Give us your thoughts on the episode here!
Welcome to the electrifying launch of Outside the Octagon, where the pulse-pounding world of MMA takes the spotlight. Charleston Payne here, alongside the ever-insightful Jude Starns, to break down the monumental UFC 300 event, providing you with expert predictions and analyses that'll keep you hooked. But wait, there's more—our show spans beyond the thrill of the fight; we're bringing you the stories and insights from the lives that shape this sport. And who better to join us in our next episode than the phenomenal Liz Carmouche, trailblazer and current PFL competitor, sharing her journey and the competitive spirit of the PFL.
Gear up for a deep dive into the matchups that are shaking the foundations of UFC Fight Night. With a card stacked with former and current champions, and fighter bonuses upped to a whopping $300,000, we're in for a night of fireworks. We're placing our bets on the underdogs and the veterans, dissecting the strategies that could lead to victory or defeat. Whether it's the bantamweight bout or the lightweight clash, you'll get the kind of insight that turns casual fans into aficionados.
Capping off our debut with a robust debate over UFC 300's main event, we'll navigate the storm of potential outcomes that could unfold in the Octagon. Will Jamal Hill capture glory with his knockout power, or will Alex Pereira cement his legacy as the reigning champion? Our predictions are in, and you won't want to miss a second of this conversation. Plus, we've got a promise for some cartwheel celebrations if our audience shows us some love. So, strap in for an episode that's as unmissable as the epic bouts we're about to witness.
Give us your thoughts on the episode here!
Welcome to the electrifying launch of Outside the Octagon, where the pulse-pounding world of MMA takes the spotlight. Charleston Payne here, alongside the ever-insightful Jude Starns, to break down the monumental UFC 300 event, providing you with expert predictions and analyses that'll keep you hooked. But wait, there's more—our show spans beyond the thrill of the fight; we're bringing you the stories and insights from the lives that shape this sport. And who better to join us in our next episode than the phenomenal Liz Carmouche, trailblazer and current PFL competitor, sharing her journey and the competitive spirit of the PFL.
Gear up for a deep dive into the matchups that are shaking the foundations of UFC Fight Night. With a card stacked with former and current champions, and fighter bonuses upped to a whopping $300,000, we're in for a night of fireworks. We're placing our bets on the underdogs and the veterans, dissecting the strategies that could lead to victory or defeat. Whether it's the bantamweight bout or the lightweight clash, you'll get the kind of insight that turns casual fans into aficionados.
Capping off our debut with a robust debate over UFC 300's main event, we'll navigate the storm of potential outcomes that could unfold in the Octagon. Will Jamal Hill capture glory with his knockout power, or will Alex Pereira cement his legacy as the reigning champion? Our predictions are in, and you won't want to miss a second of this conversation. Plus, we've got a promise for some cartwheel celebrations if our audience shows us some love. So, strap in for an episode that's as unmissable as the epic bouts we're about to witness.
I would like to take this moment to welcome everybody to the first official episode of the Outside the Octagon podcast, where every episode that we do here is a main event of the evening. Ain't that right, Jude? Yes, sir. So, to get started off, I'm your host, charles Dupain, alongside the co-host here, jude Starnes. Jude, it's good to have you today.
Speaker 2:Great to be back. I'm excited to be on the mic, baby. Yeah, I mean it's super exciting.
Speaker 1:We're actually getting to do a full episode this time, really excited to bring what we got to. You guys Got a lot on the table that we want to talk about. You know, this is not going to really be the typical episode, but because the UFC 300 is going to be tomorrow, we're going to really be hammering down on that today. So we're going to give you our predictions, our picks, as well as just break down every fight just because it's such a huge event.
Speaker 2:but the typical thing you could expect out of a outside the octagon episode is just, truthfully, outside the octagon stuff yeah, and also I just want to mention we're gonna have some super big guests on, it's gonna be great podcast coming up in the future and we're gonna be doing some nice giveaways absolutely.
Speaker 1:It's gonna be awesome. Whenever we get some things going, we're going to schedule up some giveaways, probably start working towards getting some merch around the fifth or sixth episode. I would probably say One thing for you guys to look forward to our next episode is going to drop next Friday and it's going to be featuring Liz Karmouche. I'm super excited about that. She was the first ever UFC women's fighter. I'm super excited about that. She was the first ever UFC women's fighter. She fought Ronda Rousey in 2013. She is still a fighter for PFL, which makes me really excited.
Speaker 1:To go into the next topic about the PFL, we had that PFL first event last Wednesday, which featured the heavyweights and the women's flyweights. First of all, Liz killed it. She did what she had to do out there. She had an absolutely great fight. She picked the girl apart it. She did what she had to do out there. She had an absolutely great fight. She picked the girl apart. She beat her the uh. She beat juliana the first time by ko, the second time by sub and the third time she beat her by decision.
Speaker 1:So she literally proved in every aspect that she is the better fighter in that situation and the crazy thing about her fighting juliana is juliana aside from fighting liz is 12 and f and she's got three blemishes on that record because of Liz.
Speaker 2:And Liz is coming off a Bellator championship where she defended her belt multiple times.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, I mean she had, I want to say, like five or six title defenses in Bellator, so I'm excited to see what she could do in the PFL. You know she's a very exciting fighter former Marine, so very excited to be able to talk to her about her life before the octagon came around and her life going forward, you know, and how it's been, how she got into this thing and I'm excited to bring that to you guys. The first guest episode.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's going to be a great episode. Definitely suggest tune in.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Now the PFL. The PFL had some very interesting fights this past week. I would I'd like to think so. Yeah, some very interesting fights this past week. I'd like to think so.
Speaker 2:What do you think? Some great fights. And if you're unfamiliar with the PFL, they actually incentivize winning by knockout or submission in the earlier rounds because they do a point system. So there's playoffs in the PFL. What is it? Four regular season fights or three?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you get four regular season fights, so each fighter comes in and they fight every eight weeks. Every eight weeks you have to go out and fight again. If you win, by decision, I believe, you get one point if you win. Uh, if you lose, obviously you get zero points. If you miss weight, you get a point docked off of what you could have gotten. Uh, first round finish, I want to say, is worth five points, maybe six. I could be wrong, but uh, and, and it's just really cool how it works. You know, like the whole point system as a whole, you know it's. It's a very awesome thing, incentivizing, like jude said, incentivizing the finishes. It's awesome to be able to see people go out there, especially those heavyweight fights, man, because those, those heavyweight fights they had some guys absolutely throw at them yeah, and it keeps people hungry, because if you're a decision fighter, you're barely going to scrape into the playoffs.
Speaker 2:You have to be perfect, so so it incentivizes the knockouts and submissions and makes the fights more interesting.
Speaker 1:I believe as a whole right yeah, because everybody I mean and then at the end of the season each champion from each division gets awarded a million dollars. And one thing that stood out to me about liz you know, obviously we're going to speak about this in the next episode when we have that interview down with her but one thing that stuck out to me about her is she walked away from Bellator while she had the belt just for the opportunity to go fight in this PFL thing, where it's where it's more active. And what always impressed me about her throughout her whole career, whether it was with the UFC, bellator or PFL she's always been a very active fighter.
Speaker 2:Been a very active fighter and she's climbing up there in age and she's still getting it done.
Speaker 1:She's still winning. Yeah, she's still winning. You know she. She beat a young girl, juliana Velasquez, the last fight and I don't know, I think she's still got a high ceiling at this point, you know, even though she's been in this MMA thing for 11 years now. As far as doing it at professional level, being tracked with the UFC and stuff like that, uh, you know, I think she's just built a a very good, a very good representation of herself and she's got a very high ceiling, I mean still to this point.
Speaker 2:She I mean, and she's obviously a fighter that can go out there and beat anybody in the UFC women's division or in the PFL or the Bellator.
Speaker 1:She's proved it over and over again yeah, six of her last fights were finishes so, and she's an absolute beast. I'm very excited to have her behind the mics. But anyway, that's going to lead us into our next topic, which is the main event here ufc 300. It's going to be tomorrow and I'm super, super stoked about that. How do you feel about it?
Speaker 2:Biggest event of the year, maybe biggest event of the UFC ever. You could make that argument. It's tough to beat UFC 200, 100, even 299. I mean, that's a great card. It's going to be tough to top. They're saying it's going to top it. I believe it can. But UFC 299 was a great card. It doesn't get much better than that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the fighters are going to really have to produce. But I mean, I think, to look at the card from outside, looking in. If you look at the card and you don't think that Dana White absolutely did magic with this, I think you're just a casual fan at that. No, and because there's 12 fighters in this, in this card from the pre, the early prelims, like the very first fight of the night is going to feature a former champion. 12 fighters on this card are either current or former champions and have held the belt at one point.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I believe they might as well just go ahead and paint the mat red, because by the end of the night there's no way this mat's not just painted up red. There's some absolute warriors. All these guys are going to go for finishes. It's going to be exciting. Card. I don't think you're going to be able to shut your eyes. Only person who needs to shut their eyes. Maybe the kids put them to sleep, because there's going to be a lot of people going to sleep in this car yeah, I mean, I fully believe that there's going to be a lot of a lot of action, man.
Speaker 1:I mean, I know the ufc doesn't reward fighters the same way the PFL does and give you the extra points or anything like that for getting a first round or an early finish, but regardless, there's going to be a lot of finishes. And one thing that happened in the press conference is Dana White said that they were going to increase the fighters bonuses. Instead of a 50K bonus for getting a knockout or a finish in any fight, which is what the UFC usually would give, instead of doing that, he's going to do $300,000 for the bonus $300,000 to get a finish, which is automatically an incentive yeah that's huge.
Speaker 2:If you ask me, don't care if you're a millionaire, I don't care if you're Conor McGregor $300,000 bonus Humongous.
Speaker 1:Right and then, looking right into the first fight, we'll go ahead and get started on this with some of our predictions. Here you got a Bantamweight battle between Davis and Figueredo and Cody Garbrandt. I mean Garbrandt held the title for a while there. He stepped down for a while, didn't fight for I believe it was over a year and he's back in it now his last fight. These guys are both coming off wins. I think me personally Garbrandt's the underdog, but I still got a good feeling about him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I might have to agree with you there. I think, Garbrandt, he's still young. He's coming off a world championship. I mean he ran the division for a minute. I don't think he's done yet. He's only 32 years old. He's still got a lot left in the tank.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's got a lot of time to go. I'm excited for that fight. A lot of time to go, I'm excited for that fight. And the fact of the matter is that you have a former champion opening the night. That is the first fight and that's just ridiculous.
