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JRE MMA Show #168 with Khalil Rountree Jr. Podcast Episode Description
Joe sits down with Khalil Rountree Jr., a professional mixed martial artist competing in the Light Heavyweight division of the UFC.www.ufc.com/athlete/khalil-rountree-jr
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JRE MMA Show #168 with Khalil Rountree Jr. Podcast Episode Top Keywords
JRE MMA Show #168 with Khalil Rountree Jr. Podcast Episode Summary
Based on the provided context, the phrase “has joined the group” refers to someone becoming a member of a group, band, club, or team. Throughout the conversation, there are multiple references to joining various groups, inviting members, and welcoming new people. Specific examples include:
– “we joined the band”
– “He should’ve joined the…”
– “Join the team.”
– “Welcome to the club.”
– “add one more bestie.”
– “they’re in, they’re in.”
– “invite you to…”
These statements all indicate the act of someone joining or being added to a group or collective. However, the context does not specify exactly who “has joined the group” in a particular instance. The general meaning is clear: it signifies the addition of a new member to a group. If you are looking for a specific individual who joined a specific group, that information is not explicitly provided in the context.
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JRE MMA Show #168 with Khalil Rountree Jr. Podcast Episode Transcript (Unedited)
Speaker: 0
00:01
Joe Rogan podcast. Check it out.
Speaker: 1
00:03
The Joe Rogan experience.
Speaker: 0
00:06
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Ai my day Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day.
Speaker: 1
00:13
Check. Check. Check. Check. Check. Where up?
Speaker: 2
00:14
What’s up? What up? How ai feeling? What’s going on?
Speaker: 1
00:17
Oh, man. Back from a amazing Thailand vacation.
Speaker: 2
00:23
Oh, really?
Speaker: 1
00:24
After that after the, after the ai, it just feels like I’ve been on, like, just a great vacation journey. Baku was amazing. Let me start off there. Please. Let me start off with Baku, Azerbaijan. Oh ai gosh. What a place.
Speaker: 2
00:41
I heard it’s amazing there. Absolutely incredible. Everybody who went there was raving about how great it was.
Speaker: 1
00:45
Absolutely incredible. When we got the news, like, okay, the fight’s gonna be postponed. It’s gonna go into Baku. I ai never heard of the place in my life. I agreed without even looking it up. You know? But in my mind, I was thinking ai, okay. This is a place I’ve never heard of. You know?
Speaker: 1
01:01
I started thinking like, I don’t know. It’s probably gonna be something similar to, like, Saudi, and it’s probably just ai a lot of desert, blah blah blah. And I get there, and my mind was absolutely blown. Amazing treatment from Baku City Circuit. Welcome this in. The fans were some of the best I’ve ever encountered, man.
Speaker: 1
01:23
They were so happy to have the UFC there. Everyone in the streets, like, people who weren’t even fight fans were just excited that the UFC was in Baku. So, like, that added to the experience. And then, it’s just beautiful, man. Ai
Speaker: 2
01:40
What is it like? What does it look like?
Speaker: 1
01:42
So where we were Is it right? Yeah. So that’s Old Town. So I did a tour through there. Woah.
Speaker: 2
01:47
Four is Old Town.
Speaker: 1
01:48
It I forgot I so I forgot, but I know that 4,000 people still live in Old Town. There’s boutique hotels in there. There’s just so much history, as, like, when it was built, kind of what they’re known for. I don’t remember what that building is, but the architecture there is one of the things that that’s the, the the flame towers.
Speaker: 1
02:14
So at night, there’s just projections and, like, it’ll be, like, the flag or it’ll just it’ll actually be, like, flames, because Baku is, known for oil, like, being one of the first oil countries. This is the arya museum, an amazing place full of carpets that are, like, century years old.
Speaker: 2
02:33
They built it to look like a carpet. How fucking why
Speaker: 1
02:37
is that? And all these carpets are handmade, like, passed down generation after generation. So, like, they tell you how deep the the the the culture and, like, the stories of these carpets and, like, how oh ai god. They the and clean clean, friendly people.
Speaker: 2
02:54
That’s a bunch of people that went there ai to stay for a few days.
Speaker: 1
02:57
I would Sana honestly, I wish that I would have stayed longer. I’ve already booked family trips. I’ve told everybody we’re going back to Baku. Wow. Meh. Ai cool. Just thinking about it, I’m like, dude, this is a place that I want to I want to visit for the rest of my life. I wanna just keep going back to Baq Koopman.
Speaker: 2
03:16
That’s dope. Yeah. So And, obviously, you had an amazing result there too.
Speaker: 1
03:21
Yeah. I think I think that the, you know, I think that it really played into just my performance. I was just in a really good place. Let me okay. I was in a good place, but I was also in kind of a fucked up state. Like, not gonna lie. I was just so happy to be across the world doing what I love to do and to be, like, treated, like, we’re actually appreciated for, you know, like, for what we do.
Speaker: 1
03:50
And, so that helped me get through all the other shit that I What
Speaker: 2
03:53
was the other shit? What was going on?
Speaker: 1
03:55
Oh, man. So I knew that we were gonna be jet lagged no matter what. I knew it because we’re traveling, you know, super
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04:03
far. Hour flight. Right?
Speaker: 1
04:04
Yeah. Super long flight. So I knew we were gonna be jet lagged, so I made sure that we got there two weeks early to adjust. It took about six almost about a week to, like, fully adjust. And then sai during fight speak, sai saloni day first day of fight week, I’m, like, throwing up and shit and nonstop.
Speaker: 2
04:28
Oh, no. And I’m like, okay. This is great.
Speaker: 1
04:31
It is exactly what I wanna be feeling right now. You know? Pressure’s on. I gotta fight. You know? Like, I’m super motivated. Yeah. And, I’m just like, I don’t know what I’m what am I gonna do, man? Like What was it?
Speaker: 2
04:45
I don’t even know. Food poisoning?
Speaker: 1
04:47
I I don’t think so. Ai everybody everybody that, I was with, we all ate the same thing.
Speaker: 2
04:55
You were you were the only one who got sick. I was
Speaker: 1
04:56
the only one, man. I was the only one. Wow. And so
Speaker: 2
04:59
And you don’t cut a ton of weight.
Speaker: 1
05:01
No. Sai, yeah, I think what was
Speaker: 2
05:04
What do you walk around at?
Speaker: 1
05:05
Right now, I meh, vacation modem, you know, 02:28, 02:30, something around
Speaker: 2
05:10
Ai, compared to guys. I don’t
Speaker: 1
05:11
get over 02:30. I’ll never Pereira.
Speaker: 2
05:13
Yeah. You know, he cuts a ton.
Speaker: 1
05:15
Yeah. If I I just do not let myself get over two thirty. That’s just, like, my that’s my oath to myself.
Speaker: 2
05:23
And then in camp, what do you get down to?
Speaker: 1
05:26
20 I’d say between twenty and twenty five is where I like to saloni. Two twenty, two twenty five. And ai in there, I’m good because I know that that’s where I’m gonna fight at. So when I’m in camp, it’s, you know
Speaker: 2
05:38
And then when do you start your cut?
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05:40
So the way that it happens is the last ai two weeks, I don’t necessarily do too much of, like, a diet change. It’s just my like, I’m always looking to peak on fight day, not like a peak plateau format that a lot of people go by. So I’d say usually let’s say we weigh in on Ai.
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06:02
That Tuesday, Ai around 02:14
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06:08
Oh, okay.
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06:09
02:13, something like
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06:11
that. Nice.
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06:12
And then, you know, those last days is kinda ai water load, proteins, and fats. That’s a nice cut. I sit in the sauna no matter what, like, an hour, maybe. Like, my weight cut this time took a hit mitts for an hour and a half. I laid down in a sauna blanket, and I was on weight. Like, I so it was, like, under two hours for me to be on there.
Speaker: 2
06:34
So you’re not depleted Not at all. Feel good? And how long did it take for that cold to get out of your system or whatever it was?
Speaker: 1
06:41
I still felt it, I still felt it a bit on ai day, but there was nothing that was going to like, my mind for like, through this camp, through this fight, man, like, I’m so happy for everything that I went through, honestly. Like, there was nothing that was going to take away, like, my shine or my joy or my feeling of, like, being ready, being prepared.
Speaker: 1
07:04
It was it was a battle with my mind, and every day Sai had to make a choice to, like, stay on. To just be better, to be bigger, to be to be happy, to just, you know, to just, like, embrace everything. This was all, like, everything’s just been about embracing the obstacles that that come.
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07:23
So the last time we talked was before the Pereira fight. Yep. It was great fight.
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07:27
Thank you. You
Speaker: 2
07:28
had some great success. It was a tough ai, and then, what is what is it like after that fight? Sai, you face the best in the world and you know that you can hang with them. You lost the fight, but you didn’t gain a ton of experience. You went five rounds with one of the greatest. And what is it like after that?
Speaker: 1
07:52
I’d sai, everything seems very different now. I have been since the Pereira fight, I’ve been to, I’d say, more than six countries. And every Ai there’s fans there. Everyone, like, knows who I am now. And that is something that was a shock to me, especially coming off a loss and just knowing that, like, I gave my all in that fight, and that’s, I guess, what the people wanted from me to get that type of, like, acknowledgment because I’ve been in the UFC for so long.
Speaker: 1
08:36
But that fight, I guess, really showed people, like, who I am, and I got to show the world who I am and, against a guy like Alex. So now I feel like I’ve at least kind of made my mark and been like, hey. I’m here. You know? And so people are now like, okay.
Speaker: 1
08:56
Khalil, I know this guy is. You can say the name, and now people kind of, you know, they’re they’re familiar with with who I am now. But the other thing that it showed me was that I know I now know who I am and what I’m capable of. I spent majority of that fight just soaking in the moment and just like, oh, I’m here. I’m here. I’m here. I was excited to be there.
Speaker: 1
09:27
I gave everything I had, but then going back and watching it, I’m like, oh, I saw a lot of the mistakes that I made. What mistakes specifically? The number one mistake that I think was made in that fight is that it was my first five rounder. And when I was going into the fourth because I took a lot of damage in in the in the end of the like, middle to end of the third.
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09:50
So I was up one and two. The beginning of three, I was starting to kinda, he started to kinda take over halfway through the round. And once he started hitting me, I was like, oh, shit. He’s established his range, and now I’m feeling it. So it wasn’t necessarily ai a cardio thing.
Speaker: 1
10:08
It was just ai I started taking damage, and everybody knows this guy hits hard. So I was taking the damage. I was rocked. I was dizzy going into the fourth in the in the break. I remember John Wood saying, alright, man. Like, you’re doing great. Ten more minutes.
Speaker: 1
10:27
Like, you can do anything ten minutes. Just stick in there. We got this. And because I wasn’t familiar with the five rounds, I took ten minutes as sell out. So in the fourth round, I came out, like, ready to, you know, I wasn’t thinking with the mindset of, like, I’m up to he just took the third, fourth round.
Speaker: 1
10:48
I need to maybe relax, you know, maybe yourself a cliff. Not get hit. Right. You know, whatever. Fourth round, I came out.
Speaker: 1
10:57
I bit down, and I went to war. I think that’s what lost me the fight for me personally.
Speaker: 2
11:04
So you made a lot of adjustments in the Jamal Hill ai?
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11:06
1000%.
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11:07
Yeah. You could see it. You could see first of all, what a performance.
Speaker: 1
11:11
Thank you.
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11:11
I mean, he dominated a world champion. I mean, dominated him. It was such a clear cut victory. And it was a victory where a lot of people thought that you were gonna struggle with him. And, you know, you just really you really showed a level above the Pereira ai. And I think maybe part of it is what you’re talking about, like choosing when to engage and when not to engage.
Speaker: 2
11:35
Ai if there’s moments in that fight where you were dominating the fight, but there’s moments where he was coming after you. You just moved. You just moved. You moved away from ram. And I know it pissed him off, but it’s like, hey, meh. You know, you’re way ahead. Mhmm.
Speaker: 2
11:48
You’re way ahead and you were you were dominating the exchanges. Then when you chose to exchange with him, you were hurting him. Yeah. And dropping him. It was very impressive, man.
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11:56
Thank you. And that was, that was the product of, you know, really reviewing mistakes and
Speaker: 2
12:06
You also do some wild shit like standing hammer fists. Because that’s how you practice? Absolutely, man. That’s a crazy move, man.
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12:14
We’re artists. You know? Ai think that that’s one thing that, you know, I try my best to always embody the artist in mixed martial arts. I think it gets lost in the growth of the sport of MMA. You know? But, you know, from this the past conversations we have and you understanding kind of how Ai was before, like, man, I need some type of outlet for creativity, you know,
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12:38
and I And that’s what it is. Standing here.
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12:40
Ai mean, my mind, you know, just meh essence is art. So I’m like, how can I, you know, paint this picture of, like, expression of of combat? You know what I mean? Like, there’s so many different we got it’s a lot. We got Krav Maga. We got all these things, and it’s ai, let me paint, you know, like, what can I use to, you know, to to to to
Speaker: 2
13:01
That’s a bold thing to do to use something very creative like that on a world champion too?
Speaker: 1
13:08
Jamal Hill’s a dangerous guy. Yeah. He’s dangerous, man.
Speaker: 2
13:10
He hit him with a standing hammer fist.
Speaker: 1
13:12
Yeah. I’m dangerous too, you know. Like, I bryden to yeah. I I try to, like, I I I always try to insert myself into, you know, into these things too because I think about it. Yeah. Alex, fucking hard hit or dangerous ai, and I have to, like, yeah. Sai ram I. Let’s do it. You know? Alex or, Jamal, same thing.
Speaker: 1
13:30
Like, I know he’s got one punch power, you know, all these things. I’m like, let me insert myself. Let me take some chances. Let me be bold. You know?
Speaker: 1
13:37
I think that’s that’s
Speaker: 2
13:39
I think there’s an advantage that you have also as a lighter guy in that division is that you move quicker. And that was ai evident in that ai. That you’re, like, you know, there’s a range of light heavyweights and you’re on the smaller range. Yeah. Like, there’s a lot of guys like Ai, who’s bigger than you Yeah. Who’s the middleweight champion. Yeah. He’s fucking huge, man. Yeah. It’s the opposite thing. Ai?
Speaker: 2
13:59
He’s cutting a ton of weight. I don’t know what he cuts, but every time I interview him, I’m like, how? Yeah. How the fuck are you a hundred and eighty five pounds? You’re enormous. He looks like a heavyweight.
Speaker: 1
14:09
Yeah.
Speaker: 2
14:09
And he is a heavyweight when he fights. I mean, he’s over two zero five for sure.
Speaker: 1
14:13
Yeah. These ai, they blow up. Blow up.
Speaker: 2
14:16
And you don’t. And I think because of that, you have this, you have speed and not just speed of the strikes, but the way you move in and out. Mhmm. You know, it’s ai when you close the distance on Jamal, you could see it was ai there were some moments where I think he was surprised by the speed in which you were able to close the distance.
Speaker: 1
14:34
Yeah. I think so as well. There were yeah. There were some reactions in there that I was picking up on. Ai could see a bit of frustration. You know? Yeah. I feel like I was able to read a lot of the things before they, you know, before they would come. And, yeah. I I’m I mean, I heard everything that his coaches were saying.
Speaker: 1
14:57
And in my mind, I was just seeing him struggle with, like, not being able to react the way he wanted, and maybe that was because, you know, there was there was a speed that they weren’t necessarily dealing with.
Speaker: 2
15:08
The speed and also the leg kicks. You you fucked him up early with leg kicks. Yeah. And it really had a significant effect when you see him switching stances and he doesn’t like to stand orthodox.
Speaker: 1
15:19
Yeah. It was
Speaker: 2
15:20
you saw a lot of changes.
Speaker: 1
15:21
Yeah. He he did. I can I can say that, you know, there were some improvements made? I think that he probably spent some more time working on his footwork. He was a lot less flat footed than he usually is. I could tell that, like, his a lot of the ai, his toes were pointed at me, and that wasn’t what I studied. You know what I mean?
Speaker: 1
15:43
Like So
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15:44
he made some changes.
Speaker: 1
15:44
He made some changes.
Speaker: 2
15:45
He even landed some very good leg kick specifically in the first round.
Speaker: 1
15:48
Yeah. Thank you. Ai always do my best to, you know, try to channel my Muay Thai and Yeah.
Speaker: 2
15:56
No. You do. You’re like one of the few like, I meh we talked about that about the Eric Anderson ai. Like, you when you came back from Thailand the first time, you you were fighting like a tie. Mhmm. Meh and DC were having a blast with it. We’re like, look at this. Like, light on the front foot, it was a, like, totally different approach. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
16:12
But, and he landed some very good leg kicks in the first round too. It was a good exchange, but yours were doing a lot more damage.
Speaker: 1
16:18
Yeah. He started off with the leg kicks. Like, I think he threw maybe three or four calf kicks before I actually started answering back. Yeah. He so he started it, and I was just like, okay. Cool. If this is the game we’re playing, like, I love this game. You know? Like, I love this game. So, yeah. It was it was it was a great fight, man.
Speaker: 2
16:40
Why did you start the beginning of the fight, like, with your hands down just, like, walking towards him?
Speaker: 1
16:45
Because that’s how I felt, Joe. I mean, like, I I feel ai in that fight so there was there was not necessarily, like, beef between Jamal and I. Like, we never really exchanged you know, there wasn’t any, like, heated discussions or anything. But we all have phones. We all have social media.
Speaker: 1
17:07
We all you know, I get Google alerts and stuff anytime I’m mentioned. And so, like, I’ve seen things that were said, and I’m just like, okay. Whatever. I don’t agree with it, and I don’t, you know, whatever. If this guy looks at me as however, that’s just his opinion.
Speaker: 2
17:22
What was he saying? Like, what was it?
Speaker: 1
17:24
It just ai I think it were, like, things arya about, like, the Alex fight or just saying that, like, he’s gonna outskill me or, you know, I don’t belong in the division. Just, you know, things like that. Like, don’t take my exact word for it, but that’s kinda how like, that’s the stuff that I kinda saw.
Speaker: 1
17:39
So the for me, there was no real reason to show any, like, speak, you know, if we’re in the same building, if we’re in the same ram. I just like, whatever. I wanted to just kinda block them out. And then during the weigh ins so I had a I had a press conference, and they were saying ai, hey.
Speaker: 1
18:04
In the Alex fight, you know, you there was a lot of blood. You got cut up. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Can we expect the same thing from you in this fight? And I said, no. There’s not gonna be any blood on my face.
Speaker: 1
18:14
How you’re interviewing me now is how you’re gonna interview it me after the fight. I’m gonna look the same. He didn’t like that. I didn’t say his name, but he didn’t like that. And so at the weigh ins, he come like and mind you, we had three days before the weigh ins, and we’ve seen each other in the hotel room and blah blah blah or in the hotel.
Speaker: 1
18:38
You know? There were many more opportunities for him to say what he said, but he chose to do it at the weigh ins in front of Dana White. And I thought that was ai, come on.
Speaker: 2
18:48
What did he say?
Speaker: 1
18:49
He said, oh, you’re gonna bleed. You’re gonna bleed. You better believe that. You’re gonna bleed, like, in my face. Like, oh, I’m a make you bleed. And I was just like, okay. Like, sure. You know? Like, that was just really, like, internally, like, I’m like, okay. Sure. Yeah. Whatever.
Speaker: 1
19:05
And Why did you
Speaker: 2
19:07
think that you wouldn’t get cut? Like, what made you think?
Speaker: 1
19:12
I knew how I’ve been training and what I’m prepared for, and I know the type of athlete and fighter and man that I ram, and I just knew that it wasn’t gonna happen. I was just that confident in my abilities and the work that I put in that I just knew it wasn’t gonna happen.
Speaker: 2
19:25
It’s pretty wild also considering you’re coming off of a loss, so you meh more confidence coming off of a loss.
Speaker: 1
19:30
100%. Because the loss just showed me that there’s more work to do. You know? Like, people always say back to the drawing boards and, like, it was more than the drawing boards for me. It was, like, back to the dirt, back to the Vegas weather, back to the dying on the assault bike, back to challenging myself, back to going deeper.
Speaker: 1
19:51
Who am I really? What am I really capable of? And, you know, ai, that that was it. It was just, like, deep, deep internal digging to get out and to discover what I’m made of. And so in that comes confidence, and that comes ai, I Ai know what I’m capable of, and I know what I can do. And so that’s how I felt.
Speaker: 1
20:15
You know? Wow. Sai that’s why I walked out like that because I was just like
Speaker: 2
20:21
because it’s kinda wild. I was, what are you doing?
Speaker: 1
20:23
Yeah. But I was also prepared. You know? Like, I didn’t wanna rush anything. Like, nothing needed to be rushed. Like, the cage is closed, and we got twenty five minutes. I’m gonna run out. You know? Ai Right. Right. No. Like, Sai walk here.
Speaker: 1
20:37
I know that you’re not gonna do anything. I wasn’t threatened. Like, that that statement in my face didn’t, like I was just ai, oh god. Here we go again. You know what I mean? Like, another guy that wants to, like, get in my face. Like yeah. And I did the job that needed to be done.
Speaker: 2
20:59
This is a very measured performance, and some people didn’t like that. Some people, you know, at the casuals, I think. There’s casuals that
Speaker: 1
21:07
They wanted to see blood.
Speaker: 2
21:08
They just wanna see chaos. They don’t care about your health. They don’t care about
Speaker: 1
21:11
me at the age of 50 with you know what I mean? When this is all over, and I want my knees and my hands and my fingers and everything to work. Yeah. And I wanna be able to speak sentences and go through the airport on both my feet and not in a wheelchair.
Speaker: 2
21:25
They don’t
Speaker: 1
21:26
care about that.
Speaker: 2
21:26
No. And that’s okay. Yeah. It’s okay.
Speaker: 1
21:30
I mean You know, like
Speaker: 2
21:31
The only time it bothers me when referees react. Like, when referees separate people because of booing. Like, don’t do that. Don’t do that.
Speaker: 1
21:39
Yeah. You can’t give The referees can’t be influenced by
Speaker: 2
21:42
the crowd. Don’t don’t give into the casuals. You
Speaker: 1
21:44
can’t, man. Because I thought
Speaker: 2
21:46
it was a very smart performance. Like, if you’re gonna fight a guy like Jamal, who’s an awesome counter striker, one punch knockout power, got a series of bodies behind him. Like, he’s knocked out a lot of dudes. Yeah. He knows how to do it. You gotta fight him smart.
Speaker: 1
22:00
For sure.
Speaker: 2
22:00
And that’s what he did.
Speaker: 1
22:01
And I wasn’t yeah. I Ai just, like, to be clear, I know the things that I said can come off as, like, overly confident or whatever. I wasn’t sleeping on Vatsal, you know? Like, I knew what he was capable of, and I trained hard for him. I really did. Every day was was dedication.
Speaker: 1
22:16
Every day was, you know, strategy and planning.
Speaker: 2
22:19
When did you feel like everything was coming together in the fight?
Speaker: 1
22:25
Before the fight. Right? Yeah. The the the the ai for me happened before the fight. Like I said, I think with camp, the training, you know, my head train like, with John, with Lorenzo, Christian, just the guys who are in my circle, and the work that we do, I just they really helped me with, you know, a lot a lot of confidence and a clear vision and a path to victory, and I just stuck to it.
Speaker: 1
22:57
So I just had a feeling that if I if I stick to the plan, I win this fight.
Speaker: 2
23:03
And you did. Yeah. It was it was very measured, very smart, you know, and I liked it. I really enjoyed it.
Speaker: 1
23:10
Thank you.
Speaker: 2
23:11
I enjoyed it because I like when people fight smart. I really do. When people maximize the amount of damage that they put out, minimize amount of damage they receive in return, That’s what he did.
Speaker: 1
23:20
Yeah. And so yeah. Now we got the next one, Jiri Prohaska. Yeah. Did you see that news?
Speaker: 2
23:25
I did.
Speaker: 1
23:26
Just saw it yesterday. Yeah. I did. So this is man, I’m excited about this fight. Yeah. I really am. Another guy who’s you know what I mean? Like, former champion, very skilled, very dangerous.
Speaker: 2
23:38
Mhmm. Another guy’s gotten a lot better since the prayer fight
Speaker: 1
23:41
too. He’s gotten a lot better since the prayer fight. He’s dynamic. He’s, you know, he’s strategic.
Speaker: 2
23:47
He’s awkward as fuck too.
Speaker: 1
23:49
Yeah. He can be awkward.
Speaker: 2
23:50
He’s so weird.
Speaker: 1
23:52
He’s the weirdest. And it’s in Vegas. So Yeah. This is great. It’s gonna be the first time since the go kansaki fight that I’ve been able to fight in front of a crowd.
Speaker: 2
24:02
Oh, is that really? My hometown. No kidding.
Speaker: 1
24:03
That was the last fight I had That’s crazy. In at T Mobile Arena in in front of the Las Vegas crowd.
Speaker: 2
24:09
I had not realized that. Yep. Oh, wow. Sai that’s that’s huge. Don’t have to fly. Don’t have to travel.
Speaker: 1
24:14
Don’t have to fly. Don’t have to travel. And then Las Vegas can come out and, you know Yeah. And support a local. So it’s that’s cool because with the growth of Las Vegas, we’re getting sports, you know, got the Raiders
Speaker: 2
24:27
Mhmm.
Speaker: 1
24:27
Getting a baseball team, you know, women’s basketball. It’s it’s it the the local scene in Vegas right now is I’m I’m proud of it, you know, to come from there and to see that now we have something besides just gambling and, you know, all the debauchery. Yeah. Yeah. So it’s it’s gonna be nice and, I’m very happy to, to represent that night.
Speaker: 2
24:49
So how do you train for a guy like Yuri? Like, what what do you do? I mean, are you gonna watch a lot of tape on him? Like, how do you prepare for a guy like that that’s very unusual?
Speaker: 1
25:01
Without giving away too much, I think that it just requires, you know, study, ai, passing any test. You know what I mean? Like, it it requires dedication and focus and, you know, doing the right study, making the right adjustments, and training. You know? It’s the ai, I think, is is art.
Speaker: 1
25:24
You know? Like, how we go about solving the the problem is for everybody to enjoy. But I think that, yeah, it comes it comes from study and good training partners as well. I think that that’s a huge a huge thing in in anybody’s training camp.
Speaker: 2
25:44
Do you have anybody that could emulate that ai? Or will you even try?
Speaker: 1
25:49
You know what? I to emulate someone’s style, I think, is it it’s helpful. It is. It it is helpful. But it’s very hard because you can never really truly, you know, be someone. So someone can give you certain looks that maybe you’ll see. So I don’t I don’t rely too heavily on, you know, on people emulating.
Speaker: 1
26:13
But I do appreciate, you know, bodies and people that are, around the same size just so I can, you know, get used to that body contact of maybe someone who’s a bit taller and
Speaker: 2
26:27
Yeah.
Speaker: 1
26:28
Not training with guys who are maybe shorter. You know? Like, if I had a short guy who can emulate my opponent.
Speaker: 2
26:34
It’s not gonna help me against a taller, like, tomorrow.
Speaker: 1
26:36
You know, it doesn’t help. Right. So if I have if I have a taller guy who maybe can’t emulate and I can do what I want to do against a taller body, then the rest is up to, like, my awareness and, like, making sure that, you know, a guy who maybe has this weird style okay. I’m I’m aware of that, but I know what I can do against someone of the same size.
Speaker: 2
26:57
Yuri’s just he’s so unusual and that a lot of times his hands are down really low. His his stance is very wide, and he moves back and forth like a cobra. Like, he he hinges at the waist more than probably anybody. Mhmm. He does a lot of unusual stuff that you could see guys, like, try to adjust to that when they’re inside the cage with them.
Speaker: 2
27:18
It’s ai, you know, this weird moment we have to think and consider these new possibilities.
Speaker: 1
27:23
Mhmm. Yeah. I think that, you know, like I said, I just I’ve just returned from, you know, a reset. And yeah. And now as soon as I leave here, I’m, you know, I’m locked back into samurai mode. You know?
Speaker: 2
27:45
What did you do in Thailand? Were you just train were you just vacation or doing training?
Speaker: 1
27:49
It was incredible, Joe. So, my wife and I got invited to Thailand from the Thailand Tourism Authority. Wow. So they invited us to come. They hosted us in Bangkok. Amazing hotel, Dusit Thani Hotel. You have to go. If you ever go to to to Bangkok, Dusit Thani. So they hosted us.
Speaker: 1
28:12
They took us to, like, a small or the smallest province in Thailand called Samut Songkram. And in that province, they are known for, having the best coconuts in all of Thailand. So all, like, coconut water, coconut sugar, all that stuff most likely comes from Samut Sana, saloni farm, a bee farm. What’s a salt farm? Salt farm.
Speaker: 1
28:38
So they they made these channels that come from, the nearest, like, body of water, and they get the salt. They extract the salt from the sea, and then they create a bunch of different things from it, you know, bath salts.
Speaker: 2
28:57
Oh, so they do it with some kind of machinery?
Speaker: 1
28:59
No. It’s like yeah. There’s a little bit yeah. It’s it looks like this. Yeah. Exactly.
Speaker: 2
29:04
Oh, so they do it by hand?
Speaker: 1
29:05
Yeah. They do it by hand. These people do they’re out there. Yeah. Just this is their daily life. And so we got to hang out with these people that tyler that, like, live in this province.
Speaker: 2
29:16
That’s how they do it?
Speaker: 1
29:17
Yeah, man.
Speaker: 2
29:18
I would have never known. So how are they getting salt out of the water like that? Like, what do you do to
Speaker: 1
29:23
I honestly like, I was so excited to be there that I probably missed out on a lot of the details, but that’s how it looked. Like, there were these windmills, and I know they’re like evaporates looks like. Yeah. The water evaporates, and then there’s, like, salt left at the bottom.
Speaker: 1
29:41
And then Break it to a
Speaker: 2
29:43
pile.
Speaker: 1
29:43
They rake it into a pile, and then it goes through other processes. But, it’s really cool. They’re just experienced like, they’re very passionate about. And there’s different salts from everywhere. Like, that up there on the right is salt. I don’t know where it came ram.
Speaker: 2
29:58
But that stuff that looks like like dark, like, cereal?
Speaker: 1
30:01
Yeah. It’s salt. Does it look like cereal? No. It’s but, ai, yeah. Yeah. Cornflakes. Yeah. Toasted cornflakes. That’s all. But yeah. And so they had different, like, salts that came from everywhere, and you can sai, how how it forms based off of, like, the, you know, the whatever ecosystem. Yeah.
Speaker: 1
30:24
So so cool. So that’s Samut Sakhon. We were in Samut Ram. And, really cool, man. So they we went on there. We went there.
Speaker: 1
30:32
They took a bunch of, I guess, influencers from around the world and, flew them into Thailand to welcome us and show us diff just different sides. It’s not always about, you know, the beaches in Phuket and all this stuff. Like, they they took us and then spread us out. So that’s where we got to go. And then, we went back to Bangkok and had this crazy cool gala. Was there. You ai? Like, oh, yeah.
Speaker: 1
30:58
Like, all these, you know, movie stars and and the, people from just, ai, the Thai government and stuff just showing people pretty meh, like, the heart of Thailand. So it was very welcoming. It was a really cool way to to kinda come back and and feel home again. And then I ended up staying an extra week or two. Same thing, Thailand tourism, you know, make sure that we, just continue that experience.
Speaker: 1
31:28
So we stayed at some other hotels, did, like, the boat ride cruise down the river, you know, just had dinner, just really got to to live it up and experience. You know?
Speaker: 2
31:36
So it was all basically vacationing, not training?
Speaker: 1
31:39
No training because it was fresh out of the fight. So I flew I was in Baku two weeks. I flew from Baku to Vegas, stayed in Vegas eight hours, and then flew from Vegas to Thailand. So I, like, went around the world in, like, twenty four hours. So I was fresh out the fight. So there was there
Speaker: 2
31:58
was a closer to go from Baku to Thailand?
Speaker: 1
32:01
Yeah. But the trips were booked separately. So, like, in order for that ticket to, you know, to actually work, I had to be in Vegas to fly out. But I did it. I thugged it out. And, yeah, it was it was the best way to recover. Like, this was a good recover recovery for me because I started the camp, for Jamal in February is when I heard about it.
Speaker: 1
32:24
But then it got postponed due to, like, one of his injuries. And, yeah. Wow. Yeah. And now I’m back.
Speaker: 1
32:31
And, when
Speaker: 2
32:32
you get a big victory like that over a guy like Jamal, what does what does that feel like in your head when you know the work paid off?
Speaker: 1
32:41
To just keep going, and to just to just keep, like, keep digging. You know? Like, it’s it’s nice because I’m before, you know, like, when I went I I went on that five fight win speak. I was, like, coming back from Ai, and, like, now I’m I’m fully in this. You know? I’m 100% in.
Speaker: 1
33:04
And with that, that means, like, I’m just I’m committed to digging this tunnel. And so, like, a win over Vatsal, like, that tunnel isn’t open yet. Like, I gotta get the belt first. You know? Like but I’m digging, and I saw, like, oh, maybe I got this, like, cool gemstone. I’m like, okay. Cool.
Speaker: 1
33:22
Put that in my bag. But, like, now I’m, you know, I’m committed. I’m still I’m still in the mind, you know, and ai so
Speaker: 2
33:29
on. Prize.
Speaker: 1
33:30
Eyes on the prize, man.
Speaker: 2
33:31
Yeah. Yeah. And the ai is it’s very interesting now. Right? Because Pereira lost to Ai, and they’re gonna rematch on that same card.
Speaker: 1
33:38
Same card.
Speaker: 2
33:39
Yeah. Which is gonna be wild. Yeah. That’s the main event. And then Komin is M’Rab and Corey Sandhagen, which is another awesome fight.
Speaker: 1
33:46
Yeah.
Speaker: 2
33:47
So it’s gonna be one of those cards. Yeah. I mean, right now It’s gonna
Speaker: 1
33:50
be a busy night for John Wood. He got me Amarab the same night.
Speaker: 2
33:54
Just those three fights. Just that that’s an insane card if obviously, if it stays together, MMA is rough with that. People get injured.
Speaker: 1
34:02
Mhmm.
Speaker: 2
34:02
But if that card stays together the way it’s pieced up right now just with those three, I
Speaker: 1
34:07
mean, whoo.
Speaker: 2
34:08
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Speaker: 2
34:31
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Speaker: 2
34:49
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Speaker: 2
35:14
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Speaker: 1
35:26
From what I’ve seen so far and, like, just the the text that I’ve gotten, yeah, a lot of people are really excited about it, which hypes me up and makes me wanna, you know, train smarter.
Speaker: 2
35:36
Well, you know, Yuri, who also beat Jamal in one of his last fights, looked fantastic in that fight. And coming off of the Pereira fight, he also made some big changes and big improvements.
Speaker: 1
35:48
Mhmm.
Speaker: 2
35:48
That’s one of the things that makes your fight with him so much more interesting.
Speaker: 1
35:51
Yeah. Because I I’m sure from his last even a loss to Pereira, he I knew him coming back, he mentioned it. Like, he wants he wants to fight for the title again. You know what I mean? Like so he’s he’s hungry for the ai, but again as well
Speaker: 2
36:09
Mhmm.
Speaker: 1
36:09
And so am I. And, yeah, we both made the adjustments. So I think it’s
Speaker: 2
36:14
The thing is though, it’s ai, he lost twice, you lost once. So it’s ai, it’s a little tougher to sell his fight Mhmm. Than it is to sell a rematch with you. And I think you probably had more success, certainly, than him in the second fight. The second right fight, he he got kinda tuned up.
Speaker: 1
36:32
Yeah. I think second round.
Speaker: 2
36:34
Yeah. Second round Well, the first round, he got dropped hard. Dropped hard
Speaker: 1
36:37
and then came out. Yeah. Second round had had kicked. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
36:40
He was out of it going to the second. Mhmm. That left hook landed clean Yeah. At the end of it could have been the o the end of the fight right there.
Speaker: 1
36:47
Yeah. No. Those those, Perez got a different power, ram, for sure. Like, it’s it it feels like a stone.
Speaker: 2
36:57
Does it it feels remarkably different? Remarkably. Really?
Speaker: 1
37:01
Yeah. Getting punched. I’ve never been punched as hard as I did when I fought Pereira, like, ever. In sparring, There was just something it’s kinda crazy because, like, you just I I give credit where credit’s due. You know? Like, I don’t wanna gas him up too much, but there is just one thing, and it’s ai, I don’t know. I’ve I think that it’s true. It’s real.
Speaker: 1
37:27
You know what I mean?
Speaker: 2
37:28
Like Well, it’s obviously real.
Speaker: 1
37:29
Yeah. It’s it’s real. The power the power of the strength is real. It’s not it’s not anything lucky. It’s calculated. But when it lands, it’s like yeah.
