In the Booth

This week, in preparation of her December 7th fight at Peak FC, we spoke to the multitalented pioneer Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc. We talk early days of MMA and how the landscape has changed, being a comic book character, stuntwoman and model, having a loyal fanbase and maintaining your consistency.

Coming off of winning the HEX Fight Series Flyweight Championship against Lisa Kyriacou in her first fight following a release from UFC, we caught up with Cynthia Calvillo. She shares the story of what happened at UFC, the amazing comeback journey leading to her trip to capturing a Flyweight title in Australia, the secret battles that fighters go through behind closed doors and more...

One of our favorite underdogs in the UFC Sam Hughes dropped by the podcast again after her victory against the undefeated Victoria Dudakova. She discusses life changes and wanting a step up after proving herself on multiple occasions as a tough gatekeeper for the UFC Strawweight division.

After defeating former ranked Bellator mainstay Janay Harding and PFL Tournament contender Genah Fabian up in weight, the surging Australian prospect Jamie Edenden makes her case for finally joining the world's biggest MMA promotion that has her natural weight class.

One of the latest and most exciting prospects added to the UFC roster gets to compete on the massive UFC 302 card this Saturday. Bassil Hafez made his debut on only 4 days notice and exceeded expectations against #5 ranked Welterweight Jack Della Maddalena and looks to follow up that performance with a big win in front of the New Jersey crowd. We talk about his Arab Roots, Losing both parents to C...

Kate "The Queen of the South" Bacik is a very promising Polish talent fighting out of the United Kingdom and training at GB Top Team. She stopped by our setup while supporting her teammates at PFL Europe Championship Finals in Dublin to talk about signing a 4 fight deal with Invicta FC, finding all her fights later in the year on short notice, living with gratitude and more...

Following the announcement of the PFL takeover of Bellator, we brought on Bellator title challenger and a mainstay in the upper rankings Veta Arteaga. Veta is also very involved in the combat sports world outside of fighting herself as she is the head matchmaker at Front Street Fights in her hometown of Boise, Idaho. Enjoy!

We visited Denise "Miss Dynamite" Kielholtz for her last training session before leaving for Chicago to Bellator 301 this Friday November 17th, where she will be facing the surging prospect Sumiko Inaba. We detail a mental "dark place" that Denise went through after a World Title fight loss to Juliana Velasquez in a close fight which many thought she had won. Coming out of it a...

UFC Strawweight contender Loopy Godinez had a standout performance at Noche UFC announcing herself as a legit threat for the World Championship. She joined us one week out from the fight as we discuss the magnitude of the event on Mexican Independence Day, Moving to Lobo Gym in Mexico to train with Alexa Grasso, early expectations of being famous and much more...

On the verge of competing on PFL's biggest event yet, we caught up with one of the Irish fan favorites on the PFL Europe semi-final card Frans Mlambo who has found a home in the promotion. We talk finally getting a new platform to show off his skills, facing a short notice French fighter in hostile territory, Vegetarianism, life ambitions and more...

Janay Harding returns to talk about her upcoming fight on Beatdown 5 in Australia this Saturday September 16th in her first fight back since Bellator 291 in Dublin. We discuss the decisions that lead her to making this move and the big benefits as part of a plan back to the big worldwide fight promotions.

Sabina Mazo has made a lot of life changes on a road back to the UFC. So far it has lead her to re-capturing her LFA Flyweight title. Sabina also tells us about shifting her life focus, wanting to make better use of her platform to aid her side-hustles, leading to her starting a new podcast "Cafe Con Mazo".

UAE Warriors Flyweight Champion Corinne Laframboise was set to face Rainn Guerrero on Dana White's Contender Series this Tuesday to fight for a UFC contract. She had to pull out upon finding out through her medicals that she's 3 months pregnant! Corinne joins us to tell the story and to discuss the plans going forward mixed with a little chat about Canadian and Quebecois MMA.

Coming off of a victory over the Cage Warriors Champion George Hardwick on Dana White's Contender Series and earning his UFC contract, Palestinian-Jordanian fighter Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady, fighting out of Fortis MMA in Texas discusses the strategy and aftermath of the fight, pride of representing Palestine and Jordan, wanting to make his debut close to home at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, passion fo...

We catch up with ONE Championship's British Muay Thai powerhouse Amber Kitchen on her young and budding career so far, being born into the sport in a fighter family, moving to Leeds to make the improvements that she needs, transitioning to 4oz gloves and exchanging the ring for the cage.

In this extended interview, Arlene Blencowe joins us on In the Booth to discuss her new plans and to remind everyone that she is still here and very hungry for Bellator gold after taking a much needed recovery break to recalibrate and recover.

Farbod Iran Nezhad talks about the biggest opportunity of his career to show off his well-rounded skillset when he headlines PFL Europe's second ever show in his hometown Berlin.

African MMA Fighter Rudy Tshisuaka from DR Congo has an incredible story we talk about: - Fleeing his City as a child after it was destroyed by a Volcanic eruption - Returning to a civil war in his country and recalling the very heavy circumstances of losing both his parents as a result. - Finding a Karate gym and learning how to fight to protect his sisters from frequent home invasions. - Escapin...

On June 16th, coming off a viral 1st round headkick knockout win putting her top of the season standings, Amber Leibrock faces last season's PFL Featherweight champion and Million Dollar winner Larissa Pacheco to secure a spot in the PFL Playoffs. We discuss the lifestyle and mental changes that lead to Amber riding a 4 fight 1st round finish winning streak, Million Dollar prizes, growing up i...

Right before claiming her second amateur title on her quest to go pro with the very rare feat of being a champion in three different weight classes (Featherweight, Bantamweight and Flyweight) Danielle "Drop Bear" Curtis sat down to talk about her career so far, the hardships she was facing when she claimed the GAMMA world championship against all odds, checking all the boxes including a...

This Saturday April 15th, Kayla Hracho will step into the cage against one of Combate Global's undefeated Atomweight fighters Daniela Hernandez. After rounding out her skills and putting on incredible back to back performances she's ready to let her top training at American Top Team and lifestyle changes speak as she plans to dream big.

Sam Hughes returns to talk about the opportunity to open UFC 287 Pereira vs Adesanya 2 in Miami April 8th when she faces LFA Champion and UFC debutant Jaqueline Amorim.

An extended interview with PFL's latest contract winner Desiree "Dirty Dez" Yanez. Dez feels like she has never had a fight home after feeling like she has been thrown around some of the world's biggest promotions and gaining fight experience fighting the best out there. That all changed now that she is entering the $1 Million tournament for the promotion's inaugural Flyweight division as "Dirty D...

Australia's biggest prospect Jacinta Austin joins us to discuss her upcoming bout against Sweden's Josefine Knutsson at UAE Warriors on Saturday February 25th. This will be her biggest challenge to date as she puts her 4-0 record against Knutsson's 4-0 record as she looks to fast track her career to the top.

Janay Harding returns into the cage following a turbulent year that involved healing from a detached retina and moving to New Zealand to train out of the famous City Kickboxing gym. We talk about her most recent performance, tweaks in mindset, motivation and answer some fan questions.