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UFC Shanghai goes down in the early morning hours on Saturday, and during Thursday night's weigh-ins, Brian Ortega appeared to be in rough shape ahead of his pivotal matchup with former bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling. While reports stated the fight was off, it will indeed take place at a catchweight of 153 pounds, despite Ortega looking horrible during his final staredown with Sterling. Should this fight go on?

Ahead of this weekend's UFC Fight Night event, MMA Fighting's Jed Meshew and Mike Heck preview the card, react to Ortega's weigh-in drama, and discuss the fight with Sterling. Additionally, they talk the light heavyweight main event between Zhang Mingyang and Johnny Walker, the stakes for the division that needs as much excitement as possible, the heavyweight featured bout between Sergei Pavlovich and Waldo Cortes-Acosta, and much more.

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On today's podcast, we break down the matchup between Gervonta Davis vs. Jake Paul, talk the criticism of Khamzat Chimaev's performance at UFC 319 and much more.

This is episode 266 of The Luke Thomas Live Chat.

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Sean Strickland is SUSPENDED! What does it mean for his hopes of becoming a champion again? I'll discus that and the PACKED middleweight division, which features three former champs in Strickland, Dricus du Plessis, and Israel Adesanya, and a whole bunch of young guys waiting for their shot. Speaking of whom, Reineir de Ridder has a path to the title, but what is it? I'll get into that, and then I'll make Dricus du Plessis an offer he can't refuse. Plus, Jon Jones did an interview half-drunk, my take on the latest pound-for-pound rankings, as well as my thoughts on Gable Steveson's foray into MMA.

CHAPTERS:

• Sean Strickland suspended (00:00)
• Middleweight title picture (08:14)
• RDR's path (14:02)
• DDP's wrestling holes (22:22)
• Jon Jones (32:13)
• Pound-for-pound rankings (40:40)
• Gable Steveson's MMA transition (48:52)

To support this program, please leave me a review on Apple Podcasts or submit a rating on my Spotify page.

Nouvelle journée, nouvelle dinguerie !

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On Episode 3,594, the guys had a UFC and PFL card to cover. They also had the main event fighters from UFC China, Johnny Walker and Zhang Mingyang.

Joel Pearl (@JoelPearl) & Cresta Starr (@CrestaTheeStarr) review TNA iMPACT! for August 21st, 2025.

• TNA Champion Trick Williams to open the show
• Frankie Kazarian vs. Jake Something
• The System (Moose & Brian Myers) & Matt Cardona vs. Mustafa Ali, Jason Hotch, & John Skyler
• Knockouts Gauntlet to determine the number one contender for the TNA Knockouts Title
• TNA Knockouts Champion Jacy Jayne to speak

This week we’re breaking down UFC Shanghai, headlined by Johnny Walker vs. Mingyang Zhang. We also dive into a high-stakes co-main event at 145 lbs.: Brian Ortega vs. Aljamain Sterling. Plus, Matt “The Mechanic” has to pay up on last week’s bet… which means eating a raw egg straight from one of Bill’s chickens!

Thanks for tuning in and supporting the show—pour yourself a drink, sit back, and enjoy the ride.

On today’s episode of Good Guy / Bad Guy, Chael & DC continue the conversation centered around the new UFC Middleweight champion, Khamzat Chimaev. Following his win vs Dricus Du Plessis, Khamzat told Chael that he should be the #1 Pound-4-Pound fighter in the UFC… Well, he came in at #4 this week, so do the guys believe that is the correct ranking or should he be higher? Khamzat Chimaev. Merab Dvalishvili. Kayla Harrison. These are just a few names that are UFC champions and their background is in wrestling. So that got DC + Chael thinking… Are we in the “era of the wrestler” in the UFC right now? Plus, what is the biggest fight the UFC can make right now; Khamzat vs Islam or Islam vs Ilia? Sticking with matchmaking, with two big fights booked at middleweight, who will come out the #1 contender? And, on the heels of the WWE x ESPN partnership announcement starting on September 20th with WWE Wrestlepalooza, WWE Superstar Bronson Reed joins the show!

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