The Co-Main Event MMA Podcast

Well, don't we all feel stupid now? After weeks of dumping on the UFC 300 card for not living up to our expectations, it finally happened on Saturday and it ... was ... bonkers. You had Max Holloway put on a performance for the ages against Justin Gaethje in a fight that more than showcased the BMF status of both guys. You had Alex Pereira give Herb Dean the ol' "Not now, Herb!" hand gesture and go straight from a low blow to a highlight reel knockout of Jamahal Hill. Plus, Weili Zhang survived a gritty challenge from Yan Xiaonan and Arman Tsarukyan stayed out of Charles Oliveira's many submission attempts long enough to score a split decision win. And all that barely scratches the surface. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Saturday night, the greatest fight card in the history of fight cards comes at us from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Or, at least, that's what the UFC wants us to think about UFC 300. Honestly, the card isn't too bad, with two actual championship fights and one "championship fight." Your main event, the light heavyweight title (unification, sort of?) bout between Alex Pereira and Jamahal Hill will be a fun punchy-kicky sort of a deal. Zhang Weili vs. Yan Xiaonan has been somewhat anticipated. Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway will no doubt be killer, BMF title or no. Plus, you've got the promotional debut of Kayla Harrison and plucky young underdog Bo Nickal trying to continue his Cinderella march through the middleweight division. So, yeah, good job, UFC, which will definitely not pat itself on the back for putting on a decent fight card to commemorate event No. 300 or whatever this actually is. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, Chris Weidman can't very well retire after that one, can he? We had hoped perhaps Saturday's Fight Night bout against Bruno Silva would be the former middleweight champion's last but ... not only did he "win," but the circumstances were so weird that Weidman pretty much has to come back for at least one more. After 12 and a half minutes of foul-filled action, where at times he looked much improved and at times looked like he was about to get spectacularly knocked out, Weidman pulled off the here-to-for unseen double eye-poke during the same one-two combination. Silva (understandably) couldn't continue, the fight was stopped and somehow Weidman got a unanimous decision (?) win out of it. MMA, man. It's fucked up. Plus, Manon Fiorot may well be the No. 1 contender at women's flyweight, just as soon as Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko get done coaching TUF and Nate THE TRAIN Landwehr reminds us that he might be the funnest thing going in the UFC. WHOOP HIS ASS AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS!!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The years-long staring contest between the UFC and some of its former fighters is over. The class action antitrust lawsuit between the two parties ended last week with the MMA company agreeing to pay a $335 million settlement to the aggrieved fighters. That's great for the individual fighters, most of whom will now get a chunk of change. Maybe not so great for MMA at large, as the bigger picture structural and competitive changes that might have come along with the lawsuit will likely now not happen. But considering the alternatives, did the fighters do the right thing? Plus, Rose Namajunas returned with a win, though perhaps not exactly the kind of win she needed. Especially not with Erin Blanchfield and Manon Fiorot about to have an apparent No. 1 contender fight this weekend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After showing up to the "Road House" premiere looking like he was in a *cough* heightened state of awareness *cough* Conor McGregor once again iterated that he wants to return to the UFC to finish out the final two fights on his contract. So. Conor McGregor wants to fight. The UFC seems to want Conor McGregor to fight. Michael Chandler DAMN SURE wants to fight. What's the hold up? Plus, what's up with Nate Diaz suddenly being all nice and shit? Plus, we still haven't found something that can kill Mark Coleman, and Rose Namajunas returns on a fairly anonymous Fight Night card at the Apex. Because of course. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If Sean O'Malley needed a statement win to prove he is perhaps the class of the UFC's growing group of young stars, he got one Saturday, essentially pitching a perfect game against Marlon "Chito" Vera at UFC 299. O'Malley kept Chito at the end of his reach, dictating the pace and the terms of engagement and the best thing you could say about Vera by the end is that he's one tough son of a bitch. Plus, how about that Cool Dusty P, eh? Yaaaay. And, oh yeah, Francis Ngannou got terribly knocked out. Booo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sean O'Malley looks to avenge his funky 2020 injury loss to Chito Vera on Saturday at UFC 299. Kinda weird to think that we already consider O'Malley one of the UFC's most established stars and champions when in actuality he'll be gunning for his first successful title defense this weekend. It seems like a pretty good scrap, but make no mistake, UFC 299 has a lot more going for it than just O'Malley vs. Chito. Dustin Poirier vs. Benoît Saint Denis, the debut of Michael Venom Page, Curtis Blaydes vs. Jailton Almeida and Mateusz Gamrot vs. Rafael dos Anjos just to name a few. If that wasn't enough, Francis Ngannou heads back to Saudi Arabia to see if he can prove his performance against Tyson Fury was no fluke when he takes on Anthony Joshua. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Ortega injured himself before his co-main event fight against Yair Rodriguez even started on Saturday, appearing to roll his ankle during Bruce Buffer’s fighter introductions. Then Ortega got lit up like a Roman candle by Rodriguez in round one. Got dropped. Got pounded on. Got his whole shit broke, basically. Somehow, though, Ortega rebounded in rounds two and three and ended up actually winning this thing with a gnarly arm triangle choke in the third. Damn! Add to this already delightful stew that Ortega entertained (?) reporters during prefight media festivities by telling an obviously bullshit story about eagles and – hoo boy – pretty weird week for that dude. Plus, judges declared Royval the better Brandon (was he thooooough?) and Bellator fighters dominated PFL fighters in all the fights except the one that mattered most. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everything came up Ilia Topuria on Saturday at UFC 298, as the 27-year-old Spaniard fulfilled his self-avowed destiny with a thunderous second-round knockout of longstanding men’s featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. The outcome was bittersweet for longtime fans, signaling perhaps both the end of one great champion’s reign and the emergence of a bold new successor. Hold on, though, are we shoveling dirt onto Volk’s grave a little prematurely? And with no obvious No. 1 contender, what’s the right next move for Topuria? Plus, Bobby Knuckles wins, Merab puts on a show and Mackenzie Dern continues to baffle us. Plus, presidential trivia! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alexander Volkanovski fully embraced his old man status headed into Saturday's UFC 298, in a legitimately hilarious internet video that showed off his stellar general acting chops and comedic timing. Still, that acceptance doesn't take away from the harrowing actual statistics about what happens to UFC champions after they turn 35. Add in recent concerns over his drinking habits between fights and our nagging memories of him getting KOed by Islam Makhachev his last time out and we are perhaps as nervous as we've ever been headed into a Volk fight. Plus, there is the matter of the weird confidence exuded by Ilia Topuria, who is either setting himself up for a fast rise or a big fall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Got to admire Renato Moicano’s entrepreneurial spirit. Here’s “Money” Moicano nearly 10 years and 15 fights into his UFC career (he’s 18-5-1 as professional after Saturday’s win over Drew Dober) and it feels like he’s just now spreading his wings to show us the beautiful butterfly he’s become. And, friends, it is weird. After dusting Dober in the co-main event of the weekend’s Fight Night card, ya boi “Money” jumped on the mic and said, among other things, he was going to go home and impregnate his wife to try to keep up with his 62-year-old father (who himself just had a baby), that he wants to join the SWAT team to “kill bad guys,” and that if we don’t respect the law, America would become a “third world country.” So, yeah, it was a lot. Plus, Nassourdine Imavov wore Roman Dolidze around the cage like a hat and next week Joe BODYBAGZ Pyfer tries to become a capital G Guy against Singin' and Dancin' Jack Hermansson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was a triple-whammy announcement from Dana White last week, adding Kayla Harrison to UFC 300, giving her a fight with Holly Holm and having it at women's bantamweight. Clearly Harrison's involvement in the UFC's gala milestone pay-per-view is a big deal. But how big? Does she really deserve to be such an overwhelming favorite? And is she really going to make 135 pounds? We have questions. Plus, after saying what we were all thinking on his podcast last week, Jon Anik apologized if he offended anyone by being so dead-on right about what assholes they are. Was the apology really his idea? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dricus du Plessis beat Sean Strickland for the middleweight title, Raquel Pennington cashed-in on the women's bantamweight strap on her 18th fight in the UFC and the company announced Frankie Edgar was going in the hall of fame. We really wish that's what people were going to remember about UFC 297, but honestly? We'll probably remember it as an event where people said a bunch of dumb shit and then many of the reactions to that shit were even dumber. And that's sad, man. That's a sad place we've reached in this sport. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis are set to take it to the cage on Saturday at UFC 297, instead of fighting all over the damn arena like Mankind and HHH in 1997 or whatever. The champion probably still needs to prove to us that his win over Israel Adesanya last Sept. wasn't a fluke. Can a victory here do that? Meanwhile, DDP is out to show he can win a title in a third organization -- and that he can either stop Strickland quickly or withstand the champ's pressure style without gassing out over five rounds. Plus, it's Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva for the vacant women's bantamweight title. Who knew?!? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friends, the holiday doldrums are over and this weekend the UFC kicks off its sure to be relentless 2024 live event schedule with a rematch between Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker. Maybe not the sexiest main event, but the card isn't too bad, all things considered. In addition to that, we take your listener mail questions, which piled up on us a bit during the break. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The last UFC event of 2023 left us with a lot to talk about. Leon Edwards and Alexandre Pantoja both successfully defended their titles. Up-and-comers Shavkat Rakhmonov and Paddy Pimblett got big wins. We saw at least one potential knockout of the year contender. Oh yeah, and Ian Garry, Sean Strickland and DDP all caused spectacles outside the cage. With Noted Fight Fans Kid Rock and Donald Trump sitting cageside, the whole thing was kind of a microcosm of what the UFC is all about right now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been a year of upheaval in the UFC. All told, the company has crowned 11 champions in 2023--with UFC 296's twin-bill of title fights still on deck this Saturday. Can Colby Covington finally breakthrough and become undisputed welterweight champion with a win over Leon Edwards? Can Brandon Royval unseat newly-minted men's flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja? Oddsmakers say these fights will be close. Will it continue to be a bad year for sitting champions? Plus, big fights for Shavkat Rakhmonov, Paddy Pimblett and Ian (whispers) MACHADO Garry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's possible there has never been a person better suited to bare knuckle boxing than Mike Perry. Here he was again last weekend against Eddie Alvarez, seeming to wager that he was willing to go out there and accept more punishment than the other guy in pursuit of something called the "King of Violence" belt--and he was right. Perry again emerged victorious after Alvarez's corner stopped the fight after the second round. All hail the king or whatever. Plus, Arman Tsarukyan looked dominant over Beneil Dariush and Bobby Green not so much against Jalin Turner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the heels of last week's PFL championships and in advance of this week's UFC Fight Night, we open it up to listener questions. What's at stake between Beneil Dariush and Arman Tsarukyan this weekend? Why don't we give Miesha Tate more credit as a pioneer of women's MMA? Is Stipe still relevant? And is PFL fumbling the bag? These topics and more from you, the beloved listeners of the CME. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was funny and fitting that Bellator 301 crowned two new champions and advanced one fighter to the finals of the company's ongoing grand prix just a couple days before we got final confirmation it had been acquired by the PFL. At least for now, the PFL says it will continue running something called the Bellator International Champions Series but, come on, we know how these things go. This week, we discuss the end(ish?) of Bellator and what kind of player this could now make the PFL on the national MMA scene. Plus, Brendan Allen roughs up Paul Craig and Tom Aspinall calls out some rubbish. This episode is brought to you in part by NordVPN. Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/comain or use the code comain to get four free bonus months when you sign up for a two-year plan. It’s risk free with Nord’s exclusive 30-day money back guarantee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We crowned two new champions on Saturday at UFC 295–and neither fight took that long. On a night full of KOs at Madison Square Garden, Alex Pereira emerged with the light heavyweight championship (his second in two different divisions) and Tom Aspinall became the new interim heavyweight titlist. So … the question remains … just how mad is Jon Jones about this? Yeah, he tried to be all nice when he congratulated Aspinal via social media, but you just KNOW it’s burning him up inside that these two guys won belts that Jones technically never lost. We discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re sad that Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic is off pretty much indefinitely due to Jones’ torn pec, but UFC 295 still looks pretty OK. It’s admittedly a little top heavy – no need to stack the card when you thought you had JBJ vs. Stipe, eh? – but the revamped main and co-main still look pretty cool. Jiri Prochazka returns from the worst shoulder injury in the history of shoulders to take on former middleweight champ Alex Pereira for the vacant light heavyweight title. Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich duke it out for an interim heavyweight title. Seems like a couple good fights that might clean up the messes in the UFC's heaviest weight classes. Plus, some people were impressed by Jailton Almeida's win over Derrick Lewis and some people weren’t and shit maybe just got really real for the UFC in its antitrust case. This episode is brought to you in part by NordVPN. Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/comain or use the code comain to get four free bonus months when you sign up for a two-year plan. It’s risk free with Nord’s exclusive 30-day money back guarantee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

MMA people, what did we just see? Francis Ngannou went over there to Saudi Arabia over the weekend and DID THE DAMN THING against heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. Ngannou out-performed even our most generous expectations, knocking Fury down in the third and taking him to a (kinda bullshit?) split decision. It was, without a doubt, one of the greatest underdog performances in the history of professional sports. This week on the Proper, we discuss, among other things: My God, Francis showed out. How to even put this fight in historical perspective? So, what's next? Does Francis become a full-time boxer or does he have some MMA left in him? How bad did the UFC fuck up here? And when will we hear from Noted Boxing Fan Dana White about this fight? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

UFC 294 was a weird one. Islam Makhachev and Khamzat Chimaev both scored big victories over short-notice replacements, but the event also was marred by low blows, fence grabs, illegal knees, some super weird ringside doctoring, a couple people showing up with staph, rumors the UFC had once again banned flags from the Octagon and – of all things – Paolo Costa trying to brawl random fans in the stands. So, yeah, it was bizarre. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So, just a couple weeks before the UFC is set to head to Abu Dhabi with a fairly marquee card, they lose BOTH their co-main event and main event to some unexpected misadventure. In this case, it was a cut to Charles Oliveira and surgery for Paulo Costa that forced them out of their respective bouts. This type of swerve might spell disaster for any other promoter, but not so for the UFC. When you've got the power and influence of an organization that controls more than 90% of your chosen market, you just reload, brother. The UFC brought in featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski to take Oliveira's place in a lightweight title fight against Islam Makhachev and former welterweight titlist Kamaru Usman to sub in for Costa in a middleweight bout against Khamzat Chimaev. In other words, still pretty awesome. Damn. Must be nice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

UFC President Dana White this week confirmed earlier social media posts from Conor McGregor that the fighter had "sent his stuff" to UFC drug czar Jeff Novitsky, but said that McGregor was not back in the USADA testing pool quite yet. "I literally have nothing planned for Conor McGregor right now,” White said. Could this possibly be true? Has White finally realized that it's impossible to plan anything with the wily Irishman? But, if that's so, why did McGregor apply to get back into the pool at the exact six-month deadline he'd need if he were going to headline UFC 300 in April, 2024? It's a mystery. Plus, Bobby Green KOed Grant Dawson so fast he didn't even know what hand he did it with and ... well, this seems like a VERY Bellator end for Bellator, doesn't it? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bellator 300 happens this weekend at Pechanga Arena in San Diego. Three titles on the line. Seventeen fights total. Under normal circumstances you could chalk it down as a gala celebration of Scott Coker's alternative American MMA organization making it to the big Three Double Oh. Unfortunately, with rampant rumors that PFL is about to buy it and that Bellator has one, maybe two events left ... well, that casts a pall, doesn't it? Plus, the UFC's unstoppable fight engine roars back to life with Grant Dawson vs. Bobby Green and the California State Athletic Commission continues to actually try to do a good job. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We got more listener mail than we expected coming out of last weekend’s Fight Night card – Thanks, Bryce! – and with no UFC event scheduled for this weekend we thought, what the hell, let’s answer as many of them as we can. So, we take your queries about the bummer ending of Fiziev vs. Gamrot, Bryce Mitchell’s bible thumping, excitement levels for Jiri vs. Pereira, whether ALL fighters will soon be DWCS fighters and a whole lot more. This episode is brought to you in part by NordVPN. Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/comain or use the code comain to get four free bonus months when you sign up for a two-year plan. It's risk free with Nord's exclusive 30-day money back guarantee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nobody loves a 10-8 round more than Mike Bell. That Mike Bell is a 10-8in' MFer to be sure. Let him out of your sight for even one second and Mike Bell will score a round 10-8. Valentina Shevchenko found that out the hard way on Saturday at UFC Noche, as Bell's 10-8 scorecard in favor of Alexa Grasso in the pivotal fifth round of their title fight denied Shevchenko the opportunity to regain the women's flyweight championship and maybe sent her to the back of the contender line. The split draw that let Grasso hold onto the title, however, should not overshadow the fact she and Shevchenko had a hell of a fight (again). So, where does Mike Bell's 10-8in' ass leave the 125-pound division? We discuss. This episode is brought to you in part by NordVPN. Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/comain or use the code comain to get four free bonus months when you sign up for a two-year plan. It's risk free with Nord's exclusive 30-day money back guarantee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was no dream. There is no waking up from this one. Sean Strickland really DID show up on Saturday at UFC 293 and take the middleweight title from Israel Adesanya by shocking unanimous decision. This was no lucky punch or freak injury. Nope. Sean Strickland just went out there and did Sean Strickland stuff and Adesanya basically had no answer for it. Un-fucking-believable. Did we (and by "we" I mean I -- Chad) make this happen? Look, we were just trying to bring some Silly Little Guy energy to our bets on last week's Power Hour, but it seems possible we did spark the wrath of the MMA Gods by including Izzy in all of our parlays. Sorry about that. Now we all have a few months of a Strickland title reign to suffer through before somebody inevitably beats him. What will that be like? Who's next ? And what does the UFC do with the suddenly 1-2 Adesanya? We discourse. This episode is brought to you in part by NordVPN. Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/comain or use the code comain to get four free bonus months when you sign up for a two-year plan. It's risk free with Nord's exclusive 30-day money back guarantee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, Co-Mainiacs, here's a tasty lfree sample of what's going on behind the paywall over at Patreon.com/comainevent. If you like it, you might consider signing up and joining the team? Remember, all our Patreon content appears ad free! We've wanted to get the big homie Patrick Wyman on the show for a long time. You've all asked for it and we thought we could have a super cool and interesting talk with him, but couldn't get the timing to work out until this week. Once we got Patrick on the ol' Zoom machine, however, it was amazing. We had so much fun, we felt compelled to make this episode of DDT available to everyone. If you like it, well, maybe consider leveling up to the $10 or $20 patronage tier, eh? Then we can all be best friends. Patrick has just launched his new podcast The Pursuit of Dadliness to go along with his other successful endeavors like the Tides of History Podcast and his great book The Verge. Ben and I will both be guests on upcoming episodes of the new podcast. So, this week, we talk about the idea of dadliness, how to balance work and kids and everything else, and why we lift all those damn weights. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sounds like Sean Strickland is having fun on his trip to Australia, what with showing up on day one and slugging a random fan in the stomach. He's also writing some fire tweets (and by fire we mean offensive), which, let’s face it, he’d be doing no matter where he was in the world. Will that enjoyment extend to Saturday, when he is scheduled to fight Israel Adesanya for the UFC middleweight title? That part we don’t know, though Strickland is facing long odds and what looks like a terrible match-up of styles for him. This wasn’t the 185-pound championship match we were supposed to have at UFC 293, but its the one we got. Anymore, that sort of feels like it sums up the general state of things in the UFC. Also, Ciryl Gane got a bit of a “comeback” win over Sergey Spivac