What's Happening in MMA and the UFC Right Now?

Рет қаралды 10,486

Ай бұрын

Luke Thomas is one of the most influential MMA analysts in the game and the host of The Morning Kombat Podcast. I was delighted to talk to him today about
How the sport of MMA has changed
The rise of Eastern European fighters
Why is terrible behaviour of MMA fighters tolerated
Can other MMA organisations ever rival the UFC
Drug testing in the UFC
Fighter unions and the Ali Expansion Act
What Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson means for combat sports
And more
Check out Luke Thomas's KZbin channel here: / @lukethomas
And subscribe to The Strenuous Life Podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts!

Пікірлер: 108

@jb1670 Ай бұрын

Mr Thomas, despite his father not loving him, is a great MMA source.

@adogg9782 Ай бұрын

Having a daddy that dosnt love you is a prerequisite to be involved in mma😂

@zoom4368 29 күн бұрын

@adogg9782 As a fatherless mma fan, I can concure

@soultaliban 27 күн бұрын

It's not hard to understand why he got no love from Daddy.

@yakuza01 Ай бұрын

Oh my god, my BJJ and MMA content youtube crossover that I didn't know I needed. This is awesome but yet so out of the blue. Thank you!

@StephanKesting Ай бұрын

I am very glad to have met this inadvertent need of yours!

@KeilGries Ай бұрын

Same! Luke and Stephan are the main two channels I'm subbed to for BJJ and MMA content, I was so confused and it took me like 5 seconds of staring at the thumbnail thinking my youtube had glitched or something 😅

@yakuza01 Ай бұрын

@@StephanKesting However, you being Canadian, I wish you would have asked about the pride of Canada, AND Luke's favorite rock band, Nickelback.

@jakogrim Ай бұрын

Unexpected and very appreciated collaboration! Been following you both for 10+ years. Thanks for all your contributions.

@StephanKesting Ай бұрын

Thank you so much my good sir

@ParisLawLess Ай бұрын

Professor Luke Thomas is everywhere. Great interview 👍

@WilliamSung86 Ай бұрын

My first KZbin coach was kesting (and chewie) and my first MMA journo was Thomas. What an incredible cross over

@BuildinWings Ай бұрын

The line between sports and "sports entertainment" is blurrier than ever, and it's turned me off of combat sports for the time being. Don't gotta watch TV to roll.

@boneytony5041 Ай бұрын

The life of a prize fighter. Dammed if you do etc.

@paulbury8176 Ай бұрын

The crossover I didn’t know I needed haha, what a great meeting of the minds

@dmichaelpage Ай бұрын

Luke has great insights. I don't watch anywhere near as much MMA as I used to, so I don't usually follow his stuff, but it's great hearing two smart dudes talk about this stuff.

@brendanbate5440 Ай бұрын

Same here. Morning Kombat is worth checking out and has a really cool community.

@prandz420 Ай бұрын

So great to see you two crossover!!

@StephanKesting Ай бұрын

Thank you very much

@KeilGries Ай бұрын

Holy hell this is a legendary crossover.

@StephanKesting Ай бұрын

Thank you, ironic osssss!

@KeilGries Ай бұрын

@@StephanKesting Oss 🙏

@TheReal_DeanD Ай бұрын

I’m happy you’re giving Luke some shine and time on your channel. Luke is really putting himself out there.

@hectoribarra1245 Ай бұрын

I'm glad to hear an intelligent, informative conversation & sane politics out of the MMA world. 👍🏼

@jawadkazmi5327 Ай бұрын

This was such a good listen. I been following MMA/UFC for a good number of years and just in the past few months felt like I had finally outgrown it, all the reactionary macho bravado of absolute psycho fighters and fans and trolls gets to one I guess. Good to see some decent guys like you and Luke in the business.

@StephanKesting Ай бұрын

It sounds like we have very similar opinions about the whole circus

@rms1754 Ай бұрын

Awesome discussion! More please

@greatestthe5959 Ай бұрын

This was just overall a great interview. Kudos to this guy for knowing what he wanted to ask, and knowing his guest. Allowing Luke to speak. These two could really create and open up a lot of conversations between each other if they continue to collaborate with this approach. (Each of them could take turns in the driver seat and almost have an open discussion rather than debate and give rebuttals)

@greatestthe5959 Ай бұрын

Luke’s take at the end as a combat sports fan at the end of- so hard to articulate to someone who’s more of a passive fan without coming off as an elitist. I’m glad friends and family are excited about combat sports and ask me about it but so hard to respond as far as interest level and my thoughts which they genuinely are asking knowing that’s my passion

@philmaio2335 Ай бұрын

This show was awesome! I loved the similarities And differences of opinion. I would love to see it again

@phoenix1473 Ай бұрын

Thank you both. Great listen ✌🏼❤️

@WhoIsCalli 25 күн бұрын

Great convo, thanks

@justinthao848 Ай бұрын

I got Godzilla and Kong teaming up last month. I think this might have topped that!

@StephanKesting Ай бұрын

Well now THAT is a pretty high bar to clear!

@thisopinionwillexpire Ай бұрын

Love seeing Luke on other channels

@andrewflanagan3658 Ай бұрын

Two of the best in their fields, combining for our benefit

@jasonpeprose Ай бұрын

What a across over, you guys went together like Han Solo and Chewbacca. 😂 Love it.

@StephanKesting Ай бұрын

UAARRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!

@jasonpeprose Ай бұрын

@@StephanKesting 😂

@DJO_Kosick Ай бұрын

Great interview! Thanks for having LT on the show, I'm new found fan on your channel.

@cianelliott2947 Ай бұрын

Excited to listen to this!

@heysmilebomb411 Ай бұрын

Thank you for having Luke on! Hope y’all collab again soon ❤

@arranwalker4292 Ай бұрын

Great conversation

@greatestthe5959 Ай бұрын

lol ok LAST COMMENT. Never have been exposed to this other broadcaster with Luke. Really liked his personality and stewardship of this. lol in Luke’s voice: “that watch is a Sundial player” lol all love. Totally enjoyed this

@merkins87 Ай бұрын

15:00 bang on: There is no "left" or "right" in the Anglosphere and many TNCs are deliberately working hard against unionisation as it affects their bottom dollar.

@herondope5675 Ай бұрын

That was the most ridiculous point I heard this whole interview... there's literal self described marxists and communists at the helm of political commentary on the internet ex. Hasan Pike and college campuses where there's safe spaces for "LGBTQ+" and "POC" to hide from oppressive white supremacy but because there's no chauvistas organizing a communist revolt there's no left wing in the west lmaoo

@romerosneck Ай бұрын

If you want to fall back in love with MMA, talking to Luke ain't gonna do it 😂

@LoganNashFilms Ай бұрын

This is the video form of the Spiderman meme

@thedonofthsht76-58 Ай бұрын

Nvr been on this channel but got my view!

@zephyrleapold6796 Ай бұрын

Most of the best MMA practitioners are still in and wanting to get to the UFC. As a fan of the art, that's why I watch, for them. The antics won't stop anytime soon, and they only help to sell events, so that is where individuals need to decide if it's too far or not. The best BJJ, wrestlers, and boxers don't often go into MMA due to what a high level the actual art has become, just being great at one discipline, isn't enough any longer, not at the top anyway. That's a big reason why I watch the actual fights still.

@dariusrana8487 Ай бұрын

I like the old school nhb, vale tudo fights. Modern MMA is small gloves, kickboxing and a liitle grappling, submissiin thrown in. Pride may have been the peak of MMA.

@TheOriginalEGod Ай бұрын

LT is the man!

@wheelsup3263 Ай бұрын

LUKE!!!

@ajaniwinston8117 Ай бұрын

Haha the squeamishness hit me hard as a dad, but it also made me recommit to training, and staying in shape

@Onlybadtakes2589 Ай бұрын

Last fine i think was against Nate Diaz

@xProjectMyst Ай бұрын

Here for Luke, but the intro was mad weird lol. Should be a good listen despite that

@nerdSlayerstudioss Ай бұрын

sick crossover Stephan

@StephanKesting Ай бұрын

Thank you very much

@jasonpatterson4830 Ай бұрын

Awnsome

@jonathanmoore7582 Ай бұрын

Conor throws a "trolley" through the bus window. Schaubisms

@William-Morey-Baker Ай бұрын

so kids can make better decisions as adults? Luke.. i think you might be a bit confused...

@jonathanbecerra6416 Ай бұрын

Hey that’s not Brian….

@evanchen5360 Ай бұрын

"...the mainstream no longer even cares about any bad acts, or malfeasance." sorry, this is ridiculous. if conor, jon jones or anyone else breaks the law, they should be charged and punished just like anyone else. and this is exactly what's happened. should fighters be canceled if they say something one political party views as offensive? i don't see why the UFC needs to start canceling fighters who -- as you say -- probably lean to the right. i personally think dana is a tool, but he definitely leans right and doesn't put up with woke nonsense. i suspect most of his fighters agree. if you're offended that's on you.

@davidbankston672 Ай бұрын

“Folk wrestling” for millennia in Middle East and Russian countries.

@cdcaleo Ай бұрын

One Championship has appeared to transcend the low brow thuglife nonsense that the UFC has fallen into, and I increasingly spend my time watching One, as well as other combat sports like Boxing, Olympic/NCAA Wrestling, and ADCC jiu jitsu. The UFC's other main problem is that their stable of fighters is so huge, more than 500 fighters last time I checked, that they have to put together increasingly boring cards, with stacked cards becoming ever more rare.

@StephanKesting Ай бұрын

I agree on both points

@cdcaleo Ай бұрын

@@StephanKesting By the way, I'm giving you a hard time in the comments section, but I appreciate your content and the effort you put into your channel. Thanks!

@TheNEOverse Ай бұрын

Eh, One has its own weirdness, like not giving their MMA fighters matches as of late and the bizarre shit talking from Chatri. His comments after the Takeru vs Superlek fight were not respectful.

@charliec2966 Ай бұрын

THE SPORT IS BIGGER THAN EVER. EVERYONE WATCHING MORE UFC THAN EVER. THESE GUYS SEEM BITTER.

@dakrazypenguin Ай бұрын

Gonna be a lot of complaining in this one😂

@inpugnaveritaas Ай бұрын

Jake Paul is t going to win that fight. No chance.

@michaelb.6007 Ай бұрын

Glad to see that Stephen pressed Luke on the pressure a 17 yr old might feel to take PEDs when on the cusp of a career in sports, and his answer was about as weak as I expected since Luke has continually failed to address it every time he talks about PED use. He tries to hedge a bit, but his all for it mentality of normalizing this stuff in sport has obvious repurcuasions on young athletes that he is unwilling to meaningfully address.

@Day-ZDuke Ай бұрын

Man, I don’t agree with many of Luke’s opinions, but he is intelligent and knowledgeable. His position on PEDs isn’t about “normalizing” this stuff in sports; it’s already been normalized for all intents and purposes. It’s pervasive throughout all sports, particularly at the professional level where the motivations to use are increased massively Luke’s position on this matter is just being practical / realistic. Much in the same way the War on Drugs doesn’t work, neither does the outright banning and demonizing of PEDs. People are going to use regardless. It’s much better for everyone / the system in many different facets, such as health concerns and monetary costs, for PEDs to be legal, monitored, and reasonably controlled.

@michaelb.6007 Ай бұрын

@@Day-ZDuke PEDs are already legal and I agree that they should be for a variety of reason, but regulating competitive sport is a different matter. Just because something is widespread or difficult to regulate doesn't mean it should be encouraged. I find that to be a weak argument. I could say the same about grabbing the fence, eye poking, or any other widespread disregard for the rules of sport. The culture around sport and the judgment of your peers is a strong motivator. If PEDs are considered acceptable, they WILL be encouraged. MORE kids will feel MORE pressure than they already do to use MORE steroids. And I don't think he's all that practical here either. He wants multiple leagues where one is clean and one isn't... Okay, so how do you stop the clean leagues from not cheating? How do you stop junior leagues from doping? You regulate like we're already doing. It solves nothing. This is Luke's biggest tell here. IMO, what he ACTUALLY just wants is to see steroid junkies bang into one another regardless of the collateral damage on young athletes. The problem with anti doping is the corruption and implementation, NOT the concept.

@ufc4debunking245 Ай бұрын

What was weak about his statement?

@michaelb.6007 Ай бұрын

@@ufc4debunking245 Read everything I wrote after "I find that to be a weak argument."

@ufc4debunking245 Ай бұрын

@michaelb.6007 would you say the same about fast food and alcohol? LUke is not arguing to normalize PED use in children or in adults he saying their are real medical and aging benefits to some PEDS that can be used responsibly for athletes to have longer and healthy careers and could even help prevent some injury and the more educated we are about it the better we can control the use . Every sports organization in the world promotes fast food and alcohol to children non stop and when they get injured get them addict to painkillers when there's probably a form of, for lack of better words PED therapy that could help heal that injury most successfully.

@cdcaleo Ай бұрын

Combat sports have always been aligned with working class culture and sensibilities, so I find it strange that Stephan wants them to reflect the wooden priggishness of post modern liberalism. Stephan, you can get your fill of post modern progressivism on NPR. Leave MMA out of it.

@evanchen5360 Ай бұрын

💯times this. i'm a big fan of stephan, but IDK why he expects pro fighters to act like biden/trudeau voters.

@StephanKesting Ай бұрын

“Post modern liberalism”. my my, somebody has been listening to too much Jordan Peterson. I’m just surprised you didn’t call me a Marxist, but I suppose that’s your next insult…

@StephanKesting Ай бұрын

@@evanchen5360 in what way is asking for fighters heavily promoted by the UFC not to be criminal thugs a political thing? I complained about Conor McGregor hurling a dolly through a bus window and Jon Jones, rap sheet; I do not believe that Trudeau or Biden have commented on either issue.

@evanchen5360 Ай бұрын

@@StephanKesting maybe you've already seen, but above i said "if conor, jon jones or anyone else breaks the law, they should be charged and punished just like anyone else." the conor bus incident happened 6 years ago. i think it's one data point, not a trend.

@cdcaleo Ай бұрын

@@StephanKesting I fully believe Conor and Jon are miserable role models, and should have been fined/fired for their horrible behavior. No argument from me there.

@81ghale Ай бұрын

You want cage fighters to be role models? 😂 Weren’t unions ran by the mafia when they were popular? Sounds like yet another way to open the door for corruption to me and always has. Granted, I’ve only been in the workforce for 28 years, but having the option to accept or decline a job based on what they offer hasn’t been a huge problem for me. I’m just a factory bum tho, which used to be middle class, but now that the middle class is gone I’m relegated to “no voice” status.

@StephanKesting Ай бұрын

I think you might have missed my point. Fighters are going to be fighters, and some of them are going to be terrible human beings. What I object to is the MMA organizations sanctifying, minimizing and glorifying the shitty behavior when it happens.

@81ghale Ай бұрын

@@StephanKesting yeah I did misunderstand you then. I don’t think the promoter should, or needs, to use the behavior of the fighters outside of the cage for anything. Especially if they’re going to keep them as independent contractors. I heard it as a judgement on the morality of the fighter, like they have an obligation to carry themselves a certain way, my fault.

@ufc4debunking245 Ай бұрын

@81ghale are they "professional athletes " or "cage fighters" it seems the UFC likes to use each term when it benefits them kinda like calling them independent contractors but making it impossible to get out of their contracts and not allowing them to have sponsors inside the cage or on any UFC broadcast or affiliated events

@81ghale Ай бұрын

@@ufc4debunking245 that’s the morals of the business UFC (Endeavor, or whoever tf owns it now) not the fighters, different subject.

@ufc4debunking245 Ай бұрын

@@81ghale All other Major sports leagues require their athletes to uphold a code of conduct, which is why you don't see MLB,NFL,NBA,NHL players going on podcast saying outlandish things or doing reckless things without repercussions, they might police their speech to an extent but they aren't telling their athletes what to believe in. With the UFC being the world recognized MMA promoter who for years has fought to be recognized alongside the MLB,NFL,NBA,NHL they should take it upon themselves to hold their athletes to a higher standard instead of hiding behind "free speech" and claiming they are independent contractors who can do and say what they please without letting them be real independent contractors.