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Adobe Acrobat, your team's home base. Collaborate within a shared PDF space. You've got your docs, your plans, your specs and then invite the crew to build what's next. They talk up the teamworks using a 3D render. They think that this design could be a contender. When somebody wonders what's the next steps, AI helps you finish the rest. Bolts are tight now. Your plan's refined. Run a smoother business when you're on the line. Do that with Acrobat. Learn more@adobe.com Dothatwith Acrobat Jason I'm Jason
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Concepcion and welcome to Six Trophies, a podcast hosted by myself and four time New York Times bestselling author Chase Serrano. Each week Shay and I are finding the best of the NBA storylines and then handing out six pop culture themed trophies for six basketball related activities. Listen to six Trophies with Jason Concepcion and Chase Serrano on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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It's Saturday, October 6, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The time is 10pm and by Vegas standards, the night is young. In many ways, tonight's a night like any other Saturday on the Strip at the MGM Grand. David Copperfield is pulling people up on stage to perform magic tricks. Blue Man Group is delighting audiences over at the Luxor. Outside the Bellagio, a crowd oohs and ahs as the fountains dance in a choreographed show of light and water. But inside the nearby T Mobile arena, something unscripted and more dramatic is taking place. It's a struggle between the most bitter rivals in combat sports. Conor McGregor, a 30 year old Irishman with the biggest mouth in sports, has collapsed in the corner of the Octagon. He's struggling to catch his breath as his opponent, Khabib Nurmagomedov, rains punches and sharp elbows on his head. Conor winces and tries to block the punches, but right now there's no stopping Khabib. This is how the fight has gone most of the night and now it's late in the fourth round. And it's not just any Saturday night brawl. This is their UFC title fight and many didn't expect it to turn out this way. Conor Nuhabib was one of the best wrestlers on the planet, the favorite son of the Republic of Dagestan in southwestern Russia. He knew Khabib was undefeated, a fierce and disciplined MMA fighter. But Conor had no idea Khabib was this good. And the realization hurts. Literally right now, Khabib leans all his weight on Conor, pinning his arms and legs to the the mat McGregor is helpless at this point. Conor is just trying to survive the round. As Khabib tightens his grip, Conor listens to the alternating chorus of cheers and boos. The crowd is split between the two fighters. Maybe not evenly, but very clearly divided. But it's the famous faces in the crowd Conor cares about most. And being humiliated in front of them stings almost as much as Khabib's endless barrage of hits. Drake, Chris Pratt, Matt Damon, Rory McIlroy, Megan Fox. They're all out in the crowd taking in the match. In Conor's mind, he's one of them. A true showman, a social media star, a celebrity like few others on earth. And he knows the celebrities in the crowd all came out to see Conor McGregor come out on top. This is the biggest fight in UFC history, and he's losing badly. Even worse, there are a record number of fans watching from home on Pay Per View. Conor is embarrassed, but at the moment, he's got higher priorities, like protecting his face. Gasping for breath as Khabib gets him in a complicated chokehold, Conor looks through the cage of the Octagon. His eyelids start to flutter, and he sees the faces of the fans he put in the seats. His celebrity friends he's made his boss, and UFC promoter Dana White. All of them look disappointed. Conor can't believe he screwed this up. He knows he only has one move. He taps out. The fight is over. Khabib is just too good. As the referee peels them apart, Conor stays down, stunned by his own failure. But he gets the feeling that his rival isn't done exacting revenge. From wondery. I'm dan rubenstein, and this is sports wars. In many ways, Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov are the yin and yang of the ufc, the world's biggest mixed martial arts promotion. Conor and Khabib were Both born in 1988. Both fought their first professional bouts in 2008. They're both fearless, driven, hardworking champions. That's where the similarities end. In the octagon, UFC's version of a ring, Khabib is an unmatched wrestling expert who fights opponents down on the mat. It's ground and pound. He's a devout Muslim from a small mountain town in Dagestan, Russia. He's also the UFC's beacon of discipline and respect. Conor, on the other hand, is an in your face, explosive striker. He's covered in tattoos and is infamous for his flashy life. He has celebrity friends, drives expensive cars, and promotes his own line of whiskey. He's also infamous for spewing verbal venom. Conor's been known to insult opponents, countries, religions, and even their families. In 2018, Conor and Khabib finally clashed in and out of the Octagon. But long before they were UFC legends, before they even knew each other's names, they were already on a collision course. This is Episode one Worlds Apart. It's September 1997. In a small mountain town in Dagestan, a province of Russia. A skinny 9 year old boy named Khabib Nurmagomedov blinks his eyes open. He's lying in his small bed and hears the sound of his father's voice. He looks around his bedroom. The stone walls are bare, the paint fading. His father hovers over him and gives him a warning. Today you will be put through a test. Before Khabib can wipe the sleep out of his eyes, his father, Abdulmanap, hands him a red and blue tracksuit and a pair of white tennis shoes. He motions for Khabib to get dressed. Khabib peeks outside. He's confused. The sky is still dark, but he can see that his father is serious. He always is. Abdulmanap is a solid man, still in good enough shape to fight, even if he's added a few pounds. Years ago, he was a Ukrainian martial arts champion. Khabib loves his father's stories from his fighting days. He proudly tells his friends stories about his dad any chance he can get. And he has plenty of chances. For a few years now, Abdulmanap has been training Khabib and his cousins, along with other local boys, in combat sports like sambo and judo. He drills the boys with lessons about hard work and discipline, and he's told Khabib that this is the best way to keep them out of trouble, to keep them from getting into real fights with the troublemakers in town. Habib knows that more than that, Abdulmanap wants his boys to be champions. That's why he sold four bulls to build a gym inside their house. It's why he pushes Khabib so hard. On this early morning, Khabib laces up his sneakers and follows his dad into the darkness. Outside, Khabib follows his dad through the pre dawn gloom, taking in the quiet of the forest. A surge of anticipation and nerves washes over him. He knows he's out here to fight. He just doesn't know who his opponent will be. The stillness is broken by the sound of a chain dragging across the dirt and the cry of his fearsome opponent. Khabib is startled, but he doesn't Jump back. Standing before him is a young bear cub, only a little taller than Khabib, but. But much heavier. Habib sizes up the bear. It has a harness and chain, but no muzzle. He then looks up at his dad. He knows that this moment is important to his father. A chance for the young man to showcase everything he's learned to this point. Khabib looks up again as Abdulmanap flips on his handheld camera, points it at his son, and says, fight. Habib had heard stories of other kids in the village being forced to wrestle bears. He thought they were exaggerating. But here he is, face to face with a wild animal. Even though he's shaking with fear at age nine, Khabib understands he must be obedient to his father. Dagestan's culture is deeply rooted in traditional family structures. His father's word is law. Habib is more afraid of the consequences he would suffer from embarrassing his father than he is of getting roughed up by a bear. So he bends down, tucks his chin into his chest, and lunges after the animal. Khabib tries to apply everything his father has taught him. He makes his way under the bear and grabs its back leg. Khabib's wrestling technique is solid, but it's not working. Still, he doesn't give up fighting, even as the bear begins to bite at his windbreaker and starts to pin him down with his own weight. Now Khabib is trapped under the bear. He looks to his father for help. Abdulmanap doesn't step in. Not yet. And so Khabib knows he has to fight his way out. He's now getting tossed around by the bear, unable to apply the variety of holds he's been trained to use against other wrestlers. But then he finally gets some separation from the bear and stands up. The bear also stands up on two feet. Khabib knows this is his chance. He lunges at the bear's legs and throws it on its back. For a second, he is on top. Just as quickly, the bear wriggles out of his grasp. Khabib's heart is racing. The initial spasm of fear has transformed into excitement. He's loving this, but he's clearly overmatched. When he glances to the side, Khabib can now see his father beaming. At last, he thinks he's proven himself to Abdulmanap. Just as Khabib starts to get winded, Abdulmanap grabs the bear's harness. He then pulls the bear away and pats Habib on the head. The pleased father tells him next time. You'll do better. Yes, Father. Khabib is exhausted. The sun is just beginning to rise as they make their way back through the forest, but he can't wait to collapse back into his bed. But Abdulmanap has other plans. As they walk, Habib realizes they're taking a different route back. They aren't headed back to the house, they're headed for the gym. When they arrive, Abdulmana plays the tape back for his son on the small camcorder screen, critiquing his wrestling moves against the bear. Khabib nods and listens as Abdulmanap lays out the plan for today's training session. Slowly, he understands the bear fight was just the warm up. Now the real work begins. It's 2003 at the McGregor family's middle class home in Crumlin, Ireland. Tonight things are pretty awkward around the dinner table. Still, 15 year old Connor McGregor is too busy devouring food to pay attention to the quiet tension between his parents and sisters. Conor's exhausted from his training session at the Crumlin Boxing Club this afternoon. His coaches pushed him harder than usual. It felt like they were trying to find his breaking point. He refused to let them see how much pain he was in by the end, but now his body feels weak and hollow so he's furiously shoveling food into his mouth. Connor grabs a glass of water and then he finally notices something's up. No one's talking. No one's reminding him to be more focused on school than boxing. Connor looks around the table and says, what's wrong, Tony? His father sets down his fork and takes a deep breath. I have some good news. We found a new house. Connor is skeptical. What's the kicker? Crumlin just isn't the right place for us anymore. You remember that place with the white fence in Lucan? Connor's body is just starting to recover from the grueling training session, but now his ears are ringing as his father ticks through the new house, better neighborhood, a chance to make new friends. Conor barely hears him right now. He just wants to punch something. He wishes he could go back in time to this afternoon at the boxing club. He thought his lungs were going to explode inside that ugly beige gym with the green letters on the wall. But even that felt better than this. Conor then shuts his eyes and tries to shut out the dinner table and transport himself to the place that's been his sanctuary for the last few years. The Crumlin Boxing Club. He flashes back to his first day there as a 12 year old when the coaches teased him for being too skinny to fill out his oversized Ireland national team shirt. He remembers how they helped him wrap his hands for the first time, showed him how to move his feet, throw a punch and take one. He thinks about standing in front of a heavy bag for the first time, imagining the faces of the older boys from his class, the ones who are always chasing him down after school. The ones who beat him up. That gym was the first place where Conor ever truly felt like he was in control and now it's being ripped away from him. He blinks his eyes open. He's trying to hold back tears. There's nothing Connor hates more than feeling like the world is out of his control. He shoves his chair back from the table, rushes off to his room and starts shadow boxing. He imagines himself unloading on a sparring partner a heavy bag, his coach's mitts. Anything to transform his frustration into fury and his fury into powerful jabs and hooks. Anything to take that feeling that things are out of his control and pound it into submission. It's 2001 and 13 year old Khabib is racing home from school to meet his dad for their daily training session. Khabib likes his workouts, but he's trying to fit in as the new kid in town and this is making it hard. The other boys are playing in the street while he heads home to practice submission holds. His father moved the family to Dagestan's capital city earlier this year. It's a big change from the small mountain town where Khabib was born and grew up. But the change of scenery hasn't changed Khabib's daily routine. When he's not in school or at the mosque, he spends his time honing his wrestling with his father. The training is the fabric of their relationship as father and son. They butt heads sometimes and Khabib can sense that he's more hot headed than his dad wants. But he knows that even when he loses his temper, he can't lash out. He hears that message every time they go to the mosque. He's heard it over and over from his uncle. Disobey your parents and you're almost as bad as a murderer. Khabib does his best to honor this. He wants to grow into a good, faithful Muslim man. After training, when the other kids all get to go home and play outside, Habib's dad makes him read and re read his textbooks. That's the work ethic his father picked up in the Russian army. But on a day like today, when he can hear the other kids outside laughing and kicking a soccer ball. Khabib doesn't want to be stuck inside for just a moment. Khabib imagines climbing out the window and running into the street to play with them. But he can hear his father's voice inside his head telling him that he's meant to be different, to be special. And to be special. He knows he must keep working. When everyone else is taking a break, Khabib flips his textbook back to the beginning of the chapter. He pushes the sounds of the kids playing to the back of his mind and begins to read. His father had told him to read the chapter twice, but he starts it for a third time. If special is what his father asks of him, Khabib is ready to go even further.
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What does it take to go racing in the fastest cars in the world? Oscar Piastri your head's trying to get ripped one way, your body's trying to go another. Let's stroll.
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It's very extreme in the sense of
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how close you're racing. Wheel to wheel.
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We've been given unprecedented access to two of the most famous names in Formula One, McLaren and Aston Martin.
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I'm London artists. They build a beautiful bit of machinery that I get to then go and have fun in.
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They open the doors to their factories as the 2024 season reached its peak. I'm Josh Hartnett, this is F1 back at base. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
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I'm Leon Nayfak, best known as the host and co creator of podcasts Slow Burn, Fiasco and Think Twice Michael Jackson. I'm here to tell you about my show, Final Jerry Springer, whose name is synonymous with outrageous guests, taboo confessions and vicious onstage fights. But before the Jerry Springer show became a symbol of cultural decline, its namesake was a popular Midwestern politician and a serious minded idealist with lofty ambitions. Through dozens of intimate and revealing interviews with those who knew Springer best, I examine Springer's lifelong struggle to reconcile his TV Persona with his political dreams and aspirations. Named one of the best podcasts of the year by the New Yorker and Rolling Stone, Final Jerry Springer is a story about choices. How we make them, how we justify them to ourselves, and how we transcend them. Or don't. Listen Wherever you get your podcasts or binge the whole series ad free right now on Audible. Start your Audible subscription in the Audible app.
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It's a burning hot day in Dagestan in the summer of 2007. 19 year old Khabib Nurmagomedov stirs and blinks out his bedroom window in the modest home he shares with his parents. He's been fasting for 17 hours. No food, no water. The air is thick and humid, and Khabib feels sticky with sweat. He quietly climbs out of bed for prayers. When he finishes, he moves downstairs to the Eagle MMA gym his father created on the first floor of their home. After years of training as a wrestler, Khabib has been adding new forms of martial arts to his repertoire. He's working with one of Russia's best judo practitioners, and Abdulmanap is teaching him sambo, the Soviet martial art he learned in the Russian military. Unlike jiu jitsu, a common practice in martial arts, Sambo fighters are focused on throwing their opponents and use a wider range of attacks than judo. The days are long and his body is suffering. But all this training is paying dividends for Khabib. He's on a path to follow in the footsteps of his uncle, who his father trained and who was a combat Sambo world champion. But Khabib isn't focused on trophies. Every day, he's adding to his arsenal. Together with his father, he's creating a blueprint for a level of mixed martial arts dominance the world has never seen. Today, hours into his fast, the sweat is pouring down Khabib's chest as he pummels a training dummy. He stands up a little too quickly and nearly stumbles over with a deep breath. Khabib centers himself, slowing his heart rate enough to keep from passing out. Then he continues pummeling the dummy, preparing to be a fighter unlike any the world has ever seen. It's 2007 on a Sunday morning in Dublin, Ireland. Conor McGregor is standing under a TV and watching the screen with a big smile. Today, he's hanging out in John Kavanaugh's Straight Blast Gym. This is Conor's first time here. His training partners dared him to go, saying they didn't think he could handle the higher level of competition. Conor thinks that's a joke. He can handle anyone. But that's not why he's smiling right now. Conor is cracking up because two of boxing's biggest stars, Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, are talking serious trash on HBO's hit new show 24 7. Conor is mesmerized by their theatrics, especially Floyd's. He's awestruck that Mayweather so clearly has De La Hoya off his game. In one scene, Floyd interrupts a pre fight media session to bring a caged chicken on stage. He squares off against the bird and trash Talks the chicken, who he's named Golden Girl, a mocking reference to De La Hoya's nickname, Golden Boy. Floyd's quick hands, loud mouth and flashy lifestyle have made him into a superstar. He also has a reputation as a volatile personality. He's already pled guilty in two domestic violence incidents. Still, Connor is riveted by Floyd's magnetic personality, the way he spends lavishly on cars and champagne. Connor starts taking mental notes. This is his way forward, he thinks. Fast hands and a faster mouth. Conor then shifts his focus from the TV to the action here. Looking around the gym, he thinks to himself, there's no one here on my level. Conor straps on his headgear, throws in a mouthpiece and challenges a guy who's working one of the heavy bags to spar with him. Conor isn't the same scrawny kid who struggled to defend himself years ago. And today, one after another, he roughs up opponents, going way too hard for a simple sparring session. Most of the other guys don't know who he is and why he's trying to hurt people in practice. But the more he dominates them, the more of them line up for a chance to knock him out. Conor's too caught up fighting to notice that the man who was holding the heavy bag in the corner and calling combos is now charging towards him full speed. This is John Kavanagh, roughly the same height as Conor, as fit as any of the active fighters in the gym, but a decade older and wiser. Cavanagh barks out, you trying to start a brawl in my gym? Kavanagh takes Connor to the ground, knocking the wind out of him. Connor struggles to protect his face with his arms as Kavanaugh screams into his face. Finally, Connor manages to shout back a reply. It's my time. Train me. Cavanagh lets up. He helps Connor to his feet and then playfully shoves him back down to the mat. Conor laughs. Yeah, I'm ready for the next level. It's 2008 and Conor has had it. Tonight he's at his parents house eating dinner and getting ready to drop a bombshell. Lately he's been exhausted. He works long days as a plumber's apprentice and he's tired of eating soggy sandwiches on overturned drywall buckets, tired of fixing water heaters and fishing hair out of drains. His only escape is the gym, but he's losing steam, trying to squeeze in serious workouts before and after 12 hour days on the construction site. He's been fighting every weekend in amateur bouts, but he wants to fight in front of real fans for real money. He can't stand another day of this, which is why he decided to break the news to his parents. At the dinner table, Connor looks up, his eyes full of steely resolve. I'm done with the apprenticeship. I'm going to train full time. There's a moment of complete silence, and then his mom starts crying. His dad then drops his fork and scowls. What makes you think you can do what no other Irishman has ever done? You don't know what it's like to struggle. But Connor won't hear it. Instead, he makes a big I'll be a millionaire by 25. Then his father begins to laugh in his face, and Conor grows furious. Does he think this is a joke? Conor thinks. Then his mom asks a more practical question. What will you do for money? In the meantime, Connor is already living with his parents, and without the money from the plumbing apprenticeship, Connor knows he'll need to start collecting social welfare checks, and he and his girlfriend Dee will have to make some big changes. Still, Connor knows they can make it work. We won't need much. Connor's dad, Tony, then gives him a look. We? Who's we? Me and D. She'll help pay our share once she moves in. Connor's parents are shell shocked. His father grabs his keys and heads out the door, leaving Connor and his mother alone in the kitchen. Connor tries to comfort her, but she waves him off. I'm scared for you, Conner. Connor doesn't say it out loud, but there's a voice in his head that's scared, too. But he knows that nothing great comes from playing it safe. He's ready to face whatever's ahead. It's March 8, 2008. Conor McGregor steps into a boxing ring in a small gymnasium, surrounded by a raucous crowd. Today, his dreams are starting to come true. It's his first official professional fight. Cage of Truth 2 It's not the UFC, but there's decent money at stake. Conor looks like a giddy child heading to the beach, bouncing around the ring in a pair of oversized blue floral swimming trunks. He's clumsy, but his enthusiasm and energy are very real. Early on, he drops his opponent to the canvas with the left hand. By the second round, he settles into a groove, fighting with the intensity and power that will come to define him. He unleashes a flurry of punches so ferocious that the ref has to jump in and stop the fight. Conor leaps from corner to corner of the ring, shouting with joy. He's proved to himself that he has what it takes Become a Professional Fighter. It's October 11, 2008. Khabib is standing in the center of a yellow mat, his hands held high above his head. He's just won three fights in a single night and been named champion of the inaugural Atrium Cup. It was exciting enough to be invited to Moscow to fight, and he knew he was prepared. But he didn't expect it to feel so easy. He won every single round. He always believed he would become a professional fighter from the first time a friend showed him an MMA VHS tape all those years ago. Tonight, Khabib's record has improved to 4 0. His first professional fight was less than a month ago and he won all three five minute rounds of that one as well. Khabib is feeling energized, but not just because he's won. He's excited because he knows that the door to the future he's imagined is now wide open. He knows that this win means he'll soon get an invitation to another tournament. All of the extra training and expectations placed on Khabib by his father are paying off. He looks across the crowd and knows it's not a matter of if he will be called by the ufc, but when. And then who will he need to go through to get to the top? In our next episode, Khabib methodically stalks his way towards championship contention. Conor rockets his way up too, and before long he's celebrating each win with a glass or two or three of Irish whiskey, stacking cash, collecting high end cars and designer couture. But not without a few bumps along the road from Wondry. This is episode one of Conor vs Khabib for sports Wars. We hope you enjoyed this wondery exclusive episode. A quick note about the recreations you've been hearing. In most cases, we can't know exactly what was said. Those scenes are dramatizations, but they're based on historical research. If you'd like to learn more about Conor versus Khabib, we recommend the Anatomy of a Fighter Docuseries the Life and fights of Conor McGregor by Jack Snow Slack and Chaos is a Friend of mine by Ewan McKenna. I'm your host, Dan Rubenstein. I also co host the solid Verbal College Football podcast with new episodes dropping each week all year long. Ben Redmond wrote this story. Edited by Sam Dingman Produced by Jaron Descalo, Gabe Goodwin, Jen Roman and Gabe Riven. Sound design by Jason Freeman. Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer, Beckman Marshall Louis and Hernan Lopez. For wondering,
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I'm Raza Jaffrey. And in the new season of the Spy who, we tell the story of Dr. A Q Khan, the spy who sold nuclear secrets to Iran. He was the scientist spy who stole nuclear technology from the Netherlands and used them to give Pakistan a bomb. But he didn't stop there. He became a black market atomic salesman, the fix it man for rogue states seeking nuclear weapons, including Iran, Libya and North Korea. And that left the CIA and MI6 in a race against time to put him out of business before the world's most wayward regimes get hold of the world's most destructive weapons. Follow the Spy who Now Wherever you listen to podcasts, you can also listen to the full season of the Spy who Sold Nuclear Secrets to Iran early and ad free on Audible.