Nightcap Hour 1: LIVE from Las Vegas - Dana White, Conor Benn & Jai Opetaia join!

21:13I back myself to the end. I'm clear.

21:16Shannon Sharpe:Kind of being, ladies and gentlemen. Good luck on Saturday. That was dope. Pleasure, baby. Thank you, man. Pleasure. Pleasure. I like to hear a guy come out and he's very, very confident, very specific, children's words very wisely. Not braggadocious. No. But he's like, you know, I'm here to fight. All that other stuff. He's like, look, yeah, I hadn't had to make this way in a very, very long time. But I know what I signed up for. You heard what he said? He said it's all about ego. A side, B side. Oh, I want to walk out second. No, I want my name on the marquee. I want my name first. Get all that.

21:51Shannon Sharpe:Yeah. Because at the end of the night, we still got to fight. Yeah. Yeah. Most definitely. And guess what? You might walk in first, but you're going to leave first. because I'm going to be in the ring talking to everybody at the end of the night. In a sense, you know what, I've never had an opportunity to meet or be next to Conor Ben, but he always seemed like a very disciplined fighter all the time. He takes his craft serious. The way he fights, he takes that serious as well based on what he's been able to do. I've seen the last two fights, obviously, the first one with him and Chris Eubanks, the second one with him and Chris Eubanks, and just hearing him talk, he's very disciplined in the way you are and the way you conducted yourself.

22:26and just in that small symbol side of hearing him talk, you can tell he's taking this fight extremely serious. And I love the fact that he said he's a fighter that's for the people. If it's what the people want to see, oh, man, we finna get out. And I hate the fact that politics and ego gets in the way of some of the fights that we all want to see as fans.

22:43Shannon Sharpe:Right, yeah. As a boxer, go ahead. You got to come with that style, that confidence style, you know, really believing in yourself because when you get in that ring, it's just you. You ain't got no damn teammates, you know what I mean? You got your corner. But at the same time, when you get in there and let's say your game plan don't go as opposed, now you got to make these adjustments on the fly. Hey, man, it's a lot different, bro. Talking about last night, A.J. Brown, who left in the last night game because of an injury, is believed to have suffered a high ankle sprain. X-rays were negative for a fracture, but a Brown MRI determined how much time he'll miss.

23:18Shannon Sharpe:Per Ian Rappaport, normal timeline is around four to eight weeks. Damn. depending on the severity of the high ankle sprain. He will play again this season. Timeline is uncertain. Oh, my goodness. I put up the two, and I'm thinking maybe two weeks. If it's a high ankle sprain, I mean, that takes a little bit longer. Everybody heals different. Yes. Everybody heals different. Obviously, that's a timeline. Based on a high ankle sprain, four to eight weeks, I don't see A.J. Brown missing that much time. I really don't. It kind of sucks for him. It's unfortunate guy, you know, trying to make a play for the ball in his knee.

23:50In his knee, just land on his knee. perfect you know so i mean it's unfortunate um i don't like it it makes me kind of nervous even though i think everyone's overreacting to the way drake may played yes i think having a.j brown makes things much easier if he's active for that second game when they play i forgot who i forgot who they're playing so now those other receivers are gonna have to step up right and drake may can't be gun shy because right now i think he might have lost a little bit of confidence especially with all the analysts and the reports and everything going out that he's not the guy he's not the same

24:21Shannon Sharpe:person but you know what Ocho if we go back and look at it he hadn't played well in a while if you go back and look at the Super Bowl yes you look at against the Texans yes you look at he didn't play particularly well against the Broncos yeah he hadn't played well in a while now and and many people like well that's the MVP that's the MVP he was never the MVP right I just because and what they've got to stop doing this oh he happens to be the best player on a team that has one of the best records so therefore he's an MVP right nobody thought he was in a category with Matthew Stafford. Who we kidding?

24:53Shannon Sharpe:Josh Allen. Come on now. Not this early. We've got to slow down in this notion where he's the best player on the best team so therefore he's an MVP. No, no, no, no. What does your eyes tell you? Sometimes the eyes don't, maybe your eyes lie or they fool you but I never thought for a second that he was the MVP over Matthew Stafford, over Josh Allen. I didn't think that. But he has his work cut out now because this is why they gave up what they gave up to get A.J. Brown. He was a guy brought in to make his life a lot easier. His life got a lot more difficult. Romeo Dobbs and these other guys, Douglas, they're going to have to step up now.

25:34Shannon Sharpe:The pressure is really, really on. Because this team defensively, they're good enough to go a ways. But offensively, you can't turn the ball over three times. You can't have the drops. You can't have the mistakes that they made offensively and expect to be a good team in this league. Not playing against Seattle. you got to be super disciplined but to speak on what Ocho talking about I'm kind of worried about AJ Brown uh because he's not a when you're teeing off and your clients are watching it's on when the game goes to overtime and your squad is right there with you it's on when you swap out that other nicotine pouch for something softer and feel the difference right away it's on on plus nicotine pouches with Nico silk mesh no corners no rough edges just the softest pouch on the planet When there's nothing between you and what's next, it's on with On Plus Nicotine Pouches.

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28:40Yeah, and the funny thing about it, too, is with those other guys stepping up, there is no A.J. Brown there. No. There is no A.J. Brown. You got Matt Collins. You got Romeo Dobbs. You have Pop Douglas, who are very good receivers, very reliable receivers. Yeah. But you don't have that guy you can count on and say, you know what, I need you to get open on this second, second and one, or this third and two. Right. They don't have that. They can scheme those other guys open. But with A.J. Brown, it makes your life easy as a coordinator. You know what? Man, do this. We need you right here.

29:07Shannon Sharpe:At some point in time, it comes a point in time that I can't scheme you up on anymore. I just need you to go get open. I'm going to call a play, and you've got to go beat the guy across from you. Yes, sir. All this, yeah, I'm going to be able to stack. Sometimes I'm going to be able to stack the formation. Yes, I'm going to be able to put you in motion. Yes, I'm going to be able to do some things, and we're going to misdirection and confuse some people. But a lot of times, A.J. Brown is a guy that I don't have to do any of that for. I just line him up outside three yards, four yards outside the numbers and say, son, that guy that's across from you, you've got to beat him because we're throwing you the ball on this plate.

29:38Shannon Sharpe:Yes, sir. And that's what you're having on A.J. Brown. This is why they gave up a first-round draft pick in 2027 for A.J. Brown. Yeah. And now, all of a sudden, he's going to be out for a significant amount of time. We don't know. They're doing an MRI. They're going to tell you the severity of the injury. But four to eight weeks, bro, eight weeks, that's half the season, Ocho. Yeah. I say, to me, I say two. I say two to three. I don't think he comes back before four. I think he's going to be gone at least a month. I do, too. I mean, I know you never really had no high ankle sprain, but I've had him.

30:09Shannon Sharpe:Deb, now, the diagnosis that we got back then when you and I played, ain't nobody mentioned no high ankle sprain. It was an ankle sprain. An ankle sprain, yeah. Whether it was high, low, medium, it didn't matter. It was an ankle sprain. Yeah. And you dealt with it accordingly. I did mine, and we had the bye week the following week, and then I ended up shooting mine up and played the rest of the year. and it was killing me. I was in so much pain. I mean, after the game, when that medicine had done worn off, I'm crying because that pain is so immense. But you got to go. But now they know they wouldn't dare let you go back out there two weeks after you do have a high ankle sprain.

