VERBAL TAP (Episode 70) with James Koh and Brandon McCaghren

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Raf's Recollection | A day after appearing on our podcast and hearing the show, Brandon McCaghren, sent me a text saying, "don't ever try to sing my song ever again."

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've laughed at that text this evening.

The song Brandon claims we butchered is new hit single, "I Dominated Eddie (The Gracie Filter)"--a gripping acoustic ode to the epic Metamoris 3 match between Royler Gracie and Eddie Bravo.  It's a playful tribute to the epic match that took place at Metamoris, as well as some choice words said after the event.  Most impressively, the breezy vocals and relaxed vibe could easily slip their way into a Jack Johnson discography.

Fans of our show, however, know from time to time Kev and I like to occasionally leave an Easter egg to close out the podcast.  On this go round, we thought it might be fun to try and harmonize Brandon's single over Skype (which is surprisingly hard to do).  It left such an impression, Brandon felt the need to channel his inner GSP and let us know he was not impressed with the caliber of our voices.

And he's right, there is no way we could ever do his song justice.  I mean, just listen to it (and pay special close attention to the bridge).

The man has some serious pipes.  Which is why we were stoked when he agreed to come on the podcast.

In addition to getting some great insight behind the song and the accompanying video that was produced for him, we talk a little bit with Brandon about his experience getting into jiu-jitsu, what Eddie Bravo thinks of the song, and talk about his great 10th Planet affiliate he has out in Decatur, AL.

Give his page a look and like and if you make it to the Alabama area, be sure to visit his gym.

Just don't sing the song to him as bad as we did :-)

Over/Under Kevin: UFC 172: Judgement Day

James D. Koh returns to the podcast to find out who last week's installment of Over/Under Kevin.  And while I don't want to give anything away, the following photo might give you an idea of how the end result turned out.

Yep.

It was pretty rough.

But James sticks around to help us recap all the fights that took place at UFC 172 and then Kev and I discuss some of the #TakeAways from last Saturday night's #UFC card.

What's That? You miss the One Minute Review?

A new season of The Ultimate Fighter means it's time for the return of the 1 Minute Review.  Yes, we hear you loud and clear folks.  And boy do I have some impressions in store for you this season.

Let us know what you think of the review on Twitter (@VerbalTapCast) this week and immediately start following us on our new social media.  That's right, bitches, we're on Instagram and Vine now.  So feel free to follow along all of our hijinks.

Until next time, fight fans.

VERBAL TAP (Episode 68) Previews TUF Nations Finale / UFC on FOX 11

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Raf's Recollection | It's a busy week for the UFC.  Coming right off an event out in Abu Dhabi, the organization has not one, but two big events happening this week (including tomorrow night's TUF Nations Finale and Saturday's UFC on FOX 11).  It's a busy week for MMA that prompted us to take some time to answer some pressing questions in the world of MMA.

Let's start with the TUF Nations.  I know a lot of you have wondered why we haven't done any 1 Minute Reviews of the current season of TUF that (occasionally) airs on Fox Sports Juan.  To answer your question, I give you the following chart I like to call Exhibit A:

These are the ratings.  MMA Payout has done us all a favor of breaking down what all of this really means.  But you may notice that a couple episodes actually dipped below the 100k viewer count.  Those episodes aired on Fox Sports 2.  In the podcast, we address our full response to this season of TUF and let you know what the future holds in store for the 1 Minute Review.

It seems the UFC was keenly aware of how few people were watching this season and decided to enlist the talents of Tim Kennedy and Michael Bisping to carry the weight of promoting this fight.

Some might argue there's more hype surrounding this match than any of the other rivalries going down on Saturday's UFC on FOX 11 card.  But it's clear, these two gents do not like each other.  In fact, a couple weeks ago, Tim was nice enough to stop by our podcast to talk about this fight (Verbal Tap, Episode 64), and even then he seemed baffled by "The Count's" unstable form of trash talk.

In retrospect, all of that seems like child's play compared to the nonsense Bisping spewed in his general direction at yesterday's weigh-ins.  Look here for more evidence.

Where else can you get this type of drama, folks?

My personal favorite: After walking up and telling him, "it all ends for you tomorrow," Bisping then follows up that gold by asking Tim "you wanna go right now?"

Tim shrugs and says "I'm always ready."

Bisping: You are such a fucking pussy!

Because, as we all know, the biggest pussies are notorious for stepping up to the plate when being called out by a bully.

Bar Rescue

Enjoy watching UFC PPV's at your favorite bars?  Well, that may soon start to change.

A new article from the LA Times was brought to my attention (thanks Dad) that talks about how the UFC and Boxing are going after bars that don't pay a hefty fee to show a PPV.  And just to make things more interesting, there are people who are being sent to bars on the down low to find out if the bars are adhering to the proper fines.

Kev and I spend a few minutes talking about this very issue and discuss why this paranoid shakedown has a set of serious implications for watching PPVs at your local bars--especially if they are unaware such fines exist.

We hope you'll help us spread the word to your favorite bars so that they don't get these assholes coming after them.

Verbal Tap Responds to Viewer Fan Mail

We opened up a new segment tentatively titled, Viewer Mail, where (you guessed it) we'll be taking your questions and answering them on the podcast.

But wait, we're now opening up our voicemail for you to leave messages.  That's right, feel free to call us with your questions--and if we like 'em, we may just play your call and answer it on our next podcast.

So feel free to hit us up with a message at (703) 635-2168!

But Wait, There's More

In addition to your viewer mail, we also share our takes on Royler Gracie saying he wasn't impressed with Eddie Bravo's performance at Metamoris, this so called organization called Bellator (sp?) trying to produce a fight PPV, and review Roy "Big Country" Nelson's huge KO win at UFC Fight Night 39.