The Co-Main Event MMA Podcast

The logo for the first meeting of the Co-Main Event Podcast book club really sets the tone, don’t you think? Racy, exciting, a little bit dangerous. The truth is, the whole thing is kind of a blur. What we know for sure is that Ben, Chad and Sir Nigel spent an hour and change breaking down “Bar Brawler,” the debut novel from David Lee “Tank” Abbott and the first volume of the purported “Befor [sic...

The Co-Main Event Podcast may well have dodged another baby bullet this week, as Ben’s wife still had not gone into labor as he and Chad recorded episode 33. Unless Mr. and Mrs. Fowlkes’ kiddo is petulantly late, it appears as if the first round of CME offspring were kind enough not to disrupt the podcast schedule. On this installment, the guys reminisce a bit about Strikeforce prior to the zombie...

Through the magic of tape delay the Co-Main Event Podcast’s first installment of 2013 is also the last episode of 2012, as the guys got together bright and early on New Year’s Eve Day to crank this puppy out. As the calendar turns, Ben and Chad are still flying high on the rush that was UFC 155 … at least, you know, the last two fights of it. During episode 32 the dudes talk at length about Cain V...

Not even Christmas can stop the Co-Main Event express, as America’s favorite mixed martial arts podcast thunders straight through the holiday season with episode 31. In the lead up to this weekend’s UFC 155 card, Ben and Chad discuss the coming do-over between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos, the return of Chris Leben to the Octagon and take a long lens look at how much things have changed si...

After so angering the CME Universe last week by choosing to go out of town with his family, Chad hopes to make amends by heading straight from the airport to Co-Main Event Studios to record episode 30. Once everyone is present and accounted for, he and Ben have a lot of ground to cover, so much in fact that this week only five rounds will do. On the docket for the latest installment of the CME are...

First the bad news, kids: There will be no Co-Main Event Podcast next week, since Chad will screw everyone by being out of town. Now that we’ve all processed our grief from that little disappointment, however, we may celebrate the life of this week’s episode of the CME. And what a life it is. Installment No. 29 sees Ben admit that his wife’s pregnancy (and resulting lack of drink) has really made...

Exciting times, you guys, as this week the Co-Main Event Podcast makes arguably the most electrifying announcement since the advent of the White Elephant Essay Contest. What is it, exactly? Well, you’ll have to listen to episode 28 to find out. You know what people are constantly saying about the CME, though: That it’s easily the most innovative MMA podcast recorded in Montana in a guy’s living ro...

Where to even begin with episode 27 of the Co-Main Event Podcast? After a week filled to the brim with MMA action, Ben and Chad have no shortage of topics to discuss: From Georges St. Pierre showing no ill effects from a blown ACL or 18 months away from the cage in dispatching Carlos Condit at UFC 154, to Anderson Silva proclaiming he’s “here for fight” with the newly returned welterweight champio...

Only one word to describe episode 26 of the Co-Main Event Podcast: Gargantuan. With UFC: Macau (Macau!) now nothing but a memory and UFC 154 waiting in the wings next weekend, Ben and Chad have plenty to talk about, and not even Ben’s lingering (and Chad-induced) cold can stop them. Oh, and you didn’t think your dudes would let the week where the plug is finally, mercifully pulled on the old bag o...

Episode 25 really makes the guys rethink the relatively free reign they’ve been giving Sir Nigel Longstock over MasterTweet Theatre, as things get weirder than ever between the CME and the world’s leading theatricalist. That awkwardness notwithstanding, Ben and Chad dispense with Stephan Bonnar’s positive test for steroids in the wake of UFC 153 and wonder what (if anything) can be done to clean u...

So this week the Co-Main Event Podcast put five rounds in the books in just shy of one hour, four minutes. Kind of makes you wonder why Ben and Chad can’t typically complete three rounds in under 1:15, huh? In any case, episode 24 sees your dudes take on the big issues, like whether or not there will be an actual “series” in the World Series of Fighting, the measure of Gina Carano’s true fighting...

Two things were conclusively proven while recording this week’s Co-Main Event Podcast. One, Chad can’t remember past episodes of the CME for shit. Two, don’t even try to talk to Ben about PEDs if you want to get the show done in an hour. Aside from revealing those little peccadilloes, during episode 23 the guys talk about Jon Jones entering into yet another “fun fight” against Chael Sonnen, break...

Big news, people: This was probably the best single week for listener mail in Co-Main Event Podcast history, so Ben and Chad respond with a slightly expanded LM segment and by sprinkling some of your comments throughout the rest of the show. Somehow, you guys are forcing them to take your input seriously. The nerve of you people. In more traditional podcast news, your dudes also discuss Anderson S...

Well, Ben and Chad were on pace to wrap up episode 21 of the Co-Main Event Podcast in near record time this week. Then, they started talking about Ben’s trip to Kansas City to take in the third installment of Invicta Fighting Championships and suddenly, 17-minutes later, it was time to start Just Sayin’ Stuff. Those, as they say, are the breaks. While Fowlkes was in KC, Dundas was in Minneapolis f...

The Co-Main Event Podcast reaches another milestone this week, as episode No. 20 drops like Bob Sapp after a CroCop left hand. By which we mean, it gets hit, takes a second to think things over and then curls up on the mat in tears. With one heavyweight main event in the books (Stefan Struve vs. Stipe Miocic) and one on deck for this weekend (Travis Browne vs. Bigfoot Silva) Ben and Chad take a ga...

Well, if this isn’t the longest CME Podcast yet, it’s got to be damned close. Ben and Chad kill 72-plus minutes discussing this week’s plethora of MMA-related news. Among the personalities your dudes put under their co-microscope this time around are Jon Jones, Vitor Belfort, Michael Bisping, Demetrious Johnson, those weirdoes who booed the flyweight title fight, Showtime executives, Kevin James,...

So here it is in all its glory. Episode 18 of the Co-Main Event Podcast may hit the airwaves 24 hours (or so) later than usual because Ben had to go party in California all weekend, but here it is nonetheless. On this week’s installment, your co-hosts puzzle over Anderson Silva’s UFC 153 main event fight against Stephan Bonnar, break down the a couple of the forgotten fights coming our way this we...

Ben and Chad feel pretty confident that the Co-Main Event is the first podcast in history to name check Scott Coker, Paul McCartney and Marcus Aurelius in a single episode. Not to brag, but that gives you at least some idea as to the breadth of topics taken on during week 17. Thanks in large part to Chad’s daughter making a very timely first appearance on planet earth last week, the dudes were abl...

The Co-Main Event Podcast had to strike while the iron was hot this week, and by that terrible cliché we mean “hot” as in before Chad’s wife up and started giving birth. As a result, episode 16 comes to you a day early, bringing with it an hour and 10 minutes of talk about the odds and ends of MMA news that broke during a week that should’ve culminated in UFC 151. In that event's stead, Ben and Ch...

We know what you’re thinking: If only you could find a couple dudes willing to spend another hour of everyone’s lives talking about a UFC 151 card that will never happen, right? Good news, wishful thinker, this week the Co-Main Event Podcast devotes damn near an entire episode to – English nerd buzzword alert! – deconstructing this very topic. Along the way Ben and Chad analyze Jon Jones’ inexplic...

After a week of buildup and anticipation the CME presents its first ever listener controlled episode. You asked the questions, so Ben and Chad endeavor to answer them. Well, some of them. As many of them as possible. Turns out, the tagline “All Questions Answered” doesn’t really fit after all, since the dudes received way, way too many questions this week to give voice to all of them. A better mon...

Episode 13 of the Co-Main Event Podcast starts like a house of fire and slowly devolves into finger-pointing, as Chad calls Ben on his latent sexism and Ben responds by accusing Chad of subtle xenophobia. In the baseless and childish nature of both, these claims do not necessarily differentiate this rendition of the CME from any other, except that it could be more fun. In addition to the mudslingi...

Important things to know about this week’s CME Podcast: First, Chad busts out his Don Frye impression. Second, Ben wonders what it would take to get Lyoto Machida and Shogun Rua to show up to a bench press competition at the Missoula YMCA. Third, one of your humble co-hosts – and he shall remain nameless for now – totally goes after the teenage girl who represented Saudi Arabia in Olympic judo thi...

It would frankly be difficult to imagine a more comprehensive hour – fine, hour and 10 minutes – of mixed martial arts talk than this week’s Co-Main Event Podcast. During the time allotted for episode 11, Ben and Chad discuss Frank Mir journeying across the aisle to fight Daniel Cormier in Strikeforce, Nick Diaz coming out of “retirement” to “respectfully” request a fight with Anderson Silva and w...

With Sir Nigel Longstock still missing – and last heard from somewhere in the wilds of Iowa – Ben and Chad go it alone this week as the Co-Main Event Podcast officially hits doubled digits. Without the crutch of MasterTweet Theatre to fall back on, the guys have no choice but to “unpack” (to use a particularly galling word common in academia) and discuss the many stinging disappointments of UFC 14...