An irreverent and unscripted look at the week's mixed martial arts news from longtime MMA journalists Ben Fowlkes and Chad Dundas. Topics include the latest happenings in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.
Episode 437: Put some respect on Dustin Poirier...
Dustin Poirier walked out to James Brown's "The Big Payback," stopped Conor McGregor in the second round and then declared himself the uncrowned champion. A pretty nifty piece of business from The Diamond all the way around at UFC 257. Now, we ask...
71 min
227
Episode 436: Does McGregor fight week still hav...
Max Holloway amazed us all with his performance at Saturday's UFC on ABC card. Never one to rest on its laurels, however, the UFC ramps back up for two events this week. (We see you, Michael Chiesa vs. Neil Magny!) And as Conor McGregor prepares to...
76 min
228
Episode 435: What to expect from UFC on ABC
The UFC returns to network television this week for the first time since 2018, as Saturday afternoon it presents its debut broadcast on ABC. What to make of this, especially after the fight company's tenure on Big Fox started with a bang and then...
77 min
229
Episode 434: All Questions Considered
On the first episode of The Proper since mid-December, we've got some catching up to do. So, we're going All Questions Considered this week. What's up with the UFC raising PPV prices? Have we witnessed the fatal flaw in Greg Hardy's MMA evolution? And...
72 min
230
Episode 433: CME Office Christmas Party
Let's be honest, ain't nobody doing any work the week of Christmas. This episode, we present (or, uh, re-represent, as the case may be) our year-end awards. Plus, Sir Nigel Longstock stops by to read the best tweets of 2020. We pop champagne and hand...
58 min
231
Episode 432: The greatest majority draw of all ...
Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno threw DOWN on Saturday in the main event of UFC 256 and, while it probably wasn't the fight of the year, it was perhaps the greatest majority draw of all time. In the co-main, Charles Oliveira wore Tony Ferguson...
71 min
232
Episode 431: Say it ain't Yo-el!
The UFC says its release of perennial title contender/lovable weirdsmobile Yoel Romero is one of about 60 cuts it will make before the New Year to trim its "inflated" roster. Inflated, huh? That's an interesting, hey-this-was-nobody's-fault kind of...
68 min
233
Episode 430: Tyson-Jones delivers, UFC plays mu...
Ben watched the Mike Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. exhibition boxing match on Saturday night and gleefully reports that he got his money's worth ... of entertainment, if not exactly top flight boxing action. Meanwhile, the UFC scrapped Curtis Blaydes vs....
72 min
234
Episode 429: Figgy Smalls, Shevy Chenks & the '...
UFC 255 was definitely a thing that happened, as Deiveson Figueiredo and Valentina Shevchenko retained the men's and women's flyweight titles, respectively. This week on an All Questions Considered episode of The Proper, we talk the greatness of Figgy...
75 min
235
Episode 428: Did Felder's gamble pay off?
Paul Felder didn't beat Rafael dos Anjos Saturday night, but it still feels like Felder's choice to step in on short notice for a five-rounder against a former champion was the right thing to do. Plus, the Bellator 145-pound grand prix deserves your...
61 min
236
Episode 427: Five Questions About the Light Hea...
So, Glover Teixeira pretty much handled Thiago Santos in their main event fight Saturday night. This week, the CME turns its attention to the most vexing questions facing the 205-pound division, including: In a world where Jon Jones is absent, could...
62 min
237
Episode 426: Can the UFC just end Anderson Sil...
Anderson Silva lost to Uriah Hall on Saturday via fourth-round TKO. It wasn't great. It also wasn't terrible. But, jeez louise, Dana White sure showed up at the postfight presser in a shitty mood. He says Silva still has one fight left on his UFC deal...
75 min
238
Episode 425: Do svidaniya, Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib Nurmagomedov called it quits on Saturday after UFC 254 in what has to be considered one of the most emotional retirement announcements in MMA history. Naturally, we got a lot of mail on the subject. This week's All Questions Considered show...
65 min
239
Episode 424: You sly dog, Brian Ortega
Brian Ortega returned from his first career loss and an extended absence from the cage looking like a new man on Saturday and straight-up put a whipping on Chan Sung Jung. Sup with that??? Plus, we look ahead to UFC 254's man and co-main events. Hype...
74 min
240
Episode 423: Welcome to immortality, Joaquin Bu...
If what you want out of your UFC content is a no-strings-attached experience where one semi-anonymous dude might do something unbelievably awesome (and terrible) to another semi-anonymous dude then, brother, Saturday night was your JAM. We discuss...
67 min
241
Episode 422: A Couple Old Road Dogs
Holly "Holmes" Holm and Carlos "Conduit" Condit both went out there and reminded us who the fuck they were on Saturday. But what now for our two old pals? Plus, the Jon Jones-Israel Adesanya beef gets capital "W" Weird and--oh, look!--another fairly...
75 min
242
Introducing: Death in the West
Here's a taste of Chad's new podcast: Death in the West.
42 min
243
Episode 421: Adesanya made it look easy
Israel Adesanya froze Paulo Costa like a statue, battered him with leg kicks from range and then toppled him with strikes to the dome piece in the second. It was, in short, exactly the kind of performance you'd want from a budding UFC superstar....
72 min
244
Episode 420: Colby Covington, still reprehensible
Colby Covington pretty much shut down Tyron Woodley en route to a fifth-round TKO victory on Saturday night. Then Covington opened his mouth and spewed awful racist bile all over the place during the postfight. You know, like he does. Plus, Donald...
80 min
245
Episode 419: All Questions Considered
There were a ton of fights this weekend, and the CME will forego its normal three-round format in order to talk about as many of them as possible. We discuss Michelle Waterson's win over Angela Hill, Ed Herman's Dundasso and those terrible low blows...
74 min
246
Episode 418: The Reem rolls on
Alistair Overeem's late-career dream continues, in the form of a fifth-round TKO over Augusto Sakai. All the props in the world to Overeem for remaking himself as a crafty veteran, but how far can he continue to roll at age 40? Plus, Nick Diaz back?...
72 min
247
Episode 417: Anthony Smith didn't find what he ...
Anthony Smith made a somewhat short turnaround after his high-publicized de-toothing by Glover Teixeira back in May, just to return Saturday night to get outpointed by Aleksandar Rakic. Chances are, Smith's not going to be happy with that. Plus, are...
76 min
248
Episode 416: Frankie can still Frankie
Frankie Edgar finally made his bantamweight debut on Saturday and ... well ... it looked a lot like what we've seen from him at every other weight, which is to say quite good, but also prone to producing fights that could go either way. Plus, Ryan...
81 min
249
Episode 415: Did the Stipe-DC trilogy have a sa...
Stipe Miocic will continue being the man after his unanimous decision victory over Daniel Cormier at UFC 252 concluded that pair's heavyweight title trilogy. As for Cormier? We're not totally sure, though we hope it's something good. Plus, just to add...
64 min
250
414. What's your hype level for UFC 252?
Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier fulfill the trilogy this weekend. Kind of feels like it snuck up on us, no? Plus, we love Derrick Lewis, but is he trying to do too much? And shouldn't some MMA company just give Michael Chandler whatever he wants?