On this week’s episode of What the Heck, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck chats with Joaquin Buckley (4:50) following his viral KO win over Impa Kasanganay at UFC Fight Island 5. “New Mansa” discusses how his life has changed since this past Saturday night, if he believes he delivered the greatest knockout in UFC history, having unfinished business with Kevin Holland, and gives a response to a message on Instagram sent by James Krause. On Wednesday night, Buckley signed on to face Jordan Wright at UFC 255.
Bellator featherweight Aaron Pico (18:50) previews his upcoming fight with John de Jesus at Bellator 252 on Nov. 12, talks sending a message to his fellow 145ers with his most recent submission win over Solo Hatley Jr., what life has been like between fights, feeling like he’ll take his opponent’s oxygen from him in the first round, interest in taking a boxing match, and life after fighting.
UFC women’s bantamweight Tracy Cortez (39:42) joins the program to recap her unanimous decision win over Stephanie Egger at UFC Fight Island 5, discusses not being completely satisfied with her performance, why she wants to move back down to 125 despite a 2-0 start to her octagon career at 135, and more.
UFC welterweight James Krause (59:26) explains his decision to take a short notice fight with Claudio Silva this Saturday at UFC Fight Island 6, talks what it was like to watch Kevin Croom change his life when he defeated Roosevelt Roberts, recovering from COVID-19, how he sees the fight with Silva playing out, and Megan Anderson’s upcoming title shot against Amanda Nunes at UFC 256.
Finally, UFC flyweight Brandon Moreno (1:22:00) expresses his frustrations with being skipped over for a title shot against Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 255 on two different occasions, previews his upcoming fight with Brandon Royval, why he believes his original opponent Perez is a tougher matchup, how he sees the title fight playing out, and how he feels about Cody Garbrandt potentially sliding back in to get the next 125-pound title shot in 2021.
Check out the video above, or the audio-only podcast can be found below, on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Stitcher.