In this episode of the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast, we have a very special guest, a martial arts champion from the Kyrgyzstan Karate Karate Academy. We talk about his journey, how he got into Karate, and how he went on to become one of the best Karate fighters in the world. We also talk about how he started his martial arts journey, and why he decided to move to South America to pursue his dream of becoming a full-time martial arts fighter. We also discuss the challenges of living in a foreign country, and what it's like to travel around the world with your partner and travel as a martial artist. We hope you enjoy this episode, and don't forget to subscribe on your favorite streaming platform so you don't miss the next episode! Cheers, Joe and Valentina Thank you so much for being a part of this amazing community, and thank you for sharing it with us! Love ya, bye! xoxo, Vicky - The Joe Rogans Experience Team Logo by Courtney DeKorte and Vaynerchuk Music by Jeff Kaale ( ) Artwork by & Thanks for listening to the podcast by . is a tribute to the amazing people who have helped make this podcast possible. and podcast possible! - Vaynta ( ) Thank you for all the support and support and love you guys for making this podcast happen. - Thank you to my podcast and for supporting the podcast for making it possible Love you all the most beautiful :) - Vynerchuk ( ) - VYN ( ) and VYAN ( ) & VYNN ( ) ! ( , VYNA ( ) . ( ) , , VYANA ( ) ( (VYAN CHEER ( ) ( ), ! ( , ) ( ) AND VY NAKE ( ) Love you, VYVY ( ) :) ... XOXO ( ) <3 ( ) ? () ( <3 <3 - I hope you like it? vYANXO ( & VEZO ) - ) & , ( ) ~ AND ? x (?)
00:00:00.000The Joe Rogan Experience Train by day, Joe Rogan Podcast by night, all day Okay, here we go, Valentina, pleasure to have you in here Very excited.
00:02:05.000And when did you start learning other languages?
00:02:10.000So English, I started to learn it in the school, just some basics because it's like a school program.
00:02:19.000We learn alphabets, some just very easy words and nothing enough for like speaking level.
00:02:27.000But when I started to compete and go and travel for the competition, that was like my push for bringing my like Language level to the next level.
00:02:39.000And when we moved to South America, then I started to learn Spanish.
00:02:46.000But learning Spanish, it was kind of like the hard way.
00:02:50.000I came there with no one word in Spanish.
00:04:40.000We come to South America, and people there just wanted to learn a lot Muay Thai.
00:04:48.000We started to train, give classes, and they were asking for the seminars, and we stayed a little bit more, a little bit more, and then we decided, okay, why we not stay here and live here?
00:05:01.000And we stayed there and lived for eight years.
00:05:04.000So you initially went there just to find people to compete with?
00:07:09.000You have to learn how to communicate with other people.
00:07:14.000For example, I can say, in your city, in your street, in your country, you can be the superstar.
00:07:22.000You travel somewhere else And like, for example, if you are a local star, and you go to the other country, and it kind of like they are okay, that's okay, but what?
00:07:34.000And you have to know how to deal, how to communicate with other people.
00:07:38.000And it's put you on the ground every time.
00:07:40.000And it's kind of like good, even for the, especially for the fighters.
00:07:45.000So if you talk me through the progression of your career, when you moved to Peru first, that's where you moved, were you already a world Muay Thai champion?
00:08:15.000First, I'm never worried about to find the right training partner because I know this is the world.
00:08:22.000It's like so many good training partners, so many different people, so many like you can find anyone.
00:08:29.000No matter if it's a small place, big place, you can find a good level for your training.
00:08:37.000The most important, I think one of the most important ones is to have a right coach.
00:08:43.000Because no matter how good a fighter can be, if it's going to be not the right approach, If it's going to be the right approach, he can rise or she can rise.
00:08:56.000If it's going to be super much talent but not the right approach, he will fall.
00:09:02.000And this is the worst thing I think would happen.
00:09:07.000That's why the most important thing I was worried about was to have the right coach with me.
00:09:11.000That's why I travel everywhere where Pavel goes.
00:09:14.000So Pavel has been with you from the very beginning.
00:10:14.000It's not hard to tell because I think...
00:10:20.000At a certain point, when everything comes in one, like in something, one complete, it's not a question if they don't want, if like something happened differently, because everything happened as it has to happen.
00:10:38.000And you never think what it would be if it would be different way.
00:10:58.000So when you moved to Peru, you had no problem finding world-class strikers to train with and people to work out with?
00:11:06.000You know, it's kind of like when we moved there, firstly, we started to train and to teach Muay Thai and give different seminars because before it was mostly kickboxing.
00:11:22.000So Muay Thai, it's more deeper martial arts.
00:11:25.000It's more complete martial arts because kickboxing is just hands and kicks.
00:12:01.000And this is amazing because, for example, we travel for the World Championships there and we just stay there for another like two, three months.
00:13:11.000They explore the culture, explore the food, explore what's around.
00:13:16.000They just spend all their time in the gym without seeing what's happening outside.
00:13:22.000To understand the full picture, you have experienced everything.
00:13:26.000That's why I say every time, if you want to put yourself on the next level, you have to train but also speak with the people and see what's happening around.
00:13:38.000So it's kind of like open your eyes more widely.
00:13:43.000And you think that actually improves your skill set?
00:13:46.000It just improves your perspective, which improves your skill set?
00:13:50.000I think everything tied to each other.
00:13:53.000So there is no, for example, I would put this example.
00:13:59.000I started to learn, so I speak English, I speak Spanish, right?
00:14:06.000And when I speak, when I started to learn new language, it was helping me to improve my first language.
00:14:16.000So it's kind of like, yes, it's totally different language, but it's helping me to put on the better level something what I have already.
00:14:26.000That's why it's very hard to say if you do something, it doesn't help to put on the next level what already you have.
00:14:38.000It's something that influence on each other.
00:14:41.000That's why for me it's every time Yes, to have better skills in sport, no matter what sport, mixed martial arts, just martial arts or like whatever, definitely you have to spend enough time on your technique.
00:14:58.000You have to spend enough time on your skills.
00:15:03.000Sometimes you have to go and see something else.
00:15:07.000I mean like the character of the fight of different fighter.
00:15:12.000To get this experience, to try it on yourself, not only just like, okay, this is my technique and I will perform it the best way that I can.
00:15:21.000But sometimes you have to add yourself, your spirit in this technique to modify it, especially how it will work for you.
00:15:30.000And this is only way how you know this technique will work.
00:15:33.000If you are just like doing it because someone told you that is right, it's one thing.
00:15:40.000But when you started to actually feel the technique, then it became your like so natural thing that it's kind of like dangerous for everyone.
00:15:52.000Is this something that you learned, too, that things all help other things, like whatever you do, the more you experience, the broader your understanding of things, the better it helps all the things you do?
00:16:34.000And definitely for the experience what I have through all years what I practice in martial arts, I see this is the only way to put your game on the next level.
00:17:00.000To break something like, for example, you're trying to learn something new and you go for it and you go for it and you try it's like and you have like barrier you cannot like break this barrier and you try and you try and you try.
00:17:16.000Sometimes you have to put there a little bit more pressure to break the barrier.
00:17:22.000And it doesn't consist with anything like feeling or something like intuition or something like that.
00:17:30.000But once you break it, then it's like different level.
00:17:35.000And then when you have to start to learn how to feel it from inside to perform it a better way.
00:17:42.000So what was your initial martial art you started with when you were five years old?
00:17:58.000When did you start training in different arts?
00:18:03.000So, every time, what was the idea of Pavel?
00:18:10.000Pavel, every time, was thinking about universal fighter, about, like, fighter who doesn't have any, like, problem, for example.
00:18:22.000If you are speaking about striker, striker every time would feel something weird and like uncomfortable when someone other start to wrestle him, right?
00:18:32.000And wrestler, definitely he will feel not the best, strange when he's fighting.
00:18:40.000So the idea, every time, was to be, like, universal.
00:18:45.000To create from his students universal fighters.
00:18:49.000That's why he put us in different competitions.
00:18:55.000And there is so many martial arts, so many like schools and Pavel have friends like presidents of Federation of Karate, of like different styles, Taekwondo, Wushu Sanda, so like different competition we would have.
00:19:13.000And we competed in different ones, like in my childhood it was like thousand different competitions.
00:19:19.000And this is what, like, helped me to feel the different style of fighting, different technique, and I never had, like, problem to fight in different style.
00:19:37.000It was kind of like how good you can transform yourself, like, switch the chip for the different martial artists.
00:19:49.000That's why I cannot say there was like, okay, this day I switch, stand up for the crowd, or like I start to train like Muay Thai since this day.
00:20:03.000It was everything like, so naturally, development, like going from one style to another style.
00:20:12.000And more, first speaking about Taekwondo, there is like Taekwondo professional style, pro Taekwondo.
00:20:18.000It's the same like fighting, similar to Muay Thai, but they wrestle with more like throws.
00:20:29.000I mean like judo throws or freestyle wrestling throws.
00:20:33.000So it's more like wide variety of throws.
00:20:36.000So it's kind of like also help for my competition in Muay Thai.
00:20:43.000Yeah, but when I started to compete more frequently in Muay Thai, it's I would say since 2003. And then you became just much more Muay Thai focused?
00:21:01.000Much more, it started about 2005-06, because before it was like, we already started to fight Muay Thai, MMA, and at that time it was less competition for female fighters in mixed martial arts.
00:21:19.000It was very hard to find frequent fights.
00:21:23.000If you want to keep, like, busy and fight every time, you would fight, like, more, like, in stand-up, because there is more opportunities for you.
00:21:33.000And this is how it started that I started to focus more in Muay Thai, because it was more opportunities in Muay Thai.
00:21:41.000But in 2010, when female MMA started to, like, just, like, pooh, explode, yeah, we definitely was, like, thinking to come back, do the same, and we started to compete And Muay Thai and MMA. So it's interesting that the beginning of your journey in martial arts coincides with the beginning of the UFC. So if we go back 28 years, we're talking about like 1993, right?
00:22:09.000Like that is the beginning of the UFC. Oh my god.
00:22:17.000Because one of the things that we've always said as this sport has grown is that it's really interesting to watch these young kids growing up with martial arts, with mixed martial arts, as opposed to, you know, they would be 30 years old with a lifetime of wrestling and then learn how to strike and then enter the UFC. We're seeing people Like yourself, that when you started your martial arts journey was the beginning of the UFC, which is pretty crazy.
00:22:57.000Well, you're not just a UFC champion, you're one of the best champions.
00:23:00.000It's very unique to watch you fight, because you're one of those people, like Anderson Silva in his prime, where you've kind of cleaned out your division.
00:23:11.000And there's no disrespect to your opponents, but some of your opponents, when I'm watching you fight them, I'm not thinking, are they going to beat you?
00:23:20.000I'm thinking, what are you going to do to them?
00:23:23.000It's a strange position to be in where you're almost like competing.
00:23:28.000You're competing against these women, but your level is so much higher than everyone else in this 125-pound division that there's just not much there for you in terms of like Valentina has to fight this woman.
00:23:47.000I think that definitely this is one of my goals in my performance, in my training.
00:23:55.000And definitely this is like the idea of my fight style to be able to...
00:24:07.000Win the fight, made the fight very beautiful from the technical side, very intensive, very, like, just high-level martial arts.
00:24:17.000But in the same time, without doing, like, dirty fight, like, street fight, just, like, different level, when you can finish your opponent without them touching you.
