On Episode 530 of Morning Kombat Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell get you ready for the final fights of the year. The guys preview the Day of Reckoning card featuring Anthony Joshua vs. Otto Wallin and Deontay Wilder vs. Joseph Parker. The guys also break down some of the latest news from the MMA world. Will Weili Zhang get a chance to move up and face Alexa Grasso? As always we close out wednesday with fan submissions.
(00:00:00) – Intro
(00:16:30) – Day of Reckoning Preview
(00:49:15) – Naoya Inoue vs. Marlon Tapales
(00:58:30) – State of the UFC Athlete
(01:23:00) – Fight News and Announcements
(01:40:00) – Fan Submissions
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MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL, Showtime’s first live digital series, spotlights the weekend’s biggest news from the world of combat sports. MORNING KOMBAT airs live every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11AM ET / 8 AM PT.
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The chance to win this trophy is an offer you can’t refuse it’s the coveted Copa Italia on CBS Sports Network and streaming live on Paramount Plus the scudetto where the soul of Italy meets The Pinnacle of Ccho catch Sia on CBS Sports Network and streaming live on Paramount plus I’m a professional this is how I make my living how you survive you remain calm you never let Panic Take the Wheel let’s get you home tracker premieres after Super Bowl 58 on [Applause]
CBS Rey Rey dos look at us now tip to tip this is our life this is our passion that’s the spirit we bring to this show I’m Luke Thomas I’m Brian Campbell this is morning combat oh yeah get fired up it’s the holiday sezon and your favorite Combat Sports
Show is back in your face hole where it belongs hey folks how are you Wednesday December 20th 2023 it’s morning combat right it’s Brian Campbell the BBC with that bde rocking the Fantastic DieHard morning combat sweatshirt by the way you can get yours now and that is my DC based
Co-host across from me next to me with me in this bunker of Life they call him Luke Thomas Luke call me a lot more than that holiday times are supposed to be about Joy Luke are you experiencing any of that at the moment oh [ __ ] no good
Lord my daughter woke me up in the middle of the night wouldn’t go back to sleep um I haven’t slept at all I haven’t slept at all BC uh I’m tired of [ __ ] tired very tired all right but I did doe I did do a lot of tape watching
Um on the for this card this Saturday which I I have to tell you I if someone asked me am I excited about the boxing fights this weekend I definitely am on some level and then on another level I’m like yeah but not really I mean I I
Don’t know I have a weird feeling about the fights this weekend I agree and not only do we get like a ton of big names on one toone pay-per-view card on Saturday I think it’s even for a discounted price but the ones that are supposed to be fighting each other
Aren’t and you got to do that whole math in your head well what if one or both lose are they not going to fight each other yeah we’re talking about Wilder Joshua will’ll get into all of that shortly ahead of Day of Reckoning but I
Agree with you Luke there are a bunch of mismatches I’m happy I guess that saud’s thrown a ton of money to get this card loaded but every time I hear Anthony Joshua say this is the deepest and best card in Combat Sports history I need to
Um you know I need to groan a bit and look at the betting boy he’s been a he’s been a real prickly pair this weekend has he not yeah I mean I don’t I don’t normally talk trash about guys that are that big and look like that but he’s
Kind of been acting like a salty [ __ ] in theit a little bit you know what is he has beef with one of the guys who ends up being the hosts for all these events yes I guess his name is Dev or something I don’t know who it is I think
What you have to remember is in in you know we were used to the HBO versus Showtime sort of rivalry in the UK they have their own TV channel rivalries and this card because of the Saudi money is bringing together like team Eddie Hearn and Anthony Joshua but also team Frank
Warren on the other side so um I think it’s just a Crossing of streams and AJ’s like I I effing hate that guy so he’s listen if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years of Combat Sports it’s that Fighters are definitely not sensitive definitely not easy to troll
And definitely don’t hold grudges you know they’re very good about I have heard Fighters say that about leading MMA analysts and how quickly they block people though so maybe you know it’s a Spider-Man meme situation yeah but people think people think I let me ask
You a question why do you think I block people what what what would be the reasoning behind that okay well let me let me let me say this I would Echo your blocking when someone starts debating with you about Combat Sports and then swears at you calls you an insult like
Just basically submarines you and you’re like okay I get where this is going but we have a lot of fans that are like look I’ve been a Luke supporter for like 12 years but that one time I questioned him about his MMA take and he just hit me
With the block so this is usually there have been a couple of instances of that like no one’s got a perfect record I don’t imagine it but number one people overestimate their importance to any one particular other person like oh I you know um what does it say that they
Didn’t want to have this person in their orbit probably not a whole lot I think most people aren’t aggressive enough frankly with their blocking and also if someone’s like I didn’t do anything almost certainly lying also like here’s what I just don’t want I I I just like
If I I’ve seen people follow me and I’ve looked at their I’ve looked at their tweets and if their tweets are like super pro crypto super pro on you know I don’t even I don’t even dislike Elon that much that much he [ __ ] up Twitter but everything else I I hope he does
Well and I mean that sincerely but you know the kind of person like that dude we’re we just don’t have anything to say to each other like just go just go like I don’t all right well we’re not facilitating anything productive by imagining that we need to be together
People think more feedback is actually what you need no what you need is quality feedback not more feedback don’t assume that because there’s a A Chorus of people who have something to say that oh I need to just get more of this that will give me a better sense
Of things no it will give you a much worse much worse so are the fighters too sensitive Luke or are we just sensitive as a culture I don’t even know if I’ve blocked any Fighters by the way I I’m maybe one or two or something at most um
Right but are they sensitive oh dude I mean here’s the thing I realized like I remember when bloodstain Lane would like say outrageous [ __ ] on purpose and then like all the Jackson guys would like respond like I’m going to [ __ ] kick your ass this was years ago and I’d be
Like why would they even respond and dude here we are all these years later they’re Fighters are the easiest people to troll the easiest people to get mad because they’re they’re you know they got that [ __ ] Competitive Edge at all time you know yeah Fighters and journalists luk same business I get it
At the end of the day look I I block people if they’re like yo you effing libard what are you talking about about Leon then I’m like okay all right yeah I know you dude more is better let those people hang around cuz more is better
Well I mean I have a rule like you you you you insult here we go here we go here we go here we go we’re going to start the day by assuming I don’t have internal guidelines by what I consider to be reasonable to keep around we going
To assume are you Pro me saying off me saying I have a rule you’re projecting a lot Luke I said I we’re going to assume we’re going to assume that I do it capriciously without consideration any of those things no I just have a different set of rules about what the
The the amount of people who assume that they’re capable of giving worthwhile conversation it’s about 1% of what it what people actually imagine it to be so there you go well there you go Luke you don’t have to worry about me blocking you because I’ve done that a long time
Ago but we’re going to have a great show for you right here and let me tell you something about great fights it might be a little downtime on the fight calendar right we got the Day of Reckoning this weekend we’ve got Iowa and new way on Tuesday morning don’t miss that we’ll
Get into that but if you want a little bit more fight fix how about revisiting the great career of 50 and0 the TBE Floyd Mayweather tonight on CBS Sports Network December 20th you see it right there how about Mayweather yeah late at night wow tune in how about Mayweather
Pacquiao Mayweather Mosley which you remember Shane Mosley rocked Mayweather twice and nearly dropped him and finished him and Mayweather Cotto a classic Trio of fights this evening on CBS Sports Network and hey it doesn’t stop there how about Thursday how about Mayweather McGregor reiring at 11m you
Can catch it at 7M when it kicks off these are Eastern time starts on the CBS Sports Network and a little bonus after hours Canelo Alvarez versus Austin Trout the much disputed 2013 Junior middleweight unification from San Antonio uh good little mix there of fights that you can catch up on if you
Missed it over the years on the CBS Sports Network or download the CBS Sports app and watch watch it today hell yeah Luke we want to tease our upcoming schedule for the folks because you know most of your favorite shows are going to go into Hiatus and you won’t hear from
Them for a few weeks we are doing this show live and direct today we’ll be back Friday for a fun live broadcast to close out the week and set you up for the holidays but next week we’re off on Christmas the 25th we’ll be back for a pre-recorded 2024 predictions show next
Wednesday and we’ll be back the following Friday December 29th in your regular 11:00 a.m. eastern start with our annual MK endof Year Awards uh Luke we’re going to be filming some holiday mailbags some Recaps of 2023 we’re going to be banging a lot in the in the next
Week while people are home with their famili so if you want to get in just you know just just jump in check it out so there you go anything else Luke it’ll be fun and also our fantastic merch from this hat to this dieh hard sweatshirt
Look at this Luke now I have a morning combat ho ho ho uh to my t-shirt underneath heck maybe I’ll even there you go all right there it is wow layers of MK gear yeah I’m I’m living the the gimmick right now why don’t you go to
Morning combat. store to get yours so while Luke we missed the shipping deadline for holidays if you want your products to show up under the tree we got a great fix morning combat gift cards are available right now for your last minute stocking stuff or purchases
Go to Morning combat. store tell RJ that uh that we sent you all right there you go right there uh anything else Luke any other absolute [ __ ] you want to get into before we start just just giving the people what they deserve on this Wednesday I just there was a guy at the
Gym the other day you know I’m back at going to the gym after because now the weather’s cold and I can’t really work out indoors anymore oh yeah do you have a a cut off on temperature for the front yard gym I’d say once it gets below 40
That’s it once once you’re in the 30s it’s a little too cold for me um because you know the thing is man you know it’s one thing to power through the workout and then to power through the workout wearing mittens and [ __ ] and a parka
It’s like this is a little this is a little much this is a little much so if you know if it’s if it’s like mid 40s I can do it 50s no problem 60s 7s obviously no issue at all but um but it’s been in the 30s you know a lot
Recently so it’s like I couldn’t do it so I’ve been going to the gym more and I don’t know if I told this on the show or maybe I texted you maybe both there was a dude at the gym the other day uh wearing a shirt excuse me God bless you Luke the
Shirt said like in big ass letters and he was walking around just you know like Michigan J frog hello my baby hello my darling like that whole bit and the shirt said I love titties and beer yeah and I was like I was like I mean sir we
All do we you not you know it’s like saying I enjoy breathing yeah that’s a that’s a part of life uh to be honest with you so well you’re more of a you’re more of an assman Luke to be fair but I guess you also enjoy the uh the Northern
Hemisphere as well I don’t I don’t discriminate between peaches and cherries they’re all great fruits you know what I’m saying this got weird I mean it got a little weird to be fair did it did I mean you know everyone listen at home right now turn the dial
Down I’m sitting here lambasting this guy for wearing a shirt it’s like dude I’ve got a podcast where I say the same things you know what I mean ask were you working out in the morning Hub t-shirt as you’re judging this man Luke no I
Wasn’t I had uh I did have a morning Combat shirt on but it was the one that has the logo with like no words on it and then just morning Combat on the sleep I had that one on but I I don’t know I was it was weird man there’s like
A lot of women who walk around the gym too it’s like I love titties and beer it’s like I don’t know what women like I’m going to guess not that shirt you know what I mean I’m gonna guess not that thing it is 2023 there’s a lot of
Women with an appetite for both fluke and if they do then they share my interests you know what I mean I don’t no they have an appetite for that for a person wearing that shirt no no for the contents of the shirt Luke oh oh oh yes yes I mean you know listen
Let he who without sin cast the first stone about uh our our secret vices or what whatever but uh I don’t know just a weird thing to wear to the gym you know I don’t know I usually like not one of the I I’m not one of these guys who like
Gives a lot of thought about what you wear at the gym you know comfortable stuff whatever you need to get through the thing you know maybe that’s maybe it was laundry day at this gentleman’s house but um I don’t know that’s like that’s like you walk into the gym with a
Shirt that says I love titties and beer you’ve got a real make it all about me Vibe don’t you you know don’t you agree with that well yeah I mean maybe yeah I guess you’re right you know I one time purchased that famous New York City street t-shirt that says F you you
Effing F uh I once purchased that when I was 18 Luke I wore it to Milford highi and got a lot of people upset at me so I get it you know you’re trying to get attention you’re trying to be that guy that’s like the ultimate you you bought
So you must have bought like the ultimate tourist New York City kiosk t-shirt right that’s what that is like the I’m 18 I’m ready to prove to the world that I’m part of the NWO and I’m living my lifestyle how I want to Luke okay you know what I’m saying that’s
That’s like when you go to flor Florida and you get one of those shirts it’s like uh take me drunk I’m home you know what I mean yeah yeah down there in The Villages Luke where they drive around in the golf carts and give each other STDs
You know it’s like the old people Paradise you ever hear that story V known for very leftwing thought down there in The Villages they’re very very very yeah yeah absolutely all right enough of that [ __ ] hey we got a decent show for you playing today I say
Decent cuz there ain’t a lot going on but we want to fill that hole in your life we’re all about whole filling in this show so we’re going to be hitting up looking ahead of the boxing to come this weekend looking at the latest MMA fight news and also checking out your
Fan Subs later in the show and our great producer Mikey mormal of CBS Sports says this is a pretty damn good batch so I’m excited I’m getting ready Luke what people might not be remembering is that okay bets over and I took the win yay congratulations let’s get these concert
Plans in order but we still have another 11 days left in the running for 20 23’s donk of the year on morning combat Luke off the top of your head are there any donks that that stand out or or what I mean I got to say didn’t uh the
Pettes have just an absolute barn burner recently of a fan sub that Jette has made a comeback through the lens of his current I got to say Jay Jay has made a surge recently app’s been trying but he’s got a I mean you know he tries so
Hard I mean the guy just you know he’s the kind of guy who just defecate on himself as a party trick you know even if it was the worst party trick imaginable would you say he tries so hard but in the end it doesn’t really matter yeah it doesn’t really matter
He’s Lincoln Park he’s Lincoln Park um yeah one thing yeah uh you know Telvin keopa is always pretty up there as well in terms of Jo staying relevant danger mous hey Average Joe art to an exent Joe kind of reshaped the mold of what’s possible as a super fan of this show SL
Employee but uh can’t wait to find out I hope not only do we Crown a newn winner this year but we find out what happened to uh to uh Stockton’s finest Luke Damian the Donk remember him yeah what about him see I want to know if he’s
Still alive is he incarcerated does he hate us what happened probably incarcerated we turn people on but we turn a lot of them off eventually too right yeah that’s that’s how I I mean the fact that I’ve remained married married is a small miracle yeah both in your regular marriage and this editorial
One all right we’ll get into topic number one to kick it off and this weekend it is a big day Saturday afternoon Riad Saudi Arabia uh what What’s That season they say it is Luke hashtag rad season is that what it is yeah well Riad season is like I don’t
Know some kind of like corporate rally and cry for their larger efforts but yes it’s like October to march to kind of celebrate their vacation season and their entertainment season well this is a big part of it it’s Day of Reckoning headlined of course by a pair of pretty
Damn good heavyweight fights involv ining former Champions Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder obviously the elephant in the room here is that we wish they’d be fighting each other because this fight has been one that has been talked about for upwards of six years now the good news is you read that
We saw that report from Mike hinger of ESPN even though Dan Rayfield dunked on it that there’s talks they’re close to agreeing to a turnaround to fight each other in March but Luke we have a lot of questions about this I want to first talk about the matchups themselves here
In your main event it has been officially announced that Anthony Joshua will headline against Otto Valen of course best known for pushing Tyson Fury to the Limit a couple years back cutting uh opening up a huge gash over his eye and then if you remember trying to stick
The thumb of his glove into it to try to win the heavyweight championship he got gnarly but we know what he is he’s a southpaw he’s big he can box a little bit he can do some things Anthony Joshua is a minus 450 betting favorite against
The plus three 10 Wen Valen but Luke let’s start on Anthony Joshua coming off the back-to-back losses to to um usk to lose his world title he switched trainers you know three times and span of like four fights he did bounce back against Germaine Franklin in his first
Fight with Derek James but we had a lot of questions about it Dereck James will not be in the corner in this one Ben Davison will the former trainer of Tyson Fury but Derek James is still part of the collective team what I want to ask you about Lukas something we teased off
The top every single time they put a microphone in front of AJ you’re not getting much in fact you’re get you’re getting derision or you know obvious dissatisfaction with the fact that he has to talk to anybody I don’t know if you saw the dust up him and Big Baby
Miller had yesterday that was weird and I don’t know if you of course remember that headline where Anthony Joshua four months ago paid a ton of money to be in a isolation chamber for multiple days with no Vision so that he could I guess find himself All Things Considered here
Luke are we creating a storyline or is this version of Anthony Joshua who’s now lost his invincibility a couple times but still is on the comeback Trail is he dayto day minute to minute from the idea of your confidence that he can put Humpty Dumpty back together again yeah I
Mean I don’t think it’s really about putting Humpty Dumpty back together again in the way in which you’re suggesting or at least the way the way in which the question has been asked there is no putting Humpty Dumpty back together again I mean it is kind of
Amazing right if I had told you that he has three losses and that b or not even that if I had told you that Anthony Joshua has uh only lost to two men one of which he Avenged and the other one is a cruiserweight you’d be like wow then
Why is everyone’s kind of so down on him you you wouldn’t really get the whole picture but of course that that is a sort of a euphemistic way of saying it all BC this isn’t really about putting Humpty Dumpty there is no getting the Joshua back who fought Klitschko and I
Said this before like doing this isolation chamber stuff again if he personally feels better after doing it if he feels like it enabled him to process something kind of like what Tony did with David gogins who are we to suggest he shouldn’t do something like that of course that would
Be a healthy and and beneficial thing to do however what I would say is you’re not going his body has and his mind and his psychology has been shaped in a way quite literally hammered into a way where um you know he’s having these natural aversions to things he didn’t
Have natural aversions to before because that’s his body and and his psychological makeup preserving himself you can’t really get that back you just it’s not really all that possible however Valen is a tough challenge he could win this I don’t think he will because I don’t think he can stop
AJ um although yeah yeah I don’t think he can stop AJ do you like his chances if it goes to the cards maybe you do I I probably not is what I would say in a scenario like this this is about getting him another good look such that one can
Be made here against what is a quality opponent not A+ quality but quality just the same it’s not about hey if he wins something like this and he looks good does it prove he’s back there is no back it’s not no there is no back that’s achievable but something good is
Achievable something good that sets up a subsequent opportunity is achievable that’s what this is ultimately about and just remember like Anthony and his team they have a lot of say over what kind of guy he fights they picked a guy who’s tough that should push him but that he
Should beat and it should set him up for the next thing but it’s interesting because what we talked about after the Germaine Franklin win for Anthony Joshua which was his last performance and if you remember he kind of slept walk through I’m sorry that was two fights
Ago uh Germaine Franklin which he lenus fight was last one scored a unanimous decision but it was kind of incomplete in our eyes it’s really the Robert Helen fight I’m mentioning and keep forgetting so this was August of this calendar year at the O2 Arena and while Joshua did
Deliver a seventh round knockout that was monstrous it was that big right hand and if you only watched the highlights certainly you’d be like oh wow he looks like he’s back we all remember him sleepwalking through the beginning of that fight and we saw a lot of that in
The Germaine Franklin fight too so some of this could be adjusting to a new trainer and remember this is three trainers now in the in the span of you know four or five fights I mean that’s that’s not there’s not consistency in within that type of structure but Luke I
Think he’s still going through an identity crisis because everybody wants him to be the AJ of 2017 and 2018 a guy who is always vulnerable but was tough could finish with both hands and even though he had the type of chin where you could floor him and people have or
They’ve H him he would rally back get the win and he would kind of mix it up he’d be a little bit of a boxer he’d throw big punches when it mattered but Luke my biggest takea away from those two usyk fights has really always been about his St ubn mindset and strategy
Even for that second fight when he brought on Robert Garcia where he did fight better but it was still AJ trying in some ways to outbox a better boxer we need a physical AJ who’s going to use that six foot6 size the NFL linebacker body the power in both hands and be
Physical be nasty and just be a guy who look we know you can outbox the B and C tier guys but if you’re going to win championships again you’re going to have to be get through the a a level guys and you’re going to have to be the puncher
In those matchups against a fury or an usyk who are going to be fighting each other for the Undisputed Championship so like the last two fights I really want to see where AJ’s head is at because the totality of all of his interviews including the weird one after the usyk
Loss including this week where every time people put a microphone in front of his face he’s just sort of like I’m dialed in I’m ready and that’s it you don’t get anything more we were supposed to interview him live on Monday show and unfortunately we had some production
Setbacks that prevented that but Luke I watched the interviews he did that day on that cycle and they they didn’t reveal much he’s sort of just there it wouldn’t have been a great interview at all no it wouldn’t have been if he would have knocked if he knocks out Valen this
Week and then like we always say in Combat Sports you can repair any of the negative talk by coming back and delivering but Luke I think we have legitimate questions about can he ever be that same guy you’re saying no we can’t put the toothpaste back in he
Can’t be that same guy but he’s only he can be better than he can be better than he was in the Franklin fight I mean please don’t misunderstand me he’s he’s a quality fighter like I’m not I’m not suggesting otherwise but like getting guy who fought Klitschko is not possible
You’re it’s gone and nothing else is going to bring that back so the challenge here is Valen who’s not easy 6 foot five and a half Southpaw 261 in one record with 14 koos out of Sweden known more for his only loss as I mentioned but has a couple good wins over former
Cruiserweight Champion morac GV in his last fight he won a split decision he’s beating Dominic Brazil Travis Kaufman sort of you know second and third tier heavyweights um AJ should be the favorite minus 450 that’s aggressive but you can understand it it’s plus 310 for Valen
But Luke I think AJ does have a lot of questions to answer and there’s really that larger question that’s why I want to bring in our first piece of sound I caught up with Eddie Hearn who is Anthony Joshua’s trainer of matchroom sport uh a couple weeks ago ahead of
That Haney PR gry fight but one thing I specifically asked him was the question we all had when this fight card got announced we’re like I’m happy that Saudi Arabia’s throwing the money at all these people so we can have this fight card but why is AJ and Wilder not
Fighting each other let’s get Eddie Hearns take and then we can react more questions before we go Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder are fighting in separate bouts both really well matched by the way December 23rd with a ton of other big names Demitri bival Etc on that card the knee-jerk fan reaction is
Hey why can’t they just fight each other now how do you react to that Eddie I think we had six weeks you know I think it was like the card was put together very quickly by the way you know I think OT is a very dangerous fight six weeks
Out in with a southpaw he’s just coming off victory in Russia against gasier um and Joseph Park is full of confidence you know Wilder has been out for a long time um but look the reason they are fighting on the same card the reason that we’re all going to
Saudi Arabia is because we want to make Joshua Wilder in Saudi Arabia now it’s not made yet but everybody wants that fight to happen and if they both win on December 23rd I think there’s a really good chance that you see what I think is the biggest fight in
Boxing Luke cut through that that promoter talk here why are we not fighting each other in reality uh because it’s boxing they don’t have to and they want to get maximum paydays in between the toughest fights that otherwise could be forced on them when there’s like for example like
If Canelo doesn’t fight David benovitz I don’t know that again I’m not predicting that will happen but let’s just imagine a scenario where he doesn’t at that point there will now be enough negative consequences that it could affect him and I think he’s probably going to take that into consideration whereas in other
Cases you can skip fights and it may or may not be that kind of negative this is a huge payday from the Saudis as we know there’s a reason there Valen is a tough opponent but a beatable one it’s a good stepping stone to something else depending on what you want to do
Although it’s an open stance fight which is going to make it kind of interesting but um yeah that’s it they don’t have to fight anybody else this is this is almost a bonus event right like no one was clamoring exactly for this event the Saudis just threw a bunch of money and
Kind of made it so you’re like hey I guess I’ll take it uh it’s really that and nothing else yeah well here’s my issue I mean not I mean look we all have an issue that they’re not fighting each other when we’ve waited six years but the fact that they’re negotiating
Actively to fight each other and the fact that we’re gonna have the discussion in the minute whether it really matters whether Joshua Wilder actually win on Saturday which without a world title it really doesn’t you can still book that fight but Luke for as big of a role as Saudi Arabia has played
This year in boxing particularly and threat to play next year I don’t know for the money they spent I would like a little bit more quality control now at the end of the day I’m actually not upset and I said it to Eddie and I meant it Valen versus Joshua and even Parker
