With UFC 285 right around the corner, Firas explains why he thinks the main event between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane for the …
foreign [Applause] [Music] I’ve never been happier a podcast dangerous welcome to UFC unfiltered and uh how you doing fahas thanks for coming on today great man left to have that left to be on um are you looking forward to this uh Saturday’s card like is it hard for you like as a coach to like look forward to it as a fan like I I’m just dying for this weekend honestly I’m this is one of the most exciting fights ever put on by UFC Jon Jones versus a certain gun I’m super hyped up on about this fight the makachev fight and the vulcanovsky fight I was thinking about for months on end and this fight I think is even more exciting I’m looking forward to this fight even more and sometimes when fights are so hyped up like this so important sometimes they’re let Downs you know but Falcon asking Islam were not definitely not and this one I don’t think we’ll be either did that play out the way you thought it would and uh like I a volcanovsky I mean everybody knows how tough he is I was surprised that he was his takedown defense was as good as it was and and he was just hard to keep down as he was uh his confidence was warranted and um were you shocked or did it go the way you thought it might go you know what I did a pre-fight analysis for that fight and originally I was giving it 70 30 to Islamic but after going through volkanowsky’s footage I went on the air and I was like no no this is going to be a lot closer after reviewing all these fights seeing how busy he is he hits hard he hits often he’s incredibly incredibly versatile I was like you know what I changed my mind I think I put it like 60 40. I said it’s gonna be closer than we think but I still was shocked of how close it is how close it was I thought Islam was going to have a nice comfortable win and walk proved everybody wrong you know it was he was very difficult to call that fight the one thing I pointed out before the fight and I was picking Islam for sure is that it could be tricky for guys that are used to holding down bigger guys the shorter guy I know for one being the shorter guy and when I fought in my my whole career and you know the gentleman I’m talking about I thought somebody shorter than me this is the first one time right no it’s a Canadian and this guy’s a gentleman by the name of Ivan mesgabus that’s right no either don’t you of course I wrestle with him every day oh you still see him yeah he still trains oh man what a great guy isn’t he I he’s a good guy great energy indicate one of the nicest guys Jimmy and like I’m saying like I had his back and you know especially at the time I’m pretty good at finishing with the real naked joke he had no neck so it was and then you’re in half guard with this guy and like he would just give up his back but he’s already on his feet so he was like weird things that only a shorter more impact person could do and uh you know I thought that that might possess a problem and it is incredibly difficult to leg lock armbar choke Ivan menjavar for those of the guys those who don’t know he fought at 145 nobody could fight him 145. there was no 145 at UFC at the time he moved up to fight Matt Sarah and UFC matsara wins control this back Master at that time you guys all know the submission Master couldn’t get a sub on a guy with no neck no limbs how do you slide your hand under that neck it’s so difficult you’re 100 right sometimes the geometry just doesn’t fit this guy listen I wrestle I haven’t mention four till this day okay and I train full time he doesn’t he trains part-time I still have a credibly difficult time putting any subs on him his his there’s an advantage trap shorting short limbs there’s an advantage to having no neck there’s an advantage the man has no neck he’s all traps that was exactly what Matt that’s exactly what you said about uh volkanovski that’s exactly what you said about him it’s gonna be hard to to wrap around his net I think Volcan ask you said himself as unchokable yeah because he knows he has no neck but you Matt you were 100 on that you know what blows my mind if you look at when he choked out Oliveira Olivera tapped feverishly that’s an experienced black belt but Oliver has a very long neck oh yeah he’s got long limbs but when he put that arm triangle on him as soon as he passed the guard Oliveira was tapping feverishly like to me that’s like that must be an incredible squeeze on the guy like you think you’d wait a while wait till you pass out like he tapped like he didn’t even attempt an escape from Islam That’s How Strong Islam squeeze must be you know but like you said there’s nothing to squeeze it kind of reminded me not to segue into the fights the other night another Canadian Mike Malott talk about it I mean that was the same thing you know it’s trouble when somebody gets ahead and armstroke or also known as the arm triangle uh from half guard just like you said it was very similar the other day with Milan he had that in half guard and then he got three quarters Mount the foot was still trapped he was tapping he actually put himself in it more trying to get out umese yeah actually he trained for trained with me a bit for that fight and he just started training with us uh but he got caught with a very very deep arm triangle but also uh Malad has long arms yeah he’s got longer those arms lock around you it’s very difficult to undo Michael Chev his arms are I would say a little bit on the long side not not that long but the way he he tapped a seasoned black belt in Oliveira you know Oliveira’s had you know he’s had his black belt for over 10 years for him to tap that way it’s it’s very surprising and they also I think they said that once volkanovsky goes back to 145 and defends against yair that there will be a rematch between him and Mikasa but does that mean Akashi doesn’t have to fight until after this that there’s nobody else to fight him or are they going to assume that he wins a fight uh in the meantime and then gets assuming that they both win their defending their pilots I doubt to keep my catchov on the shelf that long right I think they think Michael Chef is going to win regardless so they’ll give him a fight he’ll win it very likely he’s in his prime right now I think UFC and everyone’s banking on voknowski winning at 145 which I would agree like right now I would pick voknowski against even though yair impressed me immensely he brings new attributes to Volk that VOC has never seen VOC has never seen that type of kicking before he’s seen long Fighters he’s seen very durable Fighters but he’s never seen anybody with those type of kicks but nonetheless I would still right now without getting too deep in it I would still pick Valk I think UFC is very confident in