Digital Social Hour - The Rise of PowerSlap's New Champion: Brandon Bardot | Branden the Butcher DSH #1271

Episode Date: March 27, 2025

Meet Branden Bordeaux, the new champion of PowerSlap! 🏆 In this electrifying episode of Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly, Branden shares his incredible journey from MMA fighter to PowerSlap world champion. Hear how he overcame a career-altering back injury, dedicated himself to the sport, and claimed victory through grit, precision, and mental toughness. 💪 Branden opens up about his rigorous training regime, unique techniques for building jaw and neck strength, and what it takes to handle the pressure of competing under the bright lights. From intense matches to wild hunting stories and life lessons from his butchering days, this episode is packed with valuable insights and unforgettable moments. 🐻🔥 Tune in now to hear Branden’s mindset on being a champion, his plans to defend the title, and what’s next for this determined athlete. Don’t miss out on this thrilling conversation that takes you behind the scenes of PowerSlap! Watch now and subscribe for more insider secrets. 📺 Hit that subscribe button and stay tuned for more eye-opening stories on Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly! 🚀 CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:28 - Post-Fight Analysis 02:12 - Jawsercise Techniques 03:34 - Going Last Strategy 06:18 - Transitioning from MMA to Boxing 09:58 - Mental Resiliency Tips 11:08 - Next Fight Plans 12:46 - Brain Health Importance 13:28 - Recovering from a Broken Nose 16:55 - Training to Avoid Flinching 17:47 - Mental Warfare in Matches 19:08 - Experiencing Dizziness in Fights 21:09 - UFC 270 Overview 22:22 - High School Wrestling Experience 23:39 - Butchering Techniques 26:30 - Bear Hunting Tips 30:31 - Goat Hunting Insights 33:03 - What’s Next for Branden 33:55 - Powerslap Discussion APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail] GUEST: Branden Bordeaux https://www.instagram.com/thebutcherbordeaux/ SPONSORS: KINSTA:  https://kinsta.com/dsh RXSUGAR: https://rxsugar.com/ 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/ #ufc #mma #powerslap #highlight #striker

We're just sitting there you know waiting for it and the next thing you know I start seeing these bear, bear cuffs that's coming in and you start seeing it for the first time in person. Holy shit. This is wild you know they got bait barrels down there and stuff like that. Well they you know actually when we were climbing up into the stand I climb it up in front of my dad and I get up there and there's a damn bone from the bone bearer from the from the barrel sitting right on the tree stand. Alright guys, Brandon Bordeaux here, aka The Butcher and New Champ of Powerslap. Let's go man, congrats. Thank you for having me.

Appreciate it. What a fight last night. Yeah, it was amazing. Main event and KO right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, first round. I called it, you know, I said it was going to be one and done and it was one and done. I said, well, he won the coin toss, so I said I was going to eat that first shot and put it out one and done. And then it's nice to speak it into existence and then go out there and make it happen.

Yeah. Do you like going first or second usually? Actually, either way is kind of fine with me. I mean, I would personally rather go first, you know what I mean? And not have to take a shot if you don't have to. But I mean, I'm plenty confident in my chin to where if I have to take the shot like I did last night, I'm plenty confident that I can do it, turn around, return fire and put them out in one shot. Good shit, man. Have you trained your chin or is it natural?

Yeah, well I've trained. I think sometimes it comes down to being able to have a natural chin as well, but I also do train a lot. I do a lot of neck exercises. I do a lot of jaw exercises. I've got these jaw exercises that I chew on. I've seen those. Yep, they keep your jaw strong.

So those actually work? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you can tell like the more I've done them, you can almost, like your jaw muscles almost formed like a golf ball. Damn. Is what it really feels like. And then the neck workouts and stuff that I do,

I go to like four or five different variations of neck work and we're hitting those like three days a week. Holy crap. So I went through a, from December 6th, so I knew when the situation, early stoppage, kind of a bad stoppage on December 6th, I knew that night that this March 7th was coming up. So I got with a new personal trainer, you know what I mean,

and really hit things hard and we really focused on, we did eight weeks of just strength training, and then we did four weeks of strength training and striking training So we really buckled down and really hit things hard this time and it was nice to go out there and and Put the stamp on it like I did. That's impressive, man Yeah, I've seen studies on how our jaws are much weaker now because of processed foods Yeah, people don't eat the gaming meat or whatever. Yep. Yep. Yeah, I've heard that a lot

You know, I mean that's what that jaws or size comes in You know I mean or or like you said, you know what I mean? People have gone to eat in a lot more soft foods and stuff like that. So your jaw is not as naturally strong as what it should be. As you know, back in the times when they're chewing on meat or they're chewing on bones or whatever it is, you know, you got a nice strong jaw. But like you said, with those soft foods and stuff nowadays,

people, you know, your jaw's nowhere near as strong as what it should be. So using devices and stuff like that, you know what I mean? It helps things and helps that, you know, be nice and strong right there, which obviously helps being able to take the shot as well. Yeah, I need to get one of those jaws or sizes. Yeah. Yeah, right. Wow. Yeah, just good company. You know what I mean? They've done a great job with how they've manufactured and made things and you know, I firmly believe in it because you know, I've been using it for the last couple years and

Actually from from December say what I try to do is I try to do a thousand reps of that. Damn. I do it per night. Holy crap. You know what I mean? So I like try to get in seven days a week. Sometimes obviously you miss it. You know what I mean? I like to at least try to get in five days a week. So you're trying to do about five thousand reps of that jaw's resize per week. You know what I mean? That adds up pretty quick. I think I did from the December 6th match up until this March match, you know, I think I did over 50,000 reps with that thing with my jaw.

Wow. You know what I mean? And that all just plays in the factor of being able to eat those shots. That on top of the neck strength training that I did. You know what I mean? It definitely helps for sure. Yeah, that's nuts, man. Going last, were you nervous because you had to watch all the other fights first? Yeah, I wouldn't really say nervous. I'm comfortable in these positions.

The last one was a co-main event. That helped get a little bit more familiar with it. But I thrive in these type. The last one was a co-main event. That helped get a little bit more familiar with it. But I thrive in these types of situations, more of a high pressure situation or under the bright light situations. That's when I really thrive. I was more than comfortable. I'm more than comfortable out there. I also believe the more comfortable you are in something, the better you're going to perform. If you're uptight, you're nervous and your nerves get to you, it's going gonna be a lot harder. I'm able to keep myself relaxed out there

and have fun with everything. Do you pay attention to outside stuff like who's in the crowd? What noises are going on? Yeah, I do now actually because I am so comfortable up there. Like I said, there's people who get up there and kind of freeze under the lights. They can't look out to the crowd because it makes them nervous. I've gotten to the point now where I am so comfortable with that.

From the upbringing that I've been in, I've come from, you know, deep wrestling roots and a really good wrestling school that we were in out of the state finals and stuff every year and we wrestled in front of huge crowds and same thing with MMA. I was in MMA before all of this and I fought in front of bigger crowds and stuff. So that helped mold me to what I am in, you know, to who I am now and being able to go out there and get the crowd involved in all of it. You know what I mean?

That's all it's all part of the game in there, too. So having, you know, bringing them all in, feeding off their energy. You know, I mean, when I walk out and I see that crowd and the lights and the music, I just I harness in all that energy. I mean, I use it up there. Yeah. Hey, guys, shout out to today's sponsor, Kinsta. Running an online business is already a challenge. Your website hosting shouldn't make it harder and I've been there, dealing with slow load

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month free, they'll even handle the migration for you. Just visit Kinsta.com slash D S H to get started. That's K I N S T A.com slash D S H. Have fun with it too. Yeah, I feel like that's fighters do that. Yeah, and that's important. You need to have fun with it as well. Right, if you're not having fun with it,

then why do it? Yeah, it's an interesting sport, man. Yeah, yeah. What a transition. I know you transitioned because of your back injury. Yeah. Because you were a fighter, right? Yep, yep, yeah.

So I was an MMA, so I was five and O, I was an undefeated prospect actually. And I had taken a couple of years off, me and my wife, we had our first couple of kids, you know what I mean? And at that time it was kind of the wild, wild west days in Michigan for MMA, so we were wasn't a lot of money and stuff involved. So I had a family, had to start concentrating on that.

And so I started working for a few years and then once we were kind of in a better position, I had to start concentrating on that. And so I started working for a few years and then once we were kind of in a better position, I was like, you know what, maybe it's time for me to, you know, I still have dreams and stuff that I want to achieve while I'm still younger. You know, maybe it's time for me to, you know, try to make a run, come back and try to make a run at this. And just as I was training to get ready to come back, I broke my back at work. Damn. Yeah, I was lifting a really heavy front quarter of beef and I went to

swing it up on the table. I've done it many other times you know lift with your legs turn your turn yourself around. Well this time it was so heavy and I was just you know maybe in a rush and I just kind of heaved it and I twisted it in my bottom vertebrae my L5S1 vertebrae just holy pop forward. So yeah so I had to deal with that I mean I had to live with that for over a whole year before I could even have surgery. Jeez. And then so I had to deal with that. I mean, I had to live with that for over a whole year before I could even have surgery. Jeez. And then once I had the surgery, yeah, so now I got a plastic spacer in between my L5S1

and I got four screws in my spine, two that go up and two that go down. Oh my gosh. So when all that happened, you know, the MMA dreams, you know, out of the picture because of how hard it is on your body. I mean, there's only certain movements and certain things that I can do

that my back allows without, you know, excruciating pain. So when that all without, you know, excruciating pain. So when that all happened, you know, it ends up, you know, sometimes when things happen, you don't understand why they're happening then, but you know, years down the road, you're like, oh, that's kind of making sense now, you know? Yeah, it sucked that I went through the injury, but ultimately, I think it kind of led me to where I am now. You know, when that injury happened, when myself and my brother kind of decided to branch out and do our own thing. And then when I was recovering from surgery is when I seen the power slap stuff had started. I was actually recovering from

surgery when season one of the show had started. And I'm sitting there watching I'm like, hey, you know what, this might be something that I could probably do. You know, I mean, when I'm fully healed and still be able to work for Dana still be involved in all those situations, you know, because the goal was to be the UFC be around all that, you know, I mean when I'm fully healed and still be able to work for Dana still be involved in all those situations I mean because the goal was to be the UFC be around all that, you know So so when I had that opportunity, you know what I mean one thing led to another and here we are two years later And I'm the world champion. It's crazy. That's man. It's crazy. You know, I mean how fast things happen, you know I mean, I've really dedicated myself to this. I take this very seriously

I'm not not one of these people try to just roll off the couch and do this, you know I mean I do to take it very this very seriously. I'm not not one of these people try to just roll off the couch and do this You know, I mean I do take it very very very seriously I'm a true professional when it comes to it and you know, I'm in the gym five days a week and you know strength training technique training You know, we don't have to do no we don't have to do the cardio and stuff that yeah You know is isn't it like MMA and stuff like that so, you know me but I I do work my ass off to get to the point in and My matches I spoke for themself I mean you go back and watch when I first came into this to where I'm at now you know the difference

in the difference in myself is night and day difference. You feel like you've gotten a lot better. Way better way better and I've improved between every match and a lot of people have seen it too. I mean if you if you followed my career you see how much you know progressively I get better each time and and that's what I did from December to March you know what I mean I knew that I was putting the improvements on and I knew who I was going against wasn't you know I mean he had a really good year last year you know he kind of ran through he ran through the division pretty easily until he

ran into me at the end of the year and he kind of had the wrong mindset going into this one that they asked him what he did differently this time around he said well I didn't do anything differently this time around I went for an old actually I'm gonna keep doing the same thing that's the wrong mindset to have man when you're champion you constantly have contenders you know what I mean want wanting what you have you constantly have a target on your back and if you're not constantly improving or trying to widen that gap in the competition somebody's gonna catch you yeah somebody's old sup guys shout out to our ex sugar one of my favorite

snack brands that about to try a flavor I've never had before, vanilla cream. Let's see what we got here. Mmm, not solid. That little vanilla is my favorite ice cream flavor. Definitely check them out guys, RX Sugar. Always working, right? And now that I'm at the top of the mountain now, now I'm challenging all these other guys to, if you think you're going to beat me, you're going to have to outwork me first.

And I promise you, you ain't ever outworked me. I love that. It's impressive because you got a full-time job back home too and you're balancing this with that. So yeah, absolutely. And actually, come January, I kind of stepped back from my job. Oh yeah. Yeah. So I luckily have my younger brother, you know, I kind of stepped back from my job. Oh yeah? Yeah.

So I, my, my luckily have my younger brother, you know what I mean? He stepped up and kind of really took care of things the last couple months for us. And I told him, you know, we all knew what I was chasing. We all knew what I was after. So, you know, I said, I'm a, I got to kind of stick, take a step back a little bit and put a little bit more on his shoulders. I mean, so like I said, shout out to him for, for being able to take care of all that stuff so I could concentrate on what I needed to concentrate on and now it paid off.

Let's go. Here we are as world champion. And you want to be a two division champ, so do you want to go up or down and wait? I mean, personally, I would like to go up. I am the type that I will want to clear out 185 first. You know, I mean, I want the next I always want the next baddest motherfuckers. What I said, you know, whether that's the trilogy with the guy I just went against or whether that's the next person, whatever it is, line the contenders up, I'll knock them all down, I'll

clear out that division and then if the possibility to let me go up and go up something up there, that'd be amazing. Because going up is way harder than going down, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just don't think for like myself, I don't know if I could go down to 170, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I keep myself, like I keep my weight maintained.

I try to stay within, you know within 10 pounds when I stay really disciplined. If there's times where I have some time off, I will get up to like 215, 217. Damn. Yeah, so I don't like making that cut from 215 to 185. So this time around, like I said, after December 6th, I knew what was coming in March. So I kept my weight within 10 pounds.

I mean, a week and a half, two weeks out, I was already on weight, which benefits me because you get some of these guys who come in there and they kind of water cut everything. Yeah. Well, this is the wrong sport to water cut in. Really? You know, the first thing, you know, when you start dehydrating your body, the first thing that loses water is your brain. You know, in the last organ to regain water is your brain. But you're going to get hit in this sport, right? You're there, you know, we don't have a defense. We can't move around like that. So you're going to take a shot to the head.

Well, if you're a little bit dehydrated at all, you know, I mean, that water's not full in your brain, you're going to end up taking one of those shots and I put you out because you decided to cut, you know, you decided to cut weight wrong. So that's where I like to stay disciplined or I start, you know, a couple of months ahead of time to where I get on a good diet and I pull the fat off my body and then I keep my body well hydrated. Interesting. And it's, you know, worked out real well for me. Are you doing anything for your brain health? get on a good diet and I pull the fat off my body and then I keep my body well hydrated. Interesting.

And it's worked out real well for me. Are you doing anything for your brain health? Yeah, so there's all kinds of products, or well not all kinds, but there's more and more products now that are coming out that have tendencies to help with CTE and help with repairing the brain and stuff like that. So I'm always open to trying all those products for the things that we the things that we do and then they kind of combat sport like that. So. Yeah. Have you tried the hyperbaric yet?

Yeah. Yeah. You know, that's, that's really good. Yeah. I had a TBI. Oh, did you? Yeah. I don't know from what, but I just had a brain scan and had it. And the hyperbaric helped a lot. Yeah. No, no, no. Those things are really nice.

Yeah. A lot of fighters actually use them though. Yep. Yep. Yeah. A lot of recovery, you know, your, your recovery, and that's just saying what comes to working out and stuff like that. Your recovery is just as important as the, you know, the workouts. Cause you got, you got kind of messed. You know, your recovery, and that's just what comes to working out and stuff like that, your recovery is just as important as the workouts. Right, because you got kind of messed up right now, right? Yeah, yeah, he got me, you know, that first shot, he won the toss last night, that first

shot, he hit me high. Looks like it. Yeah, you go back and watch the film. It should have 100% been called clubbing, you know, it should have been called clubbing. So yeah, he got me in the nose and broke my nose a little bit. But hey, I'll take a broken nose for a world title. I didn't know you broke it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I think it's broke a little bit. They're going to have me run through some x-rays when I get back home. But I can just kind of tell, I can kind of feel it in there and stuff. But like I said, I'll try to, I'll take a broken nose for a world title. I love that mindset. Which is not, you know what I mean? Some people, you know what I mean? If they go out there, get hit in the nose, their nose breaks like that, you know, they might mentally quit.

And that goes back to what we were talking about earlier, the mental resiliency from, you know, the sports and stuff that I came up in. You know what I mean, he was, he broke my nose and I'm sitting there just itching, waiting for the doctors to get off me so I can go over there and get my shot, you know what I mean? They're sitting there wiping down my nose, I'm just like, all right, come on, you know, give me my shot, you know. Part of me was a little bit worried when, you know, the blood wouldn't stop and I'm like, don't you guys stop this

again, please let me I knew all I needed is one shot. Let me get my one shot off and they let me get my one shot off and now here we are. Oh, you wouldn't stop leading. No, yeah, I wouldn't stop leading. And then and they said something up there like they can't they can't put super glue on it like while you're up on stage. So they basically just had to let it go. So they like, wipe me down, they held it real quick. Alright, go. So I got out there and went. So you know what I mean? If that, you know, if the match doesn't get finished on that shot, I don't know what happens

because that nose doesn't just stop. I even asked them while we were up there because like sometimes in wrestling, if you get a bloody nose or you're busted nose, we'll shove like cotton balls up there and then we'll just tape around it. So I asked them, I was like, can you just tape it? Just tape my whole, it's a tape right around my nose. I don't care. I'll keep going. Like, no, we can't do that because of the rules.

But I mean, I wasn't letting a little bit of a blood, a little blood or a broken nose stop me from winning that world title. That wasn't, you know, I said, you know, a few months ago, his head is the only thing that's in the way of me in a world title. You know what I mean? So I break my nose, that's fine.

I'm gonna come take your head off. And I took my world title. Love that mindset, dude. Thank you. Yeah, I had Hawaiian on yesterday. Man, a missed hit can mess you up. He lost a tooth over a missed hit. Yeah yeah yeah. I think that was at Power Slap 8 I want to say back in June. I remember him saying something about it. Yeah. Yeah I took a shot and ripped his tooth right out of there.

So you guys are hitting hard. It's not like it's a... I mean it is a slap but it's still really hard. Oh yeah I mean it feels like I can tell you right now it doesn't feel like it doesn't feel like you know like a slap you know I mean when you get hit and you get hit with a good shot you know I mean it feels..., I can tell you right now, it doesn't feel like a slap. When you get hit, and you get hit with a good shot. You know what I mean? It feels, you definitely. Yeah, because everyone's got a button they say. Yes, everybody has a button and it's just about finding that button. And that's what to me, like yeah, power is huge obviously, but to me I think accuracy

is bigger than all of it. Right? Because you can carry a lot of power, but if I don't hit somebody in the right spot, you might not necessarily knock them out. Or you carry a lot of power and you hit them in the wrong spot and you club And then you knock them out and you club them well now you just lost But DQ because you know I mean you fouled and knocked him out right so you know it's very important the accuracy Accuracy is killer in this sport. How many clubs do you get is it two?

So you get in a three round fight you would get two you get two offensive fouls And then a five round title fight you technically get three offensive fouls damn have a five round title fight, you technically get three offensive fouls. Damn. Have you ever clubbed out? No, I never have. So I only have, I have one foul in power slap in all six of my matches. Damn, so you're accurate. Very. Um, and it was in my third match, a little bit of a questionable club. I mean, I've seen worse, not get called, you know what I mean? But Hey, is what it is.

You go through six matches and only have one foul. Yeah. No, that's impressive. Cause Hawaiian was in a match where I think he clubbed like Yeah, a couple times. Like three times. And it happens, you know what I mean? But I pride myself on being clean, being accurate, you know what I mean? No fouls, no stepping, no clubbing, you know what I mean? Stuff like that. So.

How do you train yourself to stop flinching? Because that's such a natural response. Yes. So, you know, everybody's natural instinct when something's coming towards your face is right, is to move, to block, to do stuff like that. So the best thing that we found out was we'll take like a pool noodle. Everybody's natural instinct when something's coming towards your face is to move, to block, to do stuff like that. The best thing that we found out was we'll take a pool noodle. You cut them down to short and you sit there with your hands behind your back and then you just have somebody do like, if they're going on three, we'll motion one, two, and

then the third one hit you with it. Because the pool noodle's not going to do anything to mess up your head or mess up your face, but you're getting used to that motion coming towards your face so it trains you to not flinch. Wow so you're literally practicing not to flinch. Yep, exactly and then the fact the fact of if you flinch you got to get hit again that's the number one thing I've had people ask me like how do you not flinch I was like well if I flinch I got to get hit again I said so that's the last thing I want to happen so I'm gonna hold still on that first one and let you get your shot off I'm gonna eat that shot and I'm gonna

return fire and take care of business. Yeah, you talk shit during the matches, too Oh, yeah, of course, you know, I mean you gotta play that mental game with them You know, I mean a little bit let it you know feed it back to them You know when somebody when somebody's got their hands behind their back and you hit him as hard as you possibly can and then they're Just laughing at you or they're they're taunting you you're kind of your head. You're like, oh shit You know, I mean what messes with you. Right, right. What do I got to do to this guy? You know what I mean?

He just had his hands behind his back. I just hit him as hard as I possibly could. Now here he is laughing at me or screaming in my face or you know, whatever is making a mockery of me. So you know, yeah, it's important up there to play that mental warfare. And it's also important to do it to show the judges, you know what I mean? Because they're judging off, you know, damage or effectiveness of the strikes. So say they hit you and you step out of the box.

Well, now that makes it look like their strike hit you and pushed you out of the box. Well, now I go to hit you, right? And you stay right where you are and say you taunt me. Now you didn't move out of that box or anything. So more than likely you won that round just because I stepped out of that box and it made it look like, you know what I mean? Your strike pushed me out of that box and did more damage to me. So there's a game within, you know, there's a game within the game when you're up there. You know what I mean? I, that's what I tell some of these new guys that stuff that are coming in or

anybody that I'm coaching. If you're rocked, you got to play it off as you're not rocked. You know what I mean? If somebody catches you and you're really rocked, you just stay right there. Give them a little bit of a taunt, bring yourself back, stick, keep your feet in that box, and then after you've made your gestures, then you take yourself and walk out of that box. Don't make it look like their strike pushed you out of that box. Makes sense. Have you ever been like dizzy and

you just played it off? No, well so in December the second round Isaiah caught me with it you know he caught me with a probably his his best shot you know he had the same shot that he's flatlined you know put put quite a few people out with and you know I I kind kinda had a lull in judgment and on my defense I kinda slipped up. I was standing a little too tall. I was kinda pulling back a little bit when he hit me. And I think that kinda helped me fall back on my ass

and stuff like that. But I hit the ground, I was back on my feet within like three or four seconds, which could have been a mistake too. Sometimes when you get dropped like that, they tell you to roll over, take the knee, wait till you hear six, eight and then cover more yeah well it all happened you know I mean with it being the first time in my career it all

happened so fast right you know me next thing you know you're hitting your ass your natural instincts just to pop right up you know I popped right up looked right at the raft I gave him a thumbs up and I even looked over at the catchers like if I was messed up I wouldn't be like looking at other people I seen him I seen one of the catchers that I knew from the reality show. So I looked right over at him and he told me to walk. And I went to walk and my foot had just barely caught the mat. So I did just the slightest little stumble. And then they go and wave it off like, you know,

and it's, this is a world title fight, man. You know what I mean? I completely get, if I'm going to walk towards you and I fall on top of you, you know what I mean? If I'm falling, I can't stand up at all. I completely understand stopping it then. When you're in a title fight and you and I fall on top of you, or if I'm falling, I can't stand up at all, I completely understand stopping at the end. When you're in a title fight, and you have just the slightest little, you know,

especially when we've had far worse not be stopped, you know what I mean? And then you go and stop a title fight like that. It just left not only in my mouth, but in a lot of, you know, a lot of the fans, they're just left a sour taste in everybody's mouth. And I think a lot of people left December 6th disappointed with how that match ended.

There was a lot of boos, that arena was pretty pissed off. I remember that. Yeah, that arena was pissed off. That's the thing with refing though, a lot of it's subjective, depends on the person, depends on the night, right? Yeah, exactly. It depends on, every ref is different, every person's different. They all kind of call things differently.

So sometimes it is difficult. It's based on who's up there and what calls they're going to make. Yeah, that's why boxing refs get so much hate because the scores are so different on each one. It's based on who's up there and what cause they're gonna make. Yeah, that's why boxing refs get so much hate. Yep. Because the scores are so different on each one. It's crazy. Each ref's different. Each person's different. Yeah. You pumped for UFC tonight? Yeah. I love watching the UFC fights.

That's what I mean. I grew up watching the UFC and everything like that. So I follow it all very, very, very close. I love it. I know everything that's going on in there. So to watch Pereira tonight and you know, Ankolyev, that's gonna be fun. You think if Pereira wins tonight, he's in the goat conversation?

Man, he's gotta be, I mean, he's gotta be getting close, right? I mean, he's just, that man's just been unstoppable. I kind of think, you know, in my opinion, John Jones kind of cemented that down. I think so. That man's resume is just absolutely insane. I mean, you can say whatever you want to say about him,

you know what I mean? But his legacy speaks for itself. I mean, look at that man's resume. You put that man's resume against anybody else's resume is just absolutely insane. I mean you can say whatever you want to say about him You know what I mean, but his legacy speaks for itself I mean look at that man's resume you put that man's resume against anybody else's resume It's just the legends that he's beat the the you know, the title holders that he's beat I mean he's he's beat the who who's of and then for the how long he's been doing it two divisions Honestly, the hardest two divisions in my opinion to like heavyweight and heavyweight Yeah, I mean competition and then to go in there and dominate like he does I mean, yeah, then to go in there and dominate like he does. I mean yeah he had a couple close ones but he's also dominated the hell out of a lot of these

guys. Champs too like DC. He's just he's a different he's a different breed you know I mean we've heard Dana talk about it to be to be the type of fighter that John Jones is you have to be a different person you know I mean and that's what John is and that's the reason why he's the greatest of all time in my opinion. Yeah your style was wrestling right?. Yep. I grew up wrestling. You know, I started wrestling about eight, nine years old. Damn. Yeah. I come from, you know, I come from a high school where we were in and out of the

team state finals every year. You know, we always had three, four or five state champions on our team. So was that a public school? Yeah, it was a public school. And we were a small school or division four. So in Michigan for wrestling, you have divisions one, two, three and four. So there's actually kind of a lot of schools packed in there. But we were a small school, we were Division IV, so in Michigan for wrestling you have Divisions I, II, III, and IV. So there's actually kind of a lot of schools packed in there, but we were a Division IV school, so we were a small school.

I think we only had a couple hundred kids in our graduating class maybe. And so we're a Division IV school, but us Division IV kids are so good that we're beating the Division I kids. Damn! You know, a kid that got a couple thousand kids in their class and we got a couple hundred and we're out there whooping their ass but it's because the background that we come from and the dedication that we had put into the sport, the extra work that we had put into the sport, you know, summer camps,

you know, wrestling year-round, you know, when you get to when you get to that point you're competing at those high levels, it isn't just a seasonal thing anymore, you know, even down to the little kids nowadays, it isn't just a seasonal thing anymore because I coach youth sports, I coach youth sports at home now now, year round. So with these kids, you know what I mean, if they want to be above and beyond good, this has to be a year round thing. So the way the competition is getting and everything nowadays is, you know, it's great. I love it. When did you get into the butcher stuff? So I got into the butchering about eight years ago.

I grew up on a dairy farm and stuff our whole lives. We grew up in 4-H, so we were very familiar with all of that stuff. And yeah, I actually kind of accidentally fell into a meat department job. I was young and just working at a grocery store as a cashier at the time, and they needed some help in the meat department. And I was like, hey, I'd like to try that out. I went back there and I ended up really liking it and you know, I started out just like grinding hamburger and then just, you know, wrapping the packages and then I started cutting meat

and you know, it kind of worked my way up the ladder. Well, then I was done with the grocery store stuff. I wanted to learn how to do everything from, you know, a whole animal down to the last steak. So I went and worked at a USDA slaughterhouse for like four years. And that's where I ended up breaking my back and stuff. But I ended up learning so much from being there.

And so that's why we were able to kind of branch out and have our own thing going on. Wow, that's cool, man. Slaughterhouse, that's interesting. Yeah, it's an interesting job for sure. You know what I mean? It's not something that's for everybody. Yeah.

You know, we would have, you know, it could be pretty gory. I feel like it could make or break people. Oh, for sure. It's not something that's for everybody. We would have, it could be pretty gory. I feel like you could make a break, people. Oh, for sure, absolutely. And we had, and I don't wanna say the turnover rate was terrible, but I don't think some people knew what they'd get themselves into. We would hire somebody at that,

we worked at the slaughterhouse, and our kill days would be like Monday, Wednesday. So you go out on the kill floor, man, that's just blood. Damn. It could be pretty gory. Well, you'd hire some of these people and So you go out on the kill floor, I mean, that's just blood and it's just, you know, it could be pretty gory. Well, you'd hire some of these people and they'd go out on a kill floor and they'd be working for about 30 minutes. They'd be like, I got a little bathroom. You'd look out in the parking lot and their vehicle's gone. They're just like, oh yeah,

I'm gonna do this. So, you know, it takes a special breed to be able to do that. And I think that myself being able to do those kinds of things also helps implement into my mentality which leads into the things that I do with this sport and all the sports that I have done. Were you hunting before so you kind of desensitized dead animals? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We grew up hunting stuff our whole lives, you know what I mean? So it wasn't anything that was a stranger to us. And like I said, growing up doing 4-H, we would have times where we showed steers and you have those projects for like a year. I mean, you're hands-on with these projects.

You got, you know, you're teaching them to halter train them, to walk them around, do all this stuff. And then you have to sell them at your county fair and then you sell them at their county fair. Then they go to a slaughterhouse. So we were taught, you know, from a very, very young age, you know, five, six, seven years old and on that, you know, I mean, we would raise these animals, you know, me show them, seven years old and on, that, you know what I mean, we would raise these animals, you know, me and show them at the fair and then we would sell them, they would go to slaughter. So we learned very young, you know what I mean,

where they're going and what's going on. That is a super young age to know about that stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know what I mean, like I said, I think it kind of helped who I am today and stuff like that. I mean, cause there was a lot of people out there who don't grow up seeing those things,

you know what I mean? And they have a different mindset. I mean, that's's kind of stuff I've been around my whole life. So to me, that's normal. Yeah. Any crazy hunting stories? Yeah. I mean, uh, we're talking a little bit earlier, but I've been up to Canada. I went bear hunting up there with my dad and my uncle when I was in middle school,

about seventh grade, you know what I mean? That was, that was a crazy cool experience at that time. I, at that time, I had never even really seen a bear in person. How big was it? Uh, the one I shot was like 320 pounds. Holy crap. Yeah, so it was a good sized one well we had gotten up there and I was a young anxious kid and you know, there's certain times where you go, you know go out you know towards dusk and stuff like that and My dad was like I was nagging him one day. I was like, let's go out there. Let's go

I want so we went out like two o'clock. We went out like way too early So we're just sitting there, you know, waiting for it. And the next thing you know, I start seeing these bear carts that's coming in and you start seeing it for the first time in person. Holy shit, this is wild. You know, they got bait barrels down there and stuff like that.

Well, you know, actually when we were climbing up into the stand, I climb it up in front of my dad and I get up there and there's a damn bone from the bone bearer, from the barrels sitting right on the tree stand. So I So I'm like that's my instinct my own my first thing was like I grabbed the bone look at my dad's because they're grabbing that bait and they're running up that tree and then they're sitting they're eating it so we're sitting in this tree and I'm looking over and you

can see like there's like bear shit. Holy crap. Like on the tree and you can see like the greasy paws like where they're walking on these limbs and stuff and they're walking all over this tree stand. So when that first bear comes walking in you could see it kind of looking up out of the corner of its eye at us and I'm like damn bear knows we're here. So I'm just a kid you know I mean I'm a middle school kid thinking kind of shit in my pants a little bit because I'm like this thing's gonna you know it's gonna take something out of the bone barrel and come running up this tree. My dad has had him and his buddies used to go up there

every year but one of his buddies had a situation where a bear did come running right up into the tree right under his tree stand. You know what I mean? So here I am as a kid thinking that's what's going to happen with, you know, I was like kind of shitting my pants. But luckily that first one that came in was a really good size bear. So and they kind of judge it off like how tall the back is to the barrel. They say if the, you know, the bear's back reaches the top of the barrel, that's probably

around a 300 pound bear. So as that one come in, my dad kind of the barrel, that's probably around a 300 pound bear. So as that one come in, my dad kind of tapped me and said, go ahead and take that one. Had shot? No, I shot it right in the heart. And at that time, the bear do what they call this death moan. And at that time, as a kid, I had never heard it. So I shot this bear and it only went like 20 yards or so.

Well, they do this death moan where they literally like moan for a few minutes here. Just like, oh, you know, kind of trips you out a little bit as a kid. But you know, it's, it was all the experience, you know what I mean? And being around it and being out there and, you know, it was just more, more life lessons really being out there and being able to experience a trip like that. It was a lot of fun. I didn't know they were climbing trees like that. That's pretty scary. Yeah, that throws you off a little bit. Yeah I didn't know they were climbing trees like that. That's pretty scary. Yeah, it's wild. That throws you off a little bit. Yeah, because you think you're safe in a tree

and then you see it climbing at you. Yeah, and next thing you know, they're coming running up next to you. You're like, holy shit. Yeah, I've seen people have some crazy interaction with them. I'm pissed off. Bears come running up the tree. Oh my gosh.

That's the last thing you know. I don't want no bears swiping at me or trying to bite me. Nope, I'm good. Like you said, you think you're safe in that tree and then next thing you know,'re up you know yeah was that a black bear you shot yep like there yeah cuz the brown ones are extinct right yeah so like more like grizzlies and stuff yeah you know that's so those

there is some like around Canada just where we were at they were there wasn't any brown bear there but those are those are a whole different one to go after them them grizzlies and shit those those things are you know I heard their man-eaters I've seen talking about Them grizzlies and shit, those things are, you know, they're man eaters. I've seen broken talk about a grizzlies and polar bears. Yeah, polar bears, yep. Polar bears strictly eat meat, you know what I mean? So when you're up there, they really will be hunting you.

I've never been around anything like that. Nah, I'll pass on that. Yeah, yeah, I'm good at it too. But I've heard, you know, I've heard so many stories about like, you know, people who are walking through the mountains in Wyoming and stuff like that. And next thing you know, they're getting mauled by a grizzly. Damn! You know what I mean?

Yeah, I mean, I've seen a few stories a few years ago of a guy that was walking through there and he got attacked and damn, luckily he lived but the damn grizzly had ripped all of it, you know, skin off his head and just hanging. I mean, he's really lucky to be alive, but they're so damn territorial, you know what I mean? When you walk into their spot at all, it's, you know, especially if you come across one that has cubs yeah it's game over they're gonna kill you it ain't gonna be nothing so it's a scary situation you've gone hog hunting too right wild hogs yeah yeah I've done a hog hunting and I've actually I've shot a wild goat before as well well that these ones were in like I guess I shouldn't say wild but they were in like a pen but it was like

hundreds hundreds of acres that was another hunting trip we took as a kid and that one was pretty cool. When I shot the goat actually, I had to, I think I was only like 10, 12 years old, well I had to like sneak up on an army crawl. We had to stalk this thing for a few different times and I'd go to get close and I was just a kid so I would make a mistake and boom, I would spook it and then I'd take off and we'd have to track them back down. Finally, I got close enough one time, I just army crawled. I dressed all up in white my dad dressed because it was snowing. My dad dressed me all up in white and he said you know when we get to the point just just army crawl up there you know until you get to a

right spot and I got right up there and shot this goat and that was cool you know because of being that young and you kind of got to do like a spot and stalk you got to stalk it and everything so. Your dad started young man. Yeah yeah yeah we spot in stock. You got to kind of stock it and everything. So. Your dad started young, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We sure did, yeah. I used to love eating goat. Yeah, no, it's good. It's good meat. Goats are great meat.

Yep. And Indian food too. Nice and lean. Goat curry. Yep, yep. Not real fatty or anything like that. Yeah. I like some venison too.

Yeah, yeah. Venison's great. Elk's good. Anything like that. You know, that real lean meat is all really good for you. Yeah. It doesn't have a ton of fat and stuff like that in it. And you know, they say, they say wild game is some of the best meat that you can possibly get.

Because it's so natural, I feel like, yeah, yeah, like they're eating what's in nature. That's like that's what I try to tell. That's what we try to explain people with with our slaughtering stuff like that. And just there's a there's a big difference between buying meat in a grocery store and then slaughtering or raising your own animals and slaughtering them out that way. You know what I mean? In a grocery store, you don't know what that animal has been fed. You don't know how it's been raised. You don't know the stress it's been through because when you stress some of these animals out, like even just shipping them to a

slaughterhouse, you know what I mean? You stress them out and when they stress out, they release stress hormones into their meat. And which will make their meat and stuff tougher. Yeah. So you with our business, it's we come right out to. So with our business, we come right out to the farm, these animals are right in their pen, it's one shot done, there's no stress or anything that goes into it. Whereas like I said, you go to a slaughterhouse, just trying to load them into a trailer is extremely stressful. You get them into a trailer and they're stressing out there and then you get them to a slaughterhouse into a foreign area, they're stressing out there and now they're getting beaten on pushing into, you know,

trying to push them into shoots and stuff like that to get them up there and these animals are just stressing out like crazy. So that's where we come in beneficial to show up to the farm. Like I said, they'll just be in their pens moseying around and boom, lights are out, done, good, one shot, do everything as humane as possible. You know what I mean? We take all that stuff very seriously. I love it man. Brandon, what's next for you? You got fights coming up this year? Anything else?

Yeah, so I just won that title last night so we'll see what happens here in the next couple months. I think rumors might be right now that the next event might be in May. I think I'll probably be a couple months before I come back here but I don't know if we'll be like you know mid-summer, maybe late summer, summer in there But yeah now it's time to defend Hmm, you know, we just went from challenger to defending now. So I'm embracing the target on my back I like the target on my back. I like people chasing me because I just like to you know, I like keep widening that gap You know, I mean I like I said earlier I work my ass off for all of this and you know when I go to the gym And I take pride in widening the gap on the competition.

So I think I've got a bit of a gap on them now and I'm just gonna keep widening it. And like I said earlier, if anybody thinks they're gonna beat me, first you're gonna have to outwork me and not gonna fucking outwork me. I'm not gonna let that happen. I love that, man.

We'll link a power slap in the video below for you guys to watch. It's a really cool sport. Yeah. And try to go in person if you're watching this because it hits different in person. Definitely, it hits different in person. That's what I've asked a lot of people like I have my wife was out here for the first time I had 15 or 20 people fly out from Michigan for the first time

I had a couple people flying from Florida a couple people flying from Texas brought the squad Yeah, yeah We brought a big squad this time and actually only my parents my brother and his friends Well, actually only four of them had ever been to an event before. So I was telling all these guys to just wait until you see this in person and they were saying that too. It is a completely different show in person. Like it's entertaining, it's fun to watch on TV. Yeah. But the atmosphere and everything when you're in there, it's just a completely different story when you're there. So yeah, if you haven't been there in person, you got to buy a ticket and get there in person.

Yeah. It's amazing. Fountainblue's gonna, they're gonna need a new venue I think. Yeah, yeah. With people coming off. You just keep outgrowing it, you know, I mean things get bigger and bigger every card you know the next card is just bigger and bigger and bigger and the way they're growing things and The way Dana's got things going the crew that he has and Frank and Erica there, you know that they really know what they're doing

And they really built this into a powerhouse, you know, and the world of social media You know has made this thing absolutely huge and when you got the right business people, running the things is very successful. Absolutely, Charlotte Cadena, Charlotte Powersloth, thanks for coming on, man. Absolutely, man, thanks for having me. Check them out, guys, in the description. See you next time.