UFC 292 RECAP | Ray Longo | Anik & Florian

Kenny Florian podcast John annik and Kenny Florian I [ __ ]

love them I can’t get enough of them let’s hear that Boston next

[Applause]

I believe there are a couple of absolutely self-involved here are your

hosts John anik and Kenny Florian

all right

oh great to be back with you one year anniversary of headshot bang Sunday

August 20th 2023 is the year episode 431 of the Anakin Florian

podcast I was up all night oh delivery driver delivered our late

night food a a far ways from the hotel so thanks to my twin bro for uh braving

it for the masses I’m so glad tenflo’s here today because I am going on fumes

thanks for pardoning the voice Ian Gary said I went to Brazil to listen

I am here today to listen to Ken flow’s Brilliance on UFC 292 because my head is

still spinning what a live event what a week in the hub of the universe Boston Massachusetts anything I say to the

positive about the Boston crowd is probably going to be viewed through a lens of a lack of objectivity but

I don’t even know what’s going on half the time because I’m in the cans and listening to traffic that crowd was so

loud shout out to the new englanders the bostonians the philadelphians even the New Yorkers everybody who made their way

to TD Garden only thing we were really missing was you know three-time World title challenge

oh man I was jealous that I was not able to be there man the energy the vibe just seemed like it was insane in there and

man did they get a tremendous card so real happy for everyone involved yeah John you’re an animal dude I see this

kid he sends me an email like 4 50 in the morning hey guys this is what we’re gonna do tomorrow yeah yeah I’m like

what the hell is this guy doing awake you’re an animal dude well I usually try

to get you guys the odds for the main event Challenge on Wednesday or Thursday but it was a busy week in Massachusetts

we don’t have that many Massachusetts athletes on the card these days so I did some media on Thursday the whole week

was the Whirlwind but I’m super grateful for it and uh to take a q a stage with

Rob font and Calvin cater and Joe Lauzon and Chael Sonnen and address of Boston crowd and a Patrice Bergeron t-shirt

kind of well I mean you know I mean it certainly is not a Sean Thornton t-shirt in Vancouver during the Stanley Cup

Final fighting Diego Nunes and then going out and beating him in a somewhat hostile territory but uh it was pretty

cool and what was interesting is that I got to sort of write intros that for the Boston athletes so

font cater lows on the one that I introduced as arguably the best pound for pounds fighter out of the state of

Massachusetts of those three which of those three do you think I introduced as such

and let me just say yeah six of Calvin caters 12 UFC fights have been Main

Events right Rob font obviously has fought Jose Aldo and recently Corey

sandhagen a lot of high-level guys tons of main events for font as well so I for

me it was between those two guys with respect to Joe Lowe’s on the bonus machine and the absolute legendary 28

time UFC veteran can flow victim but I just thought I’d have a little fun with it so I was like and arguably the best

power for Pathfinder out of state of Massachusetts you think I went Rob Fawn or Calvin kater kater I went rub fun ah

there you go and now Katie probably hates me because uh it’s my holiday fight week and we brought back the

artwork there behind us immortalizing what I believe is the greatest singular performance certainly statistically in

UFC history when we get to zhangwei Li in her nearly 300 significant strikes landed do you remember how many

significant strikes landed Holloway had against Calvin kator 100 or some [ __ ]

the volume is insane I was shaking deep into the night I went to interview him I

did this quick hit segment for Facebook we were on flight Island and Max was like you’re shaking I’m like yeah dude

like I’ve never seen anything like that you’re looking at us telling us you’re the best boxer in the UFC and Landing he

landed 400 45 significant strikes See it’ll never be duplicated but a lot

to get to today including predictions on Max Holloway in the Korean zombie Chan

song Jung but thanks to everybody at TV Garden for a memorable weekend and uh it was made more memorable of course

by Sugar Shawn O’Malley I got a lot of merchandise for a lot of different Fighters don’t read too much into the

sugar daddy t-shirt today long ago coming up by the way in about 28 minutes perhaps he’ll uh read too much into the

T-shirt Ken Flo there is a new UFC bantamweight champion it’s sugar Shawn

O’Malley doubt it at your own Peril sometimes I wonder aloud why these guys that look to

me like special Strikers don’t seem to uh get the respect from either the fan base or their fellow Fighters uh gotta

respect him now Sean O’Malley’s the new king kenflo no question about it John you know I think that we often doubt

them myself included because grappling is such a key component to the game and

it’s rare that you have someone that can negate much of that with with footwork

and long-range weapons alone and O’Malley was largely able to do that now

of course he was in some clinch situations even he was in some single leg situations where he was able to get

himself out of trouble Up Against the Cage so he certainly did his homework there and should be applauded for that

but I think what is more difficult is the ability to do it or to stop

takedowns to stop clinches with long-range weapons and footwork alone the lateral footwork the Jabs the faints

all the little things that people do not like doing in the gym all the things that takes years and years to cultivate

are the things that Sean O’Malley brought into that octagon on Saturday night and aljo looked frustrated he

looked confused and that’s what got him to get a little bit too greedy a little

bit too anxious and he threw himself out of position now against 90 percent of

the people in the UFC and a probably even higher percentage of that in the

bantamweight division which is absolutely ridiculous by the way it would have worked it would have been

just fine but when you have a guy who knows how to counter who knows how to move just Out Of Reach and landed

absolute laser wherever he wants whenever he wants to yeah it spells

trouble and um I was just mesmerized by that replay of I just I’ve probably seen it a

thousand times John then um you know the way I saw it is if it was going to go down if O’Malley was

going to win it was going to be that shot he’s just so brilliant at throwing it he was working it before the fight

he’s thrown it a ton of times in other fights and it was aljo’s forward

movement right that crushed into that right hand of Sean O’Malley and man just

just a brilliant shot and I have much more but I’m gonna take a pause so Sean

O’Malley’s a special athlete and I’d imagine that’s part of the quotient as well when you talk about the faint and

the sophistication of his striking game there is a new wave of talent as far as

the Striking is concerned and I certainly hesitate to call Israel out of Sonya new way because he’s been striking forever but if you’re talking about the

10 most sophisticated layered Strikers or 10 best strikers in the UFC when you

combine assets and traits I mean I speak superlatively about Ian Gary and Sean

O’Malley and oftentimes I get far more sophisticated MMA Minds than me you know shucking me off so how special an

athlete were you I mean I understand the work ethic and we’ll get into his torn muscle and the rib cartilage and all of

that but how special an athlete are we dealing with and how much of it is just that you know this kid’s like Patrick Mahomes with his little [ __ ] fade

back right hand yeah listen I I think that he’s much more than that right because it’s all

the things that lead to that feedback right hand and I think that he had a

partner in aljo that did make some mistakes of course right but again that’s something that has been working

for him time and time again but yeah Sean O’Malley is a special athlete I

think when you talk about his speed his timing his rhythm his movement those are

all things that are you know very tough to cultivate very tough to train and

then of course he was gifted with tremendous link with reach with height in the division where you just don’t see

that and the fact that he’s then able to utilize that and execute on that level

is really what makes them special so uh and again similar to Izzy you get a guy

who was very tall for the division who knows how to utilize those long-range weapons at a very very high level and

that spells disaster for the opposition uh but in regards to algae you know I’ve heard a lot of people say well he

overextended himself what the hell does that mean you know it’s like if he’s throwing a strike does that mean he’s

over extending himself well to me what it means is he’s throwing himself out of position he got his head a little bit

too far over his hips his hands were not up and all of his whole body was pointed

towards the weapons of Sean O’Malley which is not a great thing right so when you’re when you have that momentum when

your head is past your hips to that point it’s very hard to retract it was a

car accident waiting to happen in that moment and O’Malley is just way too damn

good with his speed with his timing with his weapons for you to do that to him so

again it was just it was a perfect disaster and it’s another reminder that MMA is the sport where dreams get

realized or they get crushed and that’s exactly what happened in that main event Ray Longo is one of my dearest friends

and I’m a little anxious for the ray Longo minute today because the first thing Al Jermaine Sterling said on the

microphone was that he underestimated Sean O’Malley and I’m sitting here thinking like what and then he said in

the post flight pressure that his footwork and lateral movement that of O’Malley were two things that he was

underprepared for and that that surprised him and I understand the lack of time to prepare and we could spend a

quarter of an hour on the champion sort of uh being expedited

to this date 15 weeks after 25 hard minutes with Henry sahuto the injuries that perhaps Al Jermaine Sterling had

for the first few weeks of camp that he had to navigate but you know I have heard that Al Jermaine

Sterling and Joe Rogan masterfully called him the best weight cutter in the sport Kenny there’s no margin of error

for Al Jermaine Sterling he likes to have a drink or two but when it comes to making 135 pounds there’s no air for this there’s no margin of error for this

man had to make it twice in 15 weeks a lot of different factors here but uh I I just don’t quite understand what what

what is it that he smokes weed that he has facial tattoos like what it what is it going to take for people to you know

give Sean O’Malley his flowers and understand just how how critical uh time

and space is when you fight him John you know it’s funny that you say that because it’s something I’ve actually

mentioned on and I do think it’s a bit of a tactic you’re like this guy he’s got clown hair he’s get you know rolls

around in this real flashy Lamborghini like certainly this isn’t the guy this skinny lanky guy this isn’t the guy

that’s gonna beat me I’m not taking him seriously well you need to because he’s an absolute Savage and you know that’s

kind of a facade a facade but when you look deeper this is a highly highly

skilled fighter now I I was also taken aback when I heard Al Jermaine Sterling

say that that I underestimated him uh there’s nothing in what I see in

O’Malley’s game on the feet where you should underestimate him because you know

all of his fights you know his high level fights against pyoto yawn or whatever like he is a striker that you

cannot replicate you know if so for me I mean Al Jame’s I’d love to know who he was sparring with first of all who do

you find that can fight like Sean O’Malley and who did you bring in because if you’re going in there and and

you’re you’re getting hard sparring against marab or getting hard sparring against these other guys that’s great

hard sparring but that is not Sean O’Malley and you need to find someone that is as close to that man as you can

because to me when alja walked out to that fight in round one he looked completely confused he didn’t

know what to do he was trying to get a handle on him and you know reach link

that’s a real thing and I feel like that hit him in the face before he was hit in the face uh if you know what I mean and

you know again there’s a fighter is responsible for their Camp uh of course

of course coaches are responsible for that as well and who you bring in and all those things managers perhaps right

yeah they definitely take so I guess I wonder as a team as a unit

um what kind of lesson learned this is going to be for the future because you know you do your homework you watch your

video but then how well you prepared who you bring in for that fight is so damn

crucial these aren’t little Regional fights this is this is the UFC at the world championship level so you can’t

mess about Giuliani Rosso was one of the guys in Las Vegas that I was seeing in

countdown trying to emulate Sean O’Malley it all is what it is and uh we’re going to have an interesting Ray

