Denis Frimpong | Oktagon TKO Win, Loughran Vs McGrillen & Cage Warriors Returns | The Energized Show

Summary

What is up and welcome to The Energized Show! On this episode Manchester Top Team's Denis Frimpong joins us to discuss his Oktagon TKO Win, Loughran Vs McGrillen & Cage Warriors Returns. Like, Comment, Subscribe & Hit the notification bell for more Energized Shows! Youtube …

Transcript (youtube_captions)

Diana Joy. Here we go. It's time. Okay. What's going on, guys? Welcome to a brand new episode of Energized, brought to you by Orings Competitions. Ross, are you intoxicated or something? Introduce the guest man. Today we are bringing you Octagon sensation. He is the one and only. He is the menace Dennis Frim Pong. Dennis, tell us this. How is life at the moment? You were on the verge of welcoming a baby into the world. Tell us what's going on in Dennis Frimong's life. So obviously, yeah, last weekend was a successful one. Um, well, not last weekend. Weekend before, wasn't it? At this stage, it's already Monday now. long weekend, but um yeah, it's been good. It's been obviously I had pushed a lot of the other things in life to the back of my mind with the fight coming up and as you saw at the end of the fight, uh it all kind of came came out then after the fight was over, which happens a lot. I don't know of people that people that fight a lot of the time will understand that um sometimes you have to push things into the back of your head and sort of focus on the fact that another guy's going to try and hospitalize you. Um but yeah, big things coming up now in the next day or two. Uh I would imagine and um yeah, it's been it's been a good it's been a good May so far. Yeah, good start to the summer. Yeah, absolutely. It's it's been sensational. And one thing I will say, Dennis, is that obviously you're probably best known for your your menacing behavior, your your, you know, unique uh promotion in the buildup fight and you get everyone talking about you, but I must say the run that you've put together as of late has been absolutely sensational from, you know, the Anak Saraki fight all the way up to the Arjan Topala fight. Is that how you say his name? like top of like you beat guys with like really good records, guys with better records than yourself going into the fight. And you not only did it, but you've also done it in really good fashion as well. Like, you know, Robin Frank in the fight previous, he was very much a beaten man in that fight. Um he he he looked like he was all but ready to quit. And then in this fight as well, um you know, the last one, you really showed such heart. You know what I mean? um you know at times the fight wasn't going your way but like you weren't you were always very competitive in there and then he he had nothing left in the third round. He he couldn't keep up with the menace and then the menace put him away and it was incredible to see. Do you feel like you know that the narrative of the Dennis the menace is changing that it's not just this like brash guy who talks the talk you're walking the walk and you're backing it up and then some. Yeah, obviously I am sort of glad in a way that the fight went the way it did uh because of the comments he made about me not having any heart, me not being a finisher. So I got to I got to kill two birds with one stone there a little bit. Um I do believe still that I am a five round fighter. I think my style, the way that I fight is built for five rounds. like I don't come out crazy fast in the first round. He did come out crazy fast in that first round of that fight. So I knew he wouldn't be able to sustain that sort of pace like no one can. Um that's like a mental pace to be able to sustain for three rounds. Um so it really did come down to a battle of wills and a fight of attrition. Um that death by a thousand cut style just slowly chipping away at them, chipping away at them until their body gives up. Like you said, Rob and Frank wasn't able to come to the center to see my hand raised. Arian wasn't able to come to the center to see my hand raised. They both had to go get serious medical attention after the fights. So, I said it before, I'll say it again. I break people. I uh I hurt people, you know, and uh I make sure that people can't fight for a long time after they fight me. If you look at the last, you know, four opponents now that I've had Robin, Arian, Callum, Callum Mullen, let's say three opponents, I don't see Robin fighting for a while. I don't see Arian fighting for a while. Callum Callum took a year and a bit out after he fought me. So, I put hurt on people and this is what the sport's about. We're in the hurt business. So, yeah, absolutely. And look, it's really really good to see you come on with your Octagon career and see you really building towards it. And it it was also really really cool to see you fighting along your your partner in crime, Shamrock. Feel like when you two are put on the same card, do you feel like that's that's like, you know, octagon marketing at at its best? Because you two, you seem to walk around together. I feel like, you know, when you walk in for weigh-ins or you walk into a room, I feel like all the attention turns to you guys. I feel like uh you're the Bash Brothers walk around the place and uh you know what I mean? Yeah. Maybe maybe the Chuckle Brothers. Yeah, exactly. Maybe the Chuckle Brothers. Yeah. But like you know, all the eyes goes on you like all the the social media content turns to you two guys. Like I I remember seeing you guys walk in the building and give your predictions on the fights and you were slacking Jim saying he was going to get the decision which he did. And and I was like I was like this is content gold for Octagon. These are the guys that people want to see. These are the guys who make the noise. These are also the guys that I feel like, you know, obviously it's a massive Eastern European contingent that watch uh and Central Europe that watch Octagon, but I feel like you guys have sort of got to the stage now where you're beloved by those fans as well. Yeah, I think they're slowly coming on board. Uh, you know, they they can't not respect it. At some point, you know, you talk all this [ __ ] and they kind of hype their guys up and say, "Oh, this guy's going to smash you." And then they don't. Ah, this guy's going to smash you, and then he doesn't. And then you have to sort of accept that like, "Oh, [ __ ] these these guys can definitely fight." And um I think the Germans are a bit more uh soft towards us, should we say, than the Checkexs and the Slovaks. I think they're still a bit they there's still a lot of Czech and Slovak fans to win over. I think the Germans have definitely come on board a little bit though. Dennis, Dennis, like watching it like as a fan is is just such great crack. Like the way you and Shen are going around the place um like like obviously people get in contact with us and they're like, "Have you seen the lads do this?" And they're DMing us everything and it's just like it is it is like it is gold. Like um like what what way are you being sort of treated in the in the organization now? Because like you were originally with them, then you left and you're back now. And like they they're looking at the numbers as well. Like you just put out there that you were the co-main event. Your fight now on YouTube has over 90,000 views compared to the main event which is hasn't even hit 10,000 yet. Yeah. I mean, I put out the photo of my fight 10 hours after it was released. It's now got over 160k views. So the numbers don't lie. You know, people can say whatever they want, but the numbers don't lie. Um, that was the people's main event. It was way more exciting. It was a back and forth fight. You know, it was, you know, all respect to Arian as well. Like, he he's the first person since George to take a round off me in a fight. You know, I've won every single round. I've not lost a round since the George fight up until the first round in my fight with Arian where he actually managed to take a round off me. Um, so it takes two to to tango. it takes you to make a fight a good fight. Um, but yeah, like in in terms of excitement, in terms of like like look, don't get me wrong, Papa got a nice knockout, but mate, Langanger's got no chin. He's a [ __ ] IT consultant in his day job. Do you know what I mean? Like, knocking out an IT consultant doesn't really do much for, I don't think, in terms of respect as a fighter. Um, Arian really does this full-time. I do this full-time and we had a [ __ ] knock and it came down to a battle of attrition. Like I said, um I end up getting the TKO finished. It was more diversity. It wasn't just like swinging a big overhand which any drunk guy so the pub can do. You know, I landed crisp shots, right hands, knees, elbows, ground and pound finish. So I think realistically I should have got the bonus. Me and Arian should have been main event. Um but it is what it is, you know. Obviously, I'm still building. I'm still making my way up there, shall we say? But I I don't believe it's very a very long time. Like you said, Octagon, do look at the numbers. And I don't think it's a long time before I start getting five round main event fights. I start getting my black kit for being in the red corner and I make my way towards a title fight. And like what have Pavl and Andre been talking to you about this being like look like they want they basically want you on every event? Um yeah like obviously the the the issues we had last year was that there was a lack of activity that I was being offered. I do think that I should be getting my three or four fights now a year. Um they will want to keep me active. Um they they I think they understand the value that I bring. They understand that I can fight. Um I bring exciting fights. I'm never like looking to hold the guys. I've not shot a takedown in my pro career. Do you know what I mean? Like so like the last guy I shot a takedown on was probably Solomon Simon about three years ago, you know? So yeah, I think they understand that I try and bring excitement. I try and bring violence. I'm trying to sell the fights and market market the fights for me and for Octagon as well. And um they're going to try and keep me active and maybe get into the rankings soon, get main event slots, like I said, and start fighting like the big boys then, you know, like the guys with like 20 25 pro fights. Those are the guys I want to be fighting really, you know? Um cuz I want to be pushed. I want I want like fights like the Iron Fight. I don't I'll be honest. I don't really want fights like the Robin Frank fight where I'm able to just like sit on his back and like be talking in his ear and like taking the piss a little bit. I want I want fights where like I'm not able to talk because I'm having to be so switched on, so aware of what they're doing, you know? I have to dig deep and it's a bit of a war like you know. Yeah. What about what about like um first of all the the event was was quality in the BMW park was it? And like the showmanship that Octagon put on is it's a great show. Like it's undeniable. But like how many more fights do you have left on your contract with them? And like like is Shem still signed with Octagon? And would you if if he isn't, would you like to see him still on more shows with yourself? Um I don't know what Shm's situation