LUKE THOMAS: UFC Antitrust Settlement, UFC 300, Conor McGregor Is Back!

Intro. let's do this [ __ ] let's do this [ __ ] hi everybody it's the 21st of March 2024 my name is Luke Thomas and I know there's going to be 80 million [ __ ] questions about MK and maybe the uh UFC antitrust settlement as well we'll get to all that here on episode 196 of my live chat thank you so much for joining me I greatly appreciate it um let's just I mean [ __ ] I okay I'll do this I put up one um Members Only video on Monday discussing the Tik Tok band and I did it from the lawn basically outside of the Washington Monument trying to show you all the DC that I know and that I love uh if you're interested in doing that you can become a member you can get more of that um so there you go it would be greatly appreciated if you did but all right we got a bunch of questions to get to so let's just [ __ ] get to them because uh we're just wasting time otherwise thank you for joining me let's get this party started there we go I hope I had that unmuted anyway how you doing Luke Thomas here lots to get to lots to get to including the antitrust lawsuit lots to get to including I know there's going to be eight [ __ ] gazillion questions about MK all that kind of stuff so uh why don't we just go and get to that you can become a member Luke excuse me youtube.com/ luk Thomas jooin thank you very much for everything everyone who has thanks to everyone who has reached out about it and uh said that they like what I'm doing on there I've got beard hair trimming still falling out because I got a cut all right let's [ __ ] do this [ __ ] let me I told BC man I I talked to BC about I'm like dude you know there's going to be like a [ __ ] gazillion questions about MK today so he actually gave me permission to give you a little bit of news um Jesus Christ all right let's do this [ __ ] okay here we go I mean how many of the initial questions are MK so the first one second one uh fourth one fifth one sixth one it's like dude that's like the first 50 [ __ ] question s are about that okay all right I Future of MK. mean oh Jesus Christ what can I say what can I say all right let's get to some good news such as that I can tell you any um first of all this is what I talked to BC about like BC I got to give him something bro gotta give him something so we had wanted to delay telling everyone about this until we had the full announcement coming but there's no point in waiting anymore so I'll tell you this much uh BC and I are flying to Vegas next week we're going on Wednesday for the uh timzo now Sebastian Fundora fight it supposed to be Keith Thurman now it's going to be Sebastian Fundora we're going to go there and we're going to be on press or media media row radio row I'm not sure what they're calling it uh we go there that Wednesday I don't know I don't know exactly how that's going to go for Wednesday but we're going to be on the row Thursday and Friday for sure um and then during that time we're going to do an old school RSD uh while we're there as well plus like a million interviews we'll have live broadcasts both days that were on the row itself so there'll be interviews there'll be um you I'm not sure if we're calling them live morning combat episodes because these might go on for like many many hours and they're just kind of from Radio row but it'll essentially be like an ongoing morning combat um you know there's going to be a million people there and it'll be a lot of fun so we'll have broadcasts live broadcasts Thursday and Friday tons of interviews um tons of talk tons of fun and uh that should be a good time so we're going to be in Vegas next week so you're asking like when are we going to get shows basically you're going to get that uh certainly to start there's obviously a lot more planned but from what I can tell you I can definitely tell you about that I can definitely tell you about that so be on the lookout next week over on youtube.com/ morning combat Yours Truly Brian camp out there in uh in Las Vegas okay that's the first thing I want to say second thing I want to say is um I don't know what people are imagining that Brian and I are doing every day I mean I appreciate the the uh enthusiasm and I appreciate the questions and yes we did in fact tell you we would be back in March um it's not up it what what is slowing everything down has nothing to do with what is going to happen I know it's hard to understand but it really is true and it's got nothing to do with me or Brian at this point there's literally I actually got I'm not even supposed to tell you this I got in trouble yesterday because I sent an email to somebody that I probably should have sent an email to begging them to move this process along and um I probably should have done now in the end it didn't actually affect anything negatively but like to tell you the level of desperation that we have so that we can finally announce everything that's we're ready to announce like nothing about nothing about the next chapter is uncertain like that's so [ __ ] ready to go but there's a process that we literally have to follow in order to get there and it's not up to me and Brian about how fast that goes anymore we actually um and you know oh look don't throw people under the bus I don't really give a [ __ ] anymore we were told that timeline the timeline of like you know slow down in January dark in February and back in March that was not a timeline Brian and I came up with that was a timeline that we were told would be an accurate one to tell you guys so we did so we did and then due to factors that I literally can't do anything about I've done everything I possibly could have to Usher this process forward um we're just waiting on some people to do what they're supposed to do so we can do it and uh and then we can announce everything that is set to be announced like that whole next chapter is all set up it's all ready to go like I can't do anything else let me say something too if I can about this if you care about Brian Campbell and I mean this with absolute sincerity and I'm not even doing a bit here I know some of this is kind of like jokes and whatever you have no [ __ ] idea no [ __ ] idea what toll this process has taken on him if you knew how he was spending his time you would be alarmed and I mean that sincerely if you care about that dude you should send him a nice message and I'm I I'm not in any way exaggerating that if you care about Brian Campbell if you like the work that he does if you value his presence on anything CBS Morning combat whatever however you consume his content you should send him a nice message you should send him a nice message I think nothing would would would help him more than seeing MK fans telling him how much he's appreciated um cuz this process has to put it mildly not exactly gone how we had imagined that it would now the good news is for all of the slowdowns I you can choose to believe this or not it is entirely up to you but I am telling you again with the utmost sincerity the next chapter is ready to go it's been ready to go for a while there's another part of the process that has to be completed before we can announce that I don't know what to do to make that part of the process go faster we thought it would go fast during the course of February and it just didn't and we thought it would go faster during the beginning of this month and it just didn't uh it's moving it's moving but we can't do anything about that so um I'm not sure what else to tell you I'm not sure what else to tell you so if you're saying hey is K going to be back this month that is still the plan that is still the plan um if you're asking hey are you guys like with whatever's about to happen next is all that lined up and ready to go yes it is and I think uh it's actually going to be great for the show um certainly sitting around is not great for the show um this is not how we envisioned this part of the process going either right um but I don't know what to tell you I cannot make I literally I literally cannot make it go faster than it is and if you think that me and Brian are like happy about that or that you know he you know that that uh it's not taking a toll on us you know uh I don't know what to tell you so you know if you care about Brian if you care about him at all take 60 seconds out of your day to send him a nice note whether that's on Twitter you can DM him on on Instagram or whatever he loves checking all that [ __ ] do it do it because I think it would mean the world to him um and I'm telling you we we're we're eventually going to tell you once this all [ __ ] gets cleared and it will get cleared like it's just a matter of a procedure taking place but it will get cleared but once it does and we tell you how this motherfucker's been spending his time um you're going to see the toll has been extraordinary on me and him both um but I think especially him so for the MK fans the loyal ones the faithful ones the true ones uh we love you very much we mean that sincerely um when I tell you don't worry everything is planned like like last week I told you guys I had gotten enough a call for the press release that's true the press release is just sitting there ready to go it's literally ready to go uh but we can't release it until that [ __ ] is resolved and if we had known that that [ __ ] was going to take as long as it has we would have had a different plan but here we are so um or at least a different timeline anyway the plan would have been the same either way but the timeline would have been a little bit different so yeah so that's just what the situation is as best I can can tell you now could it be let's see let's check my phone I mean this is what I do every [ __ ] day I look at my phone hey is there an announcement that or a head you know an update that I'm ready to tell the whole world about uh what the [ __ ] no um no there's not there's not that's what I do every day I check my [ __ ] phone like oh did they finally clear it you know so and your boy literally almost got got in trouble yesterday trying to facilitate this I literally I literally got you know I did something that was probably inadvisable um but you know when you're trying to just be like hey guys we told the public this was the timeline we have to meet that timeline you know and if we don't there's it's not going to be good uh I tried to remind the folks who are in charge of this process at this point what's left of the process I tried to remind them of that um so any minute now any hour now any day now this will get resolved um but I don't know what else to do until it does so I'm trying to keep things active trying to tell you as much as I can we're going to be in Las Vegas next week for Zoo Thurman or Zoo Fundora it's going to be a lot of fun old school RSD long broadcasts each day tons of interviews going to be good but that's just where we are folks okay all right uh there's like 8 million MK questions a break down on Charles sorry you can I have to go back and look all right um this is a good one in regards to the antitrust situation we were promised at MK update last week yeah yeah luk I got a