UFC Unfiltered with Jim Norton and Matt Serra

There’s no shortage of topics to talk about on today's episode of UFC Unfiltered — a show that sees guest co-host Sayif Saud join Jim Norton and Matt Serra for a recap of Saturday's landmark UFC 300 card. The first half of the show sees Jim and Matt work their way up the card alongside Sayif, beginning with Aljamain Sterling’s successful featherweight debut before venturing into an insightful chat about some of the trends they saw from several of Saturday’s fighters that had to work through various mounted positions. After working their way from the early prelims on up to the prelims, the guys finally reach the main card — which includes a chat on what should be next for Max Holloway following his all-time classic win in Saturday’s BMF title fight vs. Justin Gaethje. The guys culminate their UFC 300 recap with a discussion on the mystifying power in Alex Pereira’s left hook and how it keeps on carrying him to new heights in the Octagon.

In honor of Saturday’s absolutely-stacked UFC 300 card being just three days away, today’s UFC Unfiltered episode is stacked in its own right with a pair of former light heavyweight champions calling in by the names of Jamahal Hill and Jiří Procházka. Jim Norton and Matt Serra waste no time by bringing on Jamahal Hill at the very beginning of the show. Eager to show the world how well he has recovered from his ruptured Achilles tendon, Hill confidently explains why he thinks he has what it takes to dethrone Alex Pereira and reclaim his spot on the 205-pound throne in Saturday’s main event. After a fun chat with Hill that also includes a surprise cameo appearance by Jamahal’s father, Jim and Matt find themselves in the presence of another former champion when Jiří Procházka calls in to the show shortly thereafter to share his mindset going into his highly-anticipated fight against Aleksandar Rakić on Saturday’s prelims. (Yes, you read that right… PRELIMS!) Finally, Jim and Matt wrap up the episode by fulfilling Monday’s promise of picking more fights from Saturday’s massive card.

On today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered, Jim Norton and Matt Serra are joined by UFC featherweight Damon Jackson and lightweight Jim Miller. The show begins with Jim and Matt talking to Damon, who shares his thoughts on the lone 30-27 scorecard that went against him in his majority decision victory over the weekend against Alexander Hernandez in the co-main event slot. Jealous of Damon’s revitalized hair, Matt is surprised when he finds out that one of his Serra-Longo fighters went to the same doctor as Jackson for the hair transplant. Shortly after, Jim Miller hops on the show ahead of his highly-anticipated fight against Bobby Green on Saturday’s STACKED UFC 300 card. The 40-year-old lightweight reflects on a journey that has seen him fight a record 43 times in the UFC Octagon. Finally, Jim and Matt wrap up the show by predicting some fights from the early prelims of Saturday’s UFC 300 card, with more predictions to come on Wednesday’s show!

With Matt Serra out for the day, Jim Norton is joined by MMA writer John Morgan for an episode of UFC Unfiltered that sees the guys talk to welterweight Alex Morono and bantamweight Dan Argueta ahead of their fights on Saturday's UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Curtis 2. Looking to maintain his trend of never losing back-to-back fights, Morono opens his interview by reflecting on some stories from his early MMA career — including what it was like to get bit during a fight by his opponent. Then, Alex discusses his mindset going into his 20th UFC fight and breaks down what he thinks about Saturday’s fight against a fellow veteran like Court McGee before wrapping things up by talking about what it's like to drive back-and-forth across Texas between the gym he owns in Houston and Dallas’ Fortis MMA where he gets coached up by Sayif Saud. When Alex leaves, Jim and John then take a look at this Saturday's card, with some thoughts on the middleweight rematch between Brendan Allen and Chris Curtis in the main event. Finally, Dan Argueta joins the show — Jim and John open the interview by getting the 30-year-old bantamweight to open up on what it's felt like having his two most recent fights end in a no contest. Argueta then shares what Cub Swanson’s guidance has meant for him in his career before wrapping up his interview by unpacking the stakes of Saturday’s matchup against a hungry fighter in Jean Matsumoto making his UFC debut.

On today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered, Jim Norton and Matt Serra welcome Michael “Venom” Page into the UFC for the exciting welterweight’s first-ever appearance on the podcast! Finally back home in London after spending nearly a month in Miami after his big win at UFC 299 over Kevin Holland, “MVP” reflects on the family nature of his martial arts background — which stems from having two parents as Lau Gar Kung Fu practitioners and FOUR siblings with kickboxing championships to their names. Set to turn 37 years old in less than a week, Page assesses the state of the UFC’s welterweight division while pondering what his own path up the UFC rankings may end up looking like. As Jim and Matt wrap up the show by looking back at the action from over this past weekend in Atlantic City, the guys work their way down the card of UFC Fight Night: Blanchfield vs. Fiorot to discuss their main takeaways from the fight card.

With just a few days until the UFC makes its return to Atlantic City for an exciting night of action, Jim Norton and Matt Serra use today’s show to predict some fights from the card and speak to welterweight Joaquin Buckley and comedian Preacher Lawson. With plenty of time until the first interview of the episode, Jim gives an update on the status of his white belt — and Matt hilariously accuses his co-host of “sandbagging” after hearing about Norton’s hesitance to a replacement piece of tape for the stripe on his belt that got ruined by the washing machine. The guys then take a peak at Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night: Blanchfield vs. Fiorot card, with Jim seeking to make up ground in the standings of their head-to-head prediction battle. Fresh off the release of his new special, “My Name Is Preacher”, Preacher Lawson subsequently hops on the show for a chat with Jim and Matt. While talking about his mixed martial arts background, he reflects on his amateur MMA debut and how that experience compares to going up on stage and performing in front of people as a comedian. Busy during a hectic fight week, Joaquin Buckley finally manages to hop on the show at the tail-end of the episode to discuss the reasoning behind his successful move from middleweight to welterweight. After revealing that he has plans to make a special callout after beating Vicente Luque in this Saturday night’s co-main event, Buckley puts Matt on the spot in the hopes of hearing what Matt’s prediction for the fight looks like.

On today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered, Jim Norton and Matt Serra invite Phoenix Carnevale on as a guest co-host for a show that features a pair of winners from over the weekend in bantamweight Payton Talbott and featherweight Youssef Zalal. The show begins with the three co-hosts issuing their takeaways from Rose Namajunas’ unanimous decision victory over Amanda Ribas in Saturday’s women’s flyweight main event at the UFC APEX. Shortly thereafter, the guys are joined by Payton Talbott for a chat that sees the unbeaten bantamweight prospect discuss how he gets into a calm “flow” state that allows him to both perform as a martial artist and excel in various action sports like snowboarding, skateboarding, and surfing. After explaining how DJing has become a newfound passion, Talbott circles back to his MMA future while sharing his thoughts on calling out bantamweight opponents after victory. After Payton leaves, the trio use the time between interviews to share their thoughts on Andre Lima’s decision to follow up his DQ win with a trip to a tattoo parlor to get Igor Severino’s bite mark tattooed on his bicep. Then, Youssef Zalal hops on the show fresh off a statement 2nd-round stoppage win that saw him become the first person to submit Billy Quarantillo in the Octagon. Phoenix looks back on Zalal’s MMA beginnings with LFA as her, Matt and Jim get Youssef to reflect on the lessons he’s learned about himself now that he’s found his way back into the UFC for a second stint. The show wraps up as Matt gets Jim and Phoenix to share their other takeaways from up and down the UFC Fight Night: Ribas vs. Namajunas card.

Matt Serra and Jim Norton reunite for a Wednesday episode of UFC Unfiltered that sees the two chop it up with 8th-ranked UFC women’s flyweight Amanda Ribas and country musician Michael Ray ahead of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Ribas vs. Namajunas card at the APEX in Las Vegas. Matt begins the show with his best attempt at humbly bragging about dominating Jim in the head-to-head fight predictions battle between the two co-hosts. Shortly after, the guys invite Amanda Ribas onto the show to hear the Brazilian veteran’s thoughts on what it means to finally be headlining a UFC card. Ahead of her first-ever UFC main event, Amanda discusses her thoughts on bouncing back and forth between flyweight and strawweight and why she’s expecting the very best version of Rose Namajunas as the two prepare for an all-action fight at 125 pounds. Not too long after Amanda’s interview ends, country music star and UFC superfan Michael Ray joins the show to reflect on his MMA fandom while talking about his friendship with various UFC fighters. As the conversation shifts to Michael’s music career, the guys talk in depth about the state of the music industry and how Michael has adjusted his strategy of releasing hit records like the one he just dropped two weeks ago called “Nothin’ Else”. Finally, Jim and Matt wrap up the show with three fight picks from atop Saturday night’s card.

