ESPN MMA’s Phil Murphy, Brett Okamoto and Marc Raimondi get you ready for UFC Fight Night in Orlando, Florida. 0:00 Intro …
what’s up everybody welcome to this UFC
Orlando preview film Murphy here
alongside Brett okamoto and marker
Monday and guys much like how it would
not have been wise to have a big
breakfast Thanksgiving morning right you
got to leave some space you want the the
turkey and the stuffing and all of that
to to really have its appreciation
you may not even have anything to eat
all together or at best you’re gonna
nibble in the hours before the big meal
that’s what we did on the Saturday
before UFC Orlando because this card and
I’m not going to go ahead and say it’s
the biggest card of the Year that’d be
dishonest we’ve had some
multi-championship events some recent
ones
but boys we’d be hard-pressed to find a
fight night that is better from top to
bottom than what we’re gonna see on the
first Saturday in December in Orlando
Brett I want you to play MMA evangelist
for us like if you have the elevator
speech to a buddy who calls it like you
know hey do you train UFC like that kind
of level what is your sales pitch for
this event
oh well first of all Phil anybody who
knows you knows that you’re having at
least three full meals before
Thanksgiving dinner so let’s start off
do you want to be dishonest with the
fans like let’s point that out right now
Phil eats all day long because he’s
working out all day long but to answer
your question about UFC Orlando I got to
be honest this card crept up on me a
little bit
um of course I was looking at uh at New
York and then there is one more
pay-per-view of course with the uh the
title fight
um and a lot of things I honestly that
we’re already looking forward to to the
first quarter of the year since some big
kind of rumored ballots a big trip to
Perth so this is the kind of car that
can fly under the radar but when I took
a look at this card yeah this is a very
very solid card it’s an extremely solid
main card it’s got a little bit for
everybody it’s got you know a Thai Tui
Bossa Sergey pavlovich where these guys
are just gonna probably throw down in
the first round it’s got a very very
high technical fight in the main event
between Stephen Thompson who is finally
I think going to get a striking battle
it’s actually something that he has held
out for all year as the guy who’s gonna
strike with him I know that this is a
fight that Kevin Holland wanted a lot
even before he was going into UC 279 was
going to fight d-rod this was a fight
that he kind of had circled on his
calendar he was hoping for this fight
before the end of the year so I think
that there is a lot to discuss I’m sure
that we’ll get into it but um it is one
of those cards that kind of has
something for everybody and it does have
a really kind of Action main event which
um of course everybody likes
I love it marker Monday cut the promo
why should we be excited about Orlando
all right well I would say guys if you
are a fan of fights that matter fights
that have significance fights that have
real meaning in several divisions in the
UFC this is the UFC fight night cards
watch and the reason why I say that is
because Stephen Thompson versus Kevin
Holland it’s a huge fight for the
welterweight division because Holland is
still trying to make his way in that
division he’s a relatively new
welterweight and Stephen Thompson is a
guy who in in many cases if you can beat
Steven Wonderboy Thompson at 170 you’re
gonna go on and fight for either the
title or at least the top Contender
fight next and for Wonder Boy it’s kind
of a fight to keep him you know relevant
in that 170 pound mix and then you call
Main Event is Brian barbarina and
Hatfield dos anjos again that fight
matters Barbarian is on on a winning
streak right now he’s kind of doing this
almost like Legend killer gimmick right
where he’s fought you know Robbie Lawler
and Matt Brown in consecutive fights now
he has hoppio Los Angeles coming up next
there’s a good flyweight fight between
Mateus nicolau and Matt Schnell even
going down to the prelims like a Tracy
Cortez and Amanda he boss you know both
really good fighters in the flyweight
division again it matters the winner of
that fight is going to be somewhere
important in that Division and there’s
just a host of fights like that in
Orlando coming up in a few days Mark I’m
going to follow up with you immediately
there main event
cynics would say Hollins won two of his
last six and yes there was a no contest
in there but he’s he turns turned 30 I
believe last month he’s still young in
his trajectory he can certainly sharpen
up his takedown defense and Wonder Boy
hasn’t landed a takedown since I mean
what was the the tough finale in an
international flight week in 2015. it’s
been a while
Wonder Boy on the other hand he turns 40
in February since since getting that
title shot against Tyrone Woodley at UFC
205 he’s three five and one he’s lost
four of the last six
so where does the winner of this of this
fight this head to head Holland V
