MMArcade Podcast
Rob Whittaker PREDICTS Dricus Du Plessis vs Israel Adesanya! UFC 305 | MMArcade Podcast (Episode 48)
what has gone on everyone it's Robin Johnny welcome to episode 48 of the MM Arcade podcast it is a big week for us here in Australia when it comes to the UFC I'm excited bro I'm very I am you know I was more excited when I could have gone I'm sure you're you're feeling the energy now just wait till you get there I'm sure it'll take take over a bit but you know what I'm so excited it's such such a banger card for Australian fans and Australian athletes on the on the weekend it's what do you know what time it is because I know it's in Perth it's through Perth 3 hours behind or ahead of us so in terms of the actual card it starts at like 5 30 am 6 am Perth time okay and then and in Sydney I think that's two hours so technically it's like 7 a.m. ish 7 30 am ish in Sydney so yeah not so bad not so bad you know what it's not as bad as the Manchester card for UK fans so hold on is that is that the main card start you said no I think that you know I'm just going to look it up because I'm probably going to get wrong okay so well at the times are all weird men okay so apparently the main card this isn't right so the main card 12 p.m. Sydney time so that's for you right but for me and everyone else in Perth it'll be 10 a.m. I think yeah yeah I remember when I watched bulk fight that time over there yeah with something along those lines yeah I'm excited man I've like prepped everything all the equipment is ready to go and like I kind of know what my schedule is now as well so I'm pretty excited by the way I did post in the community tab if any of you have any questions that you'd like me to ask the fighters you know whether it's at the press conferences or potentially fingers crossed any interviews I can do let us know in the comments below and I'll try and ask as many of them as possible and good questions I'm not going to ask how is it like to find Australia those questions are going to be probably asked by someone else anyway so let us know what you think of the gods below you just got to keep it classy Johnny you got to keep it classy I'm going to keep dude look at me I think I'm a professional I'm not going to be an idiot I've seen some of those like tik tok is and what not they'll ask questions at UFC pro conferences or especially the influence of boxing events it just goes crazy man yeah it is ridiculous it takes I don't know I hate it I hate it not only for the sport but I hate it for the athletes I've been victim to those questions before you know you know like nowadays I don't mind because I've got to a point where I can handle them quite well and you know I find them funny if anything you know I can turn it around and make it funnier and become a joke between us but I feel for like the new guys that aren't quite as experienced on the microphone or any of you and they kind of get stumped and then they get put into a funny position and then answer a silly way that they generally you know wouldn't say if they had been given the time to think about it so yeah I don't know And a big part of the issue is that everything is now you know clippable in a 10 second up to 60 second clip everything's going on tik tok or instagram so one small thing that you say more so than ever is probably going to be taken out of context so yeah you do have to be careful but I I'm going to ask very fair very good questions hopefully if I get the opportunity to because I still don't know like if I'm going to be able to get as many opportunities you know with interviews and what not but I am very excited I can't wait this is going to be my first UFC card as well So I am stoked. I'm sure you'll do us proud and it's a mad card to Cherry and speaking of let's talk about it so UFC 305 we're going to be doing our breakdown slash predictions today let's start off with the main event for the middleweight title Drickis II plus C against Israel out of Sanja of course Frickis with the title 21 wins two losses recently coming off a let's call it a close controversial win against Strickland to win the title or to obtain the title Israel out of Sanja coming off a bit of a I don't know what you would call it how long has he not fought for 11 months or so it's it's not been crazy long very hard to say but I did I did remember him saying that he would be back to like 2028 Remember that I think it was joking when he said that but he hasn't fought in a little bit since the loss of Sean Strickland when he lost the title obviously before that he beat Alex Pereira to win the title prior to that he lost a Pereira So he's had a couple of losses in his recent fights now but he is coming back Rob you are by far the expert in the room when it comes to talking about both of these fighters probably most in the world next to someone like Sean Strickland so I'll let you take this one Break down this fight for us and give us your thoughts Yeah I guess I'll start with it's very hard to put a hard pick on either one of them and I mentioned last week I don't want to do that anymore Fair enough Although for Unibet I still give picks so if you want a hard pick go to Unibet you can find them there But I'll say all we can look at is historically like the previous fights, Strickas, his last fight against Strickland, right? He moved forward, he put pressure on Strickland didn't let Strickland do that to him, shut his game down, was very aggressive, crowded that space didn't let Strickland really find the rhythm that he likes to fight in And come away with the decision win, okay? Strickland prior to that fight for Anasanya did exactly that to Israel pushed into his space didn't allow Anasanya to utilize that dangerous space that he likes fighting him Didn't, he crowded him to a point where he didn't let him have any free distancing from the fence so that he could move away and be evasive because he loves fighting like that, he's very tall, he fights very tall and he likes countering like that He slips back, he leans back, a lot of weight on that rear leg to get away from the punch and the strikes, moves out, circles out, Strickland, close that gap, crowded that space He kept Anasanya's back to the fence for 90% of the fight and beat Anasanya by decision win, okay? So this fight, Drickis vs Israel, we have to look at it and think Drickis was able to do that, obviously Styles make fights but Drickis was able to push that plan against Strickland, that Strickland was able to push against Anasanya So you would have to think, Drickis is going to push that same plan, the same motive on Anasanya And I guess the million dollar question is, is he done in his layoff since the Strickland fight to make sure that doesn't happen again, because you can bet your bottom dollar, Drickis is going to push into that I am torn in a number of regards because I distinctly remember that Sean Strickland is our fight and you can't deny that Sean Strickland was on point that whole fight the entire night, right? But I do want to say that Izzy did look a little bit off and I think part of the reason is how active he was as a champion, he fought a lot, he was training a lot in and out of fight camps We often don't see that active of a champion nowadays at least anyways, so it felt like he was just exhausted, especially after those fights with Alex Pereira I want to say in part that that's what contributed to it, so now that he's recovered seemingly, he looks good, you know, not fighting for, let's say it was almost a year Do you think that's going to have a big factor when it comes to this fight, because I want to say that that was at least partly what contributed to him losing to Sean Strickland, not taking away from Strickland But Izzy just didn't look like himself maybe because of those factors Yeah, definitely, and credit to him, he was very active, you know, and those Pereira fights, the hype around them, the legacy behind them, the amount of everything that went into those two fights was massive Massive, massive, massive, you know, and I can understand they burn out from that Now, I'll say, okay, so if we're talking about Izzy's last performance was kind of like a psychological thing, like a mental kind of burger of exhaustion, then we have to look at it like, so Izzy's pretty good at coming back from that Alright, so he lost the first time against Pereira, I expected that kind of that hold mentally that Pereira had on him in that second fight was nowhere to be seen, Izzy came out with a great win, despite that I saw him recover from that very well, then he has a loss to Strickland, which, you know, even if he mentally was burnt out, whatever that affects you, I've had that sort of fight, not saying that he had that sort of fight, but I've had that sort of fight And I understand how it makes you question yourself, it makes you question your ability to rise to the occasion, when your mind and body lets you down, what else can you trust, what can you trust, you lose trust and faith in a lot of different things But I came back from that, Izzy's obviously has a record of coming back from mentally gripping things, so you would assume he's going to come back better than ever, recharge, refresh, but I'm sure it's going to be there I would say that that comparison to Izzy's rematch with Alex is a really poignant one, and that win, that knockout has aged like fine wine, you know, since then, since we've seen what Alex Pereira has done I want to ask you this, currently, Israel is the favourite to win, when it comes to at least Australian dollars, this is not US terms, but Australian betting sites have Israel at $1.71 and Druck is at $2.14 Do you think that's fair, that Israel is the favourite? Yes, in terms of the punters, you've got to look at the track record, you've got to look at the history, but if I had to make a pick, I would say there's a 50% chance, this is my confidence here Yeah, I'm sitting on the fence, but I mean it, there's 50-50 odds, that's how much I think either one could sway, right? I think there's a 50% chance, Izzy kind of keeps him at the end of his jab, utilises that spacing, doesn't get his back put against the fence Defend some takedown, but ultimately wins by decision, I also think there's a 50% chance, Druck is what he did to Strickland, pushes into that space, takes him down, wears him out, turns into a dogfight, doesn't get a finish, but drags it out to the point where he is still the remaining champion 50-50, my money's on those two results, kind of methods of winning, can I be wrong? Yeah, have I been wrong? More often than not, but that's where I sit, if I had to strike a wager, one of those are going to happen, flip a coin Yeah, so you don't see this ending in a knockout or a TKO or anything like that, or a submission maybe? I find it hard, like Izzy's very elusive, you know, and he's got chin, he's elusive, he's harder hit, and he's good at holding on And Druck is, I haven't really seen Druck is get hurt much, you know, he's a tough dude, he's a very, very tough dude, got a lot of chin, hard to put that down Do you think people still underestimate, and this is crazy to say, in some people's eyes, I know this because he is the champion, but I still feel like there are people out there that do underestimate Druck is, especially given the controversial nature of the Sean Strickland win People, a lot of people thought that Sean won that fight, but do you think that people are underestimating him, especially when it comes to the betting odds, and a lot of the predictions that other people are giving, because the dude, yes, he's a bit awkward looking, but he's very powerful, he does have a grappling, he does have a submission game, do you think people are underestimating him? Yeah, to a degree, I was victim of that, right, like he's an awkward looking dude man, he fights really awkward, even when you're in there with him, I thought it was awkward, I felt like he was slow and cumbersome, you know, and then he punched me in the face So, you know, that might be one of his greatest weapons, just to fly on the radar, to make people think he's not up the scuff and then you get in there with him and he beats you, but that's the end of the good talking points about those two guys, screw those guys That's as far as I'm going, I've done enough, oh, that was impressive, that was like 10 minutes or so, if you don't want to give a prediction, I'm personally going to give mine, I do think that, this is hard man, this is as you said 50/50 But I think Drickis is a little younger, not saying that Israel is old, right, but Drickis is a little younger, I feel like he's hungrier, I feel like there's a bit of personal beef between the two, and I think Drickis feels like he has, I don't know, both of them feel like a little bit to have a chip on that shoulder But I think his awkwardness, even though it's awkward, he uses it to his advantage, he's very powerful, he does have the grappling game that he can utilize, I think it's going to get it done, as you said, probably via submission, I don't see him knocking Unless easy can utilize his counter punching, the way I see easy winning is maybe via knockout, so either, I want to say Drickis via decision, and that's what I want to stick with, are you sticking on the fence, are you not going to give a firm prediction either way? You don't have to, I'm not pressuring you. Probably Drickis by decision, probably, I don't know. It's really hard, it is really hard, and look, I'm not going to say that it's a home ground advantage, but it's Perth, there's a lot of Kiwis there, there's going to be a lot of Kiwis showing up in droves to support Israel. No, that didn't happen when he was shorn in Australia, everyone was supporting shod. In Africa's not far, man, in Perth, you could have a few of them flying across, you're right. You'll have a heap, trust me. This is a hard one, let us know what you think in the comments below, but very excited for this fight, another fight that I'm personally very excited for is Ky Carter France against Steve Ersek, Flyway Fight, Karakar France, 24 wins, 11 losses recently, he has had a couple of losses against Emir Al-Bazi, Brandon Moreno, but before that he did beat Asgar Asgarov and Cody Garbrandt. Steve Ersek, 12 wins, two losses, he recently did lose against Pantoja, was a very close fight, but before that he cayered Matt Schnell, he beat Alessandro Costa, so he did get a very quick title shot, but because of the weirdness of that division at the time, people were injured, and then Pantoja's ready for everyone, so he did get a very quick title opportunity, however, I thought he performed very, very well, but he still did lose. What is your take on this fight? Yeah, mate, it was through the wire, honestly, Steve almost became the next champ after three fights, it was wicked. This fight moved forward, Ky, he's a very, very powerful effective striker, very powerful, like I find it hard to bet against him in this division, except for when he's fighting Steve. I think Steve, I think he's got the defensive capabilities to nullify Ky's power, but also he's got kind of got that peppery, what, volume type of boxing, crisp boxing, that'll give Ky a bit of trouble. And I think Steve is easily as well ground as Ky, if not more, especially in the last couple fights, especially in that last fight, that last showing of Steve, he highlighted just how high his skill level is across wrestling, grappling, striking. So, I think, yeah, done, like I'm going to back Steve, I think Steve gets it done, I do think he just our volumes Ky, I think Ky, like, even if Steve gets hit because Steve took some massive shots from Pantoja and still had the chin to hold those. I think I think he can get it done, I think he gets it done on his feet. Yeah, I'm going to go decision, I'm going to go decision win by Steve. I was so bummed for Steve at the end of that Pantoja fight because I think it came down from memory, correct me if I'm wrong, it was the last round and he decided to try and wrestle and grapple with Pantoja and I think that's exactly what cost him, because if he just kept staying on his feet, kept boxing against Pantoja and he was doing so well with that. I think he could have gone on to win that round and if he did win that fifth round, he would have won the fight, he would have been the champion, he was so close and in fact, a lot of people did say that they believe Steve also won. I don't believe that, from memory, because he decided to grapple with him, I think he lost that fight, but he did so phenomenally well, you make a good point, these guys are both very well rounded. I just don't know after those two losses, if Kaikai of France is going to be able to get one over on Steve Versig, and I got to support the Aussie, I think he's going to be a champion one day, genuinely I do. I think you're right, I am going to go with Steve Versig as well, I think his boxing is going to be a little bit too much, and I think he gets it done by decision as well. Is this a five rounder by the way, or is this a three rounder? I'm not too sure, but I have noticed that they're putting a lot of non-main events, five rounds nowadays. I mean, your fight will come up, right? Yeah, dude, don't remind me. That favors you, if anything. I'll just start at the camp, man, it is a nightmare. Yeah, it says this is the co-main, but I can't find anywhere if this is the bloody, if it's five rounds or not. But would that favor Steve, you think, if it was five rounds? Hmm, I'd just say those flyways can go forever. Yeah, both of them. You know what I'm eating. Kyle has had experience in that regard as well. I'm going to say, yes? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can't find anything. I'm going to assume this is five rounds. I literally cannot find this confirmed anywhere. Let us know in the comments. So you're sticking with Steve Versig. Yep. Yeah. Same as well, but this is going to be a really good fight. Kiwi against Aussie in Perth. I think it's going to be frickin' awesome. Let's see what happens with that. And look, there's a good argument that if either like whoever wins, they're probably pretty close to a title shot. Just given the weirdness of that, of that division. Even if it is Steve, because it was such a close fight against Bentoja. I have a feeling that, let's say, like, Kai, perhaps, I reckon if Kai wins, he gets title shot. But I think if Steve wins, they put him up against Moreno. That's fair. That's fair. Who else do we have? They won't give him another title fight. So close. That's true. Probably like, they'll probably put like, Tatsura or Tyra in there before Steve, just because Steve has lost against Bentoja. Who the hell is Bentoja fighting next? Honestly. I don't know. He told... Yeah, maybe he told every... I don't remember him mentioning that. He just wanted to, like, see the division punch on a little bit. Fair enough. Fair. Fair. Why has there been no talk of him moving up in wait and trying to fight someone like Sean O'Malley? Do they not want to see that? Because, like, if you look at it, just on paper, this is the perfect time for someone like him to move up and wait and try and become a double champion. Not saying that I want that, but I don't know why there haven't been any talks about it yet. There's talks about every other champion door. It's hard. Yeah. There's too many things to mention. Like, I don't think, like, they... Sean's a money fighter. True. Sean is just a cash cow. So whoever they put against Sean, they want to make the most amount of exposure money they can. Okay? That's fair. He can fight a lot of people for a lot of cash. Two... I don't know if, like, they want to move Pantoja into that light yet. You know, I don't... I'm not at the board meetings, but I don't know if they've got the mind map of, like, what they're doing with him. Yeah. I mean, three, I think he's a bad matchup for, like... He's a great matchup for Sean. Sean's a bad matchup for him. Terrible matchup. Yeah. And in terms of money fights, Sean versus Elia, obviously, if they keep their titles, that would probably be the better fight they make, as opposed to Sean versus Pantoja. Especially if Elia beats Holloway. I'm so excited for that fight, dude. I cannot wait. That's crazy. That fight will mix up so much. That genuinely, and it's hard to compare anything to USC 300, but I reckon that would be behind... Just behind USC 300 for the best card of the year. But yeah. Steve Hersey, Kyker of France. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Next, we have a bit of a... It was a later addition to the card. Mattel's Gamarat against Dan Hooker. Gamarat, 24 wins, two losses. This dude has so many... He has barely any losses, so many good wins to get some top ranked fighters. He should be close. I know it's lightweight, and there's a bunch of killers in that division. But if there's anyone that should be close to a title opportunity, it should be him, especially if he beats Dan Hooker. So Gamarat, he beat Rafael dos Annuals. He did beat Fizziv, but he had a knee injury in that fight where Fizziv, I think Fizziv won the first round. But Gamarat was looking to win that second round before that injury. Before that, he did beat Jalen Turner. It was a split decision, lost to Dariush, but also beat... He beat Armand Sarukian. Let's not forget about that. Dan Hooker, 23 wins, 12 losses. Recently, he also beat Jalen Turner via split decision. Before that, lost to Arnold Allen. And before that, I saw Maharshev. So very interesting fight, lightweight fight. Rob, what's your take down? No, take down. Break down. I am so happy to see Dan Hooker getting this fight. I think this is one of those risky fights for Gamarat because... I don't think he's got a ton to gain from beating Hooker as he would other people. Because where's Hooker ranked at the moment? I've got a right here. I think Hooker is a nightmare of a fight for anybody in the division. He's fought guys that can wrestle before and he has pieced him up. He's so good at timing those knees down the middle, utilizing that space. But I'm also happy for Dan because he's had a bit of a tumultuous few fights. And that last fight wasn't a barn burner to see. But to see him because him beating Gamarat puts him straight back in that top five sort of conversation area. 100%. And that's what I want to see him. And just because I'm a bit of a fan, I like that guy. I like that guy. I think it's going to be one of Dan's harder to date tests. Gamarat, man, he's an animal. There's a reason why he's been running through people the way he has been. But third party intervention. That's true. Look, Dan Hooker, he has a fantastic takedown defense when it comes to his takedowns. I think it's like 80% defense rate when it comes to takedowns, which is fantastic. So I think he will be snuffing Gamarat's takedowns for a lot of the fight. But this is the thing that worries me. And like, so everyone knows, Gamarat is actually the heavy favorite to win that. And I think it is fair. The reason why I'm a little worried for Dan is that we just saw it in the Corey Sanhagen and the Umana Mega Metal fight. Right. Sanhagen did phenomenally well defending the takedowns, stuffing them. I don't know how many Umana actually pulled off, but he couldn't succeed with a lot of them. But I think he was so focused on defending the takedowns, whether it was in the fight camper in the actual fight, that on the feet, he got, he got pieced up. Like Uma was the better striker on the night. I'm getting these weird feelings. I'm nervous that this is going to end up in a similar way. Gamarat's going to be spamming the takedowns. And Dan Hooker's going to try and defend as many of them as possible. And I worry that he might not do as well on the feet with his hands. That could be a crazy take. But I'm just getting very, very nervous for Dan because you know that Gamarat's going to just be spamming takedowns. His pressure is going to be insane. And is that going to tire Dan? Is he going to be able to utilize those knees down the middle? As you said, I don't know, man. I'm really worried for him being a Dan fan as well. Hmm. Of, you know, like, of everyone. Like, whole roster. I reckon one of the sketches dudes to shoot on is Hooker. Yeah. But with your Gamarat, he's a dog dude. He's not going to start. Oh, it just looks dangerous to shoot on him. Yeah. I don't know. But it's not my game, so. Fair. Fair. If you were to give a prediction, what do you reckon? You know, you know what? Being the end of it as well, my good way to pump up that multi. I'm going to go Hooker. Let's go. I'm going to have to go with Gamarat. Like, I think Gamarat. You buddy would. Look, man. First of all, if Hooker was Aussie, I'd support him, right? But he's keenly. That's a step removed. Nah, nah, nah, nah. I'm Kiwi. I'm not Kiwi. So I have no strict ties to him, aside from the fact that they're our neighbors. So. You look it. Do I? Well, it's that. Yeah. But I reckon Gamarat is going to take this. I think he's the favorite for a reason. And I think that puts him in a really good position because I'm looking at the rankings now as Poirier above him and Poirier just lost, right? There's Justin Gaichy, who just lost. There's Charles Lavera, who just lost. So the only guy above him is Armin Surikian, who he beat. I know that it was a controversial fight for memory, who he beat. He's probably in line to fight Isamahajev next after his hand injury. Who? Maybe Gamarat gets the title opportunity. That's all I'm saying. He was the backup fighter at one stage. Yep. It's crazy things have happened in the UFC. I can also say them feeding him to like a Poirier or a Gaichy. Probably. Well, he has a lot of wins in that division. Like probably he fights. The top five is so, so death row. It's mad. It is. But did you see the logic when you have literally Poirier, Gaichy, and Olivera all coming off of losses. And after this, where does that pull Gamarat in the rankings? Like he possibly moves up. No, I don't know. But if you beat number 11, does that move you up from five to even four? That's a really hard one to say. No, it doesn't. No. Look, at the very least, it's arming against Islam. Sorry. And then we see what happens after that. But let us know your predictions in the comments below. Next up is, here's going to be a fun fight. Tight to Evast against Josigno. Rosenstruck. To Evast, our 14 win seven losses. He knocked out Derek Lewis, but he lost a gun. He lost a Pavlovitch. He did lose to Volkov and Tybura. Those last two losses were submission. I think he was the one that said, thank God, I'm not fighting a wrestler now. So I think he's very happy with this fight. Josigno Rosenstruck, 14 wins five losses. He did beat Shamil Gaziev by TKO. Lost to Almeida by submission. He beat Chris Dachau, lost to Volkov, also lost to Chris Blight. Oh, Curtis Blight, sorry. What do you think of this one wrong? I think this is an excellent fight for Ty to get back. Like to get out of this slump, shake off the dust. And just get back in that winning circle. Get back into that top 10, top five conversation. Because it's going to be a fight fight. I just pray that Ty keeps his composure, doesn't turn it into a brawl. And fights to his capability. Because he's an outstanding fighter. Like I've mentioned it before, like a couple of years ago, I picked him to be fighting for the title. Because the ceiling for him is huge. Okay. Rosenstruck's a heavy striker. He's got heavy hands. If Ty keeps it clean, utilises his kicks and doesn't turn it into a brawl, doesn't give Rosenstruck the opening in the hole that he wants. I think he knocked him out. I think he TKOs Rosenstruck within two. I am also leaning towards Ty. Even though Ty is not the favourite, he's the underdog heading into this. I think Ty... Another great tip. Yeah. Look, I think Ty has slightly more knockout power than Rosenstruck. Rosenstruck is a little bit more technical. I think Ty can get it done. I'm going to say this fight ends in the first round, personally. And I think either guy is getting knocked out. I'm just leaning more towards Ty because, again, he's going to have the fans behind him. Everyone's going to be supporting him. I think he knows how important this fight is. I'm going to go with Ty to knock Rosenstruck out. I think that's a fair one. You're also within two. Within two? All right. And I think that's it. There was another fight on the main card. I think it was Lee Jingliang against Carlos Protes. I'm not too familiar with Carlos Protes. I've lost a couple of his fights, but Lee Jingliang, good to see him back. He hasn't fought in a little bit. Do you have a quick prediction for this one? He hasn't fought since 2022. That's crazy. And he lost against Daniel Rodriguez. D-rope. You have to wait and see. You have to wait and see. But that is UFC 305. As always, we'd love to hear your predictions, your thoughts in the comments below. Next up, we've got some game news. And again, by far, the biggest topic of the week was the new Borderlands movie. Have you ever played the Borderlands games at a curiosity? I did play Borderlands 3, maybe. Yeah. Probably not the best one for you to pick up. It was good. It wasn't as good. It was all right. I don't love the slapstick comedy a bit. Yeah. It kind of takes away the seriousness and immersion for me. It was like growing up, I think I played Borderlands 1 and 2 when I was a teenager. So at that time, it didn't seem as cringe. And I just enjoyed playing this, you know, looter shooter with friends. But then as you get a little bit older, yeah, the comedy does wear on you a little bit. And that's kind of related to this new movie that has come out. So there's a Borderlands movie and terrible reviews, 10% rating on Ron Tomatoes for the critic, 51% audience. It feels like they completely bummed with this. I don't know, man. It's the biggest news and it crushes me because I love Borderlands so much. I still haven't watched the movie, but it's like they just completely messed it up. The casting, I've said this for a while, was wrong for the most part. It wasn't even an R18 film. It wasn't a retelling of the games. I didn't really say too faithful to the games from what I hear. I'm just sad about it. I'm sad about it. We should watch it, Rob. I think I'm like, no way. No way. I haven't watched movies and ages, but I'm not going to start with that. I don't think I love the story in Borderlands 3 anyway. I just love leveling up a character and getting stronger. I don't know. How do you feel about video game adaptations in general? Not for it. I find that it is so hard. Just like the Witcher show. That's another rough one. I just feel like you cannot portray a game with the story of that caliber with real life humans. I will say though, Fallout TV show, phenomenal. I've told you this and you haven't watched it. I bet you haven't. The Super Mario animated movie was also pretty fun. That was so good. There you go. That was a great one. Obviously, there's been all this history of video game adaptations typically being bad. It was animated though. It was animated. That does make a difference. Before that, there's always been a bit of a bad reputation with video game adaptations. Then I felt like we were on a good run. We had Super Mario. I thought the new Mortal Kombat was pretty fun. You know what? The Last of Us, the TV show. The Last of Us was good. I know a lot of people didn't like that, but I thought it was really great. But then, I don't know, this borderline movie felt like it's just taking everything back down again. Mate, you win some, you lose some. Yeah, they could have done a better job. There are bomb movies all the time. Yeah, that's true. There are. Do you know what I just watched? We'll talk about it in the next section. We're watching, playing and reading. Have you been up to much in this past week? Tell me. Tell me. You can't just segue into it. I wish I could tell me. Have you watched Oppenheimen yet? No. It's like genuinely fantastic. What is it? So Oppenheimen is about Oppenheimen, a famous scientist. He was the one that was involved developing the H bomb that landed on Japan. It was a fascinating movie. Like, I thought the actors that they picked were top class. The way that they told the story was fascinating. I'm generally like a huge fan of science and especially astronomy. And there was aspects of that, like how stars die and everything. But the way they told that story and the aftermath of it especially with like him trying to campaign against arms control and everything. It was great. It's hard to say I don't want to spoil it because it is pretty much history. I know they take some liberties with the story, but you should watch it. It's phenomenal man. Yep. I'll put it in the list. All right. All right. And you know what I started recently? What? Dragon Age Inquisition. Absolutely. Yeah. Not origins. I know you said to go back to the original, but here's the funny thing. So I started Inquisition because it's on my PS5. I can play it on the TV. It was just easier. I tried to muck around with Nvidia GeForce now to see if I could stream it. But origins isn't there. Inquisition's only there. So I just played acquisitions. And even that game, I know it's a little bit older now. Even Inquisition feels a little dated. It feels a little rough around the edges. But I'm trying to like book my 10 year how to go on. I mean, like just trying to think that this is a bit of an older game and enjoy it for what it is. So even though the controls are a little bit funny, the frame rate is a little bit lower times. I've only got like 10 hours into it so far, but I'm enjoying it. Yeah. It like reminds me of Dragon's Dogment II, you know, being in a party and going around and fighting enemies. A little bit. A little bit. I just feel like the story is what drives it. But Inquisition ended up pissing me off like when they, there's too many fetch quests collection and there are a lot. Yeah, there are a lot. It burnt me out. It burnt me out because I can't not do a quest. But doing them was like and like just doing them was such a time sink. And that's why they put in there. They just wanted you to waste time and it just, it really upset me. There are a lot. Like I noticed that straight away. As soon as you go to the Hinterland, it's like get this many camps and close this many riffs and all of them. It burnt me out. It's fine. I never finished it. It's fine. Oh, you never finished it? No, burnt me out. Are you planning on finishing up before Valkard? Are you going to play Valkard? Is it called Valkard? I don't know. I don't know. The game burnt me out so hard that I'm thinking about just closing the door. You know, just closing the page. No more Dragon Age. Maybe. Maybe. That's how much those quests burnt me out. You just didn't have to do them. Just play the main story. Yeah, but some of them were like, if you didn't do them, affected map related quests. And it annoyed me because little things like that affect the story. And the stories was the biggest driving force behind the entire series for me anyway. So you loved origins. Did you like two as much as well? I