Greetings once again from London, Ontario, Canada. Firstly, I want to thank you for the kind and thoughtful Cameo you did on behalf of my girlfriend, Emily, for our anniversary – it made my day. What Emily failed to mention when requesting the Cameo, however, is that the day of our anniversary is also her birthday. Although these two events are on the same day, she is insistent that they require separate dinners, gifts, and even cards. I disagree, as I think it is far more efficient to roll our anniversary and her birthday into one event (with one gift). My question to you is, if a loved one has a birthday that falls on the day of another gift-giving event (e.g. anniversary, religious holiday, etc.) do you consider grouping their gifts together to be socially acceptable? As always, appreciate your valuable insights.
P.S. Given that my girlfriend often comes up in my questions, a couple of posters have asked me to verify her existence. To do so, I’ve sent Louis a photo of the two of us enjoying anniversary drinks (not to be confused with birthday drinks, which she tells me are somehow different). I will leave it to Louis’s discretion as to whether there is time to show this (as an aside, thank you Louis for all your hard work moderating).
Yes, grouping them together is acceptable in my book, especially if it’s the same day. One dinner to celebrate both, with a gift worthy of her birthday and your anniversary combined.
Totally unacceptable. If the dates were months apart you’d celebrate them separately right? Why does she have to suffer because the anniversary lines up with her birthday? Take it from someone whose birthday is 12/31. I got “Christmas and birthday” combined gifts my whole life.
You’re on the fast track to a divorce the way you’re going so far. Lol.
I wanted to address New York Richard’s eating habits. As someone who has witnessed Ric eat a hotdog with a fork and knife, you can imagine how perturbed I was when I heard that he truly believes Special K is the all-time great cereal. Feeling slighted by NYR’s dismissal of my interaction with him at the food court and him labeling my question as “creepy fanfare”, I decided to do some research on America’s most unenjoyable cereal.. Special K. Here are some fun facts below.
According to the ICCRE (International Coalition of Cereal Reviewers & Enthusiasts), here are some statistics about Special K that I do hope Ric keeps in mind before making an all-time worst take on your show again.
- Special K was originally developed as pig feed for the Tuberville Humane Society before transitioning to a cereal.
- According to studies, 97% of children in the CONUS prefer rocks to Special K. Just plain old rocks.
- The creator of Special K (Horace Shleegerman Finburgler) has openly admitted to owning a purple PT Crusier with wood side paneling.
- 78% of adults who have bought Special K have stated that they did so in the hopes that it might contain ketamine, only to say they’d rather eat rocks after trying it.
With all of this being said… do you agree with me.. that NYR promoting Special K as the best cereal was by far the worst take to ever be spewed on the MMA Hour?! The proof is in the numbers, Ariel.
Greetings from beautiful Miami, Florida! My question this week is if you could matchup anyone with Kevin Holland for the entertainment purpose of just listening to banter back and forth and it was guaranteed to go the distance, who would you pick to hear go at it with Big Mouth?
Personally, I’d love to hear 25 minutes of Holland x Strickland going back and forth while going to war at the same time.
Bare with me, but I have a judging transparency solution based on experience. I used to work as a Director and scorekeeper for a kids dance competition tour. While quite the opposite of a cage match, the scoring was equally as subjective and consisted of three judges that were oftentimes terrible at their jobs. (Side note, kids dance competitions are definitely fixed lol)
Anywho, to make scoring transparent, we equipped the judges with a microphone attached to a computer where they literally talked through what they liked and didn’t like about each performance. Their audio was recorded, essentially. At the end of the competition, competitors received the audio from each judge and the comments they recorded were also made available online for the public.
Imagine this with MMA. Even if a judge doesn’t talk much, hearing them say “that’s a take down” or “amazing ring control” at least gives you insight into their thinking that led to their scoring. Do you think this could be translated to MMA? Did I just fix judging?
When I used to compete for indoor/outdoor drumline, and they would have a system where the judges were following the drumline around --- recording themselves giving commentary...much of the same stuff. Staff would sit down with the judges afterwards and review scores, comments, and issues they had. I see it helping coaches, fighters, and the media understand how they scored *afterwards -- but might not fix everything we have issues with *during the scoring process. Would love to see how it could play out though...
In the past 5 years or so it seems like the UFC has signed one big free agent each year from another promotion that came into the UFC with a lot of hype, and they have exceeded the hype in every way. Guys like Gaethje, Izzy, Chandler, and Jiri are all must-see TV and have been tremendous additions to the UFC. They are some of the most entertaining fighters in the octagon and on the mic. I think Paddy and/or Ian Garry are the recent signings that could potentially reach that level.
Other than Kayla Harrison, are there any current fighters outside the UFC that could come in and make an impact on the sport like we’ve seen from the aforementioned group? I’ve heard a lot of chatter about Roberto Soldic from KSW, especially from Petesy on the Ringer MMA show. Is he that good and will he be the next big signing??
Can you or any of the Team describe the model of betting in the United States to me as a German ?
Over here the odds are like maybe 1.2 for the favorite and for example 3.0 for the underdog. Which means if you bet on the favorite and he wins you will get your bet x 1.2 or if you bet on the underdog you will get your bet x 3.0.
the whole thing with -300 or +250 gets me confused every single time.
Back again with an abuse of power. My question is regarding UFC contracts and fighter retirement/ declarations that they are 'finished'. How does the UFC operate with such notice? It appears to differ from 'regular' employment.
Joanna signed a new deal in May. Historically, GSP was under contract for years during his hiatus and still had time left post his UFC 217 victory. Even Khabib is still under contract. Are fighters not doing their due diligence to end their deal or is the draw of staying under contract for that potential one more fight too appealing?
Any idea on which direction they're heading with Khamzat? I feel that now Usman-Leon is official we should see something with him soon. Nate? Belal? Colby?
Had a quick question about one bantamweight who still hasn't been booked. Cory Sandhagen. Is he hurt? He hasn't fought since October! I have a fun matchup for him, Song YaDong!! That would be an incredible fight and I feel that Song deserves the step-up in competition.
We all know you’re a fashion icon with your vast array of plaid shirts and the sneak peeks of sneakers and hoodies we see.
As a self-confessed sneaker head, I’m interested to know what are some of your favourite sneakers? I got my first pair of Nike dunks six months ago and I have to say they’re not my faves. My current faves are Adidas Superstars, but I flip flop on favourites every few months.
What criteria are you using to say Santos beat Valentina? Valentina clearly did more damage, landed more shots, and avoided danger. Santos causes almost zero damage. According to the rules. Damage/striking is top priority. Valentina won that easily. Successful defense awards 0 points but stops the opponent from scoring. So she also stopped Santos from scoring.
The damage was from the clash of heads and Santos controlled Valentina for most of the first 3 rounds. Which of the first 3 rounds did Shevchenko easily win?
1. We are not huge rematch fans but Juri/Glover and Valentina/Santos should definitely rematch straight away. We would favour both losers to turn those results around.
2. We became big Santos aficionados on the weekend. Her spirit during the fight and modesty after. Without the headbutt she was heading for a comfortable victory.
3. We are really looking forward to you visiting Cardiff. Can you learn to pronounce this Welsh village name to impress the locals during your stay?
Hello, hello. I come to you today seeking some life advice, you being the mensch of all mensches and all. So you're invited to a wedding, but you can't attend. Are you obligated to send a gift? If so, what's the time limit for sending that gift? I've always maintained a NOINE month rule, but Mary doesn't agree. Also, who does the dishes in your house?
A few days ago a Google engineer made headlines for claiming that one of their A.I. chatbots had become sentient. My question is, do you believe that sentience and consciousness can or will ever be possible in synthetic, non-biological forms?
Besides making sure the right people get included, what changes would you make for an international MMA Hall of Fame? Example: I think Ronda Rousey deserves a spot in the "Pioneer" wing, rather than "Modern." Also, when does "Modern" end? Does it become Post-Modern? Thanks for all you do.
Your homie,
Sunny Chung
P.S. The next time you see him, please tell Darren Till he needs to grow out the traditional beard with no moustache to activate his newfound wrestling skills. (Scroll down for next question.)
Petr Yan doesn't have a fight and people are getting booked fast. Henry Cejudo vs. Petr Yan?? Throw it on the same card as Aljo-Dillashaw imagine the scenes.
Dear Ariel,
Greetings once again from London, Ontario, Canada. Firstly, I want to thank you for the kind and thoughtful Cameo you did on behalf of my girlfriend, Emily, for our anniversary – it made my day. What Emily failed to mention when requesting the Cameo, however, is that the day of our anniversary is also her birthday. Although these two events are on the same day, she is insistent that they require separate dinners, gifts, and even cards. I disagree, as I think it is far more efficient to roll our anniversary and her birthday into one event (with one gift). My question to you is, if a loved one has a birthday that falls on the day of another gift-giving event (e.g. anniversary, religious holiday, etc.) do you consider grouping their gifts together to be socially acceptable? As always, appreciate your valuable insights.
