The Joe Rogan Experience - JRE MMA Show #59 with Kamaru Usman

00:00:00.000 And we're live!

00:00:10.000 What's up?

00:00:10.000 How are you?

00:00:11.000 What's up, Joe?

00:00:13.000 Dude, you're on a rollercoaster ride.

00:00:15.000 What is it like to be the champ?

00:00:17.000 What's the feeling like?

00:00:18.000 This is fresh for you.

00:00:19.000 Well, first of all, I just want to say, man, it's such an honor to be here.

00:00:24.000 The honor's mine.

00:00:25.000 I never...

00:00:26.000 I'm going to be honest.

00:00:28.000 My thing is I'm just going to be 100% totally transparent.

00:00:33.000 I never really watched the show.

00:00:35.000 I never really kind of heard of the show.

00:00:37.000 Of course, I heard of you and all the things you do.

00:00:39.000 I'm like, oh yeah, it's Fairfactor guy.

00:00:41.000 But I never really heard of the show until after a fight or two in the UFC and people are tagging me and shit.

00:00:50.000 Yo, Joe Rogan's talking about you. 0.51

00:00:51.000 Joe Rogan talking about you on podcast. 1.00

00:00:52.000 I'm like, fucking podcast? 0.99

00:00:54.000 Because I never listened to podcasts at the time. 0.99

00:00:55.000 I was like, what are you talking about?

00:00:57.000 Until I finally started listening.

00:00:59.000 I'm like, oh, this dude is for real.

00:01:01.000 This dude got some pool. 1.00

00:01:04.000 He got some people watching this shit. 0.99

00:01:06.000 Random people would tag me. 0.99

00:01:07.000 Oh, Joe was talking about you today on the podcast.

00:01:09.000 I'm like, oh man, this guy's for real.

00:01:12.000 And then every time after that, that I see you, I'm like, what's up, Joe?

00:01:16.000 What?

00:01:18.000 Yeah, we've been talking about you for a long time, man.

00:01:20.000 We were just, with your friend out there, we were watching a video of us talking about you back when you were ranked number 12th.

00:01:25.000 And I was saying, I think you could fight for the title right now.

00:01:28.000 Yeah, man.

00:01:30.000 And I like to attest it to, I think, because I went back, once I started kind of researching, I like to go back and do a little research. 0.95

00:01:37.000 And I'm like, fucking, Joe's been with this sport for the beginning. 0.91

00:01:42.000 Like, you were in the back with hair. 0.99

00:01:45.000 Yeah.

00:01:46.000 97, yeah.

00:01:47.000 He was here freaking interviewing the guys during the tournament that were fighting multiple fights at night.

00:01:53.000 And you were interviewing those guys.

00:01:55.000 And I was like, even back then, Joe had skills.

00:01:57.000 Joe was a beast at interviewing these guys.

00:02:00.000 There was no shaking behind it.

00:02:02.000 One thing about me, I've gotten into commentating and things like that now.

00:02:07.000 And I'm like, dang, Joe, he didn't seem nervous.

00:02:09.000 You were just like a freaking natural at it.

00:02:11.000 And the sport was just growing at that time. 0.98

00:02:14.000 I was like, damn, Joe's known for a while. 0.97

00:02:14.000 There was nobody watching back then. 0.97

00:02:16.000 It wasn't as much pressure.

00:02:17.000 It wasn't like coming into it today, ESPN, pay-per-view, all that deal.

00:02:21.000 It would be a lot of pressure.

00:02:23.000 But back then, it was just fun.

00:02:25.000 It was weird, man.

00:02:27.000 The first one I did was in Dothan, Alabama.

00:02:30.000 I don't know if it was a high school gym or some small auditorium, tiny little place.

00:02:36.000 It was very weird.

00:02:36.000 Yeah, but you made it look like a freaking certain little walk in the park.

00:02:41.000 I mean, I was like, damn, Joe's been doing this shit for a while. 0.98

00:02:45.000 Well, it's an interesting thing to see, you know, to see it progress from 1997 to where it's at in 2019. The biggest difference is not just the amount of eyes that it gets and the amount of people that are paying attention to. 0.99

00:02:58.000 The real difference is the level of athlete.

00:03:01.000 It's a giant, giant leap, like in no other sport.

00:03:05.000 I don't think there's another sport from 1993 to 2019 where the athletes are almost, it's almost unrecognizable how much better the fighters are.

00:03:14.000 Absolutely.

00:03:17.000 Now, back in the day, it was like, okay, you finished your college career, you finished all this, you've got to the height of whatever.

00:03:25.000 Sport, you could be, let's start fighting.

00:03:28.000 Guys were coming in at 28, 27, starting to learn the tricks.

00:03:33.000 Now you got freaking 10-year-old kids sparring.

00:03:37.000 There's all these crazy videos of little bitty kids fighting in Russia or other places.

00:03:43.000 They're full-on MMA fighting.

00:03:45.000 Yeah, it's a totally different world.

00:03:46.000 It's like, yeah, whole promotion.

00:03:47.000 I'm like, man, by the time these guys get to 16, 17, they're going to be killers.

00:03:52.000 Yeah, but if you go back and watch a boxing match from like 93, a world champion boxer like Marvin Hagler, perfect example.

00:04:00.000 Marvin Hagler from the 80s could absolutely hang.

00:04:03.000 With middleweights, he would fit right in with world champions today.

00:04:08.000 Absolutely.

00:04:09.000 But a UFC champ from 93, it's just not the same.

00:04:13.000 It's not by any stretch.

00:04:15.000 Back then, it was wild.

00:04:18.000 It was crazy, but nobody had endurance.

00:04:21.000 There was a few guys that had some skill, like Orlando Veen or Hoist Gracie.

00:04:26.000 Guys are really good at their individual arts, but there was no real complete fighters yet.

00:04:32.000 Yeah, you got the transition because it was, everyone came in with their special skills and that was the big thing.

00:04:38.000 I think UFC even sold that as, oh yeah, you got the wrestler fighting the combo, the sambo guy and the jiu-jitsu guy.

00:04:48.000 So that was the thing.

00:04:49.000 Everyone came in with their one skill and they put it to the test to see which skill was better.

00:04:55.000 It's freaking crazy, Joe.

00:04:57.000 My first fight, first time I ever watched a UFC fight, I was visiting John Jones in college, freshman year.

00:05:06.000 This was our freshman year, true freshman year.

00:05:08.000 I was visiting him because I went to a small school, William Penn University, which was about two hours away from him.

00:05:15.000 He was at Iowa Central in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

00:05:18.000 So, I went to go spend my fall break a whole week with him, just hanging out, because we had met the previous year in high school, and just, you know, it's two brothers wrestling.

00:05:27.000 It was like, hey, two brothers, what's up, man?

00:05:29.000 Where you going to school next year?

00:05:30.000 It's like, I'll be Iowa.

00:05:31.000 I was like, yo, me too!

00:05:33.000 And so, we kept in touch, and I went up to hang out with him, and during that week, it was a fight on him.

00:05:39.000 Someone, like a friend of the team, something like that, invited us to come to his house and watch it.

00:05:45.000 And we went over there to watch the fights.

00:05:47.000 I had never really heard of it.

00:05:48.000 I never really cared.

00:05:50.000 I was just a freshman just trying to hang out with John and party.

00:05:53.000 What year was this around?

00:05:54.000 This was 2005. Yeah, 2005. So it was like first season of The Ultimate Fighter.

00:05:59.000 Yeah, 2005. So I think it might have been Randy Couture or someone.

00:06:04.000 John just reminded me, but I forgot who was fighting.

00:06:07.000 And we went to the house party and watched it.

00:06:09.000 I really didn't really remember the fight.

00:06:11.000 Because I didn't really care.

00:06:13.000 I never paid attention to it.

00:06:14.000 I never thought I would ever do something like that.

00:06:16.000 So I just watched it.

00:06:18.000 And then I remember the guy saying, Hey man, you guys can do this.

00:06:22.000 Why don't you guys try this? 0.99

00:06:24.000 And I was like, me and John kind of looked at each other like, hell no, ain't no way we gonna do that shit, you know? 0.96

00:06:30.000 Wrestling is controlled, you know, there's rules, you know, certain things you can or can't do. 0.99

00:06:36.000 There's no way we're doing that.

00:06:37.000 So we kind of laughed it off and left that day.

00:06:42.000 Never knew that I, freaking years later, I'd be doing this.

00:06:45.000 Not just doing it.

00:06:47.000 You dethroned the guy who many people, including me, were saying is a very good argument for the best welterweight ever.

00:06:54.000 I felt like Tyron is like, you gotta give it...

00:06:56.000 There's like two...

00:06:57.000 There's legendary status, right?

00:06:59.000 There's like...

00:07:00.000 Matt Hughes has legendary status for being the original.

00:07:03.000 He was one of the first wrestlers who really knew how to submit guys.

00:07:07.000 And then George St. Pierre was, of course, in many people's eyes, the greatest of all time in the welterweight division.

00:07:12.000 Went on this long run.

00:07:13.000 But I was like, man, if Tyron beats Usman, I was like, there's a real good argument for him being number one of all time.

00:07:21.000 Beating Wonderboy, smashing Darren Till, beating Damian Maia, knocking out Robbie Lawler to win the title.

00:07:28.000 Absolutely.

00:07:29.000 I considered him.

00:07:30.000 I put him in that conversation.

00:07:31.000 Yeah, he's in that conversation for sure.

00:07:33.000 For sure, I put him in that conversation.

00:07:36.000 I, you know, nothing but respect for Tyron.

00:07:39.000 It was nice to see afterwards.

00:07:40.000 There's a video of you and Tyron's mom and Tyron and Tyron's mom afterwards.

00:07:45.000 It is a beautiful video.

00:07:46.000 Yeah, man.

00:07:47.000 It's a tearjerker.

00:07:49.000 I freaking let it go because I'm one of those guys I never really sit and stop and smell the roses and things like that.

00:07:56.000 I always have a chip on my shoulder and I'll explain why that is but I always had this chip on my shoulder with everything that I do so I never really sit and celebrate and say oh yeah I accomplished this or I did that or did that but I'd known his mom.

00:08:12.000 I've met her previously to the fights.

00:08:16.000 I fought in St. Louis one time.

00:08:18.000 Of course, I'd seen her several times in his fights.

00:08:22.000 I was fighting in St. Louis, and I was there early.

00:08:26.000 And she was at the hotel.

00:08:27.000 Tyra wasn't fighting or anything, but she just came to the hotel. 0.56

00:08:30.000 I think she was just hanging out.

00:08:32.000 And I got to sit with her before all the fighters even came into town.

00:08:36.000 I had to sit with her.

00:08:37.000 I think we sat for a couple hours, maybe three, four hours, just talking.

00:08:41.000 I got to know her, and she was just such an angel.

00:08:45.000 But at the same time... 0.73

00:08:47.000 She's a gangster too.

00:08:51.000 She was everything.

00:08:54.000 The biggest thing I could compare her to is, if you've ever seen that show from way back, it's called Touched by an Angel.

00:09:01.000 I forget what her name is.

00:09:02.000 She's the famous black actress. 1.00

00:09:05.000 Do you remember that woman?

00:09:06.000 Adele.

00:09:07.000 I forget her name.

00:09:08.000 What is it?

00:09:09.000 Maya Angelou.

00:09:10.000 No, it wasn't Maya Angelou.

00:09:12.000 It was that late.

00:09:13.000 I mean, she was Maya Angelou's status, how big she was, and inspirational, but that's kind of what I compare her to.

00:09:19.000 And so we got, you know, I knew her.

00:09:23.000 And Tyrone obviously wasn't who I would have chosen to take the belt from, but...

00:09:29.000 Is how long can you hold yourself back?

00:09:31.000 Because being a champion, there's a huge difference between being a challenger and a champion.

00:09:36.000 And of course, I needed to have my family in that argument.

00:09:42.000 I need to get them to that status to where now I'm setting my daughter up. 1.00

00:09:47.000 I'm setting everyone up for...

00:09:50.000 You know, life, better life forever.

00:09:52.000 And I couldn't continue to hold that back.

00:09:54.000 So, yeah, it was unfortunate that I had to take that from him.

00:09:57.000 And I kind of, in a sense, I felt like I was taken away from what he was doing for them.

00:10:02.000 So when I saw her walking backstage, I just couldn't control it.

00:10:05.000 I just let go and I just couldn't help but cry on her shoulders.

00:10:09.000 This is a great video.

00:10:11.000 What is her name?

00:10:12.000 The actress is Roma Downey.

00:10:14.000 Yeah, that's her. 0.60

00:10:16.000 The video is amazing because she's hugging you and she's telling you congratulations and she's telling you that they're going to be coming for you.

00:10:24.000 So train hard.

00:10:25.000 And just like her attitude, man, it's beautiful, man.

00:10:29.000 It's amazing her character that she handled that.

00:10:33.000 I mean, this is her baby.

00:10:35.000 Her baby just lost and lost every round.

00:10:37.000 And it was a pretty dominant victory by you.

00:10:40.000 And for her to treat you that way afterwards just shows amazing character.

00:10:45.000 There it is right here.

00:10:47.000 You can see it up here.

00:10:49.000 Look at her.

00:10:50.000 She just embraces you, open arms.

00:10:52.000 It's all good.

00:10:54.000 It's all good, baby.

00:10:55.000 Look at that.

00:10:59.000 Amazing.

00:11:04.000 That's an amazing woman right there. 0.99

00:11:10.000 Wow.

00:11:12.000 That's amazing, man.

00:11:13.000 Yeah.

00:11:14.000 And even Tyron, the way Tyron handles it, it's crazy, right?

00:11:16.000 It makes me cry.

00:11:17.000 There's something in the air over here.

00:11:19.000 What's going on?

00:11:20.000 Y'all got it dusty in here.

00:11:20.000 Dude, I got it too.

00:11:22.000 It made me cry when I saw it.

00:11:23.000 It's making me cry now.

00:11:24.000 Yeah, man.

00:11:25.000 And the way she treated Tyron too, the same thing.

00:11:28.000 I mean, she's just...

00:11:29.000 That's how my mom is too.

00:11:33.000 So I felt such a connection to that, to her, because my mom is the exact same way.

00:11:39.000 My mom would have done the same thing to Tyron. 0.98

00:11:42.000 It was powerful, man.

00:11:44.000 It was moving.

00:11:47.000 And it goes to attest to how big the sport is as well.

00:11:51.000 It's not, oh man, it's just a regular fight.

00:11:54.000 You guys hate each other and you're fighting.

00:11:56.000 No, this was a competition.

00:11:59.000 This was two men that went in there for a competition and one guy won.

00:12:04.000 And you saw the aftermath.

00:12:06.000 You see the family receive each other.

00:12:08.000 People love that, man. 0.99

00:12:09.000 They love when people put all that bullshit aside. 0.97

00:12:12.000 I mean, you guys had a lot of... 0.97

00:12:14.000 Trash talk at the press conferences, and there was a lot of that going on, but that sells tickets, and it's good for everybody, and it's natural and normal, but after it was over, it was nothing but respect, and it's what a lot of people think is wrong about the trash talk of this era, because there's an era right now, right?

00:12:34.000 We're in the trash talk era, and some people are really good at it, and some people are terrible at it, but it seems like everybody's trying.

00:12:41.000 I mean, Masvidal, Recently, when he just beat Darren Till, it was very interesting because, you know, his take on it before the fight was, why trash talk?

00:12:52.000 Like, what are we doing?

00:12:53.000 You know, we're going to fight. 1.00

00:12:55.000 Like, what is all this bullshit about? 1.00

00:12:56.000 Like, he doesn't like it. 0.99

00:12:57.000 He was like, I don't like where this is going.

00:12:59.000 I don't like where the sport is going.

00:13:01.000 Yeah, I mean, it's one of those things that I had to adjust to because I wasn't brought on those principles.

00:13:08.000 I'm not, you know.

00:13:09.000 You're a competitor.

00:13:10.000 Yeah, I wasn't here for a salesman.

00:13:12.000 Asked me all the time, why do you do this?

00:13:15.000 I chose to do this.

00:13:17.000 I'm college educated. 1.00

00:13:19.000 I can get a fucking job and sit in an office and punch numbers and all that. 0.99

00:13:24.000 But I chose to do this because of my burning desire to compete. 0.99

00:13:29.000 Even now, when I compete with guys, I'm not competing angry.

00:13:33.000 I don't want to kill this guy. 0.99

00:13:35.000 I'm not rah-rah-rah and all that shit. 0.99

00:13:37.000 No, it's competition for me. 0.99

00:13:39.000 My mind is, I'm going to beat you.

00:13:41.000 Which goes to attest to how I fight and how I compete.

00:13:46.000 I'm not like that.

00:13:47.000 This is not the only thing that I can do. 0.98

00:13:49.000 And so this era came about where now everybody, you got to talk shit, you got to sell, you got to do this and do that. 0.96

00:13:56.000 Do you feel any pressure to do that? 0.98

00:13:59.000 At some point I did because I was fighting the way I was fighting.

00:14:05.000 I was dominating guys and I was getting nowhere.

00:14:07.000 It was like no notoriety.

00:14:10.000 They were kind of like just kind of putting you on the wayside.

00:14:12.000 They would always tell me, oh, you get a top 10 guy.

00:14:14.000 You'll get a top 10 guy.

00:14:15.000 But it wouldn't happen.

00:14:17.000 It was like, oh, you fight this guy.

00:14:18.000 And you can't really argue with them because this promotion is giving you the opportunity to even really make money at all for the career path that you chose.

00:14:26.000 So...

00:14:27.000 For a while, I just felt like, man, this is not...

00:14:30.000 I guess I just got to do this.

00:14:32.000 Because you saw it. 0.97

00:14:33.000 The other clown, Covington, he had to do that. 0.97

00:14:36.000 He absolutely had... 0.96

00:14:37.000 Nothing has changed with the way that he fights.

00:14:39.000 He's done the exact same thing since he'd been in the UFC. But after the first couple of fights, no one gave a shit. 0.98

00:14:45.000 So he felt, you know what? 0.99

00:14:46.000 No, I'm just going to have to start doing this.

00:14:48.000 Everyone knows it's fake.

00:14:50.000 Right.

00:14:51.000 Because he just one day woke up and started doing it.

00:14:54.000 And that's the thing now.

00:14:57.000 People try to say you have to do that.

00:14:59.000 But for me, what I'm not going to do is I'm not going to just sell my soul just to, oh yeah, I'm just trying to earn a couple bucks because I'm not going to do that.

00:15:09.000 I'm going to do it the right way.

00:15:10.000 George did it the right way, and I'm a firm believer that when you do it the right way, you will earn what you deserve.

00:15:16.000 It will come to you at some point.

00:15:18.000 I don't think that you have to.

00:15:20.000 I really don't. 1.00

00:15:21.000 Yeah, I mean, Kobe Covington does, because that dude freaking sucks. 0.99

00:15:27.000 You've got to give it to him. 0.99

00:15:28.000 He did beat Dos Anjos.

00:15:29.000 That was a big victory.

00:15:30.000 He did beat Damian Mayan.

00:15:32.000 That was a big victory.

00:15:32.000 Those are two legit victories over two very dangerous guys.

00:15:36.000 He did beat those guys.

00:15:37.000 Yes, absolutely.

00:15:38.000 So he's got skill on top of the trash talking. 0.97

00:15:40.000 But the trash talking bumped him ahead of you in line. 0.97

00:15:44.000 And a lot of us were surprised. 0.96

00:15:46.000 I was surprised.

00:15:47.000 I was surprised.

00:15:48.000 He had to do it.

00:15:50.000 And I mean, it's gotten him where he has.

00:15:53.000 And I mean, look what he did two weeks ago when I fought.

00:15:56.000 His whole deal was for me to create an uproar to get my name back in the picture.

00:16:02.000 And he did a wonderful job.

00:16:04.000 This is one thing that I would say is that he has done a wonderful job at having people talk about him.

00:16:11.000 Whether you hate him, which, and even the bosses have said the exact same thing, is no one has done what he's done.

00:16:19.000 No one has ever created the persona that is unanimously hated worldwide.

00:16:27.000 Like, unanimously.

00:16:29.000 There's not even...

00:16:30.000 He's a heel.

00:16:30.000 A wrestling heel.

00:16:31.000 Like, literally a heel.

00:16:32.000 Like, those guys, they still had fans, you know, that wanted to see him succeed.

00:16:37.000 Like, nobody likes...

00:16:38.000 He's not safe anywhere.

00:16:39.000 No.

00:16:40.000 You know, you don't even have to be...

00:16:41.000 There's flightweights that want to hurt this guy.

00:16:43.000 Yeah.

00:16:46.000 So he's done a good job of creating that, which I love.

00:16:49.000 And I appreciate that.

00:16:51.000 It's going to sell a lot of pay-per-views when you guys fight.

00:16:53.000 Yeah, I'm not a hater.

00:16:54.000 I'm not a hater.

00:16:55.000 I give credit where credit is due.

00:16:56.000 I appreciate the fact that he's done that.

00:16:59.000 And that's one thing that Rashad taught me over the years is that you have to appreciate certain things like that.

00:17:04.000 And I do.

00:17:04.000 I always wanted this moment.

00:17:06.000 I always wanted that.

00:17:07.000 Conor and Khabib, that adversary, that Rashad and Rampage, that Hughes and George St. Pierre.

00:17:15.000 I always wanted that, and he's done a good job of creating that. 0.99

00:17:20.000 So, not just an adversary in terms of a legitimate, worthy opponent, but a dude that you want to fuck up. 0.99

00:17:27.000 Absolutely. 0.99

00:17:28.000 I mean...

00:17:30.000 I haven't been in a fight yet where it was malicious.

00:17:33.000 I was maliciously trying to hurt someone.

00:17:36.000 I haven't been in that fight yet.

00:17:38.000 Yes, that's the thing about me is my mind.

00:17:40.000 My mind is strong.

00:17:40.000 I don't compete.

00:17:42.000 Oh yeah, I'm trying to kill this guy and then you swing five punches, you miss, now you're dead tired. 0.93

00:17:46.000 I don't compete like that. 0.95

00:17:48.000 This one, I'm still going to compete as myself, but there's going to be a letter extra of that.

00:17:53.000 Behind these elbows now. 0.95

00:17:55.000 I'm going to fillet your face with the little longer cuts. 0.99

00:17:58.000 I'm trying to... 0.99

00:17:59.000 This one is going to be one that I really enjoy.

00:18:02.000 Well, that was the same with Khabib and Conor when he said, I want to change your face.

00:18:06.000 Yes. 0.98

00:18:06.000 When he said that, I was like, damn, that's deep. 0.98

00:18:09.000 I want to change your face. 0.99

00:18:10.000 And you saw that even when Khabib was like that.

00:18:13.000 Yeah.

00:18:14.000 Khabib was never out of character. 0.80

00:18:15.000 Khabib never was like, oh yeah, I'm just going to go out there and try to kill this guy.

00:18:19.000 There's a certain level.

00:18:20.000 There's a certain mentality that certain fighters have to have.

00:18:24.000 And Khabib is another guy that I've seen that competes similarly to the way that I do as far as his mind, where it's at. 0.99

00:18:32.000 Like, I don't give a shit what you do. 0.99

00:18:34.000 Talk about me. 0.99

00:18:35.000 Do all this.

00:18:35.000 Try to distract me.

00:18:36.000 Like, they tried me.

00:18:38.000 Leading up to the tyrant fight, they did everything.

00:18:41.000 What are you going to do?

00:18:41.000 And then you had his little sidekick that looked like Sancho Bob that was talking and doing this, trying to distract me.

00:18:49.000 And then Kobe popped up trying to distract me.

00:18:51.000 That didn't change anything.

00:18:53.000 That's not going to do nothing to me.

00:18:54.000 My mind is on competing.

00:18:56.000 I'm going to compete to the best of my abilities.

00:18:58.000 And I'm going to embarrass you.

00:19:00.000 And then this guy is going to be even more worth it.

00:19:04.000 The big change in your skill set from your first fight in the UFC to now is your striking.

00:19:09.000 Your wrestling has always been outstanding.

00:19:12.000 Your cardio has always been excellent.

00:19:13.000 But your striking is much more fluid and much looser.

00:19:18.000 You're much more efficient now.

00:19:20.000 You were always powerful.

00:19:22.000 But it seems like now everything's flowing together.

00:19:25.000 You don't have any holes in your game anymore.

00:19:27.000 It's a different thing.

00:19:28.000 Yeah, Joe.

00:19:30.000 I've been with my same team since the start.

00:19:33.000 The same guys that I've been with.

00:19:36.000 Glenn Robinson started our gym.

00:19:38.000 Unfortunately, he passed away.

00:19:40.000 Rest in peace to Glenn.

00:19:41.000 When did he die?

00:19:42.000 I didn't even know he died.

00:19:43.000 He died last year.

00:19:45.000 Yeah, he died last year.

00:19:46.000 I didn't even know.

00:19:47.000 Yeah, he had a heart attack.

00:19:49.000 It was sad.

00:19:51.000 I couldn't really believe that it happened.

00:19:53.000 It did and I'd say he's in a better place.

00:19:58.000 He started all this.

00:20:01.000 Him and Rashad Evans.

00:20:02.000 Rashad needed a new place when he was leaving Jackson's.

00:20:06.000 They got together and decided to start this.

00:20:10.000 It's Rashad Evans.

00:20:12.000 At the top of the game, who doesn't want to train with Rashad Evans?

00:20:15.000 It kind of spread like wildfire to where everyone started going down there.

00:20:20.000 But, yeah, I've been with the same guy.

00:20:22.000 Henry Hooft just came down at that time.

00:20:24.000 Henry Hooft was a striking coach.

00:20:26.000 I've been with him since.

00:20:28.000 He's a phenomenal coach, too.

00:20:29.000 Amazing coach.

00:20:30.000 Such a good striking coach.

00:20:32.000 Those Dutch fundamentals.

00:20:34.000 I mean, that guy's got it down.

00:20:35.000 Yeah, and a lot of...

00:20:37.000 I've seen a lot of different coaches, different styles.

00:20:41.000 I like a lot of different things, but the thing with Henry is he's very basic.

00:20:47.000 Because at the end of the day... 0.99

00:20:49.000 When you're fucking tired and you can't even hold your arms up and do certain things, you're just going to do basic regular shit. 0.99

00:20:56.000 Yeah. 0.99

00:20:57.000 Jab.

00:20:58.000 Right.

00:20:58.000 Two.

00:20:58.000 One, two.

00:20:59.000 That's what you're going to do. 1.00

00:21:00.000 Now, he's going to keep it simple, stupid. 1.00

00:21:02.000 Yeah. 1.00

00:21:02.000 He's very like that. 1.00

00:21:04.000 He keeps it simple.

00:21:05.000 And that was the way for me to learn it.

00:21:07.000 It's just from the bottom up.

00:21:10.000 I learned it.

00:21:11.000 Now, don't get it wrong, Joe. 0.99

00:21:12.000 I can do some of that cool shit. 0.98

00:21:14.000 Like, in practice, I'll do cartwheel kicks. 0.99

00:21:16.000 I'll do all that... 0.99

00:21:17.000 Cool as shit. 0.99

00:21:18.000 I can do that. 0.99

00:21:19.000 Yeah, that reverse loop-de-loop front side taekwondo kick. 1.00

00:21:24.000 You do all that shit? 0.99

00:21:25.000 I can try it. 1.00

00:21:27.000 Do you think ever about moments in fights?

00:21:30.000 There are moments in fights where a fighter will do something.

00:21:35.000 The best example is Chris Weidman versus Luke Rockhold.

00:21:39.000 Chris Weidman tries this wheel kick out of nowhere.

00:21:42.000 And he misses with it. 0.98

00:21:44.000 Luke gets a hold of him, drags him to the ground, and beats the shit out of him. 0.98

00:21:49.000 Luke has a nasty top game. 0.99

00:21:51.000 Absolutely.

00:21:52.000 His top game is crushing, and he's just ruthless ground and pound.

00:21:56.000 And it changed the course of Chris's career in a lot of ways.

00:21:59.000 That beating went on.

00:22:01.000 I mean, he lost the title, and then he lost other fights afterwards.

00:22:04.000 But before that, he was dominating.

00:22:06.000 He had beaten Anderson twice.

00:22:07.000 He had crushed Vitor.

00:22:09.000 He was a different thing.

00:22:11.000 There's these moments, these pivotal moments in fights when someone just tries something.

00:22:16.000 I mean, most of the time you just get away with it. 0.99

00:22:18.000 But sometimes, and that is my go-to when I tell people, don't try some shit that's not your thing. 0.98

00:22:25.000 This is the best example. 0.99

00:22:27.000 Chris Weidman throwing that wheel kick against Luke Rockhold.

