MMA Fighting - We Got Next | Brianna Van Buren, Chris Curtis & Kenny Cross

Episode Date: December 2, 2021

Where has Brianna Van Buren been over the last year-plus? She's been getting married and becoming a mother. Van Buren, now known as Brianna Fortino, discusses (3:45) what she learned from her most recent loss to Tecia Torres, how life has changed as a wife and mother, planning to return in the first half of 2022, her reaction to moving up the rankings despite being out of action, and what matchups stick out for her return to the octagon. Kenny Cross (27:22) previews his main event bout against Jose Martinez in the main event of XFC YoungGuns 4 on Dec. 10, why he's been out for so long since his win in November 2020, what the long layoff has taught him, changing gyms to work with the likes of Joaquin Buckley and Khaos Williams, what 2022 looks like for him, and being an official free agent after this upcoming bout. Finally, Chris Curtis (48:43) talks his short notice sophomore UFC fight against Brendan Allen at UFC Vegas 44 this Saturday, when he found out about the fight, how he feels this is a tougher matchup on paper than the Phil Hawes fight, Sean Strickland's reaction to the booking, when — or if — he'll return to welterweight after this fight, and more. 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. Everybody, welcome to a brand new edition of We Got Next year on the M.A. Fighting Podcasting Network. I am Mike Heck. Thank you for having us on. As you can hear, the audio, not tremendous. My voice, not tremendous. And the reason for that is, I am just sick as the dog.

I have no idea where it came from. But over the last couple of days, it has just been nasty. and I woke up on Wednesday morning and just was done. Absolutely done. No voice. Couldn't move. I don't know what it is. But I got some nasty cold, that's for sure.

And it put me on my tukas. So no formal, all-out intro or even an outro this week. I'm just going to run down the lineup, let the fighters do all the talking. Luckily, I spoke to these fighters ahead of time. So my voice was okay. I will be just resting, still working, and hopefully I'll be ready to go for the first semi-final matchup

of the BTL championship tournaments, which will air on Thursday, 3 p.m. Eastern live on the MMA fighting YouTube channel. So I'm going to rest up and make sure my voice is ready for that. But let's go ahead, run down the lineup, let you know what is going on on the program this week. We're going to wrap things up with Chris Curtis, who's got a big fight coming.

up this Saturday. He's back. Took him such a long time to get to the UFC. Got a big win over Phil Haas at UFC 268 and he's right back in it, right back in the 185 pound division this Saturday taking on Brendan Allen at UFC Vegas 44. So we'll talk to the action man, Chris Curtis, about everything that has happened over the last few months and why he likes this matchup better in some ways, but feels it's a tougher matchup in other ways than the Phil's Phil Haas matchup. He'll explain that. It seems kind of confusing coming out of my mouth, but he explains it very well. Before that, we'll talk to Kenny Cross. You might remember him from competing on Dana White's contender series. He was a guy that a lot of people are very excited

about when he was put on the lineup. One of the decision, did not get a contract, signed with XFC, got a big finish, and he's been out for a year. year and he's back on December 10th, XFC's next event. Why has he been out so long? Whatever is his plans for 2022. And for those who have listened and watched Kenny Cross interviews in the past, this is a much different guy, much different guy. So the injury, the time off has definitely helped him up a lot. So you'll hear from Kenneth Cross coming up in a little while. But first, we're going to check it with some of the people just continuously ask me about. Brianna Van Buren, actually, you can now call her

Brianna Fortino a little foreshadowing. She's no longer Brianna Van Buren. And when Bruce Buffer announces her name next, he will not say Breonna Van Buren. He will say Brianna 14o. More on that. And Brianna's plans on returning to the Octagon.

When is it happening? Is it going to happen? We'll find out right now kicking off. We got next on M.AFighting.com. I will get my voice better. A lot going on for the month of December here on the website. And thank you for listening. Enjoy the interviews.

We'll see you next week, everybody. All right. So as some of you know, we have a matchmaking show on our website called On to the Next One. And one of the names that continuously comes up when talking about some of these women's divisions and one of the fighters that people are continuously asked me about is this woman right here. Brianna Van Buren currently ranked number 14th in the UFC show.

strawweight division. She hasn't competed since June of last year. So we're approaching a year and a half out of action. So I wanted to bring Brianna the Bull on the show and find out what has been going on with her since all of you keep bugging me about it. So Brianna, thank you for doing this. Thank you for answering the questions. How are you? I'm doing good. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to, you know, ask me some questions. That's always awesome. But I'm doing good. How are you? I'm doing fantastic. It is Thanksgiving Eve as a record. But But like I just referenced, last time we saw you compete, June of 2020, you fought Tisha Torres, lost unanimous decision, just your second UFC fight.

And you got matched up with someone like Tisha Torres, but haven't been able to compete since because there's been a lot going on in your life. So for those who don't know, fill everybody in. Why haven't we seen you inside the octagon in almost 18 months? Yeah, it's been a while. I got married. I had a baby. And I took some time to basically just kind of focus on my health. And, you know, my husband and I, we had bought our second home through the whole fight camp with T.

Chita Torres and I. So a lot of great things that have been happening outside of the Octagon since my last fight. But pretty much I got to catch up with, you know, everything. that has been going on, I feel like, in my personal life and just, you know, getting back to just who I am and, you know, doing what I do. So. So how long after the fight did you get married? How long after that? I got married October 10th of last year. So 10, 10, 10, 20 was the date that we got married. But I was scheduled to get married. We had postponed this marriage for, it felt like for years. I want to say there was just one thing after another that was coming up that we were like,

okay, we'll postpone the wedding. And then, you know, it's just crazy how everything kind of happened with the whole COVID situation. We had to move our wedding date. Our venue got canceled. And then California, they're a little bit more stricter out here than any other state with the whole COVID thing where it's like, you know, they canceled everything. and we were literally shut down for what it felt like forever. And so that was a little bit.

It sucked for us. And I'm sure it kind of happened all over the world, but it just for some reason it felt like here in California, they were a little bit more stricter. And so our wedding just kept getting moved back due to COVID. And so finally we were like, you know what? Let's just go get married in our family friend's backyard and just, you know, move forward. and, you know, and go from there.

So we had a super small, intimate wedding. And then I got pregnant and then had my baby in April of this year, April 10th of 2021. And here I am now. Wow. I mean, it's unbelievable. Everything just kind of happened. Like you have this fight and then you're trying to get married and then COVID happens. and it keeps getting pushed back.

So you have to just, it finally just got to the point where you're just like, we're just going to do this thing. Like, I know we want everybody there, but we just can't do it. And enough waiting. We're just done with this whole thing. Right. And that's exactly how it was, right? Because we were like, okay.

So and I kept moving our wedding date back where I'm surprised my husband, fiance at the time wasn't like, dude, what the heck? You know, because like there were fights. I was getting fights, opportunities. and I was like, oh, okay, I'm just going to move my wedding date back. And then it was like, oh, I got another fight opportunity. Okay, I'm just going to move my wedding date back. And, you know, and he was just so like, okay, like, just do what you got to do.

