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You're listening to the Gas Digital Network.

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Conceive, believe, achieve. Shut the f up. You're listening to believe you me with Michael the Count Bisbing.

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You know my name yet? And Anthony Lionhardt-Smith.

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All right, we are back with a special Friday episode of Believe You Me. There's a lot to talk about. Of course, we were all speculating as to what was going on with UFC 300. Now we know what's going on with UFC 300. We know what's going on with Hamza and Jimmy-Ev. And just real quick off the top, I just got sent a video of Ariel Hounwani going on a rant, calling me Bootlicer Bisping and all the rest of it. Jesus Christ, Ariel. Jesus, buddy. Relax. We're having a laugh. We're taking the piss. My God. He says, Oh, we've known each other for a long time. We have. I thought you could take a little bit of banter, Ariel. Bloody relax, my God. Bootlicer Bisping, I'll have that slap fighting gig. I've got the slap fighting gig. I'm a commentator in the sport, okay? My God, I can't remember all what he said. I was watching it laughing my head off. Jesus Christ, Ariel, you're good at what you do, buddy. All right? Relax. Jesus Christ. Anytime you insert yourself into the conversation, you become a part of the conversation. So therefore, we're going to have a laugh.

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We're going to take the piss, which is what we do on this show, okay? We're also tearing, crying to our microphones and insult people and remind the world about the 14 trophies. Anyway, Ariel, all the best. There you go, buddy. Right, UFC 303, pardon me. I did. I thought there was a chance because John McCarthy told me last week. He said, It's off. It's off. And then, as we know, everything came back on, the promo and stuff. And I thought, Oh, looks like it's back on. Well, as we know now, it is definitely not on. It is clearly off because Alex Pereira and Yuri Prohaska, too, is the replacement. There's been a lot of shakeups as well that we're going to go through. Anthony Smith is fighting Carlos Holberg, which was a shot out the dark. What else we got? Brian Ortega versus Diego Lopes. Hamza Chimev is in hospital, apparently in a very, very serious condition. So we got all kinds of stuff to talk about. Ikram Alaskarow was the co-main event this weekend. He's a very, very good fighter. Only one on his record. And that one loss is to Hamza Chimev. Funnily enough, he's now going to be the replacement for Hamza, fighting Robert Whittaker.

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So we've got lots to talk about there, no doubt. You've put in a fair bit of bullshit for us to get into as well. I mean, I guess with McGregor, it's a shame. It is a shame. Listen, we've taken shots with the other a little bit on social media, and I've been a victim of the voice notes and all the rest of it. But you can't deny what he brings to the table. There's nothing like a Conor McGregor fire week, and I was very much looking forward to it. I really was. I was looking forward to the fight with him and Chandler. Chandler, it's a really tough situation for him as well. As we know, he's been waiting for a long time to get that big fight. By all accounts, I saw some breaking news that they're going to make it August 31st, but that was just on a social media post. Have you seen if there's anything official from the UFC, Harrington?

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So what I've heard is that it is not a target for the sphere because some fights already booked up for that. So they were looking at adding a date, either that August 31st date, like you said, or sometime like a gap in between Independent Fight Week and that August 31st date in September.

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Yeah. So if it is August 31st, if we just take that date, that would suggest to me, if you look at it and then know about the history of fighters getting injured. And this is probably why there was a little bit of deliberation, because maybe, I don't know, he's tweaked his knee, hurt his leg, the shinbone's playing up, whatever. As we said, I think on the last show, a lot of fighters, when they have that injury, they often struggle with it going forward. And I would assume, and again, this is a lot of assumption, that there was an issue with the leg, But it wasn't that bad. And they saying, Well, let's push it back a little bit. And they didn't know what they were going to do. And I'm sure his management team around them said, Look, listen, you don't want to come back half-cocked after three years away and come back and give Michael Chandler an even bigger chance of winning because you're injured for the last few weeks and you can't train. So let's push it back a little bit. And I'm assuming UFC didn't want to announce it because they don't want to announce it and not have a main event when the fight is so close.

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So rest up, McGregor, Chandler. Keep doing those kettlebell swings, keep giving those Ted talks, and keep doing what you do. Michael Chandler, stay with it. And August 31st, I hope it goes down. So it's a shame, but the fight is still going to go ahead. So But I'll tell you what, Alex Pereira. I was led in bed this morning thinking about Alex Pereira taking that fight, and I saw a post from Adam Catchwell from TNT Sports and the Five Disciples, and he said he was talking about Alex Pereira. He's in Australia, or he was in Australia a couple of days ago, doing a PR tour and just meeting fans and stuff like that, doing appearances and stuff. He broke a toe in UFC 300 against Jamal Hill. Apparently, he's broken another toe somewhere along the way. So he's got two broken toes. He's currently in Australia, and he's got what? Two weeks until the fight, and he's going to take on the Samurai himself, Yri Proashka. And after the schedule he's been on, what he's achieved in such a short space of time. The star power that he has amassed, he's become one of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts.

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He's a two-weight division champion, and the schedule has just been unbelievable. Alex Pereira, take a goddamn bow.

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If you look at his resume, it is just UFC champion after UFC champion. I think two of his fights in the UFC have been against people who did not at one point touch gold. So it's like, not only is he on this rigorous pace where he's fighting every few months and providing these highlight real knockouts, but he's doing it against the absolute elite in MMA right now.

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Yeah, no, it's ridiculous. When you look at his record and the fact that I mean, listen, the narrative is, and it's probably the truth, he was fast track to fight Izzy, right? But he won three fights, one, two, three, four, three fights before he got a shot at Izzy, and he beats it in round five. But he took an immediate rematch. Do you know what I'm saying? So when I'm speaking about the fighter and the strength of schedule and stepping up on short notice, the fact that he went straight away, Yeah, I'll fight Izzy again. Now, granted, he's beating him three times, but there was no pontificating. There was no bullshit. There was like, Yeah, straight away. Let's do it. He beat him in November. He fought him again in April in the very, very next fight, and yeah, he got knocked out. Moved up to light heavyweight, beat former champ Jan Blerowicz, Yuri Prohaska, and then Jamal Hill. And now he's going right back in again. Over Yuri Prohaska. You know what I'm saying? This is why this sport is so amazing. For people like that, for people like Alex Pereira that have that, for want of a better cliched statement, that warrior mentality.

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He really does. He's like a throwback fighter. Do you know what I'm saying? He's like, and we'll get to Robert Whittaker in a bit. He tweeted yesterday, Anyone, anywhere, anytime. And Robert Whittaker is another one. Do you know what I mean? You just got to absolutely have ultimate respect. Do you know what I mean? And yeah, three or three, it's not Conor McGregor, but it's still a bloody good fight card. And Yuri Brohashka was doing pretty good in that fight. Yeah, he did get dropped, but he was having success. And then, as we know, we know the finish came. But Yuri, after that fight with Alexander Rackich, I'm very, very excited for that fight. So unbelievable.

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Yeah, and it's guaranteed fireworks, right? It's like if you need to replace somebody with the star power of Conor McGregor, I need somebody who I think has a very good chance one way or another of that fight ending in a first round knockout. The blood lust in the fans is real. So to replace it with something where it looks like all action on paper is... That's a pretty sweet ace in the hole to have for the UFC.

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Yeah, no, it is. Here's one thing I spoke about yesterday. I did a little YouTube video, and I said, and I wondered, I'm just thinking out loud, will McGregor ever fight again? I think that's a fair question because if he injured it in this camp, there's a potential that happens again. I mean, look at Chris Wyman and the troubles that he's had. Yeah, he got a good win recently over Bruno Silva, but the leg issues have been consistent ever since that break. Anderson Silva, even though it takes away from my victory of him, he was not the same knockout artist that he was. You know what I mean? And who else is? There's been a few others over the years, and for McGregor, He's tried to come back after three years away. He's got a lot of the stuff going on outside the fight world. Obviously, he just did the roadhouse movie. I think they're doing a sequel as well now. He's got businesses galore, Lamborghini Yots. The leg just gave away. If it What happens again, and that's the thing, he's going to have to be very, very careful. He's going to have to train with recovery in mind, because if it happens again at 35, and it's a quick turnaround, August, it's only around the corner.

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Well, Halfway through July now, July 15th is Saturday. I'll be back in action at the apex. June 15th, pardon me. Did I say June or July? You said July, but- I thought I said July. And then I second guess myself. It's the CTE. Come I've got CTE. You would have mentioned your 14 trophies. What about the Hall of Fame shit behind me? Again, jokes. Relax, everybody. My God. I hope McGregor comes back. I really do. I really do. And I hope it's a massive fight. And may the best man win. And for Michael Chandler, again, I'm repeating myself, but you do feel for the guy waiting all this time, finally gets the fight, he's about to fly to bloody Dublin for the press conference. That gets canceled. Then he's been hanging in limbo, waiting to know if the fight goes ahead. And here we are. But Silver Lining, August is just around the corner. And it turns out that Yuri Prohasca, when he said that's pretty good speculation, turns out the speculation was absolutely spot on, and no wonder he was smiling. And listen, Yuri Prohasca, man, it takes two to Tango. As you said, that fight is absolute guaranteed fireworks.

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So I can't wait for it. I don't know if I'm going to be there now. Tnt Sports, they're not flying us all out there to cover the event. I'm still going for the Power Slap, Ariel, and I'm still going for some of the reasons as well. I got a bit of filming stuff to do, but you have three or three, man. That's the great thing about this sport and the UFC. You can call me a company man or a bootlicker, a three-minute basebit. Call me what you want.

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Oh, I will. I already talked to ad sales about getting you a Timberland deal for these bootlickers.

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Let's No, let's go. It's unreal because listen, it's not McGregor, but it's still bloody good. The new card is Pereira versus Yuri, Brian Ortega versus Diego Lopez. That's the core main event. That's unreal. And then Anthony Linehart Smith versus Carlos Oldberg. Not to mention, we've still got Ian Machado Gary versus Michael Page, Maida Buena Silver taking on Messi Shassan, and that's your main card. Unreal. Ian Machado Gary versus Michael Page opening up the main card, and then we're off to the races. With Anthony, Lionheart, O'Neill, and Smith going up against Carlos Oberg. Hamilton and Brian, if you don't want to show yourself, Brian, because I know you're in pain. But Hamilton, talk to me about the fits of giggles and emotions and roaring that was going on in your house when you got that news.

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Yeah, it was the shocker, right? Because he says Jamal's out, right? And I'm sitting there like, I immediately in my head, I'm going through the Rolodex of who's available at 2:05? I'm thinking maybe Uncle Ive wants to get on the card because then he gets a win there. It sets up the... He's fighting the winner of whoever's in the main event, like when they put Khabib on the McGregor MSG card, something like that. As Dana is talking in this video, I'm just processing, I don't think it's going to be Anthony. There's no way it can be Anthony. Then it's like, Anthony Smith is stepping up on two weeks notice, and I'm like, What?

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This is not- Which He goes against everything what he said on the podcast. He's been, I'm not doing that anymore. I'm not taking these fights on short notice. I've got to be smart with the end of my career because what is he? 35, 36. Carlos Holberg, though, man. Carlos Holberg is not an easy test. He just fought. Who was he? He just beat in about 12 seconds. It was Alonso Menafield, and it was 12 seconds. He's on a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, six fight win streak with five of those being finishes, four knockouts, one submission. The only decision was over, Fabio Charent. And Carlos Ulberg, of course, trains with Israel Adesanya, City Kickboxer product. Tremendous A tremendous kickboxer. I called his fight on the contender when he first brought him to the UFC. And I thought, then I thought, wow, we've got a star in our hands. And then he lost his first fight. He lost to Kennedy Nzechikou or Enzechu-Wu, however which way you say it, I follow the play-by-play commentators. If Brandon Fitzgerald says Enzechikou, I say Enzechaku. John Anick is very, very positive. It's Enzechuku, or I could be having that the other way around, but they both say different things.

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I just wait for the play-by a lay guy to say it. And however they say it, that's how I say it, because you're going to have a united front. So Enzechuku, Enzechuku, he knocked him out after he got a little bit gassed. But he's clearly improved since then. Six wins, five stoppages, and he's He's tremendously talented on the feet. On the feet, it's a dangerous fight for Anthony Smith. But Anthony is a far better grappler, far better, well-rounded mixed martial artist. He's much more of a varied threat. Of course, short notice, he did just fight, what was it? June, May, May? When did he fight? Ufc 301. When was that?

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I feel like that was April, like middle of April, maybe. Was it not May?

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Was it not May? I think it was May. I'm pretty I'm not really sure it was May. Anyway, and I'm sure he's been training a little bit, but still it is two weeks notice. For Carlos Ulberg, he was going up against Jamal Hill, and Jamal Hill being the former champion, that's a big opportunity for Carlos Ulberg. The point I'm making is that he would have been training his ass off. His core main event on a Conor McGregor card, massive exposure against a former champion, six wins in a row. You beat Jamal Hill, you're right there for a title fight. So he will be in phenomenal shape. He will have learned a lot just being around Israel Adesanya to take down defense and all that stuff. But fair play to Anthony, because it takes real balls to step in there on two weeks notice against a guy like that. And listen, Anthony's had 50 or so professional fights, but it doesn't take away from the braveness, from the courage. And yeah, he's going to be getting a very, very handsome payday, one would assume. I know he gets paid very well as it is. I don't know what the circumstances are.

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Maybe you got a bump in pay. Who goddamn knows? The reality is regardless of the situation, it takes a lot of balls to step in there on two weeks notice against a guy like Oldberg when you just got back to winning waves, and you're trying to get back on track. So well done to Anthony Smith. I would assume the path to victory for him. Listen, they're two human beings. They're both big. They can both strike. But I would assume that Anthony is going to be looking not to jump a gilly because I don't expect him to be shooting in like Vitor Petrino, but wrestling takedowns is going to be a big part of the game plan for Anthony.

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Yeah. I mean, with somebody like Oldberg, who, as you pointed out, has had stamina issues in the past and likes to stand on the feet and throw absolute bombs at people, that does seem like the cleanest path to victory there. But yeah, I don't know. I'm excited to see them strike on the feet, right? Because I was super excited to see Jamal fighting a guy like And I think Anthony is... There's something about Anthony where I think he's going to want to stand in the fire with him for a bit and trade those bombs and then go for those takedowns.

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Yeah, I mean, but he's going to have to. All fight start on the feet, as we know. And Anthony, whilst being a very good grappler, isn't like a college standout wrestler. He can wrestle, he can shoot doubles and singles and all the rest of it just like I could. And I grew up in bloody England, for crying out loud. Didn't wrestle a day in my life. So Anthony can shoot, but he's not like that college guy. So he's going to use the striking to set up some takedowns, push him up against the fence, drop down for a single leg or a high crotch, switch back to the double chain wrestling type of stuff. I assume, who knows? Maybe he's going to say, Fuck it. I'm just going to go out there and swing. But if he beats Carlos Ulberg, if he beats Carlos Ulberg, all of a sudden, he's back in those conversations. This episode is sponsored by Mando, which comes from the makers of Lou Mead Deodorant. And Mando is going to make you smell fresh. And it is clinically proven to control body odor for up to 72 hours wherever you stink, the peats, the package, the feet, and beyond.

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And of course, we have an offer for you. When you go to shopmando. Com and you use the code bisping, you will get $5 off. That equates to over 40 % off the starter pack. So one more time, shopmando. Com, use the code bisping, get $5 off. That is up to, it equates to Should I say, 40 % off the starter pack. Shopmando. Com, code is bisping. Let's just talk about Jamal Hill real quick, because that's a shame, man. Jamal Hill.