question where were you in BC on the morning of January 6 2021 the people have waited long enough for the answer yeah uh I was in this actual room on that day but I know what you mean um here's another good one these are [ __ ] hilarious all right Luke your favorite discontinued snack serious question as a huge fan of the OG room service could it see its own version and make a comeback with the return of MK yeah next week next week as I mentioned we're going to do one next week live from the from the uh [ __ ] holes of Vegas it's going to be great all right let's do this one uh Luke how do you see a rematch between om Ali and Yan going at this point in their careers perhaps in a five O'Malley vs. Yan II. rounder well uh not that great considering Yan just tore everything in his knee except his ACL I believe and is going to be out with surgery and then Rehabilitation for some time after that so yeah I if I would say um let's see what he looks like on the other side of that to be perfectly honest with you yeah all right so we've talked about this a few times I mean are there antitrust questions Jesus are there any antitrust question oh here we go yes a little bit later uh okay you know what let me just get to that one now cuz we'll come back to the other ones all right what what do you say to the agreement between Johnson and Lee Lee would be uh just Le no two e it's not Kevin Lee it's Kong Lee um and UFC Settlement. zua yeah well there's a lot to say about it I got to some of it yesterday on my immediate reaction thanks to everyone who checked that out um I'd say it's mostly really bad news really bad news very very very very very bad news not for everybody not in every way um I think one thing I didn't say yesterday that I would like to say today is you know for the attorneys who obviously helped Usher the case forward for the plaintiffs who put their names on this and tried to fight for a better future um and everybody else involved who was on that side of of the litigation to help um get the case to where it gotten I think a debt of gratitude is owed um and I certainly would like to express my gratitude for everything they did you know prior to all that getting going I did a Year's worth of shows on Spike TV with Nate Quarry I got to know him really well at that time Nate's a standup guy man he's a very principled guy he's you know a very stubborn guy but I mean that mostly a good way and you know a hardworking guy as well who just didn't take people's [ __ ] never really did and so you could always understand why he was not just a part of that lawsuit you know he came to my studio in in DC many times um when they were on the the when they were lobbying in Congress to get either signatories um for any kind of aliak legislation like that guy put his money where his mouth is and you know he talk to talk and walk the walk I mean he did all of the things he said he was going to do in terms of you know trying to make a better future for all fighters and has really been on the front lines of those efforts in ways very few people have and you know he had to get removed from the lawsuit very late so he's not even as I understand it I don't know if he's even entitled to any financial compensation as a result even if he gets some it won't be very much so this is a guy that did a lot of this without any really personal reward not much of any personal reward in the end I know he tried to launch his zombie cage fighter stuff after his fighting career came to an end I don't know what the um I don't know where that stands but I think a lot of gratitude is owed to all of those guys and we should be very clear about something like one of the benefits I say one but like a chief benefit of the lawsuit is not so much the outcome it's the change in the debate I don't know if people who've been around since 2020 can appreciate this if you've been around since 2016 you really can't appreciate this but if you've been around since like pre or certainly even uh the earliest post stages of The Ultimate Fighter so let's say 2005 or so there have been raging debates about What fighters made what they were owed what it all was supposed to look like and so much of it was just [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] about like oh they're going to make close to 50% and you don't know how much those locker room bonuses are do you remember when the first Outside the Lines feature came out and Dana and Lorenzo put out these fiery responses about how it was all misrepresented and they weren't taken seriously Josh gross I think ended up not getting sideways with ESPN but ESPN decided to like you know anybody who who tries to do genuine coverage long enough in this business goes out of business uh which is a lesson that I really need to take seriously for myself as well but anybody who tries to do that kind of thing long enough you just go out of business the business drums you out it drums you out and those guys stuck their neck out to help get things noticed and certainly the the what I mean to bring it back to the lawsuit is the lawsuit completely change the debate about fighter pay because there is no [ __ ] debate yes there are [ __ ] idiots on social media who will still say things like you know oh they still make more than what the what the you think those court documents tell the whole story there's [ __ ] morons you're never really ever going to be able to convince and that's just a reality of The Human Experience but for anybody who reads above a fifth grade reading level there is no [ __ ] debate it's over it's [ __ ] over and the amount of information related to not just what the pay was but the predatory practices as it relates to contract negotiation as it relates to uh promotional acquisition any of those things it laid bare all of it all of it we would not know that information and in the coherent way that we understand it were it not for the advancement of that lawsuit and I've said this last week the debate has gone from oh well they definitely don't pay them that little to okay they pay them that little and that's actually just fine people have had to move the goalposts and completely change how they view the situation to accommodate that and that by itself is its own small or perhaps even large tragedy but what we know about fighter pay and the definitive way in which we know it is a result strictly of that lawsuit supplementary things have been added for example now that endeavor has gone public and you get some sense of the outlays but in general what we know about fighter pay and we know an awful lot now is because of their efforts and that has compl completely destroyed any possibility of someone saying oh they make more than 20% guys there's been years in the last 10 years they've made 133% and we know that because we can look at the numbers we would not be able to do that but for the lawsuit right so when we talk about the 335 million it is an extremely that's not quite right it is not a number that you thought would be G given what was really at risk it's a relatively low number but that's not the sum total of the value um the value is that nobody can tell you that they pay more than 20% anymore people can say hey it's good that these guys get [ __ ] they can they can say hey it's good that they don't make much I like it when my Fighters don't make much you'll see some Psychopaths try and like you know launder that through some kind of Twisted logic that there is that that's happening but no one can say it's actually more than that they have to find some kind of mental gymnastic itics that make it acceptable to them but they can't actually change what we know so we should say that about the value of the lawsuit too it's 30 335 million plus this like information universe that has destroyed um much of what the early stage acolytes thought was impossibly impossible to be true as for the number itself there's a few different interpretations of it um one is that you know it's relatively low but within the sort of if you viewed it from the prism of alltime settlements in antitrust situations um this is a big win I think that's one way to look at it that's certainly one perspective I think uh the perspective that a lot of us have is that given what was stated was the goal and then what was possible this is a sum and also you might be asking um how will the money be divvied up it turns out it's going to be prata pra I'm not sure how you pronounced the word but essentially it'll be uh a function of like whatever you made during the class period whatever proportionality that was to the broader total um it will mirror that and so what does that mean that means Jon Jones Brock Lesnar uh Conor McGregor Ronda Rousey Anderson Silva they're going to they're going to get [ __ ] paid I don't know if everyone else is going to get get paid there's going to be a lot of people who don't get much hardly at all and so this is one of the points that I would wonder about Nate I guess we have to see exactly who gets what before we can really say um but I don't know how much this is going to smaller sort of less accomplished fighters who might actually really benefit from a financial windfall this is going to go to people who are already basically rich and that's not by the way a tragedy by itself I mean one of the arguments I've made on this live chat and other ones have made as well is like you know Conor MC Greer is the maybe the highest paid fighter in UFC history and still also the most underpaid one like the argument is not what did he make as an aggregate number the argument is in terms of what you can um economically measure that he generated did he get paid anything close to that no no chance just for the mayac fights excuse me the maymac fight alone if he got 100 million they took 50 off the top that's not a UFC fight but that's a UFC relationship it was that contract that dictated ultimately that sum right because that when you sign a UFC contract you signed that they are your promoter in all things now they you can get waivers for that like you know you can you can go into ADCC or something you can go do different kinds of stuff depending on what they want to let you do but you you you agree that they are your Combat Sports promoter in all facets so um Conor McGregor has not been paid anything close to what he should have been paid by them Rona Rousey has not been paid anything close relative to other UFC fighters she's made a lot George S Pierre relative to other Fighters has made a lot but relative to what he generated for the company no he deserves to be paid a lot more so there is a certain logic um to all of that again we'll have to see exactly what that looks like in real terms once it's all handed out over the course of time and you know we'll we can sort winners and losers there uh but certainly I think what you can say is relative to the expectations about injunctive relief changing contracts uh up to a a billion and a half and potentially up to 4 and a half billion which was really the worst worst worst case scenario um 335 doesn't seem like much doesn't seem like much um but the bigger I think takeaway for me is you