ITALKSPORTS Episode 29 - UFC 313 Recap. NBA: Steph Curry, Nikola Jokic. NFL Free Agency
This podcast episode centers on the recent performance of notable athletes across various sports, highlighting the exceptional prowess of Stephen Curry and the striking capabilities of Magomed Ankalaev. We delve into Curry's remarkable half-court shot against the Brooklyn Nets, exemplifying his unparalleled entertainment value and skill in basketball. In contrast, we analyze Ankalaev's decisive victory over Alex Pereira, revealing the latter's unexpected struggles in the octagon. The discussion further extends to the implications of these performances within their respective leagues, including considerations of future matchups and the dynamics of player rankings. We conclude with reflections on the nature of sports and the experiences that accompany these thrilling events.
Takeaways:
- The captivating performance of Steph Curry against the Brooklyn Nets exemplifies his unique ability to dazzle audiences with remarkable shots.
- The recent fight involving Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev highlighted the significance of skill over mere physicality in mixed martial arts.
- The discussion surrounding the petition to restrict fighters from Dagestan in the UFC underscores the complex relationship between nationality and competition.
- Nikola Jokic's extraordinary statistical outputs further the ongoing debate regarding his standing in the MVP race this season.
- The contrasting styles of Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fazeev showcased the intense excitement and unpredictability inherent in professional fighting.
- Overall, the podcast emphasizes the importance of enjoying sports while acknowledging the challenges and pressures faced by athletes.
Transcript
Couple days ago, he was playing against the Brooklyn Nets.
Speaker A:He did this thing in Bulbaza where he got the ball, turned around, boom, half court with two hands in his face.
Speaker A:And that ball went in.
Speaker A:Who else but Steph?
Speaker A:I'm going to start a petition to ban the country of Russia, specifically to ban any fighter from Dagestan from competing in the ufc, if not mma.
Speaker A:As a whole life has been crazy, bro.
Speaker A:Do you see me, bro?
Speaker A:I haven't even gotten a haircut.
Speaker A:I look like my problems, bruh.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker A:That should show you what's happening.
Speaker A:This dude dropped 30, 20 and 20.
Speaker A:30, 20 and 20.
Speaker A:Damn.
Speaker A:Damn.
Speaker A:I don't even damn with you.
Speaker A:Men to men here.
Speaker A:And he just outstruck him.
Speaker A:Mike check.
Speaker A:1, 2, 1, 2.
Speaker A:What's good?
Speaker A:What's good?
Speaker A:What's good?
Speaker A:March, March.
Speaker A:What a you've been.
Speaker A:Wow, wow, wow.
Speaker A:Okay, episode 29, I talk sports.
Speaker A:His name is Mukundi, and that's exactly what he does.
Speaker A:Welcome.
Speaker A:I know I was away.
Speaker A:I was missing in action for a while.
Speaker A:Hey, man.
Speaker A:Hey.
Speaker A:Hey, hey, hey.
Speaker A:Obinga Naman.
Speaker A:Hey, Obinga Nanduri.
Speaker A:I was chatting.
Speaker A:We're here, we're back at it.
Speaker A:Dust ourselves up, you know, do what we gotta do.
Speaker A:And march, march, march.
Speaker A:I should have known a couple years ago when I got my first heartbreak in March, that I'm downhill from there.
Speaker A:But let me not say anything, because there's still March next year, and I want that to be a good month.
Speaker A:But, hey, a lot has happened, bro.
Speaker A:A lot of good, a lot of bad, and other stuff in between.
Speaker A:But before I even get too far, don't.
Speaker A:Yoko.
Speaker A:What's good?
Speaker B:I'm fantastic, man.
Speaker B:I'm fantastic.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:That's how I feel about that atrocity of a team called Chelsea.
Speaker A:What's happening with Chelsea?
Speaker B:Oh, we're back.
Speaker B:We're fourth.
Speaker B:We're fourth or above Man City.
Speaker A:That's good.
Speaker A:That's good for us.
Speaker A:That's good for us.
Speaker A:But are you really.
