Episode 675: Smell ya later, 2025!

Episode 675: Smell ya later, 2025!

Author: Chad Dundas and Ben Fowlkes December 17, 2025 Duration: 1:12:01
The Year of Our Lord 2025 was a weird one in MMA. Complete dogshit for the heavyweight division, obviously. You started the year with Dana White swearing up and down that he was going to get Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall done, only to have Jones quit the sport to monetize this amazing brand he’d built — then come crawling back as soon as he found out about the White House fight card. When they finally did set up a heavyweight title fight for Gas Hands Tommy, Ciryl Gane went two knuckles deep in Aspinall’s eye … which obviously seems to have negatively affected Aspinall’s career more than Gane’s. But it wasn’t all bad. In the spring, fighters started to get that sweet, sweet class-action settlement money. By the end, Merab and Islam were the consensus fighters of the year. The UFC wrapped up the ESPN era and is now on to murkier waters with Paramount. Oh, and what’s this shit with Ilia Topuria? Not great! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s no shortage of opinions in mixed martial arts, but there’s a distinct difference between hot takes and informed conversation built on years of watching fights from press row. That’s what you’ll find each week on The Co-Main Event MMA Podcast. Hosts Chad Dundas and Ben Fowlkes, both veteran journalists who have covered the sport for more than a decade, break down the latest news without the filter of corporate hype or predictable fanboy reactions. Their discussions feel like the post-event analysis you’d have with the most knowledgeable person you know-if that person also had a sharp sense of humor and a healthy skepticism for the industry’s usual narratives. This isn’t a scripted recap show; it’s an irreverent, meandering, and deeply insightful dialogue that covers everything from the UFC and Bellator to the broader landscape of combat sports. You’ll hear them debate fight outcomes, analyze promotional politics, and question the week’s biggest stories with a perspective that only comes from having seen it all before. The chemistry between Dundas and Fowlkes turns each episode into a compelling conversation, making this podcast a staple for fans who prefer substance over shouting. It’s the kind of listen that doesn’t just tell you what happened, but makes you think about why it matters.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

The Co-Main Event MMA Podcast
Podcast Episodes
Episode 699: It’s the UFC’s ‘Year of the Unc’ [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:36
Old guys seem to be having a renaissance in the UFC right now and, as gentlemen of a certain age, we frankly couldn’t be happier. Shout out to Mike “Bad To The” Bohn for pointing out this week that the older fighter has…
Episode 698: UFC’s Meta AI rankings are out! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:19
Breaking news, Mainiacs! Right before we started recording this episode, the UFC announced that its new artificial intelligence fighter rankings — developed in conjunction with Zuck and the smart kids at Meta — are out!…
Episode 697: UFC’s White House show could’ve been worse, we guess [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:34
I guess we gotta give a small amount of credit to the UFC for showing some uncharacteristic restraint during Donald Trump’s Big Birthday Bash at the White House. They actually kept the overt MAGA Mania to a minimum. They…
Episode 696: Trump’s Big Boy Birthday Bash [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:31
D-Tiddy’s Big Boy Birthday Bash faced an unexpected late-breaking hurdle early this week after a lawsuit was filed to try to keep the UFC’s White House spectacular from happening at all. Now, we don’t think that suit is…
Episode 695: Is this a make-or-break summer for the UFC? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:15
The UFC is coming off a fairly anonymous Fight Night in Macau last weekend and is headed into a fairly anonymous Fight Night back at the Apex this weekend. And yet, we’re just two weeks away from the big White House spec…
Episode 694: Dana White makes the (actual) media rounds [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:10
Dana White’s everywhere right now. Time Magazine. Rolling Stone. NPR. The New Yorker. Wait, what? The New Yorker? Believe it. Leading up to the UFC’s Big Boy Birthday Bash at the White House, Dana’s on a media tour with…
Episode 693: Really, Gina? Breaking down MVP’s first MMA event [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:38
Most Valuable Promotions put on its inaugural MMA event on Netflix last weekend. If we’re being honest, it was a lot. The mismatch-filled main card played out exactly according to chalk. Mike Perry beat Nate Diaz into a…
Episode 692: Is Sean Strickland UFC’s best worst fighter? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:52
He did it again, brother. This crazy MFer Sean Strickland once again went out there in a championship fight he had no business winning and walked away with the belt. This time, he took the UFC middleweight strap off the…
Episode 691: Sean Strickland stays strapped at UFC 328 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:58
We’re not totally sure how, but Sean Strickland plans to bring a gun to New Jersey for UFC 328. I mean, is he driving? Does he know a guy he can call when he lands in Newark who will meet him on a darkened street corner…
Episode 690: Can JDM recapture … whatever he had? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:57
A little less than a year ago, Jack Della Maddalena was riding high, fresh off scoring the UFC welterweight title from Belal Muhammad at UFC 315. Unfortunately, like they used to say in VH1’s Behind the Music: it was all…