MMA Fighting - We Got Next | Vanessa Demopoulos, Victor Henry, Matt Frevola & Pat Downey

Episode Date: January 27, 2022

UFC strawweight Vanessa Demopoulos had an unforgettable night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. this past Saturday. Demopoulos (5:08) kicks off this week's edition of We Got Next to recap her comeback submission win against Silvana Gomez Juarez at UFC 270, talks getting rocked early and not remembering a pocket of time in the fight, what went through her mind when she got the tap, her memorable post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, her decision to quit exotic dancing prior to the bout, and more. Pat Downey (31:04) discusses officially making the transition to MMA and signing with Bellator, if there were any other suitors before coming to that decision, wanting a wrestling or grappling match with Khamzat Chimaev, if he thinks Jordan Borroughs will fight in MMA, and his plans to debut sooner rather than later. Matt Frevola (48:47) recaps his crazy first-round TKO win over Genaro Valdez at UFC 270, talks his belief he should have the most knockdowns in a round record by himself, why he had no issue with Mike Beltran's stoppage, not getting a bonus and what he said to Sean Shelby after the event, and officially hitting the free agent market. Finally, Victor Henry (1:09:28) discusses his upset victory over Raoni Barcelos at UFC 270 in his promotional debut, if the fight played out the way he expected it to, being a massive underdog, his message to the media about being more well-versed outside of the UFC, Joe Rogan giving him some shine after the win. and when he hopes to return to the octagon. 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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I don't even know how to answer that question. Allison after Nexium from CBC's Uncover is available now on Spotify. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. To a brand new edition of We Got Next here on MMAFighting.com. I am Mike Heck, another loaded show this week, and I'm not going to talk for very long. I'm just not going to because we have four interviews to get to,

and UFC 270 is in the books. What an event that was. Francis Gano is a hero, and I'll leave it at that. I will say this. If you have not watched the interview yet between Ariel Hawani and Francis Ngano, it is a must listen. You need to go stop what you're doing.

You can even stop listening to the show. And go listen and watch that interview because it is unbelievable. What Francis and Gano is doing right now is unprecedented and everyone should be tipping their caps to stand. The UFC heavyweight champion in the world taking a stand. Unfortunately, he needs knee surgery. So he's going to be out for a little while, but this is the most interesting story in the spore right now.

Absolutely unequivocally, the most interesting story in the sport right now is what's going to happen with Francis Ngano and the UFC. So we'll keep our eyes on that. We will be talking UFC 270 on the show. Let's run down the lineup, get to the interviews, and then that's the last you're going to hear from you outside of asking the fighter's questions. So I'm very excited about that. There's chaos in my house right now, but we're going to run down the lineup right now. we're going to talk to Victor Henry. What a performance

he had at UFC 270 pulled up a massive upset victory against Hione Barcelos and it was just a massive win. And for those who have been following Victor Henry for a long time like myself, the betting odds

were pretty wide and a lot wider than they should have been. Victor Henry proved a lot of people wrong and busted a whole bunch of parlays and even got his own Instagram post about him from Joe Rogan. Like Joe Rogan took time out of his day and did an Instagram post, not about Francis and Gano, not about Davis and Figurato, but about Victor Henry.

And I thought that was pretty cool. So we'll talk to him coming up a little bit later on. We will talk to one of the big, another big winner from UFC 270, Matt Frivolta. What a crazy fight he had with Gennaro Valdez. It was a wild crazy fight. Vrvola knocked him down four times in the first round, tied a record, which in my opinion was way off. I thought he broke the record. He had at least five, maybe even six knockdowns in that fight. So he deserves to be in that record book all by himself. So we'll ask him about that.

He is also a free agent. That was the last fight on his deal. The UFC has not resigned him, at least by the time this drops. And he could be an interesting, an interesting guy at 155 pounds for it. Maybe the UFC, maybe for Bellator, maybe for one championship, maybe for Ryzen. Matt wants to stay with the UFC, but there's some options out there for him and kind of getting the vibe just by the conversation we had and the body language and stuff. He'd like to stay with the UFC, but if someone else came along with a really good offer, I don't think he'd hesitate. And you'll kind of hear why throughout the conversation, but really good stuff from Matt Fervola. Pat Downey will join us, one of the most credentialed amateur wrestlers that you will find. he is making the transition to MMA and it is official now because he has signed with Bellator

MMA he's going to compete in their middleweight division and he plans to make that debut very very quickly so we'll hear from Pat Downey he's I'm sure all of you know his story by now pretty controversial figure in the in the wrestling world but now he's transitioning to MMA and I actually think it's a perfect fit for him and he'll hear in the conversation but first we get to start things off with maybe the fighter who's Rock rose the absolute most this past Saturday at UFC 270, not just because of her performance, but because of her post-fight interview, because of everything that happened with their media scrum, everything.

It was an A-plus performance for one Vanessa Demopoulos, and you'll hear from her coming up next. No UFC this weekend. Bellator, however, is back their first event of the year. Bellator 273, Jose Young's, in the house, in Phoenix. We'll have all your coverage of that event. Of course, Ryan Bader versus Valentin Moldovsky for the Bellator Heavyweight title. That title will be unified. Benson Henderson, Isamamamadoff is the co-main event.

It's actually a pretty darn good card. So make sure you check it out. That is going down this Saturday at the Footprint Center. Footprint. There you go. My footprint center in Phoenix, Arizona. Vanessa Demopolis is coming up next. Have a great rest of the week, everybody.

This is we got next. That's annoying. What? You're a muffler. You don't hear? Oh, I don't even notice it. I usually drown it out with the radio. How's this?

Oh, yeah, way better. Save on insurance by switching to Bel Air Direct and use the money to fix your car. Bel Air Direct, insurance, simplified. Conditions apply. It was quite a night for Vanessa Domopolis this past Saturday at UFC 270. It was her first UFC win, first UFC finish,

first UFC bonus, and the first time that I can remember, a fighter jumping into the hulking arms of Joe Rogan, a night of first for Vanessa DiMopoulos, who joins us just a mere hours after her big win over Silvana Gomez-Hawres at UFC 270. Vanessa, how are you? I'm amazing. I'm awesome. I'm so excited.

I'm so happy. And I'm like, yeah, really pumped. So you are. Did that like encompass excited? I'm excited. Yes. Well, I mean, clearly after a win like that and a performance like that and everything that has that has happened, have you come down from cloud nine? at all yet because that was certainly one of the more memorable showings of the entire night on

Saturday. I don't know if there's like ever a time where I'm really like down like this is pretty much like my even keel. So like yeah, but we're just like elevated two notches. So no, I don't want to come down. Can I stay up here? You can say up there as long as you want. I mean, after that, enjoy it.

Relish the flavor. Like a lot of fighters, it's just on to the next thing. But right now I think it's okay to smell the roses every once in a while. especially after a night like that. Right. Oh my goodness. Absolutely. And I'm going to do exactly that.

So on our post-fight show on M-A fighting, I awarded you the inaugural Chris Beast Boy Barnett, get yourself over award to you because you had, in my opinion, like a Chris Barnett type of night. UFC 28 at MSG was a huge night. But Chris Barnett on the prelims has the crazy knockout, has the great promo, and then tells great stories of the post-fight press conference.

He had an A-plus night. and you had an A plus night. You get dropped. You battle adversity. You get a slick submission. A plus celebration. A plus post fight interview. A plus scrum with the media afterwards.

Has social media, your phone, everything just exploded since Saturday because that's typically what happens when everything just comes together like that from all different angles. Yeah. Actually, it did. And I'm very big on boundaries. You know, and thank goodness I've learned my lesson on boundaries in the past. So I literally like took my phone and basically chucked it for half of the day. Because the people that were there with me, like in person, that was my value.

You know, like my friends, my family, my teammates. And that was my value. So like I really spent time with them. And then by the time I opened up my phone, I like, I couldn't believe how many text messages, how many messages on Instagram, how many new followers I had. Like, yeah, it's really crazy, exciting, a little bit overwhelmed. But I just sat down and I went through and I responded to absolutely everybody that I could because I really love it. Like I really love like you dream of these moments, you know, like I'm not going to let them pass by.

So yeah, that was cool. It's so freaking cool. May I ask about why you felt the value in boundaries and because MMA in particular is a super interesting sport. And Jason House, who is actually your manager, put out a post the other day, which I thought was super interesting. And it was about Brandon Moreno's fight. He said after Brandon won the title, it took him three days to respond to all the text and all the messages. But after Saturday night and the lawsuit, it took them like three minutes to respond to everybody because that's how the sport can be. Is that similar in terms of the boundaries and what you mean by that?

Absolutely, man. Because to be honest, like the important things are the important things. you know, and if you're winning, everybody's on it. You know, everybody wants to reach out and congratulate. And when you're not on it, it's like people still come to console. But yeah, the numbers are significantly different. And for me, it's more important for me to give that attention of myself to the people who are truly there for me, no matter what, win or lose, the people that were in that arena with me,

they would have been there to be with me in celebration if things went the other direction. You know, so that's where I wanted my value to lie. and that's where I spent my time initially. You know, now I'm back on social media again. But yeah, you got to keep the important things, the important things, and never lose sight of that because it's really easy to

when there's a lot of other attention and shiny objects coming at you. I feel like you should never fight at the apex again, just because you need to be in front of a crowd. Like fighting the apex now, like you still get to fight in front of 100 people, but you need to fight in big arenas. because I feel like you feed off of that energy.

It's almost like you need that and and vice versa. Like do you feel the same way? Like we can't do the apex thing again, right? No, no, no, no. We're past that. We're past that. I'm so grateful to fight no matter where the arena is. And to be honest, I was almost like, because I wanted that bonus so badly, dude.

And then like when I found out I was fighting on the pay per view and I looked at how stacked the card was, I was like, well, you know what? Whatever. Like I'm fucking going to go out there and have fun and just. be myself and I love audiences. I love crowds. I love being an entertainer. You know, like that's my thing, man. I shine under the lights. And like, it's funny because all leading up, like my coaches, they've never seen me and who can ever see you in a setting like that until you've been there. But they kept trying to calm me down. They're like, hey, it's okay.

