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Daniel Cormier
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. This podcast is sponsored by Total Wireless, the official wireless partner of ufc. Power doesn't wait in the octagon or outside of it. You either make the move or you miss the moment. That's why you need a network that's just as powerful as you are. With Total Wireless, you get unlimited 5G data keeping you in the action from the walkouts to the knockouts. Now that's a total power move. Make your total power move today. Visit totalwireless.com or stop by your neighborhood Total Wireless store. Additional terms apply. See total wireless.com for details.
Ryan Seacrest
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Daniel Cormier
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Ryan Seacrest
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Daniel Cormier
What's up, guys? Welcome to a brand new episode of Funky and the Champ. I'm Daniel Cormier. That has been asking. Today's episode is brought to you by Total Wireless, the official wireless provider of UFC. They are in your corner with unlimited 5G data that will not slow you down. Now that is a total power move. So, Ben, Power move or Non power move on Dana White's behalf. And then on the flip side of the coin, power move are not a power move on Jon Jones's behalf for calling him out.
Ben Askren
Wow. I never really thought about in a power move context, but, you know, I. I've talked about. On the show, I've had the experience of Dana not telling the truth about me. So I know what that feels like, and I know that I'm probably not supposed to totally trust everything that he says. That being said, John is equally as enigmatic. You know, he fights. He doesn't want to fight. And, you know, really, when you look at his record, he very intermittently fights. He has not fought a lot. Honestly, I was thinking even the last decade, I should go look it up, the fact check myself. I know 20, 20, he fought three times, but I want to see the other. The other eight, nine years of that decade. He probably fought less than nine times, I would guess, which is less than once a year. And, you know, we. We talked, I think, the last time about the value of fighters. And. And the issue there. We never. We were going to talk about that. We didn't was. I think it's an interesting topic, but I know. I'm sure they said, hey, John, we're not paying you anymore. And he wanted to be paid more. And honestly, that's probably what it comes down to.
Daniel Cormier
Okay, so let me read you what happened. Yes, Dana, you were heated about why I'm not on the White House card, but let's clear something up. My team and I were actually negotiating with the UFC for that fight. Real negotiations. I even came down from my original number and what I was offered in return, I was lowballed. If the UFC truly feels like I'm done, then I respectfully ask to be released from my contract. Before that, he said, yes, I do have arthritis in my hip, and it's painful, but that doesn't mean I can't fight. So let me get this straight. If I had accepted the low ball offer, suddenly my hip would be fine and I'd be on the White House card? He goes, that does not make sense to me. So where this started was on Saturday, Dana said something to the effect of Jon Jones was never going to be on the White House card. That affected Jones. Jones comes out and says, yes, I was. We were in negotiations as recently as Friday. Here's. Here's where I don't. Here's why I'm lost. Okay. Jon Jones has had a lot of interactions with the ufc, positive and negative, right?
Ben Askren
Correct.
Daniel Cormier
So why would he be so hurt by it? If something he knows isn't being given to the public, why would he be so hurt by it? When there have been many occasions where they've talked negative about each other and not been able to come to terms on other things, Sometimes on John's doing, Sometimes on the UFC's doing, they have not been able to come together. Why would he be so hurt now? Because it was made to seem like he was never going to be on the White House, when in reality, from the very beginning, they said he would not be on the White House. Then John said, I want to be on the White House. I'm going to come out of retirement. I want to be on the White House. Why would it hurt his feelings so bad now?
Ben Askren
Yeah, I mean, that's a great question, and I have absolutely no answer.
Daniel Cormier
He seemed crushed. He's laying in bed and he seemed crushed.
Ben Askren
Yeah, I don't know. I. I mean, honestly, I have no answer for you. And because to the point you're making, his Last fight was 16 months ago, so it's not like he's been an active fighter. I. I did look in the last decade. Let's see if you know this. In the last decade, ten years ago from today, how many times did Jon Jones fought?
Daniel Cormier
I would say he fought. I mean, obviously three in 2020. Because you told me that.
Ben Askren
Well, no, I messed that one up also, though. I was 20.
Daniel Cormier
He did not fight for a really long time. I think the first time he came back was Cyril Gane, and then he fought Stipe. He's only fought five times since 2020.
Ben Askren
No, it's eight times since a decade ago. So eight times in a decade. Since 2016.
Daniel Cormier
Since 2016, he's fought eight times. That's. So that's not very often. One, that tells you he's making a boatload of money. Right, to not have to fight like that. And two, John, it really tells me that for as much and for as good as Jon has been, he really has missed a lot of his fighting years. Because remember this, when he fought, when him and I fought in January of 2015, and then he got suspended when he got into that accident, I fought Rumble. Then I fought again in October. John and I weren't scheduled to fight until the summer, but he fought in April of that next year, so he missed 15 months. Then when we rescheduled for the summer of that year, John actually got that issue. He was gone again all of 16 from UFC 200 all the way to UFC 200. And 14. So it's like he was another year and something maybe a little longer before he fought again. So it's like so many, so many times, so many times he hasn't fought. And in so many instances, I'd imagine the UFC won. Ben. Since 2015, I fought 11 times and I've been fired for the last six years almost. Seriously, that's crazy.
