This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com This week, Nate opens up the MMA Bunker for one of his patented tête-à-têtes, this time with Icon Sport founder T Jay Thompson. Thompson reminisced on what those early days were like in Hawaii as one of the first promotions in the sport not named UFC. He also discussed the downfall of fighters that were once on his roster like Phil Baroni and Jason “May…...
Oct 24, 2023•39 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 294 had quite a few shakeups along its journey to Abu Dhabi, but the card was solid, even if punctuated by some weird moments. The physician in attendance was responsible for questionable ringside manner as well as numerous raised eyebrows. The way he handled Victor Henry’s low blow and Johnny Walker’s injury was bordering on egregious. Bloody Elbow…...
Oct 22, 2023•1 hr 17 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com The undercard for UFC 294 is pretty robust, like the main card, and features some intriguing pairings. The one that’s really got our attention, though, is Mokaev vs. Elliot. Elliot is a savvy veteran grappler who depends on split-second adjustments and scrappiness. Mokaev is the exact opposite, often demonstrating control and technical wrestling. In his…...
Oct 19, 2023•1 hr 29 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 294 might have lost two of its key players, but we still think it looks great. There’s some definite action fights, two titles on the line and some shakeups leading up to the event in the last few weeks that saw opponent changes and some injury dropoffs—all leading to possibly a better card than the original lineup. Sure, Chimaev vs. Costa was a good…...
Oct 19, 2023•1 hr 26 min
A few weeks back, we told you all a rumor that Showtime Sports would be closing its doors for good by the time 2024 rolled around. Unfortunately, that rumor proved to be true, with confirmation hitting the community today. All 38 employees, including Stephen Espinoza, will have their positions terminated. Dan Rafael reports that contractors and freelancers (including Luke Thomas and Shakiel Mahjoury) will not be affected by the regular staff cuts. We take a look at Tim Elliot’s extreme haterism,...
Oct 18, 2023•52 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com We’re just coming from a damn good card that should have been given an audience in an arena not named the Apex. What an absolute downer it was to not hear a crowd going bonkers over the action fest that was Edson Barboza vs. Sodiq Yusuff. There were other great moments on the card, as well. Terrance McKinney needed just 20 seconds to get the job done an…...
Oct 15, 2023•1 hr 6 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com As with the main card, there is some name value to be noted on the prelims, too. But what made us scratch our heads was that Darren Elkins is riding in the featured prelim spot. Okay, but are we to ignore that Darren has only won three fights in his last nine? We actually have a ranked fighter on the prelims in Chris Gutierrez. Why wasn’t that fight in …...
Oct 12, 2023•56 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com An actual good card at the Apex?! It DOES happen, just not very often. We’re not here to look a gift horse in the mouth, though. We’re here to celebrate the great things about the event. Let’s start with the obvious: There are three ranked fights AND a seventh ranked fighter—seven fighters ranked on a single card? Yes, we like this a whole lot. Then, as …...
Oct 12, 2023•1 hr 20 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com For the last few days, “pundits” from all over the MMA and boxing communities have been weighing in on the lawsuit against Dillon Danis, launched by Logan Paul’s fiancee. Every one of them seems to think it’s Logan himself that’s initiated the suit, but it is indeed Miss Agdal responsible for the litigation. Sonnen, Schaub and McCarthy all seem to think …...
Oct 11, 2023•36 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Vegas 80 is officially in the books and what a quick end to Grant Dawson! Bobby Green needed less than a minute to put Grant Dawson away before attempting to bring his dog into the cage for the post-fight interview. Daniel Cormier had to talk him down as he was summoning his corner to bring the pooch in. Between that and Vanessa Demopoulos leaping i…...
Oct 08, 2023•49 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com That’s right, folks, there’s just a single ranked fighter on the prelims. Karolina Kowalkiewicz will be doing all the heavy lifting Saturday night. There was another ranked fighter on the prelims, Chris Gutierrez, but his opponent, Montel Jackson, withdrew with an illness, so the fight was scrapped from this show. Now, Poland’s shining star has the weigh…...
Oct 05, 2023•1 hr 4 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Vegas 80 isn’t a completely terrible card. It’s got reasonable fights on it, even if there are only two ranked fighters across the whole of it. Bearing that in mind, we are left to wonder where the main event is. Surely it can’t be Grant Dawson vs. Bobby Green. That’s hardly the stuff headliners are made of and further, it’s hardly the stuff that ge…...
Oct 05, 2023•1 hr 13 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com This week’s UFC card is quite possibly the most APEX card we’ve ever seen and that’s saying something. It started with just three ranked fighters (not fights) out of 12 fights. Then the unfortunate news came that one of those three was having their fight scrapped thanks to his opponent’s sudden illness. So here we are, with the biggest promotion in the …...
Oct 04, 2023•28 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com Over the years, John Nash has reviewed contracts from all the major MMA promotions and several big boxing contracts, as well. We’ve been able to see just how restrictive, and at times, draconian, most of the MMA agreements between promotions and athletes truly are. The UFC set the standard with their boilerplate contract and with new changes , have made …...
Oct 03, 2023•40 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com “A young man trapped in his apartment with a swarm of creatures outside his door must find a way to survive the night and escape from apartment 213.” That’s the synopsis IMDB gave this movie starring Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Watch along with us as we try to make heads or tails of whatever this movie is trying to achieve. Spoiler alert, the movie makes n…...
Sep 28, 2023•1 hr 23 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com That’s right, folks, Showtime Boxing is rumored to be shutting down after their 2024 schedule. Reports of everything from dwindling viewership and rising costs to online streaming have surfaced as contributors to their reasoning for the closure. Here are some of the other headlines we discussed: Bloody Elbow is fighting for the sport, the fighters and th…...
Sep 27, 2023•33 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com It’s been a busy couple of weeks in the world of MMA business and finance, but we tried to cover all the most pertinent topics. Front and center is the new filings that came out last week on the UFC’s first half of the year. We also discuss the latest rumblings of a Bellator buyout by the PFL and what that could look like in the future. Here’s a list of…...
Sep 26, 2023•23 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Vegas 79 saw a spate of decisions on the prelims with just one official finish (vintage Tim Means!) and a DQ stoppage as the most notable moments. The main card, on the other hand, saw all fights end in a finish with the exception of the co-main event, which was a good fight. The headliner would end early, but not on a high note. Unfortunately, as R…...
Sep 24, 2023•1 hr
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com We’re kind of having a hard time believing this is even an Apex card. We have three ranked fights and tons of recognizable names on the bout sheet—even across the prelims. This is the exact opposite of what we’ve been getting. Is this the beginning of a new era? One where the matchmakers show that they appreciate the insane amounts of money we fans dump…...
Sep 21, 2023•1 hr 9 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC Vegas 79 isn’t too bad. No, really, we mean it. Let’s start with the fact that we got THREE ranked fights on an Apex show. They aren’t fights that are going to set the world on fire, but they’re solid and more importantly, they’re inside the Top 15. It’s also an event that seems to not have been ravaged by injury cancellations and bout reshuffling, …...
Sep 21, 2023•1 hr 25 min
This is FREE episode week! California’s athletic commission is experiencing what appears to be a slow death. Fight Opinion’s Zach Arnold wrote extensively about it on Bloody Elbow and the word he used was “atrophy”. That seems like a perfect word to describe what happens when higher taxes, mergers, attempts to force sanctioning for promotions like Power Slap and a spate of other factors create the perfect storm for collapse. Aside from a few Bellator shows and a Top Rank boxing card here and the...
Sep 20, 2023•1 hr 7 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com Listen, that main event was a really good fight—maybe the best of Valentina’s career, but it should not have been a draw . We felt Grasso took three rounds but we’re fine if you scored it the other way. How one judge scored round 5 a 10-8 is beyond the realm of comprehension. Bloody Elbow is fighting for the sport, the fighters and the fans. If you share …...
Sep 17, 2023•1 hr 6 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com Now before you get upset, we want to preface this with the fact that this card was positively ravaged with cancellations and late replacements, hence the title. And to be fair, there are still some interesting bouts at play here. Tracy Cortez vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius is an amazing matchup between two tough-as-nails women. Lupita Godinez vs. Elise Reed i…...
Sep 14, 2023•51 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com That’s right, folks, a UFC title will be contested on TV with no PPV purchase required. Valentina Shevchenko will attempt to reclaim her belt from Mexico’s Alexa Grasso this Saturday night and we are pumped! Even Connor has begrudgingly admitted an admiration for Valentina aka the object of his ire and disdain for several years now. Bloody Elbow is fight…...
Sep 14, 2023•1 hr 20 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com Now that the UFC-WWE merger is complete, the new company, TKO Holdings has been creating a stir since the move was first announced. With a joint valuation of more than $21B, far exceeding that of any other sports property, the venture has the potential to see even more dominance across the sports entertainment spectrum. During the official festivities M…...
Sep 13, 2023•45 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com A lot has happened in the last two weeks. The court gave a date in the antitrust suit, the defendants requested an appeal, the plaintiffs responded and we’ve got all the pertinent details. Spectrum and Disney have been in a battle over rising rates to broadcast Disney’s content—specifically ESPN. John opines on how that could affect the UFC. Bloody Elbow…...
Sep 12, 2023•26 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 293 had some wild moments, for sure. Whether it was Charlie Radke and Manel Kape hurling homophobic slurs, Alexander Volkov snagging a rare Ezekiel choke over Tai Tuivasa or Sean Strickland taking the belt off Israel Adesanya, there was quite an array of instances that none will soon forget. Bloody Elbow is fighting for the sport, the fighters and t…...
Sep 10, 2023•1 hr 13 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 293 is a card that seems like it was cobbled together from the leftover parts of a better PPV. We’re not saying it’s bad, but we’re not going to go as far as to call it great. We did notice the matchmakers clearly didn’t put much thought into the bout order, and setting the Tafa-Lane rematch for the main card rather than Mullarkey-Makdessi seems kin…...
Sep 07, 2023•1 hr 20 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com *Note: Due to a technical issue, the first 39 seconds of the episode are missing. The issue has since been resolved. Thank you for your understanding. UFC 293 is here and from the looks of things, it’s not the best card. Sure, there’s definitely a few fun fights but you wouldn’t know which end is up by looking at the bout sheet order. Did we really need …...
Sep 07, 2023•1 hr 7 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themmadrawpodcast.substack.com UFC 293 is just around the corner and despite a lot of criticism, we like the card. It’s not heavy on fights that will make a sizable impact on the rankings, but where it lack importance in that regard, it makes up for it with entertainment value. What’s not to love about Carlos Ulberg vs. Dan Un Jung? Manel Kape may be fighting a late replacement but F…...
Sep 06, 2023•46 min