P.S. Given that my girlfriend often comes up in my questions, a couple of posters have asked me to verify her existence. To do so, I’ve sent Louis a photo of the two of us enjoying anniversary drinks (not to be confused with birthday drinks, which she tells me are somehow different). I will leave it to Louis’s discretion as to whether there is time to show this (as an aside, thank you Louis for all your hard work moderating).
Is this Larry David? Hahaha love your questions
legit look forward every week to these non mma questions
Can't lump them man. It's not about efficiency, it's about celebration.
Just my opinion...
Yes, grouping them together is acceptable in my book, especially if it’s the same day. One dinner to celebrate both, with a gift worthy of her birthday and your anniversary combined.
Totally unacceptable. If the dates were months apart you’d celebrate them separately right? Why does she have to suffer because the anniversary lines up with her birthday? Take it from someone whose birthday is 12/31. I got “Christmas and birthday” combined gifts my whole life.
You’re on the fast track to a divorce the way you’re going so far. Lol.
Ahoy, Ariel!
I wanted to address New York Richard’s eating habits. As someone who has witnessed Ric eat a hotdog with a fork and knife, you can imagine how perturbed I was when I heard that he truly believes Special K is the all-time great cereal. Feeling slighted by NYR’s dismissal of my interaction with him at the food court and him labeling my question as “creepy fanfare”, I decided to do some research on America’s most unenjoyable cereal.. Special K. Here are some fun facts below.
According to the ICCRE (International Coalition of Cereal Reviewers & Enthusiasts), here are some statistics about Special K that I do hope Ric keeps in mind before making an all-time worst take on your show again.
- Special K was originally developed as pig feed for the Tuberville Humane Society before transitioning to a cereal.
- According to studies, 97% of children in the CONUS prefer rocks to Special K. Just plain old rocks.
- The creator of Special K (Horace Shleegerman Finburgler) has openly admitted to owning a purple PT Crusier with wood side paneling.
- 78% of adults who have bought Special K have stated that they did so in the hopes that it might contain ketamine, only to say they’d rather eat rocks after trying it.
With all of this being said… do you agree with me.. that NYR promoting Special K as the best cereal was by far the worst take to ever be spewed on the MMA Hour?! The proof is in the numbers, Ariel.
Thanks I’ll hang up and listen.
This is freaking hilarious.
Timothy. Thank you.
Is it weird that this question has 8 likes, but Louis doesn’t include it in the show?
👋 Hola Ariel!!!
Greetings from beautiful Miami, Florida! My question this week is if you could matchup anyone with Kevin Holland for the entertainment purpose of just listening to banter back and forth and it was guaranteed to go the distance, who would you pick to hear go at it with Big Mouth?
Personally, I’d love to hear 25 minutes of Holland x Strickland going back and forth while going to war at the same time.
Viva Heelwani 🦹🏻♂️
Glad you made it safely bro.
🙏
Glad to hear you made it safely to Miami! Quite the drive.
🙏
Welcome back to Miami El Cubano!
🙏
Kevin Holland vs Darren Till 👀
Hi Ariel,
Bare with me, but I have a judging transparency solution based on experience. I used to work as a Director and scorekeeper for a kids dance competition tour. While quite the opposite of a cage match, the scoring was equally as subjective and consisted of three judges that were oftentimes terrible at their jobs. (Side note, kids dance competitions are definitely fixed lol)
Anywho, to make scoring transparent, we equipped the judges with a microphone attached to a computer where they literally talked through what they liked and didn’t like about each performance. Their audio was recorded, essentially. At the end of the competition, competitors received the audio from each judge and the comments they recorded were also made available online for the public.
Imagine this with MMA. Even if a judge doesn’t talk much, hearing them say “that’s a take down” or “amazing ring control” at least gives you insight into their thinking that led to their scoring. Do you think this could be translated to MMA? Did I just fix judging?
Un abrazo
When I used to compete for indoor/outdoor drumline, and they would have a system where the judges were following the drumline around --- recording themselves giving commentary...much of the same stuff. Staff would sit down with the judges afterwards and review scores, comments, and issues they had. I see it helping coaches, fighters, and the media understand how they scored *afterwards -- but might not fix everything we have issues with *during the scoring process. Would love to see how it could play out though...
Forsure! It's not a solution to all judging issues, but it would certainly hold judges more accountable in front of commissions, promotions, etc..
Hello Ariel!
In the past 5 years or so it seems like the UFC has signed one big free agent each year from another promotion that came into the UFC with a lot of hype, and they have exceeded the hype in every way. Guys like Gaethje, Izzy, Chandler, and Jiri are all must-see TV and have been tremendous additions to the UFC. They are some of the most entertaining fighters in the octagon and on the mic. I think Paddy and/or Ian Garry are the recent signings that could potentially reach that level.
