The Co-Main Event MMA Podcast

Somehow, Carlos Ulberg won the UFC light heavyweight title on one goddamn leg. Not sure we’ve ever seen anything quite like that. It was an all-time great championship finish. Now, however, at least some of the public discourse has pivoted to whether Jiri Prochazka basically let him off the hook, taking it easier than he should have right up until he very generously walked face-first into a left hook. That doesn’t totally feel fair to Ulberg (winning the belt on one bum wheel should probably earn you more credit) but also, yeah, he’s clearly hurt and even as we speak Dana White is almost certainly sticking the “Interim Title Fight” magnet to that big whiteboard on the wall of his war room.

Plus, Cub Swanson got the rare storybook ending and, sigh, seems like Josh Hokit is totally a thing now.
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Six different dudes have held the UFC light heavyweight title since Jon Jones vacated it for the last time (well, the last time so far) back in August 2020. Friendly-ass Jan Blachowicz, old-ass Glover Teixeira, weird-ass Jiri Prochazka, off-putting-ass Jamahal Hill, boring-ass Magomed Ankalaev, and legendary-ass Alex Pereira. Yes, that’s a lot of ass, which is mostly what 205 has been since Jones’ recidivist-ass messed around and left the sport.

And now, this weekend, Jiri P. and Carlos Ulberg are gonna go out there at UFC 327 and see if we can’t reinvent this division one more time. Are either of them up for it? Time will tell. Oh, and speaking of Jones, what’s he up to these days … oh, right, getting involved in petty road rage incidents in ABQ. Perfect.
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The UFC went to Seattle and put on an event many are calling the best of the year so far, where Joe Oliver Pyfer defeated Israel Adesanya in a main event bout that might make ya boi BODYBAGZZZZZZZZZZ somebody in the middleweight division. In other action, Michael Chiesa got his soft-filter retirement celebration (while Niko Price most certainly did not), and Alexa Grasso did some absolutely horrific stuff to Maycee Barber — which, of course, was awesome.

Plus, Dana White came to the postfight press conference and answered several pertinent questions about the UFC product by telling us, “Who gives a fuck … just watch the fights.” Who gives a fuck, sir? Clearly not you…
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Most Valuable Promotions announced eight more bouts on Tuesday to fully flesh out its undercard for Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano on May 16 and … well, hello there, Junior dos Santos. Long time no see. Yeah, a couple of these newly revealed fights actually are of some interest, including JDS vs. Robelis Despaigne and Muhammad Mokaev re-entering the chat against Adriano Moraes.

Plus, no sooner does Movsar Evloev defeat Lerone Murphy (“Did he thoooough?”) in a “title eliminator” bout than the UFC seems poised to give the next shot at Alexander Volkanovski to Jean Silva. And the Octagon is off to Seattle and the friendly confines of Climate Pledge Arena this weekend for Israel Adesanya vs. Joe Pyfer.

BODYBAGZZZZZZZZZZ.
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Those little rascals at Most Valuable Promotions added another spectacle fight to their big, loud MMA show coming up on Netflix on May 16. Nate Diaz and Mike Perry are set to do the damn thing at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, rounding out a lineup of three featured fights that also includes Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano and Francis Ngannou vs. Philipe Lins. And that, kids, puts us in an unexpected position.

Who would’ve thought that by the middle of March, with the UFC fresh off announcing the fight card for its gala event at the White House, the biggest story in the sport would be Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian making their first foray into MMA? Crazy days.

This week we ask: Is this a problem for the UFC? If so, how big? And what exactly does MVP want to be in the MMA space?
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