TCP ep55: GFL Breakdown, UFC 311, and Sorry I’m a Flake

I MISSED YOU FRIENDS!!! This week we talk about UFC 311 and unpack the highs and lows, unexpected twists, and how I almost missed the ENTIRE card altogether! I also go over some new MMA state laws, Global Fight League (!), and more… Meet me in the clinch!

Transcript

UFC 311 Recap and GFL Update

Speaker 2 0:18

what's up guys ? Welcome back to the clench podcast . I am so happy to be back , so excited . So what had happened was I recorded an episode well , actually three on the GFL League , just going through the website , breaking it down detail by detail how it's going to work and everything , detail by detail , how it's gonna work and everything , and basically the footage is not usable because I'm not able to get the green screen to work . So I just wanted to be super honest with you guys and just let you know I am still working on it , but if you're listening to this , I do have a TikTok live . So not like a live TikTok , but I have a TikTok up now that you guys can go and check out . That's just like a brief overview of GFL . So go ahead and check it out . I had so much fun doing it . I just wanted to go ahead and just take a breather and just research what I needed to research so that I can provide the content that you guys really want to hear and deliver it in a way that you guys really like . So I hope that you guys really enjoyed the TikTok and this episode , but let me know if you guys still want that video or if you want me to go ahead and film a new video going over the updated draft information , because it's so much fun . Just how they have everything set up is so exciting . So let me know what you guys want me to do . I'm okay with doing either . I know a lot of you who listen , really don't care what videos are going to look like , but I still care and I care about what you want , so just let me know .

Speaker 2 2:07

But let's go ahead and jump into UFC 311 . That was so much fun and it was a crazy night both the actual card and trying to watch the card . So we initially tried to go to this place called Main Event . It's called Main Event , so we thought that they would be showing fights . We get there and it's fun . They have like arcade games and bowling and it's a very fun place . But we get there and ask someone , hey , can you turn the fights on ? And they're like , oh , we don't show fights here . So we're like , okay , and so we go over to a Buffalo Wild Wings and one that I used to work out , actually , and that one's closed . And so we go over to another one and they have a two hour wait , which is very understandable . It was already pretty late at that point .

Speaker 2 2:59

The main event , or the main card , was about to start , so it was just how it was . So we called around and we eventually found this spot called seven bridges . It is amazing they had . They had actually stopped serving their full menu at that point , but they started serving their late night appetizer menu and they're huge portions for only eight dollars . It was insane . I was so thankful that we had got tossed around from place to place because we ended up at the perfect place . So shout out to Seven Bridges .

Speaker 2 3:37

It was such a fun atmosphere and the fights were , first of all , you could hear them . So that was super nice . It wasn't very full . So if you are in Jacksonville or wherever there's the seven bridges , go ahead and watch your fights there . It's the perfect atmosphere . It's much better than the other places . Main event would have been really fun , but they don't show them . So that was the personal craziness of UFC 311 . But for the actual craziness of 311 , that had a lot of shocking twists and not so shocking twists , but still very , very fun and it delivered .

Speaker 2 4:21

So let's go ahead and start off . We are going to begin with Bogdan Koskov versus Billy Elkana Just super quickly , just because it was a super fun fight . Bogdan's ability , ability , ability to reverse the tables with just like a minute to go was really fun . I mean , everyone likes that kind of thing . Everyone likes a little , you know , quick reversal and being able to retain that momentum is even harder to do . So creating that wow moment is one thing . When you are on the defensive end of a position , to then become dominant and then , to , like I said , retain that momentum , carry it on , to then dominate the rest of the round to the rest of the fight , it's crazy . So new fan for Kuzcov . That was a amazing fight .

Speaker 2 5:17

Let me know what you guys think . I could be just being overdramatic about it , but I think it was cool . We don't . I haven't seen like a lot of that happen lately , so it's just cool to see that it can happen . We usually just see the momentum kind of going one way and there's kind of like a gap sometimes in the octagon . Just because I'm sure it's a very difficult thing to do on , just because I'm sure it's a very difficult thing to do , I would like to hear experiences that you all have had with maybe training and trying to hit a Russell like that it . Let me know how difficult it is and , especially if you've competed and try and try to do that , let me know what the difference is , because it was just something that popped into my head while I was watching that fight . So yeah , let me know .

Speaker 2 6:05

So we'll go ahead and move on to Peyton Talbot versus Raoni Barcelos . So obviously , huge upset , huge upset . I already thought that Peyton Talbot was pretty cool . You know he was super talented and exciting . Then I saw he was friends with Frank Ocean , one of my top favorite artists , so that just made me even more excited . You know , music and MMA aside from my pets , those are in my family , of course those are , like my two most favorite things in the entire world . So whenever I see those two things unite , it makes my little heart so happy . So I really wanted Peyton Wynn , but this isn't necessarily a negative .

Speaker 2 6:57

I think a lot of people agree , from what I've seen on social media , that it's just a learning experience for him , and I think it's just . It's not this fight that is going to determine the future of his hype train . It's the next one , right Like that's , of course , where we're going to see if he has taken the lessons from that fight and improved , or if he is just bullheaded and sticks with his usual style training and game plan , and so yeah , we'll see it . You know , we see it all the time with up-and-coming fighters and that's kind of the pivotal point in their career when they are on a win streak and then , of course , they gain a loss and they are then just watched like a hawk to see if that's going to continue , and so I'm sure that's going to be a lot of pressure . So that's a whole other element to his comeback that I hope he considers . So I'm excited for his next fight . We'll see what happens . I hope that the trains gets re-railed . I don't I wouldn't necessarily say it's derailed , not's not a lot of people on social media who are like , oh yeah , that kid sucked , you know , blah , whatever , you know , just being rude like they usually are . So that's good , that is a good sign . So we will see what happens with him next and also with Rani for being able to , you know , kill that one shrieking , derail that hype train per se , per se , as they say , whatever , whatever they say . So , yeah , I look forward to seeing what they both do next .

Speaker 2 8:36

And after they fought , we had Kevin Holland versus R hope I'm saying that right , I am trying my best . And so Kevin Holland was also another fighter that I was really hoping was gonna win . He obviously did not . He tried his mightiest and it just it wasn't enough that night . That's just really sucks . But you know what , if there are any issues with his contract coming up because of his relatively inconsistent record , I hope he does sign over to GFL . He would be an incredible asset to that league . He would bring so much to the table . So I hope that happens and I hope he gets paid much better over there if that happens , if he I'm not sure exactly how many fights he has left on his contract , but we'll see what happens I will let you guys know , or if you see it before , I do let me know .

Speaker 2 9:44

But for now let's go ahead and move on to Yuri Poroska versus Jamal Hill . So that fight went pretty much how I thought it would , how you thought it would , how he thought it would , how she thought it would . So I don't really have much to say other than Yuri Poroska is a national , international treasure and he is just an incredible athlete and he really proved a point with his head movement . A lot of people thought it was just kind of showboaty did hear the negative talk about his head movement and his defense of his face , where his hands are and everything , all those critiques . He really listened to those so those people understand where that critique was coming from and he really improved so much . His hands are still pretty low , a little low , but obviously that wasn't really much of a problem . But with Jamal Hill I didn't really anticipate it being much of a problem .

Fighter Payments and Weight Regulations

Speaker 2 10:54

Not that Hill is a terrible athlete he's not . He's very talented . He's just not my cup of tea because he instigates fights and I don't really like people who instigate fights . I think it's lame and stupid and especially if he and he's the kind of person that like throws a stone and hides his hand . So that's also not my favorite . But whatever , um sucks that he lost , but super happy for Yuri and incredible that you brought out his fan , uh , who is battling cancers and you know , just kicking it , kicking his tail , you know . So prayers for her and I just hope that we continue to see this kind of behavior in the UFC and just more uplifting and encouraging media .

Speaker 2 11:44

Obviously that's not exactly like media , what people want , necessarily , but I hope that we do see more of it . There's always going to be room for the drama and I'm always going to have something to cover and I'm always going to have fun talking about it . But I always want to be able to give a cool story like , hey , this fighter did this for this fan , or this fighter was able to do this for their family because they you know that kind of thing . I am super excited to be able to do that , especially with GFL coming up . I know I keep mentioning them , but they just have such a cool setup and I I'm just so excited to see how it turns out and to just cover everything and talk about it . So , just bear with me , get excited with me . Even better . Yeah , just get excited with . We have something that I think will really be UFC level entertainment . I really believe that this is going to be so much different . I really think that this is what PFL wanted to be when they absorbed Bellator , but better and I can't wait . Yeah , I've said that like five times .

Speaker 2 12:59

So let's go ahead and move on and we'll talk about our co-main event , murab Vashili versus Umar Nurmagomedov . So this fight was another upset , but I was a little confused as to why . I did understand that Umar Nurmagomedov has Habib in his corner , so of course he's going to be a huge favorite , but I think it was a little too uneven , that's all I thought . I didn't think that it was unwarranted , I just thought that it was a little too uneven . Just across social media and Marab Devoshili I try my best , okay , we're gonna call him Marab , all right .

Speaker 2 13:44

So Marab really must have heard all the talk because he performed at an incredible athletic level that Umar just really couldn't like flow with . He was really trying to dominate the momentum , dominate the positions , but he couldn't get past the fact that Rob's defense was so flawless and it was just kind of over mentally mean . He did try of course he is a part of a team where they live , breathe , eat this , so it's just not going to be something that he mentally gives up on but it was more of like a block that kept him from being able to adjust to what he didn't expect from Rob . So amazing performance from Rob . That was so exciting . It had all of us on the edge of our seat , jumping out of our seat . It was crazy . So it was . Let me know what you guys think . I definitely am not too mad about it because it was at least insanely entertaining , but I definitely didn't think it would be that unbalanced both ways . I didn't think that the criticism beforehand was going to be so unbalanced and then I didn't think that the actual performance was going to be so dominant and one-sided . At least I thought it was more one-sided . It was one of the more competitive one-sided fights , if you know what I mean . But I don't know . Let me know what you guys think .

