Lightweight News, Hooker Blues, And Delusional Foos!

What's up guys? This week is another fun episode filled with breaking news, pound for pound changes, and tonsss of potential matchups. Catch up on this week's episode!

Transcript

Volkanovski vs Lopez Breakdown

BSD vs Hooker And Mental Game

“Ruffy” vs Fiziev: Style And Next Steps

Rankings Explained And Lightweight Shakeups

Ilia vs Justin On The White House Card

Chandler’s McGregor Pursuit And Better Options

Murphy vs Evloev And Matchmaking Changes

SPEAKER_00 0:10

What's up, guys? Welcome back to the Clinch Podcast. My name is Shay, and if you don't already, please make sure you subscribe or follow. I'm on all socials at Shay MyName M M A. That's C H E Y M Y N A M E M M A. And that's on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, anywhere. So make sure you do that so you can stay up to date on everything that I have going on, all the announcements, all everything. Just do it. Just trust me, okay? So it has been an insane week. It has been absolutely crazy. Things have been changing literally second by second. So I'm glad that we changed our drop days to Friday because it was just meant to be with all the information that just drops day. So I'm so happy. Let's go ahead and jump on in. Last weekend was total chaos. It was everything that we wanted it to be. There were disappointments, there were victories, and everyone was happy and everyone was sad. It was a mix of everything, but it was super fun. So I want to go ahead and jump right in. And if you don't mind, I want to just go ahead and start with Volkanovsky versus Lopez. I think that the fight was great. It went the same way that it did last time, in my opinion, but at a better level. I think that both men did improve. Diego can't take any credit away from him. He definitely put work in. But for Volkanovsky, because of the level of athlete he is, he just he just improves that much better and that much quicker, especially technically. I feel like he's always learning and really taking into consideration the mental aspect of the game, the chess aspect of the game. He actually does very well at adjusting much quicker than his opponents and knowing how to stay offensive instead of having to defend or maintain control like we see in a lot of title fights. So I loved the fight. I think Diego did great. I just think he might need to take a break. I don't know, just readjust. I know this is probably super hard for him. I don't think that a third fight really needs to be in conversation right now. I know that there are some people who don't agree and there are others who do. So I don't know. Just let me know what you think. I personally am just gonna say a third fight just doesn't really need to be talked about right now. It just needs to be someone else. So I think it would be better for Diego to cycle through some more matchups, build himself back up after maybe a little bit of a break. I mean, he broke both of his feet, so he's obviously going to need some time off. But when he does come back, I don't think he needs to be a number one contender or something like that. Either way, I just think his resume needs like a little more meat on it before that third fight can even be mentioned. So let me know what you think. And then next, I wanted to talk about BSD versus Hooker. You know, I was going to jump on here and talk about it. Do you guys see what I mean now? Do you understand what I was talking about last episode when it comes to Dan Hooker? Like his head's just not in it. He really is just not fighting competitively anymore. It was almost like he just didn't know what to do. Like Volkanovsky does very well at nourishing the mental part of his game. I think Dan Hooker needs to reevaluate that aspect before he comes back. I think if he doesn't retire or is cut, I think he should just really take a long time to work on this part of his game because physically he has it. We've seen him do it many, many, many times. So it's just difficult to see where else he would need to improve other than mentally. Homie needs to take some time off. Okay. Sorry, Danny fans. Now, with all that being said, I don't necessarily think that Sondini is ready for that talk yet either. I think he needs a couple more or a few more fights that really show his endurance and his fight IQ. See where those are at against higher-ranked opponents, and then we can see what we're talking about. But off of his performance Saturday night, I just don't personally think we need to be talking about belts, okay? And also just to add, I don't even really think he's ready for Armand yet. I know there were talks about whether or not Armand was gonna fight Justin, if Ilya was gonna be delayed, but we'll get to that later as to why that's not happening. You already know. But if it works out that Armand has time between now and whenever that fight happens to book a fight, then I don't think that BSD should be in that conversation. In a bit we'll get to who I think should fight who. So just hang on to