Longo minute coming up here shortly I do want to go to the other side when it comes to the preparation because Tim Welch as head coach has devoted his

professional life to sugashan O’Malley as has Augusto tankinio Mendes this close Center Circle Brandon Harris the

performance coach with all of the breathing and the techniques and the mechanisms right I’m actually going to

have a conversation with Brandon Harris on his podcast I think in the not too distant future and I can’t wait to talk

to him about me optimizing my diaphragm and how poorly I use it when

broadcasting right I believe you’re supposed to fill your stomach with air when you’re uh taking in a deep breath

and I don’t always do that well so much so that when I cap this Sean O’Malley fight and man I have learned to not

compete with a Boston crowd right like someone [ __ ] tell John addick right like if somebody knocks someone

out in Boston and the guy who delivers the knockout’s last name is like O’Malley Like You Gotta Give it like six

seconds and then say the sugar show on top of the world

because uh man was I drowned out but dude I was like seeing Stars almost blacked out because I don’t use my

diaphragm well and I don’t take a breath in that entire sequence but these coaches have revolved their life around

preparing this man great sparring partners at the MMA lab with Mario Bautista and everybody else so they are

all in and they have the pupil that uh has this work get that cloaked in like

bong hits and uh people just can’t be messing about you know like Gilbert

Burns is one of the best fighters in the world Muhammad is too but it’s like you know

for Gilbert to fight below with no pre you know it’s like you you can’t really mess about at the elite levels when it

comes to the preparation and the time and that’s why Drake is duplessy is not going to Sydney in a few weeks

right absolutely man and and you know I know Al Joe did have a problem with the with the turnaround time right after his

last fight against the Hutto but still I think there’s more going on than just the time I think the time was sufficient

but the preparation was probably lacking and I’ve been there myself man you know

I right before the BJ Penn fight I had Mark de la Grotti and Keith Florian as

my main sparring partners in preparation for that fight which is ridiculous no no offense to Keith and and Mark de la

Grotti but yeah I need to be bringing way better guys and I didn’t have that right I mean I sure I brought in

hatsahioki in this but um again we all make mistakes so I’m not trying to make make it look like uh Hey I’ve never done

that uh these things happen and these are hard lessons to take in MMA man it’s

a hard pill to swallow uh but they are absolutely essential and we also have to

talk about Al Jermaine Sterling and I don’t want to skip too far ahead John um but the fact that he was so real and

so honest about how he was feeling after that fight I mean saying like well I

mean I clearly have to think about going to 145 think about what volcanovsky would do to me you know things like that

and how he underestimated like those are things that you love to hear out of someone like Al Jermaine Sterling and he

was absolutely correct I mean you go back to what happened with him and Marlon morice to what he did after that

he was a completely different fighter and to go back to what you’re talking about with O’Malley and the breathing it

is also our breathing that guides us that puts us in the right frame of mind so we can be as present as possible so

we execute as well as possible when I saw O’Malley out there and aljo typically look always looks a little

nervous and jumpy but O’Malley Man he just looks so composed and he was just

kind of taking everything in like everything was happening in slow motion he watched Al Joe walk in he was taken

in the crowd he was looking at his coaches just everything was on point and that to me

you know signal at least it signaled that he was going to be very difficult to beat and um so anyways just kudos to

O’Malley and his team man just tremendous stuff he’s a big game player you know was I better as a basketball

player in practice or the gangs I think you all could probably take a guess right much better than practice you know

and I will be texting Keith Florian later today Cody don’t worry about that what are we doing here in preparation

for BJ Penn guys what are we doing with Mark delicarotti he’s the primary [ __ ] sparring Patna so I don’t

necessarily want to see Al Joe cut the weight anymore Chael Sonnen and I were

in unison in our belief that this was a missed opportunity though to not ask for an immediate rematch and gosh I mean I

have so many different things written down as far as the fight is concerned the stoppage and everything else Ray Longo by the way had to push back to 745

so uh our man big gun Brian Petrie shout out to you but we might have to push you back a few minutes as well so I don’t

want to see how Jermaine Sterling cut down anymore but these long reigning dominant Champions get immediate

rematches all the time and he is certainly worthy of one there are a couple of top contenders May Rob

dwallisch Willie Corey sandhagen who are on the mend of course there’s the Cheeto Vera history but to what extent do you

think it was a missed opportunity for Al Jermaine Sterling I mean we all loved Al Joe post fight right I love the Candor

the post fight press conference I just have so much respect for this man and I could do 10 minutes on just the respect

but he he cut himself down in advance of a potential move up to featherweight by

saying if this is what Sean O’Malley does to me imagine what type of meat grinder Alexander volkanovsky would put

me through and then didn’t call for an immediate rematch which I think he deserves so do you think it was a missed

Opportunity by Al Jermaine Sterling in the Octagon after the fact you know I I don’t really because I I and the grand

scheme of things right you could say business-wise it could have been right no question about it but I think that

there’s something to be said for a fighter being as authentic and honest as possible and perhaps he wasn’t all the

way there to really think about that um but to me he was and he was being as real as possible and I think that

sometimes after a loss what you don’t want to be is that dude who’s like ah

you know now I give me another one give me another chance yada yada and then the reality of it is I think

right and this is just my opinion watch it from the outside in is that the UFC probably wouldn’t have given it to a man

you know just because he already talked about going up and wait and that you know I I again I don’t know what the

relationship is between aljo and the UFC but to me it doesn’t seem like it’s great I you know I think it’s been contentious over you know the last

couple years or so and you know you could argue that they were very happy

that O’Malley’s the champion if we put it that way and listen you know from a stylistic standpoint and and from a

business standpoint yeah I totally get it O’Malley is an absolute killer who knocks people out who do you want in

your highlight real I get it right um so I see that standpoint and can completely agree with that in that

regard but so I I think that for him also he he probably would have wanted more time and then for him to say I want

this rematch but I’m not gonna fight him in six months five months seven months eight months it would have been asking a

lot from the UFC and he already knows that that probably would have been a tough ask algeman Sterling did win the first round

on all three judges scorecards but he certainly didn’t have the productivity let’s say in this fight that Valentina

shevchenko did in her first meeting against Alexa gross so one thing Joe Rogan was saying was that sometimes when

there’s a decisive result like this you don’t necessarily have the foundation for an immediate rematch for me I think

first and foremost it’s exciting to push the reset button you do have your dear friendly there as a number one Contender

so I think it might just be time to to move on to featherweight and see exactly what you can do there there are a lot of

big fights for him potential main events for him there so uh we’ll see what happens but as his friend I just

wouldn’t want him to necessarily cut this much weight uh several more times Hereafter

uh gosh so much to get into as far as these stoppage is concerned can flow no

denying there’s some inconsistency when it comes to these situations I talk about these referees as having some of

the harder jobs in MMA judges too I believe Jason Herzog and Mark otter are the two best referees in MMA right now

I’m probably forgetting an elite referee in there as well uh some might suggest

that Goddard saved him some dignity by not actually having him go out cold with a few more ground strikes no major

protests from Al Jermaine Sterling huge protest from his right hand man Wallace Willie

I’m sure Dominic Cruz would would want to see aljo get another beat or two and

uh I tend to lean that way Kenny uh and thinking it was a skosh premature even

though I do like God and give him the benefit of the doubt yeah no no question about it Mark Goddard is fantastic uh

fantastic referee and he was actually had refereeing duties the night before in New York for us at the pfl and you

know I think that um I don’t necessarily have a problem with it if again me I

know nothing about refereeing I probably would have let it go a little bit more because but yes he was like uh not all the way

there but alja was fighting his way back right it to me it looked like he was

fighting his way back when he turtled up at though at the very end though that’s what I was like so I don’t know man um I I don’t

necessarily have a problem with it there it’s clear Al Joe was absolutely rocked

he was trying to battle his way back then it seemed like his legs and arms were kind of flailing but not

intelligently he was just kind of his body was doing it but his mind not maybe not necessarily so

um you know I I wouldn’t have had a problem with it going a little bit longer but I’m sure it would have

probably led to more damage so in that regard I think it’s a pretty solid stoppage but when you have a champion

you kind of want to give him a little bit more of a chance to get back into it but uh yeah yeah it was it was it was a

tricky thing because Goddard and the officials and rightfully so certainly

don’t want to hear the noise like this is a championship setting they’re in there to protect the fighter and I think

a lot of fans would rather see one more shot than one fewer right more often than not I would

sort of be on the other side I’d rather see a premature stoppage than a super late one that jeopardizes or impacts a

career in brain health uh but my goodness these Warriors are the championship setting it’s uh it’s a

really tricky thing but uh the good thing is that Mark Goddard has established so much good will that uh

I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt every day of the week we’ll see if Longo has any thoughts on that coming up in about uh 12 minutes here on the

DraftKings Network good to have you with us on the Anakin Florian podcast as we continue to recap UFC 292. now in terms

of the promotions appetites who have Sean O’Malley or Al Jermaine Sterling as the champion

never before in UFC history and I’m quoting MMA history today has the promotion uploaded an entire

Pay-Per-View main event to their YouTube channel immediately seems to be all hands on deck can flow in terms of

trying to bloat Sean Mali into Sean O’Malley into the next big thing I’ll be on SportsCenter tomorrow at 12 40 p.m

Eastern Standard Time and uh those calls don’t come in for me very often this dude is about to take over

and uh while I think it ambitious to suggest that he could get to a Conor McGregor level I’m not going to start

putting things past him on uh his celebration Sunday yeah I mean listen I think with

everything he has going on all the different businesses and side hustles he’s got going on

um you know he may have not even needed this push but but it’s clear the UFC machine wanted to get behind him and now

they are activating they’re in activation mode and that is a very good thing for a fighter and and it’s rare

that they even do that right for someone like that and O’Malley he’s got that look man he’s very unique there’s no one

really like him um you know and uh I don’t know man I I

think he’s gonna be a huge huge star we talked about this on the last show I said maybe it’s not this time against

aljo but at some point he’s going to be a superstar the time is now man the time

is now it’s not simple and uh I think it’s well deserved just based on his style and who he is so if you don’t know

oftentimes if you’re watching SportsCenter after a pay-per-view you might get a sterling O’Malley highlight and then you’ll get a freeze frame when

he actually lands that right hand by them Distributing this fight to the

masses my daughter saw it on Snapchat don’t judge me she’s not really on social

media only that application laughs my wife had seen this right they don’t

engage necessarily this knockout is all over the goddamn joint Kenny and uh yeah

people just gravitate towards Sean O’Malley right as I said on the post fight show you don’t have to be a master

orator like jail son into draw Mass Appeal and have the it factor

and uh you know I watched Sean O’Malley’s entire 23-minute media scrum can flow and uh I thought it was [ __ ]

brilliant so um you know this dude’s got a lot of the uh a lot of the package if not the total package I could always

tell how big a fight is this sounds kind of lame but I can always tell how big a fight is when my wife kind of knows a

little bit about it you know like she she knows that there’s a fight going on remember but she’s like hey yeah isn’t that O’Malley guy fighting in the main

event I’m like you never know any of the names you know and she knew exactly who it was we don’t have cable we don’t

watch television but she knew about it uh so you know that to me is usually an indicator when when the casuals know

exactly who’s fighting when it’s happening and that it’s going to be a pretty big fight and then after they win

you know everyone’s kind of talking about yeah it’s uh it’s it’s a very big deal for the UFC and for O’Malley so uh

and again you know coming for where I came from the lighter weight classes never got this kind of love right this

is a 135 pounder that is garnering all this attention and when you put that

into perspective uh from where we were as a sport you know 10 years 15 years ago uh it’s it’s it’s quite the

accomplishment it quite the accomplishment it’s it’s incredibly impressive

there have been a lot of bantamweight title fights on free TV so to speak right even Dominic Cruz and TJ Dillashaw

fighting for the belt in 2016 was a UFC Fight Night this was Al Jermaine Sterling’s second

