MMArcade Podcast
Robert Whittaker Explains Why He’s Fighting Khamzat Chimaev | MMArcade Podcast (Episode 47)
(upbeat music) - What's going on everyone, it's Rob and Johnny. Welcome to episode 47 of the MMRCade podcast. Rob, you've been busy this part of the week. - I have, I have, as you've all heard, the fight was announced. - Yep. - I'm gonna try and try and try it again. It's your mind. (laughing) In Abu Dhabi, the whole card got announced and man, it looks like a bangin' card. - It does. Dana announced that out of nowhere. Everyone's like, this is one of the best cards of the year legitimately. (laughing) He likes doing it like that, you know? But we'll talk about that today. So I've been back in the gym, like Camp started out, it was roughly like 12 weeks out. That's usually the amount of time I like for a camp. The first few weeks are always so hard because I come in at about 100 kegs and the sessions are long 'cause it's a foundation sort of building period. And I'm fat. (laughing) And I've lost, I've misplaced my cardio somewhere in the last four weeks. It's just, it's rough, it's like the first leg is like a gauntlet, but, you know? I keep telling myself, and my dad always says it, it's like, it can only get easier. (laughing) - I assume as a lot of wrestling as well, you're gonna have to prep for? - Well, that's, I guess the good thing about, you know, it's to my, you know, I've essentially done two camps for him. So a lot of the prep work I did last camp is very, obviously, he's completely relevant to this one. So there'll be a lot of wrestling, there'll be a lot of fitness, there'll be a lot of everything, mate. You remember how dead I was on my feet a couple of times? - I remember. (laughing) - That was cute. - Yeah, yeah. It'd be much the same. - Well, as Rob said, we are gonna talk about that. We're gonna do a quick summary of the fight night that just took place in Abu Dhabi, plus game news and everything else. If you enjoyed this video, if you are new, please like, subscribe. But let's talk about the announcement for UFC 308. So main event is iliotapuria against Max Holloway for the title. Obviously, we have you against Kamsat Shamaev, we'll talk about that separately at the beginning, separate from the other fights. We've got Cyril Garnigan to Alexander Volkov, Magamet and Kallaya versus Alexander Rakich, which is very strange for me. Leeron Murphy, sorry against Dan Ige and Jeff D. Elegans Rafael dos Agnos. I think I captured all of them. So first Rob, gotta ask you about your fight with Hamsat. By far, the overwhelming sentiment and feedback that I saw when we talked about it, like I posted it in the community tab, plus even under your posts when you announce the fight. People are upset because they feel like with your out of the fight with you before, right? You obviously fought Ikram Alaskarov on short notice and they feel like you should be fighting further up the card, closer to the title and that Hamsat doesn't necessarily deserve this or however you want to describe it. Not saying that that's how I feel, but that's the overwhelming sentiment that I feel. So I gotta ask you, why take this fight and what do you have to say about all those comments? - I guess that's not how the business works, you know, in a way. Yeah, unfortunately, the business isn't completely run on merit and a lot of it is, but, you know, like there are a lot of times, moments when it's just not. Jamayev is a hard fight. He's obviously a big draw, especially over there in Abu Dhabi. He's done the Walter way thing. He's done the middle way thing. So he's a draw. And I think the UFC story-wise wants to see Jamayev get, you know, a shot at the champion or whatever. They want to see Jamayev like up the top of the ladder. They want to see him in that picture. But I love disrupting their plans. I love derailing their stories. And I, that's why I took the fight. You know, I asked for the fight. I didn't really ask for the first straight off the last fight. I was like, I saw there was an Abu Dhabi card in October, timeline fits, fits perfectly. And I was like, I'll fight Jamayev again. Like, let's do it again. Just make sure he turns out. Because, because, yeah, I look, I look forward to hard fights. I look forward to these fights. And I know that if I beat Jamayev, there is nothing in my way to get in my belt back. And Jamayev, as dangerous as he is, I don't go into these fights thinking about what I have to lose. Yeah, like, I don't, like, much like how I took the fight with Iqram. I don't, I don't not, I don't look at the fights and think, oh man, it's too big of a risk. Every fight's a risk. Yeah. You know, and I only go into fights because I have the confidence I'm going to beat and smash who is there in front of me. Yeah. And that doesn't change with Jamayev. So, I'm going to get in there in October. I'm going to put the one, two, how do you deal with him. And then, you know, worry about a title shot after that. It's a hard fight. It's one that, regardless, the camp will make me better. The fight will make me better. And, you know, like, just on like a side note, it's in Abu Dhabi. So, I've literally just come back from that trip. I've got everything laid out. We've already called the hotel that I stayed at before. Like, everything is just kosher. It's almost like we're going back to a home base, you know? We've got it all sorted out. So, I like fighting in the Middle East, I do. Yeah. I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it. And what a way to wrap up the year, you know? - For sure. - I find October. Christmas is coming to Bobby, right? I'll be able to feed my face at the end of the year. - So, yeah. - Yeah. And you've talked about this, and also Dana White has talked about this, that you can't just let opportunities pass you by in the UFC. Oftentimes, sitting and waiting for a fight to happen doesn't necessarily work out in your favor. And I texted you about this. It was, I think, the paper view after the one that you fought Iqram on, Dana White was singing your praises for actually taking on all comers. Like, there are other fighters that talk about it, and they say they will take on anyone and fight anyone, but not necessarily do that. Whereas with you, you've proven that, accepting the Humsat fight when no one wanted to fight him, accepting the Iqram fighting short notice when Humsat pulled out. And now, I didn't know this, you asking again to fight Humsat. Because if you don't do that, like the division is just gonna pass you by. - Yeah, exactly. We're in the fight game. It's like, dudes that wait, it's like, I think to myself, you must be flush with cash, right? In the way, because how are you only gonna leave it? Like, dude's working at Costco on the weekends. Like, until the next fight comes through. It's like, this is what we do. This is the game we're in. And objectively, my entire drive for my career is to be the best version of myself, to truly draw the best out of myself. And I feel, I believe, I know that in doing that, I'll be the champion. So I know that every fight tests me, every fight, every camp pushes me to breaking levels, every pre-fight pressure, when I'm standing behind the back curtains and I'm hating everything that I'm doing. And I question myself, why the hell I'm here? Every single time. - Yeah, like I know it'll make me better. Like, and yeah, this will put me in a prime position to get that gold back. - Absolutely. And unfortunately, it does mean, like I mentioned this in the community tab that I was gonna go to Perth for USC through her five and Rob's gonna be there as well. It does mean that he's in fight camp, and unfortunately he won't be able to make it there. So I'm sure that we'll record an episode, we'll do our predictions before I leave to Perth, but that does mean you're not going to Perth in case anyone was wanting to see Rob there. - Apologies. Apologies, Johnny, you're gonna have to do it by yourself. This is the first time you're gonna be putting on the, you know, the reporters, the journalists, journalism sort of shoes. But it's getting over there. - I have no idea what I'm doing. I gotta know like the schedule, yeah, or anything, but I have spoken with the UFC and they're like, yeah, like, you know, post-5 press conferences, hopefully I can arrange some interviews and stuff. I'm really looking forward to it, man. - Absolutely. - Yup, anyone give you any gaffes, just tell them, I'll get them. (laughing) - Take it up with Rob. - Well, obviously your fight against comes out, but let's talk about some of the other fights that we're in now, so UFC 308. - I'm so good. - Dude, on, you say that some cards on paper are gonna be good and should be good, but I think this is going to be good, you know, on paper and also after it, there can't not be exciting fights at this card. And the main event, especially, Elliot Tporia against Max Holloway, what do you think of this? - Mate, that's gonna be amazing. Like, obviously, I think closer to the fight, we're gonna do actual, I don't know, we'll just do it now. It's like, (laughing) - Yeah, we'll do it again anyway, doesn't it? - Yeah, Tporia and Holloway, mate. I like, I don't think there's a single fight I've seen of Holloway that I haven't been happy with. And Tporia, after his last, like, he's in the exact same boat, he's a very exciting fighter, I love the way, the way he brings himself into a fight. You're kind of always waiting for him to land that shot, to land that, like, he just looks so effective when he does strike or grapple, restful. I just like the way he works. And to put them together is just a recipe for a fireworks of a fight. - Hell yeah. - I obviously, Holloway brings a lot of things to the table that a lot of people haven't dealt with, such as his rangy arms, his boxing, his experience and his cardio. How does Tporia handle that? We're gonna have to wait and see. Tporia's really good at pocket fighting, at using, like, aggressive slips to hurt his opponents to get into that grappling range. And yeah, man, I'm just so excited, I'm just so excited. - Especially after, obviously, Max Holloway, after knocking out Justin Gagee. From memory, it was literally the last second at USC 300. He has gone to a different level. He was popular before, obviously, but he's gone to a different level of stardom now. He's got the BMF title. That's not on the line, but still people love him at the moment. He's riding high. He probably could have gotten a title opportunity in either division, but he's gonna be fighting Iliya Tporia. I cannot wait to see how he does, but it feels like, I haven't looked at the odds yet, but I don't know if people are underestimating Iliya Tporia a little bit because of what Max did against Justin Gagee, which was phenomenal, but let's remember Iliya Tporia, knocking out Volcanovski, the way he cut off that cage, the way he dropped him cold. Yes, that was a Volk that obviously just got knocked out against Mark Hachiev, but where are you leaning towards who's gonna win this? 'Cause I can see both sides. Max Holloway, that dude has a chin of granite. If there was a fight that Iliya Tporia might not knock out, it could be Max Holloway, whereas on the other hand, Iliya Tporia has a fantastic grappling game as well. There are so many dynamics. Who are you leaning towards in this fight? (laughs) You know why I think a lot of people are leaning towards Holloway? It's because honest to God, Holloway's only obstacle in his entire career has been Alex Volcanovski. (laughs) That's the only blemish I'm more or less on his career in like the last decade. And every fight before and after really hasn't been that close, it's been kind of like a one-one-sided affair. Yeah. So I think just because of Tanyan, because of just the way he operates, and it's not to say like before Volk, he was good. After Volk, he's better, I feel. And I would have to say I'm leaning towards Holloway. Yeah. But in saying that, like, I wanna see Tporia do like runny story, you know? Like, I like seeing his skill level is so high. I think it's super underrated. Super underrated right now. Maybe it's just because of exposure and because he hasn't been in as many headlines as Holloway has, because he hasn't, you know, done the work on paper just yet. But yeah, I would have to lean towards Holloway, but wait and see, like Volk, I was leaning towards Volk before he's last one as well, right? Yeah, yeah. I think I am leaning towards Tporia, but it is very, very close. In my opinion, might change on that. Obviously, let us know what you think in the comments below. I know a lot of people might roast me for leaning towards Tporia, but we can't just disregard what he did against Volk and Oscar. And souls make fights. Yeah, absolutely. Like, for whatever reason, Volk was the Kryptonite to Holloway. Yeah. But Holloway is the Kryptonite to just me and everybody else. (laughing) So, and then Tporia beat Volk. So, yeah, how does this work out? I don't know. Absolutely. And now we've got a heavyweight fight as well, Cyril Garnig and Alexander Volkov. Very, very interesting match up. Do you have a preference, a favorite here for this fight? Do you think it's gonna be an exciting one? I think it'll be exciting. I guess we'll have to see how Garn does with closing that distance, 'cause obviously Volkov wants to keep him at the end of his legs and of his arms, right? But Garn moves pretty well. His footwork is insane, man. It's really good. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, leaning in a particular way. You know what? I don't know. (laughing) I don't know. I don't know. Like, really, I don't know. It's a hard one, because Volkov looked so good against Pavlovitch, but also that was a Pavlovitch that just got knocked out by Aspenol. So, was he out at his best? That is kind of like, no one wanted to fight this dude phase, probably not. On paper, I would have to lean towards Garn just because of his footwork. I think he can close the gap, but I don't wanna count Volkoville. Volkoville is so well at keeping Pavlovitch away from that firefight pocket range so well. He shot Pavlovitch out that whole fight. Absolutely wrecked him. It was phenomenal to watch. Yeah, and you see, I can see him kind of like, doing that to game, like keeping him away from him. But then, Garn's are like a really good kickboxer. A really good kickboxer, and I don't think Volkov will have the same success he had against Pavlovitch, who isn't textbook technically very, technically, he's not a textbook striker, okay? He's got massive hands and a lot of power. But he's not a textbook kickboxer, which Volkov brings in, but gain definitely does. I don't think Volkov will have the same sort of success against gain. Yeah, the only thing that could possibly go against Garn is that the fact he hasn't fought him a little bit. Last time he's fought, I checked. It was against Spivak in September last year. Obviously, he was filming a movie or something like that. So, he's been keeping busy. He was at the Olympics as well. So, let's see how he goes with that. Also, I wanna quickly, I've decided just now. Okay, just gone. Just now, I'm not gonna give a tip for either which way anymore. I'm just gonna give my spiel on who I think is gonna have a thing, but I'm not gonna give a tip. Because I hate it when a guy that I like listening to like another fighter that I like says that my opponent is gonna, like he tips my opponent. I hate that, I hate that. Fair enough. And I'm only thinking that if like, some other fighters somehow get a hold of this stuff, it's gonna piss them off too. (laughing) And you started feeling that way 'cause of Patty Pimblud. He was singing your, I saw the TikTok. He was singing your praises. And they're like, I don't wanna tip against Patty. - Well, to be fair though, I always kind of back-patty because I think him, his falling from grace was the best thing for him. (laughing) Like he's come back switched on and I love to see it. But yeah, I'm gonna change it. No, I'm not really. Yeah, and because a lot of the time, I don't really, like I'm not invested either way. I don't know the guys I'm tipping against. - Mm-hmm. - So with Holloway and Topore, I like Holloway a lot. Do I tip him? But yeah, I might like to clear him. - You did lean towards Holloway. (laughing) - I might like Topore here too. I don't know. I haven't really spoken here or hung out with him. So I'm just gonna neutral. I said my piece. - Yeah? I'll ask you a different question then when it comes to Megamet Ankelive against Alexander Rakic. Are you surprised that this is the fight that's being booked? Because I said this, a lot of other people said this, the fight to make was Ankelive against Pereira for the title, right? It feels like Pereira is gonna be sitting on the bench for a little bit. He's got some injuries, the toes, everything is gonna be recovering. And Ankelive seems like he wants to remain active. But are you surprised still that Ankelive is gonna be fighting not for the title? And especially against Rakic, who literally just lost recently in his recent fight. - That was against Yuri, right? - You got this. - Yeah. - Prohaska. - It's hard. It's like Pereira deserves a break. He took that second fight with what's his name and won it in a steady fashion and then his toe was broken. So he deserves a break. I guess I can look at it like you see who really don't like Ankelive. Like, when he fought against Blackovich to that draw, they were just like, just cross his name out. Like, they were like, yeah, they really don't. Like, he didn't have great rapport after that fight, right? - Yeah, yeah. - So that, or it's exactly, as you said, Pereira needs some time out. Ankelive does want to sit out forever. Sort of make, you know, oh, oh, bear with me here, they're prepping him to fight aspenal. - I genuinely think that that's kind of what they're waiting for, Drick is against Izzy, to maybe Izzy goes up to fight Alex Pereira 'cause that will be a super fight. And also as well, they're figuring out what happens with Jones and Steepay because let's say Steepay wins hypothetically, he will retire, right? And that might leave something open up in the heavyweight. Jones wins, and then you might have a super fight against Jones and Pereira. So I think that's what they are doing. - I can see Chetoreg too, but... - He might! - I can see him. - He might know what that's smoke. - I can see him beating Steepay. And it's been like, I'm leaving undefeated champ of two divisions, yeah, yeah, yeah. - Can I ask you, Aspenal put this awesome idea through. And I love it. He was like, why don't we do a tournament, right? - It's me, it's Pereira, it's Steepay, and it's Jones. You have the brackets, like let's say he fights Pereira, Steepay fights Jones, and the winner fights each other on the same night for the Undisputed title. - Is that not the best Mortal Kombat R's idea that you've ever heard? - Like, home school pride. - Hell yeah! - That's what they used to do. - That's awesome, I think everyone would love that. - Yeah, yeah, like, I'm 100% down for it, but I don't see anyone. - No, it would never have happened. - I do not see the, you know, the financial heads ticking that idea off. - No, no. But, Unkelive against Rakic. Look, good on Unkelive, I will say. Good on Unkelive, and not just taking the fight, but also taking a fight against Rakic, who, for all intents and purposes, probably shouldn't be in that position since he literally just lost, right? He's keeping active, Pereira's probably gonna be on the bench. He's fighting probably for the same reasons that you say, you know, you can't just let fights pass you by in the UFC. If he does win this, he probably does deserve the title opportunity, but I think what you said though about, maybe it's a combination of the UFC, maybe not liking him a little bit, but also, he announced that he wanted to fight Pereira and his likes on Twitter, like, it wasn't that popular, and then you have someone like Shavkat Rakimod I was saying, I'm gonna fight for the title next, and his popularity, like, he got so many likes on that post, so much engagement. Maybe it's also a combination of some people who just don't necessarily want to watch and collive fight against Pereira. There are bigger fights to make in the UFC seeing that. - Well, the UFC have said like, and the people are the most powerful pushing force in the industry, so, and the UFC, more than anyone, are persuaded by the people, so. - For sure. - I will say though, people shouldn't, you know, just throw away Rakimod in terms of him potentially winning. I thought he looked really, really good. Obviously, I totally got knocked out. I thought he looked really, really good in his previous fight. He could utilize a little bit of that against Uncle Live, and he could come away with a win. And if he does, that put him in the prime position to fight Pereira. So let's see. - He looked so good. - He looked so good. - He got knocked out. - I know he got knocked out, but like, in that first round, he looked amazing. - Yeah, I do. I do feel a bad for Yuri though. I don't know what he does next, but obviously, Yuri just beat Rakimod. So that's not the fight to make with them. I don't know who Yuri is going to be fighting next. Probably Jamal Hill? Have they fought yet? I don't think so. - I don't think so. - And what's Jamal Hill doing? He's also injured as well. But that is what's happening at UFC 308. Obviously, as I mentioned, there's Murph Higgins, Ege, Neil, Lincoln, Stossart, and yours. Probably another couple of fights to be announced, but let us know your predictions for UFC 308 in the comments below. We'll probably do something a little bit more in depth as we get closer to that card. But Rob, I wanted to do a really quick summary of the UFC Fight Night that just took place in Abu Dhabi. We had Umana Magomedov defeating Corey Sandhagan, unanimous decision, really good showing from him. We had Shahra Bullitt Magomedov, defeating Mikhail Oluk-Shakeshuk by an unanimous decision. He looked good. Figgy, man. Figgy just continues to show up in this new division, defeating Marlon Barra, Cheeto, by unanimous decision. Also, Michael Kiesa, submitting Tony Ferguson in by Renekah Chok in the first round. I got a couple of things I don't want to ask you about this card. First of all, do you think Tony Ferguson should retire? - I'm not going to say yes or no to that, because Ferguson can do what he wants. I don't know anyone that could have the bit of a slide, like he, and still be in the UFC. I think we looked at it for you. It's had eight losses in a row. Yeah, it's nobody else does that. Ferguson, like, I don't know. I feel that like maybe three or four fights, okay? You're kind of like sad for the legacy that was punished, but he's gone past that. He's gone well past that where you're like, Ferguson's just crazy, dude. You're going to do whatever he wants, you know what I mean? - Do you know what makes me really sad is that you are having this new generation of MMA fans that are seeing this version of Tony Ferguson, not realizing the streak that he went on and he was going to fight Habib if it wasn't for that fricking cable or whatever it was that he tripped out, tripped on and blew his knee. Like in an alternate dimension, you would have had Tony fighting Habib and he could have been the champion, but we're in this timeline now and it's really sad and it's really sad that people have this impression of Tony Ferguson because he was such a force to be reckoned with in the UFC. And I just don't want to see that you'd get hurt anymore, genuinely. - Yeah, it's, I don't know, I don't think Ferguson, don't you remember, I'm a big fan of Ferguson, like. - Yeah. - Can I say of the old version of Ferguson, they're the same person. If I say I'm a big fan of old Ferguson. - Yeah. - Is that disrespectful to Tony Ferguson? - No, I wouldn't say so. (laughing) - They're the same dude, right? - Yeah, like, I remember watching when he fought Pettis and I was just thinking like, he's so good. How does people, how do people beat him? Like, it was just such a good fight to watch. - Yeah. - It was an animal, but I just feel like he doesn't have that dual diamondality in there anymore. I feel like he's got a great mentality for fighting. But then once he gets in there, he gets lethargic mentally, if that makes sense, he's just like, ah, here we go again, sort of thing. I feel that's how I felt about Nick Dares the last time we saw him, that mental lethargy where he was just like, he was pronged ready to go. But then once things started happening in there, or he took a shot, or he's just like, you know what? I've been here a hundred times and I don't wanna do it again. - And I don't know what he can do different to try and get that win, especially against the caliber of fighter in the UFC. Like this time, what do you say? He's been doing a lot more spiring. He was spiring like 120 rounds. Last time he was training with David Goggins. - Goggins can't get your head into the race. - I know, but it seems like he's trying everything and nothing seems to be working, right? So it's just hard to see. I don't deny that he's probably gonna fight again, but I don't know if that's gonna be in the UFC. Maybe he goes to another promotion or does. - What do you reckon? How do you reckon Tony doesn't bear knuckle? - No, hold on, here's the thing though. He could, hypothetically, he could have a resurgence like Mike Perry had, is having a bear knuckle. - Like I fear, yeah, Mike Perry is built for bear knuckle. - He was born for it. - Built for it, I don't know if Ferguson can like, if he has that, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. - But we're saying that Perry is built for it in hindsight after the fact, seeing what he's done. I don't think anyone really predicted that's how well he was gonna do. Maybe, I'm not sure. I just don't know whether Tony Ferguson should go into bear knuckle. Maybe like a karate combat or something like that, you know? - You reckon? - Yeah, karate combat. - Yeah, or like one of the other promotions. I don't know whether he would do PFL, but I don't know. Let's see what happens. But the second question I'm gonna ask you. So we had damage figures, figurato against Cheeto. Right, he beat Cheeto. He's doing really, really well in the division. Then we also had Uma Numagomedov against Corey Sandhagen. He defeated Corey Sandhagen, who was second ranked at the time. Who do you think should be fighting the winner of Marab and Sean? Because everyone's like, yeah, it's Uma, has to be Uma. I'm like, hold on. Figgy, like not only is it previous champion, he's just demolished three people in a row in a weight class above him, above what he usually fought at. Why is he just being passed to the side? I know that Uma is undefeated, he's exciting. He's got the Numagomedov last name, everything, but I think Figgy should be part of this bloody conversation. Right? Yeah, yeah, definitely. Especially because he's like previous champ as well. Yeah. I do think Uma gets it next. I think Corey Sandhagen is a better win than Marlon Berra. That's true, but Uma, I think that was his only, and it's against Corey Sandhagen. So you can't take it away from him. But he was his only top 10 ranked win. He hasn't had any before though. So before that, he was ranked eight. And then he's shot up to second now because he's beat him. Sandhagen's really good dude. I know he's really good, but you understand the logic. Like you look at what Figgy's been doing. He's had to slowly work his way up the ranks. Look what Marab had to do. He had to slowly work his way up the ranks. But then you have Uma, that's just shot right up there after beating one ranked fighter in the top 10. So Sandhagen's phenomenal, but you see the meritocracy that doesn't necessarily line up. Yeah, but we addressed this at the beginning of the episode. We did, but it's unknown. Unfortunately, he's not always a merit system dude. I'm fighting Chamayo, he's ranked 13. But it's not always a merit system. But when the merits is clearly laid out there, I think there needs to be a serious discussion about it. That's all I'm saying. I think if we had to look at it, just look at what we have in front of us. Like I said, I think beating Corey Sandhagen looks better than beating Marabero. That's all there is to it. Fair enough. Fair enough. I think if we just look at it black and white. But also, what about what about Figu's previous two fights? You know? Look at that. I can't remember the... So he got, it was obviously Cody Garbrandt. He submitted him. But what was the one before that? I'm trying to remember. It was against Font? It was Font, yeah. He beat Font by decision. And I remember being so impressed by him in that fight. So Rob Fontt, Cody Garbrandt, previous champ, and Chito. Yeah, like Garbrandt, Garbrandt's hard to put on the scale too much because you kind of... But he was on a bit of a rise at that stage. Like he had got a couple of wins before he fought Figu. Not against the... Garbrandt's still kind of in tumultuous water. I feel like Garbrandt's still kind of finding his groove again. All right. But then I will compare, look, I know I'm... Big fan of Garbrandt by the way. Big fan of Garbrandt. And I liked the way he was moving. I think I tipped him even before I made the decision to suck tipped people. Fair enough. Look, I know that I'm probably arguing and losing argument here, right? But look at Umar's last three opponents. Corey Sandhagen, Bexette Alma Khan, who doesn't even have a Wikipedia page. I can't even click on it. And Rainey Bacellos, like, like, come on. Let's compare the... I know he's undefeated. I know he's the next coming guy, and he just be Sandhagen. He's got the Omega medal. That's not him dude, that's it. I seriously believe... But Corey Sandhagen gives him a lot of weight argument points in my book. But it's one fight. Sandhagen, it's a good fight, man. Like, if you had one fight to get you in the title, contention picture, Sandhagen's one of them. It's like, if you beat Holloway, right? You're fighting for a total. But you have a... As we said, you have a previous champion beating font Garbrandt and Vera. Vera just fighting for the title. I think that's better on paper. I'm just going to say it. People could disagree. But I think that's the... I disagree. All right. Oh, you know what? Why not freaking against Uma? But not that passionately. Just like a little bit. Like, a 10% disagree. Fair enough. Like, I disagree. But could be convince if we were to spend the next 40 minutes talking about it. Fair, fair. Like, look, let us know what you think of the comments below. I'm genuinely interested. Do you think Uma... I think he will fight for the title next. I think it's obvious. But do you think Uma should fight the winner of Marab and Sean? Or should it be Figgy? Or should there be a title eliminated between Figgy and Uma? Let me know. Let us know what you think in the comments. I'd like to see Figgy vs Uma. I think that's a great fight to me. Damn it. Like, let Uma fight another person that's ranked. Yep. You know what I mean? I don't know. Let's see what happens. We say this. And then we look at someone else like Perera, who was also... He was fast-tracked, too, a little bit. Do you know how many times I say something? I'll let everybody know. So, firstly, thank you to all our listeners. And everyone that listens and watches the podcast and subscribes and tells your mates about it. So they subscribe. Thank you very much. Yeah. I will do the comments sometimes. And because I'll say something on our episode. And then I'll read the comments. And some do, hey, Rob. Yadda, yadda, yadda. And it'll straight up convince me I was wrong. Like, I'm not... There is no hill I'll die on in this podcast, except for some games. Like, my game, the game segment, is definitely more of a hill than the MMA segment. Because I'm happy to be wrong. If I'm wrong, then it gives me a new perspective into something that I like doing. But yeah, times I'll read the comments and just get convinced otherwise. And I change sides. Like he heaps at times. I wish we could edit in me going, yeah, you're right. So... (laughing) To be fair, Rob, that's a good approach to having life. Like keeping an open mind and being able to change your opinion. 100%. You know, that's a good thing. I don't know why people are so hard-locked on opinions. Like, yeah. Yeah, I don't know why. Like, you don't have to have one. You can have both. And I realize it's pretty late in life as well. Like, you don't need to have favorites. You don't need to have, like, heels to die on all the time. Like, you can pick a couple, but it's not like one way or the highway sort of thing. Yeah, there are certain things that are like, I'll absolutely die on that hill and I won't change my stance. But MMA is probably not one of them. Unless it's the whole figure thing. I don't think someone's gonna change my opinion on that. It's on your hill. I honestly think he should be fighting, either a title imminator or a fight for the title next, in my opinion. Yeah, yeah. Who is it? It's figuring there was one other fighter that you, like, Stirling's one of them. Diopio Diyan, he's injured at the moment. Yeah, no, and Stirling's another hill for you. Oh yeah, right, yeah, yeah. Stirling's another hill for me, for sure. Oh, people, look, people started hating that dude. So much after how he got the title. And I get it, it was a crappy way. And yes, he can be cringe. You see, look at what he did. With the rule change, man, nowadays, that doesn't even fly. Yeah, but he doesn't do that if that's not the rule. That's the whole thing. I agree, it was a crappy way to win the title, but look at what he did after that. You can't deny it. I agree. But speaking of, yeah, what is he doing nowadays? What is Stirling doing nowadays? No, no. I don't know who he's gonna fight next. I don't know if he has a fight announced yet, but I'm interested to see what Stirling does, 'cause I think he could get close to a title opportunity soon-ish. I don't know how he does against the likes of Topuria and all that, but let us know what you think about all that UFC stuff in the comments below. Next up, we do have game news. Rob, are you good? Well, can I film a one of the lup? I'm so thirsty, bro. 'Cause you're back at Fight Camp, I get it, I get it. Yeah, I'm just so thirsty. Go, go. I don't know why I'm getting so heated about, it feels like people are just passing Davidson figure right now. Like, he's not even, it's Uma, it has to be Uma. Ah! He literally used to be the champ. He went through a war in the previous division, and he's just had three really solid wins in a weight class above, that's not his own. And people like, yeah, it has to be Uma. He beat Sandhagen, but one top 10 ranked fight win. It was impressive, but I don't know, man, I don't know. And he couldn't really take Sandhagen down. He beat him up in the boxing, and it looked really, he was really good with his hands. I was actually genuinely impressed, but he didn't really, he couldn't really do much to Sandhagen on the ground and take him down all that much. He had a lot of failed attempts. I don't know, man, if he knocked him out, I sit here and admit that I was wrong. But, ah, who knows, who knows. And Figgy put Farrah down, that's never happened before. Not even that freaking knee from O'Malley could do that. And then he talked about Figgy, who's going up in weight, was the first one to put him down. I wanna stop talking about it, otherwise I'll get upset. You're good, Rob, like you can hear me 'cause you've got the headphones on. - I'm back, I'm muted. So that you can't hear me talk shit about it yet. - Oh, by the way, I got something to show you before we move to the next segment. Have a look at my new statue. Do you see that one there? - The millennial one. - Dude, I bought it Facebook marketplace, the collector's edition, it wasn't sealed. 350 Aussie, it goes for like over $600, $700 nowadays. And this guy's like, I just need to sell it, da, da, da, da. It's real and everything, I'm so happy. I'm so happy with it. - Did you see it on my shelf? - Yeah, that's what gave me the idea. Where is it? Where'd you put it? - My kid broke it. - So it's with my dad getting glued. - Oh, dude, that is horrible news. - It is what it is. - You've got some cool stuff there, the Mortal Kombat X, Scorpion, and then Esso, couple of Esso ones. - Yeah, it's, I don't know, I can't get too upset with them. It's just like, they're toys. - They're toys, at the end of the day, they are toys. Yeah, that's fair. - But Melania was my favorite though, it was my favorite one, for sure. - It's got, well, it's getting fixed, you're dad's fixing it? - Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's got a backlog though, there's about 90 things at his house getting glued. (laughing) - It's like the new is seeing, it's like, when something breaks in my house, my kids goes, "Puppy will glue it, puppy will glue it." (laughing) - That's very funny. Next up, we've got some game news to talk about. First up, Rob, this is a story more for you, because you've been playing more Power World than I ever did. So, PocketPair CEO has been talking about Power World and how much of a success it is. This game has generated 10 billion, like over 10 billion yen for them, we're talking over 70 million US dollars, and he's talking about how they technically have the money to make a triple A, if not bigger game than that, whatever that would be categorized as. Called triple A, but he's worried because they have a still a smaller team, and you can't just scale up that quickly, even if you have access to a lot of money. Can I ask you, what would you like to see the Power World developer do next? Maintain Power World, new game, what would you like us to do? - I think, I think a good approach would be to solidify what they do, which is Power World, so keep the teams, keep, don't expand too fast. We see a lot of companies get a big rush of money, then they start hiring dev teams to start building second games, and then they flop here, they flop there, and then they lose sight of what got them in the market in the first place. I think doubling down on Power World, like just keep bug fixing it, 'cause they know, I know, and everybody else who plays the game knows. There's still a ton of bugs in it. Settle down, fix the bugs, just keep patching it, keep introducing the things that were promised, such as character migration, still waiting for that. I haven't forgotten why I dropped it the other day. But, and just keep chipping away at this, and then I think spread from there, like look at expansions, DLCs, spin-offs, yada yada yada yada, but don't lose sight of what got you to the mountain. - I think that's a really good piece of advice, because let's look at some other developers. We've seen Arrowhead with Helldivers 2, right? We've seen, do you remember four guys had this huge popularity back in the day? The chances, I don't think people understand how really hard it is to get a super popular game like that. How many games released on Steam that don't reach the levels of success that a Power World did or a Helldivers 2 did? Chances are, even with that increased capital and money, their next game probably isn't gonna see that success, and then they've spent a lot of money developing this very, very expensive game. I agree, double down on that popular game that you manage to catch lightning in the bottle, and do a sequel. That is the safest option that you could probably do. I just don't want them to hire all these people, and then they create their next game. It doesn't make money, then they fire everyone, and then it's a bad story. You know what I mean? No, DLC for sure, for sure. And a Power World sequel probably would be a guaranteed success. But you don't need a sequel. There's so many unfinished things in Power World still. Like, I understand that a lot of the money comes from new titles, but DLC will get you a huge revenue anyway. And like, I don't know if you understand the cult following that Power World has. No, I'm not fully appreciative of it. It is monstrous. The guys in that cult that play Power World haven't stopped since it released. Like, they're still breeding, and taming, and playing, and it's wild. So, there's still lots to do there. I'm looking up Power's play account, because I know games like Hell Divas 2 has gone down a little bit in terms of how many people are playing it. Power World has as well, clearly. But they're still 43, 50,000 people playing it. Concurrently. That's pretty crazy, man. The 24-hour peak still had 42,000 people playing the game. That's a lot of players. - It's tons. - Hell yeah. Well, let's see what they do next. But I agree. Take your time. Don't rush into the next decision. You've got a lot of money, but you don't want to piss that away, and have to fire a bunch of people. I have got rid of one of the other pieces of game news that we're talking about, because we're getting close. We're over 40 minutes already. The UFC segment was longer than I thought. - We always do that, dude. - We always do that, dude. I know what we're watching, playing, and reading. It's been just over a week since we talked last week. Do you want to go first? What have you been getting? - You go first, my friend. - Well, I actually have notes here, because Ubisoft invited me to a preview of Star Wars Outlaws. We played like three to four hours of it at two different points in the game. One was more of an open world segment, and another was more of a like a story quest line segment. This is actually the very first open world Star Wars game, which is crazy to say. But I saw that line, and I think it is true, story driven open world Star Wars game, it's by massive entertainment. They created the division. As I said, three to four hour preview. I have mixed thoughts on it. I thought in terms of the world, and how it looks, and how authentic it stays to Star Wars, it's right up there. It does a really great job with that. Like in the first area, especially, I could just go around and was betting in some horses, and I was playing Sabak, and there was cool little things that you could do that felt like you were in this living Star Wars world, which was really, really cool. So I liked that aspect of it. The whole faction reputation thing is pretty cool. When you make certain decisions, and you do certain things that affect your reputation with certain factions, and that'll play out differently in the game. Like if you have a bad reputation with a faction, you can't just walk into their base. But if you have a good one, you can, and you have different benefits and different rewards that you can get with factions as well. The downside for me was the combat. It felt a little dated. The sliding especially, I didn't know how I felt about when you were writing the speeder, and also using the blaster as well. So I think I'd need to play the full game to give it a proper go, but I'm definitely going to. I think there's enough in there to get me really interested. And I think the story is gonna pan out and be really good, but obviously we're gonna have to wait till I finish the game to judge that. - Can you build your own character? - No, it's