Petesy Carroll and Chuck Mindenhall are joined by Drake Riggs, who is on site in Seattle for Cejudo vs. Song, to discuss a crazy week of news in the world of combat sports.

They first look at how Ilia Topuria’s vacation of the featherweight title has led to UFC 314 getting it’s main event with Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes set to compete for gold (06:12), before the conversation switches to Paddy Pimblett’s biggest fight to date (22:16) versus Michael Chandler.

The discussion turns to the shake-up at welterweight that saw Jack Della-Maddalena granted a title shot against champion Belal Muhammad (40:32), with Sean Brady stepping in to replace him in his previously announced bout against Leon Edwards in London.

On the back of the conversation on yesterday’s BITB show, the lads consider Ric’s comment on the obvious size difference that will exist between Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria should their clash happen (48:51).

Finally, Riggs gives insight on the biggest storylines in Seattle (1:00:00) before Mindenhall discusses whether the short notice replacements have effected Saturday’s boxing blockbuster from Riyadh (1:07:00).

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Petesy Carroll and Chuck Mindehall give their thoughts on the split between Sean Strickland and Eric Nicksick (4:36), on the back of the UFC middleweight claiming he would no longer have the Xtreme Couture head coach in his corner after UFC 312.

While pondering wether the two would reconcile, the conversation shifts to Anthony Smith and Rampage Jackson (31:36) squashing their beef that arose from Smith’s criticism of Jaxxon Podcast’s handling of an interview they had with controversial featherweight Bryce Mitchell. The lads discuss what impact the growing number of fighter publications has on journalism and consider whether situations like this will happen more because of it.

Not a single MMA fighter made Sportico's list of the 100 highest-paid athletes for 2024, so Petesy and Chuck weigh-in on whether that is a shocking revelation or completely expected (43:06) and forecast if discussions about fighter unions will likely sprout around the time of the UFC’s new broadcast deal being announced.

Finally, they take a quick look at this weekend’s Apex extravaganza (54:23).

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Ariel Helwani joins The Craic to give insight on Canelo Alvarez signing with Riyadh Season, his bout with Jake Paul not coming to fruition and the emerging rivalry between MVP and Turki Alalshikh (00:16). 

Uncrowned’s Shaheen Al-Shatti and Ben Fowlkes then give their takes on all the developments described by Helwani (20:09), before the conversation turns to UFC 312 (31:33).

The lads ponder whether Sean Strickland’s staph infection (49:51) will take a toll on him during his rematch with champion Dricus Du Plessis and discuss Tatiana Suarez finally getting her opportunity to fight for a title against Zhang Weili (51:52). 

After, the trio give their picks on the main event and co-main event on 312 (1:01:50) before the conversation turns to the retirement of legendary bantamweight, Dominick Cruz (01:06:04).

Petesy Carroll is joined by Uncrowned’s Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes to discuss Bryce Mitchell and Conor McGregor’s latest controversies.

Petesy Carroll, Ben Fowlkes and Chuck Mindenhall discuss Bryce Mitchell’s outlandish statement about Adolf Hitler being “a good guy” (3:11) and consider whether Dana White’s reaction to the situation (04:16) is sufficient. They then look at differing reactions from the MMA community, with Jan Blachowicz offering to educate Mitchell (23:44) and Conor McGregor offering compassion to the featherweight (25:11).

The conversation then moves onto the vitriolic tweet from McGregor, laced with racial slurs, going after his old foe Khabib Nurmagomedov (36:01) and question what the Irish fighter has left to give to the sport of MMA (46:02). Finally, the trio gives their thoughts on UFC Saudi Arabia (50:26) before giving their picks for the main event (59:08).

On today’s episode, Petesy is joined by fellow Irish media members Andy Stevenson and Donagh Corby.

Corby, who is on the scene in Dubai, gave his account of the incident between Irish and Dagestani fans at the PFL’s weigh-in for the fight between Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes (3:00).

Stevenson underlined the impact a Hughes win could have on Irish MMA (18:00), before rebuking claims that this is a one-fight card (23:00) and lads gave their picks for the main event (32:00).

The conversation moves to Arman Tsarukyan’s sticky situation with the UFC and whether the lads believe he should lose his title opportunity due to an eleventh hour UFC 311 withdrawal (40:00).

They also discuss the idea of Sean O’Malley meeting Cory Sandhagen instead of the former champion facing Merab Dvalishvili in a rematch (47:00).

Finally, the lads rank what event they’re looking forward the most this weekend between PFL, BKFC and the highly anticipated GFL Draft (51:45).

Petesy Carroll is joined by Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes for an episode jam-packed with breaking news.

Fowlkes speaks about the mystique surrounding Team Khabib and the Dagestan collective (04:06) after covering them for Uncrowned. 

Then, the lads react in real time to the breaking news that Arman Tsarukyan has withdrawn from the UFC 311 main event due to injury (13:46).

Mindenhall gives insights on Merab Dvalishvili after spending time with the bantamweight champion at Syndicate ahead of his clash with Umar Nurmagomedov (27:22).

News of Renato Moicano stepping up to face Islam Makhachev breaks (37:28), before the conversation returns to the co-main event (43:09) and Jiri Prochazka vs. Jamahal Hill (53:22).

Reports surface about Tsarukyan's injury, leading to Ariel Helwani giving intel on the situation (57:55), before more news breaks, with Chris Weidman announcing his retirement on the UFC's weigh-in show (01:07:26).

Finally, the lads react to Islam Makhachev's social media post regarding the eleventh hour change of opponent (01:11:56). 

Chuck Mindenhall returns to The Craic, joining Petesy Carroll to discuss a potential location shift for UFC 311 due to the California wildfires (03:07).

The lads also give their takes on reports from Brazil claiming Alex Pereira will move to heavyweight (07:36) to take on Alexander Volkov at UFC 313 and reports that PFL will half the prize money for their tournament in 2025 (28:17).

They also ponder why Dominick Cruz will not be taking on Henry Cejudo next month in Seattle (45:40), before briefly touching on this weekend’s Apex card headlined by McKenzie Dean vs. Amanda Ribas 2 (51:30).

The Craic caps off 2024 by looking back at the year in European MMA.

Petesy Carroll is joined by journalists Andy Stevenson, Chisanga Malata, and Donagh Corby to discuss the biggest winners and losers.

The show begins with Ilia Topuria’s strong case for Male Fighter of the Year and his recent talk of moving to lightweight (03:13).

Next, the discussion centers on Dakota Ditcheva’s meteoric rise through the PFL tournament and her Female Fighter of the Year candidacy (10:01).

The conversation turns to Tom Aspinall’s presence at Jon Jones’ UFC 309 title fight and whether he’ll be able to force the heavyweight showdown (18:56).

Then, they touch on the continued dominance of fighters from Dagestan (23:48) and the success of PFL’s efforts in Europe (27:16), including the potential future for England’s Lewis McGrillen (31:15).

Finally, they close with a discussion on the fallout from Conor McGregor’s civil case (41:30).

Petesy Carroll is joined by journalists Andy Stevenson, Chisanga Malata, and Donagh Corby on The Craic to preview the upcoming year in European MMA. 

The conversation begins with predictions on whether Tom Aspinall will finally get a crack at Jon Jones (03:58) and if Ilia Topuria will be able to bring a UFC event to Spain in 2025 (10:03).

Next, they discuss whether Shavkat Rakhmonov will be able to capture UFC gold (18:00) and Leon Edwards' place in the welterweight title picture (26:15). 

Then they look outside the UFC and forecast what the future holds for Dakota Ditcheva, Paul Hughes, and Muhammad Mokaev (28:44). 

Finally, they break down the rumored boxing match between Conor McGregor and Logan Paul, discussing whether it will happen and the potential magnitude of that event (42:05).

Chuck Mindenhall joins Petesy Carroll on the latest episode of The Craic to sink his teeth into forecasting whether Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall will happen in 2025. The lads also discuss the build-up to Usyk vs. Fury 2, the sentiment (or lack there of) for Logan Paul vs. Conor McGregor, Paul Hughes in the US and another big sell-out show in Paris.