With Jim Norton out for the day, it’s a Serra-Longo type of day on UFC Unfiltered as the great Ray Longo saves the day as guest co-host for an episode featuring lightweight Mike Davis and comedian Mike Glazer. Longo shares his perspective of this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs. Tybura as someone who was in Las Vegas for the duration of the card. While recapping the card, Matt explains what he thinks he could see being the next course of action for Tai Tuivasa now that the Australian heavyweight has been stopped four straight times. Shortly thereafter, Mike Davis hops on the show to recap his 2nd-round submission win on Saturday’s card over Natan Levy, using the backend of his interview to call out a popular lightweight similarly jockeying for a spot in the UFC’s 155-pound rankings. When Davis leaves the show, Matt and Ray invite Mike Glazer on to talk to the comedian about the recent release of his special, “Life Rules!”, on YouTube. While Glazer’s comedy keeps him from being a full-on MMA practitioner, Matt still manages to identify an interesting martial arts discipline that Longo and Glazer have in common. Matt and Ray end the show by sharing their thoughts on the news that Rio de Janeiro’s UFC 301 co-main event will see Jose Aldo take on Jonathan Martinez in the Brazilian legend’s first MMA fight since retiring after a loss to Merab Dvalishvili in 2022.

UFC welterweight Bryan Battle and comedian Jesus Trejo join Matt Serra and Jim Norton for today's episode of UFC Unfiltered! With just three days until he fights in the co-main event slot of Saturday night's UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs. Tybura card, Bryan Battle previews his matchup against Ange Loosa and reflects on an 8-year weight cutting journey that began as a 300-pound ex-football player and now continues as a 170-pound professional fighter eyeing his third straight win in the UFC. Right after Battle's interview ends, Jim and Matt bring comedian Jesus Trejo on. Jim and Jesus relate over their jobs as touring comics, sharing their own methods of how they keep up with UFC events that air simultaneously as their Saturday night gigs. Jesus wraps up the interview by sharing his thoughts on UFC 299. With Jim creeping up on Matt in the fight pick standings, the guys wrap up the episode with some more predictions — this time for this Saturday's UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs. Tybura card.

On today's episode of UFC Unfiltered, Jim Norton and Matt Serra unpack the action from Saturday's exciting UFC 299 card in a show that features two guest callers in ESPN MMA journalist Brett Okamoto and rising bantamweight Kyler Phillips. The first half of the show sees Jim and Matt work their way down the card alongside Okamoto, who shares his perspective as someone who was in Miami for the duration of Saturday's event as the host for the UFC Post Show. Among the topics the guys discuss: "Suga" Sean O'Malley's options for his next bantamweight title defense, Dustin Poirier's place in the lightweight title picture, Michael "Venom" Page's successful UFC debut, and Jack Della Maddalena's post-fight callout of fellow welterweight contender Shavkat Rakhmonov. After the guys dish their main takeaways from UFC 299's prelims & early prelims, Brett stays on the call as UFC bantamweight Kyler Phillips hops on the show to take a Monday morning victory lap after cruising to a unanimous decision win over 13th-ranked Pedro Munhoz on Saturday's prelims. While Brett hops off halfway through the interview, Kyler stays for longer and goes on to explain how mountain biking became his go-to supplemental hobby alongside his MMA training regiment.

With Jim Norton traveling for the day, Matt Serra is joined by award-winning MMA writer John Morgan for today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered — which sees rising welterweight Jack Della Maddalena join for a chat ahead of his fight on the UFC 299 pay-per-view card in Miami. Facing his toughest test yet in fourth-ranked welterweight Gilbert Burns, Jack assesses Gilbert’s game while expressing confidence in his ability to hold his own both standing up and on the ground. Aware that a win could do wonders for his #11 ranking in the 170-pound division, Jack explains why he thinks a win over Burns could set up an intriguing No. 1 contender matchup against Shavkat Rakhmonov. The rest of the show sees John and Matt go through an in-depth preview of Saturday’s stacked UFC 299 card — with John and Matt on opposite ends of several evenly-matched fights.

With UFC 299 fight week upon us, today's episode of UFC Unfiltered sees Jim Norton and Matt Serra bring along a pair of fighters from Saturday's card on to the show in welterweight Kevin Holland and lightweight Mateusz Gamrot! But first, Matt and Jim unpack the action from over the weekend by dishing out their main takeaways from UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev. Shortly after, friend of the show Kevin Holland makes his eleventh appearance on UFC Unfiltered. Set to take on Michael "Venom" Page in the British southpaw's UFC debut, Holland explains what he's expecting out of the upcoming matchup with a fellow striker like Page and why it should make for an enticing clash on the feet. As Holland catches up with the guys on life outside of the cage, the welterweight veteran wraps up the interview by opening up about the life lessons he's learned from getting into hunting. Once Holland leaves, the guys waste no time by bringing Mateusz Gamrot on for the second and final interview of the episode. Fighting a former champion for the first time in his UFC career, Gamrot talks about how unique it is to have gone from being a Rafael Dos Anjos fan to now being scheduled to fight him on one of the most stacked UFC cards of the year. To end things off, Jim and Matt put a bow on today's show by examining the UFC 299 card in entirety and picking some fights from the card that Jim hopes will be able to help him catch up to Matt in their head-to-head standings of fight picks.

On today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered, Matt Serra and Jim Norton are joined by UFC bantamweight Umar Nurmagomedov and comedian Ginger Billy! Joining the show first is Umar Nurmagomedov, and the unbeaten bantamweight explains why beating Bekzat Almakhan on this Saturday’s main card is the first step to getting back on track to big fights like his previously-scheduled matchup against Cory Sandhagen that was scrapped due to Umar’s shoulder injury. Not too long after, comedian Ginger Billy hops on the show to discuss how he went from his 13-year career as a respiratory therapist to touring around the country as a stand-up comedian — all while explaining how he fell in love with jiu-jitsu in the process. Finally, Jim and Matt end the show by picking the main and co-main events from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev card.

On today's episode of UFC Unfiltered, Jim Norton and Matt Serra are joined by longtime UFC middleweight contender Uriah Hall and Karate Combat president Asim Zaidi. The guys begin the show by reflecting on the action from over the weekend in Mexico City — breaking down both their accurate and inaccurate picks made in last Wednesday's episode ahead of UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs. Royval 2 card. Before Uriah Hall joins the show, Jim takes a victory lap for his spot-on prediction of UFC featherweight Brian Ortega submitting Yair Rodriguez in the third round and dishes his thoughts on the three differing scorecards that ultimately gave Brandon Royval the upset victory over former UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno. Now 39 years old, Uriah Hall reflects on his UFC accomplishments and ponders his next career moves — with special consideration given to acting and fighting-related endeavors. Fresh after hearing Uriah express his willingness to revisit a fight against Darren Till, Jim and Matt stir the pot by asking Karate Combat president Asim Zaidi about the viability of that fight — a grudge match that Zaidi acknowledges as a possibility for the exciting promotion. A jiu-jitsu black belt under Royce Gracie, Zaidi reflects on the journey that led him from competing to his present-day roles as both the head coach of his Goat Shed gym and the new face of a promotion looking to bring more prestige to the world of karate.

Matt and Jim are joined by 4th-ranked UFC featherweight Brian Ortega and real-estate TV personality Tarek El Moussa on this episode of UFC Unfiltered. Today’s show is one marked by a series of brief cameos — beginning with Mrs. Serra briefly joining her husband in the show’s intro and shortly thereafter with Ortega hopping on the call alongside coach Rener Gracie. Looking to get back to his winning ways in his first fight since injuring his shoulder 19 months ago, Ortega reflects back on what went right for him in the cage against Yair Rodriguez in his last fight before the untimely injury put an unceremonious end to the contest. A proud Mexican American set to fight in his parents’ home country for the first time in his career, Ortega gets candid about what it means to be in the co-main slot of Saturday’s card in Mexico City against a Mexican-born fighter like Yair Rodriguez — especially now that there are added title implications with Ilia Topuria as the UFC’s newly-crowned featherweight champion. Then, Jim and Matt are joined by real-estate TV star Tarek El Moussa, who begins his interview with a stroll down memory lane of how he became a UFC superfan before explaining the details of his incredible life story captured eloquently in his newly-released book titled: “FLIP YOUR LIFE: How to Find Opportunity in Distress - in Real Estate, Business, and Life”. When Tarek hops off the call, the guys wrap up the show with some picks for the two rematches atop Saturday’s card, Ortega’s fight against Yair Rodriguez in the co-main event and Brandon Moreno’s rematch against Brandon Royval in the main event.

On today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered, Matt and Jim get a friend of the show as a special guest co-host in Ray Longo to recap the action from Saturday’s UFC 298 card. When Longo hops on the show, the guys jump straight into Serra-Longo’s own Merab Dvalishvili’s statement win over Henry Cejudo and how his nonstop pressure poses trouble for the rest of the UFC bantamweights. After that, the trio discuss the significance of Ilia Topuria’s 2nd-round KO win over long-reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in the UFC 298 main event. The guys wrap up the show with a recap of the other moments that stuck out to them from Saturday’s exciting card in Anaheim, California.

In just three days, UFC 298 will finally be here! So with that in mind, Matt Serra and Jim Norton bring on two exciting fighters from Saturday’s card with welterweight Geoff Neal and women’s strawweight Mackenzie Dern as guests. Making his return to the show for the first time since 2019, Geoff Neal dishes out his thoughts on Ian Machado Garry’s trash talk as the two get closer to their high-stakes showdown on Saturday’s card. While waiting for Mackenzie Dern, Jim and Matt begin to make their picks from the UFC 298 main card — saving the main event and co-main event until after Dern’s interview. When Dern hops on the call, the jiu-jitsu black belt explains the circumstances that led to her accepting a short-notice fight against 3rd-ranked women’s strawweight Amanda Lemos and why she’s grateful for the opportunity to get back on the winning track against the fellow Brazilian. To cap off the show, Jim and Matt call their shots for both the Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa middleweight co-main event and the Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria featherweight title fight in the main event of the evening.

With UFC 298 fight week officially upon us, Matt Serra and Jim Norton invite UFC betting analyst Minty Bets on to UFC Unfiltered for a first-look at the betting lines for this Saturday’s pay-per-view portion of the card. But first, the guys catch up with each other and unpack the action from over the weekend with a breakdown of the fights on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Pyfer card. Hardly ever mistaken for an NFL fan, Matt listens in as Jim paints the picture of Sunday’s thrilling, high-stakes Super Bowl. When Minty hops on toward the latter half of the show, she explains how she got into sports gambling and how she specifically found a lane in MMA betting analysis before dishing her thoughts on fighters and betting lines that she likes on this Saturday’s UFC 298 card in Anaheim, California.

The one and only Phoenix Carnevale fills in for Jim Norton on today’s episode of UFC Unfiltered; a show that features two guests in UFC middleweight Gregory “RoboCop” Rodrigues and comedian Sam Tripoli. Bonding over their love for jiu-jitsu, Rodrigues begins the show by explaining to Matt Serra why an 8-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu national champion has seen most of his recent MMA fights end by knockout. Rodrigues ends the interview by previewing his fight on Saturday’s main card against well-rounded middleweight veteran Brad Tavares. Then, Sam Tripoli hops on for his second-ever appearance on UFC Unfiltered. Already an experienced Krav Maga practitioner himself, the Los Angeles-based comedian goes on to explain that he has rediscovered his passion for jiu-jitsu at his good friend Eddie Bravo’s 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu. Matt ends the interview by getting Tripoli to share his favorite conspiracy theories. Finally, Matt and Phoenix wrap up the show by breaking down and predicting some of the matchups atop Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Pyfer card.