Win by walk off middle finger?

Two numbered cards in a row, one wild conversation to unpack it all. We dive into how Paramount Plus changes the viewing experience with multicam replays and deep archives, why those mid-round ads feel brutal, and where the platform already shines by staying steady under massive traffic. Then it’s straight into the cage: early prelim chaos, shock finishes, and the strange math of damage versus volume that decided more than one fight.

We go bout by bout across UFC 324–325. Umar Nurmagomedov showed layers that made an elite brawler look predictable. Arnold Allen and Jean Silva gave us grit and viral weirdness, while Natalia Silva out-positioned Rose Namajunas in a win that was more technical than thrilling. The heavyweight picture drew heat: Derek Lewis struggled for urgency and Tai Tuivasa’s gas tank questions resurfaced, fueling a larger debate about depth and standards in the division. On the precision side, Sean O’Malley dialed down volume and dialed up accuracy against Song Yadong, raising good questions about leg kicks, game planning, and what a Sandhagen matchup might reveal.

Then came the centerpiece: Justin Gaethje vs Paddy Pimblett. Gaethje landed with authority, managed risk on the mat, and made history as the first to claim a second interim title. Pimblett’s chin and composure under fire boosted his stock even in defeat. We talk eye pokes, missed swarms, and what happens if that style meets Topuria’s clean lines. Over at UFC 325, comebacks and collapses defined the prelims, Salikhov flipped expectations with a quick submission, and Mauricio “Ruffy” turned sniper to punish Rafael Fiziev’s defensive gaps. Benoit Saint Denis broke Dan Hooker with pressure and grappling layers. And Alexander Volkanovski closed the show with a vintage champion’s performance—controlling pace, pre-empting adjustments, and reminding a dangerous Diego Lopes that IQ and economy still win world-class fights.

Stick around for what’s next on the calendar, plus a closing curveball: would you take $750k guaranteed or chase a $90M hole-in-one over a year? Hit play, then drop your pick. If you enjoyed the breakdowns, follow, share with a fight friend, and leave a review—your support helps more fans find the show.

Transcript

New Streaming Era On Paramount Plus

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Welcome back to Peak Points and thank you for joining us today. Today we have a long UFC episode. We have two major fights to go over, 324 and 325, both of which were quite enjoyable. There was a few duds, but overall most of them were quite great fights.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

And on this wonderful new Paramount Plus platform, so much more versatility, multicam options, being able to actually go back and re-watch a fight if you felt it was like you missed a part of it or what have you. Without having to rely on only a highlight in order to be like, oh, that happened. So nice. So, so very nice.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

I absolutely agree. Very much appreciated to be a USC fan right now and has so many options in your hands, literally on my phone, able to go back and watch specific moments of fights, specific fights itself. Rewatch the entire fight with no fillers, multicam, as you were saying. So far, I've had a wonderful experience with Paramount Plus. Yeah. Uh really catering to the UFC fan.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

The only drawback really is the uh some really awkward ad placements. Yes. You know, you they go back to their corner and you're used to being able to see what their coach and their team are are telling them about their last round, what they're planning to do for the upcoming round, and and for some reason Paramount thinks that's entirely unimportant for the most part.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Well, not in every round for every fight, but it's plenty of I I definitely get that plight. Um I've definitely seen the plight of many people on the internet right now.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Uh stating that as well. A lot of commercials, but I feel like they improved uh improved on UFC 325. I feel like there's a lot less than that.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

On 325 they they moderated it a little. A little bit better. Um like I remember the first one, you know. It is only their second second fight and not fight and fight to air, which is understandable. There's gonna be a little bit of a learning curve for them.

Early Prelims Chaos And Buzz

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Exactly, yeah. Uh I do There is a funny meme going around online about the first event that was like right before someone was gonna get knocked out. It was like about to get a knockout blow, they get hit and they go down, and then it's like whopper whopper whopper whopper. And then it goes back to them on the floor just dead. And like, what?

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Yeah, I saw one, it was very similar to that, and it was uh actually I think it was the fight between one of the fights between Pereira and Adasania, yeah, where it starts with looks like Pereira's about to win, and then the ad plays, and then it comes back and and Pereira's on the ground. Yeah, exactly. It's like what the God damn it! What the f I mean obviously it's not really what happened, but I could see the uh frustration by from people.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

And but hey, you know, it's it's so far I've had a great experience from my personal experience with Paramount Plus. Yeah. Um and uh it's just really wonderful to see uh a company trying to kind of push forward a product in this way, in this light. I I would say. And uh Harley with that we'll get into the octagon. Let's talk about UFC. Let's get a let's talk about that Justin Gagey versus Patty Pimlett fight, which was absolutely amazing. It was a good night. Uh I'll go ahead and start with the early prelims. Uh I I really enjoyed these. These were really good, Adam Foget versus Ty Miller.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

Yeah, I I missed the the three, or no, it's two early prelims because I was still uh working on making the pizzas for our our watch party.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

Delicious pizzas, by the way, handmade from scratch, right? Yep. Really good. Uh good, like these fights, man. I mean, Adam Foget, Ty Miller, 459 gets that TKO on him. Uh buzzer beater, you can say. Yeah. And very first round. Uh getting them performance of the night, uh, along with another performance of the night in the early prelims.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

I absolutely performance of the nights in the early prelims is wild.

