The Daniel Cormier Show - DC & Ben Askren on White House fights, Jon Jones, Tom Aspinall & UFC heavyweight problem

Summary

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The Daniel Cormier Show (The Herd with Colin Cowherd):

"DC & Ben Askren on White House Fights, Jon Jones, Tom Aspinall & UFC Heavyweight Problem"

Date: February 18, 2026
Hosts: Daniel Cormier (“DC”) & Ben Askren (“Funky”)

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Episode Overview

Daniel Cormier and Ben Askren reunite for a candid, banter-filled episode traversing the pressing issues and hot rumors in MMA and boxing. This installment dives deep into:

• Current struggles in the UFC heavyweight division (including Tom Aspinall’s ongoing injury and the vacant title scenario)
• The futures of Jon Jones and prodigy Gable Steveson
• The circus around UFC’s planned fight card at the White House
• Ben and DC’s unfiltered takes on celebrity boxing, including Jake Paul and the rumored Tyson vs. Mayweather bout
• Personal anecdotes, including Cain Velasquez’s release from jail

The conversation bounces seamlessly between sharp analysis, humor, and inside stories, serving both hardcore fight fans and casual listeners seeking behind-the-scenes flavor.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

UFC Heavyweight Division: Injuries, Rumors & Thin Ranks

• Tom Aspinall's Eye Injury & Division Stagnation

  • DC opens by debunking rumors that Aspinall was asked to vacate his title after his eye injury, referencing Josh Thomson’s podcast:
    • “Josh Goes UFC has Tom Aspinall to vacate the title until he’s ready to go…It’s not true. It’s just not true. Where did Josh Thompson hear that?” (DC, 02:07)
  • Ben critiques Aspinall’s handling of the aftermath, thinks he should let it rest, then debates intent in the notorious eye-poke:
    • “The ability to poke someone in the eye from space, that’s kind of hard…if you could be that accurate, why wouldn’t you just punch them in their eye?” (Ben, 03:03)
  • Both agree the division is bottlenecked as the top fighters (Jon Jones, Francis Ngannou, Aspinall) are inactive or injured, with few exciting prospects ready to break through:
    • “Heavyweight is struggling right now, man…I love the big boys, but it feels like…the best guys are clearly the best guys.” (DC, 05:40)
    • “The three best fighters are not fighting each other…That’s one of the things that UFC has been so good at…” (Ben, 04:31)

• Prospects & Staleness

  • Discuss the shallowness in the division after the top names, referencing recent lackluster fights:
    • “They didn’t look as skilled as we have seen fighters look recently. So what you really need is…the best guys fighting to wipe the bad performances out.” (DC, 06:16)
    • “Would you say if you put Waldo Cortez Acosta in there with Cyril Gane or Tom Aspinall, he’d be competitive?” (DC, 07:05)

• On Gable Steveson’s Potential & Rushing Prospects

  • Ben presses for a fast-tracked title run for wrestling phenom Gable Steveson:
    • “I think he could get in and out of there with a few fights without taking too much damage…you could push him for the title in, I don’t know, year, year and a half.” (Ben, 09:00)
  • DC urges caution, drawing on his own and Cain Velasquez’s career trajectories:
    • “My only fear with Gable…he’s going to have to move faster than he probably needs to. Not many people are ready to go, one guy, one title fight.” (DC, 09:31)
    • “We gotta be very careful, though, not to rush him….I’ve seen so many great prospects get rushed, and then it doesn’t work out…” (DC, 10:55)
  • Both acknowledge heavyweight can peak later:
    • "Not a heavyweight... Jon’s 37, 38 right now when he was heavyweight champion. Tom Aspinall is like 30." (DC, 11:42)

• Why Heavyweight Is So Thin

  • Fewer regional shows and more secure alternatives (college wrestling coaching with good salaries) have thinned the new-talent pool:
    • “Wrestling guys…are getting money from these RTCs… If you were ever to be the coach at a college, you’d start an RTC and you’d keep the bigger guys and you’d pay them enough…” (DC, 12:40–13:12)

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UFC’s White House Event: Staging, Risks, and Dream Matchups

• Card Structure & “Parallel Fights”

  • DC references the idea of “parallel fights” for the White House card: scheduling backup fights in the same division as the main event to mitigate last-minute withdrawals.
    • “You’re going to see a lot of parallel fights when it comes to the White House… So if Justin-Ilia is the main event… you’ll see Arman vs. someone… in case someone falls out.” (DC, 16:25)
  • Both mock rumors about the number of fights and the size of the crowd (fighter hyperbole vs. presidential exaggeration):
    • “Trump said there’s gonna be — they’re gonna build a stadium for a hundred thousand or something.” (Ben, 18:08)
  • Speculate on what kinds of matchups would belong in such a historic setting:
    • “Who would you want to see at the White House?” (DC, 18:59)
    • “I would love to see Ilia and Justin Gaethje… Islam vs Ian Gary… [and] Colby and Bo were trying to fight…” (Ben, 19:01)

