MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour - Episode 433

Episode Date: May 8, 2018

Ariel Helwani speaks to Joanna Jędrzejczyk (00:08:15), Sarah Kaufman (00:28:36), Justin Willis (00:57:02), Jorge Masvidal (01:20:59), Muhammed Lawal (01:44:26), Paul Daley (02:07:16), Junior dos Santos (02:27:55), Neiman Gracie (02:47:09) in studio, Cody Garbrandt (03:28:56) in studio, Josh Emmett (04:22:03), and NewYorkRic for The MMA [After] Hour featuring Ric's Picks (04:46:40) and the answers to your questions (05:16:32). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Mix Martial Arts Hour back in your life on this Monday, May 7, 2018. Hello, good, everyone. I'm Ariel Hawani back inside our New York City studio. Hope you had a lovely weekend. Great time to be alive. Springtime here in New York. It's always so nice. The trees, the flowers, everything's blooming.

Spring has sprung, as they like to say. And as far as combat sports is concerned, a lot of exciting things going on now as far as this past weekend a bit of a quiet one uh you know no ufc no bellator but no shortage of events risen with their tenth event on late saturday early sunday and the big news of course keoggi horaguchi continues to dominate since leaving the ufc knocking out ian mccall in nine seconds i was so looking forward to that fight i fired up my fight tv app i got ready for it early Sunday morning and the whole thing lasted nine seconds. Unbelievable.

Once again, bad luck for Ian McCall, Uncle Creepy, just unable to get back on track. And Kioji Horaguchi continuing to prove that the UFC made a mistake and not giving him a new contract. So that happened late Saturday, early Sunday, Invicta 29 on Friday. Sarah Kaufman is now the new Invicta FC Bantamweight champion, Pearl Gonzalez. continues to look good since leaving the UFC. I suspect we'll be seeing her back sooner rather than later. John Gotti the third, you heard from him last week on the program. He looked very good in his second pro fight won in just 32 seconds via TKO.

C.S. New York. Triple G fought. Predictably he won in the second round. Chris Cyborg was in attendance. TKO had another event. Tons of things going on in the world of combat sports. and it's always fun when it's one of those weekends where there's no Belator or UFC.

That changes, of course, this weekend to very good, I think, UFC and Belator cards happening at the same time Saturday night. Belator 199, headline by King Mo versus Ryan Bader, the final first round fight in the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix. And then it's

UFC 224 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which I think is a really fun main card. And that, of course, is headline by Amanda Nunes, is defending her women's bantamweight title against one Raquel Pennington. A bunch of interesting fights on that card as well. My computer is a little bit off here. Let me fix that. Okay, we have a lot to discuss on today's program.

A lot going on, as always. It is a stack show, a jam-pack show. Let me run down today's lineup, and then we'll get to our first guest of the day. 505. We'll do the MMA after hour. We'll hear from Mr. New York Rick. Look at the tweets of the week. answer some questions. You know the drill by now. At 425 will be joined in studio by Cody Garbrandt,

who is the author of this brand new book coming out this week. It is called The Pact. If you know a thing or two about Mr. Garbrandt and his story, you know, typically I'm against the idea of someone in their 20s, an athlete, writing a book, this young, so much more left to accomplish in his or her career, just 26 years young. Typically I'm against this, but this one's a little different. It's very well written. And B, and most importantly, it's a great story about something that happened to him before he even got to the UFC. Now, the UFC stuff is in there, but it's about his relationship with young Maddox Maple. If you know this show, if you know his story, if you're a fan of the UFC, you've seen Cody and Maddox together walking out before the title fight, giving him the belt after he became champion against one Dominic Cruz a year and a half ago.

It's about their pact. It's about Maddox Maple overcoming cancer. It's about Cody overcoming some really tough living conditions and a very tough neighborhood and upbringing. It's actually a very inspirational story. So Cody is kind enough to be coming from the airport. He's landing in around an hour or so, and hopefully we'll make it in time for our program. So that's at 425.405. We'll check in with Josh Emmett.

I actually checked in with him over the weekend. often in our sport, someone gets injured, there's a controversial moment, and then all of a sudden they disappear. And I was thinking to myself, what happened to Josh Emmett? I was blown away by what has happened to him. And I said to him, you got to come on and update all of us because it has not been easy for Josh Emmett since that fight against Jeremy Stevens. So that's at 405. We'll talk to Josh Emmett. At 325, we'll have another in studio guest. Neiman Gracie will be in studio for the first time. he is essentially the only Gracie at the moment who is carrying the flag. He's taken the baton from, of course, his very famous family members, people like Hoyce Gracie and Henzhou Gracie. And there have been other family members who have tried their hand at MMA. None have been, in my opinion, as successful as him as of late. He's undefeated. He's 8 in 0.

Seven of those victories have come via submission. He just won two weekends ago in Illinois, Beltar 198, won via arm triangle. He continues to impress and he lives in New York and I thought it would be a great time to have him in studio. So that's 325 Neiman Gracie will join us. 305 will be joined by Junior Dos Santos, who is back. And he kind of beat Usada, although he had to sit out a while. And then once the news came out that he did in fact sort of kind of beat Usada,

UFC signed him for the main event of their upcoming show in Boise, Idaho, of all places, in July. Junio Santos against the newly signed Blagoi Ivanov, the former Bellator and World Series of Fighting contender, former World Series of Fighting Champion. That's going down in July, but Junio Santos has a lot to say about just the whole process with Usada and coming back in his place in the heavyweight division. Of course, he was supposed to fight Francis Inganu in September. That didn't come to fruition. So I'm looking forward to talking to Mr. Dos Santos at 305.

245 will be joined by Paul Daly. He's fighting this weekend, Beltor 199. Still a little fired up as far as his relationship with Beltor is concerned. I'm looking forward, as always, to talking to Mr. Simtakes, who is still Twitterless. He has still not signed up for Twitter. After all this time, unbelievable. Interesting fight. Daily versus Fitch in San Jose this Saturday.

225, King Mo Llewal, who I mentioned, is headlining, Beltore 199. He'll join us, and it's always fun talking to Malawat. What is going on here? Let's, it's always fun. Anyway, that's King Moa at 225. 205. We'll talk to Justin Willis about his rise in the heavyweight division. He has won three straight in the UFC.

He is an outspoken heavyweight. I'm looking forward to talking to him. And finally, at 145, we'll talk to Jorge Mazvedal. We'll also talk to Sarah Kaufman at 125. But let's go to the Skype machine. We have no time to waste. Let us say hello to Yawanna, Jan Jacek, the former UFC Straway champion. We found out last week.

She's returning to action on July 28th in Calgary, Alberta, Canada against Tisha Torres. Let's say hello to Yawanna right now, who's joining us via the Magical Skype. There she is. Yawanna, how are you? Hey, guys. I'm good. I'm good. Good to talk to you again.

Yes, it is a pleasure, as always. And thank you for squeezing us in. I know you're very busy. So I appreciate it. By the way, your shirt is awesome. I love that shirt. That's amazing. Thank you so much.

You know, I love Mickey Mouse, and actually I'm super excited because I have to push my plans a little bit later. But I will have a photo shoot with one of the biggest Polish clothing companies because I'm going to be a face of Disney clothing line. So I'm very excited about that. Wow. That's amazing. Congrats. That's happening today.

the photo shoot is today no the photo shoot supposed to be at the end of June in Disneyland in Paris but because of my fight and new plans we had to push it through August so okay wow that is amazing and they reached out to you

about this oh yeah yeah amazing okay congrats so so life is life is good you know despite what happened in Brooklyn, and this is our first time talking to you since that fight, how are you feeling a month later? Have you come to terms?

I know you thought you won. Have you come to terms with what transpired in Brooklyn? I feel great. I haven't watched the fight, but I spoke to my coaches. I lost this fight. The judges said I lost, and I'm good with that. I'm looking forward, and I know I will get this belt back very soon. it was very close

and you know I don't want if I won or not I know that I won this fight but I don't want to complain Rov still the champion and I'm happy

for her but I'm super I'm looking forward and man I'm very happy to be back to the octagon very soon and I started my camp officially today

for the next two weeks I will keep I will training in Poland and in the middle of at the end of May I will fly back to Amberrakan top team and start training with my coaches, Mikey Brown, Kathelkubis, Phil Darry, Daya Davies, and I'm super excited. And I cannot wait because I, you know, that I like to plan everything. So I have a big plan to get this belt back at the end of the year.

And yeah, I'm still destroyed, you know. Was it your decision to come back so soon or did the UFC contact you with this date? and you said, okay, fine, I'll come back. Actually, I was planning to not think about fighting and the UFC for a month after the fight, but actually, I'm crazy. It's in my life. You know, it's...

Fighting is in my blood. And actually, after a week, we reach out to Dana just to talk and me and then Lambert, the owner of Amory can talk team. And I just said that I will be ready to fight at the end of August or beginning of September. but they came out with the proposition to fight in Calgary in Canada and I just took it, you know, in two minutes because I'm a fighter. This is what I used to do.

Before I became a champion, I used to fight like every three, four months. So I'm super excited to put on great performance again and that's it. I didn't have holiday planning to go to Thailand or to Greece at the end of May. but you know I'm super excited to fly to American top team train and go to Canada and fight and after that I will have a holiday Before accepting this fight did you consider going up to 125 Yes I did but my plan is to get the The belt back first of and after that I will I will move up You didn't you didn't want to say hey maybe I'll do an easy weight cut this time

I won't put so much stress on my body I'll just go take a fight up there and see how it is you didn't think that that would be good? Not yet. Not yet. Last weight cut was good. Of course, I feel the impact on my body with every weight cut, but I'm ready to do that again, you know, put on diet, to cook and get ready. When you were offered Tisha Torres, what did you think of that fight and her as an opponent? How much you know about her? I'm very happy that I can fight with Tisha. The good thing is that she fought Jessica Andrash in her last fight, she lost that fight, but for 99.9%

person, Jessica Andres, she's going to be the challenger for Roast, Junas. So I'm very happy to face Tisha Torres and get the title shot after this fight.

Have you been told that? That's the plan. I know more than you guys, and I'm very happy to have this fight with Tisha Torres. I know that she's a real warrior so I'm very happy to face her

she was training in American top team for a long time she left like a year ago maybe or a little bit longer but it's good and I think it's going to be very interesting fight did you ever train with her

while you were there? Just a little bit just a little bit anything that you remember that you feel like you can use in this fight I don't I want to be focused on myself and I'm you know

after after a lot losing two roles for the first time, I know what happened. And, you know, like I said after my second fight with Rose, that I'm very proud of myself, and I am. And it was about myself, you know, about proving to myself that I'm still simply the best, that I'm still one of the greatest female fighters in the world. And that's the thing.

And I cannot wait to change my game a little bit again. and show it on July 28th in Canada. What could you tell us about changing your game? What do you feel like you need to change? The connection is very bad. Can you hear me now? I was wondering, what do you feel like you need to change? You said you're going to change your game a little bit.

What do you feel like you need to change? I'm going to add some things, you know? And of course, after getting like, K-ahel, you stepping into the next fight. I didn't have anything in the back of my head, but you know, you didn't know what to expect. So I'm very happy that, you know, I always put on good performance and I think that I always give a good fight to the fans and to the audience. And that's the thing. But, you know, I want to come with the new ideas, with the new skills. I have so many skills, actually, which I could have.

using my last fight or the fight before so I'm looking forward to add some new skills you know or use the skills in your in your conversation with Dana White did he say to you if you win this fight against Tisha Torres you get a title shot afterwards I believe that I'm going to get the title shot after this fight when you see what's going to happen I said that I can have 10 more fights before I will get the title shot because I went through this in 2000 14 and 15. I want this bird and I will get this bag back.

Mark my words. Do you miss being treated as a champion? Do you miss being a champion now that it's been a few months? I'm still a champion without the belt. I'm still the champion. Right. It's not about physically having to have the bird, you know, the title.

I'm still the champion for myself. And I respect that. If it's not about physically having the belt, could you explain to someone? Because I believe you when you say that, what is it about? Is it a mindset? Is it the way you treat? How would you describe? Like, why do you still?

How do you? It's all about caring yourself, you know? People don't see what we are doing outside the octagon, you know? And the fight is only like 15 or 25 minutes, but it's all about the caring yourself. And how I show up after I lost those for the first time and the second time. know, and that's the thing. I feel like I can show to people that I'm only a human, you know. I'm not a robot, you know, but it's good, you know.

It's all about like breaking the limits every day. And I did that in my last camp, and I will do this again. That's why I cannot wait, fly back to Florida and put again on a great work, you know, and train hard every day and break my own limits, own barriers with every day. looking forward. Last time at the end, I know you teamed up with George Lockhart for your weight cut. Are you going to be doing the same this time for this weight cut? We will see.

I'm very happy that the fight week was very nice, smooth and easy. We will see for the first few weeks of my last camp, I put on great work and I lost so much weight. I will see for the first two, three, four weeks and how it will go. and we will see you know, I might use George Lockhart again. I'm very happy. Historically, I know

you may know this, that when someone has two losses to the champion, it's hard to get that third fight. Why do you feel like it will be different for you? We will see. We will see. It's a business as well. And, you know, I expect everything.

Like I said, if it will take longer, I will put on work. I will work my ass very hard to get this title shot again, but I believe that it will happen very, very quick. Just curious, since you fought them both. I think that in my last five, and I proved that I'm one,

I'm still like one of the greatest straw weights, and that's the thing. You can see the difference sometimes between like the top five, the top four, and the rest of the, of the division, you know, how the fights are different, you know, the skills and the game, it's very different. Who do you think wins between Andraja and Namayunas, since you fought them both?

Who would you pick? No prediction. No prediction. Have you watched the second fighting? Jessica is doing very well, and she wanted to fight. row and the thing with her is that people don't know how to fight her you know and and i put on great camp before the fight with jessica my last year and i want that fight easy and it was a great fight you know but people don't have idea how to fight her she's very dangerous you know she has

so many skills she is very strong but people don't know how to fight her you know and and and that's the thing i feel like you're rooting for and drudge because then it just it's it's it's easy to Do the rematch you beat her. That's perfect, right? It is. But the third fight we draws would be interesting. I would be interesting. Okay.

And by the way, have you watched the second rose fight yet on TV? Did you watch the whole thing? My fight? Yeah, yeah. In Brooklyn. Yeah. Did you watch it yet? Do you watch it back?

I haven't watched that yet. I probably will watch it. after I'm back to Florida with my coaches. Okay, break it down. All right. All right. Well, it's good to see you smiling. You're still handling it all very well, Yohanna.

It's so impressive the way you handle all of this. You continue to show up, answer questions. You're not hiding from anyone. You continue to put out the blueprint. It's very impressive. You go through some difficulties in your job as well. I'm enjoying my life. And like I said after the fight, I'm a fighter.

I'm an athlete. I'm a professional athlete. But I'm a human as well. I am a woman and I'm enjoying my life. Fighting is on me. It's my big hobby, it's my hobby and passion and my job. But, you know, I have life outside the octagon and outside the gym and I'm enjoying my life. And I'm happy to share that with you guys.

And it was great to talk to you. I just want to say hi to King Moe from American Talking and, of course, George Masvedo. All right. Coming back. Those are your guys. Yeah, a lot of American top team guys and girls on the show today. Thank you so much, Joanna. All the best you.

Good luck in training and looking forward to your return. I'm very excited. All right. We'll talk to you soon. There she is. Yawanna Janjacheck meeting Tisha Torres on July 28th in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Of course, some of the other fights on that card, which is being dubbed as UFC on Fox. Ponce 30.

Joseo Alto against Jeremy Stevens, Alexis Davis, against Caitlin Chukagian, Randamarkos versus Nina Ansaroff, Matthias Nicolao against Dustin Ortiz, Austin Arnett against Hakeem, Dawoodoo,

Jordan Mian returning against Alex Marono, Cajun Johnson, against Islam, Machachev, John McDessi against Ross Pearson. It's a nice card. It does not have a main. event. I have reported several times that the original plan was to have Valentina Shepchenko

challenged Nico Montanio for the women's flyway title. As you may have seen, there was a little bit of drama last week. I addressed all this on the beat. I don't think it's necessary to go into all of it. I did see Nico's sort of half apology, which is fine. There's no hard feelings. I invited her to come on the show through her teammate Tim Means because she does not respond to my text messages, but I did want to clear the air with her, and I will reiterate, as I said on the beat, that you will notice that through, you know, all the messages, and if you read through them all, nowhere does she refute what I reported, which was, the plan is July 28, Valentina Shepchenko against Nico Montanio.

So, Valentina Shavchenko later confirmed via Twitter that she has already signed about agreement several weeks ago, I believe around a month ago. And a little over a week ago, Montanio did have her tons removed. Typically, an adult, it takes them around 10 days to recover from that. So the fight is still, you know, two and a half months away. And that surgery happened a month after the fight was offered. you don't see any refuting of that and so I could weed through the insults

and I'm not sure why it was I do know I think I think the reason that she lashed out the way she did was because she can't lash out at the UFC who she's feeling pressure from and she can't lash out at Shivchenko or the fans who are harassing her on social media so it's easy to lash out of me

get some media it's all good but for me journalistically most important things reach out I did several times before and after and get it right. And I believe I got it right. I know I got it right. And the fact that she didn't refute it confirms that I got it right.

Will that still be the main event? No, because as I said, losing the patience part, moving on to another fight, potentially Eddie Alvarez versus Dustin Porier. They want that fight. Porre has verbally agreed. Alvarez has not. He has one fight left on his deal. He wants a new contract.

So there's a lot up in the air. Could end up being Chfchenko Montagnos in the end. Could not. We'll see what happens. and I know there was some exception taken to the fact that I said it's reminiscent of the GDR situation. I never said she was afraid. I never said GDR was afraid. What was reminiscent or is reminiscent is the fact that you have a champion who has had the belt and for whatever reason the first title defense isn't being made and there's there's some issues and there's some there's some similarities in the sense that here you have a champion who is kind of thrust into a title pick. after winning a reality show, and now there is a very dominant contender waiting in the wings, much like GDR and Cyborg. That's what's reminiscent. I didn't say anything about being afraid

or being scared or anything like that. That seems like it was a little bit of a projection on their part. And we'll see. I hope that that fight can be made and that we can move on from all this. But again, I did reach out and I did want to have her on the show because there's no hard feelings here despite all the insults, which I thought were very creative and descriptive and not very necessary, but hey, these things are going to happen. I will say, you know, in all my years covering the sport through the rampages and the Nick Diaz's and the Hector Lombards, as we talked about last week and everyone in between, it's never quite gotten there and I don't know why it got there. And to everyone who is weighing in, you know, I spoke to my friend Ben Folks yesterday who wrote

this great article with Danny Downs. And it's amazing. You have two guys who are talking about my journalistic practices, and they're doing so without practicing good journalism themselves. They're assuming that my sources are from X-Camp. They're assuming this and that, yet not even a single text message to see if what they're assuming is correct, and it was incorrect. And I was okay with telling him that. So if we're going to weigh in on journalism, we're going to weigh in on doing things the right way. Let's do things the right way ourselves, which is what I said to him. But just a mix-up of a situation and hopefully we'll be able to move on from it and clear it up. Why I'm talking about all this now is because Yawanna fighting in Calgary and there's a glaring

hole at the top of that card. We'll see how the UFC is. We'll see how they're able to fill it up and who they go with. Alvarez-Porier, not done, not close to done. as you probably have figured out, Shevchenko while she did sign versus Montanio, not done at the moment as well. All right, let us move along. As I said at the top of the show, Sarah Kaufman back.

She's now just the second fighter in MMA history to hold a strike force and Invicta title. She won the Invicta Women's Bantamweight title on Friday night. She defeated Katarina Lainer and she got the finish late

in the fight. Her first finish in quite some time. I do believe her first finish since 2011. She was very happy. This is a fighter who should be in the UFC. She is not in the UFC. That to me is somewhat of a crime, but happy that she's able to get on track and get a belt and get a finish in a big spot. Let's go to the Magic of Skype and say hello to Canada's own. Sarah Kaufman. There she is. How are you, Sarah? Hi. I'm great. Thanks. Thanks. Yourself. You don't seem to please. Come to you. It looks like you're about to be interrogated. Where's the smiles? Where's the happiness? You should be glowing. You're a champion again. Yeah, I mean, I feel pretty good. Maybe it's just,

you know, I wasn't sure what was going to cut to me, so I don't want to have a smile. Okay. Sorry, sorry. Well, there's the smile. Congratulations. That is correct, right? First finished since 2011? Yeah, I hadn't really thought about it, but it's been quite a while. So I'm definitely, I feel like I've evolved a lot over the last few years. And I was very happy with the finish for sure. And of course, my first submission on the record in a, in an, in an MMA fight. So it was a kind of a good, it was my 25th fight. It was my 20th win. And then it was my first submission. So a lot of really big things coming out of it. Wow. Did that ever become like a mental thing with you? Like when is when is the next finish coming? When's the submission coming?

Like is this something that you harped on? I mean, I guess a little bit. I know that I have the ability to finish fights and I have an exciting style. And it just wasn't, I wasn't putting it together. not that it wasn't coming together. I mean, I fought some really amazing females, but I just wasn't fully bringing it all together. And I feel like as of late, that's all starting to really kind of come forward and kind of culminate into,

into I think my next coming, and I think big things are coming for me. And I should correct myself. I said it was late in the fight. I mean, it wasn't even quite in the championship round, so to speak. So I want to give you the credit that you deserve. It wasn't the third round late in that round. is what I should have said.

But still a dominant performance. Did you realize that there were just 30 seconds left? You had it in a precarious spot, and the way you finished and found the opening with the rear naked choke was very impressive. But did you realize that there was only a few seconds left that if you wanted to capitalize on the position that you were in the dominant position,

you had to go to work soon? No, I literally had no time, or sorry, no inclination of what time was left in the round. I was trying not to pace myself or think too much about that. And I think normally my corner kind of calls out like, you know, two minutes left or 90 seconds left. And I don't know if they were calling out and I wasn't hearing it or I wasn't just listening.

But I felt just really confident I was trying to take every opportunity that I had. At one point, I landed something and I was like, oh, I should have, like, kicked her so hard. And I didn't. So I was just trying to find and be in the moment. and I knew that in the second round she got out of that head and arm choke which I was like, oh, I knew I was going to get it and then I didn't.

And so I just knew that later on that would come about, I'd find the opening. And then when I had the opening, I wasn't going to let her get out again. And so that's kind of, I wasn't thinking about the time. I was just, you know,

trying to find it and make sure that she didn't get out. I like the sort of, I don't know what to call it. It was kind of like a bit of a shrug. Shrug isn't the right word, but almost like a sense of relief came upon you afterwards.

What you did with your body after was you're like, oh, finally, I could get a finish here and celebrate I'm a champion again. Is that fair? Like, was that what was going through your mind? Yeah, for sure. I know that I deserve to be a champion. I know that I match up so well with, I mean, I feel like I match up so well with

the current champ, Amanda Nunes. And so I just needed to prove, you know, to myself, prove to everyone, really let my performances speak for themselves. And I wanted the finish. I knew that it was there for me. I knew I'd make it happen. But it was a matter of pulling that trigger and actually going for it and not overthinking things, which I have in the past. And so it definitely was that relief of, you know, people are going to finally start to see again how good I can be and how much I can bring

to the sport of MMA. I am a big Invicta fan. I like the product very much. I love what they do for women's MMA. So I hope no one takes this as a slight. That being said, that that preface out there, What is it like for you who has fought on big cards in the UFC and Strike Force to now have to kind of work your way back up and fight in front of smaller crowds, smaller shows? Is this humbling for you? How do you, because it reminds me somewhat of a, you know, a great baseball player than kind of having to work their way up the miners. Now, again, I'm not calling Invict of the Miners, but I'm talking about the crowds and the stadiums. It's different. There's no denying that.

How do you deal with it? It's different, but at the same time, it's not that different. I mean, I know UFC Fight Pass is a big, you know, big platform. There are a lot of people watching. So it's not like they're, you know, you're in a local venue where no one else is seeing it. I think the venue is amazing. I love the actual venue that the Scottish Rites Temple. It has like a really cool vibe.

And at the end of the day, like you're in there. The lights are on. You're in the cage. And so I don't, I don't notice that much difference between, you know, fighting in front of 20,000 people or fighting in front of the, the Scottish Rights Temple crowd. They're just as into the fights. And to me, it's, you know, I could be fighting with zero people watching and I would care

just as much. And the energy is so great in the arena. So I guess it's a little bit different because it's, you know, it's not the Bell Center or, you know, in Houston when it was, you know, Kane and, Canadian, I think. Like that energy was electric. but it's all the same once I'm in there. I'm focused on my task and on showing everyone, showing myself, showing my coaches why I have been in the sport for so long and continues to be successful.

Okay, so that being said, I remember when you spoke to us in December at the UFC event prior to your debut and you predicted that in around 18 months you'll be back in the UFC. Are you liking Invicta so much that you don't care about that anymore or do you still feel like that's what needs to happen? I mean, I love Invicta. They're great. They treat me well. They're a great promotion. But I mean, of course, the UFC is where the big names are right now. And I definitely feel that I match up so well with so many of those names. I think that the Bantamweight Division right now needs an influx of excitement. They need some more fighters. They need more names coming in to mix up the pot and keep it fresh. And even though I've been there before,

I do think that my recent performances are going to be getting me back to the UFC. I don't know how soon. I don't know when, but I do know that I'm uninjured. I'm available. And I really will fight whoever they put in front of me. Your timing is great. As you alluded to, you win this belt with the women's bantamweight title of the UFC being defended this Saturday. So I'm sure you have your eye on that fight Amanda Nunes versus Raquel Pennington.

Just curious as someone who pays a lot of attention to. 135. Who do you like in that fight? Oh, I actually think that it's going to be a somewhat close fight. I think that, you know, Amanda, she, I would say, has the strongest first round for, you know, females in MMA. I think that her first round is always sharp, it's precise, comes with power. So I think that her first round is going to be a dominant round. For her, maybe even the first two, but I think that Raquel, her ability to kind of grind in, I think that she'll tough it out. She's not going to shy away from getting hit,

which I think other people do with Amanda. So I don't really know how to call it. I can see Amanda taking the title. You're not allowed to sit on the fence. We need a prediction. I have a fence sitter, though. I don't know. I think I would be happy to fight either,

but I think I've always wanted to fight Amanda since Strike Force. I remember telling my coach Adam, I want to fight her, I'm going to beat her. And for whatever reason, he's like, I don't know why you think that I think he'll beat her, but I was just always very confident. And then so I guess I'd like Amanda to win and then be able to have that fight.

But I'd be really happy for Raquel if she won as well. But I guess I will say Amanda. Okay, all right. It took you a while, but I appreciate the prediction. Any particular reason why you, A, had your eye on her and B, you know, were so, confident when dreaming about fighting Nunes? I mean, I guess I'm just confident in my skills and another kind of striking style.

I like that she kicked a lot and she's evolved so much since Strike Force for sure. Her jih Tjitsu is good. Her wrestling is pretty good. But I'm just confident in my skills in that area and I think that it would be a good challenge, but a really fun fight and a really kind of fan-friendly, exciting matchup that, you know, that would be pretty high-paced. It's been an interesting, I don't know, a year and a half or so for you since leaving the UFC because you fought for Battlefield, FC in Korea, and then you go to Invicta, and to the best of my knowledge, essentially a year after fighting for Battlefield, you were finally paid in full. Is that accurate?

Yeah, it was like maybe like a week over a year after fighting for them. I got a message on WhatsApp from one of the guys who was part of the promotion and he said, Hey, how are you? I have good news for you. And in my head, I'm like, am I getting paid? Is it happening? And yeah, I mean, it kind of came to fruition within within about four days of them contacting me. You know, they said they had new backers, they had a new sponsor, and that they were going to be paying all the fighters. And then, you know, I was reaching out to Jess and talking to other people trying to figure out, like, they being contacted as well. And we all got paid within, within about a week of them contacting me. So it was very unexpected and it was very exciting. And I was, I mean, I deserved it because I did the

work. But I had kind of written that off as money I was never going to see. So it was like a, almost like a bonus check. Initially, you got zero dollars for it. And in the end, did you get your full purse? Correct. I got zero dollars initially left with, you know, they'd sent me away with like a little, thank you for being part of our promotion. We're so happy. We'll give you, they gave me a little like candy box. So really, I left with a candy box. And then it got paid in full.

Wow. I feel like in the history of combat sports, not just MMA, there's probably like three examples of that actually happening, where they don't pay you for six, seven, eight months, and then they actually return out of nowhere and pay you. I feel like that is a gigantic anomaly. I don't even know if I've heard of that. Like there's a point where it's gone, as you said, like you just kind of come to terms with it. And I feel like you passed that point several months ago.

I hadn't heard from them since August. Up until August, you know, they were contacting me saying, you know, we'd love to pay you. We're working on it. We're trying to get new sponsors, whatever they were saying. And then I sent them a message in August. They sent them to mention in October. And I hadn't heard anything back. And so I was like, yeah, they're gone.

They've bolted. And then, as I say, in early April, I think, is when I got the message saying, or maybe it was late March, I got the message saying, hey, good news. And I mean, apparently they want to run more shows. So I guess maybe that's why they paid people is because they actually did want to make good on what they had promised. And I think that they're hoping to run more shows in the future. Something tells me, even if Invicta says yes, you're not too keen on. fighting for them again. So here's the thing.

If they were to pay me before, if they were to pay me before I were to leave to go to the fight, 100% I'd go. But I would not go and pay for them without having money in escrow or some kind of assurance that that money was already there waiting

for me and whomever I was fighting. So I don't know if that's even an option, but that would be my condition is if I were to work with them again, it would definitely have to be on a upfront basis. Because aside from that, it was great, but being paid is essential in a sport that's a professional. Especially what you guys are doing.

Your last fight in the UFC, December of 2015, your next fight was for battlefield. That was March of 2017. So 2016, inactive. And then two fights, you get your first fight and Invicta back. You once fought for them in 2018. And then, excuse me, January of 2018. now may. What was that year and changed like for you? Were you taking time off voluntarily, or you just couldn't find anyone to, you know, to sign you up to fight? It was a combination

of things. It was, I actually, the week after I fought Shibchenko, I was training, helping someone train and I partially separated my shoulder. And then as that field, I was getting ready to go down and help Holly get ready for Misha. And the day that I booked my flights, I actually partially tore my rotator calf. So I actually spent like the first half of 2017, um, rehabbing and getting everything back and making sure I could train. And then I actually took, uh, from like June until maybe October or November, I took that time to actually see if I could get down in a healthy way to 125. I dieted down, extra cardio, um, all that kind of thing. So I wanted to do. So I wanted to see if it was possible to see what options I could open up.

And then it wasn't. It was too far. And so I just trained and I did a bunch of jiu-jitsu and grappling competitions and just wanted to, you know, find myself again and remember why I enjoyed and loved competing and challenged myself in different ways because I wasn't performing how I should have been. And so I needed to figure that out because MMA is not a sport that you should be doing if it's you know, just a past time, some way to make money. It's dangerous.

And if I don't want to be the best, I shouldn't be in the sport. And so I needed to find those ways back and find the opportunities and different competition to really help me get back there. Did you feel like you got that love back? I do. I actually don't think that I ever lost the love for it, but it wasn't showing up in my competition. So I loved the training. I loved getting ready for a fight.

and then in the fight I wasn't sparking, I wasn't going. And I think that my last few performances have definitely started to show people and remind people and remind myself. Like when I fought Panny, so much fun. Like it was probably the most fun I've had in the cage in a long time. And she was a great opponent. You know, she definitely stayed in there and allowed for me to have a fight like that. But I think that fight and then fighting Lainer on Friday, you know, are all steps in that right direction to remind people that I, I belong in the UFC. I'm, you know, trying to finish fights. I'm going to be finishing fights.

And I'm not trying to just get out there and make a decision happen. I know you just mentioned 125, but I wondered if they would call your number in their quest to find someone to fight Chris Cyborg. Was that ever discussed? Was that ever brought your attention? Did you ever consider throwing that pitch out there? It's been brought up a lot, actually. And when I'd hurt my shoulder in 2017, when Leslie ended up fighting Chris. I actually got a call and they're like, we'll make this fight happen right now.

And I wasn't training. I wasn't able to spar. I wasn't, and I was like, I'll do it. I'm in. And, you know,

definitely my coaches and my team were like, you're an idiot. You're not doing it. You can't train. But it's definitely been brought up a few times in the past. And I'm sure it'll come up again as we move forward. Are you still interested in it? And at 1.45,

not at a catch weight. Right. I mean, Chris has a division now. So, I mean, I'd be very small for the division, but that being said, I actually think that I have a good style for Chris as well. And so that's not something I'm closed off to. It's definitely something that I would be open to moving forward. Your next fight, where do you think it will be? You know, I don't know. I think right now probably the UFC is likely where it will be. just given, you know, the 135ers that are available and where I see a need for me. But I don't know.

I have to say, I'm available. I'm open. I'm in shape. So whatever comes up, I'm ready to go. But, I mean, if there was a spot on the Calgary card in UFC, that would be great because I'm in Canada, you know, and I'm so close there. So that, I mean, that would be ultimate. That would be great for me if they could put a match. up together and have me fight in Calgary.

Not just Canada, Western Canada. So it's like one province over. I mean, it's essentially a no-brainer. Have you heard from anyone in the UFC since your victory on Friday? I haven't. No, I just came back Saturday and then it was the weekend. So I haven't heard from anybody yet. Okay.

But it's nice to be a champion again, right? Where's the belt? It's over in the gym here. Okay. Special spot or you just kind of throw it on the table? Well, right now it's just on a table, but the kids will, you know, there's a couple of other belts up, so we'll get a spot for it. I'm sure the kids tonight are all going to be crowding around and pretty excited. The Strike Force one was awesome, but I would think the symbolism that this one possesses considering, you know, what you've been through over the last couple of years to get back and be a champion again for a very well-respected organization, I would think this one is very special, right?

it is and i i think i'm not i don't care so much about the actual title itself it's it's a really big stepping stone in terms of you know what it means and it's a tangible a tangible thing for people to grab onto and so definitely to have the opportunity to fight for a title and to win the title it's just another reason and another confidence builder for myself to to know that i still have it to know that I'm not in this for the wrong reasons that I do care. And I mean, I've always cared. But I just think it's a really good symbol of kind of what's to come for me. It's like that, you know, it's the progression.

Congratulations. Enjoy it. What a time for British Columbia MMA. Three champions, I do believe, for major organizations hailing from British Columbia. You, Julia Budd, 145, Bellator, and of course, Roy McDonald. $170. Am I forgetting about anyone? mean three is phenomenal. I hope I'm not

forgetting. Bibiano and he's based in Vancouver. That's right. And adopted. Yeah, there you go. All pretty close together. It's pretty amazing. That is amazing. So again, congratulations. I'm very happy for you. Great fight. Great performance. Great finish. Enjoy the victory.

Enjoy the belt. And I hope this leads to better things for you. So thanks again. Thanks for checking in. And we'll talk to you soon. Absolutely. All right. There she is. one of the good ones, Sarah Kaufman, stopping by now the new Invicta FC women's bantamweight champion. Although with Invicta, I don't say women's bantam weight. The reason I say UFC women's bantam weight or women's featherweight or women's flyweight is because there is another champion in the UFC at that weight.

As far as the males are concerned, I don't say women's straw weight because there isn't a UFC counterpart. But Invicta is an all-female organization. So I don't feel like there is a need for the qualifier. But nevertheless, a great performance out of her. And another solid card from Invicta, as I said, also of note Pearl Gonzalez, since leaving the UFC now, she is a perfect 2NO. She was also victorious on Saturday, excuse me, on Friday, and she won via Arm Bar on the first round.

It was a very impressive victory from Paul Gonzalez. also impressive from Sarah Kaufman. In a second, we're going to be joined by Jorge Mosvedal. He was in the news a little bit last week

because UFC's debut in Liverpool which is rapidly approaching less than three weeks away. And by the way, how about that weekend in Liverpool slash London? Beltore 200

on Friday in London. On Saturday, Liverpool FC fighting in the Champions League final. And two months ago, I threw out the idea even prior to the semifinals that Liverpool could be competing in the Champions League final in Ukraine in Kiev, to be exact. And everyone, if you just look at the tweet and the

mentions, everyone said that I was crazy for even throwing out that suggestion. And then on Sunday the 27th, you have the UFC's debut in Liverpool, headlined by the Scouser himself, Darren Till, Liverpool's own against Wonderboy Thompson. The co-main event was supposed to be Gunner Nelson. against Neil Magni. Unfortunately, Gunnar Nelson had knee surgery recently, and so there was a search for a replacement for Neil Magni. I reported early last week that Jorge Mazvedal, who was a little bit big, and of course the fight is on super short notice, and his management in particular suggested taking the

Magny fight, but at a 180-pound catch weight. Of course, Magni, a welterweight, and they threw that suggestion out to the UFC. although I was told that it was not accepted. I'm told also Gilbert Burns was campaigning for the fight. I was told that the UFC has found the replacement, but I can't quite pinpoint who the replacement is. I was told it was someone of European descent, but I can't quite figure it out,

so maybe someone can help me out there. Nevertheless, I wanted to check in with Jorge Mazvedo, who's one of our favorites on this program, see what's up with him. We have not heard much from him. I've seen him pop up here and there, but we haven't heard much from. him over the last few months.

Last time we saw him in action was UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden when he fought the aforementioned Wonderboy Thompson fought him to a decision prior to that, fought a tough split decision against Damien Maya. He dropped that one. And he hasn't won since his victory over Donald Seroni in January of 2017, but still one of the big players at 170 pounds. So in a minute, we're going to check in with Mr. game bread and I think New York Creek is trying to connect to them. Following that, we'll talk to

Justin Willis, who I'm very much looking forward to talking to because he is, this man is a character. If you have not seen my, well, it wasn't really my post-fight scrum, there were several other people there, but the interaction that we had in Detroit following his victory in December, it was pretty interesting. So, so we'll talk to Mr. Justin Willis in a matter of moments. Following that, talk to Muhammad Lawal, Paul Daly, then we'll have Junior Dos Santos on, Neiman Gracie, Josh Emmett, and Cody

No Love, apparently, and I predicted this, by the way, before the show, I predicted that there will be a phone issue with Mosvidal. There's always, it seems like there's phone issues with Mr. Mazvedal as of late. I mentioned Chris Seiborg. She was in attendance. You may have seen the photo

on Saturday. There was history made in Carson, California. Cecilia Bracus, who is considered by many to be the best female boxer on the planet. She fought in the co-main event of the Triple G fight on Saturday night. And why was it historic? It was the first time in 40 plus years of HBO boxing that they aired a women's fight. I kid you not.

They have not aired a women's fight in the 40 plus years, almost 45 years of HBO boxing. That is insane. not one. That is crazy. How was that not a bigger deal? Like not even the not even the silly breakist part. Just the fact that they have not, you know, Showtime doesn't air women's boxing all the time, but they've done it enough. And certainly they've aired women's MMA quite a bit in the past with with Strike Force and Elite XC. But to not air one women's fight, even an opener, even a showcase fight, if you will, that to me was mind-blowing. I had to look it up and double check because I just could not believe. that they have not aired a single women's boxing match

in their 40 plus year history. So it was historic because it never been done before. Cecilia Bracus was being showcased. She won a bit of a tough fight, but it was really cool to see. And it kind of hammered home the point that they've never done this before because when I was listening to Justin,

not Justin, Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman and Roy Jones calling the action, I was like, this is very foreign. You don't often hear these three who are very good at their jobs. You don't often hear them talking about, you know, female boxing. Why am I bringing this up? Well, the UFC's women's featherweight champion, Chris Cyborg, was in attendance. She was there very close to the action. She showed up wearing her UFC titles. So shades of one Tim Sylvia, who was notorious for doing this for going outside,

which, by the way, I have no problem with. Yes, it's a little bit hokey. But hey, you're the champion. Be proud of it. Parade it around. Do your thing. It's all good. I really have no problem with that, but she wanted to make some noise. She wanted to draw attention to herself. In fact, she took it a step further. And I've said this before, she is one of the best marketers in mixed martial arts from, from, you know, what she wears at the ceremonial wands, the face paint, doing things like she did on Saturday. She showed up wearing a cyborg versus break his shirt. She currently has two fights left on her UFC contract.

She is a UFC champion. but she signed a four-fight deal not that long ago. She had the Holly Home fight in December. Then she had the Yanakunzkaya fight in March. One would think that they're waiting to see what happens on Saturday with Amanda Nunes and Raquel Pennington to see if they'll book Nunes versus Chris Cyborg next. But right now she doesn't have anything yet. But two fights, you know, she can be done with those two fights. she can be done with those two fights in the next few months.

I don't understand what you're telling me here. What's going on? What? Oh, you do? Okay. So, she was there. She's pushing for that fight, and we'll see what happens. She wants to fight Sicily Bracus.

I don't know if it'll happen. Maybe it could happen under the Zufa boxing banner. But Chris Seaborg, always finding a way to get herself in the news. The Kauffman fight is of interest as well. If we're going to pluck people from 135 to fight her at 145, might as well get someone who's, you know, pretty, you know, who's been around the block, who's pretty well versed and has fought a who's who over the course of her career. All right. Let us move along to our next guy.

So something is going on with the phones. We will reconnect with Mr. Mazvedel. For now, he is kind enough to jump in early. Let us go to the Skype machine and say hello to Big Pretty himself, Justin Willis, making his MMA hour debut. There he is. Look at that smile. Damn, look at those pearly whites. Justin Willis in the house.

How are you? What's up? I'm great, brother. How are you doing? I'm doing great. It's good to have you on the show. It's long overdue. I apologize for taking so long. You think I apologize for shit, brother. All right, cool. Well, congratulations on your success thus far. Do you feel like people, you know, I remember talking to you in Detroit and you said, you know, this time next year, I'm going to be in the title picture. They're going to know what's up. I'm one of the most talented and athletic people in this division in this sport. Do you feel like people are starting to get behind you, like the bandwagon is starting to fill up?

I don't need no bandwagon, man. I'm a one man wrecking ball. So the next guy, he'll be up in September, October. Yeah, man, we keep moving, man. This train will keep on going. I don't give a fuck if I'm the only motherfucker on it. Why? You don't want people behind you? You don't want, you know, some fanfare behind you, some buzz surrounding you?

That's not something that I need. You know, so what I need to do is just win. That's it. Yeah. And, yeah, if people have my back, and they have my back. but that's not something that I covet. You're coming off a victory over Chase Sherman in Atlantic City. Were you happy with that performance?

Were you happy with that victory? I won. That's the name of the game, but I always expect to do better and be better. So was I happy? I mean, I won, but I can always be better. Just like you. What do you mean, just like me? What are you talking about?

I'm always on my head. Are you kidding me? What are you saying? You saying that I'm slipping or what? Now, we all could do better, baby. Nobody's perfection. That is true. That is true.

I think about that quite, you know, you thought, my first introduction to you, you thought that I was trying to stir the paw between you and D.C. But I was just asking an innocuous question. It was just a very, I know there's a rivalry there in terms of a competitive sort of back and forth in the gym. That's all good. It wasn't negative. But I think that you came in with a self-fulfilling prophecy that I was trying to stir

the paw, which I don't think was accurate. Oh, no, I didn't know you. So I just know that I didn't know you. So that was a weird question to answer at the beginning, to ask at the beginning, but it is what it is, man. We can move forward. I love you. By the way, could you do me favor?

I just see the lower end of your face right now. Yeah, there we go. Or if you want to just sit back maybe. Now I just see your chin. Maybe tilt the camera up there just a smidge. I want to see the full. I want the whole picture. Now we're talking.

There it is. Oh, yeah. No, now we're back to just the mouth. Yes, that's perfect. Can we keep it there? Okay. All right. Is your arm getting tired?

Are you like holding the camera up? Oh, no, I'm good. I got the little holder thing on the back of the camera. We all good, baby. Let's get it going. Okay, so how are things with you in D.C. these days? We're good.

You know, he does him. I do me, man. That's all we can do, man. Two individual men that are both on track to be the best. I mean, he's a lot farther ahead. But I'll catch up very. soon. Do you actively train together or when you say

he does him and you do you, are you kind of training on separate sides of the gym these days? I just got done with a fight, so I'm getting my body back ready, but I'll be back in a couple weeks. Okay. Are you going to be a big part of his camp because he's fighting at heavyweight now? We'll see. Whatever they need me to do, I'll beat it

to do it. Yeah. What is it like when you were a youngster coming in, I saw when you posted on social media there's you, Javier Mendez, DC, Kane, as a young guy coming into the, you know, the sport and you're surrounded by these legends, even back then, what was that like for you?

Did you feel like, were you wide-eyed? Did you, did you understand, like, how cool this was, how great this was for you to be around these people? It was a blessing to be around people who accomplished such great things. But I came in with my head down, just willing and able to work. and figuring out what it took for me to get to that level or what it takes for me to get to that level.

And right now, what you're seeing is, is my premonitions of intuition coming into fruition, literally. I've put in all the work. I've collected my resources around me. I have people who, you know, my very close circle, close net people, we got something cooking, man, and it smells wonderful.

And I know everybody smells it. So now it's time to put the shit on my world. the plate, survey. You dig? Oh, yes. I dig. Yes. Right now, do you consider yourself when you, when you survey the terrain, do you consider yourself just as good as the top 10 in the UFC's heavyweight division? You can hang with all those guys? I see myself as the best. I mean, that's it. That's all. You know, I don't see myself competing with anybody else. I see myself as just the best. So I'll do what it takes, whatever it takes to get to where I need to go. And that's to be the greatest. So when you say you serious, like right now, let's just say crazy circumstance, they throw you in there with steep A.

You think you're better than steep A as we sit here and talk today. I mean, yes, I have to, man. This is the sport. It's a fight. Anything can happen. Right. Anything. Have you always had that kind of confidence in yourself or is that something that you developed over time?

It's come with work. That's it, man. And now I'm getting to the resources that I need to get to, to get to where I need to get to. So I'm going to keep explaining it over and over. So what happens is a lot of people come into this sport and you come in and nobody believes shit. You know, this is the fight game. Nobody believes nothing until you put in the work and you put in the work that happens on film. But in order to get the resources that it takes to push your body and your mind and your spirit to that level, first you have to win these mediocre fights at the below at the low end.

Yeah. Then once people start believing, then you start. start getting resources and then you start filling that potential that guy gave us. And that's what you're seeing in front of your face. A person fulfilling their potential. How is the UFC treating you these days? Because I do believe that you're coming to the end of your contract, right? The man, you're the man, bro.

I love you, man. What do you mean? What's so funny? Yeah, I'm coming to the end of it. Okay. I'm coming to the end. How many fights left? One.

Oh, and so what's going on? What are they saying? What are they bringing to the table? Yeah, it doesn't really matter. I'm fighting my contract out. Oh, okay. Point blank, period. Are they, are they going to let you test the waters after?

Like, are you going to become a free agent? I mean, my dream, my, my, my, goal is simple to become the UFC champion. That's it. That's all. I mean, Bellator, I mean, a beautiful organization, Rising, a beautiful organization.

Any other ones out there? Not a major? PFL, maybe, if you want to consider them. PFL, amazing. The people are amazing, but that's not my destiny. My destiny is over here in the UFC to win this belt. And I will accomplish that. So, I'll

resign. After this next fight and no we'll go from there have they because i would imagine you know uh young heavyweight undefeated in the promotion marketable charismatic you know powerful i would think they want to you know sign you up rather quickly have they even you know approach this or are they gonna just let you fight it out that seems to be a dangerous play i mean they can play it however they want to play it man um i'm just um i'll get my worth uh-huh every single out every single dollar every single quarter every single penny. I'll get my worth. Wow. And so do they

have they even brought anything? Like have you turned down? Like do you feel like they're not bringing you your worth right now? Hey, that's between me and the promotion. All right. Fair enough. Fair enough. Have they approached you with a fight yet for your final fight on your contract? No, not yet. Like I said,

before this next fight, I need to evolve a little bit. I need to work on a few things. I've just been working with some of these coaches for like I said a year. So I think that I need to take a little bit of time off to sharpen some of my tools to go out there and be able to express myself a little bit better.

In this next fight, I will accomplish that. Your backstory is one of the... Devastating. Okay. I look forward to that. Now, your backstory is amazing. Correct me from wrong. You grew up in Northern California. You bounced around from 23 different foster homes. Is that accurate?

Foster home, group homes, treatment centers, residential centers, homeless shelters. Yeah, it is what it is. Wow. And you used to have fights, like, they used to kind of organize fights as kids for you guys and you were a part of these things, like in these quote-unquote pits. Is that accurate? Yes, sir. It was at a place called Frago Treatment Center, which was in Oakland, California. That was one of the places where it sticks out my mind as the most memorable moment. when it comes to this fit fight. How old were you?

When I was at Fregal, I was 9, 10, or 11. I don't remember exactly. Yeah. And somewhere around that age. Is this just like the adults are putting the kids together to fight? That seems wrong. I mean, this was, you know, 1998 or whatever year it was. They closed down 1998.

So that's 11, yeah. So, yeah. I mean, if it was wrong, it was wrong. But I don't know if you know. much about the foster care system. You know, there's a lot of stuff that happens wrong in those foster care systems that, you know, I think that, you know, God put me in this position where I'm at to shine light on what's going on in those foster care system because I feel as though if you take these kids out of their homes,

you have to offer them something better. Yeah. And what I received was not better. It was worse? But, but I want to say worse, but it created what I am today, which is a, I'm, monster when it comes to getting in that cage. Do you feel like if you didn't go through all that bouncing around, the pit fighting, all that, that you would not have become a fighter?

I don't know what God has made. I mean, who knows? I mean, I don't know. You don't know. Nobody knows. Right. So I don't know. That particular place that you talked about, did they close down because of the pit fighting?

They closed down for a lot of shit. Okay. Wow. And at any point, as a. youngster, did you eventually get adopted by someone? Did you eventually move out of that system? When I was 15 years old, I moved in with a family and actually from Valley Christian, their names are the alums. So I was in this homeless shelter at a freshman, my sophomore year at Carmon High School, which is in Northern California. I'm about to give more shout-outs,

which is in Northern California. That was my sophomore year. And my whole sophomore year, I was at this homeless shelter in Redwood City called Your House North or South, one of those. And while I was in this homeless shelter, I was in a part of this group called Young Life, which is a Christian organization for kids, which was ran out of the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. That's where I met the Olums. And when meeting the Ullums, I got a chance, I got saved essentially. You know, a young black guy that had a lot of potential, very good at, they understood my, They understood my intellect and they understood my athletic ability.

And they believed in me at a young age. So I got a chance to go to private school and move in with the white folks. Wow. And what was that like? Was that well received on your end? Or was it a bit of a shock to now live with a family that was more stable, maybe different than you? But I'm assuming it was a warm family that was opening their arms up to you, right? Oh, it was a beautiful situation.

the contrast is, you know, it's crazy. You know, you grow up in the inner city or you grew up in these homes and you have to go without, literally, go without, you know, everything or anything, you know, to moving in with the alums and have everything, essentially. Wow. And by the way, I'm just getting your mouth again. It just scoge up a little bit. There we go. There we go. I want everyone to get the full big, pretty picture here.

They don't call you Big Pretty for nothing. By the way, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your biological parents? My father, see, I don't tell the story very often. I got a chance to meet my father five years ago, which I would see, I would actually deem as the transition in my life. That's what you're seeing today. So I would have to, you know, credit my father because I essentially did everything he did not do. And I'm not saying that to brag. I'm saying that because he left me a legacy that was

great. Do the opposite. And I'm here. My mother, she lives locally. Yeah, she's my mother. Okay. Do you have a relationship with either of them? My father, oh, sorry, my father passed away. I was supposed to fight. I don't know if you remember in a Brooklyn card. Yes. So I was, you know, and I had a cutting weight issue. Not many people know, and I let the world know, my father passed away a week after that. I was dealing. When I found out about that fight, I was dealing with my father, you know, dying.

And so he ended up dying a week after I was supposed to make my debut. Wow. Wow. And were you able to say goodbye to him? No. But it's okay. I'm sorry. And your mom, are you in contact with her?

Not really. You know, yeah, man. So, no. Okay, but this is all shape who you have become. What about this family that brought you in, the white folks, as you put it? Are you still in contact with them? We talk every once in a while. Okay.

All right. They know what you're doing. They're proud of you. Oh, yeah. Yes. Hopefully. And when you say, like, you know, this is a good opportunity to shine a light on the foster care system in America and what's wrong with it, is it possible to ask, like, in a nutshell, what is wrong with the foster care system in America? By the way, now I just see your eyes.

I just scooched down a little bit. There we go. Yep, now we're good again. Oh, ask that question. Hey, you're the man, Ariel. Ask that question one more time. Oh, you had mentioned that this is an opportunity. now your newfound fame is an opportunity to shine a light on the foster care system and what's

broken with it in America. I know it's probably a very complex issue, but in short, what is wrong with the foster care system in America? Well, can I explain, can I break down one thing for you really, really quick? Please, yes. So, all right, so let's first talk about psychology, right? So psychology in general. psychology we all know is outdated.

It's outdated because if you have a person that is supposed to come to you or you go to them for help. Now, when you go for them for help, you have to realize that this person is dependent on you to eat, to pay for their gas, to put their kids through college, to essentially to live. So if you only come one time, what happens? That residual income does not happen. So what a lot of psychologists have to do is create a codependency. Now, does that make sense? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Does that make sense?

So what psychology is today is essentially codependency pushing. Now, now, we get back to the foster care system. And the foster care system, the reason why I think that it's not, I'm not saying some people or some kids do need saving from the situation. that they are in. That is a fact, right? Some people are some individuals or some kids are in dire situation where they do need to be saved. But my whole thing is, if you save these kids, make sure you offer them something better. You offer them something that where the success rate is more than 1% when it comes to graduating from college. We have to raise the percentages. 50% aren't supposed to be homeless after they get out of the system. We have to do better.

Now, all you have to do is go look up the statistics when it comes to the success rate of kids who come out of the system and you will know exactly what I'm talking about. Wow. That's all I'm doing. We have to offer them something better. And it can't be codependency. Right, right, right. Wow. And I appreciate you breaking it down like that.

It's very clear. I mean, you're a very smart man. You beat the system, so to speak, right? I mean, you're able now to make a solid living and you're doing great things. You went to college, right? You went to San Jose State University. Yes, sir. And I have to say, one of my favorite schools as a youngster growing up in my locker room, believe

it or not, in my locker room, a young Jewish white man like myself had a picture. No joke, 1968 Mexico City Olympics. I had the picture of Tommy Smith and John Carlos with the raised fist because I fancied myself maybe an adopted brother. I had an afro. I would go to school with the Malcolm X shirt and hat by any means necessary. I just loved everything about African American culture. And those two men, to me, were heroes for what they did.

I know that they went to San Jose State, right? And you, I mean, I saw that you honored them on your Instagram recently, the anniversary. They mean a lot to you as well, correct? Yes, sir. That's amazing. Did you know about them before you went to San Jose State? Or did you learn about them once you were there? No, I did not, but I have a question for you.

Yes. Have you ever heard of divine intervention? Divine intervention, of course I have, yes. Me and you. Is that what you're saying? It was meant to be, right? No, but it was really meant for me to go to Sonsie State. It was meant for me to live my life, the way I live my life, to grow up the way I grow up, you know,

everybody who we meet, it's not accidental. It's really not accidental. So my Jewish brother, you are a real brother. Yes. Have you ever done one of those tests that they do for seeing what you really are? No, I haven't. 23 and me, right? 23 and me, the DNA test.

Yeah, I bet you got some black in you, brother. For sure. I mean, look at me. Look at me. The brothers love me. Are you kidding me? I had an Afro better than most that I've seen on any brother. I mean, that thing was gigantic.

I had the pick in my hair and everything by any means necessary. I'm telling you. But let me ask you, is that why, when you weigh in, is that why you put your fist up? Is it an honor of those two men? It's not an honor. I mean, of course, I got it from Tommy Smith and John Carlos. I mean, obviously, I mean, they're part of the reason why I got it from, but it's way bigger than them.

So what does it represent? It represents solidarity. Okay. It represents, you know, unity. It represents a whole bunch of things, man. And, yeah. When's the first time that you did that? Yes.

Power. It represents power. Yes. When's the first time that you did that? Actually, my first UFC fight, you know, I want to put that or keep that, you know, away until I got to the USC. Oh, okay. And how is it received? I don't know. I don't care. I feel like you're the kind of guy who's looking forward to greater things, not only for yourself, because you want to make a difference in the community. You want to teach the younger generation

about, you know, breaking through and overcoming and, you know, going through obstacles and things like that. I feel like this is something that that really motivates you. Am I on the right path? you're definitely on the right role. Were you always like that, or is this something that's come to you in your later life? When I was younger, I mean, we all go through our stages in life. When I was younger, I mean, when you're young playing college football, I mean, you're dumb. You know, you do a lot of stupid shit. But we grow, we learn, and we get to where God has us intended.

But we all have to remember that we never stop being until the day we die. So the only thing I can do is continue to grow and to continue to prosper from my hard work. Well, I got to tell you, this has been some kind of debut here for you on the show. I mean, this goes up there with some of the greats of all time. So it's great to have you, great to clear the air, because I feel like we kind of got off on the wrong foot. So this was really good.

I'm very happy about all this. Do you want to call your shot for your next fight? Do you want to ask for someone here, or do we want to just see what the UFC comes to the table with? Well, according to the UFC, you know, all the little ranking system, I'm number 15 right now. You know, I'm trying to get somebody, not trying, I need to get somebody ahead of me. Yeah. Point blank, period. So whoever that they have intended or whoever that they want to sacrifice to me, they can.

And I'll see that person in September or October. But I would like to say and make it clearly that that choice is up to the UFC. And it's up to the individual that's what assigned his life to me. Ah, yeah. And by the way, very quickly, who gave you the nickname Big Pretty? My grandmother when I was a little boy. Because you were pretty. I mean.

Look at that. I mean, how could it be there now. Justin, all the best to you, my man. Continued success. And we'll talk to you soon. And go easy on D.C. at the gym, all right? He's an old man. Hey, take care, brother.

And have a blessed day, brother. All right. respect there he is big pretty himself justin willis joining us how much fun is that guy that was a lot of fun all right let's go to our next guest we have now uh fixed our phone issues this this was not on him let me just be very clear it was all on new york rick he screwed it up uh horhe mazvado is joining us right now mr mazvdala are you there i hear okay great to connect with you horhe it's been a while since we've talked to you where have you been i've been uh i can't disclose um all that information right now, but I've been all over, my brother.

Oh, wow, okay. Everything's okay? Yeah, everything's super good, man, but you got to say low-key away from these demons and shit, man. So that's what I've been doing, I stand away from the demons. What demons? What are you talking about? Who's demonic? Man, I'm not going to get all into that right now because that's going to be a whole other segment that will take up your whole segment, actually. So we'll talk about that later. Really? Okay. But, but, but, everything's okay with you?

Yeah, man. Well, a couple of injuries that I've had for a while that I've just been rehabbing over the course of since my last fight to now. Just trying to get my body to 100%. So the next time I get in the cage, it'll be a healthier, better, faster, stronger, me, you know. But that's one of the main things I've been doing. Okay.

Like I said, you were out for a bit, but I've seen you emerge. I saw you doing some sort of like cooking thing. Like you were doing, I don't know what you were doing. I saw this, it was like a Periscope or an Instagram live where you were doing some sort of cooking competition. What was that? Do you know what I'm talking about? It was to raise money for kids with cancer. And the organization is called Cookies for Kid Cancer.

And I got challenged on it. You know, like how they do the ice bucket challenge or whatever. So I got challenged by this top chef. And I didn't want to bake cookies because whatever, I didn't want to bake cookies. So we actually did a national Cuban dish. and the top chef on top of being a top chef when I recruited another top chef that specializes in the dish that I picked

and whatever. Some say the competition was rigged, but I ended up losing. Ah, well, good for you for doing stuff for charity. That's very cool. You did reemerge, though, last week because I spoke to your manager, Abraham Kawa, the great Abe Kawa, said that you guys throughout the offer to fight Neil Magny on short notice. I kind of laid out the scenario just a few minutes ago.

180 pound catch weight. My understanding is you did not get that fight. Is that accurate? Yes, that is 100% accurate. Why? Why didn't you get it? Well, Magnus said no two times in the past. So this one right here will be a third time. And the other two times it was at 170 pounds.

So maybe he gets a yeah, I'm a professional. I stay ready because he's such a fucking square. And, you know, say that 180 was whatever. He didn't want to do it. Mind you, I was a 55 or like three years ago, you know? So it's just injuries that I've had I haven't been able to stay as close as I usually am to my weight due to my road work.

So I just, I wanted, I wasn't looking to fight in May at all or even June. I was looking to fight in July, August, because that's when I'd be cleared, 100% ready to go. But since it's Magny, and I don't know if the chance to ever come up again, I was like, fuck it, I'll jump in there and kick his ass out. I'm just not going to waste on my energy

trying to make 170 pounds, and I'm not near that right now, you know? There seems to be some sort of issue there between you two. Where does it stem from? Well, it stems from, his opponent fell out in a fight a while ago. I had just finished fighting. So I was like, hey, you want to, your opponent fell out, you want to fight, and then he just came at me wrong.

And he started talking all the types of shit, instead of just being like, no, I'm not going to do it, or something like that, you know, or he could have said 100 other things, but he kind of disrespected me. So I was like, man, this guy's a fucking clown. I'm just asking if you want to fight, your opponent fell out. I didn't need to hear all your bullshit, you know? because of Zana, I've just been wanting to break his.

Him and Bispinger are guys that I don't need a fight camp. I don't need to be prepared for. It's just the opportunity comes up. I'm going to put everything I got on the line to abolish your fucking face. And if you could have made 170 on May 27th, do you think they would have given you the fight? Or were they already moving on by the time you got to that? I know.

I won't say names and stuff. But I know for a fact that the UFC wanted the fight and were very very well. very excited about the fight. Oh. So now you know that there is a bitch in the building, and his name is Magny. Okay, so they even accepted 180. No, I'm not saying to the UFC accepted 180 is just when the offer came to him. I know that they were like, yep, let's do it.

Let's try to make it happen. And, you know, just fucking coward said no. But on top of that, it's just one thing like, man, you say no, because whatever. I can't make 170. I got it. Cool. But then he put out like some fucking weak-ass poem talking about it. better to be prepared and not have a situation or I don't remember what corny

shit he wrote but he wrote something corny like bro you either want to fight or you don't I get it you don't want to compete at 180 it's cool bro you fucking turned it down it's cool bro yeah it's strange because I feel like magni's one of those guys that no one really has a beef with like he's just you know kind of doesn't ruffle any feathers but you you really want to get your hands on him I really want to get my hands on him so it was the hope to fight him after like are you going to wait for this fight to play out and then if he wins fight him or are you kind of moving on now? Oh, he doesn't have a fight, I think.

I heard that they got someone for him, but I haven't gone confirmation. So are you still hoping to get the fight on May 27? No, no, no, no. We know that we're not getting the fight unless this interview makes him feel like such a coward, then I had something to prove. You know, but I'm almost positive that we're not getting the fight, you know, and I'm not looking for the fight in the future anyways because fuck Magnet. It's not somebody that I'm going to prepare for it.

He's this type of guy that, okay, let's just fight. You know, I don't fucking, I don't believe in you. I don't have faith in anything that he can do to me. So I'll just fight him. I'm not actually going to get prepared for him. I'll get prepared for bigger, better challenges, you know? And it seems like they've come your way a couple times. Did they not ask you to fight Till and Usman recently?

A lot of fights at 170 in May, did they approach you with those fights, or they did not? They didn't approach me about the Usman fight. They did not approach me. They approached me about the Till fight. But like I said, at the time, I was still hurting and stuff. And my coaches in camp were like, man, we had a plan that stick to it. Get you in there healthy by July, August is a due date, you know. But like I said, since I got, I just, me person, I just wanted to break Magnus face, man.

Was that tempting for you? The till fight to, like, fight a guy on his home turf who has all this buzz? Oh, definitely. And I'm still hoping I could call me out before. And he did it the right way. Hey, you want to fight? you know yeah fuck it let's do it now with the whole fucking oh you're a punk and your mom's a bitch and you're fucking you know let's just scrap you know we're two guys are like to throw down

it's just scrap so i'm hoping that fight um it'll happen at some point whether in july august i don't know how quick he's looking to turn around after he fights you obviously fought uh stephen thompson recently you've i'm i'm certain seeing at least some highlights of darn till who do you like in that fight uh i think i like thompson with the movement, the outside strikes, and obviously he has more experience in MMA. So it just depends how good of shape he's in, you know, because I don't know when exactly was it that he took this fine if he was in shape or not. You know, so I'm leaning towards Thompson.

And there's a lot of hype surrounding Till's we just alluded to. Are you a believer? Like, do you feel like he's going to live up to all this hype? I think he has a lot of good things that I've seen. He has a lot of belief in himself. He's got a good left hand. He understands distant and movement well, so I think he can go far, you know? just there's many levels

to this game, how would he do with a good wrestler? I don't think he's fought one of those years. How would he do with just a good MMA guy that's going to wrestle him a little bit, strike a little bit? Those are the questions that are he's going to be answering little by little. And Usman, they never, like when

Ponsanibio fell out, they didn't come to you with that one. For that, they did not call me for that. But at the time, they already knew that I wasn't fighting until August. They already knew that we had already talked maybe weeks before that. No, maybe like a month before that about when I was coming back, so they didn't call us and about the Usman fight.

Okay, so right now you're hoping summertime return. Yes, July or August will be the date that I'm in there 100%. Who it is? I don't know, but I don't give a fuck. Anyone, so no one's been brought to your attention yet? No, for those days, no. I mean, I'm sure people are going to hear this interview, and they're going to start talking shit. And hey, I love to fight you fucking joke up on the fucking,

bar the weekend warriors are going to step up now, you know, because that's always what happens with these fucking, these corny motherfuckers. It's Bisspig and Connor McGregor era that everybody just has to talk shit to get a fight instead of just fighting or asking for the fight, hey, you want to throw down, you know? How close were you in Bispink to actually, you know,

exchanging hands when you saw each other at the hotel that fight week at MSG? That one, he had a lot of people with him, and actually, there's another reason why I don't respect them. I was literally pushing my son in the bit in the stroller when he came up

and started doing all this fucking stupid antics of his, you know? So we were close in a way, but there were so many people that it probably wasn't going to happen. We were much closer probably in China. If it wasn't for Reid Harris fucking literally putting himself in bidsping, I would have fucking made sure to get a good one in and strain out that fucking crooked

eye of his. So, and did it ever get close? Like, where you thought that someone was going to punch someone? Well, I don't know if, I don't think he was going to do shit to me, because he knows what happened, but I was pretty damn close to breaking his face in China when we both ran into each other in China.

In China? What happened in China? Yeah. Well, I got brought out. I was already scheduled for one of the fighter appearances in China. Bishving took the fight last minute notice, you know? I was there for the whole event. After he got knocked out, I didn't even look at the guy.

I'm not the type of dude to kick somebody while they're down. Whatever, but we'll handle our problems later. They're a fucking racist piece of shit. We'll handle our problems later, bro. And I'm in the lobby, you know, the lobby's flooded with Asian fans and I'm taking pictures doing my job what I'm supposed to do

and I see him already coming from the corner so I just give him my back and I'm like man I don't even want to see this dude I'm hoping he doesn't see me but I'm not going to just storm off on the fans and be like no I'm not taking pictures because this thing's coming so as I'm taking pictures he's crossing he by

and he gets maybe like three feet from me he sticks out the middle finger and he screams as loud as he can like a little girl fuck you fuck you fuck you you're a disgrace to the sport fuck you so I just fucking lost my mind and I went after him

and a couple of you've seen employees got there but there wasn't that many people to really hold us back. You know, and they were mainly holding his back, and his team knew that he was out of line, so they were holding him. And I had maybe, like, two people on me, so I could shake these two people, and I was trying to. Like, always, he cowered out just like he did in New York,

got inside the elevator, talking numerous shit. Reed Harris was there, trying to take the bullet for him, you know. So he should send a gift basket to Reed Harris at some point, thanking him for his life. Wow. So that's where the whole thing starts with you in Bisping. No, that's not where it starts. That's where he almost got ended.

That's not where it starts. It started, who This has been a while in the making ready with this coward. When did it actually start? Do you remember? Because you're not in the same way class. I mean, I don't see... I don't know.

It might have been. I did an interview with you. I did an interview with somebody and somebody asked me, like, what's going to happen with Joel and Bisping? And I think I said, I remember exactly because it's so many interviews, you know? I think I said that's not going to happen. Bisping wants no part of Joel. He said in interviews, the guys of the teeters and that.

Me personally, he doesn't want to fight Joel. He knows what's going to happen. And then he took to his fucking podcast. And then it was all still jokes. You know, I don't give a fuck. If somebody's talking shit, I talk shit back, no big deal, you know. But, you know, he kind of crossed several lines after that. And that's why he's on the get got list, you know.

Okay. Now, before I let you, I feel like I have to ask again, what were you referring to at the beginning? What are these outside factors? It's concerning to me. With? You said, like, these negative outside factors coming into play. You can't get into it right now.

Is there any chance you can let us in a little bit? Oh, my brother, these demons is all around this, playboy. What are you talking about? What do you mean? What you mean? What you mean? What you mean? These demons trying to suck our blood are around us all the time.

And I don't mean like some fucking vampires rising out of a coffin, some aliens from a spaceship. No, no, no. I mean, here in this world, we've got demons and bloodsuckers all around us and just negative shit. So I've been trimming up the fat in my life. a lot to get down to the bone and see what's good and what's not and just taking out I've made this

the Thompson fighting out I made a lot of hard choices a lot of personal decisions just to give me maybe that 1% more to get a little closer to that title you know so I'll do whatever it takes whatever sacrifice I got to do I'm willing to put myself through that fire you know

so little by little just getting rid of more and more demons that are around me did you have like a moment where you're like okay enough is enough I need to start trimming the fat here getting rid of these demons like what was that the moment where you kind of realized all of this?

I can't say too much because then the demons are going to know how I'm catching them, you know? Okay. Wow. This is wild. But do you feel like you're in the clear or there's still some more work to be done to get rid of the demons? Here's one thing you've got to stay humble and modest. You always, always got demons around you. When you think, oh, I got them all out, I got them all away from me.

You're wrong. You'll get you. You know, so from women to drugs, all types of things that are just there that are no motherfucking good for an athlete and just a person in general. You know, you got to be careful. What about your boy, Colby Covington? I mean, this guy is ruffling everyone's feathers. What do you make of what he's doing as of late? One thing, first thing I'm going to tell you is that my dog, roof, you know?

I mean, I know people hang him and shit, but I'm not the type of dude that roll over on one of my buddies. area if you're my fucking buddy me and you which we are I like to consider I think at times I think me and they're pretty cool you know and you were at a gas station and some guys you owe money from five years ago approaching they're about to fuck you up guess what I'm jumping in there with you

and we're gonna have a ball fucking these guys up because that's the type of person I am you know I know the whole world is hanging him right now but you know he's my dog he's my boy you know okay but is this the real cause people say oh he's playing some sort of character he's trying to be Chelsea Sunnan but he's kind of going up the line is he

racist, is he not? I mean, you know the guy you lived with him. Is this the real him? He's an asshole. He's a motherfucking asshole. He can be a fucking prick. You know, especially with chicks. You know, he could, not that he's like a woman hitter and that like that, but he's

cocky as fuck, you know. So if you don't know, well, he could come off wrong to you, you know, kind of like what you've seen online. All right. Me and him, I've always been cool, you know. We're both. maybe I'm not I'm an asshole in a different type of way than he is for me and him I've always been cool so I don't have nothing bad to say about the dude

you know we've lived together he's he's a good dude you know a little messy at times he don't do dishes and shit but overall he's a fucking great dude man has it ever gone weird within ATT because he's talked about you know ATT fighters and you're I feel like you're you're pretty well liked within the team has it ever gone weird where people come up to you and say hey man check your boy what's he saying why is he doing this things like that Well, I'll tell you this right now Like I said, that's my boy

You know And this is not for ATT dues Because ATT dudes If he had a problem with somebody And I can mediate I would try to do that You know, because I have a lot of seniority In the team

But this is on the worldwide scare Because other people sometimes You tell him shit Like, oh, tell your boy Kobe this or that No, bro, I'm nobody's messaging And I'm actually like I'm like snap on somebody If somebody was a dumbass

So this is where the world to hear If you got a problem with that man You go tell them to your motherfucking self Don't be coming up to me having me spread messages and shit like that, you know, because I'm more besides bidsping and magnia, I get along with just everybody. So people feel like they get over and up to me and be like, oh, boy, your boy, this or that, where you go fucking tell him, man, you know, and see what happens, you know?

Yeah, I feel like a lot of people try to go to you to tell him that, right, and you're tired of it. No, it's not that I'm tired of it. I'm not really that dude, you know? If, like, that was, they used to be friends and now they're no longer friends, yes, I could step in and try to mediate or whatever. But if it's like people that don't know them And shit, well then fucking, you go do it, you know And, uh,

what people are going to be sentencing what he does What he did in Brazil, was it right, was it wrong? It's not, it's not my fucking business. I didn't, you know, I'm not, I don't control this individual. We're just fucking good friend, that's it, you know? Yeah. Um, you don't live together now, right? Look, all these Brazilians are really that mad?

Yeah. Whose fault is that? Yeah, my motherfucker's fault for letting him get to you, man. You know? Right. I didn't like when Bisping, uh, ripped up the flour, but I don't tell fucking you to go tell Bissing something. Every time I see Bisting, I make sure to speak my mind and try to fucking break his face, you know?

That's what I try to do. And you don't live together anymore, right? No, no, no. Okay, that's all good. You got your own thing going on. You're in Westchester, right? I'm in with Chester. With the rich folk.

Not with the rib folk, but I'm with Chetton. All right, well, this is very exciting. I'm happy that we're, I feel like we're rounding third here. We have a fight on the horizon. We have a sort of time frame pinpointed, but no fight yet. Do you have a perfect scenario? I feel like it would probably be Bisping. Am I wrong?

That's more like fantasy files. That bitch ain't going to fight me, man. I've been two, three feet away from this guy, and I've seen the look in his one good eye. He does not want this because he knows that whatever happens on that date, I'm going to go through that to fucking punish us. guy for the shit that he's done, you know. It's one thing, I get it. Um, it's very comparable. Kobe did. He went there and said the shit about Brazil. There might be some Brazilians over there that would be

willing to die to beat this man, you know, for what Bissfing's done and how he's acted. And I sincerely, in my heart, believe he's a racist piece of shit. So I want to break his fucking face. You know, he spit on a Latin corner's fighter before. He talks numerous shit about Joel, like Joel's not even fucking human. And then he rips up my country's flag. So there's no, you can't tell me, Nobody can tell me, no, this is just part of the game. You know, he's just trying to run. No, no, no, I truly believe he is racist. He's a white imperial motherfucker, or at least he thinks that.

I would love to break his fucking face, you know? So there's nothing more to it than if we got to fight that'd be out. But I know that fight won't happen because he sees it in my eyes. I'm a fucking dog and I'm going to do whatever I can to end you, you know? Wow. That's a, I mean, you have to admit that's a pretty big accusation, right? I mean, and I know you're bringing stuff. It's fact.

It's fact. Did he not spit on Jorge Rivera's corner? Yeah, that that is what he was accused of. Yeah, you forgot about that. No, no. I know you got to deal with a lot of knowledge, but I didn't forget about that. I was like, yeah, that's funny, well, that's weird.

Why would he spend on this guy's corner? Who the fuck does that for starters? You spent on a corner? What did those guys fucking steal money from you? What was that all about, you know? What was that all about? Is it just because they're lying? I don't know, you know?

So I didn't really understand it at that time, but I was like, yeah, that's fucking weird. Then the whole shit that happens with Joel, then ripping on my country's flag. I'm like, you know what? So racist motherfucker. He's going to get it, bro. And the things that he says to me, I know he's fucking racist, you know?

I know I've been around racist motherfuckers, and he's one of them. You know, I don't give a fuck if he's sitting right next to Cormier or fucking Woodley on the show and acting all buddy-buddy with him. That motherfucker's racist. Maybe he likes to like people, but he don't like the lines, you know? And I would love to break his face. I hope if I can't get the fight. I hope Nick Diaz at least gets to get the fight with him because Nick Diaz will punish his ass. Maybe he might fight with Nick, but he will not mention me at all about fighting.

You know why? because he knows I'm a fucking dog. And by the way, don't worry about that fight because I don't think it's happening. Or at least it hasn't been approached. It was just, I think it was some rumor that was made up. It could happen, I guess, in the future. I know he would love for it to happen.

I just want one of the Latin fighters just break his face. Have you or your management, have you guys, you know, approached UFC again with this idea? No, no, no, we don't approach them. They got our number. If they were wanted, they know who to call. Okay. All right. Wow. Well, it's good to catch up with you, Jorge.

I mean, you're fired up. I like it. I like this, Jorge. Time to get back on track, right? I'm trying, man. Erday. Can I ask you a question, and please don't be offended with me asking. How much do you weigh right now? You want the truth?

Yes. You want the 100? Yes. Two. Two. It's actually a motherfucker. I take that down and remember that you. Oh, man.

I mean, I like it. I like the hair. Are we doing a man bun? What are we doing? No, no, no, this ain't no man, but man bun is when they shave the side of their head. No, this is full samurai ponytail, brother. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so we're not shaving the side.

I don't like the man bun. I don't have a man bun. I got just my hair's long. I got a little border cutting my hair, you know, going every day to the bar. Not every day, every week to the bar, but I was just like, man, fuck, I'm going to let my shit grow while I still got hair, you know. Yeah. in the future I might not have hair. I don't know.

Are we keeping that for your fight as well? You're going to have long hair for your fight? I don't know. Gamebred himself hasn't... I don't know what Gamebri's going to do tomorrow. He might wake up and be like, yo, fuck this shit. I'm bored of the hair in my face. I'm cutting it.

I don't know. Wow. You just live day by day, minute by minute, hour by hour. Pretty much. Wow. This is great. It's great to catch up with you, Hory. I must say.

And Yawanna and Jacek, by the way, she said she loves you. give us the heart symbol with her hands and wanted to specifically say hi to you. That's hilarious. Well, you guys are buds, right? Yeah, we're super buds. She's super cool since she's been part of the team. I think she's been an ace to the team, and she's just a good person, I think, you know. Okay.

All right. Well, good luck to you. Looking forward to seeing you come back. Let me say back because then she's going to kick me in the nuts or something. Joanna, I love you back as well. Oh, wow. Okay. How about that?

Well, that's great. It's good to see some unity. and also a big weekend for your team coming up with King Mo fighting in the main event. Amanda Nunes fighting in the main event. So you guys got a lot. Are you going to any of these fights? I'm not going to be able to go to these fights, but I will be 100% in front of the TV watching my boy, Mo, take care of me. The king of Wakanda is back, and that is Mohammed Lua.

For those that don't know, if you just saw you see, that's cool. But there is some guys that you need to keep an eye out, and that is Mohamed Lua. It's a long time, OG. I'm a huge fan of the dudes. since his first fucking fight that I happened to be there when he fought Travis Wolfe forgot his last thing.

Yeah, yeah. I've always been a big fan of Moe, you know, so I'll be watching more. I mean, I think I've seen every single fight of Moe, you know, so I'll be definitely watching. A legend, that is right. And of course, Amanda Neunes is fighting in Rio.

So big times for the ATT team. Great to talk to you, Jorge. Thank you very much. Great to catch up. We'll talk to you soon. All the best to you. Oh, he's my brother. You say, right?

There he is. Wow. Jorge Mazvedal. Great stuff from him. It has been a while since we talked to him and on fire today. In Fuego, as they say, okay, we just talked about Molo-Lawal. I think we have found him. Molo-Lawal, Muhammad L'Aul, as Jorge Mazzbel said. Are you there? Yeah, man, what was going on? What about that? What about Mazzvedal, putting you over like that?

He better put me over because I put him over back in the past myself. That's my dog, man. Well, like I said, it's a big weekend for ATT with you in the main event for Bel-Tor, with Amanda Nunes in the main event for the UFC. But I have to see. say, King Mo. I feel like we've seen several iterations of King Mo, Muhammad Lawal, over the last decade or so. This is a different one. It feels

like I watched the countdown show yesterday. The beard is longer. There's an edge. I see the grill. What's going on? How would we describe this current King Mo that we're about to see on Saturday? Well, man, I'm healthy, though. It's like this, man. Shister Shah

saw Quinn Jackson. I was in his camp and I hurt my hip. and I didn't know I had like bad arthritis I figured I just pulled something but come to find out man I was bone on bone so I got that fixed man I got I got like you know

metal put in there so I'm like I'm half biotic you know what I'm saying I got metal on my help wow feeling good yeah man I had a procedure called the Birmingham hip reservicing and I'll be the first athlete

to shake back and come back from that you know what I'm saying so I'm for the whooped-bated ass for real. And when did you have this, this procedure? I had made 15, man. Last year, like, that's why if you watched my fights,

emitting around you, you see walking, I'd be limping. Man, I remember one time I was when my boy Will Brooks fight in, I think, in Seattle or South Portland, and I was with my boy, Daniel. And Dan was like, Mo, why are you lipping? And I was like, damn, everybody seen me limping. You know, my home

girl, Caled, when I was at the site, Czech Congo, she's like, Mo, why are you lipping? before I fight Crow Cops they were like, Mo, why are you laughing? So I had excuses like, man, with my big toe. Oh, man, I stuck my big toe. Oh, man, I walk like this. You know, man, that's how I walk.

I walk with the limp. But, man, I was walking because I was hurting. I was hurting. So now, I'm like the normal. You know what I'm saying? Feeling good. I'm so great. Put like this, man, it's like this.

When I fight bad, do you see the Infinity Wars? Say it again? You seen that movie? You seen that movie in Ferry War? I have not seen it, no. I heard it's good. Okay. It's real good.

And I'm like Thanos. And Thanos fought Hulk. He'd be of Hulk so bad, Hulk didn't want to come out no more. That's how a beta is going to be. Bada ain't going to want to fight me. He doesn't want to wrestle me. He's going to try to fight me.

He'll try to wrestle me, but I can wrestle too. He'll watch. I go see a different beta. He's rhythmless, you know what I'm saying? For one. He'll come out there try wrestling grab. Watch. And I'm cool with that.

You know what I want? he gets get the wind so he's got to do whatever it takes to do it to save as a way possible but he ain't going to try coming that fire because if he does you can't get knocked out and if he wants to wrestle we can wrestle because I got to see Michael on my side man I've been wrestling on him since camp started so I'm ready you know so I'm ready for whatever that's why I'm feeling good I'm confident man I can stop him

so that's why you haven't fought since last last March you kind of kept this under wraps though yeah you know because I always have surgeries man So I'm, you know, I just went of them. But this time I had to get done because I'm going to be real with you. It was so bad. It was so painful after Clinton fight. I went to WrestleMania.

I could barely walk. I went to the Ring of Barna Card. I could barely walk. I was struggling looking bad out there. And I was like, man, I got to do something because I can't fight like this, man. I'm not retired. So I did some research looking around. I seen a procedure called the Birmingham hip reserving and changed my life around.

That and weed. They, hey, the Diaz boys. I thought that was crazy at first because they all liked that weed stuff, right? Yeah. And I was like, why he's like weeds so much? Man, look, now I understand, you know what I'm saying? Shout to him, Diaz, boys, because they got my mind right. At first I was against it, and I thought people was tripping because, you know, coming from Texas,

everybody would be like, man, we use a drug, this and that. Man, look, man, we changed my mind, man, made my life better. Wow. With that with that surgery. You weren't. Pain pills. So that helped me with my pain, you know what I'm saying? edible and that TAC lean syrup, you know what I'm saying?

And I got these grape pens, all that stuff. That stuff changed me, man. May it feel better. No pills, man. You did none of that before. You did none of that before? No. No.

Wow. Shout to Turr Pound's a Flavor R.X. Man, they helped me out. I got a bunch of people on my side with this, man. How close were you to retiring in your mind? Man, I was dead close, man. I knew, I was in the couch. And I think I was watching.

I forgot I was watching it. I was watching Atlanta. You know what I'm saying? It's like World reruns. You know what I got a DVR. And I went to stand up to give me some soda. And bro, I couldn't stand. And then I went to walking.

I thought I was like an old man, limping. And then I had to go upstairs and grab something. And I could better go upstairs or downstairs, man. And then getting into that at the car, when I got in the car, I just lift my leg up and put it in the car. So I was like, man, you know what? Man, I got to change something. So I got on the computer, man, I started doing my research.

Thank God for Google. you know what I'm saying? And you did that all on yourself? You have no you have no information about any other person in your field, combat sports,

anyone like that who has done this before? Just one person. I called him a guy's name. I'm going to blank because I'm so excited. But I hit him up because he's in San Jose

and he had it done like eight years ago and I said, man, why don't you come back? He's like, well, I feel good. I didn't want to do no more damage to it.

So then I was like, He's like, but I can still fight. So he's like, you get done, man, behind you. And I had this one day, Tony Rockland, he had this hip track machine called the hip track. And I was using that along with stem cells to prolong my career. But eventually that's the point where, man, when I thought quitting, I had to get two quarters on shots in two weeks,

they wouldn't working. I got, I was getting stem cell injections every three or four months for the past, like, five, six years wasn't working. You know what I'm saying? So after a while, the pain got worse than worse. When's the last, so which fight in particular comes to mind, like, the last time you felt this good? That's not something good, man. It was probably my, my second and third fight, man, because I always had knee problems and hit problems.

So it's in a long time. Well, I thought Musasi, my ACL was torn. I just fought, you know what I'm saying? I couldn't run in nothing. I just wanted to have fight. What's wild? What's wild about this, Mo, is that I remember just a few days ago, like maybe a little over, a week or so ago, a DC posted

this picture on his Instagram. Did you see it from Esther? Esther Lynn took this photo of you, him, and Sean Bunch, the early days. And I was looking at that picture and I was like, at the time, we were talking about on the show last week, we were talking about the picture. Like, they were, you know, you were the Rick Flair

of that crew. The other guys were J.J. Dylan and maybe Arn. Anderson. Like, you were the star of that crew and I feel like some bad luck, some injuries and things like that got in the way. And of course, we know about what happened with the with the staff infection. Is it hard for you to look at that photo as well and say, like, man, if those things didn't happen,

I would be the guy, you know, with the belts and the millions of dollars and things like that. Is that a difficult thing to come to terms with? Hell no. Why would I be like that? That's jealousy. That's whole shit. You know what I would never be like that. I'm happy for Daniel.

You know what I'm saying? If Daniels worked hard and deserves that, man, I've known that for years, man, why don't, like, that's like, if anybody, if anybody was on a show and was like, yeah, man, yeah, that could be me. Hang up on their ass, because that's some whole shit. He should be happy for your friends, man. You know what I'm saying? He should be happy for your friends.

But look, look, things happen to me. Things happen for a reason. It's whatever. But as long as my boys are doing good and I'm feeling good. If my boys are doing good, I'm doing good. You know what I'm saying? Bunch is doing good. He's happy.

My boy, my boy, Daniel's doing great. He's happy. So I'm happy, man. I want the best of them. You know what I'm saying? I'm not, I'm a jealous type of N-word, you know what I'm saying? That's that. to be clear, I wasn't saying that you were like hoping bad, but maybe saying like, man,

some things have stopped me from reaching my potential. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, but the thing is, man, things have for a reason, man. And if you mentally strong, you can always shake back. Okay. And what was tougher to come back from? The staff infection or this? The staff infection, like, you know, I had the vancomycin.

Then I had to take antibiotics for the other two years. That's why it took me so long. Like, I was gassing up. It took me so long to come back. I just never said that. You know, it was whatever. You know what I'm saying? Now it's past.

I can say what I want. But I never said nothing. I just, I was like, I was going to fight because that's what I had to do. It's my job. And tell me about the look right now because I see, I see the beard is a little longer. You got the grill.

Where is this all coming from? Man, I've always had the grill, man. I've had the grill since a psychologist like that, but it's a different one. Oh. But then the beard, man, I'm in Taliban mode, man. What? Taliban mode?

Yeah, I'm going to cut some heads off. Jeez. You know what I'm saying? All right. Like, I've been going hard in camp, man. Like, I was getting beat up by Brian Jennings. Shout to Brian Jennings. So I helped him for his camp.

My boy, Big Trevor Bryant, you know what I'm saying? He's a boxer helping his first count. Man, we're out to toast with my boy, Alan Green. You know what I'm saying? And then Steve Michael was grinding me out for wrestling and everything. And I had people, my boy, Javon. You know what I'm saying? And my boy, Jordan Young.

Look out for him. Because he's the future, man. Jordan Young. I call a pushback Jay because Harry Harry's receiving and he's about

20 years old but that boy is talented you know what I'm saying and are we going to keep this for the fight or are you going to

keep the the beard long for the fight now I don't know I don't know I might just keep it long

you know I might just keep it because I don't care you know I'm just I'm just really good

man I just want to go out there a fight it's fight it's fight it's fight week man

I'm feeling good I'm happy you know I'm I'm in shape and I'm to make somebody pay

that's going to be Ryan Bader. April 16, 2003. What does that date mean to you? April 16, 2003? I don't know, probably April 4th. It's 15 days after April Fool. You know what, you know what? That's it?

I don't know about doing. What day is that? Nationals? I have no idea. A young Muhammad Lawal competed against a young Ryan Bader in the quarterfinals of the 2003 NCA Division I National Championship,

Molulawal of Oklahoma State University notched 10 takedowns on Ryan Bader before capturing a 23 to 8 major decision. You know this? I thought I'd be in a national duels. Are you sure it's the national tournament? Maybe I got some bad info. But you get the point of the date.

Let's not get hung up on semantics here, Mo. That's a big time. That's a beatdown. That's a one-sided beatdown. Yeah, he's taking another one. He's thinking another one, man. Did you think when you met this guy that someday, like, this guy will be an

MMA fighter, maybe you'll meet again, or was he just another guy on route to what you were doing? Like, did he stick out to you at all? Do you even remember this match? Yeah, I remember Ron Bader because, like, when I took him down, he kicked him in the face. What? Yeah, he kicked me in the face off a take.

I remember that, you know what I'm saying? I just thought that he was like, a young kid that was big and just had a chip on our shoulders. So I think he'd be good eventually, you know what I'm saying? But he ran to me at the wrong time. But now, you know what I'm saying? he's experienced, he's doing his thing, he's ranked high, he's ranked above me,

you know what I'm saying? But we're fighting at my specialty, the tournament, you know what I'm saying? And the thing is, like, I don't know what's going to happen. What's up his ass? Is he a forfeit the belt to me? What's going to happen? Yeah.

I feel like this should be like a dual. This should be a title fight slash. Maybe they could figure out like doing it at, I don't know, 205, but it's still part of the tournament, but still a belt on the line. That would make sense, right? Yeah, right. Because it's like this matter.

One of you like about beta is, he's, he's a tournament. You know what I'm saying? A lot of people don't want to do this. And the thing is, he's right here. Let's compete like I do. You know what I'm saying? And he's hungry like me. But the thing is, he's hungry. I'm starving.

You know what I'm saying? I got Ebola andorexia. It's tough for me to eat. Overall, are you impressed with the tournament? The field thus far, because you are the last duo to fight in the first round. What do you make of what's transpired so far? It's like this, right? I think Roy's fight with Matt Mitch Johnson's,

an extra round. But other than that, big guy, zero, small guys three. You feel me? Yep, yep, yep. So, like,

all the size, like he's talking about, like, I'm at Matt Mitchell, like, yeah, Beau, you're about to lose

because Bader's just too big and this and that. Okay, we'll see. The thing is, man, like, what's not being better

than what's you're going to say? And you're cool of fighting Mitrione, right? Hell yeah, I'm cool to fight Mitchon. Look, I'm cool to fight anybody besides,

like, blood and, and, like, my boys, say Roy and fighting Daniel I love money but I don't

I don't care about fighting people that are real cool with you know what I'm saying that I would bleed for or die so like Daniel and them you know what I ain't

I ain't with that but anybody else can get it was that weird for you like is there a very good chance you know Roy wins that fight you win

like what would you have done in that case I'd probably had to pull out of something straight up so were you kind of happy when he lost like that has to be word too

right never happy I mean I've never have my friends lose. I'm never happy. Like, like I said, like, if you if anybody, if you call anybody on this show and he say would you, were you happy your friend lost? They say,

just hang up on their ass. That ain't a real friend, you know, and that person's shady because they'd be happy when you fight. They'll be talking in your face, smile on your face, but say what took on what happened to you, they probably happy to. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Like when people talk, like when people bash you,

I don't like that shit. I think you could tell. You've always had my back since Day won, right? Yeah, man, of course. Man, look, people, the media hated me because I said, if Ariel Honny in here, they say no real press conference, remember that? Remember that? Cincinnati. No, it was Las Vegas. January

of 2012. I remember. No, I said it at the Hydra Gracie fight. Did you really? Because I remember getting that clip. In September of 2001, I was at that fight. I was at the Hajra Grazy fight. It was the Jan... No, no, no, you got there late, bro.

I did get there. Romero fight, yeah, because I got that. Like, what's Aaron Hohanah? Because that's something I announced over in the tournament. But I have a good memory. I might smoke weed, like, I haven't smoked in about four or five weeks because, you know,

a drug test thing, but I smoke. I got great memory, though. That's one thing. Yeah, I always appreciate that. That meant a lot to me. And, you know, you have overcome a lot. The fact that you're here, you're on, on, you know, on the verge of, you know, being a heavyweight champion.

You've got to win a couple of fights here, but you're right there in that mix. It's incredible. How much do you expect to weigh? on Friday, Mall? I don't know, like probably 210 or something like that. Oh, that's it. So you're not using this as an opportunity

to balloon? For what, man? I'll buy a 2-10 versus Pro Cop. Two-Tenberg vizis. You know, 2-10 versus Quinn. What's the way you're going to do for you shop sold me down? Yeah. I always feel like that's a bit of a tricky thing. Like, we saw this with BJ Penn. Like, you go up and wait, and then you don't push yourself as much.

You're like, oh, I have more weight to deal with. I don't have to cut as much. weight I don't have to work as hard, right? So it could be a bit of a mind, you know, of a mind trick, right? Yeah, yeah. I think it's like, people get bigger, but, you know,

they get bigger to eat more and do all that stuff. In the long way, you can get stronger, but it'll straight help you, but someone's naturally bigger than you. Right. Are you still watching pro wrestling? Yeah, man. Like, I didn't watch backlash.

I knew it can be garbage. Right. Straight up, Bobby Lash is my daughter. But why he came up with Braun Strowman? I can't really weigh in on that. I haven't been watching much. I did see Rhonda.

What did you think of that? Oh, I didn't watch the match. I watched the match for WrestleMania. Yeah, that one. Yeah, man, she, man, she read shot, man. Londa is a star. She did a thing, you know what I'm saying? And two, you know what I'm saying?

She was the right people. Her angle, um, separation, sticking a man, their one doesn't have failed. They did it right by her. Can I just say that I thought that they made fundamental mistake in that match from a psychological and a booking standpoint in that when someone comes to pro wrestling, you have to get the finisher over. It's very important to program people

to know like when Undertaker was setting up the tombstone, you know the end was near, right? When Brett Hart was setting up the sharpshooter, you know the end was near. She has the luxury of going in with her finisher over. She might have the most over finish in MMA history, let alone pro wrestling. And what do they do? They make her go 0 for 4 with the arm bar in her pro wrestling debut. That's ridiculous. But remember this, right? Since

this is the first match, they had to tease the crowd, had a dangler carried in the front of the face to get them into the match. Oh, remember, where we should at the arm bar, the crowd was getting ready to pop and all of a sudden oh, and then, oh, they got back into it. You know, they had dangling carry just a little bit. Yeah, but now, now you've told people

that it is possible to get out of this thing. as opposed to, what if you did this? First submission attempt, ankle lock. Second submission attempt, rear naked choke. Third submission attempt, I don't know, pick another one. And then finally, she applies the arm bar, it lights out, end of story. 45-year-old Stephanie McMahon is able to get out of this thing, but every great MMA fighter isn't.

Come on. That doesn't make sense, right? But listen, that's why watch Ringavonner, man. Ringavon is way better than there to be, you know what I'm saying? Like, shout out to my boy Josh, Josh Woods. You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? And Shane Taylor, when I see, I'm going to slap you.

You know what I'm saying? But other than that, Ring of Honor is where you go. Marty Skirle, the Young Bucks, Cody Rose, you know what I'm saying? Them boy, the briskos, Dawson Castle, and them boys. You know what I'm saying? Will Osprey cheeseburger? Silas Young, very shiny a bruiser. I can go wrong, man.

Kenny King. It's Jay Lethal. Look, if you want to Percian Martinez, if you want to see real wrestling, what's Ring of Honor? Straight up. What about New Japan? All, you know, the guy, Esther, Casey, they're always talking about New Japan, these guys.

What's so good about New Japan? New Japan and Ring of Barre, work together. So if you all watch Whoop Wrestling, plus New Japan and Ring of Honor, because they work together, man. New Japan, they're a super style, faster pace, more realistic.

You see, like, submission holes, and you see MLAA fighters involved. Shabata, with a competing in Ring of Honor. I mean, not Ring of Honor, but AGA, Reha, and New Japan. He fought Mayhem Miller, and a few of the fighters, you know

saying? Any chance that you go back there to that world? Hopefully I can go back to Ring of Vonder, man, because I did a little running, like, ran for interference in the match, you know, last week. So two weeks ago, but hopefully I can get a match in, you know, me and Josh Woods or Shana Taylor and somebody else.

Oh, wow. WWE just announced that Jessamine Duke and Marina Shafir signed with them. Did you hear that? Oh, congratulations, because Marina, hey, you know, Roger Strong, great wrestlers. They did the right thing by signing them, too. Because they get their facts shit with Ronda Rousey. That's cool, man. That's smart.

Are you jealous? I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Hell no. And shout out to Matt Riddell, man, because Matt Riddell is a deaf cop. Matt Riddell, bro. Hey, Matt Rill is the man, dog. I don't even know him like that, but I've been watching them. I'm like, this dude's over, man. Straight up, man. People got some. Amay fans and they support them, you know what I'm saying?

Support Matt Rizzle. It's an unbelievable story. Yeah, the King of Rose. You always tell it like it is. So can I ask you this? You're a part of ATT. How do you feel about Colby Covington? Is he going too far?

Man, look, Kobe Covington is playing to heal. You know what I'm saying? People that know that know Colby Covington, they know what's up. The people that don't know don't know what's up. So I'm going to leave it at that. You know what I'm saying? The people that know that know who don't know, just keep all hating on. They're getting them paid.

but there's no line that you shouldn't cross like it's all fair it's all good look as long as they're saying the inward and wearing no make a make make make make a great hats around me you know what I'm saying we're cool we'll say you see he's not doing that he might get beat down you know what I'm saying but he ain't doing that man man that's my dog so it never gets awkward no make it's cool man look like like I said man I'm cool with chale people want people hate chel for some reason they don't know them people like Kobe but they don't know them.

I'm going to say stuff, but, man, look, if you know them, whatever. If you don't know them, keep going to them and help them get paid. Who wins, Chaler Fador? Man, look, the fans do, but I'm going to, like, I'm rocking my board Chale. I like Fadour. I love Fadour, but, man, I've known Chelle longer, you know what I'm saying? And Chels, man, like, Chil's one of the few folks at the train center. He was about all the black wrestlers coming through saying, what's up?

You know what I'm saying? Straight up. You don't know that about jail, man. Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. You have been on this program many a time. We've been talking for around a decade at this point. I have never heard you this fired up before.

This is something else. This is a different kind of mo. And this has raised my level of excitement going into Saturday night. Tenfold. I feel it. I sense it. I could feel the energy just oozing out of your veins here. All your pores.

It's an amazing thing. I can't wait. This Saturday, SAP Center, San Jose, California. King Movers is Ryan Bader. Main event. The last first round. fight of the Belator Heavyweight Grand Prix. King Mo, I said at the beginning of this show, actually before we went to air, I said you are the most frequent guest in the history of this

program that has never been on via Skype. If you win on Saturday, you need to promise us that you will be on Skype on Monday. Is that a promise? Yeah, but look, I'm going to be high as hell. I'm going to be high as hell. I'm going to be high as hell. Shown at King Mo challenge. Y'all watch out for this. Coming soon. All right. All right. All right. We'll talk to you soon. Wow. A fired up King Moe. That was great stuff. I've never heard him like that before. So that's the main event.

Other featured fight among many on this card Saturday, Paramount Network, Paul Daly versus John Fitch. Let's not make the man wait any longer. Paul Daly is joining us via the phone as well. Paul, are you there? I am, and I'm not as fired up as King Mo, but I am here. What? Why aren't you as fired up?

You're not excited. It's Fight Week. You're fighting John Fitch, big card. Yeah, man. This is just like, it's routine now, isn't it? The whole fight week thing. I'm looking forward to the fight, but I'm just not, I'm not super pumped like Moe. He's a character.

Are you still in England? I am in England, which is kind of strange, considering that Saturday, you know, I'm going to be over in the States fighting in front of thousands of people right now. I'm sat at home on my sofa watching Netflix, so. When you... Yes. It is crazy. When do you fly out?

Tomorrow morning. Do you kind of dread that? That's a long trek, right? From England to San Jose, do you dread that? I enjoy the journey. You know, the hard thing is as I've gotten older, you know, I've started a family, so the hard thing is obviously leaving the kids,

but you sort of brush that over because I have to do it a lot in order to, you know, bring the money in. But, yeah, it's not really, that's probably another reason I'm not so pumped, but, you know, it has to be done. You know, I have to say, I didn't know you had any kids. How many kids do you have? Yeah, you have two children.

Boy and a girl. Wow. How old are they, if you don't mind me asking? No, no, just five and two. Yeah, I was a young boy and a young girl. Wow, five and two. So it's chaotic at the daily household these days. Yeah, but, you know, you wouldn't have it any other way.

It's real life. It kind of gives a good balance and a good outlook when things get a little bit shitting. I agree. I agree. I have three myself, and I couldn't agree more. So we haven't talked in a couple months, but of course last time you were on, you were unhappy with your place in the organization with Bellator. Have your feelings changed since we last spoke?

No. They haven't. You know, I'm still. I'm still, as you can probably tell, you know, I'm still not, not happy with how things went over the period from the Larkin fight until now, but it is what it is, you know, I've done a bunch of interviews. I've sort of given them the rundown. I don't feel like I've been treated well, and people ask me about a World's Weight tournament, I'm looking to get out, you know, I'm looking to cash in, I'm looking to take these two

fights and get out of the game completely and see what else is up. Maybe go back to real life. So after going public, you never had sort of a come to Jesus, a sit down, a face-to-face, a Ted of Ted with Scott Coker with Mike Hogan with these guys. This never happened? Well, Mike, Mike, I've been in communication with from the beginning, funnily enough. And normally fight week, like a week like now, me and Mike would be messaging back and forward, setting things up when I got over there.

he's checking, I've done this, I've done that. But I haven't heard from him in a while, which has a lot as to how things are going over there. And as for Scott, you know, I've never spoke to Scott. I've never had to sit down face to face with Scott. And I've said this in a few interviews as well.

I thought, all Dana's battles, you know, when I was at the UFC, I actually sat and spoke to him in his office, face-to-face. He is as he is in front of. front of the camera, you know, it's very up front, and he'll tell you exactly how it is, whereas Scott now I'm starting to notice from my time at Strike Force and my time in that Bellator, you know, he has a, I feel anyway, and I feel like he has a camera persona. And I'm really behind, back, back away from the cameras, he's just as bad, if not worse,

worse than being a white. Really? No, I'm just not in it. I'm just not happy with Belichael at the moment. That's just it. I mean, it is what it is. How can you be getting journalists that ask me questions about a world's weight tournament? I have one of the biggest wins in my career in recent times over a UFC vet.

He was a big free agent, and then you kind of brush it under the carpet. You don't say nothing for nine months. And then you expect me to be like, oh, let's get all excited about a world to wait tournament. let's get excited and, you know, promote this John Fitzfite. Like, you know, I'm dothed over that bullshit. Like, I feel, I feel undervalued and I'm just going to play it out how it is. So even dating back to your time in Strikeforce, you have never had a face-to-face sit down with Scott Coker. Not once.

He speaks very glowingly of you. Not once. Wow. Yeah, that's because of the knockouts that I've done on his shows. I've come in. He just, I've come in. I've smashed people. people up like I do, and then that's it. I've never sat in the office with them and spoke

from face to face in all these years. Never, not once. I've seen him at press conferences, pre and post-fight. That's it. Which is a shame to say, to say, I'm supposed to be one of his, is marquee fighters. As you may know, San Jose is the, you know, the hometown, so to speak, of Belator. Do you think that it might happen this? week or is this not a good time? Are you not even interested in sitting down this week? I'm just going to go there. I'm just going to go and fight. That's my job. I'm going out there and fight and entertain the crowd, you know, going there and put on a fantastic performance against John Fitch. And, you know, do I go do? Do I always do?

I saw, you spoke to M.A. Junkie recently. You had this quote, you said, that Bellator is quote, playing me for an idiot and I ain't an idiot. Why do you think that they're playing me for an idiot? Just because, look, in the time between Larkin and for all the fights, they kind of play down, they're playing shit down, playing the roll down, trying to, like I'm not a valued part of this puzzle. But if that's the case, then why do these guys keep putting me on main events, co-main events, you know, headlining shows, getting me to do these calls,

getting me to do three-hour, you know, phone conferences and all this bullshit. All the cards I've been on have been over a million views if you do, if you look at the figures and yet they taught me down, you know, they, and then it's just crazy. They expect, they expect me to do something for them, but then they're not really doing nothing for me. I'm doing it all myself. I'm the one going there knocking guys out. I'm the one doing the good post-fight, you know, interviews and, you know, interviews and

and pumping myself up, Bellator really ain't doing shit for me. In all honesty, what are they doing for me? They ain't promote me here in the UK. There's no billboards of me. I'm not in newspapers. I'm not in magazines. You know, they're not sending Spike U.K., which shows a broadcast event on me in the UK.

I've done no interviews with Spike U.K. I'm not even on the commercials for the show here in the UK. They've got King Moe Ryan Bader, when you've got one of the best UK fighters for the past 15 years fighting on the show the advert for Spike UK's or King Row and Ryan Beta to me that's bullshit and that's like it's stupid from a business point of view

like it just doesn't make sense what about you know putting you against Rory in London the Lima fight in London they have put you in London you just feel like they're not pushing it's like it's one thing to put you on the guard I made the Rory fight I made the Rory fight I made the Rory fight I made the Rory fight I called Rory I called Rorya out. I made that fight. They didn't put that fight together. The fight against Lima, they didn't put that fight together. They wanted me to fight. It was, in fact, it was King,

it was, it was, it was bloody Kimbo slice RIP versus somebody else, James Thompson. I was in the main event there. It's like, they're not, they haven't done anything for me, really. I've made it myself. And right now with this fight, this would be the second to last and then you have one more, right? That's correct. That's correct. And you are strongly considering leaving the sport after this. You're done with MMA?

I'm done with MMA. I don't know. You know what, for me, like I said to you last time, I'm, I'm happiest. Yeah, the bigger paychecks, you know, it's nice when it comes to you, but I'm happy just being free. I've never been wanted to sort of I just don't like how I like the freedom of being able to go when I want

I don't like how people's people's personalities and emotive change you know I like to just if you do rub me up the wrong way I like to be able to just go and I haven't got that freedom here with Belator so

you know I just like to do my own thing I like it when I don't care if I'm like I said, you before, I don't care if I'm fighting in a small hall I'm fighting in a big arena. As long as I'm fighting

and I'm busy, I'm happy. And, you know, maybe once this contracts run out and you'll soon see me doing more stuff like that, like free agent, you'll see me in Brazil,

you'll see me in Russia, you'll see me, you'll see me in, I don't know, England, you'll see me in Dubai, Bahrain, you'll see me all over the place

with different promotions. And I prefer to be that type of fire. I don't like to be tied down with people telling me shit and making false promises and stuff like that. That's just it's bullshit. So you still have

a fire to compete, you just don't want to do it under these terms. Is that a fair assessment? I don't want to do it under these terms and I'm not sure I want to do it as an MMA fighter. Maybe I'll kickbox for a bit. Maybe I'll do both. Who knows? I don't really know, but as it is

right now, I'm done with Bellator you know, two fights, whatever. I'm pretty much over the whole thing. Are you worried that now that you're so open about this, that it's going to be difficult to get that last fight? Well, what can they do?

What can they do? I don't know, maybe. Hold me on one fight. They can't hold me on one fight. They tried to do that until Shamanca. I've spoke to Shamanco's manager. And they'd see these are the kind of underhand tactics that they've been doing. But it's not being public.

It's not being made public. But I've spoken with managers and seen what the real. situation is and how it how it really is. You know, I'm not happy. Why can I not say if you're, if you're not happy at your job, you know, you make it no. And normally, the boss will address you directly if you're not happy with your job. I've been, from September, I've been saying I'm not happy with how things are going with Bella. So I've not heard from Scott once. I've publicly said, I've publicly said he was bitter that I didn't, which he was bitter that I didn't take

the paid fire. I've publicly said that they, a senior VP agreed for my release, which I had in, adding text messages. And all of this has been going on not once. I've had an email, a phone call, nothing from Scott. Nothing. I thought he was a boss. You know, if you're working at Walmart and shit, you ain't happy. The boss will address it. You'll go to your manager, say, look, this is what it is. And they'll speak to you personally. I've not had this. And it's a shame to say that I'm up there on the cards. I invite in Pachanga, you know, they put me on these marquee cards. I'm main event and co-main event. Well, if that's the case, then have enough respect to come and speak to me when I'm saying, look, I'm not happy about

how things are. And I have to say, my initial reaction when I saw the matchup was like, are they trying to punish Paul by giving him, you know, this wrestler? We know who John Fitch is. punish me, it's a big mistake and like, I almost feel quite happy and I'm not even talking too much about the fight because I've prepared extremely well and we are extremely confident

despite the on-paper matchup, you know, with John Fitch, I'm over him, I'm going to walk through John Fitch, I'm going to, it's going to be a pretty convincing win for me, so I'm kind of happy

that they've given me this old guy to fight and I will make him look like an old guy and he can say what he wants and there's a very good fight that we did the second of two fights the Tony Belly and David Hay fight you know Tony Bailey is a better fighter

David Hay it was a better fighter he was a supreme athlete and everything said he should have won but you know his body just couldn't take it and maybe his body could take you know the 12 3 minute round that he was scheduled to do

but it's the preparation in the run-up to that. And I don't think John Fitch has been trained as hard as he used to when he was in his 30s, and I'm going to be faster, I'm going to be stronger. My mind's in the right place. And, you know, I feel like when my back is against a war, and that's how I feel with Bellator. That's when I perform best. So unlucky John Fitch.

What do you think you're walking into tomorrow in San Jose? Do you think it's going to be awkward, you know, just being? Do you know what? Yeah. It will be awkward, but to all Belator staff listening to this call, like, I'm not the same as everybody else. You know, like, don't approach me in a disrespectful manner because it will not go down well. That is what I will say, you know. I'm just going to say that.

Have you had a bad relationship with the staff? If you go to approach me, approach me properly. I had a great relationship with the staff. know, the people on the daily operations are great. The people that I see, you know, running stuff are good. It's the people at the top that, you know, obviously have a problem with me, but they can't bring it to the forefront. They can't approach me.

What do you think it would be like if you see Scott? I don't know. We're going to find out tomorrow when I land in San Jose. Okay. We'll see. By the way, your name came up recently. outside of all of this because a few outlets, I think it was the LA Times, I made junkie wrote articles. Oh, look what Connor did. Look what Paul Daly did. Paul Daly got banned for life.

Well, the same thing happened to Connor. And I don't know if you saw your name, you know, out there and being compared in the situations. Obviously different situations, but you still are, you know, not in the UFC. Did you chuckle? Like, what was your reaction when you saw these headlines if you saw these headlines? My reaction was, I was just honest, you know, I've seen all the comparisons. And yeah, the whole situation, it was very similar. And, you know, Dana could come across as being a little hypocritical. But for me, it's a different ballgame. The UFC was in a different place then, and it's in a different place now.

And a lot of where they are now is down to Connor McGregor. So if you've got someone bringing your money and raising the sport in your promotion to greater heights, then you can't ban him for life because business is going to go bad for yourself. I understand, yeah, really, he should be, he should be treated the same as I was. He should be banned for life. You know, what he did as a guy, as a guy with his profile in the sport and for the company of the UFC, he should be banned for life if what I did, I got banned for life. so but business is business and they need him and you know i like connor mcgregor and i respect him

and i respect danis choice it's a small move why so so i feel i know you said like you don't want to be tied down things like that you fight these two fights out dano white says here's an olive branch let's let's do business i feel i feel that you're open to it now like the the bad feelings are gone i feel i feel like this is something that is of interest yeah i never i never really had bad feelings towards Dana because you know I will make my way in this sport

anyway regardless of what barriers people put up for me because I am an entertaining fighter and people want to see me

fight I feel like that that's something that I have up on some other guys who wouldn't really get away with the shit

that I say because I entertain I knock people out I talk was talk and I walk you know

I always put it on the line so if if Dana came to me with a proposition I would probably take it because I thought there's some big fights that could you know really

elevate my financial situations to a whole other level you know a rematch with Nick Diaz I'm sure would do it would be a great event to promote and it would do good numbers and maybe I could make a big chunk off of a pay-per-view

like that you know I fought a lot of the guys here that are highly right guys like Massvedale I have a winner over a Tyra Woodley current champion I went three rounds with in a close fight. So I feel there's parts there for me. Am I looking to go to the UFC now? I'm just looking to the fight out, the fights I have with Bellator and then just assess the playing field and seeing what I want to do.

What's best for me and my family. What a fantastic and fascinating subplot heading into Saturday, all this. And I have to say whether anyone agrees with it or not from our perspective, I appreciate your candor, because I know it is not easy to talk about your current promoter or employer as openly as you are, even though I also know that people at Beltoe would probably disagree with things that you're saying.

It takes guts to do that. So thank you for being... It doesn't take guts. Not guts. It just takes honesty. Fair not. One thing I've said has been untrue. It's all. It's the truth. And I think that's what people hate about me as well. I'll tell you the truth. Always. I appreciate it. Thank you, Paul. Best of luck to you on Saturday. Looking forward to watching.

Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. We'll talk to you soon. There he is. Paul Semtex Daily. Speaking the truth, as he says, a really interesting subplod heading into his fight. You don't often hear a fighter speaking about his, I guess you can call it deteriorating relationship with his promoter as openly as he does on Fight Week. and this is a relationship with Scott Coker and company that we thought was in very good standing. They go back to the Strike Force days and that was one of their first signings, you know, when Coker came over to Belator. Apparently it has not been rectified, which is surprising, but maybe this week being in their hometown, Belator HQ, maybe they figure it out.

Let's see. So that goes down on Saturday against John Fitch. All right, let's move along now and say hello to our next guest. I'm so excited to talk to him. He has been through a lot over the past year, but he got some great news. What was it two weeks ago now? He was provisionally suspended by Usada. They said that he took a diuretic that was banned, did all the work behind the scenes, found out that the positive test came from a tainted supplement. The appropriate time had elapsed. He is a free man.

He is able to resume his career in. The UFC was very quick in booking him in a new fight. He will be fighting in July. against Blagoi Ivanov. He is the former UFC heavyweight champion, Jr. Cigano dos Santos, and he joins us now via the magic of Skype. Let's say hello to JDS. There he is.

Junior, how are you? I'm good, Ariel. How about you? Everything good. Everything's good. You're still smiling despite everything that you've been through, and you always have a very good demeanor, but I have to ask this past year for you.

How was it? How difficult was it going through this? Because not only are you fighting for your career, but your reputation is somewhat at stake as well, right? Yeah, that's for sure. That was this last year, this last year was a nightmare for me. Because, man, I've never imagined I could go through something like that in my career, you know. I've been playing the fair game.

My whole career, I became champion of the world like that. And my goal is to become champion of the world again, you know, with this way. And this thing will happen with me and you saw that, you know, that was, that was very sad for me. And there's no, in my mind, you know, there's no how that could be happening with me. But like you said, you know, it was a tainted supplement. And unfortunately, I was going through the hell. when you got that initial call that you had tested positive and this came up like what was your reaction were you completely shot like how did you take that news when you first got that call yeah i i i was i was in shock for sure you know i was very worried about that but in my mind i was thinking oh no it's it's it's not right you know something something is going something wrong is going on here probably they will find out there

the truth very fast, and they will, you know, release me to, from this case, from this situation. And, but it didn't happen. And they started to investigate and investigate in my mind. Like I said, in my mind, you know, I've been saying all the time, you know, I've been supporting Usada all the time. And I've been saying that I've been, you know, playing the fair game the whole time. And someone, the only organization in this whole world that could tell everybody else that I was saying the truth was you saw that. But they were doing the opposite. So I said, my gosh, what I'm facing now, you know, this is a, this is, I never, I've never, like I said, and I've never imagined going through something like that. So then they started investigation

and things were going longer and longer. And the whole. the whole time was nine months, nine months investigating the thing. My gosh, that was a big impact in my life, you know, in my career. But thank God they found out, they found the truth, and they gave me my reputation back to me as clean as, yeah, as clean as it was before. Do you feel like that as the case? Because sometimes, you know, this news comes out and, you know, fans stick to it and then they just label you. Do you feel like your reputation is back? Yes, for sure.

I feel like that, you know. I feel the truth was found, you know, and everybody knows that it was a tainted supplement. It wasn't my fault. It wasn't my intention. So, yeah, of course, there's always people, you know, negative people that they keep, saying bad things about you, they hold up on the negative things, you know. But I feel like, you know, I got my reputation bag. It's very important to me, very, very important to me.

I'm a proud, I'm very proud with everything what I've been through my whole career, everything what I've been done, you know, in my whole career. So I think I have my reputation back and all the people that support me, they also know that. How difficult was it to find the supplement that was tainted? And could you tell us what the supplement that you were taking was for? Yes. Actually, I'm not going to be able to tell you exactly what supplement was, but I was using some supplements from the pharmacants from the pharmacants. there in Brazil, a pharmacy, a manipulation pharmacy there in Brazil.

And, but, but like for years, since 2014, I was working with them, you know. And I've never had any problem with them. Because, and as soon as you said, told me that, hey, there's something wrong here, you know, we found diuretic on your, on your supplement, on your body, on your, body, you know. So then I, the first supplement I sent them was a CLA that I was

I bought here in America. I bought in a store here in America and I sent this one because that one was the only one different that I was taking, you know, I have never imagined could be the pharmacy that I was using in Brazil.

But the result of that supplement became negative. So then I sent them six other, six seven other supplements from this pharmacy that in Brazil. And three of them were tenting, like contaminated, you know. So then I said, my gosh, finally, but, you know, finally they found, you know, it's a contamination and they will release me. But it didn't happen. They said, man, it could be me. Maybe I did that on purpose, you know, with my own supplements. then I said my gosh, how I would do that?

You know, I'm not a chemics. I'm not a scientist or something like that to do this, you know, with the supplements in the right amount. Because the amount they found on me was so little was 0.5, 0.4, 0.5, something like that, which is traits of diuretic in a very cheap diuretic that wouldn't. work to hide anything, you know. So that was very frustrating. But after a few more

months, they I think they order some some other supplements or something like that and they could found, you know, it wasn't my fault and they finally told me, yeah, you're free to move on.

The crazy thing is that this happened in August and it's now May and that was nine months ago and they give you this sort of six months lap on the wrist but unlike like let's take for example this is just a MMA example

but like Connor McGregor got arrested right he could go he could leave jail he goes home he does his life and then he has to come back for a hearing you cannot continue your career while this is happening like you're kind of put in jail for nine months you can't make any money do you feel like this system is broken

we saw the same thing with Josh Barnett recently he couldn't fight for a year and a half and eventually they deemed that he was not at fault. Is this wrong? Should they change the way they do this? Yes, they should change this. You know, because, you know, because of an investigation, they were investigating the thing, you know, I wasn't guilty. You know, they were investigating in trying to see if, you know, I did that on purpose or not. But they took me out of the fight. I would fight in Gano and they, in Ghanu, and they took me out of that fight, and they, you know, they stopped my whole career,

you know, to investigate the thing. I think that's, that goes, you know, the completely opposite direction of the law, because I'm free, I'm, you know, I'm innocent until you prove I'm guilty. So in this case, it's different. You're guilty until you prove you're innocent. Wow. So, yeah, it's, it's not, this is not. this is not good, you know, especially in my case, you know, that I knew I didn't do anything wrong. And I was going through all this situation, you know, it was a very bad feeling, a very bad thing, you know. I couldn't. Thank God that, you know, God knows what he does because, you know, thank God I had my son here with me.

So I was, I was paying attention on him and giving, you know, everything what I could of myself to him, you know. So that was, I think, what keeps my balance this whole time now, you know, because that was tough times. There were tough times. And if I didn't have my son here, maybe I would stay thinking too much about it. And I would be, man, I would be kind of crazy now. Was the UFC supportive in all of this? Yeah. they were actually, you know, what they could do, you know, it was between, as soon as Yusada found

something on you, then it's between you and Yusada, you know. But they were very supportive, you know, showing that they were there and they were believing in me all the time. So I appreciate that, you know, and finally, like I said, let's move on. Usada is a very controversial thing in our sport. Are you in favor of no USADA? The fighters had no say in this. You didn't ask for this. You didn't sign up for this.

You didn't collectively bargain this. Would you prefer to see this relationship come to an end after experiencing all this? Well, you know, I want to see a clean sport. You know, I know this sport, you know, it's this drugs, this performance, enhancing drugs are a big problem for all the athletes, you know, because everybody knows most part of the athletes in general, you know, other sports too. Sometimes they take PEDs, you know, but I want to see a clean sport because we want to know who's the real champion.

We don't want to see a fake champion over there, you know. So I'm in favor of a clean sport. But of course, you know, if the Yusada is the organization that's going to bring the clean sport, that's good. I've been supporting Yusada since the beginning. But I didn't sign. Nobody all the fighters signed for that, you know. We just accept what UFC decision, you know, but yeah, I don't know what to say because I'm very, I've been very frustrated at this whole time, you know, especially because what I know the diuretic is in the prohibit list, but this diuretic, I've been talking to many doctors and like friends of mine, you know, and this diuretic specific, it's hydrochlorotiazide, something like this, it's a very cheap and not effective diuretic.

They told me I should take something very much more stronger to hide something on me if I would like to hide something on me. So I think Usada know that and also the amount they found on me, 0.4 of 0.5, which is nothing, which is traits. So based on those numbers, on those things like, you know, in my mind, Usada would be the organization to know that I'm, I'm not, you know, I'm not a cheater. But it wasn't like that. They still, I still went through this whole investigation, this whole scenario, and they were putting me as a, as a cheater, you know, and, you know, it was very, it was very bad, man.

So now I hope, you know, they can keep a clean sport and whatever they, they, they, they, how they can do that. But I have, they have better, better rules, better, better way to treat the athletes, you know, because it's our lives, you know, it's our lives in the game, our lives that, you know, it's going, it's happening, you know. So, yeah, I hope that the system gets better, gets better. In order to avoid any of this, have you changed anything as far as supplements? Yeah, what lessons have you taken away from this?

Oh, yeah, I've been, I've been, you know, some of the people, they say, even you saw it, sometimes they say, ah, you cannot use supplements or, you know, you don't need to use supplements. Just keep a good diet. Man, someone who say that have never been training for a real, a real diet. MMA fight. Man, this is the hardest sport in the world. We train so much twice a day, every day. And it's a, it's not, we need supplements. We need things to rest better, to recover better, to perform better, you know, just supplements, you know, because like if I would, I would eat all the protein I need in a day, I would have to eat maybe, I don't know, 10, 15 chicken. every day, it's impossible.

So I have to, yeah, I take my supplements. I think my things, everybody has to do this, you know. So, yeah, now I'm not using the pharmacy anymore. And I'm using, trying to use, actually, using all the supplements that Usada recommend to us. They have a list of recommendations, you know, of the brands that you can use. that maybe is going to be better for us. So I'm trying to do this, you know,

to keep everything under their recommendation. Well, you've handled this very well, and now you're in the clear. You're able to resume your career. July 14th, you're back in Boise, Idaho, of all places against Blagoi, Ivanov. What, if anything, do you know about Blagoi? This is his UFC debut,

former Beltaur World Series of Fighting Fighter, beat Fyodor in a Sambo match many, many moons ago. What do you know about this guy? Well, now I start to know more about him, you know, because I started to study things about him, you know. And also here in American Top Team, we had some of my partners here or some of my friends who already fought him. So they can, you know, give him some advice too. But I know he's a tough guy. He's a very tough guy and a sombo guy, but he likes to strike to.

He has knockout power. So he was champion in two different organizations. So, you know, it's going to be a good debut in the UFC, you know, for the UFC. He's a good fighter coming to the UFC. And I'm going to be, I'm just happy, you know, because I'm going to be giving him the welcome organization. And also facing a very tough guy. And no doubts, it's going to be a very interesting fight, fight, you know.

because he's a tough guy, like attacking, but he can take a lot of punches too. You know, I was watching some of his fights, and man, he's tough. Have you ever been to Idaho? I've never. They have been telling me good things about that. Did you ever hear of Idaho before they, you know, before they offered you this fight there? If I heard, it wasn't many, many times, you know, one or two times, maybe. Well, usually when the UFC goes to a city for the first time, there's a lot of excitement, a lot of buzz.

And the time frame for your fight is a week after Stepe fights Daniel Kormier, so it's a good time to come back because it's always good to fight around when the belt is being defended. Who's your pick in that fight before we go? Who do you like? D.C. or Stepe? I think Stepe. I think it's a very tough fight for Steppe, and there is nothing in the line from DC, you know. Everything is on Steppe because his title is on the line, you know, D.C. is coming up for the heavyweight division again. But it's going to be a good fight.

And I believe the knockout power of Stepe is going to make the difference. Junior, I'm so happy for you. I'm happy this all worked out. I'm very sorry that you had to go through all of this. And it's a crappy situation, but I'm happy in the end you were vindicated and that you were proven to be innocent. And I'm happy that you're returning sooner rather than later and that you can continue your career. So thank you very much for coming on the show. Congratulations on kind of winning your case, if we want to put it that way.

And of course, good luck in training. Good luck in the fight on July 14th. Great to talk to you again and to see that smile of yours, that famous smile. Thank you very much, Ariel. All right, we'll talk to you soon. All the best to Junior Cigano dos Santos, one of the best guys in the sport. How could you not be happy for him? And how could you not agree with his stance on, you know, essentially being forced to prove that you're innocent until proven guilty, right?

I mean, that, no, you're guilty until proven innocent. Yes, you're guilty until proven innocent. It should be the other way around. but in this case the guy was asked to sit on the sidelines and he couldn't advance his career he couldn't make a living until they finally deem that he was in fact innocent seems like a very tough spot to be in

and it's a spot that many others including Josh Barnett was in recently luckily for him he's able to now resume his career okay great stuff there from Junior Sagano let us stick with Brazil here for a moment and say hello to our next guest in fact he is joining us in studio How exciting is this? Always great to have BJJ royalty in the house.

Neiman Gracie is here. Beltaur's own. Neiman Gracie. How are you, sir? Good. Great to have you. Thank you. Sorry for keeping you waiting, but I appreciate you coming in. It's all right.

I did no Brazilian time with you today. That's right. That's right. That's right. We were Brazilian time. You live around here, right? Yes, yes. You came here, how old were you?

Like 18 or so? You came to New York from Brazil? Yes, yes. Were you 18? 18. Oh, wow. Okay, I got it right. Something I learned recently,

your mom is Gracie. You grew up with a different last name. No, in Brazil we use both last names. You do? Yeah, yeah. But your dad's last name is from where? What is it again? So, Stambovsky.

It's from Russia and Poland, you know. Where's he born? In Brazil, but my family is like Jewish from Russia and Poland. Really? You're a fellow Jew? You see? Wow. Hey, shalom.

But your mom's not Jewish? No, no. Your dad is Jewish. Yeah, she had to turn Jewish to... What? To marry my dad. I did not know this. This is exciting.

We don't have a lot of Jews in the sport. You know that. Oh, yeah. Do you practice Judaism? Yeah, I did my whole childhood. I went to Jewish school. What? So I did my Bermitva, everything.

Come on. Really? Yeah. Really? And but now do you follow or not really? Not much. Okay. I got to go with my brother, Haim Gossali, for him to teach me again.

Would you like to fight in Israel? Yeah, for sure. That would be cool. It would be awesome. I feel like they haven't really, you know, publicize this very much that you have these roots and and so um when you grew up you did everything bar mitzvah all that yeah all everything that's amazing you have pictures of this yeah yeah i have i have yeah that is amazing wow well i did not expect that yeah so at what point you say i'm gonna go with gracie is

that when you you know i always been uh training and my mom because my father he's also right now he's uh white and red belt oh he's been black belt for over 30 years okay he actually met my mom a at the gym. So I always been training. I was training with my dad at the house. So I always been with jiu-titsu my whole life, you know. Okay. So who told you, okay, this is what you have to do. Was it your dad who said, okay, they never said okay. I just chose. He knew what I was going to do, you know. I always loved it. And there's nothing else I could do with not fighting, you know. Your earliest memory of jiu-jitsu, of martial arts, do you remember how young you were? Probably playing at home with my dad, arm barring him, you know.

playing at home for sure yeah but were they in favor of you going from bjj to m mma because that's different right i mean you're getting punched in the face here yeah it's not about like they couldn't choose so much you know i didn't give him the chance okay but they always knew i was going to do that you know since i was a kid i was being a hoisty fan so they kind of knew that this would happen you know why did you guys move to new york uh i don't know my dad had a like a proposal to open a gym here oh wow So he came to teaching Connecticut. He has a big gym in Connecticut. Okay.

So I came with him and my other uncles and we came to America, you know. Does he still have the gym in Connecticut? Yeah, man. It's big now. Really? In Norwalk. Yeah. That's right.

And do you coach out of there? Yeah, I go there sometimes. Mostly now I stay with Hansel because it's better for me to train. The whole team is here. So I stay here in the city with Hanser, you know? Do you get a little tired talking about the family, the last name, all that stuff? Because every interview is the same, right? Yeah.

You always have to talk about it. What can I do, you know? Yeah. It's with me. It's wherever I go, I'm a gracie, so what can I do, you know? And I feel like you get asked about him more because, and correct me from wrong, it feels like you're the only family member right now competing and being successful in MMA, right? I mean, is there another one? Yeah, I think there's other people.

I think the hoistice's son, he just started. Yeah, you know, I think Crohn is still fighting, so don't put that way on me, man. No, but I mean, you're a lot further than they are, right? Yeah, I think so. I don't know. Something that I always remember is when I spoke to you for the first time prior to your fight at Madison Square Garden, you said, guys, stop teaching, let's go. Yeah, come on. That's what I want, man.

I want more people coming into the sport. Like, I have amazing athletes and my family, you know, but I think they're not broke like I was, so they don't want to fight, you know. So it's a tough thing to do, man, you know, like fighting. is no joke. There's a lot of pressure for some people. I don't feel pressure, but for a lot of people, they feel a lot of pressure, you know? So if they don't want to do it, it's better not to force it, you know?

Did you get any heat for saying that when you said, hey, guys, stop teaching? No, not really. No one got upset, offended. I hope not. Sometimes within the family, it gets a little, you know, Hoy's one time came up to me. He got very mad at me one time. He said, stop talking about my family. I asked Henzzo something about him, and I saw the look on his face.

He was upset. You don't want to mess with those guys. You don't want to mess of them. So I was wondering if you got any. With the godfather, you don't want to mess. Absolutely not. You didn't get anything? No, no.

Thank God, no. And why do you think that is? You really think it comes down to the fact that they don't need the money so they're not desperate? I think that's number one. It's not just about money. It's about love, you know? Yeah. Like when I start fighting, I start fighting for like the money that I got was nothing.

Yeah. So I did it for love. So if you don't want it to, if you don't love, don't do it, man, you know? It's not, that's no joke, you know. Did you always know eventually you would come over to fighting? Always. You always knew. That was always the plan.

Always a plan. Really? Number one plan. Even more than Jitsu, you know. You enjoy this more? Much more, man. I love the sport. Wow.

Before I become a fighter, I was a fan. I used to watch all the pride fights, you know. I used to know everybody. Yeah. All the fighters, you know. So I love this, yeah. How old were you, UFC won, 1993? I'm not sure.

I think I was like 10 years old, something like that. Did you watch it? Yeah, yeah. I used to have. have a hoist's poster in my, in my bedroom. Wow. And I didn't know him because he was living in America and he didn't go to Brazil as much. So my mom knew that I loved him and she talked to him.

So one day I was at the house and the phone ring and my mom said, hey, phone call for you. And I was like, what? I'm 10 years old. Nobody will call me. Okay, hello, hey, this is hoist, man. So he called me and talked to me and that was awesome, you know. Like, and a week later he went to Brazil. He picked me up at my house, took me to train.

train. Really? Yeah, that was awesome. That must have been amazing. It's like Spider-Man, go to your house and pick you up. That was the same thing to me, you know? And your mom, how is she related to Hoy's? Their cousins. Yeah. And she's sister with Henzel? With Henzel, yeah. Wow, okay. And when did you meet Henzel? I met a long time. A long time. Even before you moved here.

Yeah. He used to teach me when I was a kid in Brazil, yeah. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah. Okay. And did you realize, like, at some point, did you realize what kind of a legend he is? So back then I didn't know. He was just my uncle, you know, and then I started seeing. And also they have a lot of stories in Brazil, like street fights and everything, you know. So I started knowing more about him. I knew more about Hansel when I started surfing.

Hansel has many stories in a place in Rio, called Cabramar. Okay. And the stories that he has, they're crazy. So when I used to go surf, hey, are you, Hansel's nephew? Yeah. Hey, what's a man? Get this wave. This yours.

that's nice. All right. So I start hearing about... Yeah, big time, man. As a surfer. It's crazy. Really? He's a good surfer.

I didn't know that. Not a good surfer, but they didn't let people go surf on his spot. Really? On that spot, people are not allowed to go. Even today. Like, it's crazy. Really? Even today.

People don't go there. Why is he so beloved there? They didn't allow people outside people to go surf there. They have crazy stories there, man. Really? Yeah. One time, one guy, he went. went from underwater because they kicked the guy out and someone broke the guy's car.

The guy was so pissed off. So he came under the water with the oxygen thing with a knife. What? So he came, boom, and started stabbing people's boards. No way. Yeah, that was crazy. And people were like, what the hell is going on? And the guy's stabbing, it's not a lie, I swear.

And then he went under the water and he disappeared. So people, what the hell? Hansel knew there was him. They knew, they figured out it was him. I don't want to say who did it, but someone went to his house, choked out the doorman, and set fire to his car. So, yeah, crazy stories. Forget about it, you know. Did the guy get hurt?

No, no, just a little fire, you know. So he doesn't do that again, you know. And how are you as a surfer now? I love surfing. So after every fight, I go surf somewhere, you know. Oh, really? Where did you go after this fight? So right now I couldn't go.

I just have a daughter. Oh, muzzle tov? Yeah, thank you. When did you have a daughter? Two months ago. Okay. Yeah. First child?

First child. What does it like? It's kind of crazy, you know, but it's awesome, you know? You get to learn what is true love, you know? Right. And this was your first fight, the one just two weeks ago as a dad. Yeah, man. What was that like for you?

To now fight as a father? It was tough with my wife, you know? She took care of everything. So now after the fight, I'm the one staying awake the whole night. Oh, really? Yeah. Now you have to do your part. Yeah, yeah.

Did they go to the fight? No. No. And do you feel like a different person? Like the way you approach your job, the way you're motivated. Like now that you're a dad and you have a child, do you feel you different? Like I remember her when I was warming up. You know, like I got to bid up this guy to get the money to the know.

So it's different, right? It's different, man. It feels different. Yeah, yeah. What if she says to you or maybe you'll say to her like, I want to do fighting. I want to do. No, no. No.

Why? I don't want my daughter to do that. But is that even allowed in your family? I feel like that's. No, it's allowed. It's allowed. But I don't want that. You don't want?

No. Maybe she wants to serve. Jiu Jitsu is fine. Okay, but not fighting? No. Okay. Wow. And your mom is okay with that as well.

Yeah. It's the family name. Yeah, my mom loves fighting, you know. Right. Yeah. She gets nervous, but she likes. But she won't say that you have to make your daughter fight. She's okay.

No, no, no. They never do that in the Gracie family. They never say, you've got to be a fighter, you know. If you want to do it, you do it. Usually everybody do Jiu-Jitsu because it's in our blood. You know, our fathers do it. our uncles, everyone. So we follow the path,

but it's never forced into you, you know? Do you feel like when you were growing up in Brazil, did a lot of people try to pick fights with you and stuff? Every time. Every time. Yeah, it's crazy. On the street. Ah, crazy.

If they knew I was Gracie, I don't know why I had a great idea to tattoo on my back. Oh, no. Great. But, yeah, many times, and people talk, like, some crap, you know. And some people, like, it's crazy. They do karate or something.

You want to talk bad things about Jiu-Jitsu in school, and then you get into a fight, and many, many times. Did it ever get tiring? Like, could you just leave me alone at this point? Yeah. So you got to beat up some people, then they let you fight. Sometimes you get beat up, too, but, you know. And then when you come to America, does it start all over again? No.

It's all the same, right? Yeah. And I was older, too. Right. But you did get beat up? I died. Many times, yeah. Ever really bad?

Older kids, man. They're older. What can I do, you know? Coming after you. Yeah. Do you have siblings? I have one sister. She's a black belt.

Oh, that's right. She's a black belt. I saw a picture with your dad. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, but she doesn't fight, right? No. She competed in Jiu-Jitsu a little bit, but not much. She, to the best of my knowledge, the second black belt after Kira, right? Yeah, yeah.

That's right. And does she compete now still in Jiu-Jitsu? I think she's kind of stop a little. She's just teaching. Okay. What was the word, like, you got beat up, you said. Like, was it ever really bad? No, not that bad.

Okay. It's never that bad, you know. Especially if you know some jiu-jitsu, it's not that bad. You can always, like, don't let them beat up you so much, you know. When you made your debut, not that long ago, did you feel a lot of pressure because of the name like, okay, I'm the new blood, I'm the one who's going to take the baton here, I have to. I try not to think about that, you know.

Like I tell people all the time, like, why would I feel so much pressure? You know, my family did what they were supposed to do already. Everyone knows that Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is the best self-defense martial out there. So there's no reason for me to be like putting pressure on myself, you know? And plus I made my debut with my other cousins, like Hollis and Gregor. We all fought on the same card, which was great. So I didn't have that much pressure on my back. Okay.

And even now, now that it's kind of become that you're the guy who's doing the best right now? Yeah, I don't care. You don't care? If I lose, it's bad on me, not on my family. If I lose, people will know that jiu-jitsu is still good. I'm the one that lost. It's just bad for me that I won't get paid as much, you know. That's right.

Yeah. And you had Hoyce at the event just a couple weeks ago. What does that like to compete in front of him? Well, it's awesome, man. Again, I'm competing in front of Spider-Man. That's right. And you have Henzo in your corner. In front of Superman and Spider-Man.

It's awesome, man. Now, I thought the placement of your fight was very interesting because it was right after Dylan's fight. Yeah, yeah. Did you feel like, okay, I saw what he did. Now I have to top him? No, not really. No. I didn't watch his fight because I was warming up, so no.

It was amazing because there was four submissions in a row. It was awesome, man. Of those four, which was the best in your opinion? Which was the most impressive? I think Sanchez. Yeah. The standing arm triangle. That was great.

That's amazing. You have to be really strong to do that, right? Well, the guy was doing the right thing. He was turning his back to him. Yeah. But that was tight, man. Oh, my God. So you're okay with saying that it wasn't yours.

He was the most impressive. Of course. Yeah, it's fine. All of them were great, I think. Even Dylan. Yeah, of course. So what's going on here with Dylan, Dennis? So the thing is, man.

Yes, let's talk about this. People want to see this fight. Everywhere I go, people are talking to me, hey, man, when are you going to fight him? When are you going to humble him out? I said, well, goddamn. So if people want to see this fight, I want to do the fight.

It's just up to him now. So if you want to fight, let's fight, you know? Does Belator want to do the fight? I think so. Yeah. From what Ali tells me, they want to do the fight. So everybody want to see it. Let's do it, you know?

My impression is that you're 8-0 now, right? Yeah. He's 1-0 in M-O. Is it a little too soon? I don't know for him. It's up to him, you know. But I understand if he doesn't want to fight me right now, you know. I don't know if I was 1-0-1-0.

I would fight a guy that is 8-0. Yeah. It's up to him, you know? Like, I want to do it. Everybody wants to see it, so. Why do you think everyone wants to see this? I don't know, because it's like two jiu-jitsu guys. And they have some rivalry with my school, too.

So, like, I think that's why, you know. And I'm not the type of guy that will come here and do a trash talk, you know. Some people knew they was coming here, some friend of mine and say, hey, man, go there and talk some crap about his mom. I said, man, I'll never do that, you know. I'm not like that, you know. Some other guys, they came to me and said, oh, you've got to change a little. You've got to start talking more. I won't change who I am because of money, you know.

my mom raised me as a man not I'm sorry as a prostitute you know so I'm not gonna come here and change who I am and I'm gonna talk crap about the kid I don't know him so I have nothing against him I just want to fight if you want to fight let's fight you know if you don't want to fight I understand you know maybe we fight on the future so I'm not gonna come here and dress like a clown get my grandmother curtain and put on myself and then start talking crap this is horrible, man. You know, there's kids watching us, and I feel the MMA right now is going the wrong way, you know, that's not nice. Like, Mac Gregor, he has two sides. He has one side that I like, and the other side that he's been doing right now. The side that I like is the guy that came out of

nowhere, and, like, he did all the hard work, and he made it, you know. And the other side is this guy that are breaking buses and talking crap. Man, so many kids watching us, you know. So, So you've got to be a role model, you know. If you want to be like someone, be like Damia Maya, be like, you know, Frankie Edgar, you know. Those guys, they have their families, they're supporting the families, and they are great role models, you know. So I hate to see MMA going this way, you know.

And I feel that this is like something that we can blame the fans also because they want to see that. And that's sad, you know. Do you feel like it's only going to get worse? Because as you just said, I was going to ask you, Like the guys who talk, they make more money. Yes, they get more opportunities. Look at Colby Covington in the UFC.

That's horrible, man, you know. He gets a title, an interim title shot. They made up a belt to put him in a title fight. That's crazy, you know? So. You feel like it's, or are you worried it's going to go even further down the wrong path? I am, man. I am.

And I wish the shows, like Bellator, UFC, they didn't listen to this guy so much. So I wish we can change a sport. So if you want to see a fight, if you want to make a fight, like I want to fight Dillon right now, I don't need, I don't want to come here and going to talk crap on him, you know. Hey, I want to fight you. If you want to fight me, let's fight. And that's it, you know. Whatever I do, we're going to do inside the cage, you know, like I'm, I feel that my fights, people like to see my fights because I finish them, you know. So imagine I come here, talk a lot of crap and I go in there and get beat up.

Like, that sucks, you know, so. I hate to see MMA going that way, you know. I feel like you're also very lucky because you have the last name. And so the last name helps me for sure. Helps you right off the bat. Gracie, oh, people know this. Yeah, so I understand that, you know. But I think you can do the talking inside the cage.

So if you're a good fighter, it's going to show. You don't need to talk crap. He's going to show in there. Martial arts is all about respect, you know? This last guy I fought, he was talking outside the fight, inside the fight, inside the fight. Then the fight was over. I always do that. I went there and talked to him. And he was like, oh, I love your family. I said, you love my family, but you talk a lot of crap and you've been talking, man, respect, you know, martial arts is all about respect,

you know, so. Even before you guys went out, right? He was talking. What was he saying? So we were about to walk out. Yeah. Then he started looking at me out of like, number one. Those things, like people, like you get to a fight week, you see your opponent. The guys looking in you like that, man, you're not going to scare me. You're not going to punk me out. You know, like, nothing going to change. So why the hell you want to act tough and be a bad guy? We're going to fight anyways. If you're doing that or not, we're going to fight. So it doesn't matter. So when I see my opponent in a five week, I was going to talk to him. Hey, man, how are you, you know? Because I know that once they lock their cage, I'm going to give my best to finish him, you know.

So it doesn't matter if you be a tough guy or not, just be nice, man, you know. You got nothing to prove outside the cage. In there, that's fine, you know. So with this guy, he was talking crap, and we were about to walk out to the cage, and he was looking at me out tough. And I was thinking, we're going to fight in two minutes. Why the hell he's doing that? You know, he's not going to punk me out.

Right. So I started getting upset about it, and then he looked at me and saying something Spanish I didn't understand. And talking, talking, we got too close. Then I said, you know what? It's just like the old days. It's Brazil. Then I jump into him and we were almost fighting there.

Hansel got in the way. Really? Yeah. Wow. Wow. So Hansel got in the way, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Just two more minutes, me, two more minutes. And I said, okay, okay.

Then I walk out and I wait for him to walk out. Then I walk in. And we fought. So, you know. Did that really piss you out? Did that give you a little more motivation, two minutes before the fight that he's doing this? Yeah, for sure, you know.

I want it. But never, I'll be, like, out of my mind. Like, I'm going to get crazy trying to look fast with him. Not like that. It gave me motivation to finish him, you know. But he's not going to be able to get me out of my mind doing that, you know. He was trying, and I know he was trying to get you under your skin. Yeah.

Is that the worst? Like, of the guys you fought so far, was he the most annoying? I think so, yeah. Yeah, I think so. it's i mean i guess to me sometimes it's uh if you know that you're at a disadvantage going in the fight you're going to try to do that stuff but you're probably confident yeah you don't feel like you need to stoop to that level it's like they say uh if you're confident if you're not confident it's you're loud and you're making noise if you're confident you're calm and you know you don't need to do anything

so when i see someone doing that i see that they they they they're allowed and you're making noise you're not you're they're trying to play a game or something because they are not really confident, you know? Your eight fights in now, as I said, how would you assess your skill set? Like, do you feel like, okay, you're as good as you can be, or do you feel like you have a long way to go? No way, man. If I feel like that, I'll stop fighting, you know? Okay. So I feel that I still have a long way to go.

And I'm getting better every day. This fight camp was my best fight camp until now. Okay. And I can't wait to see what's going to happen to the next one, you know. Why was it the best? Because since it was my eight fight, I kind of knew how my body works, you know. I used to push myself too much to a point that I couldn't even like lay down, like go down to catch something on the floor, you know? Yeah.

Because my body was all beat up. Yeah. So this fight camp, I knew where my body could go. So there are some days that I didn't need to push too much. There are some days that I knew that I could push more. So by doing that, it helped me to perform better, you know. What about it was striking? How do you feel about your striking? Man, I'm feeling better, you know?

Like, I got good coaches. I got Jamie Crowder and all the MMA guys at Hansel's. And I got Lenny Wilson on boxing, a great boxing coach now helping me also. So it's going good. It's been a while that I've been training in stand-up, you know. And I feel that I'm going to be able to show more. As more as I fight, I'm going to be able to show more, you know. How much time do you actually devote to BJJ when you're training for?

for a fight because that's your, that's your, you don't need to really necessarily improve on that. Am I wrong? Yeah, I'm wrong, okay. That's where people get it wrong. Mistake, okay.

You know, like, I'm a Jiu-Situ guy, so I'm going to stop training Jiu-Jitsu and just going to train boxing because my Jiu-Jitsu won't get worse. Yeah. Your Jiu-Jitsu will get worse, you know? So, actually, if I'm good at Jiu-Zitsu, if I'm going to try to take the guy down,

I'm going to train more Jiu-Jitsu, you know? I will train boxing and train everything, but I cannot forget about J-J-Jitsu. So that's the way that I think. So since I'm going to try to get the guy down and go for a jiu-jitsu fight, I will train more jiu-jitsu. I will train more takedowns. I'm going to train what I'm good at.

So I get even better, you know, because they know I're going to try to do that. So I got to get so good at it that they cannot stop me, you know. I think that's how I feel. Are you very much looking forward to the day that you get a knockout or a TKO? Are you longing for that to prove that you can do more than just some commit people? No, not really.

If it happens, it's fine. I'll be happy with it, but no. You're happy to just submit people. Yeah, I'm really happy. And what about Bellatory? Do you feel like they're behind you? Do you like fighting for Belator? Man, I like, I'm really happy the way my career is going, you know.

I'm happy with Bellatory. They always treat me nice, you know. Scott Cooker, Richel, Mike Cogan, all these guys, they're really nice to me. So I'm happy. I have one more fight in my contract. And we will talk now to see what's going to happen, but I'm really happy with them, yeah. Do you want to test the market, be a free agent and see what else is out there, what other offers? Not really. I don't care. I just want to fight, you know.

So if Bellator comes with a group proposal, I'll take it. You're okay with that. Yeah. Because there's two ways. You can just take the deal before your last fight or you can have the last fight and then everyone comes to you. Yeah, yeah. You don't think that that way is better? I mean, you're a big name, you're young, you're winning impressively, you're finishing. No, no really.

Let's get paid here. Yeah, I want to get paid. So I think they're going to pay me. You think so? I think you're confident. Have they started to talk to you about that or your management? Yeah, my management is talking to them. Okay, already before the last fight.

Yeah, yeah. They've also said that they are looking to do the Fedor versus Chale Suna fight here in New York. Yeah. I would assume you would be on that card too, right? I love to, man. I fought on a MSG card and that was great. Yeah. I stayed at my house, I sleep in my bed.

Really? It was like a regular day for me. You just woke up and went to the fight? I woke up. I took my dog out. I come back home. I ate something. Then I catch the train that I always catch to go to Hanzos.

Yeah, it's right there. It was like I was going to sparring. So perfect day, man. So some people don't like that. Some people like being in the hotel and all that. You prefer? No, I prefer to stay in my house and my bed, you know. And that was before your wife gave birth.

Yes. that was before. She told me the day after the wanes of the MSG card. Right. I got home, I started eating like crazy and she, hey, baby, come here. And I was like, we were trying already. I'm pregnant. I said, oh, man, why do you tell me this now?

You know, I'm fighting tomorrow. But it was fine. How did you react? I was really happy, man. Yeah. And then I was thinking, I got to beat up this guy. I got to get the extra money, you know? So she did it maybe to give you a little more motivation going into it.

Maybe, yeah. She will never forget that, right? Never, never. That's unbelievable. What a great night it was. Yeah, and did you tell your family as well? Afterwards, after the fight. After the fight.

Everybody was happy. Then I told them, and that was crazy. Do your parents go to your fights? My dad always goes with me. My mom, she gets too nervous. Really? Yeah. My sister goes sometimes, but my dad is always with me.

Okay. He taught me almost everything that I know. Right. The half guard pass that I used in my last fight to get them out, my dad, I still remember the day my dad taught me on the floor of our house. Wow. Because I used to train in a gym in Brazil, Gracie Baja. And if I do something wrong at the gym, when I came back home, I had the best teacher at my house.

Right. So I say, hey, dad, this is happening. I cannot pass a half guard. So he said, lay down here on the floor. And he taught me on the floor, you know? Wow. So I remember there was like 15 years ago, he taught me the half guard passed on the floor of our house. and it just helped me to win a fight.

Wow. And do you think of that when you're in the... Not in there, but afterwards, yeah. I say, Dad, did you see that past? Yeah, I still remember. We did it on the floor. Wow, that is amazing. That gives me chills.

That was awesome. Is he in your corner for your fights? Yeah, yeah, every time. Wow. So it's usually him, Henzo. Him, Hanso, Jamie Crowder. If he doesn't go sometimes, I take one of my cousins. Okay.

Gregory, Igor, Hollis, you know. What is it like having Henzo in your corner? I feel like it's like the... He's so motivational, right? I mean, like, the way he speaks. You just want to... to go to war for this guy, right? It's amazing. Yeah, man. I'll die for him, you know. It's unbelievable. The only problem is that his Brazilian time is the worst.

Okay. So there were fights that I would say, where his hands or where his hands or like, he's not here. When I'm about to walk out, he's like on my back. Let's go, champ. Let's beat up this guy. I say, God damn. Okay, let's go. You're here. Like, you know. Wow. There were times where he actually showed up that late. This happened, yeah. Wow. Yeah. This fight? What about this one? No, this one he got there on time. He's okay. Yeah. Maybe because, maybe if it's a local fight that he's got other things to do, but if he has to be, you know, away from home. Yeah. He's got nowhere else to be, right?

Yeah. If it's closer to his house, it's worse. Wow. And what do you, if anything, hear from your other family members after? Do you feel like you have the support of the whole family as you're doing this? Yeah, I feel, yeah. And every fight, I get more support, you know? You feel that way.

His last fight, Hoy has helped me a lot too. Really? Yeah, like before the fight, he was there at the hotel and I was training and he was helping you the training, you know? So I feel I'm getting a lot of support and I feel happy, man, yeah. I feel like right now, as far as the family's concerned, and the young competitors, if you want to call it that, it's you and Henner and Huron.

Yeah. But they're teaching. Yeah. But they're teaching. Hereon has done some competitions. I think, what's your relationship with them? What is it? If anything. I love them, you know? They're my cousins. Okay. I love. I used to see him. I used to see him. I used to see them. I used to see him and learn a couple techniques. Yeah. Yeah. Would you go over there to train with them? Yeah, for sure. If I had the chance, I'll go anywhere to learn, man. Yeah. How many cousins would you say you have?

That's impossible. There's been times that I went to a tournament and some random guy come to me and say, hey, man, how are you? I'm your cousin. I said, hey, how you doing, man? Yeah. Who's your mom? And then we start talking, like, this happened many, many times, you know? Would you say it's like over 50?

For sure. Really? My grand grandfather had 21 kids. Wow. My grandfather had 12. So you can imagine 21 kids And he was crazy

He put almost all of them in the same roof Really? Yeah With the same woman? No How many are we talking? I don't know Okay

I don't want to get involved But he put them all together Yeah man He used to put all the kids together He had like a huge Mansion in Brazil Okay And he used to put all the kids there together

The story is crazy also Helio Carlos Carlos, okay And the Hillio sons used to come also Wow It got to a point that Carlos had so many kids. He gave some to Helio.

No one. Yeah, do you know this? No, I didn't. Yeah, he's like, man, it's too many kids. Hey, Helio, do you want a couple kids, maybe four or five? Yeah, man, I don't have many. So he sent the kids and Helio to carry. Really?

Yeah. Did the kids know about this, or were they too young? They know. Hall's Gracie, the one that died in a hang gliding accident. Yeah. One of the best fighters of our family. He grew up with Helio. Wow.

So he used to call. Carlos his dad and he's blown dad he's blown dad and the other you know wow yeah that was crazy have you guys ever had like a family reunion or something like that we did when I was a kid okay was a lot of people we should do it again for sure yeah yeah I mean

especially now with you guys older yeah and now you're your own kids yeah it's incredible with some mats on the floor and you know just a massive tournament imagine that it ends up being like hensow versus hoist and oh boy they get along right they get along they get along to everyone everybody. That's right. That's true. Except for that one time where he came on the show after, we had something at the club here in New York. You remember? Your cousins were there too, but not you. No. It was Igor and Gregor? My wife didn't let me go. Oh, really? You wanted to go that night. No, not really. I don't go out, you know, but it's a good thing. I wasn't with them that day, you know.

Yeah, I think it was Igor. But I received the call like 3 a.m. One of them called me from inside the jail for me to go there to take them out. Oh, wow. So I was one of the guys that went there to take them out. You bailed them out. So I bailed Hansel out was the first one. He got out like 4 a.m.

The minute he got out, he said, let's go back to the club. I got to get the guy. I said, man, come on, Hansel, please. It's 4 a.m. And I want to go home. No, we got to go back to the club. I got to get that guy. He's not a good person.

and said, man, he's not that anymore. I was like, oh, boy. Did you go? No. I didn't, okay. I was able to make him forget about that, you know? And that's done with, right? They don't have to deal with that anymore.

I wanted to ask you, because I asked you about your striking. What did you think of Dylan's striking? So I watched the fight afterwards. I don't think he's really good. Yeah. Yeah, like he's his first fight. Yeah, he got tagged a couple times. It's normal.

And when he got tagged, he was closing his eyes. Oh, wow. It's not good. You know, it's interesting. So maybe if we fight, that can be something that I will expose. Yeah. But it's interesting because you said, oh, you know, if I was 1 in 0, I wouldn't want to fight someone who's 8-0. But he did ask for Ben Asper.

Maybe I wouldn't. Yeah. So what happened with this kid, you know? He's calling out guys that he knows that the fight were not going to happen. The other day he called out Hafelde's Angeles. He called Bisping or something like that. Yeah, yeah. What the hell, man?

Like, you know this fight is not going to happen, you know? Okay, I'm going to call out Mike Tyson. Yeah. I'm going to go to Twitter and start calling him out. That's crazy, you know. It's strange because I call him out. He knows that this fight can happen, and I hear nothing from him. Yeah.

So. He doesn't respond. That's a little strange. You respond to RDA and to Bispick, but not to you. Strange. Why do you think that is? I think because that fight can happen. Could happen.

Yeah. You think so. Have you ever had a conversation with him? No. Were you supposed to compete in a tournament? Yeah, it happened before. I think we were supposed to compete on the 10 a.m. or something. And I warm up.

I did everything. And when I walked out to a fight, he didn't show up. Oh, wow. It got to that point. You were actually going out to compete. I got pissed off because of that, because I warm up. I did everything. And it didn't happen, you know.

Do you know why? No. And did you see him in the hotel or anything? Yeah, I saw him at the fight walking around. You didn't say anything to him. No. I'm not the type of person, you know. Hello, how are you?

Yeah, that I could say. Yeah. But he never looked straight into me. Okay. He's wearing the glasses. Yeah. He's a big star. Yeah, yeah.

He's the big, highest paid in belt. Yeah, highest paid in belt. Yeah. But the clothes, you like the clothes, right? You have to admit. Yeah, it's like my grandmother's curtain, you know. I like it. Greatest assay you ever had.

My mom's for sure. Your mom makes. Wow. Better than Bibi Sukos. Yeah, man. Really? Crazy. Where does your mom live? She lives here now with my father in Connecticut.

Oh, wow. So not too far. Yeah, so I go there after the fight to get some assay. It would have been nice if you brought us some here because I'm obsessed with assailles. But probably if I try to bring it for you, wouldn't make it. It would last because you'd eat it. So what's her secret? Why is it so good? I don't know.

She makes it with honey and dates. It's kind of different from what people do. It's really good, man. Because I've had assay, like I go to some of these places here. Yeah. It tastes nothing like in Rio. You've been there to BB Soukos? I'm obsessed with BB Soukos.

When I go to Rio, the only reason I'm upset that I'm not going to the fight this weekend in Rio is because I can't get BBs. When I go, I have it like eight, nine times. It is so good. And then you come here, it tastes nothing like it. No, I don't know why they do that, you know. What is it? And they put all these toppings and all this nonsense.

I don't know. They put sugar or something. Yeah. It tastes good. I've never tried a food that is so different in one place as opposed to another place. Yeah. It's a completely, you do. Especially here in New York.

which they make great foods from other places. Yeah, that's horrible. Yeah. The worst. Maybe I should open something. I have always said that someone, a Brazilian, needs to open a real, how could it be so different? Yeah. I don't understand.

The texture is different. The taste is different. Everything. The only thing is the same as the color. Unfortunately, man. It's horrible. It really gets me upset. I know how you feel.

I get upset too. Yes. Now I just stopped trying because I've tried so many different ones and it's all like, there's like no flavor. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. So I'd love to know, one time the Yodomachita did a, a video. Have you ever seen it where he broke down how he makes his assay?

The thing with Lioro, he comes from my place in Brazil, the same place that my grandfather came from, which is the place the assay was brought up to the road, you know, from Parah. That's the best assailles. But it's too strong. If you're not used to, if you take that assay, you might feel a little bit bad because it's a very strong one, you know. Okay. But it's the best, man. Pompara, look, I'm watered. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you're from Rio. I'm from Rio, yeah. Okay, so is it more like the BBsucos kind? Yeah, yeah, it's really good too.

Yeah. It's just different. Any toppings you put or no? No. Just straight. I like it a little bit with corn granola. Yeah, it's really good. And the, what is it, the, um, the, the, the Guarana?

Yeah. That's, does your mom use that or no? No, that's the difference. So you don't put the Guarana, you put the honey. It's better. Interesting. Yeah, much better. And dates.

And dates. And does she get the frozen kind? Yeah. And it's okay? Yeah. Frozen? Yeah. I'm a fruit.

is a good one. Try it. I'm a fruit. I'm a fruit. They have it here in New York. I made it home. It's really good. Yeah. And you blend it. Yeah. It's like a frozen. So you put the frozen, you put the honey, you put one banana maybe and that's it. Yeah. No date? If you want the date, yeah. And what about apple

juice? No, no, no. None of that. I don't like. Almond milk? Bad. No milk. You're crazy. You see you're making the wrong choice. I see what they do here. They put almond milk and I think that ruins it, right? Don't do it. Yeah. I'm surprised your family has never brought it here. Yeah, they should.

Gracie, Gracie, Gracie, Asaii? It's a good idea. It's a great idea. You can have it for free. I'm very happy for your success. Thank you, brother. Yes, congratulations. Mazel tov, I said.

Yeah. This is a Canadian flag. I see. Sorry. Respect the flag. Yeah. But wow, I'm blown away that you're Jewish. Yeah, yeah.

This is amazing. What a great, you need to play this up a little more, right? You get the whole Jewish. My father likes that too. Yeah. That's incredible. And there's a big Jewish population in Brazil. Yeah, I know that.

Yeah, of course. Yeah, of course. This is bigger than Israel. Have you ever been to Israel? No, I want to go. Yeah, it's amazing. But I have family that lives in Sao Paulo, and I know there's a big population there. Yeah, so you need to play that up more.

Yeah, yeah. You come with the Keepa next time, something like that. Congratulations on your success. Good luck to you with the next one. My man Joe over here is going to walk you out. But thank you for coming, Neiman. I appreciate it. All right.

We'll see you soon. There he is. How about that? Neiman Gracie had no idea. One of us. MOT. Right? Member of the Trump.

tribe. That is very exciting. We learned a little bit about, we learned a little bit about his background, MOT, A-N-O. I figure things out here as we proceed. 8-0, 7 submissions. I personally think that it would be a little too soon to do that fight against Dillon Dennis. I say you build up to it, make it mean a little more. I think doing it in New York would make a lot of sense, but I feel like it's a little too soon. 8 and 0 versus 1 and 0,

and you need to get a little more promotional muscle behind it. You need to push it just a smidge more. I like that they're giving it the slow build. I know that Belator has had a history of waiting a little too long. Of course, we all remember the MVP. versus Paul Daly fight. But I feel like you need to build this one a little more. Great stuff from Neiman Gracie, a member of the tribe MOT.

I appreciate him coming in in around a little less than an hour. We are going to be joined by Josh Emmett. We had to swap some things around. We are moments away, I do believe, from also being joined in studio by the great Cody no love Garbrandt. I said at the top of the show, it's a very big week for Cody Garbrand, who just landed in New York and is kind enough to be joining us in studio. He has a new book that is out. It is called The Pact, a UFC champion, a boy with cancer, and their promise to win the ultimate battle.

And I've had a chance to read it, and I must say, you know the story. We've talked about the story on this show. it has been highlighted on different outlets. And as I've said, one of my pet peeves is when an athlete is in their mid-20s and a book comes out and you know that there's still a lot of more, there's still a lot more work to be done. But this one's different because it's about a time in his life that has already come and gone. He's already experienced it all. There could be new layers that are added to it, but the meat of the story has already happened. And it's wonderfully inspirational. It's a great story. And here he is, the man himself, Cody Garbrandt. How cool is this? Right off the plane.

Unbelievable. Thank you so much, man. I really appreciate it. Great to see you. This is, I have to say, we've been doing this show nine years. No one has ever come from JFK to our show straight. Straight. That's how we do it.

Look at you, man. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Thank you. Doing great. You're doing good? Yeah, no problems? No problems.

You were in L.A. L.A. I saw on your Instagram. What were you doing there? I went down there My business manager My brother lives down there So flew to L.A. for the day

And it was easier to fly out There's no direct flights to New York from Sacramento That is right, yes I like Sacramento But I hate when there are fights there Because there's no direct flights There's always It's such a pain in the ass

Who wants to do a layover? No one And the book So when officially does it come out Does it come out this week? Tomorrow Tomorrow. Tomorrow, yeah

The big days tomorrow So super excited for that Okay So we have a lot to talk about As it pertains to the book how did this idea come about? We know about the story. You've talked about the story,

but to actually go in and pour every detail about your life and Maddox's life, how did it come about? Kind of just, I mean, after the cruise fight, we were, you know, with working with WME, about writing a movie and things like that. I thought I kind of was moving a little bit too fast, kind of pulled back from that,

and it wasn't until I met with a business manager and met with a book agent And kind of like the story came out. I think it was the right time. You know, I think there was a reason why it didn't, we didn't, you know, go from there. And now it's, you know, we're doing it now. Right. But, you know, I think it was just the timing of it all.

So I said at the beginning and before you walked in, one of my pet peeves as a sports fan is like when someone's in the midst of their career and they come out of the book, right? Because it's like, we know you have 10 more years left. So much can happen to you. But this one feels different because it's about something that happened. Like it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, but it's also an inspirational story. It's a motivational story as well.

You've already experienced it all, right? So that's why when I read it, I was like, I get it now. I understand. Initially, when I heard, like, Cody Garbrandt's doing a book, I was like, man, this guy's got another title to win. He's got a title reign. But now it makes sense, right?

Yeah, I look at it like this. This is the pact that we made with between me and Maddox. That chapter, we was able to reach that goal. That chapter's kind of closed. You know, we do that and we write on. You know, we add more chapters to it. And so like I said, timing's everything. And so I decided to come out with the book and super excited as he is.

He'll be here. He's flying here tonight. So he'll be a little bit of the media tour with me. Yes, I was hoping to have him in studio as well. But I know the timing didn't work out. Was it difficult, though? Because you're talking about a lot of personal things here. You know, actually at a time of my life that, you know,

I needed to have this motivation or look back at how far I came. I was dealing with almost all the whole year with injuries, you know, to defend my type of. battle against TJ. And going back throughout my story with the author Mark D'Agostino and, you know, writing this book that we did, it was very motivating to see how far I came and adversity and just everything that life throws at you just to be able to, you know, keep brushing yourself off and keep, you know, striving forward. And then, you know, obviously meeting Maddox. And that was a huge part of my life. That was a very, that was a big turning point in my life, meeting him at the time of

my life that I needed, redirection and, you know, to keep my faith, you know, on something that I love to do. And here he came out of nowhere and just, you know, gave my life more purpose. How old were you when you met him? I was 18 or 19. And it was via Facebook, right? You know, my brother introduced us kind of, I was living, I was actually training in strong style in Cleveland. So it was like two hours away from my hometown. And my brother hit me up, you know, I was kind of make some poor decision, life decision wasn't really fully set on

training or fighting. I was still doing, being being an amateur, you know, being, uh, trying to figure out life. You know, I left college twice. Um, I was about to go to the cool mind, you know. Wow. Yeah, I was kind of, it felt like I was selling out and that's something I didn't want to do. So I was kind of in that period of, you know,

becoming a man, you know, you're going to keep doing this or you're going to chase this stream where a lot of people, you know, can you make it? Can you provide for yourself with fighting, especially from a small town? You know, I had a lot of people telling me, you know, go back to college, you know, or go to the coal mine to work. And so he reached out to me about Maddox and the Maples, what they were going through, because he was still living in the hometown. So he had, you know, still stay with hometown stories. I kind of was just kind of trying to get away from my crowd that I was with.

I kind of always hung out with some of the wrong people. I had to really move away a couple times and I always kept getting drugged back, drugged back. This time I really wanted to make it right. And, you know, met with a Mick through my brother, reached out to him on Facebook about, you know, Maddox's diagnosed with leukemia and all the things that they went through. And my brother was a big motivator, big inspiration to me to get back,

you know, back on top, back in the training, you know, stay out of the streets, stay out of the bars, you know, getting in trouble. He was always the one that kind of kept me in place at a time I needed it. So he planned the seat about, you know, hey, you should do a fight, you know, get the town rallied together involved, you know, the communities, you know, really a tight-knit community about, you know, doing this benefit for Maddox and selling T-shirts and tickets and, you know, basically donating this fight to Maddox. And, you know, I thought it was a great idea. At this point, had you met him yet? Never met him. Wow.

Had he ever met him? No. Wow. And so yet he felt very strongly about. Yeah, I think that, you know, I think that we had a good following, you know, from our sports playing, you know, junior high school, you know, with wrestling and football. That we had a good crowd coming to my fight to show support to me so we can get kind of like, you know, get everyone together and benefit, you know, from Maddx and show him that his fight matters kind of thing. You know, remember me reaching out to Mick and on Facebook and say, I would like to meet the family and, you know, get to know a little bit about them. and Mick responded back to me and said, you know, we're in the hospital once we, you know,

are able to get home, get cleared, and Max is a lot of having visitors, we'll message you and invite you down. And it was probably a few weeks in between from my first message to him. And, you know, we stayed in contact. And I would ask weekly, you know, how is he doing, you know, and any sign of coming home. And then finally, Mick reached out to me on Facebook and said, hey, we're home. We're allowed having visitors. And Max would love to see you. Wow.

And I was living in Cleveland, so I drove home on the weekend. I usually would come home on the weekend, see my family and my sister. And my sister were the same age as Maddo. So I think that's what initially kind of struck me as, wow, you know, my sister could be going through this. And I'd want someone to kind of help out as well. So that's what kind of really kind of just drove me to like want to do it more. And then after meeting the family in Maddox, it was just,

I left that day just kind of felt change, challenge, and renewed, you know, kind of to live life with more purpose in what I was doing, you know, I think that at a time that I was doing in my life, I was probably a more darker place in my life, you know, I was, I didn't have much motivation to, you know, I was kind of, I felt like I said, I was selling out, you know, I was like, to I chase this dream of, you know, becoming a, you know, a UFC fighter world champion, or do I, you know, I've done, I've done left college twice, you know. Why did you leave?

This kind of lost a passion for wrestling, you know. Something that I didn't want to do. I wanted to fight. I had something that I always wanted to do. I loved to fight ever since I had my first fight. But I had people my whole entire life. Don't put your eggs in one basket. Go get a degree.

Never really cared for schooling. I wish I did. I wish I applied myself a little bit more in schooling. But, you know, it worked out. I went to the school of Hard Knocks. And it turned out, it worked for me. I'm very thankful for, you know, went to college, tried it. No one of my family has.

You know, my brother went to college. on a full ride to Ashland. Later, he was kicked out two weeks, two weeks into it. You know, I ended up getting in a fight and shattering the dude's skull and going in jail. The same brother that, yeah. Really? Yeah, and he's never like a troublemaker.

No one ever really kind of fought with him. He's always a bigger brother, so he's wanted to, you know, test me. How long was he in jail for? He did a little less than a month. Okay. Yeah, so it was just, you know, kind of, it was a house party and kind of, you know, fight and, you know, kind of escalated with his girl. And this kind of crazy thing, I kind of got the news from, I was in high school,

and I was getting ready for my football game and like, oh, my mom called me and kind of told me that. I was like, man, it's not like Zach. Yeah. I mean, really to get Zach, you know, pissed off is it's, it's, it's, you have to really be doing something. Obviously, I think he said something. The guy says something to do his girlfriend or whatever.

You know, so that was Zach. So then I was like, damn, I have to go to college now, you know, so I have to, you know, I want to make my mom proud. That's something that's something that I've always wanted to do, you know, with whatever I did. So I went to college at Newberry College in South Carolina. We actually have a lot of teammates that are in the UFC, you know, Corey Anderson. There's a few that were like Kelly Edmondson. He was in the ultimate fighter.

So I went down there and so it was cool. We'd wrestle. And then on the weekends we'd do some M.MA. Oh, really? I had a couple fights before I went. I had some fights when I was in high school. I turned 18, right going into my senior year. Amateur fights?

Yeah, some amateur fights. And so kind of dabble in it down there. and just college wasn't working out for me. I didn't understand the scholar athlete. I thought I was an athlete scholar. I mean, I'd make it to practice. The schooling I didn't make it to, I didn't understand that. So, yeah, it just wasn't for me.

I wanted to fight, and then left. I remember calling my mom, you know, hey, I'm going to withdraw from college. This is the first time and the second time? This is the first time. I was nervous as hell. I thought you were going to drive to South Carolina, I was going to have my ass. I were calling her and she said, okay, you know,

started packing up my stuff and made the haul back to South Carolina, moved in, back in with my mom, you know, here I am, you know, trying to figure out life, started getting back in the gym, had a couple of fights, was doing really well. And then, you know, I kind of just got in the wrong crowd, you know, kind of small town thing, got dab with the wrong people, drinking, partying, kind of lost a little, definitely lost focus. And, you know, I was just hanging out with the wrong crowds.

And ended up getting talked back going to the college. Went to Cleveland, Notre Dame of Cleveland. And I was sitting in there, the class the first day. And I was like, what town am I doing here? You know, like, assigned to wrestle. And, you know, it was NAA. I ended up switching the Division 2 and clearinghouse and all these regulations. And coach told me I could fight, you know, kind of, you know,

obviously I'm on scholarship, so that comes first. So I withdrew again. I wasn't even there a week. I remember my mom the second time. Like, shit, here we go again, you know. So ours are already living up there. I was staying with my buddy Dante Arena. I remember renting out of, staying on his couch for a little bit and just training that's a couple of times I did, you know,

for a couple weeks and months at a time. I would just stay on his couch. He was an national champion for Notre Dame and Cleveland. He was an assistant wrestling coach, and he's the one that talked me back into kind of going back to college. It's been my friend for quite some time. And he would ride me so hard about, like, man, you're an idiot. Like, why are you leaving college?

Like, what are you doing? Like, you're going to fight? Like, he thought it was, like, unreal, too. You know what I mean? Like, he's like, if I could kick your ass, I would. You know what I mean? But to keep you in college. But, you know, I'd stay out on this couch.

And then renting room off of them in the house. And I still stayed up there and train. And finally, it just wasn't working out at strong style. And I'm moving back home. I was trained with my uncle. and like a pool barn, horse barn. I mean, yeah, it was, we just hit pads. We have some people come in from wherever and spar them.

At this point, are you pro? No, I'm amateur. You're still amateur. Yeah, I'm still amateur. You're not making any money off this. No money off this. How are you living? My uncle owned a construction company, so I would get up.

I would usually do a CrossFit 445 to about 5, 45, 6 o'clock, shower up, be on the job site by 7.30. Damn. work construction we'd do pools you know pool of forms and concrete and work with that it was funny you know what i mean he was my uncle so he made it a fun is this the the jab uncle yep it's the stingray this thing this thing the crazy he's every time he does that i see on your instagram i feel like his shoulder's gonna pop off he always tells me he's like man the older i get because i'm gonna leave my arms on the ground it's unbelievable he always does it but uh yeah he does he's been like that since i've ever known him you know so i was a young kid he was always doing a jab shadow box or

just showing his, you know, combos or he's always thinking fighting. And so I work with him, and then I would, you know, once I left Strongst, I was training in the barn and I was like, man, I got almost turning pro, fight club, Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Fight Club with Mark Cherokee and all these guys in the area that were really, really tough professional fighters at the time. I ended up going over there. So it was like a two-hour drive-two. I would do that, drive two hours, train, come back after.

you know, waking up, doing my crossfit, working, training. And it worked out. And it was, you know, I did that for a few months until the owner of the gym asked, okay, I'm starting to fight, fight promotion, organization. I would you like to go pro? I was like, well, I don't really have plans on going, pro. I will. He said, yeah, you can stay with me, you know, four weeks out from the fight, you know,

so you don't have to travel so much. I'm like, all right, cool. And, you know, I ended up being a blessing, you know, he was a great guy. It gave me a job at the gym. I was an MMA instructor. I taught the kids from like five to, I think it was five to nine-year-olds. So it was fun. It was like teaching little kids of martial arts,

and I had a blast student. I was able to be in a gym all day. I could train throughout the day, train at night with the pro team when we had pro practice. So it was just about finding my path, finding my rhythm. And I all contributed with, you know, meeting Maddox, like I said, that all stemmed from meeting him, you know, kind of getting out of my, you know, ways, getting away from the people that I was surrounded myself with. I said, I met kind of Maddox at the same time that I was, you know, doing some wrong decisions, you know, getting into a bar fight and getting stabbed.

And that was kind of a time of my life. You got stabbed. Yeah, I got stabbed. Where? In my leg. Wow. He stabbed the guy, stabbed one of my friends to in his arm, severed his bicep, you know. So this guy was kind of going out for.

What was it, what was the fight about? And it was a, remember it was a nice day, super nice day, and I was on a storm just blew in. And we only have like one bar that's even worth going to in our town. I mean, that's not, I mean, it's nothing. It's, I mean, really you just go there to, you know, they're chase girls or drink or fight, and that's more so fighting.

And I was picking up a buddy of mine that needed a ride. Like you know, the doors opened up, and there's a couple of families were fighting with, other and brothers were fighting with each other and it was one-on-one for a while until the one guy started getting the best of the other guy and like you know this other guy comes in and it just melee broke out and it was raining it was we were in a gravel parking lot I mean it was a packed bar like I said it was a nice day out so everyone was out these festivals or these concerts and came into this little bar and it just got you just could feel the vibe change it was like awesome

it's crazy and uh I remember trying to go to my car you know like it was after the you know big made everyone just throwing haymakers. People are getting dropped. I'm like walking over bodies knocked out trying to get to my car. This kid comes out of nowhere. This guy comes out of nowhere. And he's like, I'm spowing off. He's been in the prison, this and that.

I'm like, look, man, I don't want no trouble. I don't, you know, I'm just getting out of here. And I kind of felt like something hit me in my chest. It was like the end of the hit me with like the end of his hand. But it was weird. Like I didn't think he threw a punch. So it was kind of like this guy trying to fight or what. Until finally I saw that my buddy Chris was like holding his arm and saying,

this guy stabbed me. I was like, oh, this guy's got a knife. And, like, you know, a car turned the lights on. I saw the beam of the knife. So I was like, oh, man, we got to, you know, kind of just defend myself. And, you know, defending myself and getting away. But he ended up stabbing me in the leg and getting stable. So that was a time that I was like, okay.

And before that, I mean, a few weeks before that was in a bar fight too. So I was like, man, like, this is just too close. I got to stop doing this. I got to change my lifestyle, you know. And then, you know, I met Maddox, you know, short of that. So you had not met. Maddox at this point in these fights. Yeah.

Did you go to jail as well? No. Never. I never been arrested, knock on wood. I've never been to jail. I have no record. Your father was, right? Yeah, he's still in prison.

Oh, he still is? Yeah, he's still in prison. Yeah. For drugs? Drugs. I mean, he has like, his last stint, he's doing a 10-year stint. He's had multiple stints? Oh, yeah.

He's been out of prison my whole life. Okay. So, yeah. It's crazy. It wasn't until I didn't talk to him for nearly 10 years. It was after the cruise fight. He'd always call me throughout the years, and it's like, we have the correct call from inmate John Meese

from Chilacothea correctional facility. You know, I was like, oh, I never let it. You have to, like, press one to accept it. Remember I was going to rehab. I was after the cruise fight because my knee was, I tore my knee in the fight, so I was going up to rehab. And I was, it was a good, like, 30-minute drive. I said, you know, whatever I just accepted one in calling,

and he's like, you know, answer it. And that's the first time I've talked to him in 10 years. And he's like, man, he's like, man, I want to just. I just want to, you know, congratulate you being the world champion. He's all high strong, you know, and he's high energy. And, you know, I talked to him. It was like 15-minute a call. Got to talk to him kind of.

You know, that's the person I talked to him, really, like that. I'm probably my whole life, but it was, you know, nice. He said, the guards got to let us, you know, watch because my Uncle Mike was in the same penitentiary as him. Wow. You know, so that's Robert's, my boxing coach. That's both his brothers. They're in the same penitentiary. Wow.

And, you know, so they're like, yeah, the guards. guards let old me and Uncle Mike watch the fight. He goes, you sure did beat his ass? He goes, they let us watch the fourth round. They said that was the best part of the rounds. They let him watch the fourth round a little bit of the fight. So they called, and that was it. So now, I mean, he'll call randomly.

You know what I mean? You answer those calls. Yeah, I do. Yeah, I mean. You guys are good. You know, I don't know why I just kind of answered. I remember calling my wife and I was like, man, I just talked to my father for the first time in like 10 years. And she was like, well, how it was?

I don't know. We talked 15 minutes straight. Just kind of, you know, what's what you've been up to? He was really strong out in drugs. I mean, we used to sell him drugs as teenagers. You know what I mean? You used to. Hell yeah.

We used to go there and sell him drugs. He was a little bit. He got one arm. He got his arm blew off when he was like 12. So we'd always think it would be cool taking our friends there. We'd always saw him a little eighth or whatever. And he'd rolled up with one arm. He'd rolled the joint and put in a stub and smoke.

I mean, that's the kind of the people that had around us, you know. How did his arm blow off? he was climbing up a telephone wire, a big one, and he was trying to steal the copper out of it, to sell in the black market.

And all his friends said that the line was dead. And they climbed up there about 150, 200 feet, and the line wasn't dead, grabbed a hold of it, blew his arm off, burns all over his body,

you know, falling all the way down. They revived him a couple of times. And then, you know, so he's had some, you know, my uncle,

I said, my uncle Robert, who's my boxing trainer who was my father figure at that time the younger he'd always come get us take his boxing gym he said he always lost his confidence

and then he just was since then he always was on drugs trying to just mass the pain or whatever but yeah so he was always strung out on drugs you know a couple times we had to go out there

he had the courts ended up give him custody to our year we have a younger brother named Dakota he's about 11 now and he was super young. I mean, he was just probably walking and I would go out there. I feel bad for

the kid because this is like, John's got to take care of him. I remember going out one time and he was getting fucking sprayed by the hose in the middle of winter in Ohio. You know, that's his bathing him. So I kind of felt obligated to go out there and make sure that he was okay and I'd bring him toys. Zach would too, but you know, it was just

one of those things, man. He didn't live with your mom? No, no, it was so he had a different mom but the courts give custody But your parents didn't look together? They divorced? Yeah, my mom took this out of that situation at the young age. Okay.

She knew there wasn't a good upbringing for us. My mom was a savior. She's an angel. So she knew that, you know, she was young, had two kids. And, you know, she made sure that, you know, he abused her. You know, he's a woman beinger. He was not a good man, you know, on drugs. But for whatever reason, I just accepted the call.

I don't know if it was just see what he's been up to. I just know. Maybe I, well, out of the time, times of my life, I held that hatred towards them. And maybe that's why it affected me and, you know, my, my emotions maybe, but, you know, I just, because I just had, I just had my, my childhoods eight weeks today. So, yeah, yeah, it was awesome. So that really changed my whole entire life, you know, and I just kind of feel bad for him, you know, John, you never got to experience that. He never was there for us or any of his kids. He has a couple, have a couple

siblings, you know, that he was just never there for us. So it's like, as a blessing just to be able to be a father and be a child or, you know, to have a child. So, yeah, I mean, that's that. How many times do you think you, you denied his collect call? Years. Years. Years.

What does that like to get that call and to be like, no? What does that do to you? That must bum you out, right? That you don't want to talk to him? Honestly, it was never, there was never a time that I was like, I could just say and talk to him. Like, what do I have to say or what does he have to say? You know what I mean?

Maybe I was at the point of my life, too, where I wasn't maybe ready to talk to him or wanted to talk to him. You know, we had him in our, you know, our uncle was in our life a little bit. I was like a teenager. He came to one of my boxing matches, and he was good. He was a heroin addict, strung out in heroin. And, you know, he was out for a stint. He was in a halfway house, but he had a pending charge. So he was out for probably eight or so months.

He would come to the fights with us. He would work out with us. and he was a good guy off out of drugs, you know, when he wasn't on drugs. And kind of mixed up with him wrong crowd again, gotten back in the bike gang and went back to prison. And he would call us, you know, he was like, oh, man, they did me wrong, they did me dirty. You know, I'm the same penitentiary as John. So I was like, for that long time, Mike would call us, you know, Uncle Mike would call us, but John would never. And Mike would like, yeah, you know, I talked to your dad.

And I was like, man, that's not, you know, that's John to me. I know my father's, you know who my father is, things like that. And then, you know, he says he loves you, and thinking about you. I'm like, this dude hasn't called in years. You know, I've just had to start a relationship with you, you know, as a teenager. And you're calling me and checking up on us and, you know, telling the stories. It's funny because he called me. I mean, everyone's a bullshit or in prison.

Everyone's got their stories. But John and Mike would tell him that they were our nephew and I was his son. no one would believe those guys, you know, until I told this story of, like, why I have tattoos and why I like tattoos as my uncle was, Uncle Mike was, he was a tattoo artist. He always had, he would send drawings home from prison, and my grandma would have one of the refrigerator or have his books, you know, when you would go to prison. So we'd always look through him, and, you know, his artwork would be in there. And I remember he used to live outside our grandma's house and a trailer, like a little mobile home.

And I remember a young age, man. I remember I'm shooting heroin and watching them shoot heroin and tattoo people. I remember just baby, I didn't know what it was until I became. I was like, man, I was doing heroin and tattooing it. You know, it was just crazy. That's why I was always just like kind of like tattoos. You know what I mean? I didn't know anything wrong.

So it was just common. My grandpa had tattoos my father and my uncle. And I told him that story in like a tattoo magazine. I think it was tattoo magazine actually. Okay. And he got the magazine instead of that and he showed the guy, the inmates. Wow. And that's how they believed.

Yeah, and I was like, well, you ain't bullshit in us, he said. So, yeah. Have you ever visited your dad? No, no, no. You plan to? I think he, he's, I think he might get out in a few months. Yeah, I think so, yeah. I spoke to my grandma and grandpa.

So I think he gets out in a few months or is up for parole. So I don't know. I actually talked to him after I had my son. I say, yeah, man, I'm like, I'm not going to help you get out here. He's like to, you know, make a man and it's trying to, you know, get a relationship with you guys. And, you know, it's like, well, if you can make it out here, California, here's where we're at. You know, you can see your grandkid, things like that. Like, I don't know, I mean, I think.

Are you ready for that for him to enter your life at this point with everything going on in your life? I think so. I think that, you know, I've changed in the last year, year and a half, you know, for the better. You know what I mean? Like the injury did a lot to me, you know, being not, being able to, you know, be in the grind, be passionate, you know,

be able to fight. That was hard for me. That was a really challenging way. Back injury, right? Back injury, not being able to fight, you know, not do something you love. I love getting up every day and challenging myself to get better,

you know, and that's a training. That's why I love MMA because every day your worth ethics judged daily. You know, you get up, do two, three practices a day. You can do one. You know, so that's why I love to love MMA because there's something new to learn every day.

You know, you can just always see your progress. And I was able to progress. The only thing I could focus on was being healthy is trying to get healthy. I kept going all over these miracle shots are going to heal your back and you're going to fight in four weeks. I couldn't even watch.

couldn't even do anything flying all over the world to get these best shots and and you know it was just it was challenging year last year you know especially when you wanted to i wanted to defend my title so much you know especially after coming you know after a master class performance with dominic and just riding that momentum um you know but i finally feel like i'm back to where i was before even better than before even better before i was fighting dominic i'm everything and in my life is, I can't be, I can't, couldn't be more blessed than I am today. So I'm super thankful for everything, for the book that's coming out, you know, to go out and, you know, share our story. You know, I'm a Maddox where I'm from, you know, things like that. The dream that I held on

through everything through my life. And now this new chapter, it's August 4th against T.J. Dillishaw and getting my title back. You know, that's the only sole focus I have right now is, you know, getting my title back. That's, that motivates me every day. Do you think that if you don't meet Maddox, you're not sitting here, you're not a fighter, you're not successful, do you think you would have ended up in prison? I always say things happen for a reason. For whatever reason we met or we came into contact with each other,

there was a reason for it. Definitely, I don't think if Max didn't appear in my life with the fight that he was fighting, I probably wouldn't have. I was going down a wrong path. I think that was like a wake-up call, like this little angel was sent here. Here he is.

And, you know, just looking at how just, you know, tough he was and just how he just, I just knew he was going to beat cancer from the first day of meeting. I'm just looking into his eyes. You know, I just felt, I remember telling his parents that too. I just, man, that kid's a warrior. You know what I mean? Like, we're going to do this together. And that's the bond that we built.

And, you know, I didn't think it would be as big as it is today. You know, I'm so thankful for it. I gained a little brother or family. I mean, we got to do some amazing things, you know, we're from a small town that you don't really get to, dream of doing these things and to have them along this journey has been so rewarding how were the parents like you know uh i have kids too and if some fighter guy with tattoos was like hey i want to meet your son and i'd be like who are you you know how were they towards you when you know came to

their life and i remember stephanie which is max's mom said you can tell me that you know told me a couple years ago that max maple or my son's role model was going to be cody garbrand i'd say oh shit that we're in trouble. I remember I was saying that in an interview, I just kind of laughed, you know, and it was, you know what I mean? I was like, I wasn't doing the right stuff. I think that's why I had those delays in my life.

You know, I think I had this lay at the end of the tunnel as being a world champion, but God always put these delays in my life because I wasn't doing the right things. I was always getting delayed with this, like the stabbing or the setback, the losses, and, you know, and see how much I can, you know, see if I'm deserving of it, you know,

and then max something in my life. just totally felt, you know, like I needed to change my whole entire way that I was living. And, you know, I had a lot of help from other people that, you know, kept me in line and stuff, like my mother and some other father figures in my life. So I'm going to thankful for everyone that's, you know, played a part in my success and where we're at today, you know, the wins and losses. You know, that's why I like that fighting. It's hand in hand with life, you know. There's peaks and valleys and both.

You just got to never be too high, never be too low. And you were knocked out in your last amateur fight, right? That was the first fight that I did for Max. We had the whole town in there. We had Max's, and that place was covered in orange shirt. So I remember he had a mad about Maddox shirt. And everyone bought a ticket, got a shirt. And we had that place packed.

I was pumped. It was supposed to be my last fight before I went amateur. A pro. I'm sorry, going pro, yeah. I was whipping his kid's ass. I mean, I just, will be able to and then just came out the third round. I'm going to put them away. I wake up in the locker room, like, what the hell happened to me?

I mean, that was the first time I got knocked out, and I didn't think anyone could knock me out. But from that knockout, that's what made me be a world champion. You know what I mean? That's why I was so after T.J., you know, hats off to T. Congrats to you. You know what I mean? I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful that I was able to win the world title at a young age.

I'm thankful that I was able to lose it. a young age. Because I was already good before that, and this is what's going to make me great. I always learned and learn so much from my losses. I lost an amateur fight where it was supposed to be my last amateur fight going pro, and people were like, oh, you think you're going to make this, she just got knocked out as an amateur. And I went on to win 13 fights straight and become a world champion, the best in the world.

And so that's why I'm so motivated now. I just took it all in, you know, walking out of the cage out of the octagon on November 4th. Like, all right, we're on this back. I knew I knew 100% you know, 100% that we'll get this shot again. Didn't care how long it had it take me, you know. Are you surprised it's happening so soon that it's your next bite? No, I, you know, I, they called me to fight T.J. in March on about four-week notice. I mean, I just got a shot in my hand.

My hand was still messed. I haven't been using it. Got a quarter-zone shot in my hand. I said, okay, yeah, it seemed like it's good. I'll test the paths. Let's do it. For a couple of days that it was like, oh, the fight's almost done, almost done. I told my wife, I said, hey, you know, I know we're going to have our son soon. I want to take this fight.

I felt so plainly confident and going in there and picking out where I picked up, you know, left off in the first round. You know, I'm in shape. I've been trained hard. I'm motivated. I'm healthy as the main thing, being healthy. Your whole thing going into a fight, you can be as healthy as you want. Everyone's tough. Everyone's fast. Everyone's strong at this level that we're fighting. I'm fighting the best guys in the world, you know,

and that's what I want to do. That's what I inspire to do. It's the mental thing that separates them, and my mental state wasn't there, you know. Not to make any excuse, I just wasn't healthy. I couldn't put myself. November 4th? November 4th, I couldn't put myself in a fight against TJ.

You couldn't? I was putting in a fight against myself of getting healthy. You know, I kept going to have to postpone up, postponing the UFC, you're ready for this team? I'm not ready. Sorry. Then I was like, man, in my mind, I was like, I don't want to have, you know,

this whole up. just division for a year, you know? I mean, lesson learned, you know what I mean? Like, went out there. I was able to do great things. I'm really coming off the couch, not really training for the fight. I remember having to go to Vegas a couple weeks before the fight and getting eight epidural shots on my back, you know, because I couldn't walk.

But it's like, what I'm going to do? Keep pulling out of this fight. It was so personal between you two. Yeah. You handled it supremely well, but when you went back home, did it feel worse because it was TJ that did it? that to you? No. I just No, I didn't.

You know, I was like, hey, I walk out to the last guy and I was like, you know what? I remember I remember everything, everything about this, everything about this walk back to the, you know, without my belt, T.J. getting my face after I was knocked out, you know what I mean? I know damn well that I do would never, ever do that if there wasn't that referee in there. Never ever. He's a coward.

That's it. You know, he wanted, he wanted to act like that. He's not a real champion. But, yeah, you know, getting in my face like that and then flexing on my coaches, it's cool. You know, I'm going to remember all that. And that's what motivates me in training, you know. So I'm going to get that one back for everybody. And mainly for myself, you know, that's a fight that I want. I think it was a lot of people's fights last time.

I really couldn't focus on putting myself in there because I wasn't healthy. I wasn't. I couldn't. I'm big on visualization, you know, put myself in manifesting it. And I just could not put myself in there with TJ. at the time because I was just picturing I'm being healthy. I wanted to have a good week of training. That's what I pictured in, I hoped for, prayed for.

My back would hold up, you know, and I could push the limits. But like I said, man, my coaches and I were able to accomplish a lot in those short amount of times that we had to get ready for the fight. You know, so lesson learned, you know, I've got to do all the right things, the smallest things, the minute things, you know, to keep the focus, you know. And I'm excited to be able to run it back. and definitely, you know, rip that's my office space, you know.

It's, you know, we did the press conference. You look like he, you know, brushed up on his shit talking. That's what I said to him after. I said, hey, man, it looks like, you know, you worked on your shit talking. So that, because everyone went crazy. They're like, oh, they're shaking hands, their buddies. Oh, he's like, just business, man. He's like, when he looked at me at, he's such a coward, bro.

He's like, it's a business. It's like, I understand it's business. Hey, you're the champ. You get the pay-per-view sales. Like, I'm focused on coming back for what's mine and taking that title. and that's it. So if you want to, you know, have this drawn out back and forth, Twitter media wars, it's cool, man. I'm not, you know, I'm not focusing on that, focus on myself. And he's like, it's business, you know, and then he asked me how my kid's doing.

You know what I mean? Like, if you're going to be, I don't know, he just, I don't know, I don't even think he knows who he is, you know. I just run up to him. I don't care to have that kind of, you know. Relationship with him. I mean, I'm not going to take back anything I did or said, you know, because it's a true. You know what I mean? Everything I did in the past and everything that I said in the past is the truth. You know what I mean?

Like what's said and what's done is done. Let's just go out there and fight. He wants to sell these wolf tickets and, you know, become relevant. But it's what he wants to do. He wants to be relevant, you know what I mean? Any part of you say, maybe I'll take a fight just to get my mojo back, get a W, and then I'll fight him. Was there any part of you that won't?

I was going to fight in June. I said, hey, I'm ready in June, whoever you want me to fight. I want a top three guy. Yeah, I said a top three guy. Yeah. And they came with the Sunn's house. Okay, perfect. June, June 9th, Chicago, let's go.

What happened? They went with this. Next thing you know, I get a call a couple days later. Hey, you're going to fight TJ in a month, March 3rd? I said, yes. And I said, let me ask my wife. I'm good with it. My wife's cool.

She said, she just won't be at the after party. That's all I needed to hear. I need the okay from the wife. And then, like I said, for a couple of days, it was, you know, hey, I'm pushing, I'm sparring. I think I probably sparred 15 and 20 rounds in two days just to kind of get my timing of stuff back. I wasn't able to spar the last fight. I wasn't able to train in the last fight, so I was trying to get all the things in.

I just got back from Thailand, so I was out there just, you know, hoeing my Muay Thai skills with various camps out there. And kind of just have a little vacation with my wife before we had this baby. And, you know, a couple of days, it's like, oh, it's, you know, the UFC brass is saying that it's looking good. It's looking good. I'm like, okay, cool. I'm going to keep humming. And a week went by, or a couple of days more went by, and then he's like, we're still working on it. And then it was like, yeah, then TJ came on, I think your show, and started spouting off a bunch of excuses saying that he had a baby six weeks ago.

His gyms in California. He lives in Colorado. But his coach, he lives right by his coach. You know what I mean? My coach, my striking coach lives in Ohio, was ready to get on a flight. I had a standby flight ready to go. They're ready to work whenever they call. So I said, you know what?

I'm not going to wait on T.J. You know, I appreciate you guys. Give me an offer, the fight. I want to fight in June. If it's a sunsaw you're giving me, that's a sunsow. June 9th. Went back to work, went back to training. I'm going to focus on having this child

and then balance and, you know, the father and fighter life. And, you know, no, like, man, we appreciate you. We need more fighters like you want to step up and fight and stand the card. you know so yeah no worries we're going to make the rematch it won't be

it won't be March but we'll get a date back to you know they came back later that night and said June 9th Chicago TJ said okay perfect Midwest let's go give a treat to the Midwest fans and

you know it was a week went by you know it was like okay they have no contract nothing yet and Ali hit Ali hit Ali up and said he was going on it. Oh, they're still working on it. Hit Hunter up.

I was still working on it. Like, okay. Then it went to July and then it went to August. Then went back to June. And I was like, look, Ali. I said, listen, I am not having my return postponed by TGX. He wants to fight this. He can't fight here.

And then now he just ended up getting hurt. You know what it was. He couldn't fight in June. So he said he was hurt. Like, okay, look, I'm fighting June 9th, whoever it is. If it's not, TJ will be a senile. You know, and that was it. And then TJ.

wants to go on there and talk all kinds of shit that's saying that, yeah, I don't deserve this and that, deserve the title. He worked two years to get it back. That's because he feels like he's entitled because he's lived with a silver spoon. He's been spoon fed with that thing. You know what I mean? He's never had to come over any adversity. You know what I mean?

Nothing. You know, I hats off to him to be able to come back and get me in a fight. But, you know, now we're August 4th. He can talk all the shit that he wants, because I'm just folks on. I know having my book do well. Hopefully it inspires and motivates a lot of people around the world. And to just watch my child grow, my family grow. Me, progress as a fighter and as a human.

I really feel like I've gained so much strides in my life, you know, mature, everything. And it's going to be a different fight this time. You know, he thinks it's going to be easy. I want to keep thinking and have him think that. You know, I keep saying it's going to be like the brow. I'll tell you what, I'm no brown. He knows that. He knows that he knows I can keep that up the first round to the fifth round.

The way I whipped his ass like that, he's going to be in for a long night. But he's got to have those kind of, he's kind of a middle midget. He's going to have those coaches and people around him, kind of like, Yes, Man, to kind of fill his head. So I'm excited. I'm excited for the fight. Training is great. The gym's, everyone, teams, we have so many fighters coming up. You know, Alex Handel Ball is fighting.

We have... Chad's coming back. Chad's coming back and smiles. He's looking phenomenal in the gym. Chad's the one of the... I mean, I usually go with Chad every chance I get. You know, he's the one of the most explosive, fast-twitched, you know, powerful fighters, and just super athletic.

We've got Elkins, Aaron Elkins, in there. That's right. And we have just so many guys, but yeah, I'm super excited for Chad to come back. He's looking great in training. He's really honed in his training. He's been his cardio. his cardio's off the charts. Skill levels, always.

He's a freak athlete. We have so many of our fighters coming up that have UFC fights, and then all of our amateurs and some of the kids that grew up in the amateur system through Team Alpha Meal that Ery's had since, you know, real, super young has been turned pro and just been killing it. I mean, the level of our team, we end up having a, basically an introduction class, Monday, Wednesday, Wednesday, Friday. But, so it's like people have just developed their skills.

So that's at 7.30 to 8.30. And then we have our pro practice from 930 to 11. So we're like just the level of our fighters and the skill level of everybody and the technique. I mean, they're doing some amazing things. Faber's coaching a lot. Danny's been coached to Kistel. Chris Holdsworth. We have Michael Malott in there.

This is a kid from Canada, super technical kickboxer. So everyone's a co-op. Everyone helps out, teaches new techniques, you know, adds on little things in practice. And, I mean, it's amazing. I feel like I've progressed so much in this last six months than I have. Probably when I first got out to Team Alpha, man. Wow. Yeah.

That is amazing. It is. That's awesome. You have to run in a couple minutes. There's amazing stories in here, as you said, and it's incredibly motivational. One thing that really stuck with me is people think like, oh, you know, UFC fighter all as well. when you fought, and we're approaching two years now since the fight,

yeah, two years. When you fought Thomas Almeida, you had $56 in your bank account. Yeah. You had $56 to your name when you fought in the main event of a UFC fight Memorial Day weekend in Las Vegas. $56?

Yeah, I remember. How are you not freaking out? Why did you have? That's what probably, I think that when you back someone in a corner like that, all he has to do is, you know, he has no reason not to fight, not to add everything to gain in that fight.

This was the kid that, man, he had... You fought cab drivers, right? Yeah, cab drivers, man, cab drivers, man. He didn't cab drivers, but, you know, he was undefeated. UFC was getting behind him. He was going out of the performance, having some nice fights, amazing knockouts. They had four fights, four performance of the night's knockouts, you know.

The kid was tough, I just knew where my level was at. I was like, this is the fights I don't want. I've been asking Sean Shelby for this. I asked for John Littaker, at Thomas, I made of him, than whoever else in the title shot. That's what I kind of wrote down in between. I am texting it to Sean before that. And then Linderker obviously got hurt, got sick,

pulled out of the fight. I fought Augusta Mendes. They called me later like, hey, you can fight in like seven weeks in his hometown. My grandma, I really feel like going to Brazil. He said, I guess I just don't put me on the back burner. I like to fight as soon as possible. They called me the next day with Thomas Ameda, Brazil Memorial Day.

I was like, awesome. This is cool. I've got a new deal. I got a re-signed the contract of the UFC got my first main event. I'm like, all right, this is cool. And, you know, that's when I met, started dating my wife now, right before that.

I remember going out to Vegas from the media day and, like, me and her taking her at dinner, and I'm like, you know, like Dave Chappelle, you know, he takes a girl out to eat, you know, to, what's that movie? How high? No. No?

He grabs a little. He grabs the money off the bum. Like, don't mind if I did it. Yeah, that's right. Like, we're going to this restaurant, making sure to give my car. I'm like, oh, shit, I hope this doesn't decline. You know what I mean?

Like, oh, man. Here we go. And I ended up going to SDK, beautiful dinner. You know, it was amazing. You know, that was it. And met her and then come out a little bit later. I go to Fight Week, and the UFC gives you a per diem. Per diem.

Yeah. And I made sure I gave all my per diem to my coaches so that I could eat. and I was like, you know, this fight's going to change my life. I know that I'm going to knock this guy out, and that's it. And I'm knocking him out in the first round and just on a high, you know, I think I was getting 20 and 20 then. So for me, that was, you know, some good money. And then I got the, remember, Schroler came up to me.

I was getting ready, you know, the post-fight pictures. Came up to me and he said, hey, man, get ready for the press conference. Your Dana's bringing your back. I'm like, oh, cool, man. Like, I had a suit. a little suit that I had and put it on, hurried up. I saw the vasseling on my face and wipe it off. He goes, hey, he goes, and you got the $50,000 bonus.

And I just remember, you know, just taking it all in. I was like, man, I ended up crying. I was like, man, this is great, you know. I was like, 56 bucks the day before, you know, and then the week of the fight coming in there and just having that focus going on there. And I know this is a fight would change my life going out there and performing. And just thankful for the UFC to be able to give me that,

you know, the platform to do it. You know, now like the platform that I can use with us, with Maddox, our story, my life, really changed my life. So I'm super grateful for, but yeah. Yeah, it's amazing. And you tell a great story about going to meet Dana at his office for the first time. And you took your girlfriend who you were just probably dating at the time for like a week or two. No, it was a few months.

We were probably four or five months. But not that long to go like meet the boss, man. But you said you're in it together. You know, let's just do this. Let's go meet him there. And it was cool. That's amazing. And now you have a family.

Family. I mean, so much, so much that. Honestly, every day I wake up, man. I just, I'm so thankful. I always, you know, pray to God, thank you for letting me. I be able to have this blessing and look down at him. I come home from training or I kiss him in the forehead before I leave and come home in the afternoon. And he's there.

He's starting to get his personality. He's starting to get his personality. He's a good boy for mommy. Yeah, yeah. Starts kicking and he starts, cat. He's got a little laugh now. His personality's coming along. I mean, it's just awesome.

You know what I mean? It's only going to get better, man. That's what I keep hearing. Every day is better and better and better. I just love that little guy. And, yeah, so it's great, man. So much change in my life. I'm so grateful for everything where I'm at in my life and where I'm going to go.

Like I said, this might have been a little setback or a little delay in my life. But if you look through my, read through my story, I've always had these little delays or lessons to learn from. And I grow from them. I grow from my mistakes. And, you know, November 4th are just a mistake. And, you know, it's going to set up and rate. Separate me from being good to great and I'm super excited for this next chapter and this journey that I'm on now, the road back.

The book is called The Pact. There it is right over there. Available tomorrow, as Cody said, Amazon, all the places, right? All the places. All the places. How long are you in New York for doing this media stuff? And then we fly back Wednesday to L.A. Okay. And we do the L.A. tour. Oh, wow.

So you got a whole week of this. Is this a nuisance as far as training or you will train around? Yeah. Hensai is actually called Hino before. Oh, yeah. So we'll probably link up with that. You see Niem and Gracie. He was here.

Yeah, he was just in here. Okay, yeah. Great. It worked. So there was a reason for you to come. It worked out. And then my buddy, Johnny, he's Julius. He's with the Rutgers University.

So probably go over and wrestle with those guys. They've got some studs on the team, you know, national finalist. And then Jordan Oliver, he just, his suspension's up from USA Wrestling. So he's got a match coming up. And he's in, I think he's at Cornell. Okay. So there's, man, I love coming to New York. There's so many.

I actually love going anywhere you train. Like, the NBA community is so, welcoming. I mean, even all the way in Thailand, I was welcomed with open arms every little little camp. So it's great. So it's like, I can always get the workout and, you know, get... Is this your first time back since MSG fight in New York? Yeah, actually, I came to Brooklyn.

Oh, the Brooklyn fight. Just for the day. Just for the press conference, they called me the day before. My mom drove out that. Ironically, my mom drove out with my family, my grandmother and my sister and my little nephew and my stepfather from Ohio to California. And my grandpa made these

trophy cases from my, the UFC belt the showcase to put up and it's been however long since I won it he's been you know he didn't want to ship it didn't want to break um ironically he made two of them because he didn't want to make another one and ship him out so she bought both of them and the day that she came I opened him up I got a call from Ali that I was fighting for the title on august fourth so that right there just wow yeah it's amazing amazing yeah so I already got that trophy case to put the other belt in to get it back you know what I mean so it's It's great.

And then they were out there and had to fly. Like, hey, guys, sorry, I got to go to New York. That's right. And they went back home. And they were there visiting their grandchild. And I just spent a good time buying a house right outside of Fair Oaks in Sacramento. So beautiful home. This is amazing, man.

Be able to have my family there. My adopted father just came out last week, my little brother and stepmom. So just having everyone kind of funnel it and see the baby kind of, you know. And it's nice. Danny and her twin sister always comes. and our friends come from Vegas. You know, it's a little quick flight. So, you know, we're just adjusting to all that in the parent life.

It's amazing, man. We're a good team. I'm really happy for you. Thanks having me, man. You came in to, from the flight. I mean, I honestly didn't believe that it would happen, to be honest. Made it happen. I slept the whole way.

You are the man for doing this, really, because I know it's a long flight. Again, good luck with the book. It's the Pact. I highly recommend it. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I mean, the story's in there, the $56. I've spoken to you, what, like 15 times now? A lot of stuff that I didn't know.

We covered our first story right after the Henry Bona. I remember, yeah. Yeah, we did the Fox Sports interview back there. And say hello to Maddox for me as well as he comes in. Good luck. Good luck with training and we'll see you August 4th. Joe's going to walk you out over here. Again, thank you so much for doing this, Cody.

Really appreciate it. Again, it is called the Pact, a UFC champion, a boy with cancer and their promise to win the ultimate battle. It is, if you are a fan of MMA, you're watching this show. Obviously, you know about Cody. It is well worth your time. And if you're not a fan, if you've somehow stumbled upon this show, It is well worth your time because there's a lot of great stories there about overcoming adversity, about realizing your dreams, about overcoming obstacles. I mean, Maddox is just an unbelievable kid. He's 100% right. I remember that backstage interview when I was working for FS1.

And just amazing, you know, a kid that age to overcome all of that and have a smile on his face. every step of the way, really, that boy is a hero. He is a warrior. That word has thrown out a lot, a five-year-old kid to overcome what he overcame leukemia and always have a smile. You saw him with the belt. I mean, what a great moment that was at UFC, what was it, 207, December 30th of two years ago. So again, check it out, support them. I highly recommend that it's out tomorrow wherever books are sold. And again, thank you very much to his team for bringing him here from JFK, like straight off the plane. How about that? Unbelievable. What a great story. And he did mention Miles Jury and Chad Mendes and I didn't want to get anyone in trouble, but New York,

Rick telling me that as the interview was going on, they officially announced that Miles Jury and Chad Mendes are fighting on July 14th in Boise, Idaho. So that is out there as well. We heard from Chad last week on the program. So that is good news for both Chad and exciting news for the featherweight division. All right. One more guest and let's stick with the Team Alpha Male theme, I should say. As I said in February, there was a main event in Orlando. As you may recall, Jeremy Stevens against Josh Emmett.

It was highly controversial as far as the ending. We went through the whole thing. Dan Marguada, you remember that. I did the whole reenactment. Josh Emmett was kind enough. to join us on that Monday, talk about the finish, the controversy, the injuries he sustained. And then we kind of didn't hear much from him. And I checked in with him on Saturday because I feel like this happens a lot. There's so many events you kind of just forget. And I have to say I was

blown away by what he's been through over the last few months. So I wanted to check in with him. He has been very patient, kind enough to still stick around and join us on the show. He joins us now via the magic of Skype. There he is. Josh Emmett in the house. Josh, how are you? doing good how you doing and i and i apologize for making you wait uh cody was on a bit of a time crunch came all the way from the airport so uh we had to make the call there but thank it's a teammate so i'm sure you're you're not too upset right yeah not at all it's all right okay cool so uh yeah like i said you know i was thinking of you and i've been meaning to reach out to you for quite some time and uh i'm i'm happy that we were able to connect and i was just kind of blown away

by everything that you've been through so could you tell us could you bring everyone up to speed because I haven't heard much from you, you know, since that week. And you were on the show talking about the injuries. You're in Orlando. You believe that you suffered a broken orbital. You go back home. And what have you, what have you been through since then? Yeah. So it's, man, it's been a tough, tough little journey. But like I said, when I talked to you before, when I was in Orlando, I, you know, I was all doped up on pain pills and stuff like that. And I know I came on the show right after I got out of the hospital. And the actual hospital in Orlando, they, I don't know, they not misdiagnosed me, but they didn't catch a lot of things.

They just said I had a tripod fracture. So I assumed that was it, you know. So I went home. And then I think it was like the second day I was home in Sacramento. I was on all the pain pills and stuff still. And my wife, she just, she knew just something was wrong. She was asking me how I felt. I'm like, oh, I'm okay.

But for some one reason, she decided to take me to the emergency room. She talked to my friend, doctor, nutritionist, kind of told him some of the things I was going through. So he said, yeah, take him to the hospital. So I went to the ER in Sacramento, and they did another CT scan because the Orlando no regional hospital would not send the CT scanner report to them or to my doctorate real hot. And they, so they did the scan, and they admitted me right away. And they said I needed emergency surgery. So they took me in an ambulance to another hospital to perform the surgery.

So I had my lateral orbital was fractured, my orbital wall, my maxillary sinus. So that's like my cheek. So it was completely encased. I had my nasal bone fractured and then my zygomatic arch was broken as well with a few other fractures in the face. And it was impinging my main muscle in my eye that controlled the movement of the eye. Also my nerve in my face was being compressed. And so even right now I feel from my left side over is completely numb. I have no feeling in my cheek or my upper lip.

and just experienced a severe concussion. And so I was there. I had a team of doctors. I had a plastic surgeon. I had an ear, nose and throat specialist, and I had an ophthalmologist. And just from the images that they saw, they were, I don't really concerned, just because even breaking the bone on both the orbital floor and the lateral orbit, the eye, they said the bone could have punctured the eyeball.

or it could have been protruding, like popped out of my socket. And so they were pretty nervous. But when they saw me, they, and I could move my eye, they were just surprised. And they kept telling me how lucky I was that I could see for one. And I had control of my eye and it didn't fall out or puncture the eye. And it was crazy. I was in the hospital for a while.

I did the surgery on Friday night. I was in the hospital for. like five days. Okay. Wow. I did the surgery and then and then that's kind of that's that, you know, I got out on my birthday and it's just been kind of a roller coaster. You know, I was experiencing a lot of a lot of just spells where I'd be really nauseous and dizzy if I were to do anything. If I were to like shake my head like this, even just the tiniest bit, I would experience It's just like I said, nausea, dizzy. I had really bad vertigo for a while, so I would wake up, and the room would just be spinning.

And it would take a, I don't know, a few moments just to kind of dial down and focus in. And that's kind of that. I've been seeing a lot of specialists, doctors. And I'm just fortunate enough that, you know, I have access to some of these, you know, physicians and therapists and specialists that I'm friends with. because otherwise there's really no protocol from the UFC or I wouldn't really know what to do if I didn't have a good team of my own looking after me. So, and this might be a difficult question for you to answer, but how did the Orlando

hospital miss all of this? I mean, if it was that severe, do you have any, did you ever even reach out to them afterwards or like do you not even care about them at this point? I personally don't care. I had a, even some of the doctors that the, the Sutter Hospital in Sacramento and my good friend that he's you know he was on the phone with my wife the night I was in there and seen what was going on trying to talk to them and uh he was surprised he was upset because he's like how could they even possibly miss or you know not see any of this yeah um i think it's like some type of uh i don't know i want to say it was a i don't even know it was just a general hospital. It was definitely a bad experience. Even like I said, I think I told you when I was on before,

they loaded me up on, I think it was dilauded. They gave me 24 hours worth of pain meds in an hour of time frame where my heart rate actually dropped and I stopped breathing twice while I was in the hospital. And they're supposed to give you, you know, the dosage. They gave me a half milligram. They gave me another half milligram and then a full. gram of dilated and they're supposed to administer that every four to six hours. They come me full of it in 45 minutes. So my wife and my friend and coaches that were there,

Danny Castillo and Joey, Rodriguez, they definitely, they were pissed as well. And I don't remember any of that, which was, it was kind of crazy. I went into the second round, fought, and then I woke up the next morning in a hotel room. Wow. And right now as we speak, you say that you can't feel certain parts of your face overall how are you feeling i mean that's that's

obviously a major thing but um how would you say your your your current you know your current health is um it's it's definitely getting better okay um it's 10 weeks since the fight nine weeks in surgery and uh i'd say the past like week or so it's been getting a little better here and there I'm definitely, I'm not getting, I don't have the bad vertigo anymore. I don't, I'm not getting super dizzy or nauseous anymore, but I still haven't really been able to do anything. Like I told you, they just cleared me to ride a stationary bike last, last week. I've done, I've done that a few times, but it's, it's so boring, you know. Yeah.

So one thing that I have working on with, you know, during my recovery, this has helped a lot with, I've been work with my friend who's, you know, he has his PhD in nutrition. quadruple board certified in obesity, emergency, anti-aging, and regenerative medicine. Dr. Bon Trong, he's helping me formulate a supplement and that's going to help with, you know, recovery, energy. We're also doing it has anti-inflammatory properties and it has a brain propriety blend that's going to be just one of a kind and I'm excited for that. So I've really been working a ton on that and with him to develop this product. it. Because there's really nothing out there, even for what I'm experiencing, you know.

So not only are we going to do it to help myself, but also I think we can help athletes and just, you know, children and elderly individuals as well with this stuff. Are you expected to make a full recovery? Do you feel like, you know, based on what they've told you, will you regain feeling in your face? It's kind of just up in the air. They suppose I will. But I don't know because the major nerve was compressed, so it can come back. Sometimes people have said it took about a year, but then also some people, it may never come back, but who really knows?

I'm just kind of playing it day by day. And I'm looking forward to getting back in there and getting back into practice and eventually back in the octagon. That was actually my next question. So your career is not in jeopardy. You will fight again. That is your plan? Yeah, that is my plan.

I'm not going to rush into things too fast just because I've seen that with some teammates and we've seen it in the UFC where people have come back too soon and it's ruined their career. I definitely do not want that to happen to me but I plan on fighting as long as I can make a full recovery. I would like to get back in there

and maybe hopefully get one in by the end of the year but I guess we'll just have to see how I feel. It's amazing to go through all this as a result of fighting and still feel you know, this enthusiastic about fighting. Like if something like that happened to be, regards for it is, I am never doing that thing ever again.

But you hold no ill feelings toward fighting. You still have the same passion for it. You still want to fight. Definitely. And a lot of people have asked me too. You know, they're like, are you done? Are you hanging it up? I'm like, no, I've put so much into this.

And I feel like I'm all in. You know, I'm too close to where I want to be to just give it all up. You know, and I have other things I can do. And like I've said before, I have a lot of connections in the Sacramento area. And I can go get a good job right now. But this is my passion. And I'm going to continue to fight as long as I can.

And this is definitely the worst injury I've ever suffered. But, yeah, there's no quit in me, you know. I'm assuming you've watched the fight at least once since it happened in February, right? Yeah, yeah. How many times have you watched it? Do you know? Actually quite a bit. You know, I've seen the cliff and stuff. Yeah.

Myself getting out, quite a bit, you know, just because social media, everyone tagging me and stuff. Yeah. And I watch that. I watched the fight a handful of times, too. So my question was, or would be, do you, after watching it as many times as you did, do you still feel confident that it was an illegal knee? Yeah, definitely. I, you know, it was, I think it was definitely illegal, but what can you do?

You know, there's really the outcome. Who knows if the outcome would have changed. But yeah, I still believe it was illegal, you know. And because he threw it in contact, that's considered illegal, right? So it was illegal. Did it change the outcome? Who knows? But I feel like if, for some reason, you know, the referee stopped it right away when it was,

thrown, then I wanted to suffer the injury that I did. So that's the only upsetting thing to me, you know. Yeah, that was actually my question. You feel like it led to you, if that doesn't, the injuries you sustain happen after that. If it stopped, you're not facing all the stuff that you faced over the past three months. You believe that. If it was stopped right when he threw that, me. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Because I believe it's those two elbows that put me out and broke my face. You ever hear from Dan Mirguiott afterwards? Never. And not in the back, didn't talk to your team or anything like that. Not that I'm aware. I was just completely out of it. I didn't even know. I asked my coaches, I said, did they take me out on a stretcher? And they said, no, you walked out. I had, like I said, I remember going into the second round. And then I vaguely remember parts of the night. Like at the hospital, when the, you know, the doctors were shaking me, wake up when I stopped breathing. I remember that.

I remember being in pain. I remember throwing up. And then, like I said, I woke up the next day in a hotel room because my wife and I had an Airbnb, but we had to check out of. So they packed everything up. And then my coaches put me in their room. So I woke up. And it was pitch black.

I didn't know where I was. It was just the craziest feeling. Wow. Just the craziest feeling. And how about you alluded to the fact that, you know, thank God, you have friends. and you have these connections and you're able to do this with your team. It's always interesting to see,

you know, you do fight for the UFC, but you're not an employee of the UFC. Do they check in with you? Do they put you in the right positions? Do they, you know, help get you in front of the right doctors? Or do you feel like you're on your own totally here? I feel like I'm kind of on my own, just from my experience.

My wife deals with my UFC rep. Because, you know, there's a handful of reps. I think they're signs. They each have like 100-something fighters. So she's emailing her back and forth as far as, you know, dental work, what's kind of going on with some of the therapists I'm seeing and just sending them the bills for all these CT scans and emergency room business and stuff like that.

But other than that, I haven't heard from anyone or I don't know what to do. That's why I'm saying I'm lucky that I have the team and friends I do because I feel like someone else if they were in my position, if they weren't, you know, a superstar or whatnot, that there really is no, I don't know, guidance or I'm sure if I contacted somebody or you let my managers know and they contacted someone in the UFC kind of what was going on, they may lead me in the right direction, but they know what's going on because they're paying the bills with my wife emails them. So I, but I honestly don't know. I have no ill will against them either, but it's just frustrating, I guess. covering everything? So far, yeah, they've been covering things. There's still some stuff they haven't paid yet, but I think it's just because they're so busy.

Like I said, they have so many fighters that they have to take care of. I'm sure they'll pay. They're not going to dispute payment. They'll pay for everything, I'm assuming, but there are just some things that aren't paid for yet. And no, you know, I don't want to harp on this, but I do think it is important. You know, no text message, how you doing, how you're hanging in there, no phone call, no Nothing like that.

Got anything now. Does that disappoint you? Not really. Maybe a little, but I know what I signed up for. There's no one that cares about me besides, you know, my wife, my family, my coaches and friends. So it really doesn't, I don't know, maybe it's a little upsetting, but it does not bother me. You know, I know what I signed up. I know kind of how that this game is and, you know, would it be nice, yes, but.

Hello. Just curious, you ever talk to Jeremy after the fight? No, no, I haven't. How do you feel about him? Kind of the same. Same thing goes, you know? I've heard some of his interviews. But yeah, no, I don't know.

It's a fight, you know. Someone's going to go in there. Someone's going to lose you hope it's not you. But even with that, I don't have any ill will against him. you know if I I just wish I would have you know kind of pounce on him a little faster when I dropped him in the first but I was kind of trying to you know I was going to fight for five rounds so I was kind of saving my energy but if I could go back in time I would do things a little different you know but I can't and and just you know with your your overall sort of sanity I mean I'm sure there are times where you have gotten depressed over all of this right I mean you can't do what you love you can't train I know for athletes, training is therapeutic at times, right? How are you holding up on that end mentally? I'm doing okay.

But there was those times when I wake up and I literally, I can't do anything. You know, I can't go to practice. I can't, and I don't even go into the gym when I'm hurt just because I know myself. When I've had injuries in the past, I'll watch practice. If someone needs, you know, needs help or something or drill, I'll like, oh, I can hop in there and I'll start going. the next thing, you know, I'm going live and I get hurt again. So I don't go in the gym. But yeah, I'm doing okay.

Like I said, it has been a little depressing, just not being able to work out, not even be able to go to a regular gym, you know, like 24-hour fitness or Cal-Fit that I go to and, you know, lift weights or run, you know, just because of the impact would have got me dizzy and nauseous. So I think the thing that has been helping my recovery is working with my doctor. and it's been keeping me busy and it's kind of like I come to the office and we put in some work

and we're doing things like that. So that's helped with my sanity. But it will get better. And I'm hoping to ease back into things in June, give another, you know, three months or so and then start to maybe do some type of movement or kind of test out how I'm feeling. You know, just picking up the intensity a little.

obviously no impact still. I just got off the phone with the surgeon actually today because they did another CT scan and they said everything's healing pretty well. It's not fully healed yet, but they're anticipating in another, you know, I said in June if I could go back into doing some light drills or running and stuff, they're pretty confident in that. So we'll give it a shot in. That is certainly promising. I wish you the best, Josh. Thank you very much for coming on and updating us and I'm sorry that you've been through this. And in hindsight, I really appreciate you coming on on that Monday. I probably reached out to you when you weren't in the best state, but the fact that you came

on and spoke as eloquently as you did, and now that you're available is very much appreciated. So I wish you the best, and please keep us posted on your progress. It's one thing about this sport that sometimes bugs me is that, like, there's so many events that these stories kind of get lost because you just kind of move on to the next one as opposed to if we're dealing with a team sport and there's only like 12, 15 guys on the team, you can kind of keep tabs on everyone.

But I feel like sometimes as journalists, we do a poor job of keeping tabs because there's just so much going on. So that's on me. But I'm happy to have you back on and hopefully the worst is behind you and that you can continue to get better. Well, thanks again for checking in.

I appreciate that. Yeah, no problem. No problem, Josh. All the best to you. We'll talk to you soon. All right. Thank you. You have a good one. All right. Thanks so much. There he is. Josh Emmett, hoping the best for him, hoping that he is able to recover fully and get back in there sooner rather than later.

If you're a basketball fan, you know, you know about Joel Embed and what he's been through having to wear the mask. I mean, that's a story that you're able to follow. And if you're a, you know, if you're a basketball reporter, if you're a Sixers reporter, you're able to follow that story. But in our sport, and it's no, it's just the reality of the sport. there's just so many events with so many fighters that sometimes it's hard to say, you know, what about the, you know, how long ago does that fight night event in, in Orlando on Fox feel at this point? I mean, I can't even imagine, it was in the February where I mean, I would guess there's been at least 10 UFCs, 8 to 10 UFCs since then. So there's so much that goes on and there's so much coming up that, you know, sometimes you almost have to keep a running list of the stories that you need to go back and check. on and I had been meaning to reach out to him for quite some time and was happy that he reached out.

We even posted, we showed a shot of his, his x-ray that he provided to us. So I was thankful that he was willing to come on and talk about it. And look, I've asked Al Jermaine about this. I've asked him, I've asked others. They all handle it very well and they all say the right things. They all say, you know, I know what I signed up for. I don't need to be babied and coddled. I do feel like a check-in, a text, hey, how are you doing?

It goes a very long way. But again, I know, as I just said, there's 500 fighters and there's fights to book. You know, not everyone is suffering injuries like this on every card. I don't think it needs to be done for every single person who suffers a loss, but something traumatic, something potentially life or career altering, something that requires, you know, surgery of that kind. I do feel like it's not expecting or asking for too much, but maybe I'm just sensitive and get caught up in those things. Anyhow, what a day it has been.

What a great show, great characters, great stories, but there's still some show left. Matter of moments, we're going to go over to Twitter. You know the drill of the MMA after hour. Live.com slash M.A. Fighting. We'll check in with Mr. New York, Rick, who is on Cloud 9. these days because his beloved Cleveland Cavaliers are up 3-0 over the Toronto Raptors, LeBron James,

with the buzzer-beater on Saturday night. Just unbelievable stuff. The last week of this time we're debating. And was there even a game last week at this time? No, there wasn't even a game yet. And now they're up 3-0 with game 4 tonight and the Raptors on the verge of being swept for the second straight year. So New York, Rick, you know he's going to be in a great mood. We'll check in with him.

Rick's picks, your questions and comments, question of the day, all that and more. There's still much to discuss. Of course, Beltor 199, UFC 224, Nate Diaz and his situation. Paul Felder and James Vic also added to the Boise card. That card shaping up to be a solid one. Roger Huerta, resigning with Bellator, Leslie Smith has filed her grievance. How about Kayla Harrison finally getting her first assignment, June 21st in Chicago?

Michael Kesa against Anthony Pettus rebooked for UFC 2-6. So there's still a lot more to discuss. I want to thank everyone who stopped by. Great stuff from Yane and Jacek, Sarah Kaufman, Jorge Mazvedel, Justin Willis, King Mo, Paul Daley, Junior Dos Santos, Josh, Shemit and of course both Neiman Gracie and Cody Garbrand for stopping by the Pact. Check it out. What an amazing life story. I feel like I could have talked to Cody for another.

I should have put this here right here. The whole entire show for another. Look at that. That was perfect. Why didn't I think of that? An amazing story. Great stuff. All right.

If you're watching us on Twitter, stay right there. If you're watching us on YouTube, Facebook, M.A. Fighting. Go to live. dot Twitter.com slash MMA fighting. The MMA after hour starts right now. And we are back.

The MMA after hour time. Much going on. Much to discuss. Still much more show left. So without further ado, time now for everyone's favorite segment. It is time. And now it's time to open up your ears

and your minds. MMA fans. It's time for Rick's Picks. Rick's Picks. Rick's Picks are lots of fun. And his hair. There isn't a bun does it's. You already know what it is.

Rex Picks. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it's the moment you've all been waiting for. It's the new craze taking the world by storm. Live from the Vox Studios in beautiful New York City, it's time for Rex Picks. There he is. You're like Justin Willis with that bad framing

when you sit back like that. now I'm back in frame. I was just so calm, so relaxed, so casual. What a day. You felt good about yourself, right? A few things that you had to juggle. You got... If you only knew, my friend.

Even worse? What happened back there with the phone? You know what? Nothing happened. No, but I think... I think it's important for people to appreciate the work that is done when you tell them about the obstacles that you had to overcome. It's not about that.

What do you mean? It's not about that. We don't need the praise back here. This team? No. We're solid. We don't need... I feel like the praise.

is needed. To be showered and praised. We don't need to be called out. Well, I'd like to know. This is the, this is the crew that just gets the job done. And we delivered a wonderful show once again this week. Yes, as always. As always.

I was thinking recently about the days where the internet used to go down or the phones went down. You remember one time there was a power outage? Not anymore. Not anymore. No, no, no. We got this on lock now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I was actually reminiscing.

Maybe I, you were longing for it? No, no. No, not just, you know, reminiscing is the word of, or reminiscent is the word of the week, because that's the word that pissed off some people. But, no, I was just thinking about that. And then here we are with another show in the books. Another good one in the books, two in studio guests. Cody Garbrandt talking on the heartstrings a little bit at some time.

Right off the plane. I mean, how about that? Looking as good looking as good looking as ever with that fade and the... You're just not going to look good looking? looking. I mean, he's a handsome. I mean, but sometimes you get off the plane and you're a little disheveled, you know. You've got, what did Nick Diaz talk about the water, the toxic waters? Yeah, you retain the toxic water.

Yeah, he did drop a subtle wolf tickets in the midst of the interview. So, no, that was great stuff. And you are feeling good about your cavaliers, of course. Do they close it out today? Come on. Stop it. Do they get it done? I'm surprised you even went here. Like, what?

Maybe, you know what, that's probably the right strategy. When you, when you ass the bed as bad as you, did with your prediction. Yeah. You go head into it. Wait, what was my prediction? I said what? Raptors and six.

Okay, so. Yeah, so only a few games off. Is seven that big of a difference? Is there any chance they win one game? There's a chance they win a game. You think so? Would the Cavs get lazy? God, how do you lose the first two at home?

At home? It's one thing to lose them on the road and then you go home. It's important to note. We discussed this off camera last week. Did we? And I told you that LeBron owns the rim. Yeah, he does. This was not even a series.

I have never seen anything like this. And I have seen Jordan and the Knicks. But as I noted on Twitter, the Knicks put up a fight. Yes, they believed. Now, I will say game three, they put up a fight. Without Demard or Rosen. Yeah, that was interesting. That was weird.

Speaking of fights, let's talk about fights. Maybe we can talk basketball later on the back end. Wait, but I wanted to ask you something. Yeah. So yeah, okay, so you think that they close it out tonight. But then what about my? guy, Brad Stevens. What are you asking me if I'm, if I'm,

are you, is, are you afraid of my guy? My favorite coach, the best coach. Your favorite coach? Number one. The next just got a new coach, but Brad Stevens is your favorite coach. Right now he's my favorite coach. Yep, sure.

For the time being, he is just unbelievable. You are not worried at all? No, because I mean, it felt a little bit like, against the Wizards, he wasn't as great a coach. Now, maybe he's, you know, experience and good good against the wizards Celtics didn't play the wizards oh the bucks no bucks

yeah the gee you don't even follow you know just leave a beat first just get to Rick's picks yeah let's just do rings really we'll talk basketball then look if you want to talk about basketball yes I do want to talk about basketball

you got to watch more you just like what do you mean I got to watch more you can't you're the one who's saying Celtics and wizards you can't call Raptors and six and just you know sweep that away like we have to we have to hold you to that look six seven tomato tomato i still believe here's the thing win tonight just stick with me here win tonight this is the same this is the same cabs team that was on

the verge of losing to the lowly pacers went tonight go home go home for game five now we're three to lowly pacers now pacers would have put a whoop in on the raptors i'll say this they went tonight they went tonight i guarantee they win game five then we're what is this what do these things mean what do these proclamations mean at this point then we're going, then we're going, you know, they're going to game six at the queue. Oh my God. It's all good. Come July 2nd, you will

be singing a different tune. About the Raptors? No. Okay. Anyway. Unlike the Raptors who will not put up a fight, we had some fights over the Oh, that was a good one. That was a good segue. Pearl Gonzalez. Yes.

And Barbara Asioli getting into it at the way-ins ahead of Invicta FC-29. But feature, now, obviously this is interesting because it got testy between two fighters who we're going to square off in the cage. Yes. But most interesting, young, powerful Cynthia Vance getting in between them and breaking. Yeah, what was up with that?

Look, when you... Cynthia Vance. When you need to have some muscle. Is she the square off her? Look, in this case she was. Watch this, watch this. Here we go. Boom, Cynthia right in there.

And no one thinks twice. Well, what are you going to do when Cynthia's in there? Now, let's not assume that everyone knows Cynthia. Who is Cynthia for those of done? Cynthia is Invicta's videographer, at some point's photographer, social media, do it all. Also part of the Esther, Casey, Scott Heronov, you know, that mix of video and photo people. But she's just a badass is how I describe it. It's like the Greg Popovich coaching tree, the Esther Casey.

Yeah, that's right. There's a lineage there. But Cynthia Vance comes from a long line of badasses, and she flexed. it on uh... on Friday sorry on Thursday was she there for all the the fights she was she squared them all off

must be nice now why aren't you doing it because I feel like a lot of people because you're you're somewhat known in the space you're recognizable you're that's not a big guy that's not my role no I mean I've seen I've seen of course you know the great Dave Schaller has been in there

changed his life um you know I've seen I've seen what do you mean I forgot I forgot that Shaller was yeah but okay but that was a different circumstance. That's not the way ends. That was the press conference. Whatever, but I'm just saying, maybe, look, maybe one day. But for now, we've got the muscle in there. Cynthia Vance Handling Business. Shout out to Cynthia

and the team at Invicta. Speaking of that event on Friday night, Pearl Gonzalez, and speaking of Pearl, actually, Pearl Gonzalez, getting it done via submission later in the evening. One of the two finishes from that night, Pearl really kind of finding herself in Invicta, Yeah. Maybe in hindsight, the UFC came a little too soon. Yeah.

And I have no problem with this. That's the type of thing that happens. Angela Hill, for example, you know, getting some tough fights early on coming to Invicta and now back in the UFC. Nothing wrong with that. Also from that save evening, Sarah, who we had earlier on the show, Sarah getting the submission, the first of her career. and becoming only the second fighter ever to hold a championship in Strikeforce and Invicta, the other being Chris Cyborg. Impressive.

So shout out to Sarah Kaufman. First victory. Sorry, for submission of our career. Over in Risen, Risen 10, we had Darren Krukshank. Look at that.

With the incredible head kick, K.O. Who'd have thought Darren Krukshank would be such a player in Risen? Like, they just pinpointed this sort of... They've found a good... He's found a good niche. He's this all-American dude who just... comes in there, he's matched up nicely, and

delivers the KOs. He's super exciting. It's been a perfect fit. I think this is perfect for him. It really has. I mean, it just goes to show again, if you get behind certain characters and you let them be characters, this guy who is just like, you know, Mr. FS1 prelim,

you know, never really got to, could turn into something. Well, there's also room to breathe. Like you're able to be more unique when you're not in the midst of 600 other people who are fighting for that same positioning. He's found a nice niche here.

Speaking of Risen, in the main event, we had Kiochi Horaguchi and Uncle Creepie E.Macal. Really clean, quick finish for Horaguchi, who at this point is giving a good account of himself looking like the one who could potentially challenge Demetrius Johnson. Problem being, he's not in the UFC to challenge Demetrius Johnson. And worth noting, he's doing this at essentially Bantamweight. he has moved up. Yeah. So.

But I think it's clear that he's one of top fly weights. It's a little top flyweight. No, fair. Those 10 pounds sometimes, you know, they take away some power. Who knows? But this is just amazing. For someone like Ian McCall to go down like this. And I saw some people say that maybe it was a early stoppage.

I don't know. Possibly, but no doubt about it that this was an impressive, an impressive finish here for a kilojooche. and you know Ian McCall taking it like a like a man now the next slide has to be one particular finish is it that no what not are we talking about you're sticking with Ryzen and you're showing you know three you're not you're not going to show me the the whatever that kick was no this look this is an m m m m m a show area what that is such BS you have shown us glory and all kinds of crap and also Horaguchi called them out Yeah, a potential fight with tension. Wow.

You really didn't show that. No, we're sticking to MMA, Aria. Wow. Okay, that is it. Just admit that you forgot about it. No, of course not. You consciously omitted that. This is an MMA show, Ariel.

Focus. Focus here. Okay. What a great finish this is, huh? John Gotti, the third guest of the show last week. Yes. Successful. Friend of the family.

friend of the family 30 seconds in getting to knockout Eddie is just a little bit overzealous there yeah and how impressive and how about our own Markramundi dubbing John Gotti Godi the third the scrapper

Don really really really we had the dapper don the Teflon this is the scrapper Don I mean that is straight out of New York Post that is New York Post 101 by Markramundi right I think he deserves recognition for that.

Let's acknowledge the creativity of Mark Ray Monday. Dylan Dennis. Yes. Taking shots at Michael Bisbing. After Bisping fired the first shot, Dan is saying, don't think you should be giving out fashion tips, kid, stay in your lane.

I like how he starts with calling a man much older than him, kid. Oh, it's brilliant. The whole thing is brilliant. Perfect execution here. The whole thing is fine. Here pictured wearing like a leather jacket, folding his arms.

It's very affliction circa like 2000. Yeah, but it is, it is in fact affliction. It is. Michael Bisping saying, well, Affliction paid me a lot to wear the jacket. It's called sponsorship. You may want to try and get some. First of all, I mean, right there.

Not bad. That's great. Also, if you're going to spend hours trawling the web looking for a bad pick, there's way worse out there than that. So, destroyed plus self-effacing, giving him an opportunity to find worse stuff. So here's the thing.

You say destroyed, but I will counter with the fact that he's getting the Michael Bispings of the world who gets called out and made fun of by everyone under the sun to even respond to him, quote, tweet, and all. Is that a bad thing? Is that...

No, no, not a bad thing at all. No, but I don't know if it's that hard to get Michael Bisping to engage with you. I feel like he's always looking for a fight. Maybe if it was somebody a little less ready to jump in and fire back, but certainly a good point.

He's getting what he wants in this scenario. But somebody watching from the sidelines was also impressed Aveo dos Anjos impressed with Bisbing's comeback to which Dylan Dana said, Don't speak at a turn, kiddo. So that's now two people significantly older, more mature,

and more experienced than him that he's then called a kid. I mean, he's playing this And then the slap to perfection. But then... Yes? Afeo dos angios, ending the whole thing with kiddo, question mark.

Say that when you see me. I was winning world titles when you were playing with your Legos, which is also on point. Dos Anjos with a great reply. But Dylan is winning. He's getting all these guys. He's not winning the exchanges, but he's getting what he wants.

He's getting what he wants. By the way, Gracie pinpointed it exactly. You noticed because then Gracie chimed in and Dylan said nothing. He is picking his spots and he's doing so in a very smart way. He's going after the top guy. He's going after the big fish. Who are not attainable right now. And he's getting all kinds of.

attention for it. This is not a possible fight in any capacity. So why not? Shoot your shot. Okay. Speaking of fights that are not currently attainable but can be Chris Cyborg here posting

a Brachus Cyborg shirt for 2019 coming this summer. Oh no, it says coming 2019 summer. Yeah. Yeah, that was that? That's what it says. Coming 20, 19. So she's clearly angling for a boxing match.

How about that? I think it seems like a possibility at this point. Yeah, what happens to Nunes? Connor McGregor making this type of thing seem almost normal. It's died down a little bit. Right? It was like all the rage.

Yeah, but I think this one seems more realistic than anything that else has been discussed. Well, I know this. I mean, Zufa boxing is still very much a thing. Sure. Mikey Garcia reportedly in talks. Yep.

And Dana White does have a good relationship with HBO, does not have a good relationship with Showtime. So if there was ever an opportunity with Cecilia Bracus fighting on HBO, maybe there's a co-promotion deal possible there because I do know he has a good relationship with the HBO folks. Speaking of co-promotion deals, meetings, 50 cent posting to Instagram that he's busy working. working on something that's going to blow everybody's mind. Yeah. That was good, that was good promotion on his part. Because I did speak to people who told me all about this. He's, he's interested in the fight game.

He has promoted some boxing and he, you know, reached out. It was, it was put to me as a sort of quote unquote fact-finding mission on his part. What is Scott Coker writing there? He's kind of like breaking down the way they do, you know, their matchmaking. He's not signing anything. I think people thought that he was like signing a contract. He's just kind of breaking down. Oh, 50's not in the main event of the next bell to-door?

No, no, no, but maybe a co-promotion of sorts, you know. But yeah, it's good. It's smart, you know, get people talking. What does hashtag lechie mend droid mean? I have no idea. Another language that I'm not familiar with. Yeah. Lechie men.

Not in my lexicon. I don't know what that I mean. Another interesting world of, another interesting missive from the crossover world. Chuck Liddell on Instagram posing here with Oscar de La Jolla. Yeah. Saying big things are happening. Great meeting today. Stay tuned.

Golden Boy MMA. Golden Boy promotions. Obviously, a lot of talk now about Golden Boy getting into the MMA space. What do you think of that? What are serious? Golden Boy MMA. How about that? Chuck and Tito being bandied about.

I'm okay with, yeah. You're okay with that? No, I was going to say, I'm okay. You know, I think it would be interesting. if Oscar got into the MMA space. I'm with that, but I don't know how I feel about... Yeah, that particular fight. That fight coming together.

By the way, there's a lot of assumptions being made. Very good chance. And I'm not, you know, I'm just throwing out, like, maybe Chuck's the face of the promotion. You never know. Interesting. But that's just an assumption on my part as well. I did reach out to De La Jolla to come on the show and talk about this,

but we could not nail down the time. Come on, Oscar. Let's do it. Let's do it, Oscar. Where you at? Okay, this one from local news. John Bones Jones. Yes.

Let's bring the audio up. Chival of High School of Jordan Aragon and her friends were having dinner at Tukonos before prom. Saturday night when they ran into MMA fighter John Bones Jones. Not only did he stop to take selfies with the teens, but he also picked up the bill for all 10 of them. It was an exciting prom store. I texted my family. Everybody's on their phone with their parents. It was pretty cool.

Cool. After dinner, the teens decided to pay it forward by giving a homeless man money for a bus ride. Look at that. Wow. Look at that. Good guy, John Jones. Johnny Bones. Spotting the prom dinner.

Yeah. And then they paid it forward to the homeless guy. Look at this. Good guy, John Jones. John Jones, we still have faith in you. It was nice. Yeah, that's nice. Okay.

Speaking of good stories, also New Mexico related. Oh, yeah. Ray Borg, giving us a number. another update things going well here in Denver, no more seizures, which means we are one step closer to getting home, and we got to take our first picture altogether. Thank you, everyone, for the continued prayer. So, congratulations to the Borg family. The way Ray Borg is handling all of this, and of course, I mean, he's just putting out a few tweets here and there, but with strength and dignity and during a very difficult time, you know, a positive outlook is just

unbelievably inspiring. Yeah, a lot of things going on outside of this. And, you know, a lot of things going on outside of this and really now i know you love to to highlight the positive but how about this lawsuit coming out in the midst of this from his former team and coaches and manager i mean i mean if that's the type of thing if if you have a heart jeez louise that is just yeah that is that is tough it took every and by the way that came out the same day yes that we got the last update no that came out the same day for me personally the oh nico montanio thing oh yeah yeah yeah and i suspect the same people were behind that Instagram post. And it took a lot to not weigh in on that.

I'm trying to take the high road here. But wow. Just. Yeah, not good. But on the positive side. Maybe wait. Maybe wait. Everybody doing much better on the Borg side. Yeah.

This one from M&M. I don't know if you saw this. Eminem making a Anderson Silva reference in his latest song. Eminem's still around. The five, five, nine. What? Come on. Okay, let's turn the audio

This is actually happening like Anderson Silva back when he snapped the shit in half and had this shit hanging by a flaper skin after he tried to plant the shit back on the mat again Wow. Referencing the Anderson Silva leg break. Damn. With some eloquence. Shout out to Eminem. In lots of detail. It'd be nice to get a little bit of a Chris Wyman name drop in there now.

Yeah, I mean, I think the point was to talk about snapping the legs more so than like. Like the power of checking leg kicks, but That is cool. That's a cool video. That's pretty cool. M&M. Royce to 5'9 still around two? Wow, you are, you're just throwing shots, huh? Oh, speaking of like references to music, pop culture, things like that, I have to tell you, I was very impressed.

That you pulled half baked. I was very impressed. You didn't think. I did not have faith at you. I was screaming it back here. I did not have faith. I tell you something, I'm impressed because I don't even think I'm impressed because I don't even think have seen.

I knew it. I knew it. That's the only... I knew it. I said that. That's the only Dave Chappelle movie that I know. Is there another one? There's a few Robin Hood Men and Tights.

He was famously... Gosh. Robin Hood Men and Tites. Wow. I had no idea... Great movie. No, I... Comedy Central Classic.

Yeah, but I had no idea he was in that. No, he's had an acting career. He's, um... He's a... He's actually a good actor, by the way. Chappelle. Wow. Underrated.

Um, um, But I was impressed, but now I'm less impressed because you pulled it randomly, not knowing anything. I kind of feel like that's even more impressive. The fact that I didn't see a nice... Clutch. It's clutch. I'll call it clutch. Let's do that.

Thank you. I appreciate that. Fortnite. Yes. Coming up with a new celebration called the boneless, boneless celebration. Here pictured, if you're listening and can't see, find it. But it's basically the Connor McGregor walk, the arm swinging. Now is it the Connor walk or is it what he did in the middle of the boxing ring on his media day before the Mayweather fight?

Both. That's his warm up. Well, that was a bit of a different one. That was like the Gracie warm up. I feel like it's that. I feel like it's more the, you know the one I'm talking about, right? Yeah, sure, but the arms going. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I think they're both pretty similar. I think the reason that walk was developed was to warm up. No? He's doing this in the cage. The walk is the Vitzigman. Billionaire Strut. No, no, no, no, no. There's two different things. You're talking about, like, him just, like, puffing out his chest. But this arm thing is also something he walks around in the cage doing. He does this in the cage. He does this in the cage, he does this arm. I kind of feel like now that I'm actually watching this. I kind of feel like they're combining two Conner things, Connerisms. The billionaire strut and the thing that he was doing. I kind of feel like they're combining two Connor things, Connerisms. The billionaire strut and the thing that he was. doing in the middle of the ring, the Gracie warmup. You know what I mean? Because the Gracie warmup, he wasn't moving his legs.

He was stationary. Anyway, more importantly, do you actually think that this is an odd? Yes, I do. I mean, what else would this come from? I don't know. Have you ever played Fortnite? I have not, actually. I was just exposed to it because my nephews are... Wait, wait, save that. There may be more on this later.

All right. Save that. We'll talk Fortnite in a little bit. WWE today, you touched on this earlier. Marina Shafir and Jesiman Duke also now reporting to the WWE's performance center. Are we setting up four horsewomen versus four horsewomen? Is it possible that we will get the four horse women squaring off against the other four horsewomen? Well, I must say after that amazing promo, remember the one where they ran into each other? I was all in. So.

Ariel being sarcastic here. No, no. It was not a... So after, you know... A good promo. This news, I would like to think so. Jesiman, I'm sorry, Jasmine. Shana and Rhonda already on the roster already competing.

Marina and Jesman to debut at some point maybe. We'll see. Yeah, I want more of that promo. Stop it. It was good. It was good. It was a bad promo. It was great. There was a lot of like fist in the palm, you know,

Yes, it was not good. We know, we know. They need King Moe. See, King Moe's got the, he was great today. Oh my gosh. Breaking it all down. Well, you get him on Skype. He promised it.

When you said, if he wins, he's going to do it. We're going to end with Brian Boom, Kelleher. Yes. Looking to angle for Jeff Wagenheim spot on the beat, even posting himself in the shirt. I think, look, he's making a good case. He really wants the spot. He really wants this. He even texts to me.

privately making his case. Now this is what I struggle with, all right? Talk to me. Okay. Are we going to go two for two in denying Brian? Well, what was the first time?

Rick's ticks. Oh yeah, that's right. Are we going to go two for two? Well, that's on you. So this one's on you. Okay, well, here's my thing. The MMA beat is the show about the MMA beat, right?

I hope everyone understands the play on words here, right? We cover the mixed martial arts beat, right? I hope. There's not a lot of knowledge about the news industry at the moment. You know, it's kind of an insider term, if you will. And so we have, we've bent the rules in the past. Most notably, we've had, you know, A-list or maybe A-plus list actor, Scholar Aston, who I have a beef with, by the way, these days.

Scholar Aston has completely turned his back on the world of mixed martial arts. He's fully a pro wrestling guy. He's like doing the NWO. thing with other podcasts. I mean, listen, but if you're a part of this crew, you're a part of this crew. You can't just go moonlighting with other crews. You know what I mean? Like, you're either an MMA podcast guy

or you're a pro wrestling podcast guy. And if you want to go do that your thing there, do your thing. But you can't come back and forth, all right? I feel like you know, you've made your decision. Anyway, he's been on the show and did a fantastic job. Yeah. Fantastic job. And you've been

on the show and you're not a typical... I'm not a reporter. I'm not a journalist. So it's one thing to have someone who kind of dabbles like yourself. It's one thing to have a celebrity fan, if you will. But to have a fighter, here's the issue. Let's say we talk about some weird thing that the UFC has done, right? Will he be able to weigh in on it?

Let's say we talk about something great that Belator has done. Will he be able to objectively weigh in on it? These are the issues. That is something, and it calls to mind the idea of, a network, you know, a fox, for example, having current fighters. Is that the best way to do it? Should it be retired fighters?

It is something to consider. It is something to struggle with. Yeah. What do you think? It sounds, look, sounds like you're not going to give Brian a shot and you know what? No, I'm just openly talking about it. Look, he's got a big week ahead of him, right? He's got a big week ahead of him. He's off to Rio.

Yeah. He's got a massive fight against John Lentiker. The guy has balls the size of Rio. I mean, he's like, yeah, John the Korean Brazil, sign me up. And especially after telling the story of him not wanting to get on the plane last time, like, he's stepping up big here. This is a huge fight for

Keller. And let's not, let's not forget after very recently on that same card in Orlando, defeating former champion Hannah-Barrell. Yeah, a lot of momentum here. Yes. So, he's got a big week. Let him figure it out. And then come back. I'm talking under advisement. By the way, Pierre

Mattis says, Ariel Hawani is correct. The billionaire strut and the Gracie warmup are different. Wow. Really? They're different. They're different. Yes. They're a hundred percent different. I feel like you're just. That's obvious. Well, what that woman in that clip was doing is not the billionaire strut. It's a variation of the billionaire strut, but I feel like it's. Okay. Conne McGregor, when he's pacing around the cage, may have his chest out, but what he is doing is warming up his arms, the same way. He's not. He is not. He is not. I I've never felt more strongly about anything in my life. He's doing the billionaire strut.

He is not moving his arms around that emphatically. You're wrong. It's the level of vigor is what you're saying, of which he's moving his arms. You're wrong. Is there a playoff game going on right now? Yeah, the Celtics tipped off. Wow.

Look, who cares about that series? I'm not just saying. I saw it like a tweet and I was like, what? It's like, six o'clock game. Yeah. Who, oh, who gets the honor of getting fed to the calves? Like, well, who cares about this? How's my guy, Brad doing?

He's doing all right. I'm sure. He's doing fun. Yeah, they'll be great. Sean Grandy, of course, voice of the Celtics. Look, there's plenty of people to feel bad for, but we don't have to get into every single one of them. We mean feel bad. Well, they're due for a beating.

Oh, okay, okay. Oh, we'll see. Al Horford. Yeah, look, Al Horford. Nobody plays better against the calves than Al Horford. The real. Kevin Love is going to put up 40 and 20 on him. The real R.O.I. Mr. Tatum.

Wait, so are you saying Donovan Mitchell? Wait. I want to see your European attention. All right, what else do we have? What else? What else? What else? What else? What else?

You've got to be careful with that many teams. Okay, okay. Okay, we're going to questions here. Okay, okay. MMA hour question a day. Which main card are you looking, which main card are you most looking forward to on Saturday night? Yeah.

What's wrong with that? I don't, sorry, forgive me. I don't have the poll result. Give me one second. Give me one second. I had five hours to get it. Yeah, I was doing some things back here, Ariel. What were you doing?

Nothing that important. Okay, the options were, Bellator 224, Bellator, sorry, USC 224, Bellator 199, with nearly 10,000 votes, 75% of you picking UFC 224, 25% picking Bellator 199. Shocked? No, because this is actually a really good main card. And by the way... I'm surprised that 25% said Bellator, to be honest.

Wow. The reason I didn't put card was because the prelims don't compare, of course. But this is a very good main card. I really like the main card for both cards, by the way. But again, as we've said many a time, they're both playing with a different set of cards. Amanda Nunes versus Raquel Pennington is the main event. what do you got as far as odds Let's check

No no no no no I'm doing the game Oh you're asking I think Nunes is going to be a A relatively hefty favorite More than 2 to 1 You know it's interesting I'm looking at best fight odds

Which is where I usually go And you know that aggregates all the betting Yeah but they have like yeah they have like I don't know 10 or so here Yeah I see as high as Minus 1200 And I

Yes as high as minus 1,200, and I see as low as minus 58. I've never seen that big of a discrepancy. Yeah, it must be a small book. Like, not all those books are the same. Okay, so sports book is the minus 1,200, but if you say I've never heard of that

because I don't know if I've ever heard of, five dimes you've heard of. Yeah, five dimes. Minus 1,000. It's typically pretty, yeah. William H is what? William Hunt, William Hurt? William, what's that one?

William Hill. William Hill. That's minus 588. I think that. Yeah, those seem very high. But have you ever seen that big of a discrepancy? It'll happen. It'll happen from time to time because what happens is the money comes in at different times and different amounts at the different books.

Typically, they will level themselves out and be pretty similar in where they end. I'm surprised by that. I actually haven't looked at the odds of this. So I'm surprised it's that high. I think Pennington's being a little bit underrated here. Now, granted, this path to the title is not. ideal having been injured like this.

So that is definitely a factor there. How about, okay, conversely, yeah, as low as plus 390 for Pennington, as high as plus 702. Where do they come up with 702? What a strange number that is? Yeah, that'll happen. It's weird, but it'll happen with the conversion,

because some of the odds are laid out in a fractional system. and then also the bets on it, it's complicated. But I think Pennington is being underrated here. I think she's game. I think she'll be dangerous. Ultimately,

I do side with Nunes. I do think those odds are a little bit crazy, though. That's a little bit off, in my opinion. I think there's some value on Pennington there. Kelvin Gaslam against Jacques-Roy-Sosa? That's, hmm. I would guess that's close to even. Yeah, it's minus 140 for Sosa plus.

133 for Gaslam. That doesn't shock me. That's one I would probably stay away from. I don't really know. Because Jacqueray looked back, looked back against Brunson. So I don't know.

Like, I think there was probably a sentiment that he was on the downside. That performance against Brunson made me think otherwise. It being close to even make sense to me. Amanda Cooper, McKenzie Dern. Dern's got to be a favorite there. But not a big one.

Mine is 217. That's plus 204. Doesn't surprise me there. I think she has a couple things. You know, the quick turnaround. I was not in favor of this quick turnaround. And then the news comes out that she's left the lab last week. There's a few things out there that, you know, give you.

I wouldn't be too concerned about that. I think that's, I think that's a great team. It's a great team to have in her corner that she no longer has. Leotoma Chita, excuse me, Brian Kelleher against John Lineker. He's an underdog for sure. probably plus 180, 200

somewhere in that range. So Brian is a plus 211, Lenifer is a plus minus 229. That seems right to me. It's a tough fight. But who would have thought if that matchup was made

before this? It's minus 12,200. Like, Kelleher deserves a ton of respect for what he's done to this point to get to this fight. And now he has a big opportunity. But that makes sense to me. I think Linnaker is one of the guys that belongs in that upper echelon in that division.

And how about our own Sean Al-Shadi, providing the information and the knowledge and the insight that I'm coming to you with or for? Yeah, what is he saying? Amanda Nunes's odds are weird because they've skyrocketed up over the past 48 days. usually he might mean hours but maybe days usually only happens if insider knowledge like an injury to Raquel or so and then he corrected 48 hours like an injury to Raquel or something happens there's been a ton of action since Sunday

what does I have to do with you're asking about the 702 in the ones column of the number not like that doesn't are you getting so defensive bro no because you always you always do this thing oh Sean's jumping in here with the with the insider info and it's not even related to what we're talking about. Get out of here.

By the way, you said Sean in such a New York way. Sean? Sean? My guy Sean. Yeah. No, shout out to Sean. I really like. Sean is the man.

He's great. He's just saying, I guess he's saying why the drastic numbers are different? Why it's so high? Why it's so high? Yeah, it could be, but that's going to be book dependent. Like, the bets are not all coming in at all the books at once. But I am shocked by, I'm shocked by that, the lowest number of those, though. shocked that even that number is so high

that the minus, what was it? You said it was like minus 500 something? I'm shocked by that even. I think Pennington is undervalued here. I think she is a game fighter. And I think this matchup is not a foregone conclusion.

Machita Belfort. I don't know. I don't even know how to pick that. I'm not surprised by these. Machita probably a favorite. I have no idea. Machita is minus 255 Belford is plus 236 To me those are the types of fights I would stay away from

Both of these guys are on the downside Like it's a tough one to say Who's in better shape at this point? Other than the main they're all pretty close But yeah it's a solid fight card Jack Herman's I think it's a really good card Yeah Sultan Aliyev against the Worley Alves It's how rare is it where you're this many fights deep

And you know every single person That's what tells you Well especially for those international cards And what about King Mo Ryan Bader? Ooh, these are interesting. Bader's going to be a favorite. What was Mo's last fight? Was that Rampage?

No. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow. Almost 14 months ago. I'm going to guess Bader is a big favorite that maybe minus 300, something like that. Yeah, minus the highest I see is minus 345. Lois is minus 255.

And then King Mo plus 294. That doesn't surprise me just because of inactivity, the strength of competition. Bader's been in there like kind of being active against really good opponents. I think that's a tough matchup for Mo. I don't think it's unwinnable, but I do think it's a tough matchup for Mo. I think Bader's really, really good right now. Should it bother me? Should I be insulted?

I'm pretty open about the show tweeting links and things like that. Should it bother me when people who are in the MMA community like text me things that are not related to the show in the midst of the show. You have to forgive that maybe they don't know you go this long. Yeah, okay, fine. It is 625 right, Eastern time. All right, fine. All right, let's blow through these questions and get out of here.

Which about are you looking forward to the most this weekend? Which is the one that you would call the people's main event? Which is the one to watch? Oh, my. Well, you know, every time a champion fights, it's notable and special. So I am interested in a man of it. No, no, especially with Pennington. By the way, I could have said Ryan Bader.

How do you know? I am really Fadeer Oh geez tough I am really interested in the Jaceray-Kelvin fight

I think that's mine I am super interested in seeing how Dern does with the quick turn around I mean we have an emotional connection to Brian Kelleher

sure the Machita Belford dual retirement fight is is interesting I want to see what Junior

Albini wears does he go the diaper does he go the diaper Paul Daly with all All that going on. The return of Aaron Pico, there is a lot to like here.

There is. I'm going Jacaray, Kelvin. I think that has the most intrigue and the most implications for what's next in that division there. And if you're a boxing fan, Lomachenko fighting for free on ESPN on Saturday night as well. So there's a ton going on. If Nick and Nate Diaz came back this year in their respective weight classes and on separate cards, who do you think sells more pay-per-views? Gosh. Who is the bigger job?

The more clout right now. Is it Nate or is it Nick? Dare I say Nate Diaz? Nate still has it. I wouldn't think that that's unconventional or an unpopular opinion. Two years ago, it would be, right? Yeah, but Nate is more active recently. Like, he's still fresher in the mind.

So that would be, you know, I guess almost what I would expect. I don't know the answer. It's very difficult to say. They've both kind of been on the sidelines. It's a byproduct of his two fights with Connor at the future honor. But there's an expiration point for that. Sure.

Yeah. And it's just almost two years. Like if he comes back on August 4th, it will be almost exactly two years. Which would be a more interesting story? Does it depend on who Nate gets? I think it depends on both. Yeah. Yeah.

You know, if Nick fights someone who's not really a big name and it's just a fight. I think that's still a big deal. I'm wondering just how motivated he is. Is he doing this for the right reasons? Does he need the money? I mean, it's been a long time. He last fought at UFC 183. Yeah.

You know? A long time ago. It's been a very long time. Nate Diaz versus GSP being talked about. Any truth to this? Okay, so I reported last week that they're in serious talks to come back. I reported that top five lightweights are being discussed, and it's easy kind of process of elimination to find out who's available and who's not

because Habib and Connor weren't being discussed. Tony Ferguson is injured, so that leaves. Eddie Alvarez. Kevin Lee and Dustin Porrier there's the whole thing going on with Dustin Porre and Eddie Alvarez

they want to do Dustin Porre versus Eddie Alvarez they want that fight to be July 28th in Calgary they need a main event do you know why

they need a forget it so Nate wants to come back he wants to fight on that card he likes fighting the idea of fighting in Los Angeles somewhat close to home

California native was the idea thrown out, has it been bandied about? Yes. Is it anywhere near done, close to done? No. And so I think

that it is a Hail Mary because Nate has said repeatedly that that's Nick's fight. Remember? Yep. I think he said it on this show. That's Nick's fight.

And I don't know if Nick would feel too good about that. That's a fight he's wanted back. That's a fight he feels very strongly about. That's a fight that he feels he was wronged in. And conversely, we asked GSP very recently on this program about Nate and some others. And I don't know if he feels like he has a ton to gain from that fight because of the fact that Nate is smaller. He beat his brother. There's no legacy attached to that, right?

He's coming off a loss. There's no high stakes. It's just kind of a fight. So if the UFC is banking on that happening August 4th, I think you have a better chance of booking Nate against someone else than if you want to back August 4th. Like maybe you do some work and it takes some time and you wait for MSG or something like that. Maybe. But I think that if Nate is coming back on August 4th, you have a better chance if you want him to come back of trying to go down another path.

Sure. If that makes sense. By the way, let's give credit to the first person who threw that out there because I know he'll get all up in arms, Mr. Mike Russell, who I think was the first person to tweet that. He gets very worked up when he doesn't get the mention. Okay, credit to Mike. Yeah, so, yeah, you know, scale of 1 to 10, I would put it below the 5 mark at this point.

Your opinion on Greg Hardy being given a shot in the Contender series and how controversial it is based on his past. This one doesn't feel to me like the juice is worth the squeeze. He's two and O's an amateur. He has not fought a pro. The two fights that he had at amateur did not seem like his opponents were worth sneezing at. And he has the checkered past. He has the baggage.

To me, you're doing, you're setting up the contender series to be the heir apparent tough. It's done a good job of pinpointing talent. It has, yeah. Most notably, Sean O'Malley. You're putting a guy like... There's a lot of guys. Julian Marquette. Yeah, yeah.

I'm saying most notably, the guy who's got the most of us. But yes, Marquette. You're putting a guy like Nick Newell on there. Yep. And they've signed some other good talent, LFA champions and whatnot. And then him, it's like, is the juice worth the squeeze here? Now, I wonder, what I'm curious about, what kind of attention does this get? Yeah.

Kind of, if he flies under the radar and you put him in your sort of training camp, if you will, and you kind of tuck them away, fine. but this to me seems like if you're truly interested in being in the Greg Hardy business, what I would do is you put them on some kind of retainer like you did with Cyborg and McKenzie. You have them go fight for LFA. You have them fight locally in Texas and places like that. And you just kind of let that happen. You let them get a few fights.

But to kind of put them on the contender series, which by the way, at the same time, they're doing a casting call for tough for women's 145 and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, men's heavyweight and in that they write that you must have a winning record and at least three pro fights under your belt which i think is a fine you know a fine sort of delineation mark and what are you saying about your show yeah when you don't have those stipulations attached so i was i was surprised i was surprised and i don't know if this is one where you're trying to get him away from beltor but like man i was surprised with that one i could be i could be you know i'm trying to take anything away from his talent. He's given

us two fights, amateur fights, not against the best competition, hasn't even turned pro yet. We don't know how fully in... I mean, I know he's at ATT, he's living there and all that stuff, but I just don't know if the juice is worth to squeeze on this one. Sure. We'll see what happens. Returning to

something we mentioned earlier, Ariel, do you let your children, do you let your kids play Fortnite? Oh, that's a great. Or would you let your kids play for? My oldest son, Oliver, six years old, is getting so into video games, and And I'm a little annoyed because I feel like video games are something that, you know, there has to be sort of like a game plan as far as video games are concerned. And he was exposed to video games early and it was sort of not our doing.

And now he's just all in. And he's obsessed. You mean not your doing? Somebody else came over and had video games. Yeah. Okay. And he just caught the bug. And he's so into it.

He is all about Super Mario brothers. He loves Super Mario. All things Super Mario. He watches YouTube videos of people playing Mario Bros. There's a Super Mario cereal. You've got to get it from now. I don't even know if we can go there. I'm sure it's very nutritious.

And they're like both my sons are like almost betting on this thing. Like they are openly rooting for their guy to win. And they are freaking out like I'm freaking out when I'm watching a Knicks game. It's unbelievable how into it they are. And it's unbelievable the views that these videos have. 65 million, 72 million, 400 million. It's unbelievable. Big industry.

And now he's wearing it. hat that he's wearing a shirt and he's all in and it's very innocent and i'm okay with it mario's nice innocent it reminds me of my childhood i showed him the the 1990s cartoon but then we're at my nephews his cousin's house and they were playing fortnight and they're all about it and they're like ten and eight and they're playing fortnight and they're listening to post malone who i just found out about never heard of this guy and they're listening to kendrick lamar i'm like what is going on here and they're playing Fortnite and I've heard of Fortnite but I've never actually seen it in action

and they're all about it and then Oliver, you know, light goes off in his in his mind, he's like, what's this, Fortnite? I've heard of this, but I don't know what it is. And they're explaining to him with the shooting and stuff like that. Now I'm worried that he's going to be exposed to it because I understand it's free? That's unbelievable.

How is it so popular if it's free? I guess that's why it's so popular. But how do they make money off of it? The stuff that you buy? Yeah, partnerships, advertisers. Like there's all kinds of stuff. It's crazy. And also, yeah, Danny's saying they sell skins.

as well. Who's buying this stuff? Anyway, they're super into it, the kids, but my son has not been exposed. Are you going to let him? It's hard to stop. It's really hard to stop. But he listens to me, like I say,

no killing and things like that. So right now he's just all about Mario. He really wants the Nintendo Switch. He wants to play Mario Odyssey. His friend has it. I'm stopping that from happening because I don't want him to be, you know, walking around

with a portable thing. So we limit things here and there. But yeah, it's amazing. Like, they get exposed to it and they're just like sucked in. They can't get enough all day. All he talks to me about is Mario, this, that. It sounds like there could be worse outlets for him.

I think that this is positive. Yeah, but it's crazy. Like the stuff that you're exposed to on YouTube is unbelievable. Like you can actually watch people play Mario. You know this, right? Yes. You can watch people do a lot of things on the internet area. True.

But like Mario Brothers. And it's like a weird Mario. It's like they're going through these mazes and they're like they're actually saying, okay, I got Luigi, you got Mario. Let's see who wins. and they're watching it like it's a sporting event. It's crazy. I think your efforts are going to be in...

Futile. I think, yeah, Fortnite is going to come at some point. Maybe by the time he's old enough, it's a new game, you know? That's fair, but... Maybe it's Castlevania. Or Duck Hunt. Or Double Dragon. Those are my games back in the day.

So what, you're playing these games and your son's not allowed? I'm a little older. I was a little older. I was in five years older, six years old. How old? When did you start? It probably was like eight or nine. Yeah, I'm not, listen, I'm not a hypocrite. My wife's like, oh, don't let them watch TV.

I'm like, I kind of work in that world, you know? I can't be the guy to say don't watch TV when I sort of, you know, aspired to be on television myself. So I'm not one to limit, you know, you want to watch TV, knock yourself out. You can't watch it for like nine straight hours, but I'm not anti-TV or video games or things like. I say let them play games. Let them play games. You just got to limit it. That's fair.

Good parenting right there. Yeah. That's it. Oh, that's it. Yeah, look. That's cool. I'm good. Yeah.

Next time we speak, it will be calves up over the Boston Celtics and you will. Unless they, unless they, you know. You'll have a new team to root for, sure, whatever. Listen, it's all well and good. As long as my Vegas Golden Knights are continuing to kill it. They are doing a phenomenal job. What a story. It's really outstanding.

I would love to do a show just based off of, I would love to do a show, greatest sports story in the history of North America. in sports, Vegas Golden Knights. And then I get these people who are like, what about the 2004 Red Sox? Yeah, they were around for 100 years. Are you kidding? Okay, but that is a great story.

May 7, 2017, this team did not exist. They didn't have a single player on their team. It's a great story, but I mean... Get out of here. The Red Sox got destroyed by the Yankees, Aaron Boone, the whole thing, and then the next year, they come back from down three-one? No greater achievement.

No greater achievement. It's a great achievement. It is a phenomenal achievement. I can't profess to be a hockey aficionado, but like that Red Sox. Expansion team blows through the regular season. Joe's over here. Rubbing himself.

I was going to ask you, did Cormier's bandwagoning, did he open you, did he expose you to this? Did you now think that this was acceptable? Where did this come from? That you're able to claim all these different teams and just be. I am a lover of sports. I'm an admirer.

Is it Cormier, though? Did he? Athletics. No, he does it. Him jumping around on all these different? There's a reason for my. admiration. I can go through the mall, but we don't have any time for that.

Okay. Bye-bye. Great. Thank you so much. Appreciate all the questions, tweets, comments. You don't have to go home, but you do have to get the hell out of here. So you can hit my music. It is time to go home, my friends. We have a lot. Yeah.

We have a lot to get to tonight, though. There's a lot of sports to watch basketball and whatnot. Maybe we'll even watch Monday Night Raw. Here's Kristen weighing in. I'm really disappointed in myself for not working. Is the juice worth the squeeze into my everyday conversations? It's a phenomenal line. What can I say?

And it really captures the essence of the question. Is the juice worth the squeeze? Have you ever tried to squeeze juice out of an orange? The thing takes a lot of time. And you've got many, many oranges to get one, you know, tall glass of orange juice. So is it worth it? Oftentimes it is not. Greg Hardy?

Not sure if it is. Anyway, what a fun weekend we have coming up in the world of mixed martial arts. Belator, UFC, it's always fun when they go head to head. We'll be back next week to recap it all. But for now, we shall say goodbye. Thank you very much to everyone who tuned in. Thank you very much to everyone who stopped by. Thank you very much to the great Yawani and Jacek.

Good luck to her on July 28th in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, against Tisha Torres. Thank you very much to Sarah Kaufman. And congratulations to her for becoming the new Invict FC women's bantamweight champion. I just screwed it up. just be a bantamweight champion. So there you go. Thank you very much to Jorge Mazvedal. Good luck to him. Thank you very much to Justin Willis. How much fun was that? We had a bit of a laugh off there for a second. It was great. Thank very much to King Mo. Good luck to him. Thank you very much to Paul Daley. Good luck to him. Thank you very much to him. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much to John Fett. Thank you very much. Thank you to both Neiman Gracie and Cody Garbrandt. Check out the book, the pack. Both of them came in studio. Appreciate that very much. Back next week, same time and place till I say P. Thank you.