KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Bill Algeo scored a hell of a victory over TJ Brown in the Fight of the Night at UFC on ESPN 44, but his octagon interview may have commanded everyone’s attention even more than his performance.
Following his second-round submission of Brown, Algeo got on the microphone with color commentator Daniel Cormier, did a retirement fakeout, and then proceeded to trash Kansas City.
“Listen, I would never retire in a dump like Kansas City,” Algeo told the crowd at T-Mobile Center. “I look around here and all I see is a bunch of Croc-wearing’, Uber Eats drivin’, Bud Light drinkin’ … sons of guns. I ain’t never retiring! Woo!”
Bill Algeo turned heel after his #UFCKanasCity win 😆
Read more: https://t.co/u9nttM8TEe pic.twitter.com/K7JYkaTqbu
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) April 16, 2023
If the heel turn felt to UFC on ESPN 44 viewers like an attempt at cheap heat, that’s because it was. And so it begins: the blurred lines between UFC and WWE in the wake of Endeavor’s purchase of the world’s biggest pro wrestling promotion.
“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but we recently purchased the WWE, I believe. You know, I’m trying to cross train,” Algeo told reporters, including MMA Junkie, backstage. “Let’s see what’s up with the next couple of years if they need some wrestlers, skinny ones. I know a guy.”
Algeo must be a big fan of pro wrestling then. Right?
“Not at all,” he said.
OK then.
As for his finish of Brown by rear-naked choke, Algeo (17-7 MMA, 4-3 UFC) said he doesn’t “even train any jiu-jitsu whatsoever.”
“Once you’ve reached black belt, you’re good enough,”Algeo said. “It’s all just been wrestling, MMA stuff, striking, because that’s what’s important to me.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 44.