Speaker 2:And it's with a veteran Figueredo. They're both veterans, I mean, they're both insanely good Been at the top of the division for a long time now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Figueredo's always been one of those guys. He's kind of like a gatekeeper in a sense for that band of weight division you know if you could, if you can get past him, then you could kind of move up the ladder.
Speaker 1:But that's where you, that's where you know you've made it in the mma world. If you're in that division, yeah. But moving on to the next fight, we got a lightweight fight between two honestly trail blazers for mma as well, in my opinion. You got Bobby Green versus Jim Miller. Both these guys are getting up there in age, but they're both beasts. They've both been good for a while. They've both been around, been through the ringer and, quite frankly, myself personally I could see this being a very interesting fight. I could see it being a good bout. I don't really know who I have, but I think if I'm leaning in any direction, I gotta lean with bobby green here yeah, and jim miller um has the most fights in ufc history, so he's been, wins he's been yeah, he's been in the game for a long time.
Speaker 2:Bobby green little younger, little more significant strikes per minute. I see bobby green taking this, but jim Jim Miller's still a great fighter. Should be an awesome fight.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean I'm looking forward to it so far. I mean, if you really do line those up, that's the first two fights of the night and those could truthfully headline any fight night that the UFC has, the free events that they have for ESPN, plus both of those fights could headline already. I mean I'm telling you those are main events, right there.
Speaker 2:Great fights.
Speaker 1:In any other situation. Next up you got Jessica Andrade versus Marina Rodriguez in the women's strawweight division, the number four fighter, andrade, facing off against the number six ranked fighter, marina. That's going to be an exciting fight, I think. If I'm taking anything on that one, I would probably recommend going with the fight to end with a decision. I would probably recommend going with the fight to end with a decision. I would probably assume you know marina. She's a very big decision fighter. She doesn't really get to finish super often. The average fight time there is about 14 minutes for her. Andra, if there is a finish and rod will be the one to do it yeah, and that's what I was gonna say.
Speaker 2:I really think, with this being a early prelim, that this fight could be a finish, and I think andrade uh will get that done you think andrade's gonna get the win here?
Speaker 1:I think she's gonna get the finish in the early rounds I think if she gets, if it goes to a finish, I think she wins. But if it goes to decision, I think marina's got that, yeah, I agree on a personal agree with that completely.
Speaker 1:And then, to wrap up, this is just the early prelims, guys, that we're talking about here, which just I know I've said that a lot throughout this episode already, but this card is just mind boggling. It's truthfully mind blowing. Whenever you're big into them and may, like Jude and I are, you know this. How do you feel about the card so far, like through the early prelims?
Speaker 2:Oh, there's not a single fight that I'm going to miss.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, I'm not missing anything. And then the last for the early prelims. Before we wrap those up, we got a lightweight bout again. It's going to be Jalen Turner facing off against Renato Money Moikana. That's going to be a very good fight. It's going to be very interesting. I think it could go either way, but me personally, I think I would probably lean towards Jalen Turner here yeah, I definitely agree.
Speaker 2:I think Jalen Turner is going to be a household name in the upcoming years. I think he's a great fighter. He's still coming up. He's got a few losses, but I think he's going to clean that up with a win against Bobby Green by knockout.
Speaker 1:I think he's ready to take off yeah, I mean, I think, I think he's a beast. I'm super excited to see him fight. He's got a 77 77-inch reach for the lightweight division. Humongous, and that's absolutely like you've got to think, the biggest reach in MMA is Jon Jones at what I believe 84-inch reach if I'm not mistaken 84-inch reach and he's only got a 7-inch shorter reach. No ditty than Jon Jones and that's ridiculous for a lightweight guy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and Jalen Turner significant strikes per minute, 6.02. And he has the submission average of 1.23. So he can get it done both ways. This guy is going to be a monster. I think he's a household name in the upcoming years. No disrespect to Maciano, but I think Jalen Turner wins this fight.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely got Jalen Turner here. Now, moving on to the actual prelims. Here we got a few fights, starting off with a featherweight bout between Sadiq Yusuf and Diego Lopez. Diego Lopez is already pretty much a fan favorite here, but sometimes you don't got to go with what all the fans say. You know, sometimes that's not the direct route to go and I think with this case, I'm taking the underdog. I think I got to go Sadiq Yusuf.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and this fight shows is almost a pick-em, but I think that Lopez should not be the favorite slightly even. I think Yusuf is going to get this win. But I think it'll be a great fight.
Speaker 1:Yeah, personally, I think Yusuf's the better fighter. Yusuf is coming off a loss, though, and Diego Lopez obviously coming off his last fight with a win. Both are very interesting fighters, but I just think Sadiq has the edge here. He's 13-3 all-time versus Diego being 23-6. It's kind of a toss-up. The odds are close to being a pick-em, but I strongly lean towards Sadiq here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think Sadiq, at this point in his career, has just slightly got the edge on lopez, but I think they're both two younger, great, featherweight guys that you're going to hear in the upcoming years. Like I've said so many times in this episode now, that's what makes ufc 300 so great a lot of veterans on it, but a lot of guys that's going to be household names in the upcoming years in their divisions right.
Speaker 1:I mean it's super exciting like there's so many guys that we've already named that either have held the belt or will possibly hold the belt at some point, and and we're only through the first- fight of the prelim and and this fight is going to be for the future of the game- right, exactly, especially for the featherweight division.
