But that’s not all! MVP MMA is on Netflix with Rousey vs Carano, Nate Diaz vs Mike Perry, and Francis Ngannou vs Philippe Lins. Salahdine Parnasse will also be shining on this card as the MVP MMA maiden voyage takes off from Inglewood, CA.

We would love it if you would become a paid subscriber to our show. This helps us keep the lights on!

We would love it if you would become a paid subscriber to our show. This helps us keep the lights on!

We would love it if you would become a paid subscriber to our show. This helps us keep the lights on!

We would love it if you would become a paid subscriber to our show. This helps us keep the lights on!

We would love it if you would become a paid subscriber to our show. This helps us keep the lights on!

We would love it if you would become a paid subscriber to our show. This helps us keep the lights on!

Well, it's all starting. Major MMA in 2026 has officially begun and it's looking rocky. But we're not giving up on hope. We've got a lot to be concerned about, but we've got some great stuff to look forward to.

This is a solo ep this week, kids. Stephie's unavailable but we'll be trudging through the forest with a machete to try to make some sense of this mess. And maybe, just maybe, you'll have a little more hope in your hearts with this weird-ass sport.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

Well, it's all starting. Major MMA in 2026 has officially begun and it's looking rocky. But we're not giving up on hope. We've got a lot to be concerned about, but we've got some great stuff to look forward to.

This is a solo ep this week, kids. Stephie's unavailable but we'll be trudging through the forest with a machete to try to make some sense of this mess. And maybe, just maybe, you'll have a little more hope in your hearts with this weird-ass sport.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

Well, it's all starting. Major MMA in 2026 has officially begun and it's looking rocky. But we're not giving up on hope. We've got a lot to be concerned about, but we've got some great stuff to look forward to.

This is a solo ep this week, kids. Stephie's unavailable but we'll be trudging through the forest with a machete to try to make some sense of this mess. And maybe, just maybe, you'll have a little more hope in your hearts with this weird-ass sport.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

Well, it's all starting. Major MMA in 2026 has officially begun and it's looking rocky. But we're not giving up on hope. We've got a lot to be concerned about, but we've got some great stuff to look forward to.

This is a solo ep this week, kids. Stephie's unavailable but we'll be trudging through the forest with a machete to try to make some sense of this mess. And maybe, just maybe, you'll have a little more hope in your hearts with this weird-ass sport.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

Well, it's all starting. Major MMA in 2026 has officially begun and it's looking rocky. But we're not giving up on hope. We've got a lot to be concerned about, but we've got some great stuff to look forward to.

This is a solo ep this week, kids. Stephie's unavailable but we'll be trudging through the forest with a machete to try to make some sense of this mess. And maybe, just maybe, you'll have a little more hope in your hearts with this weird-ass sport.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

Well, it's all starting. Major MMA in 2026 has officially begun and it's looking rocky. But we're not giving up on hope. We've got a lot to be concerned about, but we've got some great stuff to look forward to.

This is a solo ep this week, kids. Stephie's unavailable but we'll be trudging through the forest with a machete to try to make some sense of this mess. And maybe, just maybe, you'll have a little more hope in your hearts with this weird-ass sport.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

Tim has his awesome storefront up and running where paid subscribers get a discount, but it’s only for non-U.S. customers currently. He’ll get us an update if/when that changes. He also has a Youtube channel, so do check him out there, as well:

Sumo Stomp on Youtube

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us your patronage with a paid subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

We would love it if you would become a paid subscriber to our show. This will give you access to our bonus content and it also helps us keep the lights on!

Well, it's all starting. Major MMA in 2026 has officially begun and it's looking rocky. But we're not giving up on hope. We've got a lot to be concerned about, but we've got some great stuff to look forward to.

This is a solo ep this week, kids. Stephie's unavailable but we'll be trudging through the forest with a machete to try to make some sense of this mess. And maybe, just maybe, you'll have a little more hope in your hearts with this weird-ass sport.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

Well, it's all starting. Major MMA in 2026 has officially begun and it's looking rocky. But we're not giving up on hope. We've got a lot to be concerned about, but we've got some great stuff to look forward to.

This is a solo ep this week, kids. Stephie's unavailable but we'll be trudging through the forest with a machete to try to make some sense of this mess. And maybe, just maybe, you'll have a little more hope in your hearts with this weird-ass sport.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

Also, Ilia Topuria’s divorce proceedings are kind of messing up the championship picture. Dan Hooker and Paddy Pimblett engage in a race to the bottom on social media and Dana White is about to be as ubiquitous as Kevin Hart for some reason.

Fun times. Or something.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

Also, some awful news from the world of Karate Combat, where structural and financial problems have led to fighters and staff in revolt over non-payment issues. Seems like the milk’s gone bad over there. Check out this excellent article by Timothy Wheaton for a full accounting of the issues plaguing the promotion.

Finally, we talk a little bit of TV and gaming at the end. Turns out Stephie has a small army at her disposal to waste people in PvP. Be safe, kids.

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us your patronage with a subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

We do also get to talk a bit of TV and film, and that reminds me that I really need to watch Predator: Badlands and The Running Man. As a major fan of both originals, I need to see where things are going with these.

Anyway, enjoy the fights. They should be fun!

UFC Vegas 112

* Brandon Royval vs. Manel Kape 125 lbs

* Giga Chikadze vs. Kevin Vallejos 145 lbs

* César Almeida vs. Cezary Oleksiejczuk 185 lbs

* Morgan Charrière vs. Melquizael Costa 145 lbs

* Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Marcus Buchecha 265 lbs

* King Green vs. Lance Gibson Jr. 160 lbsUFC 323

* Amanda Lemos vs. Gillian Robertson 115 lbs

* Joanderson Brito vs. Isaac Thomson 145 lbs

* Neil Magny vs. Yaroslav Amosov 170 lbs

* Sean Sharaf vs. Steven Asplund 265 lbs

* Luana Santos vs. Melissa Croden 135 lbs

* Allen Frye vs. Guilherme Pat 265 lbs

* Tereza Bledá vs. Jamey-Lyn Horth 125 lbs

UFC Vegas 112 Fun Factoids

* Ranked Fights: 2

* Ranked Fighters: 5

* Fighters coming off losses: 8

* Contender Series Alumni: 7

* TUF Alumni: 2

* Road to UFC Alumni: 0

* Debut: 7

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us your patronage with a subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

One last note, Tim has a brand new contest for a super dope sweatshirt running for this month, courtesy of Cheeky Sumo, but if you’re not a paid subscriber, you really need to remedy that so you can be entered into the contest.

He also has a Youtube channel, so do check him out there, as well:

Sumo Stomp on Youtube

We would love it if you could subscribe to our show. This will give you access to our bonus content and it also helps us keep the lights on!

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us your patronage with a subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

Doha plays host to this week’s UFC event, and it’s a solid action card. Not too many top names, but certainly some reliable action fighters and a lot to look forward to.

Dan Hooker and Arman Tsarukyan always deliver, and after their little tiff at the weigh-ins, tempers may be flared here. Belal Muhammad and Ian Machado Garry will tussle at welterweight…

Remember how events like this were something we’d get every other month? Or maybe every three months? Man, those were great times. We were spoiled, so spoiled. But we have a great event here with two title fights and a bunch of absolute bangers.

Very little waste on this one, so we break down almost all of it while also making a detour to talk about The…

Then there’s this card this weekend, and it’s not looking great. Not much on name value, but here’s hoping there’s some decent action on it. Otherwise, Mick Maynard needs another thorough roasting on social media.

UFC Vegas 111 Card

* Gabriel Bonfim vs Randy Brown 170lbs

* Matt Schnell vs Joseph Morales 125lbs

* Muslim Salikhov vs Uros Medic 170lbs

* Ismael Bonfim vs Chris Padilla 155lbs

* Marco Tulio vs Christian Leroy Duncan 185lbs

* Jamall Emmers vs Hyder Amil 145lbs

* Ricky Simón vs Raoni Barcelos 135lbs

* Mayra Bueno Silva vs Jacqueline Cavalcanti 135lbs

* Josh Hokit vs Max Gimenis 265lbs

* Tecia Pennington vs Denise Gomes 115lbs

* Miles Johns vs Daniel Marcos 135lbs

* Jackson McVey vs Zach Reese 195lbs

UFC Vegas 111 Fun Factoids

* Some of these will be fun

* Some are gonna suck

* Randy Brown is Jamaican, probably says “bumbaclot“ a bunch

* No Sedriques Dumas

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us your patronage with a subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

See, it wasn’t until we stopped recording that we remembered this card was an early one in Abu Dhabi. And it makes all the sense in the world, since this is an actually great card. Like, top to bottom? It’s not bad at all and has some absolute bangers and topped by two title fights.