Ben Askren
No, and so really. And when you look at you're, you're nailing it because from he fought this what I thought was 20, I thought it was 2019, but he fought December 29th of 2018 against Gustafson twice in 2020 and February 20th. I'm sorry, twice in 2018. February 2020. So with within a 14 month window right there, you have four of the eight fights within a 14 month window. So that means the rest of the. Was that eight, eight, almost eight plus years. He fought only four times, so it's not very well. Your original point though, why he's crushed. I, I didn't think of that like that.
Daniel Cormier
I don't understand why he's so crushed.
Ben Askren
I mean, maybe he thought this would be his going out party. I mean, maybe that's what. Because he's got to be done at some point. He's been kind of playing around with being done. But he came back and then he's done again. They came back.
Daniel Cormier
I think like, I think like. But it seemed like his feelings was hurt because, like they were calling him a liar. That's what I don't understand. One dude.
Ben Askren
Yeah. So I don't know the truth because I'm not John or Dana, but I can't imagine that's the first time Dana has said something that's not true about him.
Daniel Cormier
But that's not the first time he said anything derogatory about him or that. Yes, it's hard to like, it's hard to get that upset when someone's actually shown you that behavior before.
Ben Askren
Yeah.
Daniel Cormier
But right now it seems like it just really bothered him that he was getting called a lot. I've called him everything. He's been called negative stuff for years. Like, seriously. And it's like now it's like this thing bothered him, but I honestly think maybe it was because the White House thing meant something to him. Listen, in the words, right? I came down from my original number. Yeah, I came. I came down from my original number. So he was trying to make this happen. He came out of retirement to go on that fight card. He had said publicly on many occasions he'd love to fight Alex There. It didn't work.
Ben Askren
Can I ask you a question?
Daniel Cormier
Yeah, go ahead.
Ben Askren
What's the percentage chance you give John at getting a release from the ufc?
Daniel Cormier
He's not getting released.
Ben Askren
So you're saying.
Daniel Cormier
I don't think. I think it's zero percent. He gets released.
Ben Askren
Wow. I mean, I kind of feel. I kind of feel similarly to you.
Daniel Cormier
No chance he gets released.
Ben Askren
I almost feel like, and Daniel doesn't really do this, but I feel like almost out of respect, just cut him and let him go fight Francis and be done with it.
Daniel Cormier
But let me ask you a question, though. But, but, but, but where is he gonna fight Francis? Francis pfl. Francis just left the pfl.
Ben Askren
You didn't see what happened today?
Daniel Cormier
No. What?
Ben Askren
Francis got announced on the MVP Gina Carano, Ronda Rousey card against Felipe Lynns, I think is his name.
Daniel Cormier
He just fought him, didn't he?
Ben Askren
No, they haven't fought. I don't. I mean, Francis hasn't fought an MMA fight in France a long time.
Daniel Cormier
Frank's fighting mma. Okay, yeah, maybe. But, yeah. So, hey, with that, though, there's no way you can release Jones, because then if Jones and Francis can be made outside of the ufc, that's you giving someone power. You can't let him go. There's no way that he could actually fight anywhere else or be released. No, I don't think he's getting released. Here's.
Ben Askren
Maybe that would help them in the class action.
Daniel Cormier
What was the number. What was the number you think Jon was asking for? Because I saw Ariel Hawani talking about this today. He was talking about 30 million. He said 30 million or something. And he said John came down and he was saying, John is worth 30 million and Connor's worth 75 million. Yeah, because they paid that kid Connor been 15 million. Allegedly. Right.
Ben Askren
I like Arrow, but I think he's off on these ones. I think he's off because I think. I think we did talk about this, is that UFC doesn't have to renegotiate this deal for six years. John's not going to be around in six years, and Croner's not going to be around six years. So if you're going to give big money to anybody, it's going to be someone who's like 22 or 23. Yes. Something who's. Someone who's young, who. You're like, okay, this guy is going to be the big star. When I'm renegotiating this contract in six years, these group of people are going to be the big star. So I'm going to take really, really good care of them and make sure that they're still there, because John and Conor are going to have nothing to do with the renegotiation. And that, unfortunately for them, that's a fact.
Daniel Cormier
Do you remember that time that they. When they signed that deal with. I don't know if it was an ESPN or 2017 or I think ESPN right around UFC. Right around UFC 200.
