The Joe Rogan Experience - JRE MMA Show #96 with Justin Gaethje & Trevor Wittman

00:00:00.000 Boom! 0.99

00:00:01.000 Trainer of the Year, Trevor Whitman.

00:00:03.000 You might be.

00:00:03.000 You might get it.

00:00:04.000 We'll see.

00:00:06.000 You're definitely on the short list.

00:00:07.000 I got not that many athletes, so that's where, you know, when I won it two years ago, that was unique to me because I went in there like, man, I don't deserve this.

00:00:16.000 I remember having 40 athletes, and the guys who have all these athletes, it's put in so much time.

00:00:21.000 I had three athletes at the time, so that was cool.

00:00:24.000 But again, I think...

00:00:28.000 Performing and doing good as a coach is one thing, but also putting in that full time.

00:00:31.000 When you're running a gym and having 40 athletes, it's a non-stop 60 hours.

00:00:36.000 You're not doing anything with your children.

00:00:39.000 But then when I seen the athletes talking on the screen and talking about Rose, talking about changing the world and just being good people, then I was like, oh yeah.

00:00:47.000 And I remember repeating to myself, when I went through a tough time and lost all my athletes, we kind of had to split.

00:00:53.000 And it all happened through when Nate Marquardt had that issue with the TRT. And I had talked about the gray area.

00:01:01.000 If you're going to allow someone to do that, you have that space.

00:01:04.000 He instantly got shunned for it.

00:01:07.000 He's got children.

00:01:07.000 He had a new kid on the way.

00:01:09.000 And I was just like, man, he got shunned.

00:01:10.000 We knew about it prior.

00:01:12.000 And I'm just like, they said you could do it, but they don't know how to test the levels.

00:01:16.000 And that situation turned into a bigger situation.

00:01:19.000 And then I ended up starting over with athletes.

00:01:21.000 And I remember repeating to myself, You're the best coach in the world.

00:01:25.000 No one's better.

00:01:26.000 And I remember just repeating, I had a new gym that was big, 13,000 square feet.

00:01:29.000 I was painting it by myself.

00:01:30.000 Then I just kept saying it over and over and over.

00:01:32.000 And then when I was sitting there that night, I was looking at him.

00:01:36.000 And we won like seven awards that night, which is the three of us.

00:01:39.000 And I was like, man, that's super cool.

00:01:41.000 That's when it kind of hit.

00:01:42.000 And I was like, oh, man.

00:01:43.000 There's something to be said for having a small stable of athletes versus, like, there's some of these super gyms where a lot of guys wind up complaining.

00:01:52.000 A lot of guys wind up saying they don't get the attention they deserve.

00:01:55.000 They feel like they're staggering or they're stagnant there.

00:01:59.000 And it's just, it's not...

00:02:01.000 I don't think it's the right way.

00:02:02.000 It's so different.

00:02:03.000 It takes it back to my boxing days.

00:02:06.000 I only had three or four athletes at the most, and I was running with them and had them at my house, and I was feeding them, and they were at my house for camp.

00:02:14.000 And it was one-on-one for everything.

00:02:16.000 For the psyche, I mean, that's such an important part when it comes to fighting outside of Justin Gaethje.

00:02:21.000 Justin Gaethje, I learned from this guy when it comes to mental.

00:02:24.000 Like, he's just ingrained with, like, the strongest mental.

00:02:28.000 And I love that part.

00:02:29.000 Like, that's why I love working with Rose, because the mental part.

00:02:31.000 But one-on-one is key.

00:02:33.000 That is key to being able to be with your athletes.

00:02:36.000 And I'll tell you...

00:02:38.000 It's like a hobby again.

00:02:39.000 It ain't like a job.

00:02:40.000 It's like passion.

00:02:42.000 You never really want to do it for the money.

00:02:44.000 You need to pay your bills.

00:02:45.000 But the key is it's the athlete.

00:02:48.000 It's about them.

00:02:49.000 Justin, when you came to Trevor, how much striking experience did you have?

00:02:53.000 Zero.

00:02:54.000 That's hilarious.

00:02:55.000 I had five amateur fights.

00:02:57.000 I had never...

00:02:58.000 Never been in a street fight.

00:03:00.000 A one-on-one street fight.

00:03:01.000 A couple of big brawls.

00:03:02.000 Never thrown a punch.

00:03:03.000 Never been punched.

00:03:05.000 And I got hit hard in my fifth fight.

00:03:07.000 Almost got knocked out.

00:03:08.000 I was like, man, I need to find...

00:03:09.000 If I'm going to do this, I need to find a coach.

00:03:11.000 So you had...

00:03:14.000 Five amateur MMA fights with zero striking training.

00:03:18.000 Zero.

00:03:19.000 So right after wrestling was over, I would just be like, I want to fight.

00:03:22.000 And then I was in the best shape of my life after wrestling season.

00:03:25.000 So I was a machine still, but I just had no skills.

00:03:30.000 Go out there and wrestle.

00:03:31.000 Take them down. 0.88

00:03:32.000 Slams. 1.00

00:03:32.000 I got my nickname, the highlight, before I ever knew how to strike. 1.00

00:03:36.000 And that was from tossing people.

00:03:38.000 I've got to tell you when he came into my gym.

00:03:40.000 So I met him at one of the fights and I thought he was a Japanese guy because I was traveling to Tokyo a lot with Dwayne and his name, Gaethje, for some reason I pictured a Japanese guy.

00:03:50.000 Yeah, it kind of sounds like he could be Japanese.

00:03:52.000 And I was like, oh my god, it was spectacular.

00:03:54.000 The way he was throwing people and putting them on their head, I was just amazed.

00:03:57.000 And I talked to him in the locker room and I was like, dude, I'm a huge fan.

00:04:00.000 Your fighting style is so unique.

00:04:02.000 And then he's like, I'd love to come to your gym.

00:04:03.000 So he comes down, he comes in, he's like...

00:04:06.000 I'm here to fight.

00:04:06.000 And I was like, cool.

00:04:08.000 And I'm like, all right, well, we're sparring today.

00:04:09.000 And he's like, cool, yeah, yeah, I want to fight.

00:04:11.000 And I'm like, all right, cool, let's go back there.

00:04:13.000 And I said, well, we're sparring today.

00:04:14.000 Let's get back here.

00:04:15.000 And I was like, do you have any gear?

00:04:16.000 And he's like, cool, what gear do I need?

00:04:18.000 And I'm just like, oh, my God.

00:04:20.000 Like, you're out here fighting?

00:04:21.000 I take him to the equipment, and I was like, all right, get some gloves, get some shin guards.

00:04:25.000 What year was this?

00:04:25.000 This is...

00:04:26.000 2009?

00:04:28.000 Yeah.

00:04:29.000 Imagine.

00:04:30.000 Imagine that moment. 1.00

00:04:31.000 If someone told you, 11 years from now, you're looking at one of the baddest motherfuckers on earth. 1.00

00:04:35.000 I'd say it took me a week or two to know. 1.00

00:04:37.000 Like, his mindset and the way he trained.

00:04:40.000 Like, this first session that he had was one of the most unique.

00:04:43.000 So I'd tell him about this equipment.

00:04:45.000 I'm like, get your equipment on.

00:04:46.000 I was like, get one of those headgears.

00:04:47.000 And he goes, he jumps up at me and he's like, well, I gotta wear a helmet.

00:04:52.000 Like, no one else is wearing helmets.

00:04:54.000 And I'm like...

00:04:54.000 I'm like, no one's wearing a helmet.

00:04:56.000 Why the fuck do I wear a helmet? 0.96

00:04:57.000 So he's sparring with this guy named Vinny Lopez. 0.99

00:04:59.000 And he gets hit with an uppercut while he's hitting Vinny with the overhand.

00:05:04.000 And he turns around and goes, ooh! 0.99

00:05:06.000 And I'm like, oh shit, he's hurt. 0.99

00:05:08.000 So I go over to him. 0.99

00:05:09.000 I'm like, you good?

00:05:09.000 And he's like...

00:05:10.000 That felt so fucking good. 0.95

00:05:12.000 He's looking at his fist. 0.99

00:05:13.000 They both cracked each other so hard.

00:05:15.000 Like, KO shots.

00:05:16.000 Like, it was nice.

00:05:18.000 And from that time, I was like, dude, you are super unique.

00:05:21.000 I was like, I've never punched somebody like that before. 0.97

00:05:24.000 I was like, I know that fucking hurt, dude. 0.99

00:05:26.000 He's like, you know, Vinny looks like a meat. 0.99

00:05:30.000 He's all tatted up, neck down. 0.95

00:05:32.000 Mexican, you know, looks like he's straight out of prison. 1.00

00:05:36.000 He's Puerto Rican.

00:05:37.000 I almost said that for Vinny.

00:05:38.000 Ha, ha, ha, ha.

00:05:40.000 He's Puerto Rican.

00:05:42.000 He looks mean. 0.54

00:05:42.000 He's mean. 0.54

00:05:43.000 He looks mean.

00:05:44.000 And yeah, I was like, gotta go with him.

00:05:45.000 They're like, yep.

00:05:46.000 I was like, alright. 0.88

00:05:48.000 And then I hit him. 1.00

00:05:48.000 I was like, oh shit. 1.00

00:05:50.000 But real quick before I forget, the one-on-one thing. 0.99

00:05:53.000 I was saying, you've heard like five, six guys as we've been going through these fights say how they appreciate the one-on-one time.

00:05:59.000 And that's going back to what that was.

00:06:03.000 I don't want to miss that earlier when you were talking about that.

00:06:06.000 That's the biggest thing for me.

00:06:08.000 He's at every single one of my training sessions talking to me like he was talking to me in my fight for sparring.

00:06:13.000 When he needs to throw the towel in or call the fight, he knows.

00:06:16.000 He watches me every day.

00:06:17.000 And this one-on-one thing is what these guys are watching.

00:06:20.000 Understanding is so important when it comes to fighting at the high level.

00:06:24.000 It's having that unique relationship with a trainer.

00:06:27.000 Having a trainer where you and the trainer are tight like that.

00:06:30.000 Like DJ had it with Matt Hume.

00:06:32.000 You know, there's a lot of guys who have that kind of one-on GSP had it with Faraz Ahavi.

00:06:37.000 That relationship is so critical.

00:06:41.000 Because you're going in there together.

00:06:44.000 You're helping each other.

00:06:47.000 You understand.

00:06:48.000 You know his whole process.

00:06:50.000 Literally, with him, you know his entire fighting process.

00:06:55.000 From the beginning, the first time he was there, that's invaluable, man.

00:06:59.000 These guys that are jumping into these super camps and the person is just sort of giving you random general motivation in between the corner, telling you to keep your hands up, work the jab.

00:07:09.000 You know, that's not enough.

00:07:11.000 It's not optimal.

00:07:13.000 I really feel like the optimal relationship is a trainer that really knows the athlete well and is with them in every training session.

00:07:21.000 100%.

00:07:21.000 I think there's a huge issue.

00:07:24.000 First off, big training camps are key just because of the partners.

00:07:28.000 I mean, you will get champion level fighters out of there because you're seeing all different styles.

00:07:33.000 You're seeing wrestlers, grapplers, southpaws, all different sizes.

00:07:36.000 So it's great for that.

00:07:38.000 And you adapt to different athletes.

00:07:40.000 The hard part with that is most of the guys train jiu-jitsu somewhere else.

00:07:44.000 They go somewhere else for their conditioning.

00:07:46.000 They go to all these different places, and all the coaches, they mean well.

00:07:49.000 They're all like, oh man, you're six weeks out, we've got to train hard, and you're going from one hard session to the next hard session to the next hard session.

00:07:56.000 And when you're with them all the time...

00:07:59.000 I pull back a lot on him.

00:08:01.000 And that's the key to peaking.

00:08:02.000 Like a lot of times people just push hard, push hard, push hard.

00:08:05.000 And that's another huge issue in the sport is overtraining.

00:08:07.000 Yeah, guys get flat.

00:08:08.000 I mean, it's again, injuries in the sport are common all the time.

00:08:13.000 And most injuries are happening in training.

00:08:15.000 When you pull back, are you doing it based on just your general feeling of how he looks and how he's performing, what he's saying?

00:08:22.000 Or are you using heart rate variability, using a whoop strap or a heart rate monitor or anything?

00:08:28.000 No, a lot of those are...

00:08:30.000 When it comes to those types of things, my intuition has always played best for me.

00:08:35.000 And knowing each athlete, each athlete is different.

00:08:38.000 Some athletes need to fight at a different heart rate than another.

00:08:42.000 They perform better at a steady high heart rate.

00:08:46.000 Some need to spike like in the beginning when he loved to fight.

00:08:49.000 He loved to see people drown and their eyes open.

00:08:51.000 So we trained like that.

00:08:52.000 He wanted to be the most exciting fighter.

00:08:54.000 So I'm there to make sure I'm hitting his goals, not my goals.

00:08:58.000 Like I'm there for the athlete.

00:08:59.000 I train every athlete differently.

00:09:01.000 And it's all about purpose.

00:09:02.000 Like, what's your purpose for fighting?

00:09:03.000 What do you want to be?

00:09:04.000 And his has changed in the last four fights.

00:09:06.000 Four fights ago, he actually said he wanted to be a world champion.

00:09:09.000 And before that, I want to be the most exciting fighter in the world.

00:09:11.000 And it was about going out there causing those wars.

00:09:14.000 And in the gym, he was sharp and could box and could really do some athletic stuff.

00:09:18.000 But he loved to see people drowned.

00:09:20.000 It's just amazing how technical your striking is, considering the fact that you've really been only doing it for 11 years.

00:09:27.000 I mean, you're one of the best, if not the best striker in the 155-pound division.

00:09:32.000 That's a fact. 0.99

00:09:33.000 That clean sharpness of your fucking left hook, man. 0.99

00:09:36.000 It's one of the best I've ever seen. 1.00

00:09:38.000 It's so fast.

00:09:39.000 There's no fat in there.

00:09:41.000 He's been telling me, one day, you know, your left hook's going to be your best punch.

00:09:44.000 And I was like, what are you talking about?

00:09:47.000 Dude.

00:09:47.000 And yeah, man, I'm just, I played all sports.

00:09:50.000 You know, growing up, I was a pitcher, I was a quarterback, punter, kicker.

00:09:54.000 You think there's a benefit in that?

00:09:56.000 Yeah, I mean, throwing a right hand is throwing a baseball.

00:10:00.000 My kick does not necessarily...

00:10:02.000 I'm just kicking them as hard as I can.

00:10:03.000 Now it's placement. 0.92

00:10:04.000 Timing is the most important thing there.

00:10:06.000 But those mechanics that I developed through those playing other sports, I think, has helped me so much.

00:10:12.000 Just my athletic ability.

00:10:14.000 And then once I found...

00:10:15.000 This man is a genius.

00:10:17.000 I can't tell you how...

00:10:19.000 The process that he started 10 years ago, you know, I had no idea.

00:10:24.000 I still don't know what the heck we're doing.

00:10:27.000 I'm telling you, it's just how high you want me to jump.

00:10:31.000 That's all.

00:10:32.000 You know, every day I step in there.

00:10:33.000 That's what I'm asking him.

00:10:35.000 He is an artist.

00:10:36.000 His mind...

00:10:37.000 I can't see...

00:10:38.000 Even when we're talking about our Onyx equipment, he's telling me these things and I'm like, I can't put it into my head.

00:10:44.000 I can't see it.

00:10:44.000 But I know.

00:10:46.000 And then once it's a finished product, it's like, holy crap. 0.82

00:10:49.000 Same thing when I fight. 1.00

00:10:50.000 Every time after I fight, I'm like, holy shit! 0.99

00:10:53.000 I can't believe... 0.99

00:10:53.000 We've been working on this for... 0.99

00:10:55.000 Ten years, but more specifically the specific details that I executed in that fight, last fight.

00:11:01.000 We had a short time and there was really certain things that he instilled that I had no idea he was instilling.

00:11:09.000 It just came to fruition on that night and it was spectacular to watch.

00:11:13.000 It was spectacular to go back and watch after a fight every time.

00:11:17.000 Trevor, how important is it for a guy to be a coachable athlete, too?

00:11:20.000 That's one of the things that you and Luke Cardillo both said after the fight, that he's the most coachable athlete.

00:11:26.000 That's key.

00:11:27.000 The whole thing is, I'm there to assist.

00:11:33.000 I put myself as the co-pilot.

00:11:34.000 I'm there to draw the map, and you've got to trust me around these corners.

00:11:38.000 You're the driver.

00:11:39.000 You're the one that knows, but you have to trust me.

00:11:41.000 And to be able to be coachable, I mean, if not, I'm just a water boy.

00:11:45.000 That's why I'm only coaching a few now, too.

00:11:48.000 We've got to be in this together, and you've got to trust me, and I've got to be there for you.

00:11:53.000 And if you trust me, then every decision that I make for you, You've got to trust.

00:11:58.000 Whether it's, hey, don't take this fight.

00:11:59.000 I mean, with the fight, the last fight, I was like, no, you're not taking the fight.

00:12:02.000 And he's like, come on, coach.

00:12:03.000 What fight is that?

00:12:04.000 This is the Tony fight.

00:12:05.000 When he first got offered for the first time.

00:12:07.000 And I was like, no, we're at sparring session.

00:12:09.000 And he's like, why not?

00:12:10.000 And I'm like, because you said you'd never take a short notice fight.

00:12:12.000 I'm like, no.

00:12:14.000 It was like 11 days, right?

00:12:16.000 Yeah, but we've been traded hard.

00:12:18.000 Then he hit me with all these points.

00:12:19.000 And he's like, dude, with the coronavirus going on, Who cares?

00:12:23.000 He's like, let me get in there.

00:12:24.000 I need to fight someone right now.

00:12:25.000 I need to release all this.

00:12:26.000 And his little basic points, I looked at him.

00:12:29.000 I said, all right, are you going to do it again?

00:12:31.000 Are you going to stick to your goal on the next one?

00:12:33.000 Because I might let you off on this one.

00:12:35.000 And he said, I will never take a short notice fight.

00:12:38.000 That's why the second time it was offered, he was even more pissed about it.

00:12:41.000 And I was just like, he's like, the other one was seven days out.

00:12:44.000 Like, I got nothing to lose.

00:12:45.000 You know, I'll go out on my shield.

00:12:46.000 So let's be clear for everybody.

00:12:48.000 The first time was the...

00:12:51.000 Lemoore, California one, the Tai Chi Pals.

00:12:53.000 April 18th.

00:12:54.000 And that was how many days out?

00:12:57.000 So, I got the call.

00:12:58.000 I think it was 10 or something like that.

00:12:59.000 No, I think it was like 15 days before that fight.

00:13:04.000 I got the call one night.

00:13:06.000 The next day I went, you know, I called him.

00:13:08.000 He said no that night.

00:13:09.000 Went to sparring the next day.

00:13:11.000 And then that's when I talked, you know, not talked him into it, but I did like seven hard rounds.

00:13:15.000 I felt great.

00:13:16.000 You know, I had been sparring so much.

00:13:18.000 And so he was like, I was like, let's do it.

00:13:21.000 You know, I talked him into it.

00:13:22.000 And then so we go hard and then I think it was, when did they cancel?

00:13:26.000 I think it was 10 days before the fight, they canceled it.

00:13:30.000 And that's when, you know, it went out the window and then they called me.

00:13:35.000 So did you just fall right out of camp or did you keep training?

00:13:37.000 I was down to 168. They called me at like 3 p.m.

00:13:41.000 and that night I went to sleep at like 182. I went hard.

00:13:47.000 Just terrible choices.

00:13:48.000 What'd you eat?

00:13:49.000 What'd you go to?

00:13:50.000 I went straight to, it's called McGill's World of Ice Cream.

00:13:53.000 I got a double scoop with a waffle cone and then we ate Pizza Hut for breakfast the next morning.

00:13:59.000 We had pancakes.

00:14:00.000 I had my cousin Basquito there with me.

00:14:02.000 He was helping me with my cooking and helping me around the house during those hard 20 days.

00:14:09.000 And yeah, we went hard.

00:14:13.000 And then three days later they called me and they're like, you know, it's May 9th. 0.99

00:14:16.000 And I was like, fuck that. 0.98

00:14:17.000 I was like, I don't take short notice fights. 1.00

00:14:20.000 I was like, this last one was, you know, 10 days.

00:14:22.000 I get the benefit of the doubt of it being a late, late notice fight.

00:14:26.000 And now they want me to do May 9th.

00:14:27.000 You know, that goes out the window that, you know, me, now it's not really a late replacement fight.

00:14:33.000 It is, but it is for me.

00:14:35.000 It is in general.

00:14:36.000 But, you know, the general...

00:14:40.000 Public would think, you know, he's got a full camp and this is a real fight, blah, blah, blah.

00:14:44.000 So I was like, no, I'm not doing it.

00:14:46.000 So let me get this straight.

00:14:48.000 So you're not doing it because you fell out of camp and started eating again?

00:14:51.000 Because...

00:14:53.000 Because the 20-day notice was something very special.

00:14:58.000 I definitely could have performed and I would have performed.

00:15:01.000 This is the April 18th fight.

00:15:03.000 I think I would have performed and I think I would have won.

00:15:06.000 I wouldn't have been as confident.

00:15:08.000 I was terrified.

00:15:09.000 When they called me that night, I was terrified.

00:15:10.000 I couldn't sleep.

00:15:11.000 The next day, I woke up terrified.

00:15:13.000 Because I knew.

00:15:14.000 I knew that this is not what I do.

00:15:16.000 This is not how I do it.

00:15:17.000 Because you weren't fully prepared.

00:15:19.000 Because there's no way to fully prepare in that amount of time.

00:15:22.000 Right.

00:15:22.000 My mind.

00:15:23.000 My mind.

00:15:24.000 What I go in there and do, I have to get my mind in a very, very special place.

00:15:27.000 How much of it is that, and how much of it is physical?

00:15:30.000 You know...

00:15:31.000 I don't know.

00:15:32.000 I don't have that question.

00:15:34.000 I can't answer that question for you.

00:15:36.000 I don't process that.

00:15:38.000 That's not something I ever process.

00:15:40.000 What I'm saying in this way, though, is how physically prepared were you?

00:15:43.000 Were you in training?

00:15:44.000 Yeah, so I was just...

00:15:47.000 I was the main training partner for Neil Magny, Austin Hubbard when they fought in Vegas.

00:15:52.000 I was in shape.

00:15:56.000 So the second fight, let me jump in here.

00:15:58.000 The second fight I thought was a way better place to be from a conditioning standpoint because he was already in shape prior to the first one.

00:16:06.000 We just went two weeks so hard.

00:16:08.000 We were trying to get his body in shape quick and that's a hard thing to do.

00:16:12.000 Then he went and gained 12 pounds, which we are four weeks out of that point, which is perfect because the fourth week out, I always pull back on and let the body recover because your third and your second week are our peak weeks.

00:16:22.000 Those are the weeks that we need to really hit prime and really push hard.

00:16:27.000 And it was perfect fit.

00:16:29.000 I was like, oh, my God.

00:16:29.000 I'm like, dude, we take this time off.

00:16:31.000 You're going up and eating.

00:16:32.000 Now you're ready to go again.

00:16:34.000 You got that little fire back in your body because you're able to eat whatever you want.

00:16:39.000 And I thought it was perfect timing from how I train my athletes from a conditioning standpoint.

00:16:44.000 And I actually had to talk him into that one.

00:16:46.000 I was like, this is even better.

00:16:47.000 This is perfect for you for a five-round.

00:16:49.000 So for your perspective, it's like he had a chance to recover.

00:16:52.000 Eat all that food, take a little break, and that's good because your body gets to charge back up again and then grind back down.

00:16:58.000 Because six and five on week six and week five are hard weeks.

00:17:02.000 They're like a start to those last two weeks of peaking.

00:17:06.000 Because our fight week, we slow down a little bit and we just turn the engine on, turn it off.

00:17:10.000 So we go six and five on the weeks are really hard.

00:17:13.000 Then we pull back on week four.

00:17:14.000 We'll take like three days that are really light and then push it a little bit.

00:17:17.000 And then week three and week two are the ones that I'm trying to get him to peak, get hit five rounds.

00:17:22.000 We're not doing six rounds.

00:17:23.000 We're not doing seven.

00:17:24.000 We're making sure that we can go five minutes hard for every round, be sharp, not get lazy.

00:17:29.000 And I thought it fit perfect too.

00:17:31.000 So when you're saying week two, you mean two weeks out?

00:17:32.000 Two weeks out.

00:17:33.000 Yep.

00:17:33.000 Right before we leave for the fight.

00:17:34.000 What do you prefer?

00:17:35.000 If you had a blueprint that came to you, Trevor, how much time do you want before a fight?

00:17:42.000 We'll schedule it around your time.

00:17:43.000 If you're in decent shape, 8 weeks.

00:17:44.000 If you're out of shape, 12 weeks.

00:17:47.000 12 weeks because you take 3 or 4 weeks.

00:17:49.000 If you don't lift weights for a little bit and then you come back and lift weights and you can't lift for 6 months or 3 months, You're going to get real sore.

00:17:57.000 Yeah.

00:17:57.000 So you've got to have that break-in process where your body, because your body's going to be shut down and you start to, ugh.

00:18:02.000 So you have to get through that process.

00:18:04.000 It's just the pre-training.

00:18:05.000 And then you start to hit it hard.

00:18:06.000 Because you can't just go in and hit it hard if you're 12 weeks out.

00:18:09.000 You just can't.

00:18:10.000 It breaks you down.

00:18:11.000 You're going to get hurt.

00:18:12.000 Yeah, so why did you feel that that was not a good fight, the May 9th fight?

00:18:17.000 So I had no idea.

00:18:18.000 My body would respond as well as it didn't.

00:18:21.000 I didn't think I could be ready to 100%.

00:18:24.000 I've always done 12 weeks.

00:18:27.000 That's all I've known.

00:18:28.000 So you felt like the first decision was just like a split decision.

00:18:32.000 It's the middle of COVID-19. 1.00

00:18:33.000 Fuck it, I'm going to do it anyway. 1.00

00:18:34.000 And then when they came to you the second time, you're like, no, no, no, no, no. 1.00

00:18:37.000 I want a real kick.

00:18:38.000 Yeah, so why can't we just push it to May 26th?

00:18:40.000 Right.

00:18:40.000 You know, give me three extra weeks, then I get my whole eight to ten weeks.

00:18:44.000 Right.

00:18:44.000 And that's all I asked for.

00:18:46.000 So that was my mindset. 0.99

00:18:47.000 When they called me, because I knew they were going to call me, the day before, I was like, watch, they're going to fucking call me. 0.95

00:18:51.000 And they're going to want me to fight May 9th or something like that. 0.96

00:18:54.000 And I knew it.

00:18:55.000 And then my manager called me.

00:18:56.000 He's like, May 9th, let's go. 0.99

00:18:58.000 I was like, fuck that. 0.99

00:18:59.000 I was like, no. 1.00

00:19:00.000 He was so mad.

00:19:01.000 No. 1.00

00:19:01.000 I was like, fuck that. 1.00

00:19:02.000 I was like, I ain't no fucking puppet. 1.00

00:19:03.000 I'm not going to dance when they want me to dance. 0.99

00:19:05.000 I was like...

00:19:05.000 I said I don't take late replacement fights.

00:19:07.000 This is now a late replacement.

00:19:09.000 This is different circumstances.

00:19:10.000 These aren't the circumstances.

00:19:12.000 Even he was flabbergasted.

00:19:14.000 He's like, what are you talking about?

00:19:16.000 It's the same thing.

00:19:16.000 I'm like, no, it's not the same thing.

00:19:18.000 To me, it's not.

00:19:20.000 Because, I don't know, confidence is everything.

00:19:22.000 I know I can perform.

00:19:24.000 But you wanted everything to be done right.

00:19:27.000 It was the biggest fight of my life.

00:19:28.000 Right, of course.

00:19:29.000 Of course.

00:19:31.000 But ultimately, when I thought about it, I was like, if it's anybody's fault, it's my fault.

00:19:36.000 Because I knew I was going to fight again.

00:19:39.000 I was training hard, but I wasn't training with the mindset that I need to...

00:19:45.000 I have an old school wrestling mentality.

00:19:46.000 You have to see the prize.

00:19:48.000 Every single morning you wake up, the guy that you're going to fight.

00:19:52.000 That wasn't there.

00:19:52.000 That wasn't there when I woke up in the morning.

00:19:54.000 So I didn't feel like I was preparing...

00:19:56.000 In the proper way.

00:19:58.000 For something that was at this level in my life.

00:20:01.000 So you don't just need ten weeks for your body.

00:20:04.000 You want it for your mind as well.

00:20:06.000 That's the most important part to me.

00:20:08.000 I've been training since I was four.

00:20:10.000 My body is a machine.

00:20:16.000 I didn't know I can get ready in that amount of time.

00:20:19.000 That's what it comes down to.

00:20:20.000 I had no idea because I've never tried it.

00:20:23.000 But I had done better between fights since I fought Cowboy than I had ever done between fights in the fact that I was staying in shape, running.

00:20:35.000 I had a treadmill at my house.

00:20:37.000 I was still sparring.

00:20:39.000 I took like two months off sparring, three months off sparring.

00:20:41.000 But then I was sparring for three, four months before I got that call.

00:20:46.000 To get in there and fight. 0.98

00:20:48.000 You made a crazy shift in your career in that you started off as this wrestler, but when I first started watching you fight in World Series of Fighting, I was like, look at how this motherfucker throws leg kicks. 0.99

00:21:01.000 It was kind of crazy. 0.98

00:21:01.000 You would throw leg kicks while you were working the body in close. 0.98

00:21:08.000 Everybody's got their own sort of way of moving.

00:21:11.000 Everybody's body mechanics are different.

00:21:13.000 But you were throwing these, like, crazy in-close leg kicks.

00:21:17.000 Like, you'd be, like, on top of people.

00:21:19.000 And you were chopping at their legs.

00:21:21.000 When did you make this shift?

00:21:23.000 Because you don't take anybody down now, which is kind of nuts. 0.95

00:21:27.000 If you really think about the fact that you were an All-American wrestler and your base is in wrestling, you have not had a single fucking takedown attempt in the UFC. No, but I got taken down for two seconds when Michael Johnson rocked me. 0.92

00:21:43.000 I don't know how they count takedowns in this sport, but it's certainly not like wrestling.

00:21:47.000 Not a legit takedown.

00:21:48.000 Eddie and Dustin tried to take me down, but I scrambled right out of that.

00:21:51.000 I was a great defensive wrestler.

00:21:54.000 I wrestled Jordan Burroughs twice.

00:21:56.000 The first time, I stopped his double leg for two and a half periods, and then he pretty much collapsed my...

00:22:05.000 I couldn't take a breath for three months after that.

00:22:07.000 Then I gave in.

00:22:10.000 Then it broke.

00:22:10.000 My body broke and I couldn't stop it no more.

00:22:12.000 The second time I wrestled him, I stopped every single double leg he had.