did. I did. It was very different origins and it didn't get a lot of love. I didn't get the same feedback, but I liked it. I didn't like the classes as much or the combat as much, but. Yeah. It was cool. It was cool. Not as good as origins, but good. Would you see now it's going to be hard for you to just like, if Valkard came out and it's really good to try and give that a go. I don't know. I say that. And I haven't played origins. I haven't played two. So I thought jumping into acquisition was fine. Like, I just watched this awesome YouTube video. They gave me a bit of a layout as to the lore and all that. So I understand everything a bit more now. But I know there's a lot of history with what happened in two and with origins, but. And the characters, mate. It's crazy. It's crazy. Is it really that crazy? Mate, it is. Probably one of the better stories across games that I've played because. That's crazy. You have such lasting impacts. Like what you did in origins, like repercussions pop up in inquisitions. It's like there's characters that pop up. It is wild. How do they... Because I'm technically playing the default world state. So when I play Valkard, I assume that I can either pick the default world state or drag across everything. Is that meant to be like what's considered canon, the default law state? I don't know how it works. I don't know. I think it's a game, canon's what you make it right? True. It's canon to you. But yeah, that's what I've been doing. That's what I watched. What about you, man? It's cool. Yeah, you enjoying it. I am. As I said, I have to get over the fact that it's a bit older now. The mechanics are a little bit dated. It's a bit rough around the edges. But I can see past that. I'm not going to be one of those guys. It's like, I can't play this. So if you push through that initial barrier, I think there's a lot of fun to be had. But as I said, I've only put in 10 hours. I just want to make sure that I finish it before the Vow God. Yeah. When does that come out? The Vow God. I don't know if there's a date, actually. Maybe September. I don't think there's a date yet. It just says 2024. You should give it a go, though, man. You should give Dragon Age a chance. We'll see. What have you been playing? You know, and I think, like, I hate having to install their browser. It's just me off as well. What's the... What browser did they use for that game? For eBay games? Play, or whatever. Yeah. Whatever that was. That pissed me off as well. I'm just like a grouchy old man here. You are being a grouchy old man. What's going on? What have I been doing? I've been... What have I been doing? I've been playing Magic, the gathering. Because, like, you sit there, get in the game, in and out within five, ten minutes. It's like... And it's fun. It's fun. Like, I'm just so tempted to start sinking cash into a dude, like, so tempted. Because, like, I look up decks online because I like... That's like looking them up. And then I see a deck that I like. And I see a cool synergy between cards, a cool combo with these decks. And it's just so cool that I want to try them out. But to try them out, it's like $150 every time, so... For a deck? Yeah. Because you need the blister packs. And you get wild cards, which help you craft the deck out of that. I'm sure there's a smarter way of doing it, but... That's so much. And that's not even the physical version. You're playing the game. Exactly. That's insane, bro. Yeah, but what? I don't know. Are you going to do it? It's magic. It's always been like that. You know, it's an expensive game. Fair enough. And it's funny. If you go into... I use it on Steam now. Like, this is the comments. It's just like, can't do it free. Got to spend money. Got to do this. Got to do that. Like, people are winching about it. It's like, dude, it's always been like that. It is such a sink. Such a sink. All right, dude. Like, if you want to play... Like, if you want to get super competitive. Because you can make decks that are just kind of like on with what you get. But it's a grind. It is a grind. That's scary, man. That's like, that's potential to spend a lot of money. You probably shouldn't. Yeah. I'll probably spend... I don't know. Like, I had like a real burst period back in 2020, maybe. Yeah. And then I had a big layoff. And then I've recently just got it. Probably spent maybe two grand in it. Maybe two and a half grand. Maybe. Maybe. Oh, that is insane. What are you talking about two grand? What are you talking about two grand? Maybe two grand. Maybe two. What? Two and a half too much. Probably two grand. Well, that's Aussie, though. For US listeners. That's two grand Aussies. I do the conversion. Yeah. Still over at grand US. That's insane, dude. Yeah. So, that's been fun. Geez. Thinking about getting back in here when shrouded. I've gotten a lot of updates later lately. Oh yeah. A lot of fun as well. That's a fun game. If you haven't played it in like some other games. It's good character building and stuff. It's a nice building. Probably one of the better base building games I've played. It's so nice to look at. And you can just get away with making things so cool. Yeah. I haven't been playing anything else. I jumped back into the rift with my buddies the other day. Yeah. So, I've been playing League of Legends a little bit. It's, I am so bad. I feel like I've aged 47 years. Because when fights happen, my delay, I'm so delayed at my response time. It's just not there. When there's too many flashing things going on the screen, I just freeze up there. I do nothing. It just died. Yeah. But it's fun. It's fun. It's more sort of. It's a game. It's fun, really. It's fun to play with my friend. But the games were of 0 and 10. Like, I'm just sitting there quiet for a good 30 minutes. Yeah. I'm through the game. I'm just trying my best. But yeah, that's about it. That's about it. I am watching the latest season of Anime. Still, I don't see anything here that's like too crazy. Oh. With Storia. Wand and Sword. That's pretty cool. It's not nothing groundbreaking, but it's pretty cool. Otherwise. That's it, mate. That's it. All right. All right. I got to ask you a question, by the way, because a few other comments have been about this. When are you going to play Shadow of Theo Tree? Are you ever going to play it? Yeah, dude, because I'm pretty pumped on my next character. I'm going to make a Boberian. But are you going to blitz, like, you know, Rodan and Moog and go straight to the DLC? Or are you going to do the whole game first and then the DLC? I'll do the game up until I can get to Rodan without failing any quests. All right. So, like, I'll go through the storyline properly up until you speak to old boy at the church. Yeah. And then I'll run through his quest line to get to the Red Palace where it was called. Yeah. And then I'll go from there. I don't know if I'll do the whole DLC first or not. I want to make a Boberian though. And a lot of my weapons come pre that I'm going to go goal and bow 90 strength. Oh, you know, and you know what, I'm going to, this time round, I'm going to play the game. So I'm not going to do any grinding, any grinding at all. I'm only going to spawn souls along the way and just keep myself low level. See what happens. So no palace ledge road grinding. Nothing. Nothing. Because I've got heaps of characters. Yeah. Super level like it. I'm just going to just a man and his bow. That's it. That's all. I'm so torn by how easy it is to grind in Elden Ring because the game's clearly designed like that. Like you go palace edge road every time you go to the site, it respawns the characters and they give you X amount of runes. They know, like, they know that's how the game works. They developed it to be like that and they never patched it out. It's just so easy to get runes. It's so easy to level up. Like, is it intentional? Is it okay for me to do it? I don't know. Yeah. They allow. It's a tool they've given you. I liked the system they had in Dark Souls 2. It's like, so after about 10 times you killed, if you kill the same enemy 10 times, it's not respawning. It was really cool. And the only way to get us to respawn was joining a covenant that made the enemies much harder. Wow. So, yeah, it is a really cool system. Dark Souls 2 had a lot of cool systems. Yeah. It makes sense. If you're going to New Game Plus constantly, I guess it does make sense that you're able to keep leveling and leveling and leveling. But I know, what is it? When you hit New Game Plus 7, what's the cap where it just gets, you know, it doesn't get any harder, but it's just ridiculous. Like, enemies are one-shotting you. I think it's... I think it's... Have you tried it? Have you tried ng+7? I don't like playing New Game Plus. Period. I don't go into New Game Plus ever. Fair. I think a lot of people started the DLC on New Game Plus and they got wrecked. There's been a lot of patches. Apparently, they nerfed it pretty hard. New Game Plus or the DLC? Yeah, the DLC. So the patches that they did, it's more about... They're not called Schedule Tree. Apparently, they're called Schedule Tree, but the fragments that you get, that let you power up. Apparently, they made it so that the initial ones that you get power you up a little bit quicker and they did some things to make it obvious that you need to collect these things. Well, towards the end game, I think it's the same scaling as it was at launch. I think they also changed it so it's like, instead of like, you get stronger with how many you have, it's like you get stronger with the less you have. Maybe more is still better, but not by as much as it used to be, that makes sense. Right. Okay. They made having a lower number more impactful than the last one. Yeah, okay. That makes sense. Later on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was surprised because even with Golden Seeds in the main game, you didn't need to get all of them to max out, whereas with the Schedule Tree fragments, you had to get all of them. There was only a set amount to get to the max level and you had to get all 50 or whatever the number was. I was surprised that they did that because they're pretty much saying, we are making you go to every part of the map if you want the last battle, especially to not be so hard. Because when I go to the last battle, I think I'd leveled up nine times, which was not even close to the to the max. And that's why I got my arse handed to me so many times. It happens. It's a hard battle. It's a hard fight, but I look forward to seeing what you thought about it in about three months time when you finally get to it. And finally, we've got fewer questions. As always, let us know your thoughts on the comments below when it comes to the viewer questions. But first one comes from @youtubewarrior. Can I get your opinions on the Olympics and what sport in the Olympics do you think is the worst? And finally, what sport would you want to be added to the Olympics, Rob? I would like either Jujitsu, MMA or kickboxing added to the Olympics. Okay. I think I find it hard to believe that those aren't in already. Well, can I ask you about MMA? How would it work? One cut, you're gone. You can't fight for the rest of the tournament. And how many times are you fighting in a period of a week? It just seems dangerous to me. Yeah. For cowards, maybe. It's great. I mean, hold on. You've seen you're fighting two, three times a year. It's different. No. I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not MMA. Jujitsu, yeah. Same thing. Kickboxing, even the same thing. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe. Maybe it's kind of like the boxing. That's the way head gear, you know? Head gear, maybe some modified rules. I don't know. I don't know. But I'd like to see some more forms of combat sports. Combat sports has evolved since then. And in terms of what's the worst sport, I am not stepping into that trap. There's a quick way to make heaps of people hate you. I'm happy to say it. And I can say this as, look, I think everyone's going to do it with me. I think everyone will agree with me. I was a huge breakdancer. I love my hip hop. I love dancing. I used to do it growing up, going through high school. And I think breakdancing is a phenomenal art form. And I watch it to this day. I love breakdancing movies and everything. I don't believe it's in Olympic sport. That's my personal opinion. And I'm not even talking about the Australian that was breakdancing. I'm just talking about in general, I find it hard to put them in the same category. This is apples and oranges, in my opinion. I find it hard to put it in the same category as someone that's sprinting 100 meters in over nine and a half seconds or whatever. I don't think they're comparable. I find it hard to compare it to people that are in their boxing or whatever. So that would be my personal view as someone that loves breakdancing. Have you seen all the Olympic sports? Like you think breakdancing has more, has least validity than skateboarding? No, I think skateboarding is great. Skateboarding is phenomenal, man. I love watching skateboarding in one of the bigs. Yeah. Name another one. Name another one. Shooting is incredibly difficult. Like they're shooting this. Ooh, bouldering's up there. All right. That's up there. Maybe. Yeah. Like a question. A question. I'm not a fan of a question, but I see the arguments. There's heaps of arguments, this is what I mean. This is how I feel about the Olympics. I think the Olympics should be just a competition of what the human body can achieve. I don't think there should be any use of instruments or tools or anything like that. They should just lift heavy things, run really fast and fight. Hold on, so what about Chavalin? But I'm a caveman, so I don't like, I've been loving the Olympics. I love watching the random sports as well. I think it's cool. And I appreciate the level at what, you know, that they get to. Mm. All right. All right. Oh, look, I gave my answer. And that, the Australian chick, she just, everyone should lay off her. She did. She went out