UFC Main Event Sean O’Malley can headline at 135 pounds that is a

tremendous luxury for the promotion so as we spin this thing forward

Sean O’Malley has torn cartilage of some kind or a torn muscle below the rib wasn’t able to

Grapple for five or six weeks it limited his sparring I think it makes this feat all the more impressive

and I think it certainly as he alluded to on the post show contributed to some of his nerves that he wasn’t able to put

in the requisite work and I think it’s astonishing that Al Jermaine Sterling was over two for takedowns and gosh

there’s so much we can get into but uh I think at this point it’s optimistic to think that he’s going to be able to fight Marlon Cheeto Vera in December but

you know once again the Stars seem to align for Sean O’Malley if you don’t want to fight marab dwallis Willy or

Corey sandhagen in title defense number one and I say that with all due respect to the magnificent challenge that is marloncito

Vero but it looks as though uh if everybody’s healthy it is going to be uh UFC 296 probably well unless it’s Leon

Edwards and Kobe as well but UFC 296 O’Malley V Cheeto two and it’s a great

fight man you know obviously you have the history you have the style match up you have two guys that really are not

very fond of each other two guys that are extremely aggressive that are great Strikers they both fight on the same

they both fought on the same night last night it’s a great story you know

um send it yeah so congratulations to Sean O’Malley to his entire team Augusto

tankino Mendez Tim Welch Brandon Harris everybody else my twin bro was sitting with Sean O’Malley’s family and he said

they are just outstanding people so you can feel good about that Sean O’Malley has moved

almost his entire family from Montana to Arizona his dad is the loan holdout but

I think they’re going to get him there soon and uh to be able to financially do that for your family right sorry Mom

can’t buy your house yet can’t buy a house yet actually we’re never gonna be able to buy a house Mom

it’s not gonna happen it’s not gonna happen my late stepfather no my late father-in-law would always say play the

lottery and I’m not talking scratch tickets folks go play your state lottery play the tickets like every day of the

Mega Millions change your life all right so Longo’s going to join us quickly and I almost hesitate to Pivot

off of this fight uh but I am going to do that and get to Ian Machado Gary and

John Wayne Lee and some of these other performers at UFC 292. Magnum zhangwei Lee

defends her title here she told me in the fighter meeting as thoughtful of fighter meeting as I can ever remember

being a part of by the way I mean my goodness you know we felt like we were talking to [ __ ] Bruce Lee you know

50 to 43 50 to 44 49 45 all hails John

Wayne Lee uh I don’t know what you have for us on the DARS defense as well the

one time she was threatened in the fight but uh just an incredible performance that had everything to it including

submission defense yeah listen I I had I had a feeling I had a gut feeling this

is going to be a grappling heavy game plan and that’s exactly what we got some

great exchanges on the feet for sure but I think she realized that the easiest path to victory was taking this fight to

the ground um there was one point where it did look like it was pretty tight I think the

angle made it a little bit too difficult um for Lemos to finish

um it was tight but I think the angle was not quite there on it and it

definitely seemed like it was something Pacheco was looking to have a up her sleeve to try to catch uh Zhang Wei Lee

off guard but um this is a woman that really did her homework and John

absolutely I could see that you know her being very charismatic at that meeting

um first of all kudos to her for trying to learn English which is extremely difficult

um she has made major major improvements she didn’t know one word of English when she saw started in this sport to see

where she’s at just shows her intelligence and her dedicated to that which is awesome and then seeing some of

the countdown stuff you know with her uh behind the scenes I probably said the

show wrong but um you know you know just the behind the scenes stuff she just seems like an absolute sweetheart just a

very kind human being but then she gets in that cage dude and she turns into something very very far from that uh

just just amazing to watch man just a tremendous athlete we always talk about that but she does her homework she has

improved her technical skills on the ground on the feet so much good luck

trying to beat her all right so I’m here with my jean-wali fighter card and I just want to write

down I go into these fighter meetings with most of my notes done these are the things that I wrote down based upon our

fighter meeting perhaps you’ll find this interesting so she reads a lot about Chinese culture right if I’m Tatiana

Suarez listening to the Anakin Emporium podcast I’m like God damn it [ __ ] Chong Wei Lee reading about Chinese

culture [ __ ] getting better every day said she was gonna wrap around her like water I fight against my laziness every

day I fight myself every day discipline regaining the title is hard defending it

is harder sees herself as the real opponent just relaxed and much happier in there than ever before

and then she sees untapped potential and improvements when we ask where she is relative to her fighting crime so uh

yeah she was certainly like water and uh my gosh she’s a real problem and it doesn’t really matter I guess whether or

not she’s the number one pound-for-pound women’s mixed martial arts athlete in the world I think Larissa Pacheco is

Cannonball coming to be sure and there’s some other fighters in that conversation as well I think Aaron blanchfield and Tyler Santos both fighting this weekend

are two of the top 11 pound-for-pound women in the world are right as far as the UFC is concerned so there’s a lot of

talent in the women’s game right now but um we got to give jeanway Lee all her flowers as far as her next title defense

is concerned Kenny so China is far from South Florida but the foundation could be laid for Yan

shanana’s title Challenger against her country woman Zhang Wei Lee you could also do Jean waili Tatiana seemed as

those young Wei Lee expressed an appetite to that for that in her post fight comments uh what do you think they

do as young Wei Lee Tatiana Suarez Yan shanon seemed to be the the most prominent names and uh do you have a

preference of those two yeah I would say Tatiana Suarez probably makes the most amount of sense

um you know I don’t know what the appetite is to have two females from China do it at this point this stage of

the game I think uh shown on definitely uh there’s a case there for sure I think

the stylistic matchup of Tatiana Suarez and her recent uh win makes it a little

bit more interesting to me um and it’s not exactly clear who I think is going to win for a long time I

didn’t think there was anyone out there that would be able to beat someone like a Tatiana Suarez but yeah when I see the

improvements that Zhong Lee is making and has made she’s a problem and the

fact that she’s actually shorter stockier makes it that much more of a problem when you’re trying to get underneath someone’s Center of mess when

you’re trying to attack those legs um you want them to be nice and Tall right so you do not in some ways it

makes striking more difficult but to enter into their legs it makes it that much more challenging when you’re

shorter and stockier so right uh sign me up I love that fight you sound like that

Argus integrated defense guy there a little bit you know

all right so uh yeah we’ll see what happens right I just feel like sort of like Lifetime Achievement Award

for Tatiana Suarez she’s been through so much that I would absolutely give her

the title fight right so much in terms of you know thyroid cancer taking away her Olympic dreams and then major

injuries taking away years potentially for mixed martial arts career and or prime Lorenzo Fertitta always would say

strike while the iron is hot and metrically I don’t know what’s a bigger fight Tatiana Suarez or Yan shaunan I do

believe Yan Xiao non can play the heel in China and yes there’s a healthy appetite for that fight like I can

actually wrap my head around that long trip because that gets my blood boiling like that’s an exciting fight for me to

see those two go head to head but I do think Tatiana Suarez has to have the inside Lane right now and uh just got to

give her that Championship opportunity I think she has deserved it all right Ian Machado Gary

over Neil magni by unanimous decision one of the scorecards was 30 to 24 don’t necessarily have a problem with it this

man is uh is Just Married to the Game and does an open workout in an impromptu

fashion at an Irish pub in Boston the night before the fight he loves the preparation Kenny his ears

are as open as his mind he is about to buy a house in Brazil which I think is going to be his primary home at least

right now and he’s going to sort of get away from this nomadic life that he has been living but uh again I just don’t

think people uh understand the gravity how good this guy is but you know what Ray Longo has uh has made his way back

from Boston to Garden City New York so uh let us get to uh Raymond Peter Longo and uh we

really appreciate this man you doing okay are you at the gym right now I stopped at the gym so I wouldn’t have

made it but listen I love you guys and I would do wow but this was this was insane I had uh thank God bazooka did a

great job driving but it took us five hours which wow like a three hour three and a half hour trip maybe but uh

you know and then at the last minute I Quinto I sent you the video that’s what I said his luggage indices oh I didn’t

get it in between my wife and I acquainted as a suitcase you know everybody was jammed in they couldn’t see out the back window but yeah that’s

the way that’s the way man and that’s you know I think that’s going to be the gist of this whole

talk today but uh whatever I’ll tell you three months ago you come off two great wins you go into this it’s it’s the

fight game man it’s a crazy crazy thing but emotionally if you’re not grounded and you don’t have your priorities

straight you will definitely get swept out to see but uh let’s hit it man Kenny’s good to see you

buddy great to see you all right we have a lot to get into but I do want to start on a lighter note because you sent me a

video in the car driving back with yeah and Ally Quinta and you’re like we’re coming John you know and oh yeah I just

don’t want to get this reputation as a dictator who’s like hazing you to get

back so we can do the Emporium podcast no no I just wanted to let you know man I’m trying I really yeah no that first

seven o’clock seemed good then I was like holy [ __ ] man with traffic who the hell knows you know but we made it we’re

here that’s all that matters man it still revolves around you well we uh we appreciate you extending yourself uh to

be sure I’m glad that you made it home safely yeah so yes this sport is a whirlwind uh thrill on one side Agony On

the other and there’s a lot to get into as far as this main event is concerned as far as Chris

wadman’s comeback is concerned and everything else uh and you making the Trek of course from Vegas to Boston I

mean crazy I know man I know so I guess I would just like to start with

algeman Sterling taking the microphone after the fight and saying that he underestimated Sean O’Malley and uh I

don’t necessarily intend to put you on the spot but uh yeah you know I feel like Al Jermaine Sterling is not alone

in terms of not necessarily understanding the magnitude of uh of how maybe good this guy is is that fair to

say I would think so look the guy’s the guy is good he’s a great Striker there’s no question about it look all three judges

gave Al Joe the first round and I think deservingly so but you know in between rounds I really told Al Joe let’s go

kick heavy it’s offset in his punches I mean I what I was looking at in the first round was a guy that didn’t want

to commit I think he was afraid of the takedown he was I think we and we knew that was going to happen but

uh I I wasn’t really sure I think O’Malley expected aljo to do in the

first round what he did in the second round and aljo’s point was that he could have made it like an out of Sanya Romero

fight but you know it would have been so one of pleasing to the crowd which I’m surprised because normally he doesn’t

talk like he gives a [ __ ] about the crowd but he did he did say that because I think

the burden would have been on Sean he would have been down two rounds if Alger just does the same thing in the first

round I don’t think he was making a move now I think it was because he was waiting for alto to shoot in but then

somebody said he did have a bad rib maybe that played into a toe that he was just trying to keep his distance but

[ __ ] was accurate he hit a beautiful counter I mean you know I’m a striking guy I love it and you know hats

off to him man he caught aljo coming in and uh you know normally aljo you know

goes for the league a little differently or for the cross but uh he caught him no one else has been able to find aljo’s

head uh but um that’s off to him I got nothing but uh you know respect for what

he did so uh you know great great great counter punch it and aljo did say the

movement against the cage you know was was a little frustrating but he was winning and all three judges had him

winning and I think that was the that would have been the way the fight would have won it wouldn’t have been exciting but then it would have been onshore to

make it exciting and then who knows what would happen that’s a great Point Ray and it gets me

wondering how much of that or maybe the lack of patience on the part of Al Joe

had to do with him you know because had to do with the trash talk going back and

forth and the fact that you know UFC had this guy in O’Malley he’s the exciting guy Al Joe’s the kind of you know

tactical Grappler yeah I look at it you don’t have to ask

him but it appears that it you know has played into a little keep

it is what it is but you know he did make the walk after three months he had a hundred percent didn’t want to do it a

couple of months ago but once he committed he had a good camp days absolutely no excuses but uh you know

the UFC wanted what they wanted and they got what they they got what they wanted for sure you know yeah

Kenny I just want to jump in here but yeah we can’t just bury that right right

like yeah 25 hard minutes 15 weeks ago and I’m just quoting Al Jermaine

Sterling footwork and lateral movement he said he was underprepared for right and you know so much of the first three

four weeks I’m just saying we’re about getting his injuries right and this fight happened on the Challenger’s

timeline and it is part of the discussion thereafter yeah

you know that’s all I’m not trying to make excuses I’m not trying to make excuses O’Malley was you know whatever

degree this might happen on the Challenger’s timeline that’s all yeah without a doubt there’s no question about it it look all the all the it I

don’t think it’s a secret that everything’s stacked against them but I don’t I don’t want to take away anything I mean it’s a great I I know what it

feels like man I know what it feels like three times and I’m happy for Roe Welsh and they did a great job with the guy

and you know God bless them that they got the machine behind them you know what I mean I I was never that lucky you

know what I mean with with all of the Champions they had a really earn it and [ __ ] fight their way to it and then

this kid look this could proved it too so I want those guys to enjoy the the the success just like I did just like

aljo did and it’s a it’s all good you know what I mean it really is but um

go ahead I’m sorry Ray no worries no uh was there any discussion between you and

aljo and the rest of the squad about um you know the training partners that

you guys I know it was very early after but because I’d imagine it’d be very difficult to find a sparring partner

that can replicate the links and this silent speed of someone like O’Malley but was there any discussion about that

or how that sparring went and maybe how that could be adjusted in the picture or

you know we I’m going to say and like again you have to really Al Joe because he’s always has a different perspective

on it but yeah we had lanky tall guys in there so I think he okay I I think what

I didn’t see in the training was you know cutting off the octagon with the footwork and we kind of knew he was going to do it but I figured algae would

just make that adjustment uh you know in there but but the guy does move really

really well so it even if it’s true we still won the round you know what I mean so he could

move all he wants if alja wanted to stand in the center of the Octagon then he would have had to come to him so it

is tactically I think that’s an easy fix that’s not nothing crazy but he does he

moves well so but it wasn’t like he lost the round because of that but I think it

may be you know uh confuse them enough to make him leap in a little the range he was

having a hard time getting the range and I think he was feeling it out it would have been nice to have another second

round exactly like the first round because then one either one of those guys was going to have to make something happen always yeah it’s going to be a

like a shitty fight

and I think if it would have did that I would have liked to see how it played out but uh again the fact that he said

he actually brought up out of Sonia Romero I said it’s just about getting the W don’t mean you have nothing to prove me right like you know I think as

much as he says it doesn’t bother him I’m confused over the hatred this guy gets this guy’s a good guy you see the

way he handled the microphone he’s not making excuses he walked out of that [ __ ] octagon like a man you know what

I mean you hear his story at the press conference I’m almost in tears you know what I mean like I I just really hope I

could be a mentor to the guy and he knows that I always have his back as an older person you know what I mean like

maybe you know he might have missed that growing up a little bit but he’s a good dude I’m telling you right now the guy’s

a good dude so when I hear this type of hatred like coming out of the octagon it’s like [ __ ] you well I mean like it’s

not even like oh you know it’s it’s yeah it’s getting personal like I I don’t know where it’s coming from but you know

I that’s like again it’s part of the game I guess you know when like I said it’s insane man you know so

it’s uh well I’ll tell you where it’s coming from yeah and you know where it’s coming from he’s the only fighter in UFC history to

win the Undisputed Title by way of disqualification and then there have been others it’s just surrounding idle

defenses and uh but no I mean don’t I don’t want to get frustrated and sad today he was just dripping with class

after the fact and he was almost done he was almost too honest as far as some things were concerned by the way I just

read a text from you Dennis bazooka is gunning it like you’re making me sound like a pledge Marshall trying to get

into this joke wait then I feel offholding that that wasn’t me that was Cody

oh now I feel much better but Dennis bazooka was gunning it

probably like John doesn’t happen for us to be going this fast on the highway I’m

giving my wife an A plus this trip she put up they put up with a lot of [ __ ] she was

she’s absolutely awesome so I try not to speak out of both sides of my mouth but I did think it was a

Miss by Al Jermaine Sterling to not ask for the immediate rematch after the fact even if you have no intention of taking

it and you want to leave the division I think he’s conflicted really because he has marab dwallis Willy you know on the

brain stem in that moment and he’s always sort of that unselfish type who wants to put his guy forward right but I

also don’t necessarily want to see him cut down to 135 pounds a million more times so what can you tell us probably

nothing but what do you think I mean he did at the post fight press conference I would like to think that I’ve earned my right to get an immediate rematch I’m

going to remember this night for a very long time it’s going to fuel me for just bigger and greater things

oh I’m going to say he’s going to look at that fight no less than 950

000 times because that’s that’s who he is I mean and I hope he I I don’t go on

vacation enjoy yourself man don’t please don’t beat yourself up over this I think he he has his priorities straight he

knows what’s to concentrate on but get into the rematch thing he could say whatever he wants the UFC is going to do

what the UFC is going to do you can park and try all you want especially him then they’re not gonna you know uh

because he’s asking for a butt with that said Sean Shelby and I hope I’m not miss

misstating this I mean in the back I was delirious but Sean Shelby said do you want to rematch algo said 100 I have a

hundred percent want the rematch and so he did there was talked I mean I’m gonna say Sean asked him he said it and so I’m

I’m saying he’s getting a rematch I mean they said the numbers were outstanding for the biggest bantamweight

pay-per-view is that that true somebody told me oh yeah sure it was you know they they’re going to be dictated by

money it doesn’t matter now who who it is that’s a if they made if they made a bank on that thing they’ll do it again

for sure so Sean did say that Al Joe said 100 percent no questions about it

uh and I think that’s uh you know that’s where we are so and I think he will make

the adjustments you know I think he’s got a uh a good idea or what he knows

exactly what happened that’s that’s the good news yeah he knows he overextended himself at the wrong time

you know whatever but but again I have beautiful beautiful counterpunch

all right that’s some real behind the scenes Intel there for Ray Longo you got it timeline no that that’s very good

that that’s interesting he’s going I think that’s what we’re talking about right you know

right you know everything so close to the best you know

he flew to Los Angeles today to see the doctor so we’ll have more of an idea on

his timeline when he comes back

he’s like he should go into slap that slap League I think you know what

somebody was hassling Pedro munoz’s wife and Mirage slapped the guy right in the

face the guy ran good away good you know imagine that good guys that

being a piece of [ __ ] to people was he from Boston or Philly Boston Bostonian or Philadelphia I don’t know I don’t

know definitely wasn’t a New Yorker you guys can be [ __ ] though huh no I guess I

don’t know it is it is I guess by the way someone came up to me someone came up to me in Boston and this guy knew

exactly what to say to get a photo right he’s like hey he’s like I’m not a minute man

[Laughter]

that’s what I gotta do I gotta start sending people over to you that’s gonna be a good gig that’s fine by the way

it’s guy said he wasn’t a minute man I just got a text from my wife because

my son I think wanted to make uh have a cameo on the attic important podcast tonight he’s a cutie

oh thank you it’s uh I’m not I don’t know if my voice is gonna hold up if I keep uh acting like a

lunatic so uh I get I I guess I would just say and we have to get to Chris Weidman I just have so much respect for

Al Jermaine Sterling and uh yeah you know my heart does go out to him as far as uh

as the the Venom that that seemingly comes his way even in the tri-state area in New Jersey which was nothing if not

stunning um and if I’m being completely honest sometimes he can be a little bit quirky and and not maximize the lifetime

but this weekend he did and even if I thought he was almost too honest after

the fact uh the numbers on his post flight comments on the internet are just absurd and uh I just have so much

respect for him and and as far as his UFC bantamweight resume is concerned uh you know I’m not saying he’s the best

fighter skill for skill the division’s ever seen but let me know when somebody surpasses his UFC bantamweight resume in

terms of accomplishments there you go I I agree 100 well you look

look John at the end of the day man it’s how you carry yourself as a person right these are all little life lessons to see

who you are and I think his character is really unbelievable the way he spoke about Weidman at the press conference

and the way he spoke about his upbringing and you know how he beat the odds and made it this this is a little

bleep I know it sucks nobody wants to lose I’m a [ __ ] sore loser trust me I’ve learned how to come like do this

like I don’t care how bad it is I’ll always come on and do the show and try to handle myself with you know uh Grace

and you know dignity but you know uh this is what what molds you this is what

really makes you and I’m I’m so happy for these guys the way they handled themselves in defeat and look you can’t

keep going up and up and up you know what I mean that’s why I kind of I always say this I love what khabib did

he quit while he was on top he had a great resume and you never have to deal with this you know what I mean and it

might be harder to do what khabib did than even go out you know even after a loss so

it’s all good but I think uh again these guys handle themselves like gentlemen they walked out like men and that’s it

man you know I I got a really nice text that you know it was something to the

effect that you know my 11 I’m proud to say I could let my 11 year old son watch

you know the post find interviews and you know be proud of what he’s gonna

hear you know what I mean so there’s a message and then I I can’t I just can’t say enough about it I couldn’t give a

[ __ ] man really about yeah I I want everybody to win but they’re they’re

just all winners in life and I don’t yeah I don’t think you could put a price on that man he he knows where his

priorities I had I think I had a good chat with him um and that’s it you know just make sure

that guy’s son doesn’t listen to your foul mouth on the Anakin foreign

who you know showed the heart of a champion the determination that he

showed out there again just coming back to fight is a huge accomplishment but can you talk a little

bit about what you thought about uh Chris’s performance in his first time back since that devastating like

yeah look Ben I think Chris is a winner all around I’m happy

for Chris with this fight I mean just the fact that you know he came back from the injury he’s getting older it’s a two

and a half two and a half year you know layoff I mean that’s a lot to overcome

without an injury that injury was actually worse than Anderson Silva’s because his bone came through the skin

which they say is really bad so uh the fact that he went in there and um you

know fought a tough Hawaiian dude man it was a who’s a super nice guy uh

I thought that second round was phenomenal he had the whole crowd cheering form you know what I mean he

had a lot of support right John uh oh my gosh uh which and I in the second round

when he was like waving him in or or I think he might have said are you kidding me you’re kicking me I

think he he told him yeah you’re kidding you’re kicking me in my my bad legs

his walkout was unbelievable it’s the only time in 12 years for me on a UFC

microphone where I was like trying with my arm trying to get the crowd going at

one point I’ve never done that before right it was like an out-of-body experience and I don’t like New Yorkers

it was really cool so listen I mean he is being covered the

whole since the leg break to now and I think it’s going to make for a great story it’ll be inspirational that’s what

I was kind of telling them uh it’s just the fact that you made that walk and he he got his legs beat up and that’s got

to be look back again he’s a special cat but I mean not you you got a bad

break on that leg like that you’re getting your legs shoot up both of them you know that that other Lake he had a

softball coming up if I guess you to kick with it or I did something but uh just crazy man just my

head goes off to him it just was great seeing his family the kids are growing up but you know because he moved so you

don’t get to see anything so I think we’re coming at it from a different angle like everybody wants to win but

all these guys have done really great they’ve changed their lives and that to me that’s what it’s all about I’m not

I’m not going to cry over spilled milk there’s nothing you could do about even you know people said you know the fight

was stopped too early you know if I’m the ref I’m not stopping the fight no I wouldn’t have stopped the fight there but I can’t complain with it either you

know what I mean but alja was 100 coherent in the right after the fact and

right after the fight in the back so you know I would have liked to seen that a little differently but besides that yeah

it’s all good man are we moving anything we’ll move on as a team

right any injuries uh that Chris sustained from that last fight obviously he took a lot of leg kicks any anything

else that that happened uh that you know no no injuries like that I

I think the calf kicks you know uh you know he wasn’t walking both legs were beat up

so I don’t think anything I hope not you know he’s gonna have to get that the leg

he had the surgery on you know an MRI to make sure everything was all right but uh we’ll see how that goes but besides

that I think it was you know just the calf kicks and look the way he fought through that I thought you know most

guys would have stopped I think but oh yeah he kept trying to make the fight you

know so guy is so and uh and just

affable and lovable and uh just for him and his family uh I’m just so happy they were able to get through this experience

and um but I will say in terms of the post-fight visuals that I saw the left knee was the one that Tavares primarily

destroyed he did a lot of damage to the right leg as well he’s surgically repaired right leg Ray but the right leg

was the one that was being iced and the left leg was not and Dr Davidson seemed too intimate to Dana White who said at

the post by press conference that he thinks Maybe there might be an ACL or an MCL or

something the right knee the right leg I think Chris seems concerned about

no no it’s crazy no that’s not no that’s not true what you said the ice is on the

right leg he had no ice on the left leg and his is that correct that’s right right oh you said the you said no no the

left leg got attacked but he had no ice there correct saying the ice was on the right the surgical leg

right that’s that’s a that’s a fact uh I’m saying the ACL is a hundred percent

not torn good great all right yes

because I did I’m on the unaware of that I could be totally off base but if you

go watch Dana White’s post fight press conference I think there was some communication with the doctor and I think Dana said I forget which CL or

something that maybe they could be concerned about but yeah he’ll get an MRI and we’ll see but he was very clear

about not wanting to retire whether or not he was privy to Dana White’s comments about wanting him to

retire I don’t know uh am I putting you on the spot if I uh if I ask you what you think about all of that stuff I know

you’re not in the business of retiring your own fighters but I don’t mean to put you on the spot

that’s a but what’s the question

oh it’s not crazy when you were going to ask what is your wife just hanging out

you know wait hold on

I don’t know if he’s hearing me as well here she said no no I’m not so I would

like to let you people go home you want to say I would like to let you people go home oh no no no but

no so wait let me just get that so Dane

your connections Cody perhaps we can reconnect with this

handsome Godfather Ray Longo his wife was about to come in but I’d like to let these people go home I mean my goodness

this is really not going to help my public approval rating with the listenership that you know these people

all rushed from this very challenging weekend to the gym instead of their homes to do this

silly little podcast we have red purple Cody’s got a lot more patience than I do keeping this Freeze

Frame right now yeah he’s like give me a sec to fix this there we go he’s got yeah baby what do we got retired

I might no I might be slap happy at this point

no we’re done we’re done we want to give you a chance for some final comments uh

yeah I was very moved by Al Jermaine Sterling in our fighter meeting talking about sort of the lack of Parental support that he had as a kid and for his

senior year of high school like trying to beg his parents to show up for things and um yeah he was very very impacted in

life by that lack of support and uh you know I hope the fan base will just uh give the guy a [ __ ] break

well he’s got me now show up at his graduation next time

all right hey why don’t you people go home and uh much love to the wife and family and uh I know you’re dealing with

an injury and we wish you all the best we’ll talk to you next week rest up yeah yeah I’ll see you uh next week I got

going after surgery this week so say a prayer for me hey man see me walking

with the King awesome guys I love you guys man it was uh unfortunately it was

a bad night but obviously it’s it’s part of the game and I’m happy for all the other people that you know know what I

went through with the happiness and um yeah it’s it’s it’s all good I enjoy the moment uh Sean with your team and uh you

know we’ll see you in there again all right we love you buddy we wish you all the best told me in eight days

you’re gonna be great so uh we’ll see you soon okay oh she’s the she’s the best man really like her man yeah all

right buddy there he is the ray Longo met it every week here on the Anakin Florian podcast

my goodness his wife’s probably like what is going on like have them send you

a check cool but I mean you got to think about at that age all right because Ray Ray’s

been doing martial arts longer than we’ve been alive you know and then he’s still doing this thing he cornered in

Boston he drove five hours to New York he’s like oh yeah yeah by the way we gotta stop at the gym so I could do the

podcast his wife’s gonna be like are you kidding me and he’s still doing this it’s 60 whatever I don’t know how old he

is but like this it’s unbelievable so Ray thank you again and uh we’ll be thinking of him um as he’s getting

surgery on the hip this week yes he’s getting his hip replacement if you have seen him limping around and having a hard time especially on the decline

you’ll be very happy to know he’s going to get fixed and uh guy’s gonna be a million bucks next week here on the

attic Emporium podcast all right we have a lot more to get into when it comes to UFC 292 I do want to go three wide and

uh bring big gun Brian Petrie into the conversation because he’s been waiting patiently as uh the New Yorkers work

their way back to uh to Garden City what’s up big gun what’s going on boys what’s going on boys

so uh we like that Petrie doll said tell us a little bit later in the day right yeah cigars all day

no kids started school ideas I mean these kids they just get me sick every [ __ ] me God it’s crazy but now we’re

doing okay just in my throat we’re all right all right so uh I’m gonna go to you first on this and then I want to

hear Ken Flo’s thoughts on Ian Machado Gary but I do think there’s a an over reaching theme here when it comes to Ian

Machado Gary and Sean O’Malley there’s connective tissue when it comes to them as Strikers and how good and fast

and skilled they are and how coachable they are and maybe how underestimated

they are even by some sharp MMA Minds out there what were your thoughts on on Ian Gary and everything that uh at this

fight week uh and friction with Neil magni health so I love the friction window magnet

didn’t love the cage Antics I mean usually when when you when you can talk all the [ __ ] you one in the cage let’s

squash it up but I mean he said no that you know Magnus come back listen you look great I mean he looked measured in

there I thought uh I I wanted to finish you had a one leg fighter in there I think there’s a lot of Ian Gary haters

because how confident he is and you know my friends especially are texting me how could he not finish with one leg you

know all that [ __ ] but I thought he looked cerebral in there I thought he looked good I love to call out a Wonder Boy

um I think that’s a strike of her Striker I think that’s a fun fight I think that’s a smart matchup for him not many people have outstruck Wonderboy and

he and Gary wants to be the best Striker he said it so uh the leg kicks were I mean crazy the first two putting Neil

Maggie in his ass and I’m holding a Neil magnetic and I go oh where’s some trouble here he can’t even take a leg

kick without getting put on his butt ass we’re in some trouble but yeah they look fantastic I mean you know I I’ve always

liked being Gary this was a number play but uh the number failed me this time so what gonna do

Kenny you know oftentimes when it comes to criticism I fall on the side of the fighter you know it seems like the New

Hampshire and our producer Cody marrow is coming out a little bit I know Daniel Cormier also was questioning on the

broadcast that maybe Ian Machado Gary should have finished but I thought he just was very methodical and didn’t over

risk and I mean he destroyed the guy but even in his post-flight interview with Joe wrote like the highest level guys

right like I don’t know man I don’t have a an ounce of criticism for Ian Gary not

getting the finish 30-24 for me is is basically a finish I might be somewhere

in the middle now I I picked Ian Gary to win I think that um there’s no question about it he’s got Elite striking skills

they’re absolutely and I do think he can be elite in that division but I guess I

still stand where I did before in saying that I don’t see the championship yet in

his future but I do see him being Elite and I think any time you’re able to

dominate someone like Neil magni I think it’s a great sign magni has been there and done that he has a ton of experience

he can be very awkward and difficult to go out there and beat let alone dominate like Ian Gary did so I think those are

all phenomenal signs for Ian Gary and his team um I I do think that there were

opportunities for him to go out there and finish that fight I think it would have been that much better for him and I

probably would have changed my mind a little bit on his ability to become a champion in the welterweight division just because to me that that’s more a

sign of a guy who is uh I don’t know mastering his craft right and I think

that Ian Gary fell a little bit short of that but as far as all the tools the weapons everything he was using and how

he even started it off by weakening Neil magni I thought it was phenomenal and

um you know here’s a kid who is definitely big for the division uh knows how to use it and I I just thought that

he had more opportunities to go out there and finish I was with DC on some of that not always easy to do though way

easier for us to to say that from the outside looking in uh but I did think

that when you see the disparity and skill between Gary and magni

um You probably would have liked to see him close the door on that fight but uh sometimes it just doesn’t happen

there’s still a lot of unknowns when it comes to the grappling of both Sean O’Malley and Ian Machado Gary and I

think for Sean O’Malley he certainly would have liked to have had the Intel of maybe getting taken down by Al

Jermaine Sterling and feeling that and having the opportunity Kenny right to get back up but

