The Level Change Podcast · Combat Sports news variety show usually previewing or reviewing the latest UFC event while covering the latest news in combat sports.

Showtime Boxing may be ending after 37 years

·33 min·2 clips

They call Patty Pimblett vs. Tony Ferguson shameless matchmaking because Ferguson is on a six-fight losing streak.

1. The Level Change Podcast episode centers on UFC Vegas 79, the headlines around it, and the booking news that followed. 2. Steffi Haines hosts with Victor Rodriguez as co-host, and both frame the show around MMA analysis, fight announcements, and weekly news. 3. The episode asks what UFC Vegas 79 and the surrounding headlines say about matchmaking, fighter pay, and the state of the sport. 4. They open with the card itself and call it "meh," even while naming finishes by Charles Jourdain, Brian Battle, Mizuki Inoue, and Tim Means. 5. Victor says the Apex card showed "where the sausage is made," with prospects moving up, TV time being filled, and contracted fights being burned off. 6. Steffi and Victor focus on Mateus Gamrot defeating Rafael Fiziev by TKO injury and note that Fiziev's left knee gave out while he was throwing a body kick. 7. Victor ties that stoppage to a Twitter theory from Daniel B. Harvey about fighters entering bouts already injured because surgery, rehab, scans, and medications are expensive. 8. They stress that the theory is hypothetical, but they connect it to UFC fighters begging publicly for bonuses while already under contract. 9. The discussion turns to cards that felt hard to watch from the opening fights, especially Rendon vs. Vidal and Mizuki vs. Hannah Goldy. 10. They contrast those slower fights with Brian Battle's finish over AJ Fletcher and Charles Jourdain's win over Ricardo Hamos. 11. One of the sharper observations is that Brian Battle starts fights looking awkward, then suddenly pours it on and finds a violent finish. 12. They describe Marina Rodriguez's knockout of Michelle Waterson-Gomez as one of only the second times Waterson has been finished by KO or TKO. 13. Victor and Steffi say Waterson-Gomez looked physically overwhelmed, and they argue the matchup itself exposed her size disadvantage at 115 pounds. 14. The co-main event conversation about Bryce Mitchell vs. Dan Ige emphasizes Mitchell's grappling strength and the size gap that let him ragdoll Ige. 15. They also defend Michael Bisping for cutting off Bryce Mitchell's postfight sermon, saying Bisping gave both fighters time and handled a tough situation as well as he could. 16. Victor worries aloud that Mitchell could end up in a podcast exchange with Sean Strickland and that the UFC may someday have to step in if the rhetoric escalates. 17. The tone stays conversational and reactive, with both hosts speaking quickly, interrupting themselves, and moving between fight breakdowns and news reactions. 18. The format mixes fight recap, matchmaking commentary, and off-topic digressions, including a long aside about Rupert Murdoch and conspiracy thinking. 19. Listeners who follow UFC matchmaking, fighter health, and weekly MMA headlines would get the most from it. 20. Listeners wanting a tight, fight-by-fight technical breakdown may prefer a different show.

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