(upbeat music) - Hello and welcome to the Hammer. I'm your host Dave, joined as always by my fellow hosts. - Greg, how's it going guys? - Of course, Steve, hey. - So it is November 3rd, and we have interesting shows for you, there is not a lot going on in terms of cards, but there is a tremendous amount going on in news. And we're gonna have a little bit about to talk about some of this weekend. The news, I think that we need to start with, and I'm actually gonna steal this from Steve, who is our news-usual new guy. Dana has finally come out and said it. The UFC and WEC will merge. - Hallelujah. - All the WEC fighters will be promoted. The UFC will expand to include two new weight classes, featherweight and bantamweight, 145 and 135. - And that makes two new UFC champions. - Two UFC champions. And the winner of Ben Henderson versus Anthony Pettis, will take on the winner of-- - Edgar and Nair. - Edgar and Maynard for the lightweight championship. So this will be a complete merge of the two promotions. - Yeah, so the way that this is going is now Jose Aldo, who's the current WEC featherweight champion. He is now the UFC featherweight champion. He will defend his title for the first time on the January first card. - And he'll finally get to make some money for how good a fighter is. - Right, now he's going to be defending his title against Josh Crispy, who would have had the title shot in December, but they've now pushed that fight back. Josh Crispy, good record. - I don't see the record. - Yeah, and now his thing is, this guy now has a shot at being a UFC featherweight champion. - Not a very, I don't think it's a very good shot because he's facing Aldo, but man, that timing couldn't have worked out better for him. - Oh yeah. - This is going to get a much bigger payday for sure. And that fight will be immediately under the Edgar versus Maynard title, but that's a two title fight card now. - And here's the thing, I don't think Crispy's actually going to get a better payday paid in. I'll tell you why. That fight was already signed, so he's going to get the money he's already signed for. And all those-- - Has it been signed? - Yeah, absolutely. - And it was signed for a December card. It's been for a December WBC. - Oh, okay. - You know what, though? No, they've been the two UFC card. I think they're going to pay him more. - No, I don't think so. I think they're going to pay him the same. I think they're going to pay all of the same. And I think that the next show they do when Aldo's defending his championship again, that's when everyone will begin. - But he's not fighting on a WBC card anymore. He's now a UFC fighter fighting for UFC. - It's an interesting thing. - And he still is-- - It's an interesting thing. - And his older contract, his new contract, will begin, I'm assuming, after the fight-- - However, his old contract is a WEC contract. - That's right. - And there's all kinds of little things that go into that, right? I mean, there's all this red tape and things. - I definitely think the real money is going to begin for a lot of these guys. Jose Aldo, Dominic Cruz, Ben Vides, Ariah Faber, Ben Henderson. These guys are going to make the most money that they've ever made in their careers. It's going to come up. I don't think it's going to be in January, but I do think it's going to come up with the next year. These guys are going to finally be able to pay their bills and not have to go after the fight and go and put up bricks or tar roofs anymore. I mean, they're going to actually be able to make a living as professional. - Some of them aren't doing bad. I mean, Soroni's got his own ranch. - Yes, but he had to put it in with that ranch for-- - With Leonard Garcia. Also, another important thing to keep in mind, this will also be a merge that will include Brittany Ward, the WEC or the WEC Ring Girl, will be coming up and joining Ariana and Chindall. - Is it pretty excited about that? - I just want to throw that out there. - So the winner of Dominic Cruz versus Joseph Benabides in December is that they will become the UFC Band and Way Champion. So they'll be fighting on the WEC card. Whoever wins goes in the UFC, gets that UFC title. That's huge for other of those guys. - Yeah. This is huge for all of these guys. Now, Aria Fabers come out and said he's very excited for this. Obviously, there's a couple of guys that have some reservations. One guy who came out-- - The entire WEC lightweight division for one. - Well, the one guy who came out and actually really did say that he had some serious reservations was the former Band and Way Champion-- - Miguel Torres. - Miguel Torres, who said he worked a long