One of my favorite friendships in the UFC take center stage in this weekend’s co main and main event (Rose & Gaethje). Still to this day the video of Gaethje crying tears of happiness for Rose’s win is still very much one of my favorite outside the octagon moments.
Cornering both fighters is Trevor Wittman, and while he is known for containing his emotions in both victory and defeat, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t FEEL those emotions. My question is, if hypothetically Rose were to lose before the Gaethje fight, how do you think it would effect both Gaethje and Wittman’s mindset heading into the main event?
Yes, great question. Love this relationship between Wittman and his athletes. You can see the clear level up he brings to each of his fighter's striking, footwork, and mindset and they all clearly appreciate him and each other for that.
I really wanted to ask about the “Leak” of the upcoming cards, but had a feeling the rest of the sub stack family would ask, so I went a different route
UFC accidentally posted video of their upcoming fight cards in the background. Notably fights like Diaz x Khamzat & Jones x Stipe. Feels like they are trying to get fans to push Nate & Stipe into accepting those fights
How does that "accidentally" happen? Was it from their account or someone else's?
It smells like when Dana "happened" to be caught on camera -mic'd up- talking with Hunter about Kattar taking too much damage and needing to go straight to the hospital.
Of course, I dont know what happened but they run a pretty tight ship, I can't see how that couldn't be intentional
Well Dana did a podcast with The Pivot squad in the mysterious war room and they caught some nice moments of board. My bank acct is going to be zapped it jones stipe fight
While Rose Namajunas is favored to win, its seems mostly based on her stand up (supreme). The opinion is Rose will be in trouble if Carla Esparza gets her down, like Esparza is a far stronger grappler. Meanwhile, Namajunas is a longtime BJJ student at The Academy MN, under Greg Nelson, and has studied with John Danaher, Nathalia Santoro, Garry Tonon, Nicky Ryan, Nick Rodriguez, and Gordon Ryan. I mean, she's nice with it. I see her winning everywhere she's not dumped on her head.
In Dragon Ball Z there is an extraordinary place known as the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Once you enter the Time Chamber, for every one day that passes in the outside world an entire year elapses in the Chamber. The Z Fighters use this room to train in preparation for much stronger foes when time is of the essence. My question is, if you had access to a Hyperbolic Time Chamber, a room where you had essentially infinite time void of family and work responsibilities, what would you use it for?
P.S. I went ahead and edited Cris Cyborg's location of her first fight on Wikipedia. If you check it now you will see it says Sao Paulo and no longer Curitiba. She had mentioned this on Monday's show after you looked it up.
Greetings once again from London, Ontario, Canada. Firstly, I wanted to let you know that the interview between you and Eddie Hearn last week motivated me to watch Taylor-Serrano, which was one of the most spectacular and inspirational sporting events I have ever seen; thank you for promoting this event. I also thoroughly enjoyed your interview with Eddie this Monday, and was hoping to get your thoughts on his comments pertaining to being “average”. He had some great insight into the fact that, by definition, the majority of people are “average” and so this term should not be viewed as insulting. However, any person who is exceptional at something must, at one point, have been average at that thing before they pulled away from the pack. In your case, you are obviously an exceptional combat sports journalist. My question to you is, when would you last consider yourself to have been an “average” journalist? I suspect it would have to be over a decade ago, but am curious as to your thoughts. Additionally, what do you think you did career-wise that set you apart from the rest, and led to you becoming exceptional in this field?
Just two questions today, firstly how true are those “leaks” from the war room? Seemed fairly convenient having those all in shot. Fights like Paddy v Ottman and Nate v Khamzat don’t make sense.
Secondly, what’s going to happen with Dean Barry? Surely he gets a second chance after them spending so long to just get him a fight in the first place. Can’t imagine they’ll be as kind to him with matchmaking in his next fight if he gets another crack.
Hi Ariel, I finally got the Substack app, but you are the only person I subscribe to. Do you have any recommendations of other writers you enjoy? Sports or otherwise. Thanks!
First, I have to thank you for promoting the Taylor-Serrano fight the way you did. It exceeded the hype in every way and may be the greatest boxing match I’ve seen. I actually didn’t mind the 2 minute rounds because it was all action.