30:46Shannon Sharpe:Now, too much money invested. Absolutely, Joe. Absolutely. They're not messing it up. No, sir. Oh, man. But it was just disappointing to see with the expectations that the Patriots had last night and this season and the expectation that they had of Drake May and how much people, how he's thought of. And I agree with you guys. I don't think we can write the guy off after the first game. But for a guy of that caliber to play that bad, I think that's what caught everybody by surprise, Ocho and Joe, is that how bad he looked in playing. He had A.J. Brown open five yards, and he underthrows him. He took the hitch.

31:24I said it last night, as soon as you piss the ball back, you got to let it go. Let it go. He hits twice. Yeah, yeah. What are we doing?

31:36Shannon Sharpe:Which is totally unnecessary. But I think he'll figure it out. There's one thing I know. He has a very good coach at Mike Vrabel, a great offensive coordinator, and Josh McDaniel. And it's just a matter of just going out there regrouping. Son, look here. This is not the end of the world. Had we won this game, nobody was crowning us the Super Bowl champs. We lost this game. Nobody says we're going to be 1-16. Let's just get back to the drawing board. That was a long flight back to sulk and be sitting there thinking about what could have been. Because 13-10, look, if we give up 13 points, I'm expecting to win a lot of games.

32:13Shannon Sharpe:Games, absolutely. If you give up 13 points, if your defense gives up 13 points a season, they'll lead the league in scoring defense every year from now until 2055. If you give up just 13 points. I think when you think about Drake May, Uncle Ocho, you want to know what his mental toughness is going to be like. You know what I mean? How is he going to bounce back from this game one? Because it can't determine your season. You lost your number one. You know what I mean? So now I want to see what his mental toughness is going to be like in game two and how he's going to bounce back from this game one performance.

32:46But it's going to be a good test, Uncle Joe. It's going to be a real good test. Because I'm sure as much as players love to say, oh, we don't hear all the noise on the outside, oh, you definitely hear it. You definitely hear it. If it's not from the media, it's from the family, it's from somebody. So I'm hoping, you know, Drake has a good mental. He's able to compartmentalize with, you know, it's okay to play bad. How do I correct those mistakes once we watch film? I know my number one is out, okay, Mr. Daniels. How do we get together and find ways to make my job easy, to get me in rhythm, playing much faster than I played the previous night so I can make some of those throws on time?

33:22So I think he's going to be all right. He doesn't have time to lose confidence. No. Definitely not right now.

33:28Shannon Sharpe:And the thing, if I'm Mike Grable, the thing I tell my defense, I don't need you to play any different than what you played last night. I don't need anybody thinking they need to do more. We did plenty. Because a lot of times the mistakes that people make when one side is potentially struggling, somebody else wants to pick up. Now in the possibility you're trying to pick up, now you put the rest of the team in a disadvantageous situation. So, look, y 'all don't need to do anything different. defensively, we played well enough. Yeah, we gave a play here. We've got to be able to get JSN. We come on with a blitz.

33:57Shannon Sharpe:We've got to be able to get JSN on the ground. We can't let him take a five-yard route and go 45 yards, Ocho. That's unacceptable on our part. We've got to do a better job of rallying to the football. If he gets the first down, we can live with that. The last thing that we can't live with is him taking a five-yard route turning into a 45-yard spectacular. I think Mike Vrabel's going to do that he's doing a great job of coaching. Because I believe in Braves. I believe he's going to be a guy. He is a coach that his players love playing for. He's tough. I played against him when he was in the league.

34:31Shannon Sharpe:I played against him when he was at Pittsburgh. I played against him when he was in New England. He is a tough, hard-nosed, blue-collar guy. And his team is a reflection of how he played. His coaching style resembles just how he played. I hear what you're saying, but they lost to a backup. quarterback yeah i mean that i mean that's that's not saying i mean that's got to say something right it does but we don't but in the fact but we only gave up we still only gave up 13 points to a backup quarterback yeah i tell you if i'm brable i'm telling my guys guys if we give up 13 points again i don't think we lose another game no not in this league because here it's eat but see the thing is you know why it was difficult for them to deal with drake drew lock because i had no expectations of seeing drew lock i know who drew lock is but i didn't and you heard uh they were saying he didn't take any reps with the starters the whole week and so he comes in that place like that that that goes that gives give him credit for coming in there doing what he was supposed to do understanding the situation because a lot of times you don't get those reps physically right you've got to take mental reps yep which means he took a lot of mental reps when he got his opportunity He sees the opportunity.

35:45Shannon Sharpe:Now we've got film on him. We know that, hey, his arm talent is undeniable. He can throw the ball. Yeah. And he was very decisive in his decisions. When the throw was there, that back foot hit, he let it go. All of a sudden, he comes in, it's covered. He took the ball. He took off running. I like that. I like that. Don't be indecisive. You got to be who you are. Sometimes these guys come in there and they think about, man, you know what? This is my time to be Lamar Jackson. No, it ain't. It ain't your time to be Lamar Jackson. It's not your time to be Josh Allen or any of these other top-flight quarterbacks.

36:16Shannon Sharpe:It's your job to come in there, keep the ship steady, get your team a victory. But this is very heartbreaking news for the New England Patriots. This is the last day. And it's just not A.J. Brown. Any big-ticket item, when they go to a new team, Joe, the fan base is like, oh, here we go. I mean, he didn't get hurt. He ain't never get hurt in Philly. He never got hurt in Tennessee. Now he come here the first year here, first game, and he's already hurt. Yeah, it's unfortunate, too, because, you know, as a player, bro, when you go to a new team, Uncle Ocho, the last thing you want is to get hurt.

36:51Shannon Sharpe:You want to over-exceed expectations about you coming here. And I know A.J. had high hopes for himself, meaning like having a hell of a season. You know what I mean? So, for him to get injured in this game one, I just think it was devastating, not only to A.J., but to Drake May and the Patriots as well. So, they're going to have to find a way to bounce back. That's the thing. That's why you give Mike Rabel the big bucks, even all the—withstanding what he went through the offseason, what his family, what he and the Patriots went through this offseason, that's why he's still at the helm. That's why you pay him the big bucks, because he's the type of guy—I can assure you that Mr.

37:27Shannon Sharpe:Kraft wouldn't rather have any other guy navigating this ship through these rocky waters than Mike Rabel. He strikes me as a guy. Like I said, I played against him. I don't know him personally, never had really interaction with him other than on the football field. But he strikes me as a guy that's very sturdy, that's convicted, that has a conviction in the way he wants to go about doing things. And we're going to find out. We got Dana coming to the stage now. This is about to be fun. We're probably going to talk about five minutes of the fight and a whole bunch of – about ten minutes about any other stuff because that's one thing about him.

38:07Shannon Sharpe:He going to go off and talk about some of everything.

38:14We ready, Dana? Yeah. I'm still waiting on the fight.

38:24You heard me? What's up, boys? How are you? What's up? What's happening, baby? What's up? Dana, I'm still waiting on the fight. What's the problem? Who do you want to fight? I don't know. It doesn't matter. He invited me, Dave. You know what's funny about this? I'm here seeing him. Yeah. You know, every time I see him, he terrorizes me about fighting. I just saw a clip just came up on my Instagram yesterday about when you hit Ray Lewis. Yeah. You remember that? Yeah. This is the point, Dan. That's why they have weight classes. Yeah. I knew you were going to say that. Yeah. When you're playing in a league, you know, there's no weight classes.

38:57So you have no choice but to go against who you got. When's your last fight? I mean, shoot. I'll whip his ass the other night. My last fight was 2021, but I've still been in the gym training. I haven't stopped just waiting on my opportunity. How old are you now? Age is just a number. Dana is like when I'm dating. That's what I tell them. Dana, my body feels like I'm 23. I just want an opportunity. You know, maybe at the spear. Dana, this fight.

39:29Shannon Sharpe:Because one thing we know about you in UFC, you're going to put the best against the best. It ain't no ducking and dodging. It ain't no, well, I don't want to fight this guy. Look, you want a chance at the belt? You got to fight this guy. Ain't no ducking and dodging. Well, I want to be the A side. I want to be the B side. I want to walk out first. I want to walk out last. Ain't none of that. When you started Zuffer boxing, you said, look, the best is going to fight the best. That's the only way to have it. How did this fight come about between Garcia and Ben? So these guys have been talking back and forth for a long time.

40:00and uh you know we dove in we we signed ben and uh i i like i like ben a lot he's a great kid yes he's a hard worker and and he's a he's a legit he's one of the most professional guys i've ever worked with in combat sports and i feel like he's a kid that you can build a business around right you know can he beat garcia who knows i mean that's what we love about this business you know is on Saturday night, all the smack talk and all the things that have gone on all go out the window and the fight happens. And then Garcia is, I was just telling these guys over here, I would have never dreamed this growing up because I was such a huge boxing fan and who knew I would have ended up in UFC.

40:42So my kids have only grown up with UFC. Correct. And I didn't take my oldest son to a boxing match until he was 19. But one night I called him and I'm like, hey, what are you guys doing this weekend? And he was in college in San Diego. he says, me and all the boys are home, we're watching the Garcia fight. So when people always talk about how many social media followers he has, it's because unlike all the other guys in boxing, this kid relates to the younger demographic. Correct. And you have to have that. I mean, it's big. So if he can win in spectacular fashion, I mean, Garcia's got the potential to be the biggest superstar in the sport.

41:19He does. And then if Ben can beat him, you know, Not only will he be a superstar in the UK, but he also can be a big star.

41:29Shannon Sharpe:Dana, the thing that I like about Ryan Garcia, he'll fight. He fought Tank. He fought Roley. He fought Devin. He's fighting Conor Benn. He ain't ducking nobody. You can say what you want to say. Well, he's not as skilled as this one. He's not as skilled as that one. The one thing that you can't say, that he's ducking anybody. You got that right. He is, and when we reached out to him to sign this fight, absolutely wanted to do the fight, you know, and both of these guys have been great to work with. So, hey, listen, man, I haven't been in the MGM in a long time. I'm back in the MGM. We're here, you know, at Radio Row here.

42:05People are talking about boxing again. And you take two young, good-looking, charismatic guys like this that don't like each other, and more importantly, on paper, stylistically, you know it's going to be a good fight. and we got more people talking about boxing than in the last 25 years. You know what? You've been in the combat world for a very long time. You understand styles make fights. You have two good characters, one that's a little bit more fun. You know, you relate to the younger generation. Then you have another that's very professional in his approach when it comes to fighting, and Conor Ben, are you allowed, since you're the one steering the ship, are you allowed to have a favorite in this fight?

42:40And who do you think will win? Are you even allowed to say that before I ask? This is the best thing that I can give you guys on this. Crawford, who I have a lot of respect for as a fighter and as somebody who is knowledgeable about the sport of boxing, he went and spent a week with Conor Bennon, came out of camp and said, that kid's not a 3-1 underdog. Wow. Yeah, so I'll leave it at that. That makes sense. You know what? I'm glad. You know, he just said something to me. He said a key word. He said Bud.

43:11Shannon Sharpe:Yeah. Now, there was an interaction between Bud and Boots. this would be another mega fight for you yeah the stuff of boxing is it is there any chance we can get that in the future i think that this is what i believe if if i went to crawford yeah the right fight yes crawford would fight yeah i think crawford would but there's a whole lot of guys out there that's the right fight right and there are a whole lot of guys out there that would be jumping to to to mix it up with him i mean but but bud tweeted at boots and said as fans that I love boxing. Would y 'all want to see me come out of retirement and fight Bud?

43:44Yeah. We all said yes. And Jerron Boots Ennis came behind him and said 100 % we love that. A thousand percent. Huh?

43:50Shannon Sharpe:He said a thousand percent, didn't he? Oh, yeah. A thousand percent, yes. But I'm just, I'm not, you know. No, no, I love it. Yeah. He's a matchmaker now, too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, Dana, Dana, with all the success that you've had, what still motivates you, bro, to keep going? I'm sorry, what's the question? Out of all the? Out of all the success that you've had with boxing, UFC, what motivates you to keep going? This weekend? Yeah. So I always think about how much bigger can this be? Right. And the answer is 8 billion. There's 8 billion people in the world, right? Like, I say this all the time.

44:32The NFL is a fucking monster. It's an absolute machine, right? And I don't care if you're not like a big boy. Everybody right now is so excited that it's NFL season again. Like even me and my buddies have been talking about it and all this shit. And they're monsters, man. And for the first time, like my competition now is the NFL, the NBA, Major League Baseball, and the NHL. Now, the NFL are such animals that I don't know this for a fact, but I know this for a fact. When I did an$8 billion deal with Paramount, the next day at the NFL headquarters, they all got in a room and said, there was$8 billion out there and we didn't get it.

45:17Damn. We want that money. We're coming after that money.

45:20Shannon Sharpe:So I love it. They won in 2030 because their new TV contract is coming up daily. You know. 100%. And, you know, they'll start doing games on Tuesday, Wednesday. They don't have one on Wednesday. They had one last night. We got one tonight. It's coming. got another one tonight you know here's the problem herein lies the problem in my opinion with the nfl and me as a fan the television product of the nfl is incredible every game is on tv on sunday where nobody has nothing to do you're laying around and you're flipping the games that you don't even care about but you know it's it's a great television product yeah i don't feel the same way about the live product when i go to a game traffic is crazy you know you get there it's kind of weird because half the field has the sun on it the other half doesn't i you know if you want to use the bathroom it's a night it's just it's not a great live experience in my opinion yes i tell people that all the time dana it's better to watch i'd rather watch the game on television than watch it in live me too so then when you know they're trying to branch out there they're in australia right now um you know these guys in these other countries i think to go to a game like you go to one game it's like oh the nfl is coming so it's something cool to see like if the world cup comes here you want to see something but they're never going to be invested in the teams you know what i mean they don't care about new england or you know la teams um but fighting fighting works everywhere and everybody gets it and what i've proven over the last 25 years for example in boxing in the old days you had to have vegas or atlantic city because that's where all the money was right absolutely yes if you went to new york you better have a puerto rican or if you went to LA you better have a Mexican yeah right otherwise you couldn't go anywhere else yeah right so I was in Philadelphia a couple weeks ago with a Russian Muslim and an Irish kid as the main event we broke the record at the arena I mean we do this everywhere we go right my point is is that fighting works everywhere and Saturday night I have Noche UFC in Arizona which is sold out I'll be at that fight, then I'm going to fly straight to Vegas to the sold-out fight here.

47:29Two fights in two different sports on the same night in two different states. How much more can I do, and how much higher can I take it? I just went to Serbia and did a fight for the first time. The Serbia fight sold out in 15 minutes. The arena sold out in 15 minutes. So my point is I love to keep pushing what the ceiling is on this business.

47:55Shannon Sharpe:They say nothing unites us like sports. You and Oscar, you had your battles. How were y 'all able to set aside your differences and say, let's make this fight happen? Well, we never realized how important sports really were till COVID. I think you take things like sports for granted until they all go away. I mean, I was willing to watch golf during, I would watch anything during COVID, right? So sports are very important. Oscar and I will never settle our differences. Come on, Dana. Listen, you guys tell me if I'm right or wrong. So me and Oscar were cool, and me and Oscar could have been considered friends at one time.