there, just did her best. Yeah. Touching that one with a tenfold pole. Hello, guys. Next question is from at Jimbo Jones, two, four, two, three. My wife has recently gotten her blue belt in karate and has to practice a lot of kartas. Do you still remember any of your kartas from your early karate days? I do. I do. Well, there is like, obviously, I remember the, the, the first, the earliest of kartas, the harder ones were, they're getting a bit complicated and I didn't practice them anywhere near as much as a cipher, like, I, I did that too many times. I don't think I could ever forget that. I, I always said that learning karta is like learning how to ride a bike. Once you learn it and you build it in, because it's all massive memory, you don't forget it. So get your side. I itch, knee, cipher, sizzling, and there's one other that I really, that I remember a lot. Beyond that, like sense of ruin or that that's lost to, to time. But yeah, those are the ones that I remember. Last question is from @stowak9701, question for you both, what's your favorite nostalgia gaming experience? Mine will be Saturday mornings when I was a kid playing Crash Bandicoot on the PlayStation 1. Great game. Rob? Hmm. I had to say, I had to say, but like, I can't beat when I hear the, the, the like, the music from Final Fantasy 10, like it is, or Final Fantasy 8, because I spent so much time on those games that they hit different, they hit different. I would say for me, it was probably, so myself, my brother and my cousin, we would play Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time. I would just sit and watch him, man. Those are the best times that I had. Freaking loved it. Like my brother would always be controlling. My cousin was really smart, still is very smart. He could figure out all the puzzles. And I would just sit and watch, man. So not even me playing. Those are my fondest gaming experiences. It was awesome. Next question is from at El Paso, 12345, hey, Rob, for years I've heard you talk about not wanting to fly during Christmas because you want to spend it with your family and enjoy food. So my question is, as a Puerto Rican leaving in Houston, Texas, what do Australians eat as a Christmas dinner or lunch or whatever meal you'll eat during Christmas? Hmm. Well, like, but usually just like Christmas ham. Yep. And like, it depends, wait, depends, like, do you do prawns? Yeah. Always. So many prawns. There you go. I don't even like prawns that much. It is. It's a Christmas. Just an Aussie thing. Or is it done around the lawn? Maybe too many prawns, but too many. But there's always like, it depends like Australia is very multicultural. So like every family has a different dish than, like, a different sort of Christmas dinner. But usually there's always prawns and Christmas ham involved, right? And prawns, you have to make sure you go to the good seafood restaurant the day before you get fresh prawns. Mate. And not, we don't cook them. It's just like you peel a, like they're cooked, but like not on a frying pan or anything. You got to put in a ticket, dude, because they can't get prawns in the day before. That's, no, that's true, but that's when you pick them up, right? Like, I've never been the one that purchased the prawns. They're always there for me. But I know it's always a crazy day the day before to get all the prawns. And next question, final question is from @cookoutfan7399. Question for Rob and Johnny. What are some of your favorite fighters to watch like fighters that you find aesthetically pleasing or just cathartic to watch? Why are you laughing? Yeah, because there's no reason. Well, go on, what's your answer, aesthetically pleasing? I don't have one, dude. You don't have a favorite fighter. Like a favorite fighter? Like favorite fighter? Sure. Yeah, let's go with that. But if they're your favorite, you probably like the way they fight and the way they look. You know what I mean? Not necessarily. I don't think they're talking about like how they look just like, you know, the style or the way they move. Like, people love MVP because it's funny and exciting, you know? I like watching gates you fight. I don't find it aesthetically pleasing, but... That's not what they're referring to. Dude. Well, that's the way they fight. That's how I'm interpreting it and I'm just avoiding that, whatever that mess is. Do you think they look hot? That's not what they're asking. How they look? Yeah. I'm trying to explain this. Yeah. Cook out a fan. Yeah. I'm not answering it. Get out of here. All right. So, my favorite fighter. Let's go with that then. My favorite fighter. I don't really have one. To watch. Like, obviously my teammates, you know, like them a lot. More than most people. Like, I really like watching tie fight. Yeah. Like... I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Well, look, if I was to give an answer, obviously, you're included. But I will say, bro, when I watch you fight, I get nervous. I'm like, I'm sitting on the edge of the seat because I don't want you to lose. I'm just like, ah, when? So it's more nerve-racking to me than anything. But next to you, like, I always love watching Anderson Silver Fight. He was always really bloody exciting. Um, GSP is up there for me as well. Nowadays? Ah, probably Tommy Aspenal. Every time that dude is fine. I love it. Because you know, someone's getting knocked out. It's the best. Yeah. It's pretty cool. It is. Yeah. But those are all the questions. And that was episode 48 of the MMRcade podcast. Thank you for watching or listening. By the way, big shout out to all our Spotify listeners. I think we have a couple of thousand followers on Spotify, man, which is cool. How cool is that? Yeah. I forget to tell you all the time, but we're following that. The cult is wrong. We still need a... We need a puppy. Our subscriptions. You need to start doing the show to Topless, mate. You need to start promoting it on your social. We need a million followers on Instagram. Subs. Promote on Instagram. Do a story about the podcast. Yeah, I need to. I need to. I need to. I will. This week. This week. Stay tuned. All right. Well, let us know. Do you have any final thoughts before we head into Perth? You will see three or five. Yeah. Mate, do us proud, Johnny. Get out there. Have some fun. Enjoy it. And do us proud. We'll be watching. Yeah. I'm excited. And if anyone is there and you do happen to see me, give me a shout. Take some photos if you want. I don't know. I've never done anything like this before, but I'm excited, man. I'm excited to watch like be at my first UFC event, but also be there on the media side with press credentials. I think it's going to be awesome. No, I shouldn't say this now. I'll talk about it after the event, because I think it'll be really cool. I've got cool news to share about it, but it'll be fun, but you can close out the podcast as always, man. Yeah. Thank you very much. All our listeners and subscribers. Tell your friends. Let's get those numbers up. And thank you very much, guys. [BLANK_AUDIO]