is at the moment. Uh I don't know whether he still has a couple months left or what. There's a renegotiation process. There's all these kind of things that go on. Um so I can't speak too much about that. I know I've I've signed a fouright deal with them. Obviously, two fights have now been struck off that uh two wins. Um I imagine after another fight they will try and renegotiate before I'm out of contract. I can I would say that will be the case. Um but I'm I'm happy to just get me me four fights out of the way this year. I imagine September, November is good for me. You know, four fights in the year, four and0, four German prospects hopefully. Uh maybe one check guy. We'll see. Uh and like I said, slowly building my way into that rankings and towards towards the title fight. Uh because at the end of the day, like it's not about your record, it's about your win streak, right? Like you could be you could start off your your pro career 03 and then go on a 20 fight win streak and you're 20 and three. And all people care about is that you're on a 20 win streak. Do you know what I mean? Like they don't care that you lost three fights at the start. So yeah, that's that's that's what my plan is at the moment anyway, but we'll see what they say. First things first, I've got to go into a hospital and uh get this get this baby birth out of the way in a few weeks of no sleep. Uh that's the next fight for me anyway. Yeah, absolutely. One thing I did want to touch on uh Dennis was uh on this fight um obviously, you know, as we touched on you, you and Sham are best buddies. Um, also fighting on the card was George Stains. And then obviously uh you had a viral moment uh with Patty Pima. How are things with NextG Liverpool now? Was that Ball Squash now? I mean, yeah, we we me, Shem, and George were all in the same warm-up area, the same locker room. Um, you know, obviously Paul Rimmer, Ellis Samson, um, Adam Ventry, they were all in there. We were cool. We chatted. I I chatted to George after his win before when we were warming up and stuff like that. So, I think we're all cool now. I've chatted the Patty since then as well. I think that's all that's all squashed and settled now. Uh at the end of the day, um you know, that's good. I think like I think it should be a after that. It's just more so you don't want other people letting things linger, you know what I mean? So, uh I'm glad it's all squashed for you because obviously h you know with the relationship you have with him and stuff like that like you know what I mean? Yeah, I would like to go up and train there. Like, you know what I mean? I would like to go up and train there. Obviously, it's a different style of gym to my gym in terms of like what what they bring to the table, what most of the people will try and do in sparring and stuff like that. So, obviously, if I'm fighting like a strong wrestler, it' be a good place to go and do a lot of my camping because everyone's going to try and wrestle me, you know what I mean? Obviously, you got Patty George, Adam Cullen, um guys there, Shm, guys there that are going to try and like take me down and hold him down and stuff like that. So it's it's nice to have that like at least an open relationship with them where like I can go down there and train and it's not like some weird animosity, some weird energy like so yeah that that is uh that is nice that it's all nipped in the bud now. Yeah, absolutely. And uh speaking of sort of intergim rivalries, uh a probably a good friend of yours and uh one of the top prospects in Manchester top team, Lewis McGrillin, uh it looks like he might be fighting Ken Lran at some stage in the PFL in Manchester. How big a fight would that be in in the UK? What how excited will fans be for that? And if they put it in Manchester, how big could that get? I think it'll be a big fight. Um to be honest, I think any anyone Lewis fights is going to be a big fight. Doesn't matter if it's Kalin Locker, if it's [ __ ] some unknown Tajikistani guy, do you know what I mean? Um, obviously Kalin Lockchan being a UFC vet just fresh out of the UFC. Do I think he deserves to get released? No. Do I like him as a person? No. But I still think it was a bit harsh that he got released. You know what I mean? Like I don't think he deserves to get released as two and two. Um, but at the same time, you know, you look at like, let's say like a Kevin Holland, he can afford to lose fights in the UFC and not get released cuz he's exciting. You know, he's not [ __ ] shooting to hold people on the fence and all that. He's coming to knock people out. He's coming to have an exciting fight and he talks to talk a little bit. Kalin could have been released three in one, mate, cuz he's his fight style is boring. Like it's like no one wants to watch that. Do you know what I mean? Really like really and truly no no one wants to watch that. Do you know what I mean? Like so, you know, hopefully he comes now to PFL and and decides to be an exciting fighter. Um if he does that against Lewis, I believe he'll get chinned. He's got a big a big old target to hit and Lewis hits like a middleweight. So yeah, it'd be it'd be an exciting fight, I think. Let's Let's jump in there. Let's just jump in there. Do you do do you think that would be the the main event for PFL Manchester? And do you think that would sell out the arena? I think it should be. It depends who's on the card obviously. Um I know Dakota is probably the biggest um star from Manchester in PFL realistically or maybe Brendan, but I don't think either of them are going to be on that card. Um so if not then it should be Lewis really and truly uh as the main event. Um, and yeah, I think I think I don't know what what stadium they're going to do or what arena they're going to do. Um, but yeah, it it would be a big event. It'll be a big event for UK MMA and for for Manchester MMA. You know, obviously we've got, like I said, they've got like at least three big stars from Manchester in in PFL. Um, you know, you've got, like I said, Lewis, you've got Dakota, you've got Brendan. Um I don't know what Kane Moose's situation is, whether he's still sort of signed with them or what not. I know he's fighting in a different event, but yeah, they've got like they've got a good good amount of guys from Manchester there. Yeah. No, that'd be that'd be a quality fight. Even the build up for that would be pretty good. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And like again like we've we've seen obviously McGrillin like you want to see him on the feet and we've seen Kalin on the feet like we saw him go toe-to-toe toe Hadley on the feet. Um we saw him fight a lot of his Cage Warriors fights on the feet as well. So like I think it I I don't I don't think he was toe to toe at Hadley on the feet out of choice. I think it was out of he couldn't take him down. Do you know what I mean? Like I think I Yeah. Well against against Marti for when he won the world title. That was a good one as well though which against the flyweight wrestler. No Hazan. No. Oh yeah it was that Dylan Hazan. Yeah. Like you know a flyweight wrestler that can't strike. Yeah. He looked good on the feet, but like like again, look, I don't I don't really like the guy. I'll be honest with you. I don't like the guy. Why don't you like him? I don't know. Like, do you know I I I didn't I never really had an issue with him. Obviously, me and his brother have had some back and forth going back to the amateur days. He chimed in a little bit. You know, he's got a big block head. He's he's he's boring to watch. But look, as as a fellow grudge, Dennis, no. Nah, listen. As a fellow as a fellow man from the province of Olter, I rate him. I hope he does well in his career after Lewis McGrilla knocks him out. I hope he goes on a win streak. But at the end of the day, Louis is my teammate. Um, you know, as I said, it's not that I'm holding the grudge. It's more so just that like just don't like him. Just don't like him. You know what I mean? Think think he's he's he's a bit arrogant to be honest. for for a guy that you know shoots for the for the legs and sniffs crotch like you're not you're not you're not that guy. Do you know what I mean? So ruthless. Well, look I I think I think it'll be a phenomenal match up. I think I think I think it would definitely be competitive. So, uh I'm all for it. Ken, I think you're a nice guy. I think you're a nice guy. When you meet him in person, you actually hat to him. He's actually m you know what? He might be a nice guy and like he might be the kind of like the same as me in the way where like people see his online personality. Maybe I'm seeing his online personality and I'm thinking a certain thing about him, but then if we met we probably have more in common than than not in common, if that makes sense. Like I feel like a lot of people meet me in person and they're like, "Oh, I thought you were a bit more of a dick than you are. You know, you're actually all right." And maybe he's like that that kind of person as well. I don't know. But uh Well, you know what? You know what? I I feel like if you were signed into the UFC at the time and you fought in France, you would have pissed off the French the same way he did. Yeah. [ __ ] the French as well to be honest. Like I actually wanted him to win that fight. I don't really like French people either to be honest with you. Like you know what? There's probably you probably actually have more similarities uh in terms of uh you know promotion than than uh differences I'd say. Yeah, for sure. For sure. But like let's be honest, one of us tries to knock people out and one of us sniffs crotch. So well both of us are great characters for the Irish amazing Dennis. That's without doubt. Dennis, just a couple more questions before we wrap things up. But you you mentioned that you're looking for potentially getting back in the cage in September. Is there an event on then that you're looking to get on? So there's two events on in September that I know of so far. There's Hanover, which is the 13th of September, and then there's Frankfurt, which is the 20th of September. So, a week between two events back to back in Germany. Uh, personally, I would prefer to be on the handover card a little bit more just because Max Holtz is on the card. I like Max Holtzer. Johnny Pa Pa is probably going to be on the card as well. Um, I think Cory Fry wants to get on the card. And I've got a few friends that are in Hamburg, which isn't too far from Hanover. So, that would be nice. It'd be nice to get them to be able to come and watch the fight. Um, so 13th of September is an ideal one for me. Um, would I like to fight another German? Maybe if the right German was offered, I would also like to fight a Czech guy in Germany just cuz at least then I'm not fighting a hometown boy and then we can really see how much the German fans actually like me because maybe I won't get booed then, you know, I'll actually get cheered coming out. Yeah, I don't I don't think the French are going to be supporting you at the moment, but [ __ ] France. Anyway, also we have to we have to ask you as well, right? Like obviously Richie Smullen's making his Octagon debut soon. Uh the likes of Jack Core from MMA Cork has previously fought in the promotion as well. We mentioned Shem. There's obviously Aron McDonald's. Like the list goes on. Will Flurry is the McGuire from MMA Cork by the way. He said Jack Cork. Sorry, excuse me. Jack Jack McGuire. Jack McGuire. Well, but and then obviously Will Flurry, the face of the organization, now the champ. Like, what do you think would be what more do you think needs to be done from Octagon to potentially have an Octagon Dublin? Um, I don't mind if it's Octagon Dublin or Belfast as long as it's on the island of Ireland. Okay. Yeah, I would prefer Dublin obviously. Um, you know, I've never fought in Dublin, so I feel like it needs to happen. But we need to like I think the Irish fans need to like really get behind it and make sure that they they go buy tickets because like at the end of the day Octagon's a business and if they're going to sell out 8,000 9,000 15,000 20,000 seat stadiums in Germany but then if they book the three arena and only sell 2,000 tickets out of 15,000 or 14,000 or whatever it is, they're not going to want to come. Do you know what I mean? So I think that this promotion is the biggest promotion in Europe at the moment. Uh even ahead of maybe PFL Europe in terms of like the European scene, in terms of the tickets that they do and the size of the events and the production that goes into the events. So I I do believe we could see an Irish takeover here. Richie Smullen's going to go smoke this guy. I believe Will Flurry's double champ. I'm on my way to getting the belt, you know. Um Aaron McDonald's in there. Shem's in there. I think we could see like a proper Irish takeover of a promotion of a European promotion. We just need the Irish fans to get behind the fighters. So, if there is an event shown, if there is an event booked, like go get the tickets, like go go support the lads, do you know what I mean? Um, get the pay-per-views. I don't know whether they can see like where the pay-per-view numbers are coming from, but like pay for the pay-per-view. Don't watch it on a dodgy link. pay the 15 quid and be and you know then you can see that Octagon can see then that oh there's interest in the promotion in Ireland like let's book an event there you know and like honestly if you see the level of production that goes in it's UFC level production in in terms of like when you're there and like the the music the intros the buildup all of that so yeah get behind the paper playing throwing competitions to get me like They they've got loads of stuff going on. Got loads of stuff going on. So yeah, like I just think they need to the fans need to really get behind it. Like as I said, it's they're going to make on a business business idea, not just like, oh, we've got like a few Irish fighters, let's go to Ireland. It's going to have it's going to have to make business sense. As long as they're not losing money, I think even honestly I think even if they broke even from an event in Dublin for the first event, they would be like happy to keep building on it and go again. But like not if they're losing money, do you know? Like and in the UK they were losing money. So it's like it has to make sense for them as well. Okay. Well, like I presume either Brian Pavle, Scott or Andre are listening right now. So look, we definitely want to see it come to Ireland. Um Dennis, you're about to become a father. We're like congratulations. Yeah. By the time this drops, the baby will probably be here. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Denn Dennis, is there anything else you want to say to the people tuning in now that are supporting you here in Ireland and are looking forward to seeing you back in action? Yeah, next time you're going to be a dad. Yeah, Daddy Daddy Dennis is coming out now. Dad strength is about to hit. Um, it's about time, you know. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So, yeah. Um, hopefully a couple more fights this year. I'm looking to keep building off uh the last few wins. Um, shout out our Kings competitions. Do feel free to support me as well and sponsor me if you want. But um any other Irish companies that want to sponsor me as well, I am becoming a dad. I need the money. I am [ __ ] skinned. So um yeah, absolutely [ __ ] support all the boys as well. Like like I said, when when an event comes on and there's Irish fighters on like me, Will, Richie, buy the pay-per-view. like it's 15 quid, you know, buy the pay-per-view, let them know that there's Irish interest in these in these events and then maybe next year when we can convince them to come to Dublin, buy tickets, come down, support the lads and let's make this a big thing and you know, we could secure like more than half the belts really within the next couple years, I imagine. So, yeah, they're there for the day, Basma. Exactly. Dennis, man, it was great talking to you and we'll let you get on with the rest of your day, bud. Nice and mad. Diana Joy show up the So, Ross, that was Dennis Fong, your favorite menace, man. Yeah, he's a he's definitely a character. A character that uh Octagon need. And um look, I hope he starts to get paid the big bucks now. He's D. Exactly. And if you are new to the show, make sure to like and subscribe because we are here every week. But uh Ross, just to touch on what Dennis was saying, Octagon come to Ireland, let alone like either if it's Belfast or if it's Dublin, that'd be something we'd be very interested in. Yeah, 100%. Like look, obviously you'd have the main event, Will Flurry, you'd put him defend one of his two belts in there. Um 100%. Or you do the triple champ status and have him go for the middleweight title. Um I think that's definitely something that um the fans would resonate behind. Obviously, you could put Dennis in there, Shaman there if if they can get him to resign and Richie Sm. And then there's like other fighters in the country that I think like could definitely benefit from fighting on an Octagon show. And I think like this is where you go around the houses and you pick off a few people from different Irish gyms that sort of aren't long-term someone. So I'd look at the likes of maybe Dom Norcas from team KF and then maybe like either Oman or Omar and Craig McCraten. I'd look at like trying at least get two of those in the door. So like therefore you're going to have good ticket sales in KF or get Brian Manning on because I feel like not only we bring MMA Cork, you'll also just bring generic Irish MMA fans. Uh obviously you can put Jack McGuire on the card as well. So that will like really give uh the Corkonians um a reason to come to that one. Um there's a few other people. Ross, aren't octagons meant to be some sort of link with Elite Fighting Championships down in Cork as well apparently. Apparently so. So like if if that is the case, well then like let's see it, you know? Uh why not? Maybe get some like a Troy Gibson on the card as well um from Fight Academy Ireland. Uh, I think I saw I saw Aiman Deans back training. Yeah, I saw that. I don't know what the crack is, but if he he was available to fight, get him on there. H maybe get Marrick. Um, I'm not going to try and pronounce a surname, but like there's certain fighters in Ireland who would be good for that demographic uh who maybe aren't signed who would also then help sell tickets um from their gyms. So like they're sort of people that you look at like even get a Janderson Castro on who's training out of SPG Charles Town and there's a few of those fighters knocking around that like you could get in there get get them a scrap. They'd sell a couple hundred tickets and you know we'd be here for to watch it. You know do you know there's another show? Don't know what you're going to tell me. Dean Barry. Dean Barry. The return. The return of Dean Barry. That'd be perfect. Well, I'd watch it. Well, look, plenty of options there. Ros and we will definitely promote it because that's what we do every week. Ross, don't Dylan Logan's another good show, actually. Dylan Logan, there's going to be people in the comments going nuts saying, "Why didn't you mention me?" But, uh, Ross, exactly, man. This is Yeah, but Jack Core is actually another good show who we half mentioned by mistake in the show. But like again, like, you know, I mean, he'd be selling tickets for his KJ. Well, the thing is I really enjoyed that last Octagon event. So therefore, like it'd be ideal to have an Irish rider on everyone so you can just tune in all the time. So, uh, but look, we're living in a dream world there, Ross. Um, right. So, we're just going to move into the world of the UFC. Ross, there was no events over the weekend. Uh, the Ultimate Fighter is actually back on Tuesday and SPG Charles Town's very own Andreas Binder is making big noise and will be on this season's um on this season. Ross, how excited are you to see Andreas Binder on this season's The Ultimate Fighter? Yeah, absolutely. LFL double champ. Look, things didn't really go to plan with him with the PFL. He had weight issues, but uh I think that's all behind him now. there's a massive opportunity for him. He's been put on one of the biggest um MMA shows in the world in the Ultimate Fighter. Like I know people will say it's like sort of falling off, but it's still one of the biggest MMA shows in the world. Like if you're if you're talking about um a reality MMA show, this is the one to be on. Obviously, uh he would then get that backing from uh I think it looks like spoiler alert, he's going to be on team Son. So like, you know, he's going to be getting that backing from Chel Son. I think that's underrated. Like Chelson is going to be looking out for these guys fights. Chelsea's a loyalty guy. So, uh he'll be backing his fighters to the hilt and at the end of the day he's going to be fighting in front of Dana White, in front of Daniel Cormier, in front of Chaos. Like these are the guys who have sway when they say, "Yay, you're an A." So, well, obviously Dana White being the main one, but like you know, I mean, he's putting his face in front of there and obviously if if he becomes the ultimate fighter, well then, you know, I mean, he gets a guaranteed contract, he'll be fighting the UFC next. So, look, I think it's a really good opportunity and I'm really really happy for Andreas Binder. I thought the sound bites we've got out him so far. He's done really really well cuz uh I always sort of thought, oh, maybe his promo skills weren't weren't as good as his fighting skills. Uh and again, like not every fighter is going to be, but I thought the sound bites out so far today or so far uh since he's been on the show have been absolutely ace. Yeah, that the way the way you called out Ian Gary that was like like that was perfect I think. Yeah. Yeah. Like making noise because you have to make the noise cuz as we seen before people on the Ultimate Fighter they don't get the finale but then they get a call up like around the around the corner and it's usually the people who make who make the biggest noise and like Andreas Binder is making noise before he's even on the show which is always great. Um yeah. So, look, that's going to be on every Tuesday, I'd say, for at least the next 8 to 10 weeks. Uh, we'll be keeping you up to date each week on the Enjoy Shows Instagram page. So, make sure to check that out. Uh, also, we are almost on 20,000 followers on Instagram as well. So, if you haven't followed us, make sure to do that. And if you haven't hit subscribe on YouTube, iTunes, or Spotify, make sure to do that as well because we are here every week, as I said about 10 times. Uh Ross, the UFC is back this weekend. In the main event, it's going to be Macy Barber against Aaron Blanchfield. Ross, first of all, what do you actually make of this fight? And it's going to be in the Apex. What you make of the card itself? Yeah, well, I feel like these are two maybe not super young now, but these are two young phenom phenoms going toe to toe. I feel like Macy Barber when she came on she took this uh the scene by storm one might say and she really really made her mark in the UFC. I think she was only say 21 22 at the time and people thought it was guaranteed she was going to come champion and then you had uh Blanchfield who is also super young. I think they're both sort of mid20s now. Uh when she came into UFC and she also took the UFC by storm. Um for me, I'm going to say I think Blanchfield is going to be the favorite going into this one having beaten Rosam last fight and also uh beaten Jessica Andraj. I feel like she's the superior got the superior wins on her record. Um but like these are both young hungry girls and uh the winner of this I think is next guaranteed to get a title shot. I think the only thing that would stop the winner of this getting um a title shot is if Jang moved up away class and um fought Valentino instead. Yeah. Well, these two both have a lot of hype behind them. Um I'd agree with you that Blanchfield would be the favorite and uh it's going to be very interesting to see what happens in that main event. Uh just looking at the commen, Matthew Scamro is fighting Ludic Klein. That should be a good scrap. And then the unfortunate thing for our Welsh fans, the Welsh gangster Oan Elliot was meant to be on the card. He's now going to be fighting in Azeraijan in a couple of weeks time. So we will keep you up to date with that. Uh Ross, there wasn't that much crazy news in the UFC because there was no UC, but uh the the shining light is going to be Andreas Binder on the Ultimate Fighter. But there is big Irish fights happening this Saturday. Cage Warriors 189 in Rome is going down. There is three Irish fighters on the card. Patty Mccuri from Fight Academy Ireland, Ryan Shel from Team KF, and then Gary Rooney from SPG Ireland are all going to be competing on the card. Ross, what you make of the three lads going to be fighting in Rome this Saturday? Yeah, I think it's really really good card for start. Uh I think the Cage Warriors Rome cards are always big fan favorites. I think uh the Italian fans really really turn up for the Cage Warriors events. You have to give them uh credit where credit's due on that. So I'm really looking forward to it. And I like that all three Irish fights have a bit of a different narrative than uh than each other. So like Ryan Shelly, you know, he obviously unfortunately lost his last fight to Nick Bagley. He's looking to get back on track. He's fighting in the com main event here uh against Simone Dana. Uh so look, I love to see Ryan Jelly um write the wrong last fight, get back in there and you know, pick up big win. He he's uh the Anna I think he was supposed to fight Albert Diaz to Anna has a win over Diaz. So like this probably a tougher fight for him but a win here would uh fly him back up there with the top featherweights in the country. Um Patty McCari obviously unfortunately we didn't get to see him at Cage Warriors Dublin. He he's now jumping on the next card in Rome. A win here I think is either title shot or contender series. One of the two. Uh Patty Mccari uh is going to go out here. He's fighting a catchweight as well. So he's given his opponent 10 pounds. Um he he looked in phenomenal shape when we uh ran into him double and I expect him to get his hand raised here and um call for his shot. And then Gary Rooney making his debut on the Cage Warriors brand. Another SPG Ireland fighter. With that being said, Gary Rooney is one of the best amateur fighters the country's ever seen and I expect to see him um show continued success on the pro scene. I know his last one didn't go his way. didn't get to see it, but uh I'm looking forward to seeing this one on the Cage Warriors brand, on a big brand where he belongs. Yeah. No, it's gonna it's great to have three Irish fighters on the card. Uh all three very exciting styles and all three from different gyms. So, uh it's very much going to be a team Ireland contingent in Rome. I say that's going to be some session afterwards, man. Who will be the most wild after Ross? May maybe the McCari fella. Um, also exciting news. Cage Warriors announced that they will be coming back to Ireland uh for Cage Warriors 194 on the 27th of September. The funny thing was they never actually mentioned where the event will be on. So, would you rather it in Dublin or would you rather it in Belfast, Ross? Well, it would be easier for me to get to if it was in Dublin, but if Patty Mari's headlined the event, I would love for it to be in Belfast for him. Yeah, but Ross, like you're more famous up in Belfast than you are in Dublin. So maybe it's better for you to go up there potentially. So potentially so. But uh as long as long as they're as long as they're coming, as long as it's a big show, I'll be here for Yeah, the last one was absolutely epic. And uh that's that's just really exciting news as well. Uh then we have to give a shout out to Aaron Macdonald. He's going to be fighting on Heroes Gate on Saturday as well. That's going to be in the Czech Republic. And then Ross, before we wrap up the show over the weekend, your fighting championship 15 went down in the Canal Court Hotel in Nuri. Decki Malinan's show, Ross. It was headlined by Ben Madden against Keem Macker. Kee McCarten. What a show it was, Ross. Tell us what you thought about the event. Yeah, I thought it was a really, really good show. Really, really enjoyed it. Um I I'm just going to talk talk about the main event to start off with. Uh Ben Mattton is an absolute star in the making. This was an absolutely sensational performance. Uh he's moved to five and one as a flyway with his only defeat coming against Kee McCarten. He's gone and aven that loss. He looked unbelievable from start to finish. We saw some spinning wheel kicks and everything in there. He looks so composed in there. um you know yourself basel sometimes you're watching and you're someone just has it. Well, Ben Madden has it and uh he is going to be one for the future to watch. He he is one of the best flyweights if not potentially the best flyweight in the country right now on the amateur scene and I can't wait to see Ben Matt back in there again. I feel like he is going to be the SPG Charles Town belt collector going forward for the next couple of years until he turns pro. What a sensational performance. And the reason I'm so impressed with Ben Matten is because I rate Kim McCarten so highly as well. And the fact he was able to go in there and effectively dominate most of the fight really shows the level that Ben Matton's at. Yeah. And Avenge is only loss as well. Absolutely. Yeah. But like that that was a quality fight. Then Ross, like there was other big winners on the card, but like what other fights really impressed you? Yeah, there there was a few. Uh Jared Ryan H who's now fighting out of MMA Cork. He moved from SPG Cl. He seems to be on an absolute tear at the moment. Like if you look at his record, it's six and eight. So it doesn't scream like you know absolute superstar. But you know he he's really starting to rack up some uh nice wins on uh especially on Euro Fighting Championships. I think that's one, two, three, four. That's his fourth win in succession on Euro Fighting Championship. He looks very big and strong at that weight class. He's definitely one to one to watch. And again, Jason Serenan um is someone who I would have touted very highly beforehand. So that was a massive win for him. Um Russ George versus Paul Fitzgerald put on an absolute brilliant fight. Russ George has also moved to SPG Charles Town. So that was a very impressive win there. Um someone we could see Ben Madden fight in the coming fights. Uh Ricky Dujo. uh he beat Peter Royley. Um that was on the main card as well. One thing I actually do want to touch on is that Yur did very very well is Jared Ryan when he won. He actually then um had a face off. No, not Jared Ryan. Sorry. Michael Cartmill. That's who I want to touch on. Apologies. He had a face off with Michael Shields after one. Michael Cartmill has been out of the cage for over two years and looked very impressive against a very game Wallace. And then Jared Ryan called out Oliver which Liam Shannon then wrote in the comments afterwards saying that that's going to go down on Cage Conflict. So that will be an absolute whopper scrap. I'd definitely be here for that. Um I'm going to have a look at the rest of the card quickly and see if anyone else Oh, Henry Lea. We touched on this in the buildup. H I thought him versus Ryan Dun Levy or Rein Dun Levy could have been on the main card. Basmo. Uh he Henry Lea got got his hand raised in that one. Uh he he's a top the range fighter in this country. That that fight was actually at bantamweight. We've seen Henry Lea at Banttom and Flyway. So he's a handful for anyone. Um also um there was a women's fight on the card. Louise Brady got her hand raised against Megan. Um Louise Brady did kick Megan very hard in the face when she was a downed opponent and the ref did not h step in intervene any stage but Megan unit showed she is tough as all boots and again that's not me saying I don't think Louise Brady is a dirty fighter I actually think she's very talented but I would love to see Megan maybe go down to flyweight instead of bantamweight and then Eric Maru from CMAC looks very very impressive he got a submission win over Ryan Dunn and again I great Ryan Dun Jiujitsu quite highly. So that was very very impressive. And then Jamie Maxwell also looked great on the card as did Shawn Brazzle making his amateur debut. So that is probably a full run through there Basmo of the entire card. It was it was a really good show. Really entertaining to watch it. Um, shout out to everyone who fought on it. Uh, whether they won or lost and shout out to all the your fight team that works on the show and the cut team, man. Uh, and the cut team. No, shout out to Decki. He's doing great work with your fighting championships. And uh, also give a shout out to Andy Taz Young for running Valor Combat Series over the weekend as well. Uh Ross, you just mentioned there that Cage Conflict will be coming back on the 18th of October and also the big one, Akuma Fighting Championship is coming back on the 23rd of August. Ross, what an absolutely energizing show. What the You better believe. Yeah. Do you know what? Uh I'm actually like, it's not as if I wasn't enjoying doing the shows, but I'm actually really enjoying doing the shows these days. I don't know what it is, man. Maybe I'm not sicky anymore. What could it be, man? Don't know, man. I I think I I think when the Irish scene is buzzing and thriving, that's when we're at our best. Exactly, bud. So, if you are new to the show, make sure to like, make sure to share, make sure to subscribe, and as always, stay. Stay energized. The Enjoy Show. Up therish. It's the face that runs the place, Chaos Cortis. I want to thank the Irish MMA community so much for getting behind me. Yep. The chaos cartel.