Eric Nicksick looks ahead to UFC 312, catching up w/ Chael Sonnen

On today's episode of UFC Unfiltered, Jim Norton and Matt Serra are joined by longtime UFC middleweight contender Uriah Hall and Karate Combat president Asim Zaidi. The guys begin the show by reflecting on the action from over the weekend in Mexico City — breaking down both their accurate and inaccurate picks made in last Wednesday's episode ahead of UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs. Royval 2 card. Before Uriah Hall joins the show, Jim takes a victory lap for his spot-on prediction of UFC featherweight Brian Ortega submitting Yair Rodriguez in the third round and dishes his thoughts on the three differing scorecards that ultimately gave Brandon Royval the upset victory over former UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno. Now 39 years old, Uriah Hall reflects on his UFC accomplishments and ponders his next career moves — with special consideration given to acting and fighting-related endeavors. Fresh after hearing Uriah express his willingness to revisit a fight against Darren Till, Jim and Matt stir the pot by asking Karate Combat president Asim Zaidi about the viability of that fight — a grudge match that Zaidi acknowledges as a possibility for the exciting promotion. A jiu-jitsu black belt under Royce Gracie, Zaidi reflects on the journey that led him from competing to his present-day roles as both the head coach of his Goat Shed gym and the new face of a promotion looking to bring more prestige to the world of karate.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

27 Feb 20241h 10min

Matt and Jim are joined by 4th-ranked UFC featherweight Brian Ortega and real-estate TV personality Tarek El Moussa on this episode of UFC Unfiltered. Today’s show is one marked by a series of brief cameos — beginning with Mrs. Serra briefly joining her husband in the show’s intro and shortly thereafter with Ortega hopping on the call alongside coach Rener Gracie. Looking to get back to his winning ways in his first fight since injuring his shoulder 19 months ago, Ortega reflects back on what went right for him in the cage against Yair Rodriguez in his last fight before the untimely injury put an unceremonious end to the contest. A proud Mexican American set to fight in his parents’ home country for the first time in his career, Ortega gets candid about what it means to be in the co-main slot of Saturday’s card in Mexico City against a Mexican-born fighter like Yair Rodriguez — especially now that there are added title implications with Ilia Topuria as the UFC’s newly-crowned featherweight champion. Then, Jim and Matt are joined by real-estate TV star Tarek El Moussa, who begins his interview with a stroll down memory lane of how he became a UFC superfan before explaining the details of his incredible life story captured eloquently in his newly-released book titled: “FLIP YOUR LIFE: How to Find Opportunity in Distress - in Real Estate, Business, and Life”. When Tarek hops off the call, the guys wrap up the show with some picks for the two rematches atop Saturday’s card, Ortega’s fight against Yair Rodriguez in the co-main event and Brandon Moreno’s rematch against Brandon Royval in the main event.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

22 Feb 202453min

On today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered, Matt and Jim get a friend of the show as a special guest co-host in Ray Longo to recap the action from Saturday’s UFC 298 card. When Longo hops on the show, the guys jump straight into Serra-Longo’s own Merab Dvalishvili’s statement win over Henry Cejudo and how his nonstop pressure poses trouble for the rest of the UFC bantamweights. After that, the trio discuss the significance of Ilia Topuria’s 2nd-round KO win over long-reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in the UFC 298 main event. The guys wrap up the show with a recap of the other moments that stuck out to them from Saturday’s exciting card in Anaheim, California.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

20 Feb 202454min

In just three days, UFC 298 will finally be here! So with that in mind, Matt Serra and Jim Norton bring on two exciting fighters from Saturday’s card with welterweight Geoff Neal and women’s strawweight Mackenzie Dern as guests. Making his return to the show for the first time since 2019, Geoff Neal dishes out his thoughts on Ian Machado Garry’s trash talk as the two get closer to their high-stakes showdown on Saturday’s card. While waiting for Mackenzie Dern, Jim and Matt begin to make their picks from the UFC 298 main card — saving the main event and co-main event until after Dern’s interview. When Dern hops on the call, the jiu-jitsu black belt explains the circumstances that led to her accepting a short-notice fight against 3rd-ranked women’s strawweight Amanda Lemos and why she’s grateful for the opportunity to get back on the winning track against the fellow Brazilian. To cap off the show, Jim and Matt call their shots for both the Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa middleweight co-main event and the Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria featherweight title fight in the main event of the evening.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

15 Feb 202456min

With UFC 298 fight week officially upon us, Matt Serra and Jim Norton invite UFC betting analyst Minty Bets on to UFC Unfiltered for a first-look at the betting lines for this Saturday’s pay-per-view portion of the card. But first, the guys catch up with each other and unpack the action from over the weekend with a breakdown of the fights on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Pyfer card. Hardly ever mistaken for an NFL fan, Matt listens in as Jim paints the picture of Sunday’s thrilling, high-stakes Super Bowl. When Minty hops on toward the latter half of the show, she explains how she got into sports gambling and how she specifically found a lane in MMA betting analysis before dishing her thoughts on fighters and betting lines that she likes on this Saturday’s UFC 298 card in Anaheim, California.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

13 Feb 202452min

The one and only Phoenix Carnevale fills in for Jim Norton on today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered; a show that features two guests in UFC middleweight Gregory “RoboCop” Rodrigues and comedian Sam Tripoli. Bonding over their love for jiu-jitsu, Rodrigues begins the show by explaining to Matt Serra why an 8-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu national champion has seen most of his recent MMA fights end by knockout. Rodrigues ends the interview by previewing his fight on Saturday’s main card against well-rounded middleweight veteran Brad Tavares. Then, Sam Tripoli hops on for his second-ever appearance on UFC Unfiltered. Already an experienced Krav Maga practitioner himself, the Los Angeles-based comedian goes on to explain that he has rediscovered his passion for jiu-jitsu at his good friend Eddie Bravo’s 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu. Matt ends the interview by getting Tripoli to share his favorite conspiracy theories. Finally, Matt and Phoenix wrap up the show by breaking down and predicting some of the matchups atop Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Pyfer card.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

8 Feb 20241h 2min

On today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered, Jim Norton and Matt Serra are joined by a friend of the show in Aljamain Sterling and a fast-rising welterweight in Themba Gorimbo. Keeping himself busy with a pair of grappling matches in the time since losing his bantamweight title to Sean O’Malley, Sterling explains why there’s an added sense of relief in jumping up in weight from 135 pounds to 145 pounds ahead of his featherweight debut against 8th-ranked Calvin Kattar at UFC 300. The guys get Sterling to assess his upcoming matchup against Kattar while also getting the former bantamweight champion’s opinion on what his friend and teammate Merab Dvalishvili has to do to secure a title shot of his own. Once Sterling hops off the show, Matt recaps his wife’s successful MMA fight from over the weekend. Finally, Themba Gorimbo joins the show fresh off his 32-second 1st-round knockout to reflect on how mixed martial arts has guided him on an incredible journey — one that Matt thinks could be made into its own movie.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

6 Feb 202459min

Jim Norton and Matt Serra are joined by women’s strawweight Molly McCann and former two-time World Series champion Johnny Damon for today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered! Set to fight 27-year-old women’s strawweight Diana Belbita in a rematch from 2019, Molly hops on the show to explain how extra focus on improving her jiu-jitsu along with a drop down to 115 pounds has her feeling confident with her ability to put an end to her current two-fight losing streak. The British fighter known as “Meatball” ends the interview by sharing how her love for Italian food resulted in her opening up her own Italian restaurant called ‘Polpetta’ back home in Liverpool. Between interviews, Matt hilariously admits to knowing just one thing and one thing only about the upcoming Super Bowl matchup. Then, Johnny Damon calls in to reflect on how awesome it was that Boston’s electrifying UFC 292 card last Summer was able to be the former Red Sox outfielder’s first experience at a UFC event. Finally, the guys wrap up the show with their picks for some fights atop Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Dolidze vs. Imavov card.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

1 Feb 202448min