ANIK & FLO BREAK DOWN MARIO BAUTISTA’S STATEMENT WIN AND SUPER BOWL HEARTBREAK 🥊

By Cody Merrow | Fight Bananas

WHAT IS UP Fight Bananas family!

Monday, February 9th, 2026 — the day AFTER the Super Bowl — should absolutely be a NATIONAL HOLIDAY, and Jon Anik and Kenny Florian aren’t wrong about this one! But while the rest of America was nursing hangovers and Patriots heartbreak (more on that in a minute), the guys delivered Episode 582 of The Anik & Florian Podcast powered by All The Smoke Fight, and goddamn if this wasn’t EXACTLY the MMA therapy we all needed!

If you missed this one, BUCKLE UP, because we’ve got everything: Mario “Battle Born” Bautista making a STATEMENT in his first UFC main event, bantamweight getting crowned the most SKILLED division in combat sports (yes, you read that right), Ray Longo bringing the New York energy for his legendary ten-minute cameo, and Anik nearly breaking down talking about his seven-year-old son watching the Patriots get absolutely SMOTHERED by the Seahawks.

Let’s get into it. WITHOUT FURTHER ADO… LET’S GO! 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

🥊 MARIO BAUTISTA IS THE REAL DEAL — AND BANTAMWEIGHT IS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS

Here’s the thing though,  Mario Bautista just did what fighters DREAM of doing in their first UFC main event. The Nevada-born bantamweight DOMINATED Vinicius “Lok Dog” Oliveira from the opening bell, showcasing a full arsenal of mixed martial arts before locking in a second-round rear-naked choke submission that had even Kenny Flo raising his eyebrows.

“Any time you have the opportunity to fight in a main event for the UFC, it is a big deal,” Kenny explained on the pod. “It’s a big deal because the UFC is essentially entrusting you with that spot to go ahead and deliver. All eyes are on you, so there’s going to be more pressure, more interviews leading up to the fight, all of that stuff.”

And did Bautista DELIVER or what?!

The fight-ending sequence was chef’s kiss levels of beautiful violence. Bautista worked to a mounted crucifix, battering Oliveira before transitioning to the back out of a scramble and quickly locking in the fight-ending rear-naked choke. Anik pointed out that Oliveira’s quick tap was “perhaps a little bit telling”,  and you know what? When you’re getting absolutely PIECED UP for nine minutes straight, sometimes tapping is the smart play!

But here’s where it gets REALLY interesting, and this is where Anik and Kenny went DEEP on the bantamweight division…

Mario Bautista finishes Vinicius Oliveira with a second-round submission at #UFCVegas113 pic.twitter.com/l5JrVLY6E0

— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) February 8, 2026

IS 135 THE MOST SKILLED DIVISION IN MMA?

“I would go as far as saying, Jon, that it is the most skilled division,” Kenny declared. “You go all the way down… Jean Matsumoto, Matsumoto and F. Basharat are these highly skilled fighters that aren’t even in the top fifteen, maybe top twenty. And it just goes to show you how deep these divisions are going now in twenty twenty six in the UFC.”

Let me repeat that for the people in the back: FIGHTERS WHO AREN’T EVEN RANKED are putting on ABSOLUTE CLINICS at 135 pounds!

Anik brought up an incredible point about the top of the division too. Can the lightweight division be the deepest while bantamweight has the most guys in the top-fifteen pound-for-pound? “I think both of those things can be true,” Kenny responded. And when you’ve got guys like Umar Nurmagomedov (who Anik got criticized for ranking top-ten P4P), Petr Yan putting on potentially the best individual performance of 2025, Sean O’Malley, Merab Dvalishvili, Corey Sandhagen, AND now Mario Bautista all in the mix… yeah, I’m not going to argue!

“Petr Yan, you could argue, had the best performance individually of anybody in twenty twenty five,” Anik said. And after watching Yan absolutely DISMANTLE Merab? Yeah, THAT’S the guy you’re chasing now if you’re Mario Bautista.

Sean O’Malley via IG:

“Petr [Yan’s] getting back surgery while I’m improving my skills daily.”

via @SugaSeanMM pic.twitter.com/D6iFjSPC8p

— Cool Nature (@CoolNature9) February 7, 2026

🥊 WHERE DOES BATTLE BORN GO FROM HERE?

So Bautista called for the Corey Sandhagen rematch in his post-fight interview (they fought way back when Bautista took a short-notice UFC debut against a killer). And you know what? That fight MAKES SENSE. Both guys are elite, both guys are versatile, and both have legitimate cases for being in the title picture.

But as Anik pointed out with his typical brutal honesty: “Sometimes you’re just in the wrong division.”

OUCH. But also… TRUE?

“There’s a lot of divisions where the champ is just… you can’t touch them,” Ray Longo chimed in during his segment. “And there’s guys that are really good that just are never going to get there. But if there was somebody else was the champ, they would be there.”

The reality is this: Bautista showed he’s competitive with Umar Nurmagomedov (even though he lost that decision). He’s now on a STATEMENT win in a main event. He’s got a legend in Jose Aldo on his resume. The kid is LEGIT. But with Piotr Yan looking absolutely UNSTOPPABLE and Merab getting his trilogy fight, the path to the belt is… complicated.

Kenny’s take? “I think it would be a fantastic fight. I love it… If you’re not the champion and you have to fight Mario Bautista, I think that’s a tough go.”

AGREED! 👍️👍️👍️

Nice job by @kennyflorian and @IanParkerMMA sweeping the whole board last night for UFC Fight Night! If you tailed, you should’ve cashed all bets. 🫡 • Full recap tomorrow on @AnikFlorianPod • @ats_fight

— Jon Anik (@Jon_Anik) February 8, 2026

🥊 THE RAY LONGO MINUTE (WHICH WAS ACTUALLY TEN MINUTES)

Okay guys, can we talk about Ray Longo for a second? The man is a LEGEND, and his segment on the pod was laugh-out-loud funny even with the technical difficulties.

First, there was confusion about his time slot (he told the producers he had ten minutes from 12:10 to 12:20, which is… you do the math). Then his Wi-Fi kept cutting out at THE WORST possible moments. But when he was connected, Longo brought his signature New York twang and no-BS analysis.

On Bautista: “I mean, I thought fantastic fight, great scrambles… He looked good, Kenny. He was looked like he was one step ahead of this kid who’s a big, strong kid.”

When asked if Bautista deserves a title shot: “I think he deserves a title shot. I think he does. But he’s kind of like Sandhagen. I think they could beat everybody but the champion type of deal.”

And then the connection died AGAIN right when Anik was trying to compliment him on last week’s appearance where he apparently had them “crying” with laughter. Classic Ray Longo energy!

Longo on today’s show ⬇️ @raylongomma https://t.co/MUAPgkvy5Z pic.twitter.com/Y4ONuNvmE5

— Anik & Florian Podcast (@AnikFlorianPod) February 9, 2026

🥊 QUICK HITTERS FROM UFC FIGHT NIGHT

Kyoji Horiguchi looked UNBELIEVABLE against Albazi! The thirty-five or thirty-six-year-old (they weren’t totally sure) just straight-up out-sped a younger, bigger opponent. Horiguchi had Albazi hurt many times, with Albazi hanging in there when many lesser fighters would have been knocked out.

“Speed kills, and Horiguchi proved it yet again,” Kenny said. And here’s the wild part,  Alexandre Pantoja has already said he’ll fight Kyoji even though they train together! That’s the savage mentality of a champion right there.

Farid Basharat survived a SCARE against Jean Matsumoto in a split decision that could have gone either way. “His skill is extremely impressive,” Kenny said. “His timing, his footwork. This is the new breed of fighter that can do it all and do it really well.”

Oh, and Jakob Wiklasz hit a GUILLOTINE CHOKE with literally ONE SECOND LEFT in round three against Gafurov! Anik compared it to the legendary Tiago Alves vs. Martin Kampmann finish. That’s the kind of “never give up” energy we LOVE to see!

🥊 SUPER BOWL HEARTBREAK AND THE PATRIOTS’ FUTURE

Alright, let’s talk about the elephant in the room (or should I say the SEAHAWK in the stadium).

The Seattle Seahawks dominated the New England Patriots 29-13, and it was… not pretty for Pats fans. Drake Maye was sacked six times and the Patriots scored zero points in the first half. ZERO!

Anik, being the ultimate professional while clearly dying inside, painted a picture of his seven-year-old son experiencing his first Patriots Super Bowl loss: “To all the fan bases out there that are starved and whose teams have never gotten to a Super Bowl or won a Super Bowl… it was an important visualization, at least for me, to watch my son, who’s never experienced a Patriots Super Bowl win, experience a Patriots Super Bowl loss.”

Kenny tried to find the silver lining: “You gotta be hopeful for next year though.”

But Anik, with his trademark honesty, dropped this BOMB: When asked if Drake Maye gets back to a Super Bowl, he said “Most people out there would say yes. I would say NO.”

WHAT?! His reasoning? Look at the AFC quarterback room: Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Trevor Lawrence… “Joe Burrow’s been once. How many Super Bowls has Aaron Rodgers played in? The most skilled player of that position, according to most. How many Super Bowls has Aaron Rodgers played in? One. Won it. Played in fucking one. Played for twenty years.”

That’s… actually a really fair point. Getting to the Super Bowl is HARD. Getting back is even HARDER.

But hey, at least the halftime show was fire! Bad Bunny brought a message of unity that we could all use right now. As Anik put it: “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”

PREACH! 🔥🔥🔥

For everyone on social media with an opinion and a smile for why the Patriots lost last night. 😂 pic.twitter.com/kjmeBiwagv

— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) February 9, 2026

🥊 WHAT’S NEXT? STRICKLAND VS. HERNANDEZ AND THE WHITE HOUSE CARD!

Before they wrapped, Anik and Kenny looked ahead to Sean Strickland vs. Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez on March 1st in Houston, Texas. This fight is MASSIVE, and both guys need to be aggressive to win.

“This can only be a fantastic fight, you know, and two guys with two very different styles and both guys who are capable of winning it,” Kenny said.

And then there’s the rumored White House fight card on June 14th! Ari Emanuel apparently said on the Pat McAfee show that it might only be SIX OR SEVEN FIGHTS — meaning every single bout is going to be STACKED with big names and title fights.

“Every single one of those fights are going to have big names. Everyone’s going to all of them are going to be bangers,” Kenny predicted.

Imagine Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje, potentially Tommy Aspinall in a heavyweight/light heavyweight banger, and maybe even Sean O’Malley vs. Corey Sandhagen as the “smallest” non-title fight on the card. INSANE!

🥊 THE BOTTOM LINE

Episode 582 of The Anik & Florian Podcast delivered EVERYTHING you want from an MMA pod: deep fight breakdowns, insider perspectives from Ray Longo, honest takes on the bantamweight division, and even some real-talk emotion about sports heartbreak.

Mario Bautista proved he belongs in the elite conversation at 135 pounds. The bantamweight division is THE most skilled division in MMA right now (fight me if you disagree). And while the Patriots’ Super Bowl dream ended in heartbreak, the UFC keeps rolling with BANGER after BANGER on the horizon.

If you’re not subscribed to The Anik & Florian Podcast YouTube channel and the All The Smoke Fight channel, what are you even doing with your life?! The boys are back in the new era powered by All The Smoke Productions, and this podcast is MUST-LISTEN for any serious MMA fan.

NEXT WEEK: Mario Bautista joins the show! Plus, we’ll get the full breakdown on Strickland vs. Hernandez and potentially more details on that insane White House card.

Until then, keep your hands up, chin down, and STAY READY!

Watch the full episode here: https://youtube.com/live/WK2dnuWKrqA

Cody Merrow is the Live Producer of “The Anik & Florian Podcast” and “Remember The Show” in the MMA space, along with “The Gresh & Anik Show” talking New England sports. Formerly of “The UG” aka MMA Underground as a media member and social director and lead writer for the “Pound 4 Pound Podcast” newsletter. Cody is an avid golfer (15 handicap) and father to a King Charles Cavalier. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @cody_merrow

HOT TAKES SECTION:

What do YOU think, Fight Bananas family?

🥊 Is bantamweight the most skilled division in the UFC? 🥊 Does Mario Bautista deserve the Corey Sandhagen rematch? 🥊 Can Drake Maye get the Patriots back to another Super Bowl? 🥊 Who should headline the White House card on June 14th?

Hit us up in the comments or on social media with your takes! And if you loved this recap, share it with your MMA-obsessed friends who need to get on The Anik & Florian Podcast train!

LET’S GO! 🔥🥊🔥