Wonderboy stand in that very deep
welterweight division yeah it’s a great
question and and I think that if you’re
Kevin Holland you’re trying to break
into that conversation you’re trying to
break into that mix where you’re one of
the guys being talked about for either a
title fight and I’m more Contender fight
or or a big fight and Stephen Wonderboy
Thompson is trying to keep his name in
that mix because he’s been a guy
perennially who’s been you know around
the title maybe not getting the title
shot he did against iron Woodley but
even since then he’s kind of been in
that mix and he’s fighting top guys you
know like couple Burns and and uh blah
Mohammed these are top welterweights
that he has been fighting and this is
kind of a litmus test fight for Kevin
Holland to see if he belongs in that
conversation we’ve seen many fights like
this this year in the UFC and in recent
years I guess guys where you have an
older fighter like a Stephen Thompson
who was established who’s near the top
of the division and then you put him up
against a guy who’s kind of on the ride
eyes in Kevin Hollins and you see what
happens and you see where guys are it’s
an interesting fight to see kind of just
like again a litmus test how good can
they be well if you can be Wonder Boy
Thompson Kevin Allen you commit probably
pretty good in that division Brett when
we see sometimes Grappler versus
Grappler right the the opposite of what
this fight is going to be sometimes
those guys just end up staying on their
feet the whole time I don’t think this
Striker versus Striker is gonna hit the
mat you saw uh Holland’s last three
losses to chimaya vittori and Derek
Brunson all guys who would be more than
happy to put their opponent on their
back and keep them there for the
duration of the fight this is going to
be stand up for the full 25 minutes
right
I would certainly think so I mean I I
would kind of almost liken it to what we
just saw with Israel adesanya and Alex
paheda you know I wouldn’t say that
either of those guys have a tremendously
awesome ground game you know but you saw
it come up where in certain cases in a
five round fight it made sense for one
of them to try to to work something out
of it it happened to be Izzy that did it
and then won him some rounds ultimately
it didn’t win him to fight but I see it
kind of if we do see grappling sort of
in that sense
um this is such an interesting spot for
Stephen Thompson though it’s one of
those weird spots guys where it’s like
if Wonder Boy loses this like Phil
mentioned he’s going to turn 40 years
old and then he’s lost three in a row he
hasn’t had a win now in a couple of
years all of a sudden people are saying
well how’s Wonder Boy going to finish
out his career you know but if he wins
he’s number six he gets a big win
against a popular guy in Kevin Holland
and who’s to say wonderboy’s kind of
been in this position now for for a
while where it’s like who’s to say the
Wonder Boy Thompson couldn’t beat Leon
Edwards who’s to say that he doesn’t
provide some stylistic problems for a
guy like Camaro Usman that’s what’s been
weird about about Wonder Boys because
he’s so good at what he does that he
could be a bad problem match a problem
for anybody so I think there’s a lot
more at stake for him than Kevin Holland
you know I think Kevin Holland is is
this fun guy he wanted this fight you
know even when they were talking to him
at UFC 279 when everything happened with
hamzat missing weight he was saying look
I’ll take this fight but I didn’t really
prepare for this fight and I don’t want
it to impact sort of the fights I’m
getting at welterweight I have some
momentum going I would like to fight a
guy like Stephen Wonderboy at the end of
the year so even if this guy comes out
and wrestles me to death which he did
Hobbes that did you know keep me in mind
for some of those fights I don’t think
it should be really held against me and
so the UFC I think agreed with him you
know by making this fight but Kevin
Holland is is fun he’s not going
anywhere he’s going to stay very active
he can compete in different weight
classes Wonder Boy I mean again just the
the differences between a win or a loss
it’s so crazy sometimes in this sport or
we’re talking about a guy who always 40
he doesn’t have it anymore or if he wins
this fight by knockout hey you know this
guy could get a title shot in 2023 and
it’s it’s very very possible
Brett I want to follow up on that you
mentioned you know alluded to the stakes
and for these guys and and what we know
about them who they fought Wonder Boys
some TBD perhaps if they get if he gets
a win here against today’s divisional
Elite we know it was three five and one
when Tyron Woodley was champion and then
as he started to slip down the ladder
there but of these two who to you has
more hope or more confidence that they
can string be requisite wins together to
get to the biggest fights available in
this division
I mean I I would say I would say it’s
still Wonder Boy as of right now
um because he’s been there he’s been a
former title Challenger
