MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani - Episode 319

Episode Date: March 8, 2016

Ariel Helwani speaks to Rafael dos Anjos, John Kavanagh, Paige VanZant in studio, Jake Shields, Robert Follis, Chi Lewis-Parry, and Chuck Mindenhall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Squarespace, you should. It's the mixed moxed. Martial Arts Hour with The Mixed Martial Arts Hour back in your life. On this Monday, March 7th, 2016. Hello again, everyone. I'm Mario Hawani.

Inside our New York City studio back in New York after a crazy stretch of travel back for the next month or so. Last time I was home for this long was back in October. And of course, the stretch begins now.

And that is a very good thing. but I got to tell you, today is a very special day, my friends. I've been doing this program with New York Rick for a little over four years. And during that run, I have never, ever received a text, an email, a fax, a telegram, a phone call, nothing from him before the show to tell me that he was so excited. for Monday's program. Never got that. Not once. Yesterday, when I landed in New York

from Las Vegas, I got that text. New York, Rick, effing pumped for today's show. That tells you just how special today's show is. That tells you just how special this weekend was. Wow. What a weekend. The MMA world turned upside down. All the

Monday morning quarterbacks coming out, saying this is the end of MMA, this is the end of UFC, this is the end of Connor McGregor, this is the end of the Holly Home, Ronda Rousey rematch. They're all wrong. It was a fantastic night. Again, it was one of those nights that reminds you why we love the sports so much. It reminds you that unpredictability, underdogs, upsets, that's why we love sports. Forget about MMA. That's why we watch these things. To see the unpredictable, to see people rise to the occasion when they've never done that before, get the opportunity of a lifetime.

Seize that brass ring. Take it home. Change your life. That's what we saw on Saturday night. And we saw the vanquished act like professionals. We saw the vanquished act more impressively in defeat than they've ever acted in victory. All four of the particulars involved in Saturday's main event and co-main event on Saturday night blew me away. Nate Diaz for what he did perpetually.

in the shadow of his older brother, Nick, finally gets a shot in a UFC main event pay-per-view on 11 days' notice on top of all of that, rises to the occasion, chokes out Connor McGregor in the second round, and the first thing that comes out of his mouth is, are you surprised mother Fers? I'm not surprised, mother Fers, to be exact.

What a way to sum up an amazing run for Nate Diaz. a guy who not that long ago was on the sidelines looking in, was taken off the UFC rankings, you know, a guy who was offered a fight or thought he was going to fight last summer. UFC announces that he's fighting Matt Brown. He's like, no, I didn't agree to that. I'm not fighting. Sits on the sidelines some more.

I mean, what a story for Nate Diaz, finally getting that moment that he had been striving for, said that he wasn't getting the push, wasn't getting the attention. Look at him now. It kind of feels like he's a champion. And I guess that goes to, you know, it speaks to what Connor was saying about him being his own belt. It kind of feels like Nate Diaz is a champion now. We forget that he didn't win a belt on Saturday night, but maybe he won a whole lot more.

And then you have Misha Tate, who was maybe two minutes away from her final shot at UFC gold. Her final shot to become a UFC champion. And she somehow, once again, digs down deep, submits Holly home in dramatic fashion, shades of her win over Marlos Kuhn and then some. What a moment that was. Holly and Connor handling it like true pros and putting out the blueprint once again on how to be a professional

and how to hold your head high and how to say F you to the haters, I'll be back. Beautiful stuff on Saturday night. Of course, we're going to talk about all that and a whole lot more, so let's get right into it. At 125, we're going to talk to Misha Tate's coach Robert Follis about the big win, 145, Hafeld dos Santos,

who was supposed to fight Connor McGregor on Saturday night. to talk to him about the loss and his injured foot, 205. Page Van Zant is going to be in this very studio. She'll be joining us. Can't wait for that. 255, much respect to John Kavanaugh, the head coach over at SBG Ireland. He'll be joining us to talk about the loss.

Shy Lewis Perry, who may not be a household name. He's a member of One and Glory, an MMA fighter and a kickboxer. He is in the corner of Daniel Cormier. He is training with Daniel Cormier at A.K.A. and was very much, maybe not in the news, but he got involved in some action on Friday in Las Vegas. We'll talk to Shai at 315. At 355, we're going to talk to Jake Shields,

who, of course, was in the corner of Nate Diaz on Saturday night and has been with the Diaz brothers since pretty much day one for them, as far as their MMA careers are concerned. And at around 345, we'll hear from you. Hit us up, as always, using the hashtag the MMA hour or leave a call. question or comment in the comments section below. But first, let us go to the Skype machine and welcome in my good pal and colleague over at M.AFighting.com. The one and only, the man in the hat, Chuck Mindenhall joins us right now to help make sense of Saturday night in Las Vegas. Chuck,

what an amazing stretch this has been for the UFC. You were there back in December. Page loses to Rose in dramatic fashion. Frankie Edgar knocking out Chad Mendez, Connor winning at 194. Then you have RDA, starching, Seroni. Then you have Loller Condit, Dillish. Cruz and that madness, a sage losing, and then you had Wonderboy rising to the okay, and then you had this craziness. I mean, it just keeps every single weekend. It feels like something crazy is happening these days in the UFC. But let me ask you the question that the great Dan Patrick, you like that name drop,

asked me this morning on his radio show. What was the bigger shocker in your opinion? Misha Tate beating Holly Holme or Nathan Diaz defeating Connor McGregor. Well, first of all, I appreciate you slum with me after Dan Patrick, man. Well, you know, I don't forget the little people. Well, I got to say it's Misha Tate. You know, just given that Holly Holie Holm, you know, where she was from, where she had just come from having beaten Ronda Rousey, I still wasn't sure. I mean, it's always a style-makes match-ups type of thing, but Misha Tate coming in, I wasn't so sure she would be able to get it done.

I thought Holly Holm would want to, you know, come out guns, blazes. She seemed very serious, serious-minded going into this fight, very similar to how she did going into the Ronda fight. So I just really believe that she would find a way to get it done in the end. So, me should say winning it, I mean, looking at what McGregor was kind of going up against, everybody knew it was a little bit, he was throwing dice just to see how hot he was. He was, you know, he's kind of going up to 170 pounds, just saying, I'll meet you on your own terms, and just given all those circumstances, that was a, you knew that that was going to be a little bit more of a stretch. If he was able to go in there and beat Nate Diaz, which the odds were astronomical,

and that was so ridiculous how Vegas had the odds set for that fight, It was never supposed to be like a four to one favorite or whatever he was. That was a little bit crazy. But in terms of being able to go up there, and if you'd beaten Diaz, I think that would have been, you know, it would have been a nice big deal because he could have gotten the 200 fight against Robbie Lawler, who knows from there. But ultimately, you know, going up in that weight and everything else, a bigger guy, landing the big shots, he wasn't able to put him away. I mean, that's not that unpredictable. So in my mind, it was Misha.

The other thing that the Monday morning quarterbacks, the sports columnists, I love to wax poetic about the UFC anytime something like this goes down, the other thing that a lot of them are saying is this was a horrible night for the UFC. This proves that the UFC cannot, you know, cannot, the model in which the UFC is built on cannot be sustained. It continues to crumble every time they make a big star and the world is watching. Do you think that this was a bad night for the UFC to have Holly Home and Connor McGregor lose on the same night? No, man. It's if you haven't learned by now, I mean, I feel like in recent years we've really seen this, it's a hop-a-ton. You know what I mean? Like every time that somebody kind of comes up, there's this baton who gets passed.

If you feel hollowed out by something that happens, you know, in the cage, there's always some new enthusiasms that kind of come out of it that fill you back up. It's a ridiculous sort of thing that way. Now, having said that, the two stars that really got, gotten big, because we remember, we were talking about this thing. sort of plateauing there for a little bit in 2012 and I think 13. And then you get Ronda Rousey burst on the scene. She sort of reinvigorates this whole other world of mainstream attention and then girls getting into, you know, M.MA and just sort of galvanizing this movement. And then you get Connor McGregor who comes in. He's got a country behind him and he sort of takes the whole thing by storm. That's, you know, these are nice narratives. They're very cool. It's

great for us to cover it as a journalist and to watch these guys come up. But it's inevitable. I really feel like in UFC that these it's it's just not cut out like that guys people are going to lose um that's the way it's going to be and really now it comes down to how they lose you know what i'm saying it's like how do these how do these people lose because you know ronda rousey in a weird way she was a pioneer even in this because she lost in her sort of like voluntary seclusion her kind of turning inward colossally going inward and sort of shutting everybody out was a weird thing to witness and then you watch con mcgregor who goes through it and he handles it in another way and he gives you like this this almost enthusiasm for how he handles himself that way. So it's like a, it's, it's,

it's sort of a revolving thing. He also has a lot of better, you know, a better thing's going on from. Obviously, he still has the belt. He can go down there. He has a lot of other things going on in that sense. But I do not think, honestly, like this is a huge blow. I feel like almost this won't matter. And this is like when it was aster's fights because he went up to 170, he could put it in the river mirror. He gets smaller and smaller if he goes down there and defends even once if he beats Frank Edgar or whatever. I don't, I really don't think it's going to be that big of a deal. Not taking anything away from Nate because it was a huge win for him and let's not forget he typically fights or has success at 155. It almost felt like a

heat check fight for Connor McGregor. Like when a guy, you know, chucks up a three, you know, 40 feet out and just wants to see how hot he is. That's what this was. I mean, I've been killing everyone at 1.45. Let me just roll the dice and fight bigger guys. But you bring up a great point about Connor because you're right. Rhonda handled that loss pretty poorly. I mean, look at the way, look at the way Holly handled it, let alone Connor. Connor comes out of his locker room when I'm waiting for him to do the Fox interview, head held high, wearing a fantastic suit, and just says, you know what, I'm not going to apologize for taking this shot.

I'm going to keep on coming. And, you know, all the other guys who are dancing on my grave, here's a one-finger salute for you. I don't really care. Shows up to the press conference. And I was wondering, how will people respond to this? Are they going to laugh at him? And yeah, you'll have some people like that and some people who are sort of happy that he crumbled on one night. But I don't know about you

I've heard from so many people are like Man that was impressive I never really liked the guy before I couldn't stomach him Now I kind of respect him Now I kind of root for him Now I want to see him succeed and rebound It's amazing how just showing up

And owning the loss How that can be perceived right Yeah absolutely Let's not forget Sports are an escapist Sort of thing to do You're watching sports It's a vicarious sort of experience

You turn it up a notch in the fight game Maybe the vicarious Your emotions get a little more into the sport. But it's still an escapist sort of route, right? Psychologically, it's like an escapist. You put your things aside and you watch these other people. We follow their struggle and this kind of thing. Ronda, it was weird with Ronda Rouse, because she turned so inward and sort of shrank her world so much, it was like you're witnessing then an escapist route from the person who had sort of emboldened the

sport to begin with. So it was never a, it was very sort of odd, and I don't think it ever really sacked that well with people who'd followed her career and sort of thought she'd stand for, you know, so much. had to come to stand for so much in the sport. People wanted her to kind of handle it, you know, to do something. I think we were waiting, you know, when is she going to congratulate home? When is all this stuff going to happen? Hannah McGregor, I always have the feeling that he was going to lose as graceful as he won,

and I thought that that really came out. It's inevitable. He's a guy who puts it together. You understand the game. I mean, is that elevated to understand inevitably he's going to lose. He has lost. And I thought it was, you know, in this sport, you choose, you choose to follow these people on their rides. And he was one of those guys like, you could hear it, you know, the loss will stand.

It's a fact. That's what happened. But the way he handled is how you'd choose to roll with him. Do you want to roll with him and keep going with his good vibes? Yeah, sure, because you know what? He was handling. He handled it fine. He treated his level.

He said he took it on the chin. He moves on. I can really appreciate that. And I always have, you know, and any competitor who, you know, just says, you know, I went out there. I tried. I lost. So you have to move on. And people are going to have to understand, I guess, at some point in the UFC, this is going

to happen. I mean, it's just inevitable. I think everybody's going to lose. It's how you kind of come back. And I feel like for him particularly, he lose nothing in the storyline. Yeah, that unpredictability is what makes the UFC or MMA in general so fascinating, so much fun to watch as a fan and as a journalist.

I'm reminded of what Connor said following his win over Dustin Porier, and he has been consistent from the get-go. I mean, you even talk to people who have been covering him from his days, you know, in Cage Warriors, and prior to that, I'm cocky in prediction, I'm confident in preparation, I'm always humble in victory and defeat. And if you look at the Denisiever fight, if you look at the Porri fight, even Aldo to agree, I mean, he's actually giving, well, now not anymore because Aldo called him, you know, the P word, but he gave Aldo props after, he's not the kind of guy to laugh in your face as far as, you know, the opponent is concerned. Here's what I love so much

about the night, though. Obviously, the way Holly and Conard handled the loss with class and professionalism, that was great. But such beautiful stories when you talk about Misha Tate and Nate Diaz. Misha Tate, so, I mean, that night, UFC 168, when she lost to Ronda Rousey, she was crushed. You could see, she extended her hand. Rhonda didn't shake it back. I mean, she was just mentally, emotionally, physically crushed. And she finally gets that win on, you know, like vintage Misha Tate, like she's down and out and then she goes for it, Hail Mary, two minutes left, gets a submission. And then you have Nate, who's always in the shadow of his brother, who has been asking for this moment and he rises to the okay.

I mean, you can't help but feel so good for those people as well. That's why the whole mix of all four characters and their stories and what this all means to them was just a beautiful thing. One of the best, one of the best nights as far as stories are concerned for the UFC. You know what I mean? Yeah, and also just taking advantage of opportunity. I mean, obviously like Misha Tate was promised the title shot and then it was taken away from her and then all of a sudden she gets it again in a roundabout way

and she's able to kind of go in there and it was very intriguing in the sense of the stylist matchup And also we talked about, like, who, you know, who benefits the most from this? So this is so bad for the UFC. Well, it really isn't. I don't think. I mean, having Misha Tate on the other end of that matchup again with Ronda Rousey coming at her, if that's what they opt to go with, which I guess is the most logical thing to do, is a big fight. You know, and not to mention, I mean, she's went and what, five fights in row, six fights in row.

I mean, she has been kind of rolling along, and it's been almost two and a half years since that last fight. There's that bad blood intact. I love that whole thing because I felt like. like the UFC really couldn't lose. And for Misha to sort of do a prototypical Misha fight where she basically is losing. She comes back. She almost wins.

And then she's losing again. She's inevitably going to lose. And then she finds a way in the end. It was a pretty sizable fight for her to kind of come through. It'll probably stand, unless she's able to beat Ronda Rousey coming up here. It'll probably stand as the hallmark of her career, I think. I mean, that was just an amazing thing. And then Diaz, of course, it was funny because we were talking about RDA when we were in Orlando.

And RDA, you know, he had a great performance against Cowboy Soroni. He just smoked him in the first round. But we were all talking about, I remember after we're spending more time talking about Diaz because he was able to sort of call out McGregor, get by, you know, Michael Johnson, call out McGregor. And he was sort of lurking in that space. And so when it kind of, when the gates opened up for him to get in there, it became very fun. This whole time, these 11 days were probably the most fun. Got to be right up there.

And then I top five of like short buildups where you're just like, wow, this is going to be pretty crazy. and then for it to sort of play out the way it did. And McGregor, I mean, he was, again, in that first round, it's such a joy to watch his movement, how fluid he is, and it's striking. And, like, you know, he was trying, he was gunning to take his head off on all those shots, man. So just the way it all was set up, the way it played out,

and the beauty of the sport being that you never know. You just never know who's going to win these fights. You know, the odds makers, they put these steep ledges and stuff, but, I mean, it just doesn't live it. The fights are just what they, they're, They tell you everything you need to know. I keep thinking about Misha Tate back in August, you know, waking up to a text that Ronda Rousey went on Good Morning America

to announce that she'll be fighting Holly Home next and not her. And she seemed so far away from the title at that point was thinking about retirement. And now here she is finally with UFC gold. And Nate Diaz, not that long ago, getting removed from the UFC rankings just because he wouldn't play ball. And now here he is as the guy who finally, you know, beat Connor McGregor in the UFC. What an amazing turn of events for both of them. and you really can't help but really feel amazing for them.

Okay, so let me ask you this. What should they do with Misha Tate? Do you think this expedite? Because if Rana Rousey was coming back or planning to come back in October, November, that's in eight months. Do you try to do Misha versus someone else or do you wait for Ronda?

Maybe Ronda comes back sooner or now that she has that confidence that she really hates Misha and wants to get the belt back and also answer this one for me. What do you do with Connor? It's clear that, you know, he's going to go down and it looks like he's going to go down to 145 again, despite the fact that he's, looks like death when he weighs in at 145.

Do you do the Aldo rematch or do you finally give Frankie Edgar that shot? Start with Misha. All right. So with Misha Tate, you know, we joke. I've been joking. I'm like, you know, if Misha comes somehow wins, I bet Ronda's UFC 200 date becomes available. Now, I don't know if that'll actually have. But I do think that for Ronda Rousey psychologically, this is a much more approachable thing

to come up against now, you know, and the point of she has a career, I mean, literally, I believe she's been living in a sort of. sort of place up until this moment. And I feel like this is that one thing for her to kind of get excited about because you're not saying, I don't think she was, she's not ducking home. I don't think she's ducking home. I think it's just one of those things, she hasn't been able to process this whole thing. Because it's more Ronda on Ronda than it is Ronda on home particularly. But I feel like because they have the bad blood, this is a perfect entrance for her to get back in there. Now, when that happens, I don't know. So if she sticks to her, her plan of fighting in

October and November, I could see Misha Tate fighting again. And I guess at that point, you got a couple of good options. Amanda Nunes obviously was calling for the fight in the post-fight presser. And then you got people like Katzenganos sort of hovering out there. I suppose she could fight one of, you know, could fight that, fight one of those. I don't think you'd do a home rematch right away. But I would maybe go with some just to keep the thing flowing. I think you've got to keep her on the sidelines.

It was okay to roll the dice with home tape because you had the backup plan of Misha Rhonda 3, but now you can't ruin it because Rhonda has no story with Amanda Nunes. The cat fight was to one side. I think you've got to keep her on the sidelines for seven, eight months. That's true. For McGregor, I mean, again, it's great because I wrote a little piece to make space to saying he's got a lot of captives down at 135. He has a lot of people that are sort of gunning for him.

There's two very obvious ones, and both of them are making a big case to get that fight. I don't really think they can go wrong either way. But honestly, because I know Luke Thomas likes to talk about this. the sort of fatigue we get with rematches and stuff like that. It's not an immediate rematch if he goes against Aldo, but I would still lean towards giving Frankie Edgar that fight. I mean, I feel,

you can't help but feel that he's, you know, this was, you know, 96 was like his, just like, on it, like his ray of sunshine that sort of blossomed,

because you could see it. He was doing a, he was doing this, he was a part of the Fox commentary, and basically he lit up, essentially toward the end. He was like a different guy. Like,

it was like, everything had sort of coming up. But yet Dana wouldn't commit. You see on the desk, Dana wouldn't commit. It's like, man, what does this guy have to do? You got to give him this shot. I mean, what more? Come on.

Just give it to him already. He's done enough. 100%. And I tell you what, this is why a couple weeks ago, or not even a couple weeks ago when Frank Yeager was so upset. This is exactly why. I feel like he always feels like he has to present himself in a whole different way. I don't know, like it gets some extra boost to get this shot.

But I think it aligns perfectly for him. He was promised the shot. He's done enough. you know, his, is what he did against Chad Mendes, I still think was emphatic enough to get that shot. He's fresh-blatt. I think that that's a great fight for Carmen Greger next, too. I think a lot of people are interested to see how that fight would play out. So to me, in my mind, that's a pretty big fight. Yeah, and I'm curious to see if Connor comes back at UFC 200, which was his original plan.

It's amazing what one loss does to so many people, how it affects Robbie Loller, how it potentially affects Tyron Woodley, maybe even GSP, who all of a sudden showed up in Las Vegas, The guy who never comes to the fights when he's not fighting. He was there on Saturday night as well. And then how it affects, you know, Frankie Edgar, Haferdo Sanjos, Josealdo. I mean, that one fight affected so many people in three different way classes just speaks to how powerful he is.

If you look at his Instagram, his Twitter, it's amazing how much support he's getting and how many people, I think the Irish, to a degree, are sometimes uncomfortable with the idea of dominance and flaunting money and wealth. And they can get behind a guy who has been, you know, prop down a little bit and is stumbling and is now having to come back from adversity. I think this almost makes him more relatable at this point.

He came from that. They don't remember him as the plumber. But now in a strange way, I feel like Connor's a bigger star. It's so bizarre. Only in our sport. No, I agree with you 100%. What's not to love about what he just did? He took a fight at 1070 pounds against a guy who people were, you know, he knew

as a fan-friendly fight. He knew, I'm guessing he knew he's a very smart guy that he stood to lose this fight. you know, I'm sure that it occurred to him that he might lose this fight. And the way he's handled it, I mean, ultimately, he, I really believe he lost nothing in this whole transaction. I mean, it'll go down as a loss. It'll go down as a loss. I did watch the Dan Patrick thing. I saw, you know, talking about the aura of invincibility.

Yeah, there would be some tarnish on that. But this is, the UFC, I just, I really believe, especially in parity as people get, you know, the playing field keeps evening out. In the age of testing and everything, there's going to be more parity. I just think that at some point losses were just going to have to. roll with them. It's like who can stay away from losses the most. It's not going to be these guys with 16 fight winning streaks anymore like Anderson Sova and those type of things. I think it's going to be

there's going to be losses sprinkled in. But you know who I can't help think about on this Monday morning? One man who has been invincible. One man who has remained undefeated. Johnny Bones-Jones and guess who's up next? Guess who's on decks? You know what I mean? It just makes his run

all that much more impressive as well. What he has done against legends of the sport. Great stuff Chuck. Appreciate it. And a quick note, Chuck Minnenhall, and the rest of the A team will be joining me on Thursday for the 100th episode of the MMA beat, a huge milestone for us, so I look forward to that. We'll be talking a lot more about all of this and a whole lot more, I'm assuming, as well. Thank you, man in the hat. Appreciate it. Take care, man. There he is, Chuck Minhaal. Check out his post-fight column on Misha Tate's win and other UFC 196 musings. He is the best in the biz of what he does,

and it's always great to have him on the program. But before we continue with the show, let me tell you once again about our good friends at Squarespace. So building a website, it can be tough. You all know that. And even if you know your way around coding, creating something that looks good and works well is a time-consuming affair. Whether it's for a business site, a portfolio, a restaurant, or whatever else, in this day and age, you probably need a website. Well, lucky for us, Squarespace makes it easy to build beautiful websites without breaking a sweat. Squarespace provides a simple, powerful and beautiful website that look professionally designed regardless of skill level and no coding required. Not only does Squarespace provide you with intuitive and easy to use tools to create

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amazing support of the show. We remind you, Squarespace, you should. Now back to the show. One man who was very happy on Saturday night, of course, one of Misha Tate's coaches, Robert Fawas, he was in her corner, he was in attendance. Can't wait to talk to him about the big one and more. He joins us right now on the phone. Robert, how are you? Doing great this morning. Doing great. Finally got a good night's sleep, so I'm feeling for us today. Did you lose your voice? A little bit of it. Yeah, that was, yeah. For sure, I was. For sure, I was. I haven't screamed that loud of that many times for a while.

It was an intense experience. Well, again, congratulations. Very happy for you and the rest of the team. You've been around this game for a long time. Where does that night rank for you as far as, you know, a moment? I'm assuming it was a roller coaster because it started off a little slow, then really, really good, then a little slow, and then, of course, the unbelievable ending.

Where does that one rank in your career? You know, I've got people in UFC for 15 years going on 16. like an unbelievably long time. Sometimes I think about that. I'm like, it just seems weird. And this was the best experience I've ever had. Wow.

It was the most invested I've been with a fighter. I mean, we poured so much since we started working together and we started off on a very bitter sweet note our first fight together with a loss, and then since then we've gone undefeated. And part of it is I've known Misha for

for years since she was a teenager. I met her when they were coming in cross-training. Her gym would come and cross-training. with our gym up in Oregon. So we've had a relationship prior to, and we've grown to be very good friends. Her, Brian, my girlfriend, and then we hang out.

We do dinner. I mean, it's more than just an athlete. She's become a very dear friend. So it was extra special in that regard. Your first fight with her was UFC 168, correct? I don't remember numbers very well. It was when we fought for the title just rocked. Yeah, so that was UFC 168.

do you recall how heartbroken she was in the law? I mean, we know what we saw in the cage at the press conference. She handled it well, but it was obviously killing her inside. This was a very big fight for her, and we know about the rivalry. But behind the scenes, I mean, that's what I keep thinking about, like how she rebounded from that and has not lost since. What was it like behind the scenes backstage with her as she was trying to process that loss? you know Misha is truly a professional fighter

you know there's a lot of people who can fight and then there are people who are fighters and I think you know a loss at that level for anybody I mean any night you have a loss in a fight I don't care if it's an amateur fight there's a devastation that goes with it obviously as those stakes go up the money goes up the notoriety especially with a rivalry you know there's an impact and to say that it didn't affect her would be silly. But there's a difference between being affected by something and being infected by something. And I feel like she took it stride.

She put it in context for what it was and said, I'm not done, and I'm going to make another run for it. And let's get to work. And that speaks volumes for her professionalism and her ability to put things in perspective that, you know, while it was sad, while, you know, the word devastation for me, it's like, Those are reserved for bigger things. Yeah. Losses and family, you know, serious injuries.

Those are devastating things. Losing a big fight, we throw that term out, but to me, it isn't fitting. Fair. Very fair. You know, it's intense. It's very, you know, it is a bummer. It's a sad thing. But the devastation, nah, you know, what she found out about Brian's the nephew getting hit in the head

at a logging accident, that's devastation. Yeah. You know, so I feel like she has a great ability to put things in, context for what we're happening. Deal with it appropriately. Took some time off and then said, hey, we're not done. We did a great job. We've made improvements, and I like what we have going, and let's get back to work.

And that's what we've done. That is a great point, and I think you having that perspective is a huge, huge chip in her favor. That's fantastic stuff. But let me ask you this. When she didn't get the title fight over the summer, and she was talking about retirement, was that a real thing, or was that her kind of, you know, sort of negotiating? in public because again, if you're that close, if you're considering walking away and now

here you are a couple months later as champion, that's an amazing swing of emotions. Yeah, you know, I mean, I think, I don't think he was really wanting to walk away. I think that was just frustration speaking, honestly. Okay. We haven't really talked about it much. Like, there's things that I delve into if I feel like they're important to, but when that happened, I just kind of thought, let's see what happened. I don't think that was really what was on her mind.

I think that was just, you know, being concerned. told, hey, you're going to fight for the title. And then not even getting a call from your employer and saying, hey, we've had to change things up, like finding out through third-party sources that that changed. And I think that frustration led to her feeling like, what am I even doing here then if I'm going to be, if this is what's going to go on. And I don't have this kind of control of these things can happen to me. But again, I think she just needed to take a little time.

And then, you know, obviously things worked out. So I never took a lot of, um, a lot of note of that. I just kind of took it in for what it was. Let's say, let's take some time and see what happens and not get too worked up over it. What's going through your mind in the second round? I had it scored 10-8 for Misha.

Unbelievable, very dominant, very close to submitting her. As her coach, what are you thinking? How close do you think she was to finishing? And then are you worried in between the second and the third that she maybe expended too much energy? So, yeah, and you're nailing it right on the head. you know, Giff, one of the other coaches said, I think that's a 10-8 round. I have a hard time putting faith in judges giving a 10-8 round to anything short of someone being killed.