00:24:29.000So this is kind of, like, ideally ideal.
00:26:53.000Pavel, Antonina, we all watching our opponents.
00:26:57.000And we share what we think about them, what we have to worry, what we have to work on.
00:27:02.000And through our training camps, through trainings, we just work on every possible situation.
00:27:08.000And even, for example, I saw some situation in the fight was happening not with my opponent, Or like different, completely different fight.
00:27:37.000Because I don't have time to think about what I will do next, what my technique will be next.
00:27:45.000In the fight, everything happens instantly.
00:27:47.000And I have to be sure that my brain and my body are ready to act.
00:27:54.000Well, it's very clear that you have a very well-rounded skill set, but it's also clear that when you're faced with particular challenges, your preparation for those particular challenges almost puts you in a situation where you want to try, like the Juliana Pena fight is a good example of that, right?
00:28:11.000Like you shocked the world when you armbarred her, because everybody felt like if she had a chance to beat you, it would be grappling, and you as a Muay Thai champion, if you had a chance to beat her, it would be your striking.
00:28:25.000Like, that was a wake-up call for a lot of people, that you're not just well-rounded, but you're capable of finishing everywhere, that you're lethal everywhere.
00:28:36.000Yeah, this is what every time was in my training, my goals for the competition.
00:28:42.000Not just go there and compete, but go there and win.
00:28:48.000Doesn't matter what I have to do to win the fight, I have to find the solution.
00:28:53.000I have to find the way to win the fight.
00:28:55.000And every time it was like my mindset.
00:28:58.000I don't like like this idea just go and have fun in the fight.
00:29:04.000I don't like idea just be there and like just to experience the feeling.
00:29:10.000I think for someone it's good, but if you have like higher goals for yourself, you have to put higher goals, like higher like things what you're thinking for.
00:29:22.000This is what I had since the beginning, that no matter what happening, I have to find solution to turn the fight to my side and win the fight.
00:29:32.000And definitely I was like, I understood fighting in mixed martial arts.
00:30:53.000And as a, like, regular child, normal child, like, I doubt that anyone at this age would clearly know what they want, what they want to do in the future.
00:31:08.000For the children, like, it's like, what they want to do, just have fun, play, play around with the same children, like, around.
00:31:15.000And this is, I was no exception, so it was the same.
00:31:26.000But my mom, she put myself and my sister Antonina to the gym of Pavel and we started to train there.
00:31:37.000So she had vision for us that her children, her daughters, have to do martial arts because she is a martial artist.
00:31:47.000And she knew exactly this is something that she want for us To be strong, to be confident, to be like just fearless of anything because martial arts give that all.
00:31:59.000And definitely at first, it was not anything deep.
00:32:04.000I mean, like knowing that one day I will be the champion or something like that.
00:32:09.000No, it was just playing, doing some techniques in form of play and just exercise.
00:32:18.000But when I started to grow up and I started to understand actually what I'm doing and what I want to be in the future, it was, I'm saying about age 12. This is the perfect age for the children, for the child, to understand and analyze what they're doing in the life, what they're looking for, what is their expectation from the life.
00:32:47.000And this is the age when I... I actually started to train with a lot of sense.
00:33:31.000I would say once I start to understand that this is my life, martial arts, then I put my heart to all trainings and I wanted to be better and better.
00:33:45.000And there it was, I discovered my talent, what I can do, what is my good side, and I discovered that I can understand technique way faster than other children the same age.
00:33:59.000And I can perform it a little bit better.
00:34:02.000And so this is how I start to just feel it inside me.
00:34:09.000So your mother was a martial artist as well?
00:35:01.000She started in the time when it was like karate, but it was like Soviet Union karate, underground karate, because you know in Soviet Union it was prohibited to do karate.
00:36:34.000You know, I cannot tell exactly, but you know, that sport, sport samba and combat samba, it's definitely, every time more it was about the sport samba.
00:37:27.000And then they started integrating that with combat sambo and becoming mixed martial arts.
00:37:34.000You know, I would say that combat samba, it was since the beginning, because it's part like, if I'm not mistaken, it was kind of like what military was training.
00:37:47.000So yeah, but if you're speaking about like competition, about what people competing right now, yeah, it's different.
00:37:56.000So you start out with Taekwondo, and then you make your way to Muay Thai, and when you are a teenager, you start deciding that this is going to be your life.
00:38:06.000Did you have any other dreams or interests or hobbies or passions, or was it just martial arts?
00:38:13.000You know, my life, it was so much different things to do.
00:38:20.000And I mean, just to learn different things.
00:38:24.000That's why I never had this, like, oh, I want to do that, that.
00:38:29.000I never had this, like, I have to choose one.
00:38:32.000I have to choose, or I'm a martial artist, or I'm, like, I don't know, something else.
00:38:37.000I didn't have, and I'm lucky that I didn't have this, like, that I have to choose.
00:38:44.000Because, for example, in my opinion, a person can be complete in everything.
00:38:53.000It doesn't matter, like, he can be martial artist, but the same way good artists, like, paint, or, like, play some instrument, musical instrument, or singer, or good shooter, or some different profession.
00:39:13.000Because if you're singing about, for example, we have life, right?
00:39:20.000And To become a professional in something, we are studying.
00:39:25.000For example, it takes five years to be professional in certain things, right?
00:39:30.000If you're speaking about university or something like that.
00:39:33.000So why we don't spend another two, three years to learn something else, another year to learn more?
00:39:43.000And it's going to fulfill you as a person to add more knowledge into you.
00:39:48.000That's why for me it never was like, okay, you're just a martial artist.
00:39:53.000My mom, when I started doing martial arts...
00:39:58.000She said like, okay, you're also going to do dance.
00:40:02.000So it was like same things that I did since childhood.