um and because he’s just more he’s way
higher ranked than Kevin Holland is
right now so he’s just closer to those
types of fights I think
um obviously Kevin Holland can take a
massive jump up and because of the fact
that he did fight hamzat even though he
didn’t do well in that fight you know
there was a lot of eyeballs that were
drawn to him because of some backstage
stuff and and things like that so I
think it’s obviously a big opportunity
for Kevin Holland but in terms of kind
of stringing together anything and going
on like a run
um right now I think Stephen Thompson is
closer just because of that that six
next to his name and if he comes out and
he does have a great performance
um and he’s able to get you know any
kind of fight that’s that’s up there
he’d probably he could he could
literally only be like two fights away I
mean who’s to say that they wouldn’t put
him in with somebody you know on a on a
card in the UK on the same card as like
Leon Edwards and Kamara Usman and then
you’re basically just one bad thing
happening to either Challenger or
Champion to maybe finding your way into
this fight like uh crazy things happen
in the sport but right now I would say
Stephen Thompson but again he has a lot
more to lose I think I think Kevin
Holland can afford a loss much more so
than wonder who I can right now well in
that in that hypothetical scenario I
think Holland would be the one to more
likely to poke the bear and social media
build up and put himself in that
position to where if somebody slips out
his name is fresh on the tongue but Mark
that aside same question to you winner
of this fight gets his hand raised who
among these two is likelier to turn a
win in Orlando into a winning streak of
note
yeah I mean I I don’t disagree with
Brett necessarily but I can also see a
case for Holland here because that he
you know he’s younger he’s a kind of a
fresher name in the division he hasn’t
fought as many guys at the top of the
division like Wonder Boy has the
wrestling is still at issue right like
you know if he runs into a wrestler in
his next fight let’s say he beats Wonder
Boy that’s still a hole in his game and
it’s one that he has to correct if he’s
going to fight at the top of that
welterweight division which has Colby
Covington Kumar Usman Hamza shimaya I
mean it’s a you know he just lost it
shamaya uh but that’s a division that is
heavy with wrestlers at the top so he
needs to correct that and and improve
that to a point where he can stay off
his back and execute you know with
striking he’s got big Power you know
he’s so creative and he’s so you know
dangerous and scrambles dude you know
knocked out jockery Sosa from his butt I
mean the guy the guy is a dangerous guy
in there so I can see I can see a path
for him and what you mentioned too Phil
also important he can talk his way into
a big fight in fact he he got into a
little bit of a skirmish or at least a
little bit of a verbal altercation with
the Kumar Usman and his team uh
backstage last month in New York
actually was that just a few weeks ago
anymore I don’t even know what day we
are anymore but uh back in New York he
was there with a few people and Usman
was there a few people and they got into
a little bit of a you know a little bit
of a teh nothing no nothing physical
nothing like you know punches throne but
there’s a story there to maybe it’s all
you know in the future with uh with
Holland and response so he’s that kind
of guy that he’s kind of a lightning rod
you know he’s he’s out here like you
know saving people and like you know
de-arming gunmen and stuff he’s an
interesting guy and interesting people
in this sport seem to advance quicker
than others so I I could see a case for
Holland too
Mark you’ve already touched on the
co-main we’re gonna go there now Brian
barbarina against alfio dosanjos just on
just formally the the lightweight champ
you mentioned the the Legends killer
tour that barbarino went on his
introduction to the UFC was as a as a
live dog beating Sage Northcutt Morley
Arvest all this both of those as three
or four to one dog that’s what he is
here against uh hafu does not just who
had a terrific start to his will to rate
10-year drop four of five drop down and
now now he’s back at 170. how much do
you think a win over the respective
opponent Mark in where they are and
where these guys are in the ladder will
reveal what we know about guys who
already have a decent track record a
decent number of fights in the UFC how
much are how much do you think we’ll
learn here
yeah that’s a that’s a really great
question because dosanjos is obviously
you know years removed now from his
lightweight title run he he’s even years
removed from his welterweight run where
he was you know he was he was in the mix
for that you know that title as well and
uh Barbara is a guy who’s never really
made it past like what in pro wrestling
you would call like the mid card like
he’s kind of a mid card guy but he’s
always fun he’s always a gamer you know
his fights are always exciting so he has