Speaker 1:That's super exciting to see that division on the rise. It has been pretty prevalent with the Volkanovski-Tepori is the most recent fight that really mattered in that division in my opinion, and that was an absolutely insane fight. I had Ilya to win by knockout and lucky enough for me that ended up going my way. Yes, sir, lucky enough for me that ended up going my way. So, yes, sir, super excited, very exciting division, though they got some absolute beast in there and they're these guys are hot on the rise. I think either guy that wins this fight could possibly be fighting for a title at some point yeah, there's no doubt.
Speaker 2:Both these guys are going to be contenders in the featherweight division at some point in their career, right?
Speaker 1:now leading up to the next, we've got an absolute beast that has been around for a while and she's a tank facing off against a lady that is making her UFC debut. You got a women's bantamweight bout with Holly Holm facing off against Kayla Harrison. Now, personally, in this fight, I don't know how you feel about it. I don't really know where I lean, you know, I think I think you could just take the fight to go to decision and leave it at that I think it goes to the decision, but I think kayla harrison's gonna win this fight.
Speaker 2:Holly holm was a monster in the sport. She's absolute dinosaur, though respective respectfully, she's a dinosaur, I mean, she's 42 years old everybody yeah, everybody's time is gonna expire at some point and I think holly holmes just her career's kind of done. Kayla harrison's in the prime of her career right now, so I think she wins this fight I think kayla harrison can pull it off.
Speaker 1:But I also just don't sleep on holly holmes for obvious reasons, and and.
Speaker 2:Kayla Harrison absolutely ripped for a women's UFC fighter. Not saying that they're not ripped at all, but she's like six-pack abs. I mean it's insane, yeah she's shredded, bro, absolutely ripped.
Speaker 1:I mean, both of these ladies are absolute beasts, though. Very good fight. It's going to be entertaining, it's going to be interesting. You get to see Holly Holm return to the octagon. I'm super excited, I'm super looking. I'm really looking forward to that fight and then the next fight is also going to be us just wow, crazy. We're getting back into the fights now where we got former guys that held the belt before. You got calvin cater in the featherweight division facing off against algia aljermaine sterling aljermaine held the belt in the bantamweight division for a while until Sean O'Malley came in and took it away with the two-piece there and that was a ridiculously good fight. I believe that one was in August of last year and that was an extremely good fight. I'm excited to see Al Jermaine get back out there. Calvin Cater's been around for a while. Both of these guys have been around a good while, but I think I've got to go with the Funkmaster here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think this is a tough one to predict and I'm excited to see more what happens after the fight. I don't know if Al Jermaine Sterling is going to stay in the featherweight or go back bantamweight, and so that's what's interesting to me. Guys historically do better jumping up a weight class than cutting down, but I just don't know. Aljo is short. I think it'll be a great fight, but I'm more looking forward to see what Aljermaine Sterling's future holds in the featherweight division or in the UFC in general.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, I mean I think he could probably stick with featherweight and make something work, especially if he wins this bout. I mean, don't sleep on Calvin Cater though. Calvin Cater is the same guy that stood in there with Max Holloway during that fight, when Max Holloway was literally talking to DC, telling DC he's the best boxer in the UFC, while looking at DC throwing a punch and then parrying and dodging all the punches coming from Cater.
Speaker 1:He's insane but, Cater was getting beat up that entire fight, throughout the entirety of it, and that fight still made it to decision. Yeah, he's a tough, he's a.
Speaker 2:He's a tough guy yeah, and honestly I think that calvin cater is going to get back into the win column. After a decision loss against josh emmett and arnold allen by knockout victory over him, I think he's going to jump back in the win column here against aljo so you got calvin cater over aljo yeah, I just don't. I really honestly believe that aljo's for the bantamweight division. I think the featherweight division is going to be too much for him, but we'll see he's a great fighter.
Speaker 1:We spoke about featherweight a minute ago, about how stacked the division is getting at this point, and to see these two guys facing off, that should go to prove to you something. But I got to say I strongly disagree with you there, jude. I definitely 110% all day. I've put the mortgage on Aljo. Well, it's hard to bet.
Speaker 1:Aljamain, I think he's got it Just because the guy's held the belt. You know, calvin Cater hasn't got to that point yet and I don't think he's going to reach that status, unfortunately, because he's a great fighter. I'm not knocking the guy and I'm not saying that he can't beat Aljo, because I think this is going to be a very interesting fight and it could swing either way, but personally I strongly feel like Aljo's got this one in the bag.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but Aljo, he's coming up to the featherweight. I don't know if he's ready for the big dogs of featherweight. Personally, I don't know.
Speaker 1:Only time will tell. I guess we'll see tomorrow. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, only time will tell.
Speaker 1:I'm excited I'll tell you what man everybody listening to the podcast today. I'm super excited for you guys to be able to watch this event. Hopefully you get the chance to to watch it or at least at least go back and re-watch the fights at some point, because this is just going to be so exciting. And that leads me up to the light heavyweight bout to end the prelims. Probably one of my favorite fighters all time, you got jiri prahashka versus alexander rocket. I I got to take Jiri here. I just don't understand why Jiri is the underdog. Even though it's pretty close to pick them odds, they still have Jiri as the dog. He's at plus 100 odds and I just I can't go against him.
Speaker 1:I think the guy's a beast. You know he's super skillful. I like the fade. He's got to like the hair thing that he got going. He's had that going for the last few years. That's super sick and he's not a very active fighter, which is the only thing I wish I could see more out of him is just see him fight a little bit more. But when the guy comes out there, he comes out. He comes out headhunting and he's and all of his strikes come from super weird angles he's very hard to defend against. You've seen everybody he's ever fought have trouble, at least throughout the first round, figuring out how to defend his punches, just because the angle he throws from he's very similar to like a michael venom page or like an anderson silva guy, except he's not hands all the way down by the waist, his hands are like mid-level with him, but they just, they come from wherever he wants to put them at and yeah, I agree with you on this fight.
Speaker 2:jiri, I think should be the here. I don't see why he's the dog. I think that Rakic could be very good in the future. I just don't know. It's tough to pick against Jerry. I would like to see him more active, like you said, but he holds the advantage two-inch reach advantage in this fight and has almost every advantage in every category. Now, that doesn't always mean that he's going to win the fight, but it's tough to bet against Jerry and I think Jerry's going to get in the win column with this one, with his 30th win.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean he's nasty bro. I mean I just I don't know, it's hard to be Jerry, it's hard to bet against Jerry, and I just and like I said before, he's one of my favorite fighters it's going to be a very interesting bout for the light heavyweight to end off the prelims. That's what I think, and I definitely got a lean jury here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree 100%.
Speaker 1:Now to kick off the main card. This is the only thing in this entire fight card that I maybe disagreed with Dana White on, and given Bo Nickel has had his past, I want to say like three or four fights have been on a main card, but is he main card worthy for 300? Especially considering he's facing an opponent like Cody Brundage, which no disrespect to him, he's a great fighter and everything, but I just don't. Bo Nickel is the most heavily favored fighter in this fight at minus 2100 odds, as any fighter has ever been in ufc history. This would legitimately. If brundage somehow some way pulled this off, this would be the biggest upset in ufc history and I just don't see that happening. Obviously you have to go a bow nickel here, but it's not even worth messing around with in my opinion. If you're, if you're, betting man, I wouldn't touch it just because it'sfully there's no value in it.
Speaker 2:And Bo Nickel is a Southpaw fighter, whereas Brundage is an Orthodox fighter, which is another advantage I believe will work with Bo Nickel in this fight. And Bo Nickel, I mean you just can't say enough about the guy. Get this guy some contenders to fight. I mean, he's had his way with every single fighter and a fight I'd really love to see is bo nickel versus comes out, because I just that should have been this fight card to me. I know right comes up versus whittaker is going to be a great fight, but those are two fighters to similar and I would have really loved that. I think that would have sent ufc 300 over the top. I know a lot of people disagree with me because Bo Nickel just don't have enough experience, but do we really need to just sit here and watch him just beat all these guys? I mean he just destroys them, picks them up, carries them around the octagon. It's not even fun to watch. They said he couldn't win by knockout. He comes out, he wins by knockout. He just does what he wants.
Speaker 1:I mean, he has his way in the octagon. Just give him somebody. He's got total control when he's in there, and that's the only reason I disagree with this being in the main card. And to open up the main card of ufc 300 is just because they don't have a good enough contender in there.
Speaker 1:I feel like yeah, and like I said, no disrespect to brundage. He's a great fighter, but to throw him in there against a guy like bo nickel is just hard. You want to see Bo Nickel. If you're going to see Bo Nickel fight in the main card of UFC 300, which Dana promised is going to be the biggest, best, baddest event in UFC history I just don't understand how he is ahead of a guy like Jiri. He's ahead of a guy like Aljo, who, Aljo, literally held the belt. What seven, eight months ago? Yeah, he was literally the champion of the UFC. And you got this guy that's fought three, four, five fights in the UFC and he's opening up the main card. That's the only thing I disagree with here and against Cody Brundage.
Speaker 2:You've got to give him somebody and I'm not disrespecting Cody Brundage. He's going to be great later in his career, but it's just too early for him to fight Bo Nichols on such a streak. He's had his way. I think he deserves somebody that's up there at the top of the rankings in the middleweight. I think that'd give him a fight That'd test him. I want to see him test it, because he hasn't proved much, but what he's proved is he's going to take care of business in these fights. Hats off to cody brundage, though, for taking this fight. He doesn't seem scared at all. A lot of people decline bo nichols fight. That's one of the reason he's not as active as he could be, because a lot of people declines fights which literally just proves how great that he is at the sport.
Speaker 1:but it's also unfortunate because you do have him getting, or you do have the top guys getting, offers to fight Bo Nickel, but they won't take it. And it's not because he's not legitimate enough, it's literally because he's too damn good.
Speaker 2:I think we need Hamzat Bo Nickel. I think it'd be a great fight.
Speaker 1:I couldn't agree more. If you had Hamzat Bo Nickel, that could literally run this card, it could be the main event. I disagree just because of the talent difference here to open up the main event. But you know, I disagree just because of the talent difference here to open up the main card. I mean, it's just going to. I understand the UFC might want to start it off with a finish and Bo Nickel's going to get that finish here. If you're going to take anything, bo Nickel, to get the finish, whatever way you want to take it, yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1:Now the next fight is one that really excites me as well. It's a lightweight bout. It's the number one lightweight contender versus number four lightweight contender. Charles Dobronk Oliveira is going to be facing off against Arman Sukarian or Sarukian. Sorry, and I just do not it. It can't cross my mind and it whenever it does, it doesn't cross my mind, right, and it whenever it does, it doesn't cross my mind, right. Why is Olivera the dog in this fight? Like I def, I understand that Armand has a has only three losses on his record, only three blemishes. He's 21 and three all time. Charles has been around for a while, but I just don't see him beating Dobronks here.