Machado Gary is going to have roots in Brazil he’s still going to be rooted at kill Cliff FC with all of the best

welterweights in the world I think depending on the stylist he’s fighting he may bounce around a little bit this

kid’s on the fast track at 25 years old and I do think there’s going to come a time on the Anakin Florian podcast even if he has suffered a loss at that point

in time if the show’s still going on that Kenny’s gonna say I now see World Championship potential in Ian Machado

Gary because it’s 25 years old became a judo black belt at 18. he’s just not going to be denied he’s just not going

to be denied and uh that’s not promotional hyperbole I really think the kid’s going to get there but again there are a lot of unknowns

it looks as though Dana Kenny wants to go November Madison Square Garden or Ian

Gary presumably that would be Steven Wonderboy Thompson and then wow a headlining spot in Dublin Ireland in

2024 so I would be absolutely stunned if September if we don’t see Ian Machado

Gary and Steve Wonderboy Thompson in less than three months live on pay-per-view at MSG Ah that’s a great

fight that’s a phenomenal fight makes a lot of sense all right so uh Marlon Cheeto Vera over

Pedro Munoz by unanimous decision Mario Batista by Damon Blackshear by unanimous

decision those were the other two uh bantamweight fights cry on the uh on the pay-per-view main card uh I really like

this Bautista cat you know Blackshear got off to a pretty good start in that fight anything for us my man on either

of those two fights in terms of this uh bantamweight heavy pay-per-view main card last weekend yeah I thought the

bermudius fight was a lot closer than maybe some people gave her credit for I thought Pedro was really in there I

thought that was uh I saw some Twitter people actually giving it to Pedro obviously but uh very close fight I mean

Pedro was wearing it the Cheeto hits different and Batista yeah this is a guy who came in the UFC with a lot of hype

comes from a great camp and then had some setbacks and he’s out there finding a guy who’s very tough to look good

against on short notice who just pulled a twister off and he showed he showed well there was a minute in the second

round I’m like oh Batista’s slowing down a little bit here he got a second win and won that third round and looked great you know I’ll uh blackshear’s

Corner thought he was up two rounds I didn’t love that advice but uh yeah Batista’s something I I’m Really Gonna

Keep On I really thought he was gonna showcase his overall skill and maybe put a name if if he would have got the Cody

fight if Cody didn’t pull out because I know Cody uh garbrand is still he’s not maybe Elite anymore but he’s still a

name and I thought Batista could have really shown out in that fight but uh I thought he looked great I mean this guy’s a limit format at that weight and

uh yeah I can’t wait to see it matched up I mean 135 is it’s just an absolute Shark Tank right now can flow a

stylistic flip up for sure for Mario Batiste to going from Cody garbrand to DeMent Blackshear not sure if you have

anything on Bautista or Cheeto Vera or uh or either of those two Pay-Per-View fights before I move to a few other

things yeah I thought Batista uh made some great adjustments in that fight um I thought I thought the second round

could have been for for Damon Blackshear by the way I I yeah I’m not sure you tell your fighter that when it’s that

close of a round uh because you don’t want to give up any rounds in this sport right but there’s no way I would have

been I would not have been confident in telling him that that’s for sure but it was a close fight but still Batista he’s

a stud man um thought I thought he made great adjustments was able to stop a lot of those takedown attempts showed that

he is an excellent Grappler in his own right and uh yeah it was cool

um and the other fight you were talking about uh Marlon Cheeto Vera yes yeah Cheeto and Munoz uh that was another

close one I you know Cheeto uh I thought again this

was just a classic Cheeto Vera fight right it’s like this slow start builds up gets stronger finds his rhythm in the

third round then like decimates this guy um but yeah it was good yeah I thought it was a really good uh performance for

Cheeto Vera I I think Cheeto fundamentally needs to take his footwork

to another level if he wants to be a champion in that insane division uh and

it might be his next one right he might fight O’Malley next and that plotting

style it’s what allows him to hit so damn hard but he’s got to be bouncy he’s

got to be in and out he’s got to be way more Dynamic with his footwork if he wants to uh be a world champion I think

um if he wants to I guess sway the odds more in his favor I should say because his power is phenomenal no question

about that I thought his hands looked much improved in this fight he is making improvements it didn’t seem like he took

any deep breath throwing that fight despite the crazy face um and yeah just uh Cheeto doing Cheeto

things and uh great win for him in a big spot I saw value in Munoz I went forward

and fit all right a couple other things that I want to get to on UFC 292 and uh big gun

Brian Peach commitment to this show is not lost on us I appreciate the extent I love that I want to get to the Brad’s

taboris and Katona print the shirts always bet on cardio Brad Katona weaponizing cardio right

this kid is impressive man like an acquired taste maybe right maybe you

don’t want to like go break bread with him I think he’s all right but I can’t feel like

Kenny this kid is really all right this kid is really tough and really good

and like he’s tough just doesn’t get tired and Cody Gibson just a hungry hungry fight and the Stefan Bonner

Forrest Griffin comparisons are not lost on me Kenny like this was Jason Knight Mississippi means suggested this is one

of the best fights in UFC history and uh I don’t necessarily need to go there but Kenny this fight was was outstanding and

I just think it speaks to the stakes and the commitment and the 13-week training camp and everything else

non-stop back and forth and you know I think what Joe Rogan was saying when he

said this is a fight ladies and gentlemen it was that you know you go to that dark place in your soul and your

heart when you’re in a fight like that where you’re like this isn’t about who wins this round or who wins this fight

like you’re fighting for your life that was kind of the sense that I got when these guys were fighting it felt like a

street fight and so in a lot of ways it looked like a street fight wasn’t the most technical fight in the world but

man these guys were trying to take each other out every single second the pace

to start that fight was insane and Katona you know just slowly started

pulling away from round after round just stayed more active was Landing some really clean shots and Gibson was just

fading man he was throwing a lot to arm punches and I think efficiency got the better of him or a lack thereof got the

better of him there but uh Katona man came in shape and uh it was just an

action-packed fight because of it Bry what do you got kid yeah this is my mortal lock I had bracketona this is the

last line that came out because it got you know we didn’t know until Tuesday he opened at -175 I loaded up on that went

down to 170 loaded up again I thought he was gonna win in a completely different way I thought he was going to Grapple

and beat up Cody because before Cody went on the show he fought Ray Borden got taken down like seven times he has

that problem he debuted against al Jermaine Sterling in the UFC was getting taken down and and Brad said no no we’re

gonna stand up we’re gonna bang it out I mean he went for like some takedowns but never really committed and uh just the

toughness of both those guys such a back and forth fight Brad had a huge weld inside his head then Cody I know I mean

I don’t know about a doctor but he broke his eye orbital for sure and there was a minute where he was like oh [ __ ] this

killed I might quit and then said no [ __ ] that here’s an uppercut yeah I mean the toughness of those guys and even

yeah I mean it just you know that’s a fight that I did not expect that to happen I thought Katona would would

grapple and win that way because that’s usually his game and was wasn’t surprised to see them just go out and

banging out old school tough finale which I feel like we haven’t got that in a while and it was it was awesome I love

it code Gibson’s inner monologue is like man my orbital floor is shattered but if

I tough it out I’ll get 50 Grand and maybe a UFC contract and that’s exactly what he got he got the UFC contract

which is rare and he also got the 50 000 bonus so congrats to both Brad Katona

and Cody Gibson we also acknowledge Kurt Hollow Beau not hollabaugh holla Beau 36

years of age was 0-4 in the UFC didn’t believe this third UFC stint was going to materialize now he’s The Ultimate

Fighter he is in and uh you know he’s a Brazilian Jitsu Jiu Jitsu black belt pressure Striker and uh that’s a really

big win for him and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him do a little bit of damage there at 155 pounds and then real

quick can’t flow on Brad Tavares Chris Weidman was the story and I just

love the way Brad Tavares handled this entire week he certainly was fighting for his home state of Hawaii with all

the devastation going on there but he also had no time for questions about whether or not Wyman was going to open

with a leg kick like he was he was Primal he was business-like he was no

nonsense and I thought it was an exceptional performance for a guy who’s 23 fights into his UFC career well he

was set up to be the [ __ ] all right because either he goes out and loses or he beats the guy who broke his leg so it

was it was a tough spot to be in but I thought he played it right mentally leading into that fight I think he was

saying the right things for him and his family right it’s like who cares about that guy’s story I’m trying to win and

save my career here and put some food on the table um and I thought that he came in with

that right mindset and a Hawaiian is never going to back away from a fight okay I’ve been watching Tavares a long

time he’s always been humble he’s always been a hard worker I’ve seen major major

improvements in his game since his first UFC fight to where he was at now

um maybe not in his prime right now his chin perhaps not what it used to be but look at the look at the row of killers

that he has faced over the course course of his career uh again just staying true

to that you know Hawaiian nature he will never say no to any fight out there and

and I also gotta mention you know I don’t always look at the com man so I was looking at some comments someone’s like but you know Kenny’s saying Tavares

is a big middleweight what is he talking about you know he’s only five eleven did you see his legs have you seen his legs

and didn’t he used to fight at 205 by the way um but you know I think that uh you know

when you see a guy with that kind of build uh and those legs you have to you

have to know those leg kicks are coming especially given the injury and you know Tavares is so good at setting them up

you know working with the great race stefo um he was just on point did all the right things and I again I think all the

superlatives were right on point with his counter wrestling his ability to stop those takedowns Chris Weidman is

not an easy guy to stop especially Up Against the Cage he had all the right answers there uh congratulations to Brad

Tavares no he was a star middle linebacker in high school you don’t get there by accident he’s a tremendous

athlete he’s an absolute boss and uh yeah he’s been in there with yoel Romero and Robert Whitaker and

just feel good for a really good dude and uh you know it’s like he’s a father in his own right and I just think his

ability to stay focused amidst all of that noise and especially the Hawaii stuff as well uh just wanted to do a

little hat tip there to Brad Tavares congrats to Gregory Rodriguez you know the elbows perhaps somewhat controversial to some you know can flow

is just such a violent [ __ ] in his head that he’s probably like yeah I’m just kidding uh but Gregory

Rodriguez one of my Institute of human performance teammates so we congratulate him just a great night for the mix martial arts and Combat Sports leader

UFC 292 largest gate in the history of TD Garden for a non-stanley cup final or

NBA Finals game and uh these UFC Live Events as Commodities just absolutely

absurd right now all right Kenny am I missing anything else no we got to move on we got some predictions UFC is going

to be in Singapore and uh you know if you like coffee and you like combat together that’s your reality this

Saturday August 26th main card 8 A.M Eastern on ESPN plus UFC Fight Night from

Singapore it is Holloway versus the Korean zombie this here is our main event Challenge and guys you know what I’ve been burning it at all lens I don’t

have the updated standings but what I can tell you kenflo had three units on Ian Machado Gary he also had two units

on algeman Sterling so all things considered it was a good week for Kenny Florian well no yeah Sterling that

didn’t hit but um yeah and you did Miss on uh Pedro Munoz so maybe not as good a week as possible

all right we have some predictions today and part of the reason we’re picking this preliminary fight and all of these

odds by the way courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook heavyweight Division I think there’s an interesting angle here between junior taffa and Parker Porter

and it’s very close on the money line so big gun Brian Petrie yes on I like seeing your face now as we go all right

doing a nice job directing with cameras today Justin taffa’s brother Junior tougher minus 122.

Paka Porter Plus 102. porterhouse coming off a wind yeah that

might not be a bad nickname Parker porterhouse I like the steakhouse for him I mean this guy’s got a rip when he

retires he’s got to open a steakhouse I’ve been saying it for years that’s that’s right yeah that’s right so he’s

coming off a win over Braxton Smith at UFC 288 not all that long ago that came on the heels of a loss to Justin tafa by

knockout in Perth in February of this year so now he tries the younger brother Junior who is four and one dropped his

UFC debut to mooseman back on April 22 Brian Petrie who do you have yeah I’ve been hearing a lot about junior taffa

junior tough I loaded up on him blindly kick off here you know mosman you know

it’s been hurt before it’s been knocked out before and he I was like I should have done tape study I shouldn’t look he

did not look good against moesman he had chances to win and he rushed everything he has no take down offense yet he’s

obviously young working on it looks exactly like his brother by the way which is uncanny and Parker Porter

doesn’t go from as many takedowns as I like he beat Braxton Smith who was on you know allegedly I saw some articles

he I think he is suspended right now he was on a lot of that Grandpa’s cough medicine you know what I mean the legal

stuff and he was jacked to the tits and Parker Porter took him out that’s a one-round fighter who was ready to knock

him out one round that’s what Junior taffa has here he’s a little Slicker in Braxton Smith obviously but I think Parker Porter with those legs and just

just everything with this size if he gets him down it’s over I think that’s Parker Porter the steakhouse is gonna

have to do and I think he fillets you see that word right there babe Junior taffa add a dog money I’m gonna take it

uh give me Parker Porter I’m not good picking heavyweights but I mean plus money on a guy who did not look good I’m

gonna get the I’m gonna take the steakhouse give it to me bro I have you and Erica Petrie talked about the use of testosterone or human growth hormone in

advance of your pro mixed martial arts debut so I got to get a physical every year I have high tea so I don’t know if

I take testosterone what whatever wow which I did not think because I can’t

grow face away I’m like no it’s low it’s low no the lady’s like no it’s it’s borderline high like it might be a

problem like [ __ ] all right well that’s that’s out God do you want to do some uh EPO or

something for your cardio yeah I might have to look into it my cardio is in jammed right now

maybe we’ll do some EPO for your cardioids

um but if cffc is not going to test you for EPO then everyone’s [ __ ] do some

blood doping more debut this is gonna go off the rails

quickly I love it I didn’t eat till like 4 30 in the morning you know did take a little bit

of a nap today that’s interesting all right Junior taffa Parker Porter House

which way you go little EPL little meth for cardio yeah yeah we’re the coaches

you need bro that’s right now sponsored by the attic and Florian

podcast um I love it dude listen I’m with I’m with I’m with Brian here listen when I

see two guys that are capable um of of either knocking the other one

out or it’s a little too close I’m always going to lean towards the underdog and Brian’s right man if Porter’s able to take this fight to the

ground which I think he he has he he can take people down he can’t get on top he

has decent ground certainly better than tapa here um he likes to get people up against the cage when he does have a grappling heavy

game plan he get him up he gets him up against the cage he looks for those singles and doubles gets on top has good

grounded pound could get good position I think that’s what he needs to do here uh taffa’s got some power too no question

about it but I think at this stage of the game he lacks that experience in

making good game time decisions so uh he could win this fight but I’m going to lead towards Porter here as well

all right next up high stakes in the women’s flyweight division Aaron blanchfield minus 148 Tyler Santos Plus

124. blanchfield the American will not be 25 until May Wow 11-1 win over Jessica and

Josh in what was a main event back in February she’s 5-0 in the UFC Brian and now draws the former World title

Challenger tala Santos the Brazilian is not fought since she challenged Valentina chefchenko in Singapore last

June who do you have here big fight yeah so we you know a lot of times we’ll label like we we label Bo nickel him

he’s him right I think Aaron blanchfield’s her I think she’s her I think she is that good I’m ready for it

to slip up at 24 years old but she’s so committed to this game I fall on

Instagram and literally she is she’s she’s I’m getting a crush on her not physically but just the way she trains

way and physically because she’s pretty but I’ve decided I dropped your wife’s name and like two minutes later I mean I

know you guys sometimes sit down and watch the show Nichols my wife if you go to Joe

Burrell’s Instagram every [ __ ] picture of burrow is liked by my wife so she I’m okay with that she’s gonna be

okay with this all right um I think she’s fantastic she’s great I mean the andrage fight she stood up on her drivers and then she got underground and

if you look at Aaron blanchfield’s last couple fights one takedown one take down because that’s all it [ __ ] takes I

think Tyler Santos is very good she looked great against uh chefchenko uh very close fight she landed her own

takedown she’s big she’s strong in there but again I’m ready for it to go off the rails in this low number at a Aaron

Blanchard which I would pay twice the number on this I’m loving it um the only reason I’m not going unit

heavy the only reason I’m not putting the nuts on the table right now is I like a bet later in the card but uh I

love Aaron Blair still in the spot I think she’s gonna win I think she could even finish that before finishes in a row and then at that point you just

gotta you just gotta throw in there I know she’s young but that that’s a title shot if she can finish Tyler Santos in my opinion give me Aaron Blanche Shield

Kenny with respect to talisanto so I thought Aaron blanchfield would be minus 250 as opposed to minus 150 or so you

got number three and number four at a hundred 25 pounds we mentioned also both prominently featured on the UFC’s pound

for pound list huge huge Eliminator at 125 we need your prediction you know

what you can’t forget here is that Tyler Santos is a very good fighter I I think that she’s a very good Striker and I

think she’ll probably be the cleaner Striker uh than than Aaron blanchfield out there doesn’t necessarily mean she’s

going to win but she has her weapons she has her tools and they are relatively sharp she’s also not too shabby on the

ground either when she’s able to take the back get positioned she’s very good at taking it back is she as good as

blanchefield on the ground no I think blanchfield positionally is going to be superior and it’s probably where this

fight ends up and because of that I think blanchfield is going to be able to out position tala Santos just wear her

down over time and then ultimately either get a TKO or get some kind of submission now this is the fight this is

a perfect fight that Aaron should take after that excellent win over someone like God draws you know she was calling

for sevchenko I said it was too early this is the right fight at this point in her career with her experience with her

age I love it this is the path towards towards uh that Championship uh

opportunity and um I don’t think it’s an easy fight at all uh but I do I I do

like blanchfield here I think if she can connect her striking in with her entries

get there safely I think she wins this fight nicely done kid nicely done all right next up big fight at featherweight

ninth ranked Giga Chicago minus 238 taking on number 15 Alice caceres who is

Plus 195. Higa was to face an EQ since last September he was he was forced to

withdraw tonight supposedly he’s had a hard time has Giga getting a fight since

that’s a dick Yusuf fight fell off so here we are nearly a year later Bry and he draws caseras who’s been on an

absolute tear winning seven of eight to reach the top 15 who do you have here yeah uh I mean Bruce Lee Royce Alexis

has been around forever he’s a good Striker he’s hard to put away um the guys I put him away usually generally on the ground but I think Giga

is just on a different level I’m a fan of this guy I I I I I I was saying earlier this week yo he got dog walked

by cater which he kind of did he got he got [ __ ] up by Gator but I want to watch the fighting Lane in 118 strikes

okay there wasn’t like he gave up and rolled over cater definitely won the fight and dropped him a few times but

Giga laying at strikes this guy’s an elite kickboxer Elite Striker that Giga kick to your liver is brutal and uh I

think you know with casares yeah I think this is a perfect matchup this is exactly who he should have came back from with a year off or longer than that

after the beating he took from cater rest the brain rest everything casares might want to mix up some takedowns but

I don’t love his takedowns he kind of clinches wants to put You Against the Cage and kind of body lock taking down Giga has worked on that that’s primarily

his thing early in his career you could take him down he is since uh has rectified that but his striking I think

is just beautiful with his hand more so this kicks but I think his hands are working the time off I’m not afraid of

minus 245 I’m not afraid of so uh give me Giga here I like them big as well I feel like I’m seeing it just so goddamn

goodness clip that when I go over but I’m just saying uh I like Giga here uh

and I think he might even get a finish here I think he’s back all right fear is not a factor for Brian Petrie that was

Sarah on the other side can flow he’s won two in a row defeated Daniel Pineda back on June 3rd he’s fought like 28

times in the UFC crazy what do you think about this one at 145 pounds get yeah I

think this is a perfect fight for Geek as Brian alluded to I think casares has shown great improvements I think

mentally spiritually technically he’s looking phenomenal on a two-fight win streak right now over two you know

decently tough guys and it’s great to see that uh at this point of his career but this is a really tough matchup for

him in Giga I just don’t think he’s going to be able to take him down um you know at this stage of the game I

think Giga has improved significantly in that uh in that modality and I think that uh giga’s kick to the ribs are just

an absolute problem you know it’s coming but it’s very difficult to stop it’s very unusual in that he’s not attacking

you at the shin to the rib he’s attacking You by digging those damn toes into your wrist and um he’s going to

touch an organ and it’s not going to be nice so I like Giga here um and let’s go with

give me five Unis live unit trigger by Kenny

1190 dollar bets to yield 500. you guys get out of bedtime when we

go Prime Time on a Sunday night or maybe you’d like doing bedtime I don’t know so I’m getting out of bedtime right now

yeah yeah it’s fine it’s absolutely fine all right homemade event cam flow we’re

gonna leave with you here it’s a light heavyweight rematch Ryan Spann minus 148 Anthony Lionheart Smith Plus 124.

so Smith took the first meeting it was September of 2021 he did so by submission just three minutes and 47

seconds into the fight since he has lost two in a row to high level competition there’s heat on this matchup as well