48:33So he would put on fights, and I would promote his fights. Hey, Oscar's got a boxing match tonight at HBO, this and that. Then I'm doing a fight, you know, the fight with Conor and Floyd. and Oscar De La Hoya goes on this press tour telling people not to watch the fight. I remember that. You know what I mean? Yes. So, you know, he's just not my kind of guy, and he's never going to be my kind of guy, and there's no reason for he and I to ever try to, you know, when somebody shows you who they are, believe him. Hello. I believe him. Yes. He's a douchebag.

49:06Shannon Sharpe:I believe him. You do realize, like, after this fight, Ryan Garcia's a free agent. No. After this fight, De La Hoya has him for one more. One more fight? Yeah. De La Hoya has him for two more fights. De La Hoya has him for this one and then one more. I have a question. Everything you do, you do it with a bang. This fight going on, this is a bang. This is an oh my God, no matter what I'm doing, I got to be in front of my TV to watch this fight. All you allowed is to give us a little insight on what may be next as the next big fight that you're putting on. And how about this, brother? You guys want to talk about, you know, the ceiling for combat sports and building boxing back up again.

49:47No pay-per-view. Yes. So both of these fights are for the price of, you know, your subscription that you already have, right? So when you think about that, not to mention a fact, so when we were on ESPN, you had to pay for ESPN Plus. Then you had to pay for the pay-per-view. And realistically, that's all that was on ESPN Plus at the time. On Paramount +, you get all the movies, TV shows, plus you get all UFC fights, and now you're going to get all these boxing events. It's just there's never been a better time to be a combat sports fan, and this platform is going to help us grow both of these businesses over the next seven years.

50:26Man, Dana, what you doing tonight? I have meetings for the next 40 a.m.

50:33Shannon Sharpe:I thought we could go get some blackjack in. I like your style. Now, have you ever played Baccarat? I haven't. I hear about it. I got the cologne, though. I got the cologne. So you don't really do blackjack anymore, or Baccarat's your new thing? You can win way more money on Baccarat, and it's more of a 50-50 game. Hold on, how much I was on? You can lose more, too, though, David. Oh, yeah. Well, that's gambling, baby. Baccarat, the one you can bet black or red, right? Yeah, it's blue or red. But it's like a 50-50 game. Are you the player? Are you the bank? Bank or player, exactly. So how much do I need to bring to kind of see some value or return?

51:15Whatever you're willing to lose is what you bring. Whatever you're willing to lose.

51:19Shannon Sharpe:He's talking about coming to the table with$200. Yeah. Tell him stay in there and roll. It'll still be fun. What table? The quarter slot? You come with me, you can bet whatever you want on the table. If you guys really want to hook up, I'd love to hook up and play with you. Yeah. Yeah. But you still go to Red Rocks, or where are you playing now? I don't know. We'll figure it out. Where are you guys staying at? Here. Yeah? Okay. Well, you already know. I live here, so. Yeah. Okay, yeah. I keep forgetting you live here, actually. How do you like it, Vegas? You like it? I love it. Great city, right?

51:48I love it. It is. It is.

51:50Shannon Sharpe:It's low-key. People don't bother you. I get to move around. So true. I love it. Especially if you're on the Strip. You would think that it would be more, but people on a Strip, pitch are here and there, but everybody's cool, and everybody does their thing. It's a great town. I don't really only come down to the script when I have to do stuff like this or have tape in my show. But other than that. You're Summerlin or Henderson? Summerlin. Yep. Good call. Yeah. You don't play poker anymore? I never played poker. You never poker. I don't have patience for poker. It is. That's a patient man's game, and I have no patience.

52:20Shannon Sharpe:And you've got to stay focused. You've got to reel tails. It's just so much going on. Because you've got to pay attention to the other guys at the table and see their betting strategy and what they do. Are they bluffing? It's too much. I like blackjack. Do you play poker, though? Have you played? I have played. I have played. But I like blackjack and I do craps. Yeah, craps is fun. Yeah. You know, craps is fun when you get a bunch of your boys together. This is what me and my friends do. After we already win, we go to the craps table and just sort of play and goof around. Craps is a fun game, though.

52:50You take the whole table up or you like playing with other people? Yo, I love other people playing. Yeah, yeah. It's fun. The more the merrier. And then you get some guys. Craps is all about the dice getting hot. If the dice get hot and if you got a guy that's a shooter, there's nothing better than that. And it's fun as hell.

53:06Shannon Sharpe:Absolutely right. I'm ready. And you moved to Vegas during like the hottest summer of all time. It was, Dana. When I got here, the day I got here, it was 126 degrees. I said, what the hell have I got myself into? I started telling them, put the furniture right back on the truck. Exactly. It was a rough summer. I'm going back. I'm going back. Any big UFC announcements? Got anything you want to announce about UFC? You got anything coming up? Can we get John Jones and Ghanu? Listen, Ghanu is on my Oscar De La Hoya list, okay? Come on, Dana. Yeah. For the opportunity to fight John. Look at the history of Francis and Ghanu and the other companies he's been with, you know, since he's a bad guy, man.

53:55He's a bad guy, and I'm at a point in my life where I just don't want to do business with bad guys. You know what I mean? I just don't.

54:04Shannon Sharpe:Well, who can John fight? Me? I mean, Cyril Ghosn, he ran through the guy at the White House, and John Jones ran through him after laying off for years and went through Cyril Ghosn like he was me. John Jones is the baddest dude to ever walk the faces of the earth. He's different, man. He is. He's different. He's a stone-cold killer. People always bust my balls when I say it. Jon Jones is a, and not just a stone-cold killer. That guy's dark. Yeah. He's dark. Hey, but what makes him great, though, Dana? What makes Jon Jones so great? Jon Jones is obviously physically talented. He comes from a family of freaks, right?

54:47Physical freaks. Two brothers play the NFL. Well, they say he had a sister who passed away, and they say the sister was better than all of them right the sister used to beat the shit out of like their sister was supposedly incredibly talented so he comes from a very talented family um and he uh he's got that killer instinct man he's got there's a there's a video online where him and daniel cormier are in separate rooms daniel cormier is no punk yeah daniel Cormier is a bad dude whom I respect, too. And, you know, they weren't on camera, they thought, you know, because they weren't live. And they could hear each other.

55:28And DC says, I ought to come over there and spit in your face. And he goes, and Jon Jones says, you know, if you ever did that, I'd kill you. And he says, you couldn't. He says, no, I'm telling you, I'll kill you if you ever spit in my face. And like this whole thing, and you don't not believe Jon and what he's saying. and one of my favorite videos too online there's some big dude that shows up at a um an appearance that john is doing and he starts yelling shit at john and heckle him i don't know what their past experience is but john you can tell gets very awkward like oh god this is happening this guy's yelling shit at me or whatever then he says something about his and this big dude's trying to push in past everybody.

56:13Then he says something about John's brothers. And as soon as he mentions his brothers, John walks around from behind the counter, and his whole face and demeanor changes. And he says to the security guys, do not hold him back. Do not hold him back. I got fucking goosebumps telling you guys this story. I'm telling you, this guy's a stone-cold fucking killer, man.

56:32Shannon Sharpe:Ilya Tapura. Now he came back on social media, says, we're back. Then he took a beating. I did not see this coming. I had Gaethje on, and Gaethje says, I'm going to walk through him. He says, I'm going to mess that pretty face up. He's not going to look the same when I'm done. Everybody says that, Dana. I didn't expect him to do what he did to Tappuro. Right. Were you surprised that he did what he did to Tappuro? He was a 5-1 underdog, and, you know, on the White House lawn, on America's 250th birthday, you know, all that stuff. I mean, you couldn't write a script like that. If you wrote that script, you'd call bullshit on it.

57:07But, you know, he did it. And when you have a guy like Justin Gaethje who has that one-punch knockout power, but he literally picked him apart. It wasn't even about one punch. Picked him apart, busted him up, and completely controlled the entire fight. So it was impressive. The great position that we're in right now that everybody keeps asking me, is he going to rematch Gaethje or is he going to fight Patty Pimblitt? Well, let me tell you this, boys. It's a good problem to have because either way that plays out, it's incredible.

57:36Shannon Sharpe:Yeah, Gaethje. Which one beat Patty? Was it Gaethje that beat Patty? Because I saw that fight. Yes. I mean, it wasn't close, though, Dana. Yeah. And Patty's been running through people. So what happened was in that fight, too, you know, Patty Pimlet gained more followers in that loss than in his last win, which was incredibly spectacular. Right. Because people realized what a dog and how tough he really was and what a chin he has. and and and i always say this about and this was sort of my philosophy going into uh the ufc business when we bought it i noticed that arturo gatti kept signing hbo deals even when he lost you know why because when we stay home on saturday night there's a lot of things forget the cost of the fight right the pay-per-view or whatever it was back in the day more importantly you guys have shit to do on saturdays right you got to take your girl out you got to take your kids you got things you know just to invest a saturday night is a big deal yes and when you invested a saturday night in an arturo gotti fight you were never disappointed when you turned the tv off people want to see guys fucking go to war you watched him when it'll three fights against mickey ward mickey yeah even even when he fought for like lord florid geez but he the one thing you knew he came to fight he's gonna give you everything hey he's gonna give you everything he had it It might not have been much that night, but he gave it to you.

58:59So true. So true.

59:01Shannon Sharpe:So what's next for you? This weekend. I got to get through this week. It's the difference between trying to talk to your friends over the music at a bar and having dinner where you can actually hear each other. Between getting food delivered and cooking something you know she's going to love. It's the difference between a rough nicotine pouch and On Plus nicotine pouches with Nico Silk Mash. No corners, no rough edges. Just the softest pouch on the planet. On Plus Nicotine Pouches. It's the difference that changes everything. Not all varieties available in all geographies. Warning, this product contains nicotine.

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1:01:39Shannon Sharpe:Do you ever get a chance to, do you ever decompress? Because you got a UFC fight day every damn week. You got the series going on. You got something going on every damn week. When do you get a chance to say, you know what? Tuesday. I got home Tuesday. For five days, I do a motorcycle trip every year. Where'd you go? I went to Maine and rode motorcycles. You didn't ride from here to Maine, though, did you? No, no. I was going to say, you out your damn mind. You would be right. What kind of bike do you ride, Damon? Harleys. We are Harleys. Yeah, yeah. So we went there. I drank whiskey, smoked cigars, rode my motorcycle, and then right back into fight week, I'm ready to roll.

1:02:19I was going to say, you rode a damn motorcycle from Vegas to Maine.

1:02:23Shannon Sharpe:You are hot. You are not wrong, my friend. Dana, appreciate you, man. Appreciate your time. Good to see you. Thank you, boys. All right, boss. Hey, I got an idea for you, too, all right? Yeah, let's talk. I have an idea for you. I have an idea for you. Yeah. Yeah, Nightcap family. We're going to get a fight coming, baby. Let's go. Good to see you, Dana, man. Have a good one. Hey. No, we get, hey, seriously, we'll get together and go, go. Yes. Yes. We got a mic coming up. I want to play out, brother. All right. What are you doing? What's up, baby? Dana, you up late, though, Dana. I need to get some sleep.

1:02:59Shannon Sharpe:You a, you a, you a lady. You a night owl. Dana, Dana White joins us.

1:03:11Shannon Sharpe:Oh. Okay. We got a very special guest, the Maison Von Howder. He's 12-0, 9-0 by KO. Oh, there he is right here.

1:03:31Shannon Sharpe:What are you doing, my boy? You good? What's happening? What's up, bro? How you doing? Good. Best to meet you, bro. Thanks.

1:03:38Shannon Sharpe:All right. 12-0, 9 by KO. Before we start. Yes. I know you two, but I don't know you. Basketball, Joe Johnson. Joe Johnson. My bad, my bad. Put your microphone a little closer to you. Good. I'm good. We good? How you doing, bro? I'm doing great, man. How you doing? It's been a while since we had a great, great heavyweight boxing champ. You the next one? Yeah. People need to stop looking. I'm already here. You're here? Yeah. What about Joe plays basketball? Ocho and I play football. Normally American. Those are the sports that we gravitate towards. What was it about boxing that made you gravitate towards that?

1:04:19I played football when I was younger, but also you guys, like, it's a team sport. Right. And you can lose and not even be your fault. Right. And I'm, like, competitive. I don't like losing. So if I lose, I'd rather be my fault and know, like, I did something wrong than know, like, oh, the defense didn't do this, didn't stop this man, or the quarterback was sucking today. Then it's like, pause. That was crazy. But then, yeah.

1:04:43Shannon Sharpe:So I'd rather lose than be my fault. That's why I chose boxing. Right. Your fight, you're on a massive, massive platform. You're fighting on the Garcia-Ben fight. What is that? What is that? Have you thought about how your life could potentially change if you come out here and look spectacular? No, I take everything one step at a time. So my main goal is just make sure I stop this dude. Not even stop him, just beat him in a beautiful fashion to where everybody knows who I am. And after then, then I'll think about that. But my main goal is just Saturday. Getting into the fact, obviously, the heavyweights, we go way back.

1:05:15Shannon Sharpe:There hadn't been a lot of great heavyweights from the 90s and all. You've got to go back to the great heavyweights. You go back to the 70s. You go back to Muhammad Ali, the Ken Norton, the George Foreman, the Joe Frazier, all those guys. Who do you study? Who have you studied that says, okay, I kind of like his style. There's some things I can take from him to add to my game. From back then or just now? Now. Now Usyk. Usyk and Ajit Kabeau. Oh, okay. Them people that I can study and learn from. Usyk's his movement. Ajit's his body work and the way he gets inside. I like that. I like that. Hey, tell me, what matters most to you, bro?

1:05:52Shannon Sharpe:is it speed, power, ring IQ? Like, what matters most to you in boxing? I can rank them. It goes ring IQ, power, and speed. Oh, okay. Because you need to know what to do in there on your own. Facts. Because sometimes you can't even hear your coaches until you get back to the corner. Right. And you got to be able to hurt them. If you can't hurt them, they might be able to just take it and keep walking down, especially in the heavyweight division. Hey, so what goes through your head when you're in a fight and you do get hurt, you know what I mean, and you have to recoup? What goes through your mind in that situation?

1:06:23Shannon Sharpe:When a guy gets a good shot on you, like, you know what I mean? It takes you a little minute to recover. You just got to look at how bad you hurt. Right. If you hurt real bad, take the knee. If you're not, you can fight back. You can either hold, you can stay up. But it depends on how bad you hurt on what you should do. Right. Right. But can't you transfer speed to power? Because a lot of times the shots that you don't see, those are the ones that hurt you. Because even though it's not one of those one hitter quitters, I mean, he catches. and you don't expect it, it's like, damn. Is two of y 'all motherfuckers here?

1:06:55Shannon Sharpe:Two of y 'all in here? They could for sure transfer speed or power, but also you want to hit hard enough so the points they do see hurts them. Even though they see it, it still hurts them. That's the power you want to have. Right. So how long have you been boxing? I've been boxing since I was five. Wow. Five. Because Conor Ben said he really didn't start fighting until he was like 17. Nah. It was, like I said, I hated losing. Right. I remember I was playing football when I was young, real young. Bro, I was just mad I lost. I drove back. I was quiet. I was all angry. And I seen UFC. I watched that with my pops.

