The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 1: The Stained Carpet
Episode Date: March 1, 2024We kick things off with a conversation between Adnan Virk, David Samson, and Ben Lyons. The trio is set to host Meadowlark Media's Oscars Watch Party, so they explain why the Oscars still matter and p...review next Sunday's awards. Then, it's time for Tony's MMA Hangout with MMA Junkie's Danny Segura as they discuss Fight Night in Mexico City. Plus, we have a slice of an episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out with Pablo Torre and Domonique Foxworth discussing [checks notes] post-nut clarity? What? Really? What is this show? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcript
Discussion (0)
You're listening to Giraffe Kings Network.
This is the Don Lebatur Show with the Stugatz Podcast.
That's right, the Oscars live from the Stain Carpet.
Myself, Adnan Burke, David Samson and Ben Lyons my old buddy
We covered the Oscars twice together. We were working for the Academy Ben this time
We're working for Metal Arc Media how far we've come
But this is gonna be awesome the three of us just yapping away talking about the Oscars why we love it so much now
They go course all the great guests from the shipping container of Metal Arc Media David
I'll start with you
Why are the Oscars still matter?
For all the naysayers, the skeptics out there
who laugh at people like you and me and Ben,
why does it still matter?
Because movies still matter.
The magic of movies, it still exists.
How far we've come from reviewing a movie every week
when I was president of the Marlins
on Dan's land radio show in Miami.
And then to Nothing Personal,
where I review a movie every day,
I haven't missed an Oscar telecast.
Wait for it, since 1986.
Straight through, including when I've been traveling
and they've started at 2 a.m. local time,
I will still watch it no matter what country I'm in.
And the reason why it matters to me is that movies are the life that I want.
They're the life that I thought it can be. There's when you see love on the screen or you see passion or you learn a story that you didn't know.
It's what I think is real. What I want to be real. That's why I take movies and then the Oscars. So seriously.
that's why I take movies and then the Oscars so seriously. Petun winning the best picture way back in 1986.
That was a great year for Oliver Stone.
Ben of course used to work for E news.
Of course you've covered the Oscars many a time
on the red carpet.
This is gonna be a unique way though.
You're gonna be producing me and David
and also chiming in here and there
while the Oscars don't matter to a guy like you.
Well like David, I grew up loving the Academy Awards
and I've had the privilege as you mentioned professionally
to be able to cover it from every angle.
I've been backstage.
I've been across the street on a rooftop.
I've been with you in the depths of the Kodak Theater,
where the winners would come in the backstage room and you could see how
excited and overwhelmed they are from that moment.
But this will be the first time covering the Oscars in Miami.
So definitely looking forward to putting on the tuxedo. I might have a linen tux in the collection.
I know it gets a little balmy down there. But the Oscars matter because this is how you can get
a large audience around the world to care about films that don't have, you know,
Tyrese going to space. I mean, God bless the Fast and Furious franchise,
but now that he's gone to space,
I don't know how much more of the left story there is
in that saga.
So this is how a film about a history professor
at a boarding school in the 1970s
and about his relationship with one of his students
that will deeply move you, the holdovers.
This is how it gets people talking about it
and people excited about it and wanna give it a chance.
And when you open yourself up to film,
as David said, you open it up to a life bigger
than the one you live and to hope
and to parts of your heart you don't even know exists.
So I think the Oscars celebrates all facets of cinema.
They've done a wonderful job of the Academy
the last few years making some serious changes
where now you have a really nice mix of films
represented from international cinema,
from period pieces to modern stories.
I think they've done a nice job of staying relevant,
while also honoring the nostalgia
and the timelessness of Oscar night that we all love.
And I think we can all agree,
this was a massive year for movies,
because you have blockbusters like Barbie,
and obviously Oppenheimer, which is gonna be an absolute juggernaut on Oscar night
We're gonna give our predictions of course on the actual Oscars telecast and we'll be keeping track throughout the night for bragging rights
But that could win eight Academy Awards, which would be the most and slum dog millionaire
It's gonna be a great night for Christopher Nolan
He's probably gonna finally win his first best director award
But I think for me fellas
It's not only celebrating film, it's celebrating what cinema can do for all of us,
generating empathy for those types of characters
that you mentioned like in the Holdovers.
But I think it's really about the speeches.
It's about the pageantry, it's about those great moments
and those moments, just like the movies,
those speeches could inspire us
and make us think what we would do
with our own Oscar speeches.
So speaking of David, the guy that of course
we're rooting for, heart is Paul Giamatti.
I know Ben loved the Holdovers as well. I don't, I listen, I'm concerned whether or not he's gonna win because Kelly Murphy, of David, the guy that of course we're rooting for our hardest Paul Giamatti. I know Ben loved the Holdovers as well.
I don't, I listen, I'm concerned whether or not
he's gonna win because Kili Murphy, of course,
just won the SAG Award, the Screen Actors Guild Award.
There is precedent, by the way,
Chadwick Boseman won the SAG Award,
then Anthony Hopkins won the Academy Award for the father.
So it's not like it always lines up correctly,
but generally the actors branch is the largest part
of the Academy and generally if you win the SEG,
you do win the Academy Award.
Having said that, you know me and no,
Giamatti's got a better,
that a puncher's chance of winning.