• American vs. British Fight Night:

  • Ben floats a tongue-in-cheek take: All-Americans vs. all-British as a nod to American history:
    • “We need a bunch of Americans beating up a bunch of British people? Because that’s how that all started 250 years ago.” (Ben, 19:53)
    • DC: “You’re gonna piss off so many people. You just cannot help yourself.” (DC, 20:26)

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Celebrity & Crossover Boxing: Tyson vs. Mayweather, Jake Paul, and the Spectacle

• The Mike Tyson–Floyd Mayweather Exhibition

  • Both are fatigued by the concept:
    • “At what point do we stop here?...I was pumped for Mike Tyson, Roy Jones…but at what point do we stop here?” (Ben, 21:50)
    • “We don’t need to see these dudes fight today, especially Mike. Mike fought Jake Paul when he was 57 or 58. What is he, 60 now?...Mike isn’t hurting for money.” (DC, 23:00)
    • “Mike’s only hitting pads…you can look pretty good on pads… But the moment those punches start coming back…” (DC, 23:22)
  • Both predict a heavy-handed but hollow exhibition, and interest is fading:
    • “I’m not interested. Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t want to see it anymore.” (Ben, 25:49)
    • “I’m a little bit done with the celebrity boxing now.” (DC, 25:56)

• Jake Paul as a Boxer:

  • Lighthearted banter about Jake Paul’s loss to Anthony Joshua and crossover antics:
    • “He moved around forever, and then eventually Anthony caught him.” (DC, 26:46)
    • “He shot 50 double legs…” (DC, 26:51)
    • “I kind of have more respect for him…he stepped in there and he did it and then took an ass whooping.” (Ben, 28:09)

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Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• On the state of the heavyweight division:
  • “Heavyweight is struggling right now, man…when you look at the heavyweight division…the best guys are clearly the best guys.” (DC, 05:40)
• On Gable Steveson’s UFC trajectory:
  • “My only fear with Gable…he’s going to have to move faster than he probably needs to.” (DC, 09:31)
  • “You got to get to the title by 30 or something.” (Ben, 11:36)
• On UFC at the White House:
  • “You’re going to see a lot of parallel fights when it comes to the White House…So if Justin Ilia is the main event…you’ll see Arman versus someone on that card in case somebody falls out of the main event.” (DC, 16:25)
• On an all-American lineup:
  • “We need a bunch of Americans beating up a bunch of British people? Because that’s how that all started 250 years ago.” (Ben, 19:53)
• On Tyson-Mayweather:
  • “We don’t need to see these dudes fight today, especially Mike.” (DC, 23:00)
  • “I’m a little bit done with the celebrity boxing now.” (DC, 25:56)

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Other Highlights

• Wrestling Talk & Ben’s Content:

  • Ben teases DC about stalling calls in college wrestling, specifically mentioning Cody Merrill and breaking down stalls in matches. (21:09–21:36)

• Cain Velasquez’s Release:

  • Emotional support for former UFC champ Cain Velasquez’s release from jail:
    • “I love that, Ben. I love that. I’m just happy that he’s back out…He did what, like you said, what a man should do to protect his family.” (DC, 29:51–30:34)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Tom Aspinall, Eye Injury & Rumor Control: 01:17–04:31
• Heavyweight Division Analysis & Up-and-Comers: 05:13–07:27
• Gable Steveson in UFC, Prospect Pitfalls: 08:53–11:36
• White House Card Structure & Dream Fights: 16:00–20:50
• Celebrity/Exhibition Boxing & Jake Paul: 21:50–28:34
• Cain Velasquez Release: 29:14–30:34

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Tone & Language

The episode’s tone is informal, lively, and unapologetically honest—blending technical fight insight, banter, and playful jabs. DC and Ben freely shift between analysis, jokes, and personal stories, providing the intimate feel of two decorated fighters talking shop.

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Conclusion

This episode traverses the current logjam in the UFC’s heavyweight division, the hype and risks surrounding UFC’s White House experiment, and the place of celebrity boxing in modern combat sports. Along the way, DC and Ben offer sharp, unscripted insights and fan-driven speculation—making for a must-listen for fight fans tracking big-picture MMA and boxing storylines in early 2026.

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Transcript

[Podcast Announcer]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[Ben]

The volume.

[Daniel Cormier]

What's up, guys? Welcome to a brand new episode of Funky and the Champ. I'm Daniel Cormier. That's been asked. And today's episode is brought to you by Total Wireless, this official wireless provider of UFC. They're in your corner with unlimited 5G data that will not slow you down. Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is a total power move. Ben. That's a total power moves, Ben. Sometimes bro like it. Sometimes it can get good. It's. It's like, come on, man, you're smarter than that. But you know who's not smart at times?

[Ben]

Uhoh. Who?