Speaker A:Should you really be happy about being above a team where you know damn well the coach is not doing his best job?
Speaker B:Because.
Speaker A:Because of Chelsea.
Speaker A:Because of obvious reasons.
Speaker B:Yes, it's Chelsea.
Speaker B:Yes, That's.
Speaker B:Yes, I'm.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Yes, I.
Speaker B:I'm happy with number four European Cup.
Speaker B:If we don't win that, I'm through with Chelsea.
Speaker B:But much better than that relocation team called Man United.
Speaker B:I'm good, man.
Speaker A:I'm good.
Speaker A:I'm good.
Speaker A:Damn.
Speaker A:Damn.
Speaker A:You good.
Speaker A:All right, all right.
Speaker A:Chilling.
Speaker A:Chilling, Chilling.
Speaker A:My G.
Speaker A:What's good with you?
Speaker A:Are you fine?
Speaker A:You can just tell me down there.
Speaker A:I'm fine.
Speaker A:I'm well.
Speaker A:UFC 313, as a matter of fact.
Speaker A:Dagestan, Russia.
Speaker A:Dagestan, Russia.
Speaker A:Boo.
Speaker A:Boo, Boo, Boo.
Speaker A:Damn, bro.
Speaker A:Damn, bro.
Speaker A:Let me tell you, I got up this weekend, I was trying to feel good.
Speaker A:I was feeling good, bro.
Speaker A:I was like, yeah, we got ufc.
Speaker A:It's Pereira.
Speaker A:It's Pereira.
Speaker A:Fight week.
Speaker A:Sharma.
Speaker A:This is why.
Speaker A:This is why we can't have nice things as MMA fans.
Speaker A:Because Russia, as a matter of fact, one town, one part of Russia, to be specific.
Speaker A:Dagestan, Russia.
Speaker A:I don't like those guys.
Speaker A:Except Islam.
Speaker A:We love Islam.
Speaker A:But I am going to start a petition.
Speaker A:Nj, you're going to be the first signature, bruh.
Speaker A:I'm going to start a petition to ban the country of Russia, specifically to ban any fighter from Dagestan from competing in the ufc, if not MMA as a whole.
Speaker A:Let me tell you something.
Speaker A:That's Khabib Nurgomedov, Islam Makhashev, and now Magomed Ankalaev has joined the fray.
Speaker A:Can I tell you something crazy?
Speaker A:All three of those guys have all champions or have been champion in their respective division, right?
Speaker A:All three of those guys have a combined record of 77 wins and two losses.
Speaker A:Bro, bro.
Speaker A:So what's happening?
Speaker A:Fine.
Speaker A:Guess I have to relive this, don't I?
Speaker A:UFC 313 is in the books, and unfortunately for all Sharma fans in world, we are sad, we are heartbroken, we are mourning, and it's a tough time for us.
Speaker A:And I appreciate it if you respected our respect our.
Speaker A:Our privacy and our space right now while we mourn this tough, tough loss that we had to endure this past weekend.
Speaker A:Alex Pereira came in looking good as ever.
Speaker A:Sharma, Bruce Buffer, announced him as the one, the only.
Speaker A:Bruce Buffer has only introduced two other fighters as the one, the only, and those are Jon Jones and Conor McGregor.
Speaker A:Just to tell you what kind of com.
Speaker A:What kind of company Alex Pereira is in.
Speaker A:But anyway, we started.
Speaker A:We started the show, we started the fight.
Speaker A:Sharma came in looking all good.
Speaker A:And as soon as we're like, halfway into round one, I was like, this is not looking good.
Speaker A:It's not looking good, bruv.
Speaker A:Magomed Ankalaev is him.
Speaker A:He really is him.
Speaker A:And I was.
Speaker A:I was concerned.
Speaker A:It's just that I couldn't record before, but I was concerned and my concerns proved to be true.
Speaker A:Alex Pereira, unfortunately, as great of a fighter as he is, was outskilled.
Speaker A:Simple Magomeran Kalaev said, I'm gonna strike with Pereira.
Speaker A:And he struck with Pereira.
Speaker A:He only grappled him for about five minutes.
Speaker A:However, shout out to him.
Speaker A:Shout out to Pereira for his takedown defense.
Speaker A:His takedown defense is great.
Speaker A:Mag Aalaev tried to take him down a bunch of times and he couldn't take him down at all, not even once.
Speaker A:However, he did get some control time.
Speaker A:Where was that control time?
Speaker A:Against the cage, bro.
Speaker A:The cage.
Speaker A:It was a hug fist by the cage, but you do what you have to do to win.
Speaker A:And Margo Meran Kalaev knew Pereira's grappling was nowhere near his.
Speaker A:Damn, it didn't even look like the striking was comparable.
Speaker A:I had never.
Speaker A:I've never seen Pereira on the back foot.
Speaker A:When have you ever seen Pereira moving back or being pressured?
Speaker A:He's always the guy moving forward.
Speaker A:He's always the guy applying pressure, bro.
Speaker A:He was running this entire fight.
Speaker A:It wasn't only until the fifth round.
Speaker A:And I mean the first minute, the first two minutes of the fifth round where I was like, yeah, this is Pereira.
Speaker A:This is what you should have been doing from the get go.
Speaker A:Because here's the thing.
Speaker A:Everyone is scared of Poatan.
Speaker A:I don't care who you are.
Speaker A:I don't care who you are.
Speaker A:If you are striking with Poatan, there's a certain part of you that fears for your life because you know it can happen just like that.
Speaker A:However, he didn't do that.
Speaker A:Magomera Unclev said, I'm a strike with you.
Speaker A:I'm a fight with you.
Speaker A:Man to men here.
Speaker A:And he just outstruck him.
Speaker A:He outclassed him.
Speaker A:I have never seen that happen to Pereira before.
Speaker A:Even when Izzy knocked him out, Pereira was still fighting good for the majority of that fight.
Speaker A:Hell, he had Izzy against the cage, and then he just got caught, bro.
Speaker A:We've never seen him like this.
Speaker A:Some say he got exposed.
Speaker A:I don't say he got exposed.
Speaker A:I just think he was simply outskilled.
Speaker A:Because exposed would imply that he's a bum.
Speaker A:And he's not.
Speaker A:He's not.
Speaker A:This is a dude who won three fights last year.
Speaker A:This is a dude who, in a year and a half, a year and a half, actually, in two years, won and lost the middleweight championship.
Speaker A:And then just last year, he went ahead and won the light heavyweight championship.
Speaker A:And then he defended it.
Speaker A:How many times?
Speaker A:Three times.
Speaker A:Jamal Hill, second round ko.
Speaker A:Jiri Prohatska, second round ko.
Speaker A:Khalil Rountree, fourth round ko.
Speaker A:So this is a great fighter, but he just got outskilled and magomed.
Speaker A:I'll give credit where credit is due.
Speaker A:Magomed Ankalaev is a great fighter.
Speaker A:Probably the closest to a complete fighter we have in the whole light heavyweight division.
Speaker A:His grappling impeccable.
Speaker A:Why Dagestan?
Speaker A:They start grappling when.
Speaker A:When they can crawl.
Speaker A:Because you don't need to walk to grapple.
Speaker A:They start grappling when they can crawl.
Speaker A:So we all knew that if you.
Speaker A:We all actually everyone knows.
Speaker A:Unless your.
Speaker A:Your name is Merab Dualifili and you're fighting Umano Magomedov, if you're gonna fight the daggy boys and your grappling is not up to par.
Speaker A:Good luck.
Speaker A:Good luck.
Speaker A:Don't let him get his hands on you.
Speaker A:Good luck.
Speaker A:Magomerangalaev is a complete fighter.
Speaker A:His striking dude, he went toe to toe with Pereira and won Alex Pereira, two division glory.
Speaker A:Kickboxing champion, former two division UFC champion Alex Pereira and this dude went toe to toe with him and he actually beat him.
Speaker A:I don't know what's next for Sharma after this.
Speaker A:We were looking towards a Jon Jones fight or he wanted to fight Usyk in a boxing match.
Speaker A:I don't know why, but I don't know where to from here.
Speaker A:An immediate rematch is most likely the outcome because the light heavyweight division is also just washed.
Speaker A:I don't want to see Yuri Prohatska get another title shot, at least for another year or two.
Speaker A:Excuse me.
Speaker A:Jamal Hill, he's fighting Khalil Rountree in about a month or so.
Speaker A:So the winner of that fight maybe, but Khalil Rountree, I don't know, man.
Speaker A:He needs to move up.
Speaker A:Johnny Walker can't be Magomeranka.
Speaker A:Lav made quick work of him.
Speaker A:So we all know how that fight's gonna end.
Speaker A:The light heavyweight division unfortunately is not deep.
Speaker A:And because of that, the only way forward is probably an immediate rematch.
Speaker A:Shout out to Sharma and I hope he just comes back, man.
Speaker A:Though the world is a much better place when Alex Pereira is a champion.
Speaker A:But what he did is nothing short of remarkable.
Speaker A:This dude managed to defend his title three times in one calendar year.
Speaker A:We have people who couldn't do that.
Speaker A:Their entire championship run that lasts maybe a year or two.
Speaker A:We know how hard it is to defend your title in the ufc.
Speaker A:This dude did it.
Speaker A:However, that wasn't fight of the night.
Speaker A:Fight of the night was Justin Gaethje versus Rafael Fazeev.
Speaker A:Oh, my God.
Speaker A:Oh my.
Speaker A:Three rounds of just beautiful, beautiful violence, bro.
Speaker A:We knew what we're gonna get.
Speaker A:Because every time Justin Gaethje is in a fight, I can guarantee you, you're gonna be entertained.
Speaker A:They call him the highlight for a reason.
Speaker A: their first fight was back in: Speaker A:This may have surpassed the first one, bro.
Speaker A:This may have surpassed the first one.
Speaker A:And shout out to Rafael Fiziv again.
Speaker A:Justin Gaethje has only been in three fights that.
Speaker A:That made it all rounds and made it all the way to the decision.
Speaker A:Rafael Fazeev has two of those.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:These are.
Speaker A:These are two evenly matched fighters.
Speaker A:This is.
Speaker A:This is evenly matched.
Speaker A:A matchup as you can get between two fighters, but by unanimous decision, Justin Gaethje.
Speaker A:I don't know where to from here for Gaethje.
Speaker A:Maybe another BMF fight, but I don't think a title fight is also out of reach for him.
Speaker A:I just think he maybe needs to get one more win under his belt and then we'll see where it goes from there.
Speaker A:However, shout out Justin Gaethje.
Speaker A:He managed to win his fight against Rafael Faziv.
Speaker A:And what was.
Speaker A:Tough, bro.
Speaker A:Tough.
Speaker A:A great fight.
Speaker A:If there's highlights or if the fight gets on YouTube quick, watch it, please.
Speaker A:All right, let us move over to the association.
Speaker A:Let's talk basketball.
Speaker A:Steph Curry is the best show in basketball.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:There's.
Speaker A:There's no one else.
Speaker A:It's him.
Speaker A:He's not the best player in the league, but God damn, he's the most entertaining.
Speaker A:There's just things that he does.
Speaker A:There's just a certain element of his game that no one else has.
Speaker A:That's why I say he's the most entertaining player to watch.
Speaker A:He's the best show in basketball.
Speaker A:A couple days ago, he was playing against the Brooklyn Nets.
Speaker A:He did this thing at the buzzer where he got the ball turned around.
Speaker A:Boom.
Speaker A:Half court with two hands in his face, and that ball went in.
Speaker A:Who else but Steph?
Speaker A:Mama, there goes that man.
Speaker A:Who else but Steph?
Speaker A:Everybody else can dunk, so that doesn't even make it special.
Speaker A:Damn.
Speaker A:We got Mac McClunk from the G League winning the duck contest.
Speaker A:Everybody else can dunk.
Speaker A:So as cool and as entertaining and as box office as that is, the dunks, the flash, the flashy plays, that's all fun.
Speaker A:But no other player makes your jaw drop like Steph Curry does.
Speaker A:Tell me I'm wrong.
Speaker A:No other player makes your jaw drop like Steph Curry does.
Speaker A:From Half court shots, circus shots, even crazy floaters that he just be doing.
Speaker A:There's no player that's more fun to watch than Steph Curry.
Speaker A:He is box office television, bro.
Speaker A:You got something to say?
Speaker A:Oh, okay.
Speaker A:I just saw you approach your mic.
Speaker A:He has boxed off his television and he's the most entertaining player to watch because he just rains threes, bro.
Speaker A:Even his warm up routines.
Speaker A:Have you seen his warm up routine?
Speaker A:There's this one video that broke the Internet.
Speaker A:I think it was last year where he started from right under the hoop.
Speaker A:Boom.
Speaker A:Taking a shot, moving back just one step.
Speaker A:He made it all the way to half court.
Speaker A:He didn't miss a single shot, bro.
Speaker A:Steph Curry is him.
Speaker A:Steph Curry is him.
Speaker A:He's not even my favorite player.
Speaker A:That's reserved for Giannis Atendo Kumbo.
Speaker A:But I would be remiss if I said Steph.
Speaker A:If I didn't say Steph Curry is not the best show in basketball.
Speaker A:He is.
Speaker A:It's not even close.
Speaker A:Who else can you say that is as entertaining to watch as Stephen Kyrie?
Speaker A:Yeah, sure, he got hoops, he got.
Speaker A:He got the finishes, he got the handles.
Speaker A:But does he ever make your jaw drop like Steph does?
Speaker A:Anthony Edwards, he's collecting necks, putting everybody on a poster.
Speaker A:Does he make your jaw drop like Steph Curry does?
Speaker A:Yeah, my point exactly.
Speaker A:However, Steph Curry is not the best player in basketball.
Speaker A:That is reserved for.
Speaker A:Oh, I didn't put it there.
Speaker A:That is reserved for the man who treats basketball like a side hustle, as is Nikola Jokic.
Speaker A:This dude dropped 30, 20 and 20.
Speaker A:30, 20 and 20.
Speaker A:Damn.
Speaker A:Damn.
Speaker A:I don't even.
Speaker A:Damn, dude.
Speaker A:He's.
Speaker A:He's.
Speaker A:Is he the MVP?
Speaker A:I think that 30, 20, 20, 20 performance should put him above SGA.
Speaker A:However, SGA is dropping 40 every other game.
Speaker A:And what he's doing with the OKC Thunder is nothing short of remarkable.
Speaker A:They have run away.
Speaker A:They have ran away with that first seed.
Speaker A:And I want to see how it plays out in the west, but right now, I think Jokic might have gotten that mvp.
Speaker A:Not from me, bro.
Speaker A:Tell me what you think.
Speaker A:I could be.
Speaker A:I could be tripping.
Speaker A:These are just the thoughts of a man on a chair in Joburg.
Speaker A:And I'm happy.
Speaker A:You know why?
Speaker A:I get to talk NFL, something I haven't done since the super bowl, bro.
Speaker A:You know what happens when I watch basketball, When I watch football?
Speaker A:Phone is on do not disturb.
Speaker A:Laptop is on to not disturb.
Speaker A:Girlfriend is on to not disturb anything.
Speaker A:And everything is on do not Disturb.
Speaker A:Miles Garrett.
Speaker A:Miles Garrett.
Speaker A:Last week I.
Speaker A:Last week I opened my phone.
Speaker A:Miles Garrett wants to be traded from the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker A:Hey.
Speaker A:Okay, he's been.
Speaker A:He's been with the Cleveland Browns since he got in the league.
Speaker A:But it makes sense.
Speaker A:Cause the Browns are trash and he wants to win fair.
Speaker A:I ain't mad at that.
Speaker A:Two days ago I opened my phone.
Speaker A:Myles Garrett is staying with the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker A:I ain't tripping though.
Speaker A:You know why?
Speaker A:Because the Browns said, bro, we.
Speaker A:We know you're leaving.
Speaker A:We know you want to get out, but we do have $123 million for you.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:With $40 million per year.
Speaker A:Uh huh huh.
Speaker A:Where, where, where was he going?
Speaker A:He wasn't going anywhere.
Speaker A:Damn.
Speaker A:I wouldn't go anywhere.
Speaker A:I'm not even gonna lie.
Speaker A:I'm not even gonna lie.
Speaker A:Miles Garrett is now the highest paid non quarterback in the league.
Speaker A:This is not even a running back, a wide receiver.
Speaker A:This is a defensive end.
Speaker A:However, It's Mouse Garrett.
Speaker A:123 million of them things, bro.
Speaker A:Guaranteed.
Speaker A:Guaranteed.
Speaker A:And now trade season is in the corner, bro.
Speaker A:Devonte Adams is gone.
Speaker A:Why?
Speaker A:Because the New York jets said we're moving on from Aaron Rodgers and we all knew what was going to happen there.
Speaker A:Now devonte Adams is doing his thing and he finally decided to make a great decision not to go play with his boy Derek Carr in Vegas or wherever Derek Carr is now.
Speaker A:Not to go play with Aaron Rodgers again.
Speaker A:No, no, no, no, no.
Speaker A:He's playing with Matthew Stafford in la.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:Why?
Speaker A:Because Matthew Stafford is a bad man.
Speaker A:That's Matthew Stafford.
Speaker A:That's devonte Adams.
Speaker A:However, the Rams are now losing Cooper cup, so it's very.
Speaker A:It's very weird.
Speaker A:I think I should just do a whole NFL breakdown because trade season and free agency.
Speaker A:Everything is just everywhere, dog.
Speaker A:Everything is just everywhere.
Speaker A:Actually, you know what?
Speaker A:Episode 30 I'll start with NFL and break down all the right moves because Justin Fields is no longer with the Steelers.
Speaker A:Justin Fields is no longer the Steelers.
Speaker A:He just signed a deal with the jets this morning.
Speaker A:Which means now the Steelers have a choice to make.
Speaker A:Do we draft a young quarterback again?
Speaker A:Or do we keep playing with Russell Wilson?
Speaker A:Or do we keep the old age home open and get Aaron Rodgers?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:And I don't know the answers to these questions.
Speaker A:I'm just a man sitting on a chair in Joe Bird.
Speaker A:Speaking of questions, what you got for me, bro?
Speaker B:How is it possible that Nicola Jokic is doing what he's doing and they're.
Speaker A:Rob him with the MVP voter fatigue.
Speaker A:Simple, simple.
Speaker A:Otherwise, Jordan would have 10 of them things, LeBron would have 10 of them tyings.
Speaker A:It's just voter fatigue.
Speaker A:And Jokic is having the greatest peak I've ever seen in NBA history.
Speaker A:The numbers, the dominance.
Speaker A:He has everything.
Speaker A:The numbers, the dominance, the hardware.
Speaker A:Three MVPs, Finals MVP, a championship.
Speaker A:Come on, bro.
Speaker A:Come on, bro.
Speaker A:What four or five year career stretch have you seen?
Speaker A:Like this.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:Which one?
Speaker A:Even Giannis didn't do this.
Speaker A: yer, because his stretch from: Speaker A:Man.
Speaker A:Man, what a peak.
Speaker A:Anyway, I'm done.
Speaker A:It's been so long, eh?
Speaker A:It had been so long.
Speaker A:I'm glad we got to do this.
Speaker A:I'm glad I got to vent a little bit.
Speaker A:Yo, yo.
Speaker A:Life has been crazy, bro.
Speaker A:Do you see me, bro?
Speaker A:I haven't even gotten a haircut.
Speaker A:I look like my problems, bruh.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker A:That should show you what's happening.
Speaker A:All thanks to the Ducky Boys.
Speaker A:But we'll finish that next week.
Speaker A:As always, just have fun, enjoy the sports, be nice to your mother, and enjoy the violence.
