All right, so the weigh-ins for UFC 298, they just finished a couple of hours ago. I just finished from the UFC Weigh-in show. I've just driven home and there's been a bit of a shake-up with the fight card. One of the fights has changed. One fighter has withdrawn, okay? There's a new fight on deck, but fear not. Of course, the main event is still in place, okay? Alexander Volkanovski will still be taking on Elia to Sephora. That's the main event. That's the main thing that we're concerned about, that we're worried about. And it's an incredible fight. Toporia, this man is on a mission. He firmly believes he's going to knock out Volkanovski in round one, which is crazy, right? Is old Volkanovski too old? Is he past his best? Past the sell by date? Has his chin expired? Did Islam knock it out of him? I don't think so. I'm not sure if Sephora does it in round one, but I do know that this is going to be a fantastic fight. Fortunately, the co-main event is still on as well. Robert Whittaker taking on Secret Juice Paulo Costa. I could go through the entire fight card like this, but I'm not going to do that.

I'm not a prick. I'm just going to tell you right now. On the ESPN prelims we had Marcos Rogerio De Lema, the Brazilian heavyweight, a big old boy with some big power in his hands and excellent jiu-jitsu. He was taking on Australia's Justin Tafo, and that was going to be a brilliant matchup because two big guys, knockout power. Justin Tafa is a bad man by name and by nature. But unfortunately, because of an undisclosed injury, he has had to withdraw from the fight. So I was doing a live weighing show with Dan Haley, Laura Sanko, and King Bobby Green. And as it was about to wrap up, they're like, Oh, no, we've got a fight change. We've got a fight canceled because of Junior Tafar. But there's another heavyweight on deck who is licensed, who is ready to go who is fighting in just a few weeks. And that, of course, turned out to be Justin Tafar's little brother, Junior Tafar. That is correct. The brother that was helping Justin Tafar get ready for Marcos Rogeria Delema, who was in Anaheim, California, just down the street from me for UFC 298, part of the training camp.

So he knows De Lema very well because he's been helping his brother prepare. His older brother had to withdraw from the fight. We don't know what the injury is, and that's a shame. But fortunately, the fight is still taking place. So we haven't lost the fight on UFC 298, but we have had a switch up. But from the viewpoint of Marcos Rogerio De Lema, nothing changes, okay? Because Justin Tapper, Junior Tapper, the They're both big boys. They're both Australians. They're both heavyweights and they're both kickboxers. Junior Tapper, I think he's five and one in mixed martial arts, and he's had about 17 professional kickboxing or Thai boxing fights fights. So that fight, look, listen, different first name, Same last name, essentially the same fight for the fans. Good news is all the fights on the main card, they're still ready to rock, and rock they will. Anthony Hernandez versus Kopalov. That's going to be a sensational fight to start the card. We haven't been talking about that one too much. I haven't really covered that. Roman Kopalov, beautiful kickboxing. Anthony Hernandez, decent on the fee, but very, very skilled grappler. I'll never forget when he choked out Rodolfo Vieira, something like a seven-time jiu-jitsu world champion.

Beat him at his own game. So that's great. Sahudo Marab Devalishvili. Is this the beginning of the end for Henry Sahudo? He says that if he loses, he's going to retire, and that's it. It's all over, right? And it just might be because Marab Devalishvili will not stop coming forward, and he can Probably match him in the wrestling department, so that's sensational. Jeff Neil versus Gary. Ian Gary has got a lot of pressure on his shoulders, right? He's going to go out there and try and silence the critiques. Is that even possible? There's a lot of critiques out there, and they are very vocal. They are very loud. Being silenced is going to be hard. The best thing for Ian Gary is to go out there, beat Jeff Neil on the feet, because I don't think he's going to take him down and beat him via jiu-jitsu, even though he has been training down in Brazil with the legendary shooter box. If he beats him, he beats him on the feet. And then when he gets on the microphone, he's going to try and be humble. I'm not saying reinvent himself, okay? I'm just saying don't lean into it, because at this moment in time, the noise surrounding Ian Gary is deafening, and it's not in a good way.

It's just pure negativity and hatred. And I tell you what, fair play to the man, because he's mentally strong walking out there in front of 20,000 people that are all going to be booing him. At the Wains yesterday, there was a lot of noise, and it wasn't a good time, okay? So he's going to harness the good energy, block the bad. There isn't very much good energy, but there's a lot of bad energy to block, okay? But seriously, back in the day, people hated me, right?

What do you think you got to do to try and win them over? And I know consciously you're not trying to do that. You're just being yourself. But what do you think it's going to take?

The truth is, I'm not trying to win anyone over. If they love me or hate me because of my performances, then fine, do you? At the end of the day, this is the fight game. And if my fight and does the talking and I go out there and I keep doing what I'm doing, which is every single time get my hand raised, then the fans are just going to keep moaning about stuff that's completely and utterly irrelevant. My hand will get raised. I'll stay unde. They can talk their shit. They can do all they want. I'm winning.

So fair play to both of those guys, but I do believe that's going to be a potential choice for a fight of the night. Jeff Neil brings it, man, and he hits hard, okay? He really does amazing boxing. Started off as a kickboxer, though, by the way, and he can wrestle as well. And I don't think we're going to see too much wrestling, but the power in the hands is phenomenal. Co-main event, Paulo Costa versus Robert Whittaker. Robert Whittaker is a man on a mission. He's pissed off. He's angry. I did an interview the other day. I thought he was going to slap me in the face. He's just zoned in. He's dialed in. He's locked in to Paulo Costa. He's bringing pure aggression, okay? Skill for skill, pound for pound. Robert Whittaker is one of the best. The way that he mixes things up is just phenomenal, okay? Great fight. And then, of course, Wokunowski taking on to Portia. That's going to be brilliant.

When you look at UFC fighters, somebody like Alexander Wokunowski, that's an alpha male. That's a world champion that steps in there and fights in this environment. You think, wow, they're going to be so tough. They've got to be so mentally strong. And To see them be so open with their feelings and their emotions and revealing that they are vulnerable and they do have mental health issues here and there will help them to confront their own issues because there's still this stigmatism that it's weak, that you're a that you shouldn't think about that stuff, that you've got to man up and just get on with it. And the sad stat is that a lot of people still commit suicide because they don't feel comfortable talking about it. See, Being somebody like Volkanovski, being so honest, will help them come forward. Go talk to somebody. Talk to somebody because, listen, it's a real thing.

Is it the first ever Spanish champion? Spanish/georgian champion. And he was born in Germany. He's claiming three countries. No, he's not. He's claiming two. You never know. You never know. Big, big pressure on every single person. As I say, I just did the UFC 298 official Wayne show from the Honda Center where the fights are going to go down. And we had a few stupid little In the games, they were forcing us to down red wine. I down the glass of red wine in 0.28 seconds. By far, won the game.

One, two, three. I'm ready. Good, good. I told you, this guy, you got to watch this guy. One, two, three. This bitch, good God. Are you intoxicated?

I don't know if that's a skill I should be proud of, okay? But still, there it is. We had to play some stupid games. They pinned a load of clothes pegs to us and we all had to shake them off. And I was just like, I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it. Laura Sanko, she's competitive. She was shaking and jibbering and jiving all over the bloody place. Dan Haley got involved. Bobby Green, he is too cool for school. He's one cool motherfucker, but he got involved as well. And I just stood there thinking, I can't do this. I'm 45 years old, almost. You know what I mean? I just can't So I said, Sorry, I got to bow out. But I did eat a lot of ice cream. What else did I have? I ate a lot of breakfast muffins. I had some McDonald's-style chicken and sausage and egg McDonald's, and a down some wine and sipped on a bud light. So all in all, a great day's work. I knew one day being a gentleman. I got wine in my nose. And I'm good to be back. Glad to be home. Got to do a bit more research before the big fight tomorrow night, right?

I'm excited for this card. It's going to be fantastic from top to bottom. But who wins? Volkanovski, right? He is so sure that he's going to win, and so is Topordia. And that's what makes this fight so special. When you look at Topoia, perhaps the confidence is borderline arrogance. But I don't think it's arrogance. He's been doing Greca or Roman wrestling since he was four years old. The striking is phenomenal. The boxing is some of the best we've seen in the UFC. But Volkanovski has been able to deal with these guys and push back number one contender time after time after time. But to Portia is the first time in the UFC that is taking on somebody undefeated. So it's a new test, another puzzle to crack, another skull to crack. And to Portia has never been beaten, never been knocked out, never been TK-od, never been dropped. He's the full package, the real deal, and he can't wait to get a feel on the one and only Alexander Volkanovski. But still, I've been rambling, and that's it. New fight on deck. Marcos Rogerio Delima taking on the younger brother of Justin Tapper, Junior Tapper.

Respect to both men for accepting that on such short notice. And respect to you for watching this video, supporting the YouTube channel. And if you haven't already subscribed and rang the bell, then what the bloody hell you're waiting for, do that. And I'll see you tomorrow with another video. I'll be live on Aircall in the Fights with Joe Rogan and the GOAT, John Anick. And I'll be doing a post fight, instant reaction straight away. So make sure you come back for that one. Anyway, thanks for watching. See you soon.