The Co-Main Event MMA Podcast

Justin Ray Gaethje KOed James Vick in 1:27 on Saturday, Bareknuckle FC starts to reveal its flaws and Buffer vs. Diaz is the hottest feud of the summer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dana White says he won't let Georges St-Pierre fight the Conor-Khabib winner (*knowing wink*), Justin Gaethje and James Vick prepare to do terrible things and James Gallagher gets kicked. Right. In. The. Face. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the first time ever, Ben and Chad open the livestream up to everyone and take questions from the audience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

UFC 227 provided twists and turns--Henry Cejudo and Tilly Dills reigned--and Conor McGregor is set to return against the dude he through that hand truck at, so ... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Conor back! Plus, UFC on Fox 30 looked great on paper and the fights themselves turned out to be banging on Saturday night in Calgary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After nearly seven painstaking hours of UFC: Hamburg on Sunday, Anthony Smith made short work of Shogun Rua in their main event light heavyweight fight. Merciful, perhaps, if you were one of the superfans who sat through the whole thing, but not so for Rua himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Junior dos Santos out-dueled Blagoy Ivanov in the main event of UFC Fight Night 133 on Saturday, though the unanimous decision win wasn’t exactly the home run needed to declare the former champion well and truly “back.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, Ben and Chad discuss the catharsis of seeing Daniel Cormier win the heavyweight title, even if it meant toppling somewhat likeable dude Stipe Miocic. They also talk about the reemergence of Brock Lesnar, who strode back into MMA with his suit pants tucked into his cowboy boots, his potty mouth blazing and his bro-shove skills as wicked hot as ever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Big Daddy is finally here--it’s UFC 226 fight week. Your dudes are pretty hyped for what may well turn out to be the biggest fight card of the year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Cerrone dropped to 1-4 in his last five after a hotly contested unanimous decision loss to Leon Edwards at UFC: Singapore. So, why do Ben and Chad feel like he’s embodying the “Cowboy” mystique more than ever? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

UFC 225 included big wins from Robert Whittaker, Colby Covington, Holly Holm and others. Chad and Ben spend a good chunk of this show talking about that event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does middleweight champion Robert Whittaker have to prove--or gain--fighting Yoel Romero a second time? Is Colby Covington actually getting over on us with his “heel” gimmick? Does Alistair Overeem have legitimate beef for being left off the pay-per-view portion of the card? Oh, yeah--and CM Punk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Micheal Bisping announced his exit from MMA on his own podcast on Monday, nicely teeing-up Ben and Chad to discuss one of the UFC’s most unique careers on Tuesday. In addition to that, they look at Darren Till’s “win” (?) over Stephen Thompson at UFC Fight Night 130, which didn’t exactly launch Till into the stratosphere like perhaps matchmakers hoped it might. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yeah, so Kamaru Usman’s unanimous decision win over Demian Maia in the main event of UFC Fight Night 129 wasn’t exactly a crowd-pleaser. Still, some interesting stuff for Ben and Chad to talk about did come out of it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben and Chad take back everything they said last week about how maybe UFC 224 and Bellator 199 wasn’t going to be all that. As it happened, shit was *flames emoji*. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

UFC 224 comes our way from Rio de Janeiro this Saturday, featuring Amanda Nunes defending her women’s bantamweight title against Raquel Pennington in its main event. Good news, though, Universe. If you’re feeling a little light in the wallet this weekend--or maybe you just don’t want to pay $65 for this card on principle--Bellator 199 is the same night live and free on the Paramount Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s always a good week on the Co-Main Event Podcast when Ben and Chad get to talk Fedor Emelianenko news that isn’t patently depressing. Therefore, Emelianenko’s weekend victory over Frank Mir at Bellator 198 is cause for celebration. Except, you know, you guys, let’s not get too crazy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just in case there was any confusion about who they were, Kevin Lee and Frankie Edgar took to the cage Saturday at UFC Fight Night 128 to remind us all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje had themselves a gem on Saturday in the main event of UFC on FOX 29. To say we are not surprised, motherfuckers, would be an enormous understatement. As two of the most dependable action fighters in UFC, both Poirier and Gaethje lived up to their gimmicks in this all-out brawl, which ultimately ended as a fourth-round TKO victory for Poirier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here, your dudes talk McGregor, Nurmy, Al, Rose, Joanna and a whole bunch more of UFC 223 craziness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 300! Ben and Chad marvel, near-dumbfounded at Tony Ferguson’s late withdrawal from UFC 223 and his pending lightweight title fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the major MMA organizations largely taking the weekend off, the Co-Main Event Podcast is back with an All Questions Considered episode. This week, Ben and Chad let the brave and generous sponsors of their Patreon page have first dibs at submitting questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did Fabricio Werdum merely get caught slipping on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 127? Or does the 40-year-old former UFC champ’s knockout loss to Alexander Volkov forecast the end of Werdum’s time among the heavyweight elite? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Co-Main Event still has plenty of work to do, what with this week’s UFC Fight Night 127 coming up from London. In addition to that, there is Mirko CroCop’s surprising journey to Bellator MMA, which raises questions about whether Scott Coker and his merry band of misfit toys need to quickly decide which kind of MMA promotion they want to be. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben and Chad take on the Cris “Cyborg” Justino Show and whether it’s starting to get boring watching her starch some nobody every time out. In addition, they hold a requiem for The Old Man, after Frankie Edgar’s knockout loss to Brian Ortega over the weekend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeremy Stephens scored a potentially big win over Josh Emmett on Saturday at UFC on Fox 28. How he got there is where things get interesting. Ben and Chad struggle over what to make of Stephens’ win, then spend a round trying to figure out if Conor McGregor is completely done fighting of it he’ll fight as many as two times in the UFC before 2018 is up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ALL QUESTIONS CONSIDERED ALERT! An entire show of answering your questions on every topic including Heather Hardy, Matt Mitrione, Derrick Lewis, Cowboy Cerrone and whether or not the UFC is an outdated fad that is about to dry up and blow away. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

UFC 221 featured uncomfortable close talking, pantomimed public urination, an egregious eye poke & a dude chugging beer out of a shoe. In other words, we finally reached perfection. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let’s just say UFC Fight Night 125 did not go off with flying colors Saturday from Belem, Brazil. From the mild controversy of Lyoto Machida’s split decision win over “Ya Boi” Eryk Anders to the slightly more egregious display of Valentina Shevchenko beating up Priscila Cachoeira, this event was one likely best forgotten. You know, just not until you listen to this episode of the CME. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The biggest MMA news of the week arguably happened Sunday night, at the conclusion of WWE’s annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view. We all suspected Ronda Rousey might wash-up on WWE’s shores sooner or later but, boy, we didn’t expect the handshakes to be so awkward. Of course, Ben and Chad have to talk about Rousey’s conversion into a “full-time” WWE superstar as well as what all this might mean for any potential UFC return. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stipe Miocic tossed a bundle of dynamite on the tracks in front of the Francis Ngannou hype-train. Daniel Cormier did Daniel Cormier things to Volkan Oezdemir. Rory MacDonald won the Bellator welterweight title from Douglas Lima. Chael Sonnen advanced to round two of the heavyweight grand prix with a win over Rampage Jackson. Nuff said. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben and Chad do a little mop-up on UFC Fight Night 124 then look ahead to Rory MacDonald vs. Douglas Lima for the Bellator welterweight title before turning their attention to UFC 220's Daniel Cormier vs. Volkan Oezdemir for the light heavyweight title and the heavyweight title scrap pitting Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Chael Sonnen and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson scheduled to kick of the Tournament of Absolute Victory on January 20, the CME begins considering the implications immediately. In addition to Chael vs. Ramage, Ben and Chad also talk about whether or not it’s starting to seem like Conor McGregor needs to shit or get off the pot and also whether UFC executive Jeff Novitsky really ought to be going on various internet radio shows saying he believes Jones did not consciously mean to cheat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this show, your dudes talk about Cris “Cyborg” Justino’s first successful defense of her women’s featherweight crown, against Holly Holm, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s beatdown of Edson Barboza and look ahead to 2018 and what might happen in the UFC and Bellator. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow one sport's most powerful man as he explores his own past, present and future, hoping to discover the true reason for the season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rafael dos Anjos’ dominant win over Robbie Lawler at UFC on Fox 26 was yet another reminder to the Co-Main Event Podcast (or, at least, one half of it) to stop sleeping on dos Anjos. That actually tees Ben and Chad up nicely for this week’s show, wherein they discuss both dos Anjos’ win as well as the current awesome status of the welterweight “wilderness” (Ben’s word) and ask whether 170 pounds is the best thing MMA has going right now--even if Woodley doesn’t seem to notice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Ortega snatched Cub Swanson’s neck (twice) on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 123, perhaps along with it snatching future No. 1 contender status in the men’s featherweight division. This week, Ben and Chad search every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in T-City to break down how it happened. Oh, and did you hear Georges St-Pierre won’t defend the middleweight title after all? Sad but true. Don’t worry though, because Dana White is totally NOT MAD about it. Also, UFC on FOX 26 is this weekend, featuring Robbie Lawler vs. Rafael dos Anjos. So suffice to say there is a lot to talk about. All that, plus AYFKM and Just Sayin’ Stuff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Co-Main Event Podcast talks Max Holloway’s impressive third-round stoppage over Jose Aldo in the main event of UFC 218, Francis Ngannou’s knockout of Alistair Overeem and Conor McGregor's continued troubles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As feared, things turned even sadder this week for Michael Bisping. This week, your dudes talk about Bisping’s demise and then look ahead to such endeavors as Alvarez vs. Gaethje, Ngannou vs. Overeem and Holloway vs. Aldo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show of hands if a couple weeks ago you predicted that a boomerang toss would take up a good portion of Co-Main Event Podcast episode 282? Yeah, Ben and Chad did not see that coming either. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seriously, how worried should we be about Conor McGregor? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Georges St-Pierre’s shocking comeback victory over Michael Bisping to win the UFC middleweight title to T.J. Dillashaw and Rose Namajunas both dethroning champions most people expected to be dominant, this episode has it all. Was this the single greatest night in UFC history? Did GSP salt away GOAT status? And what of next weekend’s Fight Night 120, featuring Dustin Porier vs. Anthony Pettis and Matt Brown vs. Diego Sanchez. Buckle up, kids. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Batten down the hatches, CME Universe, it’s UFC 217 fight week. With just a week or so left before Michael Bisping actually defends his UFC middleweight title against Georges St-Pierre, Ben and Chad take a comprehensive look at what should end up being one of the biggest UFC events of late 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Darren Till made the most of his first real spotlight moment in the Octagon on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 118, blowing through Donald Cerrone via first round TKO. Now it seems as though Till might be looking at a future matchup with Mike Perry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gdansk, Gdansk, Gdansk is where the UFC journeys this weekend for Fight 118. The main event of that event features Donald Cerrone against Darren Till, which is kind of a strange marquee matchup until you consider that Till might well have his eye on being the new Donald Cerrone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No big deal, you guys. Demetrious Johnson is just going to toss Ray Borg up in the air like a small child and then armbar him as he plummets to earth (which is something we absolutely do NOT recommend doing to a child). If you are one of these people who insists on continuing to try to cast aspersions on the UFC men’s flyweight champ--well--you starting to feel sheepish yet? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