1:07:29I was like, let me do that because it's only one-on-one. Right. They put me into boxing. I mean, I'm glad they did. I can imagine kicking the choke down. But, yeah. Right. What's your long-term vision, your long-term goal? Obviously, you are boxing now full-time on the Garcia-Bin card. But how do you foresee the future playing out for you? What would be your end goal for you when it comes to boxing? My end goal, I want to be the greatest of all time in boxing. That's just what I want to push for. Right. And I want to be a great. So champion as soon as I can, wherever my team has me. But I want to be the greatest.

1:08:01That's my goal.

1:08:02Shannon Sharpe:I like that. You're fighting Acapajori. He's knocked out 18 of his opponents. So you know he has power to get people out of the ring. What type of fight can we expect? Knockout, but it's not going to be me. Wow. So we're going to dynamite. Yeah. But you know, that is what the casual fans like. You know, look, the hardcore fans, the aficionados, they like the Ocho, he's aficionado. He likes the sweet science. The box hadn't going to get hit. Yes, but those are the people who don't buy tickets. The casual fans buy tickets. Those are the ones that don't know what the hell they're looking at. Those are the ones that's coming and spending$10 ,000,$15 ,000 for front row tickets.

1:08:44Shannon Sharpe:those are the ones that's filling the arenas. When it's all said and done, how would you like to be remembered? And I know you said you want to be the best, the greatest of all time, but what's in the short, let's take not long term, let's take short term. I want to be remembered for my punches and the way I punch. For me being 6 '5 and having my inside game, being able to punch inside, outside, just the different type of styles I have, that's what I'm being known for. Right. You put punches together because that's what Yusick can do. used to put punches together. Benavidez, and what's the other guy named that throws a barrage of punches at the heavyweight?

1:09:20Shannon Sharpe:Because normally heavyweights, one, two, one, two, they don't want to tire themselves out. It requires oxygen to fuel a big body. And so they want to reserve and keep some of that in reserve. But you're one of those guys that likes to throw punches. I like to hurt people. So I know the more punches I throw, the more hurt he'll be. That's just how I am. Man, that's awesome. That's awesome, man. I like that. My God, thank you for joining us, bro. Wish you best of luck, man. Aw, man, it's going to be great. We're definitely going to see you fight on Saturday, bro. We'll be in attendance, man. I appreciate you, bro.

1:09:49Hey, let me know if you want to spar, too. I got you. Let me know. You spar heavyweight? Huh? You spar heavyweight? Yeah. Excuse me. I am a heavyweight. I got you. I'm dead.

1:10:02Shannon Sharpe:Man, so he like to put punches together. I like the fact that he said one of his fader fighters is Usyk. Because Usyk, as big as he is, even though he's a heavyweight, he fight like he 154, 168. Yeah. You know? I mean, his footwork is, I mean, being able to fight inside, fight outside, fight at range, fight at distance. He's really good. He's really good. Chad want to know, did y 'all get a two-for-one special on them tight-ass, high-ass shorts y 'all wear? Huh? What? What you mean, man? My shorts too short? They say Ocho and Joe Dukes. Y 'all from Kid to Daisy? Chad, y 'all think my shorts too short?

1:10:38Shannon Sharpe:Ocho Dukes. Joe Dukes. I'm in Vegas, man. I just felt I had these legs out since I'm in Vegas. You know, hey. People don't know, but it's 150 degrees outside. You ain't outside, though. I know. You ain't been outside. I would have to smoke with my cigar. And this Adidas. You know, Adidas, you know, they gave me this. Yeah, they make a monger. I got my little, um, trying to look like. Instead of the five inch, you should have got the seven inch short. Yeah, hey, hey. And my skin sticking to this leather, too. Yeah. This a golf outfit. Huh? This a golf outfit. Damn. It can't golf. Yeah, it can't golf at all.

1:11:11Joe, I wanted some light, you know, light fabric. I got you. You feel me? I know you're going to put it on. And the chat need to stop looking at my legs, too. Man, Lord have mercy. What happened? During the open-medium portion of practice, Tua touched his back and sat down on the grass briefly during the individual drill Thursday. It's unclear exactly what happened.

1:11:34Shannon Sharpe:Uh-oh. And it seemed to throw again after the media only to get to watch a small portion. Cooper Rush was said to be out there practicing with the first team offense. Doesn't know what happened to him. Oh.

1:11:47Shannon Sharpe:Damn. To make a long story short, guys, two of them was out there at practice during the media portion, which they don't really do a whole lot. Right, right. He grabbed his back. He left. Cooper Rush took the rest of the reps. It's been speculated that Cooper Rush took the rest of the refs with the first team offense, and we don't know what happened to Tua. Wait, before practice even started? Before practice even started. That ain't good, fellas. But, you know, that's his history, his injuries. What's the day? Today is Thursday. Friday, Saturday, Sunday. We got a game in three days. Yes. And now you have something wrong with your back on the Thursday practice, which is very important because the Thursday practice is go line.

1:12:29It's with the meat and potatoes. Yeah, meat and potatoes, you know, inside the 30 going in. Yes. Goal line. Red zone. I mean, there's something happening Wednesday that we don't know about. Maybe.

1:12:41Shannon Sharpe:He just, from what's being reported, it says, during the open media portion of practice, Tua, quarterback of the Falcons, touched his back and sat down on the grass briefly during individual drills. It is unclear exactly what happened. He didn't seem to throw again after, but the media only gets to watch a small portion of practice. Cooper Rush was said to be out there all of practice with the first team offense doesn't know what happened to Tua. That's a bad sign, fellas. The season ain't even started yet. Well, it started, but they hadn't even played their first game, and you having to deal with this already, Ocho?

1:13:15Shannon Sharpe:There it is. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It's all, yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:13:22Shannon Sharpe:Yeah, all right. Like a nerve or something, huh? Yeah. Like a little nerve, especially when you go down like that. Yeah, sciatica or something. Yeah, anything that take you down to your knees, Uncle Joe? Yeah. It got to be some type of nerve. I hope he's okay. What a season in three days. Man, come on. Hold on, hold on. So with him going down like this, season hadn't started for the Falcons. And you mean, tell me, y 'all think this man's going to make it through a whole? No, I don't. Oh, okay. I never thought he was going to make it through a whole season. When's the last time he made it through a complete season without being hurt?

1:13:49Shannon Sharpe:I think that one that went to the playoffs, Ocho. That might have been the only one. That Tyreek Hill year when him and Waddle went crazy? Yes, yes. I think that's the only one. But he limped into the NFL. Remember, Ocho, he had that hip. Alabama. Alabama. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Before that, he had the ankle. He had the tightrope surgery. Yeah. It's being reported that he had several surgeries that never got reported. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what people are saying, is that some people that was close to Alabama said Tua had a couple of surgeries that never got reported. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what people allege to have happened.

1:14:25Shannon Sharpe:Right. He lived in with a very, very serious injury. He's not the biggest of men. No. No. He's a very – and he's not a muscular guy. And he's not mobile either. No, he's not mobile, which is – that's a recipe for disaster. So if you Matt Ryan, do you go out there and are you still looking for a quarterback? You're going to need a quarterback. Without a quarterback, man, them weapons ain't worth nothing. I'm going to just keep it real. Matt Ryan looking for a quarterback. He's not only looking for a quarterback. I believe he's looking for a quarterback to replace two hand pennies. Yeah. Injuries.

1:15:00Shannon Sharpe:It is hard to win in the league if your quarterback is injury prone. It just feels, though, Joe. Because I got to be able to go to bed at night and be okay. I hope he's ready to play on Sunday. Oh, man. I mean, what you think Matt Ryan thinking? What you think Arthur Blake thinking? He see this man, nobody touches him. Yeah. And he grabs his back like that and he takes a knee. Yeah. You got your head down like, man, this ain't going to be good. No. For the duration of the season and for long term for us as Falcons. Yeah. It's not going to be good. That's tough. That's tough. Listen, I understand going down and missing maybe the beginning of practice.

1:15:41Yes. But Cooper Rush to take the entirety of Thursday's practice, knowing we got a game Sunday, something ain't right.

1:15:46Shannon Sharpe:Well, when you see him go down like that, the likelihood that he was going to practice again that day is not very likely. Because he went down like somebody actually shot him. Yeah. So he was in immense pain for him to grimace like he did, to take a knee like he did, get up gingerly like he did. Yeah. Ain't gonna have to take some injections or something. That's something to do with some nerve. It gotta be a nerve. Yeah. That's the only time. Hey, we can move on to the next one? Or you want us to stay?

1:16:19Oh, yeah. I can't wait to this fight.

1:16:24Shannon Sharpe:The Clippers have listed Bradley Bill number three. the jersey that normally belonged to Chris Paul. Chris Paul said the franchise told him they will retire his number when he was sent home last season. Hold on. Didn't the Clippers and Chris Paul leave on bad terms? They sent Chris Paul home. Chris Paul said they told him that we're going to retire this jersey. You just said they ended on bad terms, right? Yeah. So you know things change when you end on bad terms, right? But they told him even at the end of the bad terms, when they were sending him to all, hey, we still going to retire your jersey.

1:17:01Never that. Joe, excuse me, unk, you know, in your past, when things ended on bad terms with somebody, were y 'all still cordial after?

1:17:10Shannon Sharpe:No. I ain't tell nobody I was going to do that. I ain't been to hold you and tell somebody. Even though we broke up, we can still go out on dates. No, we not giving, we not. No, absolutely not. Hey, hey, it's respect, though. Ocho, respect of the legends or the guys who came before you and what he's done for the franchise. Come on, bro. Now, if you can go in there and you tell me, look, we're going to retire your jersey, yes, we hadn't been on the greatest of terms. Right. But if you tell me that I got your word, now I look up, now you got somebody wearing my number, it's a little different, man.

1:17:44Shannon Sharpe:Maybe they're going to retire it after Bradley Beal. That defeated the purpose of this. Somebody to award after this. Bradley Beal has always been number three throughout his career, right? Yeah. Okay. Do you even want to feel those footsteps? Do you even want to put yourself in those shoes? He's not even thinking like that. If I wore number three my entire life and I get a chance to wear three, I'm not thinking about the guy who wore three before me. I'm not thinking about that. I'm thinking this here fits me. This is who I am. So I think that's what Bradley Beal is going with. Now, did he talk to the CP before?

1:18:16Shannon Sharpe:I don't know. I don't know the relationship that they have. But, hell, it's within his right. They gave it to him. Exactly. They could have said no. Yeah. Because it's going to be hard press for me to see somebody in Cleveland get 23. Hard press. Ain't nobody getting that. That's my point. And I understand that Chris Paul is not the level of player. But Chris Paul, you can make it a case that Chris Paul is the greatest clipper. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you Clem or Bob McAdoo, you know. I mean, they had a chance to get Moses Malone, but that's neither here nor there. But I can— We talking about one of the greatest point guards in the game.

1:18:52Shannon Sharpe:Yes, yeah. Top three, top three. He definitely top five. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I believe he's a top five point guard. Yeah, no question. And so with that being said, and this is not a knock on Bradley Beal. Bradley Beal went up there and he asked for the number. They gave it to him. But I'm trying to – but – That's a situation. I'm sure CP3 ain't excited about that. Oh, no. Oh, no. Well, it depends on whether Bradley Beal show up. What if he show up and show out, which we haven't seen in a very long time from him. Yeah, the likelihood of that happening. But what happens if he does this year wearing that three?

1:19:26Okay, you know what? If I'm Chris Paul, you know what? I don't feel so bad now. Because Bradley Beal, boy, you cutting up, boy. You're doing that three justice now.

1:19:34Shannon Sharpe:The highest honor a team can bestow a player is to retire his number. Yeah, I agree. You don't get any higher than that. Now, what's higher than that is getting a statue. But to retire your number, they say, you know what? We thank so much of you, Ocho. Nobody else is ever going to wear 85 at Cincinnati. Yeah. Yeah. Y 'all thank that much, Ocho? Yeah, yeah. Y 'all thank that much, Ocho Zico? Ocho Zico? Y 'all thank that much, Ocho Zico? Hey, they should. They should. They should. They ain't got to put no statue. I'll buy that and put that in myself. Yeah. I mean, but that's an unbelievable honor.

1:20:06Shannon Sharpe:Yes. Because you realize that not a whole lot of teams, I mean, look, teams that happen like the Giants and stuff like that, they got players. They go back 100 years. So obviously they're going to have, but the Bengals came into existence. The Bengals and I are the same age. We 58. They came in in 1968. Yeah. I was born in 68. They ain't got a, they ain't had a whole lot of outstanding players. But for Ocho, Ocho is truly one of their top five players to ever, ever don a Bengals uniform. That's me. That's me. So they can say a whole lot of stuff about a whole lot of other things. But Ocho is one of.

1:20:45Shannon Sharpe:What's up, bro? How you doing? You good? What's that name? How you doing? Thank you.

1:20:52Shannon Sharpe:I'm going to let you pronounce because I don't want to butcher your last name. How do you say your name? Your first and last? Joy Opataya. Joy Opataya. Yeah. Okay. You're fighting on this card, 30-0, 23 KOs. Wow. Wow. 23 KOs? 23 KOs. Get in there, man. Thank you. Let's go. What's your weight class? Cruiserweight. Cruiserweight. so you got dynamite in your hands huh sometimes where you from originally well I'm a central coast boy from Watanabe in Australia I like it I like it the marseys like to fight arse arse arse

1:21:34Shannon Sharpe:how you feel man I feel good man I'm happy to be here and I'm crazy to be here sitting next to you guys seeing you guys on social media and stuff thank you man

1:21:45Shannon Sharpe:What can we expect from this fight? Because you're fighting a guy 28-3 with 12 KOs. What can we expect in this fight? Man, I'm expecting 12 hard rounds. You know, I know Mikhailovich. Mikhailovich, he's a world champion for a reason. You know, you don't fake your way to become a world champion, bro. It takes a lot of pain, sacrifice. and it's all on the line for both of us. You know, this fight either projects our career up or, you know, derails it, and we've got to build it back up. So, man, it's all on the line for both of us, bro, and I know that. So I'm willing to fucking go 12 rounds of war.

1:22:27Let's go. How deep?

1:22:29Shannon Sharpe:Wow. Because how hard was it for you to stay focused because it seemed like the fight was going to happen, that it wasn't going to happen, and it's going to happen, and it wasn't going to happen, and now it's going to happen. How hard was it for you to stay focused knowing that if the fight does happen, I need to be ready. No, we stay focused. This is the boxing game, and, you know, this on and off and the outside noise, this ain't new to us. Okay. You know, and, you know, I don't get too caught up in all the headlines, you know what I mean? I'm focused on the job. Yeah. You know, they call me to do my duty on a certain date, and it's my job to make sure I get it done.

1:23:04You know what I mean? I'm not chasing followers on Instagram and one-line fucking hits so people can like me. They like me because my skill and my work ethic. You know what I mean? And I'm setting a different standard here. I'm not chasing glamour and fame. When they see my last name, Opetal, they're going to say he was one of the best fighters to ever come out of his neck of the woods. Wow. I like it. I like it. How was your camp? How was camp? Are you going to this fight, you know, Saturday, completely healthy, or you have any nicks, little knacks, but you're good? Camp's camp, bro, you know.

1:23:42Fuck. Go good days, bad days. Yeah. What's a perfect camp? You know what I mean? Like, life still happens even though you're training. Yes, sir. Right. You know what I mean? You've got all these obstacles trying to weigh you down, and, bro, it's motivation to us. We keep pushing forward. It's always been hard for us.

1:24:01Shannon Sharpe:Yeah. You know, you don't see many boys where I'm from, around these neck of the woods, boys. Yeah, you know what I mean? You deserve to be here. We've earned our spot. You know, we've stayed fucking so motivated, and we're here for a purpose. Let's go. Where's camp at for you? Is camp in Australia, or do you go play? Because I always ask, I often wonder, where do a fighter that's not from the States, where do they go? Do you leave and go to a different location for your camp, or do you stay exactly where you are? So I'm originally from the Central Coast. I do a lot of my training in the Gold Coast.

1:24:31up in Queensland. But this camp, we went over to Thailand. We were over there for quite a while, about four weeks, and then we come here for the last two. So it's been a good camp, man. You know, we've been uncomfortable the whole time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everything's been hard. You know, the harder it is, the better. You know what I mean? We fucking, we want to be crawling out of that gym. Yeah. This guy ain't taking us nowhere. We don't already put ourselves, bro. Yeah. So let's go there. Let's find out who's the best. At Cruiserweight, I have players that I watch that inspired me at my craft to want to be the best, to nitpick and take bits and pieces from different receivers.

1:25:16At Cruiserweight, who are some fighters that inspire you, that you enjoy watching, that you can steal bits and pieces from to improve and add to your game? So, like you said, you pick little things. You know what I mean? My old man, he's been my coach since I was a little kid. So there's not a fighter that we watch and we go, fuck, you've got to fight like him. But we watch our fighter and you see the way he throws his hook? Yes. Add that. You see the way he gets an angle to his left? Add that. Yes. And you put all these little pieces and you find these. See that Keanu? See how he steps back? And then off a different fighter.

1:25:59and then, you know, you got fucking even the defense. See how he rolls with the punch like that? You add that and you try and build this perfect fighter and you take bit off that and, you know, and... Like you're going to build a bear. It's not about trying to fight like a specific person and obviously the way I throw a hook and the way someone else throws the hook is different, but I'm a visual learner. Yes. You know, me and my old man, he'd be like, you need a hook like this. and the way he's explaining the hook, I'm thinking, what's this crazy old man talking about? You can't throw a hook like that.

1:26:35But then when he shows me, he goes, come here, look. And then he'll show me the fight, show me someone throwing the hook, and I'll be like, fuck, that's what you mean. And then it just comes more natural. You know what I mean? So we've learned to sort of build this thing to our style where, you know, we've got sort of European footwork with a lead hand, and then we've got some fucking strong, you know, ironing the hooks. But at the same time, man, we're still trying to perfect it. You can still get better, and minimum mistakes is what we chase.

1:27:09Shannon Sharpe:Yeah. You're on the Garcia-Ben fight. There are going to be a lot of eyes on this fight. This is your opportunity for people. More people are going to watch you fight this fight right here than probably any other time because of the headline card. What can we expect? What can we expect? You say 12 hard rounds. But are we going to see the best open eye in this fight? Definitely, bro. I'm willing to just adapt and do what I need to do to win. You know,

1:27:37when you get to this level, it's a chess match mentally as well. So I'm ready to play chess for that 12 rounds. Play the game. Who can play it better? Who's willing to go deeper? So let's find out.

1:27:54Shannon Sharpe:You ready to fight any type of fight? Whether he comes out, look, because both of you, you got 23 KOs. He has 12 KOs. Is it going to be a fight? Is it going to be a boxing match? A brawl. Brawl. What are you prepared for? This is what I mean. I'm fit. I'm strong. We've taken bits from everything. I'm ready to fight on the front foot. And I'm ready to adapt on the back foot. I'm ready to fight in the pocket when I need to. You know, like, it's adapting to what you need to do. Yeah. If one plan ain't working, go to the next. If one plan ain't working, go to the next. He's making that mistake. You know, it's sitting here and saying, I'm going to do this.

1:28:32It's silly. You know what I mean? Yeah. But no matter how, I've got to get my hand raised at the end of the fight. How long have you been fighting?

1:28:40Shannon Sharpe:No, go ahead, go ahead. How long have you been fighting? My whole life. I come from a fourth generation fighter from my father's side and a third of my mom's. So fighting is in your blood. This is a family business. Right. Yeah. It's been passed down on me, bro. Yeah. Let's go. How do you deal with pressure or fear or anxiety before entering that ring? What goes through your mind before you make that ring walk? It's gotten to the point where it's like the thing that makes me like, fuck, I don't know if I should do it. I'm being like, fuck, I'm doing it now. Yeah, yeah. You know? I'll say it a bit, but, like, you're scared of heights, bro.

1:29:22Climb higher. Yeah. You're scared of the water, bro. Swim deeper. You know what I mean? Like, oh, fuck. This is the fight. Oh, what can happen? Oh, bro, fuck. You know what I mean? It brings the best out of you. Who knows what's going to happen? This is a fucking test. And then you come out a better man after it, bro. So this is where you'll grow. This is where champions are made in the uncomfortable spots. There you go. So let's fucking do it, boys. Let's go. I like that. I like that. I'm thinking about the nerves because before kickoff, I don't know if you can attest to this, before kickoff, before NFL game, I'm nervous.

1:30:01I got butterflies in my stomach. Joe, I'm not sure how basketball operates. I had an opportunity to box in 2021 on the Mayweather undercard. And that ring walk, I'm nervous. I'm scared. You know, not scared, but there was a certain fear because I'm in an uncomfortable atmosphere in a structured environment where it's not, oh, I'm not in the street now. Now it's actually boxing. and it wasn't until I got hit the first time that my body relaxed and calmed down. Nice. So I kind of get a... It's called leveling up. Yeah, yeah, I kind of get a sense of what you mean. Yeah, for sure, man. It's, um...

1:30:34Let's go to work, boys. Yeah. Let's go to work. We're here for a purpose. I'm meant to be here. Yeah. Let's fucking do this shit. I like it.

1:30:40Shannon Sharpe:Ja, open eye. Best of luck on Sunday. Thank you very much. Appreciate it, bro. You need a sparring partner, let me know. Bring him back, good luck. Yes, sir. Hey, you know what I like what he said? he said he'd been uncomfortable this whole camp. Yeah. That's the only way growth going to occur, fellas. Yes, sir. You know what I mean? Yeah. So, hey, I look forward to watching that young man get out there and do his thing. He look passionate. You can see it in his eyes, too. Absolutely. What? He said he's a fourth generation on his dad's side. Bad. And so that means his great-great-grandfather. What's right?

1:31:12Shannon Sharpe:Hey. You ain't got no choice but to fight. His great-grandfather. His great-grandfather. His father fought. Grandfather fought. And his great-grandfather fought. Hey. Hey, you had a chance to see him fight before? Uh-uh. Man, boy got dynamite, boy. Does he? Yeah, man. He got dynamite. He nice. He got dynamite. Boy, knuckles bulging out his head. He's got me taking it real serious, too, huh? Oh, yeah, you see, I heard him. It's like you've been punching. Very serious. Jeez. Man, I'm looking at that joker's hand. I'm like, what you been punching concrete for? What the hell? That man knuckles bulging out his hands, man.

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