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Dustin Poirier, Paulo Costa, Daniel Rodriguez, Costello Van Steenis, Eric Bischoff & AJ Francis IN STUDIO, monster weekend recap
Episode 304

Dustin Poirier, Paulo Costa, Daniel Rodriguez, Costello Van Steenis, Eric Bischoff & AJ Francis IN STUDIO, monster weekend recap

Ariel Helwani speaks to Dustin Poirier in a wide-ranging interview after his retirement. Plus, UFC 318 winners Paulo Costa and Daniel Rodriguez, PFL middleweight champion Costello Van Steenis, and in-studio interviews with TNA superstar AJ Francis and pioneer Eric Bischoff.

The Ariel Helwani Show

July 21, 20254h 48mExplicit

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Show Notes

Ariel Helwani starts the show by paying homage to Dustin Poirier’s career after his Max Holloway retirement fight at UFC 318. The crew joins to offer their thoughts and recap the rest of the packed weekend, including Oleksandr Usyk’s big win over Daniel Dubois and Manny Pacquiao’s shocking draw. (05:26).

Newly crowned PFL middleweight champion Costello Van Steenis calls in after his fifth-round rear-naked choke finish of Johnny Eblen. He discusses the win, transitioning from Bellator to PFL, training with Mousasi, his brother’s MMA journey, and more (1:22:30).

Paulo Costa is back after beating Roman Kopylov at UFC 318 to talk about coming back after back-to-back losses, shaking during the press conference, his hatred for Khamzat Chimaev, his ideal return, and more (1:50:08).

Daniel Rodriguez is next after his back-and-forth victory against Kevin Holland. He speaks on the story behind his tattoos, not getting a bonus, his three-fight win streak, and more (2:14:08).

TNA superstar AJ Francis is the first in-studio guest and joins after Slammiversary to share his thoughts on leaving the WWE, meeting The Rock, his NFL career, what went wrong with Hit Row, and much more (2:32:28).

Eric Bischoff, chief media officer of Real American Freestyle Wrestling, joins in-studio to get into signing with Fox Nation, the stress of launching a promotion, signing Bo Nickal, Hulk Hogan’s involvement, and stories from his time with WWE and WCW (3:19:31).

The legendary Dustin Poirier closes the day after his retirement war with Max Holloway at UFC 318. He discusses ending his career in Louisiana, jumping the gilly, Lil Wayne’s walkout, filming "Fightville 2," and more (4:04:29).

Ariel and the crew tie a bow on the show by answering your Superchats (4:39:07).