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Another guy, lingering knee injury. Wingering leg injury, I mean.

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Yeah, good point. It was the Achilles why he vacated the belt. Now, apparently, it's a knee issue. We were talking about him on the last show getting all worked up offering 20 bands to whoever wanted to pull up in the gym. And then yesterday, I get his posting, pictures of him counting out money in the car and stuff, and his flash and his fancy watch and whatnot. And then all of a sudden, he's out of the fight. I feel for Jamal. I do Because as we said last time, he lost to Alex Pereira. He got humbled a little bit. He had a chance to get right back in there, another big payday, get another win, get that feeling of victory back, get the confidence back, instill confidence in the watching and buying public and the UFC to get that title fight again, and then you got to bloody pull out.

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Do you think this might be a blessing in disguise?

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I do, actually. Why do you ask me that? But I'll elaborate in a second.

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Well, I mean, it just feels like UFC 300 was way too soon for the level of knocked out. We saw Jamal Hale. It's the first time he's ever been stopped in his career. I was listening to DC talk about this earlier this week. He said he took a full year off when Jones put his lights. When he was stopped, TKO by Jones, he said, I need a full year out of the cage to recover and process and make sure that my head is right. Versus going in there, you're expecting to fight Khalil Rountre now, last minute, switch up, you're fighting Carlos Ludberg. Either way, guys who hit very big, it's like, give your head a bit of a rest, maybe.

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Yeah, definitely. I mean, certainly in terms of from a medical standpoint, give your head a rest for sure. But also from a psychological standpoint, listen, Jamal Hill will be the first person if we were talking to him and said, Listen, I ain't no bitch. That is probably how we would word it and say, I ain't no bitch. I don't care. I'll get in there and I'll fight. But you don't know the lingering effects of getting stopped like that Until you're in there. And Oldberg is tall, is long, is quick, and he's got a great skillset. So I do think it is a blessing in disguise because without question, Jamal Hill has got a tremendous amount to give this sport. Coming back, it was... I I think it was probably not a knee-jerk reaction because it's been a couple of months. When the fight goes down anyway, I mean, 300 to 303, it's three events, but it's a relatively quick turnaround. And it's like you feel that anger, you You feel pissed off. You feel people talking shit online. That's why he was doing that video, and you want to get back in there. So the anger inside him is probably why he wanted to get back in there so quickly.

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But there is a real effect of taking that damage, taking shots like that. And when you step in there, you're like, Shit, I didn't realize this. Last time I did this, I got sparked. Granted, he didn't get knocked out, but still, he got dropped badly. And it can affect you. It can make you a little gun-shy is the expression that they use. Skeletons in the closet, a little bit of psychological damage. And often it is better to slow roll that. I've talked about it before, but when I fought Dan Henderson the first time and I got bingoed, again, same thing. You don't realize it until it gets near to fight time. You're like, Oh, shit. I remember this feeling again, and I remember what happened last time. But we're all different. We're all different individuals, so maybe I'm way off on the mark there. But I do think, to answer your question, probably A blessing in disguise for Jamal Hill, maybe.

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Well, I guess it also depends on the severity of the knee injury. If he's got an ACL, MCL, and a meniscus there, and he's out for 18 months, then yeah, I feel like a dickhead for saying that. But if it's a sprain that's preventing him from training or making it to the cage and selling that he's going to be better from in six weeks and then he can get back to training, I don't think he's even going to be that mad when he looks back on this.

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No, and I just hope that it isn't anything serious because that would be such a shame. Could you imagine you become champion of the world after fighting your ass off to get it? Then you tear your Achilles, you come back, you lose the return title fight, then you come back straight away to get back in there It's a shit. Put that in the rear view mirror, and then you tear an ACL or something of that nature. So I hope, I really do for Jamal's sake that it isn't anything like that. So yeah, Jesus Christ. I never even thought about that. Right. What should we talk about?

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Well, I mean, before we leave 303, can we just do a little prayer for Ian Machado- Gary? Why are we saying a prayer?

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I mean, that guy was- Why was he in a prayer?

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I mean, that guy went and tried to move heaven and earth to get on 303 so that he could be on a Conor McGregor card. Conor at the top, the second coming at the bottom of the card, opening it up. The true superstar moment for Ian Gary was on the horizon, and now, Ian McGregor is nowhere to be found.

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You are correct, but the first thing that pops into my mind, if I was to say a prayer for Ian Gary, the Bryce Mitchell fans are going to come for me. They'll be like, What the hell, man? You all do a prayer for Ian Gary? You all would do a prayer for Bryce Mitchell, you freaking one-out cyclops. I knew you were the devil. And grab it in real. Oh, shit. Yeah, you're right. I mean, he did. He did. He manifested this, didn't he? He wanted it to be on the McGregor fight card. Oh, shit. That's funny. That's a good fight, though. I'm excited for that. Mvp, Ian Gary. Very, very excited for that one. It's a tough fight for both men. A very, very tough fight. There is other stuff to talk about. I'm excited to see Diego Lopez, by the way, getting a big fight, a co-main event. I mean, Diego Lopez, unbelievable. Talk about just shooting to absolute superstard in a record amount of time. I mean, what was it? Ufc 300, that fight against Siddiqu Youssef, first-round stoppage. Pat Sabatini, first-round stoppage. Gavin Tucker, first-round stoppage. Ufc debut, short notice. Mossard Yvlauev, didn't get the job done, but almost finished him several times.

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That man is an action-packed fighter with probably the best hair in the UFC. What do you think? What do you think?

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I think it's O'Malley, if we're being honest. That guy is the one who's made his hair. What was the best hair? He's made his hair his brand. His hair is merch now.

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Sorry, sir. For some reason, you said O'Malley. I thought Aljimane Sterling. You're right. I don't know. I think Diego Lopez, when it comes to the hairstyle, that's more of an everyday, every man type of cut. You know what I mean? If I didn't put some product in it, if I didn't rush it, I could have that flopping down. Although my hair goes super curly, crazy curly when I don't put anything in it. I think if I was to do a Sean O'Malley, if you were to do a Sean O'Malley, I think if the majority of the population did the Sean O'Malley, we'd look like absolute helmet, to use a British expression.

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All right. I guess everything is cyclical. So the mid 2000s are back now. The 'auts' are back, just like the '90s were back a decade ago. And that was the emo kid haircut for every kid I went to high school with. So, yeah, hype to be seeing that in the UFC octagon. Out of nowhere, out of field. I know our boy Ariel was first on the scene with this, saying that Diego was going to be looked at for this possible fight here. And for him to get this, that rocket ship that he's on is pretty crazy.

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Yeah, no, absolutely. And going up against Brian Ortega. Brian Ortega, I mean, we all know what he's capable of, the fight that he had with Bokunovsky, the win that he just got over. Who was it? Who did he just fight in Mexico? Jair Rodriguez. Tremendous fight. A tremendous fight. It really is. It's amazing what the UFC did there. Call me a bootlicker all day if you want, but how can you not? It's a whole new bloody fight card. Do you know what I mean? Pretty much. Three new fights on it. Unreal. On the main card, unbelievable. I see here, Hamilton, it seems like a good segue here. In the non-MMA, there's an Alex Pereira story visiting a pediatric hospital. And I think there's a little link there, Brian, as well. But give Give us some details on that, because I haven't seen this.

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Yeah, it was just that. As part of Alex Pereira, like you said, he was out in Australia doing the Haka and all that. He did find time in there to make it to a children's pediatric cancer unit, where he brought the belt in and he talked to kids, talked to kids about the values of perseverance and fighting through what you're going through. He even said he talked to one kid who was training Muay Thai, but was forced to give up the practice when the illness hit. But he was just talking to that kid about fighting. It's a pretty cool moment for the UFC champion of the world to spend time with kids like this.

