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Get ready for the middleweight title fight between Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev live in Chicago as Brett Okamoto, Chael Sonnen, Anthony Smith, Dustin Poirier and Michael Chiesa break everything down.
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Video Transcript
That is a live look at the UFC Octagon. We are here in the United Center, Chicago, Illinois for UFC 319. Welcome
in to the preview show. And to get us underway, a few words from the one and only CM Punk.
What's up, fight fans? This is the best in the world, CM Punk. that everybody knows my hometown is Chicago, Illinois.
And if there's one thing we like better than fist fights, it's champions. The 1985 Chicago Bears. The Bulls Dynasty
led by Michael Jordan. The world famous 2016 Chicago Cubs. And who could forget
the original six dynasty the Blackhawks had in the 2010s. UFC 319 is coming to
town. The two best middleweights in the world will clash. The champion, Dreus
Duplesi, the South African smasher, takes on the runaway freight train, the unstoppable Hamzot Chamaya. Who will be
the champ at the end of the night? Who will be the best middleweight in the world? Find out in Chicago at UFC 319.
Oh, it is not long now until we will be seeing Hamzad Shamayv and Draus Duplesy headline a very stacked UFC 319 in
Chicago, Illinois. Hello everybody, Brett Okamoto alongside Michael Kasa, Dustin Porier. We are here to take you
up through the prelims on ESPN Plus 6:30 Eastern, 3:30 Pacific. And we have got a
whole lot to discuss, whole lot to talk about, guys. 319 is one of the best cars of the year in my opinion. Oh, I mean, there's so much star power
on the card. And right now, the energy is almost tangible tangible in the city, man. It's got big fight feels and uh I'm
just excited for the fights to kick off. For sure. Everywhere I go, I've been walking in the city, people running up to me asking about who I think's going
to win the main event. The energy is great. Chicago is definitely a hosting city for for fights. uh in some ways I
can remember uh looking back at Hamzat Shamay's UFC debut. It feels like just it yesterday when he fought twice in 10
days, but then we all thought he was going to get this title fight and that took 5 years. So in some ways it feels like a very long time since this guy
came into the octagon. He finally gets his shot at gold tonight and that is what of course our main event is all
centered around. Hamza Shamay versus Draas Duply.
Oh, his nose is broken. Oh, it's just leaking. That's as bad a broken nose as I've seen
in a long time. Drake is so good, man. He has proven it time and time again. It's time to put
some respect on this man's name. My story is a one of legacy. I want to
become the greatest of all time, and that will always be the goal. I don't want the legacy of somebody that
defended his belt. I want the legacy of somebody who beat the best of the best. A
lot of fans and pundits felt as though this would be the night upon which we find out just how good Kamzachi may have
is. I'm glad I'm fighting a guy that people think is unbeatable because I will beat
him. Oh, he's still undefeated. That was fast. Oh, I think he messed up
his jaw. Oh, dude, he just crushed it. Look at that. And that's one of the more violent submissions we've seen in the UFC
against a future Hall of Famer. To do that against a guy like Whitaker,
that is a big wakeup call for the middleweight division.
I've seen a lot of fighters like Drius. It's nothing special. Nobody know this guy. I try to explain
the people like I'm fighting Drius, but they say who is Jus? I need to make him famous to sell the papers, you know,
because who is this person or who is the people wants to watch? Oh, no.
A force unlike anything the fight game has ever seen.
It's over. One shot, one and done. This guy is one of the most special fighters I've ever seen.
Nobody got me, if not the most special guy that I've ever come across. That is it. The hype is real. The speed,
the takedown, everything. That's why he's such a terrifying talent. There's the tap. Comes on.
How good is he? He's 16 and0 and deserving of all the
hype, but you know, this is a different level. I'm constantly evolving, trying to get
better. It's not about the person that I'm fighting. It's about what that person represents. And that is the next
step in the ladder to becoming the greatest. When I go out there, losing is not an
option. Duplic is an absolute tank of a man.
He's a huge powerful middleweight. Oh my goodness. Big strike raining down by the South
African. The pressure, the pace, the cardio, the belief in self. I'm not
scared of Ka taking me down. He's probably going to take me down. You got me down. Now I'm getting back up. Now you're getting tired. Can you take me
down again? I get back up again. and you realize, yeah, you took me down, but that doesn't mean anything. What happens
when I take you down? He's got the choke. There's the jump. And still,
all the guys he fought, no one of them was undefeated.
I don't know how to lose, but he knows. Comes Maya. He is not inhuman. He can be hurt. He
gets tired. If it goes a distance, I'll win. If I finish him, I'll win. Just like that, Drake is duplex.
Drius can't stop my takedowns and submissions. I take him down and smash him. You know, the kick.
I will prove to this guy and to the world I am the greatest.
Yeah, this fight is just absolutely fascinating. And here is what we just saw on Friday. This was the finer final
staredown between these two. And no surprise really, Hamzat full of energy. This is what's really kind of ignited
his career. It's defined him his entire career. The fans love to see that energy. Drakus, for his part, of course,
not backing down as the champion, staring him down. Dana wants to keep those guys separate because we got a fight to get to on Saturday, UFC 319.
But a lot of energy from Shmay. I got to believe that'll bring that energy into the first round of this title fight. And
that's really the first place I want to go for you, Michael, is take us into the head of Draus Duplac. When you've seen somebody not just dominate, but dominate
in such a specific way of like this guy's got a bazooka that no one has been able to stop yet. What's going through his mind going into that first round?
Well, he just has this burning desire to compete and he's just he's unbreakable. Drius gets the longer the fight goes,
that's when we really see the best in him. And I love the fact that he understands the assignment that he's going to have to get up from these
takedowns at some point and but he's not going to be rattled by it. He understands he could get taken down. Obviously, he's going to work to get
through those positions. And I think the more that he can get up, the more it's going to start to get into the head of Hamzach Cham and get him to think twice
about exerting the wrestling, the energy in the wrestling department. For sure. For sure. And the more he can get up, it's going to wear on Kamzad's
gas tank. It takes a lot of energy to to hold another man the size of DDP down. You know, he did it with the Uzman and
slowed down, but DDP's a whole different thing. He's a legit middleweight, a big guy for the weight class, and a great athlete. And if he keeps getting up,
Drius knows he can depend on his gas tank. Let's talk about the mindset a little bit because we just watched that final starown and Dustin you were in
some famous staredowns of course one of them was with Conor McGregor and he was kind of like Hamzach showing a lot of energy before the fight when you watch
those guys the calm champion Hamzach kind of losing his mind trying to shove him what are you making of the body language listen man I over the years of
fighting the staredowns the pre-fight antics has shown me that none of that really matters you know I've seen guys
act like the big bad wolf and show up pussycat the night of the fight I've seen guys timid and and not making eye
contact in in the staredowns and show up ready to be a world champion the fight night. So, I don't take a put a whole
lot into that. The thing is with that though, if he brings that same energy, that same excitement to fight night and
comes out like a cannonball, he's going to slow down in the later rounds. And I think that's what Drius knows about this
fight. Like, bring it on, get crazy, use all that energy because in when that clock hits 20 minutes in, I'll be there
coming off the stool. What have you made of uh of Drakus' body language? I mean, the guy has come in, he's always been confident, almost to
the point a little bit of of arrogant, I would say, at times, and then you got this guy who's getting in his face. What have you made of of Draus?
Well, Drius just has an aura of just confidence. And I don't think it's I don't find it to be too arrogant. It's just the guy trust in his preparation.
And and you have to have that self-belief if you're going to fight at this level. Like I said, he has a desire to fight the best. And if you want to
really fight the best guys, you have to be very confident in your skills. And I I'm honestly surprised it took this long for for the antics to kind of pop off,
you know, cuz with Chamay, you know, you're going to get, you know, depending on who he's going up against, you know, you're going to get that from him during
fight week. We saw that with the Nate Diaz fight. Literally shuffled the whole fight card with with all the stuff that went on through fight week. So, uh, I'm
surprised it just took that long to get to the ways for that stuff to kick off. Well, we are up here obviously inside the United Center where the fans are
just not starting to trickle in yet. maybe some VIP guys, a few people down there in the arena. But of course, right
now, the busiest part is downstairs behind the scenes and our own Anthony Smith is down there with John Anick to
give us a little bit of insight what's going on uh behind the scenes at UFC 319 right now.
Thanks, Brett. All right, we're here in advance of UFC 319 with the man John Anick. I know that you everything you do
is built off his storytelling and and the the raw emotions of these cards. I
think the main event is getting a lot of love. I think the co-main is getting a lot of love, but is there a storyline or something that you're really excited
about that maybe the rest of the public isn't necessarily tracking? Well, singularly all of these fights are
monumental in the careers of all of these athletes, right? And when I think about the rebooking between Carlos Protest and Jeff Neil, right? And Jeff
Neil has had a lot of different circumstances during his career that have maybe prevented him from being as active as he would have liked to have
been, right? They pull Carlos Protest for the IMado Gary fight when Jeff Neil is healthy and ready to go. Now the
opportunity comes around again. Don't want to miss out on this opportunity. Huge opportunity for Jeff Neil. A lot of people think his ceiling is actually a
championship. He's a big betting underdog tonight. So that fight maybe hasn't gotten the attention that it deserves, but I think you could say that
about a lot of fights. You know, Edson Barbosza is fighting in the middle of the afternoon. He's a legend as far as I'm concerned making his 31st UFC
appearance. So it sounds hyperbolic when guys like me say deepest card of the year or biggest fight of the year. I
certainly think this is among the deepest cards and it's the biggest fight of the year and you won't hear me say that again. If you talk to any fighters
at 170 lbs, 185 lbs, and some even some of the guys at 205 lbs, Hamzad is the
guy that nobody wants to fight. He's kind of the boogeyman in the entire UFC. I don't get the vibe that that's how
Drake is Duplex. He feels you talked to him, you had the fighter meetings. Without divulging too much, what is the
the vibe and the feeling that you're getting from Duplexi? You put that question well. He has said it's the toughest opponent and then the
toughest challenge of his career and you got to take Drizz Dupy at his word. I think stylistically there's certainly a
package that Hamzach may have offers, not just in terms of the wrestling, but the grappling, the striking, the whole MMA package that is Hamzach that I think
is intimidating for a lot of guys. My pay-per-view open tonight is about the challenger and I think that is somewhat
telling, right? The fans have been waiting 5 years for this moment. All these questions give way to answers tonight and I think maybe most excited
to get those answers. Actually, Drius Duples, who wants to build his legacy with stylistically hard fights, and this
certainly qualifies. All right, John. I know you probably got some prep work to finish up. Thanks for chatting with me, man. You're the man. Great wardrobe decision
again by Anthony Smith. It is funny seeing Anthony Smith. He
looks great. And then just that giant grenade tattooed on his hand that he's got the ESPN mic flight with. You guys,
you know, just sitting up here just having general conversations. Dustin said something that it was uh you know,
tell us what's going on downstairs behind the scenes. Just a lot of nervousness. What What is that feeling like downstairs where we just saw uh
John? It's thick. It's nervousness. You can feel it from every fight team sitting at their corner in the locker room. They
all have their names, you know, so every fight team's kind of separated and everybody's pacing back and forth waiting for their name to be called and
then throughout the night guys are trickling back in, bloodied up, beat up, some are celebrating, some are crying.
It's a lot of emotions in that locker room. Michael, you like being back there when all that is happening or are you going to have nightmares about the uh about
the locker room before a fight? Man, it's uh I always say this. I say that when you go through camp and you know you get the phone call from your
manager or Sean Shelby that's when the nerves start and the longer the camp goes on the closer you get to the fight
they slowly just start to come to this peak and that peak is fight night when you walk in that locker room everything's coming to a head the
preparation of the nerves the navigating of what goes on between the ears um it's definitely something you can never put
your thumb down it's always different but definitely nerves but without nerves you know you wouldn't perform well you
need to you need to have that edge to me I think fear and nerves um if you can control them they can benefit you It all
boils down to that. For sure. These guys and women are trying to come out here and do something amazing, do something historic, do something incredible. If they don't have
nerves back there, it's part of it's part of the journey. It's part of the process. You're supposed to feel that when you're trying to do something incredible. Yep. Absolutely. And you know what? It's
kind of cool that it's happening in Chicago. I talked to uh you know, Hamzad and his team. And obviously, you know, they were thinking finally we're going
to get a title fight. It's going to take place in Abu Dhabi. It's going to take place in Las Vegas. Like, oh, Chicago. We never really thought of Chicago, but
it's actually been very fun to watch these two in this city with such a rich rich history of championships. I mean,
we're looking at the Chicago Bulls banners here right be right behind us. Dracus has been here now for over a week and he has made himself at home in this
city of champions. Anybody that is a master in their craft, anybody that is
at the top of their their game,
you know, in a sport where it's so competitive,
the top of the top, you know, I can take inspiration from that
United Center. Please welcome Trusliss.
That was great. It's a lot more nerve-wracking to do this than people would think.
I never thought I would like all these massive buildings just as far as the I can see. The people were incredibly nice
from the first day we got here. Very welcoming. I love it. You know, the sports in here to see how passionate people are about sports and all the
different sports that are, you know, it's it's almost the culture in in Chicago. I love it. Pleas. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet
you. Hi, sir. How are you? He's like the middleweight champ to me. Good. A pleasure to meet you. Oh, man. Pleasure is mine. Thank you for
having us. Yeah, absolutely. It's going to be jamming in there. Yeah, it's going to be a beautiful Jordan to win.
Michael Jordan being Michael Jordan going out there to the United Center and
seeing the amazing stadium. It's one of the most beautiful stadiums I've ever seen. Uh seeing the statue of Michael
Jordan who is a sporting hero of mine and probably everybody in the world
saying the best they ever was and the best they ever will be. That's what I'm chasing. That's how I want people describing me when it comes to my sport.
All the the the massive sporting history in that building, it's just fuel to the fire. I am part of that. I'm going to be
part of that rich history of sports and legends. What a performance by Drai.
There is no doubting the South African. Now, what is important is beating Hamzach
Jama, the first guy to beat him, defending my title for the third time, going on with that legacy of being the
greatest middleweight and ultimately best fighter to ever
still remains the man at 185.
One word to sum up my time in Chicago. Yeah, that's pretty easy. Yeah, the one
phrase would definitely be now they know. That's it. Now they know.
I really love the ending of that because if he comes out and he beats Hamz a Shamay like yeah there is there is no
doubting this man anymore after a career really in which he's been doubted and not only has he been doubted but you
know now all of a sudden you turn around and you really look at it the guy's got a nineight win streak and that's only trailing behind Israel Adisagna and the
great Anderson Silva. Where is he in terms of the GOAT conversation at middleweight, Michael? I mean, he's definitely on his way. I
mean, I just kind of went through the rankings and beat Strickland twice. He's about to fight Hamza, beat Izzy, beat Rob. I mean, Rob and Izzy are two of the
greatest middleweights of all time. And for Drixus, it's it's the win streak and the improvements we've seen because I
feel like he's gone through some growing pains as a fighter. We've seen him, you know, for a lack of better words, you know, been labeled as a guy with a
sloppy style. But that Shawn Strickland fight, that last fight he had, I really feel like he has polished all that out and he's really gone through the growing
pains of evolving as a fighter without having to come up with a on a loss in the UFC. So, I just I like where he's
at. The skills are all coming to a point, but they have to be when you're fighting a guy like Hamzot. Yeah, that nineight win streak he's beat
in that win streak, he's beat three former world champions and beat one of them twice. The guy is definitely a
legit uh world champion, but calling him the GOAT, I think we're we're going a little bit ahead of ourselves there, you
know. uh and speaking to his people underestimating him. He's a dog again here tonight. You know, the dog against
the challenger, undefeated challenger, I understand. But the guy goes out there and I think it's more of his unorthodox style of fighting. People kind of doubt
him in certain matchups because he's stumbling over his feet and his technique isn't textbook, but this is
martial arts and the guy paints a beautiful picture out there. And it doesn't have to be technique if it's working, if you can make it work. So,
his awkwardness is a superpower that he's using to his advantage. I think you're right. It's way too premature to be talking about this, but
when it happens, it happens quick. And I think the one thing that he's been lacking is sort of that aura factor. You know, Izzy had it and Anderson Silva
obviously had it. He doesn't have the aura. And Kamzat has it. Hamzad has it coming in more so than he does. But if he takes that away from
Hamzat, I think the conversation does feel premature now, but it's going to feel appropriate. You know, it's just
one more fight, two more fights. If this guy keeps doing what he's doing, we're going to be talking about him as the absolute greatest middleweight of all
time. One of the things that I love about the show is we get to give sometimes a sneak peek on the coat that
Bruce Buffer will be wearing inside the octagon. So, uh, Anthony Smith is backstage with him. Do we Well, we
missed Yep. We missed We missed the interview with Bruce Buffer. He's a busy guy, but we do get to see the suit.
Walks in ready to go talking about goats. There's a goat right there, huh? An announcer. We are going to notice
when the great Bruce Buffer finally hangs up his mic. But I think there's still plenty of uh plenty of
announcements, plenty of uh of calls still in that man as the years continue to tick on for the UFC. There's your
live look at UFC 319 Octagon inside the United Center. We are 41 minutes away.
It's going to be a big big night in the middleweight division, but also in the featherweight division where we're going
to see Aaron Pico finally make his UFC debut against an unbeaten opponent in Luron Murphy.
I've been in combat sports my whole life. I started wrestling when I was four. I started boxing when I was 10.
And the harder I pushed, the more I enjoyed life. I can't really explain it.
It's just something that's inside me. This is my time with it though. This is my time to be at the top.
One of the hottest free agents in mixed martial arts is bringing his act to the big show in the UFC. Decorated wrestler
now in the UFC where he belongs. Aaron Pico. When I was in third grade, I wanted to
be a fighter. I want to be a UFC champion. And I've never lost sight of that goal. You know, I'm not here for a
participation medal. I'm here to show that I'm the best fighter in the world. Just wait till I fight. You guys are in
for a treat. Aaron Pico, the fighter, is is vicious. I'm dangerous everywhere,
but I love to knock people out. Every fight that I've been in, it's been
exciting, but for me, I didn't set out on this journey to just have great
fights. I set out to have a gold belt wrapped around my waist, and now I need
to go get it. Breaking news. It will be Aaron Pico versus Lone Murphy. Co-main events at
UFC 319. Accepting fights on short notice for me is nothing new. It's a big test, big
risk, but big reward. Lone Murphy, the rising contender, wants to be England's next championship threat
at 145 lbs. Big land from Murphy now. The striking, the power, the technique
that he has. Disguise the ceiling for this man's ability. Oh my god. Big right hand splits the
guard. Heavy shots. That's it. Lor Murphy. Wow.
This fight is a lifechanging fight. If I can go out there and beat R&P go, I'm next in line for the title for sure.
Still undefeated. 15 and0. 16 and0. What
work? He's a very tough fighter and he's undefeated for a reason. But he hasn't
fought Aaron Pico yet. I'm a different animal than anything that he's ever seen. As long as I stay sharp, it's
going to be a rough night for him. He's got great accomplishments in boxing and wrestling. So, it's going to be a tough
fight, but I just see my hand getting raised at the end of it. Oh, and a knee now from Lone.
Everybody's got weaknesses. He's going to walk into a lot of shots and he's going to go down.
There's nobody on this planet that is unbreakable. I will do whatever I have to do to win and I'm ready to go
straight to the top. Listen, I think it's important to real
quick run through an Aaron Pico history for for some of these viewers because if you haven't been watching this sport, and it goes back quite a while now. In
2017, Aaron Pico came in and made his debut, but he was actually signed to a promotion, Bellator MMA, way before
that. They signed him to a developmental contract because he had shown so much promise as a high school kid in the
sport of wrestling and boxing. And then he had his MMA debut, lost at Madison
Square Garden, got choked out in the first round of a fight that actually Chel Sonnen headlined a card that
Chelsea and headlined. So then he's he then he, you know, remade himself in Bellator and now finally coming over to
the UFC. There's a lot to unpack here. It's something pretty special that we're seeing in Aaron Pico coming to the UFC. Yeah. I mean, I've been following Aaron
Pico since he was 15 years old. I mean, this kid burst onto the international scene for wrestling and made it very known that he he had he had he had a
path set up before him to get into mixed martial arts. So, he skipped college. He wanted to make an Olympic team, win Olympic gold medal. He was an alternate
on the US world team, made the transition to mixed martial arts. And like you said, he had a rough debut in a fight that he was honestly set up to
win. He's had he's definitely had to go through some growing pains as as evolving as a fighter, but he's a very
highly touted prospect. He's won nine of his last 10. It would be a 10-ight win streak if he didn't separate his shoulder against Jeremy Kennedy. But
what you get with Aaron Pico is you get power punching with powerful wrestling and he's got a championship level
mentality. This kid's preparation dots his eyes, crosses his tees. He's got a reputation of being a tireless worker.
And you can you can tell that he's he's got a lot of hype behind him. When they try to put him with the Voy, the number one ranked guy at 145 lbs in his debut,
but instead he gets Lone Murphy. So, he really is in a position right now where if he can go out there and and do what
we haven't seen a lot of guys do coming over to the UFC, if he can go out there and have a big performance, he can find himself in a fight with Volcanowski.
Dustin, it's always the question when somebody comes into the UFC when he's had a lot of success outside of the UFC
is, can he do it here? Where are you at in terms of speculating on on where Aaron Pigle will fit in once he's coming
over to the Octagon? I I really think he's a legit threat to the division. You know, the guy's very talented, been competing his whole life,
and the vibe I get from him, you can just feel how focused he is and how much he wants it. But with that comes the
pressure he's putting on himself. You know, I saw an interview yesterday of him saying he's practiced talking to Joe Rogan over a thousand times driving in
his car. On the back end of that, he's putting a lot of pressure on himself. He just needs to come in here and perform.
He has the tools to do it. Brandon Gibson's a great boxing coach. He was boxing before. Use that crisp boxing.
set up those shots, but don't put himself in harm's way as much as he does regularly. You know, he'll lunge in to
get he tries to finish guys, and doing that, you have to put yourself in harm's way, and that can be dangerous in here
against guys like Murphy who's fought big punchers before and can handle that kind of pressure and find those openings. He just needs to be a complete
fighter coming here, and I think he's going to have great success. Michael, I think it's a really great point that Dustin brings up because Aaron is intense. He's a very serious
serious guy. Um, that works both ways, man. It works both ways. You're putting it out there, you
want it so much, but when you're not talking on the mic or in front of a camera, you're still going through it in your head. You're battling yourself.
I've had problems with that in my career. You got to find a good balance because you need that, but you need to balance it properly to compete and
perform at the highest level. Well, and we've seen guys struggle coming over. Patricio Pitull specifically coming over to fight Yay
Rodriguez. You know, I'm not saying this to be funny, and I mentioned this to you guys before the show that everything is bigger here. Even the posters we sign on
fight week are bigger. Like, everything is so much bigger. So for Pico making this moment so big in his head, practicing, talking to Joe Rogan and
things of that sort. You're building this moment to be much bigger than it really is. I know it's, you know, this
has been his goal his entire life. He wants to be a world champion, but you got to focus on the fight. You got to focus on an undefeated Lone Murphy.
That's a very stylistically hard matchup for Aaron Pico. You got to focus on the fight more so than everything else surrounding it.
Michael, why is it a hard fight stylistically for him? I'll tell you why. Because Lor Murphy, he's a he's elusive. He's a sniper. He's
not going to stand right in front of Aaron Pico. We're going to see a lot of lateral movement. He's uses all of his weapons very well. He's got great kicks.
He's got good boxing. So, Aaron Pico is going to have to be aware of the threat of rushing the space. He can't get
impatient. And at times, Pico does get impatient trying to get in that danger zone where he lands his best shots.
Well, uh, we're going to start off the card here at UFC 319 with a finale of the Ultimate Fighter. And, uh, if you
weren't paying attention to this season, you missed out because the coaches were none other than the good guy and the bad guy. uh Chel Sonnen and DC and Anthony
Smith is downstairs. He's tracked him down. Let's hear from uh let's hear from the guys on this important tough finale
to kick off UFC 319. Thanks guys. All right, I am here with Coach DC, Coach Chale. And I have to be
honest here, Ch. All right, DC told me, you know, you both have been coaches. You guys have done this before. He said
this was the easiest season to win that he's ever All right. How does that make you feel?
Well, let me just tell you this. So, right now the score, I believe, is seven to four. I think you got this thing locked up. There was an argument made,
this isn't my argument. I'm sharing this with you because you're going to hear it eventually, that because you had two guys miss on the scale that their points
are deducted and it's coming down to this match. Yes, because Hrio and Denil did not get on and the completion of the
tournament is tonight. But here's what they said, Daniel. They said that when Denil and Hrigo fight, that will be in
the UFC that it may not be an extension of tough. So tough, to my understanding, gets completed tonight. So I got one
opportunity and you got one opportunity. just completed tonight. Then I feel pretty got good about it because Ali is
good, man. He's good, but Bo is uh he's a tough opponent. It feels like we have
the right two guys fighting for the flyweight championship. So, both you guys have been coaches. You guys have you've been through this
before. Is there anything that you did different this season that you didn't do or or what was the changes that you
made? Well, just trying to be more mindful of the kids and their bodies the first time as an active athlete. Coaching is hard
because you think, well, I do it, they should be able to. When in reality, sometimes they're not able to train at
the rate that you train. I think this time it was easier for me to step outside of myself and just be a coach
because I'm not running around to go get my own workout in. I'm not rushing them. It was better. It was a better situation
for me. Ch, you love the Ultimate Fighter. You talk about it all the time. You like the the tournament format.
What are the story lines that stand out this one? cuz I feel like you always like you feel like people are being saved by this show.
Yeah. Well, and they are and and I'll just tell you this to remind Joan Joseph. He's fought in the UFC before. In fact, he fought three times. In fact,
he lost a fight to an unknown guy that turned out to be Davidson Figero, but at the time, nobody knew Figero was the
world champion. And Joseph ends up getting cut. And I'm just sharing with you like this is a really long road back. It's a very rare opportunity to
come back. And I will uh uh second Daniel's point. We have the right two guys fighting for the championship.
So, here you are. Are you going to corner? We don't see you in the corner very often as a coach. Are you nervous?
You uncomfortable? Do you really want to be here or would you rather watch from the from the sidelines? That is such a fair question and I think
I'd rather be on the sidelines. I was flattered and I was honored to be part of it, but I'm trying to stay out of the
coach's way. You know, I've got my role, but he's got his main coaches here and I'm trying to contribute more from a a
supportive factor if I'm to be honest. I don't envy him. I don't want to recreate the way I felt every week
walking to that knockdown with those guys. It was very nerve-wracking. And tonight, you know that this is for all
the marbles. So, as a coach, especially as in a supportive role where you're not the lead anymore, you really got to take
on that that that nervousness and you don't have as much input. So, it's it's a tough situation. I don't envy JLP.
All right. So, last question for me. Put your analyst hat on. Where do you think the big difference in this fight happens
at? Uh the wrestling. It'll be the wrestling. It'll be who can get the taked down. I think uh obviously Joseph
has more experience. I think Alib's pace and pressure is very difficult to deal with for anyone at 100. It's not just
Joseph. It's anybody in the UFC. That pressure that he can fight with is hard to deal with, but if Joseph can take him
down early, I think he has a chance. All right. Well, I know you guys got a lot to do. I'm going to get out of here.
All right. So, there are the two main coaches, but we got a third coach up here. Michael Kessa. He was helping out with team DC. Um, give us the inside
scoop, man. I mean, when we're watching this fight, educate us. What should we be looking for? What is this going to hinge on? Well, I mean, DC hit the nail on the
head. The pressure that Eli brings into his fights is incredible. And he he's one of these guys that he just never
stops training. And so, that's where when you pair those two things together, that's how he's able to fight at such high pace. But, Morales is definitely
going to have the edge and experience. He's been here before. He's been in big fights. Like Chel said, he fought Figero. Um, and he's a long time team
alpha male guy. I mean, he's been training under Uriah Faber ever since he was a kid. So, you know what comes with that. You know what comes is is a great
submission game, good boxing, good transitions between the wrestling, the grappling, and the striking. It does a good job of putting it all together. So,
it's going to be the well-rounded game of Morales versus the pace of Ali. It's going to make for a good fight. I think
both guys, no matter who wins, both guys are going to be main states here in the UFC. Well, Michael cannot can talk about this
matchup, not only as a coach, but as a contestant, because you won the Ultimate Fighter. I believe you were not picked
to do so, but you know, you look at the hair. the kid from Washington comes in, chokes him out. Talk us to it. Talk to
us about that evening because I know it was a very special one for you. I still get goosebumps every time I see that. I mean, that's one of the greatest
moments of my life and it was my mom's birthday, you know, and given everything I went through that season, losing my dad. Um, to be able to pull that off on
that day, u, it was surreal and holding that trophy up was like something I manifested going through the tournament,
I just I felt like, uh, you know, I said to my coach after I held the trophy, I said, I felt like I've held this before.
And so, I know how important this is to these guys. And uh it's a life-changing experience and the way you have to get here going through the tournament,
living with the fighters, having to battle your emotions and your thoughts, being secluded from your friends and your family. It makes that moment so
special and I couldn't be happier for both guys. Obviously, I'm team DC. Morales is a good kid and I'm just excited to watch these guys get out
there and compete. Coach Wood will be in Elib's corner as well. So, there will be there will be coaching staff from team DC in Elib's corner. Nice,
dude. I was a big fan of the season you were on and congrats on everything, bro. That was great to see and watch it unfold live the way it was with this
fight. Of course, Alib is going to bring the pressure like DC was saying, but Morales training for a long time at
Alpha. He's seen that level of fighting over and over those transitions. I just think he's going to be a little bit better prepared for that kind of file
that I mean that kind of fight, that kind of highlevel transition up and down, up and down. He's seen it with the best guys in the worlds at Alpha. Where
Levi is coming from, he probably isn't getting that kind of not that he's not a great fighter. He isn't g getting that kind of reps on the mats regularly. So,
I just think that's going to be a big thing. Morales has experience in training that's going to bring out the dub in this fight.
That's a good point. Like, sorry to interrupt you, but it's like Morales has been the nail probably for a long time in his life before he got to this point
at this level of a fighter. I'm sure Levy, he's probably spent the majority of his career as the hammer in the gym. So, it's it's it's growing that Morales
has gone through at Alpha Male could could definitely play a big role in this fight. That is going to be our first fight of the evening. Pretty wild to think that
we're starting the night off with a tough finale here in the United Center at UFC 319. We're going to take another
live look at the octagon here. And we're under 30 minutes now, guys. Under 30 minutes to real fights inside that very
octagon. And it's all leading up to a spectacular main card here in Chicago,
Illinois. Of course, headlined by Hamza Shamaya challenging for the UFC middleweight championship. Another big
middleweight fight on the main card of UFC 319. Not one that I think many people thought we were going to see in
2025. Jared Canineer is ranked number nine in the middleweight division. Michael Venom Paige is a welterweight
who has said he's going to go back to welterweight, but he he's having a hard time finding fights there. So, he's going to take this fight and he looks
bigger than Canonir and he's the favorite in this fight. So, this is all a little bit wacky, but I think it's going to be very fun once it starts.
Yeah. You know, and I was talking about guys coming over from different promotions and struggling. MVP was not one of those guys. He came in, jumped in the deep
end, fought Kevin Holland, fought a great fight, got himself in the welterweight rankings, and then now he's up here middleweight, fighting Jared
Cananeer. And what MVP brings not only to his fights, but he he's got an aura about him. There's antics. He's got a
he's got a character, like a a character role that he plays, but the way that he fights, he's so hard to deal with. He fights on that straight line, very
linear bladed stance. So, a lot of guys think that, oh, that's an easy problem to solve. You just got to attack his
legs, put the pressure on him. He's just so hard to hit, very hard to time. Uh, but nonetheless, very fun to watch.
Looks like a nightmare to fight. I mean, very fun to watch. Looks like a nightmare to fight. Dustin, if you were fighting Michael Venipa with all of
this, what would your strategy be? That's exactly what I was thinking. It it from the outside, you can game plan and stuff, but when you're standing in
front of a guy like that and he's moving left, he's moving laterally and switching stance and throwing spin kicks, it's hard to see those things
peripheral. You know, you lose sight of some of those things he's throwing. Um, if I was Canon, I would try to get him
against a cage, try to make it a dirty fight, stay in front of him, walk him down, cat and mouse. I would be chasing him, not giving him that octagon space
for him to set up those highlight things that he likes to do. You know, he's got to walk him down and get in his face.
Yeah. And for for Michael Van Page, he does such a good job covering distance. He not he's not saying he fights on the
outside is kind of an understatement. He really covers a lot of distance when he leaps in with his strikes, you know, and it's easier said than done when you say
you got to time those entries. But you make a good point, Dustin. He's definitely got to find a way to funnel him against the fence, make it dirty,
hang on his head. Uh, and something that's kind of overlooked with Jared Canineer's game is he's got really good low kicks. So, if he can find a way to
funnel Michael Venom Page against the fence, get to the legs, get to the dirty boxing, I think he could have some success. And like Brett was saying,
MVP is a big guy. I thought Canon Air was going to be huge in front of him when they when they went to the weigh-ins, but this is a guy who's
fought at heavyweight. Yeah. And MVP looks bigger than him. It's crazy. This guy's a a welterweight coming up and looks massive in there.
So, I'm excited to see him fight another striker and and really get to to do his thing in there. Another thing I want to say before we
move on to the next fight is uh Michael Ven Page very smart fighter too, man. I feel like when I watch him, he makes good reads. He makes good decisions.
He's just always kind of a step ahead. We see him and like he's moving around so much and you wonder like is that guy even is there a method to the madness?
There is. I think he makes very good decisions. He's setting traps. The wheels are turning always. You can see it as a fighter. I can see it. The way
he's moving, he's watching you how you react to his movements. He's setting up the spin kicks. He's setting up the flying knees. He's setting up something
big always. There's traps everywhere when you fight a guy like that. Yeah. And you think that with his style, it looks almost defensively
irresponsible, but no, he's a very smart, cerebral fighter. He knows exactly what he's doing, and you have to
have a good gauge of your distance, your range management, and your confidence. I mean, the guy is brimming with confidence. Uh, just a very hard guy to
fight, very hard puzzle to solve. Another guy brimming with confidence and likes to set traps, very dynamic. Kai Asakura, the flyweight who came in
unsuccessful in his flyweight title fight debut. He's now taking on a veteran in Tim Elliot. Tim Elliot has
been counted out before. Plus 260 here. I think this is being looked at as kind of a get right situation potentially for
Kaio Sakura. How do you see it playing out? Man, let me tell you something about Kaio Sakura. This guy has the best knees
in all of mixed martial arts. The timing of his knees, the angle he throws him at, the way he's able to attack the body. That's going to be something that
Tim Elliott's going to have to watch out for because you know what you're getting with Tim Elliott. He wants to just get you on your heels, get to the grappling,
get to his takedown entries. Those knees can be daunting. When you're going against a guy in Kaio Sakura and your game plan is to close the space, you
have to be so aware of him. So for Tim Elliott, that's what he's got to watch out for. He's got to watch out for those knees to the body. And uh you know, Kaio
Sakura, we could be having a totally different conversation had he beat Pantosia in his UFC debut. I mean, they were really trying to strap the rocket
[Â __Â ] [Â __Â ] to him and put him in a title fight. But this this is a good get right fight as you said, Brett. And uh striker
versus grappler always makes for a compelling fight. Asakor is very dangerous with the knees like you said. Let me tell you something
about Tim Elliott. This is a veteran who is crafty and if you give him an inch, he's taking a mile. He can submit you
from his back. He can submit you from on top. He's a great scrambler, a great wrestler. He's a dog. He's fun to watch.
He's the kind of guy I love watching because you never know what they're going to do. He can he can kickbox with you. He can wrestle with you. He can
roll jiu-jitsu. And he finds ways to sink in chokes and get in positions that aren't textbook, you know? He does
things that work for him. He's awkward, dude. He We He almost beat Demetrius Johnson. I'll never forget that. The
tough finale he had Demetrius Johnson strapped into a Dar Shog. You guys that don't know Demetrius Johnson to me
that's the greatest fighter of all time. So Tim Elliot almost dethrown one of the Kings change the course of history
asleep on him. He can do it to anyone. He can put anybody in a bad position if they get overconfident on top or they think they're winning the fight. He's
always in the fight. Yep. We got one more fight to talk about on this main card that we haven't gotten to yet. It is Jeff Neil taking on Carlos
Prates. And I'm sorry you guys, this is cliche me, but I gotta ask one more time and then I won't ask again when it comes
to Carlos Proz. What do you guys think of this guy smoking cigarettes? Because I swear I think it's kind of cool. It's real. It's not for the look. You
know, Anthony Smith sat down with him earlier this week and you thought, "Oh, maybe he's just doing it for the Instagram." Gets done with Anthony Smith
and walks out and smokes a cigarette. What do you think of this, Michael? It it's part of his aura. I feel like I'm using that word a lot, but it's just
part of his his character, his aura. And he just reminds me of just like just the Brazilian, you know, smoking gunslinger,
you know what I And he is a gunslinger when he fights. He loves to get out there. Loves to get out there and go for the knockout. And uh I'm in, man. I'm
all in. Whatever makes it whatever works for him, dude. Keep doing it. Smoking cigarettes, drinking whiskey. I'm sure he's got a Marorrow jacket in the closet
at home. But he's fighting a very dangerous striker uh in Neil. Huge power, huge explosion, and he's been in
there with some really good guys in his career. And I know Carlos wants to get back in the win column. So, this is a tough position for him to be in, but
he's the guy. He's had a great great gym. Um he's creating an aura about him. Fans want to see him and he knows what
he needs to go out there and do. He needs to keep the distance, not play into the the uplo dirty boxing game Jeff Neil's really sharp at and and make it a
smart fight. Yeah, I want to talk more about the X's and O's on this. This was the fight that John Anick highlighted with Anthony Smith downstairs in terms of something
he's really looking forward to. Maybe some people overlooking Jeff Neil. And actually, we're going to go to Anthony Smith right now though. Before we get to
that X's and O's conversation, I want to talk to Anthony about being down there and uh talking to Carlos Proz earlier
this week. You got a very good look at the guy. You went and sat down at a tattoo parlor from him or with him. What was your biggest takeaway from his about
his mindset going into this fight against Jeffale? Man, you know, when you're as good as
Carlos Proess is, it'd be really easy to make a bunch of excuses on why you weren't able to get a win over Ian Gary.
He didn't do any of that. He comes from a team that are called the fighting nerds that are notorious for fighting
with great fight IQs and he had no problem admitting to me that he fought a very stupid fight. He underestimated Ian
Gary a little bit. Thought in 25 minutes he could find any moment to get him out of there and he wasn't able to do it. So
I was impressed with his ability to just be self-reflective and say, "Listen, I just wasn't good enough that night. I had to go back to training camp,
cigarettes and whiskey and all and we had to fix the problems. I had to get better."
looking at some of the uh the highlights of your interview there and it's such a cool way to have a bitew week
conversation with a guy and obviously you're sitting there at the tattoo parlor and one of the questions you always ask these guys is tell me a good
tattoo story. What did uh what did Prades give to you when you were talking to him here in Chicago?
Oh man, it was an amazing story. It was funny. Uh he had gotten caught by his mom uh getting his first tattoo. I
believe he was 17 years old, but you guys can check this out right now.
No, I think my first tattoo I was like 17 or no. Yeah. 17 years old. Mhm.
Yeah. I was my like my tie on my chest. Yeah. And at the time like my mom didn't know.
Yeah. And think I saw she saw like three months after. You hit it for three months.
Yeah. Yeah. She was on the garden, you know, drop um giving water to the
flowers and then I passed by by the the garden and my mom was kidding with me
and dropped water on my face and I was with white shirt and then she saw the tattoo, you know,
she got really mad, really angry. Was she mad? Yeah. Oh no. Yeah. But now it's okay, you know, like
like until my 20 years old, I back with a new back I back home with a new tattoo
and my mom like, "Oh, I don't know why you want to hurt your body, you know, and things like that." But now
everything's okay. Yeah. Awesome stuff, man. I really do love
those uh those Lion Heart Lounge sit downs, man. Thank you very much, Anthony. We appreciate you. We're going to see you again hopefully in the next
18 minutes, but it's coming up close, man. Until then, uh, enjoy yourself down there and we'll talk to you soon.
We'll see you guys soon. All right, so there's Anthony Smith. He was just standing pretty close to that
UFC octagon where we are now 18 minutes away from the start of UFC 319 prelims.
And the fans have started to make their way into the arena, including
one. Mike Missoula, the head coach of the Boston Celtics has made his way over to Chicago. I'm sorry, Joe Missoula. Joe
Missoula, the Boston Celtics head coach, walking into the United Center to take to check out UFC 319. He is here for the
prelims, and so will you, I imagine, if you're watching the preview show. We are only 17 minutes away from the prelims on
ESPN Plus, 6:30 Eastern, 3:30 Pacific. They will start with again that tough
finale that we were talking about earlier. And all roads lead to the new guy by Sorakay taking on Eric Nolan. He
was just on the Contender Series 4 days ago. 4 days previous to that, he wasn't even supposed to be on the Contender
Series. He took his Contender Series debut in 4 days notice. And then he was so impressive that the UFC moved him
immediately to the card, UFC 319. Mike, uh, what are you seeing about this guy?
Obviously, he's taken the world by storm and he's doing something that no one has ever done. Fight on the debut uh, fight on the Contender Series and then make
his debut 4 days later. I mean, he's just following the footsteps of Hamzad Chamay. I mean, Sus Ka had an incredible showing at Dana
White's Contender Series with that body kick. And as Dana White said, he saved he saved his Tuesday night. Uh, and it
almost benefits you because, you know, Contender Series is this platform where we're not only looking for future contenders, we're looking for
superstars. And while we want the exciting fights and that's how you earn the contract, it almost makes it easier for you to stand out when there's a
couple stinkers and you get a finish on a card when there's not a lot of finishes, that's when you kind of get what you want. You kind of get to call
your shot. And so for him to come out of that fight unscathed, call a shot with Dana, uh when you're in his good graces
to come fight here with your teammate, he's going to grant it. You do something like that, ask and you shall receive. Especially when your
buddy training partner's headlining the card, it just fit perfect for him. Surprising. It's such a quick turnaround, but he just made weight like
you said yesterday. So he's not far away. He didn't take any damage. Boom. He's in the UFC. Yeah, Sus Kaive. I mean, you know, it it
is reminiscent of Hamzach Shamay when he came out and he got the win and then he wanted the fight again immediately. Dana White found a way to get him back in
there in 10 days. And you know, I was talking to some guys about this kid and he is friends with Hamzat Shamay and
they say that he has a similar mindset and that's from where they were born. They were born in Cheschesho which is a very, you know, is during the conflict
uh time in in that country's history and it just creates a different type of
human being where you're like 4 days who cares you know I was born into into a
region in which you know you can't wait around 4 days. I mean, if a fight comes to you, then uh then you take it. And this guy has been enjoying himself. I
don't know where he's got all his money, but he was wearing a very expensive watch at the press conference. His uh his buddies told me that they went out
shopping. They spent $10,000 at Dior earlier this week. So, Suzai is having a
real good week in terms of just what he's capable of inside the cage. You and I were talking about it. Talk a little bit more just about that kick because we
see front kicks all the time. We don't always see a guy go crumple from them. What was so special about it? man, the way he threw it because it it was a lead
leg, you know, stabbing deep kick to the body, but he didn't just throw it on a straight line. He kind of threw it and curled his toes in and just found a way
the the worst kicks ever. They're not the big shins to the the ribs. It's when you stab the toes into the body, get through the solar plexus, get through
the ribs, touch those organs. The ones that sound big and make the big big slapping sound, those are usually just
like on the surface, it you feel it. It's not big, but when you dig in and it doesn't make a noise and it's hitting organs, guys go down.
Yeah. Yeah. And we have the uh they have video of the uh the faceoff between these guys on Friday. So all of a
sudden, you know, you're not even supposed to be in the UFC. Now you're in the UFC and having a face off like this.
Dustin, put yourself in the shoes of the guy on the right, Eric Nolan. He's like, "Hey, this has been my dream for a while
to be here in the UFC." And yeah, everybody's talking about you, but you come and grab my head on my first UFC starown. I mean, that I think this guy's
going to be walking in with a chip on his shoulder. For sure. You have to guy just grabbed your head and pull you forehead to forehead. You got to come out here and try to hurt the guy in
front of the world. Um and I doubt he expected that to happen. He thought we were going to face off, you know, and it was going to be all all good. A normal
face off. The guy grabs you. Now you have to come out here and beat him up. Yeah. Nolan's legit. I mean, this guy's on a fouright win streak. CFC, you know,
world champion. CFC to me is the premier feeder league to the UFC. We see their champions come over and dominate here in
the UFC. Almaine Sterling, Paul Felder, Shawn Brady, the list goes on and on. Eric Nolan could be one of those guys.
And he's got a tough test in Sus Kaive. But if I'm Eric Nolan, that's the guy I want to fight. I want to fight the guy with all the hype in my UFC debut
because there's no way you can not only are you gonna win, not only gonna beat a very highly touted prospect, but you're
gonna steal his shine. So, this is a great opportunity for Eric Nolan and Susky as well. Absolutely, man. I mean, all all due
respect to anybody who's make coming into the UFC, but we're not usually talking about a UFC debut on this type of preview show. So, that goes
for Eric Nolan. We're only 13 minutes away now from the start of UFC 319, which means fans are in the building and
fighters are getting ready. So, we're going to throw it downstairs once again to Anthony Smith, who is actually sitting by watching the process of
Cutman Tate rap, a legend of the sports hands, getting ready for UFC 319.
All right, guys. I'm here before the fights, Edson Barbosa's locker room with Cutman Tate. Uh, and just trying to show
maybe a different side of this that not everyone gets to see. Tate, the the hand wrapping process is an important part of
getting ready for the fight. It kind of changes the fighter's mindset. How do you approach that with such an important job?
Uh it depends on the locker room. So with these guys, uh Pahmpa, Edson, I've wrapped their hand several times that at
we work very well together. So when I come in here, it's a light environment. You know, it's not going to be one of these environments where we're going to
be focused on the fight. We're going to take a 5 10 minutes and decompress cuz we know what we have to do later. And I
say we like I'm part of it, but we just want to give him a moment to decompress and think about anything except for what he has to do at work. So that's what
this that's that's this kind of locker room environment. So, a lot of these guys you you've been with for a really long time. Like,
you've you've watched all of Edson's career. How do you how do you go into
this without any emotions and just focusing on making sure that he's cut, that the blood is stopped, and and that
his hands are wrapped exactly how he wants it? Well, you're right. I have been there. So, Edson is a fighter to some, but he's
a family member to me. So, I take pride in this part of it. This is actually more important to me than the actual
cutman part of it because I get one-on-one time with the coaches and the camp. So, like this is like a family
member. I get to catch up with them, see what he's been up to, see what his family's doing, and just like it's like a 5 minute, 10-minute family reunion
with this guy, someone that I love and respect. And so, again, we're just here to take him for 10 minutes out of what
he has to do later, and give him a moment to decompress and kind of breathe and relax. and the words of Poompa, you
know, respir you know, breathe, calm, all that kind of stuff. So, we just back here having a good time vibing.
I remember one time you wrapped my hands years ago and you kept asking me, "How does it feel? How do you like it? Is it
okay? Is it too tight?" And I just kept saying, "No, no, no. It's fine." And you were so uncomfortable with whatever had
happened in the rap. I remember you cut it off, made everybody late. Everyone was angry at Tate. Uh, but you wanted to
rewrap because you wanted to get it right. Do you carry a lot of the like that those nervous feelings of just
trying to be perfect every single time? Uh you're definitely here to do a job. So like it means a lot for me for a
fighter to have confidence in my abilities because the last thing you want is for a guy to be out in the ring
and not feeling comfortable. If he's not comfortable, he's not going to perform and do what he needs to do. So again,
I'm going to stay here. This is just as important as anything else. And I'm going to stay here and make sure I get it right. And if it doesn't feel right
by me, that's definitely not going to feel right with the fighter. And sometimes like these guys are here to fight and it's maybe their first or
second fight and they're so focused on the fight that they don't think this is important and then you finish it and
they're just doing something with their hand and they're not comfortable. Well, you don't ever want a guy out there to not be comfortable. So again, wrapping
hands is just as important as anything else. And he has to be comfortable. He has to be able to throw it and feel like
he's going to do what he needs to do and be there when he's there. All right, I'm going to get out of your guys' hair. Edson, I'm going to let you
prepare. Good luck tonight. Tate, thanks for giving us some time, guys. Back to you.
It's a good thing that Edin Barbosza is such a veteran and s also such a great guy to allow us to get that look in
there because that's a a very intimate moment, right? And I mean, how did you do it? I'll start with you,
Michael, but I want to hear your answer, of course, Dustin. What What is that like, man? Sitting in the locker room getting ready to wrapping your hands, fight another guy,
and not only fight another guy, but in front of all the lights, all the people. What is that like? I always say when you get your hands
wrapped, it's like you're getting shackled to the fight. There's no way out. Like once those hands wraps are on, the gloves come on, you put your jock
on, you put your shorts on, you start warming up, it's happening, you know. Uh but that's to me when I start getting my hands wrapped, that's when I start to
really like I talked about the nerves and the fear of a fight that looms ahead. I feel like that's what starts to
lock me in, get me dialed in and use those nerves in a in a very beneficial way. Like once I get those hands wrapped, man, I know it's go time. And
that's part of what kind of flips my switch and gets me into into the fight mode, I guess. Yeah, I'm sure Edson, I think they said
31st fight in the UFC. He's going through it as well in his head and his body. You feel the nerves, but they
don't I don't think they ever go away. I have 30 something fights in the UFC as well. They've never went away from me. You just get acquainted with them and
you can kind of, you know, matador him a little bit and kind of control them the way you want to. But you're supposed to
feel that you're about to go out there and fight somebody in front of the world, one of the best fighters. You know, this is your life's work. You got
15 minutes to make an impression. It's like the Super Bowl every time. It's not a season. We don't get a bunch of games and point the finger this way, that way.
It's all on you. Everyone's watching and tonight's the night to perform. So those hands get wrapped, your coaches are there, everybody's nervous, you can feel
it, but it's part of fighting. It's it's so incredible, man. Obviously, all these guys handle it a different way, but over and over again, I hear you
guys just say as well, there there comes like that doubt of like, what am I doing, man? Not that you're ever going to back out, but it's just like, I can't
believe I'm doing this. I can't believe I'm doing this. Dustin even said earlier that when he comes to a a fight arena and watches fights and he's not
involved, he's I can't believe that human beings do this, and this man did it uh as good as anybody over the last
10 years. We are coming now very close to UFC 319. We're going to remind everybody how to watch it. You can watch
the early prelims on ESPN Plus, the prelims of UFC 319. You can find those
the same place, ESPN Plus, Disney Plus, but also linear ESPN. And then our main card, of course, 10 Eastern, 7 Pacific.
As always, ESPN Plus/P-View Drake taking on Hamzat Shamay. And we
want to close out the program. Going back to that main event, of course, we talked a lot about the champion. The
challenger though, not many times a challenger comes in with so much hype, so much I mean the guy's a big time
favorite coming into this one. But I do think if anybody's taking Hamzat Shamay in that minus 260, – 250 number,
whatever it is, the trepidation comes is does he have the cardio to do it? And he has seemed to address that going down
and and working with Sam Calvita, one of the most renowned cardio coaches in the
sport, Michael. But how much is that on your mind when you look at this matchup is the cardio factor? I mean, that's
that's kind of the elephant in the room when it comes to Hamza Chamay because we've seen him slow down in some fights. We've seen him go to a decision twice in
the UFC. Once with Gilbert Burns and once with Kamar Usman, the Gilbert Burns fight, I mean, anybody's going to get tired in a fight of the year contender.