Speaker 2 15:29

And for our main event , we have Islam Makhachev versus Renat Mweikano . Obviously , mweikano stepped into this fight last minute . Thankfully he did . Everyone was super excited . It ended a lot faster than a lot of us wanted , but you know what ? At least the fight happened . Both guys got paid . It was fun . It was fun to see such a swift choke . It was flawless , just absolutely beautiful work from Makachev . So yeah , I don't really have too much to say because I could probably talk longer than the fight actually went on . So yeah , it was a great night of fights .

Speaker 2 16:13

Actually , getting to see the fights was insanity , but once we actually got there , it was so much fun and it was so much more exciting than I anticipated it to be probably because of the buildup . But , yeah , let me know what you guys think about the fights , and we're not quite done . I did see something really fun that I didn't know prior to watching these fights . But in California , if you didn't watch the fights , you weren't able to , or you're new to the podcast , or you're new to MMA the fights took place in California .

Speaker 2 16:50

They take places all over the country , all over the world , and this particular fight was in California in Englewood , I believe and so in 2017 , the California State Commission Athletic Commission put a plan in place to try to cut back on excessive weight . Cutting Within those rules was a cap on how much a fighter could gain from the official lands to the fight . If a fighter gained more than 10% back before the bout , the commission then could make a recommendation that he or she move to a higher weight class . If a fighter gained more than 15% , the commission had plans in place to potentially cancel fights . At UFC 311 , which took place this Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Englewood , california , 15 of the 26 fighters on the card gained more than 10% of their weight back . Six of 15 exceeded the 15% threshold .

Speaker 2 17:50

Mma Junkie on Tuesday obtained a list of fight night weights from the CSAC , and that was a part of an article from Nolan King on MMA Junkie and I thought that was a good rule because that's just an incentive for fighters to cut weight in a healthy way . I think that this should be a standard , or something similar should be standard . I heard an argument that fighters should only participate in weight classes that are within a certain percent of their natural weight and how they define natural weight . I'm not quite sure , but I think that is a good way to kind of make sure that we are keeping fighters healthy . I wonder if GFL is doing something like that . I'll have to check on it .

Speaker 2 18:38

But we also have some more fun stuff . We also have the payouts , so we want to know how much everyone got paid right . Moikano , for his last minute switch , he received $250,000 , while Makachev received only $200,000 . Stuff like that happens all the time . It just is what it is . He stepped up last minute , so of course he is probably going to have a little bit of an incentive . That's my dog shaking his ears in the background . So we also have Marab 500,000 . Nurmagomedov only 100,000 . We got to get these guys some better negotiators .

Speaker 2 19:31

How uneven is that Yuri Poroska versus Jermaine Hill . Poroska made $250,000 , which includes his $50,000 bonus absurd . And Hill to his $200,000 . And let's see Kevin Holland , he walked out with $250,000 , and DeRitter he had a $105,000 bonus and so he walked away with $210,000 . Not a lot at all if that's including the bonus . Let's see Barcelos $96,000 win bonus to Talbot's $43,000 . Absurdity . Let's see , okay , goosegoth . Let's see he has a , or he had a $43,000 win bonus and he walked away with $86,000 . So it looks like the cap was pretty much like a quarter million on the big , on the main , on the fighters , on the main card , and then everyone else is kind of just getting just these absurdly low amounts , just absolutely crazy .

Speaker 2 20:47

But anyways , elkhana , $12,000 . $12,000 . No , there are some procedures that you can that you have to get done to your face to fix it . That is pretty much that much . What are you going to do To live , to pay your people ? What are you going to do ? What are you going to do ? Anyways , Grant Dawson 212 . Okay , so he's making in the six-figure range . Let's see , oh , that includes $106,000 win bonus , okay .

Speaker 2 21:24

And then Ferreira , he did without a bonus , he did walk away with $100,000 , so not bad for a prelim . And let's see Carol Rosa and and island perez . They both walked away with about 70 000 . Oh , no , okay . So island perez walked away with 70 000 and rosa walked away with 75 000 , so 72 to 75 , and perez includes her 36 000,000 bonus and I think that's the real reason she was so mad . I don't know what she has against Tracy Cortez , but it's just weird . It kind of comes off as an odd infatuation . So I don't know , maybe she's just mad that she had to do all that to win money and then yeah , no , no , whatever . But anyways , that is all I have for you .

UFC Fight Night in Saudi Arabia

Speaker 2 22:25

The next time we will have a UFC event will be February 1st . That is UFC Fight Night Saudi Arabia , and that is Israel , adesanya versus Nazardine Imamov . So that one's going to be really fun . I'm excited for it . I obviously think Izzy's going to win I'm such a huge fan , but we'll see . I'm excited to cover it when it happens . And don't forget to check out my TikTok . That is at SheaMyName , and my Instagram is also at SheaMyName , with two Y's in Shea , and I am on Twitter at ShaolinShea . And , just in case you don't know , shay is C-H-E-Y and thank you guys so much for listening . I had so much fun going over all of this stuff and just recording another episode with you guys . No-transcript .