00:22:15.000 Nobody stops that double leg. 0.98

00:22:18.000 Where the fuck was I going with that? 0.99

00:22:19.000 I don't know. 1.00

00:22:20.000 God damn it. 1.00

00:22:21.000 It's you a bad motherfucker. 1.00

00:22:22.000 Well, we're talking about your shift between being a wrestler to becoming... 1.00

00:22:26.000 I'm sorry.

00:22:26.000 So I was a defensive wrestler.

00:22:28.000 I was never a great offensive wrestler.

00:22:30.000 It was so hard to take me down.

00:22:32.000 When I was All-American, I started in the pigtail round.

00:22:36.000 And I beat number 8 seed, number 6 seed, and I think I beat the number 10 seed or something.

00:22:43.000 But I gave up the first takedown in every single one of those matches.

00:22:46.000 And then they broke because of my defensive pressure.

00:22:49.000 I was constantly hanging on them.

00:22:51.000 And my leg kicks...

00:22:55.000 Wrestlers, they like to separate wrestling from fighting.

00:22:57.000 I'm just doing it both in the same thing.

00:23:00.000 In the clinch, the clinch is where I'm the most dangerous.

00:23:02.000 With those kicks that you're talking about, if your hands are on them, you can feel where their weight is shifting, which way they're moving, which way they want to move.

00:23:10.000 And it's just constantly getting them to put all their pressure on a foot and fire a kick from that range.

00:23:16.000 And that's all wrestling.

00:23:18.000 I'm using my wrestling so much when I'm fighting.

00:23:20.000 It's...

00:23:21.000 That's when I hear people say that.

00:23:22.000 And it's so hard to see that.

00:23:24.000 Even with the untrained eye or the trained eye, it'd be hard to see.

00:23:27.000 But I'm wrestling so much in there.

00:23:29.000 Right, I understand that.

00:23:30.000 But that's interesting that your wrestling allows you to do that from the clinch because you have a better understanding about where they're putting their weight because you're manipulating them around.

00:23:38.000 And then when they have the weight on that leg, you're chopping at it.

00:23:41.000 Can't check.

00:23:42.000 If your weight is on, you cannot pick your leg up to check.

00:23:45.000 I was so bummed out I didn't call the Michael Johnson fight because I was a big fan of yours. 0.99

00:23:49.000 And when you were coming to the UFC, I was like, oh, shit. 0.97

00:23:51.000 I was like, this is going to be fun. 1.00

00:23:52.000 And then when I found out you were doing that Michael Johnson fight, I was like, fuck. 0.99

00:23:56.000 I'm like, I can't call that one. 0.98

00:23:57.000 I'm not going to be doing that one.

00:23:59.000 And then I got the chance to watch it, and I believe it was the night before we had a car.

00:24:03.000 So I watched it in my hotel room on my laptop, and I was like, God. 0.99

00:24:10.000 Damn. 0.99

00:24:11.000 There's a few fights that I'm like, fuck, I wish I called that fight. 1.00

00:24:14.000 Because that fight was madness. 0.99

00:24:16.000 That was just madness.

00:24:17.000 I have fun in the corner.

00:24:18.000 I've had so much fun with him in the corner.

00:24:21.000 I've giggled a few times.

00:24:22.000 And right before he got stopped by Poyer, he said something to me in the corner and just made me crack up.

00:24:27.000 He sits down and he's like, he doesn't even hit hard.

00:24:31.000 And I'm just like...

00:24:33.000 I just look at him, and I'm just like, dude, you just have so much fun in there.

00:24:36.000 He really enjoys the fight.

00:24:38.000 He enjoys the process.

00:24:40.000 I've worked with a lot of athletes, and when most people say it, they don't mean that at all.

00:24:46.000 They're psyching theirself up.

00:24:48.000 And he is so unique.

00:24:50.000 He loves to be in there.

00:24:52.000 When it's fight night, he said it to me twice, and I was like, oh, really? 0.98

00:24:56.000 Because he's like, fucking nervous. 0.98

00:24:58.000 And I'm like, really? 0.98

00:24:59.000 And he's like, because I'm not nervous at all.

00:25:01.000 Yeah.

00:25:02.000 And I'm just like, I get that laugh right there.

00:25:04.000 I don't understand why I can't feel anything.

00:25:06.000 I don't understand. 0.93

00:25:07.000 He's like, dude, it's fucking weird. 0.96

00:25:09.000 He goes, I just lost my last two fights. 0.96

00:25:11.000 That's when he was fighting Vic.

00:25:13.000 Vic, yeah.

00:25:14.000 And he's like, I'm so nervous because I'm not nervous.

00:25:16.000 I should be.

00:25:17.000 I was like, this is big, dude.

00:25:18.000 I need to be on point.

00:25:19.000 I was like, I don't understand why I'm not feeling anything.

00:25:21.000 Yeah, the Vic fight was very interesting because that was one of the first times we got to see real animosity from you too.

00:25:28.000 You were genuinely pissed off at him. 0.98

00:25:31.000 I could tell he was talking a lot of shit about how you're a human punching bag and he was going to knock you out. 0.99

00:25:36.000 You could see you were genuinely angry at him. 1.00

00:25:40.000 I was backed into a corner.

00:25:42.000 I'm human, man.

00:25:43.000 I had to fight back.

00:25:44.000 So yeah, I was defending myself mostly, but...

00:25:50.000 I was in such a tough spot coming off too long.

00:25:52.000 I knew what I had.

00:25:53.000 I knew I had the skills.

00:25:56.000 Both of those fights were very close fights too.

00:25:59.000 Very similar.

00:26:02.000 So Michael Johnson, Eddie Alvarez, Dustin Poirier, my first three fights in the UFC, 2017-2018, they were voted top three out of five.

00:26:10.000 That's out of 958 fights.

00:26:13.000 That's what I did, and I only got paid half for those two fights.

00:26:16.000 That's what hurt me the most.

00:26:18.000 Well, they were both real similar, too, in the fact that you almost stopped both those guys with leg kicks.

00:26:22.000 They were similar in the fact how I lost.

00:26:25.000 I became complacent.

00:26:26.000 I was having too much fun.

00:26:27.000 I forgot that I was fighting the best of the best.

00:26:32.000 I love it too much.

00:26:34.000 Not having the crowd there, I think it helped me so much.

00:26:40.000 Whether there's crowd or no crowd in the future, I think it's going to benefit me so much because I was able to understand that the crowd does influence my emotions.

00:26:49.000 My only rule is never allow someone or something to affect or control your emotions.

00:26:54.000 I wasn't aware that the crowd was having that effect on my emotions in the fact that I would have engaged more.

00:27:00.000 I would have taken more chances in that fight with Tony.

00:27:02.000 And I didn't do that because I think I was able to be in control of my emotions for the whole time, for every second.

00:27:10.000 That's interesting because that fight was so wild. 0.99

00:27:12.000 If there was a crowd there for that fight, holy shit! 0.99

00:27:16.000 I would have engaged. 1.00

00:27:17.000 It would have been a crazy crowd. 0.99

00:27:18.000 I mean, if that was T-Mobile Arena, holy shit. 0.99

00:27:20.000 I mean, that would have been madness. 0.99

00:27:22.000 Totally.

00:27:22.000 That fight was so crazy.

00:27:24.000 It would have been crazy, but it was super unique to be able to be a part of something like that with no crowd, so it was super cool.

00:27:31.000 He's going on and saying that he would have.

00:27:34.000 I don't know if he would have, because if you look at the three fights prior to that, There's a huge difference in your range and your balanced shoulders.

00:27:42.000 He's outranged.

00:27:43.000 You outrange Vic.

00:27:45.000 You still pressure, but he's got balanced shoulders now.

00:27:47.000 He used to be front heavy, and that was a pressure fighter.

00:27:50.000 Weight was on the front leg, and he was pointed with the head.

00:27:53.000 Now he's level shoulder where his range is just crazy.

00:27:56.000 With Tony, Tony was like, he couldn't find you with your range and your speed and your balance.

00:28:00.000 Which is Tony's strength.

00:28:02.000 Totally.

00:28:03.000 And Tony will push you back, hit you with combos all the way back to the cage.

00:28:07.000 Ours was dominate the center of the cage and use your footwork. 0.59

00:28:10.000 Keep them off balance.

00:28:11.000 And that's what he's done well in his last four fights.

00:28:14.000 And we shifted game plans completely when I had the conversation with him.

00:28:19.000 Because after the first loss, it wasn't much change that he wanted.

00:28:23.000 He still wanted to fight that way.

00:28:24.000 After the second one, he's like, I need to change something.

00:28:26.000 I'm like, what's your purpose?

00:28:27.000 You were the most exciting fighter, and what do you want to be?

00:28:30.000 And he's like, I want to be the champion.

00:28:31.000 I was like, then you have to be intelligent.

00:28:33.000 You have to be intelligent.

00:28:34.000 To be the best fighter in the world, you've got to be the best defensive fighter.

00:28:37.000 Don't change who you are, naturally, but you have to understand defense.

00:28:40.000 Defense starts with position.

00:28:42.000 Always starts with position.

00:28:43.000 You have to know position.

00:28:44.000 You have to win every position.

00:28:46.000 Well, you came into a real crossroads, right?

00:28:48.000 Because you were this incredibly exciting contender.

00:28:51.000 You come into the UFC, giant prospect, everybody's excited. 0.96

00:28:54.000 You have this fucking chaotic war that reaffirms everybody's hopes and aspirations. 0.97

00:28:59.000 Like, this is what we were hoping. 0.99

00:29:00.000 Justin Gage is going to come to the UFC. Holy shit, this is going to be wild, man. 0.99

00:29:03.000 This motherfucker doesn't care. 1.00

00:29:04.000 He throws down. 1.00

00:29:05.000 You throw down with Michael Johnson, like, ah!

00:29:07.000 And then you have those two losses in a row, and people think, okay...

00:29:11.000 Is he in over his head?

00:29:13.000 Does that style only work on the lower level guys?

00:29:16.000 And you get to championship caliber guys.

00:29:19.000 Dustin's never held the title, but he's a championship caliber guy.

00:29:22.000 And so is Eddie Alvarez.

00:29:25.000 He's a championship caliber guy.

00:29:26.000 He won the title.

00:29:27.000 So you're looking at those two guys like maybe when you get to that point, maybe he's not ready for this or maybe he doesn't have the style.

00:29:34.000 So then you make this adjustment.

00:29:36.000 So tell me what that was like.

00:29:37.000 You sit back.

00:29:39.000 You guys have this conversation.

00:29:40.000 You say you want to be a world champion.

00:29:42.000 And then what changed in your head?

00:29:45.000 So he can tell it so much better than me because for me it's...

00:29:51.000 I can't explain it because it's never been anything.

00:29:55.000 It's just do what I'm told to do when I show up and work my hardest.

00:30:00.000 That's all it is every day for me.

00:30:02.000 I didn't make a decision.

00:30:03.000 I think it was a choice, obviously.

00:30:05.000 But you said you wanted to be a champion now.

00:30:07.000 Instead of being the most exciting fighter, you wanted to be a champion.

00:30:10.000 Yes.

00:30:11.000 So what was that shift?

00:30:14.000 So I always wanted to be a champion.

00:30:16.000 I thought I could be a champion.

00:30:17.000 I was undefeated.

00:30:18.000 I thought I could be a champion.

00:30:22.000 With the style that I was fighting because I was not losing.

00:30:25.000 I had seven amateur fights, 18 professional fights, 25 fights in a row.

00:30:28.000 I had no idea that I needed to change.

00:30:32.000 I was just going in there and I was breaking people.

00:30:35.000 I was like, I can't not break anybody.

00:30:37.000 I'm going to go in there and break everybody because everybody's breaking.

00:30:39.000 You know, just for some reason.

00:30:42.000 And then when I lost to Eddie and Dustin...

00:30:47.000 Eddie and Dustin, I watched them many times, and I understood that it was the same mistake.

00:30:53.000 You know, you can't get hit.

00:30:56.000 I was winning.

00:30:57.000 I thought I was winning those fights.

00:30:58.000 Judges' scorecards maybe don't resemble that, but I thought I was winning those fights.

00:31:02.000 The night after I fought Dustin Poirier, I went out and took 200 pictures with all my fans at the bar.

00:31:07.000 He was in the hospital, probably, or guaranteed he wasn't on his feet because he didn't walk for a month.

00:31:15.000 So, I just understood that no matter how bad you cause damage, if they don't go down and they land that shot, then it all goes away.

00:31:26.000 And I got paid half of my money.

00:31:27.000 I didn't understand.

00:31:28.000 I never got paid half of my money.

00:31:29.000 Ever.

00:31:30.000 Oh, you didn't...

00:31:31.000 Did you know?

00:31:32.000 Or did you not think about it? 1.00

00:31:33.000 I knew, but I never thought about that shit. 1.00

00:31:35.000 I don't like that. 1.00

00:31:36.000 No.

00:31:36.000 I don't like that.

00:31:37.000 For people like me, I wouldn't argue for the whole roster.

00:31:41.000 And there's very few like me.

00:31:43.000 But I'm going to go to war for myself when it comes to that.

00:31:46.000 You're going to fight your hardest no matter what you're saying.

00:31:48.000 And you don't need that bonus, the win bonus to motivate.

00:31:51.000 Yeah, you're not going to incentivize me to win?

00:31:52.000 To save my own life?

00:31:54.000 What the hell do I need that for?

00:31:55.000 I don't like it.

00:31:56.000 I don't like it for the athlete.

00:31:57.000 And I think there's often times where you would say, oh, it forces guys to try to keep it out of the hands of the judges.

00:32:03.000 Well, that's crazy.

00:32:04.000 You can't decide that.

00:32:08.000 I'm going to keep it.

00:32:09.000 That one statement, don't leave it in the hands of the judges. 0.99

00:32:12.000 That one statement drives me fucking crazy. 0.96

00:32:14.000 Because that's not how to fight. 0.99

00:32:15.000 That's the one statement that drives me the most crazy.

00:32:18.000 My mom said it once, probably four years ago.

00:32:21.000 I was like, Mom, don't you ever say that again.

00:32:23.000 I was like, don't you ever say that.

00:32:24.000 And then I told her why.

00:32:25.000 I was like, these guys are trying their hardest.

00:32:27.000 You think they're in their minds.

00:32:28.000 Like, oh, let's leave it to the judges. 0.77

00:32:30.000 Let's leave it to the judges. 0.94

00:32:30.000 Like, no, they're just fighting for their life. 0.94

00:32:32.000 Right, exactly.

00:32:33.000 You know, and...

00:32:35.000 Chance didn't fall in their favor when it comes to a knockout, however you want to put it.

00:32:40.000 Take away all the criticisms that we all have for judging and just the idea that somehow or another you can make this decision to go knock this guy out who's a world-class fighter who's trying to knock you out.

00:32:49.000 That's a great way to get knocked out.

00:32:51.000 When you're fighting, you have to fight correctly.

00:32:54.000 And I think me watching as an observer, what shifted with you is you just seem to be more calculated in your aggression.

00:33:03.000 All the aggression is still there.

00:33:04.000 Spots.

00:33:05.000 Yeah, the Vic fight.

00:33:06.000 Just spots.

00:33:06.000 He fights in spots.

00:33:08.000 Barboza fight, dude. 0.99

00:33:09.000 You got right on top of that motherfucker, and he's one of the scariest strikers in the division. 0.99

00:33:13.000 You got right on top of him. 0.99

00:33:14.000 That was a super impressive knockout, because you figured the distance out perfectly, but you put a tremendous amount of pressure on him.

00:33:23.000 But your distance was excellent, like, to avoid.

00:33:27.000 You were avoiding, but yet you were still there when you wanted to hit him.

00:33:31.000 Yeah, it's crazy.

00:33:33.000 Yeah, thinking.

00:33:35.000 Going in there to be methodical.

00:33:38.000 I never had a method.

00:33:41.000 My only method was create car crashes.

00:33:44.000 Create a car crash.

00:33:47.000 Physics.

00:33:49.000 Both have the same weight.

00:33:51.000 Same force.

00:33:53.000 If I can create more force and be there first, then I'm going to win this car crash.

00:33:58.000 That's usually how it works.

00:33:59.000 And the issue was, when you're fighting at a high heart rate, You get your lazy spots where you start to get on your heels a little bit, and you lose your accuracy, you lose your sharpness, you lose your power.

00:34:12.000 You're maxed out in your heart rate, and that's why his finishes, I feel like you're way sharper now, and you still fight.

00:34:18.000 You're always going to fight the way you do.

00:34:19.000 It's in you.

00:34:20.000 You love to fight.

00:34:21.000 But in spots is key.

00:34:23.000 You're still walking them down.

00:34:25.000 You're still pressuring them.

00:34:25.000 You're still being able to do those things.

00:34:27.000 We didn't change much outside of now he fights in spots.

00:34:31.000 It's an amazing adjustment.

00:34:32.000 What did I say specifically?

00:34:33.000 I never specifically went to you.

00:34:35.000 No, you said you wanted to be a champion, and I was like, we've got to get a lot more technical.

00:34:38.000 That's all I ever said.

00:34:39.000 And we talked about spots.

00:34:41.000 We said you've got to fight more in spots.

00:34:44.000 Also, too, when I'm watching them spar, I watch every session, and I tell them, you know, you're going too hard, you need to pull back.

00:34:51.000 This one, go out, and you're only able to use your lead hand.

00:34:53.000 So now you can't throw power.

00:34:55.000 You can only control someone.

00:34:56.000 And he'll still walk people down, but it takes away him throwing so many combinations or hucking four at a time.

00:35:02.000 And he's able to create these patterns that's better.

00:35:06.000 You're controlling range, you're controlling position, and then waiting for mistakes.

00:35:10.000 The best fighters in the world can always match a good match.

00:35:15.000 But it's the first one that makes a mistake is the one who loses.

00:35:18.000 And momentum is so important in sports.

00:35:21.000 Momentum is everything.

00:35:22.000 That snowball.

00:35:22.000 Once it starts to build, it's so hard to recover and turn that around in high competition.

00:35:26.000 It's a mental thing.

00:35:27.000 But when you can control things and control and control and then find one mistake and then you build on that mistake, you're like a wave.

00:35:34.000 You slowly get a little bigger and you slowly get a little bigger and now you start to capitalize because once they make a mistake, that pattern is starting to create.

00:35:41.000 And then once you've got someone making a mistake after mistake after mistake, That's when you crumble on him.

00:35:45.000 And I feel like that's what he's done really well.

00:35:47.000 The three fights prior to that, he was just able to capitalize on the big mistake.

00:35:52.000 But credit to Tony.

00:35:53.000 Tony is one of the most gangster dudes in this sport.

00:35:56.000 And for him to go through the damage that he did and continue to walk forward, It's something unique.

00:36:02.000 Incredible.

00:36:03.000 It is one of the coolest things to experience as a coach to sit there and watch his mental not change.

00:36:10.000 I was calling for the ref to stop the fight about halfway through the fifth round.

00:36:15.000 When he got hit with that last jab and shook his head, I don't think it was a point like, I don't want to go on no more.

00:36:23.000 I don't know if it was the orbital, because I know he had an orbital issue, but there was something going on where his body is telling him not to do it, but his mental's like, no, don't stop.

00:36:31.000 Keep going, because he's still kicking and punching.

00:36:32.000 Even with the big old gash on his shin from the check, he was still kicking.

00:36:37.000 He never flinched.

00:36:38.000 He never flinched.

00:36:38.000 He was getting cracked and He'd get knocked backwards and then he would go from backwards to right back to forward.

00:36:44.000 It was super unique to watch, but again, it was great to see someone who can listen and understand that if you stay in control yourself, that's the key to everything in this world.

00:36:56.000 If you listen to anything else on the outside and you start to adapt to other things, You're never gonna live the way you want to live.

00:37:04.000 And to be a fighter, you have to be in control of yourself all the time.

00:37:07.000 I always say the best fighters are the best actors.

00:37:10.000 The ones that can trick their self.

00:37:11.000 Fake it till you make it.

00:37:13.000 Until you get to the championship.

00:37:14.000 And you have to live that way.

00:37:16.000 You have to obsess never being broken.

00:37:19.000 And even if you break, accept it and then on to the next.

00:37:22.000 Don't deal with it.

00:37:23.000 Oh man, I had such a bad day. 0.97

00:37:24.000 That's one of my biggest pet peeves that I hate is hearing someone, oh man, today was a shitty day. 0.76

00:37:29.000 And I was like, yeah, there's going to be many more shitty days, but accept it.

00:37:31.000 Yeah.

00:37:32.000 You know, love it. 0.90

00:37:32.000 Does you zero good to sit around and talk about shitty days. 0.90

00:37:36.000 Totally. 0.99

00:37:36.000 And I have fighters say, man, you're always saying just positive shit. 0.99

00:37:39.000 You're always just like it. 0.98

00:37:40.000 I'm like, hell yeah, you got to love every part of it.

00:37:42.000 Like, I'm going to say beautiful at any point. 0.72

00:37:44.000 When I see you get hurt to the body of a crack up, he got kicked in the cup.

00:37:46.000 He had a big old cup.

00:37:48.000 The last fight, he got kicked in the cup.

00:37:50.000 He turned sideways, did the move we were talking about, we got Moonwalk, where we turned lateral.

00:37:53.000 You don't get the squareness from the front kick.

00:37:55.000 He did it perfect, and he stepped back and aimed at his cup.

00:37:58.000 And I'm like, how'd you get hit your cup?

00:38:00.000 He had a George St. Pierre cup on one of them.

00:38:02.000 The cup's too big for the tights.

00:38:05.000 And I laughed, and I was like, dude, he hit you in the cup, and I was just having a fun.

00:38:10.000 What kind of cup do you use?

00:38:12.000 He forgot his cup.

00:38:13.000 He forgot his cup in his mouthpiece for this last night.

00:38:15.000 Yeah, so the UFC always has one and I just grab one for them.

00:38:19.000 What?

00:38:19.000 The UFC has a cup?

00:38:21.000 No, no.

00:38:22.000 They're new cups.

00:38:23.000 I'm not the only one that forgets their cup.

00:38:26.000 Oh, okay.

00:38:26.000 So what do they give you just like a regular athletic supporter?

00:38:28.000 This one was actually a really nice cup.

00:38:29.000 Oh, it is?

00:38:30.000 Just a cup and I stick it in my underwear that has a little pocket for the cup.

00:38:35.000 Jesus Christ.

00:38:35.000 He trains with no cup.

00:38:36.000 There's so many people.

00:38:38.000 I've never sparred with a cup on.

00:38:39.000 Don't train with Cua cups.

00:38:41.000 You know, the guys lose a ball.

00:38:43.000 So Dwayne Ludwig.

00:38:46.000 Jesus. 0.99

00:38:46.000 Guys lose balls. 0.99

00:38:48.000 Dwayne Ludwig had to get carried out, put in the back seat, and went in for some type of surgery. 0.99

00:38:54.000 And I wasn't there for that one.

00:38:55.000 Ball surgery?

00:38:56.000 Dude, he got kicked in the ball.

00:38:57.000 And the dude that kicked him in the ball had to accept a fight for him and take the fight that he was training for.

00:39:01.000 But every time he takes a ball shot, I don't let him stop.

00:39:04.000 I'm like, get up, wear a cup.

00:39:06.000 Why would you not wear a cup?

00:39:08.000 That sounds so crazy. 0.98

00:39:09.000 You never got hit in the balls. 0.97

00:39:10.000 You didn't wear a cup in wrestling. 0.57

00:39:12.000 This is not wrestling, but this isn't wrestling.

00:39:15.000 Cups are for life and death situations.

00:39:18.000 What?

00:39:19.000 Sparring is not that. 0.99

00:39:20.000 Yeah, but you can get kicked in the balls and lose a ball. 0.98

00:39:23.000 We've had this conversation many times. 0.97

00:39:25.000 Every time I step into sparring, I announce 90% of the time I got $500 for anybody that can drop me with a body shot.

00:39:33.000 Drop you with a body shot? 0.99

00:39:34.000 You got kicked in the balls in your fight with Tony. 0.99

00:39:36.000 That was a front kick, like an up kick, and it wouldn't have hit my balls if my cup wasn't so big. 0.99

00:39:41.000 That's true. 0.96

00:39:42.000 That is true.

00:39:45.000 Honestly, cups do, especially in boxing, because I never did mixed martial arts, I did boxing, and boxing cups are the worst.

00:39:51.000 They're those no-foul protectors.

00:39:53.000 Those big-ass things.

00:39:53.000 Dude, it just sits in the front of you.

00:39:55.000 So you take shots up here, and it smashes you.

00:39:58.000 It's the worst.

00:40:00.000 Have you ever used one of those Diamond MMA cups?

00:40:02.000 No, I see people getting kicked with them.

00:40:04.000 I do need a cup, though.

00:40:05.000 Dude, I have some of those laying around.

00:40:07.000 I'll give you one.

00:40:08.000 All right.

00:40:08.000 Diamond sent me a gang of them.

00:40:09.000 I fucking love them. 0.98

00:40:10.000 I wear them from Jiu-Jitsu. 0.99

00:40:12.000 They sit in compression shorts, and they're tight.

00:40:14.000 That would probably help, though.

00:40:15.000 It helps.

00:40:16.000 My nuts get smashed all the time in Jiu-Jitsu.

00:40:18.000 Jesus Christ, dude. 1.00

00:40:19.000 Wear a goddamn cup. 1.00

00:40:20.000 But are they allowed to wear Thai cups? 1.00

00:40:23.000 Steel tie cups?

00:40:24.000 Yes, they are.

00:40:26.000 I actually seen in one of the fights, because I didn't know if they were able to, because they're steel.

00:40:30.000 But I seen the string coming out.

00:40:32.000 I had to tie up James McSweeney's cup one time, and I'm like, bro, how are you wearing that like that? 0.99

00:40:37.000 He had the string going up his ass so bad, like a thong. 0.99

00:40:40.000 So tight. 1.00

00:40:40.000 And he's like, tighter, coach, tighter. 1.00

00:40:42.000 And I'm sitting there, and I'm yanking on this thing, and I'm like, dude, how are you going to fight like that?

00:40:46.000 But...

00:40:47.000 It ain't gonna move.

00:40:48.000 And if someone kicks you, it fucking hurts them. 0.99

00:40:50.000 I could not imagine. 0.99

00:40:51.000 Kenny Florian used to fight with a tie-steel cut.

00:40:53.000 Totally.

00:40:54.000 Yeah.

00:40:54.000 Listen, man.

00:40:55.000 The ties know how to do it. 0.67

00:40:56.000 I mean, nobody gets kicked in the nuts more than them, right? 0.95

00:40:59.000 I mean, they're just throwing leg kicks all the time. 0.98

00:41:01.000 They slam shins in the ball sacks. 0.84

00:41:03.000 All day long, and they figured out a way to make that something that you don't want to do.

00:41:08.000 Completely.

00:41:09.000 But it's also a giant lever for arm bars.

00:41:12.000 I've heard about that when you're grappling, you can really feel it.

00:41:15.000 Oh my god, it's illegal in a lot of Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournaments for that reason.

00:41:19.000 You got both your hooks and dig it into their back, dig it into their spine.

00:41:21.000 Or a mount. 1.00

00:41:22.000 Marko used to do that shit to me. 1.00

00:41:23.000 I'm like, dude, you son of a bitch. 1.00

00:41:24.000 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 1.00

00:41:25.000 We had a guy in our gym that wore one, and he mounted me and stuck it in my sternum. 0.99

00:41:29.000 I'm like, what the fuck, man? 0.99

00:41:31.000 So where's Payne? 1.00

00:41:32.000 It's like he's got a giant rock and you're just shoving it into your sternum. 0.98

00:41:37.000 So when you're sparring, you don't ever feel vulnerable that your balls are just kind of like jiggling around there? 0.90

00:41:45.000 I mean, I wear some tight boxer briefs, so they're not hanging out. 0.95

00:41:49.000 And you're like, alright, whatever, let him do it.

00:41:52.000 So again, I... He loses the ball, that's a real problem.

00:41:55.000 That's his outside issue.

00:41:57.000 I work for the athlete.

00:41:58.000 That's one thing that is super unique for me.

00:42:00.000 That I'm not going to be your father.

00:42:02.000 I'm going to train you, I'm going to give you everything I got, but this is your life.

00:42:06.000 I will save it in many ways I can, but if you're not going to train for it, I'm not going to just sit there and annoy you for it.

00:42:11.000 That is the biggest I told you so ever, when you lose a ball.

00:42:14.000 I used to be, when I was a catcher, I didn't wear a cup.

00:42:17.000 Oh, Jesus Christ.

00:42:18.000 It's crazy, right?

00:42:21.000 You gotta protect yourself!

00:42:22.000 You ever see that video where...

00:42:23.000 You got two hands! 0.85

00:42:24.000 Who was it?

00:42:25.000 Dwight Gooden throws that ball and the bird explodes?

00:42:27.000 No, that was Randy Johnson.

00:42:29.000 Randy Johnson.

00:42:30.000 Really?

00:42:30.000 Randy Johnson.

00:42:31.000 Randy Johnson with a long old bullet.

00:42:34.000 Have you seen it?

00:42:35.000 He turned his leg all the way up.

00:42:36.000 Yeah, the big tall dude.

00:42:37.000 Have you seen the bird exploding?

00:42:39.000 It's kind of hilarious.

00:42:40.000 He's pitching for the Diamondbacks.

00:42:40.000 So he throws this ball and this bird flies right into the line of fire and explodes.

00:42:46.000 Explodes in a burst of feathers.

00:42:47.000 Yeah.

00:42:48.000 I remember him pitching.

00:42:49.000 He was like the fastest pitcher at the time, right?

00:42:51.000 Middle of a game.

00:42:52.000 So the birds fly.

00:42:53.000 I mean, here it goes.

00:42:55.000 Look at this.

00:42:55.000 Oh, sorry.

00:42:56.000 Look over here.

00:42:57.000 Oh! 0.60

00:42:58.000 Look at this.

00:42:59.000 So he throws it in just perfect timing.

00:43:04.000 No way!

00:43:05.000 Yeah, it just randomly explodes.

00:43:08.000 So that's the bird flopping off over the thing.

00:43:10.000 It just de-feathered it.

00:43:12.000 It de-feathered every feather.

00:43:13.000 He cleaned it, then you could cook that like that.

00:43:16.000 Yeah, you could cook it.

00:43:17.000 Right there.

00:43:18.000 Basically. 1.00

00:43:19.000 You could end that fucking bird's... 1.00

00:43:21.000 He basically stopped it in his tracks perfectly. 1.00

00:43:25.000 It was like the perfect collision.

00:43:27.000 I mean, so what are the odds of that happening?

00:43:30.000 Unbelievable.

00:43:30.000 That'd be really effective in golf.

00:43:31.000 He had a birdie.

00:43:32.000 Oh, yeah.

00:43:34.000 Sorry, that's a little bit of a joke. 1.00

00:43:35.000 Think about your balls, please. 0.99

00:43:37.000 I'll get you one of them Diamond MMA Cubs. 1.00

00:43:39.000 Think about your balls. 0.99

00:43:40.000 Okay, Jesus. 1.00

00:43:42.000 Coach, talk to him.

