Digital Social Hour - Betting $2M On Yourself: The Untold Fighter's Gamble | Roy Nelson DSH #680

Episode Date: August 30, 2024

Betting $2M on yourself takes guts! 💪 Tune in now to discover the untold fighter's gamble with Roy Nelson on the Digital Social Hour! 🌟 Join Sean Kelly as he dives deep into the world of combat sports, revealing the challenges and triumphs of betting big on personal success. 🎙️ From the electrifying atmosphere of Las Vegas to intriguing tales of UFC and bare-knuckle fights, this episode is packed with valuable insights and behind-the-scenes secrets you won't want to miss. Join the conversation and watch now to uncover the true spirit of a fighter. Don't miss out—hit that subscribe button and stay tuned for more eye-opening stories on the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly! 🚀 Watch now and subscribe for more insider secrets. 📺   #HowToBetOnBoxingAndWin #BoxingBettingTips #UfcPicks #BoxingTalk #UfcBestBets   #BrutalFight #UfcFightNight #Betting #VegasBoxingBetting #HowToBetOnBoxingAndWin   CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:25 - Roy Nelson Highlights 01:50 - Ryan Garcia vs Luke Campbell Analysis 06:10 - Bare Knuckle Fighting Overview 08:55 - Dana White Insights 09:07 - Training with Sean Strickland Tips 11:23 - Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler Breakdown 15:09 - Who is the GOAT in MMA? 17:23 - Drug Testing in UFC Explained 21:00 - Upcoming Fights Preview 22:37 - Power Slap Championship Details 23:30 - Boxing Career Considerations 27:10 - Fighting Outside the Ring Experiences 27:49 - Best Fighting Leagues Comparison 30:20 - Worst Injury Stories 32:05 - Fighting with Pins in Hand Challenges 34:22 - Where to Find Roy Nelson Online 34:33 - What's Next for Roy Nelson   APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail]   GUEST:  Roy Nelson https://www.instagram.com/RoyNelsonMMA/ https://roynelson.com/   SPONSORS: Deposyt Payment Processing: https://www.deposyt.com/seankelly   LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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you're betting on yourself then it's like that's an easy bet yeah were you allowed to bet on yourself when you were fighting and ufc and stuff to, you know, you have to only bet to win. Okay. But it was always hard because there was no betting lines because there'd be times where you'd be like, dude, I want to bet on myself. And I was like, mm-mm. All right, guys.

We got Roy Nelson here. Thanks for coming on, man. I appreciate you having me. Yeah, Vegas local, right? Vegas local. How long you... One of those rare breeds. Rare, yeah. How long you been out here? Born and raised. Oh, right? Vegas local. How long you... One of those rare breeds. Rare, yeah.

How long you been out here? Born and raised. Oh, yeah? Wow. That's what I said, super rare. Okay. Yeah, that is super rare. I feel like Vegas has grown a lot since you were...

Oh, super. Like, I want to say when I was born, I think there might have been only 200,000 people. Damn. If that. What is it at now? Two million. So, 10x.

Yeah. 10x, baby. What is it at now? 2 million. So a 10 X. Yeah. 10 X, baby. And all these new hotels, restaurants. Yeah, but the strip's always been the same. Yeah. Just changed the hotels. Right. It's kind of like the club, you know, the club industry where it's like got a new club

every four or five years. But it's the same club. Yeah. It's a different name. Facts. Facts. Was fighting big when you were starting out in vegas vegas has always been boxing boxing it was boxing like uh back in the day used to be uh the hilton but now

it's the west gate um and then uh caesars they used to have the outside venue remember the fan man no i came here three years ago everybody knows the fan man from, I think it was a Riddick Bowe fight. They were fighting outside in the back of Caesars, and a guy on a fan parachute came in through the ring. What? No, I need to see that now. That sounds intense, bro. That's crazy.

What did you think of the recent boxing match with Ryan Garcia? Did you see that? You know what it that was one of those uh fights that everybody you know had him you know bet against him and then and then plus uh they thought he wasn't taking it serious you know and he's like i've been drinking all the way to the fight yeah you know so good for him though but you as a fighter probably saw through that and realized it was marketing, right? Yeah, no. The thing is, in fighting, you either care about the guy or you don't. You have to have some type of opinion. Either, like, I want to see him get beat up or I want to see him win.

