and we’re live oh camera’s a little bit up uh but we’re live hi everybody
it is uh the 7th of September 2023 it is episode 170 of my live chat my name is
Luke Thomas thank you so much for joining me I greatly appreciate it how you doing out there yeah
um we’re in the middle of the dumbest and weirdest and most awful news cycle
um I won’t say in MMA history but in recent times yeah this is a crazy ass stupid very weird life we all live so I
guess we’re going to talk about it today uh let’s see what’s on the docket uh anything 293 related is he Strickland
related Francis inganu and Tyson Fury just had their press conference huh that was a little bit
um it was big and grandiose it was a little
bit boring not boring boring’s not quite the unremarkable maybe it’s quite it’s a better word for it not not quite what I
thought it would be I guess um neither here nor there so there’s that and uh by the way Dylan Dan is getting
sued I mean the the complaint just came out uh Steven Morocco MMA fighting just posted it so that’s craziness there too
lots of stuff happening so uh do me a favor if you’d be so kind yes you can give a thumbs up here on the uh on the
video that’d be awesome you can um you can subscribe it’s free it doesn’t cost you nothing it’s it’s really easy and
and and uh you can participate and we’ll go for about an hour with the free questions and then we’ll do anything paid you have
um at the end people were asking about last week uh why didn’t the the uh the
audio get posted is because the recorded version was a disaster I couldn’t post it so this time I’m at
home I’m in my home studio I think everything will be fine so this will go up tonight that’s no big deal but when
it that thing last week like the last like 40 minutes of it was choppy on my end I mean it wasn’t on the video but
the way it was recorded it was kind of messed up so I couldn’t really use it but this one should be fine this one
should be A-Okay all right all right um so yeah there you go oh uh real
quickly take the poll we have a poll up right now where we’re asking very simply anyone taking the upset in
the main event mma’s crazy you never know doesn’t seem likely that Strickland will
win but I’ve seen crazier that’s for sure so all right let’s get it
all right let me see if I can slightly turn this thing
um there we go better look at that that’s a little bit
more even huh looks a little nicer update um I am seeing a doctor now for my sleep
uh has it improved somewhat somewhat everyone’s come out of
the network or the woodwork with their suggestions including like taking this medicine I am on a couple of different ones now prescribed ones but also the
Magnesium glycinate I’m on that now as well which is not prescription you can get that over the counter
um I think theanine is how you pronounce it the anime I’m not sure you pronounce it that as well and some other stuff too
so we shall see how it goes the basic problem that I have is I can’t I wake up
at three every morning and I can’t go back to bed until like 5 30 but then I have to get up again at like seven for
my daughter so it’s a problem but we’re working on it we’re working on it to the extent that any of you care all right
with that in mind let’s get these questions up and get this process started shall we
here we are um yeah okay very good uh Luke how do
you control anxiety when things get out of control when do you do to battle it well this is about the only time in my life my anxiety has gotten the better of
me usually I’m able to handle it do like anything else it’s just really lifestyle choices uh more than anything else uh
um getting regular sleep to the extent you need any like counseling you can get it but getting exercise there was a
there was someone had done a meta-analysis of a thousand studies did you guys see this it came out this week where did it get published I don’t think
it was Jama maybe it was Lancet I don’t I had to go back and see but um it was like a thousand study medicine
a thousand studies in a meta-analysis that basically had shown um
that uh exercise was in certain cases as beneficial and in other cases even more
beneficial than therapy um I don’t think it’s a one or the other particular kind of equation but it can
be very helpful but I’ll tell you right now like I I can’t get my anxiety under control now like it’s it has it is
getting the best of me quite candidly so um when I figure it out I’ll let you
know uh but usually I’ve been able to handle it just by having better lifestyle choices talking through problems you
know not holding on to issues kind of the basic stuff to be honest with you
all right uh how was the reception of the of last cafeteras the women’s soccer
team in Colombia how was it I will tell you that’s the most I’ve ever seen in the country Embrace their female soccer team they were on television commercials
they were in advertisements everywhere people were wearing the jerseys the jerseys were prominently featured in uh
Colombia is an Adidas country like though you can find Nike there but it’s an Adidas country all of them had all
that stuff on display and I’d never ever seen that before so I’d actually say pretty big pretty big I don’t know what
the television ratings were but anecdotally it was way more than I had ever seen before and I’ve been going for about 10 years
uh let’s see this one’s about the DC area I’ll skip that one
all right look what works for you on here what works for you and what doesn’t for you broadening your sleep problems well
a candidly not much is working not much is working the medication is helping a little bit a little bit
um I can’t stop waking up at three I cannot
I cannot stop exercise check eat carbs uh as your last meal check but don’t eat
three hours before eating check don’t drink water or any other liquids two hours before sleeping check took a hot
bath before sleep check don’t have any blue light or any light you know read a book before you go to bed check make it
nice and cold check I mean all the kinds of things that you can do for Sleep hygiene I’m now doing it’s making a
little bit of difference but not much of one um so to what you can attribute that to
again stress I don’t know I don’t know exactly I I would imagine that’s the best explanation but it’s a little harder to tell you what’s working
because I have not solved the problem yet but I it has to it has to be the case that if you use these
better sleep hygiene practices over time that it results in better outcomes over
time but I guess we’ll have to see Luke if Izzy were to somehow lose to
Strickland and this is an important caveat it wasn’t controversial should he
get an immediate rematch um
okay so two different questions should he or will he should he
no no I don’t think he should uh and that’s me talking you know a guy who’s
been a big supporter of his career he lost to Pereira and then got it back
which was big but if you lose two times in three fights you you’re not in my
judgment entitled to an immediate rematch especially in this particular case if it’s controversial now I I suspect since this would be a huge upset
if he were to get it that they probably would in fact run it back
um but I would be okay if they didn’t it’s just like from the division standpoint like what would the UFC want to do with
Strickland as Champion would they want to give him hamzat next would they want to give him drikas next how much would
that sell I still think that they would probably believe that that new they at that point they would probably have a
rivalry right a real rivalry of Sean and Izzy as a as a polar opposite kind of
pair not just in like the way they’re presented to the world but competitively now right because here’s the issue like
they’re obviously very different people as promotional entities but most people
don’t believe it’s a competitive rivalry we’ll see what happens on Saturday but that’s the prevailing belief you turn
that on its head and you got a whole new different kind of scenario so I suspect that if it is a situation where Strickland wins yeah my door’s locked uh
because here comes the two star and it wasn’t controversial no I don’t I’m I’m of the belief man where if you’re losing
two title fights and out of three of them you you know I don’t care who you are you shouldn’t be getting immediate
rematches that would be crazy but I tend to think that he probably would just give him how the business operates so
you know different different set of circumstances but um yeah
yeah two extra’s home let’s see this here we are
whoops there we go all right
let’s go to this next one uh look how much of an improvement do
you think Izzy has made in his BJJ with all the training he’s been doing with Craig Jones could it be a useful trick up his sleeve for his last couple of
fights as he gets older and Fighters start to figure out his current style do you think it’s even possible for Izzy to make a significant change in his game at
this point for example at the end of proton versus Izzy one is he could have shot for a takedown to prevent the ref
from stopping the fight but I think it’s just so in Grants a good point but I think it’s just so ingrained in his mind
that he should stay on the feet that didn’t even cross his mind to shoot that’s a great Point his approach to MMA might just be too striking focused to
make a significant change in his style uh that’s probably true
um so you’re asking like what impact Craig Jones can make well I can’t understand what Craig Jones is trying to teach people Craig Jones is trying to
teach I don’t know if this is the best way to explain I’m not even sure how true this is and what I’m about to say but I’m
trying to think of a helpful way to understand it it’s almost like Craig Jones is teaching a hybrid style of
grappling that is between catch wrestling and Jujitsu they’re just
calling it jiu jitsu but Craig Jones is trying to teach people about the value
of actual control pinning Turks Nelson’s half Nelson’s full
um you know uh any number of different tricks that you can employ
to actually pin someone either on their back or actually on their chest either
way you can kind of you know keep them risk controls different kinds of wrist rides now they’re not the reason why
it’s not catch wrestling is catch wrestling has a lot of like pain submissions you know and it’s a real
brutal form it’s not exactly that although the methods of control can be painful but it’s not exactly that it’s
still sort of Jiu Jitsu based in its approach to submissions and chokes and everything else but it’s a lot of you
know um I’ll focus on that a little bit more like the dagestani style of grappling
and so you know if you just look defensively at what Craig Jones has been doing for a guy like volcanovsky where
he’s been using sumagoshi to stuff some of uh makachev’s takedowns and how much he was able to nullify makachev’s
grappling I guess you know there’s obviously micro was able to get to the back he’s a naturally bigger guy but you know a lot of what he does was nullified
I think you know you have that the thing is in Sean’s particular case I just don’t know how relevant these
considerations even are um I guess we’ll see this is much more relevant for a situation like Hamza or
Bo nickel should it ever come to that right um so that’s really not where we are
but I do think your point about him like not having these situational not even awareness but the situational instinct
to shoot I think that’s a good point and I think that’s probably always going to be some kind of a limit there’s always
going to be trade-offs in One Direction or another where uh they have to give up
certain things to get another um and that’s going to be a lot of like just ingrained
competitive preference you’re probably right about that that will probably limit him the question is not that the
question is I think for a guy like Sean of Sean wraps up with him and now they’re tussling and now there are or
you know um if if he actually even finds himself on top other methods of control that he
can use to keep Sean Penn if he’s underneath other methods of uh Escape
um that a guy like Craig is very good at teaching submission defense what to do
in like really very bad situations like for some of the you know you could tell that they for example when volcanovsky
fought Ortega they had drilled what to do in certain uh submissions like what kind of physical cues to call out
shoulder shoulder shoulders putting the shoulders back that kind of a thing so
I think he can be very beneficial when someone comes around with like a very new way of looking at uh the sport even
for a more older or Advanced athlete the way that Izzy is or Sean Strickland really anybody else a lot can be gained
with a brand new approach it’s just that when everyone has the same information basically and then you get older there’s
really not much you can tweak at that point so yeah if I had the option to move to any EU
country to live and work uh uh Spain Spain yeah
uh let’s see have you heard about fernan Lopez becoming a Matchmaker of pfl Europe no
seems to have largely flown under the radar if true um
I’d have to double check but I was actually talking with someone in the pfl this week and about a bunch of stuff and
definitely that’s not at all what I heard no so
I’ll go back and double check but I’m going to tell you that that’s probably not true you might be asking does he
have undue influence over some of the matchmaking that might be a different thing but like well I guess I’m not sure
what you’re asking are you saying becoming a Matchmaker for people you could say like in a formal capacity like
in a formal capacity he definitely isn’t in an informal capacity that’s sort of a different kind of conversation but my
understanding is that’s not the case it’s not the case at all
uh okay next Luke the antitrust lawsuit court date is now set for April 8th
2024. uh what effect do you think this will have on UFC 300
none none um The Cajun Johnson case would be the
one everything after 2017 up until today that that case is uh headed for
Discovery but I don’t think they you know they’re in the early stages of that and UFC 300 is still going to be an
extravaganza I mean even this week Dana White was talking about the pfl like you know they run business like a charity
and whatnot like you know he wasn’t as disparaging as he had been in the past but he was still kind of bragging
not about their Market concentration and power but just about how uh inept and incapable everyone else is
and they you know they sort of like kind of loosely attributed to all the things that they do right some of which
is true uh but of course with the what the plaintiffs are saying in the fighter lawsuit is it’s more than that that you
can attribute it in fact to um business practices that limit competition but what effect we’ll have
on UFC 300 I don’t think we’ll have any
okay here we go look you’ve talked about the influence
of culture on Combat Sports participation before I wanted to inquire about the economic influences I don’t have the data in hand but wealth or lack
of wealth appears to be a significant indicator of participation in Combat Sports with wealth inequality projected to increase worldwide
you see this driving the overall rates of uh particular participatory rates of Combat Sports worldwide ah
I think you’re trying to uh in good faith but I think you’re trying to take an argument about
plate stage capitalism and then trying to infer what kind of s Downstream
Sports implications there might be I have no idea yeah I mean yes it
is like it is obviously quite true that people of uh humble or meager means
often are attracted to combat sports sports in general actually but certainly Combat Sports more than that but it’s
also true like for example like I just saw uh France is playing Ireland right some of the national team play and you
know France has this incredible system where if they’re if you’re from any country like all these countries who
were um not client states but Colonial uh colonially occupied by them
they in many cases they’re eligible for you know repatriation immigration benefits and also participation with
French Athletics and um you know they’ve got world-class facilities and world-class training so
you’ve got like this you know incredible pool of talent from which to pull and
then on top of it you’ve got world-class training facilities like it is true as a mechanism of who gets recruited and who
has the kind of you know Gusto to pursue it people of Hard Scrabble backgrounds
are often find themselves in these roles but it is also true that you know some
exceptions here or there uh in general in sports world-class facilities for those kinds of people are going to
produce better outcomes I mean this is quite obvious but like what does worldwide like what does the the the the
the genie coefficient going up do for sports participatory rates I off I
know you know uh uh look you’ve mentioned many times you’re gonna walk out MMA
be big mouth Strikes Again by The Smiths however I’ve never heard you explain why you chose that song in particular also
you never struck me as a fan of the Smiths or Morrissey not enough chug chugs you know what I
mean um mostly it was
um it was because at the time in which I was I mean this the story has kind of stayed the same I don’t know if that I
don’t know if the answer would be the same anymore if I was asked it but there was a time in MMA where this is basically you know back when the UFC and
everybody else was doing like new metal face-to-paying crap you know and like every everything was aggro in
your face why you know just constant just everyone’s bitter all the time
the lyrics of the song are you know brutal and violent but the it’s got this
sort of relative to Stems face the pain it’s got the sort of you know very
beautiful Melody uh to a degree and so it was this contrast it you got the bite of you know someone
saying I’m gonna pull up the lyrics for this so you guys can see for yourself
strikes again it’s a great song um here
there we go there we go let’s let’s switch this up
all right look so sweetness sweetness I was only joking when I said I’d like to smash every
tooth in your head sweetness sweetness I was only joking when I said by rights you should be bludgeoned in your bed and
now I know how Joan of Arc felt um it was this atmospherics that you see here of of brutality that is written
that’s not I’m not here to say that the song doesn’t have more uh significant or deeper meaning but that it used this
imagery and yet in contrast it wasn’t Cannibal Corpse like words were all the time you know it was this there was this
dichotomy I kind of liked that at the time in which I was watching MMA or the time which I first got asked that
everything was just aggro in your face blah and I kind of had enough of it but I do
like the Smiths I mean how soon is now is a fantastic song um
yeah I like I mean I’m not a Smith’s expert by any stretch but I like them
what would be next for taito ivassa beating volkov would be a good win
that’d be a good win man um volkov is like you know just kind of
outside that that gone aspinol pavlovich territories he’s a little bit outside of that but he’s kind
of hovering you know if you’re not ready for that he’ll he’ll be the first to discover it so that would put him in a