last weekend, though it’s hard to tell how much that means for him while Jon Jones is still heavyweight champion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Max Holloway got the win as expected over Chan Sung Jung on Saturday, but it was still a fairly impressive weekend for the Korean Zombie. Jung was able to find Holloway's chin more than expected prior to his own KO loss, he got a signature Zombie moment surviving a choke in the second round and after the fight pulled off perhaps the classiest and most eloquent MMA retirement we've ever seen. Point being: Max and the Zombie are both sweet dudes. Where they both go from here, only time will tell. Plus, as the UFC rolls into Paris this weekend, will Sergey Spivak look to check that wrestling against Ciryl Gane? This episode is brought to you in part by NordVPN. Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN deal by going to nordvpn.com/comain or use the code comain to get four free bonus months when you sign up for a two-year plan. It's risk free with Nord's exclusive 30-day money back guarantee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friends, your new UFC men's bantamweight champion is Sean O'Malley. It's possible that's a pretty big deal. At this point, the UFC certainly seems to have succeeded in its years-long effort at making O'Malley a star. His upset TKO of Aljamain Sterling on Saturday at UFC 292 made him the youngest champion on the UFC's current roster, he received a hero's welcome in Boston and now is poised to perhaps bring an unprecedented amount of attention to the 135-pound division. Only question now is, how long can he stay on top? Plus, Zhang Weili blanked Amanda Lemos and Max Holloway is going to have a fun fight against The Korean Zombie. This episode is brought to you in part by NordVPN. Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/comain or use the code comain to get one free bonus month as well as their exclusive 30-day money back guarantee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since his promotional debut in 2017, the UFC has had Sean O'Malley ticketed for stardom. Saturday at UFC 292, perhaps we'll see if he came make good on that promise. O'Malley is going off as about a 2-to-1 underdog to men's bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling, but questions persist about Sterling's health, focus and readiness. Fact is, O'Malley could be a live dog here. Will he prove to be everything the UFC thinks he can be? Plus, Zhang Weili squares off with Amanda Lemos -- wait, who? -- and Vicente Luque is a miracle cured by God. This episode is brought to you in part by NordVPN. Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/comain or use the code comain to get one free bonus month as well as their exclusive 30-day money back guarantee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake Paul did that thing on Saturday where he outduels an aging but beloved MMA star in the boxing ring. This time it was Nate Diaz coming up short on the scorecards against "The Problem Child." It was fine, if you like that kind of thing, but at this point these Jake Paul boxing weekends are starting to feel formulaic, right down to the brawls outside the arena after the actual fight ends. So ... is Paul's threatened move to MMA to fight Diaz again actually the smartest move he could make right now? Also, Cory Sandhagen tears triceps, still wins. MMA fans: Boooring! This episode is brought to you in part by NordVPN. Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/comain or use the code comain to get one free bonus month as well as their exclusive 30-day money back guarantee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Usually, when Justin Gaethje delivers devastating kicks, they are to the legs. Turns out, he can kick you in the head pretty hard, too. Dustin Poirier found that out the hard way Saturday during the pair's main event fight at UFC 291. Now that Gaethje has knocked out Poirier and claimed the BMF "title," he's also the assumed the No. 1 contender for the actual, real lightweight title, as well. So, it was a pretty good night of work for him. Plus, we talk Alex Pereira's victorious but frustrating light heavyweight debut, Derrick Lewis landing a flying knee and stripping his shorts off (because of course) and the downfall of Tony Ferguson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nobody in the world will argue with Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje re-matching at UFC 291. That's just a good-ass fight. One so good, in fact, that it probably doesn't need the added silliness of being for the "vacant" BMF title. But, you know, gold on the poster and all that. Plus we get to see how Alex Periera will fare at light heavyweight as he moves up to fight Janny Blackjacks. Plus, several "remember me?" fights round out the main card. We talk all that, plus: Tom Aspinall? That boy good. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At this point, you gotta admire Francis Ngannou's track record of doing exactly what the fuck he says he's going to do. He said he was going to wait out his UFC contract. He did that. He said he was going to sign a lucrative MMA deal that would include unprecedented gains for both himself and his opponents. He did that. He said he was going to sign a big-money boxing match against one of the world's best-known pugilists that would probably set him up for life. He. Fucking. Did. That. How can you not be happy for this guy? On this episode, we look forward to Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury, talk about Holly Holm's submission loss to Marya Bueno Silva and anticipate the return of Tom Aspinall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Holy shit! If you happen to be an MMA fan who struggles with the current landscape of the UFC, Saturday's pay-per-view was a goddamn life-affirming breath of fresh air. UFC 290 was probably one of the company's all-time great PPV events. Alexander Volkanovski reaffirmed his greatness. Alexandre Pantoja won the men's flyweight title from Brandon Moreno in a fight-of-the-year caliber split decision. Robbie Lawler walked away in perfect style. DDP set up perhaps the cringiest middleweight title fight of all time against Israel Adesanya. Bo Nickal knocked a MFer out on the feet (!). It was wild, weird and sometimes wonderful. This is why we started watching this stuff in the first place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's no real reason to believe Yair Rodriguez defeats Alexander Volkanovski in their men's featherweight title unification bout at UFC 290 this weekend. Volkanovski has been too good, he comes into this fight about a 4-to-1 favorite and the whole idea of making an interim title in this division was kinda bullshit from the beginning. But ... are the vibes a bit off for him leading up to this fight? We're not saying they are. We're merely asking questions. Plus, the rest of the UFC 290 card looks fun as hell. You got Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja doing the damn thing for the men's flyweight title You got Bobby Knuckles and DDP in a probable No. 1 contender fight. You got Robbie Lawler's alleged retirement fight. Oh, and there's this scrappy underdog you may have heard of ... Bo Nickal. He's on there too. Also, is it craaaaazy to consider Sean Strickland a viable title contender now? Probably. But still. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mere weeks after Dana White said the UFC "doesn't do" gimmick fights, he's all up in the media talking about trying to book an actual cagefight between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. First off, if you needed yet more evidence that White is frequently bullshitting us, well, there you go. Secondly, these rich nerds ain't really gonna fight each other. But wouldn't it be sad if they did? Also, Illia Topuria is super good at fighting. Like, super good. And the PFL puts its finger on the scales in the worst possible way. This episode is brought to you in part by NordVPN. Get your Exclusive NordVPN deal by going to nordvpn.com/comain or use the code comain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bellator staged the top MMA event of the weekend, with Sergio Pettis outdueling Patricio Pitbull in a compelling scrap for the men's bantamweight championship and light heavyweight titlist Vadim Nemkov reaffirming his greatness pitching a shutout against Yoel Romero. With both sides also confirming a Bellator-PFL merger is at least being explored, we'll take a look at what that might mean for combat sports. Plus, Jared Cannonier set a middleweight record for significant strikes in his decision victory over Marvin Vettori. Is that another one of this double-edged sword UFC records? This episode is brought to you in part by NordVPN. Get your Exclusive NordVPN deal by going to nordvpn.com/comain or use the code comain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amanda Nunes pretty much whooped-up on Irene Aldana to retain her women's bantamweight title and then retired in the cage, which was a nice moment. Canadian fighters went undefeated in front of their home countrymen in Vancouver, which obviously was a feel-good story. But you know who really stamped their name on UFC 289 on Saturday? Charles Oliveira, that's who. Oliveira went out there and spoiled Beneil Dariush's big chance at lightweight contendership by dominating on the ground and on the feet en route to a first-round victory -- and he did so while being hailed as a hero by the Canadian fans. This seemed like the kind of performance that could well net him a rematch with Islam Makhachev and also one that confirmed he's a pretty big star for the UFC. This episode is brought to you in part by NordVPN. Get your Exclusive NordVPN deal by going to nordvpn.com/comain or use the code comain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amanda Nunes returns Saturday to defend her women's