volklow when Islam will win and they fight and if Islam were to lose there’ll be a mega rubber match were you surprised at how uh how well yair did against Josh Emmett uh I had Josh Abbott picked in that fight uh and yeah it was incredible it’s the best I’ve ever seen him I I did too I I thought that the first two rounds would go to yair and then after slowly Emmett can pick it up um Emma didn’t fight to his best you know not take anything away from yair’s performance he fought brilliantly he attacked the body he landed body kicks body types his kicks were phenomenal but I felt like yeah I felt that I wasn’t the best Josh Emmett we’ve seen we’ve seen Josh Abbott really do a lot better than that at one point he was throwing overhand rights Non-Stop and they were telegraphed and they were I wonder why I think it was those body kicks I think it was very hurt to the body but generally we’ve seen him perform a lot better than that yeah but when’s the last time we seen him with somebody like yair I mean yeah he is a wacky gentleman don’t get me wrong we’ve seen him with guys with the likes of Jeremy Stevens and you Qatar don’t forget he beat Qatar Emmett beat Qatar oh he did but yeah but Katara is that more traditional boxing not jail Sullivan but like but you know he’s got that more of a traditional straight up traditional box yeah he’s like he’s a puncher yeah 100 and yeah here is just funky man he’s one of those guys where again going into that fight I was picking you a year and I just thought that I know yair has seen way more guys like Emmett than Emmett did yair yeah he’s got the he’s a funky guy even when you get on top of him he has a way to win from bottom just by striking I mean he’s just he came a long way from the yair and he has that Ford Frankie Edgar That Could Just Kill him right seeing improvements you’ve seen a majority there as a fighter and against the Korean zombie I I thought that if I remember that fight it’s been a few years I remember uh I I thought that uh the the zombie was winning until the final round and then he landed That Elbow um but I thought that he was uh beating Ayr if I remember correctly and then he just threw that beautiful elbow in the last couple of seconds and and won the fight am I crazy to remember it that way it was close it was close I’d have to go back and watch it but it was very very close and that elbow that’s the thing with Yaeger he’s extremely creative yeah how many other guys kicked the way he does in UFC I can’t even think of one other guy that has those type of kicks the only guy that was wacky like that like had some wacky was that zabit that retired oh yes and they were always trying to set those guys up to fight but it never went through right well you know I forgot is what did he uh he retired really he went to another promotion I think he went to the medical school he wanted to go to medical school I think ah Jimmy uh Mega Match ripoff right was that his name is repo for my we call him as a beat I don’t know I just know I like to call him as a beat Jimmy hey Jimmy I had that same dilemma I mean fighting to give me we got hit in the head for a living huh tough enough for us two syllables is our Max it’s our Max uh capability so let me pause let me ask you Bill so you’re living you’re living a life similar to mine I’m gonna say you’re living at that gym you TriStar how’s it going is it going really good man really good we had that uh crazy shutdown I don’t think I don’t know if I want to mention on the air too much because they’ll flag us uh Canada is very strict YouTube is very strict I don’t know about you guys but remember when they shut us down the Canada was like a military State all of a sudden they closed the borders they wouldn’t allow us to open the gym I would even take the guys training in the park they would come and shut us down kick us out of the park like we couldn’t even train an open air outside outside it was crazy Canada went full on uh shutdown it was it was wild it was a wild increasing time it lasted two years it was very very difficult now we’re reopen we’re rebuilding uh people are traveling to TriStar again to to train but the Border was closed for about two years it was really difficult for us yeah it opened up I want to say or um or maybe August or or so of 21 it was it was closed for a long time and there was one point in Montreal where they were finding people like you there was up to a six thousand dollar fine if they caught you outside after curfew or if they caught you with more than two people um yeah they they went really overboard even outside I’m still I still have court dates I have four I have four fines I’m going to court over this I mean they shut down my gym they surrounded my building I was on the front page of the newspaper I refused to close and uh now I’m uh facing the the court system over it it was it was a wild time I I believe in like Civil Disobedience I think there’s a way to go about it I was totally against the the word I can’t say uh because I don’t want you guys to get flagged on this on this episode but Canada was extremely strict extremely and it was a major major setback for us but now we’re rebuilding better than ever the gym is busy again people are traveling from all over again to train with us but for two years actually it wasn’t 2021 it was 2022 it was shut down from 2020 to 2022 and it was it was devastating for the economy all medium-sized businesses small medium-sized businesses got destroyed over 50 of them went bankrupt it was a disastrous time uh but now we’re looking forward to being open up for more than a year now things are coming back up and uh uh we’re putting things back together again yeah they had hotels were closed for a long time like like longer than you would have thought was necessary like you know six months after things were opening in a lot of places they were still shut down I mean what the I was traveling to the states for fights and I would land in the American airport it was packed jam-packed the Canadian airports were a ghost town there was literally nobody there I’d go to my flight there’s four or five other people on the plane it was so it Canada was like a completely closed off from the rest of the world anyways and it was a mad time let’s just say yeah it was and as a person that’s in this business it was scary like I remember like during it I had this podcast they got it to pay a gig it’s a nice thing and uh you know once in a while I’ll do something with Dana for looking for a fight even though we didn’t have we weren’t able to go to fights we do looking forward to a fight so there was some other income coming in but holy man it almost made it seem like because right now my retirement is my school I’m always at my school it’s what I do my girls are training my wife’s training and uh it almost was like man this is all you know just it is it ever gonna go back and thankfully now we know the answer it’s it’s getting back to normal but during the midst of it’s like yo is this just life forever changed you know but it feels good to get through it though uh 100 I’m so glad it was a nightmarish time for us I’m happy it’s done and over with I don’t know I’m sure you guys saw the truckers the Canadian truckers man really they really blew the doors open I don’t care what anybody says it changed from night from night and day after the trucker uh took a stand I didn’t think the government wants to tangle with them anymore I think the people were fed up and it really blew the doors open yeah you kind of got the feeling and you get it here too that if they ever if that was ever to be suggested again that people just wouldn’t go through that again and you know and yeah and you need truckers because I mean I think without trucks 75 of your business is shut down or whatever so people never think of truck drivers but if the truck drivers are pissed off at you you’re in trouble because if they don’t don’t move or they don’t travel nothing gets done absolutely there’s nothing on the shelves good no no you’re right I was just gonna say over the weekend it was a bummer about the main event with Ryan’s fan and yeah yes and we had we had him on we had a uh naked on and he was right yeah yeah Carla was on I think it was last Wednesday yeah yeah that was depressing but yeah Brendan Allen and uh Andre Munoz that was a fun man that could have been a main event anyway did you see the fights uh boss no I just saw the highlights that I didn’t watch it all the way up to the end but uh it was back before I saw him uh he got he got taken down and reversed it got in the back and did a beautiful finish I love to see that some nice grappling there in the later in the third round uh but I definitely wanted to watch span I’m a big fan of span right span and uh he’s got that KO power he’s explosive he fights nasty uh career love is a beast he’s a karate guy who wrestles so that was also very exciting to see that match up I don’t know what do you have did they have like uh he had the flu or what was it I I have not found out what was wrong it was so close they said that he was flagged by I guess the doctors said he couldn’t fight uh that he tried to to get taken care of and they actually said no I think it was something with his stomach and there’s a guy with ass problems Hey listen man I get it bro hey maybe I missed fight of the night there was no fight of the night awards given out and am I is there something that I that needed to qualify like Odie Osborne as Charles Johnson I thought was such a great fight such a back and forth fight um and I was surprised that didn’t get it um they they didn’t give out any bonuses for fight of the night I’m not exactly sure why well they got performance of the night though yeah yeah that was a great fight and they yeah they gave out six uh uh performance of the night bonuses and I see Tatiana Suarez look great um oh yes Armin Guillotine yeah and uh she’s a powerful girl like we had her own Tatiana and she was talking about how she was wrestling since she’s like I don’t know how old she was like anywhere from like three to five she was young she had an older brother that wrestled and you know and you know the deal with that uh they got those wrestlers they saw them young it’s a different kind of strength like a kid that’s been in Judo which is a kid they got that they got that strength where you know she put on a guillotine and I’ll tell you um uh it’s it’s the name’s uh slipping me who she was fighting she was fighting uh who was she fighting where did the thing go oh Montana De La Rose I’m sorry Madonna was she was doing great she was doing great in the first round that was a competitive round she got taken down but she was surviving she got up yes she protected herself well yeah yo yeah she was defending herself well on the floor and uh you know that Tatiana Suarez I think it was just a little bit of a different level in grappling guys mark my words she’s the khabib of the division nobody’s gonna stop her nobody’s gonna stop her oh what division because she went up she 150 125 115. she went up to 125 for one fight was that a 115 this last weekend or was it no I think it was 120 25 yeah look she’s made 115 before Tatiana I mean I the 115 I don’t know how they stopped her you guys saw her fight with Esparza well sparse as a seasoned wrestler she just put her on her back mauled her controlled her the Train the chain wrestling she has the quality of muscle she has I think she’s gonna go all the way to the top I think she she runs through the entire division she was gonna she’s gonna touch gold she’s gonna she’s gonna be like the khabib of the division I I got a question I got I got I got two questions I got two names which one am I talking about first let me think here uh with Tatiana Suarez the first name is uh Aaron blanchfield [Music] JJ Aldridge was doing great with her she left the neck out one time that’s all she needed Kimora sorry Mahoney who the is that no no what I love you can name a different submission for each person I’m very well-rounded in the Jiu Jitsu and she’s shown with a fight with our Drive she’ll stay in the pocket also with a beast like that and and out strike him and then set up that inside light jump unless I’m telling you I can’t talk enough Aaron blanchfield that’s the man the radar is up she’s everybody should be keeping an eye on her because that’s a real threat yeah title and I love Tatiana also but I was I mean I played that would be that’d be interesting I agree with you technically I would say even blancheville is superior but but the attacks per minute Tatiana’s on another level her attacks per minute I don’t think people can keep up because when you’re wrestling from that young you’re chain wrestling you’re chain wrestling you’re chain wrestling you know I’ll tell you something about about young young brains you know young brains if you look at the young brain it’s not wrinkled it’s wrinkled but not as much as an adult brain when you train at a young age they call it hardwired your brain wrinkles as your brain is wrinkled wrinkling as you get older your brain wrinkles more and more it gets hardwired to wrestle so you when you learn wrestling when you’re 10 12 that’s one thing when you learn it when you’re three four years old and you’re learning proper technique at a young age you have like you get you develop like a GSP type muscle quality you see that muscle quality they never get tired they chain wrestle and chain wrestle it’s moves per minute it’s not just moves because I’ll tell you blanchfield she’s more sophisticated inside trip the grappling it’s more it’s more sophisticated she she’s more of a of a student