[Daniel Cormier]

Oh, bro, I love the fans, but there's a section of fans that sometimes they're so emotional. Hey, hey, listen, Ben. You know like, sometimes how people, like a kid might want something.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

And if it doesn't work out for them, they get pissed off. Right. There's a section of fans that get mad for things that are really out of people's control. Example, Tom Aspinall in his last fight, right?

[Ben]

Yes.

[Daniel Cormier]

Gets eye poked. Fight gets stopped. But we all wanted it to keep going. I was mad, but to say that Tom Aspinall just didn't want to fight was crazy. Now we find out, according to Josh Thompson. Bro, did you see Josh Thompson?

[Ben]

I did his podcast, right? That's your buddy. I did his podcast.

[Daniel Cormier]

That's my buddy, man. But he's so stupid, man.

[Ben]

What do you say? I did not see this, bro.

[Daniel Cormier]

Let me put this. This dude, Josh, man, Josh is going to go up. See, here's the problem. You know what? So Josh always talks to me about moving to Texas. Oh, man, it's so nice in Texas. Problem with moving to Texas is you. You. You start believing in stuff that just is not true. Man, people, they really believe.

[Ben]

I like conspiracy theories, Daniel. But then they all came true. So they're not that way anymore.

[Daniel Cormier]

Josh Goes UFC has Tom Aspinall to vacate the title until he's ready to go. He said he'd be willing to vacate the title as long as. As they released him. It's not true. It's just not true. Where did Josh Thompson hear that? Could you ever. You ever wonder why?

[Ben]

Daniel, did you see who ended up in the Epstein files?

[Daniel Cormier]

Rogan. But that's not true. Yes. Rogan wasn't in. Rogan wasn't.

[Ben]

Jon Jones. Jon Jones.

[Daniel Cormier]

You're a liar.

[Ben]

Jon Jones was his favorite fighter, bro.

[Daniel Cormier]

You're a liar, bro.

[Ben]

No bullshit. Go type it in.

[Daniel Cormier]

Swear on everything.

[Ben]

Swear on everything. I will. You know what? I'll try to send it to police right now because you can, you can search them yourselves. Yeah, that's John Joe's favorite fighter.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah, but that's Epstein files.

[Ben]

He is. It is. I'm gonna find it for you while we're on the show.

[Daniel Cormier]

This is so crazy. I can't even talk to this dude. Anyhow, Tom Aspinall is still struggling. Ben.

[Ben]

Yes.

[Daniel Cormier]

With the eye issues. What do you make of that?

[Ben]

Man, it sucks. You know, I was, I was critical because I felt like, I felt like, you know, he talked about it and then it just like kept on and kept on and kept on, kept on and I felt like he's just kind of leaving alone and, you know, for a minute and. Yeah, it sucks. Do you. And here's the thing is he kind of accused son of cheating and I. I'm actually curious to hear your opinion because of a specific opponent of yours. I feel like the ability to poke someone in the eye from space, like, that's kind of hard. And if you could be that accurate, why wouldn't you just punch them in their eye?

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah, yeah. So that's one area. So poking somebody in the eye for the most part is by accident, man.

[Ben]

Yes.

[Daniel Cormier]

Because there's things that happen in the octagon and things are moving so fast. Right. I was more inclined to believe that it was an accident. Tom Aspinall doesn't believe it. He thinks without a shadow of doubt, Zero Gun poked him in the eye on purpose. I don't believe it. But regardless of that. Right. On purpose, on accident. He still suffered long term damage from this. How long does the UFC wait, though? Hey, Josh was wrong. I don't think that ask has been made yet. If the UFC wanted to, they could just make an interim title fight between someone else while the champion waits. Tom Aspinall fought last year. How long though, Ben, do they wait before we start to see an interim title fight? Or maybe some movement in that division or trying to get some movement going in that division?

[Ben]

You know what I was thinking is really annoying about this division is potentially the three best fighters are not fighting each other, which would be Jon Jones, Francis Ngannou, who I don't even know if he fights anymore. And then Tom Aspinall has this injury. It's like, why can't we get these guys together? And that's one of the things that UFC has been so good at, is putting the best athletes together in order to fight. And they didn't do that. Hey, I Just dropped in the chat.

[Daniel Cormier]

Damn.

[Ben]

I'm gonna email. I'm gonna text you guys. I'm text you the. The email from Epstein. He wants to watch the Jon Jones Brandon Vera fight.

[Daniel Cormier]

Dude, I'm trying to leave this man alone, bro. I'm trying to leave this man alone. Still on it.

[Ben]

Oh, so funny. So why can't these heavyweights fight each other?

[Daniel Cormier]

But Ben, even if he wanted to watch him, doesn't mean that he's in the upscale.

[Ben]

I know. It was. No, it's emails. There's like 7,000. 7 million emails. So you can. It's an email from Jeffrey Epstein to someone else saying he wants to watch the Jon Jones fight too. Funny.