And then so it was kind of like, it's kind of cool how everything kind of happened for a reason, you know, in a sense. Because I feel like even though I lost that fight to Tisha Torres, like, you know, the way I'm knowing just how my competitive mindset is, I'm sure I would have been like, oh, let's fight in December or let's fight and, you know, but instead it was like, okay, let's take time to actually like, let's, let's kind of like, you know, let's take time to focus on your personal life and let's kind of just take it easy for a second and, you know, and reevaluate some things and with this whole COVID thing, like just take a deep breath in a sense, you know, so yeah. Do you think if you had gone out there and just blasted Tisha Torres, ran through,

her. Do you think we'd be having this conversation right now? Or do you think things would have played out differently? I think things would have for sure played out differently. I don't know, though, you know, I don't, I think, like I said, there's a reason for every, you know, there's a reason why everything happened the way it did. And that loss, I think it humbled me. It put me in a position where it was like, okay, you need to basically, you know, grow I learned a lot from that I think like I I grew a lot from that in a mature mindset and just you know competitively and then even outside of fighting like I just feel like I I learned a lot about myself just as a woman and so I don't think things wouldn't have been the same I think if anything

who knows I probably would have taken another fight but things could have I don't know I don't know I I really don't know, but I think, you know, looking back and seeing how everything played out, I don't think it would have happened the way it did. That seems like it played out the way that it was supposed to in a circular world, being with the world is. So, so you have a son. So seven, he's seven months old now, uh, an April baby, which I have as well. Mine's going to be nine this coming April. So.

Woo. I just realized he's huge. He's like a little person. That's crazy. How has motherhood been? Like, you know, we'll talk about what it means for you in your everyday life and your goal set, mindset and so forth and so on. But just overall, like how has motherhood been for you so far. It's been good.

Everything has been great. The little guy keeps me on my toes. He is definitely a tank. Like he is a good baby. And I feel like, you know, a lot of people say, you know, oh, I got a, he, you know, you got a good baby and this and that. Oh, let's see what happened here. go. Oh, there we go. Um, you know, a lot of people say, oh, I got a good baby and he's this and that. But I can genuinely say, like, uh, the little guy, uh, before we had him, we were kind of preparing for, you know,

um, a lot of like my family members and stuff to kind of step up and help me, especially, um, with, you know, me still wanting to chase after that UFC belt. It was like, um, you know, I had a bunch of my family members who are and were at the time willing to basically like, okay, give me a schedule, we'll help, we'll do this. And, you know, I take the, I take him with me everywhere. Like he, I, he goes to the gym with me. I'm, you know, one of the fortunate few that basically grew up in a, you know, family own gyms. So, um, I'm able to take him with me to the gym and, um, you know, my family, my grandmother runs the front desk at the gym. So, you know, I'm able to work out. And, you know, if he's kind of, you know, crying or being a little fussy, she's able to basically just, you know,

pick him up and suit him and help him and be there. And, you know, my mother-in-law lives right across the street from me. So, you know, it's one of those things where I, I'm pretty, I'm pretty lucky, you know, in this sense. And so motherhood has been, basically, I'm on cruise control, I guess I can say it's been a breeze. And I'm knock on wood, but I, hope, you know, it continues to to be that way and, you know, with the support and stuff that I have. I think I think I'm, I'm liking where I'm going. You go. Sleaving through the night and everything for the most part?

Yeah, sleeping through the night for the most part. Like I said, I'm thankful that, you know, he wasn't a colic baby, you know, and some, some parents have to deal with, you know, manage with, you know, them having babies who have call it and you know who are fussy or who just cry for basically no reason and thankfully um you know the last seven months have been a breeze he's been sleeping through the night um he he there are times don't get me wrong he's teething right now and um you know he's fussy but but i'm excited for the challenge um you know uh don't get me wrong there are times where i'm like okay i can use a break or you know but but it's so fun being a mom has been so so fun and you know i'm just thankful that He's making it easy for me.

What are you looking forward to the most being a mom? Like he's got to be bigger. He's going to be having conversations with you. You guys are going to be able to go out and do stuff and he'll remember it. What are you looking forward to the most for the future? I know you're enjoying every second now, but when he grows up and you guys can do all that stuff. I'm looking forward to, I think, where they get at that age where they start talking and their

little personalities start to develop. You're not saying his personality isn't developing yet, but like they just kind of form into like their their own persona in a sense like you know like i'm going to do this and you know and when you talk to them and they talk back and you know and um i'm looking forward to that and i think i think people call it like the terrible twos so i'm just looking forward to it like i i'm also looking forward to the fact that you said you have a nine a nine year old boy right almost yeah yeah so i'm even looking forward to that i'm looking forward to you know the growth and and just, you know, him playing sports and just, I'm looking forward to it all. I'm excited.

So what if he wants to be a fighter? Are you going to be cool with that? I'm going to be fine with whatever he wants, but I don't know. Dad is a really high level elite baseball players. So I would have to try to get my hands on him and make sure he gets a pair of wrestling shoes before he gets to that baseball. So I think that stuff's good for everybody. anyways my son just started m m and he loves it like he's he's dealing with the wrestling he's getting into the trenches uh i know some kids in this class we're preparing for jiu-jitsu tournaments they're all like helping each other prepare is just crazy that to see him dig deep like that yeah i i'm excited and that's what i'm so excited about like i just can't i can't wait for you know whatever he decides

to do um you know i will support it um but um you know obviously obviously it would scare me a little bit if he decide to do, uh, you know, mixed martial arts and, and decided to compete for a living. But, um, if that's what he wants to do, then I would 100% support it. Well said, uh, in terms of mixed martial arts, of course, the question I keep getting is, when's Brianna Van Buren coming back? When are we going to see your fight again? So have we even thought about that at this point? I know you got a a lot going on, but are we thinking about getting back in there? Oh, yeah. Um, we, we, have been thinking about it for a while and you know with uh even throughout pregnancy it was like

i was one of those um people that didn't i didn't really enjoy well i wouldn't say i didn't enjoy it but i didn't like being pregnant um and i think it was just you know the fact that you know as an as an athlete and you know training and working out every day and then you know transitioning to uh not being able to do the things that you can do while pregnant even though you know you know know, as selfish as that sounds, even though like I'm growing this human being inside me, it was just, you know, I was, I'm one of the few that I didn't really enjoy pregnancy. And I was always kind of like, oh, I can't wait to fight. I can't wait to train.

And, you know, and so once Jackson arrived, it was kind of one of those things. Once I got approved for my doctor to start training and working out, I'm, I'm in a position where I feel like, thankfully, my body is healed. up and I'm hoping to get back in there maybe either around Jackson's birthday, which is in April or maybe in May as well. So I don't want to also rush, but at the same time, you know, I also don't want to sit out and just kind of, you know, wait for opportunities that kind of pass me by, especially because I'm, I'm an impatient person and I, you know, I really want to fight and I really do believe that, you know, one day I am going to be the U.S.