of the game but when it comes to attacks per minute nobody touches Tatiana what an interesting thing too I never heard that about the brain wrinkling and it making you hardwired and I bet you I’m as you’re talking I’m literally thinking of shitty habits I have that started when I was very young and I’m like I wonder if that stuff does get hardwired into you not only good things like wrestling but bad habits or weird things that you attach to get uh hardwired into you because I wondered how that stuff happens I really think that’s the thing about it think about when you learn a language you learn a language just by hearing it as a kid you don’t know the grammar rules yeah I don’t know grammar rules but you could speak English try to teach English that’s tough man I’m not trained in the art of English but when you learn English in your 30s or your 20s you have to go and learn all the grammar rules because it’s too late you’ve Pat you’ve passed that that sensitive time where the brain just can hardwire so like if you if you learn English and you’re in your 20s you’re always gonna have an accent we’re gonna know hey no this guy’s native tongue is not English you know you always have a little bit of an accent try to learn Italian yeah the Italians are gonna know you’re not really Italian you don’t have to be Italian to learn Italian at a young age you could be any race if you’re born if you’re when you’re submerged in wrestling at that young age like look at khabib he was wrestling Bears that’s what I’m telling you she’s the khabib of the division the guy was wrestling Bears he was five years old if you ask khabib to show your move he might not know how he does it he just does it it’s just part of his his his way of being the other name Mackenzie Dern any other weight division yeah I’m going with this fahaz it’s exciting he’s getting exciting that was very sophisticated it was the thing with the wrinkly brain yeah it was it made my wrinkly brain go up also Rose I wouldn’t mind seeing her against Rose definitely my point is Rose did get out grappled by call at one point so my thing is Styles make fights two girls I named what what Tatiana is hardwired to do you know uh is to be putting these girls exactly where they don’t mind being at all on their back Mackenzie Dern the biggest problem with her is probably the wrestling you know the chain or as our friend John Denver would call it for us the art of the shoot box where George was very good at going from the Striking to the shots I mean marab is another one marab has it on candy and he go with wrestling straight up they beat him George St Pierre visited New York he rolled with uh he defeat the floor wrestling with this guy Jay Herron doing all right man I wrestled with him I I’m a very good wrestler it’s a different thing when you wear the strikes him with strikes in that one but still uh it’s a different thing the art 100 he couldn’t take George Dunn in their fight Jay Heron fought George they trained in New York feet the floor just regular wrestling he took George down George told me look I got taken down by him in the fight though here on Heron couldn’t get it to the floor oh no he couldn’t it’s a different game shoot boxing is a different game 100 and I believe in the Striking Department Tatiana is not looking bad but she wouldn’t have a level she wouldn’t have be levels above these girls it would be when push comes to the shove she’ll go for a shot she’ll put them down and then it’ll be very entertaining you’re saying she could be like the the Habib of that division exactly I mean Habib had a way of of taking Jiu Jitsu guys and just smothering them I don’t know could she do that she did it with uh Montana the other day Montana the other day but uh these other girls I’m talking about yeah they’re another level they’re definitely another level I’m excited about it listen I would love to see it you know I would love it the thing is the thing is wrestling has an advantage for one reason in MMA because by the time you work your submissions the round is over you don’t have a lot of time let’s say they Circle for two minutes and then you get taken down okay you got three minutes to stop somebody who’s really experienced I always say look Jiu Jitsu was developed in no time limits rule if you told me Tatiana was fighting during in no time limit I would pick Turn if you told me hey that’s we’re gonna go old Valley turo rules the fight’s not gonna end though somebody gets knocked out or subbed I would pick derns because she’s gonna lay in Garden she’s gonna eventually fish for a submission she can eventually get it yeah Atlanta doesn’t really have a way to finish wrestlers don’t necessarily have a way to finish however when you know how it is sometimes it’s not easy to stop somebody in two three minutes it’s just not that easy they have to make a mistake now if you give me an unlimited time to catch this person with the sub I could wrestle I could grapple I could play guard forever you know I could protect myself and guard and find my way it’s just a different element you know and then that’s why wrestling has an advantage because you only have five minutes at a time that’s why I love the pride rules Matt Pride they gave you 10 minutes the first round was 10 minutes I loved it and they counted everything as one round so it was it was different it was they need to change the rule set to give Jiu Jitsu guys more ability to work their style yeah hey and volkanoski by the way his fight with Islam if it was the old Pride rules he’s winning because they judge it like a fight whoever one round yeah one round and like at the how the fight ends is way more important than a fight begins in the Old Pride rules because it’s all right that guy almost started but if it’s let’s say I almost gets started in the fight they almost get knocked out and then at the end of the fight at the end it like um pokenoski ended it don’t give it to that guy because like all right look if this is a real fight that guy’s well on his way to winning this this is you know that guy’s lucky he got out so they kind of it’s a different scoring system altogether but I think about to say this with the vulcanovski fight and I talked about this before because we talk about how and there has been some conversations how is you know if Samba was easy it’d be called Jiu Jitsu and blah blah you know it gets me a little annoyed but my point is let’s say if uh volkanovski instead of get instead of enlisting his buddy there Craig Jones to help him let’s say he enlisted one of the best guys I don’t believe that disabled assault disables Arsenal and their attacks I it’s a it’s a dominating art and that’s why it does so well they like to be on top strong wrestling base with and then they got the strikes but that doesn’t have the same defense and survival uh tactics as uh skills as as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu so that’s why I thought it was perfect for uh bokonowsky to be working with Craig Jones who’s uh one of the one of the best Grapplers on the planet because when he was in those horrendous positions the back when he had his back triangle then he was getting about to get strangled and he knew how to he knew the right defenses from with Jiu Jitsu and that’s what helped him arguably win that fight it was very close fight Islam won but that’s what helped that’s what had him survive if he was just training with Sid he’s not gay I don’t care with the shorts and the jacket he’s not doing anything he had the right survival skills to not only survive but to be comfortable in an uncomfortable situation so but let me ask you this whatever the first let’s say we’re doing Pride rules okay what if the first round is 10 minutes now Islam took him down in round one he only had a he only had about you know a minute or so to work his Subs what if he had what if you had six more minutes well I doubt I mean listen it’s not Pride but I wouldn’t but if it was we said what if it is we couldn’t we couldn’t see the first round finish it’s also possible I’m not saying it’s it’s the case but if he had six more you know it’s not easy to sub a guy in one minute you took him down you danced around you punched you punched each other you wrestled back and forth you finally get it down on the ground there’s 60 seconds left roughly you’re trying to put a rear gonna make a choke on the guy and the guy’s holding that two on one with his dear like he only has to hold on for a minute but what if it’s six minutes he needs to hold on to that’s a different world that’s it becomes a different bargain now it’s a different way of seeing the possible possible outcomes I wanted to ask you guys too about uh a leave against Alves the uh the bite uh did you think that was a bite or did you believe that it was an actual mistake one of those things that just kind of happens when you’re tied up or do you think he got carried they said that we couldn’t catch it on video so I guess they couldn’t disqualify they just took a point what did you think well he had his hand around his neck and kind of in his mouth you’re not supposed to Fish Hook either right you’re not supposed to touch the mouth with your fingers now it’s a bite but also don’t forget he has a mouthpiece one so it’s a bite your bottom teeth are open they’re bare but don’t forget this I’m not it’s not it’s not a bite like it’s still a little bite but it’s not that dangerous okay the guy wasn’t bleeding but also you’re not supposed to put your hands on the man’s mouth you’re not supposed to do that so I think it was about you should you should never bite I’m not saying you should bite but I didn’t see a bite but I believe he did because I mean the ref said he saw a mark how are you gonna get a mark yeah but you also saw you’ve seen when um he was you and there was a language thing but he was telling him look you can’t after you took the point away and and then and the reference don’t look you can’t you can’t fight and he’s like ah you don’t need a you don’t need to translate it but he’s like yeah let’s look at himself like what the what do you want me to do it’s not like I’m sitting here no he got his opinion yeah he was fish hooking he was fishing but you’re looking if I got efficiency right because you see guys covering the mouth all the time so you can touch the mouth on the outside yeah yeah but Matt if a guy slips his finger in your mouth what are you gonna do I’m gonna freak him out of the it Jimmy might like it no no what you do is you just suck his fingers slowly and make eye contact and he’ll quit making me take my hand out of there [Music] you know we touched base with the Jon Jones and the zero gone and I uh but you never gave your opinion on who do you think would win so I know what I’m thinking who are you picking I think Jon Jones is going to take him down and submit them that’s right oh I could see a real naked joke I can see I could see several submissions heading home choke let’s not forget he submitted Dan Henderson I know he’s bigger but I think he’s got underused look at his fight with Quint Jackson where one round he just around and just went to both knees how to put his head under a crotch and threw him over his button I mean he is look his fight with gustavin because I know there was he was partying before yada yada who’s a competitive fight the first fight second fight um he’s not around what’d he do took him down destroyed him and he took him down on the floor I believe his Jiu Jitsu is uh underrated Cyril God not only accepts a lot of times he goes to his back it cost him the title he accepts going to the back he lays down with leg locks I don’t know how great the guy’s fight IQ is so I believe John John Jones is going to submit him that’s what I feel I think I picked John also here’s the thing I think he’s going to win by striking and control I know a lot of people are going to tell me I’m crazy but I think John will also outstrike him because John has incredible elbows and his takedown threat is gonna cause a lot of uh setups for John’s kicks and elbows and punches if John is going in there striking and wrestling he’s gonna win the Striking threat and the wrestling threat simultaneously is going to be too much for God in my opinion I think it goes to the decision because gun doesn’t have that 1ko power like if you see look at all scales their cumulative strikes he hurts a guy he jumps on him he puts a lot of volume but the guys never go out they’re never laid out on a stretcher you know he didn’t lay Eric Derrick Lewis out on a stretcher he didn’t lay too stretcher yeah He piled him up with strikes but he doesn’t have that angano one shot kill so I think it goes to decision neither does John by the way neither does John John’s a cumulative strike type guy but he’s too diverse and here’s the thing John’s 84 and a half inch reach is something Cyril has never seen do you think that has the longest reach at UFC history I I have I’m picking Jones by decision too but do you think he has a problem dealing with Cyril moving as well as he moves kicking the way he kicks at heavyweight uh you know most heavyweights have never seen anybody like Cyril gone and has Jones going up in weight is that going to affect them facing somebody who moves as well as Cyril does God fights with his hands down you’re right he’s a tiptoe guy he’s on his toes like Ali style but so is mushida mushido is similar when mashita fought Jones nobody was understanding what mashita does okay mashita was on his toes hands down he caught Jones with a couple of of uh crosses and then Jones is incredible at adapting he adopted Midway through the fight knocks mashita down with a Superman punch like I think Jon is very well aware he’s seen that kind of fighter hands down tiptoeing John is much better at adapting than Cyril surreal is fantastic going wrong I think it’s gonna be a very close fight I just feel that Jon has seen that style he understands it it’s not gonna it’s not gonna be bizarre to him the kicks that gun throws are incredible yes but John has seen that before John has seen that it’s surreal that’s never seen at 84.5 inch reach with a guy who can move the way Jon does with those elbows he’s gonna fake shots he’s gonna throw elbows he’s gonna get takedowns and then cereal is going to be worried about the takedown the kicks are going to come he’s too versatile too experienced too many weapons he’s gonna surprise game uh another fight that I’m really looking forward to on this card but who’s gam ride against Jalen Turner uh this card is pretty packed uh from from top to bottom but everyone’s talking about chefchenko against Grasso I I think uh that’s a fight I’m looking forward to probably almost as much as Jones is uh Jalen tournament two’s camera how do you see that going I’m a big gumrad fan I think uh I think he needs a win and he’s gonna put it together um he’s chained wrestling is pressure I think there’s not many guys who could deal with that you have to be somebody very special to deal with this type of pressure yeah I like Gamera with that also you got to think uh Jalen Turner the tarantula right right the tarantula Jimmy yeah yeah okay uh I feel I feel that uh if people you know they don’t give Matt Steamroller for Volo that guy they don’t give enough credit Steamroller got underneath him and he got some nice double legs on him he took them down that bike was like a monster movie because because the the tarantula is so big you know uh Jalen Turner but I feel gamradi he’s a very well-rounded guy man he has some good fights uh again only two losses I I feel gamma’s gonna get in underneath them and and have his way he’s too experienced yeah he puts it together nicely you know and Derek Brunson against driskus duplessy another great fight that’s on the prelims it’s hard to see a picture of Cody garbrandt on the against Trevin Jones is the main fight of the prelims Brunson is the fight right before that um I think to Plessy wins that fight but I I kind of I would love to see Brunson I I’m such a big Derek Brunson fan I still have fantasies that he’s gonna get another title shot but you know again as you get older it gets harder uh but I would love to see Bronson win that fight that’s a hard one to call but uh brunson’s got that KO power and he’s got to reach and he’s been in there with the best of the best like he’s seen the worst the UFC has to offer the most dangerous guys and he you know he’s done well he’s had some bad losses but he’s done well he’s seasoned and he has that KO power he’s got a great reach he can get it done not an easy one though no I’m more concerned with Jimmy’s fantasies of Derek Bunce I just like Derek Brunson you know I mean a dark Bronson fan for years I love Derek Brunson we have him on here though don’t make it weird you know you can hear about your business he’ll probably appreciate that someone uh supports him I’m thinking he’s 38. I might be wrong I’m gonna look that up right now is he 38. um I know he’s 39. oh really yeah he’s 39. so you know I I always root for guys as they you know as the years are closing of course you always want to see somebody that’s that’s why everybody loved Cormier so much um you know and to Shara hey hey Valentina Chef shank over is Alexa Grosso I know we’re going all over the place yeah this is the co-main it’s for the belt uh you know Alexa Grosso tough Mexican fighter I mean she I mean does she have the tools attack Valentine has just been so I mean I’m I mean besides maybe losing around here there I mean she’s been practically flawless I mean I mean the only one the really best there would be uh Amanda Nunes and that was those were close fights you know what I mean so I mean I don’t know man it’s so hard to to to be able to pick against Valentina even though I I like I like the skill set with Alexa I do you know so I don’t know I mean like I can’t I can’t pick against I should say I shouldn’t say root cause I don’t have a horse in the game right in the race but I go I mean that Valentina it’s just really she’s just looking so like she’s one nine in a row since three days Valentina has won nine in a row since the newness loss think about that and that was a different division and the outline the losses by getting out pointed by like takedowns and stuff it’s not like exactly wow she got her ass whipped and now she has to go back up uh go down and no man it was thin razor thin so listen yeah she’s I man I I can’t go against Valentina even like Alexa and she knows what she has she’s shown really like I don’t know could could Valentina take it down and get her um see thing is with her skill set it’s not like she has to take anybody down but once she’s been so dominant on the flux everything’s ever a striker she gets them down and she gets them she gets the crucifix uh crucifixed that’s all that I mean a lot of times that’s all she wrote and she hits hard man she’s a hard hitter that Jessica I had kick I mean she has power she can grapple she has power nobody’s beating her in that division now it’s gonna be a while before anybody catches her you know Grosso is great but uh chef shenko’s she’s the boss in them she’s somebody like almost like Jones and the fact that you almost have to take them until they lose like it’s hard to pick against someone like Valentina until somebody actually beats her and I kind of feel the same way about John maybe it’s a respect thing or it’s just that you’ve seen him do so well against so many different styles of fighter but I I can’t pick anyone over Valentina uh until I actually see her lose who has ever had a dominant round against Jon Jones like it’s it’s even like you could see yeah you could say he’s lost around but who’s who’s crushed him in around like who’s dominated him in around even when he loses around it’s so razor thin it’s controversial it’s it’s tough to call even his tightest fights are tough to call um this is his hardest match ever guys the Cyril gun is his hardest fight ever make no mistake about it I don’t think it’s an easy fight at all I just feel that Jon is more talented he has more he has more of everything even in the Striking Department I know people are going to call me crazy I think John is going to outstrike him very possibly he’s gonna outstrike him he has more elbows he has more he has more to he has more to fake with his takedowns gun has to be always on high alert for those takedowns and that’s going to open up strikes yeah and uh Cormier in their their last fight uh before Jones head kicked him if I remember am I remembering that Cormier was up is that the third round and Cormier was I thought again that was another fight I thought Cormier was winning but maybe I don’t think he was dominating him but I do I do thought Cormier and again that’s just it’s been years since I’ve seen that fight I’d have to rewatch it but I remember Jones took him down so I mean I think it was the first time Cormier ever got taken down his entire career and he’s an Olympian don’t forget he went to the Olympics in wrestling so I mean that’s the level of Jon Jones that’s why I’m telling you yes Cyril gun’s a great Striker but he’ll strike with the best of the best strikers out there he’s not shy to strike you know John he probably thinks of himself more as a striker than a wrestler well I think within two rounds really that easy huh listen it’s not gonna be easy but I think that’s the quickest path to victory in the easy there’s a thing God Is Bigger yeah man John is bigger he’s bigger he’s got that going for him he’s gonna be hard to control on the ground not not impossible but hard how about that I think sometimes the guys most light heavy weights they might be a little bit more hot at all against the sometimes almost like I was talking about with Islam Islam takes down he gets Drew Dober he controls him like a baby he gets down he gets he gets um uh um the tattooed uh green green Bobby green takes it down how these guys are arguably better wrestlers and more powerful than bulkanowski that’s a good point I mean he gets so you get a bigger guy down sometimes almost I’m a big guy and then I get a guy or again a little guy like a little bit more need to squirmy to get up so you’re right the body head and arm chokes all day getting chokes I’m telling you I I don’t know maybe I’m way the off but I feel he’s going to take him down he’s going to smoke them but who knows man I don’t know you never know that’s why we got to tune in you never know these fights yeah it’s exciting man I would like to ask a question about possibly uh now let’s just say you have to uh train to fight Matt Sarah uh what would be some uh behind the scenes not at all I’m asking a legit like a question of what is the thinking behind and what is the philosophy and what is the the uh the strategy and what are the conversations like and before you think for us really quick that night in Montreal looks and did you ever hear anything like that definitely incredible it was incredible the challenge the chance it’s just like Jimmy has fever dreams of um Derek Brunson he gets his fever dreams I with me nightmares a very chance of you Sarah could they really be all saying that dude how about this Longo is not a guy with a soft voice I couldn’t hear between rounds nothing incredible crazy let me tell you something okay that was 2008 I just looked it up yeah Matt Sarah had knocked out George champion in Vegas caught him with overhand right how does him with blows finish the fight what’s that it is in Texas Houston Texas sorry the rematch in Montreal now you tell me how would we game plan for him you know what I I was telling George I was rewatching the fight and it Matt his heart Matt hits hard he hits hard he’s got power I was like George you’re standing Too Tall you’re standing Too Tall you got to get down as low as possible you get it you got to get as short as he is underneath because if you don’t get on anything I clipped of those those right hands you know those right hands are powerful so Montreal comes around and Matt Sarah I remember him you were sponsored by a gun company by gun sell guns am I right yes let me tell you something let me say Canada is like a gun control type company like in the country you know they’re not like super pro it’s not like the US you know I was like the guy’s wearing guns he’s in the US he’s telling us he’s gonna beat George twice I remember you’re flashing two and you’re being a good bad guy it was great it was awesome it was it was brilliant and uh I remember after the first round Greg Jackson turns around and he tells me I’ve never heard a crowd like this before like we were going depth because the crowd was cheering so hard like it was like my ears were gonna pop I could we couldn’t hear each other the fighters couldn’t hear anything we were saying forget coaching these two guys were fighting to the death the crowd was unbelievable I’ve been in stadiums all over the world I’ve never heard anything like that I know what’s great though after I lost the crowd was great to me though yeah yeah afterwards yeah that boy won they were just they were high-fiving me on the way back Sarah yeah we love you okay cool but uh but yeah listen George was not George was on fire that night he was so channeled in if I had the my best night I feel I could have did like maybe Nick Diaz did and got to the end of it you know what I mean but he was not gonna lose that night Hey listen I love George though George is a great guy we spoke recently and I’m doing something with him in Manchester England we’re gonna do a little like signing together are we doing that oh nice are we doing number three yes now this is for the peace sign oh yeah yeah me and George are cool and we like to geek out about Star Wars I don’t know if you know that about us yeah yeah yeah oh yeah George is like me with that with dangerous Geeks but yeah with some time oh yeah but so that’s so yeah so you got the answer Jimmy yeah I just I’m just curious when you have not at all no no but when you have to prepare for Mad Sarah what is the you know there’s very few people you can ask about this but what what what goes into preparing for Matt for uh for a rematch after such an amazing upset like what does that do to a fighter when they are the champion and they lose what is considered the biggest upset like how does it affect the fighter mentally how do you prepare them you know I love what Matt said before their first fight he said everybody’s counting me out but I’m not counting me out that’s what matters you know he said something along those lines and I was like man this guy he really believes in himself even though nobody I think that went down as the greatest upset in history yeah and you have to be as equally mentally strong as math because Matt’s going in there to fight to the death and I was telling George you know you got to be ready you got to be ready to fight to the end to The Bitter End because you remember like I don’t know if you remember what George was getting hit he tapped and I was telling him you got to get in that same mentalities in because Matt’s a very intimidating guy when he shows up on Fight Night he’s super confident he’s ready to fight to the better end and you know the referee has to stop it he he’s gonna he’s got that toughness you know and you gotta match that because Matt won’t go out unless you put him out on his shield you know you gotta you gotta match that mentality because it’s a very intimidating guy man very intimidating and if he gets in your head he’s gonna beat you yeah yeah well listen don’t worry George took care of that so listen we’re all buddies now definitely [Music] hey [Music] let me ask you fuzz yeah I’ll call this fight talk what are you doing with our day-to-day without the school I know you have a family give me some I want I know you’re big into reading books what book are you reading what TV show you watching with your wife let us know come on man I’m always looking for a new song watching Yellowstone all three of them I love it but go ahead what’s Yellowstone oh it’s Kevin Costner and in a Ranch and he’s where are they in that room I gotta watch it I gotta check it out he’s got people wanting this land he’s not wanting to give up his land he’s got is that Netflix oh it’s great is it Netflix Yellowstone uh Yellowstone I bought it on the Amazon Prime oh okay I got that and now I’ll get out the Paramount not net worth is the 1883 which is like the Western limit I watched that as a prequel of it and then there’s also 1925 and I think that’s with uh that’s the one with Harrison Ford that they’re showing now I’m watching that as well so it’s very cool but uh what are you into now for us we were watching all the dexters you remember Dexter oh yeah this is a new one now so we were watching it from the beginning that’s probably my favorite series Dexter yeah serial killer he works for the cops but he’s like a psychopath yeah amazing amazing show and then there’s the new blood Dexter so we’re we’re working all the way up to the new seasons that came out the last few years I don’t know when they came out and I’m just re-watching that out so it’s quite amazing I love that show what was that actor’s name I know the actor’s name and it’s going to drive me nuts no idea yeah I can’t remember it’s just stopping us at the end Jimmy no I’m sorry I just was uh I’m just kind of curious well Jimmy listen you look up that name up Michael C Hall thank you I never would have remembered that I think views with Michael Anthony Hall who’s great in 16 Candles yes yes don’t watch that with your kids it’s not I thought I thought I could but no 16 Candles never heard of it oh it’s uh you crazy Canucks movies with the the guy the boys trying to get the girls and then they they’re in high school it’s like one of those Johnny you hear John Hughes John Hughes I’m not really big on on celebrities I don’t know much about them yeah me neither this is like stuff from the childhood I believe all the uh oh no that’s Christopher Columbus who did the the huge movies no who did not Matthews oh this is an old movie from the 80s they were like the the movies that kind of Define teenagers in the 80s Molly Ringwald and like you know like those type of things but you know Teen Angst and teen The Breakfast Club all that 409 00:49:57,719 –> 00:50:01,818 that reminds me Jimmy and this goes yes don’t you forget about me anyway we’re gonna go listen I almost made it to an episode I’m sorry to embarrass you in front of you you didn’t embarrass me you could never embarrass me there you go across the cage being in the other corner with me seeing me all Angry he’s not used this is a different part of me Bros Jimmy yeah do you want to plug anything uh is there anything that you want to promote uh I gotta I got my website juji club.com juji as a jiu jitsu Club ggclub.com I got I can release uh instructionals regularly I have a great video called strong and stable knees it’s the best seller how to keep your knees super healthy strong and stable back how to build your back keep it healthy for jiu jitsu wrestling any combat sport whatsoever sport whatsoever check out juji club that’s my new thing and I’m a TriStar gym Man twice a day every single day yes hey man like I said you don’t just teach the fighters you teach them um yeah I teach all levels yeah definitely I I’ll tell you some of my favorite classes are the uh other white belts the fundamentals and I just started an over 40s class that I teach on Wednesday oh really I called the man that’s cool oh I’m teaching these old how to take land and you know what it is my older guys and girls like I just want to keep them on the mat so a lot of times even if these younger kids are not bad kids like a blue belt or like they do the advanced class they see a higher belt and they just try to get them they don’t and he’s I just want to keep my older guys on it’s not like it’s lighter training but it’s going with people their age and it’s all again about keeping them on the mat you know but when they get these young guys while I’m spazzing on them and they’re just getting hurt and jerked around you’ll be slow with you know we still get the good trades he said I’m 43 I totally hear you I get it man yeah absolutely you’re gonna still be Asha garami in the it keeps us young for us yeah it does I’ll be back at my school later but I feel like I’m too old to start I’m 54. I feel like I can’t start at 54. it’s just I’ll never be any good at it Ross what are your speeches because this he’s being a he’s being a Debbie Downer you got to go you got to go in and drill don’t roll go in and drill and then after drilling do calisthenics do a little bit of calisthenics till you build your body up but go in and drill drill drill drill for a year don’t roll take care of your body and after that start with flow rolling start with technical rolling and and go with guys who know what they’re doing don’t go with any beginners go with purple belts and up guys will not tell you’re okay to roll with because at 54 you got to be smart about it you know because it will keep you young definitely will keep you young it’ll reverse the clock okay reverse the clock pause one more thought you said your website what is it again one more time juji club.com so like jiu jitsu club.com and I love your stuff I’ve seen you teaching Jiu Jitsu and I’m a jiu-jitsu man I love everything you teach I do better likewise man thank you guys pleasure having you on man thank you I have nothing to promote the Paramount is sold out um except for a few single tickets and I get tickets going on sale I’ll plug them on Wednesday Matt you’re coming I hope I’m cannot wait you know yes he’s playing in Long Island for us I don’t know if you know about my little bird friend here he’s a very famous median right yes yes yes yes I know yeah I know thank you uh well this was great I mean I I don’t take compliments well at all I don’t care for them it was great having you on man you’re brilliant and and so it’s so insightful and I’m gonna be thinking about that brain thing all day the wrinkling brain that was such an interesting thing thank you so much man thank you guys it was a pleasure all right boys [Music]