Shows
Level Change PodcastUFC Abu Dhabi + Nagoya Basho with Tim Bissell | Ep. 370Since Victor is still on vacation on the beautiful sands of the Dominican Republic, Tim Bissell of Sumo Stomp joining me for double duty, first to help me break down the best fights from UFC Abu Dhabi, then to give us all the highs and lows of the Nagoya Basho through day 13. We look at who’s riding high, and who’s in the trenches. It’s can’t-miss content for sumo fans both new and old. Tim will be back next week to go over the tournament, look at who won and how they did, and who ended up being...2025-07-251h 06
Level Change PodcastUFC 318 with Mookie Alexander + Nagoya Basho with Tim Bissell | Ep. 370Since Victor is on vacation on the beautiful sands of the Dominican Republic, I decided I needed to pull out all the stops. We have our brother from another timeline, Mookie Alexander, now of The Soap Box Score (and still SBNation), joining me to break down select fights from UFC 318. Why only select fights? Because this card is a travesty. Dustin Poirier’s swan song deserved a better card than this, but beggars can’t be choosers, so we’re only breaking down the handful of contests that matter.In our second segment, Tim Bissell of Sumo Stomp...2025-07-191h 56
Level Change PodcastAnd then there were two: Natsu Basho Review with Tim Bissell | Ep. 365This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit levelchangepodcast.substack.comThe Natsu Basho ended ended a few days ago, so we decided that in light of the terrible, miserable UFC card this week, we would treat our listeners to a thorough review of all the action with our awesome friend, Tim Bissell of Sumo Stomp. Tim takes us through all the best moments of the tournament, including critiques of the winner’s performances, how t…2025-05-3039 min
Level Change PodcastHaru Basho Review with Tim Bissell | Ep. 357The Haru Basho ended yesterday and we already have a thorough review of all the action with our awesome friend, Tim Bissell of Sumo Stomp. Tim takes us through all the highs and lows of the tournament, including critiques of the winner’s performances, how the other wrestlers did and why our lone yokozuna pulled out of the basho. Tim also has a great contest running, so make sure you subscribe to his site to be entered into the drawing.Today’s episode is free, but we would love it if you could subscribe. This will give you...2025-03-2440 min
Level Change PodcastOur UFC 311 predictions and Hatsu Basho update with Tim Bissell | Ep. 348This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit levelchangepodcast.substack.comIt seems it was not meant to be. We had a cracking main event for UFC 311 between Arman Tsarukyan and Islam Makhachev, but that fell apart the day before the fight. So, what now? Well, Renato Moicano was already on the card and will be fighting for the UFC lightweight championship instead!Yeah, it’s a bummer. But it’s still a great fight and we break do…2025-01-1840 min
Level Change PodcastNew Year, Same Lazy Booking | EP. 347Alright, kids - 2025 isn’t starting off great. It’s filler, through and through. Some good fighters, some awful matchups, but it’s mostly a matter of shoveling a bunch of fighters into the Apex to keep the execs happy. The era of low-effort check-cashing is only getting more intense. Mackenzie Dern (14-5) headlines against Amanda Ribas (13-5) in a rematch that is only kinda necessary due to scheduling and ranking positions. Still not a fight that anyone was clamoring to see, and neither are a bunch of these other matchups. But don’t worry, we’ve got our ma...2025-01-111h 11
Level Change PodcastA Sumo Stompin' Christmas with Tim Bissell | Ep. 345Ho! Ho! Ho! The end-of year holidays are upon us, so we had to have Tim Bissell come back for a year-in-review episode for the 2024 season. We talk about the highs and lows, unexpected retirements, standout wrestlers, those that didn’t shine quite so bright and more. Take a trip down Sumo memory lane with us this Christmas.Make sure to check out Tim’s website, Sumo Stomp. It is so worth the visit considering the wealth of information there about the sport. If you’re new to Sumo or an old head, it’s a place...2024-12-2439 min
Level Change PodcastA Sumo Thanksgiving with Tim Bissell | Ep. 341The Kyusho Basho has wrapped and what an exciting tournament it was. We had photo finishes, high flying moves, matches that had to be repeated…in short, it had a little something to whet all Grand Sumo appetites. Of course we had Sumo Stomp’s Tim Bissell over for a pre-Thanksgiving celebration, and we put him to work straight away with all the fine points of the Basho.Make sure to check out Tim’s extra cool contest right here. He has one of the most unique prizes I’ve ever seen. Plus, the visit over to Sumo Sto...2024-11-2740 min
Level Change PodcastPut Your Money In Her Hand | Ep. 340Conor McGregor once again in hot water as the civil trial against him in Ireland has led to him losing his case. He’s now got to shell out some cash, and we ponder the potential consequences and ramifications of it all. We also look into this weekend’s early morning Macau card, with some excellent talent on deck and some surprisingly great matchups. A great little card to watch with your Saturday breakfast.To kick off this bigass episode, we had Tim Bissell from Sumo Stomp on to give us the latest update from the...2024-11-221h 33
Level Change PodcastWayward Prelims and Big Men Battles | Ep. 338This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit levelchangepodcast.substack.comHere it is, kids. We break down the prelims for UFC 309, plus our mainest man Tim Bissell is back with more Sumo action. The UFC prelims are an odd mishmash, with Chris Weidman facing Eryk Anders as a middleweight bout. But we do get some quality matches with Jonathan Martinez facing Marcus McGhee, for example. Are these fights actually good? Some are, …2024-11-1630 min
Level Change PodcastWho's winning the Kyushu Basho? | Ep. 336It’s that time again—time for us all to wait with baited breath to find out if Terunofuji will compete in the Kyushu Basho, and time to see if Onosato will keep on his upward trajectory. In case you’re new here, we’re big Sumo fans, so when there’s a new tournament about to drop, we bring out the big guns aka Tim Bissell from Sumo Stomp.In this episode, we take a look at what’s happened in the interim (some elder stock awarded after a very youthful retirement), what we’re looking forward to and...2024-11-0644 min
Level Change PodcastSumo Is A Different Kind Of Tough | Ep. 324FREE EPISODE!! Please consider a donation to the Level Change Podcast. Times are tight everywhere, we know. But if you happen to have a few bucks to spare, we’d be eternally grateful.Today, you’re going to be treated to a Sumo spectacular featuring the honorable and always gentlemanly, Tim Bissell. In our continued coverage of the 2024 Aki Basho, Tim takes you from where we left off a week ago, all the way through the final days of this tremendous tournament. We were delighted by tons of action, sensational technique and dare we say…flambo...2024-09-2547 min
Level Change PodcastSumo Stompin' with Tim Bissell: Nagoya Basho Highlights | Ep. 310The Nagoya basho is over, but it certainly delivered some surprises. From the winner of the tournament to the gnarly injuries, there was quite a lot going on at the last ever tournament at this godforsaken, un-air-conditioned arena. We saw a few new faces (at least to me) that were returning to action, as well as all the usual suspects. What’s going on with our yokozuna? Which ozeki(s) have been demoted? Listen up to find out!Tim Bissell, our favorite Sumo analyst dropped in to give us all details. Make sure you follow his work ov...2024-07-3145 min
Level Change PodcastSumo Stompin' with Tim Bissell: first 10 days of the Nagoya basho | Ep. 309The Nagoya basho is well underway and Terunofuji is looking like a billion bucks. Yes, that’s billion, with a B. The only yokozuna in Sumo is kicking ass and taking names and we are here for it. All the other top-tier wrestlers are having a bit of a struggle although Kotozakura (our good friend Double-Boob) is doing well, so far.Tim Bissell, long-time Sumo analyst and pundit, routinely stops by to break down all the action from all the bashos, so we’ve got plenty of updates to get you through, just in case you haven’t had...2024-07-2442 min
Level Change PodcastSumo Stompin' with Tim Bissell | Ep. 306As you’ve noticed, we’ve moved our base of operations here to Substack. This will be our permanent home moving forward. We hope you enjoy the episode and will give us your continued patronage here. Today’s episode is our latest with Sumo analyst extraordinaire, Tim Bissell. If you’re familiar with our podcast, Tim is a staple, and guests frequently to break down all the details of the tournament with us. The current tournament, or basho, is the second summer tournament, also known as the Nagoya basho, begins this coming week, so we took a look at...2024-07-1038 min