Strawweight champion, so I can't be out for too long. Have you been getting, like, a lot of FOMO watching these events? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I can only imagine how my uncle also, my head coach, Anthony Figueroa, has felt like over the last, you know, year of me constantly texting him every time, like, for an example, when the girls fought, it was really, Rose Nam Yunus and Whaley, they just fought. And after that fight, I literally jumped on the treadmill and was like, I'm, you know,

I'm going for a five mile run just because, you know, I'm just so determined and so motivated. And I think having a kid has, you know, has kind of relit that fire underneath my butt to just kind of just go for it and just do it. And not saying that I wasn't doing it then, but I feel like now I'm living for like a different purpose in my life. So yeah, I there's a I grew up in the Boston area and there's a journalist who once said when when he was becoming a dad and it stuck with me ever since I was a little kid that when you become a parent you realize why you were meant to be here like you know why you're here what you're put on this earth to do even if it's at times you've been doing the same thing for like

10 12 years but when the kids born like it could be a totally different thing when it's all. there. So have you felt that too? Like did you immediately feel like this, this rush, this motivation, not just for being a mom and being a wife and everything that that comes with that, but just as an athlete and the competitor, did you see like this, I'm a fighter? This just signified it for me. Well, yeah, honestly, it really is weird how that works, but it definitely is true. because I feel like not saying, like I said, not saying before I didn't have a purpose, but I did have a purpose, but it was a different meaning. And like now ever since I had my son, like I don't know what it is.

It's like a light switch or something just kind of clicks and you're just, it's a different purpose. You're fighting for like a different, like I don't want to waste my family's time. I don't, not saying that I was wasting time in the gym, but it's just you just, you want to go in there and you're just, I'm just willing to just pretty much. leave everything out on the table and just knowing, I don't know, it's really hard to explain it, to be honest with you, but I can definitely tell you that me coming back, and I know me and my next fight, it's going to be a really good one because I feel like I'm coming in with a little bit of like a different purpose. It's almost like a mature brie in a sense, right, as opposed of like what everybody kind of seen then I feel like was just me kind of growing but and I had to

hit like some growing pains in a sense you know um by you know getting a loss against tisha Torres and then having a baby and you know having my family and now I'm like I it's just different it's it's like and I feel like I can only say so much but I think within my next fight I think it'll it'll show a little bit like people will kind of realize like ah okay like she's fighting for a different purpose. Even with with training, like I feel like I'm just a little bit more mean in a sense. I mean, we've seen fighters who took some time off to become parents. They've come back better.

I mean, look at McKenzie Dern the run she's been on at 115. Like she was having problems just making the weight. And now she's like in the best shape of her career. Yeah. And I think that has a lot to do with in a sense. I don't want to say this is how she feels or what, but I think it has a lot to do with she's not trying to waste anybody's time. It's almost like she's fighting for a different purpose. She's fighting for her family, her daughter, her husband, you know, and she doesn't want to waste her coach's time.

And I totally get that. I can see it. And, you know, and I feel like I'm in a similar mindset as well. Have you been paying attention to the UFC rankings? you're moving up spots and you haven't fought in almost 18 months. It's crazy. You bumped up another spot like the last time the rankings came out, which is crazy. I think I was 15 and then it was I think last week or the week before I don't remember. It was like, oh, you're 14 and, you know, and that like all of that. I love it because I feel like it's making me even more motivated.

Like it's like, you know, it's kind of like the boss man is like basically trying to tell me like, what's up? You know, you're coming back. what's going on, you know. And so I love it. And, you know, and I'm, I'm feeding off of it. With this, this new motivation, this newfound push that you're taking to getting back, you're thinking sometime in the spring, perhaps, is there anybody that sticks out to you? I mean, you just fought Tisha Torres. That's a, that's a great step in terms of development for your career. Tisha's been on a role since. But is there anybody that kind of sticks out to you right now? I mean, you're ranked number 14 in the world. So that bullseye is going to be.

your back with some of these fighters outside of the top 15, but you could put the bullseye on somebody else's bag, not even in a disrespectful way, but is there somebody that kind of sticks out that makes sense to you right now? You know, a lot of these guys, a lot of these straw weights, I feel like that are coming up. You have Lawana. I think that's her name, but I state her name right. She just fought. I like that loopy girl, too. You know, and I mean this in the most respectful way as possible. But, you know, those fights make sense to me. I like the idea of, I don't know, I think Rhonda Marcos just got cut, right? He did, yeah. Well, she didn't get cut, but she fought out her deal and they parted ways after. Okay. And then, I don't know, is Ashley Yoder still

around? I got offered that fight, but then I don't, I accepted and I don't know what happened on her end. But, you know, those fights make sense to me. But, you know, like I said, a lot of these girls, they're all tough, you know. And I think the straw weight is, you know, the most competitive women's division right now. And so I just know that I'm going to be ready for whoever they give me. But I like the idea. I like the Loana. I like the loopy girl.

I like the Ashley Yoder. I like these girls who are kind of on a streak in a sense. but I'm somebody that, you know, I like to be challenged. As you can tell, like I, and what I mean by that is, you know, I asked for a top 10, and so they gave me a top 10. When I fought after I fought Libya, I said, you know, I want a top 10. And they gave me, you know, Tisha Torres. And so, you know, and I can definitely say I was humbled by that loss.

But at the same time, like, you know, I want those fights. I want those good fights. and, you know, and I think these upcoming girls that are on a role that are taking two, three fights and, you know, in a row and just, you know, getting all these wins, I like to challenge myself against those girls. So, but either way, it doesn't matter. They're all going to, you know, if they're all in the way, they're all in my way to chase that belt. And so they're all, we're all going to, I'm going to eventually have to fight them and they're going to eventually have to go through me. So they can all get it someday.

Nice. I'm excited, Brianna. This is great news. Married, mother, fighter, coming back in the springtime. Everything's coming up, Brianna the Bull right now. This is exciting stuff. There's a lot of exciting stuff. And then I just got offered to assist with D.C. as well for coaching the Gilroy High Wrestling team. So I'll be showing my face in there as well with the girls. And so there's a lot of good. great things that are happening. And, and I'm trying to just kind of just keep that, what do you call it? What is, what's the word? I don't, I can't find the word right now, but I'm just pretty much just staying focused and the balance. Yeah, trying to keep the balance, exactly, trying to keep the balance, trying to be a wife, trying to be, you know, a professional athlete, a mother, and, you know, and be there for others. And, you know, and so, yeah. There you go. Well, congratulations on everything that is.

happens since the last time we saw you compete. We're excited for Brianna Van Buren 2.0, so to speak. Are we sticking with Brianna Van Buren as a fighter name or we're changing it up? You know what? They actually, you see just emailed me. So I believe, I mean, ideally in the perfect world, I would like to keep obviously my fighting name, which I believe I could still do. So, Brianna the Bull. But it'll now be, my last name will now be Brianna 14. So I legally changed my last name. So going in will be Brianna the Bull 14o.

