Week 1 of the 2025 UFL season is in the books, and it was full of memorable moments both on and off the field. There were upsets, records set and a whole lot of touchdowns scored.
It’s always fun to hear what players had to say during all those big plays. So with that, we’ve rounded up the best mic’d up moments from the opening weekend!
UFL Week 1: Best Mic’d up moments from around the league
“We’re going to use turbo to try to get them to jump.”
Renegades quarterback Luis Perez had a plan. After explicitly warning his huddle not to move, Perez waited for the snap and yelled, “turbo set!” And sure enough, he got Brahmas linebacker Garrett Nelson to jump.
Nelson was hit with a 5-yard neutral zone infraction penalty on the third-and-4 play, giving Arlington a new set of downs. Three minutes later, the Renegades scored their third touchdown of the day to take a commanding 24-3 lead in the third quarter.
“You don’t want that smoke!”
Kalen Ballage got into it with the San Antonio defense and reminded one player to “check the scoreboard” after a Renegades touchdown. Ballage had reason to talk smack, even if teammate De’Veon Smith was the one to carry the ball over the goal line.
Earlier in the game, Ballage set a UFL record for the longest touchdown run when he broke free for a 77-yard score. In its 33-9 rout, Arlington finished with 188 rushing yards, 110 of which came from Ballage.
The former Miami Dolphins running back was a quote machine all day. He later gave a Brahmas defender a little sound tackling advice, saying “You better go low because if you go high, that’s your ass!”
But Ballage was also on the receiving end of a fun mic’d up moment. On the Arlington sideline, a coach called out,”Where’s the big fella at?” and then dapped up the running back for his impressive, and quotable, performance.
“Oh s—!”
Perhaps the most relatable moment of the UFL weekend came when Battlehawks running back Jarveon Howard pulled a spin move on Roughnecks cornerback Marquis Wilson, who completely whiffed on a tackle attempt.
What more can you say when you land on your backside?
“You all right, baby?”
Perez didn’t throw a touchdown on Saturday, but the Renegades quarterback did complete a few two-point conversions. After one successful attempt, tight end Sal Cannella spun the football after catching it and started trash-talking San Antonio. Then Jacob Johanning jumped up to celebrate the score and landed awkwardly on his ankle, causing Cannella to immediately switch over to concern for the offensive lineman.
Now that’s being a good teammate.
“Oh yeah, I seen it off the break … Ohhh!”
Poor Jordan Ta’amu. He thought he had a clear touchdown when the DC quarterback dropped back to launch the ball to wide receiver Cornell Powell. But Ta’amu put a little too much air on the throw, which was just out of reach of Powell’s arms. Pain!
Fortunately for the Defenders, they still came away with the 18-11 upset win over the Birmingham Stallions.
“Somebody ripped my chain off back there.”
Howard put an exclamation point on St. Louis’ blowout 31-6 win when he ripped off a 74-yard touchdown, then the longest rushing score in UFL history until Ballage broke the record a day later.
At that point, between the “GOOOOO!” screaming on the mic, Howard breaking out an elaborate touchdown dance and quarterback Manny Wilkins coming off the bench to join in the celebration, there was a lot happening.
Once the noise died down, one Battlehawks teammate in the background took a moment to calmly note that he was missing his chain. Hopefully he found it afterward!
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