The Daniel Cormier Show - DC & Ben Askren REACT to Ronda Rousey SUBMITTING Gina Carano, WILD Francis KO, Nate Diaz

Summary

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The Daniel Cormier Show – DC & Ben Askren REACT to Rousey vs. Carano, Francis KO, Nate Diaz Loss (May 19, 2026)

Main Theme & Purpose

In this special "Funky & the Champ" bonus episode, Daniel Cormier and Ben Askren deliver a lively, insightful recap of the highly anticipated MVP MMA card broadcast on Netflix. The episode centers on reactions to Ronda Rousey’s rapid submission win over Gina Carano, a wild Francis Ngannou KO, and Mike Perry’s domination of Nate Diaz—while also discussing the broader state of MMA, star power, matchmaking, and the plausibility of MVP MMA as a UFC rival.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

General Recap and Format Critique

• Ben Askren immediately notes the lack of competitive bouts:
  "There wasn't a singular fight that was moderately competitive on the card... We need the highlights... but the best thing we can get is a back-and-forth fight." (02:53)

• Daniel Cormier argues that this format suits boxing, not MMA:
  "So many of these fighters on that card were already established stars, right? They're on the back end of their careers... There is no star building." (03:12)

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Francis Ngannou’s KO and Heavyweight Star Power

• Askren highlights the importance of compelling opponents ("dance partners") to build a star:
  "Francis is in the exact same situation where he's got no one that can really fight with him. And you need. You need that to build a star." (04:24)

• Cormier points out the mismatch against Philipe Lins:
  "It was only a matter of time until he knocked Lins out. And Lins looked way too small for [Ngannou]." (05:12)

• Ben questions Lins as a heavyweight:
  "He weighed in at 220 or something. ... That's a couple sweats and you're a light heavyweight." (05:19)

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Junior Dos Santos and the Difficulties of Retiring

• Both men sympathize with Junior dos Santos, who took another loss:
  "He's a guy who just hasn't known when to be done fighting... Sometimes it's hard for fighters to go do something else." (05:33, 05:49)

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Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano – The Main Event

• Cormier sets the stage for the significance of this matchup as a "pioneers" bout:
  "This card was built on the pioneers of female mixed martial arts fighting each other in the main event..." (05:58)

• Rousey’s quick finish leads to viewer and fighter dissatisfaction:
  "Ronda and Gina fight: 17 seconds. ... I felt like I wasn't fulfilled after watching that." – Cormier (07:07)

  "I had four friends text me that was fixed or, you know, some form of 'that was scripted or planned.'" – Askren (07:22)

• Askren analyzes Carano’s difficult position after a long layoff:
  "Her last fight was 2009. ... It's just such a completely different era." (07:22)

• Rousey’s old-school domination style dissected:
  "Her first four professional fights were 25 seconds, 49 seconds, 25 seconds, 39 seconds." – Askren (09:21)

  "That was at the very early stages... Then the women caught up, right? ... Gina wasn't there when the sport caught up, right?" – Cormier (10:07)

• Technical critique: It was not high-level, and Carano couldn't defend:
  "If you're able to use low level skill, be successful, yes. That's a kind of unspoken, unfortunate [truth]." – Askren (11:32)
  "It wasn't low-level skill by Ronda. It was low-level defense by Gina." – Cormier (11:19)

• Askren on what fight would have "made sense" for Ronda:
  "Chris Cyborg, that would have been the one that made sense because they had the rivalry forever. But Ronda's a coward. She would never fight Cyborg." (12:20)

  • Cormier notes the rivalry and Ronda's announced re-retirement:
    "They asked Ronda if she was going to continue fighting last night, and she retired again. ... I would have preferred to see her again in a situation where it felt like it would be more competitive." (13:08)

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Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry – Co-Main Event

• Cormier and Askren agree: Perry dominated, Diaz looked outmatched:
  "Nate got beat bad, right?" – Cormier (18:07)
  "Mike Perry was just...it was kind of like practice. He was just teeing off on him." – Askren (18:12)

• Cormier surprised at lack of resistance:
  "It just didn't feel like Mike felt any danger coming back in his direction..." (18:37)

• Askren credits Perry’s stand-up skill:
  "Mike Perry is pretty damn good...as far as being a stand up fighter, he's been very good in BKFC." (19:49)

