Transcript of BISPING'S BELIEVE YOU ME podcast: 313 predictions Ft. Belal Muhammad, Chase Hooper&Terrance McKinney

Conceive, believe, achieve. Shut the f up.

You're listening to believe you me with Michael the Count Bisbing and Paul Felder. The cringes- You're laughing at this, dude's sweaters.

What you're laughing at.

Well, I was going to say that, Paul. That is a cracking cardigan that you're wearing there, buddy. I love this sweater, man. This is my big Labowski sweater right here.

I'm channeling my dude vibes right now. Well, so is Alex Herrera and Magamed Anca Live. We're going to get into that.

We've got Bilal Mohamed joining the show, the welterweight champ. We have Chase Hooper joining the show. I thought he was fighting on 3: 13. Harrington for once corrected me. He's like, Michael, you're on mute. No, he's fighting UFC 3: 14. 14, but he's joining the show anyway. Then at the end of the show, we got Terrence McKinney, who's a wild guy, a wild fighter, and he has a rather wild story where he died multiple times. We'll get into all of that stuff. But Paul, with the cardigan, how the hell Well, as you can see, I'm well.

You don't wear this if you're not doing well. You know what I mean? You got to have a little bit of confidence to pull this off. I feel like I've got that today. I got a little bit of a swag. I spar Michael, I got punched in the face.

With the sparring, with the cardigan, are you signing with the grandpa Fight League? Is that what's going on here, Paul? I'm putting it out into the universe that I'm 40 going I'm going to be 41.

I feel like I'm a prime candidate for the grandpa fight League, and I see something in my future. No, of course not. But I feel like I could beat a lot of those guys that are fighting for that. I mean, come on now. Who did the- Might interfere with my side job of calling fights for the ultimate fighting championship. But I don't know.

The thrill of victory, Paul, it would be worth it. I don't think UFC would give a damn, let's be honest. I don't think it really care.

You I don't know. I feel like they'd be less upset if I did a kickboxing fight or a karate combat or something that wasn't necessarily a full-blown mixed martial arts fight, where not that they're a rival. I mean, come on, let's be honest, it's not a rival organization. But still, I feel like that's a tough sell. Plus, my hips don't necessarily think that they could get through a full training camp, dude. It's getting bad. That's the story for another day. So I'm seeing a really good specialist in Washington, DC next week. I got to take the train down there to see this guy. Heather Linlin from the PI was like, If you're going to get a second opinion for your hip, you got to go to see this guy. So I'm going to go check it out.

You're getting second opinions for your hips. I need a second, third, and fourth opinion for my neck, speaking of grandpa fight links. Speaking of hips, though, real quick, we're going to get into UFC 313. I swear. I have a torn labrum. I've had it for about two years. It's It's partially torn. It bothers me. It pisses me off. I'm getting treatment on my neck. I spoke to the guy last week, the therapist, and I mentioned I had a partially torn labrum. Do you know what he suggested? Rather than getting the surgery to have the labrum repaired, get a hip replacement. I'm like, That's it. We're done. I'm never coming to you again. That's what he said. No, don't do that because labrum tears have a really poor chance of a really bad recovery. If I was you, I just got straight for the hip replacement. I'm like, All right, you are a dildo of the highest degree, and I am going to go back because he does good treatment on the neck.

But that was terrible advice. That's a big, flabbergine jump, man. You go from having a... I mean, everyone has labrum tears. Everyone has labrum tears on their shoulders. Any athlete, I should say, and especially fighters, right? I mean, we tear those things all the time. I think that's a big jump. I know. Your hip joint might be completely fine for all you know.

You're going to take out the whole femur head of your hip and replace that because you have a tear in the labrum.

He's working for the United Healthcare Insurance Company. Obviously, he's... What is it? That's why I wanted my second opinion because the credit to the guy at the hospital that I went to the first time. He started me off with the cortisone shots, and he was like, Look, you're only 40. I don't necessarily love the idea of giving you a brand new hip when you're relatively young, but your hip is destroyed. I've just got my second cortisone shot last week because I was having trouble walking. I was having trouble putting my socks on. I was having trouble hanging out with the kids and doing shit like that. I'm like, All right, it's getting to that point. But this guy that I'm going to see is much more on the cutting edge, where there's the other guy from Rothman. He's just like... He didn't even mention resurfacing where they just do the actual inside of the joint and all that.

So I was like, I need to see somebody a little bit more up to date on things that are potentially less invasive I do, but it's bad. I was going to say, Hold on a minute, Paul.

You told me that you went training today, right? I did, yeah. By a text. Oh, I can hardly walk and all the rest of it. You got punched in the face today. You're running 50,000 miles a week The running has stopped dramatically because I ran last week. I wanted to do a double session because I've not been doing the triathlon stuff as much because it's killing me with the impact. So I was I'm going to do a sparring session and then go run. Because in triathlon, we do these workouts called brick sessions, where you put the two sports back to back to get used to doing them in a row. And I was like, I'm going to do that with MMA. So I'm going to do a sparring session with my buddy Ryan, who's got a fight coming up. Then right from the gym, I'm going to throw my running shoes, change my clothes, and go for... I said a five-mile run. It turned into an eight-mile run, and it was hills. At the end of that, I was I was laying in the fetal position on the couch when I got home because my hip was hurting so bad.

But it doesn't hurt. You know what's weird, Mike? It doesn't hurt to kick people as much.

If I'm sparring and throwing leg kicks and well-timed body kicks, it doesn't bother me as much. But if I try to rip the tie pads and stuff because all the extra rotation and stuff where you're trying to make it look really clean, I don't look clean anymore throwing a kick.

Still got a good kick, though, but it hurts. I was I was in the garage on Sunday because I've got an acting role coming up in a few months, and I'm going to throw some kicks and stuff, and I was like, Shit, I'm going to remember how to do this shit.

Can I do this anymore? I'm in the garage going, Okay, jab, right-hand. We still got this. Let's go. That's the problem, right? We still feel like you got it. But then if I was standing in the octagon on fight night in front of some killer, I'd be like, Oh, God, I don't know if I have it. Yeah, no, I do wonder about that sometimes because I'm going to go down to the Jackson gym soon and do a bit of training with Parillo. I'm like, And I know down there, Rockhold is going to be there, Rampage is going to be there, and they're going to want to spar, and all the cameras are going to be on. And when the cameras are on, everything goes to a 10, 100 %. I'm like, Son of a bitch. Now, listen, don't get this twisted MMA media. Don't be putting stories out there. Michael Bisping is having anxiety about going to a gym because model of the year, Mr. Luke Rockhold's there. I'll whip that guy's ass. What is the saying? Twice on us, every day this week and twice on a Sunday.

Twice on Sunday? Yeah. There we go. Should we talk some UFC stuff? Yeah, we should probably start, I guess. So I'm going to say this right off the bat. Last week was heavily dominated by a discussion about IPOX.

This is not going to be that episode.

It is not going to be that. However-there were some IPOX. There was some IPOX controversy at the weekend. Asu, Alma Bayev, Manal Karp will do the main event and the our main event. Two-man booth, by the way. I know.

I was looking at my wife and I even texted Zack. I was like, Two-man booth? And Dom's the other guy. So I'm like, Wait a minute.

For a second, I was like, Oh, shit.

Dom's doing interviews now. No way.

Cruise isn't doing the interview. He'll get into an argument with the fighters in the cage.

I know. It would be so funny if they let him in there and talk to those guys because he can't help himself. But just be honest with you, even if you just want to fight, he'd be like, Well, he pulled the George St. Pierre. I'm not impressed by your performance. You could have used more underhooks, in my opinion. But John Anake is great at the post-fight interviews. He's fantastic. Yeah, I've always thought he was great at that. I've always thought he was the best. Paul, we like doing it, though, so shut up. He's not very good. I know. It is good air time for us. Yeah, it's good to get that face on TV. Yeah, so look, listen, Manal Karp, brilliant as always. Look phenomenal, very fast. He's so fluid on the feet. I could not be more impressed. Now, real talking point is, yeah, he dominated the fight, and he got the stoppage in the third round. There was an incident of an eye poke early on where Alma Bayev called time out. And then there's this one here that Brian was just showing there where he just scrapes the eye. Oh, man, they're both bad.

Yeah. Now, I've got what might be a contraband. That got him there as well. So And those eyepokes were legit. But I think it was round one, maybe it was two. He punched him. Amabev did this. They went to the review official, and it was a punch. It was a punch because you know what it's like. Sometimes a knuckle goes in the eye, and it feels like an eye poke.

So he got the benefit of being hurt in that situation. The fight was stopped momentarily, then allowed to continue, but he's had a chance to recover there. Whereas, cop could have got a decision. And it's like with the boy who cried Wolf. You know what I mean? He had the benefit of the doubt there. Listen, I'm not saying that cop was allowed to go out and eye poking because of that. Far from it. What I'm saying is, it's not even that I have limited sympathy. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying you had the fortune go your way one time. It sucked how it ended, but Manel Kop was the better man. I don't think there was going to be a difference in result no matter what, whether there was eye pokes or not. But it just sucks that yet again, here we are talking on a Monday, and we're talking freaking eye pokes again. And those were bad, too. Those were blatant again, where that doesn't have to happen if he just doesn't extend his fingers in that situation. And I'm telling you, the only thing that I think is going to start to slow these things down is a point right away.

Now, the first one, obviously, after a review, I think that the UFC and MMA in general needs to start really taking that instant replay.

Okay, was there a foul? Yes, there was. It was a bad eye poke. Your fingers were extended. There's the point. That's it. You had the warning in the back, and when you come out and you start fighting, if you poke somebody in the eye, and it goes both ways. If there's going to be more eye pokes, it can go your way the other way if you get poked. But it really can just change the outcome of a fight and the pace of a fight.

It sucks for the fighters. It sucks for the audience because then we're stopping.

These guys are wiping their eyes.

You're doing it, Paul. It's turning into last week. All right, that's it. That's all I'll say on it.

And I agree with you, Minel Kopp.

Man, his last couple of fights ever since that Mikhaia fight where it was just a shit fest and nothing really happened. Since then, man, he's just smooth.

He's so fast.

He's so calm in there. He's really deserving of being next in line, I think, to fight for that belt, potentially.

Yeah, but that's.

But it just sucks that there's an asterisk next. An asterisk.

Is that Asterisk, right? Is that the little symbol that would be next to it? Brian?

I would say ask Harrington, but go on, let's ask Harrington.

Harrington, what is it? Is it an asterisk?

Asterisk. It is an asterisk.

Asterisk, yeah. It ends with a K. Asterisk. Did you ever see Asterix and Obelix? No, what's that? No, it's Brian looking up. It's just a stupid cartoon they had in the UK.

You never saw Asterix and Obelix?

I'm definitely showing my UK stuff Isn't that one French? Yeah, it's French. It's French. Yeah, let's have a look.

Have you guys ever seen Salad Fingers? I haven't, no, but that sounds like- Yes. Brian comes in. I knew Brian's seen Salad Fingers. I'm very aware of Salad Fingers.

Rusty Spoons. Can we see an image of Salad Fingers? Oh, my God. Salad Fingers is hilarious. Is it really?

It was like a weird YouTube cartoon, and it's this thing He's a king with lettuce fingers, and he likes to touch rusty spoons and kettles. Yeah, there he is.

He looks like a creepy bastard. He is a creepy bastard. It's beyond creepy. It's a very strange watch.

Favorite cartoon as a kid, Paul, real quick before we get into this. This is a good one. Favorite cartoon as a kid. I mean, Ninja Turtles for me, definitely up there. Inspector Gadget. I like Spider-Man. Oh, yeah, Inspector Gadget. I used to like Garfield when I was really little. I was a big Garfield fan. This is another British one, Banana Man.

Banana Man? No, I've never seen. Eric is Banana Man. Brian, look it up. Banana Man. Remember the Tick? Do you remember the Tick? No. The tick was a funny one, too. No, he never saw the tick. Let's have a look.

There he is. He has a banana man.

Oh, my God. He has a banana. Eric, by day, Banana Man, by night. Anyway. Oh, shit.

I'll tell you what's a good That one that my kids got me into.

Regular show.

You ever see regular show?

No.

That shit's hilarious, man. It's very, very funny.

Anyway- Another one, Renton Stimpe was a crazy one, too.

I think I might have been a little older when that one came, but that one was just... They don't make cartoons like that anymore. Ren and Stimpy was foul at points and downright crazy.

Ren and Stimpy was made to corrupt the youth. Yeah, bro, it was nuts. That one where I forget which one it is, the little chihuahua-looking one. Which one's he? Ren? Ren is the-Oh, hold on. Are you talking about Pinky and the Brain? No, no, no. No, no. Ren and Stimpy was earlier than that. No, no. I know Ren and Stimpy, though. Stimpy is the fat one. Yeah. Well, he's plotting his death or something in the one episode and he's losing his mind and starting to get all paranoid and like, schizophrenia. It's like, what the... What are kids learning from this? I think it was good, though. What are we going to do tonight? We're going to try to take over the world. Trying to take over There it is. Yeah, red and simply. All right. This episode is sponsored by Mando products. Now, if you're a man and you suffer with body odor, then you don't need to suffer anymore because Mando is here to solve it. Simple as that. They have a variety of products that are going to leave you smelling fresh and beautiful and fragrant all day long. Wherever you sting, your pits, your bowls, your thigh folds, your belly buttons, your butt cracks, or your feet, that is a thing of the past.

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Com. Shopmando. Com. Use the code bisping. Please support our show. Tell them that we send you smell fresher, stay drier, and boost your confidence from head to toe with Mando. Anyway, shout out to co-main event, Brundage. Cody Brundage. Cody Oury Brundage versus Julian Márquez, the Cuban Missile Crisis. Crazy fight as I anticipated in that one.

You knew those guys were just going to try to knock each other out and get after it.

That's exactly what happened. But good to see He, Brundage, get a win like that, man. You can tell he's been needing that, and he hasn't had a lot of things go his way. And then that fight where what was he? Was he poked in the eye or kicked in the nuts or something against- He had a few crazy ones. Yeah. He's had some bad luck. And you start losing confidence that you're elite, that you really belong there.

