This Past Weekend with Theo Von - #620 - Keith Peterson

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00:00:30.580 Today's guest is a true renaissance man.

00:00:33.160 He's a father.

00:00:34.340 He's a MMA referee.

00:00:36.820 He's a musician.

00:00:37.740 And he's a mechanic. 0.95

00:00:40.060 And he absolutely hates nonsense.

00:00:43.420 Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. No-Nonsense Keith Peterson.

00:00:47.740 I'm sitting here with the man, no-nonsense Keith Peterson.

00:01:10.560 Thanks for joining me, man.

00:01:11.980 No problem.

00:01:12.400 I got to ask you straight up, dude.

00:01:14.300 Is there, how much nonsense is allowed?

00:01:18.480 In what?

00:01:19.480 In fighting or life or?

00:01:20.940 Like, what are your thoughts on nonsense?

00:01:23.880 Because you got the name No-Nonsense, right?

00:01:25.800 Yeah.

00:01:26.240 I don't know.

00:01:28.320 There's a time and place, I guess, right?

00:01:30.540 But I think it, like, the no-nonsense thing is just, you know, my approach towards things.

00:01:38.540 And, you know, John Anik gave me that nickname and it kind of just stuck.

00:01:44.880 And I think it fits, you know, but, you know, there's nonsense.

00:01:50.820 So you'll allow a little?

00:01:52.400 A little.

00:01:53.060 Okay, depends.

00:01:53.780 During the holidays.

00:01:54.640 Yeah, yeah, yeah, I guess.

00:01:56.080 Okay, okay.

00:01:56.980 Maybe on your birthday, we get there's a little bit of nonsense allowed.

00:01:59.740 But usually, most of the things I do, I do very straightforward and, you know, no nonsense, I guess.

00:02:08.840 Yeah, I've been involved in too much nonsense and it gets a little hairy, that's for sure.

00:02:14.080 But, yeah, John Anik gave you that nickname, when was that?

00:02:17.440 Yeah, a few years ago.

00:02:19.680 Yeah, we had a few conversations and then I think on air he said it and it just seemed to take off and fit.

00:02:28.080 Yeah.

00:02:28.440 And I think it does fit.

00:02:30.060 Yeah.

00:02:30.300 You know, nicknames are weird, but I've had a few.

00:02:34.600 Yeah, what are some other ones you've had?

00:02:35.840 When I was little, my nickname was Froggy from, like, The Little Rascals, The Voice.

00:02:41.220 Oh, yeah.

00:02:41.900 The little guy with the voice.

00:02:44.220 I've always had this voice.

00:02:46.360 So, yeah, that was my nickname pretty much until I got older and kind of grew up.

00:02:51.160 Some people still call me that, though.

00:02:52.820 Yeah, there's this girl who moved in across the street and she came over because she wanted to play.

00:02:59.140 Yeah, that fits, man.

00:03:02.840 That fits.

00:03:03.740 You're from New York.

00:03:05.320 Long Island, yeah.

00:03:06.280 Long Island, New York.

00:03:07.560 And I originally lived in, like, East Meadow, Nassau County area and now I live in Islip, New York.

00:03:14.620 Islip.

00:03:15.520 And how did you get into refereeing?

00:03:16.960 How'd that start for you?

00:03:17.840 Well, I fought amateurs for a while and for about three years, all different fights, amateur level, MMA fights, Muay Thai fights, kickboxing.

00:03:29.600 And then we had a lot going on, so it was getting harder and harder, you know, to put the time in.

00:03:36.940 And someone just was like, oh, I want to, you know, judge or be an inspector at fights, at amateur fights or stuff like that.

00:03:47.060 And I was like, okay, that sounds cool.

00:03:49.360 I'll be, you know, still be at the fights.

00:03:51.480 And then I went, took this course and it was in New Jersey and there was this old referee, Donnie Caroline.

00:04:02.220 He reffed a bunch of my kickboxing, MMA fights and stuff.

00:04:05.340 Donnie Caroline?

00:04:06.040 Yeah.

00:04:06.700 He's, he passed away a few years ago and he was like, you'd be really good at reffing, you'd be really good at reffing.

00:04:14.860 And so I got my chance to reff, you know, a few amateur fights and kind of just took off from there.

00:04:20.820 And he was pretty supportive during the amateur part of it.

00:04:24.700 Were some of those early bouts tougher?

00:04:26.160 Was it tougher to referee then?

00:04:27.460 Like, is it something that gets easier over time?

00:04:30.440 Yeah.

00:04:31.220 I would always, I compare it to, and I don't know if it's a good comparison, but it would be like being a brain surgeon.

00:04:37.500 Like, you're not going to be as good as you're going to be 10 years, but no one could die.

00:04:43.000 Yeah.

00:04:44.100 Right?

00:04:44.860 Pretty simple.

00:04:45.800 Right.

00:04:46.180 And so you learn lots and lots of little things.

00:04:50.180 So you're saying, so you're not going to be as good as you're going to be later, but as long as you don't let somebody die.

00:04:54.100 Yeah.

00:04:54.400 You got to, you know, stop the fight when it's supposed to be stopped and, you know, and then the rules, it all comes in as you go.

00:05:01.220 Take me on like an early experience that was kind of like a lot for a referee.

00:05:04.400 Yeah.

00:05:04.740 So for me, my first like couple, like, um, I remember my first or second time reffing the fight was really even as amateurs and really even.

00:05:15.200 And then the kid was like, you know, losing pretty bad.

00:05:18.860 And I was like, wow, this kid's losing pretty bad.

00:05:21.440 You know, this fight should be stopped.

00:05:23.480 And I was like, oh no, that's me.

00:05:25.040 And then, and I stopped it.

00:05:27.400 And then, uh, and then kind of from there, you're like, yeah, you're the one in there, you know, cause it's, you're up close and like, you know, you have to adapt into a referee.

00:05:39.420 Like, um, at first, you know, I came out from fighting, so my mentality was like a fighter, like as a fighter, I didn't always agree with the referee, like, you know.

00:05:52.620 Oh, that's a good point.

00:05:53.620 Cause as a fighter, you have a, you're, you're, you're just doing your thing.

00:05:56.900 And, you know, especially, you know, at the high level, like this is, you know, it's their health, their lives, their livelihood, you know.

00:06:08.800 And all the dedication in the world, you know, that it takes.

00:06:13.420 So, you know, they're on a different journey that day than I am, you know, for sure.

00:06:19.500 And are there fighters that will tell you, they'll come up to you before about and say like, this is like, do not do this or do this.

00:06:26.640 Yeah, you'll get, you know, do not.

00:06:28.360 And then I just let them talk and then I, you know, do my, you know, whatever, uh, my criteria is.

00:06:36.340 I don't change it.

00:06:37.500 You can't.

00:06:37.880 No, you can't, you don't change it.

00:06:39.440 Is there one fighter that's like, do not for anything?

00:06:41.900 Like, is there somebody that's just like, let me go to the end of the road every time?

00:06:44.920 Like somebody that stands out?

00:06:46.060 Cause it's kind of.

00:06:46.580 No, like there's been like, not to name any, but a lot, a lot of times when they say, don't stop this, they usually, you end up stopping it.

00:06:55.640 It's weird.

00:06:56.460 Or they'll like tap or something.

00:06:58.640 They'll like, you know, be like, wow.

00:07:00.440 You know, especially when they say, you know, oh, I'm willing to die or whatever.

00:07:03.640 But some guys are just quiet and just, you know, that they're there to get the job done.

00:07:10.800 And, you know, and as far as, you know, it's like, as I said, a criteria, you know, let's say you've watched a lot of fights.

00:07:20.060 Like, and when I'm reffing, I'll say like, you have to move.

00:07:22.660 And if they fit that criteria, if they're defending and they can move, you know, it's a fight.

00:07:28.840 My main thing, as I said, this, you know, they're putting their health on the line.

00:07:33.940 My main thing is to have them fairly fight and, you know, health, like them leaving and being able to fight again or whatever they want to do again.

00:07:47.380 Right.

00:07:48.500 You know, be a family person.

00:07:50.140 Like, there's a lot, like, besides me being a parent myself, it's the most important thing I'll ever do.

00:07:56.220 It's very important.

00:07:57.600 And, you know, on the outside, it's just a fight, but a lot can happen, you know.

00:08:03.240 So, you're kind of like a safeguard.

00:08:06.680 Yeah.

00:08:07.600 And, you know, and it's like you're in there.

00:08:10.360 And as I said, emotions from everywhere, right?

00:08:14.560 The fighters, the corners, people who are there to watch the fight from, you know, you get a different vibe from the people in the front row, from the people in the back row, right?

00:08:22.900 So, it's a very emotional.

00:08:24.380 So, really, I try to keep my emotions aside and, you know, just have this set thing of what I do each time.

00:08:34.760 And, you know, everyone makes mistakes.

00:08:38.140 You know, I don't, that doesn't make them acceptable either.

00:08:40.800 Or, like, you know, oh, everyone makes, and they do, and I do.

00:08:44.660 But, you know, make a mistake, admit it, and learn from it, and move on.

00:08:50.900 Is there a fight that you've had to, like, you were like, yeah, maybe that was a little early or that was, I didn't read it correctly?

00:08:56.400 I try not to read it totally into the early ones.

00:08:59.620 Because I don't have many where I'm like, oh, that, that was late.

00:09:04.300 Like, I'm lucky that I don't really have one where I'm like, wow, that's not what I'm here to do.

00:09:12.320 So, that I'm lucky.

00:09:14.260 But, you know, to know, as you get more experience, you know.

00:09:20.960 Like, you'll know when, even, like, sometimes someone will be like, ah, I think that was a little early.

00:09:25.040 And you'll know right in your head, it wasn't a little early.

00:09:27.920 Like, because you're there right next to them.

00:09:30.140 So, you know, you hear all the sounds.

00:09:32.800 That's a good point, actually.

00:09:34.580 Yeah, you're right there.

00:09:36.000 I mean, you're right there.

00:09:37.880 You're the closest person to it.

00:09:39.540 You can feel a different energy than we can.

00:09:41.120 Yes.

00:09:41.660 And even cameras, I've done, you know, because I look at my work when I'm done with it.

00:09:47.780 And I've watched five different angles and, like, usually the only angle, like, there's one angle that I'm like, oh, that's what I saw.

00:09:56.920 Yeah.

00:09:57.120 And the other angles are kind of maybe a little bit.

00:09:59.760 And then there's one, like, closest to where my eyes are and they are.

00:10:03.960 Where you're like, oh, that's what I saw.

00:10:06.740 You ever go back and, like, with your lady, make love to a fight or watch one or something like that? 0.53

00:10:12.620 Like that, you know what I'm saying?

00:10:13.580 Watch your work type of thing.

00:10:15.480 Like a thing, you know, people will, like, watch their...

00:10:17.620 Oh, like, watch it, you know, just to say, wow, I did great.

00:10:20.500 Yeah.

00:10:20.740 No, I don't look at the ones I think I did good.

00:10:23.060 Yeah.

00:10:23.600 Right on.

00:10:24.800 Yeah.

00:10:25.520 What, uh, tell me a little bit about your life outside of work.

00:10:28.000 Because I know you're in a band.

00:10:28.960 I remember you telling me about it one time.

00:10:31.240 Yeah, I was in two bands.

00:10:33.160 It was my first band.

00:10:34.660 We started in 1998.

00:10:37.100 And my other one, we've been around a pretty long time, too.

00:10:41.740 What's that band called?

00:10:42.620 The first one was called GFY.

00:10:44.620 And, um, the second one's Loser Sometimes Win.

00:10:48.900 And, uh, they're, like, New York hardcore bands.

00:10:51.400 Hardcore.

00:10:51.920 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:10:52.400 Nice.

00:10:52.840 And where do you kind of model them?

00:10:54.020 What is GFY for? 1.00

00:10:55.480 Uh, Go Fuck Yourself. 1.00

00:10:56.700 Oh, yeah. 1.00

00:10:57.080 I stood for, yeah.

00:10:58.260 I was younger, younger than, yeah. 1.00

00:11:01.040 Oh, that shit was fun, huh? 0.99

00:11:03.360 Dude, where did you guys play? 1.00

00:11:04.580 How did you guys get started?

00:11:05.460 Um, we, uh, Long Island guys.

00:11:09.220 And, um, we, uh, met, you know, like a music scene.

00:11:14.160 Yeah.

00:11:14.480 And, um, we met, uh, and, um, I was like, oh, let's start something.

00:11:19.320 And then we just started it.

00:11:20.980 And were you singing?

00:11:21.800 Were you playing an instrument?

00:11:22.660 I sing.

00:11:23.180 You did?

00:11:23.620 Mm-hmm.

00:11:23.880 So that voice, as part of it, was that one of the reasons you even got into singing?

00:11:27.380 Just because your voice was kind of different?

00:11:28.780 Or?

00:11:29.000 Uh, it's like, it just happens to be that my voice kind of fit the hardcore thing.

00:11:32.980 But I liked hardcore way before that.

00:11:34.900 But, uh, kind of, like, started listening to hardcore punk rock music when I was really young.

00:11:41.360 But, yeah, I was just into, like, I got into heavy metal and, like, Black Sabbath and all that.

00:11:46.640 And then when I started hitting my early teens, I wanted to find something that would kind of, like, fit more of where I was.

00:11:53.240 And more, like, uh, work, it's, man, like, street music and stuff.

00:11:57.340 So that's, I found hardcore and just fell in love with it from then.

00:12:00.860 And, you know, I'm still, still, that's what I listen to.

00:12:04.300 Uh, I listen to all, every, you know, not everything, actually.

00:12:07.160 I don't like people who say they listen to everything.

00:12:09.000 But, uh, I listen to a lot of types of music.

00:12:12.320 Let's, let's take a gander at some of it.

00:12:14.080 Let's take an ear gander here at a little bit of it.

00:12:16.500 Play that second one, actually.

00:12:17.620 I like Till I Die.

00:12:23.240 Yeah, I like that.

00:12:50.560 Did you come in on this?

00:12:56.700 Yeah, I think right after the intro. 0.99

00:13:01.120 Who the hell are you? 1.00

00:13:02.900 You came to wreck everything and ruin your life. 1.00

00:13:07.460 Codesingers.

00:13:08.760 Yeah, that's amazing.

00:13:10.600 There's two singers in this band.

00:13:12.340 I like it.

00:13:13.440 Yeah, bro.

00:13:19.020 I like it.

00:13:21.000 That vibe is a pure vibe, dude.

00:13:23.580 That was like, that's like one type of culture, that whole energy.

00:13:27.500 And it's like silly too, like the, the intro to that is the death march, right?

00:13:33.640 And it was like Halloween and I pressed this thing and that's what it was like.

00:13:38.500 Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

00:13:40.220 So I went to my guys.

00:13:41.380 I'm like, yo, play the death march.

00:13:43.300 Yeah.

00:13:43.580 And there you go.

00:13:44.720 What are the ladies like that would come to the, that come to those shows? 1.00

00:13:48.040 That's how I met my wife. 0.88

00:13:49.540 Really?

00:13:49.960 Yeah, yeah.

00:13:50.600 Oh, it's a pretty good.

00:13:51.720 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:13:52.860 Yeah, that's it.

00:13:53.680 So from right before the band started or whatever, I met her and then.

00:13:58.100 Where did you meet her at?

00:13:58.980 Like take me through that.

00:13:59.820 At the band Hatebreed.

00:14:01.560 At a Hatebreed show.

00:14:02.520 Hatebreed?

00:14:03.340 Yeah.

00:14:03.860 Bring them up.

00:14:04.480 They're famous.

00:14:05.320 And are they out of New York?

00:14:07.200 No, Connecticut.

00:14:08.340 They're famous now pretty.

00:14:09.440 They play huge shows.

00:14:12.000 Yeah.

00:14:12.260 I think I've heard their name before.

00:14:13.540 Yeah.

00:14:14.700 And so were you guys just like, were you at the concession stand or were you just like

00:14:19.140 kind of like, I don't know if there is a concession stand, but yeah, no, yeah.

00:14:23.740 It's just tongue piercings and vodka at it.

00:14:26.740 Yeah.

00:14:27.140 Where'd you meet her at?

00:14:28.400 At the show and just, you know, whatever the dance.

00:14:32.520 And what do you call it?

00:14:33.520 The mosh pit.

00:14:34.260 Yeah.

00:14:34.880 And yeah.

00:14:35.820 And we just met and that was that.

00:14:38.660 Dude, those pits are fun. 1.00

00:14:39.940 Kind of if you can coordinate the pits.

00:14:41.440 Do you ever do that when you're on stage?

00:14:42.480 Where you're like, all right, everybody did this side and this side.

00:14:44.720 And then you make a merge.

00:14:45.700 Like I was at a Suicide Boys show not long ago.

00:14:48.700 And there's probably a lot more people at that show than my shows.

00:14:51.920 Yeah.

00:14:52.380 Yeah.

00:14:53.040 But they'll do this thing where it's like this kind of controlled thing.

00:14:56.460 But mosh pits used to be pretty sick.

00:14:58.440 The wall of death.

00:14:59.480 Yeah.

00:15:00.320 Yeah.

00:15:01.320 When there's a big crowd, those are cool looking.

00:15:03.380 Yeah.

00:15:03.660 It's just dope, dude.

00:15:05.160 Yeah.

00:15:07.060 Hunker man that does that really good with Seth is sick of it all.

00:15:10.200 They do a good wall of death.

00:15:11.400 Sick of it all?

00:15:12.100 Yeah.

00:15:13.400 Yeah.

00:15:13.760 I'm not familiar with them.

00:15:14.720 I think I'm not familiar with as much of that genre of music.

00:15:16.940 When I was growing up, we had a brother's friend, my brother's friends, they had a band

00:15:23.180 that was like that.

00:15:24.380 And so being the younger brother, we'd go lit, just try to get involved and stuff.

00:15:28.720 But there was always this kind of like, I think in our area, it was kind of fringe a

00:15:34.740 little bit just because we didn't have as many people that listened to that type of music.

00:15:37.820 Yeah.

00:15:38.300 In New York, it's, you know, even though it has its ups and downs, but like at one point

00:15:43.940 you had like CBGBs was like the home, you know, and, and stuff like that.

00:15:47.480 And you had lots of clubs and so it's.

00:15:51.300 Would you go there when you were growing up?

00:15:52.960 CBGB?

00:15:53.460 Yeah.

00:15:53.920 Really?

00:15:54.180 That's where I went mostly.

00:15:55.460 And then, and then I ended up playing there in both bands a few times.

00:15:58.580 Yeah.

00:15:59.340 Bring it up.

00:16:00.240 CBGB.

00:16:03.340 CBGB was a legendary New York City music club in the Bowery district founded by Hilly

00:16:09.140 Cristal.

00:16:09.900 Well, in 1973, they became a crucial incubator for the American punk and new wave rock movements,

00:16:16.060 though it was initially intended for country bluegrass and blues music, which the CBGB.

00:16:21.160 Oh, I didn't realize that name stands for country bluegrass blues.

00:16:27.080 The unglamorous gritty venue hosted influential bands like the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads,

00:16:32.620 and Patti Smith group before closing in 2006.

00:16:36.500 Wow.

00:16:37.620 Yeah.

00:16:37.940 So, do you remember who'd you go see there?

00:16:39.840 Oh, yeah.

00:16:40.640 Like, New York bands like Sick of It All, Gnostic Front.

00:16:45.340 Pretty much, like, once you kind of get into that, then it's all French bands, they get

00:16:49.320 to play, they play there, you go.

00:16:50.640 Like, we played there a few times.

00:16:54.240 It was, like, Sundays, you know, you'd go to, that's where you go, take the train and

00:16:58.900 go, go to a show.

00:17:00.860 And then there was, at the time, there was, like, a bunch of clubs and, you know, great

00:17:08.020 clubs there.

00:17:08.840 And, you know, being young, you could just go, you know, at one point you can go three

00:17:14.460 or four shows a week.

00:17:16.560 Yeah.

00:17:16.820 So, and, uh, so that became, like, main focus for a pretty long time.

00:17:22.220 Did you have, like, a routine before you got on stage with your band?

00:17:26.260 Did you have any?

00:17:27.340 Yeah.

00:17:28.040 Uh, I, you know, like, uh, I would just stand, like, we'd be selling shirts, so stand behind

00:17:33.720 the distro and kind of get ready and just get on and go.

00:17:38.100 Um, it's not much, you know, not much, like, I don't even, you know, I think it's good,

00:17:45.680 but, like, anyone could do it, what I was doing.

00:17:49.440 Just get on and if you love it, you just start screaming, I guess.

00:17:53.240 Yeah.

00:17:53.700 But, yeah, I, like, the raw energy of it all is really what I still love.

00:17:58.220 And, uh, I don't get to go to shows as much, uh, anymore, but my son's really, but my son's

00:18:04.740 in three bands right now.

00:18:05.780 Oh, wow.

00:18:06.160 So he's really involved in that.

00:18:08.040 So, uh, but, um, I still love, love the whole culture.

00:18:13.460 Yeah, it almost seems like there's some correlation there between, like, the intensity, right,

00:18:17.180 of that and, uh.

00:18:18.520 MMA.

00:18:18.900 MMA.

00:18:19.320 Yeah, there it is.

00:18:20.500 Definitely, definitely.

00:18:21.760 Yeah, it's like, it's almost like when the pedal is pressed all the way down in a car

00:18:25.160 and you're going at that.

00:18:26.320 Yeah.

00:18:26.660 Like, there's that.

00:18:27.380 I was actually really surprised when I started reffing, you know, um, events that were on

00:18:32.560 TV, that how many guys at the hardcore scene were into MMA and, and, you know, knew, like,

00:18:39.720 you know, the events and, and stuff.

00:18:41.760 A lot, there is a connection, you know, with, uh, jiu-jitsu and, and hardcore teams, a lot

00:18:46.960 of guys roll, but, uh, but with, you know, with the UFC, with all that stuff, like, you

00:18:53.040 know, oh, they knew everything about it.

00:18:54.480 I was pretty surprised.

00:18:56.560 But it makes sense.

00:18:58.120 Yeah, it does.

00:19:00.260 What happens when your health becomes the punchline?

00:19:03.980 That's where we're at.

00:19:05.500 From seed oils to stress, toxins to pollutants, the modern world is screwing with our health

00:19:11.240 at the cellular level, leading to exhaustion, brain fog, digestive issues, and more.

00:19:17.300 But here's the thing. 0.91

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00:21:28.240 Where'd you take your wife on Y'all's first date? 1.00

00:21:30.300 Do you remember?

00:21:30.680 I think we went to the diner, something like that, yeah, cheese fries or something.

00:21:37.120 That's what I'm talking about.

00:21:38.080 I'm thinking about sometimes fancy dates.

00:21:39.840 I'm about to cheese fry a woman and see what happens. 1.00

00:21:42.900 I need a wife. 1.00

00:21:43.660 With a brown gravy.

00:21:45.120 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:21:46.040 That's the ticket.

00:21:47.280 Was she in a band, or was she like-

00:21:48.740 No.

00:21:49.220 She wasn't in a band.

00:21:50.200 Just, you know, like, she liked ska music.

00:21:53.380 Oh, yeah.

00:21:54.020 And back then, like, Long Island, they would, you know, bands would play, hardcore bands

00:21:59.120 and ska bands would play on the same bill.

00:22:00.720 And then she just ended up being a big fan of hardcore music, too.

00:22:03.660 What differentiates ska?

00:22:06.220 Ska's got, I don't know, the definition, but it's got a lot of saxophones and stuff

00:22:11.960 and a horn section, usually.

00:22:13.940 I never really thought about that.

00:22:16.700 I've always wondered.

00:22:17.160 Ska music is a lively genre originated in Jamaica in the 1950s, blending elements of Caribbean,

00:22:22.580 Calypso, American jazz, and rhythm and blues.

00:22:27.780 A walking bass line with strong accents on the offbeat played by guitar, piano known as

00:22:32.780 the skank, fast tempos, and energetic melodies.

00:22:38.440 Let me see.

00:22:40.160 In Jamaica, ska was popular among working class rude boys. 0.99

00:22:43.440 Root bite.

00:22:45.100 While in the UK, skinheads adopted the genre during the two-tone era as a form of working

00:22:49.780 class solidarity.

00:22:51.500 Oh, that's pretty cool.

00:22:53.380 How long have you guys been married now?

00:22:55.140 Is it you're-

00:22:55.500 23 years.

00:22:56.760 What's been the key to a long marriage, do you feel like?

00:22:59.600 How's that been?

00:23:00.480 How's that road been?

00:23:01.400 Oh, awesome.

00:23:02.520 The whole, that part, amazing.

00:23:06.100 Marriage, kids, I love, that's, you know, my number one thing.

00:23:09.920 And it's been good.

00:23:11.040 And I would, you know, lie and say easy, but good, good, real good.

00:23:16.160 You think you chose a good partner?

00:23:17.640 Oh, yeah.

00:23:18.280 No, definitely.

00:23:20.000 Yeah.

00:23:20.800 What makes her pretty great, do you feel like?

00:23:23.380 I don't know.

00:23:23.900 Well, I guess the smart answer would be everything, but-

00:23:27.140 Yeah.

00:23:27.760 What is she?

00:23:28.300 She's Italian? 1.00

00:23:30.300 She's Argentinian and Italian.

00:23:32.080 Oh, yeah, boy.

00:23:33.540 Keep you on your toes.

00:23:34.420 Yeah, yeah.

00:23:35.220 She definitely is.

00:23:36.520 And, yeah.

00:23:37.200 You know, as far as, like, us parenting together and stuff like that, it's just perfect.

00:23:43.120 Like, very good.

00:23:44.300 Works out really good.

00:23:46.480 You know, like, certain things I'm good at help her.

00:23:52.120 Certain things she's good at helps me.

00:23:54.500 Mostly, what she's good at helps me.

00:23:57.100 She keeps it definitely going.

00:23:59.920 She's the one that keeps it going, yeah.

00:24:01.240 By a lot.

00:24:02.180 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:24:03.520 For sure, man.

00:24:04.660 What was it like when you guys decided to have kids?

00:24:07.720 Was that, like, a scary choice, or was it something you guys were just both excited about?

00:24:11.580 Was it scary for you kind of to become a dad?

00:24:13.520 Like, what was your relationship with your dad like?

00:24:16.340 I'm good.

00:24:17.280 Both of my parents, good.

00:24:20.300 But, yeah, I don't think I was nervous.

00:24:23.700 I do know, like, when our first son was born, I kind of looked, and it was, like, real deal now, right?

00:24:29.560 You're, like, holding him.

00:24:30.600 Like, all right, like, this guy depends on me for everything.

00:24:34.660 Like, everything, you know?

00:24:36.500 So, you're, like, all right, I got to get it together.

00:24:38.680 I got to make sure, you know, and I had it together, but I got to make sure that I do this right, you know?

00:24:43.460 And, you know, obviously, just like we said before, you make mistakes with things.

00:24:47.480 But, like, my goal is to, you know, raise, I have three kids, and, you know, raise them to be good people without having to try, if that makes any sense.

00:24:59.560 You know how, like, guys like us be like, oh, we're trying to do the right thing?

00:25:02.720 I want my kids to just be able to do the right thing without having to try, which is probably impossible.

00:25:07.880 But if you shoot for that goal, you know, it's good.

00:25:12.120 You know, it's a good thing.

00:25:13.260 Yeah.

00:25:13.500 Yeah, I don't have any experience parenting, but I think it's something that I start to look forward to more and more.

00:25:20.960 And I do think it's something that, like, kind of gets you into a new phase of life, right?

00:25:25.420 Oh, yeah, definitely.

00:25:26.980 I feel like I've been in the same phase of life sometimes for a while, kind of like, but I don't have another phase yet.

00:25:32.620 You know, it's like I don't have a wife or family yet, you know?

00:25:36.340 Sometimes people will be like, dude, you got to grow up.

00:25:38.920 And I'm like, to what?

00:25:40.440 Dude, like, what?

00:25:41.480 What do you want me to just go sit in a, like, rock and try something?

00:25:43.660 Like, what do you want me to do?

00:25:44.540 You know what I'm saying?

00:25:44.960 Yeah, definitely not.

00:25:45.720 I want to enjoy my life.

00:25:47.240 Even with my kids, it's been different.

00:25:49.600 Like, my 23-year-old is, like, really into the hardcore scene because when he was born, I was still very into that.

00:25:55.700 Still played shows.

00:25:57.140 Still, you know, went to shows.

00:26:00.360 My friends would come over.

00:26:01.900 That's all we would play in the backyard for barbecues.

00:26:04.780 So, like, he's really into that.

00:26:06.680 And then, you know, my daughter, it's wrestling, wrestling, wrestling.

00:26:10.440 Oh, she loves it.

00:26:11.040 Yeah, and because by the time, you know, she was getting older.

00:26:14.540 She's 19, and she was getting older.

00:26:16.880 That's what my older guy was doing.

00:26:18.440 We were into the wrestling thing.

00:26:20.120 So, and then, you know, my 14-year-old just wrestling, wrestling, skateboarding.

00:26:24.500 He's into skateboarding.

00:26:26.120 So, you know, he's pretty good.

00:26:28.500 Oh, there's your children right there?

00:26:29.740 Yeah, that's them, yeah.

00:26:30.500 Let's go, Keith.

00:26:32.500 That's awesome.

00:26:33.460 That's my son with the Rancid shirt on, and that's his girlfriend.

00:26:36.900 That's my youngest one, and my daughter's at the end.

00:26:39.800 Dude, congratulations, bro.

00:26:42.000 That's so cool, man.

00:26:43.440 That's cool.

00:26:44.460 That's so cool.

00:26:45.800 Yeah.

00:26:46.280 Yeah, there's something just special about that, about seeing a man and his family, you know.

00:26:51.480 You look like you've lost weight since then, huh?

00:26:53.300 Yeah, I've lost a good amount of weight.

00:26:55.340 Have you?

00:26:55.820 Are you taking the peptides?

00:26:57.320 No.

00:26:57.960 I just stopped eating horribly, and I'm running every day, and just, you know, like I wasn't

00:27:07.320 eating well, I don't think.

00:27:09.960 What were you eating?

00:27:11.140 Everything.

00:27:14.580 Everything.

00:27:15.460 Did you have one snack, like at night?

00:27:17.140 What was that snack that got you at night?

00:27:18.760 I don't know, like three gallons of ice cream or something.

00:27:21.300 Like, I was eating a lot.

00:27:22.400 Really?

00:27:22.880 You know, like, I guess it was gradual, so people didn't realize, but I'm not the biggest

00:27:26.360 guy in the world, and I weigh like 186 pounds.

00:27:29.800 That's a lot.

00:27:30.940 And so I slowly, you know, even though since I've been losing the weight, people, oh, he's

00:27:37.320 sick, or he lost too much weight, or whatever, but you can never make people happy.

00:27:41.300 You're fat, you're skinny, you know, you're short, which I can't make myself taller, 0.98

00:27:45.220 so I don't understand that comment. 1.00

00:27:46.500 Yeah, get taller, you f***ing, or whatever, you're like, what the fuck? 1.00

00:27:49.900 Yeah. 0.99

00:27:50.500 It's like, uh.

00:27:51.100 What do you mean?

00:27:51.560 They need me here.

00:27:52.040 I'm closer to the fight.

00:27:53.020 Yeah.

00:27:53.460 You have a big head.

00:27:55.120 Oh, right.

00:27:56.300 I didn't choose to have a big head, so.

00:27:59.000 Yeah, let me get this nail file.

00:28:00.480 Yeah.

00:28:01.320 So, like, things, but I feel good.

00:28:03.740 I love that I've lost the weight.

00:28:07.220 You know, I'm trying to put some muscle on.

00:28:09.020 Did you have a health scare or anything like that?

00:28:10.820 No, I wanted to be healthy.

00:28:12.960 You know, a few things were going, and not so much with me.

00:28:16.500 But around me, and I was like, you know, I want to make sure I'm healthier.

00:28:22.400 Like, what do you mean, like, a few things were going, like?

00:28:24.380 Like, a few people passed away.

00:28:26.380 Oh, you saw people having the effects of not being healthy.

00:28:29.140 Yeah, and just, you know, even, you know, some of them healthy, but just, I guess, not lucky.

00:28:34.980 So, I'm like, got to give yourself the best chance, right?

00:28:37.840 Yeah, sometimes you got to meet God halfway, you know?

00:28:40.320 Yeah.

00:28:40.700 And it's never going to be perfect, but, you know, like, I saw this barbecue place.

00:28:45.320 I don't know where I am.

00:28:46.140 I'm eating some fried alligator later, for sure.

00:28:50.360 For sure.

00:28:51.280 Hell yeah.

00:28:52.080 Yeah, they got some good stuff around here, man.

00:28:53.800 The food scene's been getting better here in Nashville, as the city's been growing, too.

00:28:59.260 What about, like, did you ever, did you struggle over the years with any addiction stuff?

00:29:02.700 Are you, did you drink?

00:29:03.900 No, I, well, I drank, but I wasn't necessarily, like, struggling with addiction.

00:29:09.240 I couldn't remember if you told me that one time.

00:29:10.780 Yeah, I don't drink anymore, really.

00:29:12.660 Um, but, uh, I never, never really even tried drugs.

00:29:17.400 It was never kind of like, I wrestled all the way through school.

00:29:20.680 Oh, that'll keep you clean. 0.83

00:29:21.520 And, and, you know, so, um, I wasn't the greatest ever, but, uh, I was really into it.

00:29:26.280 And, uh, and, uh, you know, kind of kept me whatever.

00:29:30.440 I was, I was wild enough without drugs.

00:29:33.560 Yeah, you're a drug. 0.99

00:29:34.380 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 0.99

00:29:36.020 Something already in there, you know what I mean?

00:29:39.380 Yeah, yeah.

00:29:39.980 You already got half a gram of songs stuck in there.

00:29:41.860 Yeah, yeah, I'm good.

00:29:42.600 Stuck in the back.

00:29:43.080 Yeah, never, was never attracted to me.

00:29:45.460 Wow.

00:29:46.720 That's wild, because I think people would look at you and probably think something like that.

00:29:49.840 Yeah, probably, I guess.

00:29:51.440 And people, I mean, me, too.

00:29:52.860 Yeah.

00:29:53.160 I thought it.

00:29:53.880 In the music scene that I'm in, a lot of guys just, you know, uh, probably you would think,

00:29:59.680 oh, that guy's on drugs, but they're just on whatever.

00:30:02.860 That's, that's what, who they are, right?

00:30:04.820 So, but, uh, I guess that, you know, even these days, the tattoos and stuff, you would think,

00:30:10.320 oh, that guy's, but, no.

00:30:12.540 Are you fully tattooed?

00:30:13.860 What are you?

00:30:14.400 Uh, yeah, I have sleeves, you know, uh, sleeves and my back's almost done and stuff like that.

00:30:21.680 Wow.

00:30:22.380 I, whatever, for some reason, I got my hands in my neck, like, real fast.

00:30:26.760 I was young, though, like 22.

00:30:28.260 Oh, okay.

00:30:28.760 So these have been there for a while.

00:30:29.540 Yeah, yeah, yeah, I like, I don't dislike them or anything.

00:30:32.100 Yeah.

00:30:32.700 No, it's cool.

00:30:33.440 It's definitely an energy.

00:30:34.500 I mean, you seem like, you know, like, yeah, you're like, you're, you're a no-nonsense guy.

00:30:38.940 So it's like, you know, you've, I think you kind of look a little bit like there's not a lot of nonsense allowed here.

00:30:46.000 Yeah, I guess you're supposed to.

00:30:46.900 You know, so it's kind of wild that you almost grew into that.

00:30:49.580 Yeah.

00:30:50.020 You know what I'm saying?

00:30:50.680 Yeah.

00:30:50.820 You kind of met, you kind of lived your life and then met that name right at the end.

00:30:53.980 Yeah, it's kind of, yeah, that's, it's like, you know, I kind of mind my own business.

00:30:58.480 I always have, you know, I'm always, you know, and it's just like, you know, I treat people the way that I want to be treated, which most of the time is left alone.

00:31:08.240 Right.

00:31:09.100 I'm nice to, you know, I'm nice to kids, old people, and animals.

00:31:14.000 Keep moving on.

00:31:15.180 Yeah.

00:31:15.380 What else can you ask out of a citizen?

00:31:17.020 That's it, right?

00:31:18.060 I think that's fair.

00:31:19.280 Yeah.

00:31:20.120 I think that's fair.

00:31:21.320 Yeah, I'd love to see you working at a petting zoo or something like that, dude, being like the operator or something.

00:31:26.520 I could have seen you working at like whenever, like the carnival would come to town when I was a kid.

00:31:30.800 Yeah, I would definitely probably be a good carny, right?

00:31:33.420 Yeah, dude.

00:31:34.180 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:31:34.400 But only on the, like the ride, it was the Gravitron where they had the dude in the middle that did the music.

00:31:39.560 Yes, I love that ride.

00:31:41.040 So I have an awesome Gravitron story.

00:31:45.960 It was, it was actually, I know the date.

00:31:48.180 It was April 19th, 1985, this place local near me, it's called Adventureland, and they had Gravitron, and the Van Halen album, 5150, just came out.

00:32:04.160 And they played that song, Why Can't This Be Love, like a hundred times.

00:32:08.060 Me and my brother went on it like 80 times in a row, and we just kept going.

00:32:12.380 And then like I would find, I was, yeah, it was my ninth birthday, I think.

00:32:18.700 And it was for my birthday, that's why I remember the date.

00:32:22.700 And the, like you'd go and then have the rules, right, of every single thing.

00:32:28.820 And like every single one, I'd break one of them.

00:32:31.220 My brother would be like, stop, stop, stop, kick off my shoe and it'd come back at you.

00:32:35.520 You know, yeah, I remember that.

00:32:37.340 That's crazy.

00:32:37.860 The Gravitron was like my favorite. 1.00

00:32:39.360 Fuck yeah, dude. 0.98

00:32:40.320 And that was like where, because that's, dude, at that time period, like when we would go, yeah, I was like 11, 12 or something like that. 0.99

00:32:48.760 And you get in there and the dude who ran, it would be like this kind of like rock.

00:32:52.680 Kind of look like a guy that shouldn't be running.

00:32:54.540 Yeah.

00:32:55.760 Yes.

00:32:56.120 Yeah.

00:32:56.620 Like, dude, somebody who dropped this guy in here.

00:32:59.460 Somebody hired him.

00:33:00.400 Yeah.

00:33:00.740 And it almost looked like this, this thing came from like outer space.

00:33:03.580 Yeah.

00:33:03.940 And you get in.

00:33:04.440 Like they built it around them.

00:33:05.700 Yes.

00:33:06.060 And the ramp would close up and it would be this dude who kind of looked like Slash from Guns N' Roses.

00:33:11.660 And, and then, and it would, you'd slide up against that wall and you couldn't even like, you could barely even move.

00:33:17.320 But every now and then you could like get your arm out and like just put it on your foot.

00:33:21.040 Well, so the more you went on it, the more your body got like used to it.

00:33:23.500 Really?

00:33:23.620 You could go upside down and it's, you know, and stuff like that. 1.00

00:33:26.720 Oh, damn. 0.98

00:33:27.560 I didn't know people got used to it. 1.00

00:33:29.180 Yeah.

00:33:29.260 Sideways. 1.00

00:33:30.340 Oh, shit. 1.00

00:33:31.680 Look at this. 1.00

00:33:32.080 Yeah.

00:33:32.380 Yeah.

00:33:32.880 Like standing there.

00:33:34.840 That's pretty brave there too.

00:33:36.260 See, I'm the other one.

00:33:37.400 See the one where the guy's facing the, facing the wall.

00:33:40.240 Yeah.

00:33:40.300 Like he's getting me out of here.

00:33:41.440 Yeah.

00:33:41.720 The dude who would try to turn over and he just didn't have enough energy to get back over.

00:33:45.980 That would be me.

00:33:46.940 Just humping the edge of the Gravitron.

00:33:48.940 His body's like split. 0.99

00:33:50.780 Dude, that shit was cool though. 0.99

00:33:53.420 There was just something. 0.99

00:33:54.400 Well, that guy looks like a normal guy there.

00:33:56.500 Amazing.

00:33:56.900 The guy running it there.

00:33:58.100 Yeah.

00:33:58.380 That guy's an op, dude. 0.99

00:33:59.440 That guy's not fucking real, dude. 1.00

00:34:00.740 That guy's a narc probably. 1.00

00:34:02.960 But, but dude, that shit was so much fun. 1.00

00:34:04.920 The whole idea of they're not spinning and you're spinning always like got me. 0.99

00:34:08.560 Like I would always like X for explanation.

00:34:10.440 Like he looks like he's spinning too.

00:34:12.560 Yeah.

00:34:12.800 He's not.

00:34:14.300 Dude, did you have, who influenced that music in you when you were a kid?

00:34:16.940 Cause I remember like my brother would listen to like Dio, Lock Up The Wolves.

00:34:20.660 Okay.

00:34:20.820 Yeah.

00:34:21.180 He would listen to some like, like Skinny Puppy maybe I think was a band as well.

00:34:25.360 Yeah.

00:34:25.580 Yeah.

00:34:25.700 Like nothing too crazy, but like kind of a little bit of mainstream edge.

00:34:30.400 Yeah.

00:34:30.760 Skinny Puppy's.

00:34:31.820 Yeah.

00:34:32.320 Good.

00:34:34.400 The, you know, the metal stuff.

00:34:36.720 Like I kind of like just grab it, you know, like sort and was like, I don't think guys

00:34:42.300 would like the cutoff sleeves and the, and the long hair, even though I've never had long

00:34:46.100 hair.

00:34:46.560 I was like, oh yeah. 1.00

00:34:48.680 Damn. 0.98

00:34:49.300 Some in the front, like, uh, in the mid nineties, I had like that skater hair thing, but. 0.98

00:34:54.160 Somebody make us a couple of, uh, put together a few memes of, um, somebody out there who knows

00:34:58.720 how to do it.

00:34:59.280 Uh, of, uh, of no nonsense with some long hair.

00:35:03.640 Just, we, just so we have them for the future.

00:35:05.240 Let's, we'll, we'll throw a couple of them in or we'll put this clip online and put a couple

00:35:09.260 of them in.

00:35:09.560 I'd love to just see that.

00:35:11.480 Yeah, dude.

00:35:11.960 I can't believe we didn't even try it.

00:35:13.380 Yeah.

00:35:13.700 No.

00:35:14.220 And then, uh, just that whole, whatever.

00:35:16.720 And then like my brother, as he was going, he started listening to, uh, like the different

00:35:23.580 metal, but like Van Halen and, um, you know, stuff like that.

00:35:27.520 So we kind of got Motley Crue.

00:35:29.960 Yeah.

00:35:30.440 Like my, uh, my first ever concert was Poison.

00:35:33.620 I went with my brother.

00:35:34.340 He was a few years older.

00:35:35.320 So I went and then my second one was Motley Crue. 1.00

00:35:38.620 Fuck, dude. 1.00

00:35:39.320 That's so sick, bro. 1.00

00:35:41.220 On, um, Dr. Feelgood tour.

00:35:43.300 He's on the, God, Dr. Feelgood.

00:35:44.780 Yeah.

00:35:45.280 We've had Tommy Lee on here.

00:35:46.620 Awesome.

00:35:47.020 Yeah.

00:35:47.360 That's crazy.

00:35:48.220 That's crazy.

00:35:49.200 So that, that tour, he played like up on the ceiling and he just like did like, even

00:35:54.880 I think it was like ACDC, like cover songs.

00:35:56.920 And just like went across the ceiling.

00:35:59.260 It's pretty cool.

00:36:00.160 And your brother took you to that?

00:36:01.220 Yeah.

00:36:01.680 Yeah.

00:36:01.980 So you guys were pretty close.

00:36:02.980 Yeah.

00:36:03.520 Yeah.

00:36:04.180 Yeah.

00:36:04.300 Nice.

00:36:04.580 Does he play music?

00:36:05.480 Nah, he actually passed away like a year and a half ago.

00:36:08.420 Oh man.

00:36:08.940 So yeah.

00:36:09.600 Young at like 50.

00:36:11.260 Oh.

00:36:11.560 So yeah.

00:36:12.880 But, uh, what was he, was he suffering from something?

00:36:16.120 No, he, he had, um, he had, uh, tumors, but he, he didn't know or didn't, uh, take care

00:36:25.840 of, I'm not sure which one, but, um, he, uh, so he went into the hospital on a Tuesday.

00:36:30.860 He died on a Friday.

00:36:32.260 So it was real fast, real fast.

00:36:35.160 So did you get to see him in between those days?

00:36:36.740 I was there the whole time.

00:36:37.580 You were?

00:36:38.040 Yeah.

00:36:38.280 Yeah.

00:36:38.380 Oh man.

00:36:39.040 Yeah.

00:36:39.240 Yeah.

00:36:39.380 So, yeah.

00:36:40.360 What was that like?

00:36:41.720 Uh, I mean, I hate to ask you that.

00:36:43.140 Not good.

00:36:43.600 Uh, yeah.

00:36:44.060 Sorry.

00:36:44.400 So no, it's all right. 1.00

00:36:45.420 Fuck. 1.00

00:36:45.680 It's not the most thoughtful question. 1.00

00:36:46.920 No.

00:36:47.320 I'm sorry that happened, man.

00:36:48.540 Yeah.

00:36:49.020 But, uh, so I bet he was super proud of you, huh?

00:36:52.440 Yeah.

00:36:52.800 So how, yeah.

00:36:53.920 So how things work is like, this stuff's going to happen to all of us, unfortunately.

00:36:59.360 Yeah.

00:36:59.660 Bad stuff.

00:37:00.540 Right.

00:37:01.280 So the way I feel is how are you going to handle those moments?

00:37:06.080 So I believe at that moment, and it was handled as perfect as it possibly could.

00:37:14.440 What makes you say that?

00:37:15.660 Well, you know, in a room of people, uh, the room was full of people he loved and they loved

00:37:21.240 him.

00:37:21.700 You know, he, uh, he wasn't married.

00:37:23.700 He didn't have kids.

00:37:24.540 So my kids were like his kids.

00:37:27.240 And, uh, so they're surrounded, you know, surrounded by his parents and just as good as that could

00:37:33.060 happen.

00:37:33.960 You know what I mean?

00:37:34.740 And so, you know, I don't know, like my brother was the nervous guy.

00:37:41.180 He didn't seem nervous at that point.

00:37:43.740 So I don't know, you know what I mean?

00:37:45.100 Yeah.

00:37:45.540 Huh?

00:37:46.120 Yeah.

00:37:47.220 Much is weird.

00:37:48.480 That's kind of interesting.

00:37:49.520 I'll probably be crying like a baby, but now, yeah, he handled it, you know.

00:37:54.180 The world is kind of nerve wracking.

00:37:56.240 You know, when you think about it.

00:37:57.380 Yeah.

00:37:57.700 So that's how, like, he was always nervous and I never was nervous about anything when

00:38:03.360 we were kids.

00:38:04.500 And even crossing the street, I'd run and he'd be screaming.

00:38:07.120 And, yeah, yeah.

00:38:08.180 So we were really, really, really close.

00:38:09.940 It was like me and him, my mom worked most of the time, two jobs and stuff.

00:38:15.120 So it was me and him and we were total opposite.

00:38:19.520 Um, like, even growing up, like, I got into, like, the metal music first.

00:38:23.940 He would listen to, like, Cultural Club and, like, Tears for Fears.

00:38:27.060 Yeah.

00:38:27.220 It was just different.

00:38:27.720 And then he got into the rock and roll stuff.

00:38:30.320 And, um, but, um, you know, he, he, he was a comedian.

00:38:34.280 He was, uh, in school, he was in the drama club and stuff and I was in sports.

00:38:38.840 So we were totally different, but, like, the same, I guess.

00:38:41.980 Did you kind of feel like his protector sometimes in some ways?

00:38:44.240 Uh, well, he was older than me, but, yeah, I was definitely, and, and, you know. 0.98

00:38:49.880 Well, sometimes you've got that gritty brother who's the fucking, you know what I'm saying? 0.96

00:38:52.220 Yeah, I was definitely that, yeah. 0.97

00:38:53.520 Yeah, but, um, it was weird how he balanced it, like, he, as I said, he was nervous and

00:39:00.420 had major anxiety, but, like, it was so different, it just, but it fit, like, um, perfect.

00:39:09.800 Like, uh, like, our relationship was, like, good.

00:39:12.420 Yeah.

00:39:12.640 Like, really good, yeah, yeah.

00:39:14.280 What was his name?

00:39:15.120 Uh, Rob.

00:39:15.760 Rob.

00:39:16.220 Yeah.

00:39:17.300 Nice, man.

00:39:17.960 Rob Peterson?

00:39:18.620 Yes, sir.

00:39:19.220 Oh.

00:39:19.620 Yeah.

00:39:20.320 Well, hello, Rob.

00:39:22.440 Nice to meet you through your brother, um, and hope you guys are having a good time out

00:39:27.560 there, wherever you are.

00:39:28.440 Yeah, whatever you're doing.

00:39:29.580 Yeah.

00:39:29.860 Yeah, yeah, for sure.

00:39:31.720 Did he get to come see you referee?

00:39:34.020 Uh, he, he never saw me referee.

00:39:36.700 What?

00:39:36.920 Actually, yeah, yeah, yeah, so, my.

00:39:40.320 But I guess a lot of times you don't go watch somebody work.

00:39:42.220 Yeah, but he came to see me fight.

00:39:44.420 I actually have a pretty funny, so, I was fighting for a title, uh, amateur title, in, um, in

00:39:49.880 Atlantic City, and him and his buddy.

00:39:51.820 Was this one of your biggest fights?

00:39:52.820 Uh, yeah, it was like my, I think it was my first amateur title fight, so it was a big

00:39:56.740 deal, and it was actually, no, I was actually defending it.

00:40:03.560 I, I took a fight on short notice, uh, I bumped up a weight, and I lost, so now, I was fighting

00:40:09.540 the same kid, but at our weight for the title.

00:40:13.100 He was gonna take my title, whatever.

00:40:14.680 So, my brother and his buddies come, and I guess they're doing their thing pretty early,

00:40:20.280 and they're going, you know, uh, Atlantic City, and, and having fun.

00:40:25.400 And then I, I come, and as I say, he's a really nervous guy, and, uh, he's standing in, like,

00:40:32.760 the, uh, the, uh, the hall, but the cage is right there, and he's, like, staring at the

00:40:36.940 cage, and he looks like he's sweating.

00:40:38.320 And, and I said to him, I'm like, yo, what's up, Robbie?

00:40:41.080 And I'm right behind him, and he's like, oh, my God, you know, fighting, and, and, you

00:40:45.620 know, you're getting older, you have kids, and whatever, and, and, uh, ring girls walk 1.00

00:40:49.800 by, and I go, hey, Robbie, you see the ring girls? 0.92

00:40:52.880 He goes, he goes, I'm not that nervous, of course, I've seen the ring girls, and it

00:40:57.820 was pretty funny.

00:40:59.000 He's like, I'm on mine.

00:41:00.000 It was pretty funny.

00:41:01.060 And then, uh, I won the fight, we went out, it was a really good, uh, great night, too.

00:41:05.500 Oh, yeah.

00:41:06.420 I remember it being really, really awesome.

00:41:08.660 So, you had an amateur belt?

00:41:10.340 Uh, a few, yeah, a few.

00:41:11.960 I, um, I won that one.

00:41:14.460 Did you have a nickname when you were a fighter then?

00:41:16.020 Short, the, the Spartan.

00:41:18.640 Yeah.

00:41:19.180 So, like, we were watching 300 or something, and someone said something, like, cause he,

00:41:23.240 you know, he was just fighting, hanging out with his wife, and, and playing with his

00:41:27.540 kids.

00:41:28.160 And they're like, oh, that's kind of like you.

00:41:29.440 I was like, oh, go with that, Spartan, but.

00:41:31.620 Yeah.

00:41:32.060 Yeah, yeah.

00:41:32.740 I saw where you fought one guy three times.

00:41:35.360 Yeah.

00:41:36.520 Jose Villanueva?

00:41:37.980 Yeah.

00:41:38.580 What was that?

00:41:39.460 Cause that was like a trilogy, I guess, sort of?

00:41:41.280 Yeah.

00:41:41.780 What did that feel like?

00:41:42.660 Was that part of that same thing?

00:41:44.020 Yeah, that was part of it.

00:41:44.900 Oh, it was?

00:41:45.380 Yeah.

00:41:45.740 So, you guys were 1-1?

00:41:47.140 He ended up winning, uh, 2.

00:41:49.760 He ended up winning 2.

00:41:50.560 We bumped, we went back up, we'll wait, and he, he won 2.

00:41:54.480 Did you feel like you could go back up?

00:41:55.940 You're like, I got him here, I can go back up there and get him?

00:41:58.020 Or what was that, what was that like, dude?

00:41:59.440 I don't know, I can't remember, I'm trying to think, like, I think back then.

00:42:03.660 Did you have something against the guy?

00:42:05.160 Oh, no.

00:42:05.860 But I think back then, you know, it was still kind of, the amateur scene was just kind of

00:42:11.420 growing.

00:42:12.560 With MMA.

00:42:13.560 Yeah.

00:42:14.140 And he was good, and I was good, and he was competitive.

00:42:18.620 So, you know, probably, you know, I was trying to fight some other guys in between, so I was

00:42:23.740 kickboxing and fighting Muay Thai fights, too.

00:42:26.540 But, uh, no, nothing against him.

00:42:28.840 I actually reffed him a bunch of times after.

00:42:30.980 Oh, that's pretty cool, man.

00:42:32.540 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:42:33.200 Oh, this is part of that bout?

00:42:35.340 Yeah, I think this is the one, so this is the one I bumped up, and I fought on three

00:42:39.800 days notice.

00:42:40.400 So this is the first one?

00:42:41.180 I lose this one, yeah.

00:42:44.640 Keith, that's dope, bro.

00:42:46.300 You're in there.

00:42:47.260 It's weird that the ones I went on on here, but, and that's the guy, Donny Carly, that's

00:42:52.940 him.

00:42:53.440 That's the guy.

00:42:54.040 Yeah, that's the guy who got me into reffing.

00:42:55.860 Wow, that's cool.

00:42:57.280 My first, yeah, my first.

00:42:59.380 That's good defense right there, man.

00:43:00.680 Yeah, yeah.

00:43:01.220 I know how to wrestle a little bit, but my first, I think he does take me down, but I

00:43:04.920 pop up, and basically what happens is.

00:43:07.540 Oh, look at that, bro.

00:43:08.880 Go back.

00:43:09.620 Let's see a little bit of that frickin', yeah. 1.00

00:43:12.080 You were loving that shit, huh? 1.00

00:43:13.520 What happens is I miss a back fist, but I think if I hit it, he'd probably still be 1.00

00:43:18.140 asleep, but I miss it, and kind of get slammed on my head, and move on from there.

00:43:22.200 That's good.

00:43:22.740 He submits me.

00:43:24.000 That's cool, man.

00:43:25.120 Yeah.

00:43:26.120 Those fights were good.

00:43:27.080 They were fun, and he was a good guy, and as I said, I reffed him after, and even in his

00:43:32.000 pro career, so.

00:43:33.420 That's pretty cool.

00:43:34.140 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:43:34.900 Well, it's cool that you reffed him after, and that the referee's the guy that got you.

00:43:38.720 Yeah, there's a lot of connections.

00:43:40.040 It's so amazing, man, about life, if you're able to stay, kind of as you're saying, healthy

00:43:46.080 enough, right?

00:43:46.760 Yeah.

00:43:47.200 If you're able to take care of yourself mentally enough to stay, you don't even have to stay

00:43:51.440 in the center lane.

00:43:52.260 You can veer off a little bit, but if you're able to stay, so many of the pieces of our

00:43:57.080 past kind of really connect and make the future make sense.

00:44:01.340 For sure.

00:44:02.280 Definitely.

00:44:02.920 I've had, in the last couple years, I've had so many moments like that.

00:44:06.820 It's crazy.

00:44:07.620 Yeah?

00:44:08.000 Yeah, yeah.

00:44:08.680 So, anyone that stands out?

00:44:11.040 Well, so, my first couple of years in high school, I didn't do so well, and I ended up

00:44:17.000 doing pretty well.

00:44:18.200 Like, what do you mean, didn't do so well?

00:44:19.260 Like, in school?

00:44:19.720 In school.

00:44:20.520 Yeah.

00:44:20.820 Did you not like it?

00:44:23.300 Yeah, I guess.

00:44:25.060 In, like, ninth grade, I didn't really do very good.

00:44:28.280 People were like, were you, like, fighting with other kids?

00:44:31.240 No, not so much.

00:44:32.200 You know, back then, kids fought more often than they do now, for sure.

00:44:36.460 But I just didn't, you know, I guess that whole punk rock feel, like, not listening to

00:44:40.280 authority or whatever.

00:44:40.980 Oh, yeah.

00:44:41.280 Yeah, something like that.

00:44:42.640 But, um, so I didn't do so well, and I went to East Madison High School, didn't do so well

00:44:46.480 there.

00:44:46.700 And then, uh, you know, I ended up going to a few different high schools.

00:44:51.540 We moved a bunch of times.

00:44:53.740 And, um, so it didn't end well.

00:44:55.980 And then, um.

00:44:56.820 Did you graduate?

00:44:57.620 No, I graduated high school.

00:44:59.220 I went to college for a year, and then I started, I'm a diesel mechanic for what town I live

00:45:03.880 in.

00:45:04.500 I've been there 28 years.

00:45:05.880 Are you still a diesel mechanic?

00:45:06.860 Yeah, yeah.

00:45:07.360 Are you in the union?

00:45:08.380 Uh, yeah.

00:45:08.920 Oh, wow.

00:45:09.540 What union are you in?

00:45:10.600 Um, now we're, uh, USP.

00:45:13.140 We change a lot.

00:45:13.860 But when I first started there, we were Teamsters.

00:45:15.960 That was pretty cool.

00:45:17.320 I thought the idea of being a Teamster was cool, but.

00:45:19.360 Yeah, we had Sean O'Brien in.

00:45:20.420 He worked with the Teamsters.

00:45:21.860 Um, he was Teamsters president.

00:45:23.120 I'm not sure if he still is.

00:45:24.340 Yeah.

00:45:24.820 Um, but so we've learned a little bit about unions over the years.

00:45:27.040 I didn't know anything about him until we had him in, you know?

00:45:29.200 Yeah, that's, the whole, union job's awesome.

00:45:31.660 I'm able, I'm able to do what I do and stuff that I want to do and branch out.

00:45:36.420 Wow, so you've been a diesel mechanic this whole time.

00:45:38.360 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:45:39.460 How'd you get into that?

00:45:41.040 Uh, I decided that college wasn't for me.

00:45:44.720 My dad's like, well, working is, get a good job.

00:45:47.620 So, um, got a job.

00:45:50.020 Like, back then, when you left college, you were off your parents' benefits right after that.

00:45:54.840 It wasn't like now where it's to 26.

00:45:56.680 So, I, I needed a job.

00:45:58.860 I was roofing.

00:46:00.100 And, uh, I think I broke a rib or something.

00:46:02.340 And I, you know, my dad was like, you need a job with insurance.

00:46:05.980 And, and if you get hurt, you know, you get paid.

00:46:09.140 So, uh, I found this town job.

00:46:11.640 And I started a highway for a little while, like nine months.

00:46:14.740 And then I got into the mechanic shop and that was that.

00:46:17.320 You started working on the highway?

00:46:18.760 Yeah.

00:46:19.200 So, like, you know, mowing the lawns and stuff on the highway.

00:46:21.720 Oh, wow.

00:46:22.160 You ever find anything cool out there?

00:46:23.620 No. 1.00

00:46:24.580 Damn. 1.00

00:46:25.320 Garbage that you have to pick up. 1.00

00:46:26.780 That's it. 0.99

00:46:27.300 I always want to find a body out there.

00:46:28.700 So, like, uh, a dead body?

00:46:30.740 Well, Long Island has a bunch of them on the sideways, but.

00:46:33.800 Yeah.

00:46:34.180 Yeah.

00:46:34.680 Or semi-living.

00:46:35.740 I'll find, you know what I'm saying?

00:46:36.560 I'm, I hope they're alive, but.

00:46:38.320 I could totally be fine with not finding a dead body.

00:46:42.260 Yeah.

00:46:42.620 Definitely.

00:46:43.240 I'm good.

00:46:43.900 Yeah.

00:46:44.320 Tomato, tomato, you know.

00:46:45.360 A body part or something, maybe.

00:46:47.020 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:46:47.800 Yeah, yeah.

00:46:49.040 Foot.

00:46:49.660 Just a thumbs up.

00:46:50.460 Yeah, thumbs up.

00:46:51.600 That'd be kind of cool.

00:46:52.520 Yeah, yeah.

00:46:52.780 Sounds like you're finding an emoji.

00:46:54.180 Yeah.

00:46:54.840 Just like that.

00:46:55.700 That'd be cool.

00:46:56.260 Sean O'Brien is still the general president of the International Brothers,

00:46:58.700 Brotherhood of Teamsters as of October, 2025.

00:47:02.000 Did you, uh, did you have a mentor that taught you how to be a diesel mechanic?

00:47:05.600 No, kind of like on the job learning.

00:47:07.980 I did have, you know, there were older guys there that were really good.

00:47:11.480 And, uh, kind of like if, you know, if I, you know, if I can't fix it, I could break

00:47:15.860 it even more, you know, just keep going.

00:47:17.660 And then from there, you know.

00:47:19.740 And did you teach your kids any of those kind of skills or?

00:47:22.560 Yeah, a little bit, you know, like the normal skills.

00:47:25.640 Like, you know, like I actually, you know, there's kids.

00:47:28.700 I don't know how to change a flat tire these days.

00:47:30.620 I've had a few of that.

00:47:31.380 My kids know how to change flat tires and my daughter knows how to change flat tire. 0.99

00:47:35.360 Yeah.

00:47:35.700 You know, stuff like that.

00:47:37.080 And, um, my younger guy is the one that seems to be the one that's going to be working with

00:47:41.560 his hands.

00:47:41.900 My older guy's a chef, but, uh, so he works with his hands just differently.

00:47:45.920 Um, but I hope his hands aren't dirty when he's working.

00:47:48.800 Um, but, uh, yeah, my younger guy seems to be, you know, maybe do some, uh, mechanic program

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00:48:11.580 There's a reason you wouldn't trust a seagull with your fries.

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00:50:18.680 So take us on the journey of how you get into working with the UFC.

00:50:23.620 So I started reffing.

00:50:26.160 And so each one, you know, is commissions.

00:50:29.820 And I started reffing first in New Jersey.

00:50:33.780 And then Pennsylvania got sanctioned.

00:50:37.040 And it's a really big state.

00:50:38.640 So I got a lot of work there.

00:50:40.920 And I was working, putting in a lot of time there.

00:50:44.200 And I think a few months into being sanctioned, they had a show, UFC 101 in Philadelphia.

00:50:52.860 And you went to the fight?

00:50:54.260 No, I worked.

00:50:55.260 I reffed that one.

00:50:56.340 That's my first one was one-on-one.

00:50:58.980 Bring that up.

00:50:59.820 Bring that card up.

00:51:01.180 I reffed the first two fights.

00:51:03.480 Wow.

00:51:05.180 What was that like that first day?

00:51:06.940 I mean, did you have your own like kind of green room?

00:51:08.820 Was it a little bit different?

00:51:09.940 What was that like?

00:51:10.620 No, just normal.

00:51:12.120 But you had to be so excited.

00:51:13.700 Yeah.

00:51:13.880 But how did you get it?

00:51:14.940 I was actually so excited I didn't even know how to get in.

00:51:17.280 So I've never gone to a venue without a ticket, right?

00:51:22.620 So I didn't ask them.

00:51:25.280 I didn't ask what I needed.

00:51:27.200 And I got there and realized how do I get in.

00:51:30.260 So now I know.

00:51:32.200 You have to have your credential, obviously.

00:51:34.000 So, you know, and I ended up getting it.

00:51:35.520 But now I know how that works.

00:51:36.780 But you just tried to come in through the ticket.

00:51:37.980 No, I just got there and I was in the parking lot and was like, how am I getting in?

00:51:42.820 I don't have a ticket.

00:51:44.720 So, yeah.

00:51:45.620 So that was, you know, 2009.

00:51:48.280 Who were the other referees?

00:51:49.580 Do you remember on the card?

00:51:52.080 Maybe the same guys as now?

00:51:54.200 There's some, I think, some were still now.

00:51:56.800 Maybe Mark Goddard?

00:51:58.460 Yeah.

00:51:58.760 Yes.

00:51:59.380 Actually, I believe that was Mark Goddard's first time reffing in the States.

00:52:04.040 I believe.

00:52:04.480 Or UFC in the States or something like that.

00:52:06.260 Wow.

00:52:06.560 So, yes, he was on that card.

00:52:08.160 BJ Penn.

00:52:09.160 Wow, that's amazing.

00:52:11.140 Yeah.

00:52:11.360 Dude.

00:52:12.800 That's Forrest Griffin?

00:52:14.580 Yep.

00:52:15.140 Wow.

00:52:15.560 It was Anderson Silver versus Forrest Griffin.

00:52:18.040 So it was a while now, I guess, right?

00:52:20.220 Yeah.

00:52:20.500 Was there a fighter that you reffed for early before he got to the UFC that you saw like

00:52:26.640 in amateurs and stuff?

00:52:27.840 Yeah, a bunch of them.

00:52:28.980 Like Paul Felder.

00:52:30.520 Yeah.

00:52:30.860 Paul's the best, huh?

00:52:31.640 Yeah.

00:52:32.260 He's fearless.

00:52:33.020 He's awesome.

00:52:34.360 Could you tell then when you were seeing Paul then?

00:52:36.640 Yeah, yeah.

00:52:36.780 Yeah, he's different level.

00:52:38.980 Al Quinta.

00:52:40.120 Yeah.

00:52:40.580 Different level.

00:52:41.300 Tough.

00:52:41.580 Yeah.

00:52:44.160 I think there's been a good amount over the years that you see in the local stuff and

00:52:50.760 you reff and then you reff with them in the UFC, which is pretty cool.

00:52:55.280 That's pretty cool, man.

00:52:56.340 Pretty cool for them and for me.

00:52:57.540 Yeah, for sure.

00:52:58.560 Like for them that they're there, not that I'm there.

00:53:00.860 I don't think they really care about that.

00:53:02.600 But yeah, for me, it's like, wow.

00:53:05.820 Yeah, I'm a part of something.

00:53:06.900 Yeah.

00:53:07.100 Like we're all on this journey.

00:53:09.500 We're all on the same journey in a way.

00:53:11.160 Yeah.

00:53:11.740 As I said, you know, it's like besides, you know, my family stuff, it's the most important

00:53:16.980 thing that I'm going to end up doing, you know, and to see, you know, you think about

00:53:23.400 it, you reff them in the, you know, the local scene and they're healthy enough to get

00:53:27.780 there, right?

00:53:28.360 And, you know, you think, you know, you have something to do with that, you know?

00:53:32.880 That's a good point.

00:53:33.580 You know?

00:53:34.140 So.

00:53:34.320 Was there ever a fighter that you remember that stood out that something happened in

00:53:40.560 amateurs and they didn't make it like someone that really stood out over the years?

00:53:43.740 Well, there's a lot of ones that you would say, oh, this guy is going to be, and they

00:53:46.860 don't, you know, it's a tough sport, right?

00:53:49.420 So, and.

00:53:50.980 Anyone that comes to mind that kind of like that you.

00:53:52.960 Not particularly name wise, but there's been guys where you go, wow, you know, sky's

00:53:59.380 a limit and then just, you know, for whatever injury or it's hard, you know, like we were

00:54:06.200 saying, you talk about having kids and stuff.

00:54:08.620 I think, you know, once you start having kids and stuff, the guys that have these families

00:54:13.160 and they train like that, you know, it's dedication that takes and, and, and sacrifice like a lot

00:54:19.080 and women, you know, who, who do the same, like the men and women who do that, it takes 0.98

00:54:23.460 a lot, a lot, a lot, um, to do.

00:54:26.580 So, you know, at that level.

00:54:29.000 Yeah.

00:54:30.000 Oh, when you see a guy going away, like, um, to a camp for six weeks, eight weeks, 10

00:54:36.260 weeks to get ready.

00:54:37.560 And there, a lot of times they're going to be away from their family.

00:54:39.840 Maybe their family will come and visit on the weekends and stuff because, you know,

00:54:42.860 there's, there's, um, there's only a few places in America where the, it's like kind

00:54:46.580 of premier training.

00:54:48.420 Um, and then you could go into the bout and losing the first round or, you know, it's

00:54:52.460 like it could end in 30 seconds.

00:54:54.320 Yeah.

00:54:54.560 That's like training for the Olympics, you know, taking last, right.

00:54:59.360 You can not train at all.

00:55:00.400 Take last training for your whole life, you know?

00:55:04.080 So that's what makes it, you know, cool in a way too.

00:55:07.200 Oh, that's the, that's why I like when I go to the fights and, you know, I like to go

00:55:11.780 early, I just, cause I'm like, this is like, this is their life, right?

00:55:16.840 Yeah.

00:55:17.120 I noticed that.

00:55:17.800 You're getting to witness a piece of somebody's life.

00:55:20.100 Like they, they, they mean this 90, if they're at that, that level, they mean this so much

00:55:27.620 that to even be in the presence of something like that, I think gives me energy.

00:55:32.680 It's like, I'm showing up to watch an eclipse almost something so rare, you know?

00:55:37.420 Yeah.

00:55:37.620 Um, are there fighters when they come in the ring, like, uh, you know, Alex Pereira

00:55:42.500 has that energy when you're in there, when he comes in, like when I'm in there as a fan

00:55:46.380 and he, there is a unique energy, like that pentameter of the, I would say, yeah, there's

00:55:50.700 definitely fighters with any, that you feel the energy.

00:55:53.180 Are there some, like, what are some that you would even name?

00:55:55.040 Like, are there some that Dustin Poirier, yeah, Poirier, people are excited.

00:55:58.320 Yeah.

00:55:59.040 The people energy, his own energy.

00:56:01.180 Yeah.

00:56:01.520 Just can feel it.

00:56:02.400 Um, that's interesting.

00:56:04.260 And, uh, like, Clay Glitter, win or lose, the energy is just so good, yeah.

00:56:09.320 Dude, you see him, you just get excited.

00:56:11.000 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:56:11.640 Just the energy, and it's coming off of him, you can feel it, and that he wants to be there,

00:56:15.600 you know, like.

00:56:16.220 Wow.

00:56:17.020 Yeah.

00:56:17.580 But, um, yeah, there's a lot of fighters that you just get that, really, that energy from,

00:56:23.160 and then when you get it from both at the same time, that's where you really, it's firing

00:56:27.540 off, right?

00:56:28.180 Yeah.

00:56:29.740 Is it, is it tougher to referee some of the, um, the bigger fighters?

00:56:34.940 Is it because of their body shape?

00:56:36.720 Like, when they're, like, is there, is there a weight class that's a little bit tougher

00:56:40.600 or different that you have to adjust how you do or where you place yourself?

00:56:45.560 I don't know about tougher or different.

00:56:47.020 Like, the smaller guys are faster, the bigger guys are stronger, right?

00:56:50.920 And it's, I'll just, right, uh, physics, I guess.

00:56:54.220 Um, so, you just, you know, make sure you're fast enough for the faster guys, and you're

00:56:59.820 in the right position for the, the bigger guys.

00:57:02.740 Um, I don't, I don't, like, have a preference.

00:57:06.660 Um, I can ref, whatever.

00:57:09.560 Yeah.

00:57:09.680 You know, you, you want to be in the right position, and, you know, they'll listen to

00:57:12.840 your commands, and, you know, because people do ask, like, oh, how would you stop them?

00:57:17.120 And, same way you'd stop, you know, a small, a small guy, or, you know, so.

00:57:21.680 And they always all honor the referee for the most part.

00:57:24.180 For the most part, yeah.

00:57:25.600 You know?

00:57:26.300 Because that's part of the code of...

00:57:27.680 Yeah, you give respect, you get respect, right?

00:57:30.200 So, you know.

00:57:31.320 Yeah, the level of respect that's in that ring is pretty amazing, too, I feel like.

00:57:34.420 So, yeah, I think people would be surprised, definitely, um, how, like, you know, respectful

00:57:40.700 fighters are, to, to me.

00:57:43.920 I, you know, I can't really speak for anyone, but to me.

00:57:46.880 And, um, you know, obviously, you're not going to always agree, but for the most part,

00:57:51.700 uh, for the very, very most part, um, they're very respectful.

00:57:55.840 Have you ever been at a fight where, uh, someone passed away in the ring, or there was something

00:58:00.460 that tragic that happened?

00:58:01.720 No.

00:58:02.500 Wow.

00:58:03.580 That's, that's amazing, man.

00:58:04.920 Yeah.

00:58:05.440 That's a blessing.

00:58:06.300 It's a lot of fights, yeah, yeah.

00:58:07.340 Yeah.

00:58:07.800 Because you've referred thousands of fights.

00:58:09.440 Yeah, probably, yeah.

00:58:10.380 Wow.

00:58:10.580 Definitely.

00:58:11.340 Definitely a lot of them, yeah.

00:58:12.860 Is there anything different about refereeing a male fight to a female fight? 0.58

00:58:17.140 No.

00:58:18.140 I, I, you know, uh, I've been lucky to get some of the best female fights ever. 1.00

00:58:23.160 And, um, I, there's really no difference.

00:58:27.340 Um, you know, it's, you know, pretty amazing the level that they've grown so quickly.

00:58:33.800 For sure.

00:58:34.760 And, and, and, and female sports in general, if we, you know, talk about, you know, women's

00:58:39.060 wrestling, like, last year I went to the, um, NAIA, uh, women's nationals, and.

00:58:45.100 When your daughter was in it?

00:58:46.000 Yeah.

00:58:46.420 Oh, she was.

00:58:47.220 Yeah.

00:58:47.700 She'd won the regional last year.

00:58:49.360 Let's go.

00:58:50.960 And, uh, the level of competition was insane.

00:58:54.820 Really?

00:58:55.160 You know, she fell short at, uh, her first year, last year, so, uh, we'll see how this

00:58:59.960 year goes, but, uh, but, um, the level, and these, you know, they're, like, they're not

00:59:05.740 girls.

00:59:06.060 They're the 26-year-old women in college, 25 years. 0.95

00:59:08.900 Oh, that's a good point.

00:59:09.720 There's some real tough women out there. 1.00

00:59:11.500 So, uh, it was, it was amazing.

00:59:13.640 It was, um, although I wish she had, uh, won a few matches, me and her sitting there

00:59:18.560 watching that level together was, you know, two days.

00:59:20.960 It was in, uh, Kansas.

00:59:22.180 And, uh, I was kind of, at the end, I'm kind of happy she didn't do that well because

00:59:26.900 we were able to go out for lunch and dinner and hang out.

00:59:30.060 Yeah.

00:59:30.500 So, but, um.

00:59:32.320 Oh, that's nice.

00:59:32.980 This year is a new year, and we'll see how she does.

00:59:36.060 So.

00:59:36.560 And she really loves it, huh?

00:59:37.760 Yeah.

00:59:38.400 Yeah.

00:59:38.720 Yeah.

00:59:38.900 All, all my kids really loved wrestling.

00:59:41.520 And, uh.

00:59:41.920 There's such a great value in that.

00:59:43.660 There's such a great sense of, like, you can take care of yourself.

00:59:46.240 Yeah.

00:59:46.420 That you can handle yourself, I bet.

00:59:47.920 There, there is.

00:59:48.840 It's just, uh, there's more.

00:59:50.260 Like, wrestling's the best sport, uh, you know, that you could do in, in, in high school

00:59:55.220 level and, well, youth level to college level.

00:59:58.720 Um.

00:59:59.040 Oh, wrestlers will always be the craziest, too.

01:00:01.040 You'd, like, you'd just be driving one day and you'd see your buddy wrapped in trash bags,

01:00:05.660 right?

01:00:05.780 It's, like, 90 degrees out in Louisiana.

01:00:08.040 My buddy Paul Corso would be, like, and I think it's his birthday, actually, today or

01:00:11.540 tomorrow.

01:00:11.740 But wrapped in trash bags, just running down the highways, like, I gotta fight in two

01:00:16.440 hours.

01:00:17.060 You're, like, who are you fighting?

01:00:18.500 You're fighting off Satan, brother.

01:00:20.320 Yeah, yeah.

01:00:20.540 That's wild.

01:00:21.460 Yeah.

01:00:21.860 But same as what we were talking about with the dedication, that commitment, right?

01:00:26.440 And then it carries on to almost anything.

01:00:29.000 And also, like, um, you know, uh, like, when you're wrestling and you feel defeat, right?

01:00:37.080 Like, you're learning life lessons on a wrestling mat.

01:00:39.760 Instead of having to learn it outside world where, where the, you know, the cost sometimes

01:00:44.840 is a little more.

01:00:45.660 So you're learning it just by, you know, you know, training and stepping on a wrestling

01:00:50.220 mat.

01:00:50.680 There's not, you know, it's nothing better than that.

01:00:53.260 Um, when I was going to MMA classes, I remember there'd be, like, days where, like, even after,

01:00:58.020 like, I'd sit there at the end of the day and sometimes I would just, like, bawl.

01:01:00.920 Like, just emotions would come out of me.

01:01:02.800 But it was stuff that got unlocked that had been in my muscles or in my fascia or in me.

01:01:07.780 And it was, like, um, the ability to be able to be, uh, like, beaten by somebody that also

01:01:16.140 cares that you're going to be okay at the same time.

01:01:18.300 There's something really fascinating about that.

01:01:19.860 And I don't think you can find it any other place, right?

01:01:22.080 Like, you know, your competitor also, they want to beat you, but they also, some of them

01:01:26.980 want to teach you, especially if you're new.

01:01:28.540 It's just, like, there's, it's unprecedented the different levels of, um, well-being and

01:01:34.680 competition and, uh, ferociousness and defeat that are all wrapped up in there.

01:01:40.620 Yeah.

01:01:40.940 And bonds can be made that way.

01:01:43.160 Like, we, I saw.

01:01:44.260 You learn who all the cops are because all of them are off duty.

01:01:46.240 Yeah.

01:01:46.700 You know, they're all in there.

01:01:47.740 And I saw a few guys that I used to train with and, um, mostly in the stand-up stuff

01:01:53.900 and, um, you know, buckets of blood.

01:01:56.700 We would really go hard.

01:01:57.880 A lot of people would come and be like, what the hell?

01:01:59.880 Right?

01:02:00.300 It was my early training.

01:02:01.680 And I just got bonds with those guys forever.

01:02:04.700 You know, seeing them is great.

01:02:05.860 And we laugh about that because, uh, I don't know.

01:02:08.940 You spar pretty hard.

01:02:10.020 Yeah.

01:02:10.400 So it was good.

01:02:11.580 It was good.

01:02:12.360 Do you ever think that a fighter threw a fight or had given up but kept fighting?

01:02:17.060 What is that kind of energy like?

01:02:18.560 How do you manage something like that?

01:02:20.420 And how do you decide if it's just you interjecting some of your own thoughts into what's going

01:02:24.960 on?

01:02:25.620 Can you take me on even just some journeys about some of that?

01:02:27.840 So, like, you know, what, like if a guy is giving up or.

01:02:32.120 Yeah.

01:02:32.460 Like, do you ever think a guy doesn't want to be in there, but he's staying in there?

01:02:35.960 Like, do you ever get some of that energy?

01:02:37.740 You know, it's kind of the sport where if you don't want to be in there, most likely

01:02:43.440 you're not going to be for very long, right?

01:02:46.800 So, like, I have seen guys that it's not going very well and you can tell they definitely want

01:02:51.700 to be there, right?

01:02:52.880 That's a little easier to see, I think, definitely.

01:02:56.480 But, um.

01:02:57.980 Yeah, I guess it's a good point, huh?

01:02:59.640 Yeah.

01:02:59.960 Usually if you don't want to be there at some point, you're not going to be there pretty

01:03:02.740 quick and you can see, you know, guys get surprised or, you know, overwhelmed and for

01:03:09.720 that moment, you know, live to fight another day and whatever and, but usually, like, if

01:03:14.700 a guy, you know, they, you know, you're stopping them, they're not stopping themselves for the

01:03:19.740 most part.

01:03:20.640 Have you ever had a guy stop himself or their corner stop him?

01:03:23.280 Yeah.

01:03:23.400 What's some of that?

01:03:23.740 I have, like, amateur stuff.

01:03:24.800 Like, I had a kid walk out of the cage and leave the other day.

01:03:28.240 Wasn't for him.

01:03:28.700 Good choice.

01:03:29.340 Yeah.

01:03:29.600 Yeah.

01:03:29.860 It wasn't for him.

01:03:30.920 You know, and it was amateur, so, like, good decision.

01:03:33.620 Yeah. 1.00

01:03:34.640 Fuck yeah. 1.00

01:03:35.400 Go get a smoothie, homie. 1.00

01:03:36.560 Yeah.

01:03:37.180 Chill out.

01:03:38.200 I was like, all right.

01:03:39.600 I waved it off and they're like, what?

01:03:41.140 I'm like, yeah, once you leave, it's over.

01:03:42.780 Yeah.

01:03:43.100 Yeah.

01:03:43.420 Yeah.

01:03:43.780 Yeah.

01:03:44.040 That'd be crazy.

01:03:45.000 He comes back in.

01:03:45.940 His mom's, like, walking back in with him or something or his buddies.

01:03:48.840 One time, um, it was my buddy and he knocked this guy out and, and somehow his mom got

01:03:56.480 in and you thought she was going to kneel down and, and to see, tend to her son.

01:04:02.480 But the doctors were there.

01:04:03.400 He was being taken care of.

01:04:04.420 She stepped over and gave him the finger. 0.99

01:04:06.580 Yeah.

01:04:06.860 Gave my buddy the finger.

01:04:07.860 It was crazy.

01:04:08.720 I remember, it was many years ago, but I remember because, uh, ACDC Thunderstruck was being played

01:04:14.300 and the moms gave him the kid the finger. 0.94

01:04:16.320 It was pretty awesome.

01:04:17.120 Oh, that's epic, dude.

01:04:18.080 Yeah.

01:04:18.320 Yeah.

01:04:18.540 Yeah.

01:04:19.300 Yeah.

01:04:19.700 Have, have, have there been some other instances that have happened at the end of the match

01:04:22.620 where, what's that like?

01:04:24.260 Cause that's a lot of energy.

01:04:25.160 People are coming into the ring.

01:04:26.600 You still have fighters that are down sometimes.

01:04:28.860 So obviously that was years and years ago.

01:04:31.080 And, and so now it's, you know, um, only the right personnel coming, coming in.

01:04:38.080 But, um, that's, you know, I said I was, I fought on that card, that woman.

01:04:41.900 So that was a long time ago, but, um, you know, it could be pretty crazy.

01:04:48.660 You know, especially like the higher, you know, the, the event and loud and, and, and

01:04:56.400 stuff.

01:04:56.880 And then when the fight ends, sometimes it's just like that.

01:04:59.660 It is.

01:05:00.400 Yeah.

01:05:00.980 It's just like, like, you know, so that's crazy.

01:05:04.900 And, and the more over the years, the more you work, the more the sounds kind of, some

01:05:09.740 you hear, some you don't, um, like I can pinpoint someone's voice and then other, you

01:05:16.400 know, there's thousands of people screaming.

01:05:19.200 Yeah.

01:05:19.560 It's crazy that it can be dead quiet in there with so many people in there sometimes.

01:05:23.380 And sometimes there'll be certain cheers going on, but it's still, there's this real silence

01:05:28.040 that's right up there by the cage.

01:05:29.580 Like, um, it's almost eerie in a way.

01:05:33.220 It can be.

01:05:33.820 Or mysterious.

01:05:34.680 Yeah.

01:05:35.100 Or unique.

01:05:36.100 It's, uh, it's powerful.

01:05:38.140 Yeah.

01:05:38.540 You know, cause there can be like this insane moment at about 20,000 people are watching.

01:05:42.980 And it's quiet.

01:05:43.640 Yeah.

01:05:43.820 And then other times it's loud and then cheering and you're like, what are they saying?

01:05:48.520 Sometimes you can't understand what they're saying and stuff like that.

01:05:51.640 And, and, uh, so it's like up and down, you know, it's pretty crazy.

01:05:56.860 Yeah.

01:05:57.300 It's like life, man.

01:05:58.380 Yeah.

01:05:58.540 Yeah.

01:05:58.740 Up and down.

01:05:59.340 Yeah.

01:05:59.940 Did you ever suspect that a fighter threw a fight?

01:06:03.380 No.

01:06:04.680 Uh, like, no.

01:06:06.680 Um, like some guys aren't, you know, obviously I ref all different levels.

01:06:12.160 So some guys are coming in and they get punched and they're done, but that's just, you know,

01:06:16.800 they're not throwing it.

01:06:17.960 They just don't have the talent to, uh, but I've never suspected anything like that.

01:06:23.060 What was it like when Connor would come in the ring?

01:06:24.880 Did you do any of his fights?

01:06:25.860 I didn't, no, I didn't do any of his fights, but it was crazy.

01:06:29.240 I, I've, uh, I've been, you know, I've worked cards where he was on and like, uh,

01:06:35.040 Madison Square Garden, when he fought the first Madison Square Garden, it was crazy.

01:06:41.000 Yeah.

01:06:41.300 And then even after you went outside and there was, uh, you know, Irish people cheering everywhere.

01:06:46.980 Yeah.

01:06:47.420 Oh yeah.

01:06:47.980 They show up.

01:06:48.900 Yeah.

01:06:49.140 Yeah.

01:06:49.380 They really do.

01:06:51.040 So could you even tell us who you thought the best fighter is that you've seen?

01:06:54.480 Um, I don't know if I, so I stopped looking at fights like a fan a pretty long time ago.

01:07:01.920 Oh, you did?

01:07:02.200 Yeah.

01:07:02.640 I kind of don't see him that way.

01:07:04.620 I wouldn't even be able to like to pick a favorite fighter or say who's the best fighter

01:07:10.000 or, uh, or anything like that.

01:07:12.240 But, you know, obviously there's fights where you're like, wow, that was really exciting

01:07:16.660 or something like that.

01:07:17.640 Yeah.

01:07:17.860 You know, but yeah, I kind of just very look good at it, at the, the referee standpoint

01:07:23.960 these days, mostly.

01:07:25.720 Is there, um, a fighter that you feel like plays by the rules the most?

01:07:32.400 Well, there's a bunch of polite guys who are just polite, but for the, for the most part,

01:07:38.980 everyone really plays by the rules.

01:07:40.540 That's a good point.

01:07:41.140 You know, but you know, like, I think a lot of the, a lot of the fouls that, you know,

01:07:45.500 are accidental, um, you know, yeah, I do some, you know, some of it couldn't even,

01:07:51.260 even if you wanted to do it the way, you know, it's such a fast.

01:07:54.400 That's a good point.

01:07:55.280 Like, you know, it'd be hard to strategize something like, yeah, but then you have some

01:07:59.060 guys that are real grindy and when they're in the cage, they're going to do what they

01:08:02.400 have to do.

01:08:02.960 And it is a fight and you know, and you got to try to control that.

01:08:06.260 Did you get to ref any of Khabib's fights?

01:08:08.720 Nope.

01:08:09.140 So him and Connor, but mostly everyone else, but, uh, yeah.

01:08:12.520 Is there a reason why you think?

01:08:14.220 No, there's no, I don't.

01:08:15.500 I believe there's a reason why.

01:08:17.280 How do you guys determine what, which fights your referee?

01:08:20.180 Do you draw out of a hat?

01:08:21.120 No, the commission just gives you, you know, you'll go and you'll get your assignments.

01:08:26.020 So I never really asked exactly what they use.

01:08:29.620 So you and Herb Dean aren't back there like this then?

01:08:31.900 No.

01:08:32.560 Okay.

01:08:33.100 Okay.

01:08:33.440 No.

01:08:33.840 So you come and they give you a sheet and you already have your assignments there.

01:08:37.440 Oh.

01:08:38.380 And is it almost like opening up like a Christmas wishlist?

01:08:41.000 Like in some ways, like, are there some you excited about?

01:08:42.900 Like, are there some actually you're happy you don't have to so you can sit and watch

01:08:45.760 it?

01:08:47.280 Um.

01:08:47.840 Or do you even think of it like that?

01:08:49.020 No.

01:08:49.460 That's like a fan thinking of it.

01:08:50.640 Yeah.

01:08:51.280 I do sometimes.

01:08:52.680 And this sounds maybe crazy, but like, if I'm like, oh, wow, that fight would be hard.

01:08:57.160 I kind of hope I get it to see if, uh, you know, if I'm, if I could do it, you know,

01:09:01.780 and, and, uh, and what would determine if I, if I would be kind of hard, like what even

01:09:05.020 in your head makes you think of that?

01:09:06.340 Uh.

01:09:07.240 Or what makes some fights harder than others?

01:09:08.880 Yeah.

01:09:09.060 Well, some matchups and, and, you know, things are like, oh, this guy's really, uh, has one

01:09:15.340 knockout power and this guy's really great on the ground, but you know, it's not very good

01:09:20.160 at taking them down.

01:09:20.880 So then, you know, you, you're right.

01:09:22.960 So you don't know what you're going to get.

01:09:24.140 Right.

01:09:24.500 And I think that's what would make it harder or, or not complicated, but interesting.

01:09:29.800 So let's get rid of the word harder, but interesting.

01:09:32.140 For sure.

01:09:32.660 Yeah.

01:09:33.660 I think it's so interesting how so many fighters have different reasons why they fight, you

01:09:38.700 know, like some is to test themselves.

01:09:40.560 Some don't even know.

01:09:41.640 Some is to get rid of anger, you know, to challenge.

01:09:45.120 Um, some just love the violence, you know, I just think it's, it's pretty fascinating to see

01:09:49.860 how many, uh, why guys do it.

01:09:52.320 Yeah.

01:09:52.800 Different, you know, from different roads.

01:09:56.060 Right.

01:09:56.540 Yeah.

01:09:56.800 And everyone, uh, yeah.

01:09:59.060 You coach, um, and we can wrap up in a few minutes.

01:10:02.820 Thank you so much, man.

01:10:03.640 This has been cool.

01:10:04.420 I appreciate it.

01:10:05.040 You know, it's like, I get to go sometimes to the fights and get to see you guys there.

01:10:08.800 And it's like, um, you know, it's almost like you, I mean, you guys are kind of like

01:10:12.360 celebrities in that fighting world.

01:10:13.580 I mean, that, that world is built so big that, I mean, the referees are celebrities.

01:10:18.660 I don't, that sometimes it's like, oh, you know, but you'll have to have people that

01:10:22.480 are excited to see you.

01:10:23.500 There is, but, uh, you know, it's crazy.

01:10:26.620 Yeah, it is because it's definitely not about, you know, me.

01:10:30.040 Of course.

01:10:30.520 But there's, there's not, there's not a lot of other sports.

01:10:32.880 I don't think, um, what's that been like, what's it like being a, like a part of something

01:10:38.520 that's changed?

01:10:39.300 Like, have you noticed the changes over time?

01:10:41.280 Have you noticed a different energy in the space?

01:10:43.720 Have you, like, have you noticed that fighters change?

01:10:46.940 What have you, what have you noticed?

01:10:48.900 Well, it, you know, obviously it, it's still young sport, right?

01:10:53.800 And, and it's, it's growing and growing.

01:10:56.620 Um, not only like, so I think it was 2009 was my first year.

01:11:02.520 So not only has that all changed, but people have changed since 2009.

01:11:07.160 You know, so yeah, fighters are different cause people are different and, you know, and we

01:11:13.780 have like, oh, the internet's even bigger and, and all that stuff.

01:11:17.680 And, you know, so yeah, a lot of things have changed, but, uh, the concept is there, right?

01:11:25.000 Put two people in there and they fight.

01:11:28.380 And so that, that's the same, um, fighters like end up the same, like, you know, even

01:11:35.840 all times are different, like eventually like you'll, you'll even, when you're talking

01:11:39.500 to one, you know, they're there for one goal and, and, and, you know, to, uh, be competitive.

01:11:45.300 And that's always stayed the same.

01:11:46.840 Yeah.

01:11:47.240 Yeah.

01:11:48.880 Um, was there ever like a fighter that retired in the ring?

01:11:52.200 Cause you know, a lot of times they'll lay their gloves down.

01:11:54.160 Was there any, any moment, one of those that kind of stood out to you or?

01:11:58.780 I'm trying to think.

01:11:59.580 Or just one that even caught your, caught your own feelings.

01:12:01.740 I, I, I believe, uh, I believe I, I, I might be wrong, but, um, I believe Quay Guido retired

01:12:09.780 the last time I reffed him, I think.

01:12:13.120 So that would be pretty significant cause I've reffed him up a few times and, and, um, and

01:12:18.400 he's, you know, awesome.

01:12:19.920 Um, so I believe, and there's probably been others too that they've retired after, after,

01:12:25.480 uh, after I've reffed him.

01:12:27.800 Um, but those are always like, I know some of them you can feel coming, right?

01:12:32.280 And then some you can't.

01:12:33.640 It happens in wrestling too.

01:12:34.820 They'll take off their shoes and they leave it in the center.

01:12:37.180 And, and, and sometimes you're like, oh yeah, makes sense.

01:12:40.420 And other times it's like, hey, you know, you got more to give and more to go.

01:12:44.140 But as you said, you know, the amount of time that stuff takes.

01:12:47.800 Yeah.

01:12:49.480 You spend time now coaching your daughters.

01:12:52.260 Yeah.

01:12:52.600 So my daughter, yeah.

01:12:54.320 So I, my daughter and I, is this her school?

01:12:57.480 Um, this was her high school.

01:12:59.040 So I coached for the, well, she went, this is the team she wrestled for.

01:13:03.360 So we have in our area.

01:13:04.660 So we have one school, which is Bayshore that has the girls wrestling team.

01:13:08.440 And then the other schools, which she went to isolate all go there.

01:13:11.380 So I coach the Bayshore.

01:13:13.120 I'm the assistant coach at the, uh, uh, Bayshore girls team.

01:13:16.280 And then me and my daughter run a club together called Empire girls wrestling together. 0.98

01:13:21.060 So, and right now that's growing.

01:13:22.560 And like the whole sport's growing.

01:13:24.480 It's amazing.

01:13:25.140 It's great that, um, girls get the opportunity to be in what I believe is the best sport.

01:13:29.400 And, um, it's awesome.

01:13:31.680 Yeah.

01:13:32.040 It's awesome.

01:13:32.540 And then coaching with my daughter right now is really, she's very good.

01:13:35.660 She, uh, she actually coached at, um, which is a big thing for us at, um, the national team,

01:13:41.560 New York national team at Fargo this year.

01:13:43.880 It was her first year coaching there.

01:13:45.300 Wow.

01:13:45.700 And she did really well.

01:13:46.780 And, uh, she's going to be an awesome coach.

01:13:49.540 He's dynamite, huh?

01:13:50.240 Yeah.

01:13:50.620 What's her name?

01:13:51.260 Uh, Mora.

01:13:51.720 Mora.

01:13:52.680 Oh, it's a pretty name, man.

01:13:54.180 Yeah.

01:13:55.340 Wow.

01:13:56.420 That's cool, man.

01:13:57.640 Oh, there you go.

01:13:58.780 Look at that.

01:13:59.300 That was, yeah.

01:13:59.820 So this was really cool.

01:14:00.840 How much nonsense does Mora allow?

01:14:02.740 Uh, not much either.

01:14:04.220 Yeah.

01:14:04.520 There's not much going on.

01:14:05.920 Not much nonsense.

01:14:07.200 Um, this was, um, uh, August on the end of August, it was the New York state fair and

01:14:14.460 they invited us and we brought a girl's team and a boy's team and we, uh, the boys and the

01:14:20.580 girls stay in like the four age dorms. 1.00

01:14:22.740 So they get the state, uh, fair for free.

01:14:25.300 The kids get to walk around and do all that.

01:14:26.980 It was really cool.

01:14:28.120 And then they wrestled us for the people that are watching.

01:14:30.220 And then, yeah.

01:14:30.740 So all those people are just walking by the state fair, watching the dual meets.

01:14:34.680 Dude, that's great entertainment.

01:14:36.160 Why not put something like that in a place where people are already at and looking for

01:14:39.860 entertainment?

01:14:40.380 Yeah.

01:14:40.580 It was pretty cool.

01:14:41.260 Because so often, sometimes you'll put it in a gym or something and people don't even

01:14:44.220 know, you know, especially a lot of times in high school or even outside, like in college

01:14:47.600 people, you just don't know.

01:14:48.580 But if you're at a fair, you're looking for entertainment.

01:14:50.300 And there it is.

01:14:51.060 It was really cool.

01:14:52.220 It was our first year doing it.

01:14:53.700 My wife planned it and, um, we got invited and it was really cool.

01:14:58.060 We'll do it again for sure.

01:14:59.040 It was really cool.

01:15:00.520 Wow.

01:15:01.060 Mora.

01:15:01.560 Mora.

01:15:02.260 Mora.

01:15:02.740 Mora.

01:15:02.960 M-O-R-A. 1.00

01:15:04.200 M-O-R-A. 1.00

01:15:04.840 M-O-R-A. 1.00

01:15:04.860 Beautiful young lady.

01:15:05.820 That's awesome, dude.

01:15:07.080 Congratulations.

01:15:07.760 Thanks.

01:15:08.640 I didn't do anything, but.

01:15:10.060 Well, you showed up.

01:15:12.100 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:15:12.960 That's for sure.

01:15:13.800 You know?

01:15:14.100 Yeah, yeah.

01:15:14.640 I mean, that's a lot of it.

01:15:15.580 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:15:16.220 And you kept going.

01:15:17.160 Yeah, yeah.

01:15:17.820 You know, we're talking about it today.

01:15:19.080 It's like, as, yeah, like life has, there's a lot of little off ramps that you can get

01:15:23.200 on.

01:15:23.620 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:15:24.780 And, you know, you got, as we were just talking earlier about things that, you know, you don't

01:15:28.840 think ever going to happen, happens.

01:15:30.880 And, uh, you just gotta keep going forward.

01:15:33.820 And then, uh, you know, you know, eye on the prize, I guess.

01:15:39.220 Yeah.

01:15:39.360 So, yeah.

01:15:39.900 So, I'm lucky.

01:15:40.740 You know, I got all these good things going.

01:15:42.480 Yeah.

01:15:42.880 It seems like you stay really busy.

01:15:44.480 What is your daily routine like, kind of?

01:15:46.200 Um, so, I start work, um, at the town at 7.30 to 4.

01:15:52.260 At the Decent Mechanic?

01:15:53.120 Yeah.

01:15:53.680 And then, um.

01:15:55.020 That's unbelievable.

01:15:55.880 And then I, uh, our practices, well, right now, uh, our practices, just Empire practices, 0.87

01:16:00.820 um, they're from, um, 7 to 9 o'clock.

01:16:04.360 Uh, uh, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and Sundays.

01:16:10.480 And, um, and then now we're starting the high school season, so we have open mats for

01:16:13.820 that, too.

01:16:14.400 So.

01:16:14.680 Wow.

01:16:15.420 Keeping busy.

01:16:16.040 Yeah.

01:16:16.360 That keeps you busy.

01:16:17.120 You like staying busy, huh?

01:16:18.180 Yeah, very.

01:16:19.040 I like to stay busy.

01:16:20.420 I like to, uh, you know, keep moving.

01:16:23.520 Yeah.

01:16:23.800 Yeah.

01:16:24.000 That's me.

01:16:24.720 I don't sit around much.

01:16:26.060 I've never been much of a sit-around type of guy.

01:16:28.760 Yeah.

01:16:29.100 So, but, uh, you know, I.

01:16:31.920 Well, too much nonsense can happen.

01:16:33.100 Yeah, but you can still have fun.

01:16:34.840 Yeah, it's true.

01:16:35.480 But you can have, like, I'm a pretty serious guy, but I'm, like, things I'm good at.

01:16:39.660 I'm good at making fun of myself.

01:16:41.300 I'm good at laughing.

01:16:42.220 I know, you know, like, I came to see your show.

01:16:44.280 That was funny.

01:16:45.000 Yeah.

01:16:45.300 And I was surprised my cousins were there.

01:16:47.280 They, they're huge fans.

01:16:48.720 They had a good time.

01:16:49.220 Yeah, yeah.

01:16:49.760 And they, you know, they, uh, when they told me they were going to be there, I was like,

01:16:52.520 oh, hey, I'm going.

01:16:53.260 And then, so, they're huge fans.

01:16:55.040 It was, it was good.

01:16:55.940 It was good.

01:16:57.160 Thanks, man.

01:16:57.560 It was funny.

01:16:58.140 Yeah.

01:16:58.680 I'll accept that.

01:16:59.420 Yeah.

01:16:59.640 I appreciate that.

01:17:00.460 Hey, you're a referee.

01:17:01.320 You would know, man.

01:17:02.040 Yeah.

01:17:02.260 Well, I don't know about it if I had no comedy, but.

01:17:04.440 I'll take it, though.

01:17:05.060 Yeah, yeah.

01:17:05.380 It's good enough.

01:17:06.040 Fair enough.

01:17:06.940 Fair enough.

01:17:07.800 I've laughed a few times.

01:17:08.900 Hey, that's fair.

01:17:09.740 That's all we can ask.

01:17:11.380 From a guy who doesn't accept nonsense, that's the most we can ask.

01:17:14.880 Yeah.

01:17:15.840 Oh, is there any other, um, oh, are, are referees allowed to, is there like an alcohol rule

01:17:22.840 with referees?

01:17:23.380 Like, I know with pilots, can you look it up for me?

01:17:26.100 How soon before a flight can a pilot have alcohol?

01:17:31.500 Is there a rule with referees, um, that you can or can't drink before a fight?

01:17:37.380 Well, you can't drink before a fight.

01:17:39.220 So I would think, I would think it would be like, uh, 24 hours or something like that.

01:17:43.780 I had never, you know.

01:17:44.780 But they never, it's never like, they don't, they're not breathalyzing refs or anything

01:17:48.440 like that.

01:17:48.820 No.

01:17:49.140 Yeah.

01:17:49.440 No.

01:17:49.720 But it would be hard to do.

01:17:51.560 To what?

01:17:52.320 Referee a fight if somebody had been drinking?

01:17:53.860 It would probably be, well, it would be impossible.

01:17:56.060 So like, uh, to actually do the actual thing would be impossible.

01:18:00.240 But then, you know, you, you spend, so you're, you're in there, you're, you're with doctors,

01:18:05.260 commissions and whatever.

01:18:06.920 And I wouldn't think they'd let you.

01:18:08.920 Yeah.

01:18:09.100 Somebody would catch on.

01:18:09.840 Yeah.

01:18:10.000 Someone would catch on.

01:18:11.320 Let me see what this says.

01:18:12.320 Many airlines have stricter internal policies with some requiring pilots to abstain for at

01:18:16.040 least 12 hours before flying to allow sufficient time for metabolization.

01:18:20.320 Dude, 12?

01:18:21.020 I don't think 12 hours is long enough to be honest.

01:18:23.820 I agree, bro.

01:18:24.360 12 hours seems, you know.

01:18:27.000 That's not that much, bro.

01:18:29.060 Even when I hear something crazy, so I have a CDL, so it has to be zeros.

01:18:32.820 When, when they do the drug test, they do a blow.

01:18:35.620 You're allowed to blow a percentage.

01:18:38.140 In summary, pilots must avoid alcohol for at least eight hours before a flight.

01:18:41.980 Maintain BAC below 0.04.

01:18:46.080 Yeah.

01:18:46.560 That's, that's drunk in some states, I think. 1.00

01:18:49.200 Damn. 0.99

01:18:50.580 And not fly while hungover or impaired. 1.00

01:18:53.340 Wow.

01:18:53.760 Yeah.

01:18:54.360 So no, yeah.

01:18:55.540 So I guess.

01:18:56.260 Oh my God, bro.

01:18:58.100 They should have to blow it in the front of the plane and show the number of the rest

01:19:01.840 of the plane, you know.

01:19:02.960 That's pretty crazy.

01:19:04.580 That's yeah.

01:19:05.340 No, uh, we had, we don't do breath labs or anything, but it's, it's, you, you wouldn't.

01:19:10.160 It's never been an issue.

01:19:11.240 No, I, I, you know.

01:19:12.880 Yeah.

01:19:13.020 Have you never heard any, you've never heard of anybody having an issue?

01:19:15.600 No.

01:19:15.940 A real one?

01:19:16.560 No.

01:19:17.100 Yeah.

01:19:17.260 What, what's it like when you get there from when you, you, when you leave?

01:19:21.040 Take me through a UFC fight as a referee.

01:19:23.040 So you get there.

01:19:24.060 Um, how early, like how early do you get there?

01:19:26.660 It's usually, it could be two hours, uh, hour and a half.

01:19:30.460 I think usually like.

01:19:31.600 And who's there when you get there?

01:19:32.900 Like is Megan O'Leary in there yet? 1.00

01:19:34.600 Uh, I, I guess, I don't know.

01:19:37.020 Um, do you have a meeting with the commission?

01:19:38.680 Yeah.

01:19:38.820 Like just take me through.

01:19:39.580 So I straight go in and walk in, find the commissioner.

01:19:44.000 Um, you know, obviously if I've been there before, but if I haven't been, I'm working

01:19:48.480 in a place I've never been, walk in, find the commission room, get my assignments.

01:19:53.260 When the fighters come, I do my one-on-one rules meeting and then fighter.

01:19:57.900 Yeah.

01:19:58.700 Wow.

01:19:59.100 Every fighter on the card.

01:20:00.300 Every fighter I have on the card.

01:20:02.520 Yep.

01:20:02.820 So usually we'll go with the average is three fights on a card.

01:20:06.640 Right.

01:20:07.020 I've had more, you know, less if a cancellation, whatever, but go over the rules, ask them

01:20:12.280 if, you know, they have any questions.

01:20:14.880 Then, you know, uh, depending what state, mostly now you do, uh, also you do RO, like

01:20:20.000 the, a review official.

01:20:22.300 And what does that mean?

01:20:23.440 So it's like the Instamoney play.

01:20:25.200 I were, we have Instamoney play now.

01:20:27.300 And then, um, and then the fight before yours, you usually do, you know, the gate when they

01:20:31.740 walk in the check.

01:20:33.760 And so you, you're busy.

01:20:35.300 Mm-hmm.

01:20:36.760 Pretty much the whole time.

01:20:37.780 Yeah.

01:20:37.880 And will you have, like, what do you eat before?

01:20:40.600 Do you have an energy drink?

01:20:41.640 What do you do?

01:20:42.340 I don't have an energy drink, but some places I eat before.

01:20:45.880 Sometimes I don't eat before.

01:20:47.640 It all depends.

01:20:48.360 Like, um, when I'm from New Jersey, there's a few restaurants.

01:20:51.460 I'll have, I have something, um, Madison Square Garden.

01:20:54.500 I always go to the same place and I eat there.

01:20:56.860 What is it?

01:20:57.240 And, uh, it's a Molly Wee pub and they have, like, um, Irish beef stew.

01:21:02.180 And I, you know, uh.

01:21:02.840 Yeah, you know, get what you like.

01:21:03.800 Yeah.

01:21:04.380 I like, uh, quesadillas that have, with almond flour tortillas.

01:21:07.460 We like what we like.

01:21:08.140 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:21:08.640 So I get that.

01:21:09.560 And then, you know, so, and that, like, like, give me an idea.

01:21:14.360 Like, MSG.

01:21:15.180 I do the same thing every time.

01:21:17.120 So there's a guy, I wish I could remember the name of his company, but I can't right

01:21:20.960 now, but he sells shirts and stuff outside.

01:21:23.080 I go out and say hello to him every single time.

01:21:25.520 Right?

01:21:25.900 He's always out there, no matter how cold, no matter what.

01:21:28.040 The guy's out there.

01:21:28.660 He's awesome.

01:21:29.400 He's, uh, right on 8th, 8th Avenue.

01:21:31.820 He's on the corner.

01:21:32.980 And then, uh, I say hello to him and I go down and get ready to go after.

01:21:37.120 And then I go to the Molly Wee, then I, I eat usually the beef stew and then, and then 0.96

01:21:41.880 get going.

01:21:42.700 Yeah.

01:21:43.020 So.

01:21:43.980 Yeah.

01:21:44.920 Yeah.

01:21:45.240 I'm kind of a creature of habit in some ways.

01:21:46.860 Yeah.

01:21:47.200 You know?

01:21:47.580 Yeah.

01:21:47.820 Yeah.

01:21:48.080 Oh, I am very much, you know, like the same, and I use the word criteria and whatever,

01:21:54.740 but, uh, you know, this is how I do it.

01:21:57.100 And, but, but almost everything I'm like that really.

01:21:59.640 Hey, discipline equals freedom, man.

01:22:01.200 That's what Jocko Willink always says.

01:22:02.860 Yeah.

01:22:02.880 That's pretty, yeah.

01:22:03.660 That's awesome.

01:22:04.360 And I think that's kind of true.

01:22:05.380 It's like, if you get up and get the things you don't want to do done out of the day,

01:22:08.200 your day is so different.

01:22:09.700 Yeah.

01:22:10.120 You know?

01:22:10.880 Yeah, definitely.

01:22:12.040 Um, have you ever been unable to do a referee, a fight?

01:22:17.640 And for what reason?

01:22:18.860 Uh, uh, before you go?

01:22:20.560 Yeah.

01:22:21.000 Um, well, I have a story of, uh, like I reffed, but I had, uh, I had, when I was reffing, I

01:22:30.100 had, uh, two kidney stones and, and, um, staples like in my stomach.

01:22:35.500 I ended up, so it's crazy story.

01:22:37.880 I had, uh, my appendix out when I was like 20.

01:22:41.180 And then, um, a few years ago I had it out again.

01:22:46.240 So they took out the appendix, but they left in, they left in like a stub.

01:22:51.140 So I actually had my appendix out twice.

01:22:53.380 Pretty interesting.

01:22:54.540 So, uh.

01:22:55.240 Or you got scammed.

01:22:56.200 Yeah.

01:22:57.020 Either way.

01:22:57.820 Either way.

01:22:58.660 It was at the same hospital, so, but, uh. 0.99

01:23:00.980 Fuck, who forgot a little? 0.99

01:23:02.040 I don't know. 1.00

01:23:03.120 And it was bad, so they had to like.

01:23:04.640 Dude, that's nonsense. 0.95

01:23:05.700 Yeah, yeah, that's real nonsense. 0.95

01:23:07.400 Yeah.

01:23:07.700 And the fact that when I asked, um, you know, I'm like, hey, is this, does this happen?

01:23:12.540 They're like, uh, it does.

01:23:14.360 I'm like, oh.

01:23:15.160 So, I also at the same time had, um, kidney stones.

01:23:20.160 Oh.

01:23:20.520 So I did a recovery and there, so everything was kind of, it was miserable.

01:23:24.820 And I had, um, a big show, an event coming up.

01:23:29.280 And, um, it was an important one for, for me.

01:23:31.980 A fight?

01:23:32.720 Yeah.

01:23:33.140 A fight.

01:23:33.460 And then it was just, um, had a, a, a little meaning to me.

01:23:36.760 It was, uh, um, local and I had the main event.

01:23:39.800 It was just, uh, so, uh, so I decided in my head I was going to do it.

01:23:44.620 So I ended up getting the, um, doctor that I was going to see every two days for the

01:23:50.640 recovery to say, you can do it.

01:23:52.820 And she was like, you can do it.

01:23:55.160 I said, great.

01:23:56.040 So, but, uh, staples are getting really tight.

01:23:58.500 So I, I took the few of them out from the top and then.

01:24:01.760 By yourself?

01:24:02.380 Yeah.

01:24:02.880 And then it was easy though.

01:24:04.240 They were coming out already.

01:24:05.420 Yeah.

01:24:05.680 And then, yeah.

01:24:06.380 And then.

01:24:06.900 Yeah.

01:24:07.060 It's like build a bear.

01:24:07.860 Yeah.

01:24:08.220 Yeah.

01:24:08.580 Just put it together.

01:24:09.800 Boom, boom, boom, boom.

01:24:10.880 You know?

01:24:11.200 And then, um, so then, but the kidney stone started kicking in really bad.

01:24:17.140 It was just a weird time.

01:24:18.420 And so the night before I'm like really panic button.

01:24:23.580 I'm about to say, I can't do it.

01:24:26.300 And, but, uh, I'm in there.

01:24:29.180 So next day I get there and then the pain's kind of starting to go away a little bit.

01:24:33.760 So I get to the event.

01:24:37.040 Um, I get the fights and, uh, the main event, like I was hoping.

01:24:41.440 And, uh, awesome, um, place that I've always wanted to work.

01:24:46.840 And so, uh, the bathroom is like attached to like the fans and us were using the same

01:24:55.000 bathroom.

01:24:56.180 So I walk by and they're like, oh, Keith, you're the man.

01:25:00.740 So I walk into the bathroom and now I'm feeling pain real bad.

01:25:05.280 So from the kidney stone.

01:25:06.160 Yeah.

01:25:07.340 So boom, I, I pass it.

01:25:10.240 It goes ta-ting.

01:25:11.640 Yeah.

01:25:11.980 Yeah.

01:25:12.160 It hits the thing.

01:25:13.380 All good for that.

01:25:14.420 Like, well, the pain was still there, but it felt so much better.

01:25:16.740 Yeah.

01:25:17.200 And I was walking out and then you'll shoot your eye out.

01:25:19.620 And the kids like, the kids like, oh, you're a legend.

01:25:22.040 And all I can think of is you should have saw what just happened in there, dude.

01:25:25.300 Like in crazy.

01:25:26.740 And then the event went great.

01:25:28.260 And then, um, and then I passed the other one cause I had two on the way to Seattle the

01:25:33.000 next week in the plane.

01:25:34.360 Oh yeah.

01:25:34.840 You got to save one for when you travel.

01:25:36.440 Yeah.

01:25:36.980 Yeah.

01:25:37.480 Yeah.

01:25:37.760 Yeah.

01:25:37.920 It's just miserable, but, but, uh, yeah, it's kind of a funny story.

01:25:41.200 And then the, the, the appendix out to it is pretty funny cause, uh, even it was actually

01:25:46.700 almost ended up being bad because I was telling people what was wrong with me cause I was

01:25:52.640 Oh, and they thought it was already done.

01:25:54.860 They thought that was already done.

01:25:56.100 So they kept skipping over that and, and, and yeah, so it was a week or so and I was

01:26:02.040 pretty infection by then, you know, caught in, but it was fine and everything worked

01:26:06.600 out great.

01:26:07.040 But dude, that's wild that just to know if people want to know if some of these referees

01:26:13.800 are tough or not, this guy's passing kidney stones between fights in the bathroom.

01:26:19.420 That's pretty unprecedented.

01:26:21.420 Um, Keith Peterson, man, thank you so much.

01:26:23.540 One for always making me feel welcome when I'm at the fights.

01:26:26.680 It's such an honor to get to see you guys, man.

01:26:30.060 That it's, uh, will you agree that with this, that it's one of the most, the people that

01:26:35.220 make that, that, that are part of that company that put that event on, it's pretty spectacular.

01:26:39.960 Yes.

01:26:40.440 Yeah.

01:26:40.720 Yeah.

01:26:41.200 Yeah.

01:26:41.760 It is like, uh, yeah.

01:26:43.600 Like some of the, like the T-Mobile.

01:26:46.480 It's just all so special.

01:26:48.400 Yeah.

01:26:48.620 Yeah.

01:26:48.760 And you see the same people over and over again and it really does feel like a family

01:26:52.300 over there.

01:26:52.780 Yeah.

01:26:52.880 It is.

01:26:53.420 Does it feel like that to you?

01:26:54.600 Yeah.

01:26:54.980 Yeah.

01:26:55.300 You know, as, you know, as we figured out, I kind of keep to myself, but, uh, there's

01:27:00.660 some people I see every time that I really great people and, and, um, you know, I speak

01:27:05.140 to them and, uh, briefly and it's a really, you know, well, thank you so much for all

01:27:10.600 your efforts, man.

01:27:11.240 Thanks for continuing to just support, uh, wrestling.

01:27:13.480 And I think, uh, that it's just, you know, you being out there just inspires other young

01:27:17.560 people to get into it and just having like, um, so much history yourself in it.

01:27:21.600 And, uh, yeah, thank you for letting us talk about your family and stuff today, man.

01:27:24.940 And, um, yeah, uh, cheers to, uh, many more years of, um, of, of being on the journey, man.

01:27:31.840 Yeah, yeah, for sure.

01:27:32.780 Thank you.

01:27:33.440 Amen.

01:27:33.720 You bet.

01:27:34.200 Thank you.

01:27:34.600 Now I'm just floating on the breeze and I feel I'm falling like these leaves.

01:27:40.580 I must be cornerstone.

01:27:45.700 Oh, but when I reach that ground, I'll share this peace of mind.

01:27:50.540 I found I can feel it in my bones, but it's gonna tell you.

This Past Weekend with Theo Von - October 26, 2025

#620 - Keith Peterson

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