PODCAST · sports
The MMA Draw Podcast
by Nate Wilcox Zach Arnold
Nate Wilcox, the founder of Bloody Elbow and Zach Arnold, the founder of Fight Opinion explain the game behind the fights, covering the business of MMA, combat sports and a little bit of pro wrestling. www.themmadraw.com
Episodes
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Over 200 million reasons for TKO to worry about Saudi Arabia
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com UFC 333 this weekend is in Abu Dhabi. The US Embassy for the UAE just issued a warning for those travelling into the country to have contingency plans ready. Yes, we know that UFC has a direct line of communication…
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Double Trouble for TKO money men Turki Alalshikh & Khaldoon Al Mubarak
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com The chickens have come home to roost for TKO for linking UFC, WWE, and Zuffa Boxing so closely with Gulf State Sovereign Wealth Funds. Houthi drone attacks are hitting Saudi Arabia hard just weeks before Canelo…
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Biggest winners & losers in Paramount-WBD merger
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com Barring any unforeseen setbacks, Paramount is about to close its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. Hollywood is bracing for the layoffs. Wall Street is staring at a reported $77 billion in debt. And someone is…
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Rage, Rings, and Riyadh: Ted Cruz helps TKO build a Zuffa Boxing monopoly
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com This has been one hell of a week for Ari Emanuel, Mark Shapiro, and Nick Khan at TKO HQ. In only a matter of minutes during Wednesday’s US Senate mark-up session, Ted Cruz passed the Muhammad Ali American Boxing...
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Billion dollar war pains for Turki & Saudi sports investments
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com What changed for our favorite benevolent boxing dictator, Turki Alalshikh, in the year 2026? Three years ago, the enforcer from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was buying whatever boxing fights and promoters he wanted...
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The Mad Squabbles Show: The Price of War & Paper Billionaires in Sport
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com This is absolutely the week when it pays to be a paid subscriber to The MMA Draw newsletter on Substack. We’ve been very busy on multimedia projects and would like to give you a preview of coming attractions.…
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Resending Full Version for Free: Mad Squabbles Show: UFC’s role in the Paramount-WBD merger
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com Sorry, I screwed up the paywall thing and blocked free subscribers from accessing the episode — which includes a free one-month subscription offer for free subscribers so…oops! Resending. What is the common link the...
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Mad Squabbles Show: UFC’s role in the Paramount-WBD merger
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com What is the common link the UFC, Paramount, Manchester City, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Los Angeles Dodgers all share? They share ties to the same multi-billionaire world leaders who are pushing puny lower-class...
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Mad Squabbles MMA History: BJJ vs. Luta Livre
This week’s podcast with Nate & Zach is all about discussing the very complex history of Brazilian fight styles beyond the carefully curated Gracie family business narrative on display at the early UFC events and the marketing of nascent MMA in the US and Japan. As the UFC became more popular in...
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Mad Squabbles MMA History 2: Ken Shamrock and the evolution of Japanese professional wrestling
We recently launched our fantastic MMA history podcast series on The MMA Draw podcast and discussed The Greatness of Royce Gracie. It gave us a chance to discuss the modern marketing campaign for Gracie BJJ and the launch of UFC. More importantly, it was a window in which we could explain our...
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Mad Squabbles MMA History 1: Pancrase meets Gracie BJJ at UFC 1
One of the topics that really excites us the most at The MMA Draw is the history of the sport. So many current UFC fans have no idea when this spectacle was created and why. Just how important was the UFC before TKO got their corporate hands on it? How was this industry created? And what exactly...
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How the US/Iran war + AI debt bomb married TKO, Paramount, and Saudi Arabia
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com Well, this sure turned out to be one intensive deep dive of a podcast. This week’s edition of The MMA Draw podcast is all about the financial, legal, and political consequences of the United States/Iranian war in the...
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UFC 329 week TKO'd Conor McGregor & boxing as we know it
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com It’s not your fault if you got sucked into the Conor McGregor vortex. At least it wasn’t on PPV. Besides, Benoit Saint Denis’ performance against Paddy Pimblett was far more depressing. This week’s edition of The MMA...
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How Conor McGregor's UFC legacy is tied to Floyd Mayweather
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com Everyone is holding their breath to see if Conor McGregor will, in fact, make his long-awaited return to the Octagon to fight Max Holloway at UFC 329 this weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada at T-Mobile Arena. In 2026, the...
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Ari Emanuel's political & business legacy with UFC Freedom 250
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com Last week’s UFC White House event drew a reported 8.2M viewers on Paramount Plus. The upcoming Conor McGregor fight in Las Vegas against Max Holloway could draw just many viewers. Michael Tasner at Inc Magazine…
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The Sick, Twisted, Corrupt Relationship Between UFC and Donald Trump
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.themmadraw.com/subscribe
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The dirty secrets on UFC White House & WWE Delaware sanctions
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com NEWS ALERT: Las Vegas Federal Judge Richard Boulware is expected to order UFC matchmakers Sean Shelby + Mick Maynard to testify in his courtroom at the end of June regarding Rule 37(e) evidence spoliation hearings....
