The Co-Main Event MMA Podcast

Heavyweight champ Ciryl Gane will defend the most disputed of all the current undisputed UFC titles on Saturday when he takes on Josh Hokit at UFC 334. Gane is currently going off as the favorite, but there seems to be a notion out there that Hokit is a very live dog. Perhaps this is merely due to the matchup of styles: Hokit has a wrestling background and Gane has looked very, very bad at wrestling throughout his career. Oh, and the idea that Gane is only the champ because he tried to gouge out the eyes of the previous champ. On the other hand, Gane is relatively battle-tested, while Hokit comes into this title fight boasting all of two quality wins at heavyweight. Hokit is 10-0 (which is as good as you can do), but will this fight prove to be too much, too soon for him?

Plus, when they first announced Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes, we were all super excited, but the lengthy delay leading up to the fight seems to have made it an afterthought.

And Dana White, White House Press Secretary? Heeeelllll no.
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Renato Moicano got stood up from the body triangle on Saturday, friends. The body triangle! One of the most dominant positions a competitor can attain in an MMA fight! Moicano had successfully controlled Tom Nolan with said body triangle for much of their main event bout at last weekend’s UFC Fight Night before referee Dan Miragliotta called for a standup. A few minutes later? It was curtains for Moicano, TKOed by Nolan at the beginning of the third round. Now, granted … Money Moicano hadn’t done a ton with the body triangle … but still … You start standing dudes up from dominant positions like that and you threaten to cross the final rubicon between having any semblance of actual competition left here and fully transitioning to clown car-ass entertainment product.

That got us thinking: It’s hard out here for a grappling-based peemp these days, huh? We’ve known for years that MMA promoters and casuals want “exciting” fights and knockouts (and maybe now mismatches designed to create “holy shit” moments), but are we getting close to a time when a pure grappler doesn’t really have a place in the UFC?
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Well, that was awesome. The Big Homies (and obviously we mean that only figuratively) Alexander Volkanovski and Petr Yan both put on virtuoso performances in their own ways at UFC 333. Volk summarily answered the questions about whether the dog was getting too old to be fighting these young cats with a triumphant, “Fuck no,” as he pretty much styled on Movsar Evloev en route to a second-round TKO win to retain his men’s featherweight title.

Meanwhile, Yan took everything Merab Dvalishvili had to offer in the first 10 minutes of their fight and then calmly took over the rest of the way. That included stuffing all 39 of Merab’s takedown attempts during the final three rounds (Merab went 0-39! That’s crazy.) to emerge still owning the men’s bantamweight title via unanimous decision.

What now? Volkanovski is pitching a joint-retirement fight with Justin Gaethje. Yan seems to be headed for a clash with Song Yadong.

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Alexander Volkanovski turned 38 last month. That’s like 150 in men’s featherweight years. This weekend, he’s gonna go out there and defend his 145-pound title against Movsar Evloev, who is undefeated, 32 and has one of those beards that tells you everything you need to know about him. At this moment, the fight’s being deemed a straight pick ’em (both guys going off at -110). If Volk shows up once again looking ageless and dangerous as ever, he’s probably got a good chance to win. If he’s lost a step? That’s gonna be a tough night at the office.

Plus Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili are gonna do it again … and again … and again, brother. And Dana White is being characteristically nonchalant about pulling off three events across the Middle East in the next few weeks (cruise missile attacks notwithstanding).
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It’s amazing how often this happens: A UFC fighter who was once just happy to be there gets some age and experience under their belt, gains a little notoriety, maybe wins a championship and then suddenly realizes, “Hey, wait a minute, I’m getting screwed here.” Middleweight champion Sean Strickland reached this part of the UFC lifecycle last week, when he started comparing his own paychecks to the big money deals given to dudes like Conor McGregor and Conor Benn. Now Strickland — always one of the UFC’s strangest and most frustrating minds — wants out of his contract, figuring maybe he can go make some of that Jake Paul money in boxing.

Problem is, your boy Sean just signed a new six-fight deal prior to defeating Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328 to become a two-time, two-time champ. So now Strickland is saying he’s not fighting at all until he either gets more money from the UFC or they let him out of his contract. Yeah, we’ve seen this movie before, and we know how it usually ends, but … maybe it’s worth keeping an eye on, just in case.
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