Francis Ngannou, Merab Dvalishvili, Craig Jones, Paul Hughes, Anthony Hernandez, weekend recap

The Ariel Helwani Show

Ariel Helwani and The Boys in the Back kick off the show by looking back at the busy weekend in combat, headlined by Francis Ngannou's big win (09:26).

Francis Ngannou discusses his thunderous PFL debut against Renan Ferreira, his emotional reaction to the experience, fears and nerves beforehand, his locker room conversation with Cristiano Ronaldo, the decision to wrestle Ferreira, whether it was a late stoppage, Jon Jones' reaction, if he's going to continue fighting, potential boxing matches, whether he's the GOAT heavyweight, PFL Africa plans, and more (34:53).

Paul Hughes discusses his massive PFL win over AJ McKee, problems with his training camp, knowing he'd catch McKee with a knee, the madness of one judge scoring the fight for McKee, his fired-up post-fight interview, why he gassed after the first round, his callout of Usman Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor's involvement, and more (01:06:03).

Craig Jones discusses his adventures since CJI, having lunch with Pablo Escobar's sister, the success of CJI, the struggles of ADCC, Mo Jassim stepping down as ADCC head organizer, fighting Jassim in Karate Combat, how CJI performed compared to ADCC, his match with Gabi Garcia, when CJI 2 will happen, a Nate Diaz vs. Brendan Schaub grappling match, Gordon Ryan, and more (01:31:22).

UFC champion Merab Dvalishvili discusses his life since beating Sean O'Malley, the incredible scenes in Georgia following his win, his conversation with Turki Alalshikh, O'Malley's calls for a rematch, why he went easy on O'Malley in their fight, reports of Umar Nurmagomedov potentially fighting again before a title shot, and more (02:03:36).

Anthony Hernandez discusses his UFC Vegas 99 main event win over Michel Pereira, how Pereira woke him up early in the fight, why he expects to be UFC champ in a year, honoring his father's legacy, and more (02:35:01).