JRE MMA Show #96 with Justin Gaethje & Trevor Wittman

[0] Boom!

[1] Trainer of the year, Trevor Whitman.

[2] You might be.

[3] You might get it.

[4] We'll see.

[5] I mean, I don't have a short list.

[6] I got not that many athletes.

[7] So that's where, you know, when I had won it two years ago, that was unique to me because I went in there like, man, I don't deserve this.

[8] I remember having 40 athletes.

[9] And the guys who have all these athletes that's putting in so much time, I had three athletes at the time.

[10] So that was cool.

[11] But again, I think performing and doing good as a coach is one thing, but also, putting in that full time when you're running a gym and having 40 athletes it's a non -stop 60 hours you're not doing anything with your children yeah that's that's uh but then when i seen the athletes talking on the screen and talking about you know rose talking about changing the world and just being good people then i was like oh yeah and i remember repeating to myself when i went through a tough time and lost all my athletes we kind of had to split and it all happened through when Nate mark court had that issue with the TRT and you know I had talked about the gray area you know if you're going to allow someone to do that you have that space like he instantly got shunned for it and he's got children he had a new kid on the way and I was just like man he got shunned we knew about it prior and I'm just like they said you could do it but they don't know how to test the levels and that situation turned into a bigger situation and then I ended up starting over with athletes and I remember repeating to myself you're the best coach in the world no one's better and I remember just repeating I had a new gym that was big 13 ,000 square feet I was paid it by myself that I just kept saying it over and over and over and then when I was sitting there that night I was looking at him and we won like seven awards at night which is the three of us and I was like man that's super cool that's when it kind of hit and I was like oh man there's something to be said for having a small stable of athletes versus like there's some of these super gyms where a lot of guys wind up complaining a lot of guys wind up saying they don't get the attention they deserve, they feel like they're staggering, or they're stagnant there.

[12] And it's just, it's not, I don't think it's the right way.

[13] It's so different.

[14] I'll tell you, it takes it back to my boxing days.

[15] I only had three or four athletes at the most, and I was running with them, and had them on my house, and I was feeding them, and they were at my house for camp.

[16] And it was one -on -one for everything.

[17] For the psyche, I mean, that's such an important part when it comes to fighting outside of Justin Gachie.

[18] Justin Gachie, I learn from this guy when it comes to mental.

[19] Like, he's just ingrained with, like, the strongest mental.

[20] And I love that part.

[21] Like, that's why I love working with Rose, because the mental part.

[22] But one -on -one is key.

[23] That is key to be unable to be with your athletes.

[24] And I'll tell you, it's like a hobby again.

[25] It ain't like a job.

[26] It's like passion, you know.

[27] And you never really want to do it for the money.

[28] You need to pay your bills.

[29] But the key is it's the athlete.

[30] It's about them.

[31] Justin, when you came to Trevor, like, how much striking experience did you have?

[32] Zero.

[33] Zero.

[34] No, I had five amateur fights.

[35] I had never, never been in a street fight, a one -on -one street fight, a couple of big brawls.

[36] Never thrown a punch, never been punched, and I got hit hard in my fifth fight, almost got knocked out.

[37] I was like, man, I need to find, if I'm going to do this, I need to find a coach.

[38] So you had five amateur MMA fights with zero striking training.

[39] Zero.

[40] I was just, I would just take, so right after wrestling was over, I would just be like, I want to fight.

[41] And then I was, you know, I was in the best shape of my life after wrestling season.

[42] Right.

[43] So, you know, I was a machine still, but I just had no skills.

[44] It was, go out there and wrestle, take them down, slams.

[45] I was, you know, I got my nickname the highlight before I ever knew how to strike.

[46] And that was from throwing, tossing people.

[47] Wow.

[48] I'm going to tell you when he came into my gym.

[49] So I met him at one of the fights, and I thought he was a Japanese guy because I was traveling to Tokyo a lot with Dwayne.

[50] And his name, Gachi, for some reason, just I pictured a Japanese guy.

[51] Yeah, kind of sounds like it could be Japanese.

[52] I was like, oh my God, it was spectacular.

[53] The way he was throwing people and putting them on their head, I was just, like, amazed.

[54] And I talked to him in the locker room.

[55] I was like, dude, I'm a huge fan.

[56] Like, your fighting style is so unique.

[57] And then he's like, I'd love to come to your gym.

[58] So he comes down, he comes in.

[59] He's like, I'm here to fight.

[60] And I was like, cool.

[61] And I was like, all right, well, we're sparring today.

[62] He's like, cool, yeah, I want to fight.

[63] And I'm like, all, cool, let's go back there.

[64] And I say, well, we're spar in a day.

[65] Let's get back here.

[66] And he's like, you have any gear?

[67] And he's like, cool, what gear I need?

[68] And I was like, I get some gloves, get some shingards.

[69] What year was this?

[70] This is...

[71] 2009?

[72] Yeah.

[73] Imagine that moment.

[74] If someone told you, 11 years from now, you're looking at one of the baddest motherfuckers on earth.

[75] I'd say it took me a week or two to know.

[76] Like, his mindset and the way he trained.

[77] Like, this first session that he had was one of the most unique.

[78] So I'd tell him about this equipment.

[79] I'm like, get your equipment on.

[80] I was like, get one of those headgears.

[81] And he goes, he jumps up at me. He's like, well, I got to wear a helmet.

[82] Like, no one else is wearing helmets And I'm like I was like, no one's wearing a helmet Why the fuck?

[83] I'm like, who is this guy?

[84] So he's barring with this guy named Vinnie Lopez And he gets hit with an uppercut while he's hitting Vinny with an overhand And he turns around and goes Ooh!

[85] And I'm like, oh shit, he's hurt You know?

[86] So I go over to him, I'm like, you good?

[87] And he's like, that felt so fucking good He's looking at his fist And they bow cracked each other so hard Like, K .O. shots.

[88] Like it was nice.

[89] And from that time, I was like, dude, you are super unique.

[90] I was like, I've never punched somebody like that before.

[91] I was like, I know that fucking hurt, dude.

[92] He's like, you know, uh, Vinny looks like a meat.

[93] He's all tied up, neck down, Mexican, you know, looks like he's straight out of prison.

[94] He's Puerto Rican, I'm going to say that for Vinny.

[95] He's Puerto Rican.

[96] He looks mean, dude, he's mean.

[97] He looks mean.

[98] And yeah, I was like, got to go with him.

[99] They're like, yep.

[100] I was like, all right.

[101] And then I hit him.

[102] I was like, oh, shit.

[103] And then it's, real quick part of him.

[104] get the one -on -one thing I was saying you've heard like five six guys uh as we've been going through these fights say how they appreciate the one -on -one time and you know that's going back to what that was uh I don't want to miss that earlier when you were talking about that that was that's that's the biggest thing for me he's at every single one of my training sessions talking to me like he was talking to me in my fight for sparring when he needs to call throw the towel in or call the fight he knows he watches me every day and this one -on -one thing is what these guys our understanding is so important when it comes to fighting at the high level.

[105] It's having that unique relationship with a trainer.

[106] Having a trainer where you and the trainer are tight like that, like DJ had it with Matt Hume.

[107] You know, there's a lot of guys who have that kind of one -on GSP had it with Farras Ahavi.

[108] That relationship is so critical.

[109] It's so, it's so, because you're going in there together.

[110] Like, you're helping each other.

[111] You understand, you know his whole process.

[112] From beginning, literally with him, you know his entire fighting process from the beginning the first time he was there like that that's invaluable man. These guys that are jumping into these super camps and the person is just sort of giving you random general motivation in between the corner telling you to keep your hands up, work the jab.

[113] You know, that's not enough.

[114] It's not it's not optimal.

[115] I really feel like the optimal relationship is a trainer that really knows the athlete well and is with them in every day.

[116] in every training session.

[117] 100%.

[118] I think there's a huge issue.

[119] First off, big training camps are key just because the partners.

[120] I mean, you will get champion level fighters out of there because you're seeing all different styles.

[121] You're seeing wrestlers, grapplers, salpaws, all different sizes.

[122] So it's great for that.

[123] And you adapt to different athletes.

[124] The hard part with that is most of the guys train Jiu -Jitsu somewhere else.

[125] They go somewhere else for their conditioning.

[126] They go to all these different places.

[127] And all the coaches are, they mean well.

[128] They're all like, oh, man, you're six weeks out.

[129] We've got to train hard, and you're going from one hard session to the next hard session to the next hard session.

[130] And when you're with them all the time, I pull back a lot on him.

[131] And that's the key to peeking.

[132] Like a lot of times people just push hard, push hard, push hard.

[133] And that's another huge issue in the sport is over training.

[134] Yeah, guys get flat.

[135] I mean, it's, again, that injuries in the sport are common all the time.

[136] And most injuries are happening in training.

[137] When you pull back, are you doing it based on just your general feeling of, how he looks and how he's performing, what he's saying, or are you using heart rate variability, using a like a whoop strap or a heart rate monitor or anything?

[138] No, a lot of those are tech...

[139] When it comes to those types of things, my intuition has always played best for me. And knowing each athlete, each athlete is different.

[140] Some athletes need to fight at a different heart rate than another.

[141] They perform better at a steady high heart rate.

[142] Some need to spike, like in the beginning, when he loved to fight, he loved to see people drowned and their eyes open.

[143] So we trained like that.

[144] He wanted to be the most exciting fighter.

[145] So I'm there to make sure I'm hitting his goals, not my goals.

[146] Like, I'm there for the athlete.

[147] I train every athlete differently.

[148] And it's all about purpose.

[149] Like, what's your purpose for fighting?

[150] What do you want to be?

[151] And his has changed in the last four fights, four fights ago.

[152] He actually said he wanted to be a world champion.

[153] And before that, I want to be the most exciting fighter in the world.

[154] And it was about going out there causing those wars.

[155] And in the gym, he was sharp and could box and could really do some athletic stuff but he loved to see people drowned it's just amazing how technical your striking is considering the fact that you've really been only doing it for 11 years i mean you're one of the best if not the best striker in a 155 pound division that's a fact and it's that clean sharpness of you like your fucking left hook man it's one of the best i've ever seen it's so fast and so there's no fat in there he's been telling me uh one day you know your left hook's gonna be your best punch and I was like what are you talking about too and yeah man it's um I'm just I played all sports you know growing up I was a I was a pitcher I was a quarterback uh punter kicker you think there's a benefit in that and that you just really I mean throwing a right hand throwing a right hand just throwing a baseball um you know my kick does not necessarily just kicking them as hard as I can now it's a placement timing is the most important thing there but those mechanics that I developed through those playing other sports I think has helped me so much um just my athletic ability And then once I found, you know, this man is a genius.

[156] I can't tell you how the process that he started 10 years ago.

[157] You know, I had no idea.

[158] I still don't know what the heck we're doing.

[159] I'm telling you, it's just how high you want me to jump.

[160] That's all, you know, every day I step in there, that's what I'm asking him.

[161] And he is an artist, you know, his mind, you know, I can't see, even when we're talking about our, you know, our onyx equipment, he's telling me these things.

[162] And I'm like, you know, I can't put it into my head.

[163] can't see it but I know and then once it's the finished product's like holy crap same thing when I fight you know every time after I fight I'm like holy shit I can't believe you know we've been working on this for 10 years but more specifically the the specific details that I that I executed in that fight last fight you know we had short time and there was really certain things that we he instilled that I had no idea he was instilling and you know just came came to fruition on that night and it was it was spectacular to watch it's spectacular because I go back and watch after fight every time, every fight.

[164] Trevor, how important is it for a guy to be a coachable athlete, too?

[165] That's one of the things you and Luke, Luke Cordillo, both said after the fight that he's the most coachable athlete.

[166] That's key.

[167] The whole thing is I'm there to assist.

[168] And, you know, I put myself as a co -pilot.

[169] Like, I'm there to draw the map, and you've got to trust me around these corners.

[170] Like, you're the driver.

[171] You're the one that knows, but you have to trust me. And to be able to be coachable, I mean, if not, I'm just a water boy.

[172] you know and that's why i'm only coaching a few now too is we got to we we got to be in this together and you got to trust me and i get i got to be there for you and if you trust me then every decision that i make for you you've got to trust whether it's hey don't take this fight i mean with the fight the last fight i was like no you're not taking a fight and he's like come on coach what fight is this is the tony fight when he first got offered for the first time and i was like no we're at spar session and he's like why not and i'm like because you said you'd never take a short notice fight.

[173] I'm like, no. It was like 11 days, right?

[174] Yeah, but we've been traded hard, like all, then he hit me with all these points.

[175] And he's like, dude, with the coronavirus going on, who cares?

[176] He's like, let me get in there.

[177] I need to fight someone right now.

[178] I need to release all this.

[179] And his little basic points, I looked at him, I said, all right, is it going to do it again?

[180] Are you going to stick to your goal on the next one?

[181] Because I might let you off on this one.

[182] And he said, I will never take a short notice fight.

[183] That's why the second time it was offered, he was even more pissed about it and I was just like he's like the only one was seven days out like I got nothing to lose you know I'll go out of my shield so this is the let's be clear for everybody the first time was the the Lamore California one the Tai Chi Pows 18th yep April 18th and that was how many days out so I got the call I think it was 10 or something like that no I think it was like 15 days before that fight I got the call one night the next day I went you know I called him he said no that night went to sparring the next day and then that's when I talked you know not talked him into it but I I did like seven hard rounds felt great you know I had been sparring so much and so he was like I was like let's do it you know I talked him into it and then so we go hard and then I think it was when did they cancel I think it was 10 days before the fight they canceled it and that's when you know went out the window and then they called me did you fall right out of camp or did you I was down to 168 they called me me at like 3 p .m. And that night I went to sleep at like 182.

[184] I went I went hard.

[185] I, you know, just terrible choices.

[186] I was like, what you eat?

[187] What'd you go to?

[188] I went straight to it's called McGill's World of Ice Cream.

[189] I got you know, double scoop with the waffle cone and then we ate pizza hut for breakfast the next morning.

[190] We had pancakes and I had my cousin, Basquito there with me. He was helping me with my cooking and helping me around the house during that those hard, you know, 20 days.

[191] and yeah, we went hard.

[192] And then three days later, they called me, and they're like, you know, it's May 9th.

[193] And I was like, fuck that.

[194] I was like, I don't take short notice fights.

[195] I was like, this last one was, you know, 10 days.

[196] I get the benefit of the doubt of it being a late, late notice fight.

[197] And now they want me to do May 9th.

[198] You know, that goes out the window that, you know, me, now it's not really a late replacement fight.

[199] It is, but it is for me. It is in general.

[200] but, you know, the general public would think, you know, this is, he got a full camp and this is a real fight, blah, blah, blah.

[201] So I was like, no, like, I'm not doing it.

[202] So let me get this straight.

[203] So you're not doing it because you fell out of camp and started eating again?

[204] Because, because, so the 20 -day notice was, like, something very special.

[205] Like, that was something that I definitely could have performed and I would have performed.

[206] And I think the April 18th fight.

[207] This is the April 18th fight.

[208] This is the April 18th fight.

[209] I think I would have performed and I think I would have won.

[210] I wouldn't have been as confidence.

[211] I was terrified.

[212] When they called me that night, I was terrified.

[213] I couldn't sleep.

[214] The next day I woke up terrified because I knew.

[215] I knew that this is not what I do.

[216] This is not how I do it.

[217] Because you weren't fully prepared.

[218] Because there's no way to fully prepare in that amount of time.

[219] Right.

[220] My mind.

[221] My mind.

[222] What I go in there and do, I have to get my mind in a very, very special place.

[223] How much of it is that and how much of it is physical?

[224] You know, I don't know.

[225] I don't have that question.

[226] I don't answer that.

[227] I can't answer that question for you.

[228] I don't process that.

[229] That's not something I ever processed.

[230] What I'm saying in this way, though, is how physically prepared were you?

[231] Were you in training?

[232] Yeah.

[233] So I was just, I was the main training partner for Neomagney, Austin Hubbard, when they fought in Vegas.

[234] Oh, okay.

[235] I was in shape.

[236] I was in shape.

[237] So the second fight, let me jump in here.

[238] The second fight, I thought, was a way better, way better a place to be from a conditiony standpoint because he was already in shape.

[239] prior to the first one.

[240] We just went two weeks so hard.

[241] Like, we were trying to get his body in shape quick, and that's a hard thing to do.

[242] Then he went and gained 12 pounds, which we were four weeks out of that point, which is perfect because the fourth week out, I always pull back on and let their body recover because you're third and your second week are our peak weeks.

[243] Those are the weeks that we need to really hit prime and really push hard.

[244] And it was perfect fit.

[245] I'm like, dude, we take this time off.

[246] You're going up and eat, and now you're ready to go again.

[247] you got that little fire back in your body because you're able to eat whatever you want and I thought it was perfect timing from how I train my athletes from a conditioning standpoint and I actually had to talk him into that one I was like this is even better like this is perfect for you for a five round So for your perspective is like he had a chance to recover eat all that food, take a little break and that's good because your body gets to charge back up again and then grind back down.

[248] Because six and five on week six and week five are hard weeks They're like a start to those last two weeks of peaking.

[249] Because our fight week, we slow down a little bit, and we just turn the engine on, turn it off.

[250] So we go six and five on the weeks are really hard.

[251] Then we pull back on week four.

[252] We'll take like three days that are really light and then push it a little bit.

[253] And then week three and week two are the ones that I'm trying to get him to peak, get hit five rounds.

[254] We're not doing six rounds.

[255] We're not doing seven.

[256] We're making sure that we can go five minutes hard for every round.

[257] Be sharp, not get lazy.

[258] And I thought it fit perfect to him.

[259] So when you're saying week two, you mean two weeks out?

[260] Two weeks out, yep, right before we leave for the fight.

[261] What do you prefer, like, if you had a blueprint, like they came to you, Trevor, how much time do you want before a fight?

[262] Like, we'll schedule it around your time.

[263] If you're in decent shape, eight weeks.

[264] If you're out of shape, 12 weeks.

[265] 12 weeks, because you take three or four.

[266] If you don't lift weights for a little bit and then you come back and lift weights and you ain't lift for six months or three months, you're going to get real sore.

[267] Yeah.

[268] So you've got to have that break -in process where your body, because your body's going to be shutting down.

[269] And you start to, oh, so you have to get through that process.

[270] It's just the pre -training.

[271] And then you start to hit it hard because you can't just go and hit it hard.

[272] If you're 12 weeks out, you just can't.

[273] It breaks you down.

[274] Yeah, you're going to get hurt.

[275] Yeah.

[276] So why did you feel that that was not a good fight, the main 9th fight?

[277] So I had no idea.

[278] My body would respond as well as it didn't.

[279] I didn't think I could be ready to 100 % without, I've always done 12 weeks.

[280] That's all I've known.

[281] So you felt like the first decision was just like, Like a split decision is the middle of COVID -19.

[282] Fuck it, I'm going to do it anyway.

[283] And then when they came to you the second time, you're like, no, no, no, no, I want a real.

[284] Yeah, so why can't we just push it to May 26th?

[285] Right.

[286] You know, give me three extra weeks.

[287] Then I get my whole, then I get my whole eight to ten weeks.

[288] Right.

[289] And that's all I asked for.

[290] So that was my mindset.

[291] When they called me, because I knew they were going to call me the day before I was like, watch, they're going to fucking call me. And they don't want me to fight May 9th or something like that.

[292] And I knew it.

[293] And then my manager called me. He's like, May 9th, let's go.

[294] I was like, fuck that.

[295] I was like, no. He was so bad.

[296] No, I was like, fuck that.

[297] I was like, I ain't no fucking puppet.

[298] I'm not going to dance when they want me to dance.

[299] I was like, I said I don't take late replacement fights.

[300] This is now a late replacement.

[301] You know, this is different circumstances.

[302] These aren't the circumstances.

[303] And even he was like flabbergasted.

[304] He's like, what are you talking about?

[305] It's the same thing.

[306] I'm like, no, it's not the same thing.

[307] Like, to me it's not.

[308] You know, like, because, I don't know.

[309] Confidence is everything.

[310] I know I can perform, you know.

[311] But you wanted everything to be done right.

[312] It was the biggest fight in my life.

[313] Of course.

[314] But ultimately, and then when I thought about it, I was like, if it's anybody's fault, it's my fault, you know.

[315] Because I knew this, you know, I knew I was going to fight again.

[316] And if I'm not, if I wasn't, I was training hard, but I wasn't training with the mindset, you know, that I need to have old school wrestling mentality.

[317] You know, you have to see the prize.

[318] You know, every single morning you wake up, you know, the guy, the guy that you're going to fight.

[319] You know, that wasn't there.

[320] That wasn't there when I woke up in the morning.

[321] So I didn't feel like I was preparing in the proper way.

[322] For something that was at this level.

[323] So you don't just need 10 weeks for your body.

[324] You want it for your mind as well.

[325] That's the most, yeah, I mean, that's the most important part to me. I've been training since I was four.

[326] My body is, my body is a machine.

[327] You know, I do, I didn't know I can get ready in that amount of time.

[328] That's what it comes down to.

[329] I had no idea because I've never tried it.

[330] But I was in better, I had done better between fights.

[331] since I fought cowboy than I had ever done between fights in the fact that I was staying in shape, running.

[332] You know, I had a treadmill at my house.

[333] I was still sparring.

[334] I never, you know, I took like two months off sparring, three months off sparring.

[335] But then I was sparring for three, four months before I got that call, you know, to get in there and fight.

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

[337] It was kind of crazy.

[338] Like, you would throw leg kicks while you were working the body, like, in close.

[339] Like, even, you know, everybody's got their own sort of way of moving.

[340] Like, everybody's body mechanics are different.

[341] But you were throwing these, like, crazy, in -close leg kicks.

[342] Like, you'd be, like, on top of people, and you were chopping at their legs.

[343] When did you make this shift?

[344] Because you don't take anybody down now, which is kind of nuts.

[345] If you really think about the fact that you were an All -American wrestler and your bases in wrestling, you have not had a single fucking takedown attempt in the UFC.

[346] No, but I got taken down first for two seconds with Michael Johnson rocked me. I don't know how they count takedowns in this sport, but it's certainly not like wrestling.

[347] Not a legit takedown.

[348] Eddie and Dustin tried to take me down, but I scrambled right out of that.

[349] I was a great defensive wrestler I wrestled Jordan Burroughs twice you know the first time I stopped his double leg for two and a half periods and then you know he pretty much collapsed my sternum and I couldn't take a breath for three months after that but I mean then it then it then I gave in you know then it broke my body broke and I couldn't stop it no more the second time I wrestled him I stopped every single you know double a he had nobody stops that double leg um fuck was I going with that I don't know god damn it That's you a bad motherfucker.

[350] Well, we're talking about your shift between being a wrestler.

[351] The hidden thing.

[352] Yeah, so I was a defensive wrestler.

[353] I was never a great offensive wrestler.

[354] It was so hard to take me down.

[355] When I was All -American, I started in the Pigtail round, and I beat four or three, number eight seed, number six seed, and I think I beat the number 10 seat or something.

[356] But I gave up the first take down in every single one of those matches, and then they broke because of my defensive pressure.

[357] You know, I was constantly hanging on them.

