With Jim Norton out for the day, the honorable Din Thomas swoops in to save Wednesday’s episode of UFC Unfiltered as a guest co-host alongside Matt Serra for chats with women’s strawweight Gillian Robertson and country music star Michael Ray!

Without Jim to steer the ship, Matt opens the show with his trademark Serra-style, beginning with a show-opening interview with Gillian Robertson that’s made even more interesting considering that Din Thomas has guided her MMA career since she was 16 years old.

Robertson wraps up the conversation by discussing her mindset as she inches closer to a showdown with 15th-ranked women’s strawweight Tabatha Ricci on the prelims of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Emmett vs. Topuria.

Shortly thereafter, country music star and devoted MMA fan Michael Ray joins the show to dish his two cents on the exciting matchups the UFC has booked for this summer while promoting the release of his “Dive Bars & Broken Hearts” six-song EP set to hit stores and streaming services this Friday.

Finally, Din and Matt conclude the show with picks for Saturday’s featherweight main event between Josh Emmett and Ilia Topuria, the women’s flyweight co-main event between Amanda Ribas and Maycee Barber, and a sleeper prelim scrap between welterweights Neil Magny and Phil Rowe.