:58

I don't know Josh Reddinghouse

16:00

will be the main event,

16:02

Liz Carmus and Ilara Joanne

16:05

will be the co-main event. And you

16:07

see my voice, I'm already, you know,

16:09

I don't know, this is just top

16:11

heavy and we'll have to enjoy the main

16:13

event, because I really like Josh

16:16

Reddinghouse, secretly rooting for him.

16:18

We did an interview with him

16:20

recently. It's been on the show

16:22

and he was cool. Jake Hadley,

16:24

pops in, former U.S. Flightweight, now

16:26

competing as a band on weight

16:29

and weight. Let's see here,

16:31

Jenna Bishop, Kana Watanabe, Juliana

16:33

Velasquez, so there's a

16:35

little bit of Belatoire love in

16:37

there. What fights fell apart? Mago

16:40

Med, Mago Medov, and Leandro Higo.

16:42

Mago Medov withdrew. That's

16:44

where Redinghouse stepped in,

16:47

I guess. Oh, this one hurts. So,

16:49

Talia Santos, goes. Sorry, Tyler Santos

16:51

is not fighting. She was

16:53

fighting Juliana Velasquez. She's out.

16:55

Yeah, that's why Velasquez

16:57

has a catarina Shakalova.

17:00

I mean, that's one of their

17:02

bigger draws, you know, that

17:04

stinks. Here and Clark, not

17:07

fighting, part of SBG, Ali

17:09

Taliban. So yeah, they've

17:11

kind of taken a few hits

17:13

here. But anyway, they'll

17:15

still be fighting tomorrow

17:17

night and Reading House gave

17:19

us such a great interview

17:22

that I'm fully vested in

17:24

the catching it live. Probably

17:26

bed non-on-on, probably cheering for

17:28

them. I mean, I'm not gonna

17:30

do any of this socially or

17:33

anything like that. There are some

17:35

ethics that we try and follow,

17:37

but remember, two fan boys

17:39

stumbled into this. This wasn't

17:41

our intent. And so we got bad

17:43

habits. Too bad. Yeah. You want

17:46

to hear something kind of crazy?

17:48

I don't know if this is the same

17:50

for you, but our show, I guess if

17:52

you want to call it a birthplace

17:54

of it. happened at

17:56

an I-hop. And I

17:58

have had... I hop since

18:01

then, but the kind that you

18:03

just ordered yesterday. Yeah, like,

18:05

well, in 18 years, I've had

18:07

I hop. I haven't gone there,

18:09

but I've like Uber eaten or

18:12

something, you know. The last time

18:14

I had been, we went

18:16

yesterday, but the last time

18:18

I had probably physically walked

18:20

in one, might have been

18:22

that day. Really? Isn't that weird?

18:25

Yeah. I remember

18:27

that in Santa on Bristol, right?

18:29

Yeah, on Bristol and Seagrism. Now

18:32

it's called like, I love pancakes

18:34

or some shit like that, but that

18:36

might have been the last time I

18:38

had physically walked into an IHOP, but

18:41

now it just happens to be a

18:43

couple days before our 18-year anniversary.

18:45

If anyone wants to know a

18:48

little bit more, I'll try and do

18:50

a 90-second recap. Back in 2006,

18:52

we used to listen to a

18:54

show. from like the early 2000s

18:57

till 2006 called, or they goes,

18:59

Sound Off. Sound Off, with

19:01

Ryan Bennett and Frank Trigg,

19:03

the Frank Trigg, who you

19:05

see as a referee now

19:08

in the U.C. and in

19:10

Belatore. And former U.S.C.

19:12

title challenger, two times

19:14

against Matt Hughes. And we

19:17

were fans of that show.

19:19

Sound Off was produced

19:21

by MMA Weekly.com. At

19:23

the time, there were... Two big websites.

19:25

Suredog.com, and mayweekly.com, and then

19:27

full contact fighter, existed, but

19:29

I don't know if I

19:32

put them on that level,

19:34

but if I'm messing up,

19:36

I didn't follow their traffic,

19:38

perhaps. I know they had a show though.

19:40

So respect to those guys. And

19:42

we met Trig through this show, and

19:44

we became friends. He was a

19:46

fellow, so-calor like us, Dodger fan.

19:49

And the host, Ryan Bennett, was also

19:51

very accommodating to his listeners and

19:53

would tell him where he would

19:55

be and to come on by

19:57

and watch them tape out of. a

20:00

hotel room. And so Goz and I

20:02

went and that's how we've refunded them

20:04

a few years prior to this

20:06

little meeting that I'm telling you

20:08

about. At USC 60 it was

20:10

the last time we saw Ryan

20:12

Bennett. It's when Hughes, Matt Hughes

20:14

fought, Hoist Gracie in Los Angeles,

20:16

California. He passed away a few

20:19

days later traveling from Utah to

20:21

Las Vegas to cover a boxing

20:23

event. So that show kind of.

20:25

came to an end as we

20:28

know it. They continued with Jeff

20:30

Kane and Damon Martin. Jeff Kane

20:32

is still at MMA Weekly, David

20:34

Martin's at MMA fighting. They did

20:36

it at night, but Trig was a

20:39

morning guy. And so at this

20:41

Hard Rock, we were asking Trig,

20:43

what was his plan going forward?

20:45

And I have a feeling goes,

20:47

it was around U of C63,

20:50

Hughes versus Penn, because that's why

20:52

he would have been in town.

20:54

And I remember that's why

20:56

we went and had

20:58

breakfast and we, when he really

21:00

had told us why he

21:02

couldn't figure it out with

21:05

other places, it was then

21:07

suggested, well, how about us? How about

21:09

you and George, I think Go said.

21:11

And we're like, hey, and I think

21:13

Trig, what fancied him, what

21:16

fascinated him was, Ryan had

21:18

kind of taken him under

21:20

his wing, because Trig was

21:22

a fighter. It's coming to

21:24

the end of his career and

21:26

Ryan taught him how to be

21:28

a broadcaster. Trig also went on

21:30

to Fox Sports and became a

21:33

broadcaster with Jay Glazer and a

21:35

color commentator with Marl Rinalo

21:37

over at Pride Fighting Championships as

21:39

well as then it was HDNet

21:41

fights and then it became inside

21:43

MMMA. What had become Access TV

21:46

and so he had that run there

21:48

as well. And so I think he thought

21:50

you know this is kind of. something

21:52

that I think it would be fun to

21:54

do. I think he trusted us and he

21:56

knew that we were open to the morning

21:58

slot that we could do. something in

22:00

the morning. So that's why it was

22:02

tag-rated, Trigan Gorgeous George. And

22:05

then, basically, we just, me and Trigg

22:07

would argue, what do you think goes? Next

22:09

thing you know, he started chiming in and

22:11

Trigg goes, this guy should be a part

22:13

of the show. He's the funniest one on

22:16

the show. And so, goes, was part of

22:18

the show in that regards. He was kind

22:20

of a producer behind the scenes with his

22:22

funny sound making machines and things like that

22:24

like that. And yeah, here we are. Trig left

22:27

us two years later when he returned to

22:29

the you see because they told him you

22:31

can't do MMA junkie radio because

22:33

in that show he was very

22:35

critical of the you'll see and so

22:37

I think they're like well you're with

22:40

us you're back with us now and so

22:42

you can do the show and he left

22:44

and he went twice in the you see

22:46

loss and then just eventually moved on

22:48

from podcasting radio and I

22:50

think continued broadcasting like I say

22:53

with access TV and And that

22:55

was that we still maintain a friendship.

22:57

Things are cool between him and us.

22:59

We just don't see him like we

23:01

used to. It was every day for two

23:03

years. But yeah, that was that and that

23:05

was more than 90 seconds. Sorry. No, it

23:08

was good. I hop. Yeah, I can't believe

23:10

you hadn't been in an I hop since

23:12

that I hope. No, and well, the weird

23:14

thing is I hop was not planned yesterday.

23:16

That was not where we were going. We

23:18

just kind of run out of run out

23:20

of time and options. So we just ended

23:23

up there. Alright, so we got PFL out

23:25

of the way. You already know your

23:27

start times and who's fighting and

23:29

who to root for. I don't think

23:31

I've ever home with this art. Or

23:33

at least it's been a while. Josh Reddinghouse,

23:37

by the way, if you

23:39

go to our YouTube channel,

23:41

YouTube.com,/MMA, junkie video, the video's

23:44

there. So if a lot of you thought,

23:46

think, you know, sometimes these guys

23:48

describe the M News as pretty...

23:50

fun because of the video component and

23:52

you're listening on audio just know that

23:54

you can go and catch all these

23:56

guests on our YouTube channels that's why

23:58

I say subscribe it's free content and

24:00

it's great content and it helps us

24:03

out. So anyway, now let's get to

24:05

USC 314 goes in Miami Florida, probably

24:07

the deepest card we've seen this

24:10

year. The LA card was nice. This one's

24:12

nice. We did lose Carlos Prochis and

24:14

Jeff Neal, but okay, it was so

24:16

deep. I think we all just took

24:18

it in stride. Right. But we still

24:20

got Alexander Volkonovsky versus Diegel

24:22

Lopez. I got a question

24:25

for you. What do you think

24:27

of fighters who could potentially be

24:29

two-time champions? Volk won it, defended

24:31

it five times, then lost. He

24:33

has the ability to become a

24:35

two-time champion. A lot of us

24:37

glorify that and say, the dude's

24:39

a two-time champion, you know. Now,

24:42

it means he also lost. Right. But

24:44

think about how many fighters have lost,

24:46

and that's it? Never knew you again.

24:48

You maybe even had a title defense,

24:50

or you just didn't scramble

24:52

back into a position to win it

24:54

again. Part of it part of

24:56

you has to also tip your hat

24:58

if both does it because he dusted

25:00

himself off and came back and

25:03

wanted should he went on Saturday

25:05

Yes, let me preference us by

25:07

saying He is one of my

25:09

favorite fighters to watch. I think

25:11

as a person. He's fantastic as

25:13

a fighter. He's fantastic But he's in

25:15

a rough spot and I'm gonna tell

25:18

you why exactly what you're

25:20

talking about a two-time champ

25:22

and all that Possibly could be

25:25

But his problem is not

25:27

like some of these other

25:29

fighters where they've lost to

25:31

someone come back and beat that

25:33

guy and now they're a two-time

25:36

champ. His problem is the guy

25:38

that beat him took off. And

25:40

because he can't, he doesn't

25:42

have the ability to beat

25:44

him, it kind of feels like

25:47

if he becomes the champ,

25:49

well, you're just champ because

25:51

the other guy left. Like

25:53

Jones and D.C. Little bit.

25:55

Yeah, so have that guy But

25:57

you know you can kind of

26:00

clean it up with a couple

26:02

fights afterwards defending the title

26:04

again, you know, but people

26:06

will always kind of look at

26:08

that as well, your only chap

26:10

because the dude left, you know, like

26:13

had he stuck around, you

26:15

probably wouldn't have been champ

26:17

again. And so that part kind

26:19

of sucks for him because it's

26:21

hard to get around something

26:24

like that. But I think overall,

26:26

how long he dominated and. how

26:28

he's challenged himself when we

26:31

start talking about hall of

26:33

fame which he'll definitely get

26:35

into his accolades will be

26:37

very impressive despite moving up

26:39

to 155 and losing twice

26:41

it didn't feel that way those

26:43

losses I mean one of them really

26:45

felt like a loss because he kind

26:48

of got cloned but the The other

26:50

one, that was a battle

26:52

man, that was an absolute

26:54

battle, it did not, it

26:56

felt more like a win

26:58

for him than I feel like

27:00

it did for Makajev. Well, like

27:02

I say, I, in my

27:04

personal life, I really try and

27:07

look at the glass as full,

27:09

but look, anyone that has

27:11

that take, well, it means

27:13

you also lost it once,

27:15

true, you ain't lying, that's

27:18

for sure. Like I say, there's

27:20

been so many fighters that have won

27:22

the title. In fact, the Uber

27:24

Popular, Connor McGregor, he often

27:26

gets criticized for not only

27:28

winning a title, but being one of

27:30

the ones that never defended

27:32

it. And so he's won two different

27:35

weight classes, but he never defended

27:37

either one of them. And guess

27:39

what? He also did that occasion

27:41

war. One, two, but never defended

27:43

one. And remember, I feel like

27:45

we've established on this show. What

27:47

separates the real legends and McGregor

27:49

has to be a real legend

27:51

because he won two battles in

27:53

two different way classes over two

27:56

great champions Eddie Al resident Jose

27:58

Aldo are great champions but Now

28:00

when you get into that whole, but,

28:02

but, but, but, but who's the greater

28:04

this and that? We have to start

28:06

splitting the atom and really shuffling

28:08

the papers and that's when no

28:11

title defenses does pop up. Volk

28:13

did have five. He got dumped

28:15

though really hard by Iliad Toporia.

28:17

Did, is on Makashov marinate that

28:19

meat a little bit before Toporia

28:22

barbecue them, you know, a few

28:24

months later, possibly, because it was

28:26

quick. It was October and then

28:29

February. So that might have

28:31

definitely contributed to it But

28:33

then that takes away familiar to

28:36

for you and you know it's war

28:38

is not nowhere to be found So

28:40

what can ever really avenge that? But

28:42

if he wins one, I don't think

28:44

he'll care because he'll get paper

28:47

B points in his next fight

28:49

He'll be the champ. He'll be

28:51

in the history points and if

28:53

he'll be in the history books

28:55

and if he defends again He

28:57

starts to dwindle a little

28:59

bit We've seen that a

29:01

little bit in some of his

29:03

fights where he starts to slow

29:05

down. He's been able to pull

29:07

it off though and show that

29:10

weakness but still win and

29:12

hopefully he's addressed it because

29:14

this is an additional

29:16

10 minutes. Right. What did

29:18

you think by the way?

29:20

About your Rodriguez's comments

29:22

about Lopez. Did you hear those?

29:24

Okay. I only read the headline and

29:27

I saw a few lines. And

29:29

okay, he ain't lying. He ain't

29:31

lying, that's for sure. But

29:34

if he's kind of using it

29:36

to maybe stir things up, because

29:38

he's obviously on the rise, if

29:40

he gets past pit bull, his

29:43

name's gonna get start connected

29:45

to the title, you know,

29:47

I'm not sweating, his hustle. It

29:49

could be that he, that's maybe

29:52

his way of lining up

29:54

and pissing off the potential

29:56

future champ. So that that guy now

29:58

wants to shut him up. There's

30:00

an angle there. So yeah, I don't

30:03

I don't blame him at all for

30:05

speaking up because he's really actually

30:07

telling the truth Yeah, so he

30:10

he obviously some people didn't like

30:12

that comment But honestly he's

30:14

entitled to his own opinion.

30:17

He's not lying There is a

30:19

difference between being born in

30:21

a country and having that

30:23

flag wrapped around you from the

30:25

get-go to somebody coming in and

30:27

embracing it. It doesn't mean what

30:29

Diego Lopez is doing is wrong

30:31

or anything like that, but there

30:33

is a difference and I do

30:36

understand him at that capacity,

30:38

but if you watch, I think it's the

30:40

countdown or maybe it's the first

30:42

embedded, Diego Lopez does a good job

30:44

of just telling the story and how

30:46

he ended up where he... So if

30:49

there are some people that don't know

30:51

this, he's actually Brazilian, but he's been

30:53

living in Mexico and he showed

30:55

up... in Mexico with very little

30:58

money and just made it work,

31:00

you know, and he kind of fell

31:02

in love with the culture. But

31:04

it was an interesting argument

31:07

and I'm glad you looked

31:09

at it that way. That's

31:11

how I felt too, where yeah, some

31:13

of it probably is, hey look

31:15

man, like. I care

31:17

about the country's politics, I care

31:20

about everything that has to do

31:22

with this country, but there is

31:24

also a small part that I

31:26

felt like could be setting things

31:29

up because of the fact that, you

31:31

know, this could be a dude that could

31:33

be fighting for a title soon.

31:35

Yeah. And Diego, if he's smart

31:37

and I haven't heard of it,

31:40

if he's retorted to this or

31:42

not, again, apologies folks. We really

31:44

focused on our mom. for two

31:47

days straight and drove in late

31:49

yesterday to get this thing done

31:51

to you know promote the three

31:53

14 watch along do our show

31:55

and everything that you know we have

31:57

to do here on fight week. But if

31:59

he. He's smart, he can go

32:01

see Diego's the baby face. And

32:03

I think Yea, he's pretty loved

32:05

in Mexico too, but I think

32:07

in the MMA world, Yea, here

32:10

might be more of the heel.

32:12

I mean, Diego's pretty well loved

32:14

wherever he goes. They put that

32:16

camera on, dude, like, people go

32:18

nuts. Diego could say, well, you

32:20

left and moved to Chicago, because

32:23

I think at one time we lived

32:25

there, he might still live there, I

32:27

don't know. or he could say, you

32:29

know, you were champ, but you never

32:31

wore the proper belt, because remember he

32:33

was an interim champ. And so someone

32:36

had to do it, you couldn't do it,

32:38

you see what I'm saying? Like he could

32:40

make this really ugly if he wants to,

32:42

but build something up between the

32:44

two. And fuck your feelings everybody,

32:47

sorry to say this, but you know, this is

32:49

the fight game. They, you know, they're really,

32:51

really trying to hurt each other in

32:53

those 25 minutes. Let them go at

32:56

it with the stuff. Again. Leave

32:58

the family to the side. Don't

33:00

ever endanger someone's family or

33:02

anything like that. But if you

33:04

got to talk up something or

33:06

whatever and find an angle, but

33:08

make up a proper prize fight and

33:10

give people the care, do it.

33:12

I'm in. Mm-hmm. No, 100% agree

33:14

that it was an interesting angle

33:17

and an interesting take. He wasn't

33:19

really an asshole about it. Yeah,

33:21

he's got this way of he's just

33:23

very direct. And I think people look

33:26

at that sometimes as somebody being

33:28

a dick, but you have to remember he's

33:30

from a different country, you know,

33:32

like that, everything's different man when you

33:34

cross different borders and he's not

33:37

really a dick. He's just more

33:39

of a direct dude. Yeah. This is

33:41

prize fighting and you got to get

33:43

people interested and maybe he saw something

33:45

there and he's going for it. That's

33:48

why I wish Michael Chandler will move

33:50

over to the command event for a

33:52

bit. I wish he would. not close

33:54

the door on this thing with pit

33:56

bull. Now I get it, I think

33:58

Chandler feels like. I've graduated

34:01

from Bellator to a U of

34:03

C superstar. I'm not trying to

34:06

take a step back. But if he

34:08

loses to Patty Pinlet, he's running

34:10

out of options. This McGregor

34:12

thing just looks like it ain't

34:14

gonna happen at all. And I

34:17

don't mean that to Chandler, I

34:19

mean to any future, Chandler, McGregor

34:22

opponent, Diaz, Boye, whoever.

34:24

It's just, that's the way it

34:26

looks. And if he were

34:28

to lose the pimlet, you know, I

34:30

don't think he would want to retire.

34:32

I think he still loves competing,

34:35

performing, fans love watching

34:37

him perform, win or lose

34:39

because he's exciting. But if

34:41

Pit Bull wins and Chandler loses,

34:44

who knows if DFC would want to

34:46

reignite this? I don't feel like it

34:48

was that bad. So he beat up

34:51

the brother, knocked his mustache off

34:53

he said into the second row. Leaps

34:55

on the fence, you know Chandler, kind

34:57

of goes nuts, does backlips and shit.

34:59

Trust me, V okay with the fact that

35:01

he only does him in the octagon now.

35:04

He used to actually jump on the fence

35:06

and do this complete black back flip into

35:08

the middle of the belltor cage. And

35:10

so I remember one time he was

35:12

straddling the cage and pit bull Patriceo

35:14

was defending his brother saying I'm gonna

35:16

knock you out, because he had just his

35:19

brother just got knocked out. And so Chandler

35:21

tripped at him. I don't remember it being

35:23

that ugly. You know, and then they

35:25

fought and they settled. Huh? He told

35:27

them to beat it nerd right

35:30

or something like that. And you know,

35:32

I'm gonna kill you. I'm gonna kill

35:34

you. And it turns out Patrice got

35:36

him. Okay. But I think at

35:38

some point, you know, sometimes you see

35:41

doesn't care what you got to

35:43

say or whatever. They just tell you

35:45

this is the fight. And it could

35:47

have. And that's why I, I don't

35:49

know. I don't know that it. You know

35:51

I don't remember it being so ugly that

35:53

they had to keep them in separate hotels

35:55

or this was ever a threat to the

35:58

Chandler family. I don't think the pit bulls.

36:00

rolled like that. I do remember they

36:02

would mean mug people during fight

36:04

week or whatever but I don't

36:06

remember it being like I say something

36:08

like that but channel really wants nothing

36:10

to do with it. I think maybe

36:12

perhaps just like he doesn't like

36:14

the fact that maybe they'll bring

36:17

back that K-O or and show it over and

36:19

over again you know as Ben askering

36:21

about that how many times it all

36:23

land that knee. I asked him about

36:26

that slam that Hughes gave him. Yeah, but

36:28

you know, you just got to almost

36:30

learn to enjoy it with the others

36:32

and just go, yeah, that was me.

36:35

I got cloned. Yeah, don't close

36:37

the door because, you know, you

36:39

said it yourself, like, options

36:41

are going to be very thin. And

36:43

this is an opportunity where

36:45

even though maybe it doesn't get

36:48

you closer to a title or any

36:50

of that stuff, it's still going

36:52

to be a big deal. And it's a

36:54

storyline that they can sell.

36:56

Michael says that he goes to bed

36:58

after a loss and he can

37:00

actually sleep because he processes it,

37:02

which is healthy and very good.

37:05

But just because you're able to

37:07

do that doesn't mean that you

37:09

should walk away from the chance

37:11

of possibly getting redemption. That's what

37:13

price fighting is kind of all

37:15

about. So I wouldn't close the door

37:17

on this. You can go over there

37:20

and shake his hand. You can apologize

37:22

for what you did if you feel

37:24

like you were wrong. But it doesn't

37:26

mean that you need to close the

37:28

door completely on the next chapter

37:31

of possibly getting redemption

37:33

for your loss. Yeah, and it's kind

37:35

of a stretch. We get it. One

37:37

guy's competing it further way. The other

37:40

guy's at lightweight, but like I

37:42

say, the user does like bad

37:44

blood. And Patricio says he wouldn't

37:46

mind competing in multiple

37:48

way classes if this were

37:50

to happen. So, you know, honestly...

37:52

If the pimlet fight wasn't available, well I

37:55

take it back, pimlets pretty damn popular.

37:57

I was about to say the pimlet

37:59

fight wasn't even... available and they told

38:01

Chandler, who do you want? Pimlet or Patricio?

38:03

He might be better off with Patricio,

38:05

but you know, Pimlet's really popular and

38:08

so, who knows, who knows what'll happen

38:10

here. He did send some nice things

38:12

about Justin Gagee, he said he'd love to

38:14

see Justin Gagee compete for the lightweight

38:17

title. It's starting to look that

38:19

way folks. Remember, this is Iliatoporia,

38:21

Charles Olivera, and Armon Sarucian

38:23

out there, right. They're kind of

38:25

hustling for that position. But it does

38:28

look like Justin Gates, you might

38:30

have the lead behind the scenes.

38:32

So we'll see. I wish Chandler the

38:34

best this weekend. I think he's

38:36

actually gonna win. I know one sharp

38:39

that I put a lot of trust

38:41

in has already chosen Chandler as

38:43

not only who he thinks will win,

38:45

but who he would bet on.

38:47

Oftentimes that's two different things

38:50

because it's who you think you would

38:52

win, but if the odds don't correlate,

38:54

right? I think King Kong's gonna beat

38:56

that ant, but I gotta give up

38:59

a million. You know, and I ain't

39:01

got the million, but if I bet

39:03

the ant, the ant might sting his

39:05

butt. He's got some poisoning that

39:07

kills guerrillas. Next thing you know,

39:10

King Kong collapses, and all I

39:12

gotta do is put on, King Kong

39:14

collapses, and all I gotta do

39:16

is put a penny on. And

39:18

so I'm heavily leaning towards Michael

39:20

Chandler there. I want to see

39:22

what Michael Chandler there. See

39:25

where the guys are leaning,

39:27

are leaning when the fight

39:29

picks are released on MMA

39:32

junkie and go from

39:34

there. But I would like

39:36

to cheer for Chandler

39:38

and also battle. Yeah.

39:40

And then of course, the

39:42

co-main event, well, no,

39:44

that is the co-main event.

39:47

Let's talk about the

39:49

featured bout. Oh, USC 314.

39:51

That is, yeah, Rodriguez. and

39:54

pit bull fraidy. So

39:56

we've mentioned how,

39:58

you know, pit bull and Chandler,

40:00

Yair and Diego Lopez,

40:03

but they got, they're actually

40:05

fighting each other. Who do

40:07

you like on that one goes?

40:09

I think Pit Bull can

40:11

have problems with the distance,

40:14

but I don't know that Yair

40:16

is a fighter that likes

40:18

to exploit that very much,

40:20

use that to his advantage.

40:22

So he's not gonna come

40:24

out with that type of game

40:26

plan. I think Pit Bull can

40:28

get it done. But I think I

40:31

ended up turning pit bull in as

40:33

my pick. I think it'll be

40:35

fun. I don't think it goes

40:37

to the judges. I think someone

40:40

probably gets the clock cleaned. I

40:42

think it's a perfect fight though

40:44

for the U of C. I'm excited for

40:46

it. Yeah, me too. I wish you

40:48

a year would fight more often.

40:50

And he really doesn't. That's

40:53

one problem I've always

40:55

had. His last fight was Brian

40:57

Ortega over a year ago.

40:59

And that fight was,

41:02

let's see here, about

41:04

seven months after his

41:06

fight with Alexander Volkonovsky.

41:10

I guess in 2024 he fought

41:12

once, in 2020 fought twice,

41:14

in 2022 he fought once.

41:17

Hmm. In 2020, in 2020,

41:19

in fight one time. Yeah,

41:21

he only fights two times

41:23

a year, Max. He's had

41:25

his shot at a shot at

41:27

a shot at a title with.

41:29

Alexander Wilkenovsky, but

41:32

that one looked ugly, honestly. And

41:34

then the Brian Artiga fight was there

41:36

all set up for him, Ortega scenes

41:38

that may be declining in his career,

41:40

and he's the one that rose to

41:42

the occasion and triangle. Yeier

41:45

Rodriguez. The Mexican lost to

41:47

the Mexican-American in Mexico.

41:49

Nine's got pit bull, Patriceo Pit

41:51

bull. We'll see how it

41:53

goes. Patriceau-Pitville was 37 years

41:56

of age. Yeir Rodriguez-Rodriguez is

41:58

32. I think those five years my a

42:00

difference. We'll see. Yeah, I really

42:02

like this matchup. And like I

42:05

say, I'm glad everyone's

42:07

staying healthy and everything's

42:09

on track. Bryce Mitchell

42:12

and John Silva is

42:14

another great fight. That

42:16

one obviously has

42:18

a different kind of

42:21

controversy around it. Bryce

42:23

Mitchell making those unfortunate

42:26

comments, you know, about

42:28

Adolf Hitler. What

42:30

the Nazis did to the Jews and

42:32

whatever? It seemed like the went

42:34

the apologetic route of I didn't

42:37

realize what he was saying and

42:39

lately he's almost like well I said

42:41

what I said I don't think it's gonna

42:43

go well for him goes I think

42:45

he's obviously is a beast, but I

42:47

think John Silva is a pretty athletic

42:50

guy and the fighting nerds are

42:52

well prepared for their fights But

42:54

it's those heavy-handed fists that

42:56

he has I think he's gonna put

42:58

on on Mitchell and Who knows,

43:00

there might be an extra shot,

43:02

an unnecessary shot, you

43:05

know, rather than a walk-off. John

43:07

Silva has a chance to

43:09

really, really capitalize on this

43:11

controversy and come out a

43:13

hero with a cape if he

43:15

wins. Big time. The only thing

43:17

that makes me a little too

43:20

nervous is, Silva, somebody needs to

43:22

tell him to just calm down

43:24

a little bit. Just... Dial

43:26

it back just a little bit.

43:28

Focus on this fight. Don't get

43:30

too emotional. Don't get too into promising

43:33

chaos and this and that. The end

43:35

of the day, you gotta win this

43:37

fight. And this is a tough competitor

43:39

in Bryce Mitchell. I know Bryce

43:41

Mitchell's knocked out really, really bad

43:43

before in his life and the

43:45

recipe could be there for that

43:48

to happen again. But he's not

43:50

a bad fighter. He's a good

43:52

fighter. So. It's still dangerous. I

43:54

just hope Silva kind of calms

43:56

down a little bit. What I'm

43:58

curious about is Guys

44:00

like John Annick their job is

44:02

to promote fights right to when

44:05

you're watching the fights make you

44:07

be as invested as possible I'm

44:09

curious how much of the backstory

44:12

they're going to tell on the paper

44:14

view and why These guys are where

44:16

they're at and why they're as

44:18

intense as they are because if they

44:20

do it takes them back to a

44:22

place that they really did not like

44:25

being and I'm curious what they do

44:27

with that I think they'll say

44:29

made some controversial comments. I

44:31

don't know that they'll replay

44:33

any B-roll, you know, from

44:36

his first, it was the first

44:38

episode of a podcast, so

44:40

I don't think that one's

44:42

gonna get promoted, but I

44:44

think they'll say some controversial

44:47

comments, but they'll

44:49

probably really be generic

44:51

in describing what happened

44:54

and kind of leave it at that.

44:56

I think that it's not worth it to

44:58

risk, you know, saying things that the

45:00

mainstream medium then has to pick

45:02

up and say, well, the USC's

45:05

in the business of promoting, you

45:07

know, Hitler supporters or Nazi supporters,

45:09

and you see what I'm saying?

45:11

So I think they'll try and

45:13

really, really tone it down, but

45:15

give you enough of a promotion

45:17

for the hardcore to like, you

45:19

know, hit that fist into that

45:21

palm, yeah, let's go, you know,

45:23

bet on it and. and bait

45:25

by the pay-per-view and I don't know.

45:28

All right, the other matchup, member

45:30

Prachis versus Neil fell

45:32

apart and now Carlos Prachis

45:35

fights Ian Gary in

45:37

Kansas City in a few

45:39

weeks because Jamal Hill and

45:41

Kaleel Ground Tree fell apart.

45:44

It looks like they'll preserve

45:46

that matchup just at a

45:48

later date because... Whatever injury

45:50

Jamal Hill has it's not a

45:52

serious injury and there's only a

45:55

minor setback Not for example like

45:57

the Achilles heel he tore a

45:59

few years years ago, that's a

46:01

big setback. Brutal. So that's what's

46:04

happening there. And they've promoted

46:06

Nikila Kryloff versus Dominic Reyes,

46:08

two U.S.C. light heavy weights,

46:11

who are names that have been around

46:13

for a long time, a win over the other

46:15

guy would be big for the winner. And

46:18

remember, with Alex Fajeda out of

46:20

the way, things have been freshened

46:22

up, it does look like Alex

46:24

Fajeda will get to fight

46:27

Mago Medangalaya again. And I suppose

46:29

if. Pahado wins and maybe they

46:31

go for a trilogy because Pahada is

46:33

such a big name or maybe that's

46:36

you know, that's enough because I

46:38

don't think the F.C. is

46:40

comfortable with Maguvera Goliavas, he's

46:42

not an English speaker and he's

46:44

not labeled as an exciting fighter,

46:47

a pay-per-view jaw. So we'll see, but

46:49

I can see one of those, one of

46:51

these two of these two, possibly, you know,

46:54

throwing their name into the hat.

46:56

Blahovich is out of the way. Aldberg

46:58

won that fight, but didn't

47:01

really pick up much momentum.

47:03

And we just said Hill

47:05

and Roundtree are kind of

47:08

on ice. So we'll see.

47:10

Maybe this matchup is

47:12

results into being bigger

47:14

than its advertised. Jim

47:16

Miller fights Chase Hooper.

47:19

That's pretty cool, right?

47:21

That's the People's Undercard

47:24

Main Event. Yeah,

47:26

Fernando and I will be

47:28

doing a watch-long starting at 8

47:30

p.m. Eastern. That's a fun

47:32

one. Darren Elkins versus Julian

47:35

Arosa. I'm really happy with

47:37

that prelim, with those featured

47:39

prelims that call them. Those

47:41

are four great matchups. Yeah. So

47:43

again, Gose and I will be doing

47:45

a watch-long starting at 8

47:47

p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Pacific.

47:49

And that's these four fights

47:52

I just mentioned, Hooper and

47:54

Miller. Elkins and Arosa.

47:56

Jandarova and Jeananne and

47:59

Woodson. and Egan. And

48:01

then at 10 Eastern, 7 Camp

48:03

Pacific, we do the pay-per-view

48:06

with the title fight. Volkonowski

48:08

and Lopez at the top

48:11

of the bill. Chandler, Pimlet,

48:13

Mitchell, Silva, Rodriguez, Pit Bull,

48:16

Kryloff, Reyes. It's been a

48:18

fun time doing those watch-along.

48:21

The chat rooms, always, you know,

48:24

great conversation. And...

48:26

Like I say if you're not buying

48:28

the paper view we'll tell you what's

48:30

happening in real time better than clicking

48:32

Twitter over and over and refreshing and

48:34

Or texting a buddy will tell you

48:36

exactly what's happening in real time. So

48:39

tune in and if you feel like

48:41

someone else might enjoy that Let them

48:43

know about it. You'll see us promoting

48:45

it a lot especially here in these next

48:47

few days and on fight day. So share the

48:49

tweets share the stories wherever you see

48:52

them and sharing with your friends

48:54

directly the ones that love MMA Okay

48:56

goes a couple things here. Aaron

48:58

Pico has signed with the U.S.C.

49:00

You pretty happy about that?

49:02

I'm very happy about it. Yeah,

49:05

I think that's a good signing

49:07

for the U.S.C. No match up as

49:09

of yet, but there was a rumor

49:11

of Mosar Ebloev as a

49:13

possible opponent. It seemed like

49:16

Pico was like, yeah, I'm down.

49:18

And it reached the point where

49:20

that fight was being offered to

49:22

the fighters. But Pico says

49:24

he understands why Evlowev

49:26

backed out. So he's

49:28

putting it on Evlowev

49:30

Yeah, the I don't know. I think

49:32

the world of Aaron Pico.

49:34

I think when people think

49:37

of him we all think

49:39

of potential Because when

49:41

you look up and down his

49:43

record He hasn't really

49:45

fought big names. He's fought

49:48

a couple decent names, but

49:50

the world-class level at the UFC

49:52

offers like right off the bat

49:54

right at Loev is just that's

49:56

a monster can you compete with

49:58

those guys that's That's what needs

50:01

to get answered here. And how

50:03

will the UFC approach promoting him?

50:05

Are they going to bring him in

50:07

and possibly feed him to a lion?

50:09

To put their own guys over? Or

50:11

are they just going to kind of

50:14

embrace a little bit that they have

50:16

a guy that fits their mold that they

50:18

like and try and build him up? I

50:20

don't know. A year from now, when

50:22

we're talking about Aaron Pico, I

50:24

really don't know what we're going to

50:26

be talking about. Remember, people

50:28

behind the scenes say that you

50:31

see, I don't think have anything

50:33

against Mozart, Evloev, they just don't

50:35

like his fighting style. So who knows

50:37

if they were putting this match up,

50:39

hoping Pico would shut him down, but

50:41

there's always the whole, let's show

50:44

incoming fighters that these are the

50:46

big leagues and that they don't

50:48

belong and therefore it lowers the stock

50:50

of the other leagues that they come

50:52

from. There could be some of that

50:54

too. I don't know. I'm

50:56

just excited he signed. He

50:59

also mentioned Brian Ortega and

51:01

Aljaman Sterling as potential opponents

51:03

because they had links to

51:05

Eveloev. So that's pretty smart of

51:08

them and they are two big names. I

51:10

just hope he gets something soon. And

51:12

I think Pico has a good future

51:14

in the U.C. So he'll see. He's a good

51:17

person, very good person. Here's

51:19

something that bugs me. Marab de

51:21

Valze really says Sean O' O'Malley

51:23

deserves his title shot. And you

51:25

know he's backing up the U.S.C.'s

51:28

decision to do it. Well,

51:30

let's let's be honest. Morad

51:32

Devales really will get

51:34

paid a lot of money. Well,

51:36

he'll get paid more money to

51:38

fight O'Malley than probably any

51:41

other ban on weight. And

51:43

he dominated them. So he's

51:45

probably looking at as an

51:47

easy payday. I almost wish Morad

51:49

would just say that. Oh man. I

51:52

waxed him for 25 minutes. This should

51:54

be another walk in the park. And

51:56

he happens to be popular. So

51:59

Chiching, much. Baby like why not just

52:01

go that route instead of trying to

52:03

tell us he's deserving of it because he's

52:05

not deserving of it Oh, Mali won

52:07

the title impressive like 19 and one I

52:09

was in I was like whoa when

52:11

he reads Sterling There was nothing I could

52:14

say he beat a Legit

52:16

grab where somebody they

52:18

were saying was maybe possibly the best van

52:20

away to ball time at the time

52:22

Sterling had three title offenses knocked them out

52:24

left no questions, but then he goes

52:26

give me Marlon Vera Come on homie Marlon

52:28

Vera wasn't the next number one you

52:30

wanted to avenge a loss But because O'Malley

52:32

built himself up He feels like he's

52:35

calling the shots and the UFC let him

52:37

maybe because there's no McGregor There's

52:39

no John Jones at the time where there's

52:41

very little John Jones and Mazad all retired

52:43

and you know Who knows that you paid

52:45

I hadn't really you know come

52:47

to the surface like he had because remember this was two years

52:49

ago So he fights Marlon

52:51

Vera kind of a boring fight. Okay,

52:53

you avenged it You know,

52:55

none of a set at home go home Like

52:58

a no Mali fan. I don't think they were

53:00

like whoo. He avenged it You

53:02

know Vera kicked his ass the first time

53:04

you now kicked his ass, but notice

53:06

how no one was clamoring for a trilogy

53:09

Okay, so then what happens? That's

53:12

one title defense and then

53:14

he gets steamrolled by Marabda Vals

53:16

really goes it wasn't close

53:18

steamrolled So,

53:21

how does he feel like he deserves

53:23

it? He just steamrolled him at Noche

53:25

UFC Oh what cuz O'Malley's not

53:27

jerking off anymore or because he's not

53:29

smoking the bud no more or because he's

53:31

not on social media anymore Like he

53:33

cleaned his act up. Okay, great But

53:35

he hasn't beaten anyone

53:37

beat one person and how it's go.

53:40

Oh, man. Did you see O'Malley

53:42

2 .0? He looks good. I'd

53:44

love to see that right now

53:46

Nothing nothing's happened since the steamroll

53:48

and before the steamroll it was a title

53:50

defense against someone that didn't deserve a title

53:52

shot So we

53:55

had to go back two years before we could

53:57

go but remember when he laid out Sterling

53:59

and then we go Yeah, fist bump, that

54:01

was legit. I don't know, just in

54:03

an era where I think you can

54:05

be brutally honest and with the

54:07

fans and they love your back,

54:09

just be brutally honest and say,

54:11

that's an easy payday, I'll take it.

54:13

Thanks for the layout. In a sense,

54:16

he kind of did at the end

54:18

of his statement, but Dan Tom's not

54:20

the only one I hate to rematches.

54:22

I can't stand him too. I didn't

54:24

get a chance to chime in on

54:26

spinning back click. I'm not excited

54:29

for it. I don't like the fact

54:31

that he got it because you're

54:33

right. He doesn't deserve it.

54:35

And he didn't feel like he's

54:37

the type of guy that needs

54:39

to win three to get back

54:41

there. Just kind of needed only

54:44

one probably. Just one and look

54:46

fairly decent. You probably,

54:48

people could stomach it. But what

54:50

I will give Sean O'Malley credit

54:52

is if you are going to build

54:55

a fight that you probably don't

54:57

deserve. I love that he's doing

54:59

that approach of, I'm not playing

55:01

video games, I'm not doing this,

55:04

I'm not doing that. At least

55:06

he's giving us a reason to

55:08

feel like this could possibly be

55:10

different than the first fight, versus

55:13

some fighters have just come in

55:15

and just start talking shit

55:17

like they had actually won

55:19

the last fight. At least he's

55:21

given us something. It's making

55:23

me think... This guy's actually

55:25

trying harder. He's not just

55:28

going in hoping he can

55:30

catch him or something But

55:32

the fight didn't need to

55:35

happen. It's kind of dumb. I

55:37

just like it when people are

55:39

In a pool like you know

55:41

when when everyone was hustling in

55:44

the early days you had to

55:46

like lie a little bit and

55:48

deceive you know String people along

55:50

but everyone's pretty secure now on their

55:53

lives a lot of people have good

55:55

lives set like and Everything's so

55:57

the ability of the internet to find

55:59

out what the real truth is,

56:01

like there's no mysteries behind things

56:03

anymore. I think transparency and honesty

56:06

is pretty much appreciated, but it

56:08

would be like, goes isn't gonna

56:10

like this, goes isn't gonna like

56:12

this one, but well, no, I'll

56:14

pick something else, I don't claim

56:16

any goes, it would be like

56:18

me going, okay, folks, this show

56:21

is endorsed by Domino's Pizza, the

56:23

best pizza you'll have. They're going

56:25

to listen to that and go,

56:27

gee, come on, it ain't the

56:29

best. It's all right, 2 a.m.

56:31

when you're drunk and they're the

56:33

only places that deliver, sure, it's

56:36

good, it's not bad, no one

56:38

throws up, but it ain't the

56:40

best. You're saying that because they're

56:42

paying you, you know what I'm

56:44

saying? I was going to use

56:46

the RC COLA goes, but I

56:48

didn't. I'm not delusional. I don't

56:51

think it's better than the other

56:53

ones. I just think it's a

56:55

lot better than what people give

56:57

it credit for. All right. So,

56:59

yeah. That's why him trying to,

57:01

you know, tell us, yeah, he's

57:03

deserving. He's not deserving. And furthermore,

57:06

shame on the U.C. for making

57:08

this fight. Don't you guys have

57:10

any, like, shame at all. I'll

57:12

use the word again. I mean,

57:14

come on, man. Pewter yawn on.

57:16

is the former champ who by

57:18

today's rules would still be champ

57:21

by the way. But I'm not

57:23

trying to suggest that they need

57:25

to rewrite that history like John

57:27

Jones is trying to say with

57:29

the 12th 6th elbow. No. But

57:31

he really cleaned up his act

57:33

too. And he backed it up

57:36

with two great fights. So a

57:38

former champ is looking a lot

57:40

better in two fights since his

57:42

poor run. That's who deserved the

57:44

shot goes. Because people said, well,

57:46

well then who, big mouth. You

57:48

know? Sanhagens worked, Sohuda dropped the

57:51

ball, you know, Yidong won via

57:53

the the finger pokes and you

57:55

know, whoever else. Sterling moved on,

57:57

Cruz retired, Patista's not ready, whatever.

57:59

But I think Peter Jan has

58:01

looked good in his two fights.

58:03

He deserved it. And O'Malley, I

58:06

think, needed to give a fight

58:08

to someone, smoked that fool, and

58:10

then we could say, holy cow,

58:12

the fact that he's not punching

58:14

the clown and smoking and doing

58:16

this really made a difference. Did

58:18

you see the way and what

58:21

he did to fill in the

58:23

blank? You know and he's a

58:25

former champ and he draws I

58:27

could see him going back in

58:29

but based off getting steam rolled

58:31

at the sphere you're in no

58:33

man I that that just No,

58:36

like this is 2025 for crying

58:38

out loud. It ain't like when

58:40

Tim Sylvia and Ardera lost you

58:42

were the only two heavy weights

58:44

and us other than Justin Ileurs

58:46

and Paul Buentello and so the

58:48

you see was like forcing it

58:51

down our throats forcing it had

58:53

like three fights it felt like

58:55

in six months just boom boom

58:57

boom we need the trilogy You

58:59

know, but they have legit vanam

59:01

weights out there doing their thing.

59:04

So give us that. I'm curious.

59:06

I'm curious to see how the

59:08

press conference is going to go.

59:10

I don't know if we saw

59:12

that picture of them hanging out

59:14

at the U.S.P.I. and in the

59:16

Jacuzzi or what it's called. Yeah.

59:19

I don't think that helps their

59:21

cause very much to take pictures

59:23

like that or whatever. But I'm

59:25

curious. That quote. Was a little

59:27

savage? You know, Morab said he

59:29

humbled him and that he basically

59:31

turned him into a nice guy,

59:34

you know. I don't know if

59:36

I'm Sean O'Malley, if I'm reading

59:38

that and I'm pretty happy to

59:40

hear something like that. So I

59:42

want to see what's going to

59:44

happen with the press conference because

59:46

if they become pals, like they

59:49

seem like they're gonna. I don't

59:51

think that's going to help selling

59:53

a match like this. I think

59:55

that's really good. He said something

59:57

like a... Well, I actually like

59:59

Sean now. but I humbled him

1:00:01

in the fight that's why I

1:00:04

actually turned him into this guy.

1:00:06

I'll find it but it was

1:00:08

pretty it was pretty gnarly I

1:00:10

think. Yeah well I just don't

1:00:12

like the match up to begin

1:00:14

with it I'll just stand on

1:00:16

that I don't know it's not

1:00:19

a hill I need to die

1:00:21

on or anything. Those are just

1:00:23

my thoughts. I read a headline

1:00:25

and right away I'm like, well,

1:00:27

why, why, I start reacting. Then

1:00:29

I read it, see the quotes,

1:00:31

see the context, what are the

1:00:34

options, and then I come to

1:00:36

my final conclusion. But my first,

1:00:38

my first reaction was, you know,

1:00:40

fool, what's you talking about? Why

1:00:42

are you trying to tell us

1:00:44

that? You know, like, he deserves

1:00:46

it. That's the wrong word. He

1:00:49

didn't deserve it. You're happy that

1:00:51

a guy that you dominated that

1:00:53

you dominated, gets to fight you

1:00:55

again. Anyapp is to be the

1:00:57

biggest payday for you. Okay, fine.

1:00:59

Think that to yourself and then

1:01:01

go, how do I frame this?

1:01:04

So it so I can, you

1:01:06

know, maintain a level of respect

1:01:08

from media and hardcore fans that

1:01:10

aren't picking their noses as they

1:01:12

read ever made junkie just going,

1:01:14

oh, that's great. Oh, man, that's

1:01:16

great. That's legit. No, there's some

1:01:19

true fans that like to make

1:01:21

sense out of, you know, title

1:01:23

runs. and legacies and you know

1:01:25

just trying to continue to properly

1:01:27

build the sport and make sense

1:01:29

out of it and not go

1:01:31

back to a stage when boxing

1:01:34

was laughing at us and the

1:01:36

world was laughing at us no

1:01:38

we've had a chance to flex

1:01:40

on them we actually probably helped

1:01:42

boxing go through their era now

1:01:44

with the Paul brothers had to

1:01:46

help clean things up a little

1:01:49

bit and maybe big turkey and

1:01:51

and whoever else but Let's not

1:01:53

become a clown show as well.

1:01:55

Yeah, I have the game everyone.

1:01:57

Champions especially tighten up your game.

1:01:59

Here's the quote. I only have

1:02:01

positive feelings other than him talking

1:02:04

stupid about my friend Al-Jame Sterling.

1:02:06

I feel bad for this guy.

1:02:08

I stole his jacket. I stole

1:02:10

his belt. I stole his fans.

1:02:12

I made him humble. He's definitely

1:02:15

a different guy now. I

1:02:17

mean, that's pretty good. Stab them in

1:02:19

the soul there, no? Yeah. Just real

1:02:21

quick. I'll tell you, heavyweight is a

1:02:23

clown show with Jones at the top.

1:02:25

and not wanting to fight Aspenol

1:02:28

and just taking forever. And

1:02:30

he became champion like two

1:02:32

years ago, dude. He's had one title

1:02:34

defense. Come on. That's

1:02:36

ridiculous. That's not how I want

1:02:39

to talk about the go to our sport.

1:02:41

I want to like talk about him, the

1:02:43

way people talk about Jordan, you know,

1:02:45

but not just, I want to talk

1:02:48

more about the great fights that

1:02:50

he's had, how he's beaten so

1:02:52

many former champs. You know that kick

1:02:54

to the head on DC that

1:02:56

was set up beautifully the comeback

1:02:59

against Alexander Gustus and the comeback

1:03:01

against Reyes Going up and shutting

1:03:03

down Sorrell gone and less than around

1:03:06

you know less than a minute whatever

1:03:08

that was I want to talk about

1:03:10

that not just all the dumb controversies

1:03:13

he didn't want to fight jail They

1:03:15

stripped them you know the bad things

1:03:17

he's done the allegations of PD running

1:03:19

from one of the guys you know and

1:03:22

hiding under a boxing ring I think

1:03:24

is the story and waiting three years

1:03:26

to build up his body even though

1:03:28

he tweeted six months later look how

1:03:30

jacked I am you know and then oh

1:03:32

he's ready the minute that big guy leaves

1:03:34

for the other promotion like the timing of

1:03:36

it all that's not what I want to

1:03:39

talk about I want to talk about the

1:03:41

great stuff magga man I'm alive okay he

1:03:43

had his run he took the long road

1:03:45

he did his job he did his job

1:03:47

respect with him I love it

1:03:49

if you learn a little bit

1:03:51

more English. It'd be as charming

1:03:53

as Makashev and Habib, but we're

1:03:55

not there. Dupoisit. I like him. I

1:03:57

love him. Yeah, I'm okay with it. Okay. I

1:04:00

wish his coach would stop grabbing his

1:04:02

cock in between rounds, but whatever. Bola

1:04:04

Mohammed, I like him. Long Road, good

1:04:06

smack talk, punished, Leon Edwards deserved his

1:04:08

title. It's been a while by the

1:04:10

way for this little toe injury, but

1:04:13

you know, he did win it with

1:04:15

June and he's little and he's defending

1:04:17

it. But he said it was a

1:04:19

minor setback six weeks and look where

1:04:21

we're at. Makashav, I'm okay with it.

1:04:23

You know, he's already starting to beat

1:04:26

up. Let me see Poitier and Moekano,

1:04:28

you know, like Poitier, yeah, a true

1:04:30

number one, he hasn't gotten, a true

1:04:32

number one, 55, ever, but Volk, the

1:04:34

first fight was amazing and and look,

1:04:36

Makashev, smashes people, it looks like when

1:04:38

you fight Makashev and you leave that

1:04:41

octagon, you look like you got ran

1:04:43

over by a train. Toporia, legit, I

1:04:45

thought, I thought he played his cards

1:04:47

wrong by just giving up the title,

1:04:49

but if it's true. He can't make

1:04:51

weight, then I don't want some guy

1:04:54

to be on dialysis 20 years later

1:04:56

because he injured his kidneys. So if

1:04:58

that's the truth, okay, but if you're

1:05:00

actually kind of trying to be too

1:05:02

great too soon and moving up, man,

1:05:04

you might regret that decision. Marav already

1:05:07

spoke on him. Pantosia, respect to him,

1:05:09

Julian Apennia, oh God. I thought she

1:05:11

controversially beat Pennington, I thought Pennington won,

1:05:13

and then I thought Amananus just didn't

1:05:15

show up, because then a man and

1:05:17

then a man and then a man

1:05:20

and then has gave her gave her

1:05:22

gave her gave her open has gave

1:05:24

her open is gave her open is

1:05:26

gave her open, gave her open, gave

1:05:28

her open, gave her open, gave her

1:05:30

open, gave her open, Somehow she's pulled

1:05:32

it off. So good for her and

1:05:35

she's a tough champ. She's probably on

1:05:37

the way to the Hall of Fame

1:05:39

Shafchenko can't say enough about her. I

1:05:41

wish she almost had a little bit

1:05:43

more swag because when she was to

1:05:45

beaten people, I mean, she could have

1:05:48

really really just either been the greatest

1:05:50

heel ever or, you know, but Jean

1:05:52

Waylee smashes people. So I guess half

1:05:54

the USC champions goes, I'm just not

1:05:56

too thrilled with the way things work,

1:05:58

you know, you know. But all right,

1:06:01

I think that was it. Oh, oh,

1:06:03

yeah, Kayla Harrison. I do love that

1:06:05

match against. but it is scary man

1:06:07

she describes it as torture getting down

1:06:09

to 135 yeah goes I think we

1:06:11

might see someone who wins the title

1:06:14

might stick around for one title offense

1:06:16

but I think she knows she's doing

1:06:18

irreparable damage possibly to her body you

1:06:20

know well you got to give up

1:06:22

some of the muscle that's just what

1:06:24

it comes down to and she doesn't

1:06:27

want to do that yeah it's true

1:06:29

but now she looks like she would

1:06:31

be a pretty impressive champion because she

1:06:33

can talk and she's got accolades from

1:06:35

the Olympics and now from another fighting

1:06:37

league and if she can be Pena

1:06:39

which I expect her to do if

1:06:42

she can draw one more and get

1:06:44

Nunez back in the game ooh that

1:06:46

would be so fight right there she's

1:06:48

in a different situation because she's already

1:06:50

made the money at PFL she made

1:06:52

good money and now she's come over

1:06:55

here and made good money you're right

1:06:57

maybe one two and you can potentially

1:06:59

walk away And then she could be

1:07:01

in the broadcast booth and I think

1:07:03

she'd be good at that. Yeah. All

1:07:05

right folks, thanks again for listening to

1:07:08

us for the last 18 years. Thanks

1:07:10

for listening to this show in particular.

1:07:12

And too many people the name in

1:07:14

terms of computer guy Jeff and Frank

1:07:16

Trake, it would take us forever. So

1:07:18

we've all, we've thanked them along the

1:07:21

ways plenty times, many of them. So.

1:07:23

If any of them still are in

1:07:25

contact with us by tuning in or

1:07:27

following headlines, then they'll know we're doing

1:07:29

our thing and hopefully still making them

1:07:31

proud. Don't forget, Saturday, watch along for

1:07:33

USC 314, 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m.

1:07:36

Pacific for the pay-per-view, that's where you

1:07:38

choose to buy it or not, and

1:07:40

if you don't, then we'll be your

1:07:42

eyes in ears. And then the first

1:07:44

four, we can do it together, because

1:07:46

those are free, right. You don't have

1:07:49

to pay for those, right. Let me

1:07:51

tell you real quick if they're going

1:07:53

to be on ESPN or what they're

1:07:55

going to be on, pull it up

1:07:57

right quick. They are on... ESPN.

1:08:00

So they're on ESPN for the

1:08:02

four featured prelims of Ege Woodson,

1:08:04

Jan DeRobo Jean-John, Chase Hooper and

1:08:06

Jim Miller, Darren Elkins, Julian

1:08:09

Arosa, and then yeah, just paper view

1:08:11

for the main card. And don't forget, you

1:08:13

can catch us every Monday live on

1:08:15

SVC, like myself and goes, and a

1:08:17

couple of our colleagues, we have, like the

1:08:19

biggest news stories from the past week, that's

1:08:21

New Eastern 9 AM Pacific. and it's

1:08:23

live on YouTube and on Facebook. And for

1:08:26

now, we're out of here. Enjoy your

1:08:28

weekends. Go out and be a champion. We'll

1:08:30

see you Saturday.