And I guess on the scorecards, all three judges had a 10-8. Amazing. But for me in the corner, I got to count on a 10-9 round, no matter how dominant it is. The odds seem to be far in favor of even a completely dominant round is more often a 10-9 round than anything. So I was very happy. I was a little worried when she was going to the choke that we might get that arm too fatigued and that it might take some time to come back from, and I didn't want her to lose her ability to hold on and wrestle again or to be quick with her punches.

So I was a little bit worried about that. I truly thought we were going to finish that choke. Holly is ridiculously tough. You could tell she did her homework, and she comes from just one of the absolute best camps of all time, if not the best. I mean, what they've done out of that camp with Greg Jackson and, and, you know, Winkle John, I mean, is nothing short of amazing for MMA. So we knew that they would be prepared, but I thought when she had that choke,

that it was going to be over, and then when it wasn't, it was like, okay, we got to refocus, we got to get back to work, wanted to make sure that she was okay. The other thing that was going through my mind was, we got her now. I really thought we would have Holly completely wore out from the damage and from the positioning and that this would be a train wreck for her going into it. And then when Holly came out and looked for us in the third round, I was like, while we got us a fight. It was very impressive what Holly brought to the table for this fight.

Let's not talk about the fifth round, because I want to focus on that in a second, but rounds one through four, even though I actually thought she lost the first, very close, third and fourth were close as well, but I had it going for, I had Holly up, I think one if my math is correct, going into the fifth,

and so if Misha would have won, it would have ended up a draw, which could have been devastating for Misha. Did she actually put up, the game plan in the right way. Was she doing what you wanted her to do out there? You know, she really was, other than, you know, going in, especially into that third round, we wanted it to pick up a little bit. Fourth round, we expected to really start going. You know, one of the things, in looking at that fight and game planning it, you know,

Rhonda showed a big problem, you can't rush at this woman. If you come in and run at her and just try and wrestling, you're too aggressive, I mean, that feeds right into what she's doing. And I I think in a lot of ways they expected that to be part of our game plan. So we spent a lot of time working her footwork, her head movement, some things that she hasn't showcased to the same degree in other fights, and really looked for good setups and to set some exchanges and was very proud of what she was doing. But going into that fourth round, especially, I felt like we were being a little too careful still.

Brian and I talked before we went in because Brian, we, we like. like Brian to be the main voice, and he's been in her corner, her whole entire career. And I said, hey, look, we got to get it across. Like, nothing technical at this point, we got to get it across, that this is do or die. We got to assume we're going to lose. I thought at best tie, but, like I said, I couldn't count about a 10-8. And a tie would have been a loss. I mean, really, we're there to win a championship.

Getting a tie would have sucked. Yeah. So, you know, really, what we got across was, hey, we'd rather you got knocked out going for it at this point, then sit back and then have to wonder what if I would have went hard? But as you know, that's often said going into the fifth round. And, you know, as viewers, we can't put our, you know, at least not me or fans at home, we can't put ourselves in the shoes of a fighter who has just fought for 20 minutes on the grandest stage possible. And you're saying they're like, why aren't you going for it? Why aren't you going for it?

It's a lot easier said than done. She went for it. She actually went for it and it paid off big time. As you saw her go for that takedown and the whole thing's unfolding, now what's going through your mind? Well, I was static. I mean, you know, first of all, the takedown wasn't a great takedown. I mean, that was, we got to get her to the ground anyway. I mean, that's not a take down, anybody practices anywhere.

That was, she got a hold of her and felt like she was going to lose it and flung herself to the ground and ended up getting a hook in and it worked out. But, you know, that's not like a takedown that was practiced on purpose. It was just, you know, we talk about being martial artists. And we have the color by numbers things we train and then you have the art of making things work. And that was truly, Misha just going out there with a mindset that I'm going to get this fight to the ground no matter what. And when I do, I got to finish her and I got to get after it. And that's really what that was about.

So when I saw that and she got her on the ground and she got on her back, pretty excited, quickly turned into, oh, no, she's halfway off on the cage. Are we going to get this choke? Because that is a very perilous spot to keep it. And then it got a little deeper. And then when she started to dive over the top, I'm pretty sure it went into slow motion for me. I mean, it was that, oh, no, like, and I saw that hook hold, and then when she flipped over, I was like, oh, that's ours. That's ours. Misha can squeeze, and she has an unbelievably great ability to choke.

So, yeah, but it was, I mean, there was a roller coaster in that fifth round of, even when she got her on the ground, and they started to stand up. It was like, man, are we going to lose this? Because if we do, we may not get another one, and this could be the end of it. So it was incredibly gutsy performance by Misha going out. and just making it happen when it was on the line. It was tired. And Misha pulls off some of the best celebrations in MMA. Her celebration.

I know you weren't there, but when she beat Marluse Kunin, her celebration was fantastic, and Saturday night even better, very emotional, and you could just see all the emotion coming out of her, how happy she was. A beautiful moment, and anyone who's followed her career knows how much that meant to her. I want to ask you this because you know this game better than anyone. There are some people telling me, like, look at what Holly did. At least she didn't tap. At least she went out on her shield.

And look what Connor did. He tapped. As a coach, as a practitioner, as a martial artist, is there a difference in your opinion that, like, do you think of someone differently if they tap or don't tap? Is there honor in not tapping in your opinion? You know, I mean, that's an interesting thing. And I don't think there's a right answer there.

In all my years of training guys, I've told them this. Hey, if you know you're going to go to sleep and you're not going to get out and you want to tap, I don't have a problem with it. But also understand that if you can hold on just a little longer, Sometimes people will let go, and it's just a choke. I have never encouraged one of my fighters to not tap for an arm bar, a shoulder lock. You know what I mean? Something that's going to send him into surgery and put him out, but I'm like, a choke is a choke.

You know, I think Connor got caught behind the curve, got a little bit of a panic, and he got caught by a very, very tough guy, and he tapped out. You know, would it have looked better, especially after what just happened if he hadn't tapped? Maybe, but I don't think it really makes it different. I think Connor's a very tough guy. I think he's going to come back better for this. That's a whole another subject, you know, but I don't look left at Connor for having tapped at that point. I mean, I don't think he was getting out. I think he knew it. Could he have held on? Could he have passed out? Doesn't really matter. I don't think so.

Forgive me for prying here, but I noticed in the Post-Five press conference that Misha said that Brian Carraway was her head coach for this fight. Did something change in this camp you know here's an interesting thing uh i was brought on as a as an add on to this and and you know putting my name out there uh as head coach and i'm not really big into titles i'm about what needs to get done right titles don't really matter to me i didn't get into this sport to to be a name or to have a title in a corner uh i've always said hey if someone else can better communicate to a fighter they should be the one talking uh you know this is always about how do we get the best performance out of out of an athlete

Brian has been with Misha since the absolute beginning of her career. I mean, the very first day she stepped in from wrestling into grappling. Brian was the first person that taught her a move. He has been at every one of her fights. He has been the main person that has developed her. He got her to a world title in Strike Force. And then they happened to be in Vegas. They knew me.

They knew my style. And they came to me and we sat down and talked and asked me to be in the mix. And the title in a lot of ways of being the head coach. Like I said, it just gets silly. We have three coaches that all play equal parts and that playoff. But Brian has always been one of the most important pieces of the camp, if not the most important piece. And I think the reason for sometimes just saying,

hey, can we call you head coach on this was because of all the haters for Brian. People were saying even after they'd won a championship, oh, Brian's holding her back. Brian is one of the best coaches in teachers in mixed martial arts that I've had pleasure of working with. Wow. He is truly phenomenal. And I was very happy that she put his name out there and gave him kudos because I say it all

the time. The dude is a stud. He is a pleasure to work with. We have a great chemistry that's getting better and better. But she responds to his voice better than mine. And so there's pieces that I say in camp. There's pieces that I can be better because they have an intimate relationship on top of being a coach and athlete.

And sometimes it's nice to have a dispassionate person from the outside, say some of those things and be able to run that. So it's been a great fit for all of us. But truly, Brian's been the guy that's got her here and deserves that credit. Wow. That is a beautiful thing. I appreciate that honesty. Okay, so here's the final thing. It's the million dollar question or the $64 million question or the billion dollar question. What do you think she does next? Do they wait for Ronda's come back? Now this, you know, this third fight is so fascinating with her as champion and their rivalry and all that. Do you think she'll fight and Amanda Nunes? What do you think happens and what do you want to happen?

You know, I mean, what do I think is going to happen? This sport's so crazy. You know, we went from having a title fight to not having it. Right. Will Rhonda be ready? Is she going to be busy doing a movie? Does she really want it right now? Do they want a rematch with Holly?

Do they think that's marketable enough? Do they want to put Amanda Nunes in and try and bring, you know, see if music can get a little street going and build up a story? to get going on that. You know, so much of this sport has to do with who's best, and so much of it has to do with what's marketable. And so, you know, we trust that, well, one, now we got the belt, we're fighting someone.

Yeah. And it's for the title. Like, you know, so for us, we're really kind of looking at it. Hey, we think we're ready for a fight, a rematch with, with Ronda. When we thought we were ready prior, I mean, we were looking forward to that. We've been preparing, we've been working on growth,

and we think we've got what it takes to win that fight. After this fight with Holly, I think we'll do even better next time. I'm sure they'll make adjustments, but if we fight her again, I think now we understand what her game is and how it works, and I think we can make some adjustments and be even more aggressive in there and pull that off. But I think Amanda Nunes is looking very tough, And if we got a chance to fight her, we'd be happy about that, too.

So, you know, for me, once you get the belt, it's kind of irrelative. Like, you've got to fight who gets put in front of you. And I really think that Misha has the ability to beat any one of those three, and we'd be happy to see any of them come up. As her coach, if they say to Misha, we want you to wait until November when Ronda's ready, done filming movies, and whatnot, would you be okay with that, or do you think that's too long to wait after a win like this? You know, I'd rather not wait.

Okay. personally. You know, I mean, we may or may not have a say in that. But personally, you know, I mean, like, they wanted, they wanted Holly to wait, and, you know, someone now there's going to be, you know, there's always that second-guessing. People are, oh, look, you should have waited, you know, but I love Holly Spirit. I have the most respect for her in her camp. I mean, you know, and she said it like, hey, I'm here to fight, and I want to fight the best, and I want to get out there. And I think Misha really feel the same way. You know, it's like, hey, we got the belt and let's take a little time off and enjoy and go do some media. and then let's get back to work and go get back in that cage. I think there's a piece of inactivity that most fighters would agree. The longer you sit out, it's not good. It's hard to stay motivated for a fighter who's used to having a competition to prepare for. So me personally, I would love to see her to get a fight on 200. Let's line that out.

Let's put a man in newness in there. She wants it. We want it. If Holly's ready, let's go do that. You know, and that's just, me as a coach. We have a management team, obviously, there's a guy named Dale White who has a huge say in this. Yes.

And so really, if you're out, like my opinion is, I would love to see your fight. But we'll just have to, you know, wait and see what actually happens. Well, first things first, and most importantly right now, enjoy the victory. Again, congratulations. So very happy for you guys. I know it's been a crazy time this last, what, 36 hours or so, so I really appreciate you coming on and recapping it all, digesting it all. It was such a plight.

pleasure to watch in person. So again, congratulations to you guys. Enjoy it. Thank you very much. It is. It's like I said, it's a highlight of my career. Beautiful. Just an amazing thing and to do it with such dear friends, people that I, that not just fight and train with, but that are just, you know, like family now. And it was amazing thing to go out and experience and be a part of and to pull off that way. Thank you, Robert. Enjoy it. Thank you very much. Take care. All right. There is Robert Follas coach, not head coach this time for Misha Tate, but great stuff from him. him, great perspective on the journey that Misha Tate had to take to get to this point and now become UFC champion.

Okay, let's go from talking about one UFC champion to talking to a UFC champion. Reigning defending UFC lightweight champion, Hafeel Dosangios is so kind enough to join us on the program once again. Hafeel, how are you? How are you? I'm a good name. Pleasure to have you on the show again. Thank you so much.

Let me ask you this off the top. Did you watch UFC 196 on Saturday night? Yeah, I did What was going through your mind Leading up to it When you're sitting there knowing that that could have been you You were preparing to fight that night And then when you see Connor lose

To Nate Diaz in the fashion in which he lost What was going through your mind all night Yeah, man I've been on the game for a long time 12 years And I never cancel any fight to injury And I always show up but unfortunately for this fight, I broke my foot, man, you know.

And a lot of people making fun of it. And I don't like to make fun of people's injury, you know. And I think we fighters, so everybody going to get injured one day. So unfortunately, I lost my payday. but I think everything is God's plan on my life. I believe in that. But, you know, unfortunately. But, man, I just see what went through my mind.

And I found ideas already. And I knew, like, I knew, like, Conno, he's a good fight, but I think I can put, like, our worst beat on him for sure. Were you disappointed? that Connor lost because now it seems like he's going to go back down to 145 to defend his title. Did you think, okay, if he wins, I still have a shot at him? No, no. Man, I think Connor is one more fighting in the FC, you know. I don't need to fight here to change my life.

I think my life's keep on going. And I think I have a lot of more challenge on my weight division. and I think he doesn't deserve a fight for 155 pounds. You know, he just got, he just got submitted by number five ranking and with 10 days noted. And a lot of people say, ah, Conner went up to a division. No, in a year, he's 155-pound fighter. He's 155. He's a lightweight.

And he's saying that, I went up to a division now. He's not fighting. He did not fought Robb Lola. He didn't know fight John Henry. He fought in 18 years, which is 155. So, and my life is going, you know, I have a lot of things on my, a lot of tough fights on my career still, and a lot of lightways. And I just think a corner doesn't deserve a fight for this for 155 out.

You know, he just got smashed by number five ranking. But you said you did lose out on your biggest pay. day. So wouldn't you just want that fight, even though he may not deserve it, fighting him equals a massive payday? Yeah, it would be good. Everybody likes money, but I think money is not the most important for me. I'm really happy with how much I make, you know, and I have everything in my life. And, you know, if one day he fights, he makes some wins, good wins, and he want to fight for the title, I will be there, but, you know, and life, life's not all about money.

Fair enough. Did you feel surprised at all with what he did at 170 or 160 or whatever he was on Saturday in a welterweight fight? Did you feel like he fought the right kind of fight? Or did you think that Nate was going to eventually submit him when push came to shove? Yeah, I, I honestly, I have to tell you the truth. I thought he was, he, he, he, he, he, would win because he did his best because he had a lot of guys offered to fight him. Anthony Paddy's, Donald Seroni, guys in shape, guys which are in fight camp. So he picked Nate Diaz, which, you know, wasn't training for sure. So like he said, he didn't spot once for this fight and, you know, submit him.

So he picked like the easiest one on his mind. That's why I thought he's going to win. But, you know, maybe he's a tough opponent. I fought him. He's a really hard guy to finish, have a lot of hard. But different than Kono. Conor does not show a lot of hard. You know, he's a lion when he's punching somebody.

But when he's getting punched, he's become a cat, you know, as a little cat when he's being, you know. But when he's punching somebody, you know, somebody, he's a lion, but when people punching, he's become a cat. He's a chicken heart. Wow. So is it fair to say that you kind of had a smile on your face, wherever you were watching

that fight? Halfa dos Sanchez was kind of sitting back and laughing when you saw what happened on Saturday? No, man, not at all. You know, because for me, I don't chair for nobody's lost. You know, I don't, I think it's a loser's mentality. If they get happy with somebody losing, you know,

I don't think like that because one day I'm going to be there on the octagon stepping there. So I don't want to nobody like cheering for me to lose, you know. I don't want to be in that position. But I think everybody got what they deserve, you know, and Conor got what he deserved. And God make everything perfect. Conor, his claim to be God, and God make everything perfect. God just show him who he is, who he is. is show him and the world who he really are.

Did you see any of his post-fight interviews, and if so, what do you think of how he handled the loss? Yeah, man. I think he was all humble, you know, but then next day, he put up to a, he posts a picture, calling me pussy, you know, calling out of pussy, you know. Like, he should be humble, you know. And I did my best to show up, but I still have a cast on my foot.

I can't fight with the broken foot, you know. I couldn't even say that she didn't let me fight. And also I can't fight too. And like he said to everybody, like all his fans, he wants to say that I just have a bruise. You know, I don't like to make this kind of comment, like making fun of people's injury. But I think he just got what he deserves. How difficult has this past two weeks been for you since the news came out that you couldn't fight at 196? You've remained relatively quiet.

You tweeted a few things, showed the picture, and obviously, you know, no doubts that you were in a tremendous amount of pain. But to have some people, including Connor, question the injury, say that you could have fought, given your track record, has this been very difficult to sort of butt your tongue and listen to everyone talk about your injury? Yeah, man, it's hard, but man, they're all haters, you know. I'm not giving like anything for the haters. They always, always going to be people there talking, talking crap. But I have my fans which believe on me. Man, who is this guy for me to be afraid of him?

I face better guys before. I don't have, man, I don't fear nobody, you know, but God, you know, but this guy, it's been hard, you know, because I'm very active and I'm on the peak right now, so I'm ready to fight right now, but I have my foot injury. So I have a lot of energy. I want to train. I want to do stuff, but I can't yet. But it's fine. I'm going to be back in four or five weeks. I'm up to FC 200, you know, I fight anybody. So to be clear, you don't need surgery, right? No, no, no, no, no, but I have it. to be with my post immobilized for like five weeks, six weeks.

And then you'll be 100% so you think that around July you'll be good to go? No, I'm good to going in on the middle, by the middle of April, you know, in middle by May, no, middle of May, around May 15, like five more weeks, I'll be good. Five more weeks, I'll be 100%. And the middle of April, I'll be 100%. And I'll be great. I'll be ready to fight in the UFC 200, July. I'm trying to do that.

Have you talked to the UFC about that? Do they seem on board with the idea? No, no. They didn't confirm anything yet, but it's something I want. And if I have this opportunity, I fight anybody, you know. Do you have a feeling as to, like, do you think it'll be Eddie Alvarez or the winner of Chabib and Tony Ferguson? What do you think is going to happen now for you?

Yeah, I think like we have Kabib and Tony Ferguson But we'll see what is fight going on And I think Eddie Alvarez Just had a win over Padis Could be here too I don't know UFC plans

But I'm here, man I'm here to fight anybody You know I fight waterway too If I need I just want to fight man Because I've been training I'm in shape

and I fight anybody. Welterweight? You're thinking of welterweight? I thought we should put a rest on all the people moving up and down. What do you think? Yeah, I'm here. I want to fight, man.

I want to fight here. I respect how to the law, but if you actually need somebody to, you know, to fight for the welterweight, I would fight too. You know, I just want to fight. I've been training.

And like two weeks before the fight, I got hurt. And, man, I just want to fight, man. I'm in shape, you know. I have a lot of energy. I want to, man, I want to fight. I've heard all kinds of stories about what happened. Is it true?

It was the last day of training, and what were you doing? You explained to us because I haven't heard it from you. How did you actually break the foot? Yeah, I was sparring and like two weeks before the fight. And as I always do, you know, I'm not doing anything different that I usually do, you know. I was sparring. and I had a big, big shin pad, and then I was, like, spawning with the guy, and then I kicked, and the guy blocked the kick, and I kicked right on his kneecap, you know, and right away I fell,

broken, and then I kept sparring. I did the two more rounds, but, you know, then later I found out my foot was broken. Hello? Hello? Yes, yes. And you found out your foot was broken in. Did you make the call to the UFC or did your manager, Alia Belaziz, tell the UFC. Either way, how difficult was it to say, I just can't do it?

Yeah, so it was Friday. I say, I'm going to wait by, like, on the weekend to see by Monday how I'm going to feel because they still want to fight because I knew I had an open workout on Wednesday. Yeah. So I want to be able to do it. So I will see by Monday how I'm going to feel. I'm going to wait for the weekend, and I wait on the weekend, and I didn't have any improvements. And then I decided to, then I call Ali, I say Ali, I need to see a doctor.

I can step. I need to see a doctor. And then I went to the doctor. I took an diarrhea, and the doctor found out my foot was broke. Did you, sometimes I hear from fighters after this happens, they go into a depression, they eat a lot. How did you react to the news? Yeah, man, you know, like, we. We invest a lot of our time on this, you know.

And then, you know, I never, that's the first time this happened. And like against Anthony Padish, my, I tell my MCL, but I was still able to walk. But on this fight, I wasn't able to walk at all. And I say, I can't make it. So I didn't got depressed. I know, I know God has a better plan. And I always, you know, follow his direction. Incredible. So at this point, I'm wondering, are you kind of hoping it's Habib so you can avenge that loss?

That's like the one issue out there for you at Lightweight. Are you hoping that the man that they decide to fight you next is Habib? Or are you thinking, I'd like to fight it. What are you thinking? Yeah, man. You actually told me about Eddie, you know? Yeah. But I think Kabib is somebody that I would like to win to win because I want to make sure I clean.

I clean all the lightweight division. And I think Khabib is the only guy left who beat me. And now I'm a different fighter. And, you know, I would like to clean this victory, you know. I'd be lost. You know, I would like to fight him, someone that I want to. Are you happy now that you don't have to hear about Connor anymore? Are you happy that this portion of your life is over, that you probably won't fight him next

and that all this can go away? No, man. This guy doesn't bother me, man. This guy, I think, everything he talks, he paid on the octagon, you know. He just got exposed. And everything he talks, when the oxygen locked, you know, everybody sees the true. And then I think everybody saw the true last Saturday. And he got, like, he got some, even, even Holly home, she went to sleep without tap.

He tapped, you know. How are they going to tap on the neck, man, on the choke? go sleep, man, you know. Holly Horn, show more hard than him. What do you think happens if he fights Frankie Edgar? Here? Yeah, if Connor fought Frankie Edgar next, what do you think happens? No, no way.

It's a different level of fight. It's a different level. Frank would kill him. Wow. It's a different, it's a different level, you know. It's a just different level, you know. I think against Aldo, he got luck, you know, and he got, he called Aldo with a punch.

But other than that, who he fought, you know? He fought Shad Mendes with a 10-days notice to, and Shadamendez the guys out, but giving him a hard time, you know. And it's all talk, man. It's all hype. So you think it's going to come crashing down now? Now he's been exposed, and once he has to fight these top guys at 1.45, Edgar again, Aldo again, this will continue to happen. Yeah, I think he should go to his division, you know. He should, like, put his belly.

He's not because he's one thing I feel he's trying to do. He's trying to protect his featherweight belt by fighting a different weight division. So he's still a champion. Now he got to fight for his fatherweight belt. Once he lose that belt, he doesn't have anything else, you know. And I think that's why he's trying to fight a different weight division because he doesn't want to put that belt away. He wants to keep one belt and then fight for different belts. So it's much easier for him.

He's still a champion. Fascinating stuff. Well, Huffel, I really appreciate you coming on. I wish you the best. Get well soon. I hope for a speedy recovery and looking forward to seeing you back there inside the octagon sooner rather than later.

Thank you so much. Thank you very much. All right, there he is. Hapel de Sanchez, with some strong words for Connor McGregor following his loss on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Wow. Now I want to see that fight again.

but I do maintain that I think it should be Frankie Edgar. We will talk about that later on in the show. For now, we're going to take a quick break. We're going to reconfigure the studio because in a couple of minutes' time, we're going to be joined in studio by one of the biggest names in the UFC. One of the most popular fighters in the UFC. Paige Van Zant is here, which came all the way from California just to visit us. What an unbelievable treat this is.

So we're going to change things around here, reconfigure things, rejigger things. and Paige is going to join us in studio in a matter of moments. While we do that, let's go inside the vault. Y'all must have forgot. It's not that long ago, but I thought it would be fitting to watch this interview. My December 20th, 2015 or 19th? Well, it was technically, it's December 19th, but I think it might have been past minute. No, actually it wasn't past minute.

So December 19th, 2015 interview with Nate Diaz, when he talked about Connor McGregor, American Ninja, Irish Ninja, all that good stuff for more. Kind of fun to rewatch that. And if we need more time, we'll look back at my post-fight interview with him after he beat Jim Miller at UFC on Fox Street. But first, here it is. You almost have forgot December, just three months ago, when I spoke to Nate Diaz before his life changed forever, following his win over Michael Johnson. And then we'll be back right here with the one and only page band's end. Stick around.

Ariel Hawani post-fight alongside Nathan Diaz, who defeated Michael Johnson tonight. Nate, congratulations on an unbelievable performance. I'm wondering you've had a lot of victories in the UFC. but considering this past year for both you and your brother, is this one of the more gratifying ones that you've had? It was like, yeah, it feels good to win always, so it's good. You were the biggest underdog on this card. Did you feel like people were doubting you,

like people had forgotten just how good you were? Yeah, I figure, I don't know, but I didn't really pay too much attention. I'm always the underdog. I lose a lot in this fucking UFC because, just the way it goes, man, when you fight a lot, you lose sometimes, you know? So then I get the underdog spot a lot, but I'm always the one here still fighting. Consistency, I win, you know what I'm saying? I've been here.

So it's all good. You obviously baited him into your game. It seemed like, you know, you had the perfect game plan. But correct me if I'm wrong, did the referee tell you to stop talking to him? And if so, do you think that's fair? Yeah, I don't think it should make a difference, but yeah, he told me a lot. But that's fighting, you know. I was fighting.

I've been in fights before I started fighting, and they usually went like that, you know, whether it was me or the other guy. So I think that that might be a part of the game, and I don't intend on doing that, but you know, you have thoughts, and they come out maybe. So I think I don't ever have planned on doing that. People think it's a strategy.

That's just what happens. So you throw a right hook a lot, say some shit a lot, I guess, you know. But, you know, you kind of turn. you're back at him one time and you're sort of like you know egging him on did you feel like that mess with like I could see everything so I was like so so so uh sometimes you got to get him to do more yeah and you're like all right I'll turn him back what are you and do and turn him back I'll hit you you know what I'm saying so it's like if we're fighting of course you know what I'm saying so it's like

it's fighting that that's how I fight did he seriously hurt you at any point in the fight I felt like I was okay the whole fight. Then the last, like, a minute, something happened where I got hit right now and my eye got blurred, so I switched this way for a second. So it's a little weird thing, but nothing that was, like, devastating or anything crazy. Obviously, your post-fight interview, much talked about now, because no one really heard it due to all the, you know, the F-bombs and whatnot. Do you regret doing that or in a weird way?

And I think this is true. It makes people like you even more. Your fans, I think, appreciate that. Well, I don't care. It's like we're fighting just like the fights. Like, we're fighting. This is this shit that needs to be said. And you can't continue to watch a fight, but you can't listen to someone cuss a little bit. It was an accident. My bad. I'm sorry, Fox. But come on, man, you know.

I think the point is across, you know. They fucked up. Not part of my language. They messed up. I'm not putting that on because that's a part of the fight game. You know what I'm saying? So hopefully my message, my point got across. about what's what and I think it made a lot of sense and he feels me if he's out there listening you know there ain't nobody to fight that's why I haven't been fighting because there ain't been no matter I'm fighting and he came out and that's what I was

saying here he comes out saying all the same things I've been saying you heard me I talked to you years ago like I want a money fight good fights I'm not gonna fight these guys like when I fight those signs and no one knew him I had no motivation in that I want fights that people want to see not fights because time for you to fight because that's what we think. Like, no, it's not. I've been fighting enough. I want to fight.

That's worth my wild. Worth his wild. Let's get our fight on. I don't care if it's all good or not all good. When we fight, we're going to fight. Fight, fight, fight, for real fight. He thinks he's the ninja? I'm the ninja.

Ninja Gaden, American Ninja, real motherfucking ninja. This ninja martial artist right here. I started that shit. That shit came stocked in with us, me and my team. And, you know what I'm saying? Like I said, all that. Double impact, Lionheart, Armageddon, all this American Ninja, American Ninja, Irish Ninja, represent your shit.