00:40:05.000I was dancing and doing martial artists because it's kind of like balancing each other.
00:40:11.000It's like, you're not going to one side too much and other side, you're going to be in between.
00:40:20.000And, for example, then when I discovered the shooting competition, it was another thing that I wanted to learn more, to be there, like, better every day, to just do what I like.
00:40:44.000I want to learn every day something new.
00:40:46.000It's interesting that that concept of balance was written about in the 1400s by Miyamoto Musashi when he talked about being a great swordsman.
00:40:57.000He talked about balance, that you had to learn poetry and you had to learn calligraphy and art and he was a big believer that you didn't just concentrate on sword fighting, you concentrated on all these things and that they work synergistically, they work together.
00:41:16.000And this is true because you're a good martial artist, yes, but you want to be a good person as well, right?
00:41:26.000And more you know, it's just you are like a better person.
00:42:08.000It's never late to learn something you were, like, wanted to do all your life.
00:42:14.000You just have to start to make your first step, and this is the hardest, I think, the first step.
00:42:21.000But once you do it, and once you understand that this is the hardest, How it should work, how it should be.
00:42:28.000Everything is going to be fine and you're going to just love it and just continue to learn, continue to grow, continue to make yourself a better person.
00:42:42.000It's so smart that your mother enrolled you also in dance and got you to learn dance as well as martial arts because the two, the skill sets are so interchangeable.
00:42:52.000Like you see it like Vasily Lomachenko, perfect example.
00:42:56.000He learned dance for years and he has this incredible footwork.
00:43:01.000That you see has given him a huge advantage in boxing.
00:43:06.000And with you, when you fight, one thing that I've always noticed is you never are flat-footed.
00:44:12.000I would say it helps with more like if you're speaking a balance.
00:44:17.000Because in dancing we have a lot of spins, right?
00:44:20.000And yeah, different dance have different level, like different movements.
00:44:26.000But I'm speaking about like folk dance, what I was doing, like folk dance, Russian dance.
00:44:31.000It's kind of like part of ballet, part of like traditional dance of different countries.
00:44:39.000and a lot of spins and definitely it's kind of like help you to do like round kicks or something like that but I would say if the lead man your coach have very right of approach of how to teach the students it's not necessary to do dancing He can just or she can just teach their
00:45:10.000students on how to do the footwork, what is the better way to move or something like that.
00:45:15.000The other thing, not every coach naturally like teacher because it's also take a lot of knowledge.
00:45:25.000Coach has to have this like vision of technique and not only vision of How to teach exactly this technique for every student.
00:45:36.000No, also, it's like, he has, for example, five different students.
00:45:41.000Five different, like, biometrics, fight style, like, different type of muscles, different, just different.
00:45:49.000And he has one technique, one, two, like, two straight, like, two hooks, whatever.
00:45:54.000But everyone would hit it differently.
00:46:01.000And combine specific of each fighter with their like right angle how to turn the fist or something like that and can see this detail and say, okay, this is your thing.
00:46:19.000Maybe it's not the right what everyone thinks, like this is the right weight for this punch.
00:46:25.000Maybe it's like just a little bit angle, just something like that.
00:46:28.000But it's work for the student and the student is winning with this technique.
00:46:32.000So this is what a coach has to have, this type of the vision.
00:46:37.000But what I see, many coaches, they know their technique and they don't see the specification of each fighter, the biotype of the fighter.
00:46:48.000And they try to just break the nature gift, what the fighter have, and put this technique, just like what they're thinking is going to be right.
00:48:14.000Even the most brutal parts of it, like when you knocked out Jessica Ai, it's beautiful.
00:48:20.000The way you set up the kick to the body and then switched up to the head, for someone who appreciates what that is, how you did that, it's beautiful.
00:48:31.000I think that's why it's called martial arts.
00:48:35.000It's interesting because people that don't practice martial arts, they don't like that term.
00:49:00.000You cannot just go there and say to your opponent, okay, let's agree, I do the technique and you will do that technique and then I win.
00:49:08.000So you cannot just, it's all about the fight.
00:49:11.000Yeah, it's about expressing yourself while the other person is trying to express themselves and you both have similar sized bodies, at least they weigh the same, and you're trying to figure out how to impose your skill set and your training and your technique and your mind.
00:49:28.000And that I think is one of the more interesting things about you is this approach that you've taken to life to educate yourself, to immerse yourself in different cultures and to achieve balance.
00:49:40.000Clearly that is having some sort of effect for you as a champion.
00:49:46.000Like you're a different kind of person because of all these experiences and I think that speaks volumes on who you are as a champion.
00:49:56.000I think it's one of the reasons why you're such an interesting person to watch fight.
00:53:02.000Because if you are, like, put in this certain day, certain year, till what time you're gonna compete, it's kind of like, my opinion, it's not good because you're starting to go to your end, slowly but surely.
00:53:25.000And if you are just enjoy the time, what you are, and just experience and want to just do the best things what you can without like, okay, this is my limit.
00:53:38.000And you just do it the best way you can.
00:53:41.000And this is the only way to explore what you're capable of.
00:55:19.000Mentally, what I mean, like mentally, not just your preparation, but when you have to every day train with your training partner or different training partners, and you know it's going to be like mini battle.
00:55:32.000And you know that you have to push yourself to the like doing better thing.
00:55:39.000It's not just like just running or just any physical exercises to do without too much mental like things to push.
00:56:46.000Sometimes you teach one technique for years and sometimes you just have to fight in the real fight and you will understand the technique so fast.
00:56:56.000When you're talking about your body and your mind and the difficulty, you're now training at the UFC Performance Institute, which is an amazing facility in Las Vegas, which for sure helps the body, right?
00:58:37.000And this is like, for example, this is the mental preparation, the mental game that you are dying in the training physically, but your mind is saying continue.
00:59:12.000So through this difficult training and forcing yourself to stay focused in the gym, that's where your mental training comes from.
00:59:19.000Yes, because as I said earlier, to be the best version of yourself in anything, in something, in martial arts, for example, you have to do everything what's considering with martial arts.
00:59:36.000You cannot do psychology apart, because if you go to...
00:59:45.000As a person who doesn't know what is that fighter psychology or never was in the fight, it doesn't know how it feels in the fight, they will give you wrong advices.
01:00:48.000Yeah, the most important thing is that it's working.
01:00:50.000But it doesn't matter I won't listen to something like what people have right, saying right, or something like exactly that I consider would work for me.
01:01:02.000It doesn't mean that I will close the eyes and I won't listen to you.
01:01:31.000Backwards, when I feel a person trying to give too much advice, when no one asks them to give that advice, I feel like, okay, maybe I have to get away from that person.
01:04:45.000If a person is still learning and still has many things to work on, or teenagers, or children, they have to work twice a day or three times too much.
01:05:16.000And you know, people sometimes do, for example, one hour in the morning, then sparrings in afternoon, and it's kind of like they're tired here, they're tired there, and they cannot do one hard session and show everything put in the sparrings and have this full energy.
01:06:25.000And so this is a very thin line where you have to know what is good for your body and where you have to know how to manage your training system.
01:06:36.000And is this something that you've just figured out about yourself over the years?
01:07:01.000If you pay attention to other MMA fighters, they usually break it up to two things a day.
01:07:06.000Usually they're doing a strength and conditioning workout or maybe they're doing pads in the morning and then they're doing some sort of sparring, maybe wrestling and jujitsu in the afternoon and then maybe they'll do MMA sparring in the evening.
01:07:19.000So sometimes you have these three sessions but you prepare differently.
01:09:34.000I just think most people just choose to live this way where they don't have a real good grasp on their body and a good control over it because of exercise.
01:10:45.000And definitely we are speaking about what to expect from the training camp, where we gonna have training camp, because it doesn't mean we are training like at the same location all the time.
01:11:00.000We love to travel, to have training camps in different gyms.
01:11:03.000In different states, in different countries.
01:12:34.000Every time, no matter who I train with, I learn something new from them.
01:12:39.000No matter what levels they are, I able to learn something from them.
01:12:45.000Do you take trips specifically, like say if you're gonna face someone who's a great judo expert, do you train specifically, like would you go to a place and train with like a Kayla Harrison or something like that, or someone who was specifically a judo stylist?
01:13:02.000First of all, we're considering to have a similar weight class.
01:13:23.000Even the person, they are skillful, super controlled, and do so good at their things.
01:13:35.000their heart full power because they are just bigger and they just stronger it's not good for you because you have to feel this like moment when you're kind of like breaking them or they kind of like have this thing when they are like in their technique you have to feel the moment you have to be able to go hard Exactly.
01:15:01.000I didn't experience any problem fighting 135, but definitely I would have to think more about strategy for the fight.
01:15:12.000Being smaller, you have to think about Different tactic.
01:15:20.000How to approach two different fighters.
01:15:22.000Because sometimes you will have enough power to break them, sometimes no.
01:15:26.000So it's kind of like yes or no, maybe.
01:15:29.000And you have to have your backup plan and you have to have your body ready for different game plan.
01:15:38.000That's why I didn't have problem to fight in 135, but every time I was to think about something, extra things.
01:15:48.000Do you foresee a possibility of you competing at 135 pounds again?
01:15:54.000Because Amanda Nunes is kind of running out of opposition and you're kind of running out of opposition and you both had epic fights against each other.
01:17:05.000I just wait when you see, like, okay, this is your opponent.
01:17:09.000Well, it is an unusual situation, though.
01:17:12.000Like I said, you are in this position that's very similar to, like, many of the great fighters that are dominant champions where you don't have one person who stands out.
01:21:13.000And this interchange who's on that moment were more lucky.
01:21:17.000If you had a long time out, like if the UFC said, here we are, we are in October, if they said, Valentina, August, next year, we would like you to fight Amanda Nunes.
01:21:34.000That's going to be this big, super fight.
01:23:27.000He just concentrated on his technique and training.
01:23:31.000But there was moments in that fight where the size of Jan Bojovic was evident in the grappling exchanges when he was able to control him on the ground.
01:23:41.000Do you think that there's any benefit?
01:23:44.000I mean, this is why I'm saying if you have a long time.
01:23:46.000I'm not saying if you just have a normal eight-week camp.
01:23:50.000I'm saying if they give you eight months, nine months, and they let you know in advance, you still don't think you'd ever try to gain any weight?
01:23:57.000I don't think it's still gonna help, because someone naturally bigger, every time they'll have this advantage, being bigger.
01:24:07.000No matter how more weight you're gonna put on top, you are still the same, just with the extra weight on you.
01:24:14.000Well, that's why I'm interested in John Jones.
01:24:16.000And John Jones, when he's trying to move up to the heavyweight division, he's gained a lot of weight.
01:24:21.000And he wants to be over the 265 pound limit and then cut back down to 265. So I believe he's walking around somewhere in the 260s now.
01:24:31.000I think we will know the answer only when he will fight in this weight class.
01:24:37.000And we will know exactly how it's going to affect him.
01:24:40.000Will it be good for him or bad for him?
01:27:08.000I think that there is a real issue with fighters that lose a lot of weight, and I think the long-term consequences are probably ultimately not worth it.
01:27:35.000Tendency come back like double, triple with the friends.
01:27:42.000And then it makes it harder to go back and cut the weight again.
01:27:47.000So it's kind of like it's going that way once, working once, but then you have to do it harder and harder before you decide that it's not a smart thing to do.
01:27:59.000Yeah, your body starts to think that it's experiencing famine.