the set character. You play as K-Vess, who's kind of like a bit of an outlaw. I mean, in the name, obviously, so that's obvious, but she's a bit of a scoundrel. She's trying to pull off a heist to give herself a better life. That is the general story. The one cool thing that they have though, that they have this little alien creature called Nyx that follows you, and you can send Nyx out to distract guards and fetch items for you. That is cool because there is some stealth mechanics in this game. So that's cool, but it's not like create your own character. It's a set character. - Can I ask, why hasn't Star Wars done that? Just like, Star Wars universe, create your own character. - I'm speculating here. - Done. - It's like a no man's sky reskin. - Yeah, I don't know. I mean, look, it's easier said than done, and I think that my-- - Is it though? - Yeah. - Think about the amount of money behind Star Wars. If anyone's gonna get it done, it's gonna be those dudes. - I have this feeling that this might be a Disney thing. Like, they might want to just tell stories about interesting characters and build the lore of their franchise as opposed to you create your randomer and character. - Yeah, I guess, I guess. - I don't know. That's just me speculating. I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing, but maybe that's just the direction they wanna go for the franchise. - Yeah, it'd be a few. - But I'm definitely very interested to play the rest of the game. And we've still got a few weeks for them to tighten up the combat and have it feel a little bit more smooth. But overall, I definitely had fun with it. And I'm interested to say more. - Cool, cool, cool. - What about you? And in terms of what I've been watching, it's still my hero, it's still bongo straight dogs, same old stuff. I did watch Deadpool and Wolverine, though. That was a lot of fun. - Yeah, I gotta watch that, still. - Dude, it's so good. Yeah, it's so good. - Yeah, I've heard funny. - Yeah. - Like, it should have been really funny. - Hmm. - What do I mean? - Yeah, and they kind of really lean into that. I've heard, they're like, it's not really story driven too much. It's just like another Deadpool movie, which I'm for. - Yeah, I will say though, with this one, there's definitely impactful story elements there that, and I'm not gonna spoil it obviously, but it has consequences moving forward, more so than the other Deadpool movies. - Well, let's see. Let's see, man. I'm looking forward to watching it. - What about you? - Myself. So I did get into, does that tell you, I played power one last week? - Yeah, you did, yeah. - Well, did I mention on the podcast? - I think so. - Or that you are about to play it, possibly. - Well, I started playing it. You know what, whenever I play the game, I just end up trying to work out where I want to set up shop, like set up a base, and then I just can't work it out, and I give up, like I just stop playing it. - I'm sensing a trend here, right? - Don't love-- - With the way you play games. - Pokemon or pets in games. - The only reason why I like power world is because you can more or less enslave them to work out, and then shoot them if they've been like a bit rowdy. It's mad, like there is nothing better than like going up to a Pokemon, I mean, a pal for battle, and then shooting me ahead with a rocket launcher. Welcome to the 21st century. That's great, great. - But, Jesus Christ. - Yeah, like 'cause of my computer, I've just rammed up, like I got 50 pals in per base, so there's like just a proper sweatshop going on. It's crazy, I love it. But anyway, I got a little sick of that after a while, and I jumped back into Magic the Gathering. - That's why you asked me about it. - I told you, you should get back, you should get into Magic the Gathering. If you like card games, there's no better card game, period. And yeah, it's just fun, it's fun, it's so expensive, but like, - That's my worry about it, that I'll be spending a little money. - It's so expensive, I'm filthy with how expensive it is. - Firey. - Yeah, and I've recently just gotten back into caves of Cud. - How's that going? - Mate, it is. It's one of those games that I love so much. It's in my top five, for sure. Again, of all time. It's one of those games that I'm reluctant to start, 'cause once it's start, I can't really stop. - Fair. - It's like, it's the perfect game to either put 20 minutes into or 10 hours. And it's one of those games, it's turn-based, so at any time you can just stand up and walk off, and I love those sort of games. If there's just so much to do, I cannot express how open and freeing the game is. - Okay. - But every enemy, every NPC you see in the map is a player like you. It's like they have health, arms, limbs, exactly like your character does. - Yeah. - In a lot of games, you've got to an NPC, but they're not coded to be like your character. There are certain things that won't work on them or yada yada yada. In this game, everything is as you see. You can literally transfer your brain from your body into an NPC's body and kill your old body and become somebody else. Like with their reputations, with their mutations, with their bionics, like it's wild, but the freedom you get in the game. And it's really cool, really cool. It's not for everybody, but it's for me. - It's interesting that you're starting to play it at the start of your fire cam. Could it not be distracting? - Well, no, not really, 'cause I played so many games anyway, 'cause yeah, I got a, you know, I'll leave it for another episode. But in terms of watching, I don't know what I've been watching. I've been watching St. Kria. - St. Kria. - Yeah, it's like a romancy anime about a dude who just like froth some zombies. - I'm dying love, is that the one? - Yeah, that's it. And it's not bad. I thought it was better the first time I watched it. This is the second time I watched it 'cause I don't remember a thing about it. - It's all right, it's all right. Like, I'll give it a seven out of 10. So if you wanna watch that. - Some of these images that I'm seeing from this anime role. - It's a little fanart-y, you know? - Fan-servacy? - It's a little, it's a little, you know, it's for the men of culture, but, but it's nothing, it doesn't cross any lines, I don't think. - Fair enough, fair enough. - Yeah, otherwise, that's about it. - That's right. And for the final segment, as always, view our questions. If you have any questions for Robin, myself, please let us know in the comments below. Best way to leave questions for the podcast is in the comments section of the previous episode. That's usually where we get most of the questions from, unless we need to go back further. But the first question is from @JafarHassan6164, who I believe is a member on the channel, so thank you for becoming a member. Have you thought you guys, wait, have you guys put any thought on what you would do for a 50th episode special? A guest segment, a live stream, thank you guys. Rob, we are getting very close to 50 episodes. - Is 50 episodes like a milestone? - I would say it is. - Is it? - Half a century, yeah? - Is it? - I mean, look, it is for us, 'cause sometimes we're not consistent. So getting to 50 episodes, I'd