On this week’s edition of What the Heck, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck chats with UFC welterweight Michael Chiesa (7:58), No. 8 in MMA Fighting’s global rankings, to preview his UFC 265 bout with Vicente Luque on Aug. 7 in Houston, discuss Miesha Tate’s big win in her return at UFC Vegas 31, Julianna Pena fighting Amanda Nunes for the bantamweight title on the same card, whether or not he was in the running to fight Kamaru Usman for the title at UFC 261, and Gilbert Burns’ win over Stephen Thompson at UFC 264.
UFC bantamweight Adrian Yanez (33:51) talks his upcoming UFC Vegas 32 fight with Randy Costa this Saturday at the APEX, the fight coming together thanks to the fans, how the fight being organically built was a refreshing change of pace following Conor McGregor’s antics at UFC 264, how he likes the matchup stylistically, how he sees it playing out, and if Dr. Pepper has reached out to him at all about a potential sponsorship deal.
Big Brother and MTV’s The Challenge veteran Josh Martinez (57:27) discusses his upcoming boxing debut against Adam Pike at the Big Brother US vs. Big Brother Canada event on Aug. 6 in Arlington, Texas, his experiences on The Challenge, how the fight came together, hoping the MTV hit competition show puts on a boxing event of their own down the road, his thoughts on Dustin Poirier’s win over Conor McGregor at UFC 264, and the heartbreaking situation going on in Cuba.
Finally, Gilbert Burns (1:17:46), No. 3 in MMA Fighting’s global rankings, returns to recap his UFC 264 win over Stephen Thompson, talks how some fans and Dana White didn’t look at the performance fondly, why he cut the post-fight promo he did with Joe Rogan, his callouts of Leon Edwards, Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz and which one he wants most, why he won’t cheer for Colby Covington in the potential rematch with Kamaru Usman, and his partnership with Kill Cliff energy drinks.
Check out the video above, or the audio-only podcast can be found below, on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Stitcher.