00:43:44.000 There's a.0000009% chance Randy Johnson would hit a bird with any given pitch.

00:43:54.000 How do they come up with that number?

00:43:56.000 Mathematicians, man.

00:43:57.000 How many pitches have been thrown?

00:44:00.000 There's only been one out of that.

00:44:02.000 That's what I mean.

00:44:03.000 How many birds are on the planet?

00:44:04.000 That's probably what made that.

00:44:05.000 And then as they continue to go on, that's going to change.

00:44:08.000 Until they hit a second bird.

00:44:09.000 Never once had a Birdman hit with a pitch in the history of baseball before that faithful day with Randy Johnson.

00:44:13.000 That said, each game, team throws around 150 pitches.

00:44:16.000 Multiply that by 200,000, you get 30 million.

00:44:19.000 It's going to change every year for many years.

00:44:21.000 So the answer is roughly somewhere in the ballpark of 1 in 30 million.

00:44:25.000 Wow.

00:44:25.000 Per season.

00:44:27.000 Yeah, per season, I guess, huh?

00:44:28.000 Yeah.

00:44:30.000 That's crazy.

00:44:33.000 If you were not playing Major League and someone did that, no one's going to believe that story.

00:44:37.000 No one believes that.

00:44:38.000 Ever.

00:44:38.000 Yeah, you'd be like, what?

00:44:39.000 Yeah, my buddy threw the ball.

00:44:41.000 And right when he threw the ball, the bird just was perfectly lined up. 1.00

00:44:44.000 Like, your buddy's an asshole and he threw a ball at a bird. 1.00

00:44:47.000 Tell the truth. 1.00

00:44:47.000 Take every feather off. 1.00

00:44:48.000 That's funny.

00:44:50.000 Oh my gosh.

00:44:51.000 Think about your nuts, please.

00:44:52.000 Totally.

00:44:53.000 I got you.

00:44:53.000 Okay, thank you.

00:44:54.000 Diamond Cup.

00:44:54.000 Yes.

00:44:55.000 Yeah.

00:44:55.000 Yeah, well, I have a bunch of them back.

00:44:57.000 And he'll be the best father.

00:44:58.000 Like, he is so good with kids.

00:45:01.000 Can you wake up, man?

00:45:03.000 I gotta fight a girl first. 1.00

00:45:06.000 It's the first part of the equation. 0.87

00:45:07.000 Yeah, but don't fight a girl right now, because that fucks up more fighters than anything. 1.00

00:45:10.000 The wrong girl. 0.99

00:45:11.000 I won't pick the wrong one.

00:45:13.000 I'm sure you won't.

00:45:14.000 But sometimes you don't think you're picking the wrong one. 0.99

00:45:16.000 You think you're picking the right one, and then they fucking take their mask off. 0.97

00:45:19.000 They're pretty tricky. 0.99

00:45:19.000 Oh, they're so tricky. 0.99

00:45:21.000 Some of them.

00:45:22.000 Some of them aren't tricky at all.

00:45:24.000 I tell you, I was done.

00:45:25.000 I found my wife, my best friend.

00:45:27.000 I tell you, she was a kiddo.

00:45:29.000 I say all my success.

00:45:31.000 She was someone who supported everything I did, which was so different.

00:45:34.000 And again, having that backbone and having someone to support you is key.

00:45:38.000 You got to have the people that are there for you.

00:45:40.000 When I have the day where I feel weak and I'm like, oh man, I really just don't want to do this.

00:45:43.000 She's like, get up and do this. 0.95

00:45:44.000 You got this.

00:45:45.000 And then the days where she need to pull me back a little bit.

00:45:47.000 And it's just having that balance is key.

00:45:49.000 Yes.

00:45:50.000 In this industry, when it comes to athletes and especially the level that you're at, it is a scary thing.

00:45:55.000 I've seen it change so many people and it's not just the women, it's outside influences. 0.98

00:45:59.000 This is one thing that I love about this guy is he is the same dude from day one.

00:46:05.000 And I've had so many athletes just become something different.

00:46:08.000 You know, they get this shell on and they just become different.

00:46:12.000 He's just a grounded dude.

00:46:14.000 I call him a yes man because every person that knows him is like, hey man, come over to my house at dinner.

00:46:18.000 And he just can't say no.

00:46:19.000 He's like, all right, cool.

00:46:20.000 I'll be there.

00:46:20.000 You need me to bring anything?

00:46:21.000 Well, that's a good kind of yes man.

00:46:22.000 It's just a great, great thing.

00:46:23.000 He's so good to his family.

00:46:25.000 He's so good to all of his friends.

00:46:27.000 He is very unique.

00:46:30.000 Very unique.

00:46:30.000 And it's always the nice dudes.

00:46:32.000 You see him from the outside.

00:46:33.000 You think, hey man, meathead.

00:46:36.000 He's one of the most intelligent people.

00:46:39.000 Four people type of fighters, and some of the nicest guys are the ones that perform the best.

00:46:44.000 They're the ones that's gonna help a lady across the street, but they fight for something.

00:46:48.000 And that's super unique. 1.00

00:46:49.000 There's something to that because I think guys who don't have the burden of guilt, like laying on their head that they're an asshole. 1.00

00:46:55.000 Like, even if you, unless you're a sociopath, if you act like a piece of shit, no matter how much you justify, like, I'm the fucking man, who gives a shit? 1.00

00:47:03.000 In the back of your head, you gotta know you're a piece of shit. 1.00

00:47:05.000 False confidence. 1.00

00:47:06.000 Yes, it's false confidence.

00:47:08.000 That's why everyone's so scared to make that walk.

00:47:10.000 Or you reword it.

00:47:11.000 There's no reason you should be scared.

00:47:12.000 If you've done everything, what are you scared of?

00:47:15.000 You probably didn't eat the right things.

00:47:17.000 You probably didn't go to sleep the right time.

00:47:18.000 You probably drank too much alcohol.

00:47:20.000 You did something and no, you can't lie to yourself. 1.00

00:47:22.000 He's talking about being an asshole, though. 1.00

00:47:24.000 That's what I mean. 1.00

00:47:25.000 That's part of it as well.

00:47:26.000 In every aspect. 1.00

00:47:26.000 They can reword that and be like, I'm the shit. 1.00

00:47:30.000 The piece of the shit. 1.00

00:47:31.000 You know? 1.00

00:47:31.000 So you reword that. 1.00

00:47:32.000 That's a psyche, right? 1.00

00:47:34.000 I'm the shit. 1.00

00:47:35.000 You know? 1.00

00:47:35.000 Everybody's like, no, you're the piece of shit. 1.00

00:47:37.000 I've thought about that with a lot of fighters that they get into trouble. 1.00

00:47:40.000 I wonder how much that fucks with them. 1.00

00:47:42.000 And also, in today's day and age with social media, if you're an asshole, if you do mean things, people find out about it and they're like, that guy's a piece of shit, fuck him. 1.00

00:47:52.000 And then you feel the sting of that. 1.00

00:47:55.000 And then you're getting out there and you're getting booed. 1.00

00:47:58.000 You see that fuck with guys. 1.00

00:48:00.000 It makes a big impact. 1.00

00:48:02.000 Those are the hardest guys to retire to.

00:48:05.000 Once they don't have it no more, it's a rough thing.

00:48:08.000 That's been a hard thing for me as a coach, is seeing the end.

00:48:14.000 That's why I'm so into life coaching, not just coaching.

00:48:18.000 It's coaching about life that, hey man, you're the same dude as anybody out here.

00:48:21.000 You're challenging yourself.

00:48:22.000 Yes, you are doing something at a different level and going out there and chasing things.

00:48:25.000 But don't let it change who you are to people.

00:48:28.000 Because you have everything now.

00:48:30.000 When you're a champion, you go into any restaurant.

00:48:32.000 They're going to give you free dinner, feed your family.

00:48:34.000 It doesn't matter who's with you.

00:48:36.000 But when you lose...

00:48:37.000 All of a sudden everybody drops their head.

00:48:38.000 They feel bad for you.

00:48:39.000 They're like, oh my god, that's the guy that just got knocked out.

00:48:41.000 And it's very hard to step away from.

00:48:43.000 And you see guys that continue to fight for way too long because they need that feeling.

00:48:48.000 They need that invincibleness again.

00:48:52.000 That stardom.

00:48:53.000 That kingdom.

00:48:54.000 And that's hard for me to watch because that's a challenge.

00:48:58.000 And you see a lot of people go down the wrong end from that point.

00:49:01.000 It's also their identity.

00:49:02.000 Like when they're not fighting, they don't know who they are.

00:49:05.000 Because, first of all, fighting is so much more exciting than anything else you're ever going to do.

00:49:09.000 So if you get used to these gigantic highs and then preparing and then the nerves of preparing and all the anticipation of these big events, fighters have the riskiest job in the world outside of first responders, soldiers.

00:49:23.000 100%.

00:49:24.000 And people along those lines.

00:49:25.000 I mean, you're literally playing a game called, I'm trying to throw my bones and separate you from your consciousness, and you're going to try to do that to me, and you're doing it publicly in front of everybody.

00:49:37.000 So there's emotions, there's physical, you know about, everybody knows about the damage that it does to your body.

00:49:43.000 It's so, there's so much riding on it, that for fighters, when they leave that, and then they go to a regular life, like a lot of times it's very difficult.

00:49:52.000 Very difficult to make that adjustment.

00:49:54.000 That's why so many of them come back.

00:49:56.000 That's why it needs to be guided from day one.

00:49:58.000 And again, you have to have a time.

00:50:00.000 Your goal, you have to set goal sets.

00:50:02.000 We've talked about when your time is up and how long you're going to fight for.

00:50:07.000 You have to set those goals.

00:50:08.000 You have to be true to them.

00:50:09.000 That's like not taking a last minute fight.

00:50:12.000 You have to have your goals set into place.

00:50:14.000 And once you start to break those rules, you're really not grabbing the wheel.

00:50:18.000 Right.

00:50:18.000 You're letting it coast.

00:50:20.000 And then that's where you start to spiral downhill or go off track.

00:50:23.000 And I think that's super important because you can only do any sport for so long.

00:50:27.000 But all athletes, like even in NFL and things like that, they think they're going to play forever.

00:50:32.000 They have this mindset that you're going to play forever.

00:50:33.000 But it's so hard to see what happens to them after the lights go out.

00:50:38.000 Yeah.

00:50:39.000 Very hard.

00:50:40.000 Very hard.

00:50:41.000 Most athletes, pro athletes, wind up going broke.

00:50:44.000 I mean, the vast majority of NFL players are bankrupt within just a couple of years of retiring.

00:50:50.000 Same thing with NBA players.

00:50:52.000 And mentally bankrupt. 0.78

00:50:54.000 Mentally bankrupt.

00:50:55.000 Where they can't earn.

00:50:56.000 They don't want to earn.

00:50:57.000 They almost get self-sabotaged.

00:50:59.000 Again, it's... 1.00

00:51:01.000 I'm kicking my ass. 1.00

00:51:04.000 Again, they start to beat their own self up. 1.00

00:51:07.000 It takes a lot of work to...

00:51:10.000 That feeling after being in that octagon and winning is the highest of high.

00:51:16.000 You know, I've never, ever experienced anything like it.

00:51:20.000 But I focus, as soon as I leave, I really focus on bringing myself down and not being too high for too long because with the highs come the lows.

00:51:32.000 And I don't, I try to, I'm constantly in the middle.

00:51:34.000 So when do you do that?

00:51:35.000 Like right after the Tony fight?

00:51:37.000 Like how long after?

00:51:38.000 I walk like two minutes after I walk.

00:51:39.000 You know, you're going through the whole process, but that whole time through the process, it's like, you know, for one, you ain't special.

00:51:46.000 You know, you're not special.

00:51:47.000 That was awesome.

00:51:48.000 But back to normal.

00:51:50.000 You know, now it's immediate.

00:51:52.000 Immediate.

00:51:52.000 Right when I was talking to you.

00:51:55.000 I was like, you know, my finger hurts.

00:51:57.000 But other than that, it's like...

00:51:58.000 You seem pretty normal.

00:51:59.000 Yeah, nothing.

00:52:00.000 The only thing that wasn't normal, you threw the belt away. 0.99

00:52:03.000 You're like, get that fucking thing out of here. 0.99

00:52:04.000 I want the real one. 0.99

00:52:05.000 Yeah, I don't know why I did that.

00:52:07.000 I mean, that's a competitor in me, you know?

00:52:09.000 Right.

00:52:09.000 I get it.

00:52:10.000 You know, Dustin won one of those, and as you stated, he was never a champion.

00:52:14.000 Yeah.

00:52:14.000 But he won an interim title.

00:52:17.000 He's championship caliber, and so was Tony.

00:52:20.000 I mean, Tony was an interim champion as well, but interim titles are very weird.

00:52:25.000 It's a weird thing.

00:52:26.000 I kind of think they shouldn't exist.

00:52:28.000 Yeah, it's definitely not a real belt.

00:52:30.000 Right.

00:52:30.000 It's more real than the BMF belt, but...

00:52:36.000 It's just one of those...

00:52:36.000 Every time I hear that, I think a cowboy's ranch.

00:52:40.000 He's a ranch.

00:52:40.000 Because he's got BMF everywhere over there.

00:52:42.000 I always think of that.

00:52:44.000 Yeah.

00:52:44.000 I mean, it's called the BMF ranch.

00:52:46.000 Yeah.

00:52:47.000 The BMF belt was fun, but it was fun.

00:52:49.000 Yeah, it was.

00:52:50.000 I loved it.

00:52:50.000 Totally fun.

00:52:51.000 It's entertainment.

00:52:52.000 And remember...

00:52:54.000 Belts, whether they're interim or not, you get pay-per-viewed by.

00:52:57.000 So again, we've got to look at the pros and cons.

00:52:59.000 I don't know about that belt.

00:53:00.000 I hope so.

00:53:02.000 I'm talking about the interim.

00:53:03.000 No, I'm in.

00:53:05.000 That was one huge factor.

00:53:08.000 For one, I've always said I don't take late replacement fights, but I've never said I don't take late replacement world title fights.

00:53:15.000 This is way different.

00:53:18.000 Just the implications.

00:53:20.000 It was different.

00:53:21.000 You had a statement.

00:53:22.000 One of the things you said when you first entered the UFC, you said, I'm going to put on some incredible fights, and I'm going to lose, and I'm probably going to get knocked out.

00:53:31.000 Nobody says that.

00:53:32.000 It's crazy.

00:53:32.000 It's true.

00:53:33.000 He says it all the time. 1.00

00:53:35.000 I'm like, stop saying that shit, because if you repeat shit, you're going to trick yourself. 1.00

00:53:38.000 We'll get knocked out. 1.00

00:53:39.000 But that's the key to him.

00:53:42.000 He doesn't hesitate.

00:53:44.000 If I do anything as a coach, I've got to pull him back.

00:53:46.000 And that's a great thing.

00:53:48.000 I've been a motivator my whole career.

00:53:50.000 The psychology, I'm a great technician.

00:53:53.000 But my psychology is tricking people to win.

00:53:57.000 It's how do you get out there and do it?

00:53:59.000 And making them to believe you have to force your head into something to make something happen.

00:54:05.000 You have to go up there and fight.

00:54:07.000 And that's hard for a lot of people.

00:54:09.000 This guy is like pulling people back is a great thing.

00:54:12.000 It's still hard to do at times.

00:54:14.000 Not with him, but fighters just go too hard to hit rage.

00:54:17.000 And rage is hard to settle down.

00:54:18.000 When someone hits rage, like someone says something about your mama, I'm always like, they don't even know your mama. 1.00

00:54:22.000 Seriously, stop that shit. 1.00

00:54:24.000 Like, stop. 1.00

00:54:25.000 Well, there was a great moment after the second round, after you got hit with that uppercut, where you came back to the corner and you told him, take something off your punches.

00:54:34.000 Take about 10% off.

00:54:35.000 Just hit him with clean shots. 1.00

00:54:36.000 You're trying to murder him with every shot. 1.00

00:54:38.000 And then you made that adjustment. 0.71

00:54:40.000 That was really interesting because a lot of times coaches will tell stuff to fighters, and the fighters probably know somewhere in their head, but it's fucking with them that they're starting to get tired, it's fucking with them that they got hit, and then they lose some composure, they get emotional, and they go out there and they wind up making mistakes.

00:54:56.000 You immediately adjusted, and you went out there, and you would see by the end of that second round when Tony hit you with that shot, people were like, well, maybe this is a shift in the direction of the fight.

00:55:06.000 Nope.

00:55:07.000 The shift was the opposite way.

00:55:09.000 You came out in the third round more technical, and you came out and did exactly what Trevor said.

00:55:15.000 Yeah, we worked long and hard on that.

00:55:20.000 I trust him with everything, as he said.

00:55:22.000 He wouldn't be my coach if I didn't trust him with my life and with everything I go in there to do.

00:55:30.000 So when he said that to you, when he said take 10% off...

00:55:33.000 The crazy thing is you only see 10% of the interaction between us in between rounds.

00:55:39.000 Right now I'm actually talking to the UFC trying to get that whole thing.

00:55:45.000 You're talking to the UFC trying to get what?

00:55:47.000 The recordings?

00:55:48.000 He's trying to get his audio from his mic.

00:55:51.000 You want to hear it and watch it?

00:55:54.000 I don't remember it, you know?

00:55:55.000 Right, of course.

00:55:55.000 It's so fast.

00:55:57.000 Just like when they come to me in the fifth round and I was laughing.

00:56:01.000 The reason I was laughing is because I had just asked him, I said, was that the end of the second or third round?

00:56:05.000 And they're like, this is the fifth round. 0.86

00:56:07.000 I was like, no fucking way I'm in that good of shape. 0.96

00:56:09.000 I was like, no way. 0.98

00:56:10.000 And that's when they cut in, you know, so you don't see...

00:56:13.000 There's so much you don't see in that interaction between me and him.

00:56:16.000 It's so important for fighters to see that adjustment and how his endurance leveled off. 0.98

00:56:22.000 Because it was like you were having these wild exchanges and you were fucking hitting Tony. 0.98

00:56:28.000 First of all, Tony Ferguson is made out of metal. 0.99

00:56:31.000 It's crazy. 1.00

00:56:32.000 What in the fuck, dude? 1.00

00:56:33.000 Especially when you're talking about a body type, like you were talking earlier about someone with a frail body type. 1.00

00:56:38.000 He doesn't have a chiseled neck.

00:56:40.000 Right, he's not built like Mark Hunt.

00:56:41.000 It's so unique to me.

00:56:42.000 He's so tough. 0.99

00:56:43.000 He's so fucking tough. 0.99

00:56:44.000 Is it a choice to go to sleep or not? 0.99

00:56:46.000 But there's also a key.

00:56:48.000 If a fighter can take something on understanding coachability, you have to have your reactions, but you also have to have your responses.

00:56:55.000 Reactive stuff is like jabs.

00:56:58.000 Positional stuff is reactive.

00:56:59.000 You have to be able to react to positions first.

00:57:01.000 I love jiu-jitsu because it's position before submission.

00:57:04.000 You have to react to positions before anything else.

00:57:08.000 So there's reactive stuff.

00:57:10.000 But the responses is why you have a co-pilot.

00:57:13.000 To help you see what you can't see and start noticing that.

00:57:17.000 Or how are you playing defense and using a jab to find openings where you're still working, but you're thinking and going, oh, every time he does this, he's dropping his hand.

00:57:25.000 And you're able to see things.

00:57:26.000 That's where you have to be responsive and you have to be aware in the moment.

00:57:30.000 Where a lot of times people can't.

00:57:31.000 They just bite down.

00:57:32.000 They just bite down on that mouthpiece.

00:57:33.000 And very similar to the way you used to fight was bite down.

00:57:36.000 Their eyes are getting big.

00:57:38.000 That's my response is like, continue to do this and they're going to fall.

00:57:42.000 And again, that is a very important point is a coach and the athlete understanding I am there to help you with your responses.

00:57:49.000 In the gym, I'm going to create your reactions.

00:57:51.000 I'm going to create your patterns, your basic fundamental patterns that's going to help you win positions and slightly win rounds where you're controlling the fight.

00:57:59.000 The other piece is how am I slowly creating momentum to get finishes.

00:58:04.000 It was pretty stunning how well you adapted and then also how your endurance leveled off. 0.98

00:58:11.000 Because you did seem like you were slowing down a little bit at the second round, but it was because you were sprinting, because you were throwing these full power fucking haymakers. 0.87

00:58:21.000 But then when you leveled off in that third round, then it was like you had an endless gas tank. 0.96

00:58:25.000 That was interesting.

00:58:26.000 You're in control yourself.

00:58:27.000 If you're making decisions, it's a lot easier on your psyche.

00:58:29.000 Yeah.

00:58:30.000 When you're trying to just fight out of things all the time, again, you're not in control.

00:58:34.000 If you can't control your thought, you cannot control your breathing.

00:58:37.000 How stunned were you that Tony could take those shots?

00:58:41.000 In the fight, you know, there's no point where I even understand.

00:58:46.000 You weren't thinking at all, just throwing them.

00:58:48.000 You know, it was crazy.

00:58:51.000 The shots I hit Vic, Barboza, and Cerrone with, I was so surprised they went to sleep.

00:59:00.000 I didn't understand why.

00:59:01.000 I think it was position, mostly.

00:59:03.000 But yeah, when I was hitting him with some of those shots, especially the one when I came through and he was throwing an uppercut, I couldn't believe he didn't go to sleep with that.

00:59:11.000 But I go back to the Michael Johnson fight when he hit me with that left hand.

00:59:14.000 There's no reason I shouldn't have went to sleep then.

00:59:17.000 So I haven't figured that part out.

00:59:19.000 Johnson has a very good left hand.

00:59:21.000 See, when he knocked out Poirier with that same punch.

00:59:23.000 One of the sharpest left hands.

00:59:24.000 And I was turning through it, and it was on the chin.

00:59:27.000 It was everything a knockout shot should be. 0.95

00:59:30.000 I don't know why I didn't go to sleep.

00:59:31.000 I got to figure that part out.

00:59:32.000 I know how people go to sleep.

00:59:34.000 I don't know how...

00:59:35.000 People don't go to sleep.

00:59:36.000 It's random.

00:59:37.000 It's weird.

00:59:38.000 I mean, sometimes guys take head kicks, full-on head kicks, and they don't go to sleep.

00:59:41.000 It's position.

00:59:42.000 It's position.

00:59:43.000 Everything is position.

00:59:44.000 Can you base?

00:59:45.000 Can you lock down?

00:59:46.000 Did you see it?

00:59:47.000 That's a huge piece.

00:59:49.000 Because if you don't see it, you ain't bracing for it.

00:59:51.000 Again, linear or rotational is what's causing a concussion.

00:59:54.000 And when you don't see a shot, those are the ones that cause the most damage.

00:59:58.000 If you're able to brace for it and bite down on the punch, it's a lot better.

01:00:02.000 A lot of times when you're seeing two hooks, both people hook it.

01:00:04.000 I throw like this, I turn away, and then all of a sudden I come and I don't see it.

01:00:08.000 I'm causing that head-on collision, but I'm not braced for it.

01:00:10.000 I'm not leaning against the wall where if I see a hook coming, I've got my head carrying my weight and able to take the shot.

01:00:17.000 So a lot of times it's the shots you don't see coming and that's the timing.

01:00:21.000 But there are people who will punch you in any moment and you're going to go to sleep.

01:00:25.000 Yeah, that's...

01:00:26.000 Punching power is so weird.

01:00:27.000 And that's like one of the craziest things in this world.

01:00:30.000 If it was, Tony would have went to sleep.

01:00:32.000 I'm telling you, I've seen people who don't hit...

01:00:35.000 Vic and Barbosa were on one foot when I touched them.

01:00:36.000 Hey, your low kick?

01:00:37.000 Your low kick for many years wasn't thrown with the right technique.

01:00:43.000 But when you kick people, they're like, oh my gosh, you have a sharp, heavy bone.

01:00:48.000 It's so unique.

01:00:49.000 I've got dense bones.

01:00:49.000 I've got the densest bones in the UFC. There you go.

01:00:51.000 So there's a spot.

01:00:52.000 So they've done a scan on you?

01:00:54.000 Well, they said they can't confirm or deny I've got the densest bones in the UFC. They can't confirm?

01:00:58.000 They can't run it out?

01:00:59.000 I know, right?

01:01:00.000 They can't run it out.

01:01:01.000 We get these stats.

01:01:01.000 They have a DEXA scan at the UFC PI. And you lay there, it inch by inch scans your whole body, tells you what you're made of.

01:01:11.000 Your bones are denser than Yoel's?

01:01:13.000 I would assume so.

01:01:14.000 That seems crazy.

01:01:16.000 That guy doesn't seem like he's from this planet.

01:01:19.000 You know, they sent him...

01:01:19.000 You want to hear a crazy story about Yoel?

01:01:21.000 I've repeated it on the podcast, but I'll say it anyway.

01:01:23.000 When he had some sort of a fracture of his orbital, they sent him to a doctor.

01:01:28.000 And the doctor examines him and then calls the UFC and goes, Where did you find this guy?

01:01:34.000 Yeah. 0.99

01:01:35.000 And he goes, yeah, he goes, he's a fucking specimen, huh? 1.00

01:01:38.000 He goes, no, no, no. 1.00

01:01:39.000 I've never seen a human like him.

01:01:42.000 He goes, I've been practicing medicine for more than 40 years.

01:01:46.000 He goes, the ligaments, the tendons in his eye are three times larger than a normal human's.

01:01:54.000 They're like everything about him.

01:01:56.000 Dana told me this, and I was talking to Dana about it, and I was talking to my friends who know the whole Cuban program over there, the Cuban athletic program.

01:02:05.000 Of course, he was on the Cuban Olympic team. 0.98

01:02:07.000 I said, they did some fucking experiments down there, son. 0.99

01:02:10.000 They did some 100% experiments. 0.99

01:02:13.000 It's not just incredible genetics, which for sure he has, but he might be a part of some goddamn You know, like Karelin. 0.65

01:02:22.000 They used to call him the experiment. 0.90

01:02:24.000 The wrestler from Russia. 1.00

01:02:25.000 That guy who was built like a fucking superhero. 1.00

01:02:28.000 And just threw people around like ragdolls. 1.00

01:02:30.000 300 pound men.

01:02:31.000 That's crazy.

01:02:32.000 They would try to flatten out so he couldn't hoist them up. 0.99

01:02:35.000 And he'd get his hands under their fucking... 1.00

01:02:37.000 And just hoist him over his head. 1.00

01:02:39.000 They called him the experiment because his parents were like 5'5".

01:02:42.000 He had these little tiny parents.

01:02:43.000 And he was this gigantic gorilla.

01:02:45.000 That's crazy.

01:02:46.000 I wonder if there's any doctor out there that's ever talked about me and said, man, you have never seen a specimen that's just all ligaments and bones.

01:02:53.000 He's missing muscle.

01:02:55.000 He throws everything with perfect technique because he has no muscle. 1.00

01:03:00.000 He's not trying to muscle shit. 0.99

01:03:02.000 Well, there's something about guys that are strong. 0.98

01:03:04.000 In jiu-jitsu, it's actually kind of a disadvantage for learning because you can power out of things so you don't develop proper technique.

01:03:11.000 Power through technique.

01:03:12.000 Yeah.

01:03:12.000 You want to learn.

01:03:13.000 Learn from a little guy, like a Hoyler Gracie or Eddie Bravo or these small guys.

01:03:18.000 They're not overpowering anybody.

01:03:20.000 I think there's something to that.

01:03:22.000 Which Gracie was... 1.00

01:03:23.000 Yeah, perfect example.

01:03:24.000 Perfect example.

01:03:25.000 And then with striking, it's kind of in a similar mode.

01:03:28.000 Like the really technical guys are the guys who have, like Floyd.

01:03:32.000 Floyd's not knocking anybody out with one punch.

01:03:34.000 He kind of has to be technical.

01:03:35.000 He always had brittle hands.

01:03:38.000 He was always hurting himself.

01:03:40.000 You know, the cool thing about boxing is the sweet science.

01:03:44.000 How many years has it been around?

01:03:45.000 And there's just so much involved with that.

01:03:47.000 But you're seeing a huge shift in MMA where it is so, so, so special.

01:03:52.000 With your fight, it's super unique.

01:03:54.000 Again, going back to position and footwork.

01:03:55.000 The footwork is the key.

01:03:57.000 People will talk about the punches and pulling stuff off the punches.

01:04:02.000 From the eye, when I watch it, I'm just like, man, it's keeping someone off balance.

01:04:07.000 Where their step is one, just a point of a second behind you.

01:04:09.000 You can control the timing.

01:04:11.000 You can control when you punch.

01:04:12.000 And that is such, it's a dance.

01:04:14.000 There's a lead.

01:04:15.000 When there's two dancers, there's a lead.

01:04:16.000 And you have to lead the steps.

01:04:18.000 If you're leading the steps, you've got them coming to you.

01:04:20.000 And that's creating that pattern.

01:04:22.000 And, man, we can just, like, that's one of my favorite things to teach is just footwork.

01:04:26.000 Like, understanding position.

01:04:26.000 How do you make someone a one-handed fighter or only able to use one side of their body?

01:04:31.000 Because they can only put weight on one side.

01:04:33.000 And timing the foot, when there's a foot off the ground, they can't base, they can't block until that foot hits the ground, so it's those in-between beats.

01:04:38.000 But those are the spots that I can just geek out about and just have so much fun.

01:04:42.000 But the technique is so key.

01:04:45.000 People who are born with gifts and going back to how people just punch differently.

01:04:49.000 Some people just, whether it's heavy bones, some people you look at them and their technique is nothing and you're like, holy cow, they can hit.

01:04:56.000 Yeah, some people just have crazy power.

01:04:57.000 Like we were talking earlier about Alex Pereira, the guy who fights in glory. 1.00

01:05:01.000 That motherfucker knocks everybody out. 0.99

01:05:02.000 He's a guy who knocked out Stylebender. 1.00

01:05:04.000 He knocks out everybody.

01:05:05.000 He's got crazy power.

01:05:06.000 He's built strong.

01:05:08.000 He looks like a strong guy, but there's something about his power that is greater than whatever you would expect that comes from him.

01:05:16.000 Chris Lieben.

01:05:16.000 You remember Chris Lieben?

01:05:17.000 Not felt like an athlete at all.

01:05:19.000 And the guy, every time he hit someone, they were reacting big time.

01:05:22.000 And you knew he had thunder in his hands.

01:05:24.000 He really did.

01:05:25.000 And he could take a shot really well, too.

01:05:26.000 That's, again, a super unique thing is those taking the shots.

01:05:30.000 He would plant his feet hard.

01:05:31.000 Very ploddy, very heavy base.

01:05:34.000 But that cost him when he fought Anderson.

01:05:36.000 Oh yeah.

01:05:36.000 Anderson timed it.