Okay. So when Bruce Buffer announces you, it's going to be Brianna 14o. Yes. Yes. It'll no longer be Bam Buren. Okay. So when this article gets written up, Brianna Fortino plans to return in the spring. That's right. You'll be the first one. Check you out. That's awesome. That's amazing. Well, Brianna, congratulations on everything. And we look forward to seeing you back in there in the springtime. Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy holidays to you and the family. Thank you. Happy holidays to you and your family as well. I look forward to many conversations with you in the upcoming near future. And yeah, keep an eye out. I can't wait. All right. Happy joined once again by Kenny Cross.

He is back in action December 10th at XFC Young Guns 4. He'll be in the main event taking on Jose Martinez. It has been a minute since we've seen Mr. Kenneth Cross compete inside the cage. We'll find out more about that in a matter of moments. But Kenny, good to see you, man. How are you? Hey, man. I'm really good, actually.

Thank you for having me on. Absolutely. So might as well knock this out. Why haven't we not seen you since November of 2020? He had a big win at XFC 43. He finished a very tough guy. And Jeryl asked you in the second round. But for a very active guy, it's been 13 months.

months or so since we've seen you compete, which is not like you. So why you've been out for so long? That's a long time when I hear the number come out of your mouth. You know, life throws curveballs. And unfortunately, I blew my Achilles due to a bunch of training, snowboarding, doing backflips, daily life routine stuff. I used to do. I'm not doing all that anymore. But I tore my Achilles, man, and we had to go. and we had to get it right. So I took the time off that I felt was appropriate. You know, we did some research, looked at some deadlines, and tried to beat the odds

in every way, shape, and form. You know, my coach, Chris Down and I repattered my Achilles from the ground up. And we just beat on that thing every day till it felt strong until it felt really strong and then until it felt great. So here we are now, you know, like you said, 13 months later,

momentum's still rolling and I'm in control of everything. So I just can't wait to get back out there and show the people what I've been working on, honestly, for behind the scenes for the last year. So you tore your Achilles and you're already back in like just over a year? That's crazy, man. No surgery. What? Yeah. I've never heard of anybody that tore their Achilles and didn't get surgery.

but my boy Chris is just a superstar. He's just one of the smartest guys out there. And he's seen it happen with the spine. He's seen people blow their spine out or something like Mike Tyson spinal. But he's like, since I've seen that, I know I'm pretty sure the Achilles can do it too. So we just went with what we, you know, the Achilles is, you know, it spreads out. And then it comes back together and we just repatterned it the right way. And it feels really good.

So how long from when you found out that you tore your Achilles, were you back like being active? Like I'm sure you were active the entire time. You found something to do knowing who you are and, you know, your story and everything. But how long before you were like back almost 100% trading? Because it sounds to me like it was not that long. No, I probably been, uh, MMA training, like to do in my two days for about eight weeks now. But for I took 10 weeks off. once it snapped, once I heard that pop, I took 10 weeks off. And I was in the gym four times a week from there on, you know, just doing rehab and trying to get any kind of strength and conditioning. We could do upper body.

When you guys see me December 10th, you'll see my physique is extraordinary. It's better than it's ever been. You know, I'm sitting at 167 pounds right now, just chilling. So, like, everything's come full circle. Yeah. That's wild, man. Can you divulge how you tore it? Um, just exploding. Like I, on, let's say on Monday, I was throwing some kicks. And when I would get up on the ball of my foot, I'd start to feel like some sharp pain. And then so I, I just boxed that day. Three days later, it felt great. And I was right back to hard sparring. And after that, I went snowboarding. And after that, like, so like Friday, we sparred Saturday, Sunday, I went snowboarding. After that, I think it was later. Sunday we did a dodge ball tournament, went five and oh, I did a backflip over a dodge ball, got the last, got the last person out, you know, I was on cloud nine. And then we were doing the

American Ninja Warrior Challenge where there's, there's blocks about 10 feet, 12 feet, 14 feet, 16 feet, 18 feet off the ground. And you got to run up a wall and you got to grab onto it. And boy, I will float. I'll fly out to the ceiling. I'll flow off one push off the wall. But it was my second time after all that wear and tear. As I went to plant and shoot up, my Achilles actually just snapped. And I went full fledge into the mats face first. So it was just a bunch of wear and tear. I hear if it's going to happen.

It's going to happen. So honestly, like, there's not a good time to hurt yourself, but there probably wasn't a better time for me. I have the momentum, you know, I have, luckily, my mom. mindset and I'm young. I have youth on my side. So it's just a learning, a lot of learning process, you know. Yeah, I was going to say never, like you said, never a good time to tear your Achilles, but at the same time, like, there could have been many worse times for this to happen to you, right? I mean, you're coming off the win, you're coming off a bunch of wins, contender series. You're with this

upstart, like, replenish promotion that's doing big things, especially in Michigan right now, where you're from gives you some time to heal. This might be the health issue, probably headed into a fight in a long time. Is that accurate? Yeah, you never fully healthy. Like people say I, for a while, I was like, I don't know, I feel pretty healthy.

But as you, as you're in this sport longer and longer, you realize like you're going in there with, you know, a damaged neck or your back sore, you're going in there with a broken toe, you know. So I'm all around healthy right now and more explosive, my cardio and everything's through the roof. We took a lot of time out just to work on breathing exercises because I'd always be in shape, but somehow I'd tire out.

So understanding how to hold my breath, when to, you know, make it a jog the whole time. And so we've worked on so many different things behind the scenes. Like I said, if it's a time to get hurt after all those big Ws, you know, the time was now. Of course, I couldn't make it through the tournament. But it's not like I was prepping for the biggest fight of my life and it happened, you know, two weeks out or something and I had a pull from a car. So what has this whole process been like for you, slowing down a bit and being more cerebral with training and getting ready for a fight? This is something completely different for you.

Do you feel just like more calm? You seem a lot more calm. I feel definitely I feel more seasoned as a fighter because I know like real fighters have to go through these kind of things like Cody Stamen. He blew his knee out or whatever and he had to go through a bunch of different, you know, injuries. And he was one of the first people to tell me, like, you're a fighter, you know, this happens, you know, get used to it. And yeah, it just, I've seen a lot of my friends, a lot of people get injured, and I've never been in their shoes.

So it's nice to be able to be there for once and handle it the way I've handled it and just be better from it, you know, just try to be positive and work my way out of there. If you want to be the best in the world, you're going to have a lot of hups. and it's not about the obstacles, about how you handle it. And I think that I'm doing it very maturely right now. And I think I'm going to be a really, really dangerous fighter in there, December 10th. Are you, would you say you're like antsy to get back in there? Or are you more just sort of appreciative? Like you're not taking your career for granted or anything like that. Not that you did that in the first place, but just at this point, you've been out for so long. Like,

this is unlike you and you haven't really experienced this before. So how would you describe sort of the, I mean, you're less than two weeks away from getting back in there, like the emotions right now, getting ready to get back in there. Is it feel different? It feels, uh, everything feels the same right now. It feels like I'm, I'm going out there, you know, the next fight's always the biggest fight. And I got a, I got a game opponent and Jose Martinez, you know, 12 and five. He's fought on the LFA card. And, you know, I got a big, I got a, I got a, I got a, I got a, I got a, I got a in front of me. I get to take someone out. I get to beat somebody up in front of my home crowd. Feels, feels like, you know, the past eight years. So nothing really has changed.

