UF88: John Dodson and Al Iaquinta

With UFC 288 right around the corner, Matt Serra and Jim Norton are joined by two fighters on Saturday’s card in featherweight Charles Jourdain and Serra-Longo trained lightweight Matt Frevola. After Matt begins the show with a recap of his trip to England that saw him reunite with former rival Georges St-Pierre, Quebec’s own Charles Jourdain hops on the show and promptly explains how GSP’s success inspired the Canadian featherweight as a pre-teen. Ahead of his matchup against Kron Gracie of the legendary Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu family, Jourdain explains why as a BJJ black belt himself he is prepared to defeat the youngest son of Rickson Gracie. Then, the guys are joined by Matt Frevola, who explains how the fan-friendly matchup between him and Drew Dober on the final fight of the prelims will entice fans to buy Saturday’s pay-per-view headlined by his Serra-Longo teammate Aljamain Sterling’s bantamweight title fight vs. Henry Cejudo. Finally, the guys wrap up the show with predictions for some of the fights from the main card of Saturday’s electric card in New Jersey.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

4 Mai 202355min

With Matt Serra flying back from London during the taping of today’s UFC Unfiltered episode, welterweight Michael Chiesa steps in alongside Jim Norton as today’s co-host. After beginning the show with an update on his physical health after a lengthy layoff, Chiesa follows up with his desired plans for what’s next in the cage following the cancellation of his return fight against Li Jingliang due to his opponent’s injury. After a brief chat about Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Song vs. Simon card, Jim shifts the topic towards Saturday’s UFC 288 card, Chiesa provides his detailed opinion on what’s in store for former two-division champion Henry Cejudo as he makes his return to a stacked bantamweight division against champion Aljamain Sterling. As Chiesa wraps up his thoughts on the main event with a prediction for the fight, the guys wrap up the show by unpacking the circumstances surrounding the short-notice co-main event between welterweight contenders Belal Muhammad and Gilbert Burns.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

2 Mai 20231h 1min

Matt and Jim are joined by UFC middleweight Cody Brundage and actor and comedian Tom Arnold on today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered! Just days away from his fight against Rodolfo Vieira on the main card of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Song vs. Simon card, Cody Brundage opens up his interview by talking about his journey from wrestling to mixed martial arts. Reliving the day he met his former UFC fighter wife, Cody explains how it began with her being the female boxer at his gym who showed him how to properly throw combinations on a punching bag. The guys are then joined by actor and comedian Tom Arnold, who shares how growing up in a small town in Iowa led him to a career in Hollywood. After sharing what it’s like to be guest starring in the TV remake of the 1994 film True Lies he co-starred in alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom wraps up his interview by explaining how watching UFC fights with his son is one of his many favorite parts about fatherhood.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

26 Apr 202349min

On today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered, Matt Serra and Jim Norton are joined by ESPN MMA journalist Brett Okamoto for a detailed recap of last Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Pavlovich vs. Blaydes event. With heavyweight Sergei Pavlovich steamrolling Curtis Blaydes for a sixth-straight 1st-round knockout win, the guys discuss where Pavlovich stands in the heavyweight division and what it might take for the 30-year-old to secure a fight against legends like Jon Jones or Stipe Miocic. Then, Jim takes the guys through the rest of Saturday’s fight results as Matt explains what he liked from fighters across the main card and prelims. As the topic shifts to the Nevada State Athletic Commission and their decision to use instant replay and change Bobby Green’s stoppage win over Jared Gordon into a no contest, the guys engage in an insightful conversation about other problems with state athletic commissions in which Brett takes a hard stance against the idea that open scoring can fix the recent problem of poor scorecards from cage side judges.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

24 Apr 202351min

On today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered, Matt and Jim are joined by a pair of enthusiastic guests in lightweight Bobby Green and the one and only Eddie Bravo of 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu. Matt feeds off Bobby’s infectious energy immediately, gleefully applauding through Green’s heated debate with Jim regarding fighter strategy in what could have been a 10-8 debate round for the lightweight scheduled to fight Jared Gordon on the main card of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Pavlovich vs. Blaydes event at the UFC APEX. Bobby wraps up his interview by dismissing Paddy Pimblett’s plans of a rematch with Jared Gordon as Bobby issues a stern warning to the Liverpool native about what would happen if the two met in the cage. The guys are then joined by 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu founder Eddie Bravo, who together with Matt Serra strolls down memory lane of the UFC’s earliest days in an insightful conversation about BJJ’s role in the evolution of modern MMA. To close off the show, Jim and Matt predict several fights from Saturday night’s card, leaving room for two very specific picks in the heavyweight main event between heavy-hitting Sergei Pavlovich and seasoned wrestler Curtis Blaydes.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

20 Apr 20231h 14min

On today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered, Jim and Matt are joined by two guest callers in SiriusXM radio host Jimmy Smith and welterweight contender Belal Muhammad. Jim and Matt kick off the show with a conversation with former MMA fighter turned fight analyst and host Jimmy Smith, who chats with the guys about what it’s like hosting three-hour episodes of his “Unlocking the Cage” show every weekday on SiriusXM channel 156. Smith wraps up his insightful interview with an idea of what steps former featherweight champion Max Holloway can take to fight his way back to a fourth title shot against rival and current titleholder Alexander Volkanovski. Jim and Matt run through the rest of last Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Allen card with analysis on an exciting night of fights in Kansas City before fourth-ranked welterweight Belal Muhammad eventually hops on the call. Firmly believing that he deserves a title shot as soon as possible, Belal discusses his current eight-fight win streak and teases the possibility of a big-time co-main event against a notable welterweight contender on short notice at UFC 288.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

18 Apr 20231h 1min

Joining Jim Norton on today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered is the one and only Din Thomas, who fills in for Matt Serra on a show that features two guest callers in comedian Big Jay Oakerson and fast-rising featherweight sensation Arnold Allen. Oakerson discusses his brand new Dog Belly comedy special that just released on YouTube and tells Din about his taste in music  before reflecting on his appearance on the roast of Bert Kreischer alongside Jim. Then, fourth-ranked featherweight Arnold Allen joins the show to discuss his mindset going into the biggest fight of his career against Max Holloway and map out his big picture plans to join training partner Leon Edwards as a British champion in the UFC.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

13 Apr 202346min

On today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered, Jim and Matt unpack the exciting action from Saturday’s UFC 287 card in Miami alongside bantamweight Rob Font and welterweight Kevin Holland as guest callers, who each discuss the details of their knockout victories. Fresh off a devastating 1st-round knockout victory over 12th-ranked bantamweight Adrian Yanez, Rob Font discusses his journey back to the win column after his 12-month drought before pitching Jim and Matt on why a fight between him and former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo makes sense for the Brazilian’s jump to 135 pounds. While waiting for Kevin Holland to hop on, Jim and Matt react to the biggest storylines from Saturday’s card, with a full breakdown of went wrong for 18-year-old bantamweight prospect Raul Rosas Jr. in his loss to Christian Rodriguez followed by a conversation about what’s next for Israel Adesanya after reclaiming his middleweight title with a statement knockout win over Brazilian rival Alex Pereira. Finally, Kevin Holland hops in the show for the final interview of the episode, where the 30-year-old Kung Fu specialist explains why he feels confident fighting at both middleweight and welterweight before describing how surreal it felt channeling Mike Tyson in the cage with a textbook left hook to knock out Santiago Ponzinibbio while the legendary heavyweight boxer sat cageside in attendance.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

11 Apr 202356min