Listen as we agonize in making the tough choices and then the surprisin…

And yeah, we’ve got hard times. No TV or film talk this week, but we do start off with a bit of things that are bumming us out. And if you’re bummed out, we’ll hold your hand, too. We’re all we’ve got, so let’s make the most of it.

UFC Vancouver Card

* Reinier de Ridder vs. Brendan Allen 185 lbs

* Kevin Holland vs. Mike Malott 170 lbs

* Marlon Vera vs. Aiemann Zahabi 135 lbs

* Manon Fiorot vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius 125 lbs

* Cody Gibson vs. Aoriqileng 135 lbs

* Kyle Nelson vs. Matt Frevola 155 lbs

* Charles Jourdain vs. Davey Grant 135 lbs

* Bruno Silva vs. Hyun Sung Park 125 lbs

* Danny Barlow vs. Djorden Santos 185 lbs

* Kyle Prepolec vs. Drew Dober 155 lbs

* Stephanie Luciano vs. Ravena Oliveira 115 lbs

* Azamat Bekoev vs. Yousri Belgaroui 185 lbs

* Melissa Croden vs. Tainara Lisboa 135 lbs

UFC Vancouver Fun Factoids

* Ranked Fights: 3

* Ranked Fighters: 8

* Fighters coming off losses: 16

* Contender Series Alumni: 9

* TUF Alumni: 3

* Road to UFC Alumni: 1

* Debut: 2

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us your patronage with a subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

UFC 320 is here, and it’s a great card. That’s it. No snark, no sarcasm. It’s good, and has a fair amount of promise.

Sure, there’s some nitpicking to do here and there. But we breaks it down to the bone gristle to ensure you have the proper perspective on this one. With two title fights and some rather consequential bouts, there’s a good amount of meat…

Tim also has his storefront up and running where paid subscribers get a discount, but there’s an update that U.S. customers need to look out for. One last note, Tim has a brand new contest for a super dope sweatshirt running for this month, courtesy of Cheeky Sumo, but if you’re not a paid subscriber, you really need to remedy that so you can be entered into the contest.

He also has a Youtube channel, so do check him out there, as well:

Sumo Stomp on Youtube

We would love it if you could subscribe to our show. This will give you access to our bonus content and it also helps us keep the lights on!

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us your patronage with a subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

Is UFC Noche 2025 good? Is it bad? Is it just in a weird place to the point where the UFC doesn’t even care about the branding already? Man, listen… it’s just there. You got an event series kickstarted from the premise of celebrating Mexican fighters near Mexican Independence Day and both main eventers are Brazilian.

So, there’s that.

Other than that, there’s some fun to be had but we can’t get away from how odd this all is. But we do get to talk a little more about great TV!

Side note: We could really use some paid subscriptions. It’s been really tough keeping the ship afloat, so if you could find it in your heart to throw one our way, that would be great. Thank you so much.

UFC Noche Main Card

* Diego Lopes vs. Jean Silva 145 lbs

* Rob Font vs. David Martinez 135 lbs

* Jared Gordon vs. Rafa García 155 lbs

* Kelvin Gastelum vs. Dustin Stoltzfus 185 lbs

* Alexander Hernandez vs. Diego Ferreira 155 lbs

* Santiago Luna vs. Quang Le 135 lbs

* José Medina vs. Dusko Todorović 185 lbs

* Claudio Puelles vs. Joaquim Silva 155 lbs

* Tatiana Suarez vs. Amanda Lemos 115 lbs

* Jesus Aguilar vs. Luis Gurule 125 lbs

* Zach Reese vs. Sedriques Dumas 185 lbs

* Alessandro Costa vs. Alden Coria 125 lbs

* Alice Pereira vs. Montserrat Rendon 135 lbs

* Rodrigo Sezinando vs. Daniil Donchenko 170 lbs

A good Fight Night event? Yes! In fact, it might even be a great Fight Night event. The UFC heads to Paris and brings not only the a smattering of European standouts, but they’ve assembled some absolute bangers and some other pretty fun bouts.

Plus, we talk so much about shows on Apple TV that it’s a shame they don’t sponsor us. There’s so much good stu…

Tim also has his storefront up and running where paid subscribers get a discount, so make sure you subscribe to his site with your dollars to partake in that. One last note, Tim has a Youtube channel, so do check him out there, as well:

Sumo Stomp on Youtube

We would love it if you could subscribe to our show. This will give you access to our bonus content and it also helps us keep the lights on!

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us your patronage with a subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

OK, so Chicago gets a really good event this time. Look, we mean that. It’s got a bunch of names we don’t really recognize or are intrigued by, but the action potential is choice over here.

Will Dricus Du Plessis find a Looney Tunes way to win this one and keep his gold, or will Chimaev finally reach the pinnacle as he’s been expected to for years now? W…

Did you know Slow Horses is being renewed for another two seasons? Have you played the Korean sleeper hit Lies of P? Both are better uses of your time than half of this card coming up this week.

As far as the rest is concerned? Actually quite good! There’s some fun here in this one, but it’s a very lopsided event in terms of quality. Also, Gina Carano go…

But hey, we had some fun on the way back in. Witnessing the continued downfall of one Conor McGregor is nice, and we can’t wait to see how much worse things are about to get for him.

UFC Vegas 108 Card

* Tatsuro Taira vs. Hyun Sung Park 125 lbs

* Chris Duncan vs. Mateusz Rębecki 155 lbs

* Esteban Ribovics vs. Elves Brener 155 lbs

* Karol Rosa vs. Nora Cornolle 135 lbs

* Neil Magny vs. Elizeu Zaleski 170 lbs

* Danny Silva vs. Kevin Vallejos 145 lbs

* Nick Klein vs. Andrey Pulyaev 185 lbs

* Rinya Nakamura vs. Nathan Fletcher 135 lbs

* Rodolfo Vieira vs. Tresean Gore 185 lbs

* Felipe Bunes vs. Rafael Estevam 125 lbs

* Pieira Rodriguez vs. Ketlen Souza 115 lbs

* Austin Bashi vs. John Yannis 145 lbs

UFC Vegas 108 Fun Factoids

* Ranked Fights: 1

* Ranked Fighters: 3

* Fighters coming off losses: 14

* Contender Series Alumni: 9

* TUF Alumni: 3

* Road to UFC Alumni: 2

* Debuting Fighters: 1

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

Today’s 2-hour episode is free, but we urge you to subscribe with your wallets if you can. The economy being what it is has put tremendous hardships on everyone, ourselves included. If you have some spare change in your swear jars or couch cushions, please consider a paid subscription. Thank you so much for your patronage.

UFC Abu Dhabi Selected Fights

* Robert Whittaker vs. Reinier de Ridder 185 lbs

* Petr Yan vs. Marcus McGhee 135 lbs

* Shara Magomedov vs. Marc-Andre Barriault 185 lbs

* Asu Almabayev vs. Jose Ochoa 125 lbs

* Nikita Krylov vs. Bogdan Guskov 205 lbs

* Bryce Mitchell vs. Said Nurmagomedov 135 lbs

* Amanda Ribas vs. Tabatha Ricci 115 lbs

* Martin Buday vs. Marcus Buchecha 265 lbs

UFC Abu Dhabi Fun Facts

* Ranked Fights: 4

* Ranked Fighters: 11

* Fighters coming off losses: 12

* Contender Series Alumni: 3

* TUF Alumni: 3

* Road to UFC Alumni: 0

* Debuting Fighters: 1

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

In our second segment, Tim Bissell of Sumo Stomp stops in to give us all the highlights of the Nagoya Basho. We are into the seventh day of the tournament, so the first six days are broken down to their atoms. We look at who’s riding high, and who’s in the trenches. It’s can’t-miss content for sumo fans both new and old.

Today’s 2-hour episode is free, but we urge you to subscribe with your wallets if you can. The economy being what it is has put tremendous hardships on everyone, ourselves included. If you have some spare change in your swear jars or couch cushions, please consider a paid subscription. Thank you so much for your patronage.

One last thing; at the end of my segment with Mookie, I talked about a video clip of a cold-as-ice Dricus Du Plessis talking about what it takes to be a champion. This is that clip:

Dricus Du Plessis is a cold mofo

UFC 318 Selected Fights

* Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier 155 lbs

* Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov 185 lbs

* Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez 170 lbs

* Dan Ige vs. Patricio Pitbull 145 lbs

* Kyler Phillips vs. Vinicius Oliveira 135 lbs

* Marvin Vettori vs. Brendan Allen 185 lbs

UFC 318 Fun Facts

* Ranked Fights: 4

* Ranked Fighters: 10

* Fighters coming off losses: 15 + 1 draw

* Contender Series Alumni: 15

* TUF Alumni: 3

* Road to UFC Alumni: 0

* Debuting Fighters: 2

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

Dog’s breakfast is on the menu in Nashville, because the UFC clearly doesn’t care about quality when it comes to shoveling out content above all else. So while there are some fun fighters, some of these matchups aren’t great. But we did have a bit of fun talking about it, as well as Jon Jones thirsting for likability in retirement, as well as Conor McGr…

First off, you should watch Murderbot. It’s good. So good.

Secondly, our very own pal Mookie Alexander is back! We discuss Jon Jones’ retirement, what his legacy is, and how fickle the combat sports gods can be. Then we delve into UFC 317 with its two title fights along with some of the better matchups on the card.

Also, we take a bit of time to discuss …

From Chappell Roan to a bunch of TV talk, we parse this week’s UFC Atlanta Fight Night event headlined by welterweight dynamo Joaquin Buckley and former champ Kamaru Usman.

How’s the card? Not bad! Not great, either. It’s a nice little action card, after all. Not much in the way of divisional relevance here, and sometimes, that’s fine. We explore goofy w…

Damn, a whole lot of stuff has been happening. Francis Ngannou might actually be angling for a UFC return? And Jon Jones got something sassy to say about it? And would you believe Greg Hardy got arrested again?

We then look ahead to the joys of UFC 316, because there’s some real joys to be found here. Unfortunately, Ariane Lipski didn’t make weight due t…

The Natsu Basho ended ended a few days ago, so we decided that in light of the terrible, miserable UFC card this week, we would treat our listeners to a thorough review of all the action with our awesome friend, Tim Bissell of Sumo Stomp. Tim takes us through all the best moments of the tournament, including critiques of the winner’s performances, how t…

No fights this week, kids. But that’s good! We get a chance to change the pace for a bit and catch up with Stephie’s adventures on the road and talk a bunch of movie and TV stuff. After the niceties of it all, we delve into the odd timing for Ilia Topuria to split from his gym to make a new home for himself in Madrid. We also address the recent fracas in Russia involving Nate Diaz, and end it with what in the world is going on with Jon Jones. Is he gonna actually fight Tom Aspinall, and if so, does he finally have the leverage he needs and wants over the UFC brass?

Stay hydrated, kids. Enjoy the show!

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

UFC 315 kicks off from Montreal this week, and it’s a good card! It really is! But the hype? It’s just not there. There’s multiple factors as to why, and it’s a shame. It doesn’t have to be that way. And that’s why we’re here to tell you why you should be invested. Jose Aldo is on a card with two title fights, and Charles Radtke fights Mike Malott in a …

Well, this is an odd predicament. Stephie isn’t feeling this card too much, Victor is kinda liking the vibe. Where does this lead? I dunno, we just break down the card and address how some of the old-timers are being fed into the woodchipper here.

Also, Victor’s forays into aging and mortality continue in new and terrifying ways. Stephie mocks him merci…

OK, this is a mixed bag. But it’s a fun mixed bag! Well, kinda. See, we’ve got some great matchups, some clear squashes, and some odd bits and ends from fighters that have gotten very little exposure. Should you be excited? Maybe?

We break down most of it and grapple with the upcoming retirement fight of one Dustin Poirier being on the horizon. But at le…

But don’t worry, we also touched on Jake Paul looking to fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., as well as the announcement of Kevin Holland vs Vicente Luque. Also, Paddy Pimblett being a gentleman. It’s nice, and we like nice.

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us your patronage with a subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

What a difference a week makes. From a drab and ho-hum card last week to a card that has some of the best and most exciting matchmaking we’ve seen in what feels like eons? This is the kind of card that reminds you of the good old days where you’d consistently get some consistently elite quality.

Featherweight gold currently has no owner now that Ilia Top…

Awful. This upcoming UFC event is utterly awful, full stop. Great main event, though. We manage to talk about why it’s so bad but also celebrate the life of the great Val Kilmer and all the joy he brought us.

But! We manage to discuss the latest on Conor McGregor’s antics and aspirations, plus a quick word on Cain Velasquez and his possible future predic…

Today’s episode is free, but we would love it if you could subscribe. This will give you access to our bonus content and helps us keep the lights on!

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us your patronage with a subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

Former welterweight champ takes on tough Philly talent Sean Brady in a lovely little card that starts midday for those of us on the East Coast, stateside. There’s a lot to love on this one with compelling matches that cater largely to the local crowd, but in a good way!

Also, Conor McGregor is running for president of Ireland. Or at least that’s what he’…

UFC Vegas 104 Main Card

* Marvin Vettori vs. Roman Dolidze 185 lbs

* Elizeu Zaleski vs. Chidi Njokuani 170 lbs

* Alexander Hernandez vs. Kurt Holobaugh 155 lbs

* Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Cody Gibson 135 lbs

* Diyar Nurgozhay vs. Brendson Ribeiro 205 lbs

* Kevin Vallejos vs. Seung Woo Choi 145 lbs

* Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Ryan Spann 265 lbs

* Su Young You vs. AJ Cunningham 135 lbs

* Josias Musasa vs. Carlos Vera 135 lbs

* Sam Hughes vs. Stephanie Luciano 115 lbs

* André Lima vs. Daniel Barez 125 lbs

* Josiane Nunes vs. Priscila Cachoeira 135 lbs

* Yuneisy Duben vs. Carli Judice 125 lbs

UFC Vegas 104 Alternative Facts

* Ranked Fights: 1

* Ranked Fighters: 3

* Fighters coming off losses: 7

* Contender Series Alumni: 13

* TUF Alumni: 3

* Road to UFC Alumni: 1

* Debuting Fighters: 2

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us your patronage with a subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money, because we love ice cream.

Not much to complain about this one here, kids. Alex Pereira aims to continue his dominant run as light heavyweight champion against a very eager Magomed Ankalaev in a great main event. Justin Gaethje may not get the fight he wanted against Dan Hooker, but instead gets a very good replacement in Rafael Fiziev in what is sure to be a great rematch, regar…

Gotta keep it real with you, chief - this card is ugly. There’s a few bright spots, but the Apex is clearly not where you’re gonna get the best or most thrilling events. Manel Kape (20-7) faces surging fellow flyweight Asu Almabayev (21-2) in a decent main event between #6 (Kape) against #8 (Almabayev). Is it a title contender? No, but it should be fun.…

And it’s a shame that this one was plagued with injuries and cancellations. There’s still some great meat on this bone, regardless. And that’s a good thing, considering how things can go in this game.

We also cover Michael Chandler vs Paddy Pimblett and how the news of a Pitbull brother finally signing with the UFC went on with very little fanfare. Also, Belal vs Jack Della and Valentina vs Manon? Yes, those are lovely. We’ll take both.

And remember kids: nobody's gonna talk more about that Austin Vanderford guy than us. Nobody. It's the Level Change Guarantee™

UFC Seattle Main Card

* Henry Cejudo vs. Yadong Song 135 lbs

* Brendan Allen vs. Anthony Hernandez 185 lbs

* Rob Font vs. Jean Matsumoto 140 lbs

* Jean Silva vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan 145 lbs

* Alonzo Menifield vs. Julius Walker 205 lbs

* Ion Cutelaba vs. Ibo Aslan 205 lbs

* Andre Fili vs. Melquizael Costa 145 lbs

* Nick Klein vs. Mansur Abdul-Malik 185 lbs

* Ricky Simón vs. Javid Basharat 135 lbs

* Austin Vanderford vs. Nikolay Veretennikov 170 lbs

* Nursulton Ruziboev vs. Eric McConico 185 lbs

* Modestas Bukauskas vs. Raffael Cerqueira 205 lbs

UFC Seattle Fun Factoids

* Ranked Fights: 2

* Ranked Fighters: 6

* Fighters coming off losses: 9

* Contender Series Alumni: 12

* TUF Alumni: 0

* Road to UFC Alumni: 0

* Debuting Fighters: 2

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Also, bad news from outside of the sport itself. You like being propagandized and condescended to? Good, because media row is about to be gone from the UFC and replaced with a bunch of dirty yuppies you never heard before with names like Bozo909 in a swanky suite covering fights.

Bon apetit!!

UFC 312

* Dricus Du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland 185 lbs

* Weili Zhang vs. Tatiana Suarez 115 lbs

* Tallison Teixeira vs. Justin Tafa 265 lbs

* Jimmy Crute vs. Rodolfo Bellato 205 lbs

* Jake Matthews vs. Francisco Prado 170 lbs

* Jack Jenkins vs. Gabriel Santos 145 lbs

* Tom Nolan vs. Viacheslav Borshchev 155 lbs

* Cong Wang vs. Bruna Brasil 125 lbs

* Aleksandre Topuria vs. Colby Thicknesse 135 lbs

* Kody Steele vs. Rongzhu 155 lbs

* Kevin Jousset vs. Jonathan Micallef 170 lbs

* Quillan Salkilld vs. Anshul Jubli 155 lbs

* Hyun Sung Park vs. Nyamjargal Tumendemberel 125 lbs

UFC 312 Fun Factoids

* Ranked Fights: 2

* Ranked Fighters: 4

* Fighters coming off losses: 8

* Contender Series Alumni: 10

* TUF Alumni: 2

* Road to UFC Alumni: 5

* Debuting Fighters: 5

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us your patronage with a subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

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UFC Fight Night goes back to the desert for another Saudi event, and it’s packed with some excellent talent on the main card. We’ve got the breakdown you need in the bonus portion where we ponder if Israel Adesanya (24-4) will feel freed from the burdens of being a champion as he attempts to beat back surging contender Nassourdine Imavov (15-4).

Also, Sh…

But wait! We also discuss the odd case of Guilherme Cruz catching fire from Alex Pereira after a recent interview conducted with Alex’s sister Aline. And to top it all off, a funny yet tragic lesson of asking questions on social media from Michael Bisping, of all people.

Then there’s the GFL mess. We can promise to crack that nut in depth soon, but wow. Simply wow.

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It seems it was not meant to be. We had a cracking main event for UFC 311 between Arman Tsarukyan and Islam Makhachev, but that fell apart the day before the fight. So, what now? Well, Renato Moicano was already on the card and will be fighting for the UFC lightweight championship instead!

Yeah, it’s a bummer. But it’s still a great fight and we break do…

Mackenzie Dern (14-5) headlines against Amanda Ribas (13-5) in a rematch that is only kinda necessary due to scheduling and ranking positions. Still not a fight that anyone was clamoring to see, and neither are a bunch of these other matchups. But don’t worry, we’ve got our main man Tim Bissell on to talk Sumo and bring some level of joy discussing a combat sports operation run with some actual competence.

UFC Vegas 101 Main Card

* Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas 115 lbs

* Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Carlston Harris 170 lbs

* Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. César Almeida 185 lbs

* Chris Curtis vs. Roman Kopylov 185 lbs

* Austin Bashi vs. Christian Rodriguez 145 lbs

* Punahele Soriano vs. Uros Medic 170 lbs

UFC Vegas 101 Fun Factoids

* Ranked fights: 1

* Ranked fighters: 2

* Fighters coming off losses: 14 + 1 NC

* Contender Series alumni: 17

* TUF alumni: 1

* Debuting fighters: 5

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us your patronage with a subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

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The categories are:

* Event of the year

* Fight of the year

* Person of the year

* Story of the year

* Dipshit of the year

* Genius of the year

* Comeback of the year

* Influencer of the year

Find out who our winners are, and why. Don’t be shy, let us know what you think in the comments and remember to keep an eye out on the Substack chat. We’re proud to have ended the year with your support, and hope we can continue to count in it moving forward.

Have a safe and prosperous new year, kids.

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us your patronage with a subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

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Ho! Ho! Ho! The end-of year holidays are upon us, so we had to have Tim Bissell come back for a year-in-review episode for the 2024 season. We talk about the highs and lows, unexpected retirements, standout wrestlers, those that didn’t shine quite so bright and more. Take a trip down Sumo memory lane with us this Christmas.

Make sure to check out Tim’s website, Sumo Stomp. It is so worth the visit considering the wealth of information there about the sport. If you’re new to Sumo or an old head, it’s a place worth going to.

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UFC Tampa Card

* Colby Covington vs. Joaquin Buckley 170 lbs

* Cub Swanson vs. Billy Quarantillo 145 lbs

* Manel Kape vs. Bruno Silva 125 lbs

* Dustin Jacoby vs. Vitor Petrino 205 lbs

* Daniel Marcos vs. Adrian Yanez 135 lbs

* Navajo Stirling vs. Tuco Tokkos 205 lbs

* Michael Johnson vs. Ottman Azaitar 155 lbs

* Drakkar Klose vs. Joel Alvarez 155 lbs

* Sean Woodson vs. F. Padilla 145 lbs

* Miles Johns vs. Felipe Lima 145 lbs

* Miranda Maverick vs. Jamey-Lyn Horth 125 lbs

* Davey Grant vs. Ramon Taveras 135 lbs

* Piera Rodriguez vs. Josefine Knutsson 115 lbs

UFC Tampa Fun Factoids

* Ranked fights: 2

* Ranked fighters: 4

* Fighters coming off losses: 10

* Contender Series alumni: 11

* TUF alumni: 2

* Debuting fighters: 1

Matt Brown Topic List

* Fight Circus

* Blobtang

* Matt Brown Magical Mystery Tour

* Describe Fight Circus to a casual

* What would be your new concept fight for FC?

* Immortal Coffee

* Take on Colby-Joaquin and Colby’s legacy

* If you could name your elbows, what would their names be?

* What’s been the best part about retirement?

* What’s been the worst?

* Is there a fighter out there right now that you feel uses their elbows as advantageously as you did?

* If you could give one kernel of advice for fighters, what would you tell them?

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Once again, the pathetic spectacle that is the decline of Conor McGregor’s fighting career makes itself seen against our wishes. He’s now been involved in yet another back and forth with Michael Chandler well past the point of anyone being invested. But has he forgotten about his civil case that he just got smacked in not long ago? Gonna make it real tough to plan any fights right now with all this heat on him.

Then we have middleweight, and sweet baby Jesus is that division an unholy mess. Who will get the next title shot? Only one thing is for certain: “deserve” has got nothing to do with it.

Also, why does Ilia Topuria want to move up to lightweight? Is it even a good idea to begin with? Maybe it’s not so crazy after all, and perhaps may be a necessity.

Finally, we’ll be scaling back our episode output for a short while. But that doesn’t mean we won’t have more bonus content for you all. Watch this space.

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Also, former champ Aljamain Sterling is relegated to the prelims on this one, as are former main eventers Anthony Smith and Chris Weidman (another former champ). Feels like there’s zero buzz around it, but our mainest man and former co-host Mookie Alexander joins us to try to make sense of all of this and make some picks.

One last thing: what exactly is going on with Bellator? PFL absorbed them only to do… well, it’s hard to tell what, exactly. Fighters want out and former champ Gegard Mousasi is straight-up taking legal action. Hard times, baby.

UFC 310 Card

* Alexandre Pantoja vs Kai Asakura

* Shavkhat Rakhmonov vs Ian Machado Garry

* Ciryl Gane vs Alexander Volkov

* Bryce Mitchell vs Kron Gracie

* Nate Landwehr vs Doo Ho Choi

* Anthony Smith vs Dominick Reyes

* Vicente Luque vs Themba Gorimbo

* Movsar Evloev vs Aljamain Sterling

* Randy Brown vs Bryan Battle

* Chris Weidman vs Eryk Anders

* Cody Durden vs Joshua Van

* Michael Chiesa vs Max Griffin

* Clay Guida vs Chase Hooper

* Kennedy Nzechukwu vs Lukasz Brzeski

UFC 310 Fun Factoids

* Ranked fights: 4

* Ranked fighters: 12

* Fighters coming off losses: 6

* Contender Series alumni: 2

* TUF alumni: 6

* Debuting fighters: 1

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us your patronage with a subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

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Make sure to check out Tim’s extra cool contest right here. He has one of the most unique prizes I’ve ever seen. Plus, the visit over to Sumo Stomp is worth it considering the wealth of information there about the sport. If you’re new to Sumo or an old head, it’s a site worth taking a visit to.

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us your patronage with a subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

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We also look into this weekend’s early morning Macau card, with some excellent talent on deck and some surprisingly great matchups. A great little card to watch with your Saturday breakfast.

To kick off this bigass episode, we had Tim Bissell from Sumo Stomp on to give us the latest update from the Kyushu Basho, which is turning out to be one for the ages.

UFC Macau Card

* Petr Yan  vs.  Deiveson Figueiredo 135 lbs

* Xiaonan Yan  vs.  Tabatha Ricci 115 lbs

* Kenan Song  vs.  Muslim Salikhov 170 lbs

* Cong Wang  vs.  Gabriela Fernandes 125 lbs

* Volkan Oezdemir  vs.  Carlos Ulberg 205 lbs

* Ozzy Diaz  vs.  Mingyang Zhang 205 lbs

* Su Young You  vs.  Balgyn Jenisuly 135 lbs

* Kiru Sahota  vs.  Dong Hoon Choi 125 lbs

* Xiaocan Feng  vs.  Ming Shi 115 lbs

* Carlos Hernandez  vs.  Nyamjargal Tumendemberel 125 lbs

* Lone’er Kavanagh  vs.  Jose Ochoa 125 lbs

* Long Xiao  vs.  Quang Le 135 lbs

* Maheshate Hayisaer  vs.  Nikolas Motta 155 lbs

UFC Macau Fun Factoids

* Ranked fights: 3

* Ranked fighters: 6

* Fighters coming off losses: 4

* Contender Series alumni: 5

* TUF alumni: 0

* Road to UFC alumni: 10

* Debuting fighters: 3

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Also, there’s Charles Oliveira. A man we don’t deserve, fighting against both Michael Chandler and the incompetence of referee Keith Peterson. Finally, it looks like Ryan Garcia found a way around his suspension, and it’s kind of an ugly one.

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Here it is, kids. We break down the prelims for UFC 309, plus our mainest man Tim Bissell is back with more Sumo action. The UFC prelims are an odd mishmash, with Chris Weidman facing Eryk Anders as a middleweight bout. But we do get some quality matches with Jonathan Martinez facing Marcus McGhee, for example.

Are these fights actually good? Some are, …

Does it make sense for Jon Jones to fight for a BMF title? No. No it doesn’t. But he thinks it does! And Matt Brown tries to make sense of Jones’ reasoning on what could happen after his bout with Stipe. Plus, Jon Anik weighs in on the topic as well, and Daniel Cormier will have the task of being impartial as he calls the fights this weekend.

Oh, and Jon took umbrage to some choice language Miocic employed in the Countdown special. What a timeline we live in.

UFC 309 Main Card

* Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic 265 lbs

* Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler 155 lbs

* Bo Nickal vs. Paul Craig 185 lbs

* Karine Silva vs. Viviane Araujo125 lbs

* Mauricio Ruffy vs. James Llontop 155 lbs

UFC 309 Fun Factoids

* Ranked fights: 3

* Ranked fighters: 7

* Fighters coming off losses: 13

* Contender Series alumni: 7

* TUF alumni: 0

* Debuting fighters: 1

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In this episode, we take a look at what’s happened in the interim (some elder stock awarded after a very youthful retirement), what we’re looking forward to and we provide some basic knowledge for new listeners. Tim is also running a contest with an insanely cool prize. The episode is entirely FREE, as well.

Check out the prize:

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But that’s fine! We’ve seen worse, and there’s some lovely action to look forward to. Here’s hoping it exceeds expectations. And we even managed to sneak a Hinchcliffe joke in there, too.

UFC Edmonton Fight Card

* Brandon Moreno  vs.  Amir Albazi 125 lbs

* Rose Namajunas  vs.  Erin Blanchfield 125 lbs

* Derrick Lewis  vs.  Jhonata Diniz 265 lbs

* Caio Machado  vs.  B. Ribeiro 205 lbs

* Marc-Andre Barriault  vs.  Dustin Stoltzfus 185 lbs

* Mike Malott  vs.  Trevin Giles 170 lbs

* Aiemann Zahabi  vs.  Pedro Munhoz 135 lbs

* Ariane Lipski  vs.  Jasmine Jasudavicius 125 lbs

* Charles Jourdain  vs.  Victor Henry 135 lbs

* A. Romanov  vs.  R. Nascimento 265 lbs

* Serhiy Sidey  vs.  Garrett Armfield 135 lbs

* Chad Anheliger  vs.  Cody Gibson 135 lbs

* Jamie-Lyn Horth  vs.  Ivana Petrović 125 lbs

* Jack Shore  vs.  Youssef Zalal 145 lbs

UFC Edmonton Fun Factoids

* Ranked fights: 4

* Ranked fighters: 9

* Fighters coming off losses: 13

* Contender Series alumni: 10

* TUF alumni: 3

* Debuting fighters: 0

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us your patronage with a subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

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Ilia Topuria came out victorious once again and blazed his name into the annals of combat sports history this past weekend. That said, Paddy Pimblett still isn’t seeing the vision and wasn’t quite on board with Ilia being the guy the rest of us see him as.

At least Aljamain Sterling’s got a solid perspective on the matter and is taking a very pragmatic …

But there’s more fights of consequence, as well. We’ve got Aleksandar Rakic facing Magomed Ankalaev at light heavyweight, and UK dynamo Lerone Murphy against Dan “50K“ Ige. It’s a solid event with some of the best matchups on paper that can be made right now, and we carve through that thing like a pumpkin. Enjoy!

UFC 308 Fight Card:

* Ilia Topuria  vs.  Max Holloway 145 lbs

* Robert Whittaker  vs.  Khamzat Chimaev 185 lbs

* Magomed Ankalaev  vs.  Aleksandr Rakić 205 lbs

* Lerone Murphy  vs.  Dan Ige 145 lbs

* Shara Magomedov  vs.  Armen Petrosyan 185 lbs

* Ibo Aslan  vs.  Rafael Cerqueira 205 lbs

* Geoff Neal  vs.  Rafael dos Anjos 170 lbs

* Myktybek Orolbai  vs.  Mateusz Rębecki 155 lbs

* Abus Magomedov  vs.  Bruno Ferreira 185 lbs

* Kennedy Nzechukwu  vs.  Chris Barnett 265 lbs

* Farid Basharat  vs.  Victor Hugo 135 lbs

* Bruno Silva  vs.  Ismail Naurdiev 185 lbs

* Rinat Fakhretdinov  vs.  Carlos Leal 170 lbs

UFC 308 Fun Factoids

* Ranked Fights: 5

* Ranked fighters: 10

* Fighters coming off losses: 8

* Contender Series alumni: 8

* TUF alumni: 1 (Whittaker)

* Debuting fighters: 3 (Cerquiera, Naurdiev, Leal)

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us your patronage with a subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

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Who does Francis even fight now? What about Cyborg? And how does the PFL actually make their PPVs profitable? Do they even need for the PPVs to be lucrative if the rest of the product is still viable? Plus, a little dream matchmaking that gets sad when you realize that an essential part of it involves a party that refuses to either co-promote or do tournaments.

But that’s not all! Ilia Topuria is very confident ahead of his title defense against Max Holloway this weekend. But is he putting the cart before the horse by aiming for more belts already? Also, what’s the deal with Tatiana Suarez and her latest injury withdrawal? Finally, Kamaru Usman says he’s got gold in the vault with an unreleased podcast encounter with Belal Muhammad, but he’s putting up some absurd conditions for that to see the light of day.

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You’re not gonna believe this, but a very dumb guy said a very dumb thing. Also, it’s not totally noteworthy every time someone misses weight, but a particular situation ahead of this weekend’s UFC card is a bigger problem than most cases.

Not only do we get into the latest musings of one Brendan Schaub surrounding the potential return of Donald Cerrone,…

But that’s not all! Jamahal Hill decides that he needs to explain his post-fight gesture at UFC 307 in the least necessary explanation in recent memory. And it’s a terrible look. And look out: Dana White is absolutely, positively mad that the ranking system his organization set up is incompetent at best. Glad he finally got the memo, huh?

Finally… come on. Conor McGregor is never fighting again.

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First off, Conor McGregor may be going to trial in Ireland. It’s looking very likely. But is he throwing up a smoke screen by announcing how badly he now wants to fight Michael Chandler after Chandler has moved on? And on top of that, proposing settling the score with Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier?

We also look at some of the recent releases from the UFC roster, including longtime mainstays like Ovince St. Preux and Rick Glenn. After that, it’s a weird and winding road trying to make sense of BKFC’s David Feldman’s claims about how his organization actually sells out all their events.

Also, a look at Kayla Harrison in a gargantuan display of grace and class as a response to PFL doing her dirty on fight night.

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And what was a promising card on paper didn’t quite deliver in practice, but at least the main event made up for it. Funny part is, it almost didn’t happen due to Alex Pereira suffering the plagues of Job in his camp. Kayla Harrison also had a rough road to her fight, and it got ugly fast.

And former champ Amanda Nunes was watching that bantamweight championship match. Was she impressed? Not sure. But she seems to want back in, and we wanna see it.

Finally, some sad news from the lawsuits against the UFC. The testimonies from the fighters are bleak, and they really need serious help.

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This is another fun one with another exceptional guest. The one and only Dan Tom joins us to break down UFC 307 in what should be an action-packed event with so much to look forward to.

Dan’s perspective is great, and we managed to have a ton of fun analyzing this card from top to bottom. Free listeners get the prelims, but there’s almost an hour of bonu…

There’s a lot to chew on here, but as usual with Alana, there’s some really fun moments. She was kind enough to stick around for the rest of the episode to discuss a few headlines as well. That includes Matt Brown anointing Kayla Harrison as the new unstoppable force at bantamweight, and Julianna Peña refusing to give her any shine when it comes to the title picture.

We also discuss Jake Paul being taken to court over his serious allegations against Matchroom Boxing. It could turn out to be some very costly sour grapes. Also, did you hear about the law firm seeking litigants against as-of-yet unidentified “MMA fighters and managers” for heinous crimes? We take a look at that, as well.

We sincerely hope you enjoy the episode and that you'll give us yourpatronage with a subscription, and that you’ll continue listeningevery week. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, pleasefeel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciateevery one of you.

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Alright, kids… this is good. The UFC sets up shop in Paris for another Fight Night event with some truly great fights for a rabid crowd. Headlining this one will be Benoit Saint-Denis (ranked #12) facing Renato Moicano (11). It’s a tremendous bout and very fitting duel for the Parisian crowd, with the winner possibly elevated to the top 5.

Nassourdine Im…

FREE EPISODE!! Please consider a donation to the Level Change Podcast. Times are tight everywhere, we know. But if you happen to have a few bucks to spare, we’d be eternally grateful.

Today, you’re going to be treated to a Sumo spectacular featuring the honorable and always gentlemanly, Tim Bissell. In our continued coverage of the 2024 Aki Basho, Tim takes you from where we left off a week ago, all the way through the final days of this tremendous tournament. We were delighted by tons of action, sensational technique and dare we say…flamboyance from the Big Boy Brigade.

As always, there was elite talent on display, with the winner having a near perfect run, going 13-2. It was a thriller, punctuated by two retirements, with one being a record-setter. And the bouts themselves? Glorious. It all gets discussed right here. For free. On the house. Complimentary. No charge. The Continental Breakfast of podcasts.

Please remember to check out the Sumo Stomp, where Tim tirelessly devotes himself to the art of Grand Sumo and all its rich tradition.

We sincerely hope you enjoy listening and that you'll give us yourpatronage with a subscription. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, pleasefeel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciateevery one of you.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus content and other fun perks. We need some ice cream money. Because we love ice cream.

But after that, we cut right into the meat of the week with Dana White being asked about Conor McGregor’s next fight while in Ireland as Conor McGregor was in New York. Whoops! That was awkward. Sorta. The verdict? It might as well have been the verbal equivalent of the shrug emoji.

Then, it’s the lamentable case of one Tom Aspinall being the backup fighter for Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic, and the cancellation of former UFC bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling vs Movsar Evloev.

Remember Matt Serra? Man, did he hate the way Tim Welch cornered Sean O’Malley. And Deiveson Figuereido got all the smoke for everybody while shoving Umar Nurmagomedov aside in the pecking order. And Dillon Danis is gonna need to get a CDL to pay his lawyers, because his last legal team just dropped him.

Kevin Lee is fighting again (yes, that Kevin Lee). But don’t worry, we’ll end on a nice note regarding Paddy Pimblett inhaling a bunch of chicken wings.

We sincerely hope you enjoy the episode and that you'll give us yourpatronage with a subscription, and that you’ll continue listeningevery week. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, pleasefeel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciateevery one of you.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus episodes and other fun perks, as well as for some ice cream money. Because we love ice cream.

But don’t worry, we had plenty to address regarding UFC 306. Not just the business side of it all, but the Sphere itself, the perils of using a venue like that for fights, as well as the fights themselves.

How good was that undercard? The title fights may not have been what most fans expected or wanted, but there’s plenty to talk about there as well. Also, Irene Aldana had her face split open in what may be the worst cut in MMA history.

Go ahead, download now.

We sincerely hope you enjoy the episode and that you'll give us yourpatronage with a subscription, and that you’ll continue listeningevery week. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, pleasefeel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciateevery one of you.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus episodes and other fun perks, as well as for some ice cream money. Because we love ice cream.

Are you ready for the Sphere? Not sure that anyone is, but we’re glad to give you our best possible analysis of what UFC 306 brings to the table and how it’s gonna shake out. There’s a lot to like here, with some true up and coming talent and a pair of title fights at the top.

But before that, we touch on Henry Cejudo and Sean O’Malley making some rathe…

But hey, they still got money coming in and Conor McGregor is going to return in early 2025, as per Dana White. Or will he?? Because we don’t have too much faith in that, baby. We’re not just tapping the sign, our position’s in the title and will remain so until further notice.

Speaking of McGregor, Belal Muhammad doesn’t have a single iota of interest in fighting him. And his reasoning is sound. Finally, we show some love to Mikey Muscumeci after his horrible ordeal that sidelined him from his match in last week’s ONE Championship event in Denver.

Get better, kid. You’re a good egg.

We sincerely hope you enjoy the episode and that you'll give us yourpatronage with a subscription, and that you’ll continue listeningevery week. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, pleasefeel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciateevery one of you.

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Alright, kids. We gotta be real here, this card is not the prettiest. But it’s got some very fun action action bouts and some talents to really keep a close eye on. We break down the latest batch of Apex fights, but not before we address the farcical idea of Conor McGregor running for any kind of elected office, anywhere on the planet.

We’re also joined …

And just who are the people we’re most concerned with? Well, Michael Chandler is still refusing to hold the L, continuing to sell us on a fight that’s way overdue. Meanwhile, Darren Till is talking big like he’s still doing what he was doing in 2015. Also, Alex Pereira is eyeing an opportunity to return to his old stomping grounds at middleweight. I’mma keep it real with you, chief… we’re not big fans of that idea. But there’s a lot to consider about it and it looks like some seeds are being planted here.

And did you hear about the upcoming Bellator event this weekend? No? We talk about how it’s easy to miss and why exactly it’s looking far less Hollywood than what it should be. Also, we get a little sad discussing the latest debacle in which former UFC champ (and show favorite) Jessica Andrade is accusing her former manager of embezzling around $2 million dollars from under her.

Glad to be back, even if it means carving through the unpleasantness.

We sincerely hope you enjoyed the episode and that you'll give us yourpatronage with a subscription, and that you’ll continue listeningevery week. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, pleasefeel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciateevery one of you.

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What’s that? Oh, you didn’t watch this past season? Don’t worry, neither did we. In fact, there may not have been too many people watching that one. But lucky for us we do have some interesting fights with some solid bangers mixed in with what can reasonably be expected to be some pretty awful duds. But the fights that are good are really, really good.

Also, we take a break at the end to talk PFL and why in the world their footprint isn’t any larger or deeper. It really seems like the fighters are being done a disservice. But you know who’s not being done a disservice? You, the listener. Hope you love this episode and spread the word for us to keep building this community as we talk fights and make your day a little brighter.

UFC Vegas 96 Main Card

* Jared Cannonier vs. Caio Borralho 185 lbs

* Angela Hill vs. Tabatha Ricci 115 lbs

* Ryan Loder vs. Robert Valentin 185 lbs

* Michael Morales vs. Neil Magny 170 lbs

* Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Gerald Meerschaert 185 lbs

UFC Vegas 96 Prelims

* Dennis Buzukja vs. Francis Marshall 145 lbs

* José Medina vs. Zach Reese 185 lbs

* Viacheslav Borshchev vs. James Llontop 155 lbs

* Josiane Nunes vs. Jacqueline Cavalcanti 135 lbs

* Zygimantas Ramaska vs. Nathan Fletcher 145 lbs

* Cong Wang vs. Victoria Leonardo 125 lbs

UFC Vegas 96 Fun Factoids:

* Ranked fights: 2

* Ranked fighters: 5

* Fighters coming off losses: 7

* Contender Series alumni: 7

* TUF alumni: 5

* Debuting fighters: 3

* Road to UFC alumni: 1

We sincerely hope you enjoyed the episode and that you'll give us yourpatronage with a subscription, and that you’ll continue listeningevery week. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, pleasefeel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciateevery one of you.

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But wait! We also discuss the potential implications of the new court date in the Zuffa lawsuit. Plus, Manny Pacquiao may be the luckiest man in combat sports this week after an utterly absurd situation where he dodged a big, big legal mess.

Tom Aspinall is amazing in the cage, but it turns out his talk is just as lethal. Finally, for some reason we took detours in to what the hell is going on with Alicia Silverstone and the constant embarrassments of one Oscar De La Hoya.

We sincerely hope you enjoy the episode and that you'll give us yourpatronage with a subscription, and that you’ll continue listeningevery week. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, pleasefeel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciateevery one of you.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus episodes and other fun perks, as well as for some ice cream money. Because we love ice cream.

Dan Hooker and Mateusz Gamrot face off in an absolute banger at lightweight, with Kai Kara-France and Steve Erceg in the co-main at flyweight. And the main event? A middleweight title clash with Dricus Du Plessis venturing into enemy territory to face former champ Israel Adesanya.

Not too much in the way of heavyweights on this one, and there’s a ton of local flavor here, too. With some guaranteed action fighters plugged in, this is definitely more of an action-forward card here. Some bouts have more divisional relevance than others, and it should be a good one.

What will the main event look like? We look at how the vibes have shifted for both fighters recently and wonder what we’re into here. Where does the loser go? Do things fare much better for the actual winner? Find out as we talk about it all right here.

Here’s the card in full:

UFC 305

Main card:

* Dricus Du Plessis  vs.  Israel Adesanya 185 lbs

* Kai Kara-France  vs.  Steve Erceg 125 lbs

* Mateusz Gamrot  vs.  Dan Hooker 155 lbs

* Tai Tuivasa  vs.  Jairzinho Rozenstruik 265 lbs

* Jingliang Li  vs.  Carlos Prates 170 lbs

Prelims:

* Junior Tafa  vs.  Valter Walker 265 lbs

* Josh Culibao  vs.  Ricardo Ramos 145 lbs

* Casey O'Neill  vs.  Luana Santos 125 lbs

* Jack Jenkins  vs.  Herbert Burns 145 lbs

* Tom Nolan  vs.  Alex Reyes 155 lbs

* Kenan Song  vs.  Ricky Glenn 170 lbs

* Stewart Nicoll  vs.  Jesus Aguilar 125 lbs

Fun Factoids:

* Ranked fights: 4

* Ranked fighters: 9

* Fighters coming off losses: 15

* Contender Series alumni: 5

* TUF alumni: 1

* Debuting fighters: 1 (Nicoll)

We sincerely hope you enjoyed the episode and that you'll give us yourpatronage with a subscription, and that you’ll continue listeningevery week. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, pleasefeel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciateevery one of you.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus episodes and other fun perks, as well as for some ice cream money. Because we love ice cream.

In case you were not paying attention, Dana White clearly hates the idea of awarding fights based on merit. Instead, he’d rather beat the same old tired drum of “Jon Jones will face nobody but Stipe Miocic, Amen.” That kind of sucks for fans of the promotion because Tom Aspinall is right there! More importantly, he has the interim belt—so it would make …

While it was an event we dreaded talking about at first, we had some fun digging in and giving some insight into it. We certainly hope you have as much fun listening as we did discussing it. In fact, that’s almost a guarantee with Stephie arguing about whether or not the odds have been read yet.

We do what we can, because we’re tired and they’re not giving us much. But there’s some fun to be had on the card even if it’s a lot of “who’s that“ fighters being matched against “oh, that guy?“ fighters. It was a slog that became a pleasure. Maybe UFC matchmakers will get a chance to listen, considering they’re clearly not working on giving us a better product.

Anyway, it’d be swell if you shared the love and let others know what we’re cooking with over here. Check out the fights below and some fun factoids:

UFC Vegas 95 Main Card Bouts

* Marcin Tybura  vs.  Serghei Spivac 265 lbs

* Chepe Mariscal  vs.  Damon Jackson 145 lbs

* Danny Barlow  vs.  N. Veretennikov 170 lbs

* Chris Gutierrez  vs.  Quang Le 135 lbs

* Yana Santos  vs.  Chelsea Chandler 135 lbs

UFC Vegas 95 Prelims

* Charalampos Grigoriou  vs.  Toshiomi Kazama 135 lbs

* Karol Rosa  vs.  Pannie Kianzad 135 lbs

* Karl Williams  vs.  Jhonata Diniz 265 lbs

* Jarno Errens  vs.  Youssef Zalal 145 lbs

* Stephanie Luciano  vs.  Talita Alencar 115 lbs

UFC Vegas 95 Fun Factoids

* Ranked fights: 3

* Ranked fighters: 6 (Tybura #8 / Spivac #9 / Santos #12 / Chandler #14 / Rosa #8 / Kianzad #11)

* Fighters coming off losses: 6

* Contender Series alumni: 6

* Debuting fighters: 3 (Veretennikov, Le, Luciano)

* Road to UFC alumni: 1

* TUF alumni: 1

We sincerely hope you enjoy the episode and that you'll give us yourpatronage with a subscription, and that you’ll continue listeningevery week. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, pleasefeel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciateevery one of you.

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But that’s not all. We carve into some topics that made headlines this week, such as Conor McGregor’s about-face on Donald Trump, who confirmed that Khabib Nurmagomedov is his favorite fighter. This sent the Irishman into an online frenzy that’s equal parts hilarious and tragic.

We also address UFC head honcho Dana White and his curious claim that he doesn’t pay attention to Jake Paul after he lost to Tommy Fury, of all people. Is he listening to our podcast? We won’t mind. We also won’t mind if he just happened to buy a founder’s subscription. Or a regular one. We’re not choosy.

You like paying for ESPN+? Hope you like forking over more of your money to the Mouse. And we also address the absolute debacle that happened this past weekend in what should have been a celebration of Terrence Crawford’s skill and resilience with both Turki Alalshikh’s bizarre honorary induction into Nevada’s Boxing Hall of Fame, as well as the media treatment just minutes before the event was slated to begin. Oh, and that Canelo fight? He says he doesn’t want it anymore.

Huh. Alrighty, then.

Here’s how the fights went:

* Umar Nurmagomedov def. Cody Sandhagen (UD-5)

* Sharabutdin Magomedov def. Michał Oleksiejczuk (UD-3)

* Deiveson Figuereido def. Marlon Vera (UD-3)

* Michael Chiesa def. Tony Ferguson (Sub, R1 - yikes)

* Mackenzie Dern def. Loopy Godinez (UD-3)

* Sedriques Dumas def. Denis Tiuliulin (UD - who care)

We sincerely hope you enjoyed the episode and that you'll give us yourpatronage with a subscription, and that you’ll continue listeningevery week. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, pleasefeel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciateevery one of you.

Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus episodes and other fun perks, as well as for some ice cream money. Because we love ice cream.

Also, Shara Bullet returns, and we get some solid bangers in the form of former flyweight champ Deiveson Figuereido vs Marlon Vera and newcomer Jordan Vucenic vs Guram Kutateladze.

UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs Nurmagomedov

* Cory Sandhagen  vs.  Umar Nurmagomedov 135 lbs

* Shara Magomedov  vs.  Michal Oleksiejczuk 185 lbs

* Marlon Vera  vs.  Deiveson Figueiredo 135 lbs

* Tony Ferguson  vs.  Michael Chiesa 170 lbs

* Mackenzie Dern  vs.  Lupita Godinez 115 lbs

* Joel Alvarez  vs.  Elves Brener 155 lbs

* Alonzo Menifield  vs.  Azamat Murzakanov 205 lbs

* Mohammad Yahya  vs.  Kauê Fernandes 155 lbs

* Shamil Gaziev  vs.  Don'Tale Mayes 265 lbs

* Guram Kutateladze  vs.  Jordan Vucenic 155 lbs

* Victoria Dudakova  vs.  Sam Hughes 115 lbs

* Jai Herbert  vs.  Rolando Bedoya 155 lbs

* Sedriques Dumas  vs.  Denis Tiuliulin 185 lbs

UFC Abu Dhabi Fun Factoids

* Ranked Fights: 4

* Ranked Fighters: 8

* Fighters Coming Off Losses: 17

* Contender Series Alumni: 6

* TUF Alumni: 3

We sincerely hope you enjoyed the episode and that you'll give us yourpatronage with a subscription, and that you’ll continue listeningevery week. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, pleasefeel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciateevery one of you.

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Tim Bissell, our favorite Sumo analyst dropped in to give us all details. Make sure you follow his work over at the Sumo Stomp and be sure to subscribe. He provides consistent, top-notch coverage of every tournament along with plenty of animated gifs and video clips for those immediate gratification types that prefer to see some of those amazing finishes straight away.

We sincerely hope you enjoyed the episode and that you'll give us your patronage with a subscription, and that you’ll continue listening every week. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

Level Change Podcast is a reader & listener-supported publication. Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus episodes and other fun perks, as well as for some ice cream money. Because we love ice cream.

Tim Bissell, long-time Sumo analyst and pundit, routinely stops by to break down all the action from all the bashos, so we’ve got plenty of updates to get you through, just in case you haven’t had the opportunity to check out the tournament. You could also go to the Sumo Stomp where he uploads gifs of all the matches and gives a good rundown of the results. Be sure to check back next week for the final tally from this tournament.

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Level Change Podcast is a reader & listener-supported publication. Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus episodes and other fun perks, as well as for some ice cream money. Because we love ice cream.

Which brings me to this event, which has no superstars, nor potential stars in the making. That’s not a bad thing, but when ESPN is laying off staff because their numbers aren’t exactly where they need to be and UFC keeps dropping regional level cards that don’t have a hook to bring in those fresh subscribers…you get where I’m going with this.

There ARE some really fun fights here. I cannot lead you astray in that regard. I just am reminded of Luke Thomas’ old show, Promotional Malpractice, and everything the UFC does at the Apex screams promotional malpractice. But I digress. Let’s take a gander at what the contests look like and some fun factoids to really illustrate just how little the biggest and baddest promotion on Earth cares about fan satisfaction.

UFC Vegas 94

* Amanda Lemos  vs.  Virna Jandiroba 115 lbs

* Brad Tavares  vs.  Jun Yong Park 185 lbs

* Steve Garcia  vs.  Seung Woo Choi 145 lbs

* Kurt Holobaugh  vs.  Kaynan Kruschewsky 155 lbs

* Cody Durden  vs.  Bruno Silva 125 lbs

* Doo Ho Choi  vs.  Bill Algeo 145 lbs

* Hyder Amil  vs.  Jeong Yeong Lee 145 lbs

* Brian Kelleher  vs.  Cody Gibson 135 lbs

* Miranda Maverick  vs.  Dione Barbosa 125 lbs

* Loik Radzhabov  vs.  Trey Ogden 155 lbs

* Luana Carolina  vs.  Lucie Pudilová 125 lbs

* Mohammed Usman  vs.  Thomas Petersen 265 lbs

UFC Vegas 94 Fun Factoids

* Ranked fights: 1 (main event)

* Ranked fighters: 3

* Fighters coming off losses: 12

* Contender Series alumni: 7

* TUF alumni: 4

* Road to UFC alumni: 1

We sincerely hope you'll give us your patronage and keep listening. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

Level Change Podcast is a reader & listener-supported publication. Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus episodes and other fun perks, as well as for some ice cream money. Because we love ice cream.

Namajunas (12-6) seems to have had some struggles as of late, especially with that very strange bout against Carla Esparza in which she lost her strawweight title. upon moving up to 125lbs immediately after that, she struggled against French threat Manon Fiorot in a decision loss. While she finally was back in the win column with a win over Amanda Ribas, it’s not unreasonable to wonder if we’re seeing some decline in her overall game.

On the other hand, Cortez struggled to make weight and did so after an emotional ordeal in which she had to cut her hair. It’s been a tough road since Cortez was scheduled to fight next week, but she is stepping in for Rose’s original opponent Maycee Barber. She only lost by submission once in what was her pro debut against Cheri Muraski way back in 2017, and looks to continue her undefeated UFC run and to break into the top ten with a win here.

But there’s some other good stuff on this card. Muslim Salikhov faces Santiago Ponzinibbio, and blazing Brazilian prospect Jean Silva meets Drew Dober. Joshua Van has been a breath of fresh air, and he’s got a stiff test against Charles Johnson at flyweight.

There’s some… less interesting stuff here that the Denver crowd will have to pay a hefty ticket fee to watch, but at least it’s not an Apex card. Listen as we try to be as kind as possible with what’s on offer and genuinely hyped for some actually great fights. Download, listen, enjoy, and be ready to give Mick Maynard a pat on the head for doing a not-bad job this time. Sean Shelby can get a pat too.

Let’s take a look at the bouts and some fun factoids:

UFC Denver

* Rose Namajunas  vs.  Tracy Cortez 125 lbs

* Santiago Ponzinibbio  vs.  Muslim Salikhov 170 lbs

* Drew Dober  vs.  Jean Silva 155 lbs

* Gabriel Bonfim  vs.  Ange Loosa 170 lbs

* Christian Rodriguez  vs.  Julian Erosa 145 lbs

* Cody Brundage  vs.  Abdul Razak Alhassan 185 lbs

* Joshua Van  vs.  Charles Johnson 125 lbs

* Jasmine Jasudavicius  vs.  Fatima Kline 125 lbs

* Montel Jackson  vs.  Da’Mon Blackshear 135 lbs

* Luana Santos  vs.  Mariya Agapova 125 lbs

* Josh Fremd  vs.  Andre Petroski 185 lbs

* Evan Elder  vs.  Darrius Flowers 170 lbs

UFC Denver Fun Factoids

* Ranked fights: 1

* Ranked fighters: 3

* Fighters coming off losses: 11 + 1 NC

* Contender Series alumni: 9

* TUF alumni: 5

* Debuting fighters: 1

We sincerely hope you'll give us your patronage and keep listening. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you all so very much. We appreciate every one of you.

Level Change Podcast is a reader & listener-supported publication. Please consider becoming a paid member for bonus episodes and other fun perks, as well as for some ice cream money. Because we love ice cream.

Today’s episode is our latest with Sumo analyst extraordinaire, Tim Bissell. If you’re familiar with our podcast, Tim is a staple, and guests frequently to break down all the details of the tournament with us. The current tournament, or basho, is the second summer tournament, also known as the Nagoya basho, begins this coming week, so we took a look at the biggest storylines as well as the highlights from the last basho.

Follow Tim’s excellent work via the Sumo Stomp and continue checking out the Level Change Podcast right here on Wednesdays and Saturdays. As always, we appreciate everyone that takes the time to listen and subscribe, be it free or paid. Thank you.

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