MMA Fighting - What the Heck: Episode 11 | Devin Clark, Roxanne Modafferi, Ian Heinisch, Alex Perez & Gina Mazany

Episode Date: June 11, 2020

Check out episode 11 of What the Heck with Mike Heck on MMA Fighting. This week, Mike chats with Alex Perez (7:28) to recap his first-round TKO win over Jussier Formiga at UFC 250. Devin Clark (25:50) talks his big win over Alonzo Menifield at UFC 250, engaging in protests against racial injustice before and after the victory, the relationship with his father, and teaming up with Jon Jones during the protests in Albuqurque. Ian Heinisch (47:27) discusses his first finish in the UFC against Gerald Meerschaert on Saturday night, the craziness leading up to the event with his cornerman getting a false positive COVID-19 test, and already booking his next fight with Brendan Allen on June 27. Gina Mazany (1:09:48) previews her return to the UFC this Saturday night, stepping in on short notice against Julia Avila at UFC on ESPN 10, talks how she found out seven months after the fact that she was released by the UFC after her last promotional fight, being the biggest underdog on the card, and more. Finally, Roxanne Modafferi (1:27:00) caps of the show to preview her upcoming fight with Lauren Murphy June 20 at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, talks her impressive win over Maycee Barber in January, and how strength and conditioning turned from a dislike to a love recently.  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   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. What the Heck with Mike Heck on MMAfighting.com. Now here is your host, Mike Heck. What the heck? Everybody, welcome to a brand new edition of What the Heck on MMAfighting.com. I am Mike Heck. Thank you for checking out the program this week. And man, there has been a lot going on since we last spoke a week or so ago.

Of course, UFC 250 is in the books. Amanda Nunes successfully defended her women's featherwe. title in dominant fashion against Felicia Spencer. Dominant unanimous decision win. She wasn't in danger at any point in that fight. The Bannamweight Division was absolutely on fire with huge performances from Al Jemaine Sterling, Cody Garbrand, shot O'Malley, and even Cody Stamen, who had such an admirable performance upper weight class against the game, Brian Kelleher, fighting with a very heavy heart.

Just super impressive night for the Bantamweight Division. And then, in more than just fighting itself, we saw fighters like Aljo, like Alex Casares, like Devin Clark, use the platform for the greater good to help spread the message of racial equality, really making a mark in regards to what is going on in the country right now. And it's a very important topic and one we will discuss more in depth later on in the program. In addition to everything that happened at UFC 250, UFC President Dana White went on first take. on Tuesday and announced the location of Fight Island, which is on Yaz Island and Abu Dhabi. So kudos to him for giving us this idea and letting all of us, the media, the fans, just run with it. Like we're going to the Bahamas.

We're going to wear Hawaiian shirts and khaki shorts and sandals and straw hats and sunglasses while we watch fights. No, no, no, no, no. Yaz Island it is where we just were back in September less than a year ago. but well done Dana White, well done. But he did announce four dates, four fight island in July. We get July 11th, which is UFC 251. We get July 15th, July 18th, and July 25th.

So we're going to be running big time as soon as we touch down on Yaz Island. He also announced four world title fights. Three of them will take place July 11th on that loaded UFC 251 card. We have the made event, Kamara Usman, taking on Gilbert Burns for the Welterweight title. Huge opportunity for Gilbert, Burns kind of reminds me a Michael Bisbing because even though Gilbert Burns has been on fire as of late, he was not the first choice. Jorge Mazadol was the first choice. They even tried at the 11th hour, according to Ariel Hawani of ESPN to make that fight happen. They raised his price a little bit,

gave him the money, according to Ariel, of what he made a UFC 244 against Nate Diaz for the BMF title, still couldn't come to terms. Then they called Leon Edwards. Leon Edwards couldn't make it happened. So by default, here we are. Gilbert Burns gets an opportunity to become a world champion. And 10 months ago, he was fighting Alexi Kunchenko in Uruguay. Alexi Kanchenko to a title fight in less than a year. Just amazing. What a story this would be if Gilbert Burns can beat Kamar Uzman. In addition, we have Alexander Volcanowski versus Max Holloway 2 for the featherweight title and Piotr-Jon-Vosio for the vacant Bannamway title. Huge fight card coming up on July. I-11th. In addition to those title fights, we've got Rose Namibunas versus Jessica Androge 2.

That's official. And Paige Van Zanz's final fight on her current UFC deal. She's going to take on a very dangerous insurgent contender in Amanda Hebas. And the fourth title fight made official, the trilogy is set. For August 15th, UFC 252, Steppe Mietchich will take on Daniel Cormier for the heavyweight title. It's going to be DC's last hurrah, if you will. Man, there's a lot to get excited about myself. and Jose Youngs. If you go back on our YouTube page, we reacted to all of that

news on Tuesday. So check that out. It's not that long. So you can get our thoughts on all of that. Of course, there's other stories in the news. We got Jorge Mazadol versus the UFC. We got John Jones versus the UFC. We talked all about that on between the links. You can go back and listen to that

on the podcast network. Hell of a show. Jose Young's taking on Damon Martin. It was quite the battle. We have Connor McGregor, quote, unquote, retiring for the third time. although nobody actually believes that. We talked about that on Saturday night. We talked about that in between the links.

So really no need to get into that here because we have a stacked show. So let's run down the lineup so you can hear from who you want to hear from, which is not me. You want to hear from the fighters themselves. Rapping up this week's show, The Happy Warrior. We need some positivity. Roxanne Mata Ferry, big fight for her. Next week, she takes on Lauren Murphy on June 20th. This fight is big.

it isn't a number one contender fight per se but chances are that the winner, especially with a great performance, might be on deck or close to it depending on who wins between Valentina Shifchenko and Joanne Calderwood whenever that fight happens in 2020 although Joanne and Roxy are teammates. So there are a lot of moving parts to this

but it's a huge fight nonetheless. Roxanne Matafari will join us later on to talk all about that. Gina Mazani is back in the UFC. She is replacing Carol Rose. on short notice to take on Julia Avila this Saturday night at UFC on ESPN 10. Big spot for Gina against a fighter. A lot of people are very, very high on in Julia Obila.

But there's something in this conversation that just really stood out to me. If you follow me on Twitter, you kind of know where I'm going with this. It blew my mind. You're going to hear that story and all about her thoughts heading into this fight later on on what the heck. Ian Heinish pick up. Ian Hinesh picked up a huge win on Saturday night. His first finish in the UFC against Gerald Mershart at UFC 250 did it in the first round. It's a great performance.

And he already has his next fight booked against Mershart's teammate Brennan Allen on June 27th. And of course, it was a very interesting week for the hurricane. A man who has had many very interesting weeks in his life, as you guys probably already know by now. We will check in with Ian Hinesh right smack dab in the middle of the show this week. Clark, who picked up a big win over the previously unbeaten Alonzo Menafield on Saturday night. He's going to join us to give an update on the eye injury he suffered to talk about his dead's incredible cornerwork. I have a big fate of Mr. Clark, by the way, as you guys probably know by now.

And then, of course, making just a huge statement at UFC 250 with raising his fist in the air before and after the fight. Also talks about his teammate, John Jones, taking the streets of Albuquerque a couple weekends ago and Devin Clark was there as well. So we'll talk all about that. This is a fantastic chat and that's coming up in around 20 minutes. But first, let us kick things off with another big winner from Saturday night. He was part of, in my opinion, the under the radar fight of the night heading into UFC 250 and he made it look easy. He made quick work of Jucier from Miga and is very close to a shot at the UFC flyweight strap. Let us check in with Alex Perez to kick off this week's

episode of What the Heck. All right, we have one of the big winners from UFC 250 on Saturday night. He finished Juicier Formiga with leg kicks, brutal leg kicks in the first round. Huge win for Alex Perez, who joins us right now on What the Heck. Alex, how are you, sir? I'm good, man. How are you doing? I'm doing great. Man, that was one way to make a statement to Joseph Benavitas and Davis and Figuado. Those calf kicks were so nasty, man. His leg looked so awful when that fight was over? Like, I can't even really describe it right now. It's a brilliant game plan, Alex.

Was that something that you knew would be there throughout that fight? I mean, a little bit, but I didn't plan on going to the well that much so often. I just seen it, and I was like, all right, I'm going to do it. You know, and after the first one landed, I was like, oh, man, like, it's a little, I thought it was going to be a little bit harder to set up, but it's a little bit easier than what it was. So I was like, oh, man, just keep going there. you know and then I just kind of kept with the game plan started attacking inside and outside of the legs

and just kind of stick with it I know you guys have a bit of a relationship you're not like BFFs or anything like that but you guys are pretty cool with one another where you're starting to feel bad the more and more you were landing those kicks because I mean it was tough for a lot of us to watch yeah man I met this guy like 10 years ago

I was the first one to pick him up in the States actually when he was finding at Tachi Palace And, you know, it was a bittersweet kind of thing, but now once I got, once I get in there, it's like a friendship aside or whatever, like, it's time to go to work. You know, I thought it was going to be, it was a little hard at first. Like, man, I'm going to have to fight one of my friends, but I'm trying to get paid. I'm trying to move up the ranking, trying to collect two checks. So I'm not going to do what I got to do.

What did you guys say to each other after the fight if you don't mind me asking? I know it's kind of a surreal moment, but would you guys say to each other? I would just tell him, man, like, you know, like, I love him, man. He's a good guy, you know, Ariasstime, I respect him a lot. He's one of the guys that look up to him in MMA, a very true martial artist, you know. Like, he's a jit-to blackout, but he's the nicest guy. He's always, like, we keep in contact, you know, he fights, he always wishes me luck, I fight, same thing. You know, we reached each other a lot, stuff like that.

So it's, like I said, it was a little bittersweet moment, but I knew eventually we'll have to fight. obviously my idea would have been a fight this guy for the title kind of thing, but it just happened earlier. And yeah, it was a bittersweet, man. It was a bittersweet. It was a super rare finish, too. You're only the 11th fighter in UFC history to finish a fight with leg kicks. It's the 12th time it's happened overall and the second fight card in a row that it's happened.

I remember at the beginning of the year, Alex, it was all about after Connor fought Donald Seroni, when it's like, oh, the shoulder strike's going to be the new thing. Everyone's going to be shoulder striking. but alas, the calf kick continues to be the most valuable weapon in this sport, in my opinion right now. Is it not? Yeah, I think M.A is all about trends, you know, what the trends are. And I think that's the trend right now. You know, for a while it was, you know, body kicks.