Prelims: Weight Misses, Bonuses, Shutouts

SPEAKER_00 4:55

I absolutely loved this fight in particular, mostly because it was pretty hilarious. Josh Hokett put beating the brakes on Denzel Freeman. Uh I I just want you to look at the stats on that fight real quick and tell me what you see.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

Look at look at the striking. You know, I just realized, yes, I missed it initially, but I definitely sh I can definitely go back and watch it.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Watch you can watch this one. Ah, Paramount Plus. Love it. But just look at seventy-one strikes to zero.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

Strikes. One takedown attempt. A failed attempt at that.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

What what was he even doing? What the hell? A horrible performance by Denzel Freeman, earning him a very interesting statistic, you know, throwing zero strikes in that.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

To ha to be so horribly and completely beaten and yet be part of a performance of the night is wild.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

It's all because Josh Hokett was really pushing the pace, no, mixing it up, taking him down, shutting him down entirely, and what's even funnier about this, Harley, is uh all the posts online about this, all the memes online about Josh Hokett, and as you can as you can see, it says method by Win, KO TKO at 459, also a buzzer beater, literally beat him with a walk-off middle finger.

SPEAKER_01 6:33

Really? Oh, I'm definitely watching these two fights now.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

Literally, he he beings him so hard, the dude stumbling and bumbling, Denzel Freeman stumbling, and then he just stands there, Josh Hokett turns around, gives him the birds, and then just goes down, Denzel Freeman just goes down. I guess that's it. I guess that's it. I guess he's done for the first fighter to ever win by walk-off middle finger. So it's um impressive.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

Yeah, I'm definitely watching that right now.

SPEAKER_00 7:07

Uh watch that one, very funny. Josh Hokett also puts another amazing perfor uh promo at the end. He loves to do those uh WWE style promos, also doing this one. And I think that Dana White did not like this one this time, from what I understand. Oh he just didn't like this one, he's just like uh, it's whatever. And uh Josh Hokett going on an interview and saying he's still gonna keep doing it.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

So Oh, so he just didn't care for it, not that he like is pissed off. No, no. Dana's not like pissed off about it.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Not pissed off about it, and honestly, he's been on a tear, Josh Hokett. Mm-hmm. I mean, dude, who else wins by walk-off middle finger? And then we get to the prelims, uh, Alex Perez coming in overweight for this one, did not make weight. Charles Johnson being a dog and still taking the fight. Uh obviously didn't go Charles Johnson's way.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

And again, this one was almost a complete shutout, too.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

This one was pretty nasty, dude. I mean, the nasty hooks that he was hitting Johnson with. Uh very impressive performance by Alex Perez, who, if I believe this was his last fight on his contract, and if he wanted to renegotiate, you really had to put it uh a performance up. Especially given that he went in overweight. Yes, and honestly, before I move on to the next thing, and we'll talk a little bit about that fighter bonuses that have been upgraded. Um and uh you get a 25,000 extra for a finish. And although he got the finish, he did not get the bonus because of the overweight.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

Uh did now based on things I've seen and heard in the past, did that bonus go to um Johnson?

SPEAKER_00 8:58

No, but he did get some of the purse, if I believe.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

Okay, because that's like how I haven't like seen exact like percentages or anything like that, but yeah, from what I've seen in the past, who if you I still agree to fight someone who came in overweight, you automatically get part of the purse.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Yeah, you definitely get their purse. Uh I mean Charles Johnson's definitely a dog for it, and and still, even though he was getting dog walked, he never gave up. Yeah, yeah. He never gave up and he still tried something. He was trying. And uh I I know they added a hundred thousand dollar bonus for performance of the night and twenty-five K for finish. So it's going up. Uh, I know that people were concerned about that, and it is going up, and I think it's only gonna go up, you know, the higher more more eyeballs on this, you know.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Yeah, yeah. I guess those uh those people that like to lay and pray just aren't gonna be making any money.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

Yeah, exactly. I don't know what's going on with that. Another finish, though, and then after that, another finish in the prelims, Nikita Krylov versus Modesta Bukoskis. An amazing fight and another shootout. I really feel like Nikita Krylov came very prepared for this fight and looked amazing against Buc Bukoskis, honestly.

SPEAKER_01 10:18

He did. Uh I do have to say that Bukoskis, he he he he very clearly, even if it had gone to decision, was the loser. Oh yeah. But at no point did he slack off. No point. He he was all heart, he was he was really going for it. He didn't just like start shelling up and just occasionally throw a jab to pretend like he was fighting. He was genuinely trying to get the win. He just unfortunately for him was not in either the right headspace or just is not of the same caliber yet.

Umar’s Craft And Figgy’s Struggles

SPEAKER_00 10:54

Who knows?

SPEAKER_01 10:55

I I hope for his sake I hope for his sake that he does become that caliber with that kind of heart. I I do.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Yeah, I mean he did have an amazing performance against Paul Craig in their in his last fight with a nasty elbow knockout on him, but just did not have any answers against Nikita Krylov, who really needed this win.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

Uh and then we had a very interesting performance uh by Ateba Gautier against Andre Puliev, who really look at those numbers.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

That one was a shocking fight. In a good way. In a good way, yes. It was a shocking fight.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Yeah, uh uh minus a thousand. Ateba Gautier looked like he was gonna get the finish early on Andre Puliev, and Andre showing massive heart getting back up continuously and uh making it a fight.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

In the moment, I was honestly kind of surprised that they actually went with Ateba as the winner in that decision because even just looking at the numbers, it's still rather confusing. Admittedly, Ateba was doing more damage. Right. He dropped his toe his strikes were more surgical and more power behind them. It wasn't just random flurries of yes, I touched you, but I didn't do any, I didn't do jack all with the touch. It was he was really trying to put him out.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Yeah, he was throwing bombs and Andre was taking him away. Yeah, Andre was weathering that storm very well. Uh Atebba's first 15-minute fight. And Ateba was looking tired. Looking tired. Oh my god. Yes. Uh uh Ateba also saying he appreciates that this actually went the full fight because uh it's teaching him something, you know. Yeah. Uh which I agree. Uh I will say before we move on, I know Ateba got that decision win, uh, but Pulyev was hitting him with some nasty body shots.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

The kicks were he was doing really good.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

Amazing. Yeah, you know, even towards the end when Ateba started uh trying to block them, they were still getting through. So I that that definitely does something to the gas tank. Oh, definitely. And then we had that Umar fight vers uh Umar and Margameta versus uh Davis and Fijuerto, the God of War. That was really good. Uh that was r I really enjoyed that fight. Yeah, that was good, uh a high-level fight. Unfortunately, Fijuerdo did not look too good in this fight. And it's hard to look good against Fijuerdo, but uh uh Umar mixing up the tools really well in this one.

SPEAKER_01 13:40

He's honestly Umar is a very well-rounded fighter. Very well-rounded. He's he does not rely on the lay and prey, and he doesn't rely on any one facet of the fight. He's he and he's quick about transitioning between.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Oh, very quick.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

Something's going odd, and he he just instantly transitions. It's it's not well not instantly, but very quickly transitions. He's not stuck on doing any one thing.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

And his head kick is some of the sneakiest in the game.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

His kicks are very quick and and uh seemingly out of nowhere nowhere in a lot of cases.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

Very little tell. Uh very dangerous. Uh Umar looking very good in this fight, even though I have seen a lot of people not liking his performance and oh yeah, and I can understand that.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

A lot of haters, I guess you could say.

SPEAKER_00 14:42

He did. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

To to go effect nearly toe to toe and not get submitted, not get knocked out by such an accomplished and well-rounded fighter speaks volumes in and of itself.

SPEAKER_00 14:55

Yeah, it does. Unfortunately, he's been uh on a little losing skid. Yeah. Um, hasn't looked good ever since he moved up to Bantamweight. And uh with this loss, let's really see what they can do.

SPEAKER_01 15:08

Yeah, I I hope I hope he either figures out how to properly fight people that are in this weight class, or he goes back down to the one where he is more comfortable.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

Seemingly even though he did come overweight on this one, also having to give up 25% of his purse to Umar, so it's just uh I must have missed that.

SPEAKER_01 15:35

I must have been out of the room when they said that.

Main Card Opens: Allen, Silva, And Rose

SPEAKER_00 15:36

Not a good look. Um, I mean, we did have the other guy who passed out at the weight cut. Yeah, if you recall that was not good. Yeah, not a good look as far as like the weight cuts and stuff like that for this card specifically. Um, but uh some fighters that did not have a problem, Arnold Allen versus Gene Silva in the main car to kick it off. What a fight to kick off. A war. Arnold Allen is an absolute dog, an absolute warrior, uh, and Gene Silva is quite literally almost a dog.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

He uh very much tries to embody a dog in many case situations, anyway.

SPEAKER_00 16:22

And what a nasty back and forth. Arnold Allen, I feel really feel like he won the first round. Yeah. Honestly, I thought he did. I I thought he did. Uh Gene Silva did win the second round, I feel like, and the third one was kind of a toss-up. However, something that has been going everywhere online has been Gene Silva jumping on Arnold Allen's back and writing him like a surfboard. Some cases, some AI videos going around of him literally surfing on him.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

Yeah. Yeah, he Silva seemed to really lean into his uh well to put it bluntly, his autistic side with this.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

I mean he did say that in the press conference it's gonna be Battle of the Autistics. Uh and and it really was a a close fight and a very entertaining fight between these two warriors, absolute warriors. Uh Gene Silva getting that unanimous decision at the end. Uh Natalia Silva versus Rose Nama Yunis in that one, not as entertaining, but uh Natalia Silva ended up pulling that one out also by unanimous decision. Very unfortunate for Rose.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

It wasn't quite as entertaining, but it was quite technical. From my from what I said. Yes, they were doing a lot of quote unquote professional hugging, but there was a lot of technical movement. Yeah. And yes, I would have liked to see better from Rose. Right. In that especially given that she was had the dominant position for majority of that. Right. But she wasn't just laying and praying either. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

Um, which I didn't give up either. Yeah, she did not give up in any instant. Um however, not pulling that one out. Uh kudos to Natalia Silva.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

Natalia pretty m pretty conclusively won that last round, though. Yes, yeah, she did. She was beating the brakes off her kind of.

Heavyweights Stall, O’Malley Edges Song

SPEAKER_00 18:45

Oh, yeah. And another not so entertaining fight, unfortunately, was that Waldo Cortez Acosta versus Derek Lewis. Battle of the heavyweights. Um, what the result we saw didn't really it wasn't really what I thought was gonna happen. Uh Derek Lewis looking unbelievably slow against the much faster Acosta.

SPEAKER_01 19:09

What was kind of shocking was how quickly he tired out. Yeah, and he gave up. And he he just got so tired, and he just is like, it nope, I'm done.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

Yeah, slipping on the canvas, uh, it was a complete slip, and honestly just rolled over and it looked like uh Acosta was gonna let him up, but then was like, I guess not, jumped on him and then uh no answers from Derek Lewis, who did not try to get up right away. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

Just laid there and was like, alright. Yeah, he was trying to get a breather, get a free breather, yeah, laying down.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

Not good. Uh good performance by Cortez Acosta, I guess. And uh I heard that he it called out Curtis Blades, so him versus Curt Curtis Blades, it would be pretty entertaining. Um I will say Acosta pulled that win out, so I don't know what Derek Lewis is gonna do now.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

I mean good for him, but Derek Lewis, uh He has 40. He is 40, but uh I think he should go two or three years to Dagestan or hang out with Marab or something. Yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

Unfortunate performance for Derek Lewis. Uh however, Sean O'Malley and Songye Dong right after that replacing the co-main position from Kayla Harrison versus Amanda Minez. However, this was a great fight, Sean O'Malley vs. Songye Dong. This was a very important and very great fight for these two guys.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

That was pretty darn good.

SPEAKER_00 20:42

Uh I know that Songye Dong was really trying to counter O'Malley in this one, and Sean O'Malley's output was a little less than usual, but a lot more precise, I think. He was sniping him.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Yeah, he he was very precise in his striking.

SPEAKER_00 20:57

Mm-hmm. Songye Dong getting some very hard hits on him, uh, nice leg kicks that he stopped going to for some reason.

SPEAKER_01 21:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

He was chopping Sean O'Malley down, and then like after a round and a half, was like, alright, that's enough kicking.

SPEAKER_01 21:12

My bet is it frankly would be that he started to hurt from kicking.

SPEAKER_00 21:17

It is very possible Songye Dong uh did not give up in any instance. No. And uh Sean O'Malley needed this win, uh winning by unanimous decision, even though I really feel like um some rounds did go to Songy Dong, but Oh, certainly, certainly. Um it just depends.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

I mean, I think round two, pretty much everyone says Song won that one.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

Yeah, yeah. It's uh a lot of people are saying that. Um but I really feel like Sean O'Malley pulled this one out. And uh I'm I'm glad he won.

SPEAKER_01 21:47

Yeah, I wasn't I was not upset or surprised at the decision for sure.

Gaethje Vs Pimblett: Damage And Durability

SPEAKER_00 21:51

I'm glad he won. I know that he's saying he's just gonna wait uh for a title shot, but I really hope that him versus San Hagen gets made. made because him versus San Hagen needs to happen.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

It would be a good fight.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

And then we had that other amazing fight. Uh did not did not I don't even have any words for how great it was was that Justin Gacy versus Patty Pimlett fight. Yeah. Where both these guys showed out, showed grit, determination. Patty Pimlett gained stock in this one even though he lost uh Justin Gacy hitting him with some nasty hard calculated shots. Yeah. Uh and didn't do any leg kicks, his his usual leg kicks, which I think that was part of the game plan. Right. Uh Patty Pimlett showing a lot of heart getting knocked down several times. Yep. Getting eye poked um a couple times.

SPEAKER_01 22:47

The fact that he didn't get knocked out is frankly kind of astonishing with a lot of the hits he was receiving and from Gagey who is a powerhouse. It was it was really shocking to see a few times of him not getting knocked out where you're just like there's no way he's he ate that I mean he'll he'll he ate it and then like he'll stutter step or something like that. Yeah and he got knocked down but then he was right back to it. Yes. It was it in those a couple of those instances it was pretty shocking to see Gecy not go after him. Like after right after he knocked him for the loop he's clearly wobbled and he just kinda waited just kind of waited for him to get back up and come back into it. Yeah I mean I understand he was very leery of Patty's um ground game.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

But exactly what I was going to bring up was that was seemingly the game plan. Keep it on the feet. However it didn't seem like Patty Pimlet had much of an advantage trying to take him down as well as Justin Gacy was shutting down takedowns and forcing his own which was very impressive. And Patty didn't seem to have many answers. I know that a lot of people are upset of some eye pokes from Gecy that didn't go called however I do think that he was dropping them even from the beginning with with nothing but strikes. Justin Geechee just hits like a truck everyone says he's one of the hardest hitters in 155. Oh yeah. And uh Petty Pamlet took it uh rolled with it did get dropped various times. He fixed his posture fixed his posture because people were calling him a question mark and uh vintage performance from men in black the one of the worms the ones that are all crooked vintage performance by Justin Gagey cannot say enough and honestly earning him the uh first person to earn a interim title twice and at 37 years old making history is is pretty impressive I say no matter what I know that a lot of people are saying that Ilya is uh licking his lips watching that fight because of how easily he could possibly beat them that's neither here nor there I know that that's waiting for Justin Gaichey on the other side is Ilya trying to get his belt back.

SPEAKER_01 25:19

Man how bad does it have to suck for Gecy though? He's made several runs for the title and every time before he gets there it gets yanked out from underneath him and the best he can acquire is an interim.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

Like that's bullshit yeah double interim champ I know that the first time he had to go against Khib to get the bounce again to get the undisputed monsters he's gone against monsters and uh that's that's the kind of dog that Justin Geechee is never give up never g never surrender go out on his shield which we've seen several times him go out on his shield. Right uh and what a dog what a dog and what a performance he put against the Patty Pimlet who I guess uh Scousers can't get knocked out or don't get knocked out or um or as uh Dominic Cruz would say sorcerers don't get knocked out you know if if Gecy could get a little more technical I think he would be just about a match for Topuria but he's he's a bit too much of a brawler.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

I I don't foresee him actually winning against Ilya.

UFC 325 Early Sparks And Prospects

SPEAKER_00 26:32

It's hard to say this is the fight game at the end of the day and anything can happen. Oh yeah certainly anything can happen a puncher's chance as they say uh however yeah I do feel like Ilya is very technical top of his game right now and it's gonna be an uphill climb for Justin Geechee to try to get that undisputed belt and um I don't know depending on how mad Ilya's gonna come back you know after the whatever's going on you know well just with the way Gagey fights um the reason why I called him brawler is because he does rely on his durability and more than I mean um almost all of his fights he relies on his durability to at least some extent and with Topuria that that can bite you almost certainly will bite you. Yes um you don't wanna uh just look at Holloway you don't want to like drink poison like you know in order to gain tolerance from a snake bite you know you don't want to that's just not the way you want to fortunately you don't become immune to concussions at any point in your life. Exactly um you know so very interesting let's see where the chips lie afterward. I'm rooting for him don't get me wrong definitely rooting for Mr Geechee put it to put in a historic run at his age and um showing his determination coming out afterward quick tidbit after uh before we move on he was confirmed to have had staph infection on his neck really and confirmed to what had been on antibiotics and confirmed to be a dirty liar Jesus and ingrown hair my ass. And that's the thing is you know people are still talking smack about Patty you couldn't beat Justin Geechee on antibiotics that's neither here nor there also however what a performance and we move on to UFC 325 just passed another great card back to back numbered events for UFC Paramount plus subscribers as well they should have given us a after giving us a six week hiatus hiatus our early prelims were very exciting as well the first fight Solangrombo vs Lawrence ends by decision split decision but uh Nakamura versus uh Sebastian uh Zele ends up beating him by a nasty KO in that one very impressive by Nakamura it was it was pretty surprising honestly in the moment it very very much was and especially the speed that that these guys are it's it's very impressive.

