MMA Fighting - We Got Next | Joe Lauzon, Cheick Kongo, Tresean Gore & Sullivan Cauley

Episode Date: February 3, 2022

Joe Lauzon is entering his upcoming fight with Donald Cerrone with the same mindset he did heading into his submission win over Jonathan Pearce at UFC Boston over two years ago. Lauzon (5:06) kicks off We Got Next this week to give his reaction to the matchup with "Cowboy" on April 30, talks the fight being originally looked at for UFC 272 in March by the promotion, having no decision made in regards to whether or not it will be his final fight, Francis Ngannou's current situation with the UFC, and Tom Brady's retirement. Chieck Kongo (32:42) discusses getting a rematch with Ryan Bader for the heavyweight title in Paris coming up in May, when he found out about the bout, his side of the eye poke that stopped their first fight that was deemed a no contest, the reaction of the fans hoping Bellator would book a rematch between Bader and Fedor Emelianenko, and more. Sullivan Cauley (1:00:38) reacts to his first-round TKO win over "Big Tuna" Ben Parrish this past Saturday at Bellator 273, talks the star power Parrish accumulated following his promotional debut, what he thought about the matchmaking and the placement on the card, the stoppage from referee Mike Beltran, and his hopes to join Bader on the Bellator Paris event. Finally, Tresean Gore (1:16:53) previews his UFC Vegas 47 bout with Bryan Battle, discusses how he felt watching Battle win The Ultimate Fighter middleweight title in a bout he was forced to withdraw from, feeling his opponent might be overlooking him, his tough upbringing and current relationship with his parents, the importance of his spirituality, the incredible confidence he has in himself, and Jake Paul. 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

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Nice travels. Wi-Fi available to Aero Pembers on equipped flights, sponsored by Bound. Conditions apply. Cairacanada.com. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Well, hello there, everybody, and welcome to a brand new edition of We Got Next. I am Mike Heck, a little under the weather, but we're battling through.

So thanks for having us on wherever you find your favorite podcasts on the M.A. Fighting Podcasting Network. And man, we have quite the show this week. Again, four interviews on the program. We got a nice mix of personalities and characters. We got some up-and-comers, which is what the show is all about. We got some wily veterans who actually fit the mold of We Got Next pretty well. And you'll see why when we run down the lineup,

it's really interesting and fascinating conversations this week. They really are. I actually wasn't even sure how to put these chats in order. But we'll go ahead and do it now. But before we run down the lineup, cheap plug for the programming. We got the all-new MMA fighting ranking show. Yes, it is that time once again, the February edition of the ranking show. It is the great Shaheen Al-Shadi, A.K. Lee.

They're joined by Jedmishu and Damon Martin to answer your questions. And it is a great listen. It is fantastic stuff. So check that out. BTL, back on Thursday, live show 3 p.m. Eastern. New York Rick versus Jose Youngs. Very excited for that. And then we do have a UFC event coming up this weekend.

So normal UFC event programming, pre-fight show on Friday, post-fight show on Saturday night, on to the next one on Sunday, et cetera. So lots of stuff to look forward to. And, of course, the M.A. Hour and all the other program we have to, Fighter versus Writer. I mean, just so many shows. Gee Show, the Brazilian podcast, which is phenomenal, getting rave reviews. And just so much programming.

So if you haven't done so, I just tap the mic by accident. Make sure you subscribe to the M.A. Fighting Podcast fee. Wherever you're finding a favorite podcast, leave a five-star review, all that fun stuff. So let's run down the lineup. We'll get to our first chat. We're going to wrap things up with Treshaun Gore, who makes his UFC debut against Brian Battle this Saturday at UFC Vegas 47, of course. If you are A.K. Lee or other folks who are very big fans of the Ultimate Fighter, you know who

Trashon Gore is. He did very well on the Ultimate Fighter. He was supposed to fight Brian Battle in the finale. It's not really the finale anymore, but in the middleweight final fight for the ultimate fighter. But we found out just days before that Tracian had an injured knee. Brian Battle went on to fight Gilbert Urbina, won the show, and now they're going to do the damn thing on Saturday. And what a road it has been for Trayshon Gore. It is pretty remarkable. His story. We spoke for of 40 minutes and I could have chatted with him for another hour with all the leftover questions I had in the follow-ups but just really good stuff so you'll hear that later on to wrap things up. Sullivan Colley put a damper on the big tuna show. The big tuna parade has come to a slowdown,

if you will. The matchmaking was a little silly at Bellator 273. It was pretty silly if we're being honest, but Sully took advantage of a good opportunity, runs through Ben Parrish, got a first round finished via TKO, and perhaps he gets his wish, ends up on the Bellator Paris card with his protege Ryan Bader. That's what he wants. We'll speak with Sullivan Cully later on to talk about the win, what he wants next, and hoping for a very active year. And speaking of that Paris card and Ryan Bader, Bader will defend his heavyweight title that he successfully defended against Valentin Waldowski on Saturday. His next fight is already booked

against fellow UFC veteran Czech Congo. And Czech will join us. And good Lord, was this man on fire? Absolutely on fire. The ageless Czech Congo, 46 years old, will turn 47 a little over a week after he fights Ryan Bader for the second time for the title. And you saw me on Twitter.

I said, the Fador rematch with Bader was right there, Belator. What are you doing? But I will tell you this. Czech Congo. sold me on this fight 100%. I wanted the Fador fight. Now I am fine with this fight after this conversation. I think I asked him four questions and he just went bananas and I loved every second of it. You'll hear that conversation in around 25 minutes. But first, we will check in with the fellow New Englander. He's got a big fight coming up. His first fight in over two years. It's going down

in April kicking us off this week. Joe Loz-on. And that's coming up next. here on We Got Next. Thanks to check it out the show this week, everybody. All right, let us say hello to Joe Lozahn. As we confirmed on Friday night, he is set to face Donald Serroney on April 30th. What a terrific piece of matchmaking. And always great to catch up once again with Joe Lozon

for a little New England on New England chat. Joe, how are you, sir? Good. I'm good. I'm ready. I'm excited. Good. First off, how is the wintry weather?

A blizzard in Massachusetts. First one in quite some time. A rupted. get in your neck of the woods? It's been pretty miserable. Um, so usually when we get, uh, like any kind of buzzet or winter storm, usually it's like thick, like heavy wet snow, right? And that's like what we're pretty much accustomed to. Right. And it's way worse for like telephone poles coming down and wires and things like that. Um, but when you plow it, it kind of stays there. This was a completely different storm. I don't I think my entire life, I don't remember storm like this,

where it's like very light and fluffy. So a plow would come by, would plow the road. And then within literally 10 or 15 minutes, the all the wind is just blown it. It's all kind of and normalized it and you can't even tell the plows been by at all. One end in my driveway was like four feet, five feet of snow. The other end in my driveway is like three inches of snow. It was just like bananas, like how, how different this snowstorm was in the storm we've dealt with. A little weird.

So when you're like in your 50s and 60s and you're a grandfather, this will be your blizzard of 78. Pretty much, pretty much. I think, so I think that the blizzard of 78 problem was the fact that it got, they got a lot of snow, but then I think it got a deep freeze right after the, the temperature's plunged. So a little bit similar, but yeah, this will be our blizzard of 78 for sure. Outside of the snowstorms and blizzards, this is very exciting stuff, Joe, in regards to your fighting career.

So I guess the first question I have is, how did this come together? Because you and I were both in Boston in October of 2019. You were in there for much more important reason than I was, but you weren't sure what your fighting future was going to look like after the submission went over Jonathan Pierce. And then Dana White said you made some sort of deal to retire after that. fight. It seemed like there was some miscommunication there, but because you've been saying since then, like if the right fight comes along, then I'll fight as long as the UFC wants me to fight. It seems as if everything has come together here. How did this all happen? You know, so you said, I've had the same stance from the very beginning, right? Like I said before the

fight, before the last fight, if the fight went well, I would be done because that would have been two really bad fights in a row, I'd be done. You know, but if the fight went well, then I think that leaves the door open. And then Dana said in the post fight, like, oh, I'll lose on, you know, Lozance done. That was his last one. And like, that was not the arrangement, right? That wasn't,

I even sent him text messages after. I sent him screenshots because I was, I mostly talked to him through texts. Uh, I sent him screenshots of saying, if this is my last, you know, if this one does not go well.

So I've been in the same boat the entire time. Um, obviously, you know, shortly after that fight was when all the COVID stuff ramped up. And I had no business, you know, I had no interest whatsoever in trying to train for fight that was may or may not happen. Right.

It's like, if we're going to fight again, we're going to fight under the right circumstance. I wasn't going to go and fight, you know, when, when everything was so crazy and bananas and everything else. things are still a little bit crazy, but it's much more manageable. It's much better now. So this entire time, I've been training. I've been doing all the things I'm supposed to do.

Like I've been doing jitsu. I've been hitting mitts. I really wasn't sparring a whole lot because I just like, I just don't enjoy sparring. I don't think there's a reason to get hit in the head if you don't have to get in head. So but I've been doing everything. I've been grappling. I've been wrestling. I've been lifting.

I've been doing all itself. So this entire time I've been, I've been training still, you know. And I've kept an open mind about like, okay, if the right fight comes up, you know, Um, like this time last year, Sean Shelby texted me and it was asking, you know, what I was thinking. And I'm like, I'm still, I'm still not ready to fight right now. Like it's still, it's still really crazy. Um, you know, maybe like, you know, July, August, something like that, I'd be down. You know, let's, let's talk then. And I didn't hear anything for a long time. And then back in like, maybe October, November, uh, I just text, hey, Sean, look, I'm still interested in fighting.

Like, I'm, I'm, I'm not pushing for it. But if you have the right fight, I mean, I would definitely do it. Um, so then like two weeks ago now, um, he came to me and, you know, wanted to know, hey, what do you think about fighting Cowboy Soroni on March 5th? And I'm like, so I like, I like, I like the opponent. Like I think Cowboy and I have an awesome fight. You know, we're both similar in age. We're both similar experience. Um, you know, a little bit different skill set.

But, um, but, um, but I think it's, I think the fight's a fight that makes sense. You know, for a long time, we were kind of neck and neck on the leaderboard for, for bonuses and things like that. Like I think, I think that's the kind of fight that makes sense. I said, like, I would fight Cowboy, but March 5th is too soon. Like, if I'm going to do this again, I'm not going to do this on like five weeks notice. Like I want to, I want to have a legit thing. I'm like, you know, but don't take this as me not wanting to fight. I definitely, I do want to fight. You know, I'm open to fighting, but not on five weeks notice. And he's like, well, Cowboy really wants to fight March 5th. I'm like, okay, well, then I'm not your

guy then. That's totally fine. But keep me in mind. I definitely don't take this as me not want to fight, I do want to fight, keep me in mind. And then a couple of days later, he comes back and says, okay, how about April 30th? And I'm like, much better. Let's do that. That, that is perfect. Um, you know, so I said that, you know, I have to, if I was going to fight again, I had to like all three things. I had to like the location. I had to like the opponent. I had to like the date. Right. If we didn't have all three, we weren't going to do it. Right. So we still don't know the location. That's what everyone keeps asking. Oh, where's it going to be? Like, my phone is blowing up nonstop. Do you know what the

fight's going to me? I don't know. The UFC doesn't know. At least they didn't know when I talked to him last. So, but it'll be somewhere in the United States, which is all I really cared about. So we're good. We'll see how it goes. You obviously sent the text to Sean in October, November. Like you said, you've been thinking about getting back in there. Like you weren't closing the door if the right thing came along. Had you been getting any kind of itch though?

Like, like, all right, I'm ready. Like, I want to fight. What has that been like over these last, maybe the last nine, 10 months for you? So, you know, I have like, you know, all the best guys knowingly come to my gym and train on Saturdays, right? So I get to train all these guys. I have, you know, all the guys at my gym are doing great. Like, they're getting ready for fights. Like I'm training with them more consistently.

But, but I get to train with a whole lot of guys on Saturday. Right. And I really, really enjoy the training. Like, I really enjoy like I do well. Everything goes good. It's, it's good. You know, so I don't, I don't feel old. I don't feel like, you know, I don't feel like I'm, you know, I don't feel like

I'm old in years, you know, but I understand I've had a lot of experience. I've had a lot of wear and tear and things like that. Like, a lot of injuries, things like that. So like I need to be mindful of that and not train like I'm 22 years old. But I don't feel inadequate. I don't feel like all these young kids are too much. It's like that's not the case. I do great against them.

So yeah, I mean, I have the edge. I think I'm always going to have the it. I think even when it's definitely time for me to stop, I think I'm still going to want to fight. But I'll listen to my coaches. You know, before the last fight, my coaches were like very adamant that I had to make a whole bunch of changes. And we made all those changes for me to fight. And so I did that. And then my boxing coach Steve Mays was like, you know what?

I didn't think this fight was going to go well. But I think he's like, it's not often. But occasionally, you know, once or twice in my lifetime, I've been wrong. He's like, I think I was wrong. I think it was a little bit, a little bit quick to say you shouldn't fight. So we're going to give it, we'll give it another shot. We'll see how this goes, you know. And again, I'm in the same exact position that I was for my last fight.

Is this going to be the last fight? Who knows? I'm not, like, I'm not going to go and say, oh, Cowboy and I, this is going to be my last fight. I'm all done. Like I don't think that's the case. I'm just going to, we take it by fight. We'll see how it goes, you know.

What did Steve and the rest of your coaches say when they found out it was cowboy? So everyone was kind of hit or miss. So one of my coaches was like, oh, this is the worst opponent. We definitely don't want to fight that guy. And then we kind of talk about it a little bit. And like we kind of like it a little bit better. You know, like I think that cowboy and I are kind of, you know, different, right? Cowboys are a slower starter.

I'm a faster starter. Um, Cowboy has definitely has like more polished standup. I have way less polished standup, but you know, awkwardly effective. Um, you know, so like it's definitely different. You know, we're both similar in age, similar experience, similar in wearing tear. Um, you know, I think in the last since I have my, so my, I've had two fights in like four and a half, five year or something like that, right? So Cowboys had a bunch, you know, but he's, he's taking a lot of wearing tan the last five years. You know, maybe we didn't want to fight cowboy five years ago, but, you know, but now I think it's,

is a better matchup for us. Is there anything that you've missed about fighting more frequently? You know what I mean? Like being, because you're so busy. You got you got the gym. You're at Lowe's on MMA. You're coaching. You're being the husband, the dad, the family man.

You're still training in the legendary sparring sessions on Saturday at your gym. You're just a very busy guy without having fights to prepare for. Is there anything you miss about being the active fight two, three times a year kind of UFC fighter? Um, Yes and no. I mean it's nice to always have like this goal ahead of you. You're like, oh, we're going to get ready for this or we're going to we're going to test ourselves against this person and we're going to see how it goes. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Like it's just that's the way it goes. Um, you know, I've, I've really honestly, I've really enjoyed the last like two years, even though it was like pandemic and COVID and stuff like that like I've spent so much time with my kids. Like that's been awesome. Like I've spent so much time on my gym. My gym is doing way better than ever had before. Um, you know, like so I like, so I like, so I'm just go for computer science. Like I like, like, like, how to school for computer science. Like, I like, like, like, how. having systems in place and making things follow a certain order and all that kind of stuff. So, like, I like that order, you know, of things.

And I've been able to put a lot of time in on my gym and kind of get things kind of the way I wanted them to operate and run and things like that. So that part's been really, really awesome. The gym's doing great. I'm not fighting because I need money. Like, that's not what the thing is. Like, you know, a lot. I think some of the fighters, like, they, they semi retire and then they come back

because they need money. And that's not the case here. So, but I just like, I didn't know, even when they, they, you know, we got offered Cowboy and I kept asking my coaches, I'm like, do you use? think I should fight or should I not fight? So like it's not even a case of oh, do we fight or not? It's like, okay, do you think that me fighting is a mistake? Right? My last fight went so well. I fought in Boston. It was like a flawless fight, but John the Pierce is really, really good. And I made him look really, really bad. You know, and everyone's like, oh, you know,

like, you know, but he's done great. He's done great since that fight. You know, he was not a scrub. He was very good. I just made him look bad. So it's like, you know, like, are we going to, like, do we really want to try and catch fire a second time? Like, do we want to just, you know, do we want to do this again? And, and, you know, and it's, and, and everyone thought that like I could definitely um that this this fight makes sense and you know and you know if I want to do it that we should do it you know and I was kind of unsure um until we agreed we were going to do it and now I'm like like laser focused you know like there are guys like I was having you know I don't have trouble with but I have like competitive roles but I kind of let them work a

little bit I started catching guys more you know more quickly I kind of went from like that kind of coach role to like more of like I'm going to smash everyone right so like um same thing with like stringishing workouts like stringishing sucks there we have a goal it sucks getting on that bike it sucks hitting that treadmill all that stuff like um but as soon as you have an opponent you soon as you have a fight it's like it still sucks but it sucks a lot less because you're doing it for a reason i'm not just riding the bike because for the hell of it because like oh maybe i'm going to do something like okay now it's like i'm riding the bike because i'm fighting cowboy so it's it's a little bit more bearable what has been cool about all of this is it's not often unless it's like a

big title fight or something that a fight gets unanimously praise and I feel like this one has it just seems perfect across the board like have you noticed that as well like all positivity for this matchmaking yeah no I mean I think I think everyone's excited like I have like people from my gym like like I'm so torn cowboy's my favorite fighter like I think that's the way it goes pick aside pick aside remember who's going to choke you though next week um but yeah no it's I think I think the fight makes sense I think the fight makes perfect sense you know um you know will it and it be in the last fight for cowboy and I maybe you know it could be you know um but I'm not gonna I'm not oh this is my last fight I'm all done like I'm I'm I'm the same boat I am now as I was you know two years ago when

I thought like we'll we'll see what happens and we'll take it as it goes um if it's last fight it's the last fight if it's not it doesn't matter like it's I like I didn't know how much I was going to miss it until I wasn't doing it for a little bit and then now as soon as we were told oh like you're you know you have a match up and all this stuff and say get all those butterflies and like yes let's do this again. So I'm excited for it. How does your wife and the kids, how do they feel about this?

Wife is always super supportive. Anything I want to do, she's on board, you know, she obviously doesn't want me to go and get, you know, be a bloody mess and get kicked in the face and knocked out and all of those other stuff.

But, but she's super supporter. She's a superstar. Like Katie is like, she could, she'd offer a course to all the other UFC, you know, wives and girlfriends on how to act and be good in camp and stuff like that.

She's a superstar. She's awesome. And my kids just, they don't really understand. Like they do, but they don't. You know, my son Joey's eight. He kind of gets it. But he's just like, I'm like, hey, Joey.

So I'm going to fight. Like, cool, good look. Doesn't really understand. Maybe we'll bring him a fight. Maybe we won't. I don't even know. We'll have to see where it is. I first reaction to this fight besides, oh, my God, this is freaking awesome.

It's shocking that it hasn't happened yet. Like with the longevity of both of your careers, it's amazing that this fight has not happened. or it even was even like targeted according to like reports or anything had you ever been approached about fighting donald no no never you know so there there's like i fought pretty much all the lightweights you know i i never fought frankie but like all of your your marquee guys you know your guys remember for long time like i fought most of them right so um you know but no like it never it just never presented itself you know like and it was surprising because like we were both you know

for so long we were kind of both chasing the you know the bonuses and all that kind of stuff and um you know kind of battling back and forth a little bit. But no, it just never came up. What other names would have gotten you to say yes? Because everything had a lineup, right? Location, such and such and that the opponent had to ring true. And Donald, obviously, that seemed like a name. Any other names like Stood out to you or did you need to see it with your own eyes before

you could make that determination? I had to see it. Like I wasn't even, I wasn't even thinking about cowboy. Honestly, like, I mean, it's a fight that makes perfect sense at this point, but it wasn't even a fight I was thinking of him. You know, like if you, if I could look at the, the little Excel sheet, Sean Shelby has and look at like his roster, like, oh, that would be a good fight. That would be a good fight. That would be good fight. That would be good fight? Um, you know, I'm, I'm sure there's some on the roster, you know, but, um, but I don't know. I have no idea. So obviously we've seen what, what, would Donald's last couple of years have been like, haven't been great. Do I mean, it's hard to put yourself in, in his shoes, but do you feel like he's having sort of the same thought process to his fighting career where it's like, I'm not in any rush to fight, but like, I'm not in any rush to fight, but like, you give me something that gets me excited. I'll fight. You know what I mean? And we haven't seen him in a little

while. I feel like he's kind of in the same kind of mindset you're in. Do you, I don't know if you agree with that or not, or if you can even put yourself someone in his shoes. I think, I think Cowboys a little more of an adrenaline junkie. You know what I mean? Like I'm completely fine sitting on my chair playing Xbox and going to the gym and teaching classes and hanging out with my kids watching, you know, in Conto and all these other movies like bubble guppies at six in the morning every day. Like I am I am completely content doing that. right? I think cowboy's a little bit more like adventurous, more of, you know, he's a cowboy. You know, he's, he's a little more go, go, go. Um, so, you know, he's fought,

he has had a rough last couple years, right, but he's fought killer after killer after killer. He's fought really, really good guys at 170 at 55. Like, he's fought some killers. Um, so it's not a case of like, oh, it's an easy fighter. Cowboys, you know, he's all washed out. It's nothing like that. I just think that, you know, he's fought some really, really hard guys. And I think that for all fighters, I think that wear and tear just kind of accumulates. You know, like, I just think that, you know, he probably doesn't take shots as well as he used to. I think any, any, any fighter, as you go, as you go on, like, no one's chin gets better from getting hit, right? It doesn't. Like, it, it's, it diminishes. So, you know, so I think that helps

me out a little bit. Um, you know, he's got, but he's got great jihitsu. It's not, it's not a case. Like, oh, take him down and it's easy. No, he's to make people off his back. He's got great jiu-tzu. He's got good wrestling. Um, he's fought everybody. There's not much I'm going to bring that he hasn't seen. So, um, but I'm, I'm excited for the opportunity. Like, I think it's, it's one of those things where it's like every time, you know, until it the fight happens, you don't know how it's going to go. You know what I mean? Is it going to, is it going to go out there? Is it going to go out there and punch me in the head and knock me out like Claywood it did? Or am I going to go out there and take him down and beat him up on the ground like, like I did against Pierce, and Pierce.

Like it's just, we'd never know what's going to happen, you know, but, but Cobb and I both have very, very exciting fights. Um, it won't go to a decision. I'm sure it won't go to the decision. I'm sure it'll be, you know, either I catch him earlier, or he catches being late. So I just think it's an entertaining fight no matter how it goes down. I think that's pretty cool. A lot is kind of changed in the UFC since you last fought. And it's coming a lot more to the forefront this year. There's been a lot of talk about fighter pay and everything.

And Francine Ghanu had a lot of things looming ahead of his title fight with Cyril Gahn. Now we're seeing freaking Jake Paul of all people trying to call attention to fighter pay and doing rap dices and all this. crazy stuff that these youngsters try to do. What have you made of these conversations as of like, because it's everywhere now? Um, you know, so it's, it's always hard. I'm always looked at as like, I think anti-fighter and like pro UFC, right? Because I think the UFC does a very good job.

I've never had a bad interaction with the UFC ever in regards to anything, right? Like I've always, I've always had, you know, tons of respect for them. They've always been super respectful to me. Everything's always been great. Um, does everyone want to get paid more for their job? A thousand percent, right? You know, but I think that like, someone, could be a very good fighter, but if you're on like an undercard, even though you have a very good

skill set, you're a very good fighter, right? Like you're worth what you can demand, right? And if you're a good fighter, it doesn't matter if you have a great skill set. You can beat all these other guys, right? You cannot demand this money when there's other people that will do that job for the same amount. Right. So it's like, it's kind of like, like how many people are going to tune in because, you know, how many people are buying, you know, ESPN fight pass or ESPN plus or fight pass because so-and-so is fighting on an undercar fight, right? Not many, right? So, like, they're probably a couple of friends that are going to fight in.

They're going to tune in. But there's not a whole lot of demand there because it takes time to build a name, you know? So I always want the fighters to make more money. But at the same time, you got to kind of keep in mind, okay, it's like the draw is generally the UFC brand, right? You know, there's been a lot of the fighters that have gone elsewhere. And, you know, sometimes they say that they're making better money. Sometimes they say it's not been as good or hasn't been as,

polished and this and that. Like there's there's always going to be pros and cons, right? But for me, it's like I've always had a great relationship with the UFC. They've always treated me like, you know, super. I have nothing bad to say about them. You know, I think that I can totally understand how like the UFC can be a little bit iron fisting, you know, with when it comes to like negotiations and stuff like that. But like that's their job. You know, like the fighter's going to do the same thing. He's going to, you know, he's going to have a heavy hand on things too. So it's like, both sides are going to, you know, negotiate and fight. to the best of their ability in the ring and in contract negotiations and stuff like that.

And they're going to use whatever assets and tools they have. You know, like if you don't want to fight with the UFC, then I suggest you don't fight with the UFC. If you're not prepared to fight with the UFC, don't fight with the UFC, you know, and I think that's just kind of what it comes down to. You know what I mean? Like if I have a little two pound dog and I have a 90 pound pit bull, right, which is the UFC, I would not encourage the two pound dog to go and get that dog bone that you're entitled to.

It's like, maybe maybe you need to understand kind of what's going on. on here and understand kind of the how it all is you know and i think a lot of fighters look a lot of people look at me as like being like anti-fighter and i'm not anti-fighter like of course i'm one of the fighters and make more money like i would love it for uc to do like like like uh like lifelong health insurance for anyone that's had x number of fights you know 10 fights 12 fights 15 fights whatever it's going to be like it's i would love to have all that stuff right but like it doesn't if it doesn't make sense it doesn't make sense you know and um you know so there's there's always going to be you know headlines of fighters, you know, pushing back, whether it's Mark Hunt or whoever else,

you know, push it back on things, you know, but that's just, it's the nature of it. You know, I'm, I'm of the mindset. I'm not going to pick a fight. I don't want to get into. Right. And I think you're looking at it from a realistic point of view. You're not anti-fighter. It's just, it's the way life is because the answer to the question is not you, like, if I ask you what you think of this and you're like, oh, the UFC sucks and Franzenegano is, is right, and I'm supporting him and I have his back. Like, it does nothing unless you and fight. You, other guys join you in that discussion. Like everybody's got to come together for the same thing.

And you're right. When we have title fights and one guy says no, but another guy will come in for half the price and take the fight, like it's never going to work. So I'm curious, we talked about 56 year old Joe Lozahn telling stories about the blizzard of 2022, your blizzard of 78.

Do you think we'll ever see a day where fighters do come together to form some sort of units and association, something where they can collectively bargain where they can, you know, maybe get a bigger piece of the pie. Like you see a major league baseball, the NBA, et cetera. Do you ever think we will ever see that day? I don't think so. You know, like, so like Francis Agagnos is fighting the UFC, right?

He's not fighting to get the undercard fighters more money. He's fighting to get himself more money, right? That's just the way it goes. Francis de Gagne was like, oh, like, I have done this. I won the title. I have done this. I want more money for me. He's not saying, oh, I want more money for all these other guys, you know,

so it's like it's a very kind of selfish kind of stand when people kind of, you know, take on this and they fight for it and they argue. And you know, it's like, it's never like, um, it's never like, oh, everyone needs to get paid more. You know, like there's a couple people that will do that, but it's never like the guys near the top. It's always the people that, you know, generally it's the people that like they, they tried to make it up in the UFC and maybe they got to the UFC, but they do well. And then on their way out now they're, they're complaining about it after the fact. You know, it's the guys that have done very, very well have generally not been those guys. like a guy like a Tito Ortiz, like he was a champ for a long time.

He was a great fighter, you know, but he was, Tito was never arguing to get more money for the undercard fighters. He was always arguing to get more money for himself. Like it's, it's always, and it's always been that way. You know, like it's the guys that get to the top, they're always fighting for more money for themselves. So like they're, they're not going to get a lot of support that, right? You know, if they were arguing for the undercard fighters and trying to get more

across the board, I think they have a lot more support and along with people who kind of, you know, rally behind them. And I just don't think that's ever going to happen. I think it's going to be like, if you're Francis, you're like, okay, like, I'm, I'm not worried about these guys. I'm worried about me. I got to protect my family first. I'm looking on from my family before I worry about, you know, everyone else, which is, I understand that point of view. I totally understand that. Like, I'm, I'm the same way. I'm looking off from my family. I'm not working for everyone else. I'm looking off from my family. So that's just the way it goes.

That's just, that's just life, right? It's like everyone's, that's how it goes for everyone, you know? Yeah, it's a super interesting story. And now he, like, isn't obligated to fight at all for the UFC anymore. He could just sit out the rest of the year and go off. I don't think that's the case. I think, I think, yeah, I think there's going to be a fight after the fight, if you will. I think that there's, I think that there's a clause in every contract back to like before I, my first fight in UFC, like UFC, like UFC 63, that if you were a champion, then the contract is extended for X number of time or something like that. There's some kind of clause or something like that. So I don't think that he's free and clear. I think that he, if he had lost and he was not the champion,

then yes, I think he would be free and clear. But I think that anyone that is a reigning champ, they cannot walk away and go anywhere they want. And what will happen is if like if he starts this fight, Rainy Gator said on something, I saw the quote on Reddit, was saying that, you know, like, you know,

it's going to get dragged out and legal, you know, and it's just going to be held up. Okay, how many years is Francis the guy are going to fight for? The UFC will drag this out for 10 years until Francis is no longer like in a prime fighting age.

You know, like it's how much money is he going to lose in that 10 years, trying to fight for someone else, whereas if he should just go, belong with the UFC and fight for the UFC and make what he can with the UFC. It's like, it's just, it's the nature of the contracts. And like every fighter, like they get you, when you, you sign the contracts. Like when you're like having your first fight in UFC, Francis O'Ganyo wasn't Francis

O'Gano, but before his first fight in UFC, like he won a whole bunch of fights. And he did well and the UFC built him up. And now he's like this monster sutra stuck. And that's just, that's just the nature of it. You know, if he didn't want to sign that contract, he wouldn't be making the money he's making now. It's just like people kind of, I think that they get a, forget about how strong the UFC brand is and how well they get it. Like they get you early so when you don't have a lot of, you know,

room to push back. And then as time goes on, you know, like now they have you. And that's just how it goes. And like, and they built your name up like, Franzigania would not have been a huge name without the UFC. So that's how that goes. Of course, we're talking superstars. There could be tomorrow superstars coming out of Lozon MMA.

A lot of always a lot of becoming talents coming out of that gym. We talked about the Saturday sparring that is a thing of legend in New England. I know there's some New England regional events coming up. CES got one. Cage Chitin's got one. Do we have any, uh, any lows on fighters getting ready? Some prospects about to get back in there. Yep. So we got, I got two fighters on case shittons is coming weekend. So I have Aaron Johnson, Andrew Valdina. Uh, they both have, uh, tough fights, hard fights. Um, so they're both in this card. I have Connor Matthews on CES next month, which I do, I do commentary for CES. That'll be good and a little weird. I'll be like, I'll be doing

commentary on fight pass, but for CES. Like, no, Connor needs to do here. He's to post on his left hand. Um, you know, so that's, that's always fun. It's kind of like, it sucks a little bit, not being able to like, honestly, I don't love it. You put in my guys on CES because I'm doing commentary for them and I can't corner for them. You know, so it's kind of like, it's kind of like counterintuitive a little bit. Um, you know, but so we got both those fights in. I think Cachan is doing another show in in late March and then combat zone has a show coming up and there's just, there's all kinds of shows. Like we have a great, uh, local scene here in New England. And of course, last thing, Tom Brady is retired.

It's official now. He's his own words. I thought I heard about that in the gym this morning. I was playing Xbox last night. One of my buddy was saying that Tom Brady was supposed to get like a bonus of like $15 million in like three days. So he's like, oh, he's going to wait until he gets his bonus and he's retired then. Like that would have been the smart move. I'm sure he went to them like, hey, look, guys, you're going to owe me $15 million in three days.

How about you just give me seven right now? We call it a day and I'll retire now. I don't know. But I'm, you know, I'm excited. I'm hoping he comes back and signs back as a Patriot, you know, so he can hire a Patriot. You know, I think it was super cool that he went to a different team and won a Super Bowl right away. But he's a patriot, you know, throwing throw it. So like, I'm hoping that happens.

We'll see what happens. A lot of people are giving him crap because he made this like nine, nine slide Instagram retirement. He didn't mention the Patriots at all. There's all bucks, bucks, bucks, bucks, bucks, my wife. And that's it. No Patriots. Well, he's still, I mean, I'm sure he's still under contract with the Bucks. They probably have something in their, their claws and all that kind of stuff. I'm sure there's some kind of thing about not disparaging the team and you're a

bucking here. You're not a patriot now and all sorts of stuff. I'm sure. I have a feeling we'll see something a little different later on. I would agree with you. Joe, you've given me a lot of time. I appreciate it very much. Really looking forward to April 30th.

Joe Lozon versus Donald Seroni. What a fight that's going to be. Not sure whether it's going to be the final. of Joe Lozahn's career, but we'll see how it goes. So I appreciate the time very much, man. All the best, you getting ready for the fight. Sounds good. Thank you. All right, let us say hello to Czech Congo,

who, as we found out on Saturday night, at the conclusion of Bellator 273, he's going to challenge Ryan Bader for the Bellator heavyweight title, May 6th. The rematch is happening, and it's happening in Paris, France, some hometown flavor for the ageless. Check Congo.

Check, how are you, sir? I'm doing it really good. So I'm just right now leaving the place when I used to do the stress connectioning right now. So I'm heading to the gas station, fill up the vehicle quickly and get back home, get some rest and keep going for the training sessions after the interview session.

So everything is good. You know, I can complain, you know, life is great. And also it was a really good I mean, not a statement, but really good surprise last Saturday. So I was really happy for the news. And I can make it, you know, even better, you know, in France. So get the event, be avenge and perfect and performing a good way. So yeah.

So so you found out about this on Saturday? Yes. So it was some, I used to get some, some leak, but I wasn't sure. And my manager was like, you know what? You probably are going to have that really good news. And when I find out, it was like nowhere. Are you kidding me? And it was, I said, no, that's really happening.

So I was like, wow. So, yeah. Very cool. Of course, this rematch doesn't happen for the belt unless Ryan Bader gets the job done this past Saturday. He digs deep, gets the decision win over Valenti Moldovsky. What did you make of Bader's performance? Were you impressed with what?

he was able to do. No, and honestly, I was really impressed. You know, he did really good, you know, he seems like the last two laws he got in the light TV way to, you know, impact himself to be better to make the statement alive, you know, and understand that. So for sure, you know, give the best of him. And, you know, honestly, I saw somebody, you know, really determinate, you know, the determinate focus, not letting somebody else, you know, with a really good as well, skills get the top of him, you know, and he was a big bottle, you know, it was a really good bottle. Even me, I didn't, I wasn't expecting, you know, the result because to me, just to think to see what Mordavsky used to do on the previous fights. I was just like, wow,

the guy is a beast, still a machine, you know. And some of the guys he faced, didn't get, didn't have the ability to push the limits, but it was good enough for Mordavsky to put the sediment, to put the statement on the game, saying like, hey, okay, I'm the new guys, I'm the young blood, and I'm here for the belt. And at the end, when I saw the beginning of the fight, first, second round, I was just like, wow. And I was keeping like, please, uh, better win the fight, so I'm going to fuck you up. And he did. So honestly, I'm really happy. I'm not saying that because about what happened on the previous fight with better. But for sure, I went to a bench, you know, what he did. And no matter what people say, you know, the thing is, you know,

a lot of ink used to, used to leak about it. And I was like, yeah, the guys, you know, didn't do good, you know, when we face each other. For sure, he showed the best of him on the first round, you know, but didn't put that much to affect me, you know, except poking me in the eyes. So I was like, guys, you know, you're taking the notice about what he said, but nobody used to come to me to know and hear what I feel and what I have to say. And technically, even with the medical check, he is not a punch.

is a finger. But the thing is just like because he's a crown guy. People didn't want to hear about me because for sure, you know, they want to keep him as a champ for sure and I understand the fact. But, you know, the game is a game, you know. And when you have to be fair, you have to be fair. And if I have to put everything about the medical check to prove what he did, that's the result of my eyes, you know.

The thing is I never, I never try to avoid the fight or use excuses about losses. I even win, you know, no matter what, I show up with the skills I got and I perform in that way. Win or loss? So, anyway, but honestly, I was really impressed. It did really good. And I, you know, and if I was really bad guys, I couldn't congratulate him, but I did. And I did, yeah, you know what? You did good. And thank you for your performance. But I wish you're going to be ready and you're going to show a lot because when we're going to face, you know,

it's going to be like a big deal, like a really big deal. So I used to keep the pace and being and starting slow, really slow. But at this level, I won't be the diesel. I'm going to be like the super, the 93 event, the high top fuel to burn. burn his ass. And that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to kill him. And I want to kill him. Yeah, he said, because you guys squared off after the fight. And he said, when he spoke with the media backstage, that you said, nice fight, I'm going to beat your ass in Paris. Is that true? Is that what you said? Yeah. So you know what I said? Exactly what I said, hey, Kama is a beach. Congratulations on your fight. You know, you did really good. And I was impressed. I was impressed

about the fact Modanski was the favorite, but you better be ready because I'm going to fuck you up and just come and show and show up ready because I'm going to kill you. I want to kill you and I'm going to fucking kill you. So that's what I said. Did you say anything back to you? No, it was just like, yeah, yeah, yeah. But honestly, when I show up on the kid and when you show me, I mean, when he see me, you know, it was so funny because he was the face of the kid when he sees somebody he used to somebody used to bully him was like oh no not this guy please and he was just as exhausted but at the point he was still happy for his win but you know i i was the i was the the the the tash like the the the blurry stuff on

yes the thing technically if you have to get the the frame i was the i was the the the point the the messed up point, you know, missing with the frame. And he was like, no, not this guy, please, no. And he seems that I was just like a nightmare. I said, yeah, whatever. Call me whatever you want, but for sure, I'm going to fuck you up. And the thing is, you know, you're going to try to give the best because even last time, you couldn't hold me, you know, you couldn't handle me.

Even if on a paper on a few, on a, on a few shots, it seems like, but you feel it. He felt it and he knows. And he's not saying that because I want to impress people or whatever, but, and I'm not here for that. But you will just see the result in Paris. And as I said, he's killed a big kill. And I decided to kill him. It's not about surviving or whatever. So if they have the ability to win and kill and kill me, yes. I always be like, okay, you know what, you did a good job and end of story. But you won't be that case. You won't be that case. Going back to something you said earlier, because Ryan has, has talked about this quite a bit saying that there's been a lot of smack talk about the eye

poke. He denies the poke as ever happened. He said he got you in the nose and there's videotaped evidence that he got you in the nose and not the eye. So what happened from your perspective? Can you kind of walk us through that whole thing? Because I can't imagine being poked in the eye, but no. If you tell me you got poked in the eye, I believe you. No. No. First of all, he pocked me once. And after that, he tried to poke me. But when he pock me, he goes on the nose. He's not the bad because when he poked me in the eyes,

I was like, okay, I can't indulge the pain. And I was like, what he did? I fuck. And from the beginning, it was like, okay, it's okay. He's on purpose. And when he tried it again, but he missed my eyes to the nose. I was like, fuck. And at this moment, the pain came.

And after that, for sure, my eyes goes like crazy. I was like, hey, you know, thing is I'm a human beings, you know, and I'm really tough. I'm really tough, proud and brave, but hey, I'm not the machine. You know, I can fight. But even my eyes, you could see the scratch inside the eyes and it was really deep. So if it was a punch, I would be like, okay, I don't know how the gloves used to go all over my eyes and just scratch one of the orbit inside the stuff and, you know, and making some damage. And after that, even on cameras, you could see my eyes, you seems like the eyes of the total.

Then I was like, what the fuck? It was like a fucking mushroom. I was like, no. And if I used to get punched by him, I should have the black eyes. And it wasn't like any black eyes or any bump from the punch. He was from the pock. So the guys that was like, hey, you know, the thing is. And one more times, I understand the perspective to support Ryan and say, you know what, we got you.

We got you. But just be fair. We're here for the fight. You know, for sure, there is so many ways to shit because some guys want to get the best of themselves to win and come back with the crown. But, you know, if it's not about use or being like doing like anti-games, you know, it was just a fake to hurt the guys on purpose to limit the ability to fight properly. And that's what he did. You know, he just like also like some guys. I don't want to say names, but some guys come and bite the here

because they just excited or because what happened? Oh, he used to give me, he used to head bet me or whatever. I said, no, you're a professional fighter. If you win, you win, you lose, you lose. But don't try to win like a coward instead because no matter what at the end of the story, even if you win the stuff,

he's facing, he's facing, himself every day and what he did he did it to win or just get the money yes I shit even me the thing is that was sometimes just like okay what did I do oh oh no I didn't do that on purpose or or I did it in purpose oh yes he was right no yes no but the thing is it has to be clear you know and for sure people used to to bother me for for some activities even like the sometime I used to to need the guys in the board unfortunately And they came at me, yeah, you know, you have a dirty fighter or whatever.

I say, guys, listen, when I used to, to hit, to strike on my guys, he's not the things, you know, I used to think about it. Because if he was the target, for sure, every day, every day on each fight, I will do it. But he's not. Sometimes he happened because the guys get the really bad positions. And that's the way it happened. But the way he goes, it was just like, it was just a frustration. he tried to to use some some some some some some dirty move to uh to make me weak you know and uh the thing

is after that uh he had he had multiple times the ability to to fight to do the rematch but he decided to go hide himself to the light tv weight divisions and just using the place you know i don't want to do it again because i'm going to the light every division say hey guys how long he's going to be to always hide themselves. I used to fight. I used to wait like almost five years to get the title shots. Technically, when things like that happen, we should get the interim fight. You know, no matter what, it's come right away. So now he tried to do it again and try to be the champ forever, you know, you know. And the thing is, you know, all the time, Belator tried to make that fight happen, but he used to say, no, I did the move in light, every way division, so I won't be able to fight.

Carmar is a bitch because he went there, he got fucked up, he tried again to do the tournament, he got fucked up, good. You know, and at some point he was the resurrection against Mordowski, great for him, but they're going to fuck him up again. So, and that's what it is. You know, I'm not there. I didn't spend my time to clear the divisions to fight against bugs or whatever. I mean, when I say to fight ghosts, I don't have time for this, you know.

They put me all the time on the world, so I don't have time for this. So fuck him. You know, now the thing is, now we have the ability to fight. And the thing is, if you want to hear what you have to say, you have to hear what I have to say, because I'm not here to pretend fake stuff. You know, the start is the start. I'm here to fight. I lose as I lost, and that's it.

You know, no matter what happened to me, but if I win, I win. If I lost, I lost. But I'm not here to find the excuses. And if he's in a contest, get back on the track to clear that situation. But he's been like three years, you know, or two years. And at the end, he just said, oh, he probably did the shot for that. I was number number two. Modavski got the opportunity to do the interim fight.

He did. now I'm here but technically I was supposed to be here before Moldavsky so anyway I won't complain for anything that way you know to me all the all the that situation is because of of better he uh he run away you know as a cowards you know and even people are going to hear that no he's not true he said yeah he ran away as a cowards he always open his mouth he always talking shit because he has he has his support but even when he used to talk shit in UFC he gets shut down right away he started to talk shit with the with Daniel Carmier then he came shut him down he said go fuck yourself you know and after that he

used to be quite like a fucking kid so and at the time even if he still want to be the man because we are here in America trust me it's not about the fact to be in France but, you know, as a fighter, I'm going to fuck him up and he are going to shut his fucking mouth. Because that guy, you know, for sure, he has to entertain, you know, whatever. But, hey, be responsible. That's it. And technically, technically, even if he used to poke me in the nose

and bring the fight to the non-contest, technically on the rules, is any orifice you poke, you disqualify. How about that? How about that? I'm not picking the rules. He's right. So. So you feel in a way you should be the champion right now.

That should have been a disqualification. Whatever. But after that, just to avenge a situation, we should make the fight right away. And I won't beat the guy to say, no. Oh, maybe. No, I say, yeah. Any time.

Anytime. Anytime. The thing is, for sure. At a moment, you know, I used to be not lazy, but quite busy with my, with the, outside of the cage. I used to be really busy, you know, so I didn't get the time to, I mean, I always get the time to train, but not as focused as I used to be. But I was like, okay, no big deal. He's right in, you know, sign the contract and let's do it again. He never did it.

He never did it. And he used to wait two or three years. And technically, how do things used to happen? I can happen because he just ran away. He's not me. That's him. He ran away. So fuck him.

You are all fired up. I'm digging this, check. I'm digging this very much. So I have to ask you this because of how fired up you are. Because when this fight was announced on Saturday, it was kind of met with like a lukewarm reaction because a lot of people felt that after Bader beats Voldovsky would have been the perfect opportunity. to set up the rematch, not with you, but with Fador, because Fador's career is winding down.

Why not just do this fight? A lot of intrigue behind it. Belator goes to this fight and said, what do you say to those folks that reacted in that manner that feel Fador should be getting the rematch instead of you? You know, the thing is, you know, for sure Fido is Fader. You know, he used to get a really good career. And technically, for sure, for the entertainment, it's great. It's great to bring back Fader and in there.

But to me, Fader, you know, used to get some really, on the start, he used to get some bad results. So, I mean, technically, with all my respect, you know, last emperor or not, hey, take the line. Take the fucking line. That's it. You know, you can be unhappy for that, but just take the fucking line. What's going on? So you want me, you want to make me fight at 15 years old? Come on.

You can do it. And still at 15 years old, be the people. Come on. Come on. You know, the good thing is for my longevity, you know, it's just because I'm really clear. I'm fucking clear. Thanks God. Thanks to my parents.

I'm fucking clear. You know, I've never been around fucking drugs or whatever. And also my lifestyle, my hygiene of life, bring me to that point, you know. for sure I struggle with things I taking care of but I'm here I'm fucking here so please give me that opportunity to to perform in in a good way you know it's not for me at some point it's not especially as a paycheck but just the performance I like it why you put me on hold you know it seems like you know he seems like the the boxing situations everybody knows who's the who's the beast, but nobody wants to meet him because he's just like, fuck, no.

You know? And I'm sitting in the cage. I'm in the cage, chewing the brakes, say, hey, hey, let me go, let me go, let me go. I'm here, I'm here. And he said, no, no. And when they think like, oh, you know what, the guys won't be able to fight, boom, surprise, motherfucker, I'm here. You know, so.

And at the end, it's just like, wow. And honestly, I surprised myself because I'm just like, wow, I did it. But the point is, it's always my people and people around supporters are not coming back at me and say, man, wow, wow. And they just tell me what I just did and make me realize, you know, how great inspiration was the fact to still be in that environment, you know, in that type of situation, it was like, no, man, you know, oh, okay, let's do this. Or let's run together or just give us some tips or whatever. I say, I mean, you know, I'm here for whatever I can bring to you guys. You know, and also life is about sharing.

He's about to be good. Even if you're not good, you're bad, but you're learning from the bad side. And sharing your experience to make people better, even yourself better. But at the time, you know, when it's time to do the job, I'm here. I'm here. And I'm telling you, I don't try to come at that point to be like, oh, I can't because of fuck. If I, if I can't, I can't. But if I can, I can and I will.

I will. And at that point is not I will, I will. I want. I want to do it. You know, people say, shake, you know, things happen, you know, 46. And it would be 46 and a couple of weeks and 10 days later, I will be 47. So, and yes, I want it. I want to do it.

So, you know, I really appreciate, you know, the part you take my, my feelings, you know, what I have to say because that's true. And the thing is, you know, people are loving me. me or not liking me or not, you know, it's good, you know, because I can be perfect and nobody can love me or whatever. But just for the, for, for my audience, for the guys who love me, especially for the time, you know, I used to perform, give me that respect to, to get what I deserve. And, and for sure, Belapur replied to that, it was like, yeah, enough is enough. You know, we did this we tried to play the games but the guys on the side you know deserve it deserve it so

let's see what he can do again because he has this ability to do it and yes i will you know i mean technically at my the funny part of that is i'm just i'm just surprising myself because um i i wasn't able to think i will get that i will get in i will get back in shape and and and and ready to go and wrestle with guys as I was when I was younger. And I do. And I do. And every day I'm just surprised it's a fucking blessing. And I'm so sorry, but it's a big blessing.

And I mean, this quality don't have to be eyed or shut down because of some jealous guys who want to be selfish and keep performing in their way and try to be the champ or just the dreaming champ. You know, for sure you used to be a champ. You will be forever the champ because you have been a champ. But today you're not and it's over. Your reign, it's over. You know, that's what we used to call the last emperor. There was the champ, champ, champ, for people, but he's not anymore.

He made history, but right now that's my legal. see and that's my story. That's my story to to to to to write and even if I fail, I won't have any excuses. I will give the best, you know, I will try my best and I want to give the best, you know, that's what I want to do. I want to give the best. I want that people see, I did it, I try, you know, and I I fucked up, I fucked up, but today, I'm not. I'm not. So, and for sure, you know, the thing is, at that level, sometimes you make mistake, you made mistake, just like I did as well with Karatanov. You know, I played the game with Karatanov. I didn't want to be engaged during the first fight because I wanted to get

something really clean, exchanges with striking, but at the end, I was like, fuck, if I keep going that way, you know, I'm going to be messed. I'm going to end, I'm going to end this fight with the broken nose or I don't know with a confusion yeah and at the end I was like no the thing is fuck it you want to fight

let's fight and and that's why I turn I just turned because I was like hey I'm not young anymore fuck it you know if you have to

you have to roll you have to wrestle we're going to wrestle and people for sure never saw me wrestle because it's a way easier to beat up people and it's clear. It's not like about oh, he just resolved with the decision on the on the judge for sure. The thing is when you have disability to do it, you do. If you can avoid

that situation and just end up clearly the fight because the guys just go in and out with the exchanges. I say, okay, I'm going to do the, I'm going to do some takedown or try to get some position to make it clear because, but at a time, he's just a part of the game. He's just, If you have to do some due to move or whatever, the same. You win by submission or whatever. Okay. But no matter what in the fight, you have to be smart. You know, I pass the ages and during all my career.

The thing is, I have to be clever. You know, the thing is getting a black eyes, bump lips and stuff, I don't care. You know, for sure at some point it would be like, oh, look, I'm messed up. first point of this is, you know, that people have to remember, I'm an African guy. So, unfortunately, when you see African guys with the messed up faces, most of the time, because unfortunately, I'm not Caucasian, I scare people. Even nice and really good man I am inside, in and out of the cage, you know, I scare people. So first of all, my first idea is saving my integrity because those things are the stigmat when I get out of the cage I'm going to carry

for the rest of my life you know so just try to be to be to be to be a proper and that's what I do you know and of and the second point is I'm not young anymore you know we go for art you and me boom boom boom boom no at the time it's like hey I still have a neural I have a brain you know I'm working outside of the cage, I still have to be smart. And I don't want to be that guys coming for some reason, build up women, or, you know, all the family issue that some fighters used to face with bullshit or whatever. No, you know, the thing is, I'm a respectable man, you know, and I do my best to be the best of myself. And that's what I do. You know, but at some point, you know, I will go for the war to give the best for sure as well as a fight, you know, and that's it.