good strong Elite space um but you know that to me it’s not like could you could what if he gets his ass
kicked the whole fights and the whole fight excuse me and then pulls off like what Derrick Lewis does but he just leaps into range and just pops
him I don’t know how much that would prove I could I think what I’m looking to see is what can he prove
what can he like verifiably prove with skill development and getting better and
everything else what can he do to like actually make a difference there
yeah here we go you guys ever seen this
nerd wax sounds like something BC puts on his balls
hold on um let’s put this on you put it on your glasses and helps you stay on your face
that’s what they say uh but the answer to the question about Tui Vasa yeah I I I’m not a win
I can see scenarios where he could win and not do the kinds of things that I’m I’m curious to see if he can do what I’m
looking to see is like what kind of ceiling does he actually have uh the pavlovich fight I know he took it you
know under less than ideal circumstances but this one is much more ideal so let’s see what he can put together
best three advices uh advices is not a word but uh best three pieces of advice
you’ve ever gotten in your life um ooh uh
save your money and put it in a 401k that’s one it’s been a good one
um I’ll just give you one I’ll just give you one a good one
a lot of people say don’t pursue your passion because if you pursue your passion
it might corrupt your passion or you might you know you won’t go far because you were better suited for something
else and it will blow up in your face and that’s true and it’s not true but I think here is what I would say about it
if you’re not good at your passion um yeah you probably shouldn’t do it for
a living like if the thing that you love is really just a hobby that you’ve got you know some skill at or whatever but it’s not you can’t really earn a living
off of it without just incredible sacrifice and or you know being destitute through long periods of
your life then you should probably rethink it but what I would say is the overarching theme would be get good at
something and then whatever that is you should follow that you have to develop a skill if you’re lucky enough to develop
a skill through your passion well then you’re in good shape then I don’t see what the problem would be with pursuing
your passion so it’s not a question of do it or don’t but you have to really be
very very clear-eyed about what you have to do you have to develop skills you have to develop a skill set around a
particular kind of exercise or a form of expertise or field that is monetizable
that is has lasting value and that you have demonstrated ability in
and if you don’t have demonstrated ability go to what you have demonstrated ability in because just loving something
and then not getting very far in it and being broke all the time or whatever this is not a path to like happiness
this is not a path to being a well-adjusted adult this is a path to disaster you know
uh Luke last oh that’s terrible uh Luke last year my Pops passed from cancer
sorry to hear that bro since I fought my first fighting MMA became a supervisor but I’d be I’d excuse me I have since
fought my first fight MMA became a supervisor but I’d be lying if I say every day I don’t think about that MF or
uh I don’t know how to move past it been a year and I don’t know how to live without my old man anyway much love oh a
year is nothing bud a year is nothing ready for this one next I didn’t even realize this until
today I actually texted uh BC and uh our producer about it because it was on my mind uh I realized today that next month so
October of 2023 will be 20 years since my mom died and there are certain times it feels
like 20 minutes ago 20 hours or 20 days dude it’s always going to feel uh like
you don’t want to live without them because you don’t and you’re just not going to give that up very easily we’ve
been over this conversation a million times but the basic idea is that that pain just doesn’t go away and you just
build up the resiliency to deal with it you know 500 pounds on the deadlift is
500 pounds that doesn’t change but if you get strong enough to lift it well then you’re in a good then there you are but it remains 500 pounds nothing about
that ever changes that’s what this is dude that’s what this is I’m not trying to be harsh I’m trying to be just uh just a level with
you and obviously a situation is terrible and I extend to you my sincerest condolences and deepest sympathies but that’s the reality bro
it will always be awful um but but the good news is you will
have over time the ability to handle that within you know with a little bit more steely-eyed
um concentration you know but yeah dude that’s going to be real
bad for a long time uh dude me I mean two two years three years into it I was
still three or four five yes dude I just drank forever after that I mean I
drank forever forever after that like one year if it you know it feels like a
Hots a year like when is it going to get better it’s gonna be a while it’s gonna be a while dude so my recommendation is to not focus on
when is this going to stop feeling like and more focus on what can I do to
uh create some resiliency and resolve um because you know just think about it
dude it’s illogical to be like oh I don’t miss my dad anymore
it’s illogical I mean for certain people that won’t be the case but like in your particular case that’s obviously going to be true you it there’s never going to
be a day where you don’t miss this guy it’s never going to happen so you can’t go look for that
you have to look for something else you have to look um
you have to look for sources of strength that build you up not bring that down to earth that is
what it is
there’s a question here about Benoit Saint Denise so I brought up something on the MK extra credit where I said you know he absorbed a lot of strikes per
minute five plus and folks have said well that’s all because of one fight yes and no yes and no yes it is true that it
is heavily skewed by one fight numerically that is true but you combine that with the tape study and the dude
takes hard punches clean a lot a lot that one went the there was a lack
of a referee stoppage or Intervention which let that one go way too long which just led to just a lot of extra
difficulty so again the point I’m trying to make here about been in Washington is I’m not declaring to you that you know
I could predict the future exactly what’s happening with him but this idea like oh let’s peg him as a future champion
[Music] takes he he ha he does not incorporate
defense as seriously as he needs to I was kind of using that number as a shorthand explanation for that or a
shorthand representation of that fact which is a little bit off um and I I understand why people push
back against it but I I think the tape is clear on him that even in this last fight way too willing to sit in
mid-range and accept punishment and you know Moises is a good fighter that’s a great win but
in this division you cannot make trade-offs like that for very long
contracts are more visible no
um let’s see oh good question
Luke your favorite style of MMA fighter to watch just for the pure enjoyment of it Russell boxers technical kickboxers
nagasani smother Style also if you haven’t been to the pnw I would highly recommend it some of the
most beautiful places oh Pacific Northwest America has to offer dude I have never been to Seattle it’s like I
cannot believe uh I’ve never been there but I’ve never been there so that’s depressing but all right either here or
there um for the longest it was going to be like
the Jiu Jitsu guy and then that kind of morphed into the dagestani guy and I’d still kind of say it’s the
dagestani you know wrist control heavy ground and pound kind of guy
um but it’s morphed a little bit more along striking lines these days
um the pinpoint accurate Striker is the one I kind of like the most uh I like Sean O’Malley’s game Alexander
O’Malley’s game I mean his personality is not for me you know all his craziness of whatever he does not for me but again
just speaking about his game you’re asking about the games of people and not that like you know
he’s a nice guy like he’s always been nice to me I like Sean as a uh and in terms of the person I’ve interacted with
I’m just saying like that kind of the the hair and the clothes and all that kind of face tattoos like you know it’s not for me but who gives a like
it’s not my life it’s his anyway neither hero there the point I’m trying to make is about the game his game is is awesome
to watch um that kind of thing a real pinpoint I mean you know again guys like that would Bud Crawford like
kind of just blew my mind with what he did against Errol Spence uh and then you
guys see Spence triggered the rematch clause so we’re gonna get two of them um
that kind of thing has really really uh taken hold but in general it’s been
grappling based more recently kind of Habib style fighter I’d say that’s the
guy I typically have liked the most but that’s beginning to change who has the best tattoos by division
damn I don’t know like people’s tattoos that well uh
yeah I don’t know I don’t know dude I don’t know
uh uh so I was asking again if Strickland wins on Saturday would there be an immediate rematch probably
okay look I do a lot of running and friends have got bad injuries preventing them
from progressing what are your top three MMA names if they didn’t get injured in early in their development Sean O’Malley injuries
and suspension do you think any of those different Jesus top three