Versus Wilder like those are good matchups like they are they’re good matchups especially Wilder’s been out of the Parker On’s not that great for over a year Well it’s not awful okay but all the other big names on this undercard are pretty much Ma matched against no
Hopers like you’re getting ball on this card you get Philip erovic you get Daniel DUIs you get Frank Sanchez I mean you get some big heavyweight names but look I’m hearing rumors that these guys are making like five six seven million a piece just to show up in essentially
Showcase fights so that has to ask yourself now what is Joshua when you remember that he was paid $80 million to bring the Ruiz second fight to Saudi what are they getting paid my point is that in boxing in general in the larger landscape of broadcast promoter relationship networks all that we’ve
Kind of killed the middle class over the last decade and a half and what I mean by that is you used to be able to see huge fights on Showtime or HBO with big sight you know with big purses where the G network is putting down four million
For the aider three million for the bider those fights these days are just going to pay-per-view and you could argue that it’s been a sustained you know decade of how we got here of certain promoters at certain times overpaying people remember when theone launched and they you know aggressively
Overpaid everybody I’m just a little bit nervous Luke that as much as like saudi’s role in that look they’re bringing together people that don’t work together and making fun fights maybe just raise the quality control a little bit right just like just a little bit that’s my fear on that moving forward
But I guess there’s you know time will tell on that because I’m glad we get these names on this card but these are not mouthwatering matchups after the main and Co main so Luke when you look at this main event where do you see potential pitfalls for Joshua if it’s going to
Happen knowing Valen style and I look at Valen as a beeh heavyweight with the potential to give a Fighters tough nights but we have to be realistic at what his ceiling is too in this matchup uh if there’s anything you take from the usyk fights it’s that
Um even in a scenario where Anthony Joshua is trying to lead with ring control and ring generalship and in particular his jab uh now you proba like well usyk was able to counter but usyk is usyk and nobody else really is but I have to tell you that ven’s actually
Pretty crafty so this what I mean I don’t think that Valen is Crafty enough to do what usyk did which he was able to do it twice basically where he was able to draw out something from Anthony Joshua counter it and then get on the move without having to eat a whole lot
For it but I think Valen can do a version of that and so the question is if Joshua is really not where he’s supposed to be if Joshua’s really not dialed in if he’s really got issues then Valen will then Valen will excuse me ultimately win I’m just
Skeptical we’re there but I do think that Valen can turn into good performance and I do but by the way uh if I recall correctly EVC he had to get over tyon Fury 40 stitches plus to repair what happened over his uh right eye in that contest you had referenced
Earlier you know that was a and again you know he had roughed it up but that’s what you’re supposed to do so Valen is not an A+ guy but I think he can give you A+ moments or certainly a minus rounds and I think Joshua has to be wary
About that but Joshua Joshua is a better athlete he is much stronger he is much more powerful um he has faced something you know usyk’s his own guy but he’s faced similar kinds of open stance difficulties with the with all the training camps and everything else it
Should be enough you’re we’re going to get to this later like what would ultimately interrupt a Wilder and fury fight excuse me I apologize a Wilder and Joshua fight from being made we’ll talk about the Wilder equation just a second I will say this losing I actually don’t
Feel like is the right or wrong answer although losing would be real bad for Joshua would’ be real bad it’s actually like how hitable does he end up being against Fen how hitable because if he just looks like and even if Fen is setting it up with different things
Because Wilder is not going to set it up with anything Grand we know that but if he is able to just make consistent contact with him in a way where you’re like go Lee man Joshua is like really not on his defensive game here I think
That would be pretty bad for him so we’ll see I Joshua is responsible defensively when he’s boxing the problem is and I think this is part of this mental block he seems to have post Ruiz knockout loss where he doesn’t sit down on those punches as willingly doesn’t
Punch at the same time of his opponents as willingly it seems to be a little bit more fearful of that chin I’d like to see him break out of that because look at the end of the day I don’t want to be an AJ hater I’m not trying to be an AJ
Hater I think AJ’s bought so much fun to the sport he’s still one of the biggest stars globally still can fill a soccer stadium but we’ve seen the upper bound limits you don’t want him to fade away and now he’s kind of acting like a Mal content obviously I know there’s been a
Lot that he’s gone through mentally through these defeats there’s been three of them they’ve been big he gets extra criticism than most people because he makes so much money and he’s such a big star but I think the biggest thing I took away from his two losses to usyk
Was that mentally those broke him so I’m cheering for him to come back but if it’s not right if he’s looking to box too much yeah Valen could give him issues especially from that Southpaw St from distance with that reach and stuff so you know 65 and a half he’s not small
This is going to be interesting there Luke the comment about will we still see Joshua and Wilder even if one or both of them loses I’m not going to throw to that sound you can catch it at youtube.com morning combat in the full Deontay Wilder interview but Luke
Deontay Wilder seemed to Echo what we all believe that no maybe it doesn’t matter should it matter though Luke Beyond has that’s boxing which is the excuse we always do should it matter that we’re negotiating this giant fight and we’re outright saying well if you know ashua if Joshua gets upset he’s not
A champion anyway who cares I don’t understand what the problem is if they lose if people still want to see it and it all of course that depends on the nature of the loss and everything else and and how it looked and how it made them look and how it
Made the market feel but it’s like why I’ll be honest just thinking about it out loud why should the loss be disqualifying if people still want to see it if at the end of the these this night you don’t get the results on the night you wanted but you still have a strong
Appetite uh for those that fight who gives a [ __ ] and I mean that’s sincerely dude like people the what is the job of a promoter what is a job it is very simple it is to put on the fights that people want to pay money to see if the
Market is still there I don’t mean like you know barely there that has to be like resuscitated that’s not what I’m talking about but if it’s still basically intact and people basically want to see it do I really care if they lose to autov vene or Joseph Parker I
Will be very honest with you I don’t I don’t care at all I guess this is a matchup we just want to see anyway um put up the money so that’s what it is all right let’s get into this co-main event Deontay Wilder is a monster favorite minus 800 despite being out of
The sport for more than a year but Luke I don’t know if we mentioned it on the air but he seems to have done a iasa retweet retreat in South America that seems to have replenished his mindset his motivation his level of Joy let’s find out right now he’s going to be
Fighting Joseph Parker on Saturday but I caught up with him on Monday here’s Deontay Wilder talking about this new mindset and where his head is at in this big return to the ring uh my mind space is is in a a wonderful place it’s in a over happppy place you know I’m always
Smiling nowadays you know it’s a it’s a joy it’s a joy to be able to enjoy life you know life passes Us by so quickly you know because it’s we living we’re living in borrowed time nothing is promised tomorrow is not promised you know the rest of the day is
Not promised so with that being said you have to enjoy every moment you know for as a blessing to be here for nothing last forever and um by I by me knowing this it allow me to enjoy every bit of life every little breath every time I wake every time I go
To sleep it’s the smallest little thing is appreciative for me and um um I’m I’m so happy to be in this space and time you know and um because you know growing up it didn’t used to always be like this it used to be a lot of uh Mysteries and
And and unsa un un un unanswered questions that I would have but U at this moment in time and it’s it’s a beautiful beautiful place to be in my mind my body and my soul and the people that I surround myself by you know I’m always around positive speaking positive
Believing and and without POS believing speaking equals positive results absolutely Luke it is good to see absolutely Jam because you remember uh during Wilder versus Fury 2 and three and the aftermath we saw a much angrier Deontay Wilder somebody who was really digging deep into conspiracy theories he fired
Co- trainer Mark Brean I mean a lot of accusations against fury some that may might actually need more explaining like how Fury’s gloves seems to hang off his hand in some moments but other what times it seemed delusional um I encourage more fighters to go the iasa
Route look what it’s done for Rashad but Luke two months after his 38th birthday heavyweights age late are you still expecting this Saturday against former Champion Joseph Parker like as close to the prime Wilder that we’ve ever known dude what let me ask you what is prime
Wilder I guess his his whole his whole title run has been the he’s the same fighter right more or less he’s the same guy yeah I mean even even for example like um okay so he fought stver twice right once I think went uh the distance
Are pretty close to it because he broke his hand so that’s broke his that’s fine and then the second time he just comes in there and just bulldozes him or how about like Luis orti like dude you’ll look at these fights and you’ll be like oh Wilder’s losing them and then he’ll
Go through and then just decide okay I’ve had enough of this [ __ ] and then you just closes the show like you know the Luis Ortiz fight dude I was big on Luis Ortiz I did a breakdown of that whole thing either for the Monday morning analyst or for dissected
Whatever franchise it was by the point that that fight so that must have been Monday morning analyst and uh you know he didn’t even get full extension on that punch he actually hit him like with a with a with an elbow like this or I
Should say his elbow was bent he hit him with the the fist obviously but the point I’m trying to make here is dude your margin of error against maybe boxing’s hardest puncher like forget about it man we’re talking about a guy who’s got one of the hardest punches if not the hardest we’ve
Ever seen so is it possible that Parker could go in there and have six rounds where he’s doing really well sure I mean I wouldn’t be even remotely but then he’s probably going to get sent to the [ __ ] land of wind and ghosts in round seven that’s just who Deontay Wilder is
Man he has what can only be described and I use it a lot but with him man it really matters unforgiving power and dude let’s just say for just a second go back and watch the Joyce fight dude Parker’s got a lot of defensive issues
Where you know he he gets hit all the time in any number of different scenarios he’s not super shelled up into the know a slickster and then defensively responsible like imagine how usyk would fight him usyk would fight him at range he’d touch in go like the
Whole point of the game is to not boxing in general but especially against Wilder hit and not get hit dog that ain’t Parker’s game that ain’t Parker’s game at all so is he a good fighter yes do I respect him of course of course but deon’s power is such a neutralizer it
Doesn’t matter about hardly anything else Deontay Wilder is going to win this one inside the distance take that to the bank all right he’s a minus 800 favored according to FanDuel Joseph Parker is plus 480 and I think the Wilder key on that whole idea of like he just wakes up
Late in the fight and knocks you out is Wilder is always in great shape cardio-wise and I don’t think he gets that respect along with being such a warrior but Luke he typically it’s not that he waits it’s just the punches that he tries earlier that he just barely
Misses the moment you get too tired and don’t bring your guard up all the way or your chin isn’t tucked as much of it is that’s where he needs just to touch you right in the second half of a fight and he could totally uh splatter you so the
Last time we saw him was 2022 he returned from the uh losses to Fury in the second and third fights of their Trilogy and he did blow out Robert helenus in one round which is the same guy Anthony Joshua needed seven to knock out uh on late minute late notice uh
Earlier this year so it’s going to be interesting I I I hope I hope both Wilder and Joshua get through because I want to see that fight under the best circumstances but Joshua at 34 there’s still a lot of time left wild they’re at 38 even though he took a huge beating in
The second and third Fury fights he has taken a lot of time off but uh also BC in general short of those two fights he hasn’t really taken much of a beating at all now those were bad and I I admit those especially that last one the third
One was a lot it was a lot but to your point a lot of time off since then and before that D he like who like how much how many miles does does wilder really have on him some of course yes for sure but like 4 38 not
That many honestly not that many Joseph Parker of New Zealand is only 31 he’s got good size at six at six foot4 and he’s always been a pretty good boxer but I think your pessimism toward his chances here they’re they’re maybe not without some ground because Luke if you
Look at the totality of his career it’s always been a little bit more not hyped because he was not overly hyped but you know when he was coming up and when he first won a World title The W strap he had that Burger King sponsorship in New Zealand we were
Looking at him as like maybe the future of the division but it didn’t happen yes he scored Clos and really disputed majority decision wins over Andy Ruiz and huy fury the cousin of Tyson Fury to get that world championship and get to that title level and he’s also got a
Nice win over Carlos tum we saw him kind of fall apart there first it was the loss to Anthony Joshua in their 2018 unification fight which Luke do you remember that fight in front of a pack crowd in Cardiff Wales Parker just didn’t show up that night he didn’t put
His best foot forward he lost basically 11 rounds to one on all three scorecards and he bounced back from that losing a 12 round decision to a still game dillian white so even though he’s put together a win streak since then you mentioned that Joe Joyce fight in 2022