And then you get a fight like that and you get it done. And he's such a good guy. I've obviously had a lot of chats. We've spoken him. He's in the corner of a bunch of guys from that team as well. So good to see that one. And I'm glad the fights were over so damn early, man. It was like 9: 20 on the East Coast when that shit got done. 6: 20 for me. What did I do after that? I didn't do anything. I don't think we were going to go out for dinner, but we ordered pizza and we watched the film. It's a terrible film because we do like movie Night with Lucas because I want to show him some classics.

And I looked up, they wanted to watch a comedy.

So I looked up the best comedies because I've shown him Superbad and stuff like that. He loves it.

That's all my favorite. No, he's 14.

We put on Idiocracy. I haven't seen Idiocracy. It starts off really good, but then it does get rather stupid. But it was listed as the 15th best comedy ever. Sacrilege. It is one of the best movies ever. Yeah, we're living it. It starts off brilliant. It's real life, Mike. Oh, no. I'm aware.

Listen, I'm very much aware of it because my wife goes on about electrolytes all the time and that I drink too much water.. It's got electrolytes. Anyway, look at it. Ufc 313, the return of the one, the only Powhatan Alex Pereira. Sharma. Sharma. Does he ever say anything else?

Is the Shama getting a bit old at this point? No. No? No, it's his aura. It defines that man that He can say so little but deliver so much presence on camera and in the cage. I love everything about the guy. You're absolutely right, Brian. Bring up his Instagram. He was dancing. I'm assuming it's Las Vegas doing in Gangnam style. Up by Gangnam style. And he just does his little Alex Pereira dance and then drops a chammer at the end. Obviously, going up against Ancalyev. We know this is the tough one. This is the bad one. This is the stylistic nightmare This is the fight that he's been avoiding and all the rest of it. I don't think any of that shit is true.

I think what he's achieved in this sport is phenomenal. The rise, the stardom, the performances, the knockouts, as you said, the aura. Considering When the man doesn't even speak English and just drops chamma, that's it. You know what I mean? He's got presence. Oh, and the walkout. You know what I mean? He's got one of the best, if not the best walkout right now where he comes out, does the bow and screams. Man, if that guy is the guy that's walking to the cage to fight you, you can't help but be like, All right, this guy's intimidating his shit.

Then he stands on the other side of the octagon and just stares you down. Stares you down the entire time, just trying to look for weakness, he says. It's brutal. He was talking about Khalil Rountry, and he said that he knew the fight with Khalil Rountree was going to be a tough one because of the look in his eye. Now, we're all badasses. We don't get scared and all the rest of it. I don't know. Alex Pereira looks like a bloody murderer. I thought a guy in England called Mark Epstein, and the journalist that did a write-up on Shoe Dog said that he had a face like a murderer, and he did.

He did look mean, but Alex Pereira looks even mean And I'm not saying I'm a pussy. I'm not saying that I fear any man. But if I'm standing there in the octagon, because if you're fighting Pereira, you're the challenger, so you always go first. You're standing there in the octagon, he walks out, he does that whole thing, and then he just stares and looked at you. I'm telling you, your ass is starting to go a little bit. You're like, Shit, this is going to be a tough one. Yeah, and just the calmness in the way that he doesn't say anything and his quietness, again, brings up serial kill This is the guy you look at him, you're like, That guy might have some bodies buried somewhere in the world, and they might be mutilated and chopped into bits, and he might have not had any facial expressions whilst he did that type of look.

And then he just says, No, I'm just shy. I'm just shy. There you go. Speaking of serial killers. There we go. The Don Mershades. Yeah, man. No, he's unbelievable. He's taking over the sport. It's unreal. It's crazy, isn't it, as well? Because there's always the next guy, right? There's always the next generation. Because years ago, obviously, we had Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, that whole era, Tito Ortiz. And then we went into like, you, George St. Pierre's and stuff like that. Then Conor McGregor comes along and everyone's like, Oh, the sport is going to be screwed without Conor McGregor. He hasn't fought in almost four years now. And now Alex Pereira, all right, granted, he's not the global phenomenon that That Connor was, is, or nor will Pereira ever reach that level. But one, I don't think he wants to. Two, he's earning lots of money.

If you were listening to Instagram, the reports I see, he gets 9. 5 million per fight. I saw that on Instagram yesterday. So he's doing very well. But it's just interesting, isn't it? Because Cham had said that over the day. If that's true, he earned about 30 million last year on top of all the sponsors and stuff. And without saying anything, just getting out there, being a badass, and fighting. It's nice to see the counter to the Connor, who's good at being witty and shit-talking and selling the fight. That that way. It just goes to show you that if you're authentically yourself and then you're a badass and you fight and you're not trying to be fake or push it and force it and just know how to be yourself and sell a fight.

It's exactly what Alex is doing. I mean, he doesn't talk shit.

His quietness is intimidating, and it works for him.

So it just goes showing the fight game. There's a million ways to skin a cat. There's a million ways to sell that fight. He's the complete opposite of what a McGregor is. That's a great point. It really is a good point because for a while there, everybody was trying to copy McGregor. Just trying to be like that. Trying to be the trash talker, trying to be brash. But whoever does this, he's talking with a fist. Yeah, he's got aura. Yeah, he's got presence. He has a little bit of a cheeky sense of humor through his translator He's doing the bits for Nina drama and whatnot, so you get to see a bit of his personality there. Brian, bring up that video of him dancing in Vegas, Gangam style, because the man is enjoying himself. Let's put it like that. But as you said, he hardly ever strings a sentence together unless it's in Portuguese and unless he's calling out Magamed Anca Live, which he did do yesterday, looked like from his hotel room, asking him to bet Magamed $200,000. The loser donates $200,000 to a children's hospital, cancer, study place, whatever it may be, something like that.

It's not the first time we've seen bets like this in the UFC. I don't think we've seen a response yet from from Magamed. But Pereira basically said, Look, listen, if you think you can beat me, if you're so confident, put your money where your mouth is.

Connor used to say stuff like that.

I think Luke Rockhold said it to me as well when I fought him the first And at the time, he was like, I bet you 100,000, you don't make it out the first round.

And then at the end of the first round, I was like, Eh? First round, they dead. But I didn't take the bet. I'm wondering if it disappeared off of his story because I don't see it on his Instagram. Okay. No worries, Brian. He probably deleted it because he wasn't doing the Gangam style dance. But what do you think about that, Paul? I don't mind it. I think, especially since it's I feel for a good cause, and I think it gets some buzz around the fight and it gets into your opponent's head a little bit.

It's like, look, I'm not saying I'm going to take your money. I don't need any extra money. But if you're so damn confident, let's put it towards a good cause. Let's put it towards the charity. But I do feel for Magamed, where he's like, God damn, dude, I'm just now getting to this title fight where I could potentially be making the real big bucks. You've been making the big bucks. 200,000, a lot of money. Yeah, and it's like, I'm under enough pressure as it is Thank you very much. I'm just trying to win the fight. I've told everyone I'm not going to shoot. Then I think he came out and said, he is going to shoot. He's going to wrestle for 15 minutes. Pereira said, well, if I've got to wrestle for 15 minutes, you've got to stand with me for 15 minutes. See, this is smart from Pereira because it's all distractions. You know what I'm saying? It's just distractions. It's a way of messing with him. It's a way of putting pressure on him. It's a way of embarrassing him in the media because that's what these bets are about, because very rarely...

I mean, what was that one?

Was it Jake Paul made a bet with somebody? Oh, yeah. With Tommy Thienreos. A million bucks or something like that? They never get paid. No. Do we know Harrington? Have they ever been paid?

Because I don't think. I've never once heard of the fighter afterwards who gets knocked out, then saying, Yeah, hit by the way. Yeah, giving up a million bucks.

Who do I make the check out to? He's like, That's fucked. You just knocked me out. The bet's off, dickhead.

Simple as that. But it's a good way for Pereira to try and embarrass him.

Yeah, and Just, again, build more pressure around it because...

Go ahead, Adam. I have some color on that.

He went through the media trying to get paid by Jake Paul.

Jake said he never signed the contract for the bet, so he's not on it. No, I know that. Don't fuck Jake Paul. I meant in the MMA world, not on the Jake Paul scenario.

Interrupted Paul. He was making a great point. Man, I was about to say something brilliant, and now it's gone.

Man, my lighting I feel like I look jaundice here today. Do I look young?

Hey, I don't want to mention it because a lot of people gave me shit. Oh, I know. I'm reading them, too.

Are you in the light? That looks good. That's a bit blue. That's blue. That's powerful. That's pink. That's pink. Very 2024. We got to go around the whole- Around the houses. No, it is. You screwed it, Paul. We were flowing there. We were doing well. How's that? I blame Harrington. It's good. How's that? It's good.

I see I have them on my pinkish shoe.

Not looking like I've been drinking a bottle of whiskey every day. You do look like you've taken a couple of shots. Have you been drinking a bit of whiskey lately?

I did on Saturday night when we were watching the fight, had a couple of old fashions.

This is my favorite, man.

I drank a bit at the weekend. I'm not going to lie. It all went tits up from Seattle because we had a steak after Seattle, and I had a few drinks at dinner. I was like, this has been chained up, bottled up inside me, just being good.

You got to come out.

I'm actually drinking a beer right now.

I felt like, you're having a beer right now? Yeah.

Anthony Smith over here. Jesus Christ, Paul.

I feel like he'd be drinking Bush Light or something right now. That's what Anthony would be drinking. No, he would. He'd often have a Bush Light. Or Bud Light. He's the beer of choice. This is a dogfish head. Superdopio. It's an Imperial-Superdopio? Yeah. Superdopio. Is that real? Oh my God. Yeah, it was my birthday on Friday. Oh, yeah. Happy birthday. I did message you very much. Happy birthday. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. What are you, 39, 38? 40, actually. It's crazy. Nice. 40 goddamn six. Wild. Anyway, we had a very chill So then we went to the gym, came back, as you do at 46 years old, had a nap. So that was my birthday. We went to the gym, we had a nap, we went out for a nice meal with the kids.

It was great. It was perfect. It was perfect, but did indulge in a few tequilas. Then we sat around the kitchen table when we got back. Callum's girlfriend, she's in town. Ellie's boyfriend, he's a great kid, Nix. He's 23. Awesome kid. So we sat around, sat up to 2: 00 in the morning, had a few drinks.

Felt like shit Saturday, so What do you do? Do it, dad. Do it, dad. Do it a couple more. Continue it on. Hair of the dog, as they say, man. It really does. It's the only really way to cure a proper hangover is to just continue the party. It's scientific. It does. It makes you... Because your body is craving it, and you start to have withdrawal symptoms.

I tell this to my wife. So the byproduct of your liver processing the alcohol is called acetalcetamab.

Acetaldehyde. I think I'm pronouncing that correct, which is literally a poison, which is why you feel shit. But when you start drinking and your body, your liver has to process it again, it stops creating acetaldehyde, and you just go back to getting a buzzer. No. So what you're saying is really, don't ever stop, then you'll never have to deal with that. Yes, exactly. It's science. It's science. It's science. All right, this episode is sponsored by Hims, and Hims specializes in the age-old problem of men losing their hair. I'm talking about people like Callum, my son. I hope he doesn't see this, but his hairline is receding big time. It's not a problem that Brian has. We know he has a full head of hair. But if you, like many other people, are struggling follically, if you are challenged on top, it started to thin out, then you need to get involved and take a look at Hims. Hims provides you with convenient and quality access to a range of hair loss treatments that work all from the comfort of your couch. Hims makes treating hair loss simple with doctor-trusted options and a clinically-proven ingredients like finasteride and Minoxidil that can regrow hair in as little as 3-6 months.

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Who else did he beat? Jamal, Khalil. Tremendous fights. But Magamed is gigantic. He's got a record of 19 and 1, that one lost to Paul Craig in the final second in a fight that he was dominating. I think he does have the ability to take him down. Look at him against Jan Blerowicz when his legs were kicked a bit and then he shot a beautifully timed takedown. I think he does I have that ability, and I also think he does have the ability to hurt him on the feet. And I also think that he's by far the biggest light heavyweight and the most well-rounded light heavyweight that Pereira's fought. He hasn't fought anybody with the physical presence and probably the skillset as Magamed Ancalyev.

Yeah, I would agree with that. This is definitely the hardest test that he's going to have to pass as a champion. And if Magamed isn't silly and doesn't just try. I mean, not that he can't stand with him the entire time, but it'd be dumb. It would be dumb. It's mixed martial arts. It's not a kickboxing fight. You clearly have an advantage in the wrestling department. If you just mix it up, you can hurt him on the feet, you can feel it out, and you can even maybe wait a round or two to start doing it and just time it. But I think it would be really wise for him to mix it up and make it just a full-blown mixed martial starts fight, show all your weapons. And I think that is going to be the hardest test for Pereira to deal with is if you mix it all together and just keep him guessing. Because when Alex starts to set, get comfortable, and get into a rhythm, more importantly, that's when he becomes the most dangerous. Now, that being said, if they stand for any portion of time, it doesn't matter. It just takes one shot from Pereira to change a person's life, basically, in that cage.

So I don't know.

Are we Are you doing predictions? Are you working it? No, we're predicting the shit out of this, Paul. All four of us, Harrington and Brian, keep it quick. No offense. We will predict, but we have a team. I'm excited. Have you watched Pereira He's a nice kid boxing stuff.

Have you gone back and actually watched him in glory? Yeah, I have to get him in his fights. It's crazy. He looked so skinny back then, too, and he was still cutting a lot of weight.

It's crazy how big he is now. He really has filled out for the 205. He can put crazy combinations together. Crazy. We haven't seen that in the UFC because he hasn't had to, because with the four-ounce gloves, people go down. Obviously, you feel the effect more. Obviously, putting combinations together leaves you at the threat of being shot on. You plant your feet in the pocket, you could get taken down as well. So there is that. But when he actually really gets to open up his toolbox, if you will, that man is scary. And yeah, okay, is he knocked him If is he knocked him out, Sookum and Kaleya, yes, true, but that was at 185. And that changes everything. You know about that with the wake up, we don't need to go through it. And then when you look at it from Pereira's perspective, excuse me, this Element drink, electrolyzed.

It's got me burping, bro.

Yeah, it's carbonated. Carbonated electrolyzed. Jan Blahowicz, as well as singing as a song last week, also did a good job of laying the blueprint of beating Ahmed does leg kicks, right? And he's got the best calf kicks in the game, Alex Pereira.