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The six dos and don'ts for new MMA & boxing promoters
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com Like everyone else, we watched the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Rico Verhoeven fight… but we came away with a bunch of positives rather than negatives. The UFC wanted Rico Verhoeven but for a much lower price than Turki...
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What's the TKO flywheel that powers UFC & WWE?
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com Why is TKO concentrating so much power, not only in the fight industry but general sports business as well? We wanted to answer that question on this week’s edition of The MMA Draw podcast. Building off of our TKO…
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TKO's Free Cash Flow monster faces four big headwinds
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com Fantasy vs. reality. Wall Street vs. Main Street. The contrast between TKO’s Q1 2026 record-breaking revenue figures and the economic pain that most Americans are feeling couldn’t be starker. Meanwhile, Ariel Helwani...
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TKO's Top 10 Power Players in 2026
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com When Luke Thomas appeared on Pablo Torre Finds Out to discuss the state of affairs with UFC, we came to a painful realization at The MMA Draw. A significant amount of sports fans have little clue about how TKO…
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How Trump upended UFC 327 & Turki's boxing future
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com I’ve never encountered a news cycle like this in my 30 years of combat sports coverage. Which is why this week’s edition of The MMA Draw podcast is a must-listen 60 minute summary of world affairs. On the week of...
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TKO's big bets on Dana White, Donald Trump, and UAE are wobbling
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com It is really hard to understate just how much fight fans hate Hollywood politics. Almost as much as they hate US politics, rich people, and compromised influencers. Now marry all these groups into one toxic brew, and...
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TKO's Unholy Triple Alliance
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com What’s a bigger threat to UFC’s future on Paramount: Piracy or Politics? Our Monday special at The MMA Draw analyzes recent ESPN UFC PPV estimates reported by Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer. The big question…
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How Ronda Rousey is actively exposing three big UFC blunders
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs just helped TKO nearly double their credit (facility) card to $350M. Record revenue, profits, and EBITDA for Ari Emanuel’s fighting death star known as TKO. And, yet, Mark Shapiro is...
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Mark Shapiro's Moneyball TKO's UFC White House card
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com This week’s edition of The MMA Draw podcast sets the record straight about what UFC could — and should — have given the fans for their June 14th White House card. There’s lots of internet rumors floating about Jon...
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Paramount's $120 billion bet on UFC, WBD, and Zuffa Boxing
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com The world is on fire. The media world is also on fire. Larry & David Ellison have leveraged the Oracle family business on the premise of taking over the global media and entertainment space by spending nearly $120...
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Boxing Getting TKO'd?
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com 2026 is shaping up to be a costly year for both Golden Boy & Matchroom Boxing. If it’s not talent poaching by TKO, it’s going to be escalating costs keeping current talent in a war of matching offers by Zuffa…
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Don't blame Tom Aspinall for UFC's terrible heavyweight division
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com Six months ago, Tom Aspinall was a celebrated UFC Heavyweight champion. Today? A massive amount of internet trolls have completely turned the tables on him. Despite Peter Carroll of Uncrowned documenting Tom…
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Judge Boulware vs Dana White & Hunter Campbell
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com We’ve had our hands full lately at The MMA Draw and you can thank two full days worth of UFC testimony in Judge Richard Boulware’s Federal court room for that. What’s at stake? A lot. More than people really truly...
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Paramount scores with UFC while Peacock and ESPN fight for survival
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com If the early indications for both UFC 324 and 325 tell us anything about TKO’s experiment with Paramount, the news looks good. This week’s edition of The MMA Draw podcast breaks down the good, the bad, and the ugly...
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UFC's Paramount Plus launch begins. Is Dana White still the key man?
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com Lots of people are throwing around the word “architect” or “visionary” these days in boxing. For us MMA lifers, we’ve seen this song and dance before. But now it’s time to introduce our fellow boxing friends to this...
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The bottom is falling out for both boxing & MMA
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com That sound of panic you’re starting to hear behind-the-scenes from fight promoters is very real. 2026 is turning out to be a major stress test for the likes of PFL, LFA, Top Rank, Golden Boy, PBC, and many others who...
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Three (or four) big 2026 legal landmines for WWE & UFC
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com TKO’s money printers are in overdrive for 2026. Revenues for WWE & UFC have never been better. That’s the working thesis for Scott Barrett’s big-time TKO bull case as a generational stock. This week, we deliver part…
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The sales pitch on Big Money's mad rush for TKO stock
If you can’t beat them, join ‘em. That’s the working theory of the case from our special MMA Draw podcast guest this week, Scott Barrett. Last week, Scott published his TKO Long Bull Thesis article detailing why he thinks the current price of TKO stock — around $215 — is cheap. The same stock…
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TKO prepares its knockout punch of boxing power players
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com If you believe TKO stock can reach $260 a share, then you also believe that Ari Emanuel’s multi-monopoly has a real shot of reaching a $50 billion market cap. Think it’s an outrageous prediction? Read this recent...
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One common factor with Netflix, WBD, Paramount, and TKO's Ali Revival Act
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com Want to know why everyone in the customer class is so psychologically overwhelmed this Christmas season? We can’t blame you. Maybe you can’t put your finger on it but you know whatever is going right now is NOT…
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As Dana White the Decider shrinks, Mark Shapiro's fingerprints are everywhere
“Do the people who cover MMA even like the sport or the fighters anymore? Or is it just narratives and clicks to pay the bills?” This comment from Will Harris on Twitter elicited a strong response regarding current disappointment from online UFC fans about the current state of affairs. You can…
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Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua: Turki's Ring Magazine power play worked
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com When Nate Wilcox published his analysis last week at The MMA Draw on why Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua was a done deal, he nailed the angle on the story. What Turki Alalshikh wants, Turki gets. Turki has been...
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TKO overreach and UFC gambling backlash
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com Unbelievably, UFC’s non-stop marketing campaign of poverty promotion & “keep them hungry!” fighter pay practices has exacerbated the public relations problem with their latest gambling scandal. We all know from…
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Tom Aspinall's boxing aspirations TKO'd by Dana White
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com Paramount just paid UFC $7.7B for seven years worth of US media rights and now Matt Belloni at Puck is reporting that Paramount is proclaiming austerity when it comes to paying famous Hollywood producer Taylor...
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Why TKO is constantly rewriting UFC history
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com Sorry, Nate. Zach made Nate go watch A24’s remix of the original Smashing Machine documentary. It ended up producing one salty movie review on this week’s edition of The MMA Draw podcast. If you aren’t a paid...
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Paramount's boom-or-bust UFC 2026 plans
“And now with UFC, we have a year-long sports strategy.” Larry & David Ellison made a $7.7B gamble with Ari Emanuel & Mark Shapiro to grab seven years’ worth of UFC media rights for Paramount’s new 2026 sports launch. Zuffa Boxing was also added, perhaps as a sweetener? The question we have is,...
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Larry Ellison's wild Paramount and UFC Big Tech bet
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com You watch UFC & WWE for the fights. The powers-that-be are watching you and calculating how much data they can extract from your viewing habits. Your age, politics, what you buy, and how to manipulate your world…
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Netflix ratings are a mixed bag for Canelo-Crawford
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com If you look beneath the surface, it turns out that the Netflix ratings for the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford prize fight promoted by TKO & Turki Alalshikh were not as large as first advertised. It’s always the...
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The bank of WWE & UFC: TKO's creating a financial system
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com TKO is not a fight promoter. It is a financial and political system. Sounds heavy, right? Because it is. And this week’s edition of The MMA Draw podcast breaks down some key information that is shocking in its size…
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After Paramount-UFC deal, the NFL-WWE-ESPN onslaught begins
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com This week’s MMA Draw podcast is one of our best shows to date. We promise. UFC got their multi-billion dollar monopoly on MMA. Dana White got his tombstone of dead promotions. WWE has their (growing) monopoly on...
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Paramount's $7.7B payoff to Ari Emanuel for UFC media rights
On Sunday night, Nate Wilcox & Zach Arnold recorded a podcast regarding WWE heading to ESPN and the relationship between Ari Emanuel & Paramount. Parts of the free podcast may be dated but most of the content turned out to be rather important and relevant. Listen and find out for yourself. Now we...
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The Ari (Emanuel) boxing Act & UFC's role in Skydance/Paramount
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.themmadraw.com Thought Bryce Mitchell’s sermon to the Etihad Arena choir was strange? Thought it was strange for spectators at Etihad Arena reportedly hitting the exits during the Robert Whittaker/Reinier de Ridder UFC Abu Dhabi on...
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The Trump/Turki/TKO triple takeover
Regardless of Netflix claiming 6 millions viewers for the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano fight at Madison Square Garden, it was TKO & Turki Alalshikh that sent a real message this past weekend. From the WWE’s Atlanta doubleheader (SNME & Evolution) to Turki’s big New York event with Shakur...
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The MMA Draw Podcast have?
The MMA Draw Podcast currently has 74 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The MMA Draw Podcast about?
Nate Wilcox, the founder of Bloody Elbow and Zach Arnold, the founder of Fight Opinion explain the game behind the fights, covering the business of MMA, combat sports and a little bit of pro wrestling. www.themmadraw.com
How often does The MMA Draw Podcast release new episodes?
The MMA Draw Podcast has 74 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The MMA Draw Podcast?
You can listen to The MMA Draw Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The MMA Draw Podcast?
The MMA Draw Podcast is created and hosted by Nate Wilcox Zach Arnold.
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