• Banter about Nate’s bewildering post-fight comments:
  "After the fight, Nate goes, maybe I need to run more. And I was like, what is he talking about running more?" – Cormier (20:21)
  "Isn't that like most Nate Diaz rants? You just kind of wonder for a while what's going on." – Askren (20:47)

  • Memorable moment:
    "I thought the 'second most violent guy' was a funny line." – Askren (21:02)

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The State of MVP MMA and MMA Promotion

• Can MVP MMA compete long-term?
  "I hope they keep going...They would need to develop something different...start signing some younger, better fighters and build them up through some type of structure..." – Askren (21:13)

• Cormier: Netflix only wants big events, not regular fight nights:
  "Netflix doesn’t want to build...they only want big events." (21:50)

• Askren worries about streaming and promotion partners:
  "MVP MMA needs to find some kind of good partner which promotes them effectively. ...I would like to see someone who's able to challenge the UFC and pay fighters." (22:10)

• Cormier expresses skepticism on MVP overtaking UFC:
  "That's impossible. So last night I got a lot...UFC's dead now, MVP's here. And I'm like, bro, really?" (22:41)

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General Takeaways & Future of the Sport

• The UFC isn’t threatened yet; MVP MMA needs identity and talent development:
  "If you're going to try to overtake something, it can't be on the back of people that were built in that thing that you're trying to overtake." – Cormier (24:48)
  "You can't walk out Mike Perry and Nate Diaz again...a lot of the intrigue...was because of Nate." – Cormier (24:48)

• Production and spectacle can’t replace great fights:
  "If there isn't a great product inside that cage, it does not matter...you have to have a great product inside the cage." – Cormier (26:50)

• Cormier sees Rousey’s future outside the cage, and Carano possibly back to TV:
  "Ronda says she's going to live on her farm and have more children and be with her family." (27:15)
  "Gina needs...this may springboard her back into television." (27:11)

• Ben Askren briefly plugs his own MMA promotion and invites Cormier to a show:
  "I want you to come to a show...my birthday show, July 18th in Milwaukee, Wisconsin." (24:35)

• Cormier concludes with praise for Askren’s insights and a final word on the lesson for UFC management:
  "Ben has great points...Ultimately, you need a great product in the octagon...I don't know if the Netflix card last night had that..." (24:48, 26:50)
  "If I'm Hunter Campbell...I don't know that last night did anything to say that he made the wrong decision [not making the Carano fight happen in UFC]." (27:30)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On lopsided fights:
  "There wasn't a singular fight that was moderately competitive on the card." – Ben Askren (02:53)

• On star power and matchmaking:
  "You need dance partners." – Ben Askren (04:24)

• On Rousey’s historical dominance:
  "She was the first on the scene...She did it to Cat Zingano, she did it to Miesha Tate, she did it to all the finishes." – Daniel Cormier (10:07)

• On Rousey’s matchup with Carano:
  "It was pretty low-level technical skills from Ronda...You have to say it's low-level defense by Gina." – Askren/Cormier (11:19–11:32)

• On what Rousey should've done:
  "Chris Cyborg, that would have been the one that made sense...But Ronda's a coward. She would never fight Cyborg." – Ben Askren (12:20)

• On Mike Perry’s reputation:
  "I still don't understand why people keep taking Perry as if he's some sort of joke when he just keeps beating people up in bare knuckle, bro." – Cormier (18:57)

• On promotion building:
  "You can't walk out Mike Perry and Nate Diaz again...you've got to find a way to put together a big fight." – Daniel Cormier (24:48)

• On the UFC's place at the top:
  "If there isn't a great product inside that cage, it does not matter." – Daniel Cormier (26:50)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:07] – Cormier introduces the episode, sets up MVP MMA card discussion
• [02:53–04:24] – Recap and critique of the card’s competitiveness, Ngannou’s KO
• [05:33] – Sympathy for Junior dos Santos’s loss, fighter retirement talk
• [05:58–07:22] – Breakdown of Rousey vs Carano, mismatch, viewer frustration
• [09:21–10:07] – History of Rousey’s quick finishes, evolution of WMMA
• [11:19–12:36] – Critique of Carano’s defense and Rousey’s next possible challenges, Cyborg rivalry
• [18:04–21:13] – Detailed breakdown of Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry
• [21:13–22:55] – Can MVP MMA compete? Need for talent development and event structure
• [23:02–24:48] – Social media reactions, need for new stars, Askren’s own promotion
• [26:50–27:30] – Final thoughts on the night’s legacy for the MMA industry

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Episode Summary – The Verdict

Daniel Cormier and Ben Askren offer a sharp, unvarnished look at a much-hyped card that fell short for MMA purists and fans craving competitive matchups. They salute the legacy of pioneers like Carano and Rousey but acknowledge the sport’s evolution—and the audience’s. Though the event was rich in spectacle and nostalgia, it failed to deliver on competitiveness and left both hosts talking up the challenge any potential UFC competitor faces. Memorable moments include Askren’s jabs at Rousey for not facing Cyborg, their analytical break-down of the technical mismatch in the main event, and shared skepticism about MVP’s future unless it can become more than a platform for MMA’s aging stars.

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Transcript

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[Daniel Cormier]

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[Daniel Cormier]

What's up guys? Welcome to an episode or a bonus episode of Funky and the Champ. After the Netflix card brought to you by Total Wireless, the official wireless provider of UFC, they're in your corner with unlimited 5G data that will not slow you down. Now that guys, a total power move. Last night we Got our first MVP MMA card on Netflix, and I thought about doing a reaction to it last night, but I figured I would wait until Ben woke up to try to get his reaction on what happened last night. Ben, my friend, the floor is yours. Tell me what you thought of the MVP card as a whole before we talk about a few of the individual matchups.

[Ben Askren]

Yeah, I mean, incredibly one sided was the biggest thing that comes to mind. You know, there wasn't a singular fight that was moderately competitive on the card. And, you know, we need the highlights, we need the knockouts, we need the spectacular things, but the best thing we can get is a back to back, like a back and forth fight.

[Daniel Cormier]

It's not boxing, right? In boxing, you build. You build athletes by them kind of crushing people that aren't on their level necessarily. But so many of these fighters on that card were already established stars, right? They're on the back end of their careers. So there is no star building. So these guys and women, for me, it's felt like they should have had the opportunity to fight someone in somewhat of a competitive fight.

[Ben Askren]

Well, I thought. I thought about that, Daniel. And actually, you know, that was one of my big issues is when I. When Dana wouldn't sign me in 2013, and then I went to one championship. And, you know, so I was thinking this of Francis, and this has been Francis's problem ever since he left the ufc, which maybe it's been like three or four years now, it feels like a little while, but you need dance partners. And when I left Bellator and went to one championship, I just didn't have anyone who could really fight with me. So it was hard to build it, you know, and Francis is in the exact same situation where he's got no one that can really fight with him. And you need. You need that to build a star.

[Daniel Cormier]

But it's not even about star building, because he was a star when he was in the ufc. Then obviously his star rose even more whenever he fought Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. But again, that just speaks to your point, right? He's fighting two of the greatest boxers in the world. So then his profile elevated these guys on the regional scene, because make no mistake about it, it's regional mma, right? It's not. It's on a massive platform, but it still feels like a smaller version of what you're seeing on Saturday nights inside of the Octagon. But they can't fight him because he's still too good, even though he's 39 years old, bro. It felt like it Was only a matter of time until he knocked linz out. And Lyns looked way too small for.

[Ben Askren]

But Linz is a light heavyweight, I believe.

[Daniel Cormier]

No, he won the. But he won the PFL heavyweight tournament.

[Ben Askren]

Oh. He weighed in at 2, 220 or something. So to me, that's a. That's for sure. Like, that's a couple sweats and you're a light heavyweight.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah, you're a light heavyweight. Did you see what happened to junior dos Santos? Row I high life.

[Ben Askren]

That's one you feel bad for. Because I always like junior do Santos, and, you know, he's a guy who just hasn't known when to be done fighting. And I feel like he's fought in other things maybe.

[Daniel Cormier]

Maybe all kinds of stuff.

[Ben Askren]

Yeah. And so he just needs to go do something else. But sometimes it's hard for fighters to go do something else.

[Daniel Cormier]

This car was built on the pioneers of female mixed martial arts fighting each other in the main event with Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano. I don't know Gina Carano. I think Gina Carano's story is inspiring. I remember her being a star on the mandalorian and so many other TV shows. It was odd, man. First off, I didn't know why she kept dancing all the time. Like, all the dances.

[Ben Askren]

Come on.

