The Craic with Petesy Carroll

The Craic is back! Petesy Carroll is joined by Craic regulars Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes. The boys open the show by breaking down the UFC 316 weigh-in results and analyzing which fighters looked sharp on the scales (5:14).   One fighter who had no trouble making weight was Kayla Harrison, who challenges Juliana Peña for the bantamweight title. The guys explore each fighter’s path to victory...

On this week’s edition of The Craic, Petesy Carroll is joined by Ben Fowlkes and Drake Riggs. Kicking off the show, they dive into breaking news: Maycee Barber has missed weight for her fight against Erin Blanchfield, along with several other fighters on this weekend’s Apex card (4:02).   Another UFC product that returned this week is The Ultimate Fighter. The guys discuss why the show feels under...

Petesy Carroll is joined by The Craic alum Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes to discuss whether Dricus Du Plessis is being overlooked against Khamzat Chimaev, more bad news for the PFL, and the UFC super-fights that still aren’t getting made. On this week’s show, Petesy Carroll is joined by The Craic alum Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes. After a brief tangent discussing Petesy’s dream journal, the...

Petesy Carroll is joined by familiar faces Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes to talk all things UFC 315. The lads kick off the show by breaking down the fallout from Jose Aldo’s weight struggles, including how it could impact his chances against Aiemann Zahabi (3:02). After debating whether the tail end of Aldo’s career is being mishandled, Petesy shifts the focus to this weekend’s main event. The...

The Craic is back! Petesy Carroll is joined by the usual suspects, Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes, to break down all the latest headlines. They kick things off by discussing Ilia Topuria, who’s set to fight at UFC 317 on June 28th — but who’s his opponent? The lads weigh in on who they think would make for Topuria’s most exciting matchup (03:58).  One of those opponents is Islam Makhachev, but d...

Petesy opens the show by teeing up the biggest stories of the week, then dives into an exclusive sit-down interview with rising Irish star Paul Hughes (06:17).   Hughes kicks things off by sharing how it feels to headline his homecoming fight at the SSE Arena in Belfast. He and Petesy take a trip down memory lane, reminiscing about Paul’s roots in the local amateur scene.   The Irishman gets real...

On a special Wednesday edition of The Craic, Petesy Carroll is joined by Chuck Mindenhall and The Sun Sport’s Chisanga Malata to discuss what the future holds for Paddy Pimblett following his dominant win over Michael Chandler (5:24). They dive into Pimblett’s backstory and reflect on how unbelievable it is that he’s reached this level, before exploring the potential matchup teased by his post-fig...

With Petesy Carroll away from the helm, Uncrowned’s Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes man the ship to preview UFC 314. The duo kicks things off by reacting to the weekend’s weigh-in results, where all main card fighters successfully made weight (01:15). Chuck and Ben then break down the key paths to victory for main event fighters Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes (02:30), and weigh in on wheth...

Sean O’Malley is getting a second shot at bantamweight king Merab Dvalishvili, but some people aren’t happy about it. Petesy Carroll, Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes kick off the show discussing the UFC 316 rematch (4:40). With Manel Kape’s meeting with Brandon Royval being the only fight announced for UFC 317, the big international fight week card, the lads contemplate a potential super fight be...

There was a lot of negativity around last week’s London event, so it was only fair for Petesy and Chuck to have veteran U.K. journalist Chisanga Malata back on to give his firsthand impression of what it was like to be in The o2 to witness Sean Brady’s dominant win over Leon Edwards, that put the cherry on top of a rough night for the Brits (1:50).   Following the UFC London debrief, Chuck and Pet...

Veteran U.K. journalist Chisanga Malata of The Sun joins the show to talk about the buzz in London (2:43) ahead of Leon Edwards’ main event clash with Sean Brady. After Michael Bisping claims that Sean Brady was a nightmare matchup for the former welterweight champion, Petesy and Chuck weigh-in on how they feel the two match up (21:29).   After speaking with the surging light-heavyweight in the le...

Petesy Carroll is joined by Uncrowned’s Ben Fowlkes to discuss Beniel Dariush potentially leaking Dustin Poirier meeting his old rival Max Holloway in his retirement fight (8:39). Just after getting the show underway, the news hits of three weigh misses for this weekend’s Apex card (14:40), before the conversation returns to Poirier (19:59).   The lads ponder when Ilia Topuria will make his 155-po...

With all the talk of what lies beyond UFC 313 for Alex Pereira, are we all discounting the fact that Magomed Ankalaev is by far his hardest test at 205 pounds? Petesy Carroll, Ben Fowlkes and Shaheen Al-Shatti discuss how a victory would impact the iconic Brazilian striker’s legacy (4:03).   As for the chief support, the lads ponder whether Justin Gaethje will be a changed man following his brutal...

Petesy Carroll is joined by Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes to discuss TKO’s imminent arrival in the boxing world, in conjunction with the Saudi Arabia (2:50) and TKO president Mark Shapiro suggesting that there are some flaws in the Ali Act - an act introduced in 2002 for the welfare of boxers.   During the show, news broke of a boxing event taking place in Times Square, and the lads give their...

Petesy Carroll and Chuck Mindenhall are joined by Drake Riggs, who is on site in Seattle for Cejudo vs. Song, to discuss a crazy week of news in the world of combat sports.   They first look at how Ilia Topuria’s vacation of the featherweight title has led to UFC 314 getting it’s main event with Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes set to compete for gold (06:12), before the conversation switches...

Petesy Carroll and Chuck Mindehall give their thoughts on the split between Sean Strickland and Eric Nicksick (4:36), on the back of the UFC middleweight claiming he would no longer have the Xtreme Couture head coach in his corner after UFC 312. While pondering wether the two would reconcile, the conversation shifts to Anthony Smith and Rampage Jackson (31:36) squashing their beef that arose from...

Ariel Helwani joins The Craic to give insight on Canelo Alvarez signing with Riyadh Season, his bout with Jake Paul not coming to fruition and the emerging rivalry between MVP and Turki Alalshikh (00:16).  Uncrowned’s Shaheen Al-Shatti and Ben Fowlkes then give their takes on all the developments described by Helwani (20:09), before the conversation turns to UFC 312 (31:33). The lads ponder whethe...

Petesy Carroll is joined by Uncrowned’s Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes to discuss Bryce Mitchell and Conor McGregor’s latest controversies. Petesy Carroll, Ben Fowlkes and Chuck Mindenhall discuss Bryce Mitchell’s outlandish statement about Adolf Hitler being “a good guy” (3:11) and consider whether Dana White’s reaction to the situation (04:16) is sufficient. They then look at differing reactio...

On today’s episode, Petesy is joined by fellow Irish media members Andy Stevenson and Donagh Corby. Corby, who is on the scene in Dubai, gave his account of the incident between Irish and Dagestani fans at the PFL’s weigh-in for the fight between Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes (3:00). Stevenson underlined the impact a Hughes win could have on Irish MMA (18:00), before rebuking claims that this...

Chuck Mindenhall returns to The Craic, joining Petesy Carroll to discuss a potential location shift for UFC 311 due to the California wildfires (03:07). The lads also give their takes on reports from Brazil claiming Alex Pereira will move to heavyweight (07:36) to take on Alexander Volkov at UFC 313 and reports that PFL will half the prize money for their tournament in 2025 (28:17). They also pond...

Petesy Carroll is joined by Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes for an episode jam-packed with breaking news. Fowlkes speaks about the mystique surrounding Team Khabib and the Dagestan collective (04:06) after covering them for Uncrowned.  Then, the lads react in real time to the breaking news that Arman Tsarukyan has withdrawn from the UFC 311 main event due to injury (13:46). Mindenhall gives insig...

The Craic caps off 2024 by looking back at the year in European MMA. Petesy Carroll is joined by journalists Andy Stevenson, Chisanga Malata, and Donagh Corby to discuss the biggest winners and losers. The show begins with Ilia Topuria’s strong case for Male Fighter of the Year and his recent talk of moving to lightweight (03:13). Next, the discussion centers on Dakota Ditcheva’s meteoric rise thr...

Petesy Carroll is joined by journalists Andy Stevenson, Chisanga Malata, and Donagh Corby on The Craic to preview the upcoming year in European MMA.  The conversation begins with predictions on whether Tom Aspinall will finally get a crack at Jon Jones (03:58) and if Ilia Topuria will be able to bring a UFC event to Spain in 2025 (10:03). Next, they discuss whether Shavkat Rakhmonov will be able t...

Chuck Mindenhall joins Petesy Carroll on the latest episode of The Craic to sink his teeth into forecasting whether Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall will happen in 2025. The lads also discuss the build-up to Usyk vs. Fury 2, the sentiment (or lack there of) for Logan Paul vs. Conor McGregor, Paul Hughes in the US and another big sell-out show in Paris. 

Petesy Carroll is joined by Uncrowned colleagues Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes to forecast potential issues GFL may have ahead of its proposed April launch date (00:00).  Fowlkes shares details on his recent report regarding a growing number of disgruntled Bellator fighters (34:28) and Mindenhall provides key takeaways from his recent interview with Colby Covington (49:03).