your cookies, okay? So of course I wanted to talk about Roofy. Don't come for me for how I said it last time, Ruffy. It just looks like Ruffy. There are so many fighters, okay? I do my best. Okay, I do my best. I could hear it a million times until someone's like, hey, what are you doing? I'm just gonna keep saying it that way. Because if you pay attention, the commentators say names differently all the time. So who am I to know? Who am I to know? Okay, so, anyways, so this fight went how I thought it would go, and you guys told me that I was wrong. If you're not watching the YouTube version of this, I'm shaking my finger at you right now, okay? I might put this in a reel, but we'll see. It might just be for you watchers. You guys get the finger because you guys told me that I was wrong, that it wasn't gonna go this way, and I told you so. Okay, no, let me stop. Let me stop. We're just having fun. We're just having fun. I'm not bullying you. I promise, don't leave. Subscribe. It was an impressive fight. I thought that it was really fun. Roofy really showed what he was about. He really got himself back on track, but I also thought Faziv was gonna show up a little more. I was shocked at how much Roofy tested his endurance and his durability. That really shocked me because I didn't expect Roofy to really be able to rock Faziv like that, even though he has rocked people before that have been some heavy hitters. But FaZev really just seems like a machine out there. To see a fight that I knew was gonna be good, but it'd be even better is always a fun thing to happen. So I loved it. Let me know if you liked it too. If you're mad, let me know if you're mad. I'd be mad too. Hmm. I'm just kidding. Don't hate me. And what made it fun for me was seeing how Roofy was able to control his like explosiveness. He was able to hone in and refine the chaos that he brings to the octagon. So it's still his very crazy signature style, those pops, those firework punches, but he was able to time them much better and have more technique control the fight instead of his chaotic momentum. So that was super fun for me to see. And I know that's probably why Faziv was having a hard time against Rufi, because he was probably expecting a certain pace. And when he got more of a controlled pace, he was probably thrown off guard. So I think now that he's got his tools and a better balance, I think that he's able to be back in the conversations for bigger names. And I think personally it would be fun to see him fight Patty Pimblett or Mateosh Gemro. And the reason why I want him to fight Patty is because I think they have similar styles. I think Patty's also done a good job at controlling his explosiveness, just like Roofy has. And they have the same kind of energy. So I feel like they'll be able to match up super well together and we'd be able to get one of those classic wars. But I really think it'll be difficult to call now because Patty's just come off of a loss and Roofy's just come off a win. So I think there might have to be a few fights circulated between the two before that fight potentially happens. But with Gamro, I just think that would be like a natural matchup to make next. I think that could be likely. I think it would be enjoyable to watch. But let me know who you think Roofy should fight next because that's a fight announcement I'm actually super excited for. So can't wait for the next Roofy announcement. So there were also some movement in the rankings. We had Volkonowski moving up. I think he's ranked fourth now. And I knew what like pound for pound meant, but I didn't know how it was set up or how it actually worked until I was doing research for my episode. So if you don't know, it's voted on, of course, but it's voted on by a panel of media. So they'll get together and they'll have like a criteria. I don't know the exact criteria they use, but I'm sure it's, you know, based on performance aspects, you know, name any performance aspect, but they sit down, they vote, determine. So I don't know when they do that, how often they do that. If you know, let me know. But I just thought it was cool because I knew what, of course, pound-for-pound rankings were, but I didn't know how they worked, and I thought it was super cool. So if you don't know, now you know. So in the lightweight division, Santini and Ruffy both move up. Obviously, we've got a lot of chaos going on there right now, but it's cool to see it heating up at the same time. Every division has its time to shine, and right now it's just lightweight. It's got all the drama right now, so I'm loving it. And now, Ilya Taporia's case has been settled, case is closed, ladies have been paid. Not my business, but it looks like Ilya Taporia is already training, so it looks like we're gonna get him really soon. Of course, it's gonna be Justin, and we're looking at a White House card slot, so that would be so fun. Go Spain, love Justin, but we know, we know, and if we're disappointed, even better, but I think we know, but it's gonna be amazing. It's