Ben Askren
No, that was that. You know what that was? That was. Henry was the debut on espn. Henry was the debut.
Daniel Cormier
It was when the UFC sold the contract to the company that owns it now. Endeavor. When they sold it 16W, bro, everybody was active. Jones was active, Conor, Ronda. Like, it was the most valuable thing out there because everybody was so active. Yeah, everybody was fighting so much. It's like they need to build that next group of people so that the next time it comes up. Yes, I get it. But I don't know why that probably was my biggest takeaway was why is Jon so upset? Like, you don't. That's the only thing that I thought. Hey, let me tell you something. I gotta say this, bro. I kind of felt bad for him because that's what.
Ben Askren
Let's go.
Daniel Cormier
No, I felt bad for Jon because it just seemed like he wanted to fight on that card bad.
Ben Askren
Yeah.
Daniel Cormier
Like, think about this, bro. And I've said this time and time again. I think Jon got to fight Stipe because he goes, give me this legacy one and I'll give you the Aspinall fight. And then he reneged. Right. Remember, I wouldn't.
Ben Askren
That. I wouldn't be shocked on that.
Daniel Cormier
I'm retired. He's like, I'm retired. And he goes, but I kind of want to fight at the White House. I think this is kind of like a. I think this is kind of like a almost like a Come to Jesus moment, Ben, where you're like, yes, at 28, 29. No matter what you did, you, you, you got. When he got that event canceled with Chael, they said he'll never headline again, but he was selling pay per views, so you had to go back to him. But now at 38, 39, he's got, like, bad hips and injuries and looks like he's on his way out. They're kind of like, like you said, you're not going to prove value to me in the long term. So I don't think we need to bend over for you anymore.
Ben Askren
Yes. I mean, I think that's the most sensible thing. Hey, what I didn't get your opinion and this is going to be wild. Coming for me, real wild. Go ahead. What if they did a three takedown maximum BMF title fights because. Okay, okay, three takedown maximum or you only get a minute on top to this effect.
Daniel Cormier
Did you not like that?
Ben Askren
No, it was terribly boring.
Daniel Cormier
Ben, you're a grappler.
Ben Askren
I don't. Well, listen, even if I was a grappler and well, it felt weird because of BMF fight, but number two is okay. Charles did not. It was kind of like the Chimaya fight where Charles didn't take chances on top. He wasn't really, really aggressive with it.
Daniel Cormier
Let me ask you this, though. I asked the question to Joe and John and they kind of shut me down right away. They said, no, it's a fight, it's just another fight. But yet maybe, Ben, maybe that's an idea. Like, you know what I thought it's almost like that video game where it's standing. Bang.
Ben Askren
Yeah.
Daniel Cormier
Or you get a couple takedowns. The thing is, Charles didn't really need to take him down. He was winning the striking.
Ben Askren
He was winning the strike. But was it. But this one where. This is why I did okay in striking Matt, was he winning the striking because the other guy was scared of the takedown? Like, that's definitely a possibility because Max Holloway had zero ability to get up.
Daniel Cormier
I mean, he never got taken down like that.
Ben Askren
21 minutes on bottom or something like that.
Daniel Cormier
It was, it was crazy how. But Charles is just this amazing grappler that just controlled him with the grappling. That shit was crazy.
Ben Askren
So I actually thought Dana was going to say, you're not getting this belt. That's not how we do this up in here. And he's going to re. I'm taking the title back.
Daniel Cormier
So let me ask you this, though. When it just was like, Charles is such an exciting guy, right?
Ben Askren
Yes.
Daniel Cormier
But then after what Ilya did to him, I mean, do you really, do you really blame him for like that fight? Because, bro, once he took him down the first time, he probably was like, oh, my God.
Ben Askren
Yeah, it was easy.
Daniel Cormier
You and I both know, Ben, that when you get a takedown on somebody early and they don't get up. You going back to that takedown, Ben?
Ben Askren
Yeah.
Daniel Cormier
Stop sitting over here like you would have been striking.
Ben Askren
I said, even come for me. This should sound crazy, but like Chamayev, Chamayev in his title fight, took little to no risk on top. Like, he wasn't really threatening aggressively. I felt the same way. With Charles. And yes, if we're gonna have a belt, listen, it was my fault the BMF belt got started. Or maybe Nate Diaz or maybe Jorge's, something like that. Um, but I thought it was silly in the first. But if we're going to do it, we got to do it right. We can't do it halfway. You can't pin someone down and get the BMF belt. Like, you got to earn it the right way. Or maybe you should have to get a knockout to get like, this is up for grabs, but if you don't knock that guy out, it's vacant again or something.
Daniel Cormier
Hey, let me ask you a question, though. The BMF in the beginning was a prop. It was laughable. Yeah, bro. Last weekend it felt like everybody's like, I'm all in on the BMF title.