If it's not killing Murphy, it is gonna be PG.
Let's talk about our boy, Giamatti.
You just blew over one of the most iconic moments
in Oscar history.
The year that Anthony Hopkins won for the father,
they changed the order to have Best Actor announced
as the last award of the night
when it's always Best Picture,
because Chadwick Boseman had passed away tragically
and he was expected to win a posthumous Oscar
first since Heath Ledger I assume.
So they go to the announcement of Best Actor,
everyone's ready and the winner and the award,
the Oscar goes to Anthony Hopkins.
The room goes silent.
And it was such an interesting moment
because this is not about buying your way to an award.
It's not about Paola.
This is really when the branches of the Academy
are giving the greatest award that changes careers
and hopefully it gets people to watch movies.
If one more person watched Anthony Hopkins in that movie
because he won, that's a success, because that was great.
But you blew over that.
What a moment that was.
And as you know, Hopkins wasn't there
as he was fast asleep in Wales, woke up the next morning,
hey, thanks for my second Oscar, that was great. So't there as he was fast asleep in Wales. Woke up the next morning. Thanks for my second Oscar.
That was great.
So one of the things that I would tell you
that I'm excited about for Best Actor
is there have been years recently
where there have not been really tight races.
Where it would be hard in your Oscar pool
to get any of the big categories wrong.
This year, I believe that best supporting actress
is a done deal.
Whether or not it's gonna happen, we'll wait to see,
but I do believe it is.
But best actress, best actor are both completely up in the air.
You've got Killian Jacobs going against Paul Giamatti.
Hey, Murphy, yeah.
Killian, do you know who that is?
We can't edit this out. Middle reliever from the 90s or whatever. Do you know who that is? We can't know. Middle River from the 90s.
Somebody drafted way back in the
day. No, it's the actress from
she was in love.
One of my favorite TV shows with
Joe Dapital. Thank you.
Love Apatow.
Killian Murphy going against Paul
G. Amadi.
And then you've got Emma Stone
against Lily Gladstone.
And the question is which way
will the Academy go?
I can't wait to hear which way you guys are going
because I do not think that we will be in agreement
on these categories.
Yeah, and it's a good point.
Don't count out in net bending too.
Don't count out in net bending,
sports cinema and really a culmination
of a great Hollywood career.
Oftentimes the Oscars do feel like they're on back order
and sometimes people win for historically
what might be deemed the wrong role or the wrong performance.
The Revenant.
Yeah.
Although, come on, the first 10 minutes of that movie when Leo's swallowing bullets,
it just lets you know, you got a guy inside of a bear.
I mean, you fight a bear, you win an Oscar.
That's with the Academy of Arts.
It used to be, you have to play a special, if you play a special needs person,
like Dustin Hoff, remember they made fun of that
in Tropic Thunder.
I don't think that that Annette Benning has a chance
and I love Annette Benning.
I've loved her since Bugsy.
I've loved her in everything.
I do not believe that she has absolutely any chance
of winning the Oscar.
But back to Gia Mati, I was with you Annette,
the critics, we thought, okay,
maybe he's got some momentum here. And then when you win at the SAG Awards for, okay, maybe, maybe he's got some, some momentum here.
And then when you win at the SAG Awards for, you know, you often go on to winning at Oscar,
but when you win playing a real life person, you think Mars Whitaker is Idi Amin, Charlize
and monster, Jamie Foxx and Ray, I mean, the list goes on. You go on to win at the Academy
Awards. That's kind of a tried and true formula for me. So I think that one might be all but done.
Yeah, it's checking all the boxes.
He won the BAFTA, of course,
as well, the British Academy Awards.
And because the film, everyone has seen Oppenheimer,
and as I said, it's gonna be this title-waverable
momentum potentially winning eight Oscars.
That's obviously gonna help Kaleigh Murphy,
who was so immersed in the movie.
I did wanna touch on supporting actress Ben,
because I'm with David, it feels like it's a juggernaut.
Dave, I enjoy Randolph,
but you can tell the story when your dad,
Jeffrey Lyons, the fame film critic, he was the one guy that got it right.
Marissa Tomei, my cousin Vinny. The one guy, the one guy.
And years later, I would interview her for the wrestler.
She's always like, please tell your father. Thank you.
He was the only person who was crazy enough to think I would win.
And, and she did.
And the supporting categories have long had a history of upsets or surprising winners.
You think of Jack Palance doing pushups on that Oscar stage.
You think of Show Me the Money, Cuba Gooding,
Junior, Rod Tidwell.
You think about the year that, you know, obviously,
Jennifer Hudson was the first time
that was kind of a coordination,
but everybody thought Eddie Murphy was going to win.
And he famously walked out of the theater.
Alan Arkham won that year for Little Miss Sunshine.
Mark Rylance was a surprise. So you have kind out of the theater. Alan Arkham won that year for Little Miss Sunshine.
Mark Rylance was a surprise.
So you have kind of curveballs in the supporting categories.
I don't think Jodie Foster will upset Divine Jorah Random.
I don't think that America Ferrero will win for Barbie,
although I'm happy she's nominated.
It's definitely a year where it feels like
the supporting categories are more blocked than as David mentioned the leads
Yeah, that's an important point that it that you can't have all four categories up in the air
And I think this year the supporting actor and I actually don't think that Robert Downey, Jr.
