The final word before UFC 286 tonight! John Gooden is joined by UFC heavyweight Tom Aspinall and McKenzie Pavacich in …
foreign boy oh boy have we got a good one for you the trilogy will be settled tonight the UK’s Champion Leon Rocky Edwards takes on the former pound for pound number one kamaru Usman right here in beautiful London tan you can watch it on BT Sport box office and of course on ESPN pay-per-view this is a huge fight and we have some huge guests as well one particularly huge guest I might say figuratively as well it’s only one of the nicest guys in the game but you don’t want to get in a Ruck with him in the Octagon Tom aspinall she’s here she’s there she’s blooming everywhere it’s UFC inside a Mackenzie pavasich well well well welcome to the studio thank you both great to be back with you of course Mackenzie Tom welcome to this what do you think of this backdrop I like it it’s a little bit high for me I’ll be honest it’s uh what do you mean you’re always that high aren’t you just walking around a little bit scared of the drop oh yeah you’re right I’ve got you some you’ll be all right before we get into the fights we’ve got to talk about some new business at heavyweights John Jones is back it looked pretty good what’s your assessment uh I think Jon Jones looks amazing Jon Jones did exactly what he was supposed to do ticked all the boxes amazing athlete amazing MMA practitioner ticks everything and uh give us everything we need to know Cyril got on the other hand to me something looks a little bit off with Sarah I don’t I can’t put my finger on what it was John Jones Voodoo I think he did a bit of gold voodoo on him to be honest with you he looked uh he looks amazing Jon Jones looks amazing and he’s really opened up the division for the rest of us and Good Times ahead heavyweight glad to hear it Mackenzie you were there of course you get to go to all the big fights you got to sit down with Jon Jones as well anything that translated didn’t translate in your opinion I think the biggest thing um both pre-fight and post fight was that he was just having so much fun and I don’t know if previously at light heavyweight there was a lot of getting to the weight and then he could have fun on fight night but on Wednesday during media day all the way through the week including on fighting obviously he was just having so much fun so I think he’s really enjoyed the welcome that he’s gotten back but also being able to put on a show and movement back to the heavyweight division that’s the big one clearly very dangerous when he has some fun as well all right we could talk about Jon Jones for a very long time but we have big business ahead before we get into it though let’s take a look at what happened when Leon Edwards and Kamara Usman got all up close and personal yesterday official late 170 pounds for the former champ kamaru Usman Champion Leon Rocky Edwards official weight 170 pounds all right tomorrow bro always a big one when it’s a Trilogy it doesn’t get much bigger for the UK fans as well but Tom you have trodden these boards that Leon’s about to Embark and you’ve headlined at the O2 Arena I know that gold wasn’t on the line but on a personal level you know the states are just as high right so give us a sense of what’s going through your head and perhaps his his head as well well there’s definitely a lot of pressure fighting on the home soil definitely but every fight is different and it depends how it deals with the pressure you know Leon’s a veteran Leon’s a champion now Leon’s done all this stuff before maybe not fighting at home before but his main event before he’s beat the the greatest well one of the greatest Welsh weights of all time before and Leon’s gonna Leon’s gonna eat this up and enjoy it you know what I mean he’ll be loving every second of it and is that important as well from what you and your team were saying about your opportunity as as the headliner with all the pressure and everything else that enjoyment factor I think it’s one of the most important things you’ve got to realize like there’s only so many times that the UFC are going to come to your home country and you’re going to get the opportunity to headline it so maybe three four times if you’re lucky in your career Maybe um yeah Leon just needs to go out there and enjoy every second I’m sure he’s going to Mackenzie I was looking back at some of the previous appearances that Leon’s had in London and I remember being on the call when he fought Gunner Nelson a internationally popular fighter but in the lead up to that fight because of his rivalry with like who was the number one guy between him and Darren till when he walked out it it wasn’t like he was the home fighter at all it’s very different now he’s smiling he’s the man on a poster the fans are paying to see him can you give us a sense of whether you felt that that confidence and his ability compared to some of the other champions in the UFC to carry a card yeah definitely I think the biggest thing with Leon is over the past couple of months he’s really embraced what it means to be Champion it’s a lot more than just going out and defending your title there’s so many more obligations extra media appearances there’s so many things that you have to be like super on point for because not only now are you representing yourself you’re representing your entire weight class you’re representing your country everything’s on a much bigger scale and I think in the beginning admittedly Leon was a little like apprehensive to the extra media and doing the interviews but he sat down this week and he actually smiled and he’s like I’m actually enjoying the interviews and I think with that people have learned a lot about Leon and who he is his story where he’s come from all the things he’s overcome so I think that with that his stock has only gone up so the technical side is taking care of the training is all taken care of and now he’s really come full circle and bloomed to use a word we were speaking about earlier as a champion in the side that’s more forward-facing yeah I can only Echo that as well I had Leon come through for some pre-fight interviews and I’ve sat with Lee on a number of times and it’s not what he’s the guy he lets his fist through the talking uh but it just seems so different and effortless and he was enjoying his time there and it’s been really lovely to see that that Evolution one thing that’s a bit of a consistent though is like the betting lines Etc like what have you got for us on how he’s stacking up against kamaru well the spread itself is a little bit smaller but similar to to Salt Lake City where Leon is the underdog kumaru is the favorite but in six fights in his UFC career Leon has been the underdog and he’s won five of them the only time he’s ever lost as the underdog was in his first fight against kamaru in 2015 and and that was a decision and so I think the betting odds maybe aren’t taking into account the impact the O2 Arena can have do you like the numbers the betting lines the stats I don’t think it really means anything to anybody it’s irrelevant at the end of the day you’ve got two guys at the top of the mountain the peak of the mountain these two guys and that doesn’t make a difference to anything you know I got something for you let’s see if this will help build us so he’s never lost in the UK amateur or Pro doesn’t make a difference okay fair enough Usman hasn’t fought over here before like maybe hasn’t made that I think he did fight Island do you think that there’s any challenge for him definitely definitely I think uh like McKenzie said you can’t prepare in my opinion for someone who’s experienced it for that feeling in the ultra Arena okay with a home fighter like it’s something unlike any other Arena I think historically in boxing is always difficult for people to recapture a title I think we’ve seen it a bit more in mixed martial arts but from following the sports do you think that Kamara usman’s one of those Fighters that’s got what it takes to get that belt back oh definitely he’s one of the best welterweights of all time you can’t you can’t doubt that at all the thing that’s playing in Leon’s favor is seven months ago he knocked him unconscious with his eyes wide open on his back now is that going to play a psychological advantage to Leon and that’s what we’re going to find out tonight last one for Leon he said this to me I’m not sure if he said this to you as well Mackenzie I didn’t know about this I don’t think anyway apparently when you become a champion you get an automatic extra 30 have you heard that before 30 what money I’m sure he’s getting a bit more yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah it’s a little more than 30. it’s like he just said like a 30 boost I guess he means in in performance well I’m Yet To Be A Champion but uh I’m gonna find out I’m gonna find out that’s for sure yeah well I hope you do as well what do you mean your hope enough about Tom for a second let’s talk about the man of the moment tonight Leon Edwards he caught up with Megan yesterday thank you so much guys Leon that was an interaction up there on the way in stage were you expecting it to get that intense with Camaro um yeah yeah 100 I think we both had to point an hour with someone settled it right this is number three coming up and um he says it’s already I’m more than ready you know so it’s gonna be an exciting night tomorrow night and you hear the fans you know they’re they’re excited so I’m gonna put on a show for defense for sure what was that reception like for you this is the weigh-in and they had a pop like no other when you entered the stage for you what did that feel like and what does it make you think about Saturday um like I said it means the world to me you know like Saturday’s gonna be crazy and it can only fuel me you can only um drive me on to want to go out there and perform at my best you know so like I said I enjoy fighting at home it’s been four years since I’ve been back home and fought at home so to be able to come back as a world champion um defend the belt for the UK it’s going to be like I said an exciting night how do you believe we hear ants still so I work too hard I travel the road that no one else traveled to get here you know so I couldn’t I won’t be handing over to him and I’ll fight two for now not two now after absolutely well Leon best of luck to you have fun out there we cannot wait for this main event thank you guys Leon carrying that confidence all the way to the very end we will see how he fares in the pay-per-view later today Tom I’m sure you’re never gonna experience being flatten your back staring at the lights but you did mention just before we heard from Leon it is a Fighter’s worst nightmare it can of course happen but from your dealings in the fight game it does a moment like that change someone forever of course and that’s what’s the most interesting thing for me tonight is the psychological warfare of what is going to happen tonight because we know both guys are extremely skilled extremely experienced we’ve got a former champion and a current champion but how is that loss seven months ago going to affect Kumar Usman in tonight’s performance because psychologically is that going to make a difference when the doctors are waking you up when you lay on your back and the lights are shining in your eyes and your opponent stood with his hand rage just seven months ago there’s been no win since there’s been zero activity zero confidence building since probably a limited amount of sparring as well because of the head contact what’s his confidence going to be like moving forward into tonight’s fight he’s been very literal about it just gotta keep my hand up just gotta keep my right hand up it’s probably a very smart way for him to address it rather than over analyze but what what’s your take on you just got to keep your right hand up I mean that’s his way of addressing it to the media he will definitely not be just keeping his right hand up because well maybe that’ll save him a little bit but surely he’ll he’ll have had a lot more chats about that to his team he’ll have a lot more internal battles with himself and it’s not just as simple as keeping your right hand up just uh going back to Leon for a second it’s just occurred to me he’s got that he’s got that in the chamber but as a fighter if he comes out the gate and shows that kick and it’s blocked early does it kind of lose its value does he have to almost hold it back I’m saying like I’m almost challenging you from how you would strategize would you hold it until the second third and then kamaru gets maybe don’t throw it but he needs to be showing him he needs to be giving him as many flashbacks as he can for me I’ve watched a little bit of Leon’s uh media this week I would have been mentioning that every opportunity that I got you know the last time I kicked him he was on the floor that’s what I would be mentioning but maybe he’s going to show him maybe he’s going to be switching he’s going to be faking it he’s going to be faking up and down and he’s just going to keep him just in the back of his mind and then maybe he’ll switch it to something else and throw it back up Leon’s got all kinds of uh all kinds of tricks up his sleeve and I’m looking forward to seeing it tonight we cannot overstate how good Camaro Usman is what he’s achieved in this Sport and perhaps we’re about to find out what’s left to achieve McKenzie if he gets this done where does he go in terms of the pound for pound rankings and and also in that status for the greatest of all welterweights ever well seven months ago we were calling him one of the greatest the greatest weltery ever one of the greatest fighters to ever enter the octagon and had he won in Salt Lake City he would have tied Anderson Silva for the most consecutive wins of any weight any fighter at any point in the history of the UFC and previous to that he has surpassed George St Pierre’s record for most wins in the division he’s topped that I think by three wins so he holds that record despite no longer being the champion the things that he’s accomplished and the volume of success that he’s had it’s hard despite this to take him out of the conversation of one of the greatest when I think back to 2015 I’m not sure that I would have been getting out my crystal ball and predicting that we were going to have this Trilogy right and that these two would be intertwined with one another Leon answered me and said he kind of thought it might happen kamaru maybe not quite so much do you think the build up and everything else is really kind of giving all the layers all the ingredients for like an epic Trilogy fight that’s going to go down later with the first fight of this Trilogy being so long ago I think a lot of people kind of forget that this is the third time they’re fighting so it feels less like a Trilogy more like a pair of fights that are happening together but I think once people are like oh wait this ends it tonight what happens tonight ends this it closes the book there’s no more discussion or conversation I think once people kind of start to realize that the stakes go up even more than they already are I mean I think it’s definitely up there as one of the best like the one-on-one they’ve had a big time period in between the first and the second one so there’s a lot of time for both guys to improve and completely change the game and Persona of their own little styles that they’ve gotten now there’s a short period in between the second and the third one and it’s really interesting especially bringing bringing it back to the UK and see Leon like as I don’t know Leon too well personally but as a UK person I’m really proud of Leon like he’s come a long way and now people loads of people are on his side and only a few years ago like say when he fought Gunner Nelson people weren’t too really bothered about him and now it’s like everyone’s on his side this is his show and it’s going to be epic tonight it is going to be epic tonight well we’ve spoken about both men but we haven’t heard from the hunter in all of this he got to catch up with Megan here’s Kamara Usman thank you so much guys all right Camaro I’ve got to know what were you saying to each other up there on the way instead no it’s just uh that’s what I’m saying like he’s he’s drinking this up like it’s a like a drug you know he’s feeling that confidence and he’s talking now so that’s why I just I just kindly asked him are you talking now so tomorrow night we’re gonna have a conversation in that octagon looks like you’re relishing in this role of being the heel a little bit are you having fun with this yeah I mean this is the thing for me it’s it doesn’t make me you know feel any different I’ve been to I’ve competed in in hundreds and hundreds of wrestling matches where I had to go to someone’s school and whoop their butts so it means nothing to me I’ve come to people’s homes and whooped their butts I went to Brazil and whooped someone’s butt so it means nothing to me that they’re yelling and screaming at the end of the day it’s gonna be him and I locked inside that octagon and he’s gonna have to have that conversation with me we certainly cannot wait for this Main Event the trilogy between you and Leon Edwards Camaro best of luck to you have fun out there thanks guys the former champ in the hunt for gold again talking to Megan there all this talking is about to stop the action is just around the corner you of course can catch it on BT box office and ESPN pay-per-view also what you can watch on those channels is the big co-main event he’s been training with Kamara Usman Justin Gucci looking to get back in title contention he faces a striking superstar in Raphael physiv those guys got nose to nose check it out Justin we have Justin gaichi and then Raphael for Ziva as well what a fight by the way I mean are you as excited as I am for this co-main yeah I when I saw that this fight was on London I was sitting at my desk in the office in Las Vegas and I was already excited to come to London but I literally was like yes yes I have been at a lot of Raphael physio’s fight I’ve been at a lot of just engage these fights they both like separately could contend for fight of the year so the fact that they are fighting each other is going to be absolutely insane and I am cannot wait for it tonight so I’m uh Justin Gates who kind of walked around the media day in all of his appointments saying I am the most exciting Fighter the UFC has ever seen and when I first heard it it kind of oh oh oh and I was like actually hard to argue with do you agree I do agree it’s uh he’s very exciting fight I’m really excited about this fight I don’t know if I’m as excited about you doing that weird dance if you ever do that again I might I might have to delete your number that’s not even my dancing that’s just my exciting game yeah what if I was shaking the Wii that’s just come out sorry numbers definitely getting deleted after this no but I’m very excited about it um and I would agree with that statement he’s dead he’s definitely the most exciting fighter in the UFC I will tune into every single one of his fights I think he’s unbelievable to watch from a technical standpoint it’s technic’s definitely there a lot of the time he chooses not to use it for some reason he must be a coach’s nightmare because he just goes full brawl mold which is awesome for us as the fans like I will tune into every one of his fights I’m a massive fan of his but um yeah the technique sometimes goes out the window which is great to watch and I’m Mega excited for his fight tonight do you think that he might finally lean in to showing us the wrestling and take it because you’re like laughing like what are you talking about um or do you think that physique is going to trigger him and make him just personify the highlights he has used it before I think he forgets behind his fakes his forward pressure he’s up and down movements questioning the takedowns and just showing him different questions he can definitely stop him and knock him out that way but if he goes full brawl mode we never know to be honest I think if he goes full brawl mode he might get picked off off uh physique I think he’s too technical I think he’ll keep him at Bay with his uh distance control but you never know if he does decide to use that he can definitely win the fight if he goes crazy and goes berserk I think he might stroll and get picked off I don’t know if you’ve caught the embedded but in one of the earlier episodes uh physive turned around and said that they’ve both had like a blood lust they both like to smell blood in a fight and he said you know he has a lot of hearts and I’m going to eat his heart like have you ever thought about maybe eating an opponent’s heart before no no it’s not really uh no but are you surprised that it was Fizzy that said that I’ve not really followed physique too much to be honest I’ve not watched many many of his interviews I did see him say that on the embedded and yeah I might I might have let a little bit away out as well when he said it but they were all showing incontinence around this fight um well I’ve always found Justin to be pretty intense just before a fight let’s see how he is he’s chatting with Megan makes you say that I mean just his aggression you know I know he’s going to be super aggressive um you know first time in the big spotlight looking forward to him to making a lot of mistakes I was just gonna ask you about that you know he’s been calling for this fight for a long time but when it comes to fighting you you’re always under a big Spotlight and there’s a lot of pressure in the fight as well as the pressure to perform do you believe like that’s something that breaks opponents before they even get in there um I mean I’ve I could definitely tell he’s emotional that’s a that’s a good thing for me um you know I’ve made the mistake of going in there emotional and that’s not how you fight your best um so again I’m just looking to take care uh take advantage of the uh the mistakes that will be made I gotta control distance I have to be perfect uh he’s so dangerous um you know as we know anything can happen at any moment so I love it I love uh I love the you know the Fear Factor that it brings that comes with it you did this camp with Kamara Usman who’s looking to regain his title under the watchful eye of Trevor Whitman for you guys how did you best push each other and prepare to have a solid night of Victories for you both here in London I mean it’s uh you know he’s focusing on herself we each got our own battle um you know every athlete that’s stepping in there is you know twice the twice the minute of any of those uh cowards booing out there so um they couldn’t walk a day in our shoes and that’s that’s why we’re here that’s why we’re going to be the man in the arena tomorrow I only cannot wait to watch Justin thank you for your time and good luck thanks guys all right that’s a wrap for this edition of fight day Focus McKenzie thank you very much thank you very much to Mackenzie she flew all the way from Las Vegas let’s uh hear it thank you thank you for your insights and big Tom espinal when are we going to get some fight news out of you sir hopefully next week really hopefully next week okay okay thank you very much for coming just before we go remember you gave me that absolutely awful gift right after I got injured he said it made me feel better but it actually made me feel worse why are you sending me single Monster oh dear well I’ve returned in the favorites so just uh add that to the collection what have you got here Tom what oh this is very kind of you let me see I’ve got very quickly oh what’s this he’s seen you train Jiu Jitsu yeah they actually trained last night that’s just after we trained last night I just thought well I do hobbling a little bit okay fair enough is that like how can’t wear that oh look at that everyone oh you shouldn’t have you said oh look at that put it on like this thank you very much Tom aspinel everyone a big round of applause please for these guys thank you very much for tuning in don’t forget BT box office ESPN keep clapping keep clapping pay-per-view this is a hell of a fight it’s the trilogy it’ll get done tonight thank you I am the best I’m not approve it again who has been absolutely dominant I’m gonna go in there and do what I do best and let’s win I’m the most exciting part of that stepped in that cage I’m gonna blow the roof off of the O2 Arena just engaging is an absolute Savage he just destroys everything in this path when perceived Is For Real this guy is nasty every time he’s out there he’s trying to finish that Call’s gonna be incredible there is no better product than the crowd in London