I mean, that was a back and forth crazy fight. The Camaro Usman fight, that's where the to me the questions kind of
arose cuz Kamaro came in on short notice and while he's a constant professional, he's always in shape, he wasn't in fight
camp and Shamay was. So, for him to slow down in that fight, I think that that's when we all start to kind of have this question about the cardio. Now, while he
is working with Sam Calvida in addressing that issue, it's going to be a matter of how can he stay within himself because like I said yesterday,
you could have the best camp of your life, be in the best shape of your life, but if you start to kind of fall apart mentally in a fight, you start to struggle a little bit, that all goes out
the window. So, it's going to boil down to how well can he stay within himself. Dustin, I I asked this question to Chen
Anthony yesterday. I want to ask it to you too because you said earlier, you know, it's it's hard to try to get a big guy down like like uh DDP, you know, and
he's going to exert a lot of energy, but I've also heard the other side of that where Hamzach Shamay is saying like think about how tired he's going to be
trying to defend these takedowns. So, where do you sit in terms of, you know, how that cardio is used offensively as
opposed to defensively? For me, my personal experience of years of fighting, I find it for me personally
harder to hold someone down. If I'm constantly shooting in the gym, trying to ride guys, trying to hold guys down, they keep getting up. I feel like I get
more tired. And on the opposite side of that, if someone's diving at my legs, desperately diving at my legs and I'm
getting back up, I feel like they fade quicker than me. I don't know if that's just my conditioning, but I just feel like the guy trying to hold you down is
straining the whole time. Of course, you're wearing both of both of your you guys weight when you're trying to get up, but the other guys is holding his
breath and squeezing and you're just working up, trying to use technique. So, everybody's different, you know.
Everybody's different. But if he comes out shooting for the legs and doesn't get early takedowns or or DDP's able to
get back up, I expect him to slow. I know we talked about him going to a different camp, working on his cardio. But it wasn't that he wasn't in shape
these other fights when he slowed down. He was in incredible shape. It's just some guys are wired different. Some guys
use more oxygen for the muscles and especially when you come out like a cannonball from the first bell, you slow
down. Yeah. Yeah. And and I would say, you know, are we going to see an adjustment from Hamzach? But I don't think he knows how to do that, man. I think
slingshot conversation about this main event, but we do throw it down to two of my
favorite people in this entire sport. Anthony Smith and the one and only uh the one and only Dean Thomas is down
there cage side to give us their final thoughts before UFC 319 starts.
Thanks Brad. All right, we're down here on the floor. The fights are about to start. I'm with my main man Dean Thomas.
It's an incredible card, but I I want to talk about like two or three fights. I want to start with Carlos Prates versus
Jeff Neil. What's the what stands out to you on this fight? What's the what's going to be the makeorb breakak moment for for each one of those guys?
You know, I think people are underestimating Jeff Neil. I think we forget how powerful and how dangerous he
is because Carlos Bratz, even though he lost his last fight, he's on the fighting nerves. I think we're so high
on him. And yes, he has an amazing skill set. He's long, but I think we're
forgetting how good Jeff Neil is and how dangerous he is. I think if Jeff Neil shows up tonight and does what he's
capable of doing, I think he shocks a lot of people. How important was it for you to hear
Carlos Proz talk a lot about having to go back and change the things that he messed up and not making excuses? He was
very self-reflective and just said, "I wasn't good enough and I got to get better." How important do you think that is for a young contender like he is?
Oh, that's very important. You have to be aware of your shortcomings and when you can be honest with yourself and say,
"You know what? Maybe I wasn't where I needed to be and I go back and I and I work on these things and I have constant
improvement. That's important for a young fighter. And if Carlos Protes does that, listen, he may have lost his last
fight, but we still know how good he is and how much potential he has. The guy has the good. So, for him to be
self-reflective and self-aware of his shortcomings, that's huge for him. All right, so let's move on to Lone
Murphy versus Aaron Pico. Lone Murphy is the betting underdog. What is what does
Aaron Pico have to do to not have the same thing happen to him that happens to a lot of guys that come over from other
organizations that have the a bad a bad freshman debut? What what does he got to do to make sure that he can get out of
here with the W? The biggest thing is he's got to be very focused. When I pulled up in the car tonight, it was a
line that wrapped around the block about four times. It's been it's the longest line I think I've ever seen outside of a
fight. This this arena is huge. It is absolutely massive. And a lot of guys
when they come here, they don't fight to the best of their ability because of that. He's got to be hyperfocused on the
job. He's got to look across and say, "Okay, I understand the assignment. Lar Murphy's good. He's undefeated. I
understand that. But I got to go out here and fight my best fight." If he has a lapse in in focus for one second, he's
not going to win tonight. Lor Murphy's in a really weird spot right now where he's getting close to to
title contention. He's wanting big names. He's wanting big opportunities in big arenas like he is tonight. Is a win
over a guy that's debuting from another organization. Is that enough to get him into those conversations where he could be next in line for a title?
Absolutely is. This is the straw that broke the camel's back in a safe in a sense for Loron Murphy. Lor Murphy's
done everything he needed to do to put himself in this position. All he needs is a signature win. And how can you deny
him? The guy has been absolutely perfect. He's done everything the company's asked of him and he found
himself in a spot where he can make or break his career tonight. This is a big spot for him. He's got to get a win
tonight. If he gets a win tonight, he deserves a title shot. All right, main event time. The entire
world is assuming Hamzach Shamaya is going to walk away with the title. The the the betting lines, you know, say the
exact same thing. Anybody you talk to just assumes Hamza Shamaya is leaving here tonight the champion. Is it that
simple for you? It's not that simple. This is a fight I've been going back and forth all week. I don't think I've
flip-flopped as many times on a fight as I have with this one. I think this fight will be determined on the walk out of
Hamza Chamay. We know he's capable of. We know what he's capable of doing. But it's the walk out. If he walks out and
has a little bit of doubt for whatever reason, whatever distraction puts doubt
in his mind, he will not win tonight. But if he comes out and he's hungry and he's on fire, I do believe he will walk
out the winner. All right, Coach Dean, I know you got a lot of work to do. Thanks for letting me bother you for a little bit, guys. Back to you.
Thank you so much, Anthony. We got one minute left, boys. So, very quickly, one bold prediction. You can touch any fight
you want. UFC 319. My bold prediction, Jeff Neil and Carlos Pro ends in the first round. I don't know who wins, but I think that's going
to be 5 minutes of chaos. There's going to be a knockout. I like that one. My bold prediction, which I stole from Chessa, is uh the main event. I think
DDP is going to find a finish. You said fifth round. I think fourth or fifth are safe. He's going to slow Jama down and
then finish referee stoppage or something. He's going to be gassed and can't protect himself. That's what I think. Oh, it's one of the best main cars of
the entire year. UFC 319. Hamza Shamaya finally getting that title fight against Drakus Duplaci. He's not on the main
card, but he's on the featured prelim. He just fought four days ago. There he is again by Saruska.
He will be on ESPN later this evening. But for now, we will hand it over to ESPN Plus Disney Plus UFC 319 prelims.
Thank you so much for watching the preview show. Enjoy the fights and stick around afterwards for the ESPN UFC 319
post show. See you there.
Heat.
Heat.