know it's sort of it's sort of poetic to a degree um that Bloody elbow went out of business at the same time that this whole thing has gone down um dude if you're a fighter you know what I have so I've heard so many I've heard so many fighters say things like you know I'm not really in it for the money I'm in it to see who's best in the world I hope I hope that's true because if you're in it for the money you're [ __ ] you're super [ __ ] um you're not going to get [ __ ] their position the UFC's position at the top of the food chain now not merely unquestionable um short of some kind of I'm not neither wishing this nor imagining it's real I'm simply like theorizing short of some kind of disaster internally that just sends the organization plummeting to the Earth um out of nowhere everything that they're doing now is either going to stay the way that it's being done or get worse for the fighters it's it's only going to get uh it's either going to maintain or going to get significantly worse there's less oversight um they have gone state by state in certain cases to get any kind of pay numbers no longer transparent the athletic athletic commissions uh have completely fallen down on the job and failed to do basic duties and every possible way media can't make money doing adversarial journalism that doesn't make money by the way the non-adversarial journalism barely makes anything it's hardly a great alternative but certainly going after the powers that be in a kind of way for the public to understand something doesn't doesn't net uh doesn't do you any good it will it will ultimately kill your career and um the fighters at best have Stockholm syndrome I mean haven't gone around and looked and there might be some that have I'm not suggesting that they haven't but like the fighters get real chirpy about every and any boy when it's time to bash the media I mean they'll get up there and I mean you can see the Superman cape waving in the back but when it's time to talk about the lawsuit all of a sudden yeah gee I don't know anything about that yeah I wonder why I wonder why um they either have Stockholm syndrome or in certain cases poor financial literacy or um just don't care or I I don't know don't have a focus on this as any kind of issue to really be concerned about and you know on some level it might be to their benefit because focusing on it will only cause despair for them um but they're like what are the mechanisms in the industry that are protecting their welfare and their interests and the answer is there's barely anything left there's barely anything left there was a period of time in MMA where there were multiple um firms in the marketplace competing for services and over time one has one out and at various points in trying to check them uh whether the aliac legislation that fell through and by the way if obviously if Trump were to become elected and there were to be legislation that would pass I mean he would obviously veto it right like he's going to veto it like that I mean so you know even even if that were to happen it would going to be it's it's a dead letter um but so there's no there's none of that the unionization efforts the fighters don't seem to want for reasons that remain baffling um these guys tried the ex-fighters tried for 10 years through litigation and ultimately had to surrender to the process because our legal process is basically broken right they would have had to gone through according to nck qu's testim not testimony but you know words yesterday they would have had to basically reintroduce legislation or sorry reint refile the lawsuit um and that that would have caused another 5 to 10 years delay just to be right back where they are right now and so they ultimately made a sort of a calculation about what was worth it what could they get and then just move on with it but if you're asking like what is protecting the fighter here I mean they're the they're the nucleus of everything here and what is protecting them they won't even protect themselves they will not protect themselves the media is no longer capable of doing anything on their behalf of any kind of significant value for the most part some exception here or there uh the promotions please be [ __ ] serious one of the arguments that the UFC made quite rightly by the way in the lawsuit was like if you look at everyone else's contracts they're as bad as ours um that's true in fact ones are worse than the UFC's so now you have all of the promotions basically adopting the the language of the dominant brand although they're not dominant Brands um the sponsors I I mean please sponsors couldn't give a [ __ ] less at all the rock pays hey hey Rock how much do you pay the fighters for wearing your shoes oh right nothing nothing you don't pay him a [ __ ] dime do you so there's that as well the athletic commissions again they do nominal kind of screening but you had just this week do you see like Ben was St Denise [ __ ] face before the antibiotic treatment it looked like a look he got hit with a like he got shot through his helmet and barely survived a a gunshot um in Wartime and you know they let him go compete anyway it's just the whole thing's a mess and they now make pay in most cases not transparent like dude it is so [ __ ] weird to me to watch this moment in time to watch all of the guard rails that protect Fighters and the managers I mean don't even get me started on these Crooks to watch all of the guard rails for these guys including the ones that they themselves could put into place fall to Pieces completely implode and then to ask like what's next what's next is um boy I hope you like the way that it is cuz uh it won't get better for a very very very long time if ever the FTC under a guy that Obama had appointed who had right leaning Tendencies they took a couple looks at the UFC said oh fine it's amazing what's where's the book what have it here balls where's that book where's that book hold on one second ah yes this is not about MMA in particular this is not about Combat Sports in particular but look at this book the master switch Tim woo Tim Woo is a professor at Columbia and specializes in Telecom but also so Telecom law but uh but much more than that and there's an argument he makes in this book it's Central to the book but it can be applied across any number of different industries that when there is for this book when there is a new technology that's developed so he go over he covers the Advent of radio and then the Advent of Television then the Advent of all kinds of stuff it's the same process over and over and over again there is this explosion of creativity there's a million firms in the market it eventually gets Whitted down to one to maybe two winners and over time that causes all kinds of negative externalities but problems for the market litigation has to come in to break it up that does a lot of good for it and then a new technology develops and this process starts all over again you see MMA is no different it's not a new technology but it's a new sport and it's the same process that has happened and every single time an entity has had the capability or the willingness or some kind of ambition about trying to rectify the imbalance it's not about getting rid of the UFC it's about reorganizing the balance so that there is more Equitable play they have all failed and I'm not saying that the Nate quaries of the world didn't try they tried very very hard they put in as good of an effort as I've seen anyone put in but in the end they failed they failed um they did and we now reach a point where it's not even a question of like who's looking out for the fighter my question is looking around do any of you care not you so much watching this I'm sure people do but like do any of you people in power at any different level here do any of you care the answer is no dude it's not just the answer is no the answer is a resounding no they do not give a [ __ ] about the nucleus of this product the thing the the the the thing that is at its core what makes the whole thing work and at its core what is most important to MMA it's those guys in the middle I don't exist for them Dana White doesn't exist for them nobody exists for them oh UFC made them popular yeah of course to an extent there is there is a there is a mutual benefit happening but there is nothing without them they are the they are the center of everything and it how bizarre is it that every guard rail has failed them including the ones that they are supposed to set up for themselves I think it's I think uh this this will be an interesting week um in the history of MMA this will be a very very interesting week because uh I think that we're going to I mean listen could there be future litigation and you know um Eric mcracken of Combat Sports law has suggested hey a promoter could sue the UFC for anti-competitive practices and we're right back here that's true that could happen um you know who knows with what kind of legislation could it get introduced at any kind of state or federal level and what could happen I know I I mean there's there's always possibilities but what I would say is this is a dark dark dark day for the entire sport uh and in particular its most vulnerable participants and if I was running the pfl and I was running one dude if anyone who is in leadership at one or pfl sees this your [ __ ] days are numbered numbered I'm looking right at the camera if anyone here is at leadership at pfl or one your days are numbered numbered you cannot compete in this environment you will go out of business period it is [ __ ] curtains for you Dead Men Walking if I've ever seen one before um and I don't know how the like if MMA is just going to be UFC and then just Regional MMA and then that's it and you might say well that's fine that's kind of like what other sports are like right but with no protection like there's no CBA there's no Union there's no nothing so it's like it's like all the benefits of Monopoly without any of the without any of the guard rails um I mean who does that serve you know so so um I'm not really sure what to what to say I mean I've I've gone on long enough about it at this point but I guess just to wrap it all up um I am I think MMA in the in the popular sense because I don't know how much the fan base is either in tune with this with this news or really cares I don't really know what the answer to that is um I guess we we shall see over time but uh I think I think we'll look back at this week as a pivotal week where any semblance of uh reorganization to a Equitable and competitive balance was completely destroyed and I think we should get ready for a world where you know we're already kind of there where the UFC can basically like oh ticket prices are high I'm I'm so mad about it and but like you have nowhere else to take your money in MMA it doesn't exist right um it's going to be that 10x 10x you know they know that they don't ever have to worry about any other promoter and um if they can maintain positive relationships to any kind of either Party by the way cuz remember they used to be real close with Harry Reid when he was uh who's a Democrat