148 Comments

Any updates on James Krause?

Every time I have seen Moreno fight post Krause I always think about what could have been. Truly believe he could have been a goat coach. Will he ever resurface again in mma coaching? Is there any precedent we could compare this to in fighting (a la pete rose)?

Much Love to AJ and the Crew, most premier sports content in all the land

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Would you oil Dana up if it guaranteed no more Apex cards?

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Good day Ariel & Crew! Last week I was the first to submit a question and the first to get skipped for how long my question was; but no worries! I shortened my question so here we go!

Which country do you think the UFC will visit first? South Africa or Spain? Also I'd love to hear your opinions on this thought I had. For debuting PPVs in these new regions, when announcing the main event, if the UFC had a local announcer collaborate with Buffer to announce the main event in their own language? I think it would mean so much to the people of South Africa or Spain to hear the main event of one of their home grown champions announced in their own language. Or is that too much for the western audience to comprehend? The scenes would be legendary.

Wish you all the best & love the show!

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Love the idea of a translator for Bruce!

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founding

I'll shorten it for you again:

Which country do you think the UFC will visit first? South Africa or Spain?

When announcing the main event, what do you think of there being an local announcer, to collaborate with Buffer, to announce the main event in their own language?

I think it would mean so much to the people of South Africa or Spain to hear the main event announced in their own language. The scenes would be legendary.

Wish you all the best & love the show!

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Obviously Spain, Dana said so

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I think so too. But with Volk deserving the rematch I could see DDP v Izzy happening first, that doesn't mean it'll be in South Africa though either.

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Suggestion:

Rather than having 3 judges each judge an entire round/fight and prioritising which elements mean more (example: does a takedown at the end steal the round if competitive) & simply awarding a 10-9 based on that subjectivity

We have 5 expert judges, with each judging only certain aspects of the fight, (example: a striking judge, a wrestling judge, grappling, kicking, octogon control or other) and each award 1 point per round

With this system each round would have 5 points to score and is awarded simply on who has the more effective strikes, wrestling ect. Determined by an expert.

Rounds could be scored as 3-2, 4-1, 5-0 ect and a majority 13 out of 25 or 8 out of 15 (based on rounds) would secure the fight (if judges are required).

Main benefits are it is far less subjective and gives credit to every aspect of the fight rather that prioritising. Also judges dont have the pressure of analising every second of every round.

Thoughts?

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Heelwani!!!! [WHO ME!?]

As a die hard boxing fan I wanted to give you a shout out for the amazing coverage this week as always, Mondays show was fantastic and pure entertainment. With that said, we have a fantastic run of fights in the next few months and was wondering which upcoming fight you and the guys are most excited for?

March 8th - Joshua / Ngannou

April 20 - Haney / Garcia

May 4th - Canelo / Charlo

May 12th - Lomachenko / Kambousos Jr

May 18th - Fury /Usyk

June 1st - Beterbiev /Bivol

Thanks for everything you guys do for fight fans.

Cheers.

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Hey Ariel. No dig but genuinely interested did you get false information when you said cap on that Kayla didnt do a test cut when she actually did one as she said in her interview with Kevin lole? Thanks!

https://www.mmafighting.com/2024/1/31/24056997/kayla-harrison-reacts-concerns-over-her-making-weight-at-ufc-300-im-not-saying-its-going-to-be-easy

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Hi Ariel,

Keith from Ottawa here.

What do you think Yair's performance this past weekend says about him overall as a fighter? To me, this was a total indictment of him as a title contender, and I will only ever see him as a B class fighter at best unless he does some truly spectacular things in upcoming fights. It looked like he was not prepared to fight tactically against Ortega. There were two or three moments for him on his back where it looked like he was in a good spot to work his feet to the hips and kick Ortega off, but instead he tried to attack from a high guard that inevitably got passed. It's totally absurd to think he has the timing, skill, and knowledge required to catch a triangle on the man who's namesake is the very same move. Do you think I am justified in my reaction, or am I overreacting based on one performance?

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Ariel,

Will Jamahal Hill be getting PPV points for UFC 300? I recall Jiří Procházka stating on your show that he was getting PPV points for his fight against Alex even though Jiří had vacated the belt. Will this precedent remain consistent?



Also, now that the long-awaited UFC 300 main event announcement has come and gone, my next most anticipated announcement is the future of your employment, Ariel.

With your three-year contracts coming to an end this year, when will we learn what your next steps will be? Will we get an announcement on par with a Dana White selfie video? Or can we expect a package on the level of a Michael Wonsover produced video?

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If Jamahal had a good manager, yes.

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What is up Ariel!

With the recent talk about your desire to get into the next Celebrity All-Star game, it makes me wonder what we can expect to see if and when you do get that call. Who is Helwani’s player comparison for your hoop play style? Could be all-time or current player. Also wanna hear the guys weigh in on who theirs are as well.

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Ariel,

First time, Long time. I'm a great guy but you've never met me. With Volkanovski losing his belt, he is the last of the long-standing champions to be dethroned. If you look at all of the champions, the longest three reigns are Zhang Weili (1 year, 8 months, 16 days), Leon Edwards (1y, 6m, 7d), and Islam Makhachev (1y, 4m, 5d), and each of them has only two title defenses so far. If you add all champions together, they collectively only have 8 title defenses. My question is - do you ever remember a time in UFC history that had such a rapid and complete turnover of champions? If you looked at the list of champions from just two years ago, every single one of them would be different than it is today. I find it fascinating and fun to watch how much the belts have changed hands over the last couple of years.

In the last year: 8 new champions (9 if you count both Jones and Aspinall)

Just in 2024: 3 new champions

Out of 11 current champions, six have never had a title defense yet (7 if you count Jones and Aspinall)

Shout out to the whole crew - Ariel, Ric, GC, Frank - keep doing what you're doing.

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Ariel - Why do you think the UFC doesn't allow fighters to make creative entrances to their fights? No costumes, no Pyro/fireworks, for the most part fighters don't have specific songs or anything...Do you believe this is a strategy of theirs to stifle the Fighters personalities/popularity with the fans all to help the UFCs bargaining power when it comes to fighter contracts? You would think they would embrace these extravagant entrances a la WWE. What do you guys think? Love the show, thanks for all the great content.

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The subtle walkouts are what makes it feel special and eerie. This is what I love most about the current walkouts, they are raw and intimate. All the fireworks and circus act water it down; makes it seem like a show and takes away the suspense of the fight. I get so much anxiety when I watch them b-lining to the cage for a war. No act.

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Answer: Dana White. can't see 90% of the walkouts due to commercials anyways. If you like fight entrances, watch RIZIN.

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I think they are still trying to combat the staged/fake fights stigma as much as possible, and now with the advent of sports betting and their acquisition of the WWE, they are as sensitive about it as ever.

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Hello Ariel and the crew, quick question for you: do you think Francis Ngannou can go back to Cameron in the future and become a politician?

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Hi Ariel & the gang,

Question/Comment #100:

In addition to the mma hour crew, please choose 3 active fighters (not on UFC 300 card) to go on a cross country roadtrip with. The destination is Las Vegas for the most epic & legendary event of all time (excluding Eubank v Benn).. UFC 300.

Who is the driver and what snacks are you boys grabbing at the gas stations?

Thanks.. and Go Bills

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What are the chances that the UFC is slow rolling us on the real UFC 300 main event and it's actually McGregor vs Chandler?

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Hi Ariel and MMA Hour Crew,

Ariel - you have mentioned that Conor McGregor's contract may be playing a part in the delay of his return fight. It got me to wonder if a Conor McGregor fight isn't as profitable for the UFC as it used to be. With the PPV money going to ESPN does the UFC take a bigger hit on a Conor PPV because of the drastically higher compensation they are contractually required to pay Conor? What was the PPV arrangement between the UFC and Fox prior to the ESPN deal? Was it a similar set up as they have with ESPN currently? Is there any validity to this or am I missing some of the details of the PPV arrangement between the UFC and ESPN?

Thanks for being here every Monday and Wednesday.

Dustin

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With UFC 301 in desperate need of a main event, do you see a scenario where Gilbert Burns unscathed coming off a win fights Leon for the title?

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