The Co-Main Event MMA Podcast

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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Bunch of people got separated from consciousness on Saturday at UFC 332 — just as the good Lord intended. Eleven T/KO finishes in 13 fights. Nine first round stoppages. Not too shabby, if you’re into brain trauma (and if you’re reading this right now, you know who you are). Immediately afterward, the UFC broadcast team, and some of their sycophants online, went pretty hard trying to convince us that this rash of knockouts alone made UFC 332 one of the greatest shows of all time. Could that be true, though, considering how much flak the UFC (rightfully) took for this event looking like one of the weaker PLE events in recent memory? How many KOs does it take to make a bad card good?

Plus, we discuss the super smart sharks in “Deep Blue See,” the origin of Mr. Orange in “Reservoir Dogs” ... and what the hell is a deuteragonist?
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As many of you know, the big boxing match between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua is finally official, with the two set to meet on Dec. 11 at Principality Stadium (granddaddy of them all) in Cardiff, Wales. The card will air live on Netflix. Somehow, this news only intensified the war of words between Eddie Hearn and Dana White, with the British boxing promoter quipping that White got “royally mugged off, pants down, bent over, butt cheeks spanked.” GASP!

So, this week, we must ask: Is Dana White really getting royally mugged off in his desperate effort to insert himself into this fight? And is it at least partially his own fault?

Plus, some scary shit happened to Raoni Barcelos at last weekend’s UFC Fight Night. And there are still plenty of good seats available for this weekend’s UFC 332 event down there in Salt Lake City.

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Things … did not … go … great … for ya boi Gable Dan Steveson at UFC 331. You could feel the vibes start to shift early in the week, when Sean Sharaf called him a rapist to his face and Steveson’s only response was to smile awkwardly as if to say, “Yeah, I (allegedly) did that shit.” Then, during the actual fight, Steveson caught a hot left hook right on the off switch from Sharaf and got knocked the FUCK out in 12 seconds flat. THEN, as if this wasn’t bad enough, he left the cage before Sharaf even got his hand raised. So, suddenly, MMA en masse seems to have decided Gable Steveson is a bad guy, actually.

Plus, Josh Van beat the man and, therefore, according to the laws of combat sports, is now the man. And … can it finally be you, Troll Boy? Can it finally be you?
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