[Daniel Cormier]

That's so funny. Amen. But I think that's a great point.

[Ben]

Honestly, it stinks.

[Daniel Cormier]

I never. I never thought of it like that. Because here's the deal. Heavyweight is struggling right now, man.

[Ben]

Big time.

[Daniel Cormier]

Heavy, bro. Heavyweight is struggling right now. And I love the big boys, but it feels like when you look at the heavyweight division. Lou, throw the rankings in the chat. It feels like right now the best guys are clearly the best guys because ty3vas is one of my buddies. He fought in Australia.

[Ben]

That wasn't so good for him.

[Daniel Cormier]

Bad fight. It was a bad fight. Him and his opponent got so fatigued, they look. They looked like they weren't ready to fight. They also look like they just. They didn't look as skilled as we have seen fighters look recently. So what you really need is you need. You need the best guys fighting to kind of wipe the bad performances out. Because guess what? Derrick Lewis's last fight in. In Las Vegas. Yeah, that wasn't good. It just was not good.

[Ben]

I was gonna say that guy. That guy. The other guy, though, I think he's one of the upand comers. I don't know how old he is, but he's newer and he looked pretty scrappy.

[Daniel Cormier]

Are we talking about Cortez?

[Advertisement Voice]

Maybe?

[Daniel Cormier]

Is that his name, Waldo or Cortez Acosta?

[Ben]

Yeah, that. Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yes. But. But again, bro, he got beat. He's good. He's good, right? But he's lost fights. It's just not in a great place. Would you say that if you put Waldo Cortez Acosta in there with Cyril gone or Tom Aspinall, he'd be competitive. Would you?

[Ben]

You're right. So he lost in August of 25 to Pavlovich, who's. Pavlich is ranked pretty high.

[Daniel Cormier]

And Pavlovich got knocked out by Tom Aspinall in the first round, it just feels like there's a clear separation between the best guys.

[Ben]

And.

[Daniel Cormier]

Luis said he think Waldo would be gone. Bro, Luis is competitive.

[Ben]

I think it's competitive.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yes, it would be competitive because he could move. But Luis is the classic fan of fighting because everybody wants to write zero gun off, and I don't know why.

[Ben]

Because he got choked by. By John too fast. That's why.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah, but still, bro, you forget that he fought tooth and nail with Francis. You literally just sat up here right now and said, the three best heavyweights in the world are John Francis. In time, I believe.

[Ben]

I do believe that to be the case. Yes.

[Daniel Cormier]

Cyril fought. Cyril fought Francis Ngannou very well. Hey, a mistake cost 0gan beating Francis Ngannou when he tried for the leg lock. So how bad is zero gone, really? Because he was looking very good against Tom Aspinall. I think there's. But the problem is it's those four guys, and then if you put anyone else under them against them, you would probably think that those guys would be successful.

[Ben]

Yeah, that's. That's.

[Daniel Cormier]

So what do we do?

[Ben]

Oh, man, we got. We got to get these guys back. Dana's got to go get Francis and Ganu to fight again because I don't know what he's doing. He's got John into it. John's talking about not fighting again. He's got arthritis or something. I. I agree. I don't know. Maybe. Maybe we just throw Gable Stevenson there. I've been saying that for a while.

[Daniel Cormier]

You think Gable needs time? John even said, in the year Gable be UFC champion, you don't think he needs a little more time than that?

[Ben]

I said throw him in there. So I'm not saying throwing against number one, but I think he's got another fight coming up pretty quick. Put him in there. I don't know. Easy. Give him a couple easy ones. Right. Then move him up to someone lower ranked. I think. I think you can make a compelling story by making him have a title run, like, really fast. I think he could get in and out of there with a few fights without taking too much damage, which means that you can get back in there again, you know? So, yeah, I think you could push him for the title in, I don't know, year, year and a half, something like that.

[Daniel Cormier]

Crazy. It's kind of crazy because it's crazy because you or, you know what happens when all the things that we love to do don't work. That's my only fear with Gable. Do I believe Gable will be UFC Champion. Absolutely. I do.

[Ben]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

I just fear because he's so good so fast that he's going to have to move faster than he probably needs to. Not many people are. Are ready to go one guy. One guy title fight.

[Ben]

Well, but I know, I know it's a different era, Daniel, but you got thrown into the deep end. Kane got thrown in the deep end.

[Daniel Cormier]

I mean, we had fights. We had fights. I had. By the time I fought Bigfoot Silver, I already had nine fights.

[Ben]

Yeah, but it was. It was. But it was fast, though. It was.

[Daniel Cormier]

It was fast.

[Ben]

I feel like Kane was in UFC on his third fight, wasn't he?

[Daniel Cormier]

He was in the UFC on his third fight, but then he fought Ch Congo, he fought Ben Rockwell. He fought so many.

