00:02:17.000But next to that, like you say this as a combat sports commentator for years and you've been in the sport for so many years and all other professional boxers and commentators, etc.,
00:02:33.000they all see the fight a certain way, like you saw it, like how I experienced it.
00:02:39.000And then when we look at the scorecards,
00:02:43.000We get like a totally different fight.
00:02:57.000And if you had lost by decision, it would have been insanity.
00:03:00.000And we've seen those insane decisions before, and I never know what's going on.
00:03:04.000You know, I don't want to think it's corruption, but it's almost worse if it's incompetence.
00:03:09.000If you have someone who's judging a fight, which is like the most pivotal fight, arguably, of your career.
00:03:16.000You think about how long you've been reigning as the heavyweight champion of kickboxing for like a decade, which is crazy at the highest level.
00:03:23.000Like, especially at the heavyweight division, it is so hard to stay at the top.
00:03:34.000For you to be the heavyweight champion and have fucking wars like Jamal Ben Sadiq, that fight, like some of these fights that you've had, wars.
00:03:52.000And it's like, it's almost worse if it's incompetence because if you've got these people that don't know what they're watching and they're calling, like their eyes, their decision makes a difference about whether it's a W or an L, and it doesn't make any sense.
00:04:45.000us as athletes putting our health on the line, which makes it a very, very hard thing to cope with, but also for the people watching the fight, it's like.
00:04:58.000It, like you said, it feels unjust, and I definitely feel like, especially in the time that we're in now, everybody wants transparency.
00:05:08.000If we look at the World Cup that just finished, like even there, when something happens,
00:05:16.000the referee is still a person, he can make like a mistake.
00:05:20.000He can look at the foul and be like, I saw it this way, but now what they're doing, they're looking at the VAR, they're looking at the cameras, right?
00:05:28.000And multiple people are looking at it and like, hey.
00:05:32.000We can interpret it, the the rules like this, because this happened, we can see this and this is wrong.
00:05:40.000So even it's going to be a card or it's going to be a penalty or whatever there is.
00:05:47.000But within this situation, it's just like if if you ask me, and it's still possible it's a human being, the referee made a mistake and that is possible, but there should be people or a situation where it's like, hey, Sorry, ref, but you made a mistake.
00:06:06.000This wasn't the right call, so we can overturn it in a second.
00:06:11.000The only thing that's really hard to do with that subjectively is fight stoppages.
00:06:16.000Because sometimes, at least in MMA, a referee sees things in a fighter that you might not see things watching on television or sitting at my seat as a commentator.
00:06:28.000A referee will see a guy's eyes roll back in his head.
00:06:31.000He'll see something that I don't see, and I'll go, oh, I thought that was a little quick.
00:10:42.000It was so funny if you hear the commentators, they were like, okay, Rico's moving a lot and he's fainting and he's doing this and he's doing that.
00:19:00.000Super much respect for both of them and thankful also to Jason of course for setting this whole thing up Jason yeah and getting me into it.
00:19:07.000Yeah getting me into the conversation And then like so that was after two weeks and then at two weeks later we we were on a facetime call for like a minute and Yeah,
00:19:19.000after that they got it done like and then and then then afterwards they said like oh, it's gonna be a title fight and then the whole world went crazy of course like oh my god, how is this guy gonna go for a world title fight?
00:19:32.000We're gonna shock the world Well, you know, it's not like you hadn't had a lifetime of striking.
00:19:38.000It's only the difference is removing the kicks.
00:19:40.000Yeah, but the thing is, like the boxing fans, the straight up boxing fans, they're not too much into MMA and they're definitely not into kickboxing.
00:22:43.000If somebody figured it out and dove in and made it, it would be gigantic.
00:22:48.000It would have to be like the UFC, though, because you have to have the kind of publicity machine, the kind of media machine that the UFC has to build up the stories and show these guys and show all the champions.
00:28:34.000it still hurts i'm like wow what what did you what did you want want me to do you want me to move around you want me to to punch back or whatever for me like you know i've been in in trouble multiple times within my world title kickboxing fights yeah i was behind multiple times and i still came on came out on top so
00:28:58.000there was for me there's no conversation in like okay could he continue is he gonna continue i never stop they don't know you that's the other thing is that the Conditioning thing.
00:29:41.000Also, looking now, looking back at it, because there was also open scoring.
00:29:46.000And I love open scoring because within that gives you the right position and gives the fighters the position like, okay, where are we standing within this fight?
00:29:59.000But now looking back at the fight after eight rounds, because after every four rounds, we hear what the scoring is.
00:30:05.000After eight rounds, my trainer Peter Fury says, okay, we got to really start winning these rounds now.
00:30:32.000But then I really started pushing even more, but I was pushing already.
00:30:35.000But if you know you're like eight or seven rounds ahead and you feel like you're getting tired the last two or three rounds, just move around.
00:34:02.000If I look at it now, and for us talking about it, and for you being so long into combat sports and being a commentator and doing it yourself.
00:34:14.000Wouldn't you be maybe a spokesman or a part?
00:34:17.000Could you be a part of a way how we can make this whole judging thing and this whole transparency better?
00:34:24.000Well, I think one way to do it is to have more judges, like Lori does.
00:34:30.000I think five is probably the right number.
00:34:32.000I think another thing to do is maybe have a bunch of people online that are recognized experts, like top trainers, top commentators, people that really understand the sport.
00:36:24.000He's calling, I mean, this is his last fight.
00:36:27.000Yeah, if this is the last fight and he almost lost to you and he has the potential of losing again, they'd have to entice him with, they'd have to, yeah, pull out that paper, then he's like, shrink big bags.
00:36:41.000He's like, okay, if I lose, it is what it is.
00:37:59.000So, but then, yeah, I just look myself in the mirror like I respect His Excellency, and Jason gave his word, and His Excellency gave his word that they were going to do it.
00:38:10.000And if I look at myself, I'm looking at legacy.
00:38:14.000And that Francis Nagano fight is still going to be there after the Usyk fight.
00:38:18.000But how crazy is that as a kickboxer coming in, fighting for a world championship within boxing and potentially winning?
00:38:28.000Because that's how I only have one plan, and that's winning.
00:38:41.000Few low kicks because Daddy's definitely not gonna make it to the end.
00:38:46.000No, but that was so funny because everybody's like Rico, you've been kickboxing for so long, like what happens if you head kick him?
00:38:52.000Like don't you have that feeling like like guys?
00:38:56.000Like i've been boxing next to doing kickboxing like for 15 years or something.
00:39:02.000I've been working with Peter Fury for so long and i'm used to this.
00:39:06.000But I know for I think that's what made me such a good kickboxer as well that I was into boxing.
00:39:13.000But there's a giant difference between working with a kickboxer and even being a kickboxer and fighting arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time.
00:40:17.000Yeah, my trainer Peter Fury, uh, with the he's yeah, he's crazy, he's the very, very, very best at what he does.
00:40:27.000And we were just like analyzing these fights.
00:40:30.000Like, so first, he already had the thing in his mind, and he asked me, What do you see all these boxers do, and what they shouldn't be doing, and what do you think they should do?
00:40:44.000So I look at it, I look at it, and I think.
00:40:48.000It basically started with if somebody is a South Pole,
00:40:54.000why would you stay right in front of them?
00:43:17.000And I didn't think, if you look at the heavyweights, what they all want to do is they want to, bam, they want to hit maybe boom, boom, one, two.
00:43:25.000Versus the very of arguably one of the best to have ever done it.
00:43:29.000And then especially in a cruiserweight, how are you going to hit him in step A?
00:43:44.000Throw throw throw throw and I know I was gonna I was the first time I was gonna hit him was maybe in punch six or whatever because then The distance is gonna be closer so I didn't even think about trying to knock his head off.
00:43:59.000That's what I said said I'm gonna do that's what I'm gonna do I'm gonna try and knock his head off Of course, I'm gonna tell him that because that this is definitely not what we're gonna do.
00:44:08.000I was just gonna get close right and keep keep working volume keep working volume and then finally when you're there That's the moment you're going to put in some power.
00:44:19.000But that's like maybe punch seven or eight.
00:44:22.000But the first three, four, you're not even going to hit.
00:44:25.000You're just hitting air because he's too fast.
00:45:34.000Because sharing all that gym time with elite guys like Tyson Fury and Kobeyev, having that kind of experience in the gym must have also been a huge confidence boost.
