MMA Fighting - What the Heck: Episode 54 | Stephen Thompson, Jimmy Flick, Julian Marquez & Randy Costa

Episode Date: April 13, 2021

This week on What the Heck, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck speaks with former UFC flyweight Jimmy Flick (6:50) to explain his decision to announce his retirement on Saturday. Stephen Thompson (50:11) discusses his recently announced matchup with Gilbert Burns at UFC 264, the ongoing drama between event headliners Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor, and his dislike of Jake Paul. Randy Costa (1:16:07) explains his friendly callout and ongoing competitive rivalry with Adrian Yanez and recovering from an injury that forced him out of his March fight with Trevin Jones. Finally, Julian Marquez (1:47:07) recaps his second-round submission win over Sam Alvey at UFC Vegas 23, gives an update on where things stand with his pickleball callouts of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill, and more. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. What the Heck with Mike Heck on MMAfighting.com. Now here is your host, Mike Heck. What the heck? Well, hello there, everybody. Welcome to a brand new edition of What the Heck here on MMAfighting.com. I am Mike Heck. Hope you're having a great start to the week.

It's going to be another very busy week in the combat sports world, even busier than last week. Remember last week? It seems like a blur now. but it was bananas. We had one on TNT1 on Wednesday. That whole craziness with the ending of the Eddie Alvarez fight, Adriana Marais, knocking out Demetrius Johnson. Ellator was back at it on Friday.

Ryan Bader defeated Leota Machita in the main event, big win for Katzangano, big win for Adam Borich, and much more. The UFC was on ABC on Saturday. Martin Vittori defeated Kevin Holland in the main event. Will that be enough to get him a title shot? That rematch with Israel Adasagna. time will tell, but good win nonetheless. It's all about getting the W.

Great wins for Arnold Allen, submission victories for Julian Marquez and McKenzie Dern. Daniel Rodriguez got back on track, beating Mike Perry, and the list goes on and on. It was a fun event. Now, this week, we got one on TNT2 on Wednesday, Christian Lee versus Timothy Nasty Yucan,

the main event for the lightweight title. Bellator back out again on Friday with Bellator 257, Vadim Nemcoff versus Phil. Davis for the light heavyweight title, the main event, part of the Bellator, 205-pound Grand Prix. Corey Anderson has his first round matchup on that card as well against the wild card of all wild cards in this whole thing. Duf Letson, Yag Shimoradov.

Yag Shimoradoff. I think they got it right. I just try to pronounce it twice. I'm looking at the Tapology page right now because I'm trying to figure out to pronounce it, but I'm going with that. I feel good about that pronunciation, but who knows what's going to happen with that gentleman against Corey Anderson. He could be the best 205 pounder in the world for all we know.

But we're going to find out where he stands with Corey Anderson on Friday. And on Saturday is just going to be wild. We got UFC Vegas 24, Robert Whitaker versus Kelvin Gasolm, big one at 185 pounds. That's the main event. And then how can we forget the big boxing match? It is finally here. Ben Ascran. going over to the squared circle to face Jake Paul.

And we will be there for that event with the coverage live in Atlanta, Georgia, the great Jedmishu, our boots on the ground. So keep it locked here on MMAfighting.com. My son also turns eight years old on Saturday. So he's going to look back. We're going to look back in history on his eighth birthday. And that's the day Ben Askeran and Jake Paul had a boxing match. How about that?

Of course, we saw what was going on earlier this week. Alex Kaylee and I reacted to the whole ongoing drama between Dustin Porre and Conner McGregor. Donation Gate, 2021. Will the fight happen July 10th? Will it not happen July 10th? Who knows with Connor? I believe it's still going to happen. But go check that out for our thoughts on that.