[358] And my leg kicks, wrestlers, they like to separate wrestling from fighting.

[359] I'm just doing this.

[360] I'm just doing it both in the same thing.

[361] In the clinch, the clinch is where I'm the most dangerous.

[362] With those kicks that you're talking about, that's, if your hands are on, you can feel where their weight is shifting, which way they're moving, which way they want to move.

[363] And it's just constantly getting to put all their pressure on a foot and fire a kick from that range.

[364] And that's all wrestling.

[365] I'm using my wrestling so much when I'm fighting.

[366] Like it's when I hear people say that And it's so hard to see that Even with the untrained die or the train die It'd be hard to see But I'm wrestling so much in there Right, I understand that But that's interesting that you're wrestling Allows you to do that from the clinch Because you have a better understanding About where they're putting their weight Because you're manipulating them around And then when they have the weight on that leg You're chopping that.

[367] Can't check If your weight's on your, you cannot pick your leg up to check So bummed out I didn't call the Michael Johnson fight Because I was a big fan of yours And when you were coming to the UFC I was like oh shit I was like this is gonna be fun and then when I found out you were doing that Michael Johnson fight it was like fuck I'm like I can't call that one I'm not gonna be doing that one and then I got the chance to watch it and I believe it was the night before we had a car yep so I watched it in my hotel room on on my laptop and I was like god damn that was a few fights and I'm like fuck I wish I called that fight because that fight was madness fuck it was just mad at the quarter I've had so much fun with him in the quarter Like, it's, I've giggled a few times, and right before he got stopped by Poir, he said something to me and the corn just made me crack up.

[368] He sits down and he's like, he don't even hit hard.

[369] And I just like, I just look at him and I'm just like, dude, you just have so much fun in there.

[370] And he really enjoys the fight.

[371] Like, he enjoys the process.

[372] And, you know, I've worked with a lot of athletes.

[373] And when they, when most people say it, they don't mean that at all.

[374] Right.

[375] They're, like, they're psyching themselves up.

[376] And he is so, you know.

[377] Nick, like, he loves to be in there.

[378] When it's fight night, like, he'll say, he said it to me twice, and I was like, oh, really?

[379] Because he's like, I'm fucking nervous.

[380] And I'm like, really?

[381] And he's like, because I'm not nervous at all.

[382] And I'm just like, I get that laugh.

[383] I don't understand why I can't do anything.

[384] I don't understand.

[385] He's like, it's fucking weird.

[386] He goes, I just lost my last two fights.

[387] That's when he was fighting, uh, Vic.

[388] And he's like, I'm so nervous because I'm not nervous.

[389] I should be.

[390] I was like, this is big, dude.

[391] I need to get, I was like, I need to be on point.

[392] I was like, I don't understand why I'm not feeling anything.

[393] Yeah, that wasn't, the Vick fight was very interesting because that was one of the first times we got to see real animosity from you, too.

[394] You were genuinely pissed off at him.

[395] I could tell he was talking a lot of shit about how, you know, you're a human punching bag, and then he was going to knock you out, and you could see, like, you were genuinely angry at him.

[396] I was backed into a corner.

[397] Yeah.

[398] I'm human, man. I had to fight back.

[399] So, yeah, it was defending myself mostly, but I was in such a tough spot coming off too long.

[400] I knew what I had.

[401] I knew I had the skills, you know, I knew, and it was just...

[402] Well, both of those fights were very close fights, too.

[403] You both...

[404] Very similar.

[405] And both...

[406] Eddie Alvarez won fight of the...

[407] So Michael Johnson, Eddie Alvarez, Dustin Poyer, my first three fights in the UFC, 2017 -2018, they were voted top three out of five.

[408] That's out of 958 fights.

[409] That's what I did, and I only got paid half for those two fights.

[410] That's what hurt me the most.

[411] Well, they were both real similar, too, in the fact that you almost stopped both those guys with leg kicks.

[412] And they were similar in the fact to how I lost.

[413] I became complacent.

[414] I was having too much fun.

[415] I forgot that I was fighting the best of the best.

[416] And I love it too much, you know, and not having the crowd there.

[417] I think it helped me so much.

[418] And I think it's going to care, whether there's crowd or no crowd in the future, I think it's going to benefit me so much.

[419] Because I was able to understand that the crowd does.

[420] influence my emotions and my only rule is never allow someone or something to affect or control your emotions and I wasn't aware that the crowd was having that effect on my emotions in the fact that I would have engaged more I would have taken more chances in that fight with Tony and I didn't do that because I think I was able to be in control of my emotions for the whole time for every second That's interesting because that fight was so wild If there was a crowd there for that fight Holy shit Yeah, I would have engaged.

[421] It would have been a crazy crowd.

[422] I mean, if that was Team Mobile Arena, holy shit.

[423] I mean, that would have been madness.

[424] That fight was so crazy.

[425] It would have been crazy, but it was super unique to be able to be a part of something like that with no crowd.

[426] So it was like, it was super cool.

[427] Like, he's going on and saying that he would have.

[428] I don't know if he would have, because if you look at the three fights prior to that, there's a huge difference in your range and your balanced shoulders.

[429] Like he's outrange, you outrange Vic.

[430] you still pressure, but he's got balanced shoulders now.

[431] He used to be front heavy, and that was a pressure fighter.

[432] He was, weight was on the front leg, and he was pointed with the head.

[433] Now he's level shoulder where his range is just crazy.

[434] Like with Tony, Tony was like he couldn't find you with your range and your speed and your balance.

[435] Which is Tony's strength.

[436] Totally.

[437] And Tony will push you back, hit you with combos all the way back to the cage.

[438] Ours was dominate the center of the cage and use your footwork.

[439] Like, keep them out balance.

[440] And that's what he's done well in his last four fight.

[441] and we shifted game plans completely when I had the conversation with him because he was like, because after the first loss, it wasn't much change that he wanted.

[442] He still wanted to fight that way.

[443] After the second one, he's like, I need to change something.

[444] I'm like, what's your purpose?

[445] You were the most exciting fighter, and what do you want to be?

[446] And he's like, I want to be the champion.

[447] I was like, then you have to be intelligent.

[448] You have to be intelligent.

[449] To be the best fighter in a world, you've got to be the best defensive fighter.

[450] Don't change who you are, naturally, but you have to understand defense.

[451] The defense starts with position.

[452] Always starts with position.

[453] You have to know position.

[454] You have to win every position.

[455] Well, you came into a real crossroads, right?

[456] Because you were this incredibly exciting contender.

[457] You come into the UFC, giant prospect.

[458] Everybody's excited.

[459] You have this fucking chaotic war that reaffirms everybody's hopes and aspirations.

[460] Like, this is what we're hoping.

[461] Justin Gage is going to come to the UFC.

[462] Holy shit, there's going to be wild, man. This motherfucker doesn't care.

[463] He throws down.

[464] You throw down with Michael Johnson, like, ah.

[465] And then you have those two losses in a row, and people think, okay, is he in over his head?

[466] is that does that style only work on the lower level guys and you get to championship caliber guys like but you know Dustin's never held the title but he's a championship caliber guy and so is Eddie Alvarez he's a championship caliber guy he won the title so you're looking at those two guys like maybe when you get to that point maybe maybe he's not ready for this or maybe he doesn't have the style so then you make this adjustment so tell me what that was like you make you sit back you guys have this conversation you say you want to be a world champion and then what changed in your head?

[467] So he can tell it so much better than me because for me it's, I can't explain it because it's never been anything.

[468] It's just do what I'm told to do when I show up and work my heart.

[469] It's like that's all it is every day for me. I didn't make a decision.

[470] I think it was a choice, obviously.

[471] But you said you wanted to be a champion now.

[472] Instead of being the most exciting fighter, you wanted to be a champion.

[473] Yes.

[474] What was that shift?

[475] So, I mean, so I always wanted to be a champion.

[476] I thought I could be a champion.

[477] I was undefeated.

[478] Right.

[479] I thought it could be a champion with the style that I was fighting because I was not losing.

[480] I had seven amateur fights, 18 professional fights, 25 fights in a row.

[481] I had no idea that, did I needed to change, that I was just going in there and I was breaking people.

[482] I was like, I can't not break anybody.

[483] I'm going to go in there and break everybody because everybody's breaking, you know, for some reason.

[484] and then when I lost to Eddie and Dustin or Eddie and yeah Eddie and Dustin it was this I watched them many times and I understood that it was the same mistake you know you can't get hit I was winning I thought I was winning those fights judges scorecards maybe don't resemble that but I thought I was winning those fights the night after I fought Dustin Poyer I went out and took 200 pictures with all my fans at the bar he was in the hospital probably or guarantee he wasn't on his his feet because he didn't walk for a month.

[485] So I just understood that no matter how bad you cause damage, if they don't go down and they land that shot, then, you know, it all goes away.

[486] And I got paid half of my money.

[487] I didn't understand.

[488] I had never got paid half of my money.

[489] Ever.

[490] You didn't did you know?

[491] Did you know?

[492] I knew.

[493] I knew, but I never thought about that shit.

[494] I don't like that.

[495] I don't like that.

[496] For people like me, I wouldn't argue for the whole roster.

[497] and there's very few like me but I'm going to go to war for myself when it comes to that you're going to fight your hardest no matter what you're saying and you don't need that bonus the win bonus to motivate me to win to save my own life like what the hell do I need that for?

[498] I don't like it I don't like it for the athlete and I think there's oftentimes where you know you would say oh it forces guys to try to keep it out of the hands of the judges well that's crazy you can't you can't decide that I'm going to keep it that that one statement don't put it, leave it in the hands of the judges.

[499] That one statement drives me fucking crazy.

[500] Because that's not how to fight.

[501] That drives me the, that's the one statement that drives me the most crazy.

[502] My mom said it once, like, probably four years.

[503] I was like, mom, don't you ever say that again?

[504] I was like, don't you ever say it?

[505] And I told her why.

[506] I was like, these guys are trying their hardest.

[507] You think they're in their mind.

[508] Like, oh, let's leave it to the judges.

[509] Let's leave it to the judges.

[510] Like, no, they're just fighting for their life.

[511] Right, exactly.

[512] You know, and, you know, chance didn't fall in their favor when it comes to a knockout, whatever you want to, however you want to put it.

[513] Yeah, I mean, take away all the judge.

[514] criticisms that we all have for judging and just the idea that somehow or another you can make this decision to go knock this guy out who's a world -class fighter who's trying to knock you out that's a great way to get knocked out and when you're when you're fighting you have to fight correctly and I think me watching as an observer what what shifted with you is you just seem to be more calculated in your aggression there all the aggression is still there yeah the vik fight just spots the barboza fight dude you got right on top of that motherfucker and he's one of the scariest strikers in the division you got right on top of him that was a super impressive knockout because you you just met you figure the distance out perfectly but you put a tremendous amount of pressure on him but your distance was excellent like to avoid you were avoiding but yet you were still there when you wanted to hit him yeah it's crazy um just but yeah thinking um going in there with you know to be methodical i'd never had a method there was never there was there was there was my only method was create car crashes, create a car crash.

[515] Be the, you know, physics, both have the same weight, you know, same force.

[516] If I can create more force and be there first, then I'm going to win this car crash.

[517] That's usually how it works.

[518] And the issue was when you're fighting in a high heart rate, you get your lazy spots where you start to get on your heels a little bit.

[519] And you lose your accuracy, you lose your sharpness, you lose your, your, your power, you're maxed out and your heart rate.

[520] And that's why his finish is, I feel like you're way sharper now.

[521] And you still fight, like, you're always going to fight the way you do.

[522] It's in you.

[523] You love the fight.

[524] But in spots is key.

[525] And you're still walking them down.

[526] You're still pressuring them.

[527] You're still being able to do those things.

[528] We didn't change much outside of now he fights in spots.

[529] It's amazing adjustment.

[530] What did I say specifically?

[531] Like, I never specifically went to you and was like, no, you said you wanted to be a champion.

[532] And I was like, we got to get a lot more technical.

[533] That's all I ever said.

[534] It was other than that.

[535] And we talked about.

[536] spots.

[537] We said you've got to fight more in spots.

[538] So it was really, also, too, when I'm watching them spar, I watch every session, and I tell them, you know, you're going too hard and you need to pull back.

[539] This one go out and you're only able to use your lead hand.

[540] So now you can't throw power.

[541] You can only control someone.

[542] And he'll still walk people down, but it takes away him throwing so many combinations or hucking four at a time, you know, and he's able to create these patterns that's better.

[543] You're controlling range.

[544] You're controlling position and then waiting for mistakes.

[545] The best fighters in the world can always match a good match.

[546] But it's the first one that makes a mistake is the one who loses.

[547] That's where, and momentum is so important in sports.

[548] Momentum is everything.

[549] That snowball.

[550] Once it starts to build, it's so hard to recover and turn that around in high competition.

[551] It's a mental thing.

[552] But when you can control things and control and control and then find one mistake and then you build on that mistake, you're like a wave.

[553] You slowly get a little bigger and you slowly get a little bigger.

[554] And now you start to capitalize because once they make.

[555] make a mistake.

[556] That pattern is starting to create.

[557] And then once you've got someone make a mistake after a mistake after mistake, that's when you crumble on him.

[558] And I feel like that's what he's done really well.

[559] The three fights prior to that, he was just able to capitalize on the big mistake.

[560] But credit to Tony, Tony is one of the most gangster dudes in this sport.

[561] And for him to go through the damage that he did, to continue to walk forward is something unique.

[562] Incredible.

[563] It is one of the coolest things to experience as a coach to sit there and watch his mental not change.

[564] Even when he, because I was calling for the refs to stop the fight at about halfway through the fifth round.

[565] And when he got hit with that last jab and shook his head, I don't think it was a point like, oh, I don't want to go on no more.

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

[567] Keep going because he's still kicking and punch it.

[568] Even with the big old gash on his his shin from the check, he was still kicking.

[569] He never flinched.

[570] He never flinched.

[571] getting cracked and he'd get knocked backwards and then he would go from backwards right back to forward is it was it was super unique to watch but again it was it was great to see someone who can listen and understand uh that if you stay in control yourself that's the key to everything in this world if you listen to anything else on the outside and you start to adapt to other things you're never going to live the way you want to live and to be a fighter you have to be in control yourself all the time i always say the best fighter are the best actors, the ones that can trick their self, fake it till you make it till you get to the championship.

[572] And you have to live that way.

[573] You have to obsess, never being broken.

[574] And even if you break, accept it and then on to the next.

[575] Don't deal with it.

[576] Oh, man, I had such a bad day.

[577] This is one of my biggest pet peeves that I hate is hearing someone oh man, today was a shitty day and I was like, yeah, there's going to be many more shitty days, but accept it.

[578] Yeah.

[579] You know, love it.

[580] Does you zero good to sit around and talk about shitty days?

[581] Totally.

[582] I have fighters say, man, you're always saying just positive shit you're always just like it I'm like hell yeah you gotta love every part of it like yeah I'm gonna say beautiful at any point when I see you get hurt to the body of a crack up he got kicked in the cup he had a big old cup the last fight he got kicked in the cup he turned sideways did the move we were talking about we got moonwalk where we will we turn lateral you don't get the squareness from the front kick he did it perfect and he stepped back and he did his cup and I'm like how did you get hit your cup he had a george se pierre cup out one of the what the cut the cut too big for the tights the tait jett and i laughed and i was like too he and chewed the cup But I was just out of the fun.

[583] You know, it's, what kind of cup do you use?

[584] He forgot his cup.

[585] He forgot his cup and his mouthpiece for this last night.

[586] Yeah, so the UFC always has one and I just grab one for them.

[587] What?

[588] The UFC has a cup just laying around?

[589] No, no, it's, they're new cups.

[590] They got, I'm not the only one that forgets their cup.

[591] Oh, okay.

[592] So what do they give you just like a regular athletic supporter?

[593] This one was actually a really nice cup.

[594] Oh, is?

[595] Just, just a cup and I stick it in my underwear that has a little pocket for the cup.

[596] He trades with no cup.

[597] There's so many people, but.

[598] I'm never spark with the cup on.

[599] Don't train with Coup with cups.

[600] You know, the guys lose the ball.

[601] So, Dwayne Ludwig.

[602] Jesus.

[603] Guys lose balls.

[604] Duane Ludwig had to get carried out, put in the back seat, and went in for some type of surgery.

[605] And I wasn't there for that one.

[606] A ball surgery?

[607] He got kicked in the ball.

[608] And the dude that kicked him in the ball had to accept a fight for him and take the fight that he was training for.

[609] But every time he takes a ball shot, I don't let him stop.

[610] I'm like, get up, work up.

[611] Why don't you not wear a cup?

[612] That sounds so crazy.

[613] You never got to hit the balls.

[614] You didn't wear a cup in wrestling.

[615] This is not wrestling, but this isn't wrestling.

[616] Cups are for life and death situations.

[617] What?

[618] Sparring is not that.

[619] Yeah, but you can get kicked in the balls and lose a ball.

[620] We've had this conversation.

[621] They didn't touch my body.

[622] I offer, every time I step into sparring, I announce 90 % of the time.

[623] I got $500 for anybody that could drop me with a body shot.

[624] Drop you with the body shot.

[625] They ain't touched, but you got kicked in the balls in your fight.

[626] with Tony.

[627] That was a front kick, like an up kick, and it wouldn't have hit my balls if my cup wasn't so big.

[628] That's true.

[629] That is true.

[630] Honestly, do cups do, like, especially in boxing, because I never did mix martial arts.

[631] I did boxing.

[632] And boxing cups are the worst.

[633] They're those no foul protectors.

[634] Dude, they don't even, there's, it just sits in the front of you.

[635] So you take shots up here and it smashes you.

[636] It's like, the worst.

[637] Have you ever used one of those diamond MMA cups?

[638] No, I see people kick.

[639] I see people getting kicked with them.

[640] I do need a cup, though.

[641] Dude, I have some of those laying around.

[642] I'll give you one.

[643] All right.

[644] Diamond sent me a gang of them.

[645] I fucking love them.

[646] I wear it from Jiu -Jitsu.

[647] They sit in compression shorts and they're tight.

[648] That would probably help, though.

[649] It helps.

[650] My nuts get smashed all the time's in J -J -Soo.

[651] Jesus Christ, dude.

[652] Wear a goddamn cup.

[653] But are they allowed to wear tie cups, steal tie cups?

[654] Yes, they are actually seen.

[655] I actually seen in one of the fights because I didn't know if they were able to because they're steel.

[656] Yeah.

[657] But I seen the string coming out.

[658] I had to tie up James McSweeney's Cup one time, and I'm like, bro how are you wearing that like that he had the string going up his ass so bad like a thong so tight and he's like tighter and I'm sitting there and I'm yanking on this thing and I'm like dude how are you going to fight like that but it ain't going to move and if someone kicks you that fucking hurts them I could not imagine Kenny flooring used to fight with a tie steel totally yeah listen man the ties know how to do it I mean nobody gets kicking the nuts more than them right they're just throwing leg kicks all the time they slam shins in the ball sacks all day long and And they figured out a way to make that something that you don't want to do.

[659] But it's also a giant lever for arm bars.

[660] I've heard of heard about that when you're grappling, you can really feel it.

[661] Oh, my God, it's illegal in a lot of Brazilian jiu -jitsu tournaments for that reason.

[662] You've got both your hooks in and dig it into their back, dig it in their spine.

[663] Or a mount.

[664] Markor used to do that shit to me. I'm like, dude, you're a son of them.

[665] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[666] We had a guy in our gym that wore one.

[667] He mounted me and stuck it in my sternum.

[668] I'm like, what the fuck, man?

[669] So where's pain?

[670] It's like he's got a giant rock.

[671] You're just shoving it into your sternum.

[672] But so when you're, when you're sparring, you don't ever feel vulnerable that your balls are just kind of like jiggling around there?

[673] I mean, I wear some tight box of briefs, so they're not hanging out.

[674] And you're like, all right, whatever, let them do it.

[675] Hey, so again, I, I, I, I wear, that's a real problem.

[676] That's his outside issue.

[677] I work for the athlete.

[678] That's one thing that is super unique for me. That I am, I'm not going to be your father.

[679] Like, I'm going to train you.

[680] I'm going to give you everything I got.

[681] But this is your life.

[682] I will save it in many ways I can.

[683] But if you're not going to train for it, I'm not going to just sit there and annoy you for it.

[684] That is the biggest I told you so ever when you lose a ball.

[685] I used to be a – when I was a catcher, I didn't wear a cup.

[686] Oh, Jesus.

[687] It's crazy, right?

[688] You got to protect yourself.

[689] You've ever see that video where – You got two hands.

[690] Who is it, Dwight Gooden throws that ball and the bird explodes?

[691] Oh, no, that was Randy Johnson.

[692] Randy Johnson.

[693] I would wear a cup if I was cast him for a long old bullet.

[694] Have you seen it?

[695] He turned his leg all the way up.

[696] Yeah, the big tall dude.

[697] Have you seen the ball?

[698] I haven't seen that one.

[699] It's kind of hilarious.

[700] Pitching for the Diamondbacks.

[701] So he throws this ball and this bird flies right into the line of fire and explodes.

[702] It explodes in a burst of feathers.

[703] Yeah.

[704] I remember him pitching.

[705] He was like the fastest pitcher at the time, right?

[706] Middle of the game.

[707] Middle of a game.

[708] Middle of a game.

[709] So the birds fly and, I mean, it's the, here goes.

[710] Look at this.

[711] Oh, sorry.

[712] Look over here.

[713] Oh.

[714] Look at this.

[715] So he throws it and just perfect timing.

[716] Dish.

[717] No. way.

[718] Yeah.

[719] It just randomly explodes.

[720] So that's the bird flopping off over and I think.

[721] It just de -feathered it.

[722] It de -feathered every feather.

[723] He cleaned it, and you could cook that like that.

[724] Yeah, you could cook it.

[725] Right there.

[726] Basically.

[727] You could end that fucking birds.

[728] He basically stopped it in his tracks perfectly.

[729] It was like the perfect collision.

[730] I mean, so what are the odds of that happening?

[731] Unbelievable.

[732] That'd be really effective in golf.

[733] He had a birdie.

[734] Oh, yeah.

[735] Sorry, that's a low level of a joke.

[736] Think about your balls, please.

[737] I'll get you one of them diamond MMA cups.

[738] If it's a cup ball, wear it.

[739] Okay.

[740] Jesus, just coach, talk to him.

[741] Okay, there's a 0 .000, 0 .009 % chance.

[742] Randy Johnson would hit a bird with any given pitch.

[743] Oh, my God.

[744] How do they come up with that number?

[745] Mathematicians, man. No way.

[746] They're bored.

[747] How many pitches have been thrown?

[748] Oh, yeah.

[749] And there's a one out of that.

[750] That's what I mean.

[751] How many birds are on?

[752] That's probably what made that.

[753] And then as they continue to go on, that's going to change.

[754] Because until they hit a second bird.

[755] Never once had a birdman hit with a pitch in the history of baseball before that faithful day with Randy Johnson.

[756] That said, each game team throws around 150 pitches, multiply that by $200 ,000.

[757] You get $30 million.

[758] So the answer is roughly somewhere in the ballpark of $1 .30 million.

[759] Wow.

[760] Per season.

[761] Yeah, per season, I guess, huh?

[762] Yeah.

[763] That's crazy.

[764] If you were not playing a major league and someone did that, no one's going to believe that story ever.

[765] Yeah, you were like, what?

[766] Yeah, my buddy threw the ball.

[767] Right when he threw the ball, the bird just perfectly lined up.

[768] Like, your buddy's an asshole, he threw a ball at a bird.

[769] Tell the truth.

[770] Take every feather off.

[771] That's funny.

[772] Oh, my gosh.

[773] Think about your nuts, please.

[774] I got you.

[775] I got you.

[776] Okay, thank you.

[777] Diamond Cup.

[778] Yes.

[779] Yeah, yeah.

[780] Well, I have a bunch of them back in.

[781] And he'll be the best father.

[782] Like, he is so good with kids.

[783] You didn't you work up, man?

[784] Yeah, you want to...

[785] I got to fight a girl first.

[786] Protected jewels.

[787] Yeah, but don't find a girl right now because that fucks up more fighters than anything.

[788] The wrong girl.

[789] I don't pick the wrong one.

[790] I'm sure you won't.

[791] But sometimes you don't think you're picking the wrong one.

[792] You think you're picking the right one, then they fucking take their mask off.

[793] They're pretty tricky.

[794] Oh, they're so tricky.

[795] Some of them.

[796] Some of them aren't tricky at all.

[797] I tell you, I was done.

[798] I found my wife, my best friend.

[799] I tell you, she was a key, though.

[800] I say all my success.

[801] She was someone who supported everything I did, which was so different.

[802] And again, having that backbone and having someone to support you is key.

[803] You've got to have the people that are there for you.

[804] When I have the day where I feel weak, and I'm like, oh, man, I really just don't want to do this.

[805] She's like, get up and do this.

[806] Like, you got this.

[807] And then the days where she needed to pull me back a little bit, and it's just having that balance is key.

[808] But in this industry, when it comes to two athletes, and especially the level that you're at, it is a scary thing.

[809] I've seen it change so many people.

[810] And it's not just the women.

[811] It's outside influences.

[812] It's, it's, it's, this is one thing that I love about this guy is he is the same dude from day one.

[813] And I've had so many athletes just become something different.

[814] You know, they get the shell on and they just become different.

[815] And he's just the grounded dude.

[816] I call me yes, man, because every person that knows him is like, hey, man, come on my house at dinner.

[817] And he just can't say no. He's like, all right, cool, I'll be there.

[818] You need me bring anything.

[819] Well, that's a good kind of yes, man. It's just a great, great thing.

[820] Like, he's so good to his family.

[821] He's so good to all of his friends.

[822] he is very unique and it's always the nice dudes like you see him from the outside you think hey man meathead you know like he's one of the most intelligent four people type of fighters and some of the nicest guys are the ones that perform the best they're the ones that's going to help a lady across the street but they fight for something and that's so unique there's something to that because I think guys who don't have the burden of guilt like laying on their head that they're an asshole like even if you Unless you're a sociopath, if you act like a piece of shit, no matter how much you justify, you're like, I'm the fucking man. Who gives a shit?

[823] In the back of your head, you've got to know you're a piece of shit.

[824] It's false confidence.

[825] Yes, it's false confidence.

[826] That's why everyone's so scared to make that walk.

[827] Or you're reworded.

[828] There's no reason you should be scared.

[829] If you've done everything, what are you scared of?

[830] You know, you probably didn't eat the right things.

[831] You probably didn't go to sleep right time.

[832] You probably drank too much alcohol.

[833] You did something and no, you can't lie to yourself.

[834] And he's talking about being an asshole, though.

[835] That's part of it as well.

[836] See, they can reword that and be like, I'm the shit.

[837] The piece of the shit.

[838] You know, so you reword that.

[839] That's a, hey, it's a psyche, right?

[840] I'm the shit.

[841] You know, everybody's like, no, you're the piece of shit.

[842] I've thought about that with a lot of fighters that they get into trouble.

[843] I wonder how much that fucks with them.

[844] Like, and also, in today's day and age with social media, if you're an asshole, if you do mean things, people find out about it.

[845] And they're like, that guy's a piece of shit.

[846] Fuck him.

[847] You know, and then you feel the sting of that.

[848] Yep.

[849] And then you're getting out there and you're getting booed and, you know, you see that fuck with guys.

[850] It makes a big impact.

[851] Those are the hardest guys to retire, too.

[852] Like, once they don't have it no more, it's a rough thing.

[853] That's been a hard thing for me as a coach is seeing the end.

[854] Yes.

[855] That's why I'm so into life coaching, not just coaching.

[856] It's coaching them about life that, hey, man, you're the same dude.

[857] Is anybody out here?

[858] You're challenging yourself, yes, you are doing something at a different level and going out there and chasing things.

[859] but don't let it change who you are to people.

[860] Because you have everything now.

[861] When you're a champion, you go into any restaurant.

[862] They're going to give you free dinner, feed your family.

[863] It doesn't matter who's with you.

[864] But when you lose, all of a sudden everybody drops their head.

[865] They feel bad for you.

[866] They're like, oh, my God, that's the guy.

[867] It just got knocked out.

[868] Yeah.

[869] It's very hard to step away from.

[870] And you see guys that continue to fight for way too long because they need that feeling.

[871] They need that invincibleness again, that startom, the kingdom.

[872] And that's hard for me to watch because that's a challenge.

[873] And you see a lot of people go down the wrong end from that point.

[874] It's also their identity.

[875] Like when they're not fighting, they don't know who they are.

[876] Because, first of all, fighting is so much more exciting than anything else you're ever going to do.

[877] So if you get used to these gigantic highs and then preparing and then the nerves of preparing and all the anticipation of these big events, fighters have the riskiest job in the world outside of first responders, soldiers.

[878] soldiers and people along those lines.

[879] I mean, you're literally playing a game called, I'm trying to throw my bones and separate you from your consciousness, and you're going to try to do that to me, and you're doing it publicly in front of everybody.

[880] So there's emotions, there's physical, you know about, everybody knows about the damage that it does to your body.

[881] It's so, there's so much riding on it that for fighters, when they leave that, and then they go to a regular life, like a lot of times it's very difficult, very difficult.

[882] to make that adjustment.

[883] That's why so many of them come back.

[884] Yep.

[885] And that's why it needs to be guided from day one.

[886] Yeah.

[887] And again, you have to have a time.

[888] Like your goal, you have to set goal sets.

[889] We've talked about when your time is up and how long are you going to fight for.

[890] You have to set those goals.

[891] You have to be true to them.

[892] That's like the not taking a last minute fight.

[893] Yeah.

[894] You know, you have to have your goals set into place.

[895] And once you start to break those rules, you're really not grabbing the wheel.

[896] Right.

[897] You're letting it coast.

[898] And then that's where you start to spiral downhill or go off track.

[899] And I think that's super important because you can only do any sport for so long.

[900] But all athletes, like even in NFL and things like that, they think they're going to play forever.

[901] They have this mindset that you're going to play forever.

[902] But it's so hard to see what happens to them after the lights go out.

[903] Yeah.

[904] Very hard.

[905] Very hard.

[906] Most athletes, pro athletes, wind up going broke.

[907] I mean, it's the vast majority of NFL players are bankrupt within just a couple of years of retiring.

[908] Same thing with NBA players.

[909] And mentally bankrupt Mentally bankrupt.

[910] Where they can't earn, they don't want to earn.

[911] They almost get like self -sabotage.

[912] Like again, it's you know, I'm kicking my ass like it's again, they start to beat their own self up.

[913] Yeah.

[914] And that takes a lot of work to I mean, that feeling after after being in that Octagon and winning is the highest of high.

[915] You know, I've never ever experienced anything like it.

[916] But I focus, as soon as I leave, I really focus on not, on bringing myself down and not being too high for too long.

[917] Because with the highs come to lows.

[918] And I don't, I try to, I'm constantly in the middle.

[919] So when do you do that?

[920] Like, right after the Tony fight?

[921] Like, how long after?

[922] Like, I walked, like, two minutes after.

[923] I walk, you know, you're going through the whole process, but that whole time through the process, it's like, you're, you know, for one, you're, you're ain't special.

[924] You know, you're not special.

[925] That was awesome.

[926] But back to normal.

[927] You know, now it's immediate.

[928] Immediate.

[929] Right when I was talking to you.

[930] I was like, you know, my finger hurts, but other than that, it's like...

[931] You seem pretty normal.

[932] Yeah, nothing.

[933] The only thing that wasn't normal that you threw the belt away, like, get that fucking thing out of here.

[934] I want the real one.

[935] Yeah, I don't know why I did that.

[936] I mean, that's the competitor in me, you know?

[937] Right.

[938] You know, Dustin won one of those, and, you know, as you stated, he was never a champion.

[939] Yeah.

[940] You know, so, but he did win an interim title.

[941] You know, he's a championship caliber, but.

[942] And so was Tony.

[943] I mean, Tony was an interim champion as well.

[944] But interim titles are very weird.

[945] It's a weird thing.

[946] I kind of think they shouldn't exist.

[947] Yeah, it's definitely not a real belt.

[948] Right.

[949] It's more real than the BMF belt, but.

[950] It's just one of those.

[951] Every time I hear that, I think the Cowboys like ranch.

[952] Because you've got BMF everywhere over there.

[953] I always think of that.

[954] Yeah.

[955] I mean, it's called the BMF Ranch.

[956] Yeah.

[957] Yeah.

[958] The BMF belt was fun, but it was fun.

[959] Yeah.

[960] No, I loved it.

[961] It's entertainment.

[962] We got to, and remember, belts, whether the interim or not, you get pay -per -viewed by.

[963] So, again, we got to look at the pros and the cons.

[964] I don't know about that, the athletes.

[965] I hope so.

[966] I'm talking about the interim.

[967] No, I'm in.

[968] Yes.

[969] No, that's why.

[970] That was one huge factor.

[971] For one, I've always said I don't take late replacement fights, but I'd never said I don't take late replacement world title fights.

[972] This is way different, you know?

[973] Yeah.

[974] Just the implications It was different You had a statement One of the things you said When you first entered the UFC You said I'm going to put on some Incredible fights And I'm going to lose And I'm probably going to get knocked out Nobody says that It's crazy It's the craziest thing He says it was so You see it all the time I'm like stop saying that shit Because you can repeat shit You're going to trick yourself That would get knocked out But that's But that's the key to him Like he doesn't hesitate Like if I do anything As a coach I've got to pull him back And that's a great thing like I've been a motivator my whole career the psychology I'm a great technician but my psychology is tricking people to win is how do you get out there and do it and making them to believe you have to force your head into something to make something happen you have to go out there and fight and that's hard for a lot of people this guy is like pulling people back is a great thing it's like that's it's still hard to do at times like not with him but the fighters just go too hard to hit rage and rage is hard to settle down when someone hits rage like someone says something about your mama I'm always like they don't even know your mama like seriously stop that shit like stop well there was a great moment after the second round after you got hit with that uppercut where you came back to the corner and you told them take something off your punches take about 10 % off just hit him a clean shot so you're trying to murder him with every shot and then you made that adjustment and that's that was really interesting because a lot of times coaches would tell stuff to fighters and the fighters probably know someone in their head but it's fucking with them that they're starting to get tired it's fucking with them that they got hit and then they lose some composure they get emotional and they go out there and they why not making mistakes you immediately adjusted and you went out there and you would see like by the end of that second round when Tony hit you with that shot people were like well maybe this is a shift in the direction of the fight nope the shift was the opposite way you came out in the third round more technical and you came out and did exactly what Trevor said yeah so we worked long and hard on that I trust him with everything as he said he wouldn't be my coach if I didn't trust him with my life and with with what everything I go in there to do so when he said that to you when he said take 10 % off so I'm trying the crazy thing is is you only see 10 % of the interaction between us in between rounds right now I'm actually with talking to the UFC trying to get that whole that whole thing but yeah it was I got hit hard UFC trying to get, what, the old recording?

[975] He's trying to get his audio from his mic.

[976] Oh.

[977] You want to hear it and watch it?

[978] Yeah, because I don't remember it, you know?

[979] Right, of course.

[980] Just like when he come to me in the fifth round and I was laughing, I had just asked, the reason I was laughing is because I had just asked him, I said, was that the end of the second or third round?

[981] And they're like, this is a fifth round.

[982] I was like, no, fucking way, I'm in that good of shape.

[983] I was like, no way.

[984] And that's when they cut in, you know, so you don't see.

[985] There's so much you don't see in that interaction between me and him.

[986] It's so important for fighters to see that adjustment and how his endurance leveled off.

[987] Because it was like you were having these wild exchanges and you were fucking hitting Tony.

[988] First of all, Tony Ferguson is made out of metal.

[989] What in the fuck, especially when you're talking about a body type.

[990] Like you were talking earlier about someone with a frail body type.

[991] He doesn't have a chiseled neck.

[992] Right, he's not built like Mark Hunt.

[993] It's so unique to me. He's so fucking tough.

[994] It makes me what?

[995] Is it a choice to go to sleep?

[996] But there's also a key, like if a fighter can take something on understanding coachability is, like, you have to have your reactions, but you also have to have your responses.

[997] Like reactive stuff is like jabs.

[998] Positional stuff is reactive.

[999] Like you have to be able to react to positions first.

[1000] I love jiu -jitsu because it's position before submission.

[1001] You have to react to positions before anything else.

[1002] So there's reactive stuff.

[1003] But the responses is why you have a co -pilot to help you see what you can see and start noticing.

[1004] that or how are you playing defense and using a jab to find openings where you're still working but you're thinking and going oh every time he does this he's dropping his hand and you're able to see things that's where you have to be responsive and you have to be aware in the moment where a lot of times people can't they just bite down they just bite down on that my mouth piece and very similar to the way you used to fight was bite down their eyes are getting big oh that's my response is like continue to do this and they're going to fall and again that is a very important point is a coach and the athlete understanding, I am there to help you with your responses in the gym.

[1005] I'm going to create your reactions.

[1006] I'm going to create your patterns, your basic fundamental patterns that's going to help you win positions and slightly win rounds where you're controlling the fight.

[1007] The other pieces is how am I slowly creating momentum to get finishes.

[1008] It was pretty stunning how well you adapted and then also how your endurance leveled off.

[1009] Because you did seem like you were slowing down a little bit at the second round, but it was because you were sprinting because you were throwing these full power fucking haymakers but then when you leveled off in that third round then it was like you had an endless gas tank and it was interesting you're in control yourself if you're making decisions it's a lot easy on your psyche when you're trying to just fight out of things all the time again you're not in control if you can't control your thought you cannot control your breathing how stunned were you that Tony could take those shots in the fight you know there's no there's no point where I even understand.

[1010] You weren't thinking at all.

[1011] Just throwing them.

[1012] You know, it was crazy.

[1013] The shots I hit, you know, Vick, Barboza and Soroni with, I was so surprised they went to sleep.

[1014] You know, I didn't understand why.

[1015] I think it was position, mostly.

[1016] But yeah, I was when I was hitting him with some of those shots, especially the one when I came through when he was throwing an uppercut, I couldn't believe he didn't go to sleep with that.

[1017] But I go back to the Michael Johnson fight Like when he hit me with that left hand, there's no reason I shouldn't have went to sleep then.

[1018] So I don't, I haven't figured that part of the equation out.

[1019] You see when he knocked out Poirier with that same punch?

[1020] One of the sharpest left hand.

[1021] Yeah.

[1022] And I was turning through it and it was on the chin.

[1023] It was everything a knockout shot should be.

[1024] I don't know why I didn't go to sleep.

[1025] I got to figure that part out.

[1026] I know how people go to sleep.

[1027] I don't know how people don't go to sleep.

[1028] It's random.

[1029] It's weird.

[1030] I mean, sometimes guys take head kicks, full -on head kicks and they don't go to sleep.

[1031] It's position.

[1032] It's position.

[1033] Everything is positioned.

[1034] Can you base?

[1035] Can you lock down?

[1036] Did you see it?

[1037] Did you see it?

[1038] That's a huge piece because if you don't see a yane bracing for it, so you're letting it's, again, the linear or rotational is what's causing a concussion.

[1039] And when you don't see a shot, those are the ones that cause the most damage.

[1040] If you're able to brace for it and bite down on the punch, it's a lot better.

[1041] So a lot of times when you're seeing two hooks, both people hook it, I throw like this, I turn away and then all of a sudden I come and I don't see it.

[1042] I'm causing that head -on collision, but I'm not brace for it.

[1043] I'm not leaning against the wall where if I see a hook coming, I've got my head carrying my weight and able to take the shot.

[1044] So a lot of times it's the shots you don't see coming, and that's the timing.

[1045] But there are people who will punch you in any moment, and you're going to go to sleep.

[1046] Yeah, that's, punching power is so weird.

[1047] And that's like one of the craziest thing in this world.

[1048] If it was, Tony would have went to sleep.

[1049] I'm telling you, I've seen people who don't hit.

[1050] Big and Bobozo were on one foot when I touched them.

[1051] Hey, your low kick?

[1052] So was kind of low kick for many years, wasn't thrown with the right technique.

[1053] but it is when you kick people they're like oh my gosh like you have a sharp heavy bone it's so unique dense bones I got the densest bones in the UFC there you go so there's a spot yeah so they've done a scan on you well they said they can't confirm or deny I got the densest bones in the UFC they can't run it out but I know right no yeah they have a dexas scan right at the UFCPI and you know you lay there it inch by inch scans your whole body tells you what you're made of but yeah your bones are denser than Yoel's?

[1054] I would assume so.

[1055] That seems crazy.

[1056] That guy doesn't seem like he's from this planet.

[1057] You know, they sent him, you want to hear a crazy story about Yoel?

[1058] I've repeated on the podcast, but I'll say it anyway.

[1059] When he had some sort of a fracture of his orbital, they sent him to a doctor.

[1060] And the doctor examines him, and then calls the UFC and goes, where did you find this guy?

[1061] And he goes, yeah, he goes, he's a fucking specimen, huh?

[1062] He goes, no, no, no. I've never seen a human like him.

[1063] He goes, I've been practicing medicine for more than 40 years.

[1064] He goes, the ligaments, the tendons in his eye are three times larger than a normal humans.

[1065] They're like everything about him.

[1066] And Dana told me this.

[1067] And I was talking to Dana about it.

[1068] And I was talking to my friends who know the whole Cuban program over there, the Cuban Athletic Program.

[1069] Of course, he was on the Cuban Olympic team.

[1070] They said, like, do they did some fucking experiments down there, son.

[1071] They did some 100 % experiments.

[1072] It's not just incredible genetics, which for sure he has.

[1073] But, like, he might be a part of some goddamn, you know, like, there's, there's a few, like, Karelian.

[1074] They used to call him the experiment.

[1075] They're the wrestler from Russia.

[1076] That guy who was built like a fucking superhero and just threw people around, like, ragdolls, 300 -pound men.

[1077] It's crazy.

[1078] They would try to flatten out so he couldn't hoist him up.

[1079] And he'd get his hands on earth and fucking, rah!

[1080] And just hoist him over his head.

[1081] Like, they called him the experiment.

[1082] because his parents were like five five he had these little tiny parents and he was this gigantic gorilla it's crazy I wonder if there's any doctor out there that's ever talked about me and said man you had never seen a specimen that's just all ligaments and bones he's missing muscle he throws everything with perfect technique because he has no muscle he's not trying to muscle shit well there's something about guys that are strong in jiu jiu jitsu it's actually kind of a disadvantage for learning because you can power out of things so you don't develop proper technique yeah like do you want to learn learn from a little like a hoiler gracie or you know eddie bravo or these small guys they're not overpowering anybody like you think there's there's something to that gracey was yeah perfect example perfect example and then with striking it's kind of in a similar mode like the the really technical guys are the guys who have like floyd yeah floyd's not knocking anybody out in one punch it kind It has to be technical.

[1083] He's, you know, he always had brittle hands.

[1084] He was always hurting himself.

[1085] That's a, you know, that is the cool thing about boxing is the sweet science.

[1086] How many years has been around?

[1087] And there's just so much involved with that.

[1088] But you're seeing a huge shift in MMA where it is like so, so, so special.

[1089] With your fight, it's super unique again going back to position in footwork.

[1090] Like the footwork is a key.

[1091] Like the people will talk about the punches and pulling stuff off the punches.

[1092] But from the eye, when I watch it, I'm just like, man, I'm so.

[1093] it's keeping someone out balance where their step is one, just a point of a second behind you.

[1094] You can control the timing.

[1095] You can control when you punch.

[1096] And that is such, it's a dance.

[1097] There's a lead.

[1098] When there's two dancers, there's a lead.

[1099] And you have to lead the steps.

[1100] If you're leading the steps, you got them coming to you.

[1101] And that's creating that pattern.

[1102] And man, we can just, like, that's one of my favorite things to teach.

[1103] It's just footwork.

[1104] Like, understanding position.

[1105] How do you make someone a one -handed fighter or only able to use one side of their body?

[1106] Because they can only put one weight on one side.

[1107] And timing the foot when there's a foot.

[1108] off the ground.

[1109] They can't base.

[1110] They can't block until that foot hits the ground.

[1111] So it's those in between beats.

[1112] But those are the spots that I could just geek out about and just have so much fun.

[1113] But the technique is so key.

[1114] People who are born with gifts and going back to how people just punch differently.

[1115] Some people just, whether it's heavy bones, some people you look at them and their technique is nothing and you're like holy cow they can hit.

[1116] Yeah, some people have just have crazy power.

[1117] Like we were talking earlier about Alex Pereira, the guy who fights in glory.

[1118] That motherfucker knocks everybody.

[1119] He's a guy who knocked out stylebender.

[1120] He knocks out everybody.

[1121] He's got crazy power.

[1122] And he, you know, he's built strong, it looks like a strong guy, but there's something about his power that is, it's greater than whatever you would expect that comes from him.

[1123] Chris Lieben, you remember Chris Leibon?

[1124] Not built like an athlete at all.

[1125] And the guy, every time he hit someone, they were reacting big time.

[1126] And you know he had thunder in his hands.

[1127] He really did.

[1128] And he could take a shot really well, too.

[1129] That's, again, a super unique thing is those taking the shots.

[1130] He would plan his feet hard.

[1131] He had a base.

[1132] Very ploddy, very heavy bass.

[1133] But that cost him when he fought Anderson.

[1134] Oh, yeah.

[1135] Anderson timed it.

[1136] Another sharps shooter who is sharp.

[1137] He would hit you at the certain times where you can't, like when he caught forced coming in attacking him, like just beautiful.

[1138] Working backwards and still creating that much leverage and causing a head -on collision as you're pulling your hips away.

[1139] Super, super unique.

[1140] It's all timing.

[1141] I always say I have like six songs going on in my head during a fight.

[1142] It's like a reggae song.

[1143] There's a country song.

[1144] Do you?

[1145] Do you have songs going on your head?

[1146] That's what I'm dancing to.

[1147] You know, I'm constantly changing rhythms.

[1148] And if you're constantly changing rhythms, they can't find a pattern.

[1149] If you can't find a pattern, you can constantly catch them in between them trying to find it.

[1150] And that's what I'm doing in there.

[1151] My feet are dancing.

[1152] So are you actually thinking of the songs?

[1153] No, no, no, no, not.

[1154] But you're just moving like as if you were.

[1155] My intuition is as if I'm never on one beat.

[1156] If you watch my fights, I'm on 10 different beats.

[1157] Just to mix it up and to be unpredictable and to offer different.

[1158] looks to make them because the first thing that happens in a fight is distance control someone's going to control distance it might shift early you know back and forth but it's going to be established within the first minute that is the most important thing of any fight that will ever happen in a fight I believe because once that's established the person who establishes it is going to be able to control you know the rhythm and then once you can control the rhythm now you can make them dance to your tune once they're dancing to your tune you're fucking smoking as a coach when Tony Ferguson decided to make weight even though the fight was off and then wound up fighting just a few weeks later for real like the April 18th fight the Tai Chi Palace fight he just decided to make weight and you know and it was a lot of people were pretty impressed by it me included but then a lot of people were saying afterwards like hey what if he has to fight again in four weeks that's like you got to pay for that he's not a 155 pound guy you know he's a 170 plus pound guy he's not young no 37 Actually, we were in contract to fight again.

[1159] He still was going to make weight.

[1160] Yeah.

[1161] I waited 178 that day.

[1162] He's like, you went to make way?

[1163] I was like, hell, no, I'm not making.

[1164] What are you fucking talking about?

[1165] Well, you also had all them donuts a few days before.

[1166] I don't ever look at that stuff, Joe, and think anything because, again, I'm starting to think about them and get distracted.

[1167] Right, but as a coach, like, forget about the fight, the fight's over and gone.

[1168] I'm never a person who set something in stone and say that's a good thing or bad thing.

[1169] Every person is different.

[1170] Like, if they fight at a lower weight and it's cool for them and they need to hold that weight, better and you're going in a five round fight compared to a three round there's so many different variables that go into it i've got to treat each i don't know like uh i honestly probably would almost all the time i'm not going to say never but yeah probably not going to do that but mock cuts are good for you if you have issues making weight sometimes a mock cut is good because it gets you down to a point first and you know if you there's so many people that cut so much weight the week of the fight that i think that's a huge issue so i really didn't look at is that big of a deal i was like you know what it's better than just waiting to the last minute because that is where there's huge danger in this sport what how much do you cut not a lot this this was the easiest cut of my life um so you diet down you train down and then you cut of how many pounds when i got there i was 165 oh not bad yeah but you hit 63 twice prior to going prior to go in there i hit 63 twice uh the week before that's none of my guys cut a lot of weight i don't allow it i think it's the most dangerous thing i think again it's it's it's not natural for your body, you're detoxing everything, you're taking everything out of your system.

[1171] And again, what weight are you really going to fight at?

[1172] Right.

[1173] On Thursday night, we started our work, we did one workout at night, and I was 163 .4, when I started, we worked out for an hour and 20 minutes, and when I got off, I was 156 .6.

[1174] And I was amazed at how much I had just cut.

[1175] That's amazing.

[1176] So I went to bed, I went and drank eight ounces of coconut water, went to bed, I woke up 156 .2, 156 .4.

[1177] Oh, wow.

[1178] Worked out for 20 minutes, sat in the sauna for 10, and then I was on weight.

[1179] Oh, that's amazing.

[1180] It was the easiest cut of my life.

[1181] That's amazing.

[1182] So you just got it dialed in perfectly.

[1183] My body is, I've been doing this, like, people make fun of me when I say I've been doing it since four, but my dad caught me sneaking tamales into the bathroom when I was like six.

[1184] So, like, I've been doing this my whole life.

[1185] Like, I am, my body is a machine.

[1186] It knows once it gets down, we get to go right back up.

[1187] And that's, you know, my mind internally, but, you know, it knows.

[1188] One of the things you said that I thought was really funny.

[1189] I hope Tony breaks my nose so I can get it fixed.

[1190] Yeah, everyone talks about how I talk.

[1191] For one, I talk fast.

[1192] I've always talked fast.

[1193] Sounds like I'm mumbling, but my nose doesn't work.

[1194] I'm like, sit there, plug your nose and talk.

[1195] You know, see, this is the same thing.

[1196] I can tell hearing it because my nose used to be broken too.

[1197] I had it fixed.

[1198] I had the deviated septum.

[1199] But this goes back to the dense bones.

[1200] I heard it in December.

[1201] season ends in March I got it fixed in April and it had healed already and the doctor he said I drilled I tried to drill through that side but I couldn't get through that side because your bone is too dense What?

[1202] Yeah That doctor sounds like an asshole Right?

[1203] That's ridiculous The college paid for it though Oh yeah So this was a long time ago This was when I was 19 Split my lip too You also just have to think about the fact You're just constantly getting hit in the nose Yeah, I've never got hit in the nose in a fight.

[1204] That's why I'm waiting.

[1205] But in training, you do.

[1206] They hit my forehead.

[1207] They don't touch my nose on my shin.

[1208] Really?

[1209] I've seen so many people get surgery, and it's, again, it gets, so Shane Cartman, he got his surgery.

[1210] First barn session back, fuck, coach, broke my nose again.

[1211] You're building up the cartilage, and again, almost there's been three people through the gym that's head surgery and ended up breaking their nose again.

[1212] I recommend it when you're done.

[1213] Yeah, I wish.

[1214] they could clear it out.

[1215] Yeah, exactly.

[1216] I know about building the cartilage back up.

[1217] Yeah, that's what Vandale did, which was crazy.

[1218] Like, it became a different human.

[1219] Right?

[1220] But he had the worst flattened nose I've ever seen in all my years of watching combat sports.

[1221] Yeah, but Jane had my nose fixed.

[1222] He had broke my nose.

[1223] Like daytime, I had it broken, and it crawled right back, but, man, I could breathe good.

[1224] It's like, man, what happened to your nose?

[1225] And I was like, man, it slowly fell back into position because it's been like that for so many years.

[1226] He had broke my nose in sparring.

[1227] I was so beat up in training From training Shane Carlin You sparring with Shane Carlin?

[1228] I started sparring with him Because he couldn't hit me And uh Hold on Hit the brakes How much do you wear?

[1229] Wet like 160 And you're sparring with Shane Fucking Carlin Oh yeah So my hands were so bad hitting mitts with him He was He hits so hard Joe That it's crazy So I got to understand What everybody was talking about With his gloves They were like man He needs different gloves And I'm like He's got winning He's got the best gloves they're fine they'd stop being a bitch and he'd hit me and broke my nose with a jab and I was just like holy shit I'm walking him down and I came through one jab and I went to go step in and open up my guard and he hit me he's like and I turned around I'm like damn man you broke my nose and he's like I ain't break your nose coach and I was like I leaned over the side I look back at him like this and he's like oh shit coach your nose is broke and yeah but I like how you make all your fighters you gave them the worst impressions ever I think it's the best I have fun with him They all talk like this.

[1230] They almost say, almost you.

[1231] So I used to call him negative Nancy Kerrigan -Carwin, Cheyzer Caravan Carwin.

[1232] I like to have fun with the guys and entertain myself with them, especially with a big dude like him.

[1233] I was like the little dog bark it all the time.

[1234] Well, in between fights, people don't know how big he got.

[1235] Oh, my gosh.

[1236] He hits so hard.

[1237] Like, I couldn't take the shots no more.

[1238] Like on my hands and my arms, I was like, dude, we have to work.

[1239] You have to get time in.

[1240] And I can still help him sparring.

[1241] Well, I remember when his nose was broken when he fought Gonzaga.

[1242] and then he hit Gonzaga with that six -inch punch.

[1243] Do you remember that?

[1244] Just like falling backwards, just hits him with this little boom.

[1245] And Gonzaga's just falls, the body just shuts off.

[1246] It's crazy.

[1247] No, he was an enormous guy.

[1248] Oh, yeah, that's broken.

[1249] And look, he's laughing.

[1250] Crazy, dude.

[1251] He's a fun guy, though.

[1252] I tell you, there was one time in a fight where he was on top of the guy, and he would drop in these shots on him, and he hit him one time, and the way the guy's body moved, it looked really weird.

[1253] Like, it looked, I was like, did you, I thought he just killed him.

[1254] Like, he hit him so weird.

[1255] And the way the guy's body like bent and went numb, I was like, oh, my God, you could feel it through the cage, like underneath the echo underneath when he was hitting the dude and his head is pinned against the canvas.

[1256] He is a unique dude.

[1257] That dude hits so freaking out.

[1258] Well, I remember his stoppage of Frank Mear.

[1259] That was one of the most ferocious stoppages I've ever seen the history of the heavyweight division.

[1260] He's hitting him with those fucking uppercuts.

[1261] I had a collar tie and he's hitting him with uppercuts.

[1262] So in that fight.

[1263] he had so many situations he was drinking a beer night he was like one of the he had a stem cell thing going on in his neck that he didn't know if he was going to be able to fight uh he took it on like three weeks notice because the brock lesnar fell out uh ended up injured in his hand so if you notice everything was left handed yeah he was like 30 boxing him and i had to ask for him to bump and he bumped the shoulder and then went boom boom hit him with like three uppercust and he folded him and then he turned him on his back and was just clavid him with the left hand and he was so injured going into that fight it was crazy the way he was able to perform Really?

[1264] And then when he went on a strict diet, he's like, oh, beating damn rabbit food coach.

[1265] And he got all fit and he was eating this great diet.

[1266] Mentally, he wasn't there, like when we fought Dos Santos.

[1267] Dos Santos.

[1268] And again, that was a tough fight because after the Brock Lesnar fight, every question was about his conditioning.

[1269] So Shane Carwin, if he goes out there and fights the first round, like your fight one round fight, we're stopping the fight after the first round.

[1270] I don't think anybody gave through a first round with him.

[1271] But when he pulled back and he started going, hey, I need to see if I can go five rounds, oh, man, because he went with Brock, and he gassed out.

[1272] Yeah.

[1273] I remember with them all, we're sitting there screaming.

[1274] We're screaming at the top of the lungs, and we're, like, counting the three, and then screaming because the crowd was so loud, he couldn't hear us, and he's on top of him just pounding Brock out.

[1275] And we were like, you just stand back up.

[1276] We wanted to get back up because the ref was just letting it go, let it go.

[1277] And if he stood him back up, he's going to drop him getting fights over.

[1278] And he gassed himself out.

[1279] When in the second round, he's like, coach, I can't feel my legs.

[1280] I can't get up.

[1281] And I'm like, you have to, you have to fake this shit and get up.

[1282] But I figured once he gets out there, he gets hit one time.

[1283] He's going to...

[1284] Silverback's going to come back out.

[1285] But he went out there.

[1286] I remember he got taken down by Brock.

[1287] He held on to the chin as he went down.

[1288] That's how tired he was.

[1289] He grabbed the chin and just got to lay back.

[1290] But he's a unique human being.

[1291] He came that close.

[1292] That close.

[1293] That close to stop in Brock.

[1294] But he was always so damn freaking...

[1295] He heard him so bad standing.

[1296] So bad, yeah.

[1297] And then when he got to the ground and Brock was just able to cover up, and then he blew his wad, just trying to take him out of there.

[1298] Yep.

[1299] He thought the ref was going to stop it.

[1300] I did, too.

[1301] Yeah, I think everybody in the crowd, the whole energy.

[1302] But I was like, we were like excited, excited, excited.

[1303] They were like, oh, my God, he's got to pull back.

[1304] You see the Dominic Cruz Henry Suhudo fight, which kind of controversial stoppage.

[1305] You know, Dominic's trying to get back up, and the referee stops the fight versus that fight where, you know, you're seeing all these unanswered blows.

[1306] It's so subjective.

[1307] I would honestly much rather a fight be stopped early than to let it go on.

[1308] I agree.

[1309] Because the toughest job out there is the referees.

[1310] I tell you, there, a lot of times, they, it's hard.

[1311] They got to perform, too.

[1312] They go out there.

[1313] They stop a fight too late.

[1314] And then they're like, next time they're like, oh, man, I got to stop the fight early.

[1315] It's tough.

[1316] You're out there.

[1317] Like, the referee's got such a tough job.

[1318] They do.

[1319] And, but sometimes.

[1320] But it's got to be safety.

[1321] You're letting people go on there sometimes where I'm just like, never let that guy ref again.

[1322] Like taking years off a fighter.

[1323] It's crazy.

[1324] Yeah.

[1325] Some guys give guys too many opportunities.

[1326] I thought it was Herb Dean in your fight, right?

[1327] Yes.

[1328] I thought that was a perfect stoppage.

[1329] Me too.

[1330] It was a perfect.

[1331] And it's rare that you say that with a guy who's still standing and moving back the way Tony was in a world championship fight.

[1332] He never went down once.

[1333] Never went down once.

[1334] But it was getting to a point where the shift was just happening and his body was telling him he was really, really out balance.

[1335] His legs were starting to go a little bit.

[1336] He was going to be a same dog.

[1337] Exactly.

[1338] Yeah.

[1339] That was not good.

[1340] No. I don't ever want to take that beating.

[1341] He would have stopped it before that happened.

[1342] For sure.

[1343] I already know that.

[1344] Trevor would stop it.

[1345] It was you?

[1346] Nobody could stop it in Tony's corner.

[1347] That's the other thing is Tony's kind of, I mean, he has a jiu -jitsu coach, he has a striking coach, but Tony marches to the beat of his own drummer.

[1348] Yeah.

[1349] I mean, he's got a whole disco band going on in his head.

[1350] He does whatever he wants.

[1351] Rose against Carlos Barza.

[1352] I take 100 % credit in there because we never talked to who the head coach was.

[1353] It was just so chaotic.

[1354] I mean, she threw so many damn kids.

[1355] She looks so damn good.

[1356] But there was no control in the damn corner.

[1357] I was so pissed at myself.

[1358] Like that was one of the hardest fights.

[1359] That's when I let the gym go and said, hey, man, I need to do this and do it with passion and really take this serious because I was so bothered by that.

[1360] I almost was a cheerleader prior to that fight.

[1361] Watching her on the Ultimate Fighter perform with no coaches and her just do her thing, like she's so damn talented.

[1362] She finished everybody on the Ultimate Fighter.

[1363] And then she came in for that title fight, and I was so upset with myself that I didn't have the conversation.

[1364] I asked the coaches, who's that corner?

[1365] Who's the ones calling the shots?

[1366] I was so upset.

[1367] And that kind of situation, it is, it's very easy for teams.

[1368] Like if you look at Tony's corner, everybody in that corner is great.

[1369] And again, sometimes that conversation just needs to happen and saying, hey, who's going to come in the corner to win?

[1370] Who's going to say what?

[1371] There's got to be someone that takes control of a corner.

[1372] And that's why I use less coaches now.

[1373] He's got his brother in there because I feel like, again, a lot of people have great things to say.

[1374] But we have to stick to some.

[1375] I remember working a corner with a wrestling coach.

[1376] And I'm working on clinch stuff, and he's working on wrestling and taking them down.

[1377] And I'm like, we're contradicting what we're saying right now.

[1378] Like, who's talking?

[1379] And someone's got to be able to say, shut up.

[1380] I'm having a warm voice at a time.

[1381] And you have to have that.

[1382] You have to have that.

[1383] You have to have those conversations.

[1384] So when the Nate Marquart situation happened, and for people don't know what happened, Nate was on, there was a time in the UFC in combat sports where you were allowed to take TRT, testosterone replacement therapy.

[1385] And we always talk about TRTVT, VT, because he was.

[1386] He was the best example of, like, what could happen when you take an older fighter and you juice him to the gills and then throw him out there.

[1387] Like, he was like a fucking alien.

[1388] I mean, that guy had muscles on his teeth, you know, like, there was the times when Vitor was his scariest.

[1389] The Luke Rockhole fight, the Bissping fight, the Henderson fight, like, dude, Vitor was, 14.

[1390] Vitor was fucking terrifying.

[1391] But it was weird that you're letting this guy take testosterone.

[1392] And Nate was, they tested him and they found that his levels were off the charge.

[1393] charts and they were like what are you doing like you can't fight you got and i remember and then all of a sudden he had a fight again and uh they took him off suspension which is crazy to me and then he uses his doctor again with the TRT and i'll tell you one thing Nate is one of the again being coachable he's one of the most coachable guys sometimes almost overcoachable because if i remember he walk around say it's best boxing coached who was the best boxing coach john chamber best conditioning coach like he just he just believed what you were saying he just so trust Worthy and his doctor he believed in so freaking much to go how much this doctor we couldn't even get a hold of the week of that fight he wouldn't answer so he's like I'm at a lacrosse game and I'm just like what the fuck is going on like how do you test the levels how do you know how much you're freaking taking but this was allowed that's a big fucking issue yeah from what I understand the doctor gave him way more than he was supposed to get yeah and then you know and again that's that's a shitty fucking thing I couldn't believe how the doctor probably Like a lot of these doctors, especially TRT doctors, you know, they're in those days, you know, they probably wanted to prove the effectiveness of TRT.

[1394] They're like, well, more is better.

[1395] Fucking fill them up, turn it into a fucking silverback.

[1396] It's crazy.

[1397] And then again, you're not told what to take.

[1398] How much is it?

[1399] And when you see those guys get off of everything and their bodies deflate, like Vitor when he fought Chris Wyden was like, Jesus Christ, this is weird to see.

[1400] Yep.

[1401] and and it becomes a mental thing too because you need that again it's again it's again you have it and when you can't do it it's such a mental thing again that's uh when you can stay strong mentally that's why I love this guy this guy is so fucking strong mentally that again he doesn't need anything fucking else and it's the guys like that again Shane carwin's best performance he had a beer at night and he was eating nachos going on you know if I'm a fucking fight because that brainstem thing he's eating nachos and I'm sitting here going fucking crazy motherfucker and one of his best performances yeah mentally because he was okay this guy worked as an engineer would drive an hour to the gym at nighttime train at nighttime drive all the way back home grab like a cheeseburger on the way home because he ain't got time to get anything else just crazy that is that is nothing he was working full time it's crazy while he was one of the best heavy weights on the planet on the ultimate fighter when he coached the ultimate fighter he was working in between workouts he was doing full work for his engineer job really just crazy while he was coaching the ultimate fighter yep that's insane i remember dana had asked him quiz job he's going to pay him more he's like no he's like I already got out of the NFL because of an injury and I know I could get injured at any point he's like no smart dude well he had a fucked up back right from football yep how bad was it very bad I mean he got to pre -train for preseason and then he never went through and then he started fighting because he had fun he went to a Ron Waterman fight was friends with Robert to jump there because they needed that's crazy that it's okay for fighting but it wasn't okay for football.

[1402] No, his back in the Frank Muir fight, his back was so messed up.

[1403] In the Roy Nelson fight, he had to pull out because of his back.

[1404] His back was always an issue.

[1405] He wound up getting surgery on it, right?

[1406] I'm not too sure.

[1407] I'm not too sure.

[1408] A lot of outside stuff, too.

[1409] So after the Nate Markquard situation, you just started up your own gym?

[1410] Is that what happened?

[1411] So all the fighters left.

[1412] Why did they leave?

[1413] Well, we had a manager come in, and I had a dispute with the managers, and they started managing all the guys and they wanted to be a part of grudge and I didn't want to settle for what they were talking about and uh they started training in a different gym and when me and Nate kind of didn't see eye to eye on it because the way their publicist put something out so I don't do interviews no more because I was like oh you put my words the wrong way like me and Nate talked it out and became friends again I was like I had your back that gray area pissed me off like I was like I had to speak about it but the way that whole situation was handled Nate left everybody left I was like when you said a gray area brand knew.

[1414] I had him.

[1415] I have Rose.

[1416] Yeah, the gray area, meaning the TRT.

[1417] Right.

[1418] Where I was like, I was pissed.

[1419] I was like, you guys are going to cut him out and shun him like this and say that he's doing this when you allowed him to take TRT, but there's no way you can tell how much he's taking.

[1420] It's crazy to me. They can only tell the levels that you have.

[1421] But you said it's okay and, like, again, and then you took him off a suspension for this and then said, all right, cool, everything's back to normal.

[1422] He's like, oh, doctor, I've got a fight coming up and it's just crazy to me. It's just crazy to me. Like they said, all right, we'll test it after this fight and I'm like dude it's just crazy it's it's worth things again that that was a very bothersome time for me but when the whole team left because Nate left because we didn't see eye to eye he was pissed at what I said and I was you know I was standing up for him I was like all right whatever see the way you want to see it and I've always been about my guys you know fighter first and the whole team left so I was like once that happened I I was like man am I going to go work at home Depot what am I got to do but I just got a new fucking gym big ass gym.

[1423] He was brand new with me. Rose was brand new.

[1424] I was like, I'll start over.

[1425] This is, you know, and the great thing is, I came in, I came in through that other manager.

[1426] Yep.

[1427] And I, I only did the year for two years.

[1428] Right when I was like, fine, fucking leaving Trevor, you guys are stupid.

[1429] Yeah.

[1430] I was like, this motherfucker's a genius.

[1431] What are you thinking?

[1432] And then, thank God they left.

[1433] Because, yeah, now I got them to myself.

[1434] Fuck them.

[1435] After my lease was up, I let the gym go and started an equipment company.

[1436] and started focusing on how can I, because I respect every fighter who fights.

[1437] I have so much respect for you getting in there.

[1438] And as I get older, I get a little softer side to me. It's like even when we win, I see the other person loose.

[1439] Like, it's hard for me to celebrate.

[1440] Seeing them down is a hard thing.

[1441] Like, cowboy, that was a hard for me. Like, I didn't think it would be hard at all.

[1442] Looking across the cage wasn't hard at all.

[1443] You know, he's a gangster and I know we'd still be cool.

[1444] But when the ref wasn't stopping the fight when he's hitting him with the uppercuts, like I jumped up on the canvas.

[1445] Could have caused the disqualification because there's still no real set rule on how do I stop a fucking fight.

[1446] It happened in New Mexico.

[1447] You can't stop my opponent's fight.

[1448] But I jumped up like stop the fucking fight and then I ended up walking back with Cowboy all the way to the back.

[1449] It made me emotional.

[1450] It's hard.

[1451] Like here we're stopping him.

[1452] He's on his next title run and we're stopping him in his track.

[1453] Stop him moving forward.

[1454] And he's moving forward.

[1455] Yes, it's my fighter.

[1456] I want him to move forward and all those things.

[1457] But with age, it's been harder for me. And again, I respect every person who gets out there and inspires people.

[1458] So I started sewing in the gym and then I moved into my basement and I was like, you know when I want to start something new.

[1459] I want to be able to help every athlete out there that goes out there and risks their life.

[1460] So I started making equipment.

[1461] And with my injuries, I just couldn't coach.

[1462] That's why Shane broke his guys anymore.

[1463] My body was so fucked up all the time.

[1464] What kind of injuries are you out?

[1465] I've had all sorts of injuries, dude.

[1466] It's like, and they're always lasting.

[1467] Elbows and wrists.

[1468] And like, when you're drinking a beer with a straw, you're at the bar and you drink with a straw, you can't pick it up because you've got the mashed potato head and what is good for mixing.

[1469] Your wrist is that fucked up?

[1470] Oh, dude, my hands are so bad.

[1471] So look at my how my hand opens.

[1472] see it's not it's not dented from taking punches I just believe it's from me trying to squeeze on the mitts because I got small hands and you got no left or right when it comes to a mitt and I'm holding mitts on trying not to let them fly across the room I think it just created my ligaments and my hand is shaped that way isn't that crazy but my forearms are so bad all the time so your hand doesn't flat now not at all isn't it crazy it's a cup I'd go in the hot tub and push my fingers and try to separate them and it'd be like the most painful thing ever but elbow issues of the inside of my forearms People don't realize how hard it is holding Mitz especially for big guys body punches Like my chest bone clicks now because of him He's got to I just can't take chest shots But I started making equipment Because I needed it Like I was like I needed to make shit out there Because you don't I'd had sponsorships by companies They'd send me Mitz and they're like Give us some feedback And I'd be like The colors are cool I would cut them open And I'd be doing this for 15 years Refoaming with I'd go find different foams Because I needed something and soft take the shock off but you need something a little bit dense to keep the bone from bone and happen you do the whole deal right with sewing machines i took my mom's sewing machine i said can i borrow your sewing machine and i tried to make a mitt that had a left and a right that i wouldn't have to squeeze my hands to hold on to because my hands are so weak and after two sessions i was like dude i can't even hold the mitts wow kicks i couldn't even hold onto the tie pads it's freaking crazy so it started by need and then i'd be at fights and all these high level coaches are like where'd you get that i'm like i made that one i remember the first pair of bits i made they're so ugly i went to joanne fabrics and got some materials and they made these bits and every coach in my gym was like, dude, I want a pair and I was like, cool, pay for the materials and make you some.

[1473] And man, all of a sudden I'm like a year out from these custom stuff and I'm an artist at heart so once I started learning how to sew that I'm starting to learn materials and it just went crazy from an equipment coaching standpoint.

[1474] And then I was like, you know what, I need to release something for the fighters and the hand issues and the training issues that I was always dealing with almost all the time my fighters were going into fights they were injured.

[1475] they were going into fights injured and that's common like you can talk to anybody they're going into fights injured and they have to because they're not going to get paid if they're not fighting and they're like instantly I could name a guy who's had how many surgeries and he continues to fight like with bad injuries and he's like well I get a surgery afterwards and he's fighting off adrenaline but how many times like the Shane Karma fight going into it injured able to perform and I was a psychologist and once I started doing this equipment it clicked everybody's like yeah we need better stuff We need stuff that's made for MMA.

[1476] We need MMA equipment.

[1477] It's crazy to me. There's a picture of you back in the day where you had this headgear on that was small, just covered your forehead.

[1478] And I'm like, why are people wearing these big ass headgears?

[1479] That's like old school.

[1480] When they made boxing headgears, people think boxing headgear is safe.

[1481] It is not safe.

[1482] You're putting heavier weight on your head that blocks your vision.

[1483] And if you can't see a shot coming and you knocked me with that heavier weight on there, you're causing way more linear damage to me. Think about like when you're at the, that park, I always think about the little springs with the dinosaur on it.

[1484] My daughter gets on and it's like it just bounces back and forth, but if I get on it and I like hang down.

[1485] Remember how Mike Tyson used to wear that real thin -haired gear?

[1486] Yeah, totally.

[1487] Totally.

[1488] It's just like a sock.

[1489] Prevent cuts.

[1490] It's all we need.

[1491] I wear it a month out.

[1492] And then in MMA, like MMA is not the norm to have head gear on it.

[1493] It's not because you grapple, you do all these different things.

[1494] So you get the clip in the way you can't do any type of grappling with it.

[1495] So I'm on a mission to create all this new stuff again, just evolve.

[1496] And it's never going to be better.

[1497] But each time get a little better, little better.

[1498] The UFC glove, the one Rashad brought on.

[1499] The glove is the same in the UFC.

[1500] It's still the Wano pattern.

[1501] Remember the Wano glove?

[1502] The only thing they did different is the skirt.

[1503] They used to have a skirt.

[1504] It was a pain he asked to get on.

[1505] Shane Carwin, I remember we had to cut into his gloves one time, and that's why that was changed.

[1506] Shane's Carlin hand was so big that they had to change the glove size because Brock was was a 4x.

[1507] Then when they had to make a 5x but they actually opened up the skirt because of that.

[1508] Because Shane Carman, when we actually allowed the commission allowed us to cut it open.

[1509] But when it comes to to the glove.

[1510] I can't even say it's the worst glove.

[1511] It's really the only glove.

[1512] They did have the pride gloves that were really good.

[1513] They were better.

[1514] They were better.

[1515] They were better.

[1516] It's the worst part of the night for me when I fight.

[1517] It's putting those gloves on.

[1518] If you start getting a burning in your forearms just to make a fist, you're constantly fighting against yourself just to make a fist.

[1519] It's constantly pulling you open.

[1520] The natural thing for those clothes keep your hand open.

[1521] It makes no sense.

[1522] It pulls you here.

[1523] And then to make it you literally have to strain the whole time with your form.

[1524] Everyone complains.

[1525] put this on your leg could you mind if I run around to the side of table which no no no go ahead that's uh yeah that's one of the one I think I knocked out so this is yeah I got cowboy with that one so this is the UFC glove yep so that's you can you take off your watch so I can yeah because the strap is key and so yours and so yours are the other ones the white ones are yours yes these are mine so let's put that on so I can explain so okay we're going to explain so it's a microphone so So this is what happens with fighters.

[1526] And anybody who's worn and fought with gloves like this, they put this on, they get the strap on, and they also have a hand wrap underneath this.

[1527] So what happens is when you go to make a fist, go ahead and make a fist.

[1528] Notice that it's hard to do this.

[1529] And when you do this, you start getting a lot of pressure in between your fingers here.

[1530] And that's a huge thing that fighters feel, what's his name, Robin Row actually has a, he's one of the cut men.

[1531] he has a wood tool that's the end of a hammer that stretches these out because the pressure it puts right here okay it's also hard it's also hard to it's also hard to make a grip so when you go to make a grip here it's tough because it's a it's a gardening glove it's got all these straight finger pieces here so you're packing all this material here and then as you squeeze it it's hard it's like it's hard constantly you have to use your arms at the end of the fight that's what everybody talks about it's this turning over your punches is where it really gets you so when you put this on and I want to kind of explain it to say this is the right hand so I actually made space back here for the hand wrap okay now there's a strapping system that goes down inside this so when I pull on this you'll notice this piece right here actually pulls on this there's no fingers so it's easy to grab onto there's space for the hand wrap but this strap is actually connected here with a seat belt type of material that pulls on the back of the metacarpal so when I pull on this you'll actually feel it lock up on the back of your hand oh this way better and then when you wrap like this, there is no grabbing of the gloves, so you're not going to be able to grab like with the Velcro.

[1532] Put you in such a comfortable hand, but like it's a normal position.

[1533] Have you brought these to the UFC?

[1534] I have.

[1535] I've been speaking.

[1536] You showed me these quite a while ago, and I said it before, and I think you've improved on them.

[1537] But this is far superior.

[1538] Dana loved the gloves.

[1539] He was blown away by him when he's seen him.

[1540] This is way better.

[1541] He liked the lace up.

[1542] It's so much more comfortable.

[1543] The issue is they're with a company called Diet Code.

[1544] That's one who makes the manufacturing products.

[1545] And they wanted to own the technology because all of our stuff is patented.

[1546] I've went through the patenting processes.

[1547] I've put six years.

[1548] So the company that makes the UFC gloves wants to own your shit.

[1549] Completely.

[1550] No, no. They don't want to own it.

[1551] The UFC wants to own it.

[1552] Oh, come on.

[1553] So the thing is with it is, again, I feel like I want to bring this to all organizations.

[1554] But that's not really the real issue.

[1555] Like the finger pokes is one thing.

[1556] At least you're getting paid to do what you do.

[1557] But just this right here where it's not.

[1558] Forcing your hand open.

[1559] Your grip is so good.

[1560] So much better.

[1561] So notice the spot on the side too.

[1562] Oh, yeah.

[1563] Protected, which is huge.

[1564] You remember when Rhonda fought Sarah McMahon?

[1565] She actually cut her knuckle right here.

[1566] Yeah.

[1567] It was crazy to me. Underneath the handwrap and everything, but the glove sits up above your hand.

[1568] So you don't protect that or hammer fist.

[1569] And again, being able to shape to the...

[1570] That's the lead break in our sport.

[1571] Yeah.

[1572] Boxers is the fourth and fifth metacarpal, and MMA is the first metacarpal.

[1573] Because of the distance, because of the thumb and so the first and second.

[1574] This is so superior.

[1575] It's a great glove.

[1576] But again, it's the training issues that I was focused on.

[1577] I didn't need, like, when I heard they needed the glove, I was like, cool, I could make a glove for them.

[1578] So I made a glove.

[1579] That's actually how I made my wallet because I was like, all right, let me think through this.

[1580] I cut their gloves.

[1581] You've seen a few times, but I cut their glove up to see what foam they're using.

[1582] I mean, there's technology foam out there, and it's crazy that our sport is not using any type of technology foam.

[1583] It's crazy.

[1584] So what is technology foam and what is this phone?

[1585] So it's made for contact.

[1586] It's made for to take contact, not like what you sit on, like a pad that you sit on.

[1587] And that's what this is?

[1588] No. That's, that's EBA foam.

[1589] Yes, it's, it's.

[1590] The UFC foam is the shit you sit on.

[1591] So this is not designed for hitting things.

[1592] That's what you're saying?

[1593] It's not designed for hitting things.

[1594] Again, it's up to the manufacturer to be able to produce.

[1595] But again, that's not a huge thing again.

[1596] In the fight, you want to have.

[1597] So much better for your hand.

[1598] I mean, this is, this is, I mean, it's not a day.

[1599] So again, I don't want to talk shit about their gloves.

[1600] They don't know what they don't know.

[1601] Please talk shit about their glove.

[1602] No, the thing is, is the injuries in training.

[1603] Like, the training injuries drive me freaking crazy.

[1604] And we're not using those gloves.

[1605] It's all these gloves out there that you're getting for $60.

[1606] If you're buying a glove for $60, it's getting made for probably five, six, seven bucks.

[1607] Like, it's crazy to me. The stuff that I'm cutting open, the gloves that say 16 ounces on them, that weigh 11 ounces.

[1608] Like, I've got to show you a glove.

[1609] Right and left never wears the same.

[1610] Right's always lighter.

[1611] Like, if anybody's out there, I recommend you start weighing all your gloves to see what they weigh in all your gloves to see what they weigh.

[1612] It blows my mind.

[1613] Me being a gym owner, do you have to sign a waiver to come into my gym?

[1614] It's crazy.

[1615] Crazy to me that gloves don't, they're cookie cutter tags.

[1616] Like, no one's checking this.

[1617] There's no quality checking when you're spying with things.

[1618] Well, your boxing gloves are amazing too.

[1619] They really are excellent.

[1620] Oh, that's crazy.

[1621] Okay.

[1622] So that was from season 10 with the heavyweights.

[1623] So it's supposed to be, how many ounces?

[1624] 16.

[1625] It's 11 ounces.

[1626] Wow.

[1627] Not for the heavy weights to spar with.

[1628] That's crazy.

[1629] That's not good.

[1630] That's a professional fight gloves.

[1631] That's not good.

[1632] But just the contour of these, I think, would take out a lot of eyepokes.

[1633] It would take out a lot of eyepokes.

[1634] The fact that your hand is, like, naturally pulling open on the UFC glove, it sort of, it lends itself to these eye pokes.

[1635] And you get to perform better.

[1636] Like, if your hand can stay in a better position, my forearm is getting bent out of shape.

[1637] Plus, switch with your gloves like this.

[1638] So if my glove is.

[1639] is pulling my hand back like this.

[1640] It's like doing a push -up on my door docking knuckles.

[1641] Right.

[1642] I have no leverage.

[1643] Right, right, right.

[1644] It's going to help performance.

[1645] Of course.

[1646] I'm more about the performance when it comes to the fight glove.

[1647] When it comes to the training stuff, it's about getting to the fight healthy and not having to pull out of a fight.

[1648] So explain to me the issue of getting this pass through?

[1649] Because this is the best glove for MMA for sure.

[1650] So there was a few issues.

[1651] Have you tested it?

[1652] And I said, all right, listen, your glove's never been tested.

[1653] What has it been tested with?

[1654] That's another issue that just boggling.

[1655] me that our equipment has never been tested.

[1656] NFL, you go to any other sport league, all equipment is tested.

[1657] Snowboarding, skiing.

[1658] I think everybody looks at this stuff, especially when it comes to putting stuff on.

[1659] You're a fighter.

[1660] Oh, you've got to deal with head concussions.

[1661] You've got to deal with this.

[1662] Well, football, they're playing a game.

[1663] You know, how many times are they testing stuff in other sports?

[1664] But look at our injury rate.

[1665] We have 70 % of injuries are happening in training.

[1666] Not the fight.

[1667] That's crazy.

[1668] You have no equipment on in the fight.

[1669] And more injuries are happening in training.

[1670] That blows my mind.

[1671] Hmm.

[1672] Well, it's because you're training a lot more than you're fighting.

[1673] Yeah, but again, like you think about football, like I've had someone tell me, hey, but they stop hitting in practice.

[1674] And I'm like, yeah, but you play every week.

[1675] So you're fighting every week.

[1676] So it's a whole different thing.

[1677] You need to be able to spar to know that you can make the right decisions in that hurricane to be able to know that you're conditioned to fight.

[1678] So again, you have to be able to train like that.

[1679] Some of the biggest injuries I've seen in training are like someone getting hit with a knee when they don't have a knee pad on.

[1680] They're throwing a kick, someone shooting down.

[1681] They hit the knee.

[1682] Josh Copeland ended up getting 17 stitches in my gym because the other guy didn't have a knee pad on.

[1683] Like, where are the standards when it comes to training?

[1684] That's a huge thing, too, is you've got guys coming in and going, oh, man, I've just got hand -me -down equipment.

[1685] It's been used for four years.

[1686] The foam's broken down.

[1687] Again, why is headgear used?

[1688] The stop cuts so you can get to the fight.

[1689] Do you make a knee pad as well?

[1690] So I've been testing.

[1691] I've had the same.

[1692] So this is the head gear.

[1693] That's your headgear.

[1694] No clips.

[1695] so you can grapple.

[1696] Oh.

[1697] It's like super cool.

[1698] Here I'll give you one to feel the...

[1699] Okay, so Velcro's on the top.

[1700] So feel the weight behind this.

[1701] Oh, wow, it's super light.

[1702] Yeah, that's great.

[1703] That's perfect in terms of the amount of protection, too.

[1704] Like, it's not delusional.

[1705] It's like it's not keeping you from...

[1706] It's the stop cuts.

[1707] Simply to stop cuts.

[1708] I run into an elbow, I run into a hip, I run into a knee.

[1709] I bet you can see way better with this, huh?

[1710] There's no blind spots.

[1711] That's why I make the angles.

[1712] I do on this headgear.

[1713] So if you look at the one with our funny -looking mannequin, you're going to see you lose no vision with it.

[1714] Yeah, no, you could tell.

[1715] Oh, that's so much better.

[1716] Oh, that's amazing.

[1717] Yeah, you don't have any peripheral problems.

[1718] There's no blind spots.

[1719] That's excellent.

[1720] The foam that we're using is, this is what I'm talking about, technology foam.

[1721] Feel this.

[1722] Okay.

[1723] As opposed to what other kind of foam?

[1724] EVA foam is in, I'd say, 95 % of head gears.

[1725] And is it just cheaper?

[1726] It's just cheaper.

[1727] You're not going to find carpet padding.

[1728] You're going to find the bounce, the recoil.

[1729] This absorbs energy.

[1730] This is what he's talking about.

[1731] Oh, that's crazy.

[1732] Think of water.

[1733] So let's explain this for people that are just listening.

[1734] He had this one foam, the UVA cheaper foam, and Justin's dropping, what is that, a ball bearing or something?

[1735] Just a marble, big marble.

[1736] Large marble.

[1737] And then it hits that cheap foam, and it bounces like crazy.

[1738] but when it hits the technology foam it stops dead in its tracks because it completely absorbs the impact think about water the faster you hit it the more you the more the faster you'll stop if you go into it slow you just kind of slide through it so that stuff you feel it feels like NASA foam like super super soft it sticks to your head doesn't move around so it forms to your head drop the bigger ball in there that's crazy now drop it on one of those other ones it'll actually pinch the foam through it and cause damage to it so you think about gloves How many times are you hitting something?

[1739] And in boxing, you're not allowed to spar with the gloves of your hidden bags with because you break the phones in.

[1740] Right.

[1741] And again, it's just crazy to me. There's no new technologies when it comes to these types of things.

[1742] Even if, I don't know what kind of pad is under where we fight, but if something was there to absorb the energy when we got knocked out and our head hit the back, I would assume that it would be better for us.

[1743] Yeah.

[1744] Health -wise.

[1745] Yeah.

[1746] All these things.

[1747] So with shing guards, most people deal with the injury on the instance.

[1748] step.

[1749] So when the shin guard is made, you have this in -step and you got this soft spot on the weakest part of your foot.

[1750] Knee checks.

[1751] It's like one of the biggest injuries.

[1752] Again, all the time your feet are like, ah, damn, I get checked right on that spot.

[1753] I'm actually making gear that has a boot back behind it.

[1754] So that protects that spot.

[1755] So you'll see it pop out.

[1756] So it's foamed back behind where you actually zip in.

[1757] So that's all protected on the soft spot.

[1758] And I have not found a shing guard out there.

[1759] 90 % of shing guards aren't left or right.

[1760] either.

[1761] He kind of just got to form it to your body.

[1762] You look at the straps and say, which way do they go?

[1763] And another pet peeve of mine, when I'm a coach and I got a world -class athlete and they're stopping every time they throw a kick to say, hey, man, let me fix my shing guard.

[1764] It's turning.

[1765] It drives me freaking crazy.

[1766] Right.

[1767] So I made shingards.

[1768] It's actually going to fit, not turn on.

[1769] You cover your toes.

[1770] Actually have flex where your toe goes.

[1771] You can adjust the bottom.

[1772] It's zipping in the boot area, so there's no sliding.

[1773] Like just again, rethinking how things are made.

[1774] Knee pads.

[1775] Knee pads protecting on the side.

[1776] So if I go to throw a knee, I'm not going to hit you with the side.

[1777] These guys are using volleyball knee -pad guards.

[1778] It just drives me crazy.

[1779] Like, world -class sport, world -class.

[1780] I know.

[1781] And nothing has changed.

[1782] So that's what I've been doing in my basement, having a blast doing.

[1783] Just creating this new shit to keep guys lasting long.

[1784] I'm the tester.

[1785] I'm serious.

[1786] I have not been hurt in five years in training.

[1787] It's super cool.

[1788] When I have forgot my shin guards two times, I believe.

[1789] And putting other ones on, it's like I feel so vulnerable when I'm wearing them.

[1790] There's no comparison And I mean I sound biased But top level athletes When they put this on It's We sell out every time And elite athletes are using their stuff Which is super super cool Try this pad on Don't say what's inside of it You might sound bias But I think you're right I think you're telling the truth I think this I mean Look just the quality of this shit I mean Trevor you sent me Some of this stuff before And I've raved about it It's excellent Did you did you heat it up Did you heat mold the foam?

[1791] No So I didn't think I explained that to you I just got to set it about to you how do I you got it you put a hair dryer in there for four minutes to watch what happens dude fucking crazy but that made those handles then you put your hands in there and kind of form it has like a moldable foam our base layer so you did this because of all the problems you were having with your hands yeah so now I wanted something I could just hang on like I feel like I can hang on something a long time like this yeah and the handle on a tie pad it's hard hard for me to grip with weak hands isn't that crazy and do you do you make these a longer form for tie for like kicking?

[1792] I can make everything.

[1793] I make everything to form.

[1794] So all over the gear that we sell, we custom make two sizes.

[1795] So we separate the foot size because you think like Rashad Evans.

[1796] Rashad Evans has a fat calf.

[1797] Okay.

[1798] And he has real short legs.

[1799] So he has to get the extra largest where it comes up where he can't wear knee pads because the shingars are this high.

[1800] And then he's got this this foot pad that doesn't fit his big ass foot.

[1801] Like he's got an awkward size.

[1802] So we're shaping everything.

[1803] We actually went to the UFC.

[1804] We're doing 3D scans.

[1805] And we shape the equipment to you.

[1806] So super freaking cool.

[1807] So explain to me again why the UFC doesn't adopt this glove.

[1808] I love you.

[1809] Hey, I spent two years there and again, Dana gets it.

[1810] I don't want to sell this to the UFC.

[1811] I would much rather give it to Dana.

[1812] I feel like Dana helped grow this industry, what it is.

[1813] But they're not Zufa no more.

[1814] They're a different company.

[1815] Yeah.

[1816] And again, it's very hard.

[1817] I'm speaking, like you were talking earlier, I speak a language.

[1818] They can't understand.

[1819] They don't know.

[1820] You don't know what you don't know.

[1821] Right.

[1822] They don't understand the issues that I deal with.

[1823] When we talked about the gloves, they're saying.

[1824] Are you talking about the owners?

[1825] No, I'm talking about the people who handle the deals.

[1826] They don't sit back in the locker rooms and deal with what goes on with the fight gloves, how your arms get tired.

[1827] They don't even know their gloves suck.

[1828] They have no idea.

[1829] They have to know.

[1830] They don't know what you don't know.

[1831] Why would they?

[1832] Right.

[1833] They're like, well, look, we put on this fight.

[1834] Max Holloway and Volcanowski, they wore the regular gloves.

[1835] We're fine.

[1836] Yeah.

[1837] Every single fighter has a complaint about your gloves.

[1838] That's what they should know.

[1839] So they wanted to own the technology, and that technology they had, the internal strapping system is actually a, technology that can go into any sport and is it used in all my equipment so I was like dude I can't just do that for the fight glove and again I want this in all organizations right so so my goal is the the training aspect first again I want to help the fighters get to the fight that's key they got to get paid there be in a secondary when you order our shin guards you're gonna you they come by your shoe size by your shin link you're gonna get a video it's gonna tell you how to give us your measurements you're gonna get a custom fit we custom tail about Tim means Duran win like it's just crazy crazy we did three 3D scans.

[1840] Who was there?

[1841] Because I wasn't there for a day.

[1842] We have a 3D body scan, and right now we're currently scanning all UFC athletes that want to get scanned.

[1843] Because we want to test it with them.

[1844] And we're going to give them a fight kit.

[1845] It's going to be shingard, headgear, 7 -ounce gloves.

[1846] I didn't bring you my 7 -ounce gloves to show you a very sweet.

[1847] 16 -ounce gloves and a pair of 4 -ounce M .A. So the 7 -ounce gloves are bad gloves?

[1848] I use them.

[1849] I use those for, so as an M -M -A, you know, fight it.

[1850] We sparred two times.

[1851] One day is 1 -day is M -M -A sparring.

[1852] So we use 7 -ounce gloves.

[1853] And what is this way?

[1854] Is this four?

[1855] That's four ounces.

[1856] That's a five glove.

[1857] That one's actually the same as the other one.

[1858] The 5 .8 ounces.

[1859] This seems like it protects your knuckles so much better.

[1860] Totally.

[1861] I mean, we go back to the 4 ounce gloves.

[1862] Again, everybody thinks every UFC glove is 4 ounces.

[1863] You're going from 5X to extra small.

[1864] So you're going from about 8 .something ounces all the way down to like 2 .9 ounces for the fly weights.

[1865] Yeah, fly weights, yep.

[1866] This is amazing.

[1867] This is really good.

[1868] So what has to be done?

[1869] So this is...

[1870] Seems like someone needs to put some pressure on somebody.

[1871] Well, again, it's a...

[1872] When it comes to testing things, like we're testing things, you've got to see the testing and we're doing it.

[1873] It's super fucking cool.

[1874] I've got data collectors right here.

[1875] Check out this hand that we got.

[1876] It's got sensor points on it to be able to tell the force.

[1877] Because they were like, why, do you have it tested?

[1878] Fake hand.

[1879] Yeah, so it's a rubber hand with sensors in it to be able to test.

[1880] So we're testing everything because they were like, have you tested it?

[1881] Have you proved it?

[1882] I'm like, what am I testing against?

[1883] Like, what do you guys want me to test it against?

[1884] Like, it's no way.

[1885] What does that mean?

[1886] I'm testing it.

[1887] Listen.

[1888] This is super cool.

[1889] Give it to a fighter.

[1890] Tell him to put it on.

[1891] Do you like it?

[1892] Yeah, this is better.

[1893] Listen to him.

[1894] That's the test.

[1895] So this is pretty cool.

[1896] Move to the right.

[1897] Okay.

[1898] So those are x -rays with gloves on.

[1899] So you can kind of see how I think.

[1900] I know what a glove feels like on the inside.

[1901] Almost all boxing gloves have you in a door -knocking knuckle position.

[1902] And there's so much floating space.

[1903] wait until you see the X -Fractor glove in there.

[1904] Look at the foam.

[1905] It's so cool how it supports around your hands.

[1906] Are these your wraps?

[1907] Yeah, those are wraps that I actually stepped away from because we put the straps inside the gloves.

[1908] So they say that when you start to think...

[1909] You don't use wraps?

[1910] I haven't used wraps in three years.

[1911] So let me talk about this real quick.

[1912] Okay.

[1913] Even for heavy bag gloves?

[1914] Nothing.

[1915] So I would never tell anybody that back in the day because I'd be like, when I was fighting, I was like...

[1916] These were the wraps or these are the wraps that are now inside the gloves.

[1917] Those are wraps.

[1918] How I started onics was I started with hand wraps outside of my equipment that I was doing.

[1919] I was like, all right, what can I bring to market?

[1920] So I started a patent on hand wraps.

[1921] And with this patent, it came into the gloves.

[1922] I was like, well, fuck, if I can make gloves that have support system in it, because you think about what do you need a hand wrap for?

[1923] And I'm not talking a professional hand wrap that you fight in.

[1924] I'm talking about the 120 -inch wrap that gets tangled up in your laundry and stinks up your gloves when you put them on.

[1925] This wrap that I was doing, I was able to put inside the glove.

[1926] And if I'm able to make a glove fit in the size so the strapping pulls the glove down to shrink against your hand, pulls it up.

[1927] If I have a glove that's too big, I've always had small hands.

[1928] And when I have this extra space, I go to hit him.

[1929] He bobs it and weaves his head.

[1930] And my hand does this and tweaks because the glove is this much longer on this side.

[1931] I start to cause hand problems.

[1932] Okay, when I'm wrapping my hands, all I'm doing is adding more material in the ball of my hand here.

[1933] So if I were grabbing onto something, the more material I have in between my hand.

[1934] Let me see that foam real quick, yellow foam.

[1935] So if I have, so when you're putting wrap on and you've got material inside your hand here, Joe, I've also got the material from the glove.

[1936] So the more of the material I put inside my hand here, I stop getting my natural fist.

[1937] Right.

[1938] I start to get this.

[1939] And that causes my leverage points to start causing injuries.

[1940] If you have ligament injuries, it's because you don't have any flex behind so I can't pack my fist.

[1941] So I'm stretching my fingers.

[1942] If I'm not lining my strong bones up, meaning my metacarpals down with my strong bone, I'm not getting the correct alignment in my fist.

[1943] If I start going to my door knocking knuckles, I'm not lining my wrist up.

[1944] For people who are just listening to this too, Trevor has a whole series of x -rays of a person's hand inside regular gloves and then inside his gloves.

[1945] And it shows you that with the onyx gloves, you're getting a flat knuckle at the top.

[1946] So it would be just like bawling your fist with nothing in your hand and punching someone with the knuckles.

[1947] as opposed to, like you said, hitting him with that door knock, door knock position.

[1948] We have a tiny, tiny, because, again, this is not good, but any kind of flex here is going to cause ligament damage.

[1949] So Rose would not go without wraps.

[1950] She would not go without wraps.

[1951] And then after six months of using the gloves, she's like, I'm going to try it without wraps.

[1952] She didn't have a fight schedule, but I always recommend, hey, man, if it gets what you, again, change is hard for a lot of people.

[1953] I would never have done it when I was fighting.

[1954] Do they force you to wrap your hands in the UFC?

[1955] No. I don't believe so.

[1956] I mean, they're going to send a cut man to you.

[1957] Now, a professional hand wrap is different because when I get a professional hand wrap on, there's a little space of material.

[1958] So it's like grabbing onto a finger.

[1959] Right.

[1960] That's great.

[1961] I got a little bit of grip.

[1962] But when you start packing too much material, like the hand wraps 120 inches, that's where the issue is.

[1963] If I don't know how to wrap my hand, I'm causing more damage because I'm putting too much material.

[1964] Right.

[1965] And he's stressing out the ligaments.

[1966] And again, that's what's causing the damage in the hands.

[1967] And again, hand injuries are, that's your money makers.

[1968] So one more time.

[1969] What do we have to do to do to get this into the, UFC.

[1970] I think we either wait for the Diaco deal to get up or we continue to do what we're doing.

[1971] Is Diaco the company that makes these?

[1972] Is that what the deal?

[1973] Who's Diaco?

[1974] So, Diaco is now making the glove for the UFC.

[1975] Okay.

[1976] It used to be century before that.

[1977] Okay.

[1978] Century was doing it.

[1979] So their deal is for how long?

[1980] Do we know?

[1981] I don't know.

[1982] We don't know.

[1983] We want those in the UFC.

[1984] This is way better.

[1985] Yeah, it's way better.

[1986] But again, my goal, Joe, like that's, the fight is not a huge issue.

[1987] I did that as a favor.

[1988] Like I was like, I could help It would be great marketing, too, right?

[1989] Right.

[1990] But my thing is helping the injuries.

[1991] The ones that I dealt with with issues of people having crappy gloves.

[1992] I mean, think about it.

[1993] I understand what you're saying, but let's get to the heat of the matter here.

[1994] So Diaco, is that how you say the name?

[1995] Diaco?

[1996] D -Y -A -O.

[1997] So they want this technology?

[1998] They want to own it?

[1999] No. UFC wants to own it.

[2000] UFC wants to own it.

[2001] But they want me to work with Diaco to be able to do it.

[2002] Now, if I work with Diaco, they want to put the UFC brand on it, and they want me to partner with DiCo.

[2003] we're our own company.

[2004] Like it's not even a thing.

[2005] They offer you anything to do this or they just want to just absorb it?

[2006] Hey man. It's not even anything to what this is.

[2007] This is the, I'm going to change this whole freaking game when it comes to something like, now if someone like a Nike comes to me and says, hey man, let's partner, let's do something.

[2008] That's the different thing.

[2009] Now I got access to great manufacturing.

[2010] Our issues right now is we keep selling out because I'm dealing with a manufacturer that makes snowboard boots because they have the best strapping system.

[2011] They have the best materials because it's waterproof.

[2012] It doesn't take on water.

[2013] start to get the bacterias.

[2014] I've used so many different manufacturing companies that make gloves already, and they can't make what I make because they're stuck in their old patterns.

[2015] They're all ways of making gloves that way.

[2016] I've tried so many.

[2017] So we make them out of house.

[2018] Jesus Christ.

[2019] So this is a problem.

[2020] No, that's the solution.

[2021] This is the solution.

[2022] This is a problem.

[2023] This is not in the UFC.

[2024] It will be.

[2025] There's no doubt in my mind.

[2026] It's again, it's one of those things.

[2027] But the UFC wants to own this patent.

[2028] Yeah, they want to own it.

[2029] Like I said, I want to work with Dana.

[2030] Dana once that glove.

[2031] And so Dana knows about this.

[2032] 100%.

[2033] He's put it on.

[2034] He's tried it out.

[2035] Yeah, well, me and him had one of the best conversations ever.

[2036] He's like, man, this is the best thing ever.

[2037] It's the best glove.

[2038] It was one of the best things.

[2039] It's hard for people to listen to this and try to put it in their head because half the people are watching, half the people are listening.

[2040] But for the people listening, I mean, if you're a martial artist and you need to get some MMA gloves, this is by far the best club I've ever.

[2041] It needs to happen.

[2042] In the NFL.

[2043] What needs to happen?

[2044] In the NFL, when you're training, you're using high -level equipment.

[2045] And it's provided by the NFL.

[2046] That's your athletes.

[2047] Right.

[2048] So the UFC needs to provide it.

[2049] This needs to be.

[2050] They need to be wearing equipment that's going to protect them, help them get to the fight, and when they're in the fight, be able to perform.

[2051] Yeah.

[2052] And not deal with what I've been dealing my whole life as being a psychologist and get people to the fight and worrying about these issues of them fading out and being like thinking about your hand.

[2053] I had tied my boxing boot too tight one time.

[2054] I had these high Adidas, you know, those real tall ones back in the day, herons used to wear.

[2055] And I tied them too tight on my calf.

[2056] And I remember, all I could think about was my calf muscle.

[2057] I was like, oh, my God, it was such a distraction when I was fighting.

[2058] Isn't that crazy?

[2059] Tie your shoestring too tight.

[2060] This is what they deal with all the time with their hands.

[2061] First thing they're doing, like, get my glove off.

[2062] Yeah, yeah, it's too tight.

[2063] It cuts the circulation off.

[2064] It's all they know.

[2065] Your hands can't breathe, man. It's such an uncomfortable feeling.

[2066] This is night and day.

[2067] And that's made for a hand wrap.

[2068] Like that one is made for a handwrap.

[2069] Yeah, there's no room in the UFC glove for a hand wrap.

[2070] or the hand wrap.

[2071] All it does is cause more pressure when you add a little bit anything under there.

[2072] Yeah.

[2073] So now I got a glove up and get a bigger size glove than I would originally have.

[2074] The padding in this thing is so superior too.

[2075] Like when you punch...

[2076] Well, it's the difference in the phone.

[2077] It's shapes here.

[2078] If you pound on the table.

[2079] I actually make pocket holes for the knuckle where the padding would be on a hand wrap.

[2080] No, it slides in perfect.

[2081] I feel it.

[2082] It's amazing.

[2083] And again, protecting these areas too because the number one break in MMA is the number two metacarpal.

[2084] This shit drives me crazy when there's some fucking roadblock for using the best thing.

[2085] I love it, dude.

[2086] I love to, so that's what always made me unique is people like my dad told me in the boxing world.

[2087] He's like, you're going to be a boxing coach, you're too damn nice.

[2088] And I was like, all right, cool.

[2089] I went out there and smiled.

[2090] I was like, thumbs up to everybody to my opponents.

[2091] I was like, hey man, they're like, what the fuck is this guy smile with that?

[2092] It's actually what kind of built my name.

[2093] I love that.

[2094] Give me an obstacle and I'm going to show you.

[2095] I tell him all the time.

[2096] Picasso would paint a picture and tell people what he's painting, but people could not see it.

[2097] He knew what he was saying earlier.

[2098] I don't know what the hell.

[2099] He knew what it looked like before it came out.

[2100] He's seen it in here.

[2101] And I see it.

[2102] Like I see all the white space that's open.

[2103] Now it's about leverage and also right partners, right?

[2104] Finding the right people who want to get behind something that is so freaking important that is overlooked.

[2105] It's such a huge market.

[2106] Yeah.

[2107] It's such a huge market.

[2108] It is a huge market.

[2109] Everything gets attributed to boxing.

[2110] But boxing is not the, they're probably the main consumer, but they're not the only consumer.

[2111] MMA is so big, it's getting so much traction.

[2112] So that's the funny thing.

[2113] Boxing equipment market, everything's boxing equipment market.

[2114] I said, no, it's all the MMA guys buying the boxing gloves.

[2115] There's probably a lot of gloves.

[2116] If you look up, if you look up MMA gloves, you know, you're buying boxing gloves.

[2117] You're buying those MMA skins guards.

[2118] There's not much.

[2119] You're buying kickboxing shin guards.

[2120] Yeah.

[2121] There's no MMA equipment.

[2122] And we are specifically MMA equipment.

[2123] This is, when I grapple with this, it's similar to a head gear.

[2124] I wrestle with the headgear my whole life.

[2125] You know, it's not comfortable.

[2126] headgear was never comfortable, but it's protecting me from cuts, and I can still do what I need to do.

[2127] Trevor, you make anything for just Jiu -Jitsu?

[2128] I can make anything, dude.

[2129] Literally.

[2130] Oh, 100%.

[2131] Whatever you want.

[2132] We're keeping it simple, and we're actually releasing our shin guards, and head gears people have been waiting for a while because I made some for it.

[2133] That's how I started making a headgear was T. Duane got cut.

[2134] Duane called me and said, hey, do we get for a fight?

[2135] It broke his nose.

[2136] No, that was Corey Sandhagen, where I made the sweet -ass headgear.

[2137] You know the basketball players that wear the little...

[2138] Yeah, one of those odd.

[2139] And I was like, bro, you got bifocles?

[2140] I never knew you have bifibles?

[2141] He stitched one into a headgear.

[2142] Really?

[2143] It was freaking crazy.

[2144] Oh, interesting.

[2145] Yeah.

[2146] Oh, that's great.

[2147] Is that the place?

[2148] Yeah, Sandhagen broke his nose.

[2149] He wanted to fight still.

[2150] And so we're like, well, we got you.

[2151] And how long did he wear that in training for?

[2152] The whole training camp.

[2153] He just fought, broke his nose, and then I was in there, and he had another fight scheduled.

[2154] Such a talented dude.

[2155] Corey's such a good dude.

[2156] He's very talented.

[2157] But he was in there with the plastic piece, and I was making headgears at the point.

[2158] And I was like, dude, let me take that and see what I can do with it.

[2159] And I came back and he's like, what the fuck?

[2160] This is awesome.

[2161] But TJ, the headgear started with TJ because he went into a small headgear, he could still grapple away.

[2162] There's super cool.

[2163] I like how it's open for the eyes as well.

[2164] So you can see out of it clearly.

[2165] It doesn't get fogged up or sweat it up.

[2166] I told TJ I'd never show anybody of those pictures of me size in him, but look at the cut on his eye.

[2167] Oh, wow.

[2168] And then slide to the side.

[2169] You should be able to see a picture of the headge of.

[2170] Yeah, interesting.

[2171] And see how small it is and see how it fits.

[2172] Huh.

[2173] Yeah.

[2174] That's a genius shit, man. For me, the shingards.

[2175] Schingards are his best thing he's ever made for me. What about heavy bags and stuff along those lines?

[2176] I got a heavy bag that's so freaking sweet.

[2177] Dana bought two of them.

[2178] Yeah?

[2179] He bought two of them.

[2180] He was blown away.

[2181] He came down to the shop.

[2182] So he bought the whole crew down.

[2183] Like, again, this is something that's super special.

[2184] Everybody sees it.

[2185] Everybody gets it.

[2186] And again, I'm not.

[2187] in your heavy bag?

[2188] You can hit it.

[2189] You can hit it bare -handed.

[2190] Bare -handed and it's heavy.

[2191] Knuckles just sink and it doesn't hurt one bit.

[2192] It doesn't scratch you.

[2193] Really?

[2194] He's got some weird beads in there and some weird.

[2195] The way he stitched it, they don't pack.

[2196] It's weird.

[2197] So old tie bags used to have rice.

[2198] Okay.

[2199] Rice is really fun to hit, but it packs because it's got that little angle to it.

[2200] So if you keep kicking, you'll chop and you'll get a dent mark and it's so hard to work back.

[2201] Right.

[2202] It's very similar to that.

[2203] Like it's got tons of weight to it, but you're going to hit.

[2204] it bare knuckle and not hurt your hands at all.

[2205] And even with my mashed potato hand, it's one of those things.

[2206] You've got to be able to it.

[2207] Again, you're hurting yourself.

[2208] Like, how many bags have you kicked and kicked a hard spot?

[2209] I've had bags fall apart and there's lingerie falling out.

[2210] Scraps of lingerie, pink lingerie out of one of my bags.

[2211] They're stuffing it with scraps.

[2212] Again, where's the technology?

[2213] They got that new bag out, which is cool.

[2214] It's a water bag.

[2215] But do you notice what it is?

[2216] You know the ball that I'm talking about?

[2217] You know what that is?

[2218] It's a buoy.

[2219] It's one of those floating booies.

[2220] It's like, I always say, if you got duct tape at a yellow page is you can make a good body shield.

[2221] Like, you should put some handles on there?

[2222] Yeah.

[2223] People get real creative in the combat sports.

[2224] Where is the technology?

[2225] Where is the testing?

[2226] And that's what we're doing.

[2227] So are you selling that heavy bag as well?

[2228] Or is it something you're developing right now?

[2229] I'm focused on the training gear right now because, again, manufacturing is the issue because we keep selling out.

[2230] Like, our gloves are sold out every time.

[2231] Every freaking time.

[2232] I can't even get them here.

[2233] And then I'm like, fuck, dude.

[2234] Because it's such a difficult process to make that they can't make a lot of them.

[2235] Dude, they're selling.

[2236] They're selling.

[2237] They can't keep up with the demand.

[2238] I can't keep up with the demand.

[2239] I've went back to use my other manufacturer, and now we're working on building manufacturing in the United States.

[2240] We're actually doing all the shingards and headgears in the States.

[2241] There's such a difference between these two.

[2242] It's kind of hilarious.

[2243] It's like everything about it.

[2244] Also, this, I never liked this side stitching shit the way these fingers are done.

[2245] This is so much better where there's no fingers.

[2246] Nothing's exposed.

[2247] You're not going to get any scratches.

[2248] There's also no concerns.

[2249] Consistency in those UFC gloves you can pull 10 out of a bag and they all got Yeah, they all got different malfunctions the padding was like way up here and I was like pro look at your padding it wasn't sunk in all the way and it was just cut wrong just made cheaply That's unfortunate.

[2250] I mean it's really unfortunate when you're dealing with the very best fighters on the planet Earth and they're forced to fight what a unique sport right?

[2251] Like like professional fighters training with your common everyday people in the same gym you never gonna see it's crazy right?

[2252] It's like weird in that fact that like a guy can join an MMA gym and like a month later went up sparring you.

[2253] And I could start coaching and be 0 in 10 as a fighter and be like, all right, cool, you're fighting in two weeks, professional.

[2254] Yeah.

[2255] I could take you and make you a professional fighter in two weeks.

[2256] I can actually decide you go to tomorrow for a fight if you want.

[2257] That is weird.

[2258] Isn't that crazy?

[2259] That is crazy to me. That's no real qualification.

[2260] That's why everyone's a NBA fighter because there's zero qualifications.

[2261] I want to help grow this industry and just, again, create some type of standard.

[2262] And again, keep it safe, man, and keep it fun and keep the entertainment value high through performance.

[2263] If people want this stuff, what's the website address?

[2264] OnX Sports, onyxports .com.

[2265] O NX Sports, ONX Sports.

[2266] Yep.

[2267] Onyx Sports.

[2268] It's cool.

[2269] Onyx.

[2270] You see the one -on -one.

[2271] The one -on -one.

[2272] The one -on -one, because I believe you fight yourself, like, you're in all decisions.

[2273] So that's what the one -on -one means.

[2274] The Y is not in the onyx because we protect your Y. The Y is internal, so it's all very purposeful.

[2275] And again, the best thing is when I wrap people's heads, it fights, and they start going, they start throwing their hands.

[2276] It's a feeling.

[2277] Right.

[2278] Like, when you know that you got good shit on, I'm telling you, the feeling is everything.

[2279] We custom prey on every single piece of equipment.

[2280] Yeah, we put everything's names in the gym, the gym name.

[2281] I put the highlight or gaichi.

[2282] Push other people's things.

[2283] Again, without the coaches, without everybody else out there.

[2284] This industry would be nothing, man. Super cool.

[2285] That's very cool.

[2286] Fun stuff, huh?

[2287] Yeah, it is fun stuff.

[2288] But I love how much you put so much thought into this.

[2289] I break you, dude, I live at that place.

[2290] Yeah, I love it.

[2291] I'm so fucking passionate.

[2292] He does not stop.

[2293] Can't stop.

[2294] Can't stop.

[2295] I'm like, what can I help with these like?

[2296] get out of here, leave me alone.

[2297] I'm like, all right.

[2298] Especially when I'm prototyping.

[2299] When I got a new idea, I'm like, oh, hell yeah.

[2300] All this is done in your basement.

[2301] Now it's in the office.

[2302] I got these glasses.

[2303] They got the tape in the middle.

[2304] I got a pocket protection.

[2305] We're moving up.

[2306] We're moving up.

[2307] We've got the office now.

[2308] Saturday I fought.

[2309] Sunday we flew in.

[2310] Monday, I was in the office.

[2311] That's my job.

[2312] Look at him there.

[2313] Look at that face.

[2314] He's so intense.

[2315] He's a perfectionist.

[2316] That's what kills me. You know, he'll make a headgear.

[2317] It's perfect.

[2318] He don't like it.

[2319] He has to start over.

[2320] It's like, holy shit, dude.

[2321] I'll never be perfect.

[2322] But I'm always perfecting.

[2323] That's kind of how I think about things.

[2324] Well, someone's got to come along and make the very best gear.

[2325] You know the last technology that's come out in combat sports is Muhammad Ali used to be able to do this after fights, which is though.

[2326] And they attach to the thumb.

[2327] Right.

[2328] Yeah.

[2329] That is the last.

[2330] It's crazy, right?

[2331] Well, they used to have horse hair in it, too.

[2332] It's crazy.

[2333] Horse hair is cool, though, because that's for the fight.

[2334] It's like packs a punch.

[2335] It protects your knuckles.

[2336] and it gives you a good feeling in a hit.

[2337] See, in a fight glove, I still think it's about the fight.

[2338] But if we can help with finger pokes and bring it back down 10%, that's a cool thing.

[2339] Yeah, I don't think it can be eliminated because it's natural human instinct.

[2340] If you fingers are exposed, someone's going to get a finger in the eye at a certain point.

[2341] Yeah, but this, I think, will eliminate a lot of those.

[2342] I think it'll eliminate a lot.

[2343] I don't believe it'll eliminate all.

[2344] It might eliminate half.

[2345] It's going to elevate the performance big time.

[2346] Yeah.

[2347] Well, for sure.

[2348] It's a huge thing.

[2349] It's going to prevent a lot.

[2350] a knuckle brakes.

[2351] Oh, 100%.

[2352] With the strapping against the metacarpals, 100%, and it's going to make it a lot easier for the hand wrappers to be able to make a wrap that's going to fit in the glove and then be able to do what they're good at.

[2353] And less hand injuries will make for better fights.

[2354] We fight last longer in their career, too.

[2355] We fight like four inches farther than boxers, and, you know, it has to be accounted for.

[2356] And that's the lead knuckle.

[2357] So in boxing, it's this knuckle.

[2358] Because I'm close range, short hooks.

[2359] Short hooks.

[2360] At long range, when I'm at this range, you have a tendency of leading.

[2361] with your front knuckle, and that's why the front knuckle is always landing first.

[2362] Long range.

[2363] Long range.

[2364] Yeah, long range.

[2365] You're about two feet further out than you would be in boxing.

[2366] Speaking from a heavyweight division.

[2367] Yeah.

[2368] This is awesome stuff, man. I'm really excited that you're so pumped up about it, bro.

[2369] I get out about this shit.

[2370] I'm like a little child, man. It's really clearly better than anything else, and these mitts are fucking fantastic.

[2371] Those are three, right?

[2372] I had to make myself good ones.

[2373] So you make them like this, but you also make them longer like a time bit as well?

[2374] I have all sorts of stuff.

[2375] He makes whatever.

[2376] Whatever.

[2377] Like, if you want one little longer, he'll make it a longer.

[2378] little longer that's just the first and only one he's ever made this size everyone's and I test it first that's one thing that we've done we've done right now five years worth of research and development to create the patent patents make sure the patents were right we get the patents on the headgear patents on the shin guards patents on the MMA glove design patent and technology patent the strapping system is a utility patent which is technology super cool what's going to control a lot of shit in this sports industry outside of this kind of equipment what do you think on like strength and conditioning and how do you organize that for your fighters like what do you do you bring in an additional strength and conditioning coach yes we we have one that works on the outside through Lauren Lando one of the best out there and he's a he's a guy underneath Lauren I look at them as how the NFL looks at them they're there to make you more explosive more powerful but they're not there to condition you I condition the athletes I condition them for the fights they get them sharper they get The more balanced, they get their, all the stability muscles working.

[2379] So you have them doing strength work and stability work, and the conditioning is all done with fight training.

[2380] With fight training.

[2381] It has to be sports specific.

[2382] It has to be.

[2383] But we gauge the rounds.

[2384] Like if he's going on three rounds, he's going to one, maybe two times go four, maybe five rounds.

[2385] Everything else is three rounds.

[2386] Sometimes two, I'll pull him back, pull them out.

[2387] If I start seeing him get lazy or he might make a stupid mistake or he's just tired through the week.

[2388] And we gauge the training regimens like hard in the beginning, slow down at the end of the week because you start to make lazy mistakes because your body's tired, that's where I've seen a lot of injuries happen.

[2389] Do you work with the strength coach to have like a coordinated schedule?

[2390] So you say, hey, he's going to be sparring today.

[2391] Let's not have any strength work that day.

[2392] We change that throughout the fight.

[2393] Like for each fighter that we're fighting, different stuff, it will change it for that.

[2394] If he needs to be stronger, if he needs to be faster, it's on the game plan that I put together prior to the fight and then with what he's doing.

[2395] And where we get the most use out of him, too.

[2396] He makes the biggest gains is off of training camps.

[2397] That's where he makes the biggest gains.

[2398] This is where he gets stronger.

[2399] It's where he's consistently working and pushing more weight.

[2400] And when it comes to a fight camp, we start to pull back just a touch.

[2401] And you said you do running as well?

[2402] Oh, yeah.

[2403] We do hill running, like mountain running, where we'll do sprints on Tuesdays right after sparring so his legs are shot.

[2404] So we'll go out and hit some sprints.

[2405] It's early in the week so he can go and spike the heart rate right after he's got dead legs from sparring.

[2406] Right after sparring.

[2407] And then Saturday on a fresh day, so he spars on Friday.

[2408] Then Saturday we go and do a long distance run, which is only like two miles.

[2409] and it's very inclined just so it's not hard on his joints and it keeps him 18 minutes is my best time yeah you hit really good one last time but it again it's a the legs are key like a low Orlando had told me one time man running it's not the best for you long distance I say I know when I fight like when you run and you stop running your legs want to keep moving like in boxing I know when I was running because my feet wanted to move and when you get hit with a shot your feet still are active you don't get like oh and get ploddy so there's that benefit and again strong legs are key.

[2410] That's where you're staying on your base.

[2411] Lakes are the first thing to go every time.

[2412] Yeah, it seems like there's something, there's a benefit to running with fighting in different, it's different than any other sport.

[2413] Look at Nadeas.

[2414] He talks about it all time.

[2415] And he's got one of the best chins.

[2416] Like, he's just, he just goes.

[2417] He's got a flow.

[2418] He's got, he's got that momentum that he just keeps and carries and carries.

[2419] Long distance runners have that mindset where they can just go.

[2420] It doesn't matter.

[2421] It's like rolling.

[2422] If you roll for an hour, it's different.

[2423] You know, if you just grapple for an hour You've got to be able to stay consistent You think better You become smarter You don't just go out there and say All right, I got to be this fucking brute And win this fucking thing You have to pace yourself Yeah I don't do longer than 20, 25 minutes runs Because I don't want to pace myself I want to push it I don't have to fight more than 25 minutes Ever You make it like a fight Rose runs a lot That's a different thing too She's a runner, she can run I'm not a runner She made me stop running Really?

[2424] I thought I could hit a time that was not even close to hers.

[2425] I was running consistently.

[2426] I was like, man, I'm feeling good.

[2427] It made me feel so good.

[2428] And I was like, I'm going to hit a 7 -minute mile.

[2429] At least 7 -59 I want to hit.

[2430] I went out and, man, I ran a mile harder than I could ever run.

[2431] I had asthma the whole time.

[2432] I was like, oh, man, I'm going to be low -sevance.

[2433] Man, I looked at my stopwatch.

[2434] Right as I stopped, I was like, 8 -50 -something.

[2435] I've always been the worst runner, man. I'm like, man. He quit.

[2436] He's like, I'm done.

[2437] I said, I'll swear.

[2438] I'll do something.

[2439] I hit the bag.

[2440] This guy is Zach Bitter.

[2441] Zach Bitter holds the world record for the fastest 100 miles He ran 100 miles at a 7 -minute mile pace Jeez, it's crazy Yeah, it's insane He ran 100 miles in I think it was 11 hours and 40 minutes total And then he did another 100 miles This is the one he did at a 7 -minute pace On a treadmill So this 100 miles on a treadmill What is it like 7 minutes and 15 second miles Or something crazy like that?

[2442] a hundred fucking miles.

[2443] That's a lot of patience.

[2444] That's almost like you've ever seen a different kind of person.

[2445] Yeah, oh yeah.

[2446] Like that's actually, that's better, though, than planking.

[2447] There's the people's planking for like days.

[2448] Like, what are you doing mentally?

[2449] Like, what the hell are you thinking about?

[2450] You're just looking at carpet the whole time.

[2451] Yeah, I guess maybe if you listen to something very interesting.

[2452] Yeah.

[2453] You got to be easier.

[2454] Oh my gosh.

[2455] Maybe a book.

[2456] Something that captivates you.

[2457] You like any books?

[2458] I love books on tape when I run So my favorite thing But I'm worried about mountain lines these days I've been And I run with my dog And I'm also worried about rattlesnakes Yeah So I've been just listening to the sound of my feet Nice and breathing It's cool being out there with your dog too Yeah Something's super cool about that Yeah we did it today I love it but I'm worried about snakes Man these motherfuckers are everywhere out here in California I see Brennan's showing pictures like two days at a row Every day he sees rattlesnakes on his trail He's crazy He's biking in an area that has a high concentration of rattlesnakes but I ran over one once with my old dogs the dogs aren't alive anymore and we not because of this but they just got old but I ran over this snake and I didn't even realize it was a rattlesnake until I was in the air over it I thought it was a stick because it was totally flat and it was a part where I'm really pushing part in the run and I turned the corner dogs ran right the fuck over it too damn I'm in the mid -air and my god it's a fat rattlesnake like fat like my wrist man it was a big fucker i'm from southern arizona man we had a lot of rattlese south these two ms yep oh yeah that's a bloody shit Arizona has the fucking big ones man you made a good visual and i can actually i have that in my mind now you jumping over that thing that was a good visual i couldn't believe it in in the air over him i was realized i'm like oh my god can i ask you a question yeah so look what you got this is super cool do you miss doing fear factor Like that?

[2459] No, I'll tell you what, I love that show.

[2460] And the time I was talking with the guys out there, one of my favorite times were actually, like, I was like, oh, I like that, dude.

[2461] There was a chick who was getting, some dude was talking shit to her.

[2462] And you told you called the dude out, it was ready to fuck him up on the show.

[2463] You remember that?

[2464] No. You had called him out, and he was being aggressive to the chick on the show, and you're like, hey, man, can't be talking like that.

[2465] And he got aggressive with you, and you're like, all right, we can fucking do this shit.

[2466] You know what I think you're confusing it.

[2467] This is what happened.

[2468] A girl punched a guy.

[2469] And then the guy's, the girl's husband got mad because I told him.

[2470] I'll never forget.

[2471] I was like, hell yeah, Fear Factor is going to be a fight.

[2472] With the host, I didn't know your name at the time, and I'll never forget it, bro.

[2473] I put him in a tie clinch.

[2474] And I was trying to figure out, I didn't want to choke him because if I'm, if I choke him, then I'm doing something to him.

[2475] Yeah, and I didn't want to knee his brains out.

[2476] But I was like, I'm like, I have him.

[2477] If he does something, then I could do.

[2478] But I'm like, let me just hold this dude in the point.

[2479] plumb and just also let him know how weak he is.

[2480] You hold someone by their neck that's never grapple before and then you ragged them around and they're like, uh -huh, uh -oh.

[2481] So in that time of your life, did you know where you'd be?

[2482] Oh, no, I never know where the fuck I'm, I just do things.

[2483] You do it really good.

[2484] Like, I'm such a goal setter.

[2485] Like, I'm a dreamer and it's like magical to me. It's fucking cool.

[2486] I love it.

[2487] I love that shit.

[2488] Yeah, I'm not much of a...

[2489] I wanted to ask that because, again, you have come a long way, bro.

[2490] Yeah, I just can.

[2491] all just keep going, just grind.

[2492] One day at time.

[2493] Yeah, I'm not a last of action.

[2494] I'm not a one day.

[2495] I'm going to be on top of the podcast world.

[2496] There's no thought thinking about it at all.

[2497] It's one day I'll look back and see what I've accomplished, but right now...

[2498] Yeah, I don't...

[2499] I just enjoy what I do, so I keep doing it and I try to do it my best, but the Fear Factor thing was, look, it was a great job.

[2500] It was a great job.

[2501] I made money, it was fun.

[2502] It allowed me to do a lot of things.

[2503] It also, it gave me fuck you money, so I could do whatever I wanted.

[2504] So, like, from the I made from FearFact that actually helped my comedy because I didn't worry about saying anything because I was like I don't give a fuck I'm good man I put that money I really didn't live that lavishly so I'm like I put a lot of money away I'm like I got fuck you money and then once you have fuck you money you tend to say fuck you more often and then you get more fuck you money because you you could be yourself you know but it was a job fear factor was a job whereas like this never feels like a job I enjoy it especially because I get to pick who's on you know I don't have anybody on and I'm not interested in actually talking you what to say.

[2505] Yeah, exactly.

[2506] No one's bringing guest list to me and say these are the people you're going to have on this week.

[2507] I'm like, oh, Christ.

[2508] You know, like you see those guys that host at the night show or any of those shows like that.

[2509] That's what they have.

[2510] They have like someone comes to them with a list.

[2511] And then it's fake because whether they want to be around them or not, they have to act like they want to be right.

[2512] They pretend.

[2513] Yeah, and then you know it at home.

[2514] So everything has this air of fakeness.

[2515] Whereas people could tell here, we're just having a conversation.

[2516] It's having fun, right?

[2517] That's why we love fighting so much.

[2518] It's so real.

[2519] It's as real as it's so real.

[2520] That's the old UFC logo.

[2521] It's as real as it gets.

[2522] So true.

[2523] But that is what it is.

[2524] How cool is it, though?

[2525] Dana White stepped up and came out and fucking had some fucking fights.

[2526] I'm glad.

[2527] I'm glad he didn't wait.

[2528] I'm glad.

[2529] I'm so glad that he had the balls.

[2530] And he was right.

[2531] And meanwhile, like, everybody got tested.

[2532] You know, ESPN, a lot of places, it was like, not ESPN, but there was ESPN asked me about it.

[2533] But some places were actually upset that I was shed.

[2534] shaking people's hands.

[2535] So I've heard that you were supposed to do interviews outside, right?

[2536] Yeah, they had this crazy thing.

[2537] We all got tested.

[2538] That's what I'm saying.

[2539] The ring card girl has no mask on and every coach has, my coaches didn't wear masks.

[2540] They're the only ones that didn't wear masks.

[2541] So I do it.

[2542] So the thing was, is I'm back in the locker room and the commissioners there with a mask on.

[2543] Safety.

[2544] And he's like this.

[2545] He's like, you need to have a mask on and he's in, and now you have to have goggles on it.

[2546] And I'm like, listen, I said, first off, show me it in the rule book.

[2547] I know I need rubber gloves.

[2548] I've seen it in the rulebook.

[2549] I know the fucking rules.

[2550] You need to have gloves on.

[2551] And every state is different, but most of them have the rubber gloves.

[2552] You have to have rubber gloves on.

[2553] But I said, all right, show me in the rulebook.

[2554] I know it's not in there.

[2555] And I need to be able to be there for my fighter for safety.

[2556] That's number one.

[2557] He needs to be able to hear me and everything that I'm doing.

[2558] I'm there for him and his safety.

[2559] And what the fuck of the goggles is going to do?

[2560] Like, it just makes no fucking common sense to me. No, everyone's lost their mind.

[2561] Everyone's lost their mind.

[2562] Everyone's paranoid of this.

[2563] First of all, this kills less.

[2564] less than one -tenth of one percent, particularly talking about people that are really healthy, like you guys.

[2565] It's zero risk.

[2566] He was about to fight, and he had it.

[2567] I know.

[2568] That's how bad he felt.

[2569] Jacques -Rae was literally made weight.

[2570] Made weight, no coughing, nothing.

[2571] Didn't even know he had it.

[2572] Just had a feeling he might have had it because family members had it.

[2573] He was around somebody.

[2574] Yeah, it's not something.

[2575] It's people that are metabolically challenged.

[2576] They're the people that have insulin resistance problems, the people that are vitamin D deficient, the people that have asthma, obesity, all those people are in trouble.

[2577] Those people are, they're going to get fucked up if they catch this disease.

[2578] When you see the numbers drop drastically for the flu, heart disease, heart attacks, it's going to be proof that something was fucking wrong.

[2579] Well, they thought it was going to be way worse than it was.

[2580] But the problem is when everybody's fucking tested, and we're here, there's 1100 tests the UFC did, three guys tested positive.

[2581] They sent those people out.

[2582] everybody was tested we all knew we were okay that's the common sense shit that drives me crazy yeah like when people just don't have the fucking con like i'm like that it just makes no fucking common right it was a sheep mentality too everybody's like go bag gloves it's so bad masks man can't go anywhere everyone's wearing a mask i don't like that's kansas i went to texas last week i ate a real restaurant we ate a restaurant florida that was nice we did too it was nice we had mortons i mean the waiters are all forced to wear masks and shit like that was i guess whatever but just to sit down at a fucking restaurant and have a nice meal and a glass of wine hey no traffic here there is positives right now yeah for now but when it opens up it's going to be broke people that are angry driving like fucking maniacs it's going to be dangerous not wanting to go back to work because they were getting paid more from unemployment than they were at their fucking job there's a lot of that too and where's that money coming from where's that money coming from a little bit from our pockets I'm very very very happy that Dana White stepped up and did that fight in Florida and that it worked out well and it felt real different and I felt real very very fortunate I was thinking while I was there I was like wow there's not a lot of people to get to be here live for this and then when you and Tony fought it turned out to be absolutely one of the best title fights of all the fights though you guys were super quite privileged oh yeah I felt like that think about all the people with Uber amounts of money that would just pay for me and Tony to go fight you know in their in their house right Like, that's what you add.

[2583] Right, that should be next.

[2584] That's a good idea.

[2585] That's always been, hey, I got that.

[2586] Any rich people want me to, if I'll bring someone, we'll fight.

[2587] Oh, my God.

[2588] That is so awesome.

[2589] We will do that.

[2590] I promise you.

[2591] You'll get some calls from Saudi Arabia.

[2592] Home fights.

[2593] Yeah, you're going to get some Dubai calls.

[2594] I have a job.

[2595] I have skills.

[2596] They give you paid.

[2597] Just not much time you need for this.

[2598] How much money?

[2599] Two days.

[2600] That's a, fuck, I don't know.

[2601] There was also, there was a gap between the table and the table.

[2602] the cage that didn't exist normally, too.

[2603] Use your cage side, right?

[2604] Yeah, usually we're, like, touching the cage.

[2605] That's the funniest shit is you guys stand next to each other, doing your interviews.

[2606] And then all of a sudden, you're at different tables.

[2607] No logic.

[2608] No logic.

[2609] And they were, people were upset.

[2610] There was an article written about the fact that I didn't use social distancing inside the octagon.

[2611] We were tested.

[2612] I know, exactly.

[2613] We were tested.

[2614] What are you talking about?

[2615] Like, people were just looking for shit to complain about.

[2616] And by the way, these fucking two guys are about to fight.

[2617] Yeah, we're going to swap body.

[2618] No more social distance, unfriendly thing ever.

[2619] What's his name?

[2620] Smith.

[2621] Stephen A. Smith said that he thought that you guys didn't grapple because you were afraid of coronavirus.

[2622] Dude, I thought you were joking, bro.

[2623] I don't just like him.

[2624] No, he said that.

[2625] And he meant it.

[2626] No, I thought you were totally.

[2627] He laughed like you're dead to go on, bro.

[2628] He meant it.

[2629] He meant it.

[2630] He didn't just say it.

[2631] He meant it.

[2632] Yeah, he didn't just say it.

[2633] He fucking meant it.

[2634] We're literally swapping blood here.

[2635] Yeah, exactly.

[2636] Like, this is HIV world, hepatitis world.

[2637] Yes.

[2638] Yes, everything.

[2639] You name it, you get it.

[2640] Staff, everything.

[2641] Anything through blood.

[2642] But that kind of talk about Stephen A. Smith, though, he's a personality.

[2643] Like, that's part of what he does.

[2644] He's got hot takes on things.

[2645] So when he says things.

[2646] He could have not meant it.

[2647] He could be as smart as smarter than we think and said it because of the reaction he would have done.

[2648] Like, it's exactly.

[2649] It's a fucking shit.

[2650] Yeah, it's a lot.

[2651] Listen, he makes his living that way.

[2652] We're all talking about him.

[2653] I mean, that's how he makes his life.

[2654] up and makes his living, getting people to talk about some of the things.

[2655] He says he's a very engaging personality.

[2656] You have to use that in the next interview, though.

[2657] I don't grapple because it's over there.

[2658] I'll use wrestling where they know that.

[2659] I knew this shit was coming for the last seven years.

[2660] I hit him so hard because I was scared he was going to touch me and get that corona on me. I was trying to keep him six feet back.

[2661] I think real quick on the fight, I think people are like, why didn't he grapple?

[2662] And a huge factor in the Kabid fight is going to be my feetwork.

[2663] There was never a spot when he felt comfortable to close the distance.

[2664] I was constantly too far away and staying off the fence.

[2665] So that's going to be huge against Habib.

[2666] Well, you have the style.

[2667] I mean, if you wanted to say, okay, what kind of style do you think would work against a guy like Kibb?

[2668] First of all, a guy was a fantastic defensive wrestler, like you said.

[2669] And then a guy was a superior striker.

[2670] And those two things you have.

[2671] You've got to stay up the fence.

[2672] Yeah.

[2673] You got to have feet work.

[2674] Without the feet work, you can't see out the fence.

[2675] But Khabib's whole game is, you know, he's a great grappler as well, but his whole game is using that grappling in the fight.

[2676] Against the fence.

[2677] Yeah.

[2678] You will not, if he's taking a shot in the open is to drive you to the fence to finish the takedown.

[2679] He's not getting takedowns in the open.

[2680] Interesting.

[2681] You go watch all this fights.

[2682] Right.

[2683] You're going to see maybe five, a handful, if that, of takedowns in the actual center of the cage.

[2684] He'll start in the middle, but he's going to push you, it's too push you to the cage and use the cage.

[2685] It's going to be my feetwork.

[2686] It's going to be me keeping that distance.

[2687] where he feels slightly uncomfortable.

[2688] Like when he did go for the Eminari Roy, I was just too far.

[2689] He thought he was close enough, but I was just too far.

[2690] Right.

[2691] Well, he was already beaten down, but that was late, too.

[2692] Yeah, it was.

[2693] Because he's super sneaky.

[2694] Like, the one he hit on Barbosa was sneaky.

[2695] But it would have been the same in the first round because of the distance I was keeping.

[2696] You know, you have to, in order to shoot a double leg, you have to be at a distance in which you feel comfortable.

[2697] In wrestling, it's always, you know, I shouldn't, unless my head's touching your head, I should never take a shot because then I'm too far away.

[2698] Right.

[2699] So controlling the distance, staying off the fence is going to be.

[2700] be the most important thing in the world when it comes to that fight now when are they talking about for that fight i mean we got the same manager so that's kind of crazy whenever we want yeah that is kind of crazy man he's got no well henry just left but 125 135 135 do you think henry's done for good 125 135 205 and 170 i mean i don't know any manager that's ever had that many champions in the stable i think henry a year and a half from now is like hmm uh oh yeah it's again it's business yeah he wants big money you know that's what he deserves he does look he's one of the absolutely undeniably the greatest combat sports always had issues with people getting paid yeah yeah like i love it like anybody that just loves the fight like their technique is just so fun to watch so fast i mean henry's a special guy it really is i mean you look at a guy who he's an incredible athlete won the gold medal in the olympics won two division and then he's winning by stoppages against the world -class guys smashing people Yeah, he's amazing.

[2701] He really is amazing.

[2702] But I respect his choice.

[2703] I mean, the guy decides to go out on top and we'll go down in history is one of the greatest of all time for sure.

[2704] The UFC is probably, you know, as athletes, the hardest people to do business within the world.

[2705] So when you do have the cards in your hand, you have to go to war for yourself.

[2706] Because no other time will you be able to.

[2707] But the only time he's going to have those cards is when he's actually the champion.

[2708] Right now he is the champion.

[2709] if he decides to vacate the title like he has, they remove him from the rankings.

[2710] And they don't just give it back to you.

[2711] I believe that, well, he can earn it.

[2712] He doesn't have no problem doing it.

[2713] He'll get a title shot immediately.

[2714] Right, but he would not be the champion going into the fight.

[2715] So there's like financial considerations.

[2716] But that was, I believe that was him playing his cards.

[2717] Right.

[2718] Going to war.

[2719] You know, and they don't respect you enough.

[2720] And so eventually you have to, at what point do you say no?

[2721] Right.

[2722] I think legitimately he's probably done, too.

[2723] When you stop and think about the fact that he retired from wrestling at 21, not even at the peak of his powers, right, after he wins a gold medal, and then the fact that he came back from that first round stoppage to DJ, and then beats him in the rematch, like, what was it, like, two years later?

[2724] And with his knee and his ankle always looking like he goes out, like with that with the Morris fight and in that DJ fight, just so crazy, overcoming that and just getting, gosh.

[2725] He has nothing left to accomplish.

[2726] The Marlon Mariah's fight.

[2727] It was incredible impressive.

[2728] Because Marlon is so talented.

[2729] Fucking good, man. And so nasty with his kicks.

[2730] It was crazy.

[2731] There was like taking ass kicking for a round and it'd overcome that.

[2732] And then to come back in the second round, just blew himself to his chest and start smashing them.

[2733] The clinch, he was so strong.

[2734] He's a very intelligent person.

[2735] Yeah.

[2736] But retiring like that, if truly just go out of, like, no one's done it like that.

[2737] Like, George has done it, but he had a rough fight prior to it.

[2738] Then he came back later.

[2739] Like, the thing is, no one's done it.

[2740] I always say, do things outside the box.

[2741] Be remembered.

[2742] I think he'll fight again.

[2743] He may. I think he will.

[2744] Captain Eric thinks he's going to fight again.

[2745] I think, but I do think it will be on his terms, which is ultimately all he's fighting for right now.

[2746] Yeah, yeah.

[2747] Well, listen, man, the guy, he's done amazing stuff.

[2748] So the fight with you and Khabi, you both have the same manager.

[2749] Here you're talking about September.

[2750] Are they saying that with you?

[2751] That, I mean, so we, again, we both pretty much we decide.

[2752] I mean, God, I hope they have a fucking audience.

[2753] We don't have, we don't decide.

[2754] The UFC is the boss.

[2755] They will, but you can't make anybody fight, and I'm ready in September.

[2756] He's ready in September, so it's perfect.

[2757] Now, I know Vegas is going to at least allow some audiences in July, supposedly, because I'm at that park theater, the one that's right across the street from T -Mobile.

[2758] I'm there in July for doing a comedy show.

[2759] It's supposedly going to actually happen.

[2760] They haven't canceled it.

[2761] They haven't canceled it.

[2762] So I'm like, all right, is this real?

[2763] I saw New Jersey, New Jersey opened up pro sports.

[2764] With an audience?

[2765] I don't believe so.

[2766] I didn't see that part.

[2767] Yeah, that's huge.

[2768] You and Khabib, I mean, as much as it was cool to see you and Tony fight with no audience, I kind of want to see a fucking...

[2769] As much as I loved fighting with no audience, I want them there.

[2770] The spectacle of that fight, that's such a big fight.

[2771] It's the biggest challenge of his career.

[2772] It's the biggest challenge of Khabib's career.

[2773] It's the biggest challenge of your career.

[2774] 100%.

[2775] Yeah, I mean, it's the greatest of what he does.

[2776] Like, it's, again, we can't take anything away from that.

[2777] When you look at well -rounded fighters, he's...

[2778] well -rounded, but he's great in what he does.

[2779] And that is what made Chuck Liddell great.

[2780] Like, he had thunder in his hands, and he sprawling brawl.

[2781] Like, you get hit by him.

[2782] He's great at what he does.

[2783] And that's, what's so exciting, is having opportunities to be able to step up.

[2784] That's what I'm really excited for.

[2785] I know he's excited for.

[2786] And again, no one's got to see his wrestling, and I met this guy watching him wrestle of what he does was so unique.

[2787] It's a total different style of wrestling than that's hard to train for.

[2788] And it's kind of like a hidden weapon.

[2789] So I feel like we're bringing something unique into this.

[2790] I think it's a very unique fight.

[2791] And it's also, Tony was thought to be the biggest threat to that title because Tony is such a good grappler and he's so good on his feet and he fucks people up on his feet.

[2792] So him fighting you and you stopping him.

[2793] Like you take that spot now and also your style, in my opinion, is better.

[2794] Oh, for sure.

[2795] I mean, the thing about Tony's style is as Tony can fight off of his back.

[2796] He's not worried about takedowns and he submits a lot of guys.

[2797] He was going to fight that fight with the.

[2798] mindset of being okay on his back.

[2799] That was the thought process.

[2800] Whereas your thought process is completely different.

[2801] Being such a great defensive wrestler, but also being the superior striker.

[2802] Totally.

[2803] It's a very dangerous fight for Kibbibu, very dangerous.

[2804] Especially the confidence that you must have coming off of that five rounds with Tony.

[2805] It feels good.

[2806] I mean, I know how bad those kicks hurt.

[2807] You know, if I can touch your calf, I'm never kicking above the knee anymore.

[2808] Really?

[2809] Only below.

[2810] No, he will.

[2811] If you ever, not on purpose.

[2812] Not on purpose.

[2813] Never.

[2814] Really?

[2815] The calf kicks so devastating.

[2816] So devastating.

[2817] In the clinch, you're going to kick above the knee.

[2818] Maybe.

[2819] That's a non -never right.

[2820] Well, yeah, I'll try to break their knee by hypersending it.

[2821] But from the outside, it's such a, you could fire that a different distance.

[2822] You're so much more safe.

[2823] And there's so many nerves and ligaments that run through that part that have no protection.

[2824] Your thigh has, you know, your quad is a big muscle.

[2825] It's hard to get through your quad to those nerves.

[2826] You could touch the nerves.

[2827] That's why, you know, when he said Henry's cap.

[2828] and foot don't hurt.

[2829] It's because he got kicked in the calf and the nerve stopped firing.

[2830] Yeah, just like Michael Chandler and Bell Act.

[2831] It's unique, right?

[2832] If I can touch, I got to touch Habib there four times and then he's compromised.

[2833] Once he's compromised, he can't shoot.

[2834] He can shoot, but he has to have the fence.

[2835] If he doesn't have the fence, there's no fucking way.

[2836] Yeah.

[2837] I promise you that.

[2838] It has to be in the middle.

[2839] And he can give me, there might be a scramble.

[2840] He might out scramble me in the middle once or twice, but if he wants to take me down, he's going to have to put me against the fence.

[2841] Now, once they set this fight you you need eight weeks is that what you want to get prepared yeah so so we're getting close to that right we're in june in just a week or so yep july august um yeah so i'm taking i take 30 days off but they didn't give you a specific i don't know anything yeah just september i didn't say it's fight island my manager probably knows more details than i do fight island seems like there's not lots yeah it does i that's what i would think treasure Treasure Island or they open it up in Treasure Island and Vegas.

[2842] I didn't see this place on Google map.

[2843] Oh my gosh.

[2844] You know what it's like it's like fucking that movie contact where they zoom in, zoom in close and you see to the thing.

[2845] It's like, I want to like look at a Google map.

[2846] Look, they're fucking constructing the octagon.

[2847] Everybody built an island.

[2848] They put a whole bunch of dirt.

[2849] David won't even tell me. David tells me everything.

[2850] He won't tell me. And where's this fucking island?

[2851] I don't know nothing, dude.

[2852] I'm not sure if it's real.

[2853] Yeah, it might be just saying it just so he could get another day set for his little spot in Vegas and just be For international flights, it seems like the only option.

[2854] Yes.

[2855] Until the U .S. opens back up.

[2856] You ain't getting visas right now.

[2857] No. You're not getting visas, and I don't even know how they're going to have to fly everybody private to this fucking island.

[2858] I want them to know if I can get back.

[2859] Right.

[2860] Yeah, that's the thing, right?

[2861] Where are you going to land?

[2862] Your win bonus includes a flight.

[2863] If you lose, you got that boat in the ore. You land in Mexico.

[2864] You land in Tijuana, and then you have a boat.

[2865] You got to get to San Diego and then we drive you home.

[2866] It's crazy, but I love the fact that they decided to do all these different things.

[2867] Like, have the Tai Chi Palace fights.

[2868] That got canceled because the governor got his panties in a wad.

[2869] But this Florida thing was great.

[2870] And I'm glad that the fights are rolling again.

[2871] This weekend's a tough fight, man. Tyron and Gilbert, that's a tough fight for Tyrant.

[2872] Are they doing it in Florida?

[2873] I don't know where they're doing that.

[2874] Where is that fight?

[2875] I don't.

[2876] It might be an apex.

[2877] fight.

[2878] I know they're trying to move there.

[2879] Actually, I think it is because they were saying if not they would move it to Arizona.

[2880] Okay.

[2881] I don't know, I think it was for this fight.

[2882] Yeah, Arizona doesn't give a fuck.

[2883] Yeah.

[2884] They're there.

[2885] It's the wild wild west.

[2886] It is the wild wall.

[2887] You can have an open carry zone.

[2888] Have you seen the movie Tombstone?

[2889] Yeah.

[2890] So 40 miles north of that is where I grew up.

[2891] Las Vegas, Apex Center.

[2892] Now here's interesting as well because the Apex Center is a smaller fight, smaller octagon.

[2893] Instead of a 30 foot octagon.

[2894] I bet they'll move it.

[2895] They have to move a 30 foot in there.

[2896] No. No, dude.

[2897] that's like at the palms like when you fight at the palms you fight with a smaller one yeah the old days yeah so this one is a 25 foot octagon it's smaller but it might i think it's a good size it is smaller but it's not too small it's it's it's gonna it's gonna it's got too too small 20's 20 small but this is 25 the square cage out there did you victory victory and a square cage so that's that's the cage i fought in in um raging the cage that thing is maybe like 12 foot 10 foot it was like boom you're fighting speaking of the cage the movie the big boom would just watch that the other night it was classic with you in it you were like here comes the boom here comes the boob you were like signing people for fights it was classic it's so ridiculous but the cage in there would have fallen apart so it's oh it's the best movies like that are just the best yeah they never get it right warrior warrior didn't get it right they fought two days in a round like what the fuck are you talking you ever seen someone the day after a fight yeah no Oh, my gosh.

[2898] So stupid.

[2899] Classic, dude.

[2900] This is Hollywood bullshit, you know?

[2901] It was awesome, though.

[2902] That was some entertainment for me. It was fucking awesome.

[2903] The Apex Center is going to be very interesting because that's even smaller.

[2904] Way smaller.

[2905] Because it was weird being that 15 ,000 seat place in Florida.

[2906] I did.

[2907] When I got in there, I looked around and I was like, this is fucking weird.

[2908] So weird.

[2909] Like, they could have had that at the hotel.

[2910] We could have a conference room.

[2911] Just set up the oxygote.

[2912] I've been in some fights like that.

[2913] Where you got promoter and promotes for the first time and are like, cool, have your fighters.

[2914] And you're just hoping your fighter gets paid because you look at a crowd.

[2915] There's like 12 people.

[2916] and they've got an arena like that I've seen that I've seen it I've been part of some events where you're like you're hoping you guys get paid because you show up and fight but there ain't no one in the crowd yeah it's but it was unique because it's the tell you have the TV you know you're on the big show but it was just it was super unique well Gilbert's already done that he's already done no crowd because he did the no crowd in Brazil he fought Damien Maya so he's used to the experience this will be Tyrant's first fight like that this is different What is it?

[2917] What is different about it?

[2918] Like when you walk in the octagon and Bruce Buffers, Justin the Highline, KG!

[2919] Nothing.

[2920] No, no, no, he's screaming and nothing.

[2921] You don't hear anything.

[2922] There's no people.

[2923] It's weird.

[2924] You just hear the echo is sound.

[2925] I'm in such a fucking special place at that time.

[2926] Like, I have no idea.

[2927] I'm, there's, I mean, I'm there, but I'm not there.

[2928] What is happening in your head?

[2929] There's literally not a thing.

[2930] Like, not a thing.

[2931] You just go.

[2932] pure bliss just peace really weird yeah peace no nerves I don't feel a thing really so I get in there you know I looked him in the eyes and then you know he broke for a second and I was like all right give me some water I got the smokefire then then it's just peace then so then it's like a from the minute the minute training camps starts like a tunnel just closing in closing and closing and you get an octagon and you just see the blue canvas the lights you can i understand like i noticed the lights it's really bright oh there's like a smell they'll i smell it and then um it's just the tunnel just closes like he's announcing you know i've never even seen bruce buffers face in there i've never heard his voice i've never heard bruce buffers voice in there really um but and then it just closes and the fight sergeant just boom and it just closed it and it's over wow the difference between your fights where you You said you were having too much fun, like the Porier fight or the Eddie Alvarez fight.

[2933] And now, what is the difference?

[2934] So that was even, so once the tunnel closed with those fights, it was like over, over.

[2935] Now I get like, I have like three pieces from this fight that I can remember.

[2936] And so I'm more, I'm more present now.

[2937] More calculated.

[2938] Yeah, I'm as present as I can possibly be while still able to rely on my reaction.

[2939] and my intuition.

[2940] So your reactions and your intuition is all the stuff that you worked on in training and then you just trust it.

[2941] You trust that process once you get inside the octagon.

[2942] And my timing is unbelievable.

[2943] Just weird things like my dad's a genius.

[2944] My dad has honed these certain skills.

[2945] Like right now I'm seeing him doing it with my nephew, but he'll be watching TV and he'll throw a ball to you and you have to catch it as many times as you can and he'll move it back.

[2946] You know, he'll start throwing it sideways and you try to get to 100.

[2947] First you get to 50, then you try to be.

[2948] to beat 50.

[2949] Then he's going outside.

[2950] He's throwing a ball into the roof and it's rolling down.

[2951] You have to kind of listen to it.

[2952] And as it's falling, you've got to try to react to as it's falling to the ground.

[2953] These small little things that my dad has done, like, since I was a baby.

[2954] And my weird OCD, when I'm driving in cars as a kid, anytime there was a shadow cast on the road, I always had to blink as the shadow was in between the tires.

[2955] So it's just my ability to react and not hesitate is I believe what's allowing me to do that inside the octagon.

[2956] on in those situations.

[2957] Well, whatever the fuck it was.

[2958] Yeah, that sounds so stupid and weird.

[2959] No, it doesn't sound that stupid.

[2960] Those small little skills that I have constantly worked on since I was, and I never knew why, I never knew why I was doing this, but now, you know, hindsight is always 20 -20.

[2961] It's crazy because this is not something you could decide to do as an adult, right?

[2962] This is something you built up your whole life, and now you can do it, but your split -second timing and counter shots with Tony was pretty spectacular.

[2963] Second to none.

[2964] No one will beat me. Conner McGregor is going to be a fucking a race.

[2965] It's going to be a, you know, we're talking about milliseconds here, and that's the race that we'll have.

[2966] Is that a fight you're looking forward to?

[2967] I do.

[2968] I want to shut them up.

[2969] I would love that.

[2970] I really would.

[2971] Do you think that's a possible fight?

[2972] I could fight him right now if I wanted to.

[2973] You think so?

[2974] And everyone is going to say that I'm lying, and if it was there, I would take it.

[2975] You know, Daniel Cormier said that the other day.

[2976] I'm not that fighter.

[2977] for one I have an opportunity to do something that can be unmatched in the history of our sport to go in there to come off the circumstances to beat Tony like I did go beat Habib go beat Connor that's legendary so that's what you want to do you want to beat Kabib and then fight Connor but when you said you could fight Connor right now why are you saying that well he's calling me out but is he really because he's saying something about Usman too well and I know that's not real he doesn't want that?

[2978] I think he would take the fight.

[2979] With Misman or you?

[2980] With me. He wants to fight Habib.

[2981] Right.

[2982] I'm the only way you have to go.

[2983] You had to go.

[2984] If he, he could have got, when he picked Cowboy, he could have gone through me. He could have gone through me. There's no, you know, if you're a fan of this sport.

[2985] But don't you think he matches up way better with Cowboy?

[2986] Well, that doesn't matter.

[2987] That's irrelevant.

[2988] But I think it is for him.

[2989] I think for, to make a spectacular performance, I think he felt like he matched up.

[2990] I think it was, I don't think it was smart.

[2991] Yeah.

[2992] But now you're going to call for a title shot, no. Like, I'm in a great position because, for one, I get to fight for a title.

[2993] There's 500 some odd people on this roster.

[2994] Every single one of them would want to be in my position right now.

[2995] But I also have the ability to bring some kind of, I'm always draw a blank when it comes to this word, but a rhyme or a reason, a way, a way to a title shot.

[2996] For young guys that come in, they think politics run the show.

[2997] They ultimately do.

[2998] But there is a small chance that you get to say in, your destiny and eliminate politics.

[2999] And that's what I just did.

[3000] Politics were going to fuck me. I wasn't going to get the fight.

[3001] Connor was going to somehow or some way get that fight.

[3002] And now I got the chance to go out there and I, you know, did what I did.

[3003] Well, just through the virtue of your performances, you become incredibly popular.

[3004] And that's enough.

[3005] That's enough.

[3006] It's popularity is everything.

[3007] I mean, this is a weird game.

[3008] You have to win.

[3009] You have to win.

[3010] But it's also the way you win.

[3011] Like you, and also when, and you winning the way you did in Florida, when there was nothing else going on in the world.

[3012] There's no live sports.

[3013] And so you winning the way you did and doing it in such spectacular fashion against a hugely respected guy like Tony Ferguson, that makes you undeniable.

[3014] And when you're undeniable, weird things happen.

[3015] Timing is everything.

[3016] Doors get opened.

[3017] Timing is everything.

[3018] It was a perfect time.

[3019] It was.

[3020] Destiny, whatever it is.

[3021] I don't put anything into any of those things.

[3022] I just do what I can do today.

[3023] but you know timing is everything and it feels like that was part of my destiny to have the opportunity at that time under these circumstances well it certainly is a magical storyline if you were writing a movie I mean that would be the best way to if I can when I go beat Habib and then I beat Connor what what run in the history of this sport has been better coming off two losses getting counted out you know that's what I'm here for that I can inspire the world now do do they have anything lined up for Connor now because Connor keeps talking like something's happening.

[3024] He's so back and forth from the boxing to the MMA that it's again, it's...

[3025] Right, he keeps talking about fighting Floyd again.

[3026] He's trying to talk people into that he's the number one...

[3027] I would say he said he was going to come back and do this season.

[3028] If you have to put an argument for yourself, you're not that man. Where's the season?

[3029] Like, he talked about doing the season.

[3030] And don't get me wrong, I respect the shit out of him.

[3031] He can fight his ass off.

[3032] But he was like, I'm going to do a season.

[3033] I'm going to have three fights in three months or whatever he'd said.

[3034] And the whole thing is, is people stop listening when you're not sticking to your word.

[3035] and if you're going to fight, fight, stay irrelevant.

[3036] Pick away class.

[3037] Be just consistent as you are when you fight because he's super consistent when he fights.

[3038] He's very talented.

[3039] Yeah, I said in an interview that he was losing clout among fighters and in the game.

[3040] Dana White's laughing at him.

[3041] A reporter asked him, he said, Connor says he's fighting Justin next.

[3042] Dana laughs.

[3043] That's all the proof you need right there.

[3044] That's your losing respect.

[3045] So he has to go and fight if he wants to earn a back.

[3046] He has to kind of earn a position.

[3047] I mean, beating Cowboys nice, but he's got to kind of get another win.

[3048] 100%.

[3049] Something else has got to happen to really sell the public on it.

[3050] You can sell a certain percentage of the public based on his name.

[3051] And it was at 170.

[3052] I mean, again, there's the consistency.

[3053] I look at it from a consistency standpoint.

[3054] It's like, what weight class you're going to go in?

[3055] I feel if he was fighting at 1 .45, he's very unstoppable.

[3056] I feel like that's the weight class for him.

[3057] But him changing weight.

[3058] If I was a coach with him, I'd be like, hey, man, pick a weight class, be consistent.

[3059] He's so big for 1 .45.

[3060] I know.

[3061] I don't know how the fuck he ever made that way.

[3062] But again, he came from those weight classes.

[3063] He's also super hungry.

[3064] He's getting up to stronger dudes.

[3065] Like his speed is key.

[3066] And when you go up bigger weight classes, you start to lose your speed.

[3067] Well, that's why the Usman fight I thought was so ridiculous.

[3068] When I saw them, Usman was posting photos of that.

[3069] I'm like, that is so crazy.

[3070] Because Usman is enormous.

[3071] And he's so powerful.

[3072] I was sparring with him for this camp.

[3073] William?

[3074] He's a big dude.

[3075] Yeah, he's a big guy.

[3076] He's a big guy and he's strong as fuck.

[3077] Like when Usman gets a whole of guy, he drags him to the ground.

[3078] I mean, he's an incredible wrestler.

[3079] And his mind, too.

[3080] His mind's very, very powerful.

[3081] So when I was looking at that, I was like, wow, that's, is that really happening?

[3082] Totally.

[3083] You know, but it's not.

[3084] Yeah, that's stuff I's not happening.

[3085] I even texted Dane about that when I'm like, come on, man. I didn't even know nothing about that.

[3086] I didn't, I really haven't been working.

[3087] But that's when Connor's talking about 70, like after he fought Cowboy, he was like, I feel so good at 170.

[3088] I'm like, hmm, okay.

[3089] It's all show.

[3090] Yeah.

[3091] It's all game.

[3092] I think he really did feel good.

[3093] Well, of course, because you have to cut away.

[3094] Yeah, you fought a 55er.

[3095] Yeah, exactly, exactly.

[3096] So your ultimate goal is to do that, to beat Connor, and then what do you do?

[3097] Do you have a long -term?

[3098] Fireporee.

[3099] And then get the fuck out of here.

[3100] And that's it.

[3101] That's all I need.

[3102] Wow.

[3103] What do I need after that?

[3104] Yeah.

[3105] That would be legendary.

[3106] I'd make plenty of money, which is ultimately what I'm here to do.

[3107] And I took control of my destiny, which is all I asked for.

[3108] Yeah, so it's good.

[3109] It might be, you know, business -wise, the smart move could be, you know, right now to fight Connor, because obviously that's a lot of money.

[3110] I think you have more leverage, beating Khabib.

[3111] I make way more money.

[3112] And you make a lot more money.

[3113] More money when I beat Habib and then fight.

[3114] Yeah.

[3115] If Connor's not there, I'll fight Pori.

[3116] He doesn't, he's not on my list.

[3117] Connor's not necessarily.

[3118] Habib and Pori are the two on my list right now.

[3119] those if I fight them too with big paydays and I'm good that's a great plan man this is a good way to wrap this up listen man it's been an honor privilege having you guys in here really appreciate it it's a gym come true for me man you're you're a legend too and I really fucking hope these goddamn gloves make their way into the UFC they will they will it's all about timing right we're just talking about it and I really hope I'm there in September when you guys fight I can't wait to see it I heard me I heard maybe I was kind of pissed This is the first fight you've ever Commentate, oh, you did Eddie Alvarez fight too.

[3120] Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[3121] But this was the second.

[3122] It was fucking awesome.

[3123] Yeah, I was glad you.

[3124] All right, thank you, guys.

[3125] Thank you.

[3126] Bye, everybody.