say is a big deal. - Hey, I'll try my best, dude. - I'm not saying, it's me as well. - I'll be back here. - That was a back here, come on, man. - I said we, I didn't say you. Don't put words in the moment. - Yeah. - I don't know. We haven't given any thought. - I think I will live stream. - I think the question was, have you put any thought? No. - Yeah, we haven't put any thought into it, yeah. - But I think we will now. I don't know how to do it. - Because like, if we do an episode next week, that's number 48, hopefully we can do 49 after UFC Perth. So we're talking like potentially late August, early September for the 50th episode. So we've got time to think about it. - Yep, yep, yep, yep. - We've got time. - Yeah. - Next question is from @duckheadlessquestionforrob. Which did you like less fighting on tough or coaching tough? - Oh, that is, that is, that is a hard question 'cause both suck so bad. (laughing) I hated it so much. (laughing) Probably fighting on tough just because like, I had no movement, like I had no freedom. I couldn't do anything. Whereas like, even when I was coaching tough, I could still go out to, you know, in and out the guy. (laughing) Which I did, which is why I was so far. But yeah, probably definitely, definitely fighting on tough or worse. But that went back so bad. - Yeah. Well, next question is from @brunobabosuff4457. Question for Johnny. What are your thoughts on Dana removing the bonus increases and making fights at 5 a.m. in the host country? I feel like that was the main cause of the card not being good and it's a bit disrespectful to UK fans. Not directing this question at Rob since he's in the UFC. So I'll answer this, Rob. If you have anything to say what I say, feel free to jump in. About the bonus increases, I would like to see as a standard, the bonuses go to 100K. Dana was like, thank people on this card for the bonuses not ever being increased again. It feels like he's just gonna stay at 50K. I don't know how I feel about that. I would like to see it increase. And we still had good moments on that card. Aspen oil, for instance. I thought Patty Pimba looked really good. And he deservedly got the 200K. So in terms of 5 a.m., Rob, you wear used to it as Aussies. In terms of any world event, whether it's like the Euros or the Olympics, everything takes place at like 1 a.m., 2 a.m., 3 a.m., 4 a.m. So I guess wear a little bit used to it. The one thing that I will say is that that card being 5 a.m. was beneficial for us in Australia 'cause it's great time on a Sunday. Sunday morning, we get to watch a card and it's prime time for us. If it was at a more realistic time for the UK, it would probably be at a bad time for Australia. So as an Aussie MMA fan, I didn't mind it. But I understand why UK fans were upset with that. It's even the case with Perth Rob that I think our card starts at like USC 305, starts at 6 a.m., 7 a.m., it's just the way that it goes. - Yeah, yep. And I've mentioned last episode, my opinions on the bonuses, but what I'd like to see with them. But in terms of, it's always been like that. It's just the part of doing business. It's like, if you work in the city, complaining about the commute in, it's you work in the city. You know what I mean? - Can I say this as well, all right? I love the fact that there were increased bonuses because the fighters were getting paid more. But there's another way you can look at it. I felt bad for people and fighters like you that if there were no fault your own, you weren't on those cards that got the increased bonuses. So you didn't have any opportunity to receive that. Either, in my opinion, keep it the same, but I would like to see it higher, but don't have one lower and one higher, and then fight as a disadvantage because they don't have the opportunity to be on that card. You know what I mean? - Yeah, and I'm gonna be, and I'm not like, it's five a.m., I'm not like, oh, you gotta do what you gotta do. Like I've never done it before. I've fought plenty of times at awkward hours, especially, and I've got one coming up in Abu Dhabi because numbered cards, pay-per-view events are always prime time US. - Yeah. - So Abu Dhabi's gonna be like a two a.m. card set. Like it's gonna be wild. So I understand, and I've done it before. It's not my first time, I've done it before. - Yeah. - But it is what it is. It's like, I found it hard fighting at normal time. Like at midnight, like it's too late for me. I'm an earlierizer now, so you know. - So you would probably prefer to be fighting on like a USC three or five in Perth, 'cause you'd probably be fighting at like 11 a.m. - Two would do, yeah, definitely. That's like perfect time for me. Even the Abu Dhabi card, I don't mind. I'll just get a bit early. (laughs) - Yeah. Next question is from @aster2935. Do you guys agree that a challenger must thoroughly beat a champion and not just scrape by on points in a close fight there by proving they are a worthy champion? Personally, I'm in two minds about this. I'd like to see a clear cut title defense or loss, but I also think that a loss is a loss even if by the slimmers of margin. Your thoughts. - Hmm, right mate, it's just another fight. A loss is a loss. I think you roll the dice whenever you leave it to the judges. - Yeah. I never liked that whole thing about how, you know, you've got to thoroughly beat a champion to become the champion, because that just sets a different standard to normal fights. And in my mind, that's not right. If it's a slim victory and you still beat the champion, then you beat the champion, right? And I'll say this is the fight that I always go back to. It's trickers against Sean, right? Trickers one, very, very close fight. But that doesn't mean trickers doesn't deserve the title. It doesn't need to be more convincing than a normal win. That never made sense to me. So yeah, I like to see it as a normal fight as well. And final question at slice shade 31. Question for you both. Which rugby league team do you support? I recently got into the sport and want to learn more. The NIRL is really cool. Thank you both for this podcast and I can't wait for Rob to reclaim his throne. That's a nice guy. Rob. So we've been working a lot with the Bulldogs this year. So yeah, that's the team I'm in the corner for at the moment. I grew up a bunnies man, but we're working with the Bulldogs this year. And that's it. I didn't even realize, I knew that you were a doggy supporter and I support the Canva Raiders. You guys just beat us in the weekend. And now we're probably not going to get into the finals. So I'm sad. I'm a little sad. But I'm also used to the Raiders not making the top eight. See, that's sad. Look, we have good years and then we have bad years. That's 10 out. I think we're not making the top eight this time around, in my opinion. But that's it. That was episode 47 of the M.M. Arcade podcast. Thank you to everyone for watching or listening until the end. Rob, as always, do you have any closing thoughts for the episode? Yep, I just want to say thank you again to all our listeners and viewers. Yeah, you guys are the wind beneath my wings. Please sub, tell your friends about it. I'll see you next week. - See you next week. - See you next week.