00:50:49.000But other than, I mean, but he doesn't have enough experience yet and doesn't have enough name yet for what he really is and what his potential is.
00:51:32.000Like, okay, you're mandatory to fight this guy.
00:51:34.000And that was the, I think for him, the position that he was in fighting me.
00:51:41.000He could, like, that was a voluntary defense, and he decided, like, hey, I would love to do this on my terms versus another guy.
00:51:51.000I think they looked at it like this is maybe gonna be an easier fight, so this is nice to do.
00:51:58.000That didn't go the way his plan, but but still, I think that's where his mind is at now.
00:52:05.000Like, he's like, I just want to do what I want to do, which makes so much sense after what he has accomplished.
00:52:12.000After what he's accomplished, he should be able to call his.
00:52:14.000Own shots, and I want him to make the most money possible because he is a legend.
00:52:18.000But that's this, that's like you said, this is the fight.
00:52:21.000This is the problem, is it might be too hard, yeah?
00:52:24.000It might be too hard, it might be one of those ones where which is why maybe you know, no disrespect to Deontay, but he might be looking at Deontay thinking Deontay's a little softer, yeah?
00:52:33.000And we're gonna ride into the sunset, yeah?
00:52:36.000But it's also spectacular knockout, yeah?
00:52:38.000But it's also then, like you said, it's not gonna be the big money grab that because if you ask me, no, exactly, they're not gonna be paid that crazy money for it.
00:56:36.000Finally doing that and cleaning everything and then we come by a bunch of pictures and Yeah, you can see it on my Instagram and then I see the pictures of my mother 30 years prior Being in front of the pyramids like wow,
00:56:53.000why do I see these pictures now knowing that this fight is in front of the pyramids?
00:56:59.000It was Mind-blowing and so for me it was like full circle Going back.
00:57:06.000I like literally made the same pictures my mother made 30 years prior, before the fight, in front of the swings, in front of the pyramids.
00:59:57.000So, okay, only thing you got to do is like punch the ground, and then the ground is going to crack open, and then we're going to like, For the first time that evening, boom, we're going to turn on the pyramids.
01:01:08.000am i going to take these steps fast i'm like no i'll just jump down i just decided that at the moment and then i i landed it was like oh this was higher than i expected and i just kept on running it's like just think about like maybe i just like sprained my ankle or something like jumping from that crazy like that yeah
01:01:32.000oh my god it was so funny because after afterwards the cameraman he woke up to me he's like i almost missed you you you You were jumping down.
01:01:41.000I was looking at you, looking at you, like, bro, you were gone.
01:03:25.000Quite honestly, I didn't know what you're going to be capable of either because I knew you as a kickboxer were one of the greatest of all time.
01:04:06.000But for me, I think what worked in my advantage the most was if you look at kickboxing and it's logical, like physically, it's like you're so square on.
01:04:19.000And everybody thought that was what I was going to do.
01:07:39.000And if you have something to look at the whole time, it's like, it gets your mind out of what you want to do because you're constantly anticipating what your opponent is doing.
01:08:26.000I believe that mentally, when you get tired or when your body gives signals of starting to feel tired, how do you cope with that in your mind?
01:08:41.000That's where I think the biggest difference is.
01:08:43.000Because if at the moment I feel I'm getting tired, then I know my opponent is feeling fucked.
01:08:56.000To be fit and to do everything possible to be in the best shape ever.
01:09:00.000Because if you look at training schedules or whatever from my schedule versus another guy's schedule, I find it hard to believe that I'm training so much harder than all the other top guys.
01:10:26.000I don't yeah, just lean into what works for you.
01:10:29.000I'm not the strongest puncher, I also don't believe i'm the most skillful, but i'm definitely the hardest worker and that's what we try to emphasize, like just keep working, keep working hard.
01:16:48.000I mean, he was performing at a world class, world championship level at 50 years old.
01:16:52.000As a boxer, which is nuts, that's insane, and it's just because of his discipline you know, never got fat, never got out of shape, always stayed in the gym, never ate bad food.
01:17:01.000And also, mentally, it keeps you just in balance, yeah, just being because that's what I believe.
01:17:07.000Why just training in general for everybody is so good because that's me time, yep, that's the time that you're working on what is good for you and for your mental health.
01:17:19.000You're not thinking about, hey, I'm at work, I'm making money to provide for the family, or I'm doing groceries for this.
01:18:18.000You're right, but the thing is, what happens, same with the cold plunge that we do multiple times a week or almost every day, is like some days, same as going to work or whatever, you just wake up.
01:18:32.000And you just do not feel like doing it.
01:18:50.000And that's for me, what I felt like I was just sharing with you, like what I find so hard, for example, with the losing and the mistakes that I made, that's what I've been doing.
01:19:05.000That's what I'm trying to work on now.
01:19:07.000It's like everything that happened in my life, like it's been some crazy, like my mother passed away within this preparation and I do not take the time to
01:19:27.000And I had the same thing with my father.
01:19:28.000It was like right before the Ben Sadiq fight.
01:19:30.000And I just take it and I continue because what I do, I take it and it's a certain emotional pain and I use that to put it in physical pain so I can use it as fuel for what I do in the ring and whatever,
01:20:25.000But I don't feel like it's so much about the balance, but it's just not the way to
01:20:33.000cope with life in general, next to being an athlete and being a fighter, which is a big part of what you do.
01:20:40.000But just like in general like okay, how do you, how do you cope with with things, especially now with this, for example, with this loss, is like, how do I find a way to give this this loss and a way of like okay, that I can work with it without like being feeling frustrated?
01:21:04.000Or like oh, I got robbed or whatever, right so, and I feel like that's getting better.
01:22:08.000Well, it's great that you recognize that, though, and that will definitely help you as you transition from being a fighter to being a retired fighter and doing whatever else you want to do.
01:22:17.000You have so much time left in your life to do anything.
01:22:21.000Recognizing that that is an issue is huge for your ability to.
01:22:26.000Move on to do other things because 100%.
01:22:29.000That's a giant struggle for a lot of fighters.
01:22:31.000The struggle, especially fighters that have competed at your level, you know, the glory, the excitement, the chaos of it all is so huge that to step away from that is very, very difficult for a lot of guys.
01:22:58.000Jake Chillenhall, with Dave Batista, with Eldis Hodge and those guys being so excellent at what they're doing as actors and then just talking with them about this.
01:23:12.000I think that also gave me more and more that realization of hey, instead of just like pushing it away, I can use those emotions and that feeling to be an actor at a certain point.
01:23:29.000So, And I always said, like, I just kept pushing it away.
01:25:42.000Well, that's so good that you have something that you're really excited about as you retire, like transitioning into that, and that you already have some success with that.
01:27:22.000Yeah, for me, it's like I'm focused on finishing that, and as soon as I have a movie, I'm like, okay, but then I'm not going to do a fight.
01:27:35.000So, and especially within the other one, I didn't really get the option because I was on Roadhouse and then I got the Anthony Joshua fight.
01:27:43.000But back then, I was just the kickboxer.
01:28:00.000So now I got a little more like, yo guys, I got a movie, so can we push the fight a little bit further so I have the time to get ready for it?
01:28:09.000But for me, I would never blend those two together or like, hey, okay, let me finish this movie real quick and then go straight into a fight camp that's going to be like two, two and a half months.
01:28:21.000I need a good, like, clean four months to get ready for a fight of this magnitude.
01:28:28.000So, um when you're talking about these different conversations that people have had with you, is the door completely closed to the UFC?
01:28:36.000Because I know that they did contact you and they were talking about you fighting and that they were going to try to do that Derrick Lewis fight.
01:29:38.000He got really fucked over for that fight.
01:29:42.000You know, the way people got upset at him for stopping the fight.
01:29:47.000With those eye pokes, that's to me, that drove me crazy.
01:29:50.000Like, what do you expect the guy to do?
01:29:52.000He's defending the heavyweight title, he gets poked in the eyes and he can't fucking see.
01:29:56.000And he's had two eye surgeries since then.
01:29:58.000And he's the nicest guy, he's the nicest guy, and he works incredibly hard.
01:30:04.000And he would never, never, even though, because I understand where it comes from, from the people to a certain extent, because they feel like, hey, God was doing so good in the beginning of the fight.
01:30:17.000But it was just the beginning of the fight.
01:30:19.000It was just like the first round or whatever.
01:30:21.000So it's possible that, hey, because of some ring rust, he had to get into it.
01:30:26.000And then the fight ain't over till it's over, right?
01:30:28.000So you can have an opinion about that the first round, and I get an eye poke.
01:30:33.000Oh, now he's going to stop because he knew he was behind or whatever.
01:30:36.000He would never, never in whatever world do that because he has fighter heart.
01:30:42.000No, if he got the eye poke, he was knuckle deep in his eye.
01:32:25.000Over again to watch it, and what I saw is Alex is moving, Cyril's trying to hit him, and sometimes when that happens, some of the shots are going to land on the back of the head.
01:32:35.000Yeah, but what is it the referee that needs to like say, Hey, stop it?
01:32:39.000Yes, yeah, we're fighting, so you gotta try and punch wherever you get the punch.
01:32:43.000It's hard because you're also like, He might not have the best position to see it because it's chaos, and also, like, if you're trying to hit like a guy right here and then his head moves and then you hit the back of the head, yeah, whose fault is that?
01:32:57.000Is that your fault that you're supposed to pull back?
01:35:53.000No, for you, boxing makes the most sense, especially at this point in your life financially.
01:35:58.000And, you know, for Tom, I mean, he has a potential career in boxing as well.
01:36:03.000And now that Eddie Hearn is managing him, which is very exciting, because, you know, Match Room being behind him, he's going to have a gigantic hype machine, gigantic promotion.
01:39:54.000That's the correct fight to have a rematch.
01:39:56.000When a fight is that close and ends that controversially, and then the judging is, the scoring is that bad, the right thing to do is to have a rematch.
01:40:06.000Yeah, and then in a different, like I said, in a different environment, in a different situation, you know, death.
01:40:53.000So many concerts, so many fights, so many everything.
01:40:55.000It's just, and it's also in New York City.
01:40:59.000And as much as New York City is crazy and it's like, it's beep, beep, and honk, honk, and fuck you, it's still New York motherfucking city.
01:41:08.000And to have a great world championship fight in New York City is something special.
01:41:13.000There's something, you feel different when they say, live from Madison Square Garden.
01:41:37.000And the thing is, for him, I believe that whenever you hear something and you say, nah, that's not possible, I think that's the right trigger.
01:42:50.000But at the highest levels, guys like Connor, they're making similar money.
01:42:54.000But it's just that that needs to change in terms of it has to be enticing enough that you're going to get the best athletes that realize, like, hey, I don't have to go into basketball.
01:44:49.000And it's just because of the modern day world, because of social media and so many different people coming into the sport.
01:44:59.000And people can say and have an opinion about it.
01:45:02.000But, for example, with Jake Paul and et cetera and all the influencers, but they're bringing a lot of new eyes to the combat sport, to boxing.
01:46:04.000You know, I mean, we mentioned Badr Hari.
01:46:07.000I mean, so many of these great, Melvin Manhoof, so many of these great guys came out of Holland.
01:46:13.000It's kind of nuts if you really think about it.
01:46:16.000Yeah, now we're such a small country, and everybody exchanges their intelligence with each other.
01:46:25.000And I believe that because we're such a small country, that's what increases the level so much everybody trains also with each other go there we go sparring with them we go sparring with them we go sparring with them and then
01:46:38.000you learn this from that guy you learn that from that guy and if you do that for example in in the us you want to train with somebody out from new york you got to fly all the way there you're not going to stay there too long i think it just takes too much time and because in our country we can just drive anywhere and it's but it's also one of the reasons why pay-per-view never worked there because if they if they wanted to to to visit An event,
01:47:43.000It's a small country with the greatest kickboxers of all time.
01:47:47.000It's like it's an anomaly, it's very weird, yeah, very weird how it happened.
01:47:51.000Yeah, and also, like, I think this now for the last, I think after like the last 10 years, it's we've been so good in kickboxing for the last 25 years or even longer, but now,
01:48:08.000since the last 10 years, it's been recognized as well.
01:48:12.000For the public, we've always been good at it, but it's always been like, I don't know, a little bit shady or whatever.
01:48:18.000And now, since the last 10 years, since me and Bader put it on the map, just exploded.
01:48:26.000And everybody just went behind it, like, wow, this is cool.
01:48:41.000At a certain point, it was so crazy that every random guy could become a kickboxing teacher.
01:48:47.000So now, because it became so big and so public, they started to do it like, okay, you got to get like a diploma and a certificate to become a kickboxing trainer.
01:49:01.000You cannot just random say, like, hey, I'm a kickboxing trainer.
01:49:04.000Start kickboxing and start teaching people.
01:49:06.000But at a certain point, that was the case.
01:49:12.000How did Holland become so big in kickboxing?
01:49:15.000I think they, yeah, with Ramon Deckers and everything, they went to Thailand and just like sucked all the information out of that.
01:49:27.000And we had fighters, trainers going there.
01:49:30.000And they took like the Muay Thai of it and they took that to the Netherlands and then like exchanged, like I said, because the country is so small, they exchange everything with each other.
01:49:43.000Like this guy learned that, that guy learned that.
01:49:45.000And if you exchange that with each other, You just get better and you get smarter.
01:49:49.000But it also has to be something about the culture.
01:49:51.000That might be just the mentality of the heart.
01:50:42.000Yeah, every shot, every leg kick, every liver shot, every punch to the face, everything was just with full speed ahead, power explosion, smash.
01:51:22.000Oh, just by looking at it, it just hurts.
01:51:25.000Just destroyed his ankle because of that.
01:51:27.000I mean, in his later fights, later in his years, like when he fought Dwayne Ludwig, I mean, he had to have his ankle taped all over the fucking place.
01:51:34.000Big thing was like hanging on by a thread.
01:51:37.000But that's what we were talking about earlier.
01:51:41.000It's like we as fighters putting our health on the line for entertainment.
01:51:59.000Needs to be transparent and it needs to be safe and with the judging, yeah.
01:52:04.000It needs to be, it needs to be, and best so money wise and with the judging, and everything just needs to be, yeah, needs to be right because what we do is out of this world, yes.
01:52:15.000And it's not just kickboxing, it's boxing, it's MMA.
01:52:34.000So everybody's like, oh, he's making so much money yet.
01:52:36.000Okay, but he can only, he can't do that till he's 65 or whatever.
01:52:40.000So, yeah, there's such a small window, which is one of the things that's so extraordinary about your career that you've managed to stay on top for so long.
01:52:49.000Because generally, when we look at world class fighters, there's a rule that a lot of experts supposedly have said is that it's about nine years.
01:53:01.000You can only really compete in your prime for nine years.
01:53:06.000You've shown yourself to be an exception to that rule because you've been competing in your prime for a lot longer than that.
01:54:06.000The next generation should be excited to get into combat sports and feel like, hey, I want to do this because I can and it is fair, it is transparent, and I'm fighting, but I can make.
01:54:20.000A very good living out of this, and I could build generational wealth with it.
01:54:26.000Well, that's what's really good about this MVP PFL merger and having a bunch of hype on that.
01:54:35.000The more eyes on the sport, the more people watch the sport, the more money will be in the sport, and then the more the fighters will have options for who to fight for.
01:54:43.000Yeah, yeah, and I think that's the best thing.
01:54:52.000He's like, hey, we got this, we got that.
01:54:53.000And it's not that you got to, like, play them out against each other, but still, it is a good thing because if you just have one option, it's like, hey, take it or leave it.
01:57:20.000It's like, even my friends in MMA don't understand.
01:57:24.000Wow, the real people that the trainers and everybody, a lot of times they get the Glory fighters in to prepare their fighters to get into UFC.
01:57:40.000I mean, and like I said, 1FC has a lot of elite fighters.
01:57:46.000Especially at the lighter weight classes, there's a lot of really good.
01:57:48.000Jonathan Haggerty, he just beat Yuki Yoza, who's another guy, this guy from Japan, is a Kyokushin guy who fucks up people's legs, and he's really good.
01:57:57.000And then there's this guy from Dagestan who might be the best striker alive Azadullah Iman Gazaliev.
01:58:04.000This dude, he's really tall and he fights at 135 pounds, and he's fucking nasty, man.
01:58:10.000He's so technical, undefeated, and he's from Dagestan.
01:58:13.000There's so many savages that are coming out of Dagestan, just straight up.
01:58:37.000But in 1FC, they're having these guys fighting, and it's really big in Asia, but it just has not caught on in America.
01:58:45.000No, and I think that's also where the problem is, I think, with them, but also with Glory.
01:58:52.000They're just like pouring in money, pouring in money.
01:58:55.000And at a certain moment, it's like, I also understand, like, the one that's investing in you, like, how much money am I going to need to pour in this before it's going to do something?
01:59:05.000You know, they asked me to be a part of that at one point in time.
01:59:09.000They wanted me to be like the Dana White of glory.
01:59:11.000I'm like, I don't have that kind of time.
01:59:32.000He's always meetings and headaches and canceled fights and this and that and trying to make things happen and promotions and press conferences.
02:00:51.000They first need to position themselves as, but, like, for the future.
02:00:56.000It would be, but then if you've got a big star, like, say, if you take a guy like Max Holloway or someone like that and he decides he wants to box for a while, that means he's not going to be able to fight an MMA fight.
02:01:49.000It was just my excitement to put it out there.
02:01:50.000But listen, for some guys, it might be a good option, you know, and for some guys, especially after knee injuries, you know, where boxing is not as hard on the knees, you know, you could say that, especially when it comes to grappling and leg kicks,
02:02:03.000especially like those guys that throw those side kicks to the knee.
02:03:20.000Because me and my trainer we were debating the the the calf kick because next to it being super effective It's also a long long-term injury when you get put out by Calf kicks.
02:03:35.000Yeah, because it that injury stays there for quite a while.
02:04:09.000In the window between Connor taking time off, fighting Floyd Mayweather, fighting Khabib, and then getting back in MMA, then the calf kick came along.
02:04:52.000If it gets checked and you've hit it the wrong way, especially if you hit the low part of yours and the high part of his where it's thick and dense.
02:05:55.000When Ian Gary fought Shavkat, Shavkat Rachmanov, who's a top welterweight guy, one of the top contenders, he hit him with an oblique kick in his left knee, and his knee's been fucked ever since.
02:06:06.000And he had to have surgery, he had a second surgery, and he's still out.
02:08:18.000Yeah, if somebody's on the ground, they're like, The problem also is the cage versus the ring.
02:08:23.000Because in a ring, soccer kicks make more sense and knees to the head make more sense because you can move around and you can get away from it because you could go under the rope.
02:08:33.000Like if a knee's coming to your head, there's movement.
02:08:35.000Whereas the cage, you're stuck right there.
02:08:38.000I think that's another element of the fight that's an unnecessary element.
02:08:45.000I think maybe even what Karate Combat's doing might be the best way to do it.
02:08:54.000I think that might be the best way to do it.
02:08:56.000The only problem with that is when you get to the edge, you're stumbling because you're it's like half, you fall over it, and yeah.
02:09:03.000But learn how to adjust to that, and that's better than a cage because a cage is just a fucking physical wall.
02:09:11.000Yeah, so the thing about the ramp, the bowl, that shit doesn't help you get up at all.
02:09:16.000No, like if somebody takes you down against that, that's you're not that doesn't help you.
02:09:20.000Where a wall fucking helps you, and there's guys that are doing workouts now where they put their back up against a wall and they're doing kettlebell get ups.
02:09:30.000Where they're lifting up heavy kettlebells and they're doing it in stages, getting up from the ground just to emulate that position.
02:09:41.000Yeah, but that's why I feel like everything has.
02:09:44.000The ring has certain things because I feel like if you do MMA in a ring and somebody shoots or whatever, then maybe they go through the ropes, they shoot.
02:10:39.000There's something to be said for that.
02:10:40.000Yeah, so it has something, but yeah, I was just saying, but like we just talked about, everything has its pros and its cons.
02:10:49.000Everything has its pros and its cons, and everything is exciting in its own way.
02:10:52.000Like boxing on its own, like there's elements of boxing that you would not see if they were allowed to do leg kicks and elbows and all that.
02:11:01.000So there's something beautiful about just pure elite boxing.
02:11:05.000And there's something pure about elite kickboxing, and then there's something pure about elite Muay Thai.