MMA Fighting - What the Heck: Episode 29 | Joaquin Buckley, Aaron Pico, Tracy Cortez, James Krause & Brandon Moreno

Episode Date: October 15, 2020

Check out episode 29 of MMA Fighting's What the Heck as Mike Heck chats with UFC middleweight Joaquin Buckley (4:50) following his viral KO win over Impa Kasanganay at UFC Fight Island 5 this past weekend. Bellator featherweight Aaron Pico (18:50) previews his upcoming fight with John de Jesus at Bellator 252 on Nov, 12. Tracy Cortez (39:42) recaps her unanimous decision win over Stephanie Egger this past Saturday at UFC Fight Island 5, discusses why she wants to move back to 125, and more. James Krause (59:26) explains taking his short notice fight with Claudio Silva this weekend at UFC Fight Island 6, cornering Kevin Croom during his life changing win over Roosevelt Roberts, recovering from COVID-19, and how he sees the fight playing out. Finally, Brandon Moreno (1:22:00) expresses his frustrations with being skipped over for two flyweight title shots at UFC 255, previews his new matchup with Brandon Moreno, Cody Garbrandt dropping down to flyweight, and how he sees the new title fight between Deiveson Figueiredo and Alex Perez playing out Nov. 21. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Well, hello there, everybody, and welcome to a brand new edition of What the Heck on MMAFighting.com. I am Mike Hack. Hope you having a wonderful week. A lot going on in the world of mixed martial arts, as always, especially over the next few days, because Bellator is back in action tonight at Mohegan Sun, Chris Cyborg, versus Arlene Blanco, is the main event for that card for the woman's 145 pound title. That's going to air on the CBS Sports Network, Patriki Pitbull, versus Jaliel Willis, the co-made event. That's a hell of a fight right there. And then, of course, the UFC is back with UFC Fight Island 6.

Brian Ortega versus the Korean zombie is the main event for that card on Saturday night. That fight is just ridiculous. absolutely ridiculous. This is years and years in the making. So we're going to talk about that event a little bit more on the program. We'll also talk UFC Fight Island 5. What an event that turned out to be. And as a matter of fact, the star of that event will join us on the program to kick things off this week. But Corey Sanhagen, also outstanding in the main event.

He knocks up Mara Morais in the second round. And in the end, he gave his old buddy Al Jermaine Sterling his title shot officially against Piotr, Piotr-Yan, that fight is being targeted as the co-made event for UFC 256 on December 12th. Kevin Ayoli from Yahoo Sports was the first to report that information. Sanhagen versus Dilleshaw, that's what Corey wants. I love that idea from the Sandman. He also asked for maybe Frankie Edgar, but I think him and Dillishaw, that is a banger. That is the fight to make.

And we'll see if that happens. But in the meantime, there's so much to talk about. But let's just get to this lineup because there's a lot happened in this week. definitely different from last week because we didn't lose power, didn't have to go to my mother-in-laws in her kitchen to record the open. We got a loaded show. Here's the lineup. We're going to wrap things up with the always energetic, always positive,

but this time a bit agitated, Brandon Moreno, one of the top flyweight contenders in the UFC. He has now had to watch Cody Garbrandt, a Bannumweight, moving down to 125. And now Alex Perez take title shots away from him, Of course, he was supposed to originally fight Alex Perez on November 21st. These are title shots he felt that he rightfully deserved. And now after all the shuffling of the deck, one title opportunity for one fighter to another opportunity for another fighter against Davis and Figuerreto. Brandon Moreno is now going to fight the surging Brandon Roy Val on November 21st at UFC 255.

Some Brandon on Brandon action. Alex Kaylee is excited for that. I'm excited for that fight. And even Brandon Moreno is excited for that fight. though he feels a little mistreated. I think that's a fair word, but we'll check in with the Assassin Baby to wrap things up on the program.

James Krause is back in action on Saturday, takes on Claudio Silva on less than two weeks' notice in Abu Dhabi. Hell of a road to get to this fight for James Krause, which you'll hear a little bit later on. I spoke with James this past Friday while he was quarantining in Las Vegas before he headed off to Abu Dhabi. The James Krause joins us a little bit later. on. Tracy Cortez is now 2-0 in the UFC. She defeated Stephanie Eggers this past Saturday night,

a UFC Fight Island 5, a dominant decision win for the Arizona native. She will join the program for the first time. Aaron Pico returns to the Bellator cage on November 12. It's going to take on John DeHasus at Bellator 252. John DeHasus, that name might sound familiar to you, and that's because Kamaworthy, one of your favorite guests of the year, has talked about John multiple times on the show. He is a training partner of Commonwealth. Over 20 pro fights, really scrappy guy from Pittsburgh, looking to slow down the momentum of Aaron Pico who looked just ridiculous in his last fight against Solo Hatley Jr.

We'll talk to the Jackson Wink Blue Chip standout, Aaron Pico, in around 15 or 20 minutes. But first, let's check in with The Man of the Hour, the Man of the Week. He delivered one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history this past Saturday night. He put away Impa Kasaginai. this guy's whole world has changed since Saturday night. He's been doing tons of media, so we were very happy to get a few minutes with him on Zoom call, and I'm still trying to figure out that darn thing

because it always changes when I record it, the setup and the layout, but you'll see what I mean. Joachim Buckley kicks us off right now on what the heck. All right, we're being joined by the star of UFC Fight Island Five, the man who delivered the frontrunner for knockout of the year in 2020, and many believe came through with the greatest. this knockout in UFC history.

Happy to be joined by Joaquin Buckley after feeding Impa Kasag and I this past Saturday in Abu Dhabi. Joaquin, how are you, man? Man, I'm feeling good. Just feeling good about the whole experience, man. Just going to ride this ride, you know what I mean until the next fight come?

I was going to say, like, what has life been like over these last few days? Like Saturday night, that knockout goes viral, went viral very quickly. You flew home back to the States. What has it been like since the kick herd around the world landed? Man, I've been getting sleep.

So I've been in the house, man. So there ain't much in change yet, man. I ain't really like the house yet. But, you know, social media-wise, man, my followers have went up, man. My content has went up tremendously. And, you know, it's actually messing my phone up, man. Every time I get on it, man, it freezes up because they don't know how to act with everybody following

and commenting and liking everything at the same time. Are you enjoying, like, all this extra attention that comes with a knocka like that because I mean compared to where you were say like five or six days ago I mean this like you said your phone's breaking it's crazy most of them yeah I was only at like 2,500 Instagram followers on my Instagram and for that to just blow up to like 67,000 people within two or three days man that's that's crazy you know um so man it's something to get used to it's something to get used to for sure I got to be careful what I post now have you had any like unbelievable DMs, crazy celebrities reaching out to you,

congratulating, anything like that? I haven't really checked my DMs yet. You know, they're full of messages, though, but I haven't checked. There you go. I'll have to check back in with you on that. And I know when you were asked about it after the fight, people said it was like a ninja-style kick that's what they said on the broadcast, but you said it was a Wakanda-style kind of kick.

But do you have an official name for the kick yet? Like Anthony Pettis said the Showtime kick. What is yours called? Do you have a name for it yet? No, I don't have a name for it, man. It's actually a traditional, just a spinning, not will kick, spinning back kick, whatever. And I would just doing it like acrobatic by jumping in the air with it, you know what

saying? Because I ever had my foot, so I was able to balance with his hand and get that kickoff. But, you know, it's just an old traditional taekwondo kick that I was practicing on the heavy bag for the longest time, but I finally got to actually use in the fight. Crazy. I know you're a little biased here, but do you think that this. is the greatest knockout in UFC history. I mean, it's definitely the knockout of the year in the UFC, but do you think this is the best of all time? I give myself a knockout in the year,

but my favorite knockout of all time is Dan Henderson, man. You know what I'm saying? The H-Bond, you know what I'm saying? Over a biz bean. That's always going to be the most devastating, most vicious knockout to me. Yeah. I mean, you're in the conversation, though, and that's pretty darn cool to be put, you know, in the same conversations those guys. And, you know, it's funny because I've been thinking about this since Saturday, as great of a moment as that was for you, is there a part of you that wishes that you landed that kick on anybody else in the world? Because Impecissang and I is like the nicest fighter on the roster. Thanks, bro.

That's actually the best question for real. Like, Imphi is probably like one of the best guys ever, man. I wish we didn't have to get in the cage with one another because he just seems like another brother to me, you know what I'm saying? I don't mean like a black guy, just a whole other brother I'd never met before, you know what I'm saying? because he's just that kind and just so welcoming. Even us about to get in the fight, like he's just so welcoming the whole time. He introduced me to his father, to his team,

you know what I'm saying? And, you know, he just gave me words of encouragement towards my fight towards him. You know what I mean? So, you know, just an incredible guy. I wish the guy that I was supposed to fight would have stayed in there. That would have been perfect to do that kick against him.

What was the bigger thing that happened to you, in your opinion, in your career? Was it the knockout itself? Because, yeah, that's everywhere. tens of millions of people have seen it and reacted to it. Your social media has exploded. Or just simply getting your hand raised in the UFC for the first time because the knockout's going to live forever,

but the wind builds confidence. What's more important to you personally? Both. That's what I want, man. I want to knockouts. You know what I'm saying? My hand raised. So, you know, I don't want to just get my hand raised any type of way. Never by the judges.

I'd rather, I just rather call the draw. You know what I mean? If you go to the judges. So, you know, I want knockouts and I want, you know, finishes so I think the finish was a big deal too. Because if I would have just got my hand raised this whole, I wouldn't be speaking with you right now. You know, I wouldn't be speaking with nobody right now. So if I would just got my hand raised, it just would have been another moment. I don't know if that's necessarily true. I probably would have talked to you. I probably would have talked to you anyways.

Probably. If you go back, if you go back through my work, you would see that I probably would have asked to talk to you anyways. But still, this is, I mean, this is just a very cool. Probably more eyeballs will be on it. I'll be honest with you there. But like most people heading into this fight with Impa were like, yeah, Joaquin's an exciting guy, throws bombs, it's aesthetically pleasing. But you come in as this two to one underdog. I mean, do you look at the odds? Do you listen to the noise at all?

Or, I mean, do you try to find these chips on your shoulders heading into the fight? Or is everything still the same deal? I don't try to find them, but when you go on social media and you read up on everything, you're going to see it. But I don't try to let it affect me whatsoever. You know what I mean? I just go out there and just try to prove it wrong. You know what I mean?

I know what I'm capable of. I know what I can do. I know my, I know my talents and I know my gifts. So, you know, when I go out there, I know I'm a difficult person to handle at the end of the day. We had the short notice debut with Kevin Holland and obviously the fight didn't go your way. And you had your moments in that fight for sure. But in the end, you got finished for only the second time in your career. What did you take away from that fight, that experience sharing the octagon?

With Kevin Holland? It's going to sound weird. You know what I'm a very spiritual person. So with that Kevin Holland fight, you know, I give that all to God, you know what I mean? It was just Kevin Holland's time to win. It was just his moment. You know what is, a three fight winning streak, four fight winning streak or something like that. He was, you know, he was on a tear, you know.

It was just his moment at the time. But I know I'm a way more skillful fighter than Kevin Holland. And I was able to, like I said, I told people I didn't have no. coach with me at the time. I was by myself the whole time. I was scrambling to do like you side of stuff. I was scrambling to do paperwork for him and to get things done. And for me to go out there and still put on a performance to what I did on a week's notice right after getting out of another fight, you know what I mean? You got to kind of put that into play. So if I have a full camp and I'm just focused on Kevin Holland, how yeah, I think that fight going to go, you know?

And I'm definitely willing to see Kevin Holland again, though, you know. But that day was his day, you know. I spoke with Kevin before, like a couple days before you fought Darren Stewart, and he told me that he took a lot of things personally heading in that fight, told me there were some things that were said in the build to the fight that really rubbed him the wrong way so much so that he wouldn't even tell me what they were. But was it a personal fight for you? Like, did you have a problem with Kevin? I think he's just the way I speak. I don't know, man. I guess he just didn't like the way that I talked, you know what I mean? But it was nothing personal. If you took it person, that's fine.

Like I said, though, but that was his moment, you know what I mean? And I'm not looking down on it. You know what I'm saying? It happened for a reason. And, you know, and then now my moment is here. And then guess what? Epa's moment is going to come pretty soon, you know, and I already know it. So it's all God's victories.

And God also give us our losses. And that's for I learn. That's the lessons that he gives us, you know, through life. I don't know if you saw the interview I did with Kevin, but he was on, he was actually taking place when he was on the shuttle going to the UFC APEC so he could do his media day. So we had to wear like one of the COVID mass on his face. The image was a shadowy image of him punching you in the face. Oh, for real.

That's dope. I was like, what is that? I think it's lit, man. He's going to forever be able to say that, man. He knocked Joaquin Buckley out. But it's another guy that out there that knocked me out in the first round named Jackie Goss, you know. and it took me four years to get my revenge. So, you know, Kevin Holley, you know, just keep, you know,

keep doing what you're doing, man. We'll see each other. We both young, man. We young in the sport, man. I'm 26. He's 27. We got time. You can meet up in the top five someday, right? Oh, it's going to happen.

It's going to happen. Going back to the knockout and, you know, what it could lead to, what it has led to, I mean, when you have a moment like that, and we've seen it so many times before in the UFC, there's sort of this, like, extra pressure placed upon you to like live up to that or do something even more spectacular for your next fight. So you want to be exciting and you want to get these finishes as often as possible.

But how do you avoid that kind of pressure moving forward? Because obviously I'm not a fighter, but how do you make sure you don't get caught up in that? There is no pressure, man. It's just go out there and do what I did last time with Emper. Like that wasn't planned. That wasn't, you know what I'm saying? Correograph, you know what I mean, to go out there and do a spinning hill kick. you know what I'm saying towards his face like I didn't plan for it was just natural it just it just

flowed so I'm gonna just keep doing what I'm doing and then hopefully I get another you know if I'm blessed what did it feel like when that foot hit his face like I'm not gonna be able to throw that at anybody in my entire life so I got a little bit vicariously through you like what did I feel like it felt like my foot hit his face that's my but I didn't I didn't I wasn't able to see the reaction of him until I was able to turn all the way around you know to see you know the that I knocked him out. Because at first, I knew I had hit him, so I knew I hit him hard enough to at least knock him down,

if not knock him out. So when I turned around, I was going to rush him, you know, to finish the job. But once I seen his body lock up and stuffed up, I knew that was game over. It was no need for any unnecessary punishment, you know. When would you like to get back in there? Because, I mean, the wave of momentum is massive right now. When would you like to get back in there and do it again?

Probably November or December. That would be nice. But, you know, got to talk to the team, got to talk to the managers and everything, just to see how everything lines up. And then we'll see, I want to get in there before the end of the year, though, for sure. Is there anybody that sticks out to you now that have you had, like, a few days to reflect on what you've been able to accomplish? My homeboy told me if Jane Krause wins his fight, man, I might need to fight him since he had some things to say on Instagram. He did? What did he say?

It was in the DMs. It was in the DMs. You know what I mean? So I'm going to keep it in the DMs. Oh, really? So Jane Krause knows what I'm talking about. You know, so if he wins his fight, that'd be a good fight for me right there. All right.

Have Krauss bump back up to 185 and do this all over? Hey, hey. Will you go to 70? My whole career was at 170. Yeah. I'm three, no, no, well, I'm three and one at middleweight. You know what I'm saying? And then I'm nine and two at a welterweight.

So my whole career, I haven't had it. at 170. You know what I mean? I just had a lot of success at middleweight thus far, so I just kept fighting there. But yeah, I definitely love to fight at a once-a-weight or middle-weight. However he wants to do it, I'd be fine with it. But, you know, he said I didn't have no name and all this other, you know, stuff like that. Hey, but I'm here now. Now you got a name. Is there anything outside of the performance, the win, the forever addition to highlight reels that you're taking away from this trip to Abu Dhabi? I mean, it's a very unique circumstance to be able to travel. I mean, the UFC has their own

freaking island to host these events to make things happen in such a chaotic year. You know, this is going to be a tough thing to top, you know, in the future for the UFC. Is there anything else besides the performance that you're going to take away from that experience? Oh, man, I don't know, bro. To take anything away from it, man, it's just like, just to be honored and blessed to be having, given the opportunity to beat it, you know what I'm saying? And just go through that whole experience with the UFC, with Fight Island, with crazy knockout, you know what I'm saying? Like you said, it's going to be crazy just to you

and top that. But, you know, what I just took in front of, I'm just blessed. I'm just a blessed individual, man. That's what I take from it. There you go. Last thing for you let you take a well-deserved breather, man, since I'm sure your schedule has been absolutely insane and you get to play fan for a little while and watch these next couple of events. Next weekend, Habim Naramauga-Madoff is fighting Justin Gagee for the UFC lightweight title. What a fight that's going to be. Last event in Abu Dhabi before they head back home. Who gets it done? How do you see this one playing out? I see Justin Gaci, man.

I'm going to go with Justin Gishi, bro. You can never, you know, kind of out Habit, man, the undefeated fighter, you know what I'm saying? The humble fighter, but I think Justin Gishi has the tools to beat her beat. But, hey, only one way to find out, man. Great stuff from Joachim Buckley right there. He didn't have a name necessarily on Saturday night. He's got one now in James Krause if he wins this weekend. And oddly enough, James Cross will be joining us a little bit later on.

He knew nothing about this. And to be honest, when I talked to James, I knew nothing about this because the knockout hadn't even happened yet. But I like the idea. I like it a lot. But man, what a difference a weekend makes for a fighter. Just unbelievable what has transpired for Joaquin Buckley since Saturday night. So let's move ahead to Aaron Pico.

He is back in action on November 12, Bellator 252 at Mohegan Sun in Uncisfill, Connecticut. Here's my chat with the Blue Chubachau. chipper, 145 pound prospect, Aaron Pico. All right, Aaron Pico back on the show. He'll be back in the back Belator cage, November 12th. He's going to take on John DeHasus at Bellator 242. Aaron, good to see you, man. How are you?

I'm doing good, Mike. How's everything? Everything's great, man. It should be an exciting matchup on November 12th, and we'll get into that in a moment. But your last fight against Solo Hatley Jr. at Bellator 22, this was the performance everyone seemed to be waiting for me, man. You took them down, you beat them up. you submitted them quickly.

It was the first submission win of your career. Did it feel any different compared to all the highlight real knockouts? Was a little more self-serving for yourself that finally got that submission win? Yeah, it was a good win for me and for my team. But at the end of the day, I just went out there and did my job. That was the most important thing. Just go out there and win. I'm not really putting too much pressure on myself that I have to go in there and put this spectacular knockout.

At the end of the day, the most important thing is for me to win. And that's something that I've, my coaches and I have really, like, put it in my head that just slow, slow things down and, and get the win. Of course, I'm always going to be exciting. That's just kind of, in wrestling, I've always been exciting in boxing and stuff. So I'll always be exciting, but I'm going to be, I'm going to be looking for any way that I can win and go home with no scratches on my face is a good night. So that's ultimately what was the most important thing. I got the win in two minutes and I got to go home and not a trip to the hospital or waking up. Or, you know what I mean?

It was a good night. We've seen like the K.O. power, Aaron Pico, the old crap, highlight reel over Twitter, Aaron Pico finishes. But I feel like that performance over all the other ones open up more eyes than any of them. And I think you put a lot of people in your division on notice. I know that's not necessarily your overall concern, but do you feel the same way? Do you feel like you opened up some eyes this time around? I think so. I think even like with my losses and things like that,

the division still knows that I'm a big, big threat. And I've just grown as a martial artist, as a person, the time that I've been here in New Mexico. The thing is I just need time to become a good fighter. And I'm really, really growing as a person in the gym and ultimately inside the cage. but I think I think the people that are in the division know that I can

I can beat all those guys I can I really I definitely can beat all of them and especially the things that I'm learning now with Coach Greg and then the coaches at JW I'll fight anybody in the world so I'm ready to go but yeah definitely the the weight classes I'll notice for sure Is it fair to say that this is the most

I don't know if, I don't know if confident is the right word because you have a ton of confidence in your team and in your coaches with everything that you're saying. But maybe comfortable is a better word? Like, is this the most comfortable you've been in your career to this point with the ups and the downs and now the way back up? It seems to look a little bit different. Yeah, I really am. I am comfortable. I still keep that a little bit of a nervousness like inside of me because that's good. I'm very, I think the biggest thing for me now is, it's a calm intensity.

That's what I have in me right now. I'm calm, but I'm so going to be, I'm still going to have my intensity. I just don't think before the, just things weren't in order like they are now. Now I have a really good communication with the coaches and we have a clear path to what we want to do and how we want to grow as martial artists. and I'm just at a good place mentally. I'm at a good place in my life, and I'm excited to go in there in the cage and fight.

And when you have that calmness and everything just seems to be flowing, it makes it makes it a lot. I shouldn't say easier because that's not the word, but it makes it a lot more at ease going into the cage. Everything, you know, everything just seems to be flowing well. A little more free. Yeah, exactly, yeah. I'm not good with my word sometimes.

but I'm trying. Yeah, I mean, that's a pretty powerful feeling, man, because, I mean, coming in and the pressures you had to deal with early on in your career, not that you necessarily shied away from those pressures, but still, I mean, you have to feel those at some point. And now, yeah, you got some pressure still upon you. Your name still holds a lot of value. But, you know, it's a little bit different feeling that it was than, say, like,

the Zach Freeman fight and moving on from that, right? Yeah, yeah, I mean, exactly. I mean, those, for me, it's just freeing, knowing that I trust everything that my coaches say. There's no doubt in my mind going into a fight. I'm just throwing using an example. They say throw a spinning hill kick. I'll throw it. Anything that they have for me and I trust them with their commands.

It's good. And everything just seems to be flowing well for me. My manager, Ali, I feel very, very confident with him. And my coaches, I feel very free. I'm at a good place in my life right now. I really am. what have these last couple months been like before you got word about this matchup? It'll be about a four-month stretch between fights.

You'll be able to get three in in 2020, which is crazy during a chaotic year. What have these last couple months been like for you? They've been good. Honestly, for me, I'm always in the gym training. Right after my last fight, it was, you know, I took a little bit of time off a couple weeks. We just bought a house, so I was busy doing that, getting settled in. But for the most part, I'm just, I'm always. in the gym. I don't really do much with my life other than ride my horse and train. I really want to

be good as a fighter and there's not really much time for play time for me. I'm not that I'm not at that stage of my life right now. I'm really, really trying to become one of the greatest fighters that walks this planet and that requires a lot of time in the gym. So that's pretty much where that's all my time is in the gym, home training or a home relaxing with my horses and back at the gym sleeping doing it all over again. My life is not really anything spectacular other than just training in horses. I have to ask because our producer, Casey Leiden, who would normally be on this call, but he's doing a different show right now, shared some photos with me. You guys were rolling on the mats a little bit a couple months ago at JW. He looked like he looked like he got

hit by a truck in a couple of those photos. But you got to roll with Casey. How was Casey on the mats? Did he give you fits? Did he give you that quality work that you needed? That's cool. So you do this with Casey? I didn't know. I didn't know that. But yeah, we had so much fun. Honestly, he came down to Albuquerque. We went on some hikes. He rode my horse, actually.

Eminester. So it was fun. But yeah, we got to roll. And he was really pushing the pace. We had some good. We were doing, we were doing five minute. We didn't think we did like five, five minute rounds. So he hung in there.

And it was good. But overall, we had a great, great time. in Alkirky. They're great people, so I can't wait for them to come back to Alkirky. We really enjoyed ourselves. But that's awesome. I didn't know that you guys did this together. That's awesome. Tell myself, oh, hi, Casey. Yeah, he says hello too, and he says, can't wait to ride horses with you again, maybe at the end, by the end of the year. But, you know, you need that work sometimes with the guy like Casey, as you prefer to face John DeHasus, who's been in the game for a little while now, very scrappy guy

at a Pittsburgh, trains and works with Kamaworthy over at the Academy out there. guys won his last three fights. Did you know much about John when the matchup was offered to you? No, honestly, I didn't know, I didn't know much about him, but I definitely know a lot about him now. I've watched all kinds of video on him. All my coaches have been studying him to the T. So, yeah, very, very tough opponent. And we're excited. I'm very excited to fight guys like this because, you know, he does a lot of flying stuff and, you know, flying knees and crazy stuff. And it's something that I want to see in the cage. But yeah, he's very, very tough. I didn't really know of them before, but I've watched so much tape on him.

I've studied everything about him. So I'm excited to go in there and fight. I really, really am to push the pace on him. I don't think that he's ever fought a guy that has a gas tank like me that has wrestling like me, that has power, and ultimately has the coaching like I do. He probably has good coaches back then, but he doesn't have coaches like me. So we're ready to fight. I really am. So you go from Daniel Carey to solo Hatley Jr.

Both pretty game up-and-comers. They're both 10-fight vets when you stepped in there. Now Belcher matches you up with the veteran over 20 fights, a grinder, like you said, very exciting on the feet. And personally, I followed John a little bit. I think this matchmaking is absolutely perfect. I feel like this is a really good next step for you. I mean, do you agree with that?

Like, through your watching of the footage and everything, can you draw that conclusion that this is like a really good next step for you? Yeah, I think so. like I mean at the end of the day like I fought like Lee Morrison that was 19 and eight when I was early on in my career I fought like Leandro Higo I fought very very tough I fought I fought Borgs I fought so I fought all my whole my whole career I fought guys on winning records with winning records and I nearly didn't have the knowledge I have now I think he's a very you know it's a good good matchup for me but I honestly every fight that I go into

I feel it's a world championship fight because there's there's a there's all the pressure is me and there's really not much pressure on him. So every single fight, I, uh, I don't look at it as like, oh, uh, you know, it's a good step up. No, this is, this is, this is, this is legit fight. This is something that, you know, that is, I don't take lightly. I take very, very serious. So, um, I'm really excited to go in there and, and share the, share the cage with him because he's a very, very good striker. And that's something I hope he throws flying stuff. I hope he throws, uh, spinning stuff. I really, really do. I'm excited for that because, uh, I've been working on all kinds of great things with my coaches on that stuff.

My ground game is good. My composure has gotten a lot better. You're not going to see me in those firefights and trying to, you know, swing for the fences. You're going to see a very calculated calm intensity, Aaron Pico. And I'm just going to, I'm just going to do everything that I possibly can to just chew his body up, kick his legs, take him down, album in the eyes, I'm going to make it very, very dirty. I don't think that he's ever seen anything like that. I'm going to make it a very, very dirty fight. I don't think he's going to be able to even breathe after the first round, honestly.

Speaking of title fights, there is a title fight on this card. Patricio Pitbull is going to fight Pedro Carvalio. It's one of the Grand Prix fights. The title will be on the line, and I know you're taking a very patient approach to your career, but, you know, you want to get that gold raptor on your waist at some point. Is there a part of you that's going to be motivated by the fact that there's going to be a title fight in your division headlining this card? Yeah, it's exciting. I'm excited for the matchup. I think they're going to put on a great fight. Both of them are very strong competitors. But at the end of the day, there's a tournament that's still as going on. So there's not really much for me, you know, for me to fight. I'm not going to be

fighting for a title anytime soon for obvious reasons of the tournament. So I think that fight is just going to be me after my fight in the hotel, it's going to be a great fight to watch just as a fan. So I'm excited for it. But yeah, it's anytime you get to see high-level guys fight, it's a good thing. But for me, the tournament's wrapped up. So the belt is wrapped up in the tournament. So, I mean, there's not really much for me to say other than it's going to be a fun, interesting fight. So I know you've been watching a lot of tape on DeHesu.

And I remember our last conversation, you're such a student of the game. You just, you train, you watch fights, you train, you watch fights. It's like you enjoy just picking pieces of other people's games and being like, ooh, that was pretty badass. Like, I like that. Like, is there any fight or two that you've watched over the last month that you're like, ooh, this is a good one. I'm going to take some of these things for myself here. What did I just? No, not really.

Honestly, I watch a lot of fights. You know, I just, one fight I always watch a lot is like McConnell and Habib. I watch a lot of Usman, Valentina. I watch all kinds of stuff, but there's not really one. As of right now, I kind of, like, I'm not watching as much film as I would like to. I've watched a lot of, like, a couple weeks just because I want to just focus on my skill set right now and not put in my head like, oh, I need to do this, I need to do that. And GSP does this. I need to focus on myself and create my style after the fight.

I'm watching John DeHsuits. I watch him a lot. I just because I got to prepare for him and I want to see every what his corner is calling out. what he throws when he's going back or when he gets stuff like that but as of um fighters i'm not really watching all too much right now just because i really want to focus on my style actually i'm watching a lot of boxing right now just because i love boxing so i was watching manny manny pack you all all yesterday so not too much mima right now just boxing there you go did you watch uh a j w legend carlos condit get back in the wind column a couple

weeks ago that was pretty exciting right i'm very happy for carlos and coach gibson because, you know, we trained a lot in his garage. And it was just awesome to see Carlos get back on the winning track. It was a good night for Coach Gibson and Carlos. So I'm very, very happy for him. He's an awesome, awesome guy. I've rolled with him a few times. It's kind of weird because every time I see him, I'm like, man, that's Carlos Konda.

He's like been in wars with, like, some legends in the game. You know, he's a, yeah, I respect him. He's a samurai for sure. you've talked about, you know, having in this career in MMA and being the student of the game and giving it everything you got. And, I mean, you just turned 24 years old. So, I mean, you have a long way to go. But like, when you're done fighting, have you thought about, like, what you want to do. Like, it seems like you may have thought about it at some point. But, I mean, you're, you're smack dab in the middle of your fighting career. But you have all, I mean, there's horses. You have all these things that you, that you're interested in. You're kind of an introvert at the same time. But is there, like, something else that that sticks out. Like, once you're fighting career is over, like, I want to. go to this next thing? Honestly, after my fight career, I really want to just, you know, I want to be tequilos,

tacos and horses. That's honestly what I really love to enjoy. I love, uh, I would want to start a taco, a taco business some sort because I honestly, truly, truly love tacos, something that I eat every single day. I, uh, I love tequila. I would love somehow, some way to start a little tequila business and, and I want to start my breeding program with my horses that's why i really want to breed uh spanish horses those are those are things that i'm very passionate about i love the culture of the horses and and and tequila and tacos and good

music i like that and i want i want to be surrounded by hey you know good horses and uh have kids and just enjoy life i've been you know i've been wrestling since i've been four years old and it's been non-stop so but hopefully i have a long healthy career and i want to enjoy life after that and and and do things that make me happy and that's horses and we'll see but the most important thing for me is that is that you know none of that is really i mean it's still possible but being a world champion in mma is a gateway to lead to to those to have a bigger name to to meet people in those industries and ultimately you know work together so the most important thing for me is to be world champion that's that's that's the most that's the priority right now be world champion and

and most of all defend it many times as many times as I can my body will handle. What's the underrated taco topping that like everybody should have and doesn't necessarily use? Yeah, well, it all depends on like what type of taco. But honestly, I just go with salsa. It's going to sound kind of funny, but I put sour cream on mine. I just started doing that. But it depends on where you get your tacos from. Like if you're, you know, you're like in Mexico, you just, you know, salsa, you're good.

But I honestly, I love tacos. Like the tacos beer makes me very, very happy. So I want to start later down the road, a little taco stand. Shit, I'll start with a little taco trailer, you know, and go from there. But yeah, that's something that's very, that makes me happy. I love tacos, man. My kid loves tacos, Taco Tuesday. I think you post something on Instagram.

It's Taco Tuesday every day in your house. So I eat them every single day. like people ask like that's the staple in my diet is tacos so my girlfriend is like constantly making tortillas and tacos every day so hopefully one day we can make a little restaurant and kill it with the tacos there you go i i know you fight for bellator but you are part of the same management team as as hubby as justin gaichi and of course they're fighting next weekend who do you like in that fight or at least like what are you looking for when these two throw down next weekend if you don't want to make a pick and i would understand why but you know what i mean

like what are you looking for in that fight well i think i mean i think that's the obvious is if habibhabab needs to get him down and and justin needs to keep it on the feet i love them both i think they're they're great guys but i really think that habib is going to uh overwhelm him on the ground but i could be one thing that i've i've learned is m ms is a different beast anything can happen in there You can be expected to win and you get clipped with something crazy. So it's MMA. But if I had to pick, if I had a million dollars and I needed to pick a person, I would pick Habib. But I'm happy for both of them.

You know, they're both legends. So it's going to be interesting fight. I'm excited for it. Yeah, I'm fired up for this one. I think I'm looking forward to this fight more than anything else this entire year. By the way, you know, you got your fight on November 12th. new broadcasting platform for Bellator. We're on CBS Sports now.

How excited are you for this new platform, the new network, and then like the potential that could come from these relationships and partnerships for, for Bellator, you know, they've dove into the kickboxing world, now Showtime's kind of partnering up with them in some different ways. Maybe there's some boxing opportunities down the road. Like how excited are you for this, for this new relationship here? I think it's very, very good for the sport for Bellator. in bigger audience, people get to, you know, boxing.

That's something that I really, really want to do. You know, in between fights, if I have like a month or two to just go and train boxing, I'd love to get a boxing fight in if it's any way possible. I would love to do that. So, yeah, it's great for, like, for Bellator and things like that. But my most important thing for me is just be prepared for November 12th. and just keep growing as a fighter. But yeah, I'm excited.

But I really want to get a boxing fight, and that would be awesome if they can throw me in on a card. I don't know how Ali would have to, you know, talk to Bellator, but I can box. I definitely can box. So I'll be asking Ali if there's opportunities for me to step in the ring because I definitely would do it. That right there, folks, is a guy getting much more comfortable.

much more confident, much, I mean, he's elated, happy, thrilled where he's at with his team at Jackson Wink. Man, this could be a very scary individual over the next few years in this sport. Aaron Pico, big fight with John DeHasus coming up in just a few weeks time. Another big winner from this past Saturday night in Abu Dhabi. Tracy Cortez is about to join as she defeated Stephanie Eggert, did so at 135 pounds. And the big question is, does she stick around at Bannamweight where she's found some success doesn't have to cut that extra 10 pounds or does she go back to 125 pounds where she's been multiple times in her career where she made a name for herself let's find out let's see where her

heads at let's say hello to the fight ready standout tracy cortez all right we have tracy Cortez joining us coming out for a big win at UFC Fight Island 5 over the weekend against Stephanie Eggers Tracy welcome home how are you thank you I'm good I'm doing good excellent congratulations on the win you're 2 and 0 now in the UFC first fight nearly a year how good it feel to just get back in that octagon have a dominant performance and get your hand raised like that it felt so good um happy I got one in this year and I'm hoping to get another one in for the year end. I mean, obviously it's a

pretty chaotic time around the globe. 2020 has just, let's be honest, 2020 has sucked for a lot of people. You know, and the UFC praise them. They've been able to get these events going in Abu Dhabi, trying to get the international fighters on, some of the American fighters as well. What did you think of the whole

fight island experience? I'm happy I could say I did it. What I want to do it again? Probably not. It was long. And, you know, a lot of my fights have been out of town or out of the country. And I'm kind of really excited to fight home for once. Get you in Vegas.

No more. No more Abu Dhabi? Yes, hopefully because it's the traveling and, you know, for my coaches. And it's hard on all of us. So, I mean, I'm not complaining. I'm grateful that I even got to fight and got to get the whole experience in. but it would be nice to have it here home in my backyard.

Yeah, get you back to the apex like the contender series fights. Yes, yes, I wouldn't mind that. What was like the most difficult part of the trip? I mean, obviously you getting your coaches over, all that stuff, the business side of it, you know, I understand that, but in terms of just going across the world,

long flights, trying to acclimate to the time change, like what was the most difficult part for you? I would say the time. change just because the traveling wasn't that hard they got as comfortable you know like the little cubbies or we can lay down and it was really nice the travel part was nice it wasn't it wasn't hard at all it was a time change where I really had to sleep all day and be a try to be awake all night which here it was an 11 for me personally it was an 11 hour time difference 11 11 and a half and um it was hard because it's hard to to sleep when it's broad daylight. So trying to sleep when the sun's hitting you and even the blinds, you still see the sun through. And I think that was just the hardest part and having to wake up and it pitched black.

And there's nothing to do besides train, laying your couch and train. Like that would probably be the hardest part for me. When you got to the hotel after the fight on Saturday, I mean, we've been seeing these videos of the hotel staff thrown these like little mini celebrations. Did you get anything like that when you got back? I did. that's something I could think

was personally for me was the most amazing experience. The staff was beyond amazing. Everybody was so sweet. Everybody was so kind. They treated you so well. I was walking in and I wasn't expecting any of it. I had like my

like some snacks in a brown bag. And I'm walking in and just hear everyone cheering. I'm like, what are you cheering for? And I try to see. I was like, oh my God. Wow. Like they're really cheering. for me, you know? It was just so sweet and they threw confetti and it was the cutest thing ever.

I'm like, I've never been celebrated like that after when. You know, it's normally like just friends already drunk and like, shout out. So having like that little celebration, it was cute. It was really cute. Nice little additional touch to make the trip even more worthwhile. Yeah, exactly. So you were originally supposed to fight Bayamalecki on this card before she was forced out of the match. and then you get Stephanie Eager. And one of the things I found so interesting about your post-fight scrum with the media is that you didn't find out that she was a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu until the fight was actually happening, like between rounds. Is that true? No, no, no.

So they misunderstood me. I should have been more clear. Not in between rounds. It was the end of the fight. Oh, okay. Oh, which they were congratulating me. They're like, hey, a black belt. You know, she was a bag belt.

She couldn't tap you. I was like, wait, what? she's background. He's like coach. And he goes, he knew towards the end when we're outside and doing media and he was like, you should have told me. He goes, no, there's not something

you had to worry about and I know what you're capable of, which is true, you know, and I love that he has that confidence in me. In hindsight, you prefer that he did that or do you wish he told you not thinking about it a few days later? No, I trust my coach 100%. So whatever he chooses to do, I respect. and I completely trust because he sees a certain side of potential in me that I probably don't see in myself. And, you know, I think he knows me very well.

And he was probably doing it because I tend to like overthink and question things and overanalyze things. And he just doesn't want that stress on me. So that must have been a huge confidence boost for you at the end of the fight before they announced you as the winner, right? Yeah, for sure. So when they told me, I was like, oh, my, you know, because I didn't feel threatened, not once on the ground. So it was really a big confidence, you know, those stuff for me. Do you feel in a way that beating Stephanie, because of her experience, fighting around the globe, she does have some good wins under her belt, that it was a little more impactful for you than beating Bay, I would have been?

You know, I'm not saying that one is better than the other. they're both amazing, you know, amazing, great opponents for me, I think. But yeah, you know, definitely having more of that record behind her and more of, like, experience, I think for me personally, I didn't see myself as a, I don't know, you know, not, I saw myself more as like a newcomer, but my coach told me like, hey, you're nine and one. wait, whatever, 9-1, 8-1? I don't even know no more. And he goes, you're an experience, like, your experience now.

You're no longer, like, you know, it was just a little confidence boosted for me. There you go. I mean, with everything going on with COVID-19, you said during your pre-fight media day that you were doing whatever you could to stay in shape, you were doing what you so eloquently called prison workouts. And I know you have some examples on your Instagram if people want to check those up. But for those who, you know, are a little bit older like myself that are necessarily on Instagram that often, you know, I guess paint us a word picture, if you would, about what prison workouts actually are. Yeah, you know, I just grabbed some dumbbells, jump ropes.

I grabbed tape and I did ladder drills. I just taped the ladder, like boxes on my sidewalk. And I was doing ladder drills and I was doing burpees and jumpy jacks and jumping rope and dumbbell workouts. Anything I can get my hands on, really, I was doing a lot of pull-ups, like my own body weight things, running. Oh, my God, I ran so much. I was a cardio machine. I went from running three miles to five miles, and I'm running six miles every other day. Next, you know, I ran like 10 miles.

And I just, I kept going. I was like, oh, my God. It was a lot. I was running a lot. And personally, I don't enjoy running, but this whole question. quarantine made me really, like, I had no choice. I enjoyed it because it was the only thing I can do. I've been the same way. I'm not a big running fan. I've gotten into it more, but I think the main reason why is because I created like such a fire playlist on my speakers. So I'm like,

all right, now I don't mind it as much because I'm just, I'm just jamming the entire time. How important is that? No, you know what's funny? I don't play. Everyone's like, share your playlist, share your playlist. I don't play anything crazy. My running playlist is R&B music. Like slow jams. R&B,

just slow tempo music. Because if I listen to anything fast or just upbeat, I start sprinting. And I'm like, ah! So I have to listen to something that comes to me down and just reminds me like, okay, take it

slow. You're jogging, you know, you're jogging. You know, you're jogging 10 miles. You're not sprinting it. Like newer stuff or older stuff? A little bit of everything. Yeah. What's the best song? What's the best one you get on there?

Right now, I would have to say, Surrender by Janaco. It's just, that's my song right now. I've been jamming out to it when I run. Yeah, I got some old school R&B on mine too. I have like Al B. Shore on mine. He's like, oh, my God. Oh, yeah, that's crazy.

So, yeah, what else you got on there? What do you got from like by it from like 80s, 90s on there? I have Keith Sweat. I have voiced men. What's a good one? I don't know, I just have a bunch of different music. I've been listening to a lot of newer R&B and the old ones. Yeah.

So one thing I wanted to touch on is because you, like, you said it in the lead up to the fight was essentially, Like you're fighting at 135 and you're cool with that for now, but eventually you want to go back down to 125 at some point. Why is that? Because you seem like you're doing just fine at 35 and dare I say, getting into the top 15 at 135, a little bit easier than it is at 125, you know? Yeah.

You know, I just, I feel like I have a better chance at 125. Flyweight, that's just where I feel strong. That's where I feel faster. These girls aren't that big. I'm a small 35er. you know i have like i'm well aware of it a lot of the girls that i've been fighting at 135 or the last two i should say they're just bigger opponents they're longer uh and i i i don't go in there hesitant but i go in there just very cautious um and at 125 i'm just a lot more confident

a lot more confidence so you think your next fight will be a 25 it's definitely more competitive at 125 flyweight is going to be stacked, but I know I belong at least, you know, and I have to prove myself, but I know personally what I feel that I belong at least top 10 right now at flyweight. All right. Yeah, because I just need to get back down to flyweight. Do you think your next fight's going to be a 25 or do you think maybe another one at 30, just depending on if it's this year or next year maybe? Yeah, you know, I'm not too sure yet. This year, I, uh, I've talked to my manager.

We were talking about it on the way back home. We weren't stressing about it yet. But if I were to do 25 in December, I would get on it now. But that just really depends on, you know, if they could book me a fight, which I'm pretty sure they can. It just, I guess it's just all up to me. I don't know. And being indecisive, do I want to live that good life, fight out 35,

or really start getting on it and fighting at 25? I haven't decided yet. I think you're a win away from the top 15 at 135. I think you're like number eight. I'd put you like 18, 19. I think if you fought, yeah, I think if you fought like a one, I think if you fought like someone else at 135, like I have a suggestion.

Like I thought immediately you should fight like someone like Julia Avila 135 because she's ranked number 15. If you beat her, you're automatically in the top 15. It's going to get a little bit tougher to go back down. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I, you know, I just, I also know that my coach, he, he's, he's big on me going back down on

125. Yeah. He thinks, you know, that's just, but like, the girls are just so, I mean, I feel strong. Don't get me wrong. I feel really strong at 135. I'm, I'm in there and I feel like I'm, as of right now, I'm dominating, I feel like. but it's not I'm not comfortable

you know I just there's just so much more bigger oh my God I mean look at my last opponent she was I mean you saw the size difference she was just a lot more bigger than me a lot more lengthier I do think I was faster than her

that's why she couldn't really touch me much but at 125 I think I'll just be a lot you know, I'll be my best self. That's my true weight, I believe. There you go. I'm not trying to convince you to stay at 35 or anything like that. I'm just curious about the mindset of a fighter.

Did you go back and watch the rest of the card after your little celebratory staff party? No, we didn't. Oh, you know what? Yeah, I did. Did you see the knockout? I did see that knock. No, actually, I was traveling from the arena back to the hotel when that happened, but I saw the replays.

Oh, I was dirty. That was without a doubt Just pure athleticism Amazing athlete right there You know hats off to him That was beautiful That was so cool That was me

Do you think it was the greatest knockout of all time In you have history? Yeah For sure Without a doubt That was a That was That's bonus every fight

Part Even though he's not on it He deserves a bonus He should get like four bonuses. Right? Yes. 100%. That was a good show. He put on a great performance.

Absolutely. So I have been asking a lot of fighters this question because it's happening next weekend in Abu Dhabi. Habib versus Justin Gaiji. I mean, that is like a fan's paradise right there. It's going to be all sorts of crazy. You got undefeated Habib. A lot of people feel that Gachie just might be chaotic enough

to be the one in 28 and 1? What is your take on that fight? Who do you think gets it done? Personally, I think Gagie has it. Gagie's an AZ. He's from Arizona, so I, you know, I got to support my locals. No, but I do think Gagy has what it takes to give him that one loss. He's, I don't think Kobe could take him down.

His wrestling's amazing. They're both amazing wrestlers, so they're going to have to stand up and just, see i don't go at it it's going to be a good fight i'm so excited for that fight i really am it's a good one oh it's going to be a really good fight yeah and there's a big one at one 25 in that car too lauren murphy versus cynthia calvillo that could determine maybe the next title challenger for valentina shavchenko if she defeats jennifer maya so a lot going on yeah there's a lot going on on that car i personally know cynthia i don't know murphy that much um she was Arizona. She was training in Glendo at the lab. And she's a really sweet girl. I don't know her,

but I mean, I hope, you know, I wish them both the best. And fight ready is building themselves quite a team over there right now. I mean, there are some, like, I know there are some labbers that jumped ship, but, you know, they were getting quite a reputation before that happened. And now, especially after Saturday and your win, the reputation is getting bigger. We're starting to, uh, starting to leak over the cup a little bit in terms of the conversation some of the best gyms in the country. Well, that's, you know, that's nice just because if I already, my gym, there's so much amazing potential there.

Honestly, there's, I mean, everyone there, they're not just gamers. They're high level, like, they're high level athletes. Like, they're, I am where I am because of them. And I'm so grateful for my team because I don't think they get enough credit. They might not be in the UFC. They're in other organizations, but they're just great partners. They're great fighters. They're great people.

And we all get along. It's like a family there. And it's nice to see that fire. My team, my gym, my home gym is finally getting some kind of recognition. Even my head coach, I have an amazing coach. And I don't think he gets enough credit. That's head coach of the year for me. Santino, he's an amazing coach.

He doesn't get enough credit. and he's he's just an amazing coach. I can't say it enough. So how does it feel to be 2 and 0 in the UFC right now? Do you feel like a lot more comfortable now, a little more freeing? I mean, the first one's always big, but once you go back and get the second one,

even after an 11-month span, it's got to be a little bit of a different feeling, right? It is. I'm honestly, I'm not satisfied. I want to go back in there again, and I want to compete again this year. That win for me is just like, okay, I pass a step onto the next one. Like, it's hard for me to celebrate because, even though I should enjoy it, I should enjoy the victory.

I worked hard on it. But I want to move up in the rankings. Did anybody stick out to you for your 125 debut in the UFC? No one right now. I ain't got no one in my eye. Whoever they put in front of me, I'll just, you know, whoever they put in front of me, I'll fight. You're going to go for that Buckley knockout in your 25 debut?

Oh, for sure. That's what I like to hear. For sure. I'm definitely going to showcase my hands a little bit more once I hit one, that flyweight division. You know, it's just, these girls are just so big. They're so big at 35. I'm like, you feel their power.

I feel their strength. So that's why I'm just like, dude, I got to, break them down, wear them down before we stand up because these girls are strong. Well, it seems like 25 is your home. I'll be able to my flyway DB soon. Okay. Well, we are looking forward to that, Tracy. Congratulations on another impressive performance.

I know you're not like, you're celebrating, but you're not overly thrilled. You think you can do better? I mean, your fighters are the worst critics on yourselves that I've ever seen in the history of sports. But that's what makes you all so great. So thank you for the time. I appreciate it very much. and looking forward to seeing the next fight, whether it's at 35 or 25.

Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. Big win for Tracy Cortez did so against the short notice opponents. There's a lot of excitement surrounding her, so look forward to seeing her continue to progress even further in this sport. And speaking of short notice, James Krause is no stranger to short notice.

He steps in to face Claudio Silva this Saturday, less than two weeks notice since he put pen to paper. We recorded this chat on Friday, of last week while he was still in Las Vegas doing the quarantine thing. It's been quite the journey to get to Fight Island. Here he is the James Krause. All right, we have the James Krause joining us right now, proving once again that if there's a short notice fight that needs filling,

he is the guy to call. Luckily, he gets a little more time to prepare for this one than his last fight. He takes on Claudio Silva on Fight Island, October 17th. James, how are you, man? I'm good. How about you? I'm doing great. So this came together very quickly. Claudio was set to fight Muslim Salikoff.

How did you get inserted into this conversation? Well, it's kind of a weird deal. The fight was actually initially offered to me, and I accepted it. And for whatever reason, I don't know why, they pulled the fight for me and said they would, not in a bad way, but they said they wanted to put me state side instead. And so they gave it to somebody else. That guy fell out. and they offered it to me again like three, four weeks ago or something like that. And I said no, I didn't want to, you know, I didn't want to, I didn't want to do it on that short.

I know this guy didn't have a camp. And then anyway, I thought I would get another fight, you know, a different fight on a later card. Because initially the fight was set to be a little earlier, I believe. And long story short, they ended up offering it again. and I was just like, screw it, let's just take it because if I don't fight right now on the island, I won't fight again for the rest of the year. I have too many people booked.

Like I have like five guys in UFC in November, at me against title fight in December, and then I have probably another four or five guys that aren't booked at the moment. So, you know, those guys will recycle through and fight fourth quarter as well. So I'll be busy at the fourth quarter and I just won't have time to do a camp

or anything like that. So why not? I'm always in shape. I train every day. You know what I mean? Like, why not? Yeah, I was curious about that. that because, you know, you and I have spoken many times in the past, and one of the things we

talked about is, it was after the last fight in Brazil, you're like, I don't really want to travel internationally anymore because of, you know, additional expenses, taxes and all that stuff. So it seems that you just kind of felt like if I'm going to fight this year, it doesn't matter where it's going to be. I have to take this opportunity. Is that, is that kind of what you're saying? Yeah, but the taxes are not, it's not the same, you know what I mean? Like the, it is not the same. There's no double tax or anything like that. So, but yeah, it's basically, it's, basically, it came down. The deciding factor for me was like, hey, if you don't take this fight, you won't fight again for the rest of the year. And there's, I mean, we have 12 guys on my gym right now,

so there's no sign to me that that's going to slow up anytime soon. You know what I mean? So it almost is better for me to take something short notice. I'm in the gym every day anyway, so, so, you know, why not? How's the weight right now? Because I know, you know, cut the last fight, you're at 1.85, so it was a little bit easier to get there. You still had to do it on a day's notice. So it was probably a little bit stressful, but, you know, what's the weight at right now? How much you have to cut to get to that mark? I don't, I'm in quarantine right now, so I don't have a scale. But before I left, I was waking up at like 187, 188.

So I'm good. I mean, I've done, I've done way worse cuts. You know what I mean? When I was fighting at 55, that was a normal cut for me. So I want to switch gears briefly because, you know, your team, like you said, they've been competing quite a bit as of late. Of course, your coach and owner of Gloria, May and fitness. And I want to go back to

one of your fighters that has been in my opinion, one of the big stories of 2020, Kevin Krum. Like, what a night that was for him, for Grant Dawson, and for yourself. Like, he makes his UFC debut on I'll call it Kraus-like notice. He gets a first round submission. And then there's this moment when I spoke

with him after the fight that he described, it kind of gave me boost bumps. He said, after he finished Roosevelt Roberts, he told me, let me just pull this up. He said, quote, I just mean mug James, like there was nobody else in the room. It was just the killers effing me mugging each other. You two had this moment, James, when the fight ended.

What was that night like for you seeing him come from where he's come from in his career to having a moment like that that probably changes his entire life? So the backstory that is, is there was about like there was, so we got, we took the fight against Casares about a month before that and then he tested positive for COVID. And then like literally almost every week leading up to that, there was another opportunity, another opportunity and it just for whatever reason it would fall apart you know and every single fight that was offered to us that was a potential i really liked for kevin and then you know you draw row row's a animal man he's tough you know so and out of our weight class on a day's notice so it's like

dude we have to take it you know what i mean to get him in but uh one of my one of the the things that i love as being a coach is like there's there's two things that come to mind as one is one is just watching somebody accomplish a lifetime of dedication, you know, to a craft and, and fulfilling that, that dream or, these guys sacrifice a lot. You know what I mean? They sacrifice so much to, to, they don't sacrifice it to be able to do it. They sacrifice it for the possibility to be able to do it. You know what I mean? Like the possibility, it's not even a sure thing. And so to see somebody dedicate an adult life foot to a craft and then that that craft finally pay off for them is just so rewarding for me.

But the thing that really does it for me is like I get to see the raw, real uncut. Like there's no that feeling that he's talking about. I feel like in that feeling, it's, it's, I'm going to sound stupid like this. You know, in the Batman movie where the Joker is saying like right before death, you know, but you see the real person, like so in a sense, I know your friends better than you do.

And it's true. Like, I've seen those moments, the uncut, raw, unedited version of right after that moment that his entire dedication, an adult life load to his craft has paid off.

Like, nobody else has shared that with him. You know what I mean? Not his parents, not his girlfriend, not the, not anybody. There's a connection.

there where I see inside of his feelings and emotions, and not just him, anybody, right? And it's such an amazing, fulfilling an emotion to have when you see such a good guy, you know, his whole life, the cards have been stacked against him. And it's awesome to see that finally pay off for a dude like him. And like I said, like I feel like I know him better than anybody. You probably, I mean, you've had so many moments like that. in your career.

We're seeing your fighters go through that. But was this like the most memorable moment of your coaching career or does something else stick out to you? I got to say it's up there. I love each one of my fighters. And when I look at like my top moments, I don't look at it as like I don't rank them right here. I rank them as like top moments per fighter.

And obviously that's my favorite with Kevin Kroom. But like the emotions that we had just that month, not even just the month, but like the way he came to me. You know, he started his professional career at five and five. You know what I mean? Like, he's a 500 fighter. And at some point he comes to me and he's from Missouri. He's from my area. He left to go to a big gym and it didn't give him what he was looking for. And he came back. And it was like a thing. And I just did another interview. And I feel like we're kind of getting known for this. But it's like, hey, man, like if your stuff is broke, come see us and we'll help you out. you know, we'll get you, we'll get you, we'll get you fixed right up. And he came almost like lost to us.

And he really, he was one of the veterans in the room that believed in our, in our culture, and in our program early. And, and he really bought all the way into it, which in turn helped, you know, down the, down the ladder. But, man, just watching him turn his entire career around, we've had a lot of ups and downs. And then that last month, where it was just, such a roller coaster, you know what I mean? Like you're in, you're out, you're in, you're out. He got signed and cut in 24 hours. And then almost literally each week after that, there's another opportunity where he's possibly getting signed. We're ready to take it. You call us. We're ready, ready, ready, ready, have a bagpacked. You know, we're ready to head to the airport now.

Nope, sorry, we didn't get it. And then finally, we get it. And then we draw Roe Roberts, and it's like, oh, gosh, damn it. You know what I mean? And then for him to go out and do, you know, do what he does. And gosh, it's just such a, to answer your question, yeah, it's, it's one of my, one of my top moments as a, as a coach and as a friend, it definitely, it's definitely up there. So another name I want to bring up part of this, this month-long rollercoaster for you guys, was Jeff Molina because he gets on the contender series, earns himself a contract, but he did so without any of his corners.

Like, he didn't even know until the day before he was going to fight that there were a bunch of positive COVID tests. So, like, he had nobody except he had. ended up linking up with some people in Vegas, but how proud were you to watch him overcome everything and put on a hell of a fight the way he did to get a contract like that? Well, I'm glad it happened to him. You know what I mean? Because there's not everybody, not everybody can handle that.

And the way that that kid handled that roller coaster of emotion, you know, he's a gangster, you know, absolute gangster to be able to handle that. And it didn't shake him 1%, not even a little bit. Didn't shake him at all. The way he handled that was like a true. veteran you thought this dude had 50 fights under his belt. Complete G about it. Didn't bother him at all.

He is ready to roll. He is ready to roll. He trusts in the process. He trusts in the program. He's got confidence in his team. And he knows that it's not about the final moments of that. It's about the lead up. You know, what we've done the last years, not the last day.

You know, it doesn't matter that I'm there. It helps me being there. But that's not what's important. You know, he's got confidence in what we've done, getting him to that point. So were you part of the. list of folks that got COVID or? Yeah. Yeah, it was.

And it, man, I've been dealing with that, uh, uh, I've been dealing with that a ton. I don't even know if I should, I should say this, but I've been dealing with a ton of like positive, uh, positive and negative tests. Like I would go one week and I would test positive and then I would test, uh, negative again. So it's like, and I got, you know, obviously I got sent home for the, for that whole week. That was a terrible week. But it's just been a weird, it's been a weird. deal, but, you know, I'm past it now.

So that's, that's good. You go. And, you know, Factory X, your other home, they've been making some moves as well. Brandon Royval gets a big win. He's got a big fight coming out of Brandon Moreno. Nice to see Luigi, Vendermini get a nice win a couple weeks ago. Yeah. I mean, momentum is a real thing in this sport. Do you, I mean, you've been doing this for so long.

You have, like, triple-digit fights in your career. Like, do you take any momentum from those performances for yourself of the stage in the game? Do you use it as motivation? Yeah. I mean, yes and no. I mean, it's obviously it's great to watch your teammates win and stuff like that, but all that really doesn't matter when you get in there and punch them start flying. You know what I mean?

Like it's fun to watch these guys compete. It's fun to watch the young kids have success and, you know, and do well. And obviously it's like if you surround yourself with winners, you know, you get, you get amp up. But like, you know, when you get in there, it doesn't really, it's cool to the lead up. It's great to the lead up. But whenever you're in there, it doesn't matter. So Claudio Silva is the man you'll be sharing the Octagon with.

And this is a guy who hasn't lost a fight in almost 13 years. He lost his first pro fight, and he hasn't lost since. He's 5 in O in the UFC. He's got to win over Leon Edwards on his resume. This is quite the risky proposition, but it's something that seems to be right up your alley, is it not? Yeah, I mean, bro, he beat Leon seven years ago. So, like, you know what I mean?

like this and that's it i'm not taking anything away from these obviously very good he's very skilled uh i i i i he's he's his age is starting to get up there and i'm not saying that's going to be a factor but i'm not saying it's not either uh you know i've i'll watch his fight with uh danie roberts he's got holes in his game man this dude's not some unbeatable guy going out and smoking everybody you know what i mean and i i feel like i'm a very difficult guy to prep for like you can't just bring some random six-foot guy to come in and be me. You know what I mean?

Like there's not a lot of guys that you can go grab to emulate my style and how I move the constant stance switching. You know what I mean? I'm very well-rounded. I just don't think I'm a guy that you can just bring in

in a couple weeks and get a good look. Or, you know what I mean? Like I feel like you have to be very, very selective to even get a close look at what I'm bringing to the table. And I've been doing this long enough, man.

I really don't give a shit who's across from me. So you like this one? Yeah. If I didn't, I wouldn't. I mean, I really feel like, I mean, his striking, I feel like it's very similar to Sergio Marias fight.

Great on the ground. He's going to be looking to take me down. If he gets me down and gets on top of me, I said this before in the Marais fight. There could be problems, you know, and it's my job to not let that happen or to get back up. You know what I mean? Like, dude, like I said, it's very clear cut on I'm probably going to try to keep this fight standing or be on top. He's probably going to try to get me down.

You know, but I feel like I'm a far superior striker than him. and I feel like I can grapple with him. You know, I grapple with Sergio Marius. He's a four-time world champion. I had no problem on the ground with him at all. You know what I mean? I was underneath him and side-knit. He didn't do anything to me.

I got on top of him and, I mean, it's not like I was out of place, you know, at all. I can, I can grapple well. And I know Claudio's got a different style of grappling. He's very good. He's very dangerous, you know. He's got good power, aggressive. I just feel like I match up well with him. You know, I'm hard to hit.

I think I'm a difficult style to prep for. You've been over to Fight Island already. You've experienced the bubble, the quarantine, etc. Do you feel like that gives you a little bit of an advantage, having gone through it already, where Claudio has not gone through anything like this? Like, do you think that helps you at all? Yeah, I mean, maybe.

You know, I'm not sure. Maybe just because I know the schedule. Well, you know what I mean? Like I feel like we've seen a lot of like kind of saturated performances from everybody there is because the sleep is so difficult. I feel like I kind of have a good gauge on how to handle that. Yeah. You know, I'm not sure.

When we get in there, you know what I mean? It's cool to say all this that it matters in the lead-up. But like when you get in there, man, nobody gives a damn about that stuff. You know what I mean? Like punches are flying. I don't care. You know, that stuff, that all goes out the window whenever you start getting in there. So, man, I'm just expecting the best Claudio Silver to show up.

I don't really, I don't give a shit what his sleep schedule is like. I don't get a shit what is lead up. You know what I mean? It don't matter to me, man. It's, yeah, all that stuff. If somebody breaks into your house, somebody breaks into your house at 2 a.m. Or you can be like, oh, man, I didn't get enough sleep. No, you're going to go fight.

You know what I mean? That's just what it is. Good way to look at it. Like, how did you acclimate to the time and how do you plan on acclimating the time? Because I know some fighters look at it differently. Yeah, I'm going to stay on the U.S. schedule. So I'm going to, you know, just like the U.S. Time.

So how do you see this all going down, James? This is a sneaky fight at 170 pounds. I like this one. It's got an outstanding made event. This one, you know, gets right in there and mixes in very well with that fight. How do you get this thing done? Yeah, man, I think, I don't know. I see it playing out a bunch of different ways.

I feel like this, and this is the thing that I feel like I have an advantage is I feel like I have more ways to win this fight than he does. I feel like in order for him to win this fight, he needs to get me down. And I'm not saying, listen, man, I know the game is unforgiving. I know, I'm not saying I can't get knocked out. I'm not saying, I just feel like the best shot he has to beat me is to get me down. And I feel like I can win in multiple, multiple different ways. And, you know, I could see, I could see me clipping him.

Early he's been rocked a couple different times. I could see, you know, decision. I could see a close fight. I don't know, man. You know what I mean? I feel like, I feel like I'm going to go out there and I'm going to see what his game is going to be. I know he's going to try to take me down. But I just feel like.

I'm a little too crafty for him. You know what I mean? Like I find ways to win, bro. You know what I mean? Like I've made a living off that. I have the ability to adjust and adapt in fight. I don't think he has that ability. And I just think that I can play different roles in different styles in this fight to keep him guessing.

I have good feet. I just think that, you know, I'm going to exploit some weaknesses in his game. And obviously that's why we fight. I'm sure he's going to disagree. He says he's going to knock me out or sub me in the first round. You know what I mean? But he disagrees with what I'm saying. That's why we fight.

So, yeah, I mean, I just feel like I'm a little too crafty for him. Last thing, I know you mentioned Megan Anderson. She's got herself a big fight coming up in December. She's fighting Amanda Nunes. I believe this is the first UFC title fight for the glory crew. Is that that true, right? That's not true. Generally, I fought to meet your time.

Oh, that's right. That's right. How did I forget that? But, you know, how excited is she? Like, how is she handling this opportunity that's going to be here in about two months or so? Great. I mean, she's flying color. She looks great.

Camps, you know, it's kind of a, we've started. camp, you know, she trains every day anyway, but like, one of the things is like, you don't want to, we got that fight a long time ago, so you don't want to like start her and camp too early to where she gets burned out or she gets hurt. So it's like we've been, she's definitely training hard, obviously. We've ramped it up recently, eight weeks out, and then we ramping again, you know, as it gets closer. So it's, it's just trying to keep her healthy and, and, you know, strong. She looks great, you know, she's doing really well. her trainings have been excellent. She's getting better every day. I'm excited for it. I know she is as well.

I know you got a fight coming up, but as a coach, I mean, you've cornered Anthony Smith and others in some big fights, but to be the head coach heading into a fight against someone like Amanda Nunes, and I remember having a conversation with Mark Montoya about preparing for John Jones, and he said it was one of the coolest things he's had the chance to do as a coach trying to figure out that unbeatable puzzle. What is that like for you trying to look at someone like Amanda who has been so unstoppable for so long? one of the greatest ever do it. What's it like from a coaching perspective to attempt to solve that puzzle that no one's been able to solve for a long time? Yeah.

So obviously this is all, this is all from a, you know, just my point of view. And it's hard to, it's hard to denounce her accolades and, you know, what she's done.

She's incredible. So I don't really look for, uh, she hasn't been beaten in a long time. You know what I mean? So it's really difficult to look for like, it's hard to go back and say, oh, look at her, look at her fight against Kat Zangano and, you know, that's how you beat her because that really is irrelevant at this point. So you got to,

you got to try to break it down and look at small scenarios that she's lost. And I don't even mean, you know, I'm not saying she's lost rounds. I'm talking about like exchanges. I'm talking about small little plays that have happened that she's lost or something has happened where, you know, she doesn't seem quite there. And that's, that's usually what I look for. Um, And obviously there's things that I have that I'm not going to really talk about too much. But yeah, I mean, I think you got to look at small little plays. You know what I mean? In an NFL game, no matter what the score is, there's always plays that you lose.

And you've got to look at what happens in those plays. You know what I mean? So that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to look at the small little scenarios that she's lost on any scale and really try to exploit those and break those down. Just so much knowledge right there. I can pick that dude's brain about the fight. game for hours and hours.

Should be a fun one between the James Krauss and Claudio Silva on Saturday night. UFC Fight Island 6. Of course, the main event of that card, wow, it's just such a good fight. Brian Ortega versus the Korean zombie, just for Jose Young's sake, he's so negative about this fight because every time it gets booked, it falls apart, and he's been wanting this for a while. Ortega versus the Korean zombie is equal to Barron Morais versus Dominic Cruz. and this one is much more likely to happen.

So for Jose's sake, let's, let's make this thing a reality on Saturday. And I can't wait to see it. Solid events. It's the go home show for UFC 254, which is going down next Saturday night. Early start, actually Saturday night. What am I talking about? Early start time. Early start time.

I mean, it's just force to habit, right? Creature habit. Usually these pay-per-view main cards start at 10 p.m. Eastern standard time. Not this time. 2 o'clock. two o'clock in the afternoon. I'm very excited. By the time like seven o'clock rolls around,

we're gonna be done. We'll be done with everything. Post-fight show will probably be wrapped up and hacked and in the books by then. So what an event that's going to be. We are going to wrap things up on this show. We do have one more interview coming up momentarily. We will leave you with that.

But first, just wanted to thank all of you for watching and listening to the show every week. 29 episodes in the books already, which is just honestly wild to think about. considering how this year began and what has happened since March, it's just wild. It really is. And it's all because of you guys. Thank you very much.

Of course, big thank you, as always, to Casey Liden on the production side as well. He got some shoutouts from Aaron Pico this week. We got lots of UFC Fight Island's six coverage going down the rest of this week. Wayans Friday morning beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Me myself, Mr. Alex K. Lee, Casey, and Jose Young's from Abu Dhabi. We'll have all the wayans, some chit chat in between. Then we get the preview show, event coverage galore, with our guy Jose Young's in Fight Island.

In other words, we get you covered. So one-stop shop, MMAfighting.com, as I wish you, a heck of a week as always, ladies and gentlemen, we will leave you with my conversation with one of the best 125 pounds on planet Earth, the assassin baby, Brandon Moreno. All right, Brandon Moreno is back on the show, and he's back in action, November 21st at UFC,

255. He's going to take on Brandon Royval. We get some Brandon on Brandon action in the Octagon. Big Fight. Big event for the Flyweight Division. It's always great to have the Assassin Baby joining us on the show. Brandon, how are you, sir?

Brother, thank you so much. Thank you so much again for the space. Nice talk with you. The last conversation was pretty funny. So we were here again. Yes, it sure was. You're a great sport. I appreciate that.

I think about that conversation often. And it leads me to this conversation because we have a lot to talk about because so much has transpired since that last conversation. As most people know, you were originally scheduled to fight Alex Perez on this card because Cody Garbrandt got the initial title shot with Davis at Figuedo. First of all, before we get into anything else, how did you react to Cody Garbrand getting that title shot over you or Alex Perez initially? Yeah, it was a sad moment. but I can understand that decision, you know, because Cody Garberon is a name, has the name, he's a former champion, he can sell more paper beans than me or Alex even. So I can understand that decision, but this moment is different because I can't understand the decision to take Alex Perez for the title. to be honest, I think, I don't know,

just the company think he deserves a title shot. Yeah, I was going to, and that was my next question, because Cody's in, you're going to fight Alex, and it's just like, okay, the winner of this fight between Brandon and Alex is going to fight the winner of Davidson and Cody. There's no doubt about it. And now Cody's out, Alex is in. How did you react to that?

Because now the time frame is probably, it might be much longer now, with Cody wanting to come back at the beginning, of the year beginning of 2021. It seems like he might get the winner of that fight. Where does that leave you, you think? Man, I can't see any explanation about the decision of the company, you know? Because it's not for the ranking. It's not for the name.

It's not for the followers. I don't know, in Instagram or in other social media. I can't understand that. I don't know. I mean, you put, for example, in our last conversation, the last interview, you say something, you know, he can't decide the title. And maybe, you know, but I think my career is more successful. You know, I had a lot of more fights against more tough opponents. All my fights is with top 10 guys, you know.

even, I don't know, maybe Ascarov, right now Ascarov isn't the top five, you know. I think my career is more hard. Alex Berr fought against a lot of guys out to the top 15. I don't know. I feel bad. I mean, right now I feel more focused. But when my manager called me and told me about all this stuff, all this situation was very sad for me. I mean, actually a lot of people close to me, like, I don't know, for example, guys from other page from Instagram for, you know, ask me about what happened, you know.

And, hey, to be honest, I don't know. I don't, I don't have any opportunity to say something even. So, I mean, that conversation, like we said at the beginning, it's when I think about a lot. because you came on the show a few months ago after Figaro beat Joseph Benavides. And I straight up told you, I'm like, I just talked to Alex Perez an hour ago. And I said that I thought he deserved the shot. It's only fair that I say the same thing to you. And throughout that conversation, you stated your case for getting a title shot.

You made a pretty darn compelling argument for it, Brian. You almost swung me in a way. But, I mean, at the same time, you're still on this card. You're against a surging contender in this division in Brandon Roy Bell. at the end of the day, you don't have much of a choice, but are you okay with everything that's happening here? Are you fine with it now? No, to be honest, but I know I need to keep my mind clean

because the fight against Brandon Roybal is very tough. It's very tough. The guy is a very, very tough opponent. His Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is amazing. He's so brave. He doesn't care if he needs to go to the guard against the other fighter. He's just trying to win the fight.

And that is so dangerous for me, you know, because he doesn't have nothing to lose. He's in the number, I think, six in the ranking. I am in the number two. I put everything on the line for me, you know? So I need to, I need to win this fight, you know, to keep all this emotion for the people, because all the people

know I'm the next for the title. I think just the UFC and Alex Perez thinks he deserves fight for the title title show. It's a weird time in the world, right? I mean, we're around a month away

from this event happening, from this fight happening. It's like five weeks or so. Are you preparing just to fight Brandon Royval or in a weird way do you have to prepare for Brandon, prepare for Alex, prepare for Davidson in case something else happens and things get shifted around again. I'm fucking prepared for everything, bro.

I mean, sorry, I'm a little bit. I know, man. I know. I know about this. I'm a little bit angry. But I'm ready. I'm ready for every guy. I'm ready for the Brazilian, for Biggerel.

I'm ready for everybody. Actually, they can go to the octagon that night, that night. And I can fight against them in the same. same night, night, sorry. So a little, like a gotlet match, like you fight Brandon and then just start calling out guys, let's go. I'm not leaving.

I'll fight Alex then. I'll fight for the title. Oh, man, of course. I can stay there in the Outta going, waiting for both guys, you know? And I can fight with Alex or Figuerreel at the same night. I like where your head's at.

This would be history-making, Brandon. I'm Mexican, that's why. We've wanted to make history. There you go. Have you been, I mean, Brandon's a tough cat coming from LFA. You came from LFA before you got your second opportunity. Have you been impressed with what he's done this far?

I mean, that fight against Kuyahar, France, was just ridiculous. As a fan as someone who, you know, also has to watch and break down fights as well, you must have been losing your mind watching that fight. Yes. No, I'm sorry. I'm so impressive and I think the most dangerous thing about this fight is he's motivated, you know.

He fought against Tim Elion and beat him. He falls amazing against Kikeira fans and beat him very well with that gigatin. I mean, I'm an analyst, you know, in Spanish from the JNBC broadcast in Spanish. So I need to stay focused in all the fighters. And of course, I'm not that kind of guy who says something like, I don't know the guy. No, no, no, man. I know every fighter in the roster. I know the skills of Brandon Roybal and I have to be prepared for him.

He has a very awkward style on the feet, as you know, a lot of length. And despite not having the most technical abilities on the feet, he's very effective with what he does. Do you have to change? He is right. Yeah, do you have to change a whole lot to get ready for someone like Brandon or is it business as usual? Everything is the same except, you know, the game plan for Alex Perez and Rebels changed a little bit because Ronald Reibel is Saupa. So I need to be prepared for that. That stance is weird.

You know, I never fought against Saupa before. So I need to stay focused on that. I mean, rankings-wise, I'm sure you'd prefer the Perez fight because now he's fighting for the title. So I understand where you're coming from there. From like a competitive standpoint, which fight is better in your opinion? You versus Alex or you versus Royvo? Obviously, it's against Alex Perez. It's a better fight, you know.

But I need to win this fight. I mean, all the fights are very hard. All the fighters are tough in this point, you know, all the guys from the... UFC are very top opponents, but in this moment, I have a lot of the line. You know, I need to beat Brandon Roybalt. He's amazing. He's in this moment. He's motivated.

But, man, I'm motivated too. I actually last, I had my third daughter two weeks ago. Right now, my family is complete. So I need to fight for them, you know. well congratulations on that that's amazing thank you so much have you been able to sleep have you been able to sleep at all no no no actually uh my wife held me too much with that part because sometimes you know three a m four a end my my daughter started to cry and my wife take the the moment for me just for the for the training camp wow that's very that's very nice of her that's got to be uh that's got to be nice and refreshing a little freeing in a way

You get your wife coming through and giving you a couple extra hours of shut-eye during these times. The thing is after the fight, you know. You need to pay for all that moments. So I'm scared. But I'm fine. I'm ready. I can totally understand. Yes, I understand where you're coming from.

There's no doubt about that. So this is it. So the family is complete. This is no more little Moreno's running around after this? I don't think so, brother. I try to make my boy, but I can't make boys. You know, I have three daughters, you know, six, two, and this new one, all daughters, all girls. And it's fine for me.

I love it. They're going to be looking for your guidance all along the way, so you're in a good position. I'm prepared for kick some ass of other guys. I'm ready. I look like a nice guy, but I'm... crazy in my mind. So I'm careful, guys. Well, I'm sure your reputation will follow them throughout school. They're going to be like, oh, Moreno, and then they're going to find out that you're their dad. So they might have a hard time once they might have a hard time getting dates to the prom, man.

I know, bro. No, it's amazing. I love, I love this, this moment, but I need to be ready. I need to win the title, change my life, change the life of my family. And you know, this moment is important. Is this the kind of fight on a card like this? I mean, you said that you have to win this fight. It's pivotal that you win. But is it win enough here? Do you need to go out there and make a statement on this card?

Or is just getting your hand raised enough for you? Man, of course. And I think the style of Brandon Roebel is perfect for me. Because he's great. He tried to go forward. He tried to push the fight. You know, for example, my last fight against Formiga, I think the styles of him and I are different,

and I can't show all my stuff, you know, but right now with Brandon Roybal is different. I think his style helps me too much to show a little bit more of my new skills, you know, with my striking, my gasoline heat, even. I know he's really good, but you can't forget. I have 10 submissions in all my career. So he needs to be careful too. So you think your Jiu-Jitsu is better than his?

Maybe. I don't know. We'll find out, right? I don't know. Maybe. Yes. I need to show something in that fight. In that fight?

Who do you think wins between Figuato and Perez? Like who do you think wins that fight? Oh. Tough matchup. Actually, my coach, some Alex Perez in some event

here in Mexico in Monterey and he's like hey man Alex Perry he's big he looks like

I don't know like a bantamweight so I think the power of Figel can make the difference in this fight but

he needs to be careful of Alex Perez because he is powerful too are you going to be working at all for any of these upcoming events? Because like you said, you do work for the Spanish broadcast, covering these events and being an analyst and stuff.

Are you still going to be working in that capacity or are they giving you time off until your fight happens? My last event is in October 31st, I think so. So after that, I don't have more work. Just stay focused on my fight. Oh, so you'll be working for Habee versus Justin Gaichi then? I'm excited. No, I think it's a event of between Rayah Hall and Anderson. So that's the last one. So, you know, I'd like to ask you about these fights because of what you do and how intelligent you are and breaking these down. But I know you don't love doing these on these podcasts because when you're on the broadcast, you can speak in Spanish and it's easier for you.

But I have to ask you about Habib versus Gaichi. It's just a ridiculous fight, Brandon. I'm trying to ask everybody about this one. Who do you like in that one? No, if you ask me in the Spanish, I can say a lot of more stuff, you know? But it's fine. I love it.

I need to practice my English a little bit more. So, man, I think the power of Justin Geichi problems for Habib. But, you know, I think there is, the question here is if Justin Gitch can stop

the wrestling of Habib you know I always talk you know maybe this guy is the

is the guy can be Habib you know talking about Dustin Portial talking about Connor McGregor

even but I think Justin Gage is the first one he can the necessary skills to

stop all the weapons of Habib. You know, in the octagon, in the octagon, everything is different. And everything can change. I think the fight is for Habib. But I go with my heart and I go for Justin Gage. Oh, man, it's funny. Like almost every fighter I've asked, I'll think Gachi is just crazy enough to be the one to do it. Man, it's crazy not love.

Justin Gage Channel. I think his attitude, his fighting style is amazing. I mean, to be honest, I'm his fan. He's amazing. And then about a month after that fight happens, you're going to fight Brandon Roy Val. Huge knife for the flyweight division.

How do you get this thing done? How do you get your hand raised? Man, I'll win those fight. I take the next fight for the title. I'll change the life of my... all my family, man, it's not just my family. I think it's just, it's all my country, you know. The first Mexican fighter who take the one championship of UFC,

I think the country makes crazy in that moment. I'm ready. I'm ready to that fight. I'm ready. I know Brandon Reble is motivated, but, man, I'm a crazy dog right now. You need to see my fights. I'm different and I'm excited and right now I start to feel weird

yeah you get that look at your eye last thing before you let you go I saw on your Instagram I didn't get a chance to look at it but you posted a photo of a toy that you got from the New York Comic-Con what did you get Jimmy Cricket is my first one

yeah I love it I love Pinoccio but yeah this year you know all the pandemic makes everything so hard. So for example, the last convention, you know, the San Diego Comicon, they sell all the

funco pops online and it's too hard to get some something. You need to sell from other guys in social media for example in Facebook. And it's the same for this New York Comic-com. So I had the first one. I tried to get

a little bit more different funco pops. So I'm ready. You got it done. I almost had my first 100 fun cop-pop, so I'm great. Four more. Four more. There you go, man. Brandon, you are the man. I think you're handling the position you're in. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

I think you're handling this all in stride. I know it can't be easy, but you're handling all like a champion, man. Like a man who is destined to become a champion, which is not surprising at all. So I appreciate the time, as always. All the best of you for the rest of this camp and in the fight with Brandon Royville on November 21st, man. Man, really appreciate it. Thank you so much. Again, for the space.

it's always a pleasure to talk with you, bra. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.