They did it again, brother, but when it was over it sort of seemed like they probably didn’t need to go to the trouble. Once again, Alexander Volkanovski defeated Diego Lopes by hard-fought but clear-cut unanimous decision, retaining his men's featherweight title at UFC 325. Somehow, the 37-year-old Volk is aging as gracefully as an MMA fighter can, looking damn near unbeatable with a remarkably versatile attack — the striking, the grappling, the feints, the stance switches, etc. , etc. It all gives you a lot to think about out there, and it was too much for Lopes, who came into this fight looking like he hadn’t made a TON of adjustments from the first fight.

Plus, is the UFC’s new deal on Paramount+ a home run so far? And why is heavyweight so ass?

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Apologies for missing the Proper yesterday, friends. We’re back today with an episode of the Co-Main Event Podcast Patreon Live Chat, which we’re releasing for free to everybody. Seemed like a bad week to miss an episode, what with it being on the heels of the first PLE of the Paramount+ Era and the week before UFC 325. So, here ya go!

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It’s happening. The Paramount+ Era is upon us. What surprises are in store? We’ll find out on Saturday, as UFC 324 goes down, featuring the interim lightweight championship fight between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett. How does Pimblett (more than a 2-to-1 favorite) beat Gaethje? We’re not totally sure, but maybe that’s why we’re dumb podcast hosts and the oddsmakers are the oddsmakers.

Plus, Kayla Harrison’s pile-of-trash neck forced her off this card, which was kind of a big loss. And Conor McGregor says his UFC contract is “void,” since pay-per-view doesn’t exist anymore. Could he be… right?

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Just about 10 days before UFC 324, and oddsmakers still see Paddy Pimblett as a bit more than a 2-to-1 favorite to win the interim lightweight title over Justin Gaethje. I mean, damn. Does that seem right to you guys? Honestly, it feels super weird to us, but considering how bad we are at betting and how good oddsmakers are at, ahem, making odds, perhaps they are right? And if they are, are we all truly prepared for a world where Pimblett is the (interim) lightweight champ?

Plus, Gaethje has got a crater-sized sore on the side of his neck he swears isn’t staph, and Trevor Wittman is saying if they can’t win this one, Gaethje might as well retire. So … uh … is this about to be depressing as hell?

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Sup, 2026. You gonna suck as bad as 2025 did? Not to start things on a pessimistic note, but if we had to guess … you know what, never mind. As it pertains to this show, 2026 means a lot of things — perhaps most importantly that the UFC has officially disembarked from ESPN+ into the unknown waters of Paramount+. The first Premium Live Event is just a couple of weeks away, and we all still have a lot of questions. So, on the first show of the new year, we try to answer as many of them as we can.

Plus, Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier try to monetize these amazing brands they’ve built by going on a Russian reality show; somehow Jake Paul is still talking shit through a busted jaw; and Paddy Pimblett got tapped out in a grappling tournament just a couple of weeks before he’s supposed to fight for the UFC interim lightweight title. Sooo … is all publicity really good publicity?

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The Year of Our Lord 2025 was a weird one in MMA. Complete dogshit for the heavyweight division, obviously. You started the year with Dana White swearing up and down that he was going to get Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall done, only to have Jones quit the sport to monetize this amazing brand he’d built — then come crawling back as soon as he found out about the White House fight card. When they finally did set up a heavyweight title fight for Gas Hands Tommy, Ciryl Gane went two knuckles deep in Aspinall’s eye … which obviously seems to have negatively affected Aspinall’s career more than Gane’s.

But it wasn’t all bad. In the spring, fighters started to get that sweet, sweet class-action settlement money. By the end, Merab and Islam were the consensus fighters of the year. The UFC wrapped up the ESPN era and is now on to murkier waters with Paramount.

Oh, and what’s this shit with Ilia Topuria? Not great!

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Petr Yan showed up looking shockingly prepared for everything Merab Dvalishvili had planned on Saturday at UFC 323. Yan had the takedown defense. Yan had the stifling striking game. Yan worked the head and the body as well as he possibly could have. And perhaps most impressive of all, Yan had the cardio — taking over down the stretch, during what is normally Merab Time — to secure a surprising victory for the men’s bantamweight title in a fight-of-the-year–candidate thriller.

In doing so, Yan put himself in position to begin chiseling out a legacy as one of the all-time greats. What now, though? An immediate rematch? The winner of O’Malley vs. Yadong? We’ll find out soon.

Elsewhere on the card, Joshua Van captured the flyweight title after Alexandre Pantoja's elbow got its whole shit broke. And the ESPN Era is about to end in the most fitting way possible … with an Apex show headlined by Brandon Royval vs. Manel Kape.

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CBS gave Dana White a grand stage over the weekend, letting him announce the first fight bookings of the Paramount+ Era during halftime of the Thanksgiving Day NFL game between the Cowboys and Chiefs. Perhaps that was a sign that the budding partnership between the UFC and Paramount–Skydance is actually off to a good start — but the fights themselves were weird as hell, man. Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett for an interim lightweight title to headline the company’s first PPV-turned-PLE at UFC 324? The men’s featherweight championship rematch absolutely no one asked for between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes? What are we doing here, you guys?

Plus, it’s UFC 323 fight week! Can Merab make it four successful title defenses in just under a year?

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Prior to Arman Tsarukyan’s win over Dan Hooker on Saturday at UFC Fight Night in Qatar, we figured Tsarukyan was still on the outside looking in at the lightweight title picture. He’s long come off as a fairly nondescript, vaguely dickish yet undeniably tough guy who wasn’t offering much in the puts-butts-in-seats department. He’d already blown one title shot by pulling out of UFC 311 on a day’s notice — and the UFC still has Paddy Pimblett waiting as a more marketable and presumably far easier next opponent for Ilia Topuria.

But this performance against Hooker? A full-on beatdown. And maybe Tsarukyan’s spoiled-brat persona is starting to take on the air of something a promoter can actually use. The question now: Can Tsarukyan force Topuria’s hand? Will Topuria lose face if he takes a gimme fight against Pimblett first? And will the UFC’s preference for Paddy the Baddie win out?

Plus, Ian Garry keeps winning while somehow underperforming. And, of course, Conor McGregor has decided he is the great-grandson of God himself.

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Yeah, so, Islam Makhachev is your new UFC welterweight champion. Not a huge surprise, considering the former lightweight titlist was a solid favorite to dethrone Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 over the weekend. What we maybe didn’t expect was just how dominant Makhachev would be. Della Maddalena had no answers — and, from the looks of it, no plan B. By the end he appeared absolutely miserable out there, getting taken down at will, while his corner seemed fresh out of ideas beyond, “Try to punch him in the face!”

You know who else is still really good? Valentina Shevchenko. She convincingly turned back the challenge of former strawweight champ Zhang Weili to retain her women’s flyweight gold.

Plus, just like Conor McGregor before him, Dillon Danis found out that some people don’t play. And Jake Paul is on a suicide mission. But does he know that?

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