JRE MMA Show #105 with Derrick Lewis

[0] Joe Rogan podcast, checking out.

[1] The Joe Rogan Experience.

[2] Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day.

[3] Thanks for being here.

[4] Thanks for finally having me. My pleasure, dude.

[5] Yeah, we talked about it a couple times.

[6] My balls was hot.

[7] One was the famous one.

[8] I don't remember that one.

[9] So how's things, man?

[10] Things been crazy.

[11] I can only imagine.

[12] After that knockout of Curtis Blades, like, whoo.

[13] I mean, that got a lot of attention.

[14] mention.

[15] Oh yeah, yeah.

[16] And it felt real good to knock him out because he was talking a lot of trash before the fight.

[17] Isn't that like part for the course though?

[18] Everybody talks shit before the fight.

[19] Even whenever I'm doing good though, he's been talking at least three years now he's been talking mess to me. Really?

[20] Yeah.

[21] Do you take that shit personally?

[22] Um, I do because I'm not in there trying to sell tickets.

[23] Don't just come to me try to sell tickets to talk trash.

[24] You know, I take everything personal.

[25] Yeah, some guys do just try to sell tickets and then they'll say it's not personal it's just like when Khabibnir Mareem Renov was fucking up Connor when he's on top of him pounding on him going let's talk now.

[26] Let's talk now.

[27] Remember that?

[28] Yeah, yeah.

[29] And he goes, it's just business.

[30] You know, it's like this is not business.

[31] No, no. I go into every fight like life or death and I go, I enter a deep, dark place every time I step inside the octagon so it's not business for me. What was interesting is after the fight, I mean, there was just such a spectacular knockout, but after the fight, you were so nonchalant.

[32] You were just so relaxed, and you're like, I couldn't get started in there.

[33] And everybody's like, what the fuck are you talking about?

[34] You couldn't get started.

[35] It was one of the most spectacular knockouts in the history of the heavyweight division, and you're like, ah, I couldn't get started.

[36] Yeah, so I went back home and got my blood and everything tested, and my T -levels was, like, in the 300s.

[37] so I had very low T so it's like You mean testosterone?

[38] Yes You have low testosterone Yes That's ridiculous Yeah I would never If you had If I was going to make a bet It's so like I try to spend all my energy On my wife So it's kind of hard Because if I don't have the energy For her Then she would think I'm out there Messing around And stuff like that So Do they know why your testosterone Was low?

[39] Maybe you overtrained or something No I don't We don't know yet, so I want to go to another doctor that the lady was just telling me about.

[40] Oh, wow.

[41] That's crazy.

[42] So that's why you felt lethargic.

[43] Yes, yes.

[44] It was like that all week.

[45] So at first I thought it was the jet lag or something like that, but it ended up just me in my T -levels.

[46] That was like one of the most perfectly timed uppercuts I've ever seen.

[47] It was perfect.

[48] Yeah, we practiced that for the last few months.

[49] So that was the game plan when he shoots to catch him coming in?

[50] Yes.

[51] Either the knee or the uppercut.

[52] We know he was going to be there.

[53] We know he was going to try to play the game, try to stand up for a little bit.

[54] And the way he shoots, he don't really shoot like a real wrestler.

[55] He shoots like from the hip down and come in like that.

[56] He doesn't bend the knee and try to come in.

[57] That's interesting.

[58] So he goes, he hinges.

[59] He goes forward.

[60] Why do you think he does that?

[61] I don't know.

[62] I don't know.

[63] Usually the wrestler, they drop a knee, then shoots.

[64] Yeah.

[65] But he just bent down and I'm guessing he was just trying to grab my leg to pick it up or something like that, I don't know.

[66] So how did you get involved in fighting?

[67] What was your first experiences?

[68] First experience was like, because everyone knew I loved fighting in the streets, like, every weekend at parties and stuff like that.

[69] And so one of my friends that told me about MMA, and I was like, I didn't really know anything by MMA at the time.

[70] And he told me. watch videos it's like 10 years ago did you have any martial arts training at all no I don't I still don't have any martial arts really that's ridiculous of course you do you're a professional martial arts I'm watching YouTube videos now so I'm learning some stuff now really yeah you're not you're not fucking around like really you're serious I learn from YouTube videos I learn from my coach as well but I watch YouTube videos and stuff like that too so 10 years ago you had no martial arts training at all?

[71] No martial arts training.

[72] And where did you first start training?

[73] I just started training at a gym called silverback MMA.

[74] And so this was 10 years ago, you just decided to learn.

[75] Were you thinking about being a professional?

[76] Were you just doing it for fun?

[77] Um, they said that back then I thought like 500, 500 was pretty good money, you know, so they were saying that you can get paid on $500.

[78] Um, just three rounds or three minutes.

[79] I said, just three minutes.

[80] I didn't think three minutes was a long time until I got into there.

[81] It's like, damn.

[82] Okay.

[83] And so we just started training from there, though, and I fell in love with it.

[84] So to me, it's almost like street fighting, so it's like, yeah, I could do that.

[85] But one of the things has changed about you over the years is your endurance.

[86] Your endurance is, it came up in a big way.

[87] Like, you can see in the Gabriel Gonzaga fight.

[88] You can see in a lot of your fights.

[89] Like, you can put pressure on people now.

[90] and you have a lot of high volume which in the beginning of your career I think you had a harder time with.

[91] Oh, yeah, and so that's really what we focus on now at Main Street, Boxing Gym is my conditioning and my endurance and stuff like that because we feel like that's the only weakness in my game right now.

[92] Yeah, but it's like you're so big.

[93] I don't even know if it's a weakness.

[94] I think it's just part of being a giant person.

[95] Yeah, yeah.

[96] But in the Travis Brown fight, it's another example.

[97] Like, that was a crazy, fast -paced fight, but you, you know, you overwhelmed him.

[98] Yeah, yeah.

[99] I love that fight, too.

[100] Before this past fight with Kurt, that was one of my favorite.

[101] And that week, going into a Travis Brown fight, I took some laxatives, just try to help me cut some weight.

[102] But, you know, I took it that Wednesday, and you still lingering around.

[103] So it's like, man, he kicked me in my butt.

[104] body but he also broke my ribs but i also did have to take a shit so i wasn't lying about that so yeah that was a ridiculous interview though yeah that fight was uh that was a heavy -duty fight there's a lot of bad blood in that fight too right yes and ever since then like whenever i do my you know how they come in a few days before the commentaries try to talk to you and ever since then I stopped telling the guys what's my game playing and stuff like that because I didn't know him and Brian Stan at the time was friends and so our game playing was to come in and try to kick his legs because he used to staying real wide but whenever me and him fought he didn't stand like that at all not one time so you think Brian Stan went to him and told him?

[105] I believe so.

[106] Oh Brian.

[107] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[108] That's kind of dirty.

[109] Yeah, yeah, yeah, so...

[110] And he didn't tell you his strategy.

[111] No, he didn't.

[112] Damn, Brian's Dan.

[113] So, I'm just believed that was the case because he didn't do that at all.

[114] And I watched previous fights of Travis, and he always used to have that wide stance, and he didn't do that at all for my fight.

[115] That's interesting.

[116] Do you watch a lot of tape on fights?

[117] Who?

[118] Do you watch tape on fighters when you're going to face them?

[119] I used to.

[120] Like, early in my career, I used to, but then I stopped because.

[121] they fight me different.

[122] Like, if I'm watching tape on a wrestler, then by time me and him fight, he's going to try to stand up with me. It's just like whenever fought big country, I thought he was going to stand up the whole fight, and he just tried to take down and take down.

[123] But don't most dudes try to take you down?

[124] I mean, you have some pretty ridiculous punching power.

[125] I think a lot of guys, if the option presents itself, they're going to try to take you down, right?

[126] Yeah, I guess so.

[127] but I prefer that anyways.

[128] That's where I was starting to breathe and catch myself and my adrenaline be pumping too high.

[129] Like I fought growing pots, and my drilling was out of this world.

[130] And so I told my coach, if that happens, like, in the fight with him, then I'm a need a minute and nuts on purpose.

[131] I don't think you should say that.

[132] Cut that out, dude.

[133] Cut that part out.

[134] You can't say that, man. My adrenaline was just crazy.

[135] I just needed to calm down.

[136] So it was like beginning at a fight, so I did it on purpose.

[137] Oh, no. I knew I was going to get a warning, so I was like, okay, I'm calmed down now, so we can go there.

[138] That's an interesting strategy.

[139] Yeah.

[140] So what makes you get more amped up for some fights than others?

[141] What's getting to me amped up is if I'm looking at, at something that I want to buy after the fight and so I'm like, okay, yeah.

[142] So you get excited?

[143] Yeah, I get excited for that.

[144] You start counting your win bonus?

[145] Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[146] I'm already counting my win bonus before I even get it.

[147] So I'm like...

[148] Like, give me an example of something that you would want to buy that gets you excited.

[149] We had wanted to buy some property in Colorado a few years ago.

[150] And so I was like, man, if I could get this knockout right here, that we could buy cash.

[151] And so that right there gets me excited to do stuff like that.

[152] There's no more cars.

[153] I got all the cars.

[154] I'm like, that don't excites me anymore.

[155] I used to, but stuff like that gets me. What are you going to do in Colorado?

[156] Are you going to get like a vacation spot?

[157] Yes, we got the got like 80 acres.

[158] Oh, nice.

[159] Nice.

[160] Where at?

[161] And St. Louis?

[162] Where's that out?

[163] It's like south of Colorado Springs.

[164] Oh, okay.

[165] Yeah.

[166] It's like two hours away from New Mexico.

[167] Oh, all right.

[168] I fucking love Colorado.

[169] Yeah, it's so beautiful out there.

[170] Beautiful.

[171] So peaceful, too, right?

[172] Especially at night.

[173] I didn't, those, that many stars at night, it's like, don't even seem real.

[174] I know, it's so quiet out there.

[175] It lets you know that, you know, we really are in space.

[176] You look up like that.

[177] Yeah.

[178] Especially if you're high, right?

[179] Man, that's a different story right there.

[180] So for a guy like you, But imagine, like, you need some serious downtime because, like, the chaos of being a professional fighter at the highest level in the heavyweight division.

[181] Like, there's a lot of pressure and stress.

[182] Oh, yeah, that's why I don't watch fights.

[183] You know, whenever I watch fights, I catch myself starting to sweat or, like, holding my breath.

[184] So, like, this past weekend, and I was watching one of the guys fighting, I was sitting next to my wife, and she noticed that I just started breathing the head out of nowhere because I'm already daydreaming about, okay, if I was.

[185] in that situation, this is what I would do.

[186] That's why I don't watch fight because it's still stressful.

[187] So there was a rare thing.

[188] You're watching the fight Saturday night?

[189] Just worrying how that one guy that's fight like Khabib.

[190] Oh, Islam Makachev?

[191] Yes.

[192] And I was wondering if a guy would hold me down like that, like the whole fight wouldn't be able to do anything.

[193] What would I do?

[194] That dude's a bad motherfucker?

[195] Yeah, yeah.

[196] Islam's, he's for real.

[197] That grappling is.

[198] serious because that kid drew dober is very good for him to handle drew dober that way i was super impressed what did you think of the main event bohovich and uh stylebender you know i was going for stylebender but behova he just seemed too like strong like his power it's like was a match what is he yeah his power is ridiculous that dude's got crazy power and he's a big fella too yeah he's a difference between a legitimate light heavyweight and a guy who's a middleweight who just wants to test himself.

[199] Yeah, but I don't think he's, he got what it takes to be Jones, though.

[200] Yeah, Jones is a different person.

[201] He's a different person.

[202] I mean, John Jones is, you know, that's top of the food chain.

[203] He just figures a way around people.

[204] He figures out how to beat people.

[205] But I got to admit, when you see what Boehovedge did to, what the fuck's his name?

[206] The guy he not, Jesus Christ, they talked to, Dominic Reyes, thank you.

[207] I don't know what happened.

[208] My brain just short -circuited.

[209] Dominic Reyes went five hard rounds of John Jones, and it was a real close decision.

[210] Boehovic blew him out in two rounds.

[211] The thing about Boehovic is you can't fuck up.

[212] You know, it's a lot like you.

[213] You can't make any mistakes.

[214] He hits too fucking hard.

[215] Yeah.

[216] But I would like to see that fight.

[217] I wish John, but I want to see John at Heavyway, too.

[218] What do you think about John coming up to your weight class?

[219] Yeah, that's good.

[220] And, you know, John cool, these cool people or whatever.

[221] But I also, like, pitching myself fighting him one day.

[222] And I kind of know what his game plan would be if he ever faced me. You know, he'll try to attack the legs a lot.

[223] I don't think he'll really try to take me down.

[224] He'll try to keep his distance and try to strike at a distance or what.

[225] He'll try to stay away.

[226] You don't think you'd be trying to take you down at all?

[227] I don't think so.

[228] How come?

[229] What makes you think that?

[230] Because I would love for a guy to get that close to me. I believe that's their downfall whenever they get that close.

[231] That makes sense.

[232] A clinch up especially.

[233] Yeah.

[234] Well, John's very good at using that long reach.

[235] I'm just interested to see.

[236] I mean, he's at 250 pounds now.

[237] That's a legit heavyweight.

[238] He looks like a heavyweight for sure.

[239] I don't think he should try to gain any more weight, though.

[240] I think his walk -around weight is good enough because I believe, he walks around at 240, 2 .35, something like that.

[241] I don't think he should, like, keep trying to gain weight or bulk up as much you think he should, because Kane Velazquez and Stepe, they walk around at 235, 240.

[242] And so he'd be a natural heavyweight, really.

[243] That's interesting because there's two schools of thought, right?

[244] There's a school of thought that you should be as big as you possibly can to deal with guys like you or guys like Francis and Gano.

[245] The biggest of the big in the division.

[246] And then the other school thought is you should be lighter, have more endurance, push more volume, move quicker.

[247] That's what I'm working on right now.

[248] Are you working on losing weight?

[249] That was good.

[250] And trying to be quicker and stuff like that.

[251] Because being big, it's like you can last for like three minutes, four or five minutes, one round.

[252] And then after that, everything starts going downhill.

[253] What do you weigh now?

[254] Like right now, I'm 290 only because I had Krispy Kreme this morning.

[255] But we're going to cut that apart out.

[256] though what do you want to get down to I would love to get down to like 250 245 yeah do you see that be impossible I think your skeleton weighs about 250 I don't know I don't know I'm trying I'm trying but since I've been off I've been eating my ass on so I would love to get down on 250 though now I've watched a lot of your training videos and you do a lot of strength and conditioning stuff like a lot of like explosive work and shit like that would you change that and just do start doing a lot of like long distance endurance stuff like how would you lose that kind of weight no i wouldn't change that i love doing that i believe me doing that right that right there um takes a lot out of me and i love feeling fatigue after every workout and so i wouldn't do that anything like that but i would also try to run on a track or something like that run a few miles around a track that's something i never done before would you so you don't run at all no would you so what do you do for endurance work?

[257] I do Stairmaster.

[258] We do elliptical bike and stuff like that.

[259] I don't run.

[260] I haven't ran in years.

[261] Do you not run because you don't like it or do you not run because of your joints?

[262] Oh, I just don't like it.

[263] It's boring.

[264] But if it was good for you, do you think you, so this is the plan.

[265] The plan is to start incorporating that.

[266] Yeah, if it's good for me, you know, but it's hard though.

[267] I can only imagine.

[268] I could probably do it for a few days, but after that, I'm like, uh, no, I don't feel like doing all that.

[269] Well, I only weigh 200 pounds, and it's hard on my knees.

[270] I can imagine as big as you are running, it's rough.

[271] Yeah, I'm sure it's rough.

[272] I don't like it.

[273] It's boring.

[274] Yeah.

[275] But you, I mean, I guess you could do other kinds of cardio, long -distance cardio, long -duration cardio, to try to drop some weight.

[276] But you'd have to try to change your diet, too, right?

[277] Yes, diet is the number one thing.

[278] But it's hard, though.

[279] I live right next to Popeyes and all these water burgers and all these fast food restaurants.

[280] It's like, it's like right there.

[281] Listen, man, I'm a giant fan of Popeyes.

[282] Spice of chicken and beans and rice, it's hard to pass up.

[283] That beans and rice is good.

[284] Yes, it's deadly.

[285] It's a problem.

[286] But, like, do you work with the nutritionist at all?

[287] I used to work with Lou Nutrition out there in New Jersey.

[288] I used to work with him.

[289] But other than that, no, my wife, she tried to look out recipes.

[290] in there, but she still need a lot of work on it in the kitchen.

[291] Have you ever used the UFC's program with a trifectum meals?

[292] Yeah, I did and I didn't like it.

[293] Didn't like it?

[294] It was trash.

[295] I told him it's trash.

[296] I don't like it at all.

[297] What don't you like about it?

[298] It's no season, no flavor to it.

[299] Yeah, I get it.

[300] Whenever I spit in the other guy's food, I really meant that.

[301] That shit was nasty.

[302] That's right.

[303] You spit at his food.

[304] Why the fuck were they, was that Olenick?

[305] Why were they sending you Olinick's food?

[306] I don't know.

[307] They probably just trying to get rid of that shit because it was nasty.

[308] You didn't send it back to I mean, they threw it out.

[309] They didn't give it.

[310] I don't know if they sent it back or what.

[311] I don't think so.

[312] Definitely not have to sell the video.

[313] Well, he don't speak English, so he probably didn't know what I was saying anyway.

[314] Well, he probably knew you were spitting in his food.

[315] That's pretty universal.

[316] What kind of shit were they giving him?

[317] Oh, I don't know.

[318] They look boring?

[319] Chicken breasts.

[320] Boiled broccoli, that kind of shit.

[321] Well, he probably got something good him because I don't order no nasty shit like that.

[322] That was nice.

[323] I told him put season in mine.

[324] So, like, for trifecta, do you get to pick what they send you?

[325] Yes, you get to pick.

[326] So you can order something that's got seasoning and some spicy food, something good.

[327] But whatever they was trying to give to him, it was not good.

[328] No?

[329] Maybe he's got some weird diet he follows.

[330] He's an interesting cat, that guy.

[331] Yeah.

[332] I never farted anyone like him.

[333] He's weird.

[334] crazy grappler.

[335] It finishes people when they're mounting on them, which is nuts.

[336] The only guy I've ever seen it, I think he's done it twice.

[337] He gets him with that Ezekiel.

[338] Yeah, when he got me in, I guess the Ezekiel, that's what it was.

[339] He got me in that position.

[340] It was like, if my coaches never had told me about that the week of the fight, I would never know what the hell he was doing.

[341] Yeah, it's weird.

[342] And so it was like, I was kind of panicking because he was suffocating me with his skin.

[343] It wasn't just a choke.

[344] It was just, I couldn't breathe.

[345] So I was, like, panicking a little bit.

[346] Then he had said something in Russian, then let it go and smile.

[347] I was like, shit.

[348] Appreciate it.

[349] Because he almost had me. I was like, shit, I was about the time because I ain't know what's going on.

[350] So I was scared.

[351] I said, oh, okay, appreciate it.

[352] And he hit me in my stomach.

[353] I said, all right.

[354] That's hilarious.

[355] Yeah, that guy's a, he's an unusual grappler.

[356] He just grabs a hold of people.

[357] He seems ridiculously strong.

[358] Yeah, yeah.

[359] It was weird.

[360] I've never seen anybody finish that, that, move like he does where he lets guys mount him and like he grabs a hold of their neck he puts it like this and then he like opens up so they think oh i'm going to mount and they move in the mountain he sinks it in and he squeezes and he presses you down i want to feel that that's that's a crazy move i want to know how he does that i wonder if he's got like a certain setup he uses for that yeah he's got what 80 fights so yeah he's been around it's crazy yeah still loves it i guess He's in his 40s, too.

[361] Deep in his 40s, right?

[362] 44.

[363] 45, yeah.

[364] When do you think you're going to stop?

[365] How old, do you have a number in your head?

[366] Um, it all depends.

[367] Um, if my body says, sit your ass down or we could keep going.

[368] It also depends on the money, you know.

[369] Right.

[370] If the money keep getting better like it is, we'll keep going until USC say, all right, we hollage.

[371] Well, you're in a position now where, you know, you're at the top of the food chain, right?

[372] You got Stepe, who's about to fight Francis in a rematch.

[373] You've already beat Francis, and then you got John...

[374] I don't even count that as a beat in France.

[375] You know, that fight right there.

[376] It was a weird fight.

[377] People don't even talk, bring that up no more.

[378] Yeah, that was a weird fight.

[379] What was up with that fight?

[380] My back was hurting.

[381] I felt overweight the whole fight.

[382] I had knee issues.

[383] I had a bunch of problems with myself.

[384] And I don't know what was going on with him.

[385] I think he was still fucked up because of the Francis fight.

[386] I think he was...

[387] The steepe.

[388] Excuse me, yeah, the Stepe fight.

[389] Yeah, I think that Stepe fight just fucked with his head.

[390] And he just, in fact, he got so tired in that fight and that Steepa overwhelmed him and beat him for the first time in the UFC.

[391] And I think it was just bothering him.

[392] I for sure a lot of running back, though.

[393] You've had some back issues over the years, right?

[394] What are the back issues?

[395] It's my L4 and L5.

[396] Do you have a bulging disc?

[397] Yeah.

[398] Bulging and hernia disc.

[399] What have you done to fix it?

[400] I had knee surgery after the junior fight.

[401] And so they were saying that my right leg was shorter than my left leg because that's how tight my back was.

[402] Wow.

[403] And so they ended up having knee surgery and they said that I was compensating on it.

[404] And so ever since I had the surgery, I haven't had any serious problems with it.

[405] Really?

[406] That was it.

[407] It's weird how everything's connected like that.

[408] Like a knee problem can fuck your back up.

[409] I've been having the knee problem for like four years before I got it fixed.

[410] Was it meniscus?

[411] Yes, meniscus and it's partial torn on ACL.

[412] So did they replace the ACL?

[413] ACL is still partial torn.

[414] They replaced the meniscus.

[415] So what did you use?

[416] MCL is completely gone.

[417] Oh, really?

[418] Yeah.

[419] So did they reattached the MCL?

[420] Yes.

[421] Yeah, I put some plastic things, anchors or whatever.

[422] Oh, okay.

[423] Yeah.

[424] So now it's good to go?

[425] Mm -hmm.

[426] What happened, I heard it against the ruin pots.

[427] He got me in a knee bar.

[428] It was real tight, and I didn't tap.

[429] And so, every since that fight, it had been bothering me. Because in one fight, the Fabrizio Verduem fight, you had to pull out because your back was so fucked up.

[430] That was like the day of the fight, right?

[431] What was it going on with that?

[432] I couldn't move.

[433] I couldn't even roll out of bed.

[434] It was like a cramping sharp pain in my lower back.

[435] And that was just from the herniated disc.

[436] Yeah, the doctor came in and coaches, and it was size of my fist, the knot in my back.

[437] Wow.

[438] It's crazy that's all because of the knee.

[439] And so since the knee's fixed, now your back is good.

[440] Yes.

[441] And did you have to do any back strengthening exercises or any?

[442] Yeah, I had to do therapy for like four months.

[443] Yeah, ever since I had finished out of land, it was no more back problems.

[444] That's pretty crazy.

[445] Do you fuck with yoga or anything like that?

[446] They told me that yoga would help a lot.

[447] You know, I've seen DDP, you've been trying to reach out and help, trying to get me to do his yoga.

[448] Have you been in contact with him?

[449] No. I connect you.

[450] He's great.

[451] No, all right.

[452] Oh, come on, man. Come on, man. I want to see you doing DDP yoga.

[453] He's a great guy, too.

[454] You'd love him.

[455] Yeah, I guess I give him a try, but I prefer, like, a woman, try to teach me yoga.

[456] Oh, I understand.

[457] I understand.

[458] understand.

[459] Yeah, he thinks it's different than regular yoga.

[460] Yeah, that's what I heard.

[461] Well, he has, like, dynamic tension into yoga.

[462] You know, he does yoga, but he adds, like, a bunch of other moves that go with it.

[463] It's really tough.

[464] It's a very good workout.

[465] And, you know, he's in his 60s, and he can grab his foot and stick it straight up in the air and do, like, a standing split.

[466] It's crazy how flexible he is.

[467] I guess I'll give it a try since I got low T, so I'm just the closest as a woman anyway.

[468] his whole thing was his back was so fucked up from pro wrestling so using yoga he strengthened his back and that that allowed him to extend his career okay yeah I know a lot of guys whose back has been pretty fucked up and yoga's would save them yoga yoga yoga put it all together for him that's why I brought it up but I understand a lot of manly dudes don't want to be in there doing yoga especially with another man you know I understand yeah it's like getting a massage from another man. Yeah, I can't do that.

[469] I can't do it.

[470] I like to relax.

[471] You know, yeah, I don't know.

[472] It's odd, but sometimes dudes are the only ones that can really get in there, get in there and work them muscles.

[473] I know some big old Brock Lesnar farm looking women that really get in there with the same hair cutting and everything.

[474] Shout out to Ms. Linda.

[475] Appreciate it.

[476] Same hair cutting and everything.

[477] That's hilarious.

[478] Yeah.

[479] So what is like a. a typical training day for you.

[480] Do you do, do you do straight, do you ever do you do straight Jiu -Jitsu or do you do just straight on MMA training?

[481] Like, what do you do?

[482] Um, now I do strength conditioning for an hour.

[483] Then after that, like, I rest for like three hours.

[484] Then I go back and do Jiu -Soo and striking at the same time.

[485] So you just MMA -style workouts.

[486] So everything is, so, um, when you say you do strength and conditioning for an hour, you do that every day?

[487] Yes.

[488] Monday, I guess, not anymore.

[489] It was Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

[490] I do that.

[491] And so every day is two a days, or do you have sometimes one workout a day?

[492] Yes, some wins, Tuesdays and Thursdays is one a day.

[493] And how did you, does this from trial and error, like did you try different ways of doing it and different ways of setting up your camps and this is what you found to be the best for your body?

[494] I really just don't like training.

[495] I'm not going to lie to it.

[496] I don't like doing none of this.

[497] I really just do it, just to take care of my family.

[498] I do it just enough if, okay, I can last three rounds.

[499] I'm going to train just the last three rounds.

[500] If I got to train five rounds, I'm like, damn, okay.

[501] All right, I'm going to try to train as much as I can just the last, at least four and a half rounds.

[502] But if you're going to fight for the title again, you're going to have to fight five rounds.

[503] Yeah, I know.

[504] I'm going to fight five rounds.

[505] That's the only thing that scares me. But you want to be the champ.

[506] I want to be the champ, but it's not my main goal is to be the champ.

[507] My main goal is to be rich like you.

[508] And I ask people question.

[509] But the best way to be rich is to be the champ.

[510] That's like your best path.

[511] And you have a legit shot at being the heavyweight champion of the world.

[512] I mean, that's got to mean something.

[513] It just, my name and mixed with a heavyweight champion The war is so crazy because my past and the stuff I've been through in my life, it just wouldn't be real.

[514] Well, tell me about your past.

[515] Like, what about it makes it seem less real?

[516] I guess, you know, like going through the system and stuff like that for so many years and being counted out and being left behind by family members and friends and stuff like that and everyone turning their back on you.

[517] than being on top of the world and top of the sport and stuff like that.

[518] And my name mentioned by other great people in the world and stuff like that.

[519] And now other people are looking up to me than being heavyweight champion of the world, just to be unbelievable feeling.

[520] Well, it's got to be unbelievable already, right?

[521] I mean, you're one of the top heavyweights on the planet Earth.

[522] It is, it is.

[523] You've got to be ranked like number two right now, right?

[524] Yes, I'm number two.

[525] too yeah it's crazy feeling you know i try not to think about it because it really don't feel real you know just feel like one of those highs that you wish you never been this high i don't want to be that's high anymore i'm sure to show you and sorry to me on the mushrooms and stuff like that i'm like no yeah i understand so like so tell me about your past like what what about like when you're saying going through the system you mean the judicial system like what what about your past was uh yeah i've been like in prison stuff like that i did three and a half years in prison for what for assault aggravated assault i don't see you assaulting people that's weird oh i'm kidding well you should have been at my courthouse you should have been in talking telling that to the judge i would have said that to the judge yeah your honor i think i think this is a mistake yeah yeah so three and a half years for that And so people wrote you off.

[526] They felt like this is just, you're just going to be trouble your whole life.

[527] Yeah, especially I had a full scholarship.

[528] I was already, I played the year.

[529] I ended up getting probation for that.

[530] I ended up playing a year of college at Kilgore Dream College.

[531] And I ended up violating because I didn't have a job.

[532] And I had to pay my fines and fees and show up to my meetings, which no one wanted to help me to do.

[533] And so I ended up getting violated from that.

[534] And it was only a two -year probation at the time, juicification.

[535] And so no one wanted to help me to go to my class and help me pay my funds and stuff like that because I was in college, you know, didn't have any money.

[536] And so they violated me. I went to prison for on a five years since, but I got parole three and a half years.

[537] So you went to prison because of the violation of not paying the fine.

[538] Yeah.

[539] The feeling of being counted out by the system, that's one of the main problems that most people have with our justice system.

[540] It doesn't really rehabilitate people.

[541] It makes people feel like there's no hope.

[542] And in a lot of ways, it makes them resign themselves to a life of crime.

[543] Oh, yeah.

[544] Then it's really nothing they can really do to help somebody to rehabilitate themselves, you know, whenever they get out.

[545] It's no programs.

[546] They can really like jobs and stuff.

[547] It's some jobs, but not really good paying jobs that they really need.

[548] They really survive out here.

[549] So from going from that to becoming a successful martial artist, and I know you don't think you practice martial arts, but you definitely do.

[550] But to be a successful fighter, you've changed your future.

[551] But I think you've also opened up a lot of people.

[552] people's eyes that maybe they can change their future too if a guy like you can do it then what's the difference between you and a lot of other people not much difference yes my brother remind me that all the time thinks he thinking that the fighting is so easy because I can do it that he believed that he could do it I'm telling it's completely different it's not is your brother big like you yeah he's big yeah can he fight well you can fight in the streets you know it's completely different fighting in the streets right makes more shorts but yeah They ain't a street seat can fight.

[553] How old's your brother?

[554] He's 31.

[555] I'm recruiting him right now.

[556] How much is your way?

[557] He's about $2 .50.

[558] Oh, there we go.

[559] Well, he's short, though.

[560] He's short.

[561] You're like 5 and 10.

[562] So is Daniel Carmarie.

[563] Yeah, yeah.

[564] You can be short and still be the heavyweight champion of the world.

[565] I mean, Mike Tyson, too.

[566] Yeah, you know.

[567] Yeah, but he's, is he interested in doing it?

[568] Yeah, he is, but I'll tell him, no, you're not doing it.

[569] Really?

[570] Yeah.

[571] Because my brother, two, ghetto, first of all.

[572] They wouldn't, the world wouldn't be able to handle someone like him.

[573] Really?

[574] He's two outspoken and he's real ghetto.

[575] Man, I don't know.

[576] If you can tell him to tone it down a little bit, we might have.

[577] I tell him that every day whenever I talk to him, see, I was going live and just want to be ghetto all the time, so he can't be doing it.

[578] He got to turn it off and on, and he's like, no. Is he the guy you get your Instagram clips from?

[579] No. Dude, you get the best Instagram page out of any MMA fighter.

[580] I check your shit every day.

[581] I do.

[582] I check your shit every day because there's always something wild that you have posted.

[583] Somebody reported me for something just no. Oh, you fucking rats.

[584] What was it?

[585] It's the video I posted.

[586] Which one?

[587] He ran into the back of the truck.

[588] That one?

[589] Yeah, the guy with the rope hanging out to the road.

[590] You got reported for that one?

[591] That's so tame.

[592] They should see all your other shit.

[593] They're reporting you for that.

[594] Yeah.

[595] So now what I do, I just keep them on there for a few hours or maybe I dare.

[596] So then I delete him.

[597] Yeah.

[598] Yeah, I almost hesitated telling people how good your Instagram was because I didn't want you to get in trouble because it was so fun.

[599] Because it's always dudes getting fucked up and it's always he's okay.

[600] When you know that motherfucker's not okay.

[601] That's what I started doing because I was getting reported a lot and I was like, okay, he's okay.

[602] And people start asking, what's the back sir?

[603] Is they okay?

[604] He's okay.

[605] There's a lot of dead people that were on your Instagram for fucking sure.

[606] Are you selling a He's Okay shirt?

[607] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[608] We sold out.

[609] We sold out.

[610] Oh, man. She's okay, she's okay, sold out.

[611] I need a He's okay.

[612] She's okay, I feel bad.

[613] I feel bad.

[614] I don't know why, man. But when girls get fucked up in those videos, it makes me feel bad.

[615] When dudes get fucked up, I don't feel bad at all.

[616] It doesn't bother me at all.

[617] Snoop's got a great page too Snoop's always posting people getting fucked up but he posts this one girl she was drunk and she was on the top of a truck and the truck pulled off and she fell and landed on her head yeah there it is I told the lady that did that I'm like damn I know my head is messed up but she really had cropped the hell out of my head yeah what did she do she made your head smaller too in my ear she's like his head's too big I'm gonna make it smaller she did she shrunk your head look my ear my right ear It looks like she took like a half inch off the right side of your face.

[618] There's a rough photoshopping job there.

[619] Yeah, she's terrible.

[620] Yeah, well.

[621] People think they know better.

[622] Like, oh, his head's too big.

[623] When did you start posting fucked up things on Instagram like that?

[624] Oh, shit, I don't know.

[625] Probably 16, 17.

[626] Which one?

[627] Yes, the guy with the hot dog.

[628] He's took a hot dog, the dude's pants, wake him up and cuts his eyes on.

[629] What does the UFC think about your page?

[630] They used to have that one guy, Randy, he used to always call me every day telling me, oh, Dana White wants you to take it down.

[631] I'm like, no, I'm not taking that down.

[632] I say, hold on, give me a few more hours.

[633] I'm going to leave it a few more hours.

[634] That's hilarious.

[635] He used to call me every day.

[636] Do you think it was really Dana White, though?

[637] Or was it him?

[638] That's what I was telling.

[639] I said, it's probably Dana White.

[640] I bet.

[641] I mean, it's probably him.

[642] Him, yeah.

[643] But then Dana White had a message me one day on one of the videos the guy had jumped off the roof when he was trying to jump in the pool, but he ended up slipping on the roof and laying the head first.

[644] And Danny White said, what happened to that video?

[645] I said, I took it down.

[646] And sent it to me. And he ended up posting it on his page yeah let me tell you something if someone's saying take it down it's not Dana it's not Dana I sent Dana some fucked up things and he never gets upset yeah he's he's fine with it but you've figured out a way to make your so I mean how many followers you got now just about almost two million yeah and I mean a lot of it is people following you because of your fight career but a lot of people are following it's because it's some wild shit you post yeah yeah it's a lot of celebrities too I didn't even know they were following me that's pretty cool though got invite to shoot some golf with Scarface really that's pretty cool no shit look at oh look at them right there yeah yeah brother brother my yeah yeah I met Willie D when I did the improv in Houston and it was like sometimes I get starstruck you know with him I got stars struck when I was a kid when I was delivering newspapers I would listen to ghetto boys all the time and I was like I can't sometimes you meet people and you can't believe that's really them like you're a real person yeah here you are right here then I had him on the podcast and it was great but Jamie fucked up and half the tape got erased whoops the recording's good but the video got fucked up the hard drive filled up he'll come back again He'll come back again.

[647] It's the only time it's ever happened and never happened again.

[648] Yeah, I had a chance to have Bushwick Bill on, but when we circled back, he apparently was in the middle of dying.

[649] And right when we circled back, he was already in the hospital.

[650] And then he died shortly after there, unfortunately.

[651] But I've always been a huge ghetto boys fan.

[652] Yeah, I love ghetto boys.

[653] But Scarface was sick, too, right?

[654] Didn't he have a...

[655] Yeah, he's getting lung or something like that.

[656] He needed a transfer.

[657] Yeah, kidney transplant.

[658] Yeah, I think he needs a kidney transplant.

[659] Flint yeah I think you still do I'm not sure I think so too yeah so you golf a lot yeah is that like your recreation shit that's what you like to do every week every week just about every week yeah what else you do to relax um just probably just go for a ride and through the city that's about it go for a ride chill my kids my wife that's about it well we were supposed to have a UFC we were trying to have a UFC in Houston they're trying to do the title fight in But apparently Texas is like, not yet.

[660] Yeah, the mayor, he was already tripping about it being fully open, 100 % open.

[661] He was already tripping.

[662] He went on the news right away whenever that happened.

[663] And you're saying that it wasn't a good idea.

[664] Look at Florida.

[665] They're fine.

[666] Yeah, I'm going to Florida next week, actually.

[667] They're wide open and they're fine.

[668] If you look at their cases, their cases are no worse than anybody else's.

[669] Yeah.

[670] And they have an old population.

[671] Florida, like, the numbers, the average age of people is higher than most places.

[672] Yeah.

[673] And they're fine.

[674] It's retirement at home city, right?

[675] Yeah.

[676] I think you got to let people do whatever the fuck they want to do.

[677] It's too long.

[678] It's been a year.

[679] You can't just lock everything down for a year, especially when we know what the disease really is.

[680] Yeah.

[681] Like a year ago, everybody thought it was like the plague and it was going to kill 10 % of the population.

[682] We know it's not now.

[683] But they were blaming everything on COVID and getting in a car accident, COVID.

[684] Right.

[685] someone died you mean yeah yeah talk to me about your cars what kind of cars you into Ferrari you got Ferrari you know McLearn really that's what you're spending all your money yeah yeah I buy houses too yeah what kind of Ferrari you got F12 really yeah it's the best sound than car in the world right oh yeah pull up a picture that after see if you can get a video of a Ferrari F12 that's a serious fucking car that's the V12 right that's the V12 right Yeah.

[686] Oh, my God, that thing sounds good.

[687] Straight pipe IPE exhausts.

[688] Yeah, my friend Collian Noir, he's a gun guy on Instagram.

[689] Maybe you've seen him.

[690] He's a famous, like, he posts all kinds of shit about guns.

[691] He just got one of those, too.

[692] Got an F -12.

[693] But, yeah, that's a ridiculously fast car, too.

[694] Yeah, yeah.

[695] Is that your favorite?

[696] The favorite cruise around car.

[697] If I wanted to, like, embarrass somebody in the speed, it's the McLaren, the 720.

[698] Yeah.

[699] Yeah.

[700] So how many cars do you have?

[701] One, two, three.

[702] Look at that thing.

[703] About six.

[704] Six?

[705] Yeah.

[706] Let me hear this thing.

[707] It's a beautiful sounding car.

[708] Look at that thing.

[709] Woo!

[710] What color is yours?

[711] That's red.

[712] Mm. Do you sometimes, like, get in it and go, I can't believe I have a fucking...

[713] Every day.

[714] Every day.

[715] It's the same way with my home, my house.

[716] I'm like, every day.

[717] I'm like, I'm just sitting in the live room or sitting at the kitchen table, and I just look around, like, can't believe it.

[718] So I've been in the house almost three years now, and I still, like, can't believe it.

[719] And I pull up to it, and I'm like, man, I can't believe it.

[720] Because I grew up in a 700 square foot home, you know, in the projects in New Orleans.

[721] And being in an apartment just about all my life until I got into the U .S .C. And so, like, living in the home like this, it's, like, so crazy.

[722] My whole life right now is, like, so crazy.

[723] So that's why I really don't even really get high no more or really drink because I'm already feeling like on top of the world.

[724] Yeah, you're high on life.

[725] Yes.

[726] Yeah.

[727] Yeah, it's got to be surreal.

[728] What is this here?

[729] Oh, that's my Lamborghini.

[730] Damn.

[731] It's a twin turbo.

[732] Look at that fucking thing.

[733] Which model is that?

[734] A heart car.

[735] Jesus Christ, that's a good -looking car.

[736] What do you even take this into a ragged ship?

[737] Look at Derek Lewis.

[738] McClaren, Maclachie, Ferrari.

[739] You find everything.

[740] I would think my wife is back there.

[741] Jamie's the best.

[742] I think my wife is back there.

[743] She'd be fine in all kinds of stuff.

[744] She'd say, oh, you was here?

[745] Oh, you was doing this?

[746] I said, no, I was.

[747] She'll pull up the receipts.

[748] I'm like, damn.

[749] I said, no, that ain't me. That's Shaq.

[750] If they say me and Shaq look alike.

[751] Jack is a ridiculously big person.

[752] Yeah.

[753] Every time I'm around Shaq, I can't believe we're the same thing.

[754] His hands are so big.

[755] Like, he shake his hand.

[756] Like, my hand disappears inside of his hands.

[757] I'm like a point guard next to Shaq.

[758] It's so crazy.

[759] When you see a guy like Shaq, what's crazy is, like, he couldn't fight in the UFC because he's too big.

[760] Too big.

[761] That doesn't make any sense to me. Like, why do they have a weight limit for heavy weight?

[762] I don't know.

[763] It don't make any sense to me either.

[764] I don't get it.

[765] Like, why do you have to reach 265?

[766] That seems so silly to me. Because there's a super heavyweight, right?

[767] Yeah, super heavyweight.

[768] But there's no division.

[769] It's not real.

[770] I guess they feel like that it would be too fat and slow and everyone would get tired real quick.

[771] Maybe.

[772] I don't know.

[773] Well, what does LeBahn James weigh?

[774] He's got to wait $2 .90.

[775] What is he wet?

[776] He might be slimmed down.

[777] I remember them saying $2 .80 was the claim like 10 years ago.

[778] Yeah.

[779] Okay.

[780] So let's assume.

[781] Okay, let's think he's 20.

[782] It's 280.

[783] Let's say he's 280.

[784] He's not getting tired.

[785] Like, you could be a 280 super athlete.

[786] It's probably 265 solid right now, you know.

[787] Yeah.

[788] I just think it's weird that there's a limit on the heavyweight division.

[789] Yeah, it'd be good if they change it.

[790] Yeah.

[791] So in a way, not in a way, but like for sure.

[792] You live in the American dream.

[793] Yes.

[794] And in a good way because, like, it wasn't good.

[795] Your life wasn't good in the beginning.

[796] And now it's amazing.

[797] Yeah, it's pretty amazing.

[798] I can't complain about anything, really.

[799] You know, even the bad days, I really can't complain about it.

[800] You know, because it's so crazy.

[801] And now it's like I try to help a lot of my family members out, but they're still trying to find ways to burn me at the end.

[802] Your family members?

[803] Yeah, I brought just to buy all of them cars, like cash cars.

[804] And less than a few months, they sold all of them.

[805] Like, each of my brother and sister, my mom, they all sold their cars.

[806] for the cash.

[807] Oh, no. Yeah.

[808] And they had some type of crazy excuse, but it's all good.

[809] Do you have a lot of people asking for money now?

[810] Every day.

[811] I already know what's the setup going to be.

[812] Soon as someone texts me or call me that I haven't talked to in a long time.

[813] I already knew what kind of story they're about to talk about before they ask for money.

[814] You got to do what I do.

[815] I change my number.

[816] I changed my number.

[817] I changed my number.

[818] All the time.

[819] I train my number all the time.

[820] And my wife thinks, oh, it's because I'm female or something like that.

[821] No, it's not really no females.

[822] There's no females at all.

[823] It's just, like, family members or some other guy is trying to get an interview with me that someone gave my number to.

[824] Yeah, that becomes a problem, too, right?

[825] Yeah.

[826] Yeah, that's the problem, right?

[827] More money, more problems.

[828] It's 100 % true.

[829] It's real.

[830] So true.

[831] And as you become more.

[832] more successful it's going to be a bigger issue still like if you become the champ yeah then's going to be crazy oh it's crazy now i already know i got men follow home like three times already really by fans yeah do they ever knock any door usually twice it was by some like different it was couples and twice it was like the woman was driving and the guy was in the present side wanting a picture making his girlfriend follow me to my house to take a picture yeah it's weird shit being famous isn't it?

[833] Oh yeah yeah but for you I mean to come from being incarcerated not having hope into being in this position now and I mean I can only imagine it's got to be completely surreal I'm surreal that's what I say it's like Like, I really don't need to get high on nothing or drink anything.

[834] But it's cool.

[835] It's a plus, you know, smoke a little weed here and there.

[836] Yeah, to relax.

[837] Take the edge off.

[838] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[839] But does it give you more motivation to keep pushing, too?

[840] Because you realize that what has been possible.

[841] I mean, you've done an amazing thing with your life.

[842] Yeah, so they give me a lot of motivations.

[843] Like, because I know how easy it is to slip up and go back into those situations.

[844] because it was nothing but a street fight.

[845] They ended bad for the guy I was going against and ended up having to serve almost five years for it.

[846] So it could still happen.

[847] I walk out of here and get in a street fight with someone and probably be way worse situation.

[848] I think you've got better lawyers now.

[849] But you're an easy -going guy.

[850] Yeah, now I am, yes.

[851] Now you are.

[852] But you weren't back then when you were younger.

[853] Back then, I was just, I think I had a lot of anger built up in me. I still do now, but back then it was a lot more.

[854] I believe it was just the way I was raised, you know, wasn't showed that much love, you know, in my household and just the family circle.

[855] You know, I believe that's what led to a lot of my trouble in the street.

[856] It's a lot of young men.

[857] Mm -hmm.

[858] Yeah.

[859] Do you feel like you have a second chance with your children to show them love because you didn't get that kind of love when you were younger?

[860] Oh, yeah, for sure.

[861] You know, my kids are, like, completely different than how I was raised.

[862] You know, I'm so happy that they're, like, making straight A's in school and making an honor roll every year and getting, already getting scholarships and stuff like that to go to big colleges.

[863] And so it's like, already is, my life is already unbelievable as it is.

[864] And just seeing that, it's like making me so proud.

[865] That's beautiful.

[866] Yeah, so proud.

[867] That's amazing, man. That's what everybody wants, right?

[868] Yes.

[869] What everybody wants is like a happy life where it all comes together.

[870] And I think with a person like you, you really appreciate it because it wasn't always like this.

[871] Oh, yeah.

[872] So I tell people all the time, I don't regret, I don't, you know, wish nothing like that would happen.

[873] believe that I had to go through that situation to be a better person than I am today.

[874] So it's like being raised without a father figure and stuff like that, I felt like to me, everyone is different.

[875] To me, I felt like I had to go through that situation to be a better father, be a better man here today.

[876] Because if not, then I for sure would have been going in and out of there.

[877] For a lot of guys growing up with a bad situation, like without.

[878] father figure that's ultimately ironically what makes them great like having this thing that you're missing when you're young having these deficits in your life having like a lack of love and all it gives you all this motivation and it makes you gives you all this energy to do something with your life it's it's ironic because like everybody like i want nothing but good things for my family but all of my interesting friends had fucked up lives like all my favorite people all the People that I know with the most character, their childhood was chaos.

[879] But I don't want my kids to go through that.

[880] You know, I want my kids to have a nice, easy life.

[881] Oh, yeah.

[882] It's ironic.

[883] Nowadays, you really have to really talk to your kids now.

[884] Even though they're doing everything good in school and they're quiet.

[885] But now it's like the suicide rate is so high.

[886] You never know what's really going on inside their head, you know.

[887] Even though they're not in the streets are doing anything bad.

[888] But they stay in the room all day long, like my oldest daughter.

[889] She's 17, and she stays in the room all the time.

[890] And, like, me and her mom, we talk to her all the time, and sure enough, that she had those thoughts, like suicide.

[891] Is she staying in the room because school's closed, or has she always been like that?

[892] She's always been like that, you know, just to herself.

[893] And she just wants friends and stuff like that.

[894] We try to, like, tell her to go out and try to.

[895] to make friends and stuff like that but with her she won't friends so bad that she's willing to pay for their friendship you know like give them money and just buy them gifts and stuff like that try to tell her it's not the way to do it and so she's in a real bad place right now so we still try to talk to her that's terrible um have you thought about getting her involved in something where she could meet people that are doing things she does like some kind of either a sport or an activity or yeah some type of art class because she's a real good artist she liked the Japanese art she could really draw really good like anime yeah so we're trying to get involved with something like that so that's about the only issue with her that sucks yeah it's I think it's real hard for kids today with social media too social media there's a a book called the coddling of the American mind by this guy named Jonathan Haight and inside that book he talks about how there's a spike related to in suicides and self -harm particularly among girls that's directly related to the invention of social media because people are making their fucking assholes on social media yeah yeah and a lot of girls are comparing their life to other girls' lives and and you know they're comparing their pictures to other girls' pictures when these girls' pictures are photoshopped and they're changing they're doing what they did to your head and shrinking the heads and shrinking the bodies.

[896] I mean, that's what they do.

[897] And, you know, people look at other people and they feel like, they just feel like they're not as good.

[898] It leads to a lot of bad things, along with the bullying, leads to a lot of bad things.

[899] Yeah.

[900] And this is the thing I didn't know women do.

[901] They go to stores and take pictures with purses and stuff like that, our jewelry.

[902] Then they go to the restroom and take pictures, make it seem like they brought all those things and come to find out they didn't and that's the thing that's trending right now in Houston they go to the post post oak hotel and they got a lot of cool stuff over there and they make it seem like they brought all this stuff and they really didn't yeah it's so weird showing people all your shit yeah it's a weird thing that people are doing today it's just social media has gotten everybody all fucked up like doing things for likes and doing things for attention yeah and and and then just paying attention to those likes looking at it all day checking to see what you got you know I think you're doing it the right way just show dudes jumping off roofs and shit yeah getting pulled into trucks at least it's real yeah how old do you know Derek 36 how long do you think you're going to be fighting for if you had a guess um I would like to start fighting whenever I'm 40 that'd be great But after 40, it'd just be embarrassing after that.

[903] It seems like the bigger fighters, they have a longer career, and, like, you mature.

[904] That's always the thing with heavyweight boxing, too, except for Tyson, of course.

[905] But you mature later in life, and, you know, I think maybe bigger guys, they get more coordinated as they get older.

[906] They get a better control of their body.

[907] But, like, look at Jan Bojovich.

[908] He's 38, you know, and he just won the title last year.

[909] and there's a lot of like top flight heavyweights that are in your age range, you know?

[910] Like D .C., he won the title at 40, I believe.

[911] Yeah, yeah.

[912] I don't know, it depends on my body.

[913] I'm feeling pretty good right now.

[914] My body's been feeling good ever since the surgery, so we just see.

[915] But you've had so much success, and you've had this success because of your body and because of your hard work and the fights you've won, for a guy like you it's like you gotta have that in your head like man like this is this is what I'm using to make my life amazing like how much more times this thing got the thing about with me you watch my fights and it's like I don't really don't take that much damage like been in like real wars like um jDS has been in or yeah the other guys at the top has been in you know steepe been in a lot of wars and took a lot of damage.

[916] You know, I believe stuff like that would shorten your career quicker.

[917] 100%.

[918] How do you avoid taking damage?

[919] I just, I guess, just go to Wains look scary as possible.

[920] I don't know.

[921] So, I don't know.

[922] Well, being big helps and also, I think your endurance helps too.

[923] You know, I think a lot of guys, one of the things that happens they start fading and then they start getting beaten up you know yeah that's the thing too it's like i like in my fights i i'm fighting with myself i'm not even really worrying about my opponent i'm fighting with myself the whole time like all right don't do this don't do this okay you can throw this punch but how do you feel after you drew this punch all right you got a little tire right there okay taking the time all right you can throw right here okay see how you feel i'm trying not to get tired.

[924] I'm fighting myself.

[925] I'm trying not to get tired after every movement I do.

[926] And so, okay, you're tired right now.

[927] So, okay, wait, wait, wait till you clench you.

[928] Then you clench you, then we probably can finish them right here.

[929] Does that show you how important experience is?

[930] Because that's what you learn.

[931] Yes, experience from day one.

[932] It's my first amateur fight, I guess, real bad.

[933] I gas so bad I had to put my hands on my knees.

[934] And, like, even the guy was walking to a, me just was hitting me because I was just so tired I didn't wasn't even feeling the punches anymore so I didn't want to be in that situation anymore so now but that seems like it's not just endurance right it's knowing when to put on the gas and when to when to slow down knowing your body yes like experience come into play I learned a lot like being in the USC fighting all these different type of fighters and so like I Okay, they get had way more skills than me, and I feel like that if my endurance and conditioning is decent enough to finish the guy, no matter what round or how many seconds left in the fight, that I should be okay.

[935] Jamie, I'm going to send you something.

[936] Is me reacting to him knocking out Volkov?

[937] This is one of my favorite clips, because that knockout was so crazy.

[938] We were in the middle.

[939] Here it is right here.

[940] I'm going to say it to you right now.

[941] Jamie?

[942] Yeah, I just airdropped it to you.

[943] Wait a minute.

[944] Why is it not working?

[945] All right, is it going through?

[946] I've got two Jamie Berners here.

[947] You have my computer.

[948] Okay.

[949] I'll try both of them.

[950] You got it?

[951] Okay.

[952] So that fight to me was a perfect example of one of the reasons why people love you is because at any moment in the fight you get in that shit.

[953] And that was a fight where you were behind the judge's scorecards and we were just saying it doesn't matter like at any moment Derek could knock him out like that's the thing that's exciting about you but the ufc because we go so crazy the ufc's decided to put these cameras on us give me some volume on this look at everybody going crazy we were going crazy I had to get up I had to stand up I couldn't take it that was so nuts my coach um my manager my manager at home he fainted he fainted Lou say he fainted he couldn't take it either no more so everyone was just so pumped about that and I heard that some police was called because my neighbors our fans was just going crazy after I find out that was wild that was one of the best come from behind knockouts ever but it was wild too because we just got done saying like don't count him out at any moment he could knock him them out and then boom you catch him with a big punch and then drop them and then boom put him away we went nuts i like whenever my coach said okay we got a minute left 30 seconds left then i'm like okay try to gain so i got i have to let everything out um a lot of my fights i finish in the last few seconds of the fight so i like to the wait the last minute or last two minutes left to really show what i got left in my tank so well that shows your hard work that you can keep that power in, like, deep into the fight.

[954] That means you did the work in the gym.

[955] Like, you still have the gas.

[956] Yeah.

[957] Was that your most satisfying knockout?

[958] That was, yeah.

[959] The crowd made it real satisfying because the way they reacted, you know, then seeing that one guy that played in the one movie, um, group, brute, what movie is that?

[960] Gardens of the Galaxy?

[961] Oh, Chris Pratt?

[962] Yeah, yeah, he's a big fan.

[963] He's seen his reaction.

[964] It was like, it made it all work while.

[965] Yeah, no, that was a big one.

[966] That was a big one.

[967] Yeah, I wish the fans was here for the Curtis fight.

[968] I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have been crazy for that one, too.

[969] 100%.

[970] I screamed to my house.

[971] I screamed to my house.

[972] Every now and then in a fight, like, you know, when I'm watching fights at home, I scream.

[973] And then my wife has to realize I'm watching fights because I'm by myself in the theater going, oh yeah that was that was one that um for sure would have got a giant reaction from the crowd yeah is it yeah is so what is like do you have a favorite moment as a fighter or do you have you have so many knockouts yeah you have the most knockouts ever in the heavyweight division yeah it's crazy because i wasn't even really going for that um my favorite one it has to be Vokoff, because I was telling my coaches in my camp before that fights, like I'm fighting a Russian guy, it'd be cool if I could get one of those rocket -type fights and show enough it was a rocket -type fight.

[974] And, like, so crazy, so crazy.

[975] And it ended just like a rocket movie.

[976] Yeah, there it is.

[977] Boom!

[978] My goodness, that was crazy.

[979] Then, like, a few minutes before that, I hit him, and he was saying that his mouthpiece was my mouth.

[980] I'm off piece.

[981] I said, no, that's not.

[982] That's not my mouth of peace.

[983] I say, okay, I guess.

[984] Yeah, that was pitched, that, that, that, that, that, that, that K. Back up to the, the right hand again, it drops them.

[985] That shit was picture perfect.

[986] Here it is.

[987] Boom.

[988] I mean, timing, distance, everything.

[989] It was picture perfect.

[990] And the fact that you did this deep into the fight, look at this.

[991] Yeah.

[992] Does this feel, does it feel surreal watching yourself?

[993] Oh, yeah, all the time.

[994] all the time when you watch yourself on television like what goes through your head when you see something like this I'm like man I don't look that fat in person I don't look fat whenever I watch my highlight then you see me in person like you lost a weight no I ain't losing a weight that's the TV it probably is the Fox Sports Fox Sports ESPN I think I look a little smaller now Fox Sports cameras make me look fat I think everybody thinks they look fat when they see themselves on television.

[995] I think I look fat when I walk by a mirror.

[996] I'm like, come on, really?

[997] There's all this shit.

[998] Yeah.

[999] But, you know, if you do drop down to, you know, whatever you want to get to, at 240 or two, maybe, maybe then you can see a little six -pack.

[1000] Yeah, then, you know, I walk around.

[1001] I walk around with no shirt, but now I don't like walk around with a shirt.

[1002] Well, no shirt in front of my sons.

[1003] My boys, they always call me fat.

[1004] because they got six packs so I make it seem like they don't bother me but I'm going to cry in the room how do they feel about their dad being one of the baddest motherfuckers on earth?

[1005] They don't care.

[1006] They don't care?

[1007] Yeah, the neighbors in the backyard that lives behind us said we know who your dad is, your dad is famous and I heard my boys say something back to them said that we know we don't care I'm like, what?

[1008] I said, don't be mean to him.

[1009] They say they don't care, but they must care.

[1010] They have to.

[1011] They spoil, though.

[1012] My wife spoils them.

[1013] I'll try not to.

[1014] I try to give them lessons, make them earn everything that they get.

[1015] Did they have any interest in fighting themselves?

[1016] No. They wanted to fight.

[1017] I wanted to box and put them in boxing class.

[1018] Then now they say they don't want to get punched, so they don't want to do that.

[1019] And then play soccer.

[1020] I don't want them fight either.

[1021] I don't want them play football.

[1022] Yeah.

[1023] Football may be worse, right?

[1024] Mm -hmm.

[1025] Yeah, concussions and stuff like that.

[1026] Did you feel like that when you were playing football that was more dangerous in finding?

[1027] Not at all.

[1028] That's all I wanted to do is play football.

[1029] Yeah?

[1030] Yeah.

[1031] So if you had your way to go back, you would have done that instead?

[1032] Yeah, I would have played football, yeah.

[1033] It's my number one sport.

[1034] You enjoy it more?

[1035] Yeah.

[1036] Especially being in this situation and playing football.

[1037] It was a team sport, so I could really blame, okay, it wasn't my fault.

[1038] It was the defensive tackle fault or it's the linebacker fault.

[1039] But now there's so much pressure on myself, like, okay, if I lose this fight, it's really all on me. Yeah, but if you win this fight, it's really all you.

[1040] Yes, yes.

[1041] Yeah.

[1042] If somebody else scores a touchdown, you win, you know, like that?

[1043] But if you knock a motherfucker out, like you did Volkov, that's you.

[1044] I mean, listen, man, do you have more knockouts than any heavyweight in the history of the sport?

[1045] Let's give me goosebumps just hearing that.

[1046] Isn't that crazy?

[1047] Because I watch, like, the highlights of Rain de Couture.

[1048] See, you know, his highlights and all, like, Shane calling and stuff like that.

[1049] The guys that was really knocking out of everybody back then, it's like, for me, the past them, it's like so crazy.

[1050] Past everybody.

[1051] Yeah.

[1052] Is there any fighter from the past that you wish you were in the same error as them so you could have fought them?

[1053] I guess you just say Kimbo because everybody, like before I even got into USC that was asked me, you think you'll fight Kimbo?

[1054] Like, yeah, I would fight him.

[1055] And just like everyone still asks me that.

[1056] And they don't even know Kimbo passed away already.

[1057] Yeah.

[1058] Like people that don't know anything about fighting really, still asks me, do you think you'll fight Kimbo one day.

[1059] I'm like hope not he was an interesting case right because he became famous from the internet like one of the rare guys that became famous from street fights from the internet I believe that's one of YouTube that came around too it's like that's when it really got popular because everyone was trying to go watch fights that's really all you could really do back then YouTube and watch fights yeah YouTube was in its infancy back then right yeah it wasn't much going on on YouTube Everybody just watched YouTube because of fights.

[1060] I didn't really know anything but else to do on YouTube but to watch street fights.

[1061] I admire that Kimbo went from that with no real experience in grappling or kicking or anything and then took a chance to fought in the UFC.

[1062] I mean, that took a lot of courage.

[1063] Oh, yeah, yeah.

[1064] I was a big fan of his back then.

[1065] He was famous when he got into the ultimate fighter and really didn't have a lot of experience in MMA.

[1066] I mean, fought a little bit in the lead X -C, but, you know, relatively small amount of experience in martial arts, really.

[1067] Just really had good hands.

[1068] Yeah, I believe his career is similar to almost minds.

[1069] And so, you know, I started following him back then, too, as well, because I felt like the same way.

[1070] You know, people who street me the same way as well.

[1071] What do you think of this bare -knuckle boxing that's going on now?

[1072] I couldn't do it.

[1073] Yeah?

[1074] I pray I'd never be in that situation where I have to be.

[1075] like going in there and fighting for financially to be going against guys like bare -knuckle boxing and stuff like that it just looks so painful yeah you get cut up a lot of guys get cut up yeah i'm already ugly guy so i can't really can't can't go in there like that did you see the cut that chris leban got in his fight chris leban see chris leban versus um what is his name Dakota Dakota Johnson Is that his name?

[1076] He fought this guy And he had this Like an axe wound On his forehead Like people don't realize Like how much Yeah look at this Yeah seriously People don't realize Like how much guys get cut open From just the bones Of the knuckles I used to wonder I used to think that Oh yeah Knight Jesus Christ Jason Knight Got fucked up too And Ardom Lobov Look at his face, too.

[1077] The goat.

[1078] Yeah, Boltey's kids, their face is just destroyed.

[1079] It's so crazy that they legalized that, though.

[1080] Yeah.

[1081] But is it, like, because you can elbow a guy in the face.

[1082] You can elbow in that?

[1083] No, but in the MMA, and elbows slice people open, too.

[1084] But it just seems like you get sliced open more in this.

[1085] I just think it's crazy.

[1086] Paige Van Zanson, that.

[1087] Yeah, that was crazy.

[1088] As pretty as she is.

[1089] She got paid a few million for that.

[1090] Is she really?

[1091] Wow.

[1092] If they came around for a few million, would you think about doing it?

[1093] Of course, yes.

[1094] That's the problem, right?

[1095] Yeah.

[1096] How much you're getting paid for, like, a big fight in the UFC?

[1097] I don't know if I...

[1098] You're not allowed to say it?

[1099] Yeah, because the way they set it to pay up right now, it's like...

[1100] I get it.

[1101] No need to discuss it.

[1102] But, so...

[1103] It's pretty good, though.

[1104] Obviously, you got a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, a Lamborghini.

[1105] and a McLaren, you live in a big house, you're doing great.

[1106] Yeah.

[1107] But I guess with Paige, she just wants to do it anyway and show everybody she's not just pretty.

[1108] She's also a bad ass.

[1109] I thought she was just pretty, but, yeah.

[1110] I watched the highlights of her last fight, and she did pretty good.

[1111] She's tough.

[1112] She's tough.

[1113] It's just, it's amazing that she's, but I guess it makes sense if they're willing to pay her that amount of money.

[1114] The money talks.

[1115] But there's a lot of fighters that are leaving the UFC, you know, at the end of their career and then going over and transferring into bare knuckle boxing but you just you know I'm just hopefully that you know like Bellator PFL and all other leagues that's out there are really paying this good like I'm hearing yeah I hope that there's more competition like that fighters can negotiate against you know if it wasn't for them then it would be like um the negotiation would be harder yeah for fighters so I'm like that's good that they're around Yeah, it is good that they're around.

[1116] It's good that they're willing to, you know, they're willing to make big bids on the fighters that they think are worthwhile.

[1117] Guys like Musasi, you know, Ryan Bader, all these guys that are going over to Bellator.

[1118] You need competition.

[1119] It was really strong when the UFC had pride against them, and pride was gigantic.

[1120] Pride was as big as the UFC at one point in time.

[1121] And, you know, it was a real legitimate.

[1122] competition and then when the UFC bought pride for the longest time there really wasn't much competition you know there was strike force at the time and the UFC bought strike force it's not good for the fighters yeah it's not good for the business either yeah like it's better for everybody competition yeah like look at boxing you've got all these different promotions you got Mayweather you've got Bob Aram you've got you know Eddie Hearn you got all these different promoters that one guy wear the dresses you got that wears dresses where's dresses who's that They'll hold you.

[1123] Golden boy.

[1124] Yeah, yeah.

[1125] Coket.

[1126] That's what I would Dana call him cocaine.

[1127] Yeah.

[1128] The one guy that wears a dresses.

[1129] I don't even think he was wearing dresses.

[1130] He was wearing fishnets.

[1131] I think he was a dress too.

[1132] Cocaine's a hell of a drug.

[1133] It's a hell of a drug.

[1134] Yeah.

[1135] That's what I heard.

[1136] Get you wearing fishnets.

[1137] Yeah.

[1138] Woo.

[1139] Yeah.

[1140] Some Russian broad set him up.

[1141] Took the pictures.

[1142] She just wanted to push him.

[1143] put them out yeah she must have some good good she was hot yeah yeah she got him to wear the stockings i want you to do this for me oscar put on fishnets for me okay fishnets let's do it let's do it let's what kind of conversation do you have before you put on those shoes and you pose with the boxing gloves i mean what kind of crazy shit did he say i don't know i don't know what's up jamie it's actually both there is another picture that matters a whole lot oh the dress there's a girl let me see zoom in on her woo look at him she nice yeah I don't yeah look at his eyes he's on another dimension right now he's coked out of his mind wearing a two -two dancing around her apartment she's snapping Polaroids like what the fuck yeah yeah um he's He's an interesting character.

[1144] I guess he still promotes fights.

[1145] He doesn't promote Canelo anymore.

[1146] Him and Canelo had a big falling out.

[1147] Yeah.

[1148] I didn't know anything about Canello until he fought Mayweather.

[1149] I didn't, but he's a good fighter.

[1150] He's phenomenal.

[1151] Yeah, he's phenomenal.

[1152] Do you file boxing?

[1153] A little.

[1154] A little bit?

[1155] Just really like the heavyweight's someone that's entertaining.

[1156] I really don't keep track of him that much.

[1157] What do you think about all the shit that's going on with Deontay Wilder and Tyson and Fury and Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz.

[1158] There's a lot of good fighters right now in the heavyweight division.

[1159] It's an exciting time.

[1160] Yeah.

[1161] What's his name?

[1162] The bronze bomber or whatever?

[1163] Dante Wilder.

[1164] The Wilder, yeah.

[1165] It's like, it's crazy that he's not calling out Fury right now.

[1166] He wants to fight like someone else.

[1167] He's trying to fight Andy Ruiz.

[1168] Yeah, I think that's the latest.

[1169] I would be calling out Fury again.

[1170] You know, it's one already.

[1171] So it's like for him to go away from that.

[1172] like it don't look right it doesn't look right no there's there's a lot going on with uh that fight i don't know if you know but he may he came up with a bunch of crazy excuses yeah i was hearing excuse every few months and i was um the suit was too heavy and someone poisoned his water yes water is poison he thinks mark briland like had some sort of a deal to sabotage him yeah that's why he threw in the towel and trump lost the election and south part episode was Supposedment counsel.

[1173] Well, he thought that Tyson Fury had an egg weight in his glove.

[1174] Eggway.

[1175] And he also thought that the glove was not attached correctly.

[1176] He thought that he wasn't hitting him with the padded part of the glove, that the glove was like pushed further up on his hand so that his knuckles were like hitting the wrist area.

[1177] That's where his knuckles were.

[1178] And it's crazy.

[1179] There's all these videos detailing how Tyson Fury.

[1180] It's so stupid Because they don't understand like what Tyson does He does this kind of shit with his hands And if you catch this In full like if you do it As a photo or in slow motion It looks weird But it's because he's showing you this And then dropping the right hand And that's what he does It's always what he's done If you watch that it's in all of his fights But he also can do this Like it's it's their gloves He's got gloves on He's wearing the gloves right He fucked you up It's just a fight And it sucks because I like Deonté, and I'm a big fan.

[1181] I think he's probably the most exciting one -punch knockout artist in the history of the heavyweight division.

[1182] I mean, he knocks guys out.

[1183] Like, he hits him on the forehead and they go to sleep.

[1184] It's crazy.

[1185] He's got crazy power.

[1186] It's just sad when a guy is used to winning, only winning, and then loses one fight and doesn't say, hey, he was a better man back to the drawing board.

[1187] I'm going to figure out what I did wrong.

[1188] Instead, he's got crazy excuses.

[1189] Like, there's a weight in his glove, and I was poisoned, and the weight.

[1190] The vest was too heavy.

[1191] Like Connor McGregor, he has a lot of excuses as well.

[1192] In the last fight?

[1193] Yeah.

[1194] Yeah.

[1195] Well, he had legitimate excuses.

[1196] Like Dustin Poirier did fuck up his leg, and he said he wasn't ready for that.

[1197] And he also said he was training for Manny Pacquiao.

[1198] But he also said at least that Dustin was the better man. Yeah.

[1199] He's a better man that night.

[1200] And he wants immediately to do it again.

[1201] Yeah.

[1202] Which I respect.

[1203] Yeah, it would be a good fight.

[1204] I like Connor.

[1205] I like watching the fight.

[1206] I like him.

[1207] him talk see what he got to say it's uh it's interesting how valuable personality is yeah right like think about that guy obviously he's had some spectacular fights the josialdo fight and he all rest fight and he's done he had some amazing knockouts but it's also a lot of it is personalities personality is so valuable because people want to watch him fight they just want to watch yeah he's crazy though he always has me laughing feel sorry for those little guys though like having to go to press conference and talk like he can't really say anything yeah he talks so much shit he's so good at it him fighting cowboy and he was talking shit to cowboy before to fight him like I feel bad for cowboy because he doesn't really say anything to him Connor be on his shit though well Connor's just too good at it he's just much better talking shit yeah the best example to me was the Joe Day Josealdo fight.

[1208] Because Josealdo...

[1209] It wasn't used to it.

[1210] Not at all.

[1211] Everybody respected him.

[1212] Most of his opponents respected him.

[1213] Because he was the, I mean, he was the greatest featherweight champion of all time at that point.

[1214] And to have Conner just talk a mad shit for months and months.

[1215] And they went on a world tour.

[1216] So they did a press conference after press conference.

[1217] And Conner's just talking mad shit.

[1218] And then knocks him out with one punch.

[1219] Yeah.

[1220] I guess kind of kind of seen that to try to get on his skin, guys from Brazil tried to get out of his skin, he's not used to it, and he just knew that he was going to try to come in and try to take his head out, because he built up so much hate.

[1221] Yeah.

[1222] So, it worked.

[1223] His game playing worked.

[1224] Yeah, but it backfired against Khabib.

[1225] Oh, yeah.

[1226] Because when Khabib was on top of him, beating the fuck out of him, going, let's talk now, bam!

[1227] Let's talk now.

[1228] Well, that's like, I would be so mad about that.

[1229] Yeah.

[1230] the fighter ever.

[1231] He probably had to catch me in the parking lot.

[1232] Yeah, Khabib's an interesting character, isn't he?

[1233] He's good.

[1234] The best lightweight of all time, for sure.

[1235] 29 and 0, maybe lost one or two rounds his whole career.

[1236] Maybe.

[1237] And, you know, those rounds is not like he lost in a big way.

[1238] He was just kind of coasting.

[1239] Yeah.

[1240] To me, I go into a fight, not even worrying about trying to win the round.

[1241] I'm trying to win the fight.

[1242] So I'm not even.

[1243] trying to make it to the decision.

[1244] Do you ever think about decisions?

[1245] Do you ever think about scoring points?

[1246] No. You're just trying to knock people out.

[1247] Yeah, that's it.

[1248] Maybe that's why you have the most knockouts ever.

[1249] That's what I'm going for.

[1250] Now I'm trying to just finish them.

[1251] I'm not trying to go to the decision.

[1252] It's weird going to the decision.

[1253] I'm always shocked.

[1254] Every time I win the decision, I'm like, yeah.

[1255] Banging my chest.

[1256] I'm like, it's always so weird, though.

[1257] I never have a good feeling in these.

[1258] decision is funny because that's most people that's the majority of their wins but we yeah it's opposite it's so weird have you always had that kind of power yes what do you attribute that to is like is it from just probably my father my dad my mom said my dad used to be like that in the streets and stuff like that like knocking everyone out I believe that's what it's from and most of it maybe from my anger just built up just one of just one to just rip somebody head off.

[1259] Well, power's a weird thing, right?

[1260] It's like you either have it or you don't.

[1261] Yeah.

[1262] You can get stronger.

[1263] You can hit a little harder, but to have the kind of power like you do, you can't train that.

[1264] You either have it or you don't.

[1265] Yeah, some of the boxers, they seem like they have a lot of power, but whenever you see them start, not boxers, basketball players, they come to the gym, like a couple of the rockets come to the gym, like James Hardin came to the gym, and you see him hitting past, It's like, there's no power behind their punches.

[1266] You know, they big guy, big strong -looking guys.

[1267] It's like they pity patting whenever they hit the mitts.

[1268] I mean, they're trying to hit it as hard as they can, and they just can't.

[1269] Yeah, it's a weird thing.

[1270] Do you either have it or you don't?

[1271] You know, I don't know, you know, I don't think they've ever figured it out either.

[1272] I don't think there's like, I know that, like, there's the size of your fists, the width of your shoulders, the size of your shoulders.

[1273] There's a lot of things along that, but it's also.

[1274] You either have it or you don't.

[1275] Yeah, that's what I believe, yeah.

[1276] I don't think there's anything like it in any other.

[1277] Like, for, like, athletes in any other sport, you can get stronger.

[1278] You can lift weights.

[1279] You can get more powerful.

[1280] But just in terms of striking power, I just think your body's either designed for it or not.

[1281] It's very strange.

[1282] So I feel like I'm living in like a simulator.

[1283] Simulation?

[1284] Assimilation.

[1285] And it's like whoever picked it.

[1286] me it's like okay you know they do speed do grappling or whatever and they put strength all the way up and they spent everything on strength and power and so it's just like my life just feel like a simulator i think you you have those things but i think it's also your mind like you you stay calm in there and you find ways to win and there's there's moments in fights where guys get overwhelmed by chaos but when I watch you fight, you find ways to win.

[1287] You're always seeing through all the bullshit looking for a way to win.

[1288] Yeah, like I said, I'm talking to myself the whole time I'm fighting.

[1289] I'm like, okay, you got to slow down right here.

[1290] We've got to keep going.

[1291] It's like, it could hit me a thousand times, and I'm like, I'm still the same.

[1292] Like, you can't really rock my spirit within.

[1293] Now, where does that come from?

[1294] Have you ever worked with a mental coach?

[1295] No. I think it was I had got a hold of some bad weed in high school, so maybe so.

[1296] No, I don't know where it comes from.

[1297] Just always been you?

[1298] Yeah.

[1299] Do you think it's just from getting through tough times in life?

[1300] I believe so as well to go through some pretty bad situations and coming out of them.

[1301] It's like, if I made it, you know, how some people like pray to God and say, man, if I ever get out of this situation or right here, then I ain't going to never do that anymore.

[1302] So I believe it's stuff like that.

[1303] I think also when you go through those bad situations, being inside the Octagon is not as bad as, you know, because it's like the fight's going to be over in three rounds and you'll go on with your life.

[1304] But for, you know, for some...

[1305] I compare, like, I seen my grandfather, like, battle with cancer and stuff like that.

[1306] And I knew how tough he was.

[1307] and like to see him go through all that pain and stuff and suffering that he did the last few months that he was here and it was like man if I could just go through just this whatever I'm going through right now in life if I could just go through this for 15 minutes 25 minutes that I should be all right but my grandfather had to deal with that pain every day all day the suffering that he went through and you know so I knew how tough he was and for him to be calling out for me to help him do certain things, like to help him go to the restroom or get some water, even for him to just sit up.

[1308] And I just knew it was just real tough on him.

[1309] Yeah.

[1310] Well, seeing something like that puts it all in perspective, right?

[1311] Yeah, for sure.

[1312] Now, after the Curtis Blades knockout, where does the UFC have you lined up?

[1313] Are they telling you, hey, we want you to, face the winner of this fight, or we want you to face John Jones.

[1314] I think what they're saying now is they want John to face the winner of Francis versus Stepe.

[1315] Yeah.

[1316] Do you know where that leaves you?

[1317] They didn't say anything, really.

[1318] Right now we're just trying to re -engotiate the contract and see where it goes for there.

[1319] So for me, I want to stay active.

[1320] I don't want to be waiting around to fight anyone.

[1321] you know so I'm not young like I used to so I'm not really want to wait around and fight for the title or wait around to fight on a certain opponent so I'm willing to fight anyone who's ready so do you think that it's better for you to stay active because you fight better when you're active when you fight more often no I don't think that's the case it's just that I know I have my window of time is closing and so to make money to make money yeah so I don't have that much time left so I just want to make money not just sit around and wait so who's left though Overeem's gone Junior's gone you knocked out Volkov you knocked out Curtis you know like who who makes sense in that heavyweight division to you right now other than John Steepay and Francis um Rosenstreet or what Rosen Strike?

[1322] Rosen Strike or I guess game guy who just beat Cyril Gond yeah who just beat Rosenstrike yeah whoever whoever I haven't fought yet in the top 10 whatever I'm glad they're not talking about that one guy anymore I'm bad with names I don't care who you are I'm terrible with names which guy the guy that beat his wife what's his name the black dude the black guy who's that Who Jane?

[1323] Greg Hardy Oh, Greg Hardy That's right I'm glad they not asked me To fight him anymore Did they really ask you to fight him?

[1324] Yeah, they were just starting Yeah, no They've been trying to get us To fight for a few years now Is he released from the UFC?

[1325] Did they release him after his fight?

[1326] Oh, I don't know Because he He got stopped by Marchine Tibora, right?

[1327] Yeah, that's who was Yeah Yeah That's a CBD drink It's good for you.

[1328] No THC.

[1329] Oh, okay.

[1330] That's got my face on it too.

[1331] Look at that.

[1332] That's me. How did it feel?

[1333] How did it feel to have your face on certain products?

[1334] Weird.

[1335] Not as weird as people tattooing my face on them.

[1336] It is weird.

[1337] Yeah.

[1338] Special one is a dude, huh?

[1339] Yeah, there's a lot of dudes.

[1340] Yeah, I know of one lady who got my face tattooed on her.

[1341] She's very pretty.

[1342] Where she put it at?

[1343] Right next to her, Buzzah.

[1344] How are your wife?

[1345] feel about that?

[1346] She hasn't know until now.

[1347] Okay, all right.

[1348] Look, I didn't ask the lady.

[1349] What kind of facial expression she put on there, though?

[1350] Um, just a regular, regular picture.

[1351] Just a regular picture in my face.

[1352] Yeah, I didn't ask her to.

[1353] I don't know her.

[1354] Yeah, you got to say that now.

[1355] I don't know her.

[1356] I don't know her.

[1357] I just, she's just a lady who put my face on her leg.

[1358] It's all good.

[1359] That'd be cool if a woman do that to me. I'm sure they have.

[1360] you probably just don't know about it there's probably one listening right now going now I know my next tattoo yeah yeah yeah yeah that's a new one yeah that's me with a UFO and some asteroids it's amazing how good tattoo artists are now like that looks like a fucking photograph it's wild like they got the pores of my face and the gray in my beard and everything it's nuts stone out of your mind stone out of my mind yeah there's been a lot of those yeah um how did I get How did we get to that?

[1361] Oh, the CBD drink.

[1362] So we're talking about the Greg Hardy fight.

[1363] Yeah, that doesn't make sense to me that they were trying to do that.

[1364] Unless they're trying to set Greg Hardy up with someone who's got a lot more experience than him.

[1365] It was really the...

[1366] Well, he fought Volkov, you know?

[1367] Yeah.

[1368] Greg Hardy fought Volkov and he fought well.

[1369] He fought Volkov after I fought Volkov.

[1370] Yeah, he fought well.

[1371] I thought I was impressed.

[1372] Like when you think of how little experience that guy has in MMA, that he went three hard rounds with Volkov.

[1373] I thought that was impressive.

[1374] Yeah.

[1375] Other than that, he seemed like an okay guy.

[1376] Yeah, I don't know.

[1377] I don't know.

[1378] Seems like an okay guy.

[1379] So there's no one that stands out as a potential opponent for you in the heavyweight division?

[1380] No. So whoever wants to fight, just let's go.

[1381] Holloch, boy.

[1382] Yeah.

[1383] So you just sit around and just wait for the phone call, right?

[1384] That's it.

[1385] So we would like to do some grappling.

[1386] tournaments with um chel sunning oh yeah oh you're going to do submission underground yeah we were supposed to do it in december but the ufc said no because they might have me fighting again in december and this was before i was supposed to fight curtis the first time and i'm like if my fight it's going to be in november already fighting curtis why i can't do a match right there in December, usually it don't, no matter how fast of a knockout out of our land.

[1387] And so we kind of knew something was up with Curtis, so we kind of figured that maybe he's sick or it's something the U .S .C. is hiding.

[1388] So sure enough that the day before the fight, he got tested positive for COVID.

[1389] Oh, okay.

[1390] That makes sense.

[1391] You never got COVID?

[1392] Not that I know of.

[1393] I don't know If I'm sneezing or coughing My feet itching I'm thinking it's COVID I don't know They're coming out with new symptoms every week So you never know what you got now So when you have a big knockout Like the Curtis Blades knockout Does the UFC Do they talk to you afterwards?

[1394] They say that was impressive This is what we want to do with you What do they say?

[1395] I got a FaceTime from Dana afterwards.

[1396] You know, he talked pretty good.

[1397] You know, I'm just leaving at that, yeah.

[1398] He talked pretty good?

[1399] Yeah, he talked pretty good of me, you know, during the FaceTime and says some other stuff too, but I'm going to leave it at that.

[1400] Okay, I understand.

[1401] You know, divulge any information?

[1402] Not yet.

[1403] They have to be happy with that.

[1404] I mean, that's literally one of the most spectacular.

[1405] I think there's two super impressive one -punch knockouts in the heavyweight division.

[1406] There's Francis knocking out, Alster.

[1407] and you knocking out Curtis.

[1408] I think those are the top two of all time.

[1409] I can't imagine a better knockout than that uppercut.

[1410] The noise that he was making afterwards, I don't know if you heard the noise.

[1411] I heard it, yeah.

[1412] That reminded me of a fight I had in high school.

[1413] It was at C .C. A guy was talking trash.

[1414] He kept bumping me. It was a rival school.

[1415] We just finished playing a scrimmish football game against.

[1416] And we was all sitting at the table eating pizza.

[1417] And their school came in, and the guy just kept elbowing me in back of my head, like, bumping me every time he walked by.

[1418] I thought he was messing with me at first, like, playing around because I knew him since elementary.

[1419] But he was serious, and he's like, what's up?

[1420] And he stood in the middle of the floor just cussing me out and stuff like that.

[1421] And soon as somebody cuts me out like that, I'm like, I already think it's something hostile.

[1422] thought.

[1423] And so I said, okay, what's up?

[1424] And just walked to them and just laid them out right there.

[1425] And you just started catching a seizure and making the same noise Curtis was making.

[1426] And it was like, damn, maybe about to die or something.

[1427] And so, well, we learned that if they turned their wrists inwards, that means they're about to die, that their body is shutting down.

[1428] But if they turn it like the way Curtis was, then you're good.

[1429] Really?

[1430] Mm -hmm.

[1431] So.

[1432] There's a certain way, like whenever a guy gets stiff, if the wrists turn outwards, that mean the body is shutting down.

[1433] And if the wrists, if they keep their arms like this, that means they're going to be okay.

[1434] Really?

[1435] Mm -hmm.

[1436] You sure that's not more of a he okay shit?

[1437] Well, I told you all he's okay.

[1438] So he had his thumb up and all that.

[1439] That was so fucked up.

[1440] That was so fucked up when you made that post.

[1441] He's okay, he's got the thumbs up And his wrist was good Yeah, look into that I've never heard of anything like that Yeah, Jamie Yeah, Jamie will find it So, I don't wonder why that is Like turning That means the body is like shutting down That it's, you can't survive from it really The other way it's like Survive them all your body So from that street fight That's when you learned that?

[1442] No, I just learned that a few hours ago from the coach Yeah, it's uncomfortable watching someone out cold snoring.

[1443] But whenever a guy talking trash, you know, it could happen to me. It was just no other better feeling.

[1444] I'm glad it happened.

[1445] I'm glad he's okay, though.

[1446] You seem so calm afterwards, though.

[1447] Yeah, but in my head, I'm like, damn, that was cool.

[1448] I'm serious.

[1449] That's what I was thinking.

[1450] Yeah.

[1451] As crazy as things are now, I mean, you had one shot at the head.

[1452] heavyweight title.

[1453] You lost to D .C. What was that fight like?

[1454] To me, I felt like I was in the best shape of my career, even though I came in with the knee problems, but it didn't really bother me until he started taking me down.

[1455] And I started hobbling on my knee.

[1456] Then I had the problem.

[1457] But other than that, I felt the shape, my conditioning and everything was on point.

[1458] And I really felt like that I was going to win that fight.

[1459] D .C. is a hell of a wrestler.

[1460] Yeah, yeah.

[1461] I mean, you look at that guy's career.

[1462] I mean, pretty fucking amazing.

[1463] The only guys he's lost to is Steepay and John Jones.

[1464] You know, won the Strike Force Heavyweight Grand Prix, and he's an undersized heavyweight.

[1465] Won the heavyweight title, defended it, knocked out Steepay, who's on paper the greatest of all time.

[1466] I mean, you look at Stepe's accomplishments?

[1467] Now, going from that, what did you get out of that?

[1468] Like, what did you learn that you would apply if you fought for the title again?

[1469] that I had to get surgery.

[1470] And we was already in talking to the USC trying to get surgery done before I took the JDS fight.

[1471] And so they had me going to the doctors and stuff like that.

[1472] They really get x -rays and MRIs and stuff done on my knee before the JDS fight.

[1473] And they knew that everything was messed up.

[1474] But we also wanted to still get that taste out of my mouth.

[1475] from losing to D .C. And they ended up still backfiring, fighting JDS.

[1476] So I ended up doing the surgery after the JDS fight.

[1477] So after that, then you feel like you're a different person?

[1478] Yes, after that.

[1479] Then I felt like I could really do more in the octagon and, like, move around and just have my conditioning way better.

[1480] Like, going through rounds, it was just completely different fighter then.

[1481] So how would you feel now if the UFC says you're going to get a shot at the title?

[1482] How much time do you think you need to prepare for that?

[1483] How much time I need to prepare for a title fight?

[1484] Maybe six months.

[1485] Six months?

[1486] No, no, no, no. But it just would be 25 minutes.

[1487] It all depends on who the opponent.

[1488] If the opponent is going to be a wrestler, I feel like I'm going to have to get my conditioning pretty good, at least eight weeks.

[1489] if I'm fighting Francis, I believe, like four or five weeks.

[1490] Four or five weeks for Francis?

[1491] Yes.

[1492] Is that a fight that you'd want to do again because of the first fight?

[1493] Yes, for sure.

[1494] Got to get that.

[1495] Have you had that choice?

[1496] If you had your choice, that would be the fight that you would get next?

[1497] Yeah.

[1498] Maybe, I mean, who knows what's going to happen with him and Steepay?

[1499] It's just, it's got to be a weird situation for you because John Jones is waiting in the wings for a shot of the title, and then there's a title fight in two weeks.

[1500] So at the minimum, you're waiting a few months.

[1501] Yeah, that's the only thing about it.

[1502] I don't want to wait.

[1503] Yeah.

[1504] So it's like Rosenstrike, Cyril Gone.

[1505] Those are the two guys.

[1506] And I guess it's got to be Stero Gone because Rosenstrike lost.

[1507] He lost the last fight.

[1508] Yeah.

[1509] It all depends.

[1510] I don't know how the USC want to build up the Seri -Gone guy, or if they want to throw him in there in the mix right.

[1511] way, so we'll see.

[1512] Did you watch that fight?

[1513] No. It was trying to seeer -gun.

[1514] It was not the most eventful fight.

[1515] It was, uh...

[1516] Yeah, I started getting tagged in the fights, only because they were saying that it still wasn't worse than Francis and Lewis fight.

[1517] I'm like, damn, okay, shit.

[1518] Yeah, it was, but it was five rounds, right?

[1519] That was a five -rounder.

[1520] Oh, that's bad.

[1521] It was...

[1522] Yeah, it wasn't the most eventful fight, but Ciro -W.

[1523] gone fought he's fought smart just moved around a lot stayed on the outside and you know clinch some and just avoided big shots he's a big dude though cyro gone yeah big big powerful heavyweight it's interesting to see at least some new talent in the division whether it's frozen strike or cyrogan you know at all the divisions the the heavyweight division it's like it's hard to get big powerful guys natural heavyweight yeah yeah yeah yeah Well, I guess the couple of heavy waste that was on my card the last fight, they look pretty decent.

[1524] Who's that?

[1525] I don't know their names.

[1526] I'm telling them.

[1527] I'm terrible with names.

[1528] They won one of the guy fought O 'Lowski.

[1529] Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes.

[1530] You know his name is here?

[1531] Yes, yes, yes, the English fellow.

[1532] He's very good.

[1533] Yeah, he needs more experience, but Jesus Christ, why can't I remember his name?

[1534] Don't help him out, Jamie.

[1535] the guy who just fought Andrea Olavski Tom Aspinol Is that I say his last name?

[1536] I haven't called He's very good Very fast Isn't that his name Andrei Olavski's last opponent What's that?

[1537] It's not coming up Usually when you type in their name It comes like I think it's pronounced Aspinol Is an English gentleman Yeah He's very good Very fast He's got a lot of potential But, you know, he's a young guy, and I think he's like 24 or 25 or something like that, and he's, you know, on his way up.

[1538] I don't think they'd have him fight you right away like that.

[1539] No, no. I was saying the future of the headway division is pretty good.

[1540] Yeah.

[1541] Do you see yourself being a champ one day?

[1542] Or is it too crazy to think about?

[1543] That's what I say.

[1544] It's crazy to even think about.

[1545] It'd be cool if I can, you know, but, you know, I wouldn't be bummed that I couldn't.

[1546] you know achieved that goal but if you could achieve that goal if i could it'd be cool yeah really couldn't tell me anything by then even my kids won't i wouldn't care if they tease me walk around the house with no shirt on just walk around that belt will cover your belly just put that big ass belt on yeah yeah it's um i mean you have a really interesting opportunity in this life you're you're at a rare position very few human beings ever get to where you're at Yeah, go through what I went through to get to where I'm at.

[1547] Yeah, I know.

[1548] It's crazy to think about.

[1549] So crazy.

[1550] Yeah.

[1551] No, I can only imagine.

[1552] And it's fun to watch you, man. You're one of my favorite guys to watch.

[1553] Because anything can happen at any moment.

[1554] Yeah, any given moment.

[1555] Like the Curtis Blades fight or the Volkov fight or a lot of your fights.

[1556] At any moment, you could drop a hammer on somebody and it's over.

[1557] Yeah.

[1558] the next fight whoever is going to be is I'm a I believe I'm being real great shape for the fight so it's going to be it all depends on the type of shape I'm in with each fight and I believe I want to be in better shape than I ever been and so when me going into a fight like thinking like that okay I'm in great shape I can go ahead and go for the finish in the first few minutes so you're looking at your career right now is like this is kind of the home stretch you know the last five, six years or so, whatever you got left?

[1559] For sure, yeah.

[1560] So you want to go out with a bang?

[1561] Out with a bang, yeah.

[1562] Do you have any idea what you want to do after you're done fighting?

[1563] A lot of people say I should do acting, comedy and stuff like that.

[1564] I don't think so.

[1565] I really just want to just sit back and collect checks and real estate and stuff like that.

[1566] Something more easier.

[1567] Yeah, but you're a funny dude.

[1568] No, no, my heart.

[1569] You don't think so?

[1570] No. You don't think it's going on?

[1571] No. Whenever I'm drunk, yeah.

[1572] I'm thinking I'm hilarious when I'm drunk.

[1573] No. So real estate investment.

[1574] Yes.

[1575] That's a good move.

[1576] That's what we're doing now.

[1577] That's a good thing.

[1578] Well, especially Texas.

[1579] Texas is hot right now.

[1580] Yeah.

[1581] It's a good place to buy houses.

[1582] Yeah, real cheap.

[1583] Except for Austin.

[1584] Austin probably is crazy.

[1585] Yeah.

[1586] It's crazy here.

[1587] Yeah.

[1588] all the tech people are moving here they're fucking everything up and then me I fucked it up too moving here I'm bringing it all the comedians yeah but uh seeing the prices around because I want we wanted to do something around the lake like like Austin or whatever but we've seen the prices of it and it's like damn not even an acre it's over a million dollars I'm like nah that's all right yeah it's it's pretty ridiculous here but it's because it's a great place to live not downtown though now the homeless people yeah they got to clean that up yeah i don't know what to do it's like the episode of south park like got any change change like everywhere you go in the grocery store they ask for change i'm like damn this is nothing compared to l .a if you go to l .a right now it's like a zombie movie it's nuts like there's people have camped out everywhere all throughout l .a you see tents on the streets it's very strange it's sad because it's like so many people that are out of houses that just this is their only option they don't know what to do COVID and the pandemic and the lockdowns just killed so many businesses and it's fucked I mean I don't know how to fix it but it's it's not a good sign when a society is that that yeah fucked up that you've got people camping on their sidewalks I don't want to be in charge of like having the handle something like that it's like I'm pretty sure that's going to be a tough job do you think you could run for us office?

[1589] They pay me good, I would.

[1590] Would you?

[1591] Yeah, I'd be like a Kanye West.

[1592] Mayor of Houston.

[1593] Yeah, it'd be like, okay, take some donations.

[1594] We need some sponsorships.

[1595] Go ahead and take everybody money.

[1596] They mean like, oh, I don't think we have a shot.

[1597] So when you think about the future, you just think about investments and things along those lines.

[1598] You have to, have to, because, you know, a lot of people doubted me still.

[1599] Like, a lot of family members really doubting me. Still?

[1600] Yeah.

[1601] How can they doubt you still?

[1602] You have the number one most heavyweight knockouts ever.

[1603] No, they not even weren't about the fighting side of things.

[1604] They talk about the financial side of stuff.

[1605] Listen, if you can do what you've already done, you can do anything.

[1606] Yeah.

[1607] You just have to dedicate yourself to it 100%.

[1608] For sure, yeah.

[1609] So my motivation, you know, that's all it is.

[1610] They motivate me. Does it motivate you to show people that they're wrong?

[1611] Oh, yeah, for sure.

[1612] especially, you know, I can't really say it, but yeah, my close family, my own blood, you know, I don't want to be picking them up because, you know, family reunion coming up.

[1613] They'll be talking to family union.

[1614] But yeah.

[1615] It's hard when there's people that you have to be close to, but yet you know.

[1616] It hurts, yeah.

[1617] Yeah, it's a bummer.

[1618] You know they're jealous and better.

[1619] But that's always going to be the case of someone's successful, especially someone's like you that's so much more successful than the average person.

[1620] And I try helping them out.

[1621] They burnt their own bridge and expect for me to send a yacht to help them.

[1622] Can't do it no more.

[1623] Well, listen, though, if you looked at it, you got to, you know, it's worth it.

[1624] All of it's worth it, you know, all the bullshit, all the dealing with the families, just to be Derek Lewis in 2021.

[1625] Come on.

[1626] Yeah, yeah.

[1627] If not, I would have been here in Austin, asking everybody who wants to me. if they had some change and stuff like that yeah no you've got a great life man you've done amazing shit and you got an amazing future too and uh I'm a fan I appreciate it I'm happy to have you in here man cool um Alyssa um my strength conditioning coach and she's a huge fan of you shout out to Alyssa yeah there's the lady in the videos the countdown videos it works you out yeah yeah okay I've seen her she's a huge fan so she appreciate that Oh, my pleasure.

[1628] She looks good, too.

[1629] She looks like she's a really good coach.

[1630] Oh, yeah, she's real good.

[1631] You know, it's shocking because she's a woman.

[1632] Yeah, no offense, all the women out there.

[1633] I know the council coach is real strong right now, but she's real good.

[1634] How did you find her?

[1635] She's, my coach used to train her in jiu -jitsu, and so he told me about, like, going over there.

[1636] And she's close to my house.

[1637] Were you hesitant at first?

[1638] Like, a woman?

[1639] Yeah, a woman.

[1640] Yeah, but she's a different type of woman.

[1641] So I was like, okay, cool, I give her a shot then.

[1642] It fits you, though.

[1643] Like when watching it, I'm like, it's kind of appropriate.

[1644] See a big bad motherfucker like you with a woman telling them what to do.

[1645] Beauty and a beast.

[1646] Yes.

[1647] Exactly.

[1648] Exactly.

[1649] Well, this is Derek.

[1650] Good luck with everything you do.

[1651] I appreciate you, and I'm a big fan.

[1652] I appreciate it.

[1653] Thanks for having me. And thanks for not letting me eat bull balls on the show.

[1654] Thank you, brother.

[1655] Thanks very much.

[1656] Bye, everybody.