Ben Askren
Yeah.
Daniel Cormier
But that was because the way that fight went between Jorge and Nate, the way that Dustin, Justin went, Justin, Max went. Dustin versus Max went. Everybody's like, yo, I'm all in on this thing. And it feels like a world championship. And it feels like if you're holding it, it brings you closer to the actual championship in the world. But after last weekend, was that the last we'll ever see here? That's the danger though, right? That's the danger in putting world class fighters who are still relevant to the title picture in that fight. Because to them, it is a means to an end. It's not necessarily the end. All be all is to become the BMF champion. The end all be all to say, I got a belt now. I can sit across from Ilya to Poirier with a belt in front of me, too. And it looked like a champion versus champion.
Ben Askren
So that's why we need to make some. We need to make some rules. We just do this right now. So me and. Me and you will make the rules.
Daniel Cormier
Let me ask you this, though, before you go.
Ben Askren
No, we're going to make new rules.
Daniel Cormier
Is the BMF title done after last weekend?
Ben Askren
People, people, it lost. It lost a lot of luster because, you know, like I said, I was not in favor of it in the beginning, but if. If we're going to do it, you might as well do it right. And so there has to be some stipulation or agreement. And, you know, like, honestly, before he started talking about his family and everything, that crowd was going to boo the crap out of him. But they started talking about his family and they're like, we can't boo his children. That's just Rude.
Daniel Cormier
I thought he fought a beautiful fight, though, man.
Ben Askren
Well, listen, I'm saying. Okay, yes, if you're trying to win a winning bout, it was a good one. But if we're fighting for a BMF title, there should be. Now, listen, if you took him down and punched him in the face a whole bunch of times and the fight ended, that is a bmf. If you take him down and cuddle him, not so much. And we're talking about. I mean, I think Charles has. I should check this out. But probably one of the highest finishing rates.
Daniel Cormier
Yes. He's got 21 finishes in the UFC, which is.
Ben Askren
Yeah. Which is something ridiculous. But like I said, he took little to no risk once he got on top against Max Holloway, and he was.
Daniel Cormier
And he was winning the striking. Okay, BMF rules. Let's go. Rule number one. Rule number one. Three takedowns, max.
Ben Askren
Three takedowns, max. I love it.
Daniel Cormier
Rule number two.
Ben Askren
One minute on top. That's all you get.
Daniel Cormier
One minute control time, and then they restart you.
Ben Askren
Maybe. Unless you're in an active submission or something. But, yeah, I think. I think something to that effect.
Daniel Cormier
You're so crazy.
Ben Askren
Okay, two minutes. You can have two minutes, Daniel.
Daniel Cormier
Two minutes. Yeah. Come on, dude.
Ben Askren
Listen, I love. I love fighting. And I. I told you in my early days, I was guilty because I didn't know how to fight. I just knew how to wrestle. I mean, I'm talking. I started in 2009. I'm having title fights in 2010 and 11. Yeah, I didn't know how to fight, so, yeah, I held their ass down. But by the time I got to say 2000, was it 12 or 13? I started finishing almost all my fights. I learned how to do damage on top. In order to damage, you got to
Daniel Cormier
take risk, and you got to take. You got to give space. I think that's the problem. You got to give space.
Ben Askren
You know what? I'll give you a compliment. You were great at that, because you know what you would do? And this is honest Khabib. Most of the best top people do this. They give space. They land some punches, they get the guy to turn over, and then they get the wrist, and then they punch them some more, and then, you know, then it'd be crazy. And then they roll back and they punch them some more, and then they turn back over and at some point
Daniel Cormier
and let them get up. You let them get up, then you throw them back down.
Ben Askren
Yep. Or they give up their neck or all of those things get up, and
Daniel Cormier
then you Take their leg and just kind of dump them back to the mat. They get so frustrated and discouraged. It's crazy. You know what's the best when you're on top of somebody like that, Beat them and they go, oh. I mean, it's over. Isn't that the best? When they give that deep breath, like when you're beating them and they get up and then you put them back down. And right when you're jumping back on them, they make that, like, that deep exhale, like, because they don't want to necessarily get up again, you know, one
Ben Askren
of the things I look for when I was trying to break people, maybe I'll do it again at some point, is they usually have one burst of, like, a fit. Or they, like, they just try as hard as they can for, like, 15 seconds. And then once they're done with that. So when they start doing that, you hold them real tight, and you just wait for them, and then they give up.
Daniel Cormier
You know that they burst. They're like a little fish. It's like the fish when you take them out of the water and they flop. And they flop, and there's a big flop, and then they stop. Yeah, that's what they do. It's so bad. It's so bad. All right, guys. Hey, we're in Las Vegas, and it's time to get with our friends at Hard Rock Bet, because it's March Madness, and, you know, on March Madness, everybody's trying to get in on that basketball action. So how do you get in on the action? Go to Hard Rock Bet. We will allow you guys. We will let you double your bets on your first 10 bets up to $50. All you do download the Hard Rock Bet app. Your first 10 bets up to 50 bucks will double them on all of your winnings. It's crazy. Hard Rock Bet keeps on upping the ante every single time. And when it comes to March Madness, everybody always fills out their brackets, act like they know what they're talking about. Well, at Hard Rock Bet, you can actually make some money while, you know, showing that you're as smart as we all think we are. So, again, download the Hard Rock bet app. First 10 bets up to $50 per bet. If you win, they'll double your winnings. I mean, it just keeps getting better. Let's go. Payable and bonus bets is not a cash offer offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. In Florida, offered by Seminole hard Rock Digital LLC. In all other states, you must be 21 or older and physically present. In Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee or Virginia to play. Terms and conditions apply. Concerned about gambling in Florida? Call 1-888-A-D M I T IT in Indiana. If you are someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-9 with it. And if you have a gambling problem,
Ryan Seacrest
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Daniel Cormier
was at your house. Did he go to your house?
Ben Askren
He came to my house. He hung out a little bit.
Daniel Cormier
How did this happen?
Ben Askren
He started saying that, you know, he wanted to meet me and have. Have dinner with me and pray with me and all that stuff. And I said, hey man, I'm open to it, of course. And so we had a bunch of things going on this weekend. And so I said, hey man, you know, if you're really serious, I'd love to have you up here. I don't think it's healthy to hold grudges.
Daniel Cormier
Let me ask you a question. Well, let me ask you a question. Yeah, let me ask you a question. Oh my God. What if he was like sick or something and he went up and. It's the ultimate get back. Think about that.
Ben Askren
Didn't cough in my face one time. You're evil. You're evil. Oh my gosh. You're evil. No, it was good. You know what? I admitted to him.
Daniel Cormier
How am I evil? How am I evil?
Ben Askren
Oh my gosh that was evil. I. I thought about one time, just
Daniel Cormier
in case you thought about it, you're like, what if this guy's like, what time?
Ben Askren
Why not? Yeah. Oh, he was great. But, you know, I told him straight up, I said, listen, I actually thought. I enjoyed watching you fight. I had nothing against you, but I was going to get left without a dance partner in the ufc, and that's the worst place you want to be. So Marty and Colby were going to fight. I wasn't going to fight Tyron because he's a really close friend. Wonder boy got knocked out by Anthony. I just fought Robbie. I kind of went as like, hey, I had no one. So I just keep picking on you until you got so mad you said yes. Otherwise, I was going to sit on the bench for six to nine months.
Daniel Cormier
Yeah, that's the worst.
Ben Askren
You know, like, I actually thought he was funny, and I kind of liked him. And, you know, so we got. We got along and we actually had a lot in common, kind of. You know, we're both fighters and there's kind of a lot of things. And he's got three kids. We talked about kids.
Daniel Cormier
He's nice.
Ben Askren
He was really. He was super nice. He was awesome.
Daniel Cormier
Dang, that's great.
Ben Askren
I mean, we've also had mutual friends. Like, Tyron's a good mutual friend, Anthony Pettis, and, you know, they always really have liked him, also Dean Thomas, etc. So they've always said he's a really good guy. And so. Yeah. And I said, hey, if he ever wants to come up and train or has a comeback fight or something, I'd
Daniel Cormier
be, is he gonna fight again?
Ben Askren
I. From what he said, I would guess the answer is yes, but it doesn't sound like there's anything like. It sounds like, yeah, he'd kind of want to.
Daniel Cormier
He got screwed so bad by the. The people that didn't give him his money when he fought Nate Diaz.
Ben Askren
Oh, yeah. I. I did not. We did not discuss that. But it's so crazy. I have heard that. Yeah.
Daniel Cormier
The other day, we're on. On cbs, which was crazy, right? Like, we're on cbs.
Ben Askren
Yeah.
Daniel Cormier
Calling fights. I said this whenever I was on air. I said, when I was growing up in Lafayette, like, we didn't have cable, so CBS is one of the free ones, Right. Like, it was a. The abc, cbs and, like, FOX were free channels in Lafayette.
Ben Askren
Yes.
Daniel Cormier
I'm on cbs. Dana White comes on and announces the White House card, Right?
Ben Askren
Yeah.
Daniel Cormier
What did you think initially of the White House card?
Ben Askren
So it's so funny. Michael Chandler was visiting me this weekend also. And I asked him that morning, I said, hey, man, are you slow playing us? Are you going to be. Are you going to be announced tonight or what's the deal here? He. He would tell us, that son of a gun. So I actually, I'm going to be honest here with you, Daniel. We were watching some wrestling. I went back to take a and I started scrolling on my Twitter. I said, oh, that son of a. Michael, he's slow pointing. He's on the White House card. And then I came back out and I confronted him on it.
Daniel Cormier
Yeah.
Ben Askren
So let me think. I. I like Toporia versus Gaethje. I like that that division is getting situated. I like Prayer versus Gone, obviously. I think, you know, Jon Jones probably would have been a bigger name and a bigger draw there. I will be honest with you. I didn't really know was I'm on Zahabi. I didn't know Kyle Dawkus.
Daniel Cormier
Kyle. So I'll let me run this to you real quick.
Ben Askren
Yes.
Daniel Cormier
Kyle Dawkis is a kid that got cut from the UFC a little bit ago. He came back and he's been on an absolute tear since.
Ben Askren
Okay.
Daniel Cormier
Aon Zahabi has won a boatload of fights in a row, and he's worked himself into the top like five or six in the world. Yeah, he's getting shallow. M Many thought Shalley would fight Corey Sanhagen because why didn't that happen? I don't know. I really don't know. But let me run you some odds real quick.
Ben Askren
Can you tell me what. What, what is Dawkus, Is he a striker? Is he a wrestler? I don't think he's a little bit of a striker.
Daniel Cormier
He's big, tall guy. His brother used to fight in the ufc, too. They were two brothers.
Ben Askren
Okay.
Daniel Cormier
He's good.
Ben Askren
Yeah.
Daniel Cormier
You know, but Bo Nickel is going to be on the card. He's like an American guy that, you know, we all wrestlers and all American national champion. He's the all American guy on the card. Justin Gaethje is the American guy on the card. That Patty Pimlet situation worked out because either you're going to have Patty Pimlet as the champ or you got an American champion with a fight that's going on at the White House. But let me run you some numbers. Toporia is minus 455 to Justin's plus 350.
Ben Askren
Wow.
Daniel Cormier
Pereira is minus 135 to Gon's plus 114.
Ben Askren
Oh, that's interesting.
Daniel Cormier
O' Malley is minus 345 to Zahabi's 275 plus Mauricio Hoofy is minus 380 versus Chandler's plus 300. Bo Nichols minus 198. Kyle Dawkins is 164. Diego Lopez is minus 205. Steve Garcia is plus 170. Those are some big odds. It sounds like if you look at the odds, whole bunch of mismatches on the White House card. Ben.
Ben Askren
Well, honestly, sometimes mismatches turn into the best fights potentially.
Daniel Cormier
I like the fight card.
Ben Askren
What's up?
Daniel Cormier
I like the fight card. I saw a lot of people going. It supposed to be this. You said it was gonna be the greatest fight card of all time. I think you got like the champion in Ilia versus Justin.
Ben Askren
Yeah.
Daniel Cormier
Tremendous fight.
Ben Askren
I'm good with that.
Daniel Cormier
John versus Pereira fight is one like. Wow. Pereira's fighting for his third title. How could you be mad?
Ben Askren
Wait, how's that a title, bro?
Daniel Cormier
It's an interim title fight. Tom Aspinall's hurt.
Ben Askren
He ain't that hurt.
Daniel Cormier
Yes. Ben, he had two surgeries on his eyes.
Ben Askren
Didn't he just say he's coming back?
Daniel Cormier
He said he wants to fight the winner of this fight. Luis, give me what Tom said today on.
Ben Askren
I thought he said he was going to come back.
Daniel Cormier
He said he wants to fight the winner of the fight against these two, but he had two surgeries. Two surgeries on his eyes.
Ben Askren
October 25th. His last fight was only October 25th. What's that? Five months ago?
Daniel Cormier
Not even four and a half.
Ben Askren
Four and a half.
Daniel Cormier
Four and a Half months. He barely. He barely hasn't fought. But. No, because they just anticipate he's going to be gone for a while. That's why it was an interview.
Ben Askren
I don't love it, but okay, I'll go with it.
Daniel Cormier
So he said, I want to fight the winner of that. I'm just waiting now to get the green light, the all clear from the doctor. Then I'll get to train properly again.
Ben Askren
Yes. Okay. I guess, I don't know, I feel like I read something. I thought maybe I don't hate that one. Gone versus Pereira. I think it's fine. It's a good stand up fight. I do think prayer will maybe struggle with the size, but.
Daniel Cormier
But Pereira is the favorite, man.
Ben Askren
I know you agree that's. I mean, the odds are close, right? So it's only a slight favorite. I don't know if I would agree with that.
Daniel Cormier
What about Ilia to pour you Being such a big favorite over Justin Gates.
Ben Askren
I mean, I for sure see why that's the case that. I mean, that's almost one that it'd be willing to throw a few bucks on just because you get such good odds on Justin.
Daniel Cormier
Can Justin beat him, in your opinion?
Ben Askren
I mean, maybe you can't beat him, but can knock him out. Yeah, yeah.
Daniel Cormier
He is good. Ilya is very good.
Ben Askren
Ilya is good, and. But Justin hits hard, and he's very.
Daniel Cormier
Justin hits hard, and he loves to fight.
Ben Askren
Yeah.
Daniel Cormier
Do you think that Ilya hasn't fought for a while now since he beat Charles Oliveira? It'll be almost a year. Maybe it will be a year since he fought last. You think that's gonna hurt him in this fight?
Ben Askren
I don't think it'll be too bad. I mean, it's. It's probably not gonna help him, but I don't think it's too bad.
Daniel Cormier
You know, when we talk about the fight card, everybody was, like, up in arms a little bit, right? Like, everybody's like, up in arms, like, oh, my God. You said it was gonna be the greatest fight card of all time. Yeah, I think it's a great fight card, and honestly, I think it's gonna be a sprint of a fight card. There's like, six fights, and that's it. But, I mean, that's like, the whole card. I don't even think that there are no prelims.
Ben Askren
Yeah, that's interesting. It'll honestly be interesting to see how that does, because, man, I. I am becoming less and less of a fan because, like, it's undercard to watch the whole fight. It's like five hours or maybe more.
Daniel Cormier
You got.
Ben Askren
You got to work. So don't listen to me complain because you're working it. You're working way harder than I am, but I just feel like it's just too much time to sit down and watch a bunch of fights. So then I don't watch the guys in undercard, and then. So, like, an. A man's a hobby. He gets on the main card. I'm like, who's this guy? I don't know who this guy is, but for real, so he's won seven in a row, and I don't know who he is. Damn it. I'm gonna look him up. Right now. He's ranked six.
Daniel Cormier
His brother is. As far as the hobby, George.
Ben Askren
Oh, I know for us, See, I know for us, that's got name recognition right there. I like for us, he's. He's a really Good coach. So. But to your point, the greatest card of all time. Maybe that's why people are a little disappointed, because you have, say, like, a UFC 200 or something like that.
Daniel Cormier
300 was the best.
Ben Askren
If you're gonna hold against that standard, like, if you're gonna hold against the best ever, and you're thinking UFC 200, you're like, yeah, it's a little bit of a letdown. It ain't UFC 200.
Daniel Cormier
It ain't. Yeah. Hey, Ben, last thing before I let you go, bro. What was going on with Raf and Armin fighting? What happened?
Ben Askren
Dude, I called that. P.S.
Daniel Cormier
what do you mean, you called it?
Ben Askren
So I, I, I was on the broadcast. I would go, I, I go on. Sometime during the rounds, they send the TV crew to my house, you know. Oh, my gosh, this UFC. I looked at this UFC 200. You were supposed to be on it, sadly enough. It was such a good card. Oh, my God. Oh, you were on it. I was on UFC 200 against Anderson. I remember that fight. I don't know why.
Daniel Cormier
Crazy card.
Ben Askren
That was a bully move by you, bro.
Daniel Cormier
What? What?
Ben Askren
You're, like, way bigger than he is.
Daniel Cormier
So, man.
Ben Askren
T.J. dillashaw, Kevin Gastelum, Johnny Hendricks, Julianne Kadzingano, Daniel Cormier, Anderson. Silo. Frankie, Edgar. Jose Aldo, Kane. Velasquez.
Daniel Cormier
Brock Lesnar.
Ben Askren
Brock Lesnar. Oh, my God, this card's so good. That's what we're comparing it to.
Daniel Cormier
Hey, they sold it. They. Hey. That they sold the ufc sold to Endeavor, like, right at that time.
Ben Askren
Oh, my gosh, that was such a great card. So, Raf, I called the first round. After the first round, period was over, they went to me, and I said, hey, man, to me, it looks like Giorgio is trying to not engage past Jeremy is doing kind of, you know, the face pokes, which, you know, you're a freestyle wrestler, you know. You know you're not allowed to do that, right? That's cost one every time. That's against the rules. And so I said, it appears to me that he's trying to piss Armin off because the easiest way for him to win this match is to get Armin to disqualify himself by punching him. And then Armin Ariel. And he said, he said, I didn't want to get disqualified. So I waited right till the buzzer was over to punch him. And I thought that was, like, funniest thing ever, because it was, like, clear to me that one person wanted to punch another person.
Daniel Cormier
That kid was mad at you, too. Did you see that?
Ben Askren
He got. He got pretty mad.
Daniel Cormier
Why?
Ben Askren
I mean, I wasn't overly nice. I mean, I. I think I maybe said things that were correct, but. Yeah, no, they're. They're redoing it again.
Daniel Cormier
They're gonna let those guys wrestle again?
Ben Askren
I. Yeah, that's bad, man. Why is that bad?
Daniel Cormier
Armin's gonna hit him again.
Ben Askren
So I. Supposedly there's gonna be something where Armin is not allowed to hit him.
Daniel Cormier
You know, here's the thing.
Ben Askren
Armin just be flying around private jets and kind of do what he wants. So I'm like, hey, that. That kind of makes me a little bit nervous. I think we're going to be able to keep that match under control. I think a lot of people want to see it. But to your point, I feel like it's going to play out pretty similarly to the last one because we're talking. We're talking about one month break. So it's like, how much different wrestler can you, can you become in a month? And I think the answer is not all that much. So I think we're going to see a lot of what we were seeing. But, man, people are fascinated. There's something about a fight that wasn't supposed to happen that people fascinated by. You watch international wrestling like I do, and you know in Russia, you remember that one where the one guy had a gun? He had. He pulled a gun out, like, ah, that happens.
Daniel Cormier
And then I go down a rabbit hole trying to find out more about who's the guy with the gun.
Ben Askren
Oh, my God.
Daniel Cormier
You get enough. Is Raf everything you hoped it would be? Because it is wild.
Ben Askren
It is. It is taking off significantly faster than I thought. It is getting crazy popularity. We sold out the Phoenix show. I think we're gonna sell at the Tampa show. The numbers of line have been amazing. So. Yeah, you know, I think one of the things people are. There's frustrations with certain people and, sorry, the fans with certain aspects of what we're doing. It's like, dude, we're on show six.
Daniel Cormier
Yeah, we're still learning.
Ben Askren
Like we're practicing. What about still learning? Yeah, we're still learning. So we're going to get much, much better. I know. I already know we have some improvements coming for the next show. We have a lot of exciting things going on. So. Yeah. And we are getting more and more and more of the most elite wrestling talent all over the world. So it's a lot of fun. You still got to come to a show. So we got. Let's see Tampa we got. I can't say the one we were going to go to which might get moved. We have Philadelphia April 18, and then we got some more. So I'm gonna get you to come to a show and have some fun with us.
Daniel Cormier
Oh, brother, man, you're the man. Hey, guys. For Ben Askren, I'm Daniel Cormier. That was another episode of Funky and the Champ. Like, subscribe and tell your friends to tell their friends that Dude's got a YouTube channel. And I'm here. What's up, man?
Ben Askren
You didn't even brag about your Oklahoma State Cowboys. They did pretty good, bro.
Daniel Cormier
They're really good. We won the Big 12. We beat the out of Missouri. Abraham, stop. Life is back normal. Like that year that y' all won the Big 12. I was like, what is happening?
Ben Askren
We won the Big 12 a bunch of times.
Daniel Cormier
Daniel, we've been beating the out of you.
Ben Askren
Are you going to cheer your team on at Nationals or.
Daniel Cormier
No, I can't. I got it. My son has a state wrestling tournament. Gotta go.
Ben Askren
Tell your son, Steve. Noco State Cowboys. And C is more. And then take him with you.
Daniel Cormier
Yeah, I know he wants to go bad. He asked me today.
Ben Askren
I'll tell you. Mitchell Messroom skipped his eighth grade state tournament to go watch NCAAs.
Daniel Cormier
And look at him now.
Ben Askren
He did. Okay.
Daniel Cormier
I like going. He walked past me. Mitchell.
Ben Askren
You said that.
Daniel Cormier
Mitchell. All right.
Ben Askren
I'm sorry I ruined your ending. I just had. I didn't bring up your Oklahoma State Cowboys.
Daniel Cormier
Till next time, guys. Peace. This podcast is sponsored by Total Wireless, the official wireless partner of ufc. Power doesn't wait in the octagon or outside of it. You either make the move or you miss the moment. That's why you need a network that's just as powerful as you are. With Total Wireless, you get unlimited 5G data keeping you in the action from the walkouts to the knockouts. Now that's a total power move. Make your total power move today. Visit totalwireless.com or stop by your neighborhood Total Wireless store. Additional terms apply. See totalwireless.com for details.
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Julian Edelman
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Daniel Cormier
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
Date: March 11, 2026
Hosts: Daniel Cormier & Ben Askren
This episode of the “Funky and the Champ” segment inside The Herd features Daniel Cormier and Ben Askren diving deep into the fallout between Jon Jones and the UFC, Dana White’s approach to fighter negotiations, and the details surrounding the anticipated “White House card.” The duo also tackles Jorge Masvidal’s surprising visit to Askren’s house, current and historical MMA stories, and shares thoughts on the BMF title and fight-card construction.