00:22:30.000 Yeah, and that's part of everything that's grouped in with Fight IQ. You have to be able to assess risk-reward and certain things like that.

00:22:41.000 At some point, it was a knock on me.

00:22:43.000 It's like, oh, this guy never gets out of position. 0.87

00:22:45.000 He never does any of the cool shit or any of that. 0.58

00:22:49.000 Who's giving you that knock? 1.00

00:22:51.000 Fucking people. 1.00

00:22:52.000 You can't listen to them. 1.00

00:22:53.000 Come to me.

00:22:53.000 I know, Joe.

00:22:54.000 I listen to you say that all the time.

00:22:56.000 I was like, he's doing everything perfect. 0.98

00:22:57.000 I was saying a long time ago, this guy's not fucking up. 0.96

00:23:00.000 He keeps running through guys and he's beating guys like a world champion already. 0.96

00:23:04.000 Yeah, a lot of people always kind of, you know, like, oh, he didn't do all this, he's not doing all that.

00:23:09.000 But the thing with me is being able to assess when I can do that, when I can't do that.

00:23:15.000 Like when I fought RDA, I threw a freaking axe kick in the fifth round.

00:23:18.000 And I practiced that in practice. 0.89

00:23:21.000 I catch guys with it all the time.

00:23:24.000 And it's just being able to assess...

00:23:27.000 You already had him.

00:23:29.000 Yeah, I knew that this was an opportunity for me to start letting go.

00:23:34.000 And so I started letting go.

00:23:36.000 And I mean, RDA's a tough, tough dude.

00:23:40.000 Very tough.

00:23:40.000 Tough dude.

00:23:41.000 He's a tweener, right? 0.97

00:23:42.000 Freaking hardhead. 0.89

00:23:43.000 He seems like he's a tweener to me. 0.99

00:23:45.000 Like, he's not quite a 170. I mean, he could beat a lot of guys at 170, but it's almost like he should be like 160 or 165. But 155 is too hard of a cut for him these days.

00:23:55.000 Yeah.

00:23:55.000 Yeah, but the thing is, that's the nature of the game.

00:23:58.000 Because if we started saying, okay, we're going to accommodate everybody, it's never going to stop.

00:24:03.000 Do you think there should be more weight classes?

00:24:05.000 Well, you don't care.

00:24:08.000 170 works for you.

00:24:10.000 It's still a hard cut.

00:24:11.000 Is it?

00:24:11.000 What do you walk around at?

00:24:13.000 190?

00:24:14.000 180, 88 to 190?

00:24:17.000 Believe it or not, for most people that are listening to this, that's on the light side.

00:24:21.000 Yeah, no, absolutely.

00:24:23.000 I know it is.

00:24:23.000 But the thing is, I'm so lean and I'm 180 and I'm walking around below 6% body fat.

00:24:28.000 Who do you use for weight? 0.99

00:24:31.000 For the last couple of fights, man, I've been working with Clint Wittenberg up at the PI and Trifecta.

00:24:38.000 I like Clint a lot.

00:24:40.000 What is Trifecta?

00:24:42.000 Trifecta Food System.

00:24:44.000 Essentially, the meal delivery, meal prep stuff.

00:24:47.000 And they do a phenomenal job.

00:24:49.000 Phenomenal.

00:24:50.000 And Clint...

00:24:51.000 The reason I chose to go with him is I've always did it by myself.

00:24:55.000 I like to cook.

00:24:56.000 I cook for myself.

00:24:57.000 I always, you know, when all those fights, earlier fights in the UFC, every one of my fights, I was in charge of my whole diet.

00:25:04.000 I cook for myself.

00:25:05.000 I do this.

00:25:06.000 Because I've done it so many years in wrestling all the wrong way.

00:25:10.000 I can look at myself.

00:25:12.000 I can wake up in the morning, look at myself in the mirror, and tell how much I weigh, and I'll be right on.

00:25:16.000 Just because I'm so used to my body.

00:25:19.000 So I know what I can or I can't eat, what can hold food, what can hold water.

00:25:23.000 And it's just a discipline thing for me as well.

00:25:25.000 And so I decided, you know what?

00:25:28.000 I'm getting higher up now.

00:25:30.000 One thing that I don't understand is that I haven't done the research is what foods to eat before a certain practice at certain times to feel me the best, to help me feel the best.

00:25:42.000 Because I'm getting older and things aren't the same the way they used to be.

00:25:46.000 How old are you now?

00:25:46.000 I'm 31, and I'm going to be 32 in May, and I'm like, man, I just don't feel it.

00:25:51.000 What differences have you noticed?

00:25:52.000 A lot of difference. 0.95

00:25:54.000 At 24, I just fucking wake up at 6 a.m., and I can go for a freaking five-mile run like that with nothing. 0.97

00:26:01.000 Now I can't do that anymore. 0.98

00:26:02.000 Do you think that is age, or do you think that is miles?

00:26:05.000 Like all the hard training?

00:26:07.000 It's a combination of both.

00:26:08.000 Because 31, you're in your athletic prime.

00:26:10.000 Yeah, it's a combination of both because in wrestling years, I got to be in the late 40s.

00:26:14.000 I mean, in wrestling years, I'm late 40s.

00:26:16.000 I mean, back is a shot.

00:26:18.000 My, you know, my shoulders are shot.

00:26:21.000 My knees.

00:26:22.000 Oh my God, my knees.

00:26:23.000 I've had five knee surgeries.

00:26:25.000 Jesus Christ.

00:26:26.000 Yeah.

00:26:26.000 I saw you limping.

00:26:27.000 Did you have one recently?

00:26:28.000 I just had surgery.

00:26:30.000 Actually, I had surgery on Tuesday.

00:26:32.000 Oh, that's a hernia, right?

00:26:33.000 Last Tuesday I had a double hernia.

00:26:35.000 Jesus.

00:26:35.000 So did you fight with a double hernia?

00:26:37.000 I tore it before, like five weeks before the fight.

00:26:41.000 But I don't know if it was completely off.

00:26:43.000 You had a hernia and a broken foot for that fight?

00:26:46.000 Yeah. 1.00

00:26:46.000 That is fucking crazy. 1.00

00:26:48.000 The funny thing is, and Ali makes fun of me about this, my manager, is... 0.99

00:26:53.000 All fight week, if you saw me, you would think this guy was like a zombie.

00:26:58.000 I limp around, I freaking light again patches on me, and I'm in a boot or sleeve, and all I do all day is I go do the media rounds or whatever I need to do, training, come back, and I'm just in my room, either game ready on me or something on me.

00:27:14.000 But when I walk through that door to fight, the Nigeria nightmare wakes up. 1.00

00:27:18.000 I flip the switch.

00:27:19.000 And a lot of people would, if they go back and look at videos, when I walk into the cage, I step right before the cage, I pray, say my prayer for protection.

00:27:28.000 And when I walk in, I just freaking don't know if it's like I flip that switch.

00:27:32.000 Do you have a prayer that you say every time?

00:27:34.000 Yeah.

00:27:34.000 You have the exact same thing?

00:27:36.000 Yeah.

00:27:36.000 What do you say?

00:27:37.000 Similar along those lines.

00:27:38.000 I basically just a prayer for protection.

00:27:40.000 Prayer for me to be able to display the best of my abilities.

00:27:47.000 It's never...

00:27:47.000 Because I'm not selfish.

00:27:49.000 I'm not getting in that prayer, please let me win.

00:27:52.000 No, it's please protect me in here so I can go back to my family safe and sound.

00:27:57.000 And protect my opponent as well.

00:27:59.000 And give me the strength to be able to display the best of my abilities.

00:28:05.000 And that's it. 0.98

00:28:06.000 And once I freaking walk through that door, I'm the freaking Nigerian nightmare. 1.00

00:28:10.000 I just... 0.99

00:28:10.000 That's it. 0.99

00:28:11.000 You feel like a different person when you walk onto the cage?

00:28:13.000 I am.

00:28:13.000 And you see it in my face.

00:28:16.000 I'm good and dandy, but when I walk in, it goes away.

00:28:19.000 I transform into that person.

00:28:21.000 Yeah, I think a lot of people would be surprised at how friendly and easygoing you are outside.

00:28:26.000 People can't tell.

00:28:27.000 And that's the thing now.

00:28:30.000 There's no change in me. 0.96

00:28:31.000 I'm still the same freaking guy. 0.66

00:28:33.000 I haven't done anything since the fight. 0.87

00:28:36.000 Nothing.

00:28:36.000 People are asking me, have you gone out and partied in this and that with the belt?

00:28:40.000 Nah, I haven't done shit. 0.99

00:28:42.000 You sleep with it? 0.99

00:28:44.000 No, my daughter.

00:28:45.000 I brought it for my daughter.

00:28:46.000 My daughter did.

00:28:47.000 But I didn't do anything.

00:28:48.000 I just sit on the couch, watch TV, go back, maybe go to the shop that I like to take my daughter to get French toast.

00:28:57.000 She loves this one place.

00:28:58.000 So I take her there, come back.

00:29:01.000 That's it.

00:29:02.000 Or maybe take her to a date night.

00:29:03.000 The only difference is now a lot of people are starting to recognize me more.

00:29:06.000 So I'm walking out of the movies.

00:29:08.000 People will stop me.

00:29:09.000 Hey, can I get a picture?

00:29:10.000 Can I get a picture?

00:29:10.000 Yeah, of course.

00:29:12.000 But nothing changed. 0.98

00:29:13.000 I'm the same freaking guy. 0.88

00:29:15.000 I haven't got a chance to do anything. 0.77

00:29:16.000 I had surgery last Tuesday.

00:29:17.000 I've been in bed for weeks.

00:29:19.000 So I haven't done anything.

00:29:20.000 But I don't think anything is going to change.

00:29:22.000 I'm the same guy.

00:29:24.000 Well, you sound like you have the perfect attitude.

00:29:27.000 Like the idea that you're making a prayer to just do your best and not be hurt and not have your opponent hurt and protect you and your opponent.

00:29:37.000 That is a beautiful attitude.

00:29:39.000 And the fact that the way you're approaching this, I mean, you're just here to compete and to do your very best. 0.97

00:29:47.000 You're free of the burden of a lot of bullshit that some people carry around with them. 0.95

00:29:51.000 Joe, and I was thinking about this on the way up. 0.97

00:29:54.000 A lot of those fighters, a lot of those champions, after a while, they feel this certain pressure to be able to do this or that.

00:30:06.000 Some of the examples that I gave is, there's so much pressure on Anderson Silva.

00:30:10.000 I almost felt like he couldn't wait to lose.

00:30:12.000 Yeah.

00:30:12.000 He was just like, it's like a pressure the way you just want to put it down.

00:30:16.000 Imagine you said that to me when BJ Penn beat him.

00:30:18.000 Yeah.

00:30:19.000 You said there was just so much pressure.

00:30:20.000 You just want to get out of it.

00:30:21.000 And I feel like it was so much pressure.

00:30:23.000 George St. Pierre ran away from the sport because of that pressure.

00:30:26.000 Yeah. 0.98

00:30:26.000 For me, I don't feel shit. 0.98

00:30:31.000 I was just thinking, I was like, I don't care. 0.95

00:30:35.000 Look at this fight now.

00:30:36.000 They're coming to fight.

00:30:37.000 Everyone's already making a big deal out of it.

00:30:40.000 It's another fight for me.

00:30:41.000 I don't even think of myself as, oh, you're the champion.

00:30:43.000 I don't care. 0.53

00:30:45.000 I just want to beat this guy up. 0.99

00:30:47.000 Do you think that you will care, though, when the media obligations and all that shit happens? 1.00

00:30:51.000 Or do you think you'll just be able to zen your way through all that shit? 0.99

00:30:54.000 Um... 1.00

00:30:55.000 I would be lying to say I would never care.

00:30:58.000 I think that would be doing an injustice.

00:31:01.000 But I feel like I go to certain people, like I have some of my go-to people that I get to.

00:31:07.000 I call them my mental coaches.

00:31:09.000 And like Rashad, the biggest thing that I learned, I talked to Rashad about is, Rashad was always pouring into me.

00:31:15.000 Like, man, just enjoy, man.

00:31:16.000 Enjoy the ride.

00:31:17.000 You'll be okay with that feeling.

00:31:19.000 Because there was a certain time where I was a little more nervous than usual.

00:31:24.000 I was nervous for what?

00:31:25.000 One, I think, I can't remember the fight.

00:31:28.000 And I was nervous.

00:31:29.000 And Rashad was like, man, just make friends with that feeling.

00:31:32.000 Be okay with it.

00:31:33.000 Make friends with the feeling of being like it.

00:31:37.000 Understand that it's okay to feel that way and just be okay with it.

00:31:41.000 And so I go back to those feelings.

00:31:44.000 And even there was an exercise when I was wrestling.

00:31:48.000 I was living at the Olympic training center.

00:31:50.000 I was training and I started feeling all this pressure that a lot of people put on me.

00:31:54.000 Oh, you're a Division II guy.

00:31:55.000 You can't be Olympic champion.

00:31:56.000 You can't do this.

00:31:57.000 You can't do that.

00:31:58.000 And my coach at the time, Brendan Slay, was like, yeah, a lot of people put that pressure on me when I was competing, too, and said that, oh, you're too short.

00:32:08.000 You can't beat these guys.

00:32:09.000 You can't beat Bouvet, Satie, the most famous Russian wrestler of all time.

00:32:15.000 And they were saying, you can't beat him.

00:32:17.000 You can't do this.

00:32:17.000 You can't do that.

00:32:18.000 And he said one exercise he should do is he'll think of all these negative thoughts.

00:32:22.000 Because people start saying it, in your mind, it goes into your mind. 0.99

00:32:27.000 Especially now when all these fans tweet shit and say stuff to you, you read it. 0.99

00:32:32.000 If you read it, it's in there. 0.99

00:32:34.000 And so one thing he said he used to do is just put all those thoughts in it.

00:32:38.000 Just imagine this, envision this glass jar.

00:32:40.000 You just put them all in the jar.

00:32:42.000 Shut the lid, grab a big sledgehammer, and you just smash it.

00:32:46.000 And it sounds silly, but I was like, uh...

00:32:50.000 It wasn't until a little while after I started kind of doing that.

00:32:53.000 So when I started doubting myself, man, can I do it?

00:32:56.000 Can I do it?

00:32:57.000 Oh man, this guy, he can beat me.

00:32:59.000 I mean, what if he knocks me out and embarrasses me in front of everyone? 0.99

00:33:02.000 Then I'm like, snap the fuck out of it, man. 0.99

00:33:04.000 Put it in that jar. 1.00

00:33:05.000 Put it in that jar and smash it. 0.86

00:33:06.000 I'm like, have fun with it, man. 0.85

00:33:08.000 You're supposed to feel like this.

00:33:09.000 Rashad said you're supposed to feel like this.

00:33:11.000 Yeah, man.

00:33:12.000 Yeah, and I just take a deep breath.

00:33:14.000 I smile, and I just snap back in.

00:33:16.000 And Eddie Alvarez also is someone I consider a brother.

00:33:20.000 And these are the guys that I go to for when I start to feel down.

00:33:24.000 And I talk to Eddie quite a few times before this last fight.

00:33:27.000 When I start feeling a little bit of pressure, I talk to them.

00:33:30.000 And they just kind of snap me back.

00:33:33.000 Were you getting frustrated that you weren't being considered amongst the top contenders when you were undefeated, you were dominating all these people, and you were seeing when Wonderboy got two shots, and then you saw the Damian Maia fight, and all these other fights.

00:33:51.000 Was that hard for you?

00:33:53.000 Yeah, it was. 0.98

00:33:54.000 It was a time where, I'm not going to lie, Joe, I was like, why the fuck am I doing this? 0.80

00:34:00.000 I'm going to keep fighting for 25 and 25, 30 and 30? 0.98

00:34:06.000 Right.

00:34:06.000 What?

00:34:07.000 What?

00:34:08.000 The thing is, what a lot of people don't understand is they think, oh man, it's that 15 minutes that you're out there or that 25 minutes you're out there training, fighting, and that's it.

00:34:17.000 You know, you got paid 10 and 10. Bro, I just did a five-month training camp to where I had to eat right for five months.

00:34:25.000 For $20,000.

00:34:26.000 Yes.

00:34:27.000 If you win.

00:34:28.000 And on top of it, that's society so backwards nowadays.

00:34:34.000 To eat clean food is more expensive, right?

00:34:36.000 So for me to just eat clean for five months, I'm already five, ten grand in the hole.

00:34:42.000 On top of it, you got bills coming every month.

00:34:45.000 That's not going anywhere.

00:34:46.000 Just to train for these fights, I've spent more than that.

00:34:52.000 And you have taken more damage than that because that's when you really take damage.

00:34:56.000 I'm sparring and when I fractured my foot, that happened the last week in training, my last sparring session.

00:35:02.000 I kicked someone in the face, boom, my foot's gone.

00:35:05.000 How bad was the foot?

00:35:06.000 It was bad.

00:35:07.000 At first, I just figured, you know, it's like Muay Thai, you kick shins and elbows all the time, and you get the little fractures, but you work on it, and that's gone in a week.

00:35:18.000 But this one just wasn't going away.

00:35:20.000 The swelling kept coming back and coming back, so I started freaking out. 0.98

00:35:23.000 I'm like, oh, shit, I think I really broke something. 0.88

00:35:26.000 And so I start freaking out and then a day or two, three days, four days, I get it worked on. 0.96

00:35:31.000 I have a really special compression socks that I have on it at all times.

00:35:35.000 I'm icing this thing four times a day and it's not going away.

00:35:38.000 I'd wake up, the swelling would be bigger.

00:35:40.000 I'm like, oh man, I did damage.

00:35:42.000 So and then I kept walking on it and I haven't, because I have to practice because I got to keep that weight down.

00:35:48.000 I got to keep that metabolism going.

00:35:50.000 And so I'm just like, man, There's no way I'm not fighting.

00:35:56.000 Like, you only get an opportunity once.

00:35:58.000 If I call and say, I'm pulling out of this, I might not ever get a shot again.

00:36:02.000 And so, I'm like, I'm going to fight.

00:36:04.000 And there was no doubt in my mind of what I could do.

00:36:08.000 I was just like, it's going to happen.

00:36:10.000 I'm already dealing with the hernia situation.

00:36:13.000 And so, I'm like, screw it.

00:36:16.000 And the thing about me is, I haven't ran in three years, Joe. 0.74

00:36:19.000 Because of your knees?

00:36:20.000 Yeah.

00:36:21.000 My knees are so bad.

00:36:21.000 I have not ran in three years.

00:36:23.000 How the fuck do you have such good cardio? 0.98

00:36:24.000 What are you doing for cardio? 0.99

00:36:25.000 Everything I do, I do freaking hard.

00:36:27.000 I guess.

00:36:27.000 I do it freaking hard.

00:36:28.000 I'm on that airdyne.

00:36:30.000 And man, shout out to my strength and conditioning coach, Dr. Corey Peacock.

00:36:34.000 Man, he's also on it too.

00:36:35.000 I mean, Corey, we put in some time, man.

00:36:40.000 And it's not just him.

00:36:42.000 It's my coaches.

00:36:43.000 Greg Jones, when we wrestle, I wrestle freaking hard.

00:36:47.000 I can't do it often anymore, but I wrestle hard.

00:36:51.000 Because you need?

00:36:52.000 Yeah, when I hit pads, I hit pads hard with Henry.

00:36:55.000 Everything that I do in my mind, I try to do it at the speed that I would want to do it in a fight.

00:37:00.000 Everything greater.

00:37:01.000 Because my whole mentality is, when you get tired, when people get tired, that's your threshold.

00:37:06.000 That's where you're at.

00:37:07.000 So that's why your body feels like that.

00:37:09.000 Oh, I'm tired.

00:37:10.000 This is as far as I can go.

00:37:11.000 I try to get to that as fast as possible.

00:37:14.000 Boom! 0.99

00:37:15.000 Because then everything after that is extra.

00:37:17.000 I just push that conditioning more and more and more.

00:37:20.000 So I just freaking go hard.

00:37:22.000 Everything that I do, I do it hard.

00:37:24.000 Of course I do it smart, but I do it hard.

00:37:27.000 But I haven't ran, Joe.

00:37:29.000 Almost three years.

00:37:29.000 That is crazy because one of the most impressive things about the fight is you never let your foot off the gas.

00:37:33.000 And in the fourth round, I think it was, when you had Tyron Hurt and you really started pouring it on, I was like, okay, he's trying to finish this fight.

00:37:41.000 How much gas is he going to have left in the tank?

00:37:43.000 Because you know that sometimes when someone tries to finish someone and they can't, they're done.

00:37:48.000 You poured it on, you took a couple of deep breaths, then right back on him. 0.99

00:37:53.000 I'm like, damn, that's some serious fucking cardio. 0.99

00:37:56.000 Because you were sprinting. 0.99

00:37:58.000 In my mind, I watched that back. 0.99

00:38:00.000 I was like, what the fuck was I doing? 0.99

00:38:01.000 I was swinging like wild. 1.00

00:38:03.000 Wild, man.

00:38:04.000 Just because I saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

00:38:07.000 Yeah.

00:38:07.000 And I was like, you know, and I'm, it's like I was sprinting towards it, but then it caught me getting dimmer and dimmer.

00:38:12.000 I was like, oh shit, fucking slow down. 1.00

00:38:15.000 Tyron's tough as fuck. 1.00

00:38:15.000 You're still going to get there. 1.00

00:38:17.000 Man, he was tough. 1.00

00:38:17.000 He's tough as fuck. 1.00

00:38:18.000 He ate some big shots. 1.00

00:38:19.000 And people didn't really see it, what happened, what started that transition.

00:38:23.000 We were in the clinch.

00:38:25.000 I had him in the Thai clinch.

00:38:27.000 And I think he was trying to work on my body.

00:38:28.000 And I hit him with a knee.

00:38:30.000 I hit him with another knee.

00:38:32.000 And in my mind, I just remember some of the trainings that I've been through.

00:38:36.000 I've been in that situation in training.

00:38:38.000 And I used to train with Cosmo Alexander, Muay Thai guy.

00:38:43.000 Freaking amazing.

00:38:44.000 And one thing that he would show me is how Muay Thai guys would sneak in elbows. 0.99

00:38:50.000 And so I'm in there, and I'm like, Tyrone's not really getting out of this, so I'm like, freaking, let me try it.

00:38:56.000 And this elbow that you throw, it's a sideways elbow.

00:39:00.000 And I'm in there, I throw a knee in, and I just do the sideways elbow.

00:39:03.000 And it doesn't look hard, it doesn't look crazy or anything like that, but it was like side of the head.

00:39:08.000 And I just felt it land.

00:39:11.000 And I'm trying to...

00:39:13.000 Because you got to read fast.

00:39:14.000 So I'm trying to read him.

00:39:15.000 I'm trying to assess him.

00:39:17.000 I'm like, is he hurt?

00:39:18.000 Because he kind of stumbled back.

00:39:19.000 But Tyron has a very good poker face.

00:39:21.000 So he has this nonchalant face on.

00:39:24.000 And I'm trying to read him.

00:39:26.000 I'm like, wait, wait.

00:39:27.000 So I kind of fake, a little fake at him to see if he's trying to set me up for a big shot.

00:39:32.000 And I fake.

00:39:33.000 He doesn't throw anything.

00:39:34.000 He keeps sense. 0.99

00:39:34.000 I'm like, oh shit. 0.99

00:39:36.000 So I throw a jab and I throw a... 1.00

00:39:39.000 A right hand, I threw it across his guard to hit him. 0.99

00:39:43.000 And he really didn't, the look didn't change.

00:39:46.000 It didn't look like he was out there. 1.00

00:39:48.000 I was like, oh shit, he's hurt. 0.99

00:39:50.000 Freaking, let's go. 1.00

00:39:51.000 It's go time.

00:39:53.000 And I remember I talked to Eddie Alvarez and I asked him, why did he freak out like that when he had RDA hurt?

00:39:58.000 And Eddie was just like, man, I saw that light at the end of the tunnel and I just freaking, I had to empty the tank. 0.99

00:40:05.000 And I'm like, fuck it. 1.00

00:40:06.000 Empty the tank. 1.00

00:40:07.000 Let's go.

00:40:07.000 This is my moment.

00:40:08.000 Empty the tank.

00:40:09.000 So I'm throwing like a madman.

00:40:11.000 And Tyron is taking it all. 1.00

00:40:13.000 And he's tough as shit. 1.00

00:40:14.000 I'm like, damn. 1.00

00:40:15.000 He's not going down. 0.99

00:40:16.000 And there was a couple of times he was rocked.

00:40:17.000 It looked like he could have went down.

00:40:19.000 And all I had to do was really settle back and hit him with clean shots. 0.99

00:40:23.000 But I wasn't even fucking thinking about that. 0.98

00:40:25.000 I was just like, get this guy out of here now. 0.94

00:40:28.000 This is what I wanted to do.

00:40:30.000 Put the stamp on it.

00:40:31.000 Let's freaking do it.

00:40:32.000 It was a hell of a barrage.

00:40:34.000 Yeah, and I'm throwing, I'm throwing, I'm throwing, and I'm like...

00:40:36.000 Redline.

00:40:39.000 Redline.

00:40:39.000 The gas tank is on E. It's on E. It's on E. Which is the only reason I even shot in for a shot.

00:40:46.000 And then I heard my coaches saying, take him down.

00:40:49.000 That's what they realized.

00:40:50.000 I wasn't freaking knocking him out.

00:40:52.000 They were like, take it down.

00:40:54.000 I was like...

00:40:56.000 And I grabbed his leg and tried to...

00:40:58.000 But that was the thing.

00:40:58.000 I could recover pretty quickly.

00:41:00.000 You recovered very quick because it was one of those pivotal moments in a fight where I was like, man, if Tyron doesn't go out here, how much does he have left?

00:41:08.000 I knew.

00:41:09.000 I was scared because I was like...

00:41:12.000 I know he knows he's probably down three to four rounds.

00:41:14.000 And I knew, I was like, I was in a sense waiting for him to just start letting go.

00:41:20.000 To snap out of it.

00:41:21.000 But that's the one thing, you never really give yourself enough credit with your game.

00:41:26.000 With my game, I feel like I put people in a trance, in like a certain stage to where they just know getting out of it.

00:41:37.000 And that's kind of been a knock on me.

00:41:39.000 People are saying, oh, you're not finishing fights.

00:41:42.000 You're not doing this.

00:41:43.000 You're not submitting guys.

00:41:45.000 You're not knocking them out.

00:41:46.000 This is my mentality on that.

00:41:49.000 And this has been since I was wrestling.

00:41:51.000 As they were wrestling, you could pin guys really quick, do slick moves and pin guys.

00:41:55.000 But then the guys would get up and say, oh man, I've never seen that move before.

00:41:59.000 He caught me in this slick move.

00:42:01.000 That's why he got me.

00:42:01.000 I'm going to get him next time.

00:42:03.000 I'm going to do that.

00:42:04.000 I'm going to get him.

00:42:05.000 And the same thing with the fight.

00:42:06.000 It's like, man, I had my hand down and he caught me sleeping.

00:42:10.000 So he caught me with a shot.

00:42:11.000 It was a lucky shot. 1.00

00:42:12.000 He's never going to do that shit to me. 1.00

00:42:14.000 Next time, I'm going to get him. 1.00

00:42:15.000 Or he caught me with a slick submission.

00:42:17.000 I've never seen that before.

00:42:18.000 I'm going to train for it next time.

00:42:20.000 I'm going to stop him.

00:42:22.000 My thing is, even in wrestling, what I always wanted to do is I wanted to tech-fall guys in wrestling.

00:42:29.000 And tech-fall, what that means is when you're beating someone by 15 points, you have a 15-point gap, they stop the match.

00:42:35.000 Because it's basically a skunk.

00:42:37.000 Like, you skunk this guy. 1.00

00:42:39.000 Like, he sucked. 0.99

00:42:40.000 Like, you were beating him that bad. 0.99

00:42:41.000 They had to stop it.

00:42:42.000 That is my mentality.

00:42:43.000 That is always what I strive for.

00:42:44.000 And in 2011...

00:42:46.000 I believe I, not 2011, 2009, I led the nation, Division 1, 2, and 3, NAI, whatever, in Tech Falls.

00:42:54.000 I think at one point, me and Brent Metcalf was battling.

00:42:57.000 Like, every week I would look and see who had the most Tech Falls.

00:43:00.000 It was me, it would be him, it would be me, him.

00:43:02.000 And I had the most because that was my goal.

00:43:05.000 I wanted to skunk guys. 1.00

00:43:07.000 Because in their mind, what it says is, you can't fuck with that guy. 1.00

00:43:12.000 You can't hang with him. 0.99

00:43:14.000 There was nothing you can do.

