The Co-Main Event MMA Podcast

Israel Adesanya froze Paulo Costa like a statue, battered him with leg kicks from range and then toppled him with strikes to the dome piece in the second. It was, in short, exactly the kind of performance you'd want from a budding UFC superstar. Speaking of stars, how about your dude Janny Blackjacks? How long can we reasonably expected him to hang onto the strap? Learn more about your ad choices....

Colby Covington pretty much shut down Tyron Woodley en route to a fifth-round TKO victory on Saturday night. Then Covington opened his mouth and spewed awful racist bile all over the place during the postfight. You know, like he does. Plus, Donald Cerrone draws Niko Price and, hey, UFC 253 is this weekend! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There were a ton of fights this weekend, and the CME will forego its normal three-round format in order to talk about as many of them as possible. We discuss Michelle Waterson's win over Angela Hill, Ed Herman's Dundasso and those terrible low blows in Bellator, among other things. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alistair Overeem's late-career dream continues, in the form of a fifth-round TKO over Augusto Sakai. All the props in the world to Overeem for remaking himself as a crafty veteran, but how far can he continue to roll at age 40? Plus, Nick Diaz back? Fight Island back? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthony Smith made a somewhat short turnaround after his high-publicized de-toothing by Glover Teixeira back in May, just to return Saturday night to get outpointed by Aleksandar Rakic. Chances are, Smith's not going to be happy with that. Plus, are we seeing the end of the Brutal Bob Lawler Era? And Chad invents a time machine and sends Ben on a mission with an important message for 2010 Alistair...

Frankie Edgar finally made his bantamweight debut on Saturday and ... well ... it looked a lot like what we've seen from him at every other weight, which is to say quite good, but also prone to producing fights that could go either way. Plus, Ryan Bader finds out why you don't tempt the MMA Gods and--what's this???--some actual UFC vs. Bellator beef? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho...

Stipe Miocic will continue being the man after his unanimous decision victory over Daniel Cormier at UFC 252 concluded that pair's heavyweight title trilogy. As for Cormier? We're not totally sure, though we hope it's something good. Plus, just to add to this event's weirdness, Sean O'Malley's leg went kablooey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier fulfill the trilogy this weekend. Kind of feels like it snuck up on us, no? Plus, we love Derrick Lewis, but is he trying to do too much? And shouldn't some MMA company just give Michael Chandler whatever he wants? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Score one for the grizzled veterans, as Derek Brunson became the first professional fighter to crack the riddle of Edmen Shahbazyan on Saturday night. Plus, chaos ruled at UFC Fight Night 176 and--what's this???--a certified weirdsmobile fight between Derrick Lewis and Aleksei Oleinik is on tap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert Whittaker reasserted himself as one of the UFC's elite middleweights--and reminded us he has no qualms about stomping a motherfucker's knee to shreds. Plus, Shogun and Roger Nog didn't make us sad, while Khamzat Chimaev and Tanner Boser arguably emerged as the Pandemic Era's breakout stars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joseph Benavidez likely saw his last, best chance at a UFC title evaporate when he got choked unconscious by new undisputed flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo on Saturday. Plus, what did we miss from Wednesday and -- hoo boy -- the UFC's Yas Island vacay looks to end with a bang. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The legend of Street Jesus collided with the best welterweight in the world at UFC 251 and ... well ... it was a long night in the Bread Game. Plus, Max Holloway maybe got jobbed (or maybe not!) and Petr Yan beat Jose Aldo into a living death there at the end. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gilbert Burns is out and Jorge Masvidal (probably, almost certainly) in against Kamaru Usman in the UFC 251 main event. It was a circuitous route to the fight that should've been headlining this pay-per-view all along, but all's well that ends well, right. RIGHT? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker went to battle on Saturday in the main event of UFC on ESPN 12. Did Hooker prove he belongs among the lightweight elite? Did Poirier revive his title aspirations? This week, it's an All Questions Considered episode of the CME. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Curtis Blaydes told us exactly what he was going to do to Alexander Volkov on Saturday night and then he went out and did it. He also warned some of you more punch-and-kick-oriented types that you might not like it. One person who didn't? Dana Frederick White Jr., though in fairness it was likely more Blaydes' comments on fighter pay that set the UFC Prez off. Plus, Emmett vs. Burgos slayed and Po...

Cynthia Calvillo established herself as a women's flyweight contender with a win over Jessica Eye on Saturday. Would we say she looked ready for Valentina Shevchenko, however? No, we would not. Next up: Curtis Blaydes fights Alexander Volkov, while Dana White says every UFC card is wonderful and if you're a fight fan, you'll watch them all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...

Amanda Nunes, the female GOAT, continues to be leaps and bounds ahead of any competition the UFC can find for her. What are you gonna do? Meanwhile, Cody Garbs, Aljo and O'Malley make the case against Aldo. Oh, and Conor McGregor also wants more money and is retired again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jon Jones says he's vacating the light heavyweight title and going on hiatus during a public spat over pay with the UFC. Then he's suddenly out in the streets working as a social activist. Plus, Gilbert Burns finally arrives and UFC 250 takes its best shot on PPV. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apologies from some sound quality issues on this week's show, Co-Mainiacs. Hopefully, you will solider through with us. On this episode, we discuss Conor McGregor continuing to troll the competition, whether Fight Island seems unnecessary now and the UFC scraping together main events like Tyron Woodley vs. Gilbert Burns.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alistair Overeem weathered an early storm to defeat Walt Harris by virtue of his wily, veteran guile on Saturday. We discuss that, plus look back at the UFC's weird week in Jacksonville. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it finally arrived, UFC 249 weekend served-up a downright unwieldy number of storylines. From Jacare's positive coronavirus test to "The Waiver" to Justin Gaethje's surprise destruction of Tony Ferguson, we discourse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's here (we think). It's happening (maybe). It's finally going down (in a matter of days). UFC 249 fight week is upon us leading up to Saturday's revamped and (twice) rescheduled fight card. Are you ready? Is the world? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The UFC plans to do three events in Jacksonville, Fla., from May 9-16. Can that be safe? One way or another, we're all going to find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We discuss reports of Dana White's recent conference call with fighters booked on upcoming UFC cards, what an epidemiologist told Ben about how the UFC could get back to business in a safe way and what classic fights have listeners been watching to pass the time? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With UFC 249 officially postponed after Disney and ESPN bigwigs pulled the plug on Dana White's Grand Plan to Be a Man, we look at what we learned about White, Disney, ESPN, MMA fans, media and managers. Plus, what will the sport look like when it finally comes back? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices