all right everybody people often ask why
I love this sport why I believe MMA is
the greatest sport in the world and one
of the main reasons is when the cage
door locks and the ref says go no matter
what things look like from a betting
perspective or how we may think things
look stylistically truly anything can
happen and ladies and gentlemen we are
currently living in a world where Sean
Strickland is the middleweight champion
of the world he dominates Israel out
Ofna and he freaking did damn thing and
the man who called this incredible
moment alongside Laura Sano and the
great Daniel Cormier UFC 293 The Legend
John anic in Las Vegas right now joins
us to react to this craziness he gave us
a nice tight window and I appreciate it
so much John the world traveler how are
you my man well it’s good to be with you
I actually think I am talking to you now
having gotten outside the other side of
the jet lag so that is very encouraging
we’re here for noj UFC I can’t wait to
do the weigh-in outside and Toshiba
Plaza and scream noce UFC from the top
of my lungs but Sean Strickland’s on top
of the world right what an absolute
Savage that man is and uh you know
Americans continue to dominate mix
martial arts right no I mean obviously
historically the United States of
America has done really well in MMA and
I actually deleted a tweet that
suggested well America’s got another one
you know but yes you’re right this sport
often time produces the unthinkable and
anything can and does happen in some of
these other sports but just not with the
frequency with which it happens in our
Sport
and you know there were a lot of people
asked me if there was betting value on
Sean Strickland and I didn’t even
necessarily know how to answer that
question was HE capable of this
masterpiece yes uh can he execute like
this again I would think probably um but
I do believe that the other side
discounted him a little bit and didn’t
necessarily understand exactly what he
was capable of and they paid the
ultimate price it’s been five days this
happened and you reacted right after the
fact and so did we and it’s just so
crazy every time I go to ma fighting it
still says Shan Strickland is the
middleweight champion and this was just
such an incredible moment for him and
his team and he did it when most
believed he couldn’t and here’s what’s
so interesting John this was a Shan
Strickland fight yeah he was a bit more
patient and focused but he didn’t do
anything different he he gave Israel
adna the fight he wanted and he wanted
in dominant fashion so five days later
how have you digested all this and what
you witnessed in called cagide on
Saturday night in Sydney yeah he didn’t
do anything differently but he was
particularly on and certainly I think
his coaches deserve a lot of credit but
he deserves the Lion Share of the credit
as I said on the Anakin floran podcast
this is a win for sparring right for
guys like Dominick Cruz and Sean
Strickland that lean so heavily into the
sparring in an era in which many
high-profile Fighters Max Hollow Chief
among them doesn’t do any sparring now
there are levels to the sparring right
and you can certainly argue that
Dominick Cruz’s sparring maybe is a lot
harder on the body at times than what
Shan Strickland is doing in the gym but
I’m just really happy that Shawn was
able to use everything at his disposal
whether it was his coaches it was his
mind it was the Aussie crowd just an
incredible incredible result and uh now
he’s got to do it again but I’m hoping
that he can just Relish in this moment
and uh you know the onus is going to be
on osna or anybody else to uh to make
some adjustments and try to handle this
exceedingly difficult style the one
thing I just want to interject on before
we move any further is that this man’s
year began on a losing streak and he
stepped up on short notice not a streak
maybe he had lost at least one in a row
right he entered 2023 having lost his
last fight he steps up on short notice
in a main event against nordini MAV
right fight he wasn’t supposed to take
then he fights that fight against Abus
Mago medov and then had the dupy
circumstance and he fights for the belt
but the guy put his number four ranking
on the line against Alex P when nobody
else would fight that guy so man the
universe works in mysterious ways but he
felt worthy of this title shot he
deserved it after repeatedly stepping up
and man if he didn’t barge right through
the damn door I’m glad you said that
because one of the things I took away
from this is that this sport just moves
so quickly and one of the things that
that I noticed and it’s not just from
the fight but from the fight week in
general just the perspective on Shawn as
a fighter has changed drastically