00:43:15.000 It wasn't a quick pin, a lucky pin, or this.

00:43:19.000 Like, he destroyed you.

00:43:21.000 He just set levels apart.

00:43:23.000 And that's what I do even in fighting now.

00:43:25.000 I do the exact same thing.

00:43:27.000 I would much rather dominate you from start to finish. 0.99

00:43:30.000 I want to break you. 1.00

00:43:32.000 When you think about fighting me again, I want you to say, fuck. 1.00

00:43:37.000 No, I don't... 1.00

00:43:37.000 No, shit, no. 1.00

00:43:39.000 He beat me everywhere. 1.00

00:43:40.000 He broke me.

00:43:41.000 He took something from me.

00:43:43.000 Because you're going to think about...

00:43:44.000 You only remember the fights you lose.

00:43:46.000 You know, like I've beaten so many guys in wrestling.

00:43:49.000 I can't tell you maybe 30 guys that I've beaten wrestling.

00:43:52.000 I don't have no idea.

00:43:53.000 But the ones you lose, you can almost tell everyone.

00:43:57.000 And that's my take on it.

00:43:59.000 I want to dominate you so bad, when you think about fighting me again, you don't. 1.00

00:44:04.000 You say, fuck that. 1.00

00:44:05.000 I'll pass on that fight. 1.00

00:44:07.000 And so people are like, oh man, this guy doesn't really finish guys.

00:44:09.000 But how many guys want to fight me again?

00:44:12.000 Not a lot of them.

00:44:13.000 Do you have one loss in MMA? Yes, I do.

00:44:16.000 One loss, right?

00:44:16.000 Yeah, I have one loss in my second fight.

00:44:19.000 Um...

00:44:23.000 Caceres.

00:44:24.000 I forget his name.

00:44:25.000 I forget his first name.

00:44:28.000 Is it Jose Caceres?

00:44:31.000 No, Alex Caceres.

00:44:32.000 Yeah, it's Jose.

00:44:33.000 His name is Jose Caceres.

00:44:34.000 Is he Alex's brother?

00:44:35.000 I think it's older brother.

00:44:37.000 Oh.

00:44:38.000 Yeah, and man, I took the fight on like two weeks notice or something like that because it was like...

00:44:45.000 Eight months in between, I fought my first fight, and I thought...

00:44:47.000 See, that's the thing with fighters coming into MMA now.

00:44:50.000 This is a lesson to you guys.

00:44:51.000 Everyone feels like, oh, I'm just going to jump in, and it's going to be peachy.

00:44:54.000 I'm going to be getting fights every other week, every other month.

00:44:57.000 No.

00:44:59.000 So I fought my first fight, and I thought, okay, this is great.

00:45:01.000 My career is kick-starting.

00:45:03.000 I'm going to be doing fights so often.

00:45:06.000 I went through 22 opponents...

00:45:10.000 Within my first fight, before I got the second fight.

00:45:13.000 Wow.

00:45:13.000 Because now, you know, it's Google now.

00:45:15.000 Everyone, oh, fuck, he's a national champion wrestler. 0.99

00:45:18.000 No, I don't want to fight that. 0.99

00:45:18.000 Because everyone wants to get to the UFC, and they figure, oh, it's the best record. 0.99

00:45:22.000 You want to be undefeated to get to the UFC. So nobody wants to fight anyone that's hard.

00:45:26.000 Right.

00:45:27.000 And so, of course, at that point, I was a wrestler.

00:45:29.000 I could take anyone down and hold them down for three rounds and wouldn't fight.

00:45:32.000 So everyone, no one wanted that fight.

00:45:34.000 So...

00:45:36.000 It was months and months went by, and then that fight came about. 1.00

00:45:39.000 I was just like, shit, I'll take it. 0.99

00:45:41.000 And I'll be honest, I never grappled before that. 0.99

00:45:43.000 I never did jiu-jitsu. 0.99

00:45:45.000 And so I figured, I can wrestle my way through all this shit. 1.00

00:45:49.000 Like, man, fuck these guys. 1.00

00:45:50.000 These guys are all low-level guys. 1.00

00:45:52.000 You know, look who I train with.

00:45:54.000 I train with Rashad Evans and these guys.

00:45:56.000 Those guys can't touch me.

00:45:59.000 I get in a fight.

00:46:00.000 I throw a one-two.

00:46:02.000 His legs are there. 0.88

00:46:03.000 I hit him with a one-two. 0.83

00:46:04.000 Boom, boom.

00:46:05.000 Double leg.

00:46:06.000 Live within 15 seconds.

00:46:07.000 Boom.

00:46:08.000 Threw him down.

00:46:08.000 Full mount.

00:46:09.000 And I'm kind of throwing punches.

00:46:11.000 I didn't really know what I was doing.

00:46:12.000 I'm throwing punches.

00:46:13.000 And I'm trying to elbow him.

00:46:15.000 And Jose Caceres died.

00:46:17.000 I think 6'2".

00:46:18.000 6'1".

00:46:18.000 I don't know.

00:46:19.000 He's well taller than me.

00:46:21.000 Long limbs.

00:46:23.000 He throws his legs.

00:46:24.000 I'm in full mount.

00:46:25.000 He throws his legs around my body. 0.99

00:46:29.000 I never seen no shit like that before. 0.99

00:46:33.000 My mind at that time was like, what is... 1.00

00:46:36.000 Oh shit, what's this shit? 1.00

00:46:38.000 I didn't know what to do. 1.00

00:46:39.000 So I'm like...

00:46:41.000 So I start kind of panicking in my mind.

00:46:44.000 I don't know what to do. 0.99

00:46:45.000 I'm like, fucking get out. 0.99

00:46:46.000 Which is what you don't do. 0.99

00:46:48.000 So I turn my body.

00:46:50.000 I'm trying to get up and walk out.

00:46:52.000 Which is what you don't do.

00:46:54.000 And so he just basically climbed up my back.

00:46:58.000 Boom.

00:46:58.000 We're not even sweating yet.

00:47:00.000 Boom.

00:47:00.000 He's on my back.

00:47:01.000 I'm standing up with the backpack on.

00:47:03.000 He's six something.

00:47:05.000 He has a foot on the ground, one foot wrapped around me.

00:47:08.000 He's fighting for the choke.

00:47:09.000 And I think I hold him off for another like minute and a half.

00:47:13.000 I'm standing and I'm fighting this choke. 1.00

00:47:16.000 All the while I'm thinking like, oh shit. 0.99

00:47:21.000 I can't go down because I don't know what the fuck I'm doing down there as well. 0.99

00:47:26.000 So I don't really know the defense down there. 0.97

00:47:28.000 So if I go down, that just might make it worse.

00:47:30.000 I don't know the defense.

00:47:31.000 And this dude looks like he knows what he's doing behind me.

00:47:33.000 He's got a few fights.

00:47:37.000 And I'm kind of scared.

00:47:39.000 And I'm fighting it.

00:47:40.000 Now I'm standing up.

00:47:41.000 My feet are getting heavy.

00:47:43.000 It's getting shaky.

00:47:45.000 I'm like, I'm a strong guy. 0.97

00:47:47.000 Why the fuck are my feet shaking? 0.97

00:47:49.000 Because they're starting to fill up with blood. 0.99

00:47:51.000 My adrenaline is pumping. 0.99

00:47:53.000 And I'm just like, oh shit, I'm about to lose. 0.99

00:47:59.000 Joe, there's this moment in your mind to where you start to come to realization with certain things. 1.00

00:48:05.000 I'm like, oh shit, I'm about to lose. 0.97

00:48:07.000 And then I start thinking about random thoughts. 0.99

00:48:11.000 And one of the thoughts that I thought about was, before the fight, we had a commission meeting in the back.

00:48:18.000 And the commission said, if you get choked unconscious, you're suspended for six months.

00:48:24.000 So you can't fight for six months. 0.99

00:48:27.000 Because in my mind, I'm like, fuck this, I'm a tough guy. 1.00

00:48:30.000 You gotta put me to sleep. 0.99

00:48:32.000 I ain't never tapping.

00:48:33.000 So I'm like, if I get...

00:48:36.000 It took me eight months to get this fight.

00:48:39.000 And it's a short notice fight.

00:48:40.000 I haven't made money in eight months. 0.99

00:48:42.000 I'm broke as shit. 0.99

00:48:43.000 I sleep and I live with Rashad. 1.00

00:48:46.000 I live with another man. 1.00

00:48:48.000 I'm broke as shit. 1.00

00:48:49.000 I have no money. 0.99

00:48:50.000 I need money.

00:48:52.000 So if I can't fight for another six months, I have no money.

00:48:57.000 So all these thoughts are going through my mind and I hear Alex Caceres on the other side of the cage screaming, he's gonna tap!

00:49:06.000 He's almost out! 1.00

00:49:07.000 And I'm like, fuck! 1.00

00:49:13.000 I'm like, fucking well played, Alex. 1.00

00:49:16.000 Now I'm thinking about tapping just for that shit. 1.00

00:49:19.000 Oh, man. 1.00

00:49:20.000 And I just saw it going down.

00:49:21.000 And I'm like, you can't be suspended for six months, bro.

00:49:25.000 I know you want to be tough right now.

00:49:26.000 You want to go to sleep, but you can't be suspended for six months, bro.

00:49:29.000 You have to, you gotta, you know, you gotta make money.

00:49:32.000 You're broke. 1.00

00:49:34.000 I fucking tapped, Joe. 1.00

00:49:36.000 I fucking tapped. 1.00

00:49:37.000 I never felt so... 0.99

00:49:41.000 I don't want to say emasculated, if that's the word.

00:49:43.000 I never felt so...

00:49:44.000 That's why I said, win or lose, it takes something from you.

00:49:49.000 And I walked out of that fight.

00:49:50.000 I went to the back.

00:49:51.000 I paced for maybe two, three hours in the back.

00:49:55.000 All the fights finished up, and I finally went to the locker room, got my stuff, and came out.

00:50:01.000 But I just paced back and forth.

00:50:03.000 And the feeling in my mind was, I am never going to feel like this again.

00:50:08.000 I do not ever want to feel like this. 0.99

00:50:10.000 And ever since then, I got a fucking gi. 0.99

00:50:12.000 I never had a gi before. 0.99

00:50:13.000 I got a gi. 0.99

00:50:14.000 I started training with George Santiago, my jiu-jitsu coach, every fucking morning. 0.99

00:50:18.000 I was like, bro. 0.98

00:50:19.000 I saw he gave you your black belt after the fight.

00:50:20.000 He gave me my black belt.

00:50:21.000 And this is the thing is...

00:50:24.000 I never worried about that.

00:50:26.000 I never worried about...

00:50:27.000 Like, yes, I was freaking beating up blue belts before I was even a white belt. 0.99

00:50:32.000 Like, yeah, because I never did that skill.

00:50:34.000 Trained the jiu-jitsu skills.

00:50:36.000 But, like, I knew how to grapple through certain things.

00:50:40.000 Sure.

00:50:40.000 You know, I've been grappling at a high level.

00:50:42.000 But it wasn't just jiu-jitsu.

00:50:45.000 So, he kept challenging me.

00:50:47.000 Like, I was always...

00:50:48.000 Because I want to be that guy. 0.92

00:50:49.000 I want to be the freaking blue belt that freaking works all the brown and black belts. 1.00

00:50:54.000 But he would freaking promote me. 0.96

00:50:55.000 He's like purple belt.

00:50:56.000 Because you've been training.

00:50:58.000 You're training the gi.

00:50:59.000 I'm going to promote you.

00:51:00.000 So he kept challenging me and challenging me.

00:51:02.000 So now people knew.

00:51:04.000 I felt like all he was doing was alerting people of what to expect when they went with me. 0.98

00:51:08.000 And for them to try to really fuck me up.

00:51:12.000 And so he promoted me, I think a couple years ago, it was Brown Belt.

00:51:17.000 I think maybe two and a half, three years ago.

00:51:20.000 And then he promoted me to Black Belt.

00:51:22.000 He just asked me to come in the gym.

00:51:24.000 I didn't really even know.

00:51:25.000 I just felt like, okay, man, he wants everyone to take pictures with the belt.

00:51:28.000 And he freaking gives me my Black Belt.

00:51:31.000 Another thing just floored me. 1.00

00:51:32.000 I was like, shit. 1.00

00:51:34.000 I never knew... 1.00

00:51:35.000 I never expected all of this. 0.97

00:51:37.000 I just wanted to fucking compete. 0.97

00:51:39.000 I just wanted to be a martial artist, learn all this stuff, and compete. 0.96

00:51:43.000 I never knew that I would get a black belt.

00:51:45.000 I never knew that I would win the championship belt, be the best in the world at that time.

00:51:50.000 So I never knew all that.

00:51:51.000 How much did you adjust your training to incorporate jiu-jitsu?

00:51:56.000 Did you add more training sessions, or did you substitute?

00:51:59.000 Abso-freaking-lutely.

00:52:00.000 What I would do is...

00:52:03.000 Because I was living with Rashad at the time.

00:52:05.000 So what I would do is I would somehow get to the gym.

00:52:08.000 Because Rashad was traveling a lot.

00:52:10.000 This was at the height.

00:52:11.000 He was doing a lot of different shows and stuff.

00:52:13.000 And so I would go to the gym at 7 a.m.

00:52:16.000 We'd have 7 a.m.

00:52:17.000 practice.

00:52:18.000 I think Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays.

00:52:19.000 George would have a class.

00:52:20.000 And I would go and take that class.

00:52:22.000 And then our pro class was I think it was at 9.00.

00:52:25.000 So I would just stay at the gym while the pros came in for the practice at 9. So I would go through that class as well.

00:52:33.000 And then after that, lift on my own, strength and conditioning, right after that. 0.98

00:52:38.000 And dumbass me. 0.98

00:52:39.000 That's what I'm saying. 0.99

00:52:40.000 I was 20-something at that time.

00:52:42.000 I wasn't eating in between all the sessions.

00:52:44.000 I wasn't doing any of this.

00:52:46.000 I was just freaking going, going, going, going.

00:52:49.000 So you'd eat breakfast and that was it?

00:52:50.000 I didn't eat breakfast at that time.

00:52:52.000 You didn't even eat breakfast?

00:52:53.000 I didn't even eat breakfast.

00:52:54.000 I would get up cold, go to the gym, work out.

00:52:56.000 Then go roll into the next session and work out.

00:52:59.000 Then roll into straining condition, whatever I did on my own workout.

00:53:03.000 No food?

00:53:04.000 No food.

00:53:04.000 And then freaking go home, eat a big meal.

00:53:08.000 Snap! 0.99

00:53:09.000 Then go back for the night session, night practice.

00:53:12.000 And that's how it was for a long, long time.

00:53:14.000 And Rashad would always come home and say, hey man, why don't you come out with me this weekend?

00:53:19.000 Let's go out, let's go do something.

00:53:20.000 And I was always like, nah man, I gotta train on Monday, man.

00:53:23.000 I don't wanna do all that.

00:53:24.000 I don't wanna go out.

00:53:25.000 And Rashad would be like...

00:53:26.000 Bro, you gotta have balance in this.

00:53:29.000 It's gotta be a balance. 1.00

00:53:31.000 And I just thought at that time, like, oh, fuck that. 1.00

00:53:34.000 You say that because you're the top. 1.00

00:53:35.000 You're the champ.

00:53:36.000 You're the best.

00:53:36.000 So, you say that.

00:53:39.000 My whole thing was, I just need to work.

00:53:40.000 I need to catch up.

00:53:41.000 I need to catch up to these guys.

00:53:43.000 I need to work.

00:53:44.000 So, I was just doing overtime, overtime, overtime.

00:53:47.000 But, you know, now I understand what Rashad was saying.

00:53:49.000 There has to be balance.

00:53:51.000 Yeah.

00:53:51.000 Absolutely.

00:53:51.000 When did you adjust your eating?

00:53:55.000 I think we got a strength and conditioning coach, Jake Bonacci.

00:54:01.000 And Jake, amazing coach, man.

00:54:03.000 He worked with a lot of the extreme couture guys.

00:54:05.000 Worked with like Randy and those guys back in the day.

00:54:08.000 And he kind of started like, you got to fuel yourself.

00:54:13.000 He kind of started, you know, letting me in.

00:54:15.000 And I seek, that's the thing about me, I seek knowledge.

00:54:18.000 Like I'm always, I always want to learn.

00:54:20.000 I always want to learn whatever I can. 0.99

00:54:23.000 And I started learning like, Oh, shit. 0.99

00:54:25.000 No wonder I was dead tired in that session. 0.99

00:54:27.000 No wonder I had nothing left because I really didn't eat.

00:54:30.000 I had no fuel.

00:54:31.000 So I started kind of putting things in and the more and more.

00:54:35.000 Like I said, it wasn't until my last two or three fights that I started working with Trifecta and Clint Wittenberg.

00:54:41.000 I seek knowledge.

00:54:43.000 Whenever I can get knowledge, I take it.

00:54:46.000 So these Trifecta folks, what kind of stuff do they prepare for you?

00:54:48.000 Man, they prepare my meals and they send it to me.

00:54:52.000 They send me the, like I said, I like to cook for myself.

00:54:54.000 They send you like a cooler or pre-packaged food?

00:54:56.000 Yeah, they send me the pre-packaged food, but I'm not so much into the pre-packaged stuff.

00:55:01.000 Like, you know, just throwing a microwave and eating.

00:55:02.000 I'm not so much like that because I like hot food.

00:55:05.000 I want it to feel fresh.

00:55:07.000 So they'll send me like the packages, like the protein.

00:55:10.000 And the chicken and the steak or the fish and things like that.

00:55:15.000 And basically, I take it out and my responsibility to take it out.

00:55:18.000 I think it's pre-cooked, but I take it out and I put it over the stove and make some veggies with it and other stuff that I want with it.

00:55:26.000 And I'll cook it that way.

00:55:28.000 So it seems more like a fresh meal, even though it's kind of pre-made just for my mind.

00:55:34.000 Right, I get it.

00:55:35.000 I get it.

00:55:35.000 So, did they have it broken down with a certain amount of calories for each meal, depending upon what kind of working out you're doing?

00:55:42.000 Yeah, man.

00:55:43.000 Clint broke it down.

00:55:44.000 I give him my schedule for the week, and he breaks it down.

00:55:47.000 Like, this is what you need to eat.

00:55:49.000 Four servings of protein, four servings of carb, fats, and this and that, before your weightlifting session, before you're sparring, before this.

00:55:57.000 You need this amount of sugar, and this amount of this, this amount of that.

00:56:01.000 Man, it made a big difference, because I would...

00:56:03.000 There'll be certain practice.

00:56:04.000 I would lift and I'm like, yeah, I feel good.

00:56:07.000 I want to get out of there to where usually I hit a wall.

00:56:10.000 Like, boom. 1.00

00:56:11.000 Fucking, this is miserable. 1.00

00:56:12.000 You were getting by the toughness. 1.00

00:56:14.000 Yeah, I just grind through it.

00:56:16.000 That UFC Performance Institute is amazing.

00:56:18.000 It's just incredible what they did.

00:56:20.000 When they were talking about building that, I was like, what is this going to be?

00:56:23.000 Like, what are they doing there?

00:56:24.000 They're spending a lot of money.

00:56:25.000 Yeah. 0.98

00:56:25.000 Who knows what the fuck it's going to be? 0.98

00:56:27.000 But then they took me on a tour of it. 0.98

00:56:28.000 I was like, this is literally the ultimate training facility.

00:56:32.000 In 10 years, it will still be up to date.

00:56:36.000 It will still be like, okay, this thing is now catching up.

00:56:39.000 They have napping pods.

00:56:43.000 They took me there.

00:56:44.000 I was like, bro, I can just live here.

00:56:47.000 Yeah, I know, right?

00:56:47.000 You can literally live there.

00:56:49.000 Well, a lot of people relocated to Vegas just to make that the center of their training.

00:56:52.000 Oh, yeah.

00:56:52.000 I've seen, like, Claudia Gedelia's down there.

00:56:55.000 Francis Ngannou did a lot of training.

00:56:57.000 Francis Ngannou, of course.

00:56:57.000 But he trained for his last fight in France, I believe.

00:57:01.000 Yeah, his last two fights, he did it in France.

00:57:04.000 Yeah, we, you know, like, that's my boy.

00:57:07.000 We talk all the time.

00:57:10.000 That's the scariest heavyweight of all time.

00:57:12.000 I don't understand what people are.

00:57:15.000 A lot of people, especially after those last couple of fights, the Derrick Lewis fights, people were like, these fans, man.

00:57:22.000 They were condemning him.

00:57:26.000 It's one of those things you just got to give him time to recover from the Stipe fight.

00:57:31.000 He had a psychological block, but he got over it with Curtis Blades.

00:57:36.000 Yeah.

00:57:37.000 I mean, he stopped Curtis Blades, who's one of the best guys in the heavyweight division.

00:57:40.000 Curtis is a big guy.

00:57:41.000 Curtis was a beast as well. 0.97

00:57:42.000 He's a beast.

00:57:43.000 And even for this fight, everyone's like, oh, Kane's going to do him.

00:57:48.000 Kane's going to do him.

00:57:48.000 Kane's a better version of Stipe.

00:57:50.000 And I get it.

00:57:52.000 I understand Kane.

00:57:54.000 Kane is the greatest heavyweight we've ever really seen.

00:57:57.000 I mean, D.C. right now, that's an argument, too.

00:58:02.000 But Kane was great.

00:58:04.000 But Kane's been gone for almost three years, two and a half years, a long time.

00:58:09.000 And people are putting all this pressure on him, expecting him to come back and be the same old Kane like nothing happened.

00:58:16.000 And I'm like...

00:58:18.000 Guys, like, and then not to come back, come back against the scariest heavyweight we've ever seen.

00:58:24.000 Ever.

00:58:25.000 Ever.

00:58:26.000 I mean, Francis, the first time he lifted weights was with me.

00:58:30.000 What?

00:58:31.000 Francis never touched weights.

00:58:34.000 Ever.

00:58:36.000 And that's the scary thing.

00:58:38.000 You go to Africa and there's millions of guys like that walking around.

00:58:42.000 I was saying that his story is like that Conan scene where Conan was pushing the wheel.

00:58:48.000 He was working in a sand mine, just digging sand and becoming this tank of a man. 0.93

00:58:54.000 He's crazy.

00:58:55.000 It's obviously superior genetics on top of that because you don't get to be 265 naturally.

00:59:02.000 You have to have fantastic genetics.

00:59:05.000 He's got that too, but his ability to land punches that just put people away. 1.00

00:59:11.000 He can graze you and fuck you up. 1.00

00:59:13.000 Absolutely. 1.00

00:59:14.000 And his speed. 1.00

00:59:17.000 That fucking Alistair Overeem left hook? 1.00

00:59:20.000 I tried to spar with him once. 1.00

00:59:23.000 Yeah.

00:59:24.000 You were 170. Why are you sparring with him?

00:59:27.000 I mean, it was just playing around.

00:59:28.000 And that's the thing in our room.

00:59:29.000 Everybody spars with everybody.

00:59:31.000 And he loves sparring with smaller guys.

00:59:33.000 He loves it.

00:59:34.000 Because of speed.

00:59:35.000 Yeah, because he's not trying to hurt anyone.

00:59:37.000 He's not trying to hurt you.

00:59:38.000 But it's just...

00:59:38.000 He likes working on his speed.

00:59:40.000 He's so fast.

00:59:43.000 I think he's faster than me.

00:59:46.000 For sure.

00:59:46.000 I mean, it's...

00:59:48.000 And I'm like...

00:59:49.000 He's that fast with that much power.

00:59:52.000 I mean, if he even, and that's what I say, if he touched anywhere near this circumference right here, you're going to wake up and ask what happened. 0.72

00:59:59.000 Well, that's what Kane was saying, that he didn't remember what happened when Francis apparently grazed him with the first punch near the back of his head, and Kane doesn't remember shit after that, and then clipped him with that uppercut. 0.59

01:00:13.000 On the inside. 0.83

01:00:14.000 Everyone was saying, like, oh, he hurt his knee, that's what happened.

01:00:16.000 No, he got hit with a punch in there.

01:00:18.000 He got hit with an uppercut.

01:00:18.000 It was a small, sharp punch.

01:00:20.000 That's all it takes with that gun.

01:00:21.000 But, yeah.

01:00:22.000 Yeah, what's amazing is that Stipe weathered the storm.

01:00:25.000 That's what's amazing.

01:00:27.000 You've got to give credit to Stipe.

01:00:29.000 Stipe weathered the storm when Francis was convinced he was going to put Stipe away after the Overeem destruction.

01:00:35.000 I mean, he put Overeem into orbit.

01:00:37.000 Yeah. 0.99

01:00:37.000 To watch that, it was like, holy shit! 0.99

01:00:40.000 And you think the striking credentials of Alistair. 0.98

01:00:44.000 I mean, Alistair's glory heavyweight champion, Strikeforce heavyweight champion, K1 Grand Prix.

01:00:51.000 I mean, he won the three of the most prestigious titles in combat sports.

01:00:58.000 And to have Francis clip him like that was just like, Jesus.

01:01:01.000 That goes to attest to MMA. This is why the sport's so great.

01:01:05.000 It doesn't matter where you come from, what you're good at.

01:01:10.000 It doesn't matter.

01:01:11.000 With those four-ounce gloves and being able to wrestle and grapple and do all this, everything changes.

01:01:17.000 It's an even playing field for everybody.

01:01:20.000 Yeah.

01:01:20.000 Now, if he just gets his wrestling on point...

01:01:24.000 I mean, it's crazy that he's only been doing MMA all told for, what, five years now?

01:01:30.000 Yeah, five, six years.

01:01:31.000 That's crazy.

01:01:33.000 Yeah.

01:01:33.000 I mean, I made the switch around the same time.

01:01:36.000 We had our first official UFC fight at the same time.

01:01:40.000 Wow.

01:01:40.000 Yeah, in Orlando.

01:01:41.000 What was your first year of your first fight?

01:01:43.000 What was your first fight?

01:01:44.000 My first fight, I think, was in 2013 or 2012. So, seven years ago, which is crazy.

01:01:51.000 Yeah.

01:01:51.000 And how much striking had you done before your first fight?

01:01:55.000 Not a lot.

01:01:56.000 I mean, the thing with me is I used to watch videos.

01:01:59.000 When I was convinced myself I was going to start doing this, and this has been years in the making.

01:02:04.000 I coached on season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter with Bisping and Mayhem Miller.

01:02:10.000 I was Mayhem's wrestling coach.

01:02:12.000 Wow.

01:02:14.000 And that was the season with TJ Dillashaw, John Dodson, Dennis Bermudez, and all these guys.

01:02:20.000 And so at that point, I had started to...

01:02:23.000 Shout out to Ryan Parsons, man.

01:02:25.000 Dr. Parsons, the one who brought me in.

01:02:27.000 He was managing Mayhem at the time.

01:02:30.000 I love Ryan.

01:02:31.000 Yeah, Ryan's a good dude.

01:02:33.000 Super good guy, man.

01:02:34.000 I loved Ryan.

01:02:35.000 And I'd fiddle with it.

01:02:38.000 I'd throw up my hands a little bit.

01:02:40.000 Like, yeah, I'm going to do this one day.

01:02:42.000 Just kind of playing around and playing around with it.

01:02:45.000 So I love boxing.

01:02:46.000 I love watching all that stuff.

01:02:48.000 I was like, man, maybe I'll do this stuff one day.

01:02:51.000 But when I watch those guys go through The Ultimate Fighter...

01:02:54.000 Being in Vegas and in the house, I was like, yeah, no way. 1.00

01:02:58.000 I'm not doing that shit. 1.00

01:03:00.000 Never. 1.00

01:03:02.000 Not doing it.

01:03:03.000 Even back then, you were thinking, I'm just going to wrestle.

01:03:05.000 Yeah, because at that time, I was living at the Olympic Training Center.

01:03:08.000 I was training for the Olympics. 1.00

01:03:09.000 I was like, yeah, I'm going to do this shit. 1.00

01:03:11.000 No, it's not possible. 0.99

01:03:12.000 So what was it that flipped the switch?

01:03:14.000 Rashad.

01:03:15.000 Really?

01:03:15.000 Rashad.

01:03:17.000 The same time, I think 2011...

01:03:20.000 I was still at the Olympic Training Center.

01:03:22.000 I had gone back and just training.

01:03:25.000 And I was friends with King Mo.

01:03:27.000 I've known King Mo ever since I was in high school.

01:03:30.000 And the funny thing is, man, we were so connected because we were walking similar paths.

01:03:37.000 King Mo is from African descent. 0.71

01:03:40.000 So am I. And he wrestled in Texas.

01:03:46.000 And so was I in high school.

01:03:47.000 And then he's a Division II guy.

01:03:50.000 I went Division II. He was a national champ.

01:03:52.000 I was a national champ.

01:03:53.000 And, you know, walking the similar path, I just felt connected to King Moe.

01:03:57.000 So I would always talk to him.

01:03:58.000 I looked up to those guys, King Moe and DC. They were like, you know, the black dudes that you look up to because there weren't a lot of black wrestlers.

01:04:06.000 So they was the dudes that we looked up to.

01:04:08.000 It was like, yeah, man, King Mo.

01:04:09.000 So he had been doing MMA. I think at that time he was the Strikeforce champion.

01:04:14.000 And so King Mo calls to me.

01:04:17.000 And my friend Jake Fisher, who was a world team member at the time, was like, hey, you guys want to come down to Denver and train with us?

01:04:24.000 You know, I'm going to train that night.

01:04:27.000 Of course I'm going to go.

01:04:28.000 Yeah, training with King Moe, my boy.

01:04:29.000 I get to see him, you know?

01:04:31.000 So we go down.

01:04:33.000 This is the first time I've ever been starstruck in my life.

01:04:36.000 And this is now I've been watching MMA now.

01:04:38.000 You know, I've done the show and all these things.

01:04:40.000 So we get down there.

01:04:43.000 And we're in a dressing room.

01:04:44.000 I'm just thinking King Moe's coming in and we're going to work out with him. 0.92

01:04:47.000 It was Mead Fisher, T.C. Dantzler, and another kid named Bo.

01:04:53.000 And we're in a dressing room.

01:04:55.000 We're changing.

01:04:55.000 And it was Joe Warren's gym.

01:04:58.000 We're changing.

01:04:58.000 Shout out to Joe Warren.

01:04:59.000 Shout out to Joe Warren, man.

01:05:01.000 Badass, dude.

01:05:02.000 He's a funny dude.

01:05:03.000 Yeah.

01:05:03.000 And we're changing.

01:05:05.000 And all of a sudden, you know, I'm changing.

01:05:07.000 I look back. 1.00

01:05:09.000 Rashad Evans walks in the fucking dressing room. 0.99

01:05:12.000 I'd never been starstruck in my life. 1.00

01:05:14.000 I was just like, oh, shit, that's Rashad Evans. 0.99

01:05:19.000 So, of course, you know, I had to play it cool. 0.99

01:05:21.000 I can't even be that dude.

01:05:22.000 You know, I ain't no fanboy. 0.99

01:05:24.000 But I'm thinking in my mind, oh shit, that's fucking Rashad Evans. 0.99

01:05:27.000 I just watched this dude fight Rampage and they do the ultimate fighter and all this joy. 1.00

01:05:32.000 Like, oh shit, that's Rashad. 0.98

01:05:34.000 So we get back out. 0.99

01:05:36.000 Now we're training together.

01:05:37.000 We're wrestling.

01:05:38.000 I just can't believe how good... 0.99

01:05:40.000 To this day, he can fucking lie and say he took me down. 0.99

01:05:43.000 He didn't get one takedown in that training session. 0.99

01:05:46.000 I freaking took him down several times.

01:05:50.000 Ran him off the mat.

01:05:52.000 But the one thing that I couldn't...

01:05:53.000 I was impressed by how good of a wrestler he was.

01:05:56.000 Then I started doing my research.

01:05:58.000 I was like, oh, he actually wrestled.

01:05:59.000 He was a wrestler at Michigan State.

01:06:00.000 He was a two-time JUCO champion.

01:06:02.000 He was a wrestler.

01:06:04.000 I couldn't believe how good he was.

01:06:06.000 But then after that session, we sat on the mat and we just talked. 0.99

01:06:11.000 And to keep in mind, my whole mind is like, shit, I'm talking to a superstar here. 0.99

01:06:17.000 And he was at the top of the game. 0.99

01:06:20.000 And I couldn't believe.

01:06:22.000 We talked like we were brothers.

01:06:23.000 We were homies.

01:06:24.000 We've been best friends for a long time.

01:06:26.000 He's a great guy.

01:06:28.000 He floored me. 1.00

01:06:30.000 And I was just like, shit. 1.00

01:06:33.000 That's Rashad Evans. 1.00

01:06:34.000 Gave me his number.

01:06:37.000 Gave me his numbers like, bro, yeah.

01:06:38.000 Hit me up.

01:06:39.000 What you doing?

01:06:40.000 What you gonna do tonight?

01:06:41.000 I was like, oh, we gotta drive back to Colorado Springs.

01:06:43.000 He's like, oh, okay.

01:06:44.000 I'll be back in Denver.

01:06:45.000 I'm gonna hit you up. 0.70

01:06:46.000 Talk like we were boys.

01:06:49.000 And of course, I'm like, it's like, you're holding the piece of paper, his number on it. 0.99

01:06:53.000 I'm like, oh shit, that's Rashad's number. 0.93

01:06:57.000 So, I go home, it's like, do I wait two days to text him? 0.97

01:07:02.000 What do I do here?

01:07:03.000 Like a chick. 0.97

01:07:05.000 Like a chick. 0.97

01:07:06.000 Oh wait, what do I do? 1.00

01:07:08.000 Oh shit, that's Rashad's number. 0.99

01:07:10.000 It's just sitting on my desk. 1.00

01:07:11.000 I walk by it, I look at it.

01:07:15.000 Oh man, so...

01:07:18.000 A week goes by and he freaking texted me.

01:07:21.000 He just texted me out of the blue.

01:07:22.000 Like, yo, what up, man?

01:07:24.000 Like, what's up?

01:07:25.000 I'm going to be in Denver this next month or something like that.

01:07:29.000 Why don't you come do a train with me?

01:07:30.000 I was like, yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure.

01:07:32.000 So I went and trained with him again.

01:07:36.000 Just, you know, hung out for a little bit.

01:07:39.000 And then he started and it became regular.

01:07:42.000 He would text me regularly like, hey, I got a fight coming up.

01:07:45.000 I'm about to fight Phil Davis.

01:07:46.000 I'm going to bring you down to Florida with me to train with me for two weeks. 1.00

01:07:50.000 Fuck, you're going to fly me to Florida to train with you? 1.00

01:07:52.000 Yeah, yeah, of course. 1.00

01:07:53.000 I'm down.

01:07:54.000 So now I became part of his training arsenal.

01:07:57.000 And every time, that's the thing, Rashad, every time he would make fun of you like brothers do.

01:08:03.000 He'll poke fun at you.

01:08:04.000 You know you want to do MMA. You know you want to do this.

01:08:06.000 You should be doing this shit. 1.00

01:08:07.000 Why are you over there busting your butt in wrestling? 1.00

01:08:10.000 You would train all through this whole wrestling camp, go all the way to Russia, wrestle a tournament. 0.96

01:08:15.000 If you won the tournament, you got $1,500.

01:08:19.000 I would help these guys train.

01:08:21.000 These guys go out, beat somebody up, make $7,500,000. 1.00

01:08:25.000 Like, what the fuck? 1.00

01:08:26.000 What sport am I in right now? 1.00

01:08:28.000 What's going on?

01:08:29.000 And so he kept poking at me like, man, you know you want to do this.

01:08:32.000 You know you want to do that.

01:08:33.000 So he slowly started to shift my motivation and my focus towards MMA instead of winning that Olympic gold.

01:08:41.000 And then, of course, I was dealing with a lot of different injuries here and there.

01:08:45.000 Tore up my knees.

01:08:46.000 Tore up my back.

01:08:46.000 And I just...

01:08:47.000 I started to feel like my chance of winning Olympic gold started to diminish more and more and more.

01:08:52.000 And then I started falling in love with this sport here and there.

01:08:55.000 And then I talked with him.

01:08:57.000 I talked with King Mo.

01:08:58.000 And King Mo was just like, man, don't straddle the fence, man.

01:09:01.000 Because I straddle the fence.

01:09:02.000 And look what happened.

01:09:03.000 Because King Mo was supposed to be the Olympian.

01:09:05.000 And he was like, I just traveled the fence, and look, I lost to the trials, and nah, I'm in MMA, so if you're gonna do that, just do that.

01:09:12.000 And Rashad was like, why don't you come down to Florida?

01:09:14.000 I was like, man, that's it, I'm done.

01:09:17.000 Wow.

01:09:18.000 Now, when we were talking about Cain Velasquez earlier, Cain has had a series of catastrophic injuries.

01:09:25.000 Knee injuries, knee surgeries, shoulder surgeries, back surgery.

01:09:29.000 When you think about your style, that's kind of similar to his in a lot of ways in that you rely on pressure, volume, mental toughness, and wrestling.

01:09:41.000 All those things.

01:09:42.000 You're constantly attacking.

01:09:44.000 You're constantly bombarding your opponent with technique and with pressure.

01:09:51.000 When you see that you've gone through all these surgeries and you see what happens with a guy like Kane where his body just can't compete with his mental toughness anymore.

01:09:59.000 It's almost like his mind is too strong for his body.

01:10:03.000 His body just breaks.

01:10:05.000 Yeah, I mean it's... 0.99

01:10:06.000 Does it fuck with you at all? 0.83

01:10:08.000 It's a little bit because it's like, man, you gotta switch up because you wanna have longevity. 0.96

01:10:13.000 Yes.

01:10:15.000 I've had seven surgeries now.

01:10:17.000 So what have you done?

01:10:18.000 I've had five knee surgeries. 1.00

01:10:20.000 Five fucking knee surgeries? 1.00

01:10:21.000 Five knee surgeries. 1.00

01:10:22.000 I've had four meniscus on each.

01:10:24.000 Four?

01:10:24.000 Four.

01:10:25.000 Two on the left, two on the right.

01:10:27.000 And then I've also had a microfracture, which is probably one of the biggest serious surgeries that I've had on my right knee.

01:10:35.000 Now, is that one of those ones where they try to regrow cartilage?

01:10:38.000 Yeah.

01:10:39.000 I guess the process is they make breaks.

01:10:42.000 They make fractures in the condyle. 0.99

01:10:45.000 To hopefully, I guess, just scar up, you know, generate a blood supply, scar up, so it creates a little cushion, but fuck it, it didn't work. 0.99

01:10:54.000 I feel like it set me back. 0.99

01:10:55.000 Really?

01:10:56.000 Yeah, man, big time.

01:10:57.000 Have you ever heard of Dr. Neil Reardon and what they're doing down in Panama with stem cells?

01:11:06.000 No, I've never heard of him.

01:11:07.000 I've heard of stem cells and I've actually had a round of stem cells.

01:11:11.000 What they're doing down in Panama.

01:11:13.000 Do you know TJ Dillshaw?

01:11:15.000 Yeah, I know TJ. Talk to him about it, man.

01:11:16.000 Because he has some phenomenal...

01:11:18.000 I actually sent my mom down there.

01:11:20.000 Really?

01:11:20.000 Yeah, they were trying to give my mom a knee replacement surgery.

01:11:23.000 I was like, hold on, mom.

01:11:25.000 Let's see what we can do.

01:11:27.000 So I sent her down near the Panama.

01:11:29.000 His office is in Dallas, and I had him on with Mel Gibson.

01:11:33.000 Mel Gibson's dad, when he sent him down there, was 92, and he was in a wheelchair.

01:11:38.000 Now he's 100, and he's walking around.

01:11:40.000 And according to Mel, I didn't ask, but according to Mel, still getting hard-ons.

01:11:44.000 I didn't ask.

01:11:46.000 I don't think that goes away, y'all.

01:11:51.000 But he said, I mean, Mel's gone down himself, and man, I would go down if I had anything really wrong with me, too. 0.85

01:11:57.000 I mean, I've gotten a lot of stem cells done here in the States, but they can do some shit down there in Panama that they just cannot do here in terms of regulations and shit, and they're doing phenomenal work with regrowing cartilage and meniscus and all kinds of shit.

01:12:14.000 Especially, like, right now, while you're in recovery phase anyway, you really should get in contact with them. 0.71

01:12:20.000 Yeah, for sure.

01:12:21.000 I'm going to definitely give that a try.

01:12:23.000 Because they've helped TJ quite a bit.

01:12:24.000 I know other fighters have gone down there as well.

01:12:26.000 Yeah, that's something that definitely I'm going to look into.

01:12:29.000 Yeah, because, you know, I mean, when you're dealing with bone on bone, like I'm sure you probably are.

01:12:34.000 I've been on for a long, long time. 0.98

01:12:36.000 It's fucking hard to train. 0.97

01:12:38.000 A long time. 0.99

01:12:39.000 Well, that's why it's so impressive, your cardio, because you can't run.

01:12:43.000 So are you doing plyos as well?

01:12:45.000 Yeah.

01:12:46.000 I mean, part of what, like I said, my strength and conditioning coach, Corey, we do a good job of adjusting to what I can or can't do.

01:12:53.000 And, you know, obviously back squats are not the biggest, the best thing for me to be doing.

01:12:58.000 So we modify.

01:12:59.000 We do different types of squats and things like that.

01:13:02.000 And we still get pretty good results.

01:13:04.000 Do you do any swimming?

01:13:05.000 Yeah.

01:13:05.000 Yeah, I play in the water a lot, too.

01:13:08.000 I do a lot of footwork stuff in the water because it takes a lot of pressure off.

01:13:12.000 I was forced.

01:13:13.000 I can't...

01:13:15.000 I mean, I'm not going to go in here and do backstrokes and all this crazy swimming techniques, but I get in there to get that workout.

01:13:22.000 Do you do sprints in the pool or anything like that?

01:13:24.000 Yes, yes.

01:13:24.000 Big into those.

01:13:25.000 I do sprints. 0.99

01:13:26.000 Now, you said your shoulders are fucking with you, too? 1.00

01:13:29.000 Shoulders are... 1.00

01:13:29.000 I mean, I'm a wrestler. 1.00

01:13:30.000 You know, shoulders are always going to be banged up, you know, but...

01:13:33.000 I haven't, I've been fortunate, no surgeries there yet, but yeah, knees, I've had surgeries, five, and then I tore this, my index finger, that tendon right there, I tore that my junior year in college.

01:13:49.000 Yeah.

01:13:49.000 And I told her that I had surgery with that to replace that, repair that.

01:13:54.000 And then now this freaking whole apparatus that I have going on in my lower abdomen.

01:14:01.000 Did they put a mesh?

01:14:02.000 Is that what they do?

01:14:03.000 They did a little bit.

01:14:04.000 I told them because the doc didn't want to work with mesh that well because he said that...

01:14:08.000 You know, there's good and bad results with the match.

01:14:11.000 So, you know, I got this freaking drain coming out of me right now. 0.99

01:14:15.000 Oh, shit. 0.99

01:14:15.000 Look at that. 0.99

01:14:16.000 Oh, my goodness.

01:14:17.000 Look at that.

01:14:18.000 Is this pus and stuff?

01:14:20.000 It was blood.

01:14:20.000 Like, it was basically the blood.

01:14:22.000 It's like a vacuum, I think is what they call it.

01:14:24.000 It's draining blood.

01:14:25.000 But now it's coming down.

01:14:27.000 It's not that much blood coming out of there anymore.

01:14:28.000 How long ago was that?

01:14:29.000 Tuesday, I got that.

01:14:30.000 Wow.

01:14:31.000 So, yeah, I've been having to walk around and maneuver with this thing.

01:14:35.000 Jesus.

01:14:36.000 And the worst thing is the burning, because it's obviously sticking out of a hole.

01:14:39.000 There's a hole in me.

01:14:40.000 So, the burning sensation around it. 0.99

01:14:43.000 The third day, I told the physical therapist, I was like, yo, I almost cut this shit off with a scissor. 0.98

01:14:51.000 Because I'm not big into the painkillers. 0.99

01:14:53.000 Right, right.

01:14:53.000 So I'll take it maybe the day after.

01:14:55.000 I'll take it.

01:14:57.000 But they just don't do much for me.

01:14:59.000 It doesn't kill the pain.

01:15:00.000 I'm like, why do they call these painkillers?

01:15:02.000 It doesn't kill the pain.

01:15:03.000 It doesn't make me a little loopy. 1.00

01:15:06.000 It makes me stupid as fuck. 1.00

01:15:07.000 I don't fuck with them either. 1.00

01:15:08.000 I just have a bag of them and I don't do anything with them. 0.99

01:15:12.000 What about CBD? Do you use that?

01:15:14.000 I do, man.

01:15:14.000 Shout out to, I'm sponsored by Love Hemp.

01:15:17.000 Beautiful.

01:15:17.000 Love Hemp is a UK company.

01:15:19.000 Very good company.

01:15:20.000 Yeah, amazing.

01:15:21.000 They're doing some really, really big things.

01:15:23.000 And I'm big into like the oil I have and I have the rub.

01:15:26.000 Both of them are great.

01:15:27.000 Yeah, I use those a lot.

01:15:28.000 So that's in my repertoire.

01:15:30.000 Yeah, that's huge for anybody that's experiencing any kind of inflammation.

01:15:34.000 Plus, for general anxiety and overall health, CBD is fantastic.

01:15:38.000 And no psychoactive effects, too.

01:15:41.000 Yeah, because that's the freaking stigma behind it. 0.91

01:15:44.000 It's like, oh, it's marijuana, it's weed. 0.82

01:15:46.000 Yeah, we were talking about marijuana before the podcast.

01:15:51.000 Should I smoke?

01:15:52.000 And I was like, don't do it.

01:15:53.000 I'm like, I'm coming on Joe Rogan.

01:15:54.000 Should I smoke with Joe?

01:15:56.000 No, champ.

01:15:57.000 No.

01:15:58.000 We want you lucid here. 0.97

01:16:00.000 I want you going in the hole. 0.82

01:16:01.000 The problem is when people don't get high and then they get high in a pressure situation like this, you're just like, you go into that tunnel, you're like, yikes!

01:16:10.000 Oh my god, yeah.

01:16:12.000 I've tried, I've smoked four times in my life.

01:16:15.000 How did that go?

01:16:17.000 Not good.

01:16:18.000 I mean...

01:16:19.000 The first time was my 24th birthday.

01:16:26.000 24th birthday, I smoked with...

01:16:29.000 Who was it?

01:16:31.000 A couple of friends of mine at the Olympic Training Center.

01:16:34.000 And they didn't do anything.

01:16:35.000 Because I didn't know how to...

01:16:36.000 I don't know how to hit the blind.

01:16:37.000 I didn't inhale.

01:16:39.000 Yeah, so...

01:16:40.000 I was like, man, this stuff don't affect me, dawg.

01:16:42.000 I ain't gonna do this.

01:16:43.000 So...

01:16:46.000 So I didn't say screw that if you want to do it again.

01:16:49.000 And then the next time was the year after with Jason Miller, Mayhem Miller.

01:16:55.000 Oh, Mayhem knows how to hit that wheel. 1.00

01:16:56.000 Yeah, we were doing Ultimate Fighter.

01:16:59.000 We were doing that.

01:17:00.000 And one thing we do at night is a lot of people expect, like, man, when he's not...

01:17:07.000 It's a man.

01:17:08.000 Super cool guy.

01:17:09.000 He's a very good dude.

01:17:10.000 I mean, there's always like...

01:17:12.000 Kind of like being around Mike Tyson.

01:17:13.000 There's always like...

01:17:14.000 Edge. 0.98

01:17:15.000 Yeah, there's always that edge to where you're in a room with the freaking lion. 1.00

01:17:19.000 Like, yeah, he's the coolest lion ever, but you still know it's a fucking lion. 1.00

01:17:22.000 Right. 0.99

01:17:23.000 And Mayhem's like that.

01:17:24.000 You're in a room, everything's cool, but he still has...

01:17:27.000 He can snap at any moment.

01:17:29.000 So...

01:17:30.000 We're sitting on the balcony at night and we'll just talk.

01:17:33.000 And he would just talk about these...

01:17:34.000 The weird thing about Mayhem is he always watched... 1.00

01:17:37.000 He watched nothing but smart shit. 1.00

01:17:40.000 Like the news. 1.00

01:17:41.000 Like the Colbert Report.

01:17:42.000 Things like that.

01:17:44.000 He wouldn't watch...

01:17:45.000 I would think he'd watch 90210. Or freaking shows like that. 0.98

01:17:52.000 No, man. 0.68

01:17:53.000 He was a very intelligent guy.

01:17:55.000 He would just sit there and talk at night.

01:17:58.000 And...

01:18:00.000 He gave me the nickname that night too. 0.85

01:18:02.000 And freaking, he's like, bro, your first name starts with a K. Your last name is Ushman. 0.84

01:18:10.000 Usman. 0.96

01:18:11.000 I'm gonna freaking call you Kush. 0.66

01:18:13.000 I'm calling you Kush. 0.88

01:18:14.000 Ha ha ha ha.

01:18:15.000 Freaking the next day on set, everyone calls me Kush.

01:18:20.000 To this day, people call me Kush. 0.69

01:18:23.000 You're like, I'm the Nigerian nightmare. 1.00

01:18:25.000 And at that time, it wasn't born yet.

01:18:28.000 The name wasn't there yet, because I didn't start fighting yet. 0.90

01:18:31.000 So I've had nicknames all throughout my life, my career, which is that whole Ben Askren shit that he's trying to run with.

01:18:37.000 What is he calling you? 0.93

01:18:38.000 Marty from Nebraska?

01:18:39.000 Why is he calling you Marty from Nebraska?

01:18:41.000 He calls me Marty from Nebraska.

01:18:42.000 See, this is the thing is...

01:18:43.000 When I started wrestling, I started in high school.

01:18:46.000 My coach was this big marine dude.

01:18:48.000 You know, he was in shape.

01:18:49.000 Buzz cut, white dude. 0.65

01:18:51.000 And he comes up to me.

01:18:52.000 I'm 5'2", 100 pounds, soaking wet.

01:18:55.000 And he's like, yo.

01:18:57.000 He's like, what's your name, kid?

01:18:59.000 I tell him.

01:19:00.000 But I don't even think he paid attention.

01:19:02.000 And he's like, hey, you tried wrestling?

01:19:04.000 I never heard of wrestling.

01:19:05.000 All I've heard is WWE. I'm like, nah, man.

01:19:07.000 I ain't trying to get hit with chairs and stuff. 0.99

01:19:09.000 I ain't trying to do that shit. 0.99

01:19:13.000 So, he fucking kind of looks at me, he's like, ah, okay, yeah, alright. 1.00

01:19:20.000 We'll give it a shot. 0.99

01:19:21.000 And our assistant wrestling coach was the assistant football coach.

01:19:24.000 So they kind of would poke at me, yeah, you come try wrestling, come try wrestling all through the football season.

01:19:29.000 Then the next year, I freaking, I nutted up.

01:19:32.000 And I freaking just signed up for wrestling.

01:19:35.000 I went in and, um... 0.99

01:19:38.000 He looks at, he's reading the roll sheet, calling names, and he goes, Kamaru, who the fuck, who is this kid? 1.00

01:19:48.000 Who the fuck is this kid? 0.99

01:19:50.000 And I'm like, that's me, coach. 1.00

01:19:52.000 He's like, that's your name?

01:19:56.000 He's like, I'm not saying that because my whole full name is Kamarudin.

01:20:01.000 He's like, I'm not going to say that.

01:20:05.000 I'm going to call you Marty.

01:20:08.000 And I'm just like, yeah, sure, coach. 0.98

01:20:11.000 I'm fucking 5'3", 100 pounds. 0.98

01:20:13.000 I'm just scared of this guy. 0.99

01:20:14.000 I'm like, sure.

01:20:16.000 I mean, you're a kid.

01:20:16.000 You don't care.

01:20:17.000 You're going to have nicknames all growing up.

01:20:19.000 Why does the UFC shorten your name?

01:20:22.000 To Kamaru?

01:20:22.000 No, that's what my parents call me.

01:20:24.000 It's Kamaru.

01:20:25.000 Yeah, my parents call me Kamaru.

01:20:27.000 But the full...

01:20:27.000 It's like, my name's Joseph.

01:20:29.000 My parents call me Joe.

01:20:30.000 Joe!

01:20:30.000 Exactly, yeah.

01:20:31.000 So, it's Kamaru.

01:20:33.000 That's what my parents have always called me.

01:20:35.000 That's what I call myself.

01:20:36.000 But my full name is Joseph.

01:20:40.000 It's Kamaru Dean.

01:20:42.000 So, Marty.

01:20:44.000 Yeah, he's like, I'm going to call you Marty. 0.99

01:20:45.000 So, fuck it up. 1.00

01:20:46.000 All right. 0.99

01:20:46.000 Now, the whole team is calling me Marty. 0.99

01:20:48.000 And, you know...

01:20:50.000 So... 1.00

01:20:52.000 White people are so fucked up. 1.00

01:20:56.000 Change people's names. 1.00

01:20:57.000 I love that coach, man.

01:20:58.000 He essentially changed my life.

01:21:01.000 He changed the course of my life.

01:21:02.000 That is such a funny thing, though, to do.

01:21:04.000 I'm going to call you Marty.

01:21:06.000 That's not even close.

01:21:08.000 That starts with a totally different letter.

01:21:10.000 I know, but it seemed to work.

01:21:13.000 It worked so well.

01:21:15.000 This is the thing about nicknames. 1.00

01:21:16.000 If you're a guy that's just a regular average guy and you suck, Your name dies with you. 1.00

01:21:23.000 You move on. 1.00

01:21:23.000 No one cares. 1.00

01:21:24.000 Right.

01:21:25.000 But if you're doing something incredible, something spectacular, that name lives on.

01:21:29.000 Right.

01:21:30.000 So now Marty went from just now everyone on the team calling me Marty to where people know about the wrestling, around the wrestling circuit.

01:21:37.000 In high school, they're calling me Marty.

01:21:39.000 Oh, that Marty guy.

01:21:40.000 That kid's good.

01:21:41.000 And then our college coaches are calling like, oh, I want to recruit this kid, this Kamaru-ian kid.

01:21:47.000 And he's like, ooh, Marty?

01:21:49.000 So now they all know me as Marty.

01:21:51.000 So now I go to college and the coach is calling me Marty.

01:21:54.000 And now the college team is calling me Marty.

01:21:57.000 Now here's the situation with this whole Ben Askren thing. 0.91

01:22:01.000 Like I just mentioned, if I was just a regular guy who sucked, no one cares.

01:22:05.000 No one knows your name. 0.99

01:22:06.000 You'd die out. 0.96

01:22:08.000 But because I made waves, like I was that Marty kid that wrestled at Nebraska that has beaten the shit out of everyone, Division 1, 2, 3, NAIA, JUCO, it doesn't matter. 0.69

01:22:18.000 Ben knows of me.

01:22:20.000 So, you know, he's trying to cling on to something to bring it back.

01:22:24.000 Like, oh, this is funny.

01:22:25.000 I'm trying to hide from it.

01:22:26.000 No, I really was Marty from Nebraska. 0.99

01:22:28.000 I really was whooping everyone's ass while I was Marty from Nebraska. 0.99

01:22:33.000 I really was that guy. 0.99

01:22:34.000 So, for him to bring it up, I thought he was silly. 0.77

01:22:37.000 But you know these fans.

01:22:38.000 Fans want to...

01:22:39.000 Because Ben is a representative of the trolls.

01:22:42.000 Like, most of the trolls look like Ben Askren.

01:22:44.000 If I can give you any...

01:22:45.000 That's hilarious.

01:22:47.000 That is hilarious.

01:22:48.000 If I can give you any advice, please don't pay attention to anyone. 0.99

01:22:52.000 I don't give a shit. 0.99

01:22:53.000 Don't pay attention to comments. 1.00

01:22:55.000 You know that glass jar?

01:22:57.000 Yeah.

01:22:57.000 Once you smash that thing, just don't even put anything in there anymore, man.

01:23:01.000 Nothing.

01:23:03.000 And I've heard you say that so many times.

01:23:06.000 When I started paying attention to the show, I started watching the show.

01:23:09.000 And I watched the one you did with Tyrant.

01:23:12.000 When Tyron was up here.

01:23:13.000 And you're so right.

01:23:14.000 Because that's one thing that I always felt like was so unfair about Tyron. 1.00

01:23:18.000 A lot of people just gave him shit. 0.99

01:23:22.000 And I think it started because he didn't take that belt. 1.00

01:23:24.000 They didn't dethrone George St. Pierre.

01:23:27.000 So I think a lot of it stemmed from that.

01:23:29.000 I don't know about that, man.

01:23:31.000 I know.

01:23:31.000 The way he stopped Robbie Lawler, that didn't give people...

01:23:34.000 I understand, but George St. Pierre was still looping around as the welterweight champion.

01:23:39.000 But sort of not, because he retired.

01:23:42.000 He said, I'm going to step away.

01:23:43.000 Yeah, but he stepped away.

01:23:45.000 Yes, for you being...

01:23:47.000 Obviously, you know so much about the sport.

01:23:49.000 You're being in the sport for so long. 1.00

01:23:51.000 Yes, but for these fickle fans that don't know shit... 0.99

01:23:53.000 That's why you can't listen to him. 0.99

01:23:54.000 All they know is George St. Pierre.

01:23:57.000 Rue Saint-Pierre was a champion and he never lost his belt.

01:24:00.000 So I felt like Tyron never got his fair share necessarily.

01:24:04.000 I feel like the same.

01:24:05.000 Because they're like, oh, he never took the belt from George.

01:24:08.000 I think it was the Wonderboy fights. 0.97

01:24:10.000 I think the Wonderboy fights were so fucking hard. 0.57

01:24:13.000 Yeah, but even before that. 0.86

01:24:14.000 He had to fight Wonderboy that way.

01:24:16.000 That is the way you fight that guy.

01:24:18.000 Yes.

01:24:20.000 Unless someone like me comes in and does it easier.

01:24:22.000 What would you do?

01:24:23.000 I don't know.

01:24:24.000 I just do me.

01:24:26.000 Because he's still in the mix.

01:24:27.000 I would just do me.

01:24:28.000 I would eventually get a hold of him.

01:24:30.000 I would eventually break him.

01:24:31.000 And eventually make it look easy.

01:24:34.000 And then people are going to just complain.

01:24:36.000 So it is what it is.

01:24:37.000 Yeah.

01:24:38.000 The problem with him is he's so difficult to get close to.

01:24:42.000 He's a different guy because his style's so different.

01:24:45.000 He'll stand totally sideways on you.

01:24:47.000 His hands will be down, and he can wrestle.

01:24:50.000 I mean, in terms of takedown defense. 0.98

01:24:52.000 He's got good takedown defense, and his strikes come from fucking weird angles, man. 0.99

01:24:56.000 He moves like a snake. 0.99

01:24:57.000 Like he bends at the waist and pops forward.

01:25:00.000 You ever watch him kickbox?

01:25:01.000 Yeah, but I saw that. 0.99

01:25:03.000 I knew it was a problem when he threw that one kick that came over the fucking shoulder and smacked the kick. 0.99

01:25:08.000 Question mark kick. 0.99

01:25:10.000 It was weird.

01:25:10.000 He doesn't have the front leg.

01:25:12.000 He's very good with it.

01:25:13.000 You don't even know what's going on. 0.97

01:25:15.000 You think maybe he's going to kick you in the body. 0.83

01:25:16.000 Yeah, he loops around, comes over the top and smacks you in the face. 0.95

01:25:20.000 No, he's very talented.

01:25:21.000 I like Wonder Boy a lot.

01:25:23.000 But I just felt like I saw that show with Tyron.

01:25:26.000 And you said the exact same thing to him.

01:25:28.000 And that's what I said too.

01:25:29.000 And that's what I was thinking too.

01:25:30.000 But it's easier sin than none.

01:25:32.000 Because partially when I got into this and why I appreciate the platform that I have right now is the fact that you can affect so many people at such a rapid amount of time.

01:25:46.000 Because there's been instances to where I don't know if you ever remember that movie, What Women Want?

01:25:54.000 I never watched it.

01:25:55.000 Well, Mel Gibson.

01:25:56.000 I didn't watch it.

01:25:57.000 And basically, he could hear women's thoughts and things like that.

01:26:00.000 And then there was a girl, the office girl in the movie, who she was planning to kill herself because no one really paid attention to her.

01:26:08.000 She's like, no one would care.

01:26:10.000 She just walked around with books.

01:26:11.000 I applied for a job.

01:26:12.000 Everyone blew me off.

01:26:13.000 No one cares. 1.00

01:26:14.000 I'm gonna kill myself this day. 0.99

01:26:16.000 So she was planning to kill herself. 0.99

01:26:18.000 And he heard her because he could hear what women think.

01:26:21.000 He heard her thoughts.

01:26:22.000 But initially he didn't really pay attention to it until later on he realized she was missing from the office and then he like ran to go find her and essentially saved her life.

01:26:32.000 But my thing is, and that's a quote that I live by, with great power comes great responsibility.

01:26:37.000 Like what if there's someone that's dealing with something at a certain time?

01:26:42.000 And yes, I didn't ask to be put in that position.

01:26:47.000 But they just decided, oh, I'm just going to reach out and send a message before I kill myself this day.

01:26:52.000 No one's going to respond.

01:26:53.000 No one's going to care.

01:26:54.000 And I happened to read that message and talk that kid off the ledge. 0.98

01:26:59.000 And that kid becomes fucking, you know, wins the Nobel Peace Prize later on in life. 0.98

01:27:04.000 Like, that's a responsibility that I have. 0.98

01:27:07.000 I didn't put that on myself, but that I have with the gift that I've been blessed with to touch so many people.

01:27:14.000 And so how am I going to know that?

01:27:16.000 If I never read any of my messages or comments or things like that.

01:27:21.000 Yes, of course, you know, the negative ones, yeah, blow it off.

01:27:24.000 But how do I know it's negative if I don't read it?

01:27:26.000 You know, so that's what I'm saying.

01:27:27.000 It's easier said than done.

01:27:28.000 It's like I read this.

01:27:29.000 If now what I do is I read if I even feel like it's getting negative delete. 0.95

01:27:34.000 Dilly, Dilly, I can't read them all because after that fight, fucking, I got thousands. 0.97

01:27:39.000 I'm sure. 0.95

01:27:39.000 So, you know, I can't read them all, but every now and again when I'm bored enough and I have time, like, I'll read some of it because sometimes it is good, good things, but, you know, that is very easy. 0.95

01:27:49.000 Most of the time it's good things.

01:27:51.000 No? 0.98

01:27:51.000 you know i shit you not there was Yesterday, I posted a picture. 0.98

01:28:02.000 There was one guy that responded to maybe 40 to 50 people. 1.00

01:28:08.000 All negative shit. 1.00

01:28:10.000 Oh yeah? 1.00

01:28:10.000 How about we find that dude and give out his Instagram handle? 1.00

01:28:13.000 You were gonna die in this...

01:28:14.000 You know what? 0.88

01:28:15.000 I just blocked him. 0.92

01:28:16.000 He said you were gonna die? 1.00

01:28:17.000 It's like, oh man, you're gonna get knocked the fuck out. 1.00

01:28:19.000 You're gonna do this. 0.96

01:28:20.000 I'm just like, oh my god.

01:28:21.000 Like, bro, really?

01:28:23.000 You literally took the time out of your day to sit here today.

01:28:26.000 Just knocked on his door and he opened the door and saw your face.

01:28:29.000 Imagine?

01:28:30.000 Oh my god, I wish we could do that.

01:28:32.000 I wish we could do that.

01:28:34.000 And he answers.

01:28:35.000 Guess who answers the door?

01:28:36.000 It's Ben Askren.

01:28:37.000 He looks like Ben. 0.99

01:28:41.000 Just fucking belly out like this. 0.99

01:28:44.000 He's never trained a day in his life. 0.99

01:28:45.000 What did you think of the Robbie Lawler fight with Ben?

01:28:48.000 Oh man, like, I mean, come on.

01:28:50.000 They gotta run that back.

01:28:52.000 I was thinking when it was over that Herb Dean made a mistake, but the more I watched it, the more I think he didn't.

01:28:58.000 I think what happened was, I think Robbie went out, I think his arm dropped, and I think when Herb came over, this is what Ben says too, that he loosened up the choke a little bit.

01:29:09.000 And Robbie came back to it, and Robbie probably doesn't even know. 0.99

01:29:12.000 Because Robbie's such a fucking savage, he probably didn't even know he went out. 0.99

01:29:15.000 Yeah, but, okay, you know, this is the argument. 0.99

01:29:18.000 And this is why it has to be ran back.

01:29:20.000 Yeah, it's a good argument to run it back.

01:29:21.000 You know, this is the argument because...

01:29:24.000 First of all, when Robbie ran that truck through Ben's face, he was out.

01:29:31.000 That's a funny way of putting it.

01:29:32.000 He was out and woke up.

01:29:33.000 He recovered. 1.00

01:29:34.000 I mean, he got hit with some fucking bombs. 1.00

01:29:37.000 We're freaking wrestlers. 0.99

01:29:38.000 The one thing about wrestlers at the elite level is you can be out of it, but your body will naturally go through certain motions, grab a leg, pull up, do that.

01:29:48.000 Do you think he was out cold when Robbie was bombing on him?

01:29:50.000 Robbie ran a Mack truck through his face.

01:29:55.000 Let's watch it.

01:29:56.000 Pull that fight up.

01:29:58.000 Trucked through his face.

01:30:00.000 I feel like Robbie knocked him out, woke him up, knocked him out.

01:30:04.000 Robbie was just savage mode.

01:30:06.000 And that's the one thing about Robbie.

01:30:08.000 And knowing Robbie now, because I train with him, Robby's such a different guy.

01:30:16.000 The way he handled the loss was so classy.

01:30:20.000 But that's Robby, man.

01:30:21.000 He's so classy.

01:30:23.000 This is the thing with the explanation.

01:30:25.000 You can argue the fight should have been stopped when Robby was bombing on him.

01:30:30.000 You can argue that.

01:30:31.000 For sure.

01:30:32.000 But at the same time, Robbie explains it is Robbie has so much experience.

01:30:37.000 And it was a bulldog.

01:30:38.000 It's like Big Brother choke.

01:30:39.000 So, you know, it could have not been doing anything. 0.66

01:30:42.000 But Robbie explained it as I put my hand down because this wasn't doing shit to relax, you know, because I don't want to panic.

01:30:49.000 Robbie has that much experience.

01:30:50.000 He should know what to do.

01:30:51.000 Maybe that's what he was doing.

01:30:53.000 But the way he put his arm down, it looked like it was out.

01:30:57.000 But then when Herb Dean came to check on him, While he was giving the thumbs up, Herb Dean didn't really give him a chance to put the thumbs up and stops the fight right then and there.

01:31:08.000 But as far as, oh, I loosened the choke, that's why he came to me.

01:31:10.000 No, you don't loosen the choke until the ref pulls you off of him or you pop his head off. 0.77

01:31:16.000 He said he lightened up when Herb came over because he thought that Herb was going to stop the fight because he felt Robbie go limp.

01:31:21.000 You don't lighten up because you think someone's going to stop the fight.

01:31:25.000 I see your point.

01:31:26.000 You don't lighten up because you think.

01:31:27.000 You squeeze harder because you want to make him stop the fight.

01:31:30.000 I see a point, and also, there is a difference between squeezing someone out and beating on them when the referee's coming.

01:31:36.000 If the referee comes and you stop punching because the guy's out, that's one thing.

01:31:41.000 That's one thing, but you have him in a bulldog.

01:31:43.000 You're here in survival mode.

01:31:46.000 You're in survival mode at that time.

01:31:50.000 Bulldog chokes are legit, man. 0.99

01:31:52.000 They really do work.

01:31:54.000 Yeah.

01:31:54.000 I mean, that's how Pat Meletic lost the title.

01:31:58.000 Yeah, I'm not going to say...

01:31:59.000 Carlos Newton caught him in a bulldog choke.

01:32:01.000 Remember that?

01:32:01.000 Yeah, I'm not going to say that don't work.

01:32:03.000 I'm not going to say that.

01:32:04.000 I'm not going to...

01:32:04.000 You know, he could have been out, he could have not been out, but the only way to put that all to rest is to run it back.

01:32:11.000 But what kind of sucks is when you're like, no, I pass.

01:32:14.000 I mean, I pass.

01:32:15.000 What?

01:32:16.000 What?

01:32:17.000 Come on, bro.

01:32:18.000 Relax.

01:32:19.000 He said he didn't want to fight him in the first place. 1.00

01:32:21.000 Well, no shit. 1.00

01:32:22.000 Yeah. 0.99

01:32:22.000 Well, Robbie looks sensational. 0.99

01:32:24.000 Robbie looked like a fucking savage. 1.00

01:32:26.000 Here we go. 1.00

01:32:26.000 We're going to watch it right now. 1.00

01:32:27.000 Here we go. 1.00

01:32:28.000 We're going to watch this shit. 1.00

01:32:29.000 Ben, look at the body on him. 1.00

01:32:32.000 You laughing?

01:32:33.000 Are you trying to make me laugh here? 1.00

01:32:35.000 Fucking stud. 1.00

01:32:36.000 Yeah, look at that body. 1.00

01:32:37.000 That's the ideal combat sports body.

01:32:41.000 Look at this.

01:32:42.000 But it is amazing that he's able to get a hold of Robbie.

01:32:45.000 I was stunned.

01:32:46.000 No, I knew he was going to get a hold of Robbie.

01:32:48.000 I thought, but right away, that was crazy.

01:32:52.000 Now eat that.

01:32:52.000 Eat that.

01:32:53.000 Eat that.

01:32:54.000 These are big shots.

01:32:56.000 Go to sleep.

01:32:58.000 I'm out.

01:32:59.000 I think he's still there, man.

01:33:01.000 I don't think there's no evidence that he's out.

01:33:03.000 Really?

01:33:03.000 You don't see the hands go?

01:33:04.000 No, no.

01:33:05.000 I don't think so.

01:33:05.000 I think he's eaten the shot and then he's got the clinch.

01:33:08.000 I don't think he was ever out.

01:33:09.000 No.

01:33:09.000 There were certain moments he was...

01:33:11.000 Well, he definitely ate some big shots, but I don't think there's any evidence at all that indicates to me that he was out.

01:33:18.000 This is the thing. 0.99

01:33:19.000 Like, Ben is tough as shit, though. 0.98

01:33:21.000 Like, I give credit where credit is due. 0.99

01:33:23.000 Ben is tough as hell, man.

01:33:24.000 He's tough as hell.

01:33:25.000 And right now, he's just drunk driving.

01:33:27.000 Right now, he's drunk driving. 0.97

01:33:29.000 He's a wonky leg.

01:33:29.000 Drunk driving is a funny way to put it.

01:33:31.000 Bro, he's drunk driving right now.

01:33:32.000 Look at this.

01:33:33.000 Drunk driving.

01:33:34.000 But now Robbie Bixfrey.

01:33:36.000 See, I forget the actual scramble that led to the bulldog choke.

01:33:40.000 Yeah, it happens from now on when Robbie tries to get up because he does get the takedown.

01:33:44.000 Oh, look, he's drunk driving.

01:33:45.000 Oh, my God.

01:33:46.000 Oh, man, a lot of blood.

01:33:47.000 You caught him with a nasty left hand there.

01:33:49.000 Yeah, like...

01:33:51.000 Robbie's looking for a bomb.

01:33:54.000 And Ben is just moving forward like a zombie.

01:33:56.000 But he still grabs ahold of him.

01:33:57.000 It's interesting.

01:33:58.000 Interesting that he was able to grab ahold of him. 1.00

01:34:00.000 Because I would have thought that Robbie would have avoided that shit at all costs. 0.99

01:34:03.000 Yeah, but that's why he's able to grab ahold of someone. 0.99

01:34:05.000 When someone is so worried about you grabbing them, it kind of shuts them down a little bit.

01:34:12.000 Good Knees of the Body there by Robbie.

01:34:14.000 Yeah.

01:34:16.000 That's another thing you did in the Tyron fight. 1.00

01:34:18.000 Those fucking body shots. 1.00

01:34:20.000 Good lord. 1.00

01:34:20.000 I was trying to take that body home. 1.00

01:34:23.000 You hit him with so many right hands to the body.

01:34:27.000 So here we see Ben still got the clinch.

01:34:29.000 Yeah, he's doing a good job here.

01:34:31.000 He's trying to come to it.

01:34:32.000 He's trying to recover.

01:34:34.000 Doing a good job.

01:34:35.000 Keeping it close.

01:34:36.000 Now you can't really get hit with big shots.

01:34:39.000 And he does get the takedown at some point.

01:34:41.000 Yeah, I do not remember how it happened.

01:34:44.000 Here it is.

01:34:46.000 He reaches down.

01:34:49.000 So he's got him in the clinch here.

01:34:51.000 He's got the underhook on the left side.

01:34:57.000 Okay, he grabs the leg.

01:35:00.000 This is interesting.

01:35:01.000 I don't remember this.

01:35:02.000 All I remember is the opening exchange and then the final exchange.

01:35:06.000 Yeah, two on one.

01:35:08.000 Right now he's trying to go two on one.

01:35:10.000 Yes, good job.

01:35:11.000 So he's got the single.

01:35:13.000 Single.

01:35:14.000 Robbie doing a good job.

01:35:15.000 Now he's got the hands clasped together.

01:35:16.000 It's amazing to me how good of a wrestler he is.

01:35:19.000 I'm going to be honest with you.

01:35:20.000 But it's just funky because it's not really muscles there.

01:35:24.000 It's just like Gumby.

01:35:26.000 You know, it's not going anywhere.

01:35:28.000 But it's tricky.

01:35:29.000 Yeah, very tricky. 1.00

01:35:30.000 Sneaky shit. 1.00

01:35:30.000 Yeah, very sneaky, very tricky. 1.00

01:35:32.000 So now he's got him down.

01:35:33.000 And now Robbie's on his back.

01:35:35.000 He's in...

01:35:36.000 Yeah, sort of in side control.

01:35:37.000 Okay.

01:35:38.000 So now he's got an arm.

01:35:39.000 Yeah, typical Robbie.

01:35:40.000 See, Robbie's just chilling.

01:35:41.000 Boom.

01:35:42.000 He circles out.

01:35:43.000 He's got the headlock.

01:35:45.000 Okay, now he's got the headlock.

01:35:46.000 And now watch that right off.

01:35:48.000 But see, this position.

01:35:49.000 Yeah, but see, this position.

01:35:50.000 Robbie puts it down.

01:35:51.000 Yeah, it's moving.

01:35:52.000 It's moving.

01:35:53.000 Yeah.

01:35:53.000 Nope.

01:35:54.000 Yep.

01:35:54.000 See, changed my mind again.

01:35:56.000 Yeah, like, see, that's what's tricky about that.

01:35:58.000 That's what's tricky about that.

01:35:59.000 I changed my mind again.

01:36:00.000 I don't think he was out.

01:36:01.000 No, see, because...

01:36:02.000 Back it up just to the arm going limp.

01:36:05.000 Because the thing about the arm going limp is the way it went limp looked...

01:36:08.000 It really looked like he was out.

01:36:10.000 Okay, but this is what I'm saying right here is...

01:36:14.000 Initially in the situation, wait till he turns.

01:36:17.000 Wait till he turns.

01:36:18.000 Went right, right, wait till he pulled his arms out.

01:36:21.000 Boom, right here.

01:36:22.000 See, this is uncomfortable.

01:36:23.000 This is very uncomfortable.

01:36:25.000 You're spread out here and the guy's choking on your neck.

01:36:27.000 You got to bring one down to relieve pressure.

01:36:30.000 Either that one down or take this one inside.

01:36:33.000 So Robbie did the right thing or the arm fell down whether he was out.

01:36:38.000 So, man, it...

01:36:40.000 It's a tough go, man.

01:36:41.000 One more time.

01:36:42.000 Let me see that arm drop. 1.00

01:36:43.000 Just back it up just a little bit.

01:36:45.000 Here it goes, right there.

01:36:45.000 See, the way it drops, he like...

01:36:47.000 But it moved.

01:36:48.000 It moved.

01:36:48.000 Yeah, it moved.

01:36:49.000 Shit. 1.00

01:36:50.000 Boom. 1.00

01:36:50.000 It's so hard to know. 1.00

01:36:51.000 Move.

01:36:52.000 Yeah, he might have just been dealing with the choke.

01:36:53.000 Yep, nope.

01:36:54.000 I changed my mind again.

01:36:55.000 And it's typical Robbie, man.

01:36:57.000 Because Robbie says, man, yeah, experience.

01:37:00.000 He said, man, I knew that.

01:37:01.000 That was uncomfortable, so I just put my arm down chilling.

01:37:04.000 Yeah.

01:37:05.000 And that's it, man.

01:37:06.000 Now I'm on your side. 1.00

01:37:07.000 Fuck. 1.00

01:37:08.000 You gotta run it back. 1.00

01:37:09.000 There's only one...

01:37:10.000 You have to run that back.

01:37:11.000 I would say so.

01:37:12.000 But how much can the UFC tell him what to do?

01:37:16.000 Like, what could the UFC... The UFC said to Ben Askren, listen, this fight has to happen again.

01:37:22.000 That's the sport we're in.

01:37:25.000 UFC's the judge, the jury...

01:37:29.000 And if they want, the executioner.

01:37:31.000 What did Dana White say after the fight?

01:37:34.000 He said he wanted Ben to fight him again, right?

01:37:36.000 Yeah, Dana said we're going to run that back.

01:37:39.000 And Ben's like, not pass.

01:37:41.000 Man, I don't know.

01:37:43.000 Robbie's like, yeah, we got to do it again.

01:37:45.000 Well, I know Robbie was angling for a fight with Darren Till, but after Masvidal starched Darren Till, which was nasty, man. 0.92

01:37:52.000 Nasty, man. 0.88

01:37:52.000 People sleep on Masvidal. 0.88

01:37:53.000 They do.

01:37:54.000 I do not know why.

01:37:55.000 I don't understand it.

01:37:56.000 Go back and watch those backyard fights.

01:37:59.000 That guy's been going at it a long time.

01:38:01.000 Hey, man.

01:38:03.000 Both backyard fights are the one that he just had again this weekend.

01:38:07.000 Yeah, I know.

01:38:07.000 That was crazy.

01:38:08.000 What was that about?

01:38:10.000 It's about...

01:38:11.000 You can't just talk...

01:38:15.000 Nowadays, it's this era.

01:38:16.000 You can just say whatever.

01:38:17.000 You feel like you can say what you want because of social media.

01:38:20.000 You want to get fans on your side and this and that.

01:38:24.000 And...

01:38:25.000 He just happened to say it to the wrong guy at the wrong time.

01:38:28.000 Yeah.

01:38:28.000 Like, that's the situation.

01:38:30.000 And you did it backstage, too. 0.99

01:38:32.000 Masvidal won't give a fuck. 0.99

01:38:34.000 Like, I legitimately... 0.99

01:38:35.000 You know, mutual...

01:38:36.000 I think it's mutual respect with me and Masvidal.

01:38:39.000 Like...

01:38:40.000 I respect him.

01:38:41.000 You know, I mean, if we have to fight, we have to fight one day. 0.93

01:38:43.000 But, you know, like we feel the same when it's like, if you're going to talk shit online, when I see you keep the same energy. 0.91

01:38:49.000 Like when I saw Ben Askren backstage, the only thing that stopped me from pushing his head through that wall back there was the fact that I almost blacked out when I was walking towards him. 0.95

01:39:00.000 Then I realized...

01:39:02.000 Dana was right behind me.

01:39:03.000 So you were angry?

01:39:05.000 It wasn't that I was angry.

01:39:06.000 It was the fact that, bro, you came at me online like you had a problem with me.

01:39:12.000 Right. 0.99

01:39:13.000 You started talking mad shit to me like you had a problem, like saying things, putting up memes and all this. 0.99

01:39:19.000 To me, that means you have a problem with me. 1.00

01:39:20.000 I don't know what I did to you, but you got a problem with me.

01:39:23.000 So when I see you now, I want you to still have that same energy.

01:39:26.000 Don't just act like we're cool.

01:39:28.000 Like, what's up, bro?

01:39:29.000 Yo, you want to hug it out?

01:39:30.000 Don't act like that.

01:39:32.000 Act like you still have the same problem.

01:39:34.000 Well, I think he's just trying to mark it.

01:39:36.000 I mean, Ben never has an anger attitude towards anybody.

01:39:41.000 But that's what I'm saying.

01:39:42.000 That's the thing.

01:39:43.000 People are kind of letting them off with certain things.

01:39:45.000 Now, what happens if Masvidal would have starts him like that?

01:39:49.000 Backstage. 0.99

01:39:50.000 Because he did talk shit to Masvidal too. 0.99

01:39:51.000 What happened if that was him? 0.99

01:39:53.000 Masvidal starts like that.

01:39:54.000 What happens?

01:39:55.000 Yeah.

01:39:56.000 You know?

01:39:57.000 So that was my thing.

01:39:59.000 When I saw him backstage, I almost wanted to push his head through the wall.

01:40:03.000 But then I realized, Dana's behind me.

01:40:05.000 Brian's behind me.

01:40:05.000 What happens to Masvidal now in England?

01:40:09.000 Because they don't like that shit over there. 1.00

01:40:11.000 I don't know. 1.00

01:40:12.000 I think he got away free.

01:40:13.000 He's got free.

01:40:14.000 Really?

01:40:14.000 I think.

01:40:15.000 I haven't heard anything.

01:40:16.000 And everything's fine?

01:40:17.000 Isn't he back already?

01:40:18.000 That's hilarious if that's the case.

01:40:20.000 Because that's assault.

01:40:22.000 Yeah, but...

01:40:23.000 I mean, I guess you could say it's a brawl.

01:40:25.000 It's hard to say assault when you're dealing with UFC fighters.

01:40:29.000 Right, right.

01:40:29.000 It's almost like he played basketball off the court.

01:40:32.000 Absolutely.

01:40:33.000 It's hard to say.

01:40:34.000 It's a tricky situation.

01:40:36.000 Right.

01:40:37.000 He struck him out in the parking lot.

01:40:39.000 Yeah.

01:40:40.000 After the baseball game.

01:40:41.000 What?

01:40:42.000 But I think Dana...

01:40:43.000 Didn't Dana put out a statement saying that that can't happen anymore?

01:40:45.000 We gotta do a better...

01:40:46.000 Something like that, a better job.

01:40:47.000 Well, they really should do a better job of having security around to separate guys.

01:40:52.000 They did in my fight.

01:40:53.000 Don't let guys...

01:40:53.000 They didn't let me near Ben Ashwin or Colby Covington.

01:40:57.000 Well, there was one time, not before this fight, but before a previous fight, where you were backstage.

01:41:03.000 It was actually...

01:41:04.000 Was it a press conference?

01:41:06.000 It was a press conference.

01:41:07.000 And you were trying to talk to Colby.

01:41:08.000 Like, what's up, man? 1.00

01:41:09.000 You're just talking shit. 1.00

01:41:10.000 Yeah, I was scheduled to fight Santiago Ponce and Nebo. 1.00

01:41:13.000 That's right.

01:41:14.000 And we were doing a big press conference.

01:41:16.000 And they happened to have...

01:41:18.000 Like, I didn't even know he was there.

01:41:20.000 Because they had him hidden away the whole time.

01:41:24.000 It wasn't until we were going to get on the bus to go to the press conference, he came downstairs.

01:41:28.000 We were all meeting in the lobby and I saw him and right away I told Reed, I don't know what it is.

01:41:33.000 I just started, my blood just started boiling.

01:41:37.000 I told Reed, I was like, Reed, man, this is not going to work.

01:41:39.000 This is not going to work.

01:41:40.000 You got to move it.

01:41:41.000 Reed was like, we're getting him right now.

01:41:43.000 We're moving.

01:41:43.000 And Reed, they put him in a different car and all the other fighters ride together.

01:41:47.000 And this is what I mean.

01:41:48.000 He's already isolated.

01:41:49.000 That's so funny.

01:41:49.000 So we get there, but we have to line up to walk out.

01:41:53.000 So he's lined up, and he just happened to be in my vicinity.

01:41:58.000 And I just freaked out.

01:41:59.000 I was trying, and I was like, yeah, I'm not gonna say nothing.

01:42:02.000 I'm not gonna say nothing.

01:42:03.000 I'm not gonna say nothing.

01:42:04.000 I just look at him. 0.99

01:42:05.000 Yo, I see you was talking all that shit online now. 1.00

01:42:08.000 Huh? 1.00

01:42:09.000 Now we in person, you can't talk. 1.00

01:42:11.000 What's up with all that shit you was talking online? 1.00

01:42:13.000 You thought you was tough. 1.00

01:42:14.000 What's up with that?

01:42:15.000 What's that tough guy now?

01:42:17.000 And he's just like, I think he was reading his lines, like what he was going to say when he got out there on the press conference.

01:42:22.000 He was just like reading.

01:42:23.000 And he heard me. 0.99

01:42:24.000 And he's like, shit, I don't want to say nothing. 1.00

01:42:26.000 Shit, I could get my ass whipped right here. 1.00

01:42:29.000 I don't want to do that. 1.00

01:42:30.000 And I could say all those thoughts was contemplating.

01:42:33.000 And Whitaker was standing next to him.

01:42:35.000 And Whitaker does one of these joints.

01:42:37.000 Like, look around. 0.99

01:42:38.000 Who the fuck is this dude talking to? 0.99

01:42:41.000 Because I had to watch the video over and over. 0.99

01:42:43.000 Whitaker looked back like, he ain't talking to me.

01:42:46.000 And then saw Kobe.

01:42:48.000 He's like, oh, he's talking to Kobe.

01:42:49.000 So Whitaker just kindly slid off to the side. 1.00

01:42:53.000 And I'm like, what's up with all that shit you was talking? 0.99

01:42:56.000 And then he's like... 1.00

01:42:58.000 Quiet, quiet.

01:42:59.000 And then he sees the security kind of...

01:43:01.000 Because then they heard me.

01:43:03.000 And security kind of walks up.

01:43:05.000 I didn't even know there was a camera back there.

01:43:08.000 And then security walks up.

01:43:10.000 And security's like, yo, yo, no, no.

01:43:11.000 We don't need this.

01:43:12.000 We don't need this.

01:43:13.000 And this was...

01:43:17.000 This was after Khabib's bus situation.

01:43:23.000 And so they're like, yo, we don't need this this week.

01:43:25.000 We don't need this.

01:43:26.000 And now, once there's security, he goes, stick to network television, Junior.

01:43:34.000 Stick to this, boy.

01:43:36.000 Network television?

01:43:37.000 What does that mean?

01:43:38.000 Because I guess he was fighting in his first fight now on pay-per-view.

01:43:42.000 Oh.

01:43:43.000 But this is the thing.

01:43:44.000 So you run Fox.

01:43:45.000 Yeah.

01:43:45.000 But this is the thing is he had never headlined a card.

01:43:48.000 To this day, I don't think he's ever headlined a card.

01:43:51.000 Yeah.

01:43:51.000 No, he headlined a card.

01:43:53.000 Did he?

01:43:53.000 Not a pay-per-view.

01:43:54.000 But when he fought Rafael Dos Anjos, that was the main event, wasn't it?

01:44:00.000 No, it was the co-main event under Yoel Romero and Whitaker in Chicago.

01:44:06.000 He's never headlined a card.

01:44:08.000 Wow.

01:44:09.000 Never, never headlined a card.

01:44:12.000 Well, you might be right.

01:44:13.000 I'm thinking about it.

01:44:15.000 Yeah, and he's like, stick to network. 0.98

01:44:17.000 I'm like, I'm fucking headlining. 1.00

01:44:19.000 Like, bro, you've never done shit. 0.99

01:44:21.000 And so he's trying to play that angle and all this and that. 0.99

01:44:25.000 And I was just like...

01:44:26.000 Yep, you were right.

01:44:26.000 Look at that.

01:44:27.000 Whitaker Romero, too.

01:44:29.000 Yeah, he's never headlining.

01:44:30.000 He fought Damian Maia on an undercard.

01:44:33.000 Well, I think it was like on the main card, but...

01:44:35.000 CM Punk and Michael Jackson.

01:44:38.000 Yeah.

01:44:39.000 Tremendous fight.

01:44:44.000 I was impressed with him beating Dos Anjos.

01:44:48.000 I really was.

01:44:49.000 I thought that was impressive.

01:44:51.000 In what way?

01:44:53.000 Well, because he beat Dos Anjos. 1.00

01:44:54.000 Dos Anjos is a fucking savage. 1.00

01:44:56.000 Yeah, I give that. 1.00

01:44:58.000 Yeah, you beat Ardie.

01:44:59.000 Ardie is a name.

01:45:00.000 That dude's tough as hell.

01:45:01.000 Former champion.

01:45:02.000 Yes, I give it.

01:45:03.000 But Ardie won rounds.

01:45:04.000 Ardie won fourth and fifth round.

01:45:06.000 Ardie was taking him down.

01:45:08.000 Like, you saw that already took him down numerous times.

01:45:11.000 Well, he didn't, let me just clarify, he didn't beat him as impressively as you did.

01:45:14.000 That's for sure.

01:45:15.000 No, yeah, but I don't really care.

01:45:17.000 I don't really care about all that stuff.

01:45:19.000 Like, man, my thing is, overall in all, Joe, like, I've been on such a journey, man.

01:45:25.000 My whole life, I've been on such a journey.

01:45:28.000 I've dealt with so many things that I internalize, man.

01:45:31.000 And I don't really talk about, so I don't really care what all these guys are doing, man.

01:45:36.000 I've had a hard life.

01:45:37.000 Not the hardest.

01:45:38.000 I'm not saying it's the hardest life, but I've had a lot of things happen to me in life to where I'm at this point in life where, man, I... I don't want to deal with all the hate.

01:45:47.000 I don't want to deal with all this other stuff. 0.92

01:45:49.000 I understand it's going to come with the sport that we do, but man, I got bigger shit going on in my mind that I'm worried about rather than all that little things, man. 0.95

01:45:57.000 Good for you. 0.89

01:45:58.000 Like I said, your attitude in so many ways is so good that you're there to compete, that you're there to do your best. 0.98

01:46:06.000 You're not getting caught up in bullshit and petty nonsense.

01:46:09.000 And you're just putting pressure on yourself to be the best you could possibly be. 0.97

01:46:13.000 That's where you see real greatness.

01:46:16.000 Yeah.

01:46:16.000 And like Tyron was, man.

01:46:20.000 There's this thing to where you get to a point where you're the guy who has to provide.

01:46:25.000 You're the guy who has to hold up.

01:46:27.000 And it's not necessarily people saying you have to do it.

01:46:31.000 But you feel that sense of responsibility.

01:46:34.000 And in my family, I felt that.

01:46:37.000 I feel that sense of responsibility.

01:46:41.000 You mean in your family when you were growing up?

01:46:43.000 Yeah.

01:46:44.000 When I say I come from humble beginnings, being raised in Nigeria, And it wasn't like the village, village where we lived in huts.

01:46:52.000 We had a house, but we didn't have plumbing.

01:46:57.000 We had to go to the well or get water.

01:47:00.000 Electricity was rare.

01:47:01.000 That's a scarce thing.

01:47:06.000 Even when we came here, when we immigrated here, life got a lot better. 0.98

01:47:10.000 How old were you when you came here?

01:47:11.000 About 8 years old.

01:47:14.000 And it was hard to adjust to the school system.

01:47:17.000 You know, because kids are mean.

01:47:20.000 I have to talk with a funny accent and kids would tell you, hey, why don't you say this to the teacher? 1.00

01:47:25.000 Say, hey, bitch, call her this. 1.00

01:47:26.000 And I was always in the principal's office because I had no idea what that means and things like that. 1.00

01:47:31.000 So kids are cruel.

01:47:32.000 I dealt with all that.

01:47:34.000 Did you know English when you came here?

01:47:35.000 Yeah, we spoke English, but it's Pigeon English.

01:47:38.000 So we knew that, like, you know, we're colonized by the Europeans, so the English is, the root of the words, root words are from the Europeans.

01:47:45.000 So we knew English, but it's just our take on it.

01:47:51.000 How much different?

01:47:52.000 It's pretty different.

01:47:53.000 Yeah?

01:47:54.000 Yeah, it's very different.

01:47:55.000 Like, if I was talking with another Nigerian, I was speaking Pigeon English, you would pick out words, but it's a little different. 0.99

01:48:00.000 Like, can you say something in Pigeon English?

01:48:02.000 Yeah.

01:48:03.000 Right now, we just sit down here.

01:48:04.000 Just they talk now.

01:48:06.000 You know, just they talk.

01:48:08.000 Just they yawn each other.

01:48:09.000 Not be anything.

01:48:11.000 That sounds cool.

01:48:12.000 Yeah, it does.

01:48:14.000 If, like, me and Israel Adesanya was talking, like, it would be mad cool.

01:48:18.000 Oh, right, right, right.

01:48:19.000 You know, like, we speak it to each other.

01:48:21.000 So going from that to, you know, being essentially raised and going through school and one thing that, man, I really haven't ever shared with anybody, you know, very, very few people know, is that my father has been incarcerated since 2009. And this is the first time really I've ever talked about it.

01:48:46.000 My dad goes to a test to just the justice system here, man.

01:48:51.000 It's so crooked and it's so backwards.

01:48:55.000 Yes, of course, we're fortunate.

01:48:56.000 There's so many things that we're thankful for living here in this country.

01:49:00.000 That, you know, you can sleep at night in your house and not worry about somebody breaking and robbing you and killing you, you know, for the most part.

01:49:07.000 And so we're thankful for all that.

01:49:09.000 We're thankful for the opportunities.

01:49:11.000 But my dad was a businessman.

01:49:14.000 And my dad built one of the...

01:49:16.000 A really, very big business in Dallas.

01:49:20.000 He owned like an ambulance company.

01:49:23.000 And...

01:49:25.000 It comes to a certain point where people just don't want you to be...

01:49:29.000 You're an immigrant and you're succeeding in a certain business to where it's kind of like people don't care about it.

01:49:35.000 People don't want you to be there.

01:49:38.000 It's one of those situations where...

01:49:41.000 My dad hired the people that he thought were the right people to do what he didn't know.

01:49:45.000 The job.

01:49:46.000 To run his company.

01:49:48.000 While he could tend to certain things like us.

01:49:50.000 Like his family.

01:49:51.000 Day to day different things that he cared about.

01:49:53.000 To where they run the company into the ground.

01:49:57.000 And not because my dad was the owner of the company.

01:50:02.000 They put it all on him.

01:50:03.000 Even though the people that were doing the things that were wrong in the company admitted to doing the wrong things.

01:50:10.000 But what the court is saying is that, oh, because you own the company, so ignorance is not an excuse.

01:50:17.000 So, because of that, we're going to sentence you to 15 years.

01:50:23.000 So, he got sentenced when he did no crime?

01:50:27.000 See, the thing is...

01:50:28.000 What was the business again?

01:50:29.000 My dad owned an ambulance company.

01:50:31.000 An ambulance company.

01:50:32.000 Yes.

01:50:32.000 So it was a transportation for emergency and non-emergency, you know.

01:50:36.000 And one thing that he hired these, like the paramedics, the AMX, to run the company.

01:50:43.000 Because these are people that know the business.

01:50:45.000 So he had people that he acquired from a different company. 0.98

01:50:50.000 But, you know, one thing that I will say is my dad's ignorance.

01:50:54.000 Is he didn't really do his research well enough on the guys that he hired.

01:50:59.000 So you hire certain guys and now these guys are running the business and these guys are like, yeah, we're going to help you grow this business.

01:51:06.000 Like any businessman. 0.98

01:51:07.000 Fuck yeah, I hired the right people. 0.99

01:51:08.000 Yeah, help me grow the business. 1.00

01:51:10.000 So now...

01:51:13.000 They're doing that.

01:51:14.000 He thinks, okay, I trust these guys.

01:51:15.000 They're taking care of the business.

01:51:17.000 And the most disappointing and heartbreaking thing about the business is they're not the one who does the billing for the business.

01:51:25.000 They contract an outside company to do the billing.

01:51:29.000 So it's not them doing it.

01:51:31.000 So they're doing the runs.

01:51:33.000 They're sending the notes to them.

01:51:34.000 This is the runs we did to you guys build the government or whoever else to pay us.

01:51:40.000 My dad's the owner.

01:51:41.000 He has people that are doing all this.

01:51:43.000 He's not there running the day-to-day.

01:51:46.000 So eventually, they go on their investigation.

01:51:49.000 Oh, we're investigating, like, I think maybe, like, 15 patients or something like that.

01:51:54.000 I don't know the exact number.

01:51:56.000 Like, 15 patients were investigating for these runs or whatever that would bill this billing on them.

01:52:02.000 And so they put it all under investigation, and they're like, okay.

01:52:06.000 After a while, they come back, and they say, all right, we'll give you your stuff back.

01:52:10.000 Like, we didn't really see anything, but we'll give you your stuff back.

01:52:14.000 After they shut it down for a little while. 0.98

01:52:17.000 So damn, now I got to go back to business. 1.00

01:52:18.000 So my dad's like, oh, fuck it, I'm getting out of business. 1.00

01:52:21.000 They already killed my business for me. 0.99

01:52:23.000 So now it became one of the biggest companies, but you shut down for so long, you've lost what you've worked for.

01:52:28.000 So now he's getting rid of it, getting out of it.

01:52:31.000 Then they come back later, a few years later, for the same thing that they've already said, you're good, here, have your stuff back.

01:52:37.000 They come back and say, no, we're going to prosecute you for this.

01:52:41.000 So now those guys, and I've seen it, this is obviously how the feds work.

01:52:46.000 Now those guys that you caught the EMS and these guys that clearly did what was wrong, you gave them a deal and said, hey, we caught you guys. 0.99

01:52:54.000 Because those guys started their own company doing the same shit. 0.99

01:52:57.000 So they get caught. 0.99

01:52:58.000 Now they're like, okay, we want that guy.

01:53:01.000 So you guys basically gave them a deal to say, okay, that guy was in on it.

01:53:07.000 And my dad's like...

01:53:08.000 And I guess they offered my dad a deal, a plea deal, which his lawyer didn't really tell him about because he had a court-appointed lawyer. 0.55

01:53:15.000 So he said, no, I didn't do shit wrong.

01:53:20.000 Why would I take that deal? 0.92

01:53:21.000 Which would have been, I think, maybe like five years was the deal or something like that. 0.92

01:53:25.000 My dad's like, no, I didn't do shit wrong.

01:53:27.000 Why would I take five years? 0.89

01:53:28.000 So he goes to trial.

01:53:30.000 And, bro, we've seen murderers.

01:53:33.000 We've seen...

01:53:35.000 All these people that have defraud the government, like Stockmar Hedge Fund guys, billions of dollars, get bail.

01:53:43.000 They said, no, they wouldn't even grant him bail.

01:53:45.000 My dad's a citizen, like turned over his passport and everything.

01:53:48.000 They said, no, I'm not going to give you bail.

01:53:50.000 We're going to hold you.

01:53:51.000 We're going to freeze all your accounts.

01:53:52.000 You can't really fight the case.

01:53:54.000 So you're stuck there.

01:53:56.000 And now your family's left with nothing.

01:54:00.000 Nothing.

01:54:01.000 No money in the account.

01:54:02.000 Nothing.

01:54:03.000 And so, my dad had to deal with that.

01:54:05.000 And they just threw the book at him.

01:54:06.000 They're like, you know, we'll give you 15 years.

01:54:09.000 And this was 2009. And he's already been in for 10?

01:54:13.000 Yeah, he's been in for 10. And one thing that really killed me was...

01:54:20.000 One thing, it was a part in a trial where the lawyer would basically tell the judge, like, this guy's an upstanding guy.

01:54:29.000 No record.

01:54:31.000 You know, he has kids.

01:54:32.000 Look at his kids and how well they're doing.

01:54:34.000 His older son is in college.

01:54:36.000 The second one is in college.

01:54:38.000 The youngest is about to be in college.

01:54:41.000 These kids are all scholarships, student athletes, great student athletes.

01:54:46.000 And the one thing that killed me was...

01:54:49.000 The prosecution was like, the reason that is, is because he was defrauding the government from this money.

01:54:57.000 That's why they're in college.

01:55:00.000 And I was like, wait, my dad's not paying for us to be in college.

01:55:05.000 We're all student athletes.

01:55:06.000 We earned this.

01:55:08.000 We worked hard.

01:55:10.000 Earned scholarships as far as to be in college.

01:55:12.000 The defense didn't say that? 0.99

01:55:14.000 They didn't fucking say it. 0.98

01:55:15.000 Did he have a court appointed attorney? 0.99

01:55:17.000 I think he did, yeah.

01:55:18.000 And bro, my dad just got railroaded, man.

01:55:22.000 And it was so heartbreaking to where you're telling a man that has raised his family, raised his kids to work hard, get to a place in life, and you're telling him that the only reason he's there is because he cheated.

01:55:35.000 And it was just one of those things that added a chip on my shoulder.

01:55:40.000 Man, there's been so many moments that put chips on my shoulder with everything.

01:55:45.000 I've been through so much that I just internalize.

01:55:47.000 And I compete with all this energy.

01:55:50.000 And so for that, you're telling my dad that, yeah, you're going to sit down.

01:55:55.000 And obviously, of course, I researched more and more into that because I was so heartbroken after that.

01:56:02.000 For what?

01:56:03.000 For how much?

01:56:05.000 You're saying up to almost a million?

01:56:07.000 They just piled a lot of money on.

01:56:09.000 They're like, oh, this, this, and that.

01:56:12.000 They're saying a little over a million total, which is nowhere near that.

01:56:16.000 You gave them 15 years when these hedge fund guys that you found guilty for manipulating these markets for billions, you give them six months house arrest?

01:56:31.000 If that...

01:56:32.000 And you're saying you're going to give him 15 years.

01:56:34.000 And I started researching.

01:56:35.000 I'm like, a lot of these judges have stakes in these prisons.

01:56:39.000 And to what they do is they give a lot of time because they get paid for a prisoner that's in prison.

01:56:43.000 You know that story about that guy in Pennsylvania?

01:56:47.000 He was a judge and he was doing that.

01:56:49.000 He was sending kids to jail.

01:56:51.000 He was extending their sentences and giving them sentences for nothing.

01:56:55.000 And it turned out he had been getting paid by the prison to send these kids down the river.

01:56:59.000 Yeah, I heard a lot of them get kickbacks and different things from that.

01:57:03.000 And so to put people there.

01:57:05.000 Well, as you become more and more famous, you can shed more and more light on this.

01:57:08.000 Yeah, man.

01:57:09.000 When did your dad do for parole?

01:57:12.000 Man, I don't even know.

01:57:13.000 I think soon.

01:57:14.000 Listen, this podcast alone, you talking about this, could very well bring someone forward that wants to help you with the appeal.

01:57:23.000 Yeah, man.

01:57:24.000 My dad actually wrote, because during the Obama administration, there was that whole clemency deal when they were doing it.

01:57:31.000 My dad actually wrote a letter.

01:57:32.000 I actually have that letter.

01:57:33.000 I don't know where to put it, but he wrote a letter to him.

01:57:36.000 And it was, when I read the letter, man, I can't help but cry about it.

01:57:41.000 Because my dad cares about his family so much.

01:57:47.000 And when I go to see my dad, because my dad is so proud of me.

01:57:51.000 And I'm so proud of him.

01:57:53.000 I mean, he raised us so well.

01:57:55.000 And to go see him in there.

01:57:58.000 And I mean, it's not like he's sitting in maximum security, but...

01:58:02.000 For someone to tell you that you can't go home to your family at night. 1.00

01:58:04.000 For 10 fucking years. 1.00

01:58:06.000 You got to sleep when we told you to sleep. 1.00

01:58:08.000 You got to eat when we told you to eat for 10 years.

01:58:11.000 And when you know I didn't do anything wrong because I chose to say, no, I didn't do anything wrong.

01:58:16.000 I'm not going to take the sentence you give me.

01:58:18.000 They say, okay, fine, then.

01:58:21.000 You're going to sit in there for 15 years and there's nothing you can do about it.

01:58:24.000 And, man, it broke my heart, man.

01:58:27.000 And when I think about it, I just hold it in because, you know, I try not to cry about it.

01:58:32.000 Which I'm just like, screw it.

01:58:33.000 I have different situations that happen in life.

01:58:35.000 I'm like, you know.

01:58:36.000 But I ate that one up on the shoulder.

01:58:38.000 I put that chip on.

01:58:39.000 I'm like, you know what?

01:58:40.000 They're going to say that the reason I'm here, I have a scholarship, is because my dad, they're saying my dad got money.

01:58:46.000 A little bit of money.

01:58:48.000 Are you serious? 0.82

01:58:49.000 What about the freaking hard work that I did to get here? 0.79

01:58:52.000 What about all the times that I sat in a freaking hotbox my bathroom upstairs with a trash bag on because I knew that I needed to get a pound off the next day in order to be able to wrestle at this JV tournament? 0.69

01:59:03.000 What about all that?

01:59:05.000 You know, that didn't make any difference.

01:59:07.000 You know, the only reason it was there is because of that.

01:59:10.000 What about all the times my brother ran, worked hard to make national team when he was playing soccer?

01:59:15.000 Or my little brother getting numerous scholarships for Division I football everywhere?

01:59:20.000 Like, that?

01:59:21.000 What?

01:59:22.000 So all that put a chip on my shoulder, Joe, to where I was like, man, I gotta succeed at all costs.

01:59:27.000 I don't really care.

01:59:28.000 And where did this happen?

01:59:29.000 Where was this trial?

01:59:30.000 In Texas, in Dallas, Texas.

01:59:33.000 Not the best place to have it happen, but it happened, and man, it put a sour taste in my mouth.

01:59:43.000 Has he filed an appeal?

01:59:45.000 Oh, man, he filed an appeal one time.

01:59:46.000 They didn't even look at it, man.

01:59:48.000 It was like one of those things where it's like that judge, they put you there, you're there.

01:59:52.000 That was his domain.

01:59:53.000 They didn't even look at it.

01:59:54.000 Like, who cares?

01:59:57.000 Because I feel like you're being the UFC welterweight champion.

02:00:01.000 But I think that they treated him like that because you're an immigrant in the system.

02:00:06.000 Get in there.

02:00:07.000 And that's, you know, Joe, to wrap that, put that on.

02:00:10.000 That's part of what this next fight symbolizes to me is the attitude that a lot of people have towards immigrants.

02:00:17.000 It's people are forgetting that Americans are immigrants.

02:00:20.000 I was just having that conversation in the last podcast.

02:00:22.000 People are forgetting that.

02:00:24.000 The entire country is immigrants. 0.99

02:00:26.000 To where people have this attitude to where it's like, we're Americans.

02:00:30.000 Go back to your country. 1.00

02:00:32.000 Go back.

02:00:33.000 This is a free country.

02:00:34.000 You're this and that.

02:00:36.000 I always heard that growing up.

02:00:37.000 I always heard that.

02:00:38.000 The more I researched, I'm like, what?

02:00:41.000 What are you talking about?

02:00:43.000 First of all, this whole attitude.

02:00:45.000 When you walk into a nail shop, get your hand, feet, nails done.

02:00:49.000 Who are the majority of the people that run those nail shops? 1.00

02:00:52.000 Asians.

02:00:53.000 I'm not saying all of them in the world, in the country, but the majority of them are Asians.

02:00:59.000 But there's a lot of people that look down on it like, I'm not washing your feet.

02:01:02.000 I'm not going to do your nails.

02:01:04.000 No, those people, I take pride in that because that provides for them.

02:01:08.000 You know, they do that.

02:01:10.000 But people condemn it.

02:01:12.000 That's not a job people want to do.

02:01:14.000 When you go to these hotels and certain things, who are the main people that are the maids that clean up the hotels? 0.98

02:01:20.000 A lot of them are immigrants.

02:01:22.000 We take pride in them because now we're in a country, we're in a better place where we can provide for families.

02:01:26.000 Those are jobs that a lot of people, so-called Americans, the whole Colby Covington whole persona are like, I'm above that.

02:01:36.000 I'm above that.

02:01:37.000 That's the persona.

02:01:39.000 But then at the same time, people now want to cry.

02:01:41.000 Oh, they're here taking our jobs.

02:01:43.000 Let's build a wall.

02:01:44.000 Let's keep them out.

02:01:45.000 They're taking our job.

02:01:46.000 No, they're providing.

02:01:47.000 They're helping this country get to its height.

02:01:50.000 The fact that you could come here and have someone do your nails, someone clean your house, someone wash your car, someone do all this for you, is part of what makes America so great.

02:01:58.000 One of the greatest nations in the world.

02:02:01.000 And the fact that you want to build a wall.

02:02:03.000 You want to keep these people out.

02:02:04.000 You can't come here.

02:02:05.000 You can't bring your culture, your stuff here. 1.00

02:02:07.000 It just saddens me.

02:02:09.000 And it upsets me.

02:02:11.000 It's part of what this fight, when it happens, this fight represents for me.

02:02:14.000 Because I feel like that's the attitude that this young man has.

02:02:17.000 He's entitled to.

02:02:19.000 I should be UFC champ.

02:02:20.000 You're a soy boy. 0.99

02:02:22.000 You don't deserve it. 0.99

02:02:23.000 You can't hang with me, boy.

02:02:24.000 That's his attitude.

02:02:25.000 You can't do this, boy.

02:02:26.000 First of all, who's your boy? 0.99

02:02:27.000 I'm a grown ass man. 1.00

02:02:28.000 Don't fucking talk to me like that. 1.00

02:02:30.000 And that's the attitude that he has. 1.00

02:02:33.000 I'm entitled to this.

02:02:34.000 I should be the champion because I am this way.

02:02:37.000 I'm American.

02:02:38.000 I'm this and that.

02:02:40.000 Bro, we're all American here. 1.00

02:02:44.000 And so this fight is greater than just me beating up a guy that's talking a lot of shit. 0.99

02:02:49.000 This fight means a lot to me. 0.99

02:02:51.000 So when I get the chance to put my hands on that guy, let's just know it's the wrath of every immigrant that has stepped foot in this country that I'm going to put on him. 1.00

02:03:02.000 You and your family are the ideal immigrants.

02:03:05.000 Absolutely.

02:03:06.000 Overachievers.

02:03:07.000 First of all, what is it about Nigerians that do so well in this country?

02:03:14.000 If you look at Nigerian immigrants, successful ratios of Of different immigration groups.

02:03:20.000 Nigerians in particular are extraordinarily successful upon immigrating to America.

02:03:25.000 Yeah, I think it's a family thing.

02:03:27.000 It's like when our families decide and we get the opportunity to move to a better place, the thing is, the whole persona is, we're going to be able to sustain this forever.

02:03:37.000 So my kids are not going to just play around in sports, because that's not guaranteed.

02:03:42.000 Right.

02:03:42.000 What is guaranteed is the fact that you're going to go to school and you're going to become a doctor because you're going to get a job anywhere in the world that you want.

02:03:48.000 That's why the majority of them are doctors.

02:03:51.000 Right.

02:03:52.000 Majority of them are doctors, engineers, because these are jobs, high-demand jobs.

02:03:55.000 You're always going to get a job anywhere.

02:03:58.000 Yeah.

02:03:58.000 And so that's all we push.

02:04:01.000 You're going to be a doctor or you're going to be an engineer.

02:04:06.000 None of them are saying you're going to be a professional athlete.

02:04:09.000 My parents, hell no!

02:04:11.000 They didn't care for that.

02:04:12.000 Like, I lied to them the first couple of years that I was wrestling.

02:04:15.000 I didn't tell them that.

02:04:16.000 You know, my brother is a doctor in pharmacy in Dallas.

02:04:20.000 My little brother, you know, could have gotten the NFL. He was a stellar football player.

02:04:25.000 Played at the University of Houston and the University of Arizona.

02:04:28.000 You know, my sister now is in college.

02:04:30.000 She's in nursing school in college.

02:04:31.000 Like, that's just what we push.

02:04:33.000 We want you to get a job that you can provide for your family forever.

02:04:37.000 Yeah, they remind me of Koreans in a lot of ways.

02:04:39.000 Absolutely.

02:04:40.000 Yeah, super hardworking and appreciate once they've gotten to a place like America where there really is no ceiling on the possibility.

02:04:48.000 You could do anything you want once you get here if you work hard.

02:04:51.000 Absolutely.

02:04:52.000 And that's another thing that's dear to my heart is when you're in Nigeria, like when you're in a situation that we were at...

02:05:00.000 My mom was a teacher.

02:05:02.000 My mom owned a store.

02:05:05.000 A little convenience store.

02:05:07.000 We did little jobs on the side.

02:05:09.000 We sold certain things on the side.

02:05:11.000 And on top of it, raising three boys.

02:05:14.000 Rowdy boys.

02:05:18.000 In the school, it wasn't like, oh, there's a car.

02:05:21.000 The bus is going to pick you up at 3, 7 a.m.

02:05:24.000 to go to school.

02:05:25.000 No.

02:05:25.000 The school was two miles away, three miles away.

02:05:27.000 You're walking.

02:05:29.000 You better get going.

02:05:30.000 Don't be late.

02:05:30.000 Because if you was late, you was going to get a whooping before school started.

02:05:35.000 That's how it was.

02:05:36.000 And especially the education system is so high because you miss a couple answers on the test.

02:05:42.000 You had to go out and get a switch and you were going to get whipped in school for those answers that you missed on the test.

02:05:49.000 Who would beat you in school?

02:05:50.000 Yeah!

02:05:51.000 Absolutely.

02:05:52.000 The teacher.

02:05:54.000 First of all, it's not teacher.

02:05:56.000 It's uncle and aunt.

02:05:57.000 That's your uncle and your aunt in school.

02:06:00.000 They knew your parents.

02:06:01.000 They knew your family.

02:06:02.000 They were going to whoop you in school if you decided to mess up.

02:06:06.000 And that's how it was.

02:06:07.000 So that's why there's a lot of these smart Nigerians that get out. 0.99

02:06:11.000 And if there's no freaking job, we gotta somehow make money. 0.99

02:06:14.000 It's so fucked up because I don't want people to beat kids, but goddamn, when you put kids under that kind of pressure... 0.99

02:06:20.000 My parents put me in Catholic school for one year, and I got excellent grades. 1.00

02:06:24.000 And afterwards, I was fucking terrible. 0.99

02:06:28.000 Terrible, man! 0.99

02:06:29.000 And I remember my stepfather said something to me.

02:06:31.000 He said, your grades were only good when you were in Catholic school. 0.98

02:06:33.000 I was like, I was fucking terrified. 0.91

02:06:35.000 I'm like, it ain't a good move. 0.93

02:06:37.000 I mean, they were threatening me all the time.

02:06:39.000 They wanted to beat me and make me sit on a nail in the closet. 0.99

02:06:42.000 But it's this...

02:06:43.000 I don't...

02:06:44.000 I would never want you to go through that.

02:06:47.000 But the fact that you went through that is probably one of the reasons why you're the man you are today.

02:06:53.000 That's humanity.

02:06:54.000 That's what I call humanity because as human beings, when we're growing, and you hear this all the time with parents, I want a better life for my kids.

02:07:02.000 I want a better life for my kids.

02:07:04.000 Yes, absolutely.

02:07:05.000 That's what we want.

02:07:06.000 We want to present them with endless possibilities.

02:07:09.000 But you can't forget the fact that the reason you're the champion or the upstanding person that you are today is because you went through these hard things.

02:07:18.000 All these hardships molded you.

02:07:19.000 And that's part of the situation now.

02:07:23.000 Everyone's like, oh no, I don't want these kids to play these sports.

02:07:26.000 They're too tough.

02:07:27.000 They're too rough.

02:07:29.000 They could get hurt.

02:07:30.000 They could get that. 0.99

02:07:31.000 Or that kid could turn into a freaking champion. 0.99

02:07:33.000 He can get knocked on his butt 50 times and that one 51th time he gets up and says, you know what? 0.99

02:07:39.000 Screw this. 0.98

02:07:40.000 I'm going to be a champion today.

02:07:41.000 There's also that you could do other things.

02:07:44.000 I think a guy like you could do anything.

02:07:46.000 Once you've achieved what you've achieved in MMA and in wrestling, the kind of mindset that makes you push your body to the limit like that and allows you to get just your body into the kind of condition that made you fight five rounds like that against Tyron.

02:08:03.000 That's an extraordinary mind.

02:08:05.000 Yeah, I'm thankful.

02:08:06.000 I'm thankful for...

02:08:08.000 And this is one thing that I always say is I'm thankful for every individual that I've crossed paths with.

02:08:13.000 Because when I really look back on my life and I internalize a lot of things, I was a freaking pipsqueak in Nigeria carrying this hot plate on my head to go sell up and down the street. 1.00

02:08:32.000 I never imagined that I would get to the point where I would run into all these different wrestling coaches that would pour knowledge into me.

02:08:40.000 And this is a shout out to every coach.

02:08:43.000 If you ever saw me, I was drilling a move and you came over and just corrected me.

02:08:47.000 Or you said, no, no, do it this way.

02:08:50.000 Even if it's just a moment, an inch in my life, all of that contributed to the person that I am today, to all those coaches, all those people, all my mentors that give me advice, each and every one, because I never knew that I would cross paths.

02:09:05.000 Look how crazy my life is.

02:09:06.000 I crossed paths with John.

02:09:07.000 First time I ever seen an MMA fight was John Jones.

02:09:09.000 I won my belt on the same card as John Jones.

02:09:13.000 When I went to visit Jon Jones, I stayed in the same room that Colby Covington stayed in the following year when he went to school with Jon Jones. 0.98

02:09:23.000 How fucking crazy is that? 0.99

02:09:25.000 That's pretty fucking crazy. 0.99

02:09:26.000 Jon's roommate was Joe Soda who also is in the UFC. Yeah. 0.98

02:09:30.000 Like...

02:09:32.000 Went to the University of Nebraska at Kearney, became a national champion, wrestled with Travelle Delognam, Joe and Jake Ellenberger, Jake Ellenberger in the UFC, Joe Ellenberger in the UFC. Look at the paths that I've crossed in this life.

02:09:47.000 To get me to this point here, I'm extremely thankful, man.

02:09:51.000 At the end of the day, there's nothing that I can do that I got to give it up.

02:09:58.000 This was a plan.

02:10:00.000 This wasn't me.

02:10:01.000 I didn't control this and say, you know what, when I'm 25 and when I'm this age, I'm going to do that, I'm going to do that, do that, and it all come together like that.

02:10:09.000 I've been blessed.

02:10:10.000 I've been very, very blessed to cross paths with all these guys and it's gotten me to this moment.

02:10:16.000 I'm so thankful.

02:10:18.000 Well, I think it's both.

02:10:19.000 You've definitely been blessed, as all of us have, but besides just being fortunate, you went through the work.

02:10:29.000 You went through the work, and you completed the process. 0.65

02:10:33.000 Just the fact that you fought Tyron motherfucking Woodley with a broken foot and a hernia. 0.97

02:10:41.000 And still dominated him for five rounds is crazy. 0.95

02:10:44.000 You don't get to that without having...

02:10:49.000 You built your mind and your body in a very crazy way.

02:10:54.000 In a way, through the fires of hard work and discipline, you forged a champion.

02:11:02.000 Yeah.

02:11:03.000 I mean, thank you, Joe.

02:11:04.000 Like, that's...

02:11:06.000 It all goes back to everything.

02:11:08.000 This is how my mind works.

02:11:10.000 Ever since I was little.

02:11:11.000 I'm one of those guys.

02:11:13.000 I sound silly, but I'm a one-trip kind of guy. 0.99

02:11:16.000 When I go to the grocery store and I'm bringing all that shit in the house, I'm a one-trip kind of guy. 0.99

02:11:21.000 Carried it in one trip? 0.99

02:11:22.000 I'm going to do it all in one.

02:11:23.000 I don't care how much it is.

02:11:25.000 I'm going to try to do it in one trip.

02:11:26.000 And this is one thing that I say to myself when I'm carrying all that stuff inside.

02:11:31.000 Yeah, it hurts.

02:11:32.000 Yeah, it's heavy.

02:11:32.000 Yeah, this makes no sense.

02:11:34.000 Yeah.

02:11:34.000 The house is literally 50 feet from the car.

02:11:38.000 But in my mind, while I'm carrying all that heavy shit, I'm just like, yeah, one trip, one trip. 0.98

02:11:45.000 Get tough, baby. 0.99

02:11:46.000 Get tough, get tough.

02:11:47.000 I've been doing that since I was a kid.

02:11:49.000 Get tough, get tough.

02:11:50.000 You can do it.

02:11:50.000 Get tough.

02:11:51.000 Or when I'm doing sets of stuff, reps, and the coach is like, all right, four sets of 10. I'm doing 10 when I get to like 10. I can do one more.

02:12:01.000 11. Let's get 11. Boom. 0.79

02:12:03.000 Get an extra set in.

02:12:04.000 I've been putting in extra set forever.

02:12:09.000 Forever.

02:12:10.000 To where I feel like all that has built me up to where my mind is today.

02:12:15.000 Well, your mind is there, but do you have a concern, like what we were talking about before with Cain Velasquez, that your mind might be too strong for the tissue, too strong for the ligaments, too strong for the joints?

02:12:28.000 I mean, this is what I worry about with a guy like you.

02:12:31.000 Not that you're not mentally strong.

02:12:33.000 I have no fear of that at all.

02:12:35.000 My concern was with a guy like Cain Velasquez.

02:12:38.000 There's certain people that...

02:12:40.000 I worry that they might do too much or push too hard. 0.99

02:12:44.000 But the fucking problem is the only way you become a Cain Velasquez or become you is to have that mindset to begin with. 0.99

02:12:54.000 Joe, how else can you see Cain Velasquez fighting? 1.00

02:12:58.000 Can't see it.

02:12:59.000 Can't see it in any way.

02:13:00.000 Can't see him training any other way.

02:13:01.000 That's what made Cain.

02:13:03.000 Yeah.

02:13:03.000 And I think that's all part of the plan.

02:13:06.000 Like, there's a time for everybody.

02:13:08.000 There's a time...

02:13:09.000 There was a time designed for Tyron Woodley to become champion, to be champion.

02:13:14.000 There's a time for me to be champion and to reign as a champion.

02:13:17.000 There's a time for everybody.

02:13:18.000 Of course, I'm...

02:13:19.000 And like I said, I like to take all this different knowledge that I get and I like to put it all together.

02:13:24.000 So, of course, my coaches are...

02:13:26.000 Now, no one will tell me, yo, just go home.

02:13:28.000 Like, you look great.

02:13:30.000 In my mind, I want to freaking go harder.

02:13:32.000 Like, I don't know.

02:13:32.000 You've done great.

02:13:33.000 Go home.

02:13:34.000 So, where I'm listening and I'm giving them the lead on that.

02:13:37.000 But...

02:13:39.000 The way I train is what's gotten me here.

02:13:41.000 And the way Kane trained is what's gotten him there.

02:13:44.000 Now it's the responsibility of not just Kane, but everybody else that's around him that he really confides in to let him know when it's too much and when it's not too much.

02:13:55.000 With cane, there's so many issues now because the surgeries have been so extensive and back surgery and knee surgeries and reconstructions, not just meniscus like you, but the actual structure of the knee itself.

02:14:07.000 One thing that I would always say is...

02:14:11.000 Kane, you can't always...

02:14:13.000 With Kane, with anybody else, the human body and the human mind is so powerful.

02:14:19.000 You can never say, oh man, it's over for that guy.

02:14:23.000 Or that guy's never going to be the same.

02:14:25.000 No, you never know.

02:14:26.000 You never know.

02:14:27.000 Like Kane, you know, much respect to Kane.

02:14:29.000 Kane can come back and be a savage and still run through guys in the next year or two.

02:14:34.000 For sure.

02:14:34.000 You never know that.

02:14:35.000 I mean, if he gets his knee fixed, I don't know what the extent of that injury was, but...

02:14:39.000 Yeah.

02:14:40.000 I'm hopeful and optimistic that he's going to be back soon.

02:14:44.000 But I feel like there's a time for everybody.

02:14:46.000 And if Kane doesn't fight like that, can you imagine Kane fighting any other way?

02:14:51.000 Point fighting.

02:14:52.000 Point fighting.

02:14:54.000 You can't.

02:14:55.000 No, you can't.

02:14:56.000 There's an argument that he's the best UFC heavyweight ever.

02:15:01.000 He's for sure one of the best UFC heavyweights ever.

02:15:05.000 Absolutely.

02:15:06.000 Not even a question.

02:15:07.000 Yeah.

02:15:08.000 Now, when do they have you fighting Colby?

02:15:10.000 When is that supposed to take place?

02:15:13.000 I don't know.

02:15:14.000 You don't know?

02:15:14.000 I think it's...

02:15:15.000 I have to get healthy first.

02:15:18.000 For a long, long time, I've been fighting hurt.

02:15:21.000 But I just, like, I don't care.

02:15:22.000 Gotta send you down to Panama. 0.97

02:15:23.000 Yeah.

02:15:25.000 I'm gonna give you that guy's number.

02:15:26.000 We'll get off this block.

02:15:28.000 I'm gonna contact Dr. Reardon.

02:15:29.000 Give it to you.

02:15:31.000 I've been fighting hurt for so long, Joe.

02:15:33.000 Like, whether it's a knee or whether...

02:15:35.000 There's been training camps where I can barely walk.

02:15:37.000 Like, walk.

02:15:38.000 Not training.

02:15:39.000 Walk.

02:15:41.000 For I think the last two years, my daughter laughs at me.

02:15:44.000 I come down the stairs backwards.

02:15:46.000 Really?

02:15:46.000 I go down the stairs backwards because it leaves pressure on my knees.

02:15:49.000 Jesus Christ.

02:15:50.000 And my daughter laughs at me.

02:15:52.000 But...

02:15:53.000 It was a time where I couldn't walk.

02:15:56.000 That's crazy.

02:15:57.000 Before the Leon Edwards fight, I fought Leon Edwards years ago.

02:16:00.000 Before that fight, I could barely walk. 0.98

02:16:03.000 I mean, I shit you not, Joe. 0.99

02:16:05.000 Walk down to and from the house, from the car to the house. 0.99

02:16:09.000 It was in pain.

02:16:10.000 I walked on grass.

02:16:11.000 I couldn't walk on concrete because I felt like that relieved a little bit more stress.

02:16:16.000 That's the extent of the pain that I've been in in some of these fights. 0.99

02:16:19.000 That is fucking insane. 0.97

02:16:21.000 Now, this is during the camp? 1.00

02:16:22.000 During the camp.

02:16:23.000 Just to make it to the fight.

02:16:24.000 Just walking on grass instead of concrete.

02:16:26.000 Walking on grass instead of concrete because it's softer.

02:16:29.000 Jesus Christ.

02:16:30.000 And it's not as much hard surface to walk on.

02:16:34.000 So just when the fight came on, you just put it all aside? 1.00

02:16:37.000 Yeah, when I walked through that cage, fuck it. 1.00

02:16:39.000 Let's go. 1.00

02:16:40.000 This is a matter of me getting maybe $10,000 or $20,000.

02:16:43.000 Let's go.

02:16:44.000 I chose to be here instead of sitting in front of it.

02:16:47.000 Instead of sitting at a desk earning money, providing for my family.

02:16:50.000 This is how I'm going to do it. 0.54

02:16:51.000 And like I said, Joe, my daughter lit a freaking fire under me, Joe. 0.72

02:16:56.000 Yeah. 0.96

02:16:56.000 Man. 0.96

02:16:58.000 That was an adorable moment, man.

02:17:00.000 When you had her, you carried her.

02:17:02.000 Yeah, man.

02:17:03.000 You put the belt on you.

02:17:03.000 I want her to...

02:17:04.000 She's looking around.

02:17:05.000 Yeah.

02:17:06.000 When she grows up, I want her to remember that forever because...

02:17:10.000 She lit a fire.

02:17:12.000 Remember we were talking about the tank that you have in there?

02:17:16.000 Part of why I'm a little scared to be locked in those tanks is because I've never been claustrophobic ever in my life.

02:17:23.000 I never was.

02:17:25.000 But there was a time when I found out that I was going to have her.

02:17:29.000 That my girl was pregnant with her at the time.

02:17:32.000 I... I'm freaking living with Rashad Evans.

02:17:37.000 I have no money in my bank account.

02:17:39.000 I'm broke as hell.

02:17:43.000 I'm having a child.

02:17:46.000 And I'm not married yet.

02:17:48.000 And these are...

02:17:49.000 Especially these are principles of your African parents.

02:17:51.000 You gotta be married and things like that. 0.79

02:17:53.000 I'm not married yet.

02:17:54.000 Of course, her mom is a phenomenal woman. 1.00

02:17:58.000 Phenomenal.

02:17:58.000 And I'm not married and all these things is happening.

02:18:01.000 I was fucking... 0.99

02:18:03.000 My mind, I was panicking. 0.99

02:18:04.000 And the fight before that, I just lost.

02:18:06.000 This was right after I lost the second fight.

02:18:08.000 Now I'm getting ready for the third fight.

02:18:10.000 And there was this doctor's office that we'd go in and sleep in the hyperbaric chamber because we heard it was better for your body and stuff like that.

02:18:18.000 So I'd be doing it here and there once a week.

02:18:20.000 I'd go in and sleep in the plastic ones.

02:18:23.000 They zip you up in there and it compresses up.

02:18:26.000 And I was in there.

02:18:27.000 And one time I was in there and I started thinking.

02:18:31.000 I usually pass out.

02:18:33.000 And when it starts to decompress, I wake up.

02:18:35.000 I'm in that thing.

02:18:37.000 I wake up, you know, but it hasn't decompressed yet, you know, so I never really thought anything of it.

02:18:43.000 I'm just kind of in there and I'm in this office in this room.

02:18:46.000 It's dark because the nurses, they flip the light off and they go on about their business tending to other patients. 0.99

02:18:53.000 And I'm like, okay, shit. 1.00

02:18:55.000 I gotta fight this fight. 0.99

02:18:57.000 I got choked out in my last fight. 1.00

02:19:00.000 Damn. 1.00

02:19:01.000 Okay. 1.00

02:19:02.000 This shit might happen again. 1.00

02:19:03.000 This dude, they say this dude is tough. 1.00

02:19:05.000 They saying this dude is tough. 1.00

02:19:07.000 He gets crap. 0.99

02:19:09.000 I'm about to have a daughter. 1.00

02:19:11.000 Shit. 1.00

02:19:11.000 I'm broke. 1.00

02:19:12.000 I ain't got no money.

02:19:15.000 I gotta win this fight because I'm fighting for like $2,000.

02:19:19.000 One at one.

02:19:20.000 If I win $2,000. 0.99

02:19:23.000 All this shit is going through my head now. 0.99

02:19:25.000 This tank hasn't decompressed. 0.99

02:19:27.000 The room is dark.

02:19:28.000 I'm hearing nothing.

02:19:30.000 No nurses. 0.98

02:19:32.000 So now I start to get hot.

02:19:34.000 I'm in the thing and I start getting a little hot in the tank.

02:19:36.000 I'm like, okay, so now my body's getting a little hot.

02:19:39.000 I'm laying there.

02:19:40.000 Now I start dripping.

02:19:42.000 My forehead is dripping sweat.

02:19:44.000 So, I'm trying to control.

02:19:46.000 I'm like, relax, bro.

02:19:47.000 You've done this so many times.

02:19:48.000 Relax.

02:19:49.000 You got this.

02:19:50.000 You got this.

02:19:50.000 It takes me.

02:19:51.000 You're good.

02:19:52.000 I can't see the clock, so I don't know how much time has gone by. 0.93

02:19:55.000 Now, I'm freaking the fuck out. 0.59

02:19:58.000 My mind is like, I'm stuck in this tube. 0.79

02:20:01.000 I don't know what's going on.

02:20:03.000 I might die in here.

02:20:06.000 I don't know what's going on.

02:20:07.000 You gotta get me out of here.

02:20:09.000 Oh no.

02:20:10.000 So I'm like, relax.

02:20:13.000 Relax.

02:20:13.000 So I'm bringing my mind back.

02:20:14.000 I'm relaxed.

02:20:15.000 Take a deep breath.

02:20:16.000 You good.

02:20:17.000 You good.

02:20:18.000 What you worried about?

02:20:19.000 Now, I'm having this conversation in my mind, back and forth.

02:20:22.000 I'm like, relax, you good.

02:20:23.000 So I relax.

02:20:24.000 I'm like, alright, think, how you gonna knock this dude out?

02:20:26.000 Jab, jab, one, two, boom. 0.98

02:20:28.000 Okay, so now I'm calm, I'm calm.

02:20:30.000 But what if he counted with the left hand?

02:20:32.000 Boom, now you knocked out. 0.99

02:20:35.000 Now I'm fucking sweating. 1.00

02:20:37.000 Jesus Christ. 0.99

02:20:38.000 Yo, I said, you know, I was sweating so bad.

02:20:41.000 So I started tapping on the thing.

02:20:44.000 Like, you know, I don't want to freak out because I still got to be cool.

02:20:47.000 I don't want to let these nurses know, like, I'm freaking out.

02:20:50.000 I'm a fighter.

02:20:50.000 I'm freaking out in this tank.

02:20:51.000 So I'm tapping on the thing.

02:20:53.000 I'm like, you know, trying to ask somebody, hey, how much time we got left?

02:20:58.000 Just to at least hear another voice.

02:21:01.000 Right.

02:21:01.000 Nothing.

02:21:02.000 Nothing.

02:21:03.000 They can't hear me because it's loud.

02:21:05.000 The tank is loud.

02:21:06.000 And I'm...

02:21:09.000 Relax.

02:21:09.000 I'm full-on panic attack in there.

02:21:11.000 Full-on panic attack.

02:21:12.000 And I'm trying to bring myself back.

02:21:14.000 I'm calming myself down.

02:21:16.000 And I'm sweating heavily, like profusely now.

02:21:21.000 I'm dripping.

02:21:22.000 And all of a sudden, I'm tapping this thing hard.

02:21:26.000 And a nurse walks in. 0.99

02:21:28.000 As soon as she walks in and flips the light, I hear the machine start to decompress. 0.99

02:21:33.000 Oh, fucking thank God. 0.98

02:21:36.000 And I'm like, she opens it, you okay? 0.99

02:21:39.000 I'm like, yeah, I'm good.

02:21:40.000 You know, just getting a little hot.

02:21:44.000 But I had a full-blown panic attack in there.

02:21:46.000 I have not been in a hyperbaric chamber since.

02:21:49.000 I tried it one time.

02:21:52.000 I probably could have done it.

02:21:53.000 Was it helping you?

02:21:55.000 I couldn't really tell.

02:21:56.000 My body was so damaged at the time.

02:21:58.000 I'm so crazy on my body.

02:22:00.000 It's hard for me to tell.

02:22:01.000 It's supposed to heighten recoveries?

02:22:03.000 Yeah, it's supposed to heighten it.

02:22:04.000 But after that day...

02:22:07.000 Like, certain things kind of make me feel a certain way.

02:22:10.000 Like, I've had tons of MRIs after that, but they freak me out.

02:22:13.000 Because you put me in the MRI machine, especially when you got to do the head one, I got to go in head first.

02:22:18.000 I don't like those.

02:22:20.000 I have to give myself a pep talk and calm myself down to go in there to do those now.

02:22:26.000 Like, I just did one the other last week before I had my surgery.

02:22:31.000 And the lady's trying to put me, I'm like, yo, I just got an MR. I got the disc from the last one that I did last week.

02:22:36.000 The doctor said I could just bring this disc in and I'm good.

02:22:39.000 She's like, the doctor wants us to get a new one.

02:22:42.000 I'm like, you sure about that?

02:22:46.000 I already got the same disc here.

02:22:49.000 I'm like, no, we got to do one.

02:22:50.000 I'm like, how long is it going to be?

02:22:51.000 40 minutes. 1.00

02:22:52.000 Fuck. 1.00

02:22:53.000 40 minutes, because my shoulders are wide, so I'm in there tight. 1.00

02:22:57.000 Right.

02:22:58.000 And the machine is right here.

02:23:01.000 Yeah, and it's making a noise.

02:23:04.000 And it's like, yeah, I'm just, it's, I have to give my mind a pep talk.

02:23:10.000 And I'm just like, relax, bro.

02:23:11.000 What you mean, man?

02:23:12.000 You good.

02:23:13.000 You got this.

02:23:14.000 You can do this.

02:23:16.000 And I look at them and I'm like, let's go.

02:23:18.000 Let's go.

02:23:18.000 Let's do it.

02:23:19.000 Let's knock it out.

02:23:20.000 Boom.

02:23:20.000 Then we're doing it.

02:23:22.000 And God forbid I freaking wake up or my mind starts wandering 20 minutes in that I'm just fucking halfway panic attack through the rest, but I'll get through it.

02:23:33.000 Yeah, it's scary, but you know since that day And it was crazy. 0.98

02:23:42.000 At that point, when we were pregnant with my daughter, I was just like, fuck, am I going to survive? 0.95

02:23:48.000 I can't keep asking this grown man, Rashad, that works hard to support me. 0.99

02:23:53.000 I can't do that.

02:23:54.000 I got to make my own.

02:23:55.000 I got to do this.

02:23:56.000 So I was scared.

02:23:57.000 I was scared.

02:23:58.000 I didn't know what was going to happen.

02:23:59.000 And then all of a sudden, right when we're having her, we have her, boom.

02:24:03.000 Boom.

02:24:04.000 Boom! 0.99

02:24:04.000 The opportunity comes out. 0.99

02:24:05.000 We're going to do the ultimate fighter.

02:24:07.000 I said, no, I don't want to do the ultimate fighter.

02:24:08.000 I was like, bro, you got to do this. 0.85

02:24:11.000 I fucking end up doing the ultimate fighter. 0.98

02:24:12.000 Boom! 0.99

02:24:12.000 I win the ultimate fighter. 0.99

02:24:13.000 Boom! 0.99

02:24:14.000 I fight for the finale.

02:24:15.000 Boom! 0.99

02:24:15.000 I do this. 0.99

02:24:16.000 Like rollercoaster.

02:24:17.000 Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

02:24:18.000 All the hard work, everything that I've been putting in, boom, starts paying off, paying off.

02:24:22.000 Now I'm making 10 and 10. Okay, you feel like that's enough to be able to sustain me until I got to fight again, got to fight again, got to fight again.

02:24:28.000 Boom, this happens.

02:24:29.000 This happens.

02:24:30.000 I get with, you know, amazing manager, Ali Abdulaziz, who freaking, you know, helped just transform the career, take it to the next level, you know, and get with him.

02:24:40.000 And now things are going the way that I, you know, I've been wanting them to go.

02:24:44.000 Boom, boom, boom, boom.

02:24:45.000 Everything's, man.

02:24:46.000 And it was just, it's just motivation to keep working, like, Every time I look at my daughter, how innocent she is, how sweet and wonderful she is.

02:24:53.000 It transforms me.

02:24:58.000 There's a video.

02:24:59.000 I even have a video of her.

02:25:03.000 She's been coming to the gym with me ever since she was six months old.

02:25:07.000 I used to take her to the gym. 0.99

02:25:08.000 Mom's at work.

02:25:09.000 She'd come to the gym with me.

02:25:10.000 When she comes to the gym, she knows what I do.

02:25:12.000 She watches me do it all the time.

02:25:14.000 There's this video where she has gloves and she hits the bag too when I work out.

02:25:19.000 And I was doing a circuit.

02:25:21.000 I was getting ready for a fight.

02:25:23.000 And she's running around with me, and she's cheering me on.

02:25:26.000 She's like, let's go, Daddy.

02:25:28.000 I'm so proud of him.

02:25:30.000 And, like, to hand it to my coach.

02:25:32.000 And she's like, come on, Daddy.

02:25:33.000 Like...

02:25:34.000 And I watch those videos and I'm just like...

02:25:36.000 I was always one of those hard guys.

02:25:38.000 Man, I ain't gonna be no sucker when I have kids like that.

02:25:41.000 I ain't gonna be acting like that. 0.53

02:25:42.000 I can't watch a video with her and not smile.

02:25:44.000 It's the craziest thing to me.

02:25:47.000 People who don't have children will never totally understand that.

02:25:49.000 No.

02:25:50.000 It's a different fire that they light underneath you, man.

02:25:54.000 If you don't get motivated once you have kids, you're never gonna get motivated.

02:25:57.000 No, you probably shouldn't have just been doing that anyways.

02:26:00.000 It changed my life, for sure.

02:26:02.000 Yeah, she is...

02:26:04.000 Man, she's my little rider. 1.00

02:26:07.000 She rides with me.

02:26:09.000 I love her to death, man.

02:26:11.000 I can't explain it.

02:26:12.000 I can't explain it.

02:26:15.000 She's my plus one.

02:26:16.000 That's what I call her. 0.85

02:26:18.000 No matter whatever I do in life from now on, she's a plus one.

02:26:22.000 She's with me.

02:26:23.000 That's amazing.

02:26:24.000 Yeah.

02:26:27.000 I gotta find the video, but it's so funny.

02:26:29.000 It's so funny when I'm doing like a circuit, and I'm running around, and you can see her running around like, come on, Daddy!

02:26:39.000 I'm so proud of him!

02:26:41.000 So she's just hanging out, like no one's watching her?

02:26:43.000 No, she's just hanging out with you while you're training.

02:26:46.000 She's such a good little girl.

02:26:47.000 Ever since she was six months old, I put her in her car seat and just put her by the side of the mat.

02:26:51.000 Boom, she would just watch me train for two hours.

02:26:53.000 Wow.

02:26:54.000 Two hours.

02:26:55.000 To when she got to a certain point where we had a daycare in the gym.

02:27:00.000 And she would go in the gym.

02:27:02.000 She would go to the daycare and she was good there.

02:27:05.000 And then to the point where now, the kids that are in our gym are around similar age.

02:27:11.000 And our coach's wife, Henry Pookie, she does a good job. 1.00

02:27:15.000 And she'll just watch them, you know.

02:27:17.000 But they govern themselves.

02:27:18.000 They just play around on the other side and run around.

02:27:20.000 But it's not like they're around harmful things in the gym.

02:27:24.000 You know, they just have a good time there.

02:27:25.000 That's great that you have that environment.

02:27:27.000 Yeah, man.

02:27:27.000 She's...

02:27:28.000 Like I said, a lot of people are like, oh man, she's so beautiful.

02:27:31.000 No, I'm not worried.

02:27:33.000 My daughter's going to have a nice one-two and a hard low kick. 1.00

02:27:38.000 Whoever can deal with that, hey, good luck.

02:27:43.000 Wow.

02:27:44.000 Yeah, man.

02:27:45.000 But yeah, she lit that fire. 0.98

02:27:48.000 And I dreamt about that moment.

02:27:49.000 It's so surreal, Joe.

02:27:51.000 I think about that moment when you were interviewing me.

02:27:53.000 I freaking forgot your name while you were interviewing me.

02:27:57.000 I'm like, Joe, wait, your name is Joe?

02:28:00.000 Yeah, your name is Joe.

02:28:02.000 It's got to be surreal when they put that belt around you for the first time.

02:28:05.000 Yeah, because I imagined it so many times.

02:28:07.000 Let me ask you something honestly.

02:28:09.000 Do you like the new belt or the old belt? 0.99

02:28:11.000 Initially, I used to talk shit. 0.98

02:28:12.000 I was like, man, nah, because that's the way you picture that old belt. 1.00

02:28:15.000 Right, right, right.

02:28:16.000 And we're human beings.

02:28:17.000 People don't like change.

02:28:18.000 Right.

02:28:18.000 You know, that was the thing.

02:28:19.000 I was like, oh, man, this shit looks like a spaceship. 1.00

02:28:21.000 But that fucking thing is phenomenal. 1.00

02:28:23.000 That's your belt. 1.00

02:28:24.000 Phenomenal.

02:28:25.000 That new belt now is phenomenal.

02:28:27.000 Of course.

02:28:27.000 It's amazing.

02:28:28.000 You won it.

02:28:28.000 It's beautiful.

02:28:29.000 It's beautiful.

02:28:30.000 Of course.

02:28:30.000 I always wanted that old belt, you know, but now it's like comparing it to, no, like this new belt's got all these colors and these country flags on it and the stones.

02:28:39.000 It's amazing.

02:28:41.000 Like, you know, the people that are, all the ones that are still hating on it and say, oh no, that looks crazy.

02:28:46.000 Wait till you put that belt on you.

02:28:48.000 Wait till you hold that thing and it's super heavy.

02:28:52.000 It's amazing.

02:28:53.000 It's amazing.

02:28:54.000 I love it.

02:28:55.000 What did you think about the deal today where all the pay-per-views are going to be on ESPN Plus? 0.99

02:29:02.000 Fucking UFC, baby! 0.99

02:29:04.000 These guys are... 1.00

02:29:05.000 Hey, there's always a way to cut out the middle, man.

02:29:08.000 Yeah, I guess so, man.

02:29:09.000 Yeah.

02:29:10.000 Hopefully...

02:29:11.000 This is the thing.

02:29:11.000 My hope is now...

02:29:13.000 The pay-per-view scale for the fighters bumps.

02:29:17.000 That's what I hope.

02:29:19.000 I hope the numbers stay high.

02:29:22.000 People have to subscribe now to ESPN+. I believe.

02:29:27.000 I'm not sure.

02:29:28.000 That can't be.

02:29:29.000 Because if you're paying your money, unless you get it free.

02:29:33.000 Is that what it is, Jamie?

02:29:35.000 It says you have to subscribe to ESPN Plus in order to get a pay-per-view.

02:29:40.000 Well, how does that work with people out of the country?

02:29:44.000 I believe it's cheaper, though.

02:29:45.000 I think it's the same price you're paying at the end of the day.

02:29:48.000 Because I think it was like $65 or $70.

02:29:50.000 Yeah, but now you get a subscription.

02:29:52.000 It's $60 instead of $65.

02:29:53.000 Right.

02:29:54.000 And it comes with a subscription, right?

02:29:55.000 But you have to subscribe, and you can cancel at any time.

02:29:59.000 What if someone only wants to buy one or two pay-per-views a year?

02:30:02.000 They resubscribe every time?

02:30:04.000 I guess.

02:30:05.000 Yeah, I mean...

02:30:06.000 Yeah, I mean, it works.

02:30:09.000 I mean, if you really want to...

02:30:11.000 I hope it doesn't mess with the numbers, but the thing is... 0.99

02:30:13.000 I wish Brandon Schaub was in here so he could talk some shit. 0.99

02:30:15.000 You and I can't talk some shit about this, but if Schaub was here... 0.99

02:30:20.000 Oh man, Brandon, another guy that's, I think Brandon's doing, his show's got big. 0.98

02:30:24.000 He's huge.

02:30:25.000 He's doing phenomenal.

02:30:26.000 Yeah.

02:30:27.000 I went to one of his shows down in, uh, West Palm.

02:30:31.000 Yeah, in Florida. 0.97

02:30:32.000 And, um, I fucking, it's Brandon Schaub. 0.97

02:30:35.000 I didn't think he was funny. 0.97

02:30:36.000 I was like, let's do it.

02:30:37.000 He's Brandon Schaub.

02:30:38.000 I was bored at night.

02:30:39.000 I was like, let's go to a Brandon Schaub show.

02:30:42.000 He was freaking funny.

02:30:44.000 He works hard.

02:30:45.000 He told the whole story, man.

02:30:47.000 And I was impressed, man.

02:30:48.000 Hats off to Brandon Schaub.

02:30:49.000 He was funny.

02:30:51.000 Basically, all he did was tell his story of what's going on, what went on in his life, in his career.

02:30:56.000 But the twist, it was freaking funny.

02:30:59.000 I went backstage towards the end.

02:31:00.000 I was like, man, that show was funny.

02:31:02.000 I didn't think you were funny, but that was amazing.

02:31:04.000 I loved it.

02:31:05.000 Well, he's showing fighters that there's a path outside of fighting.

02:31:09.000 Absolutely.

02:31:09.000 He makes way more money now than he ever made during fighting times.

02:31:12.000 And he's doing well and he's happy and he's fulfilled.

02:31:16.000 He's got two great podcasts that he's doing.

02:31:19.000 He does comedy shows.

02:31:20.000 Just filmed a Showtime special.

02:31:22.000 He's doing amazing.

02:31:23.000 That's amazing.

02:31:24.000 And which is...

02:31:26.000 Excuse me. 1.00

02:31:27.000 Part of all this whole shit. 0.99

02:31:29.000 People are giving Tyron shit for doing music or doing movies and all this stuff like that. 1.00

02:31:36.000 No, man. 0.99

02:31:37.000 More power to him.

02:31:39.000 I'm glad that he's doing that.

02:31:41.000 Because that's what we want.

02:31:42.000 You want all these different revenue streams where you don't have to get punched in the face until you're 50 to do it.

02:31:47.000 You've got to have an exit strategy.

02:31:48.000 Yeah, and I love that and I appreciate that.

02:31:50.000 That's what I want to do.

02:31:53.000 Imagine me and Francis in the next Black Panther. 0.64

02:31:58.000 You can see it, right?

02:32:00.000 I can't see it.

02:32:02.000 We should definitely be in that.

02:32:05.000 Whoever's making that movie, casting for that, hey, Francis Ngannou, you don't need to teach us accents at all.

02:32:10.000 I'm from Nigeria.

02:32:12.000 There's no team you have to teach me.

02:32:14.000 I have my own accent.

02:32:15.000 You can teach them.

02:32:16.000 Yeah, I can teach them.

02:32:18.000 Keep it authentic.

02:32:19.000 I commend them for that, man.

02:32:22.000 Have you thought about an exit strategy?

02:32:25.000 Absolutely.

02:32:26.000 What do you think you're going to do?

02:32:27.000 I want to do all that.

02:32:28.000 I've been commentating.

02:32:29.000 I work with Titan FC down in South Florida.

02:32:31.000 Titan does an amazing show, too.

02:32:33.000 You have some very good fighters come out of there.

02:32:35.000 Very good. 0.98

02:32:37.000 Sometimes I'm watching fights and I'm like, fuck, these guys fought each other for one and one. 1.00

02:32:41.000 Yeah, and they're crazy. 0.99

02:32:42.000 Like, good, good tough fighters.

02:32:44.000 They want to get into the big show.

02:32:45.000 Absolutely.

02:32:46.000 Yeah.

02:32:46.000 So, man, yeah, I commentate for them.

02:32:49.000 I think that's on UFC Fight Pass, right?

02:32:51.000 UFC Fight Pass, yeah.

02:32:53.000 Yeah.

02:32:53.000 And so, yeah, I want to get into movies.

02:32:56.000 I've been, you know, practicing.

02:32:59.000 I'm not in no way saying what they do is easy.

02:33:03.000 Those actors, I know they work hard to be able to transform and make people feel a certain way and evoke certain emotions from different people with your characters.

02:33:10.000 That's a real art.

02:33:12.000 So I respect that and I want to learn more about that.

02:33:14.000 And yeah, I definitely want to do movies to get more famous, richer, and not get punched in the face.

02:33:19.000 Oh, for sure.

02:33:20.000 Absolutely.

02:33:21.000 What about doing a podcast?

02:33:22.000 You ever thought of that?

02:33:23.000 Yeah, I would love it.

02:33:25.000 You know, I just haven't been approached with the right, you know, with the right situation.

02:33:31.000 The beautiful thing about podcasts, you don't need anybody.

02:33:34.000 Yeah. 1.00

02:33:35.000 You don't need shit. 1.00

02:33:35.000 You just need a fucking tape player. 1.00

02:33:38.000 You could use it on your phone. 1.00

02:33:39.000 You could record what you think.

02:33:40.000 There's great little tiny microphones that stick in the bottom of your iPhone.

02:33:45.000 And it worked great. 1.00

02:33:47.000 And you just sit down and talk about shit. 1.00

02:33:49.000 Yeah, we'll have to give that a try. 0.99

02:33:51.000 What I don't want right now is something that distracts me from...

02:33:55.000 Because I'm not one of those guys who are, oh yeah, I gotta fight and I gotta be in training camp.

02:34:00.000 And if I don't have a fight, I'm just doing whatever the fuck I want. 0.96

02:34:03.000 I freaking practice every day. 0.96

02:34:05.000 I'm going to practice.

02:34:06.000 It's like my life right now, I don't know what to do if I don't go to practice.

02:34:10.000 So while you're recovering from the surgery...

02:34:13.000 Yeah, I'm going to try some different things.

02:34:15.000 Does it feel good, though, to just slow down a little bit?

02:34:19.000 Smell the roses?

02:34:22.000 Not really because this whole week I couldn't freaking train.

02:34:25.000 I wanted to go to the gym and at least hit the bag.

02:34:29.000 Excuse me.

02:34:30.000 Hit the bag of something.

02:34:31.000 Because I think I'm an addict of that burn.

02:34:35.000 Of course.

02:34:36.000 That burn of a workout.

02:34:39.000 Whether it's lifting or push-ups or doing something.

02:34:41.000 Pushing yourself.

02:34:42.000 Yeah.

02:34:42.000 I'm an addict of that.

02:34:44.000 And so when I don't have that, it's kind of like, I don't know what to do with myself.

02:34:48.000 Well, that's what made you you.

02:34:48.000 And that's what made you the champion.

02:34:50.000 I mean, that engine that's inside you is what made you the champion.

02:34:54.000 It only makes sense.

02:34:55.000 If you really could just relax and kick back, I'd be nervous.

02:34:59.000 Yeah. 0.99

02:35:00.000 I'd be like, damn, look at him. 0.99

02:35:01.000 Shifting gears already. 0.99

02:35:02.000 That's what they say.

02:35:03.000 They're like, oh, you changed now.

02:35:05.000 You changed.

02:35:06.000 You used a different person now.

02:35:07.000 You know, you don't got Hollywood on us.

02:35:09.000 You don't... 0.99

02:35:09.000 I fucking hate when people say that. 0.99

02:35:11.000 Yeah, it's a gross thing people say. 0.99

02:35:13.000 People just love to come up with some excuses for why they don't do as well as you or why...

02:35:18.000 Oh, what I was going to bring up too is I saw you do, because when I started researching you and watching your stuff, I saw the podcast you did with freaking Jamie Foxx years ago or something like that.

02:35:31.000 He's amazing. 0.91

02:35:31.000 Fucking, I mean, I'm a huge Jamie Foxx fan. 0.91

02:35:35.000 He's so fucking talented. 0.99

02:35:37.000 I mean, talking triple threat. 0.99

02:35:39.000 He can do anything.

02:35:39.000 How many people can do things that- He does stand-up comedy.

02:35:42.000 Like, chicks are in trouble. 0.99

02:35:44.000 Sings incredible.

02:35:45.000 Yeah.

02:35:46.000 Women are in trouble. 1.00

02:35:47.000 He can make you laugh.

02:35:50.000 He can serenade you with his voice.

02:35:52.000 Yeah. 0.76

02:35:52.000 And he can freaking act. 0.76

02:35:54.000 A lot of dudes are lucky he's not gay. 1.00

02:35:56.000 How about that? 0.95

02:35:59.000 He made me in trouble. 0.99

02:36:00.000 He's fucking amazing, man. 0.98

02:36:02.000 He's such a genuine guy, too. 0.99

02:36:06.000 I've known him for a long time, but he's a fucking Academy Award winning actor. 0.97

02:36:11.000 When he comes in and hangs out with you, you would never imagine it. 0.96

02:36:15.000 The energies like that is what I gravitate towards.

02:36:17.000 He's so normal.

02:36:18.000 It's like Rashad Evans.

02:36:19.000 Rashad is the same way.

02:36:21.000 And those energies I really gravitate towards.

02:36:24.000 And I love it.

02:36:26.000 Yeah, people who don't take themselves seriously.

02:36:28.000 Yeah.

02:36:29.000 But they do.

02:36:30.000 Of course.

02:36:31.000 Like, they do, but they don't pretend they're better than you or anything. 0.98

02:36:35.000 Like, I ran into Jamie at a fucking gas station like six, seven months ago. 0.97

02:36:41.000 Wait, what time was this? 0.99

02:36:42.000 Normal time, like during the day.

02:36:44.000 He was actually with his daughter.

02:36:45.000 She was coming from a martial arts class. 1.00

02:36:46.000 And I'm getting gas, and this guy pulls up in this crazy fucking car. 0.99

02:36:51.000 Like, I never saw one of these things before. 0.99

02:36:53.000 I forget what it's called.

02:36:55.000 Some weird SUV that looks like it's from the future.

02:36:59.000 Like, oh, the Lamborghini SUV? No, no, it's not a Lamborghini.

02:37:01.000 It's some crazy...

02:37:02.000 He knows the guy who makes them.

02:37:04.000 It's crazy. 0.99

02:37:05.000 I mean, I don't even know what the fuck it is. 0.96

02:37:06.000 I never saw one before. 0.97

02:37:07.000 I'm like, what is this thing?

02:37:08.000 And I'm looking at this thing.

02:37:10.000 And then the dude rolls down the window and goes, what's up, Joe?

02:37:13.000 I go, oh, what's up, Jamie? 0.99

02:37:15.000 I go, what the fuck is this, man? 1.00

02:37:17.000 And he's so normal. 1.00

02:37:17.000 He jumps out of the car and starts talking. 1.00

02:37:19.000 People just start coming up to him.

02:37:21.000 And he's like, hey, what's up?

02:37:22.000 How you doing?

02:37:23.000 Just totally normal.

02:37:25.000 You know what?

02:37:26.000 I feel a little bit of that right now.

02:37:29.000 Because it's... 1.00

02:37:30.000 Because I still do the same shit. 0.99

02:37:32.000 I still go to the same little nutrition shop that I go to, get a protein shake here and there. 0.99

02:37:37.000 And I still go to the same...

02:37:39.000 I took my daughter to the movies before I left.

02:37:41.000 I still go to IPIC. And I just roll in.

02:37:44.000 It's just me and her.

02:37:45.000 Perfect.

02:37:45.000 We'll just freaking roll in.

02:37:47.000 Keep that as long as you can.

02:37:48.000 And people ask for pictures.

02:37:51.000 And I think one guy one time said that...

02:37:53.000 Bro, I can't believe you're here, bro.

02:37:55.000 Like, bro, you serious, bro?

02:37:57.000 Like, this one guy was like, bro, you here, bro?

02:38:00.000 Like, who's mom, bro?

02:38:02.000 Can I get a picture with you, bro?

02:38:04.000 He almost like crying.

02:38:04.000 I was like, yeah, bro, of course.

02:38:08.000 You can get him.

02:38:08.000 Yeah, you want me to take it?

02:38:09.000 Which angle?

02:38:10.000 Let me take a couple.

02:38:11.000 I'm snapping the picture and I'm kidding.

02:38:13.000 But they just couldn't believe the fact that I'm normal.

02:38:16.000 You know, that people are just normal.

02:38:18.000 People are just normal.

02:38:20.000 People are just people.

02:38:20.000 They're just people.

02:38:21.000 Well, I think one of the great things about someone who accomplishes something that's pretty spectacular is that you didn't just do that and win the world title, but you set a lot of people in motion.

02:38:35.000 You know how many people watch that and must have been pumped up and excited about it and then started doing things?

02:38:41.000 There's probably a lot of people that decided to start fighting because of what I mean.

02:38:44.000 Millions of people watched that fight.

02:38:46.000 So stop and think about how many different people must have been inspired by that.

02:38:50.000 How many different people saw the highlights on Instagram and on Twitter and on YouTube and how many people got fired up because of that.

02:38:57.000 And that's what I'm thankful for, Joe.

02:38:58.000 I'm thankful for the opportunity.

02:39:01.000 Shout out to the UFC for creating such a business.

02:39:04.000 In a market now, you can touch so many people all across the world.

02:39:10.000 And fighting is one thing, that's a universal language. 0.97

02:39:13.000 It doesn't matter if you fucking speak Russian, you speak English, you speak Igbo or Yoruba, it doesn't matter. 0.96

02:39:22.000 You know fighting. 0.99

02:39:23.000 Right.

02:39:24.000 This, this, this.

02:39:26.000 You don't have to know the rules.

02:39:27.000 You don't have to know the rules.

02:39:29.000 It's not like cricket.

02:39:30.000 Yeah, it's universal.

02:39:31.000 So it's one of those things that's a sport that's going to grow.

02:39:34.000 It's only going to get bigger and bigger, man.

02:39:36.000 Shout out to the UFC. Dana, Hunter, all these guys.

02:39:39.000 Lorenzo, Fertitta, all these guys that created this and packaged it to the way it is now.

02:39:43.000 Because it's given us platforms to be able to touch people.

02:39:46.000 And yeah, I truly am aware of what that could have done for certain people.

02:39:51.000 Certain people.

02:39:52.000 Yeah, I might have not thought of an individual person, but someone, you know, I might have inspired someone to start fighting that come from where I come from or somewhere in China, Indonesia, anywhere in the world.

02:40:02.000 Yeah, so I'm thankful.

02:40:04.000 I'm very thankful for that.

02:40:05.000 Yeah, I mean, that is a big part of what a champion is.

02:40:09.000 I mean, we were talking earlier about Marvin Hagler or different fighters that I watched when I was a kid coming up.

02:40:14.000 Those people give you energy, you know?

02:40:16.000 There's something about watching someone do something spectacular.

02:40:19.000 They give you energy.

02:40:20.000 And when you hear a story like yours... 0.93

02:40:23.000 You know, a kid who immigrates to the United States at eight years old and goes through all the shit that you went through and becomes a world champion. 0.98

02:40:30.000 People hear that, man. 1.00

02:40:31.000 It gets them off the fucking couch, man. 1.00

02:40:34.000 It gets them to do things. 1.00

02:40:35.000 It does.

02:40:38.000 I think about doing that fight is there was two other guys, two special guests that I had come to the fight.

02:40:44.000 And they were both Nigerian nightmares, you know, in their respective rights, sports and right. 1.00

02:40:50.000 Christian Okoye, you know, Kansas City Chiefs running back was called a Nigerian nightmare because he was a fucking terror. 1.00

02:40:59.000 You know who Christian is? 1.00

02:41:00.000 I don't know anything about football.

02:41:03.000 Jamie's laughing.

02:41:04.000 He knows who it is. 1.00

02:41:05.000 Yeah, he was a fucking monster, man. 1.00

02:41:08.000 I think he was a 260-pound running back. 1.00

02:41:12.000 I'm talking Mack truck, running through dude.

02:41:15.000 Boom, boom, boom.

02:41:16.000 And he had speed and power.

02:41:19.000 So he was considered a Nigerian nightmare.

02:41:21.000 So he was one of those first guys that people really resonated as a Nigerian nightmare in American sports. 1.00

02:41:26.000 And I never watched him play live.

02:41:28.000 Of course not.

02:41:29.000 But these are the guys that create such a legacy to where, when you're growing up, somehow you hear about that legacy.

02:41:36.000 And that inspired me to want to be great, bearing that nickname.

02:41:40.000 And also, Samuel Peters.

02:41:43.000 I don't know if you know Samuel Peters.

02:41:44.000 Samuel Peters, WBC Heavyweight Champion of the World, was at the fight. 0.99

02:41:47.000 Oh, no shit. 0.93

02:41:48.000 And man, these guys, I never saw him fight live, but he created such a legacy to where I heard about him. 0.99

02:41:56.000 I had to research them.

02:41:58.000 And these guys inspired me to where now having that nickname, I have to hold it to the highest regards.

02:42:05.000 I have to do the best that I can to be able to inspire many, many kids that are going to come in the future.

02:42:12.000 So man, I'm thankful for the opportunity and just grateful.

02:42:17.000 I'm not...

02:42:18.000 I'm a humble little kid from Nigeria, you know.

02:42:22.000 I used to walk around barefoot, step on nails, glasses, you know, things like that.

02:42:26.000 And now look where we at.

02:42:28.000 Now we rockin' shoe designers, baby! 0.99

02:42:30.000 Dude, you're the UFC welterweight champion of the world.

02:42:34.000 Undisputed.

02:42:35.000 Yeah, man.

02:42:36.000 It's pretty incredible.

02:42:37.000 Yeah.

02:42:38.000 Does it feel real?

02:42:39.000 No, I mean, I still feel normal.

02:42:41.000 I don't feel anything different.

02:42:42.000 But you know you're the champ.

02:42:43.000 Yeah.

02:42:44.000 But I think part of why it feels the way it does is because I've known for a long time.

02:42:50.000 I've felt like it for a long time.

02:42:53.000 I've known nothing's going to change the way I'm going to train for these fights.

02:42:56.000 Nothing's going to change my mentality how I'm going to approach these fights.

02:42:59.000 It's all the same.

02:43:00.000 A fight is a fight.

02:43:02.000 It's not, oh, I'm trying to defend this or I'm trying to hold on to this. 0.99

02:43:05.000 I don't give a shit. 0.99

02:43:06.000 I'm still going in there to dominate you from start to finish, to break you mentally so you never want to freaking fight me again. 0.99

02:43:13.000 That's my approach to every fight. 0.66

02:43:15.000 So nothing changes.

02:43:16.000 I don't feel different.

02:43:17.000 The only thing now that's cool, everyone's like, treat me a little different.

02:43:22.000 People kind of, you know, people hold doors for me now and shit like that. 0.57

02:43:25.000 And hopefully you're making a shitload more money. 0.88

02:43:27.000 Well, yeah, let's all...

02:43:31.000 You heard that, Dana?

02:43:32.000 Yeah, please.

02:43:33.000 Hopefully that, but that's the only difference.

02:43:37.000 I don't feel different.

02:43:38.000 I don't act any different.

02:43:40.000 At least I hope not.

02:43:41.000 No, when we were talking earlier about guys who like to trash talk and what trash talking is kind of doing for the sport, whether it's good or bad, some guys are really funny with it. 0.97

02:43:51.000 Connor's fucking hilarious with it. 0.98

02:43:52.000 Amazing. 0.99

02:43:53.000 There's something about that that is, like when Jeremy Stevens said something about it, it's like, who the fuck is that guy? 0.99

02:43:59.000 God. 0.99

02:43:59.000 I mean... 0.99

02:44:00.000 The most famous line in fucking MMA. In sports. 0.99

02:44:06.000 Yeah.

02:44:06.000 I mean...

02:44:07.000 Oh, man.

02:44:08.000 I mean, how many times has that been repeated?

02:44:10.000 Shout out to Jeremy Stevens, too.

02:44:11.000 I like Jeremy.

02:44:12.000 I love Jeremy.

02:44:12.000 Those guys come to scrap.

02:44:14.000 Always.

02:44:14.000 He's a beast.

02:44:15.000 He's a beast. 0.98

02:44:15.000 Yeah. 0.98

02:44:15.000 But I think that that's not the only way a guy can sell a lot of pay-per-views. 0.98

02:44:21.000 A guy can also sell a lot of pay-per-views by being exceptional.

02:44:24.000 And that was the case with George St. Pierre.

02:44:26.000 Like, George St. Pierre was never a trash talker and still sold a shitload of pay-per-views.

02:44:31.000 Yeah, I think we're, as human beings, humans can kind of tell the energy.

02:44:36.000 If it's a fake energy, I think people can tell and people are put off by it.

02:44:40.000 Well, people are also enamored of people that are exceptional.

02:44:44.000 Yes.

02:44:45.000 You can just be exceptional. 0.99

02:44:47.000 You don't have to just be talking shit all the time and pushing each other at press conferences. 0.97

02:44:53.000 It's not the only way. 0.99

02:44:55.000 No, but then you get the majority of the shitty fans who... 0.96

02:45:01.000 Who likes that stuff? 0.98

02:45:03.000 Who wants to see it too?

02:45:04.000 Yeah, there's a few who, even though they know it's fake, they just still like that.

02:45:08.000 They just want to see it, you know?

02:45:10.000 So, they put that pressure on people.

02:45:12.000 Like, no, you got to do this.

02:45:13.000 You have to do that.

02:45:14.000 Because those are the guys that are going to tweet you.

02:45:17.000 They're going to comment you.

02:45:19.000 Do they tell you?

02:45:20.000 Do they give you advice on how to talk?

02:45:23.000 No, no.

02:45:25.000 Dana's never once said, you gotta talk, you gotta do this, you gotta do that.

02:45:28.000 No, they don't do that.

02:45:30.000 Do you feel, though, that sometimes they show you that by favoring guys who do do that?

02:45:35.000 Like when Colby got a shot at the interim title before you?

02:45:38.000 Yeah, because this is the thing is when someone starts doing that and they're starting to trend a lot more, of course, the company gets behind them because the company is about money.

02:45:49.000 It's about green.

02:45:50.000 Like they got to make money.

02:45:51.000 Right.

02:45:51.000 And that's one thing that I understand more than anything right now.

02:45:54.000 They're about green.

02:45:55.000 Like people say, oh, Dana hates me because this and that.

02:45:58.000 The only race Dana cares about is green.

02:46:00.000 Like if you're going to make money, Dana cares.

02:46:03.000 And so I think that once someone starts doing that and they're starting to create a little, they're starting to have a little buzz.

02:46:09.000 Of course, Dana is going to push because that guy might bring in money, making more money. 1.00

02:46:13.000 So I understand that aspect of it, but it's not.

02:46:16.000 I don't think it's Dana necessarily saying, oh man, you got to act like this, you got to do this because this is what sells.

02:46:21.000 No, Conor did it.

02:46:23.000 And if Conor, Conor became who he became.

02:46:26.000 So yeah, Conor is going to be favored because Conor brings in millions and millions of dollars.

02:46:31.000 Khabib did it his way.

02:46:33.000 And now Habib brings him, you know, he's favored.

02:46:36.000 So he's going to bring in money and things like that.

02:46:39.000 But Dana's not going around saying, yo, you got to be like this guy.

02:46:43.000 You got to be like that guy.

02:46:44.000 Bisping did it his way.

02:46:46.000 Bisping brought in money.

02:46:48.000 George did it his way.

02:46:49.000 It's just, as long as you want to be real, what you choose to do, you're going to be real with yourself.

02:46:54.000 Because at the end of the day, you have to look at yourself in the mirror.

02:46:57.000 Yes.

02:46:57.000 If you can do what you want to do, and then at the end of the day, look in the mirror when everyone's gone, it's just you, you take a piss in the morning, and then you wake up looking at yourself in your mirror, and you're like, I'm alright.

02:47:07.000 Then that's fine.

02:47:09.000 Do you.

02:47:10.000 Beautiful.

02:47:11.000 Beautifully put. 1.00

02:47:12.000 You're a bad motherfucker, Kamaru. 1.00

02:47:13.000 My man, Joe, man. 1.00

02:47:15.000 Thanks for doing this, man.

02:47:16.000 Thank you.

02:47:16.000 It's a pleasure.

02:47:17.000 Thanks for telling people your story and inspiring people, and I wish you nothing but the best.

02:47:20.000 Thank you, man.

02:47:21.000 Thank you, brother.

02:47:22.000 I appreciate it.

The Joe Rogan Experience - December 01, 2010

JRE MMA Show #59 with Kamaru Usman

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript