MMA Fighting - Fighter vs. Writer: Jim Miller Ready to Make History at UFC 276; Josh Emmett Calls for Winner of Alexander Volkanovsk vs. Max Holloway 3

Episode Date: June 28, 2022

On the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer, Jim Miller and Josh Emmett join the show ahead of a stacked UFC 276 card on Saturday. With his 40th UFC fight taking place this weekend, Miller will discuss his record setting rematch against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and how that matchup came together on short notice after his original opponent Bobby Green was forced off the card. Miller also addresses his future aspirations including plans to compete at UFC 300. Featherweight contender Josh Emmett also joins the show this week to discuss his win over Calvin Kattar and plans to sit cageside this weekend to watch the title fight trilogy between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway. Emmett gives his pick in the fight and how he expects to challenge the winner after claiming his spot as the No. 1 contender in the division. All this and more on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts Subscribe: Spotify Read More: MMA Fighting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Vox Media Podcast Network. Welcome back to the Fighter versus the Writer. I'm your host, as always, Damon Martin. UFC 276 is upon us one of the biggest fight weeks of the year. And I'm I could not go for an event of this magnitude without talking to one of the people talking to one of the people fighting on the card and he's now in a rematch at Welterweight against Donald Cowboy Soroni. I am always excited to speak to Jim Miller. Jim, how are you? Hold on.

Hold on. Hold on. Let me read Jim. Jim Fing Miller. There you go. I'm good. I'm good. Yeah, excited.

Ready to go. Yeah, can't wait. So walk me through the kind of insanity of the last week because when the fight got rumored, I was kind of like when I text you to come on the show, I don't know why I ask you if you're fighting anybody, Jim. I just know the answer is going to be yes. It's like, hey, I heard a rumor Jim's going to fight Francis and Ghanu. I'm like, yeah, that's probably true.

So kind of tell me like, how did this come about? Because it was, you know, again, kind of the last minute change. Yeah, yeah, definitely last minute. But, you know, what the heck was it? I guess it was, you know, last weekend, Sean, Shelby called me up. And he's like, hey, you know, I'm going to have to pull green. And he's like, you know, we're going to work on an opponent. And he's like, I'll ask, you know, Donald, if he wants the fight, if you want that.

I said, yeah, go for it. And that was still at 55. And, yeah, like it was, I still don't know exactly what happened with Bobby, you know, but it was weird that it didn't get announced right away. So a few days went by and I was like, like, shit. Or I'm fighting in, you know, less than two weeks. Like what's going to happen here? And so I shot Sean a text and, you know, the next day, he's like, hey, you want, you, you know, you cool fighting Donald.

I was like, yeah, he's like, what about 170s? It's like, whatever, you know, first time for everything. So, yeah, let's do it. And it was, it was kind of, there was a few days where I wasn't sure if I was going to fight. And that, you know, that always sucks, like kind of getting put in the limbo like that. But, yeah, fortunately, we're able to find an opponent. And I think it's a, I think it's a great fight. I totally agree.

I was actually at the first fight in Atlanta city back in the day. We'll talk about that in a minute. But you've been fighting a lot of new guys. I mean, obviously two knockouts in a row. And I know we've had this conversation before, Jim. We know and the reason why you earn a nickname Jim Effing Miller from the great Joe Silva is because you're not the guy who turns down fights. You're not the guy who handspicks his opponent.

So whether you're fighting old school legends or kind of new people, it doesn't really bother you. But in Bobby Green, let's be clear, Bobby Green's kind of an old school guy in his own right. He's been around for a long while. But is there a certain excitement getting a guy like Donald's. Seroni, you know, rematch. I'm sure there's a little bit of maybe a little bit of revenge. I know you're not really a revenge-minded guy necessarily, but a little bit of revenge there. And let's be honest, this is a big fight. This is, you know, these are two of the biggest legends of our sport fighting in the cage.

It's always going to be a little more exciting, right? Yeah, definitely. You know, he's a, he's a guy, you know, in Donald that's a, I've wanted the opportunity to fight again. You know, I figured it would probably end up happening before we were both, we both called quits. You know, I know that he wants, I think, two more fights. I'm still kind of throwing it out there to UFC 300. So I was like, you know, let's see how far we can get. But yeah, I figured we would probably end up meeting up again at some point.

You know, we're tied for the most wins in the UFC. I've got them by, you know, a fight or two in total fights in the UFC. and yeah it's just uh it's a it's a good fight you know and and uh like i i like the match up too you know like uh i mean the the the fight you know years ago is eight years ago now uh you know i feel i could have won um you know he got the better me um you know set me up good for that that head kick and and uh but you know we're still we're still at both young you know early 3rd you know in our primes and and i feel like i've been able to uh you know hold on to it a little bit better uh given given my recent fights and and given his so you know i'm i'm looking to go in

there and uh and land and you know when i do i i'm feeling confident that you know i'm going to put them away absolutely how do you feel about 170 i mean uh this is i know it's short notice so it's just i guess it's just a weight cut you're not going through but how do you feel about fight at 170. You know what? It's going to be interesting because I don't really, you know, this is the first time I've fought at 170. I haven't had the opportunity to go in there and just be like not really have to do

anything. You know, when I fought Tiago Alves, I was walking at about 162, 163 because, yeah, I lost a ton of weight in 2016. and I still had to do a little bit of work, even though, you know, the fight ended up being at a catch weight higher than what I showed up, you know, fight week for. But, yeah, this is going to be an instrument one because I really don't have to do much, you know,

other than, you know, work out, feel good, and show up on fight day, which I'm excited for because the weight cuts always have an effect. so yeah it's it's going to be it's going to be fun can i ask what you're walking around that right now um i had been walking around like 168ish 167 168 um you know in the last few days i was like hey i can eat a little bit so you know like we i've put on a little bit uh but it's probably just all waterway at this point so um it'll it'll come right back off now i know you're a hunter you didn't actually You add a little extra elk meat, a little extra elk meat, maybe this week.

You're a pack on a couple extra pounds? No, no, not really. You know, the idea is to feel good. The idea is to feel good and to, you know, not do anything out of the ordinary because that's oftentimes what messes up fighters. So, you know, during fight week, it's not going to be any different. It's not like I'm going to be, you know, breaking from my norm. so I'm just going to be in the hotel working out and eating good food and just really not having to worry about the water cut, which is it's going to be a nice change.

Yeah, well, and also, to be clear, while this is a welterweight fight and Cowboy has fought a welterweight several times during his career, I think, and please correct me if you were told differently, but this is mostly because he already went through two weight cuts in the past basically six weeks. You went through the one in May, fight got canceled, went through the one again, like two. weeks ago and got canceled. So I mean, that's that's hard on the body to go through that and not actually fight. So he went through two weight cuts at about a six week period. And I know from what I had heard was he just didn't want to put his body through that again a third time, which I understand. I don't think anyone would want to do that. Yeah, no, I totally agree. You know, they had, when they originally had offered it to him, he had said he didn't, he didn't want to to cut again, you know, before August, which I don't blame at all. But apparently no,

nobody else wanted the fight. So, you know, they, they, they, I guess they called them back up and said, hey, would you do 70s? Yeah, there you go. So now, you already kind of mentioned a gym, but just again, let me throw out some stats here at you. This is fight number 40 in the UFC for you. You already hold the record for the most fights in UFC history at 39, but you're going to have number 40 this weekend. You're tied with Cowboy and Andre Arlowski for the most wins in UFC history at 23. Now, Andre's still going. He's, I actually just had a really good streak. I know he just had a lost fairly recently, but he'd been on a pretty good streak, so he kind of had to do his record a little bit. Um, is it kind of fun that this fight

came about when it did? Because not only are you going to increase your lead in the most fights in UFC history, but you have a chance to kind of break that tie. Now, I know, you're not done and Andre's not done. And, you know, technically Cowboys not done. Although Cowboys said two more fights, and I kind of believe him. I think if, when Cowboys Seroni says, I'm retiring in two more fights, I kind of believe him just because of who that guy is. Um, So you kind of get to, is it kind of fun that this ends up being the one you get? Because not only do you get to avenge a loss, but you get to kind of break a record against the guy you're tied with. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, it just adds a little, a little bit extra, you know.

I mean, it's a, it doesn't add any, like, pressure or, or, you know, like, eagerness to, to, to win or, you know, that's kind of just icing, you know, it's icing on the cake. you know, I get to go in, I get to fight with a guy that I'm a fan of and, you know, put on a good show. And, you know, if I do what I'm supposed to do, come out with a W. And, yeah, I'm just, I'm a, I went from those couple days of not having an opponent to like, hey, you're fighting Donald again. It's like, yes. You know, so like what you go from like the low to the, to the highs. So, yeah, it's, it's, it's, while it does add a little drama, it's, it's just another fight. Honestly.

To that, to that point, how much do records mean to you? I mean, maybe in a couple years when it's all said and done, we'll do a podcast like this when you're retired. Maybe we're talking about going to the UFC Hall of Fame or something. Maybe you can sit back and say, yeah, it's pretty awesome. I did that. I have the record for this or I have the record for that. But right now, you're still in the middle of it. I know you're not, you know, you're not retiring after this fight, so you still have more fights to go regardless.

But do you, I mean, do you take some pride in that? I mean, or do you take more pride in like, I joked with you, but not all seriousness? Like, the nickname that everyone loves for you, Jim, you know, the Joe Silva nickname, the Jim Effing Miller, because you are the guy who stepped up. You're the guy who will fight Cowboy Soroni on a week's notice, up a weight class, never fought a well to me. You're that guy. Like, I don't know. What do you, what means most to you at this point in your career? being that guy, you know, like the, the, I mean, the numbers are cool.

Like, there's nothing that, you know, I hang my hat on. And it's kind of basically just come down to attrition at this point, you know, just hanging on, right? But the fact is, is that there's, there are a lot of wins. There are a lot of great performances. There are a lot of great fights, you know, that create. those numbers and created the opportunity to get those numbers. So, you know, the, it's, it's not just about, you know, 40 UFC fights or, you know, what is it, 23, 24 wins and, and this and that. It's, it's just about fighting and fighting for the reason that I fell in love with the sport,

was just because guys fought and they wanted to, they wanted to fight. They wanted to fight hard. and that's really what intrigued me about it. You know, not, you know, not Twitter. That's not what got me into MMA. So, you know, I try to be the guy that influenced me to come into MMA. Yeah. Do you appreciate the fact, though, that where you're at right now, I mean, on the two-fifide win streak, two knockouts in a row.

And I mean this with the utmost respect to other legends of the sport, but you look at Cowboys for good example. I think he's had like, I think he's like 0 and 5 and won no contest. Now, some of the losses, there's no shame in some of the losses he's had. Again, face a good guy. But, you know, when you have that kind of a run, people start saying, man, you know, I don't want to see Cowboy take damage. And he said, honestly, he said probably two more fights and I'm going to walk away.

A guy you're very familiar with a guy you kind of came up with in the sport, a guy like Frankie Edgar, legend of sport, instant day one Hall of Fame on the UFC. But, you know, he's kind of experienced those kind of doldrums, that later career where he's kind of had some tough knockouts. You wonder, man, do you want to see him take another knockout, those kind of things? The fact that you're still doing this, like you're going for fight number 40. But when I talked about fight number 40, Jim, I'm not saying, you know what, Jim, what do you have, two left, one left, three?

I don't think about it. Like, would you say I'm going to make it to the UFC 300. I believe you. And I would not, I would be like, yep, that makes sense. And I can absolutely see you doing that. There's not a lot of guys in your position who can do what you're doing and stay at this level. And I mean that with the utmost respect to those guys. guys like Cowboy and Frankie are legends, but, you know, father time is undefeated.

You've heard that a million times. Oh, yeah. The fact that you're doing, the fact that you're doing what you're doing is, it's pretty amazing. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, it's, uh, there's definitely a lot of luck involved. Uh, you know, um, I've, I've probably been very close to some injuries that would

have shortened my career. Um, but, you know, I've also trying to try and, try, try to to be smart, you know, about it and, and train, you know, train hard, but train intelligently, you know, and, and a lot of times, like, fighters, we, we kind of fall victim to our own ego. Like, hey, man, it's, it's sparring, sparring day. I need to go hard. I need to, I need to show these guys what's up. I need to, I need to push because everybody else is doing it, you know, and like opening up my own gym in 2014, honestly, where I was and what I had to go through for a few years there, honestly, opening my gym is to save my career, you know, being able to be

the guy in control. And not even that like, you know, coach is fortunate to do stuff, right? not even saying that, but I feel that a lot of, a lot of fighters are very coachable. And if coach asks you to do something, you do it. You know, they want you to do this round. They want you to do that. They want you to go with this guy. You do it.

And kind of designing my practices around how I felt, you know, it made it that I wasn't fighting that, that that ego or that you know those voices that were trying to help but physically i just wasn't capable of doing it that day um but yeah like it's a it's it's it is crazy to think about it is crazy to think about you know it's because it's not only the 40 fights it's you know what the hell is that 320 weeks of of fight camp basically like you know we're there's a there's a lot of time spent in actual fights inside the gym to get to those 40 fights, you know. So that's a lot of, that's a lot of risk involved. That's a lot of potential, you know, potential injuries and

and stuff like that, that I've made it through relatively unscathed. Yeah, it's kind of crazy when you think, and that's also, again, I know everyone's been well documented. You've talked about it in the past, but also, you know, going through Lyme disease. Like, you went through something that you know, in a way, crushed your body and hurt you in so many ways. Yet you stayed active and yet you stayed coming. Because, again, we hear these horror stories of guys and girls dealing with certain things, whether it's, you know, that or, you know, not Lyme disease, but other ailments. And I always, I always bring this up.

And it's the guy I know you're familiar with T.J. Grant, you know, I always bring it up. One, one wrong move in the gym in a jiu-jitsu, in a jiu-jitsu class, takes a concussion, never fights again. And I actually just, I saw TJ on Facebook the other day. It looks like he's doing well. He's teaching. You're doing things like that. But, you know, that guy was one fight away from a title shot, one errant kick, gone, never fought again. You know what I mean?

There's so many, there's so many things that could go wrong in this sport. And for you to do what you're doing, like I said, not that you're going to sit back and pat yourself on the back and say, oh, man, I really did great. But again, it is pretty amazing because there's a million examples of people who never made it to 20 fights, much less 40 in the UFC. You know, I mean, obviously you're the number one. but that's what I'm saying. Like, they don't get to 20 fights to the UFC, and that's not because they don't want to be here or they get released. They just can't make it 20 fights to the UFC.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, like I said, there's a lot of luck. You know, like I'll take it. I'll take it. I didn't walk under too many ladders and, you know, cross paths with too many black cats, even though we had black cats' skits. But, you know, yeah.

It is a shame that sometimes that happens. But that happens in every sport that happens in every, you know, in every realm where people's careers and their love, right? What they love to do kind of gets stripped away from them sometimes by freak accidents. You know, like in MMA, I feel like it is, training is kind of designed to beat you up. And that's what I try to, I try to avoid, you know, taking the reckless damage and the unnecessary stuff, you know, because it's, you know, you only got one brain and you only got one body and you got to, you got to get the fight to get paid. And that's kind of how I always looked at as like, man, like, I kind of feel like shit. So maybe we shouldn't do this today, you know? So just kind of, yeah, just trying to be smart about it sometimes.

And fortunately, it's kind of worked out and got me to this point. Yeah. Can I ask you mention how much opening your gym has meant to you in your career? I had a conversation with a good friend of mine. Of course, UFC fighter Matt Brown. He opened his gym here in Columbus a couple years ago. It's been doing really well. And he said to me numerous times, he's like, you know, I love coaching.

And when it's all said and done and I call it a career, I think I'm going to be a better coach. and I was a fighter. I feel like when I finally get to impart that knowledge full-time on the next generation of fighters, I'm going to be a better coach than a fighter. Do you have that? I mean, you have your own gym. Do you have that aspiration of like one day transitioning into becoming like a full-time coach,

building a fight team? Do those kind of things matter to you? And, you know, down the road. I actually ended up, we had, I ended up selling the gym last year. You know, it was just with the way things were going coming out of, coming out of COVID, I would have had to either, I would have had to focus on the gym and teaching classes or like focus on my career. And I figured I'd put it all into MMA and, you know, and ride it out as long as I could. But like on the coaching side, I have a tough time with it sometimes because I know what I'm good at.

right and i and i and i never ask any of my guys to fight like me or to to you know to be like me um i i try to help motivate them um i try to show them things that that work for me um but i feel like the best coaches are encyclopedias and my livelihood being fighting it's like man like what is it you know what is a sport i'm even like jiu jihitsu or wrestling or any of these combat sports it's maximizing your body to do what you're good at. Because every body type and even like mentally what you're good at, you know, like in things like jihitsu comes down to it, like how your brain works.

Like I am not a three moves ahead of you kind of guy. I am a like fly by the seat of my pants, elevator music going on in my brain. Just bodies kind of flowing. And it's hard to teach somebody to that. do that. So, yeah, like, I, I, I try to, I try to help these guys, and I really do enjoy it. I enjoy, you know, having, you know, these young fighters that I can impart a little bit of knowledge on, but I'm not, I'm not like the MMA coach kind of guy, honestly. you know like I think that I think that what I'm better at and what I will be better at is more of the mindset type stuff and you know I'm kind of working on how to how to how to get into that and it even be like broader than just you know a localized team nice nice I like that very much I also you're doing cookbooks I mean you got other stuff going on you got a million things going on Jim Miller what's so you say I saw you push the game what you tell me about this cookbook I got to know about the

cookbook. You know, yeah, it kind of happens just on a introduction to some, some, some, you know, experts in their fields. And yeah, you know, one of my, one of my guys that I really trust, introduce me some people. And it's like, hey, you, you cook a lot. You've got a good following. Let's, let's do a cookbook. And I was like, oh, okay. So it kind of, it came about really, really quickly. And, yeah, like I'm, I'm happy with the way that everything came out. It took a lot longer to get out because we had some printing issues, believe it or not, you know, after, after 2020 and, and, you know, 21. There are some, there are some issues with supply chain type stuff.

But, yeah, it's finally getting out and shipping. and, you know, it's not, it's kind of, kind of like the coaching thing. It's not an encyclopedia, you know. It's more so about my mentality for cooking. There's about two dozen recipes in there. We ended up going primarily wild game, but every recipe in the book is really adapted from, like, beef, pork, chicken type stuff. but I have a, I have a passion for the outdoors and,

and, and, and, and I have a passion for food and, and, and really being involved in it, not, not just from going to the grocery store and getting it. The, the, the, the best meals I've ever had and shared with people have been super basic things that I actually had a, I had a hand in, uh, because they meant more to me to, to serve to somebody, you know? So, yeah, I tried to get that across.

And, you know, food is one of those things that really help me get over Lyme disease. And I feel has helped me then continue my career as well. You know, my diet, I don't know how it would have changed if I hadn't been affected by Lyme disease. I think it would have a little bit. But, yeah, like, it's, it's, it's, it's really clean. Like, we don't eat it. We don't get a lot of processed food in the house. And, you know, I feel like, you know, some days when I'm cooking dinner, it, it takes,

it takes time to, to go from wrong ingredients to make a meal. But I do enjoy it. And there are days where I'm tired when I'm doing it, but, you know, it is worth. it in my opinion and you know i i feel that uh particularly we as americans a lot of times we sacrifice our health for convenience when it comes to food and you know i fall victim to it when i'm traveling in particular you know then i then i eat stupid takeout and stuff like that and and then i feel like garbage um so yeah like hopefully hopefully by telling my story and giving people some uh some recipes and, you know, some ideas.

I hope to inspire people to kind of take control over their food and try to just live a healthier lifestyle and, yeah, just eat good food. Now, I'll admit, Jim, I can't cook to save my life. But if you're ever coming over to my house, I can make a mean baked ziti. I can do that. It's one dish I can actually have confidence in making. Now, as a kid, I used to go hunting all the time, and I loved hunting. haven't done it in years, but when I was a kid, we used to a game all the time,

venison and everything. You know what I mean? I even had, I had snake as a kid. I had a gator as a kid. I had lots of game food. If I was coming to Jim Miller's house in New Jersey, what's your specialty? What's the one thing you can cook? Be like, you know what? I'm going to cook this. And this is the one thing I know I could cook really good. I know you got a whole cookbook. What's your favorite thing? I mean, you know, there are some, there are some couple recipes like there's a there's a gumbo recipe in there that uh that um like i've i've made and duly sausage out of black bear and then i use that in in the gumbo and um there was fessin in the gumbo and stuff like that so this it's it's labor intensive making a like a dark rue um but it's super

worth it but honestly i am totally into the basics and a a backstrap that is, you know, that that that was cared for. The field care was there, you know, when, when you shot the animal and then processed the animal and just a nice basic seasoning on it, not overcooked. Like I get, I get super like anal retentive when I'm cooking backstrap, you know, like hovering over them basically. But yeah, just to honestly, just a backstrap. and honestly it doesn't even really matter what it is.

You know, I've cooked a black bear backstress very similarly to the to White Tail. I just got to cook them a little bit, you know, a little bit longer so you have to, you know, cook them, cook them well. But honestly, that right there is usually like it's eye opening for people when it's just a good, clean piece of meat. And it's, you know, not, not overwhelming that. Some spuds and some, uh, some broccoli or asparagus or Brussels sprouts. Um, yeah, that's, uh, that's, that's top notch in my mind. Yeah, give me a good steak and a baked potato any day. I get a most basic person ever.

Give me a good steak and a baked potato. I'll be the happiest guy in the world. You don't have to give me anything different. Give me that and I'm a happy guy. Uh, I guess we should talk a little bit more about the fight, of course. You'd have a fight like five days. Uh, real quick, you mentioned, of course, you had, you know, you had the fight with Cowboy eight years ago. I was at that fight as I mentioned. It was the main event,

Atlantic City. We all know the outcome. You know the outcome. They're going to talk about during fight week, of course, like that. But before that, it was a really good fight. He caught you. I mean, that's just the nature of the sport. So I'm not going to rehash that again eight years ago. But you've been showing some real knockout power. I mentioned her in your last couple of fights, two knockouts in a row. I imagine getting a win over Cowboy would be great no matter how it happens, but would it be a little sweeter if you could maybe return the favor? Oh, definitely, yeah. Of course. Yeah, you know, it's, uh, this is, this is the first time in my career that I'm rematching somebody that had beat me prior, uh, you know, and I'll admit that there's a little bit like, all right, like now's, now's my turn, you know, um, it, you know, the last fight was, it was eight years ago, right? Like, it's a long time, um, especially in this game, uh, you know, uh, you know, uh, I firmly believe that you can't even like look at film from somebody too heavily from,

you know, a year prior, even six months because we are professional athletes and we're constantly adapting and constantly changing and working on new things and closing up holes. So yeah, I've never put too much weight on, you know, like my previous fights, the couple of rematches that I have had. But, yeah, like I would like to get them back. I'd like to get them back. Yeah. Because I know you've heard a couple rematches here and there.

People always remember the Joe Lozahn. You know, those are two crazy wars, too crazy fights. But I always hear different things from different fighters. Some fighters say that when you get for a rematch, you know, you have to treat it like it's a totally different fight. I heard other people say, well, you can take little things. You know, think about the strength and the height and the reach, things like that. Uh, how do you, because you mentioned eight years ago, it almost feels like you can't really consider that fight, but at the same time you happen in there, you do know the reaching? Like, can you, do you look at this as a rematch in the traditional sense? Or do you just say, I'm fighting a guy I had fought once before, if that makes sense? Um, yeah, that's kind of how it is. Like, you know, I mean, we've, we've fought before, um, you know, we're, we're both in different places. We were both in different places back then, um, you know, and, um, um, and, um, um, um, and, um, um, um, and, um, um, um, um, and, um, um, um, um, and, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, and, um, um,

I think we're involved in different places today. So, yeah, it's a fight. It's a fight against the guy who's always dangerous. I know what he's capable of because we do have that history. So, yeah, so I have to go in there. I have to be smart. I have to fight my fight and impose my will on him. And, you know, I know I know I can do it.

and I know that if I do do that, then I'm going to have a good night. Yeah. You might find out more. I'm assuming you're traveling to Vegas tomorrow. I'm assuming you'll find out more when you get there. But have you heard the final place where you guys are out on the card? And there's a reason I'm asking this question because originally, I'm sure you saw it, or maybe you didn't, that you guys were kind of opening the prelims on ABC, the four or five prelims and leading into the paper view.

Have you heard anything? Is that changed? Is that still the plan? I don't know. I've seen both. I've seen the prelims and I've seen main card. Honestly, none of it matters to me. It's like, you know, there are benefits to fighting earlier in the day.

So like it's not like I really care all that much. But yeah, like wherever we get put, we get put. And yeah, honestly, I haven't heard anything official. Yeah, I know that the fight between Misha Tate and Lauren Murphy got pulled. And I kind of assumed you and Cowboy would end up taking that main card spot, which would make a lot of sense. Yeah. I heard, and maybe you heard this Robbie Lawler, who's also on the prelims, you know, he actually said it. He was kind of surprised.

I'm a little surprised on the prelimbs. That's not a place I'm used to be in, you know, Robbie Lawler. But it sounds like you're not one of those guys who's like living and dying, whether you're the first five of the night or the last five of the night. Like, it doesn't seem like that really matters a whole lot to you? Yeah, not anymore. I mean, when there were sponsorship money involved, yeah, it mattered. Nowadays, you know, you get the amount of eyes is pretty similar that you get on the undercard as you do on the main. Obviously, like the big events, there's going to be a bit more on the main card.

But I've never really cared who's watching. you know like I get I get tunnel vision when I'm in there I barely even see outside the octagon so I'm not I'm definitely not the type that's concerned with how many eyeballs are watching yeah yeah I understand that like I said everyone's got different I remember I talked to somebody else recently about that with the sponsorship like when you used to get money for walking out and people would see your t-shirt and they'd say we need to see on the walkout if you're in the walkout in the pay-per-view you we get to the t-shirt you're wearing, we're going to pay you more money, whatever. Like, that really mattered. Now, you know, it's not really that way. So it doesn't really matter if you're the first fight or, you know, the second fight or the main card.

I guess it's a little different in that particular, you know, perspective, I guess. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. That's the way that I look at it to, you know, uh, now that there's, there's not much that comes from it.

So, uh, you know, and the way that they, they promote some of the undercards as well on different platforms. sometimes it is easier for people to even just watch the prelims. So wherever we are, that's where we'll, you know, that's where we're going to be. And they just tell me to show up and I'm there and I'm ready to fight. You said it earlier, Jim, and I know you said this a lot of times. The target is USC 300.

You want to make the U.S. 300 because you want to be the guy, the only guy to ever found on U.S. 100, 200, 300. Can I throw an idea for you? Now, I know this is a couple of years. This is still a ways away. We hear you're here at UFC 276 and we're like, ooh, UFC 300 is not that far away. We forget there's only one pay-per-view a month.

Typically, there's two this month, but typically only one a month, so it will take a little time to get there. Let me throw out one suggestion to you. Not that you need my suggestion, but let me throw out something to you. UFC 300 comes along. Now, I joked earlier and I said, my favorite nickname for you, of course, is Jim Effing Miller, which is a nickname who was bestowed upon you by UFC Hall of Famer and former matchmaker Joe Silva. Is there,

do you still talk to Joe? Do you ever hear from Joe? Like, I'll hear from them occasionally. I haven't talked to him a lot, but do you still hear from Joe occasionally? Every now and then. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so,

UFC 300, weigh-ins, whatever it is. I feel like you gotta have Joe Silva walk out with you. I think that's the idea. Joe Silva's got to walk out because he gave you the nickname and then UFC 300, you know,

like, because that was the guy, right? Like, that's the guy who signed everybody back in the day. Joe Silver was the guy you got the call from. So wouldn't it be kind of like, you know, poetic in a way to, like, have him out there with you on UFC

300. Just have walking out to the Wayans or something. I think it'd be really cool. Yeah, yeah. That'd be awesome. Last thing, Jim, before I let you go, I've actually waited to tell this story publicly. I've told other people off the air to kind of give you a sense of the guy you are and not that you're an egotistical guy or you're looking for accolades or anything like that,

but I want to tell you a personal story, my favorite interaction I ever had with you. And you probably don't remember this and it's completely okay that you don't. I don't remember the card it was, but I was. in Las Vegas and you were fighting and we were at the MGM Grand and I was in line at Starbucks getting a coffee I think it was before the way ends or media day or something and I'm standing in line and I'm just kind of stand there and out of a corner of my eyes see Jim and Dan Miller walking towards me now it was I think it was a day I want to say it was a day of a media day so you know I'm not going to stop you but you actually went out of your way to come over

and say hello to me and you're like hey Damon how are you and like shook hands and I was just like that meant so much to me because you're in the middle of fight week, you're, you're busy, you're doing your thing. And usually it's the other way around. I'd be the guy walking up to you in line and saying, hey man, you know, good to see you. How are you? I'll never, I'll never, that has never gone away from my mind, the kind of guy you are that you would take time to just walk over and say hello to me. When you had no reason to stop, you know, no, no, I wasn't trying to bother you. Not like, you just came over to say hello. And I was like, that really means a lot because that just kind of shows the kind of guy you are. You didn't have to do

that you didn't have to stop and like say hello see how i see how i was doing you know like that kind of thing and i just wanted you to know like how much that i meant to me that little interaction i was just like man that's the kind of guy jim miller is like that just means a lot to me that you take two seconds out of your day to come over and say hello and ask how i'm doing i just i just that's always stuck with me years later that's always stuck with me but you know uh thank you for uh you know i appreciate the the kind of words yeah you know like a I'm just a guy who fights you know that's the way I look at it's like

you know yeah like and I've always yeah I don't know I mean that's just kind of the way that but Dan and I are our parents raised to speak you know kind of polite and and

and yeah just it their raising methods work, I guess. Yeah. And we go back ways. We go back quite a ways too. Like I said, that's the old school. The old school nature of this.

We go back. We're kind of the old school guys, Jim, at this point, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. It's a new age. We didn't meet on Twitter.

You know that? We didn't meet on Twitter. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. We didn't. Yeah. Well, Jim, I appreciate the time as always, especially on Fight Week.

I really do appreciate to have a same. trip out to Vegas. Best of luck in the fight. Cannot wait to watch and look forward to seeing you back in action on Saturday nights. Thank you very much, Damon. Talk to you soon. Have a going, buddy. All right, bye-bye. Bye. Welcome aboard Air Canada. Rocky's Vacation, here we come. Whoa, is this economy? Free beer, wine, and snacks. Sweet.

Fast free Wi-Fi means I can make dinner reservations before we land. And with live TV, I'm not missing the game. I'm already on vacation. Nice. Air Canada. Nice travels. Wi-Fi available to AeroPan members on equip flights. Sponsored by Bell. Conditions apply.

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pandora store there he is jim effing miller i cannot say his name without actually saying that nickname uh if you don't know the story i didn't tell it on the show because he's probably sick of hearing it uh at this point but uh yeah years ago uh joe sylva i think it was joe silva's final one of his final times matchmaking for the UFC before he retired. And he had sent a message to Jim about fighting. And Jim responded, you know, sure, I'll take it. And I don't, not even sure if he knew the opponent at the time, just basically said, yes, I'll take it. And Jim Miller, or, she'll be Joe Silva texted him back and said, of course, you'll take it.

You're Jim effing Miller. He didn't say effing, of course, but Jim effing Miller. And that stuck with me forever because that's the kind of guy Jim Miller is. All right. Great stuff with Jim Miller. Definitely looking forward to him fighting coming up on. on Saturday. And another guy who has a vested interest in the fight card on Saturday is the man who hopes to fight for the featherweight title coming up after UFC 276.

He's coming off a big win over Calvin Cater in his own right, at UFC Austin, the main event. And now he's going to be sitting cage side for Alexander Volcanovsky and Max Holloway 3 with hopes that he will be fighting the winner. Let's talk right now to Josh Emmett. One of my favorites people to speak to, and he is coming off arguably the biggest win of his career, because now, In the UFC rankings, he is number four in the world, potentially fighting for a title next. We're going to talk to them about all that, plus the fight, of course, the win over Calvin Cater. I am always excited to speak to Josh Schmidt. Josh, welcome back.

Congratulations on an amazing win. We would have talked win-lose-drawl, but I know it's always better to talk off a win. So how are you feeling a few days removed from that battle with Calvin Cater? Yeah, it's great to be back as always talking with you. And, yeah, of course, the win is the only option. for me, you know what I mean? I'm going out there to get the job done. We did what we went out there to do. And yeah, it feels that much sweeter. And yeah, it's just great to talk to you. You've played the underdog here and there. You've been favorite, obviously, in a lot of fights, too.

But you played the underdog a few times. And it seemed like this fight, you know, suddenly you were being counted out a little bit. And I get it. Calvin's an incredibly good fighter. He looked fantastic against Gika Chikaze. You know, his only lost recently was the Max Holloway. There was certainly no shame in that. But it did, it did kind of feel like people were counting you out a little bit. And it almost felt like, you know, that gave you a little extra, that little extra push at the end.

Am I wrong in thinking that? Like, it probably gave you a little extra charge going into the fight. Yeah, no, it's, it's funny because a lot of times, like, I love being the underdog. I'm the underdog. The majority of my fights, I think I've only been favored in, like, three fights. the UFC or something like that. I'd have to go back and check. But yeah, it is what it is. You know, my coaches and my teammates and my family and friends, they know what I can do. And they weren't surprised at all of my performance or me getting my hand raised.

But it's a lot of people that they don't know me. They don't see me train. And then, you know, people were just talking about Calvin's boxing and stuff, man, I can box. I guarantee we go put on some boxing gloves and people would like to see that. But it's a, Yeah, it always kind of fuels the fire, that's for sure, you know, because I'm, I'm going to go out there and continue to prove people wrong. And that's, that's just what I do. And, yeah, it's, it's, I have fun while I'm doing it as well. Yeah. Now, I know you're, you know, you were out in Austin getting some good Texas barbecue and enjoying the win.

Have you had a chance to go back and rewatch the fight? Yeah, yeah, I actually, I actually just watched it this morning. So, yeah, I watched it this morning. and I see a lot of people talking about different things and things like that, but still watching it, I think like our strike count was pretty even. Calvin does have a phenomenal jab. He's long, but he was just, you know, kind of touching me with his jab. And, you know, I don't know.

I thought I won four rounds to one. We gave him the fourth round. I don't really, if anything, we give him two rounds. And then it's still unanimous three, two. in my favor, I think I was landing the harder shots, the power shots, and I was backing him up a lot. I would hit him and, you know, he would have to move backwards or I would, you know, every time he jabbed me, I would just take it and walk forward. It wasn't, at no point I was hurt.

One of the things that I saw was like, I tried to throw a spinning elbow and he hit me. So people thought he like rocked me, but I was just completely off balance when I tried to throw that spinning elbow back at him and miss. but also people talk about damage. I'm such a light complexion. So it's like go look at any of my fights. As soon as I start getting hit, I like, I get red. And I cut. I have so much scar tissue on like my, my like eyelids and under my eyes and things like that.

So I feel like once I get hit, even if it's not hard, those things just open up. And then that's why there's a reason why they sport round by round. They don't base it off of what you look like after the fight. Yeah. So the night of the fight, I scored it pretty confidently 4847 for you. I went back and rewatched it on Sunday, or maybe it was Monday. And once again, I was confident scoring it. I said, I would have less of a problem with 49, 46 for you than I would 4847 for Calvin. But it was a close fight. I'll give it that. It was a close fight. It was a close fight. Some close rounds in there. But I was pretty confident, 48, 47 at worst for you winning. But the biggest, the biggest factor I had was like I just didn't feel like anyone should ever scream. robbery. It was a close fight. And credit to Calvin, he stuck it close. But what the difference was, for me, as good as his jab was, every time you hit Calvin, it felt like he moved back like three feet. Like that was the damage. Like, every time you touched him, he went backwards. Like, he got hit and his body moved. Like, you can see it when you land a punch. Like, he would move like three feet

to the left or three feet to the right. And that to me was the damage. And that is the most important criteria, the damage you're doing, and your one punch would do as much damage as, I'm not, again, this is an insult, but like 10 jabs. Like, he would land a lot of jabs, but your one punch would, like, knock him three feet to the left or three feet to the right. And that, to me, was the biggest difference in the fight. Yeah, no, I 100% agree. And yeah, nothing but respect to Calvin and his coaches and his teammates. And he's a class at guy, man. Like, I have the utmost respect for him. He even told me after the fight. He said that I made him a better fighter because he was, you know, he knew how how tough the

fight was going to be and it made him work that much harder. And I felt the exact same way. Like, I know how damn good he is. And you see his fights. Look at him. Look how good he is. And so it's like, you never know until you get in there. But it's like, he made me work my ass off. He made me like work my ass off every single day. I was trying to get better just and more prepared just because I know how good he is. And then when we got in there, it's like, you know, I think it showed. But it's also like, yeah, he pushed me to, you know, just new levels. And man, I'm grateful for him taking the fight, like I said before, just because he was ranked fourth.

And he had to fight back. And that's kind of what I've been doing most of my career. And then he was doing the same thing. So, yeah, my hat's off to Calvin and his teammates. You know, it's funny. When we first talked years ago, and I think this was as you were coming, It was actually, I want to say, we first talked like one fight before you got in the UFC when we first did an interview.

And I remember back then, I always talked to you about your wrestling. I would say your wrestling is such a threat that you would throw guys off their game because we know when a wrestler is fighting a striker, the striker will get, you know, a little tentative throwing punches, things like that because they're afraid of the takedown. Now you still have your wrestling, of course, Josh, but you could see in some of those exchanges, is Calvin wouldn't commit to some of his punches because he didn't want to take one of yours. I saw it over and over again.

He would kind of step in and he moved back out again because the threat of your power changed the dynamic of that fight. How, like, do you, like, how much are you appreciated that people are respecting your power like that? Because Calvin's a good, you mentioned it, Calvin's a really good boxer, he's a really good striker. But there were so many times in that fight I saw him move or shift or change the way he was fighting because he knew you were going to throw a punch at him

and he couldn't he did not want to take that power it says a lot about the respect he showed your power in that fight yeah and that's one thing it's like before a fight i watched tape on my opponents i give them nothing but respect i give everyone respect for getting in the octagon but it's also like my my coaches and especially joey rodriguez my boxing coach uh he he tells me and i fully believe like he he's been around boxing for so long. It's also like, he's like, nobody will be able to handle your power. He tells me these things and I'm sometimes I'm like, okay, it goes over my head. I'm like, all right, Joey. But he, no, he's right. He's like, as soon as they fill your power, they're going to know. They're going to know they're in for a fight. He says my power is

something different. Like it's in both hands. He's like, they have to respect the power because if they do come in, then I'm going to light them up with some big shots. And then also with the wrestling, the wrestling's always there. there for me. So I feel like I'm okay with committing 100% to shots because I feel like I have phenomenal wrestling. I'll stuff those takedowns or I'll get back to my feet. And then so I can go either way. You know, like either way, I can, it'll like if I do start taking people down, then, you know, it'll set up the hands and vice versa. They're worried about the hands. It'll set up takedowns. But I was just kind of changing levels and trying to implement some kind of like shots,

even though it's kind of funny because I watched the fight today. And I think it was Brendan Fitzgerald, but he was like, you know, Josh has shot in for takedowns, but he hasn't really tried to get him down. And he was dead on that. I was just trying to mix it up, but I really didn't commit to anything. I was just letting him kind of know, pressing him against the cage, and then I would let go where I got in the single leg, and instead of trying to switch off or dump him or lift, I just kind of let it go.

It was just funny to me when I watched that because I was like, yeah, he definitely nailed that. It's a good power to have, though, right? It's a good weapon to have. Like, just threatening that take down can change the dynamic of the fight. Same thing I was talking about the power, like, just the threat of throwing that big right hand. And it changes the way people will fight you.

And that says a lot about the respect your opponents are showing you. Yeah, 100%. And it is nice. I can just kind of mix things up and I can do it all, but it's, uh, it was just, it was a great fight, man. It was, I was actually having a,

you know, normally I don't have any fun in there. But I think just with the Austin crowd and how like electrifying they were and, you know, it was and the chance going on and, you know, all my teammates being there and family and just how pumped my coaches were in my corner. I was like, I was actually having a little fun in there. You know what I mean? Yeah, it was a great night and a great fight. And a win and a bonus on top of it, right?

Never a bad thing. That never a bad thing. you know i mean that's that's the thing about this sport it's like man it's it's it's it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a shitty thing in in a sense because it's like the exact same thing uh the the fight went on i could be you know i have some stitches and stuff that's why i'm just kind of wearing the glasses but it's like it could completely go the other way you know what i mean one person's going to lose you go in there you do all that work and then it's like that split decision you know i thought you know if it would have went the other way oh man i would have

it's so so pissed and heard and like how is that possible but it's uh that that's why this sport is like it's so unforgiving i guess you can say but it's uh you know i feel like this is our time and man we're going to keep this momentum going into the title fight and i know before i even got in the ufc when you and i first talk um i won't shut up about being a world champion and it's in grasp and i'm i'm going to get that uh that ufc gold yeah absolutely let me ask real quick The eye, it looked like it was mostly just, you know, cuts and things like that. Like in terms like the actual eye itself, is there any actual damage or was it just like the, just like skin, like, you know what I mean?

Like no like orbital damage, anything like that. Yeah, I have, I have, like I have, like I have, like I have, like I have, like I have, like above my eyelid and it's been cut. It's been sutured up before. So I feel like he, he hit that and that same cut opened up. And then he was good. you know, with his jab, he kept just targeting that eye. So then it just kept getting bigger, you know, it just kind of kept it scanning.

But yeah, I did some, I did some like scans just to just to double check because there's a little bit of swelling. So we're just going to kind of rule that out. But I think I'm good. But I should find out more from the report in the coming days. I just, I just did a CT scan yesterday when I got. Good stuff. Yeah, good stuff. So now, luckily, because this was a big card and it was in all.

Austin with the crowd and everything. Dana White was there and he obviously was there post-fight. Did you get a chance to talk to Dane after the fight or get any sense of like, you know, I mean, we all kind of know what this win should do for you, where it puts you in the division, but did you get a chance to talk to anybody from the UFC afterwards? No, I didn't get a talk to him unfortunately. And the good thing is I don't even think he was going to come to this fight. He wasn't going to be there.

And then all of a sudden I think he was he was pumped for the fight. and so last minute changes, you know, the security team. They're like, oh, Dana's coming to the fight now. So that's awesome. I was happy. I was happy for that because this is only the second time Dana's ever seen me fight live. You know, he saw me fight live against Burgos. That was the first time ever.

And then this was the second one. So some exciting fights. And I hope he's happy with me. I am trying to go out there and be exciting. I'm trying to get the big finish that the UFC wants and the fans want. and like I said, I'll never stop. But he did say he's going to have some tickets for me, you know, for the July 2nd event. So I'll be sitting Caveside, like I said, at that event.

So I'm pumped for International Fight Week. I'm pumped for July 2nd. I'm, you know, excited for the whole card, but definitely excited to see Holloway and Boltonowski go at it. Yeah, if you remember our pre-fight interview when I posted it, like every question I asked you beyond Calvin Cater. We talk about Volcanowski and Holloway. We talk about being there on July 2nd, those kind of things.

But every answer you gave me ended with, none of that happens if I don't beat Calvin Cater. None of this goes on if I don't beat Calvin Cater. You were 100% focused on Calvin Cater. Well, guess what? You beat Calvin Cater. So now we can't have that conversation because you are the guy.

Without a doubt in your mind, and I think, again, we just saw the rankings come out, the UFC rankings came out, your number four. The only guys in front of you right now are Hala, Ortega and Rodriguez. we already had that conversation, they're fighting each other. They've also both already fought Holloway and Volcanowski individually, separately, however you want to say it. And we know Volcanozki and Holloway are fighting on July 2nd.

So, again, we know weird things can happen and we'll talk about the title fight in the second. But in terms of where we're at, division-wise, standing-wise, there's no doubt in your mind right now. You are the guy, right? You are the number one contender right now. You should get the next title shots. 100%. You know, I feel like I'm the number one contender. That, that fight that Calvin and I just had was a title eliminator.

And I knew that going into it. That's why I was like, none of this matters if I don't get my hand raised. So I was going out there to do everything in my power. I didn't care how I finished the fight. I didn't care. Decision, as long as I had my hand raised at the end, that solidifies me as the number one contender. Yeah, so here we go. Holloway and Volcanowski are fighting in a week and a half.

And I'm going to be sitting in Cajside to see who I'm fighting next for the featherweight title. All right. So now we've broken down fights before, Josh. And I know you said you're looking forward to this one. And for you as a title shot, it doesn't matter. You'll fight Holloway, Volcanovsky. If Aldo comes back to 145 and something against him, I know you don't care who you fight. But that being said, Lalkinovsky Holloway 3, the first two fights,

The first one was a little more lopsided for Volkanowski. I think most people scored him winning four rounds to one. Some maybe even said five rounds to none. It was a great performance. Second fight, much, much closer. I think I told you before. I actually scored the fight for Max, but I have no problem with Volkinovsky winning.

It was a really close fight. It really came down to those last three rounds. And again, I have no problem with Volcanowski winning. It was a great fight. It was a close fight. I know you're hesitant to give a pick because, again, I know that you don't really care. I also did bring up a scenario and you acknowledged it that, you know, if Holloway wins,

it could throw your title shot end up evil because that would somehow maybe mean a fourth fight between them, which I don't know that anyone, you know, is really anxious for that because it's so rare we actually see four fights. So right now sitting in that seat knowing you're going to be sitting Cajside in a little over a week's time, where are you sitting right now? Do you favor one of it? Have you started thinking about it more? Like which way you see it going, how you break this one down?

Because I have some thoughts. I want to get your thoughts. Yeah, no, it's, it's tough. Those guys that fought each other twice already. I know they're improving. You know, they both get better every single time. They've been in the octagon with each other for 50 minutes. I know they're game planning.

They're mapping things out, watching film. They're trying to, like, come up with a new game plan to beat each other or Bokanasi continue to win. And it's really, it's hard to predict. who's going to win. But like I always say, it's hard to go against the champion. It's hard to go against someone that's on some 20 plus fight winning streak that has beat, you know, arguably some of the best of all time in the featherweight division. So I'm leaning towards Volcanowski. I think Max and him are both phenomenal fighters and champions and people and stuff like that.

But I'm leaning towards Volcanoski because I want to fight the best person currently on the planet when I do fight for the featherweight title. So there will be no misconception of when I become a featherweight champion that I'm the best on the planet. So I want the, yeah, I want the best. You know, I feel like Alexander Volcanowski is the goat at the moment. And, yeah, you know, I think him and I match up really well. But like you said, I'll fight anyone who has that featherweight title around them, you know, around their waist. So it really doesn't matter to me, but, you know, I just, I want to fight the best, and I believe he's the best at the moment. Yeah, I lean that way as well, and I tell you what, if you had asked me this question

a year ago, I would have told you Max Holloway, but Max in his fight with Yair, you know, he got tagged a few times, Yair hit him, and that was a bit of a war. I didn't honestly expect it to be that close, not that it was close in the end, but like, Yairair got him a few times and actually made it, you know, made it a bit of a dog fight, and I was so incredibly impressed by Volkanovsky's performance against the Korean zombie. I'm not sitting here saying Korean zombies is the best guy in the world, but the way he just dismantled the Korean zombie on the feet was so impressive. And again, I think, you know, this is, I think there's more to prove for Volcanovsky

because people keep bringing a Max to him. And I think he wants to just be done with this. He wants to put Max behind him. And obviously, if he beats him a third time, they're not going to do a fourth time. So I'm winning that way as well. I think Max is incredible. I've been a Max Holloway guy since his first fight in the UFC when he came in on a short notice and fought Dustin Porre.

But I just, there's something about Volcanozzi. I've become a believer. Like, I was not the guy. I was the guy when he fought Max the second time saying, I thought Max won. But now I'm kind of on the Volcanozsche. Like, I think he is, I think he is good. I think he is really good. And yeah, I'm leaning that way myself.

And listen, we've talked about it before, Josh. You've said this to me in several interviews. You've kind of dreamed about the Volcanovsky fight because the way you match up with him. And I do really enjoy that match. but you and Volkanowski is a really intriguing fight. Yeah, and like you said, I don't think people give Volcanowski enough credit. Like, he's one of the pound-for-pound best fighters.

He's undefeated in the UFC. He's the featherweight champion that beat all these greats. Like, and people still don't give him enough respect, man. That guy is so damn good. And, you know, we'll see what happens July 2nd. But like you said, if he gets the job done, that solidifies him as, you know, the best and then people can kind of, you know, go away with, you know, they won't do another,

you know, a fourth fight, of course. And then I think I'm next in line because I'm the number one contender. And then I think he's excited. I think he knows that this was going to come eventually. And I've heard nothing but good things from his boxing coach about me and all these other things. And, you know, he's always chiming in when I'm fighting. And man, it's, yeah, but we have to see what happens in a week and a half. So yeah, I'm just pumped for the whole thing. I'm grateful for everything, man. I can't continue to express that enough that like how grateful I am just for everything. Like I've always said at the beginning, I'm always going to be the same person. You know, all I have to do is win fights and everything that I've dreamed of, everything that I want will

just kind of fall into place and it feels like the stars are aligned. It seems like everything is really starting to to just kind of to happen that way. And, and, and I, I couldn't be more grateful for the adversity that I've, I've gone through and the speed bumps in my career and the path I've went through fighting some of the toughest best guys in the world. And, um, yeah, man, it's, uh, we're almost there. Can I ask? I know we talked a lot about Volcanovsky because I know that's one that's been on your radar for such a long time in a matchup. I know you've, you favor. You say, you know, that would just be such an interesting matchup. And you present problems to Volcanowski to maybe some other featherweds don't,

which is part of the reason why I know you've really wanted that fight. Can I ask real quick, though, how do you match up with Max Holloway? Yeah, I think I match up great with Max Holloway as well. You know, everyone that I fought is taller than me. So it's like, how called Max? He's like 5-11, 6 foot. My whole career, you know, even before I got in the UFC, I was fighting guys. You know, I was fighting at 55.

So I was fighting these guys that are like 510 to 6, 4. I fought someone. Everyone's always taller than me. I fought guys 510 to 511, my entire UFC career. Max has phenomenal cardio, high output. I do too. Like I have my cardio and conditioning is on another level. And I think that's, it just showed even in this last fight because I, you know,

people were like, oh, can Josh go, you know, five rounds? He's going to gas. No, I will never gas. but I showed that. Like I look just as good in the fifth round as I did in the first round. And I could have won another five, 10 rounds at that pace. I push myself to the absolute brink in practice and with my coaches.

And then I bust through that wall and I keep going because I want to, I want to feel exhausted like and I continue to go and go. So it makes the fight easy, not from like a fighting standpoint, but from a conditioning standpoint, like I'll never. gas in a fight, you know what I mean? And I can go and push those limits. But yeah, I think I would match up well against Max. I think I match up well against anybody. I've fought the best guys in the

world except the very top. And those are those two guys. And that's what I'm working towards. That's what, you know, I've been manifesting and visualizing since before I got in the UFC to hold that um that gold around my waist and uh yeah we're we're right there we're so close so i know the finish i want to say the finish line the goal is the title it's been the title this entire time but i do want to ask you josh because beyond the fights themselves you've also gone through so much adversity from the fights and we go back to the jeremy stevens fight the injuries you sustained coming out of that that you could have honestly at that moment said you know what i'm done you know I'm, you know, that those are serious injuries you go through.

And then you go to Shane Burgos fight, your knee gets torn apart early in the fight. You fight three rounds on one leg, basically, knowing you could be doing more damage to your knee, you know, like, you know, all that. And you go through another long layoff, like you have to deal with the time off, the surgeries. And, you know, I've talked to guys, like, I know, like talking to Daniel Cormier years ago, like, he avoided surgery so much of his career because he knows that when you start doing that, it takes something away from you. Like you're always risking when you, when you undergo surgeries and things like that. So, like, he avoided surgery most of his athletic career for that reason. He would do rehab and recovery and things like that and try to avoid surgeries. You've gone through all that.

And now here you sit as the number one contender. And I know you're not sitting around your house, like probably talking to your wife. They're like, you know what? I was thinking about this today. So me bringing it up is you like contemplate. But like, have you thought about, like, you had to go through a lot to get here, Josh? Nothing came easy. Everything was earned.

You never had anything handed to you. and when you add on the injuries and the things you had to go through that's a lot man like there's some guys like garry and it's not a knock on them if you said you know what i'm gonna take my money and go home and do something else i don't think anyone would say oh man why'd you walk away like you went through some serious stuff not only that you came back you kept winning and now here you are one step away from your dream of becoming champion like it's just it's pretty amazing when i put it in that you know when i contextualize everything is crazy to me the journey you've been on yeah and and that and that It's just, like I've said, it's when I want something, I don't stop until I get it. I'm obsessed with becoming a world champion. And I'm so close. And it's all part of, you know, it's part of my journey. It's like every injury, every obstacle, every piece of adversity that I've gone through in my MMA career in my life, it's literally molding me into the person I am, the athlete I am.

And I wouldn't have it any other way because it's at the moment, it's like, or during the tough times it's that's all I know you know it's like I I don't sit there and I don't feel sorry for myself I don't do this or why me why that I just I figure out a way to to fix it correct it and then move on so I can get back on that that path of becoming a world champion and it's that's just that's just what I'm doing it's it's and I'm grateful for everything that I said that that I've gone through too because when I do get to the top it's going to be that much easier to sustain that instead of having an easy path and then you get there and then you get knocked off real quick. I've had a tough, tough road and it's just all part of it.

And it's just it is what it is. It made me into the fighter I am today. And yeah, that's kind of how I think about that. I don't know. I haven't really thought about it. But yeah, it has been tough. And I think a lot of the injuries I've gone through in the past, several ones. Like those were career-ending injuries, especially with some of the complications I had as well

that people would never come back from or they'd be like, man, what the hell am I doing? And then that is something. Like my wife and I, we have thought about certain things. We're like, what are we doing? Because people don't see like the behind the scenes or they just see us show up, fight and then that's it. They don't see what goes in to all this and how hard things. are when when you're dealing with other things you know it's almost like I have to work even harder

to to get back to an elite level and but I've done it time and time again and yeah I'm not stopping that's like even my mantra is like I'm never stopping like I will never quit I will never give up and you know and I think it shows and I want to like and I say I want to inspire people Like I literally love like just me like I think about so many people have so many more things going on in their life that is much tougher than some of these things I've gone through. That people that are like battling for their life or whatever they have going on with depression, mental illness, addiction, like all these things. It's like I literally do this and think about like giving people hope and inspiring people and things like that. And I have like I've said that before too. So many people are like I got through this.

through that. I was able to accomplish this because of what you go through and you're the one that kept me going just seeing what you come back from. And I'm just like, you know, it's cool to get that, but they're doing the work. But I literally, I want to give people hope. I want to inspire people. And I've been doing that and I'm going to keep on doing it. And then once I become the champion, I can do so many more things I want to give back to, you know, organizations or, you know, charities and my community and I can help and have bigger platforms. So I'm just, just, man, I have fighting is just a means to get me to accomplish a lot more things. And it's just, I don't know, it's just, it's something that, you know, the better I do than the

better my family and my friends and my support system and everyone's going to do. So I'm like, even though it's an individual sport and I'm fighting in there by myself, I'm thinking about everyone that's invested in me. And that's why I keep saying this is our time. And it's, it's coming. I promise you that. I love it. I love it. Real quick before I get you out of here, Josh, I know you said you're going to be Cajside

at UFC 276 in there watching a featherweight title fight. Now I know, and we've talked about this in the past, you're not the guy to say crazy things to get attention, and you've earned it now. You've earned the number one contender you know you're the guy. But I'm just giving you a little advice. Not that you need my advice. I'm going to give you a little advice because at some point during before or after Max Holloway and Volcanowski fight, they're going to bring that camera over to you.

And they're going to say, look who's in the crowd. Josh Emmett's in the crowd. Give them one of those where you like reach for the belts or you got to give them something. You got to give something for the camera, Josh. I'm just like throwing suggestions out for you because everyone knows you the number one contender. But get that moment. Seize that moment, Josh. I'm telling you.

Because at some point they're going to put that camera on you and they're going to say, coming off a big one over Calvin K. There's Josh Emmett watching the front row. Give them one of those belt things or something so people know. I'm just saying like you got to do it. I'll do it for you. I'll do it for you. but yeah, yeah, no, I will.

And then when I do do that, that's all on you. I appreciate it. Yeah, go out there because you know it's going to happen. You know they're going to pan that camera over to you at some point, either before, during, or after that fight. You know it's going to happen. Yeah, no, you're right. Thank you.

Well, Josh, congratulations on an amazing win, man. Enjoy it. I know enjoying it only lasts as far as you flying out to Vegas and getting ready to sit K-side for that fight, because I know that's what this was all for, to get to that tide, You've earned it. I think it's there.

Trust me, one of the questions people are going to be asking at that post-fite press conference. So now that this is over, Josh Emmett next, you know what's going to happen. So I look forward to hearing Dana's response and officially declaring you the number one guy in the division. Thank you, as always for the time. You know, I appreciate it. Safe Travels out to Vegas. Enjoy Fight Week out there. Enjoy the fight.

And like I said, I can't wait to see what happens in that one. And can't wait to see Josh Emmett getting that title shot in 2022. yes sir man thanks again damon for everything i man i appreciate you as always and uh yeah hopefully we'll chat soon absolutely we'll talk soon okay okay all right you take care all right bye a big thank you of course to josh him if we're coming on the show definitely looking forward to seeing him back in action but hopefully if everything works out white for him he'll be fighting the winner of alexander volkenowski and max holloway so it should be very interesting i'm sure he will have a very vested interest in that fight coming up on saturday he'll be sitting

cage side to watch and see what unfolds in that fight. I look forward to this card. U.S. 276 is freaking stacked. It is one of the most, I mean, it is insanely stacked. I mean, you got Brad Tavares and Drake's Duplice, I think the second fight on the prelims, and that's a banger. I mean, that is a great fight, and that is the second fight on the freaking prelims.

So this is a stack card, as we mentioned, Jim Miller and Cowboy Soroni, Robbie Lawler, Brian Barberina. I mean, it is just, Sean O'Malley making his return to action. Of course, the two title fights at the top. It is an embarrassment of riches. This is a great card. Of course, the Hall of Fame ceremony coming up this week as well, Daniel Cormier, Habibna Mugamatov going in the Hall of Fame,

Cubs Swanson and Dooh Choi for their fight. That should be a lot of fun. Keep it locked, the MMA fighting all week. The great Jose Youngs and Mike Heck are going to be out there holding down things in Las Vegas. so look forward to all their coverage this week and a big thank you to everyone that tunes in each and every week to the show. We're going to do a wrap-up show next week on Tuesday, excuse me, for UFC 276.

One of my regular co-host, the great Matt, the Immortal Brown, will be here to help me break down things and see how everything kind of played out at UFC 276 with Adasanya Kennedy, Volcanowski Holloway and everything else going down in a matter of day. So stay tuned for that next week. A big thank you again, of course, to Jim Miller. and Josh Shembit for coming on the show this week.

We will see you next week for another edition of the Fighter versus the Rider. Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you then. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.