In which uh Parker got knocked out in the 11th round that was just not his Night Luke and it didn’t look great he’s beaten second and third tier guys since then but I do have some of that same sort of overall pessimism that I do think this is a tough matchup do think
As you said Parker could win a bunch of rounds and be in position entering the second half to maybe take a decision but he’s got to show a chin that’s that’s at you know in in a ability to dodge punches that’s going to have to be elite here against Wilder I
Talked to Joseph Parker yes he did look like they were staging him in a confinement Camp Luke but here’s his talk on whether Wilder is looking past him since all we’re talking about is Anthony Joshua and even pfl with Francis andano let’s hear from Joseph Parker and he can focus on whatever he
Wants to focus on but I focus on smashing his face that’s what I want to do well does this feel like it it allows you to to feel like the underdog to feel like you’re sort of operating under the radar when so many people are talking about all of these other future
Plans L going into this fight we’ve just been focused on what we have to do you know Andy and myself and George and now we have the rest of the team here in Saudi Arabia we just focus on we have to do and I know there’s a lot of noise and
A lot of talk about everything else but it doesn’t really bother me I’m just I know what I have to do on flight Night Luke what does he have to do not get punched in the face survive yeah survive honestly I mean d again you’re going to
Be like oh it’s going to be five six seven rounds deep man look at Parker just outboxing him and then kerplunk just it just takes dude again I can’t oh you’re like oh that’s all of heavyweight no no it’s actually not all of heavyweight Wilder is a historically
Unique case he has his right hand again you can debate who’s the hardest puncher pound-for-pound Julian Jackson Ernie Shavers you know whatever big George Foreman whatever but you can’t have that conversation without Deontay Wilder and if we’re talking about just straight punches his straight right hand it’s a [ __ ] it’s a nuclear detonation
There’s nothing you can do about it there’s there’s nobody in boxing can take one cleanly nobody nobody doesn’t exist so he just has to do that it’s it’s kind of a cheat code but it’s the one he naturally was gifted you know Parker has been in Camp with Tyson Fury
Over the past few years Luke and fury caught up with the media this week and they said hey Tyson do you have any advice for Parker on how to beat Wilder here was his advice Luke don’t get hit in the face with one of them big right
Hands and you’ll be all right avoid the right hand that’s my tip for Parker what else can I say don’t get hit by the right hand sounds sounds easy right I think Parker will do it to him I don’t know Luke we’re going to find out there
But Luke speaking of the what could be next for uh Wilder I did ask him about those Don Davis pfl rumors about this mixed rules fight with enanu and I specifically said hey look with all this talk about you negotiating with Joshua for February or March I keep forgetting
One of those months is usyk versus uh Fury and the other month is when they’re targeting this uh Wilder uh Fury is um February okay so this one would be March Luke he uh we don’t have the sound here ready you can check in the interview but
He did not sound overly like yeah this is part of the plans he said yeah it could happen but I wonder Luke if now that the Joshua fight is coming together not that they both are essentially guaranteed him and Joshua these two big paydays first Saturday and then when
They fight in March I’m wondering if this does push off that idea against uh against Francis inano for Wilder and I wonder what that means for inano and the pfl in general do you have any thoughts on that um it’s hard to believe that Francis
After what he did to Tyson would be iced out of a big opportunity but the fight game moves in interesting directions I I I still don’t think a mixed rules fight is very likely just because of how difficult it would be to get something like that arranged
But again let’s see what happens this weekend maybe Wilder wins but then and maybe Wilder wins and Joshua wins but Joshua looks really bad and if they fight you know maybe he gets iced and then it’s like well who is Wilder really looking for does usyk still want to
Compete after beating Fury if that’s what ends up happening you got to kind of let let it all play out but there are ways in which it could happen for him that he actually does get iced out or he has to only take a boxing fight in order
To get back in there but dude the Saudis probably really liked what what Francis did for them in that in that fight they’re going to probably throw a bunch of money to get him back in there I would be very surprised if he doesn’t get something whether which is sort of
What your question’s about whether it’s with the pfl they have dude they have to get lucky let’s be honest pfl has to get a bit of a stroke of luck to weave him back into their plans they just do yeah you know what helps that stroke get by a
Little bit easier MK Jer that’s another comment uh Demitri bivol will be he’s the light heavyweight title holder in the WBA yeah we all want him by the way against uh good old bb have better be however you want to say it but he’ll be a ball will be a minus
3,500 betting favorite on FanDuel against journeyman Lynden Arthur you’re also going to see a bunch of other heavyweights I mentioned from erovic to DUIs to Big Baby Miller Frank Sanchez uh and more you can catch it Saturday afternoon on D Zone pay-per-view I think it’s competitively priced in that $40 50
Area I guess as competitively priced as you could in 2023 can you imagine how much of a financial bath the Saudis are taking on this well we’re gonna charge you not much for the pay-per-view we’re going to overpay the balls off of these guys dude dude you just no other
Promoter could do this because they couldn’t afford to take the financial loss but the Saudis are like I don’t get we got inano versus Fury at of the time that it would only potentially do bad for that Undisputed Clash that’ll happen anyway so we’ll see uh quickly on topic
Two Luke it’s not the only boxing coming up Tuesday Morning December 26th the day after Christmas in the States from Tokyo Japan Undisputed championship at 122 pounds as former pound-for-pound king and the man who’s number on my list for CBS Sports the monster Japan’s naowa inaway a four Division champion who’s
Looking in this fight when he welcomes unified title holder Marlon topalis to become backto back in consecutive years Undisputed champion in separate divisions he did it last year at bantamweight closing out the year in December against Paul Butler and Luke after his August or July destruction of
Steven Fulton Jr to claim two world titles now in his fourth weight class he is a monster betting favorite against topalis on next Tuesday minus 1600 according to FanDuel topalis from the Philippines is a southpaw who’s fun he’s game he’s Brave he’ll be a plus 820 betting Underdog here for all four
Titles at 122 first and foremost Luke Thomas if a newa does this a guy that won his first world title in like his fifth Pro fight he was on the lomachenko plan right became a two division title holder before he reached 10 Pro fights now he’s got four title in four
Divisions and he can go back toback Undisputed we’re watching like an alltime grade in front of us aren’t we dude I I I heard someone say this this week and I was like oh that can’t be true so then I went and double checked it and it really depends what you want
To call a championship right so if you go back to his fourth fight Noya inaway back in 2013 he fought a guy by the name of Roy Ichi taguchi and he won the Japanese light flyweight title now you can ascribe to whatever value you want but
It does sort of technically count it the guys had 20 title fights in a row 20 title fights in a row that is [ __ ] insane it’s insane and for him to go and dust off step Fulton Jr who didn’t look at all like himself and and again let’s
Give credit words too it’s because in a way made him look bad and then to go and face the P which we thought was going to be the ammalia fight but then Talis overperformed Talis got stopped by another Japanese fighter what BC 2019 is that right if my numbers on that is
Right now he’s had a hell of a Resurgence since then and is really trying to prove he’s more than that so it’s an interesting kind of fight but this is the kind of thing it’s like dude I never thought possible given the kind of performance that bud had that he could
Be unseated for pound-for-pound number one but in a way just cannot be he cannot be stopped stopped he cannot be refused what he is attempting and what he is seemingly on the cusp of just doing by a matter of formality at this point is extraordinary 30 years of age
What a talent he is man it’s he’s exceptional now we’re unpacking the second half of his great career but the fact that he’s able to carry the power and the speed up with him at each weight class and the fact that Luke as we found out in that first Donaire fight the
Toughest fight of a newa career when he got his eye broken in the early rounds boy can he both box his way to Victory when he needs to and the toughness is really there there’s not a flaw in this guy and that’s crazy but there’s not and
You look at his record overall 25-0 with 22 Kos he’s destroyed in their Prime undefeated Champions and title fights before um any other year any other circumstance what he did to Fulton to become a four Division champion when Fulton was like number 10 pound-for-pound and undefeated would be
Number one with a bullet but we mentioned the Terence Crawford Factor uh an way did catch up with a friend of ours Luke Sean zel of fight hype this week and Shawn asked him about that number one pound-for-pound and here’s his quote it’s not something I really
Consider too much but depending upon how I win against topalis that might flip me over Crawford to be back on top so that is interesting to look out for as we close out this year from a pound-for-pound standpoint but let’s be honest Talis told the Filipino press I
Have no fear that’s an advantage I think because most of his opponents get intimidated easily Luke Filipino Fighters never have fear I do expect him to walk into traffic and make this a war but it’s hard to ascribe to him any hope of winning now that we saw what a newa
Looks like at 122 the ceiling is not anywhere close at the minute at least at what it seems in terms to where a new way can raise his his game up to scales and still be the same guy and that’s remarkable remark everyone’s like oh you’re looking past to paus because
There’s all this conversation about tank Davis and I don’t know how high he can go but there was like a question like certain guys like like Manny Pacquiao who was an eight Division World Champion their power just keeps following them and you’re like how does this how is
This possible how is it you can go this many weight classes and it still kind of carries in a way appears to be one of those guys I mean if you how did he look against Fulton [ __ ] perfect is the answer right he looked perfect he didn’t
Look like he had made one single mistake in that entire fight I mean there’s a couple of decent shots that fton got through and that is it uh and then his power looked to be extraordinary I’d never seen and dude I saw and granted they’re very different Fighters very
Different styles very different fights but you know Figaroa hit um hit fton with a million shots that didn’t do a thing to him good Lord dude the in a ways precision timing setups and power everything speed speed he actually says his speed is the reason why his power is so perfect Luke
Fair enough but I’m sure it’s not the only reason I’m just going end it here and just say this BC like everyone was treating like how will he look at 122 dude it turns out 122 just seems like a very temporary speed bump on the way to
Wherever else he’s going and how far that is use your imagination you got one of the best guys in the world to uh to to do it uh I can’t wait for this fight actually and it’s been said that his star star value in Japan and please if
We have Japanese MK fans reach out to us they say he’s like Elvis there at this point Luke that you know from a sporting sense one of his fights that’s what I want to do I really want to go to one of his fights I do too but Japanese culture
In Japan Luke they don’t cheer remember like they they’re quiet ex big moments you know like good I don’t have to hear anybody people yeah you mean they’re clean and they don’t they don’t woo during the middle of fights man how am I gonna sleep through the night uh so an
Newway was asked by fight hype about what you mentioned can he keep raising in weight here’s his quote as I come up these weight divisions going up to a fifth division is not something I’m looking at right now I like to consider it cautiously now you mentioned the idea
Of a tank fight I researched the origin of this Luke it seems to be Floyd Mayweather in August shortly after Anu blew away H fton that Mayweather said look I think the fight for Anu if he really wants to challenge himself would be a super fight against tank Davis
Floyd did throw in what seemed to be a couple backhanded compliments where he said we need to bring a newa to the states and get him in the same drug testing his tank which was loaded and then he also said also I respect in a
Great fighter even if he taken a lot of my game and stolen it and adapted it so Luke also I’ll give credit to Shan zel he asked him straight up would you fight tank now Luke right now Anu is at 122 which is his highest weight class tank
Is I guess at 35 we saw him at 130 against Leo for sure although I doubt he goes down to 30 again uh anuway says not so fast my friend he says I don’t think it’s possible it’s more of a hype that the fans are putting together it’s not
Any went on to say it’s not in my plans at the moment so if not tank Luke and I know with respect to topalis we’re acting like this is a formality Tuesday morning it’s going to air on ESPN plus from Tokyo um the day after Christmas
But how high from what you’ve seen do you think it is realistic featherweight 126 F way I think at the very least he can compete there right I think he can definitely compete at 130 I think he can definitely compete at 130 it’s after that it’s like 135
Weight classes that’s two more weight classes now we’re we’re going up Pacquiao territory De La Hoya territory when you start win titles he’s that he’s that level to me he’s that level I mean again he has to prove it we’re just speculating you know let’s
See what he can do 35 seems to me where the problems might really start to emerge uh but 26 yes and then 30 I think he can do it as well all right if you guys have not been on the anua train yet because you hate boxing and you’re only
An MMA fan I’m happy to tell you that the boxing talk ends right now but please tune in Tuesday morning morning after Christmas I know you’ll be home check out this great legend in the making here topic number three Luke it’s kind of a Fallout of what we saw last