from Nevada they were close the UFC was close to him too like they'll they'll play the levels if they can keep the regulatory environment cool they've already turned all the athletic commissions or the vast majority of them dude it's their industry top to bottom it is their industry [ __ ] Don Davis getting out there and being like we're the co-leaders dog co-leaders in terms of what walking to the grave you wouldn't pfl on one I mean it's just such so nonsensical and all the UFC fighters now have to sign when if you sign to be a UFC fighter you have to sign away any opportunity to participate in a class action lawsuit and the tolling Provisions are very long and on and on and goes like dude it's [ __ ] over it's over how I don't know how long one is going to survive I don't know how long pfl is going to survive they might be able to raise capital for a significant amount of time and then hang on in some kind of zombified state um but their fate is certain absolutely [ __ ] certain last thing on this they announced um that it was going to be on Max the uh the HBO service I'm already a Max subscriber so like I'm not complaining about that I'm pretty happy but it's like Bellator failed on Spike it failed on Paramount which is rebranded Spike it it wasn't on CBS Sports very long but it didn't do all that great there and it failed on Showtime and it didn't do [ __ ] on Paramount plus it's like it fails everywhere it goes if you actually put if I put out like a video about like anything UFC related it'll get a little bit of Attraction if you put anything you could put out the most interesting Bellator story and no one clicks on it like the the brand is completely utterly dead like people aren't just going to start watching Bellator oh it's on [ __ ] Max like I'm just gonna I'm just G to start watching Bellator no you're not no you're not like it's not going to happen at all that's not going to happen at all so um less choice for the consumers less choices for fans um less choices for Fighters less choices for everybody that's it's the UFC's World folks and the rest of us are just living in it and there might be some good parts to that but over time you know most people don't have a great again without protections um over time monopolies start to aify because when you can no longer create new product your product is what it is all you can really do is then find ways to extract different forms of revenue from it and Hollow it out so there we are that is in fact the end result it's the UFC's World period and the thing that just last thing on this the thing that just blows my mind about it all is like this all seems like maybe there's a better way to do it and then when you try to say that to someone they're like no like I don't want a better way to do it and those are the first people that are going to be like in two three years they're going to be like I got a little burned out on MMA you know and I'm I I'm going to move along and then comes the next crop and then they're going to get burned out and then comes the next crop and then they're going to get burned out and it's like it's like it's Groundhog Day every four years man every five years anyway so there you go welcome as a lifelong khabib hater which I just don't even understand I've come around slowly to accept the role khabib Past Fighters Like Khabib. has had on MMA before khabib I'd never heard of dastan and yet now everyone brags about having a dastan wrestler in their Camp what other Fighters have opened up parts of the world similar to what khabib has done dude I mean it's hard to imagine this now but at the time George S Pierre had like an entire Army of Canadian Fighters behind him and you know you can go back to it what about Hoy Gracie and what it wasn't just him there was Marco HOAs there was many many other guys but like what Hoy Gracie and the Gracie family did for the introduction to the world about Brazil it's extraordinary I mean I'm sure in 10 years we'll look back on the Manan fos and the Cal Gans and the whoever else and like what kind of role they had how about Michael Bisping and at he was at the tip of the Spear of the next wave of UK Fighters like any kind of New Market that opens up there's always a couple of brand leaders at the beginning that have a massively influential effect both on the current fandom and then the fighters who come behind him certainly certainly he would be on that list the lock my door yeah cuz my kid is home do I think Conor McGregor will be fighting this summer or not I mean probably probably I yeah coin flip I'll say yes um just really hard to say okay good question um Luke early thoughts on EG Erceg vs. Pantoja. versus Pantoja obviously the champ has advantages in a lot of areas but I was curious how EG's boxing matches up against pantoja's Hit ability yeah I mean this one seems pretty clear to me right like as long as they're on the feet I think ersc is going to light them up um but that I don't think they're going to spend a ton of time there and the other part too is like to what extent is Pantoja shopworn from all these like sort of tough long brutal battles that he's had that's a question I asked the last time and it against royville and it didn't really seem necessarily all that relevant but royville doesn't have the same kind of zip and pop that I think some and an accuracy that I think a guy Like Ur does so it's a little bit different but it doesn't ever seem to really affect him and then the last thing I'd say is obviously if panoi gets on the back it's a completely different ball game P's wrestling is excellent his ability to scramble is excellent his ability to find the back is excellent there's just a lot of things he does really really really well in the wrestling SL grappling Department that could tie up ersc and then force him you know out of his comfort zone also he's got uh excuse me Pantoja significantly better experience in obviously UFC title fights and then UF C5 round fights more generally he's fought much better guys over the course of his career so there are certainly Avenues to victory for ERS but I would say that Pantoja deserves to be the favorite not by a huge margin but something has to go wrong I think with Pantoja either from a strategic point or a durability or something like that I just don't know if EG is really he can win and if he if he wins it should not be surprising shouldn't be surprising at all but [Music] um Pantoja it's his fight to lose is what I would say luk do you see yourself as a top three MMA podcast in the world I seriously doubt it right I mean fighters who Bank on their existing popularity and then bring that to YouTube or any other place they're going to do much bigger numbers I mean whether that makes it a quality podcast is certainly up for you to decide I'm I'm confident in the quality that I turn in whether or not like from a number standpoint I don't think so you know but I'm not using existing popularity that I'm just farming over from a different career good question who will come back first MK or Connor I hope it's MK I hope it's MK um here's another MK question yeah these were fun this is a great day okay different opinions on Cory versus Umar especially since Umar appeared to look tired toward the end of that third round fight would a five round main or co-main event placement change your opinion on the outcome good question I would say that if it's a three- round fight I don't know if San Hagen's got enough opportunity defensively wrestling or scrambling to keep Umar off of him in a five round fight I think that equation changes substantially yes it's a great question it's a great point in that particular way I would favor if it's a f if it's a five round fight I think it's San Hagen's fight if it's three rounds it's umar's almost by lock Lucas someone who has been equally enamored with Toria Superstar Ascension following his KO victory over vul can Topuria's Rise. you speak to just how unique what we're witnessing with him is I've been watching the sport for 20 years or so now and have never seen anything like it like excuse me like the way that Spain and Georgia have galvanized around him Ireland rallying around Connor and Canada doing the same for GSP during their respective Rises to superum seem like the only slightly similar experiences to what you're seeing with Ilia currently but even the support they've received feels like pales in comparison well it's kind of different Connor was really big Connor was really really big and Connor was big before Toria was Big Toria was like kind of rising and then beating vul kind of exploded whereas there was this like with Connor remember what was his fight with his fight with uh Holloway was very very early into his run and by the time that happened they were already lowering the lights for him right so there was this rolling boil that was already happening he got injured had to come back blah blah blah but um he also was antagonizing half the roster and there was people sent out to beat him and then he was mowing through them you know that one just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger whereas Toria kind of like was ascending and then exploded in an instant the difference is that like Connor had the streets so to speak right like the Irish public I guess they have since kind of halfway soured on him now I'm I'm not exactly sure how they view him but certainly it's not 100% favorable that's for sure um but early into his rise and again he was a double champ coming off of cage Warriors that also boosted his profile and his interest in him and everything else like that that was not exactly what Toria had Toria came in very kind of quietly but the difference is Toria was meeting with the [ __ ] head of state you know what I mean he was meeting with the goddamn I don't think he met the king of Spain which I don't know oh Jesus Christ my kids crying over there um but he met with the Prime Minister and the mayor of Madrid and like right after getting the belt like this completely like Cinderella at the ball kind of a thing that I've never exactly seen I've seen these slow but like really you know very visible accumulations into this gigantic thing and GSP was not exactly that although also you know GSP was fighting Jay hon and Dave straser in a completely different era so there it's just hard to make it the same kind of thing you know also when GSP got like a Gatorade commercial it's like oh my God a UFC fighter got a Gatorade commercial how awesome is that like that's unheard of you know that kind of thing was happening so that one is a little harder to say but I will say toria's Ascension in the way Spain has embraced him and then again getting Real Madrid to embrace him is like completely unlike anything I've seen But Connor was more popular and building a phenomenon much earlier in his run so that by the time he became Champion it was you know this enormous event it was almost like I mean I'm sure to the Irish it was like an expected crowning remember they did a world tour uh just to promote that Jose Aldo fight like that was a big thing whereas you know 298 was promoted well and vul did