[Ben]

Those guys were kind of good at that point in time.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah. And he got. And then against Check, he got dropped two times. So there are so many things that you have to learn to get through before you're ready to actually operate at that level. Can Gable do it? I think in time he will. I think we gotta be very careful, though, not to rush him, bro, because I've seen so many great prospects get rushed, and then it doesn't work out the way that we anticipated it working out. That would be horrible if it happened to a guy that says blue chip as blue chip comes in. Mixed Martial arts.

[Ben]

Yeah. The other time. The other thing, though, can I push back on that a little bit? The other thing, though is. And heavyweight is different. You started way late. I mean, we started the same time, but you were older than me. And heavyweight has been proven you'd be successful later. But you know, the other one, somebody like Bo Nickel, I looked at him, he's almost 30 years old. It was like I was done with my Bellator title reign by 30 years old. Like, you got. And here's the thing is, except heavyweight, all the lower weights, you have a finite amount of time, like, you know, you. There's someone. It was in the chat with us, but, you know, Usman wants to challenge belts again. He's gonna be 39. Like, that just. It doesn't really happen. And so it's like if you. You need to get to the title by 30 or something. Right. I mean, maybe even ideally younger than that.

[Daniel Cormier]

But not a heavyweight, not a heavyweight, not a heavyweight.

[Ben]

Every other weight, though, you got to kind of move.

[Daniel Cormier]

John's 37, 38 right now when he was a heavyweight champion. Tom Aspinall is like 30, and it's a big deal. That's what I'm ready to champ because it doesn't happen that often for a younger guy to win that belt. Right now it's been an old 32 now. Tom's 32.

[Ben]

Yes.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah. Islam's like 33 years old now. I believe so.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

Everybody's kind of getting up there. Justin Gaethje's 37 or 38, bro. He just became champion at 155. After Volk won that belt past 35, everybody's like, to hell with that stat. If Volk did it, I can do it.

[Ben]

Yeah. I kind of wonder if. I mean, you know, what some people are saying about, like, the heavyweight division is that there's less prospects, there's less people trying it. And I know if you look at, you know, and it's making us feel old, but when we started, there was way more regional shows and smaller shows, and now there's. There's almost none. So are like. Are less people and I don't know. The answer is. But less people fighting because there's not, you know, a lot of these regional shows where they can get started.

[Daniel Cormier]

Wrestling guys. Those wrestling guys are getting money from these RTCs and stuff.

[Ben]

That too.

[Daniel Cormier]

If you were ever to be the coach at a college, you'd start in RTC and you keep the bigger guys and you'd pay them enough to where they felt like they're fine. Bro, I'm telling you, Austin o' Connor was going to be a good fighter. The amount of money he's making at Illinois is crazy.

[Ben]

He's just a coach, correct?

[Daniel Cormier]

Yes. But, bro, the amount of money he's making at Illinois is crazy in comparison to what he could have potentially made in this career.

[Ben]

You're saying crazy lower, crazy high, low.

[Daniel Cormier]

But he felt the safety in it, right? Because again, this is a kid that comes off of making 1500amonth. Now all of a sudden, you got a nice little salary, you got insurance, you got all these things. You feel like, hey, man, there's safety in this. This fighting thing is not guaranteed. When in reality, for him, I thought it was about as guaranteed as a good to do was good, man, he was really, really good. But so I didn't.

[Ben]

He's totally done then.

[Daniel Cormier]

He's totally done. He's just coached at Illinois now, not fighting anymore. It's crazy. Okay, guys, our good friends at Hard Rock BET want to remind you that you can double your winnings on your first 10 bets on the NBA, on the. On MMA, on all the other sports. So while we might be a little bit sad that the football season ended. Hard Rod Beck's like, come on guys, we can still cash in. So in your first 10 bets, you can double your winnings when you sign up. So all you got to do download the app Hard Rock Bet app and go and double those winnings on those first 10 bets. There are so many sports. Don't be boohooing. Because the football season is over, 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 I-T 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, call 1-800-GAMBLER this month, iHeartRadio is celebrating.

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[Daniel Cormier]

Hey, I was, I was watching a thing on TikTok the other day and there was a guy talking about the White House card. Yes, I think it was the greatest point that anyone has made on the White House card because I think it makes the most sense in regards to the White House card. So what he said was this. He said you're going to see a lot of parallel fights when it comes to the White House. What does that mean? Ben?

[Ben]

It means I don't know what he means by that.

[Daniel Cormier]

So it means like if Justin Ilia is the main event.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

And they're fighting for the title. You'll see, like, Armin versus someone on that card in case somebody falls out of the main event.

[Ben]

Oh, that's hard.