01:29:52.000This is what makes it so unique, so special.
01:29:57.000Well, it's really interesting because that level has increased dramatically over the last decade and a half.
01:30:04.000When we first saw Ronda Rousey competing in the UFC, some of the earliest female fights in the UFC, the competition that she was facing was just not at the same level as the male competition.
01:30:17.000But now, when you see Rose Namajunas versus Zhang Weili, that is a very, very high-level fight.
01:30:26.000And it's very exciting because they're both world champion, elite martial artists.
01:30:31.000So when they fight, you're seeing two of the best of the best, period, in the sport.
01:30:38.000And this is saying about how fast and how far mixed martial arts developed.
01:30:45.000And even if we are comparing UFC fighters 15, 20 years ago, it's going to be different.
01:30:52.000Now it's like mixed martial arts, it's complete fight style.
01:30:57.000It's not a fight between stand-up fighter, boxer, or wrestler.
01:31:03.000It's two high-level MMA fighters who know how to dominate so good in boxing, so good kicking, like Taekwondo, so good wrestlers and grapplers.
01:31:34.000It really is amazing when you think back from when you first started training martial arts as a five-year-old girl in 1993 to today, the UFC is almost unrecognizable.
01:31:46.000If you go back and watch any other sport from 1993, say like football or basketball, it looks similar.
01:31:52.000I mean, you might have better athletes today and better training today, but it looks pretty similar.
01:31:57.000Today, martial arts has expanded so far above and beyond what it was at in those days.
01:32:04.000Yes, and this is like a dream for a mixed martial artist.
01:32:11.000Every time it was a dream of mine, to be comfortable in everything.
01:32:20.000Know how to fight in every single situation.
01:34:02.000First, like, fights, female fights, for me, if you're speaking about youth, definitely when I was competing Muay Thai and MMA, I was watching, like, different fighters from, like, their countries and, like, definitely, like, high level from their countries.
01:34:21.000And it was my first championship, but I won world champion in mixed martial arts.
01:34:27.000It was South Korea in 2003. It was my first MMA. That was your first MMA fight?
01:35:05.000This is when it started, and it was a big push.
01:35:09.000But definitely with Rwanda it was kind of like the second wave much powerful and it's like going beyond the limits and it was very important for the female martial arts.
01:35:25.000That was, I mean, there was two waves, right?
01:35:41.000She's this beautiful woman who was so skilled and, you know, arm barring everybody.
01:35:46.000I think also it takes place that it was UFC fights.
01:35:50.000Because no matter how talented you are, no matter how beautiful you are, if you're fighting in the smaller league, it's gonna stay in the smaller league.
01:36:02.000So when they first started having fights in the UFC, how exciting was that for you when you saw women fighting in the UFC for the first time?
01:36:20.000I never had these, like, things, it could be me, that, or I will compete there.
01:36:25.000I just was like, okay, it's happening, it's opportunity, definitely it can be someday, but it wasn't something like, oh, I have to be there, and I was like, do anything to be there.
01:36:36.000I just, every time in my life, I don't like to rush things.
01:36:42.000I just like do everything for make it happen, to be ready when it happens, but in the same time to not do like some crazy movement towards that one because it's not right, I think.
01:37:10.000I don't know what it's going to be like through some years.
01:37:14.000And for example, I tell you, local fighters born in the United States, five, seven fights, they have a chance to be in the UFC. A fighter who was born far has to make a whole circle around the world,
01:37:38.000living in South America for eight years, winning 17 times world titles, and then, only then, being signed for the UFC. Well, that's you!
01:39:07.000I think you make a very good point because I look at some talented young fighters and I say this person has a lot of potential, but they're in the deep water too quickly.
01:39:19.000So they'll fight against someone who is far better than them and they'll get set up and hurt.
01:39:25.000And I think they might have a better chance at a better career, a better result if they started out in the smaller leagues and worked their way up.
01:39:35.000I think that Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series is amazing and I love the fact that these things exist.
01:39:42.000Even The Ultimate Fighter, I think it's amazing that these things exist.
01:39:46.000But there are some fighters that I think should hold off and wait.
01:40:16.000Amazing, but it's because he was ready.
01:40:19.000Whereas some other fighters, maybe they get there too soon and you're seeing them gonna get beat up when they're fighting someone that's too many levels above them where it's not really competitive yet.
01:40:35.000Like they're not, they don't have the skills.
01:40:39.000Like Jon Jones again, he's another example.
01:40:41.000He was in the UFC early in his career.
01:40:44.000But he was so talented that he was able to dominate guys like Mauricio Shogun Hua in his first title fight when he was 22 years old, which is crazy, right?
01:40:54.000But some people, they're just not ready yet, but they could be.
01:41:41.000I don't have any doubts how to have my life, how to live my life, to still feel like this interest is for the life, interest for martial arts, this desire to keep training the same hard way as I do.
01:41:58.000So I know exactly how to maintain that.
01:42:22.000Place where I train, it's like my temple.
01:42:25.000I'm coming there without laughing, joking, or because when you're going to the temple, you have to be respectful for what you're doing, for everything that's around you.
01:45:55.000But when we moved to Peru, we started to compete in defensive shooting competition like IDPR, IPSC. Here I think it's called IPSC. It's very, I think it's excellent sport, like shooting style, when you are not only just in your position and shooting for the like accuracy, But also you are shooting in different position, moving, standing, laying down, sitting.
01:46:25.000So it's like a circuit with different targets, different circuits, different goals, how you have to shoot.
01:46:34.000And it's like everything combination about your speed and about your accuracy.
01:46:40.000And also about if it's stuck some, like the gun is stuck at some point, you have to be able to resolve the issue and continue your shooting.
01:46:55.000What teach you to respect what you are doing, to respect a gun, to respect everything, like considering about the safety and like whatever you have, but also teach you to To not have fear for a gun, but know how to use it for the sport.
01:47:17.000I've talked to people that have shot with you, and they say that you shoot like you fight.
01:47:42.000So high level competitors in the shooting because they are spending all their lives doing what they're doing and definitely it's like all these tricks about like everything about how they shoot and definitely for now I spend more time in martial arts definitely but I enjoy so much shooting because gun culture it's very strong culture and it's amazing because it's like it's a history it's a human history If you're like
01:48:12.000watching a gun from what was made like back then, I have a rifle, Mosin rifle from 1935. Really?
01:48:23.000Yes, it's like it was in the Spain war and yeah, it has a lot of history.
01:51:56.000I think it's the same with martial arts when it started like when it's like what's martial arts it was back then in what is now like modern arm.
01:52:24.000It is fascinating how much the technology has improved and changed.
01:52:29.000I was hunting recently and most of the time I bow hunt, but we did some hunting for pigs and we used rifles.
01:52:38.000And this rifle had an illuminated reticle.
01:52:43.000Like you hit a button and it would show all the different ranges where the rifle, like where you would have to aim at 100, at 200, at 300, and it was all marked off.
01:52:57.000For example, this cross rifle from SIG, it has like a brake system of when it's the scope connected via Bluetooth with the binocle, and you can set your range, like seeing the target, you set it, it's connected, and the rifle know where to shoot.
01:53:17.000Yeah, SIG has an amazing system, right?
01:53:20.000Where their rangefinder connects with apps, their scopes connect with apps, and that all of this works together.
01:53:29.000I have a few guns from SIG. I have a few of their pistols, and I have two ARs from them.
01:53:34.000They make great stuff, but it's just so incredible how everything is like, when you start studying it and realizing that the ballistics are so accurate and precise that now They have these competitions where people are shooting out to 1,100, 1,200 yards and hitting small steel targets at 1,200 yards.
01:54:16.000I would say that I'm really looking forward to the next year when they're going to do the second games because it's a combination of shooting and to be in a good physical condition and it's like The best and you are in the nature.
01:54:34.000It's like targets the same like in the shape of animal with the like steel lungs, the shape of the lungs and you have to hit the steel target.
01:56:30.000They're very respectful, and they're friendly, and they're welcoming to people that want to participate.
01:56:38.000When I go to Taron Tactical when I'm in Los Angeles, there's always someone there that's like some world champion shooter that will give you advice and give you tips and help.
01:57:11.000And I would say that those people are like truly care about nature and truly care about Animals, because it sounds like they shoot animals, they hunt animals, but they care.
01:57:27.000It's every time like funds, what they are creating, and every time it's like foundation and something like that.
01:57:35.000And yeah, I was like, I have friends, hunters, and they are just like one of the best persons ever.
01:57:46.000Yeah, they're some of the nicest people, and what you're saying is true.
01:57:49.000They contribute more to conservation than any other group.
01:58:59.000So 11% excise tax on firearms and ammunition.
01:59:04.000Instead of going to the U.S. Treasury, it is done as the pass.
01:59:07.000The money generated by the tax Is instead given to the Secretary of the Interior to distribute to the states.
01:59:14.000The Secretary determines how much to give to each state based on the formula that takes into account both the area of the state and the number of licensed hunters.
01:59:42.000There's misconceptions about gun culture in terms of recreational gun users.
01:59:47.000People want to think that people that own guns are terrible people or bad people or just assholes or bullies or whatever, but it's not.
01:59:55.000When you meet these people, There is a certain humility that comes with guns, because you realize anybody could just point that gun at you and kill you.
02:00:07.000If you want balance of power, it doesn't matter how big you are.
02:00:12.000A 25-pound child who can squeeze a trigger can kill you.
02:00:17.000It sounds terrible, and you don't want a 25-pound child to have a pistol, but if they had one, they could kill you.
02:00:24.000This is about, like, I think about this education, right?
02:00:30.000I would love to see more programs starting, like, in the school, educate, like, everyone to, how to respect the arms, the safety, and instead of, like, prohibit, like, everything, just teach people, explain people, like, then they have choice what they, like, are Or they want to do that or they don't.
02:00:56.000But how they will know the truth if they don't know and everyone, like, try to hide.
02:01:25.000But for the most part, it's not the skilled, trained martial arts that are the bullies.
02:01:29.000It's people that are insecure and the people that really don't know how to fight.
02:01:33.000That's why the best advice about bullies is always to stand up to them.
02:01:37.000But if you just taught them martial arts, they wouldn't want to be bullies.
02:01:42.000Again, it seems counterintuitive, but I think that really is the correct response, the correct strategies probably to distribute martial arts throughout schools.
02:02:01.000And what is the better place to spend it as a gym, right?
02:02:06.000To spend in doing something useful for your life, for whatever.
02:02:11.000Not only self-defense, but in general sports, it's good.
02:02:14.000And it's kind of like definitely a child has to move.
02:02:20.000Has to do a lot of things, has to practice here, there, because they have so much energy, they have to spend it.
02:02:27.000And yeah, it's kind of like the only one thing, teach them, explain them, and like make them experience instead of like, I don't know, if...
02:02:40.000Every time there is some fight in the school, right?
02:02:43.000And like, instead of like do something like to prohibit, put them in the class, put gloves on them.
02:02:51.000They would fight each other like a training class and something like that.
02:02:55.000And then they will feel good and friends.
02:02:58.000Better friends than fighting on the street or something like that.
02:03:01.000Because I noticed that, for example, in my trainings, when we do hard sparring with some other training partners, And it makes us better connected to each other, better friends, because we experience the same.
02:03:29.000What do you think about this debate about sparring?
02:03:32.000Because there are some people, including very high-level fighters, that don't spar anymore.