bantamweight title against Irene Aldana at UFC 289. Should be a solid little scrap, though we're not sure there's any reason to suspect Nunes might lose ... except, well, she is 36 years old, recently left American Top Team to start her own gym and has been openly talking about retirement since her feud with Juliana Pena. So, can Aldana pull the upset here and is there any chance this is the last ride for The Lioness? Plus, Dana White reminds us Jared Gordon is not a doctor and did Kai Kara France get screwed? This episode is brought to you in part by NordVPN. Get your Exclusive NordVPN deal by going to nordvpn.com/comain or use the code comain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Conor McGregor is "filling out the paperwork" to re-enroll in the USADA testing pool, according to Dana White, which means the biggest star in MMA is back! Almost? Maybe? Remains to seen. Despite the lingering uncertainty, it's clear at least one group of people is VERY glad to have McGregor in their lives again. Those people are the keepers of the MMA news cycle. McGregor hasn't totally done anything yet upon his return to active duty and somehow every other story on the websites is already about him. We talk the McGregor Phenomenon this week. Plus, UFC on ESPN rolls out this weekend and Justin Gaethje says what we're all thinking about the BMF title. This episode is brought to you in part by NordVPN. Get your Exclusive NordVPN deal by going to nordvpn.com/comain or use the code comain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bloody Elbow's John Nash has a new report out on the UFC's finances and, friends, it is mind-blowing. Once again in 2022, the fight company made more than $1 billion in revenue and, largely because it didn't have to pay superstars like Conor McGregor last year, total fighter pay dropped by around $32.8 million (to roughly 13 percent of total revenue). UFC profits were up in every category, while expenses and operating costs were down. So ... wow. Plus, Mackenzie Dern went beast mode on Angela Hill and Dana White says he doesn't understand Francis Ngannou's new deal with PFL. This episode is brought to you in part by NordVPN. Get your Exclusive NordVPN deal by going to nordvpn.com/comain or use the code comain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe Rogan said some fairly innocuous stuff this week about what would happen in a street fight (or a locked-room fight, as the case may be) between Jon Jones and Tyson Fury. Fury did not appreciate Rogan's opinion and aired his displeasure on social media, and THAT essentially kicked off a round robin of internet beef between Jones, Fury and Francis Ngannou. It was, honestly, pretty ridiculous. So, this week we discuss: Why did it make Fury so mad when Rogan was really only repeating an argument MMA guys have been making since the '90s? If no other important boxers will fight him (as he claims) why doesn't Fury get something on the books with Ngannou? And doesn't Jones appreciate the irony of talking shit to Ngannou when Jones himself was embroiled in a contract dispute of his own with the UFC recently? Plus, in Power Rankings, the Conor McGregor reputational whitewash has begun, Alex Pereira vs. Janny Blackjacks (?!?!?!), and there are a lot of interesting personal style choices going on at this BKFC weigh-in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Friend of the Podcast and Real Life Hollywood TV Writer Kevin Seccia was kind enough to come in off the picket line to talk us through the particulars of the ongoing WGA writers strike. Kevin is a great dude as well as an active patron of the CME. He's also former standup comedian and currently a writer on the animated comedy "The Great North," which airs on Fox. The WGA strikes is something we've all heard about but perhaps few of us know the details of what's really going on. Kevin does a great job bringing us all up to speed with the style and humor befitting a longtime CME listener. Plus, in Kraken Up, well, it's over. Seattle sailed into the dark waters of the off-season this week, after dropping game seven to the Stars. Season wrap-up incoming! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rumor has it, there was some news this week. Just a lil bit. Just a lil bit of news happened over the last couple of days. As you may have heard, the biggest of homies, Francis Ngannou, announced on Tuesday that he is taking his talents to the PFL (and perhaps elsewhere) in a landmark deal that affords him what is almost certainly more money than if he'd stayed in the UFC as well as most of his out-of-the-cage asks, including the ability to go do boxing if he wants. So that's seems good. Not to be outdone, however, the UFC -- totally randomly and definitely NOT related to Ngannou's announcement -- went ahead with a big Tuesday afternoon news dump of their own which included, among other things, BRINGING BACK THE BMF TITLE. Lol. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices