Peak Points
"Peak Points" is the best place to get your fix of UFC news and the internet's most outrageous stories. Join us each episode as we break down the octagons latest match ups and dive into its most epic moments and fighters. Beyond the punches and kicks, we react to some of the internet's craziest tales, wild confessions, and jaw dropping moments guaranteed to keep you entertained every episode. A podcast made for the fans, by the fans of MMA and life stories.
Peak Points
She just gave birth, and I told her to stop being lazy
Power meets pressure in and out of the cage. We kick off with an Apex card that silenced doubters: five straight finishes on the main card, breakout prelim moments, and a reminder that small venues can deliver big-time violence. From there, the Garden gave us whiplash—Benoit Saint Denis turning off Benil in 16 seconds, Carlos Prates shocking Leon Edwards with a sniper’s straight, and Michael Morales timing Sean Brady with cold, patient precision. Bo Nickal capped his head-kick KO with a full heel turn, flipping double birds and a switch in the narrative.
Then legacy took center stage. Valentina Shevchenko used size, craft, and poise to neutralize Zhang Weili, showing how frame and fundamentals still rule at the margins. Islam Makhachev moved up and made it look methodical: calf kicks that forced stance switches, takedowns that smothered rhythm, and constant D’Arce threats that shaped every exchange. It wasn’t highlight-reel chaos—it was a lesson in control with purpose. We talk GOAT criteria, cross-division dominance, and why repeatable game plans separate champions from contenders.
Looking ahead, we preview Tsarukyan vs. Hooker—durability versus depth—and the heat around Belal Muhammad vs. Ian Garry. Light heavyweight feels ripe for a reset, and UFC 323 stacks real consequences: Marab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan for pace and pressure supremacy, Pantoja’s problem-solving against a dangerous striker, and veteran litmus tests across the card. Finally, we swap gloves for real life with AITA dilemmas on childcare, grief, and boundaries—where accountability, timing, and composure matter just as much as they do in the Octagon.
Hit play for sharp analysis, honest takes, and a few spicy moments. If you’re into technical breakdowns, legacy talk, and real-world conversations about responsibility and respect, you’ll feel at home here. Subscribe, share with a fight-loving friend, and drop your verdicts—who impressed you most, and who crossed the line?
Welcome back to Peak Points. Today we have a fair amount of UFC talk, starting with four UFC cards. We'll be discussing a fight night from November 8th. And then a most recent with the UFC 322. Then we have an exciting fight night with Sarukian vs. Hooker. And then a very exciting and the last pay-per-view of the year. And last pay-per-view of the ESPN era.
SPEAKER_05:Oh.
SPEAKER_02:3-2-3. Marab vs. Jan. Area code. That's gonna be an interesting fight. Marab is a monster, man. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:You know the one that's hiding under your bed? That's Marab.
SPEAKER_02:And then after that we'll be uh discussing some am I the asshole slash buttface stuff. With some uh really interesting questions, shall we say?
SPEAKER_06:I always have questions. Such asked I don't have one right now.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. I always have questions. Ask for a question, I don't have one. I know a question for you. Is Bobby Flay listening?
SPEAKER_06:I don't know. Bobby, I hope you're listening. That's actually what I was gonna say. No, I'm just gonna What I am gonna say is uh because it's canon to our previous episode, is how I'm feeling and how I'm feeling right now is really great because I've been I've been sleeping well and I've been having some very amazing dreams. One that I've been replaying in my head constantly is the Dodgers Game 7 versus Toronto Blue Jays. I honestly I've been floating on air ever since, guys. What a classic game, an all-time classic game, like stuff that we're finally have a game to tell our great grandchildren where Shohei Otani pitched and hit, and the team did what they had to do to come back from a desperate game that looked like it was all but over and clawed their way back to win in overtime, and it's just we finally have that game, is is is all I have to say that we could tell our generations forward. This was the game making the Dodgers back to back champions, and uh this one was well earned, and uh I'm just happy, happy, happy. I thought you should know.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I've I've uh been made aware of this, but uh at least our listeners now know.
SPEAKER_06:And if you don't know, now you know, as Dana White would say. And uh moving on, we got these amazing cards that are also making me float on air, guys. Uh we've had nothing but bangers left and right, I think, in the month of November. Starting off with that great card on November 8th, you that UFC fight night, Bon Feam vs. Brown. That was a very, very exciting card. Uh I'll just gloss over some of these prelims, but they were nasty. I mean, right off the bat, we had a finish, performance of the night earning finish with Zach Reese in the prelims versus McVeigh, where he just submits them in round two. Uh after that we had another submission, this guy, Daniel Marcos. Uh, he stands out a little bit because he's like one of the very only Peruvian fighters that are active, but uh very great performance with the round two submission, also. And uh Josh Hokett. This guy is very interesting to me. I saw him in Dana White's contender series this recent season, season nine, the greatest season of the show so far. And this guy, ex-football player, ex-NFL player, okay, um, an ex-wrestler, uh not WWE, but he's making it actual wrestling. And yeah, actual wrestling, and he's making it as if it is WWE, finishing his opponent on Dana White Contender Series and goes on to a full on like WWE promo. And lo and behold, getting performance of the night in this card with another first round knockout, cutting another legendary promo that I just can't get over. And uh, I want you guys to hear this promo because it it's very interesting, very reminiscent of the bad guy Chel Sun, and even saying that that is one of his inspirations for this.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:And uh I think if he keeps going on, you know, and he does face Walter Walker, hopefully he doesn't get heel hooked making him the fifth in a row.
SPEAKER_02:I should hope he has at least the basic idea that he needs to be on the lookout for a move like that. But uh I guess we'll just have to see if uh his if his sweet like your mama's apple pie or grandma's apple pie or whatever, uh see if that will uh get him through.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah. All he has to do is be sweet to him. That should help.
SPEAKER_02:Didn't he call himself a boy toy at one point too?
SPEAKER_06:Uh yeah. Uh he's an interesting character so far, I will say. So it was very fun to watch Roni Bercellos locking it in with the unanimous decision. And then we go on to that main card, and man, there was five fights on this main card. All five ended by finish. It was very exciting, very surprising, and honestly, everybody had a crazy performance this night. I mean, you just go down the list with Christian Leroy Duncan getting a uh a knockout on uh Tulio and getting him the performance of the night right after with Chris Padilla finishing Ishmael Bonfeme, the brother of the main fight on that card. Right. And an interesting fact I just want to point out is that Ishmael Bonfeme was overweight by five pounds. Oh. And Crispadia being a trooper and still taking this fight, um, obviously he had to give up some of his purse, but getting finished, and it was uh not a great performance by Bonfim.
SPEAKER_03:Um maybe there was a underlying cause as to why he missed weight.
SPEAKER_06:I don't want to speculate. He looked great in the first round, but he looked like he gave everything he had in the first round. Oh uh not great. Uh another very surprising fight that I knew was gonna be a banger, kinda, was that Muslim Salakov. Uh they're calling him like the Russian Kung Fu master. Really? Versus Uros Medic. Uh this guy, he needs another medic, man. Because this guy is putting people out, Medic Medic, and he's putting on great performances, back-to-back knockouts, knocking out the kung fu master. Uh very impressive. I don't know, man. It's just this was a great card. Match now, right after Joseph Morales submits some very impressive ground game on that one. I I sent the video to our group chat. I just could not get over the amazing transitions on this one by Morales. All around impressive performance. I I couldn't get over that one. And then we got to that main fight where Gabriel Bonefame, the younger brother, versus Randy Brown, and Bonfeme looked this Bonfeme looked completely different than the younger brother.
SPEAKER_02:To his brother Bonefeme. Well, I should hope so.
SPEAKER_06:He's a different person, but uh I don't mean in the face, but I mean in the fight game, because it was insane. Yeah. A master class in striking by Gabrielle Bonfeme coming off of a high win. I know a lot of people were saying that this is his biggest test, Randy Brown, because his other fights haven't been the the most uh I guess well known people besides Steven Thompson, Wonderboy, uh who he just beat. Um but Randy Brown is very resilient in his own, and uh I I always like seeing Randy Brown fights, always he's a very exciting fighter and as tough as nails. But uh Bonfame was amazing in this one, master class in striking, leg kicks were devastating in this one, chopping Randy Brown's leg, it was insane. And eventually just getting him in the getting him in the clinch and knee, the nastiest knee I'd ever seen, and you could even hear it, because obviously this was an apex card where you can hear the hits even better. His head bouncing off Randy Brown's head bouncing off the canvas, which ultimately wakes him back up. Right. And he's like, Oh no, I'm not out. But it was it was clearly it was clear like a knockout. He was out, and in the video you can see his eyes, you know, as as they do. Yeah. Uh so that that was a amazing card that was very interesting, goes on with the theme of what I've been saying is people hating on these apex cards, but they've been amazing so far, dude, this year. And uh the that's just what I I found very interesting in that card. Uh I really like that one. And then we'll move on to that amazing UFC 322 card Islam Makachev going up in weight class for legacy against Jack Della Medalena. And this card did not disappoint whatsoever.
SPEAKER_02:Um I can't I personally can't say it didn't whatsoever, but for a majority of it, it didn't disappoint.
SPEAKER_06:Absolutely, but it seemed more like contenders and fighters putting on master classes on this card where I was telling you guys that Madison Square Garden always has something crazy happen. It's the most famous stadium in the world. Yeah. And uh I told you guys that, and look at what was happening. We'll start off with some of these um uh early prelims that were also interesting. I watched all of them. Uh we'll I'll gloss over some of them. But uh Bisong Baisangor Susakayev locking in his third finish in a row uh against uh Eric McConichal. By Sangur, we actually talked about him in our previous episodes, starting off from what I saw him in the Dana White Contender series this season again. Amazing season, just saying. Whoever wants to go back and watch this season of Dana White Contender series will not be disappointing. This guy goes on like four days notice, uh, gets a finish in the first round and in contender series, goes on to another four days notice and fights on Hamza Chamayev's card on the other side. Oh, I remember that, yeah. Curtain jerker. And gets another finish in that one. Second fight in the UFC, gets another finish, and honestly, this guy undefeated, and he's looking real good, man.
SPEAKER_02:Sounds like somebody to keep an eye out for for sure.
SPEAKER_06:And then we had the veteran Angela Hill versus Fatty McLean, newcomer coming in dominantly against Angela Hill, and uh really earning that unanimous decision. Uh Pat Sabatini versus Marsko. Honestly, that was another fun fight. I know that Sabatini was trying to get that win back because he lost two Marsco years prior. Uh split decision, if I'm not mistaken. So I'm glad he got that one back. And then capping off that early prelim card was Kyle Dachis versus Gerald Meershard. And Kyle Dachis looked great in this fight, honestly. Nasty knockdown, and then finishing it with a submission. So it was all around a great performance for him.
SPEAKER_02:Sounds like it. I I missed that one because I was uh in transit to your house at that time.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah. You can't tell the cops, like, hey man, give me a second, I'm watching you.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, that's not something they're willing to accept for the most part.
SPEAKER_06:Sir license and regist What one second, sir. This guy just got knocked the f out.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I don't see that going over well.
SPEAKER_06:He's like, what? Let me see.
SPEAKER_02:Unlikely, but maybe.
SPEAKER_06:And then we had another thing that's insane talking about uh short notice is this Malcolm Wake Wellmaker versus Ethan Ewing.
SPEAKER_03:Ethan Ewing was one heck of a fight.
SPEAKER_06:Relative nobody. Uh you know, no disrespect, no shade on him, but a relative nobody coming into the UFC on two days' notice.
SPEAKER_03:This was his debut, so of course he's gonna be a relative nobody as far as people who follow the UFC are concerned.
SPEAKER_06:For sure. I mean but even other fighters, you know, they usually come in and they're like, they were on Bellator, they were on PFL, they were on LFA. Uh this guy, relatively unknown fight promotion.
SPEAKER_02:Only 48 hours, so there wasn't a lot of time for the FAP.
SPEAKER_06:There wasn't a lot of time, but he did he won a championship in another fight promotion, uh uh Raya Faber's promotion, if I'm not mistaken, and goes on to fight a phenom and Malcolm Wellmaker, a knockout artist legitimate, made Wellmaker look childish, honestly. It was just a masterclass in Ewings.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I I can't say he looked childish, but he definitely looked outclassed.
SPEAKER_06:Definitely looked outclassed in this one.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he he was not prepared to deal with someone who's able to avoid the strikes that he was trying to s send his way.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:Like he he if he'd connected with some of those punches, it definitely looked like it might have been a serious issue for Ewing. But he was one step ahead for most of those.
SPEAKER_06:Exactly, and that was what I found very exciting was that this guy looked seasoned, he looked ready to fight, and honestly, this is kind of like one of those dream UFC debuts where you put the fight that you believe in against someone who is a Goliath, you know. And uh honestly, that's what's very exciting about this Ethan Ewing gentleman and him going forward earning some great respect from Dana White, you know. Dana White saying that win or lose, whatever happens in this one, you're still gonna get something in the mail. Uh so I'm not sure what that meant. I don't know what he's gonna give him. I hope it's something cool. And a quick quick little tidbit about the Ethan Ewing is that his UFC debut badge off his shirt is actually getting cut out and put onto a one-of-one rookie card trading card. So whoever finds that one, let us know. That's a cool one. Uh putting on a master class. Uh Aaron Blanchfield, I had Aaron Blanchfield on this one versus Tracy Cortez. And Aaron Blanchfield putting up an amazing performance against Tracy. She looked great in this one, earning a very strange submission. Um, she kind of pulled it out of nowhere, uh, but uh nonetheless, great performance. Another finish on this card, and it was just great to see. Uh we had that Roman Kopaloff versus Robocop, Gregory Rodriguez, where Kopoloff looked great in the first round and then went downhill. Yep.
SPEAKER_02:Uh I don't know what's going on with Kopoloff, but uh he was so promising, and now he doesn't seem to be able to catch his catch his breath.
SPEAKER_06:No. I mean he I mean, mind you, he did get put in a body bag by uh Paul Costa Paula Costa, so but still it's like damn Kapilov like he's not looking scary anymore. No. And uh Gregory Rodriguez making him look human again, earning that unanimous unanimous decision, and then we had that mind-blowing knockout by Bo Nickel, who's gotten knockouts before with the hands, this time a nasty head kick knockout on Rodolfo Vieira that was honestly scary looking. The aftermath was scary as well, because Viera looked like a corpse after that, I will say.
SPEAKER_02:Kind of corpsey. He it's not often you see a full sprawl on the back, and uh that was interesting to see for sure. Unexpected, for sure.
SPEAKER_06:Uh very unexpected, and uh great performance by Bo Nickel, a bounce back performance. A lot of people seem to be preying on his downfall, and I think that did get to him a little bit, and he had a chip on his shoulder coming into the tweet.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you, motherfrickers.
SPEAKER_06:Freak you motherfrickers, as the uh the aforementioned Bo Nickel would say. After that knockout, getting up on the cage and double burning everyone, double flipping off everyone in the crowd, getting asked like what was that about, and uh honestly coming out with that masterful uh speech afterward, Bo Nickel going full heel in this one. And uh I think uh all the all the hate is getting to him, and he's he had to show out in this one. I think he had that chip on his shoulder.
SPEAKER_02:There were a lot of people talking down on him after the RDR fight.
SPEAKER_06:Absolutely, fraud checked and all kinds of crazy comments like that. Yeah. Bone nickel getting demoted from the main card to the prelims, and that one interview he did prior saying that he would never go down from a main card to a prelims. It was just unsalty timing for him, you know? Yeah. And I will say amazing speech afterward saying, You mother frickers, you freaking mother freakers, you know, make up your mind you like me or you hate me. And uh those words alone and the double birds, you know, really showed like this guy he's he's got some heat on him, and uh, I don't think he's gonna stop here. I think he's gonna get back on that main card.
SPEAKER_02:I think he's gonna I think he certainly can.
SPEAKER_06:And it was just a minor setback, you know. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I think he just simply was completely unprepared for the knees of RDR, which, to be fair, many people are unprepared for them because he has biomechanical advantage with hitting with his knees, because he has such long legs that knees from him hit harder than most people are aware that they will. So you just don't have the right preparation for it.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, they they they sh they're very shocking in that sense for sure. Another thing that was shocking, I know that Bo Nickel's setting the tone for this main card and the finishes to come ahead. And we'll move on to the main card, the first fight of the main card, where Benoit Saint Denis only needed sixteen seconds to finish Benil Deriouge.
SPEAKER_03:That was crazy.
SPEAKER_06:Nasty, scary, impressive knockout on Benil coming forward for that clinch and getting hit over the guard, right on the ear, putting him out like face forward, like plopping, and it was just that that's the word to use, man, is plopping. It was very ploppy.
SPEAKER_02:It was uh very oh yeah, very ploppy, but it was just so unexpected because usually, you know, in sixteen seconds people are doing a lot of fainting and not trying to bull rush each other. Yes. For the most part.
SPEAKER_06:I don't think this was the game plan for Benil. At least I'm hoping it's not. Well, I don't think the game plan is ever to lose, but Benoit, Say Denis, the God of War, putting another impressive performance in the books, coming off another impressive finish before that one, so he's looking good. Uh I mean, but this lightweight division is absolutely stacked, it's insane.
SPEAKER_02:Lot of really good talent.
SPEAKER_06:Getting performance of the night, uh BSD with that win, calling for the belt. Uh, I don't see where he goes moving forward, but uh, you know, great things to come from ESD. Um I feel like he's officially bounced back from that Dustin Poirier loss and the Renato Moicano loss. Like, this is an amazing comeback. And then we had another unexpected, this one really blew me away. Was the Leon Edwards vs. Carlos Protest, and the whole fight was just interesting. Leon Edwards putting the perfect game plan against Protest to work in the first round. I mean, taking him down, uh locking him up, and uh even showing that meme moment with uh Leon punching him from the top and and Pratus just completely ineffectual punches looking looking at the crowd like well, I guess this is what's happening right now, but it's not doing anything to me.
SPEAKER_02:It was a really good moment.
SPEAKER_06:Really good moment. Uh Carlos Prat is giving us nothing but amazing moments did not come short in this one with another amazing moment in the nasty straight through the guard of Leon Edwards to the chin, making Leon Edwards levitate and fall back on his feet and fall back on his head. His head bounced on the canvas, it was nasty.
SPEAKER_03:Yep.
SPEAKER_06:Him looking like completely out, and the follow-up shot that may or may not have been necessary.
SPEAKER_02:May or may not, but people do recover upon a land like that. And then I as we had discussed uh off air with uh Whitaker and RDR. You can't always necessarily uh trust the ref to call it as soon as they fall down, obviously knocked out.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, absolutely. His eyes rolling to the back of his head, follow-up shot, and Leon Edwards uh completely out Carlos Protest, becoming the first person to knock out Leon Edwards. Interesting fact about Carlos Protest is he's the first to knock out the leech, the first to knock out Jeff Neil, and now the first to knock out Leon Edwards. It is insane the power in this guy's hands. I don't know. And we'll see where he goes moving forward. Uh but it looks like the welcher weight division is also stacked, and we'll talk more about that later.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Uh just as an aside, also about Protest, it in a couple different interviews I've seen uh from Islam talking about how uh Protest was smoking and eating Tela and stuff like that the day of the fight, and Islam was very taken aback by this and didn't quite understand why he wasn't like following a nutritionist's uh lead on what to eat and do.
SPEAKER_06:Exactly. I mean it's just uh different levels, but obviously uh none of that hinders Carlos Prates. The partying and the smoking doesn't it only empowers him. I don't know. Yeah. Maybe it's just a cool factor, it like gives him ten extra points or something.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I don't know if the smack talk between Ed Edwards and Prates had anything to do with.
SPEAKER_02:Sure, right through the guard. And it didn't it wasn't like something I don't think they were talking just before it happened or anything, but it's possible some emotions were running high at the moment.
SPEAKER_06:And I will add uh some comments from the commentators in the moment were that uh a lot of the time, and I will point this out as well was that Protest was talking to Leon a lot of the time, especially in the clinch, especially when getting grappled, yeah. Probably telling him the same thing he took told Jeff Neal, oh you're a wrestler now. Um and I feel like he did talk to him prior, and I do think it was a slight lapse in judgment from Leon Edwards, because he had that perfect game plan, then he probably wanted to, you know, probably got distracted more so than getting emotional because all of a sudden he'd decided to stand in that moment, and it only took that moment to unleash an amazing strike with incredible accuracy through the guard.
SPEAKER_02:Something that I am It was a really good sniping moment.
SPEAKER_06:Very I'm very amazed by. Nothing short of amazing, but you're getting in performance of the night, another knockout, and then another knockout right after of the number two Sean Brady against number eight Michael Morales. Michael Morales, another upcoming phenom, and honestly, he looks freakish, man. This guy's a freak of nature.
SPEAKER_02:He looked he looked really good and focused and intent.
SPEAKER_06:Like Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:He wa he he was embodying a predator. In the ring with Brady. Yes. He wasn't backing down. He was he was just biting his time, finding the right moment. And he did.
SPEAKER_06:Incredible, dude. Incredible striking from Michael Morales. Uh becoming, you know, a very interesting prospect, knocking out number two, Sean Brady, who ultimately I feel did not need to take this fight. I was very upset to hear that he took this fight. And I feel like he it was a lose-lose situation for Sean Brady, where he beats this guy who is um barely upcoming and who's a knock artist, uh, who he really did not need a fight. He could have just waited for a uh I mean, he already got that supposed contender fight prior against Leon Edwards, but obviously he felt he needed to take another fight to prove that, and he just picked the wrong opponent. This guy is an absolute beast.
SPEAKER_02:I do have to say that just like we had mentioned earlier, you never can rely on refs to be consistent.
SPEAKER_05:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02:Like Sean Brady was ready to get up and start retaliating f even faster than RDR. I th I think he would have been up and and fighting just as fast, if not faster, than RDR. Hmm. Ref discussion, yeah. The ref immediately jumped on him when he saw that he he was knocked for a loop.
SPEAKER_06:I mean he did take like twenty unanswered hits. So especially through that flurry towards the end, he was just getting rocked. So I Well he did. I could see the ref, especially when he got knocked down.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I'm I'm just referencing the time when he got knocked down.
SPEAKER_06:Right.
SPEAKER_02:As the ref called it pretty quickly. Which which is fine. I'm not saying that was a bad call or anything. I'm just saying it the inconsistencies between refs makes it uh difficult to know when you can when you can just do a walk-off or if you need to continue to punch the living stuffins out of 'em. You know?
SPEAKER_06:It c it definitely can be. Um nonetheless, earning Michael Morales' performance of the night, yeah, and getting him a contender spot for sure. Uh in a stacked division, the Walter Wade division is insane. Um I don't know if this guy could counter A lot of really good talent right now. I don't know if this guy could counter like Islam's wrestling or anything. But Sean Brady Sean Brady is a wrestler and tried wrestling him, but Michael Morales seemed to have the perfect game plan to nullify that in this one. So that was very intriguing to me. And then we had that uh completely AI generated fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Zhangwei Li. Um yeah, this one was fake, man. I you know, they're saying that some fights are rigged. No, no, no. I will not undermine the GOAT Valentina Shevchenko, who put on a master class in uh MMA on Wei Lee Zhang. And I'm biased, as you know.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, certainly.
SPEAKER_06:And uh I will just add that size did look evident in this one. Valentina looked massive compared to Zhang Wei Li and implementing that size to perfection with her game plan.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, remember I've said on multiple episodes now that I wasn't sure about Wei Li Zhang going up in weight class because honestly, it didn't look like she cut that much to maintain previously. And now it kind of reinforced that because I think I'm not saying she can't win against Shevchenko. I am gonna say that it is less likely, especially seeing them actually in the ring together. The size difference isn't unsurmountable, it's just quite difficult to surmount.
SPEAKER_06:And very impressive all around. Yeah, it was it was a good fight for sure. Yeah, absolutely. On Valentina's side, I mean Whaley did not have any answers for the An unfortunate amount of ground time, in my opinion, but Yeah. And uh some people could definitely say that I know that, especially with the performances prior in the card with all those knockouts and stuff like that. That definitely puts a damper on the finish and finishes and stuff. But uh I think this doesn't this doesn't take away that a GOAT and two different divisions faced each other in this one. It's just that one of them puts a bed that she is the most dominant female fighter in you know, in the UFC. Going on and Well, I don't know.
SPEAKER_03:I don't know. Well Kayla Harrison might have something to say about that.
SPEAKER_06:Maybe. And uh that also uh leads me to the quick fact that tying Amanda Nunes' record for most title fights in the UFC women's history with eleven. Yeah, and it she's only gotten better with age, which is crazy how how dedicated she is, not only saying that this is not my career, this is not my job, mixed mar martial arts is my life. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:She did make sure to specifically say that.
SPEAKER_06:And she puts that into her everyday life where this lady is absolutely dedicated to the craft, and like a artist on a canvas, she's an artist in the UFC, and she knows how to win.
SPEAKER_02:She does. She proved it once more.
SPEAKER_06:Absolutely, and I think that if she still continues to fight, and I am it's looking like there's nobody else that can really beat her in that division. We'll see where she goes from here. I know that uh Natalia Silva was uh called out in that one, and I am a very big Silva fan of hers, but I don't think that I don't see her beating Valentina Shevchenko. I see this happening again in just a a master class, and I feel like, yeah, Dan, she's like the female Marab. Where she's just relentless and killer instinct, you know.
SPEAKER_02:I'm gonna have to say I don't quite agree with the female Mirab part. Marab is much more dominant, in my opinion.
SPEAKER_06:Sure, yeah, absolutely. I can see that.
SPEAKER_02:Um nobody I've seen really, really looks looked to be putting Marab on the back foot. It seems like he's in pretty much complete control. Well, maybe not complete, but he's in control ninety percent of the time when he's in the ring. If not more. When they were on the ground, certainly. But wasn't quite so one-sided, in my opinion, on the feet.
SPEAKER_06:On the striking? Yeah. I will say Zhang Wei Lee did make a couple mistakes coming out and like bull rushing her sometimes and catching some nasty knees. I think Valentina mixed it up well. She did knees, k kicks, body shots, you know, leg kicks, and she really had it all.
SPEAKER_02:Really good uh variability in her playbook.
SPEAKER_06:And where Zhang Mei Lee goes from here, I'm hoping that she does go back to her weight class and dominates and gets her belt back against Mackenzie Dern. And uh I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:In my opinion, I think that's a little it's a little played out to go back.
SPEAKER_06:To go back, yeah, but I just don't think she has a choice.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I think I think she can with a little more experience with a l within the larger weight class, I think she could.
SPEAKER_06:I think I think it just I mean she could do anything she sets her mind to, but oh yeah. I'm saying that you know that's and Dana White even said it himself, this is why we have weight classes. And it's just there's some big women in the women's flyweight division. I mean men and fjord. If she were to fight men and fjord, this would be the same thing, and men and fjord is bigger than Shevchenko, so imagine that. It's just I think weight discrepancy and size discrepancy was evident, um, and also the skill of Valentina the bullet chevchenko, and uh retain keeping her belt against another goat, so it was great to see, honestly. Uh something that wasn't so great to see was the following fight was the Jack Della Madalena getting dog walked by Islam Makachev and Islam showing that the weight discrepancy does not exist for him, a generational fighter.
SPEAKER_02:He honestly looked better at this weight than I expected him to.
SPEAKER_06:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:I I expected it to be a little harder for him to get to and maintain a fighting weight at this weight. When I suppose it really shouldn't. It's not that huge of a jump, but he did look really good.
SPEAKER_06:Absolutely. I think he looked healthy, I think he looked strong, and uh Jack Della also seemed to feel that way because he Yeah, I would say so. I just want to highlight real quick and the hype that I was giving Jack Della because he's a very, very impressive individual in in general. I mean, we saw the numbers, we saw the records. You know, these guys haven't lost in how many years.
SPEAKER_02:Twenty-one plus years. I think it's almost twenty-two or just over twenty-two when you add the months together.
SPEAKER_06:That's insane. That's insane to think of, and Jack Della fighting who's who's fighting Gilbert Burns, putting a body on him, beating Gilbert Burns with a broken arm. The next fight he goes on and he beats Bilal Muhammad, who trains with Islam, similar fight style, but not entirely similar. Uh obviously Islam is uh in goat talks, you know, greatest of all time talks, but beating Balal decisively, but honestly, this give gave me glimpses of the Hamza Chemayev versus Drake's duplicacy fight where the champion was absolutely helpless to do anything against a perfect game plan.
SPEAKER_02:He he looked a little shell-shocked for a good chunk of that fight. And I I can't say he gave up at any point in time, certainly not. But then again, also I have to say he he did not get Darst joked.
SPEAKER_06:Congratulations, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Congratulations on that.
SPEAKER_06:He trained excessively on it to pretend defending it.
SPEAKER_02:And as dominant as it could be considered, I don't think Islam really showed that great of a fight, personally.
SPEAKER_06:Too easy.
SPEAKER_02:It was it was too much lay and prey for the most part. Yes, there was a lot of movement on the hands and feet, or with the hands and feet, but honestly it was to no end for both of them. It was seemed like mostly he was just moving his hands and feet to try and see if he could trick uh Medalena into a Darst joke. Otherwise, it seemed like he didn't really care about trying to submit or anything, really.
SPEAKER_06:There wasn't many submission attempts, but I will say uh the ones there were, Jack did do a good job of defending against them. Nullifying the submission attempts, but not nullifying the control time, and I know your stance on control time. However, I do think against the opponent, against the odds, and against the size, I do think that Islam put a master class on how to win in this game. And breaking the spirit of Jack Della, as we saw in the subsequent rounds of round two, his face was absolutely demoralized. He looked broken, he looked defeated, and I'm not too sure what it was because they didn't interview him afterward. What a waste. It is odd that there was no who knows, maybe it was up to him because those calf kicks that Islam was hitting him with were very, very effective. Oh, certainly. Nasty calf kicks, man.
SPEAKER_02:The on the right, his right lead leg, that the bruise was already visible, easily visible by what was it, the middle of the second round?
SPEAKER_06:It was like the first round after the first round, it was already red. Well, yeah, it was red. He was kicking it perfectly.
SPEAKER_02:But uh, I think it was like by the mid to late second round, you could see the actual blue and the warts and the b the bumps. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:It was insane, and uh I don't know if that was a I'm pretty sure that was a major factor. Uh we did see Jack switching stances, which he's an amazing switch stance fighter. He could he could do either foot and and still get his hands going well. But he never got the chance to get his hands, you know, moving, and every time he would get his hands moving, he would eat a le kick. And every time he would try to defend the leg kick, he would get taken down.
SPEAKER_02:He he spent, I think, in my opinion, a little too much time focused on the Dar's defense. Sure. I can see that he didn't check a single leg kick.
SPEAKER_06:No, he did not. Not a single one. Especially in the beginning. Didn't.
SPEAKER_02:Like he he was working on avoiding them later in the rounds, but he wasn't trying to check 'em, which is a really odd decision, in my opinion.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And I think that And it's not like Islam is not known to do legends. It's not like that's outside of his his bag of trip.
SPEAKER_06:His repertoire, exactly.
SPEAKER_02:So I don't know what was going on with that.
SPEAKER_06:And I will say, speaking of Islam's repertoire, I think this speaks to him more so as his impressive game plan against Jagdala Medalena and implementing better better uh pre uh pre-fight planning. Yeah, it was just amazing pre-fight planning and stra planning and strategy that he implemented, and honestly, dominant performance by Islam, which is very scary, not just in the sense of him being the fighter, but scary for the welterweight division and what this means, because now I'm like, damn, I really can't see too many people in that weight class standing a chance against him in particular, yeah. And the tools tool set that he has. Uh it's just a different beast with this guy, honestly.
SPEAKER_02:But the same animal.
SPEAKER_06:But the same animal.
SPEAKER_02:Sorry.
SPEAKER_06:What does that even mean, Kobe Bryant? Uh, this guy is uh even Dana White's saying this guy is reaching goat talk, uh, greatest of all time talk, becoming the 11th fighter to earn two championships in two different divisions.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, actually the whole talks about when and how you become a goat have always confused the holy hell out of me because the fact that Kabib, who only defended his title three times, is considered GOAT and Islam's not point blank, obviously definitely goat by now, is weird. Right. It it's wild. It's a good point. He just tied Anderson Silva for longest win. Sixteen. And it's not set in stone that he's goat status.
SPEAKER_06:Like what the f I just feel like there's a spectrum, and at the top of the spectrum is John Jones.
SPEAKER_03:Oh god.
SPEAKER_06:And um even in the interview after where them asking, is John Jones still the goat? Dana might confirming, yeah, he's still the goat. So we'll see how the goat tops. Uh we'll see how that develops, but uh Islam reaching for the stars and aiming for legacy, and this is honestly legacy that he's getting. Um like you said, tying Anderson Silver for most wins in the UFC consecutively with 16, and I don't see him slowing down, which is the even scarier part. Uh this guy is amazing, and you know, what more can we say? And we'll move on to that UFC fight night, uh Armin Serukian versus Dan Hooker. Uh we'll do a quick look at the main card right now and what it's looking like for Saturday, November 22nd. And uh that's an early one. It's gonna be in Qatar, don't forget, it's an early one. Um, I believe 11 a.m. for us mountain time. And uh we'll just look at the uh main card main card real quick. I mean, the top three fights are amazing. Armand Sarukian versus Dan Hooker as a quote unquote contender fight for that lightweight belt and see who fights Ilya Toporia. I don't know. I don't know what's going on with that uh division yet.
SPEAKER_02:All uh all I have to say is I really do not see Hooker beating Ilya. I can't I can't visualize that. Oh, like if he does, you know, beat Armin and Hooker's game plan is to get punched until they're too tired to fight back. That's his game plan, and Ilya will take advantage of that and knock him out.
SPEAKER_06:That would be nasty.
SPEAKER_02:I okay, that's that's slightly unfair to Hooker, but legitimately I've I can't recall a single fight that he's been in that he didn't end the fight looking like he got beat the shit out of. Seriously, he he he takes so many hits to the face.
SPEAKER_06:He's definitely been in some wars.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, certainly. I and that's that's not to deride the f the people he was fighting against or anything. It's just he's not dominant enough or cares enough about uh avoiding being hit to not get hit in the face a few times. And if he plays those games with Ilya, I think he's gonna get on it, he's gonna be flat on his back.
SPEAKER_06:That's a great point. Um it's a it's a very interesting division right now. Uh I will say, let's see what happens with the hangman and his game plan to defeat Armin Sarukian and see if um I don't know if he tries to you know defend the takedowns. But Armin is good, man. Armin is very good, and he's a very complete fighter who could do anything. So well rounded. Well rounded, so we'll see. Um, you know, I think that this is a dog fight for Dan Hooker, and this is a proving fight for Armin. Yeah, you know, to get that belt opportunity. Uh I will say, sidebar, the sound effect that we have on our show, that punching sound that we have is actually inspired by the punch sounds of Dan Hooker vs. Dustin Poirier. One of the greatest fights of all time. Watch that fight, guys. The sounds alone. The punches.
SPEAKER_02:Just a brutal back and forth.
SPEAKER_06:Insane. Uh we got afterward, uh before that we have that Balam Muhammad vs. Ian Machado Gary for the belt of most hated in the UFC. We'll see who earns that one.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know. And the nickel seems to be trying to be in contention for that.
SPEAKER_06:I don't know. There's a couple, you know. They need to make another belt instead of the BMF one, just like the most hated one.
SPEAKER_02:Uh the devil's belt or some shit like that.
SPEAKER_06:Um but very interesting welterweight belt. Like I was saying, this division is absolutely stacked right now with amazing fights in that division. It's just insane. Uh and this fight will be uh just as great. We got number one Bilal Mohammed versus Machado Gary, eat number six, and we'll see. It's a proving fight, man. You know, Bilal's trying to fight for that belt again. I it should be interesting, I mean, seeing him versus Islam, being that they're friends or whatever.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:But we'll see if that happens. And then we have a light heavyweight belt that I'm excited to see Vulcan Ozdemir versus Alonso Manafield on that card. I just feel like someone's gonna get a slap in that one.
SPEAKER_02:I should hope so. Light heavyweight, they usually hit pretty darn hard.
SPEAKER_06:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:And I would like to see, you know, new blood coming in that's really skilled.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. We need some more uh blood in that division, it feels like it's becoming a little stagnant, but we'll see with Poetong leaving that division what happens.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, Alex is out of there, but I s I s I still want and uh I shouldn't say need, but I think the division needs to have similar to how the welterweight title is. I th I think just a light heavyweight needs more people circulating within the top ten and you know, highly skilled people circulating within the type ten top ten because Jerry needs some serious contention.
SPEAKER_06:We'll see. We'll see if he ends up facing uh Magomed Ankalaev for a um for that belt and uh yeah how that goes forward for that um for that division in general, but I think that's a very interesting moving forward. And then be before that uh lightweight bout, we have a welter weight out, Jack Hermanson versus Oral Bye, and uh we'll see if Oral Bye is making a comeback or not, and I'm hoping so. I like Oral Bye, he has a very interesting fighting style, so yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I I do uh or I shouldn't say I do. I am interested in Oral Bye. He he seems to have uh well, he has an interesting fight style for sure. And I would like to see him have more success.
SPEAKER_06:He reminds me of like that meme. I like that meme. I don't know if you guys have seen it, where it's like, oh, we've evolved I don't know how many thousands of years since we were in Neanderthals, and then under it's like a picture of Ourobai.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, I haven't seen this.
SPEAKER_06:That one is insane. Uh why would you do such a thing?
SPEAKER_03:That's that's main.
SPEAKER_06:But then we have the heavyweight bount before that one. Speaking of new blood, we have Shamil Gazeev versus Spivak. I want to see Gazeev uh make a statement in this heavyweight fight and uh put some work in uh to move him up forward. So that that one should be an exciting one as well. And Alex Perez versus uh Alma Bayev on that card. Uh I like Alma Bayev. Uh I think that's uh gonna be a fireworks fight, flyweights, they're very fast, and both these guys can put some work in. So so far there's some very interesting fights on this card, and I'm looking forward to especially the first especially that Armin fight, man. That's a very exciting fight. The headliner fight, yeah. That's a very exciting fight. And uh speaking of exciting fights, we do have that UFC 323 card with some more history being made on that card. And and it's great to see uh Marab Divalishvili vs. Piotr Yan to Marab becoming the first fighter to defend the bell four times in the calendar year. And uh just guy, what more can we say about him besides his stamp in the history books?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he he has firmly placed himself in there for quite a while, I believe. And then also uh that Senry that Henry Sehudo fight.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, winner lose, he's done for, and uh that's gonna be all she wrote for Triple C, but I don't know because he retired once before, which was a big mistake, but and then he came back. So I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:Uh honestly, I think this is gonna be for real personally.
SPEAKER_06:It seems like it, yeah, absolutely. And uh this card is also very intriguing. All the fights so far, even going in the prelims. I know they're still setting it up, there's still fights to come, but some very interesting fights on this card. You got uh Terrence McKinney vs. Prince Duncan, just to name a few. Uh Zadakoff versus ZM on that card. Uh you got uh Edson Barbosa, Jalen Turner making his return from his short retirement, quote unquote. Macy Barber, Karin Silva, and like I was saying, you know, this is this is very exciting fights. Karina Silva trying to keep that win streak going. Marvin Vittori trying to make a comeback, recent loss to Brendan Allen versus Bruno Ferrero. So these are just very exciting fights that mean a lot, especially becoming it looks like the last card of the year, at least the last pay-per-view of the year. Henry Sohuto, you know, trying to show that he's gonna go out on a win versus another very interesting prospect, Peyton Talbot. It's not gonna be an easy fight. Not gonna be an easy fight, but uh I'm I'm fairly certain that Henry Sohuto's wrestling, because we've seen that that has been a weakness for Talbot, should be the game plan, and who know who knows, no hopefully is the game plan. I mean, on that card, Naima vs. Santos, another banger of the featherweight division. Brandon Moreno trying to you know continue his run to get his flyweight belt back versus Tats Tatsuro Taiara, who's been putting amazing performances, and uh that's a very exciting fight right there.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that last fight against Park was very promising for his future, in my opinion.
SPEAKER_06:Very exciting. Uh Jan Blahovitch versus Bogdan Guskoff. Jan's on the older side, but we'll see if he's still got it. He's he's been a dog ever since he's you know arrived at the UFC.
SPEAKER_02:Do we know how old he is?
SPEAKER_06:40, I believe.
SPEAKER_02:Dang. For a light heavyweight, that's that's getting up there.
SPEAKER_06:He's either 40 or 41. Let's see here, just to verify. Oh, he's 42. He's 42, wow. Yeah, see, he's uh on the older side, you know, he's he's put up amazing performances against some amazing fighters, and I have much respect for Jan Blahobitz. Oh, yeah. And hope he could continue, at least go out on the win or whatever he decides to do against Bogdan Guskoff. And then we have two belts on the line again. Alexandre Pantoja versus Joshua Van in the flyweight division. Pantoja, he is one of my favorite fighters in the UFC, and he's but putting nothing but a dominant performance in his championship fights. And uh we'll we'll see what he does against Joshua Van, more of a striker. So I'm hoping Joshua Van prepares for all facets of MMA. We spoke about this before, but mainly ground game, you know, trying to defend and and get up quickly.
SPEAKER_05:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's difficult to properly prepare against such a well-rounded fighter as Pantoja.
SPEAKER_06:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:Because at any moment in time he can just bust out a new new trick out of his bag.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, and that that's exactly the point is uh very experienced, very Very lethal and very strategic is Pantoja, and I'm hoping Joshua Van prepares for that.
SPEAKER_03:Me too.
SPEAKER_06:After that, that bantamweight fight, the history making fight between Mirab Divanashvili, and Pieter Jan, who was another one of my favorite fighters in the UFC is Peter Jan. But uh a rematch, uh, and we're hoping that you know maybe Jan pulls some tricks up his sleeve this time around and not get dominated like their first fight went. Yeah. But uh Marab is a dog man. We've seen this guy win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win. And I don't think he gets tired of winning, and I don't think he gets tired at all. So uh we'll see if he continues this generational run that he's in. Yeah. Uh because that's what he's in. He's in a generational r run, uh, name in the history books, all that jazz. But uh the this is a uh a big test still, and I'm hoping that uh Peter Yan at least puts up a fight against him. Cause so far this is another one of those bottlenecks that we feel the division is in. Yeah. Where it's like who can beat Mirab Divaloshweek.
SPEAKER_02:Not to put too fine a point on it, but honestly, I think it'd be pretty friggin' cool if Jan could beat him.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, that would be cool. Getting the belt back again. Um would be cool to see Peter Jan get the belt back. Um he puts up some very interesting fights, and I don't think he's gonna give up in the slightest. Um you know, and it's just we'll see who the contenders are for the Bantam Wait. I know that Umar is coming off a massive win, and I'm hoping and I know that he wants to come and fight again soon, so we'll see. We'll see. I mean, amazing card with amazing consequences behind it, and uh we'll see what this means for the UFC going forward going on to the end of the ESPN era and into a new era, the Paramount Plus era.
SPEAKER_03:I sh I sure hope the growing pains with Paramount Plus are minor.
SPEAKER_06:That's what I'm hoping for too, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I just don't know how Paramount Plus is prepared if they're prepared for the the volume.
SPEAKER_06:Right, I'm hoping so.
SPEAKER_02:I hope they are though.
SPEAKER_06:I'm hoping everything works out. Um but I'm hoping for nothing but good news for us UFC fans. Yeah. And uh where the entity goes forward, you know. And uh we'll go ahead and end the UFC talk and we'll go to some of those interesting am I the asshole? And am I the butt face.
SPEAKER_02:The butt face.
SPEAKER_06:I don't want to be a butt face. I'd rather be an asshole than a butt face.
SPEAKER_02:And now for the deep and burning questions about who is the asshole. This one is from Am I the Asshole by Time Union one five nine two Am I the Asshole for dropping my kids off with my wife when she is with a grieving friend? And I'll I'll put the community's uh vote I'll tell I'll say that after. My wife's best friend, Jessie, lost her husband about a month ago. My wife has been at her home almost every single day since. My job has me being on call some nights, and money is tight, so I can't not be on call. I know Jessie is struggling, but it is stressing me out a ton to be basically a single parent, since my wife is never home. I have talked to her about cutting back, but that ends in an argument about me being heartless. Yesterday I was on call and I actually got called in. I couldn't leave our two daughters home alone, they're six and nine. So I called my wife telling her she needs to head home now. I need to leave. She told me no and to figure it out. We don't have the money for a sitter, my parents live too far away, her parents aren't allowed near the kids, in parentheses, they suck. And my friends have their own lives slash families. So I packed up the kids and on my way to work dropped them off at Jessie's house. My wife was pissed that I did that. When I got back we got into a huge argument and I told her that she actually needs to be a parent, that I am very sick of her playing house at Jessie's house, and we have our own kids. She thinks I am a heartless fucking man. And I told her to be a parent to our own kids.
SPEAKER_05:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:And that that's that's the end of the uh post.
SPEAKER_06:That is insanity. Uh wow. Um quick question. Was it ex-wife?
SPEAKER_02:No, current wife. Uh it's just uh current wife has been spending the last month every day with Jesse with her grieving friend.
SPEAKER_06:It's um unfortunate events that led to this, and it seems like it's still not done unfolding, and I'm hoping this does not become a crutch for them and their relationship. However, it is seemingly pushing them away at the moment where I don't know, both both parties are kind of in an interesting standstill right now.
SPEAKER_02:True. Uh my stance is not the asshole in this, and uh one of the top comments has uh a bit of why. So I'll just say it. And it's by Virtual Map 5891. A day with a grieving friend is needed. A week is kindness, a month when you have kids at home is bizarre. Yeah, it's um I mean you have your own life and they're struggling financially, which means he needs all the time he can get from work, i.e. being on call. So to have her be so unresponsive to that is bizarre in my opinion.
SPEAKER_06:Uh it is a little strange.
SPEAKER_02:And she she was completely unwilling to help figure out a alternative when he d when he needed to leave. Like he'd already made the commitment to be on call. So you can't back out once you're already on call. I mean, that's that's part of the whole being on call.
SPEAKER_07:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:So he at that point is effectively required to go and respond to this, and for the wife to be completely dismissive and say for him to figure it out is is bizarre in my opinion. And it kind of feels like she's just treating this as like almost like a mini vacation to just get away from her own life.
SPEAKER_07:It could be.
SPEAKER_02:I'm not saying that's is, it's just it's very well could be. It it's I personally struggle to see how in this scenario it would make sense f as a caring partner and parent to be doing this.
SPEAKER_06:I definitely get your point on that one in that regard. Um, but it kind of speaks to me kind of like you were saying kind of like an escape kind of thing. Yeah. Maybe I mean there it sounds like they're going through some tough times financially, uh, and other ways, it seems like. And maybe this is kind of like an escape for her and grieving in her own sense. Uh, but there's no way to tell, and I'm hoping he did communicate with her prior, like, hey, don't leave, I'm on call. Who knows? But they're both in a very unfortunate scenario, mainly him. He he's in a tough spot, it seems like. And he's kind of in a lose-lose situation, as it seems.
SPEAKER_02:True. Uh, I do have to say that I think, as with most of these, they need to set aside some time and really actually communicate with each other and not communicate at each other.
SPEAKER_06:Good point.
SPEAKER_02:If she truly feels like she is the last life's uh lifeline keeping her friend alive, that's that's unhealthy. And if which again is one of the only reasons why I can think of that it would be a scenario where you're not just using this as a way to escape your own life um her own life. And uh He needs he needs to communicate. Like this should have been he should have honestly this should have been figured out before the on the the call came.
SPEAKER_07:Right.
SPEAKER_02:Because you don't e even the way he had worded his post, it seemed like he had been on call for a little bit. It's not like he went on call that day and ten minutes after getting home he was on call. Absolutely got called. Yeah, I see that side too. This should have been a conversation, like, look, I understand you want to be there for your friend. But the mortgage has to be paid. We have to have food. Yeah. And the only way I can really confidently do this is if I get this a bit of overtime.
SPEAKER_05:Mm-hmm.
unknown:Right.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, not fritter that away by paying a babysitter, which they don't have the funds for anyway. So she she's being entirely unreasonable in my opinion.
SPEAKER_06:Uh yes, it's it's it's definitely and the fact that he's tolerated this for this long after the first two weeks, frankly, in my opinion, it's weird that they haven't communicated and figured this out.
SPEAKER_02:Um it's just the whole situation is weird in my opinion.
SPEAKER_06:It's weird and it seems like there's more underlining that he's unaware of. Um I don't want to speculate on that part.
SPEAKER_02:Um But again, communication. Communication is key, and this is He needs to figure out what's going on, and maybe he would understand where the wife is coming from. Is it valid? I don't know. It could be valid, but again, you can't sacrifice your own life in order to help someone. You know? And that's effectively what the wife seems to be doing. Yeah. At least from the viewpoint that we've been given.
SPEAKER_06:At least, yeah, from the context. Um, and from the context I gathered, uh my verdict for this one is given the circumstances, not the A-Hole. Uh, and I'm hoping that they resolve this before it becomes like a deeper issue if it's not already a deeper issue going on, you know.
SPEAKER_02:Mm-hmm. Uh one last comment kind of helps encapsulate some of our feelings. Um, and it's by grammarly suck-ass. Or no, grammarly sucks ass. And uh they they say not the asshole. It is extremely unfair and emotionally manipulative for your wife to be calling you heartless and to be putting the weight of being financially responsible for your family and the child care entirely on you to figure out. She is a wife and mother before she is a friend, and her duty to make sure her kids are cared for and her husband has the ability to put food on the table comes first. If this was a week or even two, I'd say you need to grin and bear it and let your wife wholeheartedly support her friend. But a month is completely unsustainable and shows no sign of slowing down.
SPEAKER_06:Wow. Uh very poignant and uh put it very well that um it's it's looking a little a little strange for sure.
SPEAKER_02:And yeah, to be screaming at your husband and calling him heartless is being manipulative.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, very well can be.
SPEAKER_02:Not even can be. To use inflammatory language like that is it's manipulation. Especially in this situ in this kind of context.
SPEAKER_06:Yes.
SPEAKER_02:I mean it's not like the very next day after her friend's husband died, he was doing this. Which even in that case, frankly, I think he would have been justified. But just because, you know, family has to your own family has to come first. It really does.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, absolutely. I agree with that.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:I I get the the being there for a grieving friend. Uh I get all of that. And who knows what the friend has been telling her, who knows what kind of headspace she's in.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, we I mean we don't know that side of the story.
SPEAKER_06:But what we do know is that um you have to you have to be aware of your family, and like you were saying, your family comes first.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:And Harley, so I have um Am I the Asshole with a verdict as well. Oh, what was the community verdict?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, community verdict was not the asshole.
SPEAKER_06:Not the asshole, okay. And for this one also has a community verdict, which I'll also withhold till the end. Okay. By uh un under Am I the Asshole by Built for Drama.
SPEAKER_01:Oh goodness.
SPEAKER_06:That's promising for uh story. And the title says it all. Am I the asshole for telling my brother's wife that being a stay-at-home mom doesn't mean being a staying in bed mom?
SPEAKER_02:Oh wow, I have strong feelings about this already. Wow Wow.
SPEAKER_06:My brother, male twenty-seven, and his wife, female twenty-five, have a five-month-old baby. He works for long hours while she stays in home to take care of their baby, and I live about ten minutes away from them and drop by sometimes to help. But lately every time I go there, she's in bed scrolling on her phone or saying she needs a break. The house is an absolute mess, bottles everywhere, laundry not done, dishes in the sink, baby crying most of the time. Last weekend my brother called me saying he was losing it. When I got there he was trying to cook dinner with one hand and holding the baby with the other. His wife was literally in bed watching Netflix. I ended up feeding the baby, cleaning up a bit and helping him calm things down while she stayed in bed the whole time. After that I went to her and asked if she was okay, and she replied, yeah, a bit exhausted. I can understand that being a new mom is rough for people, but my brother works forty to fifty hours a week and still helps with the baby. So I lost my cool and said Being in home doesn't mean that you always have to be in bed scrolling and watching TV shows. She started to cry and complain to my brother. Now he is mad at me for hurting her. I literally don't have anything against her. I just felt bad for him doing everything by himself, and he is still mad at me for that. Am I the asshole to say these things to her just because I want to help my brother?
SPEAKER_02:Just a real quick aside that feels really pertinent in this is that I'm not sure that the actual context and actual words were conveyed to the brother by the emotional uh recipient of the words. So it's entirely likely that the brother is feels justifiably upset that they came into his house and well, at least as far as he knows, berated his wife for not doing more, if even that was conveyed. On the flip side, he could just be trying to keep the peace within his own home by visibly being upset about it, because I personally can't see a dad being actually happy for this situation unless there's a medical slash mental reason for this to be happening.
SPEAKER_07:And there could be.
SPEAKER_02:There could be.
SPEAKER_06:I think that the brother, this is not their place to say those kind of things to their sister-in-law or whatever. Um it's just not their place to say that. We don't ignore it better for sure. And we don't know how she was before the baby, which is a big thing. Yeah. Because obviously she's recovering, and I think that this person should have been a little bit more considerate of her recovery. And w if you're in bed, if you're bedridden, what else are you gonna do besides watch Netflix and scrolling your phone?
SPEAKER_02:If you're bedridden, but there's been no there was no mention of that. Who knows? So I doubt bedridden.
SPEAKER_06:Big missing context. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And um Yeah, I just don't think it's there's there no replies that clarified?
SPEAKER_06:No, not from OP from what I see, uh, but there's uh pretty interesting comments nonetheless.
SPEAKER_02:Um a lot of people like were saying about PPD or um Now as a personal note that I want to mention to do with uh PPD, postpartum depression, for those that don't aren't aren't aware of that. Postpartum depression is real, it is serious, but it shouldn't be used as an excuse in my book. Depression of any sort shouldn't be used as an excuse. I don't know if that is the case, but it could be. Um I just felt the need to mention that. Depression is real, depression is serious, of any variety, but the responsibility of a parent comes first. You are the only way that this new life, this new human, can live. If you neglect them, even if they even if they do survive, they are forever damaged in multiple ways, physically and mentally and emotionally. You can't do that. I I totally understand being overly exhausted and everything. But they require attention and love.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:If you need your breaks, totally fine. Understandable. And maybe that's what's happening. I don't know. I just felt the need to mention that because some people use I I have to say this because in my personal life I've experienced this that people have used having depression or similar diagnosis as a shield to hide behind, to excuse behavior.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, great point.
SPEAKER_02:And I'm not downplaying the depression or similar things, but there are responsibilities that you took on by becoming a parent that have to come first. They just have to.
SPEAKER_06:I agree with that. Uh, it's it's a deeper thing than um themselves, and yeah, they definitely have to start thinking about that, but who knows how it is. I know there's a lot of context missing. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:I'm not trying to specifically say this that's what's happening. It's something I felt needed to be said.
SPEAKER_06:And um what do you think is the verdict for you?
SPEAKER_02:What was that comment you were talking about first?
SPEAKER_06:Um there is uh an interesting one that does say here it's by uh terrible underscore aoli underscore fifty-three ninety nine. Licensed therapist here quote, she may always have been lazy, quote, is extremely harsh. What if she's always had depression and postpartum accelerated it? I genuinely believe that people aren't lazy if they have emotional needs met, they will be active, creative, and productive. It sounds to me like this mom needs some real support, and maybe she isn't getting it from OP and husband. And um that that's kinda like what I'm seeing is a lot of mixed people like, oh yeah, what if she's just lazy? And also, what if she has this and that? Yeah. Uh very real, very real things that can happen, and um it's just some interesting points for sure.
SPEAKER_03:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. It there's just not enough context to have a a real solid answer on this. Um for all we know, the OP is one of those people that doesn't really believe in depression, and so that's why it's being left out. I don't know.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah. Um lot of variations.
SPEAKER_02:With the limited knowledge that we have given that it seems that the child's needs are not being fully met, I have to go with they are not the asshole, with the caveat that the sentiment behind the words is not being an asshole. The delivery was being an asshole.
SPEAKER_06:And uh let's see, uh verdict for the people consensus is asshole. Um lot of people saying, yeah, it's still been uh it still was early, you know, it's only five-month-old baby, and we don't know also about context and stuff like that. Yeah. And who knows if she's up late feeding the baby at night and things like that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, we do we just don't know.
SPEAKER_06:Mm-hmm. So consensus, asshole. Uh I myself kind of feel like this person was an asshole, and it wasn't their place to say um just how I feel. I mean, there's just go into other people's houses and talk shit to them, you know. And then be like, okay, cool. You know?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, there is there is a point to that. Uh for sure. I think the the basic idea behind what was said can be conveyed to someone in a much better way and in a way that the person hearing it will be much more receptive.
SPEAKER_07:Yes. Could be. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02:There are there's so many better ways to communicate that sort of idea than to just call them a lazy good for nothing, basically. I mean, again, not those words exactly, but Savage. The way it was put was was too harsh.
SPEAKER_06:In the streets they call that savage.
SPEAKER_02:So I guess I shouldn't I should wreck I should uh retcon my decision. I say I should say asshole with the caveat that they didn't mean it to be an asshole. They the message could or should is potentially needed. I don't know. From the context given, it sounds needed. But it the onus is on OP to deliver in a way that it can be heard and understood and actually change. Because change is clearly needed. Whether that's go to therapy and f figure out the depression or just buck up and deal with what's going on. I don't know. I don't know what the situation is. But change is needed but the delivery was very bad. Very bad.
SPEAKER_06:And I'm hoping there's an update for this one later on for sure.
SPEAKER_02:That would be awesome. Now moving on, this one is from Am I the Buttface by Throw Ra Fizzy Lemon. Throw Throw Ra Fizzy Lemon. Am I the Buttface? For telling my friend they should start self reflecting as not everything is always someone else's fault. I, thirty three female, have a friend, Sarah, forty five female. She thinks we're very close, but I have become incredibly drained by the friendship. She is very up and down emotionally, and every time something in her life goes wrong, she is certain it is someone else's fault. Examples She's been written up multiple times at work and always has a long justification for why it wasn't fair. She was talking to a guy recently, and when he asked for space she didn't respect that at all. She kept convincing herself that he did like her, and she just needed to prove it or keep contacting him. Oh well. She never takes any responsibility or reflects on how she might be contributing to situations. It got to the point where every time she messaged me, I felt exhausted before I even opened the message. Wow. That's intense. That's not good. I've felt that before. That is not good. Recently she started complaining again about how everyone treats her badly and how she's always the victim. I finally said something like I think you need to start self reflecting. Not everything can always be everyone else's fault. She got extremely angry with me, and now she's saying I'm attacking her and I'm unsupportive. For context, she's told me multiple times she's never really had friends and is always the last picked. I genuinely want her to improve her life and relationships, but I cannot keep constantly validating her belief that the world is always doing her wrong. Man got some feelings on this?
SPEAKER_06:That's like you were saying, that's intense to feel towards a friend. I mean quote unquote friend. I I feel like, yeah, this comes from a a a place of care because who else can you rely on to tell you the truth than your very close friends, you know?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:And uh this person seems to have some sort of blinders on right now to how they treat people and how they treat situations, so I think that it is important to reflect sometimes, and who knows if this person just can't take any sort of criticism. That's something to to take into account, like this person just does not take criticism well. I mean I don't feel like this person is is an asshole for telling them the truth. Something that they needed to hear, maybe and uh I think it's important to be honest with yourself, and if you feel so strongly that you're scared to even like get a text from this person, then it's not good, a healthy friendship, honestly. I think it's more toxic.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_06:So I I definitely don't feel like this person is an asshole for saying that in this context.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. My reflections on this is definitely not the butt face. And to clarify, it sounds like Sarah needs to take ownership of her own life.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:You have to take responsibility and accountability for your own actions for one and to realize that those actions have effects throughout the rest of your life.
SPEAKER_06:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:Did you tolerate someone saying something bad about you one time? If you did, then it's your fault that they think it's okay to continue doing that. Because you didn't set that boundary and make them realize that this is not okay. I mean, obviously there's there's near-infinite examples along that same vein, but I I'm what I was trying to get at with that is that the smallest decisions have like the butterfly effect throughout the rest of your life. Great point. If you are willing to tolerate one thing, then that snowballs into willing to tolerate other things that seem completely unrelated, but it just builds up and up and up throughout the rest of your life. And you have to take responsibility for that. Because no one else is going to change this.
SPEAKER_05:No one.
SPEAKER_02:No one ever. And to be a friend to someone who does that is very draining and difficult, as this person, throw a fizzy lemon, is discovering.
SPEAKER_06:Poor fizzy lemon.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. And this isn't to say that this person is irredeemable. I do have to say that the way it was put, potentially it could have been more gentle. But frankly, you don't have to walk on eggshells around people, or you shouldn't have to. And if you do have to, that's toxic.
SPEAKER_06:Yep. Exactly.
SPEAKER_02:I personally can't see the statement as being repugnant, as being mean. It's it's just a statement. Not everything is because someone else was doing something to you. Some things are, yes. Some things do happen to you. But not everything.
SPEAKER_06:Right. Great point.
SPEAKER_02:That's not how reality works. That said, with someone who is so deeply in denial about everything, clearly, you if you want them to truly realize this statement, I've discovered that it works much better to work on it in dribs and drabs if you're wanting to stay friends or in close contact with a person like this. Because these people are it's not like these people are irredeemable when they don't take accountability or responsibility for their own life. It's not that they're they're horrible people and they should just be left alone to die. Uh they can be shown the way the way the real world works, you know. And if they if you can lead them to that, be that yourself, or direct them in a to a person or methodology that will help them realize that aside from yourself, then frankly, they're gonna have a much happier life.
unknown:Great.
SPEAKER_02:Because because you can't be happy if you believe your happiness is reliant on the rest of the world to just hand it to you. Mm-hmm. Because that's not how we're that's not how the world is. The world won't just hand you things. You have to take take responsibility and accountability for your own actions and decisions and create the world you want. But anyway, I digress. Not the asshole, could it have been done better? Yes. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:Most things can be done better. We're all flawed beings. But I I have to say as advice to the OP or people in similar situations, it is not advisable to stay in close contact with someone like this long term without trying to change their behavior. Not good for your health. It's not. It's like the OP is experiencing. It is incredibly draining. And it's it's a toxic situation. Mm-hmm. These people aren't necessarily intentionally toxic. It just is It's just the way that they've learned to handle life, or were taught even sometimes by parents or similar situations, uh, authority figures, influential people in their life, taught to do this, and sometimes they just need to be shown the way to deal with life in a much better and healthier and fulfilling way. And if you're willing to do that, props to you. Yeah, props to OP. However, you sometimes need to take a step back for your own mental health to to recharge yourself, if nothing else. But be gentle in situations like this because no one wants to be slapped upside the head with Everything you think about the world is wrong. Not many people can, if they're even willing, and very few people are willing to accept a pill like that all at once. Giving it in dribs and drabs is much more effective and helpful.
SPEAKER_06:And to your point, I'm hoping that this is some sort of wake-up call uh for this person's friend.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, certainly. I I hope the wake-up call lands for sure.
SPEAKER_06:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:Or at least starts the friend down the right path.
SPEAKER_06:Or maybe they just know that they're a butt face.
SPEAKER_02:There's one comment that I want to say. It's short and it kind of encapsulates this. Uh by spinner of yarn. Not the butt face. There's a saying when everyone you meet is an asshole, you need to consider that you're the common denominator.
SPEAKER_06:Yep. Yep, it's a it's a good thing to self-reflect.
unknown:Yes.
SPEAKER_06:And uh this one is actually not Am I the Asshole. It's from Ask Reddit. So it's a very interesting perspective. I love it. It's by deleted. Uh I'm an asshole, and I like being an asshole, but I don't want to be an asshole to people. Recommendations to let out my assholeness and hobbies, maybe. Starts off like rock climbing, dancing, scream of music.
SPEAKER_03:I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_06:Wow. I've tried hard to be kind loving person, but it's always in me. My natural self is a self-absorbed asshole, but if I can let it out once in a while, it balance out balances out my better, healthier side, and I quit hurting people. Some comments have been deleted too. It's crazy.
SPEAKER_02:I'm sorry. This is just a wild take.
SPEAKER_06:Uh and some interesting comments uh we'll give them our perspective uh by GE0000000. Any martial arts class, you will stop being an asshole as soon as you get punched in the face. At least you won't enjoy it as much for sure.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:Someone else who deleted says gaming. Assholes are a common theme.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, very true. Very true. Multiplayer gaming specifically. But there are some there are some single player games where you can like uh Sims. You could play a Sims and you can be an asshole to your Sims without being an asshole to a real human.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, or like GTA, Red Dead Redemption, you could just be a bad guy.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:And uh this guy, funny comment. He's by fun underscore actuator underscore ten seventy-one. Make a shit ton of dummy accounts on Reddit and start arguing politics, arguing religion, blame the terrible dating environment on guys or girls, and complain that old people are stupid and young people are wussies. Parentheses, I was listing off hypothetical examples. Please don't staple my nuts to the ceiling. I'd appreciate it.
SPEAKER_02:I was about to say this person sounds like they might be talking out of uh experience.
SPEAKER_06:Um Yeah, I mean if you don't want to be an asshole. Yeah, definitely hobbies are a good way, but honestly, it seems like freaking meditation or something, because you need to self-reflect on the person that you want to be, which it seems like they're in they're in the step of the right direction, right? Like they're acknowledging they're not a great person, they're acknowledging that they are tired of being a bad person, and they're acknowledging that they want to improve on becoming a better person.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know. It kind of sounds like they've uh acknowledged the fact that they're an asshole and have accepted it and feel they don't need to change it, just that they need to have an outlet so that they don't have to change it. That's what it sounds like.
SPEAKER_06:That's kind of funny. You put it that way.
SPEAKER_02:And I can't say that's healthy, but millions of people do operate in a similar sense, maybe not with such clarity as this person. But there are many people who do find solace in playing games or stirring the pot in social media or various other methods of having an outlet of your aggression and anger. But in general, you either need therapy or a lot of self-reflection. That's what I'm saying. And and to look for growth opportunities. Uh uh a saying comes to mind hurt people hurt people. Or people that are hurt hurt people. And if you're being an asshole, it very likely means your needs are not being met. Could be. In some aspect. Or you have uh unresolved trauma that you need to face and handle.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:There's something underlying This isn't to say that these are the only ways that you can be an asshole or the only reasons why you would be an asshole. But in general, that is a pretty good indicator. Or maybe not indicator, more underlying cause. And heck, for all I know, maybe it's just that you need you need to find a purpose in your life.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah. Could be.
SPEAKER_02:And I mean, heck, even that's worth exploring. Just try volunteering at the dog shelter or something like that, and maybe that will be enough. Could be. I don't know. There's there's so many different things. Everyone's psyche is a little different, everyone's needs. Well, I shouldn't say everyone's needs, but many people's needs are different, and there are so many different ways that people find meaning for their life. Absolutely. And it sounds like this person needs to find a meaning, yeah, a purpose, or an outlet. I wouldn't say an outlet. Outlet is you're you're not facing the problem. You're just using that as a escape, uh a seam release, if you will, a pressure release. Which just means you're going to build up pressure again. And you need to get at the underlying cause as to why that pressure's being built up. Personally, in my opinion. I could be wrong. I haven't seen any scenarios that would prove me wrong, but I could be wrong. Either way, it certainly wouldn't hurt for this person to this deleted or other people in similar scenarios to find a purpose to find a pastime that you can devote yourself to. There are many causes out there that would love to have a volunteer, even a half-assed one.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, or even an asshole.
SPEAKER_02:Even an asshole. And some people are animal people. Some people are animal people. Thing people, if you will. Like they'll go and fix things. And they'll find great satisfaction from that. Being around people, not so much. But if you have that moment of joy, of satisfaction that you've done something, fixed a thing, helped an animal, helped a person, or anything, made a awesome piece of art, listened to a beautiful song, wrote a poem, climbed a mountain, saw a great view, whatever. Accomplishments. You're missing something in your life, almost certainly. Try to find it. And your desire to be an asshole or to lash out will almost certainly lessen, if not go away.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, or so is the hope, right?
SPEAKER_02:So is the results of many of people, but yeah, we can call it a hope.
SPEAKER_06:And I'm hoping, like how some of the comments are saying, like get into MMA, that uh Mr. Deleted, if he does get into combat, he keeps those gloves up. Uh and uh that's a good way to be an asshole. I mean, you can be an asshole to your opponent, I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:Um and as a takeaway for the listeners in a scenario like this, keep your gloves up because there are assholes out there, and there are energy vampires out there. Oh yeah. Protect yourself by keeping your gloves up, but also have compassion for your fellow man. That helps. And try to help them realize that there is hope.
SPEAKER_06:Big takeaway, absolutely. And we'll go ahead and end it there, Harley. And uh thank you guys for listening. We hope that you like, subscribe, comment, all the good things that help us out, and we'll catch you on the next one. I hope you all have a great day.
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