time trying to build the WEC and he's obviously is bittersweet for him. Although I do think he'll have a career. As far as guys in the lightweight division, you have to figure if these two companies merge, there's going to be 60 lightweight fighters. - The pink slips are in the mail. - Some guys like Angel Quani, Horodachiki, even some of the UFC guys that aren't doing that great, like Terry Adam. - Dana Way has said that no one's going to lose their job, but guys will start losing their job as soon as they start losing fights. - It's at the point where if you lose one fight and you're not a top contender, your pink slips on the way. - Yeah, if you're-- - That's pretty much how it's going to go, I think. - If you're a WEC lightweight, a current WEC lightweight, like Ben Henderson, Donald Sironi, Anthony Pettis, these title contender guys, then you're safe, you're great. But yeah, if you're a lower-card WC or a lower-card UFC guy, I would be either planning to drop down to 145, or I would be winning my fights guaranteed. Otherwise, you're not going to be fighting for the big guys anymore. - You can't get cut if you're winning. - Well, but again, there's depth as plenty of lightweights in the UFC roster that have got to be thinking that same thing. Cole Miller was in that point before WEC. - He's exactly the kind of guy that, you know, a couple of bad losses, and now suddenly he's had his job replaced by WEC guys. - He's on a good streak right now. I think Cole Miller's one of those guys, 'cause he'd just be Ross Pearson, right? So I think, and he won before that too. So I mean, if he's-- - I'm sorry, I was thinking of Jim Miller. - Yeah, who's on a four-fight loose streak. - Yeah, I think you're a Jim Miller. - You picked up his win. - Cole's been doing well, Jim. Yeah, Jim's in the other guy. - Jim has just recently got his win, which saved his career after his terrible year. And then you got to figure this was plenty of good, like, as I said, teary-ed him, or Nick Lance. You know, if Nick Lance has a loss against Tyson Griffin, man, I wouldn't want to have a loss with Tyson Griffin, and then also have Donald Storoney on the card, knowing that he's a more exciting fighter, he's a more skilled fighter, and he's better at selling fights. - Well, here's also the issue, is that WBC ran with six or seven cards a year, always some of the best cards you'll ever see. - Yeah. - They're fantastic, but UFC is not just adding seven fights. They're doing four a year on versus four UFCs, but they were already doing, you know, like-- - They've already got a list of events, I mean, it's not like there's space to be had. - So now they have more fighters and less cards. - But here's the thing, I think there is space to be had, and I think this is a good thing, and I'll tell you why. With two extra championships, we're gonna see less main events of Randy Coteur versus Brandon Vera. We're gonna see-- - Mark Coleman. - Yeah, yeah, we're gonna see less events of Randy Coteur versus Mark Coleman. - Yeah. - Because realistically, those would be events that would be fine for Cruz versus Benavide. - Yeah. - Those would be events that would be fine for Brian Bowles versus Ari Faber. - Think you're based Frank Mir versus Crocop from September. - Yeah. - If they had a Jose Aldo title defense that month, instead as the main event, and then Muir Crocop was second from the top, already a much more interesting card. - You're basically in a situation where you can make all your actual paper views into title fight main events, or most of them at least, and save your versus shows, and your shows in England, in Germany, in those places. Those can be reserved for, you know, non-title, whenever one can attend your patches. - You could put this thing into the main event when you're fighting in England, and not have it be a disaster, but at the same time, when you're going into, you know, Houston, Texas, you don't have to go there. You'll have a title fight ready. - Or Rashad versus, you know, Rashad versus Lioto, or something like that, for a non-title event, you can go in there and say, "You know what? "We're gonna bring on Leonard Garcia versus..." - Well, I don't think Leonard Garcia is gonna get a title shot. - Well, but yeah, yeah, you can also get fight. Crews can fight. Like, it's so much cooler, it sounds better. - Now off the bat, expect the WBC, like the lower weight classes, the Bantamweight and the featherweight titles, even if it's a title match, it may not headline a paper view, maybe second from the top, until these names get in there. - It'll take one fight. - It'll take one fight. - It'll take one fight. - It'll take one fight. - It'll take one fight before he's made an event. - That's all it's gonna take, yeah. - Because Jose Aldo is not made eventing the January show. They're underneath Edgar and Maynard, which makes us-- - It's another title fight now. - But again, it's another title fight, and it's a title fight for a heavier weight class. That's always been the editing. - Yeah, that makes perfect sense. - And then, with that being said, Crews versus Benavides was a tremendous, exciting fall. Fight all over his favor, where he kicked the guy into orbit, that was incredibly exciting to me. - I'm not saying these aren't amazing fights, but Dana has actually said that don't expect these guys to be main eventing until people know them and are ready for it. - Until they see one fight, and all of a sudden become Jose Aldo fans. - And again, but keep in mind that Ben Henderson or Anthony Pettis will be in the main event soon enough against the winner of-- - That will likely not main event that showed that it's on. - I wouldn't-- - Pettis and Bendo? - You don't think so? - On the UFC card? - Well, no, Pettis and Bendo won't, so the winner of that will against the winner-- - Oh, definitely, absolutely. - Okay, the way that this works is that they're gonna do a little mini tournament. In the next month or so, you've got Henderson and Pettis. They're gonna fight for the WEC title right before or WEC closes its doors in December. The winner becomes the WEC champion, and then they will face the winner of Edgar and Maynard, who will be the UFC champion. There'll be a unification match, headlining a pay-per-view for that title. - And also, keep in mind, when Dina gets the bit between Peani's teeth, this guy moves. Dina's a decisive guy. You know, it was like maybe six months ago, where Dina was like, one day we would like to merge the WEC UFC-- - David meaning to do this forever. - Buses might not like it. Six months later, he's like, "No, don't." - No, that's not actually how it was in that contract. - No, they've wanted to do it since the beginning. There's been contract issues and stuff. The second, it became legally viable to do so, done, yeah. - Right, but I'm telling you that these guys, I'm sure there will be a phasing-in prospect, but within the next year, these guys-- - Oh, yeah, yeah. - It won't be more than 12 months tops. And keep in mind that Dina White is walking around wearing a Chang-sung-Jung, Korean zombie shirt. This, Dina loves these guys. - Absolutely. - And he thinks that they're gonna be far more marketable. - It's definitely in his plan, but I would expect, say, you know, a Jose Aldo title defense to be underneath, say, a Brock Lesnar fight or a B.J. Penn fight, everything's gonna be in here. - But it would be anyways, you know what I mean? Even if it's, even if it's a fight that might be boring, even if it's gonna be Anderson Silva versus Damien Maya, too. - Still a lower weight class. - The lower weight class goes on before. That's always been the etiquette of combat sports. - Yeah. - The higher weight class championship, all the champions go last, but the higher weight class-- - That's not true. 'Cause booked for January, it was already Edgar versus Maynard, and then Shane Carwin versus Nelson was under that. It doesn't work that way. - That's not a title fight. - That's what I'm saying. I'm saying non-title heavyweight fights will likely be over the UFC featherweight belt. - Non-title heavyweight fights, you think? - Really? - If it's a Lesnar fight, or if it's a big enough fight, Randy Couture-- - Yeah, yeah. - Until Lesnar games do it. - Until Lesnar games do it. - But like realistically-- - This is the game plan, not just making this out. - This is their game plan, so. - I think that all the game plan will be, you know, once these guys get a little bit of exposure, even like the slightest amount, it'll go back to champions going last. - I think when it comes to Lesnar, though, it's true. I mean, whether it's, I forgot he lost the title to be honest, when it comes to Lesnar, you can't put him not at the main event. It's just, it's Lesnar. He's gonna, he's gonna, he's gonna trump everybody. - You actually think they're like-- - Trump the heavyweight title, but you also have to understand, are they actually gonna leave, say, Dominic Cruz hang him out there to dry main eventing a pay per view his first time out? No, they're not gonna do that. - Yeah, no, they're not. - They're gonna support him until he's able to do it on. - With the, by the time 12 months is up, they'll be like, you know what? People have seen this belt fought for twice, let's do it. Let's put it in there. - Oh, absolutely, yeah. Maybe not be Cruz, it might be Faber, it might be Benavidez. It might be someone completely new. Maybe Dan Lowe's and goes on a diet. - Don't forget Bulls. - Yeah, maybe, maybe Chaison and actually goes on, all the girls lose it up to his word. - Chaison and fighting at Bantam weight, I'd like to see that. - Oh, Chaison said that, you know, he was gonna go for a title, even if he had to cut 40 pounds and go take on Jose Aldo. So maybe he'll do it. Maybe he'll be like-- - Yeah, but you'd have to cut even more to get to Bantamweight. - Well, no, because you know what all he's gotta do is stop taking the steroids. Next thing you know. - Yeah, that'll cut 20 pounds right there, yeah. 45, next thing you know is taking on Mike Brown. - And actually a bit of a selfish reason. I'm a little upset that this happened when it did. Not that I don't, nothing about dying to see this, but WBC cards are always the most fun top to bottom card you're gonna see. They are now gone. We're never gonna get one of those again. - That's true. I mean, it's not gonna be that bang, bang, great fight after, great fight after, great fight. - You're gonna get a good like Bantamweight fight thrown in there on a different card. - It does kind of water down the action. - Also, it'll be more good fights on more cards, but you won't get that full WBC experience ever again. Also, we're from Ontario. We broadcast live from there and we were just really hoping that now the MMA's legal in Ontario that we get a WBC event and we are never gonna get the chance. It's gonna be like, we never got to see the Beatles. We're never gonna get to the CWBC. - Yep, it's a shame. - But for the most part, for all parties involved, unless you're on the cusp like bottom rung lightweight, this is good news for everyone. - So for basically everyone in the world is with the exception of Chris Hordachke. This is great news for Chris Hordachke. - Maybe who win is next fight? - Man, I love you brother, but I'm sorry. - Oh, he's fighting against Donald Saroni? - Oh, really? - Oh, he's not winning that fight? - He's screwed, yeah, he's done. - As I said-- - In a way, he's not winning that. - Hordachke, we love you, man. And you know what? - He's got a lot of towers, but-- - Wide open, man. Gilbert Montes, I take this guy. - I'm still saying, I'm not sure if you can do it, but I mean, guys like Evan Dunham, if they never get their title shot, if they can cut down, they can have a really good run as a featherweight. - I think that's a big thing. - Oh yeah, I'm not sure if you'd be able to do it, but there are very good lightweights, who may never get a shot at the title, who could reinvent their career at 145. - Clay Guido versus Hallo, Jose Aldo, I'd pay my AC. I'd pay my AC. - I would too. - Clay Guido versus Mike Brown. - Yeah, that would be incredible, actually. - That would be really fun, that would be really fun. - What I really would like to see is Clay Guido versus Shane Roller, and there's no cutting involved in that. That's just straight lightweights, so. - Yeah, this is gonna-- - There's so many great matchups. I mean, the possibilities are endless. - I love it. - It's definitely good news. The important thing in terms of the market here is that the UFC has determined that if they're gonna pick off boxing, the most exciting guys in boxing that they gotta take on are the light guys. - Yeah, may weather. - And they weather. If you can bring up Jose Aldo, you can put Jose Aldo against Manny Pacquiao and say, "Who's got the best featherweight in the world?" And I think Jose Aldo wins. - So speaking of guys who are not lightweight, the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Shane Carwin is out of his January first fight with Roy Nelson, the same card as the Jose Aldo fight. Brock Lesnar has said that he would like the fight with Roy Nelson. Now, popular opinion has been that UFC has just been waiting for Brock Lesnar in mere three because it's just gonna be huge money and there's a real grudge there. What do you guys think is a better match? - I would rather see Lesnar, and to be honest, I'd rather see Lesnar and Nelson, just 'cause I haven't seen it. - I agree. - And it's interesting because Lesnar, he's gonna have a hard time throwing Roy Nelson around, and that's his thing. He jumps on you, he takes you down and he moles you, and Nelson is awesome on the ground. So it's gonna be very, and Lesnar's probably gonna win, but it's gonna be interesting. - Now, I think it's an interesting thing. Lesnar said he wasn't interested in fighting mere for the third time. I understand that, we've seen the fight before. - It's pretty much a guarantee you would win that fight anyway. - Yeah, for sure. - Even more, I don't think it is a guarantee. And I'll tell you, if I can go either way, as much as the odds are even in your favor, and if you lose to Nelson, - No, I said mere Lesnar. - I feel that's unnecessary. - Well, I feel it's unnecessary, but Lesnar versus Nelson, man, if you lose that fight, wow, that's gonna hurt your credibility. That's gonna hurt your career a lot. - Yeah, but still a lot win. - Lesnar's still gonna be a money fighter, people are still gonna line up down the block to see him. That's just Lesnar. Lesnar's name is kind of, it's gonna take a lot to throw in Lesnar's name, it really is. - But with that being said, I lost the Fat Man. Much as I love Lesnar, much as I love Nelson. - You know what, the Fat Man went the distance with Junior. - That's true. - So, honestly, I mean, the Fat Man is not, he's no pushover. - Big country is definitely like, he's no pushover. I don't think Lesnar's gonna be a throw him around, it's easy. And I mean, if this one goes to the distance, - That's assuming this ever happens. - Yeah. - I think it will. I think if Lesnar calls someone out, James is gonna give it to him. I mean, Muir can make the call out the other way, for sure, but who's Gondana gonna go with? - Imagine his card with this January 1st card with a featherweight title match, a lightweight title match, and a Lesnar fight? - Oh, that's huge. - Yeah. - That could trump 100. - Yeah, that'd be great, if it even happens. But I think that they should do that fight sooner or later. I think that at the top of that, - They're both kind of in the same, I mean, Nelson's new, but I mean, he just lost to Junior DeSantis, his number one contender. Lesnar just lost his title. - There's only so many top ranked heavyweight fights you can have. There's only six guys at the top of that division. They've got to fight each other. - Yeah, and if Nelson is getting pretty close, I mean, he was scheduled to fight Karwin anyways, who was the two-king, the two-guy. You have to figure that. - They're around the same park. - And now that Lesnar got dropped down, he's gotta be the two-guy. Yeah, I mean, he's definitely demoted now who Karwin, so. - And I think it's a good matchup for Lesnar. I think Dana is looking for a good matchup for Lesnar so that Lesnar can get himself back up there. It's right, yeah, that's just sort of bad match, but I mean, I don't think it's a walk through either. - No, it's not a walk through. - But that's the sort of win that's an F excuse for them to get a Lesnar rematch if they want to. - Yep, that's right. - Speaking of guys that aren't guys, the number one World Pound for Pound champion, Megumi, the 125 pound woman from Japan, was dethroned by Zola Frosto. Never saw a comment. - Yeah, it was a bit of a war, I guess, yeah, that happened. - This is Bellator, right? - This is, yes, this is Bellator. Frosto has previously competed against-- - She was in strike four. - She was in strike four? - She got beat down by, was it a cyborg? - Cyborg, and I believe she also lost to Sarah Kaufman and then she cut even further to take on the best pound of a pound fighter in the women's division. Beat Megumi, pretty solidly, cost her an eye, but she came up with a win, and she is now the champion of the women with maybe the exception of the cyborg. - Well, at least at that weight class. - Yeah, at that weight class. - At 125, she's the best woman fighter in the world right now. - Now, Randy Coacher, he's been giving out some kind of contradictory interviews this week. He'll do one interview where he's saying-- - He's not just on, in some way, so he's chained to strike fours. - No, but where he's saying that he's not sure if he's ever gonna fight again, he thinks this might be, you know, the fight with the boxing fight might have been just a good exclamation point, a good time to stop. - And he's doing the Brett Favre where it's like, "Oh, maybe I retire, maybe I won't." - I think so, but then he's also saying that he thinks that he's the right stylistic matchup for say, Machito or Shogun, and that he's thinking of giving him one more run. So what do you think? You're at this point of Coacher's career, he's not getting any younger, but like, if he can still go away, the light heavyweight title is on hold right now. So, I mean, his title run gets further and further and further and further, like, a tent gets further and further away. What do you do? - Give him one more shot against a real solid contender, and if he loses, send him out to pasture. - But you have to figure, with Coacher, he isn't getting any younger. If he takes on Machito or Shogun tomorrow, he might realistically pick up the win. It's completely possible. But if he takes on Machito or Shogun three years from now-- - It gets harder and harder. - You know what I'm saying? Like, that's not realistic for his career. You have to figure, Shogun's got Rashad next, Machito's got Rampage, and whoever wins that has got the winner of-- - That's right, that puts him back, maybe a year in his title hunt. - He's talking like, like, with injuries and whatnot, it could be a year and a half, it could be two years. Who's gonna fight to them? And then who's gonna fight bones? Who's gonna execute this guy? - Yeah. - You know what I'm saying? I wouldn't want him to, like, who else's not divisional for him to fight? Tito? - Yeah, that's sad, I don't think there's any money in that. - Camel, like, there's only so many-- - If he's gonna fight, if he's gonna fight again, it has to be against a real solid contender, I think. I mean, there's no point in throwing control down. - Who is that? - Yeah, it would have to be one of the big four, and if the big four aren't free, then, you know-- - It's the big four, I give him a little note. - I still think that's too far down the card. What's the point? - Yeah, we always come off a loss, or we're in a ridiculous coming off of an epic win. - Okay, they'll lose-- - Did you give him Bader? - Okay, they'll lose her in Machita Rampage. - Yeah. - I would agree with that. I would agree with that, loser of Machita Rampage. - Okay, so, like, and then if he wins that, what does he get, Tito shot next? - Sure, why not? - Sure, I'm cool with it. - Yeah, I mean, like-- - If he can beat Machita or Rampage, that's pretty much saying he can still hang. - He has a kind of career, then that's the kind of win where he can justify it, and I'd be cool with it. - I'm just saying that. - Don't waste time. Give him someone important. - I'm saying that for Coachur right now, he's got to be looking at the point of, if he takes the fight now, he can do this. If he takes the fight two years from now, I don't think he's-- - I actually think he's right. I think he's got a fighting chance at beating Shogun. I mean, Shogun has trouble with wrestlers. - Yeah, that's true. - That's the-- I mean, if he's going to do it, I'm down for one more Coachur run to the title. I would just hate for him to get blown out, but I mean, it's not like, I mean, people get smoked all the time, it's just no big deal. LaDell got hit hard, but LaDell still garners a ton of respect for me and from pretty much every other-- - And also, Coachur matches up stylistically with Shogun. I honestly don't think he matches up as well as he thinks he does against Machita. - I don't think so at all, I think he would get-- - I think Machita's a looser style. - I think Machita would be-- - Machita would beat him. I think he would have a better shot at the champ. - Yeah, I think if you look at Rampage, Rampage wrote stacks up very similarly to LaDell who crushed Coachur twice and Rashad's, you know what I mean, like honestly, I think Rashad would be-- would be Coachur too. He figured he's a better wrestler and a better striker. - I don't think Rampage is the fighter he was. - You know what, I don't think he is either, but at the same time, is he still good enough to get on that right hand of his on a 46-year-old, very, very slow Coachur? - Yeah, it's true. - LaDell did it and Coachur was in his prime at his best and Rampage-- - LaDell was also a world world leader at that time. - LaDell was at that point, you know what I mean? - No, I don't think so. Rampage is not better than what LaDell was when he beat Coachur. LaDell was a world leader back then. He was incredible. - I agree. So Gabriel Gonzaga, who is not a world leader, he was cut after his loss to Brendan Schaub. Is there, is this any real loss? I think there's no room for him in that division. - Yeah, there isn't. - I was more harsh on him than most and that last fight, I thought he looked really bad. There's no room for him. - The cutting of makes me sad. I mean, I do feel there's still room for him in the division 'cause there's a lot of guys who are up in the common. But, you know, as much as I think it was too soon, I thought the same thing in Fabrice over Bredoum and then he went on to humiliate Strike Force, really? - Yeah, that's not, that's very true. And actually, I think Strike Force is the place for Gonzaga right now. Maybe he can reinvent himself. But he's showing, it's like 31 or something. - Yeah, he had no problem going into Strike Force and doing some damage. I mean, it's just the beginning of his Strike Force career pretty much, seriously. - And Dave brought up Dana White's favorite fighter, the Korean zombie. - Yeah. - Did you guys hear the interview we just did? He is giving up the gimmick. - He is he. - He got knocked out by George Rupp. - George Rupp. - At that last WC show and he said, "It is scary and painful to get knocked out. "I can feel a similar pain in my heart. "Is this the best I can do? "Am I only good enough to lose to a fighter "who is perceived as mediocre by MMA fans?" - Yeah. - "The Friday once had for fighting zombie style "has been shattered. "I'm going to change. "It's okay if you take away my Korean zombie title. "It's okay if everyone boos me. "I make this promise you. "I will never fight zombie style ever again." - Interesting. Sorry that was kind of long, but it was, you know, that was-- - That's like something out of an anime. - That was the funeral for the zombie style. - I'll never fight zombie style. - He's again. - No, my question is-- - Make him lose. - When he finds that his mentor has been defeated by the Ninjas, is he going to break his promise and bring back zombie style one last time. - It's kind of funny. - Honestly, it makes perfect censoring to not do this anymore. I mean, he's got, he had a great chin against Garcia, but if you're getting knocked out by George Rube, you can't just walk into punches. - Anyone gets kicked in the head, it's over. - That is still, that is a money gimmick. He should just, he should just keep it. He shouldn't retire the gimmick. - He needs to fight smarter though. - He just fights smarter. - He really should fight smarter. I mean, walking blind, like being a zombie walks blindly into things, right? - Which is why they called him that. - Yeah, so I mean, having a smarter fighting style, I don't have a problem with that at all. Just don't make your fights incredibly boring. - Yeah, I mean, there's a difference between being a between-- - But don't lay in prey instead. - And being like mid-clients, you know. - Oh yeah, exactly. - Oh, speaking of lay in prey, I've got a good segue to that. John Fitch versus Jake Ellenberger has just been signed for February. - All right. - The reason why this is news is John Fitch, they just dropped him. That is-- - He really did. - He was supposed to, he went and everyone's contenders match, and now he's fighting Ellenberger halfway down the cart. - No disrespect to Ellenberger, but wow, that's a drop. - There is a drop, yeah. - He's 13 in one in the UFC, he can't buy a title shot. - Honestly, and it's not only the boring fighting style, he just runs his mouth too much, and he has too many restrictions. Dana doesn't wanna deal with that. I don't blame him. - Dana, he's the guy who's trying to become the guy who starts the fighters union. - Yeah, that's a bad idea. - That's a bad idea. - Don't be that guy. Don't be Jimmy Hoffa. - Don't be the guy who tells Kane Velasquez, Mike Swick and Josh Kaashek to pull out of the UFC unleashed game. 'Cause Dana White's not gonna forget you, dude, he's not. - Yeah, he's making the wrong enemy. The one enemy you shouldn't make. There's always strike force. - And maybe not. And speaking of strike force, John Remy. - The CEO of Bellator, he's challenged all of the Bellator champions to face all the strike force champions in three round non-title fights to choose who is the best. This is unlikely to happen, but Gilbert Melendez, the strike force lightweight champion, he's all for it, he wants to prove himself. - Well, Gilbert Melendez actually called out the Bellator champion before this. The Remy from Bellator tried to get hold of Coker a range of fights saying, hey, you got wants to fight, let's do it. And Coker's like, I never got these messages. - No, he didn't get the messages for the challenge that all title contender challenges. - Yeah. - And you know what, this is a bad move for strike force. They don't seem interested in doing it and they shouldn't. - Well, they shouldn't. But Bellator has gone public with it and said, we do actually send these messages. Here's a challenge. - Oh, that's all right there. - So, I mean, right now they're basically calling strike force cowards for not taking these fights. - But for that, that's a win-win proposition for Bellator. That's nothing for strike force. - Yeah, like strike force is a UFC, but they're still bigger. - Strike force is already cross-promoted with dream as it is anyway, right? - So, and Melendez, he beat the dream champion. So, I think he wants to beat the Bellator champion and just kind of cement his legacy, but it's bad for business, I think. Like, that's not going to add a Gilbert Melendez title fight. It's not going to do any better if it's against a Bellator guy. - It's not going to help strike force at all. - Sign some of the light weights that UFC cuts and then throw them into his strike force. Like, don't worry about running into all these different promotions. Build your light weight division. You've got the great opportunity because there's going to be a whole whack of light weights that are going to be looking for jobs pretty soon. - That's a brilliant idea. - Seriously, buy up these talented guys who are going to get cut. And we haven't really talked about it too much, but we've got a few minutes left on the air. What do you guys think of the ultimate fighter so far? - Well, the GSP vs. Kaush Jack. - It's been an interesting season. This has been one of the highest-rated seasons they've ever had. People are very, very invested in GSP. Kaush Jack is getting booed vociferously wherever he goes. - I am loving Kaush Jack's bad guys. Like, he's such a tool. He's on there. - Hey, guys. Nice chest hit. Like, he's just being a real jerk. - Like, like, like the kind of a man. - And he's runnail nurse. - Like the drunk douchebag at the bar. - Yeah. - I like it. - It's great. - Well, so far this season, all GSP's fighters, Karcharis has beat Lance. Johnson has beat Wilkinson. Watson has beat Maine. Cody Mackenzie. It choked the Mark-- - The Alaskan fisherman. - Stephen Stevenson is my pick. - Terrible style. Jonathan Brookings defeated Savak McGaughkin in incredible style. Now, do the two fighters that have won for, you know, for Kaush Jack? Namfan-- - He looked very good. I thought Namfan looked excellent. - Yeah. - Namfan looked wonderful. He had Spencer Pais. And Sokko Chivitian defeated Dane Sayers by a unanimous decision. - GSP's a little bit closer than you'd think. - Yeah, I thought so. I mean, I think-- I don't think Dane is very, very talented. And Sokko should have wrapped this up a lot quicker than he did. - Yeah, Sokko didn't look to be that great against the guy like Dane Sayers. He shouldn't have been at his level. - Well, the thing is, he's supposed to be a judo specialist and he just, his judo didn't look that great. It really didn't. So we'll see. I mean, it depends on what's going to happen. - So the wild card fight is tonight. They decided to go with two of Kaush Jack fighters, Aaron Wilkinson versus Mark Stevenson. A little bit Kaush reversal. Aaron Wilkinson went to round three and got pounded out, which is-- - Yeah, he just threw it in-- - He just threw it in and slowed down. GSP and Kaush Jack both agreed that he was the first wild card player. - Mark Stevens got choked out in 18, 7, 17 seconds. - The Alaskan fisherman-- - The Alaskan fisherman. - The Alaskan fisherman. Looked terrible and Dane Sayers put on a fight of his life. - Yeah, a fight of his short enemy life. I mean, it wasn't a spectacular performance. - Mark Stevens has not deserved this. - It was Kaush Jack hooking up his boy. That's all it was. So now, we've seen everybody fight at least once. Who do you guys call to win this at this point? - Wilkinson. Wilkinson? - Yeah. - Wilkinson's tougher. I mean, look-- - Mark, Mark-- - What do you think of it in the season-- - Oh, the whole season? - Oh, the whole season? You know what? - My head says, "Go with Michael Johnson." My heart was with the Alaskan fisherman. - You sure are like that? - I love him. He's awesome. - Good team win was excellent. I cheered. - Like, he's got one move, but whatever. - With that being said, I think the guy here to watch, the two guys to watch, I think Nam Phan is right now the guy I'm picking. - Yeah, I think he'll be in the final. - His striking is phenomenal. And his ground game is solid enough. - Yeah. - He's an actual Jiu-Jitsu instructor. - He works hard. - He really knows. I think a guy that people are underestimating, because my dark horse pick, Jonathan Brokins. - Yeah, he looked really good. - He's learning quickly. - This guy is on no one's radar, and he blew Savak Magakian out like he was nothing. So, I mean, for a guy that no one was looking at, I think he's gonna sneak through the next round and then be in. - So yeah, I call Nam Phan to win the whole thing. - To win the whole thing, at this point. - I'm gonna go with Michael Johnson. - Cool. - Michael Johnson's a good pick. Well, he'll be on tonight, so everyone, if you want to have a look at it, Spike TV, ratings are great, so now's the time. And people may miss it 'cause it's only in our iTunes feed, but we did a special show last weekend reviewing the EA MMA video game. So yeah, it's in there. You can go to thehammermma.com to find it, or the hammer MMA on iTunes. And yeah. - Thank you for listening to us on I3.3, see if you're new.