For a while it was certain things, you know, so I think just kind of part of the sport kind of goes through trends and phases. and I think right now it's in and everybody's seeing the effects of it. One thing about this fight card that drove some people crazy was the placement of your fight. It was a great card and it's a great lineup, especially the main card was great,

but you cannot tell me that this fight between you and Juicier from Meager belongs on the early, early prelims. It is an abomination that that happened. I know it's empty arena and I know it's three rounds either way, but this fight, in my opinion, deserved a lot more for being honest.

Yeah, some people were asked me, what do you feel, what do you think? I just told him, like, man, I get paid the same, whether the first five of the night or the last five of the night. For me, it was kind of like, man, that's cool. I get in, get out, more time for me to go eat some Korean barbecue or something, man. Like to me, it doesn't matter where I'm at. It's just part of it, man.

Like I said, the lineup was great. Everybody deserves to be somewhere on that card, you know, just happened that I was on a fight pass. Cool. Like I said, it was easier a day. and I liked it better because I got more time to warm up. I'm not sure how the other guys worked where, like, you know, we're getting shuttled to the apex.

We only had X amount of rooms, things like that. So I'm not sure how much time those guys had. I know in Florida, the warm up time wasn't as much as it was here for me. So, I mean, I kind of liked it. Biggest win of your career to this point? Like, you've had some good ones, but this has to be right up there, if not number one. Where would you rank this one?

It's part of the biggest win in my career. Like I said, I met this guy when he was the number one guy in the world, you know, and to his credit, that was in 2010. To his credit, he's still been on top of the game, you know, now he's still, I still believe he's one of the top guys in the division. For sure, top 10, for sure top five. Like, I mean, he's beat the guy that should be the champion right now, you know, and dominated him. So, I mean, he's still one of the best guys in the world. I feel this is the biggest win in my career. but, you know, I'm going to be saying that about the next win.

What did you think of the way, like, the apex was set up and the ambiance of the empty arena setting? Like, you've been in similar positions before, but I feel like with it being a full-on UFC event, it's created some different things that we haven't really seen before, like the commentators playing a factor in these fights and all these different things. Did you enjoy that, especially landing those leg kicks

and hearing it echo across the whole building? It was definitely different, but I kind of liked it, man. it takes a lot of pressure off people when, you know, you don't have crazy screaming fans yelling, you know, or, you know, trying to grab you on the way out and stuff like that. I enjoyed it. It was definitely different. I can hear my corners clearly. I mean, I can usually hear him pretty good. Cheetos pretty loud, you know, so I can usually hear him yelling, but it was definitely different. A lot's been made about the size of the cage and the apex, how it's five feet shorter or five feet smaller than the cage you guys usually fight in. And Dana,

light seemed to like shrug it off even though we've seen so many finishes over these last couple of cards with it being a small like do you feel like that plays a factor at all like the reason that we're getting so many finishes is because of the smaller cage or do you not buy into that at all um i think it's a little bit of both kind of i think like it it favors guys that like to go forward obviously the guy that likes to move around and run it's a little bit different um you know there's not that much space but I just think it depends who's fighting. Like you got two guys that are aggressive.

Like heavy weights, I mean, I think they're just big no matter what. But yeah, I feel like it does play a little factor in there just depending on the fight styles that are going in. I mean, if you got two runners, two guys like to counter strike, I'm pretty sure it play out different. But you've all the fights, one guy's been super aggressive and one guy's running or the guys have been super aggressive both trying to come and try to kill each other. So it thinks it depends on the matchups. I was talking to Christian Aguilera the other day, who is about to make his UFC debut this Saturday against Anthony Ivy, and he told me that one of the big changes he's made in his career was thanks to you

because you turned him on to your mindset coach, and it's changed everything for him. How long have you been working with a mindset coach? I've been working with him with Mike since I fought Benavides, right before the Mark Dilla Rosa fight. You know, I was like mentally, I thought I was good, but I just like, you know what? I'm going to try it. One of my friends actually got me in a hold of him.

He uses him for wrestling. So, yeah, I used him there. And then Christian was coming off the two losses. And I was like, bro, I was like, have you ever thought about it? I was like, how do you feel? He's like, oh, you know, I'm confident because I train hard, but there's always doubt. And I was like, so for his wedding gift, I actually gave him, I actually paid for him to work with Mike. and I was like, look, man, like work with him for this camp and see how you like it.

And, you know, he kept the relationship. So it's definitely, I mean, it helps me, helps him. Some people don't need it. Some people are confident. You know, it doesn't matter what happens when lose. There's still confidence. But I felt like I needed a different edge. I mean, I work hard.

I'm a workhorse in the room, you know. But I think the mental stuff does help. What's the biggest change that it's made for you, you think? Just the perspective on things, the outlook on things is different, you know, kind of things like that. Like everybody says, oh, well, you know, don't make the fight bigger than what it is. Most guys are like, man, this is my biggest fight. For me, it's just another fight. Now, before, like, every fight was, oh, man, it's the biggest fight.

That's the biggest fight. Man, we do this for a living, just a different name, you know? So that's the biggest one for me. Pretty liberating feeling, right? Yeah, I mean, it takes a lot of a, like, it's a more. emotional roller coaster, you know, going up, down, up, down, kind of stuff. It's kind of like in camp. Sometimes you do great. Sometimes you get destroyed. Sometimes you're doing good. Sometimes you feel that you're not doing that great, but you're doing good. So it's just so many emotions going through your head.

And to have one of those checked off helps a lot. You know this sport, Alex. We only let you enjoy these wins for like eight seconds before we talk about what's next. And there seems to be two options for you right now. One is you stayed on Saturday during your post-fight media scrum, you're ready to step in for Benavitas or Figurado if they can't make it to the title fight on Fight Island next month or Brandon Moreno's right there. And with the winner, comes the title shot more than likely. That's not about right for you. Moreno or you step in for one of those two guys? Yeah, I'm staying ready. I'm in Vegas helping some of my teammates, but man, I'm running. I'm hitting pads. I'm getting bad workouts. I'm, you know, starting to roll and stuff like that.

get myself a couple days off, you know. And I'm back on the horse, man. This is what I do for a living. Like I tell people, I don't get paid to sell on the couch. I get paid to fight. And, you know, opportunity comes. I just want to be ready. Like, no one knew that, no one knew what was going to happen during the COVID thing.

But, you know, my management team was like, stay ready. Something's going to happen. UFC is going to be the first on that. I take it to heart. So taking this to heart, hopefully the opportunity comes. I mean, I wish no ill will on any. but don't want them to get hurt, don't want them to get sick. Hopefully they'll make weight and stuff like that.

But hey, I'm going to be available for sure. It's a pretty good position to be in, right? I mean, this is a division two years ago from this point that was gone. People thought it was done. And now look at you, your worst-case scenario, you're a win away from fighting for the belt, unless something really crazy happens in that Benavita's Figuerado fight. It's a pretty solid position. Like, if I asked you, if I told you two years ago that you're a win away from fighting for the belt,

hello what would you what would you tell me uh frank camacho he's fighting oh yes uh man it's crazy just uh you know i was i was paying everybody out and stuff and it was kind of one of those things surreal like i never thought i would be doing that you know just just just in general like doing stuff like that just kind of wows me um being like people like texting me about the ranking i really don't look at the rankings you know i mean it's not i can care less what what the rankings are It's just a number to me. I come from a wrestling background. It doesn't matter.

But people are texting me, people are there. You know, it's just surreal that I'm that close to, you know, getting one of my goals accomplished in the sport. And there's so many more goals I want. But, you know, getting close, closer and closer, it's just more motivating. Everything I'm doing is kind of the right thing I'm doing, you know, like all the extra work I'm putting in and all that. Like, I can't question that anymore.

Can't question sacrificing holidays, birthdays, things like that. that just hanging out with friends i can't question that anymore because it's paying off were you surprised to get a bonus uh yeah man that probably good man like a lot of people deserve the bonus i was like man when when my manager text me you know because i i literally i you know i brought my checkbook with me so after my fight i like to pay everybody right away like hey i'm paying i'm paying right away. And he calls me, did you write, did you write that check? I was like, oh, not yet. You know, I'm going to do it tonight. He's like, well, make sure you write me another one. And I was like, what? He's like, yeah, you got a bonus. And I was like, what the heck? And then

we hung up and I text him was like, are you, are you messing with me or what? He's like, no, I'm being for real. And like 10 minutes later they sent me the thing. I was like, oh, dangful for that. Thankful for that bonus because, you know, I'm always there to try to get two checks, but that third one's always, always, you know, makes it that much more exciting. Couldn't agree more. Future's looking very bright at 125 right now. UFC's brought on guys like Monal Cape, Brandon Roy Vowels

in the UFC now. Do you feel like things are coming together better than ever at 125 right now or that it's still going to continue to be kind of an uphill battle to get fans bought into the division? I love it. I love flyway fights. I'll watch a whole card of flyway fights. Men and women, no doubt about it.

I'll be all excited about it. But I feel like some of the casual fans, they're not sold just yet. I think it's a lot better. I think there's always improvements, obviously, but I think it's a lot better, but there's still little things that we need to change, you know, like our division, none of us talk.

We all let our work show for itself. You know, we're not out there, like, calling people out, you know, we're not doing anything crazy. We're not talking smack to everybody. I think everybody respects each other in our division. So, you know, a lot of the fans kind of like, well, that's kind of boring. You know, they want to see the drama.

like that. I mean, I don't think that are really changed. I think all of us are, we all respect each other and stuff like that. But we'll see. I mean, I think the division is good. I think it's exciting. You got new blood in there. You got guys coming up. So it's definitely the best has ever been. Yeah, I can't see a world where Alex Perez turns heel and starts running his mouth and calling people out and calling people names and stuff. I just don't see that happening anytime soon, right? I mean, I don't mind calling people out. Like, I mean, I'll do it all the time. I'm like, hey, I want to fight this.

I want to do this. But you're never going to see me or hear me, you know, really talk smack. I've had people do it to me and I'm like, oh, whatever. You know what I mean? I'm just going to show you what I can do in the cage. I'm not really focused on that. But, I mean, that's the one big thing. I think that people don't like our division because of that.

You know, every other division, people like, say, Henry Sehudo's talking about, talks about it. But, you know, like people like that, I mean, that's, that, worked for them, but I don't think it's for me. What did you think of Suhudo retiring? That really surprised me. I wouldn't say surprise is the correct word, because I know like he left wrestling when he was at the peak of his career. He won a gold medal.

Like, that's the time when you probably don't leave wrestling, especially at his age. But he's proved that he's willing to walk away. But in this sport, I feel like he was just starting to turn the corner. Like, he went from cringe to people like really believing in how good he was as a fighter. And then he retires. I don't think he's done. But I'm sure. I was surprised at the timing.

Who knows? I feel like it might be one of those things that he's been doing sports for so long that he needs a break. Like GSP, right? GSP retired on top and it took a few years off and came back. Who knows? That might be Henry, but I mean, wish him the best luck and whatever he does. It's just one of those things.

Sometimes people just get burnt out, competing at the highest level for so long. I'm pretty sure it's exhausting. We got to turn them on to your mental coach if anybody feels that way. But who you got in the rematch between Benavitas and Figuerreiro? Does it go any differently than the first one? Man, I don't see it. I felt like Joe would have a big advantage on the ground. And I think it's surprising when he hit that arm bar on him.

Because I was close to getting finished. Kudos to Joe, man, because I thought I was going to – I was tapping for him because that didn't look like it was ripping off. But I feel like Joe would throw more numbers, but Fergera has that power. and I mean Joe, I think Joe, if he does beat him, it's going to be by points. Going to, like, come in,

hit them 100 times around. Fergo's going to throw, like, 10 shots. But those 10 shots might knock them out. So I got, you know, I got the Fergera winning. Personally, I think Figuero wins. But personally, I want Joe to win. So when I beat them in the rematch, it'll be for the title. You've been talking about that for like a year now.

So this would be like a perfect story for you. Very rarely happens in MMA that you try to lay out a plan and it all comes to fruition at some point. Yeah, man. Like people are going to talk about it, but I'm a sore loser, man. Like, I respect Joe and everything he's done. He's actually a pretty cool guy. I've talked to him a little bit outside, you know, outside at the gyms and stuff. He's actually a really nice guy.

Super cool. But I'm a sore loser, man. I hate losing. I don't care what it is. So, like, that motivates me. Like, you have no idea. Like, every day I wake. up thinking like, man, I should have won that five, or I could have done better, stuff like that.

Even when I win, I look at my performances, I have like, man, I should have done this, I should have done this. So I'm always critiquing myself. I'm my biggest critic. So when media talks about me, make, you know, says stuff about me, doesn't, does not hear my feelings at all. So, like I said, I want Joe to win, but I feel Devincent will win. Big Nine and a big win for Alex Perez, who not only got a first round finish of Juicier for Miga,

but he's also $50,000 richer, getting a performance of the night bonus. Incredible performance from the team Oiyama standout as he is getting closer and closer to a title shot at 125 pounds. We move ahead to another great performance on Saturday night. Devin Clark, not just for his win against a very powerful man in Alonzo Menefield,

but for other reasons that, in my opinion, and most others, I would assume, that are more important than just fighting. So let's check in. with the brown bear, Devin Clark, right now. UFC 250 was a big night and a very important night for a number of reasons. Of course, the fights delivered inside the cage, but some of the message that were sent out of it and throughout the night may have eclipsed the action inside the octagon.

And a big reason I say that is because of the man joining me right now who picked up a big win over Alonzo Meadowfield on Saturday night. Devin Clark joins the program. It's been a couple of years since we've chatted, Devin. How are you? Oh, I'm doing good, doing great. Thank you. Awesome. First things first. How are you feeling after that fight? I know your eye was in pretty bad shape. We can kind of see some of the remnants of that right now,

but how are you feeling a few days after that fight? I'm feeling all right, a little bit tired and still a bit exhausted. I did fracture my orbital bone in the first round, and then I had to stay an extra day in Vegas just kind of recovered, and I drove my truck to Vegas from out. Albuquerque, so I had to drive back to South Dakota the last couple of days. And how was that drive with a fractured orbital? It was different, it was different, but not too bad. Yeah, we made it.

Me and my dad, so. Oh, God. I can't wait to talk about your dad in a little bit, but Alonzo, obviously, big, powerful guy. He finished all nine of his previous fights, never got past the first minute of the second round in his career. And, you know, that eye injury happened in the first round, at least. It was just a nasty uppercut that seemed to have done the damage. You were able to hang on, get the fight to the mat and survive that onslaught.

How hurt were you in that first round? Really hurt, really, really hurt. Everything in me wanted to quit. And then I was, then training kicked in. Just being there before, mentally being ready, going into this fight, I was mentally ready to get hit the hardest I've ever been hit. My coach kept saying to me, Chad Smith, He kept saying to me and we just kind of had that in our mind that, you know, we're going to get hit really hard by this guy and it's going to hurt and it's going to suck and we're going to push through it.

So we had a lot of fine fine the line moments where we pushed through stuff in camp and it worked during the fight. I didn't think I would get hit that hard, but it happened. Was that the hardest you had been hit in a fight? Definitely, definitely. The other one was Jan Blockowitz when he kicked me in the ribs. but this took the cake. This was a lot worse. Alonzo, big powerful guy, and he's going to take a lot away from those 15 minutes.

Sharing the octagon with you will likely be one of the most, if not the most important moments of his career because of where it could take him. Is he going to take him down a bad road or he's going to take all the lessons he learned and turn it into something positive? But what did you take away from that fight with a highly toted prospect like that on Saturday? just just how dangerous that I can be when I'm confident in my skills and what I bring to the table when I don't when I don't wait for the opponent to to to make his decisions for you know I don't wait for him to do my striking I just went in there and forced him to fight my way and I know he didn't he didn't want to fight how he fought but that all changed when I came out there right away in the first round threatened the takedown. And from that point on, he did not want to get taken down. He was scared to take him. So he tried to put me on the fence the whole time and it ended up backfiring because he

didn't do anything with it. I've talked a lot about this since Saturday night. And you mentioned it. I'm very excited to discuss this right now. In fact, I went on a big rant about this on the M. May fighting post-fight show after the event. The UFC should have given out a fifth performance bonus on Saturday night. And with all due respect,

to your performance, sir, your dad was the man who should have gotten it. I mean, my God, he may be my favorite thing about the empty arena fight so far with his cornering, the yelling and the screaming. I mean, it was just amazing to listen to. How much did having him there on Saturday night impact that fight? Who knows? He's there every fight. And he's like that every fight. Usually you just can't hear it as good, but it was on full. You know, everybody saw it. that night and it was such an intimate venue there and it was perfect. It didn't really seem like there was no audience because he was so loud and he brought so much intensity with it. And that's one of the things he does. That's why he's in my corner. He brings that intensity that sometimes

I just don't have. I'm not a violent person. I've never been in a street fight. Sometimes I don't have that intensity and he's really good to bring it out in me one way or another. And yeah, he, he, he's showed up for sure. Well, with him sitting shotgun while you're driving back to South Dakota, there's no way you weren't making it back. There's no way. Yeah, it was definitely focused. Does he do any like motivational speaking or like YouTube videos or anything like that? Because I will buy whatever that man is selling. He doesn't, but he definitely should. But he's like that. He's been like that my whole life ever since I can remember doing football, baseball, wrestling, growing up, he just has a way of motivating in a very, and not all athletes

can handle it, but motivating you in a way to make you want to do it, whether you get pissed at him or not. And a lot of times that's where mine comes. I'll get pit. We get in arguments all the time. And we actually got into it a day of Wayans, about an hour and a half before weigh-ins. We had a little disagreement. He came into the room and he had his camera on and I'm cutting weight and I'm hitting pads. I had so much energy. I don't know why I had energy, but I was hitting pads to cut weight and this is the morning of weigh-ins and I'm in the zone. He comes in the room and he's got his video on. He's talking to a buddy or something and I'm just a complete a dick about it. I was like, what are you doing? Turn that off. Turn that video off. And I was just in that zone and it

clicked for him too and he's like what the fuck you know he went off he went off so i went off and we got in each other's faces and like it was a pretty intense moment and then we uh it it almost went down he would never hit me but it you know that's it just it was an intense moment and then he left the room and uh came back about a minute and a half later it's like okay let's work let's work and i had some of the best pad rounds ever right there so it's just little stuff like that where we'll get in arguments he'll say something to piss me off but it's it's almost purposeful and he has a meaning behind he has a meaning behind it and it gets me fired up every time and he's done it my whole life uh sometimes i don't like it but it's just that's our relationship yeah it sounds

like you guys have an amazing bond it's almost like you're like your father and son but you're also like brothers too in a way yeah yeah yeah you were in the news everywhere on saturday night because what you did before the fight and after the fight. You were on CNN. I mean, you were all over the place. In the intro, when Bruce Buffer was announcing you, you dropped to a knee and you raised your fist in the air. And then after the fight, you stood next to the rest of your team and you guys collectively raise your fist in the air once again. And it's obviously a very crazy time in the world and in the country has been all year with COVID. And now with the injustice going on in the wake of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis, thanks to members of the police department,

not doing what they said they would do and they took their oath to the position. I know you weren't part of the virtual media day on Thursday. You didn't get a chance to speak with the media after the fight either because you went to the hospital. First off, how important was it for you to choose those moments to make your first real statements about what's going on in the country? And second, did you expect it to spread as much as it did? You know, I chose to do it.

It felt like the right thing to do. And I had a fight to focus on when kind of all this stuff was started to go down. And so I wasn't able to be as active as I wanted to be to let my voice be heard. I couldn't protest as much and stuff like that and really dig into it because I had the fight coming up. So I knew I would have an opportunity when my name would be announced. I didn't really tell. I think I told one person that I was going to. to do it. I didn't even think whether it was going to be a big deal or not or if people are going

to get mad or that it would be some kind of news deal. It's just something that I knew I could, that's how I could show my support and for the people that feel like they don't have a voice right now and that's black, white, or other. So it was, you know, it was just one of the things I felt like I had to do it. I know John Jones, your teammate, was out taking spray cans away from from people trying to vandalize downtown Albuquerque. And then, you know, he took the next day to try to rebuild the community. He was out with talking to the police and all that stuff. You know, when you see John out there doing what he was doing,

he's obviously one of the biggest names in the sport. That's got to feel good for you knowing that he's one of your teammates. And he's trying to get out there and do his best work as well. Oh, yeah, definitely proud of him. And I was actually with him both for those times. So that Sunday night, yeah, I actually filmed that video. Oh, okay. So, yeah, that Sunday night we went out.

And because there's not a whole lot of black people in Albuquerque. And, you know, that's part of the cause. The whole cause is to stand up for black people and minorities that don't get treated fairly sometime. And I was driving through downtown or near downtown. And I called John. I was like, man, there's not really any black people down here. We should come down here and represent. Or we did both your side.

He said, come pick me up. So we went down there to show support and we got down there and there was a lot of negative things going on and we we didn't like that. And John stepped up and took those cans and it was pretty cool to watch and, you know, because it could have been a dangerous situation for us. But it was the right thing to do. Did he take more cans away before you hit record and then more after you turned it off or did it continue on? That was, so we were after that group. We had already encountered them once, and then, you know, then we knew it was going to, you know, kind of be an issue. So, uh, but, uh, after that, we, um, John actually, we flagged down

a news van and John got on the news and it's like if you have, you know, ill thoughts, if you're going out tonight and have ill thoughts, just stay home, you know, tell your, tell your family members, tell your nephews, your sons, stay home if they're going out to, to cause trouble tonight because, you know, it, it definitely takes away from the, from the, from the, the impact of everything, it takes away having people riot and loot and destroy cities when that's not the message that we need to get across. 100%, especially when guys like you and John Jones are demanding to give over the spray cans. They're going to give over those damn spray cans.

But I was telling other fighters earlier because what is happening right now, it may have divided the country at first in a lot of different ways. But I feel like at this point, it's slowly bringing people to the same page. And yeah, it's not going to be a quick fix. And yes, it's not going to bring everybody on that page. But these conversations, they're important to have right now. In fact, they need to happen everywhere, right? Absolutely.

And with that being said, my corners, when we raised the fist afterwards, after my fight, that was my corner, Chad Smith. That was his idea. because he feels strongly about the issue too. And we come, we all look different. We're all, you know, definitely different, different political stances even and everything like that. And we were able to come together on that. And it was a really cool deal.

Al Jermaine Sterling and Alex Casares had both been very vocal throughout the week and after their fights. And Alex had told some stories during the virtual media day that blew a lot of people away about him being racially profiled, unfairly treated because of the way he, looks. Have you been in a position where that's happened to you before? I have not as much as a lot of people. I'm lighter skin, but coming from South Dakota, there's not growing up there. I was grew up in a smaller town. There's not a whole lot of color. So I'm used to, I was kind of already used to being looked at it as a little different. Sometimes I didn't even know it. But I have had issues with with the police and a situation where I was driving my buddy's car because he couldn't drive. He was, you know, had some drinks and stuff.

We were 16, 17 years old. And I hadn't drank. I didn't have anything on me. And the cops pulled us over. I was speeding. And he found my, my buddy had some paraphernalia stuff on him. And I had no idea about it, nothing like that.

And the cop actually tried to blame it all on me and try to give my friend an out. So, like, after that, I kind of realized that things might be a little different for some people. What happened there? Did he, did your friend, your friend had your back, I assume, right? Oh, absolutely. And that friend was in my wedding, you know. Oh, good. You know, years later, he was in my wedding.

But, yeah, he had my back. And it's like, no, man, it's my stuff. And, yeah, so it was definitely, I definitely think. for him owning up to it and not taking that out that the cop gave him, you know, and yeah. In regards to the UFC, the promotion you fight for, the biggest organization in the world, there's a couple of questions that have been out there. One was asked to both Alex and Aljo and were answered by both of those guys. The other, I haven't really seen much of it.

So we'll start with the latter. Thus far, while other sports and organizations have done so, the UFC has yet to put out a statement on the company's stance on this topic, which has been, it's pretty surprising to me at this point. Like, they did honor George Floyd during the May 30th event,

but they haven't released an actual statement when it comes to this situation. Like, how do you react to that? I feel that's, that's kind of weird. You know, I don't know what direction

they're trying to go with it, but, you know, I'm kind of all right with it right now, and I don't think it says one thing or another because they allow, they allowed me to do what I did and allow us to voice our opinions on it without getting in trouble for it, which is super huge. And you look at what happened to NFL and Kaepernick and stuff like that. They didn't support them. And so for me to be

able to do that, I take that as support. That's a very good point right there. And the other question is that both those gentlemen answered is, how do you feel the UFC is doing in regards to promoting their minority fighters. Like what have you seen and what do you think they could do better? Because maybe they just, they just don't really know what they're doing. I don't know. It's really hard to say because you,

we've had some really good minority fighters and some of them have been promoted at certain times and others, they get a promotion for a little bit and then it, you know, it's kind of, they'll go with something else. So I definitely think it could be a little, it could be a little better.

I don't know how. I haven't really got into thought about, you know, the details of it, but it could be. As a bald white man speaking, and I'd love to get your take on this, while I feel that these conversations are happening and they are at the forefront of our minds, I really do hope, Devin, that it doesn't just stop and fade away and then like come back when something terrible happens because I feel that happens a lot, not just about this subject, but others too. Like the next big terrible thing happens, we focus on that and the thing that happened before just fades away. What can you, me, the fighters, the rest of the country do to prevent

that from happening? I would say take a stance on it now. That's about all we can do and keep fighting for it. And if you see it in public, and we got to start with ourselves, too. And like I've said, I've said in other interviews, treat others how you want to be treated. If we start there, that'll change a lot of things. It'll change a lot of things. So if we keep going with that, it'll definitely start to get us in the right path. And it'll be a long time before the war on racism and stuff like that is over.

So it's going to be a long road. But I have a feeling it's going to get better for sure. There's obviously, you know, the big context of this conversation is there's more important things than fighting right now. right now is a perfect example of that. But one amazing accomplishment that has happened in your life, and you mentioned your wedding and having your friend in your wedding, is that you and your wife just celebrated anniversary number two. Congratulations on that.

Two years down, you're talking about. We've been together over 13 years. What's that? I was just going to say, you're talking to an eight-year vet right now. So, especially the state age. Two years is a big deal. Yep. Two years, but we've been together for over 13 years since we were in high school.

So, yeah, it's been a fun road. And she does really good at supporting me. I mean, it's been a long road. There's MMA and UOC stuff. And at times it hasn't always been definitely not easy. So, you know, I just thank her for supporting me. Yeah, because especially in this sport, finding somebody who understands the life of a fighter and what you all have to go through,

that is almost impossible to find. How crucial has that been to you to have that pivotal piece of the puzzle? Huge. I wouldn't be able to do it without her. And we have a six-year-old daughter, and I leave town from my camps, and that's really, you know, so my wife's here at home working and taking care of our daughter, and that's a huge thing. And, you know, it's hard to repay, but she does it, and I love her for it. There you go. Last thing before we let you go, and I appreciate the time very much. I know you got some healing up to do some things to take care before you fight again, but since you didn't get a chance to do a post-fight interview with

Rogan or D.C., they'd probably ask you what you want next. So what do you want next? I want some camo shorts. No, no. I mean, camo shorts would be cool, but Yeah, you know, I like a top 15 guy for sure. That's just the way I would have my side set on. I want to get into that top 15, looking for a bigger fight. And of course, I'll take whoever they throw at me most of the time. So, yeah, just looking for the next one and string those wages together and keep climbing and keep getting better.

Just have your father call Dana White and the matchmakers and get them on the phone. and you'll get a top 15 guy. I have a feeling that'll happen, Devin. There we go. Amazing stuff, Devin. I mean, your dad may have gotten my performance bonus, but you were one of the big stars of the night without question with everything you did in the Octagon, the performance,

you know, how you overcame adversity to get a really tough, tough victory. And I truly admire how you used the platform you had been given to the best of your ability. I thought you did an amazing job. So all the best of you. Heal up. Happy anniversary and look forward to seeing what's next. next for you. Thank you. I appreciate it. Really, really amazing stuff right there from Devin Clark. I learned a lot in that conversation. I love what that man stands for and really looking

forward to seeing him continuously evolve in this sport because I feel like he's starting to hit his stride right now after that big win on Saturday night. And just, just an amazing night for him. I mean, get him. He's on CNN, New York Times. So many national. in worldwide outlets for what he did in the octagon with raising the fists. It's just incredible stuff. And, you know, I actually wish we could have heard more from him on Saturday night with the media, but we got him here. And I'm glad we were able to make that happen on what the heck.

But speaking to big wins on Saturday night at UFC 250, how about Ian Heinish? Back against the wall. He's coming in on back-to-back losses. A cornerman potentially with a positive COVID-19 test. Heinish is in. Heinish is out. And then Heinish is back in. It's like the hokey-pokey against Gerald Mearshaught.

He picked up his first finish in the UFC and has already booked his next fight. So let's check in with the hurricane himself, Ian Hinesh. All right. Ian Hinesh joins us on the show right now. UFC middleweight is in the middle of one of the craziest weeks I've seen in the sport in quite some time. That's for sure. He did pick up a big win over the weekend against Gerald Mearshart at UFC 250 and already has his next fight booked. Ian, how are you, sir?

Good to see you. Yeah, I'm doing real good, man. You know, just just trying to ride this high and join this huge win because don't let anyone fool you, man. Getting a big win in the UFC is no easy, easy task. So when you get it, you really want to soak it in and enjoy it. But, you know, when opportunity comes knocking, you know, especially with this whole COVID thing, you know, it was an opportunity I had to take.

And it was kind of crazy how the whole fight actually lined up. Yeah, for sure. And we'll get into that in a minute because we have a lot to discuss. But first, you know, let's talk about the win on Saturday night because you looked fantastic. And I remember as soon as the fight ended, I remember messaging a member of your management team, the great Ed Cap. And I sent something the effect of, well, that was a different guy in there. And it was more than just like a change in camp and coaches. There was a different look in your eye. I thought your entire demeanor was different. That's how I saw it. What say you? Do you feel, did you feel like much different this time around than you felt? maybe in the Brunson fight or the one right after that? Yeah, absolutely, man. There was just a different focus. You know, taking two losses in the UFC is something you never want to do. You know, your job's basically on the line. So, you know, I had to go out and I went to Thailand.

I felt God leading me out there. I fell in love with the camp. Just really, you know, I changed some things physically, but mostly I changed mentally. My mental game is so much different now. I had to remember why I love this sport and what makes me get up every morning to go to practice. And just keep that in mind and not focus on the wins, the losses so much as just performing and doing what I love to do. Because when you're having fun, you win and winning's fun. So I came out there with a whole different mindset and a lot of new technical changes as well.

But I didn't get to showcase them and I'm excited to in a few weeks. Did you feel like the sport wasn't as much fun as it used to be for you? Did you feel like the love for it kind of went away? And you mentioned God led you out to Thailand to go train with those guys. Did you start falling out of love with MMA after those two losses? Yeah, you know, I mean, I just didn't enjoy going to practice. I didn't enjoy the day-to-day grind. And that's the part you have to enjoy.

The fighting's like, you know, that's like the reward of all the hard work, the fruits of your labor. But I was just, I was stagnant, man. It wasn't me. I was settling down. You know, I bought a house. It was the same routine every day. It was a lot of driving. That's not me, man.

I'm the king of controversy. Like, I love to mix things up. Like, I'm flying to Thailand. I'm training out there for two weeks. Then the COVID hits. I got to come back. And I don't know. I'm in a place where like, I don't have coaches.

I don't have training partners. And everything just worked out so perfect. I found a small group of guys to new coaches. I didn't want to go back to the old gym because I just felt there was some. there still that needed some time to heal. And I just, it all came together, man, and so perfectly. And then having the false positive at the COVID test on the week of the fight when I'm cutting weight, like, man, for some reason, I thrive in those, in those controversial moments.

