UFC Unfiltered with Jim Norton and Matt Serra

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Merab Dvalishvili recaps win vs. Petr Yan, UFC 286 picks w/ guest co-host Ray Longo Mar 13, 2023

Show notes

It’s a Serra-Longo Fight Team party on today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered!

Not only does the great Ray Longo end his six-month drought of not appearing on the show by filling in as a guest co-host for Jim Norton, but he’s joined by bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili fresh off his dominant win over Petr Yan in Las Vegas at UFC Fight Night: Yan vs. Dvalishvili.

Matt and Ray sing Merab’s praises as the proud Georgian fighter explains why he’s at peace with allowing close friend and teammate Aljamain Sterling to finish out his run as bantamweight champion before requesting a title shot of his own at 135 pounds.

When Merab leaves the show, Matt and Ray recap the rest of last Saturday’s fight card and share a couple of names of fighters who impressed them the most.

Finally, the guys take a sneak peek at this Saturday’s high-stakes UFC 286 pay-per-view card headlined by the welterweight title fight and third iteration of Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman. Ray and Matt find themselves on opposite sides of the argument over who leaves London as the king of the UFC’s 170-pound division before rattling off the rest of their fight picks from Saturday’s stacked card.

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Alexandr Romanov, actor Steve Howey, UFC Fight Night: Yan vs. Dvalishvili preview Mar 09, 2023

Show notes

Jim and Matt begin the show by reciprocating the love Dana White showed for the UFC Unfiltered podcast on his personal Instagram through reposting Matt’s hilarious, highly-specific and accurate prediction of Jon Jones’ first-round submission.

They are then joined by Steve Howey, who not only shares what it was like spending 11 seasons as a cast member of Showtime’s hit show Shameless, but also discusses his Muay Thai training, watching UFC fights back in the day and his role as the lead actor in the new CBS show ‘True Lies’.

Then, 14th-ranked heavyweight Alexandr Romanov joins the guys ahead of his co-main event fight on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Yan vs. Dvalishvili card. While assessing his matchup against 8th-ranked heavyweight Alexander Volkov, Romanov explains how his confidence going into the match stems from years of wrestling experience dating back to his time as a 7-year-old learning from his father in his native Moldova.

Jim and Matt wrap up the show by sharing their excitement for the fights on Saturday’s card leading up to the highly-anticipated bantamweight main event between Serra-Longo trained fighter Merab Dvalishvili and former champion Petr Yan.

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Nazim Sadykhov, UFC 285 recap with guest co-host John Hackleman Mar 07, 2023

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Fresh off the heels of Saturday night’s massive UFC 285 pay-per-view, Matt and Jim return for today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered with plenty to talk about alongside guest co-host John Hackleman.

The show begins with ‘Mattstradamus’ taking a Monday-morning victory lap after having accurately predicted everything about Jon Jones’ first-round submission win over Ciryl Gane for the vacant UFC heavyweight title.

Guest co-host John Hackleman then hops on the show to provide a coach’s perspective on Saturday night’s fights. The Hawaiian Kempo founder finds particular interest in the strategy successfully adopted by newly-crowned women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso in her upset win over long-reigning champion Valentina Shevchenko.

The guys are then joined by lightweight Nazim Sadykhov roughly two weeks removed from his Fight of the Night performance in his UFC debut against Evan Elder. The Serra-Longo trained fighter talks about his journey as a mixed martial artist which began in his native Azerbaijan before eventually moving to Brooklyn as a kid with his family.

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Bo Nickal, Shavkat Rakhmonov, UFC 285 predictions w/ Gianni the Greek Mar 02, 2023

Show notes

Jim and Matt peel back the curtain of Saturday’s stacked UFC 285 card on today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered with three special guests — middleweight Bo Nickal, welterweight Shavkat Rakhmonov, and gambling expert Gianni “The Greek” Karalis.

