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00:00What do you think about these two guys and their first performances in the PFL 2025 tournament?
00:06Well, for one, Thad Jean did exactly what he needed to do and what the tournament's supposed to represent.
00:11Supposed to represent opportunity, especially for guys, for prospects that maybe the MMA world is unfamiliar with
00:16or normally where they wouldn't get this type of opportunity anywhere else.
00:20And Thad fought a very tough opponent.
00:22A lot of people thought that he was not going to win this fight.
00:25And not only did he win, he won by knockout.
00:26And then him going in there and just making a statement saying, I don't care what your record is, who your name is.
00:32It's my skill set versus yours.
00:34You know, he just showed that he's got that star power from a marketing standpoint.
00:39He's a young guy.
00:41He'll admit he still has things to learn.
00:42There were still some, you know, parts of that fight where you kind of look at it like, all right, that's a little bit of an experience.
00:47A little bit of being nervous.
00:48He hasn't fought in a while either.
00:49But that was a very tough opponent.
00:51And he didn't just beat him.
00:52He knocked him out.
00:53And then you got a guy in Jason Jackson who, you know, the PFL is really, they're riding him right now from a marketing standpoint, right?
01:00He is somebody that is one of the best in the world, regardless of organization.
01:04Very tough, well-rounded fighter from a great gym.
01:08Both South Florida guys, coincidentally.
01:10And to me, it's kind of like you have the old lion, although Jackson's not really old per se.
01:14And the young lion, this is the matchup that ideally you want from a PFL perspective, right?
01:19Either Jackson goes out there and shows Thad the, you know, the veteran lesson, or Thad just emerges to superstardom, just like how Dakota did.
01:29You know, Dakota had that moment with Tyler Santos.
01:31Thad's going to have his opportunity with Jason Jackson.
01:33It's one of the most, you know, sought-out fights, I think, you know, regardless of organization this year.
01:40It's a shame that it's not happening in the finals.
01:42But the fact that we're getting that fight, I think, is absolutely awesome.
01:47And then, of course, we also have, after some great results coming out of that fight card,
01:53the next matchup will be Logan Storley versus Kikuri Storley, of course,
01:57using what he's, you know, known for, that great wrestling, to just dominate his opponent over three rounds,
02:02control him, do what he needs to do to get the unanimous decision, 30-27.
02:05And then his opponent, Kikuri, another guy coming in here,
02:08maybe a little bit lesser known to some of the people who haven't been following outside this organization
02:13or some of the other, you know, just following the big ones, coming in there and get a nice take, TKO.
02:17After the second round, his opponent just deciding enough was enough.
02:20Bashar did not want to, you know, do more.
02:22I was trying to get the takedowns, couldn't get it,
02:24and was starting to get picked apart on the feet by the end of that second round
02:27before Kikuri gets the retirement.
02:31Yeah, I mean, look, I'll be very honest with this one.
02:34I think the winner of this tournament will come from the Thad Jean, Jason Jackson bracket,
02:39but they'll have to stop the wrestling of Logan Storley, which if you can't stop it, you're in trouble.
02:44And he showed that.
02:45I think Logan's next fight, he'll be able to wrestle.
02:48I was not overly impressed with Kikuri.
02:50I thought he gave Bashar too many opportunities, took too many bigs.
02:54You know, it was one of those things where I thought Kikuri was going to dominate in that minus 165 range.
02:59I picked him.
02:59I'm glad, you know, he won from a betting perspective.
03:01That's great, but he was slowing down a little bit too.
03:04And if you can't keep a pace and to stop Logan Storley's takedowns, you're in trouble.
03:09And Storley went to the well.
03:10He did what he needed to do against a guy.
03:12He didn't give Luciano any chance to win on the feet.
03:14And when it comes to the wrestling, there's not many better than Logan Storley.
03:18So, you know, if Kikuri can't stop it, we're going to see another one-way dominant decision probably from Storley.
03:24And then Storley, you know, against whoever, Jackson or Thad, will be a very interesting fight.
03:28And then in the other tournament, the main event,
03:30the one that, you know, when you talk about Jackson and Thad Jean and whoever wins that has a good chance of winning it all.
03:36The same happens, I think, where you get Pinedo versus Braga.
03:39Again, these guys are matching up.
03:40They have a long history.
03:41They know each other well.
03:42Pinedo coming in there and doing what he needs to do against Borch, you know,
03:45outweighed him and then landing the big strikes to finish it in that first round.
03:49While Braga got the late replacement coming in against him and was able to, you know,
03:54just do what he should have did and dominated, you know, the lesser opponent there.
03:57Both these guys, a lot of experience, as we said, a lot of experience against each other.
03:59And now we get to see them match up again, maybe a little earlier than we would have liked.
04:05You know, I want to give a shout out to Dupra, Braga's opponent, because to your point,
04:09he took it on short notice and he went in there and he tried to finish.
04:12He knew he had to either get it done quick or he was going to lose.
04:15And he went on his shift, man.
04:17I mean, that guillotine was tight, but a very smart fighter, didn't panic.
04:21And look, I thought this was fantastic for the PFL.
04:23You had a lot of young guys, exciting fighters getting finishes.
04:26Braga is a very good fighter.
04:28Pinedo is like a bat out of hell.
04:30You know, like, if you're going to go in there with him, you either have to knock him out
04:33or you're in for a war that you're probably not going to succeed with.
04:37So that fight, look, this is why the tournament does what it does.
04:41The tournament's the star, not the fighters per se, right?
04:43Because the matchups, you know, it is what it is.
04:46I'm happy we're seeing this fight.
04:48Braga versus Pinedo should be a lot of fun.
04:50And on the other side, look, Mobidiyev did not look fantastic.
04:54Jeremy Kennedy, I thought, fought very well.
04:56Kennedy won that fight very close.
05:00But listen, ring rust is a real thing.
05:02And that might have been the problem with Mobidiyev.
05:04Go live.
05:04Go live.
05:04Go live.