Kyle Kingsbury Podcast - #3 Becoming a Champion with Ryan Bader

Episode Date: October 16, 2017

Ryan Bader is a mixed martial artist who recently won the Bellator Light-Heavyweight Championship. Connect with Kyle on Twitter and on Instagram Connect with Ryan on Twitter and on Instagram or Facebook  Onnit.com           Onnit Twitter         Onnit Instagram  

Thank you guys for tuning in to the On It podcast. This week's guest is my good buddy, Ryan Bader. And Ryan's had quite the career. We fought each other back in the day, trying to get on to The Ultimate Fighter Season 8, and Ryan ended up choking me out. But we remain friends. I've been at his wedding. I love his wife, Daisy.

We really dive into a lot of cool stuff in this podcast. Talking about his fight career, his recent win over Phil Davis, becoming light heavyweight champion of the world in Bell podcast, talking about his fight career, his recent win over Phil Davis, becoming light heavyweight champion of the world in Bellator, as well as family and creating the optimal living situation and what he's getting into outside of fighting. So give it a listen. Let me know what you think. Hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did.

My brother Ryan Bader. What's going on? I like your podcast voice. Fuck yeah. It's totally different. It's radio. We are here hey ryan bader kyle kingsbury yeah i uh i was telling you i just uh interviewed uh uriah

faber and i call him up and his it goes to voicemail and it's the old wbc fucking intro the california kid really and i was fucking i was like that is classic if i had that audio i'd for sure throw it in there yeah that's my voicemail yeah that's great yeah i'm not getting much from the ufc in terms of uh like footage and shit like that that ain't gonna happen anytime soon no you're not on their uh their good boy list. So we're out here at your beautiful home, and this is Queen Creek? Queen Creek, Arizona. Yeah, and that's, what is that, like 30 minutes south of Phoenix? Yeah, it's like a suburb of Phoenix. Phoenix is so big, it's really, I mean, you couldn't tell if you just kept driving. You flew into Phoenix Airport and just kept driving,

you'd just be in the city until you showed up here, you know, but, uh, what I like about this spot, um, you know, we're fortunate enough, uh, that we were able to build a house on my in-laws. So my, my wife's parents are big ranch. So they have 75 acres out here and it feels like we're in the middle of the country. Um, but we're right in town. So it's kind of the best in both worlds. You know, I ain't be anywhere in that I need to be within 30, 40 minutes, you know, and then, but at the same time, you know, we can take the kids out in the yard. We can ride horses. We can be loud. We can do whatever we want. There's no HOAs. There's no, nobody telling you what you can and can't do. So my biggest thing, you know, know really and once you have kids and everything and in life it's not like oh i want to make this amount of money i want to do this i want

to have this car i wanted i wanted to have something um to kind of replicate kind of how i grew up i grew out up out in the country was able to do what i what i want um and so what i wanted i wanted somewhere where basically my kids can grow up, they can learn different values of instead of just being, you know, in the city and doing the rat race day to day stuff. So they get to learn different things out here, you know, we're going to get a bunch of animals and we're going to, you know, get chickens and they're going to have to go out there, clean it up, get eggs, you know, we're going to get little, you know, donkeys and whatnot. And so I kind of, I grew up kind of that way and I felt like it instilled a work ethic

and it felt like it, it, it just helped me out just in life in general. So I kind of want to, that's, that's my biggest thing in life to be able to just have my kids be able to, to experience that from an early age. Get the best of both worlds. Yeah. to experience that from an early age. Get the best of both worlds. Yeah, and be able to, you know, do stuff with them, experience stuff with them, you know, as far as, you know, in the house where we were before, oh, it was a nice house and this and that, but I felt like we were just cooped up and, you know,

we were just the day-to-day stuff. So, yeah, we, you know, coming out here, we built this house and moved in probably last January, February, and we've been having a great time. Oh, yeah. So talk about growing up a bit. You were from Reno. Is that right?

So I was born in St. Mary's, Idaho, probably an hour and a half from Spokane, kind of by Coeur d'Alene, a little logging town. I think there's 5,000 people population. That's where my parents kind of grew up. They met in high school. That's what you did up there after high school. You had babies, you know. So my mom had me when she was 18. My dad was 20. So they're young. But we moved to Reno when I was two years old. So I grew up in Reno, you know. And I grew up just playing sports. I wrestled. I played football. I played baseball. Then in high school, I dropped the baseball. I wrestled. I played football. I played baseball.

Then in high school, I dropped the baseball. I excelled at wrestling and football, wrestling being kind of my main deal. I do it year-round. But was a good football player. You know, we were a really good team. One state. We're top 25 in the nation. I got defense to play of the year.

And I loved football also. And then I ended up getting a scholarship to go to ASU to come down here and wrestle. And I also looked at Oregon, but I came down here. I loved it, and that's how I ended up in Arizona in 2001. Redshirted, wrestled my four years, and then really because of the people, the friendships, and those connections I made, I stayed down here in arizona and and now i have a family you know so it's crazy time flies but it feels like yesterday i just graduated college you know and i mean you know you and i were on the ultimate fighter and it feels that

feels like you look back and that was december 2008 was a finale yeah you know and it's gonna be 10 years which is crazy damn that is i that is. I didn't even think about that. Well, just like backtracking to ASU, it's weird when I come back because you see how much growth there is here. And obviously in 2008 when everything took a shit. Yeah. You know, Gilbert was hit pretty hard. Vegas was hit pretty hard. And you see like things slow down.

But, you know, it's been a while since I've been here. And then like all these smaller towns like Surprise and different places have totally come up. Yeah. And then you're like, dude, just go to ASU. And then you go there and it looks like a fucking completely different place crazy it's madness and they they wanted it to be the most populated university too and and uh i mean i don't know what they are at right now but they were over 80 000 yeah and then and they're doing the online stuff because of the success of uh be a phoenix university phoenix online right so they've got a ton of online programs my buddy john baker who will be a guest on the show

he played for the chicago cubs he finished he got another degree from asu just really yeah that's great all online out in california and then he just moved to gilbert but it's nuts like how yeah these these are giant giant corporations these universities you know and i like phoenix you know it's hot right now and you in a couple months into the summer you're how these are giant, giant corporations, these universities. I like Phoenix. It's hot right now. And a couple months into the summer, you're like, why do I live here? And I miss those seasons here and there. But in September on, it's beautiful.

And I love when I came down to ASU, it was March, and I was around the wrestling team. And if you know wrestlers, we're all kind of a little nuts somewhere in the head. And I got around that group of people, guys like Eric Larkin, Aaron Simpson, and I just had a blast, and I just felt like I fit right in. And we were playing soccer with the girls' soccer team. I was this 18-year-old recruit, you know, going to the ASU parties and stuff. And they forgot to pick me up, so I got to stay an extra day, which is a big no-no in college athletics.

You can get in big-time trouble. And the Oregon coaches were at my house, and my mom had to stay. I was stuck in Vegas. I was at ASU partying still. But, you know, and I decided right then and there, I said, I'm coming to ASU. Oregon was like, all right, we'll give you a full ride, whatever you want. I was like, I can't. I'm like, I love, all right, we'll give you a full ride, whatever you want. I was like, I can't. I'm like, I love it down there.

If you do over a full ride. Yeah. Yeah, if you can do more than a full ride. But still, I was coming down here. Yeah. You know, people always said, man, if you go down there, it's going to be so many distractions. Your wrestling career is going to suffer.

This was coming from like the Northern Iowa coach too. Come up to Northern Iowa. Yeah, come out in the middle of fucking nowhere. But I'll tell you what, I mean, I buckled down. I know how to do that. I know how to be, uh, dedicated and, and shut things down when I need to. And, and from October to March, I was a hundred percent focused on wrestling. I wouldn't even, I wouldn't even drink a beer and I was cutting weight the whole time, you know? And so I feel like that's helped me in my MMA career for sure. But, um, yeah, I just had a great time here. I was two time, all American here, three time pack 10 champ. And, and, uh, yeah, I just, I just love the feel of the vibe. And so after college, you know,

Reno is a little smaller town. I liked the outdoors up there and I liked the weather, but, um, Phoenix became home, you know, Tempe Chandler area. Yeah, it's incredible out here. I definitely feel, like, drawn to the desert. Yeah. You know, it's a special spot. Oh, yeah. For sure.

So talk about the mentality. I mean, a lot of guys, I think it's an easier transition because people don't necessarily consider wrestling a martial art in the traditional sense. But it's damn sure a combat sport for sure is a martial art and it's like a it's one of the most necessary prerequisites to be at the highest level fighting you know in bellator in the ufc and these top level guys in mixed martial arts where was the mentality though of like what what was your decision making process on like i want to fight when I get done? Yeah. Well, I'll get to that, too. But just, like, I try to look back to even from now. My mentality is so different about MMA in general and going into fights.

So sometimes I try to – I sit there and try to think back to what I was thinking in my first couple fights, my first fight in the UFC. And I was just so different back then mentally um but getting into fighting I mean we had guys like Cain Velasquez we had C.B. Dalloway that I trained with day in and day out Aaron Simpson was their coach all in the UFC all did well um and then we had John Moraga we had Clifford Starks and uh list goes on that was in the UFC just off that one team um you know and so we were battling day in and I was to be honest I was I was I wrestled so much as a kid and getting into college like

it was even hard for me to come in on the summer to even get better in the summer because I was so burnt out but you know I dedicated myself to being a wrestler at ASU and I was gonna get it done my junior year I did All-American and I remember Stevie Dalloway and I were like sitting at the pool. It was before Pac-10s, and we were like, man, all our friends were going to Mexico for spring break and stuff, and we were just so burned out. I won Pac-10s then, but then I went to the Nationals. I did an All-American, and all I could think

about, I was like, I don't want to be here, and it was crazy, and I couldn't get out of my head to see the same thing. Then I kind of was like, all right, we got to turn this around. Aaron Simpson kind of came up to me. He was like, listen, you need to go in there and beat these people by one point or whatever you need to do to win. You got to do that. Because I started getting in a mode where I needed to be up by five points or whatnot, and so I ended up doing that, doing well my senior year, but still was kind of burned out. And I knew I didn't want to wrestle.

And after, Kane wanted to fight immediately. Yeah. And we went down, and Dana White ended up being there, but we went down to this fight in Mexico a couple weeks after nationals. He had no MMA training and he knew how to wrestle and he would murder this guy anyway. But, uh, and then the guy pulled out and Dana White was there and stuff. We met him and, uh, we were out there, me and CB out there cornering him,

his first fight, you know, but, uh, you know, for me, and I still didn't want to fight then we would, uh, my, our buddy Jesse Forbes was on the Ultimate Fighters fighting Matt Hamill. He wanted some pure wrestlers to train with, so CB and I started training with him, kind of learning from him a little bit, just more for fun, and we'd do a little jiu-jitsu to cut weight when we were on these wrestling trips. I started to see that I could be good going with Jesse Forbes and beating him in positions and stuff like same with CB, just knowing that little knowledge we had of MMA, but we were good wrestlers. Um, then, um, he kind of like, you guys need to get into the, uh, into the gym. And so graduated college

was like, I don't want to go to the gym unless I want to do it. I don't want anybody telling me you got to be here. You got to do this. You got to run. So I took a couple months off. I got a sales job and I was like, yeah, I'm excited about this next chapter. Just kind of get my feet wet and in, in a job basically. Cause I've been a athlete my whole life and kind of seen where I wanted to go. And I realized real quick, I was like, I do not want to do this nine to five deal, you know? And, and it's I just felt trapped kind of. And so I kept, I, cause I had to, I kept working. Um, but I started going into the MMA gym, like, Oh, I'm just going to do it to keep in shape. But I knew eventually in the back of my head, I was like, I have to do a fight. So I ended up, um, CB goes out there and gets a fight and is fighting and we're doing well in the

gym. And I realized I could be good. And then, uh, they asked me if you want to fight and i was like yeah let's do it so monster show go up to this this uh you know arizona we have a bunch of indian reservations go up this guy was probably 20 pounds less than me wore a rash guard in the fight had a big long ponytail i was nervous as shit and we were watching him warm up and he's going all crazy flipping his head around he has this long ponytail that whipped him in the eye and then he went down from his get his eye whipped with a ponytail on the ground and it made me feel better i was like i'm gonna knock this dude out i'm gonna stand with him and he came out and uh he threw one punch at me and i instinctively took him down and and at that point i realized like i've been training with monsters in college then i went

right into mma gym where i was fine uh i was training with ufc. Then I went right into MMA gym where I was training with UFC guys and Steve Steinbeiss, who was a K-1 kickboxer. I was always at that high level that when I dipped down to the 0-0, 0-1, 1-0 kind of fights that you need to get started, we were just wrecking these people just off wrestling alone. I just kind of learned from that and wrestling was the biggest base you know and and bringing that mentality it's like i'm i always know i can go in there and take this dude down if all else fails and i know

how to anybody knows how to punch people when they're on the ground you know it's harder said than done but you can get it done and so really i, I mean, even on the ultimate fighter, like I, I mean, throughout my career, a lot of times in standup, I would go out there and not know what the hell I was doing. I knew I had a strong right hand. I would just throw an overhand right. I didn't know a jab, nothing because you know, yeah, our coaches taught us the combos and all that, but I never had, I didn't know any better. I always had like pad holders that would just do it almost like a cardio deal. Like one, two, one two three but i wasn't learning anything so burn your arms out yeah that's technique so i started learning like oh this is how you set people up and all that and it got a lot easier from there but it's just bringing in that wrestling mentality where it's

like i'm gonna i'm gonna to get a desired result i know what kind of work i need to put in and i'm never gonna walk into there and be an unprepared and And, uh, you know, I did that one time I ended up getting the wind, um, cause we were moving gyms. It was my first no gara fight. Um, but for me, as long as I'm prepared and I can look back and say, I'm good, all else fails, I'm good. I know how to scrap and fight whatever. That's, that's a mentality I need to bring into every fight if you don't then that's when you start getting tired then you dig back if you're not mentally strong you said well i didn't do this well i don't i shouldn't even be in here and then you start folding up and it's done you know so yeah dominoes just one goes down one goes down and negative spiral and people have no idea until they're they they're that tired and people, a new person is trying to fuck you up.

They're not trying to spar you like your friends, whatever they're trying to, they're freaked out as much as you are. And they're trying to get out of there and get their paycheck and win that fight too. You know? So that's a, but people don't realize like that aspect of when you get tired and then going in there and you visualize all the visualization that you can do and whatnot. But when you're in there and you're looking at the person and they're looking at you and you can see in their eyes that they want to take you out and it's not, it's not practice, you know, you can spar all you want, but it's different. And so that gives you a level of not anxiety, but it's new. And so, you know, they always say you're like 60% of yourself

that you are in practice, you know, and, and, uh, that's where everything kind of goes out the window. And so over time you get better and better where you can just kind of let that go. And you just, it's almost like you're a robot out there. And, uh, that's where I kind of am now. But at the beginning of my career, I would black out. I had no idea what went on in any of the fights. It's crazy. crazy yeah it's easy to not remember when you're kind of just on autopilot and or you're so nervous that you don't you really can't you're not in the moment you're not 100 present because you have it you're living in fear as opposed to like i think vanderley said it he's like when he's talking about his game plan

he goes i don't give a what he does yeah he was like i don't give a what he does. He was like, I don't give a fuck what he's good at. I'm going to do what I'm good at. I think that's a big point, people missing that stuff. But going back to the decision to fight, just because of wrestling for so long and then that fear of being stuck in a 9-to-5, you were like, let's fucking try this out. For me, I was in that 9-to-5, and I had to.

I didn't like it. I like being around people, and I like meeting new people. I like that aspect of it, but it was just so, especially those entry-level sales jobs, it was just so corny for me. I realized I am stuck here from Monday to Friday. I had to be there at 7.30, from 7.30 to 5 or 5.30. And then I had to drive back in traffic because it was in Phoenix, you know, and so I realized real quick, that's not what I want to do. And so

when it came time, I had a small sponsor that would pay me monthly, it was enough to pay, pay your rent, and eat basically. And, and obviously you would fight, but you're fighting then you're fighting for 100 bucks or, you know. And so for me, I was just, I was just kind of, I'm like, where do we want to go here? I was like, I was like, I know I don't want to do nine to five. Do I want to get on the fire department or something? I went and did my EMT class while I was doing all this stuff too. And then, um, I just kind of told myself, I was like, now's the time to do it. If you want to do it, you don't want, I don't want to look back back and say and be one of those guys at the bar and be like oh I would be been so good at that I wish you know and think I wish I would have done it I could have done I could have been great like try now and see what

happens if you fail at least you can look back and say hey I tried it and didn't work out whatever but don't have that doubt later on that you should have done something and so I just started uh yeah training and then it just kind of snowballed and And then when you look back now, I don't really take too much time to like reflect on it, you know, um, maybe it's later on in life, whatnot, but then you look back sometimes you're like, wow, it came a lot of long ways and I fought the best of the best. That's kind of a surreal and cool experience too. I look back and like fought rampage in Japan. I fought, you know, all these guys, you know, from my losses, like Machida to huge wins to my first big fight with like Jardine down in Australia in the morning, you know, so, uh, you know, it was just one of

those decisions where, you know, I was like, I'm going to give it my all and anything I do, I put my all into it. So, um, that I quit my job, got that sponsor, and just kind of rolled with the MMA. And then got on the Ultimate Fighter and thought, oh, you're top of the world. And then realized that really nobody pays attention to the Ultimate Fighter. And then you're thrown back into the deep UFC weight classes. And so, yeah, um yeah just funny then you know i was on that ultimate fighter contract and and uh you know it's it's known you're not making a huge amount of money like he was doing what i loved and i was getting good sponsors and whatnot and then

it came time to um they asked me to fight rampage and it's like i got to get out of this contract like you got to renegotiate my contract so i finally did uh did that man you know and then you know when i left the fcs i was 20 fights in damn yeah that's a lot of guys like our season of tough and we can talk about that our season of tough had quite a few guys that remained and if you look i mean we're on ultimate fighter season eight it didn't been around for a while i think they're in the 20-somethings now. Yeah. And they have, like, the Contender Series, which is like a spinoff of that. But it's basically the same show with less of the drama and whatnot. You know, less of the TV reality show type stuff.

And I remember, like, fighting and just, like, the goal is to fight in the UFC. The goal is to be, like, that's when I'm at the top, you know, and you're working towards that. And, you know, when we were going out there, putting us up at the Palace Station, that kind of shit, like I knew you from ASU. We weren't super close because you were a wrestler and I was a football player, but we knew each other. And we had probably been drunk a couple times at the bars.

But I remember doing dinner with you, like trying to game plan on how we could make it onto the same team the night before they fucking made us fight each other. Yeah, that was ridiculous. I was like, we looked at each other like, what the fuck? And thankfully for me, because I lost that fight against you, thankfully they were like, hey, man, Kingsbury 7-1, Bader 7-0. You got guys fighting each other that have no fights versus one fight. Yeah.

And it's ridiculous. And Mir, you know, for all the drama we had had on that show like he was really cool man he went to bat for me and i didn't even know that yeah he totally did he went to joe silva and he was like this is bullshit man both these guys should be on o'gara said the same thing and then you know when a guy got hurt they brought me back in and that's you know my whole career happened jimmy got hurt and then yeah yeah jimmy was a good dude. But we make it on the show. We do wind up on the same team. We spent six weeks together in the house,

and it was like a total shit show. Figure out we're both weirdos. Oh, hey, you're weird too. Fucking cool. This is good. This is real good. That was fun. I mean, I look back at that experience, and it was a perfect time in my life, and I think in yours too, you know, where... 100% we had different guys like Christoph Sosinski was on there and he had he at least one kid I know

that maybe two kids and he's married and and that was six weeks away from his family no contact for us we were fresh out of college and I was used to grinding in that wrestling grind where I would put my head down in October and not stop until March. And so for me, I knew in there, I was like, I'm going to go win this thing, and I'm just going to keep going and keep my head down and keep working. These other guys, I started hearing them talking about, like, man, I just want to go home and see my family and all that. Some guys already own gyms. It's like jiu-jitsu coaches and shit like that. I don't know how my gym's doing.

I haven't spoken to my wife. Yeah, it's like jiu-jitsu coaches and shit like that yeah i don't know how my gym's doing i haven't spoken to my wife yeah it's a totally different ball game yeah so but i look back at that experience and although it was tough and we were stuck in the house and it was it was a blast for me hell yeah i had a great time i was bouncing five nights a week and work until 2 30 or 3 a.m and then when you're there like you don't get paid to be there but everything's paid for they get 500 bucks a week yeah for them you have 500 bucks a week like that's that's what you're making back home and uh but all the food's covered that kind of thing you know you're right on the list hey i need new underwear i need uh i need you know i want sashimi grade tuna tonight well that pick it up for you yeah well that was at the beginning then then they came back and said

hey guys you need to calm down with that no no grass-fed flaming yeah kyle's a good foodie and he'd order yeah sushi grade ahi tuna from whole foods and they brought it for a couple times and then i think he started upping the ante and they're like guys come on like no lobster no fucking crab we're like dude let's make a fucking big ass meal seven hundred dollar dinners every night let's ball it out but if you wanted alcohol within the hour they deliver that right into the pantry. Yeah, because they knew that would stir it up. That would definitely stir it up, especially with guys like Junie and Dave Kaplan and everyone on the show. You have a guy like Junie who tried to fight me.

He threw wine right in my face. Wine glass. Not just wine. A wine glass at Kyle. And I don't think that was shown was it i don't know i've covered and it broke on my forearm thankfully there's no cut or anything that'd have been a shitty way to have to leave you know it's crazy he uh i got a facebook message from him probably i mean years ago but he was apologizing and all that i thought that was kind

of pretty cool of him yeah then it kind of was like oh shit something is he doing this and something's gonna happen to him you know he's gonna do something to himself or something but he's still out there you know he was uh he's good ratings on that but at that time it was kind of everybody was kind of fed up with him yeah it's well i mean it's six weeks and you're day after day living with 16 guys in a house. Alcohol's flowing. And not everyone was drinking. I didn't drink until I lost to Christoph. But it was just like this, fuck, dude, this is day in, day out. And I still appreciated it because of the fact that I was not working.

And this idea that this is what it feels like to be a professional athlete. Yeah. This is what it feels like to train full timetime yeah to eat to sleep and to breathe mma and to not worry about anything else well that's what we did i mean you woke up and you had your two training sessions with two meaning like you maybe do a strength conditioning and roll or something then come back at night and spar do whatever and it was all based and trusted with your coaches which was uh nogara and nogara was an amazing amazing coach and guy but yeah i mean it was uh i think it's you got a short amount of or a lot amount of fights in a short amount of time and you got

to train we trained with anderson silva machida yeah he brought on some of the fucking legends of the sport so i think that was a big catapult um but yeah people don't realize like no we had no tv we had no magazines no radio no radio unless the guys were unless the guys in the van wanted to hook us up we made a chessboard yeah we asked the guys the camera crew what was going on in the uh in the world basically and they've kind of like yeah who's winning the nba finals yeah that kind of shit and they play songs for us a little bit like the hot songs we're like what's this song they're like oh it's the new song going on right now and then um it's crazy because i hear some of those songs uh and it kind of brings me back to that yeah totally whatever

was that song by uh mia yeah the chick the bang bang yeah yeah that one for sure and then uh that just came out but i we had you you know, obviously we got closer, but, you know, I got closer with other people too. Hell, yeah. Tom Lawler became a good friend of both of ours. And I remember a text or a tweet. He's like, I'm the tough eight champ by default, the last one left in the UFC when I left to go to Bellator.

That's right. So it was a good time, you know, and that's where you, I think, really form those bonds. You know, that's where you hear people, you know, I got a bunch of buddies that are, you know, on the SEAL teams and stuff like that, and they kind of have those same bonds that, like, mixed martial artists do that go in there and scrap with each other every day.

You know, you form that camaraderie and bond with people. You do some shit together day in, day out, right? Like, you know, you fought each other. You trained together, you know, and then that's what people don't – normal people don't get. They're like, how can you guys – they'll watch sparring. They'll be like, how can you guys do that to each other? And then afterwards, give each other high fives and be cool and go get coffee, you know.

And so I think that formed a lot of good bonds, and it was a great experience. And then just kind of, like I said, I ended up winning it, and I felt like, yeah, I'm at the pinnacle. And then looking back now, just so naive and didn't know shit really. And so you fight in the UFC. You get some big fights against big names. And then, of course, I've been a little bit more outspoken about the treatment of fighters and things like that, but you've got to fight a young Jon Jones on the way up.

Nobody else has taken that fight. Well, for me, I was having a good time. I wasn't getting paid much, but I was always looking like I'm going to get taken care of, this and that. I fought Keith Jardine. They called me, like, you're going to fight Keith Jardine in Australia? I'm going to get taken care of, you know, this and that. And I fought Keith Jardine. It was like they called me, like, you're going to fight Keith Jardine in Australia. I'm like, all right. You know how you get that name and you get those butterflies and that thing going.

And especially at that point in my career, and they're like, all right, Keith Jardine. I'm like, this guy just beat Chuck Liddell like two fights ago. I'm fighting him in Australia, whatever. I haven't fought a guy at that level previous to that, at least name recognition and stuff. So I didn't know if I was even on that level. I thought I was. So that was the only time I threw up before a fight.

It was 11 in the morning in Australia. We were warming up and stuff. And I remember Rampage, he was in there with Bisbee because Bisbee fought Vanderlei. He was cornering him, and he was in our locker locker room he just kept watching me with whatever i was doing and i remember thinking like we'll fight this dude one day you know and that's that's when he was a big dog and then uh but anyway i go out there and keep judging through his first combo at me and i was like i do belong here i'm good you know and so I went up and knocked him out in the third and that was kind of like all right I belong here and whatnot and I'm good and so yeah I keep going and then uh you know John Jones um I took every single fight they offered me

and John Jones was up and comer and they had a hard time finding fights for him yeah he's undefeated everyone's talking around about him in the locker rooms and shit exactly you know and i was on my honeymoon i was fat and i was drinking i was and they were pushing me to like take this fight like four weeks from there i was like i stood my ground down i said no i'll fight him but i can't do it four weeks from now i'm like so anyway i ended up fighting him and uh ran into john jones you know and And I had – even at that point, I had no clue really what I was doing, like on my feet, you know. And then no game plan. I had no – he's long, he's lanky.

Like, you know, we just trained. We went live. That's it. I had no game plan to get inside his reach. Nothing, you know. And so, you know, then he goes wins the title and stuff like that. But I just did everything they they ever asked i never turned down fights i fought you know everybody and anybody they ever offered

us you know and i always thought thought there was gonna because you heard guys like always say like yeah you know rashad got a 500 000 locker room bonus or this and that you know and i was always waiting for that time we're like oh even a freaking fifty thousand dollar check or in the locker room or something like okay you know like i see what's going on here i'm getting to this level and now now i'm really gonna push that just never happened we used to get locker room bonuses and and yeah some were good like but i get knocked out for i'm a cheetah and i didn't get my win bonus you know and i got 30 grand for getting knocked out you know in a bonus usually it was like five then those started drying up and then it was always like yeah do this for us do this for us

we'll get you back we'll get you back i never really it was always a carrot right there a dangle dangled and then something happened or if you had a key loss and it was pulled pulled back and then you know it's just kind of they did that towards the end of your career in the ufc right yeah i was like you were winning. You were fucking rising. So I was on a five-fight win streak, and I was supposed to fight Cormier before, and we had a good storyline and, you know, the whole deal. And they pulled that fight.

And I talked to Dana. I was like, hey, can I – you know, I get it, whatever, because I asked for the fight with Anthony Johnson. And he's like, we're going to give it to Cormier. I was like, well, Because I asked for the fight with Anthony Johnson, and he's like, we're going to give it to Cormier. I was like, well, what's going to go on with me? Like, can I get paid or whatever? And I didn't get paid, and I was fine. Like, they pulled him up to fight him, and our fight got canceled,

and I didn't get paid or anything like that. And then I forgot the whole logistics of it, but I think John Jones was supposed to fight. Maybe it was John Jones was supposed to fight Cormier and he got in trouble or something and it was open. And so I was, I was on a five fight, four fight win streak or I think it was four at that time.

Yeah. And so I call and talk to Dana. I'm like, Hey, I want to shot. You know, we have our thing. We don't like each other, this and that. You know, people wanted to see it. And then he's like, no, I think I'm going to give it to Alexander Gustin. And I was taken aback a little bit. I was like trying to think, like, did he win his last fight?

I was like, he got knocked out his last fight. You're going to give it off a knockout loss? And he's like, yeah, you know, we owe it to him and whatnot. Like, you owe it to him. And I tried to make my case more, and it just kind of shut it down. You're fucking talking to a wall at that point. Exactly. And he's like, go out and win your – I was like, who are you thinking for me then?

He goes, Rashad in October. Go out and win that fight. Nobody can deny you a title shot. And I go out there and beat rashad and then same deal you know so i think at that point when they gave that to alexander gufson i was like if i'm not getting that title shot now i'm not gonna get one yeah and i i literally have to beat one two three four five six and about that time i beat pretty much the four guys behind me in the top 10 you know and uh and so for me it was like that's one of the points where kind of my mind switched.

And I was like, all right, you know, I see what's going on here. So I fought Rashad, and I lost to Anthony Johnson. Just a terrible fight. I was going to go in there and try to kind of do a Chell Sonnen on him, just go in there, take him down, and just make him work from the beginning. And he got on my back and caught me a few punches and thought I was fine. But you know, the fight just sucked, you know, and for me, at that moment, I'm like, I gotta change the way I approach this was like,

no more overthinking it no more making it bigger than what it is. Every time I've been in a fight, I've walked out even if I got knocked out or, or as bad, or I've always walked out and, and thought to myself, I want to get back in there, you know, either to avenge a loss or, or I want to fight. And I was like, man, I made it bigger than I, than I, it was, you know? And every time I get back to my locker room or my hotel room afterwards, I'm like, I'm good. You know, like we can punch each other in the face. I'm still alive. i'm still alive i feel good and um so that at that point i was like i'm gonna take these fights i'm gonna have fun i'm gonna remember this moment how i felt in the locker room after anthony johnson and how disappointed i was in

myself and and um the feeling i felt everybody else was feeling like my team like i kind of let them down and you know i left and you know and they were fine, but I just promised myself I would remember that moment in my next fights, and I would have fun throughout fight week, and so I went to Germany my next fight, and I just kept everything light. We were laughing in the locker room. At fight day, I'd find myself kind of getting quiet, just overthinking stuff, and I would just snap out of it and be like, nope, nope, that uh that feeling and so I went in there felt loose with uh with um what's his what's his name was it OSP Latifi Latifi earlier Latifi yeah Latifi and he was a brick shithouse he's so strong high level wrestler yeah yoked as fuck I in on him, and it was like hitting a brick wall.

And so I had to – and we just saw that he was ducking his head a lot. And so went in, you know, threw some throwaway punches, and I was going to throw a high kick, but kind of saw that he was ducking, so I kind of turned in a knee, knocked him out, totally out. You know, and then, you know, boost of confidence felt good, and I went into an O'Gara fight the best I've ever felt going into a fight, just confident. And you had to go down to Brazil for that one. I had to go down to Brazil, the main event, you know, and it's just one of those things where I stopped making fighting and fights bigger than what they were.

I was like, I'm just going to go in there and have fun. That's a big corner to turn. It's huge. For a lot of people. And then, so that was, so before my Latifi fight, though, I was, my manager and I talked about, like, we're going to see what else is out there. We're going to become a free agent. Just the way that whole thing went down with the title shot and all that. And, you know, by the time I, my Noguera fight was my 20th fight in the UFC. And it was more of that, like, that carrot care. And then we kind of find ourselves, he would kind of be, you know, devil's advocate and be like, well, what if they offer us this amount of money?

And I'd be like, well, you know, the guy, you know, I want to, if I want to stay in UFC and I find myself getting back into that same routine that I did every single time you know like well maybe and then maybe they'll give me this and or maybe if we get a title shot right off the bat you know but then what happens if somebody gets hurt and then you know so for me it was like one of those things where we're gonna see what what's out there i.e. we're gonna see what Bellator is gonna offer us and he has a bunch of guys in Bellator um so I won that Latifi fight and I was on vacation with my wife for her birthday and we were spearfishing and I get a call.

I was like, Noguera, November, and it was seven weeks, you know, and I'd been having fun, drinking, eating, whatever, because right after a fight, seven weeks, Gustafson pulled out, you want this fight, five rounds. I was a fight, seven weeks, Gustin pulled out, you want this fight, five rounds, I was kind of thinking about it, last fight on my contract, and I, and I said, all right, yes, let's do it, and if you know anything about, like, the UFC,

if you fight your contract out, at this time, they did not know that I was going to fight it out, because I was with them for so long, they just assumed, And so he goes back and tells him yes, and Joe Silva goes, well, all right, Dave, I'll send a new contract over. We need to sign a new fight deal. That's what they make you do. They make you re-sign before you get the fight. And Dave goes, oh, no, we're not re-signing. And he was pissed and said we were trying to trick him and whatnot and and i was just kind of laughing i was like i'm trying to trick them i'm like come on i was like

there is no free agency yeah it's not a free market and so they couldn't go back after they offered me that when we said yes and they couldn't go back and and say uh pull the fight and pull the fight because that would just look like a straight extortion, you know? So, um, was able to fight and, and I think there's a comment of like, I wouldn't have gave him little nog if I knew he was going to fight his contract out, you know? And so it actually worked out very well for me because I got those two fights done. So if I had two fights left on my contract, right. And you know, this, this, that could be a year plus. Yeah. At least,. Yeah, at least.

You know, at least. And so I got to do that in two months. And so then after that, I started talking. And we were kind of gauging where we're at, you know. And right after, you know, and after the period ended, we started negotiating with Bellator. And we had interest from UFC, you know, and they were like, where do we need to be here and there with the new matchmaker? You know, and Dana came out and said, oh, no, he should go to Bellator.

But there was still – we were still negotiating with them, you know. But the amount of money and the terms that we got from Bellator, and for me it wasn't just about, oh, what am I going to make per purse, you know. It was like I want a flat rate. I want to be guaranteed a certain amount of fights in a year. And if I don't hit that, you have to pay me still. I want bonuses. I want a signing bonus.

I want TV bonuses. I want gate bonuses, stuff like that. What's your plan for me? What's Bellator's plan in the future? I love what Scott and Rich Chow had to say. And I was kind of before, definitely before my Noguera fight, but even before my Latifi fight, I kind of was going in there knowing that I only had a few fights left in the UFC. And it was kind of surreal being down in Brazil.

I was trying to soak it all up and thinking, like, this is my 20th fight in the UFC. 95% sure that it's going to be my last fight in the UFC. And, you know, I had a great time fighting in the UFC, 95% sure that's going to be my last fight in the UFC. And, and, you know, I had a great time fighting in the UFC. You know, I got to go on, I got to go to Australia a bunch of times, UK as a guest fighter. I fought everywhere around the world. A lot of my memories are tied to those fights,

bringing family and friends along and staying after, you know. And so for me, it was a bittersweet thing. I knew UFC wasn't the same as it was before you know with the people i didn't even know anybody anymore and uh you know just the logistics of it and then uh but at the same time i was like this is kind of sad you know this is my last fight week with the ufc you know and i don't know i didn't know how bellator was or i've never been to a bellator fight venturing into unch territory. But I knew it was better for me, better for the family, better, you know, just in general being

respected and so I signed a deal. We come to terms. I signed the deal. The next day they come out and say they're having a fight in Madison Square Garden on pay-per-view and it's going to be big and it kind of just reassured everything that I did was the right move and

I ended up getting on that card and you know going through that fight week it was just the same but just more respect and I just felt good a good vibe you know and and it's felt like it was where I needed to be and and you know there was a respect and respect level there between between us and the management. The powers that be, yeah. Yeah, you know, it's just, that was my biggest thing. And then, you know, went out there and never had stepped foot in a Bellator cage before,

except 30 seconds before my fight, you know. But I got in there and I felt good and everything was relaxed. We were laughing in the back, making jokes and stuff. And I was just like, it's my time right now it's like this this is one of my career goals you know and uh you know I would love to go out there knock him out and do it in devastating fashion um but just grinded out because a tough guy and uh getting that belt around my waist wasn't like oh I'm the champion or anything like that it was just

like a a good mementoo to have and look at throughout my life and say, all right, it was more of the work I put in, the sacrifices my family, my wife made, my parents made, driving me to California every weekend to wrestle, you know, and everybody sharing that together. I had 25, 30 people there in New York and Madison Square Garden, and that's my biggest accomplishment. It's not because I won the belt. It's because we all did as friends, family, you know, my wife takes a huge burden. I have three young kids, you know, under five, uh, a brunt of the work when I'm in camp, you know, and, uh, uh, my parents have been super supportive and they come to every fight. They've drove me to every athletic event I ever had. So it was more for them, you know.

And, like, when I – at the hotel, like, I was going to leave my belt in the room. She's like, you should bring it down. People want to see it, whatever. You know, I just handed it to everybody else, and they were taking pictures. I felt like that was – that's what I was kind of fighting for. And I love being in the position to take, to have these fights, but to bring everybody together to experience that. It's not like, oh, come to watch me fight. It's like, let's all get, yeah, I have a fight, whatever. But it's an excuse for everybody to see

my parents all the time, to see friends and family, to come together. And, you know, and I'm glad I'm just that glue or whatever that can get those people together and experience that and have fun you know so for for me that's what it's all about and and you know i had a goal of being a champion i still i'm super competitive anything i do i have that drive um but i did experience that i got that belt and i want to keep it you know and um you know financially it makes sense to keep the belt um but, and, you know, financially, it makes sense to keep the belt. But for me, it's kind of turned the corner now where I'm like, all right, let's have some fun with this now. You know, I captured that goal that I wanted to get,

you know, and so for me, it's just kind of, all right, what's next now? I want to remain the champion, but I want to up that ante with, you know, I want to go out there and have a fight where I'd come out and just be like, man, that's what it's about right there, you know. And I feel like I've never shown my true potential yet. Yeah, that's awesome. But it seems like you've got really, you know, you brought in some new coaches. You've kind of changed your training atmosphere. Yeah.

We can talk a bit about, as much as you would like to, about Power MMA. That was the gym you guys started together. Dive into that for a second. Yeah, you know, so we, I mean, six years ago we started Power MMA, and we were kind of brought on. CB Dalloway, myself, Aaron Simpson were kind of brought on as, like, the face and the draw. You know, you guys need to train out of here and do this.

Mike Miller, the basketball player, was a part of it, my manager, a couple other people. So there's a bunch of us. Mainly for me, it was just, all right, cool. We have an amazing place to train. And if you've ever been there, if you haven't been there, it was 30,000 square feet, you know, full-size cage, 6,500 square feet of mats, all the weight equipment, all that kind of stuff, you know. But as we kind of grew up and, you know, we were 24-year-old kids then, you know, as we grew up and we're kind of like, you know, realized it's a business. It's not being ran correctly too, but kind of just kind of letting it do its own thing. It got to the point where our lease was coming up in a couple months, and we didn't want to stay in that building it was too big our overhead was at least fifty five thousand dollars a month damn

we had a lot of members and we were bringing in at you know i look back at pnls and stuff um you know because we're doing a new gym now cutting a lot of fat and everything but i look back and we were bringing in close to $100,000 a month. But at that point, our overhead was 90 something thousand a month, you know, and it was insane. It's the building alone. I mean, the rent on the building was 26,000 a month. And then in, in the summertime, we had $10,000 worth of utilities. And then you have a big, we had a lot of classes. So then you have, um, $17,000 a month in payroll, at least, you know? So at the end we were done, we had some people that wanted to come in and they're like, no, we want to run this gym. Let us run it. And then, uh, we'll take it over,

guarantee everything for a new five-year lease. And you guys just keep training. You'll be owners still, whatever. But for me, it was like, all right, we'll take it off. You know, we weren't making good money out of there anyway, so take it off my plate. We can still get the training. It's an amazing facility. We have the coaches. And so I brought in, right at the end, we brought in Jair Lorenco, some really top-level coaches, and love Jair.

But it came to the point where those guys weren't running it you know they came in this is what we do we take businesses and we turn them around it's super successful all this and i just watched it just dwindle down all the memberships and everything um with them running it and they want to do this this oh we're going to do this crazy marketing and all that they had a billboard that they're driving around like a billboard truck you see in Vegas it's like one of those things where this is the missing piece

to drive people into the gym this billboard truck and my brother-in-law that's what he does he's a wizard in the digital space and he's like alright I'm out I said I agree we'll see how this goes He's a wizard in the digital space and everything. And he's like, all right. And he's like, I'm out then.

And I said, I agree. I was like, well, we'll see how this goes. And so I was like, well, I guess it's their problem. I put in my input. I'm not saying that I know everything, but it came to the point where they were going to sign the new lease. And the guy, the landlord, was there with papers out. And they no-showed him and called my manager an hour before and said, yeah, no, I don't think we're going to do it.

And so then the landlords got pissed and our lease was up in two months. And they said, well, instead of July, you guys need to be out June 1st. And this was May 25th. And we, I mean, all Memorial weekend, it was just us moving that gym and I was in the middle of training camp for a world title fight against top three guy in the world you know and so we literally and the team helped and coaches helped and all that but you know i'm heading

it up with my brother-in-law i'm renting u-hauls had two u two U-Hauls. I had my trailer. I had somebody else's trailer. And we moved a 30,000-square-foot facility in three days. Everything from paper towel holders to the speakers in the gym that we put in to 45. You saw how much weight equipment was there. Yeah, I remember voting plates, moving stuff around. The mats were heavy as fuck. 7,000-square-feet of mats, bags, everything, cage. And it was three days of sunup to sundown, past sundown, of moving stuff.

And I'm grateful for everybody who, you know, the team and everything. And I was smoked for three weeks, like smoked. And I just kept looking back like that was the dumbest thing I ever did. You know, and luckily we were able to go to Thoroughbred, Eric Larkin's space and all that. And so my mind was kind of messed up a little bit, but I said, you know, I've been through worse. Let's get in there.

I'm going to feel fine fight week, and I'm going to go win this title. And it is what it is. And so that kind of took a lot out of me. My arms, I remember I brought in Corey Anderson to spar, and I remember I was in such good shape. And halfway into the first round, I was gassed. Couldn't even breathe. And coach was like, you know you're in shape.

You can't let this get in your head. And I'm like, I know. But still, when you feel it, you're not feeling what I'm feeling right now. Sparring is the greatest test of all in fight camp. Yeah, and so that messed me up a little bit. But, you know, I went in, and I felt great the week of the fight and won it anyway. But, you know, so it was a good lesson.

You know, it's one of those things where now as far as, you know, I have another business and I'm in the fire every day, like, you know, with the Juby stuff, I have an office. I go train. I go to my office, and I come back and train again and come home. And, uh, we deal with stuff daily. And I got to the point where nothing surprises me anymore. You know, when you're younger, something happened like Jim, he was like, Oh, it's the end of the world. You know, now I have, I'm getting sued. Not me personally, but we are going through a litigation with two different things right now. You know,

and it's, we just laugh for like, get the R rolodex out and find out what lawyer we need for this issue you know so um what we're doing now so i was fortunate enough to find a great space it's 9 000 square feet it's just big box that we're now moving power into it's a private gym for now and we're currently buying a piece of land and building up a brand new, basically it's about probably 11,000 square feet with some offices up front for my other business and my brother-in-law's businesses. And then in the back is going to be a brand new mixed martial arts gym. We're going to have a little bit of everything in there and do it right, and we have the right people around. So that's a plan right now, and looking at that as an investment too um you know we're smart with that as far as

not getting in over our heads and whatnot yeah you had six years to learn yeah i mean experience exactly and so it's just uh we got at the beginning we we tried to run it like a fortune 50 business you know and the expenses were crazy you know when you need to be ran like a little mom-and-pop place and so for us it's just uh scaling down but we're not really scaling down because the space um there's wasted space in the other building we had 7 000 square feet of locker rooms we had a basketball court all this stuff so um just consolidate that and get the overhead down you know and then uh i'm excited about it. And so, but in the meantime, we've got our team. We're training out of this new facility that's awesome.

And then, you know, we're looking to actually double down with that and bringing some investors on that want to get involved in the pro team, start bringing guys in because I know now that we have the right coaching staff and the right people around us for sure. Hell yeah. It sounds like you're in the best best place you've ever been mentally physically and then just how you've designed all the working pieces around you from your coaches to the facility that you guys are going to have yeah no it's been stressful this last this uh from may on you know because we've been kind of uh you know i went through camp uh you know for a world title fight

you know training out of wrestling room fight, you know, training out of wrestling room when I was used to training in a cage every day and doing this and having everything on one roof. And we're just, but we made do, you know, it's just what you just make do with what you have. And so even now, you know, and for me, I want to make sure everybody around me is taken care of and in a place to succeed also so just kind of had to take the brunt of that and the brunt of the team um you know for now until we're getting into this new space and all that but um i i enjoy having difficult things thrown at me now and and uh working through them you just take it one step at a time if something looks like you're like man

how are we going to get through this what are we going to do you just take it one step at a time. If something looks like, you're like, man, how are we going to get through this? What are we going to do? You just start walking, you know, and then that's the thing. And I've learned some good lessons. And even getting into the Juby deal, you know, it's like a nootropic shop in 5,000 stores. But getting into that business, not knowing it at all, and going through a good, successful year, and then kind of seeing what we know now i'm like all right this is what we need to do to change and that's how you learn is you make mistakes and you you you you adapt and you you know and you uh go a new route you pivot you do whatever you need to do um and and for me i've learned to be i was i'm always nice guy and like oh sure and give people the benefit of the doubt

and try to make everybody else happy and I realized especially in business that you can't you know and that's what kind of sucks about it um you know but uh that's the kind of part I'm trying to get better at is just being more direct and everybody's looking out for themselves and I try to look out for myself and everybody else at the same time, which I need to start looking out for myself and the people around me and worry about our business, what's good for us. And, you know, so that's the biggest kind of thing I've learned. Oh, yeah, that's big.

There's no growth without stress. Yeah. You're not going to get stronger just lifting the weight bar, right? You got to add some weight. You got to get sore. That's the only way you get stronger, right? Exactly. Same thing for the mind. Well, let's dive into Juby because I fucking love it. I remember trying it a while back. It's as far as I know, the only nootropic RTD that, you know, ready to drink in a shot, like a, like a five hour energy that has, you know, what you would, you, I guess in the drug

game, we'd call an upper and a downer. So there's things that help improve focus in it. And then at the same time, there's a very relaxing, calming element. You talk about some of the ingredients and why you guys designed that? Yeah, I talk about it all, yeah, for sure. So we wanted to do, so off the bat, a buddy of mine came up to me and he was talking. He's like, let's do something.

I'm seeing all these Kratom shots out there, and it was at the very beginning of Kratom. Kratom is a leaf from Southeast Asia. It gives the user kind of an opiate experience, and they've been chewing that leaf and using ST in Southeast Asia for thousands of years. It sends a well-being-being relaxation and it actually helps people kind of get off opiates and heroin and whatnot and and there was one company in particular I was really just killing it out here and we're like let's just do our own version of that you know and then we kind of realized Kratom was kind of one of the not sustainable basically

it was going to be potentially shut down, which is crazy. Yeah, you're going to see the FDA come in and all that shit. You know, just like everything else. And it did. It came in and shut it down. But, you know, the people kind of rose up and got it overturned and kind of back on the market. But it's going to go away in a couple years.

So we kind of realized that was kind of, it was a risky, risky deal. And so we went and we know some friends that have a, they're called Dream Brands. They have like M Drive out there and good guys. And, you know, guy, his father invented Zycam. And so, you know, he knows his stuff and they had a stress release formula. And, you know, we're kind of like, well, we want more than this, whatever. And like, you know, he knows his stuff, and they had a stress release formula. And, you know, we were kind of like, well, we want more than this, whatever. And, like, you know, we actually – so we bought the stress relief formula from him

and then just kind of added our own stuff and kind of did some testing, did this and that, you know, and gave it out to people, did some sampling. And we just kind of hit on, you know, our gave it out to people did some sampling and we just kind of hit on you know our one formula in particular people kept on coming out and asking for it coming back and so kind of knew we had something so we just went forward with that you know so um what's in juby you know we at the beginning we were kind of like all right what is it like how does it make you feel and we just kind of really and we kind of were like, all right, so it's a stress relief formula. Then we realized not really kind of like, you can't shut the fuck up when you take it. You feel like you're on fire. Like you're, you're just killing stuff as far as like,

if you're going to meetings and you're blasting out emails and all that, you just feel on the whole time. Um, and so basically, you know, um, we have theanine, caffeine, we have 50 milligrams of caffeine, 5-0, so a cup of green tea, and theanine, that's clinically shown to increase focus and decrease your stress. Yeah, it's anti-anxiety. Yeah, you know, and so then we have 5-HTP in there. We have your B vitamins and chamomile extract. And that's kind of the stress relief formula, you know. And then we have a derivative of amino acid that the Russians developed in the 1960s called Phenibut or Phenibut, however you want to pronounce it. Basically, it was standard issue. And the cosmonauts, little dope kit that they'd go up and and uh doing

maintenance on the um you know in their what's the deal the in in space the space station yeah so they couldn't give them volume when they're going out there and doing their space walks and working on stuff because it would bring them down so they gave them this sub this amino acid um phenobutts called and they'd go out there uh it brings your stress levels down and your anxiety down while keeping you sharp and so uh we we have that in there and it's all in the proprietary blend you know so um you know obviously we know the the dosage and milligrams and whatnot and we just found that sweet spot there's a lot of of of phenobut in sleep aids but it's in a lot bigger dose and makes you go to sleep.

But in the perfect dose, it just helps with focus. It helps you just feel just on. And in Russia, they sell it as a prescription for social anxiety. And so that's the biggest thing. A lot of people say, oh, I use Juby to help me focus or it brings down my stress when I'm traveling or with the kids all day. But I think it works best when you're in a social situation. You can just walk in anywhere and feel like you can talk to anybody. You can go up to anybody and you're fine.

You know, they call it the uh soviet smart supplement or the the pickup drug because guys will talk because guys will go and talk talk to girls they're like i've seen ugly ass dudes on that stuff go and get pull tens from the bar you know because they there you feel like you have the gift of gab on it it's crazy you know and so we uh we got that formula down and it was one of those things where, like I was saying earlier, I'd give my all if I'm trying to do something. So we're like, let's just do it. We got with the distributor.

We manufactured it, and we did 350,000 units right at the beginning, and it's stressful. You got a lot of money out there in inventory, but, you know, sold that through and got another truck going. And now we're in, you know, we're in the number one shot in Arizona here in 600 Circle Ks, and we're in about 5,000 stores nationwide, Circle Ks being a big one. Sell it online, try juby.com, T-R-Y-J-U-B-I. You know, we came up with the name Juby

because, you know, you got to trademark it, obviously. And every word out there is pretty much trademarked. came up with a name, Juby, because you've got to trademark it, obviously. Every word out there is pretty much trademarked. We're doing synonyms of how it made you feel, like mood enhancement, like bliss, whatever. We put jubilant or jubilation on there. Then my brother-in-law

scratched out the elation in Juby. That's how it came up. Did the designs and just kind of ran with it and then um you know that that first that first year i think we did close to a million in sales you know and obviously we pumped all of that back in you know to to grow the company you know and so now we're at a pivotal time too where um we're looking to do different stuff as far as kind of bring everything in house and and get bigger margins and not get middleman everywhere just a learning process you know of uh what i was talking about earlier and so uh you know that's

i'm on juvie right now i can't shut the fuck up i'm on juvie too yeah hell yeah brother well it is it is truly a phenomenal product i'm excited the fact that you guys are working on different different ways that you can implement that because uh you know we were talking about you know in a gas station and rtd might be the easiest thing to grab but when you order something online maybe you just want a bottle of capsules that way you have a couple before you go into work or if you don't want to have you know that if you don't want to drink something down for that matter you can just take the pills so well so we we built that that infrastructure now that we can just if we have an idea we can plug that in with minimal amount of work and you know we have those relationships

now where i can go to a manufacturer and say hey this is what i'm thinking make me this formula make me this artwork that i'm giving you um put it all in, you know, in a box, in a bottle, in a capsule, and send me samples, and just kind of go from there, so it's, it's really cool to see that, and even getting into that space, and, and, you know, how in business, they say it's all about relationships, you know, and I've met, you know, and MMA's helped a lot, you know, I'll have people come up and be like, oh, I watch MMA. What's going on, Ryan? And just networking through that.

And I've met, I have a bunch of good friends now from that business side. And they're doing big things now and then bringing us on and along for the ride too. And helping us out where, you know, our knowledge is lacking because we haven't been in this business. And they've been in there for 30 years, you know. So, for us, it's just, I mean, that's a huge, and you know that you were just talking about this going down the paleo FX or whatnot and talking to people and networking. And all of a sudden you get, you know, cause your personality and knowledge and you get plugged into the right people. And all of a sudden you're doing something you a month ago, you would never even

dreamed up, you know? And so, I mean, know and so i mean that's what it that's what it's about it's just uh it's networking it's it's having that i mean number one you gotta have you gotta be a good person you gotta have that personality but um and people get drawn to that but um i mean that it's drive yeah it's doing it you gotta fucking walk the walk and learn you know you gotta you to have those relationships too. And you can just sit there and put your head down and grind and you'll get to usually where you want to go. But just to have one door open and then you meet somebody else or whatnot,

that's how it just kind of compounds. And that's what I've learned the biggest thing is. I wouldn't say it's like a good old boys club, but it's definitely relationships. 100%, brother. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for fucking having us down here. I absolutely love your family.

Love spending time with you. We love you, buddy. Good friend, my brother. Thank you, my man. Oh, and real quick, where can we check out you on for people that want to, you mentioned the website tryjuby.com. Yeah, tryjuby.com. You can check out that. I would wait for – sign up actually on the VIP email list, and we send out –

I mean, once a month we're sending out little discount codes and whatnot. And so you can grab a couple then or go on our store locator if you just want to try it before you buy it. It's priced at $5.99 a bottle, $5.99. And people say, oh, it's a little expensive. But the thing is, it works. It fucking works. It works all day.

And so, but you can check me out at just at Ryan Bader on Instagram, Twitter I use occasionally, you know, Facebook. And, yeah, I try to do different stuff besides training and on social media too. So, yeah, it's been a pleasure, buddy. Hell yeah, brother. Thank you guys for tuning in to the On It podcast. I really hope you enjoyed this episode with Ryan Bader as much as I did. If you enjoyed it, go ahead and share it with your friends.

Leave us a five-star rating. Tell us what we're doing right. Or just hit us up on On It. I'm on the On It Facebook live each week talking about different things, health and wellness related, mixed martial arts, all the good stuff. And if you enjoy this podcast, really let the people know. Try to get the word out there. Thanks for listening.