a chance here this would be the biggest
win of his career if he beats RDA he has
a chance here to kind of break out of
that mold uh and with wins over Matt
Brown and Lawler and and dos Andros all
of a sudden you start seeing okay Brian
barbarino’s on a winning streak I think
he’s won I’m pretty sure he’s won three
straight now this would be four straight
uh I’m not 100 sure of that but uh yeah
I mean a guy who’s on a street like that
could certainly get bigger fights and
you always want a guy like barbarina on
your roster because you know no matter
who you put him up against whether it’s
a guy on the rise or if the guy may be
on the downside you know know you’re
going to get a good fight the one thing
that I think he has to watch out for in
this fight is Lawler and brown you know
what they’re going to do they’re going
to stand and they’re going to bang and
it’s going to be a really exciting fight
and they both were dosanjos could take
him down and it could be a whole
different type of deal dos anjos is so
well-rounded he can he’s really great
everywhere as Jiu Jitsu is great his
wrestling is great so something to watch
out for barbarina but hey if you win
this fight perception starts changing
from being a fun fighter to being hey
this guy’s pretty darn good
yeah Brett same question for you
barbarina yesteryear the the upset King
the you know the the prospect killer
then he goes to the Legend killer
as the upset King this this could be two
birds with one stone here if he gets the
win how much do you think we’ll learn
about bam bam how much you think we
learn about RDA
depending on who wins this fight ah I
gotta be honest guys not not a whole lot
I personally don’t think we’ll learn a
whole lot um about either guy I think
that I think if um barbarina wins and
especially you know you have to we don’t
know how he’s going to win but I think
that even if barbarina wins I don’t
think many people are going to be
calling barbarina you know a guy who has
a real run at a title a guy who’s really
super Elite I mean he’s going to enter
into
um a different category of maybe he’s
going to get another fight that he would
probably like that might get him into
the top 15 or that he’ll probably be an
underdog against and this is nothing
against Brian barbarina it’s just that
his track record you know it’s not like
this guy’s brand new I mean we’ve seen
this guy
um and I think more so we’d be looking
at at dos Angels at that point you know
dosanjos unfortunately he really is one
of those poster child guys of like he
falls right in between the 170 155 pound
weight class now he’s back at 170. if he
wins here I don’t think it’s looked at
anything more than just kind of getting
back on a win streak and maybe the start
of something he’s still going to have to
get some big big wins at 170 and that’s
proven hard for him I feel bad for the
guy I mean the guy goes back to 155 to
try to make one kind of more serious run
at it and he’s supposed to fight us on
Market should have that fight gets
canceled he’s supposed to fight half
al-fazib that fight gets canceled gets
delayed he ends up fighting panato
moykano who we know is a very very good
good guy we just saw him pick up a huge
win he beats him but then he still gets
the same fight in half field like he
think I just had very very bad luck over
the last two years that being said he’s
getting older in his career you know
he’s reaching a point where where
it kind of makes you how is UFC going to
match make him this this fight itself
I’m a little bit surprised and yes it’s
a fun fight but you would think that
Raphael is going to start turning into
the guy that the UFC looks to build
other guys off of you know and um and
when when certain guys reach that point
in the career that’s when they kind of
start to look at other options I’d be
interested to know how many fights
Rafael has left in his contract I have
an accent mark actually I I know that
you speak to his team frequently that’s
the question that I would like to ask
him when I get to Orlando
um but I think I think most of all what
this fight is going to do is he’s going
to put Rafael to San Jose’s place
um in his career we’re going to know
what it is like if he goes out and looks
great you know maybe doc does kind of
like say Hey you know we know how
talented you are you can get those
fights against top 15 and welterweight
top 10 in welterweight and everything
falls right for him maybe he can go on
another run but if he looks bad in this
fight I think we’re going to be saying
hey you know what’s what’s left for
halfway on how is the UFC going to match
make him I think that’s going to be a
big question mark is what are they going
to do with hop out of Santa’s moving
forward
Brett coming right back to you I had you
guys each give your your elevator pitch
your MMA evangelist your cut the promo
after the main and co-main what’s the
fight that should excite us the most
I think for sure it’s tied to evasive
versus Sergey pavlovich I think it’s
interesting that we’re seeing Ty turn
around so quickly