Yeah, we appreciate that. Check, got to let you go, man. Everybody wants to talk to you right now. They want to talk to the challenger. So I appreciate you saying everything you just had to say here and all the best to you in preparation for this fight. Can't wait to see it on May 6th against Ryan Bader. The rematch is finally going down. Thank you very much. Have a good one. You too. Thanks guys. to Sullivan Colley, who kicked off Bellator 273, dominant stoppage win over Ben Parrish this past Saturday in Phoenix. Sally, good to see you, man. How are you?

I'm good. Thanks for having me. Congrats on the win. And to go out there and to put on that kind of performance in front of your hometown fans, and you kind of set the table for Ryan Bader in the process, what did that mean to you? Because that fight could have happened in Mohegan or Thackerville, Oklahoma, but it happened right in your backyard. Yeah, I mean, that was really special. It was pretty lucky that was my second time in a row fighting in Phoenix in front of the home crowd. And I mean, just compared to my first fight at Mohegan with no crowd, like there's just so, you know,

so much more energy, a little bit more nerves, but it's, you know, getting the wins. It's a lot more fun in front of, you know, your friends and family and the hometown fans is really, really cool. I have to say, I thought the matchmaking was a little strange. I thought a lot about the whole thing was strange because Ben got so much buzz from the win in his debut. And people loved him. People thought he could be a potential star for the company. Then they put him in there with you, who's a tremendous wrestler, clearly not his strong suit, no disrespect. And this is the first fight on the entire card.

And that was another thing that kind of had me scratching my head about the whole thing. So first off, what did you like what did you make of the fan reaction that he got from that win? and sort of the star building power he gained from that, because that just comes out of nowhere, and it seemed like the flame was still burning all the way into Saturday. Yeah, I didn't, I don't think I really understood. I definitely knew, I knew who he was because of that knockout, but I didn't really understand the extent of the following he had,

he had kind of built from that. Like that, that really went viral. And by the time we got there for Fight Week, like all the media guys were super pumped about him. And then like, I checked his Instagram, he's like 10,000 followers. I was like, geez, I just, I was like I fully realized, like, all the kind of energy he had behind him. I mean, but so that was cool. I mean, as far as putting us first fight on the card, I, um, I had a couple people tell me they thought that was weird.

And I don't know, maybe it was the, it was the very first fight of 2022 for the company. Maybe they just wanted to, like, make sure the first fight of the year was a banger. or I don't know. I don't know why they did that. I mean, as far as the actual experience of fighting, like, everybody wants to be the first fight of the night. You know, you get to show up, you know, exactly when you're going to fight,

get your warm up out of the way, go do the damn thing, and then enjoy the rest of your night, you know. So that was awesome. But, yeah, I mean, I think I'll probably start moving up the card, you know, a little bit here. Yeah, I mean, because it was a question. cool moment. The fans are obviously behind you, the ones that were there. But can you imagine if that

fight and that finish happened? It was like the first fight of the main card, like the reaction you would have gotten? Like it would have been like a star making reaction for you. That's true. Yeah. See, I don't know. Maybe they kind of missed out on an opportunity there. I think I was still, I think we still got a good, good reception. I think it was still pretty awesome experience. But yeah, I mean, a lot of people, a lot of, especially like Belator media guys, reporters were coming up to me and they're like, we are really excited about this fight, which I think is, I think it's not typical of like early on the card first Friday the night fights, you know, I think so I think that was, I think that was kind of unique.

Yeah. Were you surprised at the actual matchmaking with this one? It just seems a little strange for a guy with so much hype. And, you know, people have seen your talent, what you bring to the table. You were obviously the favorite heading into the fight. I'm sure seeing the name made you pretty happy for what the opportunity meant for you, but were you surprised that you're going to fight him? A little bit. Well, for one, he was like the sixth guy that Edwards got on his development deal. And my first final of the development deal. As far as like, like you said, like the, like no offense to Ben, but Ben's like skill level compared to his following was like pretty much like the best ratio you're going to get you know what I mean so I was really excited for the fight for

that reason I was like I think I'm a lot better than this guy and everybody knows who he is now so that was really cool um I mean you know I I guess I thought it was a possibility but I I didn't really know who was going to be coming down the pipeline um and so people asked me if I was surprised I'm like I guess I wasn't surprised I really wasn't making a guess to begin with right Even though you were the hometown guy, you were the fan favorite, you sort of, I mean, people were coming up to you and saying that they were excited for the fight, but you sort of flew under the radar heading into it. Like he was doing all the media.

I mean, you did some media in the build, but he was doing so much. And the fan base outside of Phoenix, this was the big tuna show for you. I mean, in Phoenix, this is the Sullivan Colley show. Did you notice that too? I mean, you must have noticed that that fight week was one thing, but just even seeing the build to the fight, it was the big tuna show. did that give you an extra chip on your shoulder? It didn't bother me.

It didn't bother me. I was confident I was going to win, and that's basically all I care about going into fights is winning. They definitely were, they made a bigger push behind me in terms of media this time than they ever had before. I was invited to the open workout. I did the media day interviews and stuff. So that was like a step in the right direction.

and I appreciated that. He definitely got a bigger push, but, I mean, he got more Instagram followers than me. I mean, you know, I understand it. I understand that they had to do what they could do to get people interested. And my idea was that, like, however people come to the fight, even if it's for the big tuna show, they're going to see me and how I fight. And then now all those people know who I am next time I'm fighting. Hopefully they'll want to tune in.

Yeah. What did you think of, I mean, the open workout must have been super cool, right? On the, on the floor of where the Phoenix Suns play basketball, the best team in the NBA right now. Like, how cool was that for you to be able to experience that? That was awesome. That was actually my first open workout. I kind of like, they kind of parlayed my workout with baiters to sort of give me the rub, as they would say. And, you know, we had to get a good time being out there. And I, my, um, I, um, my, um, My coach and I and Danny Brand are just like really, really tight on the pads. We do a lot of padwork and I just have like some of the fastest hands, some of the crispest combos you're going to see out of a 205 pounder. So I got put on a little bit of a show for the, for the reporters there. I got some compliments from those guys. So I think that was cool.

And hopefully that'll kind of get back to the Bellator higher ups. And hopefully they can see me as a guy that they can, you know, start really promoting. Obviously, yeah, I mean, Jose Young's, one of our guys who was out there said that you were melting the pads. So something that was even in our Slack channel, they were talking about how good your, your striking was in that workout, how you were just smashing the pads. The sound was something that that stood out. But in terms of the actual fight itself, you come out, you get the early takedown. And that was pretty much it, man. Constant pressure on top.

The beta-esque risk control, you're just raining down shots. And it just kept going and going until Mike Beltran had seen enough just before. the round was going to end. Did you think it would be that quick and that dominant when you drew it up in your head? I thought it might be, but I, you know, I don't, I don't like to go into a fight assuming that it's going to be, like, it's going to be all gravy and be completely dominant, because then if you're not, you know, you don't want to be surprised. So, you know, I know Tune is a gamer and I was definitely ready for, I was kind of ready for anything. But I was definitely planning on wrestling at some point. I wasn't any, and, in, you know, and.

in any rush to do it. I was planning on touching him first. But I mean, he just, he threw a kick that I caught early on and I was like, you know, not willing to let that opportunity pass and then tripped him, took him down. And then once I was on top, I felt really, really strong and in control the whole time. A lot of people on social media thought that maybe the stoppage was a little early. They thought, you know, maybe maybe let him see if you can get to the bell. And I get it. It's the, the tuna thing. He's the every man. You know, maybe it's just the rub that he got before that. I personally didn't have an issue with it.

Over and over again, you're landing those shots. You could see Mike Beltran issued the warning. He didn't defend intelligently and the fight was stopped. But your response to people who thought that the stoppage might have been a little too soon. That was a lot of punches in a row in the same position. Like you said, the ref warned him and he wasn't able to get out. I mean, if they, if they would, if they would have allowed him to keep going. I was going, I think, just land a lot more punishment on him. You know, maybe like,

you know, he makes the end of the round and then Ben has the opportunity to try to land a big shot in the beginning of the second round or something before I can get him down. But he carried my weight for that entire five-minute round and absorbed, like, I don't know, a hundred punches or something. Like, I'm sure that took a lot out of them. That probably would have, you know, done some more damage to him. Might not have been good for his health if they had allowed to fight to keep going. I mean, Ben's tough, and he was kind of still trying to fight out at the end. He kind of moved around a little bit right before Belchran pushed me off.

But I mean, I didn't count there, but he took 20 or 30 unanswered punches before the stoppage. So I think most people would probably tell you that that was a fair stoppage. I agree. You get a huge win. You're now 3 and 0. You have yet to see a second round in your Bellator career. The good news about ending all these fights in the first round is that if you want to, you can turn around relatively quickly and just get back there whenever the hell you want to.

So is there, have you even thought about that at this point? I know you kind of want to save with the flavor a little bit, but have you thought about when you might want to get back in there? Because only fighting for four minutes and 35 seconds seems like a good way to bounce back pretty quickly. Yeah. Bader's fighting May 6th in Paris against Congo. And I want to get on that card.

There you go. Yeah, I've kind of, you know, talk to talk to the company and I already talk to my manager. We're going to, they seem to like me, they seem to like putting me on cards that baiters on. Paris is a long way away, but hopefully they're excited enough about me to, you know, pay for a transatlantic flight. And I can get on that card and make a little trip out of it. What if you think of that matchmaking, by the way? I know there's like a little bit of unfinished business there, but everyone wanted to see. the Bader Fador title fight.

If Fader's got one more fight, let's just throw him Bader for the title. Why not? It's right there for you. And then they went with the Congo fight. And yes, there's a story there and all that, but it seemed like a lot of people down,

at least that I saw on social media. But what do you think about it? I mean, I'm sure you don't care. Bader's fighting and defending his title. He gets to go to Paris. It's a very big deal. But is a part of you hoping that as a fan, maybe they'd go the Bader-Fador rematch route for the title?

I think that I think that we're be cool. I mean, at the same time, like, Bader can't beat Fador any better than he did the first time. You know what I mean? You know, like, like, I think, I think it would be cool. People would like it for, for them to do another one. I think they still might. But, like, first round knockout, like, I think Bader is pretty happy with the way that went. Um, he's definitely not happy as the way the last Congo fight ended, obviously. The thing is, like, I think Congo kind of quit in that fight and faked an eye poke. And he's been really vocal and talking a lot of trash to Bader since then.

I'm like, that's kind of crazy considering how the last fight went. I think I think Bader's is, like, going to kind of wrestle him into the ground. I think most people would probably agree with that. Um, but I think, uh, I think Bader is going to toast Congo and then, and then maybe we can do, uh, maybe we can do faders, uh, send off. That, see, now you're thinking. See, that's the answer that most people need to hear right there is that it's not that we can do both, right? We can have our cake and eat it too. If you want the Congo fight, you can have it. And then like four months, five months down the down the line, if he's ready to bounce back, he can go to Russia and fight fador and his final fight. Like that, what a story that would be. I do think it's really cool how they're keeping Bader busy right now. I mean, if you ask him, he'll tell you he doesn't know exactly how much longer he has left,

but it's not, it's not going to be forever. He's not going to be fighting when he's 45, you know. He's definitely in the home stretch here. And I like that they're keeping him busy, having him fight often. He still got, I mean, he just beat a young, tough Moldowski. He's still, like, he's still at the top. You know, he still got a lot left in him. So I'd love to see him get a few more in.

I was so happy with the judges from a fan and immediate perspective, because there were two fights that could have gone either way. And we've seen historically that they might have gone the other way. The Benson Henderson fight, I thought Benson Henderson won. Judges got a right. And I thought Ryan in the fifth round, those elbows were the difference maker. Like, a takedown is great. But if you don't do anything with it, the elbows, the short elbows did way more damage.

Like that should have won the round. And all three judges got that one right. So it was a pretty good night for the judges in Phoenix. Was it not? I thought so. That was a really close. That was a really close fight. I think pretty much everybody agrees it was two, two going into that fifth round.

And at the beginning of the round, I think the first couple minutes, they were striking. And I thought Bader outboxed him. And then eventually Maldowski pushed him up against the cage and took a bunch of elbows. I think a couple of them even kind of affected Maldowski's balance. And then he landed that. And I was like, all right, we're up. We're going to win. And then he landed that, like, kind of high amplitude double leg.

And I was like, I think we still won, but like, man, who knows? The whole arena was, like, holding their breath. And then, like you said, they got it right. They announced our boy in the lid about blew off that place. It was pretty cool. There we go. So what's the rest of this year look like? Just fight as often as possible and compile up those victories is, you know,

what's sort of the goal? goal you have for yourself for 2022. Man, if I could get four in in 2022, I think that would be a huge year for me. And I think fighting in January, I think that's like, that's possible. It's on the table. I mean, that's definitely pretty often. They don't, they're not like contractually obligated to fight me that often. But, um, I mean, if I'm winning fights and staying healthy and, you know, getting people

excited, I think it could happen. I think a lot of people would like to see that. Congratulations on the wind, Sally. It was good stuff. It was exactly the performance that you needed. Stole some hype at the same time and just went out there and got the job done. So hopefully we see you higher up on the card.

Hopefully we get you some competition that maybe we'll see you in a second round. Who knows? I'm curious to see what you look like at a second round. So I agree. So enjoy the win, my man. And hopefully we see you on that Paris card in May alongside with round. Ryan. Awesome. Thank you so much.

And let us say hello to Trayshon Khor. He's going to make his UFC debut February 5th, UFC Vegas 47. This was supposed to be the battle to determine who would be the season 28 winner of the ultimate fighter at 185 pounds. Injury changed plans. Brian Battle went on to submit Gilbert Urbina to win the show, but now we're getting this fight, the fight we were supposed to get. It's just going to happen six months later. So Trayshon, how are you, my man? It's good to see you. I'm good, man. How are you? I'm doing great. Man, after all the craziness on the ultimate fighter and going through the whole experience and getting the wins and earning a shot in the finals and then right before the fight, you have to withdraw due to the knee injury. How tough of a pill is that to swallow, man?

I mean, man, it sucked, bro. Like, it sucked. I mean, I had to accept it, though. I thought the UFC would wait and reschedule it for me. but, you know, they just moved on. And it was horrible, man, you know, watching them fight for my spot on the, you know, just sitting home watching from the sidelines. But at the same time, all the day was build my hunger. You know, God does everything for a reason. And part of me was questioning, like, why I didn't get the fight, but I realized that everything happens for a reason.

And when we get in that February 5th, we're going to display that we're coming to be the best. I mean, I'm sure you're watching, you get in the phone all, right? Like, oh, man, it should have been me. But as you're watching the fight play out, what's going on in your mind? Shoot, man. I was just, honestly, man, to be real, I was thankful and happy for Gilbert, you know, because he was the third Irvina brother to make it. So I was happy to see him get a shot.

I was happy for Brian, too. You know what I'm saying? Like, no hate, no shade. Like, I want more than the tough choice. championship title, you know? I want to be champion of the world. You know, like, I want to be the best. So personally, man, like, it sucks seeing it, but it's not like I wasn't happy for them guys getting to, you know, get their shot on the show and, uh, and be fighting front of the national television live in front of everybody. So that was, it was cool, man. I was happy for them boys.

But now they got it, now he got to give me what's mine. So in your mind, is this, should like the, the tough championship plaque be on the line here? Like, do you feel like, you know, as you were happy for them. You don't want to throw shade of Brian and Gilbert because, I mean, they got their opportunity and they fought, but do you feel like, is there a part of you, feels like they fought for like the interim tough title because you weren't in the fight? I mean, I can't say that because he, they both did their parts and showed up. You know, I got injury.

I had to get surgery. I'm pretty sure if I still, if I did have to get surgery, I'm pretty sure Brian still would have showed up. He would have took an L, but he would have showed up. So I can't sit up here and say, I'm pretty sure. say that would be very unhumble of me to say that, oh, they're not a tough champion. Like, you know, like, I'm not that type of person. You know what I mean?

Like, like, figure right almost. Like, like, oh, you hold my belt, all this. Like that. He was just saying some really cocky things. That's not me. But, you know, like, I respect the guy, man, but he's about to take a beating. He's about to take a beating everywhere. If he wants to try to grapple, he's taking the L.

If he wants to try to stand up, he's taking the L. I'm going to be victorious in the name of Jesus. I'm here. I'm thankful to be here. And yeah, man, I'm not going to call to do no interim champ. He wants to bring the plat, though, if he thinks that, like, you know, like, if he wants to do that after I take this W, the damn right, bring it. You know what I'm saying? I would love to put it in my gyms. I would love to put it in my gym, man. You know, I would love to have that thing as a souvenir in the gym. It'll be a real blessing. but at the same time, like the dude won, so I don't think he's going to bring it. I don't think he even is going to put it up for grabs because he knows that he, man,

he knows what time it is. If he puts that thing up for grabs, my baby boy is going to be looking at it saying, good job, dad, when he get older. So he better just keep that thing and I'm going to get UFC gold. I'm going to get UFC gold. I don't know when. I don't know how I'm going. a cut through the division, but I know I'm not going to get defeated. And I know that I'm going

to be champion. And I, and I, I, I just, I've been knowing I was going to be champion since I was a child. So I'm just ready, man. I'm ready. It's easy to say this, but man, the Lord put this things in my mind and in my heart for a long time. And I ain't nobody stopping me from getting what was on my heart and my mind. A lot, a lot to impact with what you just said. But one thing that really stood out to me was that you've been sort of manifesting becoming a champion since you were a child. When did this dream begin for you? How old were you when you thought to yourself, you know what? When I grow up, I'm going to be not just a UFC fighter, not just a professional athlete, I'm going to be a UFC champion. And I was like eight or nine. You know, I believe God

chose me for this path. I believe, uh, I know everybody every time I get interviewed, You hear guy, guy, guy, but get used to it, you know. I got passion for my Lord and Savior for a reason. And honestly, man, I can't really explain the feeling. I just remember watching WEC and watching USC and I would get butterflies. And the hair on my neck would stand up. And I never trained in the day in my life. But if you asked my mother or my grandmother, I would just be around the house,

shadow boxing. I didn't know what I was doing. I was just throwing punches in the air as hard as I could. because I knew I was like, bro, I don't even know why. Honestly, I know I just asked my mom for a weight set in a heavy bag when I was like 11 or 12. And she brought it for me and I would be out there punching it every day. My hands were black with callous right when I was going in high school. Like they were black from hitting it every day without gloves.

And I was begging her to put me in karate and all that in martial arts. but my mother had an addiction, so she had other things going on. And I still ended up finding the path. I did a little bit of time in Juvie because I didn't have much control of myself. You know, I was watching a mother that was an addict and a father that was in prison, and never in my life, never heard my dad. That's a whole other story, though. You know, like, I just, they didn't force this on me.

my uncles didn't force me to fight none of them if anything they doubt at me they told me i wouldn't make it and uh truth be told i will make it i will do everything i'm telling you to do i'm gonna do plus ten times more not because not because i'm just some big brolic guy but because the guy that is within me i will be successful you know so honestly bro it's a crazy it's a long story. That's where I'm still going on about it. I don't know why the hell I want to be the best in the world, but I've been wanting to be the greatest for a long time. And I found out the Gracia jiu-jitsu dream when I was 17 and I've been in there ever since. That's amazing. So eight, nine years old, you're watching MMA on television. W.C. I mean, the glory days, right?

The lighter weight classes, some of the greatest fights of all time, WEC. That's for some of the newer fans, they don't even know what WEC is. And then you get the UFC and the sports just continues to and grow and grow and grow. And I feel like the path you had to take, I mean, you can't take this for granted at all, right? You're getting on the at 3 and O, getting on the ultimate fighter. That's insane thinking about where this all began, right? It is. It's insane, man. But I'm not shocked because I knew I would get here. I've been to, if people, the people that follow me and that's been following me for a while, know I've been saying I'm going to be champion and know I've been saying I'm being the UFC. I would say it.

Like, I would even, in 2019, I would put World Champ 2019 because, like, that's been my goal. Like, I would hashtag World Champ 2019. I always hashtag Jesus is the greatest. I always, like, hashtag that don't, don't be shocked when I get there. Like, I've been speaking like this. This isn't new for it. I'm not just trying to say stuff for the cameras. And Brian knows that, too.

Like, he's been following me too. He's been seeing how I think and how I've moved to. And a lot of the things he's saying, he's piggybacking off my confidence. You know what I'm saying? Like, so I'm ready, man. I'm already pretty much on weight. I'm exhausted right now. I've been busting my ass.

Like, I've been busting my ass. Three days in a row, strength and conditioning. Damn near for a month. And everybody's been telling me, Trey, go your ass home, rest, rest. coaches kicking me out in the gym, but I won't have it no other way. And I am learning how to rest better, too. And come fight night, I'm going to be sharp,

I'm going to be precise, accurate, faster than all them boys. I'm going to show them I'm the best. I'm going to show them I'm the best. I'm going to show them I'm the greatest. I know I got things to work on. I may not be a perfect fighter, but I'm going to come better than what I came with Gilbert. I'm going to come more with more pressure. I'm going to come and I'm going to be more precise.

And you're just going to see. Can I ask, because you were talking about your family and everything, do you have a relationship with any, with any of your parents or your uncles, the ones that say that you're never going to make it? Do you have a close relationship with any family members right now? Me and my mom, like, we talk and I love her, but it's not the same as it was when she was sober. I mean, I got to see her sober until I was 10.

Then crack cocaine came around and, you know, I watched her deteriorate from the person that I knew and raised me. And, you know, she's been in and out of the hospital. And it just sucks to see a person that you love slowly die. And every time you bring up that you need to get help, she gets mad at me. But I hate crying like a little pussy, man. But I'm freaking good, man. I just honestly, like, when I become champion, I'm putting my mom in Santa Monica,

the best rehab facility in the world. And with my uncles, they, you know, I remember one of them telling me, you need to go get a job. This fighting ain't going to pared out. The white boys going to beat your ass. But, you know, I come from the hood, like, so that's how they kind of talk, you know. They think M.MA is just a white boy sport.

At the time it was, you know. And I was like, man, like, but I'm going to be the best. And they were just like, you need to go get you a job for the city and all this and wanted me to just settle down. But I did the opposite. I came here by myself with $900 on the Greyhound bus, the train for one of my amateur fights. And I won that fight in the first round. And then I ended up coming back with my wife with $600 in my pocket. And we lived in extended state hotels.

And we lived in places that were other people would have quit and went back. You know, we slept in our car. I remember waking up in Walmart parking lot, car full of fog, windows fogged up from our breath and just seeing ourselves breathing. Like we had a couple bucks to go get a couple blankets. and we had like maybe two or three blankets covered up, but still freezing in 25-degree weather. And I told my wife to go ahead and leave and go back,

but she wouldn't leave me. I told her, let me just stay in, just leave me in this parking lot, and I'm going to make something with it. And I meant it. If I had to sleep on that concrete, you know, I know my dreams were going to come true. That's how much I believe.

so I have a little bit of relationships with them now now I'm made to the UFC they're my biggest fan because like Derek Lewis even talked about this after his last fight he was talking about the pressures of fighting in Houston he even said like he had family members reaching out to him saying basically talking trash about him saying he was going to lose and after he lost like they they hit him up and we're like giving a bunch of crap about losing so especially as a professional athlete like these things are going to happen

And then when he wins, he was talking about all he's got new cousins and new uncles. People he never knew in his whole life. Crabs in a barrel, man. You know, crabs in a barrel mentality. Like us as brothers like, and I mean brothers with black skin, sometimes, you know, when we leave the hood, the better ourselves. Sometimes you got people that don't like that. They want to hate. They want to say bad things about us.

They want us to fail because we're doing things that they can't do. all of Derek's Lewis cousins that said all that shit about him could not do what he's doing they could not go in there and be have the number one uh the most knockouts in heavyweight history so they could talk all the shit they won't but ultimately they couldn't do what derrick's doing and uh that's why they hate and i'm pretty sure they reached out to Derek for money and Derek said nah you know like like me i'm learning to say no like my little bit first a little bit of money bro i gave i gave i like i thought i was thing on Oprah. You get one.

You get one. But you can't do that. You have to save and you have to be smart. Put away for real estate. Put away for rainy days. You know, Brian O'clock told me best, he was like, man, you got to have a safety nest for your family. You got to have at least 25, 30, 40K put away just for them. But I didn't know none of that, man. I just splurged a little bit. I feel like guys like Brian, like James Krause, I feel like we're starting to see that because, I mean, you watch it early on, WBC, UFC, UFC back, you know, 18, 19 years ago when the sport was just starting to take off. People just thought fighters are a bunch of idiots, just like a bunch of bouncers getting in the cage and punching each other in the face.

And now you realize that for the casual audience, but like a lot of people who have been on the sport. The boxing world thinks that we're not nothing. They think that, oh, like, we all fight like Tyrone Woodley and all that. No, Tyrone Woodley is 40. He's been on the decline. And truth we told he was never really a technician in there in the first place. Me, I'm a technician. And I'm going to be the best combat sports athlete that ever existed, not just in the UFC.

But I'm going to, man, you'll see. I mean, I could talk and talk and talk and talk, but until I don't. do it's just tough but that's my goal i want to be the best combat sports i want to be the best fighter on the planet fighter not ufc fighter and i and i and i want to collect not just one belt but three belts in the ufc so that's my belts yes so 85 what 70 and 205 this is the three you're looking at yes yes damn man i like it i like the uh the aspirations i'm going to do it with god on my side man Can I ask, I know you mentioned it and you said, you know, you're going to say God and get used to it. When did your spirituality really start to come out to you?

Like when did you, when did this relationship with God starts and really get strong for you? My great grandmother Elizabeth Bellamy, God bless the dead. And she ain't dead. She's still here with me in spirit. my grandma nana she taught me everything i know about jesus she taught me to call on jesus name when i'm down and to the people that watch this um if you feel any depression and anxiety and and feel suicidal the world would be so much the world would not be the same without you are you a special and if you feel pain i would like for you to get on your knees and call out to the name of jesus and

talk to him, have a conversation with him, just because you can't see God in person, doesn't mean he's not there. I pray for anybody that's going through something that's watching this. I pray that peace fills your mind. And, yeah, man, I picked up talking to God really when I was, I've been saying my prayers every night since I was like seven or eight. I was taught out by my other grandma, my grandmother, my grandma Elizabeth's daughter. She taught me how to say my prayers every night.

night to the point I was telling my my granddad that was bedridden I was te I was telling him to say his prayer like I would literally get on my knees to say our father which art in heaven hollowed beyond and my my grandfather who was bedridden at the time would copy what I would say and we would say that every night and uh yeah I've been saying it every night to the point now my wife says it every night with me and this ain't nothing new man I've been believing in God but I really took off believing in God when I got out of Juvie when I was 17. That's when I really jumped into like believing and praying and like harder than ever. And I freaking, I progress very fast in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I was tapping out brown belts or actually black belts in a,

in Naga tournaments when I was like, well, actually I tap one. I'm not going to say black belts, but I tapped one when I was like a, I think a three-strike white belt with an Achilles lock in a Naga tournament. And after that, my coach was like, you know what, man, you're just freaking vicious. Because I went up, I went up a weight class. Yeah, I went up weight classes in something called Absolute where you compete against all different types of levels. I went against a judo brown belt.

I went against this guy that was a black belt. I went against this other guy that was a wrestler. and man, I dominated all of them. And I was, I just had started. And my coach was like, man, you know what? You just freaking vicious. You know what? That's what I'm going to call you, Mr. Vicious.

And that's what a nickname come from. Absolute. So Carolinas, right? Yes, sir. South Carolina, a little river, South Carolina. Okay. That's where I am right now, too, in South Carolina. Okay, you're in a place.

Yeah, yeah. I love it down here, man. I just moved from Massachusetts. What part? I'm in Bluffton. So I'm like, I'm low. I'm in the low. I'm in the low country.

You're in the country, cows in lakes. Yeah. I mean, stuff. Why go down and, you know, visit Cherry Grove and visit, go to North Carolina and visit a freaking, well, there's a sort of I go to North Carolina for fishing all the time, man. And it's called, I can't think of it right now. But I'm pretty sure I think of it whenever the interview. That's what always happens, right?

Right when we need it? We need it. We don't have it, but then we hit it up a few, a little bit later. It's called Sunset Beach. Sunset in North Carolina? Yeah, man. It's, you know, the beach is there. And you can also go to Cherry Grove.

Just hit the beach up, man. It's getting warmer out, you know. You look like Dana's twin right now. You need a little bit of the thing. I need a little sunshine, you know? Yeah, man, but you're good, brother. I can talk about reflection right now. There are so many people who are going to love what you just said right now.

I'm just messing with you, man. Oh, no, I know. It's so, no, it's hilarious. I seriously get it all the time. Like, when I get mad and start talking to Boston, I get the Dana White head wrinkles, too. Like, they pop up when I get all fired up. So then I really look like them.

Maybe all are distant cousins. Yeah, I just got to wait until Friday and put, like, 20 burger patties in between, like three glazed donuts. If he interviewed, if you interviewed him or he, like people wouldn't be able to tell which one is the interview, which one is, you know what I mean?

Someday, someday. I want that, I want that one on one. I want that one on prayer and to keep doing what you're doing. I appreciate that. So I saw, going back to the fight, you train with Felima brothers quite often.

And I mean, dude, I mean, that is a lot of knowledge and wisdom coming out of that room because both those guys, they have been in the grind for a long time. One's in the UFC. One's in Belator.

One was just recently, not too long ago, a world champion in Belator. What has that been like? Again. Yeah, what did you think of the MVP fight? I think, like, honestly, man, like, I know, I know Diego, Douglas is better than what he showed in that fight. And he's coming back. He's going to put that belt around his baby boy's waist. and he will be champion again.

And he may be going to the UFC to make some noise there. I don't say out. Hey, I didn't say I, you didn't hear that for me. What? As far as Diego, man, like, he's about to fight for his career here in, what, April? I mean, he beat the brakes off this guy. This guy was undefeated and coming off two losses. And they're just looking past him,

think Diego's a step over because he fought. Matt Brown and lost to Matt Brown. But like, even if he, like, was the rematch Matt Brown, we would get that left hand back up and he would keep marching forward and get that W. Diego is the most determined person that I know. He took that L and came back in that smiling like, man, stuff happens. I'm gonna be all right.

I'm gonna stay in the USC. That man is the most inspirational person I know, really. How important has just being around those guys and some of the other just mind mindful individuals in that gym. How important has that been for your developments just to be able to lean on those guys if you need to ask a question or just just need a little something something from those guys because they've seen it all at this point. Man, that thing has been so, man, it's been so big having them in my corner. But they, like I've said

it a million times, those boys taught me more than just been about been a fighter, but they've taught me how to be a great family man. They taught me how to put God first better. They taught me how to be humbled. I remember this kid walked in the gym and asked Douglas. He was like, hey man, do you fight? And Douglas was world champion at the time. Douglas just walks by and said a little bit and just walks by. I'm like, bro, like, kids, you don't know who you just talk to. And I'm just sitting here thinking like, man, that's how I want to be. And yeah, man, those guys taught me a ton, bro, not just in fighting. But they have taught me a ton and fighting too, what you're going to see.

If Brian tries to pressure and all that, man, like he's going to run into something. If he tries to move, I'm cutting a ring off smart, Swift, technically. If he tries to grab me, he's going to realize I'm a brown beltman doing this for 10 years.

So I'm not really worried as far as the fight goes either. Not that you need, I mean, certainly doesn't seem like you need a lot of extra motivation heading into this fight, but this will be the first official fight for you as a dad, right?

Nah, because when I left the ultimate fighter, my son, when I left to go to the ultimate fighter, it was the most painful day of my life because my son was a month old. That's right. That was hard. Getting on a plane, leaving and going to Vegas. I never came to Vegas before that. I never even left.

man I had only been a South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. That's only three places I had been. And then I was taking, and that was my first time riding the plane to. And then I get there, and I get to this fancy hotel, and, like, they end up taking my phone

and cut off all access from my family. It put me in a real hostile mindset. And that was very, very hard. Because just, like, when you have a little cute, cuddly baby, you just want to be there for them and hold them and help your, your wife like I'm not my dad I'm not about to not be for my son I'm I'm I'm like I want to I want to be there for every moment but I can't and it sucks but it's part of the game yeah

what a crazy time that must have been and just being in that house not knowing what's happening and like some fighters grew tremendously from that others like use it as a chip on their shoulders and obviously having that motivation there but now you're home like you can see them you can call them face time right before the fight now so now you have all You've got to have all this extra motivation. Like how much is being a dad now that you're off the show and getting ready for this fight, how much has that changed you as an athlete? Not only will I be the greatest, but my son is going to be the greatest at whatever he pursues.

Whether it be football, basketball, being a comedian, whatever the heck he wants to do. He's going to be the best at it. He's going to see Daddy collect world titles. He's going to see many shiny heavy belts that Daddy wins by the grace of God. And I'm talking like this, man, because I'm declaring my faith. This is what faith is all about. You know what I'm saying? Having faith the size of a mustard seed.

And also, my faith is bigger than a mustard seed. And just believing, man, I believe. And honestly, I put no doubts in my Lord and Savior and no limits. So, I mean, I'm just ready, man. I'm ready. I'm very inspired having my baby looking at me and stuff like, like, Daddy, where's the food at? You know, like when he looks up,

at me bro, like, and calls me dad-dad, smile at me and all that. It's the best feeling I've ever felt in my life. And let's not forget my wife, being super supportive and by my side and like, like just the most loving, most incredible mother that that's out there, bro. Like, it's like she's had kids, like other kids before, but this is her first kid. She's just a natural and everything she does. Without her, I wouldn't be here. Amazing. So how do we set the table for these big, huge goals? You want to be a three division champion. You want to get there before Henry Soudo gets there. I love the gusto. How do we get this ball rolling on February 5th against Brian Battle? How do we get this thing done?

Man, I'm going against a game opponent. The guy is a good fighter. He's tough. He's gritty. He tries that he has different styles, which I've seen every style he has. He tries to get in people's face sometime. Of course, people's face. don't thump like me. You know what I'm saying? I've seen him getting in people's face that don't got my power. I've seen him move and maneuver around the ring. I've seen him try to grapple.

So I know the stoutousity's coming with. I've seen him kick. I know how to kick too, though. I've seen everything he knows how to do and I'm not looking past him, but I'm looking through him. So the next thing that I have to do is just go in there and just be smart

then I ain't going to tell you everything I'm a do, but I'm fast, man. I'm fast as hell. I'm starting to realize like, damn, man, when I go, when I spar people, they don't expect it. When I grab people, they don't expect it. And he's going to be the same as all my other opponents. He's taking this L. I'm pretty much five and though if you count my fights from the show. But truth be told, like, I was sloppy compared to where I want to be.

You know, like, I want to be so much. much better, bro, than what I showed in the Ultimate Fighter. I go hard on myself every day. And it's depressing because all that sacrifice are coming here, bro. Like, I just, I don't know, man. I don't want to be average in any way. I want to knock out Jake Paul. I want to knock out Canelo.

I respect Jake Paul for bringing money and attention to the sport of boxing. But it's like, like, fight a young man. me. But at the end of the day, we ain't going to talk about him because we got Brian ahead of us. You know what I'm saying? In two weeks, he's no pussy. He's nobody to look past, and I'm definitely not looking past him. But like I said, I'm looking through him. I'm going to be victorious in the name of Jesus. Watch God work. Keep watching God work in my life. None of them going to come close. And at end of the day, I've just got to go in there and display that and I got to show that, and I will.

I'm going to be just as calm as I am now in that fight. You're not going to see no, oh, my God. You're not going to see me freaking out in there, bro. You're going to see me poised and relaxed until my time comes until I find that shot to either put him away or you're going to see me beating the breaks off of him. You know what I'm saying? Either on the ground or on the feet. I will be victorious. man i mean if anybody knows probably if anyone's pictured getting in that octagon it's i mean you

might have pictured it more than anybody 19 20 years you've been thinking about this here we are you're going to get walk into that octagon for the very first time in a less than a little over a week's time as we talk right now can i just ask you one thing about jake paul nothing about boxing or fighting or anything but this the third time i'm getting into apex uh octagon that's true now you got people now you got 100 100 plus people you all have a crowd sharing for you and stuff feel a little bit of a different experience. Let's go. Can I just ask what your thoughts about Jake Paul,

not as a fighter or a boxer or anything like that, but the guy who's standing up essentially for mixed martial arts, he's trying to get you guys paid. He says he believes in it. This is something he wants to do. Just surfaced that he put a whole bunch of money into the endeavor stock because he wants to be able to change fighter pay within. He wants to make sure you guys are getting paid.

Do you believe him? Do you think he's trying to do this for you guys? or do you think he's trying to get attention on himself? I mean, it's both. The guy wants attention for itself, but at the same time, he's damn right. I mean, it's a damn, like, like, man, I like Danny. He's a good guy.

You know, he's business. He's all about business and stuff. But truth be told you, damn right, we deserve more money. You look around and you see these boxers that are low-tier boxers getting like $2 million checks, million-dollar checks. And we're going into sacrificing our fucking life. and we're getting way less than that. Brandon Moreno and Figaro got paid like 200,000, 300,000,

maybe 400,000 at the most. Inganu and them got paid like 600,000. And you would think that would be a million-dollar fight. And now they're trying to sue in Gondu for talking to Jake Paul's, which Jake Paul would be an idiot to fight in Gano. And they're trying to sue the dude for trying to make more money. Like, it's like they just try to own you, on your brand and own everything about you and don't want to pay. But at the same time, it's like fighters got to take it because you want to be there or you don't.

So it's like we got to take the pay. But honestly, man, I'm breaking the bank when I get there. They ain't got to have to take that checkbook out. Same way he did for Connor. But even in a big way for me because my kids' kids got to eat. You know what, God will provide for me like that. We're not going to just be blessed here. We're not going to just be rich.

We're going to become wealthy through this. I got to say, I am blown away, I mean, by a lot of the stuff we talked about, but what France and Gano has been doing is just awe-inspiring. We haven't seen anything like this in MMA, especially in the UFC. We've seen fighters, like, get loud and talk about what Francis and Gano is doing right now, everything he had to go through to go into that fight and then get a win on one leg. And now, now look at the power he has, the potential power he has. Maybe it leads to nothing.

But it's amazing. He did exactly what I did on the show. I was on one leg, too. And freaking, in Ghanu, bro, is definitely, like, somebody I look up to, you know, like, for all powerful Africans. You know, because, let's be real, all black people are African. You know, like, we just don't know what, I don't know what country I originate from. but I know that we are African-Americans. So that's one thing that me and Angan,

easy and Kamaru have in common. It's our African heritage. But I will say this, man, that guy is something else. He's special. He showed that he can grapple. He showed that he has sharpening his stand-up up. And he just took his time in there. He was patient against a guy that is a good pressure fighter

against a guy that has good kicks. So yeah, man, I'm very impressed with what Inganu was done. They took off, he took like two losses, two, three losses, and then came back and they did what he did. I mean, I can't even freaking say anything bad about Inganu. The man. He's the absolute man right now. And you have your chance to etch your name in that book as well.

February 5th, taking on Brian Battle, the fight we were supposed to see six months ago. Now we're going to see it at UFC Vegas 47. Trashon. I got like 5 million more questions for you. but I got to let you go. The story will continue on because I'm sure you're going to be doing a bunch of these. You can ask away, bro, because honestly, you can ask me a couple more questions because I'm enjoying this. I want the people to know what I've been having on my mind.

And I'm glad that you are giving me this platform. I'll thank you for doing this and giving me a shot to talk on your show. And I'm thankful, bro. I'm very thankful. And, man, I'm just ready to just show everything. everybody, bro, that I'm different in that, like, I want everything I've been praying for, I've been watching it just manifest. I literally just been watching my prayers get answered one by one by one. And, man, if you don't know Jesus, man, get to know him, bro. Because truth be

told, it's the best person that I haven't met in my life. And I ain't never met him in person. I never shook his hand but i can feel him bro and uh y'all are gonna y'all are gonna fill his spirit with me when i fight i'm not stepping there by myself i never do and uh i just pray god uses me for his glory to go in there in absolute not just win but dominate everywhere and get that knockout i just pray the lord uses me to go in there and just be my best and that's what i'm going to do that's what i'm going to do just watch god work man don't be shocked when they say, and new at 85, and new at 70, and new when I beat Glover or whoever is champion at the time.

I'm not looking past nobody. I'm not looking past Brian. I'm not, but this has always been my goal. Brian knows that, which is why it offends me that he talks all, oh, yeah, dude's going to milk and all this, that, and the third, and a second, like, bro, stop talking out your ass. Because never in that one fight have you seen me break, But we have seen him break.

You know what I'm saying? We have almost seen his arm get broke. We have seen him knocked out. You know, like, so let's not go there about me breaking or, or, I'm not Andre, not anybody that's ever fault. You know, and that's no disrespect to Andre, but I'm not, I'm not them boys. Like, like, and even me saying how he took ills, like, like, Lord forgive me, because I'm not trying to be some cocky asshole. The only reason he brought that out of me that mean comment is because he's being a dick with his little interviews,

talking all big and bad, you know, which he's supposed to have confidence, but don't, don't, like, don't talk down on me and say I'm not, like, pretty much I'm not shit and sleep on me and sleep on what I am as a fighter. That's what I feel like he's done in one of his interviews I saw, and I was like, damn, I show this dude all this love, and he says this about me.

So, no more love, no more love. no more love I'll love him after what's going to happen that he's going to wake up with a flashlight in his face and be proud for him and his well-being he's going to heal up he's going to heal up and I'm all fired up for this fight I'm jacked up for you getting me all fired up bro you're fired up I'm ready to fucking get in there bro

and back up what I'm saying and at the end of the day I'm going to take my time and be precise and accurate and fast and technical. And at the end of the day, bro, I'm just ready to go do it. I'm ready to go do it.

I got to do it. I got to do it. I got to do it. I got to do it. And I will. I will. I'm not looking past that guy, but I'm looking through him.

I say it down. I say it a million times. And I love seeing his little cute baby, man. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm happy for him. And when he takes this L, he's going to go back. And he's going to have his little baby in his arm.

He's going to be like, man, you know what? This is all that count. At least I still got my baby boy. At least I still got my plaque over there to look at. So he's taking this L though. He is taking this L. So that's all it is to it, man. That's all it is to do it.

Jesus is with me, baby. Jesus is with me. Y'all going to see Philippians 413 on my chest when I go in there, tattooing and ingrained on my chest. I got Jesus when he got the day. crucified between two criminals on my chest. Y'all are going to see that. And y'all are going to see him in there with me and get me through this victorious. Just watch God work. I'd ask one more question because I have a feeling this is going to be kind of a loaded answer.

And if you don't want to share, I totally get it. I'll be giving you all these long answers too, bro. Oh, no, dude. This is, this is why I'm, this is a dream right now. This is a dream come true. Just you're guiding everything. This is nice. Can I ask what, what happened? that got you into Juvie because, I mean, obviously it was a very huge thing for you because you getting, I mean, you always were saying your prayers and everything, but this relationship you have with your spirituality and with God now pretty much stemmed from that. So it must have been a huge lesson you learned getting in. And, you know, once you got out, what got you in and then what kind of triggered this change in you? What got me in is I had no respect for my parents.

And I fight every day. Like, I had the bad kids calling me bad. You know, like, bad kids that had just got suspended. Boy, you bad, you bad. And I'm like, dude, you just got suspended too. Like, I went to an alternative school and kept fighting, kept fighting. I had a saw and batteries on my record by the age of 15, 16, because I was fighting every day.

And I had distribution charges because I was selling pills and weed in school. And I ended up getting in trouble for that. And then when I got in trouble, I kept fighting because people, like, people were like, I thought I got locked up. I had to keep fighting because people wanted to try me. So I beat Samazas and Dan had to stay longer. And then when I got out, this whole time I'm in now, I'm sitting there praying, like, God, like, when I get out, like, I pray through set the path for me. Like, because I had got the wrestle just a little tiny bit before I went in and, like, it's like freaking my hunger just. built in there, built in there, built in there. I was like 14 and 15, and I wrote down on my

journal that I'm going to be the greatest day ever was, the greatest day ever is, and the greatest day ever will be. Right here on the Bible, bro, I cross, I, I cry, I put, man, I promise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, this is a fact. I ripped down on my journal and I'm going to be the best day ever was when I was a kid, and I didn't even start training you. But I just had, Like I said, them butterflies, man, that itch, that desire to just be the best. And when I got out and started training, it's like things came. I got my ass beat the first couple times going with a pro, you know, an older dude that had me by like six, seven years that was already established,

beating everybody's ass in the gym. And he got me. He got me until I learned the game. Then I started getting him. And, man, I ended up getting him. and kicked out of my old gym because I was hurt people by accident, days in people. I remember I popped the guy's rib out while we was grappling because I just squeezed them a little too hard.

Like, I just, like, didn't know my own strength. And I was a 20-year-old training for like three years with him, and I was like a 20-year-old did not know his own strength. He would always be like, oh, man, stop using so much power when you roll and all this, this flow roll. And I would try, but it's like I can't not use my strength. I was a kid, I didn't know it. Now I know how to.

But yeah, man, that's pretty much it in a nutshell. I was mad. I was trying to show my mom that I could rebel too. I was trying to show her that I could rebel too. I was trying to show her that I could smoke weed and get hot to. And I was also, you know, crying out for attention from my father. Hey, bro, I know how to sell drugs too, you know. And it's like, I never got it.

I was born on this birthday, and I never got a birthday present from him. But it's okay because my son's not going to have to live like that. And right now he's back in prison again. Probably not going to get out. And I got caught with like 300 rounds of down cocaine, 100 grams of heroin, three illegal guns. Like, it's like, bro, when are you going to learn? You're like 50 something. Damn.

So at the end of the day, man, I feel like I'm overcoming generational curses by even being a married man and trying to stay focusing my gym and even having these dreams. My grandma before she died, bro, she saw something in me. She saw something in me. They said, like, man, that man, they think I'm an anointed. My family thinks I have an anointing on me. And a lot of people actually think I have an anointing on my life, which I'm not going to speak on them. but yeah.

Seems like, yeah, it seems like this is where you were meant to be. February 5th, you and that octagon is where you're supposed to be on February 5th. I believe it. Yeah, we look forward to it, man. Thank you so much for all the time. It didn't even seem like we were talking for 45 minutes. It seemed like we're talking for like 12 minutes, man. How are we going to talk about wrong, bro?

Yeah, swear to God, maybe more than that, because you jumped on early, which I appreciate. You jumped on early. Interviews at 3.30. You're on 32. Much appreciate. Yeah, cool, man. Yeah, cool, bro. And also, like, you interview and all these fighters,

but sometimes interview yourself, man, and, like, sit down and talk to yourself and, like, just, I'm not trying to do this for the camera, bro. This is me. You can ask anybody around. I got a, my last video on Instagram was motivational video. I love to inspire people, bro, like, you got a great demeanor, man,

but I feel like sometimes you're so worked up, and you work so much, and you go so hard. Sometimes you find yourself burned out or a little depressed every now and then, bro, don't allow that to happen man like you you need to sometimes go in that bathroom and chill ignore calls i mean because bro like you're gonna be your own boss in big bigger ways than what you see right now you're gonna be the area area of the sport you need to go right down your vision and

make it plain and you need to just keep believing and stay prayed up man you know but you're gonna do this you're gonna be greater than what you are now you already are great and i just want you with this conversation man to just keep your head up bro and don't get burned out the interview and all these other people, man, but you got your own life too. You got your own family too. So ultimately, man, sometimes relax and talk to God, man, when you need it.

And don't think he not listening to you because he hears you loud and clear. He sees the tears you share with nobody else can see it. So please just do me a favor, man, and just keep your head up and sometimes learn to take a break and just take a breather, man, and get you some water and chill for a second. Like I like rear heads at.

I like rear heads at a lot. I actually, right after this, I got to go coach my kids basketball game. So it doesn't stop, man. The grind never stops, Trayshan. You don't have no breaks, bro. And, like, that's what God put in my spirit to tell you that you just need to, you need to freaking, like, relax a little bit, man. Like, you got your own life, too, bro.

Like, that stuff will burn you out, man, have you freaking not wanting to live. Like, and people are not hearing, seeing those inside thoughts that you have. They just see the smile on the outside, but they don't feel the pain that you feel. Like, so I'm not saying you're depressed. and that you're in a bad place, but I guess don't allow yourself to get there by getting burned out, bro. Like, relax. You deserve a break sometimes, dude. There's nothing wrong with it. I appreciate that. I am going to tell my bosses exactly what you said. How about that? How about that? Trayshon approved. Trayshon approved. Tell them, bro. Seriously. Don't let them burn you out because

they're your boss is now for now, but soon you're going to be your own fucking boss. I appreciate that, man. All the best to you. The rest of this. Camp. All the best to you on Fight Week, and we'll see you next Saturday inside that Octagon, man. Looking forward to it. Man, by the way, shout out to Bullie X. Kennell. Shout out to Ferguson law firm. Shout out to Triad Mechanical, baby. Shout out to Barb Orthopedics. And shout out to, I don't know if I said it or not, bully X. Kenilts. And, man, I had to get a shout out to the squad, because without them, like, man, things wouldn't be going as smooth as they are. Thank you, Barbara, for doing that surgery for me.

Thank you, Baxter, Tri-Ever-Kennel for, like, being by my side ever since we got here. Thank you, bully, ass kennels for my boy, Jacks, who's an ex-scale bully, worked down there, $10,000, $15,000. Like, man, I'm freaking grateful. Thank you, my brother, Jason Ferguson, law firm, for being by my side and sticking by me through thick and thin. and I just want to say thank you, man, to my whole, I don't know if you can still hear me. Can you still hear me? I can hear you. I just want to give a shout out, man, to my whole team, American top team and Team Lima.

I wouldn't be where I'm at without American top team team Lima. And soon we're going to be just as big as the partner, the gentleman coconut creek, Florida. And we're going to be bigger than Abercrac. They all are going to be coming from the line the world to train with us. So thank you for your time, brother. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Getting ready for a game means being ready for anything. Like packing a spare stick.

I like to be prepared. That's why I remember 988, Canada's suicide crisis helpline. It's good to know, just in case. Anyone can call or text for free confidential support from a train responder anytime. 988 suicide crisis helpline is funded by the government in Canada.