Other than Kayla Harrison, are there any current fighters outside the UFC that could come in and make an impact on the sport like we’ve seen from the aforementioned group? I’ve heard a lot of chatter about Roberto Soldic from KSW, especially from Petesy on the Ringer MMA show. Is he that good and will he be the next big signing??
Hallo Ariel
Can you or any of the Team describe the model of betting in the United States to me as a German ?
Over here the odds are like maybe 1.2 for the favorite and for example 3.0 for the underdog. Which means if you bet on the favorite and he wins you will get your bet x 1.2 or if you bet on the underdog you will get your bet x 3.0.
the whole thing with -300 or +250 gets me confused every single time.
Greetings from Germany my man
This would be a good one for GC's return Max_83!
Hello my friend,
Back again with an abuse of power. My question is regarding UFC contracts and fighter retirement/ declarations that they are 'finished'. How does the UFC operate with such notice? It appears to differ from 'regular' employment.
Joanna signed a new deal in May. Historically, GSP was under contract for years during his hiatus and still had time left post his UFC 217 victory. Even Khabib is still under contract. Are fighters not doing their due diligence to end their deal or is the draw of staying under contract for that potential one more fight too appealing?
Much love, Louis
Any idea on which direction they're heading with Khamzat? I feel that now Usman-Leon is official we should see something with him soon. Nate? Belal? Colby?
Hola Ariel!
Had a quick question about one bantamweight who still hasn't been booked. Cory Sandhagen. Is he hurt? He hasn't fought since October! I have a fun matchup for him, Song YaDong!! That would be an incredible fight and I feel that Song deserves the step-up in competition.
Hello Ariel,
We all know you’re a fashion icon with your vast array of plaid shirts and the sneak peeks of sneakers and hoodies we see.
As a self-confessed sneaker head, I’m interested to know what are some of your favourite sneakers? I got my first pair of Nike dunks six months ago and I have to say they’re not my faves. My current faves are Adidas Superstars, but I flip flop on favourites every few months.
Louis, I’ll have a better question next week 😜
What criteria are you using to say Santos beat Valentina? Valentina clearly did more damage, landed more shots, and avoided danger. Santos causes almost zero damage. According to the rules. Damage/striking is top priority. Valentina won that easily. Successful defense awards 0 points but stops the opponent from scoring. So she also stopped Santos from scoring.
This is an easy 3-2 or 4-1 victory for Valentina.
What did you see that made you think she won?
The damage was from the clash of heads and Santos controlled Valentina for most of the first 3 rounds. Which of the first 3 rounds did Shevchenko easily win?
To the Highly Esteemed Mr Helwani
Liz here again. A few thoughts from Windsor:
1. We are not huge rematch fans but Juri/Glover and Valentina/Santos should definitely rematch straight away. We would favour both losers to turn those results around.
2. We became big Santos aficionados on the weekend. Her spirit during the fight and modesty after. Without the headbutt she was heading for a comfortable victory.
3. We are really looking forward to you visiting Cardiff. Can you learn to pronounce this Welsh village name to impress the locals during your stay?
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
I wish you safe passage
Elizabeth. R.
Hello, hello. I come to you today seeking some life advice, you being the mensch of all mensches and all. So you're invited to a wedding, but you can't attend. Are you obligated to send a gift? If so, what's the time limit for sending that gift? I've always maintained a NOINE month rule, but Mary doesn't agree. Also, who does the dishes in your house?
Greetings Ariel,
A few days ago a Google engineer made headlines for claiming that one of their A.I. chatbots had become sentient. My question is, do you believe that sentience and consciousness can or will ever be possible in synthetic, non-biological forms?
Let's get Frank and Ric in on this as well,
Stay Blessed,
Mattmo
Congrats 🥇
Yo Ariel,
Besides making sure the right people get included, what changes would you make for an international MMA Hall of Fame? Example: I think Ronda Rousey deserves a spot in the "Pioneer" wing, rather than "Modern." Also, when does "Modern" end? Does it become Post-Modern? Thanks for all you do.
Your homie,
Sunny Chung
P.S. The next time you see him, please tell Darren Till he needs to grow out the traditional beard with no moustache to activate his newfound wrestling skills. (Scroll down for next question.)
Petr Yan doesn't have a fight and people are getting booked fast. Henry Cejudo vs. Petr Yan?? Throw it on the same card as Aljo-Dillashaw imagine the scenes.