The Craic with Petesy Carroll – Détails, épisodes et analyse

The Craic is back! Petesy Carroll is joined, as always, by Chuck Mindenhall and Ben Fowlkes.

To kick things off, the lads dig into the surprise partnership between Tom Aspinall and Eddie Hearn (3:36).

One partnership that hasn’t lasted is Francis Ngannou and the PFL. The boys react to the news of Ngannou’s release (32:56).

With the White House card fast approaching, the crew then discuss which fights could headline the historic event (47:36).

UFC 326 is this weekend too. The trio preview Max Holloway vs. Charles Oliveira and debate the legitimacy of the BMF belt up for grabs (52:01).

To close the show, the lads give their Uncrowned UFC 326 picks (01:17:00), and answer your Super Chats (01:19:22).

The Craic is back! Petesy Carroll, Chuck Mindenhall, and Ben Fowlkes return as usual.

First up, they take a deep dive into Zuffa Boxing’s recent signing of Conor Benn for a record $15 million, and what it means for TKO’s first move into boxing (0:14).

That eye-catching payday didn’t go unnoticed in the UFC. The trio explore the growing rumblings of discontent among fighters (44:51).

Then, breaking news lands mid-show, as the lads react live to the announcement that Oleksandr Usyk is set to defend his WBC heavyweight title against Rico Verhoeven (53:00).

From there, they get into Ilia Topuria and Jake Paul’s war of words (59:41), before discussing fighters speaking out about not wanting to compete at the UFC’s proposed White House event (1:03:20).

There’s UFC action this weekend as well, with Petesy and the lads previewing Brandon Moreno vs. late-notice replacement Lone’er Kavanagh (1:12:54).

They wrap things up by answering your Super Chats (1:19:06).

The Craic is back! As usual, Petesy Carroll is joined by Chuck Mindenhall and Ben ‘Big Time’ Fowlkes.

This week’s biggest story is the escalating back-and-forth between Dana White and Francis Ngannou. The crew breaks down their interviews and what the exchange really means (5:05).

Next up, the lads tackle whether Merab Dvalishvili still deserves Fighter Of The Year after his loss to Petr Yan, and who might take the spot instead (38:48).

Another end-of-year competition comes to a close with the Uncrowned MMA picks, and Ben Fowlkes addresses his disappointing bottom-of-the-table finish (49:21).

Finally, Petesy and the guys preview UFC Fight Night: Brandon Royval vs. Manel Kape (53:21) and answer your Super Chats (1:09:30). 

Petesy is joined Bloody Elbow reporter and the host of Wanna Fight About It, Donagh Corby, from Paris where is on site covering the Bellator Champion Series event that will se Cedric Doumbé look to avenge his first career loss. 

Petesy and Donagh also discuss Ian Machado Garry and MVP, Garry wanting to compete at UFC 303 and MVP seemingly wanting the fight to take place at UFC 304, and the Irish charges Shauna Bannon and Caolan Loughran competing at UFC Manchester. 

Petesy also provides an update on the Co-op Live arena, which is scheduled to host UFC Manchester, following its official opening on Tuesday.

After all of my belly-aching about the issues with the venue that is scheduled to host UFC Manchester, The Co-op Live is now set for it’s official launch on Tuesday May 14th. 

Chisanga Malata of Sun Sport joins the show to discuss all the concerns surrounding the venue, whether UFC have a contingency plan if things continue to go badly for the arena and Manchester’s own Lerone Murphy who headlines a UFC Apex event against Edson Barbosa this weekend.

The U.S. start times for July 27’s UFC Manchester card should be the least of fans’ worries as the Co-op Live venue, the arena that is set to host the event, has been embroiled in a “fiasco” which has seen multiple high-profile concert cancelled. 

Petesy gives a timeline of what has happened with the arena, from gigs being cancelled as fans stand in line to gain admission, to air conditioning units falling from the rafter and the general manager of the project stepping down from his role. 

As well as the UFC Manchester talk, Petesy looks back on a rough night in Rio for European fan favourites and discusses his shoutouts from Ariel Helwani, Dan Hardy and Paul Hughes on the latest episode of The MMA Hour.

Did UFC pack 299 and 300 with Brazilian stars to the point that they couldn’t possibly deliver a massive card in Rio this weekend for UFC 301? How much would Alex Pereira’s presence help the card and is Ian Machado Garry being embraced by the Brazilian people? 

“The Brazilian Beast,” also known as legendary MMA Fighting journalist Guilherme Cruz joins The Craic to give us a view from the ground from The City God. He explains how some promotions have been running in Rio to help put asses in seats, how he sees the event as a potential changing of the guard for the “King of Rio” moniker from Jose Aldo to Alexandre Pantoja and his great fear of interviewing Paul Craig.

Paul “The Big News” Hughes returns to The Craic to reveal his dance partner for his PFL/Bellator debut, which will take place on June 22 at Dublin’s 3 Arena, the Irishman’s first appearance at the celebrated arena. 

Hughes discusses how it felt when the news of his signing was dropped in the middle of the night during the post-fight press conference for PFL’s recent Chicago event, how the deal he struck with PFL can change his life and why, despite being offered a contract with the UFC, he chose to go a different path. 

The Fight Academy Ireland prospect also teases his PFL manifesto which he plans to reveal in the aftermath of his debut outing on June. 22.

The booking of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson at Cowboy Stadium has coveted more outrage than any of Paul’s previous boxing adventures. Yet, the co-main event of the marquee belongs to Ireland’s beacon of sporting success, Katie Taylor, and her 2022 Madison Square Garden counterpart, Amanda Serrano. 

One of boxing journalism’s finest, Gavan Casey of the42.ie, returns to The Craic to discuss the bizarre dichotomy of a pure sporting clash between Taylor and Serrano and what many see as a freakshow in Tyson vs. Paul. 

Casey gives his take on the highly controversial booking, and despite his own disinterest in the contest, concedes that it is a massive opportunity and payday for Taylor and Serrano. He also gives his take on the optics of Taylor and Serrano playing chief support to Paul and Tyson and weighs in on Sean McComb being the target of a blatant robbery following his contest Arnold Barboza Jr. last week.

PFL flexed their financial muscle with the signing of Paul Hughes over the weekend, but will the UFC continue to allow top their talent like the Irishman, Cedric Doumbé and reportedly Salahdine Parnasse slip through their fingers? 

The Trident of Knowledge - featuring Severe MMA’s Andy Stevenson and Bloody Elbow’s Donagh Corby - forms to the discuss all of the permutations to PFL’s capture of Hughes including how successful he will be when he joins the tournament in 2025 and when we will likely see him debut. 

Petesy also gives his thoughts on making Dana White’s latest media hit post. 

Check out Andy Stevenson on “The Auld Triangle” with Ian O’Neill and Caoilte de Barra here: https://open.spotify.com/show/7EOp09CEbauigbtPVvUx7Y?si=704b1600a7bd43d8 

Check out Donagh Corby’s all new "Wanna Fight About It?” podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/show/5SfrCrjisX2k2H9eEa3hCv?si=4271338aaff54588