Deserves the Oscar with a supporting category at all too many strong performances. I would take to near one
I can't believe I'm saying this ad. Yes, I would take DeNiro.
You're all an ad man, you know how to play the hits.
This is why it's a problem though.
The true winner for me would be Mark Ruffalo
for Poor Things, who is absolutely outstanding,
but I think you will have locked and loaded
in supporting and then actor and actresses
where you could get the surprise.
I'm also a huge Ruffalo fan.
I like the fact that Ben mentioned Mark Rylance
because that year Ruffalo was up for spotlight.
I remember when I said Mark R...
And I go, my God, Ruffalo, Mark Rylance, what?
Bridges Spies out of nowhere.
And it definitely was a memorable moment.
And Rylance is great in Bridges Spies.
He's the best part of that movie.
But I did wish Ruffalo had won before.
And Poor Things is obviously fantastic.
Best actress, like David said, Ben, I'm with Lily Glassone.
I thought had some momentum.
They both win the Golden Globes, will be a historic winner.
Obviously first ever native actress nominated for the Academy Award.
But Emma Stone wins a Crick's Choice Award.
We were, she wins the BAFTA.
Lily wasn't even nominated for a BAFTA.
Then Lily wins the SAG.
So I'm with David, Ben.
I think this is a real toss up with Lily Glassone and Emma Stone.
And then early in the run, early in the season, everybody was like, yeah, think this is a real toss up with only glass on Emma Stone and then early in the run early in the season
Everybody was like yeah, Bradley Cooper is amazing a maestro, but Kerry Mulligan's gonna win the Oscar
So right there was some early momentum for her. She seems to have fallen out of the race
I would love to see Emma Stone win for poor things, you know how much I love her in that film and that performance and where she's at
Her career really just making amazing choices. She's year in and year out.
I think it's her eighth nomination,
seventh nomination or something ridiculous for an actress.
And I think she's wonderful and poor things,
but I'm with you.
I think Lily Gladstone,
Winsley Academy Awards,
the recognition that Killers of the Flower Moon deserves
because I think it's gonna get overlooked
in some of the other categories
in which it was nominated.
Leo was overlooked, of course, for lead actor.
I don't know if this comes in.
This is your world, David,
where if the platform and the distribution
behind the movie maybe impacted its Oscar chances,
I know it's nominated a bunch for a couple
technical categories and creative categories,
but coming out as an Apple release,
you think it plays any role in how people view killers
of the farm?
So it used to, and some people will argue, maybe that's what happened with the Irishman
when it was a Netflix release.
But I don't believe that's the case anymore.
I think that you're seeing absolute equivalency where now, whether it's released to Apple,
whether it's a big studio release, I don't think people actually discern anymore. It used to be, do you remember when something would go straight
to video? That's because it couldn't get a distributor. They couldn't find a screen.
It was the worst thing you could ever say is this one straight to video. But now that
is the best thing you can say. So we'll wait to see. It's going to be a hell of a time
live from the stained carpet. And I'm so happy we've been doing it with both of you.
It's going to be a blast, man. Honestly, make sure you check out me, David and Ben,
and it's gonna be an awesome time.
And honestly, you mentioned NIAID and that betting,
maybe we'll get Dan Lebatard to be the Diane NIAID
of our production.
Maybe we'll put him in the pool
and see if he can swim to Cuba.
We'll give it a shot.
Live from the stained carpet, we'll see you then.
Hey folks, it's Mike Ryan.
Now, you've had the distinct privilege
of knowing me for close to 18 years
and you know that I've changed.
A lot of my personal life has changed.
I've changed as a professional.
I am a parent now.
My level of involvement
in my favorite college football program has also changed.
But one thing that hasn't changed for me
is my favorite beer.
You know when it's real with me.
I think you do anyways
and you know how much I love Miller Lite. I've loved it forever. Really. It's my favorite beer of all time. And it made all the
great moments in my life all that much better. And when Miller Lite came aboard on our show,
I was super stoked about it because I believed in the product because every time I take a sip of
Miller Lite, I look around and I think, yeah, this was the right call. Times change.
People like me can change.
But you can always enjoy the great taste of Miller Lite.
Tastes like Miller Time.
To get Miller Lite delivered right to your door, visit MillerLite.com slash Dan.
Where you can try to find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer.
Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 Galleries, per 12
ounces.
Don Libertard!
David Samson, weirdo. Because he was not the fun substitute teacher who'd wheel out a TV and play a VHS tape
or Armageddon in science class.
He was the weird one who would eat an egg salad sandwich while clipping his toenails
into the trash can and ranting about Ronald Reagan.
Stugots!
The guy kept talking about how his ass was smooth.
Smoother than a newborn's cheek.
He wouldn't stop bragging about his bare buttocks to me.
This is the Don Lebatar Show with the Stugots.
What's up everybody? Welcome into the MMA Hangout.
That right there is MMA junkies Danny Segura
who is boots on the ground in Mexico.
In Mexico City.
Danny, what's up? First of all, what's up, bro? Second of all, how are the fights?
How's Mexico City? How's life treating you? You're going to be there for like another five weeks,
I heard. Yeah, almost no. Just a week, you know, I can't get enough of the city. The city's dope.
It's awesome. There's so much to do. I'm already like probably like 100 tacos in a fair bit of
mezcal and a good amount of fights as well, a good amount of chingazos.
So, life is great, man.
Can complain.
The card was pretty good, and got one more week in this beautiful city.
So, everything's good.
How is the vibe in the arena?
Because obviously, this is a very big place that just opened the UFC PI in Mexico City.
This is a very big hotbed for fighting, And it feels like the MMA is overrun now
with Hispanic fighters, with Mexican fighters.
Like this is a big deal for Mexico.
So how was the energy inside the arena?
Yeah, it was crazy.
I mean, I took out video, you can check it out
on my Twitter, cheapplug at Danny Segura TV.
Literally second fight in the prelims.
And you've been to these events, bro.
The prelims, people are just starting to get there.
You get the hard cores and then by the time
the main card starts, that's when the arena is like really
full.
This wasn't the case.
You were two fights in and the arena was pretty much packed.
It was 20,000 people there.
And it was crazy.
It was crazy.
From the very beginning, people were super hyped,
were yelling, were going crazy because there
was so much young Mexican talent from the very start that is popular here in Mexico that everybody got
there early to witness it.
So man, one of the best crowd energies that I've seen in a while.
That's crazy because you've been to a lot of great fights as I have too.
And it's like, you think of how big some of these fights are.
And when you look across the card, it was a fight night, you know, not a not a numbered pay-per-view card. There was a couple good
fights on it, a couple fights that were okay. One that we thought could have been decent
between the fight that got canceled. Man, I'm blanking on the fight.
The Raul Rosas and.
The Rosas and yes, that one that was going to be kind of an exciting fight. Rosas is
an up and comer, somebody that you kind of want to see fight and
Dude just the energy was insane. So we're gonna let you know everything
You need to know from the important things that happen at this fight night
We start in a place that kind of makes me a little sad and I'm gonna tell you why okay, we started the main event
Brandon Moreno versus Brandon Roy Va. And it feels to me,
Danny, and I know this is your boy. I hope that one too.
It feels to me like the windows closing on Brandon Moreno. Tell me why that's not the case.
I'm not ready to say that. I will acknowledge to you and to the listeners that Brandon Moreno did look different.
Brandon Moreno did not look the same Brandon Moreno that we are used to.
This was a fighter that usually moves forward, that puts on the pressure, puts on the pain,
the damage, tons of volume.
I mean, just typical Mexican fighter.
This time around, backing up a ton almost every round he was backing up, very low output
and just kind of seemed
like he lacked a little bit of life in there.
I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt because I think there were so many factors
in play.
Remember he was originally supposed to fight Amid al-Basi for this card which is a completely
different opponent than Brandon Royval.
Also you know he was the biggest name in this card.
He was carrying the promotion, lots of media, lots of interviews.
Historically he hasn't done well in Mexico. He's never won in Mexico and the UFC, like
in Mexico City. He's got one tie and one loss. Now, one tie, two defeats. What else? Yeah,
I guess I can just make a million excuses for Moreno. I acknowledge he did look different,
but I would like to believe that this was sort of a flash in the pan that this was sort of the exception.
So we'll see in his next fight. That's going to be the big one, the big telling one.
When you talk about him always pushing on the gas and like being the guy that goes out and attacks and is aggressive.
When you look down at the stats, if you didn't watch the fight, you know who won by just looking at the stats.
I mean, Roy Val.
Five hundred and fifty six total strikes.
Yeah, but I don't had two hundred and nineteen.
Like how can you win?
And it wasn't like he had a ton of ground control.
He had what three takedowns, I think, but he had like 12 seconds of total ground control, like something crazy.
Right.
It was nothing. Like 12 seconds of total ground control like something crazy, right? Yeah, nothing
Roy Val super hard to hold down But I will say also this and it sounds like I'm making excuses in behalf of more than oh, but
Credit credit to Roy Val
I judge the fight for Roy Val and I watch it twice both live and then after the fact on replay and
I scored it 48 47 Roy Val him picking up the last three rounds and more than the first two.
But there's something weird happened in the fifth. I don't know if you saw her being
literally more than it would clinch him two seconds later. He would split them up.
That does that's that doesn't work. It happened. It's not the way it's supposed to happen. And
more than it was, you know, kneeing him to the legs stomping him on the foot, trying to take
the back like he was working. He was installing. I do wonder if those two, three clinch, I think it was like three or four, actually,
those clinches that Moreno had on Royval, if they would have let them continued, I wonder
if that fifth round would have been scored differently.
But again, at the end of the day, the right person won in terms of Brandon Royval, he
had the better performance, but I did think Moreno got a little bit screwed by the ref
there at the end. Sure. But I think Moreno got a little bit screwed by the ref there at the end.
Sure. But I think it was just a body of work thing, right? Like the first, the first two rounds, I agree with you. Like we saw a little bit. Okay. Here it is. Like Brandon's starting to press it. And then those last three rounds, it was like,
where is he? Where'd he go? You know what I mean? And like, it's tough because obviously the Pantosia fight went the way that it did.
Now this fight, you're kind of back to back where you're trying to find that more than
of old and it's like, what's it going to be?
Who's the opponent need to be for him to get back to that goal that we usually see from
him?
I'm worried.
That's why I said, I don't know if the window is closing, but it feels like things are happening
and there's other fighters in that flyweight division that now kind of have his number and are now kind of moving forward.
Yeah, he's just 30 years old. So like technically he is in his athletic prime. But the thing about Brandon Moreno for those that don't know and having followed his career, the dude has been in so many wars for the last like two or three years. Literally he had the fight of the year in 2023. Can't solid candidate for 2022.
I mean, you just go down the list the last few years,
all his championship fights have been held.
So you just wonder if the damage
has starting to catch up to him.
I don't know.
I guess we'll find out in the next one.
Did you see this last,
so obviously the fight went to split decision.
We're gonna pull up here and watch Brandon Roy Val He doesn't realize that his name is also Brandon and he thinks he's losing the fight by split decision watch this
Gentlemen after five rounds we go to the judges score cards for decision
Mike Bell scores it 48 47 Roy Val
Junichiro Camillo scores the contest 49 46 Mareno So for those of you listening on audio
Bruce Buffer calls Brandon, right? They're both named Brandon one's Brandon Roy Val one's Brandon Moreno and
Brandon Roy Val gets his hand raised
He's throwing his hand up like I can't believe I lost this by split decision
It takes him two seconds to realize oh shit. No, they called my name. I'm the winner
What a crazy, but it's yeah,, they called my name. I'm the winner. What a crazy.
But it's just you can't make this like my reaction time in the mornings
before we did like two or three seconds before I realized.
Oh, I won. Let's go.
Yeah, it's so funny.
So that was that was the main event, the co main event
of the fight night in Mexico City was the return of T city Brandon or Brian or Tega
against the Iyer Rodriguez who we last saw against Volkanovsky right at UFC 290. That's the last
time we saw Yair Rodriguez fight and before that he was looking excellent obviously ran into Volkanovsky
we know the deal there but it's been a while since he's fought.
So we were very anticipatory on how is Yaya going to look with this much layoff.
We know he's a dynamic fighter.
How's this going to go?
And within 90, we don't even get to the starting bell before something like this happens.
And we're going to have Brian Ortega talk about it.
I looked up at my coach and he's like, don't you dare let it go to you.
It doesn't matter.
And I was like, yes coach, yes coach, we're good.
And then, but I'm not.
I'm watching the video.
The whole world saw.
The whole world saw him.
The whole world saw him.
And has this regularly happened to them.
I cannot, I can't watch every video.
It's tough to watch.
The whole world, can you put it back up and then put it on on mute so
we can just talk through it?
The whole world saw him twist his ankle. While Bruce Buffer is calling him out pointing into
his blue corner or take a jumps, lands on his ankle, twists it 35 seconds before the fight.
That is his comeback fight after 19 months out of the octagon with a torn
shoulder. He comes back and that's the first thing that happened. What was, did you see
it live Danny?
So I didn't, but then I saw the tweets because you know, in the media room, I'm like editing.
I'm doing a bunch of stuff. So I'm zoning in and out. But yeah, then I saw it on Twitter
and I'm like, Oh, shit. And then it obviously explained a lot of the first round where he
was just like really scared to move around and clearly
Zanco was compromised. I mean or they got some of the worst luck
And even then he was able to survive a tornado that Jair Rodriguez is the first round and then on the second and third
You know, he won the second and submitted in the third. So props to or take a from for overcoming adversity truly remarkable
He's a warrior dude and obviously for those of you that don't know, he fought
Yari Rodrigues, what 21 towards the end of 21?
22.
22.
22.
Yeah. So he goes up for what I think was, was a clinch or he was trying to get out of a clinch or
something.
Yeah.
He had a shoulder and arm bar and his shoulder just completely gave out. And then he already had a shoulder surgery on that same shoulder.
So he had to do a shoulder surgery on that one.
And then throughout the process of getting ready, getting good again, he injured the
other shoulder and had to get another surgery.
So he had two surgeries and was out for 19 months.
And then, you know, this happens.
And then 30 seconds into the announcement, he gets the ankle.
But in that first round, he got popped and it was like, oh, wait a second, this is not good.
He regains kind of his composure, goes after him, holds him down, like gets out of that first round,
gets kind of a pretty nasty bruise on his eye. And you're like,
it's been almost two years
since he's fought, you know what I mean?
Like this is kind of what we expect
from somebody who's had that long of a layoff.
And then all of a sudden that second round,
he has ground control, he's throwing those elbows.
All of a sudden Rodriguez gets that cut underneath his eye.
And you're like, that thing is deep.
That's gonna start gushing and it's gushing blood.
And then all of a sudden, I want to play the video for you.
I think it's Henry Gracie, who's in his corner, right?
Put up this video of Brian Ortega practicing
that triangle arm choke in the back room.
Listen to this.
You guys are not going to believe what happened.
This is the final minute of preparation for Brian's fight.
We're in the locker room.
He takes down his training partner, sparks.
Look at this, lands in full mount, climbs the tree, hugs the neck, redirects the arm,
and sets up the exact same arm triangle finish that he uses in the fight just minutes later.
Look at that.
Same dismount, tees off to the side, puts on his his snake squeeze and that's a wrap you guys
Literally the only thing we did after this is remind Brian about the lion and the gazelle before Paul led a short prayer and we walked out
I mean how cool is that when you get to see somebody practicing mere minutes before they go out to the octagon?
Then use what they did in practice and obviously there's a reason they call him T city, right?
and use what they did in practice. And obviously there's a reason they call him T-City, right?
Use what he did in practice
and actually do it in the octagon
for a massive win in his division.
Like that, it gives me goosebumps
just watching stuff like that.
Yeah, that's high level MMA right there for you.
Like, you know, it's,
a lot of people think that this sport involves
a good amount of luck and to a certain degree it does,
but a lot of people just think like
it's just a bunch of chaos and then whatever happens happens but clearly as shown in that
video like the dude thought that that was a possibility and he hit it.
And what are we what's next for for yair?
Man this was such a bad night for Mexico because you had two of the biggest stars losing in
the main co-main and then that co-main was huge
because there was a ton of bad blood
between Jair Rodriguez and Ilya Topuria,
who was the new champion at 145.
That would have been Spain versus Mexico.
It was getting heated.
The styles are perfect.
And then Brian Rotega goes in there and spoils the party.
I think Rodriguez can still get back there
in terms of title contention,
but it's certainly the path got a lot longer
I think he's gonna win at least two more
Before you know, we start talking about him fighting for a title again. So I don't know maybe maybe take on a
Calvin Cater or really anybody in the top ten Edson Barvosa
I think any of those fights would be great a lot of good stuff coming up UFC 299 in Miami will both be in the building for that one
That's what March 9th, Saturday, March 9th,
a couple of weeks away next week we'll have a preview,
previewing some of the cool stuff, a massive stacked card.
We may have to go long on that one by the way, Danny,
for our MMA people like 100%.
That card is stacked.
And I'm super excited to see Rovelli de Pañez,
Cuban guy, the the monster the beast
like
Six-eight type one doggie can kick you can head kick you six-eight incredible
Just like the most ridiculous Cuban you'll ever see in your life. Yes. Think about your maro like five
He's awesome, so we're to have a two ninety nine breakdown
and preview and all that good stuff coming up next week.
But keep it locked right here on the MMA Hangout.
We love you guys.
We appreciate you guys.
We'll talk to you guys next week.
Don Lebatard.
Pablo leads all of podcasting in reading while smiling.
If you listen to ESPN Daily,
he sounds like he's having the time of his life.
Stugats.
Coming up next, I'm going gonna tell you about the Savannah bananas
How do you know I'm Savannah bananas?
How do you know I'm smiling?
That's how I find my vocal range sometimes I just say Savannah bananas
Savannah bananas!
This is the Don Lebatar show with the Stugas.
Do you want to explain how we came up with the subject of today's show?
Well, we didn't come up with the subject of today's show.
Every conversation that you have in your life, and I've complained about this before,
you're just mining your friends and people in your life for content.
I don't go into it necessarily with the full clarity
that every conversation we have must be a show.
Every conversation that you and I have becomes a show.
And if I can't be on it,
you just get somebody else to talk about it.
Like you just, you milk me
and I am nervous when I'm talking to you.
Like, oh my gosh, whenever I talk to Pablo,
whatever I say is gonna like, is he actually listening to me or is he
taking notes? I am definitely editing in my head while we're talking like oh that
would be that could be CSEG for today's show. So we hung out a couple weeks ago
and we were eating and I feel like you're the one who sparked the thought in
my mind. I don't know how we got to the story.
I remember exactly how we got to the beginning of this.
Right.
Which is I asked if you remembered who Orlando Cabrera is.
Baseball guy.
Shortstop.
Really good defensive shortstop.
Orlando Cabrera won a World Series, won two gold gloves.
Smashed up the middle.
Orlando Cabrera, great diving stop stop from his knee throws him out.
Oh, a sensational play by Orlando Cabrera.
Boy, that certainly was.
He realized he had to get rid of it in a hurry.
So he gets rid of it from the seat of his pants,
played for nine teams across 15 years in the major leagues
and beyond being like a really good defensive
goal glove shortstop, but also known for reading books books by the way. What are you reading now?
I used to feel it's 100 years of solitude from Garregor C.R. Marcus,
who's a guy from Colombia. Okay. So you know I like to be reading stop all the
time. Keeps your mind sharp. Yeah. Keeping the mind sharp baby. I'll be at your show.
I'll let you grab a stand. No, no, no, no. We're both driving this together, Dominique.
You're not leaving me alone in potential shame
because I am fascinated by how Orlando Cabrera
keeps his Mind Sharp in his hands soft.
Only one person can leave, Pablo.
See, that might have been part of your problem.
I keep on looking for a partner in crime.
And Dominique, to his credit, was very interested
in the revelation that I had found out
about this shortstop, which is that first team
Orlando Cabrera ever plays for is Montreal Expos.
And what I've learned is, this is multiple people now,
this is journalism, is that before every game
Orlando Cabrera played game Orlando Cabrera played
Orlando Cabrera used to walk into this modest storage room off the clubhouse, the exposed clubhouse
inside Olympic Stadium in solitude actually Gabriel Garcia Marquez style and you know
he would you would you would make some moves from the seat of his pants.
Have you got an Orlando Cabrera to verify this?
We are actively pursuing Orlando Cabrera.
Well, because I mean, I feel like we should be...
We don't have to talk about it,
because the conversation doesn't have to be about Orlando Cabrera,
but that is how we got into it.
But I would feel bad spreading this,
if it's not something that is actually something
that he's okay with owning up to or has, you know.
I have a similar inclination, a pang of potential guilt.
But what I am told is that this is not a question.
So I want to ask you though, just as a former athlete, right?
If you knew that one of your teammates was just repeatedly calling for an ISO, was perpetually
celebrating Palm Sunday, was just taking a self-guided tour.
Okay. You know?
You empty?
Oh, you guys.
I was having a one-some to get empty.
What would you think?
Did this ever happen in your experience playing in the NFL?
I don't know.
I mean, nothing that I knew of.
I wouldn't have any.
So the locker room is a very intimate place.
So like guys would be very comfortable talking
about all types of things and doing all types of things
that you wouldn't be comfortable with in other situations.
When you go on road trips, particularly locker rooms
are very small.
Sometimes the stalls don't have doors on them and stuff.
And like, yeah, people are comfortable doing the things
that they have to do.
No one's ever done been that damn comfortable.
I don't know that anyone does it or doesn't. Like guys had sex night before games and stuff like that, for sure.
And no one cared, but yeah, it's not, it never really came up.
It's natural.
It's the thing that everyone likes to do.
I mentioned to Pablo that I had a running joke with one of my friends is that there should
be before you make any major decisions,
you should go ahead and get yourself to that state of mind
where you are the clearest.
And now for the men who are listening to this show,
they know exactly what I'm talking about.
I don't know if women feel the same way,
but it's, there's this feeling where you just see the world
more clearly.
And historically in sports, we've always heard that you should not have sex close to a game like it or close to any competition
It's like an old boxing thing. It's yes
It's an ancient tradition. It's in movies. Yeah, I mean you'll only have to go as far as rocky to find the exact opposite of
Cabrera ism. Let's call it. Women, weakened legs.
Yeah, I really like this girl, you know?
But let her train you!
Okay, no more fooling around.
Okay, I hit it.
Women, weakened legs, huh?
I believe that in boxing, an interesting thing has been happening for centuries,
where even like, I remember talking to like
the best boxing trainer in the world,
who is Freddie Roach.
He's coached more world champions than anybody, I believe.
He was ahead of Mayweather Pacquiao, that fight,
and abstinence.
It's a genuine coaching philosophy
that he has for his fighters.
And he talked about just how much he asks of them when we're
When it regards their discipline
My fighters for ten days. Yeah, I mean when I was a fighter it was six weeks, okay
But the leaders I said no sex for ten days. It'll be just for discipline. All right
and like the new age guys right like the influencers what's crazy about the influencer boxers like Jake Paul is that they you'd think like yeah, they're not
Obeying these folk ways they've done the same thing like Jake Paul's coach. I was doing my research for this
And I have been it's extensive a poll Google doc
They say how much worse Jake Paul is
after he has sex before sparring.
My coach, BJ, will be like,
did you have sex last night?
You can tell without me even saying anything.
He's just slower.
He's not as good.
He's not as quick.
He's not as fierce.
He's not as aggressive.
It's obvious to guys,
I've been around boxing for, you know, I'm 42.
I've been around boxing for, you know, 33 years.
So I see it very quickly. And ancient warriors, they deprive themselves and they sacrifice
certain things before they go to battle. I don't know the exact demographics of the
public story finds out audience. I do know that it's not all dudes. I do want to acknowledge how
unbelievably, um, do dish. My curiosity was at the start. And so I do feel like it's worth noting that in your
pediation of this ancient tradition of warriors in battle is someone like Ronda Rousey. You
know, MMA fighter was a huge deal at one point. I want to point out that she believes this.
Traditionally in sports, there is a theory that you don't have sex leading up to a contest.
Football, basketball, baseball, save your energy.
You buy into that?
Well, my godfather is a doctor
and he told me that with men,
it does temporarily lower your testosterone,
but for women it raises it.
And so it's actually good for you before a competition.
And so I was like, good to know.
And plus you're still stressed out
and it's a lot of anxiety, you know, leaning up to a fight.
So, you know, it helps, I find it helps.
The fact that there's this active debate about like,
is this a competitive advantage, Davidique?
Is where this becomes a sports story to me?
All of this to me is about performance
and performance enhancement.
Yeah, I mean, it makes sense to me for us
to try to figure out the best ways.
And there's nothing, I think, that we feel
that controls us more than like,
how you behave in those times
and how it impacts the way that you think and operate.
Right, I mean, we can ostensibly control ourselves.
Right.
Like, we began...
Is there another, like, bodily function is the wrong part?
Will you be for another masturbation euphemism?
No, no, no. I'm definitely... I've had more than enough of that.
I hate that about this episode, but I do think that I am looking for another, like, human experience
that feels more, like, all-encompassing.
Like even eating doesn't feel like that
and that seems very core.
Like there's nothing else I think that you feel
like your whole body is like sort of like drugs.
Like it's not like your whole body is involved.
So like, yeah, it's gonna affect the way that you do anything.
Yeah. Well, I think that's the point, right?
So like underneath all of this, and yes, I'm going to very awkwardly navigate,
grope through the fog of this conversation.
No more puns.
I want to make a case for this concept.
So we're walking around and we're thinking about Orlando Cabrera.
And we both have that instinct, I think, to try and understand as opposed to humiliate someone.
Right.
And so the case for him led us to this concept.
And the concept is one that both of us knew immediately.
It's something we've talked about previously, if we're being frank with our audience.
But do you remember where you first heard the term?
Because I actually don't remember
where I first saw it originate.
You want me to say post-nut clarity?
I just wanted to get us both on the record.
Okay.
Like post-nut clarity is a,
it feels like a phenomenon
because there is nothing else quite like it.
It's like reverse Hulk.
And it's like, it's different for a different man, I think probably, but you walk around
much of your life feeling like the Hulk.
But you know what?
Sometimes you need Bruce Banner.
You need the mild mannered scientist to come out and help guide you through some tough
decisions and situations.
And I think some men can relate that the worst decisions that you have made have been because
you were acting like the Hulk. And not every situation requires Hulk smash. Some
situations require Bruce Think. I want to get to the origins of this because post-nuclearity is one
of those terms that's just been sort of like hanging out in the back of our heads, so to speak.
And conventionally, it got attributed to,
I don't listen to this podcast,
I wonder if you've ever heard of it, call her daddy.
Yeah, I've heard of it.
The post-nut clarity.
The post-nut clarity.
We've talked about that.
The post-nut clarity is a real f***ing thing.
It's after a guy comes and his entire life
flashes before his eyes.
Everything becomes crystal clear, 2020 vision and he is just like wow.
And Drake. Drake the rapper?
When Drake is rapping post-nug clarity I came to my senses.
This is him I believe coming to grips with the man that he just was.
Lil Wayne is in that category too.
He basically says the same thing.
But it's like so, and as I come, I come to my senses and I would be.
I like the philosophers that you are consulting on this.
That's right.
Drake and Wheezy, the whole Cash Money Crew.
What does Baby gotta say?
A slim?
What does Slim say about this?
I don't know, Juvie?
Unfortunately, what I have here is a different rapper
named Uno Duce One, who wrote an entire song
dedicated to this concept.
And I got a note on my chest embarrassing.
I said, what? Please don't stare at me.
That's that post-nuclarity.
Think about world hunger and organized religion. Also good parenting.
Wow.
There's more of that for the record.
I mean, I'm disappointed that you did prep me and I could listen to that beforehand.
Because like, he went so many different places.
Yes. And landed at good parenting.
Right. Which is like- Which is where increasingly I am regretfully reporting
that I also land.
You sort of like stop and you are hit with not just the tasks
that you have to do on your to-do list,
but also like the things that really mattered to you
in the clarity.
And you're like, oh, I need a,
I should probably make some changes in my life.
This sort of stew of self-consciousness, right? If not shame, but just self-immediate, sudden onset, what feels like self-awareness, right? Because for me, it's not Drake, it's not,
it's not Lil Wayne, it's not Uno Duce One.
It feels like Les Miserables.
What?
Are you familiar with Les Miserables?
Oh my gosh, what are you doing?
I'm just saying, lots of people think,
Les Miserables?
Lots of people think that in Les Miserables,
Jean Valjean is singing about the Paris Uprising of 1832.
I believe he's singing about what it feels like to look at your browser window right after you finished.
How can I ever face myself again is a feeling that I have felt post-nut.
Oh gosh, I think I got to the bottom of this whole thing.
Where we started with the playlist?
This might be an off-camera conversation.
I don't want to, because-
Well, you don't think musicals made their way into most people's sex music dot tumblr
dot com rotation?
Maybe people wasn't looking for Les Miserables.
Maybe people was looking-
I don't follow.
Okay.
It's possible that people you know wanted somebody who was listening to stuff about guns and drugs.
So you clearly haven't seen Les Miserables then because there are a lot of guns.
Stop it Pablo.
Stop it.
You know what I mean. Yes, in everything that I do,
I hope it's clear that I've never seen Les Miserables,
particularly that I would like it to be known.
I want to leave having that being,
I don't want it to come up.
Like the whole date, whatever we're doing,
I don't want Les Miserables to come up.
But immediately after, while I'm in clarity,
I want her to be like,
oh, I bet this mother ain't never seen late Ms. Arrod. Hey folks, it's Mike Ryan. Now, you've had the distinct privilege of knowing me for close
18 years and you know that I've changed. A lot of my personal life has changed. I've
changed as a professional. I am a parent now. My level of involvement in my favorite college
football program has also changed. But one thing that hasn't changed for me is my favorite
beer. You know when it's real with me. I think you do anyways. And you know how much I love
Miller Lite. I've loved it forever, really.
It's my favorite beer of all time, and it made all the great moments in my life all
that much better.
And when Miller Lite came aboard on our show, I was super stoked about it because I believed
in the product.
Because every time I take a sip of Miller Lite, I look around and I think, yeah, this
was the right call.
Times change.
People like me can change, but you can always enjoy the great taste of Miller Light.
Tastes like Miller Time.
To get Miller Light delivered right to your door, visit MillerLight.com slash Dan.
Or you can try to find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer.
Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 Galleries, per 12
ounces.