[Daniel Cormier]

Right? That's the biggest fear in this. The worst possible scenario for the UFC on the White House is if you schedule Pereira vs Jones and then somebody gets hurt. Because you remember, I don't think. I don't think Jamal Hill was Pereira's initial Challenger at UFC 300. That worked, and it worked out well. But if you're getting ready for the White House, you've got to make sure that whatever the biggest name on the marquee is stays. And he has an opponent. Yes, he has an opponent that is reasonably big name. Yes. Equal to that billing on that card. I thought that was. I thought that was a great argument. So what he believes is they're not. I think Dana already said there's only be like eight fights. Right. He believes that. You'll see, like, if it's lightweight fight, you'll see another lightweight fight. If it's a welterweight title fight, or if it's a light heavyweight title fight, a heavyweight title fight, you'll see another title or another number one contenders match in that spot on the card, because then you don't run the risk of losing out on someone dropping out.

[Ben]

Didn't they say there are going to be multiple titles on that card, but not 8?

[Daniel Cormier]

Like the president said, man.

[Ben]

Well, you know, Trump, you can't ever trust him. He just says, why? He does a wild all the time. It's amazing.

[Daniel Cormier]

He said eight title fights.

[Ben]

Well, then there's the rumor. Dana said there's gonna be like 700 tickets. And then Trump said there's gonna be like, they're gonna build a stadium for a hundred thousand or something.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah, there's a lot of people. So apparently, and I'm talking from, like, as the knowledge I have is what you have. Yeah, right. Whatever we see on the Internet, apparently there's going to be a stadium built across the street that holds a boatload of people to.

[Ben]

So, like, by the Washington Monument, essentially you're saying, yes, it'll be grass.

[Daniel Cormier]

Goes to the White House, where you could watch. Yeah, here it is. Yeah. He said a lot of fight, a lot of weakness, the White House. And I'll tell you why. And he went into what. What we said. I think. I think it's. I think it's a great point that this guy made, and I think it's the safest way for the UFC to book the fight card. And make sure that we don't run into those issues.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

Who would you want to see at the White House?

[Ben]

I saw one that. So I would love to see Ilya and Justin Gaethje. I think that's fitting. You know Connor. I would want to see him. I don't know that we're going to see him. I think that's a fun one. Who are the other ones I saw that people were talking about? It was Islam versus Ian. Gary, I think that's a good one.

[Daniel Cormier]

Good. That'll be good.

[Ben]

Colby. I know Colby wants on there. I know Colby and Bo were trying to fight each other, then Colby said, get lost. I'm pretty sure. Well, because you saw they got that fight at Ralph, right?

[Daniel Cormier]

Oh, that was so funny.

[Ben]

Yeah. So then apparently they're gonna fight, and apparently they're not. I think Masvidal vs Connor would be a fun one. I don't know if you know, that's a.

[Daniel Cormier]

But do we have to have, like, American guys on the card?

[Ben]

I think you should. It's our freaking birthday, Daniel. 250 years. You know what we need to do? I know. I got an idea.

[Daniel Cormier]

Listed one American, Justin Gaethje.

[Ben]

Damn it all. I screwed up. All right. You know, we need to do. We need a bunch of Americans beating up a bunch of British people? Because that's how that all started 250 years ago. Tell me that's not an idea.

[Daniel Cormier]

That's the way to go, but that's.

[Ben]

The way to go.

[Daniel Cormier]

You don't know if it's going to happen that way because the British fighters are so good now.

[Ben]

No, they're not. We could beat them all up. I should suggest that. I'll text Trump. I'll tell them. Hey, Trump. 250 years ago. I don't know if you remember this one. We kicked the British ass and sent them packing, and then we took over this whole country here. Why don't we just do it again? For 250 years?

[Daniel Cormier]

You're gonna piss off so many people. It's like you just cannot help yourself.

[Ben]

Well, we'll throw some. We'll throw some tea in the Potomac while we're at it. Let's do it. No table without representation.

[Daniel Cormier]

People can't even feel good for you because you're just Ben. You can't help yourself. You immediately go back to Ben.

[Ben]

You're full. Hey, wouldn't that be fun, though?

[Daniel Cormier]

You're full of ravioli and everything, and you just going crazy right now.

[Ben]

Oh, my gosh. I thought you were being mad at me, actually, Daniel.

[Daniel Cormier]

Why?

[Ben]

Okay, good. You don't know. I can't tell you that if you don't know.

[Daniel Cormier]

No, Ben, please tell me.

[Ben]

No, I can't. I don't want. I don't want to upset you.

[Daniel Cormier]

No, tell me, tell me, tell me.

[Ben]

I made this video about a week ago. I thought your guy Cody Merrill stalled a little bit and I was talking about it and I thought, Daniel's gonna be mad at me.

[Daniel Cormier]

Against the Iowa State kid.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

We out wrestled him so thoroughly it was crazy. Is that your. Is that one of yours? Is that one of your.

[Ben]

He actually left Missouri, but Cody got called for stalling this weekend. That's how he lost, bro.

[Daniel Cormier]

That was crazy. I don't even understand how they go back and watch the video and then give him another point. That was whack.

[Ben]

That was. That was wild.

[Daniel Cormier]

That's a real problem though, man. Cody needs to just put up more points. He's got to score more points, bro. He went to that great snap, run the corner action and never went back to it. You got to get back to that action if you're going to score. Hey, Mike Tyson's going to fight Floyd Mayweather.

[Ben]

This is, this is. This has got to stop at some point. I mean, like, you know, I was pumped for Mike Tyson, Roy Jones. I thought that was a lot of fun. And we had some of these other exhibitions, but at what point do we stop here?

[Olympics Narrator]

Right?

[Ben]

It's gotta stop at some point. Mike. Mike fought Jake Paul and it was not a great fight.

[Daniel Cormier]

Why was it good?

[Ben]

Because you could tell Mike was such a shell of himself and, you know, it was just. I don't know, it was like, why is he in there? I would. I think I was giving the most charitable interpretations that he loves boxing, he thinks he's gonna help boxing. I think that's the best interpretation you can give him. But yeah, it was just like he couldn't really move all that well because he's old. None of his knees are bad or hips are bad or what it was. So, yeah, I didn't love it.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah, my legs are hurting right now, too. I sparred a little bit today. My knees swollen. It's crazy. I didn't warm up. It was nuts. Ben, I don't really want to see Floyd Mayweather box. Mike Tyson, Yeah. I was the biggest Floyd Mayweather fan during his career, at the height of his career, obviously. I was just like everybody else. And we love Mike Tyson.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

But we don't need to see these dudes fight today, especially Mike. Mike fought Jake Paul when he was 57 or 58. What is he, 60 years old now?

[Ben]

That's probably.

[Daniel Cormier]

He's got money. Mike isn't. Mike isn't hurting.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

For money to where he has to fight.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

Floyd's 49. But here's the thing about Floyd, though. Floyd still trains all the time and he still looks good.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

But Mike, Mike hit. You know what's so telling? When he gets ready for these fights, he only hits pads. He's hitting pads and everybody goes, oh, my God, Mike Tyson is back. Because they see Uncle Mike hitting pads. But you can't just hit pads and fight. You can look pretty good on those pads and you feel like you're in shape on those pads. The moment those punches start coming back.

[Ben]

At you was also just that Jake would move away from him. Right. And he, you know, it was an inability to chase him down and corner him and box him up. And if you can't do that, it's really hard. And Floyd obviously is likely going to be moving better than Jake Paul did.

[Daniel Cormier]

But they're going to. That's going to be an exhibition, though. They can't possibly be fighting.

[Ben]

Yeah, I would. I would hope not. And then obviously not nearly the same size either. Yeah. I don't know. I feel like interest in that. Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe it's going to do really well. Feel like interest is waning. When I saw it, I was like, ah, really?

[Daniel Cormier]

Like, well, we talked about this like a year and a half ago when it initially came out.

[Ben]

Yes.

[Daniel Cormier]

And we both were kind of like, I don't know, man. It seems like. And I have a look. You don't get more excited about something by it going on the shelf for a year.

[Ben]

Yes.

[Daniel Cormier]

What is making people are making boxing feel like this is more valuable today than it was 15 months ago whenever people weren't necessarily bought in to it. You know, I was talking about that whole thing with boxing the other day.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

Because Gervonta Davis and Joaquin Buckley were going back and forth and I said, of course. You know, boxing. Boxing was.

[Ben]

Good.

[Daniel Cormier]

This is from this. From our last time the fight was announced. I believe the fans want violence. I said, maybe they don't, though. Mike is saying he can give us what we want, but what is it that they can give us without promising violence? Because one thing I know we won't see is Mike just starts Floyd Mayweather because you imagine if he just knocks out Floyd and Floyd's that much smaller, the visual. Hell, it would be the Most viewed thing you've ever seen on television, the clips would be the most viral shit you've ever seen in your entire life. But I can't imagine before I would sign up for that, knowing that that was a real possibility.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

So it'll be too staged.

[Ben]

Yes.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah.

[Ben]

No, I agree. I'm not. I'm. I'm not interested. Yeah, I don't know. I don't want to see it anymore.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah, I'm. I'm a little bit done with the celebrity boxing now. Zufa boxing is going every weekend. We also got Jake. Paul finally got his comeuppance. How do they call it?

[Ben]

Wait, who's he fighting?

[Daniel Cormier]

Remember he fought Anthony Joshua?

[Ben]

Oh, yeah, that was. That was wild. I thought he said he had another. I don't know.

[Daniel Cormier]

You watched it? Have you watched it?

[Ben]

I did not. I did not watch it. No. I didn't partake.

[Daniel Cormier]

You didn't see it since you came back to this world?

[Ben]

Was it when I was unconscious? I. I haven't seen it.

[Daniel Cormier]

No, bro, you got it.

[Ben]

I think it was while I was. I don't think. When did they fight? I think I was like.

[Daniel Cormier]

There was December. It was in December.

[Ben]

Oh. I was well out of the hospital by then.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah.

[Ben]

But I just wasn't that interested.

[Daniel Cormier]

So you. So you're telling me that you and Jake fought and that happened to you and you didn't want to see him get his ass kicked?

[Ben]

No. I don't care.

[Daniel Cormier]

It was bad, Ben.

[Ben]

Well, I had to assume. Yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

He moved around forever, and then eventually Anthony caught him.

[Ben]

And did he, like, shoot some double legs or something?

[Daniel Cormier]

He shot 50 double legs.

[Ben]

That was ridiculous. Did I ever tell you what they tried doing to me? I'll tell you a funny story. So one day I'm in my kitchen making some food or something, and Nikisa called me up and he said, hey, man, I want you to sign a contract that if you do MMA moves, you're gonna lose a hundred thousand dollars. I said, why? He's like, because we want it. He said, oh. He said the athletic commission wanted. But I'm like, nah, you want it. Like, give me a break here. And he's like. I said, okay, give me a hundred thousand dollars if I don't do any MMA moves. Like, you know, we got to have an upside and downside here. If I do them, I'll. I'll pay you, but if I don't, then you pay me. And he's like, no. He said, no. So I said, that's nonsense. So then I Said, ah, you know what? Maybe I will throw a couple knees or kicks or something. Just, you know, just.

[Daniel Cormier]

Could you imagine if you did that?

[Ben]

I mean, well, Jake Paul was shooting double legs against Anthony Joshua, so he.

[Daniel Cormier]

Made a boatload of money. He would have lost millions, he shot so many times. Yeah, they were bad shots. So he was kind of just falling on the ground, grabbing. I was like, damn, that's a bad shot, man.

[Ben]

I actually thought, you know what? I have. I. I don't know him well. We don't have a relationship, really, but I kind of have more respect for him that he fought Anthony Joshua and just big time.

[Daniel Cormier]

Especially, like a real fight. It was like a real fight. Yeah. That was crazy.

[Ben]

I mean, it takes a lot of balls, especially. It's not like he needed the money or needed the fame. He stepped in there and he did it and then took an ass whooping. Like, I kind of have a lot of respect for that.

[Daniel Cormier]

I would never fight Anthony Joshua.

[Ben]

Yeah. Hopefully he gets a. You know, can start finding someone, like, even skilled.

[Daniel Cormier]

I don't think he's going to fight again, though. His job really messed up. They broke it in, like, 10 places.

[Ben]

He'll get it fixed up, bro.

[Daniel Cormier]

He got his jaw broke bad. You get your jaw broke like that. Are you really signing up to get punched in the face again?

[Ben]

I mean, listen, he needed. He never needed to sign up to get punched in the face anyways. He could have kept being a YouTube star. He must. He must at least like it a little bit.

[Daniel Cormier]

And he's pretty good at it.

[Ben]

He's not bad.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah, he's not bad. All right, Ben. Well, hey, guys. That's another episode of Funking the Champ.

[Ben]

Wait, I want to hear. So I got one question for you, Daniel, before you kick me off here. Oklahoma State of Iowa this weekend.

[Daniel Cormier]

Oh, yeah.

[Ben]

Which one? Who's going to win?

[Daniel Cormier]

Oklahoma State's winning. I was a little banged up and down. They're not. They're not. They're not the team we thought they were once they lost that kid in D. May or whatever his name is. Yeah, yeah, it changed. It changed.

[Ben]

It changed.

[Daniel Cormier]

Hey, also, my boy King Velasquez got out of jail. Yes.

[Ben]

Oh, let's go.

[Daniel Cormier]

How good was that?

[Ben]

I was thinking, you know, I was thinking if someone announces him at, like, maybe we're gonna try. We're trying to get him to Ralph, I think, but, you know, anywhere. This is Cain Velasquez, former UFC champ, and he shot a pedophile. People are gonna go nuts. Like, they're gonna be like, yeah, like, who was really mad at him for that one? Daniel, if you found out the same thing, you'd probably try to do the same thing. I think any red blooded American male, if they found out something like that was happening, they would go do it. Like, he shouldn't even got thrown in jail.

[Daniel Cormier]

I love that, Ben. I love that. I'm just happy that he's back out.

[Ben]

I am too.

[Daniel Cormier]

All this stuff is behind him. I've been trying to get to this dude, man. So, guys, Kane, call me. Been trying to call you for two days, bro. What? I've been trying to reach out. I've been trying to reach out to Kane for a minute, man. Even when he was locked up. I've been trying to find a way to get to my boy, but I haven't been able to do that so far. But now that he's back, I'm pretty sure, yeah, we'll collaborate on something and hopefully I can like help him make some money and do everything. I'll do whatever. Honestly, I owe a lot of my career. He's the man and he's even more the man now since this is behind him and he did what, like you said, what a man should do to protect his family.

[Ben]

Absolutely.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah, absolutely. All right, guys. Until next time, for Ben, I'm Daniel. Peace. See ya.

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