gonna be a war, it's not just gonna be an open and shut case, it's gonna be fireworks, super competitive, high energy. This whole White House card is going to be so, so fire. It's gonna be so dope. I'm so excited. And a lot of people are actually thinking it's not gonna happen. And I think it's much more likely that this is gonna happen than people realize. I know most of us know it's gonna happen, but if you aren't on board, like it's gonna be happening in your face, and you're gonna have a pickle on your face or whatever that saying is. I'm pretty sure that's not what the saying is, but it is today, ladies and gentlemen. Shay has made a new saying pickle on the face. I don't want it to be derogatory though. We don't do that on this podcast. But, anyways, incredible fight. I cannot wait. I'm so glad that this fight is finally happening sooner rather than later. And we can be done with all the will they or won't they among fighters and interims and all you know, this lightweight division, the chaos has been fun, but it was starting to stress me out a little bit. So I'm glad that it's back in order. Still the same crazy energy, but just back in order now. So I cannot wait. Let me know who you think is going to win. If you think it's Justin, is it Ilya? Let me know. And I also wanted to mention another section of the lightweight division that just won't stop yapping. So Michael Chandler is, of course, back in the media, still harping on the Conor McGregor fight. He really thinks it's still gonna happen. I think he needs to give it up. Girls, if you're listening, you know how it feels to think that he's gonna call and he never does. Michael, welcome, honey. It's just not happening. I think that if Michael wants to get more realistic, Benoit Saint-Denis would be a very good name for him to try. I think it could be beneficial for either Benoit or Michael Chandler. If Michael wins, it'll show that he can still beat these guys that are at the forefront of the division. But if Benoit wins, it'll show that he can still beat someone who was a big name at one point. So I think it was it would be good. I think that if it goes Benoit's way, Michael would be a new gatekeeper. If it goes the other way around, Michael's back in action. Maybe against Connor one day. But I don't think that but I really don't think that's happening. Let me know if you think it's happening. Maybe I don't know, maybe. Let me know. Do you think that it's likely that that fight will happen? Change my mind. Please change my mind. Try to. Guys, if you know how many takes it took me to say these names back to back, Laron Murphy's fine. But saying Mazvar Evloev versus Lerone Murphy and possibly still not even be getting it right is driving me crazy. So if this take doesn't work, so sorry. And it sounds like it did, so we'll keep rolling. I'm pretty impartial when it comes to that fight. I don't know much about Evloev, but I do think Murphy's cool. I haven't seen the most exciting fights between either men. So it's hard to think about how they will fare against Volkanovsky, but it looks like that's the direction that that division is going. I could be wrong. It just dropped also that Dana White hasn't been involved in the matchmaking for, I guess, quite some time. So we'll see whoever is in charge now, along with Sean and Hunter, if either of them are even still matchmaking. Who knows who's doing what now, but we'll see what direction it's going. It looks like now that everything switched to Paramount Plus, there's a new structure with everything. So we're obviously gonna see that in the matchmaking. Let me know if you think that fight is going to determine who Volkanovsky fights next or who you think Volkanovsky fights next. So this upcoming weekend we have a fight night. The main event is Mario Batista versus Vinicius Olivera. And with this one, I think it'll be much better than it looks like at first glance. We have some newer names, a few older names, but I think ultimately it's gonna be a super fun show. Light night, maybe nothing crazy, maybe super crazy with the sport, you just really never know. And that's why I love it. So with this one, I think that Vinicius is gonna take it just on paper and we'll see what actually happens. But honestly, that's all I have this week. It's been a super fun couple weekends of huge fights, and now we've got a few fight nights. I'm also opening up slots for sponsors. So if your business is interested in sponsoring my podcast, please send me a DM at C-H-E-Y M Y N A M E M M A on Instagram, and I would be happy to work with you and everyone else. Please make sure you follow me and subscribe on YouTube. Like I said earlier, it's C-H-E-Y-M-Y-N-A-M-E-M-M-A on everything. TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, you name it. I'm on there as that. So, with that, I cannot wait to talk about the fights next weekend. Crazy news may drop and it may be even more fun. So, thank you guys so much. I hope you enjoyed this episode, and I'll catch you next time in the clinch.