his part to promote it but they didn't do a world tour and people were like oh Toria he couldn't do sketch comedy at the uh at the uh press conference he must not be that good of a fighter and then of course he goes out there and ices him but you know different topic all right if your working job was not an option tomorrow what field of work could you see yourself having to go into probably pornography are you experienced in any If You Had To Leave MMA. other fields I mean not to really matter no I mean if this all fell apart tomorrow and Lord knows with the way things are turning out it certainly could um I'm kidding but uh PR I guess something like that I don't know I mean I don't really yeah I don't know I don't know all right uh okay let's add let's get to this one Luke word on the street is that Alex peda had a line added to his contract to potentially allow him to turn around and fight at 301 if he comes Poatan at 301. out of the fight relatively un scathed uh setting aside how difficult that would be to do and by the way the commission gets a say in that too right I mean it's not just his or the UFC say granted commissions don't really do their job very well but there is you know some level of oversight they have as well who would you think he even fights is he Yan or Rockit I doubt on well Rockit is fighting at 300 so I doubt it's him I doubt an K is going to be ready for after Ramadan thanks for everything you do we appreciate the hell of you I appreciate you guys too man I really do so I I mean just to look at the roster I'm not even [ __ ] sure who the answer would be let me see here so you have got Jamal Hill who was fighting at 300 right um yeah I guess I guess rage fighting at 300 if he came out of it unscathed but then again there's also Yuri if the winner of that came out of it unscathed I guess you could do that but that's you have to have not one but two guys from the same card who would both have to win and both be unscathed possible happens a little sketch uh and then after that it's it's again Yi who's fighting on the card on Kia to your point about Ramadan then Yan I don't know if he's ready or not I think he had the health issue right rocket is on the card then krov but like are we just going to do like a krov title fight out of nowhere Johnny Walker I guess you could do that since it's Brazil but again we're going to do that given his recent performances khil Round Tree I guess you could do that I mean you could do some of these they just become almost nonsensical at a certain point oh I see my kid's crying because she didn't nap guarantee it guarantee it here we go uh with the UFC almost ready to start a new TV deal and Netflix entering the space who do you think is the most likely platform and would any TV or streaming deal benefit the fighters and UFC's Next Platform. not just swell Uncle Dan's p i mean guys let let's let's let's back up a step would any deal benefit the Fighters guys this is not even a relevant question anymore it's not even a relevant question anymore hey is this good for the fighters I'm not saying that um a normal person wouldn't ask that as like a reflexive kind of concern what I'm telling you is the way the industry works now is it good for the fighters is the least relevant consider ation imaginable and the fighters have participated in the diminishment of that question is it good for the fighters my response would be not that I don't care but asking around the industry does anybody else care and the resounding answer is uh not just merely a no but a hostile no a [ __ ] no a Zion Williamson at Duke dunking you know alleyoop no no people asking this like there's anything coming down the well maybe there's a sponsor who's coming who will no oh maybe the next broadcast no hey maybe this no no no the entire industry runs the way that it does because it [ __ ] the fighters and again it's a mind [ __ ] it's a total mind [ __ ] but the fighters themselves had participated in that diminishment it's hard to understand I get it I like it's it's kind of weird to say but it's the reality whatever we discuss about the next streaming deal it's not even worth bringing up what does it mean for the it doesn't mean [ __ ] all that's not the way this business works anymore over over done with you can crumple that one up throw it out not relevant not [ __ ] relevant the only thing you could ask is for uh as relevant would be the very very basic basic basic job the minimal shitty ass oversight that any particular one commission might provide time to time that's it and by the way we'll see about that just on the boxing side like is New York state going to give Ryan Garcia uh uh you know are they going to license him to compete oh boy that's a fun little story right I and I bet that they do I bet that they [ __ ] do you know what I mean like they're they get a little bit they get a little bit froggy so that one's that one's a little bit more debatable to me but like in the MMA industry hey is this good for the fighs the answer is no like oh will this one improve no well wait about it no no and you know who helped make it that way at least a little bit the fighters themselves it's uh it's a mind [ __ ] but it's where we are it is where we are so you're asking with the T with the UFC almost ready to started new TV deal on Netflix entering the space who do you think is the most likely platform probably staying with ESPN but Netflix would be a game changer for the UFC brand I can tell you that it would be a monster change for the for the UFC brand uh and it would any TV stream little benefit the fighters I mean just I mean get the [ __ ] out of here with that and not just well Uncle D's I mean yeah no that question is irrelevant absolutely not relevant at all anymore none none at all none so you must you should and I mean this seriously you should stop asking questions like that have I heard estimates for how much people illegally stream UFC and boxing pay-per-views yes but they're outdated I haven't heard one since like 2011 or 2012 I don't I mean I would imagine the numbers are significantly different by now I am 25 and 0% of my friends who watch buy pay-per-views damn y'all are some thieves does the UFC actually know how many people total watch they have probably figures they have estimates in that sense it used to be and this was again a very different model it used to be a pay-per-view purchase was good for 10 people on average but I don't know what that number is today it's obviously very different um again more questions about MK why has MK been sidelined it's not sidelined guys it's it's like I'm ready to pull the trigger on it I just need the the the range safety officer to tell me that the range is open that's it you know has MK not started yet because BC is recovering from multiple STI you mean STDs uh let's see anything else here oh [ __ ] hell Luke in your opinion why does the continue tough or are they obligated by ESPN um they probably have a deal a Content deal that requires a certain amount of programming it's cheap and easy to produce they know how to do it they've done it a million times they understand what it takes what it doesn't um and so you know there is still at least nominal value to it and so it continues but like short of that like no it has no value all right let's see what you got if the donations work for you if if not I didn't even mention it at the top cuz I knew just what kind of a [ __ ] show was going to be for me today so let's just see how this goes all right uh thank you to everyone who watches whether you subscribe or you don't whether you like this video or you don't whether you leave a donation or you don't whether you're a member whether you're not I appreciate all of you Luke what's the most unique injury sustained from an MMA fight that one that um uh MVP hit on goichi Yamauchi Unique MMA Injuries. that seemed to like break his kneecap you guys remember this one have a picture of that one that [ __ ] was no yeah uh I'm not sure there's a good picture of it this one oh here we go this one this joint right there see that when he just kicked it and it kind of like went in that's a bad one MVP has been on the the the handing out end of um really gnarly ones like when he [ __ ] up Cyborg and he broke the front I mean the the injury that um Sage northcut suffered at the hands of Cosmo Alexandre was a bad one cyborg Santos when he fought MVP was another nasty one there's been some nasty ones man what kind of precedents are set by the settlement from antitrust I don't think it changes anything one way or the other you know thoughts on civilians saluting coverless indoors I mean let the donks Saluting Indoors. do what they're going to do I mean just so long as you're not a uniformed military personnel and you're saluting without a cover you know that kind of thing lots of respect respect for Nate Nate Quarry. Quarry why' he Settle yeah I mean they kind of outlined the logic it was that or 10 more years of Uncertain litigation you know so they went with what they went with thoughts on Max Kellerman as a boxing commentator I love Max I would really love to have Max's career which is being let go from ESPN to the tune the millions of and then Max Kellerman. just disappearing from the earth for however long have you guys noticed that since he got let go no one's heard from him he hasn't tweeted there's been no interviews he hasn't done any podcast he do done [ __ ] all he just is sitting on his money [ __ ] about whatever however he's spending his days and uh God bless him for it dude I wish I could do the Vets Getting Headkicked KO'd. same again uh aging but very skilled vets getting head kit KO like Edgar Ferguson Cruz Usman vul porier reflexes or just their boxing I mean it's a little bit different each one to each one so I don't think Usman was a reflex issue it was just a focus issue in a fight Edgars I think was a reflex issue vul I think was a a preparedness issue porier was a surprise issue um but yes certainly age will diminish focus it will diminish resistance it will diminish reflexes any of those things look I saw your Tweet the other LeBron's New Pod. day about the new LeBron JJ pod if you could pick two MMA fighters active over retired to do X's Ando style podcast who would it be great question have you guys seen this J.J reic is doing a podcast with LeBron James and all they're doing is talking about like X's and O's and like technique Theory it's [ __ ] brilliant man um I'm not even like a LeBron guy at all but like obviously one of the if not the very best one of the very best players ever do it he's talking about the game itself I would imagine on that level he'll have some wisdom um someone made an analogy to me it would be kind of like someone I didn't I didn't come up with this but then this is not quite your question but the analogy that was made to me was the MMA equivalent of this would be like Paul Felder and Jon Jones getting together um to answer the question I would say something like Corey sandhagen and you know GSP or or or khabib something like I mean khabib's English is is going to get in the way but if they're talking about