After Bo shares his mindset going into his highly-anticipated UFC debut against Jamie Pickett, the 27-year-old wrestling prodigy explains how being raised by a mom with an amateur boxing background and a dad with decades of wrestling experience fostered his desire to venture into the world of mixed martial arts.

Matt and Jim then run through some of their picks from the main card of UFC 285 before their chat with unbeaten Shavkat Rakhmonov and his translator. While Shavkat admits that a fight against Khamzat Chimaev would be an entertaining matchup between two undefeated beasts, the UFC’s first-ever Kazakhstani fighter insists that he remains keenly focused on Saturday’s fight against 7th-ranked welterweight Geoff Neal and taking fights that will inch him closer towards a title shot.

Riding an impressive winning streak of accurately-placed bets in the UFC’s first two months of 2023, Gianni “the Greek” caps off today’s show with the rationale for his red-hot takes from the prelims on up to Saturday’s highly-anticipated main event featuring heavyweights Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane.

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Guest co-host Firas Zahabi talks Tatiana Suarez’s climb back, UFC 285 & GSP-Serra rivalry Feb 28, 2023

Show notes

On today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered, Jim and Matt are joined by a special guest co-host in Tristar Gym owner and head coach Firas Zahabi.

With UFC 285 right around the corner, Firas explains why he thinks the main event between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight title is as mouthwatering of a matchup as the recent Fight of the Year candidate put on by pound-for-pound kings Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284.

With Tatiana Suarez successfully bouncing back in the win column on Saturday for the first time in her 1,358-day layoff, Firas explains why the 32-year-old’s 2nd-round submission win over women’s flyweight Montana De La Rosa proved she can return to the top of women’s MMA and have a Khabib Nurmagomedov-like reign in the women’s strawweight division.

Finally, Jim takes Matt and Firas on a stroll down memory lane of the years the two spent on opposite ends of the iconic welterweight rivalry between Matt and Zahabi-trained fighter Georges St-Pierre.

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Tatiana Suarez, Nikita Krylov, UFC Fight Night: Krylov vs. Spann predictions Feb 23, 2023

Show notes

With three days until the UFC Fight Night: Krylov vs. Spann card kicks off, Matt and Jim are joined by two fighters from Saturday’s fight card in women’s flyweight Tatiana Suarez and light heavyweight headliner Nikita Krylov.
Tatiana talks about how maintaining an optimistic mindset throughout her string of serious injuries over the past four years has kept her in great spirits as she seeks to end her 1,358-day layoff with a victory over Montana De La Rosa in a fight contested at a 125-pound weight limit instead of her usual 115-pound strawweight limit.
With some help here and there from his translator, Nikita Krylov assesses the state of the light heavyweight division he competes in and previews his upcoming fight against Ryan Spann in the Ukrainian light heavyweight’s first-ever main event as a UFC fighter.
Finally, Jim and Matt weigh in on the matchups on Saturday’s fight card with some predictions for the main event and a few other bouts.

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Jamall Emmers, UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs. Blanchfield recap w/ guest co-host Jens Pulver Feb 21, 2023

Show notes

Matt opens the show by congratulating Jens on his recent induction into the UFC Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023, and together the two take a stroll down memory lane to the early days of the UFC’s compelling history.

As the guys reflect on their unique experiences coaching and fighting on The Ultimate Fighter, they dish their thoughts on what to expect from Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler’s upcoming stint as coaches on the 31st season of the show.

The guys are then joined by featherweight Jamall Emmers, who talks about how the strong two-way relationship between he and his coaches helped guide him from an 18-month absence from the cage to a victory on Saturday night over a previously unbeaten Khusein Askhabov on the UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs. Blanchfield undercard.

Jamall rounds out the interview by fondly looking back at how his younger days of watching rented VHS tapes from Blockbuster of old MMA fights with his father and brother led him to transition into fighting.

As Matt and Jens wrap up the show with their key takeaways from Saturday’s fight card, Matt offers his take on whether flyweight Erin Blanchfield's dominant main event win over Jéssica Andrade is reason enough to believe the 23-year-old has the skills to dethrone champion Valentina Shevchenko.

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Cory Sandhagen, comedian Jesus Trejo, Andrade vs. Blanchfield preview Feb 16, 2023

Show notes

Bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen and comedian Jesus Trejo join Matt and Jim on today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered.

First, Jim and Matt begin the show with their thoughts on Jéssica Andrade’s decision to replace Taila Santos on a week’s notice in this Saturday night’s main event of UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs. Blanchfield from the UFC Apex against 10th-ranked flyweight Erin Blanchfield.

The guys then weigh in on the UFC’s latest rankings update, with Jim issuing his thoughts on Alexander Volkanovski holding onto the top spot on the men’s pound-for-pound list despite losing to the man just below him at number two, lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

Next, comedian Jesus Trejo joins the show and recounts his humble beginnings into the world of stand-up comedy as a door guy and valet worker at the famous Comedy Store in West Hollywood. Trejo then explains to Jim and Matt how he and his father fell in love with MMA way back in the day.

Cory Sandhagen then joins the show and discusses how he plans to get back to contending for a title in the stacked bantamweight division beginning with his upcoming fight on March 25th against 4th-ranked bantamweight Marlon “Chito” Vera.

Finally, Jim and Matt wrap up the show by predicting the outcome of Saturday night’s main event between Jéssica Andrade and fast-rising contender Erin Blanchfield.

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Merab Dvalishvili, UFC 284 recap w/ guest co-host Sayif Saud Feb 14, 2023

Show notes

On today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered, Jim and Matt are joined by two friends of the show in bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili and guest co-host Sayif Saud to talk all things UFC 284.

Merab tells the guys about where he stands in training camp with a little less than a month until his upcoming fight against Petr Yan. Having already seen what Yan looked like against fellow Serra-Longo fighter Aljamain Sterling in a pair of bantamweight championship fights, Matt explains why he thinks Merab is an even tougher stylistic matchup for Yan than Sterling was.

The topic then shifts to the all-time classic battle in the UFC 284 main event featuring featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. As Jim sings the praises of City Kickboxing’s risk-taking champions, Sayif explains why the UFC’s pound-for-pound number 1 and 2 fighters can confidently feel like they raised their stock on Saturday night.

Sayif mixes in some talk about Ciryl Gane’s matchup against Jon Jones at UFC 285 before wrapping up the show with why he thinks his fighter Brandon Moreno’s dreams of defending his flyweight championship in Mexico City against rival Alexandre Pantoja would make for an electric co-main event to Alexander Volkanovski vs. Mexico’s Yair Rodríguez following Yair’s interim featherweight title win on Saturday night against Josh Emmett.

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Curtis Blaydes, actor Wes Chatham, UFC 284 predictions w/ Gianni the Greek Feb 09, 2023

Show notes

On today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered, Jim and Matt are joined by three guests — actor Wes Chatham, heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes, and gambling analyst Gianni “The Greek” Karalis.

Chatham begins the interview by discussing how his passion for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu led him to earning a purple belt. As the topic shifts to all things science fiction, Wes opens up about the six seasons he spent acting on Amazon Prime’s The Expanse — one of Matt's favorite Sci-Fi shows.

The guys are then joined by Curtis Blaydes, who assesses his status as a contender in a rapidly-changing heavyweight division now that Francis Ngannou is no longer with the UFC.

With Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane locked in for a vacant heavyweight title fight at UFC 285 this March and Stipe Miocic rumored to fight the winner, Blaydes dishes his thoughts on how he matches up in hypothetical eliminator fights against both Serghei Spivac and Sergei Pavlovich following both of their impressive wins.

Jim and Matt wrap up the show by inviting Gianni the Greek on for an inside look at how the gambling analyst separates emotion from his fight predictions ahead of Saturday’s UFC 284 card. As the guys reveal their picks for Saturday’s main and co-main event, Gianni reveals if lightweight champion Islam Makhachev’s status as a sizable betting favorite makes betting on him to beat featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski worth betting on at all.

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