Dylan Bowker The Game Plan interview on Harrison vs Nunes

Dylan Bowker The Game Plan interview with John Carlo Alino ranged from Kayla Harrison’s return against Amanda Nunes to the movement at the top of the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division. Bowker picked Harrison to win, questioned whether Netflix wants a regular MMA schedule and explained why a Conor McGregor bare-knuckle fight could make sense for BKFC.

What did Dylan Bowker say about the UFC heavyweight division?

Dylan Bowker sees Josh Hockett bringing movement and a recognizable persona to a heavyweight title picture that had felt congested. He also thinks Ciryl Gane’s eye pokes should be addressed as illegal techniques, even if they are instinctive rather than deliberate. Bowker did not assume one explanation settles the question of intent.

Josh Hockett and the heavyweight title picture

Discussing Hockett’s matchup with Gane at Madison Square Garden, Bowker pointed to Tom Aspinall’s injury issues and uncertainty around Jon Jones fighting as reasons the top of the division had stalled. He hopes the new activity around the title has a wider effect on the rest of heavyweight.

Bowker said Hockett also knows how to draw interest in future fights. He discussed Alex Pereira as a possible opponent if Pereira defeats Sergei Pavlovich, while noting that Alexander Volkov has been generating interest in a title shot. Those are potential paths, not fights Bowker said were set.

Ciryl Gane’s eye pokes

Bowker considered the criticism of Gane without claiming to know whether the fouls were intentional. He said an eye poke might be a reaction under pressure, but that possibility does not remove a fighter’s responsibility to correct it. Bowker put his position plainly:

it's an illegal technique and should be addressed as such

He argued that point deductions should be used more readily and that more serious outcomes, including disqualification, may be warranted. His distinction was between a possible lack of malicious intent and the need to enforce the rule.

How does Dylan Bowker see Kayla Harrison vs Amanda Nunes?

Dylan Bowker picks Kayla Harrison to beat Amanda Nunes and can see a ground-and-pound stoppage. He sees uncertainty on both sides: Harrison is returning after neck surgery, while Nunes has spent years away from competition. Bowker would watch how Harrison uses her techniques and how Nunes handles the layoff.

Harrison’s neck surgery and Nunes’s layoff

Bowker called Harrison’s return after a serious neck injury admirable, but said her performance raises questions. In particular, he wondered whether she might hesitate to use techniques that could place obvious strain on her neck. For Nunes, he raised the possibilities of renewed freshness or cage rust rather than treating either as certain.

The two fighters’ past association adds interest, though Bowker cautioned against assuming they know each other closely as opponents. From the accounts he had heard about their time at American Top Team, he understood that there was little direct work between them and perhaps only limited sparring. That leaves their matchup less familiar than the shared-team history might suggest.

Bowker’s pick for the fight

Asked to choose a winner, Bowker went with Harrison. A TKO by ground and pound was one finish he could envision, not a result he presented as inevitable. He acknowledged Nunes’s standing in the sport while making clear that Harrison was his pick despite the questions surrounding her return.

What did Dylan Bowker say about Cris Cyborg and the division’s future?

Dylan Bowker would find a Cris Cyborg return to the UFC compelling, but he did not predict an agreement. Looking beyond Harrison vs Nunes, he also raised two possible career paths: Nunes could retire again, while Harrison might seek a revived 145-pound division and a chance to pursue a second title.

A possible UFC return for Cris Cyborg

Bowker said Cyborg’s earlier issues with the UFC arose when Dana White had a more prominent role in its operations. He suggested that a shortage of immediately compelling contenders could give Cyborg negotiating leverage, while stressing that he was not predicting a deal or a fight with Harrison.

Retirement or another title for Harrison and Nunes

In a discussion with a ranked bantamweight contender who had trained at Extreme Couture, Bowker heard theories that Nunes might retire after facing Harrison or that Harrison might campaign for the UFC to restore its 145-pound division. A lighter weight cut and a second championship were the reasons he gave for Harrison to pursue that route.

He considered Nunes more likely to make a one-fight return because she had already retired and, in his view, had fewer obvious opponents afterward. Harrison, he thought, might have enough left to chase one more career goal. Neither retirement nor a restored division was presented as a decision already made.

What did Dylan Bowker say about Stephen Thompson’s final fight?

Dylan Bowker singled out Stephen Thompson’s fight with Johny Hendricks when asked for a career memory. He also found significance in Thompson seeking a final fight at Madison Square Garden, where Thompson and Tyron Woodley had shared a welterweight title fight at UFC 205. For Bowker, the venue connected distinct stages of Thompson’s career.

The Johny Hendricks fight

The Hendricks bout was Bowker’s first answer when asked what stood out from Thompson’s long run. He focused on the impression Thompson made as he built toward bigger fights, rather than trying to reduce the career to a list of results.

Tyron Woodley and Madison Square Garden

Bowker had spoken with Woodley while Thompson was pursuing Madison Square Garden as the setting for his retirement fight. He recalled Woodley supporting that effort despite their own competitive history. Their UFC 205 title fight made Thompson’s return to the arena particularly meaningful to Bowker.

Why does Dylan Bowker follow bare-knuckle boxing?

Dylan Bowker follows bare-knuckle boxing regularly and expects traditional martial artists to have a greater presence in it. He points to the bare-knuckle roots of disciplines such as Kyokushin karate and to Michael Page’s showing against Mike Perry in BKFC as reasons to look beyond a fighter’s reputation for kicking.

Traditional martial arts in bare-knuckle fights

Bowker’s point was that some traditional styles already involve training without boxing gloves, giving their practitioners a relevant foundation. He did not claim that background guarantees success. Instead, he expects more fighters from those styles to explore the format as bare-knuckle promotions grow.

Michael Page against Mike Perry

Page was Bowker’s example of a fighter whose hands deserved attention alongside his movement and kicking background. Bowker felt Page gave Perry one of his more challenging BKFC assignments, even though Perry’s bare-knuckle skills are widely praised. The matchup reinforced his interest in what different martial arts backgrounds can bring to the sport.

Could Conor McGregor fight bare knuckle, according to Dylan Bowker?

Dylan Bowker can imagine Conor McGregor fighting in BKFC after his UFC deal, partly because McGregor’s appearance could grow the promotion. He offered Darren Till or Mike Perry as examples of opponents with name recognition, but described the scenario as a possibility, not an announced plan or a prediction.

Bowker compared the idea to his reading of the proposed Jake Paul–Cédric Doumbé fight. In his view, putting a kickboxing and MMA name opposite Paul could introduce Doumbé to a larger audience and help sell his later fights. He saw a McGregor appearance as another way a fighter’s own bout could draw attention to a promotion.

Perry might be an option, Bowker suggested, if the opportunity were attractive enough, although he noted that Perry had said he was focusing more on MMA. Till was another name he raised. Bowker did not say that talks had taken place with either fighter.

What did Dylan Bowker say about Netflix MMA fights?

Dylan Bowker thinks Netflix may be selective about MMA rather than looking to carry every kind of fight. He cited discussion of a Ronda Rousey–Gina Carano matchup and Netflix’s Mike Tyson–Jake Paul boxing event as examples of the recognizable names associated with its approach. He also questioned which opponents could support a major Francis Ngannou fight.

What kind of fight might appeal to Netflix?

Bowker’s reading was that Netflix wants a particular scale of event, not simply a regular MMA booking. That is why he connected its possible interest to fighters with profiles extending beyond one matchup. He did not claim to know that Netflix had committed to an ongoing MMA schedule.

Francis Ngannou and the opponent problem

Even a major name needs a suitable opponent, Bowker argued. He referred to interest in Ngannou for a large show but said there was not an ample field of opponents to draw from. A public call for the UFC to release Jon Jones did not strike him as a realistic solution for a rival promotion’s event.

Bowker contrasted that situation with discussion of Shakur Stevenson leaving without fighting under another banner. He regarded releasing Jones for a competitor as a different decision. For now, he sees Netflix’s place in MMA as an open question shaped by which fights it is willing to present.