01:05:38.000 Yeah.

01:05:39.000 Another sharpshooter who was sharp.

01:05:40.000 He would hit you at the certain times where you can't, like when he caught Forrest coming in and attacking him.

01:05:46.000 Like just beautiful.

01:05:47.000 Working backwards and still creating that much leverage and causing a head-on collision as you're pulling your hips away.

01:05:51.000 Super, super unique.

01:05:52.000 It's all timing.

01:05:53.000 I always say I have like...

01:05:55.000 There's like six songs going on in my head during a fight.

01:05:57.000 There's like a reggae song, there's a country song.

01:05:59.000 Do you?

01:05:59.000 Do you have songs going on in your head?

01:06:01.000 That's what I'm dancing to.

01:06:03.000 I'm constantly changing rhythms.

01:06:05.000 And if you're constantly changing rhythms, they can't find a pattern.

01:06:07.000 If they can't find a pattern, you can constantly catch them in between them trying to find it.

01:06:12.000 And that's what I'm doing in there.

01:06:14.000 My feet are dancing.

01:06:15.000 So are you actually thinking of the songs though?

01:06:18.000 No, no, no, not...

01:06:19.000 But you're just moving like as if you were...

01:06:22.000 My intuition is as if I'm never on one beat.

01:06:26.000 If you watch my fights, I'm on 10 different beats.

01:06:29.000 Just to mix it up and to be unpredictable and to offer different looks?

01:06:32.000 To make them, because the first thing that happens in a fight is distance control.

01:06:37.000 Someone's going to control distance.

01:06:38.000 It might shift early, you know, back and forth, but it's going to be established within the first minute.

01:06:44.000 That is the most important thing of any fight that will ever happen in a fight, I believe.

01:06:47.000 Because once that's established, the person who establishes it is going to be able to control, you know, the rhythm.

01:06:55.000 And then once you can control the rhythm, now you can make them dance to your tune. 0.99

01:06:58.000 Once they're dancing to your tune, you're fucking smoking them. 0.97

01:07:03.000 As a coach, when Tony Ferguson decided to make weight even though the fight was off, And then wound up fighting just a few weeks later, for real. 0.99

01:07:12.000 Like, the April 18th fight, the Tai Chi Palace fight, he just decided to make weight.

01:07:16.000 And, you know, a lot of people were pretty impressed by it, me included.

01:07:19.000 But then a lot of people were saying afterwards, like, hey, what if he has to fight again in four weeks?

01:07:24.000 That's like, you gotta pay for that.

01:07:25.000 He's not a 155-pound guy.

01:07:27.000 You know, he's a 170-plus-pound guy.

01:07:29.000 He's not young.

01:07:30.000 Well, 37?

01:07:31.000 Actually, we were in contract to fight again, and he still was gonna make weight.

01:07:34.000 Yeah.

01:07:35.000 I weighed 178 that day.

01:07:37.000 He's like, you wouldn't make weight?

01:07:38.000 I was like, hell no, I'm not making weight. 1.00

01:07:39.000 What are you fucking talking about? 0.99

01:07:40.000 Well, you also had all them donuts a few days before. 0.99

01:07:43.000 I don't ever look at that stuff, Joe, and think anything because, again, I'm starting to think about them and get distracted.

01:07:49.000 Right, but as a coach, forget about the fight.

01:07:51.000 The fight's over and gone.

01:07:53.000 I'm never a person who sets something in stone and say that's a good thing or bad thing.

01:07:56.000 Every person is different.

01:07:58.000 Like if they fight at a lower weight and it's cool for them and they need to hold that weight better and you're going in a five-round fight compared to a three-round, there's so many different variables that go into it.

01:08:06.000 I've got to treat each...

01:08:07.000 I don't know.

01:08:09.000 I honestly probably would...

01:08:12.000 Almost all the time.

01:08:13.000 I'm not going to say never, but yeah, probably not going to do that.

01:08:16.000 But mock cuts are good for you.

01:08:18.000 If you have issues making weight, sometimes a mock cut is good because it gets you down to a point first.

01:08:23.000 And, you know, there's so many people that cut so much weight the week of the fight that I think that's a huge issue.

01:08:30.000 So I really didn't look at it as that big of a deal.

01:08:32.000 I was like, you know what?

01:08:33.000 It's better than just waiting to the last minute because that is where there's huge danger in this sport.

01:08:38.000 How much do you cut?

01:08:42.000 Not a lot.

01:08:43.000 This was the easiest cut of my life.

01:08:45.000 So you dieted down, you trained down, and then you cut how many pounds?

01:08:48.000 When I got there, I was 165. Oh, so not bad.

01:08:52.000 Yeah, but you hit 63 twice prior to going there.

01:08:54.000 Prior to going there, I hit 63 twice the week before.

01:08:57.000 None of my guys cut a lot of weight.

01:08:58.000 I don't allow it.

01:08:59.000 I think it's the most dangerous thing.

01:09:00.000 I think, again, it's not natural for your body.

01:09:04.000 You're detoxing everything.

01:09:05.000 You're taking everything out of your system.

01:09:07.000 And again, what weight are you really going to fight at?

01:09:10.000 On Thursday night, we did one workout at night, and I was 163.4 when I started.

01:09:17.000 We worked out for an hour and 20 minutes, and when I got off, I was 156.6, and I was amazed at how much I had just cut.

01:09:26.000 That's amazing.

01:09:27.000 Yeah, so I went to bed.

01:09:28.000 I went and drank eight ounces of coconut water, went to bed, woke up 156.2, 156.4.

01:09:34.000 Oh, wow.

01:09:35.000 Worked out for 20 minutes, sat in the sauna for 10, and then I was on weight.

01:09:38.000 Oh, that's amazing.

01:09:38.000 It was the easiest cut of my life.

01:09:40.000 That's amazing.

01:09:41.000 So you just got it dialed in perfectly.

01:09:43.000 My body is...

01:09:44.000 I've been doing this...

01:09:45.000 People make fun of me when I say I've been doing it since four, but my dad caught me sneaking tamales into the bathroom when I was like six.

01:09:53.000 I've been doing this my whole life.

01:09:56.000 My body is a machine.

01:09:58.000 It knows once it gets down, we get to go right back up.

01:10:01.000 And that's my mind internally, but...

01:10:04.000 You know, it knows.

01:10:05.000 One of the things you said that I thought was really funny, I hope Tony breaks my nose so I can get it fixed.

01:10:10.000 Yeah, everyone talks about how I talk.

01:10:12.000 For one, I talk fast.

01:10:13.000 I've always talked fast.

01:10:14.000 It sounds like I'm mumbling, but my nose doesn't work.

01:10:17.000 I'm like, sit there, plug your nose and talk.

01:10:19.000 You know, see, this is the same thing.

01:10:20.000 I can tell hearing it because my nose used to be broken too.

01:10:24.000 I had it fixed.

01:10:25.000 I had the deviated septum.

01:10:26.000 I had it fixed, but this goes back to the dense bones.

01:10:29.000 I heard it in December.

01:10:33.000 Season ends in March.

01:10:34.000 I got it fixed in April.

01:10:36.000 And it had healed already.

01:10:37.000 And the doctor, he said, I drilled.

01:10:39.000 I tried to drill through that side, but I couldn't get through that side because your bone is too dense.

01:10:44.000 What?

01:10:44.000 Yeah.

01:10:45.000 That doctor sounds like an asshole. 1.00

01:10:46.000 Right? 1.00

01:10:47.000 That's ridiculous. 0.96

01:10:48.000 The college paid for it, though. 0.98

01:10:49.000 Oh, yeah.

01:10:51.000 So this was a long time ago?

01:10:53.000 This was when I was...

01:10:55.000 19. Split my lip too.

01:10:57.000 You also just have to think about the fact that you're just constantly getting hit in the nose.

01:11:01.000 I've never got hit in the nose in a fight.

01:11:03.000 That's why I'm waiting.

01:11:04.000 But in training you do.

01:11:06.000 They hit my forehead.

01:11:08.000 They don't touch my nose or my chin.

01:11:09.000 Really?

01:11:10.000 I've seen so many people get surgery.

01:11:13.000 And it's, again, it gets, so Shane Cartman, he got his surgery. 0.99

01:11:17.000 First sparring session back, fuck, coach, broke my nose again. 0.99

01:11:21.000 You're building up the cartilage. 0.99

01:11:23.000 And again, almost there's been three people through the gym that's had surgery and ended up breaking their nose again.

01:11:28.000 I recommend it when you're done.

01:11:30.000 Yeah, I wish they could clear it out.

01:11:32.000 I know about building the cartilage back up.

01:11:34.000 Yeah, that's what Vanderlei did, which was crazy.

01:11:38.000 He became a different human.

01:11:39.000 Right?

01:11:39.000 But he had the worst flattened nose I've ever seen in all my years of watching combat sports.

01:11:44.000 Shane had my nose fixed.

01:11:47.000 He had broke my nose at the daytime I had it broken, and it crawled right back, but...

01:11:51.000 Man, I can breathe good.

01:11:53.000 Everybody's like, man, what happened to your nose?

01:11:54.000 And I'm like, man, it slowly fell back into position because it's been like that for so many years.

01:11:58.000 He had broke my nose in sparring.

01:12:00.000 I was so beat up in training.

01:12:02.000 Shane?

01:12:03.000 Shane Carwin?

01:12:04.000 Shane Carwin.

01:12:04.000 You sparred with Shane Carwin?

01:12:05.000 I started sparring with him because he couldn't hit me.

01:12:08.000 Hold on.

01:12:10.000 Hit the brakes.

01:12:10.000 How much do you wear?

01:12:13.000 Wet, like 160. And you're sparring with Shane fucking Carl. 0.99

01:12:17.000 Oh yeah, so my hands were so bad hitting mitts with him. 0.99

01:12:19.000 He was, he hits so hard, Joe, that it's crazy.

01:12:22.000 So I got to understand what everybody was talking about with his gloves.

01:12:25.000 They were like, man, he needs different gloves.

01:12:28.000 And I'm like, he's got winnings, got the best gloves.

01:12:29.000 They're fine. 1.00

01:12:30.000 They just stopped being a bitch. 1.00

01:12:32.000 And he'd hit me and broke my nose with a jab. 1.00

01:12:34.000 And I was just like, holy shit. 0.98

01:12:36.000 I'm walking him down and I came through one jab and I went to go step in and opened up my guard. 1.00

01:12:39.000 And he hit me, he's like, and I turned around, I'm like, damn man, you broke my nose. 0.98

01:12:43.000 And he's like, I didn't break your nose, coach. 0.99

01:12:45.000 And I was like, I turned around, I lean over to the side. 0.99

01:12:48.000 I look back at him like this and he's like, oh shit, coach, your nose is broke. 0.99

01:12:52.000 And, uh, yeah, but then... 0.99

01:12:54.000 I like how you make all your fighters, you gave them the worst impressions ever.

01:12:57.000 I do, it's the best.

01:12:58.000 I have fun with them.

01:12:59.000 They all talk like this.

01:12:59.000 They almost seem like...

01:13:00.000 So I used to call them Negative Nancy Kerrigan Carwin, Shane Gizer Kerrigan Carwin.

01:13:06.000 I like to have fun with the guys and entertain myself with them, especially with a big dude like him.

01:13:11.000 I was like the little dog barking all the time.

01:13:13.000 Well, in between fights, people don't know how big he got.

01:13:16.000 Oh my gosh, he hit so hard, like I couldn't take the shots no more.

01:13:19.000 Like on my hands and my arms, I was like, dude, we have to work, you have to get time in, and I can still help him sparring.

01:13:26.000 Well, I remember when his nose was broken when he fought Gonzaga, and then he hit Gonzaga with that six-inch punch.

01:13:31.000 Remember that? 0.94

01:13:32.000 Dude, crazy.

01:13:32.000 Just like falling backwards, just hits him with this little boom.

01:13:35.000 Just barely touch him, boom.

01:13:36.000 And Gonzaga's whole body just shuts off.

01:13:39.000 It's crazy.

01:13:39.000 No, he was an enormous guy.

01:13:43.000 Oh, yeah.

01:13:44.000 That's broken.

01:13:45.000 And look, he's laughing. 0.97

01:13:47.000 Crazy, dude.

01:13:48.000 He's a fun guy, though. 0.75

01:13:49.000 I'll tell you, there was one time in a fight where he was on top of the guy, and he was dropping these shots on him, and he hit him one time, and the way the guy's body moved, it looked really weird.

01:13:59.000 I thought he just killed him.

01:14:02.000 He hit him so weird, and the way the guy's body bent and went numb...

01:14:06.000 I was like, oh my god, you could feel it through the cage, like underneath, the echo underneath when he was hitting the dude and his head is pinned against the canvas.

01:14:15.000 He is a unique dude.

01:14:16.000 That dude hits so freaking hard.

01:14:18.000 Well, I remember his stoppage of Frank Mir.

01:14:20.000 That was one of the most ferocious stoppages I've ever seen in the history of the heavyweight division. 0.99

01:14:23.000 He's hitting him with those fucking uppercuts. 0.99

01:14:25.000 He had a collar tie and he's hitting him with uppercuts. 1.00

01:14:28.000 He had so many situations.

01:14:29.000 He was drinking a beer night.

01:14:31.000 He had a stem cell thing going on in his neck that he didn't know if he was going to be able to fight.

01:14:36.000 He took it on like three weeks notice because the Brock Lesnar fell out.

01:14:39.000 Ended up injuring his hand.

01:14:41.000 So if you notice, everything was left-handed.

01:14:43.000 He was like 30 boxing him and I had to ask for him to bump.

01:14:45.000 And he bumped the shoulder and then went boom, boom.

01:14:47.000 Hit him with like three uppercuts and he folded.

01:14:49.000 And then he turned him on his back and was just clubbing him with the left hand.

01:14:52.000 And he was so injured going into that fight.

01:14:55.000 It was crazy the way he was able to perform.

01:14:58.000 Really? 0.99

01:14:58.000 And then when he went on a strict diet, he's like, I'm a beaten damn rabbit food coach. 0.99

01:15:02.000 And he got all set and he was eating this great diet. 0.60

01:15:05.000 Mentally, he wasn't there like when we fought Dos Santos.

01:15:08.000 Dos Santos, and again, that was a tough fight because after the Brock Lesnar fight, every question was about his conditioning.

01:15:14.000 So Shane Carwin, if he goes out there and fights the first round, like you're fighting a one-round fight.

01:15:19.000 We're stopping the fight after the first round.

01:15:21.000 I don't think anybody gets through a first round with him.

01:15:23.000 But when he pulled back and he started going, hey, I need to see if I can go five rounds, oh man, because he went with Brock and he gassed out.

01:15:30.000 I remember with Amal, we're sitting there screaming.

01:15:32.000 We're screaming at the top of the lungs and we're counting to three and screaming because the crowd was so loud.

01:15:36.000 He couldn't hear us and he's on top of him just pounding Brock out.

01:15:41.000 We were like, you need to stand back up.

01:15:42.000 We wanted to get back up because the ref was just letting it go, letting it go.

01:15:47.000 And if he stood back up, he's going to drop them again and fight over.

01:15:49.000 And he cast himself out.

01:15:51.000 In the second round, he's like, Coach, I can't feel my legs.

01:15:53.000 I can't get up. 1.00

01:15:54.000 And I'm like, you have to fake this shit. 1.00

01:15:56.000 Get up. 1.00

01:15:56.000 And I figured once he gets out there, he gets hit one time, Silverback's going to come back out. 1.00

01:16:02.000 But he went out there.

01:16:03.000 I remember when he got taken down by Brock.

01:16:05.000 He held on to the chin as he went down.

01:16:07.000 That's how tired he was.

01:16:08.000 He grabbed the chin and just got to lay back.

01:16:10.000 But he's a unique human being.

01:16:12.000 He came that close.

01:16:13.000 That close.

01:16:14.000 That close to stopping Brock. 0.92

01:16:15.000 But he was always so damn freaking injured. 0.56

01:16:17.000 He hurt him so bad standing. 0.82

01:16:19.000 So bad, yeah.

01:16:19.000 And then when he got to the ground, Brock was just able to cover up.

01:16:22.000 And then he blew his wad just trying to take him out of there.

01:16:25.000 Yep.

01:16:26.000 He thought the ref was going to stop it.

01:16:28.000 I did too.

01:16:28.000 Yeah, I think everybody in the crowd, the whole energy.

01:16:31.000 But I was like, we were excited, excited, excited.

01:16:33.000 They were like, oh my god, he's got to pull back.

01:16:35.000 You see the Dominic Cruz-Henry Cejudo fight, which is kind of a controversial stoppage.

01:16:39.000 Dominic's trying to get back up, and the referee stops the fight.

01:16:42.000 Versus that fight, where you're seeing all these unanswered blows.

01:16:47.000 It's so subjective.

01:16:49.000 I would honestly much rather a fight be stopped early than to let it go on.

01:16:53.000 Because the toughest job out there is the referees.

01:16:56.000 I tell you, a lot of times, it's hard.

01:16:59.000 They've got to perform too.

01:17:00.000 They go out there, they stop a fight too late, and then next time they're like, oh man, I've got to stop the fight early.

01:17:04.000 It's tough.

01:17:05.000 You're out there, the referee's got such a tough job.

01:17:08.000 They do.

01:17:08.000 But sometimes...

01:17:10.000 But it's got to be safety.

01:17:11.000 You letting people go on, there's sometimes where I'm just like, never let that guy ref again.

01:17:15.000 It's like taking years off a fighter.

01:17:18.000 It's crazy.

01:17:19.000 Yeah, some guys give guys too many opportunities.

01:17:22.000 I thought...

01:17:23.000 It was Herb Dean in your fight, right?

01:17:25.000 Yes.

01:17:26.000 Yeah, I thought that was the perfect stoppage.

01:17:27.000 Me too.

01:17:27.000 It was the perfect...

01:17:28.000 And it's rare that you say that with a guy who's still standing and moving back the way Tony was in a world championship fight.

01:17:34.000 He never went down once.

01:17:36.000 Never went down once.

01:17:36.000 Crazy.

01:17:37.000 But it was getting to a point where the shift was just happening and his body was telling him he was really, really off balance.

01:17:43.000 His legs were starting to go a little bit.

01:17:45.000 He was going to be a same duck.

01:17:46.000 Exactly.

01:17:47.000 That was not good.

01:17:48.000 No.

01:17:49.000 I don't ever want to take that beating.

01:17:51.000 He would have stopped it before that happened.

01:17:54.000 For sure.

01:17:55.000 I already know that.

01:17:56.000 Trevor would have stopped it.

01:17:57.000 Yeah.

01:17:57.000 It was you?

01:17:58.000 Yeah.

01:17:59.000 Yeah, nobody could stop it in Tony's corner.

01:18:00.000 That's the other thing is Tony's kind of, I mean, he has a jujitsu coach, he has a striking coach, but Tony marches to the beat of his own drummer.

01:18:06.000 Yeah.

01:18:07.000 I mean, he's got a whole disco band going on in his head.

01:18:09.000 He does whatever he wants.

01:18:10.000 Rose against Carlos Barza. 0.98

01:18:13.000 I take 100% credit in there because we never talked to who the head coach was.

01:18:17.000 It was just so chaotic. 0.99

01:18:18.000 I mean, she threw so many damn kitsch. 1.00

01:18:20.000 She looked so damn good. 1.00

01:18:21.000 But there was no control in the damn corner. 0.99

01:18:23.000 I was so pissed at myself. 0.99

01:18:25.000 Like, that was one of the hardest fights.

01:18:26.000 That's when I let the gym go and said, hey, man, I need to do this and do it with passion and really take this serious because I was so bothered by that.

01:18:36.000 I almost was a cheerleader prior to that fight.

01:18:38.000 Watching her on the Ultimate Fighter perform with no coaches and her just do her thing, she's so damn talented.

01:18:43.000 She finished everybody on the Ultimate Fighter.

01:18:45.000 Then she came in for that title fight and I was so upset with myself that I didn't have the conversation.

01:18:51.000 I asked the coaches a lot, who's that corner?

01:18:53.000 Who's the one calling the shots?

01:18:54.000 I was so upset.

01:18:57.000 And that kind of situation, it's very easy for teams.

01:19:02.000 If you look at Tony's corner, everybody in that corner is great.

01:19:06.000 And again, sometimes that conversation just needs to happen.

01:19:08.000 It's saying, hey, who's going to come in the corner to win?

01:19:10.000 Who's going to say what?

01:19:11.000 There's got to be someone that takes control of a corner.

01:19:15.000 And that's why I use less coaches now.

01:19:16.000 He's got his brother in there because I feel like, again, a lot of people have great things to say.

01:19:20.000 But we have to stick to something.

01:19:21.000 I remember working a corner with a wrestling coach.

01:19:24.000 And I'm working on clinch stuff, and he's working on wrestling and taking them down.

01:19:29.000 And I'm like, we're contradicting what we're saying right now.

01:19:31.000 Like, who's talking? 0.95

01:19:32.000 And someone's got to be able to say, shut up.

01:19:34.000 One voice at a time.

01:19:35.000 And you have to have that.

01:19:36.000 You have to have that.

01:19:37.000 You have to have those conversations.

01:19:39.000 So when the Nate Marquardt situation happened, and for people who don't know what happened, Nate was on...

01:19:45.000 There was a time in the UFC, in combat sports, where you were allowed to take TRT. Testosterone, replacement therapy, and we always talk about TRT Vitor, because he was the best example of what could happen when you take an older fighter and you juice him to the gills and then throw him out there like...

01:20:01.000 He was like a fucking alien. 0.98

01:20:03.000 That guy had muscles on his teeth, you know? 1.00

01:20:05.000 There was the times when Vitor was his scariest.

01:20:08.000 The Luke Rockhold fight, the Bisping fight, the Henderson fight. 0.92

01:20:11.000 Like, dude, Vitor was fucking terrifying. 0.94

01:20:15.000 But it was weird that you're letting this guy take testosterone. 0.98

01:20:20.000 And Nate was...

01:20:21.000 They tested him, and they found that his levels were off the charts.

01:20:25.000 And they were like, what are you doing?

01:20:27.000 Like, you can't fight.

01:20:28.000 He got suspended?

01:20:29.000 And then all of a sudden he had a fight again.

01:20:32.000 And they took him off suspension, which is crazy to me.

01:20:35.000 And then he uses his doctor again with the TRT. And I'll tell you one thing, Nate is one of the, again...

01:20:41.000 Being coachable, he's one of the most coachable guys.

01:20:43.000 Sometimes almost over-coachable, because I remember he'd walk around saying, this is the best boxing coach in the world.

01:20:48.000 It doesn't matter who he was, he's the best boxing coach.

01:20:49.000 John Chamber, best conditioning coach.

01:20:51.000 He just believed what you were saying.

01:20:53.000 He's just so trustworthy.

01:20:55.000 And his doctor...

01:20:57.000 He believed in.

01:20:58.000 So freaking much to go, how much?

01:21:00.000 This doctor we couldn't even get a hold of the week of that fight.

01:21:02.000 He wouldn't answer his phone. 0.99

01:21:03.000 He's like, I'm at a lacrosse game and I'm just like, what the fuck is going on? 0.76

01:21:07.000 Like, how do you test the levels? 0.98

01:21:08.000 How do you know how much you're freaking taking?

01:21:10.000 But this was allowed. 1.00

01:21:11.000 That's a big fucking issue. 0.99

01:21:12.000 Yeah, from what I understand, the doctor gave him way more than he was supposed to get. 1.00

01:21:17.000 Yeah, and again, that's a shitty fucking thing. 1.00

01:21:22.000 I couldn't believe how all that shit went down. 0.99

01:21:23.000 A lot of these doctors, especially TRT doctors, in those days, they probably wanted to prove the effectiveness of TRT. They're like, more is better. 0.99

01:21:35.000 Let's fucking fill him up. 1.00

01:21:37.000 Turn him into a fucking silverback. 1.00

01:21:39.000 Let's go! 1.00

01:21:40.000 And then again, you're not told what to take.

01:21:42.000 How much is it?

01:21:43.000 And when you see those guys get off of everything and their bodies deflate, like Vitor when he fought Chris Weidman was like, Jesus Christ, this is weird to see.

01:21:52.000 Yep.

01:21:53.000 And it becomes a mental thing, too, because you need that.

01:21:56.000 Oh, for sure.

01:21:57.000 Again, you have it.

01:21:58.000 And when you can't do it, it's such a mental thing.

01:22:00.000 Again, when you can stay strong mentally, that's why I love this guy. 0.98

01:22:04.000 This guy is so fucking strong mentally that, again, he doesn't need anything fucking else. 0.95

01:22:09.000 And it's the guys like that. 0.99

01:22:10.000 Again, Shane Carlin's best performance. 0.99

01:22:12.000 He had a beer at night, and he was eating nachos going, I don't even know if I'm in a fucking fight. 0.98

01:22:15.000 Because that brainstem thing, and he's eating nachos. 1.00

01:22:17.000 And I'm sitting here going, fucking crazy, motherfucker. 1.00

01:22:19.000 Yeah. 1.00

01:22:19.000 And one of his best performances. 1.00

01:22:21.000 Yeah.

01:22:21.000 Mentally.

01:22:22.000 Because he was okay.

01:22:23.000 This guy worked as an engineer, would drive an hour to the gym at nighttime, train at nighttime, drive all the way back home, grab like a cheeseburger on the way home because he ain't got time to get anything else.

01:22:33.000 Just crazy.

01:22:35.000 That is nuts that he was working full-time.

01:22:37.000 It's crazy.

01:22:38.000 While he was one of the best heavyweights on the planet.

01:22:40.000 On the Ultimate Fighter.

01:22:41.000 When he coached the Ultimate Fighter, he was working.

01:22:43.000 In between workouts, he was doing full work for his engineer job.

01:22:47.000 Really?

01:22:48.000 Just crazy.

01:22:49.000 While he was coaching the Ultimate Fighter?

01:22:50.000 Yep.

01:22:51.000 That's insane.

01:22:52.000 And I remember Dana asked him a quiz job.

01:22:53.000 He was going to pay him more.

01:22:53.000 And he's like, no.

01:22:54.000 He's like, I already got out of the NFL because of an injury.

01:22:57.000 And I know I could get injured at any point.

01:22:59.000 And he's like, no.

01:23:00.000 Smart dude. 0.98

01:23:01.000 Well, he had a fucked up back, right, from football? 0.99

01:23:04.000 Yep. 0.98

01:23:05.000 How bad was it?

01:23:06.000 Very bad.

01:23:07.000 I mean, he got to pre-train for preseason, and then he never went through.

01:23:13.000 And then he started fighting because he had fun when he went to a Ron Waterman fight.

01:23:17.000 Most friends with Ron Waterman jumped in because they needed a opponent.

01:23:20.000 That's crazy that it's okay for fighting, but it wasn't okay for football.

01:23:23.000 No, his back in the Frank Mir fight, his back was so messed up.

01:23:28.000 In the Roy Nelson fight, he had to pull out because of his back.

01:23:31.000 His back was always an issue.

01:23:32.000 He wound up getting surgery on it, right?

01:23:34.000 I'm not too sure.

01:23:35.000 I'm not too sure.

01:23:37.000 A lot of outside stuff too.

01:23:39.000 So after the Nate Marquardt situation, you just started up your own gym?

01:23:44.000 Is that what happened?

01:23:45.000 So all the fighters left.

01:23:47.000 Why'd they leave?

01:23:48.000 Well, we had a manager come in and I had a dispute with the managers and they started managing all the guys.

01:23:53.000 And they wanted to be a part of Grudge.

01:23:55.000 And I didn't want to settle for what they were talking about.

01:23:58.000 And they started training in a different gym.

01:24:00.000 And when me and Nate kind of didn't see eye to eye on it because the way their publicist put something out so I don't do interviews no more.

01:24:07.000 Because I was like, oh, you put my words the wrong way.

01:24:09.000 Like me and Nate talked it out and became friends again.

01:24:11.000 I was like, I had your back.

01:24:12.000 That gray area pissed me off.

01:24:14.000 Like I was like, I had to speak about it.

01:24:15.000 But the way that whole situation was handled, Nate left.

01:24:19.000 Everybody left.

01:24:20.000 I was like, cool, that started with him brand new.

01:24:22.000 I had him, I had Rose.

01:24:24.000 Yeah, the gray area meaning the TRT, where I was pissed.

01:24:27.000 I was like, you guys are going to cut him out and shun him like this and say that he's doing this when you allowed him to take TRT, but there's no way you can tell how much he's taking?

01:24:36.000 It's crazy to me.

01:24:37.000 They can only tell the levels that you have.

01:24:39.000 But you said it's okay again, and then you took them off of suspension for this and then said, all right, cool, everything's back to normal.

01:24:45.000 He's like, oh, doctor, I've got a fight coming up.

01:24:47.000 It's just crazy to me.

01:24:49.000 Like they said, all right, we'll test it after this fight.

01:24:51.000 I'm like, dude, it's just crazy.

01:24:53.000 It's where things, again...

01:24:55.000 That was a very bothersome time for me.

01:24:57.000 But when the whole team left, because Nate left, because we didn't see eye to eye, he was pissed at what I said.

01:25:01.000 And I was standing up for him.

01:25:03.000 I was like, alright, whatever.

01:25:04.000 See it the way you want to see it.

01:25:05.000 And I've always been about my guys.

01:25:08.000 You know, fighter first.

01:25:09.000 And the whole team left.

01:25:10.000 So I was like, once that happened, I was like, man, am I going to go work at Home Depot?

01:25:14.000 What am I going to do? 0.99

01:25:15.000 But I just got a new fucking gym, big ass gym. 1.00

01:25:18.000 He was brand new with me. 1.00

01:25:20.000 Rose was brand new.

01:25:21.000 I was like, I'll start over.

01:25:22.000 Wow.

01:25:23.000 The crazy thing is, I came in through the other manager.

01:25:27.000 Yep.

01:25:27.000 And I only did the year for two years.

01:25:29.000 Right when I was like, fine, fucking leaving Trevor. 1.00

01:25:32.000 You guys are stupid. 1.00

01:25:33.000 Yeah. 1.00

01:25:33.000 I was like, this motherfucker's a genius. 1.00

01:25:35.000 What are you thinking? 1.00

01:25:36.000 And then, thank God they left.

01:25:38.000 Because, yeah, now I got them to myself. 1.00

01:25:41.000 Fuck them. 1.00

01:25:42.000 After my lease was up, I let the gym go and started an equipment company and started focusing on how can I... Because I respect every fighter who fights. 1.00

01:25:51.000 I have so much respect for you getting in there.

01:25:54.000 And as I get older, I get a little softer side to me.

01:25:56.000 Even when we win, I see the other person lose.

01:25:58.000 It's hard for me to celebrate.

01:25:59.000 Seeing them down is a hard thing.

01:26:01.000 Like, cowboy, that was a hard fight for me.

01:26:03.000 I didn't think it would be hard at all.

01:26:04.000 Looking across the cage wasn't hard at all.

01:26:06.000 He's a gangster, and I know we'd still be cool.

01:26:08.000 But when the ref wasn't stopping the fight when he was hitting him with the uppercuts, like, I jumped up on the canvas.

01:26:12.000 Could have caused the disqualification. 0.99

01:26:14.000 Because there's still no real set rule on how do I stop a fucking fight. 0.99

01:26:17.000 It happened in New Mexico. 0.99

01:26:19.000 You can't stop my opponent's fight. 1.00

01:26:21.000 But I jumped up, like, stop the fucking fight. 0.99

01:26:23.000 And then I ended up walking back with Cowboy all the way to the back. 0.99

01:26:26.000 It made me emotional.

01:26:28.000 It's hard.

01:26:28.000 Like, here, we're stopping him.

01:26:30.000 He's on his next title run.

01:26:31.000 And we're stopping him in his tracks, stopping him moving forward.

01:26:35.000 And he's moving forward.

01:26:36.000 Yes, it's my fighter.

01:26:37.000 I want him to move forward and all those things.

01:26:38.000 But with age, it's been harder for me.

01:26:40.000 And again, I respect every person who gets out there and inspires people.

01:26:43.000 So I started sewing in the gym and then I moved into my basement and I was like, you know what?

01:26:47.000 I want to start something new.

01:26:47.000 I want to be able to help every athlete out there that goes out there and risks their lives.

01:26:50.000 So I started making equipment.

01:26:52.000 And with my injuries, I just couldn't coach big guys anymore. 0.98

01:26:56.000 My body was so fucked up all the time.

01:26:59.000 What kind of injuries do you have? 0.99

01:27:00.000 I've had all sorts of injuries, dude.

01:27:02.000 Elbows and wrists.

01:27:04.000 When you're drinking a beer with a straw, you're at the bar and you're drinking with a straw and you can't pick it up because you've got the mashed potato head and what is good for mixing. 0.97

01:27:11.000 Your wrist is that fucked up? 0.98

01:27:13.000 Oh, dude, my hands are so bad. 0.99

01:27:14.000 So look at how my hand opens.

01:27:16.000 It's not dented from taking punches.

01:27:20.000 I just believe it's from me trying to squeeze onto mitts because I got small hands and you got no left or right when it comes to a mitt.

01:27:26.000 And I'm holding mitts on trying not to let them fly across the room.

01:27:28.000 I think it's just created my ligaments and my hand is shaped that way.

01:27:32.000 Whoa.

01:27:33.000 Isn't that crazy?

01:27:34.000 But my forearms are so bad all the time.

01:27:35.000 So your hand doesn't look flat now.

01:27:36.000 Not at all.

01:27:37.000 Isn't that crazy?

01:27:38.000 It keeps a cup.

01:27:39.000 Like I'd go in the hot tub and push my fingers and try to separate them and it'd be like the most painful thing ever.

01:27:44.000 But elbow issues on the inside of my forearms.

01:27:47.000 People don't realize how hard it is holding mitts, especially for big guys.

01:27:50.000 Body punches, like my chest bone clicks now because of him.

01:27:54.000 I just can't take chest shots.

01:27:55.000 But I started making equipment because I needed it. 0.99

01:27:57.000 I was like, I needed to make shit out there because you don't... 0.96

01:28:01.000 I'd had sponsorships by companies. 0.98

01:28:02.000 They'd send me mitts and they're like, give us some feedback.

01:28:04.000 And I'd be like, the colors are cool.

01:28:07.000 I would cut them open and re-foam them.

01:28:09.000 And I'd been doing this for 15 years, re-foaming.

01:28:12.000 I'd go find different foams because I needed something to soft take the shock off.

01:28:15.000 But you needed something a little bit dense to keep the bone from bone and happening.

01:28:18.000 You do the whole deal, right?

01:28:20.000 With sewing machines and everything.

01:28:21.000 I took my mom's sewing machine.

01:28:22.000 I said, can I borrow your sewing machine?

01:28:23.000 And I tried to make a mitt that had a left and a right that I wouldn't have to squeeze my hands to hold on to because my hands are so weak.

01:28:28.000 And after two sessions, I was like, dude, I can't even hold the mitts.

01:28:31.000 Wow.

01:28:31.000 The kicks I couldn't even hold onto the tie pads.

01:28:33.000 It was freaking crazy.

01:28:34.000 So it started by need.

01:28:35.000 And then I'd be at fights and all these high-level coaches are like, where'd you get that?

01:28:38.000 I'm like, I made that one.

01:28:39.000 I remember the first pair of mitts I made, they're so ugly.

01:28:42.000 I went to Joann Fabrics and got some materials and made these mitts.

01:28:45.000 And every coach in my gym was like, dude, I want a pair.

01:28:48.000 And I was like, cool, pay for the materials.

01:28:49.000 I'll make you some.

01:28:50.000 And man, all of a sudden I'm like a year out from these custom stuff.

01:28:55.000 And I'm an artist at heart.

01:28:56.000 So once I started learning how to sew, I'm starting to learn materials.

01:29:00.000 It just went crazy from an equipment coaching standpoint.

01:29:04.000 And then I was like, you know what?

01:29:04.000 I need to release something for the fighters.

01:29:07.000 And the hand issues and the training issues that I was always dealing with, almost all the time my fighters were going into fights, they were injured.

01:29:14.000 They were going into fights injured.

01:29:16.000 And that's common.

01:29:17.000 You can talk to anybody.

01:29:18.000 They're going into fights injured, and they have to because they're not going to get paid if they're not fighting.

01:29:22.000 And they're like, instantly, I could name a guy who's had how many surgeries, and he continues to fight with bad injuries, and he's like, well, I'll get a surgery afterwards.

01:29:31.000 And he's fighting off adrenaline, but how many times?

01:29:33.000 Like the Shane Carlin fight.

01:29:34.000 Going into it injured, able to perform, and I was a psychologist.

01:29:38.000 And once I started doing this equipment...

01:29:41.000 It clicked.

01:29:41.000 Everybody's like, yeah, we need better stuff.

01:29:43.000 We need stuff that's made for MMA. We need MMA equipment. 1.00

01:29:47.000 It's crazy to me.

01:29:48.000 There's a picture of you back in the day where you had this headgear on that was small, just covered in your forehead. 0.95

01:29:53.000 And I'm like, why are people wearing these big ass headgears?

01:29:56.000 That's like old school. 0.91

01:29:57.000 When they made boxing headgears, people think boxing headgear is safe.

01:30:00.000 It is not safe.

01:30:01.000 You're putting heavier weight on your head that blocks your vision.

01:30:04.000 And if you can't see a shot coming...

01:30:07.000 And you knocked me with that heavier weight on there.

01:30:09.000 You're causing way more linear damage to me.

01:30:12.000 Think about when you're at that park.

01:30:14.000 I always think about the little springs with the dinosaur on it.

01:30:16.000 My daughter gets on it and just bounces back and forth. 1.00

01:30:18.000 But if I get on it, I hang down.

01:30:20.000 Remember how Mike Tyson used to wear that real thin head gear?

01:30:22.000 Same deal.

01:30:23.000 Totally.

01:30:23.000 Just to prevent cuts.

01:30:25.000 It's all we need.

01:30:26.000 I wear it a month out.

01:30:27.000 And in MMA, like MMA is not the norm to have headgear on.

01:30:30.000 It's not, because you grapple, you do all these different things.

01:30:32.000 So you get the clip in the way, you can't do any type of grappling with it.

01:30:35.000 So I'm on a mission to create all this new stuff again, just evolve.

01:30:39.000 And it's never going to be better, but each time get a little better, a little better, a little better.

01:30:42.000 The UFC glove, the one that Rashad brought on, the glove is the same in the UFC. It's still the Wano pattern.

01:30:49.000 Remember the Wano glove.

01:30:50.000 The only thing they did different is the skirt. 0.98

01:30:53.000 They used to have a skirt. 1.00

01:30:53.000 It was a pain he has to get on. 1.00

01:30:55.000 Shane Carwin, I remember, we had to cut into his gloves one time, and that's why that was changed.

01:30:59.000 Shane's Carwin hand was so big that they had to change the glove size because Brock was a 4X. Then we had to make a 5X, but they actually opened up the skirt because of that.

01:31:08.000 Because Shane Carwin, we actually allowed the commission, allowed us to cut it open.

01:31:12.000 But when it comes to the glove, I can't even say it's the worst glove.

01:31:16.000 It's really the only glove.

01:31:18.000 They did have the Pride gloves that were really good.

01:31:20.000 They were better.

01:31:22.000 It's the worst part of the night for me when I fight is putting those gloves on.

01:31:27.000 If you start getting a burning in your forearms, just to make a fist, you're constantly fighting against yourself just to make a fist.

01:31:33.000 It's constantly pulling you open.

01:31:34.000 Because the natural thing for these gloves is to keep your hand open.

01:31:36.000 It makes no sense.

01:31:38.000 It pulls you here.

01:31:38.000 And then to make it, you literally have to strain the whole time with your forearms.

01:31:42.000 Everyone complains.

01:31:44.000 Do you mind if I run around to the side of the table with you?

01:31:46.000 No, no, no.

01:31:47.000 Go ahead.

01:31:49.000 That's, yeah, that's one of the ones.

01:31:52.000 I think I knocked out a cowboy with that one. 0.88

01:31:55.000 This is the UFC glove.

01:31:57.000 Yep.

01:31:58.000 So that's the UFC glove.

01:31:59.000 Can you take off your watch so I can, because the strap is key.

01:32:04.000 And so yours are the other ones?

01:32:06.000 The white ones are yours?

01:32:07.000 Yes, these are mine, so let's put that on so I can explain something.

01:32:14.000 So this is what happens with fighters and anybody who's worn and fought with gloves like this.

01:32:21.000 They put this on, they get this strap on, and they also have a hand wrap underneath this.

01:32:26.000 So what happens is when you go to make a fist, Go ahead and make a fist.

01:32:31.000 Notice that it's hard to do this.

01:32:33.000 And when you do this, you start getting a lot of pressure in between your fingers here.

01:32:36.000 And that's a huge thing that Fighters Field...

01:32:38.000 What's his name?

01:32:40.000 Robin Rowe actually has a...

01:32:41.000 He's one of the cut men.

01:32:43.000 He has a wood tool that's the end of a hammer that stretches these out because the pressure it puts right here.

01:32:48.000 Okay, it's also hard to make a grip.

01:32:51.000 So when you go to make a grip here, it's tough because it's a gardening glove.

01:32:55.000 It's got all these straight finger pieces here, so you're packing all this material here.

01:32:58.000 And then as you squeeze it, it's hard.

01:33:00.000 It's hard.

01:33:01.000 Constantly, you have to use your forearms.

01:33:03.000 So your forearms at the end of the fight, that's what everybody talks about.

01:33:05.000 It's this.

01:33:06.000 I haven't had the experience.

01:33:08.000 Turning over your punches is where it really gets you.

01:33:10.000 So when you put this on, and I want to kind of explain this as a right hand.

01:33:13.000 Oh, okay.

01:33:14.000 So I actually made space back here for the hand wrap.

01:33:25.000 Now there's a strapping system that goes down inside this.

01:33:28.000 So when I pull on this, you'll notice this piece right here actually pulls on this.

01:33:32.000 There's no fingers, so it's easy to grab onto.

01:33:35.000 There's space for the hand wrap, but this strap is actually connected here with a seat belt type of material that pulls on the back of the metacarpals.

01:33:42.000 So when I pull on this...

01:33:44.000 You'll actually feel it lock up on the back of your hand.

01:33:46.000 Oh, this is way better.

01:33:47.000 And then, when you wrap like this, there is no grabbing of the gloves, so you're not going to be able to grab like with the Velcro.

01:33:54.000 It puts you in such a comfortable hand, but it's a normal position.

01:33:58.000 Have you brought these to the UFC? I have.

01:34:00.000 I've been speaking...

01:34:03.000 You showed me these quite a while ago, and I said it before, and I think you've improved on them, but this is far superior.

01:34:10.000 Dana loved the gloves.

01:34:11.000 He was blown away by them when he'd seen them.

01:34:14.000 This is way better.

01:34:15.000 He liked the lace-up.

01:34:16.000 It's so much more comfortable.

01:34:17.000 The issue is they're with a company called Diaco.

01:34:20.000 That's the one who makes the manufacturing products, and they wanted to own the technology, because all of our stuff is patented.

01:34:25.000 I've went through the patenting processes.

01:34:27.000 I've put six years... 1.00

01:34:27.000 So the company that makes the UFC gloves wants to own your shit. 1.00

01:34:31.000 Completely. 1.00

01:34:32.000 No, they don't want to own it.

01:34:34.000 The UFC wants to own it.

01:34:36.000 So the thing is with it is, again, I feel like I want to bring this to all organizations, but that's not really the real issue.

01:34:41.000 The finger pokes is one thing.

01:34:42.000 At least you're getting paid.

01:34:44.000 To do what you do.

01:34:45.000 But just this right here where it's not forcing your hand open.

01:34:48.000 Your grip is so good.

01:34:50.000 So much better.

01:34:51.000 So notice the spot on the side too.

01:34:53.000 The pointer knuckle.

01:34:54.000 Oh yeah, protected, which is huge.

01:34:55.000 You remember when Rhonda fought Sarah McMahon?

01:34:59.000 She actually cut her knuckle right here. 1.00

01:35:01.000 It was crazy to me.

01:35:02.000 Underneath the hand wrap and everything, but the glove sits up above your hand, so you don't protect that or hammer fists.

01:35:09.000 And again, being able to shape to the...

01:35:10.000 That's the lead break in our sport.

01:35:12.000 Yeah.

01:35:12.000 Boxers is the fourth and fifth metacarpal and MMA is the first metacarpal.

01:35:17.000 Yeah.

01:35:17.000 Because of the distance.

01:35:18.000 Because of the thumb and...

01:35:19.000 So the first and second.

01:35:20.000 This is so superior.

01:35:22.000 It is.

01:35:22.000 It's a great glove.

01:35:23.000 But again, it's the training issues that I was focused on.

01:35:25.000 I didn't need...

01:35:26.000 Like, when I heard they needed a glove, I was like, cool, I can make a glove for them.

01:35:28.000 So I made a glove.

01:35:29.000 That's actually how I made my wallet because...

01:35:32.000 I was like, all right, let me think through this.

01:35:33.000 I cut their gloves.

01:35:34.000 You've seen it a few times, but I cut their glove up to see what foam they're using.

01:35:39.000 I mean, there's technology foam out there, and it's crazy that our sport is not using any type of technology foam.

01:35:45.000 It's crazy.

01:35:45.000 So what is technology foam and what is this foam?

01:35:48.000 So it's made for contact.

01:35:49.000 It's made to take contact.

01:35:51.000 Not like what you sit on, like a pad that you sit on.

01:35:54.000 And that's what this is?

01:35:55.000 No.

01:35:55.000 That's EBA foam.

01:35:56.000 The UFC stuff.

01:35:57.000 Yes, it's... 1.00

01:35:58.000 The UFC foam is the shit you sit on. 1.00

01:36:00.000 So... 0.99

01:36:00.000 This is not designed for hitting things. 0.99

01:36:02.000 Is that what you're saying?

01:36:02.000 It's not designed for hitting things.

01:36:04.000 Again, it's up to the manufacturer to be able to produce.

01:36:06.000 But again, that's not a huge thing.

01:36:08.000 Again, in the fight, you want to have...

01:36:10.000 So much better for your hand.

01:36:11.000 For your hand.

01:36:12.000 I mean, this is...

01:36:14.000 It's not your day. 0.99

01:36:15.000 So again, I don't want to talk shit about their gloves. 0.98

01:36:18.000 They don't know what they don't know. 1.00

01:36:19.000 Please, talk shit about their gloves. 0.99

01:36:19.000 No, the thing is, is the injuries in training. 0.99

01:36:22.000 Like, the training injuries drive me freaking crazy.

01:36:24.000 And we're not using those gloves.

01:36:25.000 It's all these gloves out there that you're getting for $60.

01:36:28.000 If you're buying a glove for $60, it's getting made for probably five, six, seven bucks.

01:36:33.000 Like, it's crazy to me, the stuff that I'm cutting open, the gloves that say 16 ounces on them, that weigh 11 ounces.

01:36:40.000 I gotta show you a glove.

01:36:42.000 Right and left never wears the same.

01:36:44.000 Right's always lighter.

01:36:46.000 If anybody's out there, I recommend you start weighing all your gloves to see what they weigh.

01:36:51.000 It blows my mind.

01:36:52.000 Me being a gym owner, do you have to sign a waiver to come into my gym?

01:36:55.000 It's crazy.

01:36:55.000 Crazy to me that gloves don't...

01:36:57.000 They're cookie cutter tags.

01:36:59.000 No one's checking this.

01:37:00.000 There's no quality checking when you're sparring with things.

01:37:04.000 Well, your boxing gloves are amazing, too.

01:37:06.000 They really are excellent.

01:37:09.000 Oh, that's crazy.

01:37:10.000 Okay.

01:37:11.000 So that was from season 10 with the heavyweights.

01:37:15.000 So it's supposed to be how many ounces?

01:37:17.000 16. It's 11 ounces.

01:37:20.000 Wow.

01:37:21.000 Not for the heavyweights to spar with.

01:37:22.000 That's crazy.

01:37:23.000 That's not good.

01:37:24.000 That's a professional fight glove.

01:37:25.000 That's not good.

01:37:26.000 But just the contour of these, I think, would take out a lot of eye pokes.

01:37:30.000 It would take out a lot of eye pokes. 0.82

01:37:32.000 The fact that your hand is naturally pulling open on the UFC glove, it sort of lends itself to these eye pokes.

01:37:38.000 And you get to perform better.

01:37:39.000 Like, if your hand can stay in a better position, my forearm isn't getting bent out of shape.

01:37:43.000 Plus, with your gloves like this, so if my glove is pulling my hand back like this, it's like doing a push-up on my door docking knuckles.

01:37:49.000 Right.

01:37:50.000 I have no leverage.

01:37:51.000 Right, right, right.

01:37:51.000 It's going to help performance.

01:37:53.000 Of course.

01:37:54.000 I'm more about the performance when it comes to the fight glove.

01:37:57.000 When it comes to the training stuff, it's about getting to the fight healthy and not having to pull out of a fight.

01:38:01.000 So explain to me the issue of getting this passed through because this is the best glove for MMA for sure.

01:38:06.000 So there was a few issues.

01:38:08.000 Have you tested it?

01:38:09.000 And I said, all right, listen, your glove's never been tested.

01:38:12.000 What has it been tested with?

01:38:13.000 That's another issue that just boggles me that our equipment has never been tested.

01:38:17.000 NFL, you go to any other sport league, All equipment is tested.

01:38:21.000 Snowboarding, skiing.

01:38:22.000 I think everybody looks at this stuff, especially when it comes to putting stuff on.

01:38:26.000 You're a fighter.

01:38:26.000 Oh, you've got to deal with head concussions.

01:38:28.000 You've got to deal with this.

01:38:28.000 Well, football, they're playing a game.

01:38:30.000 You know, how many times are they testing stuff in other sports?

01:38:34.000 But look at our injury rate.

01:38:35.000 We have 70% of injuries are happening in training.

01:38:38.000 Not the fight.

01:38:39.000 That's crazy.

01:38:39.000 You have no equipment on in the fight.

01:38:41.000 And more injuries are happening in training.

01:38:44.000 That blows my mind.

01:38:45.000 Hmm.

01:38:46.000 Well, it's because you're training a lot more than you're fighting.

01:38:49.000 Yeah, but again, like you think about football, like I've had someone tell me, hey, but they stop hitting in practice.

01:38:54.000 And I'm like, yeah, but you play every week.

01:38:56.000 So you're fighting every week.

01:38:58.000 So it's a whole different thing.

01:38:59.000 You need to be able to spar to know that you can make the right decisions in that hurricane to be able to know that you're conditioned to fight.

01:39:04.000 So again, you have to be able to train like that.

01:39:07.000 Some of the biggest injuries I've seen in training are like someone getting hit with a knee when they don't have a knee pad on.

01:39:13.000 If you want to kick someone shooting down, they hit the knee.

01:39:15.000 Josh Copeland ended up getting 17 stitches in my gym because the other guy didn't have a knee pad on.

01:39:21.000 Like, where are the standards when it comes to training?

01:39:24.000 That's a huge thing, too, is you got guys coming in and going, oh man, I've just got hand-me-down equipment.

01:39:29.000 It's been used for four years.

01:39:31.000 The foam's broken down.

01:39:32.000 Again, why is headgear used?

01:39:34.000 To stop cuts so you can get to the fight.

01:39:36.000 Do you make a knee pad as well?

01:39:40.000 So I've been testing.

01:39:41.000 I've had the same...

01:39:42.000 So this is the headgear.

01:39:43.000 That's your headgear.

01:39:44.000 No clip, so you can grapple.

01:39:46.000 Oh.

01:39:46.000 It's like super cool.

01:39:48.000 Here, I'll give you one to feel the...

01:39:49.000 Okay, so Velcro's on the top.

01:39:51.000 So feel the weight behind this.

01:39:52.000 Uh-huh.

01:39:54.000 Oh, wow.

01:39:55.000 It's super light.

01:39:57.000 Yeah, that's great.

01:39:58.000 That's perfect in terms of the amount of protection, too.

01:40:01.000 Like, it's not delusional.

01:40:03.000 It's like it's not keeping you from...

01:40:05.000 It's to stop cuts.

01:40:05.000 Yeah.

01:40:06.000 Simply to stop cuts.

01:40:08.000 I run into an elbow, I run into a hip, I run into a knee.

01:40:11.000 I bet you can see way better with this, huh?

01:40:12.000 Yeah.

01:40:12.000 There's no blind spots.

01:40:14.000 That's why I make the angles like I do on this headgear.

01:40:16.000 So if you look at the one with our funny-looking mannequin, you're going to see you lose no vision with it.

01:40:21.000 Yeah, no, you can tell.

01:40:23.000 Oh, that's so much better.

01:40:25.000 Oh, that's amazing.

01:40:26.000 Yeah, you don't have any peripheral problems.

01:40:29.000 There's no blind spots.

01:40:30.000 That's excellent.

01:40:31.000 The foam that we're using is...

01:40:32.000 This is what I'm talking about.

01:40:34.000 Technology foam.

01:40:35.000 Feel this.

01:40:37.000 Okay.

01:40:39.000 As opposed to what other kind of foam?

01:40:41.000 EVA foam is in, I'd say, 95% of head years.

01:40:45.000 And is it just cheaper?

01:40:46.000 It's just cheaper, yes.

01:40:47.000 It's cheaper.

01:40:47.000 You're not going to find carpet padding.

01:40:49.000 You're going to find...

01:40:50.000 See the bounce, the recoil?

01:40:52.000 This absorbs energy.

01:40:54.000 This is what he's talking about in...

01:40:57.000 Oh, that's crazy.

01:40:58.000 Think of water.

01:40:59.000 So let's explain this for people that are just listening.

01:41:01.000 He had this one foam, the UVA Cheaper Foam, and Justin's dropping, what is that, a ball bearing or something?

01:41:07.000 Yeah, just a marble, big marble.

01:41:09.000 Large marble.

01:41:10.000 And then it hits that cheap foam and it bounces like crazy.

01:41:14.000 But when it hits the technology foam, it stops dead in its tracks because it completely absorbs the impact.

01:41:19.000 Think about water.

01:41:20.000 The faster you hit it, the more you...

01:41:22.000 The more...

01:41:24.000 The faster you'll stop.

01:41:25.000 If you go into it slow, you just kind of slide through it.

01:41:27.000 So that stuff you feel, it feels like NASA foam, like super, super soft.

01:41:31.000 It sticks to your head, doesn't move around, so it forms to your head.

01:41:34.000 Drop the bigger ball in there.

01:41:36.000 That's crazy.

01:41:37.000 Now drop it on one of those other ones.

01:41:39.000 It'll actually pinch the foam through it and cause damage to it.

01:41:42.000 So you think about gloves.

01:41:43.000 How many times are you hitting something?

01:41:45.000 And in boxing, you're not allowed to spar with the gloves you're hitting bags with because you break the foams in.

01:41:51.000 Right.

01:41:51.000 And again, it's just crazy to me.

01:41:53.000 There's no new technologies when it comes to these types of things.

01:41:56.000 Even if...

01:41:57.000 I don't know what kind of pad is under where we fight, but if something was there to absorb the energy when we got knocked out and our head hit the back, I would assume it would be better for us.

01:42:06.000 Yeah.

01:42:07.000 Health-wise.

01:42:07.000 Yeah.

01:42:08.000 All these things.

01:42:09.000 So with shin guards, most people deal with the injury on the instep.

01:42:13.000 So when the shin guard is made, you have this instep and you got this soft spot on the weakest part of your foot.

01:42:18.000 Knee checks is like one of the biggest injuries.

01:42:20.000 So many ligaments. 0.93

01:42:21.000 And again, all the time, your feet are like, ah, damn, I got checked right on that spot.

01:42:24.000 I'm actually making gear that has a boot back behind it. 0.78

01:42:29.000 So that protects that spot.

01:42:31.000 So you'll see it pop out.

01:42:33.000 So it's foamed back behind where you actually zip in.

01:42:36.000 So that's all protected on the soft spot.

01:42:38.000 And I have not found a shin guard out there.

01:42:42.000 90% of shin guards aren't left or right either.

01:42:43.000 You kind of just get foam into your body.

01:42:45.000 You look at the straps and say, which way do they go?

01:42:47.000 And another pet peeve of mine, when I'm a coach and I've got a world-class athlete and they're stopping every time they throw a kick to say, hey, man, let me fix my shin guard.

01:42:54.000 It's turning.

01:42:54.000 Yes.

01:42:55.000 Drives me freaking crazy.

01:42:56.000 Right.

01:42:57.000 So I made shin guards.

01:42:57.000 It's actually going to fit, not turn on.

01:42:59.000 You cover your toes, actually have flex where your toe goes.

01:43:02.000 You can adjust the bottom.

01:43:04.000 It's zipping in the boot area, so there's no sliding.

01:43:07.000 Like, just again, rethinking how things are made.

01:43:09.000 Kneepads.

01:43:10.000 Knee pads protecting on the side, so if I go to throw a knee, I'm not going to hit you with the side.

01:43:14.000 These guys are using volleyball knee pad guards.

01:43:17.000 It just drives me crazy.

01:43:18.000 Like, world class sport!

01:43:19.000 World class!

01:43:20.000 And nothing has changed.

01:43:22.000 So that's what I've been doing in my basement, having a blast doing. 0.98

01:43:25.000 Just creating this new shit to keep guys lasting long. 0.98

01:43:28.000 I'm the tester. 0.99

01:43:30.000 I'm serious.

01:43:31.000 I have not been hurt in five years in training.

01:43:33.000 It's super cool.

01:43:35.000 I have forgot my shin guards two times, I believe.

01:43:38.000 And putting other ones on, I feel so vulnerable when I'm wearing them.

01:43:43.000 There's no comparison.

01:43:45.000 And I sound biased, but top-level athletes, when they put this on, it's...

01:43:50.000 We sell out every time, and elite athletes are using our stuff, which is super, super cool.

01:43:54.000 Try this pad on.

01:43:55.000 Don't say what's inside of it.

01:43:56.000 You might sound biased, but I think you're right.

01:43:59.000 I think you're telling the truth. 0.99

01:44:01.000 Look, just the quality of this shit. 0.99

01:44:03.000 I mean, Trevor, you sent me some of this stuff before, and I've raved about it. 0.99

01:44:06.000 It's excellent.

01:44:07.000 Did you heat it up?

01:44:09.000 Did you heat mold the foam?

01:44:10.000 No.

01:44:11.000 I didn't think I explained that to you.

01:44:13.000 I just kind of said it about to you.

01:44:14.000 How do I heat it up?

01:44:14.000 You put a hair dryer in there for four minutes to watch what happens, dude.

01:44:17.000 Fucking crazy. 0.99

01:44:19.000 But I made those handles. 0.99

01:44:20.000 Then you put your hand in there.

01:44:22.000 It kind of forms.

01:44:23.000 It has like a moldable foam, our base layer.

01:44:26.000 So you did this because of all the problems you were having with your hands or something?

01:44:30.000 Yeah, so now I wanted something I could just hang on.

01:44:32.000 Like, I feel like I can hang on something a long time like this.

01:44:35.000 And the handle on a tie pad is hard for me to grip with weak hands.

01:44:39.000 Isn't that crazy?

01:44:40.000 Super cool.

01:44:40.000 Do you make these a longer form for kicking?

01:44:43.000 I make everything two forms.

01:44:46.000 So all of the gear that we sell, we custom make two sizes.

01:44:49.000 So we separate the foot size because you think like Rashad Evans.

01:44:52.000 Rashad Evans has a fat calf.

01:44:54.000 And he has real short legs.

01:44:56.000 So he has to get the extra larges where it comes up where he can't wear knee pads because the shin guards are this high. 0.99

01:45:00.000 And then he's got this foot pad that doesn't fit his big ass foot. 0.98

01:45:04.000 Like he's got an awkward size. 0.99

01:45:05.000 So we're shaping everything.

01:45:06.000 We actually went to the UFC. We're doing 3D scans.

01:45:09.000 And we shape the equipment to you.

01:45:11.000 Super freaking cool.

01:45:12.000 So explain to me again why the UFC doesn't adopt this glove.

01:45:14.000 I love you.

01:45:16.000 I spent two years there.

01:45:18.000 And again, Dana gets it.

01:45:21.000 I don't want to sell this to the UFC. I would much rather give it to Dana.

01:45:24.000 I feel like Dana helped grow this industry, what it is.

01:45:27.000 But they're not Zufa no more. 0.99

01:45:28.000 They're a different company.

01:45:30.000 And again, it's very hard.

01:45:32.000 I'm speaking, like you were talking earlier, I speak a language they can't understand. 0.74

01:45:35.000 They don't know.

01:45:36.000 You don't know what you don't know.

01:45:38.000 They don't understand the issues that I deal with.

01:45:40.000 So when you say they, are you talking about the owners?

01:45:42.000 No, I'm talking about the people who handle the deals.

01:45:45.000 They don't sit back in the locker rooms and deal with what goes on with the fight gloves, how your arms get tired. 0.98

01:45:50.000 They don't even know their gloves suck. 0.99

01:45:50.000 They have no idea their gloves suck. 0.99

01:45:52.000 They have no idea. 0.98

01:45:53.000 They don't have to know.

01:45:54.000 Why would they?

01:45:56.000 They're like, well look, we put on this fight.

01:45:58.000 Max Holloway and Volkanovski, they wore the regular gloves.

01:46:00.000 We're fine.

01:46:03.000 Every single fighter has a complaint about your gloves.

01:46:05.000 These are so much better.

01:46:06.000 So they wanted to own the technology, and that technology that I have, the internal strapping system, is actually a technology that can go into any sport and is used in all my equipment.

01:46:14.000 So I was like, dude, I can't just do that for the fight glove.

01:46:17.000 And again, I want this in all organizations.

01:46:19.000 Right.