Oh boy, I'm right here. United States. We could bring that shit on. Fight. Okay, last thing, I saw you talking to Joe Silva afterwards. How confident are you that you're going to get the Conn McGregor fight? What do he say to you? Oh, he said it's on.

He said, we're going to do this. They wanted to. Yeah, they wanted. Everybody wants that fight. That's what they want. Everybody wants that fight. anybody wants that fight. What is that, what are they going to do? If you said to fight, that's something else too.

He ain't heard a word out of him. He don't want that fight either. It's like, if people want to see a real fight, they know who to call, you know? What's the key to beating him, in your opinion? Training hard and a ninja, his ass up. Everybody. Everybody. That's the key to beating everybody. Great to see you. It's a ninja real shit. Not no funny fake. Let's fight. This will be good for that sport. Fuck that. Fuck that. Fuck the sport. This is white shit, this ninja shit. That's what people want to see. I want to see when I watch. So let's

see some real shit. You hear me. Let's get it. By the way, when do you want to come back? Tonight. Well, it's great to see you, man. Congratulations again on the victory and happy holidays to you. Enjoy it. Well, how about that? Back in December, we kind of snickered at him. I thought there was no chance that he was going to get Connor McGregor. Now, here we are four months later, less than four months later and Nate Diaz is the one to be Connor McGregor. Unbelievable stuff. How about this? Look who's joining us in studio. The one and only Paige Van Zent. Wow. What a pleasure this is. I understand and thank you so much for joining us. I understand you actually came to New York just to be on the show today. Exactly. I came here just for you. What a pleasure. But that's not the reason why,

right? You have a big meeting later. I do. Yeah, I have a few meetings out here. So I figured I'd stop by while I had some time. What's the meeting? I think you have one at like four o'clock. I do. What is it? Can you tell us? It's a good one. Yes. You don't want to jinx it? Don't want to jinx it. Oh, okay.

All right, fine. You're so secretive. And you told us not that long ago. You have a big plan. A lot going on in the world of Page Van Zand. So that's why I'm happy that you're here. But you were telling me you watched, you weren't in Vegas, right? I was not in Vegas, no.

Where did you watch the fights? I was in Hollywood. You were in Hollywood, California? Yes. What were you doing there? Other big plans? Other just fun stuff. Really?

Yeah. You're going to be movies now? Are you leaving us? I hope so. That'd be great. Have you had talks about that? No talks about movies yet, but other really good opportunities. Fighting still my main focus.

I'm training in L.A. right now. Oh, really? Where are you training? With just a few coaches that we had over at Ultimate Fitness. Okay. But you're still a member of Alpha Mail. Still on Team Alpha Mail. I remember last time you told me that I got text from people.

Yerai was mad at me. Everyone was mad at me. You're still a happy member of the team. Yeah, still a happy member of the team. Yariah sent me up with coaches while I'm staying in L.A. I actually saw some of your team members on Saturday because Darren Elkins, Yeah. Was, you know, fighting.

Justin Buckles was there. And it seems like things are really, you know, Chris Holdsworth, head coach sort of. It's sort of like a head coach by committee situation. What's the vibe like now these days? Yeah, you know, unfortunately, I haven't been able to be there as much as I would like to. So I don't really have an opinion on how things are going yet, but I can't wait. I hear from my teammates, the system is going really, really well. But I haven't been at Team Alpha Mount and I've been training other places.

Since the fight. Since the fight against Rose? Since the fight, yes. Okay. What is going on here? Should I be reading into this a little more? No. You're not leaving the team.

Not leaving the team. Okay. Should they be calling a team alpha female? They really should. They really should. There are more women coming? Maybe. Really?

No, there's just me right now. And then we have a few other girls that are one of my main training partners. This girl, Cynthia. She's about to make her pro debut. Hopefully soon. She broke her arm three times, though. Oh, my love. Lord. So, but she's amazing. So I'm just waiting for her to jump up there. You've worked closely with

Chris Holdsworth. Yes. Yeah, I've had him corner me twice. Yeah, what do you think of him as a coach? I think he's amazing. I love his jiu-jitsu. Obviously, that's what he's known for, but even more than that, he's just a great MMA coach all around. He's really, really good at breaking it down so anyone can understand what he's doing. And a lot of times when you have someone that's that high level of an athlete in a specific sport, it's hard for them to break down what they're doing because they're just so good at it. So he's been amazing at breaking. things down. He's worked with me for my last two fights. And I just love what his work. So on Saturday night, I'm assuming that you were, you were interested in the Holly home, Misha Tate fight.

Yes, I definitely watched. Who are you rooting for? You know, at that point, I was rooting for Holly. Actually, I just know her better. I mean, I've met her a few times. She was very personable, so I was going for Holly. Not too emotionally invested in it, though, but. You just wanted to watch a good fight. wanted to watch a good fight. I thought that was going to be an awesome fight. What did you think about the finish? You know, I mean, I wasn't completely shocked. Really? No, I mean, I just, I knew Misha had a really, really good wrestling background and she was really good on the ground.

So when she took Holly down, I knew that Holly was going to be in a bad position, just because Holly obviously has a very extensive boxing background. So I knew if Misha could close the distance and get the takedown, she could be dominant. But how about the fact that she's the challenge? She's got what like two and a half minutes left in the fight and it's either going to be a draw or a loss probably Given I gave her the the second round 10-8 because it was so dominant and then she pulls that off That's unbelievable. That's amazing. Yeah, that's one of the best examples of heart will determination that I've ever seen in a championship fight or any kind of fight. It really is and you know honestly I'm happy for it. It is a long time coming. She's worked very very hard. She's been in the sport for a long time. So it's awesome to see that she finally got to the title and the good news for the UFC is that

in my opinion that this perhaps expedites the return of Ronda Rousey because Ronda has two wins. It does. It really does. I think it's great for the UFC. It's great for MMA. As a fan, I love to see this. I'm excited to see how Rhonda comes back. I'm excited to see how Misha continues to grow since becoming the champion, how she like handles all of it. It's exciting. Are you the kind of person that thinks that women's MMA needs Ronda around or are you guys fine with or without her at this point? You know, obviously I like to see Ronda around. I think she's amazing. I think, She's done a lot for the sport. She's really created a draw behind people, like, wanting to watch women's MMA.

I mean, just with what she's done, it's made women's MMA take off so much that people just tune in to watch no matter what. But obviously, she's still the biggest name talked about. Right. And this has become a sort of talking point after the fight. Holly didn't tap. Connor Tapp. Is there any pride in your opinion in not tapping?

Like, as a fighter, do you say, all right, I give that woman or that man respect, they went out on their shield? I definitely do. I definitely give Holly a lot of credit, you know. I mean, I was submitted with a naked choke. I tapped out and Holly refused to tap. That shows a lot of heart, a lot of determination. I think she's going to come out back really, really strong from it. So is that something, obviously we talked about the loss, but the fact that you tapped, does that bother you more? Like, is that something to be ashamed of? I think it is, I mean, for me personally. Um, what's wrong? What's wrong with because I think, I think it's just you giving up. It's submitting and saying that I give up, you can win.

And, you know what? I mean, that's just where I feel like I could have, I could have just gone out. You would have rather do that? Yeah, definitely. I would definitely rather have gone out than tap out. Wow. So when you watch that you're like, Dan Page, you don't really care that you, I mean, you care that you lost. Yeah.

But it's the tap out that I care. Like, I do care that I lost, but it's the fact that I tapped out. The fact that I said, Rose, you can beat me. Right. Go for it. Yeah. When's the last time you watched it? Still haven't watched it.

Still. Wow. I mean, obviously, I've seen highlights. I've seen bits and pieces. I definitely think before my next fight, I definitely really want to break down what went wrong, the whole camp, what went wrong with the entire camp, and change a lot of things before I take another fight.

Before watching the fight, you probably already know what went wrong with the camp, right? You probably have some idea. I definitely have ideas of everything that went wrong leading up to it. Can you share some of those? No, you know, I don't like to make excuses. I lost the fight.

She was a better fighter that day, and I just have to come back and make sure that doesn't happen again. She's fighting Tisha Torres next. I'm excited about that. I'm very excited, especially Rose lost to Tisha. I definitely, I have Rose winning it. You have Roe winning it. I do. I think Rose has really, really grown, especially since she was fighting for Invicta. I think she has champion potential. So I love to see her beat Tisha and then fight for a title. Okay, okay, so the Conner thing, we were just watching Nate do his interview with me in December and you were cracking up. Yeah. Clearly you are amused by Nate Dia. Are you a Nate Diaz fan? I'm totally a Nate Diaz fan. You're a NorCal person now, so you kind of root for it.

I was rooting for him, you know, California. He cross-trains at our gym. A lot of my teammates cross-train with him, so I definitely was going for Nate on that fight. I was happy for him. That's great. Have you ever actually been in the gym with him while he's there? Yeah, funny story. When I was 15, he came and taught a seminar at my gym in Reno.

So that's when I first met him, and then now since then it's kind of all come back. Did you even have aspirations of being a pro fighter at that point? No, not at all. So you just went to the seminar? Yeah, just went to the seminar. You were a member, was this the Lions then one? No, this is another local gym in Reno. And he came out and then not too long ago, I fell in the picture.

I sent it to him. I was like, wow, this is a throwback. Wow. And it was me and him years ago. Was Nick there as well? No, it was just Nate. How is he as a seminar teacher? Good from what I can remember.

That was a long time ago. Yeah. Did you sit there and say, you know what? I want to be like that guy. I did. At the time, I had no idea who he was. You're kidding. So why'd you go? I was just training for the fun of it. And I thought I could learn a lot by going to the seminar. I heard he was a UFC fighter.

Showed up. And then now looking back on it, I'm like, I trained with some really cool people. And that was the same thing when I trained with Ken. I had no idea who Ken was. No idea. No idea. That is unbelievable. And now I'm like, oh, I trained with a legend. That's awesome. It only hits two years later. But like not knowing Nate and then seeing him. I mean, you know, at first glance, he could be rough around the edges and you kind of have to get to know him a little more. What do you think of him when you were like,

what is, you know, when you hear him talking and breaking things down, did you think that he was a kind of a different cat? Definitely, but he's just like, he's the essence of a fighter. Like,

when you think about a fighter, that's him and him and his brother just have bring like, even though they're these, like, tough guys that they just bring like, they enlighten fighting and they make it super fun

and exciting to watch. So now that the sport has become, you know, this behemoth, how fighters deal with losses has become a big talking point. So people like myself are giving Connor and Holly props for how they dealt with the loss on Saturday. They gave you a lot of props for how you dealt with it.

And they're comparing you guys to Rhonda and how she dealt with the loss. Do you feel like this is fair? Like we don't know. I don't know what's going through Rhonda's mind. I don't know how she had. I don't know what kind of state. Is it even fair to compare or is every situation different? I think every situation is different.

And it's not fair to compare. Of course, when I tried to just pull myself together and know that it's still a business and I need to handle it. as a business. But you never know what someone's going through, and especially with Rhonda, she was on, like, I mean, I was riding a high from having three wins in the UFC and then losing one. So, of course, I was devastated, but Rhonda went from being the only champion to not being a champion at all. And I think that in itself, it must have been just, like, very, very hard for her to deal with.

So, I mean, I, and injuries alone, she had well, well, more extensive injuries than any of us. So, I mean, everyone goes through a different battle before and after the fight. Is it still somewhat surreal to you that you're a UFC fighter, that this is your life? Wait, you're not even, you're turning 22 or you just turned? I turned 22 in a few days. Two days. Happy birthday. Will you be celebrating in New York? No. No. No. Going back to Hollywood. Yeah. Okay. Is it kind of weird though? Like it has it, you know what I mean? This is your life. This is your job. It's really weird. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, I've obviously said it in a UFC fighter, but it's still surreal to me to think that people recognize me in Hollywood.

It's like totally weird that anyone would want to take a picture with me because I'm not that cool, but it's cool. What does some of your high school friends do? Like what's their life right now? Gosh, I mean, I've stayed close with just a few people from high school. Like one of my best friends is a nurse practitioner. I have another one who's a nail technician. So is a nail technician someone who.

They do your nails. That's what it's called? Yeah, I think so. That sounds a lot more impressive than it really is. Does she do yours? Yes. That's nice of her. She's great.

Wait, are you the kind that took the elevator up and didn't send it back down? Have you just said goodbye to all your high school friends now that you're a big shot? I went to three different high schools. That's right. So, I mean, it's just kind of hard to stay connected because I've lived in so many different towns. Of course, I've stayed close to a few people here and there and I'm reconnecting with a few people here and there. But I have just a few very, very close friends. And it's all I need.

I love them. The first one was Dayton, Oregon. Yes. Right? That's where you were born? I lived all over. Okay. Where have you lived?

Dayton. Then I moved to Newburgh, Rino, Vegas, Sacramento. Where's Newburgh? Newburgh. Newburgh's in Oregon, too. So did you go to high school in Dayton? No. Where are the three places that you went to high school?

So I went to elementary school in Dayton, middle school, and freshman year in Newburgh. Okay. And then I went to a high school and two high schools in Reno. because I went to college early. Oh. Yeah. You were a brainiac. I liked the thing.

Okay. No, I got an academic scholarship. So I went to college when I was 16. So then for like part of my high school year, I was going to community college. And it's a little harder to like stay connected with people because you're just kind of focused on school. Why did you move around so much? You'd ask my parents. I don't know.

It was all them? They just liked to move. Yeah. Was it because of your dad's job? Yeah, yeah. So when we moved around Oregon, It was just, I don't know why. And we moved houses and stuff.

But yeah, we moved to Reno because my dad was going to get laid off. He hadn't gotten laid off yet, but he knew it was coming because he went to the paper mill. Oh, wow. The paper industry is almost completely gone now. So, yeah, he knew he was going to lose his job, so we quickly found whatever job he could find and it was in Reno. Okay. And you have one brother, correct? Yes.

Older. Older. What's your relationship like with him? Great. I love him. How does he feel about his sister? being a fighter. You're tougher than he is. I don't even know what he does. In high school, I wanted to be on the wrestling team and he was in show choir. What? Yeah, something got switched

there. Oh my gosh. Does he go to your fights? No, no, he hasn't been to any yet. Why is that? He's busy. He's got school. Yeah, he's going to be a music teacher. So, wow. You talk about, I've read in a few interviews that you were sort of bullied in high school, right? Now when we say bullied, there's different levels of bullying. There's verbal abuse. There's physical abuse. How bad was it? A little bit of everything. Really? Yeah. Damn.

Mostly verbal, I would say, I mean, I just went through something really, really, really terrible. And I don't think my classmates understood what happened to me. Okay. What happened? Some's not. Okay. Yeah. You don't want to talk about it.

No. Okay. And I don't think they understood exactly what happened. And then I got made fun of for it. And they just turned out. Just turned on me. Yeah, it was, I don't know. They just didn't know, like, what actually.

severity? Yeah, they didn't know the severity and just turned on me and... Were they cool with you beforehand? Yes and no, but so when I was a freshman, or when I was a eighth grader, I made varsity cheerleading. Okay. Like, you try out for cheerleading for your freshman year and I made varsity and I think a lot of the girls maybe didn't like me because I made varsity instead of having to take four years to get on varsity, but I was a dancer.

So, I mean, it made sense that I was there, I think. And so they didn't like me because of that. And then everything just was a downward spiral. Wow. And did anyone have your back? Or were you kind of left on an island by yourself? My mom. Okay.

Yeah, my mom would pick me up from school almost every day. I went from being over a four-point student, being in all AP classes, to barely showing up at all. So. You just stayed home? I stayed home. I would try to go to school. I'd walk there. And sometimes I'd walk home or.

You would go to school and then come right back? They'd just come right back. Wow. Yeah, it was too hard. So your mom said it's okay? No, I mean, she knew kind of what was going on. I didn't tell her everything, but she knew I was definitely going through a lot. So, I mean, I would call her and just beg her to pick me up or just walk home.

You know what's interesting? When I was in the 10th grade, so I went to one school seven to nine. I'm from Montreal and elementary is from 1 to 6 and then high school is from 7 to 11. 7 to 9 I went to one school. Then I just hated. I felt uncomfortable. I got into a couple of scraps. People don't think that I got in scraps back in the day.

So I left that school. First week of grade 10, I changed schools. And then I didn't like it. So I went back to the old school. And then I didn't like it again. So I went back to the new school. So I changed four times in the span of a month. So I sympathize with you.

And no one was actually like physically or verbally abusing me. But I just, I understand the feeling of just sort of feeling uncomfortable. Yeah, yeah. I mean, and it was very uncomfortable. I mean, my mom would pick me up every single day crying. and I just don't think that people are aware of the effect their words have on people. Yeah. I mean, there are certain times where, like, it did get a little physical.

Wow. I mean, and that I can handle that, but it's the verbal part that they don't, people don't realize the effect of what they're seeing has on someone. And they say, oh, I only said one comment, but I guess what 10 other people said one comment too. So it got really hard. Did you think about changing schools? Yeah. kind of. There was only one high school in that town. So it's like I didn't have anywhere else to go.

So when my dad said, we're moving, it was like, thank the Lord, like I need to get out. And I went to high school for one more year, decided it really wasn't for me and applied for college and I got in. Do any of these people know what you do now? I'm sure some of them do, right? I'm sure they do. Do you ever hear from them saying, I'm sorry now that you talk about it? You do? I do. Yeah, I've had, I have had maybe two or three people connect and try to apologize. But it's, It's, I mean, it means a lot. It's great to hear. But at this point, it's like the scars, they're still there.

Wow. Still hurts. I'm still trying to grow, but it's just like the pain I went through was just so, it was so real that I forgive them. I do, but it's, there's still scars. Do you even reply to them when they write to you? I do sometimes. I mean, it takes me a while because at first I just get mad. I'm like, there's, like, now you're, like, now you're saying sorry.

Like, so many years later. Yeah. At first I feel like that and was bitter about it, but then I do realize that it is nice that they're reaching out to apologize. Do you use these people as motivation when you fight? Like when you're thinking of your opponent, are you thinking more about them and the fight? You know what I mean? Like that could fuel you. Sometimes you picture your opponent on like the heavy bag or something.

Do you think of your class, your ex-class things like that? Not during training. I don't. And actually, I didn't get into fighting because of it either. But I do think everything I went through, I went from being this really bright, bubbly person and wanting to be on the cheerleading team doing clubs and stuff. that to I went from having tons of friends then I include myself I like to have two friends I don't I'm I turned into like an anti-social person where I was nervous in crowds I get nervous to go out to parties I don't do that kind of still to this day wow so I'm trying to get better at it and I think

that fighting especially doing things like this and being in the eye of the public and doing things with the UFC it really has brought me out of my shell and it turned me back into a fun happy person. I went from being happy to miserable for so many years and I completely lost who I was and fighting brought me out of my shell and made me so just so much more happy. And I think that it really showed when my first my first UFC fight, I just bawled. And I didn't know I had that much emotion in me and I didn't know I had that much resentment and anger and emotions still about what happened to me in high school. And it all just came out. And I felt it all. Now it all makes sense. So the old page is coming back.

It's coming back. Slowly but surely. I mean, people I think from the outside looking in see me as this bright, fun person, and I'm doing all these fun things. And I don't think they realize, like, it's really hard for me still. Like going out in the public, going to fights, it's still hard for me to do those things just because I had such a hard year. It was one year that ruined me.

And I'm getting better. My freshman year of high school, so I was 14. I'm 22. Oh, wow. Okay, so less than 10 years ago. Yeah. So that was eight years ago. 2008. Damn, when you put it in that perspective, really not that long ago. Yeah. Wow. And so

your, you're, I would, my natural question to you was, oh, that's why you went into fighting. The fighting thing has nothing to do with that? No, the fighting had nothing to do with it. My parents actually, I mean, obviously I talk about how my dad convinced me to start training. And that's completely true. But I think they wanted me. I went from being on the cheerling team doing dance and extracurricular activities. When I moved to Reno, I did nothing. I didn't want. want to try out for sports. I didn't want to do anything. And they kind of, of course, they saw this complete change in their daughter where I went from being so fun and active to not wanting to do anything, not wanting to go to school, not wanting to do anything. And that's when my dad convinced me

to go try a class with him. And I think it was mostly to get me out of my shell, to get me to meet people, to be active again, do anything. And just fell in love with it. And then didn't plan on making it a career but I guess I just got so in love with fighting it I was happy enough to make it a career and it's completely just changed me and it brought me back to life when he tells you to come with him to the gym are you receptive to that idea right off the bat no I wasn't receptive off the bat no I told him that he had to take the class with me oh because I was too nervous I mean not even too nervous I just don't like being in groups of people okay it was just really hard because how far removed is this from that freshman year that you it was just a year later a year later

yeah so it was still very fresh It's still very fresh. Yeah. So, I mean, it was hard for me to be in groups of people because no matter what, if I saw a group of people laughing, I just knew they were laughing about me. Even though I'm sure they weren't. Right. But I just knew for a fact, those people don't like me. They're laughing.

It's about me. So when I went to try new things, it was just really, it was hard. So I convinced him, I was like, you have to do it with me. He took a class in me in our first class. I was with Ken Chamrock. Gosh. And you had known. He could have been just some guy.

My dad knew who he was. My dad was a huge fan. Wow. huge fan and Ken taught us heel hooks the first day. Amazing. Yeah. And I don't know. I just stuck with it.

And I think Ken was a huge help to that. You know, he's the one who encouraged me to stay in the gym. He's the one who told me I had potential. I could go far. And he's the one who got me to spar the first time. He helped me just come back to life. At what point do you realize who this man is?

Did you go on Google that night? Maybe like two years ago. You're kidding. So all this time, did your dad not tell you? No, he did. He told me it was his leg. I don't think I appreciated it as much right then, but now, of course, looking about it, I just really appreciate the entire experience. When's the last time you spoke to Ken?

I haven't spoke to Ken recently. I still stay in contact with his family, though. I'm still in contact with his son. So, yeah, I still close to the family. I did see the last fight. That was a bummer. Yeah. You were rooting for him. Of course.

Yeah, I always root for him. But, you know, fights happened. It was below the bell, right? Anything can happen in a fight. Was it below the bell? I say it was below the bell, you know. So it's interesting because you were uncomfortable outside of, you know, you're running. you know the gym and then you go into a place where you're super uncomfortable because you don't

know what you're doing so now you're just adding to the uncomfortableness of your life how long did it take for you to actually get comfortable in the gym um it didn't I mean it took a while it took a while to get comfortable but I think what I did like about it is that there was no girls there zero yeah it was me and it is it is weird as that sounds but um most of the experiences I had were girls picking on me It was girls being mean. Mean girls. Yeah, mean girls. Singling me out.

Like the movie. There wasn't anyone that could pick on me as far as there wasn't girls that could hate me. You're the only girl in the entire gym. And for the most part. I'm old. I'm older. I was a few guys around my age. Um, they were receptive. Yeah, they were receptive. They were willing to help me out. I think I did go in with a positive attitude. And I always have a great mindset to learn. I was really receptive to what. was teaching so I think they saw that I was athletic and I wanted to learn at some point does the word get out that page man's end is training and fighting at the school and are people starting to back off no well I mean it was my freshman year it was all stuff that having in Oregon by the time I moved to Reno I had just secluded myself so much that it wouldn't I wouldn't let myself be in that position again okay so no one really you didn't let anyone even know about no I didn't

let anyone know about me I just tried to stay to myself as much as I could I made it through one more year of high school and then I went straight to college. That's unbelievable. So how old were you in college? 16. Damn. And did you graduate? Um, I didn't graduate from college. I graduated because I was saying college courses. I got an advanced high school diploma. That is wild. Yeah. Are you doing this from home? Are you doing this from an actual place? No, it was from the college campus. Whoa. Yeah, I went to Chuckie Meadows Community College. What is it? Truckee Meadows Community College. Oh, okay. I said Chuckie Cheeses. No, Chuckie Meadows. It's in Reno. It's in Reno. Wow. So when you were younger, did you do acting?

Did you do things like that? I did, yeah, when I was 10. Actually, and my parents, like, I asked to pursue acting. They were very supportive, very, very supportive. Just out of nowhere? Yeah, out of nowhere. I tried a few classes in Oregon. I was 10 years old, and they were like, all right, let's go to L.A.

We moved to L.A. for a few months. Yeah, we stayed in a hotel for like four months. They just packed up and went with you. Packed up and went. I pursued acting. I got one national commercial, and that's it. That's all that came from it. Where's your brother during this time?

He came too. He just came. Came along. Yep, we decided to be homeschooled for a year. What a life. It was awesome. I lived in a hotel for four months. My parents homeschooled us.

Your parents sound like the greatest. Oh, they were awesome. I have the greatest parents. Yeah, they were just very supportive through all the traumas I've had through all the crazy things I want to try to dropping out of school to become a fighter. Yeah, they're great. So you say you want to go and pursue acting. You move to L.A. for four months.

You get one commercial. Yep. What happened? I don't know. I just didn't work out. You know, we were small town people in a foreign world. Did you get an agent? Yeah, I did have an agent.

It was just such this whole foreign, foreign world. You didn't have Mike Roberts. No, I didn't have Mike Roberts. I didn't have Eminemaking me. Now I do. And now I do, and now I do, and everything's changing. That's right. So at what point you pulled a plug on this experiment?

We gave it a good six months. And then my dad just being an amazing, an amazing father, He stayed in Oregon the whole time working so he could support us trying this So he stayed worked the whole time we just missed our dad So you wanted to go back did you ever have any close calls? Kind of I don't know I mean I think so I had a few like big Callbacks and this but I mean there's just when you go to like the commercial like the auditions like that There's a hundred people trying out for one role and I was lucky enough I got one commercial now are you trying for commercials only or are you trying for

TV movies everything everything? You know, I love the industry. I would love to do the TV route, movies, all of it. I just, I'm so fascinated. And obviously, I have a passion for it from a young age. And I would love to open that door. But obviously, yeah, still. I mean, fighting right now is definitely on the forefront.

I know I want to be a fighter first. And hopefully, as I'm training and doing all these amazing things, the more opportunities can come up. Now, Eric, Alex, can we see the screen on one of those cameras here or no? I don't know. Okay, he's going to come in. I just wanted to show something and it occurred to me that none of our actual cameras over here are pointing to the screen. Oh, okay, so then it's perfect.

We don't have to. What was this, what was the commercial? It was a Bissell Steamop commercial. You know what? We have the commercial. How about that? Surprise. Let's play that commercial.

This is just fantastic stuff. Here we go. What did you say it was Bissell? Bissell Steamop commercial. Bissell Steamop. Is that still around? Introducing a powerful new way to clean your hard floors. Yes, there she is.

Mom. Oh, hi, Mom. I recognize that face. That's a mom wasn't working so well. So we borrowed this steam thing. You I say, steam's the best way to clean. That's why we already own a pistol. I look that old now.

It's amazing. I look the same. How old are you are? Wow. That looks way easier. You don't have to pump it. So this is shot in L.A.? This one was actually shot in Portland.

Oh. So you got the gig in L.A. It's already dry. This is unbelievable. This bistle, by the way, I just have to add. It looks like a fantastic product. Awesome. It is.

100% chemical free. Are you kidding me? And then this, was there a real baby? Or was it a big baby? No. I don't remember a baby. Because he said that the baby was up. Oh, yeah, there's a baby.

Okay. Did you get a free bistle? No. No. They didn't give you any. Look, see, there's a baby. Oh, there was a baby. Yeah, why were you hiding the steam mop from dad of me?

That's amazing. Now, how long did it take? some solid acting right there. When's the last time you saw that? I don't think I've ever watched the whole thing. You never watched it? No, I was embarrassed.

It kind of popped up on the internet recently. Did you know that? I don't know how people find these things. I don't know how people find these things. Like, what are you doing? Unbelievable. How long did it take to shoot that?

I can act. It took like two days, I think. Two days to do that? Yeah. I thought it would take like three hours. Why two days? Well, because they have to change each. They had to change this.

We went from different sets. Then they had to film me like. like mopping up stuff a few times apparently I didn't do it right. Really? I don't know. It just took a while. The production side of it. Sure, of course.

There wasn't actually a lot of lines. When you get this, how far into your L.A. journey are you? Did you get it like right off the back? I wasn't that far. No, it was actually this. I got this one after we moved back. Oh, really? Yeah.

So I was in Portland that I had an agent in Portland that I was working with, got me that one. Went and auditioned for it, got that. And, yeah. Did you think, okay, this is my big break? I don't know. I was excited. Obviously, I made a lot of, for me a lot of money. Yeah. I made like $2,500, which was a lot of money. That's huge. That was huge for me back then. Huge for my parents, too. So, I mean, it was exciting.

What did you do with the money? Saved it. You still have it. Oh, no. I remember. So I put, I kept saving up and then I bought my first car. With that? Yeah. Well, I mean, I kept putting it away. Yeah, I kept saving. Well, I bought a car from my grandpa. Oh, so you didn't even use it. What? You didn't use it.

I didn't. Oh. I bought, yeah, I bought the car. Oh, from your grandpa. Oh, I thought he said for your grandpa. No, no, no. He, yeah, I bought a car from him. Does he sell cars or he just had a car he wanted to.

He helped me out. Wow. I mean, he gave me like a crazy good deal. I just paid him like. What kind of car? It was like a Chevy Silverado truck, big truck. Wow. A pickup?

It was a pickup. Yeah. A real woman's man. Yeah. Or woman's woman. Where's the car now? Sold it. Actually, actually, actually I sold it to my parents.

Oh, look at this. And then ended up. taking their car and then I've gone through cars like nobody's business don't buy cars on Craigslist oh gosh you've had some bad experiences well don't be a girl who knows nothing about cars sure no one helps you out with that no no I bought mistakes but now I bought myself a truck a pickup a pickup yeah I have a to coma the pickup truck weighs like a thousand I don't know how many pounds of ways you're such a small why do you need a pickup because I have toys okay I'm an outdoors person And I grew up in the country.

Okay. So yeah, I needed something. I could put my toys in, have a mountain bike, have kayaks. Wow. Plan on buying the paddleboard. That's my next, my next toy I'm going to buy. So is this a brand new car or is it a new one? 2015.

But it bought it a lot. It bought it new in 2015. Was it, but was it used? No, it was new. Okay, so you got a new one. My first new car. Look at you. Wow.

What's the worst experience with the Craigslist, Craigslist seller that you had? Do you have any real nightmares? Yes. Yes, but this was not buying anything. What was it? I rented a room off Craigslist. Oh, gosh. What do you mean rented a room?

So when I was moving to Sacramento, I needed a rent a room. I couldn't afford an apartment. So I went on Craigslist. I found this girl. She seemed really sweet, moved in with her. And then a week later, I find out she's the nudist. Oh, no. Because she just walks out of her room with her boyfriend, both but naked.

And you're there? But yeah, I'm there. They just walk out like nothing's happening. They're not naked. Just like life's good. Just like making coffee. Making coffee. Bending over in the fridge.

Oh my Lord. And the boyfriend too? Yeah. Oh yeah. And how old are they? In their 30s. Oh my. And then yeah.

And what was your reaction? I think I was 19. I don't know. I didn't know how to react. You didn't say like guys do you mind? Hey like you guys do you know you're naked? Yeah. So no.

Moved out. Yeah. I think yeah. Definitely moved out. How long after? It took me a while. because I didn't have a lot of money back then. So it took me a while and then I moved in with a teammate for a little while until I got a different place.

Did you explain to her that the reason you were moving out was because she liked to walk around in the nude? No, I think I just left. I was like, okay. That's it. Thanks. Wow. But how do you know that she was an actual nudist just because she was always nude? I think so.

Because this is like a cult. Maybe she's not a nudist. Maybe her and her boyfriend just liked me naked. Now with all due respect, if they were like super good looking people, would it have, Been better or were they just like kind of fat slubs? No, they weren't bad looking people. They totally weren't bad looking people. It was just a little, you know, I wasn't comfortable with two 30-year-old adults.

It's amazing. Walking around naked that I don't know. Have you ever seen that episode of Signfield? Are you a Seinfeld fan? I have seen Seinfeld, but I don't think I've seen that one. There's one where he, you know, is dating a girl who like fixes her bike and stuff all while in the nude. And it's just bad, you know, like different muscles are coming out. And yeah, he did not like it either.

It wasn't for me. Just wasn't. And so when you go move with a teammate, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Because I feel like sometimes you want to keep it separate. Yeah, no, it was good. It was good while it lasted. Unfortunately, they just lived, if you know, in Davis and not in Sacramento. And I really wanted to be somewhere close to the gym.

I didn't want to have to drive back and forth. So eventually I found an apartment in Sacramento, which I had for a while, and just upgraded. How did you even? department. How did you even end up at alpha male? Like, why there? Yeah, you know, actually, this is funny too. I mean, uh, I didn't know who your I was. Oh my gosh. I was a pro fighter. No idea who your eye was. So you had already made your pro debut. Already made my pro debut. You had not heard of the name your eye of favor. I was like a two and no pro. No idea who

you're I or TJ or any of them were. I just liked doing the sport. Um, yeah. So then I actually had a girl who was at one of the rival gyms in Reno. There was two like two gyms that were rivals. And I know she moved to Sacramento, had a lot of success at Team Alpha Mal. And I was like, hey, I should try it out. And my dad said they had a lot of small weight classes. Obviously, he knew a lot about MMA. So he knew who the guys were, that they were smaller. It would be a good fit. He's the one who guided me. I was driving. I would wake up at six, drive from Reno to Sacramento to go try classes. How long of the drive is that? It's like two and a half hours. Okay. So I would wake up really early. It drive to the gym, trained for a few days. And when I walked in, I was with my mom and I was

like, wow, they really like Yariah here because his pictures were everywhere. So I was like, that's just so weird. Like, why don't they hang up pictures of anyone else? And then I, then I come to find out. It's his gym. When you meet him, do you, do you know by then that he is a legend or did it take you some? No. It still didn't go back. I mean, I mean, I asked to take a picture with him. I was like, oh, he's, he's famous. I just take a picture with him. Unbelievable. Yeah, no idea. I mean, of Of course, now I know. Of course, I would hope so. Now I know.

Why don't you just use Google? Like when someone tells you're not that type, I want to learn more about this person. No, I'm like, I'm just going to go do it. Yeah. But for someone to drive two and a half hours to a gym in a different state, doesn't it, like, occur to you? This is a big deal this gym? Yeah, you know, I knew it was a big deal, but again, I trusted my father. He said, this is, they have small weight classes.

These are great guys. He does all the facts for me. And whenever I have an opponent, I'm like, dad, look this person. Does he know them already? Like, does he follow everything? He follows everything. Okay. He knows fighting back and forth.

And it's totally funny when there's fights, he'll do the commentary and he'll say things before the commentators even say it. Wow. Yeah, he loves it. He was a wrestling coach. So he kind of has a background, but, yeah, I trust him with my life. So before I take a fight, he's the person I ask. And if he says yes, then I take the fight.

Oh, really? So you have to get his blessing? Yep, I get his blessing before I take any fight. Who was at the gym that first day? Do you, in hindsight, like was Benavitas there, or Mendez? Were the big names there? Oh, gosh. You know, I know Uriah was there.

He was there. That's all I remember. I don't remember anyone else. Your eye likes to tell the story about how me and a 14-year-old boy got into it. A legit fight? Oh, yeah, we were beating each other up in practice. It was my first day, so I was like, oh, I really need to prove that I can hang with the guys and come to find out I was training with a 14-year-old.

Wow. Yeah, we made each other bleed. Legit? Yes. Now, knowing about your background and how you were dealing with things outside of training, it's got to be tough to go to a gym where it's all guys and now you're a fighter and you have to prove yourself and prove your worth. That's got to be sort of a mental hurdle in its own right, right? It is. It is. It was really hard. And I mean, I noticed most of my

stories have my parents in them. That's great. I respect. I still like bring my parents to everything. So they came with you? They did. Yeah. Before I went there, I brought my mom. She came to the gym with me. Whenever I tried things new, I always have somebody with me. So yeah, I made sure one of my parents was there, but I really got comfortable, you know, it was just such a great fit because your eye is such a good person. Yeah. And he was very, very welcoming. Obviously, I wasn't as good as I am now. I was just, I wasn't that good when I walked into the gym, but he was just so accepting and told me that these are the classes I have to be out if I ever want to be on Team Alpha Mail. It took me a good, like, four to six months to prove my worth. And then he actually invited me to

be on Team Alpha Mail. Oh, so that's how it works. He has to actually invite you. Yeah, you actually get invited. What was your reaction when he gave you? You gave you the invitation. It was like the biggest day of my life. Really? Yeah. At that point, I was just obsessed with wanting to be on Team Alpha Mail and actually be a part of the team. And he made it a really special.

I went in and I got to sign paperwork saying I was a part of Team Alpha Mail. And then he posted a picture of it. And it was a really special day. Did they throw a party for you? There was no party. No. No, no party. So knowing him like you do, all this stuff with TJ, do you think it really, really hurt him inside?

Definitely. Oh, gosh. I know it hurt him. And I feel so bad for the guy. He has a lot of stress going on in his life that not everyone knows about. I mean, he's just such a nice person. He has such a big heart. I do think that things affect him emotionally, you know, when he cares that much.

He puts in a lot of time and effort into anything he does. It seems like now there's this crop of young guys coming up there, like the Cody Garbrant's of the world. And you have guys like Elkins doing their thing. I feel like I'm missing a youngster. Mike, who am I missing? Andre Feely. Andre Feely, Touchy-Phillie.

Big fight coming up April, 2015. Third, yes, against you here Rodriguez. And some of the older guys are sort of finding their way. It feels like a bit of a transitional period for the team. Would that be fair? Yes, it's a huge transitional period, especially Danny, stepping up as a coach. That's right, yeah. Yeah, Danny Histillo, now head wrestling coach.

Wow. We got Chris is stepping up as a head coach. He does the whole jiu-jitsu side, and he steps up as an MMA coach as well. So a lot of transitional changes going on, and there's this whole wave of fighters that are just on the rise at our gym. So they're completely unknown yet, but they're just, they're amazing, amazing athletes. And there's a, there's a bright future for a lot of fighters out of the gym. Now, your parents, when you fight, are they in attendance?

Yeah. So my dad goes to every fight. Every fight. He tries to make it to every single fight. And for the most part, I feel like he was at all of them except for my first fight. Okay. My first one? My pro debut.

That's the big one. I took it on short notice. Okay. So there was no way for him to take workout. and go to Texas, but my mom never went to fights. Lo and behold, the first fight she went to was my fight with Rose, and I'm sure I bled on her. Oh, really?

Damn. Did you know she was there? Poor thing, yeah. I could think of it. I just thought about it in the fight. I just like, I hope my mom knows it's not as bad as it looks, because at the point I look up on the screen and I could see my face covered in blood.

I'm like, no, my mom's going to be so worried. And I just felt so bad for her. It's funny that you say that because I think a lot of people, when we saw you look up at the screen, they thought like, oh, look at page. She's just looking to see how she looks like, oh, she's just this pretty girl that's worried about her looks. But you were thinking about your mom and her reaction. I was so worried about my mom because she's never, she, she doesn't go to fights. And it was a big, big deal that she went to this one. And I was so worried about her. And I knew she was just going to be an emotional wreck. And actually hearing afterwards, my dad was the one that

was a wreck. Really? Yeah. And my mom stayed calm and collected. But I never wanted to put my mom threw that again, so she won't be at the next fight. She's done. She's done. After that one, she's done. I felt so bad for it. I just wanted her to see, like, it was a small cut. It looked terrible.

It wasn't that bad. Did you cry when you saw them backstage? Yes. Oh, gosh. I was bawling. Right away, I told them, I was like, I love you guys, but you have to leave. Because I knew if I, like, if I look my mom and I, I'm going to start bawling. Yeah.

If she tries to hug me, I'm going to start bawling. So I just needed to make my parents just wait. I told him I'm okay. Just go, like, wait somewhere else for me. and then me and my manager just handled business, went to the press conference, handled business, went to my hotel room and cried with my parents. You always seem to cry more with the parents. I'm the same way.

There's something about them that maybe it's just being comfortable. Yeah. I'm vulnerable around them. You know, they make me vulnerable. I'm just so comfortable around them. And my mom knows everything I'm going through. And when I just when I looked in her eyes, I was like, I'm going to break down. So I just told them to wait in the back.

I'm going to go handle business. And then I cry later. So obviously there's a lot going on Some you can tell us about some you can't tell us about But Mike over there tells me you want to fight UFC 200 I do I think you know time wise that just works perfect for me I'd get a great camp leaning up to it

I have a few other special things going on right now That I have to take care of so stay tuned Big news coming But yeah I would love to be on UFC 200 Or after that I think that would be just a perfect time wise Anyone we have in mind No I think I have a whole list of girls that are ready to fight. Yes, your name comes up all the time. Yeah, my name comes up all the time. So I definitely,

I know the fight will be there. There's going to be fight options out there. It's just getting the UFC to make a good matchup and I can get back in there. I'm eager to get back in the cage. Have you told this idea to the UFC brass and are they on board with you? Yes. Oh, they are. They are. They know, they know I want it. So can we pencil you into that card against TBD? I say yes. Okay. We're waiting on the UFC. So put me down for UFC 200. I like it. Now, I feel like you already know the opponent. I don't. Actually, no word.

No word. Do you have a dream matchup right now? No, I don't. You know, I think there's so many, I mean, there's this whole wave of fighters that are being coming off the ultimate fighter too. That's right. There's going to be a whole wave of straw weights coming out there. I think there's going to just going to be plenty of options.

Okay. UFC 200. All right. And hopefully we'll find out soon about your big news. Yes. Stay tuned. It's coming soon. All right.

I look forward to it. Well, what a pleasure this has been. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Great to talk to you. a little longer than usual and I really respect you know you you talking a bit about your past I know it's still somewhat fresh do you want to by the way do you want to talk to more kid like do you want to be a role model like that I do want to be a role model and I've had a few girls

reach out to me which I just love that I can connect with them because I needed someone that I could look up to that had been through it before and I didn't have anybody and my mom was the only inspiration I had she was the only person that pulled me through those few years and even still I didn't tell her everything that happened to me she doesn't know everything that happened I kept it to myself. So I just want to be just a shoulder to cry on for anyone who needs it, especially young girls who are going through bullying because people say, oh, in the real world, it won't matter. But for them, that's their real world.

That's what they're going through. It's the real world. It's what they're going through right now. And the pain they feel, it's real. It hurts. And, yeah, I just want to be a voice and inspiration that it gets better. I promise it gets better. Well done.

Thanks. Nice job. Thank you again for coming. Good luck with all the big news. and we look forward to seeing you at UFC 200. Thank you. Paige Van Zant, everyone. I'd plug her Twitter name, but you see it right there.

And if you're listening to this, you probably already follow Paige Van Zand. At Paige Van Zand at Paige Van Zan at UFC. There she is one of the biggest names in the UFC. Top straw whites in the world. And she's got a lot of big news coming up. So keep a lock on that. I'm assuming you'll be sharing it with the world over there, right? Yes.

The world will know. I remember when you got the Reebok deal, you were dancing all around. Yeah. Oh, this will be more. Okay. More. I look forward to it. Again, thank you very much to her.

in a minute we're going to be joined by John Kavanaugh, head coach for Connor McGregor to talk about, of course, that fight on Saturday night. We have a lot more show left, so don't go anywhere. But right now we're going to take a quick break, reconfigure things. And we're going to hear from Misha Tate back in July of 2011 when she won her very first title, the Strike Force Women's Bantamweight title. She defeated Marlis Kuhn in Chicago. So we'll look back at that and then we'll be back right here on the MMA hour. Stick around. Thank you.

Misha, congratulations. Thank you. Great win for you. We're with Gina and Gina Krono and Cyborg Santos kind of on hiatus from MMA right now. With this victory, do you feel that you become the new face of women's MMA? And if so, is that a role you're comfortable with? You know, I'll let the fans decide that. You know, I just know that I became the new 135-pound world champion, and I'm happy with that.

I'm happy to represent women's MMA. And, you know, the rest I'll just leave up to you guys. Before the point you said that you wanted the most of all to submit Marlos because she'd never been submitted before. And it was just a beautiful set of. Can you kind of talk us through that submission? Yeah, it was right there, you know. I saw that as my opportunity, and a lot of people praise her for her submissions.

And, you know, I wanted to really go out there. I saw that as a challenge. I want to beat her at her own game. And, you know, I'm the first person to submit her, and that feels really good. Michelle, how much danger did you feel like you were in? She had your bat for most of them, to say, the second round. At any point did you really like that you were in danger of getting subbed? I didn't feel like I was in danger of getting subbed at any point,

but I knew I wasn't in a good position. I wasn't happy there, but she had really good control. I tried to kind of edge out and get my back on the mat and look to turn in, but she kept switching her feet around, And so I figured, you know what, I'm going to have to come out in the third round and really take a tour in the next rounds because I was just trying to get out of it, but it wasn't working. So I didn't feel like she was under my chin at any point or, you know, I felt her kind of lock under one arm and there was a possibility for swinging out for an arm bar. So I just made sure to go to that side and just be preventative at that point. I love training in Team Alpha, you know, I think the thing that I, like I said, I've learned the most there was the way to make the heart of a challenge.

champion and your mental aspect, there's a bunch of overachievers there, and they kind of just paved the way by example of how to stay tough mentally and emotionally. And I love training there, you know, so I'm definitely happy. I think I felt pretty good, you know, considering I felt like I was recovering pretty well in the rounds. But you know how to dig deep because that was a very challenging fight. You know, she's the toughest girl that I fought and she has a lot of experience more than I do. went into those rounds you know but it doesn't matter like I said if there's only two seconds left and I'm down the whole time before that I'm still going to be looking to finish and win the fight you know I'm a gamer I'll come in there and fight and

that's what I love to do and I was having fun out there first of all I would like to congratulate Misha she is a new champion and she deserves it to be honest I was quite relaxing the fight because in my mind I was convinced she could make me tap and in training, I often come in that position, and I hardly ever have to tap. For me, it will be my trainer, Martine, and I will analyze the fight. We're going to train, going to train really hard.

And I want to come back. I want to have my belt back, just like Sarah wants her belt back. But for now it's Misha and I congratulate her. Yeah. When she put me on bellies at the side control and you had your arm locked up, for one second, if you remember, you reached to grab your own leg to defend the choke. Did you not have a good enough hold to neutralize her attempt? I think I underestimated what she did because normally that's what I do and I can twist and get out of it.

That's why I was like she cannot make me tap on it and it's almost the end of the round and well, she made me tap. All right, so there you have it. July 30th, 2011. Cool to listen back to Misha Tait. She was so young back then. What is that? Five years ago after her first title win when she defeated Marluse Kuhn in Chicago. What a night that was.

Dan Henderson also defeated Fyodor Emilianenko that night as well. And now here she is the UFC's women's Bantamweight Champion. and she finally gets over the hump, she finally gets the title, Unbelievable stuff by Misha Tate, tremendous heart, will, determination, all that and then some on Saturday night

as she defeated Holly Home via fifth round, Rear Naked Choke, I believe the fourth latest submission in UFC history. Crazy. And if she was going to win that fifth round,

if she was going to win a 10-9, it was going to be a draw, which is somewhat of a nightmare for Misha Tate because then you have to go through the whole thing all over again. I mean, a draw does not equal championship. So big kudos to her. Coming up in a minute, we're going to be joined by John Kavanaugh, the head coach, of course, for one, Connor McGregor, the head coach over at SBG, Ireland. So very gracious to come on

following Saturday night. In fact, we booked this beforehand because it has been somewhat of a tradition to have him on after Connor's fights. And I saw him in the locker room after the fight on Saturday night and I said, you know, I totally understand if, you know, you don't want to do it. I mean, I completely understand. No problem. We could do it some other time. And he was like,

are you crazy? No way. Of course. I'd be happy to come on. And I really truly respect that out of him. I can't say enough. And I see some people saying, like, give Nate his props. Nate deserves all the props and then some. I am not taking anything away from Nate, but it is rare in this day and age to see

someone who had so much on the line and who's as big of a star and draw as Connor McGregor deal with a loss in that fashion. I mean, in the world of professional football, the way Cam Newton dealt with his loss in the Super Bowl was a huge talking point for days after the Super Bowl. People criticize him. I didn't have a problem. In fact, we spoke about it on this show. We can't put ourselves in their shoes. Connor walked out of that dressing room while we were standing by to interview him. His head couldn't have been held higher. He was, you know, wearing his, you know, his customates. I mean, he just, he said everything perfectly.

He addressed the media perfectly. His demeanor was everything. And you got to give him the nod on that front, whether you like him or hate him. You have to respect the way he handled that. And I have the utmost respect for him and his team in particular. I had the pleasure of talking to Artem and Owen Roddy quickly afterwards as well. And I just was sincerely blown away with the perspective that they had. following, you know, such a, such a big fight. So without further ado, let us go to the,

nope, we got, we got the phone on this one, right? I don't think we have Skype on this one. We'll go to the phone. And he is still in Las Vegas, I believe. John Kavanaugh is on the phone right now. John, are you there? Hey, Ariel, how you do? I'm doing great. Again, I'm not sure if you heard it, but I really appreciate you coming on the show, especially after Saturday. It means a whole lot, and I can't thank you enough. You know, less than 48 hours later, how does it feel? How are you digesting it? You know, I guess because they're a sport, the athletes perform

infrequently as compared to say you're playing basketball, it's every week, and just, you know, wins and loss has happened. With our sport, it seems very magnified, I guess, when there's a loss because there's such a build-up to it. However, that's all that it is. It is, it's sport, and there's

each fight has a winner and loser, and there's not a single person that's successful in anything in life that doesn't have knockbacks. because if you're a risk taker, if you keep on yourself forward, that's what comes with it. If you stay in the shadows and just want to comment on something, maybe you don't get the fall, but you'll never get the rise either. So we take it for what it is and pick ourselves up and get ready for the next one.

It has been a while since Connor McGregor suffered any kind of defeat over five years since his last loss. To be exact November of 2010, of course he's a much different person now, much more at stake his life is drastically different but can you compare the way he dealt with the loss on Saturday to the way he dealt with his last loss against Joseph Duffy back in November of 2010?

Yeah he's more mature now but I think the overall attitude is the same after the Duffy fight he was in the gym on Monday and if you look at his record I believe he fought 8 to 10 weeks

later after that it was a quick turn around anyway. And that's how Connor deals with these things. He wants to go back in. He wants to train. He loves competing regardless of the result. He's, you know, he's got a lot of catchphrases, but that one, humble and victory or defeat is, is true.

It's how he lives himself. He will build it up and run a great show and win or lose. It's humble and victory or defeat. I love hearing the way you break things down, so I'd like to break the first and second rounds separately. First round, what did you think of it? Were you happy? Was he actually?

executing the game plan? Was that how you thought it was going to go? Yeah, a lot of things were working. I did think he maybe was loading up a bit on his left hand, and especially if you're facing a same-stance fighter, they can, Nate's kind of going to using that shoulder roll that boxers do to kind of defend themselves to get that. So a lot of the big lefts, he was either going, well, he wasn't catching him flush. They were kind of bouncing off the shoulder or Nate was moving with the shot, so it wasn't having the impact it would have on an opposite stance fighter

or if someone wasn't as highly skilled as Nate. But still some good shots landed. He did get taken down, nice single leg by Nate, but I thought Conradet had very well executed a nice sweep and was safe in the guard and almost passed landed some good shots.

So, yeah, all in all, it was a good round. I imagine the judges get that round to Conner. I can't see how it would have went otherwise. Yeah, I think most of the media did as well. Did you feel like he was going for the home run punch? Like he was trying for the knockout, trying too hard for it? Yeah, a little bit. That's, that was pretty much all I said in between rounds was, you know, you don't have to take him out with one shot. There's, you know, no need to load up on that big, big hand. I think it's a, for us that calls it the touch of death. Right. It's a good name for it. But we also don't

to only rely on that. And if there was something to critique and something to take away from that fight, I mean, I think Connor almost immediately said it much better than I'm going to be to say that he was inefficient with his shots, and Nate was efficient, you know. And that's what I was trying to get across. And that's what we saw happening. He kind of blew himself a little bit trying to take his head off at every single left hand rather than just landing it.

Maybe he could have stole his own phrase and told him to keep it flowy. That's how it went down. What about the height and in particular the reach advantage? Did you feel like that was an issue? Not too much. As a sparring partner's very in height and wouldn't be unusual to face that. I think the same stance and Nate's technical knowledge

of protect himself with his lead shoulder and moving with the shots and that combined with Connor loading up and being a little bit inefficient with his shots made him tired, you know, I went in between rounds and I'm with Connor a long, long time, and I've seen him do

an an order amount of rounds in the gym, and I've never seen him breed heavy. And I went in, it was clear he was breeding heavy, and I was a bit taken aback by that. It was a surprise for me, but it was because of what he said, you know, like I said, I'm echoing what he said much better that it was a case of being inefficient.

You know, went to the 25-minute fight, and going up a weight class. You've got to accept that. You've got to move in such a way that you can keep going for those 25 minutes, and that's not what he did. In between the first and second, what's the message there?

What are you telling him to do? Yeah, well, like I said, that's pretty much all I said was, you know, no need to load up in the left hand. Okay. You just have to touch him, you don't have to take him out with one shot. So let's, you know, let's throw some combinations.

Let's move around. Let's get the breath back. I know he was breeding a little bit heavy. So that's what I figured. But, you know, I thought he had a good round in round one. And if we could keep that going, I figured he would either stop him or get a decision if he was able to perform like he did in round one for the next four rounds. At what point are you getting nervous in the second round?

At what point are you thinking, okay, this is going really badly? I think there was a good left cross and it kind of stumbled counterback. It probably looked like a wobbling, but I really think it was kind of exhaustion at this stage. You know, he looked really, really tired and he kind of had a bit of a Slope fest, a bit of a back and forward, and, you know, at that stage, it was clear he was very, very tired. and if there's one thing you're never going to say about a Diaz brother is that he gets tired. You know, he just has that incredible ability just to keep going and keep pushing himself. And, you know, they're phenomenal athletes to do with him.

So when I thought that that tiredness and him being pushed back, it was, you know, of course that was when you, there was worry. And then he goes for the takedown, which, you know, we've seen before a fighter is somewhat rocked. they're looking for a way to weather the storm, but it's obviously unlike Connor, he's not usually that kind of fighter. Were you worried when you saw him do that? No, I mean, he did in the Holloway fight very effectively. And, you know, it's mixed martial arts,

or you have to go where you think you have an advantage and if he'd gotten the takedown, you could, you know, maybe survive in the guard and just kind of get the energy back. So it was not a bad strategy. You know, they did a great job. stopping it. In hindsight, I asked him this question, you're still there, right?

Yep. Do you feel like he just kind of bit off more than he could chew? In hindsight, do you kind of wish that you guys never did this and just stuck around at 145? Absolutely not. I don't think that what life is for is plain safe and not biting off more than you can chew. If you're not binding off more than you can chew, you need to chew harder. I'm super proud of him.