from injuries um goddamn that’s a good question
I have to think about that one I don’t I can’t like the immediate recall of that you guys have to imagine I’m sleeping
like four hours a night for like the last forever you know my my recall has
dramatically suffered um
I’m not sure I know guys who have suffered like Knockouts early that kind of up their development you know
or they’re like bad losses that up their development T Edwards would be one David Terrell would be another one
um there’s a few uh what was the guy the uh the division one heavyweight who won the
won the national title he fought one time for like Pro Elite or Elite XC and then was like this he
was trading an AKA he was a division one National Champion he was like yo this not not about this
um there’s always kind of a question about rule on Gardener you know that kind of thing but
uh that’s a weird question I’m gonna skip that one about the like pay in different
countries due to globalization that’s a little weird one okay here we go
uh Luke where does flyweight Rose rank among the most misjudged weight changes
uh uh I think we don’t have enough information to fully declare this it did
not look to me like she was a good fit for it based on this performance
but if you can’t make a grip and you can’t make a fist to throw in a fight sport dude you’re pretty limited
you know that’s a major that’s a major hiccup in
the middle of a fight early in the fight too it wasn’t like it was late third round it was like what early mid or so of the
first I mean was it just it was a mess for her so that’s just not a great this is not a great it wasn’t a great look
based on the look that we did get did I get a lot of confident feelings that she
could physically hang at 125 no I don’t think she’s going to be super outskilled
but I can understand some of the other trepidations that folks might have about some of those things so I think you need
to see more I do I understand being apprehensive but definitive seems to me premature no
oh that’s interesting uh Luke what was your thoughts be of Demetrius Johnson came back to Banton
wait to fight sugar Shawn DJ has said he’s been thinking about retiring and I’m a manless he feels motivated to go through big training camps given Sean’s
star power and DJ’s Legacy in MMA this could draw big numbers not to mention Henry sahuto being a cornerman and
adding more eyeballs so uh when DJ fought uh Dominic Cruz it was
here in DC down there at the Verizon Center I was there cage side for it and you know what
you really saw there was DJ’s not a good fit for 135 now I know everyone’s at 135 now up at
one so it’s a little bit different I think he’s obviously gotten way better since that time and Cruz was able to win
that with wrestling which sugar Shawn would not win that with wrestling if he were to win but if algerman Sterling is having trouble getting him down I would
imagine DJ would too DJ is a very I mean DJ is good everywhere but he probably is
not going to win a fight on the feet the point I’m trying to make is um he’s fighting good tough like very respectable opponents in one and what he
did in the morice uh the last fight the one in Denver it
was just amazing amazing what he was he’s been able to do and then testing himself even against brown belts uh in
the Masters uh ibjf tournament was spectacular but I
think it would go poorly for him if he went against the very best bantamweights in the world today uh as a more natural
flyweight so I understand that he has that he is better that he has shown I think better ability against bigger guys
than he did at the time which he fought Dominic Cruz but I don’t ultimately think that it would change his fortunes
if he were to return um you know I I think he should do what
he wants but if he comes back to the UFC I think it would be you know I don’t think it would go
all that well uh let’s see Luke a long time listener
first time commenter with Izzy’s recent comments on UFC 300 right he wants to compete there it seems like all the
stars want to be on that card who do you think usually would like to have a headline co-headline uh assuming double retirement in
November Conor O’Malley is evil yeah you got it they would throw some women on there as well you know they would probably have
um I don’t know what’s gonna happen with Grosso and chefchenko but the one of those titles Suarez may be fighting at
115 for the belt or whatever but yeah they’re gonna have they’re going to have the Conor one is
hard to say because like Conor doesn’t fight with other people and sure Rev on the card so if that is in play then I don’t know
what you’re going to do but basically everyone else you mentioned I think they would line up in just the way you’re talking about it yeah I don’t I don’t have like you know a specific script to
follow at this point but yes any of their preeminent Mega Stars they would want to put on it you know
oh man no what the uh Luke did you see Jon Jones’s brother
Chandler right out of paper titled I used to think my Idols were crazy with how all over the place it
seemed as well as his recent post I think you may be going through something related to CTE or mental health issues Danny V in Thailand yeah man I have not
followed this but I’ve been seeing the headlines so Chandler Jones is having some problems and has been beefing with the
Raiders so Arthur Jones played for the Ravens for a time but he had a PD suspension in
his career never recovered he’s out of the league but Chandler is a beast and has been a beast for quite
some time oh yeah look at this Chandler Jones says Raider sent crisis
team to his home yeah not money not money
uh well look at these ads Jones showed a picture of an expired
badge belonging to a member of the Vegas CRT and wrote Raiders sent her to my place you need to come with us you’re in
danger with a laughing face emoji they had me outside in my draws LOL naked the
lady was rude then I got to showing her some of them text and then she switched up buddy from the Raiders tried to get
me to the give me the look like don’t say anything now I understand why players turn to social media at first I
frowned upon it but it’s our only Outlet if I didn’t do this it would have been kept Under Wraps anybody interviewed
them and asked them why I’m not on the team because I don’t know uh damn
Jones who missed a handful of practices late in training camp for an undisclosed reason also posted a screenshot of an
alleged August 18 text exchange for Raiders coach Josh McDaniels in which Jones later said I won’t share anything else if the Raiders let him play on
Sunday season opener at the Denver Broncos y’all see how buddy talk to me like I’m an item LMAO look at my text
and look at his Jones also posted a video of himself winning reps in joint practice with the
San Francisco 49ers he’s just 33 still God damn entering a second season of three year 51 million dollar free agent contract
with the Raiders blah blah blah yeah apparently he’s having a mental episode or not I’m not exactly sure what’s going on with that but something is an issue
yeah and then and then uh McDaniel says quote we’ve never really gone into those kinds of things so I’m going to steer
away from that end quote I hope he’s okay I don’t know
but that sounds bad that doesn’t sound money you talk about a sport with head injuries and like who knows
all right clear that off there we go all right yeah let’s get to this crazy ass story
uh here we go hey Luke here we go I would like to know what you think about the Izzy dog situation yeah well he was
tweeting through it today do you think it could be enough to distract him from Sean Strickland no also if he does
somehow lose immediate rematch yeah everyone’s asking about the immediate rematch again one more time on the immediate rematch I don’t think if he
okay if he were to lose and it were to be completely fair and reasonable then I
don’t think he should be getting a rematch but I suspect that if it were to happen he would okay so what do you
think about the dog situation um you know one of the situations where when it becomes your news cycle you’re
like I don’t know how you can’t look at that and be like what have I done with my
life that this is a thing I have to now like I’m a 44 year old man on this
podcast being like do MMA fighters jack off their dogs I mean I you know just saying it you’re like this is the
dumbest thing I’ve ever had you know who the okay
um I saw the video it’s an old video like that thing had surfaced a long time ago I guess you know
here here’s one thing I could say for sure people are bored with this fight so like they gotta find something to give a about so I think that’s
partly it it is weird I mean it’s weird I mean folks if you got dogs don’t touch your dog like that please
like don’t do that you know and uh I mean you know
do I need to tell people not to do that like obviously don’t do that and uh yeah it’s weird dude he’s a
weird guy he’s a weird guy he does weird and then that I mean that’s I mean I don’t even think that’s the full story
because uh Sean Strickland apparently I saw some screenshots I’m not verified but I saw
some screenshots floating around where he admitted on like Instagram uh stories to like killing a dog or he regretted it
but it’s like dude what the is going on here you know the whole thing is just
awful uh yeah dude Izzy’s a weird dude it’s weird and it’s gross and of course
it’s you know uh can’t defend
you know like people are like he I mean I can’t believe we have to have this combo
people are turning into like is he bangs dogs well calm down here moral panic I