Speaker: 2
37:36
Now he was a guy I talked to a big time when he was in glory when he when I found out he was coming over to the UFC, I was like, buckle up because this is just different. Mhmm. He just hits different. And, you know, his frame’s different too. It’s a very his Yeah. Moves different.
Speaker: 1
37:51
I remember when, like, during the weigh ins, when we faced off and, like, he just bent his arms up like this, and I was like, fuck. This is a big man. Like, you know, like, we weigh the same, but, like, you know, like, that could like, I was like, okay. This is a big guy. Like, because he just bent his arya, and, like, his his hand was kinda, like, right near my face. So I could see just, like, you know The mask?
Speaker: 1
38:15
The mask. So it’s ai, boom. And it was and I was ai, okay.
Speaker: 2
38:18
How the fuck did that guy weigh one eighty five?
Speaker: 1
38:20
I don’t know.
Speaker: 2
38:20
That’s what I wanna know.
Speaker: 1
38:21
Yeah. I don’t know. What kind of Torture. You was gonna be on torture, meh.
Speaker: 2
38:24
It must bryden well, I think that’s one of the things that contribute to is is he knocking him out. Other than the perfect punch, I mean, Izzy landed an absolutely perfect punch.
Speaker: 1
38:33
Yeah.
Speaker: 2
38:33
But I think, you mean, it’s well noted that when guys lose that much weight, they’re a little bit more vulnerable to getting hit.
Speaker: 1
38:40
Yeah. 100%, meh. And you you watched the, the Porea ai. I’m sure. Oh, yeah. You you were there. No?
Speaker: 2
38:48
No. I wasn’t there.
Speaker: 1
38:49
You weren’t there.
Speaker: 2
38:49
The last one. You mean with Matt?
Speaker: 1
38:50
Yeah. With Matt. Yeah. Pretty sick, man. Very good. I was very happy. And what a cool, like I don’t know. I like what the UFC is doing now with, like, the exits. You know, like, Anthony Smith got a sick exit. Like Mhmm. Dustin’s got a sick exit. For me, I don’t know. I that that was kinda one of the highlights of of that night for me.
Speaker: 1
39:09
Not only did I feel like they both put on a really good fight, I just thought, like, what a cool way to to be able to just, like, do that much work and then, like, be appreciated for ai. Mhmm. Win or lose. I think, yeah, maybe the tides are changing a little bit. Maybe you know?
Speaker: 1
39:25
What
Speaker: 2
39:25
what? What do you mean?
Speaker: 1
39:26
Like, I felt like for a long time and still to this day, ai it’s still pretty, like, heavy. But to lose in MMA was almost kinda like the end of the world
Speaker: 2
39:41
to the fans. Because it is in boxing.
Speaker: 1
39:43
Yeah. You know?
Speaker: 2
39:44
In boxing, everybody wants to be undefeated.
Speaker: 1
39:46
Yeah. Like, undefeated and, like, you know, sometimes, like, someone can be on a tear and then they, you know, they lose and then, like, you can just see the direction of the of the support, like Mhmm. Completely shift. Like, sai, fluke. You know? But, yeah, I think that it’s you know, when I see things like, you know, Dustin’s exit and all that stuff, granted, he did a lot in the company, and he’s he’s done a lot in his career.
Speaker: 1
40:11
But to see that kinda gave me hope. Like, okay. Maybe this will, you know, give the fans a little bit of different perspective, and maybe it can start to shift towards, like Appreciating people. Appreciating the fighter, man.
Speaker: 2
40:25
Yeah.
Speaker: 1
40:25
Yeah. Like, appreciating the fighter for for what we do. It’s not it’s not the easiest job. We don’t get paid the most. You know? Like so, like yeah. Like, a little appreciation goes a long way, win or lose, for sure.
Speaker: 2
40:38
Yeah. I hope the tide is turning in that direction too.
Speaker: 1
40:41
Man.
Speaker: 2
40:41
I just people need to it’s like again, it’s casuals. It’s like people love it’s one of the things that I really struggled with in the early days of commentary is that regular sports people were starting to do MMA commentary.
Speaker: 1
40:58
Mhmm.
Speaker: 2
40:58
And they were talking about fighters the same way they would talk about, like, a football player drops a pass or a basketball player misses a shot very disrespectfully Yeah. Choked. They were saying they were saying a lot of shit. I was like, hey, hey, hey, you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.
Speaker: 2
41:16
Like, this is a wrong sport to be coming over here and talking like that. For sure. You know, in the early days in particular, there was a lot of that. There was a lot of people that they wanted to get credit for their work by just being that arrogant. You know, there’s like a bunch of those people in the sports world. They’re just ai insulting Mhmm. Air.
Speaker: 2
41:35
And then, you know, there’s a long history of athletes meeting those people and fucking them up and
Speaker: 1
41:40
slapping them.
Speaker: 2
41:41
It’s just it’s just super disrespectful and I don’t know why. But but there there’s, like, a culture, particularly in Meh, that embraces that and that likes that because that’s the kind of talk that ai dum dums have when they’re on the job. And ai, did you see him last night? Fucking loser. Yeah. Yeah. Missed that three pointer. Yeah. You should’ve passed the ball. Like, you know, shut the fuck up, man.
Speaker: 2
42:04
It’s I hate that shit. I hate that shit because I didn’t do a lot of team sports, you know. I I only was involved mostly in combat sports when I was a kid. And so disrespect like that was like, God, you don’t know what you’re even talking about.
Speaker: 1
42:20
Yeah. It’s annoying, man.
Speaker: 2
42:21
You don’t understand what this is. These guys are risking their fucking life. It’s different than everything else you watch. Yeah. You miss a basketball, you miss it going at the hoop. Okay. Yeah. Next day, you know, you get to shoot some more basketballs and practice, and then you’ll be playing in a few days. Mhmm. And you’re back at it. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
42:39
With ai, it’s your fucking soul.
Speaker: 1
42:42
It’s everything. Oh, 100% bryden nose. Something like that.
Speaker: 2
42:46
People bums. It’s like shut your mouth.
Speaker: 1
42:49
Yeah, dude. Stop. It yeah. It it’s super annoying. And that also brings the thought, like, I went to the s speak, and that was really cool. My first time going to the s b’s and seeing all these other athletes, you know, that we see on football, you know, just on on television being in the same room.
Speaker: 1
43:07
It was amazing. And I remember seeing just, like, the opening video. And, I think there might have been maybe one clip of an MMA fight, but I’m listening to all the, like, awards given out and, you know, best play and all this stuff. And I was just thinking, meh, I know MMA is is new, and Ai obviously, it’s growing because we’re here.
Speaker: 1
43:35
And, you know, they got Jon Jones in the crowd, and they got Merab here. You know? So it’s growing. They’re they’re starting to acknowledge us, but, like, I can’t wait until the day where, like, there’s more fights on, you know, on in the ESPYs. Yeah.
Speaker: 1
43:49
Where what we’re doing great things. You know what I mean? I feel like
Speaker: 2
43:54
It’s the most exciting sport
Speaker: 1
43:56
on Earth. It’s so exciting, man. And even, like, I had, you know, pro hockey players, all these guys coming up like, oh, man, watch your flight. You know? So, like, the even even the athletes that are playing the NFL, NHL, and and MLB, all these things, they’re they’re even watching what we’re doing. Oh, yeah. I’m sure.
Speaker: 1
44:12
I think it’s you know, I’m I’m excited for the growth of the sport as well. And Ai, you know, hopefully, the next generation or even sooner will be able to know what it’s like to be an MMA fighter and still get, like, an ESP award.
Speaker: 2
44:26
I wonder what’s gonna happen if the UFC doesn’t renew the ESPN contract. Mhmm. Because there’s this negotiation thing that’s going on right now, and I don’t know where they’re gonna land. There’s talk of Netflix. There’s talk of other networks. There’s a bunch of different talk.
Speaker: 2
44:40
And the one of the things that we benefit from is ESPN, not just as the host of the fights, but also covering the fights. All the additional coverage, all the sports center talk, all the different shows that they have on ESPN plus, the post fight shows. Yeah. Those are all huge. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
44:57
You know, the breakdown, people love that shit.
Speaker: 1
44:59
No. They do. They love
Speaker: 2
45:01
the pre fight breakdowns. Pre fight breakdown, Algebra, Cameron. Yeah.
Speaker: 1
45:06
Ai think, yeah, I think it’s great. I would Shah Evans. Yeah. It’s gotta it’s gotta stick around, man. Like, I think I
Speaker: 2
45:13
hope so. I I love ESPN, and I love the I I like getting it getting it that way off the app. It’s easy.
Speaker: 1
45:19
Mhmm. You know? And Ai think it helps us too. I mean, it definitely helped the sport grow. Right? And I think that people who I think it helped us as fighters gain those fans who are, you know, football fans.
Speaker: 2
45:30
Oh, yeah.
Speaker: 1
45:30
People who just have ESPN on all day. Yep. You know what I mean? Or in a PT clinic, it’s just like, okay. Yep. ESPN’s on,
Speaker: 2
45:37
you
Speaker: 1
45:38
know, and to be able to, yeah, to be shown through vatsal, Ai think it’s been really helpful to us. And And
Speaker: 2
45:44
the thing is it’s ai, you can get converted to a fan with one fight.
Speaker: 1
45:48
Mhmm. All you
Speaker: 2
45:49
need is one undercard banger. One undercard banger, you’re like, oh, shit.
Speaker: 1
45:53
I mean, that was me with the Alex fight. It was honestly, dude, like, these people came out of nowhere. Like, one fight changed my life. Wow. Like, one fight changed my life, dude. It’s it’s Well,
Speaker: 2
46:05
you dropped him. You had great moments in that fight. Yeah. You
Speaker: 1
46:08
know? Dude, off topic. What’s it like to be Joe Rogan these days? What do you mean? What’s it like? I’m here. Welcome to the Khalil Rountree experience. Today’s guest, we have Joe Rogan joining us. Joe, how you doing, man?
Speaker: 2
46:26
It’s pretty much the same for me. Really? I get to sit down and talk to cool people. Yeah. And I live my life pretty insulated. That’s good. So I don’t deal with all the hoopla Yeah. And chitter chatter. Yeah. I just keep it moving. Okay. That’s the way I stay sane.
Speaker: 2
46:42
You gotta just keep it moving. Yeah. Yeah. My day is basically the same every day. Get up early, write, shoot arrows, get in the cold plunge, lift weights, work out, do what I gotta do,
Speaker: 1
46:52
come here. Okay.
Speaker: 2
46:53
It’s the same. Then I go to the club, tell jokes, go home, go to bed, rinse, wash, repeat. That’s what I do.
Speaker: 1
47:00
Nice.
Speaker: 2
47:01
I I don’t do anything any different. So as chaotic as it seems, it’s the same for me. Okay. I think what fucks people up is when they get caught up in other people talking about them, and then they get involved in it, and then they start reading things, and they start thinking, is that who I am or is this who I am?
Speaker: 2
47:18
Who’s right? Am I a fucking loser? Am I the coolest guy ever? Who am I? You know, uh-uh. Keep working.
Speaker: 1
47:26
I love that. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
47:27
It’s the only way. The the only way to not go crazy when you get really famous is to keep doing exactly what you’ve always been doing Mhmm. And make sure you fucking burn yourself out. You go hard all the time with everything you do. Because if you don’t, then you’re gonna just wonder, you know, am I slipping? Is this what’s happening? Is this all gonna go away?
Speaker: 2
47:49
Like, that’s one thing that people really do freak out about. Like, once they start getting some success, what if it goes away?
Speaker: 1
47:54
Yeah. What if
Speaker: 2
47:55
it goes away? And then you get imposter syndrome. You don’t think you should be there. And then if you read a bunch of comments, you know, when most comments are negative
Speaker: 1
48:03
Yeah.
Speaker: 2
48:03
People telling you over and over again, you’re a fucking loser. You start going, goddamn, am I a loser?
Speaker: 1
48:08
Yeah.
Speaker: 2
48:08
You start freaking things. I’ve seen it happen to fighters. I’ve seen it happen to many fighters where they get too caught up in reading comments and interacting with people in a negative way ai, and it’s just not good for you. It’s not smart. It’s not the way. It’s not it’s your your your dealing with the crabs. It’s crabs in a bucket, you know. Mhmm.
Speaker: 2
48:30
They there’s a lot of people out there that don’t think the only way for them to succeed is to pull you down. It’s a dumb ai, but, of course, there’s a lot of people that they’re not that aware of how much time they’re wasting. They’re not aware of how much energy they’re wasting Mhmm. Thinking about other people, constantly dwelling on the hating and the the all those stupid shit.
Speaker: 2
48:54
And they don’t realize that they’re stealing from their own life. They don’t realize it. They’re just caught in this weird trap because we have this undefined new modality of communication, this, social media modality, this this new thing, this new new device that you have that interacts with your bryden, and oftentimes ai very negative way.
Speaker: 2
49:17
And you’re wasting hours and hours a day, like, how many people, like, look at their screen time on their phone? When you do, you go, woah, six hours. That’s crazy. Yeah. Six hours that I could have been doing other shah. Obviously, it’s ai meh minutes here, five minutes there, but it fucking adds up. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
49:34
It adds It’s a
Speaker: 1
49:35
work shift.
Speaker: 2
49:35
Yeah. Yeah. And it’s it’s really time. It’s really energy. It’s focus that’s just being robbed from you and with no reward. Mhmm. That’s what they don’t understand. It’s like you’re getting robbed and you’re not getting anything back. Mhmm. You there’s nothing positive coming. You’re not growing. You’re not getting smarter.
Speaker: 2
49:58
You’re not getting you’re not ai contemplating. You’re not not getting wiser. No. You just fucking you just you just hit
Speaker: 1
50:06
Yeah. It’s just being, like, taken out of you, I guess. Yeah. Mhmm. Wow. Dude, that’s no. That’s that’s great. And it’s good it’s a good reminder and refreshment for me to hear you say that. Because how do I put it? Like, let’s say if I get asked question like, how’s Joe Rogan? I was giving out Joe Rogan podcast, but, like, how is he?
Speaker: 1
50:27
And Ai I’m always like, Joe’s great. Like, tell me about no. No. You do this. Is he that? I’m like, dude, I’ll say I say this.
Speaker: 1
50:35
I can tell you here. I’ll just give you, like, four things. Every time we talk, it’s fucking good. We hang out. We talk. I feel like he likes me.
Speaker: 1
50:44
I like him. It’s always a great time. Two, there’s a lot of books when I walk in there. There’s a bunch of books, all types of different books. I think Joe’s a curious guy. I think he’s a smart guy. He’s well read. A lot of cool things.
Speaker: 1
50:55
And it’s it’s always just based around, ai, yeah, when I think of you, I think just genuine dude, good vibes.
Speaker: 2
51:03
I feel the same way about you.
Speaker: 1
51:04
You know, and it’s always it’s always fun to to just come here and and just, like, chop it up with you. That’s why Sai, like I guess I just needed that own like, I just wanted that for myself to just be like, Joe, what’s up? How you doing? And you tell meh, like, cool. I’m I’m doing the same thing. I wake up. I go to the gym. I shoot my bows.
Speaker: 1
51:24
I, you know, I I go to the club. Ai like, that to meh, to know that just personally without being one of those people that are just, like, sucked into my phone or whatever to just hear it come from your mouth face to face, that that’s what you’re up to. That makes me feel
Speaker: 2
51:39
I think it’s the only way to live. Yeah. I think getting I mean, I’ve been sucked into my phone before, for sure. But now, for the most part, if I spend time on my phone at all, it’s watching things. I watch, like, YouTube videos. But it’s always stuff on, like, it’s either watching MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing, boxing, or watching, like, YouTube videos on ancient history Mhmm. The interesting things. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
52:04
So Ai not interacting with opinions and and people. Yeah.
Speaker: 1
52:07
And all that stuff. Yeah. The the stuff that’ll piss you off
Speaker: 2
52:11
Yeah.
Speaker: 1
52:11
And and take from you. Do you ever watch, like, fighters YouTube channels? Oh, yeah. For sure.
Speaker: 2
52:17
Yeah. Have
Speaker: 1
52:18
you seen mine? I have seen yours. Oh, okay. Cool. You like it? Yeah. It’s great. Okay. It kind of kind of inspired by you a little bit. I remember you saying in the past, like, oh, you should start a podcast. I was ai, maybe not meh. But how about a YouTube channel? So, yeah.
Speaker: 2
52:32
People love behind the scenes stuff. They really do. They love to see people train, training in particular.
Speaker: 1
52:38
Yeah. You
Speaker: 2
52:38
know, I spent a lot of time watching, Usyk training before this, last Dubois fight.
Speaker: 1
52:44
Yeah. It was fun. Was it crazy? I saw something the other day. It was ai, Usyk swimming ai hours. I was like, oh ai god.
Speaker: 2
52:50
He’s an animal, man. Yeah. I mean, he’s so fucking good. He’s so good. I mean, think about what that guy has done. He beat AJ twice. He beat Tyson Fury ai. And now he beat Dubois twice. Mhmm. That’s crazy. No. It’s incredible. Those are two of the best, like, of this era.
Speaker: 2
53:09
I I think he’s one of the best of all time. I really do. I think he’s one of the best heavyweights of all ai. And his movement is so one of the things that was interesting, where they were they were talking about the fight and AJ was it was Tony Bellos was talking about when he fought him.
Speaker: 2
53:25
And AJ was saying that when he fought him, it was the most exhausted he’s ever been. Mhmm. Because he’s always moving. You never you’re not. There’s no rest with him. A rest. There’s ai constant Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
53:38
There’s constant twitching Under fire
Speaker: 1
53:40
the whole time.
Speaker: 2
53:41
You’re you’re constantly thinking when is this coming. There’s no silent agreements. There’s no relaxation. There’s no, you know, there’s no there’s no rounds off. Yeah. Everything is he’s putting it on you and moving constantly. Mhmm. Like, I always say he’s like a giant Lomachenko.
Speaker: 1
53:57
Got it.
Speaker: 2
53:57
They’re both trained by the same guy.
Speaker: 1
53:59
Oh, were they?
Speaker: 2
53:59
Yeah. Lomachenko’s father trained Usyk as well. Ah.
Speaker: 1
54:02
Yeah. So there’s something yeah. There’s something
Speaker: 2
54:05
Obviously, gravity keeps him from moving the way Lomachenko does because Lomachenko is so small. Yeah. He he can, you know, like, dance around you For sure. In footwork, just majestic footwork. But Usyk’s footwork is like it’s there’s a bunch of breakdowns of the final combination that he hit Daniel with.
Speaker: 1
54:23
Mhmm.
Speaker: 2
54:23
And, you know, he steps off to the side and lands that fucking left hook from hell. God, it was good. You could see Daniel was already tired. You could see it. It’s
Speaker: 1
54:35
like Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
54:35
He’s just dealing with
Speaker: 1
54:36
There’s gotta be something like, you know, Lomachenko’s sai, ai, some type of philosophy or some you know what I mean? Like, these guys just kinda tap into, you know, because, like, to be a big guy, yeah, there’s footwork and all that stuff. But I think, man, shout out to the coach, like, to the Yeah.
Speaker: 2
54:51
It’s skill, man. It’s it’s a skillful type of boxing. It’s like a you know, there’s there’s guys that are like heavy bangers and they rely on that, and there’s guys that have, you know, good defense and they rely on that. But his thing is ai this constant movement and constant feints and jabs, and it’s all with a purpose. Everything is ai setting you up.
Speaker: 2
55:12
Everything is reading what your reaction to this is and anticipating what your reaction ai. When’s that right hand coming? Duck under counter. It’s like constant. The jab was going in an upward direction sometimes. He was catching Daniel with this, like, upward jab. Here’s the oh, okay. Here’s a breakdown.
Speaker: 1
55:29
Yeah. I’ve only seen highlights. I’d actually didn’t
Speaker: 2
55:31
get the movement, man. It’s so good, man. It’s so good, the movement.
Speaker: 1
55:37
Do you know how what what’s his age? Damn. He’s 38, man. Oh ai god. Yeah. That was
Speaker: 2
55:41
a solid left. He’s old. He’s old for a boxer, you know, and the fact that he was a cruiserweight champion too. And that was the first drop. But here’s the big one. The left hook that he that he knocks him out was extraordinary, man. What are they showing here? Okay. The counters. Oof.
Speaker: 2
55:59
This video is just about his weight transferring. Yeah. No. It’s amazing. I mean, he’s one of the most skillful heavyweights of all time.
Speaker: 2
56:07
I think you have to go back to Cassius Clay Yeah. Like, before they took his title away, before they made him sit out for three years. Ai at oh, there’s the final left hook. Oh, my goodness. Look at this counter. Steps off to the left and then full weight into it.
Speaker: 1
56:24
Really long like, you can tell that there that weight transfer was everything.
Speaker: 2
56:29
It’s just constant footwork and movement, and a lot of his training is
Speaker: 1
56:33
that Yeah. You can see it. He’s never stationary. Exactly. Ai, his feet are never in one place. They’re constantly moving.
Speaker: 2
56:39
Well, there’s a lot of Russian fighters who fight that way,
Speaker: 1
56:42
you know.
Speaker: 2
56:42
And, obviously, he’s from Ukraine, but, you know, Bivol Bivol fights that way. There’s a lot of these Eastern Bloc fighters that have this this movement ai. Like, there’s a, like, constant, like, movement tyler, and it’s, like, there’s a lot of value in that, man. Like, when you see flat footed guys and you see guys who fight like that, you go, man, there’s something in that. Like Yeah. That’s extraordinary.
Speaker: 1
57:04
Yeah. Flat footed guys, I feel like a lot of them, that’s where they generate their power. Right? Kinda like relying on that. Mhmm. Like a Deontay Wilder, you know, like Sure. Yeah. If his feet are planted in Europe against the ropes, like, bye bye. Yeah. You know, ai, don’t
Speaker: 2
57:17
George Foreman in his day. Oh, man. Yeah. It’s it’s heavy plotting, you know, ai, moving forward like this, covering up, just but everything has just death on it.
Speaker: 1
57:26
Yeah. You know? Just looping them.
Speaker: 2
57:28
But a guy like Dubois, he can do that. That’s the thing. That’s how he fucked up AJ. He has that crazy power.
Speaker: 1
57:35
Mhmm.
Speaker: 2
57:36
But when you’re not getting hit and you’re just moving away and this guy is just whiffing these nuclear bombs ai the sea and over again. And then after a while, he’s ai he like it headed into the thirties like, oh, Jesus Christ. Yeah. This guy is fucking not there. And I’m exhausted and then you’re dealing with him ai speak are flying every time he’s hitting you and you don’t know when these punches are coming because they’re coming from these weird angles.
Speaker: 2
58:00
And every time you throw a punch, he’s countering you, and you’re you’re nervous that which one of these
Speaker: 1
58:05
is gonna, like, really rock me. Dude, to be in that situation, like, during a fight is, it’s the worst. I remember, like, feeling like that in the Alex fight. It just there was a few, like, jabs and stuff. I was obviously just dizzy and just dealing with, like, okay. This guy is not slowing down, and I’m hurting.
Speaker: 1
58:28
You know, like Yeah.
Speaker: 2
58:30
Around the fourth, he started getting that time. When was the fight stopped? Fourth round. It was the fourth.
Speaker: 1
58:37
Fourth round, I think, like, probably two and a half minutes in, something like that.
Speaker: 2
58:44
He started getting that rhythm where he’s, like, moving away from stuff and then Yeah.
Speaker: 1
58:48
Yeah. Yeah. Coming back in. Moving in.
Speaker: 2
58:50
Yeah. But it was it was Unusual move.
Speaker: 1
58:53
Obviously, deceptive, but, like, my eye was shut. It was I was I thought I was blind in my eye, but I was like, okay. Whatever. This is just Sai don’t know what was what was going on with me. And Ai thought I was so excited to be there. And so That’s great. I mean, even even in the fight, like, not being able to see out of my right eye at all. Like, not blurred vision.
Speaker: 1
59:13
It was just, like, all I saw was just white light. Like Wow. That’s all I saw. And in that moment, I was like, oh, I’m blind. Fuck it. Wow.
Speaker: 1
59:22
Yeah. Like, literally. So I don’t I don’t know what it was. Like, maybe all I know is I just saw a light coming in. Couldn’t see shadows anymore.
Speaker: 2
59:30
Shah start happening?
Speaker: 1
59:31
That was sometime in the fourth round.
Speaker: 2
59:34
So you got hit with something?
Speaker: 1
59:35
I got hit something maybe ai a jab. Boom. And I just remember, like, my eye wasn’t closed all the way yet, but, like, all I could see was just white light. And I was like, oh, shit. I think I went blind, but whatever. Ai, let’s go. Like, you know, like, internally, like, it was such this, like, light positive voice going on the whole time in that fight.
Speaker: 2
59:56
How do you think you developed that?
Speaker: 1
01:00:03
I don’t know, man. It could be, like, a series of just, like, life experiences and my, like, I don’t know, books that I read or just, like, things that I try to practice or some enlightenment thing that I’m trying to get or you know what I mean? Like, I think I think that it comes from that because I’m I’m just I’m kind of always searching for the light in in short. You know?
Speaker: 1
01:00:30
So
Speaker: 2
01:00:30
God. It’s gotta be so hard, though, in that situation because generally speaking, there’s a moment in fights where you see guys starting to get hit and tuned up, and you see hesitation, and you see panic. And you didn’t show any of that. You were getting beat up, but you were firing back. You were fighting at the best that you could.
Speaker: 2
01:00:49
It was very obvious
Speaker: 1
01:00:50
to meh doing that. Yeah. To the very end. Well, you know what? So right before we went out or right before we got to the arena, my coach Lorenzo is like, alright. Your nose is already cut, so it’s gonna open up. And he’s, like, looking at me in my face. You know? Like, he’s, like, face to face with me. He’s ai, your nose is already cut. Accept it.
Speaker: 1
01:01:10
It’s gonna open up. First time you get hit, it’s gonna open up. Alright. That’s out of the way. He’s like, now expect that you’re gonna get the shit beat out of you. You’re gonna go to bloody fucking war. He’s like, you might break a hand.
Speaker: 1
01:01:22
You might break a leg. You might get your jaw broken, but you don’t give up. You keep going. We fucking come out of this fight victorious. And he’s like, you hear me? And I’m like, yeah. And he’s like, so just fucking soak it in now. You’re about to go to fucking full on war.
Speaker: 1
01:01:35
It’s going you’re ai, you know, like, you’re about to go to hell. Like, he’s just like in my face, you know, and he’s like, we’re face to face. And he’s like, I need you to accept it now, son. Because he kinda looks at me like like his son. He treats me that way, and I appreciate it.
Speaker: 1
01:01:48
He’s like, you’re he’s like, but we’re fucking we’re fucking winning this fight, sana. And you’re gonna fucking go to you’re going to fucking war. And I was just swallowed that, walked into the arena, just kind of accepting it already. You know what I mean? Like, I wasn’t like, I was just like, okay.
Speaker: 1
01:02:04
Like, Lorenzo said it. Alright. This is what it is. This is what it is. And so, like, in the locker room, you know, in my warm ups and everything, I think, subconsciously, I’m just, like, already programming myself for the worst of the worst.
Speaker: 1
01:02:19
All the way there. All but not in a way to where I’m like, oh, I’m gonna lose this fight. Right. Like, I’m, like, expanding. You know? Wow.
Speaker: 1
01:02:28
Just, like, internally, like, okay. Fuck. I’m ready for this. Alright. Boom. Alright. Meh fucking hands are gonna get broken. My face is gonna get split up. Alright.
Speaker: 1
01:02:37
And every ai not like this. Like, not not every opponent, we have the same you know what I mean? The same thing because the strategy is always different for everybody. But some they he just had a feeling that this is the type of fight Sai was gonna be. So when it got down to that point, I think I had already accepted it. So the only thing I could do was just enjoy it. You know?
Speaker: 1
01:02:58
Because I was like
Speaker: 2
01:02:59
That’s such a crazy thing to say.
Speaker: 1
01:03:01
I knew it was gonna happen. Like, I just knew it. So, yeah, if I meh, do, like, the third round, fourth round, something in there, I’m just like, thank you. Like, this is cool. I’m, you know, fighting five rounds. Fighting for the world. You know? Ai. Crowd. I’m like, oh my god. Eyes closed. Boom. Ai think I’m blind. I’m like, fuck. Oh, shit.
Speaker: 1
01:03:19
They’re like, he’s not going back. You know? And they’re ai, even to the last ai, like, swinging, I can’t see. Boom. Body shot hurts. I’m like, ugh.
Speaker: 1
01:03:30
Backing up a bit, but, like, I just remembered, like, the whole ai, this just this very, like, positive feeling, man. They would, like and that’s why, like, those shorts are framed in you know, like, I got the shorts ram, never washed them, You know? Blood’s still on them. Gloves never wiped them off, and I just put it in a shadow box. It’s on my wall. You know?
Speaker: 1
01:03:54
Like, that for me is just a it was a just pivotal moment for me just in my life as a person, as a human. You know? Just yeah. That’s ai the beginning. I think I was like, that’s the beginning of the Wow. Of the journey now.
Speaker: 1
01:04:11
So
Speaker: 2
01:04:11
That’s wild. Would the world title fight is the beginning of the journey? I thought yeah.
Speaker: 1
01:04:17
I thought, you know, like, no. This is like, that was the beginning. Because when I was there, I felt like I belonged. Like, it wasn’t foreign to me. Like, you know, final the, you know, main event, lights go dark. It’s just the spotlights. You know, we I’ve only ever watched it. So Right. Yeah.
Speaker: 1
01:04:36
I was like, okay. This is this is
Speaker: 2
01:04:39
good. Different?
Speaker: 1
01:04:41
It felt like it was supposed to feel, if that makes sense. Like, everything that I felt, like, that vision that I’ve had, and it was, like, being there, and I was just ai, yeah. Feels about right. Like Wow. Cool. Well, it’s fucking Pereira right in front of me. Hell, yeah. This feels right. Okay. Wow. This feels ai, yeah. This is it right here.
Speaker: 1
01:05:04
And then, obviously, like, you know, the loss was it it took a little bit of an emotional toll on me because my focus was to win, and that was my, you know, that was my intention. But I think, like, in hindsight, I look at it, and it’s like, no. My I was meant to be there to experience it and to learn from it because the things that I did learn and experience from that fight have made me a better person for sure.
Speaker: 2
01:05:33
That’s awesome. Yeah. That’s awesome. Well, it really showed it in the Jamal Hill fight because you you came in that ai. It just looked like you were you had gone through something and come out on the other end. That’s what it looked ai. Because, again, Jamal’s world champion.
Speaker: 2
01:05:48
He’s a dangerous, dangerous man, you know, and you look supremely confident in that fight.
Speaker: 1
01:05:53
Yeah. A lot of a lot of training, man. Like, I I I understand that there’s a lot I’m a striker, you know, like, that’s just I love to strike. Don’t stray away from a striking match. But I think that, like, lately, I’ve been training a lot with Buchecha who just got signed to UFC. Incredible guy. Amazing.
Speaker: 1
01:06:17
Jujitsu like, multiple time jujitsu champion. Rolling with guys like Luke, Rockhold. I mean, being able to be, like, on a team with those guys and us train together has really helped me as well because it’s just given me more confidence in my abilities and my development as, like, a championship level fighter.
Speaker: 1
01:06:44
Sai, yeah, I mean, like, even to I, you know, I brought you those shorts today, the Sana studio ones, man. We’re we’re building an incredible team down there. I think it’s, like, the first time are you familiar with what we’re doing at all? Okay. So, like, over at Santo Studio, Newport Beach, we’ve got Santo Studio.
Speaker: 1
01:07:04
We’ve got Jackson. Jackson’s, like, men’s jewelry. Yeah, men’s jewelry, but there’s also, like, Jackson Media House. And over there, we’re trying to include all Meh fighters, extreme sports athletes, like, give them, like, a platform to showcase, you know, their talents and and and build themselves.
Speaker: 1
01:07:27
But Santo Studio, the clothing brand, we have the sickest team. So we’ve got, like, Buchecha. We’ve got Arman. We’ve got I mean, Dillashaw is behind it. We got Rockhold.
Speaker: 1
01:07:39
Man, the list goes on. Gabriel Silva, Anderson Silva’s son on just, like, the fighting sai. But then it’s, like, Paul Rodriguez, skateboarder, Ai Houston, Ryan Sheckler. And then we got motocross riders like Jett and Hunter Lawrence. And, ai, so there’s all these kind of, like, extreme sports athletes under one umbrella, but, like, in one place in Newport Beach, and we all support each other under, like, the same type of brand.
Speaker: 2
01:08:05
And what is your role in this?
Speaker: 1
01:08:09
Ambassador fucking I I was a part of the vision before there was, like, the first T shirt ever printed. Like, Barra and I had a conversation. He’s like, hey. I got this vision, and I’m like, dude, I’m behind you. Like, I love how this sounds. It’s right up my alley. Sounds creative. There’s clothes involved. There’s training involved.
Speaker: 1
01:08:27
So he’s gone to just build this. We got the Santo Performance Studio, huge gym, jujitsu mats, weight lifting, but also, like, shopping. It dude, it’s it’s it’s unheard of, but it’s so cool. And, like, it’s put us all in the same place to be able to, like, train with each other, collaborate with each other.
Speaker: 1
01:08:48
Like, if it wasn’t for Santo, I would have never been able to train with guys like Buchecha and Bernardo and Leo Vera,
Speaker: 2
01:08:56
you
Speaker: 1
01:08:56
know, the CheckMat guys. So, like, now there’s a partnership with CheckMat, which makes me, like, have access to training with these guys. It’s I would have never been able to you know what I mean? Have that same, like, connection. So we’re just doing everything we can to just, you know, like, support each other within this, like, MMA community, help each other grow, and and just, like, expand and also include the community within ai now in Newport Beach.
Speaker: 1
01:09:26
But, I mean, I’m sure that the vision is bigger than just that.
Speaker: 2
01:09:31
So this is something also that you can do once you ai?
Speaker: 1
01:09:35
I would love to. Yeah. I mean, right now, like, I think the understanding from Bear is that, like, I’m just focused on becoming a champion. But I’m sure he knows that, like, I’m heavily interested in, you know, doing something because I believe in the brand. So, yeah, after this, maybe there’s something.
Speaker: 1
01:09:54
But right now, you know, I have no distractions. Right. You know what I mean? Like, I have no distractions. Ai, you know, I’m just making sure that, I’m fighting and that, like, my money’s in the right place and places.
Speaker: 2
01:10:10
Do you have a a time set in your head where you wanna exit the game?
Speaker: 1
01:10:18
How about this? I can say that I would like for my current contract to be my last contract.
Speaker: 2
01:10:28
How many ai do you have in your current contract?
Speaker: 1
01:10:30
Left? Six or seven.
Speaker: 2
01:10:36
And that’s it? That’s what you’d ai.
Speaker: 1
01:10:39
In an ideal world. Or, like, maybe ai that only there’s, like, a renegotiation, and it’s not for as many fights. But, like, I think six or seven more fights would be nice and be able to, like, look around and say, like, okay. Is this enough? You know? Like Right. Is this okay for me to step away from? And, like, am I secure? Is my, you know, is my family secure? Okay. Then cool.
Speaker: 1
01:11:10
Because time waits for no man. Yeah. Don’t wanna be 41
Speaker: 2
01:11:14
How old are you right now?
Speaker: 1
01:11:16
I turned 35 in February. So you’re
Speaker: 2
01:11:19
still in your prime?
Speaker: 1
01:11:20
Still in my prime, so they say. Especially for a larger athlete. Yeah. And I I don’t have music. 38? Yeah. I don’t have the wear and tear of a lot of the fighters. Like, I didn’t grow up wrestling and all that stuff. So fifteen years into any type of It’s sai big factor. Yeah.
Speaker: 1
01:11:37
Sports
Speaker: 2
01:11:37
or athletics. Football is a big factor. Wrestling is a big factor. Knees, back, neck.
Speaker: 1
01:11:44
Yeah. Yeah. But, yeah, I mean, like, the by the way that things are looking, it it’d be ai. Like, October 4, win over Yuri sets me up for the title fight against here’s an ideal situation. Win over Yuri in October, Alex beats on Goliath. Rematch for the belt against Alex sometime in the the begin like, the first half of next year. Right? Beat Alex in the rematch. Get the belt.
Speaker: 1
01:12:18
I’m the champion all summer. Then somewhere in between summer and fall, there’s a child that comes into play. My wife’s not pregnant yet, but it’d be nice.
Speaker: 2
01:12:33
Oh, you got this idea. It’d be nice.
Speaker: 1
01:12:35
You know what I mean? Vision board. I gotta dude, Ai gotta that’s that’s the like, everyone says, like, all these guys success. No. No. No. You gotta have a vision, man. Like like, you gotta have a vision in life. You do. You know? Like, if you don’t have a vision or something to aim at, like, what are you doing? You know?
Speaker: 1
01:12:52
So, like, yeah, these arya, like, you know, these are just to my vision, but there’s, like, goals in between. You know? Goal. Be eerie. Goal, get another shot at the title. Vision, start my family. Finish my fight contract. Be done with fighting. Live in Asia.
Speaker: 2
01:13:14
In Asia?
Speaker: 1
01:13:14
Yeah. Yeah? Yeah. I’m moving back to Thailand, man.
Speaker: 2
01:13:18
Really? Yeah. 100%.
Speaker: 1
01:13:19
1000%. Why? Because that’s where I wanna be. That’s where I belong.
Speaker: 2
01:13:24
Really?
Speaker: 1
01:13:24
Yeah. I belong I belong in there’s right right now, what, like, my heart is telling me, I belong in three places, either Thailand, Hong Kong, or South Korea.
Speaker: 2
01:13:38
Why those places? Obviously, Thailand, you know, you had amazing experiences there.
Speaker: 1
01:13:44
Hong Kong’s amazing. I love it there. It’s good. I just came back from Hong Kong as well. So in that Thailand trip, I went to Hong Kong. I love how it’s set up. I love the structure of the city. I love that there’s so much outdoor stuff involved. So, like, when I imagine the rest of my life and how I want to live that after fighting, it’s ai, let’s say Ai do have my family and there’s a child in play.
Speaker: 1
01:14:11
Okay. Cool. If I live in Hong Kong, I can just walk outside and take my child for a hike right outside the house, and it not be ai Sai don’t have to even own a car. I can just everything’s walking. It’s you know what I mean? It’s like the the way that this city is set up.
Speaker: 1
01:14:28
It’s set up for people to to walk, to interact. You know? It’s very beautiful. It’s not you know? I love it.
Speaker: 1
01:14:37
It’s just for meh, when I’m there, I’m like, shah, this makes sense. Like, especially with the vision of, like, who I want to be after fighting.
Speaker: 2
01:14:43
And why South Korea?
Speaker: 1
01:14:45
I like the culture in South Korea, man. I really do. Like, when I see that like, when I when I when I see just, like, the, like, the culture in South Korea, the people, how I envisioned just, like, my family interacting with society and stuff, like, to me, another thing that just that makes sense.
Speaker: 1
01:15:03
And Thailand for me is it it just it feels like home. The language is very, like, easy for me to, you know, to speak and to, like, learn more of and to where I could be fluent. Ai love the the community there. I love how people live their life there. Amazing. A lot of growth happening in Thailand.
Speaker: 2
01:15:27
It’s also a lot less expensive.
Speaker: 1
01:15:29
A lot less expensive for sure. And to be able to, like so, like, let’s say in Ai, I’m I’m American. Right? We’re all ai born, like, to live the American dream. I can live the American dream anywhere I want. But for me, if I could live the American dream in Thailand, that would be ideal. If I can live the American dream in Hong Kong, that’d be ai.
Speaker: 1
01:16:00
You know? But it’s a lot more expensive in Hong Kong. It’s a lot more expensive in South America.
Speaker: 2
01:16:05
You say this because you live in Vegas? Because Vegas is kind of a crazy place in America.
Speaker: 1
01:16:11
Not so much. Like, I’ve been to many different places. I mean, I’ve been almost everywhere in The States when I was on tour. You know? Austin’s nice. Do I wanna live in Austin? No. California? Absolutely not. New York? Absolutely not. Florida? Don’t like it. Shout out to my Florida fans. Like you.
Speaker: 1
01:16:26
Like, I love you guys. You know? Ai not saying anything against don’t hate me if I don’t give you a place if you you know? Whatever. But there’s nowhere there’s nowhere else in the world that I feel the way that I feel when I’m there.
Speaker: 2
01:16:41
That’s interesting. Yeah. Has that always been the case? Or is it just like does it represent something to you in terms of, like, personal growth or a ai? The the relaxing vibe of it because
Speaker: 1
01:16:53
It’s not so much ai it’s not so much like when I’m there, I’m relaxing. You know what I mean? Like, it’s very busy. Like, there’s a lot going on, but I just I can I realize how I feel inside, you know, and how I’m interacting with people who I don’t even know on a daily basis?
Speaker: 1
01:17:15
And when I think about, like, I always I’m I’m constantly thinking about, like, like, my future or my vision. You know? And when I think about and when I think about my vision, my my future and my vision, there’s a child involved. And I try to think about, like, okay. As a dad, how do I want to operate with a child? Or, like, how do how do I want, you know, our child to experience life?
Speaker: 1
01:17:48
And there’s just, you know, a lot of different questions and visions that come. And the way that I’ve seen it or, like, the way that I envision it, it’s kind of like it makes more sense that way. You know? Like, if I could if I could, let’s say, take away some of the, like, stress of raising a child from my wife by, like, let’s say, hiring help or, you know, having instead of having a car, having a driver to have us get through traffic so that we can still enjoy life and, you know, go on, like, a a family, you know, dinner or take the kid here or whatever.
Speaker: 1
01:18:32
But I don’t wanna drive the damn car because there’s too much traffic and then you know what I mean? Right.
Speaker: 2
01:18:37
Like, I’ll relax.
Speaker: 1
01:18:37
Sai I can relax, but we can still have family time. We can still do the things that families and kids do, but it not cost me so much. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, if I wanted to get a live in helper here in The States to help my wife, it costs a fortune. Yeah. It’s almost impossible.
Speaker: 1
01:18:59
But if I wanted to get a live in helper, let’s say in Hong Kong, it cost me a thousand or less dollars a month to have a full time live in helper.
Speaker: 2
01:19:09
You know?
Speaker: 1
01:19:10
And there’s nothing wrong with it there. That’s just the culture. Ai Mhmm. In Hong Kong, you have just groups of women who are live in helpers that, like, on their off day in the summer or in on their off day, like, on Sunday, you’ll see them. Everybody’s just in the streets with tents, combing each other’s hair, boom boxes out, sharing food. It’s just a part of it.
Speaker: 1
01:19:32
Like, that’s not like, literally, tents in the streets everywhere. Jamie, if you wanna pull that up, you. It’s crazy, dude. I don’t know if you ever seen it.
Speaker: 2
01:19:40
No.
Speaker: 1
01:19:40
But it’s so cool because, like, they enjoy the life. But, like, Hong Kong helpers hang out or enjoying a day off or something. It’s it’s just a way of life. It’s a lifestyle. It’s it’s just a new perspective that I’ve never sai like, that I didn’t see here, and I like it. I just think, like, for me and my development and growth as just ai a human being, that’s just kind of where it’s just ai a never ending, like, finding out what’s next.
Speaker: 1
01:20:11
You know what I mean? Like, Ai I’ve constantly gotta adapt and evolve. Like, I’m American. I have to learn a new language. I’ve gotta adapt to a new culture.
Speaker: 1
01:20:19
I’ve gotta learn new rules and laws and all this stuff and, like, cool. Sign me up. Ai, because that’s just I don’t want my life to be ai, okay. I know it all, and I’m done. And I’m just okay. Cool. And I got the kid, and I’m just you know? Like Right. Right. Right.
Speaker: 1
01:20:32
Sana continue to, like Grow. To grow Right. As well as, you know, showing someone else how to grow. Yeah. Sai? Like, they’re not homeless.
Speaker: 1
01:20:43
They’re just hanging out on their off day because they can’t, and they, like, they enjoy it. No one’s mad to be doing this. You know what I mean? Like, it’s a totally safe environment for these people to be out here. They’re not interrupting anybody. They’re literally just this is a day off.
Speaker: 1
01:21:00
Like, oh,
Speaker: 2
01:21:00
what are you doing on
Speaker: 1
01:21:01
your day off? I’m gonna go hang out with the other helpers around the city, and we’re just, like, we’re just chilling.
Speaker: 2
01:21:10
Interesting.
Speaker: 1
01:21:11
Because the the to live there, like, the places are really small. You know? Like, if you have a thousand square foot apartment, you’re most likely a multimillionaire. So most of the ai, like, lifestyle is spent outdoors.
Speaker: 2
01:21:24
So for them to go outside like this and this is ai a normal thing on a Sunday?
Speaker: 1
01:21:29
Normal. Yeah. On a Sunday or on a weekend. Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker: 2
01:21:34
And, like Hong Kong, the city is supposed to be very safe too. Right?
Speaker: 1
01:21:37
Very safe, man. Very, very safe. Very sai. Very clean. Like, when I think about the stuff that I had to go through as a kid and just, like, the dangers and you know? Right. I’m like, how about, like, my kid doesn’t necessarily have to be worried about certain things or you know what I mean?
Speaker: 1
01:21:58
Being worried about, like, getting shot at school or, like, you know, like, just different things. It’s just kinda ai, what can I take off? Like, what mental load can I take off my offspring in the beginning? I can take on whatever. I’m a grown adult, like, whatever.
Speaker: 2
01:22:13
But do you think you’re gonna be dealing with your time other than that when you’re done fighting?
Speaker: 1
01:22:23
I have zero business experience because I’ve just been so dedicated to ai. But I do want to, like, start to learn, man. Like, I I wanna learn business, how to operate a business. I because I’m creative, and I have ideas, but I don’t have structure. I don’t have, you know, really, like, the right mentorship. So, like yeah. Like, I would like to have multiple businesses.
Speaker: 2
01:22:58
Like, what kind of businesses? What do you wanna get into?
Speaker: 1
01:23:00
Something ai
Speaker: 2
01:23:03
Obviously, something where you can express your creativity.
Speaker: 1
01:23:05
Express creativity, but also, like, something that helps me and people, like health, you know, health, health products.
Speaker: 2
01:23:18
Is this one of those things that you can’t really think about right now? Because I can’t
Speaker: 1
01:23:22
because it’s just ai I’m you know what I mean? Like, I’m locked in. I don’t wanna get too distracted. But, like Well,
Speaker: 2
01:23:27
I think that’s a giant It’s one of the signs that someone when when people spread themselves too thin, like, there’s a bunch of fighters when things start going really well. They start getting movie offers, and then you see them on talk shows. You see a lot of this, a lot of that. You’re like, uh-oh. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:23:43
You’re getting outside of your lane Yeah. And you’re spreading yourself thin.
Speaker: 1
01:23:48
Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:23:48
And there’s just no way to really be locked into training while also doing that stuff. Sai when you see someone preparing for a major fight and you see a lot of extracurricular activities, I’m always like, oh. Yeah. Like, Daniel Dubois had a fucking party the day of his fight.
Speaker: 1
01:24:05
Before the fight? Yeah. Oh, boy.
Speaker: 2
01:24:08
It’s a big issue now people are talking about. There’s ai 90 people at this place
Speaker: 1
01:24:12
Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:24:12
Partying the day Yeah. That’s of the fight. That’s absurd.
Speaker: 1
01:24:16
Right? That takes a lot of energy.
Speaker: 2
01:24:18
Just being around those people.
Speaker: 1
01:24:19
Yeah. When it’s being there, ai, even if you’re just sitting in the party, like, your energy is being zapped. Right. Yeah. And, obviously, if you it’s your fight night, everyone wants to talk to you. Everybody has questions.
Speaker: 2
01:24:30
I just can’t imagine why anybody would do that or why. There’s videos of him hanging out partying with everybody. I mean, not drinking, not Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Crazy. But, obviously, ai, hanging
Speaker: 1
01:24:40
out with a lot of
Speaker: 2
01:24:40
loud people talking, a lot of music, a lot of, you
Speaker: 1
01:24:43
know Yeah. Ai. That zaps the nervous system for sure. Like, how do you expect to go fight Ussik after your nervous system has been zapped from ram party?
Speaker: 2
01:24:52
I understand it. I when I saw it after the fight was over, I was like, ai, he’s probably gonna lose anyway.
Speaker: 1
01:24:58
Yeah. But what is that? No. It’s tough, man. I honestly you know, I I agree with that. I think this fight in Baku really got like, it made me realize how important, like, being locked in is because I was I think that’s why I got sick, to be honest, Joe. I think that’s why I got sick because I was just exhausted. No. Exhausted from the things that I had to do, from my obligations. Oh.
Speaker: 1
01:25:27
So the week that I
Speaker: 2
01:25:28
your obligations?
Speaker: 1
01:25:29
Sai the week that I landed, I had to do, I had to do, like, four or five days of filming with DraftKings for this, like, online. Sai it’s ai I just landed, but then, like, I didn’t get time to adjust because the next day we gotta wake up, you know, first first filming sessions at nine 9AM.
Speaker: 1
01:25:46
Meh. And until we’re like week? No. The the week before fight week. Oh.
Speaker: 1
01:25:51
The week before fight
Speaker: 2
01:25:52
week.
Speaker: 1
01:25:53
Still. You know? Yeah. Exactly. So, like, I land, and they came they went to my house ram. I’m not bitching about this because the guys were great, but this is just, like, deep my experience. How much
Speaker: 2
01:26:03
time did you have to spend doing that?
Speaker: 1
01:26:05
Oh, I mean, we we spent, you know, we spent a week of of filming for Ai much
Speaker: 2
01:26:11
time each day?
Speaker: 1
01:26:16
Five, six hours.
Speaker: 2
01:26:17
What? Yeah. What? That’s
Speaker: 1
01:26:21
crazy. It wasn’t every day that we I I don’t remember. But that it was ai, we we did a lot of filming that week for this, you know, for this content piece or whatever for drafting. And then as soon as they left, then it was fight speak, and then I had all the media stuff for fight week.
Speaker: 2
01:26:36
Oh meh god.
Speaker: 1
01:26:36
You know what I mean? And I think by time, like, with jet lag, with training involved
Speaker: 2
01:26:41
Yeah.
Speaker: 1
01:26:41
With the filming, with all of that, I think by time fight week came, like, my body’s like, fuck you. Yeah. That’s exactly how it felt. I When were
Speaker: 2
01:26:52
you doing that they needed you for five, six hours in a day?
Speaker: 1
01:26:56
Like, you know, I here’s the thing. I’m I’m I’m grateful because I wouldn’t have been able to experience Baku the way that I did had I not done this. So it’s ai
Speaker: 2
01:27:05
Right. You made some extra money.
Speaker: 1
01:27:07
Yeah. So we go to the Old Town and then, like, get a tour through Old Town for three hours, and the lady’s like, this is this. So I got information, and they’re filming me, you know, get information. And then from the the Old Town, then we go somewhere else.
Speaker: 2
01:27:20
And, you
Speaker: 1
01:27:21
know So
Speaker: 2
01:27:21
where, ideally, you would be resting?
Speaker: 1
01:27:24
Or doing my own training. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:27:26
Like, you
Speaker: 1
01:27:27
Resting or adjusting.
Speaker: 2
01:27:28
Yeah. But when you’re when you’re forced to interact, like, that’s I mean, you’re dealing with something where you have this monumental moment that’s coming up in fourteen days.
Speaker: 1
01:27:38
Mhmm.
Speaker: 2
01:27:38
And then you just Yeah. But I
Speaker: 1
01:27:40
just like, that’s what I’m saying. Like, my my main thing was, like, embrace it. You know what I mean? Like, just embrace it. Take it all in. Mhmm. Yeah. It’s fucking hard. But that mentality can only get you so far. Right? That’s why, like, I really I feel like I’m gonna get fucking eaten alive for this.
Speaker: 1
01:28:01
Not if you don’t read it. I really feel like that would like, Alex having so many fights last year and obligations and travel and all that when he I feel like that probably had a big played a big factor in why his performance was the way it was against uncle Ai.
Speaker: 2
01:28:25
Well, supposedly, he went to that fight with norovirus, and he had a fucked up hand.
Speaker: 1
01:28:31
I honestly like, I believe it. It seemed like I believe it.
Speaker: 2
01:28:36
He wasn’t hitting the gas as much. You know, it seemed like he was a little bit more was also Uncle Ai is fucking good, man. He is good. That guy is really good. I mean, he’s he’s you’re smiling. I can’t smile? You can. But you you smile like, come on, man. I’m just smiling.
Speaker: 1
01:28:57
What do
Speaker: 2
01:28:57
you what is your opinion on not Ai?
Speaker: 1
01:29:01
I don’t have one.
Speaker: 2
01:29:05
You don’t have any opinion at all? No. Not one. No. Because he’s the champ.
Speaker: 1
01:29:12
Okay.
Speaker: 2
01:29:14
I get it.
Speaker: 1
01:29:14
Yeah. Let’s go back to Alex Yeah. The norovirus.
Speaker: 2
01:29:18
Are you just not a fan of his?
Speaker: 1
01:29:25
Ai can say confidently. Am I a fan? Absolutely not.
Speaker: 2
01:29:29
As a human or a fighter? Both. Okay. So have you had bad interactions with him
Speaker: 1
01:29:35
as a human? He just talks shah, and I hate people that talk shit. Like, dude, I just don’t like it. I don’t like people who talk shit for no reason. If I didn’t say anything to you, if I’ve never fucking mentioned your name, then why are you talking shit to me or about me or disrespecting me?
Speaker: 2
01:29:52
Well, people talk shit because you get some attention. And I think Exactly.
Speaker: 1
01:29:55
A guy like Ai,
Speaker: 2
01:29:57
there was a long period in his career where he didn’t talk shah, and he wasn’t getting a lot of attention. Yeah. I mean, look, he had that fight with Jan Blachowicz Yep. Where it was for the ai. It went to a draw. No one gets the title. It was a crazy experience. Right? Mhmm. And very good fight.
Speaker: 1
01:30:14
Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:30:14
And people were mad at him. And he had to sit on the shelf for a while. It was kinda fucked up.
Speaker: 1
01:30:21
So that makes him talk shit about this?
Speaker: 2
01:30:23
I think he talk shit about everybody because you real ai, this is what happened to Colby Covington. This is, like, there’s a thing that happens. Like, if you talk shit, you will get more eyes, more attention, more money, and you’ll get fights. And if you do not talk shit, there’s a possibility you’ll be cut. I know. It’s not you. It’s not you.
Speaker: 1
01:30:46
Yeah. Look, and here I ram. I appreciate you getting good fights and good money, and it’s ai
Speaker: 2
01:30:50
As is Pereira. Right? Pereira just fights. Yeah. I mean, he doesn’t even speak English and he’s beloved over here. Yeah. You know, but you can you can get by with just your performance. But some people, they they think ai, man, I gotta get people to fucking pay attention. There’s there’s so many killers out there. There’s so many people that are popular. I gotta do something.
Speaker: 1
01:31:10
Yeah. So fight better.
Speaker: 2
01:31:17
I hear you.
Speaker: 1
01:31:17
Sai hear you. That’s that that’s the only thing. It’s ai
Speaker: 2
01:31:20
It’s just a shit talk.
Speaker: 1
01:31:22
I hate it, dude. Like, I fucking hate it. Like, it it it really bugs me.
Speaker: 2
01:31:26
Because you’re a martial artist sana you feel like it doesn’t have a place in
Speaker: 1
01:31:29
martial arts. Hate it because it’s fucking unnecessary. And it’s ai and and even as an adult, like, I had to deal with this shit my whole life. Right. And it’s it’s a fucking toxic way of fucking being, and it’s passing along through social media, and kids are fucking getting beat up for it. Yep.
Speaker: 1
01:31:47
And and we’re fucking grown men on a large platform where people are looking up to us for many different things and they envision us as these fucking gladiators and this is what you’re choosing to do as a we have a responsibility. I feel like as a athletes, as champion, number of fucking one, as champion, you have a responsibility.
Speaker: 1
01:32:09
You have a belt around your waist and all these eyes and microphone, and that’s what you’re gonna choose to say is talk shit and degrade my name, and I’m not even above you. I’m not even challenging you for a fight and you wanna mention me and, like, that to me is just ai, dude, spend your time wisely.
Speaker: 1
01:32:26
So that it’s in a way, it’s motivation for me because I’m like, I just won’t do that. Like, I think that there’s so many different things that can be done when you have that belt.
Speaker: 2
01:32:39
Mhmm.
Speaker: 1
01:32:39
Like, that belt is an honor.
Speaker: 2
01:32:41
You ai to have that.
Speaker: 1
01:32:42
There’s a responsibility that comes with that. There’s things that you can do with that. Like, it’s not just about you ai the responsibility that you have when you carry that title. And so there’s just I’m getting passionate about it because there’s just I sana say so many things, but I’m not going to.
Speaker: 2
01:32:57
I know what you’re you’re saying.
Speaker: 1
01:32:58
I feel you. I feel you.
Speaker: 2
01:32:59
Ai feel like, there’s a couple ai kinda changed the game. One of them was Chael Sana and and another one is Sana McGregor. Yeah. And part of the way they changed the game was talking meh shit and getting a lot of people to pay attention to them.
Speaker: 1
01:33:11
Yeah. Which cool. You know? Like, it got them a lot of attention. It got them a lot of money. But, like and if that’s what makes them happy, cool. You know?
Speaker: 2
01:33:23
I think I think some people think it’s a a good business decision.
Speaker: 1
01:33:27
Like I said, I know nothing about business. Maybe that’s why I don’t have own a business, you know? Like, I just I don’t know.
Speaker: 2
01:33:36
Well, it’s good that you don’t own a business. Yeah. Yeah. You don’t wanna own a business while you’re in the middle of this journey that you’re on. It’s just ai you it wouldn’t it would just drain you. It would take time from you. It’s not you can only do so many things in this ai.
Speaker: 2
01:33:48
And especially when you’re doing something that’s all encompassing physically. Yeah. It’s not like, you know, you have you have a business and you have a side business project that’s a passion project that you’re working on. No. No. No. No.
Speaker: 2
01:34:02
No. You’re fighting. Yeah. Fighting, you have to be all in and fighting. You really
Speaker: 1
01:34:05
you really do.
Speaker: 2
01:34:06
You are all in. Yeah. Yeah. And while you’re all in. Look, I I admire people that don’t talk shit, but I also like a little shit talking. I do. Yeah. Because it’s it’s fun. It’s and it it gets people excited and it does get a lot of eyes on the sport and it makes for more pay per view buys.
Speaker: 1
01:34:23
Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:34:24
Which is why I think, the the cup you know, the UFC encourages it. Whether they encourage it or not, they use those things.
Speaker: 1
01:34:30
Mhmm.
Speaker: 2
01:34:31
You know, ai, when Connor fought Khabib, they they threw in the video of Connor throwing the fucking the dolly at the bus. Remember that? Like, which is crazy. Like, it’s kind of almost encouraging that kind of behavior, which is crazy.
Speaker: 1
01:34:47
No. It’s I mean, like, UFC, as real as it gets. Right? So you kinda get everything. Ai, you get everything.
Speaker: 2
01:34:54
They don’t say it anymore, though, do they? As real as it gets? I don’t
Speaker: 1
01:34:57
think it’s part of the Some sometimes, like, I don’t know.
Speaker: 2
01:35:00
Early days.
Speaker: 1
01:35:00
It’s it’s stuck in my brain. But, yeah, there are different things. There are a lot of different, I guess, characters, personalities, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Connor throw in the thing through, you know, the the dolly through the window. Is it gonna make people watch the absolutely. You know what I mean?
Speaker: 1
01:35:16
Did he do it for that reason? Don’t think so. I just think he is who he is. Right? He’s like, we never know what’s next with, with Connor and respect, you know, respect to him for everything. But, I just yeah.
Speaker: 1
01:35:34
Ai I and I understand your perspective as well. Like, little shit talk, you know. Yeah. It’s entertaining. You know? You see two ai, like, oh, yeah.
Speaker: 1
01:35:45
It’s
Speaker: 2
01:35:45
But I completely appreciate your perspective as well. Yeah. And I certainly appreciate your perspective having grown up through all that stuff, like, why include it? Especially when what you’re doing is the ultimate test of who you are as a human. Like, what what’s the ultimate test of who you are as a man?
Speaker: 2
01:36:00
The the actual fight itself, which is gonna happen no matter how much shit you talk.
Speaker: 1
01:36:04
Yeah. And whoever, like, whoever talks shit to me, you know, from not even from now on, but, like, whoever talks shit to me, like, I back it up. You know what I mean? Like, I don’t need to say anything in in return. Like, I’m just going to back it up. I’m not I don’t wanna give anybody any more attention or, you know, say people’s names and stuff.
Speaker: 2
01:36:25
But, ai, Conor and Khabib was the ultimate example of that. Right? Yeah. When Khabib was on top of him, it sai ai, let’s talk now. And he kept punching him in the face. Let’s talk now. Yeah.
Speaker: 1
01:36:36
I mean, I love Khabib for that. Like, I I, you know, a lot of ai. I I can relate to that, you know, like, I can relate to that to that feeling of He’s a good ai guy.
Speaker: 2
01:36:47
Yeah. He had this, really amazing conversation. Someone was interviewing him and knew they were talking about different addictions that fighters fall to and different things that that sidetrack people. And he’s, like, the best addiction is discipline. Mhmm. And he was talking about his discipline. The best the best addiction is discipline.
Speaker: 2
01:37:06
You gotta become addicted to discipline, addicted to hard training, addicted, completely addicted to that.
Speaker: 1
01:37:12
That makes me feel like a scrub. Ai mean, like, I’m getting
Speaker: 2
01:37:18
I’m fucking good he was, man. That’s ai he was.
Speaker: 1
01:37:21
But, like, damn. Addicted to it? Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:37:25
I mean, when he talk see if you can find that, Jamie. You got it? Here. Here. Listen to this.
Speaker: 0
01:37:34
Every man addicted to sai. Some smoke, some drink, some chase guns, some waste. But real man, he addicted to discipline, to early wakes, to prayer, to training, to silence. Discipline no need motivation. Discipline move without feeling. Discipline sai, I go anyway, even when tired, even when lonely. Discipline is best addiction. You want strong life? Discipline build.
Speaker: 0
01:37:59
You want peace? Discipline protect it. You want respect? Discipline earn it. No shah, only work. Be meh with control, not men with excuse. No ai, no blame.
Speaker: 0
01:38:11
You want better life? Start with better habits, discipline every day until discipline become you.
Speaker: 2
01:38:18
I’m gonna use that as my morning wake up now.
Speaker: 1
01:38:21
Do you know that Sai that’s what I was just thinking Yeah. In my mind. I’m like, dude, where do I include this in my daily routine? Ai, when you wake up
Speaker: 2
01:38:31
That should be your alarm.
Speaker: 1
01:38:32
Or is it ai, you know, do I just sit and, like, listen to this before I fall asleep? No. I’m not. I’m not
Speaker: 2
01:38:39
a fuck with you. You won’t be
Speaker: 1
01:38:40
able to sleep. I did that. Why speak? Run. Run. Pick up the lawn. Dreams of Khabib just standing over here. No. You’re not real meh. You sleep.
Speaker: 2
01:38:49
It’s interesting because Chael Sana had a video recently.
Speaker: 1
01:38:52
Incredible, man. Shout out to Khabib for that.
Speaker: 2
01:38:54
Shout out to Khabib. I mean, that’s why he is who he is. Chael Sonnen had a really interesting video that that was talking about how, people say that Dagestan is a place where you should take your kids. You know, you wanna take, you know, take them to Dagestan two, three years and forget it.
Speaker: 2
01:39:09
There’s ai a a fun line that, like, Cormier has sai, he’s taking his son to Dagestan, you know. And that’s one of the things that Bilal Mohammed said. If I could do my career over again, I would’ve went to Dagestan earlier Yeah. And I would’ve stayed there for years. And then, Chael Sonnen had a very interesting point, which I think he’s totally accurate. And he’s like, they’re not doing anything any different.
Speaker: 2
01:39:32
He goes, but they don’t have football. They don’t have basketball. They don’t have baseball. So the best athletes go in MMA. The best athletes go into wrestling.
Speaker: 2
01:39:43
The best athletes go into combat sports in Dagestan. Mhmm. And so he’s ai, what you get is you have genetics, which is an ultimate requirement of the elite of the elite. At at the top of the game, it’s like discipline and genetics. Those are the two things that separate the men from the boys. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:40:01
And that he’s like, we have all those things in America. It’s just when you’re you’re dealing with the elite of the elite, it’s like what pool you’re drawing ram. One thing that I think they do have there though is this. This the the fact that they’re all very religious.
Speaker: 1
01:40:21
Mhmm.
Speaker: 2
01:40:22
And the fact that there’s no drinking, there’s no partying, there’s no nothing, there’s no chasing girls, there’s no bullshit. Yeah. It’s just prayer and training. Ai, that is a that’s a that’s a major advantage, but you could do that anywhere. Yeah. You could do anyone could live that way.
Speaker: 1
01:40:37
Anyone can live that way. I’d imagine that, like, being in Dagestan because of, you know, just ai the cultural differences.
Speaker: 2
01:40:45
Mhmm.
Speaker: 1
01:40:46
Not to say that it would be easier, but you’re dealing with less. Right? Like, you can do it here, but, like, you’re you go outside, you’re gonna find a bar, you’re gonna find ai. You know what I mean? Ai, you know, like, ai, the the, you know But
Speaker: 2
01:41:02
you have to make conscious decisions ai
Speaker: 1
01:41:04
to have that in your life. Yeah. Which, like, doing it here would probably actually make you stronger.
Speaker: 2
01:41:09
Right. Because you have to deal with more resistance.
Speaker: 1
01:41:11
Because you have to deal with more resistance. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:41:13
You know
Speaker: 1
01:41:13
what I mean? Yeah. Like, if you go out away where there’s nothing, like, yeah. Cool. But then come back to the real world and try to do it
Speaker: 2
01:41:20
and ai thing be like, Right. But isn’t that why most I mean, from beginning of time, fighters would take their camps away from life. Yeah. Like Marvin Hagler, he would he would go to The Cape. He would go to Cape Cod and train in the winter. Cash is clean, Muhammad Ali, you know, they would go up into the mountains, you know. There’s definitely Ai with the Catskills.
Speaker: 1
01:41:41
There’s something different about it. Right?
Speaker: 2
01:41:43
Like, there’s something different. Everybody goes to Big Bear and trains up there.
Speaker: 1
01:41:47
Yeah. When when I fought Alex, I was in Salt Lake, or I was in, what’s the mountain up there? What’s the
Speaker: 2
01:41:56
In Utah?
Speaker: 1
01:41:57
Yeah. Wasatch? No. Above Salt Lake, everybody goes skiing up there. Damn it. What’s it called, dude? Why can’t why am I
Speaker: 2
01:42:07
Mount Nebo? No. Park City?
Speaker: 1
01:42:10
Park City. Oh, okay. Okay. I was out in Park City for, like, two or three weeks before
Speaker: 2
01:42:15
the flight. Distractions in Park City, son.
Speaker: 1
01:42:17
But not where we were. No? No. Like, for, like, the the cabin that I rented out there was,
Speaker: 2
01:42:22
like Ai.
Speaker: 1
01:42:23
There was nothing there. So we How much time
Speaker: 2
01:42:24
did you spend up there? Like,
Speaker: 1
01:42:28
seventeen days, eighteen days, something like that. So, like, the tail end of the camp, we were just, like, up there. Did you have to acclimate to the Yeah. To the to the altitude.
Speaker: 2
01:42:36
How much time does that usually take? Because that doesn’t seem like enough. Seventeen days doesn’t seem like enough.
Speaker: 1
01:42:44
We I don’t remember exactly how much time, but we for two weeks before that, we’re regularly going up to Mount Charleston and to running other mountains and stuff, like, outside of Vegas. That works.
Speaker: 2
01:42:59
Because there is quite a bit of elevation outside of Vegas. I don’t think Vegas itself is Ai? I think it’s no. I I think it’s 2,000 feet above sea level. What is Something like that. What’s Vegas above sea level? 2,001 feet. Yeah. So Vegas is 2,000 feet above sea level.
Speaker: 1
01:43:15
There’s a road right up by where we train. Like, the it’s called Mount Potosi, and that’s, like, seven no. 6,000. Something like that. Okay. So it’s like and it’s it’s very short, like, very short distance drive.
Speaker: 2
01:43:29
And you go train up there?
Speaker: 1
01:43:30
We’d just drive there, and then we’d just run out there, train out there, come back down home.
Speaker: 2
01:43:36
One of the things that I’ve heard, it’s there’s different philosophies on how to handle training in altitude. But one of the things that I’ve heard is what you should do is you should train at sea level and then sleep and live vatsal high altitude. So that way, you get more output at sea level because you’re getting more bryden, so you could put in more work. Mhmm.
Speaker: 2
01:43:54
And then when you’re at the higher altitude, your body is adapting and developing more red blood cells and and all that stuff, and more adaptation for oxygen.
Speaker: 1
01:44:04
Makes sense. I’ve heard that as well. Yeah. I just haven’t tried it.
Speaker: 2
01:44:07
That makes sense to me. Yeah. Because it’s just that the ai then it’s ai there’s a mental benefit of being able to put in the work at a higher altitude. You know? And then knowing that, like, sai if you train, like, I I lived for a while outside of Boulder. I lived at this place that was 8,500 feet above sea level.
Speaker: 1
01:44:26
Oh, my God.
Speaker: 2
01:44:26
It was it was working out there was rough. Yeah. It was crazy that when I would go to Boulder to train, I ai go to a mall eastern jujitsu gym. It felt easier because it was only 5,000 feet. Mhmm. Because that’s ai boulders like 5,000 something. And then, one time, we had to go to Philadelphia for, like, a UFC event, and I was working out in Philadelphia, and I felt like a fucking juggernaut.
Speaker: 1
01:44:52
Yeah. I was ai,
Speaker: 2
01:44:52
I have so much energy. This is crazy. It’s because I was at sea level. Yeah. And I’m not used to being at sea level. So when I was working out, I felt so good. I was like, oh meh god. I have so much fucking energy. It’s because I’m used to being oxygen deprived.
Speaker: 1
01:45:07
Have you, have you seen that thing they have with the Ai? The the ozone machine?
Speaker: 2
01:45:11
No. What is it? The one that takes your blood and recycles it? No.
Speaker: 1
01:45:15
It’s like a it’s a, altitude simulator. So I wanna do it, but they they’re ai, you gotta commit to, like, a couple months of training to see, like, the the real benefit of this.
Speaker: 2
01:45:26
Oh, so you have to be there for a few months.
Speaker: 1
01:45:28
You have to, like,
Speaker: 2
01:45:29
train utilize that place? Because you are a Vegas guy.
Speaker: 1
01:45:32
I love like, they have, you know, amazing physical therapists. Nutrition. Yeah. Nutrition. It’s very convenient, you know, especially, like, living there. I just try to stay I don’t try to get too involved because every fighter can go, and it’s just ai you kinda run into other camps and blah blah
Speaker: 2
01:45:49
blah blah blah. You know what I mean? Talk in there.
Speaker: 1
01:45:51
Yeah. A lot of shah talk or just Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:45:53
Yeah. Energy.
Speaker: 1
01:45:54
Energy. And everybody John
Speaker: 2
01:45:55
Wood has such a great gym too.
Speaker: 1
01:45:57
Yeah. Syndicate is
Speaker: 2
01:45:58
Syndicate’s so good. It’s I love it. John’s such a great guy.
Speaker: 1
01:46:01
Yeah, man. Great vibe. So happy for for everything right now with just, like, Meh and
Speaker: 2
01:46:07
Oh, yeah.
Speaker: 1
01:46:07
Him and I and what we’re doing.
Speaker: 2
01:46:08
I love the fact that Merab even ai, he’s still tight with his old crew. You know what I mean? Mhmm. It’s ai and the same thing we even when AJ was training down there, they’re still ai. Yeah. With Ray Longo and Matt Cera and all those guys that got him to the dance, and then you see those guys also in his corner.
Speaker: 2
01:46:28
It’s a very collaborative thing where there’s no the egos don’t get in the way.
Speaker: 1
01:46:33
No. It that that’s Huge. Such a cool thing to respect.
Speaker: 2
01:46:36
So cool.
Speaker: 1
01:46:37
Like, everybody around him. Yeah. Training partners too. Like, he just It’s all ai down. Right? It’s all top down. Bunch of Georgian guys in it. It’s like Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:46:47
If the guys at the top have a great vibe and they’re all, like, collaborative and work together, you know, really, you you feel that vibe in the gym.
Speaker: 1
01:46:57
Yeah. It spreads. His energy is definitely, like, infectious. And one thing that’s cool too is, like, the way that John’s organized training in syndicate now when when people have fights coming up and, like, you’re doing your live cage rounds, the whole gym’s watching.
Speaker: 2
01:47:12
You know
Speaker: 1
01:47:13
what I mean? Like Yeah. Like, everybody yeah. Everybody’s around the cage. You know what I mean? And and
Speaker: 2
01:47:18
So you get used to that.
Speaker: 1
01:47:19
It’s so cool. It’s it’s sai cool. And What
Speaker: 2
01:47:21
is it like having a ram training? There is there a fucking guy that has a better gas tank than that motherfucker?
Speaker: 1
01:47:28
I haven’t seen him. Dude, my week the fight week. Actually, I just the day of my fight okay. Day of my fight, woke up, called John. I’m like, hey, man. Wanna get a shake out. Just ai shah out some nerves. Like, you know, just hit some pads. He’s like, okay. Cool.
Speaker: 1
01:47:47
I’m down in the in the ballroom with, with. He’s like, but you gotta wait a few minutes. Like, he’s going some rounds. I’m like, rounds? And he’s like, yeah.
Speaker: 1
01:47:55
You just got you gotta come down here and see it. So I’m like, I go downstairs in the elevator. We can get to the room. Is doing live rounds on carpet, hard floor in a fucking ballroom with some ai, and they’re they’re sparring rounds, bro.
Speaker: 2
01:48:11
The day
Speaker: 1
01:48:11
of the fight. Of my fight. So he didn’t have a fight, but it would this was a week after his, his second fight against O’Malley. So they’re doing live rounds on the carpet. Shin guards everything, but, like, takedowns
Speaker: 2
01:48:25
Jesus Christ.
Speaker: 1
01:48:25
On hard floor and carpet, and he just doesn’t stop. It’s like it’s like training never ends.
Speaker: 2
01:48:31
Well, that’s how you get staff. That’s probably why you got staff officials.
Speaker: 1
01:48:34
Who knows? You know? But you like like, they’re just no one can stop the guy. Yeah. Like, he’s just a big ball of energy. He really is. Like, whether it’s running up and down mountains and all this stuff, like, John Wood actually has to have some type of, like, monitor on this guy.
Speaker: 1
01:48:49
He’s like, don’t train today. Okay, coach. Okay, coach. Next thing you know, he’s on social media, like, out in the mountains, you know, or in some river. Like, it just he’s yeah. Having him having him around is crazy. Yeah.
Speaker: 1
01:49:01
DC went to visit him
Speaker: 2
01:49:02
the day after the O’Malley fight, the first fight, and he went to his house, and he was running. Yeah. The day after he won the world ai. Isn’t And DC goes to his house, and he’s like, look at Maropp’s home gym. He goes, you know where this motherfucker is? He’s out running. He’s out running.
Speaker: 1
01:49:17
The discipline that fucking Yeah. That’s it.
Speaker: 2
01:49:20
Talking about. It’s discipline.
Speaker: 1
01:49:21
He’s addicted to discipline.
Speaker: 2
01:49:22
Mhmm. It never ends.
Speaker: 1
01:49:24
That’s it. Like, I think he’s just one of those ai. Like
Speaker: 2
01:49:27
I mean, there I just there’s a lot of people that are analyzing it. They’re like, it has to be genetic. Does it? Does it? Like, is his head is his head bigger? Is his chest bigger? Like, what’s bigger? It’s all the same. He’s a normal ai guy. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:49:41
There’s nothing there’s nothing extraordinary about his physicality other than the fact that he’s very strong Yeah. Which which is there’s a lot of strong ai. But it’s not it’s accumulation of time spent on the path. Mhmm. And he has not deviated.
Speaker: 1
01:49:57
Yeah. At all. And Ai don’t think he’s anywhere close to
Speaker: 2
01:50:01
He’s not even in his prime. No. I mean Ai mean, he’s in his prime clearly, but I don’t think he’s reached his full potential because I think he was even better in the second O’Malley fight than he was the first fight, and I think O’Malley was considerably better. Yeah. But Merab’s that much better now. And, you know, it’s this thing that happens, and hopefully you’ll get to experience this. When you win a title, you get better.
Speaker: 2
01:50:20
There’s ai DC says it’s like 10%. It’s like there’s something that happens. Some people say 30%, but there’s something that happens to where you realize like, I am the fucking best in the world. And you take that into your heart, in your ai. Wow.
Speaker: 2
01:50:33
And then you carry that, like, now you have that tyler, you see it, it’s sitting there on your table, or you have it on your wall, whatever wherever you put your belt. And you’re, like, I am the fucking man now. And now Ai will live this way. Uh-huh. And then you see them going into the you know who you see that with? Pantosia. Mhmm.
Speaker: 1
01:50:49
Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:50:51
That dude does not get the love that he deserves. When that guy gets into the octagon, it’s it’s like a fucking leopard just entered the room. Yeah. It’s wild, man. It’s wild. Like, he’s got this feeling about him that, you know, champions have when when they’re just fucking feeling it. Mhmm.
Speaker: 2
01:51:11
You know, when that guy steps into the octagon, you you see him across the ring from whoever the fuck he’s fighting. It’s like, that’s a that’s a cat, man. Yeah.
Speaker: 1
01:51:20
That’s just like you know what I mean? Honestly, yeah. Ai a yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:51:25
Like a fucking jaguar or something.
Speaker: 1
01:51:27
A jaguar ram mountain. So yeah. It’s something like Ai killer. Just some elite killer. You can kinda sense that, like, a little instinct in it.
Speaker: 2
01:51:34
Uh-huh. They’re like, oh, shit. 100%, man.
Speaker: 1
01:51:36
100%. In it. Like, he’s for sure
Speaker: 2
01:51:39
in it. He’s locked in. I meh, and you see that, ai, I think the perfect fight for him was seeing Ai France, they fought in the ultimate ai. Mhmm. And it was a good fight. And then you see this new fight where as he’s the champion, Kai Arya France is the the contender. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:51:57
He fucking ran through him, man. Like, you sai, it’s a different human being.
Speaker: 1
01:52:01
Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:52:02
He’s a champion now. And Where did he trade?
Speaker: 1
01:52:07
He’s ATT. ATT.
Speaker: 2
01:52:09
Okay. I mean, I don’t know if he spends his all of his time down there. I don’t know if he’s there all the time or if he just goes there for camps.
Speaker: 1
01:52:15
Yeah. I’d make sure
Speaker: 2
01:52:16
I don’t know if he how he does it.
Speaker: 1
01:52:17
Okay.
Speaker: 2
01:52:18
I don’t I’m not sure if he’s a a, a Florida resident or if he lives in Brazil and just goes there for camps. Yeah. I’m not sure.
Speaker: 1
01:52:25
No. But yeah. Whatever I mean, whatever he’s doing is definitely
Speaker: 2
01:52:30
Travis is the thing about being the flyweight champ where if that motherfucker was the middleweight ram, he’d be a superstar. Shah.
Speaker: 1
01:52:35
He’d be the the best round opponent.
Speaker: 2
01:52:37
And that to meh, that drives me nuts because it’s ai you just I like martial arts. I like someone who represents the best of martial arts. Like, and in my mind, like, that guy’s as good as anybody alive. Like, when when he’s running over every fucking contender Yeah. And and choking them out or knocking them out or whatever the fuck he’s doing, like, damn.
Speaker: 1
01:52:58
Yeah. It’s tough, man. It’s, like, it’s tough in this sport because of the weight the weight classes. Like, a lot of guys don’t get.
Speaker: 2
01:53:05
What’s crazy is 35 gets so much love. Yeah. This is 10 pounds difference.
Speaker: 1
01:53:09
10 pounds difference.
Speaker: 2
01:53:10
Isn’t that nuts? Yeah. That’s kinda nuts. Yeah. Yeah. Because when you see Pantosia next to those guys, there’s not much difference in size. It’s kinda the same.
Speaker: 1
01:53:18
That’s ai, like, I forgot somebody not too long ago asked me, like, my, what would my MMA, like, Mount Rushmore be? And I remember saying, like, Anderson Silva, GSP, Demetrius Johnson, and Amanda Nunes. And they were like, Demetrius Johnson. Ai Oh. Ai would you even why would you even Hesitate.
Speaker: 1
01:53:42
Hesitate. Why why are you even asking me that question? You know?
Speaker: 2
01:53:45
You if you weren’t there
Speaker: 1
01:53:47
during his prime,
Speaker: 2
01:53:48
you had to see him during his ai, you know. When he was
Speaker: 1
01:53:52
How about martial arts? Ai, and just skill.
Speaker: 2
01:53:55
Angles, movements, speed, and intelligence, knowing exactly how to engage and his ability to transfer between grappling and striking seamlessly.
Speaker: 1
01:54:08
Dude, perfect. Perfect word. Seamlessly.
Speaker: 2
01:54:13
Like Ai, in his prime in his prime, he was unstoppable.
Speaker: 1
01:54:17
Yeah. But imagine, Demetrius Johnson at light heavyweight, there’d be statues of this man. Statue. You know what I mean?
Speaker: 2
01:54:25
Like Ai be like the the Rocky Statue in Philadelphia.
Speaker: 1
01:54:28
Yeah. Who knows where it would be, Ram? Ai would probably be multiple statues of this man all over the place. And what a great guy too.
Speaker: 2
01:54:35
Oh, he’s the best. Yep. And just, again, just underappreciated for whatever reason. You know? And during his reign, it it just ai his pay per view numbers were not what they should have been. Yeah. But it but it’s because he’s small. That’s all it is. It’s like the casuals. They they don’t like, who gives a shit how big he is compared to you?
Speaker: 2
01:54:56
Just look at how he’s the same size as the guys fighting, and look what he can do
Speaker: 1
01:55:00
to that guy. We need to just we need to have this is a joke. This isn’t serious. This is a joke. But, like, smaller weight classes in a smaller cage
Speaker: 2
01:55:12
Well then
Speaker: 1
01:55:12
we’ll make them look bigger on television, and people will get what they you know? No.
Speaker: 2
01:55:16
They don’t care. People don’t it’s interesting because boxing has the same thing. You know. I mean, when you get into the heavier weight look look. Usyk made somewhere in the neighborhood of a $132,000,000 for that fight.
Speaker: 1
01:55:28
That sounds amazing. Doesn’t it? Gross.
Speaker: 2
01:55:31
Yeah. Ai know. It was me and Volkanovski and Izzy were, backstage at the UFC. We’re at the weigh ins, and I pulled up the numbers. I go, have you seen the fucking numbers? There’s a video of it on Stylebender’s website or his YouTube page. And Ai be like, check this out. Because I had saved on my phone in case I ran into any fighters. Like, look at this. Look how crazy this is.
Speaker: 2
01:55:51
And Dubois made, like, 71 or 72,000,000, and Usyk made, like, 132.
Speaker: 1
01:55:59
I mean, like, if I made that type of money, I wouldn’t have to I wouldn’t be looking to, like, leave to live the But
Speaker: 2
01:56:05
what what has to change for that to happen? I mean, does this do the Saudis have to buy the UFC?
Speaker: 1
01:56:10
I don’t know. Because I don’t understand, like
Speaker: 2
01:56:12
It’s ai of what they’re doing with boxing. They’re ai buying boxing.
Speaker: 1
01:56:15
Yeah. I don’t know, man. I don’t know, like, I don’t know what needs to change. But, I mean, all I’m saying is, like, it would be really cool. That’s ai a ram, like, to be able to make those ai of numbers.
Speaker: 2
01:56:32
I would really love that for fighters. I mean, I love when I hear fighters are making millions. It’s great. It’s great because I remember the early days of the UFC where people make pennies
Speaker: 1
01:56:41
Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:56:41
When there was no money to be made. I mean, I started working for them in 1997, the previous owners, you know, when it was, before Zufa. And nobody was making any money. There was no money in MMA. Yeah. You know, it’s like everybody was scratching and clawing, and they were just doing it out of the love of the game. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:56:57
Or because they, you know, had a career in wrestling, and then that wrestling amateur wrestling career was over, and they’re like, alright. I’m gonna be ai fighter. Yeah. The money was in Japan, though. There was money in Japan.
Speaker: 1
01:57:07
Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:57:08
But even the money in Japan was not boxing money.
Speaker: 1
01:57:11
No. No. $10. Yeah. $10, something like that.
Speaker: 2
01:57:13
You know, I’m sure they paid him well. And at the time, it was a lot. But Sai mean, like, Fedor is still fighting. Is he fighting because he wants to? Or is he fighting because he has to? You know, which is crazy. Yeah. If one of the greatest of all time is fighting because He has to. He has to.
Speaker: 2
01:57:28
It’s not like Fedor is, like, living the craziest, flashiest ai, like, ai like Floyd Mayweather. Like Floyd Mayweather went broke, he’d be ai, look at his Instagram.
Speaker: 1
01:57:38
Meh. Of course. How is
Speaker: 2
01:57:38
he not gonna go broke?
Speaker: 1
01:57:39
Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:57:39
Meanwhile, he’s not. Meanwhile, he still got tons of money.
Speaker: 1
01:57:42
Yeah.
Speaker: 2
01:57:42
But, you know, Floyd made hundreds of millions of dollars. He probably made more money than any boxer that’s ever lived.
Speaker: 1
01:57:51
Oh, man. I yeah. It’s a dream. Yeah. It’s it’s a dream. It’d be nice, but I’m not, like I’m I’m glad that it’s improving. It’s improving. It’s improving.
Speaker: 2
01:58:03
It’s definitely improving. It’s definitely it’s like, you know, fighters can get rich now.
Speaker: 1
01:58:07
Yeah. You know? Yeah. We can actually plan retirement. Yeah. You know what I mean? Ai, that that that that for now, like, I’m saying, like, I’m grateful
Speaker: 2
01:58:15
for that. And one of the things that I really like about the UFC too is they give fighters a chance to have a career outside of that. You know, like Paul Felder and DC do commentary. Chell Sana does his stuff. Yeah. All those guys in the desk, Saloni Joban, they all do their stuff.
Speaker: 2
01:58:27
Like, Rashad does his stuff. That’s nice. I was like, there’s there’s an opportunity to work outside of having to fight.
Speaker: 1
01:58:35
You asked me, you know, like, before, like, oh, you know, what would you do or, like, have I thought about anything? I honestly, I would love to work with the UFC, not as a commentator, because I don’t really see myself, like, commentating or, like, being, you know, someone speak, but I’d love to work for the UFC.
Speaker: 2
01:58:54
Why wouldn’t you sana commentate or speak?
Speaker: 1
01:58:57
I don’t know. I I personally I think I’ve mentioned this to you before. Like, I just don’t know if I have so much, like, input, you know, when it comes to, like, other fighters’ skill or whatever. Like, I’m not the most exciting person on a microphone. You know? Ai, you guys do well. It’s like, oh, fuck. Like, you know, you guys have great reactions.
Speaker: 1
01:59:17
I’m kinda more like, interesting. Like, the old grandpa, you know? Right. Right. Right.
Speaker: 2
01:59:22
Right.
Speaker: 1
01:59:22
Rubbing my ai, like,
Speaker: 2
01:59:23
well, that’s great. Not as a commentator then. Maybe someone on the desk analyzing things because you definitely have a very unique viewpoint.
Speaker: 1
01:59:31
Yeah. Viewpoint. I mean, that that could work, but I think something ai I’d I don’t know. I’d rather be, like, I guess, behind behind the like, on the other side of the camera. What would
Speaker: 2
01:59:44
you wanna be doing?
Speaker: 1
01:59:45
I don’t know. Something within the biz they do that. Like, the UFC is such a large company. There’s so many departments. I am friends with I try to make friends with everybody in every department because they’re just great people that make that make this all happen. The equipment team, you know, Amber, Stephanie.
Speaker: 1
02:00:03
Like, I’ve been testing the gloves for the UFC for the past year, making sure we get the right ones, you know, and
Speaker: 2
02:00:08
we fight gloves? Because you and Alex fought with the old the new
Speaker: 1
02:00:12
old gloves.
Speaker: 2
02:00:13
The new old gloves. Yeah. Because they got rid of them. Yeah. They’re not. Like, a fucking year developing them.
Speaker: 1
02:00:17
Yeah. And so I was a part of that entire process.
Speaker: 2
02:00:19
What happened? What was wrong with those gloves?
Speaker: 1
02:00:21
The main thing was that, like, because of the leather, the the logos weren’t sticking. So the logos were peeling off, peeling off, peeling off. That’s it? And we tried Joe, I’m telling you, we tried hundreds of different ways to get the UFC logo printed on the gloves so that they will not come off in the octagon.
Speaker: 1
02:00:44
From me testing it on the canvas, doing live situations, sparring, rubbing in the cage, blah blah, and
Speaker: 2
02:00:51
I don’t get it.
Speaker: 1
02:00:52
It just ai the old leather work better? Because with everything in the world, but especially, like, in the in the industry of, like ai, leather and suede and all that stuff, like, you can’t if I had a pair of leather shoes from 1970, it’s gonna be different than the leather that’s made today.
Speaker: 1
02:01:13
You get what I mean? Like, it just it changes.
Speaker: 2
02:01:16
Both of them are made today, the old gloves and the new old gloves.
Speaker: 1
02:01:20
It’s a different type of leather.
Speaker: 2
02:01:22
So it’s a softer leather?
Speaker: 1
02:01:24
It’s just it’s it’s just not the same. Like, it’s it’s it’s a little it was a little softer, but it’s it’s it’s treated differently to be able to, you know, to to before, like, while it’s being processed or whatever that whole, like, process looks like. It’s just there’s some type of, you know, chemical or something that’s just different
Speaker: 2
02:01:47
in because what I had heard was that there’s less knockouts with the new old gloves. The gloves that they developed and then they abandoned recently. There’s less knockouts.
Speaker: 1
02:01:56
Because I’m just hearing straight from what, you know, the equipment team’s being yelled at.
Speaker: 2
02:02:01
So the equipment team is saying that’s the issue is that this leather doesn’t
Speaker: 1
02:02:04
to do with their lock the the knockouts. It’s that every time when the fighters come to return a pair of gloves or whatever or even in the fight, these it’s peeling off or chipping off, and that’s that’s a that’s a hazard if it gets in your eye. Right.
Speaker: 2
02:02:18
You know
Speaker: 1
02:02:18
what I mean? It’s more about, like, the safety of the ai, not like, we need more knockouts, change of gloves.
Speaker: 2
02:02:23
Interesting. Because it did the knockout the knockout thing didn’t make any sense.
Speaker: 1
02:02:26
Ai. No. It has nothing to do with the knockouts. It’s more that the logo wasn’t adhering, and it doesn’t look professional to have these guys fighting a championship fight. And then here’s this guy raising his hand, you don’t even know, like, there’s no UFC logo on the glove.
Speaker: 1
02:02:39
Like, what
Speaker: 2
02:02:39
It all gets worn off.
Speaker: 1
02:02:41
It all gets worn off. So we we’ve tried so many different marker. That wouldn’t work? Who can’t sell a glove with magic marker on it? Yeah. But We have to make an official glove, you know, like
Speaker: 2
02:02:53
Ai the training gloves, you know, just have UFC somewhere else.
Speaker: 1
02:02:57
The training gloves. What about the people who wanna buy an official UFC glove?
Speaker: 2
02:03:02
Yeah. What are they doing with them? If they’re gonna work out with them
Speaker: 1
02:03:05
It’s still gotta be official. I get it. You know?
Speaker: 2
02:03:08
The best gloves are Trevor Wittman’s. He makes the best Sana. The best MMA gloves. They’re the best. And the UFC was trying to get those for some I don’t I don’t wanna speak out of line here or out of turn. I don’t know exactly what went on, but apparently, Trevor wanted more money than they were willing to give him. But he makes the absolute best MMA gloves.
Speaker: 2
02:03:30
They’re the best. It’s a
Speaker: 1
02:03:31
good glove.
Speaker: 2
02:03:32
They turn over like this.
Speaker: 1
02:03:33
Yeah.
Speaker: 2
02:03:34
Where it’s not like this. So you you don’t like the thing that people the problem with the old gloves that are now the gloves that everybody uses is that everybody says that they kind of force your hand into an open position and you have to tighten up to make them close. Do you feel that?
Speaker: 1
02:03:51
I I agree with that, but I’ve I have found the solution to that.
Speaker: 2
02:03:56
What’s the solution?
Speaker: 1
02:03:57
Just size up.
Speaker: 2
02:03:59
Oh, one size up?
Speaker: 1
02:04:00
Yeah. They all weigh the same.
Speaker: 2
02:04:02
Interesting.
Speaker: 1
02:04:03
Yeah. So what size do you use? This last ai, I used a double x.
Speaker: 2
02:04:08
And you usually use an x? Yeah. Interesting.
Speaker: 1
02:04:10
And I think it’s like, you know, a lot of fighters, we don’t like to stray from what we do. You know what I mean?
Speaker: 2
02:04:17
And, like,
Speaker: 1
02:04:18
every little thing can fuck with us. You know what I mean? Some fighters Maybe
Speaker: 2
02:04:22
I shouldn’t have gone to XXL.
Speaker: 1
02:04:24
Fuck. Yeah. Yeah. That’s why I did not come out. You know what I mean? But, yeah, if, like, if you’re, like, you you just have to think. It’s like, okay. The glove weighs the sai. Whether it’s an XL or an extra small, it weighs the same.
Speaker: 2
02:04:37
How do they manage that?
Speaker: 1
02:04:38
I don’t know. But it weighs the same. That sounds suspicious.
Speaker: 2
02:04:41
I sana wanna get a fucking scale out.
Speaker: 1
02:04:46
That’s just a space. Next time. Yeah. But That doesn’t make any sense to me. The but we’re all fighting in, you know, far flung.
Speaker: 2
02:04:53
Thinner pads. Ai don’t. Would have to be.
Speaker: 1
02:04:57
Maybe. It
Speaker: 2
02:04:58
would have to be.
Speaker: 1
02:04:59
Oh, yeah. Because then your hand can’t fit in the Yeah. Yeah. Like, if I tried to get into an extra small, it wouldn’t work. So yeah. But, like, let’s say the size between an XL and a double XL weigh the same.
Speaker: 2
02:05:11
Okay.
Speaker: 1
02:05:13
And I have to consider, okay. I’m getting my hands wrapped as well. Right. So, yes, this XL glove fits like a glove. But what about when I wrap my hands? Right. Now I wrap my hands.
Speaker: 2
02:05:23
It’s too tight.
Speaker: 1
02:05:24
And then now my hands are like this, and I’m like,
Speaker: 2
02:05:27
I off your circulation almost.
Speaker: 1
02:05:29
Yeah. So the idea is size up. Even if it’s two sizes up, you’re not gonna have an issue. Mhmm. You know? Or you go with a thinner wrap or no wrap. You have that option.
Speaker: 2
02:05:40
Well, Joe Ai fights with no wrap. Yeah. Which is crazy.
Speaker: 1
02:05:43
I think it’s savage. I kinda wanna do it. Yeah? Yeah. I would have fought with no wrap with the other glove. The new glove.
Speaker: 2
02:05:50
The new old glove. The The new one that they abandoned. The old new glove.
Speaker: 1
02:05:56
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ai would have thought those felt so much better to me with no ram.
Speaker: 2
02:06:02
Man, if I was the UFC, and clearly, I’m not a good businessman, but if I was, I would say, listen. How about you sell us the gloves, we’ll promote your gloves, you sell them on your website, we don’t make any profit off of it. Just give us your gloves to use for the fights, and we’ll we’ll blow your business up. That’s what I would do. Mhmm.
Speaker: 2
02:06:23
I would say, look, you want a lot of money for your gloves? Good. Sell them. Everybody should buy them anyway. He makes the best bag gloves, best sparring gloves.
Speaker: 2
02:06:31
Ai a fucking wizard, man.
Speaker: 1
02:06:33
Yeah. That’s what I’ve gathered from just ai
Speaker: 2
02:06:35
He is a very interesting guy. Very smart guy. Great trainer. Just great person. But his gloves, his MMA gloves, you put them on, you’re like, oh, why aren’t they all like this? Yeah. The padding is a much more sophisticated ai padding.
Speaker: 1
02:06:51
Sai remember I think one time he sent me a pair of boxing gloves. Mhmm. Like, this was a couple years ago, and I saw it. Like, it came with this paper, and you’re supposed to put a blow dryer in it first. And you turn the blow dryer on to warm up the padding in there specifically, like, for that.
Speaker: 1
02:07:07
And then once it’s heated up, then you put the glove on and you wrap it up, and then you let the padding cool down, and then it molds to your hand. I don’t know if people remember that about the glove, but that’s I didn’t know that. That’s the that’s how you should wear those gloves.
Speaker: 2
02:07:21
Oh, that’s interesting. I didn’t know that. Mhmm. That makes sense. Yeah. But he told he was explaining to me the different kinds of foam that you can bryden that people buy cheap foam and it’s not it’s not as ai high density and it’s not as good, doesn’t protect you as well.
Speaker: 2
02:07:34
Mhmm. And his is like the most expensive but the best. Yeah. But when his gloves, the design of his gloves, your hands are curled like this in this position. So it’s an effort to do that. Mhmm.
Speaker: 2
02:07:45
But
Speaker: 1
02:07:47
Ai don’t know, man. I I
Speaker: 2
02:07:48
I feel like we’re stagnant in innovation with glove development in the first place because I don’t think this is necessary.
Speaker: 1
02:07:55
No. Ai, why? With, the old, like, Ali Mittens.
Speaker: 2
02:07:59
Oh, okay.
Speaker: 1
02:08:00
Those are my favorite gloves in the world Mhmm. To do MMA with. Put a wrap on under it, you know, for for padding or a pad, whatever, and I can still grapple with it. Yeah. My fingers are just like this. You know what I mean?
Speaker: 2
02:08:14
Which is but this this is how you grapple anyway.
Speaker: 1
02:08:17
Yeah. Exactly. You never do this.
Speaker: 2
02:08:18
No. And then You never interlace your fingers. So why are the fingers even exposed? Because ai pokes are a giant issue.
Speaker: 1
02:08:25
Yeah.
Speaker: 2
02:08:25
And if you let’s say you could just eliminate finger pokes and all you have is thumb pokes. You would take away 90% of all eye pokes.
Speaker: 1
02:08:32
Yeah. And
Speaker: 2
02:08:33
it would be obvious if someone did it on purpose. And
Speaker: 1
02:08:35
then Derek Lewis would be fucked. Ai about that interview? I’ll poke him in
Speaker: 2
02:08:43
the ai, kick him in the nuts. He’s so crazy. To God. He was telling the truth about, like, hitting someone in the nuts because he was tired.
Speaker: 1
02:08:49
Yeah. He’s like, I was tired. I needed five more minutes or some shit. He’s like, I’ll poke him in
Speaker: 2
02:08:52
the eye.
Speaker: 1
02:08:52
I cheat. He was just
Speaker: 2
02:08:54
like, I cheat. I was like, dude, this what the hell? But he’s also
Speaker: 1
02:08:57
crazy enough to say that, that he’s like, oh, yeah. The the UFC is is scripted.
Speaker: 2
02:09:04
Oh, yeah. That was ridiculous.
Speaker: 1
02:09:06
It’s ai, dude, anybody I was like, dude, I I know you’re joking, but, like The problem is that gets on the Internet and there’s so many people that now believe you.
Speaker: 0
02:09:13
I knew it.
Speaker: 2
02:09:13
Yeah. Like, there’s so many people that believe you now.
Speaker: 1
02:09:15
Like, that’s a funny joke, but damn it, dude.
Speaker: 2
02:09:18
Bro, there’s no script. There’s the when when you see hit the way he knocked out Curtis blades, there’s no script for that, bro. Yeah. You can’t.
Speaker: 1
02:09:24
You can’t script.
Speaker: 2
02:09:25
That’s just Derek has got some phenomenal god given power. He cannot script what we do. Yeah. No. Of course, you can’t script it. It’s super obvious to anybody that watches. That that’s the dumbest ever casual fan, like, comments. Yeah. It’s a scripted fake. He was supposed to win.
Speaker: 1
02:09:42
Yeah. Like, stop.
Speaker: 2
02:09:45
Stop. Shut up.
Speaker: 1
02:09:46
And then you have Dana White made him win that fight.
Speaker: 2
02:09:49
Oh, it’s so crazy to say. But that said, like, here’s the thing. Yeah. You know, Aspinall is gonna fight Cyril Gaughan.
Speaker: 1
02:09:56
Yeah. I might if I
Speaker: 2
02:09:59
was running things, I might set up the Derrick Lewis fight with Aspinall. I might sai, forget Cyril Gaughan for now. Like, Derrick just has his big knockout win. Who’s more popular than Derrick? Who’s who’s more beloved by fans than Derrick?
Speaker: 1
02:10:14
Yeah. I mean, that would be a great ai to set up. Absolutely. But I think that from, I guess, a business standpoint, it makes sense to use Cyril because of everything that he’s doing in France. Okay. Yeah. That makes sense. Right?
Speaker: 1
02:10:27
Movie star. You know what I mean? He’s ai the entire country behind him now. So, like yeah. With the inner with the UFC, you know, expanding internationally Mhmm.
Speaker: 1
02:10:39
It’s ai, you know, Aspinall is a, you know, British icon. Mhmm. Cyril’s a French icon.
Speaker: 2
02:10:48
The whole Aspinall Jon Jones thing is so crazy. The whole thing is so crazy.
Speaker: 1
02:10:52
Yeah. Absolutely. Jon doesn’t seem to
Speaker: 2
02:10:58
John marches to the beat of his own drummer’s son.
Speaker: 1
02:11:00
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like, he’s he’s dead set in what he wants and how he views
Speaker: 2
02:11:05
it. And
Speaker: 1
02:11:05
so, like
Speaker: 2
02:11:06
But now he wants to fight for the title at the White House.
Speaker: 1
02:11:10
And Dana Shuttnam. Ai,
Speaker: 2
02:11:11
nope. I can’t trust John Yeah. To not fuck something up
Speaker: 1
02:11:14
Yeah.
Speaker: 2
02:11:15
Which is wild. Yeah. But also, what are you gonna say when John just recently got in more trouble?
Speaker: 1
02:11:22
Ai mean, it’s it’s it’s tough. I mean, for Dana, you know, in his position Yeah. It’s too risky.
Speaker: 2
02:11:31
It is. Yeah.
Speaker: 1
02:11:32
It’s very risky. Like Oh, yeah. And it sucks because it’s like, man, you’ve got so much talent and
Speaker: 2
02:11:37
The most talent.
Speaker: 1
02:11:38
And such an incredible resume. Yeah. And Ai there’s nothing that I can really do about it. God.
Speaker: 2
02:11:45
It’s a story as old as time though, isn’t it? Yeah. The story as old as time. Well, that’s one of the things I appreciate about you. Like, you’re a very different kind of dude, you know, who’s in the same business. Yeah. Same wild ass chaotic business, but you choose to put your sights on a different ai. Like, you’re you’re about growth. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
02:12:05
You know, you’re about your own mind and and conquering these challenges, and this is what it’s about for you.
Speaker: 1
02:12:11
Yeah. I’m I’m I’m grateful and blessed to be in the position that I’m in. And, like, I don’t want to I don’t wanna waste anything. You know what I mean? Like, I don’t wanna waste it. I wanna be able to look back when I’m older and and know that I use my time, you know, and in a in a good way, that I continue to grow and to learn and develop, until it’s over.
Speaker: 1
02:12:35
You know? Like
Speaker: 2
02:12:36
I think John does that too, but also, he just loves to party. He just he gets crazy. He just loves to get crazy.
Speaker: 1
02:12:45
And I think that, like, we’ve seen that so many ai. Like, there’s we’ve seen so many athletes and celebrities fall victim Yep. To fame and partying.
Speaker: 2
02:12:57
Oh, yeah.
Speaker: 1
02:12:57
And and what that comes with.
Speaker: 2
02:12:59
We’re watching it with Connor. And we’ve
Speaker: 1
02:13:01
seen the same people who are addicted to discipline.
Speaker: 2
02:13:06
Mhmm. Who you admire.
Speaker: 1
02:13:08
And what they
Speaker: 2
02:13:09
Who do you who arya you gonna listen to first thing in the morning? You’re gonna listen to Khabib. Khabib. Yeah.
Speaker: 1
02:13:13
Yeah. I mean, it’s like, if there is anybody as a as a combat sports, you know, practitioner and and fighter, if there’s anybody who I would say, like, I’d wanna be or, like, model myself after in my career, it’d be Muhammad Ali. Just because of everything. You know what I mean? Like, humanitarian.
Speaker: 2
02:13:37
Yeah.
Speaker: 1
02:13:37
Like, he was beloved by people from all around the world.
Speaker: 2
02:13:41
You
Speaker: 1
02:13:41
know what I mean? Like, just different meh from United Nation and, like, you know what
Speaker: 2
02:13:45
I mean? Ai, just a cultural figure.
Speaker: 1
02:13:47
Cultural figure and, like, not that like, I’m not as outspoken as, you know, as he was. But for just, like, the things that he was also meh for outside of the ring, I just look at that as, like, so admirable. And he gave young men like me something to kind of, like, aim at and, like, model myself after. You know?
Speaker: 1
02:14:10
Like, that to me, I feel like is very important, especially in this country. And as a young man who maybe doesn’t have a father figure or who doesn’t know what to become, and then you read the story about Tyler and you’re like, oh, that’s similar to me. I can become something. I can be an Olympian. I can be a champion. Like, it just takes this. You know what I mean? Like like, I’m not different.
Speaker: 1
02:14:30
I’m actually there’s actually people like like me out there, and I like, you know, it just gives you something to kind of hope to become. And so I try to I I try to just be authentically me so that whoever out there does connect with me can see that, you know, yeah, you can go through certain shit, but, like, there’s so much stuff that that is possible for you.
Speaker: 1
02:14:54
Like, your life’s not over. Yeah. You’re in a bad position now, but you can get yourself out of it. There’s tons of help out there. You know, mental health is a big thing. You know, it’s not the end of the world. You know? And if you feel like it is, there’s support. You know?
Speaker: 1
02:15:08
And if you actually have a disorder, there’s support for that too. There’s also outlets like martial arts and, you know, communities and things like that that will make you feel less alone in ai. And, like
Speaker: 2
02:15:20
Martial arts is a big one. Yeah. You know? That’s a big one. And for people that feel outside Yeah. Go go to, a martial arts studio. Go to a gym where there you’re gonna find a whole lot of people just like you Yeah. That are already on this path.
Speaker: 1
02:15:35
Yeah. And and that are cool people to learn from. I mean, that’s what changed that’s what I just put myself in a new ai. And then I started learning how to eat and how to think. You know what I mean? And started to get courage and and carry myself differently, and weight started coming down and blah blah shah, and then there you go. You know?
Speaker: 1
02:15:53
My my mental health self was a lot less. You know? It’s never gone away completely. You know? But it’s a lot less than it was when I was 19 years old.
Speaker: 2
02:16:03
But, I mean, does it ever go away completely for anybody?
Speaker: 1
02:16:06
Life. You know what I mean? Like, it’s life, but we don’t a lot of people, we don’t have the tools, you know, or we don’t have the people to listen to or whatever to be able to be like, okay. It’s not just me. It’s everyone. So what can I do to deal with this? You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, I I I I think that yeah.
Speaker: 1
02:16:24
That’s that’s ai my my thing. So I think about when I get on a microphone or when I go fight or whatever, like, there’s a sense of responsibility. It’s not just about me in this world. You know? Ai and that’s it’s to be honest, it’s a struggle. It’s hard to not. It’s hard to think that way.
Speaker: 1
02:16:39
It’s very easy to be selfish. It’s very easy to just think meh, me, me, me, meh. You know? My problems, my struggles, my this. But, like, to to consider millions of people and lives and children and youth and teenagers that are watching the sport and da da da, like, I have to be conscious of of the things that I do and how I live my life because I don’t wanna be the guy on the news.
Speaker: 1
02:17:05
You know what I mean? Like, I just don’t wanna be ai. I’m terrible I’m terrified of prison. You know what I mean? I’m fucking you know, I’m trying to make friends with police officers. You know what I mean? Like Yeah. I’m like I was just like I’m just like, okay.
Speaker: 1
02:17:19
Like, I’m trying to do the right thing, not only for myself, but for my family, for my father. You know? So, like, there’s just a lot of responsibility that comes with with this game and and how we live our lives, man.
Speaker: 2
02:17:33
Well, that’s very admirable. And I’m I’m glad there’s people like you out there that do present a very positive role model because I know for a lot of young people, they turn towards really successful people in sports and and particularly fighters, especially if you are a martial artist yourself and you look at someone who carries themselves a certain way and you admire it and you wanna be like that person.
Speaker: 2
02:17:55
Like, I want I aspire to be my own version of what that means to me, what this person means to me, what they represent to me, which is like a championship mindset. Like, someone who’s re like, there’s a lot of people with championship mindset that never become a champion, but they 100% inspire people to live better lives.
Speaker: 1
02:18:15
Mhmm. Yeah. And that’s the journey. That’s the path that I’m on for the rest of my life. Beautiful. Yeah.
Speaker: 2
02:18:24
This is the best way to end the podcast.
Speaker: 1
02:18:26
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker: 2
02:18:27
Listen, brother. I appreciate you very much, and, I wish you all the best of luck, and I’m really excited to see this fight with Yuri Prochaska.
Speaker: 1
02:18:35
Thanks, man.
Speaker: 2
02:18:36
Should be a banger.
Speaker: 1
02:18:37
Thanks for having me. My pleasure.
Speaker: 2
02:18:39
Congratulations on everything. Thanks, ai. I look forward to congratulating you again. Hell, yeah. Alright.
Speaker: 1
02:18:44
Ai. Bye, everybody. Later.