You know, right now this is... the biggest thing in my life, you know, traveling to these fights and living this life, it's amazing. But the professional side of mixed martial arts might fade away from me, but teaching martial arts never will. And I have a big kids program at home, and we're raising them, we tell them, you know, our phrases we win or we learn, and I'm encouraging them to take chances and step on the competition, Matt, and not let people on the sidelines affect them that if you do stumble,

not to make them feel silly, you know. because I want those kids to grow up to be like that about whatever they do. So it would be a lie for me to say, I had anything else or done in the utmost respect for Connor for what he did. And regardless of the result, I think it was a, I think he did the right thing. This is what we should be doing. And this is what we're living in a golden era of mixed martial arts right now. Look at that press conference.

I had goosebumps watching that the other day. Look at the line up coming up over the next few months. look how quickly how often the belts are changing hands and what's that tell you? That tells you that the best are fighting the best week in, week out.

You know, I'm a huge boxing fan. I love watching boxing, but I love more in the 90s and the 80s when there's these great fights happening every other week. Now it seems pretty rare for it to happen. Unfortunately, I said, I'm a big fan. I love watching it.

But a mixed martial arts, we're spoiled. We're getting the best fighting the best. It seems every other week there's a massive car. following the loss I couldn't help but wonder okay now what's going to you know we saw what happened to ronda all the hate it was you know it was pretty harsh and disgusting at times and I was wondering okay obviously he talked a lot what's the reception going to be like what's the reaction going to be like and it's been amazing to read for the most part how people are rallying around him people

who said they weren't fans now respect them all because of the way he handled himself afterward he stuck around in the cage to talk to Rogan he did interviews with me and others he did the press conference. He was there and did everything and like I said, held his head pretty damn high. Was there a discussion afterwards? Should I go? Should I talk to the media?

Did you guys talk at all before all that happened in the locker room by yourselves? No, not at all. It was never going to be any other way other than to go and do the press conference and face people and not to, like he said, not to shy away from it and stand tall.

And, you know, he's going to be remembered for a lot of things when this is all said and done. And, you know, there's more fights to come. And when it's all said and done, people look back and I think he's going to be used as an example as to how people should hold themselves, that they should take risks, they should take the big fights.

And if you get a loss, or you get a win, you're humble and victory or defeat. And I was not surprised, but just so proud of him how he acted in the cage afterwards and how he handled it out. afterwards. But that's how he is after a victory. You've never seen him after victory be in someone's face. He bows. He shakes the hand and then we start getting ready to build up the next one. But it was not a surprise for me at all to see how he did it. I know you're not back home

yet, but do you have any idea what kind of reaction he's getting to this? Because I know it's still kind of a weird spot MMA in Ireland right now. They're somewhat hesitant at times. They think it's a little crazy. They're backing their guy. It's all very much new. What do you know about what they're saying over there about what happened on Saturday? You know, all I'm getting is my phone absolutely blown up with an amazing amount of support and kind messages. And, you know, of course, there's going to be people that are, that want to take a shout at you when you're down.

And to be honest, I don't, I don't, I wouldn't take that away from them. You know, it's professional sport and there's an entertainment site to it. And then, you know, everybody has their opinion. and I'm fine with that and if you want to do that, that's up to damn. But for me, personally, all I'm getting is a huge amount of positivity. And I'm just looking forward to getting home

and getting training with my team again. See my girlfriend. Hello, Orla. I know she's listening. Hello. I look forward to seeing you. I think that's the reason why maybe things didn't go as planned. You were missing the good luck time. Could have been. Could have been.

I'll make sure she's with us from now on, but she didn't make this trip. But yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing her. tomorrow. Anyway, yeah, so it's been largely positive. And I think as well, back home, maybe there was a lot of people that were

new to the sport and maybe didn't like him because of his brashness or his attitude. And when they saw him how he dealt with the loss, I think that's that only converted more people as far as they can make out. Was Nate tougher than you expected him to be? Not really. Like, you know, just look at his records.

court. You know, him and his brother, do you have that style? They just seem to have, like, a Terminator, you know, they can get badly hurt and still just keep marching forward. So I wasn't that surprised, you know, that he did look like he got fairly banged up, but they're not stopping until they're absolutely, you know, unconscious or choked out. You know, that's the only way you put away one of those guys. So a little bit more efficiency in the shots

And, you know, I think points-wise It was going well in round one anyway But toughness wise, no, it was never Never doubt that how it was going to be If it was, if he didn't put them away They were going to keep coming. He was going to keep coming. As you know, originally this was supposed to be at 165 Then Connor said, screw it, let him be comfortable,

170 it is. Do you think you win this fight if it's at 165 If Nate has to cut more weight? No, no, I don't. think the weight made any difference. If it was 155, I don't think it would have made a difference. If you're facing somebody like that and you were inefficient,

that's what the result is going to be regardless. So I don't think it was, I don't think that played a part. I think Nate was the better guy on the night and he won. And congratulations to him and his team. One of the hot topics now is, oh, look at Holly. She went on on her shield. She didn't tap. Connor tapped. I'm sure you heard this. One of the hot topics now that people are saying,

Look at Holly, she went out on her shield, she didn't tap. Look at Connor, he tapped. What do you say to those people who like to point to tapping as a sign of weakness? It's weird to me that somebody would think that, considering what he does for a living. You know, come down to the gym, come and train him. Like, look at what he's doing. He's getting in with the most dangerous unarmed people on the planet and fighting in limited rules, full contact. I don't know how you could get more brave than that.

I've massive respect for what Holly did, but I would not really like my fighters to not tap to something. You know, that's a checkmate move. When that's in, it's over. There's no real reward for risking your health for not tapping to a locked-in submission. That to me is just a sign of, that's just an intelligent.

way of doing things. Like I said, I want the media to spin that and remarking on how anybody else does things, I'm just saying, from Conner's perspective, from mine, if you're a professional MMA fighter, there's not too many, there's not

much tougher jobs than that in the world, and that, to me, is bravery, but to let your arm break, or let yourself be choked and conscious and risk damage I would not like any of my guys to do that.

And so now here's a big question. What does he do next? Because he looked so good at 170. He looked so healthy at 170. It seems like he's eyeing 145 again. What do you think happens next? Yeah, I'm not too sure. There's a few offers there.

I'd rather, you know, that's really for Conner to decide. And I'm just a guy in the background carrying his bucket. So whatever he says, I'm happy to get ready for. We spoke, or maybe then speak to yourself, I speak to someone before about it. He seems to have this weird genetics that he can look great at 170, and he can make 145. It's just a weird body type. I'm not quite sure how it works, but he can,

and he always looks a bit scary on the scales, no doubt about it. But then you see him the next day, and he looks fine. So he has that ability to compete at 145. 55 or 70, I think. So what's, you know, to be curious to see what the fans want, because at the end of the day, what we're all doing this for is for fans. You know, it's entertainment. Let's see what the fans think is the most interesting thing for him to do next,

and we'll prepare and do our best. But if you had your druthers, what would you want? My, me personally, maybe I'll the rematch. Really? I'd like to see that again. Yeah. Why? I just think the first one, you know, obviously was great for us, but it was a little bit unfulfilling, a little bit. I think Aldo has a fantastic set of skills. He's, you know, he was a great champion, and I didn't think that quite closed the chapter on that.

So see a proper fight. I think stylistically and I think it would be a very nice fight to watch and I think it would be a very good challenge so that's just my personal opinion but like I said I'm not the decision maker on that

I hope Frankie Edgar's not listening he's gonna be yeah or Frankie you know he's a great fighter as well I just you know Frankie's lost to Aldo and you know Alto just had such an amazing run

just got caught with that very very hard shot and it went out fast and that's just how that fight went but just for me, because I think I'd learn so much from watching it, then to have a good back-and-forward fight, I just think it would be like, for me, I'd get a year's worth of material to coach off for the next 20 years off it, so that would be my personal preference.

But if it's Frankie or if it's DeSanjos or if it's another 70-fight, I'm happy just to be there. Are you on board with him coming back in July, or would you like for him to take a bit of a break now? No, I would push for that. I would like him back in. That's what he's driven to do. He's not the guy to go off to, you know, sit on the beach for a couple weeks. He's just not that way.

Everything he does is a million miles an hour. His brain works fast. His body works fast. And he's not particularly hurt, you know, no injuries from the fight. Okay. And no suspension or anything like that. So, you know, a little bit of a rest. And then I have a lot of ideas in my head and a lot of things that I took away from that fight.

And I'm very excited to work on that. And then carry on, carry on the journey. And I'll make this, I will never miss our pre-fight chat again. It's funny you say that. Someone just tweeted that to me, Benjo. The reason it didn't go so well was that Kavanaugh wasn't on the MMA hour for the first time before a fight. I didn't want to say it. I didn't want to rub it in.

But, you know, I'm... Is that you, is that you tweeting? No, it's not me tweeting. I just see you doing sneaky tweets on your tone while you're on the TV there. I'm happy you said it. We won't miss her. We won't miss her preach out again, so I'll carry it down on my shoulders. Okay, let's end on this.

For you personally, because you know how this game goes, you're, you're, you know, on top of the mountain, people celebrate you, and then, you know, one little issue here or there, some sort of adversity. everyone's jumping on you. And if we're being honest, it hasn't been the best stretch for SBG in the UFC, right? What are you hearing and how do you get the team to rally back, to get back to, you know, that night in Dublin less than two years ago, to get the confidence up, to get everyone rolling in and believing again. Now it's on you, right? You're the coach. You're the guy who got them to this point. Are you thinking about these things? And what do you have in mind? Well, you know, as you know the week before, I had Macwan, well, he's very new, so I can't really have much to do with that, but he had a good win in London. But, Obama had eight professional fighters fighting and went seven and won, and John Phillips became the new Bamar World Champion.

And so, you know, this loss is obviously amplified. Conor's the tip of the spear for SBG. So, you know, a lot of people are just looking at his results. But if you actually look at our results overall, we're doing very well. And even in that fight, like for me, I would be looking at a fight to see, is everything we're doing not working as all our sequences is just failing? or do we need to completely re-change things up. And I think looking at round one,

from just a pure technical perspective, it was going pretty well, you know. Like I said, overloading a little bit on the left, but for me telling my team, and for them to have faith in what I'm teaching, they have to see it working. You know, that's an evidence-based person. If what you're doing is not working,

you've got to move on from it, no emotional attachment to anything. But I believe what we're doing, is working. We're getting good results across the board. Okay, that's obviously in that fight we lost, but I think there was some positivity to take away from that, some good sequences in it.

I think even for a lot of people, maybe they were surprised to see that nice sweep from Connor, it's always a question about it's a judiths, but, you know, Nate's a fantastic jih Tjitsu player himself and for Connick to be able to sweep and survive in the guard and do well. It was a good sequence. You know, you get out that guillotine

attempt is the heartbreaker. I was like, call it. But then they did fantastic, taking the back and getting the choke. So, you know, you can look at what went wrong in the fight, but we also, you know, need to take a step back and look out and right in the fight. And look at what's going right across my board. I've got some

amazing fighters coming up. I'll actually tell you this, because I haven't even told the fighter yet. But I just got a good offer for one of my newer pros for Bellator, a very good contract. Oh, wow. What's his name? I haven't even that comes out this week. I haven't even

told him yes, so I'm not going to say yet, but he's probably listened now and he probably has an idea, but maybe he can come on the show and talk to you about that, but anyway, the point being that there's, there's, there's, there's, um, there's a bright future ahead and I've got some, all of my guys, I'm super proud of the effort to put in, and,

and, uh, the story is not told yet, my friend, we, we will be back. I love it. And by the way, last time I, I left you hanging, you've got some personal, do we want to talk about this, or do we want to wait? Uh, uh, We'll do that again.

We'll do that again. Okay. This has been a good conversation. This has been a good conversation. More impressed with you guys after this than I am after any victory thus far, and I know it's been a short run for us, but really I give you all the credit in the world, and it's just what a pleasure it is to cover people like you, Connor, and the rest of the team. So much respect to you, my man.

Safe Travel is home. And again, thank you so much for coming on the show. We sincerely appreciate it. You're too kind, and thank you very much, and we'll see you very much, and we'll see you very, very soon. All right, there he is. The head coach over at SBG Ireland, John Kavanaugh stopping by,

tremendous stuff from him. We appreciate it greatly. And for those wondering, later on in around 15, 20 minutes, we'll be talking to Jake Shields to get his perspective on Nate Diaz's victory on Saturday night. For now, let's go to the Skype machine

and talk to a man who was, well, very much in the center of some action on Friday. I had a front row seat to it all. A very interesting scenario played out. We'll get into that and a whole lot more. His name is Chai Louis Perry. You can see he is rocking a glory t-shirt. Also fights for one.

We'll talk about that as well. But first, let's welcome him in. Chai, how are you? Hi, I'm very well, sir. Thank you for having me on the show. I appreciate it. It is a pleasure. Where are you right now?

I am in the infamous AKA. Wow. I'm about to do some sparring. So, yeah, you've got my attention. Okay, well, I appreciate the time. From what I understand, you have a very much. no ties to AKA, but you reached out to Daniel Cormier not that long ago and said, I want to help you beat John Jones. I want to be there throughout this training camp. I don't want anything.

I just want to be there and help you beat John Jones. Is that accurate? That is very accurate, yeah. To be, to be, you know, completely honest of you, I never had any opinion of John whatsoever on a personal level until this weekend, just gone. So, yeah, I just reached out to him and said, you know, look, I, I, I just reached out to him and said, you I feel like I could help. You prepare for this fight, and, you know, one thing led to another, and here I am. And before we get into this weekend, why did you feel that way? Like, well, why, you have no ties to John or Daniel?

Why did you feel the need to offer your services? I don't know. I see a certain, I guess, misunderstanding of John's game, and they can stifle people. He's good at what he does. and I would just like to, you know, see what I'm able to offer, and if what I'm able to offer can, in fact, beat the John Jones, the so-called pound-for-pound best ever was, then, yeah, they're more props to me.

Is that I mean? Yeah, I understand. And for the uninformed, what are your dimensions? Excuse me? For the uninformed, how much do you weigh and how tall are you? Oh. Right now I'm walking around about 280 and I'm six foot, well, when I'm wearing my Nike's, I'm just a short of 610. 610. Wow. You reach out to... Big boy. Yes, you are a big man. And I saw that in person. You reach out to Daniel

Cormier. How does that, like, do you guys say, you call him up or text him whatever and say, I want to come and he's like, yeah, or was this some flirtation? How did you get it done? basically I said I'm a big good looking mixed race guy and I can help you get better looking and become a better fighter and beat that punk John Jones

and he said yeah sure when can you come and then here I am that's amazing we're training for that right now how long have you been there I actually went straight to LA and we met

on Thursday and then I came to very and we're training in Vegas. So not very long. So it's all... It's all starting now. It's all culminating and starting right now. And I appreciate you coming at the beginning of it all.

Okay, so here we are. It's Friday at the MGM and I'm interviewing John Jones. He walks away and all of a sudden I see this big brother getting into it with the Jones brothers, Chandler and Arthur and John himself. There's some back and forth. What the heck happened? Tell us what happened? It actually started earlier than that.

Okay. It was, we were over the studios filming with Joe Rogan filming that face-off thing. And Jones, you know, like I said, I had no opinion of the guy. Obviously, you've got to respect his accomplishments. And they're doing their interview, and John seems very professional. And again, I had no opinion. He didn't change it. They finished the interview.

As soon as we step outside, the guy turns into the biggest dick on the planet. Oh, my God. He is, he is, can I say, can I use profanity? Whatever you want. He is a big, fat, chubby dick. That guy is an absolute knock. Where I come from, you know, you wouldn't give him a time of day. Like I've got, now my opinion is zero respect for the guy.

He was just, he just started smack talking and, I mean, using stuff that I wouldn't repeat for Daniel. And we just kind of laughed it off. And I was just about to get in the car and leave. and he made it personal and he says yeah go on get in the car you a big bitch and I'm not being funny like you don't know me I haven't said a word to you so there's no need for you to even really interact you know I mean you're fighting Daniel you're not fighting me and then he's standing there with his hands in his pockets like he's God's gift or something

and I just said to him look if you really want to get around the security guard you can but he just stayed hiding behind you know this 600 pound security guard that couldn't catch a tennis ball if you threw it at him and then that was it that was the end of that you know so that was the first sort of interaction I had with him and little more than

an hour later we're at the we're backstage for the press conference and he sends his big fat chubby bava and Estager Jones whatever his name is and he wants to start

talking smack like defending Jones and Jones sort of it seemed like he was hiding behind him personally I don't care how tough the guy I think she is. He was hiding behind his brother, and his brother was calling me all sorts whilst he was backing up. So I'm just not really, you know, I'm not a big fan of disrespect. I never disrespected them. I never said anything to them. And then they all became fans of me. I think what it is is really, is the man himself.

Oh, look at that guy. I recognize that face. This is my man right here. Chai Louis Perry. You don't know about Chai Lewis Perry, D.C.? Oh, he can't hear me. Hold on. Let me take the headphones out. Hold on. DC? I said that's my man, Chai Louis Perry. You don't know about Chai Louis Perry, do you? I can't hear anything, but I didn't know about me before I reached out.

This is my guy right here. This is my guy. This is your ace in the hole? This is the protector. The bodyguard. He will take care of all issues that I face coming forward. Absolutely. Hey, I don't want to interrupt this interview

because this guy is a star in the making. He's a star. This guy's a legend. if he starts talking trash the things that I've heard in the first week of knowing this man you guys could never imagine amazing I love it great cameo there

hold on I'm going to put the phones back in for sure I can't hear that well there we go okay we're back I'm back baby great can you heard it you know what I'm going to tell you right now

I never had an opinion of of Daniel before I met him and the guy is it's a genuine kind-hearted bloke. Do you know what I mean? He's taking me in and he listens to anything I have to input. And I couldn't have imagined him to be such a nice guy. You know that because you've met him plenty of times.

Sure. He's a very nice guy, genuine guy. So now have the stakes been raised? Like you come into this, you're just to want to help the guy for whatever reason. But now that this got a little personal over the weekend, now do you come at this fight in a whole different way? Absolutely. I think now is I actually I want I want Daniel to break Jones. I want him to batter him let him remember that don't talk shit beyond the promotions. Do you know what I mean? Don't make things personal when that guy is disgusting. He is a disgusting person. The stuff he was saying, you know what I mean? He makes things really personal and and you sometimes I agree because I'm probably one of the biggest shit talkers around. But I understand about promoting a fight. Do you know what I mean? But then when you start bringing personal things in and family and stuff like that. That ain't promoting a fight.

That's just being a dick. And John Jones is a dick. And, mate, I might not be a big name on the scene, but I'll fight him in a heartbeat, a heavyweight, come up to heavyweight and I'll slap his ass around skinny-ass legs. I know you watched the first... You can tell him that. Yeah. I'm sure you'll hear. I know you watched the first fight. What's the biggest mistake that Daniel made in your opinion in that first fight? What are you trying to rectify here? He didn't deal with John's kicks and knees too well. You know, I think John was able to slow him down a lot to the body with those strikes. So we're going to make sure that we spend this camp correcting that.

And he will, those will not be a factor in the fight this time. And let's face it, that was pretty much all that was a factor. He was able to hurt the body. And, you know, when you hurt the body, it slows your whole game down. Yeah. So you guys are starting this. You're going to be there the entire camp. You're going to be at AKA until this thing is done, April 23rd.

I'm going to be here until the fight. I'm going to make sure I give everything I've got to make this man win, to help this man win. And then I'll buy John and his fat sister a drink after. Commiserations, bitches. John Jones, you're in your skinny bitch and your little fat brother. What are you going to do, you mugs? Were there any other run-ins that we didn't know about, or did it end after that second one?

No, no, the third running will be John running into my fucking fist. That'll be the third running. That prick. Do you know how much hate I've got since this whole thing? It's amazing. He ain't even in the UFC. I'm like, shut up, mate. I would smack him so hard.

I don't mean nothing. What does that mean? I just got no time for disrespectful people and he is one of the most disrespectful people I've ever met in my life. And that's saying a lot because I've met a lot of assholes. Well, what about your career? Because you were supposed to fight Brandon Vera

not that long ago? What's the next for you? What do you got? Brandon Vera is another bitch. Oh my God. Do you know what? There's only one person worse than John and that is Brandon Vera

because he is a fake Filipino who claims he is mate you know what going into this is just resurrecting some very bad feelings that I've just gotten over

I can't stand that man I'm sorry that fucking potato-headed wanker can't stand him he's another disrespectful guy you know what I mean he was very disrespectful he brought family into the whole thing

so he's another guy Brandon Vita oh am I even saying your name you fake champion well what happened you were supposed to fight him right

you were supposed to fight him and the thing fell through rich Franklin I was supposed to him. Yeah. And do you know what? I think what it comes down to at the end of the day is there are a very bad series

of miscommunication between me and one, and that's all I can put it down to. There's, my biggest issue is with Brandon. My issue isn't even with one. My issue is with Brandon. Brandon is trying to be a dictator, and he's kind of in control of what happens in that division, more so than people think. And it's fine. You know, I've got a lot of offers, a lot of interest in other places.

And, you know, if the money is right, then I'm sure some deals will be made very soon. So you're done with one? You know, I think I'd like to consider my... Oh, we've got another guy right? Oh, wow. Hey, Ariel. Yes. Salamalama al-a-a-ha.

How are you? Malikos-salam. Wow. Look at this. Who's Who? Malikam Salam, Habib. Nice to see you, brother. That's your.

I have to go to spot. Okay. Inshallah. Wow. He's boring. This gym is just full of superstars, isn't it? It's amazing. Okay.

So you... And now they've got the chopper. They got the chopper. Jesus Christ. I wish that people can see you in person because this is not doing you justice, just the kind of physical specimen that you are. And you almost made the L.A. Lakers.

Is that not true? Didn't you rough up Dennis Rodman and those guys? Didn't you rough up Lamar Odom and all? Is that accurate? Man, Lamar Odomain got shit on me, mate. I bet you are still. Who's this midget? Oh, wow.

Rosendo. It's a who's who over there. Yeah, them guys, do you know what? Yeah, it was very political. I found the NBA because I didn't go to a division one school. I kind of just, built myself up playing in European leagues and then took myself

to L.A. and earned myself a tryout just by asking. I turned up at the training centre down in El Segundo and I literally waited out there in the morning. I waited out there. I bought a ticket. I waited out there and it took me about a week to get someone

to get the right person and I met with a guy named Chip Schaefer who was the development coach and he said, yeah well we'll come back tomorrow and come a decent training and I went in there and I didn't leave all summer And I was beasting those fuckers Who were making loads of money

And I was making fuck all And I just decided You know what? I just I don't know I fell out of love with it then Because I realized that You could be as good as those guys

And it don't matter It's a very political sport So basketball Kiss my ass I don't even watch it anymore Really? That's it? No more? You're done?

You're done watching? No, no, no I'm done playing with ballpark Okay. So that's how well you that's part of that you weren't doing any fighting stuff. That's why you transitioned to the real deal? Well, I played power forward. So it was always quite a physical position anyway. Sure. Sure. And I enjoyed that sort of that rough and tumble and you know, sometimes I'd be brought on with teams just to intimidate guys. Wow. Because I'd go at the center as the big seven foot. I don't mind. I don't mind that. I enjoy that sort of stuff. So actually the way it came about is I got asked to fill in as a as a main event spot. on a show, a kickboxing show. And I was like, fuck it, I've never fought before, but I'll do it because I always wanted to try it. And I went out there, and I won.

And I was like, man, that was the easiest bit of cash I've ever made. Because it was just like I was sparring, you know what I mean, without shinies on. So it was fun. There we go. And then here is the one and only chopper in glory. Yes. That's the story. I hear maybe in May you're going to return.

There is potential that if we can get this deal sorted out, that I will be fighting for glory in May, the LA card. Okay. Well, I look forward to that. I will let you get down to business over there. It was great to have you on. Great to meet you for the first time. My man, New York, Rick, back there is your number one fan. He's been selling you for a long time.

So give him props as well. He is the man. He is the man. He's been trying for a long time. He has, and I appreciate... Thank you, my brother. I've got you, man. I've got you.

You're his only fan. Amazing stuff. I look forward to seeing what you can do with Daniel Cormier. What a fascinating story this is here to see how this develops. So thank you very much for the time, Chai. And we'll talk to you soon. Good luck to you. Thank you so much.

You have a blessed day. Take it easy, guys. There he is. Chai Louis Perry joining us right now. The ace in the hole for Daniel Cormier. Fascinating. How about that? Great stuff from him, live from the American Kickboxing Academy. So in a minute, we are going to be joined. And I saw that whole thing. I saw that all with my own two eyes. Okay, in a minute, we're going to be joined by Jake Shields, who, of course, was in the corner of one Nathan Diaz. In fact, he is joining us right now. He is on the phone as I speak. Jake, are you there? Hey, yeah, I'm here. How are you doing? Thank you so much for coming on, Jake. I appreciate it.

and really congratulations to you and the team. Nate refers to you as his big bro. He's your little bro. What was it like to see him finally? And you'd been there for Nick before, but Nate's never been in a spot like that, main eventing pay-per-view, all eyes on him, as his walkout song suggests,

to finally see him step up and win like that on such a big stage. What was that like for you personally? Oh, man, it was great, because, you know, like I said, Nate is like a little brother to me. I've known since he was like, I believe, 15. You know, he was just a young little punk kid at the gym, and they're working out with him. So I had to take him on like a brother and see him.

I mean, obviously everyone knows too. He had a lot of issues with pay and get screwed around by Dana. So remember finally step up and win for a fight in a fighting fashion and get paid. I couldn't be happier for him. Were you confident the whole time? I mean, this whole thing happened quickly. And, you know, I kind of referred it as like, oh, this fight is so good, but I wish he had a full camp.

Did you feel regardless of the fact that you guys were going to do it? Yeah, you know, I believe it in regardless. Obviously, definitely the camp would have been a lot better, but I still felt like Nate was just a better fighter, the bigger. I feel like he had a lot more experience. It's like you'd pull it through anyways. I mean, the camp would have been nice,

especially since Nate was out in Cabo. It was a week before he got called out there, you know, for a week out there, partying and training. And I'm not training, party and drinking, have fun. So that was a setback. But I knew Nate has heart, you know, the amount of hard he has and he's a natural, natural position.

I know he'd got to pull it out anyways. And what about the build-up, like all the back and forth and all that? At any point did he say to you, did you get an inkling that this had been, been made personal, that he was more fired up? Were you worried that he would fight too emotionally? What did you make of all that? I mean, yeah, Connor would definitely make a thing which made me.

He invested really want Connor beat up. The fact that he was insulting our whole team and everyone. I thought, you know, Connor crossed some lines. But Nate's smart, a veteran. You know, I'm sure he knew this, but I definitely gave him advice. I know I gave advice where he went out there. I'm like, hey, Connor's trying to get you valid up. He wants you to run in, make a mistake like Aldo.

So don't do that. you know, go out there and fight your game. And that was his plan to go out there and not fight too hard to first round. They go out there and play around. Let Carl watch himself out and bring the pace up on the second. So you were okay with how the first round win, because a lot of people including myself, thought Connor won, the first round landed, a few more shots, did more damage.

That being said, you were fine with that? I'm not going to say I was fine with that. I definitely, the plan was not to go out crazy to the first round, but Connor landed some better shots than I want and cut them. So I wasn't happy with it. I thought I would rather have been more, even the first round, but, you know, the game plan was not to go too crazy to the first job.

Okay, and then what did you say in between the first and second rounds to get him going? Just pick it up a little bit. You know, you need to start throwing more punches now. You start pop up to jab more, fall in. Follow the left hand, so he can't walk you down to take it. You know, he went out there and sort of picking apart in the second. Yeah, it seemed like he landed a big. I think it was a left, and that was the beginning of the end,

and then Connor went for the takedown. When he went for the takedown, did you think, okay, this is a major red flag he's seriously hurt here? Oh, yeah, I knew it was over when we went for the takedown. You could see it actually before that. Nate landed a couple shots, and you could see it in Connor's face that he was broke. Connor hasn't really been in a war like that. If ever, it's a long time.

