The Brit Pack MMA Podcast

The first big UFC title fight of 2021 is upon us, and it should produce a cracker of a contest.

On this week’s show, we take a look at the upcoming welterweight title clash between former teammates Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns, who know each other well, but now face the test of defeating their former training partner to walk away with bragging rights, and the UFC welterweight championship belt.

We also take a look back at an eventful night at the UFC Apex at UFC Fight Night 184, as Alexander Volkov struck a hammer blow to Alistair Overeem’s hopes of a final heavyweight title shot before he retires. But while Volkov’s second-round finish of “The Reem” was impressive, it was trumped by a truly stunning knockout in the co-main event, as bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen delivered a crushing flying-knee KO to Frankie Edgar to stake his claim for a shot at the 135-pound strap.

Enjoy the show!

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonheadsport.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com

The fallout from UFC 257 rolls on as the UFC lightweight division continues to hang in the balance, and on this week’s show we attempt to navigate the tricky waters of what might come next at 155 pounds.

Common sense says that Dustin Poirier, fresh off his TKO win over Conor McGregor, should face either Charles Oliveira or Michael Chandler for the title, which will surely be relinquished by Khabib Nurmagmedov. But with Poirier seemingly set on a trilogy fight with McGregor, and McGregor’s camp calling for a third fight, but with the title on the line, nothing seems certain as we try to predict what’s next for the lightweight division.

We also take a look at matters at heavyweight, as Alistair Overeem looks to make one final run toward the one major title that has eluded him in his decorated combat sports career. But while there could be an avenue back to a title shot, the presence of Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou – who both beat him – and the imminent arrival of Jon Jones, make the waters pretty cloudy at the top of the UFC’s heaviest weight class. We try to make sense of it all and offer our take on who might end up as the last man standing by the end of the calendar year.

And finally, we look ahead to UFC Fight Night 184, which features Overeem in the main event against Russia’s former Bellator heavyweight champion Alexander Volkov. The co-main has a battle of different bantamweight generations, as Frankie Edgar looks to make a final push to become a two-division UFC champion by moving one step closer to a title shot at 135 pounds. But to do it, he’ll have to get past one of the most dangerous bantamweights on the planet, Cory Sandhagen.

You can check out the podcast version of the show from all the usual podcast platforms, but we’d really love for you to subscribe to our YouTube channel. The shows live there too, in audio-only format for now, but we’re going to turn this thing into a fully-fledged video show in the very near future, so we’d love it if you got on board early and hit that subscribe button on our YouTube page. All the links you need are via the button below.

Enjoy the fights!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonheadsport.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com

Dustin Poirer stood and delivered on a huge night for the UFC lightweight division at UFC 257, as he TKO’d Conor McGregor in stunning fashion to declare himself the uncrowned champion at 155 pounds, while an explosive new contender blasted his way into the title picture as Michael Chandler delivered an A+ debut in the night’s co-main event.

On this week’s show, we unpack the two huge matchups at the top of the card as Poirier finished McGregor, and Chandler stopped Dan Hooker to stake their respective claims for a shot at championship gold next time out.

We discuss the gravity of the two featured lightweight bouts, assess the current title picture at 155 pounds, and share our thoughts on how the division could be booked in the months ahead.

It’s an exciting time for the UFC’s lightweight division, and UFC 257 was just the start. Also, don’t write off McGregor just yet!

Check out the show via our Substack podcast player, or on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to rate, review, like, and subscribe!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonheadsport.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com

The UFC is kicking off 2021 with a bang, and Conor McGregor’s all set to turn things up to 11 at UFC 257 on January 23. On this week’s show, we take a look at McGregor’s main event bout with Dustin Poirier, and preview the lightweight co-main event between Dan Hooker and Michael Chandler. We also wonder aloud what the two fights might do to convince Khabib Nurmagomedov to return to the cage.

We also look back at a superb night at UFC on ABC 1 last weekend, as Max Holloway put on an all-time great performance to defeat Calvin Kattar and make an undeniable claim for another shot at his old featherweight title.

There’s also time to quickly preview Wednesday night’s main event, as welterweights Neil Magny and Michael Chiesa get set to take center stage on “Fight Island” ahead of the weekend’s huge pay-per-view event.

It’s a packed show for a packed week of fights, check it out here!

[Pic: @AwesomeGandalf]

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonheadsport.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com

The UFC is looking to kick off 2021 with a bang, as they get set to launch into a series of three events in just eight days on “UFC Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi. But the intrigue doesn’t start and finish with the action inside the octagon.

On this week’s episode, we look ahead to the fights that matter on the UFC’s first fight card of the year, with former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway taking on rising contender Calvin Kattar in what looks set to be an all-action main event encounter at 145 pounds.

But before we dive into the weekend’s fight card, we discuss two of the biggest talking points in the sport, as UFC president Dana White gets set to do his level best to persuade 29-0 lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov out of retirement for at least one more fight, while the man the UFC most likely wants to face him, Conor McGregor, gets set to face Dustin Poirier in the main event of the first pay-per-view card of the year, UFC 257.

We offer our takes on all of the big talking points, then mark your card ahead of this weekend’s fights. And, to top it all off, the fights are actually being shown at a palatable time for UK fans!

Don’t forget to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and, ahead of our switch to video later this year, make sure you get ahead of the game and subscribe to our YouTube channel ahead of time.

Enjoy the fights, and let’s enjoy 2021’s action together!

[Photo: @AwesomeGandalf]

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonheadsport.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com

Yes, that’s right. After our special 2020 awards show last week, we’re kicking off the start of the new year with our MMA hot takes and predictions ahead of a (hopefully) packed year of fights in 2021.

Taking our inspiration from our pre-fight eatery of choice, the legendary Nando’s, we’ve put together our personal list of way-too-early predictions, one for each level of the famous Nando’s Peri-Ometer (which, incidentally the UK government seems to have adopted for its COVID threat level scale), as we offer our predictions, one for each grade of Nando’s heat level.

So, you can expect a couple of “Mild” prediction takes from the pair of us, before we start to crank up the heat (and stretch the bounds of plausibility) as we go up the scale with ever-more outlandish predictions for the year. Will any of them actually come true in 2021? Watch this space!

We even chuck in our 2021 UFC champion predictions, as we offer our lists of who we think will be holding each of the undisputed UFC titles on Jan. 1, 2022.

This one was a lot of fun to record. We hope you’ll enjoy it, too.

And finally, as we’ve mentioned on the show, there’s big news for the show as we get set to kick things up a gear in 2021. So do us a favour and get subscribed to our YouTube channel.

It’s basically just been an archive for our old shows up to this point, but we’re going to be going big on YouTube this year, and we’d love it if you could join us, by subscribing today to help give us a running start when we launch properly on there in the coming weeks.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonheadsport.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com

It’s been a hell of a year. For the most part, it’s sucked, but the one release we all had was sport, and no sport responded better to the challenge of COVID-19 than MMA.

Led by the UFC who, after a false start in California, held successful events in Jacksonville before establishing a secure COVID-safe bubble at the UFC Apex and heading to “UFC Fight Island,” where the Abu Dhabi government teamed up with the UFC to set up the best COVID bubble in world sport on Yas Island.

Bellator returned later in the year with their “Fightsphere” in Uncasville, Connecticut, while, in the U.K., Cage Warriors proved that regional promotions can also succeed, with their behind-closed-doors setup and “Trilogy” format.

On this week’s show, we look back at an unprecedented year as we share our month-by-month recap of 2020, before launching into our end-of-year awards.

Unpacking the most tumultuous year in a generation is no easy task, so it’s a bumper edition of the show this week as we end the year with a bang.

We’ve got some big plans for 2021, and we’d love it if you’d join us as we kick The Brit Pack up a gear next year.

Enjoy our final show of 2020, and have a great New Year. We’ll speak to you again in 2021!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonheadsport.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com

The final UFC show of 2020 served up plenty of talking points, but despite a fun main card at the UFC Apex, the biggest topic of intrigue came from the night’s featured preliminary card fight.

Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis defeated Alex Morono to finish his year with back-to-back wins, and round out his current UFC contract in solid form. He’s now a free agent and is likely to have no shortage of suitors as he considers his next move. On this week’s show, we assess Pettis’ potential options.

We also run down the fight card from UFC Fight Night 183, and pick out the key takeaways from the matchups that mattered on fight night in Las Vegas. Who’s going to welcome T.J. Dillashaw back to the octagon? What’s next for Michel Pereira? And what does his defeat to Marcin Tybura mean for Greg Hardy?

We answer the above, and more, in this week’s show.

It’s our last episode until Christmas, so we both just want to wish everyone a happy holiday period. It’s likely to be a very different – and possibly difficult – one for many of us this year, but hopefully you, and those closest to, you can stay safe and have a fun few days. Merry Christmas, and we’ll meet again next week for our end-of-year review special.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonheadsport.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com

The final UFC pay-per-view of 2020 may just have produced the fight of the year. Deiveson Figueiredo’s majority draw with Brandon Moreno at UFC 256 was an instant classic, and a fight that immediately registered as a late entry in the “Fight of the Year” debate. On this week’s show, we recap the action from the remarkable main event at the UFC Apex.

But UFC 256 wasn’t all about one event. The entire card was packed with fascinating stories, incredible performances and a bunch of talking points, and we’ll run through them all on the show, including Cub Swanson’s incredible showing, Kevin Holland’s case for “Fighter of the Year” and what could happen to Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Junior Dos Santos after the two Brazilian legends both suffered damaging defeats.

We also recap the action in London, as Cage Warriors staged their second “Trilogy” series, with four titles up for grabs across three wild nights in London. And, of course, we chat about the big story that broke before we started recording, as recently released former UFC middleweight contender Yoel Romero signed for Bellator - as a light heavyweight.

It was another busy week in the crazy world of MMA, and we’re here to dissect it all for you. Enjoy the show, and don’t forget to check us out on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you get your podcasts.

Enjoy the show!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonheadsport.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com

After a quiet couple of weeks, the combat sports world has picked up steam again in a big way, with major headlines coming out of both MMA and boxing, and on this week’s show, we attempt to pick our way through it all.

Firstly, there’s the topic of Yoel Romero’s departure from the UFC. Sure, he’s knocking on a bit (but still younger than Simon…) but he’s still one of the world’s premier 185-pounders. So why is the UFC letting him go? There’s also the news that Romero won’t be alone, with the UFC set to cut as many as 60 fighters before the turn of the year.

The other big news is that, hot on the heels of Mike Tyson’s fight with Roy Jones Jr, another of boxing’s greats, Floyd Mayweather, is set to return to the ring for another exhibition bout. This time he’s set to face YouTube superstar and occasional celebrity boxer Logan Paul. From a sporting standpoint, it’s a horrific mismatch, but from a business standpoint, it makes all sorts of sense. We discuss both sides of the argument.

We also look back at last weekend’s UFC Vegas 16 card, as Marvin Vettori stepped in on short notice and defeated Jack Hermansson to put himself right in the mix at 185; and look ahead to an exciting fight card at UFC 256, as Deiveson Figueiredo looks to complete a speedy turnaround to make the first defense of his UFC flyweight title against Brandon Moreno.

Enjoy the show!

[Pic: @awesomegandalf]

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonheadsport.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebritpack.substack.com