With Jim Norton out for the day, friend of the show Phoenix Carnevale steps on up as a guest co-host for Monday’s episode of UFC Unfiltered alongside Matt Serra for chats with coach Plinio Cruz and rising UFC middleweight Joe Pyfer.

Matt and Phoenix waste no time by bringing coach Plinio Cruz on to the show to listen on as the former Brazilian heavyweight fighter discusses the brotherly dynamic he and former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira both have as coaches for former UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira.

Seeking to help Pereira become a two-division champion in a second sport, Cruz walks through the elements that make Alex’s upcoming light heavyweight title fight against Jiří Procházka a special matchup to sit atop the UFC 295 card at Madison Square Garden — the very same building where Pereira won both his UFC debut and middleweight title.

Then, Pennsylvania’s own Joe Pyfer joins the show to talk about how his rough upbringing shaped him into the fighter and man he is today before dropping a couple of names of top-15 middleweights he’d be interested in fighting to crack into the division’s rankings.

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