The MMA Depressed-Us Podcast

The MMA Depressed-Us Podcast rests on a slightly perverse premise: three people seek out some of the worst MMA they can find, watch it together and talk over every exchange. Zane Simon handles the welcome and introduces his co-hosts, Connor Ruebusch and Phil Mackenzie. One intro spells out the selection rules. A fight qualifies if it was so bad it became good, if it was simply bad, or if it was a deep disappointment. Most sessions hang on a theme. The heavyweight-hopefuls outing gathers three bouts in which both fighters were once expected to be special and turned out to be either not good at all or painfully boring. Roy Nelson comes up there as the Ultimate Fighter winner people pegged as a future contender who instead remained, in one host's dry verdict, 'just Roy Nelson. Forever.' Another theme is terrible title fights, with an episode titled 'Terrible title fights: Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia'. Francis Ngannou is a repeat subject. In 'MMA Depressed-us: Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou is gonna suck', the hosts go back for more of the best of the worst of Ngannou while Zane tries to calm his dog, Molly, who is snarling at the window beside him. Other matchups named in the titles include Browne vs. Kongo and Palhares vs. Henderson. When holiday breaks empty the UFC schedule, the show swaps fights for fight movies. Angels Fallen: Warriors of Peace, a Cuba Gooding Jr. film that also stars Randy Couture and Denise Richards, was billed as a Randy Couture Christmas. Cagefighter: Worlds Collide set the hosts riffing on the tragic backstories fight films seem to require, down to the family member who is always about to die before the big bout. They flag the unrealistic moments as well. The comedy usually starts before the footage does. Introductions are fair game: in one episode a polite 'That's me' after each name spirals into a mock existential crisis, and in another the hosts swap identities for the intro. Zane is openly glum about the current UFC schedule, which he calls brutal and only getting less interesting. Some episodes open under a Bloody Elbow banner, and at least one closes by pointing paid Substack subscribers to bonus material. The language is loose and the ribbing is constant, so the name oversells the gloom. A newcomer who wants the fight format can start with the heavyweight-hopefuls episode. One who prefers movie riffing can start with Cagefighter: Worlds Collide.