MMA Fighting - We Got Next | A Fired Up Danny Sabatello & Victorious Vince Morales

Episode Date: December 9, 2021

With the Bellator bantamweight grand prix recently announced for 2022, one fighter in particular feels like he deserved his opportunity to vie for the world title and $1 million. This week on We Got Next, Bellator 135-pounder Danny Sabatello (3:08) reacts to being left off of the bracket, discusses why he believes James Gallagher is the most egregious name in the eight-man slate, not being impressed with Sergio Pettis’ last two fights or his recent spinning back fist KO of Kyoji Horiguchi at Bellator 272 this past Friday, how Bellator’s bantamweights match up with the UFC’s, being ready to be an alternate if called upon, and wanting to welcome Gervonta Davis to MMA. Vince Morales (28:07) recaps his KO win over Louis Smolka this past Saturday at UFC Vegas 44, talks what being the first to knock Smolka out means to him, not getting a bonus, what has changed since his loss to Chris Gutierrez and why he was thankful for that experience, 2021 being his breakout year for a number of reasons, his callout of Nathaniel Wood, and his goals for 2022. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. There, everybody. Welcome back to a brand new episode of We Got Next. We're in the midst of a massive stretch in the combat sports world. So get ready to put a bow on 2021. This weekend, of course, UFC 269, final UFC pay-per-view events of the year. Get the two big title fights, capped off by Charles Olivera defending his lightweight title.

against Dustin Porre. Amanda Nunes defends her Bannonway title against Juliana Pena. Just a stack card from top to bottom. And then next week we got UFC Vegas 45, which is the final UFC event of 2021. Jake Paul is now fighting Tyrant Woodley

for the second time next Saturday, December 18th. It's just going to be crazy, folks. And we appreciate you having us on this week. I am Mike Heck. Short intro this week. Right into the interviews with some of the up-and-coming names in our sports. And out. Both of these fighters this week are 135 pounders.

And I feel a lot better this week. So I'm not dying through the intro, if you will. So here's the lineup. We're going to wrap things up with Vince Morales, who knocked out Lewis Smolka this past Saturday at UFC Vegas 44. Biggest one of his career for sure. And he's had quite the turnaround over the last 18 or so months, two years maybe. And then we'll dive definitely into that. discuss the devastating first-round finish.

Ricky Simone, his cousin, getting ready to fight Hafeel Al-Suncel. Changes he's made in his life. Just a lot of cool stuff. Very excited to talk to Vince Morales in a little while. But first, you may have noticed this past weekend, Bellator kicking off another Grand Prix tournament in 2022. This one will take place in the Bannamoy Division. And right after the lineup was in that,

I get a message from a member of this fighter's team who said, he is not happy about this, and he isn't. And he's even more unhappy after this conversation, as you're about to hear, about some of the names that made the cut over him. So without any further ado, let's hear from the always outspoken Danny Sabatello to kick us off this week on We Got Next. But before we get to that real quick, make sure you stick with us over at M.A. all week long for your UFC 269 coverage.

All next week, I will be at Jake Paul versus Tyrone Woodley to Fight Week. All week long, tons of content. So just stick with us over the next few weeks. We will get you through the rest of 2021 into a very festive 2022, if you will. So have a heck of a week, everybody, and enjoy the show. All right, let us say hello once again to the Italian gangster, Danny Sabat, a Bellator Bannamweight, as we found out on Friday. Right before Sergio Pettis went on to successfully defend his title against Keoggi Horaguchi,

Bellator is going to put together a Bantamweight Grand Prix, million dollar prize in 2022. It got pretty much everybody very excited. But you can put Danny Sabatelo, Josh Hill, and a couple of others on the list of people who are not very excited at how this unfolded. So I wanted to have Danny on to air some grievances on this festive season. Danny, how are you, my man? Doing great.

Could be better if I was in that fucking tournament, but still doing all right. So how did you react on Friday when this news happened? Because we saw the eight names and you were left out of it. And you would think with the state of this division, not just in Bellator, but for the UFC, if Scott Coker is going to say the winner of this tournament is the best band of weight in the world, you would think a 16-man tournament would be something that Bellator probably could have done here. So when you saw the eight-man field, how did you react to it? Yeah, I was pretty surprised.

I think we all knew that a Grand Prix tournament was coming in this Bansomweigh division. So I was kind of just waiting by the phone waiting for the news from my manager that I would be in it. And then when that came on the TV that it was those eight guys, I was pretty fucking disappointed. I was throwing shit left and right. You know, just because when you look at the field and guys like Leandro Hugo and that James Gallagher guy is in it, those are guys that I'll just absolutely smash. Those are guys that I see myself getting out there in the first round. But, you know, I get it.

Gallagher, he brings in a lot of eyes. He brings in all of Ireland and all those soft fans. So it's just business. But, you know, I see myself smashed in all those guys. Unfortunately, I'm not ranked. But that's just because I haven't fought too much in Belletor yet. I've only had one fight, and it was against Brett Johns. And he's even a guy that I could see getting in that tournament or should get in that tournament.

You know, he's a guy that could smash all those guys except for Kioj, Hori. You know, if you don't like me or you don't like, you know, tan good looking tough Italians, that's fine. Put Brett Johns in it, and he'll smash those guys. But yeah, overall, pretty disappointed. It should be a 16-man tournament just because of the depth of the Bantamwaitton Bellator, but, you know, what are you going to do? Yeah, that's a, that's a. interesting point. And you mentioned ego, you mentioned Galaher and some of the other names. Which name would you say was the most egregious of all? Gallagher. He just got submitted by

Patrick Mix and Patrick Mix sucks as well. So for him to get in it is just crazy. But again, we all know how popular he is. You know, he's a wannabe McGregor. He's Walmart McGregor. But, you know, it's just business. And it's just how it goes sometimes. So we haven't seen you fight since May. It was the win over Brett Johns. And it had me thinking. that if somehow, because when Brett got signed from the UFC, it was a pretty big deal. And then you went in and sort of stopped the hype right away. I wonder if Brett had beat you if he would have been in the tournament. Yeah, I think he for sure would have.

I mean, when you look at that guy's resume, before we fought, I think he was 17 and 2 and had a bunch of wins in the UFC, wins over quality guys like Tony Gravely. Only losses again, Al Jemaine Sterling, Pedro Munoz. He's a guy that would have for sure got in the tournament. You know, I'm sure he's pretty pissed that even though he looks at. lost to me. He probably thought that we would both get in that tournament. Maybe Avengers lost later on in the tournament, maybe in the finals. I don't know. But yeah, you know, and then in August I was supposed to fight Campbell. And then I got Corona. That fight got canned,

of course, never got rescheduled. I haven't fought since then. So I haven't fought since May. And, you know, I'm so pissed about not getting in that fucking tournament because I want to be the champ and everything. But at this point, I just want to fight. And, you know, just give me a fucking fight. I'm going crazy over here. What did you think of the title fight between Sergio Pettis and Kiyoji Horaguchi? I mean, we saw the first three rounds. It was Horaguchi City. And then Pettus lands the spinning back fists, which is one of the comebacks of the

year, one of the knockouts of the year in 2021. What did you think watching that happen? Yeah, that was absolutely fucking heartbreaking. Just because, you know, I'm very close with Kioji. He was in my corner. I think my first three or four fights. He's one of my training partners, my main training partners at American Top Team. And not only just because I like the dude, but he was dominated.

the entire fight. You know, he was only, he was almost dominating for 20 fucking minutes of that fight. One little slip up and, you know, it cost him the fight. And, you know, I hate that it happened and I hate that it happened to someone as nice as Kioji or Gucci, who's just a great guy, if you know him. But, but at the same time, it makes me just love this sport even more. This sport is just so fucking unique. It is like any other sport. You know, this isn't football where, you know, one little mistake, oh, touchdown or, oh, bad pass, he made a slam dunk, you know, this is fighting where you know one little mistake it could cost you the fight and not only that it cost you brain cells so i think there was a lot to learn from that fight you know anything can

happen anybody can win anybody can lose anybody can get knocked out submitted you just never know in this fight business and that's why fighting to me is just the most exciting thing by far you know it's not the other people like have these games you know football baseball basketball those are all games you know hockey those are games no this is fighting this is true sport you know this This isn't, again, like a home run or, you know, one little slip up. This almost cost him his life. And, you know, that's fighting. Yeah, it was such a crazy moment.

Have you been impressed with what Sergio's done in his last couple of fights? The archiletta win was impressive. I was there for that. I thought Sergio looked really good in that fight. It was super close. And then obviously just coming out and having the will and the heart to land that shot. I mean, after getting dominated for three rounds, you could throw in the towel. You could just be like, I'm done.

I'm just going to fold. And if it gets me to the ground, maybe he puts me into submission. I'm just going to let the fight play out. He lends a shot. Have you been impressed with what Sergio's done, especially in his last two fights? No, I think he sucks. I think he's absolutely pathetic. A guy like Kiyo Joroguchi, who has no wrestling, was taking him down at will. That's why, again, I think Sergio, no matter what, whatever the circumstances is, he's never going to want to fight me. And that's why I always call him out because he knows that I would absolutely fuck him up. you know, if Keoggi is taking him down at will, then I would just absolutely dismantle that guy. Again, he was getting dominated that entire fight.

You know, if those two fought again, even though Sergio won, I think the odds this last fight, Kioji was like minus 170, 180, depending on the sports book. He'd be like minus 250, minus 300 the next time they fight. I think it really exposed Sergio. You know, he threw a shitty kick that didn't even come close to landing, but he had so much momentum him going forward and to the left that he just stuck his fist out there and it just magically hit Kyoji. You know, but that's fighting. You know, sometimes you get lucky and stuff like that happens. That there wasn't really skill. You know, maybe he practiced it once or twice before,

but, you know, it was a pathetic kick that didn't land and then he just stuck his fist out there. I'm not impressed at all by him. I still cannot believe that guy is the champion of my division. It makes me sick. I'm pissed at myself that I'm not the champion yet. But yeah, again, hopefully someday I fight that piece of shit. Last time we spoke, you were angling to get the Johnny Campbell fight rebooked. You really wanted it rebooked. You wanted to shut his mouth. He had some things to say on social media after the fight was canceled.

You had COVID and there's nothing you can really do about that. It didn't. Johnny went on to fight in other organizations. I believe he's got another fight booked in January outside of Bellator. Had you been offered anything else after you had to pull out of that first Campbell fight? No, I was trying to get that fight rebooked ASAP. and then it wasn't getting rebooked ASAP, but I was still trying to stay on it. Just because Johnny Campbell is a guy that was talking shit to me and it's like, dude, I'll fucking beat the shit out of your face.

So I really wanted to fight that guy. I really wanted to fuck him up, was trying for it for a while, but he got another fight booked somewhere else. So I kind of stop with that. And man, I've been calling out everybody. I've been calling out rank guys, unranked guys. You know, there's guys in that division that are ranked Josh Hill who had a good knockout. I've been calling out him. I'd love to fucking beat the shit out of him.

You know, Jordanel Lugo, I've been calling him out for years now trying to fight him. He won't take it. Caspell, another ranked guy calling out him. He won't take it. You know, at this point, I don't give a shit. If you're ranked or not, just give me a fucking fight. I need to get in there and start fighting, man. When this field was announced, and I'm sure you immediately reached out to Jason,

was like, what the hell, man? Like, what is going on here? I don't know if you've had any contact with Bellator, if he's had any contact with Bellator. And he talks about you perhaps being an alternate. for this tournament, maybe a play and fight of some kind. Yeah, I'm hoping that right after it was announced. I called my manager, ASAP. It wasn't the best conversation.

I was pretty pissed off about it. But he's just like, you know, kind of call me down and told me that he's going to talk to Belator and see whatever he can do to try to get me in that tournament. You know, worse comes to worst. Maybe I am an alternate. He was saying me or Josh Hill would probably be the alternate. But, you know, you just don't know. All you can really do is just be ready.

And, man, I'm telling you right now, I'll fight two of those. guys at once if I have to or even if it's like uh you know to get that alternate spot you got to fight two guys I'll fight two guys at once I don't really give a shit I just I need to get in that tournament because I want to be champion you know honestly fuck the money million dollars is cool you know I'm not going to say money isn't cool money's fucking awesome but more than anything I just want that title and it's it's really more so just because I know I can get that title right now you know the time is now for me again a guy like Sergio Pettis being the champion of my division makes it even more upsetting that I'm not the champion yet just because, dude, I'll fucking finish him.

You know, it won't even be close. So again, yeah, I talk to my manager all the time. He's trying to get me in the tournament. But if not, I just hope I fight soon. Yeah, I feel like whenever some of the first round matchups are booked, you got to put you and Josh Hill on that card. And then the winner can be like the first alternate. And then, you know, Lugo can maybe be the second alternate.

However it works out, I feel like you and. Josh would be the fight to make. And then the winner of that, if something happens to one of the first round winners, you guys slot right in there makes the stakes even higher for your fight. Yeah, absolutely. And if you don't want to do a 16 man bracket, then you can still do a 12-man bracket with maybe the first four guys getting a buy to the next round or something. But this division has so much depth. I think this division in Bellator is better than the UFC Bansomweight division. And there's just guys that should be in this tournament. You know, even If they have this eight man tournament and I'm not in it, then we really don't know who the best in that division is because I'm not in it.

So I think, you know, in all fairness, even to the guy that's going to win this eight man tournament, if I'm not in it, they'll always think like, okay, would I beat Danny Sabatel? We'll never know, you know, until after the tournament when I get a title shot. But yeah, I just think it's best for everybody if I'm in this tournament or you expand it to 12 man or you have me and he'll fight for an alternate spot because, dude, people miss weight all the time. you got Corona, you got injuries. You know, you look at that Skagans kid, that piece of shit that missed weight by five pounds. You shouldn't ever fight again because it's such a piece of shit. Good thing you got knocked out. But, you know, stuff like that happens.

If someone's going to miss weight by a big margin, maybe the commission doesn't let them fight. And then it fucks up the whole tournament. You know, you got to have an alternate. You got to have one or two people ready. And, you know, I'll always be ready. Plus patchy missed weight for his fight with Galaher. I really don't understand the whole missing weight thing. There's two things that I always promise to people, fans, everyone.

I'll never miss weight and I'll never be caught with steroids. Those are just two things that I think are inexcusable. The missing weight, I just, I don't get it. And I think that there should be a massive penalty for it. Because you really do get a huge advantage. People won't understand the weight advantage. And those last two pounds are the two pounds that absolutely suck. That's what keeps you up at night, the night before weigh-ins.

You know, you're having these weird thoughts, you know. You're going to a dark place when you're cutting that weight. those last two pounds. Anybody can cut 10, 15, 20 pounds. It's those last two pounds the night before that absolutely suck. And that's what make you a man too. You know, that's what makes us fighters. None of this bullshit would buy patchy mix, missing fucking weight. Give me a fucking break. And it should be more than 20% of the purse. It should be 50%. And if you do it again, then that organization has to tell you, you got to go up to a different weight division. You know, this is bullshit. You know, I don't get it. It's Bush League.

I've been a big advocate of taking a point away, like immediately. Like, you want to do 20% fine, like, especially for some of these lower level fighters, like 20% of a 5 and 5 or 10 and 10 is nothing to these guys. Like, they get the second half of their purse in full, like their win money in full. They just lose 20% off the show money. It's not really a big dent to them if they get the second half of their check. But if you take a point away, then it affects the fight and it affects the second half as well. Yeah, absolutely, Mike. You know, and also 20% is just not enough to deter someone to go, oh, man, I really got to make this weight or else, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. A point, yeah, you take a point away, you take away 50% of their purse. You have something a little bit more at stake. I guarantee you these motherfuckers that are missing weight, right, aren't missing weight. Petchy mix. I don't know how much he missed it by maybe probably like two, three, one pound. I don't know what it is. I guarantee you he would have made the weight. If he would have known he would have lost a point in that fight or 50% of the.

his purse was going to be gone. 20%. Man, that's not even enough to deter someone from strategy. You know, a lot of people that don't really understand fighting, don't understand. Some people miss weight on purpose because if you take away 20%, okay, that's fine if it's going to have me win the fight. Okay, so then I'm going to have the W on my record and I'm going to end up getting paid more. The 20% has to change. And these pussy-ass fighters got to stop missing weight. Why do you, I mean, I know you fight for the organization, but why do you feel Belatorial course, Bannonweight Division is better than the UFC's Bannemweight Division. I think you look at the guys in the top, you know, you look at how diverse they are,

Juan Archiletta, he's got good stand-up, he's got good ground game, a guy that is named Daryon Caldwell is ranked 10th in the division who, you know, compete up probably most of the rank guys in the UFC. I think just from top to bottom, that Stats guy is having a good run. I forgot that shitty wrestler that's a Russian. He's been pretty good. You know, I think top to bottom, these guys and you match them up with the guys in the UFC, they're just going to beat him. Like the Davali Illish, whatever the fuck his name is in the UFC, that claims he's a good wrestler.

You know, you put his wrestling against me or someone else like Stots in the division and he gets smashed. You just look at the stylistic matchups between the top 10 and Bellator and the top 10 and UFC. And it's like, man, I don't know, some of these fights could go either way. And a guy like me who's not even fucking ranked would take out all those guys in the UFC that are ranked.

So if like Horaguchi fought Piotr-Yan, like game three months to prepare for Piotr-or-Yan, you think Hora-Gucci would beat him? Horogeo beat him. Yeah, absolutely. That fight would be absolutely fireworks, though. That would be awesome. That should happen between a cross-promotion. It should be Horouchi and Yon. That would be a ridiculous fight.

It would have to be-Goochi and Aldo would be fun too. That'd be great. And it's just so high level, too. You know, not only would it be exciting, but it's just the top of the top of fighting. You know, you always want, you know, obviously Rock and Stoppum robots is entertaining too because somebody is going to get knocked out. But the skill level in Horoguchi and Yan or Horoguchi and Aldo would just be the top of the top and it'd be so much fun to watch. We have to wait and see how these brackets are going to shape up. And who knows, by the end of this thing, you could find yourself in it and pulling a Daniel Cormier and the old

Strike Force Grand Prix. But if the, if these eight fighters and the brackets stay, intact as is. Just depending on, I mean, you can do whatever you want. Who would you see in the finals? It was kind of like a round robin and it was like a point structure. Like the two best fighters are going to fight in the finals. Who do you think those two fighters would be? Kiyoji Horaguchi for sure. I think in that eight-man tournament, he's just levels above everybody. And the guy he'd face, I just don't give a fuck. I think they all suck. I don't know. It's kind of a crapshoot. You know, whoever's going to close their eyes and swing as hard as they can. they might connect with somebody, you know, I don't know.

I don't know who the second best would be if I'm not in it. But yeah, and I just don't care. You know, I'm hoping if I don't get in the tournaments, then maybe I could get a title shot if I keep racking up these Ws on the side. But, but again, man, I'm doing whatever I can to get in that tournament. You know, I wish I had Scott Koper's number because I would have called him a thousand times already, begging him to get me in that tournament because it's not just, you know, give me, you know, blah, blah, give me that.

It's dude, I just want one of the number. opportunity. Just give me one opportunity and I will go in there and I will smash these motherfuckers and I know that they know it too. So I got to do whatever I can to get in this tournament. How would you describe this year overall? You come in in May, you beat Brett Johns on short notice. It was a, you know, you had to cut a good amount of weight. You wouldn't even tell me what you weighed when we spoke like on Fight Week. You're like, I'm not revealing that information. So you had a pretty significant weight cut. Then the Campbell fight happens and then we haven't seen you since. You got a lot of buzz up the Brett Johns wins. People were talking about you.

And then as the sport is, it's sort of what have you done for me lately. And if you haven't done anything or gotten the chance to get in there in six or seven months, it's almost like you fizzle away. Like all the hype that you built up just kind of goes away. What has that, what has this year been like for you? Yeah, disappointing. Just because I think that week against the Brett Johns guy, it was probably the best week of my life, man. You know, obviously I had to go through fucking hell to cut that weight, you know, getting everything intact to get that fight.

And then I go in there and I dominate him. and, you know, he's so high level. It was just a great win. So, you know, you have these thoughts as a fighter when you're coming up that you're the best, you know, but you don't really ever know until you go in there and prove it. You know, everything's different than night of the fight. You know, this isn't practice. People are good in practice.

People are good without cutting weight. You put everything together and then you see how really good you are. Okay, I approved. I'm the top of the top. You know, so I'm on cloud nine, all that. And then just to have kind of just everything not go, according to plan, I guess. You know, I have that next fight against Johnny Campbell later,

and it gets canned. I got Corona and then I haven't had a fight since. I think if anything, it's just even more frustrating, just because I know I should be in there beating the shit out of these guys. You know, right now I should be sitting here with maybe four Bellator wins, but I only have one, you know? So it's kind of just frustrating. It's disappointing.

I should have the belt right now, to be truly honest with you. I'm not just saying that. So I'd say disappointing. But, you know, brighter days ahead. I think 2022 is going to be the best year in my life. I hope to get four or five, six fights if Bellator would allow that in that year. So 2021, disappointing. Even though there was great, you know, heights, you know, I climbed that mountain,

had a very good win, a very dominant win on such short notice. Made the weight. Again, I'll never fucking miss weight. I'm not a pussy like Patrick Mix. But disappointing, but it'll be very, very good in 2022. Danny Sabatelty, the Italian Gators coming in 2022, that's for sure. I have to ask again, because I've tried to ask you this twice already. You wouldn't tell me.

And I think the statute of limitation is passed now or seven months removed. How much weight did you cut for that fight in that short amount of time? Can you tell me now? Too much. Too much weight. It sucked. It was the worst weight cut of my life. I mean, it was absolutely terrible.

And also, I said this before, but you got a quarantine for 24 hours when you get in there. so I couldn't go to a hot tub or steam room or, you know, going to sauna or go run, do whatever. I'm in my fucking room, my sweatsuit on jumping rope shadow boxing for hours. It was just, man, it was miserable. But when I look back, it's made me so much tougher. And again, I will always think now if I can make weight that fucking fight, I'll always make weight.

Over 25 pounds? Over 25 pounds, yeah. Oh, my God, man. That's crazy. Over 30? Over 30? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know why this has been the most curious question of the year for me. But I was like, this must be a lot if he's not willing to tell me. Yeah, it was a good amount, probably more so than it should have been. You know, I always like to stay ready. And staying ready isn't just about having good conditioning, getting good sparring rounds in. But it's also having your weight down just so you don't ever miss weight. Because again, you know, I keep going back to it. But I pride myself on always making weight. you know, I'll never miss weight. So I always do like to keep my weight somewhat in the ballpark of getting a call and just being able to make weight like that, you know, because I think if my manager calls me at any point, I will say yes, I'll be ready to go because I can make the weight. So 2022, the year of the Italian gangster. Is that what we're predicting right now? Yep, I'll get the belt in 2022. You know, I just, again, I just, I need the opportunities. You know, it's not like I'm getting an opportunity and I'm fumble in the bag and I'm losing. I just give me the opportunity. these get me fucking fights and I'll win that's it I might as well ask you since this is big news

right now and then I'll let you go tyron woodley's getting back in there with jake paul I know you're more of a of a wrestling based guy but you know you've been known to throw a few punches in your day does tyrant is there any chance this fight goes any differently in the first one dude I don't know I think I think tyrone woodley is just not the same guy that we all want him to be you know everybody I think wants to see jake paul get knocked the fuck out I just I just I just don't know, man. And boxing sometimes is a circus, so you don't really know exactly what's in the contract. You could just hope that he knocks out this guy. I don't really personally have a preference either way, just because, you know, who knows, these guys can be fucking best friends and we don't even

know it. They get on the internet and act like they ate each other. He just never fucking know. But regardless, I think Tyrone's not the guy that he used to be. Can he knock him out? Sure. Yeah. We don't know if they have a clause that he can't get knocked out. You know, we just don't know. boxing's just boxing's not m-ma it's not pure uh those boxers are all fucking idiots anyways i saw that tank jervanta davis said that he has wrestling because he can fucking fight on the street or some shit which is just man how are you so out of touch with fighting to say that that was just bizarre i hope i fight that guy someday um i'm i'm thinking his street wrestling isn't as good as my wrestling but you know you never know i was just going to ask you about that too

because if he were, because he says he wants to give it a go at some point, he'd probably be a 35er. Like he would probably be a Banimoy. Absolutely. I would offer to fight him with my eyes closed. I swear to God, put a blindfold on me. You can put a blindfold on me, tape it so it doesn't come up or down. I would fight that guy in a heartbeat, blind. I'll fucking murder that guy.

That guy does not stand one chance. And his street wrestling can only take him so far. I will beat the shit out of him. And I honestly think I could knock him out at some point, too. You know, if I can take him down, get a little bit tired, cook him on the ground, give him some ground to pound. We come back up. He's got so much blood flowing in his forearm. His punches will not be the same.

You know, after your first wrestling exchange, first grappling is changing a fight. Everything changes. Your conditioning changes. All, you know, the running you did, it's just different. Now you're using every single muscle in your body. It's different than just staying in, standing up for a fight. It's different. I take him down, maybe beat the shit out of them for a minute.

We go back to the feet. I fuck him, knock him out. Crowd goes wild and I'm the new champion. Wow. There we go. Year made right there. Sabatello, Javonte Davis. Let's make it happen. Showtime. Come on. Same family. Same family. Let's do it. Oh, exactly. That's why I was actually pretty pumped when he said that because I do think it's a possibility down the line at some point. You know, again, I'll fucking fight anybody. I'll fight a rank eye in Bellator. I'll fight. I'll fight unranked eye in Bellator. I'll fight Javanta Davis blindfolded. I don't give a shit. But I'm telling you,

right now. If I fight Jarvita Davis, I will fuck that guy up. Well, we will leave it at that because I don't know if we can get much better than that. Danny, always a pleasure chatting with you, my man. Sorry, you didn't get in the tournament, but MMA is crazy, especially nowadays in this era, this post-pandemic era that we're in. And as you know, anything can happen and that phone can ring in any time. So you have the right attitude. Stay positive and hope we see you much more in 2022, my man. Absolutely. Thanks, Mike. Always good talking to you too. Let us say hello to Vince Morales, who picked up a huge win this past Saturday at UFC Vegas 44. And on top of that, not only did he defeat Lewis Smok, but he became the first fighter in the UFC to actually finish Lewis Smolka via strikes.

There's a beautiful overhand right. First guy to knock out Lewis Smolka. And if you followed Lewis Smolka's career, he's a very tough, durable guy. This is not easy to do. This is a very big deal for Vince Morales, who was kind enough to join us just a few days later. Vince, how are you? It was good, man. you have me absolutely so i mean what does that mean to you like lewis smoker is is a guy who like

limitless potential we've been waiting for this guy to try to hit that really high ceiling that everybody's had for him and and some performances he's had it some of which he hasn't but i feel like he was kind of flowing and getting to that place again you know he had the shano mallee fight it didn't really end up happening due to some things happening you get matched up with him and then you go out there and you bolt him in just over two minutes that's a very big deal What does that mean to you? A lot really. So when we first got offered the fight,

Coach Wood loved it really. He said, said, he thought it was kind of starting to come out of my shell a little bit in the UFC because I've been able to really show the things I can do. And he thought this is going to be a good one to really prove what I can and kind of put some of the division on notice. So we prep, we got ready. And mentally we were trying to prep for a three-round war

because we knew that he had never been finished. and or via strikes anyways. So I was imagining if I did get a finish, it was going to be a submission because I was going to hurt him and he was going to come down. I knew I had the power to hurt him when I did. And then right when the fight started, I landed a couple jabs and I just had this feeling just the way you reacted to him. I was like, oh, this might not take very long.

Yeah, it was a great performance, but no bonus. What the hell, man? How do we not get a bonus here? I know, I see, I saw the Jose Cabo shot of the night pop up and it was me and I was sitting there because my family came to town. I was sitting there watching. I was like, ooh, that's a, I'm in. I got it.

And then, and then Paziv does a spinning wheel kick. And I'm like, well, you suck. So. But they gave away four of them. I thought for sure that you were going to get one. Yeah, I had to have my fingers crossed. I was sitting there waiting too. It's weird watching the card and hoping that the rest of it's not that good when it's

been one fight. It's wild because even like even Fontenaldo was such a fun fight. But that didn't even get the fight of the night, which is, I thought it should have. I thought it should have too. No disrespect to Cheyenne Belismis and Mallory Martin because that was a fun fight too. But what those two guys did for over a 25 minute span was absolutely ridiculous. Maybe next time.

Maybe next time. So you mentioned something that Coach Wood has been seeing you come out of your shell. And 2020 was an interesting year for you. 2019 was an interesting year for you. signed with the UFC, you had a couple of fights before that, had the winner of Aman Sahabi, but then the Benito-Lopez loss happens. And then around 10 months or so later, you fight Chris Gutierrez. And I think a lot of people remembered how that fight played out because of the leg kicks and everything. But since then, you bounce back with the win over, Draco Rodriguez,

is a very tough guy. And then you knock out Louis Smolka. What has changed for you? Like, what has clicked for you? Because I feel like you're a different guy than, you know, the guy who fought Chris Gutierrez, even the guy I fought Drago Rodriguez. Like the Drago-Rodriguez fight, we got to see a little bit more out of you, but this Louis Smokey fight, you had a different look on your eye. Yeah, good. I'm glad because that's really, that's, I felt, I felt different going into it a little bit. It was, it was interesting.

I think being a part of syndicate and just regularly having, like, Aljo and Marab and my cousin, Ricky comes through. Like, we have a lot of really great high-level guys that just come through it and train every now and then. So just having access to that and get a taste of what the top of the division is like and see kind of where I fall within that and everything. I think it's been a little eye-opening for me. So I felt I felt mentally just ready to get in there and do what I had to do, really. I mean, prior to that, I think some of my fights I've gone in there, like I kind of wanted to see how the fight was going to go versus being there to fight. And

It's a small mindset shift with big differences. Does that make sense? It's, yeah, it's, man, syndicate's been great to me. John Woods really helped me, like, find that kind of confidence in myself and get comfortable with my own style and not try to, like, be someone I'm not or anything. It's been great, man. I can't wait to get back in there again already. What about, like, outside of the cage?

Just, you know, and the Gutierrez lost was a situation. tough one man i mean clearly is a tough one you know it you've you felt it and everything yeah what what was your mentality like after that fight um rough that was a i was in a weird spot with that one um i had just stopped working with my my previous coach tony frickland and uh i kind and that's when covid had started and that was the first fight at apex and i had actually went back to uh boise idaho because i couldn't really make ends meet so i was back in Boise working, doing some landscaping stuff just to kind of just to pay the bills for here in Vegas. So I was kind of bouncing back and forth. Didn't really know when I was going to be fighting,

if I was going to be fighting. I was training in my free time over there, but landscapes that like a 10 to 12 hour day, six days a week. So I was working quite a bit and still trying to find some weird spots to train. And I may not have been, I know I wasn't. My pride in me doesn't let me really say it because I'm a fighter and I always want to take those opportunities when they come. I may not have been physically ready for a fight as much as I have been for other fights. And that was kind of eye-opening for me because I really had to shift my whole approach. Like, if I'm going to be a professional athlete at this level, I've got to act like a professional athlete. I can't just, oh, let me take this fight like I used to when I was on the regional scene.

And it's like a weak notice or whatever. No, I've got to put in the work. So how would you describe those 15 or so months between fights then before the Draco fight? So actually like a month and a half after the Gutierrez fight, I ended up tearing my Achilles. And that put me out for a solid like I think it was almost nine months before I was training again. Because I'd have two surgeries. So I had one surgery got to fix. Then they were worried about infection like a month and a half later.

So I had to go back into surgery. It was that was interesting. That was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to go through. I was still going to practice, but I couldn't do anything. So I'm just sitting on the sidelines, just trying to absorb and learn through osmosis, if you would. And kind of had to, like, find myself. And I was calling it a forced perspective because I was forced to look at things outside versus always being in it and try to assess things. So with that being said, it really, it kind of gave me a fresh outlook and made me fall in love with MMA in a different way.

And I think it all is just sort of coming together now for myself personally and for my skill set in there. I know a lot of fighters when I ask questions like this, they don't like to look back and think back about those things. But in a weird way, the Chris Gutierrez fight might have been one of the best things that had happened to you because one, it opens your eyes to certain things about the sport that maybe you didn't know being a professional athlete. And two, you know, you end up tearing your Achilles, which sucks. at the same time, you're finding love for MMA in different ways. If that Goodyearys fight doesn't happen, if you just say, nah, I probably shouldn't take this fight right now, do you think we'd be having a similar conversation right now? These are the questions.

See, I think about these things a lot because, so just last night I was watching, I got Cameron Elstain with me here, and we were talking about some old fights. And I was watching my contenders, we were watching my contender fight, Condender Series fight, which was a great fight, but I ended up getting choked out in that and watching it and just seeing how much different my whole approach is in the actual fight. Like, there's some mistakes in there that I would never allow to happen. So same thing with the Gutierrez fight. I can't, if I didn't have those rough experiences and was forced to grow from those,

I don't know if I could grow into the person that I am now. So in a weird way, you almost become thankful for those hard moments because you get tested in a different way. And then now you're forced to become something different if you want to survive. So that's kind of where I'm at. So a little bit of me, I just try to embrace it as much as it still sucks. I mean, I hate looking back at those fights and watching. I'm like, oh, man, that's rough.

But, yeah, like in a weird way, I'm kind of, I'm thankful that that I'm able to piece together things now because of that. That was May of 2020. And now you are treating yourself like a professional athlete. you're taking everything. Not that you didn't take it seriously before, but now you're taking it very seriously. You're in Vegas now. Things are going well.

I think I just saw on Instagram that you bought a house. You just said it before we even hit record here that you bought a house. I mean, this is crazy, man. Like considering where you were probably at heading into and then shortly there after the Gutierrez fight to where you're at now, this has got to be kind of a surreal year and a half for you, is it not? Gave me some goosebumps, man.

Yeah. It's funny you say that. I was talking to my girlfriend about that. She trains in Fice as well, and she's right here with me the whole time. And we've, it's interesting to be able to reflect back just at what things were like a year ago. I'm very, very proud of, proud of where I'm built from, from like just a year ago. It's a little surreal. I'm trying not to get too caught up into it because I want to stick to just the work and just continue the momentum,

them because that's that's literally my goal. But at the end of last year, I said some pretty high goals for this year that I ended up hitting all of them. So I'm going to shoot even higher for next year and see where that gets me. Speaking of next year, you did the show son and approach. You got on the mic, you had a name ready to go. You called out Nathaniel Wood for London. And being a professional athlete, you're like, I have the opportunity to, to potentially travel

the world. I've never been to London. Yeah, let's go to London. Maybe Nathaniel Wood wants to fight. I don't think he's got a fight on the books right now. Why, Nathaniel? Was it just because you wanted to find that London car to just make sense? Or is that a fight that just stylistically you really like?

All of that. All of that. So when I was, when I was first coming up on the regional scene back in Boise, Idaho, I'm from Ontario, Oregon. And I was always the outside guy fighting the Boise locals who were up and coming and looking to prove things on their big stage in their own right. And that's just something that I'm continuing, like, is what it is.

Yeah, I like the fight. I think we match up real well. I think we'd have a real fun fight. I'm still trying to get some sort of bonus. And I think maybe that's a fight of the night all over it. So let's go. You mentioned some of the names that have come in through syndicate in your division. Obviously, your cousin who's got a big fight coming up.

And then we see Marab in there quite often. Even the champion, Al J. Stirling is in there quite often. But then there's some other guys. Like, I know Jay Perrin very well. Jay is a guy that, you know, I've watched fight on the, the New England regional scene a lot. Glad to see he's starting to make a move.

You know, just, just be able to work with, with world champions, even regional champions in that gym. From guys like Jay to Marab to Al Jamein, I mean, that that's a wealth of knowledge. You got hungry guys. You got guys who have reached the top but are still very humble about it. Like, what has that all been like for you, not just training with those guys, but being able to pick their brains a little bit? It's awesome, really. Jay's one of my main training partners. I love that guy a lot.

I was actually, I went with him when he just fought King Mo's guy on CES. I can't remember his name. Anyways, I went with him in cornered for that fight. Oh, no kidding. Yeah, Jay's great. I love working with Jay. Yeah, it's, I love to see just people, like we got some young, young Mexican kids in there too that are just barely going pro.

They're only 18, and they give people to work. It's insane. So it's crazy to see just this broad spectrum of hunger. and desire and passion for the sport. And I just try to absorb it all and appreciate it from every angle that I can because I think in this world, it's hard to grow alone. So if you're growing with a bunch of other people that are all trying to aim towards the same thing, that's great for me.

What have you made of just the overall evolution of the sport? You saying you have some 18-year-olds just about to turn pro that are giving people to work. Like when you were coming up, that wasn't the case. You're 30, I think what, you're 31 now? Like, that wasn't the case. Now you got, I have an eight year old who's in MMA classes and he's training with other eight year olds who have been doing it for like three or four years now.

It's just such a crazy thing. Like when your career is over and this next crop of fighters coming up, like these are fighters that, you know, instead of playing tee ball in youth basketball, they're like fighting. They're getting ready for like a potential fighting career. That just shows the evolution of the sport, doesn't it? Yeah, it's going to, it's going to be crazy. As much as you see like these super. refined boxers who are only 16 years old and stuff like that.

MMA fighters are right around the corner for having these like high level elite like young monsters. It's going to be crazy, man. And it's going to be more ridiculous because they're young kids. So they're all going to want to try the spinning shit. And it's just going to be more and more. Oh, man. It's going to be rough.

Is Ricky going to try to have like a brotherly competition with you to try to outdo what you just did to Louis Smolka when he fights Haffiela Sunsoe next week? I hope so because I'm trying to do it to this. next thing he's doing. That's just what we do, man. We got this good rivalry. I think when we're training together, I think we bring out the best in each other as well because we have this cousins, but we have this like sibling rivalry going on in there. And we can't let the other person get the other get a leg up. So it's going to work the same way in the cage. I feel like he's coming out of his shell too, like in a different way. You know what I mean? Like I feel like the fighting

skill has always been there. He's been a guy that he's come in. Like I remember him, I think he only fought for Titan FC once, but I remember interviewing him right before that and just he, not that he was a bad interview, but he was just kind of laid back. I don't know, like, he just, he couldn't let the, the dog off the leash, if you will. But now you talk to him, and I feel like you're talking to a totally different guy. Have you noticed that with him too? Absolutely. So, um, we're both, we were, we grew up a little, like, reclusive. Like, we like to have our little thing and like, we're kind of shy in the, in, around a bunch of people we don't know or whatever. And yeah, definitely seen in his interviews, you're getting a taste of like the real

Ricky. And it's awesome, really, because he's a great guy, man. He's a, he's funny. He's hilarious. He's got good energy. He's awesome. I'm really hoping he pulls, pulls something real big out with a Suns out. And I think he will. Ricky's a, he's something special. What kind of goals do you have set for 2022? This is a massive year. You hit some big ones. Do you have like, are you able to share what those goals are for this upcoming year? So for now, just because I'm ending the year, like, I'm scathed and I'm not having to nurse an injury for the first half of the year. My timeline is at least three fights. So three fights, the three wins is that's all I have set so far.

I get a little more nitty gritty once I get to the end of the year because I like to have the big goal, how some smaller goals and then how I'm going to get to those small ones and then they all kind of build off each other. So for now, just three fights, three wins. That's all I've really got established. And then I'm going to try to get nitty gritty with it. Vince, I know you get you don't have a lot, a lot of time left. I try to be a pro when someone says you got to be out by 220 Eastern. We get you out by 220 Eastern. So I appreciate the time. Congratulations on the win. I thought you kind of got the big old shaft job, not getting a bonus. But hey, that just makes you hungry to get a bonus the next time. So hopefully we see you on that.

March 18th or 19th card in London, and hopefully we see you against Nathaniel Wood, because after that performance, I think you deserve something just like that, a big fight. So I appreciate the time very much. Thank you for giving us some insight and congratulations on everything that's happened to you this year. That's awesome, man. I appreciate the questions and the opportunity to really get to talk deep about some of this stuff. And it's been great talking to you. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.