Speaker 2:I got to go, charles Olivera, without any doubt in my mind yeah, give me do bronx lock of the night. I think do bronx is going to take care of business here. Armand, great fighter, could be insanely good, could run the lightweight division in the future. Olivera, though he's had that one loss for the belt, but other than that and it was to islam it's not like he got handled. I mean, he competed in that fight. He could easily still have the belt.
Speaker 1:He got beat by the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC right now, why is he not the favorite here?
Speaker 2:Is it because he's too old? He's only 34. I mean, he's still got a solid three years. Charles Oliveira's ran the lightweight division Insanely good guy. He can get it done by knockout and he's so good at forcing you to come to the ground with him, and then he lets you out. He lets you think that you have a better position. Next thing you know he's on your back. And once he's on your back, it doesn't matter Stand up back, flop whatever you need to do, he's not letting go.
Speaker 1:Yeah if Charles Oliveira takes your back.
Speaker 2:You're going to sleep every time.
Speaker 1:It doesn't. I mean I've seen him the one fight that. I've seen him take somebody's back on and not get it immediately was Dustin Poirier and he still choked him.
Speaker 2:He got Poirier from the back.
Speaker 1:Then Poirier shakes him off. And as soon as Poirier shakes him off, poirier didn't even get stood back up.
Speaker 2:well, from shaking him off his back again, rolling him over, and that's what he's been so great at in his career is getting on people's back, and you can get so much offense done that way, but, unlike guys like Colby Covington, he gets on your back and he goes to work. He's constantly working. He's throwing punches and it's impossible to punch a guy. He doesn't have to play defense. He's just a strictly one of the most offensive fighters we've seen in the UFC. He's constantly working, constantly working for a finish, constantly hitting your head, constantly elbowing you. It's just impossible. And once he's on your back, it's over. You can just go home.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, call mommy, bro, because you're going to get hurt.
Speaker 2:You better hope the bell rings yeah.
Speaker 1:There's not a lot that can come in there and save you other than yourself tapping out of that bell ringing. If he takes your back, write it off. It's over with the next fight, fight of the night. In my opinion, lock it in that one. Right, there is going to be one of these guys are going to be cutting off the bonus checks. These guys are going to be feeding their families for sure. This is going to be a bloodbath. It's going to be wild, it's going to be disgusting, it's going to be nasty. Put your kids to sleep, wake them back up for the next fight.
Speaker 1:This is going to be a crazy fight and I don't think anybody could change my mind about that. It's the fight for the BMF belt, and if you don't know what BMF stands for, look it up, or probably figure it out, because it shouldn't be that hard. But it is the BMF belt fight between Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway. Personally, I'm not sure where I'm leaning in this fight, but, like I just said, this fight is going to be an absolute bloodbath. Blood will be shed, guys are going to get cut. There's going to be blood all over that octagon. Like jude said before, paint the octagon red just because it's not going to do you any good, depending on the other color, because by the time this fight is over, they're going to make the canvas their own canvas of blood.
Speaker 2:I promise you this is going to be crazy no, strictly offense, they're just going to go punch for punch. I don't expect to see any defense on this fight. The only defense is a guy's face getting hit. So I mean, it's just who can take more damage, and I think historically max holloway doesn't do good coming up to lightweight. So give me justin gaethje in this fight and same win streak and give me justin gaethje versus dustin poirier, part two for the title, when dustin poirier takes that title from his long baby.
Speaker 1:I believe that I think Dustin's got a shot by Gilly, baby Jumping Gilly by Gilly. Don't be silly, jump that Gilly. But honestly I hate to do it. I think Gaethje is probably going to win, but deep down in my heart I just can't pick against Max Blessed Holloway.
Speaker 2:No, and I understand, understand so.
Speaker 1:I have to go Holloway here just because my heart won't let me go against him. You know, I'm probably legitimately going to shed a tear if Holloway loses this fight. Yeah, these guys. He's a stand-up guy and I think both of these fighters, first of all, first and foremost, I think both of these fighters very well represent what it is to be a BMF.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Either one of them that comes out on top of this fight is truthfully a BMF, and I think both of these guys, before the fight, before the belt gets handed out to anybody, are both BMFs.
Speaker 2:And definitely on paper, this could be one of the greatest UFC fights in history. It's definitely got that potential. Right now, I think it's obvious Robbie Lawler, Laurie McDonald too, would probably be the greatest, but this could be that this could top that I think it very well, could.
Speaker 1:I mean? Holloway's absorbed the most significant strikes without ever being knocked down. He's never been knocked down in his career. He's landed the most significant strikes in ufc history, landed the most strikes in ufc history, landed the most strikes in a single fight in ufc history and landed the most significant strikes in a single fight in UFC history. That's why I think it's hard to bet against the guy. I mean you already know I'm the best boxer in UFC. Baby, that's that man, that is him, he is him, he is that guy and he is Max Blessed Holloway.
Speaker 2:And he does have the power of the floral shorts, baby, the custom floral shorts for this fight.
Speaker 1:So the floral shorts, baby, the custom floral shorts for this fight. So before we get to the next fight, I want to talk about that because that completely slipped my mind. How do you feel about these custom shorts that these fighters are using.