don’t think it’s quite that but like you know fondling your dog however humorous you might imagine that to be probably
not a good idea you know probably not I mean I can’t even imagine it would occur to most people to not to like have to
like resist the urge to do that uh don’t don’t do that like respect your dog’s bodily autonomy to the extent that
you know short of pulling the tennis ball out of their mouth or whatever we should respect their body autonomy
yeah it’s he’s it’s weird I mean uh you know I I uh
I don’t know what else does like the whole thing is bizarre uh candle and
then he was he was leaning into it today do you guys see the tweets at first I didn’t even know what the people were talking about because and then I
you know I caught up on the story and then uh and then he was tweeting through it like here’s this dog doing this thing
around me here’s this dog doing that and then he turned into like a John Wick thing like he you know
I I just can’t believe I’m 44 and this is the I have to talk about on a
Thursday like nothing says that people are you know yes that’s just gross and weird I
mean obviously but on top of it like people are like really interested in this and I’m like man if you’re really
interested in this you’re a dumb like it’s it’s weird and
it’s worth you know uh examining enough to make sure crimes
aren’t being committed but more than that I don’t really know what to say except the in the sport are weird as you know but like
that’s the other part too it’s like don’t get me wrong like you can’t defend it it’s gross and weird but you
know if you went to the cops with that video in Auckland you’d be like yo I gotta proof that this guy is abusing dogs and they’d be like all right let’s
see it and then he showed him that until you get the out of the office you know they would they get this this is not enough to like criminally convict
someone however weird and uh bizarre it might be so I’m with you all that I saw
that I was like dude what the like don’t do that like that’s like what are we doing here you know
um but you know I would if if if we don’t have to go into like is
this a crime territory um you know what’s the famous saying the unexamined life is not worth living I
would rather spend my time once we can check that off the Box all right what am I saying once we can
um remove that as a uh concern is it a crime or not I mean I guess this was a
long time ago and the dog is now deceased but um I can’t believe I have to
talk about this it’s like so it just just I don’t know how as an MMA fan
you can’t be embarrassed that this is the discourse on fight week right like this is embarrassing for the
sport that this is a thing that is coming up in press conferences uh I I
sort of understand it but like the whole thing is just it’s a weird look for him it’s it’s it’s
a bad look in many ways uh it’s a bad look for the sport it’s a weird look for the sport it’s gross
why are we talking about this any more than we have to like this is the we gotta talk
about people’s people’s dogs dicks what what are we doing what are we doing
how old are we you know how I mean how old are we folks how old are we so you know
listen I don’t know I don’t know why anyone would be compelled to do weird ass
like that but I don’t know I don’t know it’s yeah it’s with weird and gross dude it’s weird and
gross it’s weird and gross there’s really no two ways about it
um yeah pretty pretty stupid that my life has
amounted to this that on November excuse me that’s September 7th 2023
gray-haired I’m looking at you being like well let’s talk about uh this uh guy’s dog’s dick and uh to what extent
it was fondled I’m like oh my god like what has happened to my life
that this is the this is the topic that I have to uh
you know this is the topic du jour like oh
also it’s just like off-putting to even have a conversation about it you know so
I think everyone should probably calm down a little bit but at the same time
yeah man but like you know Izzy even this week he was like yeah if I have kids are going
to be homeschooled not a great idea not a great idea and you know I don’t if I recall correctly he’s expressed support
for like Andrew Tate and stuff like that like he’s got a lot of do all of these guys have just crazy you
know what’s kind of funny I was thinking about this the other day irrespective of this situation like it’s kind of funny that a lot of these Fighters get done
with their career and they’re like yeah I’m thinking about like running for office and that like do you have seen examples where that has worked out actually uh on a smaller level but it’s
like some of my Fighters often don’t realize that they have views that are far
outside the mainstream uh or what is even electable
um even in a you know very partisan primary situation like to say nothing of
like to what extent they understand the mechanisms of government and what the responsibility would be more than that
it’s like here is the like what’s the core set of ideas that the vast majority
of Americans would support like Arcane to what extent do a lot of the ideas espoused by retiring MMA fighters match
that it’s not a lot of overlap it’s not a lot of overlap they believe in and do a lot of weird
and it’s all in various degrees and in various different places a little
distressing um if you’ve got a good idea about what to do about it you know let me know I
certainly don’t
uh that’s a weird question but I’ll something that tickles you something that you think of and can’t help but
laugh at no matter how long ago it was or how silly it is
what is up with these questions um
I mean there was one time uh in 29 Palms we were heading out for a
cax combined Norms exercise we were sleeping in these like quants and Huts if you’ve ever been out to anyone who’s
a Marines ever been on 29 Palms there’s the there’s the base itself and then you drive out a little bit further and
there’s like this staging base and in the staging base they have they have like a px or like a mini PX like a
restaurant you can get beers there when you come back in stage but you know you sleep in like these Quonset Huts like
these metal huts that are all like this they’re long and they’re like the the foundation is actually dug into the
ground so when you go in them you actually go not underground but a little bit below ground level and this one time this Marine was like
we had to sleep because we had the the next day we had to go out into the into the field this was snoring I mean
sawing logs and I was like dude no I’m just not playing this and it ended up being like an officer like a field grade officer and I took a handful of sand
underneath my my cot I had a cot and I just chucked that and hit
him right in the face with it and uh he was bitter he was bitter but he stopped snoring he actually moved huts
um you know one of those things where you gotta be there to be there but the joy I took in throwing a handful of sand
in that fucker’s face for snoring makes me happy
oh uh if Sean beats Izzy where would it stand on top upsets and MMA so what is
Izzy Like A minus let’s see Izzy is a
here we go God damn minus 700 in certain places plus five
I mean it wouldn’t be Ronda Rousey ask I’m gonna guess top 10 maybe even top five probably closer to top ten
the question is not so much upsets in all of MMA betting but in title fights
it’d probably be top five or top ten
um again if Sean beats Izzy okay let’s go to this one look it seems uh at
least to me that Jon Jones is Not long for the sport with that being said the three top contenders that come to mind
if he departs are aspinal pavlovich and gone do you see one asserting themselves as the dominant heavyweight or do you think
yeah no there’s definitely going to be a pecking order I slept on pavlovich for the longest
it might be him gone I think still has some work to do so I don’t really know how that one’s
gonna go um but pavlovich has weaknesses too
there will be a pecking order but like what’s exciting about the current state of them is that they all kind of do slightly not Aspen all and gone are more
alike obviously pavlovich is is more like the heavy hitter but he’s not quite the athlete that those two guys are
um and not as well-rounded I don’t think as aspin all so aspin all might be the the leader but he kind of you know he’s a little bit doing this when he competes
too so we’d have to see more questions about Izzy’s weird ass
Behavior okay uh look some people seem to say or imply
that pfl acquiring beltor would be a huge game changer but just thinking of it objectively there really aren’t any cross-promotional matchups I’ve been
quote dying to see between Bellator and pfl most of the Cross proportional matchups I want to see between bellator’s 135ers and 45s versus ufcs
yes aside from maybe maybe Harrison versus Cyborg are there really any
cross-promotional matchups between pfl and Bellator that you as an MMA fan are dying to see that you feel will help
make the pfl must-see should they eventually acquire Bellator or is the hope that the pfl would just be able to
Market AJ’s pitbulls and usman’s and other top Billboard Fighters better than Bellator no the
you’re right that you know um the real game changer would be getting
access to the guys who move the needle on Pay-per-view the Sean O’Malley’s
the izzies the the eventually the aspinalls or whoever you know pick pick
your guy pick whoever that is the McGregor’s you know uh that that’s
the goal the goal is to get access to those guys The Proven draws on pay-per-view or at least the guys who at
a bare minimum um you know command attention in that space
