The Head Line with Simon Head

This week's United Nations pod has a little something for everyone:

* Looking for reaction to last weekend's amazing UFC 275 title fights? We've got those.

* Want recommendations for places to check out in Vegas during International Fight Week? We've got you covered.

* And if you want to hear an incredible true story, brilliantly told, that involves a legendary entertainer, drug dealers and gangsters, then boy do we have an epic tale for you, too!

It's all crammed into a little over an hour of podcasty goodness, and it's all yours, right here. Enjoy!

Saturday, June 4, 2016 was a red-letter day in the history of UK mixed martial arts, as England’s Michael Bisping stepped off a movie set on just 17 days’ notice and stunned Luke Rockhold to capture the undisputed UFC middleweight champion at UFC 199.

The event was the culmination of Bisping’s career-long quest to capture UFC gold. It was a quest that many had written off years prior. His devastating knockout loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 100 led many to consider Bisping as a busted flush at the highest level.

Knockouts that big change fighters forever, and rarely for the better. But Bisping bounced back and, after enduring a string of setbacks – including losing the sight in his right eye – he managed to defeat the man he’d been chasing for years, former middleweight champ Anderson Silva.

For many – including me, if I’m honest – that seemed like the perfect time for Bisping to retire. He’d landed a fight against the man who was champion through so much of his career, and he beat him. But for Bisping it was never about the identity of the champion. It wasn’t even about earning a title shot. It was about winning the belt.

When that chance finally came, it arrived in far from ideal circumstances as he was offered the chance to step in on just over two weeks’ notice to face Rockhold, the man who had so decisively finished him two years earlier.

Bisping took his chance with both hands, arrived in LA looking remarkably relaxed, won over the fight fans in California, then knocked out Rockhold in stunning fashion to complete his dream of becoming a UFC champion.

On this special edition of The Brit Pack, I take a look back at that crazy fight week in LA as I made the short-notice trip to California to cover Bisping as he became the first (and still only) British fighter to win a UFC title. It was a remarkable wee and a spectacular night and you can recap it all, via my own experiences that week, in this pod.

I’m back in the saddle after a week in Croatia, and the topic of Mirko Cro Cop was already underway when The Brit Pack: United Nations went on air for the latest episode.

On a show that covered a LOT of bases, Gorgeous George, Goze and I chat about a host of topics, including our approval (or otherwise) of Duran Duran’s “Wild Boys” as a walkout song.

After a hot debate over the best ever Champions League final fightback, we also recap some of our favourite MMA comebacks, before chatting about how we’d like to see Nate Diaz booked before his likely exit from the UFC.

There were plenty of other topics covered in a fun transatlantic conversation as we talked MMA, soccer and a whole lot more.

Check out the show via the video above.

I’m back in the saddle after a week in Croatia, and the topic of Mirko Cro Cop was already underway when The Brit Pack: United Nations went on air for the latest episode.

On a show that covered a LOT of bases, Gorgeous George, Goze and I chat about a host of topics, including our approval (or otherwise) of Duran Duran’s “Wild Boys” as a walkout song.

After a hot debate over the best ever Champions League final fightback, we also recap some of our favourite MMA comebacks, before chatting about how we’d like to see Nate Diaz booked before his likely exit from the UFC.

There were plenty of other topics covered in a fun transatlantic conversation as we talked MMA, soccer and a whole lot more.

Check out the show via the video above.

From Mirko Cro Cop to the Champions League final, the conversation took a number of wild turns on this week’s episode of the United Nations pod.

Simon, Gorgeous George and Goze caught up after a week off as they chatted about a host of topics, walkout music, classic comebacks, and what should happen next for Nate Diaz.

It was a fun hour of MMA, sports and pop culture chat, and you can check it out right here.

There may not have been any MMA action from the UFC, Bellator or the PFL this past weekend, but that didn’t mean MMA fans had a gap week. No siree.

While the global promotions took a weekend off, Cage Warriors stepped up and hosted a double-header of events from Charter Hall in Colchester, Essex that served up a feast of finishes on UFC Fight Pass.

There were contrasting fortunes for the two former middleweight champions in action in the two main events, but across the two nights we saw a host of entertaining bouts that delivered a succession of submissions and knockouts to almost make you forget about MMA’s big-ticket promotions.

In addition to Cage Warriors’ double-header in England, Poland’s always-spectacular KSW promotion delivered the goods from Lodz, as five-time World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski added a highlight-reel knockout to his resume with a thumping one-punch starching of former middleweight champion Michal Materla.

On this edition of The Rundown, I take a look back at those three events, and bring you news about Bellator’s fight card for Dublin in September. Then I throw things forward to this weekend, as the UFC returns to the UFC Apex for a Fight Night show that features a battle of heavyweight strikers in the main event, and a pivotal featherweight clash in the co-main.

Enjoy the show, and don’t forget to join me for “The Brit Pack: United Nations” later this week.

Photo credit: Dolly Clew/Cage Warriors

After an incident-packed night at Bellator 281 in London, Simon recaps the best of the action in a "morning after" reaction pod.

Bellator 281 in London saw a host of Brits return to action on home soil on a night that saw mixed fortunes for the local heroes at Wembley Arena.

The main event saw Michael “Venom” Page lose out on the scorecards as Logan Storley picked up the split-decision win to capture the interim Bellator welterweight title. It was a fight that was particularly tricky to score, and the debate has raged on since the verdict. Some, including Bellator president Scott Coker, suggested that “MVP” deserved to get the nod, while others have offered the contrasting view that Storley dominated the fight and was the clear winner.

On this special Bellator 281 reaction pod, I take a look at both sides of the argument, and share my conversation with Scott Coker backstage, where he told me why he thought Page won, and why Storley needs to evolve his game to remain at the top of the 170-pound division.

It was a memorable night for Paul “Semtex” Daley, who bowed out of his 64-fight MMA career with his 35th knockout – a blistering finish of Wendell Giacomo that almost took the roof off Wembley Arena.

And it was a big night for Fabian “The Assassin” Edwards, who produced the best performance of his career to knock out Lyoto Machida and claim a huge scalp in the Bellator middleweight division.

It was a big night, full of talking points, and I recap the best of them on this special reaction pod. Enjoy!

Everybody loves knockouts. They’re one of the main reasons why people are perched on the edge of their seats, or simply standing up, whenever the big fights take place.

Michael Chandler certainly had the fans up and out of their seats at UFC 274 as his stunning front-kick finish of Tony Ferguson catapulted him right to the top (sorry, Molly McCann) of the Knockout of the Year contenders list.

It got us thinking: Which knockouts from UFC history are our all-time favourites, and which could be considered the best ever?

It’s one of many questions we pondered on this week’s meeting of the United Nations pod looked back at UFC 274, then looked ahead to Bellator 281 in London and UFC on ESPN 36 in Las Vegas.

It’s a packed show, and it’s all yours, in audio form, right here.

UFC 274 sent us on a rollercoaster of emotions as the main card served up a real mixed bag of fights from the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

Charles Oliveira was stripped of his title for missing weight before his bout with Justin Gaethje, but he made sure the belt remained vacant with a superb come-from-behind first-round submission victory.

Carla Esparza is now a two-time UFC women’s strawweight champion after edging Rose Namajunas via split decision after one of the most uneventful title fights in recent memory.

And Michael Chandler landed arguably the knockout of the year so far with a massive front-kick finish of Tony Ferguson, who had dropped the former Bellator champ in the opening round of their lightweight clash.

On this week’s weekend rundown, I take a look back at the big storylines coming out of UFC 274, and recap the best of the action from Phoenix, before recapping a rough night for the Brits at Bellator 280 in Paris.