Week the build the UFC 296 which featured a lot of negativity from Colby Covington and the Leon Edwards late father situation that spilled into Friday when we saw dricus dupy and Shan Strickland lead the charge in a back and forth at the UFC seasonal press conference good Lord that went deep into
Pedophilia coaches sleeping with their Fighters um uh what else did we get into Luke oh homophobia a lot of that and then you know nobody seemed to care and it seemed to be the new lifestyle so if topic number three is the state of UFC athletes there has been a topic of
Discussion in the past couple days about the responsibility of the promotion to this and whether this movement of over-the-top aggressive trash talk is actually good for the sport Luke Thomas I’ll throw it at you where are you sort of sitting here coming off kind of a weird ass week last
Week um I I think that we we have this video right can we can we play the video CU I think it kind of sets the tone a little bit I know you asked the question but I would like to absolutely I’d like to set it up so I believe this is the
First season of The Ultimate Fighter and there’s a a fight that had broken out and Dana White was tasked with coming back and explaining why what they were doing was a really bad idea Mikey let’s roll this and then let’s react to it just came from the gym where I just watched the
Tape of what happened here last night and I’m [ __ ] disgusted what happened last night is exactly what most of the people in the real world think of us you’re a bunch of [ __ ] goons guess what you guys are athletes or you want to be anyway that’s what you [ __ ]
Told us when you came here it’s [ __ ] [ __ ] Man you’re gone you’re gone and lobster you’re gone you three are [ __ ] gone this is not what the UFC is all about it’s not what mixed martial arts is all about pack your [ __ ] boys so not season one that’s season five um that was the Nate Diaz season
Gray Maynard was there as well Manny guran so season five at that point they had and so that would have been BJ Penn and Jens Pulver as coaches wow look at Luke pulling deep here deep uh and then the late the gentleman who they showed at the end was the one that died
Unfortunately Cory Hill who was like 6’4 155 but he passed away um well that is that video not striking to you yeah striking to me you know the first thing I think about Luke first thing I think about was how often when I was at ESPN
Just when UFC was trying to cross over into like the pay-per-view mainstream again I remember I always I always identifi Chuck versus ra um Chuck versus Rampage in their UFC fight as being that fight remember where they were on the cover Sports Illustrated every other sentence was about how Chuck Liddell has
An accounting degree and he’s a college graduate like that used to be the thing right that used to be the frame yes I wanted to have this discussion because I felt it was really important to understand a bit of the differences that we’re experiencing right now I
Remember I’ve been into MMA long enough where it was not regulated in many states even after the ultimate fighter and they had to go through and get it regulated and what the UFC would do when they went state by state meeting by meeting editorial board by editorial board regulator by regulator and what
They wanted everyone to know was whatever your biggest concerns are about MMA they’re not real is it safe this is regulated by the government who are these guys in the case of Rich Franklin it’s a math teacher and Chuck liell might have a mohawk and a tattoo on his
Head but he has an accounting degree from calply look at euriah Faber another great wrestler that came from our stable and blah blah blah who had you know a college degree they made a point when they were seeking the favor and frankly entry into the mainstream they
Wanted to make the product look as mainstream ready as it possibly could Dana going out there and saying hey you guys fighting like this like jackasses on National Television it makes us look bad and we have zero tolerance for it there was a real effort underway to not
Just make the product look a certain way to the public but it was to make the product right we’re not going to allow people like this to be a part of what we’re doing we’re not going to allow these kinds of things to happen and somewhere along the way all of that has
Changed now B see here is my basic point I I’m not arguing that every change the UFC has gone from what we used to have to what we are now is a bad change there can be actually a pretty good argument that some of the censoriousness such as you want to call
It that of the late 2000s may have gone over the mark that there wasn’t necessarily a need for that or you know Brands trying to out virtue signal the other one is that really an honest and genuine and frankly fruitful way of going about business probably not
Probably not right so I’m not even saying that everyone out there that oh woe is us we’re in the worst place ever nothing is good about what we’re in today that’s actually not what I am saying but what I am going to argue is two things I think very clearly one
I’m not ascribing every change to Dana White’s true political turn but there has been a political turn and I think part of it has changed his worldview more generally where they used to remember they find Nate Diaz for a gay slur dude I remember when Dana White
Almost lost his job for the for the gay slur that we heard eight billion times at the last press conference when he used it to to retaliate against Letta hunt in his response video dude he came very close to losing his job very close the the the backlash both inside the
Sport but more more dominantly outside the sport was overwhelming and there was this way of like we have to make sure we curate the product both in terms of appearances but also for our own standards of excellence um that they have abandoned basically they don’t do it anymore and
It’s partly this corporate posturing like we’re not going to be we’re not going to be doing PC culture people are going to do what they want to do here and that’s what it’s going to be and I think there is something to be said BC about having a hands-off approach but
Having this anarco hands-off approach where there’s literally nothing done I think has put us incontestably into a different stage of what the organization is and I do worry about what the long-term implications of that I think might be I think that’s the first thing I’d say I think the second thing I’d say
Uh about this is I think it’s changed the sport a little bit I think it’s changed the nature of how the press conferences go I think it’s changed the nature of what kind of fans are attracted I think it’s changed the nature of what kind of MMA conversations
Are had and again I want to be clear I don’t think all of these are just a necessarily a bad thing but it’s very very hard for me to look at old clips like this old ways in which again they would they would someone are going to
Say sanitize the product and there is something to that but more than that police themselves for excellence police themselves for professionalism police themselves in a way where you could cast a wider net about who you’re inviting into the tent that no longer happens and I would love to hear the argument how on
Balance this is a better place to be I don’t think it is we are in a new era it is clear we are in a new era and I don’t think these changes in aggregate are necessarily serving the sports long-term interests no no I agree with you and
Think of how different of a time that was when Dana made that comment during that season when they were so aggressively trying to become mainstream like I said where it’s like no this Mohawk guy is you know he could be your CPA like it was like sort of like you
Know don’t don’t follow boxing with all those guys that were in and out of jail we’re different and to see that couple decades later when the sort of collective PC nature of our society in the good ways right the the meaning that we don’t regularly throw around homophobia like you know we don’t
Regularly throw around a lot of these just hateful shameful things that that only bring people down the fact that that’s sort of resurging and resurfacing and the UFC isn’t you know doing anything about it I mentioned that on Wednesday show when Dana was asked at the post fight press conference Saturday
You know did you is there anything last week you didn’t like and he only mentioned the Colby talking about you know Gilbert’s father I’m sorry Leon’s Father which I think was important that he brought up that no there is a line we don’t we don’t like that we don’t approve of that but
Luke the UFC is so much about the brand and the money at the end of the day in fact maybe exclusively about that at the end of the day we argue this all the time I mean there’re they’re they’re swinging corporate Raiders they are like you know maximizing Financial profits at
Like an all-time level that even with Dana’s shift in politics and how that’s sort of been allowed to be to bleed into the product right where it’s sort of like I mean we can have Trump in the front row we can just sort of like you know Dana’s new response is well they’re
Fighters it’s the fight game which I do agree up with up to a certain point meaning let guys trash talk let guys you know if they have a beef you know even come close to attacking each other but when you’re so about the brand and the
Money as they are you got to button up some things and I hope that the UFC is doing this quietly I hope that they’re reaching out to their Fighters and just being like look we do answer to different bosses these days we’ve got this deal with ESPN and Disney that is
You know what is what percentage of UFC’s income comes from that ESPN deal it’s it’s Monumental it’s the reason why Dana fought tooth and nail to keep things on the tracks on 2020 when when the fear and the pandemic was keeping everybody away um you can’t make
Mistakes like this anymore and you know it’s been a couple post-fight interviews where people have used the outdated words to talk about uh you know the LGBT community and now they’ve resurfaced again and if this company behind the scenes isn’t saying look we’re not going to police you you guys don’t like each
Other or you’re trying to Hype up the fight for clout or for attention do it but guys we got to get off these certain things that only bring down our brand and make us parias because Luke if the motivation there and I think for Dana company look at Power slab the
Motivation there is only about money at the day they are business owners they are aggressive and they are successful then you also have to play defense Luke something that you don’t see in power slap by the way ironically um in in protect yourself from the kind of things
Especially in 2023 on the verge of turning in the new year that literally can submarine you or at least turn off a percentage of your crossover audience because we we can’t act anymore like it is 2005 where you know 90% of the fan base are the hardcore fight fans they’re
On ESPN Disney now they are attempting to go the the furthest force of mainstream we’ve ever seen them expand to and that’s more than ever while you can’t have stuff like this that’s more than ever why I’m still so appalled that Dana would not only roll out with the
Fertitas of a power SL promotion that just spits in the face at things like fighter safety and brain health and all of that but that they would do that so brazenly and put it on their own UFC product and use those channels to promote it that they’re just showing you
That they don’t care but Luke you got to care about some of these things in the direction we’re going and here’s my biggest fear that comment Dana said late Saturday’s press conference when he said 25% uptick in pre-fight pay-per-view sales after Colby said that comment Luke there is no chance that fighters who
Desperately want to get out of this bubble of being underpaid that want to become the 1% in UFC who get pay-per-view points who get you know a slice of it who get the nek boy bag that John Nash doesn’t believe is actually there off the books to get to that point
You’ve got to either become a company man who wins fights and takes big chances or become a star that people demand that comment is loaded that Dana said Luke whether he meant it or not it is going to essentially give a free pass to a new Legion of Fighters that are
Like damn I saw what kby did I saw the character he played but I saw the attention that it brought in I’m not saying we gotta clean this up because it’s Disney and be you know gentlemen I don’t like gentlemen in the fight game there’s a part about boxing that’s still
A little bit outdated in terms of how Fighters talk to each other and it gets aggressive that’s still an appeal to me I’m sure it’s the same way in MMA for some people some people get off on the idea of two guys really hating each other we all do it’s sort of under
Underneath underlying one of the reasons why we watch right to see these beefs settled in this professional sport but it’s this big platform but dude I really do have the same kind of fears that if they don’t kind of step in and put some parameters even if they don’t share that
Publicly internally they got to make sure that they’re not shooting themselves in the foot in ways that are really going to turn people away from this sport forever it used to be man we got to get these health and safety protocols up so that we don’t have ever
Suffer a catastrophic injury or a death in the cage because that’s going to kill us but in and by the way UFC did a great job with that in general their health and safety protocols have been SP the money on it they’ve committed they’ve put the money back into those areas it’s
Great well now you got to be great in these areas too because I mean look am I overblowing it or do you think Dana say in that comment if you are any fighter now entering into a pay-per-view where you have a a shot to be noticed you better be talking about your opponent’s
Wife you better be overthe top and ridiculous in getting this stirred up to create the kind of viral moment that will raise your pay-per-view level so you can actually get paid what you deserve system there it doesn’t it doesn’t seem logical to me that they would or consistent I would say that
They’re like we don’t like it when these things happen and then you know you sat these two guys close together and Dana accepted responsibility for doing that but you know I I just don’t take anything he says at face value I can’t it has to be independently verified and so for that
Reason I’m like well it does seem quite intentional maybe it wasn’t but I don’t know but either way then taking the video and then showing it on the broadcast later like you’re you know you’re kind of proud to parade this that’s part of it and then doing nothing
About what was said at the press conference and again people are going like what are you supposed to do well I’ll just sort of ask a question out there and if you’re a 25-year-old guy like this question doesn’t mean anything to you cuz when I was 25 it wouldn’t
Have meant [ __ ] to me either and I do also get BC people do like a little bit of the fight game being the Moss icely Cantina they like it being a little bit unrestrained and it should be we we both live through Mayorga saying he was to De
