Show notes
Ariel Helwani brings in The Boys in the Back and Petesy Carroll to react to the final UFC event of the year, starting with a review of Manel Kape’s big win and whether it was enough to earn a title shot, before moving on to the best moments from the now-over ESPN era, Francis Ngannou’s interview from last week and Dana White readdressing their interaction, and John Cena’s retirement match (12:16).Rising UFC star Kevin Vallejos makes his show debut, discussing his knockout of Giga Chikadze, being awarded a performance bonus for his spinning backfist, intending to donate to Chikadze’s charity, his callout of Cub Swanson, and more (1:36:50).Patrick Habirora joins on the heels of his win at PFL Lyon, talking about his training with Georges St-Pierre, his love of anime, his soccer background, seeking the toughest challenges, his knockouts of former UFC fighters, wanting to fight Kevin Lee next, feeling ready to take over if Usman Nurmagomedov leaves the PFL, and more (2:02:51).Tyson Pedro returns with some big news, announcing his signing with PFL, then discusses his boxing run, his listed nickname being changed to “Kangaroo Paws,” James Te Huna being a mentor of his, being named after Mike Tyson, and more (2:28:00).Shakur Stevenson is back to talk about his upcoming fight against Teofimo Lopez, claiming Lopez is not really from New York, describing his respect for Lopez from their time on the amateur scene, his plans to make Lopez pay for his words, working with Eddie Hearn, how a potential fight with Conor Benn would go, his training with Jake Paul, and more (3:06:55).Ariel briefly responds to Jamahal Hill and answers your Super Chats (3:32:54).