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No, it really is. I mean, certainly when you consider the demand that will be on His time now, and he's down in Australia. He will be on a crazy schedule, traveling all over the place. Australia is a big, big country, so you're going to go to different cities, you're jumping on planes. When you fly to Australia, like when we do a Perth show, it's like 15 hours to Sydney, then another six hours over to Perth. It's like the same size as the USA thereabouts. So the fact that he's taking time out of his day to go and do that, that is just unbelievable. And it just, again, speaks volumes about the person that Alex Pereira is. And the thing that I find so unique about Pereira is, listen, he's a monster inside the octagon. Clearly, he's got a soft side, but he doesn't talk. He has got a sense of humor. You see some videos of him and he laughs, and he has some funny things to say through his translator. He doesn't speak English, and he's a very stoic individual, but he's got massive star power. And anywhere he goes, there's just massive fanfare.

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And it's because of that ability, A, to fight, to knock people out, the crazy power, the rise that he's had, becoming a two-way division champion. Of course, behind the scenes, doing shit like that. It's unbelievable. As As I said before, take a bow, Alex Barrera. I mean, talk about being a great influence and an example for young up and coming fighters on how to do it. And granted, yeah, he's got special gifts that not everyone has. He's got incredible power and of course, he's got a great work ethic and all the rest of it, but he's an example to a lot of fighters on how to conduct yourself and how to conduct your career and what to do with your spare time.

[00:30:57]

Yeah. I mean, it's like there's almost a piece of Anderson in it. You know what I mean? Where he's super Zen, super respectful of everyone. But when that octagon door does close, it's absolute terror for 25 minutes for anyone who's locked in there with him. So, yeah, it's just interesting. It's super fun. It's fun to have a stoic, Brazilian champion who doesn't speak English. I love it.

[00:31:19]

You mentioned, Brazilian fighters, of course, Anderson Silva. He's boxing Saturday against Chael Sod. We're not going to dive into that. I'm wishing both the best. It's amazing to see the promotion. I know Chael saying that Anderson Silva is the fighter that he wanted to be, and he had the career that he wanted. I think to be so honest and truthful and humble, that was beautiful to see. And it's just great to see two legends going back at it. I saw them on the scale, waiting in. Chael Bill, looked in this shape. A little heavier than what he was in his prime, of course, and so was Anderson. But I have a great fight, you two. I think myself and Damian Meyer might be the only two human beings to ever share the octagon with both of them. A little claim to Fame there. So best of luck to them, too. Also, there's something in here, another one about Alex Pereira and the Boston Celtics, Harrington.

[00:32:12]

Yes. So the coach, Joe Mizzula, apparently, according to star player Jason Tatum, has been playing UFC fights in the locker room to the team before they go out for the finals. He says that if anybody embodies a championship mindset, it's a UFC champion. He specifically He used the Alex Pereira versus Jamal Hill fight where he said, Look, watch what Alex does here. He gets literally kicked in the nuts. He does not let the referee step in. He handles it himself, fights through the adversity, and wins himself a title. He's trying to implore his team to do exactly that. Don't depend on the refs. It doesn't matter what they do to you. You worry about winning.

[00:32:51]

Yeah, that is fantastic to see. And again, it's another recognition of the level that Pereira is reaching, and I hate to bring myself into it, but it It seems that they're doing that a lot because I told you, didn't I, recently? I forget what team it was. I think it was the Philadelphia Eagles. They wanted to fly me up there. They had a big game coming up, and they wanted me to go in and give a pep talk and speak to the team before, and they just talk about perseverance and not giving up on yourselves and stuff like that. And I think it's great that the mixed martial arts and the UFC has reached such a level now to where they are using examples like Alex Pereira to influence and inspire the athletes on a football field. Unreal. Anyway, Alex Pereira, Yuri Prohaska, all the best. I think it's going to be a very different fight this time. I don't think Yuri is going to be shooting in like he did, because obviously, that's when the end came, but it is going to We're going to be fireworks, as you said. So all the best to everyone competing on that one.

[00:33:48]

All right, today's episode is brought to you by the 8 Sleep pod cover. I've talked about this a lot. I love this thing. Rebecca loves this thing. The 8 Sleep Mattress Pod Cover, it just slips right off the mattress pod cover, it just It's right over the mattress, like a normal mattress cover. And then it has all kinds of heating and cooling technology built into it. So you get a comfortable night's sleep. You sleep deeper and then you wake up more rested. It's very, very simple to use. You just put it on the mattress, as I said, like a mattress cover, and then you can set either side of the bed as low as 55 degrees or the other side as high as 110 degrees. Obviously, you just tweak it. Then you have the app that gives you all the necessary info about your sleep. It tells you your resting heart rate when you sleep. It tells you your quality of sleep. It tells you exactly when you were awake and asleep throughout the night. It gives you a sleep score. It tells you how much rem sleep, how much deep sleep, and what you need to do to improve your sleep going forward.

[00:34:46]

And also it just makes it more comfortable in bed. As it's getting into summer now here in Southern California, it's getting hot. Rebecca does not like to put the air conditioning on, but my side of the bed is nice and cool. So as I said, there is no better way to improve your day to day life than better sleep. And the easiest way to do that is with 8sleeps part three. So give it a try. You're going to absolutely love this thing. I can't say enough good things about it. Go to 8sleep. Com/bisping to get $200 off and free shipping. 8sleep. Com/bisping to get $200 off and free shipping. And by the way, the reason why this is so important is because the body needs to drop in temperature when you fall asleep and then slowly start to rise. So I just want to point out that the pod cover doesn't stay at that temperature that you set it at. Then it goes on like its program and altars and changes throughout the night, so you get the perfect night's sleep. Anyway, 8sleep. Com/bisping. This being to get $200 off and free shipping. Parrington, I sent you a little Instagram clip about a woman getting ripped off.

[00:35:56]

Some poor woman in India. I believe she spent, and it It's like $150,000 or something, $1,000. Sorry, $700,000 for jewelry that was worth about $4 US.

[00:36:10]

Yeah, it's ridiculous. I mean, the poor woman, I don't know what They told her what bill of goods they sold her. Obviously, they said it was antique, and it comes from a long line of some dynasty of an amazing family in India or whatever, and it's 300 years old and stuff. But it made me laugh because that just made me think of Rebecca, because we go antique shopping all the time. Rebecca loves antiques. We have no idea what we're buying. All she ever says is, Is he old? And they're like, Oh, yeah. If it's from a Victorian era, she wants it. Simple as that. She does like to buy quirky little stuff. They're all over the house. But when I saw that, a woman getting ripped off, that was the first thing that I thought of. You ever been ripped off like that, Harrington?

[00:36:56]

I have, actually. Immediately, I saw this story, and I identified this woman. I was in Cuba. There was a very brief window where Americans were able to legally visit Cuba and spend time there, get a visa super easy. So I went down there, had a blast. And I think like three- That's interesting, Hamilton. What?

[00:37:18]

Then you went down to Cuba.

[00:37:20]

Dude, it's honestly one of the coolest places I've ever visited. I recommend it to anyone. If you get the opportunity, go check out Havana and the surrounding areas. But so I was down there and some woman ran this cam where she was like, Hey, I'm the lady who... I'm like the bus lady for the buffet at the hotel in the morning. Like, Good seeing you, whatever. And she takes us. She's like, Oh, I got this great place. Come check it out. It was this cigar place. It was like these dudes in a back room who were like, Yo, when Fidel got ousted, these were boxes of his cigars were saved. I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. They were like, This box is It's worth X amount of dollars. I'll give it to you for 200 bucks. I think between my buddy and I, we had maybe 300 on us. I was like, Let's get one box. We bring that back to America. You can sell every cigar for 200 bucks. We'll make a killing on this thing. Within In, I don't know, 20 minutes of getting out of there, I processed like, Oh, we just got screwed.

[00:38:19]

And oh, by the way, you can't get money out of the bank in Havana. If you're in Cuba, you can't go to an ATM, you can't go to a bank, you have no access to your of funds, only the cash in your pocket. So we literally just turned our pockets out and said, All right, we have $87 for the next four days of this vacation. We got to figure out a way to make this work.

[00:38:41]

And of course, nobody wants to buy Fidel Castro's old cigars of Harrington in Cuba, so you couldn't resell them. I was just trying to think if I've ever been ripped off, and of course, I have many times. And it's a very long story. When I went to New Zealand for the World Championships. Have I told this? I must have I must have done. We stopped off in Bali. It's a tremendously long story, so I'm going to do the elevator version of it. We had a layover. They weren't going to let me into the country initially because there wasn't enough time on my passport. They were going to fly me back to England. I was 16. I was arguing saying, I don't want to come to Bali. I'm trying to get to New Zealand. They said, Okay, well, you got to stay where the lost and found luggage is. You got to wait there. You can't leave the airport. And so I was waiting there all night. The guy that was traveling with my chaperone, if you will, the adult, he disappeared off into Bali. And I was like, people were coming over with complaints about lost luggage and this and that.

[00:39:40]

And I'm getting involved in all the conversations. I'm like, Yeah, well, no, to be fair, he's got a good point. And I'm driving this and that. So I was driving them crazy. In the end, he walked up to me about three o'clock in the morning, just threw my bags at me and said, Get out of the airport, but just make sure you come back for your flight. I'm like, Yeah, of course. And I'm wondering around and I couldn't find a hotel, and And in the end, these guys take me back to their hotel, these two German dudes. They say, Oh, we've got a spare room. And we go back there and I wake up. I had a few drinks. I was hammered. I was only 16, but with the travel, it went to my head. I wake up on the balcony, and it's just glorious sunshine. And obviously, it was the middle of the night. So I wake up, all good to say goodbye to these two German dudes. I have a great life. And I walk off, and I've got my suitcase. I've got my tracksuit on. I'm a I have a same tracksuit for the World Championships.

[00:40:32]

And I've got a rucksack that Andrew, the guy that I was traveling with, gave to me to carry going through customs. Anyway, I walk out, and it was Kuta Beach in Bali, and there's thousands of people everywhere, and street sellers and stuff. And they come up and someone's like, You want to buy a watch? I'm like, no, I've got a watch. And they're like, You want to do a trade? I'm like, go away. Someone comes out, they're trying to sell me a pair of shorts and T-shirts. I'm like, I've got clothes. Leave me alone. And they were driving me nuts. Anyway, two pretty little girls come over and they were selling these little tiny leather bracelets that go on your wrist. I'm like, No, I'm fine. And they're like, oh, no, we'll give you this for free. And they were good-looking. I was 16. I was like, Oh, okay. So they tie them on and then they go, Right, now you pay me. And I'm like, No, you just said they were free. So, Oh, no, no, now you have to pay. So I'm like, I didn't want. And the guy is still there trying to sell me a watch, by the way.

[00:41:23]

And the person is still there trying to sell me T-shirts. One of my watch, one of my T-shirt, pay me for the bracelet. I'm Fuck off, the lot of you. Rip that off, barge them out of the way. I'm hung over. I've just got off a long flight. I'm sweaty as hell. I've got my tracksuit on. I've got a big suitcase. I've got the rucksack, and I'm like, I need a drink. And I look around and there's a Kentucky fried chicken. And it was just like, oh. It wasn't like a developed area, but there was a Kentucky fried chicken just standing out and I walk in, and it's got air conditioning. I'm like, Oh, my God. I said, Can I have a Sprite? And they get me a Sprite. It was the nicest taste ever. Anyway, I went to pay, and I went to pull my wallet out. And the Bastids, they got my wallet, they got my passport, they got my traveler's checks, They got everything. I've been completely robbed.

[00:42:18]

The little girls, the Bastids, they got me.

[00:42:23]

And that started off a whole catalog of a nightmare. Number one, so I'm 16. I'm stranded in the middle of Cuta Beach, Bali. I'm like, What do I do? I go see the police. I go to the police station. Eventually, after ages, find the police station. I walk in, they take a police report, and that's it. You know what I mean? What else are they going to do? I'm like, Shit, right? Well, now what? I've got no money. I've got a suitcase. I got this rucksack. I'm like, Holy shit. Well, I guess I better get to the airport. And the airport is 20 miles away. So I start walking as I'm walking and I leave the town, and it goes into It's almost like a desert road, but it's not desert, but like a dirt road. And it's just a sign airport that way. And I'm walking and I thought I was going to die. I was like, Water, water, dragging my suitcase along. And then, honestly, it was bad. It was bad because it was hot as hell. And I've got the tracksuit on. I've got the suitcase and the rucksack. And I'm walking along, and in the distance, I can just see this very dusty building.

[00:43:25]

And on it, it said, Import, export. And I thought, maybe they can help me. So So I walk over and I go into there. And this guy was so nice. He didn't speak English, but he could tell this guy's a kid. What's he doing here? He gave me some food, drove me to the airport, and then there I was pretty much arrested for having no documentation or anything. It was a whole nightmare. So anyway, I have been robbed. Anyway, enough of that shit. We're going to talk about Hamza Chimev. Hamza Chimev versus Robert Whittaker. Very, very important fight in the middleweight division. Hamza He's got undefeated, has this aura around him, like the bad guy when he flipped off everyone, when he missed weight, when he was supposed to fight Nate Dias, didn't give a shit. Some of the performances have been incredible. The first round of all been incredible against Usman and Gilbert Burns. He faded, so there's this narrative. But regardless, if he was to beat Robert Whittaker, he would probably fight for the belt next. Drickies DuPlecey was talking about that recently. Everyone's looking forward to the fight. I have tremendous respect for Robert Whittaker for taking that fight.

[00:44:35]

Just show the type of man that he is. And then I started seeing rumors yesterday that he's not going to be able to fight. And then I see this picture where he's tagged and he's in hospital. And then the video comes out of Dana talking about it. And I forget the words. What did he say? Violently ill? Is that how he worded it?

[00:44:54]

I don't remember the exact word. I just remember him. That is what he said. That's what he said? Yeah.

[00:45:00]

Yeah, violently sick, violently sick. And I spoke to some people that are close to Hamza's team yesterday, and they said, Yeah, we don't know if he's even going to be able to ever fight again. So the main thing is right now for Hamza Akimiev, just recover, get better. Just recover, man, because it sounds like it's something serious. It really does. So fingers crossed, it's nothing serious. But the show must go on, as they say. Hey, Robert Wisker tweets or posts, anyone, anywhere, anytime. As I said, Ikram Alaskarov was supposed to fight this weekend. Only one loss on his record. He's a Daghty Stani, he's a former World Sambo champion. No doubt, he's an international master of sport as well, because they all have that on their Wikipedia pages. Two wins in the UFC, but they were knockouts. And if I'm not mistaken, in the first round, and they were electrifying knockouts as well. So that's a tough fight for Robert Whittaker, but nowhere near the credit, the risk and reward, the risk and reward for Anthony coming into this one. If he pulls it off and gets it done, he saved the day, he stepped up on two weeks notice, and we're cooking with gas, baby.

[00:46:19]

Just took out a guy on a six-fight win sheet. The risk, of course, is that he takes it on two weeks notice and loses the fight. The risk and reward here for Robert Whittaker is that he's fighting Hamza Chimey, but a man that's undefeated who's a big superstar. Now he's fighting Nikram Alaskarow, a guy that's really good, a guy that's got tremendous skills, but nowhere near the profile of a Hamza Chimey.

[00:46:46]

It's a rough spot for Robert Whitaker, no doubt about it. But it's like, if you also listen to that same Drick as 2 plus equal where he was saying Hamza might be next for the belt, seemingly, if DDP is still the after whatever his next fight is, Robert Whitaker, in his mind, wasn't next in line for the title anyway. There still was that he was saying he would like to see a number one contender fight with Sean Strickland or whoever might have popped up at that point. It's tough because he has the two losses to Israel Adesanya, and he has the one loss against DDP. So it's like, would I rather fight Hikram Ali Skarow and then need to fight one more guy for a title, or would I rather fight Hamza and then need to fight another guy for the I understand what you're saying, but if a title shot wasn't guaranteed off a Hamza win, this might be good for Whitaker, maybe?

[00:47:40]

What I'm saying, though, is... I mean, no, I don't disagree with what you're saying. You make a point. But what I'm saying is that this is a tough fight for Robert Whittaker. You know what I mean? So you lose to Ikrum Al-Alaskarov when he just lost to Drikus Duplece. Of course, no shame in It just derails him. But the ball's on the man. He's like, Yeah, I don't give a fuck. He's no doubt looked him up. He saw that he's 15 and one, six knockouts, five submissions on a hell of a win streak. The only person to beat him is Hamza Chimev. Hamza By the way, knocked him out. Round one, two minutes, 26 seconds. Two wins in the UFC, Wally Alvarez, Phil Hawes, both knockouts, first round. Yeah, but it's a tough fight. It's a tough fight, but you get almost no credit from the casuals for getting it done. That's what I'm saying. And God forbid, he doesn't win. You know what I mean? That's really, really bad for his career at this stage of it.

[00:48:42]

And it's nuts for Iqram Ilyaskarab, who was supposed to fight, I believe he was supposed to fight, Paul Costa for international fight week last year, and then that got canceled. Then he was supposed to fight Nazajin Imovov, and then that got canceled. I think he's had four different canceled fights this year so far. So it's like, by all means, this guy should be in the middle to wait top 15 somewhere. Now, instead, you got Robert Whitaker fighting an unranked guy. So I do see your point there, losing to an unranked guy is much worse, even though I think if Ikram had shown up or if the other guy had shown up for any of those fights that Ikram was booked for, there's a very good chance he's already in the top 10, and that fight seems to make a lot more sense on paper to the casuals, like you said.

[00:49:22]

Yeah, no, absolutely, mate. Absolutely. So give us a non-MMA story. All the best to Robert, all the best to Ikra and Mellaskarov. It's a tremendous It's fight is what it is. I think that just basically encapsulates what I'm trying to say. It isn't much of a step down in terms of a threat for Robert. In fact, if anything, you never know, because we spoke about this, Hamza, we haven't seen him go five rounds. Robert Whittaker can go five rounds standing on his head. He's been there many times. Hamza gets tired after round one. Just scraped Scraped by Kamara Usman, former pound for pound number one on the planet, long time welterweight king. Of course, great win. Not an easy thing to do. Scraped by Gilbert Burns, tremendous fight, not an easy thing to do. But the reason being was because he got so tired, and they really came back into the fight. How does he look in rounds four and five? Well, we, one would assume, if you just take it at face value, that Iqram Al-Skaraf isn't going to have that same issue. You know what I'm saying? So potentially, a The game plan that Whittaker was working on to get Hamza tired into the later rounds wouldn't necessarily apply for Iqram Al-Assgarf.

[00:50:37]

Anyway, best of luck to both men. Can't wait for it. I'll be there. I'm in Saudi Arabia. Go to Vegas Saturday, obviously, Tatsun, tired are taking on Alex Perez. Come home Father's Day on Sunday, and then I'm off to Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom. What are you doing for Father's Day, Harrington?

[00:50:57]

I don't know. I was thinking about that. Alex He keeps asking me, and it's like, I don't know. The only thing I ever want to do that feels like a selfish thing is let's go see a movie. Let's drop the baby off, give us a couple of hours to go and see a movie. But there's not even anything out I really am desperate to see. So I'm racking my brains. What are you doing? Maybe I'll still take your book.

[00:51:18]

Nothing? No, no, no, no. I'm flying back from Vegas for one Sunday morning, nice and early, flying back from Vegas. I'll unpack from Vegas, and then I'll pack for Saudi Arabia Isn't it the same wardrobe? It's not the same wardrobe. There'll be different suits. There'll be different underwear, Hamilton. Do you know what I mean? Are you talking about in terms of climate?

[00:51:40]

Yeah.

[00:51:41]

Yeah, not for sure. But you know what I mean? You're going to change your smalls and all the rest of it. Nothing, man. We don't really celebrate stuff like that in our house. We don't make a big deal out of it. We don't necessarily make a big deal out of our birthdays, mother's day, father's day, stuff like that. We don't. I do for Rebecca most of the time, not every time, but she's one of those just plays it down constantly. No, you don't have to do anything. You don't have to do anything. And she's not one of those where they say that, but then when you don't do anything, they start trouble. She literally means that. So even though I would like something. I've got to play by the same rules. I'm like, Yeah, we don't have to do anything. No, we'll just barbecue. We'll have a little barbecue, maybe sit by the pool, have some family time. But what else is going on in the world of MMA, Harrington? What have you got in the notes for me?

[00:52:30]

All right, let's see here. Well, I mean, I think this one's fun. Our boy, friend of the show, Eddie Hall, had himself a two on one MMA fight. I mean, this probably stole every headline for the week. This is all anyone wanted to talk to me about come Friday afternoon last week.

[00:52:50]

Yeah, no, it was unbelievable. I mean, to be honest, let's have a look at this.

[00:52:54]

We got him on the single leg, trying to fight, picking one guy, and slapping down.

[00:53:02]

That right-hand, that right-hand that he connects. Just look at this here. Throws him up in the air. Boom. Jeez, Louise. I mean, that's the strongest man in the world. I mean, he's an absolute beast by name and nature, and he swung. That's what we call an ale house swing in England. Outside the ale house, just drunk, just swung. I mean, that kid's lucky, he bloody got... He survived. My God. Look at that. Look at the size of Eddie Hall. Look at the muscles on him. Look at that. Boom. Crocked him. There's no faking that, by the way. What I didn't understand, though, why did he stop the fight? The other guy was still going. And by the way, Eddie, congrats, brother. I am not trying to take away from your victory here. What are you shaking your head at, Harrington?

[00:53:58]

The other guy was gassed and desperately holding on to a single and taking shots.

[00:54:03]

I want to see blood, okay? I want those little shits stepping in there with that big man. They deserve to be taught a lesson. All these little guys with the small man complex, they're like, Oh, finally, finally. Two of us, we can take him. We're trained. We have skills.

[00:54:22]

I feel like four of them couldn't have gotten it done.

[00:54:24]

Yeah, I love that. I did think when we spoke to Eddie on the show and he was like, I thought he He was underestimating what a skilled mixed martial artist could do. Yeah, man. Well done to Eddie. Unbelievable, mate. And now I think he's going to fight. I saw something else. Who's he going to fight now?

[00:54:41]

I don't know.

[00:54:44]

But you could marry Marius Pudjianowski. Marius Pudjianowski from... He's not KSI. What's he called?

[00:54:50]

That's a dangerous fight. That's another World's strongest man. Yeah, no, I know. That was a bear.

[00:54:56]

What's he called, the Polish promotion? Not KSI, that's the YouTuber.

[00:54:59]

Ksw?

[00:55:01]

Ksw. There we go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Apparently, he's going to fight him next. We're going to get him back on the show again. What a great down to earth guy he was.

[00:55:09]

Bro, check that out. It was 30 seconds left in the third round. He could have done that at any moment. You know what I mean? If you can pick a man up and power bomb him, WWE style, you could have done that a minute into the first round. You gave the people a show. God bless Eddie Hall, man.

[00:55:26]

Hey, no, he gave the people a show. But as I said, And then those two guys there, they thought, Right, okay, we're going to take this big man down. We are sick of being looked down upon, literally. Because the reality is people that are a bit shorter, they have a serious complex. They really do. The small man complex thing really is a real thing. The Napoleon complex, because I know some people, and they make up for it in other ways. It doesn't matter. It's not a big deal. If it's a sensitive issue for them, I will to go there because I know it's a sensitive issue. But for me, it doesn't matter here or there. But they thought they were going to take down the beast, man. They were out of their goddamn minds. What else we got, Harrington?

[00:56:11]

Well, I think the biggest thing that people here would want to hear from you about is Tom Aspenal says that he has spoken to Leon Edwards. Leon, apparently, reached out to a sleep consultant to get him on the right sleep schedule for this UFC 304 main event, which is going to be taking place obviously pretty late in the day in England. Tom says that rather than pay the sleep specialist himself, he's just going to listen to whatever that guy told Leon and do exactly that.

[00:56:41]

Because he's a Northerner. You know what I mean? Simply As ill as that. The man's a champion of the world, but if he can piggyback and get the info for free, let's go. That's called being smart. I'm excited for that card. In Manchester, it's going to be phenomenal. It's going to be good to be back. And yeah, it's at, what is it? Five o'clock in the morning. People are still pissed. People are still annoyed. People still message me about it like I've got any goddamn saying it. And I did see that it was Tom talking to Leon Edwards. I mean, the The thing is now they do have the Performance Institute to lean on, and they have experts. Is that who Leon spoke to, or did he hire somebody himself?

[00:57:24]

I think he said... I mean, according to Tom, he paid out of pocket to hire some guy.

[00:57:29]

Yeah, I did see what Leon said. Leon said, the guy said to Leon that you don't really want to stay up all night and then sleep all day because your body needs sunlight and all the rest of it, which is pretty much exactly the opposite of what I did because I just stayed on California time when I flew out there, you don't stay asleep all day because it's almost impossible, but you sleep in till as long as you can, one o'clock, two o'clock in the afternoon. Then you go for a walk, you get a little bit of daylight anyway, and you have a late training session. And that's It's essentially, to be honest, what Leon Edwards is going to do. You train at about 11:00 or 12:00, something like that. And I didn't even do that. I did that two or three times. And then by the end of it, you're like, We're almost done. The training is over. I'm on wait. I can't be arsed. It's one o'clock in the morning. I'm not Let's sit around, let's tell jokes, and watch some crappy TV, and just take the piss out of each other, which is what guys do.

[00:58:21]

Do you know what I mean? It's going to be a good fight night, though. It is going to be fantastic. What is it? Leon versus Curtis, Bilal Mohamed, Tom versus Curtis Blades, Giga Chikadeze versus Arnold Allen, Bobby Green, Paddy Pimbler. And now, Manel Kopp is fighting Muhammad Mekai. He was Muhammad Mekai fighting originally. He had a different opponent. Was it Alice Karev? No, it wasn't Alice Karev. He's a middleweight fighting Robert Whittaker. It doesn't matter.

[00:59:01]

I confused all those names.

[00:59:02]

My bad. Just say, I don't know. Just say, I don't know. But he's fighting Minel Kopp. Minel Kopp, as we know, is a very, very explosive, dangerous guy. So that one with Muhammad Mekai has got big, big title implications. But yeah, I don't know what else to say on that, really. Tom Aspenal, we all know how great I think he is. The thing is with rematches, it's dangerous. I saw Leon and Tom talking about this, the prospect of having rematches. This is Tom's first one against Curtis Blades. And even though it was a win for Curtis, we know what happened. He blew the leg out after 15 seconds. So it wasn't a real win. It wasn't a real fight. So I don't think there'll be any anxiety there. It's a rematch for Leon Edwards. I doubt there's going to be anxiety there because he was piecing him up in the first fight. We're just being honest. There's no bias towards Leon. There's nothing against Balal, but he was getting tuned up pretty well in that fight before the very, very nasty eye poke came. But Balal has improved, leaps and bounds. So it's going to be a good night of fights.

[01:00:08]

I think the toughest fight on there, I do expect... Well, I was going to give predictions there. I can't give predictions. I'm commentating the fight. That would be disrespectful. It's going to be a great night of fight, guys. There I am, not bootlicking, just being a bloody professional. This episode is brought to you by Betterhelp, which is the perfect way to start therapy. If you're thinking of giving it a try. You're going to try a better help because it is all entirely online. It's designed to be convenient, flexible, suited to your schedule. You just fill out a brief questionnaire, you get matched with a licensed therapist, and you can switch therapists at any time with no additional charge, and it's all to your schedule. So as I always say, you don't have to jump in the car, you don't have to waste an hour or so, find a parking space, walk in a room, and it all gets awkward. Whenever you can, when you're at home, just do it over your phone. If you're sitting in your car, you can just pull up. You can do it all whenever you want, completely convenient. And you got to give it a try because most people are going through something.

[01:01:10]

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[01:01:58]

Yes, I think the The biggest thing people have been talking about lately, UFC related, is actually a piece of content that Roku put out, this new documentary. I think it's called Fight Inc. It gives people a real behind the scenes look at the UFC, showing off some closed-door meetings that fans before this point were not exactly privy to.

[01:02:19]

Yeah, so that's actually a real show, is it, on Roku? I didn't know that. I've seen some clips on social media where they have a PR meeting for Sean Strickland, and they're talking about what was doing and how to handle it. I saw a clip on Twitter of Alderman Sterling talking about fighting Sean O'Malley and stuff like that. And I thought there was one other that I saw as well.

[01:02:40]

Dc, probably.

[01:02:42]

Dc. I didn't see. That's why I looked. Let's have a look at this. Press play, Brian. That was not DC.

[01:02:48]

That was Hunter Campbell.

[01:02:49]

Yeah, it's okay. Regardless of what it is, if it's a clip, play the clip.

[01:02:54]

This was more intense and more difficult because we had to reshuffle the main, the co-main. You didn't go on vacation yet, did you? All right, so here's what I got. So if this is between you and I, I'm going to probably announce it shortly. You and Serge Pavel, which are going to be fighting for the interim title, Madison Square Garden. Crazy shit happens every single day. You never know.

[01:03:14]

I just want to let you guys know, you obviously got to think about how we want to tell MSG when we want to tell MSG.

[01:03:19]

I think that we should do this before it gets out. And then we also got to figure out, I guess I just do a video. I think if you do it on your social, it's the best option. When things like this happen, it's devastating, but you don't go crazy and lose your mind. When problems pop up, I like facing them head-on and beating them. The new fight at MSG, the main event is now going to be Prohasca versus Pereira.

[01:03:41]

The co-man event will-All right, we get it, Brian. Do me a favor, Brian. See if you can pull up the Sean Strickland PR meeting because that one's pretty funny. Bring that one up. But that's cool. It's cool. It's great to see. I think a lot of fans would appreciate that behind the scenes stuff and how some of these fights are made and all the rest of it. I can only imagine that given what went down at 300, there's going to be a few good episodes coming up. Three or three, pardon me. Go ahead, Brian. Ready to get this started. Okay. Christoff, love to give a little recap on Sean Strickland.

[01:04:14]

He had a couple of-We had our 10 ready. Yeah. He had a long speech about not allowing women to vote anymore. That's the reason that this country is going downhill.

[01:04:23]

Maybe that's where we f up you guys. We let women vote. No offense.

[01:04:26]

A couple of choice comments about Germany and America and Brazil as it relates to his opponent. Stupid German, bro. These dirty Brazilians. America, you guys.

[01:04:38]

We're all a bunch of degenerate I mean, it was about 26 minutes of an exaltar Sean.

[01:04:46]

Sean. Yeah, that's.

[01:04:47]

Gold. Jeez, Louise. Here's the thing. I didn't even know the UFC had a PR department like that. Do you know what I mean? I had absolutely I really no idea because it's hilarious because I see all the comments sometimes, not all of them, but I have a little glance, like I said. And I saw somebody saying, oh, yeah, Bisping was keeping the narrative alive that the McGregor fight was on because Dana told him that That's the narrative that they want. If you think they're coming to me and going, Right, okay, so here's how we want you to spin it, Bisping. People still think, and I don't even know why I need to say this because I don't. They don't tell me what to say and what not to say, although I am I'm not a genius, but I'm not a fool either. Do you know what I mean? Certain things I say, certain things I don't say, certain things that you're privy to because of my role there that you can't share because it's just called being a professional. You know what I mean? You're in the circle of trust. It's called being a professional.

[01:05:46]

But certainly, there's no narratives that I am told. And as I said, I didn't even know that they had a bloody PR department. And I'm sure that that is not the first, nor will it be the last time that the name Sean Strickland, is brought in those circles. Oh, that's great. Oh, man. That's good.

[01:06:02]

Dude, how great would it be to get the PR footage from like, All right, so Bisping showed up drunk to the press conference. He started talking trash about all of Canada. I would love to see that.

[01:06:15]

Yeah, when you're fighting a Canadian, you got to talk a bit of shit. Anyway, listen, short to show today. I'm glad we managed to get one in because I was traveling at the start of the week, so that's why the first episode came out late. We will be back on a regular schedule next week. Monday, we will be doing a show, and then I go to Saudi Arabia. So we're going to figure it out, Herringbone. We're going to figure it out, but I'm going to be in Saudi. If you have a question, please send it into bympod@gmail. Com. Told you before, just have a bit of original with the question, if you can, please.

[01:06:47]

If you are listening on iTunes, Spotify, wherever you find podcast, make sure to subscribe. Leave us a five-star rating, positive review. It really helps out on those platforms. If you're watching on YouTube, make sure to-Come on, Harry.

[01:06:57]

Come on, Herringbone, get it together.

[01:06:58]

I got some of my My bad. If you are watching on YouTube, make sure you're subscribed to the channel and you hit that notification bell to find out whenever a new video drops in. If you want to catch over 500 episodes, you can't find anywhere else completely ad-free and totally uncented. Head to gasdigital. Com. Use the promo code BYM14. Last chance today to get the two-week free trial. Okay, so our first question today just came in, so I haven't screened it yet, but there's a child in it, so it seems like it's going to be wholesome.

[01:07:24]

Okay, one would think so. Hey, guys. Tommy and Alex here from Australia. If you can't tell, I do actually have an English accent. I just moved here ages ago. I've been a massive fan of the show for a very long time, and I've followed Bisping's career since he went tough. We have a question for you. Do you want to ask Mr. Bisping a question, Alex? Mr. Bisping, when are you coming to Australia? Well done, buddy.

[01:07:49]

I bought tickets to your tales of the Octagon show about a year and a half ago, and you canceled.

[01:07:55]

We would just like to know if you're actually going to be coming back. He's probably not going to be able to come because he's too young, but I'll be going if you do come back over. And thank you, Harrington. There you go. Nice and wholesome. Didn't want to shout it out in front of the kid. Tommy and Alex, thank you very much for the question, and thank you for the kind words. And yeah, I hope so. I hope I do. Because I saw Alex Pereira touring around Australia, and I really did think, oh, shit. I missed a trick there. I had a whole tour lined up in Australia and New Zealand, and then I did this movie, and I was gone for so long, and the two We've clashed and overlapped. So it is what it is. It just wasn't meant to be, sadly. But hopefully, I would love to come down and do it again. The people of Australia, and even though he's English, they are the nicest, most laid-back, chill people on planet Earth. They really are. They're so and they're funny. The sense of humor is fantastic. They love a beer. The country is absolutely beautiful.

[01:08:55]

The beaches are incredible. Nice food. Kangoo meat is beautiful. I fought there a bunch of times. Yeah, I don't know who would organize such a thing, but if you're watching this and want to put together a little tour down under, let's go. But do we have another question where I don't have to talk about myself, Brian? You know what I mean? Because that sounds like that was placed in as an advert for sure.

[01:09:20]

Anyway, here is Aaron from the Air Force.

[01:09:24]

Aaron from the Air Force. Nice alliteration. What's up, Phelps? My question today is, I saw a Jay Pimbley, do some jiu-jitsu with Marines, I think it was, like a year or two ago. So my question is, would you guys ever go to a Air Force base or any base to spot with some military people? I have a lot of experience in I'm sending a plane after you. Shout out to my brother Anthony. He loves you, Bisby. A little bit too much. Okay. Well, thank you very much. Thank you for your service, of course. I've spoke about it at length when I went to Afghanistan and we did a bit of training there. And Carlos Condit knocked out a dude in in the mountains, in the Special Forces. I've been to an army base down in, where was it? South of England somewhere, and they took us out in the tanks and everything, and we did a bit of training and stuff. But yeah, that video of Paddy Pimble tapping out all the soldiers, that's what? Six months, nine months old now, maybe even older than that. So that's been doing the rounds for a while.

[01:10:24]

Paddy looked good, man. Paddy's got great jiu-jitsu.

[01:10:26]

So my brother was in the military for a long time, and Randy Couture came to base and beat the shit out of his whole Special Forces squad three times in a row.

[01:10:35]

Yeah. Oh, that's awesome. Randy Couture. I mean, he would do that. It's Randy the F. Natural. Do you know what I mean? We did a little bit of that when I was in Afghanistan. We rolled with all the squads, the troops and stuff like that, and had a bit of fun. And everyone normally has a good attitude about it all. It's great to do. But thank you for your service. Again, a question where I'm just going to talk about myself. I'm trying to talk about the sport of mixed martial arts. I don't want to talk about the 14 trophies that I've got, okay? And if you can't take a joke, stick it up your ass. Come on, lighten up. What are you going to do? Cry about it. Do we have one more actual question, Brian?

[01:11:19]

Actual question? No, but I do have a silly one.

[01:11:27]

All right. Yeah, silly ones are good. My question is, UFC is returning to Manchester, and I just want to know, what's the problem with getting a big, massive venue like Old Trafford? You know what I mean? Because I really do think the UK fans can do easily 40,000 plus, maybe even 90,000. You know what I mean? So Dana, why are you happy? In putting on a pay-per-view event and only having what? What is it? 23,500 people or something like that in that new Co-op stadium. I mean, come on. Think of the money. How the word will you be speaking? Yeah, sweet. It's a good question, but first of all, that new arena, it had a lot of problems, by the way, which I don't hear about in the news anymore. There was all acts. I think Nicki Minaj, when she was arrested for possession of whatever it was, cannabis, whatever, she was headed there. Peter K, he's a legendary comedian from England. He had a few shows that he had to cancel and stuff like that because it was just behind schedule. Point what I'm making is I think that's the biggest indoor arena in all Europe.

[01:12:47]

It's brand new, state of the art, so I can't wait to see it. The problem with Old Trafford, open our stadiums, it's the weather. We know if you live in England, mate, you're from the Midland Ireland, 100 % by the accent, it pisses it down. I think there is a couple of places that have the retractable roofs. I forget. Is it Wembley or Tottenham? I think there's one in Cardiff. But other than that, it's It's the weather. The weather. If it starts pissing it down, you know what I mean? You can't really compete. You can't be throwing spinning shit in gale force winds and hurricanes. Do you know what I mean? So it pisses it down every goddamn day. So that is the issue. That is the problem with that stuff. Anyway, that's the show. We just snuck one in on a Friday morning. Lots to talk about there. Ariel, bloody relax, mate. Come on, take a joke. Conor McGregor, Rest Up, Get Better. Same, of course, for Hamza Chimev. Congrats to Alex Pereira. Unbelievable. And Yuri Prohaska stepping up, both of them short notice, fighting for the belt again. That's incredible. And of course, whoa, hold on before we get to that.

[01:13:59]

Robert Whittaker, all the best to him as well. That's a massive show of balls. And this is what I was going to say. And of course, the one and only, Anthony Lionheart Smith. I'm assuming we'll be busy for the next two weeks. One would assume all the best with your training will reach out, we'll talk, no doubt, very soon. But if you see this, Anthony, I hope training is going very, very well. Anyway, thanks for watching, everyone. Subscribe and ring the bell if you haven't done so. See you soon.