But if you're like, eh, who cares? He bet $2 million on himself. Did you see that? Yeah, but the thing is you have to have the $2 million first. Facts. Facts. That is a lot of money to just have lying around. Yeah, but if you're betting on yourself, then that's an easy bet.

Yeah. Were you allowed to bet on yourself when you were fighting in UFC and stuff? You have to only bet to win. Okay. But it was always hard because there was no betting lines because there would be times where you'd be like, dude, I want to bet on myself. It wasn't big enough back then, right? It wasn't even big it was like not big enough and then or it wasn't um there was too many like legalization i will say hands in the pot

okay like where it can kind of go one way or the other. Yeah. Because even in Japan, they always had, you know, like some fights were, you know, we'll say staged or fixed. In Japan? Yeah, so then they thought it might carry on over. Damn, those Japanese people, man, be fixing fights. They were always putting on a show. Yeah, it's entertainment, right? WWE style.

WWE, but for real. Yeah. You think fixing is still a thing these days, or is it kind of lost? I think there was a couple months back, one of the coaches actually just got banned because he got kind of toiled up with some of the betting guys. Oh, yeah? Yeah.

Which league was that in? UFC. Oh, UFC? Yeah. Wow. That's surprising. That's where the only money's at. That's where you can only bet.

Well, some of these judges, man. One of the Ryan Garcia judges scored at a tie. Did you see that? Yeah, but see, the judges, they can make it up. I'm coming from where I've been in a fight and going, what were you watching? Right. Because when you're in the fight, you feel like you're winning,

but maybe subjectively you're not. No. No, when you know in a fight, you're like – because if you've ever been in a fight, you know who won the fight. Okay. And your opponent knows who won the fight. And then at the end you're like, okay, what? You know, like if you're like literally going,

I don't know what you're watching, then it's – and then you can go back and rewatch and you're like, no, that's exactly – because on the subjective side would be like, does he hit like a sister, you know, a girl, or does he hit like a, you know, like, oh, you played pitter patter or tag. If you're in need of quality new tires and have been searching the Internet for a good deal, look no further than your local Big O Tires. For a limited time, when you buy three tires, you'll get the fourth free on select set of tires. And because we know that tires can be an unexpected expense take advantage of no credit needed financing made easy they work with multiple lending partners so the financing is tailored to you remember that when you buy three tires

you'll get the fourth free only at your locally owned big o tires the team you trust or whatever then you're like oh that's what you're that's what he was judging off of versus a real punch. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. I feel like with UFC, you could pretty much tell who won. For the most part. Yeah, because you're getting physically beat up. It's not like boxing where it's more like tactical.

Well, the thing is, I think with boxing, they actually start counting, like, oh, look, 110 punches to seven. And then you're like, oh, that's the sweet side. That's, you know, boxing. Yeah. Where at MMA, it's like you're kind of going kind of the same route, but then at the same time, you're like, well, no, I saw that guy draw blood. And he was kind of woozy. Yeah. You're like well no i saw that guy draw blood and and you know and he was kind of woozy yeah you're like i think you hit him i mean in boxing it's where if you get

knocked down and they have to judge it at you know 10-8 round yeah where in mma i could knock you to the floor it's not going to be a 10-8 you might be able to come back you might do some jiu-jitsu or because i you know follow you down and then next thing you know it's a 10-8, you might be able to come back. You might do some jiu-jitsu because I followed you down. And then next thing you know, it's a 10-9 or it's reversed and it's 10-9 the other guy. Yeah, that makes sense. You just fought the Bare Knuckle League, right? I just did George Mastol's BK, well, Bare Knuckle MMA.

What was that like? Because no gloves, right? It's basically MMA, just no gloves, so a real fight. I think it brings out the – I was just talking to my coach today about it. Like what's the difference between that and regular MMA is basically the fighters actually come out where it's kind of like we'll say the old school guys that got everybody involved in MMA from the Hoist Gracies, the Henzo Gracie to just Mark Coleman. The guys just loved to fight. Old school.

And then now the sports kind of changed where they were just a little bit more athletic and they're just playing tag. They're playing towards the judges. Jiu-jitsu side of things, yeah. Not even the jiu-jitsu just straight like playing tag almost like boxing like floyd boxes yeah just where it's like i'm not worried about knocking you out just i just want to go get the w and then just have the judges give me the uh the dub the win what do you think about that style versus the old school style uh that's where you lose fans i mean yeah i can see that it's where the the brunt of you know mma was you know in that 2007 to the you know from four to 2010

that was like the heyday 12 and then the rest has just been pure marketing just like more you know all this is kind of cool something to do on a friday yeah something on a saturday more casual yeah it's where that's where fights now are literally i think the ufc has fights every other weekend or at least three times a weekend or three times a month and then you might see one big fight once a month. I think in pay-per-views once a month now. But before, you used to have to, like, I can't wait until December when this card's, kind of like boxing, where boxing is, like you'll see Ryan Garcia might fight twice a year

if that once. Yeah, same with Canelo. I think Canelo only fights fights two three times a year max yeah so it's because if you you saturate the market you're like eh i'll get the next one yeah yeah that makes sense i don't know how ufc has so many events i mean it's crazy they've really grown into like an empire yeah well it's because it's all about uh media it's more what's what can i watch on tv right yeah pandemic, they crushed it. They were the only thing on TV. Because

the only sports, the only, you know, because everybody's like, I can't get that close, but we'll put you in a cage close together. Yeah, I love that. You still talk to Dana at all? Yeah, still Dana, everybody else, you know, it's, I mean, it's such a

small world. Yeah, especially in vegas he lives out here yeah you probably run into him all the time i saw you training with uh sean strickland yep just actually just trained with sean just uh 20 minutes ago oh nice how long you've been uh training with him before he was champ uh yeah when sean came moved out to ve to train because all the fight capital of the world, everybody at the Ever Extreme, the Randy Couture's gym. Got it. I heard he's ruthless in training. I heard he can fight in training.

Yeah, no. He's actually one of the first fighters actually I respected because he'd go, no, I'm going to go hard. And when fighters go, hey, I'm going i'm gonna go hard you kind of like yeah and then especially when he's an 85er i was like yeah okay you're gonna go hard yeah and then he actually went hard i was like oh okay now i can go hard it's just it just but sometimes um boxing is different when you go to a boxing gym you already figure someone's gonna try to take your head off. But in MMA, you're usually trying to put your best foot forward.

You're going, oh, are we going to work? Are we fighting? And then if you know you're fighting, then you just fight. So when you're sparring, are you going 100% when you're training? No. The only time you spar like that is when you have a fight coming up. And usually you fight like that maybe twice to three times. Because you don't want to risk an injury, right?

It's not even the risk. It's just you just can't do that to your system that much. You have to train yourself to do it on you know in eight weeks and then but if you do it constantly then your nervous system goes to right your body can only take so much damage right is that even that it's more than uh i guess i don't want to say i would say mental because i mean the just your yeah because you're just frying your nerves. Oh, wow. I didn't even think about that. It's not really taking the abuse. Interesting. But training, you definitely – you get hurt more,

but it's when you – I guess when you're more half-fast in it is usually when you – like we hear people doing football or when they're just not going 100%. That's usually when they get hurt. That makes sense. Who you got winning the McGregor-Chandler fight coming up? You know what? They're at a higher weight.

And then plus, I don't know. The edge, it depends if Chandler wrestles. If he wrestles, then I think it's a different you know ball game but if it stays standing i i don't i don't see uh chandler taking too many you know because he's been in a lot of fights where he's been clipped because he but he'll the the one thing is he'll definitely walk into that that genre of trying to fight like that. Yeah. But that's not his forte. Yeah, it's hard to be Connor standing. I don't know if anyone's ever done that, standing.

No, because if you, yeah, no. The only people like Poirier did. Oh, yeah, but his leg gave out, right? But that was, yeah, but with Poirier, it's because he's a softball too. Okay. And Nate is softball. Yeah.

So I think anytime McGregor does somebody that's same softball as him, he has a problem because he doesn't see it a lot. Yeah. It's tough. He's lost, I think, seven years straight now or something crazy like that. So it's – but it's the – what do you call it? I want to say it's the softball. I think that's his his weakness yeah every fighter has a weakness right yeah well it's like i hate southpaws myself so yeah you don't like fighting them no it's just i don't mind fighting them it's just

it's one of those you have to it requires me to think you got to react quickly versus like when you're, you don't see self pause is often like, if like where it's like walking, if you're like, I'm always walking. Yeah. And then all of a sudden you got to go. Now you got to skip.

You're like, how do I skip again? It's like a lefty pitcher in baseball, right? You don't see it often. If you don't see it, then it's not, it throws your game off. You're not, how do I skip a game? It's like a lefty pitcher in baseball, right? You don't see it often. If you don't see it, then it throws your game off a little bit. Yeah, you're not used to it. So that being said, who was the toughest opponent you faced

that you had trouble figuring out? I think toughest opponent figured out would be someone like Crow Cop. Okay. For him, it was because he's softball. And the difference is he runs from – or he runs into your power. That's scary. Usually they go the opposite. Right.

So it's a different type of beast where if I've got a right hand and he's running to his – he's right. Then I'm like, okay, get it. But he's running to his you know he's left into the power and you're like well do i throw what he set me up with yeah so you started thinking about it almost like mind games right yeah so that's why i said it's more of a when you're doing the hardcore uh sparring it's more of a mental fry versus uh the physical right that's what people don't see in the ring the mental game the two fighters are playing that's the i think that's the big thing that a lot of people don't get right because

you're planning counters you're planning your next move you're planning your stamina how much energy you got left yeah if you're if you start thinking it just the whole thing is just to go out there and have fun on that night okay so you're not really thinking like round by round well no well it depends on like if like i've got in trouble when i started thinking like that okay because what i'm like oh okay i'm gonna beat him in the second round i'm gonna do this but if i just go i'm gonna do this and just leave it at that then yeah i'm always good just more living in the moment yeah yeah because you can overanalyze and then yeah caught up in it because you're thinking about something else over here and then you're like i got hit over here yeah that makes sense who's the uh you probably get asked this a lot

but who's the goat in your opinion i know dana white has john jones this is uh yeah it depends on i think it on the goat it depends on what your i guess guess, your philosophy is. If you're like, oh, well, I don't care if he did drugs or not drugs. So if that's your GOAT, or if you're like, okay, the best guy that marketed would be McGregor. You know what I mean? But then you had the UFC behind it. So it all depends on what you mean by it.

Yeah, there's different categories. If you're like, oh, the best jiu-jitsu guy, it would be like Damian Maia. So it would be like different guy or like somebody that never talked, Fedor. Yeah. But then you're like, it depends because he's like he never fought in the UFC.

Yeah, Khabib too, people say. He'd be like a Fedor. He just didn't let him. But then you're like, well, who did he fight? And then you start picking and choosing. But I think it comes down to, as a fan, who do you know? Entertainment. For entertainment and for me, the heavyweights were,

my goats were Fedor, Crow Cop, and Big Nog.weights were my goats were fedor crow cop and uh big nog okay you know and those are those are my goats yeah i got john jones is mine and john jones would be the the next version of yeah like the you know if it wasn't for that drug thing i think it'd be obvious you know well yeah because like with john jones, that's the only, you know, that and then his only one loss with. But he should have won that, I mean. Yeah, but that's what I mean. Like that's the one where you're like, eh.

Yeah. Okay, downward elbow there, you know, and then you're like, well, that's not what they mean by downward elbows. Yeah. Also back then, wasn't it more common to do like enhancers? It wasn't as checked. Yeah. Well, back in the day you used to be able to do TRT and all this.

Yeah. All the different – they didn't really check or care because fans didn't care. So when did it start happening where they started drug testing and all i think it was uh myself and bj pin um when we started doing uh it was called vada voluntary uh anti-doping oh you volunteered yeah it was because i i knew i was fighting all all the heavyweights i was fighting, I already knew was juicing. So it was just basically, let's do it. Wow. And so it was to take the, you know, because I'm a competitor.

Yeah. And I wanted to basically take the, you know, mess with people's heads. Did that frustrate you knowing they were juicing and you were probably better than them? No. people's heads did that frustrate you knowing they were juicing and you were probably better than them no it just i think the frustration would be like when people would pay or you know like the ufc would pay to for a guy that would be juicing more than got it got it if i'm not if i know he's making a million dollars and i'm making $10,000, then I'm like, eh. Oh, it'd be that much of a difference?

Yeah, so that's why when you're looking at the numbers, you're like, I should get paid this. At that point, I could see. It shouldn't be rewarded. Yeah, yeah. At that point, I could see why they were doing it then if it was that big of a pay drop. That's the reason why they'd be like, I get caught.

I mean, the best example would be Brock Lesnar fighting Mark Hunt. I think he got paid a couple million dollars and then won the fight but then lost the fight but still wasn't really penalized. You know what I mean? Yeah. What's the penalty if you get caught? Is it a fine yeah yeah here it's like uh i would be like chase bank um or some you know big bank you know

messing up with uh like gold or whatever you know on stocks and going oh yeah we made two billion dollars but yeah we had a 10 million dollar fine a little scratch you know what i mean like it's like 10 million you're like oh yeah but you made 2 billion yeah it's not the same yeah they just factor that into the pnl right so you're like i mean you saw garcia do it he was three pounds overweight uh he had to pay 1.5 million right 500k for every pound but then he made it would he made 50 he said no, but what did he make? 15 million off the bet? Off the bet and then 35 off the fight, which is crazy. At that age to be making money like that.

So you're like, eh. Yeah, 1.5. It's like what, 5% of what he made? Yeah, so you're like, eh, it's like camp. Yeah, and it probably gave him a huge edge, three extra pounds in boxing. Well, especially if you're a little guy. Yeah, that way. If you're a big guy, you're like, whatever.

Yeah, well, the knockout heavyweight is way higher, right? Yeah, heavyweight. But with little guys, that weight, that water weight, that affects your brain. Oh, really? Yeah, so you get knocked out easier. Oh, I didn't even think about that. That's why guys that cut a lot of weight, they tend to get dunked out a little bit more.

Interesting. Wow, because, yeah, your brain's holding all that water, right? Well, it's the cushion. Right. Oh, wow. Yeah, this is stuff people don't even think about as fans. We're just watching people get knocked out. Yeah, so when you're like, ah.

Think of like a 205 that used to cut a lot of you know what i mean like for um and if they cut a lot of weight and they used to be like 240 and then they cut down to 205 then they're the ones that tend to be more knocked out damn that's crazy. Any upcoming fights you got? No, actually, you know, right now I'm going to head out and look at this weekend. We're going to go see BKFC and go watch those fights because those fights are actually very entertaining. They are, yeah. Because it's two minutes of rock'em, sock'em. And then plus you got Mike Perry and Thiago Alvarez. They're fighting. So I don't know when this is going to be aired.

But it's actually a really decent card. And I went out to one of their other BKFC fights up in Salt Lake. And it was very entertaining. They got fireworks. It's kind of like a power slap. Okay. Power slap is different, man. Would you ever do that for the right amount of money?

We were actually talking about it. I'm like, yeah. For the right amount of money, I would definitely do it. 100K. Would you do it? Hell no. That's retarded. You know they were getting nothing at first, right?

They still are. I think they're getting 5K now, right? Something like that? That's still. Yeah. Well, it's relative, that's retarded. You know they were getting nothing at first, right? They still are. I think they're getting 5K now, right? Something like that. That's still. Yeah. Well, it's relative, right? So 5K for you is nothing, but for them. 5K for anybody to punch you in the head?

Yeah. I wouldn't do it. I mean, I remember back in the 90s going, I would fight Mark Tyson for a million dollars. You know? And that was in the 90s. Yeah, he was different then. Now Jake Paul is fighting him. But you're like, yeah, but he's still fighting for more than a million dollars. And he's 60 now, so it's a big difference.

Lost some power for sure. Yeah, I don't know. Would you do it for 500K? No. We picked a number. It had to be like because because there's no – it's not an actual competition. So it's like whoever gets the coin toss. Yeah.

Like if I get first coin toss every time, then I do it all day. I do it for a thousand bucks. That's what I noticed because I went and whoever went first won like 80% of the time. Yeah. So I would do that if I was the coin toss. I do that for $1,000. I do that because I got this every day. They literally only lost if they

miss hit, which happens too, but those miss hits here because you get hit in the bone. Have you seen those? The thing is it's supposed to be fingertips, but then I know I would just always hit with my palm and what i'm gonna do get penalized yeah yeah for real they're out by the time you get the penalty right so you're

like that's why like it doesn't you know yeah yeah that i don't think i'd ever do that one but boxing i'd consider boxing's a different one because you know you're playing with pillows yeah you got what 12 ounces i mean do you even feel it at that point oh yeah oh you do you you you definitely feel it but it's um the pitter patter and then um like well small guys it's usually the pitter patter yeah like it's the constant you know the head getting bob in your head um but with big guys it's definitely 16 ounces you know hurts i feel uh i feel like in boxing i'd be nice because i'm only 180, but I'm 6'5". So I'd have like six inches on any opponent.

It depends on who's cutting weight. Yeah, yeah. But I'm pretty skinny for my size. So I think I'd be decent. We might have to start training. If I get the right amount. I mean, the reach definitely makes a big difference. I mean, Jake Paul, look at him.

He's a short guy. Is he? Well, for 185, he's like everybody else. But he's nice. He's only lost once. But he fought a boxer. Yeah, he lost once to the boxer. But he's got a good business model.

You've got to admit. No, I mean, the business once to the boxer. But he's got a good business model, you've got to admit. No, I mean the business model is just watch. I mean it's just entertainment. As long as you're, you know, Pride did it, everybody's. So would you consider him a real boxer or no? Oh, yeah, no, no, because I've seen him train. Like, I don't want to say true combat sports. I actually want to see him do – I think he would do really well in MMA.

Yeah? Just because he can wrestle. Okay. Yeah, he was state champ in wrestling. So that's the part where I'm actually more intrigued than him fighting. Mike Tyson, the only reason why you're curious is because it's a good boxer with Tyson, but then if you take his age, then you're like, I don't know if that's going to make any. He didn't look too good against the last one he did,

but I don't know if he was trying, honestly. Tyson? Yeah. Did you see his last fight? He fought Roy Jones Jr. Yeah. Yeah, but they're two guys that are just going out and getting paid. Yeah, yeah, that was a payday.

I don't know. I got Jake winning this. I don't know about you, but I just think he's got the edge. But how is he going to win, though? Points? Yeah, he won't knock him out, but I think he's he's got the edge but i don't but how is he gonna win though points yeah he won't knock him out but i think he'll win yeah and to have tyson to beat tyson by points doesn't really does anything for your i feel that i feel that you ever want to get into boxing oh yeah that's like one of my um bucket lists okay so that's next that's that's on the the list because right now i'm actually trying to um either get on the nate

diaz uh masvidal card or even uh jake's card i i don't i don't really have a i just think it's gonna be a fun fight yeah because masvidal won the ufc match but nate i feel like is a better striker and yeah it's it's definitely a interesting matchup, especially with, I think, their boxing styles and how you block with the polos. I feel that. I don't know what weight they're using, but you ever have to take the fighting outside the ring, out on the street?

No. I want to get paid. No one's ever tried you? No. No, usually if I'm um the cage or the ring it's usually someone trying to buy me a drink so not a good energy yeah it's not a so you're not like mcgregor just punching people at the bar no nobody i mean people want to fight him because it's his attitude yeah people like me i feel that yeah you were approachable at the poker event

you know it's about the energy you put off for sure i appreciate that what was your favorite league to fight in because you fought in so many you know the probably the best league or the best uh i'd say mental support was probably the ifL right before I went in the UFC. Okay. Only reason is because I would say that'd be more like the true like league style, kind of like NFL or like because I got paid a salary just to train, and then I got paid to fight. So there was no like – so it wasn't like fighting where you're um relying on the well like hopefully i'm gonna make enough money and then pay for my trainers and you know like where the other way where you already knew i could pay my trainers because i got this salary coming in yeah

and then the fighting part was the bonus that makes sense because you got a lot of expenses right you got the training and yeah training yeah besides training you got your you pay for um your coaches sparring partners oh you pay the sparring partners too uh when you get a little bit higher up oh okay i didn't know that well and think of like boxing boxing they do oh got it got it uh in mma the only time you don't is uh is you're like well when do you have a fight coming up you have a fight coming up okay well let's train together you know yeah yeah and try to work has to align yeah and the diet and the recovery um diet recovery um that's why the ufc does like know, with their, the training center. Yeah.

Where they're like, oh, look. That place is nice. We take care of you. And so you don't have to worry about some of the stuff that you start thinking about. Yeah. That place is nice. I went there. I saw the cryo room and the hot tub room.

It's pretty cool. Cold and hot bath. Yeah. You do that every day, the cold stuff? I just took a cold bath. But I did the old-fashioned way tub ice water yeah yeah there's some fancy stuff these days how many minutes you last uh i usually do 15 damn that is insane dude you got some mental resilience like i said but

it's only one once a week once a week oh once a week still. 15 minutes, god damn. What temperature? 39. Oh, my gosh. That is crazy, dude. You probably had to build up to that, though. No. You're a fighter. You just do it. Yeah, that's probably the easy part for you. Well, because you just got done sparring,

so you're like, it doesn't get worse than that. Yeah. What's the worst injury you've had? Worst injury I've ever had? Probably the worst is breaking both my hands when I fought Big Nug. In one fight? Mm-hmm.

Holy crap. His body was just that tough? His face was. He has metal plates in his face. Oh, that's not fair. So you're literally punching metal. So that's probably the worst because then it happened in Abu Dhabi and I had to travel over.

And that's probably the worst because then I didn't get it fixed until I got back home. Oh, man. Did you know he had metal in his face? Not until when we did x-rays. Holy crap. I'd be pissed because your hands wouldn't have broken if he didn't well yeah no yeah it was i it was one of those things that it hurt and then but you know did you ever did you ever feel like it fully recovered um yeah well actually i took a um a fight literally when i still had uh pins in my hand

so geez yeah because sometimes you're just training on stop and you never fully recover and then yeah no it was it was that and then you know when the ufc calls you just say yeah sure i'll take the fight yeah do they give you a heads up when they call or no no i literally they're like well well, will you take the fight? And I'm like, I'll take the fight. I just let you know I still have pins in my hand. So it was like a few weeks before? No, it was like I had pins.

I couldn't make a fist. I remember, I think, three weeks, four weeks before. Holy crap. And I finally got a, four weeks before the fight, I could make a fist. Which fight was that? Mark Hunt. Did you end up winning? No.

That doesn't surprise me. Couldn't even do a fist four weeks before? Yeah, but that wasn't the reason why I lost that fight. Oh, really? No, I lost the fight because in my head I was like, oh, I got this. I got this i got this little ego yeah because uh first round i got um took it and got to take down and then i was like okay i i like already pictured what i was going to do and then i got poked in the eye and then i

couldn't see oh and then i was like okay but i still got it okay i figured it out and then and then i wasn't you know paid attention then i got hit crazy how a little eye poke can change the momentum of a fight eye poke uh and then just that mental just going oh okay i got this yeah ego man it's like some people's greatest enemy yes sir any other fights you lost that you feel like you you could have won oh i i see the problem thing you're asking a fighter and the fighter will be like i could have won all it's like it's like you go to jail and you're like i'm innocent yeah for sure yeah you probably can analyze it and just realize what you did wrong yeah because i've never been in a fight where

at the end of the day i was like dude that guy was so much better than me like oh really never because you fought dc you fought some big names yeah like even when i fought dc i was even i was like oh man i should wrestle i should have done this i could have done this it wasn't a oh he was so like there's so much here you know and there you know right it wasn't it wasn't i've never been in in that thought process of where, and I don't know if that's from being a fighter or what it was, but never been in that, you know, process where I'm like, that guy was just so good. Yeah.

Well, I feel like at your skill level and your weight class, any one punch can just end it. True. I've been the opposite where I'm like, dude, I'll fight that guy all day long with broken arm, no arm. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. Dang. Are you, like, accepting of. Yeah, that makes sense. Dang.

Are you like accepting of the losses or do some of them still eat at you though? Any loss eats at me. But that's why I always go, I'll fight you again. And then I never. They say no. Yeah, so then I already know I already won. You won the mental battle.

I love that. Dude, what do you got coming up next and where can people find out more about what you've got up? RoyNelson.com and then on any of the social, Roy Nelson MMA. But right now,

just bucket list stuff, whatever pops up. Love it. Living spontaneously. I love it. Let's do it, man. Thanks for coming on. I appreciate you having me.

Thanks for watching, guys, as always. I love it. Let's do it, man. Thanks for coming on. I appreciate you having me. Thanks for watching, guys, as always. See you tomorrow.