On this June 18th episode of Boys in the Back, hosts Connor Burks and Jack Medoff, joined by guest Dan filling in for Jordan who attended the Knicks championship parade, delivered a wide-ranging breakdown of UFC news and upcoming fights against the backdrop of New York City's championship euphoria. The biggest revelation came from resurfaced June 7th footage of Brendan Schaub praising the show as his favorite MMA commentary source, calling the hosts uncompromised and more knowledgeable than himself. The crew dissected Conor McGregor's Tuesday studio appearance where he predicted Ilia Topuria's loss before it happened based on training footage, then mapped out McGregor's potential path to an April 2027 finale against Topuria now that both have lost title status. Major fight announcements included Islam Makhachev defending his welterweight belt against Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330 in Philadelphia, with Mackenzie Dern versus Gillian Robertson as co-main, raising questions about Weili Zhang's prolonged absence. The hosts expressed deep skepticism over Joe Rogan's claim that the White House card hit 150 million views by Monday, noting Paramount Plus only has 80 million total subscribers. They previewed this weekend's UFC Apex 119 card headlined by Manel Kopp versus Kyoji Horiguchi in a flyweight title eliminator rematch, and celebrated superfan Liam the Iowa Lion's LFA debut with custom BITB fight gear. The show featured enthusiastic voicemails celebrating summer 2026, a debate over Wheel of Fortune versus Jeopardy, and the Pound for Pound list theme of things worth waiting for, which sparked disagreement when Frank's picks were all future events rather than past payoffs.
The UFC officially announced Islam Makhachev will defend his welterweight title against Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330 in Philadelphia in August. The co-main features Mackenzie Dern defending her strawweight belt against Gillian Robertson, with notable absence of Weili Zhang, who vacated the title to move up but has been inactive since November.
Read this moment →Conor McGregor revealed he predicted Ilia Topuria's loss to Justin Gaethje before it happened, claiming training footage showed Topuria wasn't facing enough adversity in the gym. McGregor argued Topuria needed sparring partners willing to challenge him harder, suggesting the Georgian entered the fight overconfident after his undefeated streak.
Read this moment →Hosts explored Conor McGregor versus Ilia Topuria as McGregor's final UFC fight in April 2027, arguing it's now more feasible with Topuria no longer champion. The UFC would avoid putting their biggest star in a title fight on the last bout of his contract, while the matchup offers Topuria a massive platform to rebuild after his first career loss.
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