UFC 216 comes our way this weekend from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. On this episode of the CME, Ben and Chad look at Demetrious Johnson finally getting his chance to break Anderson Silva’s record for consecutive UFC title defenses. They also talk about Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee squaring off for an interim lightweight title and perhaps the opportunity to be a future opponent for Conor McGregor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A pretty low-quality UFC event and a pretty high-quality Bellator event paced the weekend in MMA and you know that kind of role reversal is enough to get the creative juices flowing for the CME. On this episode, Ben and Chad talk about Jessica Andrade and Claudia Gadelha having a crackerjack women’s strawweight contender fight at UFC Fight Night 117. They also puzzle over the debut of Gokhan Saki and wonder if it’s good enough to be a fun fighter without being a terribly good one. They also take a broad look at what Bellator did, including a second fight for Aaron Pico, a highlight reel knockout for Paul Daley and a very Benson Henderson fight to cap things off. All that, plus AYFKM, Just Sayin’ Stuff and MasterTweet Theatre. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Luke Rockhold returns from more than a year away, takes some time to shake off the rust and ultimately emerges from UFC Fight Night 116 with a second-round win via strikes over Dave Branch. Pretty much just what the doctor ordered for Rockhold, who got some decent work in, faced some adversity and then nonetheless re-established himself as one of the very best middleweights in the UFC. Interesting thing is going to see what happens now, what with Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre still on tap near the end of the year. Depending on who wins that bad boy, the 185-pound division might still have some time to kill before anybody gets a chance to take on the champion. In addition to Rockhold, Mike Perry had himself a night on Saturday, and then went ahead and called out Robbie Lawler. As if that what wasn’t enough hot Octagonal action for you, UFC Fight Night 117 comes at you this week, featuring Ovince St. Preux vs. Yushin Okami as its main event. Ben and Chad talk about all this stuff and more on this week’s Co-Main Event Podcast. Plus, AYFKM and Just Sayin’ Stuff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

UFC 215 fallout, plus Rockhold vs. Branch! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices