The Co-main Event Podcast

On paper, maybe it looked like kind of a ho-hum weekend in the world of mixed martial arts, but in practice--boy, howdy--it brought the weird. In other words, Bellator: NYC and UFC Fight Night 112 are both right in the Co-Main Event Podcast’s wheelhouse as far as discussion purposes are concerned. On this episode, Ben and Chad do their best to break down near everything that happened at the Bellator PPV, including but not limited to: Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva both looking old in their own ways, Matt “Mattrione” Mitrione and Fedor Emelianenko almost pulling off the rare double knockout, Michael Chandler being awesome even as his foot forcibly separated from the rest of his body, and Zach Freeman’s awesome email skills. Oh, and Heather Hardy, who seems nice. As far as the UFC event is concerned? There is slightly less to talk about, though the weirdness surrounding Michael Chiesa vs. Kevin Lee would be fine on its own in the wake of a normal weekend. Buckle up, internet, it’s gonna be a ride. All that,

Whoa there, partner! This is part 2 of episode 260 of the CME. If you haven't listened to part 1 yet, you'll want to double-back and do that. If you have, proceed. If you haven't, no need to be embarrassed. It's an easy mistake to make. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After another week where the Co-Main Event Podcast was off again, your dudes are back in full effect this week with a super-sized episode of the CME. On this show, Ben and Chad are in a mad scramble to touch on all the stuff they missed while taking a week off. Turns out, there was a lot of shit going on. For one thing, the long-discussed boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor actually got confirmed. So, that was kind of a big deal. On top of that, two UFC events are in the books, with Mark Hunt defeating Derrick Lewis and Holly Holm taking out Bethe Correia, respectively. Then, there is this weekend's Bellator PPV card to try to get our arms around AND a Sunday UFC event to discuss. Oh, and on top of that the Mixed Martial Arts Journalists Association finally went public too, and both your dudes are on the interim board of directors. As a result this episode of the CME will be broken into two parts for your listening enjoyment. Don't forget to download both parts! Learn more about your ad c

The world has a new "undisputed" UFC featherweight champion, as Jerome Max "Blessed" Holloway rolled up to UFC 212, took the best Jose Aldo had to offer over the course of two rounds and then laid out Jose Aldo via third round TKO. In addition to that, Mighty Mouse Johnson waited until Monday to blast his UFC bosses for what he called "bullying" tactics around booking his next fight. Ben and Chad talk about all that and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a week off to collect themselves--and in Ben's case go on vacation with his family--the Co-Main Event Podcast is back with a vengeance. It doesn't hurt that there are oodles of high-level MMA happenings to discuss, either. That's right, we said oodles. This week, Ben and Chad take a look at Alexander Gustafson's 21-minute beatdown of Glover Teixeira at UFC Fight Night 109, which may have rekindles Gustafsson's title hopes after a few rough years. They also talk about Germaine de Randamie's declaration that she won't be defending her women's featherweight title against Cris "Cyborg" Justino and what that means both for the future of GDR and the division at large (spoiler: nothing good!). Lastly, they discourse on the upcoming main event of UFC 212, where Jose Aldo and Max Holloway look to unify the men's featherweight title and finally move that weight class away from Conor McGregor. All that, plus AYFKM and Just Sayin' Stuff.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

UFC 211 was a barnburner, Universe, and this week’s Co-Main Event Podcast has your wall-to-wall coverage. Stipe Miocic’s first-round TKO over Junior dos Santos to put a second successful defense of the heavyweight title in the bank? Check. Joanna Jedrzejczyk foiling the brute strength of Jessica Andrade by breaking a bunch of her own already insane UFC striking records? Yuuuuup. Demian Maia eking out a split decision win over Jorge Masvidal and reportedly sewing up that long-sought-after welterweight title shot by turning himself into a human backpack for 15 minutes? Got that too. All of that, plus AYFKM and JSS. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not gonna lie to you, Universe, parts of this episode of the Co-Main Event Podcast don’t sound great. This week’s recording session was beset by technical difficulties, mostly with Ben’s microphone. Fact is, the ol’ Behringer C-1 may be on its way out. Can’t blame it, really, what with Fowlkes sitting there breathing on it for 256 episodes. In any case, you’ll run into some terrible hiss, which gets gradually worse toward the end of the first half of the show. Good news is, it gets a little better from there. If you can force your ears to stand it, you’ll hear Ben and Chad discuss this weekend’s UFC 211 main event, pitting Stipe Miocic in a rematch with Junior dos Santos, Joanna Jedrzejczyk's title defense against Jessica Andrade and Yair Rodriguez taking a massive leap up in competition to fight Frankie Edgar. You know what? We’ll go ahead and get this audio situation figured out before next week. How’s that? All that, plus AYFKM and JSS. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Another relatively slow week in mixed martial arts means another #aintshitgoinon episode of the Co-Main Event Podcast. This week, Ben and Chad fill an hour, 15 minutes with almost nothing but your listener mail questions. Well, your listener mail questions and one episode of MasterTweet Theatre featuring the inimitable Sir Nigel Longstock. So buckle in for that. Per usual, you guys bring the heat with your questions, slanging fire queries about Justin Gaethje’s move to the UFC, whether Yoel Romero should use this lull in the middleweight division to challenge Daniel Cormier and whether it’s OK to like to watch bad people fight and more! Oh, yeah, and did we mention MasterTweet Theatre? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Artem Lobov didn’t beat Cub Swanson on Saturday in the UFC Fight Night 108 main event. In fact, at no point in their five-round fight did it even look like Lobov was about to win. Still, dude did better than a lot of people--including Ben and Chad--thought he might do. Does that mean Lobov will be back in an Octagon main event again? Ehhhh … I guess that’s why they record the podcast. In addition to Swanson vs. Lobov, your guys talk about Ragin’ Al Iaquinta knocking out Diego Sanchez and then shouting out his own real estate business. They also discuss where Sanchez goes from here which, yeah, that is as depressing as it sounds. Oh, but did you hear the World Series of Fighting is rebranding itself as the Professional Fighters League? So, that’s more accurate if nothing else. All that, plus AYFKM and Just Sayin Stuff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just in case you needed a reminder how comparatively shitty you are at whatever it is you do for a living, Demetrious Johnson fought last weekend. Johnson, the UFC’s inimitable flyweight champion, painted what might end up being considered his career masterpiece in a defeat of Wilson Reis at UFC on FOX 24. It’s kind of humbling to watch the dude do it, really. Johnson is so far ahead of his competition, it’s as if he’s been sent here from the future to teach the world a new brand of fighting. If that’s the plan, though, it still needs some work, seeing as how the world somehow still doesn’t really like to watch Johnson fight. In any case, Ben and Chad talk about all things Mighty Mouse. They also discuss Robert Whittaker’s reluctance to embrace the “Bobby Knuckles” nickname and Rose Namajunas teeing up another title shot. All that, plus AYFKM and Just Sayin’ Stuff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There was simply no end to the hijinks, controversy and out-and-out skullduggery surrounding Saturday night’s UFC 210. In other words, it was an event tailor made for Ben and Chad to discuss on the CME. From Daniel Cormier getting a little help from a beach towel at the official weigh-in to Pearl Gonzalez being ruled out and then ruled back in due to breast implants (WTF. SERIOUSLY, NYSAC?) things had gotten weird before the fights even started. Once they did, fans got to see Gegard Mousasi’s co-main event bout against Chris Weidman ruined by … situations beyond our control … and then saw Anthony Johnson abruptly retire inside the cage after losing to Cormier a second time. This one was a doozy, my dudes. Oh yeah, and NEXT week we get UFC on Fox 24, featuring a card chock full of sure-fire goodness. What could possibly go wrong! All that, plus Just Sayin’ Stuff and AYFKM. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Muhammed Lawal and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson ran it back on Saturday at Bellator 175, renewing their rivalry of 2014 by putting on a second fight that looked nearly identical to the first. Except that this time King Mo managed to get the better of the third round and salt away a unanimous decision win. As another wrinkle to this already stimulating match-up, turns out this was the last fight on Rampage’s Bellator contract. So you know Ben and Chad aren’t going to miss out on the chance both to break down this fight and to speculate about where your guy Q-Jack might be headed next. In addition to that, they look ahead to the top two fights on this weekend’s UFC 210 card, pitting Chris Weidman against Gegard Mousasi and Daniel Cormier against Anthony Johnson. The latter in a rematch for the 205-pound title we all assume those dudes are just keeping warm for Jon Jones. All that, plus AYFKM, Just Sayin’ stuff and MasterTweet Theatre. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ain’t shit goin’ on, you guys. Aside from Tonya Evinger getting that sweet, sweet revenge on Yana Kunitskaya at InvictaFC 22 over the weekend, it's been a fairly quiet couple weeks in the MMA Bubble. You know what that means. That's right, Ben and Chad turn the programming of this week’s Co-Main Event Podcast over to all the little Co-Mainiacs out there. It’s listener mail for the whole hour on episode 250. Per usual, that means the guys touch on a number of different topics, including but not limited to: the chances of Evinger closing out her career with a UFC run, Cyborg challenging Ronda Rousey to a rasslin’ match, what Bellator needs to accomplish on pay-per-view and how to internally justify being a fan (or drawing a paycheck) from a sport that leaves so many broken bodies in its wake. No, really, it’s fun. You’ll like it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will UFC Fight Night 107 be remembered as the evening in London when Jimi Manuwa stomped into the collective consciousness of the light heavyweight division and announced he wasn’t there to make friends? Perhaps. Perhaps. What is an undeniable fact, at least according to Ben and Chad, is that Manuwa did about as good a job utilizing his screen time on The Fight Pass Dot Com as anyone could have imagined on Saturday. First, Manuwa put Corey Anderson to sleep with a left hand, then got on the mic to call for a title shot, then went to the press conference to say Jon Jones tarnished his legacy with steroids. So, yeah, all in a night’s work for The Paper Boy. In addition to that, your dudes discuss Gunnar Nelson’s win over Alan Jouban and also, goddamn it, they were just kidding about having Kelvin Gastelum fight Anderson Silva. All that, plus AYFKM and Just Sayin’ Stuff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night 106, Vitor Belfort lost to up-and-coming middleweight Kelvin Gastelum in such lopsided fashion that even Belfort himself thinks it might be time to set an end date for his career. Maybe. Depending on how things go. On this week’s Co-Main Event Podcast, Ben and Chad look at Gastelum’s victory as well as Belfort’s loss and discuss where these two fighters may be headed on obviously divergent paths. In addition to that, they turn the page to this weekend’s Fight Night 107, where Jimi “Paper Boy” Manuwa takes on Corey “Beastin’ Overtime” Anderson exclusively on The Fight Pass Dot Com. So, yeah, you could say it’s a full show. All that, plus AYFKM and Just Sayin’ Stuff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yeah, that UFC 209 main event between Tyron Woodley and Stephen “Wonderman” Thompson pretty much stunk up the joint, huh? Just a couple of dudes out there walking in circles for 25 minutes. And this after the unceremonious, last-minute removal of Khabib Nurmagomedov from the card on Friday and the cancellation of his interim lightweight title fight against Tony Ferguson. Aside from that, though? It was honestly a pretty good card. On this week’s CME, your guys Ben and Chad breakdown the particulars of the welterweight championship clash between Woodley and Thompson, such as they were, Nurmy’s inability to show up on fight night and then look ahead to next week’s action, featuring Vitor Belfort taking on Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Fight Night 106. Al that, plus JSS and AYFKM. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With an actual, honest-to-goodness interesting pay-per-view card coming on Saturday at UFC 209, the Co-Main Event Podcast has much to talk about. Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson prepare to rematch over the welterweight title, after their initial meeting at UFC 205 ended in a hard-fought majority draw. In addition to that, Khabib Nurmagomedov takes on Tony Ferguson in a bout that feels like a No. 1 contender fight long in the making--but is actually another weirdo interim title fight, since the UFC seems to have no idea what is going on with its regular 155-pound champion. The evening’s curtain-jerker will feature Mark Hunt and Alistair Overeem as they attempt to have the perfect UFC heavyweight fight. So yeah, Ben and Chad are ready. Let’s do this. All that, plus AYFKM and JSS. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The President’s Day episode of the Co-Main Event Podcast is exactly what you might expect: slapdash, thrown-together, even less organized than usual. See, what had happened was, Chad had to take his 4-year-old daughter to a birthday party Monday morning, so he didn’t have the chance to give this episode of the CME its normal, meticulous planning and brainstorming session. So, when Ben rolled in that afternoon smelling like booze and dirty strippers they decided just to do an All Question Considered episode of the show, anyway. And you know what? It comes off pretty OK. This week, the guys take on Derrick Lewis’ come-from-behind victory over Travis Browne, the last-minute cancellation of Fedor Emelianenko’s bout with Matt Mitrione as well as a host of other timely topics. Seriously, you’ll like it. We were just kidding about it being disorganized. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ooof, UFC 208, right? That was rough. This week the entire Co-Main Event Podcast Universe is likely reevaluating how it spends its Saturday nights after shelling out $60 for the worst pay-per-view fighting event this side of WFA: King of the Streets. You better believe Ben and Chad gots some shit to say. From the overall depressing nature of the fight card itself and what it might mean for the immediate future of the UFC to how we’re supposed to come to grips with Anderson Silva so gleefully getting old, this is an emotional ride you won’t want to miss. Oh also, did you forget that Matt Mitrione is fighting Fedor Emelianenko in Bellator this weekend? That is also discussed. All that, plus AYFKM, JSS and MasterTweet Theatre. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

UFC Fight Night 104 ended with decidedly divergent fortunes for main and co-main event favorites Chan Sung Jung and Alexa Grasso. Jung returned from three years away from the cage to triumphantly knock out Dennis Bermudez in the first round, while Grasso--yeah, we’re not totally sure what happened there. In any case, this week’s CME podcast takes a look at Jung’s return and Grasso’s tepid unanimous decision loss to Felice Herrig. In addition to that, Ben and Chad look ahead to this weekend’s UFC 208, including Anderson Silva taking on Derek Brunson (we know, weird, right?) and Holly Holm fighting Germaine de Randamie for the women’s featherweight title originally meant for Cyborg Justino. All that, pus AYFKM and Just Sayin’ Stuff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices