The Joe Rogan Experience - JRE MMA Show #106 with Leon Edwards

00:00:03.000 The Joe Rogan Experience.

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00:00:11.000 Leon, what's up?

00:00:13.000 I'm good.

00:00:14.000 How are you?

00:00:15.000 Dude, first of all, it was fun hanging with you last night.

00:00:17.000 It was a good night.

00:00:18.000 It was a good time.

00:00:18.000 It was the first time seeing you live.

00:00:21.000 I was saying to my manager, you're so effortless.

00:00:25.000 He's like talking, right?

00:00:26.000 But it's still funny.

00:00:27.000 I was like...

00:00:28.000 If you can approach fighting like that, like make it effortless, then you're doing a good job.

00:00:34.000 Well, I think some guys can at certain stages, right?

00:00:37.000 Like there's moments in fights where don't you feel like you're in a zone sometimes and it just, everything's flowing.

00:00:43.000 Saturday night.

00:00:44.000 Saturday night, yeah.

00:00:45.000 I felt good.

00:00:46.000 All backstage, because leading up to the fight, everyone was like, ring rust, ring rust.

00:00:50.000 So I was kind of waiting for some feeling to say, where's ring rust, right?

00:00:55.000 But I felt great backstage.

00:00:56.000 And I preferred fighting with no crowd.

00:00:59.000 Did you really?

00:01:00.000 Yeah.

00:01:02.000 You get to the apex and it's like you get there, you wrap your hands, you warm up, you fight.

00:01:07.000 There's no hanging around for five hours backstage.

00:01:11.000 It's like a gym, right?

00:01:12.000 You get there, you're warmed and you just go compete.

00:01:14.000 So I preferred it for sure.

00:01:16.000 Do you prefer it because there's no noise, no distractions, no nothing?

00:01:21.000 And you can hear your coaches clearly.

00:01:24.000 Instructions clearly.

00:01:25.000 I'm a very good listener to my coaches.

00:01:28.000 I wouldn't say I prefer it, but it was good.

00:01:31.000 I enjoyed it.

00:01:32.000 You have been in a very interesting position over the last few years, where you are one of the top UFC welterweights, but just because of bad fortune, things just haven't totally lined up correctly, fights have fallen apart, injuries and sicknesses, and a bunch of shit went down, and Until Saturday night, you had been kind of ignored by a lot of fans.

00:02:00.000 A lot of people don't understand what level you're at.

00:02:03.000 They don't understand.

00:02:04.000 I think they saw it for the brief moment that you fought Saturday night, but then, unfortunately, there's the injury.

00:02:11.000 Bilal has the accidental eye poke, and it's another unfortunate situation.

00:02:18.000 But at least during that First round?

00:02:21.000 Yeah, the first round, they got to see your skill level.

00:02:24.000 Yeah, for sure.

00:02:24.000 And I was just getting warmed up as well.

00:02:26.000 Over the last year and a half, I've learned so much that I wanted to show and to have that incident happen.

00:02:33.000 It's one in a million, right?

00:02:35.000 When you're preparing in camp, you're like, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that.

00:02:38.000 And then when that happened, I was like, I thought I was like, okay, take five minutes.

00:02:43.000 Let it play out a little bit, then hopefully we can fight again.

00:02:46.000 But he's always that bad.

00:02:48.000 His eye was so fucked.

00:02:49.000 It wasn't a poke.

00:02:53.000 Nah, it wasn't a poke.

00:02:54.000 It was like a knuckle.

00:02:55.000 If you see the picture, it's like, you're kicking, right?

00:02:59.000 When you're kicking...

00:03:01.000 You don't hold your fist and kick like this, right?

00:03:04.000 You kind of use it to momentum to swing your arm back.

00:03:07.000 And as I was doing it, it kind of just grazed his eyes.

00:03:11.000 Well, not grazed.

00:03:12.000 It kind of went deep.

00:03:12.000 But it grazed his eyes a bit.

00:03:14.000 But was it like the front knuckles?

00:03:17.000 It looked like it from the pictures.

00:03:18.000 I couldn't tell.

00:03:19.000 I didn't feel it.

00:03:19.000 I thought it was the kick that got him in his body and then he fell down at the start, you know?

00:03:25.000 They wouldn't start grabbing his eyes.

00:03:26.000 I was like, oh, shit.

00:03:27.000 I got...

00:03:27.000 I caught him in his eye, you know?

00:03:29.000 Right.

00:03:29.000 I thought it was just literally the kid that caught him because I did this and then...

00:03:33.000 I think Dana put a photo on his Instagram, Jamie.

00:03:38.000 I think it was a knuckle.

00:03:39.000 You weren't this, for sure.

00:03:42.000 It's so unfortunate, man.

00:03:44.000 But, I mean, for you, what I was getting at was that it has to be so frustrating.

00:03:48.000 Here you are, another ad blocker.

00:03:51.000 Here you are, you have this long layoff, and fights keep getting canceled, and then you finally get a fight, and you're performing really well, and then this happens.

00:04:00.000 It's like...

00:04:02.000 The bad luck, right?

00:04:03.000 The last year or so, just won after another.

00:04:06.000 After the Woodley fight, I was meant to fight Woodley in London in March and had that cancelled the week before, on the Sunday before the fight.

00:04:13.000 And then from there, just bad luck, bad luck, bad luck trickling down.

00:04:17.000 There it is.

00:04:20.000 Yeah, it's like the bottom of your finger.

00:04:24.000 So it's not like it's straightforward.

00:04:26.000 It's like it's just getting in there.

00:04:28.000 That's terrible.

00:04:29.000 And it wasn't the eyeball, right?

00:04:30.000 It's like under the eyelid.

00:04:33.000 Yeah.

00:04:34.000 I saw Bilal Sunday in a casino in Vegas and his eyes was fine.

00:04:39.000 It's the lid that was bruised.

00:04:43.000 Yeah, he said the vision started returning the next day, and now he said there's no permanent damage, so he's gonna be okay.

00:04:49.000 He had his lid stitched up.

00:04:51.000 I wish him well.

00:04:53.000 He's a great guy.

00:04:55.000 It was a great opponent for you too, because he's so relentless.

00:04:59.000 He's constantly moving forward.

00:05:00.000 He's a tough guy.

00:05:02.000 He's durable.

00:05:02.000 Very durable.

00:05:03.000 I'm gonna call him with a head kick in the first round.

00:05:06.000 I kind of rushed my work a little bit.

00:05:07.000 I kind of went wild and started swinging for him, but I should have picked my shots a little bit better.

00:05:13.000 He's tough, he's durable, but he doesn't beat me in any given day.

00:05:17.000 I believe if I fight 10 times, I'll beat him 10 times and that's just it.

00:05:23.000 He was a late step in for Hamzat, fell out and I think he should go back, work his way back up and then hopefully we can meet somewhere down the line.

00:05:31.000 But for now, I'm looking towards a title shot.

00:05:34.000 I'm looking towards being a world champion.

00:05:35.000 Do you think that the title shot is warranted just because of your previous work and just because of the great first round that you had?

00:05:43.000 Do you feel like there's any unfinished business because of the way that fight ended?

00:05:47.000 With Bilal?

00:05:50.000 I don't believe so.

00:05:51.000 I think from the first round, normally I'm a slow starter, right?

00:05:55.000 So if that's my first round, you're not making it to the fifth, you know?

00:06:01.000 So I think everyone saw where the fight was going and he wouldn't have made it to number five.

00:06:09.000 I understand your confidence.

00:06:11.000 I really do.

00:06:11.000 And this is not to demean that at all.

00:06:14.000 But you got to...

00:06:15.000 You gotta give the guy an opportunity, right?

00:06:18.000 You know what I'm saying?

00:06:20.000 Here's my point.

00:06:21.000 If the fight went the first round, if the eye poke didn't happen, the referee just stopped the fighter, but they're like, what are you doing?

00:06:26.000 Well, you know where this fight's going.

00:06:27.000 Well, you don't know where a fight's going, because fights are crazy.

00:06:30.000 Weird shit happens.

00:06:31.000 People slip.

00:06:32.000 Guy gets him in a choke.

00:06:33.000 Weird stuff happens.

00:06:35.000 People get injured.

00:06:37.000 Someone throws a calf kick.

00:06:38.000 All of a sudden, your leg goes numb.

00:06:39.000 You get hit with a punch.

00:06:41.000 Weird shit happens.

00:06:42.000 Fights are crazy, you know that?

00:06:44.000 Nah, it's crazy, but...

00:06:45.000 You know what I'm saying though?

00:06:46.000 I know your confidence.

00:06:47.000 Nah, nah, nah, I know what you're saying, but I would've won that fight clearly.

00:06:51.000 Joe, normally I'm a slow starter in the first round, right?

00:06:54.000 I know.

00:06:55.000 So, I would've felt great Saturday night and...

00:06:59.000 Even if I felt good, Bilal was not beating me.

00:07:01.000 I completely appreciate your confidence, but as a fan of you and as a fan of Bilal, I don't think it would be a bad thing to run back.

00:07:10.000 Not straight away.

00:07:11.000 That's my ninth fight, right, in a row.

00:07:15.000 I won an 8-5 win streak for Bilal.

00:07:19.000 I would have won the fight.

00:07:20.000 That would be a ninth fight without a loss from getting beat by Usman five or six years ago.

00:07:27.000 I feel I've done enough work now to prove that I belong at least in the normal contender fight or title fight.

00:07:35.000 I can totally appreciate your position, but I can also appreciate Bilal's position.

00:07:39.000 I know where it's coming from.

00:07:40.000 If I was him, I'd probably do the same thing, right?

00:07:42.000 He's ranked number 13, 14, and this big opportunity, his first main event, number three guy in the world.

00:07:48.000 I know where he's approaching it from, but I am looking for my own career, right?

00:07:53.000 I want to look towards the title shot.

00:07:55.000 I understand.

00:07:56.000 Hopefully, we'll get it.

00:07:57.000 Yeah, you've had all these weird situations where things fell apart.

00:08:01.000 It's very unfortunate.

00:08:04.000 Did you feel like the Hamzat fight was strange too?

00:08:06.000 Because, like, here's this guy who's only had a few fights in the UFC. He's got a lot of hype behind him because he's had, like, the Mirchart fight was a great result.

00:08:13.000 He looked fantastic.

00:08:14.000 But then all of a sudden, he's fighting you.

00:08:16.000 Yeah.

00:08:16.000 It was weird, right?

00:08:17.000 Because two weeks before that, Dana White came out and was like, nah, I'm never going to fight Leon or no one in top five.

00:08:24.000 But then...

00:08:25.000 Next week, he's like, Leon, you want to fight him?

00:08:26.000 I was like, you just said I'm too high-ranked for him.

00:08:30.000 Where do you think that came from?

00:08:32.000 I don't know.

00:08:32.000 I think everyone was turning him down, you know?

00:08:36.000 Everyone was turning me down as well, so it was like, okay.

00:08:40.000 You want to fight him?

00:08:41.000 I was like, okay, what about Kobe?

00:08:43.000 Kobe said no.

00:08:44.000 What about Marcelo?

00:08:44.000 Marcelo said no.

00:08:45.000 What about Wonderboy?

00:08:46.000 Wonderboy is injured.

00:08:47.000 So I was like, hey, you got the most hype in the division now that I could, like, piggyback off to get to a world title shot, right?

00:08:55.000 And this was a kid.

00:08:56.000 Then I built him up as this kid that can't be beaten.

00:08:59.000 He's tough.

00:09:00.000 So I was like, okay, I'll go out there.

00:09:02.000 I'll fight him.

00:09:03.000 And when I beat him, I'll fight for the world title.

00:09:05.000 And that was my plan, right?

00:09:06.000 To use this hype they're building around him to get me to a world title shot.

00:09:12.000 I'm always looking towards the title shot, right?

00:09:14.000 So any way I can get there easier.

00:09:16.000 I was going to use Hamzat to get there.

00:09:18.000 Isn't it weird how hype comes along sometimes?

00:09:21.000 Like some guys just get...

00:09:23.000 Random.

00:09:23.000 They just get washed up in hype and they're just flying down the river.

00:09:26.000 Like, what's going on?

00:09:27.000 I know.

00:09:28.000 I've been in promotion for so long.

00:09:30.000 I had like an eight-second knockout and everything.

00:09:32.000 I did exactly what he did, but like you said, right?

00:09:35.000 Just random, just comes from nowhere.

00:09:37.000 Well, it's like sometimes it's justified.

00:09:40.000 Like, remember when Joaquin Buckley, when he landed on...

00:09:44.000 How do you say his...

00:09:45.000 How did...

00:09:46.000 How the fuck...

00:09:48.000 He's got the gentleman he kicked with that wild kick.

00:09:51.000 How do you say his last name?

00:09:53.000 That was a good kick.

00:09:54.000 It's a crazy kick.

00:09:56.000 Holding on one leg and he does a jump spinning back kick to the face with the other leg.

00:10:00.000 I was practicing it in the gyms the next day.

00:10:02.000 It's a wild technique.

00:10:05.000 Kasanganai.

00:10:07.000 Kasanganai, right?

00:10:07.000 That's how you say it, right?

00:10:09.000 That's hype that's deserved.

00:10:11.000 But, you know...

00:10:13.000 Every now and then, I mean, that makes sense.

00:10:15.000 Like, then people were paying attention to him, you know?

00:10:18.000 But every now and then, like, a guy will get so much hype and then it becomes, like, a thing of its own.

00:10:25.000 Like, people start paying attention to it more than anything.

00:10:27.000 And it's...

00:10:29.000 It's weird, like, personality and hype.

00:10:32.000 It's so important for selling fights.

00:10:34.000 Yeah, 100%.

00:10:35.000 So important.

00:10:36.000 It's been on that since back a day, right?

00:10:38.000 Since boxing, it's like, we can put the bums in the seat.

00:10:41.000 Yep, that's everything.

00:10:42.000 That's everything, right?

00:10:43.000 So it's not really about skill set.

00:10:45.000 A bit about skill set, but it's more about you can put the most bums in the seat.

00:10:48.000 It's about everything, right?

00:10:50.000 Like, remember when Prince Nassim Hamed would come out on a throne and they'd carry him out?

00:10:53.000 Yeah, there's certain things that have to sell.

00:10:58.000 Do you ever think about that?

00:11:00.000 Like, man, maybe I should talk more shit or maybe I should be more flamboyant.

00:11:05.000 Like, how do I get more hype or should I just keep winning?

00:11:07.000 Nah, if you just keep winning, keep doing your thing, right?

00:11:09.000 Because if I come out tomorrow now and start dressing like everyone's wearing like robes and shit now, I start wearing a robe and paint my hair pink and you'll be like, what the hell are you doing?

00:11:18.000 You know, so...

00:11:19.000 Then you look desperate, right?

00:11:20.000 Yeah, exactly.

00:11:21.000 Weird stuff.

00:11:22.000 Be yourself.

00:11:24.000 Keep winning.

00:11:24.000 That's important.

00:11:25.000 And they can't deny winners, right?

00:11:27.000 If you work hard and you win, they can't deny yourself.

00:11:30.000 I'll win it my way and I'll feel more...

00:11:33.000 I'll enjoy it better when I win it my way, so...

00:11:34.000 What has it been like going through this lull where you couldn't get a fight?

00:11:40.000 A lot of ups and downs, obviously.

00:11:42.000 You got...

00:11:43.000 That was my fourth camp before I fought Bilal.

00:11:47.000 Cutting the Woodley camp.

00:11:48.000 So, it was...

00:11:50.000 A lot of ups and downs, but I used that time off to grow, right?

00:11:54.000 I kind of changed my mentality, like, hey...

00:11:57.000 Instead of sitting around and bitching and complaining about no one would want to fight me.

00:12:02.000 Use it as a blessing.

00:12:04.000 Use it to improve your skill set.

00:12:06.000 Use it to improve your mindset.

00:12:07.000 That's what I did in the last year and a half.

00:12:10.000 I used it to approach the game differently.

00:12:12.000 If I can control what I can control, which is all I have to do is turn up to training.

00:12:17.000 That's it, right?

00:12:18.000 I can't control Macedon or Kobe not fighting me, but I can control training.

00:12:23.000 And that's what I did.

00:12:24.000 I controlled what I could control and turned up to the gym, working hard, dedicating myself, staying disciplined.

00:12:29.000 Because I know one day I'm going to fight, right?

00:12:31.000 So...

00:12:32.000 Instead of sitting around and complaining and not growing, not learning, maybe I'll use it into my favour.

00:12:39.000 It's a blessing and I have grown leaps and leaps since my last fight in the full RDA. I feel good.

00:12:47.000 I feel good.

00:12:48.000 Now when you say improve your mindset, what do you mean by that?

00:12:50.000 Just the way I look at the game.

00:12:53.000 As before, I was kind of fighting to win, not to hurt them.

00:13:00.000 I'm fighting now to hurt them.

00:13:02.000 I want to be a world champion.

00:13:04.000 I don't feel like winning is enough now, you know, because I'm on an 8-5 win streak.

00:13:07.000 That's the third most in the division history.

00:13:10.000 Is GSP won, I think?

00:13:12.000 No, Kamara's won, I think.

00:13:13.000 GSP won a million.

00:13:15.000 So now I'm fighting to hurt them and to Cement my name in the division.

00:13:22.000 That's my mindset now.

00:13:23.000 I'm not fighting to win no more.

00:13:24.000 I've won enough.

00:13:25.000 I know I can beat them.

00:13:26.000 The more I win, the more confidence I get.

00:13:29.000 The more I compete against these guys, the more I know I can be world champion.

00:13:34.000 You know, coming from the UK, everyone tells you that, you're from the UK, you can't wrestle, you can't do this, you can't do that.

00:13:40.000 And I'm proving it fight by fight, and I'm going to achieve being a world champion coming from the UK. And it's going to mean so much for the kids coming under me.

00:13:49.000 That's my motivation to be a world champion.

00:13:51.000 So this was like a conscious decision.

00:13:53.000 Do you remember making it?

00:13:54.000 You remember deciding, like, I'm going to stop trying to just win fights.

00:13:58.000 I'm going to decide to hurt people.

00:14:00.000 Yeah, yeah.

00:14:02.000 It went like a day, but I remember my mind just over the last year or a year and a half, my mind just changing that you got everything to be able to do this.

00:14:13.000 I don't know what it was.

00:14:14.000 It was kind of just fighting just to...

00:14:17.000 It's like, I don't know.

00:14:18.000 You're kind of fine just to like win, right?

00:14:20.000 I think the money as well, like in USC, it's like, if you leave, you just get half of your pay.

00:14:25.000 But now, like Saturday night, it was like a flat fee, right?

00:14:28.000 So it's win, lose, or draw.

00:14:29.000 I got to get the same money.

00:14:31.000 And I still went out there and performed the best of my abilities.

00:14:33.000 So, they should probably change that as well.

00:14:35.000 But...

00:14:37.000 Yeah, I think the mindset changed over time.

00:14:39.000 We're not just one day.

00:14:41.000 Over the last year or so, my mind frame changed.

00:14:44.000 Do you ever work with a mental coach or anything like that?

00:14:47.000 No, no.

00:14:47.000 Never?

00:14:47.000 No, I don't believe in it.

00:14:48.000 Really?

00:14:49.000 I don't believe in it.

00:14:50.000 I got teammates that do it, you know, and work with coaches.

00:14:53.000 But I think my life experiences helped me in the position I'm in.

00:14:59.000 What specific life experiences?

00:15:03.000 Just coming from where I came from, you know.

00:15:05.000 A lot of ups and downs I came from.

00:15:08.000 Ups and downs is like the norm to me, right?

00:15:12.000 I look forward to facing that adversity.

00:15:16.000 When I do face it, I know I can get through it.

00:15:18.000 So that's what it is, really.

00:15:19.000 I look forward to adversity.

00:15:21.000 I've been here before.

00:15:22.000 I've been doing this as a kid, you know?

00:15:25.000 I look forward to it.

00:15:28.000 When did you get started in martial arts?

00:15:30.000 How old were you?

00:15:30.000 17. 17?

00:15:31.000 Yeah, yeah.

00:15:32.000 Straight into MMA. I didn't start.

00:15:35.000 Oh, really?

00:15:36.000 Yeah, I didn't do nothing before.

00:15:37.000 I was hanging around on the street with your friends and getting into martial arts.

00:15:42.000 That's interesting, because when you watch you kick, you would swear that you had a traditional martial arts background.

00:15:46.000 Yeah, I did.

00:15:47.000 Everyone said that, so I had my gym.

00:15:49.000 But I did nothing at all before.

00:15:51.000 I went straight from hanging around the street with my friends to one day a gym was getting built in my area.

00:15:56.000 My mum said, try it out.

00:15:57.000 I tried it out and I was stuck to it.

00:15:59.000 Wow.

00:16:00.000 I fell in love with it.

00:16:01.000 I fell in love with the striking first, even though I was doing all of it, but the striking just caught my attention and then the grappling came later.

00:16:09.000 It's so interesting now that you're seeing a whole crop of kids that are evolving that came straight into MMA. Nothing else.

00:16:16.000 Yeah, I can imagine another 20 years.

00:16:19.000 My son now is doing martial arts.

00:16:21.000 He's just kickboxing and jiu-jitsu.

00:16:23.000 So I can't imagine their generation, what they're going to be like, right?

00:16:26.000 Because every fight, every year, there's a new technique that's coming out.

00:16:31.000 That calf kick, that's like a new technique that lasts, what, a couple years?

00:16:35.000 Four or five years.

00:16:37.000 Yeah, exactly.

00:16:37.000 So I'm looking forward to see how far MMA goes and what's the next thing that's going to come.

00:16:43.000 Did the calf kick, did that surprise you, the popularity of it?

00:16:48.000 Yeah.

00:16:49.000 How quickly it became such an important technique because you land a few of them, just three or four of them, and then the guy's fucked.

00:16:57.000 I first had it when I went to A.K.A. and Luke Rockhold did it to me.

00:17:00.000 This was like five years ago.

00:17:03.000 And he kicked my calf when I was sparring.

00:17:06.000 But I didn't feel it when I was sparring.

00:17:08.000 But after the sparring, my legs were dead for like a week, you know?

00:17:12.000 So I thought, that's a good kick.

00:17:14.000 But I got like skinny shins.

00:17:15.000 I'm like scared to break my legs.

00:17:17.000 So I never try it.

00:17:20.000 But it's a good technique.

00:17:21.000 Right, when you see like the Anderson Silva break.

00:17:23.000 Yeah, yeah.

00:17:24.000 I got some bony legs, bro.

00:17:25.000 I'm not one kick in the calf.

00:17:28.000 I'm like body kicks.

00:17:29.000 I kick the thighs and the body and the head.

00:17:31.000 But the calf, I think it's like a technique to it as well, right?

00:17:34.000 You got to get like the meaty part of the shin.

00:17:36.000 So it's a good technique to use.

00:17:38.000 It's just so strange when you see like the Dustin Poirier fight, the first fight with Conor and then the second fight with Conor, how different it was not kicking the thigh, but instead kicking the calf.

00:17:48.000 Like shut him down, right?

00:17:49.000 Shut him down.

00:17:50.000 Yeah.

00:17:51.000 Should I got three kicks a land, did you think?

00:17:54.000 I mean, you'd have to go back and watch it.

00:17:56.000 I think it was a few.

00:17:58.000 When we were watching the countdown, Conor approached the game, just boxing, right?

00:18:02.000 You can tell, boxing, coaching, and that's all he was doing.

00:18:05.000 That was a good technique to use.

00:18:08.000 If you're going to fight him, you're looking at what he's doing in his training camp.

00:18:12.000 You're going to kick him, right?

00:18:13.000 He's a boxer.

00:18:14.000 So, fair play to Dustin.

00:18:16.000 He did an amazing job.

00:18:18.000 But, you know, Conor has that southpaw stance, heavy on the front leg, puts a lot of weight down there.

00:18:22.000 Especially when he throws his backhand, you know?

00:18:24.000 And he timed it perfectly, he throws his backhand, he kind of like slipped to the inside and landed a kick.

00:18:29.000 It was a good technique to use.

00:18:31.000 Yeah, when you see techniques that are sort of new to the sport, do you start looking like, what's going to be next?

00:18:41.000 What is it, going to be an axe kick?

00:18:44.000 What's the new thing that people are going to figure out how to do?

00:18:47.000 I know.

00:18:47.000 I'm trying to think.

00:18:48.000 Because the coffee came from nowhere, right?

00:18:50.000 I'm trying to think.

00:18:50.000 Well, Benson Henderson was the first guy, so I'll throw it.

00:18:53.000 Yeah.

00:18:53.000 He was the first guy.

00:18:54.000 I remember him doing it.

00:18:55.000 To be effective with it?

00:18:56.000 To, like, stop people with it?

00:18:57.000 It wasn't as effective for some reason, but he was using it.

00:19:00.000 I mean, it was definitely doing damage, but he wasn't, like, a lot of guys are stopping people with those now.

00:19:05.000 Yeah, stopping it.

00:19:06.000 Yeah, I'm trying to think what other technique he could use, right?

00:19:09.000 Because elbows are already in.

00:19:10.000 Yeah.

00:19:11.000 I don't know.

00:19:13.000 Maybe.

00:19:14.000 Remember when Anderson did that?

00:19:16.000 That was crazy.

00:19:17.000 Against Tony Fricklin, right?

00:19:18.000 That was in England.

00:19:18.000 In his prime, he's like, my favorite fighter, man.

00:19:23.000 To this day, I think he's the GOAT, you know, from how easy he made it look.

00:19:27.000 People forget because of the end of his career.

00:19:31.000 If you just stop looking at the end of his career and go back and watch the Dan Henderson fight.

00:19:35.000 Dana White sent me the Dan Henderson fight the other day.

00:19:37.000 He goes, watch this fight again.

00:19:38.000 He goes, he fucking throws Dan Henderson around.

00:19:41.000 Who throws Dan Henderson around like this?

00:19:43.000 The GOAT. The GOAT. When he was in his prime.

00:19:47.000 I remember watching him when I was like 18 years old and watching Silva perform, you know, and Stephen Bonner, he was like, he just knocked him out with a jab.

00:19:54.000 I was like, oh God.

00:19:56.000 That was Forrest Griffin.

00:19:57.000 Forrest Griffin?

00:19:57.000 Yeah.

00:19:58.000 Crazy.

00:19:58.000 Yeah.

00:19:59.000 He's good.

00:20:00.000 He's good.

00:20:00.000 Well, he was just, his timing and his precision was just so amazing.

00:20:05.000 Like when he front kicked Vitor in the face, like, God damn.

00:20:09.000 I've been trying to learn that kick now for, In sparring for like years.

00:20:13.000 I just can't get the timing of it.

00:20:15.000 You always go like straight up and you just like skim the lip or something.

00:20:18.000 But you gotta get it like under the chin, right?

00:20:20.000 Yeah.

00:20:20.000 To knock them out.

00:20:21.000 But it's a good technique to use.

00:20:23.000 I think to land it as well, if you look them in the eye and then get them staring at you, then go bang!

00:20:30.000 Then you land it, right?

00:20:31.000 But looking in the chest when you're sparring, I think Anderson looked down.

00:20:50.000 I think he did one of those where he looked down, then he kicked up.

00:20:53.000 I think that's what he did to Vitor, I'm pretty sure.

00:20:55.000 Did they?

00:20:56.000 Yeah, I think so.

00:20:57.000 See if you can find it.

00:20:58.000 Anderson Silva, KO, Vitor Belfort.

00:21:01.000 Did they look him in his eyes first, though, to freeze him, then look down and go up?

00:21:04.000 I don't remember, but I do remember thinking that he looked at the body and then threw it to the face.

00:21:10.000 That was good.

00:21:12.000 It's a sneaky thing to do, right?

00:21:13.000 Totally look down and kick up.

00:21:15.000 Anderson was a master.

00:21:17.000 He really was, man.

00:21:18.000 I remember the first time he fought Chris Lieben, the odds were...

00:21:22.000 He was favored, but not by much.

00:21:24.000 And I remember telling my friends, bet the house.

00:21:27.000 Bet the house on the Brazilian.

00:21:28.000 I'm like, this motherfucker is on another level.

00:21:31.000 Like, they don't even know yet.

00:21:32.000 Let's see it here.

00:21:35.000 Here it is.

00:21:36.000 See, he's looking down.

00:21:37.000 Whack.

00:21:38.000 Boom.

00:21:39.000 Fuck.

00:21:41.000 Perfect front kick.

00:21:42.000 And before that, I remember I had a conversation with someone.

00:21:45.000 I'm like, eh, you really don't throw it to the face.

00:21:48.000 Like, most people didn't...

00:21:50.000 Yeah, to the body, right?

00:21:51.000 Yeah.

00:21:52.000 Go to the body with it?

00:21:53.000 Most people didn't think that that was a technique that you could use effectively to the face.

00:21:57.000 Especially on a seasoned striker like Vitor.

00:22:00.000 That was insane.

00:22:01.000 Oh, look, Dana White got caught.

00:22:02.000 He wasn't even watching.

00:22:03.000 Wow.

00:22:04.000 Bang!

00:22:05.000 Right through the guard.

00:22:06.000 Back that up again.

00:22:07.000 You can see Dana White's playing with his phone.

00:22:09.000 See him?

00:22:09.000 Look at him.

00:22:10.000 Look at him there.

00:22:11.000 Wasn't even watching.

00:22:12.000 How dare you, Dana?

00:22:15.000 Missed one of the greatest KOs in the history of the sport.

00:22:17.000 And then after that, Lyoto Machida did it to Randy Couture.

00:22:20.000 He did a jumping front kick.

00:22:23.000 He was good as well in his prime Machida.

00:22:25.000 He kind of just fell off, right?

00:22:27.000 Well, you know, I mean, how long can you compete at that level?

00:22:33.000 You know, it's like for some guys, they can sustain it for 10 years.

00:22:36.000 And some guys, it's only like three or four.

00:22:39.000 What age do you think prime is in MMA, would you say?

00:22:42.000 I think it depends on how you train.

00:22:44.000 I think it depends on the amount of damage your body's taken, whether or not you've had serious injuries.

00:22:49.000 Back injuries seem to fuck people up more than anything.

00:22:52.000 Because knee injuries are bad, but you can recover from them.

00:22:55.000 At least, unless it's bad meniscus tears.

00:22:58.000 Ligaments seem to be, you could recover from them, but it depends.

00:23:03.000 I think for most fighters, it's in the 30s.

00:23:06.000 It's like 30 to 34, 35. That seems to be the prime.

00:23:11.000 And if you're natural, that's when the wheels fall off.

00:23:14.000 Right around 37, 38. Yeah, that's when you go to 1FC. 1FC, Benatar.

00:23:24.000 For real, right?

00:23:25.000 Nah, for real.

00:23:26.000 Yes.

00:23:26.000 Jesus, you ready to go?

00:23:28.000 Listen, man.

00:23:29.000 We're just telling the truth.

00:23:30.000 We're just telling the truth.

00:23:32.000 Nah, I think you're prime in MMA. Yeah, about 30 to 35. When they were doing TRT, though, didn't you think it was kind of crazy?

00:23:40.000 When you saw Vitor, like when Vitor fought Rockhold, when Vitor fought Bisping, and he just had muscles coming out of his teeth.

00:23:48.000 Another level.

00:23:49.000 The Brazilians at one point owned...

00:23:52.000 MMA, right?

00:23:53.000 Then once you saw it, it came in, it all fell off.

00:23:55.000 Which is weird.

00:23:57.000 I'm not saying it on Juice, but it's a weird thing.

00:23:59.000 Clearly some were on Juice.

00:24:02.000 There's no way they weren't.

00:24:03.000 And Vitor was on TRT. I mean, it was an open thing.

00:24:06.000 You were allowed to have it.

00:24:08.000 Which is strange, because like...

00:24:10.000 The thing that young people have is it's like this weird balance, right?

00:24:14.000 You're young, you have this incredible body, you move fast, you heal quick, but you don't have the knowledge and experience that an older fighter has.

00:24:21.000 But then if you take an older fighter and then you fill him up with juice, now you've got some weird situations.

00:24:27.000 Because now you've got both.

00:24:28.000 You've got a guy who's got experience and then you've got a guy whose body behaves like a young guy's body.

00:24:35.000 Nah.

00:24:35.000 I've never touched no juice, so...

00:24:37.000 I understand.

00:24:38.000 But you're young.

00:24:39.000 Yeah, yeah.

00:24:39.000 When you hit, like, 40, you might be like, damn, someone says, Leon, come on over to Singapore, we've got some big fights for you.

00:24:46.000 Jacked.

00:24:47.000 Nah, I felt good, but my body was good last week.

00:24:49.000 I felt good last week, so...

00:24:51.000 I was jacked last week, so it's all good.

00:24:53.000 Nah.

00:24:53.000 How old are you now?

00:24:54.000 29. Yeah, you're still...

00:24:55.000 You're not even in your prime yet.

00:24:57.000 Nah, it's coming.

00:24:57.000 Yeah.

00:24:58.000 Exactly, so I'm beating all these guys, you know, so...

00:25:01.000 I think everyone above me is like 35, 34. I think Usman is 33, 34. Masvidal is 36. They're all like older men, you know?

00:25:11.000 So I'm not the youngest guy in the top five.

00:25:14.000 Were you surprised that they decided to have Usman and Masvidal too?

00:25:18.000 Um...

00:25:21.000 Surprised?

00:25:21.000 No, because I know, like you said, it's about money, right?

00:25:23.000 Putting asses in the seat.

00:25:25.000 I think if the fight 10 out of 10 times, I think Usman Pro win 9, probably.

00:25:33.000 It's a good, entertaining fight for the fans, but martial art is one of them fights, right?

00:25:42.000 We're just going to go out there and grapple him again probably.

00:25:45.000 I want to see what Masvidal can do with the camp.

00:25:49.000 Because clearly he wasn't prepared physically.

00:25:53.000 Take a fight on six days notice.

00:25:55.000 There's no way he can really be prepared.

00:25:57.000 Nah, he was training.

00:25:58.000 He had, like, wrestling coaches.

00:26:00.000 Like, I remember watching him.

00:26:03.000 He was, like, getting good training, you know?

00:26:06.000 He wasn't, like, sitting on a couch for the last, like, six months.

00:26:09.000 Didn't take six days and fought.

00:26:12.000 Right, but you know as well as I know there's a difference between just training and then preparing for a fight, right?

00:26:18.000 Yeah, yeah.

00:26:19.000 What do you think he beats him?

00:26:20.000 No, I'm not saying that.

00:26:22.000 But what I am saying is there were some very interesting moments in that fight where he was outstriking him.

00:26:27.000 Yeah.

00:26:28.000 But, you know, Kamara was just so strong.

00:26:30.000 It's such a good wrestler.

00:26:32.000 And Fingy dropped him.

00:26:34.000 Bernal dropped him the other day.

00:26:35.000 So it'd be a good fight.

00:26:37.000 I'll be watching it for sure, you know.

00:26:39.000 But I think if I had to put money on it, I'd probably go Usman for the win again.

00:26:45.000 Well, once a guy beats a guy, he's always going to be the favorite to fight again, but it's just an interesting fight.

00:26:54.000 I'm excited to see how Masvidal performs with a camp.

00:26:59.000 No, it'll be good.

00:27:00.000 It'll be good.

00:27:00.000 I'd love to see it as well, but I can't see what he could do different, you know?

00:27:04.000 He's going to come out again, be it.

00:27:06.000 What he does is swing for the fences and try and knock him out.

00:27:10.000 He's going to high guard and just grapple him.

00:27:14.000 I just can't see what he does different.

00:27:16.000 Unless he catches him and knocks him out, I just can't see what he does different.

00:27:21.000 When you and Masvidal got at it at that post-fight press conference, did you expect that a fight was going to come after that?

00:27:28.000 That you would eventually...

00:27:30.000 Yeah, for sure.

00:27:31.000 I thought, okay, that's the next fight, right?

00:27:33.000 Straight away.

00:27:34.000 To have it now for two years, two and a half years, it's like...

00:27:38.000 We still haven't fought yet.

00:27:40.000 I've been calling him out ever since.

00:27:41.000 The UFC wants it.

00:27:44.000 But you just keep turning it down and say, no, you don't want to fight.

00:27:47.000 Well, that's the weird thing.

00:27:48.000 It's like, you're...

00:27:50.000 At an elite level, the top of the food chain in terms of your skill level, but you're not as known as you should be with the skill level that you have.

00:28:01.000 It's like you're the best kept secret in the division.

00:28:05.000 It's weird.

00:28:06.000 It's a weird thing, but...

00:28:08.000 It'll change.

00:28:08.000 Yeah, it's going to change 100%.

00:28:10.000 It's coming.

00:28:10.000 I can feel it.

00:28:11.000 It's changing, you know, slowly.

00:28:12.000 But I think number one should fight number two, right?

00:28:16.000 Number three should fight number four, and that's the way it should be.

00:28:19.000 Right.

00:28:19.000 But it's like, I'd have to go to number 13 to fight Bilal.

00:28:23.000 I'd have to go to fight Hamzak.

00:28:24.000 Because all these guys are like divas, right?

00:28:26.000 They're all just demanding.

00:28:27.000 Like Kobe, for example, just demanding title shots.

00:28:30.000 Like, just got beat like one fight ago.

00:28:33.000 Not knocked out.

00:28:34.000 One fight ago, right?

00:28:35.000 No, he beat Tyron after that.

00:28:37.000 Yeah, so Tyrone then beat Tyrone in four cents, right?

00:28:42.000 He fought Usman, then he beat...

00:28:43.000 It was just Tyrone, right?

00:28:45.000 There's one fight, right?

00:28:46.000 I think so.

00:28:47.000 After that.

00:28:47.000 I think it was just a Woodley fight.

00:28:49.000 Yeah, I'm sure it was.

00:28:51.000 Pretty sure.

00:28:52.000 I don't think you deserve a title shot.

00:28:55.000 You just got beat, like, convincingly.

00:28:57.000 You weren't like a...

00:28:57.000 It was a close fight, to be fair, but you did get stopped, you know?

00:29:01.000 So, I don't think you get a title shot straight away.

00:29:04.000 That's a fight you would like?

00:29:06.000 Kobe?

00:29:06.000 Yeah.

00:29:07.000 Now, yeah, for sure, 100%.

00:29:09.000 Obviously, I wanted a title shot, but now the fighting...

00:29:11.000 The only reason why I would say it'd be better for you to fight someone before the title shot is just to get the hype out.

00:29:19.000 Yeah, yeah.

00:29:19.000 So that with the pay-per-view gets built up, so that you'll get more money.

00:29:22.000 It'll be a bigger deal.

00:29:24.000 Nah, for sure.

00:29:25.000 I won't be sitting around waiting for the other fighting, you know?

00:29:28.000 So we're trying to get it, and Kobe's a weird one, so we don't know what's going to happen, but we're trying to get a fight done.

00:29:34.000 Yeah, well, the one thing that does come with Kobe is a lot of attention, and that's the good part of it.

00:29:40.000 It's a good fight, technically, you know?

00:29:43.000 I think the top...

00:29:45.000 All the guys, they're all similar, right?

00:29:47.000 In the skill set, what they're going to do when they fight me, right?

00:29:50.000 They're going to come to wrestle.

00:29:52.000 If I fight Ousmane, they're going to come to wrestle.

00:29:53.000 Kobe's going to come to wrestle.

00:29:55.000 Bilal doesn't come to wrestle.

00:29:56.000 They know what they're going to do.

00:29:58.000 It's easier to prepare for them.

00:30:01.000 I was saying before, he kind of swapped them out.

00:30:03.000 So when Hamzat fell out, I was like, okay, put anyone in, because they're all going to do the same thing anyway.

00:30:09.000 So swap another one in, and that's what it was.

00:30:13.000 It's all normal.

00:30:14.000 They're all going to try to grab ahold of you.

00:30:16.000 Yeah, I didn't try to grab ahold of you.

00:30:18.000 That means nothing to me.

00:30:20.000 I feel good with grappling.

00:30:22.000 I feel good with the striking.

00:30:24.000 I just can't wait to show my skillset and show what I'm about.

00:30:28.000 I haven't done what I could yet in the game, but I want to show it and I'm going to show it.

00:30:32.000 When you put together a camp, like say if you get a Colby fight, who designs your camp?

00:30:39.000 Do you design everything yourself in terms of when you do strength and conditioning, when you run, when you spar, when you hit mitts?

00:30:46.000 Yeah, I haven't got a head coach.

00:30:48.000 Really?

00:30:48.000 Nah, I ain't got like one coach that I said, this is my head coach, right?

00:30:51.000 I got like coaches for different martial arts and they all come together and I put them all together and they communicate like that.

00:30:59.000 But I haven't got like one person that say, okay, you have to do this, you have to do that, you have to do that.

00:31:03.000 I prefer it that way as well because I feel with head coaches, from my experience, it's like you do it my way or no way.

00:31:12.000 You know what I mean?

00:31:12.000 You can't train 10 guys the same way.

00:31:15.000 Right.

00:31:15.000 I think that's what coaches do.

00:31:16.000 You've got one person, you train them all the same way.

00:31:19.000 But it might be different.

00:31:20.000 I'm tall and southpaw.

00:31:22.000 He might be short and orthodox.

00:31:23.000 He can't train me the same way you train him.

00:31:27.000 That's what I do and I feel comfortable.

00:31:29.000 I feel good doing it that way.

00:31:31.000 Yeah.

00:31:32.000 I don't think nothing's wrong with it.

00:31:33.000 Just for me, I prefer...

00:31:35.000 Obviously, I talk back and forth with my coaches and we run game plans together.

00:31:40.000 You know what I mean?

00:31:40.000 So if I don't agree with it, Let's say my striking coach comes to me and be like, okay, for this fight you need to throw a head kick.

00:31:47.000 I'll be like, yeah, but I don't want to throw a head kick in this fight because I don't think it's going to work for this guy.

00:31:54.000 If I watch him and see what he does, that's what I do.

00:31:57.000 I watch the person, I break them down and say, okay.

00:32:00.000 Everyone's got habits, right, that they do.

00:32:02.000 Some people like to pass to the left.

00:32:04.000 Some people like to pass to the right.

00:32:06.000 So if he's good at passing to his left, if he can make him pass through his right, if he's not good, then you're going to have more success.

00:32:12.000 And that's what I try to do basically all over the game.

00:32:16.000 So if he's good at jabbing, if he takes away his jab just by moving out of the way of it, then he has to throw something else, which is not natural to him.

00:32:27.000 And that's the way I approach the game, really.

00:32:29.000 Just try to throw them off for what they're good at, but take it away from them and let them use what they're bad at.

00:32:35.000 And so, if you put together a camp, so you basically just have all these people that you work with, you work with a wrestling coach, a jiu-jitsu coach, striking coach, and then just you decide how the fight's going to play out based on how you're watching tapes, you're watching...

00:32:49.000 Yeah, I watch tapes.

00:32:51.000 No...

00:32:51.000 They send information as well.

00:32:53.000 You know, I'm not just like mastering it all myself.

00:32:55.000 They send like, okay, this is what he does.

00:32:57.000 And then I'll look, I'll be like, okay, what would you do to counteract that?

00:33:01.000 And if they tell me, I'll be like, okay, if it feels good to me, then I'll do it.

00:33:06.000 But if it doesn't, it's not natural.

00:33:08.000 I think it has to be natural movement, right?

00:33:10.000 right?

00:33:10.000 If you're kind of like forcing yourself to, like for example, this fight with Bilal, the coach was like, okay, you need to throw the uppercut, the back uppercut because he dips into it.

00:33:19.000 But in sparring, those weren't, sorry, or weren't, You can swear.

00:33:23.000 Yeah, it's the internet.

00:33:23.000 Fuck yeah.

00:33:24.000 That's hilarious.

00:33:27.000 Yeah, for the sparring, I was trying to, tried to do what he told me to do, but every time I was throwing an uppercut, the guy was catching me over the top with a hook, And I was like, This didn't come natural to me, so I said, I don't use a technique for this fight, because every time I'm trying to inspire, I'm getting caught with shots.

00:33:49.000 In boxing, that's what happens, right?

00:33:51.000 A lot of times, you guys throw lead uppercuts.

00:33:53.000 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:33:54.000 But in boxing, they get off nice.

00:33:55.000 Canelo, for example, is good with it.

00:33:58.000 You just touch, you go bang, and it's good.

00:34:01.000 It looks good, but in boxing...

00:34:03.000 The guys are like, they're more like top top right here, right?

00:34:05.000 So you can work the body a bit more.

00:34:09.000 But in MMA, the guys are more like elusive and they've got different guards.

00:34:13.000 They've got long guards, tight guards, everyone's different.

00:34:16.000 So yeah, I think boxing and striking is two different things.

00:34:21.000 Do you work with boxers at all?

00:34:23.000 Yeah, sparring.

00:34:25.000 If they go to a boxing gym, it's like a war, right?

00:34:27.000 Oh, yeah?

00:34:27.000 Yeah, in the UK. Especially if you're an MMA fighter.

00:34:30.000 If you go to a boxing gym, you're like, okay.

00:34:33.000 My coaches always take me to gyms and be like, okay, you spar this pro.

00:34:38.000 And then he's like, he's always like, just coming out bloody and just having like a tear up.

00:34:42.000 He's never like a play spar.

00:34:44.000 He's always like, if you're going to spar a boxer, you're going to have a war.

00:34:47.000 That doesn't seem like a lot of fun.

00:34:49.000 Nah, it's not.

00:34:51.000 How do you approach sparring?

00:34:53.000 Do you think that you should, like, you see, like, Max Holloway, like, his last fight didn't spar at all and looked fucking amazing, like, one of his best performances against Calvin Cater?

00:35:02.000 I've got a teammate that does it as well, Tom Breeze.

00:35:05.000 He's the same way.

00:35:06.000 Breeze doesn't spar?

00:35:07.000 No.

00:35:08.000 Really?

00:35:08.000 Yeah, he lasts two, three fights, so he doesn't want to do it.

00:35:13.000 That's interesting.

00:35:14.000 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:35:16.000 So, I think each did their own, right?

00:35:18.000 How does he do it?

00:35:19.000 Does he do drills?

00:35:21.000 Like, simulations of situations?

00:35:23.000 Yeah, situations like play spar, you know?

00:35:28.000 Just like range finders, shots, really.

00:35:31.000 He's not really getting hit properly.

00:35:35.000 For me, I prefer sparring.

00:35:36.000 I spar twice a week in camp.

00:35:39.000 Do you play spar?

00:35:41.000 Do you touch light or do you blast?

00:35:44.000 Do you have full power sparring sessions?

00:35:48.000 In camp, one spar a week would be big gloves.

00:35:52.000 You can hit hard, you can go harder in big gloves.

00:35:54.000 And then on the Saturday, it's a little glove, which is the bumper gloves.

00:35:58.000 And that's more like play, spar.

00:36:00.000 That normally end up in a grappling match because it's small gloves.

00:36:04.000 It's hard to pull your shots right in small gloves.

00:36:07.000 So it's like one hard on a Wednesday.

00:36:09.000 Then Saturday is more like a technical working through your technique, spar.

00:36:13.000 Yeah, because it's so interesting how the ties do it because they fight so often that when they spar, they're just kind of touching each other and playing with each other.

00:36:20.000 And it's interesting if you talk to guys like John Wayne Parr, guys who trained in Thailand, he said there's a lot of wisdom to that because when you spar hard, you don't try things.

00:36:31.000 You're always worried about the consequences, but you can hone your fine reflexes by just light sparring because you don't worry about the consequences as much.

00:36:42.000 And they're already tough.

00:36:43.000 They already know how to fight.

00:36:44.000 There's so many different philosophies when it comes to Yeah, it's all different, right?

00:36:48.000 Because Russians do the same thing in wrestling.

00:36:51.000 They wrestle for like five hours a day, but they're just like drills.

00:36:55.000 They're not going hard, hard, hard, you know?

00:36:57.000 They're more just like drilling technique and just play technique.

00:37:00.000 You don't resist, you know?

00:37:03.000 So if you add it up over the years, there's probably way more hours in the gym than what you're doing if you're going hard, hard, hard every day.

00:37:09.000 So I see where they're coming from, but I think it's different.

00:37:12.000 I think you have to, for me anyway, you have to get that hit right when someone's trying to knock you out.

00:37:20.000 But they're coming at you full pace and you're reflexing, you're getting shots.

00:37:25.000 And I like to feel the shots before going into a fight.

00:37:28.000 Let's say I didn't spar for the whole camp.

00:37:30.000 I'll be paranoid, but can I still take a punch?

00:37:32.000 You know?

00:37:34.000 So I want to feel that I can, you know?

00:37:37.000 I feel it was different.

00:37:38.000 How many years were you training before you had your first fight?

00:37:40.000 Um...

00:37:42.000 I saw an amateur fight like six months in.

00:37:45.000 And I won.

00:37:45.000 I beat like a blue belt.

00:37:50.000 My gym did like a tournament.

00:37:52.000 It was like an in-house tournament.

00:37:54.000 Like a smoker?

00:37:55.000 Yeah, yeah.

00:37:55.000 In-house tournament.

00:37:56.000 And then some blue belt came.

00:37:58.000 And then I did it.

00:37:59.000 And I won the tournament.

00:38:00.000 I started training for like six months.

00:38:02.000 And that's like kept me in the gym, you know.

00:38:04.000 And having like positive feedback from all the coaches and shit.

00:38:06.000 So yeah, about six months in.

00:38:09.000 Had my first amateur fight.

00:38:10.000 So...

00:38:11.000 You just took to it?

00:38:13.000 Yeah.

00:38:13.000 Like, striking and martial arts just seems like something that...

00:38:16.000 Normal.

00:38:17.000 Because I was a good fighter anyway, from, like, young, on the street, and in school and shit, so...

00:38:21.000 But you just didn't have any coaching at all?

00:38:23.000 You just knew how to fight?

00:38:25.000 On the street?

00:38:26.000 Yeah.

00:38:26.000 Oh, yeah.

00:38:26.000 Street fight is a street fight, right?

00:38:28.000 Yes.

00:38:30.000 Have you off?

00:38:31.000 So, nah, no coaching.

00:38:32.000 2017, didn't start learning what it was, and that's it.

00:38:38.000 And did you stop street fighting when that happened?

00:38:40.000 I just started, no, but later on, yeah.

00:38:43.000 Because I ended up street fighting now for a while.

00:38:46.000 But at the start, you're kind of just like testing out your skill set.

00:38:49.000 Oh, just to see?

00:38:50.000 See how it works.

00:38:51.000 See how it works, you know?

00:38:52.000 People on the street, really, especially in the UK, they're not very good fighters, you know?

00:38:57.000 And they kind of just swing wild and you end up in a tussle and that's it.

00:39:00.000 But you can pick your shots good and see openings.

00:39:03.000 It's a different ballgame.

00:39:05.000 Yeah, that's a terrifying thing.

00:39:07.000 If you don't know how to fight and you're talking shit, then you see a guy moving and you're like, oh, Christ.

00:39:12.000 I've seen so many YouTube videos of like two guys fighting and one guy is talking all kinds of shit that he realizes like halfway and oh my god this guy actually trains.

00:39:22.000 He knows how to fight.

00:39:23.000 I think it's gonna be a bad night.

00:39:26.000 I've been out before you know like bouncers like the doorman and like wearing like gum shields and But I've seen these guys in the gym, right?

00:39:34.000 And they can't...

00:39:35.000 They're not really...

00:39:36.000 They look tough, but they can't fight, you know?

00:39:38.000 And I've brought them to the gym before and, like, I just sparred this kid that's, like, 17. He's, like, a little skinny kid.

00:39:43.000 And the skinny kid, like, beats them up, you know?

00:39:46.000 And, like, humbles them.

00:39:47.000 And it's a mad thing when you can fight.

00:39:49.000 It gives you...

00:39:49.000 I think it gives you confidence as well to not fight when you do go out.

00:39:54.000 Oh, for sure.

00:39:55.000 You know?

00:39:55.000 Yeah.

00:39:56.000 That's the reason I put my son in it.

00:39:58.000 How old's your son now?

00:39:58.000 He's eight.

00:39:59.000 Eight?

00:39:59.000 Oh, that's a good age to start.

00:40:01.000 Exactly.

00:40:02.000 So...

00:40:02.000 I think it gives you the confidence to...

00:40:04.000 You know what you're about.

00:40:05.000 I don't need to go out there and be tough and prove it.

00:40:08.000 I think that's what martial arts did for me.

00:40:10.000 It kind of calmed me down.

00:40:11.000 When I was younger and I was fighting, it's more just about proving yourself, right?

00:40:15.000 Yeah.

00:40:18.000 Shit talking and things like...

00:40:20.000 Can I have some coffee?

00:40:20.000 Yeah, sure, brother.

00:40:21.000 Thank you.

00:40:23.000 Sorry.

00:40:24.000 If you want another one of those monsters, we got those two in the back.

00:40:28.000 Cheers.

00:40:29.000 Cheers.

00:40:30.000 Good man.

00:40:31.000 I need some of this coffee after last night.

00:40:34.000 It was a good night.

00:40:35.000 It was a lot of fun.

00:40:36.000 Hanging out afterwards too.

00:40:38.000 Chappelle and those fellas, they go hard like that every night.

00:40:41.000 Do they?

00:40:41.000 I was done after like 2 o'clock.

00:40:44.000 I gotta go.

00:40:45.000 Dave's got a philosophy behind it, though.

00:40:47.000 It's actually well thought out.

00:40:48.000 He's like, the hang is important.

00:40:51.000 He's like, it's not just about doing shows.

00:40:53.000 It's like, the hang actually makes you funnier, and we talk about comedy during the hang.

00:40:58.000 It's always talking about jokes and talking about...

00:41:00.000 That's what I said to my coaches this week.

00:41:05.000 I was sitting down.

00:41:06.000 I was like, okay, this is what we're going to remember, right?

00:41:10.000 Hanging around in the hotel.

00:41:12.000 We don't really remember the fights when you're old.

00:41:15.000 You remember when you win or you lost, right?

00:41:17.000 But what you remember is the banty that you had with your coaches.

00:41:20.000 That's what I said to my coaches last week.

00:41:23.000 We treasure these moments.

00:41:24.000 This is what we work for.

00:41:26.000 Just enjoy it.

00:41:27.000 Camaraderie.

00:41:28.000 Yeah, man.

00:41:29.000 That's what it's all about.

00:41:30.000 That's what you're going to remember when you're old.

00:41:32.000 There's a similarity in the way fighters and comedians hang out with is that not too many people understand you guys like you.

00:41:41.000 You know, like fighters and your coaches and your training partners and the people you work with, they know you.

00:41:48.000 Regular people would never understand the amount of sacrifice and commitment and work.

00:41:53.000 What it's like to go through hard sparring sessions, what it's like to go through hard strength and conditioning sessions, that you're always pushing yourself, constantly pushing yourself.

00:42:03.000 They get it.

00:42:04.000 So it's hard to relate, I'm sure, to other people.

00:42:08.000 Yeah, for sure.

00:42:09.000 To be fair, all my friends, they train as well.

00:42:12.000 All your friends train?

00:42:13.000 Yeah.

00:42:14.000 Most of them train.

00:42:15.000 Since I got in it, they all kind of went in it as well.

00:42:19.000 They don't compete.

00:42:20.000 They're like businesses and do other shit, but they train martial arts, either boxing or strength conditioning.

00:42:27.000 They do something, so they kind of understand it.

00:42:30.000 They tell me shit.

00:42:31.000 I don't know about fights.

00:42:34.000 If you've seen this fight, I was like, nah, I don't watch it.

00:42:37.000 In the UK, it's at 3 in the morning, but they stay up and watch it.

00:42:40.000 I'm not staying up to watch the fights.

00:42:43.000 There's so many different disciplines that you could follow.

00:42:46.000 If you start paying attention to Muay Thai, or paying attention to boxing, or jujitsu, there's not enough time.

00:42:54.000 There's so many matches you could watch.

00:42:55.000 Yeah, it's too much.

00:42:57.000 I enjoy boxing.

00:42:58.000 I love watching boxing.

00:43:00.000 MMA, I watch MMA as well, but if I had to choose, I like watching boxing.

00:43:06.000 Really?

00:43:06.000 Yeah.

00:43:07.000 Do you think you'll ever box?

00:43:08.000 Like when you saw Conor fight Floyd.

00:43:11.000 Yeah.

00:43:12.000 Like if an opportunity, something along those lines.

00:43:13.000 Yeah, for sure.

00:43:14.000 100%.

00:43:14.000 I'll do that for sure.

00:43:15.000 I enjoy sparring boxers as well.

00:43:19.000 I enjoy switching stances as well.

00:43:22.000 I'll probably box one day.

00:43:23.000 I'd love to try it out because I've got good hands.

00:43:26.000 We'll see.

00:43:27.000 But it's not like...

00:43:29.000 Nah, nah.

00:43:30.000 Not now.

00:43:31.000 My goal now is to be a UFC world champion.

00:43:33.000 After that, I'll probably look down that role.

00:43:36.000 But once I achieve this goal, then I'll move on.

00:43:39.000 So, you were saying that you don't have a head coach, so you just have head coaches in all these different disciplines.

00:43:45.000 So, do you have a strength and conditioning coach that you use?

00:43:50.000 Yeah, Johnny Reynolds.

00:43:54.000 I've been working with him now for about eight years, I think.

00:43:59.000 Yeah, about eight years, six to eight years.

00:44:01.000 Before, I was working with his brother.

00:44:03.000 His brother was Anthony Joshua.

00:44:05.000 That's his head strength conditioning coach.

00:44:08.000 Then I went from his brother to Johnny.

00:44:10.000 Now he's my strength conditioning coach.

00:44:12.000 We've been working together now for a while.

00:44:15.000 And how many days a week do you do that?

00:44:17.000 Strength conditioning?

00:44:20.000 Two, three times a week.

00:44:22.000 So it's Tuesday, Thursday.

00:44:24.000 Then on Saturday, we either do hills or we do tracks or something.

00:44:29.000 But yeah.

00:44:29.000 And do you schedule it so that you do that and then do you do it after you spar?

00:44:35.000 Do you do it before?

00:44:36.000 Like how do you do it on days where you don't spar?

00:44:38.000 Yeah, I don't know.

00:44:39.000 Days I don't spar.

00:44:41.000 I'll probably Tuesday morning.

00:44:43.000 If I spar Wednesday, I do it Tuesday morning.

00:44:45.000 Then I have like a light, a light Tuesday night.

00:44:48.000 Then I spar heavy Wednesday.

00:44:51.000 Then like pads Wednesday night.

00:44:54.000 So I kind of like do it so it's like hard, medium, hard.

00:44:56.000 If you're tired, I'm good at listening to my body, right?

00:44:59.000 So I feel tired.

00:45:00.000 I know I'm tired.

00:45:01.000 I'll have a day off.

00:45:02.000 And that's what it is.

00:45:04.000 Our coaches, sometimes, like one head coach, will be like, nah, you have to come training.

00:45:08.000 Be tough.

00:45:08.000 Do this, do that, you know?

00:45:10.000 But I believe you should listen to your body.

00:45:12.000 You feel tired that day.

00:45:13.000 Have a day off.

00:45:14.000 I think it's more mental, right?

00:45:16.000 Everyone thinks, ah, I need to train.

00:45:17.000 I need to do this.

00:45:18.000 But you don't.

00:45:19.000 If you're tired, you'll be way more better if you had, like, one or two days off and then come back and train and fight.

00:45:24.000 So...

00:45:25.000 I think it's more mental than anything.

00:45:27.000 So this is like trial and error.

00:45:29.000 You figured it out.

00:45:29.000 Yeah, I figured it out over the years.

00:45:31.000 Yeah, I figured it out over the years.

00:45:33.000 Like I said, I think it's mental.

00:45:34.000 For example, look at...

00:45:35.000 Look at Floyd Mayweather, right?

00:45:37.000 I was watching Countdown the other day.

00:45:39.000 I was having McDonald's and shit.

00:45:40.000 Yeah, he eats a lot of McDonald's.

00:45:42.000 You know?

00:45:43.000 I think he eats really good too, though.

00:45:45.000 I think so, but...

00:45:46.000 Part of that is to show people...

00:45:48.000 Nah, no.

00:45:48.000 I don't give a fuck.

00:45:49.000 You're eating a cheeseburger and I'll still beat people's asses.

00:45:51.000 Some people will do that and like...

00:45:53.000 Fuck them up mentally.

00:45:54.000 Shit, I had a burger.

00:45:55.000 I'm going to lose the fight.

00:45:56.000 I was like, you're going to lose the fight, bro.

00:45:58.000 Joe, do you think?

00:45:59.000 Yeah.

00:46:00.000 Do you use anything to monitor your recovery?

00:46:03.000 Like, do you use a whoop strap or anything like that when you check your...

00:46:07.000 No.

00:46:08.000 The PR gave me that ring.

00:46:10.000 Oh, an aura ring?

00:46:11.000 Yeah, yeah.

00:46:11.000 I tried it.

00:46:12.000 It was hard to keep remembering to put it on and take it off.

00:46:15.000 Plus, if you're doing boxing or jiu-jitsu, to leave it on, it's like...

00:46:19.000 No, you can't do that.

00:46:19.000 Have you ever seen what happens to fingers?

00:46:21.000 No.

00:46:22.000 You know, that's why they develop those silicone rings when fingers get sheathed.

00:46:25.000 Have you ever seen that?

00:46:26.000 No, no, no.

00:46:27.000 Google that.

00:46:28.000 It is horrific.

00:46:30.000 Wedding rings, what happens is they dig into the meat of your finger and it pulls the finger meat and the muscle completely off.

00:46:38.000 Because the metal from the ring, like, if you're in a bad situation, I know guys have happened And it came off?

00:46:43.000 The skin came off?

00:46:44.000 Oh, yeah.

00:46:45.000 Terrible.

00:46:45.000 I know guys have had it happen in rolling, where like, say the ring will get pinned like this, and it'll just pull back the meat.

00:46:52.000 Google!

00:46:54.000 Yeah, you should show it.

00:46:56.000 People should see it, because I know guys who roll with wedding rings on, and I've seen them do it, and I'm like, hey man, take that fucking thing off.

00:47:04.000 Oh, my wife, she doesn't want...

00:47:05.000 I'm like, listen to me, bitch.

00:47:07.000 Take that shit out.

00:47:08.000 You're gonna lose your finger.

00:47:09.000 Like, you will lose your finger.

00:47:11.000 Like, it's possible to lose use of your finger.

00:47:14.000 I'll show you what I'm looking at because I don't want to look at it for a long time.

00:47:16.000 Okay.

00:47:17.000 Just bust it out there.

00:47:20.000 Wedding ring.

00:47:21.000 Did you Google wedding ring sheathing?

00:47:23.000 Yeah, finger sheathing injuries.

00:47:25.000 Yeah, from wedding rings.

00:47:27.000 There's some horrible ones, man.

00:47:30.000 I don't see any of these.

00:47:31.000 Are these wedding ring ones?

00:47:33.000 Did you pull up a wedding ring?

00:47:36.000 Well, I mean...

00:47:37.000 Wedding ring finger sheath.

00:47:41.000 There you go.

00:47:42.000 That's what I'm talking about.

00:47:43.000 Look at that.

00:47:43.000 Click on that one.

00:47:46.000 That's what happens.

00:47:47.000 Like, literally, it pulled the guy's fucking finger off.

00:47:50.000 The wedding ring digs into your hand, it digs into the meat of the hand, and it just tears it right off.

00:47:58.000 You gotta be real careful with those things.

00:48:00.000 That's why they invented, like, Michael Chandler has a company.

00:48:04.000 Jesus Christ, why can't I remember the name?

00:48:06.000 His ring company.

00:48:07.000 They make the best ones.

00:48:09.000 What is this company?

00:48:10.000 Can I have a monster?

00:48:11.000 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:48:11.000 It's also called Ring Avulsion.

00:48:14.000 Sorry, I was looking nasty.

00:48:15.000 What is Chandler's company called?

00:48:18.000 Because he has the best ones.

00:48:21.000 What, doing rings?

00:48:22.000 Groove life?

00:48:23.000 Groove life, that sort of thing.

00:48:24.000 They make great belts too, but they make a silicone wedding ring that just...

00:48:29.000 Come on?

00:48:30.000 Yeah, it won't fuck your finger up.

00:48:32.000 Well, just take the ring off when you're trying to put it back on?

00:48:34.000 Yeah, you should.

00:48:35.000 Yeah.

00:48:38.000 It happened to Jimmy Fallon a couple years ago, and cooking something slipped and fell, and went to grab the island in the kitchen.

00:48:46.000 Oh, really?

00:48:47.000 And he chiefed his finger?

00:48:48.000 It's happened to many people doing random things like that.

00:48:50.000 That's why Groove Life, I think, invented those.

00:48:53.000 I believe the store was an Alaskan hunting guide that figured it out.

00:49:00.000 He's the guy that invented that specific type of ring.

00:49:04.000 Can you tell Jeff to bring Monster in for the gentleman?

00:49:07.000 Oh, sure.

00:49:07.000 And tell him to get me one of them.

00:49:09.000 Just bring some of those Kill Cliffs, too.

00:49:11.000 I'll describe them, of course.

00:49:11.000 Okay, thanks.

00:49:12.000 Yeah, I'm telling you, those guys do that every night.

00:49:19.000 I don't know how they do it.

00:49:21.000 And then they got the Rona and didn't even get sick.

00:49:23.000 It's crazy.

00:49:24.000 Both of them.

00:49:25.000 Donnell Rawlings and Dave Chappelle both got the Rona and had nothing.

00:49:29.000 Just nothing.

00:49:30.000 They were just crazy.

00:49:31.000 Quarantine their hotel room.

00:49:32.000 I said, no symptoms?

00:49:33.000 No symptoms.

00:49:34.000 Nothing.

00:49:34.000 Oh, fuck.

00:49:35.000 I was done.

00:49:36.000 I had it in December and I lost like six kgs.

00:49:38.000 I don't know what it's like in pounds.

00:49:40.000 I lost my smell, my taste.

00:49:43.000 I had like two weeks off because that's what you meant to do and went back to training and my body just felt weak, you know?

00:49:49.000 I had to pull out of the fight, so I had it bad.

00:49:52.000 Was that a situation where you were training hard and so your immune system was kind of broken down and then you caught it?

00:49:57.000 Yeah, yeah.

00:49:57.000 I believe so.

00:49:58.000 Because that's like, yeah, I think that's what it was.

00:50:02.000 I was working so hard in camp and then your body just shut down, right?

00:50:06.000 And then you had two weeks off.

00:50:08.000 Thank you.

00:50:10.000 Thank you.

00:50:11.000 You got monsters, whatever you want.

00:50:14.000 Thank you.

00:50:14.000 Yeah, when you had like two weeks off and try to go back at the same intensity that you was two weeks ago, you just can't do it.

00:50:20.000 Right.

00:50:20.000 Yeah.

00:50:21.000 So I have to pull out.

00:50:23.000 That Hamzat picture of his sink where he coughed up blood in the sink is fucking crazy.

00:50:29.000 But apparently he's had lung issues before.

00:50:33.000 He's had some sort of lung issue in the past.

00:50:39.000 What is that called?

00:50:43.000 Not pneumonia, but something that a lot of people get.

00:50:48.000 God damn it, I'm trying to remember that.

00:50:49.000 It's a very common disease that people get with coughing.

00:50:54.000 Maybe that's it.

00:50:55.000 I think that is it.

00:50:56.000 I think it's bronchitis.

00:50:57.000 I think Hamzat has bronchitis too.

00:51:00.000 So that on top of getting corona fucked him up pretty bad.

00:51:05.000 Is he recovering good?

00:51:07.000 He said he was going to retire.

00:51:08.000 I've seen it, but then he's like, no, son.

00:51:11.000 I know, Dana said no, but Dana doesn't want anybody to retire, which is kind of crazy.

00:51:17.000 He's still letting Khabib hold onto the belt.

00:51:20.000 Yeah, I know.

00:51:20.000 But, you know, Khabib, he's got his own life, man.

00:51:23.000 You can't tell him, you know.

00:51:25.000 I think he's going to come back, though.

00:51:26.000 You think so?

00:51:27.000 Yeah, I think so.

00:51:27.000 Why?

00:51:28.000 I don't know.

00:51:29.000 I think he's always training.

00:51:31.000 He's always around the fight.

00:51:33.000 Once he has some time off, I think he's going to come back.

00:51:35.000 I think they should set up Khabib versus GSP. Yeah.

00:51:38.000 Because GSP wants another fight.

00:51:40.000 That'd be good.

00:51:41.000 And I think he can make 55. I think he can make it.

00:51:45.000 Yeah, he said he can make it.

00:51:47.000 Yeah.

00:51:47.000 They should definitely do it.

00:51:49.000 30, you know, would be perfect, right?

00:51:52.000 If that was me, I wouldn't want to go out 29. I'd have to get out 30, man.

00:51:55.000 I'm coming back just to get out 30. Yeah.

00:51:58.000 It would be annoying.

00:51:59.000 Well, I just, I think, you know, he made a promise to his mother after his father died.

00:52:05.000 I just don't think he's going to come.

00:52:07.000 I could be wrong, but I think...

00:52:10.000 How long do you think they should leave it for to destrip him?

00:52:13.000 Not much longer.

00:52:14.000 How long has it been now?

00:52:15.000 When did the fight last...

00:52:16.000 Well, he fought Justin.

00:52:18.000 It was during the COVID, right?

00:52:21.000 Because they fought in Abu Dhabi with no audience.

00:52:23.000 Yeah.

00:52:24.000 I think that was six months ago, maybe?

00:52:27.000 Something like that?

00:52:30.000 Yeah, probably give him a little bit longer, probably.

00:52:32.000 Because he's been so dominant.

00:52:33.000 I think you should give him just a little bit longer to see what he's going to do.

00:52:37.000 Yeah, I mean, unless he says, I'm done.

00:52:41.000 Leave me alone now.

00:52:42.000 Well, look at what they did with Jon Jones.

00:52:44.000 You know, they just basically stripped Jon Jones.

00:52:46.000 He said, I'm going to go up to heavyweight.

00:52:48.000 And they said, okay.

00:52:48.000 And that's it.

00:52:49.000 He abandoned the belt.

00:52:50.000 And then they stripped him right away.

00:52:52.000 I mean, he easily could have held on to that belt while trying to try a fight or two at heavyweight.

00:52:59.000 He was going to fight for the lightweight belt.

00:53:01.000 The light heavyweight belt?

00:53:02.000 Or the lightweight belt.

00:53:04.000 That's interesting, right?

00:53:05.000 I don't know.

00:53:06.000 I don't know.

00:53:07.000 I think Oliveira should be fighting for the title.

00:53:10.000 But I think Dustin Poirier should be fighting for the title too.

00:53:13.000 And they're going to have Dustin versus Conor again.

00:53:15.000 That's the plan.

00:53:16.000 That doesn't make sense for the title.

00:53:19.000 Not why Oliveira's around.

00:53:20.000 I think Oliveira's supposed to be.

00:53:22.000 He's a beast, man.

00:53:23.000 That kid is so impressive.

00:53:24.000 And he's a guy that has had...

00:53:27.000 You know, these ups and downs in his career where he's lost and he's come back and he's lost and he's come back and you see where he's at now.

00:53:36.000 He's on another level than he's ever been before.

00:53:39.000 The Tony fight with Ferguson, I was super impressed.

00:53:43.000 Yeah, he's good.

00:53:44.000 I think skill set-wise, I think he's, for me, I think he's at number one, probably, for skill set.

00:53:51.000 You think so?

00:53:51.000 Yeah.

00:53:52.000 Very clean, right?

00:53:54.000 Yeah, him, Chandler, Dustin, Connor, who else is there?

00:53:59.000 Well, there's a lot of people in that division.

00:54:03.000 It's a great division.

00:54:04.000 I mean, it's packed, but it's like...

00:54:07.000 I don't think they can give Chandler the shot at the back.

00:54:09.000 Not right away.

00:54:10.000 I mean, he had that super impressive knockout of Hooker, which puts him in the top ten and makes a big deal, but maybe one more.

00:54:18.000 Because how many people have been in the division for so long, racking up wins, they'll be furious.

00:54:23.000 Yeah, pissed.

00:54:24.000 You know?

00:54:25.000 Nah, horrible.

00:54:27.000 Yeah, I think Oliveira and Dustin should fight for the bout.

00:54:32.000 You know, and then after that, let Chandler fight.

00:54:37.000 I don't know.

00:54:37.000 I think Olivera and Dustin, but it doesn't matter what I think, because they're going to have Conor versus Dustin again, because that's where the money's at.

00:54:44.000 That's where the dough is at, right?

00:54:45.000 That's going to be crazy.

00:54:46.000 They're going to do that in front of a live audience?

00:54:47.000 That's going to be nuts.

00:54:48.000 Who do you think wins that one?

00:54:51.000 Who knows?

00:54:51.000 I mean...

00:54:52.000 Conor was catching with some good shots, you know?

00:54:54.000 Just to shut him down, but...

00:54:56.000 It's going to be hard.

00:54:59.000 It's going to be hard to figure out, because...

00:55:01.000 Conor did hurt him.

00:55:02.000 He did rock him.

00:55:03.000 Dustin admitted it.

00:55:04.000 He said in the first round, he said he rang his bell.

00:55:07.000 Yeah.

00:55:07.000 But ultimately, Dustin won.

00:55:10.000 So you got to think he can win again.

00:55:12.000 And I don't know.

00:55:14.000 Conor never switches stances either.

00:55:15.000 It's very rare.

00:55:16.000 He doesn't box.

00:55:19.000 His power hand is for sure his left hand.

00:55:20.000 Yeah.

00:55:21.000 And if he switches, he's going to spin.

00:55:22.000 Yeah.

00:55:23.000 Right, right, right.

00:55:23.000 And if he switches, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:55:24.000 So it'd be an entertaining fight.

00:55:26.000 If I put money on it, I'd probably go...

00:55:30.000 I think Conor can do it again if he just fix up his stance a little bit.

00:55:35.000 Earlier in his career, he was a bit more elusive, right?

00:55:38.000 Now he's just like heavy on his legs.

00:55:40.000 So I think Conor can do it if they fight again.

00:55:43.000 I'm sure he'll make an adjustment.

00:55:46.000 It's just crazy seeing a guy pull up in a yacht, you know?

00:55:51.000 To a big fight if he's doing shadowboxing on a yacht and meditating on the yacht.

00:55:56.000 It's like, wow.

00:55:57.000 If he did win that way, that's like the most baller shit ever.

00:56:01.000 Yeah, no, I couldn't do that.

00:56:03.000 In fact, I'd have to be zoned in, right?

00:56:05.000 I couldn't be being on yachts.

00:56:07.000 I'd have to be in isolation, in my room, my coaches, chilling, talking.

00:56:12.000 I couldn't do it.

00:56:13.000 I think it's too much to do as well, right?

00:56:14.000 You've got to focus on your job at hand is to perform.

00:56:17.000 So, yeah.

00:56:19.000 If you did do it, though, it would be cool.

00:56:21.000 Did you go through a bunch of different processes to get to where you're at now, where you know exactly what to do, like the week of the fight, you know what's best for your mind, you know what's best...

00:56:33.000 Do you try to distract yourself?

00:56:35.000 What do you try to do?

00:56:36.000 I try to fight a week.

00:56:37.000 I try to treat it like another week, right?

00:56:39.000 I think if you build it up to be something that normally happens, right?

00:56:45.000 Because you're sitting in your room, kind of like overthinking the fight.

00:56:47.000 What's going to happen?

00:56:48.000 It never does.

00:56:49.000 And the more I compete, the more I fight, I think you just think crazy shit in your head.

00:56:55.000 What's going to happen in a fight?

00:56:56.000 It never plays out that way.

00:56:58.000 So I learned to be like...

00:57:00.000 You know what?

00:57:00.000 Just treat it like another week.

00:57:02.000 You know what I mean?

00:57:03.000 Eat what you normally eat.

00:57:04.000 Obviously, you've got to cut weight.

00:57:05.000 But on fight day, I eat what we eat on a sparring day.

00:57:08.000 I eat like normal chicken, rice, fish.

00:57:10.000 Eat light.

00:57:11.000 I don't really eat heavy on a sparring day.

00:57:15.000 I like to go for walks.

00:57:16.000 I go for like a long walk fight day.

00:57:17.000 My team just like...

00:57:19.000 Fight day?

00:57:19.000 Yeah, yeah.

00:57:21.000 I like to go for like a long walk just to like banter on my team.

00:57:24.000 Just make it feel like a normal day.

00:57:25.000 I don't want to build it up to be something it's not.

00:57:28.000 I do this every single day, you know?

00:57:31.000 If you do it that way, I think you'll have better success than just sitting in your room thinking, oh, it's going to be...

00:57:37.000 It's like playing on a match sheet in your head.

00:57:39.000 Right.

00:57:41.000 When you say you go for a walk, do you find that that relieves nervous energy?

00:57:47.000 Why do you like to go for a walk?

00:57:48.000 I don't know.

00:57:49.000 I've always enjoyed on Friday going for a long walk.

00:57:52.000 I don't know what it is.

00:57:55.000 I don't know.

00:57:56.000 I don't know.

00:57:56.000 I can't put a finger on it to say, this is why I do it.

00:57:59.000 I just like to go for a long walk, stretch my legs out, have a little banter with the team, just chill with the truth like another day, like I'm back at home in my gym and I'm on the way to the gym.

00:58:10.000 That's it.

00:58:12.000 I can't think why I would do it, but that's what I like to do.

00:58:15.000 Do you just always like to do it?

00:58:16.000 Yes, I always like to do it.

00:58:16.000 Do you meditate at all?

00:58:17.000 No.

00:58:18.000 Nothing?

00:58:20.000 Nah, nothing.

00:58:23.000 My mental strength, I don't know where I got it from, but mentally I'm quite solid, right?

00:58:29.000 But I think just from my upbringing and my trials and tribulations I've been through in life, it's kind of made me who I am, right?

00:58:37.000 I know that I can get over struggle.

00:58:39.000 I know I've been there before.

00:58:40.000 I've done it before.

00:58:40.000 I can get over it.

00:58:42.000 I think the more you struggle, you get more armour, you're more solid, right?

00:58:45.000 And I think that's what it is.

00:58:46.000 It just builds me up to be what I am.

00:58:48.000 Yeah, there's an interesting mindset that comes from people that have been through really tough things in their life.

00:58:57.000 You know, like I spoke with Francis Ngannou, and he was talking about his journey.

00:59:02.000 Fucking crazy, man.

00:59:03.000 Fucking crazy.

00:59:04.000 Like, you think about that guy, 14 months to get out of Cameroon and to get all the way to Spain, only to spend two months in prison.

00:59:13.000 And just throwing his money and shit?

00:59:15.000 Yeah.

00:59:16.000 Crazy.

00:59:17.000 All of it was crazy.

00:59:18.000 The whole story is crazy.

00:59:20.000 That guy's been through so much that to fight for him is probably a relief.

00:59:24.000 Yeah, it is what it is.

00:59:25.000 I'm just saying, I've been through so much that a fight, like a fist fight, it's just like, it's a fist fight, right?

00:59:31.000 You're not going to die.

00:59:33.000 What's the worst shit that you've been through?

00:59:37.000 Worse?

00:59:38.000 I don't know.

00:59:38.000 I don't know, like, one worst thing, you know, just like the duration of life, you know?

00:59:44.000 I don't think it's like one thing, like, this is the worst thing I've been through.

00:59:46.000 But I've been through a lot, you know?

00:59:49.000 Like, what kind of shit?

00:59:53.000 I don't know.

00:59:54.000 I don't know.

00:59:54.000 It's hard to put a finger on it.

00:59:57.000 Like, I don't know.

00:59:58.000 It's like struggles in life.

01:00:01.000 Yeah, yeah.

01:00:01.000 I was born in Jamaica, obviously.

01:00:04.000 Came to the UK when I was 10, 11. My dad was basically a gang leader, basically.

01:00:12.000 Oh, really?

01:00:12.000 Yeah, in Jamaica.

01:00:14.000 So, basically, in Jamaica, it's like streets, right?

01:00:17.000 We call it lanes.

01:00:18.000 It's like streets.

01:00:19.000 It was like...

01:00:21.000 We're one street fight with like the Neville Street down like three streets down the road.

01:00:27.000 In my area, my dad was like the leader of the gang, right?

01:00:31.000 So he came to the UK before us.

01:00:34.000 He was like, sell drugs and whatever he did to bring back money back into the community to buy guns and do what he does, you know?

01:00:43.000 I came from that and from there he brought me, my brother and my mum to the UK. Obviously for safety, obviously.

01:00:51.000 And then he passed away when I was 13 years old.

01:00:58.000 So I was in the UK for about two to three years.

01:01:01.000 Then he died when I was 13. How did he pass away?

01:01:03.000 I got shot, got killed in London.

01:01:08.000 When I got a phone call, I was like 13 years old.

01:01:11.000 I remember being in bed, right, and my mum got a phone call at 2 in the morning.

01:01:16.000 So I heard her phone ring, and she was like, I heard her crying, right?

01:01:19.000 I was like, oh shit.

01:01:21.000 So I was like, she walked me up to her dad.

01:01:25.000 Just got killed in London.

01:01:29.000 But it's like a weird feeling, right?

01:01:31.000 Because I've seen...

01:01:32.000 Since I knew my dad, he's always been the same person, right?

01:01:35.000 He's always been in that life, you know?

01:01:39.000 So...

01:01:41.000 I wouldn't say I expected it.

01:01:44.000 It wasn't like a shock, right?

01:01:46.000 Because I knew what he did.

01:01:47.000 I know that's the life, right?

01:01:51.000 Yeah.

01:01:51.000 You know, and so it was mad.

01:01:56.000 What is it like growing up when your father is running a gang?

01:02:00.000 It's got to be fucking crazy.

01:02:02.000 Like, just knowing.

01:02:06.000 As a kid, he's like, Do you feel normal?

01:02:09.000 Because that's all you mean?

01:02:10.000 Yeah, he's just normal, right?

01:02:12.000 Everyone...

01:02:12.000 He's fucked up.

01:02:15.000 Because I liked it when I was a kid, right?

01:02:17.000 Because I had all the latest shit.

01:02:19.000 Because he was sending shit from the UK. I'm like a bicycle when he's in Jamaica.

01:02:26.000 I'm like a remote-controlled car as a kid.

01:02:27.000 That was a big deal.

01:02:29.000 I had all that.

01:02:33.000 Obviously, everyone around the area knew who I was.

01:02:35.000 So, as a kid, it's like, my dad is this guy, you know?

01:02:39.000 He was a special person.

01:02:40.000 Yeah, exactly, you know?

01:02:41.000 So, looking back at it now, and knowing exactly what he did and what he got into, it's wild, right?

01:02:50.000 But...

01:02:51.000 I understand the sacrifices that he made for his family in these different opportunities.

01:02:56.000 I know looking at it from now when I'm in the UK. In the UK, if you're broke, you can go to the council and give you money.

01:03:04.000 In Jamaica, if you're broke, you're broke.

01:03:07.000 There's no help.

01:03:08.000 No one's coming to help you and give you nothing.

01:03:09.000 So if he decided to risk his life and provide for his family, then you do what you have to do.

01:03:19.000 I love him for that.

01:03:20.000 I respect him for that.

01:03:20.000 And that's it.

01:03:22.000 Yeah, it's very difficult for anybody else to judge if you're not living in that situation.

01:03:29.000 Yeah, exactly.

01:03:30.000 It's hard to explain to my friends.

01:03:33.000 It's hard to tell them, right?

01:03:35.000 Because you just won't get it.

01:03:37.000 You live in the UK. Basically, a fallback plan.

01:03:41.000 If we go dead broke in the UK, I can go to the council and it's called signing on and they'll give you like basically a month, like a weekly, that's it.

01:03:51.000 They give you like a weekly wage, right?

01:03:53.000 In Jamaica, there's no signing on, you know, so you have to, you're going to hustle or you're going to do something.

01:03:59.000 There's no opportunity for jobs or Especially if you come from the ghetto, there's no opportunities to go and get a 9 to 5. Because your area alone marks against your name.

01:04:13.000 You did what you needed to do.

01:04:14.000 You provided for your family.

01:04:15.000 You did a good thing by bringing me to the UK and bringing my brother and my mom to the UK. And now I'm able to provide for my family and give back to my family.

01:04:23.000 Did you ever worry that you were going to go down that path?

01:04:27.000 Yeah, I was going down that path when I was a kid.

01:04:31.000 See, when I passed away, I think that's when I got more like rebellious towards life, right?

01:04:37.000 And I was going down that path like in gangs and doing shit like that, you know?

01:04:46.000 Until about 16, 17, my mum brought me to the gym and MMA is what took me out of the life, you know, because I was spending so much time in the gym that I weren't hanging around in the street no more with my friends, you know, and I think MMA 100% saved me from that life.

01:05:04.000 Do you think that also the training itself relieves you of some of the stress and keeps you from being aggressive and keeps you from having to prove yourself with other guys?

01:05:15.000 Yeah, for sure.

01:05:16.000 I think what kept me in the gym is that the positive reinforcement, right?

01:05:20.000 To have someone say to you every day, oh, you're good, bro.

01:05:22.000 You can do it.

01:05:23.000 You can do that.

01:05:24.000 I think that as a kid, it helps you, man.

01:05:27.000 It motivates you to want to be there, right?

01:05:30.000 You want to be in that environment when everyone's telling you good stuff and they're saying, oh, mate, you can do it.

01:05:34.000 If you work hard, you can do it.

01:05:35.000 You can achieve it.

01:05:35.000 You can be a UFC world champion.

01:05:36.000 When I was on training for like a year, you know what I mean?

01:05:39.000 And this is what my coach was telling me and people were telling me in the gym.

01:05:43.000 So that's what kept me in the gym for sure.

01:05:46.000 When you talked about how you want to achieve success so that other kids can see what can be done, that's important to you?

01:05:56.000 Yeah, 100%.

01:05:56.000 That's one of my main motivations.

01:06:01.000 If you can touch it, it's different, right?

01:06:04.000 You can see it on the TV, but if you know someone in your area that grew up like you, in that situation as you, and he achieved it, then you usually feel like you can do it as well.

01:06:14.000 I know I know Michael Bisping was the first champion from the UK, but he did it living in the States, right?

01:06:22.000 He did it from America.

01:06:22.000 So for me, from being in the UK, it was hard to be like, okay, I can be a champion as well.

01:06:29.000 He did it from another place.

01:06:31.000 He didn't do it from where I'm doing it from, you know?

01:06:33.000 I was respecting him for doing it, but I want to achieve it coming from the UK. So the kids behind me can be like, look, Leon did it.

01:06:41.000 He came from the mud, you know, and he achieved it by sticking with his team, working hard and dedicating himself.

01:06:47.000 And that's one of my main motivations to give back to the kids.

01:06:51.000 I know what it feels like to struggle and to go through hardship.

01:06:54.000 Do you do any traveling?

01:06:56.000 I mean, you said you went to AKA and trained there for a bit.

01:06:58.000 Do you do travel around to different gyms at all?

01:07:02.000 In the UK? You know, you said you trained...

01:07:04.000 Yeah, I've been there twice, I think, like six, seven years ago.

01:07:09.000 Was that to work on your wrestling?

01:07:10.000 Yeah, I do work on my wrestling.

01:07:13.000 My first time I went there, I think, for the Kamaru Usman camp.

01:07:17.000 I still got out-wrestled.

01:07:22.000 But yeah, that's the only time I traveled.

01:07:24.000 And then from that, that's what I'm saying.

01:07:26.000 If you listen to other people...

01:07:29.000 It fucks you up, right?

01:07:30.000 Because when I was young in the UK, all these guys were telling me, even my coaches, not my coaches, but I'm training partners, you have to go to, if you want to be successful, you have to go to America to improve, you know?

01:07:41.000 So I started believing it, and that's the reason why I went to AKA, you know?

01:07:44.000 When, after the come out, I was in a fight, and I lost.

01:07:49.000 I came back to my, to the UK, and I was like, You know what?

01:07:55.000 I was winning up until that point.

01:07:57.000 I won all my fights in my early career.

01:08:01.000 Just by being with my team and believing in my team, once I start looking elsewhere, I need to move.

01:08:08.000 If it's not broke, don't fix it, right?

01:08:10.000 I'm winning with these guys while I need to move.

01:08:13.000 So I started believing in my team, believing in myself.

01:08:16.000 Obviously, the older I get, I more learn the game, and I study the game, and that's it, really.

01:08:21.000 It's also a situation, too.

01:08:23.000 I mean, you fought Kamaru Usman.

01:08:24.000 He's a beast.

01:08:25.000 I mean, the man is the champion for a reason, and his wrestling is phenomenal.

01:08:29.000 He's good.

01:08:30.000 He's tough, and he's durable.

01:08:31.000 He's a good fighter, a good champion.

01:08:33.000 Was it a unique experience to face someone that's that good as a wrestler?

01:08:39.000 Um...

01:08:41.000 A little bit, a little bit.

01:08:43.000 But at the time, I didn't look at the game the same way I look at the game now, right?

01:08:47.000 I approached it from a defensive point of view.

01:08:49.000 So I went in there thinking, don't let him take me down, don't let him take me down.

01:08:52.000 You know, I went in there with a defensive mindset towards the contest, you know, and that's a total wrong way to approach a fight like that.

01:09:02.000 And that's how I played out.

01:09:04.000 Yeah, that makes sense.

01:09:05.000 So, that's the good thing about this quarantine, about this pandemic, that it's allowed you to think things through.

01:09:12.000 Yeah, think it through.

01:09:15.000 Tighten up in some areas that I need to tighten up on.

01:09:18.000 It gives me time to grow, just physically and mentally, you know?

01:09:21.000 Because when in training camp, you're not really learning much, really.

01:09:25.000 Just prepare for this certain opponent, what shots he's going to use for this opponent.

01:09:29.000 You're not really – you fight three times a year.

01:09:32.000 That's a lot of camps.

01:09:34.000 You're not growing much in between because I wrestle like a month, then I'm back in camp again.

01:09:39.000 So what is the difference between a training when you're in camp versus when you're trying to learn and grow?

01:09:45.000 What kind of shit are you working on?

01:09:47.000 Everything.

01:09:48.000 So when you're in camp, you're doing specifics to this opponent.

01:09:52.000 So okay, let's say this guy's a wrestler.

01:09:54.000 I won't throw leg kicks earlier in the fight because he's going to take me down.

01:09:59.000 So you're mimicking the game for this guy, but when you've not got a fight coming up, Like I have in the last year and a half, I had time to just free-grow my skill set.

01:10:10.000 And if you want to learn, I'll learn it, you know?

01:10:12.000 Because I'm not preparing for nobody.

01:10:13.000 I'm preparing myself and growing myself, you know?

01:10:17.000 So that's what I've been doing.

01:10:18.000 I've been working my wrestling, my jiu-jitsu, my striking, everything.

01:10:21.000 Just been trying new techniques out, you know?

01:10:24.000 Trying out different stuff.

01:10:26.000 That's what it is, especially my elbows.

01:10:28.000 I've been working my elbows and just adding new tools to my arsenal.

01:10:32.000 Are you going to go to the fights next weekend?

01:10:36.000 Are you still in the country for next week?

01:10:39.000 No, I leave Monday.

01:10:40.000 Because I know you're going to Vegas soon, right?

01:10:42.000 Yeah, I'll go to Vegas today and then I leave on Monday.

01:10:48.000 Back to the UK on Monday.

01:10:49.000 Damn, it's too bad.

01:10:50.000 That was a good one to see live.

01:10:51.000 Have you seen any of them live?

01:10:53.000 Or you just only fought live where there's no crowd?

01:10:57.000 Have you seen a fight at the Apex Center?

01:11:00.000 No, no, no.

01:11:01.000 I've seen a crowd event live.

01:11:04.000 I haven't been to Apex and watched it live.

01:11:05.000 They're so different to watch it live.

01:11:08.000 I'm imagining it must be pretty insane to fight like that where there's no crowd, but to watch it like that too, I think I prefer it.

01:11:17.000 I really do.

01:11:19.000 I said to my coaches, I was like, I should have preferred that.

01:11:22.000 It was like quick, you know, it was like in and out.

01:11:24.000 It weren't like no...

01:11:25.000 I get it for you.

01:11:26.000 Yeah, it weren't no fucking around, you know, just like you get to the apex.

01:11:29.000 Okay, Leon, you got to wrap your hands.

01:11:31.000 Okay, wrap.

01:11:32.000 Okay, you got like three more fights in your arm.

01:11:35.000 I was like, what the fuck?

01:11:36.000 So it was just quick.

01:11:37.000 You didn't have no time to think around, like make the energy get you.

01:11:39.000 Just like you get there, wrap, warm up, walk, fight.

01:11:43.000 I liked it.

01:11:44.000 It's good.

01:11:45.000 It's interesting next weekend because Stipe versus Francis is in that small cage.

01:11:51.000 Yeah, I don't know how to do that.

01:11:52.000 It's crazy.

01:11:53.000 For those two giants?

01:11:54.000 I don't know who benefits.

01:11:56.000 Probably Francis, right?

01:11:58.000 If it's coming out explosive like it did, if it does that, then it's two steps in the back of the cage.

01:12:06.000 That's the problem.

01:12:07.000 It'd be good.

01:12:08.000 Francis is such a unique guy because all he has to do is touch you.

01:12:12.000 You're going to be there next week?

01:12:13.000 Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

01:12:15.000 I'm going to be there.

01:12:16.000 I don't want to miss that.

01:12:17.000 Yeah, he's a powerhouse, Francis, man.

01:12:19.000 I met him in Vegas.

01:12:20.000 His hands, I shaked his hand.

01:12:21.000 He's like...

01:12:22.000 It's like a giant brick.

01:12:24.000 Yeah, he's a unique guy because he really just has to touch you.

01:12:30.000 Anybody he touches, they're like...

01:12:32.000 It's different as well, right?

01:12:33.000 When you believe in your power as well.

01:12:35.000 He believes in his power, right?

01:12:36.000 He believes in his power and also he's lost.

01:12:38.000 He's felt the sting of defeat twice in a row because then he lost to Derek Lewis right afterwards.

01:12:43.000 Oh, yeah.

01:12:43.000 Yeah, so he was very tentative in that fight, and then he comes back and he knocked out Curtis Blades, knocked out Junior Dos Santos.

01:12:52.000 I mean, he's a monster now.

01:12:54.000 He's coming to his own.

01:12:55.000 Yeah, I think he's believing in himself as well.

01:12:58.000 Especially his cardio, you know?

01:13:00.000 He's known I can go five rounds, you know what I mean?

01:13:03.000 So I like watching him.

01:13:05.000 He's also got a real camp now.

01:13:06.000 You know, now he's with Xtreme Couture in Vegas.

01:13:08.000 Is he?

01:13:08.000 Yeah.

01:13:09.000 Where was he before?

01:13:10.000 I think he was talking about it on the podcast.

01:13:13.000 I believe he said he trained for it in France.

01:13:16.000 I think a lot of the training for Stipe was in France.

01:13:20.000 But I think he didn't have the best situation in terms of training partners and how to get set up.

01:13:29.000 He's good.

01:13:30.000 I've had to...

01:13:33.000 Yeah, I think he'll probably get Stipe this time.

01:13:35.000 This is a smaller cage.

01:13:37.000 Stipe is tough though, man.

01:13:38.000 It's so hard to bet against the guy.

01:13:40.000 The guy always figures out a way to win.

01:13:41.000 I mean, Stipe, a lot of people bet against him in D.C. with the last fight.

01:13:46.000 That adjustment to the body shot was good.

01:13:48.000 Oh my God.

01:13:49.000 To adjust mid-fight.

01:13:51.000 That was incredible.

01:13:53.000 That fight, he knocked him out in that fight, and then he beat him again in the rematch.

01:13:57.000 So, you know, two victories like that over DC is pretty fucking huge.

01:14:01.000 But he's the most successful heavyweight ever.

01:14:05.000 Yeah, for sure.

01:14:06.000 It's hard to say who the GOAT is.

01:14:07.000 For me, Kane.

01:14:10.000 Kane.

01:14:11.000 Cardio Kane, Kane Velasquez.

01:14:12.000 Kane was a monster.

01:14:13.000 Yeah, I watched that fight a month ago.

01:14:16.000 Kane versus Fedor would have been the shit.

01:14:18.000 Oh, yeah.

01:14:19.000 In the primes as well.

01:14:21.000 In the primes.

01:14:22.000 Kane versus Fedor would have been fucking amazing.

01:14:25.000 Yeah, Cardio Kane was another animal.

01:14:27.000 When Junior DeSantos, when he just, from round, I think he's fight number two, just set the pace.

01:14:33.000 His face is all, like, transformed.

01:14:35.000 He puts a pace on you that's inhuman.

01:14:38.000 Yeah, I was watching it thinking, I don't know how he keeps that pace for five rounds, you know?

01:14:42.000 But he did it.

01:14:43.000 I don't know how he does it either.

01:14:45.000 He had, like, weird genetics.

01:14:48.000 Yeah.

01:14:48.000 That's the only thing that could explain it.

01:14:50.000 Because I talked to DC, he goes, dude, he would take three weeks off and then come to the gym and out-cardio everybody.

01:14:57.000 And he goes, it didn't make any sense.

01:14:59.000 Cardio Kane.

01:15:02.000 That's a one in like a hundred million people that's a heavyweight that has that kind of cardio.

01:15:08.000 Because most heavyweights, they have big power, but they can't put a pace on you like that.

01:15:12.000 Yeah, he sets the pace and he keeps it.

01:15:14.000 That's what's good about it, you know?

01:15:15.000 You don't really fade, really.

01:15:16.000 No.

01:15:17.000 He keeps the pace.

01:15:18.000 And he's wrestling and striking.

01:15:20.000 He's doing everything, you know?

01:15:21.000 He's not like lying on you and trying to like wrist.

01:15:24.000 He's constantly beating the shit out of you.

01:15:26.000 Boxing, wrestling.

01:15:27.000 Yeah, he was a guy that was almost too tough for his own good, too.

01:15:31.000 His body kind of gave out.

01:15:33.000 His knees started going, his back went.

01:15:36.000 He's got all kinds of surgery.

01:15:38.000 Shoulder surgery, knee surgery, back surgery.

01:15:40.000 Yeah, it's an old school mentality, right?

01:15:41.000 Just training for everything.

01:15:43.000 You're injured, yeah, fuck it.

01:15:45.000 You've worked for it.

01:15:45.000 But that's the problem, right?

01:15:47.000 It's like you're almost too tough for your own good.

01:15:50.000 Yeah.

01:15:51.000 But if it wasn't like that, he probably wouldn't be as good as he is.

01:15:55.000 Maybe.

01:15:55.000 So it's like, where do you go, you know?

01:15:58.000 It's hard to say.

01:15:59.000 Do you find that it's hard to achieve balance like that?

01:16:03.000 Like when you're training, you gotta know when to pull back.

01:16:08.000 But then if you're a really tough person, you're like, fuck it, keep going.

01:16:11.000 And that's when people get injured.

01:16:13.000 Do you have a problem with that balance?

01:16:16.000 How do you find that balance?

01:16:18.000 A little bit.

01:16:19.000 I kind of know how to my body and my body feels, you know, especially I know in the morning when I wake up, I feel like I'm going to have a light day today.

01:16:29.000 You know, I can tell how my body feels and to what I'm going to do that day.

01:16:35.000 So if I got like two sessions scheduled in, I probably miss my morning one and then go to my evening one or if I feel fucked, I just take the whole day off.

01:16:43.000 I know I have to listen to my body and white knees and when to push and when not to push.

01:16:47.000 But you just listen to your body.

01:16:48.000 You're not looking at a heart rate monitor.

01:16:50.000 No, that's interesting.

01:16:51.000 None of it.

01:16:52.000 Do you get massages?

01:16:54.000 Yeah, yeah.

01:16:54.000 I get massages every week in camp.

01:16:58.000 I use chirotherapy.

01:17:00.000 Cryotherapy, yeah.

01:17:01.000 Yeah, that's it.

01:17:01.000 The cold chamber once a week as well.

01:17:03.000 So I use both.

01:17:04.000 I do both of them.

01:17:06.000 This camp, I was using chiropractor.

01:17:08.000 Got a bad injury on my back.

01:17:13.000 Are you using saunas at all?

01:17:15.000 No.

01:17:16.000 No?

01:17:16.000 No, I hate saunas.

01:17:18.000 Because of cutting weight?

01:17:19.000 Yeah, I hate it.

01:17:20.000 I did it once before in Brazil.

01:17:22.000 Never again.

01:17:23.000 No, I hate it.

01:17:25.000 Now, how much weight do you cut when you make 170?

01:17:28.000 So normally I'm like...

01:17:31.000 About 90kg?

01:17:33.000 I don't know, what's that in pounds?

01:17:35.000 90kg is what?

01:17:41.000 That's like 190 something?

01:17:43.000 Yeah, 190, 191 I think.

01:17:44.000 Let me see.

01:17:46.000 Yeah.

01:17:47.000 Why the fuck didn't the United States pick up kilograms?

01:17:49.000 I posted it, too.

01:17:50.000 It says 198. Oh, okay.

01:17:52.000 Why didn't the United States pick up the metric system?

01:17:54.000 It's so fucking stupid.

01:17:55.000 We're one of the few countries.

01:17:58.000 America.

01:17:59.000 That's why.

01:18:00.000 America.

01:18:00.000 That's it.

01:18:01.000 Yeah.

01:18:01.000 They tried it.

01:18:02.000 When I was a kid, they tried the metric system on us.

01:18:04.000 Yeah.

01:18:05.000 They were teaching us the metric system, and they're like, the whole world's going to convert to the metric system.

01:18:09.000 And the United States tried it for a couple years.

01:18:12.000 So, fuck it.

01:18:13.000 Nope.

01:18:13.000 And they went, nah.

01:18:14.000 That was like, I think, when Jimmy Carter was president.

01:18:16.000 I'm pretty sure.

01:18:17.000 And then Reagan came along and said, fuck you, and fuck the metric system.

01:18:23.000 This is so dumb.

01:18:25.000 Well, England's interesting because you guys have stone, too, which is so weird.

01:18:28.000 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:18:29.000 Is that 13 pounds?

01:18:30.000 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:18:32.000 Stone is like 13 pounds?

01:18:33.000 Yeah, about 13 pounds.

01:18:34.000 12.5, I think 13, yeah.

01:18:36.000 Yeah, we use cages, stones.

01:18:38.000 I don't know about pounds.

01:18:41.000 When I wear myself in pounds, I was like, what the fuck?

01:18:43.000 What do I do?

01:18:44.000 That's from that...

01:18:47.000 ACDC song, Whole Lotta Rosie.

01:18:49.000 Isn't she 16 stone in that song?

01:18:54.000 Isn't that what it is?

01:18:57.000 That's part of the lyrics of that song.

01:18:58.000 I remember being a kid going, what the fuck is he talking about?

01:19:02.000 Weighing in at 16 stone?

01:19:04.000 19 stone.

01:19:06.000 Oh, that's big.

01:19:07.000 That's a big gal.

01:19:08.000 What is that?

01:19:09.000 Heavyweight gal.

01:19:10.000 What is 19 stone?

01:19:11.000 Let's guess.

01:19:12.000 What is that like?

01:19:13.000 Nah, it's heavy.

01:19:15.000 260?

01:19:16.000 Oh, Jesus.

01:19:17.000 That's a big girl.

01:19:18.000 Squat!

01:19:19.000 Whole lot of Rosie.

01:19:20.000 Maybe I make heavyweight.

01:19:22.000 Get some squats in.

01:19:23.000 Where the fuck did stone come from?

01:19:25.000 I don't know.

01:19:26.000 Because when we do the weigh-ins in England, they yell it out in stone.

01:19:31.000 Yeah.

01:19:33.000 And then I would have to say the weight.

01:19:36.000 No, I didn't do it in my head.

01:19:37.000 You fucked.

01:19:37.000 I'm an idiot.

01:19:40.000 I'd have no chance.

01:19:41.000 I'd have to have my phone out.

01:19:42.000 Hold on.

01:19:43.000 Hold on.

01:19:43.000 I'm going to figure this out.

01:19:45.000 Because it's 13 something, right?

01:19:47.000 It's not just 13. Oh, it's 14 pounds.

01:19:51.000 Just 14 even?

01:19:53.000 Oh, okay.

01:19:54.000 That makes it easier, I guess.

01:19:56.000 But either way.

01:19:59.000 Yeah, the kilogram thing is confusing.

01:20:01.000 I don't understand why we never adopted it.

01:20:02.000 Yeah, I don't know.

01:20:03.000 But I always use kg.

01:20:04.000 So even when I'm a nutritionist, he's like, what do you weigh?

01:20:07.000 I'm like, five a week, I'm normally 83 kg.

01:20:12.000 Five a week.

01:20:13.000 Then I cut down from there to make water weight.

01:20:15.000 So, yeah, I don't know where it came from.

01:20:19.000 So your last few days, are you water-loading?

01:20:24.000 Water-loading, yeah.

01:20:24.000 So a water-load, well, it depends how much you have to get off, but I water-load for about four days, probably.

01:20:31.000 So Sunday to about Wednesday.

01:20:32.000 So it's not a drastic cut.

01:20:34.000 Nah, nah, nah.

01:20:35.000 I like to get it down in camp, right?

01:20:38.000 I don't like to crash your weight.

01:20:40.000 I think it messes up your strength and your cardio.

01:20:42.000 For sure.

01:20:43.000 If you just crash it, right?

01:20:44.000 So I like to get it down to a point where I'm comfortable cutting it, you know, so...

01:20:48.000 Yeah, not really bad.

01:20:49.000 Not too bad.

01:20:50.000 When you see those guys that cut big...

01:20:52.000 Did you see Rodolfo Vieira's last fight?

01:20:54.000 No.

01:20:55.000 You know, Vieira's that massive Brazilian jiu-jitsu guy.

01:20:58.000 He fights at 85, but he's a gorilla.

01:21:01.000 I mean, the dude is so jacked.

01:21:03.000 He did fight?

01:21:04.000 He...

01:21:05.000 Shit.

01:21:07.000 Pull up Rodolfo Vieira's record.

01:21:09.000 He fought this kid who was a young guy who was a huge underdog.

01:21:16.000 Anthony Hernandez.

01:21:17.000 And Anthony Hernandez survived and then started putting him on.

01:21:22.000 It was an amazing performance by Hernandez.

01:21:25.000 Because he was a huge, huge underdog in the fight.

01:21:28.000 Because look at that picture of Vieira.

01:21:30.000 Get a picture of Vieira.

01:21:32.000 The dude is a gorilla.

01:21:34.000 I mean, he's just like carved out of granite.

01:21:37.000 Look at that six pack.

01:21:38.000 I mean, come on.

01:21:39.000 Who the fuck wouldn't want that six pack?

01:21:41.000 Jesus.

01:21:42.000 But just gassed out hard.

01:21:44.000 Did he?

01:21:44.000 Yeah, real bad.

01:21:45.000 Real bad.

01:21:46.000 By the end of the first round.

01:21:47.000 You know what he cut?

01:21:48.000 A lot.

01:21:49.000 A lot.

01:21:50.000 He looks so big.

01:21:52.000 When he's in the octagon, he looked like he was like 215, something like that.

01:21:57.000 Nah, I think that's too much.

01:21:58.000 I think he cut too much and put on too much.

01:22:00.000 I think it's detrimental to your performance.

01:22:02.000 So I try to maintain it a little bit to not crash it.

01:22:07.000 Do you think it's possible that they could ever get to a point where there's no weight cutting?

01:22:13.000 Nah.

01:22:13.000 You don't think so?

01:22:14.000 Nah.

01:22:15.000 That's what everybody says.

01:22:15.000 Yeah, I know.

01:22:16.000 Nah, I can't see it.

01:22:18.000 I think it's crazy.

01:22:19.000 Unless you put like loads of weight, like boxing does it, like loads of weight classes, then probably, but nah, I still, I can't see it, nah.

01:22:26.000 I wish they did.

01:22:27.000 Want more weight classes?

01:22:28.000 Yeah, I wish they had more weight classes.

01:22:30.000 Maybe not as much as boxing, but I wish they did it every 10 pounds.

01:22:34.000 I think there's a lot of weight limits where there's just too big of a jump, like 85 to 205. Yeah, that's a big jump.

01:22:42.000 That's crazy.

01:22:43.000 That's 20 fucking pounds?

01:22:44.000 Yeah, that's a big jump.

01:22:45.000 And no other champions in between there?

01:22:47.000 That's nuts.

01:22:48.000 Yeah, but in boxing, it's kind of like ruined the boxing as well, right?

01:22:52.000 Because it's some different belts and different weight classes.

01:22:54.000 It's like, you've been well-to-weight.

01:22:58.000 There's like four champions in there.

01:23:00.000 It's like...

01:23:01.000 But that's happening kind of in MMA with all the different champions in different organizations.

01:23:09.000 There's legitimate champions in other organizations now, like Pitbull in Bellator is a legit champion.

01:23:18.000 Douglas Lima is a legit champion.

01:23:21.000 They've got some legit champions.

01:23:25.000 Nemcoff.

01:23:26.000 They got legit guys.

01:23:28.000 I know, but I think if I had more weight classes, you just water it down.

01:23:33.000 Maybe, but you're built for 70. It works.

01:23:37.000 You got lucky.

01:23:39.000 If you were one of those guys that was between 85 and 205, you're like, fuck!

01:23:43.000 Yeah, it's a big jump.

01:23:44.000 He's tried it, right?

01:23:45.000 Yeah.

01:23:46.000 I think if you build his body up a little bit more, you'd have more success.

01:23:50.000 Yeah.

01:23:51.000 All he did is didn't cut weight and just went to fight.

01:23:55.000 Jon Jones, he's been building now for a year.

01:23:57.000 Yeah.

01:23:59.000 Izzy said that that's how he was going to do it, too, and he said that Jon was making a mistake.

01:24:03.000 I just think if you're dealing with grapplers, man, you need that weight.

01:24:08.000 Yeah, for sure.

01:24:09.000 100%.

01:24:09.000 If it's just a kickboxing match, maybe you don't need that weight because Izzy's so fast.

01:24:17.000 And he was doing good.

01:24:18.000 He was catching him with good shots, but the bigger guy is holding the shots.

01:24:22.000 Well, Boholvich is an interesting cat because, you know, he's a champ now at 38 years old.

01:24:28.000 Polish power.

01:24:29.000 Legendary.

01:24:30.000 Legendary Polish power.

01:24:31.000 Legendary.

01:24:32.000 And that fucking shit is legendary.

01:24:33.000 The way he put it on Dominic Reyes, I was like, holy fuck, he can crack.

01:24:39.000 I mean, Jan Bojovic can fucking crack.

01:24:42.000 He has some of the best punching power I've ever seen in the light heavyweight division.

01:24:46.000 Because he hits guys with weird punches.

01:24:48.000 He hits guys with like short shots, little short shots and fucks them up.

01:24:53.000 Fucking solid.

01:24:54.000 He's 38. Yeah, he's 38. He made his debut in the UFC when he was 31 and worked his way through and figured it out and now, top of the food chain at an advanced age.

01:25:08.000 38 is pretty advanced and he looks fucking great.

01:25:10.000 I wonder what he puts that down to, to having success now in his later career.

01:25:15.000 I wonder what it is.

01:25:16.000 I don't know.

01:25:17.000 Maybe it's maturity.

01:25:18.000 Maybe it's experience, you know?

01:25:20.000 Maybe train smarter.

01:25:22.000 I don't know.

01:25:22.000 But his fucking power is extraordinary.

01:25:24.000 Nah, it is.

01:25:25.000 You know?

01:25:25.000 Even the way he approached the fight with Izzy, I thought Izzy was going to outclass him on the feet, you know?

01:25:30.000 But he was a good man on the feet, you know?

01:25:33.000 He did.

01:25:33.000 He was out jabbing him and everything.

01:25:36.000 There's always extreme consequences with that guy, you know?

01:25:39.000 Because, you know, Izzy always had to be careful.

01:25:42.000 Because all it takes is one shot from that dude.

01:25:44.000 Yeah.

01:25:45.000 It's a powerhouse.

01:25:47.000 The division without Jon Jones, though, it's like, fuck.

01:25:51.000 Jon Jones is the division.

01:25:53.000 Yeah, for sure.

01:25:54.000 I think it's been through three generations of fighters, right?

01:25:58.000 I mean, he really is undefeated.

01:26:00.000 They have the one loss that was Matt Hamill, but he was smashing him.

01:26:05.000 It was just a disqualification, which is ridiculous.

01:26:09.000 Yeah, I think if you're going for the GOAT, I think Jones should be the GOAT. There's...

01:26:14.000 It's hard to say because different word classes, right?

01:26:17.000 Yeah.

01:26:18.000 Khabib, a lot of people have the argument that Khabib's to go.

01:26:20.000 But I think in terms of accomplishments, no one's accomplished more than Jon Jones.

01:26:23.000 Jon, exactly.

01:26:24.000 Like I said, he's been through three generations of fighters.

01:26:27.000 You know, Khabib is good for what he did, but he haven't done it in a short period of time.

01:26:32.000 Right?

01:26:32.000 So I think if he had a longer career, probably, yeah.

01:26:34.000 Well, if Jon goes up to heavyweight and wins the heavyweight title, the discussion's over.

01:26:39.000 I'd love to see him versus Francis.

01:26:41.000 Jon Jones.

01:26:42.000 Woo!

01:26:43.000 That would be good.

01:26:45.000 Francis versus anybody is so nerve-wracking.

01:26:47.000 I want to see Francis and Derrick Lewis again.

01:26:49.000 I want to see a rematch of that fight.

01:26:51.000 Because Lewis was here last week and his back was pretty fucked up going into that fight.

01:26:56.000 For the fight?

01:26:56.000 Yeah.

01:26:57.000 He knocked out Blaze the other week.

01:26:59.000 Yeah, dude.

01:27:00.000 Crazy.

01:27:01.000 Crazy power.

01:27:03.000 He's the only guy in the UFC in the heavyweight division that has that same kind of power that Francis has.

01:27:08.000 You can't make any mistakes with either one of those guys.

01:27:13.000 Both guys have crazy power.

01:27:14.000 That blades knockout was brutal.

01:27:17.000 It's an uppercut, right?

01:27:18.000 Yeah, it was good.

01:27:20.000 It's a good shot.

01:27:21.000 But for me, uppercut is not my shot.

01:27:25.000 It depends who you're fighting and what stance they got.

01:27:28.000 But for me, uppercut is a hard shot to land.

01:27:30.000 Well, he just said, the way he was describing, he said, Curtis bends in when he goes for a shot.

01:27:36.000 He doesn't go down and drop to the knees and drive forward like a lot of other wrestlers do.

01:27:42.000 He bends down.

01:27:43.000 And so they knew it and they were timing it.

01:27:45.000 Yeah.

01:27:47.000 Scary.

01:27:48.000 The powerhouse is good.

01:27:50.000 I think Francis probably beat him again if I pick.

01:27:53.000 Who knows, man.

01:27:54.000 It's a good fight, though.

01:27:56.000 It's one of those things, though.

01:27:57.000 Francis can't get hit by him.

01:27:59.000 Nobody can get hit by Derek Lewis.

01:28:00.000 He can knock on anybody.

01:28:02.000 Yeah.

01:28:03.000 Like, both guys can knock each other out.

01:28:04.000 What does he weigh, you know?

01:28:06.000 Derek?

01:28:06.000 Yeah.

01:28:06.000 He's got to be 270, 275, somewhere around then.

01:28:10.000 And I think he cuts a little weight to get down to 265. Oh, and on the chin?

01:28:14.000 Yeah.

01:28:14.000 And his fucking head is this big.

01:28:16.000 Is it?

01:28:16.000 He's just so fucking giant.

01:28:18.000 You know?

01:28:19.000 He can take it, too.

01:28:21.000 Do you remember when Sean Jordan knocked him out?

01:28:23.000 Sean Jordan hit him with a hook kick.

01:28:25.000 Crazy as shit.

01:28:27.000 It was real early in Derek's career.

01:28:29.000 But Jordan hit him with a fucking hook.

01:28:32.000 And Sean Jordan is this really big football player, dude.

01:28:37.000 Yeah.

01:28:37.000 See if you can find that fight.

01:28:38.000 I haven't seen that.

01:28:39.000 It's crazy.

01:28:40.000 In the UFC? Yeah.

01:28:41.000 Yeah.

01:28:42.000 Yeah, he hit him with a hook kick.

01:28:43.000 And you look at him and you're like, this guy's not throwing a hook kick.

01:28:47.000 Because he's built like a football player.

01:28:49.000 He's built like a lineman.

01:28:50.000 He's so huge.

01:28:51.000 And he gets his heel up there and I think Derek was like, what the fuck did I just get hit with?

01:28:56.000 Clean out?

01:28:57.000 No, he dropped him and then he finished him off.

01:29:00.000 If I remember it correctly.

01:29:01.000 It was quite a while ago.

01:29:02.000 I want to say it was like...

01:29:03.000 Yeah.

01:29:06.000 Watch this.

01:29:07.000 This is early.

01:29:08.000 Look at that.

01:29:09.000 Isn't that crazy?

01:29:10.000 Like how does it even get up there?

01:29:12.000 I know.

01:29:12.000 Watch this.

01:29:15.000 Like, out of nowhere.

01:29:16.000 I know the lead leg is alright.

01:29:18.000 Yeah.

01:29:18.000 Well, he kind of switched it right before he threw it.

01:29:22.000 So then he got on top and then beat him up.

01:29:23.000 And then finished him this way.

01:29:25.000 See, watch how he does this.

01:29:27.000 Like, he switched it.

01:29:29.000 Oh, shit.

01:29:30.000 Yeah.

01:29:31.000 That's a wild kick to see a giant dude like that throw.

01:29:35.000 But he's a crazy athlete.

01:29:37.000 Sean can do backflips and shit, which, you know, for a 260-pound heavyweight is pretty nuts to see.

01:29:43.000 So I'd love to learn the spinning sidekick.

01:29:46.000 There it is.

01:29:49.000 I wish I had a bag here.

01:29:50.000 Yeah, I love to learn it.

01:29:52.000 I've been trying to do it, but even when my knees are too high or something, it doesn't feel solid, you know?

01:29:57.000 Yeah, it's a thing that you have to start out with a sidekick.

01:30:00.000 You learn how to throw the sidekick properly first, and then learn how to do it in the air.

01:30:05.000 Learn how to do the turning sidekick in the air.

01:30:08.000 Because everybody does it on the bag, but if you learn it on the bag, the problem is you get used to spinning instead of turning.

01:30:14.000 Like, you do it in the air so that when you extend the kick, it goes straight.

01:30:18.000 So that every time you...

01:30:20.000 So, like, when I learned it, I learned it on a line.

01:30:22.000 Like, you would do a line on the floor of the gym.

01:30:25.000 So you would turn and then make sure the kick is on the same line as the heel.

01:30:30.000 So you turn and kick and then extend the leg, turn, kick, extend the leg, and then eventually go to hitting things.

01:30:36.000 But if you do it that way, then you learn how to get the weight to go forward.

01:30:41.000 Yeah.

01:30:41.000 Because when people do it in a bag, you kind of get used to spinning your whole body into it.

01:30:46.000 Yeah, that's what I do.

01:30:48.000 Being like forwarded, like missing the bag and shit, going everywhere.

01:30:51.000 Fuck your ankles up too, because you'll catch it with your toes, you'll catch it with the ball of your foot, and it hyperextends your ankle.

01:30:56.000 You land it with the heel, right?

01:30:57.000 Yeah, you want to land it with the blade, the blade of the foot.

01:31:01.000 Have you ever stopped in the body with it before?

01:31:02.000 Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that was my shit.

01:31:05.000 You good?

01:31:05.000 That's the only...

01:31:06.000 It's the only video I have of me fighting in a Taekwondo tournament is knocking somebody out with a spinning back kick.

01:31:13.000 You got it on here?

01:31:14.000 Yeah.

01:31:14.000 Can I see it?

01:31:14.000 Yeah, it's on YouTube.

01:31:15.000 It was 19. When I was a wee lad.

01:31:19.000 A wee lad.

01:31:20.000 Yeah, it's a brilliant technique because there's so much torque in it.

01:31:25.000 You know, the movement.

01:31:28.000 Your legs.

01:31:29.000 There it is.

01:31:29.000 boom oh yeah as it went to kickers all right yeah it's yeah it sucks Getting hit with that is terrible.

01:31:46.000 I mean, you see it in the UFC when guys get hit with it.

01:31:48.000 It's just a horrible kick.

01:31:50.000 Has anyone stopped in the UFC with it?

01:31:51.000 I've seen people throw it.

01:31:53.000 Not like, but we just stopped the fight.

01:31:55.000 It's been a while.

01:31:56.000 I know...

01:32:00.000 Who's the last guy to do it?

01:32:02.000 I'm trying to remember people who've stopped people.

01:32:04.000 Charles McCarthy got stopped with it back in the day.

01:32:07.000 Yeah, I can't remember in a recent fight when someone got spinning.

01:32:13.000 Dennis Seaver.

01:32:14.000 Didn't Dennis Seaver used to stop people with it?

01:32:16.000 I think he stopped somebody with it.

01:32:18.000 I don't know, man.

01:32:20.000 It'll work, though.

01:32:21.000 Nah, it's a good technique, for sure.

01:32:22.000 There's a dude in 1FC that's got a fucking wicked one.

01:32:26.000 I like 1FC. Yeah.

01:32:28.000 Kickboxing, like, little gloves, right?

01:32:29.000 Yeah.

01:32:30.000 I like watching that.

01:32:31.000 You can kind of use it for MMA, right?

01:32:34.000 To what the techniques you use.

01:32:35.000 Because some people, because it's smaller gloves, your block is different.

01:32:38.000 But these guys are...

01:32:39.000 Yeah, this dude.

01:32:41.000 Look at that guy.

01:32:43.000 Kevin...

01:32:44.000 How do you say that word?

01:32:46.000 Bellingons.

01:32:47.000 Bellingons.

01:32:47.000 Yeah, he's a beast, man.

01:32:49.000 This kid has got one of the best spinning back kicks I've ever seen.

01:32:52.000 And it's a side kick.

01:32:54.000 It's a turning side kick.

01:32:55.000 Look at that.

01:32:56.000 Boom!

01:32:57.000 See how straight it is?

01:32:58.000 It's brilliant.

01:32:59.000 Look at that.

01:32:59.000 Turns.

01:33:00.000 Boom!

01:33:02.000 I mean, it's like getting hit by a car.

01:33:05.000 Yeah, it's the timing of it as well.

01:33:07.000 You probably can use it as well to set up your spinning back fist as well, right?

01:33:10.000 Oh yeah, for sure.

01:33:11.000 I mean, just some guys that come from that Taekwondo background, they learn how to do it, and then they learn everything else.

01:33:18.000 That's the key, I think.

01:33:19.000 Oh, look at that.

01:33:20.000 I think the key is like, and then he throws a wheel kick too.

01:33:23.000 The key is learning that first, like when you're a young kid, and then learning all the other stuff later.

01:33:30.000 Wow, spinning?

01:33:31.000 Yeah, learning how to do those kind of techniques, sidekicks and turning sidekicks, and then learning takedown defense and striking Muay Thai and everything else later.

01:33:42.000 Why?

01:33:42.000 Because Taekwondo is only effective if you know all those other things.

01:33:47.000 Like, when I learned Taekwondo, one of the big wake-up calls was when I started fighting and kickboxing, and I was sparring against boxers and kickboxing and just getting fucked up.

01:33:57.000 Because my hands are terrible.

01:33:59.000 Oh, your range was different?

01:34:00.000 Yeah, and my hand sucked.

01:34:01.000 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:34:02.000 Because I was just kicking.

01:34:03.000 Because Taekwondo was just all kicking.

01:34:05.000 But the thing about all kicking is you get really good at kicking.

01:34:08.000 Good at kicking, yeah.

01:34:09.000 Because you can do things that you really can't do if a guy's punching.

01:34:13.000 Yeah.

01:34:13.000 Right?

01:34:13.000 You really can't get away with it.

01:34:14.000 Different range as well, right?

01:34:15.000 Yeah, different range.

01:34:16.000 Overcrowdy with the shots.

01:34:17.000 Exactly.

01:34:18.000 Exactly.

01:34:19.000 Makes sense.

01:34:19.000 But you could develop leg dexterity from doing it that way.

01:34:22.000 And then, once you get proficient at it, then you learn all the other stuff.

01:34:28.000 And then you could actually apply it.

01:34:30.000 I tried to do it before.

01:34:33.000 I found a good taekwondo coach in the UK to just use the site, add tools to my arsenal, right?

01:34:39.000 There's a video of me teaching GSP. Is there?

01:34:42.000 Yeah.

01:34:43.000 And if you find the video of me teaching GSP, the thing about...

01:34:47.000 That video is that you can see how I break it down.

01:34:51.000 You can see what's important about extending the foot and the difference between the way...

01:34:57.000 Some people like to do it where your knee is low and you kick up, but you lose all the power in it.

01:35:02.000 And the key is having the knee up.

01:35:04.000 That's why doing it in the air is so important.

01:35:07.000 What for the balance in the air?

01:35:08.000 See, I was trying to show him the difference between the way he does...

01:35:14.000 This is him...

01:35:15.000 Yeah.

01:35:15.000 I don't know if this is before I showed him or...

01:35:19.000 Really?

01:35:25.000 It wasn't in the beginning?

01:35:26.000 No, because you weren't in...

01:35:28.000 I skipped ahead in the video where there wasn't even anything going on.

01:35:31.000 Oh, I thought I... You're showing it.

01:35:35.000 There I go.

01:35:36.000 No, I think it was way before that, man.

01:35:38.000 You're just wiping the mat off.

01:35:39.000 No, no, no.

01:35:41.000 Watch.

01:35:42.000 Watch.

01:35:43.000 I'm wiping the mat off at the beginning, but I think I had already thrown a kick by then.

01:35:49.000 I think it's the very beginning.

01:35:51.000 All I need to do Taekwondo for?

01:35:54.000 I started when...

01:35:54.000 Yeah, there it is.

01:35:55.000 It's the very beginning.

01:35:56.000 I started when I was 15. I did karate when I was 14, and then when I was 15, I got really into Taekwondo.

01:36:04.000 But, yeah, I'm wiping the mat down because the beginning of it is kind of fucked up.

01:36:07.000 But if you watch that video, you can learn from it.

01:36:09.000 I break it down.

01:36:10.000 How would you set it up?

01:36:12.000 Let's say that I'm southpaw, right?

01:36:14.000 They're going towards my right.

01:36:15.000 Then you spin, right?

01:36:17.000 When was your timing of it?

01:36:19.000 When someone's coming at you, it's the best because you can catch them coming in.

01:36:23.000 If someone's coming at you, especially if someone fights flat, but you can also set it up with other things.

01:36:31.000 You switch stances.

01:36:33.000 I see you do that a lot.

01:36:34.000 You can set it up as you switch stances.

01:36:35.000 That's a good way to do it too.

01:36:37.000 You can set it off a round kick.

01:36:39.000 You throw a round kick and then the round kick is almost like a setup for that.

01:36:43.000 Throw the round kick and then boom, go into it.

01:36:45.000 There's a lot of different ways to do it.

01:36:47.000 But catching someone coming at you is the most effective because it's such a ruthless counter because their weight is coming forward and then you extend.

01:36:56.000 It's horrible.

01:36:57.000 So you land it in the solar plexus.

01:36:59.000 It's not a knee.

01:37:00.000 When you land a good knee in the solar plexus, it takes the win out of you, man.

01:37:03.000 Body shots are like a crazy technique, right?

01:37:05.000 It just shuts your body down, even if you land it properly.

01:37:08.000 Well, you're such a good athlete.

01:37:09.000 If you just found someone who was a Taekwondo coach that could show you how to do it right, you would pick it up.

01:37:15.000 Yeah, nah.

01:37:15.000 I was trying to find something that's good.

01:37:17.000 It's your kick so well.

01:37:17.000 Yeah, yeah.

01:37:17.000 I'm trying to find something.

01:37:18.000 I'm good at roundhouses, like head kicks, body kicks.

01:37:22.000 But I don't think I've got the...

01:37:24.000 It's the...

01:37:25.000 The turn.

01:37:26.000 Yeah, the turn.

01:37:27.000 Almost like falling short.

01:37:28.000 I can show you afterwards just the turn part of it.

01:37:31.000 It's not...

01:37:31.000 It's not hard to learn.

01:37:32.000 But the thing is, you've got to learn it on the air.

01:37:35.000 Learning it in the air is the best way to do it.

01:37:37.000 Yeah, keep your balance.

01:37:38.000 You just did it a minute ago, just keeping your leg here.

01:37:39.000 I'm falling over when I'm doing it.

01:37:42.000 The whole idea is to get the weight going forward as you kick.

01:37:45.000 Sometimes people kick and when they hit things, they're actually bouncing off.

01:37:49.000 You want to just make sure the weight is going forward.

01:37:52.000 Solid.

01:37:52.000 Yeah, that's me.

01:37:52.000 I bounce off.

01:37:54.000 I'll work on it.

01:37:55.000 It's a good technique to use.

01:37:57.000 I'm always interested in adding to my arsenal.

01:38:01.000 That's why I added my elbows.

01:38:02.000 I started using my elbows.

01:38:03.000 I caught going to Nelson with a good one in RDA and even Cowboy.

01:38:07.000 It's a good technique.

01:38:09.000 I realize in MMA, the inside fighting, not many fighters at school and fighting on the inside.

01:38:16.000 You get to lock up over-unders and you start grappling or you throw through leg stomps, knees to the body.

01:38:23.000 They're not very schooled in school and like using the tie-up to opening for elbows and for knees, you know, so I thought I had to add that to my arsenal and it's been working good.

01:38:34.000 Have you done any training in Thailand?

01:38:36.000 No.

01:38:36.000 Have you ever wanted to do that?

01:38:37.000 I love to go there.

01:38:38.000 I always say every year I'm going to Thailand this year, but I never get to go.

01:38:42.000 That seems like if I was fighting, like that would be like the place I would want to go, the motherland.

01:38:48.000 Go to the motherland and learn like one of them crazy gyms that's outdoors.

01:38:52.000 Yeah.

01:38:53.000 I mean, it's just...

01:38:54.000 I watch it on YouTube.

01:38:55.000 It's like, Padman, right?

01:38:57.000 It was like, he kicks him.

01:38:59.000 Then he goes to kick.

01:39:01.000 Then he just kicks his legs away.

01:39:03.000 You're not learning nothing.

01:39:06.000 Yeah, there's some bad guys over there that are hilarious.

01:39:10.000 It's just amazing that this one country figured out this incredible way to fight.

01:39:14.000 It's really wild, right?

01:39:15.000 And it's effective.

01:39:16.000 Fuck yeah, it's effective.

01:39:17.000 It's crazy.

01:39:17.000 It's not big either, right?

01:39:19.000 Like in the UK anyway.

01:39:21.000 It's not like a popular sport, you know?

01:39:23.000 Like you didn't get paid much, but it's weird really.

01:39:27.000 It is weird because everybody likes stand-up.

01:39:29.000 Yeah, exactly.

01:39:30.000 Yeah, everybody likes stand-up fights, but yet Muay Thai, for whatever reason, as a pro, as a pro sport, never really took off in America.

01:39:37.000 Look at Glory.

01:39:38.000 Glory's big.

01:39:40.000 It's not that big.

01:39:41.000 Yeah, to be fair, it's not big in the UK. Unfortunately.

01:39:44.000 Well, I went to watch Rico.

01:39:47.000 Botter?

01:39:47.000 Yeah.

01:39:49.000 No, he went to Botter.

01:39:49.000 Who did he fight?

01:39:50.000 I can't remember what he fought.

01:39:51.000 And I went to Holland to watch him.

01:39:52.000 There's like 30,000 people in the arena.

01:39:54.000 I was like, what the hell?

01:39:55.000 Oh, they don't fuck around in Holland.

01:39:57.000 Holland is huge.

01:39:59.000 He came to the UK to have a fight and it didn't sell much, you know.

01:40:04.000 But when I went to Holland, I thought it would be the same thing, but it was like a big arena with 30,000 people.

01:40:08.000 No, it's huge in Holland.

01:40:10.000 I mean, kickboxing in Holland is so...

01:40:11.000 I mean, think about all the champions.

01:40:14.000 Ernesto Hoos, you know, Rob Kamen.

01:40:16.000 Tell you what I love to watch.

01:40:18.000 Ramon Deckers.

01:40:19.000 Gokansaki.

01:40:20.000 Gokansaki, yeah.

01:40:21.000 Turkish Tyson.

01:40:22.000 He's a bad motherfucker.

01:40:23.000 I like to watch him, man.

01:40:25.000 He puts combinations together.

01:40:26.000 Yeah.

01:40:27.000 No, he's wicked.

01:40:28.000 You know, the fights in Glory and K1, they're so exciting.

01:40:33.000 But for whatever reason, it just never took off in America, like boxing or MMA. Same in the UK, which is weird because it's striking, right?

01:40:41.000 Everyone loves to see knockouts.

01:40:43.000 I don't know what it is.

01:40:45.000 I don't know.

01:40:46.000 They don't know either.

01:40:47.000 No one knows what it takes to make it big.

01:40:52.000 It's weird, really.

01:40:53.000 I love boxing because it's got a long history behind it, and you can trace it back to slavery days and stuff like that.

01:41:01.000 So that's the reason why I love boxing.

01:41:02.000 I love to watch old-school documentaries and just the mindset of the fighters back in the day and where they approached their game.

01:41:09.000 We were just talking about Hagler before the podcast started and how crazy it is that he's gone.

01:41:19.000 I just can't believe it.

01:41:22.000 That guy, he was so disciplined.

01:41:26.000 When I was a kid, I remember I talked about it in this Instagram post that I made.

01:41:30.000 They had some profile of him when he was preparing.

01:41:34.000 I think he was preparing for a Mustafa Ham show.

01:41:37.000 And he was running on the beach, and it was in the winter.

01:41:38.000 That's the one I wanted to ask you about.

01:41:40.000 I remember watching you and Tyson was on the podcast, right?

01:41:42.000 He's like, he's running in the snow, screaming, war!

01:41:45.000 Yeah.

01:41:45.000 And I was trying to find it all week for five weeks.

01:41:47.000 Fuck, man.

01:41:48.000 I wish I could find it.

01:41:49.000 Do you know where it is?

01:41:51.000 No?

01:41:51.000 I couldn't find it nowhere.

01:41:52.000 I'm looking for it, too.

01:41:53.000 No one can find it.

01:41:54.000 Fuck!

01:41:54.000 I mean, like, tap it in war on YouTube.

01:41:57.000 There's, like, threads about...

01:41:58.000 I heard Rogan talk about it.

01:41:59.000 Yeah, yeah.

01:41:59.000 I can't find it.

01:42:00.000 I can't find it nowhere.

01:42:01.000 I'm like, where did I see that?

01:42:02.000 I'm not trying to find it.

01:42:02.000 It was...

01:42:03.000 Some local news show.

01:42:04.000 I was probably like 15. And I remember just watching it going...

01:42:10.000 Because he was doing sit-ups and push-ups.

01:42:14.000 He was just so disciplined.

01:42:17.000 Nobody was more conditioned than Hagler.

01:42:19.000 Nobody.

01:42:20.000 When he fought Mugabe, he just kept the heat on him.

01:42:24.000 Just kept the heat on him.

01:42:27.000 Fuck, that fight was crazy.

01:42:28.000 Mugabe was putting people to sleep.

01:42:31.000 I remember I was working at this boxing gym, and they were talking about Mugabe long before he fought Hagler.

01:42:36.000 But he fought this dude and gained brain damage.

01:42:38.000 He knocked him out, and he's like, the guy was never the same again.

01:42:41.000 It's like, there's certain guys that just have punching power that's just out of this world.

01:42:45.000 And Mugabe was one of them.

01:42:47.000 Do you remember Julian Jackson?

01:42:48.000 Um, no, I don't think so.

01:42:50.000 Fuck!

01:42:51.000 Julian Jackson was another one.

01:42:52.000 They called him the Hawk.

01:42:54.000 He had this crazy punching power.

01:42:56.000 I mean, he looked like a solid guy, but for whatever reason, when that guy would touch people, they would just stiffen up.

01:43:04.000 Julian Jackson is like one of the most ferocious power punchers ever in the history of boxing.

01:43:08.000 Yeah, I love Hagler.

01:43:09.000 I've been watching him all week, which is weird, right?

01:43:11.000 Because I haven't watched Hagler for about a year, two years.

01:43:14.000 I haven't watched him, but...

01:43:15.000 For some reason, I just felt that energy last week, fight week.

01:43:19.000 So from Sunday to when I got to Vegas, I was just watching him, watching him, watching him.

01:43:25.000 I was posting on my Instagram, I even posted on my Instagram all week.

01:43:29.000 I was posting to him and then Just before I left to go to the Apex, I was watching his fights and I went to my room to have a little rest.

01:43:38.000 Then I got a message that Agla's dead.

01:43:40.000 I was like, I just posted him like an hour ago.

01:43:44.000 That's fucking crazy.

01:43:45.000 Yeah, well, like I said, it's discipline and the way it worked, and that's inspiration to me, you know?

01:43:53.000 And I watched a documentary, the first 30 fights, he didn't get paid no more than like, is it like $12,000 or something?

01:44:02.000 No one wanted to fight him.

01:44:05.000 I took inspiration from that.

01:44:07.000 You know what else I love?

01:44:08.000 He got out on top.

01:44:09.000 He's like, I'm done.

01:44:11.000 Tried to get a rematch with Sugar Ray Leonard.

01:44:12.000 Sugar Ray Leonard said no.

01:44:14.000 I fought he won that fight as well.

01:44:15.000 I did too.

01:44:16.000 I fought he won when I watched it.

01:44:18.000 It was a split decision, right?

01:44:19.000 I think it was.

01:44:20.000 And so he just said, good, I'm done.

01:44:22.000 That's it.

01:44:22.000 Out on top.

01:44:23.000 And the rest of his life spoke well.

01:44:25.000 Never had problems with...

01:44:27.000 What do you think that is?

01:44:29.000 Because some people, yeah, they're like...

01:44:31.000 Like, for example, Ali, you know, I know it took loads of punishment, but for some reason, some people get it, some people don't get it.

01:44:37.000 What do you think that is?

01:44:39.000 Well, there is a gene.

01:44:40.000 I think it's, what is the gene that makes someone more likely to get CTE? I think it's APOE4. I think that's what it is.

01:44:51.000 But there's a gene variant that Rhonda Patrick discussed, Dr. Rhonda Patrick discussed when she was on the podcast, that it specifically makes people more susceptible to CTE. Yeah, but it's also like heavyweights, man.

01:45:07.000 I mean, you think about the punishment that Ali took from Frazier, from Foreman.

01:45:12.000 Yeah.

01:45:12.000 Big, gosh, Larry Holmes.

01:45:15.000 Yeah, yeah.

01:45:15.000 I mean, Trevor Burbick, those were terrible, terrible fights to watch.

01:45:21.000 But he just was getting battered.

01:45:23.000 And also, Larry Holmes was his sparring partner, right?

01:45:27.000 Yeah.

01:45:28.000 I mean, just imagine sparring with Larry Holmes all the time.

01:45:31.000 Every week, yeah.

01:45:33.000 That's where a lot of the damage comes from, unfortunately.

01:45:36.000 Sparring?

01:45:37.000 Yeah, and this is what Max Holloway's thought process is about not sparring.

01:45:41.000 He's like, I want to keep my head fresh, so when I fight, I don't have...

01:45:45.000 I'm not going in there already banged up.

01:45:47.000 It's like, I already know how to fight.

01:45:49.000 Like with me, I don't spar out of camp, but in camp I spar.

01:45:54.000 When I'm not in camp, I don't spa at all.

01:45:56.000 I do, like, obviously, wrestling spa and jiu-jitsu spa, but I don't do headshots spa, but in-campus spa, headshots.

01:46:04.000 Yeah.

01:46:05.000 I think everyone's different, right?

01:46:07.000 It's like, it's up to you.

01:46:09.000 Work to you, work to you.

01:46:10.000 Like, Max Holloway looked fucking great last time before.

01:46:13.000 I can't argue with that.

01:46:14.000 So it's like, you can't argue with him, right?

01:46:17.000 He's the way it worked for him.

01:46:18.000 He's such an interesting guy, too, because he's so unassuming.

01:46:21.000 Like, if you met him, you would have no idea.

01:46:24.000 Yeah, I met him in Vegas.

01:46:25.000 If you're just hanging out with him, he's like, oh, he's this friendly guy who's just a stone-cold fucking killer when he gets in there.

01:46:32.000 Nah, he's good.

01:46:33.000 But he's durable as well.

01:46:35.000 He knows what he's doing, but he doesn't throw power shots.

01:46:39.000 He's like...

01:46:39.000 Just in your face.

01:46:41.000 Touching, touching, touching.

01:46:43.000 I like him.

01:46:44.000 He's good.

01:46:45.000 He's amazing.

01:46:46.000 I'm really interested to see next weekend Volkanovski is going to fight Brian Ortega.

01:46:51.000 That's an interesting fight too.

01:46:52.000 That's a good fight.

01:46:53.000 That's a good fight.

01:46:57.000 Yeah, I think.

01:46:57.000 What do you think?

01:46:58.000 Well, you know what?

01:47:00.000 When you see how good Max Holloway is, then you got to appreciate how good Volkanovski is.

01:47:05.000 Yeah.

01:47:06.000 Because Volkanovski beat him twice.

01:47:08.000 Second fight was very close.

01:47:09.000 A lot of people thought Max could have won that fight.

01:47:11.000 But bottom line is, everybody else, Max is running over.

01:47:15.000 Yeah.

01:47:16.000 You know?

01:47:16.000 I mean...

01:47:17.000 Except Dustin.

01:47:18.000 Dustin Poirier.

01:47:19.000 But that's at 155. That's not his weight class.

01:47:22.000 It's like Izzy, right?

01:47:23.000 You can't judge him from that performance because that's not his weight class.

01:47:25.000 He tried.

01:47:27.000 That's not his weight class, you know?

01:47:28.000 I wonder if he does it again.

01:47:29.000 And if he does it again, I wonder if he decides to gain weight this time.

01:47:33.000 I wonder what his approach is going to be.

01:47:35.000 But then it's going to be hard to come back down to middleweight, right?

01:47:39.000 So it's like, if I was him, I wouldn't do it again.

01:47:41.000 Not now, anyway.

01:47:42.000 Unless I'm going to want to move up permanently, then I'll build like John Jones is doing.

01:47:45.000 I'll build my body into it, you know?

01:47:48.000 Well, there's good fights for him in 85. The winner of Kevin Holland and Derrick Brunson, that's a big fight.

01:47:55.000 That's a big fight.

01:47:56.000 If Holland can win, Holland, I mean, that kid's a star.

01:47:59.000 If he can win.

01:48:01.000 I think if anyone's to fight Darren Taylor's all right.

01:48:03.000 Yeah.

01:48:03.000 Well, Darren Taylor's going to fight Vittori.

01:48:05.000 Marvin Vittori gave Izzy one of his hardest fights.

01:48:08.000 That guy is fucking good.

01:48:10.000 Nah, he's good.

01:48:11.000 He's good.

01:48:11.000 Yeah.

01:48:12.000 Vittori is probably one of the most underrated guys in that division.

01:48:15.000 No, it's tough.

01:48:16.000 That was a good fight.

01:48:17.000 I'd probably go with Darren, but I think that'd be a good fight.

01:48:20.000 And Calvin Gastelum is now going to step in and fight Robert Whittaker, which is interesting too.

01:48:25.000 Did they fight before?

01:48:26.000 Or were they meant to fight before?

01:48:27.000 They were meant to fight before, I believe.

01:48:30.000 They didn't fight, did they?

01:48:31.000 No, I don't think they ever fought before.

01:48:33.000 I think they were meant to fight.

01:48:35.000 Something happened.

01:48:35.000 I'm trying to remember.

01:48:36.000 They did tough, right?

01:48:39.000 Did they?

01:48:40.000 No, they didn't do tough.

01:48:41.000 Oh no.

01:48:42.000 I saw a picture the other day.

01:48:43.000 Really?

01:48:44.000 Both in tough clothes.

01:48:44.000 I don't know if they're in the house together or what.

01:48:46.000 I don't know.

01:48:47.000 I like Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender series better than tough.

01:48:50.000 Because I don't want all that drama shit and arguing over who ate whose asparagus.

01:48:55.000 Whitaker and Gaston were scheduled to fight when Whitaker was still champion in 2019. Whitaker is home country of Australia.

01:49:02.000 Cancel the morning of the event when Whitaker was hospitalized and underwent emergency surgery for a collapsed bowel and internal hernia.

01:49:08.000 Oh, that's right.

01:49:09.000 Yeah, I remember that.

01:49:10.000 That's right.

01:49:10.000 It was the day of the fight.

01:49:12.000 I remember that.

01:49:13.000 Oh, that's right.

01:49:14.000 That'd be good.

01:49:14.000 Whitaker looked great since getting beat by Izzy.

01:49:19.000 Yeah, he looked fucking amazing.

01:49:21.000 His sidekicks like it does to the knee as well.

01:49:22.000 It's a good technique to use against wrestlers anyway.

01:49:26.000 Well, he learned it from Yoel.

01:49:28.000 Yoel fucked him up in the first fight.

01:49:30.000 Is that he using it?

01:49:30.000 Yeah, Yoel hurt his knee.

01:49:32.000 He fucked up his knee in the first fight doing that.

01:49:34.000 You think that should be illegal?

01:49:36.000 No.

01:49:37.000 How are you going to make it illegal?

01:49:38.000 Nah, you can't make it illegal.

01:49:39.000 You can't.

01:49:39.000 You can't make it illegal.

01:49:41.000 I know people are saying, oh, I should make it illegal.

01:49:43.000 I know even Wonderboy said that.

01:49:45.000 Like, how are you saying that?

01:49:47.000 Did he?

01:49:47.000 Yeah, he said he doesn't like it.

01:49:49.000 He uses it though, right?

01:49:50.000 Wonderboy.

01:49:51.000 I guess you use it because it's legal.

01:49:53.000 Yeah.

01:49:53.000 But you wish it wasn't legal, I guess, maybe?

01:49:55.000 Nah, leave it.

01:49:56.000 I think it's a fight.

01:49:58.000 Yeah.

01:49:58.000 Leave it.

01:49:59.000 How come heel hooks are legal then?

01:50:00.000 It's like that elbow, the 12 to 6 elbow.

01:50:03.000 That's ridiculous.

01:50:04.000 Put that back in.

01:50:05.000 Yeah, throw it back in there.

01:50:06.000 It's crazy!

01:50:07.000 You can do every other angle.

01:50:09.000 Yeah, it's so dumb.

01:50:10.000 But do you know where it came from?

01:50:11.000 Where?

01:50:11.000 Big John McCarthy told me that it came from the athletic commissions had watched ESPN. And you remember they used to have those karate demonstrations where they break bricks?

01:50:19.000 Yeah!

01:50:20.000 They thought that that was too powerful.

01:50:23.000 That that technique was too dangerous.

01:50:24.000 The fuck?

01:50:25.000 The 12 times?

01:50:26.000 The fuck?

01:50:28.000 What the fuck?

01:50:28.000 Did it?

01:50:29.000 Exactly.

01:50:29.000 That's where it came from.

01:50:31.000 That's why the 12-6 elbow is illegal.

01:50:33.000 It's so dumb.

01:50:34.000 That's mad.

01:50:35.000 I didn't know that was the reason.

01:50:36.000 That's the reason!

01:50:37.000 And it's still illegal, which is really hilarious.

01:50:40.000 It's like a legacy rule.

01:50:42.000 I mean, it doesn't make any sense.

01:50:43.000 Nah, I think it's...

01:50:45.000 I mean, this elbow's harder.

01:50:47.000 Yeah, exactly.

01:50:48.000 This elbow's harder than this.

01:50:49.000 Yeah, I think I can generate more power this way than coming down this way.

01:50:54.000 Yeah, it's a more natural move.

01:50:55.000 Yeah, yeah.

01:50:56.000 It's because you're throwing your shoulder in it.

01:50:57.000 This just seems odd.

01:50:58.000 And you can put your whole hips into it, you know?

01:51:01.000 Yeah.

01:51:02.000 So, I think I should put it back in there.

01:51:04.000 I think so, too.

01:51:05.000 There's a lot of things that should be back in there.

01:51:06.000 I wonder if knees to a grounded opponent.

01:51:09.000 What did you think about that Aljamain, Sterling, Piotr Jan ending?

01:51:14.000 Um...

01:51:17.000 I think if it was hurt, right?

01:51:18.000 If it's generally hurt, then I think it's justified.

01:51:21.000 But if it wasn't hurt and it just did it just to get a title, then it's different.

01:51:27.000 But it was clearly an illegal shot.

01:51:30.000 It was clearly illegal.

01:51:30.000 But why is that illegal?

01:51:31.000 That's my question.

01:51:33.000 Like, if you have two hands and you have one knee down, why is it illegal to hit someone with a knee?

01:51:42.000 I don't know.

01:51:43.000 You can do this.

01:51:44.000 Why would it be illegal?

01:51:47.000 I can kind of get it if your both hands are on the ground.

01:51:51.000 Maybe I kind of get it, but even then I don't get it.

01:51:55.000 I think the problem is the cage.

01:51:57.000 That's the problem.

01:51:58.000 The cage?

01:51:59.000 Yeah.

01:51:59.000 Because if there was no cage...

01:52:01.000 Here I go with this.

01:52:03.000 I go with this every few months.

01:52:05.000 I go on a rant about this.

01:52:07.000 That they should just have a basketball arena.

01:52:09.000 If you're playing basketball, there's no cage around those guys.

01:52:13.000 They're running around.

01:52:14.000 They have a big space.

01:52:16.000 Put them in the middle.

01:52:17.000 Yeah, but what about war wrestling and shit?

01:52:19.000 Yeah, but why?

01:52:20.000 Why?

01:52:22.000 Why wrestle?

01:52:23.000 But why wall wrestling?

01:52:25.000 See, that's the thing.

01:52:25.000 It's like you're using...

01:52:26.000 The wall becomes a part of the strategy.

01:52:30.000 Yeah.

01:52:30.000 You're pushing someone against it or you're pushing off of it to get back up.

01:52:34.000 But if you just have just open space, first of all, it's easier for everybody to see.

01:52:39.000 Yeah.

01:52:40.000 Like, they do a lot of kickboxing tournaments like that, where they don't have rings now.

01:52:43.000 I've seen kickboxing tournaments where they just lay mats out.

01:52:46.000 Do they?

01:52:46.000 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:52:47.000 Like, amateurs, smokers.

01:52:48.000 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:52:48.000 There was one on, um...

01:52:52.000 There was a fucking...

01:52:53.000 One of those Muay Thai pages I was watching on a couple of days ago.

01:52:56.000 But if that was the case...

01:53:00.000 Then you could do all sorts of shit that you can't do, like knees to a downed opponent.

01:53:05.000 Because the problem is if someone's trapped, like if you're trapped against the cage...

01:53:11.000 The allergen sterling in one, you're in the middle of the oxygen, right?

01:53:14.000 That's why it seems like that should be...

01:53:16.000 It kind of seems like that should be legal to me.

01:53:18.000 You can punch him, but you can't knee him.

01:53:20.000 Why?

01:53:21.000 Why can you punch him in the face?

01:53:23.000 If the guy's down like that, why is it okay to elbow him in the face, but you can't knee him?

01:53:28.000 I wonder why it is, why they chose to do that, you know?

01:53:33.000 But it's like, we need to draw the line, right?

01:53:35.000 Yeah.

01:53:36.000 You have to draw the line somewhere, so...

01:53:38.000 I guess.

01:53:40.000 Like stomps?

01:53:40.000 I don't believe stomps should be, like, legal.

01:53:43.000 Stomps on the foot?

01:53:44.000 To the head.

01:53:45.000 Oh.

01:53:45.000 You don't think it should be illegal?

01:53:47.000 No, yeah, it should be illegal.

01:53:48.000 It should be illegal.

01:53:49.000 Yeah, right.

01:53:50.000 That's like...

01:53:51.000 Remember Pride, where they used to allow stomps?

01:53:53.000 Some Vanderlei Silva knockouts were ruthless.

01:53:55.000 He just stomped on a dude's head.

01:53:57.000 Nah, that's like barbaric, right?

01:53:59.000 It's just like...

01:54:00.000 It's kind of barbaric.

01:54:01.000 Yeah, it's that way you draw the line to sport and madness, you know?

01:54:04.000 Like soccer kicks.

01:54:06.000 Like, that was the other thing about Pride.

01:54:07.000 They allowed soccer kicks.

01:54:09.000 It made it exciting.

01:54:10.000 Yeah.

01:54:11.000 It's wild shit.

01:54:12.000 For the general public to be like, what the fuck is happening?

01:54:16.000 Getting stomped in your head.

01:54:18.000 I used to think that they should have no gloves.

01:54:21.000 I used to think that you should be able to fight with no gloves.

01:54:23.000 Because I was like, well, why is it okay to hit someone with a shin, but your knuckles have to be padded?

01:54:27.000 That doesn't make any sense.

01:54:28.000 Yeah, you fucking hands broke a break, right?

01:54:29.000 Well, it's also the cuts.

01:54:32.000 Yeah.

01:54:32.000 Like when you watch that bare knuckle fighting championship, you realize people just get sliced open.

01:54:37.000 Nah, you have to have gloves.

01:54:38.000 I think it should change.

01:54:39.000 I think UFC should look like changing the gloves.

01:54:42.000 I don't know why you could change it, too, is the question, you know?

01:54:45.000 Onyx, Trevor Whitman's company, has the best gloves.

01:54:49.000 Yeah, they're the best.

01:54:50.000 I mean, they're so superior to the gloves they use now.

01:54:53.000 They're completely full.

01:54:54.000 It's like you would know this better than anybody, that the UFC gloves make your hand one Yeah, just pads there, right?

01:55:03.000 Nothing stops it from doing this.

01:55:05.000 It almost like forces your hand into an open position and you've got to fight against it to close your fist.

01:55:11.000 Especially when you've got wraps on.

01:55:13.000 It's not naturally like this anyway, but like you said, you have to fight to close your fist.

01:55:17.000 But the Onyx gloves that Trevor Whitman designed, your hand is always curved.

01:55:22.000 Your hand is curved.

01:55:23.000 So if you want to open it up, you can.

01:55:25.000 But the resistance is to open it.

01:55:27.000 So your hand is in a natural fixed position like this.

01:55:30.000 And I think it's going to prevent a lot of hand breaks.

01:55:33.000 Because I think it's better managed.

01:55:33.000 If you don't affect the grappling paw of it?

01:55:37.000 That's a boxing glove.

01:55:39.000 See if you get to Trevor Whitten and his MMA gloves.

01:55:45.000 I was just looking around for a good comparison.

01:55:47.000 I'm pretty sure if you go to his website, if you go to Onyx, his Onyx, I don't know what he called it.

01:55:55.000 Is it Onyx Equipment?

01:55:56.000 Onyx Sports.

01:55:57.000 Onyx Sports.

01:55:58.000 It's the best MMA glove I've ever seen, by far.

01:56:02.000 And I know the UFC, that's his boxing glove again.

01:56:07.000 Does he have a menu where you can see the equipment?

01:56:10.000 There it is.

01:56:12.000 Yeah, he came...

01:56:14.000 Where is it?

01:56:15.000 It says training glove.

01:56:17.000 I finished a look into it.

01:56:19.000 Does he not have it for sale?

01:56:20.000 That's the only glove on there.

01:56:22.000 What?

01:56:22.000 He doesn't have it for sale?

01:56:26.000 Yeah, I guess he doesn't have it up there.

01:56:30.000 That's so weird.

01:56:32.000 I wonder why it's not on his website.

01:56:36.000 I know you could find it somewhere, but I wish I had a pair so I could show you.

01:56:41.000 Yeah, I think I should at least look into do something to the gloves.

01:56:45.000 No, it's been the same gloves now for forever.

01:56:48.000 Yeah, forever.

01:56:48.000 It's like boxing, right?

01:56:49.000 They had to move up from back in the day.

01:56:52.000 Yeah, like, even Pride's gloves are better.

01:56:55.000 Pride's gloves, like, there was way less eye pokes in Pride, and I think that was part of theirs because they were curved.

01:57:00.000 They had more of a, like, more form fitted to a fist.

01:57:04.000 But the Whitman ones are by far the best.

01:57:07.000 No, nothing anywhere?

01:57:08.000 I know how to find them.

01:57:10.000 It's just a way better design.

01:57:14.000 The way he has it, and the knuckles are way more protected.

01:57:17.000 It's like it forms around your knuckles.

01:57:19.000 It's really excellent.

01:57:21.000 That's it?

01:57:23.000 That looks like Pride, dude.

01:57:25.000 That one on the left?

01:57:26.000 Yeah, the one on the left is the Pride glove.

01:57:29.000 But you can see in that one how it's curved.

01:57:32.000 They've got to do something.

01:57:32.000 I thought maybe even there was a way to cover the fingers.

01:57:35.000 Nah, you don't want to cover the fingers.

01:57:36.000 You want to grapple, right?

01:57:37.000 I know, but would it be like...

01:57:39.000 You remember those old school bad gloves?

01:57:41.000 Yeah.

01:57:42.000 Couldn't it be something like that where it covers the fingers that way?

01:57:45.000 Nah, you won't be able to like...

01:57:46.000 Nah.

01:57:47.000 Kind of.

01:57:47.000 Yeah, kind of, but your grips, you want to feel the grips, right?

01:57:51.000 What actually might be better, in a way, because you'd have, like, when your hands get slippery, if you had the texture of the leather, you could kind of hold on to things, maybe a little bit better.

01:58:01.000 I'd have to, like, feel the grips.

01:58:05.000 I feel the gloves, you can, like, probably start slipping off, or whatever it is.

01:58:08.000 When you're solid, you can start playing around with your grips.

01:58:10.000 It's different, you know?

01:58:11.000 How often do you do straight jiu-jitsu?

01:58:15.000 Once a week.

01:58:16.000 Once a week?

01:58:16.000 That's it?

01:58:17.000 I wrestle three times a week.

01:58:22.000 Three or four times a week, you know?

01:58:23.000 So, I like grappling.

01:58:25.000 I don't really focus much on jiu-jitsu, jiu-jitsu.

01:58:28.000 I like MMA, jiu-jitsu.

01:58:30.000 It's like MMA grappling, right?

01:58:31.000 I don't really focus on just doing gi-jitsu, you know?

01:58:34.000 Right.

01:58:34.000 I just do...

01:58:35.000 I do all...

01:58:36.000 I do grappling, you know, which is war wrestling, open mat wrestling, rolling.

01:58:41.000 So...

01:58:42.000 Yeah, I never really...

01:58:43.000 I used to, but as I get older, I kind of just do specific for the sport that I'm doing.

01:58:49.000 It was MMA. I don't care about not being a black belt, you know?

01:58:53.000 You don't care at all?

01:58:54.000 No?

01:58:54.000 My culture is cute, but I have to...

01:58:56.000 I hate the gi, right?

01:58:58.000 I do, yeah.

01:58:59.000 Yeah, I was fucking...

01:59:00.000 I was thinking stupid because you're fucking...

01:59:03.000 You're grappling with a guy, he's grabbing your collar, you're like...

01:59:06.000 He's not realistic, you know?

01:59:08.000 But when you're free of flowing, you got no top on, you can...

01:59:11.000 Free movement is better for me, you know?

01:59:14.000 But my coach is going to tell me I need to do it to get my belt.

01:59:17.000 But I can't do it.

01:59:19.000 Yeah, it's kind of weird for MMA fighters.

01:59:21.000 I think for MMA fighters, no gi is much more easily applicable.

01:59:25.000 But some people like the gi for the defensive purposes.

01:59:28.000 Because you have to get out of things correctly.

01:59:30.000 Like you have to really...

01:59:32.000 Like arm bars and things like that.

01:59:34.000 You have to be very technical in getting out because you can't just explode.

01:59:36.000 Because you're wrapped up.

01:59:38.000 So you have to follow all the correct steps and...

01:59:40.000 The thought process is that if you learn how to grapple correctly with the Gi, your defense would be better.

01:59:47.000 It definitely makes it more tighter, you know what I mean?

01:59:49.000 Because when I roll guys that do the gi, they're definitely more tight, you know?

01:59:55.000 But for me, I just wanted to do MMA, right?

01:59:59.000 I don't want to compete in Jiu-Jitsu.

02:00:01.000 No, never?

02:00:02.000 You never want to?

02:00:03.000 I used to when I was a kid, when I was younger.

02:00:06.000 I used to do Jiu-Jitsu tournaments and stuff like that.

02:00:08.000 But now I just want to farm up my game around MMA. Everything we do, you actually fit into MMA, you know?

02:00:16.000 So, yeah.

02:00:17.000 Yeah, you're so focused on your career.

02:00:19.000 You have to, right?

02:00:20.000 Yeah, I think it's hard to, like, take time off to go do, like, a pure jiu-jitsu competition.

02:00:25.000 Also, you can get injured.

02:00:27.000 Exactly, you can get injured.

02:00:29.000 So, yeah, I think everything you do, you should do it so it benefits your art and what you're going to do in MMA. You know, you should own teammates that do compete in both MMA and jiu-jitsu.

02:00:41.000 I mean, they enjoy jiu-jitsu, but I enjoy...

02:00:44.000 I enjoy MMA. I enjoy doing all of it, you know.

02:00:47.000 Do you think you'd take a kickboxing fight?

02:00:50.000 That's more your...

02:00:51.000 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

02:00:52.000 Yeah, 100%.

02:00:53.000 I love striking, I love boxing, I love kickboxing.

02:00:56.000 So, it's a possibility, for sure.

02:00:58.000 You know, I mean, it depends on opportunity, what comes up, but...

02:01:01.000 I love a boxing fight more than anything.

02:01:03.000 I got good boxing.

02:01:07.000 I'm like a weird one.

02:01:08.000 I can adjust my style to do what I want to do.

02:01:11.000 When I go to a boxing gym, I can be a boxer.

02:01:15.000 Same guard that they have.

02:01:19.000 I think it depends on the opportunity.

02:01:22.000 How long do you see yourself fighting?

02:01:27.000 It depends, I don't know, 38 probably?

02:01:31.000 37, 38?

02:01:33.000 I don't know, I might get to 37. I feel good.

02:01:36.000 I keep going, you know?

02:01:38.000 That's the thing, right, with like modern science and learning how to recover better.

02:01:42.000 Yeah, exactly.

02:01:43.000 So it all depends on what, 10 years probably?

02:01:48.000 Then I probably hang up, start teaching.

02:01:50.000 Is that what you want to do when you retire?

02:01:52.000 You want to be a coach?

02:01:53.000 Yeah, I'm all about giving back, right?

02:01:56.000 So that's...

02:01:56.000 I started like a charity as well.

02:01:59.000 With me, Darren Till, Jimmy Manuel and the UFC. To do with knife crimes in the UK. Because in the UK, obviously, guns are illegal.

02:02:08.000 Not even the police carry guns, you know.

02:02:10.000 But knife crimes in the UK is like...

02:02:12.000 You know, so I started a charity that's going to help with, like, at-risk youth that's involved in stuff like that.

02:02:21.000 And we're partnering up with the police, with a charity that's called Legacy in the UK. They're already in the field.

02:02:28.000 We're trying to basically go there, teach classes.

02:02:32.000 If the kids obviously show up and behave, then we'll pay for that gym membership for the year and just stuff like that.

02:02:38.000 Anything to do with giving back, that's my passion.

02:02:42.000 What is the name of your charity?

02:02:44.000 I can't remember the name of it.

02:02:45.000 It's called Knife Youth Mentoring Program.

02:02:49.000 They sponsored us a kit and finance and helped us.

02:02:57.000 One of my friends got killed last year, knife crimes.

02:03:02.000 I've lost so many friends from knife crimes from getting stabbed that if we can do anything to give back and to help, that's my passion.

02:03:11.000 Well, that's a very worthy cause, man.

02:03:13.000 It is a giant issue in the UK, right?

02:03:15.000 Mm-hmm.

02:03:16.000 It's kind of crazy.

02:03:18.000 He got stabbed on Father's Day.

02:03:21.000 Oh, shit.

02:03:22.000 He's fucked up.

02:03:23.000 His cousin called him out for, like, help, basically.

02:03:27.000 On Father's Day, he had his daughter with him.

02:03:30.000 They fucking took his daughter in the car to go pick his cousin up and then fucking got stabbed and then bled out on the floor in his neck.

02:03:40.000 Oh, Jesus Christ.

02:03:42.000 So yeah, anything you can do to help with anything to do with that, I'll help, you know?

02:03:48.000 And so that and working with young up-and-coming fighters, that's what you want to do?

02:03:54.000 Yeah, for sure.

02:03:54.000 Yeah, 100%.

02:03:55.000 As I said, that's why I want to achieve being a world champion coming from where I come from, right?

02:04:00.000 So I can...

02:04:01.000 Just show them that if you can touch it, like I said, it's more realistic.

02:04:05.000 That's my passion to give back to these young kids, especially kids that are at risk or coming from broken homes or poor families.

02:04:14.000 If you can help one or two, help them.

02:04:18.000 Well, Leon, I'm glad you got some attention from your last fight, and I'm sure you're going to get more, but I just want more people to understand how good you are.

02:04:27.000 Because it's so rare that someone gets to the level that you're at and just for unfortunate circumstances doesn't have the same amount of attention.

02:04:37.000 Usually when a guy's as good as you are, everybody fucking knows.

02:04:40.000 I think a lot more people know now, but...

02:04:43.000 It's getting there, you know.

02:04:44.000 I want everybody to know.

02:04:45.000 Same.

02:04:46.000 Same.

02:04:47.000 It's getting there, you know.

02:04:49.000 I think fight by fight, it will come.

02:04:50.000 I think, obviously, getting more push from the UFC as well will be good as are, you know what I mean?

02:04:54.000 So, yeah, fight by fight, the more I beat these guys out there, the more I beat the guys, I think that's good, the recognition will come, right?

02:05:01.000 So, you're going to go and talk to the UFC. You're flying to Vegas tonight, right?

02:05:06.000 Yeah.

02:05:06.000 And do they have a timeline, do you know, about when they'd like to see you back in there again?

02:05:11.000 Well, I would like to be back straight away because that files out one round, right?

02:05:14.000 I didn't get to get in my flow.

02:05:17.000 So straight away, really, I feel the same, May.

02:05:21.000 We're trying to get Cole Covington, right?

02:05:23.000 So we'll see what he says.

02:05:24.000 Probably May, early June, May.

02:05:26.000 Okay.

02:05:27.000 So we'll see.

02:05:27.000 But I want to be active this year.

02:05:29.000 I had a long year and a half off.

02:05:31.000 So if I'm banging them out, I'll keep banging them out.

02:05:33.000 All right, brother.

02:05:34.000 Well, thank you very much for being here.

02:05:35.000 I'm a fan.

02:05:36.000 I appreciate you.

02:05:37.000 Thank you.

The Joe Rogan Experience - May 10, 2011

JRE MMA Show #106 with Leon Edwards

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