because even heading into the caner
fight and Pereira and Hermanson and even
the [ __ ] fight and the imba fight the
reaction to a Sean Strickland Main Event
in the Apex is like well we know what
we’re gonna get we’re gonna get a Shan
Strickland D type of fight and the
collective action reaction from fans
heading into fight week it was just
completely different and then it just
made the championship moment much bigger
for him than I thought it would actually
be on paper like I didn’t think he
really cared about the belt he kept
saying I don’t really care about the
belt but you could see it in his eyes
when he walked to the the Octagon it was
a different look this wasn’t a dude
that’s like yeah I’m going to go in
there and fight the look on his face
there were nerves like actual nerves to
the man and high quality athletes say
all the time like if you’re not nervous
it doesn’t matter but you could tell
this really mattered to him and he
really roast the occasion so I guess in
your opinion how much has the perception
changed in regards to sha Strickland
after this fight we compared to even the
fight with ovov in January it’s a good
question and I think you hit on a lot of
truths as far as the lead up to this
fight I mean nerves in any field if you
Channel them in the right way I think
can really be a powerful thing sometimes
you know when I’m calling fights there’s
something coursing through my veins and
sometimes maybe I wish it was more
nerves than adrenaline at this stage of
my career but did he not flip the switch
on this whole goddamn thing Michael
right broke it I mean I it’s I’m just
totally fascinated you had to look so
far and wide for people who were picking
Shan Strickland May Rob dwes Willie of
course was on that train but uh there’s
so much that goes into it and perhaps we
weren’t leaning enough into the
challenges for Israel aagna as I have
outlined repeatedly whether on
pay-per-view or in other forums you know
11 or 12 consecutive championship fights
perpetually turning around quickly did
Sean Strickland in totality get their
attention for his skills and what he
brings to the table the way maybe drus
dupy would have gotten their attention
for some of his particularly violent
tendencies right I don’t know only Izzy
and Eugene bman know those questions
right but we heard a lot about this
documentary style Bender that’s debuting
on September 28th right and here I am
not trying to take the focus away from
Sean Strickland I’m not trying to make
excuses for Israel Adan yet right like
we could spend 30 minutes giving Sean
Strickland his flowers right but there
are a lot of different reasons why he
won this fight Chief among them his
performance but there is another side of
this and um you know even though I don’t
want to see an immediate rematch I’m
fascinated to see what a rebuilt osanna
could do fighting this dude twice
absolutely absolutely and the first four
or so minutes of the first round it’s
the feeling out process right like
Izzy’s fainting a lot and Shawn looks to
be biting on all of them but Sean’s
doing his thing he’s Landing the kicks
to the body he’s throwing the jab he’s
throwing the two and I he’s not doing a
whole lot he’s kind of feeling out the
process and then Shawn lands the big
right hand and Izzy goes to the canvas
and then he just starts thumping away
with the left hands and the crowd was so
loud John we couldn’t even hear you and
Lauren DC reacting to it and you guys
did a a tremendous job during that fight
like what’s going through your mind when
Strickland drops him at the end of the
first round it was insane so I’ve said
this with you before if I don’t use my
diaphragm properly in those moments
oftentimes I can come to the brink of
like passing out and seeing Stars so
this was one of those moments where I’m
seeing complete Stars feel like I’m GNA
throw up because I didn’t breathe
properly and I thought I was about to
call Shan Strickland knocking out Israel
aagna in round one to become the UFC
middleweight champion of the world so
that’s what I thought was happening and
obviously that did not happen and
thankfully the referee did a good job in
this particular instance but dude
another just lesson like man be prepared
to just call the sickest [ __ ] you’ve
ever seen in round one because bro like
of all the different outcomes the one
thing that I probably didn’t prepare for
was Sean Strickland by TKO or knockout
in round one and I do think that part of
uh
Izzy’s approach over the final 20 20
minutes was rooted in just how hard that
right hand shook him
now there’s so many different options
with Shawn as the champion because he
sort of broke the division in a lot of
respects because a lot of people thought
that well is he’s just gonna showcase
here in in Sydney and then he’s gonna go
on maybe fight DDP and now hamsat chamay
is coming up he’s fighting Paul a Costa
and now it’s Strickland we could do the
rematch not a lot of people seem super
thrilled about that idea but it could
happen I’m prepared to live in that
world there is DDP we have shamaya Costa
coming up middleweight is so fraking
fascinating right now like can you
remember this division being as
interesting and as wide open as it is
right now since maybe Chris Weidman won
the title I mean it’s been this long
where it’s like Izzy might not even be
he’s in the discussion but there’s a
real world where he’s not in the
discussion right now at least for the
foreseeable future yeah I mean things
even opened up a little bit for Robert
Whitaker somehow coming off a loss to
drus dup plus C thankfully our fan base
by and large is rooted in meritocracy
and the UFC is for the most part as well
you know Dana White understands that
draus dupi and mor Rob dwes willly are
the number one contenders right now and
let us just hope that one of those two
guys gets the championship opportunity
that they so deserve right now but I
think drus will probably be the guy I
mean I don’t have to tell you that in
almost any Walk of Life timing is
everything and the calendar is
everything and if Shan Ali can’t go in
December then that changes that division
but I do believe Strickland if he needs
to be a promotional Workhorse and turn
this thing around on December 16th to
headline for the UFC it’ll be against
the South African draus dupi wildly
fascinating fight obviously on October
21st between kamam zachi and Pao Costa
and if Pao Costa wins that fight right
certainly if kamach Chimay wins that
fight as a fight fan I want to see kamam
Zach Chimay in a championship setting as
much as I want to see my kids succeed in
life right I have been dying to see
hamach chimaya fight for a world title
so with respect to draus dup plus I
think he better hope chayah doesn’t just
steamroll poo
but Palo Costa is the [ __ ] man Mike
so if he beats hamim and hands him the o
or takes his o I should say then palac
Costa is going to be a part of this
conversation as well so uh this is a
great problem to have can the UFC let
things marinate through October 21st I
think they probably can if they have a
headliner for December 16th but um I
don’t make enough money to know those
answers brother yeah me neither and the
fall from Izzy side is when moments like
this happen John we we saw with Amanda
Nunes we saw with Valentina shevchenko
people are just and it’s on everybody
but there is a small contingency of fans
who are just so quick to Discount what
this man has done in the past after a
loss like this and it’s one of my pet
peeves in the sport if I’m being honest
and there’s a lot of talk about Eugene
Baran oh maybe he wasn’t as great of a
coach as he thought oh Izzy was
overrated drives me insane and there is
a lot of talk about having a bad night
maybe the mileage from over a hundred
fights added up the frequency of his
schedule it could have just been not
being able to recover from the knockdown
like there’s a million different things
here and maybe cha just at the end of
the day was a bad matchup for him but
either way it was the first time we’ve
seen Izzy dominated like this for the
entirety of a fight yeah he lost to
bovich yeah he got knocked up by Pereira
but how Wild was it from your
perspective sney Kai to see Israel at
asagna on this end of a fight like this
for a change well now he’s lost two of
three fights right so to those who have
want wanted to sort of denigrate his
middleweight Legacy this gives that
ammunition it really does like this is a
setback for his career and one that he
can certainly come back from but this is
less a statement about Eugene bman than
it is about Israel aagna Eugene Ban’s
track record is proven even if he’s not
your favorite human being in the world
that man is a revelation and has done
wonderful wonderful things in a part of
the world that makes it really hard to
realize that type of UFC Championship
success and I’m not trying to give him
all the credit but but if there was
anything resembling an MMA Hall of Fame
that’s one of the coaches that’s a first
ballot guy for me Izzy’s a first ballot
guy of course as well and I think he is
one of the greatest middleweight
champions of all time and I do believe
that he can rebuild from this but Mike
the nature of this singular result is
such that this is a big Legacy type
setback depending on how he comes out
the other side and I don’t know that
there are any other ways that you can
spin this thing right that’s why I don’t
think he deserves an immediate rematch
right like he is not some long riging
champion in this situ situation he is a
firsttime defending champion in this
situation and he deserves a lion share
of the credit for the UFC’s pay-per-view
success really over the last half decade
because he has always been the guy but
um and I am I’m close with his family
I’m close with his sister right I gave
his mom a hug right but uh I do think
Legacy wise you have to look at a Sean
strickman loss right now at this stage
of his career as as being the setback
that it is we haven’t really heard
anything from Israel outside of the
quick one minute or so that he showed up
to the press conference where he turned
it over to Eugene but as a curious guy
let’s just say this let’s just say the
UFC brass calls you right now John anic
and they say hey Israel aagna wants to
do something with you right now we’re
gonna stream it live on YouTube but you
can only ask him one question I’m gonna
hop on a stream with isra right now Izzy
will answer any question you ask him
coming out of this fight what would you
ask him what’s the one question you’d
ask him to what extent has the
championship schedule taken its toll is
that a factor at all because there’s a
lot of us out there call it informed
speculation suggesting that this
schedule is not sustainable right and
there could be factors just in terms of
the preparation that have nothing to do
with the schedule and he could be so
dismissive of my narrative and say dude
we kickbox twice a week man like you’re
just not on to something there perhaps
that’s not the most burning question
from the fan base for me that is the
most burning question you know for Nunes
and chevchenko
for Izzy did it eventually take its
toll he has been Super Active he’s been
a company guy like you said he always
answered the call he always wants the
call he wants the ball and you’ve spoken
to him a lot more than most have over
the years do you feel like after this
loss if you had to guess that he’s gonna
be just itching to get right back in
there in typical Izzy time framy fashion
or do you think you know what maybe he
will take some time off maybe he comes
back International fight week 2024 maybe
even after that maybe he’s chasing DDP
for the title we still get that fight
but it’s just on opposite ends of how we
got there like what’s Your Gut telling
you on that end do you think Izzy comes
back like immediately or do you think he
take some time here so unlike Izzy in
this particular instance Alaine Sterling
is that long rating champion in terms of
that immediate rematch but I do think
there are parallels to be drawn in these
two situations because I do think it
stands to reason that Izzy and aljo both
will fight for the belt in their next
fight but the belt will be contested
before they realize that opportunity I
wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Izzy
lay back for a little bit focus on the
documentary and allow that belt to be
contested one time allow Costa and
shimay right let’s make sure all these
fights happen right and ideally in a
perfect world for Izzy I think you have
this middleweight Championship be on the
line before February before Groundhog
Day ideally right January maybe you do
this thing if not December so I think
for Izzy that would make a lot of sense
and even yes to your point if he were to
return at UFC 300 which I think maybe is
tracking for April uh in a championship
setting or not you know I think that
makes a lot of sense but uh I think more
often than not when you lean into that
time off even if it’s not developmental
time it can bear fruit and uh you know
aljo you know there were a lot of
factors in the Ali win but alj Jo’s
schedule was uh was a big factor yeah
Eric Nix and the team did an incredible
job getting Shawn ready not only that
just adjusting to things on the Fly like
they had a game plan to come out and
wrestle more and Eric nixi just just
changed things on the Fly and said what
he needed to say to Sean whether some
people agreed with what he said or not
who cares we are lucky to be in these
moments in this Corners because they
don’t have to do that but we get to see
it so I I give Eric and in his team so
much credit even the coaches behind the
scenes who don’t get enough shine Eric
does a great job putting them over but
as I mentioned earlier the trio of
yourself and DC and lur Sano just
knocked it out of the park I thought you
guys meshed extremely well lur getting a
lot of praise and rightfully so and DC
did a great job I know you strive for
the perfect show and know you haven’t
gotten there yet and I’m sure you would
admit that yourself but with a new team
like this in the pay-per-view
commentator seats I thought things went
extremely well what say you what was the
feeling like between the three of you
after working this Pay-Per-View event
with such a crazy moment speaking with
Lauren DC well it means a lot to hear
you say that because I’m in a crazy
stretch personally right now with my
schedule that often times these shows
even in my hometown of Boston into
Sydney can run together dude like I’m
sitting here doing fighter cards for no
ufcc so I haven’t watched a minute of it
right but I I love Laura Sano I’m so
happy she got the opportunity I do
believe that there wasn’t a lot of
grappling on this show at all even
though there were a few submission wins
and where I think she will really Shine
for people is her ability to talk
Jiu-Jitsu and talk grappling so The Best
Is Yet To Come when it comes to Laura
senko but yeah no it felt great you know
I’ve worked with probably 15 16
different combinations and uh you know I
always like to have an elite grappling
analyst to my right and more often than
not on Fight Night I have that but uh
you know she’s comedic she has good
timing uh she doesn’t have an ego uh I
don’t have enough High Praise for Laura
Sano and uh you know she and I have been
publicly and privately supporting each
other for so long and uh it was just
very cool to see her uh in all her glory
and uh and to be able to make a debut on
a pay-per-view in Sydney in that
atmosphere is uh is pretty special and
and hopefully uh she’ll be back upon
that Fally for years to come yeah she
she did an incredible job and like you
said no rest for the wick we get no UFC
this Saturday you’ll be on the call once
again you got two DCS this time you got
Cormier and Cruz from if every says it
correctly and we got the rematch Alexa
grao versus Valentina shevchenko 2 six
months removed from just another
incredible gamechanging moment from
Alexa grao submitting Valentina
chevchenko very interesting rematch here
Valentina shevchenko it looks like she’s
ready to run through a brick wall and
Alexa Gro just cool as a cucumber this
is such an interesting rematch is it not
I can’t quite remember two championship
athletes being so confident and so
focused so much so that I’m just so
thankful that I’m contractually
prevented from betting on this stuff but
my goodness Valentina schevchenko
is is such a a human being worth
observing we’ve had so many fighter
meetings with her over the years where
she has really managed her energy and
giving us nothing man like trying to get
juice out of a an unright piece of fruit
just absolutely nothing and that’s all
by Design but this week there was just a
different tone to her and I don’t want
to say anger but just a different Edge
to her and Dominick Cruz really peel
back the layers with her in terms of the
question he asked the question so
perfectly I can’t really get too far
into it but that allowed her to talk
just about the spinning technique and
whether or not that is still going to be
part of her Arsenal because OB obviously
that was something that was flawed in
terms of the execution on a number of
levels in the first fight but it was a
really fascinating sit down with her and
just to hear her talk at her media scrum
about like oh I I don’t enjoy resting
unless I have the belt I mean that’s
some scary [ __ ] Mike on the other side
Alexa graso I think my biggest takeaway
was just 25 minutes is a good thing for
her she has a good style for 25 minutes
she’s not so much worried about banking
rounds she was down 2-1 borderline maybe
3-1 if we had gotten to a fifth round in
that first fight just think she’s
probably going to find finish you know
just thinks that over 25 minutes she can
find a finish and uh I don’t have to
tell you and your audience the extent to
which she leveled up just going into
that fight I guess my one concern with
Alexa is just that historically she
hasn’t been a finisher right a lot of
her Knockouts most of her Knockouts came
on the regional scene so I think maybe
Valentina has more ways to finish but uh
yeah as you can tell I have a lot to say
about this main event and very excited
that it’s now only two days away yeah
she’s got that chenko pronounce pal has
that mindset like she had against the
andr fight where people are doubting her
and she’s just got this giant chip on
her shoulder where like media members
are trying to ask her questions
oneon-one and she’s looking at them like
she wants to punch him in the face like
it’s just a whole different vibe to her
this weekend yeah I asked this question
on one of my other shows and people have
asked me and and I’ve thought about this
a lot because you can actually make a
pretty strong case for both women here
especially in today’s
UFC who do you think needs this one more
because we have shevchenko and it’s you
know long rating Champion Queen of the
division chance to exercise the demons
getting one back reclaiming the title or
for Alexa Gro to prove that hey time for
the new guard to push forward here I’m
the best flyweight in the world I just
beat Valentina twice right now you can’t
call fluke or anything like that because
I just beat her twice like who do you
think needs this one more Valentina or
Alexa all right so who needs it more
well the most basic human need is to
feel appreciated right but money is
useful as well I don’t know what
valentina’s bank account says I know
she’s going to be in the UFC Hall of
Fame I know that her Legacy is
entrenched I know that it would be
absolutely devastating not unlike it was
for kamaro Usman to lose successively to
the same opponent after this
historically great Title reign but Alexa
Gro needs this win more I mean with all
that is forecast for the ufcpi and
Mexico City and everything ambitiously
that we think can happen in Mexico you
know I began my career as a Combat
Sports journalist covering boxing so I
certainly have an acute understanding of
how much the Mexican fan can mean to the
UFC going forward if Alexa Gro you know
Brandon Moreno is incredible but he
wasn’t able to defend the title
repeatedly if Alexa Gro can stack
wins of Valentina shevchenko on top of
one another it would change her life
probably even more than what she did in
March so I will say Alexa grao needs it
more yeah and then the challenges that
await her after that with Aaron
blanchfield and mana fioro and maybe
Rose dunis gets a win things get real
even the Tatiana Suarez fight right
Tatiana Suarez beat Alexa grao and Alexa
grao leans into the camera yesterday and
she’s like yeah so I lost that fight by
rear naked joke and basically
insinuating like I’ll probably never
lose a fight by rear naked choke again
right like she’s just on a totally
different level with her grappling
offensively and defensively than she was
when those two ladies met five years ago
Diego Lopez obviously deserves a lot of
the credit so and I will say too
Valentina chevchenko had one of these Fu
I’m going to Thailand for three months
type training camps which is probably
problematic at times for the opposition
as well now she did mix it up she uh
spent some time in Canada sometime in
Las Vegas sometime in Vietnam but when
you do the full camp at Tiger Muay Thai
in Thailand uh caution flammable yes
Kevin Holland Jack D Melina great fight
at 170 we got the return of Ral roses Jr
we got another upand Comer Daniel zel
Huber I’m really excited about Big W a
125 in the prelims between Tracy Cortez
and Jas and Jaz deisius pretty solid
lineup on ESPN plus John plus we get it
for free we get it for free it’s a
beautiful thing what sticks out to you
outside of the main event well Tracy
Cortez needs to be on the main card I
feel like that woman and Jasmine Jazz de
visus too but I feel like both of those
ladies are ready to take their shots at
the top five top 10 women in the world
right now especially Tracy Cortez so but
again she’s in a pickham setting this
weekend so I would love to see Tracy
Cortez get elevated to that main card
because people just really seem to care
and she’s just a really good fighter
like she used to just be tough now she’s
world class but yeah Jack Del melan and
Kevin Holland is absolutely fascinating
I mean you want a litmus test as to
where Perth Jack Dela matalena is right
now you know let’s see how he handles
this Kevin Holland test because For the
First Time I feel like Kevin Holland
looks like a future UFC welterweight
champion and my gosh every time I break
down that guy’s career right fought
Thiago Santos at 205 pounds in his short
notice UFC debut went 25 hard with derck
Bronson Marvin Vitor right like in
losses right I’m talking about his
losses never mind all the chokes and
kicks and ways he has to beat you so
Kevin Holland criminally
underappreciated career and uh that line
has waffled a little bit you know some
guys you know depending on what time of
the week you’ve checked it out three
name Jack has been the favorite he is
the favorite Now Kevin H has been the
favorite of times great co- main event
and to your point I think a great car
coming off a pay-per-view for the Combat
Sports leader it’s great to be John anic
it’s also a great time to be a Sean in
this Sport with strickly and Ali
becoming UFC Champions within a
three-week stretch but John I know
you’re a busy man so thank you for the
time I know how busy you are means the
world looking forward to hearing you
back on the headsets this Saturday night
no UFC enjoy the enjoy the ceremonials
outside my man scream no UFC at the top
of those lungs my man thank you buddy
I’ll be wearing black because uh you
know I’m a sweater so uh we’ll see you
guys in a couple days on ESPN Plus thank
you’all