technique Theory yeah something like that something like that but there could be better I mean Cory sanhan you could pick Ryan Hall you could pick that's sort of like the JJ role who fills the LeBron role that one's a little harder if racket were to emphatically beat Yuri at UFC 300 does he deserve the winner of poon Hill I'd be okay with it If Rakic Beats Jiri. I don't know that yeah I guess emphatically yes if it's emphatically I'd be okay with it yes yes and thank you for the donation I'd really appreciate it uh welcome to the team Mr brass Mr brass what do you think the sentiment will be towards Dana poly everyone seems to stand hard for him now but I get the Joe paterova okay well hold on I mean I've been critical of Dana but I'm not going to that place Jesus Christ um yeah Dana White Posthumous Sentiment. I think he'll be remembered relatively fine I mean most people who have issues with him end up leaving the sport so that the people who will memorialize or potentially eulogize him whatever there'll be people who either benefited from the system or have fond memories um so yeah I think that they'll say really nice things thank you sir welcome to the party Joe thank you very much Art thank you very much uh this gentleman whose name I can't pronounce says will LT and BC be in Texas covering the Paul Tyson fight extremely un lik but I don't know we haven't even talked about it first Combat Sports event by Netflix seems worthy seems very worthy I just don't know if we're going to travel to that one yet I mean we guys we have a lot to like get going first before I can tell you what's happening in August in Texas like let's get through next week and then we can make some plans okay uh okay question for Luke any book recommendations related to US foreign Book Recommendations. policy after World War II during the Cold War there's one on Afghanistan I've read it's called ghost War um ghost War [ __ ] I can't remember the title at this point it's been a while since I read it um but that deal dealt with Afghanistan during the Cold War it's worth your time mostly as it relates to the Russians but still so MK is like a legit media outlet that is respected like the ne boys I don't know about that but you guys are getting press credentials using the MK brand uh yeah Star Wars. yeah I know you are a big Star Wars fan have you seen the ratio of likes to dislikes for acolyte I did hear about that yes I've never seen anything like it right now it's like 156 likes to 279,000 dislikes so I mean here's my thing I would have given it a dislike okay I'm going to be clear I don't know the full extent of the complaints one of the complaints I have seen has been that like oh there's like black people and women in this and then we hate that which I don't understand what the [ __ ] that's all about I never really will there might be other creative ones that I don't know about so like she you're lightsaber nerds I don't know but if that's the sole total of it it's like why are these women [ __ ] Jedi I mean just [ __ ] put it away but I did see that there was another one where I guess there were some inconsistencies since no one had apparently seen a Sith before The Phantom Menace and like 10,000 years or some [ __ ] and now here's one that they must have seen or whatever and so how does that square with the cannon of the movies if that's a complaint I guess then that's me we have to see how they resolve it but if that's a complaint then you know I guess that would be legitimate um my complaint is aren't you [ __ ] nerds sick of the Jedi it's like dude the the the the Star Wars Universe can't expand I mean I guess we're done with the Skywalkers and the [ __ ] Palpatine God that was the I mean the rise of Skywalker literally I would rather in the words of Patton Oswalt I would rather get [ __ ] to death by an eight dick walrus than sit through that again I mean really that was truly the worst movie I've ever seen but like the real criticism if I can just be serious for a moment of that movie of the series gener is that they can't graduate Beyond this [ __ ] and so part of the reason why the Mandalorian was kind of interesting was that it was some at least for to some extent it was a departure from that although Here Comes grou and then you see Luke Skywalker and they just brought dude they can't they can't do Star Wars without the [ __ ] Jedi they can't [ __ ] do it and I guess you got Rogue one which was Jedi adjacent cuz they had the the kyber crystal donks who were blind Garden the temple but even then that's part of it and then Darth Vader's in there slashing [ __ ] to death which is a cool scene but this is just what I'm saying you can't have a [ __ ] Star Wars Universe without going right back to the [ __ ] Jedi and the Younglings and all this [ __ ] and the Seth the Sith and the it's like dude is there any other story to tell for the love of God and then they got a w with a man bun I was like dude you know what are we doing here fellas what are we doing here but if your complaint is that like oh there's women and black people in this then you're a [ __ ] loser you know look you have mentioned having foot issues in the past have you tried zero Foot Issues. drop holy [ __ ] [ __ ] you are you new here zero drop wide toebox shoes they have completely strengthened my feet and calves after just three months of wearing them my guy I've been wearing them for three years so I'll take these off these are the ones I have on my feet now these are a little bit weathered these don't look like it but these are lims see that lims do I have my other ones here yeah hang on you know what since you asked since you ass hang on hang on all right do I wear wide toe box zero drop shoes it's the only thing I wear here's another pair of Limbs wide toe box see how the the the toe box where the toes go is shaped like a foot not just a narrow Arrow there's one here is the these are field grounds this is the um these are the court shoes right these are the field grounds that's a brand you can get in Germany here is my Vivo shoes I forget the model of this one this is another one that I wear typically when I do any kind of lifting outside hence all the dirt that's on them right here here are my vivos that I get also for lifting there's another one wide toe box zero drop just like that here's another one that I wear these are also for lifting these are my Vios that I wear in the summer because these ones are super thin you can see right through them just like that and I have a gazillion more my guy I've been wearing them for three years for three years I also have uh cork board that I do 10 minutes a day on to open up my toes it has done wonders for me but the problem that I have on my left toe is so bad that it still hasn't fixed it it's fixed a lot of other things and it's been great but it hasn't fixed that dude that's all I wear and I used to wear Jordans and all that [ __ ] and I had to give it up for foot Comfort dude I can you see my feet look at my feet [ __ ] can you see you see that I don't wear socks that don't have individual toe Place placements in it how about that I don't wear any socks that just have a one like you know just a just put your you know your foot in and it's just one big opening no no it has to have individual toes because actually people don't realize this socks can constrict the feet as well so yeah do I wear them my guy it's all I wear all right personally okay that's great and broken promises Jesus I know you and autistic bran okay it's a little mean or doing your best I mean we truly are thank you Dale that's a really hurtful but also uplifting message BC YouTube Account. does Brian have a personal YouTube account no he does not not yet anyway certainly favorite short story or any Favorite Short Story. that come to mind that you'd recommend fiction I'm not the guy to go to on fiction unfortunately I wish I had a better answer for you but no CBS CBS partnered with usada six-month testing pool for Mk 2.0 Delta eights and Applebee's whippits are slowing it down I wish that was the reason [ __ ] a I wish that was the reason Jesus Christ I wish that was the reason uh pfl should just pull put all their chips in and Sue in the same way PFL Should Sue. epic did versus Apple to force the courts to decide seems the only way they could survive that is true if they think they're going to go out there and compete I don't think they are I I think what currently the guys who are using it for or leadership positions they're going to sell it and then just move on I I there's no other path you either sue the UFC and fight to change the industry or you just sell what you've got and leave it that's it there's no there's nothing in between I have faith in MK now MK tech support not so much fair fair very fair very fair L can you give us your picks for the UFC 300 Main card and maybe the 300 Picks. prelims I will do that at a subsequent date I will do that I promise uh look at this lydian 84 giving away five LT memberships go get them while you can member question outside of a fighter lawsuit is there a mechanism which the SEC can investigate the monopo practices Can SEC Invesigate UFC. uh there are ways to get regulatory oversight from the Federal Trade Commission yes um I don't know about the SEC or not but um the FTC has looked at it a couple times and then passed but that doesn't mean they couldn't look at it in the future by the way you know anyone it's funny people always like oh Luke likes Biden I'm like anybody who watches my live chat knows that that's affirmatively not true I can't stand him um but if there is one area where I could give the administration at a bare minimum uh two thumbs up and I'm not the only one how about MAA senator from I think Ohio JD Vance JD Vance is a Republican senator from Ohio super MAA hardcore and even he had literally said I think either this no not this week he said it like two weeks ago that the only good thing about the Biden Administration was Lena con um who basically heads up the all their Anti-Trust efforts and they sued Apple today dude they're going after [ __ ] um that part I'm okay with that part I'm okay with but like I don't think the UFC is a big Target for them uh at least not right now what are your thoughts on oh there we go us doj uh suing Apple and accusing DOJ Suing Apple. the tech well I guess yeah um accusing the tech giant of maintaining a monopoly over the smartphone market I mean listen it's going to go to trial and I don't have even the slightest idea how it's all going to play out but I can tell you as someone who went from an Android to an Apple phone when they say that the watch doesn't work as well from one phone to the next they're telling the truth obviously they're getting to this idea about the blue versus the Green uh Bubbles and everything else in between um and you know if you ever have bought like I had a Google pixel whatever it was before I switched and I had Samsung phones I had a Samsung whatever it was 21 or something like that I think that's right around when I switched 21 or so 22 uh Google products work much better on a Samsung than they do on Apple like if you have Gmail on your iPhone you have no idea how or any of those apps they work significantly better on an Android and I don't think people really fully understand that hope you're doing well uh question Death Penalty. what is your opinion on the death Jesus uh I am I've had changing opinions over time uh I would say right now I'm uh affirmatively against it thoughts on referees that stop the Referees & Showboating. fight when a is showboating did you see Ben wher versus khed you mean Oh you mean the the boxer yeah I mean I don't mind it uh no sorry I I do mind it when the referees get involved I don't mind the showboating I think the show boating is actually pretty cool uh what do you think changed Mandatory vs. Actual Settlement. between the mandatory settlement meeting and the actual settlement hard to imagine zua had an offer that was much lower than what was eventually agreed upon it's it's too hard to speculate I don't know I don't know you know again in the next 45 to 60 days both sides will submit I mean we got the Securities document but we'll get the rest of everything and then they'll be free to talk on the record and I guess we'll get more information at that time but I I would be speculating I don't I don't know um I did have someone you know uh who was an attorney tell me that and by the way I another person who was an attorney say something not exactly the same but pretty similar that like part of the reason why they might have settled is because not only were the attorney set to make you know a fortune on this anywhere between you know 50 to 100 million but probably closer to 100 is um although I'm guessing on that I I don't know I want to be clear about that but um um the law firm could have been one of these entities that you know look they did the work in Earnest again because of the lawsuit what kind of information that we have but at the same time uh the entire effort was basically premised on an eventual payday anyway like did they really have in mind changing the MMA industry probably not right not not the not the not the naries of the world but the attorneys you know what I mean and that there is a world which you can imagine the attorneys were like hey you know we've taken this as far as we can any further is completely unnecessary and risky let's get what we can get out of this process took 10 years to get there an enormous amount of money and then just move on uh that seems like a very plausible scenario as Road House. well the acting in Roadhouse was better than D Jango I don't believe that but we'll see if you had to pick three MMA fighters to be a part of your debate team who would you MMA Debate Team. Jesus um Corey sandhagen Ryan Hall and Steve EG someone in the comments was like Luke likes all the Nerds yeah those are the ones who are thinking the things through it's the Nerds who solve all the world's problems fuckos just so everyone knows that right uh doj sued Apple for monopolistic practices today yeah they sure [ __ ] did uh some of your favorite defying All Odds moments in the UFC ie Congo Berry Defying All Odds In MMA. Alex escaping Brian's mounted Guillotine head shot dead defying All Odds moments that'd be one uh Pete cell and um he who got hit with the [ __ ] who was the guy he was fighting Jesus Christ he fought Kung Lee too Scott Smith Pete spell and and Scott Smith is a good one or he gets hit and then bends over and then and then as Pete Still's running in he [ __ ] tags him that was a great one um even just overall the performance that Holly Holm put in against Ronda Rousey was just like you know those are two great Korean Horror Movies. ones uh writing off your sentiment towards Indonesia spearheading martial arts movies would you agree that Korea has the horror thriller movie genre locked yes dude Korean horror is like horror you've never seen before both in terms of the gore level but also like the depth that they put into the movie itself it's it's quite unusual how us courts allow the US to be a monopsony Fighters are independent contractors you are treated like employees without the benefits is insane well they weren't suing to be employees they were just suing alleging that they had used the UFC had used anti-competitive practices to suppress wages and then we ended up here I don't understand why pfl and Bellator has not merged into one company so I heard something from uh a source PFL/Bellator Merge. that as part of the arrangement to take on Bellator it had to stay on television or it has to be broadcast independently for a year um I guess we'll see how true that is but I'm hoping that when the year is up that they just fold it in cuz the brand is [ __ ] dead um look I was surprised to hear you Marianne Williamson. aren't a huge Maran I'm not a hater her policies include expanding the definition of employees so more workers can unionized I I listen let me be clear about something Steve it's a good question I'm not in any way opposed to her um I mean I have seen stuff about embracing of spiritualism that is not doesn't really resonate with me but if you went down the line and sort of like identified her policies and to what extent they would mirror things that I think the government could do to meanly improve people's lives they probably a significant overlap I guess I would say as a candidate I was not necessarily inspired will you ask John Nash will the Who Will Pay Settlement. UFC Pay from their own capital or will the settlement be covered under some sort of business liability insurance I will ask it's a great question tax deductible though tax deductible uh Dar Mike says it's Nobody Cares About Lawsuit. disheartening to see how few people the UFC other promoters managers the fighters even the fans on this live chat care about the suit I respect these Fighters so much but this is Bleak um it is Bleak but it's I think a painful lesson in the way of the world these days um people don't give a Rooting Against PBC. [ __ ] why are there many boxing fans and journalists on Twitter wanting PBC to go downhill just weird ass it is [ __ ] weird behavior I'm like listen man PBC does good stuff PBC does bad stuff matam does good stuff mattram does bad stuff gold boy does good stuff Golden Boy does bad stuff and I'm not saying all in equal proportion or that you have to like them all equally but PBC has gets these weird [ __ ] dude who come out of the woodwork proclaiming all different kinds of things are going to happen all of which turn out to be either either completely wrong or to bare minimum mostly wrong and it just continues I don't quite get if they're like anti- Al hon or something I don't really understand it either fully other than there's like weird territorialism about the whole thing but yeah dude boxing Twitter dude you think MMA Twitter runs on rumors no boxing Twitter runs on rumors dude in a way you can't even imagine well Big Ticket Harris suspended for peeds for for four years had to say Walt Harris. but seems like his career is over any thoughts so he tested positive if you look at the write up he tested positive in both June and July and then they wanted to do like a follow-up retesting and he tested for different steroids again according to the right up in August they're like yeah you're [ __ ] done like uh it's it's a wrap for him you know it's his career is effectively over I mean maybe he can go to Russia or something where there's no athletic commission but um nice guy talk to him a couple times but it's over quick for everyone on the MK Discord server we're doing a BC BC Appreciation. appreciation thing nothing big but get in there and say something nice and I will make sure he gets it guys I talk to BC every day I'm not going to go to the Discord and say something nice but I'll say something here by the way shout out to all the folks in the Discord B BC has a heart of gold and I said at the beginning of this thing and I'm going to say it now if you're somebody who likes BC do yourself a [ __ ] solid and send him a nice message when I tell you it would mean the world to him it would mean the world to him you follow March Madness this might be the first year in since I was I don't even know where I'm not following at all do college basketball March Madness. sucks it s I mean I get that it's popular you know what I mean I get that and I get that I I watch stupid [ __ ] you know and then March Madness is cooler and there's more people who like that than like what I like I totally understand that I just um dude when I was a senior in high school it was Jason Williams dun Levy Bader Boozer and whoever else on the Duke starting lineup like college basketball is not that anymore like it's not even close to that so it's just not as interesting to me do you think Canelo was ducking David I mean I just I'll say Canelo. this like you can decide whether he's ducking him not a single thing he has said defends the reason to not take the benovitz fight nothing oh it was 150 200 million oh he's dropping hints to the Saudis even then it doesn't make sense oh he he brings nothing more than 25 pounds on Fight Night guy you had a [ __ ] title at Cruiser or at uh at light heavy you fought like I I just you fought bival there you fought it just doesn't even make it just doesn't make any sense like nothing he's saying makes any sense as it relates to like why aren't you fighting benovitz you know I'm not I like the mongia fight I'm cool with the mongia fight I'm cool with the mongia fight but like the stated reason for not fighting you like you know why he's not F I mean actually I I don't know that's why I got to back up I don't know but none of his answers make Lawsuit Plaintiffs Sellout?. sense did the plaintiffs in the antitrust suit sell out what's the difference between the fighter settling the lawsuit in the UFC essentially giving TJ Cowboy Kane and GSP New Deal is to leave the MMA fa um I guess we'll have to see in the end what the court documents finally say I mean I would say that five guys getting money is different than a $335 million lawsuit but if you're asking did either of those efforts meaningfully change the industry in any kind of way that would benefit anyone other than themselves so far the answer appears to be no favorite MMA play-by-play or color commentator that you always felt was Favorite Commentator. underappreciated Laura Sano also the members only vids have been clustering MK break cheap plug there you go get on them boys and girls they don't go on Tik Tok they don't go on IG they go one place Members Only Road House. any plans to watch road house I was going to watch it today but um golly man I [ __ ] up my rotator cuff benching which must have meant they were like I was too internally rotated and not too far out but I [ __ ] up my this part of my shoulder like I can't oh that hurts so it's all jacked up so um I had to do some other [ __ ] around the house today I I couldn't I wanted to like you would have thought I would had time to like rest up but I wanted to kind of move around but I couldn't it's a whole thing I just couldn't get around to it but I'm going to watch it Carlos says you should be incredibly proud of your coverage you've done it at the expense of your own reach yeah [ __ ] tell me about it you made a decision not to pan it to others you might not have the reach you'd like but the virtue is its own reward yeah well unfortunately Carlos I can't go to the bank and say hey um can we use this virtue to uh pay my mortgage because they don't give a [ __ ] but I appreciate the sentiment just the Fighters Don't Care. same uh okay Fighters don't unionize because some tried got pushed out with achieving anything remember Leslie Smith and spearhead the core of the problem is that 90% just want the UFC and nothing else yeah but she took it a little bit fur I'm not like condemning her in any way I thought she was incredibly brave but she took it a little bit further than normal they wouldn't need a high threshold in order to get unionized it's actually quite achievable um but they had some concerns Fighters that I talk to that there'd be retaliation and um so they just wouldn't sign so but I mean no would can do it but them like you can't do it for him I was going to buy a UFC pay-per-view once but my boss didn't give me my win bonus Perry versus Alves how Bloody will it get dude that's going to be a blood bath those two are going to [ __ ] kill Perry vs. Alves. each other GNA be a lot of fun have you seen Justin Gate's YouTube Gaethje's YouTube. I have not Channel he posts these high quality episodes during his camps the best content I've seen for any athlete sweet pre-roll on me homie much love thank you apoplectic Spock it's a great name uh can't wait for the new MK re wishing you and BC all the best again we'll be in Vegas next week you're going to get Vegas next week you know so we'll Best/Worst MMA Tattoos. see how it goes from there who are the fighters with the best and worst tattoos best would be uh Megan Anderson worst would be that's a tough that's a tough one um again I've got bad tattoos too so you know I mean the Jamal Hill thing up here is not great but you know like I said um I got some bad ones too do you think Joe Rogan deserves to be in the UFC Hall of Fame no but Rogan/UFC HOF. probably most of you do do you know who will kamaru Usman Next For Usman. fight next any rumors no I'm not actually not heard any rumors related to that Luke watch Andor no Jedi I tried I Star Wars. liked it but again I'm just so [ __ ] sick of the okay there was no Jedi but you know what it was it was like okay the Rebellion we're still fighting the Empire guys I don't give a [ __ ] I don't give a [ __ ] anymore like get crushed by the Rebellion or don't you know what I mean like I just don't give a [ __ ] all right issues with acolyte to fans Dei I mean okay again do that mean black people and women showrunner was Harvey okay well that's not great was Harvey wi's number one showrunner would lead with lead with George Lucas isn't end all Beall to Star Wars and some say it looks like a clone war show to me the trailer was just okay yeah I mean if you got Harvey Weinstein's people up in there God only knows but um yeah Max says do you ever struggle with Burnout. academic burnout I don't I'm not nearly academic enough to struggle with academic burnout thank you Jerry I appreciate it here we go fuo gifting memberships fuo gifting memberships go get them while you can suckers uh okay is Strike Force the most underrated MMA promotion of all time StrikeForce. probably it's a tough call with wec but but Strike Force was a bigger scale yeah probably probably is the answer to that yes trying to think I mean ryzen sorry dream no sokku no smack girl obviously no um I still think cage war is actually pretty underrated but you're thinking like the most underrated rated yeah probably Strike Force when MK Ivon we've been over this look at this lydian just gifting memberships like a [ __ ] Oprah handing out cars thank you lydian I really appreciate you Luke first time commenting any platform could you explain the Lloyd Irving Fiasco even as a local who has done a deep dive it's confusing the basic story is as I understand it perhaps there are something else to it that has not been I've not been revealed to me but it goes something like this um there were two guys who were training with Lloyd Irvin back what year was this 20 I don't even remember anymore 2014 2015 something like that I can't remember what it was anymore there were two guys who were training there that were accused and charged of raping another Lloyd irvan female student in a parking lot under I think St Matthew's Church which is um right at near the corner of Connecticut and Rhode Island Avenue in northwest DC just south of Dupont Circle um there was a trial and um the details were harrowing But ultimately the jury uh acquitted both of them which was a surprise to many including me and uh many others in the community those two guys ultimately ended up leaving the team and I think one of them actually had another runin with the law um in New York City the other one I don't know what happened to him I don't know if they ever kind of fell off but it was in the discovery process that it was sort of found that there were other members of that team who had had other issues related to um you know similar kinds of crimes like DJ Jackson or similar kinds of issues I should say and then it would also was revealed that I think Lloyd irin when he was much much younger was also had had some kind I I gotta be careful because I don't remember the full details but had also run into some issue where ultimately I think either either was exonerated or not charged or only partly implicated there was certainly no like conviction or jail time related to anything he had done but you know was in some way involved and it all kind of came to light all at once and um you know I was very surprised by just keeping it about what the initial story was about the two guys I given the evidence I was extremely surprised that they were exonerated but um but they were they were exonerated so so that's that it was that two guys getting charged for this incident all related to the team brought to light all of these other issues that the team was experiencing or had experienced in different ways at different times and it was you know at the time I think a really bad look for all involved Joe says I spent about a year and a half all throughout Mexico planning my first Columbia trip there you go I'll be there for 10 days what cities are you recommending in y I.E Colombia. Kali bakija k metagene you spelled metag a little bit wrong so I will tell you this much uh Cartana is a must it's the most expensive City in Columbia but I think by any American Standards it's extremely affordable it's a must it's an absolute must um dude I didn't like ban kija I didn't like it at all it's as hot as cahana and it's got all the traffic of Bogota not for me uh I think metagene is a must I think bat is a must and I think some of the countryside as well peda if you're outside Bata um the salt Cathedral at zaka um yeah you can skip tonha tuna sucks like my least favorite cities in Columbia so far have been tonha and banija and I know Shakira is from banija but and people who are from banija are like super proud about it and their apparently their uh apparently their um Carnival is like a big deal but dude I I didn't think it was they have a Riverwalk there what are they [ __ ] call it's like the melon the melon con what do they call the Riverwalk in Bang I forget the name of it what the [ __ ] do they call that thing ah the Malon they call it the Malon here I'll show you a picture of it Ma this is oh here let's do it this way this is the Riverwalk um you know it looks nice and people go up there and then this is the Magdalena which is the river in in there um you you can the Magdalena is accessible actually all the way through Cartana as well but um I would go yeah I would go go to the coffee Zone if you can bota metagene kahena um I don't know how Kali is these days so yeah can the US doj sue the UFC for their Monopoly I don't I don't I I mean they can sue whoever they want like will DOJ Sue UFC. they I think is a better question the answer is probably not anytime soon yeah I mean guys if you have some kind of Hope about any kind of regulatory power rearranging the industry it's time to bury that at least for the for a while it's time to bury that I mean maybe someone's planning something you never know but I wouldn't count on it I would say that this was one of the most this was one of the most relevant and Powerful challenges to the UFC I'd ever seen and it folded and that's that like that it's it's over you know what I mean back then how big was the UFC on FOX deal for the sport it's hard to appreciate now in retrospect but it was enormous it was enormous it was absolutely fundamentally gamechanging it changed television because at the time there was the fuel and then the Speed Channel which got turned into FS1 and F or FS2 and then FS1 respectively and so there was this vast expansion of sports in general there was this um you know this this elevation to a place that you never thought MMA could be MMA was like dude it was it was grungy and like off the beaten path and it was like The Little Engine That Could and then this was this crowning achievement that happened as a consequence and um yeah it was I don't Ian I don't know what the equivalent would be now I mean the closest thing would be like moving to Netflix and that's not quite right either but something like that it would you know like another level of Ascension to pop culture that here to for has been inaccessible yeah look at this fuo making sure all your kids don't grow hit them up style handing out five LT memberships Tyler welcome to the party buddy appreciate you all right last but not least do you expect Tyson versus Paul to be on the level yeah I mean I don't think these guys are out here committing crimes in broad daylight I don't think that's what they're happening I think they're just putting on weird ass fights and you get unsatisfying weird ass results as a consequence but I don't think they're out here like like setting [ __ ] up in front of the the world to like dissect they're putting on real fights they're just when I say real I mean it's not like fixed it's just the most irregular circumstances you've ever seen all right boys and girls I hope by this time next week we have made our announcement I don't know if we will I really [ __ ] hope I would like to tell you that we will I'd like to tell you that you know let's check my phone hey maybe maybe I've gotten word no I've not gotten word so you know uh I'm waiting on word like you guys are and when we have it we'll share it thank you to all the MK faithful thank you for all your patience oh wait there's one more here here we go thank you buddy and okay last one did you ever struggle with academic burnout uh yeah I mean by the time I my senior year was over I didn't want to do any more academic work but um you know that was pretty shortlived in the end all right all right thank you everyone I appreciate you if you got any questions you can email me luk thomasnew gmail.com shouts to all the new members love you see you next time and until