Hey Ariel, shoutout from Brisbane Australia. In the same vein of what the 3 pac boys were saying about utilising Conor’s presence on 303 to give Ian Garry the rub - Jamahal Hill, Payton Talbot, Joe Pyfer are all featured on the event. Knowing that these guys are coming from DWCS on 10 and 10 contracts, are getting a major spotlight shined on the by the UFC makes me wonder if DWCS is allowing the UFC to find cheap fighters to “create the next superstar” like O Malley, for budget prices. Thoughts? To me the UFC is completely out of touch and their pursuit of saving pennies at every opportunity while missing notable characters like Doumbey and Paul Hughes is just making for a cheap, diluted product.
Can we give venum not only flowers but a whole bouquet of roses for the custom shorts from o'malleys, chama's, max, weili, justin, and now dustin! Ufc x venum match made in heaven
I was wondering your thoughts on this. It’s public how close Jon Anik is with Belal. He tweeted hours before the fight announcement about it. Jon is, in my opinion, the best in the world regardless of sport at present. But I can already see how bias his call will be in favor of Belal. I know sometimes they bring in John Gooden for these UK shows, but this being a PPV I assume it will be Anik. Do you think he should sit this one out?
With Ronda Rousey making the news again this week, I wanted to ask if you feel you owe her an apology. Most of the criticism against her has been about how she did not speak to the media and secluded herself after her losses. However, we later learned that she was traumatized by losing to the point of considering suicide. And now, she feels that she's been vilified to the point where she doesn't feel comfortable attending UFC events. Is it possible that you and others were too harsh and that everyone has the right to handle hardships in their own personal way?
That's a common talking point, and she's always been slightly polarizing because of her personality and hubris, but I'd argue that her image was always viewed positive overall up until her losses. I'm appealing to Helwani's pathos because he seems like a good enough guy and has always claimed to be "Fighter first." I just think he arguably led the charge on changing Rousey's public image and that it was unfair. Apologizing to Rousey would be unpopular and he'd get blowback from the MMA community for it, but it's the right thing to do.
I asked about Mike Perry fighting for the BKFC tittle last week. The response I got from you and your team was very arrogant. My question is…why do you guys act like this? Your all a bunch of journalists covering a sport you have never actually competed in, 99% sure none of you have probably ever been in a fight. Why not act humble and grateful for the opportunity you have. Instead of being condescending to listeners, trying to rile up fighters… asking them very personal questions they don’t want to answer. A good journalist navigates tough questions and awkward moments with finesse. instead, yall do it like a bull in the proverbial china shop.
Just curious to hear what you, GC and Rick thought about the unreal promo Bob Arum cut on the British judges after the Catterall/Taylor decision on Saturday evening? Personally I was blown away, had a good laugh and loved it. Eddie Hearns reaction was priceless.
As always, Thank you for everything you for the fighters, fight fans and the fight community.
Just a few questions about the dream catcher. What do you think is next for Mousasi now that him and the PFL have parted ways? Do you think he will get any compensation from PFL as he has lost a year of his career?
I always find it crazy that both him and Romero’s careers have run adjacent for so long without them fighting eachother.
You often critique the outdated show/win model, but I'd love to know how you would realistically try to fix it.
From the UFC’s perspective, giving the full show and guaranteeing half the win would average out about the same percentage payout for fighters (e.g., a 50+50 fighter would just be guaranteed to make 75K)
If tomorrow the UFC would agree to this, would you support this and how do you think the fighters would react? So, instead of going 15+15, new fighters are guaranteed 22.5 K. Fair trade or nah?
PS: The UFC isn’t going to pay the fighters more (and therefore your answer can’t be “pay them more.”)
Is Joaquin Buckley intentionally turning heel for exposure similar to a Colby Covington move? Or is he just an asshole?
First he had his issue with you on your show which didn’t make sense, if as offended as he led on he could have easily skipped the interview.
Second, after the call out of mcgregor he was called out by most mma media. He fired back at dc, bisbing and the American gangsters that their moms raised some hoes due to their responses. All three seemingly are some of the bigger retired fighters in this space.
Lastly he called out your guy gap and said he would knock him out which led to more back and forth.
I don’t think he’s intentionally becoming a heel I think this is who he is. He takes advice as criticism and has a bit of a victim complex going on in his head. He’s a sandwich short of a full picnic.
I was wondering if you had the chance to catch Yves Landu's fight at Bellator Champion Series 2. Incase you missed it Landu absolutely stole the show with his Michel Pereira like theatrics and back flips, I hadn't heard of him before but he seems like someone who the French fans are really getting behind.
In the fight Landu pulled off a ninja style kip-up/get-up to a backfist which I've never seen executed in an mma fight before. Here is a link if you want to play it for those who didn't see, I also think Landu would be a great guest to have on the show.
On June 8th a huge fan of the The MMA Hour pro fighter Avinash Chowtee will be fighting at Central Arena in Burlington, Ontario. It will be a Super Lightweight bout for BTC promotion.
He's coming off a 2nd round TKO victory just 2 months ago, if you could offer him some words of encouragement in his upcoming fight I'm sure he'd appreciate it.
Thanks for sheddding some limelight onto the Canadian MMA scene.
Any insight into why the Masvidal-Diaz fight got pushed a whole month instead of 1-2 weeks? With Chael P. saying, “if you move a date, you just cancelled the event”, 3 weeks ago on your show and Nate saying, “I don’t want to do none of this, I never did want to do any of it”, then walking out of last month’s press conference in LA, is there a chance this completely falls through?
For each of you guys what is your most anticipated fight of the future. Try to pick a fight that isn’t booked yet and is down the line. For me it’s an eventual fight for Sean Omalley to fight Topuria in Spain
Thank you guys for answering everybody’s questions.
Hello crew, no questions as such, just wanted to say that inner dialogue discussion honestly had me in stitches last week 😂. For what it’s worth, I’m with GC, I think what Frank considers an inner dialogue I would just call ‘thoughts’. Granted, that’s probably just the simplistic, inferior thoughts of a non inner dialogue thinker. P.S I think the only way to settle this is to have a poll, inner dialogue vs non inner dialogue. Much love, your boy Abay ✌🏾
Hi Ariel. Thoughts on whats happening in Rafah?
Hey Ariel, shoutout from Brisbane Australia. In the same vein of what the 3 pac boys were saying about utilising Conor’s presence on 303 to give Ian Garry the rub - Jamahal Hill, Payton Talbot, Joe Pyfer are all featured on the event. Knowing that these guys are coming from DWCS on 10 and 10 contracts, are getting a major spotlight shined on the by the UFC makes me wonder if DWCS is allowing the UFC to find cheap fighters to “create the next superstar” like O Malley, for budget prices. Thoughts? To me the UFC is completely out of touch and their pursuit of saving pennies at every opportunity while missing notable characters like Doumbey and Paul Hughes is just making for a cheap, diluted product.
Agreed!
Can we give venum not only flowers but a whole bouquet of roses for the custom shorts from o'malleys, chama's, max, weili, justin, and now dustin! Ufc x venum match made in heaven
Greetings Ariel,
I was wondering your thoughts on this. It’s public how close Jon Anik is with Belal. He tweeted hours before the fight announcement about it. Jon is, in my opinion, the best in the world regardless of sport at present. But I can already see how bias his call will be in favor of Belal. I know sometimes they bring in John Gooden for these UK shows, but this being a PPV I assume it will be Anik. Do you think he should sit this one out?
-Gary G
Hi Ariel,
With Ronda Rousey making the news again this week, I wanted to ask if you feel you owe her an apology. Most of the criticism against her has been about how she did not speak to the media and secluded herself after her losses. However, we later learned that she was traumatized by losing to the point of considering suicide. And now, she feels that she's been vilified to the point where she doesn't feel comfortable attending UFC events. Is it possible that you and others were too harsh and that everyone has the right to handle hardships in their own personal way?
Lack of humility on her part will lead to lack of sympathy from others.
The humble bee gets the honey
That's a common talking point, and she's always been slightly polarizing because of her personality and hubris, but I'd argue that her image was always viewed positive overall up until her losses. I'm appealing to Helwani's pathos because he seems like a good enough guy and has always claimed to be "Fighter first." I just think he arguably led the charge on changing Rousey's public image and that it was unfair. Apologizing to Rousey would be unpopular and he'd get blowback from the MMA community for it, but it's the right thing to do.
I asked about Mike Perry fighting for the BKFC tittle last week. The response I got from you and your team was very arrogant. My question is…why do you guys act like this? Your all a bunch of journalists covering a sport you have never actually competed in, 99% sure none of you have probably ever been in a fight. Why not act humble and grateful for the opportunity you have. Instead of being condescending to listeners, trying to rile up fighters… asking them very personal questions they don’t want to answer. A good journalist navigates tough questions and awkward moments with finesse. instead, yall do it like a bull in the proverbial china shop.
Heelwani!!! [WHO ME!]
Just curious to hear what you, GC and Rick thought about the unreal promo Bob Arum cut on the British judges after the Catterall/Taylor decision on Saturday evening? Personally I was blown away, had a good laugh and loved it. Eddie Hearns reaction was priceless.
As always, Thank you for everything you for the fighters, fight fans and the fight community.
Hi Ariel and the mma hour crew
Just a few questions about the dream catcher. What do you think is next for Mousasi now that him and the PFL have parted ways? Do you think he will get any compensation from PFL as he has lost a year of his career?
I always find it crazy that both him and Romero’s careers have run adjacent for so long without them fighting eachother.
Eblen x Mousasi
Hey Ariel,
You often critique the outdated show/win model, but I'd love to know how you would realistically try to fix it.
From the UFC’s perspective, giving the full show and guaranteeing half the win would average out about the same percentage payout for fighters (e.g., a 50+50 fighter would just be guaranteed to make 75K)
If tomorrow the UFC would agree to this, would you support this and how do you think the fighters would react? So, instead of going 15+15, new fighters are guaranteed 22.5 K. Fair trade or nah?
PS: The UFC isn’t going to pay the fighters more (and therefore your answer can’t be “pay them more.”)
I’d love to hear Rick’s perspective too.
Is Joaquin Buckley intentionally turning heel for exposure similar to a Colby Covington move? Or is he just an asshole?
First he had his issue with you on your show which didn’t make sense, if as offended as he led on he could have easily skipped the interview.
Second, after the call out of mcgregor he was called out by most mma media. He fired back at dc, bisbing and the American gangsters that their moms raised some hoes due to their responses. All three seemingly are some of the bigger retired fighters in this space.
Lastly he called out your guy gap and said he would knock him out which led to more back and forth.
Look forward to all of your thoughts
I don’t think he’s intentionally becoming a heel I think this is who he is. He takes advice as criticism and has a bit of a victim complex going on in his head. He’s a sandwich short of a full picnic.
Bonjour Lord Ariel,
I was wondering if you had the chance to catch Yves Landu's fight at Bellator Champion Series 2. Incase you missed it Landu absolutely stole the show with his Michel Pereira like theatrics and back flips, I hadn't heard of him before but he seems like someone who the French fans are really getting behind.
In the fight Landu pulled off a ninja style kip-up/get-up to a backfist which I've never seen executed in an mma fight before. Here is a link if you want to play it for those who didn't see, I also think Landu would be a great guest to have on the show.
Thanks for all you do. See link below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C7FMMWqpgpl/
Bonjour Lord Ariel,
On June 8th a huge fan of the The MMA Hour pro fighter Avinash Chowtee will be fighting at Central Arena in Burlington, Ontario. It will be a Super Lightweight bout for BTC promotion.
He's coming off a 2nd round TKO victory just 2 months ago, if you could offer him some words of encouragement in his upcoming fight I'm sure he'd appreciate it.
Thanks for sheddding some limelight onto the Canadian MMA scene.
Fight Poster: https://ibb.co/sCDNWQj
Ariel,
Any insight into why the Masvidal-Diaz fight got pushed a whole month instead of 1-2 weeks? With Chael P. saying, “if you move a date, you just cancelled the event”, 3 weeks ago on your show and Nate saying, “I don’t want to do none of this, I never did want to do any of it”, then walking out of last month’s press conference in LA, is there a chance this completely falls through?
Thanks! 🫏
What’s up ariel and crew
For each of you guys what is your most anticipated fight of the future. Try to pick a fight that isn’t booked yet and is down the line. For me it’s an eventual fight for Sean Omalley to fight Topuria in Spain
Thank you guys for answering everybody’s questions.
Jones x Aspinall
Hello crew, no questions as such, just wanted to say that inner dialogue discussion honestly had me in stitches last week 😂. For what it’s worth, I’m with GC, I think what Frank considers an inner dialogue I would just call ‘thoughts’. Granted, that’s probably just the simplistic, inferior thoughts of a non inner dialogue thinker. P.S I think the only way to settle this is to have a poll, inner dialogue vs non inner dialogue. Much love, your boy Abay ✌🏾
Earlier in the year Dana said he had a superfig that fell into his lap. wonder if he was talking about Nick vs GSP