Kenny very interesting fight relevant fight at 205 pounds span or Smith for you kenpool

awesome all right under normal circumstances I would feel bad about not putting the kids to bed but especially

me being away but I cook dinner for the first time in my life in my career guys

whoa so we could put that yeah actually tonight tonight

I did a little little cheeseburger uh like taco thing it was it was pretty

basic but it was delicious it was simple but I I the kids liked it it was good because Clark was impressed so anyways

uh for me that’s that’s a big deal all right so let’s see uh Ryan’s been Anthony Smith uh Anthony Smith has

probably and hopefully Brian agrees one of the most difficult guys to rely on

right it’s like I love Anthony he he’s a great analytical mind he knows the sport

very well he’s got some great skills but on Fight Night man it is like throwing

dice unfortunately and I think that you know he could be really hot he could be really cold I have no idea what’s going

to happen and I don’t don’t know where he’s at at this stage of his career and I didn’t love his last fight to me it

seemed like he just didn’t want to be out there and and I wonder if he wants to be out here against Ryan span he

better be and if he is hey he could absolutely win this fight on the feet or on the ground but Ryan Spann is an

extremely dangerous guy on the feet and on the ground uh more so on the feet a

positionally he may suffer from some issues on the ground maybe but he’s still very dangerous he’s got some good

submissions he’s got some good ground and pound but boy does his power worry me against someone like Anthony Smith

and also Anthony hasn’t quite solved the issue of calf kicks or leg kicks in

general and I think that’s something that Ryan span is probably going to try to expose here uh and then he’ll try to

you know look for one of those big Power shots with his hands upstairs and um yeah I I worry about Anthony here in

this one I like span here um I think that uh I don’t know you have

a hungry fighter against and I’m not sure where he’s at at this point there’s career fighter so

um yeah I’ll leave it at that fair enough absolutely Fair Anthony Smith uh and you’re wise to point him

out as an analytical mind uh I think he has a bright future call and fights for the UFC as well one of my favorite

colleagues on this crazy UFC Road Show and really has an appetite for learning about television and not just sort of

going up there and cashing a paycheck so a lot of respect for the individual but it is hard to quantify where his

championship hunger might be at this stage of his career and I think that’s fair Ryan Spann has won two of three

since that main event against Anthony Smith he was submitted O’Brien’s last time out against Nikita kurloff on March

11th who do you have here my brother yeah so this is obviously Kenny alluded to such a hard fight I even I even put

spin in that category as a hard guy to predict I mean he had Johnny Walker on the ropes and it’s like what are you doing uh Nikita kryloff he falls into it

you know this is what I call my podcast a bold spaghetti fight you put two pictures on the wall you throw a bowl of

spaghetti whatever the spaghetti lands on more that’s what you pick so I almost won a pass in this fight but the fight

has a little bit of heat and I think that’s going to motive Anthony Smith I think he kind of was ghost walking as

Johnny Walker who’s a big huge guy I get it but that’s a fight that he possibly could have won Johnny Walker looked

fantastic but um I think Anthony Smith that dog money here I think if he goes to the ground I think he can submit span I think spans

fight iq’s lacking I think his athletic abilities off the charge power off the charge but after round one Midway

through round one if he’s not going the way he wants to go what happens I think he might check out mentally and fall

into something I do think Anthony Smith has good submission so I think Smith is going to get his mission that’s how I

play this fight I’m gonna pick Anthony Smith personally enough for the listeners out there I play Smith by decision if not just kind of stay away

from the fight um but yeah that’s my take all right so big and Brian petrick

teased like a big bet of some kind so we’ll see if that happens before we get out of here yeah do you have any prelim

uh I’m gonna use my time I wanna I wanna say something about the ray Longo team I know you guys covered it just real quick

thing I’m gonna yield my prelim time to say something about them all right well before we get to the main event give me the longer stuff all right no basically

what it is is you know I’m getting close to Ray long ago I’ve met Matt frivola’s dad you know I got Long Island blood my

mother’s from Long Island and you guys touched on everything about how respectful and great alja was after the

fact that again I’m still baffled he gets food but what I love is the closeness of the team Loyalty means so

much to me and the fact that you got more Rob sitting there in the cage all in the verge of tears who’s the number

one Contender who could have made that situation made that moment about him going up to Sean going or you’re calling

out cheetah no no [ __ ] that you’re gonna get me he didn’t do that he sat in the back and said this my teammate just lost

I’m devastated and that just is a testament to loyalty to that team to the coaching everything like that and

there’s not I mean listen I’ve been I’ve been a few gyms I’m not like I’m a a [ __ ] expert or anything because a lot

of [ __ ] that goes on in gyms that are aren’t like that like what Ray Longo has in Long Island and uh I respect it so

much so hats off to all those guys that’s all I want to say no that’s a very important point and I’m glad you

took the time to make it it’s interesting how you lean into those New York Roots it’s like I’m I’m trying to like hide the fact that my dad’s from

Seaford New York I was co-created in Massachusetts anyway I don’t think what’s funny I’ve never been to Long

Island but I’ve been to Boston several times for Thanksgiving growing up because my grandmother’s a twin sister she married a guy from Boston so we used

to go there for Thanksgiving so yeah you know there we go so good choice buyer Mary and [ __ ] Boston yeah some people

suggested that bostonians are mean I don’t think collectively we’re as mean as New Yorkers but it’s very cool for me

to see how much my co-workers love the city of Boston it’s always heartwarming when people like the place that you’re

from all right Main Event featherweight Eliminator of sorts former champ Max Holloway minus 8.50 Korean zombie Chan

song Jung plus 520 only man that beat Max Holloway since 2019 Alexander volkanovsky Max has won three of four

bested Arnold Allen over five rounds back in April in Kansas City Brian he’s in a bit of a tough spot divisionally

until Volk loses or leaves uh Korean zombies last fight came against the bulk

man that was a losing effort April of 2022. will you have a play for us on the main event yeah uh you know sometimes

fights hit me like lightning bolts I I’ve been tracking this fight for two weeks now going I can’t I mean I mean

the number on Max Holloway should in my opinion should be minus like two thousand I mean I think well no offense

to Korean zombie I just think he’s taken steps back as opposed to steps forward he’s very tough he’s always gonna be in

the fight he’s got power in his hands but he hasn’t evolved he hasn’t improved as a fighter in my opinion and he’s just

getting older Max Holloway besides vulcanovsky is is the best 145 I mean you can make an argument he’s there I

mean I thought he would go up to 55 I mean I don’t think you’re gonna get a four fight with bulk after the last one I thought you get a 55 he’s got the long

body for it staying at 45 years going to Singapore to fight kind of you know I mean the the not really Hometown guy but

fighting that part of the world guy in the main event here and Max at 8 50. I’m doing something a copper should never do

I should walk away from this I should say no that’s no you can’t do that I would pay double this price I would put

a hundred units on this I’m gonna be putting a lot of money on my own money this is a five minute play for me on Max Holloway I think he’s just steps ahead

of Korean zombie I think Korean zombie has a puncher stance like everybody but when’s the last time we’ve seen Max get hit and knocked out or knocked out he’s

never been knocked down so I just I don’t see the path for victory on Korean zombie here sure he can grapple he’s got a twister submission himself he has good

Jiu Jitsu but I just don’t see that happening I think Max is is on point and I think he’s taking fights now just to

because I he knows he’s not going to get the Valk fight unless Valk loses and he’s taking fights now just to prove his

greatness and to get better as a mixed martial artist and and I think that’s all the motivation a guy like him needs

so I’m heavy on Max here big time uh yeah I’ll fight you in a play and uh I

think he’s gonna get a finish as well uh I feel like Max is on a finish in a while so I see we’re finished as well coming 4 250 American dollars for

patreon Max Holloway can’t flow who do you have in the main event um you know these are two guys that are

must-see TV I think this is a an awesome matchup I know it’s one that Max

Holloway has wanted I think a lot of 145 Pounders want this matchup against Korean zombie because of how much of a a

legend the Korean zombie is uh but also it’s because he moves forward doesn’t

care about moving his head uh is it one to kind of dance in and out he plots

forward and uh says Fu basically uh let’s see who’s tougher and

um it’s what makes him so dangerous but it’s also what makes them so vulnerable and you know am I supposed to bet

against the volume King from Hawaii and Max Holloway again someone like Korean

zombie you just can’t do it and you know big favorite here at minus 850 but you

know he’s a big favorite for a reason it could have been even bigger in my opinion just based on Holloway and his

style I think what I’m most intrigued by is is this a Max Holloway that has

peaked you know was his has he peaked a few fights ago is he still improving are

we gonna see some new Tools in his toolbox I don’t know I’m I’m uh I’m

willing to be surprised and I’m looking forward to this fight Holloway one of the biggest Legends one of the one of my

favorite fighters to watch so this should be fun all right if you want more from Brian

Petrie at Brian Petri MMA big gonna appreciate the extended time my man and we will talk to you uh in about a week

as we look forward to Parish brother awesome I’ll see you boys all right there he is Brian Petrie with us most

every week here on the AG Emporium podcast and that is going to do it for today coming up next week

former two-time UFC bantamweight champion Donna Cruz also Roman Bravo young Penn State wrestler will have the

two of them together coming up next week we’ll get you ready for uh UFC Fight Night Seattle gone versus Sergey Spivak

coming up September 2nd in Paris France thanks to our guests thanks to Ray Longo

just for everything that he does for this program thanks to Brian Petrie thanks to all the listeners out there

for your commitment to this show every week thanks to everybody on the ground in Boston who shouted out the podcast if

you do want to support the show we appreciate you going to the DraftKings YouTube channel subscribing liking our

show and when you do like our show our videos will populate there the clips are still yours on the Anakin pouring

podcast YouTube channel below Mohammed Jason aniko I’m live every Thursday with remember the show so you can tune in for

that as well and you can go to world MMA awards.com if you do want to support us uh in the MMA programming categories we try to

take home our first award for the anti-conform podcast if you want to catch me on SportsCenter tomorrow

I’ll be talking about uh sugar daddy the sugar show Sean O’Malley and uh kenflo I wish you all the best uh

in your endeavors are you on the road this week or no I am I’m off you got a big one don’t you that’s in New York

City yes sir yes sir Shane Burgos clay Collard in the main event kit wow oh yeah one of my favorites yeah

play call it oh I love clay Collard I love Shane Burgos you know

c-o-am you know who else I love what do you got hennan

fajeda rude so if you don’t know dude do a backflip

off of one leg and stick it on one leg you ever see that a six foot eight dude it’s crazy crazy so if you don’t know

part of the reason Ken flow is not with us for UFC 292 in Boston is because he was at the theater of Madison Square Garden on Friday night for the pfl as

henan fajeda crochets Maurice Green in the main event that was pretty

violent and then Larissa Pacheco my goodness 14 seconds she’s a bad [ __ ] huh she’s a problem she’s a problem and

I have a feeling that every organization of the world is going to be trying to uh get her Services because she goes out

there to decimate her opponent doesn’t last long uh she might be the one to

take the Throne of someone like an Amanda Nunes but as you said John Wei Lee and her it’s like they’re right

there man as far as best of the best in my opinion yeah bye follow kenflo’s business at

Argus integrated defense on social media I mean if you come up on Larissa Pacheco the Space Management they teach is not

going to help but uh for maybe some other street fights you’ll be okay thanks to our executive producer Cody Merrill thanks to everybody at

DraftKings for uh for the VIP stuff and uh the dinner in uh in Boston I got to

meet by the way some of their High Roller gamblers like these sharp MMA mines really make hundreds of thousands

of dollars I guess betting on MMA and uh yeah they were picking my brain but I was more picking theirs it was a pretty

cool experience all right thanks everybody in Boston for the support we appreciate every last one of you and we are back in a week to uh recap Singapore

and look ahead to Paris and of course pay-per-view in Australia Cannonball coming as well thank you all for

supporting the show for kemploy I’m John and we’ll talk to you until next week until then