I am antsy to get in there, mainly because I'm tired of dieting so much. I'm ready to beat this dude's ass and then go have some fun at the restaurants and all that good stuff. But no, man, it's just, like you said, I'm slowed down more cerebral, like we're fighting out of more than, you know, just a Southpaw stance is a big thing we're doing over at my new camp at Mersealago in Lansing. So I'm just taking everything step by step. I believe that I'm finally two weeks out. And, you know, last week I wasn't that happy dieting. And I think this week going forward, I'm going to be a lot more happy every day I wake up

because I know that it's only, you know, next week is fight week and all the hard work's done. So, you know, I'm excited. What led to the, to the changing camp to Mercy Lago? It's a great camp, obviously. You know, when it comes down to it, it was bodies. I think Mercy Lago has so many talented guys around my size, bigger than me. And the way that they're fighting is in my face. Like, no apologies.

You know, it's not, hey, how'd I do? They're punching me in the face. And if my hands aren't up, there's no, like, hey, man, I thought we were taking it light. like we're fucking fighting over there and I really like that you know I've always said like I heard it a long time ago but if you want to be a better dancer you need to go practice dancing so if I want to be a better fighter I go get into some fights it's nice to have some fights behind the scene because when you're an m-ma fighter you only have so many selected fights that you get to actually you know perform in front of an audience that you honestly I don't I'm 12 and three I've had 15 fights when I wrestled, I'd have 50 fucking wrestling matches every year. So 15 fights, that's not even my freshman year of wrestling. You got to get those rounds in. So having real life looks in the background and getting black eyes and all that stuff,

it's really good for me. Yeah, I mean, working with guys like Joaquin Buckley, Chaos Williams, you know, is there from time to time? I'm sure you're getting definitely what you sought after with those guys, right? Especially chaos. That dude doesn't mess around at all. I was just moving around with chaos before his last fight. And he's, you know, he's cut in weight his last couple of days before he had to cut

weight. He is so long. He's so strong. Like, we had four ounce gloves on him. Boy, like that dude just breathes on you. And you can feel the power in his hands. So, yeah, just the energy of having these kind of these athletes in the room and what they do and how they motivate the rest of us.

And, you know, we stay on the same kind of train and keeps steaming full. Full speed ahead. It makes life easy. So how do we get back into this thing after this long layoff? How do we remind everybody who the hell you really are, my man? 13 months away, back in there headlining a show, front of your home crowd. How do we get this thing done? You know, the performance is really going to speak for itself. I think I really, I love my actions talk a lot more than in my mouth.

And December 10th, you know, I was just watching some. film last night. I don't see this guy touching me on the feet. I don't see him taking me down. I know it's going to get, it's going to become a bloody fight because this guy can take a punch, but he has been knocked out since his debut, his pro debut. And let's see if he can keep that chin hidden for 15 minutes because, you know, I'm seeking that face and I'm going to take his head off. I'm a predicting round two, K.O. I know we're not looking past next Friday night, December 10th. this big card, big fight against Jose Martinez, but I'm sure you're thinking about 2022. You're thinking about how to sort of make up for lost time, so to speak.

What are the goals for 2022? I'm sure activity is one thing, just getting back to the normal Kenny Cross flow, but just sort of big picture stuff. What are you looking at? Like if we're having this conversation, this time next year, what are we talking about? This time next year, we're talking about, it's hard to say because in this sport, changed so fast depending on how much you know XFC shows me that they love me after I take this dude's head off we could be talking about you know continuing on and looking for that horrible fight after he wins over at Robinson for the XFC lightweight tournament or we could be talking about you know potentially

my second fight in the USC you know we could be talking about a top 15 guys if I get in the USC and I fight and I knock one dude out You know, that right there with being exciting to shoot you right up to the top contenders. Also, I could be talking about winning this fight and settling down a little bit with my girlfriend and going and get in the house and doing like normal activities for a little bit, you know, and jumping back in there as well. You know, I like to say active. But like I said, I'm in no rush anymore. I'm going to take the best offers. I'm not going to go and fight the best guys in the world on shitty platforms, you know, just because of money or I'm not going to go to the USC.

and fight some crazy, you know, the fucking best dude around for a big paycheck. So I'm trying to find the, the gray lines in between every right move in this, in this sport. And I think that's what I've been doing so well so far. And that's where I, that's why I am where I am. But, you know, yeah, it's successful, you know,

positive moves, power moves going forward and not losing and only winning and being myself. That's the kind of conversations I think we'll have in a year from now. What is your contract like with XFC? if you don't mind me asking. After I hurt myself, I got discontinued from my contract, which was going to be like a two-year contract if I got second or first in the tournament.

But since I got injured, blessing in disguise, you know, I have a one-flight contract with them. And that's the way I kind of want to keep things going on going forward until, you know, something really stands out. Wow. So timing really is everything. You're going to be a free agent after this fight. You're technically a free agent now. Exactly. I mean, I got, you know, I got my cage side management.

They take 15% off my show money and that's it, you know, and they get me all, they get me all kinds of sponsors and, you know, gloves, anything I need. So it's not like I'm paying out the ass, show money, you know, win money, all that kind of stuff that you might see in other organizations. I really, I feel like I'm a, I'm a free agent, you know, all around the board, just me and my boy, Liam. It's wild. I mean, the last time you and I spoke, it was right before your contender series fight. I feel like I'm talking to a completely different person now. Like not, and this is, not that you were like, you're just much more wound up back then. You just, it seems like you just found like this light of positivity and like, and you found positivity in kind of an unfortunate situation.

Timing is everything and you've realized that. And do you feel different than you did like a couple of years ago? Because you seem like way different. like a, you don't seem 27 right now. You seem like a, like a guy my age, like a 38, 39 year old who was just found the, the fountain of youth and discovered the meaning of life, so to speak. Bro, for that last fight, when I fought contender series before we spoke, uh, leading up to the fight, I maybe, I don't know, stopped drinking for like six weeks,

maybe. And then the fight fell through and we went and we celebrated, even though we didn't get the fight. And I went and I fought him after, you know, drinking. for two days or some shit like that. Like I haven't had a taste of alcohol in eight weeks. I used to eat, I used to eat Wendy's and McDonald's before I'd go spa every Friday. Like I'd be in fast food every day. I haven't had fast food in probably eight weeks either. You know, I'm eating clean. I'm really treating my body, you know, like when you have a catastrophic injury that just, you know, you hear a pop and you don't know if it's your knee, your neck, you don't know what happened. You start taking this, this life a little more.

more serious, you know, my job, I'm a fighter. How long can you fight? Probably, you know, till you're 35, 40, how long can you fight if you're not taking care of your body? That's the real question. So I'm 27 with a great record and like, I've never been knocked out. I've never been days.

