The Co-Main Event MMA Podcast

Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington are set to settle their longstanding personal grudge on Saturday at UFC 272 and, frankly, the end can't come soon enough. At 37, and winless since 2019, this seems like a must-win for Masvidal, but he's going off as a fairly significant underdog. What to think? Also, Islam Makhachev deserves a title shot, which is very different from actually getting one at light...

Well, Johnny Walker got posterized by Jamahal Hill on Saturday in the UFC. It was his fourth loss in five fights and it was an ugly one. Not does it establish Hill as perhaps the hot new contender at 205-pounds but it raises some questions about what Walker ought to do next. In addition to that, we discuss the highlights from BareknuckleFC and Bellator 274 as well as looking ahead to next weekend'...

Robert Whittaker made some big improvement between his two bouts against Israel Adesanya, making Saturday night's UFC 271 main event a very competitive affair. In the end, however, it was just too much Adesanya. And still. But now who's next at 185-pounds? Jared Cannonier? Sean Strickland? And what of Whittaker? In the co-main, Tai Tuivasa continued his unstoppable march to the UFC heavyweight tit...

It would be an understatement to say things didn't go Robert Whittaker's way at UFC 243, the first time he fought Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title. But that was 2019, in The Before Times, and it feels like a lot has happened since. Given a second opportunity to take on the champ this weekend at UFC 271, can Bobby Knuckles make things more competitive? Plus, Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa...

This week Sean Strickland took us all on a virtual tour of his apartment, where he keeps his guns on the kitchen counter and you have to reach into the toilet bowl to make it flush. Strickland's going to fight Jack Hermansson in a UFC main event on Saturday and, while it does feel like he's getting more attention than he otherwise might, we ask: At what cost, bro? Plus, Bellator and Eagle FC had t...

Well, he did it. Big Francis Ngannou went out there and gutted-out a unanimous decision win over Ciryl Gane on Saturday at UFC 270. Maybe it wasn't the fight we all expected, but the world must now come to him. He says he'll sit out the rest of this year and either let the UFC entice him with a better offer or he'll split for boxing. This week, we talk about all his options. Plus, are Davey Figgs...

Francis Ngannou's contractual status with the UFC has dominated the storylines leading up to Saturday's "title unification" bout against Cyril Gane. But what happens when these two guys actually get in the cage together? How will the fight go? What's the best case scenario for Ngannou? What's the worst? We discuss. Plus, Brandon Moreno and Davey Figgs out here about to do it again-again brother. L...

It's another FREE Power Hour for all the little Co-Mainiacs this week. On this episode, it's all power rankings all the time this week, as we head into Saturday's Fight Night event featuring Giga Chikadze vs. Calvin Kattar. Among our topics: We'd make a list of suspects who might want to throw a Molotov cocktail at Conor McGregor's pub, but this show is only an hour long. You know who has weird id...

Giga Chikadze's Fight Night main event against Calvin Kattar coming up on Saturday may well have gotten more interesting this week, when Max Holloway pulled out of a featherweight title shot at UFC 272. Right now, Chan Sung Jung and Henry Cejudo are both pursuing that open slot against Alexander Volkanovski, but you know how this sport is. Who's to say Giga can't steal that spot with an impressive...

For the third year in a row, the UFC wishes fans a Happy New Year by raising prices on its PPV events by $5. That's a 25% increase in just a few years. On this episode of the Power Hour, we ask: Will the ballooning sticker price ever hit a breaking point for fans? So far, it has not. On the bright side, at least we can be assured fighters will get a cut of this newly increased revenue. Haha. Psych...

If Dana White had actually read "The Art of War" he might understand that it is a bad idea for him to continually engage Jake Paul on the battlefield where Paul is strongest. Unfortunately, the longtime UFC president just comes out of every skirmish in this feud looking more and more out of touch. Plus, we wonder: Is the UFC really gonna let Francis Ngannou go? Also, fun with futures! Learn more a...

Due to some family obligations, we're not going to be able to record that new episode of the Proper we promised. Instead, please accept this free episode of Doin' the Damn Thing. For the final pod of the year, your dudes talk about our favorite TV shows, movies and books of 2021. Also, an abbreviated Kraken Up, with the NHL shut down amid a holiday COVID outbreak. Learn more about your ad choices....

Derrick Lewis became the UFC's all-time knockouts leader with his win over Chris Daukaus on Saturday night, for whatever that's worth. On the other side of the country, Jake Paul walloped Tyron Woodley in their hastily arranged boxing rematch. We discuss those fights, and welcome Sir Nigel Longstock to read UFC fighters' letters to Santa Claus during the CME office holiday party. Learn more about...

CME listeners had a lot to say in the wake of UFC 269. You filled up our inbox, so we had no choice this week but to take listener mail throughout the episode, while we discuss Charles Oliveira's submission win over Dustin Poirier and Juliana Pena's shocking upset of Amanda Nunes. Plus, not for nothing, but doesn't it seem like you could make some fun fights with these results? Learn more about yo...

The UFC offers up the final PPV of 2021 this Saturday, with two title fights on the main card of UFC 269. Charles Oliveira defends his lightweight title against Dustin Poirier and Amanda Nunes puts the women's bantamweight title on the line against Juliana Pena. Should be a banger. Plus, look at 35-year-old Jose Aldo out here slowly but surely reminding us he's one of the greatest ever to do it. L...

The Trillers revolutionized modern hand-to-hand combat with the Triad or whatever over the weekend, and the results were a real mixed bag for the former UFC fighters on the card. Not to worry, however, since we all return to the world of Serious MMA this weekend. Bellator has a super compelling men's bantamweight title fight on Friday, pitting Sergio "YOUNG SERGE!" Pettis vs. Kyoji Horiguchi. On S...

Hey Co-Mainiacs, just a reminder that Chad's other podcast, "Death in the West," returns for a second season in January. This week, DITW dropped a special teaser episode for the upcoming season that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the legendary DB Cooper hijacking in the Pacific Northwest. Give it a listen! If you like it, you can subscribe here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/death-in...

Max Holloway showed out, but perhaps needed to dip deeper into the ol' bag of tricks than we anticipated to defeat Yair Rodriguez in ANOTHER FOTY candidate UFC main event. And did it surprise anyone that while all this happened, Conor McGregor was EXTREMELY ONLINE? No, it did not. Over in Bellator, meanwhile, Cris Cyborg housed a 40-to-1 underdog and had some words with Kayla Harrison. So that mad...

Somehow Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler exceeded even our loft expectations. That was just bananas, and now they better damn well let Gaethje fight the winner of Chucky Olives vs. Dusty P. Plus, we are sure Rose Namajunas vs. Zhang Weili should've been scored 3-2. Just ... you know ... we're not sure for who. And finally, after besting Colby Covington, does Kamaru Usman need some big, momentou...

You know what, in this sport, we'll take the feel-good stories where we can get them. Glover Teixeira winning his first UFC title at 42 while being universally liked and and unyielding positive is a feeling we want to hold onto. Perhaps the only downer here was the Janny Blackjacks (also seemingly a good dude) had to lose. Plus, Petr Yan starts off scary and only gets scarier, big wins for Khamzat...

Marvin Vettori was surprisingly businesslike all week, considering all the nonsense Paulo Costa was pulling, and that approach extended to the fight. Vettori notably wouldn't share his wine with Costa after the bout was over, though, which seems kinda unfortunate. Plus, can you really believe we're out here strategizing another fight for Fedor? And what's on tap for UFC 267? For one thing, that sh...

It's amazing how naturally the phrase, "Conor McGregor punched a DJ," rolls off the tongue at this point. Yeah, that just feels right. That feels like something McGregor would do. This week, on an All Questions Considered episode of the CME, we take your questions on Connie Mac's latest run-in with the law, Aspen Ladd's stinker against Norma Dumont (and the weird coaching that went along with it),...

The maiden voyage of Doin’ The Damn Thing is frankly jam-packed with CME goodness. We spend the first part of the show discussing the first couple episodes of Ken Burns’ new PBS doc on Muhammad Ali and some of the ways it either changed or reinforced our views of one of the most iconic figures in all of sports. We also talk to our friend Dan Brooks about the death of Norm Macdonald, as Dan and Nor...

Boxing owned the weekend, no doubt about that. Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder crafted a classic in their trilogy fight, capturing the attention of the sports world in a way it feels like MMA can never quite muster. Plus, does Mackenzie Dern need to decide what kind of fighter she wants to be? And what will you watch this weekend? The UFC? Bellator? Or both? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m...

Well, shit, what can you do? Seemed like Thiago Santos and Johnny Walker kind of forgot to fight during the UFC's main event on Saturday night. That happens sometimes, but it certainly wasn't what we wanted to see from these two strange purveyors of violence. Over in Bellator, Michael Page defeated Douglas Lima via the sort of split decision that didn't tell us much about how good MVP actually is....