Yeah. Man, just even watching his sparring. I love that he put so much of his sparring out there because it's fun to watch, man. He's one of those guys that has a knack for being able to stay in your face and slip just out of the way or ride with shots really well and then come back beautifully. Like right there. Yeah, exactly. Look, boom. And then comes with the left hook, dude. The left hook is absolutely to money.

Now, Anklia is South Paul, correct?

I believe so. That's where I'm curious to see the calf-kick approach from Pereira if he switches stances to get that rear leg to be more powerful against it. But it's going to be a fun one. I hope they do stand for a significant amount of time because that would be just an intriguing match up to see. But I do think Anglali is going to try to take him down, but I don't know. I'm leaning one way. I'm ready. I'm ready to call it whenever we're ready. All right. Well, listen, wait no more, people.

I'll start. All right. Jesus Christ. It's a tough one. It is tough. And I will say this, I'll preface it by this. If Pereira is successful, I think it's a wrap for the heavyweight division. There's no one else because, all right, there's Jan Blerowicz who's fighting Carlos Holberg. If he beats Holberg in dominating fashion, maybe he gets another crack at the whip. But outside of that, I mean, yeah, all right, there is Carlos Solberg as well, who's on the term as well. But Khalil, Rakic, Jamal, Yuri, Magamed, I mean, he's cleaned out the division. There would be massive opportunities. With that said, I've got to go Pereira. Ali Abdelaziz is going to shoot me a text and go, Brother, What the fuck is this number one bullshit? That is Khabib. This is not Ali. He doesn't talk like this. Sorry, brother. But you have prediction for me, Paul? I do. Which way... Please say, Uncle, so we can have an argument, brother. Unfortunately, Michael, I've picked against Pereira, and it has slapped me in the face before. If I ever have to run into Shama ever again, I will not run into him having picked against him.

So I am also going with Alex Pereira. Again, I think part of it might be me picking with my heart on this one because I really like the guy.

I hope he wins. Since I'm not calling it, I guess I can say that. I don't know. People are going to give me shit no matter what because I had a whole guy make a whole YouTube video on how I'm biased the other day. Oh, yeah. But I'm going Pereira. Well, Alex has been training with Glover, so we don't even know what what his ground game looks like if Magame gets him down. So I'm on with... I think Alex is going to win, and I think he's going to surprise us when he gets taken down. I think Antalaya has got a really...

I think he's got a really good chance. It wouldn't shock me if he gets the take down. It wouldn't shock me if he beats him on the feet. It wouldn't shock me if he catches him and can KO him.

I think he's as elite as you can get in that division. It's just something about Pereira. Pereira. I just think he catches him somewhere. This is the thing I told you, I bumped into Pereira in Australia, and it was a little frosty, but this is just his persona.

You know what I mean? Me too. I'm in Brazil, same way. He looked at me- I'm not telling you I made him mad. He looked at me like he wanted to kill me.

I'm like, Don't beat me up in front of my wife. Rebecca, come on, let's get the out of here, okay? I've only got one eyebrow, my next bad. Otherwise, you'll be done. I'm like, You're going to pack it in, right? But maybe it's because I have I've also picked against him before, and people have formed this narrative that I'm anti-Perrera. We've just glazed him, oiled him up properly for the last 20 minutes.

We're biased now. Come on, we're being biased.

He's just special. But I tell you what, it wouldn't surprise me if Ancalyive now, listen, if you thought that analysis was good, wait until you hear Mike Harrington. Mike Harrington. Let's go. To the table, please. Look, I'm- Right here, it's one down for us.

Dude, if everybody is going to say Pereira, then I think it's beholden to say Uncle live. And what you guys are all agreeing is pretty much a 50/50 fight.

You look like Bert Kresher today.

I always look a little like Bert Kresher.

Yeah, but today you're very, very Bert Kresher-esque, more so than usual.

I mean, could it be that I'm wearing a food product and a comedian's hat?

Take your shirt off.

I have buggers before. I did this as a Halloween costume one year. We may get demonetized from YouTube.

We're going to get kicked off YouTube. We just got to get the numbers back on. Don't do it. What do you think, Harrington, though? Who wins this?

No, I mean, like you guys were saying, I think it's pretty much a 50-50 fight. Just in the case of it being interesting, I think it's a true coin flip, so I'll be the only one on the other side.

What are the odds as of today? Do we know what the embedding odds Brian will look that up, no doubt.

The sharks are betting on this one. I'm assuming Pereira is going to be a pretty big favorite, although Magamed is not somebody to underestimate. And then, of course, while Brian looks that up, and then, of course, the co-main I had Dan Hook is no longer a part of that, broke his hand. What are we saying, Brian?

So we got Alex at minus 125 and Magamed at plus 100.

So close.

Closish, yeah, pretty close. That's pretty close. I think that's what it should be.

Yeah, that's pretty close. And the Dan Hooker thing, I remember texting you guys. I wasn't sure if it was some bullshit at first because so close. And then you're sparring. I saw an interview that he was saying he was just letting hooks go and caught the hand on somebody's forehead.

Well, he had surgery. I saw a picture on Instagram in hospital, or maybe he had surgery. It looked like he had surgery.

Yeah, I love what you did.

It's part of the game. And you know what? Dan Hooker's attitude is brilliant. He was just laughing about it. He wasn't feeling sorry for himself. He wasn't like, Oh, I don't believe this has happened to me again. He's like, No, I'm not. I'll bash my poor. Do you know what I mean? Brilliant. It's like, Hey, guess what? You go out there, you throw as hard as you can, you hit things, shit's going to break.

You're going to break. It hurts sometimes, and it just sucks because that's a fight I think everyone was looking forward to. I feel like this card, that really made it special between the main event and then those guys being in a five-round co-main. Is the co-main still five rounds now that Fazeev has stepped in? Do we know?

I was looking it up everywhere I could. Nothing gave an indicator that it's five rounds, so I believe it is going to be three.

Yeah, that would be pretty bad to make Fazeev go five rounds on short notice So I doubt that. Now, there was a little bit of a back and forth last week. I was trying to find it right now here because obviously, Hucker drops out, and then Gagey came out and said, Oh, apparently a bunch of people, five people were off at the fire. This is what Gagey said. And he said, I'm trying to find it. He said that Dustin said no, Holloway said no. Who were the other two? There was a few. Arman. Arman said no. Apparently, Arman wanted a catch weight of 160. Apparently, it was a few people said, No, I'm trying to find it here. But they all came back up like, What are you talking about? Robin didn't say no. I said £160 or we said we had another matchup or this and that. So Gagey stirring the pot a little bit there.

I have the tweet from Gece. Arman and Charles understandably said no. Max and Dustin understandably said no. Moikano got the call and said no. Props to Bzeiv for volunteering to fly across the world and take this fight.

Which is crazy because Moikano was one of the for his people to tweet out that he wanted to fight. Then if it was offered to him and he said no, that's... But again, a lot of these guys were probably looking for catchweights. But if that wasn't on the table, then you still technically said no. You can't act like you said yes. If they came to you and said, The fight's at 55. Do you want it or not? That's it. So it's not like you didn't say... You did say no.

Poirier clarified that he said he was down for the fight. The UFC said, We have other plans for Dustin later on in the year. Yeah.

And then they had mutual... They were cool with each other about that one, those two guys.

Harrington, it sounds like you're coming at us from 1986. Oh, really? A Commodore 64. All right, I'll- I'll mess with your settings or something. It's very static here. But speaking of static, I don't know what that segue was. We are joined by the Champ, of course, training partner, long-time friends of Paul Colfelder, the Irish dragon champ. How are you, buddy?

What's up, boys? How are you doing, brother?

We're good, dude. Look at those shades, man. I know. Look at the good guys. He's been champ for a few months. He knows how to spend that money.

He's He's actually a.

Anyway, he knows how to spend his money. If he's not spending it on food, chubby bastard out of fight. What's up, dude? How's everything, bro?

Good, good. Just finished training. Got to do some medicals and stuff, but yeah, feeling good. I'm going to hit Vegas this week, cornering Ignacio Bahamondes for his fight, so I'm excited for that one.

Yeah, him and Jalen Turner. That's going to be a sick fight. We'll have to talk about that one in a little bit, Paul. All right, today's episode is sponsored by Unbound Marina. Now, if you ask me, the sales pitch should be, Unbound Marina makes beautiful high-quality marino wool clothing, which is moisture wicken temperature regulating and extra comfortable for all sorts of travel. And it's really, really stylish. I have a few pieces. We bought some for Ellie for her birthday. She absolutely loves them. But they also want me to tell you that Unbound helps travel pack lighter, save on baggage fees, and takes the decision fatigue out of packing with their versatile and timeless pieces. That's because Unbound's clothing is made of merino wool, which is moisture wicking, temperature regulating, and extra for all sorts of travel. If you're packing for a trip and you're filling your suitcase with Unbound Marino, you don't need to take too much stuff because Unbound Marino is a travel clothing company that is perfect for every traveler in your life. Unbound Marino was created by three lifelong friends who are looking to solve the age-old problem of how to pack light, but also look great when jet-setting.

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Com when you use the code BELIEVE. But never mind that, you versus Jack De La Madeleina. Obviously, a big switch up. He was supposed to fight Leon Edwards, your old friend. You had no opponent, and then now all of a sudden you're fighting Jack in Montreal, correct? How did this all come about?

Yeah. They told me that Shovca was injured, and then I was like, Oh, okay. But they said they wanted me for that date. And then I was thinking of who was going to be, what that opponent was going to be. And then they were just like, Yeah, we're talking about different names. And then when they brought up Jack, I was like, okay, he has the longest winning streak when I'm looking at all the other guys. And I feel like if he would have beat Leon for sure, he would be next in line. So, yeah, we shortcuted it and just made the little switcheroo. And yeah, I'm We're excited for the matchup.

Bilal, was it frustrating when you're waiting to figure this whole puzzle out when Chovkot saying he can't do it, he's hurt, and then they got to take somebody from another main event. And obviously, there was all the rumor-ville going on with you and obviously a training partner, a guy that you've trained with, Islam. They're trying to get that super fight to happen. And I know both you guys were pretty clear that, Come on, we don't want this to happen right now. So was that something you were trying to navigate this whole time, was avoiding that, but also still making sure that you had your own fight set up?

Yeah, it was annoying, right? Because especially when you don't have a name or a date, you just get frustrated, especially because they're giving me the date, but they're like, Oh, we'll let you know who it's going to be. We're going to let you know who it's going to be. I'm like, All right, well, who is it going to be? And then you hear everybody's ask you in every interview, Is it going to be Islam? Is this? Is that? And we're like, Bro, we're not fighting. But I'm just happy because I got a lot of time. There's a lot of, what's it called it, for the couple a couple months before the fight. And then I've just been in the training room, especially coming off the injury. Now that I have a fight in a date, I'm just rejuvenated. I'm ready. I'm excited for the matchup. Jack's on a long, huge winning streak. It'll be the third fighter that I'm fighting with a double-digit winning streak in my last four fights. So if I get that one, it's just going to keep adding to my legacy.

Let me ask you this, Bilal, and obviously, I don't want to be disrespectful, but we got to ask the hard Questions. Islam, moving up to 170, and then you guys say, We're not going to fight each other because we're brothers, we've trained together. A critic might say, Bro, you shared a training room for two weeks, okay? You guys aren't exactly brothers. It's like, do you want to be great? Do you want to be a double champ? Put that shit to one side and throw down in the cage for 25 minutes. Your response?

I think it's more than that. It's I'm not even thinking that. When I did my whole camp for Sean braided, it was in Dubai with him. So we were there for six weeks with them guys. And like I said, Habib and Islan, they've helped me a lot. I've grown so much with them guys. And when you're with a certain amount of... When you're with their group for five weeks straight, you build a different type of bond. And for me, it's not worth it because there's so many guys I could fight. There's Jack, there's Shafqat, there's Buckley that's right there I come up. So I have a lot of opponents that I haven't even fought yet. It's not like I ran through everybody. And to me, I think he still has Arman still there. You still got the Charles rematch. You got Ilia right there. So there's fights for both of us where you don't have to Oh, watch this one. It's happening.

Yeah, that's the other- By the way, Paul, you jump in, but I just wanted to say, I totally agree, Palal. Just people out there, that narrative exists. People are saying that online. So I wanted to ask you that and hear your take on it. But by the way, I agree with you.

Yeah, and just off of that, we even talked a little bit ago when I realized it was your number, Balal, after your number had changed and he texted me, Dude, funny story real quick. I'm getting messages about, you want to buy a bike? You want to buy a bike from this number? And I'm like, Who is this guy? He just keeps asking me. And then he's like, I forget what you said next. And I finally was like, Who is this? You're like, Dude.

I was like, Bro, congrats. Hey, what's the weather out there? He's ignoring it. I'm like, What's this guy? He's already bad with responding to text messages. So I'm like, Man, this is too far.

Yeah, I had no idea. And I'd forgotten that. And then once he said it, he's like, It's Balaha, man. I sent you that I got a new number, and you obviously didn't save it. So right then and there, I saved it. But I was texting him. It's got to be frustrating when the whole double champ, everyone trying to jump weight classes and do all this stuff, especially when you just got the belt and then everyone's trying to jump ship. Do you think that in today's age, it's got to be a little bit more set in stone that, listen, you've got to really defend it. You've got to earn your keep in that position before people start jumping around. And I know there was some joking with you talking about jumping up and taking on duplice. How serious were you about all that? Or was it you being who I know you are and loving to get a rile out of people?

Yeah, you know how I am. For me, I'm like, I'm just going to tweet out just to see who's going to respond. But yeah, I think now in this day and age, I think it takes at least... You got to at least beat the whole top five in your division before you could start talking about jumping up. It has to be cleaned out. There shouldn't be nobody that's a contender left for you. I think that's the only way to do it. That's why even for myself, when I said it, I was like, Yeah, I can go 185, but I got a couple more fights. I got a fight here. I got Jack, who's on a 12-fight winning streak. I got Shovacat, who's on a long winning streak. Then you got the other guys that are on the come up that are still the people that, All right, one more big fight, they're going to be right there in the mix. That's why I don't like to look past all these guys or look too far into the future. I think especially now, like Ilia, bro, you had two huge wins against Mokunowski and Holloway, but there's still other guys in your division before you say, I've done all I had to do at 145.

I want to move up. I've earned my right to go up. But when you think about it at the end of the day, you defend it about once, and I don't think that's worth it enough.

Obviously, with Jack now fighting you, Bilal steps in. Sorry. Sean steps in to replace Jack for Leon. So how do you see that one? Because you know both those guys very well. Sean braided, Leon Edwards. What are you thinking? Who wins that fight?

That one's going to be interesting, right? I think if I'm Leon, you just had a full training camp for somebody like me who is going to wrestle and box you. Sean braided has similar style, especially his last fight. He looked really good. He had really high volume against Gilbert Burns. He was letting his hands go Then he had his takedowns when he had his takedowns. But I don't know. I think with the bigger cage, it's going to be harder for him to grab a hold of Leon. Leon's very good at keeping distance and kicking and moving and dictating the pace. When I'm looking at this fight, I can see it being as the Usman third fight with Leon, where Leon just kept it at a distance, kicked one, two, then moved, kicked one, two, then moved. Braady is going to have to get a little bit dirty to grab a hold of him. He's not really the fastest shooter, but when he grabs a hold of you, he strong. But I think that it's going to be hard for him to break that distance unless he has a good sprint or something toward him, throwing a barrage of punches.

Then I grab a hold of him, then I can make it work.

On that, Balal, have you heard anything about the winner gets to face you next because I feel that that's what they both think.

I don't know what Leon is thinking, because Leon, you have a full three years before you can even think about giving a rematch. It's going to be a long... It's It's going to be a long, three years of fighting contenders for Leon. You got to love it.

You're a son of a bitch. Three years.

Three years.

Go to London.

Would you do that? Let's just say, oh, Jokes. I've gone red. You made me laugh. Let's say UFC comes here. Let's say Leon goes out there, smokes Sean, which isn't going to be easy, of course. Shout out to Sean. But let's hypothetically, Leon does that. Ufc call Oh, yeah. You say, no, I love that. He poked me in the eye and made me wait. Is that what you would say?

Oh, 100 %. I would make him wait. And then I would... I have the next guy in line anyway, I think is Shovac. There's nothing I I think he could do to skip Shovac. I wouldn't allow that to even happen with Leo.

Even if it was the most impressive performance, you're like, nah.

Yeah, he could throw a cartwheel kick, spinning backfist, and then I'm still going to L-O-O, he still sucks.

Oh, shit.

Well, let me ask you this. Just getting, not off of fighting, but just in terms of it's been a long journey for you, man, and you came up by taking on anybody that was put in front of you and getting Ws and taking your time and being patient to get that belt when you finally get that belt, man. What has been the most special moment for you so far? Finally becoming the champ, family. What was it? Have you let that sink in? You're there, man. Dude, we were in the trenches together years ago in the gym just joking about this, wanting these moments. You did it, bro. I said it to you when I saw you at the apex, But, bro, I'm still so happy for you that you did it, man. You're a fucking champ, bro.

My brother. Yeah, I mean, bro, it was surreal to the point where it really didn't hit until a couple of months afterwards because you were just still sitting there. Then you see that big Johnny Bell and people keep calling you champion. The biggest thing for me, honestly, was just my team. The guys I'm still with right now, I've been with for 10, 12 years. So for all of us to be on this journey together to make it this far together, and for me not to leave them behind. We all stuck together the whole time. We were a small circle, and we made this whole journey together. For me to be able to give them about all of us being a parade together, ride together and celebrate together. That was probably the best moments for me.

No, that is beautiful, Balal. And again, from me, congratulations, because what you achieved is something that people dream about. All fighters, when they watch UFC on TV, they dream of doing that one day, they go and join a gym and they turn pro. They want to be the champ, but a lot of them, they probably know in their hearts of hearts, they're never going to be champion. Then you've got a percentage of people that are really good that think, Hold on a minute, I can really do this. And most of those don't become the champ. But you did it, Balal, and you did it the hard way. You took the long path. You certainly finally earned it. So congratulations. Honestly, it really is incredible because I know a lot of people count you out along the way. So well done to you for that. And as you said, with the same team along the way as well. It really is beautiful, man.

And people need to get your sense of humor, too, Balal. I think a lot of people just come at you so much because I read your messages and your text and things that you put out there, and I'm laughing out loud because I'm like, he's cracking up somewhere looking at all these idiots just being like, You suck, I hate you guys, and you're just sitting there as a champ going, All right, yeah, I did it anyway. Go after yourself. Well, go f yourself, I should say. Yeah, I'll literally text Jared beforehand.

Like, watch, I'm about to make everybody mad. So I'll tweet stuff knowing that people are going to go crazy. But that's the thing. I don't take anything too seriously, especially when guys respond and they're all macho. I'm like, all right, well, that's cool, bro. It's just so negative. Yeah, it doesn't mean anything to me.

Michael, Balal tried to get me killed recently, by the way, when Dan Hooker broke his hand and Justin Gaichee needed an opponent. He was the first to throw my name into the hat.

Bro, you're telling me that wouldn't be a war? Even now, you would say that you don't think- You don't think that show up for the RDA fight in that type of shape.

You don't think I texted Sean Shelby? I texted him before you even tweeted that. I was like, Hold on, Paul.

You texted Sean But did you realize?

I sure did, yeah. What?

Thank God, damn. I'm coming back.

That's one of those that ever happened.

No, I know I'm not going to get it. But yeah, that is the one that I wish would have happened. And he was like, Oh, we're still trying to get him a fight. But I mean, Sean, I knew I was joking. But if I was in the testing pool and they would have legit needed me, I would have made 55, too. I mean, I'm like 175. I'd do it again. For the right-Let me ask you this for the right- Well, of course.

But Well, we haven't seen you working as an analyst for a while, but you are an analyst. You are a champion. Of course, the belt is on the line this weekend with Pereira. Pereira versus Magomed Ancalyev. Give us your pick on that and give us a little breakdown.

Yeah, this one's interesting. Everybody's always looking for the easy path to victory against Pereira. You think you could just go in there and take him down. I think Ekelaia is probably the best boxer he's fought. I think I saw a stat where anybody who attempted to take down on Pereira, they They achieved it. They took him down. So if I'm at Goliath, he's not the biggest grappler. He's more of a striker himself. He's a counter striker. He likes to bang. And I think it comes down to what his game plan is. If he's going to come out there early trying to show that he can strike with you, or if he puts egos aside and goes out there grappling right away. Because if you're going to sit there and strike with Pereira, it's going to be a hard night for you no matter who you are, how good your striking is. The thing is, I think Southpaw against Southpaw I don't know if the Pereira calf kicks or South Paul against Orthodox, the Pereira Calf Kick is going to work on him.

Yeah, we were talking about that.

Yeah, I don't think he's going to be able to achieve that one on him. But you remember when Jan was just going bone to bone with Ikelyov. I don't think Pereira is going to do that, but I think it's going to end up being a grappling match. I think that Ikelyov is going to get on top, going to control them for the first couple of rounds, and then maybe in the later rounds, he's going to I'll strike with him some more. But I think I'm picking Ikelyov for this one, especially because Pereira, bro, he's been in Australia, he's chilling with Drake. I know how good he is. I know for his mind type- That's not good.

We know how that's not good, right? Yeah. He doesn't bother him.

Also, I think if Ancalyev does wrestle him and get on top of him, we can see a ground-and-pound stoppage, never mind the submission, because he is dangerous, he's big, he's strong, he hits hard as fuck. Let's remember that. And if he gets mount position on Pereira, if he gets mount on anybody, he's going to take them out.

Yeah. And then Blackowish took Pereira down. He had his moments where he had his back, he had other moments where he had good ground up on, but And that was a close fight as well. And especially Frank Alaya, you could tell how bad he wanted this fight. It took a while for him to get his opportunity, and he's not going to let it go to waste.

What's on for the rest of the day, Bilal, How's it?

Just got another training session at 4: 00, then wait to at night. But we're in the middle of Ramadan, so my mouth is already caillou-mouth, so that's the hard part about it. We had a hard sparring session in the morning. It was me and GM3. And then now I got to just sit here with no water or food for the next couple of hours.

I've seen it. I've seen you do it. I've seen you go through a training camp during Ramadan, and it's insane, man. You were living with... You and Jared were roommates at the time, right? And then you would Absolutely. As soon as it was time, you had everything set up. You had all those electrolyte drinks and pedialite. And still, we'd be doing five, six rounds of hard sparring on a Monday, and no water, no water at all.

Just break down the regime for me. As a non-believer, obviously as a non-muslim, talk to me about the actual Ramadan, the process.

Ramadan is the best time of the year for all Muslims because it's the year where It's the full month, full 30 days where you're fasting, you're not drinking any food or water from sunrise to sunset. But also during that time, you're given the most charity you've ever given. You're trying to connect with God the closest you ever connected with God. It's about discipline. It's not just about starvation or this or that. It's about other things, bettering yourself in other ways. If you're a cigarette smoker, you try to stop that. You try to stop all your bad habits during this month, and then you're hoping that it continues It continues after the month. But during this month is where you find your closest connection to God. You're trying to listen to the Quran more, read the Quran more, just be in that moment, be in that zone more. And that's where a lot of Muslims, it's the best time of the year for them because you just feel so locked in. And even for me, when I'm training and stuff like that, where I just still feel free, I still feel the strongest I've ever felt because I know what I'm doing it for.

I'm sacrificing this food and water to please God. And that's all that matters to me at the end of the day. And I know at the There's not fighters that are doing this. So mentally, I'm putting myself at a higher level than these guys.

That's really interesting because as you said, that sacrifice and that discipline, it does pay off. When Ramadan is done, first cheat meal, first treat, what is the first thing you are going for?

For me, I'm addicted to coffee. So just not having coffee in the morning, that's what sucks the worst there in Ramadan. You get the caffeine headaches. You're like, I just want a sip of coffee right now. And then when it's night time, you're like, I'm going to take a quick coffee. I want coffee. Yeah. So I take a half a cup just so I don't stay up all night.

You got to take a decaf.

We'll let you go, Balal. All the best for your training camp, all the best for the rest of Ramadan, even though you enjoy it. And thank you very much for your time. Thanks for all coming through with another banger of a guest.

Appreciate you, boys. Yeah, we could talk after the Leon fight, again.

No, I know we did. I know we did. I'm joking. We did We can hop back on after the Leon-Brady fight. Oh, yeah. No, for sure. We will. Take it easy, buddy.

Thanks, bro.

There he is. Listen, I get it. It sounds great. Give up loads of stuff. I mean, we have lent, Christians at Lent. Similar.

Coming up tomorrow? No, Wednesday. Is it Wednesday? Yeah.

40 days with no food. Is it not- That's Wednesday. Are you a religious guy, Paul?

My daughter goes to Catholic school. I went to Catholic school when I was younger. I was obviously raised Catholic as a youngster. I wouldn't say no. I'm not a huge religious guy, but I do try to at least believe in something higher than me and teach my kids that as well. But I don't go to church every Sunday and things like that. Just because I feel like, I don't want to say too much because my daughter, obviously, like I said, goes to private school and goes to Catholic school. But yeah, no, I'm I'm not a hardcore Christian or anything like that.

No, thank God.

But I do have- I'm joking. You would think differently because I have this crucifix on my neck, but it's actually got ashes. It's got my dad's ashes in it, so that's why I have that. It's like a little cremation jewelry thing.

I will refrain from any jokes then. He's got his father's ashes around his neck. Where were we? What were we talking about? Gagey, Fazeev.

Yes, we're on Komein now.

I spoke to Fazeeev before. Sorry. I spoke to Gagey last week. Excuse me. We did a show for TNT Sports in the UK, and we did a little interview. And he was saying to me, because I would assume if you're Raphael Fazeev taking this fight on short notice, you see Justin Gagey getting knocked out the way that he did against Max Holloway. And of course, when you take a fight on short notice, you don't have the same conditioning. So you're going to go out there, you're going to look for to finish in the first round. And when you see a fed away knocking him out, even though it is Max Holloway, that's going to excite you, and he's going to come out all reckless. And maybe if you're just engaging, you might play it cool and play it safe. But when we spoke to him last week, he said, No, He said he feels that where he's been going wrong is trying to be too technical. He said, I want to go back to the earlier version of just engaging, when I just used to go bananas, turning to banana man. Right from the start.

As long as he doesn't turn into salad fingers.

Again, it sounds rude to me. He's going to salad finger... I can't even say it. Anyway, No, but he said he wants to go back to... What organization was he in? Wasn't WEC?

It was- World Series of Fighting?

W-e-s.

W-e-s. Yeah. W-e-s.

Yeah. He said, I want to be the version of me from World Series of Fighting. And I know what What he's talking about, because I remember, and we've talked about this a lot on this podcast, as you mature as a fighter, you start getting more technical, and you start slowing it all down in your mind and controlling that anger side and being all cool and calm in the moment. But you want to meet in the middle, but sometimes it goes the other way. He said that he's coming back and he's going to go full just engaging on Raphael Fazeef.

Yeah, I love that. And I think I know what he's talking about. And you do start to almost... The more experience you get, you start to become more thoughtful in there. You start to become more relaxed, and you want to be sharper. You've been learning all these things for years and years, and you finally start to be able to do them. You get away from that, mainly that you were when you first started, where you just want to take the guy's head off the whole time. So I feel like if he does that, he'll still have all those skills that he developed over the years, too. But I like hearing that, that he's just like, He's nuts as it is anyway, and a lot of guys can't keep up with the crazy that he presents. And Fazeev is very technical and very sharp. So I think in this fight, it makes a lot of sense, too, where if you want He got away. He did it in the first one, and he was able to invest him. But now, maybe you can go out there and you can bring it to him even earlier if you go out and you're just a little bit more reckless and just bite down, or you could end up getting knocked But he doesn't care.

He's definitely that guy. He doesn't care.

I'm laughing because when you said, Gagey is crazy. We did a film together last year. We spent a few weeks. Justin? Yeah, about 10 days in Atlanta. I don't want to say too much because it hasn't been announced yet or anything, and it might give the film away. It was only a small part from all of us, but there was a few UFC people involved. John Anick was there, I was there.

And Gagey was-Oh, I know what you're talking about. I've talked to John about it.

Bro, he was out of his mind the whole time. John Anick smokes a lot of weed, as you know, and he's not secretive about it.

I've heard Gagey is.

Yeah, he's like, Bro, Gagey is an animal. He would go into his room and there were just cans of beer and joints and shit all over the place. He was out of his mind on set the whole time. You couldn't tell, though. He still did his job. He was still professional. He was awesome. What they did, He performed really, really well. But yeah, Gagey is a wild man.

I have heard such stories. I have heard such stories about him. It sounds like it'd be a good time to be hanging out with for sure.

Yeah, because when I called Kamaru In Leon's last fight, Gagey said that I was biased and all this type of shit. He came with me. So when I saw Gagey on that thing, the first thing I did, I went up to him and I'm like, Gagey, Justin, are we good? Because we're feeling good. We We laughed about it and we just bust balls for a little bit. And then there it is. Yes, he's awesome. Him versus Fazeev, who wins that one? What do you think?

I think if he does that and he can be even more aggressive than he already is, and he's the one that's coming in in phenomenal shape. He's the one that's been preparing for already a super dangerous guy in Dan Hooker, who's also a really good striker. I think he's going to be more than capable of dealing with the same weapons that Fazeev brought the last time. I think there's always an element that makes the guy like Fazeev, coming in hungry on short notice, been waiting and waiting for a fight. He's been pretty vocal about that, that he wants it. So I think he will be in great shape. I think he's been trying to get a fight for a while, but I think it's hard. I'm going to pick Justin in this one just because I feel like having the time off, he didn't rush back into things. He really made sure that everything was cleared up and from the knockout with Max, he He didn't... It's been what? A year? Almost a year?

Over a year? Pretty much like 10 months. It was April last year, weren't it? So close.

Close, yeah. So he's taken a lot of time and healed up. I just think I just think Justin is going to get it done. I think he's going to be in too good a shape. And if he's talking about pushing crazy paces and Fiziv coming in on short notice, making 55 credit to him. And if he pulls it off, he's the man, no doubt.

Yeah, listen, it's Mark money's on Gagey all day long, and that's my pick. Of course, he's already beating him on a full camp, and now he gets fired on a short camp. Now, it doesn't always stack up like that. But he did say something in that interview that was very interesting because I said to him, I said, Oh, essentially nothing changing. Gagey's. Gagey's, sorry, Hooker is a striker, Vzeiv is a striker, different body types, but essentially the same game. And he said, Well, there is a few differences. I said, What? He said, Well, if I was to shoot a takedown on Dan Hucker, I would have to worry about his long all these skinny arms, talking me out with guillotines. I was like, Oh, yeah. I said, What are you saying? Is this the fight where Justin Gagey finally uses that All-Star wrestling game? He's like, Maybe. Now, I think that's a lot of shit. I think that's him just saying, he did one takedown.

He did get one takedown in the first fight, and then he was telling everybody like, Hey, yeah, I fired. There you go. I showed you. I think one takedown that he did, and he got it, though. He got it.

I think he was doing a Maga Meda I have said he's going to stand. You know what I mean?

Maybe he's saying all that stuff for a reason. I'm going to be even crazier than I used to be. I'm going to be more wild. Then he goes out there and just puts on a... Wouldn't it be crazy, though, to see him do that? Put on a wrestling clinic on someone. You're like, holy shit. You could have been doing that the whole time, and you chose not to, and you decided not to do that. Because, dude, from everybody that I've talked to that's ever wrestled, he's really good, obviously, the credentials and stuff that he has from when he was wrestling. He's just a hard-nosed bastard, man. I'd love to see him mix in some takedowns, but I also love to see Gaiji just go toe-to-to with people.

It was back in the Fox days. I forget who it was that he fought, but I think it was a college arena where his team used to regularly compete. I think it was in Phoenix. And there was plaques to him on the wall. He was like one of the best wrest that his college had ever produced. So he's got those credentials. He's He's got those skills, but he's beautiful on the feet, and that's just the way he's supposed to fight. You see all the time with wrest. They learn how to strike.

Especially all the efforts like him. Once he learned how to really punch people in the face and throw leg kicks and just be violent. You could tell that's just who he is. He found wrestling because he was told to do it when he was a kid, right? Like, dad made him go wrestle, he had to go wrestle, and it was a tough sport, so he fell in love with it. But he'd rather been fist-fighting the whole You've nailed it because you're absolutely right.

Racing is a tough sport. It's a combat sport. You get to grab another man and force him down.

You can do it as a kid, right? Yeah, you can't beat your shit out other kids. This is good.

Then you discover this other thing where you can just walk someone in the face with your elbow. Much better. So come on. You're like, I love this shit. I like that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Way more.

Hold on. Here he is.

Look at this guy becoming a man before our eyes, this guy. I'll take it.

Chase the dream. Did the nickname change, Chase?

Yes, it was the teenage dream at first, and then once I turned 20, we dropped the teenage part. It's a little creepy from there, and then the dream is it.

I mean, you could be out there chasing teenagers. You're still on it 20.

Might get in trouble.

Yes, yeah. Not my thing. Anyway. I'll leave that to everybody else.

Yeah, let's do this in job. How are you doing, Chase? Thanks for your time, buddy. I appreciate you joining us. We got a lot to talk about. Obviously, last time out, you had an amazing performance over Clay Guida. I put out that you're fighting on UFC 313. My bad. You're fighting on UFC 314. Against Jim A10 Miller. But regardless of all that stuff, how the hell you been?

Good. Just living the dad life. The wife stopped doing some... I don't know, getting her nails done or whatever, so I had to put the baby down. Just living the dad life. And it's been good so far. So juggling that in fight camp is not too bad.

How old is the little one, Chase?

She's coming up on nine months here in another week or two. It went pretty quick.

Paul... I'll go on. Sorry. Last time, Chase was on. He was very kind enough to share a bit of his background and growing up. And like a lot of fighters, life's really tough and things like that. And he was talking to Anthony and I, and he was very open with some of it. And it was a very inspiring journey and story what you told us, Chase, to where you are today. And seeing your career blossom and grow the way it has and the skillset just keep getting better. Who was it you went up against? Oh, Vashaslav Borshov. Yeah. Holy shit, man. I mean, Borshov is really good. Yeah, And I don't want to talk shit, but you marmelized that guy. You really did, man.

Yeah. I mean, that was definitely one of the fights where... So there's a difference. I don't know, the clay fight. It's not a guy where you fight him. He's like, Oh, he's trying to beat you, versus Slava. I felt like that's a guy that's trying to hurt you. So it's a different way, a different mentality going into a fight like that, where it's like, Oh, someone like Clay, or some of these other guys have fought. They're going to try and beat you for sure, but they're not trying to hurt you as bad as they can. And Slava seemed like one of those guys where it's like, he's going to try and hurt you. And I really was expecting, even if I win this fight, I'm going to be super beat up. This is not going to be a good time. And I don't know, it helped me throw caution to the wind, I guess, being like, well, it's going to hurt either way. So let's just... And yeah, I mean, I try to keep my expectations low and then be surprised when things go well. And Yeah, I mean, honestly, that was... I feel like a turning point for me for sure, being like, okay, this guy's a world-class kickboxer, world-class striker.

I still am able to throw some shit on the feet and land it and get it to where I want it to be. Yeah, I mean, hopefully I can just keep having fights like that, but we'll see.

Yeah, and Chase, you pretty much... I mean, you're growing up inside of the the UFC at the top level, basically. So how has that been for you as a young man, getting in early, having some setbacks, and then growing at the tibie top? What mentality did you have to go through What were some of the real big hurdles that you had to overcome as a guy that's like, okay, shit, you go from fighting mediocre guys and getting your shot at the spot. But then it's like, now I'm still a young guy. I don't have all that much experience. What was your record when you first fought in the UFC? How many fights did you even have?

Under 10? Let's see. Yeah, my contender fight was... I was like 4-0 or 5-0 on contender.

It's crazy, bro.

And I had a couple more fights before then. And yeah, it's one of those things where it's like, you can't say no when the opportunity comes. You just have to take what you're given at the time. No, I'm really thankful for the ups and the downs with it. And honestly, it's just that experience gap of fighting in the UFC. Like you said, it's a lot different from fighting on the regional level. It's a lot different than going down to the local venue or a casino, whatever, and then fighting there, driving back home the same night. It's a whole process. And then, yeah, doing that from 18 on Contender and then 20 for my UFC debut.

18. Yeah, dude. 18 years old.

A kid. You were a kid. You were a kid. For sure.

It's fun watching some of those fights back. I I just got to do something with fight pass recently, watching some of those fights back. And you were actually in the commentator booth, Paul, on that one for my contender fight. It's cool to... Yeah, it's cool to reminisce and just see where I've come since then, see what stayed the same and what's changed. I feel like, honestly, the losses have really... I've never lost a fight and been like, okay, I don't want to do this anymore. It's always fired me up even more. Like, okay, I want to get back in the gym. I want to get back in there. And that's been a thing that's, I don't know, showing me that I guess I'm doing the right thing. Even if I were to lose a fight, I still want to be in there, and I want to get back to work, and it makes you want to improve and all that. And yeah, I think it's just been taking the time to mature to that UFC level, and then again, let my body mature. And really, honestly, my last fight at 45, it was against Steve Garcia.

He woke me up, Honestly, caught me early. And that was really the point in my career where I was like, that was the worst-case scenario in my head of what's the worst thing that can happen? I go out there, I get beat up in the first round, I look like shit. They take me to the hospital after. And that really took away my fear. I'm like, oh, I've seen the worst case scenario in my head, and I lived to fight another day. And I came back, won. And I do actually remember being in the hospital. I was just They're disappointed. They want to check you out. And then they had this kid come in. I think they brought him in on a helicopter or something. I remember hearing the doctors be like, well, I don't know if he's going to be able to keep his leg or whatever. And that just puts it into perspective. It's like, okay, I just lost a fist fight. And this guy got in a car accident. He's going to lose his leg, same age as me. So it's one of those things where it puts in context of how small this thing is.

The loss is more on the ego than anything. And yeah, I feel like taking away that fear with my last fight at I honestly just... I don't really think about the worst case anymore. It's just like, all right, well, at least I get to go home after this. I'm more excited to perform and show off now than being scared and wanting to get up with.

That's what Steve Gossier does to everybody, by the way. Oh, for sure. What is it? I think it's six fights in a row right now. And they're all in the first round.

That was his first fight at featherweight. I thought he was hit or miss at light weight. So I was like, okay, perfect. And he seemed like he was getting wobbled and stuff at 55 a little bit. So I was like, okay, maybe I can put it on him on the feet. And honestly, I was so focused on the offense that just caught me early. And then I just never had the time to recover, honestly. Yeah, he's great at what he does, especially at 45, he's really found his stride in the weight class. I was hoping to see that Barboza fight, actually, but.

Yeah, that was a bummer.

I think UFC, the staff do pretty well. They don't put me on his highlight reel, I don't think.

At 18 years old, so you just left high school. You're on the content of the series. You'd left school, but who was Chase Hooper at school? Were you getting into fights and stuff? Were people shocked when they saw how? You looked like a nice, well-put-together guy. We know a bit about your backstory now. Were you getting into scraps at school? Or were they like, Chase? Yeah, nice guy, Chase. Is in the fucking UFC, and he's smashing everybody. Or were they like, Oh, yeah, Chase?

He's a secret psycho.

He's a fucking psycho, that guy.

Yeah. No, I never had any fights that weren't scheduled. And I don't know. I'm a pretty mellow guy, I would say. Pretty anti-conflict for the most part, besides doing it for fun, I guess. But no, I'd never been in a fight at school or anything like that. I was usually pretty mellow. Just did my work just to get done and go to the gym and train. My senior year at high school, actually, I did... There's a program up here called Running Start, where you can do essentially community college instead of your high school classes. So I was able to just... And it was super cheap, honestly. It was a couple of hundred bucks for the tuition. So it was a really good idea, really good program at the time. And I was just able to switch to doing the college classes, and I just did them all online on this It's a little laptop I had. And then my senior year high school, I was training full-time anyways. So it worked out really well. And I had already gone pro and all that. So it was as soon as I turned 18, we were pro.

And yeah, By, I think around the time... No, it was maybe the year after I graduated, we were already paying the bills and all that. And yeah. Oh, yeah. No, I graduated a year early. Sorry, I'm I don't know, CP and all that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I graduated- You get hit in the head for a living, bro. It's fine.

I know, I know. I graduated at 17, and then I went pro at 18. And then, yeah, we were living on our own. Me and my wife now, we're paying the bills and all Yeah, just with local fights and her-So have you guys been together since you guys were younger, Chase? Yeah, so I had one pro fight when we started dating, and I was like, All right, well, if I lose this next one here, then I guess I can't date anymore. And Lucky for both of us, I won the fight after that. It's okay. I can juggle a relationship and fighting at the same time. And yeah, it worked out.

How long you guys been together?

Damn. She's going to be mad at me for not having to answer it as quick. Probably this... We're coming up on eight years. I guess next year will be eight. So seven is some change.

Paul, you've been with the same lady, right? All the way Oh, yeah.

Throughout the career, yeah. The first few fights in my career, no. But since CFFC and fighting for the belt and then getting signed, yeah, same with Christine.

So it's not quite the same. She was like, Oh, CFFC champ.

That guy's loaded. You know, it's funny. It's so the opposite, though, right? And I told you this story, Mike, where it was like, Oh, I don't know about all this. All my other girlfriends have guys that got jobs, and they're getting cars. And I was like, You just watch. You watch. Someday I'm going to be in the UFC. Chase, am I right? Here we are.

Yeah. I think it's a tailstone in quote. He says, Don't get into MMA if you're looking for ladies. He doesn't do any other sport if you're looking for ladies.

When I started in MMA, I did it not for ladies, I did it for money. But this was in 2003. And everyone on the message boards, forums, if you remember those things, were like, If you're getting into MMA for money, you're in the wrong sport. And I was Jesus Christ, this is the only reason. But of course, I just manifested that shit, bro.

There you go. You got a book, you got films, you got a belt, Hall of Fame.

And this will be Chase, because Chase, your career Where he's flying. Jim, A10. What a fight, Chase. Talk to me about this fight.

Yeah. I mean, honestly, I was pretty happy when they asked about it. I mean, if you look at the recent fights that Jim has lost, it's been like some of the top guys in the division or guys that are heading up to the top 15. What are the last two guys to sub them? I think are Charles Oliveira and Michael Chiesa, who I train with plenty. And it's one of those things where it's a guy that's willing to engage in the grappling with me, a guy that's going to try and submit me, which honestly, I feel like I prefer that versus someone that's just going to try and wrestle and hold me down. I want someone that's going to be offensive on the grappling. I mean, you know more more than I do. He's seen just about everything in the octagon. So it's not like I'm trying to come up with anything secret. I just am trying to pick some of the stuff that I feel like I do well, that other guys have done that seems like it works well against him. A little shorter, another left-handed guy that's always fun. Yeah, I'm honestly really excited for the grappling, and yeah, try not to catch a heater on the feet, but we'll see how it goes.

What What do you think his approach will be, though, Chase? Because he's a guy, Jim, like you said, he's faced everybody. He's very well-rounded. Jim's not afraid to chuck him. You know that. You think he's going to try to take opportunities early to try to really stagger you on the feet and overwhelm you? But, Chase, I got to say, man, I'm really impressed with how your striking has developed and the fact that you're letting it go, because you are not afraid to go on the mat. Does that open up things for you, the fact that guys are, now, I'm not saying Jim is, but in general, guys are like, oh, shit, the threat is major on the ground with this kid. It gives you opportunities to say, Fuck it. I'm just going to let it go. What's the worst that happens? They take you down. Thanks.

Yeah, I mean, exactly. That's how I felt in the Slava fight. I was like, why? I I can grapple this guy if I need to. I'm ready for a little more back and forth, especially on the ground with Jim. But no, I wouldn't be surprised if he came out hard and came out early. The last fight I lost was, again, the Garcia fight. So if he If he's taken anything out of the playbook for that, it'd be, yeah, maybe try to get on this kid early. But that's on me to just keep that defense up. I feel like I've been working the defense, probably 60, 40, 60 % defense 40 % offense, at least on the training side of things. I feel like that's a good defense to let you be a little more open as far as throwing stuff and not catching any heaters. So I'm trying to work on that. I'm sure I'll try to throw some calf He's a big calf kick guy, especially against lefties. I think it was the Nate Diaz fight where he threw a ton. Yeah, I mean, I'm ready for... That's the flip side, too, with him having so many fights is I can find pretty specifically when he fought similar guys, another lanky left-handed guy or left-handed guy, taller guy, just figure out what he does against certain body types.

And I think that's the biggest thing, which He's literally got the most footage that you've watched.

You know what I'm saying?

Good luck watching it all. Yeah. That's a big- It'll take you a while.

Set a week aside.

Chase, you get this done. That'll be five in a row. I mean, you're on an absolute tell. You're 25 years old. You're, by God knows how many fights in the UFC. Record of 15 and three, 25. And again, I'm not saying that to be condescending. It's just amazing how you're really maximizing your your youth and your opportunity. When you beat Jim Miller, there's only big things that are going to open for you. Before we let you go, I've got to say Alex Pereira versus Magamed Ancalyev, who wins this fight at the weekend.

I'm going to say Alex, just because I want him to win.

I know, that's what we were saying.

I just don't want to see Ankaleev. I have a hard time rooting for the Russians, especially if they're going to wrestle. Yeah, I got a lot of.

What are you saying about the Russians? Why don't we like the Russians?

I'm not the biggest fan of them as training partners. Maybe they're nice to interact with, but as training partners, I'm not the biggest fan.

Cheap shots, going too hard. What is the situation?

Going too hard for sure.

I feel like it's like training with a wild animal, like a wild dog. You touch them on the nose, and then it's like, Oh, we're fighting now. I'm not opposed to that, but I don't want to be doing that all the time, and that's not smart training anyways.

No.

I can get in a dog fight, but it's like, why?

Yeah, your training is Tuesday afternoon, and it's the first week of camp.

And You're getting hit with spinning elbows.

Good luck with the fight next month. We appreciate your time as always. You're a good man and an incredible fighter. Keep doing what you're doing. We'll talk to you again soon, buddy.

Thanks. My man.

He raises a good point there. You know Alexander Schlomenko used to be Bellator champion? Yeah. I used to train with him. We used to spar a lot, and it was just a fight. A fight which I used to win, by the way, every single goddamn time.

You were in a fight.

But yeah, it was like the stakes were high. We had MMA gloves on, like the sparring MMA gloves most of the time or the boxing gloves. And even still, it's like, oh, God. Now it was good because it helped you get ready for a fight. It You gave you those jitters. You gave me the cardio. You knew this guy was going to try and take your head off if you give him half a chance. But Chase is going to point that.

Yeah. I mean, it's not all of them, but he's right. You get some of the foreign guys that come in and they just go Bananas.

We cannot stand that. Banana Man. Banana Man.

That's going to be the- I'll be like, Oh, he came in and went full Banana Man.

Alex is Banana Man because it's Eric. Brian, would we If you get demonetized, you've got to see the intro for Banana Man. I love it. It's maybe just because it's nostalgic for me as a kid, but anyone in America, we're losing them right now, so we'll leave it at that one. But go watch an episode on YouTube.

But this is what people have wanted, Michael. They wanted the random banter.

Yes, you fucking- We gave them plenty of random banter. We gave them your random banter. There you go. It's a banana man. It's the best show ever. You got to check it out. Speaking of which, we did float the idea of a live show in London. Harrington has been looking into it. How do you feel about this, Paul? Do you feel like we've got enough in our place and this is too short notice?

Do we what?

Do you feel like we have enough in our place that week and this is too short notice? I feel like it might be too short notice. This is like two weeks away.

It is only two weeks away.

It's two weeks away.

Three weeks away? Almost two weeks. Almost two weeks, yeah.

Two weeks. Two weeks on.

You guys are the guys that figure it all out. So if you feel that way, Brian said we can do the next card that you guys are on. What's the next one we're working together?

Exactly. I don't know, but there'll be one soon, and we will. We'll do Yeah, we work together all the time. Especially because, speaking about economics, you have to see a flying, you win. You have to see take care of your hotel, my hotel, my flights, everything. Let's piggyback on that bastard and get some live BYM Podcast on the go.

So did you guys see the video Tom put out yesterday about him moving on from the John Jones fight?

He did. He was sitting on a train, and I think he said he was talking about John Jones He said that the UFC is still trying to make the fight happen. He said that, obviously, he wants to fight him, and he doesn't know what the holdup is. Apparently, it's all on John's side. He doesn't know whether it's financial or whatever. But what did he say, Brian? He said at some point, he's just He's going to have to move on.

Yeah, essentially, that is what he said.

Yeah, what's that? How would you just put a link in there? Is that the video?

I put a link to the video. The quote the Championship rounds grabbed was, remember what I said, I will retire John Jones without even fighting him.

That is a nice line from Tom Aspenal. Paul, me and Anthony spoke about this at length. Let's have a listen to the big man himself.

Where we're at right now is I have spoken to the UFC on multiple on occasions about this fight. I'm chasing it up. I want the fight. Been on record and said that I want the fight. I've been on the phone with the UFC saying that I want the fight. When's it happening? I want the fight more than anyone. What is holding it up right now is his side. That's the truth of it. The UFC really, really want the fight to happen. They've told me that, as I said, this is one of the biggest fights that can be made. Does he want to put himself in a position where he's comfortable enough financially to take the risk that he's taking to fight me? And that is where we're at. The UFC tell me, they assure me that they are doing everything they can to make this fight. So it's totally, as far as I'm aware, this is now totally down to John Jones and his team to work that out. And I'm literally just waiting for a date. But what's holding it back is the USA want to make the fight with me and John. And as far as I'm aware, it's now about maybe financial or otherwise, I'm not too sure, to be honest, but I'm just waiting for the call right now.

Do you remember what I said a while ago now? I will retire John Jones without even I'm fighting him. That's something that I said. John, let's do it. If you want to do it, you don't have to ask me twice. If not, I'll fight somebody else for the undisputed belt. Happy to fight anybody, anytime, anywhere, doesn't matter. I'm ready to go.

Well, well, well. First of all, I want to say this. Tom Aspenal has taken the piss out of my haircut before now. He said, made you quiff on this thing and put a picture of me. He's got the Superman little lick of hair coming down there. You did that on purpose, Tom. You did that on purpose. You You think you look good. You think you look trendy. Don't talk shit about me, pal. There you go, Paul. We could all do that. We could all... It doesn't look quite as good. I got too much product in. Paul, me and Anthony, Yeah, you look good. Me and Anthony spoke at length about this many, many times, but I don't think we've been through this. We haven't had the Felder perspective, the Felder angle.

Yes. Give it to me. I do think that there is a part of John that is worried, and I think he's one of those guys that really wants to keep his legacy intact and really wants to leave, essentially really unde, minus the no contest or DQ or whatever it was at the time against Matt Hamill. I also think he's really worried about being put out and flatlined and embarrassed, and that being the last thing that we see. I do think there's a major part of it that's that, and I think that's why he's going to go above and beyond to ask for really big pay days and almost try to price himself out, essentially. I think he wants that Pereira fight because I think he knows he can take him down and he can control him, and it's an easier fight. I do feel for Tom because he is the guy. I hate when guys, John is amazing, but when you stick around and then you start holding stuff, it's like, dude, you're the next guy. You either have to leave or you have to give this guy a shot. It's really frustrating because I think I, like everyone else, want to see this freaking fight.

I want to see it.

As I said before, I was making a joke out of it, Pereira walking in and doing this, and then you're standing there. The reality is that is when the nerves do really start to kick in. And we know as fighters, I haven't got into... I've got Those are some fights where I'm like, Yeah, I'm pretty good on this one. I feel like I'm going to this guy up. But there's been ones where you're like, Yeah, all the bravado, all the speaking to the press, all that shit goes out the window because you can't lie to yourself. And you're like, Hold on a minute. This guy's legit. Look at Vitor Belfort, juiced out of his mind with the power of Jesus in his corner. You know what I mean? I'm like, Shit. You know what I mean? This isn't going to be easy, right? But that's what we sign up for as fighters. And yes, of course, there's a risk that Tom Aspelal knocks him out cold. But the fact that that might be what's holding this up, the fact that he's worried about maybe getting knocked out, I think that's crazy. And it will affect his legacy.

Now, maybe we're wrong. Maybe that's not what it is. Maybe he's just posturing. Maybe he's playing the game. Maybe he's negotiating the biggest.

Yeah, I thought that for a while. But yeah, now it's like, come on. What What's going on? Do you know what I mean? At some point, you just got to accept the fight and let's set a date. Let's at least get something set in stone. You were saying no, you didn't want them, you didn't want them. Then you were agreeing that this fight can happen. Now, has he said anything? Really, John has been pretty quiet about the whole situation, I feel.

He was threatening to kill someone on Instagram Live a few weeks. Other than that, yeah. He wasn't Tom Aspinal. As I said, Pereira, if he's successful this weekend, which we think he will be, other than, yeah, okay, maybe a rematch with Jan Blahowicz or maybe Carlos Oldberg that would be worthy. But again, it sounds really bad to Carlos Oldberg. It's not the aim on everyone's tip of their tongue. You know what I'm saying? He's taking out all of those people. Maybe if he is successful, a super fight with Jon Jones does materialize. Maybe he fights Tom Aspinal, but if I'm Pereira, if you're Pereira, you don't want to go up against the interim champ, and that's no disrespect to Tom. You want the undisputed.

Yeah. If Pereira wins on Saturday, he's calling out Jon Jones.

You think so?

100%. Why not? Why not? High to your moment, you just take out on Kaleya, like you've talked about, you've been clearing out your division. You know John wants the fight. Now, Now, you get people may be involved in it, but I think that's going to suck. I mean, it's not going to suck. It'd be awesome. But it sucks for the heavyweight division. It sucks for Tom Aspenal because if Pereira goes out Let's say he knocks on Kalayov out, and he gets on the mic and he's like, John, I know you want this fight. I want this fight. Let's make the UFC want this fight. This is going to be the biggest fight ever. Me and you are going to throw down, blah, blah, blah. Then it could change things for Tom. It could shift their opinion on the matter. I hope not.

That would suck for Tom because Tom should be the next man in line. Tom is the next man in line. But the UFC, I've always done a really good job of giving the fans what they want. I'm not building a narrative for this fight to happen, by the way. I'm just saying historically, that's what we always see. And if Pereira, who is really popular, who is on a term, who has taken over the sport, gets another viral knockout at the moment and then does what you just said, and let's just say John Jones is there or John Jones responds, and then everyone online is going, Oh, yeah, I want to see this fight, undisputed light heavyweight that's cleared out the division, which is John's old title against John Jones at heavyweight, it would be so out of order to Tom Aspenal. It would be so not what should happen.

It might happen. Well, then I wonder what might I wonder at what weight class does John go back down to 205 and vacate the heavyweight belt and let Tom go on and fight for the undisputed heavyweight Championship, or do they just fight and meet at heavyweight and fight? Because if that's the case, he's still... No matter what, he has to vacate the belt. I think if he doesn't fight Tom, the UFC is going to make him vacate the belt. No matter what, even if that fight is at heavyweight.

I think, yeah, there's going to be something happen along the way, right? Listen, he only fought in November. To be fair, it's March. It's the start of March, so December, January, February. We'll call it four months. It's the third of the year. He's got to put up or shut up at some point, at At some point, he's going to say, yes, I'm willing to defend the belt. And yeah, maybe Pereira steals that. I find that highly doubtful, if I'm honest. Listen, you can hype it up and paint the picture in the scenario that we just did. And yeah, great. You can romanticize it and people I say, oh, that's awesome. But I don't think UFC would do that. That is the fight. It'll be big. Would it be bigger Tom versus John? Would that be bigger than Tom versus Pereira? Terrence McKinney, give me your God, My damn opinion.

I don't have to say John Jones versus Tom Aspenal. It's probably the biggest fight we can ask for. I think it must happen. And John Jones, I think he's just playing his cards right. And being a competitor that I know he is at heart, he's going to do the fight eventually. He has to.

That's what we're hoping, Terrence. That's what we're hoping, man.

That's what we're hoping for. Listen, this is not why we had you on here, Terrance. We've been wanting to talk for quite some time. We said this, I saw you in Saudi Arabia after you got yet another spectacular finish. That's what you do. You are literally the epitome of kill or be killed. And you have almost been killed in your personal life multiple times as well. So I was like, We got to get Terrence on here, Paul, because I don't know if you know, Terrence has got quite the story.

Oh, yeah. But I'll let Terrance... Terrance, you are a crazy man inside the cage, but I don't know how much you want to reveal of your personal journey in life and how you've got to where you're at in the UFC, but you've had some ups and downs, man. What can you tell the people that are watching just of the crazy story of your youth and some of the some of the setbacks that you've had to overcome in life?

I'll tell a few stories. I got some good ones.

Yes.

So originally, my mom was about to have me at 16, and You guys, I was taking shooting guns in Chicago as a kid, when I was one years old, took in shooting guns with gang members. That's how crazy my life been. And then, let me tell you why. My mom was the head of the Gangsta Disciples Street in Chicago. That's why.

Hold on, but you said at one years old? Yeah. You were toting guns at one? I didn't shoot the gun.

They just took me shooting. When When fighters pain this picture, listen, I had it hard growing up.

You, you definitely, shall we say, had a bit of adversity as a child?

A hundred and ten %. And then it gets crazy. So my mom's like, All right, I can't have my son growing up in that environment. That's crazy work. So she sent me to live with my grandma, and I stayed with my grandma for eight years while my mom was getting her life together in the military. And my grandma had 12 kids, 12. And My mom, that's what I'm saying. So just imagine, any time I got a birthday gift or gift, whoever's the closest size to me, it was our gift. You know what I mean? Yeah. Happy birthday, Merry Christmas. You got new clothes, new game, if I got it. You know what I mean?

You were the king of getting hand me down is what you're saying then.

All of us, it goes either way.

Yeah, true. You're giving it out, too.

We're going to get into your fight stuff, Terrence, because I love watching your fight and some of the performance. I mean, you've gone out there and destroyed people in seconds. I'm really good opposition as well. But what's this story where you died three times in one night? Can you share that one with us? Because I know you've I've told that publicly before, but I've never heard it personally.

Yeah, I'll tell you the whole story. So I get to this party, right? So we're smoking and drinking. And then being the Savage cycle, I never just go halfway. And someone's like, I got this little vial acid. Anyone want to do it? And I was like, I'll do it right now. What are you talking about? Snack that. We're all drinking a little bit longer. Then I take a little bit over Nathan's rooms.

So you had acid and shrooms. Yes.

And drinking and smoking.

Yes. And then what's the craziest part? You know how back in the day, you could sell your phone at the mall in the kiosk? So I'm trying to do that because I want more weed. I like to smoke when I trip. And then it was saying it wasn't me. My face, I put my idea in and it kept saying it wasn't me. And then someone else did, and it worked.

Your eyeballs are probably.

So right there, I started tripping. I was I do it. I need to go back. We need to go back to the function. This is not good. I must be my face melting or something.

Your brain's melting.

Yeah.

Oh, man.

So we get back to the house, and it It's starting to kick in. You're not supposed to look in the mirror. I did that a few times. And then I tried to hang out with these people, and I'm starting to realize, these ones ain't talking Veljax shit. How have I been hanging out with these? So I was like, You know what? I'll just go to go sit in a living room and I'm watching TV and I'm trying to change the channel, right? This is where it starts getting crazy. I'm trying to change the channel and it keeps going back to the same channel. I try to turn it off. Boom, it stays on and goes to the same channel. So it was already on. So now I'm really tripping. I'm like, no, for a second way, that just happened. And then after that, I kept trying to change channel. Then boom, three demons show up.

Now, granted, you are out of your mind on hallucinogenics here, though. But come see. Oh, yeah. Multiple.

Yeah. But listen to me, I could feel it. It was like breaking the fabric around me, like how powerful the demons are. And they're like, tall as hell. And I start trying to pray, and they make me speak in a whole nother language I never spoke before in my life. Tongues. Tongues, maybe. But like, demonic tongues, probably. It wasn't no good tongues. You know what I mean? Or maybe that's Maybe I just knew how they were receiving my prayer. And then, yes, I was like, F that. I can talk in my head. You guys think I'm retarded? So I start praying in my head, and I'm finally able to talk and move, right? So I stand up, and I was like, I'm not scared of you guys. And they shut my body down. I have to watch myself fall through a window, slow motion, you guys. I stand up, they shut my body. I'm like, Oh, I'm about to fall in the window. I'm trying to... And I barely got enough juice to turn my head a little bit before I hit the glass window. Boom. Boom.

Not crack through the window.

Yes.

Knocked myself out. I feel like all reality is melting. It's crazy. And then I wake up and I'm like, I never felt this power from my life. Just imagine going super saying three. That's how I felt. I got up. I was like, you guys, I do not know I'm this powerful. It was freaking me. I was like, yo. I ended up doing $3,000 worth of damage to this girl's apartment. You know how the door goes a certain way? I hit it, made it go the other way, both that and the And then it feels like I fly to the future, right? And I'm like, This mansion and shit, this mansion and shit. This is where it gets crazy. And I'll tell you guys- This is where it gets crazy.

This is where it's now going to get crazy.

I'm telling you guys what I'm seeing right now. Mind you guys, I didn't go through the future. I just broke out and went outside in my backyard. So in my trip, I'm in a mansion, right? I'm having an origin and shit. And then And then someone knocks on the door. They're like, They killed your brother. And mind you guys, I tell them in the trip, I said, Why? Because he's gay? And we're all laughing, homies and shit. And then they're like, Yeah, actually, yeah. I was like, What the? Everyone, get your clothes on. Stop playing around with these girls. And then I go outside, and this is where I'm punching the cars and shit in real life because I fight these people because I know exactly who killed my brother in the trip. And I'm fighting these people. Finally, we get done. I pretty much killed someone. I'm sitting on the fence post same way in the trip, but in the future, at a mansion I had. And then the cops come, right? And they're like, Terrence, we don't know how you get this possible, which is crazy. Cops show up in real life, too.

And in my eyes, this is what the cops told me in my trip. They said, Terrance. We don't know how you got this powerful, but you need to stop. And I was like, yeah, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. Boom. And I start fighting these cops. We're all super people. And then my trip, I'm fighting all these super galactic people.

Are you really fighting the cops in It costs me a life?

Yeah, I'm actually fighting cops in real life, too. Oh, shit. Yeah, that's the craziest part. And after that, I've become one of the baddest men on planet, and only the super Galactic imputes could stop me to date me.

Only the super Galactic imputes?

This is what's funny. And then I'm seeing myself in an endless bed. It got me strapped down from being so powerful. And I start doing this crazy thing with my hand. And I feel like everyone on Earth laughing at me. Like, what is this idiot doing with his hand? And then a big star with a ring around it that's gold. And I feel everyone on Earth laughing and die. And we're all floating in space. And then I become part of God, ' I feel like I'm on this island, and I'm this big, powerful being. And then I wake up at the hospital.

Wow. And that's it?

Yeah. Then you're at the hospital? Yeah.

And then you go to the hospital.

Yeah. And I I'm not. I died three times.

But you can remember all of that vividly?

Yes. It was a freaking movie.

Jesus Christ. How old were your turns when that happened?

I was 19.

So you could have been killed when you were fighting with the cops for sure. They could have pulled a plane, shot your ass. You were lucky there. So when did you- I was naked almost in my underwear, because when I get hot, I just like the Well, and you were having an orgy. Got to be comfortable.

Yeah, you got to be comfortable because your body get hot.

And you were in a Galactic Orgy as well.

That was at the mansion, though. That was at the mansion, though. That was at the mansion. Not I'm going to say.

Oh, shit. Wow. I didn't know what to expect. I wasn't expecting to not- I've only heard bits and pieces.

I knew that you got in an altercation because you were tripping really bad, but I haven't heard the details from your side of what was going on in your mind. Yeah, that's crazy. It's crazy, man. You mix acid and shrooms on top of smoking and drinking. And my God, you were just on another level.

Yeah. And after going through that, I was like, dude, if I've seen all that fight and God saved my life, I was like, I'm obviously supposed to fight. That's all I was thinking because there's only one place you get a title like that, the baddest men on the planet, and that's the UFC.

Sorry.

And so I went to Cosmo here and they were trying make me register it, and I wasn't trying to do that. I was just trying to get a national title because it's easier to get a bigger promotion that way. I can just easily go get bigger money in Bellator. So that didn't work out, and I dropped out and I started fighting, and the rest was history.

So literally, because of that crazy trip that you went on, that spoke to you and said, Hey, I should be a fighter. And that was the catalyst for you going off and becoming, and I'll say it, one of the most exciting fighters in all the sport right now. When I said you are literally kill or be killed, I didn't mean that in any disrespectful way because your record is 16 and '7. You were on a three-fight win shoot. You signed with the UFC. You fight. Who is it? Hold on. Where is it? That's LFA. Matt Frivola. Matt Frivola, who is as tough as they come, you knock him out in seven seconds. Seven seconds. Then Faraz Ziam. Faraz Ziam is doing big things right now. You take him out. It's seven. It's seven minutes. Then you fight Judoba, doesn't go your way. But again, all out action. And Then you basically go back and forth by just knocking people out, or you get caught or whatever. Last time out was Demir Hadjadjivik in Saudi Arabia. That guy is ridiculously good, very talented. You take him out, knock that again in two minutes. So I was going to say, what makes your style so like, where does this come from?

But it sounds like I know the answer to this.

I probably tapped into something with that shit.

Intergalactic champion comes out.

It's destined to happen. I know it is. I like feeling my soul like not too long ago. I had a dream and I became the champ. So I know God has a plan for me. I just got to trust the process. And I feel like I'm finally... What I was missing is defense because I would focus so much on offense, I'll forget about the defense encounters. So now that we're starting to handle that and make sure I'm actually being a mixed martial artist instead of trying to always highlight, make sure I'm grappling, make sure I'm wrestling. That was the plan of this fight either way, even if he didn't shoot on me.

Yeah, dude. And that's the thing. Do you feel like... Where are you training at? In Florida now?

Yeah.

Do you feel like you're around people getting you a little bit more polished and just a little bit more focused because the skills are there, dude. I mean, it's clear as day when you fight and you go out there and you get these wins. I mean, you're explosive, you can wrestle, you've got submissions, you seem strong as shit. Is the goal to start to try to string it together and really just... Not that you need to change who you are. You're dangerous because of that mentality and how you fight. But is the goal to become top five, top 10, and really start taking on these true contenders, Terrence? Do you believe that you can do that now?

A hundred %. And I realized there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to do it. You know what I mean? It was about buckling down and just getting around the right people. And I finally feel like... Because you guys see Mike Davis, he defense is so good. Even though Lucas lost, you guys see he's a very high-level striker.

Yeah, for sure.

So I'm really getting so much vast knowledge. Plus, my coach was 12 and 1. It's probably the first coach I know that was actually winning all the time on the inside. Who's the coach? Julian Williams.

Oh, yeah.

So I know that with him, he's going to make sure I win at all costs because that's his game. It's not about sometimes you got to make the adjustment and do what's boring, boring, but get to win. And yeah, I'm excited to do that this year, but not just take fights, but take the right fights, because I feel like if I can get a good string of wins and just pick the right or rank the opponent, I can really just get the ball rolling.

Well, we were just talking before, though, about how being young and reckless and wild and overly aggressive, that brings you a lot of success. But then as you get older and you start to mature a little bit, you lose a bit of that, but you're in more control. You got to find that right balance. So be careful because don't lose too much of that, Terrence, because that's why we love you. And I'm sure, what did the UFC say to you afterwards? Do you speak to Hunter or anyone like that? No, they love watching me fight.

That's why I know I just got to make sure I'm not taking no crazy blows, and they'll put me right back in there. That year, I had four fights. As long as I'm not taking no crazy damage, I know they're going to keep me busy.

So you got a big win in Saudi Arabia. Is there anything You haven't matched up? Anything scheduled yet?

Not yet, but I'm ready to fight again already. I'm not too heavy either. I'm like 180, so that's perfect.

Yeah, I know you don't want to blow up too much. And just have fun, but stay centered, man. Because obviously, when you're that crazy in the cage and you've got stories like that, you get more success. It's easy to fall off the rails pretty quick, man. And you've got a lot of talent, a lot of potential. How How old are you, Terrence?

I'm 30. I got two kids now, so that shit's dead for me anyway.

Got focus, bro.

I got a focus. I feel like Mercado now. I just really can't afford to move. That's just how I feel.

Hey, sometimes that's all you need, right?

Yeah, exactly. I'm not In the phone in.

Who do you want to fight next? Obviously, you're in the lightweight division. You are super talented, explosive. You can wrestle. You've got the knockout power. But the lightweight division, it's a moment ago, right? Who do you want to fight next to try and make your way into the rankings and achieve that ultimate goal of being the intergalactic champion, E. T. Champ? It's not an easy thing to do, but if anyone could do it, it's Terrence McKinney. I just got to see.

We're trying to push for the Jordan Levit fight now because Chris Duncan got a fight already. So I'm trying to get a fight in between that and then after that, fight Chris Duncan and then fight someone unranked. I love to fight Grant Dawson. We both agreed to it at one point, so that'd be an ideal coming into the ranking fight for me.

Yeah, and that's a good challenge for you, right? You got a kid that's really strong on the ground and really good grappler. So that would prove to a lot of the people that are maybe like, I don't know how this guy can handle somebody with that pressure. You go and beat him and put yourself right in there in the mix. So it's good, man. It's good to have a strategy, and taking things as they come is always important, but having just a clear Your path on how you're going to get there is smart.

I had to realize that it's a business, you guys. Like you guys said, it's not just about taking any fight, it's about taking the wise fight. And then, like I said, once you're on a win streak, you can talk and get the ranked opponent that No matter what, no matter who the pony is, the win-streak is a win streak, and that's what I had to realize.

Do you know what a raconteur is?

No.

A raconteur is the guy that stands there in the pub or in the bar, and he's got the stories for days. He's a raconteur. You're a bit of a raconteur. So before we let you go, Terrence, you said you got a lot of stories. We're going to get another Terrence McKinney classic. When you're with your boys and you're sitting around and you're like, oh, shit, remember the time? Not when he almost died several times. But remember that time Terrance did that? Give us another Terrance McKinney classic.

Oh, man. I can't even share my stories to be honest.

I don't blame you.

We got to wait till we at the bar or something for those. That's one of the funniest ones when I was a little kid. So I had to poop hella bad, right? And I'm in school, and the teacher wouldn't let me. So I was like, Are you serious? So I just I did it on myself right there and then. I was like, Fuck you then, man. I got to shit. I tried to kill you. And then they just sent me home. I was happy as hell, man.

And I got out of school. You showed them.

I did.

That's what I said.

That's what it felt like when I was at school. I was like, Yeah, right on your side.

Jokes on you, teach. Jokes on you.

I'm just going to chip myself right here. What do you think I am? Stupid? Oh, shit, Terrence. Hey, bro, you're a lot of fun. I love watching you fight inside the octagon. That's why I've been trying to make this happen for a little bit. We had a bunch of guests. The podcast is popping off ever since Paul Felder joined us. Can't get my words out. Don't change, man. I love what you bring to the You've got so much potential, man. To say that you've got championship quality, you really do. You really do. And if you can just harness it a little bit, Terrence, like we talked about, but don't get too far away from what brings you the success. All the silliness and jokes aside, you've got excellent potential, and you could do it one day, man. Stay focused, stay locked in, listen to your coaches, but don't lose what brought you the success in the first place.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Correct. My coach says the same thing. He said, I want you to be you, but when it gets I'm tougher. I need you to be smart mixed in wrestling.

That's what it's all about. The next time we're all on the road together, we'll get together and we'll hear some of those other stories that can't be told. I'll tell you some stories.

I'll buy the rounds as long as you're talking.

Sounds good. Terrence, you're the man. Take care, buddy. We'll talk to you soon. Take care, you guys.

Pleasure.

My man. He's a wild guy.

He is wild, bro. But He is really good, and he's scary. He's one of those guys that when you get matched up with him, even though he's had some losses, you know you're in for a shit storm when you got to fight that kid.

Yeah. I mean, as I say, Matt Frivola, seven seconds. If that doesn't tell you this guy's explosive, then he follows it up, and every one of his wins.

Eric Gonzales, first round.

Mike Breedon, first round, 1 minute 20. Brenda Marotte, 20 seconds. This isn't a coincidence. You You know what I mean? And all right, defensively, he's right. Esteban Rivavitzi got caught in the first round, 37 seconds. I mean, again, it's always going to be feeling explosive and wild and exciting when he steps in there. All right, anyway, where were we? Harrington, jump on, maybe get us back on track, and we'll do another thing or two. Do we have anything? Is there anything going on? Is there anything they absolutely have to get to? I guess the rest of the UFC 313 card, we'll just quickly go through that and give some pics. Gege, I'm assuming we've all got Gagey, right?

Yeah, I'm going with Gagey.

It's tough. The first fight was so close. It was so razor thing close. I remember in the moment thinking, Zee might have gotten it, but on two weeks notice, really tough. Really tough to pick anybody who's been waiting on.

Am I muted? No, you're not muted. Oh, yeah, that would be hilarious. Jalen Turner versus Ignacio. By the way, you're coming at us from 2025 now, Harrington, Whatever it is that you changed, it's better. Jalen Turner, Ignacio Bahamondes.

It's a tough one. It's a tough one. And I know we just had Balal on, and that's his boy.

So you're going to say Ignacio because that's how you roll in.

No, I think Jalen Turner is going to get that one done. I just think Bahamondes is very talented, but I just think I just see Jalen being too big And I know Bahamundes is tall, too, but I just feel like... I just think he's a little bit more powerful and a little bit ranger. He's fought the bigger fights against the tougher guys, and I think he'll edge that one out.

Harenton and Brian Jump on. We'll get your predictions, but you're right. I mean, Jalen Turner, yeah, he lost to Hanato Maucano. Let's get a four-shot, guys. He lost to Hanato Maucano. But remember, Boom, he dropped him, and he thought it was done. So he walked away, and then he paid the price, got taken down and mounted. Before that, he damn near killed Bobby Green. The power that he has is ridiculous. 6'3, lightweight. I used to train with him pre-UFC. When he signed, I was like, Shit, I know he's going to do big things. But Bamondas is good. I got Jalen Turner.

As long as Jalen Turner doesn't try to get a walk-off KO highlight, I think he can win.

I like Baja Mendez. I've liked this guy since he started in the UFC. He's only got, I think, two losses, both of them decisions. I don't know, man. Tough guy. I like him.

I like him, too.

How Martin, have you gone for a 007 UFC 313 theme behind you? No. This is what it always looks like in a foreshot, unfortunately. I like him. There was I don't watch the Oscars, but there was a bit of a... I stumbled across it last night. Jesus Christ, I don't want to blow your fucking brains out. My God. But Jesus Christ, speak about entitlement. But there was a bit of a James Bond theme going on there. Amanda Lamosh, Ayasmin Lucindo. I'm going to say Lucindo. I've been very impressed with her. Lamosh is great. She's tough. She's got good power. I'm not going to say Lucindo. She's young and she's bringing it.

Yeah, I got you on that one, too, Mike. I think she's the next wave of girls in this weight class. I think she's really good. I think she gets it done.

Wins over, Carolina Kolbakevich, Polyana Viana, Mariana Rodriguez, her last time out. Impressive resume, definitely building towards the title.

Harrington with the stats, Brian.

Making us look bad. He has a much stronger opinion on this fight than I do, apparently. This is really a coin toss for me.

Now, Brian, don't take offense when I say this. I I feel like your microphone needs to get turned up a bit. Harrington's is just perfect. It sure does.

It was on zero.

Harrington, you should have told him. You should have took so much pleasure in telling Brian the one chance you had.

I literally expect other I need other people to tell me when my shit has filled up because I can't tell on my side. Yeah.

No, I know. So Harrington, you dropped the ball again as a co-producer. Jesus Christ. What are you doing? Right, next one, opening up the main card, Ritzio Roofing, Fighting Nerd. One Shot is the name. Got the job done against James Yontop, but it was a decision. Prior to that, he's taking people out. He is impressive. He does have one shot power. He will open the fight with some just sweep or whatever. Does a lot of fancy wild stuff taking on king green. I love Bobby. He's awesome. I got to call with Roofie. I'm sorry. Bobby's awesome, but he's no spring chicken. There's a lot of wear and tear. There's a lot of miles on the clock. And Roofing, I think, represents this new wave of the next generation starting to take over and coming from the fighting nerds. We're going to hear more from this team. I've got Roofing.

Yeah. I think that just the momentum that team has and the training partners that he's working in, working with every day with his coaches. And just he's fun. My God, I follow that guy on social media, and I love watching his training and all that shit. I'm going with Roofing as well. I I think he's a true prospect at 55.

I don't know. I like Bobby Green or King Green. Good. Rather. King Green. I like King Green.

I like King Green. Do you like King Green, Harrington?

I like him, but I just don't think that... I believe the fighting nerds can get beat when one of them loses. That's fair. The run they're on right now is incredible.

Who was it talking about demons before? Sorry. Terrence. Terrance. It makes sense. I was like, there's going to be some Bryce Mitchell referencing there. Bryce Mitchell is fighting Jean Silver. They're going up. They're going head to head in Miami, UFC 314. Bryce Mitchell, Jean Silver, that'll be a hell of a fight. The Lord Assassin taking on Bryce, the... What's his nickname? Thug Nasty.

Thug Nasty.

That's a good one.

Did you see Dana's quote on that? No. He said, So many people were hitting him up saying, Why are you putting out a hit on Bryce Mitchell? What is this about? You want to get this guy assassinated? He said- Bryce wanted it. He said, Both guys called me. Both guys were on the phone with me. Both guys begging for this fight. When we have two guys in that position doing that, we just booked the fight.

Yeah. So we've had Bryce Mitchell on the show a few times.

We should get him back on soon.

I was going to say, it's controversial in these days to get Bryce Mitchell on. It's like, Jesus Christ, man. I don't know. I like Bryce. I heard. But he went down a bit of a dark rabbit hole there for a bit.

It's nuts, the Expressway that is flat Earth to every other...

Well, there's some thoughts that you have that you probably shouldn't talk about.

You do some research on some wacky shit. Keep those ones to yourself, Bryce. That was one where when he started saying that stuff, I'm like, Dude, you talk about flat Earth, that doesn't hurt anybody. It's a crazy opinion. Nobody cares. You want to be religious and believe that Elon's the devil, that doesn't hurt anybody. Nobody cares. You start talking about topics that really just destroyed lives and caused wars and things like that, you're probably going to get some backlash, buddy.

Yeah, for sure. I had so much to call right there.

Keep it to fun topics. Don't bring the Holocaust into things.

Yeah, don't. Just don't. Speaking of flat Earth, though, Rampage Jackson and Richard Evans were speaking to Cutman Tate recently on their podcast. I was talking to Brad Cutman in Seattle. He was on there. He was like, Did you see that shit? They're full flat Earth. Rampage and Richard. What's that?

I was just saying, those guys on that podcast are full flat Earth?

Not Cutman Tate, but Rampage and Richard and Bryce Mitchell.

I would imagine Rampage's co-host, too. That dude It doesn't seem like the sharpest one in tech.

Bear's awesome. Bear's great. Yeah, they're all flat earthers, man. I'm sorry. What the... We've talked about this a lot, so we're not going to go down it, but yeah, there you go. There's more of them out there than what you think.

That surprises me. I know Rashaad is a thinker and it likes to look into some conspiracies and some controversial topics, but I don't know, That's something that even... I'll tell you what, I'm not. But even if I was, I'm not putting that out there. I'm not putting that out there.

I don't even want to talk about it because we've heard about it, but it's like they would say, What evidence do we I have. Granted, I've never been to space and I've never seen it as a globe, but I have been in an airplane. I can't look at the ocean. I can't see that it disappears. I do have friends that my brother-in-law is a pilot. I'm like, What would you say to a flat Earth? And he'll say, I've seen it. I've He's in the curve. Richard's awesome. He's great. He's a deep thinker. He's a little wacky. He's a little out there.

Next time we work together, I'm going to have to be like, okay.

Richard's been on a lot of the Terrance McKinney juice. He's been on a lot of the hallucinogenics, maybe a little bit too much on that one, but shout out Richard, who's fighting Manpage, by the way. Anything else we need to go before we get to questions? In fact, I'm going to call it. You've got a life to get to. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for It's the point of the show. Send your questions in to bympod@gmail. Com. For me, for Paul, about MMA, about personal stuff, about life, finances, growth, diet, whatever the case Flat Earth. Flat Earth. We got opinions for days. Also, like the video right now. Subscribe to the video channel and leave a comment. Ring the bell. Algorithms, ring the bell. But what else do we have? Brian, do we have any questions?

We got a couple of weird submissions today. This one is from Pigman.

My name, son of a bitch.

Michael B.

B.

And Paul F.

What's the biggest Ms. C.

C.

I have a perception about you? Okay. See, I wasn't sure what that was going to be that. I think that was an old regular. I think that's what's his name, Roland Victor, Brian?

It's a different email address, but it feels like Roland Victor.

It sounds like him. Then when I saw him, that MMA guru, he's like his little crew, they have pigs. I was like, Is it something to do with that? But it sounds like Roland Vista. He's like an old guy that used to send videos in, Paul. The biggest misconception about you or me? I mean, jeez, there's a lot about me, but what about you, Paul?

I think I get this wrap of being this very buttoned up company guy, commentator, boring, not really all that. And that's just like, if you know me, that is 100 % not the case. I know how to get down and get after it. I'm not a polished, buttoned up type of goody two shoes type guy. I do my job and I'm on the mic calling fights as it is, but I'm just as crazy as the rest of them. And I think now that having the podcast with you opens that up and people start to realize I'm a bit of a psycho as well. And I like a good conspiracy theory. I don't know if I go full Terrence McKinney, but close.

Yeah. Well, I see that as well because obviously we work together and we go out for dinners and we've had a few drinks here and there, but we never sat down and spoke for this amount of time before. And I totally agree. I'm not saying that I thought you were buttoned up and stiff or whatever. You are a lot more fun than what you've presented in the past.

Yeah, no, exactly. Because that's what I get. I get people... And people used to when I fought and I used to have the mullet and all that shit, people thought I was like a hick. Nobody Because obviously, when you're just fighting, especially early on, I'm not on the mic all that much. You just see me, you see me fight, you see what I look like. And people thought I was just this Southern hillbilly, dude. It's like, I'm from Philadelphia. I'm as far from being a hillbilly, although this sweater- It's pretty hillbilly-ish.

My biggest misconception is that everyone thinks that I'm fun and I'm wild, but I'm actually a buttoned up, stiff, boring type of guy. It's the exact opposite What is it, Paul? I wish it was. I wish it. The biggest misconception, I'm a big bloody Teddy bear. Everyone thinks I'm a mean son of a bitch. They think I'm nasty. And I do have my moments. I know I do, and I let myself down. But I would say, Rebecca says the number one thing that she loves about me is that I'm kind. And I don't think a lot of people would think that. They would think he's a fucking asshole.

He's so mean. You know him and you actually talk to him.

He's got You don't have to be nice to be kind.

Yes, that's true. You don't have to be... Don't mistake kindness for weaknesses, they say, right?

Correct. People do that. Brian, we got one more before we let Paul get back to you.

That was a weird one.

That was a weird one.

They're all pretty weird. I'll let you guys know this other guy sent in a question that I thought was strange as hell. He's asking about Matt Hamill hearing your voice, Mike. Oh, God. Yeah, it's strange. Then this other guy sent in a question, not really a question. He's just giving bookings that he wants to hear.

Okay. Well, leave it in the comment section. We don't need to watch a video about it and subject all the believers to it. Well, that was fun. Pereira wins at the weekend. Universially, we've all got for Zeev. That's about it. That's the show, I think, Paul. What's on for the rest of the day?

Go take the doggies out, hang out with the kids, and go to bed.

Sounds good. We'll enjoy. Ladies and gentlemen, take care. We'll be back real soon. Goodbye.