[Daniel Cormier]

You still come on, man. It was like a nervous tick. It was like a nervous type of tic, her dancing all the time. I was like, why is she dancing? Why is she dancing at the workout? Why is she dancing at the prep point? I didn't understand the dancing because every time people dance, for me, it tells. It tells a real story. When Brock Lesnar was dancing, walking to the octagon to fight Alistair overeem and singing, I was like, yo, Brock is done. What happened? He gets finished so fast, but Ronda and Gina fight 17 seconds. Now so many people are like, oh, why did this happen, bro? Rhonda's done this before. Many, many times. Remember when she had Gina Bell?

[Ben Askren]

Yeah. That was the main strategy, that she

[Daniel Cormier]

would go out, take people down, and he had a clock to monitor how long it would take her to submit them. Last night, that was the same thing. What did you make of that? Because, boy, I felt I. I felt like I wasn't fulfilled after watching that.

[Ben Askren]

No, I mean, honestly, people think like a highlight, knockout, or highlight finish is the ideal, but I think that was the opposite of ideal. I feel like everyone. I had four friends text me that was fixed or, you know, some. Some form of. That was scripted or that was Planned or whatever. Now here's the thing about Gina Carano, and I actually really like her. I've had some good conversations with her. Super nice, awesome woman. She went through a struggle. She stood up for herself when the COVID Nazis came after her. But her Last fight was 2009. She fought in a different era of mixed. I mean, to. To. I made my debut in 2009, as I think you did, and were considered old and started fighting. Not finished in 2009. I mean, it's just like. It's just such a completely different era. And then, you know, on top of that, as. As she was a pioneer for women's MMA because there was almost no one before her, and obviously she is freaking beautiful, and that's why people are so attracted to her. Right. And. And drawn to her story. But she only had. I think it was seven fights. Like, that's not a lot, you know?

[Daniel Cormier]

No, no. And you know what? I think the most important point that you made, Ben. Different era of mma, because if you recall, when we were. I was in Strikeforce with Ronda and she was doing the time clock thing. She was. It was like a real thing then. She was the first on the scene at the UFC in terms of a female, and she was kind of doing the same thing. She did it to Kazinganu. She. She did it to Misha Tate. After a while, she did it to the finishes.

[Ben Askren]

Let me. Let me go file. I'll find so we can.

[Daniel Cormier]

I want you to tell me the first one she had. Liz Carmouche is who it was. It was the first time females fought in the ufc. She got her out of there very, very quickly. How long was that?

[Ben Askren]

To your point, Daniel, her first four professional fights were 25 seconds, 49 seconds, 25 seconds, 39 seconds. And then when she makes her. Her debut was a first round submission against Liz Carmouche. Her last fight was a 54 second submission against Sarah Kaufman and Strike Force.

[Daniel Cormier]

Okay, but when she fights Liz Karmouch in the ufc, she submits her very quickly. Right? How. How quick was that?

[Ben Askren]

The Liz Kmush was. No, it wasn't that quick. 4 minutes 49 seconds.

[Daniel Cormier]

Okay, so 4 minutes 49 seconds.

[Ben Askren]

She finished Sarah McMahon pretty fast. And she finished Alexis Davis, who I don't even recall and not knew both of them. So she had three in a row. She had 16, 14 and 34 against Alexis Davis, Kenzigano, and Betch Correa.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yep. So. So that was a thing. Yeah, but that was at the very early stages of female mixed Martial arts. Then the women caught up, right? Then they started to catch up and they kind of understood how to defend the armbar and everything else. And that's when she started to have tougher fights with the Holly Holmes and then the Amanda Nunes fights. And granted, Ronda's barely lost in her career, so we can't act like she's been losing a whole boatload of fights. But Gina wasn't there when the sport caught up, Right? So for this fight with her and Ronda, it was essentially Ronda fighting back in that era of women fighters that didn't necessarily know how to defend it because, bro, it was a straight arm bar. It was like day one and sit on the chest, get off to the side arm bar.

[Ben Askren]

The whole, the whole thing was right from the, the double leg to the mount to the armbar transition, it's all happened. Boom, bam, pow. It was all kind of very. I don't say low level because I, I don't want to. I like Gina, so I don't want to try to insult her, but it was pretty low level technical skills from Rhonda to. To win that bout. You know what I was thinking about last night, Daniel?

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah. I think you. I think. I think you gotta rephrase that because I think that because you like Gina, you're trying to protect what you say about her. But it wasn't low level skill by Ronda. It was low level defense by Gina.