That was my first injury. I'm so healthy. It's time to treat my body like it's like, like a champion body. And you know, the mindset just came with everything else that I was doing, just one step. in the right path leads to another step. And now I got people all around me that helps keep me going in the right way,

in the right, you know, direction. And then I have these God gifted talents that just back up everything that, you know, the belief that people have in me and the belief I have in myself, the hard work, all that is now there. And the talent's always been there. So you put it all together. And December 10th, you see a great fight. Does I like to, like, discover all of that?

at this point in your career what does that like this i mean it's i don't know it's life i think uh if you're i'm like i'm always looking like the doctor just said i have intropic eyes intropia i just got diagnosed with perfect vision and i'm like babe don't ever yell at me when i'm driving again because i already saw that car i already saw that car we're good but like day to day like I'm always looking for answers. Like, I'm always looking to level up as a human, as a fighter. If you're not looking, then you're not going to find it. And I think I'm just open-minded and I'm trying to learn from my mistakes.

And I just want to be the best in the world. So you just got to continue to do, like, what the best would do, you know? True or false. By the middle of 2022, you're fighting in the UFC. I mean, it's a good, good chance that is true for sure. Like, I could be in there right now. I have, I know I'll bring it up again, Jason House and Oridium's been talking about, why isn't Kenny in the UFC? We could have had him in there three years ago. But like I said, I'm trying to take all the right steps and watch my money and all that good stuff as well.

When I'm ready, you know, I'm not going to need a good manager. They're going to say, oh, we need him. And, you know, we were almost there. We won that contender series fight. Unfortunately, it was boring. you know, 90% of my fights are finishes, so that doesn't happen too often. But when I'm ready, the world will see, and there will be no second questions, no guessing. They will know Kenny's ready. Of course, there are always going to be somebody that says he doesn't have cardio. There's always going to be someone that says he doesn't have a good gym or, you know, he's not experienced enough.

He can't wrestle. There's always going to be that. But deep down, you know, when they're in the cage and they're locked against, on the other side going against me, they're going to know like that I have everything and it's going to be a fight and they're going to be moving backwards. What's the meal of choice after this victory? What are we going to eat? Oh, no. Breakfast, a big breakfast, you know, of course, some mimosas maybe. Like, we've been doing fake mimosas over here with some orange juice and like sparkling, yeah, grape juice, you know, taste good. But I'm ready to get crazy.

after this win. We're going to have some fun. I don't know. I'm going to eat everything. I'm going to be like Patty over here. There you go. There you go. No backflips.

No more backflips. If I know talking about, I can't promise no backflip. Oh, come on, man. You can't do that. You can't do that. This is a new Kenny Cross. This is Kenny Cross 2.0.

Eyes open. You know, the perfect vision. My last fighting in Grand Rap is I did the, I did the Gachy backflip off the cage. I won't do that shit no more. But a standing tuck. Yeah, I got that in the back. All right. Okay. Compromise. I think we're good, Jenny. I appreciate that.

Can I be a little kid here and there? Finding that middle ground. Well, we are looking forward to it. I'm glad you're feeling better. Your story is unbelievable. How you came back so quickly, I'll never know, but I'm not really surprised if we're being honest. So all the best to you getting back in there December 10th. I know you're getting Nancy and looking forward to seeing in the main event of XFC 43 on Fox Sports too, my man. Appreciate the time as always. Thank you so much, bro. Have a good week. Man, this is crazy. You and I haven't talked since after the Darren Smith fight. That was in January of 2020.

Oh, you return to fight night. I was going to try to get you, but you had to go on some other Jamoke show after your debut. I think his name, Ariel Hawani, my colleague. I don't know if you ever heard that guy. Yeah. So I was like, oh, I guess I ain't talking to this guy. But Jesus Christ, man, it's been like almost two years since that interview. Like, this is crazy.

Did you think we'd be talking about what we're talking about two years later? I mean, I always hoped that we would, but I wasn't entirely sure it was going to happen. But hey, we made it. I mean, just everything that you've been through. Like, I don't want to, you've talked at Nazim at this point about getting the short notice fight with Phil, weighing in, how pissed off you were that you weighed in, then the fight was taken away from you. Then you get an MSG feeling like Phil's an evil genius in someone. way. Now you get to do it at MSG, the world's most famous arena. But it's been what, three weeks since that fight, a little over three weeks. And you're doing all these interviews. Like I said,

you're on Ariel's show. You're all over the place, man. And I get another fight coming up, which we'll talk about a minute. Like, how is life changed over the last three weeks, almost a month? Yeah. Just a lot more interviews. And I'm not constantly watching my bank account. But outside of that, nothing. Like, yeah, it's all the same, man. Like, you sleep a little easier knowing I'm not going to starve. But outside of that, it's been exactly, I haven't changed the thing, man. Like, it's exactly the same thing. Like, hell, I fought Phil. I was back in the gym.

I got home Sunday. Worked out little Sunday night. It was back in the gym Monday. So, like, absolutely nothing has changed outside of a, I got to do some interviews. And, yeah, I'm not going to starve to death now. That's a big one. I can't reiterate that enough. How does that feel?

I mean, what was the last time? Like, do you remember a time? where you were like at a point like that where you're somewhat financially independent you didn't have to worry about that and check your account like multiple times a day uh just my first pfl fight i was like oh shit like okay like i'm i'm okay right now which is like pfel was really nice i made a piece of my money in pfl and i got myself out of debt and everything else i spent most of my pfl money actually i spent like getting rid of my debt and everything paying everything down and being fine and i was okay for a while it was really nice and then like you go back

through the drought period. But now, you know, I've got money in the bank. I've got another fight coming up. I got a new contract already. So I'm just like, this is... Life's good, man. I just get to go back to just training and busting my ass. You know, nothing changes in that perspective.

But now I'm not doing it for free. You got a new contract already, one fight, and they already bumped you? Yeah, I should go to this fight. So I got my second contract, this. And then I'm hoping... that I beat Brandon Allen and they'll negotiate a third contract because then I'll be right. That's so crazy, man.

Just like, what was it? Yeah, it was, it's just nuts, man. Like you weigh in. It's almost like it's taken away from you again. You know, it's just like the story of your career. Then you win and now you're on contract two. And after this, you could be on contract three. So thinking back like three months, this is insane, man.

Like, I know you were hoping to fight 10, 12, times this year like a madman, which doesn't surprise me at all. But just seeing where you're at right now, but maybe get yourself into a third freaking contract in like two months time. That's nuts. My manager and I were talking this morning. We're like, man, we were just talking this morning. I woke up.

And we're just like, man, it's weird how this year started, like, versus how it's going now. He's a big about how last year started versus how it's going now. Like, man, when it complete, when a complete 180. I love it, man. I love it. Like, I get to fight. Like, things are going well. And, like, it's so much more fun fighting when you're not worried about, like, oh, man, like, how am I going to pay for things? How are I going to take care of stuff? Like, I can just go fight. Like, it's such a freeing feeling. And, like, I think, honestly, as I make more money, I think that feeling's

going to just be better and better to, like, you know, I think when people fight, the fear of losing is partially because, like, you can't afford to take half a check. But, like, as you start, you know, putting money in the bank, and I live a very simple life anyway. So, we're just like, there's no fear of losing because I worry about losing half a check. So, like, it's fun again. Like, I'm just like, man, I'm excited to go fight this weekend. In the UFC, I know after the event, one of the members of the media had asked Dana

because there were so many bonus options that card. And when your name got brought up, it was like a light bulb triggered in Dana's mind. He's like, oh, I got to take care of this guy too. Did they take care of you, give you a little extra? No, but like, I think those come out like weeks later. Everyone says like it's like two months later or something like that. So fingers crossed. Here's hoping that they get something for me.

So we'll see. But though they're like, yeah, it takes like 10 weeks. I'm like, oh God, okay. Well, whatever. But like here's open. Yeah. Did you get any sort of verbal somewhat anything saying like, do we got you? No, no, no.

No one said anything. but he said it on, Dana White said it on, you said it in an interview. I got it recorded so that they did 10 weeks. Then I'm going to message you. Like, hey, I wouldn't be that to die,

but you got this on video. You got proof. You got intangible proof. You got everything you need right there. So now you get this fight with, oh, by the way, I have to ask you about this

because the last time I interviewed, I actually, like, I watched the first few minutes of it this morning. And it's after the fight night, title defense and I had asked you if because you know we've talked at Nas a lot a lot about this road to the UFC and why you haven't gotten this call and like how it's it's it's almost like it's almost insane that it took you this long to get to the UFC and I'd ask you in that interview in January of 2020 if you regretted some of the things you post on social media some

different things about the retiring not retiring just you posted a lot of things and I said, do you regret posting any of that stuff? And you said, ask me in two years if I regret it. And I'll give you an answer. So we're not quite at the two year anniversary, but we're close. When you think back at this road and some of the things you may have said and reactions that you may have had, the multiple retirements, is this like, I don't think anyone cares. Like, don't think anyone, don't think anyone cares. I just, I just don't, I just don't, I just, I have no, no one has ever mentioned it. No one said anything. I talk to social media people. They're like, yeah, no, you want blacklisted. But yeah, I don't think anyone.

care. I was just one of those people that just existed inside the cracks of everything. I have no idea still. I hope as I get like higher ranked, I can talk to Dana White. Like, can we have a one-on-one? Like, what happened here? Because I would really just like to know my own personal, like, mental records of like, did I do something or, but yeah, I don't think anyone cares. Don't know anyone cares at all. I just kind of fell through the cracks and they were like, whatever, we've got other things to do. Oh, there you go. You made it. So I think it's part of the story, though. I think it makes the story a little more unique and special, does it not? I mean, I guess I still would have liked to be there before for financial reasons and

like pride, like, whatever. It's, it's, it does, you know, it's amazing how many messages I got with people. Like, oh, man, your story's so inspiring. I was like, I wasn't actively trying to be inspiring. I promise. I would have loved it been signed years ago, but it's really cool that, like, people, I've had more than, you know, more than a few people messaged me, like, you know, stuff like this makes me realize.

I can't give up on them. I have, like, people, I don't want to give up on my dreams. I see that, you know, you stuck to it. I was like, holy shit. Like, that's something like, you don't see every day. People are, like, you inspired me to keep chasing my dream. I was like, well, that's pretty cool. It's Curtis, the role model.

How about that? Right. Who would do? I would never. Yeah, man, that's awesome. But, like, get better role models. Oh, man. Well, now you're going to fight Brendan Allen this Saturday.

It's a big one at the apex. When did you find out about this opportunity? Because I know you wanted to get back in as soon as possible after the win over Phil Haas. But when did you find out about this? Because this came up pretty quickly. Was it last week? The day before it was announced, they called and I said yes. And then someone leaked it the next day.

But actually not, the day it was announced, I hadn't even signed my contract yet. Oh, really? Yes, but I agreed to it. I agreed to it. I was like, yeah, let's go. And I don't know how it got leaked before I even signed my contract, but it got leaked. I was like, all right, that's funny. But like, y'all already said yes to it.

Yeah, let's go. So it got leaked. And as I was like, I went home, signed my contract, went back to the gym. So I was like, oh, just about two weeks. Yeah, just about two weeks. All right. So that's, like, considering the run you've been on lately, this is nothing. Two weeks is cake.

We laugh. People were like, oh, why would you fight so short notice? I was like, this is what I've been doing for a long time. It's weird to other people, but to me, we're just like, oh, this is fine. This is absolutely normal. So I don't take time off. I train every day. Not much really changes in my camps from, like, in camp versus out of camp.

Like, you know, we tweak certain things and, like, the amounts that I'm doing in certain stuff. But my camp is very, very similar to my off camp. Like, I train seven days a week. like my schedule stays consistent just because. So I'm always in shape. I'm always ready. I mean, let's go.

What I got to lose? I ask you, who is more excited about this match of? You or Sean Strickland? Because I feel like Sean was like rubbing his hands together. Like, oh, man, I can't wait to help you beat this guy because those two guys, Brennan and Sean. It's funny. It's such a one-away street on that because like, like, Brandon, apparently they're like you're bringing out of interview.

Like, yeah, I'm going to be the most hated guy at extreme. no one in extreme cares about Brandon Allen. Even Sean's like all right, fine, whatever. Like, he's got such a weird hate boner for Sean. And like, Sean doesn't ever mention Brandon Allen just doesn't care. Like, I don't think he crosses his mind.

And Brandon's like, I'll be the most hated guy at extreme. No one cares about you. Like, no. Like, you're like, okay. He's, Sean lives in his head rent free, unfortunately. And like, it's just, I think he really thinks it's more of a rivalry than it actually is. It's cartoon

almost where like he's plotting against Sean and Sean has no concern of Brin Allen. No one does honestly. Like good fighter, cool, but like no one's like oh, we got to get Britten Allen back. We're just like, whatever, man. So weird flex on his point, man. He's got the weirdest thing ever, but like literally no one here

where he's about winning out. The chip on his shoulder, which fighters often try to find heading into these fights. It's kind of just like a pretend one, almost like an invisible chip. if that's and you know what it's probably if that's what it takes to motivate him to whatever you know not gonna knock him to reach his own uh weird i think it's weird whatever man like if that's what it takes that's that's fine but like it's really really really fucking weird honestly but uh i don't know i've been in this too long to like well it's i see it as a crutch and like If that's what you need to motivate you, then like, okay, like your personal hatred for one guy.

It's a really weird, really weird flex, but to each his own, I guess. How do you like the matchup from sort of an X's and O's perspective? I mean, it doesn't really matter. You're taking the fight on two weeks notice. So you know enough about Brennan Allen to say yes anyways, but just I guess from an X's and O's perspective, not that it really matters. How do you like it from a stylistic perspective? I think it, so I think on.

I think it's a harder fight than Phil on paper, but I think the matchup is better for me. I think Phil was a worst matchup stylistically, but overall, I think just like the waste that we thought that would plan out, I think this one would be technically harder because I thought we knew Phil would be hard for a round, and then once that we got that first round, things would be different.

Brendan, and then Phil had the wrestling threat, which was a really, really big concern of ours. I think that I'm a better wrestler than Renna Allen. Honestly, I think my wrestling can stop his wrestling. But I think he's a much, I think he's a better striker than Phil, and he's a better grapple than Phil. So it presents more dangers all around.

I think he's, you know, he's taller, which is a little bit of a problem. But I like the matchup on it. Honestly, like I really do. Just the way he fought Sean, you know, me and Sean fight differently, but we're both very forward pressure people. Brendan's really good coming forward. He's not so much great off his back foot.

He can't fight off his back foot. When he fought Puna Soriano, he fought off his back foot more. And he did really well. But watching that fight, he's definitely more of a point fighter as opposed to trying to stop him. And I think I'm better at cutting a cage off than Puna is. Like, it's just something that, you know, just expertise in certain areas. So I think it's a hard fight, but on paper, I'm like, I think I match up really well against them. I'm really hard to submit. I'm very hard to submit. And I've got a pace that most people can't match, like, over time. So

hard fight, but I think on paper, it's a way better match up than Phil was. Phil was everything I didn't want to deal with. Are you enjoying this, this middleweight lifestyle that you found yourself into these last few fights? It's, it's just funny, man.

We're supposed to go like the 70 and then they want to fight 85. I'm like, well, guess it's the middleweight still. So we're going to go become a ranked middleweight, even though I have no business

being a middleweight. We're going to end up, I'm going to be a branded middleweight. This is how, I find it hilarious. Like I said, I've told him before. For me,

this is just playing with house money. Like I, uh, as long as I keep winning, great. If I lose, honestly, they know I'm a Walter way. The world knows on my Walter way. So if I lose,

I shouldn't be here to begin with. I'm just fucking around. That doesn't really knock me, like, whatever. But as long as I keep winning, like, cool, they'll keep paying me. So if you get house money, you might as well gamble with it. So if you beat Brendan,

do you feel like you're just going to stick at 85 until you lose or just whatever they want from you at this point? we don't know yet because here's the thing once you get inside the top 10 and 85 you start running into the physical freaks and then we're like okay like that's that's when we have to be a little bit more like okay like let's not get our face broken

by like you know the giants of 185 because like then it becomes a matter of physicality and then we've got to be a little bit more careful about what we say yes to but I mean I would like to find the 85 until I lose until you know they was like okay well but even I don't know man because like even then we were talking about maybe saying at 85 and spending some time lifting and just getting stronger you know just be short but be strong like look at gas alone gas alone did well at 85

being smaller than most people and whatnot but we just didn't have a time to start a lifting plan to put on the weight for this one so we'll see how they'll goes we'll see how i feel uh and if we can get some time to kind of like put some weight on so it's all up in the air man like i said i'm just i am just rolling through stuff right now there's there's no rhyme or reason i'm just out here doing stuff you prefer it this way though isn't it better this way i i i have spent a lot of time like game planning in the past and like doing like these months i am at my happiest like you know it's the uh james Krauss method of fighting.

Which is show up. Like, all right. Like, they call you 24. I go two days before the fight. We want to fight. Like, yeah, let's go. Yeah. It's way happier.

Like, I don't have to think about anything. I don't have to like change anything. Like, my camp's always consistent. I just like, call me. Let's go. Like, what's, I fucking love it, man. This is the best way to live. I feel like this is perfect for you.

I feel like you're one of those guys. And you never really had to, you never really lived that lifestyle. But now that you're in it, I feel like it's perfect for you. Like the, the, the Kraus lifestyle. Isn't that, like, it's funny how life works sometimes. It's great. I get why Kraus does it.

Like, you know, like, why? It's like, let's go. If you're in shape, ready to fight, like, I don't need eight weeks to game plan for one person. Like, yeah, because, you know, I think that's who will make mistakes. They spend eight weeks obsessing over what one person is going to do. And when you do that, you stop worrying about what you're going to do. You start, you start worrying about you and worry about them. Anytime you start training to counter somebody else, you start making mistakes.

So two weeks, like, look at some video, like, okay, that's what he likes. Now let's go back to me training. And fuck it, let's go. Like, I love it. Like, this is definitely my preferred way to operate. And coincidentally enough, you almost made your UFC debut. I mean, at least there were some chatter about you making, almost making your UFC debut against James Krause. After Phil pulled out, Krauss not nominates himself.

I'll step in and fight him. What did you think of that? Did it kind of like, was it kind of like a waste of hope? Like seeing these rumors come out that maybe, maybe I will fight. And then it's just not happening. You know, not even that. I just had nothing but respect for Kraus. Like, he knew like, so here's the funny thing.

We have the same management and like my manager is very close to Kraus. And he knows how much this meant to me. So he's just like, yeah, fuck it. Let's go. Like, no, he's just like, you know, fuck it. Like, so nothing but respect for James Kraus at all. I will always be across. I don't know how to die.

And he's like, yeah, fuck, let's go. Let's get paid. Everybody gets paid. Everybody's happy. Let's go. So, like, you know, we didn't think they'd say yes, but nothing but respect for James Crows at this point on. Like, huge, I will forever be a huge fan because, like, dude,

they're going to, fucking everybody wins. That's awesome. That's got to make you feel good. Yeah, that's, like, that's definitely, I will be a Kraus rider to I got from this point on. Absolutely. So how do we get this thing done on Saturday? Are we even in the prediction game at this point?

Do we even talk about these kinds of things? I don't know man I I don't even know there's no you know I'll say third round TKO all right I will say third round TKO

I'm in Vegas I come to born Vegas I love fighting here I train here I'm in shape I got a third round TKA I'm not going to get finished I'm not going to let myself get finished and I think I've ever been beating in a round ever.

Never been beating in two rounds ever. I had been once. Damn Hawaiians. But, you know, I think that I can drag this deep and make it ugly. And, you know, say third round, TKO. Is it going to be weird going from MSG to the apex, or do you almost kind of like it this way? Honestly, MSG was cool, but I don't care where I fight. I just like fighting.

Like, for, it's messed up. because after the walk down MSG, I could not have told you a single thing about MSG because I just took, like, I don't see the crowd, I don't hear the crowd until after the fight. I'm just, I'm in there.

Like, it's, I don't, it's weird. I don't hear a thing in the fight at all. I don't hear a single person outside that case. We are looking forward to this, Chris.

This is incredible, going back and seeing that interview from 22 months ago and seeing you where you're at now, just signed a new deal after one fight, after what, less than five minutes of Octagon time. You're already on contract. Big fight with Brennan Allen coming up on Saturday.

Unreal. All the best of you, man. Let's just keep rolling. Yes, congratulations. I'm loving it. So let's just keep it rolling. And let's try to do some weird shit next year. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.