02:03:39.000They get to a certain point in their career, like Max Holloway for an example, and you could say, you know, there's a lot of debate about this, but where there's no debate is how good Max Holloway looks.
02:03:52.000So to me it's so perplexing, because I think It's undeniable that there's a certain amount of timing and fluidity that's generated from sparring.
02:04:02.000But it's also undeniable that sometimes people spar too hard and that you lose some of your resiliency and you're taking away some of the future of your career from these hard sparring sessions.
02:04:16.000So what are your thoughts on hard sparring?
02:04:38.000If you want to prepare yourself for the fight, you have to feel your opponent.
02:04:43.000Timing and, like, one thing when you hit pads, different when you hit someone and someone hit you back.
02:04:51.000But sometimes people, they have a wrong approach to sparrings.
02:04:58.000Sometimes they want, like mostly young people not having much experience, they want to show that they're brave, that they are not afraid to receive this hit or something like that.
02:07:31.000Even, for example, I... It's not happening here because we got our uniform right before the fight.
02:07:40.000But before, when I fighted in Muay Thai in different competitions, it was necessary to have one or two trainings in the same uniform, the same gear that I would use for my fight in the competition.
02:07:55.000So you would have training sessions with no shin pads, smaller gloves?
02:08:00.000No, I want to say more about shorts or like top or something like that.
02:08:07.000You have to make sure that it's going to be comfortable because it's like small detail but it can bring a whole difference.
02:08:27.000The ties, when they spar, they spend a lot of time...
02:08:32.000They play spar, where they touch each other.
02:08:35.000They're tapping because they fight so often that they're prepared for fighting because they're fighting on a regular basis, sometimes once a week or once every two weeks.
02:08:44.000But when they spar, they spar very lightly.
02:08:47.000What are your thoughts on that sort of play sparring?
02:08:50.000Like if you watch Sanchai, for example, he's one of the best ever.
02:08:54.000And when he spars, he's very light and it's a lot of movement and playful.
02:11:50.000The argument against that is that what you're doing in the strength and conditioning is building your reservoir of energy.
02:11:58.000So you're making it much bigger because instead of concentrating on the technique, you're only concentrating on the physical performance of your cardiovascular system.
02:12:07.000You're only concentrating on your VO2 max.
02:12:11.000You're only concentrating on explosive energy and power.
02:12:14.000And then in building that, you strengthen the machine that you used to fight with.
02:12:19.000Yes, but if you do the same with your training partner, it will work double because machine, it doesn't respond you.
02:12:28.000It's like you used to do the certain exercise, the weight what you are doing with the machine, but when you are in the fight, The machine starts to work differently because it's attacking you as well.
02:13:24.000He changed things up at some important time in his career.
02:13:27.000And he did have different approaches as time went on.
02:13:30.000But at one point in time, he said, I don't do any strength and conditioning.
02:13:32.000He goes, I concentrate on efficiency, and I concentrate on my technique, and I concentrate on fight training.
02:13:38.000And he had the same philosophy that time spent doing other things would detract from his ability to improve his efficiency and improve his overall technique.
02:13:49.000And more I want to add, like, all injuries, they are coming mostly from training.
02:13:57.000When you are in the training, and when you are, like, already so tired to defend something, and you're just like, okay, whatever, I will fall down, and you fall down bad, right?
02:14:09.000And this is what this energy comes from.
02:14:12.000So if you are doing, like, you spend half of energy of running, then already you don't have this Defense level, protection level against injuries.
02:14:24.000So it's kind of like another point of view.
02:14:27.000When you train in Thailand, they give you a hard time about not running?
02:17:21.000Like most likely, not training session, but like diet, yeah?
02:17:27.000For example, my weight in the morning like that, and this is what I was eating like that.
02:17:32.000After training, I felt this, that, that.
02:17:35.000I did it like part of my time, but right now, no.
02:17:39.000Right now it's like I know exactly how I have to feel and every time I'm sharing my feelings with my team and we are saying, okay, this is right, this is not right, this is okay to feel that during this period of training camp and this is what we have to do to maintain it or something like that.
02:18:27.000The team of UC Performance Institute, they are so incredible.
02:18:32.000And for example, for like Fight Week, Charles, Nicole and like Clint, they are like working so good to build your like meals and working like excellent.
02:18:49.000I cannot complain because it's amazing what Fighter can have someone to worry about their food and you don't have to think about anything.
02:20:51.000The only thing that I keep like a rule, and I can break it sometimes if it's some party or some like situation, it's I'm not eating after 5pm.
02:23:16.000It's, I don't know, it's in Soviet system, it was, since all boxing, all wrestlers, they had the same, like, no drinking, because it's kind of like, you know, I feel...
02:23:28.000When you drink, your liver and your heart start to work more.
02:23:34.000And it's like after five minutes after you drink, you feel like more tired than it was before.
02:26:24.000We had last summer, our U.S. trip, and we usually, like, when COVID things, all of this starts, and we start to explore United States, like, so deep and, like, just traveling.
02:26:37.000We just take our car, our truck, and for two, two and a half months, we're just driving around.
02:26:46.000We are not going, like, from destination to destination.
02:26:49.000For example, our navigator saying like, okay, you have two hours drive.
02:26:55.000But in reality, it will take like six, seven hours because we are just driving small roads, stopping in every little town.
02:27:05.000And like if there is like by the coast marinas and something like that.
02:27:10.000And last summer we traveled, we started from Las Vegas, then we went to Lake Tahoe, then San Francisco, and drew all Highway 1, Pacific Coast, all the way up.
02:27:26.000And then Seattle, Washington, and all the area by the border with Canada.
02:27:33.000So it was an amazing trip, two and a half months.
02:27:36.000And then when we were on our way back and we started to drive closer to Nevada, closer to that nature, desert nature, I was like, oh my god, it feels like coming back home.