La Hoya he was going to drink his wife’s breast milk I mean people have said outrageous [ __ ] do you remember the Tyson Lewis press conference where Tyson like Dove at length loose his legs and bit his an although boxing did get a shitload of bad headlines from that I
Mean it really caused a lot of problems they weren’t back on regular TV for over a decade after that so yeah there’s it it was bad like that that actually backfired on them this this has not backfired on them at least not not yet I think the SL the slow approach it might
Actually end up hurting them this is what I mean there was this story recently I think the guy fought at pfl Europe maybe like 10 years ago or something he was at a UFC press conference on like his dad’s shoulders and he was asking Connor a question and
Here he is maybe not 10 years but like eight years later or whatever it was and then he wins in pfl Europe dude who is going to take their kids what what parent in their right mind would take their kids to a UFC press conference
Like why on Earth would you do that when it’s going to be the most unhinged outrageous totally awful [ __ ] imaginable and again I understand if you’re a 25-year-old guy you’re like yo [ __ ] the kids I get it I get it I understand but as a business person you do have your
Core audience but in martial arts a lot of these things are handed down generationally a lot of these are parts of fatherson or even motherdaughter relationships which you’re now interfering with in order to have this insanely unrestrained environment and I got to tell you I think long term I
Don’t understand the part of that and and PE folks might be asking like why don’t Disney or ESPN step in if it’s such a problem well right now it’s not a problem let’s be honest look around was there any Fallout from what happened over the past week no I don’t I don’t
See any lasting damage from that right now but I guess I would say two things in response to that number one like you know Mayorga doing that kind of thing was fairly rare not not that he was rare he was always saying outrageous things but like the next week there wasn’t
Someone trying to copy him in that same way it was you had an outrageous guy and then it kind of went back to normal here we had two press conferences in the same week where it was just out of control and I wonder if that’s the new normal
That’s the first thing I’d say the second thing I’d say is dude the wheels of Justice grind slowly but they grind they grind if you think that like acting in this kind of debased way where there are really just no constraints on Behavior doesn’t carry long-term implications for the brand or what kind
Of audience you’re going to covet or secure I would be very skeptical of the confidence in that BC I think that longterm what this could unleash and I made this point to you over text I don’t think I got it right because I don’t really understand the full Dynamics but
As I understand it BC the current WWE is very different from what was known previously as the Attitude Era I do think that part is at least they went to a change of a PG product around 20072 2008 and while it’s now more of a PG-13 there’s still the idea that they have
Sustain the success they have by aiming at children and families so while there’s still blood once a year and there’s still you know a swear or something in appropriate the overall message is we’re we’re going after a different demographic it’s a different time you know it’s a Well it’s not just
A different demographic it’s a bigger demographic right that’s the issue it’s a much wider demographic again I don’t I’m not I said it before I don’t think that every change that we’ve gotten is some kind of terrible one that we or Everything Is Now worse that’s really
Not my point but to your point about maybe PG-13 not PG or R is the right place we have swung to X xrated virtually and I just feel like that swing is due for a course correction and when that course correction comes you may not like who is enforcing it and you
May not like how they’re enforcing it being better about setting your own internal standards will keep you from those kinds of Market swings and to me that’s what this top this debate is it’s not oh BC and LT get a chance to rehash how much they hate Dana I don’t hate
Dana right but we are telling the truth when things happen but I still think they dodged an insanely large bullet in 2018 when they allowed Conor McGregor’s Dolly incident to be the the focus of the promotion for the biggest fight in company history against abib but more importantly Luke they did not punish
Connor even in ounce not just for like the damage of breaking a window with a dolly and potentially hurting khabib he literally took other Fighters off of that card and in some ways maybe change trajectories of their career that I mean Ray Bor got glass in his eyes I mean we
Remember Rose being so nervous the year started the year started and granted you know I I will only comment on what we saw publicly and nothing more you know Dana’s marriage is his marriage but the year started with he and his wife exchanging blows at uh what was then a
New Year celebration for 22 2022 into 2023 which is you know a horrible thing and he certainly went out and apologized for it and you know he he he he did the media rounds but then nothing happened to him he faced no consequence none that’s why I say dodge a bullet Luke
Because you fast forward to the fight UFC 229 the biggest fight in MMA history and I think they came that close from from having a palace brawl incident I’ve always said that because I was in the front row had khabib’s co-manager cuffed on my laptop right like they came so
Close as I saw Legions of people jumping the the crowd barriers to try to go get into that to having Mayhem and then you fast forward Luke Connor got no literally no push back from the company for that Dana’s comments were were all don’t worry he’s paid millions in court
Fees okay Dana that that covers it I guess and number two Luke Dana not receiving any anything from that video incident like everyone always says oh you guys are hypocrites you’ll cover javante Davis who had domes domc violence incident you’ll cover Floyd Mayweather hey guys they both did jail
Time for that okay they both got arrested like like okay we’re talking about literally Disney ESPN and Endeavor didn’t have the balls to even put out a press release to even say like Hey we’re investigating this this is not the look that we want for for our partner like
You know we’ll look into it so that that now tells you that there’s no precedent so what’s gonna so how do you feel if you’re Paul Dy yeah he effed up Luke at the end of a fight he turned around and sucker punched the guy he just fought
But he was blacklisted from the promotion for life after that y yet we just saw Strickland and DDP have a brawl that because nobody got hurt it’s now like fun and games yeah I mean I actually enjoyed it in that regard but you do have to ask yourself without
Precedent set when you’re allowing a wild wild west what happens if someone goes way too far next time way too far um what are you gonna do do you have preceden to suspend them you don’t do anything to anyone that’s the point you’re too far into the mainstream to be
Operating like it’s 2005 that’s my larger point there if you want to go mainstream and keep cashing in there’s certain parts of the game you have to play it’s just what it is last thing for me last for me yep again last thing for me on this whole
Thing because we’re just going to circles a little bit here but I’m just going to crystallize it we are clearly in a different place than we once were and we and and and for and listen partly we’re a victim of of the UFC’s success and I mean that in a good way actually
Like they made it into the mainstream they made it so far into the mainstream people stopped paying attention to the things they used to focus on and probably in many cases for the better we don’t hear as many complaints about oh my God there’s so much blood in the cage
And blah people stopped doing it when the UFC had their first event on Fox they were painting over the blood between rounds or I should say between fights so that when it was on TV you didn’t have all that blood on the canvas Esther Lynn was the cagide photographer
That day and was saying like the fumes were like making her sick cuz they were just throwing fresh paint literally on the canvas yeah we’re past that like that’s definitely a good thing right that’s that’s a that’s a great thing that we don’t have to deal with those kinds of
Ridiculous considerations but I just hope folks realize there’s this weird thing happening in the sport right now where folks think witnessing either performative cruelty on the uh fighters to one another or some version of like maladaptive behavior that witnessing it and not and then not you know I’m not
Bothered by it or in many cases even celebrate it as some kind of strength and it’s quite the opposite cruelty as senica reminded us Springs from weakness cruelty is not some kind of uh a symptom of some person being stronger than another it is some person perceiving
Some kind of weakness that produces the cruelty that’s actually where it comes from and so I just want folks to remind everyone being indifferent to seeing things like like that or thinking that it’s good you are not strong for doing that you are not operating from a position of
Strength you are operating from a position of very obvious weakness that you’re hoping people not experienced in life can’t tell the difference but you’ve been around long enough you can tell the difference and I I I I guess we’re going to see how this whole chapter unfolds you know you use the word
Soras in there and I have what the hell’s wrong look at our audience Luke our audience is celebrating why do I have to treat our audience like a bunch of mouth breathers because that’s what Dana wants Luke okay all right although mouth readers know how to stream pay-per-views
Pretty easily though exactly exactly Sor from the word to sensor yeah thank you I never heard it before let’s go to topic number four I am a College Dropout fight news and announcements hey let’s go from chastising the UFC to get really excited about some big fights Luke it was teased
Now it’s a fact March 9th UFC 299 Gilbert Burns versus Jack Dela Melena uh Gilbert does need a big bounce pack because I do think it it was obvious that he sacrificed his upper bound potential against Bal Muhammad in such a big quasi number one contenders fight
Taking that on short notice it went the way it is now he is getting one more big chance to reinsert himself back in that Elite level and when you look at what’s possible for Jack Luke how competitive do you see this you see this as a pick him s super competitive super
Competitive Jack uh hits hard but he’s not like a he’s not like a you know one hitter quitter type that’s really not what he is but he can land consistently I think his defense improved a lot uh but you know Gilbert’s going to test that and Gilbert’s going to test that
Ground game and and I love this fight I love everything about this fight two by the way Two Gentlemen of the fight game just going to point that out um yeah great fight couldn’t say one bad thing about it I hope knock on wood everyone’s healthy for fight week that’s what I
Care about the most this going be great hey we got two more fights that same night pey Yan back versus song you dong right matchmaking at the right time luk that’s it exactly it’s the same thing we lost the Curtis Blades versus Almeida fight and then they rebooked it exactly
Did the same thing here love to see it can’t wait uh Ian Gary had a pull out with pneumonia against Vicente luk but according to Dana White luk turned down offers for a rematch or for other Fighters so that same night March 9th UFC 299 Jeff Neil sliding in against Ian
Masado Gary so Luke Jeff Neil although he lost to Rockman off and was finished late in round three that’s on the short list of fights of the year he’s the only guy that really made shot of cot look some levels of human so is he in a good
Position here to attempt to do the same to Ian Gary yes yes I mean the all eyes on Ian Gary for this one right uh I mean I guess that’s been the case for a while in some ways but it’s been really ramped up here I I would say for me like you
Know when I when I kind of think about this fight and what it might mean um you you know putting his face on the shirt and everything I know for a fact it really pissed off safe saoud it probably pissed off Jeff Neil you know
This is a big- time fight it’s a big time puncher in Jeff Neil he’s very experienced right Jeff Neil went tooth and nail for a little while with shot Rocko which is not easy to do so huge huge test for Ian Machado Gary huge test look what where does welterweight right
Now with all these great matchups fit in in your most favorite UFC divisions of the moment it’s it’s definitely ahead of um okay I’m a little bit more excited for middleweight but only because not like the current middleweight but like the middle weight to come seems really interesting which we’ve kind of talked
About a million times so for that reason I’m a little higher on it than I am uh welterweight and obviously you know the other divisions are going to be miles ahead but um I do see beginning of I I do be I I am seeing some of the change
Just dude they’re like it’s a good thing that Leon W to kind of flush out everything that’s been just sitting there and that division a little little bit are you are you saying K’s a turd that’s been lingering at the bottom of the bowl are you going full on it’s it’s
I don’t mean it quite like that but I just mean dude the a division functions in a lot of different ways but one of the ways it functions in in a in a healthy cycle is when there is replacement happening like it’s just a natural order of things if there’s not
If there’s too much replacement then you have too much parody that’s not as fun and if you have no replacement and it’s just stagnant well that’s not fun either there’s there’s a certain balance that has to be struck I felt like it’s been stagnant for a little while and now
You’re starting to finally see some movement and some motion and some replacement happening along the way so that’s as long as more of that happens I think it will help it stock so we’ll see what you make of um Jonathan Snowden veteran uh writer coming out with that
Aggressive hit piece post Covington uh loss where I mean they call him a [ __ ] in there and that was probably the nicest thing he said about yeah he called Bryce Mitchell that I mean it’s not like I necessarily I’ve said it before to Fighters and they
Don’t really want to hear it but it’s very very true they get the easy not from so much the fans and sometimes the media can go very far here’s a case where you know the media went I think relatively speaking far but in general this is how people talk about the
Fighters when they’re not around if they don’t like them or they find something they did objectionable this is something approximating a much more honest conversation frankly from a guy who I know Jonathan stow and I work with him has been around a very long time the fighters have the most coddled media
And the most captured media of any media in sports when they complain that the media is not nice enough to them there could be individual examples where that is true I I I I recognize that but in general is an absolutely laughable claim that I couldn’t take seriously if my
Life depended on it so you know you can not’s complaining but you know pain I was surprised that’s bloody elbow is the bloody elbow is an independent this is what you get when you’re not re captured by the industry you get opinions that are like that now
You can agree or disagree with them it was well written I’ll tell you that it was well written but Snowden has been around for a long time and to me introducing a little bit of cander there’s too much respectability politics in MMA where no one wants to piss off
Everybody else bloody elbow just doesn’t care good for them well and me Luke I mean I’m really the only one outing little nog’s place in history everybody else like oh yeah he great as his brother let’s welcome him in you know what I mean I don’t think anyone has
Said as great as his brother all right let’s let’s keep that going oh what did you make of these rumors for UFC 300 in April that Bo nickel could be in the opening fight of the early prel good good we talked about well folks will see we will talk about in the predictions
Thing you know obviously there’s a lot of people that that folks have their eyes on for 2024 Bo nickols got to be on someone’s list every single different way I mean that tells you that that card’s going to be incredible if B Nick’s on the walk out b nickel putting
I mean I will say I’m a little bit pissed that Bo hasn’t been more active I’m not saying it’s his fault or anybody else’s fault just kind of sucks you know but let’s let’s do it man let’s let’s make 2024 a big year for the bow nickel
Experience win or lose right but let’s get him out there let’s get him active you know what we need to do whether it’s Friday or the next time we have a filler show pornography we need to redo our UFC 300 draft but take it more seriously so
We don’t end up with Robert Whitaker and Jon Jones and then me having allat I had nothing but trilogies and unnecessary rematches in mind I think we should redraft but Luke speaking of 300 and the idea of these fantasy fights coming together Jeong way Lee came out
On X and respectfully called out Alexa Gro about the idea of moving up to 125 here’s the Here’s the the the Tweet or the wait isn’t this isn’t this Instagram this is Instagram I apologize um she says this is uh Jean wayy talking hi Champion maybe the fans want to see us
Fight at UFC 300 Alexa aaso would answer I admire you so much and I’d love to defend my title with you would you make 125 question mark So Luke here’s the deal now a Gro shevchenko 3 doeses need to happen but I’m sure they want it in the sphere for noce because they’re
Building something there is this an acceptable in between if jangu Lee risks it all and goes up one way class at 300 we do this fun kind of no no no fight yancha Nan fight yancha Nan that that class has if there if there was a lull
In that division I’d be like yeah sure okay there’s not a lull in that division fight yon shaan thank you see to me 300 is so special like 200 was like 100 was that that’s why I was even positing scenarios of Brock Lesnar coming back in like weird fantasy matchups I do think
For 300 I want them to go weird wild wacky and crazy go really big if it’s All-Star Game crossover fights for fun do them if it’s whatever like I’m down I’m gonna I want them to have the cre creative Liberty Luke to build the craziest card where we’re like you know
What this is going to be the best night of my life I want to have that feeling okay give me that 200 was not 200 was not that fun of a card just so everyone remembers was fine fine you mean the Jon Jones thing was a bit of a disaster and
Everything else but I mean if it was joh Jones versus dc2 at the main event we would have been very happy come on very happy probably I’m not suggesting otherwise I’m simply saying the idea that like you can just put a card together with big names up and down the
Up and down and it will automatically be a great fight card is not true there’s a lot of other magic that has to happen that sure you just could you can only engineer so much up front I agree with that but I want them to go big here are
We going no matter what are you and I going to Lost Vegas no matter what Dana has teased that he thinks it’ll be in Sin City UFC 300 in April probably not probably not all right there you go uh let’s keep it going one more saying no matter what yeah probably not probably
Not no no matter what yeah all right there you go Luke very pedantic and Luke let’s get into a boxing super fight that could be right around the corner Ryan Garcia has taken to X this time and he wants a fight next with Devin Haney let’s we got the response here we got
The tweets Devon Haney wants it too so Ryan Garcia says I’ve advised my team to contact team Haney and discuss and make the fight between Devon and I Devon Haney quote tweets and says these are facts King Ry would then go on Twitter I’m trying to find it here
Um I’m sure I’ll find it Luke just you know maybe just you know maybe just Talk Amongst yourselves while I try to find it I mean I’m sure it’s right here I’m gonna let you I’m gonna let you drown I’m sure it’s like right here why am I
Not finding it okay here we go then Ryan Garcia said the ball is in your court Devin I’ve made my move and I’m showing you in the boxing committee that I’m committed to this fight hashtag Garcia Haney Luke they’re both with matchroom sport they both fight on denone and it
Does seem like Ryan is making decisions with his advisor lawyer Lupe um what’s the guy’s last name gu Lupe I forgot the guy’s name whatever that are almost separ contrarious that are almost separate from Golden Boy and Oscar do you think this fight happens in
24 I would have said no I would have said no I might say yes dude I really I might say ran wants the smoke Luke he really does wants to smoke I think Haney must feel that’s a winnable fight it’s at 140 right so you got to like the weight class
Um it’ll do huge numbers it’ll blow up his name yeah uh honestly I would have I would have not said yes before I I’ll say yes I’ll say yes for yes kneejerk because especially because of hanny’s performance over PR gry we gotta all be like damn he’s going to wash Ryan but I
Want to bring up two things here separate even from the fact that this will be a huge fight Ryan did go three and three reportedly with Haney and the amateurs which gives him some form of natural confidence and Luke although I I do have question about Ryan’s chin about
His defensive you know abilities all of that he does have the one sort of if he uses it the one sort of kryptonite that could slow down what Haney does great and that’s the that’s long arms speed and the power that comes from that speed
Now it doesn’t mean he’s going to win it doesn’t mean he’s not going to be a big underdog if it happens but is that enough for him to feel the confidence that he can do something it seems to be but I think there is another discussion over whether this is the smartest move
For Ryan especially next not he’ll lose he’ll lose yeah he should probably fight um well he can’t fight prog gr now because that’s Haney’s belt so it would be hard for him to fight roelly yeah I guess you got to do this I guess you gota right unless you can get that rly
Fight you don’t have to do it there’s some other [ __ ] fights they could come up with I I really appreciate dude let’s just accept it he is a flawed star he’s got great offense he doesn’t have great defense he’s around a bunch of generational Talent it seems like in the
Weight class at the moment he’s there and uh he wants to fight him win or lose God bless him that’s what we want out of guys I don’t need I don’t need everyone I don’t need everyone to be Sugar Ray Leonard I just need people to want the
Smoke he wants it [ __ ] a we don’t want him to be we just don’t want him to be American though who like always had the balls to chase every huge fight even if it was a really bad idea you know what I mean I don’t want that fine
That’s fine that’s fine but I would rather have that than the opposite a guy who like you know carefully manicures and doesn’t do [ __ ] right I’ll I’ll take I’ll take Amir Khan over that yeah you’re right at least he’s giving us big events and going for it that’s what we
Want out of it well speaking for go about going for it Luke as we close our topics of the week ahead of our fan Subs uh the new year is right around the corner so if there was ever a time to go for it from the standpoint of putting
Your health your mind your future first it certainly would be the normal way of method oh it’s New Year’s Eve New Year’s Day let’s get a gym membership let’s do it but Luke we can’t say enough ad nauseum especially at our age where it’s harder in your 40s if you’re not putting
That motivation together with knowledge you’re going nowhere that’s where the app fitbod comes into play and boy could it come into play in a big way if you let fitbot be your coach be your organizer be your everything Luke the app it can do it all I’ve talked a lot
And I think everybody knows this about having a plan and I think most people sort of intuitively get having a plan is better but BC I could come up with a plan like a blueprint and you could follow it and I could follow it and we might get some results from that you
Know it’s always better to have a plan than to not have one but what fitbod is going to give you is a personalized plan a plan for BC a plan for LT a plan for the MK viewers and listeners out there that is specific to your needs your
Situation your reality and where you want to go teach you how to do new exercises track your progress uh respond to whether or not things are working what’s not are you traveling are you not are do you have a gym do you not everything that you need for your
Situation and your goals fitbod can personalize that plan for you I I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again Luke you know I build t-shirt muscles I’m so ignorant about building legs about building my core up all things you need especially as you grow older when look we could be honest we’re
Four we’re in our 40s we’re not dead but when we look to the future of being a grand Dad one day look Mobility is everything the ability to to to crouch down the abil ability to play with your with your grandkids ability to do all
The things you want to do in your later life if you’re not getting a head start now uh what I love about then you’re going nowhere and what I love about fiod is it can educate me it can plan those workouts I can look type in what I’m
Looking to be working on and I can get what you mentioned a detailed plan but it’s not just oh here’s your plan of attack Luke it’s a plan of recovery so you make sure that you’re not over taxing yourself and it’s a plan of how do I adapt my workout as my body’s
Growing so I can avoid those plateaus I can avoid the frustration I can avoid getting bored sometimes you can get bored in the same routine fitbot got too much information in there for you not to put you match it up with your motivation level entering this new year and really
For the first time try to find out what’s the best version of you when fit bod’s got the app that can intelligently vary your intensity and volume and when you’ve got over 1,000 videos to explain and break down the techniques Luke I’ve been working on my core and legs and you
Know what I feel as vibrant as I felt in a decade you should see me on the basketball court now Luke I’m a terror and that’s because of fitbod baby well listen folks here’s what you can do especially by the way the RBC what are we 10 days 11 days basically from the
Next month January January New Year’s resolutions if you’ve got one out there I understand it take that motivation but don’t just have motivation for the next year because that only lasts a certain little while have a plan have a strategy have a friend and a partner fitbod can
Be be that for you so download fitbot today and get a head start on your Fitness resolutions BC they can get 25% off their subscription and get three free personalized workouts when they go to fitbod domme combat absolutely that’s 25% off free personalized workouts fitbod domme combat with a K and Luke
You know you said January’s around the corner so is the anniversary of Jan 6 so if you’re going to run those stairs you better be working now ahead of time to build up that leg muscle uh don’t don’t do that with for J MMA the official
Sport of January 6th baby there it is hey we’re going to close this fantastically uh fantastic episode absolutely with uh morning combat gmail.com the portal that you send in uh pictures of you and tight shirts your cable management maybe even your artwork hey this is called fan submissions and
It’s coming at you you’ve got mail viers that’s the the iconic voice Luke of gaff Pierre of Mala Fame we we have said goodbye to our time with Mala Luke we had a good run so shout out to all those great those great folks over there
And um here we go with our fan Subs we start off with Saul is this the real Saul he says my friend threw a it is my friend threw a Hawaiian shirt Christmas party over the weekend and I had to break out my new bomber jacket when
Y’all said this slick son when y’all said this thing was high quality I just thought you were trying to sell some jackets but this thing is nice the MK trucker hat is also a go-to in my daily life I know y all said humble in defeat
But let me talk my is real quick Dana White Contender series ain’t got no merch it’s MK all day you’re damn right sa look at this gentleman wow Luke yo but look that Christmas tree is a little anemic what the [ __ ] you know so my sister gets those for her family in
Colorado I think it’s the new thing hers looks way more hers looks like the uh the one that the Grinch had Luke I think it’s a new like trendy thing to get like the uh the the Christmas trees that look anorexic you know so let me say something about the espresso Martini
Like who doesn’t like an espresso Martini everybody does but I got to tell you man every food influencer in the city on their [ __ ] Instagram is like you got to go try this new place it has amazing espresso martinis and I’m like do you like anything else [ __ ]
Or is it just espresso martinis you basic ass [ __ ] wow uh Luke would you agree that not only has Saul made a a much bigger run this year to you know try to get into deeper into our hearts and maybe our pants but that he’s among
The most real men that we have in this in this family yeah for sure for sure he’s done quite well for himself and you know for the show we’re proud of to have him in the in the fold yeah we see you sa well done let’s go to Casey longtime
Listener first time mail bagger yes Luke I intentionally spelled it the mail Dash bagger way I’m sitting here with my son in beautiful Huntsville Alabama waiting to start my trip to the Philippines so he can meet his loo and Lola for the first time as you can see I already got
My merch on and I plan to rep you guys on every layover if I’m not too deep in my l in my lambanog at my hotel in Manila I’ll do what I can to show out keep up the great work and I’ll let you know how it goes Luke this guy has a
Hashtag dadbod what looks great with that shirt on which is a a Ninja Turtle average joart crossover and look at that beautiful bundle of Joy’s holding beautiful baby he’s got no wedding ring on so you know this horn dog is just out there just throwing condoms in the trash
Some people don’t wear it Luke my dad’s never worn his yeah but did he have a did he have a job reason for that no he fat fingers he says you can get rings to fit fat fingers that’s not an excuse I don’t think he likes to wear it but he’s been
Married for 49 years so that there’s something to that I’ve seen people with certain professions not wear because they can get caught up whatever they do and they would wear it like for example like drill instructors would never wear it on their hand they would wear it
Inside their watch like they would put it through the the the arm of a watch um but um but yeah my man’s out there head to the Philippines God bless them out there by the way tagalag and Spanish kind of like weirdly similar uh languages it’s kind interesting yeah you
Know R bartholomy my boy speaks fluent to goog does he speak fluent to goog really yeah yeah he wrote a book on Philippine Basketball he starred on on CNN Philippines uh series as a as a host he was he’s a uh a joy in that that’s cool
[ __ ] I didn’t know that shouts to ra he’s the man let’s go over to Jack he says Hi I was watching the new shazam movie today and there is a scene where a group of monsters start terrorizing Philadelphia in this scene there was one man in particular who grabbed my
Attention he looks very much like someone on your show let me know what you think has Luke been taking acting classes secretly it’s Jack from Brisbane Australia this is how I would react if I were in Philly but no this is not me this is not me that looks a lot like you
Lukee everything I told you I went to that I went to the Jedi Mind Tricks concert in Philly um rough crowd rough crowd over there in Philly oh yeah Sean that’s sea Brady’s people all right that’s how they get down dude they throw I mean throwing batteries is the least of your concerns
If you show up to [ __ ] Philadelphia Philly’s aggressive even in the touristy areas Luke Philly’s aggressive there’s no doubt about it dude I went to I went to a Caps game this was not this season this was like a season ago when was this it was a while ago but
Um it was against the Flyers it was at here in DC and there were not a lot of Flyers fans like so some had showed up there was one guy not in my section but the section over who was standing up as a Flyers fan he had to been drunk but
Not like crazy drunk and just got up and anytime anything happened he would look at every caps fan and be like yo you see that I’m going to [ __ ] your mother like he kept doing this to everybody and then he finally of course got sideways with
Somebody cuz dude I don’t know how it is in New York I’ve been to one Rangers game it wasn’t quite like this but I don’t know but like the Caps they like a lot of it’s a family game like people bring their kids to it it’s a whole
Thing and this guy’s up there like I’m going to [ __ ] your mother and like they had to get security to come and scored them out he started spitting on people like I was like dude man dude are Philly fans house broken I don’t know but they they are something different I’ll never
Forget look the first live boxing card I ever tended was a Showbox card in 2005 at Foxwoods in Connecticut or maybe it was the Mohan sun and there was a guy sitting two seats over from us who was dressed in a suit but had was missing
All of his top row teeth like either somebody knocked it out or he’s a methhead or whatever and he just he was hammered and EV at the start of every round he would stand up and scream knock him down like the Twin Towers and the whole crowd be like yo like what you
What wait what and they finally finally escorted him out after like the 15th time he said it that night yeah that’s just another UF get that guy at to UFC press conference he’ll be there for long you know what I’m saying’ be great all right let’s hear from John he says this
One’s for columia yeah that’s about right pretty good pretty good pretty good that is that is uh let’s go over to Leo Levy hey hey y’all it’s Leo here that weird donk whose nose ring Luke was p L by do you remember this Luke I don’t I had a great
Time watching Luke’s new breakdown he seemed to have a great time with it I’m moving to Jersey next year to go to Ruckers and I’m super excited to frequent this train station I’ve heard so much about thank you all for the content this year love y’all Leo
Levy look at that what train station is he talking about he must be talking about nework cuz Ruckers is right there or at least Ruckers Law School is right there I think I don’t know if Ruckers is there but they definitely their Law School is right there so what is this
Meme saying here Luke that I’m jacking off to shafkat rachmanov I think I think so I think so yep yep there you go well done well done Leo here’s Nikita uh privet Dons this is Nikita the Russian guy from Philly again last weekend I went to my local MMA event
Supporting my past teammates it was great to see my coach shout out Cal Blinder Bacher get that W there was only one fight between the fans of two opponents but it was great to see many comrades from that party on the capital steps on chance 6 I was proud to
Represent my favorite MMA pod with some great gear only one meme this week see it attached Merry Christmas and happy New Year look he looks good in that in that in that uh oh what’s this meme what do we got going on here well look the Superwash dads can
Make the biggest we can make the biggest Health turnaround that a pro athlete can just so you know yeah give us some time give us some time can you throw that Russian man back up there Mikey he looks good in this sweatshirt which I think is
One of our best designs at factory town MMA but Luke that’s the the director’s hat the the morning Hub one I think that’s a disgusting piece of merchandise that we sell no I love pornography let’s keep it all right let’s go over to two Changs Luke you know this South Oregon bird
He’s always got videos he’s the one that had the smart fence bit that made me laugh Incorporated the it’s morning come back BC will Kate CH it is pronounced col it’s on your Market set and go get [ __ ] face on the live show the SM cage likes big booty hoes MK hey wait a minute what are we doing yeah we’ve got to go watch MK bch is MK how many people don’t get the lever and Shirley reference how many people oh boy that was so good and using the Wayne’s World uh remake there on that scene was fantastic I couldn’t hear it all Luke but it was a lot of funny uh MK
Isms sprinkled in there it was very good thank you to well done there uh morning combat gmail.com guys you got a couple more episodes I believe right well next week nothing’s live so maybe the week after ahead of New Year’s is your last chance to sway the scales of justice and
This year’s running for donk of the year so if you’re gonna show your piece your pipe that is realize only Mikey will see it morning combat gmail.com Luke any final word to the people here as we enter uh this Wednesday night morning combat gmail.com we’ll see you guys on Friday for what
Should should not be a two-hour show it should be like a fun In-N-Out and uh see although I enjoy fun In-N-Outs Luke not in Idaho for8 hour weights though um you know there’s something about just giving the people what they really want right you think they want I don’t think they
Want two hours all the time in fact I think that the the evidence is quite clear that they don’t all right well for Luke Thomas I’m Brian Campbell we’ll try to be more efficient next time thank you thank you to Mikey moral CBS sports for running
This great show thank you to all you folks and two more words we’re out of here thank you the chance to win this trophy is an offer you can’t refuse it’s the coveted Copa Italia on CBS Sports Network and streaming live on Paramount plus the scudetto where the soul of
Italy meets The Pinnacle of Ccho catch siia on CBS Sports Network and streaming live on Paramount plus I’m a professional this is how I make my living how you survive you remain calm you never let Panic Take the Wheel let’s get you home come on tracker premieres after Super Bowl 58 on [Applause] CBS
48 Comments
francis v zhang.
also if the epistein files leak, expect BC to be indicted
It was fun when Sean was saying asian slurs but no one came say the f word? We gotta keep it even keel. Can’t condemn him for one thing and laugh when it’s something that’s not offensive to you
There was a day when all you needed was a clip on a UFC Countdown show on Fuel/Spike TV of BJ Penn licking his opponents blood off of his gloves to sell a PPV.
I follow a sport where a player received an 8 week suspension for uttering a homophobic slur in the middle of a game (it was faintly picked up on a sideline microphone but wasn’t heard clearly on the broadcast). The amount of blatant homophobia in the UFC today (which seems to be, not only accepted but encouraged) is abhorrent. Hate speech isn’t trash talk but in many countries (some of which the UFC is trying to milk for cash) it is illegal.
UFC entered the Attitude Era
Contenders series feeds the UFC, with the result being a guy who will fight for $10k.
This is bigger to Dana, than, that man's character!!!
Hey Luke, you old bitch, I love 2 hours shows. The longer the merrier, so shut your damned trap
Kids should be banned from all businesses except Chuck-E-Cheese.
I use to think Luke Thomas carried MK and was I FN wrong… BC is why I ❤ MK so much
Hey Luke way to tell us how you really feel wtf
1:01:03 Luke adjusts his "Problem?" eyeglasses, worn predominantly by female sociology majors
1:03:07 Luke proceeds to question if trying to out-virtue signal someone is a viable business choice – then answers his own question (as usual) with "probably not"
Oh the f*cking irony with this guy LOL. Luke's entire persona is sniffing his own farts and grandstanding. Hey Luke, I know that's not an "ArGuMeNt" and it's an "aD HoMiNeM", but sometimes the facts are just the facts, ya know?
It's not a UFC problem, it's a societal issue. U only need to look at the internet to see what gets more attention or views, it's not the nice or intelligent things. As for u guys (media), when is the last time u did a segment, story or headline on an amicable press conference? Never, bc it doesn't do that well. The views & sales went up for the UFC after that sh*t, just like yours do when u cover these things instead of the nicer things. Everything feeds off of each other.
Luke almost sounded like he was gunna make a good point and then said some bs about gay slu rs. Id assume you're against trans slurs also? Well guess what, the overall decline of morality and values/love of money is whats to blame for the fighters acting like children and the world enjoying it… And guess what, the lgbt/trans agenda is directly linked to that moral decline.
PLEASE GET A NEW HOST BC !! I'll even take a live-chat. Anything besides subjecting your fans to quality content accompanied by luke the insufferable
Luke hit the nail on the head about Joshua and Wilder. Who gives a shit if they lose. I still wanna see Joshua Wilder
Sooo wilder doing what he did means something but AJ going on an iso retreat doesn’t?
I’m curious if the Saudis even give a damn about PPV buys. Wish I could be a fly on the wall hearing them discussing that
Luke just comes across as such a self grandizing A-hole
Luke reacts to HYSTS every week with football fans fighting to the death in the stands then talks about an MMA event being a bad event to take a kid to. It ain’t just mma, it’s any sports venue that serves alcohol
Sounds like Luke was jealous of that guy's shirt
spoiler alert for the Mayweather fights
Since when is saying a notty word worse than a street fight? L take LT. Real violence will always be worse than noises people make with their face that other people don't like.
Luke "I am more virtuous and intelligent than UFC fans while my favorite songs are 'I cum blood' and 'hammer smashed face' " Thomas
They are matching Burns up with #11 Jack Della and Leon's clown ass coach says Burns should be next instead of Belal… get the f*ck outta here dude
Burns is clearly washed. Looked like absolute dogshit against an equally washed Masvidal and also against a one dimensional Muhammad.
Luke blowing the microphone killed me lmao don't know how BC just ignores it 😅
“I don’t discriminate between peaches and cherries they’re all great fruit.” Had me dying!
NIKITA out here LOOKIN LIKE a donk MICKY GALL lol
Pennsylvania fans of all stripes are just animals. I realized in 1995 at the Steelers v. Cowboys SuperBowl at ASU… halftime all the Steelers fans were pissing in the sinks… with, "What?! what!? that's what I thought…." as people waited to watch their hands. Absolute fat animals.
Holy shit it's painful to listen to Wilder talking..
Marlon Tapales will beat Naoya Inoue and will become the undisputed champion of the world.
Don’t break up right before Christmas mom and dad
Wilder always slurred and stuttered like that?
Luke Thomas adores the scent of his own farts and BC loves watching people smell farts so that’s why they make out with each other
It's technically bad parenting advice but we all do it. Luke get your daughter a tablet, keep it next to your bed with blue light on and some headphones and introduce your daughter to Rebbeca Zamolo, you'll get better sleep in trade for your dignity
BC's face when Luke said censorious was fucking literally me when Luke said it😂😂 Btw I didn't know how to spell that I had to click the mic button and my phone did it for me
Luke extra salty today 😂😂
Legitimate question, why did B.C stop his love chats (yes, love)? He was a welcome b-side to Luke’s A-side Live chats.
Idk why it's taken me 4 years to put this together but, Luke is the speech and debate guy. BC is the theatre kid.
UFC is MAGA, out of control and embarrassing. I like watching the fights but the rest of it is becoming unwatchable.
Lol what is Luke ranting about cruelty did this start from what Colby said
Luke can be a dick but damn don't let him hurt your feelings 😅. People are so serious about him being a blow hard
These two ghey boys crying about "homophobia" when they make all kinds of ghey jokes and Luke's favorite go to "you got aids" is laughable. They've stretched the definition to include anything. Cry harder.
Luke has to be the most pretentious individual ive ever seen 😂. At least he has a triple-digit IQ though, compensating for BC who just learned the word pedantic and can't stop using it every show. Often inaccurately 😂
Where is Zhilei Zhang fit in to all this???
I’m shocked at how much you guys defend the gay community but I haven’t heard you guys mention or defend child rape, child molestation or child abuse that O’Malley and dricus mentioned.
The fighters who are using these gay slurs and hateful speech are only a reflection on current society and social media. We accept it because we see it on X and Instagram posts on a daily basis and nothing is done about it.
Wait a minute! Fresh paint, bare feet, fumes? Doesn't sound healthy…🤔
Sweat?