um you know last time Ty was on a roll
then he ran into Junior dos Santos in a
fight that I believe was in Australia he
was winning that fight then he got
knocked out and it kind of turned into a
tailspin for him he lost three in a row
I believe and then he got back on on um
on a hot streak and he won four or five
in a row but then he ran up against
surreal gone so I’m just kind of
wondering how is tuivasa gonna respond
to that loss you know I mean we know
that this guy loves to have fun we know
that he loves to be in fun fights I also
think he could be
heavyweight heavyweight is an
interesting division right you don’t
have to be perfect to to win at
heavyweight right and so I think he’s in
a great position you know all these
heavyweights kind of have some flaws
like as good as Francis agano is you
know who’s to say tied to a bus I
couldn’t go in there avoid some big
shots and be tied to and beat Francis
zingano who’s to say that he couldn’t
get in there and uh and beat a Jon Jones
who hasn’t fought in two years I just
think there’s a lot of question marks at
the top of heavyweight and so I hope the
tie is not just kind of turning into
this you know let’s go go out and bang
dude because I think he’s better than
that I think he is a better fighter than
that I know that I I love him for his
entertainment quality but this is a
fight in which I would kind of maybe
drag out the fight a little bit
pavlovich has not been out of the first
round in the UFC so far so if I’m Thai I
would want to fight a little smart and
see what that looks like but knowing
time man he might want to go out there
and uh and get it done quickly and and
try to do a Shoei right away and maybe
he will
um but I do hope that Tai is is not just
kind of looking at himself yes you are a
fan favorite you’re always going to be
that regardless of what you try to be
you’re going to be that because that’s
who you are but I hope that Ty is still
looking at his career very seriously
because I think he can still do some
damage I think he’s capable of beating
just about anybody in this division yeah
both these guys know they’re not paid by
the hour of pavlovich four fight win
streak all Knockouts all totaling eight
minutes and 11 seconds to your point
Brett about two minutes and three
seconds per fight Ty five straight
knockout five straight wins a streak
snapped by Cyril gone by knockout Mark
coming to you on this one we saw Ty
almost get The Knockout win he knocked
it down zero gone which got a lot of us
out of our seats because one hitter
quitters in the lineage of Mark Hunter
it seems like tied to a boss is Keen for
those if two of USA puts that in a
bubble and fights the same fight he did
against Cyril gone does he get his hand
raised here against a very dangerous
opponent on a very short turnaround
yeah I mean I thought he fought pretty
well at times against gone I mean he
kind of it it ended up kind of being a
wild sequence where two of USA got
knocked out gone won the fight but
before that I thought that tuivasa was
affording himself very well against Ghan
and he was actually the one who got the
first knockdown and Sir gone is a guy
who has a lot of striking experience and
he’s really Technical and he and he’s
really tactical and striking so that’s a
good sign uh for me that Ty was able to
get to him knock a guy like that down
who can be very elusive on the feet who
you know got like Francine gone who
wasn’t able to really catch up with as
far as Landing Big Shots Ty did it
pavlovich is a different Fighter for
sure you know a bigger guy you know more
imposing guy but I think if like you
said if your question Phil is if tuivasa
fights the same way against gun uh that
he I’m sorry against pavlovish that he
did against gone I think I think three
Vasa does very well in this fight and I
and what I mean by that is how he they
followed gone early because he kind of
got roped into a brawl
he had some moments in those exchanges
where he did hurt gone but it was uh it
was obviously gone coming away with uh
the big shots and ending it but if he
can if he can stay away from maybe
getting roped into a brawl and being a
little bit more patient and picking a
spot a little bit man he’s got power
like Brett said that could knock out
anyone in the division guys we can talk
about this card much longer than than
we’re going to as we say goodbye I mean
Tracy Cortez Amanda he boss is another
one that would have been high up on many
fight nights Cortez having won 10 in a
row including a win over Aaron
blanchfield that’s that’s aging
beautifully and Amanda he boss figuring
out if her future is at straw weight or
flyweight she’s three and one versus two
and one in those two divisions
but guys thank you so much for the time
and thank you for tuning in keep it on
espn.com MMA for all things leading up
to Orlando especially once Brett gets on
the ground there but for marker Monday
Brett okamoto I’m Phil Murphy thank you
guys so much for joining us and enjoy
the fights
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