The UFC is kicking off 2021 with a bang, and Conor McGregor’s all set to turn things up to 11 at UFC 257 on January 23. On this week’s show, we take a look at McGregor’s main event bout with Dustin Poirier, and preview the lightweight co-main event between Dan Hooker and Michael Chandler. We also wonder aloud what the two fights might do to convince Khabib Nurmagomedov to return to the cage.

We also look back at a superb night at UFC on ABC 1 last weekend, as Max Holloway put on an all-time great performance to defeat Calvin Kattar and make an undeniable claim for another shot at his old featherweight title.

There’s also time to quickly preview Wednesday night’s main event, as welterweights Neil Magny and Michael Chiesa get set to take center stage on “Fight Island” ahead of the weekend’s huge pay-per-view event.

It’s a packed show for a packed week of fights, check it out here!

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The UFC is looking to kick off 2021 with a bang, as they get set to launch into a series of three events in just eight days on “UFC Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi. But the intrigue doesn’t start and finish with the action inside the octagon.

On this week’s episode, we look ahead to the fights that matter on the UFC’s first fight card of the year, with former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway taking on rising contender Calvin Kattar in what looks set to be an all-action main event encounter at 145 pounds.

But before we dive into the weekend’s fight card, we discuss two of the biggest talking points in the sport, as UFC president Dana White gets set to do his level best to persuade 29-0 lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov out of retirement for at least one more fight, while the man the UFC most likely wants to face him, Conor McGregor, gets set to face Dustin Poirier in the main event of the first pay-per-view card of the year, UFC 257.

We offer our takes on all of the big talking points, then mark your card ahead of this weekend’s fights. And, to top it all off, the fights are actually being shown at a palatable time for UK fans!

Don’t forget to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and, ahead of our switch to video later this year, make sure you get ahead of the game and subscribe to our YouTube channel ahead of time.

Enjoy the fights, and let’s enjoy 2021’s action together!

[Photo: @AwesomeGandalf]

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Yes, that’s right. After our special 2020 awards show last week, we’re kicking off the start of the new year with our MMA hot takes and predictions ahead of a (hopefully) packed year of fights in 2021.

Taking our inspiration from our pre-fight eatery of choice, the legendary Nando’s, we’ve put together our personal list of way-too-early predictions, one for each level of the famous Nando’s Peri-Ometer (which, incidentally the UK government seems to have adopted for its COVID threat level scale), as we offer our predictions, one for each grade of Nando’s heat level.

So, you can expect a couple of “Mild” prediction takes from the pair of us, before we start to crank up the heat (and stretch the bounds of plausibility) as we go up the scale with ever-more outlandish predictions for the year. Will any of them actually come true in 2021? Watch this space!

We even chuck in our 2021 UFC champion predictions, as we offer our lists of who we think will be holding each of the undisputed UFC titles on Jan. 1, 2022.

This one was a lot of fun to record. We hope you’ll enjoy it, too.

And finally, as we’ve mentioned on the show, there’s big news for the show as we get set to kick things up a gear in 2021. So do us a favour and get subscribed to our YouTube channel.

It’s basically just been an archive for our old shows up to this point, but we’re going to be going big on YouTube this year, and we’d love it if you could join us, by subscribing today to help give us a running start when we launch properly on there in the coming weeks.

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It’s been a hell of a year. For the most part, it’s sucked, but the one release we all had was sport, and no sport responded better to the challenge of COVID-19 than MMA.

Led by the UFC who, after a false start in California, held successful events in Jacksonville before establishing a secure COVID-safe bubble at the UFC Apex and heading to “UFC Fight Island,” where the Abu Dhabi government teamed up with the UFC to set up the best COVID bubble in world sport on Yas Island.

Bellator returned later in the year with their “Fightsphere” in Uncasville, Connecticut, while, in the U.K., Cage Warriors proved that regional promotions can also succeed, with their behind-closed-doors setup and “Trilogy” format.

On this week’s show, we look back at an unprecedented year as we share our month-by-month recap of 2020, before launching into our end-of-year awards.

Unpacking the most tumultuous year in a generation is no easy task, so it’s a bumper edition of the show this week as we end the year with a bang.

We’ve got some big plans for 2021, and we’d love it if you’d join us as we kick The Brit Pack up a gear next year.

Enjoy our final show of 2020, and have a great New Year. We’ll speak to you again in 2021!

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The final UFC show of 2020 served up plenty of talking points, but despite a fun main card at the UFC Apex, the biggest topic of intrigue came from the night’s featured preliminary card fight.

Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis defeated Alex Morono to finish his year with back-to-back wins, and round out his current UFC contract in solid form. He’s now a free agent and is likely to have no shortage of suitors as he considers his next move. On this week’s show, we assess Pettis’ potential options.

We also run down the fight card from UFC Fight Night 183, and pick out the key takeaways from the matchups that mattered on fight night in Las Vegas. Who’s going to welcome T.J. Dillashaw back to the octagon? What’s next for Michel Pereira? And what does his defeat to Marcin Tybura mean for Greg Hardy?

We answer the above, and more, in this week’s show.

It’s our last episode until Christmas, so we both just want to wish everyone a happy holiday period. It’s likely to be a very different – and possibly difficult – one for many of us this year, but hopefully you, and those closest to, you can stay safe and have a fun few days. Merry Christmas, and we’ll meet again next week for our end-of-year review special.

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The final UFC pay-per-view of 2020 may just have produced the fight of the year. Deiveson Figueiredo’s majority draw with Brandon Moreno at UFC 256 was an instant classic, and a fight that immediately registered as a late entry in the “Fight of the Year” debate. On this week’s show, we recap the action from the remarkable main event at the UFC Apex.

But UFC 256 wasn’t all about one event. The entire card was packed with fascinating stories, incredible performances and a bunch of talking points, and we’ll run through them all on the show, including Cub Swanson’s incredible showing, Kevin Holland’s case for “Fighter of the Year” and what could happen to Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Junior Dos Santos after the two Brazilian legends both suffered damaging defeats.

We also recap the action in London, as Cage Warriors staged their second “Trilogy” series, with four titles up for grabs across three wild nights in London. And, of course, we chat about the big story that broke before we started recording, as recently released former UFC middleweight contender Yoel Romero signed for Bellator - as a light heavyweight.

It was another busy week in the crazy world of MMA, and we’re here to dissect it all for you. Enjoy the show, and don’t forget to check us out on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you get your podcasts.

Enjoy the show!

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After a quiet couple of weeks, the combat sports world has picked up steam again in a big way, with major headlines coming out of both MMA and boxing, and on this week’s show, we attempt to pick our way through it all.

Firstly, there’s the topic of Yoel Romero’s departure from the UFC. Sure, he’s knocking on a bit (but still younger than Simon…) but he’s still one of the world’s premier 185-pounders. So why is the UFC letting him go? There’s also the news that Romero won’t be alone, with the UFC set to cut as many as 60 fighters before the turn of the year.

The other big news is that, hot on the heels of Mike Tyson’s fight with Roy Jones Jr, another of boxing’s greats, Floyd Mayweather, is set to return to the ring for another exhibition bout. This time he’s set to face YouTube superstar and occasional celebrity boxer Logan Paul. From a sporting standpoint, it’s a horrific mismatch, but from a business standpoint, it makes all sorts of sense. We discuss both sides of the argument.

We also look back at last weekend’s UFC Vegas 16 card, as Marvin Vettori stepped in on short notice and defeated Jack Hermansson to put himself right in the mix at 185; and look ahead to an exciting fight card at UFC 256, as Deiveson Figueiredo looks to complete a speedy turnaround to make the first defense of his UFC flyweight title against Brandon Moreno.

Enjoy the show!

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We’re not going to lie, it’s been a pretty quiet week in the sport of MMA. COVID deprive us of not one, but two UFC main events, and the fight card last weekend and the one coming up this week aren’t the most star-studded of affairs.

But that didn’t mean that the combat sports world wasn’t buzzing, because it absolutely was – and it was all down to a couple of fiftysomething former world champions.

Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. stepped back in the ring for an eight-round exhibition fight on pay-per-view in an event, that, despite some cynicism (including from one of us!) heading into fight night, delivered the goods for the fans, and for the stakeholders who took the risk of putting on the show.

On this week’s episode of “The Brit Pack,” we look back at that fight, and our contrasting approaches to the event last Saturday night, as we recap the key takeaways from the event, and discuss the future for “legends” fights and celebrity boxing as a legitimate new vertical in the sport.

We also recap UFC on ESPN 18 last weekend and look ahead to UFC on ESPN 19 this weekend as we pick out the fights to follow. We also tease some big news coming to “The Brit Pack” in the not-too-distant future…

Enjoy the show!

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The 125ers took centre stage at the UFC Apex as UFC flyweight champions Deiveson Figueiredo and Valentina Shevchenko both defended their titles at UFC 255. Figueiredo showed once again his ability to finish a fight in an instant, while Shevchenko was forced to work a lot harder than many anticipated as she returned from injury to continue her reign.

On this week’s show, we take a look back at both title fights, as well as the other key matchups from the UFC 255 card in Las Vegas, as we recap the penultimate pay-per-view event of the UFC’s 2020 schedule.

There’s much to be excited about moving forward, with some huge fights booked at lightweight, including official confirmation of Conor McGregor’s return to face old adversary Dustin Poirier, plus Tony Ferguson’s upcoming clash with Charles Oliveira.

We also take a look at the best of the action away from the UFC octagon, with Bellator, Invicta FC and LFA all producing notable moments during the week.

Finally, we take a look ahead to next weekend’s UFC on ESPN 18 card, plus the boxing double-header featuring Daniel Dubois vs. Joe Joyce and the much-anticipated exhibition clash between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr.

Check out the show via the player above, and don’t forget to subscribe!

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After a typically busy week in the world of MMA, the sport turns up the pace this week with a host of events to keep even the most hardened of hardcore MMA fans happy, and on this week’s episode of “The Brit Pack,” we take a look at what’s on offer.

First, we recap the key action from last week, as Rafael dos Anjos marked his return to the UFC lightweight division with an impressive win, while two-division champ Patricky “Pitbull” Freire marched into the semi-finals of the Bellator featherweight grand prix.

Then we take a look ahead to a feast of fights, with Bellator 253 on Thursday night, followed by a Friday night double-header on UFC Fight Pass, featuring Invicta FC and LFA, with PFL champion Kayla Harrison making her 145-pound debut, while the man who knocked out Israel Adesanya, Alex Pereira, looks to make an impact on his LFA debut.

Finally, we take a look at a stacked fight card in Las Vegas for UFC 255, with two flyweight title fights at the top of the card rounding off a night packed with dynamite matchups that could serve up fireworks aplenty.

It’s yet another packed slate of fights on another busy episode of “The Brit Pack,” and we’d be honoured if you’d join us.

Check out the show via the player above, or click the link under the player to listen via the podcast player of your choice. If you aren’t already a subscriber, you can join the mailing list below and get the show delivered to your inbox each week the moment it goes live. Plus, of course, you can subscribe via the usual podcast channels, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

There’s a ton of fights coming our way this week, so enjoy the matchups, and we hope you enjoy the show!

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