the purchase of Bellator is significant because one um well the main point about purchasing
Bellator is how much it fortifies the roster because right now right now pfl has a
bunch of guys that people just don’t necessarily know uh and of course that doesn’t change overnight by acquiring
Bellator but now you have a much more fleshed out bantamweight division a much
more fleshed out featherweight lightweight division 170 to an extent there are light heavyweight divisions one of the best in the world in Bellator
if not the best like it’s really really good so it gives you roster depth and quality
to do the kinds of to do the kind of deal that the the deals that pfl wants
they want to do everyone wants to copy the UFC they want to do you know similar kinds of margins similar kinds of
content and so it gives them the ability to produce that kind of content with a much healthier version of the product
you know it’s not just that hey they got Shane Burgos here they got oam there that’s cool but then what about next
weekend it’s a bunch of people you don’t know no now it’s got a little bit more life to it they can do a little bit more
with it they can play it gives them the ability to produce this content Factory in a much more Nimble and uh forthright
way it doesn’t change their fortunes insofar as what they really need is the
access to the premier end of the drawing Talent so no it’s a two-part problem
they would have to solve but giving the fighters a a clear number two to be like
okay this is the like what’s the Pepsi to the coke here it would make them that now again I keep
hearing that they want to do the brand separately which if anyone from pfl is watching please don’t do that you are wasting your time and everyone
else’s time doing that please don’t do that what a gigantic mistake that would be and burning money to just
burn money don’t do that the the Bellator IP I I don’t know how much
value that has but I I don’t I don’t know I don’t think it has a whole lot but
um the roster has a tremendous amount of value for the reasons A4 mentioned the the library has a tremendous amount of
value for any number of obvious reasons like really using that and then I think
relaxing some of their tournament format that’s the way they have to go that’s that’s the future that’s the path that’s
that’s the key but just buying yeah we’re going to keep Brands separate for what
for what I mean there might be some kind of play where they can get more in television
rights by having separate Brands which I might explain that reasoning but if there’s not that to it then it’s utterly
pointless and and frankly counterproductive don’t do that
boom it’s a waste of everyone’s time
um thoughts on the pay-per-view numbers for this card poor poor
poor um 253 if that I mean poor
yeah it’s Luke it seems to me that many people think Izzy has had has the hometown advantage in Australia i as an
Australian I’m almost certain the crowd will favor Strickland as Israel’s from New Zealand yup do you think this could
potentially work in Sean’s favor yeah I mean listen MMA fans like that Sean Strickland type you know he’s not
exactly like Don Frye but like that straight talk in you know beer guzzling I ride motorcycles and you know I’ve got
I’ve got engine grease on my hands and you know
I don’t I don’t ride in fancy Jets and I tell it how it is they love that guy
they love that guy doesn’t matter if he’s American or whatever uh I think he had the uh Crocodile
Dundee hat on right so that’s what they like that’s what they like and Izzy is very much not that you know for better
for worse he is not that um so I get it I get it I don’t really understand the Australian New Zealand
rivalry but not rivalry I don’t quite get them I don’t get the I don’t
understand the Contours of that relationship very well so I don’t really know what to say about that but I I get
that he won’t have like you know oh he’s from this part of the world and so we’ll naturally just cheer
for him like it doesn’t work that way MMA fans I mean this is what I mean this is what sort of tells you like MMA fans
are kind of all the same it’s I’m obviously overstating it but you can go anywhere it’s kind of the
same type of dude that they like no matter what you know um or at a bare minimum this is not the
only guy that they like a type of guy I want to be very clear about that that’s you know because you can get they also
like the little Machida types and stuff like that too but they they really rally around this like
you know a guy who Fashions himself anyway sort of like a blue collar truth teller unafraid right they really really
gravitate to that which is often a white guy but not always um they really like that they’re like
that blue collar tell it like it is hard work says outrageous
they’ve always dug that and I think they always will and the fact that that guy can cross borders in it that that format
still works kind of tells you the commonality of fan preference
um even across type
uh it’s a really different in comparison to
[Music] um I was watching trying to find a good one
here let’s see
is there a good one here okay yeah we can do this one and I’ll
get to some of the paid stuff if you could interview Sean Strickland
what question would you like a serious answer to either personally or as a fighter
uh I tell you what I mean I’m not you know I’m not personally all that interested in the uh
you know I I would ask about the thing he’s an
expert in he’s an expert in fighting I think he’s got some interesting ideas about that I will talk to him about that
and maybe more than that like his I think you know really digging into the upbringing his personal story him
telling his life to you that could actually be very interesting and again he’s an expert in fighting I could you
know am I so uh am I to presume that I couldn’t I couldn’t learn something from him about
fighting by talking to him of course I could of course I could um so yeah like in a situation where that would ever happen that would
probably be what I would lean on but you know it would it would require him to want to talk about those things in a
Earnest way and you know a lot of Fighters want to use media opportunities for that but then other stuff too and I understand that that’s their right
but if that’s what it was going to be that I wouldn’t be all that interested in it candidly
you know again guys like the unexamined life is not worth living like if we’re not going to do that then what the
are we doing right all right let’s see what you got for the pay questions again if you don’t want to that’s cool too
I don’t mind you know it is what it is all right uh Kathleen says thoughts on
the bar stool layoff I don’t know so my understanding was they had this deal with this essentially this this gambling
company that they sold a large share of the company of they buy it back and then
he immediately lays off like 100 employees now I think the takeaway that I would have from all of this is that
Barstool was kind of held up as like we’ve got this model this online mod it’s actually distressing like we’ve got
this model that works that makes money and again I think in a smaller scaled version they can make money but like
this idea that Barstool was above the vices or the voxes or you know the
because they there was a bit of a political or certainly like a cultural divide between them like oh we’re not
going to make the same mistakes that those guys make we’ve got a better touch on what works um I think that it can work in a perhaps
a smaller version of itself but like the reality is I mean show me a media company who isn’t struggling
I mean that’s the takeaway show me a media company who isn’t struggling
um and it doesn’t matter if you got the Barstool model the vice model the HuffPost model the whatever I mean they all seem to be eating right
so it’s kind of distressing like I’m still waiting for someone to come along and have like a be a big company and
make a splash and not just live off Venture Capital money but like really prove it hey this is the model you can
follow this model and you can win and again there are smaller versions of that but like a big version
no one can figure it out no one can seem to make money it’s frightening actually
Super Dave says Luke I’m picking up a very timid one-year-old German Shepherd from The Shelter today any advice to keep him and my cat from killing each
other dude I had a buddy um I won’t say who it is but I had a buddy who had a dog he brought home from the
shelter and it mauled his cat the cat lived cat’s all right but had to lose an arm or uh a leg I guess uh
uh it’s front right leg it had to lose um and so I’ve never had to deal with a
dog being aggressive with a cat I would not know what to say about that I’ve taken dogs home from the shelter that’s
true but they were like when I picked up barbus we picked up barbers from the shelter that’s where we got that
guy but when we picked him we asked him like was he good with cats and they actually had tested him out and he was
fine so beyond that dude I don’t know I don’t know what to tell you my friend miles is considering a career
in MMA what do you think of his proposed ring name
I mean if you want to get booed if you want to get booed it’s a right-wing sport blazing gentlemen
have you tried cutting out caffeine yes yes not completely I have to have caffeine
in the morning but like not past two he says uh Cody says I was a chronic caffeine user in my early 20s and slept
three hours a night now that I have only a cup in the morning I sleep great usually yeah I uh guys the stress is uh beating
the out of me it’s beating the out of me so I wish I had a better answer for you but this is where I’m at
how true is bricks uh this is the sort of organization that’s forming from Brazil and India and Iran I think I
don’t know Iran’s in it but the sort of like yeah India China South Africa right uh creating a currency that uh she make
will make U.S worry as currency low is one equal to their 55 is it something to worry about I would really not imagine
that it would be not now it’s more interesting as a geopolitical Alliance
than an alternative to the hegemony of the dollar as I understand it
uh thoughts on Izzy diddly a dog on camera and following dog corn account oh
I know what you mean um yeah dude kind of went over this one
I mean he’s a weirdo you know he’s a weirdo
he’s a great fighter but he’s a weirdo has the arrival of Bellingham filled the
hole that Benzema and Ronaldo left so far league in Taiwan soon to be a 38 year old first time father hey good luck
Lee good luck dude you’ll be fine you won’t sleep very much but you’ll be fine um
yeah dude he’s been unbel I had high hopes for the guy he’s been ridiculously good ridiculously good so
it’s a long season we shall see but holy he has been a revelation
what’s the next meta technique after calf kicks um I think some of the changes to jiu jitsu
is a big one the Craig Jones changes the pinning versus the sort of the typical meta like
The Meta of Jiu Jitsu was changing so like that’s changing um elbows might be something you might
see more of standing um I think grounded pound will change a little bit as well
and yeah those three
those three uh this this dude says thanks look thank
you bro please please please I hope to God on everything Dennis drops out so we can
get a real fight boy I tell you if Dennis drops out of that fight and and uh Logan Paul has to fight Mike
Perry God help him Mike Perry will send his head into the third row
Mike Perry will him up I mean
I mean who disagrees with that right I mean come on Mike I mean I’m not even like wishing it
on the guy I’m just speaking objectively if they make that fight betting on Mike Perry is free money
free money free money if Mike Perry gets that call I would I would honestly feel
bad for Logan if they made that I mean not really but you know a little bit I’d be like oh this is going to be Mike Perry’s about
to send this dude into the to the land of wind and ghosts make no
mistake about it favorite postal Bond flavor Manzana
if volkov wins and Stipe wins in two months okay uh is that not a great main event for
UFC 300 Volcom versus Stipe no that’s not a great Main Event that’s kind of a like a one no
um Sean has said he is going to quote give it to the gods to win is Sean going to
sacrifice a piece of himself in the altar of athletic glory to win but take the damage that could affect him going forward talking about Sean O’Malley
yeah he might he might I think that’s what you mean that’s a misunderstanding
my siblings and I are coming to DC soon what restaurant should we hit up we’d like to try different unique things maybe Colombian restaurant the Colombian
restaurants here are only good if you want to pay a ton of money which I don’t recommend at all
um okay easy ones Duke’s grocery like Duke Rufus Duke’s grocery is an easy one
um La Diplomat is another easy one Barcelona is another easy one these are kind of all co-located uh my Dawn is
another easy one um say tuna
why the they say it the Jose Andres place um haleo is another one you could go to
um what else there’s a bunch of good ones um you could go there’s a Balkan
restaurant uh ambar ambar it’s in Barracks row
phenomenal we’ve had Balkan food that is delicious that’s real good you
can go to delis like uh call your mother call your mother is amazing um The Sweet Lobby for the best cupcakes
in town um Jose Rito for like really good Spanish District Taco for just a good
burrito bowl like there you go bro take this and I got you covered you’re good to go go you can go to the wharf wharf’s
got a ton of good um I’ve not been to the Gordon Ramsay oh you want a sick Burger how about a sick
Burger this is for anybody who comes to town go to Lucky buns lucky buns oh
dude one of the best burgers you’ll ever have I mean amazing lucky buns you cannot go wrong
and also there is Mi Vida an amazing Mexican restaurant like I got you folks I got you
all right look if a champ from Muay Thai came to the UFC with great takedown defense would they beat most of the USB Fighters they face Izzy was a glory
Contender and a UFC champion uh Aldo Anderson had Muay Thai background yeah probably I mean a lot of
this will depend on specifics but you’ve seen like Muay Thai Champs go into boxing and win World titles why couldn’t they do that in MMA if they had good
takedown defense yes yes they could the question is like do they want to and
you know how would they get the good takedown defense because like to be a Muay Thai champ you probably have to be all in a Muay Thai but yes you could do
it that way um um
so yes I think that they could under that if you could find that kind of dynamic it would be it would yes I think
they could win just the issue ends up being how are you going to get a guy who’s like a Muay Thai champ who’s got sufficient kind of wrestling at that
stage in their career that’s the part where it gets a little you know I don’t know who exists like
that uh why is the MMA media ignoring Izzy’s Behavior with his dog I mean how many
times we’re gonna talk about it on this podcast like what what do you want me to say
I don’t even know like yeah it’s don’t do that it’s gross and weird like I don’t
I I mean you get you’re getting all of the talk about Izzy’s dogs uh uh hog
that you can you can stomach here today I mean why are the other sites or whoever not talking about it probably
because they think it’s stupid which it is I mean it’s stupid uh and also because it’s gross and also
because it’s I I think anything like dude if you’re gonna have a editorial
slant where you pinpoint every awful thing an MMA fighter says or does
you would never be able to go to sleep you would just have to constantly work because they say and do crazy like
not all of it is the same that’s not my point but rather like if that was your editorial slant so they take the
opposite editorial slant which is they only talk about the stuff that they really kind of have to and I think that
if you’re feeling like they’re not they probably feel like they don’t have to that’s that’s a guess you know I kind of
try to feel this stuff here so that it can get aired but uh I don’t know I don’t know yeah
here’s more of it you guys are very interested in discussing this topic Luke
hope you’re doing uh good Izzy is one of the greats but that touching a dog thing is strange yeah
why are MMA fighters so weird sometimes dude you got to be a little bit I’m not defending any one particular act or
viewpoint but rather like in order to do that job you’ve got to be a little bit off like I you know Uriah Faber is
pretty pretty down to earth it’s not a universal rule certainly but I mean dude I think to be in this job like dude to
think if if you’re loving this media cycle it’s a 100 chance you’re uh a
virgin and you know like I could understand wanting to engage with the
topic because you find it off-putting and like you’re trying to do your due diligence fine but like if you think
it’s like this is like really interesting you know you’ve never made a woman come like there’s just there’s no
it’s not possible like this is this is the most absurdly stupid thing on earth however gross and uh
off-putting it quite genuinely can be um I’m not saying that this person who left the donation necessarily feels that
way again I understand a initial curiosity about it but at some point you’re just like oh my God anyway
um but dude you got to be a little bit off to do this job you do like it’s it’s a difficult weird
job that recruits tough weird people who have unusual ideas
I mean they fight in a cage for a living and they have to go do press conferences for the world and they gotta share their
life it’s a weird job dude it’s a really weird occupation so you’re gonna you’re gonna draw strange folks as a
consequence Donna White okay all right
uh Jeff thank you Jeff Hans
what kind of things do UFC matchmakers look at when putting fights together availability what they’re owed not like monetarily
but uh like did we promise this guy who’s available again you gotta look at they’re building
a calendar and how do those pieces fit into the calendar also they tend to want
to balance not having too much of one division on one if we’re gonna bring a title fight at 145 here where do we need
to bring a title fire for 155 where does that make sense so it’s really about balancing uh headlining needs it’s about
balancing the cards needs who who is owed a fight that kind of a thing and they just sort of build it out with
these sort of and again a lot of it’s just who’s available and like they build up these competing uh cards essentially
thank you for everything your content is magical I don’t know about that but I appreciate it uh Simon says I had the same issue
looking at 3am like clockwork focused on sleep hygiene no difference I was very unhappy at work once I got a new job I slept better wow am I unhappy at work
could be could be out here talking about the genitalia of dogs all day it’ll do it to you hope you figure it out mate
yeah you might be right bro you might be right you might be right my guy Aunt Evans I always thought Izzy
was a
okay that’s good that’s good uh I’ve always thought Izzy was a Paul mans Anderson Silva yeah that’s good well
done you got you gotta laugh for me well done uh what pound did you get BC from
yeah that’s a good one that’s a good one you guys are good with the jokes today all right I’m loving this Han thank you
Han uh Jose favorite book of all time um
fiction sound in the fury um non-fiction
that’s a tougher one non-fiction that’s a tough one I’m not sure
non-fiction I’ve got so many I would have to pick from
do you see Volk put it on a master class on Ilia if the Volk that showed up against yair
is there yes but I keep waiting for him to like for age to kind of like push him over that you know so if you can avoid
that I think he’ll be okay but [Music] um
if Volk is still in his relative prime when he fights Ilya he should beat Ilia
but I we’ll see what we’ll see what happens
I met Sean Strickland I don’t know what this is from sorry dude message me uh if I can get a better answer for you
uh thoughts about the press conference cop going crazy yeah reminded me of the Leaky esophyte was the press conference
better than expected it was fine I didn’t I mean I thought it was I thought it was you know okay uh shouts to Aaron bronstetter
let me show you this because he had a uh
I’m gonna pull this up yeah hold on
look at this uh what the
no hold on
ah God damn it I can’t pull this thing up oh you know what I can do I got it I got
it here let me show you this
so you know I’m getting this from Aaron Bronson I want to give him credit but this was the
issue that he had highlighted here we go like look
like you know he competed in 2021 he missed weight which is what this means by the way and then he beats August Zuma gulov
knocked him out in the first was supposed to have a fight against sumodarji canceled supposed to fight against uh hogario bontarine canceled
wins against David Dvorak that’s in 2022 was supposed to have a fight in uh let’s see uh March of this year canceled
devison figuredo July canceled kaikar France this one canceled and so he gets
this one last minute notice and so you’re like you can understand why a guy would be
you know not like chucking necessarily but why he’d be pissed and short fuse he seems like a
short-tempered guy anyway but I can get it man like he’s been over not by any fault of his own just by guys
getting injuries and you know these guys can’t fight he can’t fight he can’t make his money like I get it I get I get
being pissed off about that foreign baffled By Dana criticizing DDP for not
taking the fight does he want a repeat of aljo versus TJ Fighters are rarely at 100 but if they’re not if they’re if but
if they’re seriously compromised you get one-sided ordeal I mean part of it obviously is this just desire to put
guys in positions to not want to say no hey you say no there’s consequences and they don’t make it like oh we’re not
going to pick you the way they frame it is hey the sport passes You by and that’s true to some extent like if you’re out of wild the sport just kind
of does pass you by the title has to stay in rotation the champ needs a challenger like that’s a real thing uh
if if the timeline is long enough but at the same point it’s like if you’re a number one Contender you know these guys
have to like murder themselves to get to these points like they don’t want to take title
fights all up would you would you you know it’s very easy to be like I’ll take the fight when you’re banged up just be tough and like Reddit
you know grit it out but like dude you’re fighting the champion whatever weight class it is whether it’s DDP at 185 or
any other way I think if you’re if you’re fighting in a championship fight like do you want to fight under those circumstances of course not like you’re
like dude I need a chance to get right and they wait until like they earn what they feel like is uh Hey I’ve
climbed the mountain I’m like undeniable I’m gonna I want to keep this spot
and I and I understand that uh it’s just that you know the Matchmaker and the promoter has significant control over
this whole situation and it’s like you know I don’t know like what is the right answer I think the right answer is probably focusing on your long-term
Health but you know like dude they have a Content
schedule and that schedule has to be met the demands have to be met the fights have to be there again one of the most
important things people act like you know what’s the what’s what’s one thing you can really do for the UFC if you’re a fighter stay healthy stay ready that
is so valuable to them stay healthy Stay Ready based on the way they have designed their product and how they sell
that product for meteorites and everything else like they need guys who are ready to go they don’t haggle you know they’re not
and dude like to that point like Izzy’s been an Iron Man like he’s constantly in rotation I can slow down a little bit
um since you know the last couple of years whatever but like when he was first a contender he was like roaring through Conor McGregor taking fights at
a steady Clips steady Clips steady clips that eclip dude that’s what they love they love guys who do that and took the
fight against Chad Mendes all up you know so that’s what they’re looking for
and um it’s because that’s what the product really really needs but like if
you know if you’re if your neck is messed up if your back is messed up I I understand like valuing your long-term
health I wish there was a fairer process it’s just this is not where we’re at Luke can the does the rematch clause
require Spence Crawford fight at 147 um I believe Spence gets to
pick right the loser gets to pick the weight class yes I think that’s right uh King
Crawford decline if Spence wants to be up away in one away class no I think of the way it worked was
um loser who triggers it gets to pick the weight class so I think it’s going to be 154. I mean
is there going to be a different result I have no clue I
hard to see how that one goes a whole I mean it definitely can’t go much worse right
oh here we go Strickland said he was going to get oh Sean Strickland oh sorry give it to the gods to be Izzy sorry
could he suffer a beating there might alter his career going forward um no
no it’s the guys who are like super durable and resistant like I’m not saying he’s
not tough he’s obviously tough as but he doesn’t have like John lineker chin he doesn’t have otherworldly
durability he’s got like normal for a prize fighter durability so I don’t think it would like though the beatings
you have to worry about are like the yes the highly vicious Kos that could be one you know Jessica I getting like torn up
with that head kick by chefchenko but the one I really worry about is not just that that has often more psychological
components although concussion can be a player role but it often has psychological components the one that makes you worried is not that one the
one that makes you worried is when they take a sustained beating over time like what’s round after round after
round of just like 10 8 10 8 10 8. that’s when you’re like oh dude somebody put a stop to this you know and
then nobody does like this is a title fight like we don’t want to stop them and it’s like okay dude like well you know let’s see
how this guy looks when he’s 50 and he can’t find his car keys
look I heard a rumor must be true that Dana added a part to UFC contracts
for any okay so this is this okay let me clarify this one heard a rumor that Dana added a part to UFC contracts where any
business Fighters make out of the UFC but while still under UFC contract UFC gets a cut is this true so the way to
understand this is it could be true here’s what I mean by that you’re like what does that mean it is a
legal interpretation nobody actually knows some lawyers have looked at a
certain provision in the contract and say that it could be interpreted that
way that doesn’t mean UFC has done it or is going to do it or will like or also
believes that they have a contractual right to it it’s not there’s nothing in the contract that says if you open a business in the UFC uh as an independent
contractor while you’re here with us we get a cut of it that’s not what it says it’s much more convoluted language and
so there’s like this kind of lawyerly interpretation but other lawyers disagree and don’t think that’s the case
so it remains unclear but it’s just a question of what would the UFC do if
they do interpret it in a way that gives them license to do that they have not exercised it they may not view it that
way it’s a legal interpretation and that sounds like fuzzy math or to borrow from
George W bush like well what does that really mean it might mean nothing it probably means nothing there was a lot a
lot of like fervor about it but um when you really begin to examine it it’s just an interpretation from a
certain group of lawyers that other lawyers may not share UFC May not share in which case all of this is a moot
point so it really becomes a question of let’s just see what the UFC does and I suspect that they won’t do that
um because now you’re blurring the line between independent contractor and employee in ways that is kind of crazy all right
all right are we done I think we’re done hey guys thank you so much I really appreciate you being here I hope you got
out of this chat what you wanted um I don’t know if you did hey wish me luck on getting some sleep tonight that would be great I would be super super
happy if I could get some sleep tonight um but we’ll be Chelsea we shall see all right uh podcast will go up tonight all
that good stuff um but yeah we’re done here for today so thanks to Othello thanks to Aunt Evans
thanks to all you guys for being here I greatly appreciate it you can always email me Luke thomasnews gmail.com and
until next time stay frosty