I've never seen Connor in a war. He's used to going out there. In bullying, people, I'm not something I knew. Nate's a true warrior. I know if they dug, it went deep, and they started battling, and they would go to keep going. And I could see it in Connor's face that he was done before that. So, but time he shot, but then I already knew the fight was over.

you've been in this game a long time did you think it was just crazy for a 1-45er to move up 25 pounds did you think that he was biting off more than he could chew yeah definitely I mean Nate is a small 70-pounder of course Nate's really a really a 35-pounder

but I still think Connor should try making him come to 60 or 65 made him cut a little more and and do that I think he wants to do but need to kid the only thing about Connor he does believe in himself you know I'll give him credit

I might not care for Connor but he is ballsy he's got lots of balls and he truly believes in himself and he's willing to do big things. I'll respect him for that. But it was a ballsy move that didn't pay off. So you were kind of involved in all of this as short as the run was. You know, he talked about you when Nate accused Connor of being on steroids and he brought up your situation.

What was your reaction to that? What did you think of that? No, it was bullshit to try bringing us in and getting me mixed in on something that I'm not involved with, and he's disrespectful. And that's why, you know, I didn't really care for Connor. and he's got to watch, you know, at the press conference, and he said he was like, strangle me, and that's, uh, that's just laughable, you know,

the guy needs to watch, to watch out who he talks shit to do. It's like, we're, we're fighters, and he thinks he can talk shit to bigger, bigger, better fighters. He needs to be careful, he's going to get beat up. And then at the press conference, I saw you there front and center. It appeared as though he punched Nate Diaz's hand. You jumped in there.

How close were we to this thing actually getting, like Nashville all over again? Because it was diffused rather quickly, but for you guys, you guys were right there. I mean, what he did, I thought, you know, that wasn't cool. You can't punch a guy's hand before a fight. How close was it? Yeah, exactly. I thought of the punt.

I wasn't sure where he hit. Hey, I couldn't use my angle like where he hit him. I didn't jump to the punch. So my instincts got really mad. My first thing was to go right after him. So I hopped on stage to start to go after him. But then I was actually the angle where I actually could have got him, but then I realized that'd be a stupid thing to do.

I didn't want to mess Nate's fight up and Nate's big payday. So luckily, luckily my brains kicked him before my instinct. I kind of backed up. A lot of rumors and stuff that he really seriously hurt Nate's hand. Now that it's over. Was there any damage to it? No, I think it was a little bruising, but it was nothing serious. Nate's going to be.

Even if his animals was messed up, he would modify anyway. It's the way he is. We're not the kind of guys that for the fights over stupid things. When you saw that, though, do you think, you know, not that long ago, Rhonda got into it with Holly, and people viewed that as a sign of weakness, perhaps in hindsight it was. When you saw that, do you think, okay, maybe we got this guy, maybe he's rattled,

he's trying to get us off our game, but in doing so, he's kind of tipping his hand. Did you think about that at all? I mean, yeah, you think about it, but it's hard to say. I definitely agree he was rattled, and he was definitely a battle. That's why he was back in that way, but it doesn't mean, you know, you still got fighting.

You can't read too much into that kind of stuff. You could tell Nate was definitely getting under his skin, but we do know, Connor, you know, he's an explosive striker, and he's still a dangerous guy. For Nate Diaz, what's been the difference now, like the Michael Johnson fight, this fight, he has looked better than ever. Like, last time I think he looked this good was maybe when he beat Jim Miller around four years ago. But after that extended period, we didn't know what was going to, you know,

what was going to happen with him in his career. Why has he looked so good? Is there something different about him? Is he maturing? What's your perspective? I think it's a combination. I think Barbier, yeah, he's maturing and coming to his own. And also, I think he was really burnt out for a while.

He felt like, he felt like the UFC and Dana was growing up. He didn't even really want to fight. He was debating it if he wanted to fight anymore. So it's hard for him to be motivated to do it. And then, you know, he can excuse us to be also done with an injury. And then, you know, if you fight, you're still responsible for it. So I'm not to make an excuse. But, I mean, that is a factor still.

So it wasn't himself. Right. Okay. And now what do you think happens? Like, what would you like to see him do now? Do you want to see him stay at 170, go back down to 155? Dana White joke that we might not see him again now that he's got all this money. What do you think happens?

I think you'll want to fight again. I think, you know, obviously, you know, he enjoyed payday. You never do know. Maybe he won't fight again. Fighting the tough business. I think you will. And, I mean, I think he could fight 70 or 55. I think he's, you know, probably better.

It's 55 because, you know, 70s are huge. But every people mention against Lawler, and I think that would be a good fight. Stylistically, that could be an awesome fight. How did you guys celebrate on Saturday? Well, Nate ended up getting out really late, you know, by the time of press conference. getting done. So I didn't meet up with him to later. I just went out with some of the guys.

I hit a couple clubs. It ended up all in one of those wild nights. As you can hear, I kind of lost my voice. That's why I'm just kind of sound ridiculous. But, you know, like I said, you've been there, done that. You were part of the biggest show in UFC history still to this day. Was this one of the more fun experiences of your career just being a part of this crazy ride and then actually coming out on top in the end? Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, this is amazing. You know, obviously made the one that did it, but luckily I was there in his corner and got to get a little bit of the, got to feel a little bit of the happiness and the hype. And I said, he's like a, you know, he's like a brother to me.

It's like, you know, some of these teams you can tell these guys don't even care. They don't even want their guys to win almost to get jealous of fame. But Nate being like my little brother, I'm just so happy for him. And so glad to see him finally get a good payday and finally get some respect and get what he deserves. It's amazing watching you guys as a team because you are like a family. You're so, you know, closely knit and you all have each other's backs. What do you think the difference is between you guys? and you guys have been with each other essentially since day one

and some of these other teams that bounce around and there's no cohesion, there's no loyalty. Why has it worked so well for you guys? I think it's because we all started together. You know, we were all just a bunch of young, you know, young kids with nothing but a dream of fighting. We were all trained together, and we all gave them absolutely nothing, and we're just tough with beat each other up,

and we all kind of rose up together and all, you know, and all got big and all popped the titles and won titles. We did it together, not, you know, none of us ever left and we stayed tight the whole time. Most of these teams are a bunch of guys that are already fighters and they all meet up and join these teams and form these super teams, which is nothing wrong with that,

but we just in a situation where we all, you know, happen to bring you two together in the beginning and all turned into a good team. Final thing on Nate, if you can, the submission. What do you, you know, did he do it perfectly? And what did you make of Connor tapping because he's been accused, which I think is ridiculous, to be honest, but he's been accused of, you know, looking for a cowardly way out,

Holly didn't tap and all that. What's your take on the finish? I think he was already rattled on the feet, to be honest. I think he was already starting to break. Like I said earlier, I don't think he'd ever been before like that. Once you got his heart tested it, he started questioning himself. He predicted all these early knockouts when he didn't get him, so he was believing in himself.

All of a sudden, he was in a war. He started falling apart. So by the time he shot, I knew it would be his mission on the ground on the night. It was a good submission on May part, but it was more just Conner given it to him, you know, once he's punched him, he just turned over and rolled over for the naked show. That comes into play as well. Like, in Holly's fight, she wasn't necessarily beaten up, but Connor getting, you know, rattled and rocked,

comes into play as far as the tap is concerned, right? You have to factor that as well, right? Oh, yeah, absolutely. He's already been, I mean, he was already a little gas. I mean, it's not because he's out of shape, Conner. Like, like Nate says, Connor fights with a crazy energy. He's attacking, don't kicks, and, hey, you know, was aware of that. And Connor brought that pressure, and he was starting to feel.

fade and that's when they started tagging them. And then when you're getting tired and you're getting tagged, it's like your head's getting rattled, the body's tired, all of a sudden he's picking down, getting punched in the face, he rolls over, the choke comes on. And yeah, yeah, you know, I mean, Connor could have fought it more for sure, but at that point he was pretty much done anyway. So it's not like he was being a pussy. He just, you know, yeah, he probably should have fought us a little more, but I mean,

he was going to lose that point anyways, and he realized that, it just tapped out. I mean, I'll definitely don't think Connor's a pussy. He's a tough guy, he's a lousy guy. he jumps up weight to fight to fight whoever. Did you gain any more respect for the way he handled the loss afterwards? I don't know if you heard any of the things that he said. Did you change your opinion on him at all? I didn't hear much.

What he said? It hurt some little soundbite. It sounded like he was making excuses, which I respect him for that. And, you know, I've always respected Connor. Like I said, I think he can be an asshole. I think he can take it too far with things he says. And I think, you know, the mouth's off me again. I'm going to smack him.

I don't care. I'm not trying to fight him professionally. I'll just smack on my team and says not on me. But by our perspective with the fighter, I think he's a talented fighter, he's got balls, he's got amazing stand-up, and he's a legit guy. I guess, you know, it's good for the sport, but he is good at selling fights. Yeah, and how about you? Because it looked like you were going to get the title shot, World Series of fighting,

and then they came out and there were some issues. Where do you stand in your career? What's next for you, Jake? Right now I'm just going to do a grappling match on England and the Polaris. I've got a big grappling match coming out there. I'm not sure of trying to work about the worst season fighting. I think we're going to come to terms of their contracts. We've got that about worked out.

So I'll probably be fighting early summer. Okay, so you're doing a grappling match. Not Husseymar, right? You were talking about the promotion? Yeah, it's called like Polaris. I don't pronounce him that, right? For a second, I was like... He's actually on the show, too.

Oh, yes, yes, yes. Who's he fighting? Is it Gary Tonin? Who's he fighting? Gary Tonin, yeah. Yeah, yeah. That would be interesting. Who are you competing against?

I don't know to him said the guy It's A. A.J. Agar's name, I think it is. Some of those lines, apparently, I need to watch some of his matches. I haven't watched him all yet, but I guess he's a good wrestler

or good submission guy. Okay. He won worlds or something. I just took the match. I said, I said, I'll go get to whoever, and that's the guy that needs to have me, and I said, sure. But apparently he's a big name

in the Jitsu world, but I don't really, I love training Jizu, but I don't watch it very often. And when is this? April 2nd in England. Okay, and you're doing a seminar there, as well because I saw some people talking to Nate about that. I don't have a similar set up, but I think I've talked to call people.

Okay. Okay. I got a couple of seminars up while I'm there. Okay, okay. I got distracted with, you know, what was Nate? Once Nate assigned to find this fight, I was more concerned about that. And are you happy with World Series? Do you want to keep fighting for them, or are you looking to go elsewhere?

I mean, overall I'm happy. Like, everything, there's always some pros and cons. But overall, I think you're treated good and a good show. You know, as long as long as long as long as, I'm going to go, I'm going to go. we can throw out this contract and wanted to stay with them. Okay, do you think you'll get a title shot? Yeah, I believe so. I mean, I'm sure they won't impress the title.

I think it's supposed to be fighting someone for that, and I was supposed to fight the winner. Okay. All right, well, fascinating stuff. Jake, I appreciate it. Best of luck in April with the grappling match, and again, congratulations on a massive night. It was very cool to see you guys,

and like I said earlier before you were on, it was cool to see Nate finally get out of Nick's shadow for a second and get the response. that he deserves a really fun moment for people who have been watching him for a very long time. So again, congrats, and I appreciate you stopping by. Yeah, man, definitely. And one more than I just wanted to do a shout out to, I started a coffee company last year. My boy's Dominican Republic, Chimeric Coffee, with a Chimacophics, and that's really one-up.

So any coffee drinkers should check that out. Okay, how can they check it out? Is there a website? Yeah, chimeracoffee.com. And the coffees with a K. So, yeah, to Dominican Republic, we got the at Atropics. We started last year company's always started off slow

but now we're really in momentum and starting to blow up so it's pretty cool I will check that I'm a big coffee guy myself all of a sudden since I had kids so I will check that out

wish you the best with that cool man thanks a lot all right there he is Jake Shield stopping by great stuff from him all right so much going on here we got people showing up surprise guests and whatnot

Malki Kawa manager to the stars was calling us out on Twitter saying that he wanted to give the real side of the story what happened between Chai Louis Perry and John Jones So we have a few minutes here to spare. I believe he's joining us via the Skype machine.

Oh, and he just cut out. I mean, we give the guy the opportunity. We give him the ball to run with it, and he is nowhere to be found. We could call him on the phone or whatnot. We also have a bit of breaking news here. Matt Matrione is in the studio, which is somewhat funny because he did his thing with Maliki on national TV back, I believe, UFC 119, if my memory serves me correct. So Matt is actually going to join us to close out the show. in a bit, which is nice since he was a big part of our show back in the day, and he's never

actually been in studio. So we'll have him on a lot of interesting things going on in his life. You may have heard last week that he filed that appeal, the grievance in Massachusetts towards Travis Brown, and really the referee in question, Gary Foreman, about what happened in that Travis Brown fight back in January. Do we have Maliki? Let's just do foam. No time to waste here. If we could do the audio, I'm fine with that. Malki, are you there? Just get him on the phone. Just get him on the phone. Don't have time for his shenanigans coming in. Okay, we're going to call him right now. Just want to get his side because we do like to get both sides of the story. Chai Louis Perry telling us about a little kerfuffle, as my man, Simon Head, likes to say.

And it's, you know, it's always fair to get both sides, especially when we're going in to sort of details. Our friend Jeremy Botter tweeted out an eyewitness video of said kerfuffle in the parking lot. And if you want to check that out, he tweeted it out not too long ago at Jeremy Botter on Twitter. Now Malky is on the phone. Is he there? Maliki, are you there? I'm here, brother.

How you doing? So you try to wedge your way into the show and then you're nowhere to be found. Technical difficulties galore. I don't know what's going on with me. See, I'm in my office and it's kind of like a concrete cave back here. So I don't know if my internet is slow or why. I've told you time and again. You've got to go past the AOL dial-up.

I've told you this time and again. Okay, no time to waste, though. I don't understand anything past AOL dial-up. That's the problem, man. We have a very limited amount of time because this is somewhat of a surprise appearance here. But tell me, you said you wanted to give your side of the story what happened between Chai and Team Jones?

First, let's go back to how this whole thing started. Okay. We get to the face-off thing. It's me, Bones, and Denise White. John's publicist. Cormier is there with this shy Perry dude, Bob Cook, and his boxing coach, the other guy.

I'm not sure what his name is. And they're all, what do you call it? They're all there. So they go out of it. John and D.C. are in their talking trash. Everything's cool. No one's saying nothing to nobody outside of that. We go outside, getting ready to get in our cars,

both groups, right? D.C. said something to John. John told him, D.C., outside of anything we have to do together, don't talk to me. Just keep it professional. DC started, mowing off. So that mouthing off led John

to then begin mouthing off to the whole crew because then they all started getting into it with John. That's how the whole thing went down. John's not disgusting. He's not a bad guy. He's not a bad guy. He's none of this stuff that this guy was saying. This dude obviously is looking to get some sort of notoriety off of John and Cormier,

so I'm going to give it to him for a little bit. But that's about it. There really, it wasn't anything like that. And then, you know, he's sitting there saying that, you know, John was mowing off and the security guards were there, and he was telling them the same thing he was saying about John is the same thing he could have done. There was two security guards.

there in between both of them. They were yards apart, and John told them, hey, tiny, get in the car, some to that effect. And he turned around and started mowling back to John. And John was back, and he stood right where he was at. That was into that story. John didn't call his brothers to come for nothing. They were supposed to come with us to that in the first place, but they missed it. So they show up to the press conference.

They didn't know they were coming to support John and be there with them and all that stuff. And then they show up there. And so obviously we told them the story. and, you know, John was cool with it. He just thought the whole thing was just kind of standard. This is just standard D.C. stuff. I mean, we had, you know, an altercation with D.C. in the last fight. I mean, it's just how it goes.

And when Arthur saw that it was this guy and this guy, you know, basically was, you know, trying his brother, Arthur jumped in his chest and told the guy straight up. You know, he came up to Arthur and, like, try to give Arthur like a five or something like that. Arthur said, man, oh, listen, you know, get away from me. You don't got to touch me or say what's up to me after you tried my brother. You know what I mean? And that's what happened there. I mean, this guy's trying to paint the story of like, you know, like John's the bad guy or the one that was starting these problems, and it really wasn't the case at all.

All right. Well, it's good to get both sides. Congratulate, like I said to John, got a great reaction, so it's good to be back, right? It's great to be back. We're excited. We can't wait for this event, April 23rd. I think it's going to be a great fight. And, you know, we're excited as can be as a group.

We just can't wait for this thing to go down. By the way. Yeah, but, Ariel, listen, whenever you get these guys on the, the phone, you know, and they start talking trash about bowls, bro. You got to call us and get the other side of the story. Well, that's what we did. You can't let these guys just talk. That's what you did. No, we have to call you. You know, we have to call you. You know, this is, look, we, we're here, you know, let's not live in the past.

We got one side. Now we're getting the other side. This is live radio at its finest. Is it radio or is it something else, though? How does this radio? It's kind of everything. I mean, we're really a jack of all trades here. Revolutionizing the game, one show at a time. Hey, quick thing. Y'all Romero. Any update? I should hopefully have something for them this week, this week. I mean, we're expecting to get some of the stuff done by the end of this week. To be honest with you, it really is coming down to it.

We're in talks with Usada. They're working on the suspension. We've already gotten a proposed, I want to call it, punishment, I guess. And we're just going through it with them. And we're having really healthy talks with Usada right now. So I'm excited about that. And I'm really hoping to get something done. I want to stay by the end of this week, but hopefully in the next two days or so.

All right. I look forward to that. Thank you, Malki. Sorry, we don't have a lot of time. No, it's all good. Happy to squeeze you in, and I appreciate you coming on to give us your side. I appreciate you. Thank you.

All right, there he is, Malki Kawa, manager to the stars, of course, manager to one. Johnny Bones-Jones. Okay, quick break. We're going to reconfigure, and we got Matt Matriot in studio to close out the show. How fun is this? Let's go with one more clip. This is Diego Sanchez. prior to his last fight in Las Vegas, prior to this weekend.

That was UFC 114 fun pre-fight interview where he did the yes cartwheel and almost broke his ankle. Fun stuff. Here it is. You almost forgot Diego Sanchez. Big win for him on Saturday over Jim Miller. We'll be back in studio with Matt Matrione. How about that?

Stand by. Ariel Hawania, UFC 114 in Las Vegas, Nevada with Diego Sanchez who faces John Hathaway this Saturday night. And Diego, good to see you again. Obviously, a lot of people are looking forward to seeing you back in action. but this time it's at 170. Why did you move up and wait? You know, it was a decision that I made a long time ago,

even before I made the decision to drop to 55. I always knew that I would make my return to 170. This is where I feel comfortable, and this is where, you know, the good fights are for me. And, you know, I went down to 155 on a mission, on a vision quest to win a couple fights and then win the belt and go back up. You know, my plan didn't go as planned.

So, you know, here I am back at 170, back to the original goal of working my way to the top of the Walterweight division. Will you be sticking at 170 or do you think you'll move down, you know, maybe go up and down? What's the plan there? You know what I mean? There's a possibility of a catchweight fight with Florian. Like, for the, me and him I've talked about maybe doing that for the ultimate fighter coaches, that we thought that would be a good idea. But, you know what I mean? 155, basically I'm pretty much done with 155.

You know what I mean? Unless if it was like a direct title shot, you know what I mean? And the fight was a good matchup for me. Then I'd do it. But, you know, right now in my career, I'm 28 years old. I want to put on some muscle. And I don't want to be the skinny guy standing in the pool. I want to be the buff guy. Well, here we are 24 hours before the weigh-ins. And I'd have to imagine that you're feeling a lot better than, you know, you would have had you had to drop down 15 more pounds, right? So this must be like a walk in the park now. You know, yes, it is a lot more. It is a lot easier, but, you know, I'm still cutting 16 pounds from Tuesday. I came in at 186, and so I'm still cutting a good 15 pounds. But that's nothing. It's pretty easy for me, and I'm going to be fine. How long did it take for you to get over the loss to BJ? You know what I mean? All three of my losses, you know what I mean? I'm pretty, I'm pretty professional about taking the loss. And, you know, you're in the back, you're in the back, in the back, you know,

in the back of the arena with getting stitches. And you know what I mean? You have to just accept it as soon as it's done and over with. You cannot dwell on a loss and just be like, oh, think about all the things that could have done and should have done. You know, you've got to let it go. It's the only way you're going to move forward is to let things go. And so, you know, I let it go right away.

And, you know, I know that, you know, if I really want a rematch with BJ Penn, which I do, I'm going to have to work my way back to him. And, you know, if it's in the Lord's plan, then maybe one day we'll meet up again and I'll have another shot at one of the best fighters of all time. You mentioned the stitches. I still see the scar from that cut that you suffered in the fight. Does it still hurt? Do you feel anything or how long do you take to heal? 100% recovered. You know what I mean? I had a great, had a good recovery.

It took about a good two months to heal completely. And, you know, with all the cold laser and massage and stuff, creams and stuff that I put on it on, you know, I held up really well and I just was thankful that it wasn't as bad as Miguel Torres' cut. You know what I mean? What do you know about John Hathaway? I know he was a rugby player that decided he wanted to get into MMA. I know he's more of a jiu-jitsu ground guy with a little bit of Greco wrestling. And, you know, I know one thing for sure is he's never fought a well-rounded mixed martial artists like me before.

And I'm going to be too much for him. He's coming into this fight undefeated. sometimes you have guys who think about that stuff a little too much as they start to win a lot more fights and go into the double digits. Do you think that will be the case with him, especially this being the biggest fight of his career? You know what? I have no idea what his state of mind is going into the fight. All I know is my state of mind, and my state of mind is that regardless if he's undefeated or not, he ain't ever fought nobody like me, and I put a lot more time.

Okay, we didn't quite get to the... yes cartwheel there but we're running out of time and I want to get to our man who's in studio Matt Matrione stopping by after all these years. What up? I feel like I'm a second home from home now Yeah what's it like it's beautiful I mean dude this is some serious artistic work here. I mean look at some some Cedar I mean we're bawling yeah we've come a long way back in the day when you were More Irish out right now why why why what else what else we got we got this you got the luck of the irish up There you know that's that's that's uh mayhem Miller from his uh oh it is in it Okay, right on.

All right. But you're still Irish out, though. He was Irish, wasn't he? We got Nate right here. We got Nate in the front representing. How great was that? How great was that, huh? Did you watch?

I did. I watched it the next morning, yeah. Okay, what did you think? I thought it was beautiful. I was really, really happy, man. You were rooting for him? I was rooting for him. Why?

I was rooting for Nate. Actually, I put money on them, both. Wow. How much you win? I don't know yet. I haven't checked. Okay. You don't know yet.

I put it through a buddy, like how you know. It's like $150 or $100 down on the parlay. Oh, on the parley. Yeah, for sure. But if it's a parlay, you need other people to win as well. I just had the two. So I had Misha and Nate on the parlay. Both of them?

Yep. You probably want big money. I did, probably. If you put down $100, I have no idea. It might be like, I don't know, $800,000, something like that. You're going to retire. I mean, yeah, probably. That's it.

Probably. Why did you bet on Nate? Because I felt like, so I felt like there's my, I have a gut instinct on on Connor, right? And it's like that, and this will all kind of tie in together, I promise. At least in my head it does. So like, it seems as if he got lost along the way, right? Like, all he talks about now is his money and whatever else. It's great for him. I'm glad he has money to pay bills and hope his family. His kids' kids are great with it. I hope so. But I feel like a lot of people will look at that situation and say, hey, look, man, you know,

he's surrounded themselves with yes men or whatever else. He's so, he's so privileged now. We lost the grind, right? Which might be the case. It might not be. I don't know him personally at all. But like I kind of felt like it ended up being a situation in which he always brought the same people with him. So he never surrounded himself with different people. But the organization became the enabler. And I feel like that kind of changed a little bit of a perspective for him. We're like he was he was so talked up and so hyped by the by the organization, by the UFC and by the by the powers that be with the media and everything else saying, hey man, our ratings have never been better and you're so tough and you're so good and everybody's been stroking him off so much that it's like he really

started to believe it and really started to believe it and really started to believe it and then he's talking about he's been able to robbie laller and like do stop man come on get a hold of yourself you know and and and he believes it though and nobody can tell him otherwise because he's so hype on himself which was jake shield just saying look he believes that much on himself which is great but you got to have some kind of realm of reality and see the thing is like with the organization becoming the enabler what that does is you don't realize it and your crew doesn't realize that you're losing touch with reality because everybody gets brought along on the same scale. So instead of having cheeseburgers for dinner, now you're having, you know, sirloin,

instead of having rural and now you're serving, sirloin, now you're having ribbi. Now you're having this, and now you're doing this. And now you're starting a standard economy, now you're flying business, and then first class, and then your own private jet. And you're flying with Daniel Lorenzo and everything changes. The scale changes. And then you start to believe stuff, just like Rhonda. You start to believe that you're infallible and you can't go wrong.

So you don't think this is just a guy who typically fights at 145 who lost against against a bigger guy, 25 pounds up. You're looking into this. This wasn't just an off night. There's a different psyche involved, for sure. There's a different psyche involved. And that's what I see. Now, I could be wrong.

I'm a son of a psychiatrist, and I'm pretty damn intelligent, so probably not. But I think that there's a lot more to meet the eye here. And I think this will be humbling for him. And it might actually be difficult to check it because for him, it might be like, wow, Nate's only a 55er, and he actually only weighed in one pound more than me

he didn't cut it all and he doesn't eat meat at all, you know? And so there's some different aspects that if he's genuinely true to himself, which I believe he could be, I hear that outside of media, he's a damn cool dude. That's my ear. And very approachable and very cordial, very nice. And he's great with his fans, dude. Like the stuff you see about him, it's beautiful and he gives us a great name. He really does.

But in front of the media, I feel that he gets lost and he gets lost because everybody tells him, hey, look, our ratings have never been better when you do this. And boy, you are so popular here. most popular segment when you did this and blah blah blah. I think that just gets to him. And then he has to keep pushing it and pushing it. And then it became from how good he is as a fighter now athletic he is and how he can change the situation that he can buy and sell people.

What, dude? You're that far removed from who you are. Bitch, don't forget, four years ago you were in welfare. Don't get too twisted up. And that's what the machine can do to you. Three years ago. There you go. So like that's what the machine can do.

Like, don't get too, but like Nate was saying, don't get so pumped up. You beat some little dudes and you were, you know, like you were spoon fed to a certain point, right? Like your run started with Marcus Brimidge, you know? Like, you know, like just keep that in perspective. You're a free agent, right? Oh, yeah, yes. As someone who's trying to score, you've been in the UFC for several years.

You were part of the most popular season of Tough ever. Do you look at him and say, I love the fact that he's making money, that the fact that he got a million dollar purse publicly, and we know he probably made more than that. But the fact that is. We got points, right? Yeah, and that too. Do you like this or do you feel like, man, why is he getting all that money?

Can you understand why he's making it? Oh, for sure, dude. for sure. There is not a hint of jealousy in my body whatsoever. None. And I'm extremely happy for him. Like I said, I hope his kids' kids are financially set.

I just find it interesting. And he's, you got to remember something, that Connor's the key to Europe, right? Yeah. So since he's the key to Europe, he deserves what he gets because that's a brand new market

that he's developing, right? It was Bisbing for a while, right? And then it was going to be Dan Hardy, and then Dan Hardy went on a slide. And then it was going to be Ross Pearson, and Ross Pearson's been up and down a little bit. He's been on a fire a little bit lately. But nobody, those are all British students.

Right? There's nobody that's been European. in, that's really tied it in. Right. And I think that that's Connor. And I see that. And Connor's mouthpiece and his fighting style. And he really, he caught lightning in a bottle.

He jumped, he got an opportunity that Dana saw and he's electric. And they gave him some money and said, keep going. Last, by the way, that hurt. Last thing about 196. I want to get you to, I'm getting everyone's take on today's show about this because I find it ridiculous. But you're a fighter, you know well more than I ever will. This whole like not tapping, tapping thing.

So Holly's getting credit. She's getting props for not tapping. Connor's being, you know, laughed at by some. Right on. I've been on both sides of defense, right? On Brendan, I gave a thumbs up and passed out. Yeah. And then with Rothwell, I tapped quickly.

Right. That choke sucked, by the way. I was out of air. Go-Go. The go-go. Yeah. The one I got Josh. Yeah.

How do you feel about it? Is there honor and not tapping? There's definitely honor not tapping. Unless you're stupid. Like, if it's a joint tap, double. Because I'm not trying to have surgery. But otherwise, you just go to sleep. You know, like, so I mean, really, what's the big damn deal?

You got a couple seconds of peril, and all of a sudden you wake up and be like, oh, that wasn't a good decision. Okay. But, like, so, yeah, there's definitely honor and not tapping for sure. You know, but that's the thing of that is, is that if I go to sleep, right, you may have won, but you didn't beat me, but you caught something. Good for you. But you didn't beat me.

You didn't make me cry uncle. So I think that's the difference there. And like with Ben, that thing, he must have caught me at the end of a breath. As soon as that thing was on, I had no air, and I was panicking. And it wasn't like a blood choke. So, you know, because I think still, if Ben, if it was a blood choke, I just would have given a thumbs up or passed right out and fallen asleep on the floor. But because I take pride in that. But if it's a joint, like something like that, I mean, I'm not trying to have surgery and something bent backwards.

Okay. A lot of news concerning you. Where are you at with this grievance that you followed last week against Gary Foreman and the Massachusetts Athletic Commission? Of course, your fight against Travis Brown, highly controversial. It does seem like the eye. It's that one, right? Yeah. The right eye?

A little bit of like residual bloodstaining. But other than that, swell out. All good in the hood, right? Yeah, man. I feel good. Shoulder's good right now. I've actually been practicing again. You know, the situation with Gary Foreman or with the Massachusetts Athletic Commission is actually

really interesting. And that's kind of what we wanted to do. We wrote a very good. Tremendous. Cudos to you and your teammate. Andy. Andy, what's his last thing? Sanken.

Sankin. Holy moly. That thing was thorough. You know, so listen to this, man. So I had, for the month of February, I had written five, five drafts of it. Okay. And I got down to four. Florida to go see Henry and Choson spend some time down there with this girl I was talking to a little bit

Okay and I'm divorced. I can say that. So anyway, so I went down there and Andy was like, hey, dude, this, this isn't up to par. We need to rewrite the whole thing. And I was down there for, from Thursday to Monday night. And that time we spent 30 hours writing that document. Wow. 30 hours to it. And Andy was like, come on, dude. Put in work. So we worked till midnight one night, worked till like 7 o'clock the next night from 10 in the morning. And we grinded it out. And then, but, but, we came to a point where we was like, dude, this is, this is really solid, man. This is a very solid piece of work. And then we were like, do we need to release this to the public because we need to put

attention on this because it was a high profile injury, right? And it was questionable in itself, and the smugness and an ugly demeanor that Travis showed afterwards turned even more eyes towards it, you know? And then so we felt that if we can get some kind of accountability out of the commission and out of the referee, or out of the sport in general, then it's a win for everybody in general, everybody that's involved in a sport. So that's why I release it.

It got great amount of attention. Turn the grievance in on that Thursday, May the 3rd. I'm sorry, March the 3rd. So just a couple days ago. A couple days ago on Thursday. Turned it in. And I was supposed to have a hearing that day. Okay.

But then for some reason, they couldn't handle the, like the download the bit to it. They couldn't download it? Something happened, whatever. That I don't know. Yeah. So anyways, so it might have been a firewall issue or something. I don't know. Anyhow. So then they call up at the end of the day and they're like, hey, man, we feel like

your argument warrants a hearing. So now they're going to have a hearing either on April 7th, the first Thursday of every month is when they meet. So it's either going to be on April 7th, which is the first Thursday or the next Thursday in May, the first Thursday in May, either one. And we feel like we have a really solid position there that if we're actually getting a hearing, then they understand how valid my position is. And the good thing is that they can't just sweep it under the rug, right?

Because there's so much attention to it. And if they do, it won't cost me anything. lawyer that realize this is how strong of a case this is will take this to the Supreme Court. And the commission is overseen by the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. Wow. So we can take it there and it won't cost us a thing. And it's a great thing because it furthers a sport, right? If they just overturn it to a no contest, well, that means they admit that they had fault,

but they're still liable for any kind of damages or irresponsibility, right? And if they overturn it to a disqualification, which per the rules is the correct action to do, which is boldface and the grievance, then that opens up Pandora's box. So really, they have to decide what the best option is, right? So first of all, what's the best option for them? Do they save money and just overturn it or even have the UFC pay by overturning the decision overall, right?

Now when you say UFC pay, because... Because if they reverse it to me winning because of disqualification, that means I won the fight. Wow. You see that? Do you run this by the UFC when you do this? No. No.

No. And I'm sure they've covered all these bases, I'm sure. I'm not the first person to think about this. But is it possible they take away the money from Travis Brown? I don't know. But if he didn't win, then. And I'm sure it's a pretty substantial amount of money. Plus, if there's an addendum in his contract or whatever else, I'm sure there's some good

money there. Wow. So that would affect him, right? So it's interesting, but it wasn't a legitimate victory. Are you going to the hearing in April? Yes, I am. I was going to go to Japan originally to go visit the troops over American troops and American Air Force bases or military bases.

but this isn't something I really wanted to miss. I don't want to prolong it into May. Good for you to be there. Will Gary Foreman be there? Gary Foreman, myself, and Travis will all be invited. Wow. You've discovered some questionable Twitter activity by Gary Foreman. Incredible, isn't it?

What is going on there? Okay, so Gary Foreman. The referee. Yeah, Gary Form is the referee. So for those of you guys, I don't know if you do, sorry about this. But Gary Foreman, I believe this is the situation. not 100% positive. But I believe the referees are informed of what fights they're reffing the night of the fight.

Right? Like they have a meeting and say, hey, look, this is who you're reffing, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Usually. Usually. I believe that's the case. So three days before on January 14th, Gary Foreman, the referee retweets an article that Travis put out or was put out about Travis about somebody's getting knocked out. Then, excuse me, so then that's odd, right? Why would you retweet that?

So he's obviously a fan of Travis's if he's going to retweet it before he knows that he's going to ref Travis's fight. Okay. And then six days after the fight on January 23rd, he tweets Travis directly and says, Travis, how's your leg healing? Which is interesting because the state of Massachusetts does not release injuries. They just release suspensions. So if I didn't hear anything about Travis' leg, how do you know about Travis's leg? You did not?

No, I knew nothing about it. Did you know about Travis's leg? No, I didn't. Then how did he know? If you didn't know and I didn't know, how does this dude know? And why is he tweeting Travis publicly asking him how his leg is? Why didn't old boy tweet me asking me about my eye? right like what's going on there what what what kind of conversation is that and then on top of that

which is madness in itself right those are two really highly questionable things right highly suspect well then you know he owns a promotion with his wife he was a matchmaker for it the day he suspends his matchmaker's license with his wife he gets commissioned and to be a referee again so he's never had to pass any kind of testing his grandfathered in for whatever reason and then he uh and then he gets um he's only referee, I believe, a total of nine fights in the last like four years. Wow. Like three events, nine fights. Never had a high profile fight, but he's a fan of Travis's, must have asked the commission if he can ref this fight or whatever, and then goes forwards, right? Well, then so now he and his wife on this promotion, he separates, right? On paper he separates. People tweet him

or tweet his wife, right, on like KJFX on Twitter. They tweet her, and then he responds within minutes, and then Kage FX responds afterwards. But he's not even mentioned in this. thing, right? So how does you know that KJFX, unless you have a tied to your Twitter, and you forgot to change your account, right? So there's a collusion there, right? So that's one thing. But in addition to that, so when we started pulling questions on Twitter publicly about this dude and citing him or whatever else, his wife on KJFX starts responding to us on the promotional account that we're saying proves collusion. So all you're doing is further proving the point that you never should have been there in the first place. He played favorites and you never

should have been there. And on top of that, like, so they're in the argument after I get poked in the eye, right? He sees it. He jumps in to stop it. Travis comes in for the kill, right? So we start scrapping off. And there's about three or four, three or four second breaks in that scrap, right? After I got poked and I was fighting with one eye closed. He says, after 28 seconds, he says, Travis, you need to watch your eyes, your fingers bud. He says, Travis, watch your fingers bud. And then after that, I'm like, dude, I can't see him, seeing double, right? So how are you going to acknowledge that you saw it, knew it was fingers that did that, that made me fight with one eye close and then still not stop the fight? And then once I stopped the fight, I'm like, do I can't see,

MCN double, then you'd go a timeout. Well, then you have no authority to call a time out because there was no injury and there was no action. So you overstep your bounds so much in so many different ways because you didn't know what you were doing because you don't referee fights on a regular basis. For example, look at, what was it?

Is it Cowboy versus Massavada or whatever? And Massadol got his jaw broken, right? I think it was. He got by a high kick or something like that. Maybe whoever was. Cowboy kicked somebody and broke his jaw. Okay. I don't think it was Mazvedo.

Who wasn't Masadoe. It was another, tough dude, though. Whoever was. MacDessie. Yeah, there you go. Tough dude. Kicks him, breaks his jaw, and he calls the time out. As soon as he does that, I believe it was Herb Dean jumps in there and stops the fight because

the fight's over there. That's considered a verbal submission, right? Because you're like, I can't go anymore. So it's interesting. So why would you let it go and then all of a sudden stop it? And then restart it afterwards. You don't know your rules. That's the problem.

How the hell are you going to referee a fight that has two ranked, world ranked opponents in it that has potential title implications, right? Sure. On a main card, on a big, on a big, on a big, on a free TV card and not know what the hell you're doing. You're responsible for my life. You're responsible for his life. And you don't know what you're doing.

And you're playing fans. You're playing favorites? Yeah. This is the problem with the state of MA. The sport is so young that the talent pool of officials is just so shallow. And they put in these guys who have no business. In general, I'm not just talking about Gary Foren. We see this time and again when the UFC goes to these outside of Nevada markets.

You know, you see these people. It's like, I often say when the NBA went to Oklahoma City for the first time, didn't just say, hey, local Oklahoma City referees, now it's your chance you have to play with the big boys. Well, you know, I think, the NBA referees union. The answer, people are going to say, well, how is anybody supposed to get practice, right? If it's only the same guys, how they're supposed to get practice. Smaller shows.

A, small shows, right? Well, then B, and I don't mean this to say this in a condescending way, but have them referee the earlier fights of the night, right? So there's less, there's less weight on each one of those fights, right? So if there's a mistake, hopefully it won't be as substantial, right? And then, and I'm not saying that I'm more important than they are. I'm just saying that there's a good chance that the later fights in night have more significance, have more weight to a total picture.

But if you want to be a UFC referee, you want a referee UFC fights. You have to have X amount of fights under your belt. You can't referee nine fights and four years. That's just ludicrous. Madness. Okay. What about your free agent status? Where are we at there?

What can you tell us? I'm in a good spot, man. You're officially a free agent. The UFC has the right to match. Okay. But you're fielding offers. Definitely. I've got a very nice offer from Bellator.

I'm very happy with that. I've been in talking. with one FC and I feel that I'm very happy with where things are with Beltau right now. Oh. As a matter of fact, I actually sent in today the offer, the official offer sheet from Belator into the UFC to see if they want to match. Do you know if they will? I don't, I have no clue. If they do, awesome, great, then we can have a conversation. When did you send it? Today. We're not actually, the reason why I'm out in New York, my audition. Yeah. What audition? Come on, you can't just throw that word out there and have me not respond to it. If you don't want to talk

but it's okay, I don't want to put you in a tough spot. I'm not a spot. I can leave it pretty vague. Okay. I audition for a color commentary position on television. Look at you. Yeah, I'm fancy,

really fancy. I kind of feel like your spots on this show, you know, molded you and prepared you. You're trying to get a percentage. I see where you're going. A pat on the back would be nice, you know.

We almost lost it there for a second with a whole, you know, when McCork would get into it. Exactly. That's right. We kind of went off the rails, but we're back. That's great.

So you sent it to the, I mean, have you checked your first? phone? Do you know if they responded or typically do they? I believe they have two weeks. I think it might be 15 days, but I hear they do it within, usually about seven days. If they don't match, will you be disappointed? Do you want to be in the UFC or would you be happy with this offer from Belator? I'd be happy with the offer from Beltoe. Okay. Wow. But I feel that, I feel like I have unfinished business in UFC. Like if the UFC matched, my first fight would be with Travis again. That's what, that's my

money fight. I want that fight. I was beating him. I'm better than him. I'm better than him. The world knows it. The world saw it. And especially if they're calling fouls where he can't stop my forward aggression coming forwards, Travis is going to have a really bad night, and he knows it too. The world knows it. And I swing leather. So if I touch your face, especially if you're reeling backwards, it's not going to work out well for you. So we're going to know in the next couple weeks what's going down here.

For sure. What about one? One week? No, no, one FC. You know, I don't know. I don't know. We're talking about numbers-wise and what would bounce out. And like, I'm not, like, I have aged eyes.

raised, right? You have Asian ties? Oh, of course. You know. Your wife. Your ex-wife. Excuse me. Your kids.

Yep. Yeah. So as a result of that, like there could be something there, but they'd have to really build my name up over there. Yeah. And I think that's a different conversation. So, but you're happy. Yeah, I'm happy right now.

Wow. You rolled the dice. It was interesting because you were coming off technically a loss, but it was a weird loss. Yeah. We talked about that. And wow, I'm fascinated. Okay.

Yeah. I mean, it's interesting because if you think about it, this, the free market is really becoming legit. Look at what Ben Henderson did, right? Got offered, I don't know if the world knows, got offered X. Yep. And then got offered Y. Yeah. Right.

And then it was like, and the X had a little in a couple, you know, pine in the sky dreams or whatever, like some, some pipe dream chases. But this one was legit. It was money in hand. And it made sense, especially because they don't control anything that goes on. It's just you're going to get paid this. Well, that was pretty much what my conversation was too. Interesting.

It was like, hey, look, man. They made, they made an offer before. And like, the pie in the sky was a beautiful number. But it's unrealistic. Okay. You know? So. And then, but that was on my original contract that I turned down.

And then now we'll see what they do. But if I think if other fighters come out and they see a number that gets released, right, they'll be like, well, if he got offered this and they offered that, why would I ever resign if unless I'd just only want to fight in the OSCE? If I'm looking for money, that'd be a conversation to have at least. Do you think at all, like the Beltaire heavyweight division is rather subpar, let's be honest? I mean, it's... I honestly have not looking.

Genuinely, I know they have Chakango and Kenbo. Yeah. And I don't know who their title holders yet. I haven't done any homework on him yet. I don't need to. I'm still, as far as I'm concerned, I'm still around the UFC, I'm still their business until they say, no, we don't want to match it. All right.

Wow. And like I said, I'm still stuck on Travis. I want to fight Travis. Right. Like I got a grievance and I have a vendetta. That's what I got. Have you talked to him since? Travis?

Yeah. No. When you do decide, please come back. For sure. I'm not saying goodbye, but I just want to throw that up there. You know, I would think that, I heard, I was told not. to watch the press conference. I heard I would be very bothered by his attitude in the press conference. And I'm surprised that he did not reach out. Be like, hey dude, that shit got weird in there.

Sorry about that or whatever. Like, you know, hey, man, I hope you know that pokes were unintentional, blah, blah, blah, whatever else. He was defensive. But it wasn't the good kind of defensive. I hope he would call me and be like, hey, dude, blah, blah, blah. Like, I knew him before. We had no ill will. Now I have ill will because I feel like you're, you got, you better check yourself, guy. Don't get, don't get lost on the web. Somebody else, and close to you did. Don't get lost. Don't get lost. Don't forget how cool you're not. Okay. This is what I want to do.

We have a few minutes left in our program. Let's do it. I want to answer some questions. I know you watch the show every week. How's my vertical striped shirt look? You're looking fantastic. I mean, big audition in New York City. How long have you been here, by the, what's going on with your finger here?

It's a little bit. Wow. Really? I mean, that's where we're going to go now? There's a lot of things. I don't know if I get to sit and look at you for this long. Wow. Okay.

It's my finger. Jesus. What happened there? got stuck between two helmets. Wow. Oh, God. My kids. My kids, yeah, high school.

Oh, my little. My kids play. Like my fingers. Oh, my love. You know, New York, Rick. You there? I'm here. You know New York, Rick, right?

Yeah, for sure. Often imitated, never duplicated. What up? We have some extra time to answer some questions. We do. It's not often. We get a international superstar. Like Matt Mehead, Mitreone of Tough Ten fame in studio.

So let's have some fun. Let's all answer questions together. Now, New York, you were very fired up. for today's show. Let's save it. Let's get through the questions. It'll come out through the question.

Let's go. Let's go. Okay, first question. Now that Diaz beat Connor like a baby seal, do you think it will temper as trash talking about other fighters? What do you think, Matt? Maybe possibly. I think he got served a pretty rather large slice of humble pie,

but he knows where the ratings are. What do you think, Eric? No, it's not going to change. I mean, he got to this point by being smart and using his mouth. Did you see, did we talk about the press conference yet? No, we did not. I heard he was remarkably humble. He was extremely humble.

It was impressive. Yeah. And I heard that's the way he is in real life. So if that's the case, whatever it is, good for him. I've never watched him fight ever until this time. Really? Yeah. Where have you been?

I don't watch fights, man. You don't? Ever? Nope. We were standing outside his locker room. They're like, oh, you got to go to the locker room for the Fox interview. And I was like, I wonder what this is going to be like. He freaking comes out there, head held high.

Let's do it. No, no excuses. Good for him. And you got to respect that. No, I respect him for sure. I mean, absolutely. I have a perspective on what happened with him. Yes.

But I, or to him. But I respect him for sure. Look at his Instagram post. He calls Aldo the P word. He calls Dosangos the P word. The trash talking is not going away. He's going to remain the same. On the same topic,

people always say Connor is humble, classy, etc. But what do you think about him bullying Diaz about being poor, making more money than him, and making fun of Diaz for teaching kids jiu-jitsu on the weekends? Matt? My feelings are he just, the dude got removed from where he came from. That's all.

I think that if you're going to sweat some dude about teaching kids a beautiful sport, then you just got issues. I mean, you're too far from home, man. Let me play devil's advocate. All's fair in fight promotion. Do you feel that way? Like, we're just trying to make money here.

No, I understand that, but no, dude. There's a line. That lessens those kids, too. I mean, there's a long line there. And I'm no bleeding heart at all. But, like, dude, come on. You can find other things to talk about. You ever hear about that satin sheets?

quote like um they're very romantic what happens when you're not there well that's um no there's a quote i think it was from john danher i think he took him from someone else like basically like once you reach a status and you're waking up in sand sheets it's tough to get up in the morning and pound the pavement and go train and things like that do you think that's what happened here well yeah yeah yeah for sure you know what i mean sand sheets like now you made it right um what about what about the punch did you see that did you cross the line there yeah no no so that wasn't crossing the line but this was? No,

I think, I think that Nate, Nate struck a position on him, you know? Yeah. Kind of was on the outside, looking in, and wanted some way

to try to save face. He lost, he lost the press conference, I think. Who did? I think, I think, I think kind of lost the press conference.

Interesting. The first or second? I don't know. There were two. I don't know. The one Nate was like against. If you want to be media, you got to follow these things,

Matt. For God's sake. And then I think that, I think he definitely lost the way in for sure, and I felt like he was, he was on the downside. So I think he had to do something

and try to cause a commotion And like if that was me I don't think I would have taken a swing at him I probably just would have ducked around And played around with that a little bit You know like move my head around it or something New York Rick I will say this I feel like to a degree

All's Fair in promotion You can't cross the line I was curious how the Irish people Are blue collar Hardworking people I was curious how they will How they would respond to comments like that I can buy you and sell you 10 times over

Oh I agree You know what I mean Because that's very un-Irish like From what I understand So I was curious, but it seems like the way he handled the loss has completely erased everything. If he would have been smug, arrogant, condescending in the loss, it would have been absolutely just like, oh girl. When old girl lost, hiding her face and everything else she did and her attitude or whatever else made it so much worse. Like Fader.

Fadre lost who, I can't remember who it was. His face was all beat up. Oh, yeah, yeah. And the dude goes out there the next day with the president with Putin just chilling, right? Face all beat the hell. If there's one thing I've learned over the last few months, I don't know, you know, Paige Van Zandet, you know who she is? She got destroyed. Is she here today?

Yeah, she was. You missed her. Rose Nami Yunis, right? She left her name tag on the thing. Oh, okay. She didn't keep that? I'm a little offended. She got destroyed, but she showed up.

She showed up to the press conference, right? Connor showed up to the press conference. I think people, human beings, they like to see people rise from the ashes, come back. And they relate to that. So just own it. Yeah, for sure. That's the only way. man.

Like you tweet pictures of your face when you're healing or whatever else. Like you'd be like, yeah, man, today's my day. Right. You know, whatever, because we're human boss. You know, somebody might have something going on at home or whatever or just had a bad day. Some days you're getting ready for a fight and your legs just aren't with you. And no matter what you do, you just feel like your legs are dying, no matter what. So you get in there and you just don't feel right.

It's just a bad day. Right. Happens. New York, you have been a critical of Connor in the past. Sure. What did you make of his post fight comments? No, I mean, post-fight he's always handled himself like a champion from the very beginning. So I've never had a problem with anything like that.

And to be honest, I don't really have a problem with anything he says pre-fight, including the stuff about the kids jujitsu. That may be crossing the line for some, maybe not for others. But as long as he remains humble and defeat like he always has, I don't have really much of a problem with it. Everybody kind of knows at this point it's for show. So I'm not really too concerned. But doesn't that kind of bother you, though, like really, too?

Like, it bothers me that the onus of promotion is put on our shoulders now versus being, hey, look, man, let's cut some great. promos, let's do this, let's make some great video snippets and blah, blah, blah. But the onus of the promotion is now on our shoulders. You know, like, they put on the events, the promotions on us. And then if you become too outrageous or whatever else, then great, we'll throw you some more money. But you have to sell your sole owner, do that. You can't keep your integrity and do that. I find that a very difficult balance, and I don't respect it. Interesting. All right, what else we got? Our next question was pretty much exactly what we can learn from humility,

Rondor-Russie. So we've touched this. Let's go to the next one after that. What's next for Connor McGregor? Is it back to one? 45. Is it a fight with Dosanjos at 55? What's next? Okay, let me let me jump in here first. I feel very strongly about this one. It's Frankie Edgar. It's a hundred percent. It's got to be Frankie Edgar. It's too much. You know, the guy, he beats Chadmendes. They say he's going to get a title shot, then they put him on the sidelines. And now Conner's is eyeing the move back down. First of all, he has to defend the title next, right? And I said after the Aldo fight, just fight one more fight of 45 and then you'll be done. But you just got to get past Frankie. That's it.

Right. You can't host Frankie, man. And what's worse than that is the way. He's the only one left. They've been doing Frankie so dirty. So dirty. Like, give that dude a chance. He's, you know, he has a thick accent. Maybe that's why they don't like him. Maybe they don't like... Frankie?

Yeah. Maybe they don't like certain things about him. I don't know whatever it is. But the dude is one of the baddest things in the world, hands down. Any size, whatever. He's a company man. That's the problem. That's the problem.

Really? Because you're like, okay, eat this shit sandwich and like it, kid. You'll say. Okay. What do you think, New York? It's got to be, Frankie. It's got to be. I would disagree with you that there are.

are another guys at 45 for him to beat first. Who else? Who else? Uh, Max Holloway's coming up. He beat him. Come on. That was different time, different place. Fair enough. Max Holloway is a monster. He is. But he did beat him. I agree. But it's a, and I, and I even argue Chad Mendez. I'd even argue Chad Mendez. What number, what number of fight in the UFC was Max Holloway for Connor? Two. Number two. Oh, okay. Well, that's before even the Marcus Brimidge fight. No, it was after. Brimidge was one. Brimmage was one. Then Holloway. Then Hallow. Then Brando. Then Brando. Okay. Yeah, I think Max Hollow would be a different fight for him for sure.

Do Max Holloway is no punk and he's on a run, but... Yeah, I know. But, okay, Aldo Champ, I would like to see Aldo. Wait, or fight Holloway. Aldo Holloway would be fantastic, right? That'd be an exciting fight. So, so we're saying Frankie, Connor, Aldo Holloway. Yeah. That'd be awesome. What if they did a tournament? That'd be awesome. It's not happening. Featherweight's deep. Featherweight is interesting. And let's be honest, a lot of that is because of Connor. He made it interesting.

for a while it was sort of here Honestly I'm gonna disagree with that I think I think I think Frankie made it interesting when Frankie dropped because Frankie can give anybody a run for the money Frankie's been very inactive At a sheer bad luck

He he went on the sidelines for tough for BJ Penn Which was kind of a weird fight to begin with He just he needs to get on a roll And now this whole situation I find it really odd that they threw him under the bus And said that he just turned it down Not the fact that he was injured Nothing else like why I throw him under the bus

Like the dude does everything right why do that? I don't get it. He's a great guy. And like Nate was an odd choice. Nate was an odd choice. He's a ticket seller, but he doesn't move the needle. Yeah.

It's funny how everyone remembers that. There are a few. You can't talk bad about the Dias and people not remember it because they love them. They are a cold. They are. The genuine article. Unbelievable. All right.

What else? How about breaking it down technically? What do you think the loss was due to? Okay. Break it down. What happened? Length. Length.

Length. length and like I don't know how much people cut when they fight to 145 so I don't know what they walk around at I mean is that do they walk around at 70 in cut yeah well not they don't start at 70 in the cup but I think Conner walks around yeah so Nate walks around in 70 sure sure 71 73 you think it was a mistake they had agreed to 165 and at the last second Connor said make it 170 let them get comfortable mind games right was that a mistake those five pounds no no no right wouldn't bother no no Nate, for sure.

No. Nate would have won regardless. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Because Nate had a point to prove to. Does Seroni win that fight? Soroni folds under pressure, right? Top-end pressure.

Like media pressure, not fight pressure. Okay. Media pressure. So that's the one reason why I thought they wouldn't bring him in, right? Interesting. And I believe that. But if you think they're in cahoots, then why not bringing in the guy who folds? Well, because maybe it wasn't enough time for Cal would freak out.

Maybe it's the build up. You really think so? It could be. Jesus. But Nate wasn't in camp. Nate gets a little bit fat sometimes. That's why he's called him skinny fat. Yeah, yeah.

Like, it's why, you know, so, and Cowboys are already in shape. Right. So Cowboy just is on a run, right? Okay, who, there you go. You know, everybody wants that. And Cowboy, I think, I think that, I think that the downtime is what kills Cowboy. That's what I think it is. So if it's on a run, I think they, how does he do?

What's Cowboys record in short and fights? Does anybody know? Quick turnaround? Yeah. Well, most recently he beat Benson on like less than two weeks, kind of two weeks notice. I think it's pretty damn good. That's what I'm saying. He didn't have the downtime.

Right, right. Because all of a sudden, it's media, it's hype time, it's hype time. It's a couple practices, and all of a sudden you're fighting. He had to wait a long time to fight RDA because they were saving for the touchdown. All right, good stuff. What else? Anything to the extra weight for Connor. Do you think that affected him?

Or his reflex is slower. Did he carry too much? Yeah. And is he not as in fact? Well, wasn't he lifting a whole bunch right now? Yeah, it looked like he was bigger, but is... What does he look like? Do you have a picture from a year ago when he's out, when he's out of fight camp,

when he's his regular life to now? How much more muscle? Because remember, new muscle is hard to carry. New muscles hard to fight with. Because your body doesn't know how to recognize it. Well, we do Snapchat, and sometimes I get accused of being screen grabs. I'm just talking. I don't have those pictures readily available.

They might be on Twitter or something. Come on Twitter, folk. But is there something to be said that he loses power by going up? Like those left hands that were knocking out the feather weights. Yeah, but Nate's not a featherweight. No, exactly. Yeah. I mean, so a bigger frame, bigger body.

Nate's always been a bigger dude, right? like it's just the way that works you thought he won the first round though right Connor yeah um I thought he did but he was swinging for the fences a lot oh he was definitely swinging for the fences I think I think Nate was slow to react on the on the straight lefts I think Nate had a good idea to step out and counter with his hook

but uh I would I guess I would say Nate had a takedown right yeah but I guess he got reversed or swept or whatever I can't remember what happened but Nate in the bottom's back right little guillotine there for a second that's right tried to go for it yeah so I don't know I mean there was no knockdowns and Nate had to take down so I mean you might have to give it to Nate oh Nate acted on it now you're really being a hitter maybe I don't know I have no cool it was a 10 7 no I'm kidding what else we got uh what do you think of this matchup Robbie Lawler and Nate DS yes this has been

brought up what do you think no why no Nate Nate didn't Nate's not a Nate's a 55er man yeah like well why why put him up against Rodney I mean Rodney I mean Robbie yeah I mean that didn't make sense man I mean what do you do it once you 70 with Robbie now because Wonderboy was just booked, Rory was booked, GSP, I don't know if he's coming back in time. What do you do? Do you do Tyron Woodley? Do you want to see that fight?

That'd be a great fight, man. That'd be a great fight. Woodley hasn't fought in over a year. People are starting to get annoyed a bit. Because Woodley hasn't gotten action? Because he's been, you know, sort of campaigning maybe a little too much. Didn't give him a damn fight. Like give him a fight, let him fight.

Let him fight. I mean, the worst is going to happen. He's going to lose. What are you like in that fight? Dude, I... Wow, that's tough, man. Robbie's a machine.

Roby... Don't sit on the fence. Yeah, I'm not... We'll throw you out of here so fast. I want... I want to say, I think Tyrone would win. Really?

I think you would. Wow. But it's going to be a fight. It's going to be a fight, and you're not going to knock Robbie out. They're going to train at the same place. At ATT, yeah. Down there?

In Florida, yeah. Just different times. What do you think about Overeem? Yeah, what do you think about that? I hope Overeem loses. Why? It's kind of like him. It was weird what he said.

He was like, oh, my teammate, I don't really care. I don't know. It was strange. That says, that's smart. And how about this? Greg and Wink are going to be in Arlofski's corner. Doesn't that say something? Because in the past, they were sort of saying, we're not going to do this with the whole teammate thing.

Mr. New York, Rick, what do you think about Nate? But for the record, I don't want him to fight, Robbie. I agree with you. Go back down to 55. Yeah. And Nate didn't want to fight him either. Nate would do it if the money was right. But he didn't.

Why? Yeah. Wait, who do you want to see a fight? I was just saying that I agree that Nate should go down to 55 again. That's his weight class. He only did this the same way Connor McGregor should go back to 45. Yeah, 100%. Does Nate deserve a title shot of 55 because of this?

No. Okay, all right. Just checking. Stranger things have happened, though. Stranger things have happened. I mean, apparently Dana says it's the right fight to me. He's a massive draw. I mean, he's for sure.

But he doesn't move the needle guy. That's right. He doesn't move the needle. All right. John Enix 209 tattoo? How priceless was the last moment of the press conference when Nate called out John Anick once again. quote unquote, yo, yo, Joe, John Anick, better get a 209 tattoo or I'm a whoop is the last.

Do you know the story? Do you know the story? For sure. Okay, but first of all, I just want to say, Nate's post-fight, his initial post-fight comment saying, I'm not surprised. Mother Effers is maybe the greatest of all times. That's also here in this question. Everybody enjoyed that, certainly. I mean, my favorite was, oh, you're a wrestler now.

Oh, you're a wrestler now. Dude, I love, how can you not love him, man? So John Anick, what is the question here? The question is, what do you make of Nate calling him out and kind of continuing this? Because it wasn't just one time. He brought this up three or four times. I think the more interesting question, if I may, is was it wrong for Anik to do that? No.

He's a UFC employee, but he's doing a podcast. He's separate here. And it's clear that Nate was offended saying like, whoa, you're picking, like, why is a UFC guy picking against me publicly? No, I don't think so. Like, for example, with Daniel Cormier or, you're, you're picking it. Brian Stan, right? When they're doing something, they're no longer fighters,

they're paid commentators. You're an opinion giver. That's your job. That's what you're supposed to do. Should the play-by-play guy be? Who's going to pay attention to a Woffler? Right? If you're going to sit on the fence,

who's going to pay attention to it? Shit, what's going on here? I'm ringing. I got the Grateful Dead playing. You got to go somewhere? No, I'm fancy. We're almost done anyway. What do you think, Eric?

Unless it has, you know, unless there's something that you would, that would lead you to believe that there's some kind of influence there, I have no problem with it. essentially if that in some way affected the fight, then obviously it's untoward, but no problem with him picking the fight. What was that word you just said? Obviously, it's, what was that, untured?

Yeah. I never heard that before. What is the word? Well, you know, I try to drop those. I mean, that's why it's never duplicated right there. I mean, that's a very diverse. Yeah, that's right. How do you not love the Diasas, man?

The Diases are great. I mean, they're... You almost got a stock and slap that day. I did, yeah. But now we're boys. Now they see me. We bro hug. We do the boom,

for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, my God. That's what I'm talking about. If I went to the 209, they would roll out. Easy guy. Easy guy.

The green carpet. In fact, Matt said he was going to stock and slap you today on the way to the studio. Did you see it? You were talking smack? I was like, you're scared. Why would I be scared? I'm the one that asked you to come on the show.

And you left me hanging. I positioned this as a crash. Oh, come on. A hot style takeover. Okay, fair enough, fair enough. Here we go. Okay, what do we do next in the women's bandom-waid division?

What's wrong with that? She's on the comeback. She's back. Hulman's next. Zangano's out for the moment. Do you think it makes sense for Hohm and Nunes to fight? Okay, here's what I think. I think that now you wait for Tate and Rousey, right?

You got to. You can't have Tate fight someone like Amanda Nunes and risk. Ronda has no connection to Amanda Nunes. Let me throw this out there. Okay, okay. I'm bothered the fact that O'Groll was waffling on whether she's gonna come back and when she's gonna come back and whatever's going on and now a sudden that Misha gets it now I better start practicing yeah that's some bullshit dude yeah want you

throw her another person that's kind of tough I understand that she was a man for a while I get it right or the woman you know what I'm saying yeah so like you know I don't uh uh huh man okay so if you're in charge for that long gone man so if you're in charge do you do home rousey non-title fight in the comeback fight if you're ronda rousey why in a million years would you fight holly home in your first fight back mentally makes no sense don't you want to get your mojo back and the best way to get your mojo back is to beat someone who've already beaten twice now she's the belt ronaraussi was the big winner on saturday night right for this couldn't have worked out better for her for sure unbelievable yeah micha tte did her a solid for sure that's what i'm just bothered by the waffling

on it and as soon as she gets you know my shit like like debo and um oh boy from uh friday like as soon as he leaves i start talking again you know so what do you think happens what do you do with misha ttee they're misha's gonna fight ronda you think so yeah for sure does misha have a chance I hope so. I like Misha. As a person, I like her. Yeah. So I hope so.

But hoping is not... You know, I think Misha's grown a lot. She has. And I think that Ronda has probably been stunted. So I think that there's... Is the blueprint out? Nothing so that the blueprint is out, but the emperor, everybody knows the emperor's not wearing clothes right now.

Oh, God. See what I'm saying? It's very graphic. Does Misha want the fight with Ronda? Do you think she wants the fight? Yeah, absolutely 100%. Misha's down for the cause. and Misha wants that fight.

She wants to prove to herself that, hey look, when I'm better than this and she wants to prove it. She wanted to fight her back in July when they were supposed to fight a third time originally. But now, see, a lot of people are like,

oh, you remember this? This is what, I'm happy that we were talking about this now because remember back in the day, Tyson and Holyfield were kind of playing footsy, right? Never happened. Buster Douglas, knocks out Tyson. Everyone's like, ah, now the fight's ruin.

Douglas fights Holyfield. Holyfield beats Buster. So we never got the rematch, Buster and Tyson. Right. And what happened when Tyson eventually got to Holyfield after all his, the fight was huge. Yeah. But the fight was big. For sure.

So isn't it kind of the same? We wanted to, okay, so we want to see, home beats Ronda, right? Home beats Ronda. Now we're all waiting for the rematch. It doesn't happen. Take comes in, swoops in, beats home. And now we're going to see Ronda Misha 3. And that's going to be big business.

And if Ronda fights home again in the future, that's going to be big business too. It would for sure, for sure. I just, as a fan of the sport, it bothers me where she didn't really want to come back of how to have the title. And then now that Misa has it, I'm about to get my ass to work. Come on, dude. Come on. UFC 200 feels like this weekend's results have perhaps ruined some of the UFC's plans for UFC 200. What are your predictions for that card now?

I disagree. I think that they'll try to put on Aldo and Connor or Frankie and Connor or something like that. I mean, Connor will still be in the mix. Has the luster but taken away? No, I think he still sells mad tickets. I think people are so interested to see it. Because remember, he's still got a 45-pound belt. Okay, but here's the thing.

If Rhonda doesn't come back, right? Is Misha Tate big enough? Because it seemed like they were going to go with Home and Connor again at 200, and now Home loses. Okay, fine, I get it. Connor's still the champ. But for UFC 200, when you think back to UFC 100, it was Brock Lester versus Frank Mear,

GSP versus Tiago Alves, Dan Henderson against Michael Bisping. Are there enough big names out there for a gigantic card? Or is that not even necessary anymore? It's just a number. Maybe 200 tells itself Well, you know, they said that the biggest card in history is going to be 209 Wow

You know what? I didn't even think of it's 209 Put both of them on there Oh my God And I'm being in San Jose or even Stockton or whatever Bring it to Stockton Wow That just blew my mind That's the biggest card ever

We're like a year away from that That's what I'm saying Wow UFC 209 So 200 is nothing 209 is the big one Have Nick and Nate ever fought on the same card I don't know how well they'll handle that That would be

Could you imagine that in York Rick? Wow I like it For belts. For belts, for sure. For belts, for sure. I just got all giddy inside. All right, but what about USC 200?

Let's get back to that. Oh, sorry. I digress. Fuck, 200, the 209. I think you go Connor Frankie. That's what I would do. Have to. And I would do, I don't think Misha fights on the car.

I don't know what other title fight you could put. So what else can we do on there? Because you can't. The five-round fight's a long fight. That's hard on your body. When's 200 is supposed to be? July 9th. Because look, Fabricio's fighting in May.

so he's not going to be ready. Jones is fighting in April. Maybe he could come back. I don't know. Car rematch Travis? Could that throw some fuzz in that? That's main event worthy. What 85 is happening in June?

Robbie Loller against Tyrone Woodley? I guess that could be your other title fight. That's a big fight. They need GSP now more than ever. Silva? What about Anderson Silva? I guess Anderson Silva. No.

No Chale. No Nick. Yeah. It's interesting. When is Nick's suspension up? August, like August 1st or something. And breaking Nate Diaz is out until 420. Can't make that up.

Oh my God. There's a lot going on. Is that? I don't think we're going to be around for 420. That's true. Is that really? Is that true? 100%.

No, that is a pure 20. It's true. He's medically suspended until 420. I thought you were saying you did. Can we all let a spliff even if you don't smoke? We just burned down in the honor of that. Speaking of GSP, he was in attendance at 196. What do you think that was?

This is a really big deal. The road to 200? GSP does not just show up to events. especially not in Las Vegas. He was there with a smile on his face. The interview that I did with him has not been posted, but let me tell you something, this is a big deal. This is a really big deal.

Why would he come back? You want to see him back? It's not that I don't want to say. I mean, I love watching dudes get pregnant. Whoa, you're not a fan of GSP? I mean, I think he's a great wrestler. I think you could make the case that he's the second greatest of all time. John Jones is, my opinion, greatest.

I don't know, I know you've had your history with him. He's a great fighter. His resume speaks for itself. Yeah, for sure. Plus, it's undefeated. Yeah. I know he had that one fight against Banna. GSP, though, had a better resume than Anderson Silva.

I said it. What do you think of that? I just, I mean, I agree. GSP is the most dominant wrestler in the sport. Why can't you say fighter? Because he doesn't fight. Really? Yeah.

He, Matt, Sarah, changed the way he fought. He doesn't end up anymore. He's great timing, incredible timing, but he doesn't fight. He doesn't go for submissions. He just holds a day. So you don't care to see him back? No. Okay.

Eric? I know Canadian. gonna get a sad I said that hell yeah I don't think he has anything to prove what I like to see him sure they need I think he's still I think he's still definitely a competitive fighter he went out essentially beating Johnny Hendricks some would argue that Hendricks won that fight certainly a great case to be made but I wouldn't have a problem would see him come back talking about that look at John how look at the rise and fall of Johnny Hendricks man I mean that's amazing right see Wonderboy Thompson to me we were arguing about this New York Rick and I

before I want to see Wonderboy versus Robbie Loller. Wonderboy to me is a huge star in the making. He's unbelievable. Watching him fight is like watching a video game. He's creative for sure. Unbelievable. I mean you can press X, Y, and he's doing crazy kicks and stuff. He's incredible. You surprised they released Derek, Darren Quickshank? No. If I were World Trees of Fighting, I would sign him and have him fight Justin Gachie. By the way, how about Darren Caldwell? You know this guy? Save it. Okay, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Okay. We've got four minutes left. No, no, no. We're We're going.

All right. What are your thoughts on the Unstoppable Press Conference? Give general... I didn't watch it. You didn't watch it? No. It was fantastic. Why?

There's a lot of crap talking. Come on. You appreciate that. Stop. You didn't like that? I'm not going to spend time in my life watching other people talk trash about other people. You're maybe on the crapper or something. You look at the YouTube.

Come on. Don't feel like you don't do it. Okay. How about this? We'll get more specific for you, Ariel. Yes. What do you think about John Jones becoming the hero? Okay.

So this is what happened. John Jones gets out. there. Biggest cheers of them all. There's literally 20 fighters up there from DC to Wyman to Rockhold to Yawanna. Everyone's up there. John Jones got the biggest pop by far. You know who actually was close to second? Who? Your boy Halwani right here. I stood up there. I got shout. Well, I came up on the mic. It was unbelievable. The place we exploded. Anyway, as far as the fighters are concerned, John Jones. Unbelievable, right? I didn't expect that. I thought it would be a mixed. DC got booed like crazy. What do you make of this? What about America?

Fickle They like a reclamation project They like a guy Who was wronged In their mind Who had his belt Take it away Oh by the way

He showed up with his belt I heard about that What do you think I mean do it It's fun But he's not rehab I mean dude was going 75 and a 35

I mean I was being a dick to a cop He's not reformed Did you hear that clip Yeah How arrogant is that Dude like come on I do

I respect him as a fighter You don't drive with your passport You know what's worse You know what's worse too I probably do You know what's What's worse is that I was, once all that stuff happened, I was actually happy for him. I was like, good for him.

Like, you know, like, I don't mind you turn and heal. Good for you. But don't, just don't be fake. No, it's just more the same. We were talking about this, uh, uh, Wonder Boy is squeaky clean, right? This guy is Christian, all this stuff. But for some reason it doesn't, it doesn't come across is fake with him. With other people, it comes off as a little bit too much.

He's being himself. He's doing the socket. Can I say something about the sucket sign for a second? You know, the suck it? Sure. That's WWE. right? Yeah, but it's like 1998

WWF. Like, I need to talk to John about this because like it kind of comes across as he's one of those guys John Jones. Yeah,

he just found pro wrestling in 2016 and he's reenacting things that we were doing in high school in 98. It's not cool to do the suck of sign. In my opinion. Was that Xbox? He followed me on Twitter.

Sean Waman. Yeah. Ask him if he thinks it's cool to be doing that in 2016. I will. I will ask him that. Please. All right.

Get back to us. I will. But yeah, I'm curious to see how DC responds to this because I don't, I don't think he was expecting that. How about Wyden? What did you think of his performance at the press conference?

He severed ties with Daniel Cormiere, linked up with John Jones as a tag team. This was an amazing moment. An amazing moment. Him and John Jones formed a super team. They said, we're going to take down AKA. You missed quite the press conference, man. It was amazing.

All the storylines just happened. I loved it. Chris was great. I'll tell you the worst part about the press conference. We couldn't hear anything in the dam arena. The acoustics were really bad. At home they heard. I thought Wyman was great.

He sold the fight. people were kind of on the fence. I want to see the fight. Do you think it's a mistake for Chris Wyman to fight Luke Rockhold after, you know, losing in the way that he did? No, I heard that he was controlling that fight until he threw that spinning kick.

Don't tell me you didn't see it. No. God. What do you think, New York, Rick? What do you think of his performance? It was fine. I think John Jones was the one who came out looking the best out of that press conference.

Everybody else was kind of out. How often can you really say that and mean it? Isn't that something? Not in jest, but actually in sincerity. That's why I'm a little. Close second. Juana. She really put her as the mess.

We were at the hotel in Boston, right, before the fight. And Coach Henry, hoofed. And Joanna were talking in the lobby. And they were talking about something about, like, potentially being a coach for a tough or whatever else. They're chopping it up. And then the coach for a girl that he's coaching against now, whatever, the girl, who's she fighting?

Claudia. Yeah, her. The coach comes up. Oh. And she goes, I'm going to really hurt your girl next fight. She's crazy. Changes, like, change the tone. He's like, oh, man, we're here for friends.

He's like, that's fine. But I'm really going to hurt her this time. They got into a full-fledged brawl on tough. Did that? Hey, dude, do you want to no punk? No cameras. It was after the show was over. It's like not even worth it at that point.

Dana said there was head kicks involved. I believe it. Crazy. Hey, Juana's no punk, man. You got to see her stair down. They have to bring a security guard to break them up. Her stardons are so intense. Yeah, she gets all in your face.

Like schmiggle, man. She gets intense, dude. Oh, my heart. She was on the card in Phoenix. when I fought against Gonzaga. That's right. And she was cutting weight there. Against Claudia.

Was that who it was? Yeah. Okay. Was that a good decision? Yeah. Okay, that's what it was. I do it like her cutting weight and everything else was just a trip, man. Like seeing everything else going on.

Because I, but Henry knew her. So we were talking to her like in the same groups. Yeah, yeah. I do. She was just so intense, man. There's something about that Eastern European trash talk that is very intense. Okay, here we go. Daryne Caldwell.

This is the last question from here. And then we'll do one Twitter and we're out. All right. How impressive was Dary and Caldwell's performance? His winning streak in Bellator looks pretty flawless so far. What's his ceiling as a fighter? And then interestingly, can we expect to see him on the MMA hour? Oh, wow, look at this.

Who wrote this? Bellator? Danny Brenner? They actually asked me about that. Yes, you know, funny enough, he actually was on the MMA hour, not that long ago. He was there in the infamous Bobby Green interview when they tried to hijack the show. This is, I'm trying to find it here. They just kind of showed up with like, they were eight deep.

It was crazy. They showed up here? No, on Skype. But, yeah, he was. was part of the crew. Darren Caldwell is a name to remember and kind of makes me wish that they sign Al Jermaine Sterling. I'm trying to pull up the clip here so you can see the finish. Amazing. This guy is oh, here's the end. So he fought. He fought Joe. Look at this. Look at this. He fought Joe Warren. Look at this. He fought Joe Warren. I don't know if this is the slam. I wish I could just get the

the suplex. The suplex. Yeah, the suplex. He suplexed Joe Warren. He suplexed Joe Warren. I thought Joe Warren is like the unsuplexable. Yes. It was amazing. Oh, I think this is it right here. here it is launch bang look at that you see that that was like this guy is great that was worse than my slam i like i like that daring caldwell high ceiling high ceiling like a wish they signed aljamaan sterling what wait is that is that 55 35 35 yeah okay here's our final question another bellator one it's not going to be on the screen vanderly sylva signed with bellator is this going to be big and create a friction between the ufc and bellator what do you think mr i got an offer i heard that there was already friction between Bellator and the UFC.

I heard that there's already friction and it stemmed from Crow Cop. Wait, you think it stems from that? That's what I heard. I think it stems from Spike being, you know, the former home of the UFC and now, you know, all that stuff. I heard that there were some pretty, some pretty upset toes that got stepped on. How do you feel? As someone who just got the offer, do you think Vanderlade, let me ask you this, Vanderlay. Do you do Van der Leight's Rampage?

Rampage, Kimbo, do you like the direction they're going in? As someone who's trying to, you know, figure out where they're going. It's clear. Look, they don't offer Algema in his contract. They didn't offer him? They didn't offer him.

Nothing substantial. So I wonder what happened with his deal? How do he, because he had no leverage then. So what happened with the UFC's deal? World Series did. World Series did? Yeah.

So his pay got bumped up. Yeah, yeah. He got a bump. Where is he, did he get, what's getting paid? Do you know? I'm not going to put him on the spot. All right.

Well, I don't know if it was just closing. So is he getting paid what he's worth? I don't think so. If I'm being honest, I think there's maybe 0.01% of fighters out there who are going to pay what they're worth. For sure. For sure. Just considering what they do for a living.

Right, right. Going to a cage and getting punched. Right. Take a chance walking out, it's not the same way you walked in. Yes. But do you like the fact that they're going with the older guys? I mean, Van der Leigh is still a draw.

They're draws, man. But he hasn't fought in a while. But you've got to remember, man. They're there and Belator's in the spot right now. where they have to get names, to get viewership, to get credibility, right? Yeah.

They can pay out for names right now, and then they need to get the first wave of people coming over, saying it's okay to go there. It's not going to the D-League. It's okay to go over there. Benson. Yeah, Benson. You know,

some other names, maybe. Sure, sure. And so, and from that, I think they have to do this. I think business-wise, plus Coker knows how to put on a damn good fight, man. He puts it on a damn good show.

He does, and he's creative. Except no more data of 5,000. Hey, they had 2.7 million viewers. Yeah, he almost died. Well, he actually did die. He did. Come on. Thankfully, he just got released.

Oh, did he? Yeah, he just got released from the hospital on Friday or Thursday. No more, hopefully, no more bananas and... Please don't. What do you? Stop it, stop it, no. That's what he ate. That's what he ate.

That's what he ate bananas and eggs. I thought you were going to say the other stuff. Oh, like fried chicken. Stop it. I eat fried chicken. Yeah. I love fried chicken. Popeyes.

Hey, Popeyes, if you want to sponsor me. Yeah. Me and Dan, Quirmea. Well, you're part of the Reebok. You can't. Interesting. Here's the thing about Vandalei, he's suspended until 2017. So are they going to try to go to a commission that's going to allow him to fight elsewhere?

Are they going to put him in Japan? That's the real interesting part in all this. You understand? So you're trying to tell me Vandale and Fador? I don't know. I think they're going to try to get him in the States. That's what I think. They wouldn't want to piss off the commissions like that.

We'll see. Scott Coker, don't play around. That's for sure. Anything else, New York, Rick. That's it. That's it. All right. We run out of time.

What a pleasure this has been. I appreciate me. When you go home? Tonight, today. What time? I catch a car to the airport at 6 o'clock. From where? Here.

You told them? No. From the hotel. Where's your hotel? Right down the way. Are you staying with Paige? I'm just trying. Do you know about her big news?

I don't want to be a pedophile. What's that? She's got big news. She got engaged. I don't know. She told us she can't say it yet. I thought maybe you knew. No, I don't.

All right. Well, I wish you the best. I get picked up at 630. at the Millennium Hotel. Oh, I actually think she's staying there. No, stop it. If anyone wants to hang out with Matt for the next 90 minutes. Come on.

Let's do it. But I'm dried out. I'm healthy now, so I'm not drinking anymore. I got skinny fat when I couldn't do anything. Where's home? Indianapolis. I mean, Springfieldola. There's always corn in Indiana.

At Indiana Beach. Down in Monticella. What's the thing he said at the end there? It's like, yeah, beautiful Monticella. Yeah, remember that? Yeah, for sure. Bondi Beach. Yeah.

Josh Kostra. That was a trip, huh? The Octagon girls are there. That was a good one. Dana White. I hear there's shark attacks on Bondi Beach. That's one of the most fun trips. Remember we went to the rugby thing?

Yeah, it was great. Yeah, and you were trying to catch the balls and everything. That was a good time. What a time to be alive. You just got called up at the last minute. I did. I did. Like Chris wasn't supposed to be there.

Remember, and then Chris went out there and got sun burnt really bad. And then he lost to Brian Anderson. That was the beginning of the end. That was the beginning of the end. It was a run. He retired. Did he? Yeah.

I didn't know that. Yeah. That's weird. Well, I wish you the best with the grievance. Let us know. And of course, with the, my hands get sweaty. And also for the free agency stuff. Keep us posted.

I will. Whenever you decide, if you go anywhere else, if I see people tweeting about this news. Duane Finley. Much love to Duane. But I just want to throw that out there. For sure. All right, you can hit my music. Let's say goodbye with Matt here.

This is how we say goodbye at the end of the show. It's like a two-minute thing. So don't take goodbye just yet. So what I'd like to do is thank everyone. This was one of our biggest shows ever. I don't know if you know. I did not know. Yeah.

Because Page is here? No, no, just because it's like, you know, aftermath of UFC 196. People wanted to know what I thought about it. I think for the most part I was able to share. Basically, everyone who's saying that this is the end of MMA, this is the end of the UFC,

this is the end of Conne McGregor. Just slow your role. Why would they say that? Because he lost the invincibility. I think the best part of MMA, unpredictability. That's why we tune in. I agree.

You got these Monday morning quarterback, these columnists who are like, oh, this is why MMA will never be popular. No, this is why MMA is popular, because on any given night, anyone could step in there and change their life forever. You can find it's not scripted, for sure. I love that.

Yeah. That's a beautiful thing. So congratulations to Nate Diaz, 209. Congratulations to Misha Tate as well. Huge wins for them. Great night. Last night, excuse me, Saturday night in Las Vegas. Okay, thank you very much to Chuck Minn and all.

Thank you very much to Robert Follis. No. Head Coach, Extreme Coutte. Great guy. Oh, right on. Yeah, I think he'd be good for you. Anyway, Hafeld dosangos, best of luck to him and get well soon. Thank you so much to Paige Van Zandt.

Tremend, tremendous stuff from her. Appreciate her stopping by. Appreciate John Kavanaugh stopping by as well. All the best to him. Chai Louis Perry, holy moly. That was intense stuff. Well, I didn't come on fire. Yeah.

Thank you very much to him. Jake Shields. Thank you very much as well. And thanks to your good pal, old friend, Moucelsdao. You should let me interview. I know. That would have been fun. I wish you the best, my friend.

Thank you very much. It was great to have you in studio. Thank you very much to all of you as well. If you missed anything, check it out. stitcher, all that good stuff and more. Back next week, same time and place. Until then, I say, p. Somebody.

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