SPEAKER_01 29:18

Kim versus Fenn uh Fenn winning that by unanimous decision real quick I just want to circle back to the Swell and Grombo fight he is going to he has the potential to become a very exciting fighter as he ages. He's he's so young oh yeah so young and once he gets some seasoning under his belt I think he's gonna be a very exciting fighter to watch yeah very uh I think sorry I meant I meant to say that earlier he definitely has a chance to uh rise in that bantamweight division given time given experience and given the proper training and uh we move on uh to that Ofley versus uh Yeeza that was impressive that was a fight that was a good fight that was a fight uh majority decision goes to Offly who got rocked a good amount of times and it's it's very impressive and uh that was a good kickoff uh to end the the early prelims and if it weren't for his uh um takedowns oh yeah uh I'm not sure I'm not sure if he would have fully won.

SPEAKER_00 30:36

Yes it's it's kind of a toss-up I think uh I don't know uh I'm glad to not be calling that fight. Yeah uh and to start the prelims uh McAuliffe vs Oban Elliott another great fight I I really enjoyed this one and uh I really enjoyed the toughness of McAuliffe pulling out a submission out of nowhere it's it's very impressive that he had that kind of um that grit to really pull that off and uh because it looked like he was getting bodied in my opinion.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

Ah yeah honestly he he was not winning the engagement until that submission.

Prelims Turnarounds And Tough Lessons

SPEAKER_00 31:16

Until that submission and uh pulling it out at a a very good opportunity and um good timing and another fight afterwards that was not so exciting but great performance by Jacob Malkoon against Torres Finney coming in and defeated but did not put up a good performance in Torres Finney put up a frankly pretty pitiful performance. It was pretty abysmal I was pretty shocked to see that that level of a fight yeah he just uh could not get himself set up and uh did didn't really do his takedowns or wrestling well uh Malko was showing amazing hands though uh him calling it a mixed martial arts fight and showing that in in in colors you know I mean at least Finney never gave up never he had that hurt knee again not not throwing excuses or anything but he definitely hurt his knee he had to be helped off uh out of the s out of the octagon and all that jazz right but to see that he never gave up like uh that he never gave up like Derek Lewis yeah yeah he he didn't he didn't let the pain he didn't let the being tired just make him give up like Derek Lewis did uh I agree and uh he did look very defeated very tired and uh did not look good at the end but honestly like you were saying did not give up and uh uh that was depressive and of its own uh let's see what kind of improvements he makes coming uh coming up I guess and uh Cam Rouston vs Cody Brundage very exciting fight that one was a banger I think that was uh Cam Rouston showing amazing striking and uh Cody Brundage really not listening to his coaching staff in that one he was how many times are they gonna tell him to do you know combinations and to not duck down like that but um ultimately Cam Rouston getting a nasty uh finish on Cody Brunnage Cody Brundage gave up on that one so that was kind of unfortunate uh newcomer Cam Roustin very impressive though yeah very impressive on the veteran Cody Brunnage and uh junior toffa versus Billy Ilicana this one another great fight where junior toffa looked like he had this fight in the bag until the very end and uh just just crazy that the luck that the Taffa brothers have right now and unfortunate by Junior Toffa that his major weakness was you know highlighted again in this one where he just gets taken down the one time and the one time was the submission. It was just very unfortunate for Junior Taffa.

SPEAKER_01 34:17

He made the mis the same type of mistake while he was down on the ground and hopefully he learns from it.

SPEAKER_00 34:25

It's just hard I mean he keeps losing uh especially this one where I really saw an improvement in his hand speed uh and it looked like it was a flash knockout on Billy Icana where he like in the beginning where he just looked like he was out and got up and grabbed his legs it was like what you know he ate that shout out Billy Ilicana uh very impressive performance at the end of the day it was he he did not let his golden opportunity slide past him as after getting rocked so many times this is this is what I can do and I'm a friggin' do it and he did he did you know and at the end of the day that's what matters that's what matters exactly doesn't matter how many times you get almost knocked out if you can if you can pull the win you do yes and amazing performance Billy Icona I I can't say enough taking us to the main card Quill and Salkid versus Jamie Mullarkey and Salkid a very uh wide favorite in that one if you can see 1200 and plus 700 Mullarkey and a lot of people were thinking that after his knockout head kick knockout where he finishes a lot of people that this was going to be another knockout but Sal kid mixing the bag up well getting a submission win on this one yeah you know it's been a a really nice run for Sal kid right now that one I was not expecting to be so short and I was kind of surprised because it looked like to me it looked like Mularkey was going to like he was weathering the storm.

SPEAKER_01 36:14

Absolutely and he was just figuring it out and then like what happens in a lot of fights where you know the first round goes pretty poorly but then they that's when they figure it figure out their opponent and then they start really throwing it back at him.

SPEAKER_00 36:30

I was fully expecting that but then that one takedown yes and uh yeah very impressive performance by Sawkid showing why he was a favorite earning him performance of the night as well and a fight afterward that definitely did not earn a performance of the night. Oh my gosh. Was that tied to Ivasa making his comeback against the massive Talis and Tejera and uh these guys are earning some ire from some fans right now online saying like damn this is the state of the heavyweight division. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:04

A bunch of blobs and uh they're not moving well it was kinda sad it was interesting but it wasn't it wasn't good interesting the whole time unfortunately.

SPEAKER_00 37:20

Yeah it was not good interesting at all.

SPEAKER_01 37:22

Toivasa for the most part honestly kudos to him because Texera just mops the floor with so many different people and to have him survive that onslaught was great. I concur but the gas tanks oh my god that was pathetic yeah at this level of fighting ranked fighting is just not good to have those kind of gas tanks was was really sad.

SPEAKER_00 37:53

Yeah really sad to see the plight of many people online saying the state of the UFC heavyweight division is not so great right now.

SPEAKER_01 38:00

I'm I'm betting Tixara comes back with a much bigger gas tank than I agree I think he's gonna make some changes I think this is going to be a major eye opener to him.

Main Card Surprises And Fatigue Talk

SPEAKER_00 38:09

Unfortunately for Ty to Ivasa this is what six losses in a row it's just not good especially you know I think that's it after this one he probably has one more chance to stay in the rankings who knows and uh it's just an unfortunate state what's wild though is how shallow the uh talent pool is that you can be on a six fight losing streak and still be ranked amazing point a very amazing point uh one that uh you're not the only one that feels that way sir yeah yeah however afterward what an amazing fight between Rafael Fazive and Mauricio Rufi oh my god dude Mauricio Rufi is just looking so great so crisp and his striking was absolutely on point in this one it was Faziv looked really good and he was really doing his he was his normal kinds of fights but Roofy he man he's a sniper he weathered the storm like like I was expecting out of Malarkey and that and then he he found his moments and he started piecing Faziv up.

SPEAKER_01 39:35

Yes because that that was that is unfortunately something that Faziv needs to work on is he does rely a little bit on his durability and being able to weather those few shots that do make it through and otherwise just mob the opponent and to have someone who has the technical proficiency to accept the the storm you're throwing at them and not get knocked out and then come back once they figure out where your gaps are it it was exactly the kind of counter Faziv unfortunately left himself open for.

SPEAKER_00 40:18

Yeah and it it was really a sniping hook uh straight uh right to the nose of that really knocked him on his ass and Fazeev just could not uh re recover from there. He tried. Amazing fight from Roofy however who was training with Alexander Volkonovsky for this camp and Volkonovsky giving nothing but uh love to Bryce Roofy being a great person being very friendly very being very personable and absorbing the knowledge and uh put up a great performance to sh to show that and so it's great to see that whether he's at the fighting nerds camp or not he's uh improving in a lot of ways and uh getting them the performance of the night as well a lot of bonuses were handed on this one. Yeah uh Dan Hooker versus Benoit Saint Denis oh man BSD beating the brakes on on Dan Hooker really and I think it was a great fight though. I think it was a lot of a better fight than people expected from Dan Hooker uh even though he did take a lot of hard shots on the ground uh at the end you know Dan Hooker has unfortunately very weak ground game from all the fights I've seen him in. And he seems to be aware of this weakness and so he relies on his ability to stuff the takedowns and avoid them but when that fails he's kind of screwed yeah it's just a very unfortunate performance uh not some good fights from Dan Hooker recently and I hope that he does make some major improvements in his camp uh you know especially if he's gonna continue moving forward and try to do something in that division uh I mean however someone who really is doing something in this division is Benoit Saint Denis uh with back to back to back uh impressive performances and even his losses he was a dog and even his losses yeah uh you know I do think that uh BSD is gonna continue to move forward and continue to improve and continue to move up on the rankings. Oh certainly I don't see him backsliding anytime soon yeah I mean a couple setbacks I mean that uh Dustin Poirier fight and then you know getting finished by D Dustin Poirier which there's no shame in that Dustin Poirier is a legend of the division you know um and then losing to uh Money Moicano that was unfortunate but uh BSD putting great performances together and another amazing fight getting fight of the night is that championship fight between Alexander Volkanoski and Diego Lopez and I feel like very vintage very vintage performance by Alexander Volkanowski very calculated and every shot had purpose and every movement had purpose and I really I really feel like Diego Lopez didn't have many answers in this one.

Roofy Snipes Fazeev, BSD Mauls Hooker

SPEAKER_01 43:39

And it was kind of like the uh after fight interview um that part of it stuck with me how Alexander was or Volk was talking about how Diego ha made the adjustments that made sense due to their last engagement.

SPEAKER_02 44:00

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 44:01

But Alexander knew that he was going to, and so he adjusted as well. Which is as Volk was saying, yeah. That's exactly what a champion sh has to do and needs to do.

SPEAKER_00 44:16

Very poignant. Absolutely very poignant. That that really is the championship mentality. The champion always improves. And a lot of people saying that, hey man, Diego Lopez is suddenly becoming the new Max Holloway of the 145ers, as he can beat everyone else, but he cannot beat Volkanovsky. And um, I mean, just like Max Holloway could beat everybody else, but couldn't beat Max uh couldn't beat Volkanowski. Uh it's just great to see an amazing vintage performance by Volkonowski, who uh you know, even though a lot of people are saying about this was gonna be his retirement fight, it does not appear so it does not appear so. And he still looks absolutely great, dude. I cannot say enough of how good Volkanowski looked in this fight against someone who's very lethal in Diego Lopez.

SPEAKER_01 45:12

And again, I I do have to say, again, for the loser, what a chin. Just like with Jimlet, he is crazy durable.

SPEAKER_00 45:23

Unchinnable. Yep. That's it was it's just impressive, dude.

SPEAKER_01 45:29

The amount of damage he can take and keep on coming was again. I mean, like last time, their first ca encounter, it was surprising then, and I expected it this time, but still it's just more so this time. Good lord, Diego. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 45:48

Yeah, what a chin and what a toughness and what a dog. Uh d even though this is their second encounter, as you were saying, uh second loss to Volkonowski.

SPEAKER_01 45:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:59

Um, it's still impressive that the toughness of Diego Lopez, even afterward confirming that he broke both his feet, uh, fractured both his feet actually after the fight, going to the hospital afterward. Uh there's a picture floating around of him with the thumbs up at the hospital, both his feet completely completely swollen, and people saying, like, oh, he broke his feet. Fortunately, only fractured his feet and does not need surgery. That is still a break. And uh so very very impressive performance by Volkonowski, very impressive toughness by Diego Lopez. Let's see where the division goes now that Volkonovsky is still the reigning champ, uh, like before. And we have the fight that I've been hearing that is happening, Mosvar Avalev versus Lerone Murphy, so let's see what happens between that one. And uh, before we move on with the night, we have a UFC fight night that's coming up, and uh it's Mario Bautista, the headliner versus Vinicius Olivera, who Vinicius Olivera is a dog as well. I I I like all of his fights and I like his striking in particular.

SPEAKER_01 47:15

Uh I'm not super familiar with him, but I do like Bautista.

Volkanovski’s Vintage Control Over Lopez

SPEAKER_00 47:19

Yeah, Bautista's a dog. You know, uh he's had very great fights, even though he lost uh to Umar, but um it's just good to see. He made Umar work for it. He made Umar work for it, that's for sure. And um yeah, we're gonna see a dog fight between those two guys. And Albazi versus Horaguchi is still on on that one. Delta Nomida vs. Kuniev. Uh Mikil. Looking forward to seeing Almeida fight. That's gonna be a good one. Hopefully he doesn't just lay him pray because he obviously knows that's not gonna win you the fight now. Yeah. Uh Mikhail Luxaichek versus Andre Bariol. Uh that's gonna be a dog fight, too. Yeah, this is gonna be good. I like that one. Uh Matsumuto versus Basharat, Dustin Jacobi, Julius Walker, and uh it's some good cards uh coming up even in February.

SPEAKER_01 48:14

Julius Walker. Is he related to Johnny Walker or No, no?

SPEAKER_00 48:19

Johnny Walker only has one brother. Uh Volter Walker. Gotcha. Uh the heel hook king. Watch your heels, watch your ankles around him. You know, that guy, that guy stealing ankles. Uh Morono versus Donchenko and uh Veratenikov versus Nico Price in the prelims. So there's some pretty fun fights on that one, I would say. Um I know that we had our we were spoiled with our back-to-back numbered events, and now we're getting our back-to-back fight nights. We're paying it back. And um It's gotta return to normal at some point. It's gotta return to normal at some point. Um, I know that the biggest event happening after that is 326, which we'll cover uh later, and uh that's gonna be Max Holloway versus Charles Oliveira. Uh BMF battle for the ages, and we'll see who comes out with that one. Uh either way, I'm gonna cry whatever the outcome is.

SPEAKER_01 49:21

Hopefully it uh doesn't suffer many accidents because there's quite a few bangers on that card. Yes, I agree. As long as they can stay on, I'm really looking forward to a number of those.

SPEAKER_00 49:36

Longest everyone can stay healthy is our our our best hope, that's for sure. We're always we're always hoping for all the fighters to stay healthy and make it to these fights, and it's their life, you know, it's their life on the line if for these fights is very important.

SPEAKER_01 49:50

And I fully support them backing out if they need to. Yes. Definitely not not saying anything in that way, just uh really hope that people can stay healthy and on track and everything continues as is currently booked.

SPEAKER_00 50:06

Yeah, and uh before I move on uh from the episode, I I s I just still want to reiterate uh how how impressed I am with Paramount Plus and uh very exciting, looking forward to the future uh for this contract with Paramount Plus. Uh uh I just so far I'm very happy, very pleased.

SPEAKER_01 50:28

Very much so. The the ability to go back and watch old fights is very appreciated. And as someone who you know didn't get to see a lot of these older fights, it's nice to be able to have the opportunity to go back and watch them. Should I feel like it, or have the time, you know, whatever.

SPEAKER_00 50:51

And even for me, a longtime fan, having seen a lot of these fights, to go back and relive some of these moments and relive you know the evolution of this sport that we all know and love. And so that's that's what I've been appreciating as well, is just uh caters to all fans, casual, new, old, uh oh, and and the playing around with the ref cams again. Yeah, it's just it's it's I think a very optimistic future. And so far I'm happy like I'm saying, and you know, we can only we can only go out from here, I think.

SPEAKER_01 51:27

I'm optimistic for the future of UFC. It's uh one of the things I read was that Paramount had over a million new subscribers uh just before the the UFC. Yeah, that's insane.

SPEAKER_00 51:49

That's an insane number. Um if that's true. I mean what a crazy what a crazy number.

Upcoming Fights And Schedule Outlook

SPEAKER_01 51:55

It's already paying dividends for Paramount if that's the c if that really is the case.

SPEAKER_00 52:00

Yeah, I absolutely agree, and I think that uh it's it's all going according to plan. I know that uh they may uh had a lot more views than anticipated in that uh in that Gagey fight versus Patty Pimlet alone. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 52:13

I know that the numbers were massive for that one too, so but they didn't have really any streaming issues, which is nice.

SPEAKER_00 52:20

Yeah, I d I I haven't really heard too many people. I mean, I definitely have not had any issues with either card so far.

SPEAKER_01 52:27

I did on the uh 325 card. Not I don't think it was so much the streaming aspect. I think it was it w there was like camera um I don't want to say stutter, but distortion at different times. Um I didn't have it downloaded, and that may have been a part of it, I'm not sure. But it wasn't terrible.

SPEAKER_00 52:56

You got that Walmart connection. Oh yeah. You're borrowing the Starbucks Wi-Fi again?

SPEAKER_01 53:03

You know it. Yeah, the McDonald's isn't it? And your Starbucks being twenty-seven miles away.

SPEAKER_00 53:10

No wonder your connection's so bad.

SPEAKER_01 53:28

Alright, and uh just to round out the episode, we don't really have time for a full Reddit episode or anything like that, but uh I have a question to pose for you. And it is from Reddit, but uh it's from the Would You Rather subreddit. Oof. This is posted by Stakes and Broccoli. Would you rather have seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars right now or have one year to hit a hole in one for ninety million? Oh fuck. Rules. Regular golf course, hole in one must be on a hole over a hundred and forty nine yards from the T.

SPEAKER_00 54:11

Sheesh.

SPEAKER_01 54:13

You can camp out and just swing all day, but you have to pay for it. Nobody can make it for you. No assists besides training, just you and your club. Club cannot be modified. Oh wow. Stock from the store, following the true intention of golf. The seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars is a check with the taxes required already paid. The ninety million is the same check with required taxes paid.

SPEAKER_00 54:43

Oh wow. That is Damn. That one's that one's kind of a difficult deep one. Uh two things. I know that uh a whole year, three hundred and sixty-five days to attempt a hole in one is seems feasible. However, I never played golf in my life. Right. I would have to pay for training. And it says that you could try as many times, but you have to pay for it. Yep. Um There's a couple free golf courses I know, but not many.

SPEAKER_01 55:20

Really? I don't know of any that are free.

SPEAKER_00 55:23

I just experienced one recently at um and it's a full-size regular golf course. It looked like a park more than anything, but it had golf on it. Um it was by the Denver Zoo. Hmm. Yeah, very close to the Denver Zoo. It's a free golf course of some sort, golf park or something. Um but still you just keep on hitting and keep on hitting it. I don't know. That's that's a really hard one.

SPEAKER_01 55:50

So so some of the comments I'm I'm just gonna summarize is basically talking about you know that part of the conundrum in that you have a whole year to try, but and you're very mo obviously you're gonna be very motivated to do so. But on the flip side, it's very easy to hurt yourself as an inexperienced golfer, especially if you're just trying to go for the same swing over and over and over. And if you get frustrated and you aren't properly set up, you could pull a muscle. You could, you know, dislocate something, whatever.

SPEAKER_02 56:31

Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 56:32

And then of course there's the investment, both in the club and the time. Yeah, exactly. Because presumably you're still gonna have to support yourself for a whole year. Exactly. It's not like you can sell your house and be guaranteed the win. Yeah. You've got to you gotta still support yourself, you gotta still be gainfully employed, probably, for that whole year. And a hole in one at over 149 yards is a very difficult shot, even for pro golfers.

SPEAKER_00 57:10

Yes, that's what I was about to say.

SPEAKER_01 57:11

That seems like it's not a common shot at all to make. I mean, granted, it's not saying like it has to be a uh what's the designation? Um a birdie or eagle or something like that, where it lands directly in the hole. It just has to be a hole in one. But still, it's that's crazy. Because also part of the training, yes, you have the whole year, but at least where we live, there are different seasons. And so the course changes. Yeah. You're gonna have snow, you're gonna have green fresh grass, you're gonna have mud, you're gonna have monsoon season, you're gonna have dry brown grass that doesn't bend as well. It's yeah, there's a lot of variables in it.

SPEAKER_00 58:03

But the payout is so much so good. Uh I mean, I d honestly, I would probably take a chance and do the hole in one thing and uh just to see where it goes, you know, that's that's you're taking a massive chance. But 750,000?

SPEAKER_01 58:23

750,000. Still pretty good money. I mean, it is it's an amazing and life-altering chunk of money for most people. I mean, I I know I personally could get all my debt paid off, my house paid off, and still buy a new truck.

SPEAKER_00 58:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:42

And everything and and and then I'd, you know, have all that paid off, and so all my income would be not going to any debt. Yeah. That's if I'm really smart. But with that much money sitting in the bank right in front of you, it can be difficult to be fully smart with something. Exactly. Uh a very difficult million, you have to really work at spending all that money.

SPEAKER_00 59:05

Generational wealth is my conundrum that I'm dealing with right now when you pose that question. Is 750 can be uh 750,000 can be life-changing. Yes. However, 90 million is generational wealth. Yes. And uh you could invest that, you could do apartments, you could do uh Airbnbs, you could do so many things.

SPEAKER_01 59:26

You wouldn't have to be so active with it. You just throw it in a in in the bank and that your dividends off of half of that gives you I think I think oh shoot, I don't even know, but just round ballpark with like say you put forty-five million in the bank with uh a five percent dividend in the high yield savings a year, you're gonna have the equivalent of like a a ten thousand dollar month.

Closing Thoughts And Listener Prompt

SPEAKER_00 59:53

You're you're gonna definitely get some money back. However, like you were saying, so how the hell are you gonna learn to make a hole in one from that far? And even if you could spend the whole probably a whole year and on day, I don't know, 364 you finally make it or something. Um or you could just not make it, but uh long story short, my answer, I'm gonna go with the chance and uh try to do that hole in one, and I could say I made a hole in one and I got 90 million and uh put a million of peak points and give s give some good stuff to the fans. The whole peak the whole peak family, dude. That that now that would be peak, dude.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:36

And then you could also try to match Drake's bets on uh UFC, just flip them, you know. You see him bet on somebody, you just bet on the opposite. The Drake curse.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:50

Yeah, there's there's a lot you could do with that, and I'm taking my chance. Um But uh let us know what you guys would pick. If you guys would pick the 750 or the chance at 90 million, let us know in the comments, let us know on uh wherever you get your podcast. We'd we'd sincerely appreciate the engagement. Yes. And uh thank you for listening. Have a good night, and we'll catch you on the next one. Thank you all. Catch you later.