01:46:21.000 But my goal is the training aspect first.

01:46:24.000 Again, I want to help the fighters get to the fight.

01:46:26.000 That's key.

01:46:26.000 They've got to get paid.

01:46:27.000 When you order our shin guards, they come by your shoe size, by your shin length.

01:46:32.000 You're going to get a video.

01:46:34.000 It's going to tell you how to give us your measurements.

01:46:35.000 You're going to get a custom fit.

01:46:37.000 Think about Tim Means, Deron Wynn.

01:46:39.000 It's just such crazy.

01:46:40.000 We did 3D scans.

01:46:41.000 Who was there?

01:46:42.000 Because I wasn't there for a day.

01:46:43.000 We have a 3D body scan.

01:46:45.000 Right now, we're currently scanning all UFC athletes that want to get scanned.

01:46:49.000 Because we want to test it with them.

01:46:50.000 And we're going to give them a fight kit.

01:46:52.000 It's going to be shin guard, headgear, 7-ounce gloves.

01:46:55.000 I didn't bring you my 7-ounce gloves to show you.

01:46:56.000 It's very sweet.

01:46:57.000 16-ounce gloves and a pair of 4-ounce MMA. So the 7-ounce gloves are bag gloves?

01:47:03.000 I use those as MMA gloves.

01:47:06.000 We spar two times a week.

01:47:07.000 One day is a 16-ounce glove, one day is MMA sparring.

01:47:10.000 So we use 7-ounce gloves.

01:47:11.000 And what is this weight?

01:47:12.000 Is this 4?

01:47:12.000 That's 4 ounces.

01:47:13.000 That's a 5 glove.

01:47:14.000 That one's actually the same as the other one.

01:47:16.000 The 5.8 ounces.

01:47:18.000 This seems like it protects your knuckles so much better.

01:47:20.000 Totally.

01:47:21.000 We go back to the 4-ounce gloves.

01:47:23.000 Again, everybody thinks every UFC glove is 4 ounces.

01:47:25.000 You're going from 5X to extra small.

01:47:28.000 So you're going from about 8-point-something ounces all the way down to like 2.9 ounces for the...

01:47:36.000 For flyweights.

01:47:37.000 Yeah, flyweights, yep.

01:47:38.000 This is amazing.

01:47:39.000 This is really good.

01:47:40.000 So what has to be done?

01:47:42.000 Seems like someone needs to put some pressure on somebody.

01:47:45.000 Well, again, when it comes to testing things, like we're testing things, you've got to see the testing that we're doing. 0.52

01:47:50.000 It's super fucking cool.

01:47:52.000 I've got data collectors right here. 0.89

01:47:55.000 Check out this hand that we got.

01:47:56.000 It's got sensor points on it.

01:47:59.000 To be able to tell the Force.

01:48:01.000 Because they were like, do you have it tested?

01:48:03.000 Fake hand.

01:48:04.000 Yeah, so it's a rubber hand with sensors in it to be able to test.

01:48:07.000 So we're testing everything because they were like, have you tested it?

01:48:10.000 Have you approved it?

01:48:11.000 I'm like, what am I testing against?

01:48:12.000 Like, what do you guys want me to test against?

01:48:14.000 What does that mean?

01:48:16.000 Are you testing it?

01:48:17.000 Listen.

01:48:18.000 This is super cool, too.

01:48:18.000 Give it to a fighter.

01:48:19.000 Tell him to put it on.

01:48:20.000 Do you like it?

01:48:20.000 Yeah, this is better.

01:48:21.000 Listen to him.

01:48:22.000 That's the test.

01:48:23.000 So this is pretty cool.

01:48:24.000 Move to the right.

01:48:25.000 Okay.

01:48:25.000 So those are x-rays with gloves on, so you can kind of see how I think.

01:48:28.000 I know what a glove feels like on the inside.

01:48:31.000 Almost all boxing gloves have you in a door-knocking knuckle position, and there's so much floating space.

01:48:39.000 Wait till you see the X-Factor glove in there.

01:48:40.000 Look at the foam.

01:48:41.000 It's so cool how it supports around your hand.

01:48:44.000 Are these your wraps?

01:48:45.000 Yeah, those are wraps that I actually stepped away from because we put the straps inside the gloves.

01:48:50.000 Now we don't need wraps.

01:48:51.000 You don't use wraps?

01:48:53.000 I haven't used wraps in three years.

01:48:54.000 So let me talk about this real quick.

01:48:56.000 Okay.

01:48:57.000 Even for heavy bag gloves?

01:48:58.000 Nothing.

01:48:59.000 I would never tell anybody that back in the day because I'd be like, when I was fighting, I was like...

01:49:04.000 Where are the wraps or these are the wraps that are now inside the gloves?

01:49:06.000 Those are wraps.

01:49:07.000 How I started Onyx was I started with hand wraps outside of my equipment that I was doing.

01:49:12.000 I was like, all right, what can I bring to market?

01:49:13.000 So I started a patent on hand wraps.

01:49:16.000 And with this patent, it came into the gloves. 0.88

01:49:18.000 I was like, well, fuck, if I can make gloves that have support system in it, because you think about what do you need a hand wrap for? 0.96

01:49:23.000 And I'm not talking a professional hand wrap that you fight in. 0.99

01:49:26.000 I'm talking about the 120-inch wrap that gets tangled up in your laundry and stinks up your gloves when you put them on.

01:49:33.000 This wrap that I was doing, I was able to put inside the glove.

01:49:36.000 And if I'm able to make a glove fit in a size so the strapping pulls the glove down to shrink against your hand, if I have a glove that's too big, I've always had small hands, and when I have this extra space, I go to hit him, he bobs it and weaves his head, and my hand does this, And tweaks because the glove is this much longer on this side, I start to cause hand problems.

01:49:54.000 Okay, when I'm wrapping my hands, all I'm doing is adding more material in the ball of my hand here.

01:49:59.000 So if I were grabbing onto something, the more material I have in between my hand, let me see that foam real quick, yellow foam.

01:50:07.000 So if I have...

01:50:09.000 So when you're putting wrap on and you've got material inside your hand here, Joe, I've also got the material from the gloves.

01:50:15.000 So the more the material I put inside my hand here, I stop getting my natural fist.

01:50:20.000 Right.

01:50:20.000 I start to get this.

01:50:22.000 And that causes my leverage points to start causing injuries.

01:50:25.000 If you have ligament injuries, it's because you don't have any flex behind, so I can't pack my fist, so I'm stretching my fingers.

01:50:32.000 If I'm not lining my strong bones up, meaning my metacarpals down with my strong bone, I'm not getting the correct alignment in my fist.

01:50:39.000 If I start going to my door knocking knuckles, I'm not lining my wrist up.

01:50:43.000 For people who are just listening to this too, Trevor has a whole series of x-rays of a person's hand inside regular gloves and then inside his gloves.

01:50:52.000 And it shows you that with the Onyx gloves, you're getting a flat knuckle at the top.

01:50:57.000 So it would be just like balling your fist with nothing in your hand and punching someone with the knuckles as opposed to, like you said, hitting them with that door knock.

01:51:06.000 We have a tiny, tiny, because again, this is not good, but any kind of flex here is going to cause ligament damage.

01:51:15.000 So Rose would not go without wraps.

01:51:17.000 She would not go without wraps.

01:51:18.000 And then after six months of using the gloves, she's like, I'm going to try it without wraps.

01:51:22.000 She didn't have a fight schedule, but I always recommend, hey man, change is hard for a lot of people.

01:51:27.000 I would never have done it when I was fighting.

01:51:29.000 Do they force you to wrap your hands in the UFC? No.

01:51:31.000 You're not forced to.

01:51:32.000 I mean, they're going to send a cut man to you.

01:51:33.000 Now, a professional hand wrap is different because when I get a professional hand wrap on, there's a little space of material.

01:51:39.000 So it's like grabbing onto a finger.

01:51:41.000 Right.

01:51:41.000 That's great.

01:51:42.000 I got a little bit of grip.

01:51:43.000 But when you start packing too much material, like the hand wrap's 120 inches, that's where the issue is.

01:51:49.000 If I don't know how to wrap my hand, I'm causing more damage because I'm putting too much material.

01:51:52.000 Right, and you're stressing out the ligaments.

01:51:54.000 And again, that's what's causing the damage in the hands.

01:51:57.000 And again, hand injuries, that's your money makers.

01:51:59.000 So one more time, what do we have to do to get this into the UFC? I think we either wait for the Diaco deal to get up, or we continue to do what we're doing.

01:52:08.000 Is Diaco the company that makes these?

01:52:10.000 Who's Diaco? 0.94

01:52:11.000 So Diaco is now making the glove for the UFC. Okay.

01:52:14.000 It used to be a century before that.

01:52:17.000 Okay.

01:52:18.000 Century was doing it.

01:52:19.000 And so their deal is for how long?

01:52:21.000 Do we know?

01:52:22.000 I don't know.

01:52:22.000 We don't know.

01:52:23.000 We want those in the UFC. This is way better.

01:52:26.000 Yeah, it's way better.

01:52:27.000 But again, my goal, Joe, the fight is not the huge issue.

01:52:30.000 I did that as a favor.

01:52:31.000 I was like, I could help.

01:52:32.000 It'd be great marketing too, right?

01:52:33.000 Right.

01:52:34.000 My thing is helping the injuries, the ones that I dealt with, with issues of people having crappy gloves.

01:52:39.000 I mean, think about it.

01:52:39.000 I understand what you're saying, but let's get to the heat of the matter here.

01:52:43.000 So, Diaco, is that how you say the name?

01:52:45.000 Diaco?

01:52:45.000 D-Y-A-C-O. So, they want this technology?

01:52:49.000 They want to own it?

01:52:50.000 No.

01:52:52.000 UFC wants to own it.

01:52:53.000 UFC wants to own it.

01:52:54.000 But they want me to work with Diaco to be able to do it.

01:52:57.000 Now, if I work with Diaco, they want to put the UFC brand on it, and they want me to partner with Diaco.

01:53:02.000 No, we're our own company.

01:53:04.000 Is it offering you anything to do this, or do they just want to absorb it?

01:53:08.000 Hey, man.

01:53:09.000 It's not even anything to what this is.

01:53:12.000 I'm going to change this whole freaking game when it comes to something.

01:53:14.000 Now, if someone like a Nike comes to me and says, hey, man, let's partner.

01:53:17.000 Let's do something.

01:53:17.000 That's a different thing.

01:53:18.000 Now I've got access to great manufacturing.

01:53:21.000 Our issues right now is we keep selling out, because I'm dealing with a manufacturer that makes snowboard boots because they have the best strapping system.

01:53:28.000 They have the best materials because it's waterproof.

01:53:31.000 It doesn't take on water.

01:53:32.000 It doesn't start to get the bacterias.

01:53:34.000 I've used so many different manufacturing companies that make gloves already, and they can't make what I make because they're stuck in their old patterns.

01:53:42.000 There are old ways of making gloves that way.

01:53:43.000 I've tried so many.

01:53:45.000 So we make them out of house.

01:53:47.000 Jesus Christ.

01:53:48.000 So this is a problem.

01:53:51.000 No, that's the solution.

01:53:52.000 This is a problem.

01:53:55.000 This is not in the UFC. It will be.

01:53:57.000 There's no doubt in my mind.

01:53:59.000 But the UFC wants to own this patent.

01:54:01.000 Yeah, they want to own it.

01:54:02.000 Like I said, I want to work with Dana.

01:54:03.000 Dana wants that glove. 0.99

01:54:06.000 Dana knows about this.

01:54:08.000 He's put it on.

01:54:09.000 Me and him had one of the best conversations ever.

01:54:12.000 He's like, man, this is the best thing ever.

01:54:14.000 It's the best glove.

01:54:15.000 It was one of the best things.

01:54:17.000 It's hard for people to listen to this and try to put it in their head because half the people are watching, half the people are listening.

01:54:23.000 But for the people listening, I mean, if you're a martial artist and you need to get some MMA gloves, this is by far the best glove I've ever put on my hand.

01:54:32.000 You know what needs to happen in the NFL? What needs to happen?

01:54:34.000 In the NFL, when you're training, you're using high-level equipment.

01:54:38.000 And it's provided by the NFL. That's your athletes.

01:54:42.000 Right.

01:54:42.000 So the UFC needs to provide it.

01:54:43.000 They need to be wearing equipment that's going to protect them, help them get to the fight, and when they're in the fight, be able to perform.

01:54:50.000 Yeah.

01:54:50.000 And not deal with what I've been dealing my whole life as being a psychologist and getting people to the fight and worrying about these issues of them fading out and being like thinking about your hand.

01:54:59.000 I had tied my boxing boot too tight one time.

01:55:01.000 I had these high Adidas, you know those real tall ones back in the day, Hearns used to wear.

01:55:05.000 And I tied them too tight on my calf.

01:55:07.000 And I remember all I could think about was my calf muscle.

01:55:10.000 I was like, oh my god, it was such a distraction when I was fighting.

01:55:12.000 Isn't that crazy?

01:55:12.000 Tie your shoestring too tight.

01:55:14.000 This is what they deal with all the time with their hands.

01:55:16.000 First thing they're doing is like, get my glove off, get my gloves off.

01:55:18.000 Yeah, it's too tight.

01:55:20.000 It cuts the circulation off.

01:55:21.000 It's all they know.

01:55:22.000 Your hands can't breathe, man.

01:55:23.000 It's such an uncomfortable feeling.

01:55:24.000 This is night and day between these two things.

01:55:26.000 And that's made for a hand wrap.

01:55:27.000 Like that one is made for a hand wrap.

01:55:29.000 Yeah, there's no room in the UFC glove for a hand wrap.

01:55:32.000 All it does is cause more pressure when you add a little bit of anything under there.

01:55:35.000 Yeah.

01:55:36.000 So now I got a glove up and get a bigger size glove than I would originally have.

01:55:39.000 The padding in this thing is so superior, too.

01:55:42.000 Well, it's the difference in the foam.

01:55:44.000 If you pound on the table.

01:55:45.000 Feel the knuckles.

01:55:46.000 I actually make pocket holes for the knuckle where the padding would be on a hand wrap.

01:55:52.000 No, it slides in perfect.

01:55:53.000 I feel it.

01:55:54.000 It's amazing.

01:55:54.000 And again, protecting these areas, too, because the number one break in MMA is the number two metacarpal.

01:55:59.000 This shit drives me crazy when there's some fucking roadblock for using the best thing. 0.99

01:56:04.000 I love it, dude. 1.00

01:56:05.000 I love to...

01:56:06.000 So that's what always made me unique, is people like my dad told me in the boxing world, he's like, you're going to be a boxing coach?

01:56:11.000 You're too damn nice.

01:56:12.000 And I was like, alright, cool.

01:56:13.000 I went out there and smiled.

01:56:14.000 I was like, thumbs up to everybody, to my opponents. 0.99

01:56:16.000 I was like, hey man, they're like, what the fuck is this guy smiling? 0.92

01:56:18.000 It's actually what kind of built my name. 0.97

01:56:20.000 I love that.

01:56:21.000 Give me an obstacle and I'm going to show you.

01:56:23.000 I tell him all the time.

01:56:25.000 Picasso would paint a picture and tell people what he's painting, but people could not see it.

01:56:29.000 He knew what it looked like before it came out.

01:56:33.000 He's seen it in here.

01:56:35.000 And I see it.

01:56:36.000 I see all the white space that's open.

01:56:38.000 Now it's about leverage and also right partners.

01:56:41.000 Finding the right people who want to get behind something that is so freaking important that is overlooked.

01:56:46.000 It's such a huge market.

01:56:49.000 It's such a huge market.

01:56:50.000 It is a huge market.

01:56:53.000 Everything gets attributed to boxing.

01:56:55.000 But boxing is not the...

01:56:57.000 They're probably the main consumer, but they're not the only consumer.

01:57:00.000 MMA is so big, it's getting so much traction.

01:57:03.000 So that's the funny thing.

01:57:04.000 Boxing equipment market, everything's boxing equipment market.

01:57:06.000 I said, no, it's all the MMA guys buying the boxing gloves.

01:57:09.000 There's probably a lot of boxing gloves, 100%.

01:57:11.000 If you look up MMA gloves, you're buying boxing gloves.

01:57:15.000 If you look up MMA shin guards, you're buying kickboxing shin guards.

01:57:19.000 There's no MMA equipment.

01:57:22.000 And we are specifically MMA equipment.

01:57:25.000 When I grapple with this, it's similar to a headgear.

01:57:27.000 I wrestled with the headgear my whole life.

01:57:29.000 You know, it's not comfortable.

01:57:30.000 Headgear was never comfortable.

01:57:32.000 But it's protecting me from cuts.

01:57:33.000 And I can still do what I need to do.

01:57:35.000 Trevor, can you make anything for just jiu-jitsu?

01:57:37.000 I can make anything, dude.

01:57:38.000 Literally.

01:57:39.000 Oh, 100%.

01:57:39.000 Whatever you want.

01:57:41.000 We're keeping it simple, and we're actually releasing our shin guards and headgears.

01:57:44.000 People have been waiting for a while, because I made some...

01:57:46.000 That's how I started making a headgear, was TJ got cut.

01:57:49.000 Dwayne called me and said, hey, man, what do we got for a fight?

01:57:51.000 It broke his nose.

01:57:52.000 No, that was Corey Sanhagen, where I made that sweet-ass headgear.

01:57:56.000 You know the basketball players that wear the little...

01:57:58.000 Yeah, he had one of those on.

01:58:00.000 And I was like, bro, you got bifocals?

01:58:02.000 I never knew you had bifocals.

01:58:03.000 He stitched one into a headgear.

01:58:05.000 Really?

01:58:06.000 It was freaking crazy.

01:58:07.000 Oh, interesting.

01:58:10.000 Yeah.

01:58:11.000 Oh, that's great.

01:58:12.000 Is that the place?

01:58:13.000 Yeah, Sandhagen broke his nose.

01:58:15.000 He wanted to fight still.

01:58:16.000 And so we're like, well, we got you.

01:58:19.000 And how long did he wear that in training for?

01:58:21.000 The whole training camp.

01:58:22.000 He just fought, broke his nose, and then I was in there and he had another fight scheduled.

01:58:27.000 Such a talented dude.

01:58:28.000 Corey's such a good dude.

01:58:29.000 He's very good.

01:58:31.000 But he was in there with the plastic piece and I was making headgears at the point and I was like, dude, let me take that and see what I can do with it. 0.99

01:58:36.000 And I came back and he's like, what the fuck? 0.98

01:58:38.000 This is awesome. 0.99

01:58:39.000 But TJ, the headgear started with TJ because he went into small headgear, he could still grapple with.

01:58:44.000 Super cool.

01:58:45.000 I like how it's open for the eyes as well, so you can see out of it clearly.

01:58:50.000 It doesn't get fogged up or sweated up.

01:58:51.000 I told TJ I'd never show anybody those pictures of me sizing him, but look at the cut on his eye.

01:58:56.000 Oh, wow.

01:58:57.000 And then slide to the side, you should be able to see a picture of the headgear.

01:59:00.000 Yeah, interesting.

01:59:01.000 And see how small it is and see how it fits.

01:59:04.000 Huh.

01:59:06.000 Yeah. 1.00

01:59:08.000 That's genius shit, man. 1.00

01:59:09.000 For me, the Shingards. 1.00

01:59:11.000 Shingards are his best thing he's ever made. 1.00

01:59:14.000 What about heavy bags and stuff along those lines?

01:59:15.000 Oh, dude, I got a heavy bag that's so freaking sweet.

01:59:17.000 Dana bought two of them.

01:59:18.000 Yeah?

01:59:19.000 He bought two of them.

01:59:20.000 He was blown away.

01:59:21.000 He came down to the shop, so then he bought the whole crew down.

01:59:23.000 Like, again...

01:59:24.000 This is something that's super special.

01:59:27.000 Everybody sees it.

01:59:28.000 Everybody gets it.

01:59:29.000 What's the difference in your heavy bag?

01:59:32.000 You can hit it barehanded.

01:59:34.000 Barehanded.

01:59:35.000 And it's heavy.

01:59:35.000 Knuckles just sink and it doesn't hurt one bit.

01:59:37.000 It doesn't scratch you.

01:59:38.000 Really?

01:59:39.000 He's got some weird beads in there.

01:59:41.000 The way he stitched it, they don't pack...

01:59:46.000 It's weird.

01:59:46.000 So old Thai bags used to have rice.

01:59:49.000 Rice is really fun to hit, but it packs because it's got that little angle to it.

01:59:53.000 So if you keep kicking, you'll chop and you'll get a dent mark and it's so hard to work back.

01:59:57.000 It's very similar to that.

01:59:58.000 It's got tons of weight to it, but you can hit bare knuckle and not hurt your hands at all.

02:00:02.000 And even with my mashed potato hand...

02:00:05.000 It's one of those things.

02:00:06.000 Again, you're hurting yourself.

02:00:08.000 How many bags have you kicked and kicked a hard spot?

02:00:11.000 I've had bags fall apart and there's lingerie falling out.

02:00:14.000 Scraps of lingerie.

02:00:15.000 Pink lingerie out of one of my bags.

02:00:17.000 There's stuff in it with scraps.

02:00:19.000 Again, where's the technology?

02:00:21.000 They got that new bag out, which is cool.

02:00:22.000 It's a water bag, but do you notice what it is?

02:00:24.000 You know the ball that I'm talking about?

02:00:25.000 You know what that is?

02:00:26.000 It's a buoy.

02:00:28.000 Does that make sense?

02:00:29.000 It's one of those floating movies.

02:00:30.000 That's like, I always say, if you've got duct tape and yellow pages, you could make a good body shield.

02:00:35.000 Like, you should put some handles on there.

02:00:37.000 Yeah.

02:00:38.000 People get real creative in the combat sports.

02:00:40.000 Where is the technology?

02:00:41.000 Where is the testing?

02:00:42.000 And that's what we're doing.

02:00:43.000 So are you selling that heavy bag as well?

02:00:46.000 Or is it something you're developing right now?

02:00:47.000 No, I'm focused on the training gear right now because, again, manufacturing is the issue because we keep selling out.

02:00:52.000 Like, our gloves are sold out every time.

02:00:53.000 Every freaking time.

02:00:54.000 I can't even get them here. 1.00

02:00:55.000 And then I'm like, fuck, dude. 0.98

02:00:56.000 Because it's such a difficult process to make that they can't make a lot of them? 0.99

02:01:00.000 No.

02:01:00.000 Dude, they're selling.

02:01:01.000 They're selling.

02:01:02.000 They just can't keep up with the demand.

02:01:04.000 I can't keep up with the demand.

02:01:05.000 Wow.

02:01:05.000 I went back to use my other manufacturer, and now we're working on building manufacturing in the United States.

02:01:11.000 We're actually doing all the shin guards and headgears in the States.

02:01:14.000 There's such a difference between these two.

02:01:16.000 It's kind of hilarious.

02:01:18.000 It's like everything about it.

02:01:20.000 It's pretty comical. 0.97

02:01:20.000 Also, I never liked this side stitching shit, the way these fingers are done. 0.97

02:01:25.000 This is so much better where there's no fingers. 0.97

02:01:27.000 Nothing's exposed.

02:01:28.000 You're not going to get any scratches.

02:01:29.000 There's also no consistency in those UFC gloves.

02:01:32.000 You can pull 10 out of a bag.

02:01:33.000 His last ones?

02:01:34.000 Yeah, they all got different malfunctions.

02:01:36.000 The padding was like way up here.

02:01:38.000 And I was like, bro, look at your padding.

02:01:39.000 It wasn't sunk in all the way and it was just cut wrong.

02:01:41.000 Just made cheaply.

02:01:43.000 That's unfortunate.

02:01:44.000 I mean, it's really unfortunate when you're dealing with the very best fighters on the planet Earth and they're forced to fight with inferior gear.

02:01:49.000 What a unique sport, right?

02:01:50.000 Like professional fighters training with your common everyday people in the same gym.

02:01:55.000 You're never going to see it in sports.

02:01:56.000 It's crazy, right?

02:01:56.000 It's crazy.

02:01:57.000 It's like weird in the fact that like a guy can join an MMA gym and like a month later wind up sparring you.

02:02:04.000 And I could start coaching and be 0-10 as a fighter and be like, alright, cool, you're fighting in two weeks.

02:02:10.000 Professional.

02:02:11.000 I could take you and make you a professional fighter in two weeks. 1.00

02:02:14.000 I can actually sign you tomorrow for a fight if you want.

02:02:16.000 Isn't that crazy?

02:02:17.000 That is crazy.

02:02:18.000 That's crazy to me.

02:02:19.000 That's why everyone's at MMA, because there's zero qualifications.

02:02:22.000 I want to help grow this industry and just, again, create some type of standard.

02:02:26.000 And again, keep it safe, man, and keep it fun, and keep the entertainment value high through performance.

02:02:30.000 If people want this stuff, what's the website address?

02:02:33.000 O-N-X Sports. 0.92

02:02:34.000 Onyxsports.com.

02:02:35.000 O-N-X Sports. 0.92

02:02:37.000 Yep.

02:02:38.000 Onyx Sports.

02:02:38.000 It's cool.

02:02:39.000 Onyx, you see the one-on-one?

02:02:40.000 There it is.

02:02:40.000 The one-on-one.

02:02:41.000 There's your website.

02:02:42.000 The N is the one-on-one, because I believe you fight yourself, like you're in all decisions.

02:02:46.000 So that's what the one-on-one means.

02:02:48.000 The Y is not in the Onyx, because we protect your Y. The Y is internal, so it's all very purposeful.

02:02:53.000 And again, the best thing is when I wrap people's heads at fights, and they start going...

02:02:58.000 They start throwing their hands.

02:02:59.000 It's a feeling.

02:03:00.000 Right. 0.99

02:03:01.000 Like, when you know that you got good shit on, I'm telling you, feeling is everything. 0.99

02:03:05.000 We custom prey on every single piece of equipment. 0.99

02:03:06.000 Yeah, we put every name in the gym.

02:03:08.000 Put whatever you want.

02:03:09.000 I put the highlight or Gaethje.

02:03:10.000 Push other people's things.

02:03:11.000 Again, without the coaches, without everybody else out there, this industry would be nothing, man.

02:03:15.000 Super cool.

02:03:16.000 That's very cool.

02:03:17.000 Fun stuff, huh?

02:03:17.000 Yeah, it is fun stuff.

02:03:18.000 But I love how much you put so much thought into this.

02:03:22.000 I break you, dude.

02:03:23.000 I live at that place.

02:03:24.000 Yeah, I love it. 0.80

02:03:25.000 I'm so fucking passionate. 0.93

02:03:26.000 He does not stop. 0.99

02:03:28.000 Can't stop, won't stop.

02:03:28.000 I'm like, what can I help with these like...

02:03:30.000 Get out of here.

02:03:31.000 Leave me alone.

02:03:32.000 I'm like, alright.

02:03:32.000 Especially when I'm prototyping.

02:03:33.000 When I got a new idea, I'm like, oh, hell yeah.

02:03:35.000 He's like, all this is done in your basement?

02:03:37.000 Now it's in our office.

02:03:39.000 Oh, yeah?

02:03:39.000 I got these glasses.

02:03:40.000 They got the tape in the middle.

02:03:41.000 I got a pocket protector.

02:03:42.000 We're moving up.

02:03:42.000 We got an office now.

02:03:45.000 Saturday I fought.

02:03:46.000 Sunday we flew in.

02:03:47.000 Monday I was in the office.

02:03:49.000 Really?

02:03:49.000 That's my job.

02:03:50.000 Look at him there.

02:03:52.000 Look at that face.

02:03:53.000 He's so intense.

02:03:55.000 He's a perfectionist.

02:03:56.000 That's what...

02:03:59.000 Kills me, you know. 0.97

02:04:00.000 He'll make a headgear. 0.99

02:04:02.000 It's perfect.

02:04:03.000 He don't like it.

02:04:03.000 He has to start over.

02:04:04.000 It's like, holy shit, dude. 0.99

02:04:06.000 Evolution. 0.99

02:04:06.000 I'll never be perfect, but I'm always perfecting. 0.99

02:04:08.000 That's kind of how I think about things.

02:04:11.000 Well, someone's got to come along and make the very best gear.

02:04:13.000 You know, the last technology that's come out in combat sports is Muhammad Ali used to be able to do this after fights with his thumb.

02:04:19.000 And they attached the thumb.

02:04:21.000 Right.

02:04:22.000 Yeah, that is the last...

02:04:23.000 It's crazy, right?

02:04:24.000 Well, they used to have horse hair in it, too.

02:04:26.000 It's crazy.

02:04:26.000 Horse hair is cool, though, because that's for the fight.

02:04:28.000 It packs a punch, it protects your knuckles, and it gives you a good feeling in the hit.

02:04:32.000 See, in a fight glove, I still think it's about the fight, but if we can help with finger pokes and bring it back down to 10%, that's a cool thing.

02:04:38.000 Yeah, I don't think it can be eliminated, because it's natural human instinct.

02:04:42.000 If your fingers are exposed, someone's going to get a finger in the eye at a certain point.

02:04:46.000 Yeah, but this, I think, will eliminate a lot of those.

02:04:48.000 I think it'll eliminate a lot of those.

02:04:49.000 I believe it'll eliminate a lot.

02:04:51.000 I don't believe it'll eliminate all.

02:04:52.000 It might eliminate half.

02:04:54.000 It's going to elevate the performance big time.

02:04:57.000 Yeah.

02:04:58.000 Well, for sure, it's going to prevent a lot of knuckle breaks.

02:05:01.000 Oh, 100%.

02:05:02.000 With the strapping against the metacarpals, 100%, it's going to make it a lot easier for the hand wrappers to be able to make a wrap that's going to fit in the glove and then be able to do what they're good at.

02:05:11.000 And less hand injuries will make for better fights.

02:05:13.000 We fight last longer in their career, too.

02:05:15.000 We fight like four inches farther than boxers.

02:05:18.000 You know, it has to be accounted for.

02:05:20.000 And that's the lead knuckle.

02:05:22.000 So in boxing, it's this knuckle.

02:05:25.000 Because I'm close range.

02:05:26.000 Short hooks.

02:05:27.000 Short hooks.

02:05:27.000 At long range, when I'm at this range, you have a tendency to leading with your front knuckle.

02:05:30.000 And that's why the front knuckle is always landing first.

02:05:33.000 Long range because of kicks.

02:05:35.000 You're about two feet further out than you would be in boxing.

02:05:37.000 Speaking from a heavyweight division.

02:05:39.000 Yeah.

02:05:40.000 This is awesome stuff, man.

02:05:41.000 I'm really excited that you're so pumped up about it.

02:05:43.000 Yeah, thanks for letting me talk about it, bro. 0.99

02:05:44.000 I geek out about this shit. 0.99

02:05:45.000 I'm like a little child, man. 1.00

02:05:46.000 It's really clearly better than anything else. 0.99

02:05:49.000 And these mitts are fucking fantastic. 0.98

02:05:50.000 Those are three, right? 0.98

02:05:51.000 I had to make myself good ones.

02:05:52.000 So you make them like this, but you also make them longer like a time mitt as well?

02:05:54.000 I have all sorts of stuff.

02:05:56.000 Whatever.

02:05:57.000 If you want one a little longer, he'll make it a little longer.

02:06:00.000 Every one of my patterns are my patterns.

02:06:02.000 That's the first and only one he's ever made this size.

02:06:05.000 And I test it first.

02:06:07.000 That's one thing that we've done.

02:06:08.000 We've done, right now, five years worth of research and development to create the patents.

02:06:13.000 Make sure the patents were right.

02:06:15.000 We've got the patents on the headgear, patents on the shin guards, patents on the MMA glove, design patent, and technology patent.

02:06:20.000 The strapping system is a utility patent, which is technology.

02:06:25.000 Super cool. 0.98

02:06:26.000 It's going to control a lot of shit in this sports industry. 0.92

02:06:28.000 Outside of this kind of equipment, what are your thoughts on strength and conditioning, and how do you organize that for your fighters? 0.97

02:06:34.000 Do you bring in an additional strength and conditioning coach?

02:06:38.000 Yes, we have one that works on the outside through Loren Lando, one of the best out there, and he's a guy underneath Loren.

02:06:47.000 I look at them as how the NFL looks at them.

02:06:49.000 They're there to make you more explosive, more powerful, but they're not there to condition you.

02:06:54.000 I condition the athletes.

02:06:55.000 I condition them for the fights.

02:06:56.000 They get them sharper.

02:06:57.000 They get them more balanced.

02:06:58.000 They get all the stability muscles working.

02:07:00.000 So you have them doing strength work and stability work, and the conditioning is all done with fight training?

02:07:05.000 With fight training.

02:07:05.000 It has to be sport-specific.

02:07:07.000 It has to be.

02:07:08.000 But we gauge the rounds.

02:07:10.000 Like, if he's going three rounds, he's going to one, maybe two times go four, maybe five rounds.

02:07:15.000 Everything else is three rounds.

02:07:16.000 Sometimes two, I'll pull him back, pull him out. 0.99

02:07:17.000 If I start seeing him get lazy, or he might make a stupid mistake, or he's just tired through the week. 0.67

02:07:22.000 And we gauge the training regimens like hard in the beginning, slow down at the end of the week because you start to make lazy mistakes because your body's tired. 0.71

02:07:29.000 That's where I've seen a lot of injuries happen.

02:07:31.000 Do you work with the strength coach to have like a coordinated schedule so you say, hey, he's going to be sparring today.

02:07:37.000 Let's not have any strength.

02:07:38.000 We change that throughout the fight.

02:07:40.000 For each fighter that we're fighting, different stuff, we'll change it for that.

02:07:44.000 If he needs to be stronger, if he needs to be faster, it's on the game plan that I put together prior to the fight and then with what he's doing.

02:07:51.000 And where we get the most use out of him, too, he makes the biggest gains is off of training camps.

02:07:55.000 That's where he makes the biggest gains.

02:07:57.000 It's where he gets stronger.

02:07:57.000 It's where he's consistently working and pushing more weight.

02:08:00.000 And when it comes to a fight camp, we start to pull back just a touch.

02:08:04.000 And you said you do running as well?

02:08:06.000 Oh yeah, we do hill running, like mountain running where we'll do sprints on Tuesdays right after sparring so his legs are shot.

02:08:12.000 So we'll go out and hit some sprints.

02:08:13.000 It's early in the week so he can go and spike the heart rate right after he's got dead legs from sparring.

02:08:18.000 And then Saturday on a fresh day, so he spars on Friday, then Saturday we go and do a long distance run, which is only like two miles, and it's very inclined, just so it's not hard on his joints, and it keeps him...

02:08:29.000 18 minutes is my best time.

02:08:32.000 Yeah, you hit a really good one last time.

02:08:33.000 But again, the legs are key.

02:08:37.000 Lore Lando had told me one time, man, running's not the best for you long distance.

02:08:41.000 I say, I know when I fight.

02:08:42.000 Like when you run and you stop running, your legs want to keep moving.

02:08:44.000 Like in boxing, I know when I was running because my feet wanted to move.

02:08:47.000 And when you get hit with a shot, your feet still are active.

02:08:50.000 You don't get like, oh, and get ploddy.

02:08:52.000 So there's that benefit.

02:08:54.000 And again, strong legs are key.

02:08:55.000 Legs are the first thing to go every time.

02:08:57.000 Yeah, it seems like there's a benefit to running with fighting.

02:09:04.000 It's different than any other sport.

02:09:05.000 Look at Nate Diaz.

02:09:06.000 He talks about it all the time.

02:09:08.000 And he's got one of the best chins.

02:09:10.000 He just goes.

02:09:12.000 He's got a flow.

02:09:13.000 He's got that momentum that he just keeps and carries.

02:09:16.000 Long distance runners have that mindset where they can just go.

02:09:20.000 It doesn't matter.

02:09:21.000 It's like rolling.

02:09:22.000 If you roll for an hour, it's different.

02:09:24.000 If you just grapple for an hour, you've got to be able to stay consistent.

02:09:27.000 You think better.

02:09:28.000 You become smarter. 1.00

02:09:29.000 You don't just go out there and say, alright, I've got to be this fucking brute and win this fucking thing. 1.00

02:09:33.000 You have to pace yourself. 1.00

02:09:35.000 I don't do longer than 20, 25 minutes runs.

02:09:39.000 Because I don't want to pace myself.

02:09:42.000 I want to push it.

02:09:43.000 I don't have to fight more than 25 minutes ever.

02:09:44.000 You make it like a fight.

02:09:46.000 Rose runs a lot. 1.00

02:09:47.000 That's a different thing, too.

02:09:48.000 She's a runner. 0.99

02:09:49.000 She can run.

02:09:49.000 I'm not a runner.

02:09:50.000 She made me stop running.

02:09:52.000 Really?

02:09:52.000 I thought I could hit a time that was not even close to hers.

02:09:54.000 I was running consistently.

02:09:55.000 I was like, man, I'm feeling good.

02:09:56.000 It made me feel so good.

02:09:57.000 I was like, I'm going to hit a 7-minute mile.

02:09:59.000 At least 7.59 I want to hit.

02:10:01.000 I went out and, man, I ran a mile harder than I could ever run.

02:10:03.000 I had asthma the whole time.

02:10:04.000 I was like, oh man, I might be low sevens.

02:10:07.000 Man, I looked at my stopwatch.

02:10:09.000 Right as I stopped, I was like 850-something.

02:10:12.000 I've always been the worst runner, man.

02:10:14.000 I'm like, man.

02:10:15.000 He quit.

02:10:15.000 He's like, I'm done.

02:10:16.000 I said, I'll swear.

02:10:17.000 I'll do something. 0.98

02:10:17.000 I'll hit the bag. 0.98

02:10:18.000 This is Zach Bitter.

02:10:20.000 Zach Bitter holds the world record for the fastest 100 miles.

02:10:25.000 He ran 100 miles at a 7 minute mile pace.

02:10:29.000 Jeez, that's crazy.

02:10:31.000 Yeah, it's insane.

02:10:32.000 He ran 100 miles in, I think it was 11 hours and 40 minutes total.

02:10:38.000 And then he did another 100 miles.

02:10:41.000 This is the one he did at a 7 minute pace on a treadmill.

02:10:44.000 So this 100 miles on a treadmill, what is it like?

02:10:46.000 7 minutes and 15 second miles or something crazy like that? 0.99

02:10:49.000 For 100 fucking miles. 1.00

02:10:51.000 That's crazy. 1.00

02:10:52.000 That's a lot of patience.

02:10:54.000 That's almost like you're a different kind of person.

02:10:56.000 Oh, yeah.

02:10:58.000 That's better, though, than planking.

02:11:01.000 People's planking for days.

02:11:04.000 What are you doing mentally? 0.97

02:11:05.000 What the hell are you thinking about?

02:11:07.000 You're just looking at carpet the whole time. 0.71

02:11:09.000 Yeah, I guess maybe if you listen to something very interesting, it might be easier.

02:11:13.000 Oh, my gosh.

02:11:15.000 Maybe.

02:11:16.000 Maybe a book.

02:11:17.000 Something that captivates you.

02:11:19.000 You like any books?

02:11:20.000 I love books on tape when I run.

02:11:22.000 So my favorite thing.

02:11:23.000 But I'm worried about mountain lions these days.

02:11:26.000 And I run with my dog.

02:11:28.000 And I'm also worried about rattlesnakes.

02:11:30.000 So I've been just listening to the sound of my feet and breathing.

02:11:34.000 It's cool being out there with your dog, too.

02:11:35.000 There's something super cool about that.

02:11:37.000 Yeah, we did it today.

02:11:38.000 I love it, but I'm worried about snakes, man. 1.00

02:11:40.000 These motherfuckers are everywhere out here in California. 1.00

02:11:42.000 I've seen Brendan showing pictures like two days in a row with snakes. 1.00

02:11:45.000 I'm like, damn, dude. 0.99

02:11:45.000 He sees rattlesnakes on his trail. 0.99

02:11:47.000 That's crazy.

02:11:48.000 He's biking in an area that has a high concentration of rattlesnakes.

02:11:51.000 But I ran over one once with my old dogs.

02:11:54.000 The dogs aren't alive anymore.

02:11:56.000 Not because of this, but they just got old.

02:11:59.000 But I ran over this snake, and I didn't even realize it was a rattlesnake until I was in the air over it.

02:12:04.000 I thought it was a stick. 0.91

02:12:06.000 Because it was totally flat, and it was a part where I'm really pushing, a part in the run, and I turned the corner, and the dogs ran right the fuck over it, too. 0.99

02:12:14.000 Damn. 0.99

02:12:14.000 And I'm in the midair, and I'm like, oh my god, it's a fat rattlesnake! 0.99

02:12:19.000 Like, fat, like my wrist, man. 0.99

02:12:21.000 It was a big fucker. 1.00

02:12:22.000 I'm from Southern Arizona, man. 1.00

02:12:24.000 We have a lot of around things. 0.99

02:12:27.000 That's some funny shit. 1.00

02:12:28.000 Arizona has the fucking big ones, man. 1.00

02:12:30.000 You made a good visual of that. 1.00

02:12:32.000 I have that in my mind now, you jumping over that thing.

02:12:35.000 That was a good visual.

02:12:36.000 I couldn't believe it.

02:12:37.000 In the air over them, I was realizing, I'm like, oh my god.

02:12:41.000 Can I ask you a question?

02:12:42.000 Yeah.

02:12:44.000 Look what you got.

02:12:45.000 This is super cool.

02:12:46.000 Do you miss doing Fear Factor?

02:12:48.000 No.

02:12:49.000 I'll tell you what.

02:12:51.000 I love that show.

02:12:53.000 And the time I was talking with the guys out there, one of my favorite times where actually I was like, oh, I like that dude.

02:12:58.000 There was a chick who was getting... 1.00

02:13:00.000 Some dude was talking shit to her. 1.00

02:13:02.000 And you called the dude out and was ready to fuck him up on the show. 1.00

02:13:05.000 You remember that? 0.99

02:13:06.000 No.

02:13:07.000 You had called him out and he was being aggressive to the chick on the show.

02:13:10.000 And you're like, hey man, can't be talking like that. 1.00

02:13:13.000 And he got aggressive with you and you're like, alright, we can fucking do this shit. 0.99

02:13:15.000 I think you're confusing it. 0.99

02:13:17.000 This is what happened.

02:13:18.000 A girl punched a guy.

02:13:20.000 And then the girl's husband got mad.

02:13:26.000 I'll never forget.

02:13:27.000 I was like, hell yeah, Fear Factor's gonna be a fight.

02:13:29.000 With the host.

02:13:30.000 I didn't know your name at the time, and I'll never forget it, bro.

02:13:32.000 I put him in a tie clinch, and I was trying to figure out, I didn't want to choke him, because if I choke him, then I'm doing something to him.

02:13:39.000 Yeah, and I didn't want to knee his brains out, but I was like, I'm like, I have him.

02:13:43.000 If he does something to me, then I can do it, but I'm like, let me just hold this dude in the plum, and just also let him know how weak he is.

02:13:50.000 When you hold someone by their neck that's never grappled before, and then you rag them around, they're like, uh, uh.

02:13:57.000 Okay, okay.

02:13:57.000 So in that time of your life, Did you know where you'd be?

02:14:01.000 Oh, no. 0.99

02:14:02.000 I never know where the fuck I'm... 0.98

02:14:03.000 I just do things. 0.97

02:14:05.000 I'm not a planner.

02:14:05.000 You do it really good.

02:14:06.000 Like, I'm such a goal setter.

02:14:07.000 Like, I'm a dreamer, and it's like magical to me. 0.96

02:14:09.000 It's fucking cool. 0.94

02:14:10.000 I love it. 1.00

02:14:10.000 I love that shit. 1.00

02:14:11.000 Yeah, I'm not much of a... 1.00

02:14:12.000 I wanted to ask that because, again, you have come a long way, bro.

02:14:16.000 Yeah, but it's all just keep going.

02:14:18.000 Just grind.

02:14:19.000 One day at a time.

02:14:19.000 Yeah, I'm not a one day.

02:14:22.000 I'm going to be on top of the podcast world.

02:14:24.000 No, no.

02:14:25.000 There's no thought thinking about it at all.

02:14:26.000 One day I'll look back and see what I've accomplished, but right now...

02:14:30.000 Yeah, I just enjoy what I do, so I keep doing it, and I try to do it my best.

02:14:34.000 But the Fear Factor thing was...

02:14:36.000 Look, it was a great job.

02:14:37.000 It was a great job.

02:14:38.000 I made money.

02:14:40.000 It was fun.

02:14:40.000 It allowed me to do a lot of things.

02:14:42.000 It also gave me fuck you money, so I could do whatever I wanted. 0.97

02:14:46.000 So from the money I made from Fear Factor, it actually helped my comedy, because I didn't worry about saying anything. 1.00

02:14:51.000 Because I was like, I don't give a fuck. 0.98

02:14:52.000 I'm good, man. 0.99

02:14:54.000 I put that money.

02:14:55.000 I really didn't live that lavishly.

02:14:56.000 So I'm like, I put a lot of money away. 0.99

02:14:58.000 I'm like, I got fuck you money. 1.00

02:15:00.000 And then once you have fuck you money, you tend to say fuck you more often. 1.00

02:15:04.000 And then you get more fuck you money. 1.00

02:15:06.000 Because you can be yourself. 1.00

02:15:08.000 But it was a job.

02:15:10.000 Fairfactor was a job.

02:15:11.000 Where it's like, this never feels like a job.

02:15:13.000 I enjoy it.

02:15:14.000 Especially because I get to pick who's on.

02:15:16.000 I don't have anybody on that I'm not interested in actually talking.

02:15:19.000 They're not telling you what to say.

02:15:19.000 Yeah, exactly.

02:15:20.000 What not to say.

02:15:21.000 No one's bringing guest lists to me and say, these are the people you're going to have on this week.

02:15:24.000 I'm like, oh, Christ.

02:15:26.000 You know, like, those guys that host the Tonight Show or any of those shows like that, that's what they have.

02:15:31.000 They have, like, someone comes to them with a list.

02:15:34.000 And then it's fake.

02:15:35.000 Yeah.

02:15:35.000 Because whether they want to be around them or not, they have to act like they want to be around them.

02:15:38.000 They pretend.

02:15:39.000 Yeah.

02:15:39.000 And then you know it at home.

02:15:41.000 So everything has this air of fakeness.

02:15:44.000 Whereas people could tell here we're just having a conversation.

02:15:46.000 It's having fun, right?

02:15:47.000 That's why we love fighting so much.

02:15:48.000 It's so real.

02:15:49.000 It's as real as it is.

02:15:50.000 That's the old UFC logo.

02:15:53.000 It's as real as it gets.

02:15:54.000 So true.

02:15:55.000 But that is what it is. 0.99

02:15:55.000 How cool is it though Dana White stepped up and came out and fucking had some fucking fights. 0.99

02:16:00.000 I'm glad. 0.99

02:16:00.000 I'm glad he didn't wait. 0.99

02:16:02.000 I'm glad. 0.99

02:16:02.000 I'm so glad that he had the balls. 0.99

02:16:04.000 And he was right. 0.99

02:16:05.000 And meanwhile, everybody got tested.

02:16:09.000 ESPN, a lot of places, not ESPN, but ESPN asked me about it.

02:16:14.000 But some places were actually upset that I was shaking people's hands.

02:16:18.000 So I heard that you were supposed to do interviews outside, right?

02:16:22.000 God, they had this crazy thing.

02:16:23.000 We all got tested.

02:16:24.000 That's what I'm saying.

02:16:25.000 The ring card girl has no mask on. 0.85

02:16:28.000 My coaches didn't wear masks.

02:16:29.000 They're the only ones that didn't wear masks.

02:16:31.000 So the thing was, I'm back in the locker room, and the commissioner's there with a mask on.

02:16:34.000 Safety.

02:16:35.000 And he's like this.

02:16:36.000 He's like, you need to have a mask on, and now you have to have goggles on.

02:16:40.000 And I'm like, listen.

02:16:42.000 I said, first off, show me it in the rule book.

02:16:44.000 I know I need rubber gloves.

02:16:45.000 I've seen it in the rule book. 1.00

02:16:46.000 I know the fucking rules. 1.00

02:16:47.000 You need to have gloves on. 0.99

02:16:49.000 And every state's different, but most of them have the rubber gloves.

02:16:51.000 You have to have rubber gloves on.

02:16:52.000 But I said, alright, show me in the rule book.

02:16:54.000 I know it's not in there.

02:16:56.000 And...

02:16:57.000 I need to be able to be there for my fighter for safety.

02:16:59.000 That's number one.

02:17:00.000 He needs to be able to hear me and everything that I'm doing.

02:17:02.000 I'm there for him and his safety. 0.98

02:17:04.000 And what the fuck are the goggles gonna do? 0.97

02:17:07.000 Like, it just makes no fucking common sense to me. 0.99

02:17:09.000 No, everyone's lost their mind. 0.97

02:17:11.000 We're tested, yeah.

02:17:11.000 Everyone's lost their mind.

02:17:13.000 Everyone's paranoid of this.

02:17:14.000 First of all, this kills less than one-tenth of one percent, particularly talking about people that are really healthy, like you guys.

02:17:20.000 It's zero risk.

02:17:22.000 He was about to fight and he had it.

02:17:25.000 I know.

02:17:25.000 That's how bad he felt.

02:17:26.000 Exactly.

02:17:27.000 Jacare was literally made weight.

02:17:29.000 Made weight.

02:17:30.000 No coughing.

02:17:31.000 Nothing.

02:17:31.000 Didn't even know he had it.

02:17:32.000 Just had a feeling he might have had it because family members had it.

02:17:35.000 He was around somebody.

02:17:36.000 Yeah.

02:17:36.000 It's not something...

02:17:38.000 It's people that are metabolically challenged.

02:17:40.000 They're the people that have insulin resistance problems.

02:17:43.000 The people that are vitamin D deficient.

02:17:45.000 The people that have asthma, obesity.

02:17:47.000 All those people are in trouble.

02:17:48.000 Those people are... 1.00

02:17:49.000 They're going to get fucked up if they catch this disease. 1.00

02:17:52.000 When you see the numbers drop drastically for the flu, heart disease, heart attacks, it's going to be proof that something was fucking wrong. 0.99

02:18:01.000 Well, they thought it was going to be way worse than it was. 0.69

02:18:05.000 But the problem is, when everybody's fucking tested, and we're here, there's 1,100 tests the UFC did. 0.97

02:18:11.000 Three guys tested positive. 0.98

02:18:12.000 They sent those people out.

02:18:14.000 Everybody was tested.

02:18:15.000 We all knew we were okay. 1.00

02:18:17.000 It's the common sense shit that drives me crazy. 0.99

02:18:19.000 Yeah. 1.00

02:18:19.000 When people just don't have the fucking... 1.00

02:18:21.000 I'm like, that just makes no fucking common sense. 0.99

02:18:23.000 Right. 0.97

02:18:24.000 It was a sheep mentality, too. 0.95

02:18:25.000 Everybody's like, bad gloves, bad masks.

02:18:29.000 It's so bad right now.

02:18:29.000 You can't go anywhere.

02:18:30.000 Everyone's wearing a mask.

02:18:31.000 Not Texas.

02:18:32.000 I went to Texas last week.

02:18:34.000 I ate at a real restaurant.

02:18:35.000 We ate at a restaurant in Florida.

02:18:36.000 That was nice.

02:18:37.000 Yeah, we did too.

02:18:37.000 It was nice.

02:18:38.000 We ate at Morton's. 0.99

02:18:39.000 I mean, the waiters are all forced to wear masks and shit like that. 0.99

02:18:42.000 I guess. 0.99

02:18:42.000 Whatever. 0.99

02:18:43.000 But just to sit down at a fucking restaurant and have a nice meal and a glass of wine. 1.00

02:18:48.000 Hey, no traffic here? 1.00

02:18:49.000 There is positives.

02:18:50.000 Right now, yeah, for now. 0.99

02:18:52.000 But when it opens up, it's going to be broke people that are angry driving like fucking maniacs. 0.98

02:18:58.000 It's going to be dangerous. 0.99

02:18:59.000 Not wanting to go back to work because they were getting paid more from unemployment than they were at their fucking job. 0.99

02:19:03.000 There's a lot of that, too. 0.99

02:19:04.000 And where's that money coming from?

02:19:06.000 Where's that money coming from?

02:19:07.000 Probably a little bit from our pockets.

02:19:09.000 Listen, I'm very, very, very happy that Dana White stepped up and did that fight in Florida and that it worked out well.

02:19:15.000 And it felt...

02:19:17.000 Real different.

02:19:18.000 And I felt real, very, very fortunate.

02:19:21.000 I was thinking while I was there, I was like, wow, there's not a lot of people that get to be here live for this.

02:19:26.000 And then when you and Tony fought and it turned out to be absolutely one of the best title fights of all time.

02:19:31.000 All the fights, though.

02:19:31.000 You guys were quite privileged.

02:19:33.000 Oh yeah, I felt like that.

02:19:35.000 Think about all the people with uber amounts of money that would just pay for me and Tony to go fight in their house. 0.91

02:19:43.000 That's what you add.

02:19:44.000 Exactly!

02:19:45.000 That should be next.

02:19:46.000 That's a good idea.

02:19:47.000 That's always been, hey, I got that.

02:19:48.000 Any rich people want me? 0.65

02:19:49.000 If I'll bring someone, we'll fight for your entertainment.

02:19:52.000 That is so awesome.

02:19:53.000 We will do that.

02:19:54.000 I promise you.

02:19:55.000 You're going to get some calls from Saudi Arabia.

02:19:56.000 Home fights.

02:19:57.000 I have a job.

02:20:01.000 I have skills.

02:20:01.000 They get me paid.

02:20:02.000 Justin, how much time do you need for this?

02:20:04.000 How much money?

02:20:05.000 Two days.

02:20:09.000 There was also a gap between the table and the cage that didn't exist normally, too.

02:20:15.000 Use your cage side, right?

02:20:17.000 Yeah.

02:20:18.000 Usually we're touching the cage. 0.98

02:20:19.000 That's the funniest shit is you guys stand next to each other doing your interviews and then all of a sudden you're at different tables. 0.99

02:20:24.000 No logic. 0.99

02:20:25.000 No logic.

02:20:26.000 And people were upset.

02:20:28.000 There was an article written about the fact that I didn't use social distancing inside the octagon.

02:20:33.000 We were tested.

02:20:34.000 I know, exactly.

02:20:35.000 We were tested.

02:20:36.000 What are you talking about? 1.00

02:20:36.000 People are just looking for shit to complain about. 1.00

02:20:38.000 And by the way, these fucking two guys are about to fight. 1.00

02:20:41.000 Yeah, we're going to swap Bobby. 0.99

02:20:43.000 No more social distance unfriendly thing ever.

02:20:46.000 What's his name?

02:20:47.000 Smith.

02:20:48.000 Stephen A. Smith said that he thought that you guys didn't grapple because you were afraid of coronavirus.

02:20:52.000 Dude, I thought you were joking, bro.

02:20:53.000 I thought you were joking.

02:20:54.000 I don't dislike him.

02:20:55.000 No, he said that.

02:20:56.000 And he meant it.

02:20:56.000 No, I thought you were totally joking.

02:20:58.000 I laughed like you didn't go on, bro.

02:21:00.000 He meant it.

02:21:00.000 He did say it.

02:21:01.000 He meant it. 0.99

02:21:02.000 He didn't just say it, he fucking meant it. 0.99

02:21:04.000 We're literally swapping blood here. 0.99

02:21:06.000 Yeah, exactly.

02:21:07.000 This is HIV world, hepatitis world. 0.95

02:21:10.000 Yes, everything.

02:21:11.000 You name it, you get it.

02:21:13.000 Staph, everything.

02:21:14.000 Anything through blood.

02:21:16.000 But that kind of talk.

02:21:17.000 Stephen A. Smith, though, he's a personality.

02:21:21.000 He's got hot takes on things.

02:21:23.000 So when he says things...

02:21:25.000 He could have not meant it.

02:21:25.000 He could be as smart as...

02:21:27.000 Smarter than we think and said it because of the reaction he would have got.

02:21:30.000 It's a fun thing to say.

02:21:31.000 Exactly.

02:21:33.000 It's clickbait.

02:21:35.000 It's a lot.

02:21:35.000 Listen, he makes his living that way.

02:21:37.000 We're all talking about him.

02:21:39.000 I mean, that's how he makes his living.

02:21:40.000 He makes his living, getting people to talk about some of the things.

02:21:43.000 He's a very engaging personality.

02:21:46.000 You have to use that in the next interview, though.

02:21:49.000 I don't grapple because it's social distancing.

02:21:51.000 I'll use wrestling when they know that. 1.00

02:21:54.000 I knew this shit was coming for the last seven years. 0.99

02:21:56.000 I hit him so hard because I was scared he was going to touch me and get that corona on me. 1.00

02:22:00.000 I was trying to keep him six feet back.

02:22:02.000 Real quick on the fight. 0.85

02:22:03.000 I think people are like, why didn't he grapple?

02:22:06.000 And a huge factor in the Khabib fight is going to be my feet work.

02:22:09.000 There was never a spot when he felt comfortable to close the distance.

02:22:12.000 I was constantly too far away.

02:22:14.000 And staying off the fence.

02:22:16.000 So that's going to be huge against Khabib.

02:22:18.000 Well, you have the style.

02:22:21.000 I mean, if you wanted to say, okay, what kind of style do you think would work against a guy like Khabib?

02:22:26.000 First of all, a guy who's a fantastic defensive wrestler, like you said, and then a guy who's a superior striker.

02:22:32.000 And those two things you have.

02:22:34.000 You've got to stay off the fence.

02:22:35.000 You've got to have feet work.

02:22:36.000 Without the feet work, you can't stay off the fence.

02:22:38.000 But Khabib's whole game is, you know, he's a great grappler as well, but his whole game is using that grappling in the fight.

02:22:45.000 Against the fence.

02:22:46.000 Yeah.

02:22:47.000 If he's taking a shot in the open, it's to drive you to the fence to finish the takedown.

02:22:51.000 He's not getting takedowns in the open.

02:22:53.000 Interesting.

02:22:53.000 You go watch all his fights, you're going to see maybe five, a handful, if that, of takedowns in the actual center of the cage.

02:23:01.000 He'll start in the middle, but he's going to push you to the cage and use the cage.

02:23:05.000 It's going to be my feet work.

02:23:06.000 It's going to be me keeping that distance where he feels slightly uncomfortable.

02:23:10.000 Like when he did go for the M&R, I was just too far.

02:23:12.000 He thought he was close enough, but I was just too far.

02:23:15.000 Right.

02:23:15.000 Well, he was already beaten down by that point.

02:23:17.000 Yeah, that was late too.

02:23:18.000 Yeah, it was.

02:23:18.000 Because he's super sneaky.

02:23:20.000 Like the one he hit on Barbosa was sneaky.

02:23:21.000 But it would have been the same in the first round because of the distance I was keeping.

02:23:24.000 Right, right.

02:23:24.000 You know, you have to...

02:23:25.000 In order to shoot a double leg, you have to be at a distance in which you feel comfortable.

02:23:29.000 In wrestling, it's always, you know, I shouldn't, unless my head's touching your head, I should never take a shot.

02:23:34.000 Right.

02:23:34.000 Because then I'm too far away.

02:23:35.000 Right.

02:23:36.000 So, controlling the distance, staying off the fence is going to be the most important thing in the world when it comes to that fight.

02:23:42.000 Now, when are they talking about for that fight?

02:23:44.000 I mean, we got the same manager, so...

02:23:46.000 That's kind of crazy.

02:23:47.000 Whenever we want, yeah.

02:23:48.000 Yeah, the same manager.

02:23:49.000 That is kind of crazy.

02:23:49.000 Dude, that dude's a G, man.

02:23:50.000 He's got...

02:23:52.000 No, well, Henry just left, but 125, 135. Do you think Henry's done for good?

02:23:56.000 125, 135, 20, 155, and 170. I mean, I don't know any manager that's ever had that many champions in the stable.

02:24:01.000 I think Henry a year and a half from now is like, hmm.

02:24:05.000 Oh, yeah.

02:24:07.000 It's business.

02:24:08.000 Yeah, he wants big money.

02:24:09.000 He deserves big money.

02:24:11.000 Look, he's one of the absolutely undeniably the greatest combat sport.

02:24:15.000 But that weight class has always had issues with people getting paid.

02:24:17.000 I love it.

02:24:18.000 Like, anybody that just loves the fight, like, Their technique is just so fun to watch.

02:24:23.000 It's so fast.

02:24:24.000 I mean, Henry's a special guy.

02:24:26.000 He really is.

02:24:27.000 He's an incredible athlete.

02:24:29.000 He won the gold medal in the Olympics, won two divisions, and then he's winning by stoppages against world-class guys, smashing people.

02:24:37.000 He's amazing.

02:24:38.000 He really is amazing.

02:24:39.000 But I respect his choice.

02:24:42.000 I mean, the guy decides to go out on top and will go down in history as one of the greatest of all time, for sure.

02:24:47.000 The UFC is probably, you know, as athletes...

02:24:50.000 The hardest people to do business with in the world.

02:24:53.000 So when you do have the cards in your hand, you have to go to war for yourself.

02:24:57.000 Because no other time will you be able to.

02:24:59.000 But the only time he's going to have those cards is when he's actually the champion.

02:25:03.000 Right now he is the champion.

02:25:04.000 If he decides to vacate the title like he has, they remove him from the rankings.

02:25:09.000 They don't just give it back to you.

02:25:11.000 I believe that he can earn it.

02:25:13.000 He doesn't have no problem doing that.

02:25:14.000 He'll get a title shot immediately.

02:25:16.000 Right, but he would not be the champion going into the fight.

02:25:19.000 So there's like financial considerations.

02:25:21.000 But I believe that was him playing his cards.

02:25:24.000 Right.

02:25:24.000 Going to war.

02:25:25.000 And they don't respect you enough.

02:25:30.000 At what point do you say no?

02:25:33.000 I think legitimately he's probably done too.

02:25:36.000 When you stop and think about the fact that he retired from wrestling at 21, not even at the peak of his powers, after he wins a gold medal, and then the fact that he came back from that first round stoppage to DJ and then beats him in the rematch, what was it, two years later?

02:25:51.000 And with his knee and his ankle always looking like it goes out, like that with the Morris fight and in that DJ fight.

02:25:58.000 Just so crazy, overcoming that and just getting...

02:26:01.000 He has nothing left to accomplish.

02:26:02.000 The Marlon Marais fight was incredibly impressive.

02:26:06.000 She's so talented. 0.99

02:26:07.000 Fucking good, man. 1.00

02:26:08.000 And so, so nasty with his kicks. 1.00

02:26:11.000 It was crazy. 0.99

02:26:12.000 He was like taking ass kicking for a round and it had overcome that. 0.96

02:26:15.000 And then they come back in the second round and just blew himself to his chest and started smashing him. 0.96

02:26:20.000 He's a very intelligent person.

02:26:22.000 But retiring like that, no one's done it like that.

02:26:26.000 George has done it, but he had a rough fight prior to it, and then he came back later.

02:26:29.000 The thing is, no one's done it.

02:26:31.000 I always say, do things outside the box.

02:26:33.000 Be remembered.

02:26:33.000 I think he'll fight again.

02:26:35.000 He may.

02:26:36.000 I think he will.

02:26:37.000 Captain Eric thinks he's going to fight again.

02:26:39.000 But I do think it'll be on his terms, which is ultimately all he's fighting for right now.

02:26:43.000 Yeah, yeah.

02:26:44.000 Well, listen, man, the guy, he's done amazing stuff.

02:26:47.000 So, the fight with you and Khabib, you both have the same manager.

02:26:51.000 I hear talk about September.

02:26:52.000 Are they saying that with you? 0.99

02:26:54.000 That, I mean, so we, again, we both, pretty much we decide, I mean, God, I hope they have a fucking audience. 0.98

02:26:59.000 We don't have, we don't decide. 0.96

02:27:01.000 The UFC is the boss.

02:27:02.000 They will, but you can't make anybody fight, and I'm ready in September, he's ready in September, so it's perfect.

02:27:08.000 Now, I know Vegas is going to at least allow some audiences in July, supposedly, because I'm at that Park Theater, the one that's right across the street from T-Mobile.

02:27:18.000 I'm there in July doing a comedy show.

02:27:21.000 It's supposedly going to actually happen.

02:27:23.000 They haven't canceled it.

02:27:24.000 They haven't canceled it.

02:27:25.000 So I'm like, all right, is this real?

02:27:27.000 I saw New Jersey opened up Pro Sports.

02:27:31.000 With an audience?

02:27:32.000 I don't believe so.

02:27:33.000 I didn't see that part.

02:27:34.000 Yeah, that's huge.

02:27:34.000 You and Khabib, I mean, as much as it was cool to see you and Tony fight with no audience, I kind of want to see him.

02:27:40.000 As much as I loved fighting with no audience, I want them there.

02:27:44.000 The spectacle of that fight, that's such a big fight.

02:27:47.000 Yeah, it's such an experience.

02:27:48.000 It's the biggest challenge of his career.

02:27:49.000 It's the biggest challenge of Khabib's career.

02:27:51.000 It's the biggest challenge of your career.

02:27:53.000 100%.

02:27:54.000 Khabib's the greatest at what he does.

02:27:56.000 Again, we can't take anything away from that.

02:27:59.000 When you look at well-rounded fighters, he's well-rounded, but he's great in what he does.

02:28:05.000 And that is what made Chuck Liddell great.

02:28:08.000 He had thunder in his hands, and he sprawling brawl.

02:28:11.000 You get hit by him, he's great at what he does.

02:28:14.000 And what's so exciting is having opportunities.

02:28:17.000 To be able to step up, that's what I'm really excited for.

02:28:19.000 I know he's excited for.

02:28:20.000 And again, no one's got to see his wrestling and I met this guy watching him wrestle and what he does was so unique.

02:28:28.000 A total different style of wrestling than that's hard to train for and it's kind of like a hidden weapon so I feel like we're bringing something unique into this.

02:28:35.000 I think it's a very unique fight and it's also Tony was thought to be the biggest threat to that title because Tony is such a good grappler and he's so good on his feet and he fucks people up on his feet so him fighting you and you stopping him like you take that spot now and also your style in my opinion is better.

02:28:53.000 Oh, for sure.

02:28:53.000 I mean, the thing about Tony's style is that Tony can fight off of his back, he's not worried about takedowns, and he submits a lot of guys.

02:28:58.000 He was going to fight that fight with the mindset of being okay on his back.

02:29:03.000 Yes.

02:29:03.000 That was the thought process.

02:29:05.000 Whereas your thought process is completely different.

02:29:08.000 Being such a great defensive wrestler, but also being the superior striker.

02:29:12.000 Totally.

02:29:13.000 It's a very dangerous fight for Khabib.

02:29:14.000 Very dangerous.

02:29:15.000 Especially the confidence you must have coming off of that five rounds with Tony.

02:29:19.000 Feels good.

02:29:20.000 I mean, I know how bad those kicks hurt.

02:29:22.000 You know, if I can touch your calf, I'm never kicking above the knee anymore.

02:29:27.000 Really?

02:29:28.000 Only below.

02:29:29.000 No, he will.

02:29:29.000 If you ever...

02:29:30.000 Not on purpose.

02:29:31.000 He will.

02:29:31.000 Not on purpose.

02:29:32.000 Never.

02:29:33.000 Really?

02:29:33.000 Not on purpose.

02:29:34.000 The calf kick's so devastating.

02:29:35.000 So devastating.

02:29:36.000 In the clinch, you're going to kick above the knee.

02:29:38.000 Maybe.

02:29:38.000 That's a non-never, right?

02:29:39.000 Well, yeah, I'll try to break their knee by hypersending it. 0.97

02:29:42.000 But...

02:29:43.000 From the outside, you can fire it at a different distance.

02:29:46.000 You're so much more safe.

02:29:48.000 And there's so many nerves and ligaments that run through that part that have no protection.

02:29:53.000 Your thigh has, you know, your quad is a big muscle.

02:29:55.000 It's hard to get through your quad to those nerves.

02:29:58.000 You can touch the nerves.

02:29:59.000 That's why, you know, when he said Henry's calf and foot don't hurt, it's because he got kicked in the calf and the nerves stop firing.

02:30:06.000 Yeah, just like Michael Chandler and Beltran.

02:30:08.000 It's unique, right?

02:30:09.000 If I can touch, I got to touch Khabib there. 0.84

02:30:11.000 Four times.

02:30:12.000 And then he's compromised.

02:30:14.000 Yeah.

02:30:14.000 Once he's compromised...

02:30:15.000 He can't shoot.

02:30:15.000 He can shoot, but he has to have the fence.

02:30:18.000 Right. 1.00

02:30:18.000 If he doesn't have the fence, there's no fucking way. 1.00

02:30:20.000 Yeah. 0.99

02:30:21.000 I promise you that.

02:30:22.000 It has to be in the middle.

02:30:23.000 And he can give me...

02:30:24.000 There might be a scramble.

02:30:25.000 He might outscramble me in the middle once or twice.

02:30:28.000 But if he wants to take me down, he's going to have to put me against the fence.

02:30:30.000 Now, once they set this fight, you need eight weeks?

02:30:36.000 Is that what you want?

02:30:37.000 To get prepared?

02:30:38.000 Yeah, so...

02:30:38.000 So we're getting close to that, right?

02:30:40.000 We're in June, in just a week or so.

02:30:42.000 Yep.

02:30:43.000 June, July, August.

02:30:45.000 Yeah.

02:30:46.000 So I take 30 days off.

02:30:48.000 But they didn't give you a specific timeline.

02:30:50.000 I don't know anything.

02:30:51.000 Yeah.

02:30:51.000 Just September.

02:30:52.000 They didn't say it's Fight Island?

02:30:54.000 Is it Fight Island?

02:30:54.000 My manager probably knows more details than I do.

02:30:57.000 Fine Island seems like a fucking mess. 0.98

02:30:59.000 There's not a lot. 0.99

02:30:59.000 Yeah, it does. 0.99

02:31:00.000 That's what I would think.

02:31:01.000 Treasure Island?

02:31:02.000 Or do they open it up in Treasure Island in Vegas?

02:31:04.000 I need to see this place on Google Map.

02:31:06.000 Oh my gosh. 0.98

02:31:06.000 It's like fucking that movie Contact where they zoom in, zoom in close and you see the thing. 0.98

02:31:12.000 It's like... 0.99

02:31:13.000 It's also like, I want to like Google map. 0.98

02:31:16.000 Look, they're fucking constructing the octagon. 0.98

02:31:18.000 They built an island. 0.99

02:31:19.000 They put a whole bunch of dirt.

02:31:20.000 David won't even tell me.

02:31:21.000 David tells me everything.

02:31:22.000 He won't tell me. 0.99

02:31:23.000 And where's his fucking island? 1.00

02:31:24.000 I don't know nothing, dude. 0.99

02:31:26.000 I'm not sure if it's real.

02:31:27.000 Yeah, it might be just saying it just so he can get another day set for his little spot in Vegas and just be like, oh man, we don't need it anymore.

02:31:33.000 For international fights, it seems like the only option.

02:31:35.000 Yes.

02:31:35.000 Until the U.S. opens back up.

02:31:37.000 You ain't getting visas right now.

02:31:39.000 No.

02:31:39.000 You're not getting visas, and I don't even know how they're going to...

02:31:42.000 They're going to have to fly everybody private to this fucking island. 0.98

02:31:44.000 I want to know if I can get back. 0.99

02:31:46.000 Right.

02:31:47.000 Yeah, that's the thing, right?

02:31:49.000 Where are you going to land?

02:31:50.000 Your win bonus includes a flight.

02:31:52.000 If you lose, you got that boat in O'Hare.

02:31:54.000 You land in Mexico.

02:31:55.000 You land in Tijuana, and then you have a boat.

02:31:58.000 You got to get to San Diego, and then we'll drive you home.

02:32:03.000 It's crazy, but I love the fact that they decided to do all these different things.

02:32:08.000 Like, have the Tai Chi Palace fights.

02:32:09.000 That got cancelled because the governor got his panties in a wad.

02:32:13.000 But this Florida thing was great.

02:32:15.000 And I'm glad that the fights are rolling again.

02:32:18.000 This weekend's a tough fight, man.

02:32:20.000 Tyron and Gilbert.

02:32:21.000 That's a tough fight for Tyron.

02:32:23.000 Are they doing it in Florida?

02:32:24.000 I don't know where they're doing that.

02:32:26.000 Where is that fight?

02:32:29.000 I don't...

02:32:30.000 It might be an Apex fight.

02:32:33.000 I know they're trying to move there.

02:32:34.000 Actually, I think it is because they were saying if not, they would move it to Arizona.

02:32:38.000 Okay.

02:32:38.000 I don't know.

02:32:38.000 I think it was for this fight.

02:32:39.000 Yeah, Arizona doesn't give a fuck. 1.00

02:32:41.000 They're buck wild now. 1.00

02:32:42.000 It's the Wild Wild West.

02:32:43.000 It is the Wild Wild West.

02:32:43.000 You could have an open carry gun.

02:32:45.000 Have you seen the movie Tombstone?

02:32:46.000 Yeah.

02:32:46.000 So, 40 miles north of that is where I grew up.

02:32:48.000 Las Vegas, Apex Center.

02:32:50.000 Now, here's interesting as well, because the Apex Center is a smaller fight, a smaller octagon, instead of a 30-foot octagon.

02:32:58.000 I bet they have to move a 30-foot in there. 0.96

02:33:00.000 No.

02:33:01.000 No, dude.

02:33:02.000 That's like at the Palms.

02:33:03.000 Like, when you fight at the Palms, you fight with a smaller one?

02:33:05.000 Yeah, the old days.

02:33:07.000 So this one is a 25-foot octagon.

02:33:09.000 It's smaller, but I think it's a good size.

02:33:13.000 It is smaller, but it's not too small.

02:33:16.000 It's going to force guys to engage.

02:33:18.000 25 is not too small.

02:33:18.000 20 is almost too small.

02:33:20.000 20 is small.

02:33:20.000 But this is 25. He fought in a square cage out there.

02:33:23.000 Victory.

02:33:24.000 Victory.

02:33:24.000 In a square cage.

02:33:26.000 The cage I fought in Rage of the Cage, that thing was maybe like 12 foot, 10 foot.

02:33:32.000 It was like, boom, you're fighting.

02:33:35.000 Speaking of the cage, the movie The Big Boom, I just watched that the other night.

02:33:38.000 It was classic with you in it.

02:33:40.000 Oh, Here Comes the Boom?

02:33:41.000 Here Comes the Boom.

02:33:42.000 You were like signing people for fights.

02:33:43.000 It was classic. 0.99

02:33:44.000 It's so ridiculous. 0.90

02:33:44.000 But the cage in there, when it falling apart, it's the best. 0.90

02:33:48.000 Movies like that are just the best.

02:33:50.000 Yeah, they never get it right.

02:33:52.000 Warrior.

02:33:53.000 Warrior didn't get it right.

02:33:54.000 They fought two days in a row. 0.99

02:33:55.000 I'm like, what the fuck are you talking about? 0.99

02:33:57.000 You ever seen somebody the day after a fight? 0.99

02:33:59.000 Yeah, no. 1.00

02:34:00.000 So stupid. 1.00

02:34:01.000 Classic, dude. 1.00

02:34:02.000 This is Hollywood bullshit, you know? 0.99

02:34:03.000 It was awesome, though. 1.00

02:34:05.000 That was some entertainment for me. 0.98

02:34:06.000 It was fucking awesome. 0.97

02:34:06.000 The Apex Center is going to be very interesting because that's even smaller. 0.97

02:34:10.000 Way smaller.

02:34:10.000 Because it was weird being in that 15,000 seat place in Florida.

02:34:14.000 I did. 0.92

02:34:14.000 When I got in there, I looked around and I was like, this is fucking weird. 0.92

02:34:17.000 So weird. 0.91

02:34:17.000 Like, they could have had that at the hotel. 0.91

02:34:19.000 We could have had a conference room.

02:34:21.000 Just set up the Oxygen.

02:34:22.000 Honestly, I've been in some fights like that where you've got a promoter, promotes for the first time, and they're like, cool, have your fighters, and you're just hoping your fighter gets paid because you look at a crowd, there's like 12 people.

02:34:30.000 Yes.

02:34:30.000 And they've got an arena like that.

02:34:31.000 I've seen that.

02:34:32.000 I've seen it.

02:34:33.000 I've been a part of some events where you're like, you're hoping your guys get paid.

02:34:36.000 Because you show up and fight, but there ain't no one in the crowd.

02:34:39.000 But it was unique because you have the TV. You know you're on the big show.

02:34:46.000 But it was super unique.

02:34:48.000 Well, Gilbert's already done that.

02:34:50.000 He's already done no crowd because he did the no crowd in Brazil.

02:34:53.000 He fought Damian Maia.

02:34:54.000 So he's used to the experience.

02:34:56.000 This will be Tyron's first fight like that.

02:34:59.000 This is different.

02:34:59.000 What is different about it?

02:35:02.000 Like when you walk into the octagon and Bruce Buffer's Justin!

02:35:06.000 The Highline KG! Nothing.

02:35:09.000 He's screaming and nothing.

02:35:10.000 You don't hear anything.

02:35:11.000 There's no people.

02:35:12.000 It's weird.

02:35:13.000 You just hear the echo of his sound. 0.98

02:35:15.000 I'm in such a fucking special place at that time. 0.95

02:35:17.000 I have no idea. 0.95

02:35:20.000 I mean, I'm there, but I'm not there.

02:35:23.000 What is happening in your head?

02:35:25.000 There's literally not a thing.

02:35:27.000 Not a thing.

02:35:29.000 You just go blank?

02:35:30.000 Pure bliss.

02:35:31.000 Just peace.

02:35:33.000 Really?

02:35:34.000 It's weird, yeah.

02:35:35.000 Peace.

02:35:35.000 No nerves?

02:35:36.000 I don't feel a thing.

02:35:38.000 Really?

02:35:38.000 I feel a thing.

02:35:39.000 So I get in there, you know, I looked him in the eyes, and then, you know, he broke for a second, and I was like, alright, give me some water, I got to smoke fire.

02:35:46.000 And then...

02:35:49.000 Then it's just peace.

02:35:51.000 So then it's like from the minute training camp starts, it's like a tunnel just closing and closing and closing.

02:35:57.000 And you get an octagon and you just see the blue canvas, the lights.

02:36:00.000 I understand.

02:36:01.000 I noticed the lights.

02:36:02.000 It's really bright.

02:36:03.000 There's like a smell.

02:36:05.000 I smell it.

02:36:06.000 And then the tunnel just closes.

02:36:11.000 He's announcing.

02:36:12.000 I've never even seen Bruce Buffer's face in there.

02:36:14.000 I've never heard his voice.

02:36:15.000 I've never heard Bruce Buffer's voice in there.

02:36:17.000 Really?

02:36:18.000 And then it just closes.

02:36:19.000 And the fight starts and it just woom!

02:36:21.000 And it just closes and it's over.

02:36:23.000 Wow.

02:36:24.000 The difference between your fights where you said you were having too much fun, like the Poirier fight or the Eddie Alvarez fight, and now, what is the difference?

02:36:34.000 So once the tunnel closed in those fights, it was like over, over.

02:36:39.000 Now I have like three pieces from this fight that I can remember.

02:36:44.000 And so I'm more present now.

02:36:48.000 More calculated.

02:36:49.000 Yeah, I'm as present as I can possibly be while still able to rely on my reactions and my intuition.

02:36:57.000 So your reactions and your intuition is all the stuff that you worked on in training and then you just trust it.

02:37:03.000 You trust that process once you get inside the octagon.

02:37:05.000 Yep, and my timing is unbelievable.

02:37:09.000 Just weird things.

02:37:11.000 My dad's a genius.

02:37:12.000 My dad has honed these certain skills.

02:37:15.000 Right now, I'm seeing him doing it with my nephew, but he'll be watching TV and he'll throw a ball to you and you have to catch it as many times as you can.

02:37:22.000 And he'll move it back.

02:37:23.000 He'll start throwing it sideways and you try to get to 100. First you get to 50, then you try to beat 50. Then he's going outside and he's throwing a ball onto the roof and it's rolling down and you have to kind of listen to it.

02:37:31.000 And as it's falling, you've got to try to react.

02:37:33.000 As it's falling to the ground, these small little things that my dad has done since I was a baby.

02:37:40.000 And my weird OCD when I'm driving in cars as a kid, anytime there was a shadow cast on the road, I always had to blink as the shadow was in between the tires.

02:37:49.000 So it's just my ability to react and not hesitate is, I believe, what's allowing me to do that inside the octagon in those situations. 0.99

02:37:57.000 Well, whatever the fuck it was. 1.00

02:37:59.000 Yeah, that sounds so stupid and weird. 1.00

02:38:01.000 No, it doesn't sound that stupid. 1.00

02:38:03.000 Those small little skills that I've constantly worked on since I was... 0.99

02:38:07.000 And I never knew why.

02:38:08.000 I never knew why I was doing this.

02:38:09.000 But now, you know, hindsight is always 20-20.

02:38:13.000 It's crazy because this is not something you could decide to do as an adult, right?

02:38:17.000 This is something you've built up your whole life.

02:38:19.000 Totally.

02:38:19.000 And now you can do it.

02:38:20.000 But your split-second timing and counter shots with Tony was pretty spectacular.

02:38:25.000 Second to none.

02:38:25.000 No one will beat me.

02:38:27.000 Conor McGregor is going to be a fucking race. 1.00

02:38:31.000 We're talking about milliseconds here. 0.99

02:38:33.000 And that's the race that we'll have. 1.00

02:38:35.000 Is that a fight you're looking forward to?

02:38:36.000 I do.

02:38:38.000 I want to shut him up.

02:38:40.000 I would love that.

02:38:42.000 I really would.

02:38:43.000 Do you think that's a possible fight?

02:38:45.000 I could fight him right now if I wanted to.

02:38:47.000 You think so?

02:38:47.000 And everyone is going to say that I'm lying and if it was there, I would take it.

02:38:52.000 Daniel Cormier said that the other day.

02:38:55.000 I'm not that fighter.

02:38:57.000 For one...

02:38:59.000 I have an opportunity to do something that can be unmatched in the history of our sport.

02:39:04.000 To go in there, to come off the circumstances, to beat Tony like I did, go beat Khabib, go beat Conor.

02:39:11.000 That's legendary.

02:39:12.000 So that's what you want to do.

02:39:14.000 You want to beat Khabib and then fight Conor.

02:39:16.000 But when you said you could fight Conor right now, why are you saying that?

02:39:19.000 Well, he's calling me out.

02:39:21.000 But is he really?

02:39:22.000 Because he was saying something about Usman, too.

02:39:24.000 And I know that's not real.

02:39:26.000 He doesn't want that.

02:39:28.000 I think he would take the fight.

02:39:29.000 With Usman or you?

02:39:30.000 With me.

02:39:31.000 He wants to fight Habib.

02:39:33.000 I'm the only way.

02:39:34.000 You had to go.

02:39:36.000 When he picked Cowboy, he could have gone through me.

02:39:40.000 He could have gone through me.

02:39:41.000 If you're a fan of the sport...

02:39:43.000 But don't you think he matches up way better with Cowboy?

02:39:46.000 That doesn't matter.

02:39:47.000 That's irrelevant.

02:39:48.000 But I think it is for him.

02:39:49.000 To make a spectacular performance, I think he felt like he matched up.

02:39:54.000 I think it was smart.

02:39:56.000 But now you're going to call for a towel shot?

02:39:58.000 No.

02:39:59.000 I'm in a great position because...

02:40:02.000 For one, I get to fight for a title.

02:40:03.000 There's 500 some odd people on this roster.

02:40:05.000 Every single one of them would want to be in my position right now.

02:40:08.000 But I also have the ability to bring some kind of...

02:40:13.000 I always draw a blank when it comes to this word, but a rhyme or a reason.

02:40:17.000 A way.

02:40:17.000 A way to a title shot.

02:40:19.000 For young guys that come in, they think politics run the show.

02:40:22.000 They ultimately do.

02:40:23.000 But there is a small chance that you get a say in your destiny and eliminate politics.

02:40:29.000 And that's what I just did. 1.00

02:40:31.000 Politics were going to fuck me. 0.99

02:40:32.000 I wasn't going to get the fight. 0.99

02:40:34.000 Conor was going to somehow or someway get that fight.

02:40:36.000 And now I got the chance to go out there and I... You know, did what I did.

02:40:41.000 Well, just through the virtue of your performances, you become incredibly popular.

02:40:45.000 And that's enough.

02:40:46.000 That's enough.

02:40:47.000 It's popularity is everything.

02:40:48.000 I mean, this is a weird game.

02:40:50.000 You have to win.

02:40:51.000 But it's also the way you win.

02:40:54.000 And you winning the way you did in Florida when there was nothing else going on in the world.

02:41:00.000 There's no live sports.

02:41:01.000 And so you winning the way you did and doing it in such spectacular fashion against a hugely respected guy like Tony Ferguson, that makes you undeniable.

02:41:12.000 And when you're undeniable, weird things happen, you know?

02:41:15.000 Timing is everything.

02:41:16.000 Doors get opened.

02:41:17.000 Timing is everything.

02:41:18.000 It was a perfect time.

02:41:19.000 It was.

02:41:23.000 Destiny, whatever it is, you know, I don't put anything into any of those things.

02:41:26.000 I just do what I can do today.

02:41:28.000 But, you know, timing is everything and it feels like that was part of my destiny to have the opportunity at that time under these circumstances.

02:41:35.000 Well, it certainly is a magical storyline.

02:41:38.000 If you were writing a movie, that would be the best way to...

02:41:41.000 When I go beat Habib and then I beat Conor, what run in the history of this sport has been better?

02:41:47.000 Coming off two losses, getting counted out.

02:41:50.000 That's what I'm here for.

02:41:52.000 I can inspire the world.

02:41:54.000 Now, do they have anything lined up for Conor now?

02:41:57.000 Because Conor keeps talking like something's happening.

02:42:01.000 He's so back and forth from the boxing to the MMA that it's again, it's uh...

02:42:04.000 Right, he keeps talking about fighting Floyd again.

02:42:06.000 He's trying to talk people into that he's the number one.

02:42:08.000 I would say, uh, it's...

02:42:10.000 He said he was gonna come back and do the season.

02:42:11.000 If you have to put an argument for yourself, you are not that man.

02:42:13.000 Where's the season?

02:42:14.000 Like, he talked about doing the season. 0.68

02:42:15.000 And don't get me wrong, I respect the shit out of him. 0.99

02:42:17.000 He can fight his ass off. 0.98

02:42:18.000 But he was like, I'm gonna do a season, I'm gonna have three fights in three months, or whatever he had said. 0.77

02:42:23.000 And...

02:42:24.000 The whole thing is people stop listening when you're not sticking to your word.

02:42:28.000 And if you're going to fight, fight.

02:42:29.000 Stay irrelevant.

02:42:29.000 Pick away class.

02:42:30.000 Be just consistent as you are when you fight because he's super consistent when he fights.

02:42:35.000 He's very talented.

02:42:36.000 I said in an interview that he was losing clout among fighters and in the game.

02:42:40.000 Dana White's laughing at him.

02:42:42.000 A reporter asked him, he said, Connor says he's fighting Justin next.

02:42:45.000 Dana laughs.

02:42:47.000 That's all the proof you need right there.

02:42:48.000 You're losing respect.

02:42:50.000 So he has to go and fight.

02:42:52.000 He has to kind of earn a position.

02:42:55.000 I mean, beating Cowboy is nice, but he's got to kind of get another win.

02:42:59.000 100%.

02:42:59.000 Something else has got to happen to really sell the public on it.

02:43:02.000 100%.

02:43:02.000 That you can sell a certain percentage of the public based on his name.

02:43:05.000 And it was at 170. I mean, again, there's the consistency.

02:43:08.000 I look at it from a consistency standpoint.

02:43:11.000 It's like, what weight class are you going to go in?

02:43:13.000 I feel if he was fighting at 145, he's very unstoppable.

02:43:16.000 I feel like that's the weight class for him.

02:43:18.000 But him changing weight, if I was a coach with him, I'd be like, hey, man, pick a weight class, be consistent.

02:43:22.000 He's so big for 145. I know, but again...

02:43:25.000 I don't know how the fuck he ever made that weight. 0.97

02:43:26.000 But again... 0.99

02:43:27.000 But again, he came from those weight classes.

02:43:30.000 He's also super hungry.

02:43:30.000 He's getting up to stronger dudes.

02:43:32.000 Like, his speed is key.

02:43:34.000 And when you go up bigger weight classes, you start to lose your speed.

02:43:37.000 Well, that's why the Usman fight I thought was so ridiculous.

02:43:40.000 When I saw them, Usman was posting photos of that. 0.80

02:43:42.000 I'm like, that is so crazy.

02:43:44.000 Because Usman is enormous.

02:43:45.000 And he's so powerful.

02:43:47.000 I was sparring with him for this camp.

02:43:48.000 William?

02:43:49.000 He's a big dude.

02:43:50.000 Yeah, he's a big guy. 0.99

02:43:51.000 He's a big guy and he's strong as fuck. 0.99

02:43:53.000 When Usman gets a hold of the guy, he drags him to the ground. 0.99

02:43:56.000 He's an incredible wrestler.

02:43:58.000 And his mind, too.

02:43:59.000 His mind is very, very powerful.

02:44:01.000 So when I was looking at that, I was like, wow, does that really happen?

02:44:05.000 Totally.

02:44:05.000 But it's not.

02:44:07.000 That fight's not happening.

02:44:08.000 I even texted Dana about that one.

02:44:10.000 I'm like, come on, man.

02:44:11.000 I didn't know nothing about that.

02:44:13.000 I really haven't been working on this stuff.

02:44:16.000 When Conor's talking about 70, after he fought Cowboy, he was like, I feel so good at 170. I'm like, okay.

02:44:22.000 It's all show.

02:44:24.000 It's all game.

02:44:25.000 I think he really did feel good, but he was fighting a guy who's not a real 170. He fought a 55er.

02:44:29.000 Yeah, exactly.

02:44:32.000 So your ultimate goal is to do that, to beat Conor, and then what do you do?

02:44:37.000 Do you have a long-term...

02:44:38.000 Fight Poirier. 1.00

02:44:39.000 And then get the fuck out of here. 0.99

02:44:40.000 And that's it? 0.99

02:44:41.000 That's all I need.

02:44:44.000 What do I need after that?

02:44:45.000 Yeah.

02:44:45.000 That would be legendary.

02:44:46.000 I'd make plenty of money, which is ultimately what I'm here to do.

02:44:51.000 And I took control of my destiny, which is all I asked for.

02:44:54.000 Yeah, so it's good.

02:44:56.000 You know, business-wise, the smart move could be, you know, right now to fight Conor, because obviously that's a lot of money.

02:45:05.000 I think you have more leverage beating Khabib.

02:45:08.000 I make way more money when I beat Khabib and then fight.

02:45:12.000 And if Conor's not there, I'll fight Poirier.

02:45:14.000 He's not on my list.

02:45:17.000 Khabib and Poirier are the two on my list right now.

02:45:23.000 If I fight them two with big paydays, then I'm good.

02:45:27.000 That's a great plan, man.

02:45:30.000 This is a good way to wrap this up.

02:45:31.000 Listen, man, it's been an honor, privilege having you guys in here.

02:45:33.000 Really appreciate it.

02:45:34.000 It's a dream come true for me, man.

02:45:36.000 You're a legend.

02:45:37.000 Thank you, brother.

02:45:38.000 You're a legend, too. 0.99

02:45:38.000 And I really fucking hope these goddamn gloves make their way into the UFC. Oh, they will. 0.99

02:45:43.000 They will.

02:45:44.000 It's all about timing, right?

02:45:45.000 They're superior.

02:45:46.000 And I really hope I'm there in September when you guys fight.

02:45:49.000 I can't wait to see it.

02:45:51.000 I heard maybe...

02:45:52.000 I was kind of pissed.

02:45:54.000 This is the first fight you've ever commented.

02:45:57.000 Oh, you did the Eddie Alvarez fight, too.

02:45:58.000 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

02:45:59.000 But this was the second. 0.93

02:46:01.000 It was fucking awesome. 0.95

02:46:02.000 Appreciate it. 0.62

02:46:03.000 Thank you, guys.

02:46:04.000 Thank you.

The Joe Rogan Experience - April 08, 2011

JRE MMA Show #96 with Justin Gaethje & Trevor Wittman

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript