Rebel News Podcast - ANDREW CHAPADOS ｜ From BLM to MAGA： Politics in the UFC ｜ TJ Laramie (UFC featherweight) Andrew Says 32

00:00:00.000 T.J. Laramie, absolute savage.

00:00:21.740 I love savages. I love guys that fight like this kid fights.

00:00:26.840 Welcome to UFC, kid.

00:00:28.060 T.J. Laramie.

00:00:30.000 T.J. Laramie is a UFC featherweight from Windsor, Ontario,

00:00:35.840 who vaulted his way into the UFC through the Dana White Contender Series,

00:00:40.240 and he has been outspoken about sweeping lockdowns, travel restrictions,

00:00:43.860 and the treatment certain professional athletes are receiving from the government compared to others.

00:00:48.360 T.J., how are you doing, man? It's been a while since we spoke.

00:00:51.600 Thanks for coming in today. Can't speak.

00:00:54.880 I'm good, man. You know, I'm happy to be here.

00:00:57.600 Happy to be in the situation I am right now with you guys and everything that's been going on with COVID

00:01:05.780 and the things I've had to deal with so far, you know?

00:01:09.400 Yeah, for those of you, you're going to see coming up that T.J. is actually one of our new Fight the Fines recipients.

00:01:15.460 He got a crazy fine, and we'll talk about that later on in the show.

00:01:18.380 But the first thing I want to talk to you about is we had an interview a few months ago about the travel

00:01:23.660 and the restrictions you've been dealing with, having to train in secret.

00:01:26.740 Gyms still aren't open. I think it's the last place in North America where you can't train anything indoors.

00:01:32.160 I've become the beast and monster you see before you without the gym being open.

00:01:36.600 I was once in shape, you guys.

00:01:38.180 Tell me how it's been having to travel back and forth for your training.

00:01:41.140 So, really, I've been doing the majority of my training in the U.S.

00:01:45.200 because Ontario's been closed for months, and it's too wishy-washy, right?

00:01:50.100 So, it's always like, oh, we're open.

00:01:51.960 Oh, no, we're shut down.

00:01:53.060 Or it's like, oh, we're open, but only a certain amount of people are out in the gym, 0.54

00:01:57.000 which is quite ridiculous.

00:01:58.540 But luckily, from what I'm noticing now in this last lockdown is most gyms are kind of just whatever.

00:02:05.360 You know what I mean?

00:02:05.920 They're kind of just doing whatever, and they're finding little loopholes away around the restrictions.

00:02:13.080 So, I mean, that's great, but I mean, it's still not ideal for me.

00:02:16.260 I'd rather just go in Vegas where I can get all the training I want, all the training partners,

00:02:21.320 where I don't have to worry about somebody knocking on the door with a badge

00:02:25.480 and trying to hand out fines to everybody.

00:02:28.180 Now, are you training at the UFC facility?

00:02:30.060 You got a training camp down there, or how's it going down there?

00:02:32.700 So, the three main places I train at, or two, I would say, is Extreme Couture, 10th Planet, Las Vegas,

00:02:39.540 and then I also do some stuff at the UFC PI.

00:02:43.400 Yeah, a lot of fancy stuff in the UFC Performance Institute there.

00:02:47.620 Has it been harder to travel to Canada than you expected?

00:02:52.240 I mean, you mentioned it's not worth it to go back and forth and do all this stuff,

00:02:55.440 but did you really predict that it was going to be this bad,

00:02:57.700 especially considering all the exemptions that are handed out for almost everything?

00:03:01.840 But you can't come back into the country pre-approved or anything like that?

00:03:06.420 Has it been as bad as you thought it would be?

00:03:08.300 I mean, honestly, it's pretty ridiculous, especially somebody like me who has a visa to work in the U.S.,

00:03:15.960 you know what I mean?

00:03:17.380 And given the restrictions that are put in place here in Ontario and in Canada in general,

00:03:23.060 for them to not exempt me to at least travel back and forth every day to Detroit or Michigan,

00:03:29.380 so that way I can work and do, like, I have a construction company in Windsor,

00:03:34.660 as well as I cut hair, I'm a barber.

00:03:37.160 So, to not, like, it's either one or the other at this point.

00:03:41.800 Either I'm going to train full-time or I have to come home and work and make money,

00:03:45.800 because the way the government's put it is I can't get the ideal training here at home and work and make money,

00:03:52.340 you know what I mean?

00:03:53.140 Because the UFC is only a couple fights a year, two or three fights max, you know?

00:03:57.620 And that's only a lump sum of money every so often, right?

00:04:01.640 So, I need to work, I need to make money, I need to keep my company going.

00:04:05.740 So, the fact that I don't have the exemption to cross back and forth every day to get what I need

00:04:11.160 or to even come home from Vegas so I can stay for a week or two and then fly back

00:04:16.980 without getting a huge fine or discipline in some way, it's crazy.

00:04:20.740 You've got to jump through hoops to just get back home.

00:04:23.820 Well, there's a decent amount of UFC players off the top of my head.

00:04:26.480 There's yourself, Charles Jourdain, Tanner Boser.

00:04:30.100 Has any commission or anybody of any association or governing body offered you guys help?

00:04:37.060 Being like, here's a place where all the, it might only be one location,

00:04:40.460 but here's a place where all the Canadian fighters can train, maybe in Ontario or one for each coast.

00:04:45.600 Has anybody offered you guys any help or assistance with this at all?

00:04:49.040 No, not that I know of personally.

00:04:50.900 Like, I haven't been offered anything.

00:04:52.280 I mean, there are, like I said, there are some gyms trying to find loopholes

00:04:55.460 as far as, so amateur, like high-level amateur sports or Olympic sports,

00:05:01.060 which obviously MMA is not an Olympic sport, Jiu-Jitsu is not an Olympic sport,

00:05:04.580 but luckily wrestling and boxing is an Olympic sport.

00:05:07.720 So, I mean, if you're signed up with an association that goes with that

00:05:12.180 and you're training for the Olympic trials, you know, there's been loopholes that way.

00:05:17.300 But even then, you know, they're still trying to crack down on gyms

00:05:20.060 that are trying to, you know, I guess in their eyes abuse the exemption.

00:05:24.860 Yeah, there is one gym that I try to convince to open based on that exemption for professional athlete training,

00:05:31.900 which would be boxing.

00:05:33.220 But they didn't want to do it.

00:05:34.460 A lot of the places, I get these emails from Good Life Fitness.

00:05:38.460 People send them and they're saying,

00:05:40.660 please talk to your government, tell them to open up the gyms. 1.00

00:05:43.180 And it's like, Good Life, why don't you do something?

00:05:45.420 You have 70,000 locations across the world.

00:05:49.020 Hundreds of millions.

00:05:49.800 Exactly.

00:05:50.340 Hundreds of millions of dollars.

00:05:51.320 Why don't you actually get it to open up?

00:05:54.120 Do fighters from other countries or any of the other regions

00:05:57.120 talk about any of their shared experiences through the travel and the training about this with you?

00:06:01.760 Well, for me personally, I know I'm not the first person who's gotten a fine.

00:06:05.780 I know, unfortunately, some people have had to go and do the hotels.

00:06:08.980 I know Israel Adesanya, being from New Zealand, he actually does 14 days in a hotel.

00:06:14.880 That's how they do it over there, which is, I mean, this is the UFC champ we're talking about.

00:06:19.560 You know what I mean?

00:06:20.140 So they have that much authority over a guy.

00:06:23.300 And it's like, how many negative tests do you need to show?

00:06:25.680 It's like, do the tests not work?

00:06:27.580 You know, that's my thought, right?

00:06:29.400 It's like, if I present you a negative test, you don't trust the test enough for me to go home

00:06:34.580 or at least quarantine at home, not be in a hotel.

00:06:37.440 Like, we're talking about, this is this guy's livelihood.

00:06:40.200 This is his job.

00:06:41.380 This is my job.

00:06:42.100 This is my livelihood.

00:06:42.960 And you expect me to stay in a hotel where I have no access to training facilities or

00:06:46.360 the ability to go outside for a run at that, you know?

00:06:50.020 New Zealand is governed by a communist leader, however.

00:06:53.580 The lady who's the prime minister there used to be a part of the socialist group.

00:06:56.980 Now, I know Fight Island had its own thing.

00:06:59.940 And then Vegas, while it was still closed, of course, they were doing the fights there

00:07:04.000 in the Performance Institute or the Apex Center, whichever one has the actual octagon, the smaller

00:07:08.800 one.

00:07:09.420 What is the protocol like for there?

00:07:11.740 Or what do they have in place for fighters still fighting in the United States?

00:07:15.620 So, what they are currently still doing, they still do the COVID tests.

00:07:20.300 I mean, they're obviously lenient with the masks.

00:07:22.840 I don't believe people have to wear masks as much anymore.

00:07:24.840 Maybe the coaches and corners, but the fighters don't.

00:07:27.400 Before, around the facility, you'd have to wear a mask, right?

00:07:30.020 So, as a fighter.

00:07:32.460 So, I mean, it's not ideal.

00:07:35.280 The biggest thing for me was fighting without a crowd.

00:07:37.600 The crowd is a terrible experience, especially when you're supposed to be at the pinnacle

00:07:41.380 of the sport.

00:07:42.220 I mean, obviously, I'm grateful for the opportunity.

00:07:45.180 I actually got to earn a spot in the UFC during COVID with no crowd.

00:07:49.600 So, I mean, I'm grateful for the opportunity, of course.

00:07:52.560 But, I mean, at the end of the day, this is the UFC.

00:07:56.420 This is the pinnacle, right?

00:07:57.720 I fought in crowds larger in Windsor, you know, or in Ontario, or in some little gym in Detroit.

00:08:05.440 You know, I fought in front of more people there than I did at the pinnacle of MMA and

00:08:09.340 the sport, right?

00:08:10.100 So, I feel like athletes aren't really getting their fair shake, especially, you know, it's

00:08:16.880 just an unfortunate situation.

00:08:20.420 I mean, they're a lot more lax, especially when they go out of state, when they're not

00:08:24.320 at the apex.

00:08:26.320 They pretty much get to interact with fans again, all of that.

00:08:29.380 So, I'm excited for my next bout because I truly believe there's going to be a crowd

00:08:34.340 there.

00:08:34.560 I think they're doing a couple more events at the apex, and then it's done.

00:08:37.980 Yeah?

00:08:38.760 Well, yeah, they're sort of going back from east to west.

00:08:41.120 They started in Florida, then Texas, then Arizona, and now they're back in Vegas for

00:08:45.860 this weekend.

00:08:48.320 The Conor McGregor fight was in Vegas, you guys.

00:08:51.060 It was in the arena there.

00:08:52.640 So, I wanted to ask you about the environment, just a little bit of politics.

00:08:56.800 This is supposed to be a political show.

00:08:58.400 Yeah.

00:08:58.580 I'm not sure if you're familiar with Vlad Kazbekow.

00:09:02.300 He's one of the translators.

00:09:04.740 He's also a fighter in the lower leagues right now.

00:09:08.080 And he's mentioned to me that the UFC and sort of the, and you can see this reflected

00:09:12.280 in the MMA community.

00:09:13.420 It's sort of reversed.

00:09:14.380 Whereas if you work in an office in downtown Toronto or Los Angeles, you're surrounded with

00:09:19.340 extremely liberal people, for better or for worse.

00:09:22.780 He has explained it that in the UFC environment and working with the teams there, it's pretty

00:09:27.260 much reversed where most people have, you know, they're not pro lockdowns.

00:09:32.160 They're a little bit more conservative.

00:09:33.360 Maybe they like the country they came from. 0.75

00:09:35.280 Have you experienced any of that?

00:09:37.560 I mean, absolutely.

00:09:38.780 You know, I think deep down inside, nobody in that realm supports like what they have

00:09:44.860 to do.

00:09:45.260 It's more like what they, to make the government happy.

00:09:47.960 Right.

00:09:48.200 So, and at the end of the day, I mean, it's things that people, you know, make fans happy

00:09:54.520 at the end of the day too.

00:09:55.540 Right.

00:09:55.720 So, if they do abide by any of these rules, it's less of a personal decision and more

00:09:59.920 of a, you know, I mean political, like a political decision a little bit.

00:10:03.280 I mean, for the most part, when you talk to them and their personal views, they agree

00:10:06.860 with what I agree with, what Vlad agrees with, and what most of, you know, people with a

00:10:11.580 brain agree with.

00:10:13.400 So, I mean, yeah, it is good to work for a company like that with like-minded individuals.

00:10:20.000 And I mean, the whole, the only reason they were able to run fights or the reason they

00:10:25.620 were the, basically the only sport at the time doing any events was because of that mindset.

00:10:30.380 And this was at the peak of the pandemic when people were afraid to even go to the grocery

00:10:34.440 store.

00:10:35.420 Yeah.

00:10:35.620 And Dana White really, he even encouraged people to vote out the people who were putting

00:10:39.360 them through the harsh lockdowns.

00:10:41.940 Two extremes of the spectrum, I would say, would be Tyron Woodley, who's wearing, saying

00:10:46.760 Black Lives Matter, every answer.

00:10:48.200 Then, of course, Colby Covington, who's wearing MAGA hats in the octagon and hanging out with

00:10:54.060 the Trumps.

00:10:54.840 Has anyone tried to encourage you to, you know, make a statement using your name or

00:10:59.920 using the UFC platform maybe before or after a fight?

00:11:02.920 Has anybody been like, TJ, we need you to speak out.

00:11:05.520 Why won't you talk more about this?

00:11:07.340 I mean, not using my UFC platform as much and not until recently, not at an actual UFC event

00:11:16.600 or UFC media yet, but I've been reached out to my local Windsor, someone who is running

00:11:22.500 for a member of parliament through the PPC actually there, has reached out to me and wants

00:11:26.940 to get me out speaking at some of these events that she plans on hosting.

00:11:30.480 I think you didn't mention the name, but you narrowed it down pretty much there for that

00:11:34.260 person.

00:11:34.840 So you wouldn't be against it then?

00:11:36.640 No, absolutely not.

00:11:37.660 I mean, I don't have a problem expressing my views when it comes to things.

00:11:41.680 Obviously, you look at my Twitter and my Facebook and stuff like that, you know, I feel like

00:11:45.120 like even if there's probably some things I lean, whatever people might want to call

00:11:50.380 left on some things, majority of the stuff is more right wing viewed in the big picture.

00:11:56.160 But I mean, I'm not afraid to say I don't feel like I'm saying anything wrong.

00:12:00.260 It's just my opinion.

00:12:01.180 It's how I feel.

00:12:02.280 And I don't think anybody should feel wrong with that.

00:12:04.180 You know, I accept people for what they believe, whether I think it's right or wrong.

00:12:07.760 I mean, it's an opinion at the end of the day.

00:12:09.440 Uh, as long as you show that same energy back towards me, you know, you're respectful

00:12:13.680 for me.

00:12:14.180 I'm respectful to you.

00:12:15.560 Does the UFC PR team ever give anybody talks about anything or is it just general what to

00:12:21.920 do?

00:12:22.280 Do they ever tell and get, does anybody ever get in trouble?

00:12:25.280 I mean, I've personally, uh, never seen it.

00:12:27.960 Uh, but, uh, it's funny.

00:12:29.700 You mentioned that Kobe Covington and Tyron Woodley, cause I fought on the card that he,

00:12:33.140 he wore the, the BLM shirt at the conference and, uh, when he was fighting Covington and

00:12:39.280 actually in the back, uh, after weigh-ins, it was Donald Cerrone.

00:12:42.840 He was just trashing BLM pretty much.

00:12:45.220 Yeah.

00:12:45.800 And this was in front of everybody.

00:12:47.160 You know what I mean?

00:12:47.820 But Hey, at the end of the day, if that's what he believes, he's entitled to that opinion.

00:12:51.700 And if that's what Woodley wants to preach, he has to, you know what I mean?

00:12:55.120 Be prepared for people to also to talk back like that, you know, as well.

00:12:59.440 And Tyron Woodley was there when he was, uh, yeah, he was.

00:13:02.720 Yeah.

00:13:03.080 Yeah.

00:13:03.320 I, I tend to not really believe Tyron Woodley believed in a lot of that stuff.

00:13:07.840 No.

00:13:07.980 He tends to, you know, use it as a, use him being, you know, overlooked or overshadowed

00:13:14.380 as a way to get more attention come fight time. 0.94

00:13:16.680 Yeah.

00:13:16.880 I'd have more of a problem with somebody and I'm willing to name Angela Hill as somebody 0.90

00:13:20.660 who really is, I'm oppressed, uh, feel sorry for me.

00:13:24.500 And, and I don't really, I don't really enjoy that.

00:13:27.320 Um, I want to talk to you now about the fine you got coming back.

00:13:30.380 Can you tell people a little bit more what happened, why you were coming back to Canada,

00:13:33.680 even though it's been this headache, um, and, and you got a fine trying to come over the

00:13:38.000 border, right?

00:13:38.860 Uh, yeah.

00:13:39.460 So, uh, coming back, uh, obviously from what I know, and just to avoid the whole airport,

00:13:45.540 hotel quarantine, them trying to throw me in a bus and drive me to a hotel, uh, to avoid

00:13:50.780 that whole thing, you know, I flew back and it's much closer to my house.

00:13:53.260 Anyways, I flew into Detroit and, uh, taxied over to Windsor.

00:13:57.780 Um, and, uh, so basically you need the 72 hour, uh, a PCR test within 72 hours upon your

00:14:04.240 arrival to Canada.

00:14:05.840 Um, uh, so I had that done.

00:14:08.640 Uh, I got the test done, uh, traveling across back to Canada, uh, but the results were not

00:14:14.540 in in time.

00:14:15.440 Um, and, uh, ironically enough, they ended up coming two or three hours after I got the

00:14:20.220 fine.

00:14:20.480 So it, it doesn't really matter.

00:14:22.640 Um, and, but, uh, getting across the border, uh, we tell the agent, he's about to let us

00:14:28.480 through.

00:14:28.700 He's like, Oh, but do you guys have the PCR test?

00:14:30.960 Uh, we're like, Oh, you know, we got it done, but we just don't have the results.

00:14:34.140 I can show you the appointment schedule.

00:14:35.440 When I scheduled the appointment, when I went and got the test and the confirmation that I

00:14:39.100 got the test done and are, is awaiting results.

00:14:41.720 And, uh, basically he said, man, I'm going to try my best.

00:14:45.000 You know, the CBS agent was amazing.

00:14:47.200 He tried his best, but at the end of the day, it came down to dealing with, uh, the health

00:14:51.860 officer.

00:14:52.500 And she was not, um, as lenient, obviously.

00:14:55.800 I mean, I'm sure she has a job to do whether she believes in it or not.

00:14:59.100 I mean, I don't know the, what, what they, what, what control they have or what power they

00:15:04.120 have to let things slide.

00:15:05.320 So I don't want to, you know, speak out on that too much, but, uh, basically, uh, she

00:15:10.660 gave us the option to go back to Detroit.

00:15:12.380 So spend more money on the cab, uh, go spend 200 or 250 us on a rapid test, rapid PCR test,

00:15:20.060 and then come back and then show the results and then go.

00:15:22.880 Um, I was like, uh, no, not really.

00:15:25.480 You know, I'm, I'd rather just, uh, you know, just go home, like just write me the fine.

00:15:29.540 It's okay.

00:15:29.920 Cause I knew, uh, there was the option of the fight, the fines that, uh, rebel news you guys

00:15:34.800 provide.

00:15:35.580 So, uh, I was kind of leaning on that and leaning on the fact that I know a couple of

00:15:39.600 people that have gotten quarantine act tickets and it hasn't really, uh, like they haven't

00:15:44.440 really gone through or they haven't even gone into the system.

00:15:47.220 So, um, I kept trying to just press that and she's like, oh, you know, it's going to be

00:15:52.340 trying to stress the dollar figure.

00:15:54.080 Oh, it's going to be $6,000.

00:15:55.560 It's going to be 6,200.

00:15:56.900 I'm like, uh, yeah, you know, it's good.

00:15:59.080 I had to repeat myself a bunch of times.

00:16:00.980 Cause honestly, I felt like she was, uh, just trying to, um, save herself some paperwork

00:16:06.780 essentially.

00:16:07.320 And then we wait in the cab for an hour finally, and she comes back with a ticket and then I

00:16:12.160 finally get to go home.

00:16:13.600 And then, uh, they're trying to, uh, get me to do these tests at home while I'm quarantining

00:16:18.960 at home.

00:16:19.480 Um, and I mean, this is, this is what kills me the most is that it's supposed to be this

00:16:24.840 serious, you know, pandemic, it's a health risk.

00:16:27.780 Uh, I didn't have one person check on me the whole time.

00:16:30.280 I didn't have one phone call to ask if I have any symptoms.

00:16:33.420 Um, I did the test, but it's like, man, what, you know what I mean?

00:16:38.280 It, it makes no sense to me.

00:16:40.120 And even if my, uh, test would have came back positive, the original one while crossing

00:16:45.180 the border, I still would have had to quarantine at home.

00:16:47.840 So, I mean, you're just, the only time the, uh, government really cared was when it came

00:16:53.040 down to writing me a ticket and making me spend money, you know?

00:16:56.600 So, I mean, if it really was about public health, they would have checked in on me.

00:17:00.840 They would have made sure I was quarantining or they would have at least called me and

00:17:04.160 asked if I was having any symptoms, but I mean, it's pretty unprofessional on their

00:17:08.040 end.

00:17:08.180 If you ask me when I had to quarantine for 14 days, they called twice.

00:17:11.980 This is a year ago, coming back from a Trump rally.

00:17:15.540 First call was a human.

00:17:16.700 Second call was a week later with a, was a robo call.

00:17:19.260 Sounds like to me, they just have given up on that.

00:17:21.500 Yeah.

00:17:22.000 It's too much effort, but I wanted to ask you, and I'm going somewhere with this.

00:17:25.700 How long did you spend at the border waiting there?

00:17:28.400 Um, I'd say total of two hours.

00:17:30.300 Cause it was about an hour of, uh, convincing me to try to go back to, uh, Detroit and do it.

00:17:39.000 I was like, you know what?

00:17:39.800 Maybe I'll wait a couple of minutes.

00:17:40.940 Maybe this test will come through.

00:17:42.540 Cause it was about 48 hours since I've gotten the test done.

00:17:45.980 And then, uh, I called the lab.

00:17:48.440 I called the lab as soon as they opened, uh, and they said, yeah, sorry, we don't have your

00:17:52.500 test results.

00:17:53.040 And I said, I'm like, okay, just write me the ticket then, please.

00:17:55.140 Like, I just want to go home.

00:17:56.300 I've been traveling a long time at that point.

00:17:59.400 I had a lot of layovers and then, uh, yeah.

00:18:03.000 So I would say about two, two and a half hours at the border waiting.

00:18:06.160 Now, the reason I asked that, because I think it's really weird that instead of spent, we've

00:18:11.200 spent billions upon billions of dollars on all this, instead of spending the extra money

00:18:15.400 to get rapid tests, I mean, we know they exist.

00:18:18.260 We know that there's rapid saliva tests and there's other tests that will get you results

00:18:23.040 in a couple hours, if not immediately, but Canada won't seem to spend the money on that.

00:18:28.260 We require people to use a worse test.

00:18:31.380 Now you can go to Florida, for example, and get a much better test.

00:18:35.160 And it's still not valid here because it's not the same test.

00:18:37.280 I guess they only have a certain system in place to check it.

00:18:39.800 But isn't it weird that they'll, instead of just testing a person at the border, which

00:18:44.100 may take, let's say, give them the benefit of the day once they have words of 30 minutes.

00:18:48.040 They're still, they're willing to keep you there for two hours.

00:18:50.680 I mean, isn't this strange to all, to, to people?

00:18:54.120 Yeah.

00:18:54.860 I guess what I'm getting at is why aren't the people at the border and the, and the

00:18:58.680 health care agents more questioning of this?

00:19:01.820 And I, and I pose the same question to like police and, and medical professionals at the

00:19:05.920 same time.

00:19:06.460 How long does it have to go on until people start questioning like the logic behind all

00:19:10.660 of this?

00:19:11.320 Oh, I mean, like, that's the thing.

00:19:12.600 And I feel like the population pretty much is coming to the conclusion, you know, they're kind

00:19:18.360 of getting fed up with it and they're kind of seeing that, oh, okay.

00:19:21.260 They're just running around in circles here.

00:19:23.020 There, there's no really end game to this.

00:19:25.140 They don't have a solution.

00:19:25.960 Cause now obviously as soon as we reach these stage three goalposts, they're coming out

00:19:30.980 with Delta variant.

00:19:31.860 They're coming out with Lambda variant now.

00:19:33.600 Oh, I haven't heard that.

00:19:34.800 Yeah.

00:19:34.860 That's a new one in the last day or two.

00:19:37.020 It's a Lambda variant.

00:19:37.960 So, uh, for the first time in a long time, I actually watched, um, like TV news, uh, the

00:19:43.880 other night and I couldn't believe, like, it's no wonder that the older generation, the 0.98

00:19:48.040 people who don't really go on the internet as much are like surely convinced that this

00:19:53.000 thing is a, is an issue, you know?

00:19:54.920 Um, and I tell everyone I see now, I'm like, go to the U S any open state for just 48 hours.

00:20:01.200 And you tell me if you think there's a pandemic going on.

00:20:04.280 And the, the reality is people would be genuinely scared.

00:20:08.680 People would be hiding in their homes.

00:20:10.620 People would have, uh, personal experiences, but like less than 3% of all of Ontario has

00:20:16.440 even caught in COVID, let alone had any serious effects from it.

00:20:19.500 You know what I mean?

00:20:20.100 So it's like for P for the whole population to be scared, it's all, Oh, I heard this.

00:20:24.820 I heard that this is what they said.

00:20:26.740 Well, okay.

00:20:27.200 What have you experienced?

00:20:28.500 And you know what I mean?

00:20:29.360 Uh, it must be a miracle that I'm alive at this point, seeing as I've had no mask in

00:20:33.640 Vegas, you know, uh, I barely wear a mask.

00:20:36.100 I see friends, I see family.

00:20:37.840 Um, nobody in my family is even caught in COVID, let alone, uh, had anything serious

00:20:42.020 from it.

00:20:42.400 And I know my experiences and everybody else's, but, uh, for somebody who's traveled as much

00:20:46.760 as me, I could have at least came down with a cough at some point.

00:20:50.040 This one's, I don't think is going on YouTube producer.

00:20:53.040 Just, I don't know.

00:20:54.820 So we've gone so far down the band topics list.

00:20:58.840 TJ, I thank you for joining me today.

00:21:01.080 Um, you guys are going to see a video of fight the fines video with TJ coming up.

00:21:04.980 Always good to talk to you, man.

00:21:06.160 Thanks for coming into the studio.

00:21:07.300 I hope the fight is, Oh my God, we just touched.

00:21:10.120 I hope the fight is booked soon.

00:21:12.280 Me too.

00:21:12.880 Um, and we want to see you back in front of fans.

00:21:15.740 And it's not that you're not fighting that old guy anymore.

00:21:18.520 Are you?

00:21:19.240 Uh, no.

00:21:20.020 Or was he even old?

00:21:21.140 I don't know.

00:21:21.680 I don't think he was that old.

00:21:22.700 I think he was like 32 or 33, but his hairline, his hairline was about 50 or 60, you know?

00:21:29.800 All right.

00:21:30.380 Anything else you want to say to the audience before we let you go?

00:21:32.960 Uh, man, I just want to, uh, thank, uh, rebel news and fight the fines for dealing with

00:21:37.520 my situation and really helping me out here and giving me the confidence to actually be

00:21:42.460 able to come back to my own house and my own home, you know, um, and getting the, the

00:21:48.220 fine rather than traveling back, you know, and spending a lot more money than I had to.

00:21:53.340 All right.

00:21:53.980 TJ Laramie, you can follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

00:21:56.360 And of course, uh, you'll see him on the UFC website.

00:21:59.320 If you go there, watch his highlights on from TKO, we'll go all the way back to, uh, your

00:22:04.780 championship there rebel news plus.com you guys and check out elevate.farm while you're

00:22:09.380 at it.

00:22:18.220 Bye.

00:22:19.220 Bye.

00:22:20.220 Bye.

00:22:21.220 Bye.

00:22:22.220 Bye.

Rebel News Podcast - July 16, 2021

ANDREW CHAPADOS ｜ From BLM to MAGA： Politics in the UFC ｜ TJ Laramie (UFC featherweight) Andrew Says 32

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