Shout out to GC! I’m not a big gambler but I enjoy the segment and his detailed explanations for his picks.
Yesterday in your non-MMA Q&A, you mentioned Brendan Schaub as one of your favorite comedians. I saw that he recently put out a new comedy special, “The Gringo Papi,” which currently has a 1.1 rating (out of 10) on IMDb. Have you seen it, and if so what’s your rating?
Don’t understand all the shade thrown New York Ric’s way. The man is clearly a legit long-time hard-core fan of the sport. I mean, my man was correctly pronouncing Israel Adesanya’s name back in the King in the Ring/GLORY days, 2015 – 2016.
He’s the only dude on the program I trust is consistently following MMA across the various promotions, not just the UFC. My bet, more than anyone else at the MMA Hour, NY Ric is hype for ONE 157 because, not despite, the card is top heavy on world class Muay Thai and Grappling not just bang bros. My other bet, the NY Ric haters are mostly johnny casuals hanging onto Conor tweets! C’mon!
Ariel, wouldn’t you agree NY Ric is the Michaels to your Hart!? The Savage to your Hogan!? The Muta to your Sting!? People, put respect on NEW YORK RIC’s name!
I second this, NY Ric is always getting roasted by comments but he's a vital part of The MMA Hour. You know what they say, if you have haters you must be doing something right
Hey ariel just a food for thought could we keep chronological than top, on the nose shouldn't be a popularity contest you want you're question answered wake up early and wait in line like the rest of us. Alas what's the best pizza topping? Jalapeños/pepperoni with ranch on the side mmuuahh
I feel like as this community grows they will need to be curated. Like Wednesday morning the questions come in, and by the time Ariel gets to this segment someone in the back has went through and sorted out the cream of the crop.
1. You mentioned Buffalo wild wings the other week, and so everyone doesnt experience the same trauma as i did, they do not show ppv's anymore. Found out right before it was gonna start last time lol
2. You should 100% be leading the charge on mma hall of fame creation. You're the only person I trust to create it with a sense of integrity.
I just always assumed good ol buffalo wild wings was gonna have it, and then they told me right as it was pay per view time! And then there I was, scarfing down their sub par burger in complete sadness as I found a stream on my phone while my girlfriend was like "babe, you dont have to eat the food we can just go somewhere else". I now no longer have a need to return to buffalo wild wings. lol.
Greetings Ariel it is with such sadness I report the passing of my father who passed this Monday due to cancer. Antonio loved boxing and promised me he would attend this upcoming fight involving canelo bivol now I’m left with an empty seat.
Following up on my take from the beginning of the year is it safe to say my prediction for the best fights in combat sports history is living up to expectations? With fury whyte tank rolly Spence ugas Taylor Serrano ,fundora lubin, ggg murata etc etc. and mma aswell ..? How’s the follow up hot take?
back to back weeks with fun questions and rhymes to end! Have you been doing this the whole time? I just noticed last week you where rhyming at the end as well!
Hey ariel. Once again I'm on top of a ladder building a movie set😀 so with the news diaz might fight khamzat how much of a chance do you really think he has? I'm a huge diaz fan but I feel that fight will be a one way beat down and other than a big name what does beating diaz do for khamzat? It's almost like ufc doing this to get back at diaz for all the problems he's caused on his way out the door!
good day mma hour crew!! If Charles beats Justin, next would likely be Beneil/Islam winner, would a khabib return be inevitable if charles beats that opponent, or strictly only if its islam OR is that not even enough to get a return?
Greetings once again from Ottawa, Canada. Last week, you asked for some spicier questions so here goes.
Boxing has been criticized throughout the years for "fixing" the careers of many of their top stars in lacking true best vs best matchups. It worries me that the recent placements of Paddy the Baddy, Sean O'Malley, and Ian Garry are following in the same path on the MMA side. They don't have real contender potential but the UFC will curate matchups in order to put them in a place to succeed. I understand that they have a business responsibility to milk these promotional cash cows for as long as they can, but it sucks for MMA purists and has some dangerous implications.
It worries me that this same strategy will bleed into fights at the championship level (see: Conor Mcgregor) and we'll lose the truly competitive matchups in the interest of profit. Do you worry that the UFC will start to go down the same path that boxing has in years past?
1. Nathan & Dustin want to fight? Is he being forced to now fight Chimaev (when he already said NO) just to fight out his contract. Why build Chimaev as the WW boogyman then put him in someone whose lost their last 3/4 fights. Its not all that competitive and the fight we all want to see is Nathan vs Dustin.
2. Is Paulo Costa trying to get cut lol? Seems reminiscent of Cyborgs manager publicly trying to shame Dana. Either way, it's hilarious.
hey ariel! have you heard any updates about if Spence vs Crawford will come sometime this year? It feels like the inevitable next fight, but haven’t heard many new developments about a timeframe
👋 Hola Ariel!!!
One of my favorite friendships in the UFC take center stage in this weekend’s co main and main event (Rose & Gaethje). Still to this day the video of Gaethje crying tears of happiness for Rose’s win is still very much one of my favorite outside the octagon moments.
Cornering both fighters is Trevor Wittman, and while he is known for containing his emotions in both victory and defeat, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t FEEL those emotions. My question is, if hypothetically Rose were to lose before the Gaethje fight, how do you think it would effect both Gaethje and Wittman’s mindset heading into the main event?
Viva Heelwani 🦹🏻♂️
Yes, great question. Love this relationship between Wittman and his athletes. You can see the clear level up he brings to each of his fighter's striking, footwork, and mindset and they all clearly appreciate him and each other for that.
💯
Dude, can you tune it down a bit? Every week you're out here battling 100 and making the rest of us look bad ;)
I really wanted to ask about the “Leak” of the upcoming cards, but had a feeling the rest of the sub stack family would ask, so I went a different route
*batting (my original post)
Even your backup questions are good! Which leak are you referring to?
UFC accidentally posted video of their upcoming fight cards in the background. Notably fights like Diaz x Khamzat & Jones x Stipe. Feels like they are trying to get fans to push Nate & Stipe into accepting those fights
How does that "accidentally" happen? Was it from their account or someone else's?
It smells like when Dana "happened" to be caught on camera -mic'd up- talking with Hunter about Kattar taking too much damage and needing to go straight to the hospital.
Of course, I dont know what happened but they run a pretty tight ship, I can't see how that couldn't be intentional
Real Casual and some other people did an interview in the UFC “war room” with Dana and all upcoming cards are on the wall in the background.
Well Dana did a podcast with The Pivot squad in the mysterious war room and they caught some nice moments of board. My bank acct is going to be zapped it jones stipe fight
Better odds Rose wins vs Justin tho :(. Some simulations I have seen give Charles 60% chance of winning🫣🫣🫣
While Rose Namajunas is favored to win, its seems mostly based on her stand up (supreme). The opinion is Rose will be in trouble if Carla Esparza gets her down, like Esparza is a far stronger grappler. Meanwhile, Namajunas is a longtime BJJ student at The Academy MN, under Greg Nelson, and has studied with John Danaher, Nathalia Santoro, Garry Tonon, Nicky Ryan, Nick Rodriguez, and Gordon Ryan. I mean, she's nice with it. I see her winning everywhere she's not dumped on her head.
both super tough matchups for sure
100%
Bonjour Lord Ariel,
In Dragon Ball Z there is an extraordinary place known as the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Once you enter the Time Chamber, for every one day that passes in the outside world an entire year elapses in the Chamber. The Z Fighters use this room to train in preparation for much stronger foes when time is of the essence. My question is, if you had access to a Hyperbolic Time Chamber, a room where you had essentially infinite time void of family and work responsibilities, what would you use it for?
P.S. I went ahead and edited Cris Cyborg's location of her first fight on Wikipedia. If you check it now you will see it says Sao Paulo and no longer Curitiba. She had mentioned this on Monday's show after you looked it up.
Long Live The Man of Steelwani.
Great question. I also wonder whether the Hyperbolic Time Chamber or the Gravity Machine would be more beneficial to combat sports athletes.
Way to help a legend out!
I'm extremely thrilled that Ariel will now have knowledge of what the legendary Hyperbolic Time Chamber is
Train Jiu-Jitsu for a grappling match with Dillon Danis. Sneaky omoplata finish.
nice one mate
Dear Ariel,
Greetings once again from London, Ontario, Canada. Firstly, I wanted to let you know that the interview between you and Eddie Hearn last week motivated me to watch Taylor-Serrano, which was one of the most spectacular and inspirational sporting events I have ever seen; thank you for promoting this event. I also thoroughly enjoyed your interview with Eddie this Monday, and was hoping to get your thoughts on his comments pertaining to being “average”. He had some great insight into the fact that, by definition, the majority of people are “average” and so this term should not be viewed as insulting. However, any person who is exceptional at something must, at one point, have been average at that thing before they pulled away from the pack. In your case, you are obviously an exceptional combat sports journalist. My question to you is, when would you last consider yourself to have been an “average” journalist? I suspect it would have to be over a decade ago, but am curious as to your thoughts. Additionally, what do you think you did career-wise that set you apart from the rest, and led to you becoming exceptional in this field?
As always, appreciate your valuable insights.
Sincerely,
Adrian
Dia dhuit Ariel,
Just two questions today, firstly how true are those “leaks” from the war room? Seemed fairly convenient having those all in shot. Fights like Paddy v Ottman and Nate v Khamzat don’t make sense.
Secondly, what’s going to happen with Dean Barry? Surely he gets a second chance after them spending so long to just get him a fight in the first place. Can’t imagine they’ll be as kind to him with matchmaking in his next fight if he gets another crack.
Enjoy the fights at the weekend!
Congrats 🥇
Thanks champ 🙏
Hi Ariel, I finally got the Substack app, but you are the only person I subscribe to. Do you have any recommendations of other writers you enjoy? Sports or otherwise. Thanks!
This is actually a great underrated question
Hello Ariel!
First, I have to thank you for promoting the Taylor-Serrano fight the way you did. It exceeded the hype in every way and may be the greatest boxing match I’ve seen. I actually didn’t mind the 2 minute rounds because it was all action.
Shout out to GC! I’m not a big gambler but I enjoy the segment and his detailed explanations for his picks.
Yesterday in your non-MMA Q&A, you mentioned Brendan Schaub as one of your favorite comedians. I saw that he recently put out a new comedy special, “The Gringo Papi,” which currently has a 1.1 rating (out of 10) on IMDb. Have you seen it, and if so what’s your rating?
Peace, Ariel,
Don’t understand all the shade thrown New York Ric’s way. The man is clearly a legit long-time hard-core fan of the sport. I mean, my man was correctly pronouncing Israel Adesanya’s name back in the King in the Ring/GLORY days, 2015 – 2016.
He’s the only dude on the program I trust is consistently following MMA across the various promotions, not just the UFC. My bet, more than anyone else at the MMA Hour, NY Ric is hype for ONE 157 because, not despite, the card is top heavy on world class Muay Thai and Grappling not just bang bros. My other bet, the NY Ric haters are mostly johnny casuals hanging onto Conor tweets! C’mon!
Ariel, wouldn’t you agree NY Ric is the Michaels to your Hart!? The Savage to your Hogan!? The Muta to your Sting!? People, put respect on NEW YORK RIC’s name!
Ponytail Ric insulted all of us last week by questioning our intelligence and mocking our questions! Him and his trash takes can go kick rocks!
"GO KICK ROCKS!" I love it! LOL. You know what, anyone who can't take the man-bun Ric's salty disposition, can go take a hike. 😉
I second this, NY Ric is always getting roasted by comments but he's a vital part of The MMA Hour. You know what they say, if you have haters you must be doing something right
Haydurs simply do not maddur
A little Tokyo Vice, "A man without enemies is no man at all." 🤙
Hey ariel just a food for thought could we keep chronological than top, on the nose shouldn't be a popularity contest you want you're question answered wake up early and wait in line like the rest of us. Alas what's the best pizza topping? Jalapeños/pepperoni with ranch on the side mmuuahh
Gotta step up your questions if you want them answered 💪🏼
I agree, and breaking news should be for the first chronologically not top rated!
I feel like as this community grows they will need to be curated. Like Wednesday morning the questions come in, and by the time Ariel gets to this segment someone in the back has went through and sorted out the cream of the crop.
WE do the sorting by liking the good questions 🤷🏻♂️
What’s the point of paying for the subscription if you can’t get your questions answered?
Good Morning Ariel!
1. You mentioned Buffalo wild wings the other week, and so everyone doesnt experience the same trauma as i did, they do not show ppv's anymore. Found out right before it was gonna start last time lol
2. You should 100% be leading the charge on mma hall of fame creation. You're the only person I trust to create it with a sense of integrity.
I learned that the hard way too, I always call the bar in advance to make sure they're showing it now
I just always assumed good ol buffalo wild wings was gonna have it, and then they told me right as it was pay per view time! And then there I was, scarfing down their sub par burger in complete sadness as I found a stream on my phone while my girlfriend was like "babe, you dont have to eat the food we can just go somewhere else". I now no longer have a need to return to buffalo wild wings. lol.
Greetings Ariel it is with such sadness I report the passing of my father who passed this Monday due to cancer. Antonio loved boxing and promised me he would attend this upcoming fight involving canelo bivol now I’m left with an empty seat.
Following up on my take from the beginning of the year is it safe to say my prediction for the best fights in combat sports history is living up to expectations? With fury whyte tank rolly Spence ugas Taylor Serrano ,fundora lubin, ggg murata etc etc. and mma aswell ..? How’s the follow up hot take?
Sorry for your loss 🙏
Much appreciated 🙏🏻
My condolences 🙏
I feel awful "liking" this but it should be at the top! Sorry for your loss, truly terrible news.
Sorry for your loss 🙏🏼
Hi Ariel,
On Monday, you said that Chito Vera seems like a fun guy to smoke the devil's lettuce with.
I know you don't partake in the sticky icky much these days. But name four other fighters that you think it would be fun to share a doobie with.
The Mysterious Frank of pulling mischievous pranks,
Erik
Diaz bros are the obvious answer but I say Izzy!
back to back weeks with fun questions and rhymes to end! Have you been doing this the whole time? I just noticed last week you where rhyming at the end as well!
Just started a few weeks ago... running out of MMA Hour staff to rhyme with already!
nah man keep going, gotta do play on the names. Like instead of GC you can say G city
Hey ariel. Once again I'm on top of a ladder building a movie set😀 so with the news diaz might fight khamzat how much of a chance do you really think he has? I'm a huge diaz fan but I feel that fight will be a one way beat down and other than a big name what does beating diaz do for khamzat? It's almost like ufc doing this to get back at diaz for all the problems he's caused on his way out the door!
good day mma hour crew!! If Charles beats Justin, next would likely be Beneil/Islam winner, would a khabib return be inevitable if charles beats that opponent, or strictly only if its islam OR is that not even enough to get a return?
Likely Kamaru return date??
Hello Ariel!
Greetings once again from Ottawa, Canada. Last week, you asked for some spicier questions so here goes.
Boxing has been criticized throughout the years for "fixing" the careers of many of their top stars in lacking true best vs best matchups. It worries me that the recent placements of Paddy the Baddy, Sean O'Malley, and Ian Garry are following in the same path on the MMA side. They don't have real contender potential but the UFC will curate matchups in order to put them in a place to succeed. I understand that they have a business responsibility to milk these promotional cash cows for as long as they can, but it sucks for MMA purists and has some dangerous implications.
It worries me that this same strategy will bleed into fights at the championship level (see: Conor Mcgregor) and we'll lose the truly competitive matchups in the interest of profit. Do you worry that the UFC will start to go down the same path that boxing has in years past?
Bawoni Ariel 🇳🇬
2 quick questions?
1. Nathan & Dustin want to fight? Is he being forced to now fight Chimaev (when he already said NO) just to fight out his contract. Why build Chimaev as the WW boogyman then put him in someone whose lost their last 3/4 fights. Its not all that competitive and the fight we all want to see is Nathan vs Dustin.
2. Is Paulo Costa trying to get cut lol? Seems reminiscent of Cyborgs manager publicly trying to shame Dana. Either way, it's hilarious.
hey ariel! have you heard any updates about if Spence vs Crawford will come sometime this year? It feels like the inevitable next fight, but haven’t heard many new developments about a timeframe