Like the audience is going to be there. Don't worry about it. I'm like, wait a minute, guys, like, y'all are going about this the wrong way. Like, I love the audience. You know, know, like, yeah, no, let's, let's keep that. Let's keep that momentum. Like, let's keep me in front of a crowd for sure, man. But I am grateful no matter where you place me, I'll perform. But let's keep me in front of a crowd, please. The fight didn't last long, but for what we saw, it was a crazy fight because she landed some big shots. One dropped you pretty early on. It sounded like a freaking gunshot watching it on television, but you got your wits about you. It's not the first time you've been punched in the face before because you've been at this fighting thing for a minute

now. How badly were you hurt in that moment? Well, I'll say it again because I said it when Joe asked me. I don't know how bad it hurt. You know, I just woke up on the ground and I was like, I had the under hurt. I had the guard. And I was like, sweet. You know, I didn't feel the punch. And I didn't even know that it had happened until he asked me, how did you feel about it? So it's like when I was in the there, man, I think I was expecting more of a fight from her versus like just throwing these crazy right hands at me, you know? And they were like one shoters. And she caught me with the first one. And I was like, oh, yikes. All right, cool. Like, that's like she got it. And, but then the one

that dropped me, I didn't see it. I never felt it. I still, I still have no idea what it was, you know, so. Have you gone back and watched it yet? Have you watched it yet? Have you watched yet? You got watched, okay. When she got on top of you after she drops you, because I know you're in the moment, you're trying to just like, okay, here we go. When she gets on top of you after she drops you and tries to put you away with ground and pound, are you thinking to yourself, thank you so much for doing this? Like, thank you for getting on top of me because it feels like she just jumped right into your,

into your world. Yeah. So when I watched it is when I saw what happened. And I, like, she did the right things, you know, like she went to my side and she started ground and pounding off of the side. I just instinctually went back to my guard. And I came around when I had the overhook and the full guard, which is crazy because there's like a solid 20 second gap that like,

I don't know. People were like, oh my God, the fight was almost stopped. She was ground upon you. I was like, oh, really? Like that's crazy. Yeah, it was really cool to go back and watch it. And really fascinating, actually, because, you know, you hear about that kind of stuff, but you don't know it until you experience it.

And, you know, I'll talk about it. A lot of fighters, like, they'd never say, like, or admit that something like that happened to them. But fuck, I was there. It happened to me, man, you know? And like, thank goodness it came my way. But that was, that was crazy. What was it like watching the transition into the arm bar, like watching it back?

Because, I mean, like you said, even just saying it right now, the first 20 or 30 seconds, you're like, Whoa, what just happened? And then your wits come about you and the transition was just a thing of beauty. So watching it back, like just watching the tap and everything, like what's going through your mind watching it back? Because it's got to feel surreal after just living it 24 or so hours before that. Yeah.

So I remember every single detail going into the arm bar. So like as soon as I had the overhug instantly, I was like, oh, I know what to do here. You know, so like I threw my leg over and I remember hearing my coaches like, clamp your legs. So like I like clapped my leg over her face. And I was like, yeah, yeah, that's correct. That's that's the right answer. I was, she started stacking me. So I started going belly down. And they were like, no, no, go for the sweep. So I underhook the leg and I kick her over and got the sweep. And then I was pulling for the arm bar, but she had her arm torched, which was fine because my legs are so crazy tight because of my like stripper guard. And so I was like

just basically turning it into a key lock scenario. Like, I was going to get that arm fully extended, but she did tap, I think before any real damage happened, or at least I hope so. Yeah, but it was, oh, I just remember every single inch of it. My sister, she's like, I think you're smiling as you're pulling the submission. I'm like, yeah, probably. Like, when you got it, you got it. Like, when you just feel that in your heart, you know, like, you know you got it.

What's going through your mind when she actually taps in the octagon and you're in the crowd and everything's going on. Like you just got your first UFC win, your first UFC finish. Like what is going on in your mind once you feel the tap? Oh my God! I got up. I like look over and I see my coaches. I run over to the cage and I'm too short to really like give my hug.

So I had to jump on top of the cage. Yeah. And then I jumped off the off of it. I guess I turned around. There was a commissioner there. I gave him a hug too. I don't even know that guy. And I don't know.

Yeah, I was just like so beyond in the moment. It was so freaking cool. It was so cool. So I was your post fight scrum with the media. You said that you planned to jump into Joe Rogan's arms. Like at least it was premeditated. Is that true? Like you, you thought, I'm jumping in this man's arms, no doubt about it.

Oh, yeah. Oh, absolutely. I totally like, I was like talking. I do like so much positive self-talk, man, you know? And I was like, man, Joe Rogan's going to interview me. This is going to be my moment. like, you know, I'm just going to put my arm around him. I'm just going to put my one leg up and put my other leg up.

And like, he's just going to hoist me up. I was like, that's just going to happen. And it was so flawless. Like, it happened exactly the way I thought it was going to happen in my head over and over again. I was like, let's go. That was so freaking cool. And he just played along with it. Like, what a cool guy.

That was so awesome. Is that something that was in your mind for like, weeks or did you think about that that day? Like when did you first think about that? I first thought about that when I knew that I was going to be on a pay-per-view car. So I was like, you know, like all of these, I had so many new experiences in one week's time. Because like it went from fighting in the apex and then all of a sudden I'm fighting in front of a crowd. So like now my walkout songs got like so much more intensity to it. You know, like I get to look around like I envisioned looking around and seeing faces that I knew and that happened. And I envisioned

Joe Rogan coming up to me and interviewing me. And I kept manifesting this, the performance bonus. Like I had that written. I'm telling you everywhere. Like I had it written. I have like videos where I wrote it on my whiteboards. I had it in my bookmarkers. I had it on the cover of my phone. Like it was everywhere. So like, man, everything played out so much cooler when you live it than what was in my like imagination. Fuck, that was so cool, man. It was so cool. Have you always been like that?

Like super detail oriented when it comes to your goals? Or is this something that you've developed over the last year or two or however long it took to get there? Yeah, man. It was a developmental phase. You know, I don't think anybody just wakes up and starts like detailing out their whole lives. And if you do, fuck power to you, you know, like Elon Musk status right there.

Yeah, it was definitely a development, you know, and it's like decisions that I made. Like, how do I become the best version of myself possible? You know, like, I'm wild. I'm crazy. There's no secret about that, you know, like, I'm all over the map. But at the end of the day, I really, truly care about the things that I love and I'm passionate about. And there's, if it takes writing things out as one of the details that's going to help me

in my success, like, am I really going to skip that? Am I really going to skip that part? You know, it's something so simple. So, yeah, it's something that I've really adapted recently. That's great. The last few years. Thank you. I'm a curious cat.

Did you have a plan? Did you have a plan B with Rogan? Like, what if he had backed away or done some kind of like reverse ninja stuff? Like, was there a visualization of like, maybe he might not do this? I mean, it worked out clearly. But was there a plan B? No, I never have a plan B, man. a plan A and if plan A doesn't work, then you just roll with it.

Like, figure it out. That's it. I'm a full sender, man. Like, we're going to do this. It's going to work. And if it doesn't work, figure it out, figure it out. Amazing. You probably noticed that your post-fight media scrum got a lot of attention because you

revealed that your career as an exotic dancer has come to an end. And I believe 13 or so years that was part of your life. several weeks before this fight, you made the choice. We're focusing on IMA full time. What was that decision like for you? Is that a really difficult one to make? Yeah. And I say 13 years, but I actually haven't done the math. I think it's, I think it was longer than that. I started dancing when I was 18 years old. So I'm 33 now. I've written two books on the industry. I grew up in the industry. And walking away from it was one of the scariest things I had ever done.

I think that's just so scary, man, because it's like that was my, you know, that was like the way that I was making money all these years to be able to fight full time. Like I was working at night and then training all day. And but I was only able to work like two nights a week. So it was like, I was like, fuck. Like do I want to make a few dollars or do I want to recover and sleep and make sure that I'm taking care of my body and my mental space so that I can. perform better in the cage. And I literally, again, I wrote it out on my, on my board. I got to

freaking post this thing that I made about the board because I wrote, um, bust your ass for thousands versus shaking it for dollars. Like, it was like, that was like my big thing, you know, like this whole camp. Like I looked at that every single morning. Um, yeah, and I didn't have a lot of money. It's not like I was like, oh, yeah, like, I'm good. I wasn't good, dude. I wasn't good. And I made the decision and I walked away. And if it wasn't for sponsors, like go big, media and Robe that were helping me out. Like, there's no freaking way I would have been able to do any of that. So like, huge shout out to my sponsors. But yeah, it was a scared time. I feel like, especially in MMA and you're living this right now, that sometimes when you make a hard decision like that,

it creates a domino effect. Like I almost think about, like when I heard that, you're heard that one of the weird thoughts that popped in my head is like, well, what if she didn't quit? Like, what if she didn't walk away? Like, would everything have worked out the way that it did? And it's just the weird way my mind works. Like, have you thought about that since Saturday? Like, what if I didn't do that? Like, would we be having these same kinds of conversations right now? Yeah, I think those are the conversations I had with myself when I was making the decision. You know, like, I went down all of the scenarios like, well, what if you do quit and then you still win? And what if you don't quit and then you still win? I mean, I have been dancing for all of these years.

I won quite a few fights, but there's a lot of times I'm telling you, like, the reason why I'm so freaking strong is because I'm always so exhausted and I fucking do it anyways, man. Like, there's no quit in me because I'm like, I got to do what I got to do, you know? But it's like to be able to rest and recover, like, that was life changing for this camp. So, yeah, I mean, I thought about all that stuff, but I also didn't care, you know? I'm like, this is the time. Like, I'm going to put this to the side. going to make fighting happen. No matter what, this is going to work. Like, I'm going to make this work.

And it's things like that. Like, just like, I go back to manifesting. Like, I was talking to myself, like, positively every single day encouraging this journey. And here we are. Do you miss it at all? Like, is there a part of you that misses it? I love dancing. I was going to say, like, you probably do miss it because, like, you just, you just enjoyed it so much. Yeah. I love. I love. I love. pole dancing. I love doing all the acrobatics and stuff in the air. And that's something, I mean, I don't have to be a stripper to do that. You know, like, I don't have to be a dancer in the club. I can easily dance. I was dancing outside of the car with my sister while we were driving down the street. You know, like we got out at, I got out in a red light and started dancing in the street.

Like, I'm wild, man. Like, I don't need to be in that atmosphere to do that. I'm trust me, I'm going to get my artistic compulsions out. via dance in many other ways and it's not going to be in the club anymore. Yeah, you just do it in the octagon after these wins and the dropping splits. I mean, the photo of you do it, like the UFC just capturing these moments and some of the media photographers like dropping in the split and just that moment is just so cool. Like it's almost like we could see who you who you are as a person in that moment. Like you want to fight, but at the same time, you're just like, you're young, wild and free,

just enjoying everything. You don't give a shit what anybody else thinks. I did not care. I did not care at all. And I'm so glad that people, excuse my voice, I'm still crackling from the weekend. I'm so glad that people love me for me. Like, that was one of the questions that I think one of the media guys asked me. Like, well, did you feel any pressure going in because like, you know, you're obviously

starting to rise a little bit? I was like, no, man, because I'm not faking anything. Like, I get to be myself. And I'm just grateful that people like me. I'm a little, you know, I'm a little wild. I'm kind of a dork sometimes. And man, yeah, I think it's really cool that it's received as well as it's received, you know? I wouldn't change even if it wasn't, but I'm liking this way.

Yeah, I mean, it's got to be a very freeing feeling as an athlete, too. Like, you don't need to change who you are. You don't need to fake anything. It's just, I'm going to go out here and do me and I'm fine with that. And not a lot of athletes can like even learn that lesson or even try to learn that lesson. You're just living it right now and it makes no difference how anybody reacts to it. It's got to be super freeing for you that. You can just go out there and be you.

Yeah, there's no better feeling in the world, you know, than to finally take ownership of yourself and know that you are good enough exactly as you are, exactly as you are with all of your wild imperfections. So you think, you know, they're perfect. You are perfect. So, and that's really cool. It's really cool in getting to live this right now. You know, like I've been saying these things for so many freaking years.

And it's like, I'm living it, man. I'm living it. How did you react? What were you doing when you found out that that you got the bonus on a card like that? When you're looking up and down and you're like, holy crap, like, how am I supposed to get a bonus on this card? And then you actually get it? What was that like? How did you react?

And what were you doing when you found out? Yeah. So we had an after party. And I was like, I was there. And we were getting everything together. I was still waiting for my friends to show up. So it was just me. And I remember this, bro.

Like I was walking down like a hallway. and Jason texted me. And it's like literally welting me up right now because I got the message and I just dropped down. I sat down in this hallway. And like there was like people walking by and I just sat down. I just started crying.

Like it was just such an awesome freaking feeling because like I went through so much this camp, you know, between dancing and, you know, my family had gotten said my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer and my little brother went to prison. And I'm just like, bro, like, can anything else happen? And I'm going to do all of this. And I'm going to make this happen.

And I got that call. And it was just like, like, it was just like, man, you can do anything that you want to accomplish in this life, man. You got to want it. You got to dig for it. And you got to get after it. And you can do it, you know. Fuck.

It was so cool. Greatest night of your life. Yeah, for sure. One of them. One of them. I mean, what talks this? I like to put family on my pedestal. school somewhere, you know, but that was, yeah, I think that's definitely number one for sure.

I mean, after after a night like this, I mean, where do we go from here? Like, because you know how the sport works. You win and you have this moment. We let you save with the flavor for a little while, but then the media wants to know like, what's next? What's like? Have you even thought about what's next? Like what you, when you'd like to get back in there and build upon this momentum?

Because it'd be, it'd be just fine if you're just enjoying life and just smelling the rose. Like I said at the beginning of this, like, have you even thought about that? Have you thought that far at all? Yeah, I definitely want to fight a solid like four times this year. The who? No, I haven't thought about it. You know, the when, I mean, it's going to happen. You know, I feel like especially after performance like that, like they're going to

want me back in there soon. And I want to get in there soon. Like, I love training. You know, like already I was going to go out and compete in some jihits of tournaments, which I love doing. But, man, Eminem comes first, man. Yeah. And I'm just so pumped to fight.

Like, I want it. I want it. So that's as far as I've gotten on that list of like thought process. Like I know I want to fight four times this year. And it's still January. And we absolutely have that opportunity to do so. I'm on a suspension right now, though, because just like I told you and I said it on the mic where I was like, I got dropped.

I woke up on the ground. Like the commission came up to me and handed me a suspension. They're like, well, you can't fight for a little while now. I was like, all right, fair enough. Okay. I'll take the win and the bonus. It's a fair tradeoff, right? Last thing, I want you enjoy your time on vacation and savoring this flavor.

But I saw something on your Instagram the other day that actually gave me a little bit of a boost of confidence in my life because my son, who is eight years old about to be nine, he's training MMA and he's doing Jiu-Jitsu. And I hate tying his belt and I can never figure out how to tie the belt. And I saw something about your brown belt and you have a hard time tying it. And I mean, are you still having a hard time tying it? Because I felt so good watching your video and knowing that I suck at this and that you're a fighter coming off a big win. I'm like, all right, well, if it's okay for her, then it's got to be okay for me. Just give it to the coach and let him do it. I don't want to ruin your image of that video because I want you to think that I have issues too.

Jiva loves messing with me, man. Chiva loves messing with me. Now, I'm more of a geek. I used to be more of a key player. So I used to be in the ghee every single day, every single day tying that belt. I've actually, like, won the Pan Ams in the gay before in American Nationals and, you know, world pros. And I fought in Abu Dhabi in the ghee. So I'm sorry, I don't have problems tie my belt.

I tied it on the wrong side, like the black strip. Okay. He's like, oh, I'm going to ask you. You want your black belt. You don't even know how to tie it. I'm like, all right. But still, it was still, even though it was a, you know, a little, a little, manufactured in a way and it still made me feel good. I'm like, all right, that's good.

He's mess. Coach's messing with you. Hold on to it. I'm going to write it down. I'm going to write it down like you don't ought to tie the belt at all, but you know how to tie the belt. I'm okay with that. I'm okay with that. There you go. Well, Vanessa, congratulations on Saturday. Everything that happens, hearing the story and the manifestations and just seeing how the dominoes fell in the right way. I mean, it's just truly inspiring. I think a lot of people are going to take a lot of positives away from this thing. And you getting the bonus was just chair. on top of the whole Sunday. So congratulations. Enjoy your time. Enjoy the victory. You deserve it. And we'll see you when we see you in there. Whenever that time comes, we'll be excited for it.

So I appreciate your time very much. Anything else you want to say? Anything else you want to follow me on social media, guys. It's a wild ride. Little Monster Demo. So L-I-L Monster Demo. I try to be as active as I can, you know, and I'm pretty freaking active. Thank you so much. Thanks, guys. Later. Let us say hello to Pat Downey, as we found out earlier this month, the newest member of the Bellator MMA roster. Very exciting news for the highly decorated, highly credentialed wrestler. Pat, how are you, sir?

Good up, man. Thanks for having me on. I'm freaking pumped about it. Yeah, I've known for a little bit longer than you guys. I've just been excited to get it released and make this debut. Well, I mean, I have to know how long you have known about this. When did this all begin? When did you know that you're going to be part of the promotion?

Well, it was about over over a month ago, probably six weeks ago that my manager, Dave Martin was telling me that he was in talks. And, you know, I don't really worry about that business stuff too much. It's kind of like out of my control. But yeah, just once it got done and I signed that kind of. contract about right before New Year I was going to say definitely the best Christmas present I could have asked for. Absolutely. So I mean, because you had been talking about making the transition for a little while now, you had some other things that you wanted to try to accomplish before you actually made that leap. But now that you have a promotion to call

home, having one less decision to make, do you feel like a little bit of a weight lifted off your shoulders in that way? For sure, for sure. And just like, as dumb as this sounds with the whole media thing, like letting it be known to the world that, hey, this is what I'm doing. I'm definitely fighting. You kind of, you know, I get badgered a lot about it. Like, hey, you need to fight, man, or when are you fighting?

And, like, it's kind of like put some of that talk to rest, you know, like, hey, this is my plan. It's going to happen. So, yeah. And, you know, not a whole lot has changed in my life other than that because my training and my preparation is kind of the same. Like, I've always been knowing that this was going to be in my path. And now it's just kind of cool to be being one step closer, I guess,

to making that debut. You know, I still haven't got in the ring. I'm zero on zero. And I just know I'm going to love it. But until I get out there and do it, you know, I can't really see I'm a pro fighter yet, you know. I'm curious. Were there any other promotion?

in the conversation, or is it Bellator and Bellator only? No, there were a few. We're looking at some Asian promotions, and then we were really looking. I was here locally where I'm training in Miami is Titan FC. I was talking to that guy, Lex. He runs a great promotion. It's an awesome feeder. I was looking at that.

And then actually, all these guys with Khabib, that Khabib League is coming to Miami as well, the Eagle Fighting Championships. So we were talking to them. I mean, it wasn't an easy decision. It wasn't just like, hey, Belator, this is it. You know what I mean? I did some research and I allowed my management to kind of do their job.

And Belator is just where we felt the best spot to land was. I saw an interview had done with a friend of mine in the media space, Nolan King. You hadn't full on committed to M.A. because you were getting ready to compete in the Olympic trials. This was in 2020 before the pandemic really took shape and shut everything down and postpone the trials, postpone the games and all of that. You did compete in the 2021 trials, didn't really go the way you had drawn it up. Can't control the pandemic, obviously.

But how much of that sting that everything got delayed after all the preparation, the plans, everything ready for 2020 to have it kind of just fade away? How much of that sting? Yeah, no shit, man. It really stung a lot because I was at American Top Team at the time helping Kobe Covington prepare for tomorrow. And, you know, that didn't go as we planned either. But it just just goes to show you. Like we think we got it all figured out and our plans and this, that, the third.

But, you know, life and God and the way the cards fall, they're just out of our control sometimes. So, you know, I got freaking Akuna Matata tattoo. on my titty, so you're not really going to see me worrying a whole lot, or if I am, you're not going to really know it either. But it definitely stung just because, like you said, man, can't do shit about it, and you're so prepared for things, and you have such a good plan, you think, and you just got to be ready to roll with the punches, you know what I mean? Life called in Ottawa, and, you know, I definitely could have handled it better if you look

at all the shit I went through this past year. I mean, but that seems to be the story of my life. Minor setback, bigger major comeback. And I'm just gonna keep shitting on these haters with success. That's all you can do. I was just gonna say, like considering everything you've gone through, maybe like the last decade,

a little over a decade, this like it probably couldn't have gone any other way for you, right? Like nothing's really ever been that smooth, right? So this is all part of your story. That's all. And my father, you know, I just buried my grandfather. and that's one thing that we would always say is, you know, you've landed a pile of shit

and you come out smelling like a rose. So you mentioned training in Miami. You're at Goat Shed Academy? Is that accurate? That's your team, right? Awesome. Yep, yep. He's the man.

I love training here. It's been going through a lot, and situated in here, just being a full-time athlete, again and really, really loving the process falling in love with this new journey. And it's cool, man. It's cool. I'm like a little kid soaking up knowledge like a sponge, you know what I mean?

Just learning, asking questions. And not that wrestling was boring or done, but almost got to the point where I just didn't really feel like I was learning anything new or I wasn't in a spot where I could really train to get better at wrestling, you know, at this level. There's only a handful of guys in the country that are really good. going to be pushing me to where to the to the competition I need to even compete you know I'd make a real run at these Olympic trials it didn't even feel real I didn't have a coach there a team sponsors I didn't have training partners so I'm in the heart of the fight game and the

heart of the fight MMA down here I think um between American top team Sanford go to shed MMA masters I mean list goes on and on how many freaking studs you can find a roll with here So it's time to fight training partners aren't a problem. And that's why I love about living down here. And shit, I was just having freaking zero-degree snow all on the ground. And I just could walk out in my compound every day. I got my dog. I got my weights and my maces, my Bulgarian bags.

That's what I'm about to do now. Once we get off the third here, swing some shit around. So I love it down here. So you're not retired from wrestling, though, right? Like, they're still... Yeah, I didn't meet my shoes on the mat, per se, you know, but I mean, just to, just, USA wrestling is so good, you know, to be the number one guy, that's the only way you can get paid and make it worth your time.

And I don't have a real shot of that under these circumstances. So I'm not going to waste my time, you know what I mean? David Taylor's not going to get taken out, you know, training with fighters. It's just not feasible. You know, I got to be in a real RTC, so I'm not, I'm not ruining it out. If I get these fights under me and get a good Belatorre career and, you know, next Olympics, I can, you know, 2023, if I would land at an RTC and give it one last push, that's what it would take to get me back into it competing. You know, I'd have to be at a regional training center, real coach, real training partners,

competing internationally, you know, part of the freaking circuit. And, you know, they kind of, you know, cancel culture bullshit. I got canceled for some tweets. You know, I've done way worse shit than that. So, I mean, it's like if that's all y'all want to do to get me out of the sport is say I tweeted the wrong thing, then I really wasn't really wanted in that community. You know, I never felt like I fit in. And I just felt like, why are you going to stick around at a party or not invited to, you know?

Wrestling world kind of, you know, put a sour taste in my mouth. You know, first thing I've ever fell in love with. You know, I'm going to, there's so much that sport forever, but I feel like the fight in the world will accept me a little more. I was just going to say, it seems like a, especially now in 2022, it seems like a much not easier road to navigate, but a much more accepted road to drive on, you know what I mean? For someone like me for sure.

Now, hey, who matches itself? You know, Taylor, Valencia. or Nickel or Hamzot or, you know, there's still some matches that I just said something like that, you know, Burroughs, Dake, Cox, Snyder, there's some studs out there that would really, you know, get me up to wrestle. Sadu Lyev, Yazdani, but it's probably like the only 10 guys I would even want to compete against. Ringer, you know, and damn, I just damn near named them all. So, yeah, it's time to take on a new journey.

And, yeah, I've been grappling a lot, you know, did that event. with Nikki Rod wrestling, but then I went with Gordon and a lot of these other top-level jiu-jitsu guys, you know, that's what's exciting me now, you know, so I don't know. I'll do what it makes me happy, man, you know, I'm just, I'm just a free-spirited motherfucker. I kind of do what I feel like doing when I want to do it, and now I want to fight, so let's do it. I just saw that tweet, and I saw Shamiyev's name on there, because obviously that one sticks out to M-May fans, obviously, Bo Nichols, gotten into the MMA world.

Jordan Burroughs has talked about getting into the M-A world, at least maybe one fight, we'll touch on that in the moment. But how does Hamzat end up on that list for you? I see him wrestling on these guys that I don't think can wrestle for shit. So it's like, you know, he's supposed to be, you know, rushing this, Sweden national team member. I don't know if you wrestled internationally. It hasn't any accolades worth mentioning, but I don't know.

Dude looks like a similar body style to me and kind of upper body playing games. I feel like matchups make matches. I feel like it would be a fan-friendly matchup because we would get into some situation where it's like throw or be thrown. And, you know, if you ever watch me wrestle, not many people challenge me upper body. I'm usually the guy doing all that shit. So I think if he goes up top with me, it would be a bad move for the dude. And I'd just be excited about that match, you know.

know what I mean, I don't call out bums. I call out the best. So, you know, it's all respect to the guy. I'm not like, you know, putting his name in my mouth because he sucks. So I love the opportunity to compete against me. So that's all it is. Who knows? Maybe Uncle Chale could put something together in the Shug world, you know, a grappling match, Pat Downey versus Hamzaa Chimayev. I think that would do well on whatever platform that would end up on. Oh, I would love it. I would love it. I would get me going. all right, buddy. We mentioned Jordan Burroughs, because he's talked about at least getting one.

He doesn't necessarily think he'll make a run like you're planning on doing, but he does want that experience. Do you think we'll see him have that one fight? Nah, maybe, maybe I'm wearing your punch in the face. So you'll be fighting in the middleweight division from, from all accounts, and you've already sort of put out a warning to your fellow 85ers. Have you thought about when this debut, like perfect world, ideal situation? when you want to get in there and mix it up?

Yeah, I think end of February, early March, it would be good timing. You know what I mean? Today I'm going to listen to my managers and my coaches because I'm dumb as shit. I tell you, I'm ready to go tomorrow. You know what I mean? And I just got in a car accident,

buried my granddaddy, haven't trained in a week. You know, I'm too dumb to know any differently. So I got a couple little bumps and bruises to heal up. You know, I'm not going to put myself on blast too much, but there's some things that we would like to see happen before I make this debut in them. And shit, you just got to find an opponent, too. I mean, I don't know.

I can't imagine everybody's excited to fight me. I mean, you see these wrestling guys with that wrestling accolades. They have a hard time getting an opponent. So for me and my debut, I don't think it necessarily makes sense to come out and fight somebody who has. a whole lot of more experience to me too. So I'm sure picking this first opponent is going to be a little process. But when it comes down to it, I'm an athlete.

I don't think too much about that shit. I love to compete. And yeah, so I'll be ready whenever they want me to be. You think it could be as soon as February March? I mean, like you said, there's some other things that need to play out and you know, we don't need to talk about. Yeah, I definitely would love, I mean, I saw that Ireland part at the end of February, that would be freaking sick.

You know, I'm just looking at there. Ever since I joined the promotion, I've just been kind of doing my own little research here and there and, you know, planting seeds in other people's heads. Like, hey, you know, just dropping little feelers here and trying to catch the vibe of this whole thing and see how it works, you know. I'm definitely ready, though, man. I'm definitely ready in that time frame, you know. I wouldn't mention it if I wasn't.

all right so we're looking forward to that February March and I mean do you watch a lot of MMA like are you are you a guy that watches as much as possible do you take it all in all the promotions or just whenever you can I just find it I find it fun when it's on I you know I come I catch myself watching but I'm definitely not like a big fan boy I couldn't sit here and name you you know everybody in every promotion or anything like that and even even with wrestling I've never been like that either. You know, the top guys get my attention and, you know, try not to idolize them too much

because hopefully that's who you're having your rivalries. But that's how it was in the wrestling world, you know, I knew the best guys' names. But even then, I don't even watch myself that much. You know, I'm very critical of all performances. And I get that from my grandfather. I'm almost like a perfectionist. So I could fucking win a match 15-0 and tech the guy in the national finals. and I could still pick it apart, you know? So from a fan perspective, I watch it, you know, just as probably like a casual guy out at the bar watching UFC would, you know? So I'm not sitting here psychoanalyzing everything.

And I don't know if a lot of fighters do do that, but like I love training it. I know that. I love doing it. But honestly, when I'm not in the gym or doing it myself, I find, like, I play a lot of chess. And, like, I just sold my television because it was wasting too much of my time. Like, I like to do shit outside, take my dog to the beach and at the parks. And, like, I do a lot of cross-training. You know, I really don't like to waste.

Not that's wasting time, but to me, I just, it's not as a, and that's when my coaches just a hate. I don't watch film, you know what I mean? Oh, here's your opponent. He's got a lefty high crotch. He's got a right-hand single. I'm like, shut the fuck up. I don't give a shit about what this guy's doing. I should be so busy doing me.

And I don't have time to worry. He doesn't have time to worry about doing him, you know? I think you're in the perfect sport right now. You don't want to watch film. You don't have to watch film. And you're self-critical. I think MMA's perfect for you. I hope so.

So before I let you go, what's the message to your fellow 85ers? I mean, you're about to make your embark on this new journey. You're about to step into the cage for the first time. I know where you got a little ways to go before we're talking title shots and things like but you're going to be moving up that ladder and hopefully as quick as possible. So what do you want to say to your fellow middleweights? You know, I'm definitely coming. You guys will see me soon.

You know, I'm not a wrestler learning how to fight. I'm a fighter that just learned how to wrestle. So I think everything that I didn't accomplish in the wrestling world, which wasn't very much, you know, I did everything except win a world title and an Olympic title, you know. I have half the success that I did in the wrestling world in the fighting world. A lot of these 85 pounds are fucks. All right. Well, Pat, congratulations on the deal.

I think we're waiting for something to happen with you in your transition to MMA. And now we got it and look forward to seeing this debut maybe as early as next month, maybe sometime in the spring. But until that, my man, all the best to you with training and getting ready for this first fight. And again, congratulations on the new deal. Yes, sir, man. Good talking. Thank you. Thank you. Let us say hello to Matt Frivolta. Holy cow. What a freaking fight we just had at UFC 270 against Gennaro Valdez. Entered the record books as well. But I must say I have an issue with the records keepers, if we're being honest. And we'll address that in a moment with the steam roller himself. Matt Frivolta. How are you, sir?

Oh, man, I'm doing good. You know, can't complain after a fight like that. That was a fun one. Yeah, that was an intense three minutes and 15 seconds. And I know. know that there's so much going on in there. You're not counting down the seconds in your brain. But did it seem like you were in there for three minutes and 15 seconds? And it seemed like you were in there for an hour? Yeah. I mean, the guy, he kept getting up. He kept fighting. I knew how tough he was. But I like, I folded him over like three times. And then he kept getting up. And I'm like, geez. But yeah, we got the finish. Did you feel like you were fighting a zombie in there? I mean, it's just crazy.

The amount of shots you landed, how many times he went down and seemed like he was almost unconscious. And then he was just like right back to his feet. Yeah, it did kind of feel like that. But, you know, I knew how tough he was. And I knew that I had to put him to sleep if I wanted to get the finish because I've seen him. He was very scrambling on the ground. And, you know, he wasn't going down without a fight. So have you gone back and watched the fight yet?

Yeah, yeah, finally went back and watched it. And it was awesome. So here's my issue with the record keepers, because they credited you with four knockdowns. And it seems like more knockdowns to me. Because right now in the record books, you're tied for the most knockdowns in a single round with four. But in my opinion, you should be in there by yourself with five,

maybe even six. Like your thoughts on that because I thought you knocked them down more than four times. Yeah, we watched it. And we actually watched it again and counted it was definitely five. And you could even argue for six. So we'll just say right now that I have the record now with five Because you rewatch that it was clearly five And you could even argue for six

I know when you're when you're back talking to the media You had just found out about the record And it was kind of a cool thing for you But it's not something that you focus on I'm going to break the knockdown in a single round record But now that you knew about it Did you look for that very closely? Did you count like did you make it a point to count all of them?

Like not not right out. after, but when we watched it yesterday, because they kept saying about the record, and then, and then, and then even Rogan, Rogan and like Anick on the commentary were saying, like, five, six knockdowns. And, you know, we watched it. And it was definitely clearly, clearly five knockdowns. And then there was one where you could argue that it was six. So, yeah, we got, we got the record. It don't matter what all these people, or what the record people say, you know, you watch that fight and you count five. I completely agree with what you're saying right now.

Were you okay with the stoppage as like a person and an athlete and a fighter? Because Mike Beltran took a little bit of a beating on social media because people thought that fight should have been stopped way sooner than it was. But on the flip side, like you said, super tough, durable guy. Mike Beltran obviously did his homework to know who the guy was. He's hurt. He's trying to defend himself, keeps getting back up and landing shots of his own. what did you think of the timing of the stoppage, especially after watching it back? Yeah, I thought it was a good stoppage.

You know, even when I was dropping him, he would go out, but then he would come back to consciousness and fight back up to his feet. And, you know, he was never really like unconscious on the floor with me just hammering on him. So I would drop him like a flash knockout and then he would, you know, gain consciousness, fight back up. I mean, if he stopped it earlier, no one's. arguing that. But he gave him every opportunity to fight, fight back. And he told us that.

Even in the rules meeting before the fight, he was telling us that he's going to let us fight to the end. And when we're not intelligently defending ourselves, he's going to stop the fight. But he said, you know, we work too hard to get early stoppages. And, you know, I would have liked him to be the ref in my last fight. You know, he might have, like him. let me fight out of that one and survive. But I'm not mad at her, you know, the last one, the seven second one was Herzog and Herzog is the best in the game. And, uh, but if it was Beltran, you know, I think I might, I might have, uh, I ought to come back and won that one. Yeah, it's, it's interesting.

What, what, what people see and, and how they look at things and so it's, it's just interesting from ref to ref. And when they put this fight together, And I talked about this. We do a like a live stream right before the card starts. I put, I mentioned this fight in particular because I thought the matchmaking was super interesting for a number of reasons. And I dug it very much. Because you have this, you have this powerful newcomer, great win on the contender series, finishes fights quickly. And then we have you, the super exciting guy, a fighter who truly embraces the grit and the grind of these fights, an exciting fighter who if the fight goes deep, this is your world. The deeper the fight goes, you thryry on that stuff. And this thing turned into a firefight right off the bat and you got the better of it. Was that what you expected? Just get right into the smoke or was it more of, well, I guess we're doing this now. I mean, no, that wasn't the plan. But I was actually expecting him to come out a little bit hotter. You know, going into the fight, it was, I was thinking I was, it was, it was patience. This was big on, you know, my trigger words was patience, calculated, awareness.

And, you know, but we came out there and I landed. And I think I dropped them for the first time and I smelled blood. And when I smelled blood, I got that killer instinct in me. And, you know, it's not a bad thing. But I am working on keeping that killer instinct more calculated. And that's what it's all about is the growth for fight per fight. But, you know, I'd rather have that killer instinct and have to learn how to how to tone it than to not have it at all. So we're good.

How tired were you when the fight was finally stopped? I was nonstop punching. I was a little tired, you know, but I was, I was going in there. I was prepared for 15 minutes of that if I needed to. And I think that's that. showed, you know, even in that in that first round, I remember towards the end, you know, I flat, like, I had his back and kept pounding him. And I was like, I was like, man, this guy's not going away. And then I threw my hooks in and I started going for the choke because I was

like, all right, you know, he's, he's tough. I'm going to, let's choke him. And then when I started going for the choke, he defended it well. He, he turned out of it. And there was a split second there where I could have, like, followed him and taken his back. But I decided to stay on top. And he defended the choke. I stayed on top. And then I was able to sink my hooks in, flatten them out, and just keep punch it. I was like, all right, let's keep punching, keep punching, keep punching. You know, and we got the, we got the stoppage.

Yeah, it was just so smart to get on top of him like that because then he just has no escape. And like you said, keep punching. And eventually the referee is going to be like, all right, enough's enough. Like, I gave him enough time. And that's what you did. I'm curious about your mentality heading into the fight because you preach patience and And just being in the moment and you seem to have done that very well. Of course, the fight took a crazy turn after you landed that first knockdown.

But was there any extra pressure on you at all heading into this fight coming with the two losses? One, of course, was a guy in Armand Syruquian, who I think can fight for a title in the next year to 18 months. And the other was the quick knockout to Terrence McKinney, which, you know, if Mike Bell train was the referee, maybe that fight goes a little differently. Did you feel any extra pressure going into this fight? Yeah, a little bit. That was the last fight on my contract with the UFC as well.

So, you know, I knew, you know, if I lost that fight, I was probably not going to be in the UFC anymore. But, you know, that was the last fight. We finished that contract with a big win. And now I'm a free, I'm technically a free agent right now. So I'm hoping to get, get, like, a great offer from the UFC. But it'll be cool to, you know, see what other offers we get. Oh, look at that. So, I mean, that's good. Was there any attempt to try to lock you down before this fight or was, did that not even happen? Or I mean, even we're seeing a lot more these days. A lot of you guys and gals when they're in this position, you take the gamble on yourselves. And obviously it paid off here. What was that like in the builds of this fight? Were there any, was there any communication to try to get this thing locked up or or not? No, no, they didn't, they didn't offer another deal before this.

fight, which I expected, you know, I was coming off two losses. But, yeah, there was no offer on the deal. I knew it was the last fight on my contracts. I knew it was a big one. I had to get a great win. And we got it done. And now we're going to take offers. There you go.

Matt Revolta, the free agent. Does that have a nice ring to it? You like the way that sounds? Yeah, it sounds good. You know, I love the UFC. You know, it's definitely the, the, you know, the best show around and, you know, they always, the treatment throughout fight week and, and just throughout camp from the UFC is great. But, you know, I'm hoping that

they really come back with a great new, new deal. And I can sign with the UFC and keep, keep my fights in the octagon. But we'll see. You know, I wouldn't mind being a star in Japan either. You know, that'd be cool. I like the no weight cutting for one championship. I like that. Oh, okay. So if, let's just say taking money out of it.

Let's say everybody offered you the same amount of money, one UFC, Bellator, whoever. Everyone offered you the same amount of money and the same amount of fights and everything was, was equal. Is it one over the UFC? Just you can experience that?

Not yet. It's UFC. I think we still got, I still have, I still have a lot of skills that I haven't shown in the Octagon yet. So I still want to, you know, show, you know, show, you know, everybody in the UFC what I'm capable of and,

and keep putting on great fights and creep demonstrating all my hard work and putting on great fights for, for my team, my family, and all the fans. So we're going to stay, we're hopefully staying with the UFC, but at some point before you turn the page into the newest venture of your life outside of fighting, you want to have some sort of fight in Japan, at least one, right? Yeah, at least one. I mean, one of my favorite thing about fighting is being able to, like, travel the world and fight people from all over the world. And, and I think that's one of my favorite things out of this. So when I, I mean, even, I'm pumped that the UFC's starting to

travel again. They're going back to London. You know, they're going to Brazil and May, which sounds awesome. So, you know, it's, it's all. good. No bonus for that performance, man. I thought for sure you're going to get a bonus, especially after setting records. You're out here just in bananas fights. And now you, in my opinion, you are the record holder, your opinion as well. Were you surprised you didn't get a bonus or did you kind of expect that with everything going out with the contract and everything? I was surprised. I thought I was a lock for sure. I was very surprised. Yeah, I kind of got screwed out of that bonus but uh um you know i so actually saw Sean Shelby after the fight at the hotel

bar and i was like what's up Sean like no bonus for that fight and you know he kind of shrugged it off and uh so we'll take care of you on the on disclose but see hope hope you know i'm i'm hoping that they do so but they've said that in the past yeah okay and did they did they take care of you when they said that in the past? No. But I'm hoping that they do, you know. Yes. I am as well because, you know, we want to see you guys getting taken care of,

especially after a crazy freaking fight like that. How about that Terrence McKinney, Matt? I don't know if you saw this, but this guy out there telling the world that he's rooting for you. He's shouting out your victory. I thought that was pretty cool. Did you see that at all? Yeah, I saw that.

And it was cool. Terrence is a good dude, man. Seems like you're a great guy. You know, tough fighter. And, hey, you know, anytime you fight somebody, you're always rooting for them to win. And so, you know, I appreciate him rooting for me. And I definitely see our paths crossing again, down the line. We definitely need to run that one back eventually.

Yeah, you feel like there's some unfinished business there. I mean, seven seconds, you can get a really a chance to show him much. And, you know, like you said, Mike Beltran's in there. Maybe we get to a second round or a third round. Yeah. And I'm always rooting for Terrence, too. you know, I'm hoping he goes out there and, you know, keeps winning and he keeps winning and I keep winning.

And, you know, that'll be a big fight down the line. Well, you have a lot going on right now. You know how this crazy world is, Matt. You don't get to savor the flavor for two, too long because people want to know what's next or where you want to go from here. Again, we got to figure out where that's going to be. But let's just say everything works out the way you wanted to. You're back with the UFC.

Is Brazil the card you want to fight on? Like if you had your druthers, we're going to that or, you know, do you have a time frame in mind at least of when you'd like to get back and fight again? Yeah, definitely like the summertime, I want to stay busy this year. I think I might have broke my hand, which kind of sucks, but I'm going to get an x-ray on my hand and we'll see how that is. But yeah, I want to stay busy. You know, I think the summertime makes sense. Brazil would be awesome, you know.

It is May. You know, my brother's getting married around then, so I got to kind of figure some things. out. But yeah, I mean, like I said, I love traveling. I love fighting and I've never been to Brazil. So that would be, that would be awesome. All the provolas are getting locked up now, like getting locked down because you just got married in September too, right? And your brother's getting married. How are you enjoying being Mr. Matt Fervola officially, being the married man? Oh, it's great. And it's great. You know, my wife made it out to the fight. We had a great time. You know, she had to deal with my weight cutting ass, the whole fight camp.

And she did a great job, helping me with all my meals and, you know, keeping me focused. And now, you know, we're going to, you know, spend some time together. And, you know, it's great. We want to build a family soon. So, you know, keeping this dream alive, keeping, you know, securing my future fights as big. and, yeah, it's, you know, it's all going good. How does she feel about the looming free agency right now, if you don't mind me asking?

How does she feel? Yeah, how does she feel about it? Is she excited for it? Just seeing that all these different options potentially for you? Yeah, she's definitely excited for it. I think, you know, I think we all want me to stay in the UFC, but the end of the day, you know, I got to look for what's best for me and my family. and it'll be exciting to see the offers we get.

You've done, I mean, just talk, kind of building upon that, you've done something a lot of fighters, a lot of people in your position haven't been able to do. Let's find somebody who not only gets you, but gets the fighter life because that's not easy to watch somebody you love, do, right? And the sacrifices, you talked about the way of cutting this, things you have to do to be at your best, not easy for the significant other to deal with.

And it seems like you have found someone who, actually gets that. So for you, that has to be one of the most freeing feelings ever as a fighter, right? That's like one less thing you have to worry about because she's with you. She's by your side through this whole thing. Yeah, it really is. I'm so blessed to have, have my wife, have my family and have everybody who who supports me, who's been with me from the beginning. You know, she was with me since I was an amateur. Watch he, she watched the come up. She was with me during it all and uh and you know now now we're uh you know we're we're doing it at the highest level and uh and everybody gets it you know and and this is this is this is this is the fight life and

and we're gonna we're gonna ride this train for as long as we can until the wheels come off so when you head back to long island to see everybody there i'm back now are you there now yeah yeah yeah i got back yesterday um i didn't i didn't i didn't i didn't i in sleep Saturday night. We had a great time. You know, we were actually able to get back into the stands and watch the rest of the fights. So yeah, yeah, like, again, I always say, like, I'm a fan just as much as a fighter I sat out here. So, like, after that fight, me and my team broke into the stands and we're able to be amongst the people. Like, I actually felt like a celebrity was crazy. People wanted to take pictures and stuff and get my autograph and stuff.

and we were in the stands and joined the rest of the fights. And then after the fights, we went back to the hotel. Then the hotel bar was popping off. And we ate some good food. We drank some drinks. And I didn't miss my flight. We got on the flight back home in Long Island. And now we're back.

Oh, man, everything coming up for Vol on Saturday night. It's amazing. What did you think of D1? Francis and Ghanu dropping take downs and wrestling his way to a decision win. That's a scary man now that we're seeing the wrestling chops on display. Yeah, you know, like I said, he's evolving too, and that's what this fight came all about is the evolution of your technique and how you fight. So it's nice to see Francis evolving. You know, he's got a great coach and Eric Nixon, that guy's the man. And, you know, he's the champ.

I picked Francis, and he's a good dude. I'm always rooting for him. What did you, how did you score the flyway title fight? Did you, do you think the judges got it right? I mean, super close. It's no robbery either way. But do you score for Moreno? Did you score it for Figgie?

It was so close, I couldn't even really tell. I wasn't as dialed in as I should have been watching. You're in the sleet. You're taking pictures with people. I mean, we expect you to be fully focused on this fight. But I knew it was close. I mean, you put those two guys in the Octagon together, and I think it's anybody's fight. They're both so good.

They're both so technical. They're both so fast. You know, anytime those guys fight, it could go either way. And it's a great fight for the fans. Yeah, they have to go back to this well, right? Like, do the fourth straight fight. Like, let's just do a best of seven between these two guys. And I got no problem with that.

Yeah. I mean, they're definitely going to be fighting, I think, again, in the future. So I think we're going to get another one of that. Yeah. Matt, congratulations on everything. The big night, the big win, getting the celebrity status. That's huge. And I wish you all the best with free agency, man.

Hopefully you get these big offers and you have a big decision to make. And hopefully it all turns out in your favor. And can't wait to see you and your partner in crime, Billy Q, competing again sooner rather than later. So tremendous stuff on Saturday, man. Congratulations on the win. And it's always nice to see a fighter bet on himself and have it pay off. So congratulations, once again.

and thank you for the time. Yeah, thanks, man. It's crazy. I'm Billy Q famous now. I kept telling him. I was like, man, this is how you feel, bro? That's amazing.

Thanks again, man. Thanks, man. Have a good one. You too. All the post-fight drama following UFC 270 this past Saturday. We cannot forget about what this man Victor Henry did on that card in Anaheim.

Biggest underdog on the event against Hione Barcellus, gets it done to be unanimous decision. outstanding Octagon debut for the 27 fight pro. Victor, good to see you, man. How are you? I'm doing well, man. How about yourself? I'm doing great. So it's been four or so days as we record since the fight. How does it all feel? Like, I know you're not a guy who smells the roses for two too long, but are you at least enjoying the momentum you've built in the UFC after that performance?

Yeah, man. I mean, it's certain life has certainly changed in a few ways. But, you know, like I said before, you know, the things that, uh, that remain constant such as you know training uh going to work all those things all those things are the same you know like it's just all the uh you know all the new followers all the new uh all the new interviews that's just that's just icing on the cake you know but when we get down to it what matters most is the cake itself you know has it been like a huge jump in in social media following because i know after wins like that it jumps up like crazy i think uh before the fight i had like something like 2300 followers now I'm at like almost 13,000.

Oh really? Wow. Yeah, I mean, that's that's legit. I mean, I thought I think it's legit. And I think I'm I'm, I, to the detriment of me, I haven't really been active on social media. It's not really my thing. But, you know, I think now that this is a, obviously I have a bigger platform now, I need to be more responsible on my social media and get getting to people and putting more

content out there just, you know, to, to increase my brand, I suppose. Yeah, it's not something you really think of when you get into the fight game, right? You think about training and eating healthy and fighting and that's everything that I've been doing. But, you know, I got to remember that fighting is an entertainment, entertainment sport first. So if you ain't entertaining to watch, ain't nobody going to watch you. And I think that's one of the reasons why, um, why people have, they've gravitated towards me because, uh, you know, of course, like you said, being the big underdog and everything and you know, going to be against a monster like, how many Varselo's.

It was like, okay, well, how's it going to happen? And it wasn't, I mean, it was a fight. I don't think it was very close of a fight. I mean, obviously, I got a unanimous decision. But, you know, I think I went out there and I entertained a crowd. And, of course, I pulled off with many people, didn't think I could. Yeah, it was an incredible showing. And what's interesting is something that you sort of mentioned, the so-called experts,

thought, one, you were not going to win. And two, if you did win, is because you, you were just going to wrestle them a lot. And it turned out you didn't wrestle really at all. You beat him on the feet. The volume, the output is unbelievable. The quickness, the pressure. Everything was on display.

But the wrestling that a lot of people have you known for didn't even need in this fight. Is this the fight you expected with Haione? Did you think you were going to have to wrestle a little bit more? You know what? I had two fights in mind. You know, one was he was going to overly respect me. And number two, he was going to not respect me at all. If he was going to overly respect.

respect me, then I'm thinking he was going to be super tentative, super, you know, not want to not want to sit on anything, right? So I had a, I had a game plan for that. If you wanted to go in there and just not respect me at all, I'm thinking he's going to go in there and just try to swing on me or whatever his game plan was, he was going to do it full force 100%. You know, so, you know, and, you know, being the veteran and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the great martial artist, the harmony is, he went out there and he didn't show me nothing. He didn't show me what he was going to do at all.

You know, he showed me, you know, composure. His hands were tight. And, you know, of course, he went out there and he was trying to put his combinations together. So in game planning for this fight, I'm thinking, okay, well, Valiev kind of not exposed him, but, you know, kind of exposed his gas tank. So I was like, okay, well, I got to go out there, but I have to make him work. But I can't make him work.

I can't force myself to make him work so much that it exhausts me in the process. So what do I do? I got to go out there and get him swinging on nothing. Give him false targets. Give him something to fight against. So, you know, go out there, be slick. You know, I didn't even need it. Like you said, I didn't need to wrestle him.

I didn't need to hire him out physically because he was physically tiring himself out by trying to knock me the hell out. You know, so, you know, in doing that, he, he gave up all his cards eventually and you know with all the with all the with all the counterstriking with all the just the constant you know tippy taps that I was giving him you know eventually of course he got super tired um I did not expect to rock him in the first round I thought I was going to come in the third round and uh you know I'm what I'm rewatching the first round I'm thinking I could have I could have pulled back a little bit more just so I can guarantee I got the

you know, the TKO, but, you know, I let the moment get to me and I, uh, I try to overwhelm him, but in the over, in trying to overwhelm, he grabbed me. And, you know, I'm, I'm kind of known for my clinch game here in the gym. So, of course, I started going off, you know, knee him in the guts, name in the face. Um, and just putting pressure on him. So, you know, like I said, proffs to him, man. I mean, he's just, he's a warrior all around and he's, uh, there's a reason why he has his record. And there's a reason also why people counting me out. you know, against him actually, because he's a monster. Were you paying attention to the betting lines at all?

Like were you seeing this sort of disrespect, the gambling community was putting on you? Because anyone who's ever watched you fight, like you've been the underdog wasn't a big surprise, especially against a guy like Hione, but that big of an underdog, it seemed like the line should have definitely been much closer. Were you paying attention to that at all?

Not too much. I mean, usually what happens is, you know, especially in an MMA fight. Yeah, there's a, you know, there's a website, you know, you can go to and people are placing their online wagers. It's not like, it's not monetary wagers, but they're kind of, they're, it's kind of like Instagram where you say, how many or, how many or Victor, you know, people, people guess who's going to win. And you go to this one website and it says like 98% of people think how many are going to win. And it's like, well, I'm used to being the underdog anyways, especially going to other countries and fighting for other countries.

or find in other countries rather. But, you know, I'm used to being the underdog. When I saw that 98% and it's like, bro, like, these are just guys that are either A, they're all how many fans, like they're a bunch of, a bunch of countrymen just voting him up, which is cool, whatever. Or there's just a bunch of UFC fans that are just voting him up, which is cool, whatever.

You know, you can't change people's minds, especially when they're a fan of just one organization. and not just the sport in general, you know, um, you know, it's, it wasn't surprising to me. So I'm just like, why am I going to pay too much attention to that? I already know how it is. So what do I got to do? I just got to make sure that my, my hard work pays off and, and I do what I do. I love the first part of your media scrum when you went to the back because you basically

said that. My colleague asked you the first question and you were like, he was like, how do you feel about you? You're like, I told you all. I told you all. And that was one of things you brought up. Those are one of the things you brought up to. Like, you know, a lot of people should stop just being UFC fans and look like to other promotions, look internationally.

Because when guys like you come into the promotion, you have some familiarity and you realize that like, it's not just these guys who have been in the UFC for six, seven years. There's some great stuff going on behind the scenes. How cool is that for you to be able to say that in front of a platform like that? Because it seemed to have gotten a lot of attention. It was great. You know, I have no, I have no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, problems with people being UFC fans. You know, I mean, I mean, if anything that is, it's great.

UFC has a worldwide platform and it's a very easy way to get into the, into MMA. But people have to remember, especially analysts, analysts, you know, MMA media, they have to remember that there's more going out there than just the UFC. If you're, if that is your, if that is your forte, if that is your, if that is your job, if that is what you claim to be, you know, you are an MMA analyst, then you got to be an MMA analyst.

Don't be a UFC analyst. You know, there's guys, there's great guys out there like you, yourself, Ariel Hawani, who they pay attention to these guys that are outside the UFC also. But then you have these other guys that are just like, oh, they only pay attention to the top 15 in the UFC. And it's like, okay, well, like you can't do that. If you're claiming to be an MMA analyst or an MMA media outlet, then why aren't you paying attention to everybody else? You know, you're only paying attention to one organization.

But that organization has a worldwide reach. Don't get me wrong. I love the, I mean, I love what the UFC has done for MMA. You know, they've given a lot of people opportunity, both financially, on social media, giving them a platform, and they've got their fingers in all sorts of other organizations and things. But there's other organizations, too, you know, from the ground up, you know, you got, you got other leagues like Risen, Bellator, you know, one and, NFC, PFL, all these other leagues that are that are there.

Maybe they don't have the clout that the UFC have, but what about the, the regional, the, just the regional fighters? You know, out here we have LXF. We have, we have OCPy Fight Club. We have true promotions. They're an amateur. You know, it's like, of course, you can't keep up with everybody all the time. But if you are a true fan, then you are looking to, to see what that, what that new person is. I mean, me personally, as a, you know, as a more experienced.

experienced fighter as an older fighter. I have to pay attention to who's coming up in the LFA because guess what? They're probably going to match me against some monster from the LFA. They're probably going to match me up against some monster coming in for Risen. I got to pay attention to all these younger guys and the guys that are ahead of me. I got to pay attention to everybody. You can't just be sitting in a room looking forward because there's people behind you coming up on your end too. That's a very good point.

I tell young media members all the time when they say, you know, what should I be doing? I say interview everybody. Like if a local promotion reaches out to you and says, hey, we have a card coming up like a half hour from your house, go to that. And if they offer interviews, interview all these people because one day, one day,

these guys are going to make it big. They're going to go to the UFC. They're going to go to Belichael. They're going to fight for world titles. And they're going to remember the guys that said, nah, not interested. And they're going to remember the guys that said,

yeah, I'll talk to them. And that's like, that's where it all starts. Like I built most of my career on talking to regional fighters and talking to like the next crop of fighter. and now look at them. Now there's so many fighters that have made that step,

but it's pretty surreal to see. So I totally understand where you're coming from. Yeah, it's funny you say that because I remember thinking the same thing, but on the opposite end, I got to give the interviews to everybody. Yeah, I can't just be, I can't just wait for the super mega, you know, 50,000 plus, you know, Instagram follower media outlets. I got to give, I got to give my interviews to everybody because I got to get, I got the more hits on Google that have my name, the better for me.

So everybody, you know, I'm trying to make time for everybody. I'm trying to make sure that everybody gets their time because, well, I mean, at this point, it's the duty, it's my duty, and it's the job portion. You know, like the fun portion is training every day and the fighting. The hard part is the cutting weight, the media outlets, the, you know, the obligations that you have that nobody really wants to do i mean of course everybody just wants to train fight get paid go home you know but you know people forget that there's a job part of this too i had heard you because i had heard you i heard you had gotten signed a few days before the actual

fight news came out for the 18th and i mean like the first thing i popped into my mind after trying to confirm it of course was how did this not happen in 2015 how did this not happen in 2018 2019. What was that like for you to finally get word that, hey, you say yes to this fight. You're in the UFC. You're there. After turning pro in 2010,

here we are all these years later. You just got to say yes and you're in. Well, I mean, first of all, I was eating Korean barbecue, so I had a face full of, a face full of deliciousness. And, well, I got the call. And of course, it was Josh Barnett,

who manages me. He goes, hey, this guy, this date. And I said, yeah, screw it. So most people would think that I would put down the tongs and stop eating so much. But that's not what happened. I figured, okay, this is my last meal. So I just made sure I got my fill. And plus, at 30 bucks ahead, you know, I'm going to make sure that I eat.

So, you know, getting that call, I mean, it is what it is. You know, like, it's a great, it's a great feather in the cap. It was an awesome accomplishment. But having fought around the world with four different organizations. organizations, you know, it's, it's just, it's no, I wouldn't say, I'm not going to say it's no different because it is very different, but the, the end is the same. You're locked in a cage with somebody trying to punch your face in, you know, and it's, it's just another person, you know, it's funny, because we talk about this at the gym all the time where it's, um, you know,

you can't look at the accolades of the, of the person in front of you, because all those accolades, all that doesn't matter until they implement. on you know and none of it matters you know you can be i could be standing across the cage from peter yon and peter yon is peter yon he's got you know obviously he's the world champion he's all sorts of stuff right he's great his takedown defense his boxing his kicks his knockouts all that don't matter until he implements on you until then he's just a person with a name and he bleeds like i do so you know you got to be able to just uh you got to throw all that out the window and and and then And you got to prove you're the best every time.

Not just sometimes. Every time you go in the cage, you've got to prove you're the best, or at least better than the person in front of you. Did the Korean barbecue at least taste better knowing that you were a UFC fighter? Oh, Korean barbecue tastes delicious. Yeah, Korean barbecue doesn't taste delicious no matter what you do. Your dog could just die and Korean barbecue would be good. And then you're getting ready to fight December 18th,

And then we find out we got word like 10 a.m. Eastern the day of the fight that it's off. You test positive for COVID. And then you and I had spoken briefly on Instagram. And you said, like, I feel fine. Like it just kind of sucks. Like how tough was that to get that news just right before it? And you have that is it is. It is what it is mentality. I'm sure you didn't let it bother you for too long because something was going to happen. Eventually we're going to get you in there. But how did you react to that? How much of a bummer was that? Um, it was a, of course, it was a huge bummer. You know, you go in there and you cut weight. Yeah. stop eating. I mean, you don't eat Korean barbecue for about two weeks, you know. But, you know, it sucked because it wasn't only just the fight that got canceled in my mind, you know, because

I didn't, I didn't find this out until after, but how many Barcellus was actually, his visa was coming up. So they weren't going to be able to, you know, have him fight or fly out here or whatever his traveling situation was. They weren't, that fight might not have happened. And in my mind, I was like, how many Barcellos not only is a, he's a great martial artist, but that would be a great fight for me because if I beat him, then that puts me immediately in some form of spotlight. It's not just, you know, I told this to another interview where I was like, you know, it sucks. But there are people who, you know, nobody knows them in the UFC, but their hometown knows them because they fight in the UFC. but their hometown knows them because they fight in the UFC.

But then there's the complete opposite where nobody knows them in the USA because they don't fight in the UFC. And that's what my problem was. Nobody knew who I was here. You know, not many people knew who I was because I wasn't in the UFC. But, you know, you put the UFC tag next to somebody's name. And all of a sudden it's like, oh, well, they must be super good. Or they must be the next champion or whatever.

you know and you know there is a lot of talent in the on the undercards of the UFC that nobody's paying attention to of course there's a lot of hard work there's a lot of talent and there's a lot of great guy but um like i said fighting how many barcellus would have been you know would have been the one that just shot me right to right into not contention but all of a sudden it's like hey well now we all our eyes are on victor henry right now so um getting the news that i wasn't might not be able to fight them, it was upsetting. You know, so when that, when I, when I tested, when I tested positive, so a lot of people don't know, it's, you go, you go through three tests. Once before you fly out, once when you write when you check into the hotel, and then once right after weigh-ins.

So you go back to the hotel, you weigh in, I mean, you weigh in, you go back to the hotel, you test, and you quarantine until your flight, and that's in Vegas. Over in Orange County, they had different regulations because the UFC has to abide by the local government's regulations. These are not the UFC's regulations. The local government has to, is what, is what, is who sets the regulation. So, you know, when I got the offer to fight Haunni again, I was like, yes, let's do this. Let's do this.

And they were like, oh, well, you get, you get a little bit of an extra camp. And I was like, well, really, do I get an extra camp? Because it's not like they said, hey, we're going to reschedule you against Hauny Barsely. They didn't, nobody ever said that. They just said, well, we'll find out what happened. So at a certain point, I'm thinking, I'm thinking, I'm myself, well, I do have a contract with the UFC, but there's no, there's no guarantee on who I'm going to fight. So it's just like, okay, well, I actually have to rewind this.

There's no guarantee who I'm going to fight or when I'm going to fight. So do I pull back at the gym? Do I continue at the gym? Do I continue putting myself through a fight camp and possibly be either overtrained or whatever? But it's like, no, you just continue at the gym. And then when somebody gets you a fight, you know, here we go, two weeks. okay, here we go. That's all I had was two weeks.

And, you know, a guy like Honny Barcellus, no matter how long you train, it's always going to be a tough fight because, well, he's going to be training also. You know, it's not like he's not going to be just a bum's coming off the couch. So, you know, when they rescheduled in that fight, of course, I was excited.

Yeah, it was kind of a weird situation too because, like, there are reports coming out that, and I believe I even asked you about this, that you're fighting January 15th. And it turns out that wasn't the case at all. somehow reports were surfacing that this fight was the 15th. And we were told, we were told that was a possibility. And then you were like, nah, dude, I didn't really hear anything of that nature.

And then it turns out it wasn't the 15th at all. So were you getting confused too? Like, when the hell am I fighting? Yeah, I mean, what I'm thinking happened is that somebody assumes that that was the next UFC card, that that's when it was going to happen. And then somebody saw it as fact and just ran with it. And then it just spread like wildfire. but I kept telling people it was like according to who is according to this one website that is not

affiliated with the UFC well yeah I'm like well how does that sound to you it doesn't sound right so so you have people answer the wrong question it's like so what do you think is going on I don't think the fight's happening you're welcome thanks for it yeah they thank but it all worked out right because like even if you fought on the 18th or fought on the 15th would have been great, especially if you're fighting Hione and get the win like that. But now you get to fight Anaheim, you're in the feature prelim on ESPN and hindsight's silly, but this, this worked out pretty damn good, did it not? Yeah, it did. And, you know, it's crazy because I'm in the back saying to myself, 22 on 22 in 22. That was my 22nd win on the 22nd day of the year 2022.

So I'm just repeating that stuff to myself. I'm repeating that to myself over and over again. And then I get out there and, of course, it's all lights and crowd and Bruce Buffer yelling at me in a gold blazer. And then you go out there and you prove everybody wrong. Joe Rogan enjoyed your performance so much that he gave you kudos in the post fight interview. But then the next day, he puts you over big time in his own Instagram post, the day after the fight. And like, I know you don't fight for the chance to be on Joe Rogan's Instagram, but for him to single you out like that, everything that happened on Saturday, that's pretty damn cool. Yeah, that was legit.

And like I said, you know, like a lot of people don't realize, but like, well, obviously he didn't realize. And a lot of people wouldn't even know. It was 2005 or 2006. And, you know, me and my, me and my other, other friend, Juan, we go to, we go to, we go to a Legends Mixed Martial Arts Academy and we're in an elevator. And Joe Rogan and Eddie Bravo walk in. and me and Juan are like sitting there and it's like you know like we're like oh hey dude they

they they have no idea who we are why would they but you know we had been watching the UFC for a little bit then and then we're like holy crap that's them and then getting to meet Joe Rogan later on in life and you know Joe and I we actually have a lot of mutual friends because of that gym you know we got of course Josh Barnett you know we got a guy named Victor Webster you know and Eddie Bravo Eddie I mean Scott Epstein there's like a lot of guys that grew up that we that were part of the original 10th planet system over with a bomb squad and everything and he knows a lot of the people that I know but it was just a you know it was just fleeting that we never really got to to to meet officially and everything but having him having

all his success all these years later and then put me over the top like that that was awesome you know I even got a shout out from Chris Pontius from jackass and I was like that that's that's legit too because he's part of my he's part of my childhood too do, man. That's so funny. That's hilarious. I feel like, I feel like Joe Rogan is going to be the next generation's Chuck Norris. You know, like there's Chuck Norris memes. Like, Chuck Norris will beat up trees or do whatever. Like, all these crazy ones. I feel like Joe Rogan is going to be, because no one's going to know what Chuck Norris is in the next 25 years. Like these kids grow up, but everyone's going to know what Joe Rogan is. And there's this mystique behind Joe, even though he's so famous, like, how tough is he really? And is he really is legit. Could he have fought in the UFC? What would happen if he fought Wesley Snipes? Like all these different things. things. I'm waiting for him to be an unlockable character in the UFC game, man. And get you in the game, too. Oh, hopefully, hopefully soon, you know, that'd be pretty cool.

If, uh, if people want to skin, if, if people want to play as a, as a skinny guy with a tattoo or two. Most of the band and weight division right there, man. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't know, man. There's no. I always make these jokes.

I'm like, how come? Every time I go way in. My opponent looks absolutely swall and ripped. And I look like a strong. string bean. Like, it's ridiculous. Like, what is this crap? Wow, I love California, man. I love when fights happen there because now we get, we can see the post, the wayans, what the wayans are, the day of the fight too. It's so fascinating. I could look at those things a million times. Oh, yeah, like, I've had, I had a fight before where I walked in the day of the fight. I was 147.

And my opponent weighed in at 157. And I was like, all right, we'll see how his gas tank is in the third round. So, and I won that fight, though. What did Josh say to you after the fight? Is there anything he said that that kind of stood out? You've been to Josh forever, but after the first UFC win, what was that like? I mean, he goes, I mean, the first thing he says, good job. You did a good job doing this.

You could have improved doing this. So already, back to the, you know, back to the drawing board with a coach like Josh, you know, like you did this well. You didn't do this well. You kind of let him off the hook. here, but you could have capitalized here. So it was a, it's a, it's a, it's a very normal thing with Josh. You know, all right, well, I'll see you later. All right, later, dude. We, uh, we host a matchmaking show on the Sunday after these cards. We make our picks and the listeners just submit a whole bunch

of picks and you were a very popular name on the show. When, when do you think you want to get back? You don't even look like you've been in a fight. Uh, yeah, I'm just normally ugly anyway. So I mean, that's just how I look. So, you know what? I'm ready as soon as the, as soon as UFC has any plans for me, man. So that's when I'm ready. Is there anybody, I mean, in a respectful way, of course.

Does anybody stand out to you? Because like you said, a winner of a Hione, you're a top 20, 25 guy on Jump Street right now. Yeah. Is there anybody in particular? Nah, I mean, these hands are ready E for everybody. They all can get it. Last thing, ahead of the fight,

I was actually watching a little bit earlier. We reheated a video portrait of you that was done by the legendary Casey Leiden and Esther Lynn. And it's so funny to see, man, you're out here at skateboarding. You get the dogs. You're talking about your old neighborhood. And you were dressing with what trying to anyways, dress with high socks and low shorts to fit in with the older kids. And your mom had to put you in check because she didn't want that for you. This is why I think 2015 this came out.

Do you remember doing that? Because it was pretty cool to go back and watch that. Yeah. I mean, I remember doing that for for MMA fighting. I remember that. They, they came over and, you know, it's funny because, like, I had a, like, a lot of the, it's not on camera, but a lot, it's habit. A lot of times when there's a car that you don't recognize coming through, you know,

you kind of look and see who it is. And, you know, there's a lot of that. And the guy's like, am I okay with my camera? I was like, you're fine, you're fine. It's, you know, don't worry about it. I'll let you know when to run. So, but, you know, the city of South Carolina. has changed a lot.

But, you know, it is the same in a lot of ways, just with different people, you know, same shit, different day, I guess. But, yeah, I remember doing that. They did me a solid. And, of course, everybody going back to it, I'm pretty sure that now they have a lot more hits than they have before. I think so. And it's funny, oddly enough, Casey is actually getting ready for his first MMA fight.

Really? Yeah, he did, he jumped in the Wim to Warrior. program and I think he's supposed to fight at the end of next month. Like he's going to have his first amateur fight. It's been doing it for like two months. Yeah, it's crazy. I wish he would hit me up. We could have got him in the gym. It's not too late. No, I'm going to hit him up then. Yeah, he's going to see this video anyways because he's going to have to produce. He's going to have to put it all together. So Casey, listen to the band. Yeah, he's got a, he's got a training partner in me if he wants to, if he wants to, if he wants to, uh, if he wants

to, uh, if he wants to train. Amazing. Victor, congratulations on the win. Tremendous performance. The hardcores. We're proven. We're proven. We're proven. We're and you got the job done. Huge win. Very happy for you and look forward to seeing you back in there. I know you're getting ready to go back into the gym. So I appreciate you giving me some time, man. No problem, man. Thanks for having me, man.

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