And that's the kind of the cards that God has dealt me. And I've learned to just, to just roll with it and embrace it. The chaos led to your first finish in the UFC. How about that? Gerald's a very game guy, too. a Wiley veteran, he was probably in terms of meritocracy and where he was at. I think he was at like kind of a sky high level approaching a big step into the top 15. And you went in there and shut that down real quick. How good of that field to finally get that first finish? Yeah, it's funny because I yelled at like DC and Joe Rogan. I was like, I guess I only get finishes when there's no crowds because, you know, I got that big finish at contender series and I haven't got one yet since So, no, it felt so good. And Gerald is a straight, he's class. He's pure class. I like the guy.

I've been watching him for a while. He's fought the best of the best in the who's who and the sport and just a true veteran. Brennan Allen, you know, I don't really have respect to that kid. You know, he's kind of cocky. He's all over the place. His shit talking doesn't even really make sense half the time. And, you know, I believe I'm kind of in his head now. And so, you know, hats off and respect to Gerald. But I'm going to go take care of his buddy. Brendan Allen. Yep, that fight is happening June 27th. And, you know, I want to go back to Thursday because it was such a crazy day. You're getting, like you said, you're getting, you're in the middle of cutting weight, getting ready to fight a very tough guy in around 48 hours or so. And then we all find out that you're out of the fight. There's a new opponent and then you're back in the fight. So you're so basically what happened was, and you can kind of fill in the blanks here, your coach tests positive for COVID-19. And then he's retested to see if it's a false. positive, which it was, that's what happened, right? Like, he did test positive and then they came back and tested him again and turned out it wasn't positive at all? So what I know of it is he tested

inconclusive in the first test and they retested the same sample and then it was positive. But those tests, you know, they're not the most accurate. The blood test is the most accurate. My wife's a nurse. And so I know a little bit about this. And I mean, it was crazy. It was chaos because it wasn't one of my coaches, he was actually one of my training partners that I was using for a body out in the camp. And he was actually, you know, in the mix with other guys training throughout that week. So the whole card was essentially going to fall, fall, like it was going to fall apart because, you know, he was contaminating a lot of people if he was really positive. So I said, calm down, get him a second test. They isolated him. It took like five hours to get this test.

The media got wind of it. It was just wild. Everyone tell me, you backed out. you're scared, blah, blah, blah. I just shut my phone up for five hours and just focus on what I can control and and just kind of bring that bulletproof prison mentality back and just, you know, like, hey, you know, this is in God's hands. And, you know, I've been through way worse. And so I just kind of laughed in the face of adversity these days. And I just stayed on course.

My coach said, nope. And it was literally right when I just finished my last bit of water and my last bit of food. So it was like one of the hardest parts of weight. cut where you just have to wait around to you lose that last 10 pounds, 11 pounds, whatever it was, you lose half that night, half the next morning. And, you know, hours later came back to test. It was negative. Fights back on. And then after I finished Gerald so fast, he said, okay, well, you still can fight Brennan Allen because my management, Jason House already had me a backup fight. He's a hustler, man. He's working. So he already had me the back of fight with Brennan Allen.

and then I finished Gerald super fast and then they were like, okay, you could still take that fight. Wow, what a crazy story. So it was your idea to order the second test, the blood test? That was you saying, listen, I know what I'm talking about here, test him again? Or did the UFC make that decision? You know, I don't say it was just my idea,

but we definitely, me and my management were pushing for it because there was like an hour or two that went by where he was quarantined and there was nothing happening. So we were like, yo, get this doctor here and let's figure this out because I'm in limbo cutting weight and in a place that I don't want to be for very long. And I know I had to mess with Gerald said too, because now he's fighting another guy, then he's fighting me again. So I knew it was mutual with the head games that I was playing.

But yeah, I pushed for that test to get it done ASAP. So I think the UFC learned a lot and they're going to be, they did a great job, but they're going even be more efficient now after, because that was the first time of corners tested positive. Yeah. I think someone in Joccery's team did as well, but this is kind of a much different situation with it being in Vegas and, you know, trying to get a false positive result as well. I mean, there's just something. And I feel like as the weeks go on, we're going to continue to learn more about this and add different pieces to it. But it was funny because I spoke with Gerald after Wayans on Friday. And with everything that has happened in your life, Thursday was probably

like the 2000th most interesting day of your life. But how stressful was that for you anyways? I mean, yeah, it put stress on my body just a little bit. I just had to, I kind of laughed a lot, to be honest, because I was like, this is wild. Like, what do we do? I wanted to like say to my team, sorry because Jason was like, your fights off. We're hopefully going to get you at least your show money, blah, blah, blah. And like, I'm like, almost felt like I needed to say sorry, but I was like, what am I sorry for?

like I didn't test positive and in my my my cornerman it wasn't his fault either all we've been doing is training with each other and so it was yeah it was just interesting it was new but I just laughed a lot I just kept the vibe good and then eventually I started to get a little stressed out when all this stuff was on the internet and my coach did a great job and said hey let's go hit some myths and listen to reggae and just hang out in the workout room and we did that for a few hours and that really just helped a lot. So with this small group of people you've put together once you came back from Thailand to get you ready for Gerald, is this going to be the same group you're working with,

getting you ready for the 27th and Brendan Allen? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, if it's not broke, don't fix it. We're gunning to go get another big win, and the plan is still to move back to Thailand. But, you know, if I have a fight in the States, I think I would split the camp, you know, four weeks there, four weeks here, bring the Tiger, coach out if you wanted to do that. And yeah, I mean, there's options here. I have a very good connection with these coaches. God led me to them, but I'm still led to Thailand and I know I'm going to

go back there after this. But I figured, you know, with this big layover, this big layoff with COVID, I can get two fights in a month and I'll be on track to get my four fights that I want this year. You touched on it a little earlier and I wanted to go back to because when I think of you, at least when I thought of you, you and Factory X were connected. You were hand in hand. And I know how much of an impact Mark Montoya had on you outside of the cage, like mentally, spiritually. But what led you to making that switch, if you don't mind me asking?

Why was it so awkward to go back there after you got back from Thailand? You know, I have nothing bad to say about Factory X and Mark, you know, and busy. And the whole crew over there, they're my foundation. I gave a huge shout-outs after my fight. and I'll continue to do that. I have nothing bad to say. It's just, it's me. Like, I'm a nomad.

Like, I'm a person who loves to just, like, travel and be around and experience these new things. And I just was, like, mentally getting stagnant. Like, it was like, drive to Factory X, drive to Landau Performance, drive home, drive to Factory X, drive home. Like, and there was so much traffic in Colorado at the time, just eating in your car. It was just like, it was just a grind that I wasn't enjoying anymore, you know? It wasn't about the fighting anymore. It was about so many different things.

And I had other outside things, which also I love like mentoring kids, speaking at schools, speaking for football teams, speaking at programs, rehabs, all these things. And I love doing that. But to become the best of something in the world is really hard. And you've got to focus everything on it. And in Thailand, I feel a sense of isolation. And you're literally on a street where there's two MMA gyms and like 15 Muay Thai gyms, CrossFit gyms, massage and food and hotels.

And everything is focused around fighting. There's fights in every single restaurant you go in. And I feel like it's an opportunity to isolate. And this COVID has helped me isolate here because it's small group training, really intense coaching on your, you always have a coach or two coaches. And basically, nobody had a fight except me. So all the focus was on me. And I just, that, that just mixing the things up is something I needed to do.

And that's kind of what made me leave factory X. I just wanted, I just was going to Thailand for five weeks just for a. mental refocus and fell in love with it. And I was like, this is for me. I got to do what I love to do. I love the ocean. I felt God calling me out there. And then so I told him I was leaving and I just didn't feel it was right to come back and

be like, hey, I'm leaving you, but I'm back because of COVID. But then I'm going to leave again just so you know. And, you know, I just felt like there would be some tension there. And that's the last thing a fighter needs from this coach. You just wanted to be all good vibes, smooth, just a very relaxed vibe with your coach because you're already having bad vibes with your opponent and all these outside things that try to distract you. So you want your coach to be like a safe place for you to go and be around. So that's that's kind of the reason I left and that's kind of the reason I didn't go back for this camp.

Well, said, that makes a lot of sense. So speaking of Thailand, like Tyrone Woodley was out there. I think you worked with him while he was there getting ready for the Leon Edwards fight that actually never happened. And then Cynthia Calvillo was out there. I think right before you went out there. And she, when I interviewed her and talked to her about that, she said that every fighter, maybe even every human being at some point should take some time and spend a week out there because it's just so you learn so much about yourself. And there's things that you maybe take for granted now that you probably won't anymore after spending a week over there. Would you agree with that? Yeah, 100%. And like, you know, and that's what I've kind of been preaching kind of about the whole riots and stuff.

Like, yes, our country is very messed up. But if you've been to places like Asia and South America and you see, you want to see really corrupt police, like really corrupt. Go out there. And I know we have huge issues in our country, but I feel like some people are forgetting the good things as well. And just trying to like destroy it and just get wild. And you kind of have to look at both sides, like all the good stuff that our police force has done. And yes, there are a few bad eggs that ruin the whole bunch. And we need to get them out and make some changes in our government.

and mostly make changes in our media, I think, because they push a narrative of just hate and division. But, yeah, Thailand is an eye-opening place, the culture, the people, the landscape, and the training. And just, you know, it's just, it has something in the atmosphere out there, and it's really, really cheap to live. So I highly recommend it.

With your fighting career, do you like it this way? Like, let's just fight every three, four weeks, keep this train roll. And it's kind of like the old-school amateur fighting days, right? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. if I can be this healthy after a fight, and we put in so many hard sparring rounds. It takes a while to get where I'm at right now

in this peak performance. And if I can avoid that, because I feel like that puts so many miles on you doing those hard sparring rounds. And I can come out of a fight unscathed and have an opportunity to train for two more weeks and jump right back in. Why not do it, especially in these times?

Brennan Allen would never get this shot right here. Never. I would never take this fight. And he would never get this fight off to them if it wasn't for the COVID times, but we're, they're running out of fighters in America that are ready. So people that are opportunistic and are ready to fight are getting the opportunities and, you know, making the money right now. So it's, it's an opportunity I'm going to take for sure. Yeah, because Brendan was your original opponent before Gerald took the fight, right?

No. He wasn't? I thought he was offered the fight first. No, they, they could take it. maybe i don't know they they threw his name around but um in the end uh gerald was the one who was ready so yeah maybe he wasn't ready maybe he wasn't training i don't know his excuses man i just know he i hear him on a bunch of interviews talking some smack and whatever he's got to do to pump himself up man this is the step up i'm ranked for a reason and uh he's going to feel that on the 27th why what have you made of his ufc run so far have you watched the fights with with holland and breeze And if so, you know, what have you made from him as he gets ready for his top 15 opponent, or his first top 15 opponent, that is?

Yeah, no, I mean, he's, you know, he's tough. He wants to get to the ground really bad. But I'm the jiu-jitsu killer, man. Like Carlos, Antonio Carlos Jr., even Cesar Ferreira is a, you know, three-strived black belt. Even in my LFA days, like Daniel Madrid and Czechos, you know, like I do very well against these jiu-suits guys. And, you know, I just, I talk to my boy, Eric Anders. who's fought Brennan Allen and he's giving me some pointers. You know,

kids tough, man, everyone's tough in the UFC, but I feel like I know I'm on a different level. And if I come out with that same mentality, that same flow, which I'm gonna, he doesn't stand a chance.

I feel like you're in similar places in your career. At least like he was where you were probably like a year and a half ago. Like you had this long winning streak. You had it snapped, lost a couple in a row, and then you were able to bounce back and learn some valuable lessons along the way and came back with a great win over, over your opponent's teammate.

Is it time for Brendan to learn those lessons after hearing those interviews? You're trying to do him a little bit of a favor on June 27th? Yeah, I mean, there's no doubt the kids got talent, but he's young. He's never, you know, he hasn't stepped up to that competition

like Nephite and Derek Brunson or Omari Akmedoff. Like, I mean, these guys hit different. Like, it feels different in there. Like, I can feel the difference in there with, compared with Gerald and them. And granted, I didn't hit the ground, with Gerald and that's where he's strong, but I can feel the difference, you know, and I just feel like,

yeah, he's got these two wins. I felt like Kevin Hallam was beating him and kind of just made a mistake and got caught, but Tom Breeze has always been, you know, he's mentally not, not ready. You know, he pulled out against me after the stairdown. So, you know, he hasn't hit these guys that are real veterans of the sport that are ranked. And he's going to feel the difference because I felt the difference for sure. And yeah, and I mean, I believe he'll take an L maybe too. And, you know, he'll probably grow and fall into his own more and not be, you know, such a trash talker and be more comfortable striking and be more well-rounded. But right now, this is my time. This is God's plan. And I'm excited to put on a show because I have so many new skills that I didn't get

to show my violent wrestling, my all these different things on the feet. I'm excited. Violent wrestling. Wow. I am excited. I am an interesting. intrigued, Ian, violent wrestling. What does that mean? It means you just, when you, when you shoot, it's not really like a wrestling shot, it's more of a football tackle of just, and you just blow through people and you, and you come with strikes really hard. And you don't play jiu-jitsu. You know, this guy wants to sit in his guard. Like, you don't do that. You just hit him, like kind of like that Yol Romero, where he just throws people around, manhandles him, strikes, lets him get back up and

kind of uses that up down to his advantage. And, you know, I'm excited, man. I've grown so much this past like six months between Tiger Moitai Genesis elevation. My new coach is my my coaches over there. And just my foundation of Factory X, man, I just feel I just feel like I'm falling in my own. I got the afterfight swag still inside of me. And I'm going to carry that over to my next fight. And I was just there and I'm going to do it again. Is this as free as you felt in your career at this point? Like you just feel like a lot of the issues that have hindered you over the last year, year and a half, they've, I wouldn't say they've gone away, but they're off of your chest a little

bit more. Yeah, I've conquered some demons. I think that's the best way to put it. Just some demons of doubt and fear and just kind of finding myself, like being trapped in one place and kind of like buying a house, getting married and like, oh, am I really going to settle down right now? Like, no, that's not me, not now. And now I'm all over the place again.

Like I love to be chaos is flying everywhere. I'm doing controversial things. I taking quick fights, having corners test positive for COVID. Like, I'm thriving, man. This is where I truly thrive. The king of controversy is back. And I'm excited to go in and hopefully to have a corner not test positive this week around. And go in there and repeat, repeat what just happened.

Looking forward to it, Ian. Great to have you back on, back at it with the quickness on June 27. against Brennan Allen. Always appreciate the time. All the best to do a few weeks, man. All right. Thank you, brother. Appreciate you. Huge win for Ian Hinesh on Saturday night against a guy whose stock was rising in a big way, at least from where I said, and a lot of other people as well. Gerald Mearschart, a wily veteran of the game, and he's likely going to be in Brennan's corner when those two guys meet on June 27th in Las Vegas. And as Gerald has told us, if you listen to my interview right

before the fight last week. Brennan Allen was initially offered the fight. He couldn't do it. So because Gerald and Brennan have the same management team, Gerald was able to slide right in and Ian gets a finish. And then Ian can get that fight with Brennan after all. And he will in a few weeks time in Las Vegas. Now, this weekend in Las Vegas,

Gina Mazzani, who was released by the UFC last year after getting knocked out by Macy Chiason at UFC 235. she took one fight on the regional scene for King of the Cage, got a first round finish, and now she is right back in the UFC, and she fights Julia Avila this Saturday night at the UFC Apex at UFC on ESPN 10. I think we're going with that. I think the official hashtag is hashtag UFC Vegas 2. I think that's what it is. Don't quote me on that. But keep that being released part of this equation. Keep that in mind when you listen to the this interview because it is pretty wild and it is something that really stuck out to me.

So here she is. Gina Mazzani back on the UFC roster and joining what the heck for the first time as she prepares to fight this Saturday night against Julia Avila. All right. Back in the UFC and on the show for the very first time, Gina Mazzani is getting set to take on Julia Obila this Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gina, good to see you and your pink hair. How are you?

Heck yeah, it's good to see you guys. Good to meet you. I'm a happy camper. Life's good. Right? So just when you thought you were out, they bring you back in. Like, I can't remember a time off the top of my head where a fighter was no longer with the UFC. They had one fight out of the promotion and are right back in.

Circumstances would be damned, Gina. You did it. How does it feel to be back on the roster? I mean, it feels great. I really do believe that that's where I belong. I think that's where I deserve to be. I've worked too hard and I've trained. I trained too much.

I really haven't stopped since I've gotten fired. I would call that like a little bit of a setback, but I mean, in reality, it was a blessing in disguise. I just got better, just had a lot more time to sharpen my tools. And yeah, I'm happy to be here. I'm stoked. So how did this all come together? Because Julia was supposed to fight Carol Rosa, and this is the fourth time they tried to book this fight, and the fourth time that it's fallen apart for various reasons. This time it was a visa issue and travel restrictions due to COVID-19.

But how did you enter into this mix? So, I mean, to be fair, I moved to Las Vegas from Seattle. And I moved to Las Vegas for these specific reasons that, I mean, in my opinion, I think Las Vegas is one of the fight capitals in the world. Now we have the UFC Performance Institute. There was the contender series. There's the ultimate fighter, all that kind of stuff. So if you're in the same state and the same city as, you know, where you want to be,

those opportunities are going to open up. So, so I just, I mean, during this whole quarantine thing, like, I was like, Tim and I were still trained and still doing our thing. Not as hard, I guess, but then, then there was talks of, like, fights happening. And I just kind of stayed ready. Like, I mean, hope for the best and expect the worst, you know what I mean? And I got a, you know, nine days notice fight. And, I mean, at least I'm not fighting Sarah McMahon this time.

Like, I'm cool with it. I'm always game. I've never said no to anybody. They've asked me to find me to fight. fight. So I'm really excited for it. So stinking grateful. After that fight with Macy Chiazza, like you talked about, your first one with the UFC came to an end. You came back around 10 or 11 months later for that King of the Cage fight, and you got a first round finish against Valerie Barney, who actually competed in a kickboxing

boat against Holly Holm back in the day, which I thought was interesting. But what was that night like for you to just get back in there, your first fight out of the UFC, in your first fight in a while and just go out there and get a finish like that? So first, like, when I, when they let me go, I didn't know that I was fired for a good six, seven months. But the management I was previously with had me under the impression to stay ready to keep my weight low and be ready for a short notice fight. And obviously, like, I'm a good listener. So I, so that's what I did. I stayed ready.

And then I signed with Jason Howe. And then I was talking to Jason House. And basically he was like, oh, yeah, they let you go. And so I was like, shit. well, get me a fight, you know what I mean? And so I signed with him. But anyways, and then I got the fight in Colorado. It was crazy because my weight was like,

I was walking around like 150 pounds, getting ready to take a short notice ban on weight fight. And the fight was at 155. So it was cool. I was eating ice cream every night before I went to bed. And like, you know, but I still had abs. And like, you know, I was just, it was cool. But, I mean, to be fair, like,

that win wasn't like, didn't give me. me the feels that I'm looking for that I'm looking for on Saturday night. Like the feels that I'm looking for on Saturday night, I haven't felt in a minute. So I'm super hungry for this fight. I'm super ready. Yeah, yeah, but I mean, the Colorado fight was cool. It was a great promotion. Like, they treated me kind, you know, but it was, yeah, I'm really happy to be back where I am, though. So for six or seven months, you thought that you were still on the roster, like, waiting for your next fight? Yeah, 100%.

And, you know, I was, I was still going to the Performance Institute. I was still getting PT from them. I was still getting strength conditioning from them. I was still getting fed from them. But I wasn't on the roster. So it was a very weird situation. And I know Mick felt really bad that I was kind of being dicked around. So I'm grateful that he was, you know, somewhat sympathetic for that.

Because it sucks. I guess it's, it's, I think being a fighter is a hard job as it is. but it's even harder when you're like working towards, you don't know what you're working towards. You know what I mean? If I didn't have a job with them, like I much rather would have gotten, you know, I'm more happy if I'm active.

And so I wasn't active during those six to seven months. So it was a, yeah, it sucked. It sucked. But yeah, I'm back. So how did you like react to all of it? Because you thought you were under contract. Jason House tells you something completely different. And like, how do you react to finding out that for six or seven months you've been doing all these things thinking you're on the roster and then find out that you're not on the roster at all?

I was fucking pissed. I was so mad. Like, I just, you know, because I'm 31 and like, you know, and I think with females especially, like, the older we get, the better we are, really. I do believe that. And, like, we can fight till we're 35, 36. But it's like, I don't have any time to waste. Like I was healthy and I was ready and I was in shape and, you know, and I was under the impression that that opportunities like that would come come along. And I was even, there were fights coming up and I was like, hey, if one of the girls fall out, I would love to take it.

Hey, if one of these girls fall out, I love to take it. I was on it. And I was like doing my homework for my management team. And like I was telling them, hey, I'll take any of these fights. I'll fight any of these girls. If they, you know, someone doesn't make weight or I'll make weight for this fighter. You know, I tried everything. And it just never happened.

And it just like, it was such a bummer, but Jason Howells was a breath of fresh hair where he, like, sat me down. He was like, hey, here's the deal. We're going to get you a fight. You're not going to make any money, really, but that's okay. And then, you know, hopefully maybe another fight, and then we'll get you back in the UFC. We'll get you back to a big promotion while you'll get paid. So, and he did what he said, and I did what I said I would do. So it's, you know, stars are starting to line, finally.

Right. Jeez, Louise, came and imagine. But now you're back and you're taking on a 35er that a lot of people have their eye on right now. And Julia Obelah, she had that great win in her promotional debut around a year or so ago. Hasn't been able to get back in there because of these bookings with Rosa. You know, they just kept falling apart. But now you get the chance to come back and play spoiler against a fighter with a lot of buzz right now. Does that sort of enhance your excitement a little bit?

Yeah, it's awesome. I mean, I would say she's technically undefeated because her one loss. heard her, she hurt her fingers somehow. I think it was like a kick or something, but her like bone was sticking out. So in my mind, she's technically undefeated. And, uh, but man, that's a, that's, I'm, I'm stoked about that. Like, nothing worth having comes easy. And, uh, having a win over her would just, would just, give me those feels that I'm looking for. And, uh, would really make me feel good about all the hard work I've been putting. And, you know, it is short notice. So like, the weight cuts going to suck. And like,

you know, it's just, it's not like, I don't know, I want to say, I'm prepared, but it's like, you know, short notice is short notice. So it's, it is what it is. But yeah, I know, I'm excited to fight her. It'll be a fun fight. So it sounds like you're pretty familiar with her. Yeah, I've seen her, I've seen her fight a few times. Uh, we follow each other on Instagram. Like, it was cool after, except like, I got the call and I was like, hell yeah, I'll take the fight. Um, and, uh, right after she messaged me and she goes thanks so much for saving this fight i'll see you next week and i was like fuck yeah like sounds good you know um so yeah yeah i you know she's she's definitely a prospect and she's got a good and she's good and she's tough and hasn't been finished and all that fun stuff

but uh yeah it's i'm i'm excited about it do you feel like you're going into this fight with a lot less pressure on you now because, I mean, if you look at the betting odds, you're the biggest underdog on the card right now, which, you know, what is what it is? But, you know, do you feel like you're playing with house money a little bit? You're going in there nine days notice. There's not a lot of time to overthink this one. I mean, yeah, for me, like, I always put a little bit of pressure on myself, but, you know, they say pressure makes diamonds. And, and that's, and that's what I'm going for. It's like, big risk, big reward. And I wouldn't be, I wouldn't be in the U.S. in the first place if I didn't take these kind of opportunities.

Like, if a door, if a door, like, kind of cracks open, like, I got to burst through it. Like, I'm going to start to kick that damn door down. But, like, what else am I supposed to do? You know what I mean? Like, that's this kind of attitude you have to have in this game. But, yeah, it's, I don't remember the question. I'm just so jazzed. You want those feels.

You want those feels. I'm talking about, like, the pressure heading into the fight, how, you know. Yeah, I mean, there's always pressure. It was funny, like, when I was listening to Tim getting interviewed in Stefan all up, you're like, man, this is like kind of a do or die fight, but all fights are do or die. Every single fight I've had, my very first fight was a do or die fight. So it was like, am I really cut out for this? Is this really my jam?

You know, in this fight? It's like, it was a do or die fight for me. It's like, does Gina really deserve to be in the UFC? And, like, does, you know, is she really able to step up to these girls? Like, I love being the underdog. I mean, I don't know. I have enough people around me that believe in me and like I believe in myself to where like I don't need those fools. I don't need you know I don't need people who are like betting against me. That's cool. Like do your thing. But I'll surprise everybody. Yeah, I was probably one of those people who asked him that question. But, uh, oh, it's cool. But it's like, I mean, when it was, I'm glad those questions are asked because like it puts into reality like every fight to do or die. You know what I mean? Like it's just I've never had a fight where I'm like, if I lose like whatever. Like every time. I had, I had. I just want to be successful. I think all of us in this sport wants to be successful,

which how much work you have to put in to, like, get prepared for these kind of things. So do you look at this fight right now, being back in the UFC, do you feel and approach things a little bit differently than you did maybe say with the Macy fight? Like, is your feeling heading into it, a much different feeling that it was a year, year and a half ago? Yeah, yeah. Because I've gotten better. And I, like, I mean, I have it. I feel like I have more of an answer for everything. Obviously, like, getting, like, caught and knocked out.

Like, that was crazy. That sucked. But it's like, I didn't have any control over that. So it's like, I'm just going to go in and, like, be hungry and do my thing. And just, like, the goal always stays the same. The goal always stayed the same. When I got fired from the UFC and I made under a grand for my Colorado fight, like, the goal still stayed the same.

Like, I just want to be the best Gina Bear I can be, and, you know, but yeah, I don't know. The feeling's pretty much, like, it's all the same. It's, it's weird. Fighting's weird. It is. What do you think is the biggest difference between the, the Gina we're going to see on Saturday compared to the one we saw against Macy? I think it sucks because, like, I really wish the Macy fight would have gone on longer,

so I've showed you guys more shit. but like, I mean, you're just, hopefully I'll see more of what I've been working on when I've, I've been, you know, making things perfect and like making, I don't know, just being a, just being a better Gina Bear. And I mean, hopefully that will show up on Saturday and I'm sure she will. But yeah, it's, yeah, I've gotten better. I've gone a lot better. How is, I mean, Tim's right there with you. How is he doing? I mean, that fight with Brennan Ravel was bananas.

It was absolutely insane. I loved watching every second of it. You got an extra 50 Gs, which doesn't hurt it all. But, you know, what was it like for you to watch that fight and have it play out the way that it did? Oh, God. He's inside getting tacos. Oh, okay.

He's doing good, you know. And it sucks because, like, his gas thing just ran out. And he was, he just put on such a high pace. And, like, that's something that I needed to learn to. And in a way, like, it's a blessing in disguise for my fight. Like, I put on that kind of. of a pace, but I also got a nine days notice for this. I'm in shape. I'm in great shape.

But, I mean, I don't think I'm at that fight pace that he was at, you know. So he's doing good. And I'm grateful that he got the bonus just because it's not just for the money, but like just to be recognized that he is a good fighter and he's like, he's a very talented dude. And, and, you know, he's, there's no reason why he can't be winning right now. And it's just, he just got caught and that sucks. But he's doing good.

We're going to, after this fight, well, we were actually going on going tomorrow. We were planning on driving up to Kansas City, Tim's daughters out there. We're going to go train James Krause for a little bit and hang out with this kid and all that fun stuff. But we're going to wait until after my fight. Yeah, it was interesting talking to Brandon because he's still kind of pissed about the fight. He didn't think he performed that well. And he gave Tim all the respect in the world and said that I felt like, like I just got my ass kicked until he got tired.

That was like the way he approached the fight. And you got to respect the honesty there. But Tim had his fight. And now you're going to have yours against Julia Avila, opportunity to return to the UFC and just make a huge splash on Saturday night. How do you see this thing playing out? I think I'm really going to, I think I'm going to surprise her quite a bit. I really do. I don't, I have a feeling that her and her team might be underestimating me a little bit like everyone else's.

But it's like, I mean, I feel like, it. if somebody, I don't know, I'm just, I've just been training with grown men for the past six to eight weeks and getting my butt kicked by grown men and then kicking grown men's butts for the past six to eight weeks. You know what I mean? Like, so it's, I'm used to the kind of grind and the pressure that she likes to put on girls and like, that's nothing new to me. So, like, I'm actually more comfortable there and that grind and grit and, like, getting really tired. Like, that's my jam. So, I don't know. You guys will just have to. probably a little, I don't know. She'll probably hold me up against the cage. I'll circle off and elbow her and all that fun stuff. Who knows? We'll see. I'm looking forward to it. And then Jessica, who you know pretty well,

is it going to be headlining this event. So is it pretty cool to get your return and share the card with her as the headliner? Oh, it's awesome. She was one of the first people I told him I got the fight because her and I have been training a little bit together and helping her get ready and stuff. And I always kind of always kept in that mindset like, I might get a call, you never know.

And so, yeah, like that, it's really cool. And last time we fought, we fought in the same weekend when I fought in Colorado, and she won and I won. So hopefully, you know, we'll keep the ball rolling for sure. Huge opportunity for Gina Mazzani on Saturday night against a standout, 135-pound prospect in Julia Avila. Gina gets to play spoiler in a big way. At least she has the opportunity to do so.

She is the biggest underdog on the car. and how about the whole thing with her old management team? I know Misha Tate was her manager for a long time. I don't know if was Misha per se. She has a fight coming up, so maybe that's something we could really dive into after the fight. But if it was, whoever was managing her at the time, what a ball drop of epic proportions.

And how awkward must that have been for Gina Danger Mizani, like showing up at the PI, reaching out to the matchmakers, thinking she was still with the UFC for, seven months, seven months before finding out from Jason House, who wasn't even her manager at the time, that she had been cut. What a crazy story. Looking forward to seeing her back on Saturday. She is fired up. She is ready to go. Now, next weekend, we have another big women's fight. This one going down at 125 pounds. Lauren Murphy, who has looked great as of late, two big wins

over Mara Romero Borella and Andrea Lee back in February. She's going to take on our next guest, Roxanne Mataferi coming off her huge win over Macy Barber in January at UFC 246. That fight was amazing. Roxanne, I think her popularity, skyrocketed after that fight. So let's hear from the Happy Warrior right now to wrap up this episode of What the Heck. All right, we have the Happy Warrior joining us right now, and there's a couple of reasons for that. One, she's got a big fight coming up against Lauren Murphy on June 20th. The other, in times like these in the country and in the world, we need a big,

bit of happy warrior in our lives. And that is why Roxanne Mataferi joins the show for the first time. How are you, Roxy? I'm awesome. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. First things first, 2020 has just been a wild year. We've got a global pandemic. We got protests. The fight for equality is this bigger fight than it's ever been. Police brutality. A lot of things that people have been dealing with. As an optimistic guy myself, I sometimes find myself wondering how much optimism I have left. Luckily, I take a look at my seven-year-old, and when I do, he just like snaps you right out of it. So how do you stay positive all the time when things get tough, whether it's something that happens to you directly or around you? Just in general, you know, I just try to

look at things around me and find anything positive, you know, and focus on the positive more than the negative because there's always something, whether it be the fact that I got up in the morning or I have friends or, you know, my parents are still alive or anything. You know, I just try to focus on whatever I can. And, you know, what is filling your mind is affecting your emotions. So that's what I try to do. Just little things. Just try to find like little things and just have them build up and eventually the more you build them up, the more optimistic we can get. Yeah, exactly. There you go. It is an interesting time. Make a political statement. I'm trying to avoid. No, no, no. I was just, this is a positivity only thing here. I, I, I, I,

totally understand where you're coming from. But it is an interesting time for sure. And while there's a lot of businesses and sports leagues shut down, the UFC is often running. And you get to fight in your backyard at the apex in Las Vegas. Grateful for that. That's always nice. And you get to do it against a game of pony you have a lot of respect for, right? Oh, yeah. And I know you've talked about your last fight a bunch of times against Macy Barber. And what's interesting about the sport is that you can be in it for such a long time and have a lot of great wins. But one night can just shoot your popularity through the roof. And I feel like that's what happened with you.

Do you feel the same way? I'm not really sure, but I know that a lot of people were counting me out. And, you know, Macy had a pretty big, you know, she was on the, I'm not sure how to describe it. She had a lot of hype behind her. So I gladly rode that hype train and then derailed it. So that helped me out a lot. One thing that I especially noticed, and I think everybody else did as well, heading into the Barber fight, was the incredible condition you were in.

People are saying things like, oh, man, Roxy looks jacked, best she's ever looked. And I know that like lifting weights and doing that stuff, I believe you stated before, that was something you didn't enjoy, mostly because you didn't have the guidance that you needed. But things changed for you. Why did they?

Exactly. I found Lorenzo, Lorenzo Publica, and he's my strength and conditioning trainer. You know, he really does a good job. Like, I don't have to understand how it works. I just do what he says. You know, so I quit trying to understand it. I don't write down any of my numbers.

He writes down everything, you know, off season. He has me doing a lot of strength and things that build my explosion. And then, you know, when the fight comes up, we do a lot of stamina training. So he's, you know, 100% the reason that I'm stronger, you know. And it's really cool that other people say that I can tell him, like, rag to him, like, daddy, look at my, you know, our results, you know, sort of thing. But I'm really pleased with that. And I've, man, I've been training so much over the lockdown period.

with him. You know, you're going to see even a stronger Raxie, I think. I was going to say I spoke with John Wood, your head coach prior to UFC 249 because he was out helping Donald Seroni. And it was obviously a rough time for him because the gym had been shut down. But if you look at your social media, like you said, you're still getting work in. Some

of your other coaches have been able to set up like an outdoor training place for you. And does it almost like in a way feel like a throwback training camp in a way? Like you're out of the gym and just trying to do whatever you can to get ready? Like in hindsight, you know, my training

like half of my training camp were in parks and a garage. I just didn't have a fight set but I had a feeling like I got to keep training I got to keep getting stronger I gotta keep making strides you know and then you know

recently I've been able to train with my normal training partners again and kind of get back to normal so it's like been a two part camp so it's been crazy but I've grown a lot over that period so I'm excited to show what I can do I feel like a lot of fighters have done that

they've used this time to their advantage some people have been like, oh, this brings them down, but others have gotten in the best shape of their lives. Pretty much, that's me. And now you get Lauren Murphy, and I feel like this fight has been discussed for a while now. In fact, I had heard that before the fight with Macy Barber was set, that the original plan for January was that you were supposed to fight Lauren before the UFC shuffled things up. Is that accurate? That's correct. And there's a ton of respect here, which I love.

There's no bones about it. There's not going to be any trash talk or anything like that. a lot of fun and respect. There's also genuine excitement from both of you ladies, which I also enjoy. What excites you the most about this fight with Lauren Murphy? Well, looking in the top 10, like, she's always made weight, and like a ton of people all around us, you know, in the division have not made weight. And I've fought a few people already.

Like, I don't really want to rematch a few people. So it's like, who don't want to fight? Lauren seems nice. And she said like, hey, let's fight. And I'm like, cool. Oh, just kidding. We're fighting. Macy Barber.

are you fighting Andrea Lee? Okay, we want to fight again? Oh, we're great. So I don't know. Our styles are great, you know, together. I think we both believe, obviously we're going to win, but I'm going to. I think that, you know, my technique works well with her. I'm going to try some new stuff as well. I also have a new super attack that I shall debut, I think, we shall see. Super attack, huh? Now you got me super intrigued right now, Roxanne. What did you think of her last fight with Andrea Lee? Because Lauren did get the split decision, in the end. But regardless of how like anybody scored the fight,

Lauren moving to Houston and getting back with her old team turned out to be a great decision for her. She's looked pretty darn good as of late. And as someone who's kind of followed Lauren for a while, you're in the tough house with her. What have you made of her improvements and really the changes she made from a mental standpoint? I mean, I haven't really followed.

I don't really know that many details about that. So I don't know. Oh, fair enough. I didn't know if you watched her, fight and so improvements or watched film or anything like that. I don't know. Not such a great analyst. Oh, fair enough.

I just had to hear her face. Oh, fair enough. That's what we like to hear. One of the first things people said when this fight was reported was, winner's going to get a title shot. And you're at a really interesting position because your teammate is next in line for a title shot. So in a weird way, you're fighting for position in the division, but you don't have to put

that kind of pressure on yourself that this is like a title eliminator belt because Jojo is next. Is that how you're kind of approaching this as well? everyone always asks me that. Like, many, like, two fights have to happen before that's even possible, you know? So I'm just going to focus on Lauren and executing my game plan on her and not think about anything else. Because that's all that's in front of me, you know? Right.

And that's, and that was my point, that you don't have to think about titles because someone else is already in line. You don't have to put that kind of pressure on yourself. Uh-huh. And you've done the empty-year... I didn't know who said it's a title contention shot. No, like, Dana White didn't say that. Did everyone just like, oh, guess what? I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. if that's even the case, you know? I don't know. You know how fans are, Roxy. They're all matchmakers. Everybody's a matchmaker now. This is true. You've done the empty arena fights before on tough, two different occasions.

And Lauren's got that experience as well. What kind of stuck out to you, you know, fighting without a crowd in those tough fights that helps you get ready for this? Do you enjoy that? I don't really care. It doesn't really make a difference to me, honestly. I don't care. You don't care? Have you been watching the other fights in the empty arenas and hearing the coaches and being able to hear the fighters being able to hear the commentators and things like that?

I've never heard. Okay, so that's one new thing. I've never heard commentators because on the ultimate fight of there were no commentators, right? It was just my coaches and the other guys coaches who I could hear. So I'm looking forward to hearing some good commentating advice. Please, whoever there you are, please speak up. You know, I'm not going to ask you for prediction because you don't really strike me in that way. But what can fans expect, at least, in this big, besides the superpowers you're about to expose,

in this fight. You know, what can fans expect in this big fight 125 pounds next weekend? Violence. Before I let you go, Roxanne, I did, this is one of my favorite things to talk about because I did want to ask you about a couple of your teammates because I've been interviewing the next wave of talent for a long time now. And two of the brightest prospects of the sport, you've shared the syndicate MMA mats with. One is there all the time. The other comes in during fight camps. Jazz and Jazz DeVizius is one. But Jordan, it is another one. Both are very exciting prospects. Jordan's personality from the times I've interviewed

him is something else. This is a guy who is probably wearing Christmas, he's probably wearing Christmas pajamas right now in June. The guy is a character. What have you, you've been with Jordan for a long time. He's, he looks up to you. You're like a big sister to him. What have you made of his progression and the potential of both of those athletes that people should really keep an eye on right now? Well, Jordan was wearing like, like, like, I don't know, tiger print. red spats today. Just for information. But no, he's so cool.

I love that guy so much. The nickname is the Monkey King. He's such a sick grappler. Every time I roll with him, I feel like there's no more gravity in the room anymore. So it's like, we're everywhere, right? He's just sick, and he helped me teach kids. We teach kids together sometimes. I just love seeing him fight.

I can't wait for his next opportunity. I think he's going to go really far. he's just crazy. Like the skill set is crazy. Yeah, and what's really interesting about him is that a lot of the hard lessons that fighters learn late in their careers, he's learning now. Like every fight he gets in, there's something chaotic that happens, whether it's at Wayans or the flight over or something happens to him,

and he always comes through and gets a win. It's pretty crazy. I'm really looking forward. And then one thing he did want to ask, he did want me to ask you at some point, if we ever interviewed was your thoughts on the syndicate MMA Christmas party. which one anyone he said the last one was pretty wild

there's some sort of eating contests that I don't remember off the top of my head but it was pretty wild I think was that the one where Brandon got that people were betting on him to eat like a 10 pound can of beans or something

yes oh man that poor guy I was like don't don't bet him that he's gonna do it and it was disgusting and I left before he finished it but and then like we did like

the white elephant gift game where, you know, you exchange presents and like somebody got like a sex doll and I think I got like, what did I get? I got some really inappropriate, I forget what it was and I kind of like left it on the stairs before I went home. You got like alcohol or something that I don't drink alcohol. I don't know. It was great. So it's just, that's people watching personified for you. You're just like, oh man, I can't wait to watch this chaos ensue right before Santa comes down the chimney there. Yeah. There she is.

Roxanne Mataferi. She wanted to keep things simple this week. She's not your typical fighter, as you know. And you heard more so in that conversation, but she is set for a big one next Saturday night against Lauren Murphy in Las Vegas. And by the way, we did mention a couple of prospects in that conversation.

Jasmine, Jazz DeVizious. She's from Canada, undefeated. She is someone to watch. Jordan Levitt, he trains with Roxanne full-time at Seneca MMA. Those two prospects. my prediction you will see both of them in the UFC or very close by 2021, 2021, 22 at the absolute latest, but it wouldn't shock me to see either of them get the call this year.

That's how good they are. But with that, we are done. UFC on ESPN 10 coming up this Saturday night in Las Vegas, Jose Youngs from MMAFighting.com. He will once again be our boots on the ground. That card headlined by Jessica I and Cynthia Calvio. We did talk to both of our main event challengers. Damon Martin spoke with Jessica I. That is on M.A.Fighting.com.

We also spoke with Cynthia Calvio a couple weeks ago and what the heck. You can find that conversation pretty much anywhere on YouTube and on the website as well. A lot to get into with both of those ladies. But there's going to be chats up on our YouTube page. Maybe they are right now as we speak

with Charles Rosa who fights Kevin Aguilar this Saturday and then fellow newcomers Anthony Ivy and Christian Aguilera. who will be fighting each other this Saturday, those conversations will be up on YouTube and on the site if they're not there already. So make sure you check those out. But a busy week for all of us, as you would expect. We have virtual media day later on today, on Thursday. We'll have Way and Show, Staredowns on Friday, preview show on Friday night, Friday afternoon, and all of your coverage on Saturday before, during, and after the event. And I am done

ranting. I'm done with the show. I am out of here. Thank you for checking up the show. And as always, have a heck of a week, everybody. My chair doesn't spin. Media Podcast Network.