The Tapping Up Podcast

A tribute to Mo Salah and his sensational Liverpool career following this announcement he will be leaving at the end of the season. Ian discusses his insane stats, the highs and lows and his possible next career move....

This week we start with Lerone Murphy’s narrow loss to Movsar Evloev and the debate around scoring and point deductions. We also get into Tom Aspinall’s situation, with Eddie Hearn calling his UFC contract a “disgrace” and the wider issue of fighter pay.In football, Tottenham’s struggles continue under Igor Tudor, while there’s a deep dive into Thomas Tuchel’s England squad, who’s in, who’s out and the potential best XI. Of course, we also cover Arsenal’s Carabao Cup final loss, where Mikel Arteta’s decision to start Kepa over Raya backfired. Finally, a preview of Moses Itauma vs Jermaine Franklin and the classic prospect vs gatekeeper dynamic in the heavyweight division.

Grant returns for the fourth edition of Top Guns to discuss both Arsenal and Liverpool's seasons to date. Will Arsenal bottle it again? Has Gyokeres been a success? Will Liverpool make the top 4? What has happened to Salah?

Arsenal have done it again… or have they? We get into the psychology of pressure, why the final months of the season keep haunting them, and whether “bottling it” is lazy banter or a genuine mentality issue.Ronda Rousey is back but is it redemption, reinvention, or one last roll of the dice? Plus, John Fury is on another public rampage and finally, Spurs turn to Igor Tudor; a bold reset, a panic move, or peak Tottenham unpredictability?

The lads break down a strange night at UFC 325, where Alexander Volkanovski defended his featherweight title but left more questions than answers about his legacy and the division’s direction.In football, we dive into the Premier League relegation battle, crunching the numbers behind West Ham’s resurgence and why panic is starting to spread among clubs who thought they were safe.And in boxing, it’s chaos and opportunity in equal measure. Fabio Wardley’s next steps as world champion, Deontay Wilder’s explosive talkSPORT meltdown, and Jake Paul targeting a Tommy Fury rematch that could once again hijack the sport’s spotlight.

We react to the fallout from UFC 234 and look ahead to what’s on the line at UFC 235, take stock of the latest twists in the Premier League title race, and dive into a thrilling final week of the Champions League group stage. Plus, we discuss Tyson Fury’s entirely unsurprising decision to un-retire and preview a mouth-watering boxing clash as Teófimo López Jr prepares to face Shakur Stevenson.

Winning isn’t always about lifting a trophy but in 2025, some did that and more.In this episode, we celebrate the five biggest success stories across football, MMA and boxing, looking beyond the surface to understand what made these wins truly meaningful. These aren’t just dominant performances, they’re stories of redemption, timing, legacy and execution. Some winners finally delivered after years of expectation. Others rewrote history entirely. And one walked away at exactly the right moment.We explore how structure, patience and decision-making can matter as much as raw talent and why certain victories will still be talked about long after 2025 is forgotten. This episode isn’t hype-driven; it’s about why these wins mattered, not just who benefited from them.If the losers episode is about momentum collapsing, this one is about momentum mastered.

2025 gave us unforgettable moments but not everyone walked away better for it.In this special episode, we take a hard look at the five biggest fallers across football, MMA and boxing. Not just bad results, but collapsed seasons, derailed careers and entire systems that failed under pressure. Some of these stories involve clubs that completely lost their identity. Others focus on individuals whose talent never disappeared but whose timing, injuries, or decisions turned promise into frustration.This isn’t about cheap shots or hindsight bias. It’s about expectation versus reality how hype can unravel, how structures can fail even elite talent, and how quickly momentum can turn in modern sport. From catastrophic league campaigns to divisions that couldn’t deliver when the spotlight was brightest, we break down why these losses mattered and what they tell us about the state of sport in 2025.Expect strong opinions, uncomfortable truths and one entry that might split the room.