Speaker 2:I like it. Bryce Mitchell with camo started it and then Sean O'Malley with the pink. I think it's really cool. I liked when they used to do sponsorships on the shorts. It gives the fighters creativity, makes it kind of more fun. It gives the shorts. It gives the fighters creativity, makes it kind of more fun. It gives them, gives you something extra to look at. Because who just wants to watch a guy in black and a guy in white fight all night right? Or a guy in blue or red?
Speaker 1:like I want to see some custom shorts, some camos, I want to see all that stuff I'm excited because I mean, the majority of the fighters on this card have received custom shorts for the fight and I love it. They all look super sick, like we're gonna get into him in a little while or pause we're gonna talk about for a little while, whoa, okay, not that kind of podcast not that website no, I promise no ditty we're gonna talk about for a little while, but his shorts, I are probably the sickest ones.
Speaker 1:Anyways, the next fight that we have on the list and it is going to be the co-main is a women's drawweight title bout with Zhang Wei Li, who is an absolute beast, an absolute tank in the women's division. I truthfully love to watch her fight versus Yan Zinan. I'm sorry if I didn't pronounce that last name right. I don't believe I did, but that's just bad journalism on my part, I suppose. Personally, I have to go with Zhang Weili here. I don't think there's any way she loses and I, honestly, would probably take her to get a finish.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think it goes to decision. I think a lot of women's title fights goes to decision Zhang. Think a lot of women's title fights goes to decision Zanguele always hungry for a finish. Probably one of the greatest women's sports athletes in any sport of all time. You hear it so often. It's really under. People underestimate how athletic she is. She could be one of the best athletes in UFC history. She just gets up so high. She's so explosive. She could be playing of the best athletes in UFC history. She just gets up so high. She's so explosive. She could be playing a number of sports. I think she could go pro in the WNBA women's tennis. It doesn't matter, she's just a pure athlete.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, she's an absolute tank.
Speaker 1:And one thing that's super cool about her when she gets that finish she does that little sideways cartwheel no hands she doesn't touch her hands on the ground and does a sideways cartwheel, like I know that's probably not that cool to most of the people listening, but that that hypes me up, like because you know how bad I wish I could do that. Yeah, I know, I know you probably wish you could. Like just dude, think about it. Like just imagine like you're walking through campus one day, like going to class, and you're just like you know what, watch this. That's like that's kind of rich you know, like you.
Speaker 1:You pop the backpack off and you kind of hit the little side cartwheel.
Speaker 2:No hands like I mean, I could probably do it if I tried, but I'm not gonna try that because I don't want to embarrass other people around me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I could probably do it, but I mean, I'm not even gonna give myself that kind of hype. I know for a fact. I mean, some of you guys listening right now probably know who I am personally and stuff like that. So I mean, just imagine me doing a cartwheel and that's what I want you to picture while you're listening to this episode. I'll tell you what if we get to 10K subscribers by my birthday in 2025, may of 2025. If we have 10K subscribers on YouTube, I'll do a sideways cartwheel.
Speaker 2:No hands, I will practice and I will learn it.
Speaker 1:And if we hit 10K subscribers as soon as we do, I will begin to practice it and I will post every day on the outside of the octagon Instagram until I perfect it and I will do that shit as a matter of fact. Shake on it, you hold on a second.
Speaker 2:I look forward to seeing that one. Well, actually, I don't. I don't know if my eyes can even see that it's gonna be ugly.
Speaker 1:It's gonna be like the black crow song hard to handle, right?
Speaker 2:but but back to the fight. Because we got a little off topic there, but, uh, you know it's all good outside the octagon baby. So so, because we got a little off topic there, but you know it's all good Outside the octagon baby, that's what we do. So just make it a little interesting. But Zhang Weili also a switch stance fighter. I love watching switch stance fighters. It sometimes, a lot of times. It's very interesting to watch these switch stance fighters.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because they literally could piece you up either way. You know like her left is just as dominant as her right, and that's super fun to watch, especially because she's also very good with her legs.
Speaker 1:She could kick very well hard to beat a person that can go switch stance if she could switch those stances up and then keep leg kicking you, leg kick you with the left a couple times, leg kick you with the right, go one-two with the head or something. Maybe cut a couple uppercuts in there. She's a scary fighter, though, and she will, and she definitely will. You know, I'm giving you all the full scouting report right now. Zhang Weili is going to win and I don't think it's going to go to decision. Even though, typically, the women fights do have a tendency to go to the go the distance. I don't think this is going to be one of those.
Speaker 2:I don't think this is going to follow history yeah, and I think zhang weili heavy favorite in this fight and for great reason I don't think she loses this fight, uh, but I could see it going to decision, so we'll see and now, just like the outside, the octagon podcast, it is the main event of the evening.
Speaker 1:This one is something that a lot of people are complaining about. A lot of people didn't think this was going to be the main card for 300. A lot of people say it's not the best card. A lot of people say this one ruined the card. It wasn't the best title fight that you could have had. It wasn't the best main event you could have had. Uh-uh, throw that out. This is an incredible fight and this is just going to top off an incredible night, an incredible Saturday, april 13th. You're not going to want to miss it. This is going to be probably one of the greatest light heavyweight title belts that we've ever seen. You got Jamal Sweet, dream Seal, the challenger, facing off against the champ, alex Poiton Perea, and I feel like I already know what Jude's going to say on this prediction. So let me go ahead and say I strongly disagree with whatever you're going to hear next, but I have Poetan winning this fight.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think there's no chance in Poetan's dreams that he wins this fight. Sweet dreams is going to put him to sleep, just like Riff Raff said, baby, sweet dreams going to come out. He's going to win this fight early on. I don't think it makes it past the second round. No matter who you pick, these guys are gonna come out swinging. They're light heavyweights but they fight like the biggest heavyweights in the world. They're gonna get a knockout. They're gonna get a finish in this fight gonna be incredible. Don't blink or you might miss it, baby.
Speaker 1:This is definitely a finished fight. I totally agree with that. I strongly disagree with who you have winning this, though I mean I just poeton, just speed ran the ufc man like he's a two division champ and he has 11 fights in his career yeah, but there ain't a horse, uh, that ain't been rode and a cowboy that ain't been thrown.
Speaker 2:A lot of people don't give Jamal Hill his respect. He's on a four-fight win streak, all by knockout, other than his last win, which was by unanimous decision as well. Guy's insane. I don't know why he doesn't get his respect.
Speaker 1:I think he's going to advance to a five-fight win streak, with a knockout win over Pereira. And another thing is he did for a while there hold the belt, although he had the terrible Achilles heel injury, which is just such a sad thing to see happen to a fighter, which, truthfully, is my main reason that I think that Jamal Hill is not going to be able to get the win here, just because I don't think he had enough time to rehab that. That's a tough injury to take, unless he was on some Aaron Rodgers shit and was smoking some ayahuasca down in South America somewhere.
Speaker 2:I definitely get that. This will be his first fight coming off the injury. Maybe not an ideal fight for Jamal Hill to take coming off the achilles injury. They are similar in reach same exact reach orthodox versus southpaw match up, with jamal hill being the southpaw and peray obviously being the orthodox. I think it's going to be a great fight. There's so many similarities here one of those similarities that both these guys knock guys out. I mean, they put guys to sleep. There's a reason they call them sweet dreams and there's a reason pereira is holding the title after only 11 fights in mma, right, I mean I don't know this.
Speaker 1:If you don't think that this is the best main card for ufc 300, you're wrong and I think I think it's going to show in the future, Because I mean, obviously, you literally see it here listening to the Outside the Octagon podcast.
Speaker 1:You see it or maybe not see it yet because we don't have a camera but you hear us saying Jude and I are having a legitimacy or having a legitimate debate here almost over the fact of who we think is going to win this fight, which should just go to prove to you that this is an incredible fight. I'm not saying that jude and I are are absolute perfectionists and know everything that's going to happen in mma, because it's, truthfully, one of the more unpredictable sports, but that should prove a point to you that this is a very good fight, because we cannot come to an agreement on who's going to win this thing, who's going to walk away with this title.
Speaker 2:No, I don't see how anybody could look at this UFC 300 card and not say, at least on paper. Not all fights go as planned, not all cards go as planned. It can look great and not be great, but at least on paper, one of the most impressive cards I've ever laid my eyes on.
Speaker 1:I could not agree with that more. I'm so stoked for this fight and I'm so excited for you guys to be able to watch it and if you joined us here today and taking a listen to the Outside, the Opticon podcast. From the bottom of my heart, I deeply thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we truly appreciate you and we're going to show that appreciation in these upcoming giveaways. I promise you have some great giveaways, plan some some great things for the fans and we appreciate every single one of you guys absolutely.
Speaker 1:If you don't mind, go spread the word about the podcast. Our instagram is at outside the octagon pod underscore. Our email is outside the octagon pod at gmailcom. You can email us any questions you have, if you have something that you'd like for us to talk about in the episode, or the dms are always open, of course, so you could hit the dms and we will check out your dms if you have any questions you'd like to be answered or any topics you'd like to be covered on the next episode, or maybe even if you have a question you'd like for us to ask Liz at some point, or maybe one of the future guests, we could try to slide that in there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we're definitely going to be taking y'all's guys advice. You don't want to miss episode, because every episode is the main event.
Speaker 1:Every episode is the main event and, like I said, you know, like Jude said, we appreciate you joining us, we appreciate you listening to us and hope you enjoy the episode. Got any questions, questions, any advice? Hit the dms, hit the email, you know where to find us. God bless you, guys, and happy 300 fight week, I guess.
Speaker 2:huh yeah, have a great time watching these fights. Don't blink, because you may miss something right, and make sure you watch this video so that way you can get all the expert picks in from me and Charleston.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, the expert picks are here. We laid it out in front of you. We broke down every single fight for UFC 300. And I think that we're going to be right, except for on the last one. One of us has to be wrong here, which?
Speaker 2:kind of excites me.
Speaker 1:I'm kind of glad. You know it wasn't planned, but I am kind of glad that we disagreed on the main event.
Speaker 2:That makes it a little interesting.
Speaker 1:You know, we both got a little something to watch for here. One of us is going to be right and one of us is going to be bragging next week on the next episode.
Speaker 2:And that next episode is going to be an absolute banger where we talk outside the octagon life with Liz Karmouche.
Speaker 1:It's going to be super exciting. Great fighter, great person, super excited to be able to speak with her, and I know you are as well, jude.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so many more exciting guests coming after. So this is just the beginning.
Speaker 1:This is just the start and it's only right to have the Trailblazer Women's MMA be the Trailblazer for the first guest outside the office.
Speaker 2:Yes sir, Couldn't start any better.
Speaker 1:I'm really looking forward to it, really looking forward to speaking to her, and thank you guys so much for listening. That is going to wrap up the very first full-length episode of the Outside the Octagon podcast.