[Ben Askren]

If you're able to use low level skill, be successful. Yes. Then that's a kind of unspoken, unfortunate.

[Daniel Cormier]

That's. That's. That's what it was. That. Because if Gina's defense was a little better, Rhonda possibly had to do something different to get defended. Bro, she just sat off to the side and armed barred her. Yeah, it was crazy.

[Ben Askren]

I know. There was no grabbing the arms or turning in or twisting or pivoting or. Yeah, there's nothing. You know who I was thinking though? If Rhonda wasn't a coward, you know who she should have fought, which was available to her?

[Daniel Cormier]

Who?

[Ben Askren]

Actually, two acceptable options, but the one that would just be way too hard and wouldn't make sense. The one is that Larissa Pacheco girl that they won't put in. Yeah, yeah.

[Daniel Cormier]

But she won't fight her.

[Ben Askren]

Kayla Harrison's ass. She's really good at fighting. She's really tough. I don't know that she can make 135 because I want to say they fought it. Her and Kayla fought at 145.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah.

[Ben Askren]

45, but she kicked Kayla's ass. And the other one, that would have made so much more sense. And I've actually got to know this lady through bitcoin and crypto conferences. But Chris Cyborg, that would have been the one that made sense because they had the rivalry forever. But Rhonda's a coward. She would never fight Cyborg.

[Daniel Cormier]

Oh, my God. So, yeah, I forgot, you don't like Rhonda that much, but nails on a chalkboard.

[Ben Askren]

But if you're going to listen, here's. Here's the crux of my premise. If you want to say I'm a badass, then you take on all comers. You just say, okay, let's fight. And Chris Cyborg would have accepted that fight. I'm 100% on it. It would have been the one that made the most sense to have history. It's not like, you know, I said the worst of Pacheco doesn't really make sense. But since, yeah, her and Chris Cyborg, she said awful, awful, terrible things about Chris Cyborg. So it would have made so much sense.

[Daniel Cormier]

That would have been. That would have been fun. They asked Rhonda if she was going to continue fighting last night, and she retired again. Said that she's done. She wants to have more babies and kind of end it. I. I would have preferred to see her again in a situation where it felt like it would be more competitive. All right, guys. Hey. Our good friends at Hard Rock Bet are all fired up about the NBA playoffs. So once again, they're giving us a fantastic offer and a chance to get paid out. All you got to do, place a bet at minimum, $5. If that bet hits you, win your $5 back and get $150 in bonus bets. Look, the NBA playoffs are one of the best events and the best times of the entire sports calendar. So why not get in on the action with our good friends at Hard Rock? Bet again. Bet only $5 or more. That bet hits, you get your original bet back and $150 in bonus bets. Go download the app, get with Hard Rock Bet, one of the fastest growing sports betting partners that I've ever been associated with. 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 I T in Indiana. If you are someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-809 with it. And if you have a gambling problem, call 1-800- GAMBLER Premier hosts on VRBO

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[Daniel Cormier]

Nate Diaz and Mike Perry.

[Ben Askren]

Yeah, bro.

[Daniel Cormier]

Nate got beat bad, right?

[Ben Askren]

It was bad. It was very bad.

[Daniel Cormier]

What happened?

[Ben Askren]

What happened? I thought so. Mike. Mike Perry is a very explosive, powerful, dangerous striker. I thought maybe Nate could weather the early storm and then come back later, which we've seen him do something similar to that, but he couldn't even make Mike Perry work hard enough to get tired. Right? Like, Mike Perry was just. It was kind of like practice. He was just teeing off on him.

[Daniel Cormier]

It just didn't feel like Mike felt any danger coming back in his direction. That made him take pause and take note, like, wait a minute. I've got to be careful as I advance here, because I might get hurt with something coming back in the opposite direction. I was very surprised because there were moments on the ground where they grappled a little bit.

[Ben Askren]

There was that one moment with the leg lock. Yes.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah. Where I'm like, well, maybe Nate can actually turn us into some top position or something. But, bro, he was just out. He was just. He was just beat up in every situation. And it was so surprising, right? And everybody's like, oh, Nate Diaz got btc. Look at that. Like, I want to dance on his grave. And I'm like, well, this isn't funny to me, because, honestly, I spoke to Nate last week. Him and I discussed a lot of the things that people say that we might not see eye to eye on, but. And Nate's actually. He's an all right guy, but it just didn't seem like he had anything for Perry. And I still don't understand why people keep taking Perry as if he's some sort of joke when he just keeps beating people up in bare knuckle, bro. He hurt Eddie Alvarez bad. He hurt Luke bad. Like, he's still fighting at a decently

[Ben Askren]

high level in stand up fighting. Mike Perry is pretty damn good. If you remember his UFC run, it was not that great because his ground skills are not that great. But as far as being a stand up fighter, he's been very good in bkfc. I, I, he did, didn't he fight Jake Paul also? But he, he's obviously way smaller.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah, he's too small too.

[Ben Askren]

He's too small, but yeah, and especially in bare knuckle. For whatever reason, I don't know, he's just maybe built a little different. He's crazy, dude.

[Daniel Cormier]

He's very Luke. I was like, he's crazy, man. You can't fight this dude in bare knuckle. But he just beat him up back. And then, bro, after the fight, Nate goes, maybe I need to run more. And I was like, what is he talking about running more? What's wrong with Nate, man? It's funny. The toughest person, and he was talking about retirement. Crying. It felt like maybe he was, I don't know who he was talking about. Maybe he's mad at me again because I was crying in the eye. I don't know what Nate was talking about in that video, man. That, that was.

[Ben Askren]

Isn't that like most Nate Diaz rants? You just kind of wonder for a while what's going on. And that's, I mean, you sent that to me and I thought, you know, he said a few funny things about maybe who he was talking about.

[Daniel Cormier]

Huh.

[Ben Askren]

I thought the second most violent guy was a funny. That was a funny line.

[Daniel Cormier]

I thought it was an ATS run. So overall mvp, like, you in or like, what? Are you in? Are you out? Like, what do you think?

[Ben Askren]

I, I hope that, I hope they keep going. I think a competitor in the mixed martial arts space, which is actually effective, but they needed you. They would need to develop something different. Right. They're gonna have to start number one for the ground roots and start signing some younger, better fighters and build them up through some type of structure there. They will have to obviously keep the older stars around. And, you know, with the funding, the amount of funding someone like Netflix has, I bet that, I bet that they could get a deal where they're saying, hey, let's, let's get a two year deal or something. So they're gonna have some time where they're putting on a show, you know, every month or every couple months.

[Daniel Cormier]

They don't want. Netflix doesn't want that, though. Netflix only wants big events. Netflix, yeah, Netflix doesn't want to build Netflix. Netflix was a player in the UFC negotiations, but they did not want all the fight nights. They don't want to do that. Okay, well, this one's big fights.

[Ben Askren]

I didn't, I didn't read that. Then it's gonna be obviously extremely tough because they need to find some type of effective streaming partner. You think like, PFL is dying over on ESPN because it just feels like there's no promotion. Honestly, some of those fights, I would watch some of them that are. And it just feels like, oh, that happened. I didn't know that was happening, you know, so that, that's going to be a big deal for MVP mma. They need to find some kind of good partner which promotes them effectively. Because I would like to see someone who's able to challenge the, the UFC and pay fighters.

[Daniel Cormier]

But that's impossible. That's impossible. What's that? That's impossible. So last night I got a lot. I saw a lot of people going, UFC's dead now, MVP's here. And I'm like, bro, really?

[Ben Askren]

I saw the opposite. We must have weird timelines because.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ben Askren]

Mine was like, hey, this sucks. UFC is so much better for the most part.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah, it's crazy. I saw a lot of that, especially when I'm sitting there watching Do Hoo Choi and them having just the craziest fight on tv. Bro. They had a crazy fight night last night. I worked Tommy Gantt. Tommy Gantt had a sick fight last night.

[Ben Askren]

Yeah. Let's go Tommy again.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah, it's awesome. So I like it, man. Oh, Francis also gave Felipe lynch his hundred thousand dollar knockout bonus, so they

[Ben Askren]

probably put him to do that as a. They probably paid him do that as a marker of, you know, that's. It's weird, like almost socialist. All right, we got a co. Co host here with this weird, like almost socialist kind of thing of like we need to pay everyone, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[Daniel Cormier]

He's mean, Ben.

[Ben Askren]

What?

[Daniel Cormier]

He wants to play baseball. He don't give a damn about what you're doing.

[Ben Askren]

No, he just wants to play baseball.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah. And you should take and play baseball. Finish your last thought and I'll let you take your boy out.

[Ben Askren]

Yeah. So, no, I think, I think, I hope that MVP and or someone else succeeds in MMA space because I think it'll be great for Friday to have more options. But if it is a freaking incredibly tall hill to climb. And Daniel, you said it earlier. At this point, it looks like one other option for these people is going to be Raf Real American Freestyle. We're making awesome freaking matches. We had a card. May 30th. We had a card. June 13th. I want you to come to a Show. I'm going to personally invite you on the show to my birthday show, July 18th in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I know it's far. You can bring your son. He could even next gen, because it's 1500, and I don't think your son's 15 yet.

[Daniel Cormier]

Yeah, he just barely turned. He turned 15, but I actually may just do that. I may just do that. Hey, Ben, thank you for doing this, man. I appreciate you. Go play baseball with your boy. I got a couple thoughts. I'm gonna finish off here.

[Ben Askren]

All right, see you, buddy.

[Daniel Cormier]

All right, Ben. So. So, guys, Ben has great points, right? Ben is obviously this guy. I think he's one of the smarter guys in mma. I know he isn't as tied to it as he was before, but he has great points. I think that. I think that it could be better. I think MVP in the long run could put on shows like this. But ultimately, like Ben said, I think they probably need to find a way to build other people outside of former UFC stars, because if you're going to try to overtake something, it can't be on the back of people that were built in that thing that you're trying to overtake. You can use that, but ultimately, you got to find a way to put together a big fight. Hey, rebellious despond Francis Ngannou. After the way Rebellious fought last night against Junior, maybe that is a fight card or a main event that you could use down the line, right? So you have your main event, but what else after that? Right? You can't walk out Mike Perry and Nate Diaz again, and you can't really walk out Mike Perry without Nate Diaz to draw as much as you did with Nate Diaz. Right? Because regardless of what happened or how the fight looked, a lot of the intrigue of that co main event was because of Nate. And that's just the truth when it. When it all boils down to it. Overall, I thought the production was okay. I thought that they did a good job of. Of trying to make something feel big. But again, you know, the ufc, for all the great production value, for all the hype and the media and the surroundings, are the following that it has. If there isn't a great product inside of that cage, it does not matter. You have to have a great product inside of the cage. And I don't know if the Netflix card last night had had that. That's just my honest opinion. And I'm friends with Ronda, and I respect Gina Carano for all of her hardships and everything she's been through. Nate, Mike Francis is is a great friend of mine and I love that he's making money after leaving the ufc. But ultimately you need a great product in the octagon between the lines in order to truly draw people in. And I don't think that what we saw last night was was that I think Gina needs to this May springboard her back into television. And obviously Rhonda says she's going to live on her farm and have more children and be with her family.

[Ben Askren]

So

[Daniel Cormier]

it is what it is. But if I'm Hunter Campbell, who has been getting beat up in the media because he didn't want to make this fight, I don't know that last night did anything to say that he made the wrong decision because of the way that it ended. And that's just me being 1000% truthful. Had you had a great fight, maybe people may have questioned Hunter's decision. But again, Hunter has made good decisions time and time again and I believe that last night showed that he made another one by not paying a boatload of money to make that event. Guys, thank you so much for always tapping into my stuff. I appreciate you. That was Ben Askren, Daniel Cormier. I'll catch you on the next one.

[VRBO Host]

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[Robert Smigel]

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you from funnier. This week. My guests SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter.

[Isaiah Thomas]

Where does your group perform?

[Robert Smigel]

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[CJ Toledano]

What's up fam?

[Isaiah Thomas]

It's Isaiah Thomas and I'm CJ Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast Point Game the Playoffs.

[CJ Toledano]

We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season and I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn talk ever again, I was firm.

[Isaiah Thomas]

You just understood.

[CJ Toledano]

That's how personal it get.

[Daniel Cormier]

Wow.

[CJ Toledano]

Then after that game seven Marquis coming to you, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

[Isaiah Thomas]

So listen to point game on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Podcast Interviewer]

Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life?

[Family Member]

That is not the look of an innocent man. Is everyone lying to me about who they are?

[Keith Giamanca]

I felt such desperation. I felt it was what I had to do.

[Podcast Interviewer]

Listen to deep cover the family man on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[VRBO Host]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.