We will reiterate that sentiment that we both believe the fight will happen. And you can find that wherever you're listening or watching this. But look, we get a lot of. to discuss this week. We can spend the next 45 minutes talking about news and notes, but let's get right into it and say hello to our first guest. But we're going to wrap things up with the aforementioned Julian Marquez. Huge win over Sam Alvey on Saturday, submitted him in the second round, put him to sleep with the rear naked choke. And he called out some big name players from the Kansas City Chiefs for some pickleball, for some badminton, called up Patrick Mahomes,

Travis Kelsey, we heard from Tyree Kill as well. They're all in. We're going to check in with the Cuban Missile Crisis at the end of the show. Randy Costa, one of the exciting up-and-coming UFC Bannerweights. He wants a fight with Adrian Yanez, and this is the kind of rivalry that we can all get behind. You'll see what I mean when we get into the conversation. We dive into a bunch of things.

Talk about Asker and Paul for a little bit. What happened with this fight with Trevin Jones and why he was forced to withdraw from that fight in March? always enjoy chopping it up with the Zohan, the fellow New Englander, Randy Costa. I look for that a little bit later on. Stephen Thompson returns to the show at a previous fight with Gilbert Burns,

July 10th at UFC 64. And you know what? What's interesting is we had this conversation as the Twitter stuff with Porre McGregor was really starting to bubble over because Wonderboy had no idea what was happening. I had to tell them what the deal was, what these two guys were getting after it for.

and you get his reaction to that, but we also get his reaction on finally getting to fight in the blue corner against a higher-ranked fighter, wanting to slap Jake Paul, yes, the NMF champion said those words. More on that a little bit later. Always great talking to Stephen Wonderboy Thompson, but even though we dropped this one on Monday, a little earlier than the show,

I felt from a personal level, it was important to lead off the program with this conversation this week because I spoke with Jimmy Flick on Monday morning. He made the shocking decision to retire from mixed martial arts from the UFC at the age of 30. Earned his contract on the Contender Series after, and before he got to the Contender Series, became the LFA Flyway Champion, got on the Contender Series, had a submission win there, looked phenomenal in that fight. Then he makes his UFC debut in December against Cody Durden.

The fight got delayed a couple of weeks because Durdon caught Pink Eye. so we had to cut wait a second time a couple weeks later. And then one of the submissions of the year on the last UFC card of 2020, a wild year with the pandemic and everything, caught Cody Dern in a flying triangle. He was getting set to fight Francisco Figurado on May 8th. And then he announced decision to retire. So I feel it was important, especially for the podcast listeners who may not have seen or heard this conversation yet, to listen to it now.

And I will warn you, it is a little longer than most of my interviews that you've seen on this channel, but I have to say, completely worth your time. So I have a lot of respect for Jimmy Flick. I had a lot of respect for him anyways,

but the respect I have for this man is through the roof now, and you'll see why right now, on what the heck. All right, this has been a crazy week in the world of mixed martial arts. A lot has happened, but quite possibly nothing was more surprising

been finding out that this man, Jimmy Flick, one of the most exciting up-and-comers in the UFC and at 125 pounds in general, announced his retirement over the weekend. So I'm happy to bring Jimmy on to talk all about this decision. Jimmy, how are you, man? I'm doing pretty good, man. I'm happy with my decision,

and I'm happy to move forward with my life and the new journey that I'm trying to create for my family and myself. That's great. I got to tell you, I have so many questions for you, sir. But first off, Saturday night in Oklahoma, you get in the cage at Saturday's FCF event, the same organization where you captured their title a little over a year ago. And you made this surprising announcement. So can I just ask what it feels like less than 48 hours later?

Like, do you feel a big weight lifted off your shoulders? Like, what does that like right now? Yes, a lot, man. And if anybody would have known what I went through over the last week on making this. decision. It's life-changing. It's hard. It was tough. And I cried and cried and cried for many hours. And I went through the pros. I went through the ponds. And there's a lot to it. And it's not something that I've done overnight. I didn't just wake up and say, hey, I don't want to fight no more. Over the last month, we've had a fight booked. And we're supposed to fight the champs brother.

This is the one 25-pound champ of my division's little brother. The biggest story and biggest opportunity I have to make bigger waves than the UFC and go on farther in my career. And I go back to when I fought Cody Durden and I go back to 2020 where I gave it everything I got. I had multiple goals. If you listen to my speech, I had three goals and I reached those three goals. I wanted to create new goals, but the UFC is not in those new goals.

And I tried to wake up every morning and tell myself that I wanted more goals in the UFC. And I kept pushing myself and I kept waking up. And every day I was at gym, I didn't want to be there. I wanted to be with my kids. I wanted to be with my wife. I was trying to find ways out of it. And I was trying to, you know, figure out what I wanted to do in life. And when I fought Cody Durdin and we had this pandemic going,

my job gave me like five weeks off why I could train full time. I've never had that opportunity to train full time in my life. And so I got to be at home with my kids. I got to train. I got to come home. I got to train. I got to come home. And it's a lot harder than people think to do that nonstop.

But knowing that after I'm done fighting, I still have to go back to work. In my speech, I said the UFC was not looking out for me. I need to justify what I mean by that. The UFC never did me wrong. I love everything the UFC did for me. I love the goals that I got to get to the UFC, the person it made me.

But what I mean by that is there's no benefits of me beating my body up no more being in the UFC. We have no 401K. We have no benefits. We have no fallback. Fighters are too stupid to unionize, and it'll never happen because there's other fighters that will fight for that money. I love the money I got, but this is just to go show everybody that money does not buy happiness. And I never fought for fame, and I never fought for money.

That's not why I fought. And I told people I want to write a book, and I've been writing this book, and I've never had an ending to my book. And now I have an ending, but I also have to tell people what got me into mixed martial arts, what strived me to do this. Well, my dad and my brother had a lot to do with it. We got into this sport together. My dad gave me my work ethic. My dad put me in sports. My dad gave up a lot, but also I lived a very, very, very tough life.

I went through life without water. I went through life without electric. I've seen my dad beat my mom. I've seen my mom go through hell. I've seen my brothers and sisters drag their life to the gutter from drugs. And that's what motivated me not to be one of them people being the youngest. and now that I've been losing time for my family and I find out what comes from fighting

and what more is going to come into fighting and what more I have to do to be the best and probably still work a full-time job and people don't understand that and when I do that, it's taken away from my family. It's taken away from my girls. I put my girls in the gym with me

why they have to be there why I have more time to train. They don't want to be there all the time. I got them there for five, six hours of time. After I've been at work all day, they haven't even seen me. And then I'm going to take them to the gym and have them play in the gym

why I train more. And I just keep missing time from them. And I got a long story to tell, and that's why I'm going to write my book. More people will understand what happened with my father, my brother, my life, my journey. and I want to be a family man and I'm okay with going to work

settling down with a $40,000 job a year and seeing where life takes me and my family and build a road for my girls and see what they want to do in life. And social media just, I guess, does not understand it. These people out here are savages, man. I tell you, the stuff I'm reading, dude, it's just like, it's crazy, man.

And it's like the farther I get, the worst that's going to get, you know. And people don't care about me, my feelings, what I've been going through. But I do. And my wife does. And she knows. And I've lost the want to fight. I've lost the urge to wake up every morning and train. And that's the story.

And, you know, I didn't get to tell it all. And there's even more to the story. And that's why I'm writing a book. And I'm hoping everything that I accomplished in it. MMA and in the UFC will help further my book and people want to know my story and I want to go talk to kids and tell them my story and mentor kids and yesterday that was the first step yesterday I went to a football camp and I told these kids about my story I told them about my goals and having new goals and it's okay to accomplish your goals and move on to new goals and that's what I'm doing in life

and now I want to get my story out there and let people know and just, you know, money does not buy happiness. There's a lot to unpack with what you just said. And I know when we last spoke, you talked about your loss to Ray Rodriguez in 2019, and you were thinking about retirement even then because, you know, you had your job, 401K, you and your wife were smart with your money and you said you were doing pretty well without fighting. So I know this last week, it's really started to take shape this decision, but how long has this been on your mind? Like, is this something that you've been sort of weighing with since then? Like even when you got back and made that run to the UFC?

I've always thought about it. I've always thought about how long my journey was going to go. And like I said, my goal was to make that UFC walk. That was one of my main goals. And I did it. And I did it in good fashion. But like I said, you go back to the dirt and fight. and a lot of people don't understand

with fighting too. If you don't fight, you don't get paid, you know? Like, so we can do this stuff for months in and then get there

and everything that we did to get there gets put on hold. So 15 minutes after they tell me, me and Cody Durdine are not fighting because of pink eye.

My first thoughts like, am I getting paid? I made weight, you know, I should at least get my show money, you know? and they tell me, yeah, you're getting your show money, you know, but you still got to pay your manager.

You still lost all this stuff, you know. And then they're like, oh, well, you can fight them in two weeks. Well, what about your health, Jimmy? How much weight did you put back on after that fight? You know, can you do it? Is it mentally going to drain you? Like, what's it going to do to your family? Nobody asks those questions.

Nobody ever does. I literally had about an hour to decide, what I wanted to do. I felt like that's all I had, you know. And so I had to make calls to my wife. I had to make calls to my manager, my coach. And immediately, I decided I wanted that fight. I wanted that win.

I wanted to make that walk. So what did I do? I told my coach, I said, you wrap my hands up right now, and we're going next door and we're working out. That's what I was supposed to do tonight. I was supposed to fight. So we're going to go over here and where we're going to work out. and we go over there and we work out.

I don't eat pizza. I don't drink beer. I don't go out that night. I go over there. I go to sleep. I wake up at 3 o'clock in the morning. I can't sleep. I get up.

I go run four miles. I tell myself mentally he's not stronger than me. He's not going to want this more than me. So we're going to fight at 125 again. I'm going to make this cut. I'm going to be mentally tougher in him. And I'm going to win my UFC debut. And that's what I did.

That Sunday when I got home, we weighed in on Friday. That Sunday when I got home, I had one good meal with my family. I was 148 pounds. That's 22 pounds in over 48 hours I put on after weigh-ins. And I had 12 days to turn around and cut it again. Monday morning, I was back at the gym, 5 a.m. training. back to work you know

then my job told me you know focus on the fight we'll let you off two more weeks my job let me have that opportunity my job opened up the door for me to reach my dream and it was to make that walk and I sacrificed so much and my girls went through it you know

they're like you're back you know when daddy comes back from fights what do we do daddy takes some shopping daddy spends time with them but no daddy had a turn back around and kill it for two more weeks before Christmas. And, but I, I, Daddy won $80,000, you know, that's life changing, you know. People's like, you took that much money home. Baby, that's not how much money daddy took home, you know.

That's how much daddy got paid. You pay taxes, you pay your manager, all the time lost, everything, you know. You don't bring much in, you know, but you keep striving for more and you keep, keep striving for more, but I keep losing more time with my family. I keep losing more time with my wife. In five years, if I reached that UFC gold, do I have what I want more than life? Do I have my girls? Do I have my wife? She sacrificed 10 years already. Today, today, we've been married nine years. Not one time has she told me to hang up the gloves. Not one time has she told me she wants me to live a different life.

And she has goals. Does anybody care about her goals? I do. But nobody else does, you know. And I'm not going to lose my wife. I'm not going to lose my kids over something that I might reach, something that might make me more money. I'm okay with going to work, having something established.

Like I said, I have land. I have a house. Me and my wife want to build a house on that land. My wife wants to work. She wants to provide for her family as well. With me, working a job and training constantly, it's all me. It's all been me. So over the time, ever since that fight, I told him I wanted to take time off.

I wanted to spend time with my family. How long do you think it took for them to offer me a fight again? Not long. Then here I am trying to debate what I want to do. When am I going to fight? and then I got a fight booked, so I took it. I liked the May 8th. I like the champs brother.

I think I'm excited. I wasn't excited. I tried to push myself. I tried to justify why I was doing what I was doing. Over Easter weekend, I had a conversation with my father. I haven't talked to my father very much. and that conversation made a big difference on me in life. I thought my dad was going to change his life to come be in my corner in the UFC,

to be there like I told people on the Tuesday night contender. That's just a little bit of my story. And I thought that would change my dad's life. I thought it would change my brother's life. I let them know, you know, I still want y'all there. I want y'all in my life. I believe in y'all I love y'all

like we did this together and it didn't make a difference so I found out I was fighting for all the wrong reasons I was still fighting to try to get my dad back to get my brother back to have my family there again

for my girls to see my dad to see my brother and it didn't matter man it didn't matter I announced my words retirement and I called my dad and my mom to tell him before. I still haven't heard from my dad. He's never asked me anything. And I'm not fighting for him no more. I'm fighting for my kids. I'm fighting for my wife and I'm not going to lose them. And they're way more than what fighting has ever

meant to me. And that's why I'm going to tell my story and people need to know what goes on in fighters' lives. And the outcome of what my future is is what I care about with my family, my loved ones, and everybody. And I just hope everybody supports me. And like I said, social media is crazy. And people say, like, my weekend with the stuff I got,

the messages I've been getting, most of them are supportive. But the stuff people say, that's why I got to get my story out. You know, people don't know what a story. fighters go through. I've been doing this since I was 18. I've been cutting weight since the...

Sorry. That's okay. Okay. I've been cutting weight since the second grade. And I just, you know, I woke up. God, darn it. It's all right, man. And it's just, it's been life-changing,

winning the way I won and everything. And now it's just, I figured out, you know, I was fighting for all the wrong reasons. And now I'm excited to tell my story and hopefully I'll help somebody in the future with telling my story. So if you didn't have that conversation with your dad, do you think we'd be talking about this right now? I can't say 100%, but it would be, it would have been a big difference. Because like I said, the Monday morning I woke up from Easter, it was life changing. I had something on my heart that I had to get out.

And I called my wife and my wife, she was in tears just hearing me speak about it. And she's just like, where's this coming from? And I had been dropping hints over the past couple months that I just felt like I wasn't striving like I used to. You know, like I had started to lose the want. But my wife, as always, kept pushing me, motivating me. Tell me no, you know, it's just a little slumped right now. You're always going to push through it. You always do this.

We're just so far out from fight camp right now. You know, you're pushing yourself so hard. You're so excited. You want to beat the champ's brother, you know. And then after having that conversation with my dad and seeing my dad and nothing's made a difference, I found out, yeah, I was. fighting for all the wrong reasons. I think if my dad would have reached out more and had been there, it would be great.

After I won my Cody Durden fight, my dad didn't call me. I seen him at Christmas, and then he talked. They wanted to know more about how much money I won and what I was going to do with it, you know? And my family's going to hate me more and more and more when I tell my story. And it's like, it makes me the bad guy. But I'm just telling the truth. But it also made me the person I am today. Makes me the husband I am to my wife, the father I am to my kids.

And that makes me happier than anything. And I got to get my story out. It's a sad story. But it justifies my life. It justifies my decisions. And I know more people probably go through more than what I'm. I go through and have and conquer more things. But some people, they need to hear stories like this to help them conquer their goals.

And I've conquered my goals and I'm going to conquer more goals. It's just not with MMA no more. What would you say is like the more freeing feeling right now? Is it the fact that you've crossed over, you've made that decision to retire? Or is it and as painful as this might be and I can see it in your eyes and hear in your voice as you talk about it, knowing where you stand with your dad, being able to kind of let that go. Like what's the more, I guess, freeing feeling right now?

Just getting it out there. That's what makes me so free, you know, is to tell everybody, I've been bottling it up and bottling it up and using that, you know, to motivate me to push. And I don't know what I've done to my body, you know. Nobody knows what we do to the insides from the mental. toughness to the training to the weight cutting to everything and I just feel free. I was so happy to just wake up this morning at 6.30 a.m. You know, instead of 4.35 o'clock in the morning to have a cup of coffee to grab breakfast.

My four-year-old woke up. Daddy got her some milk. Daddy got her cartoons on. It was great. And then I got to go to work, you know, hear from my wife telling me happy anniversary and just being able to post and post about my life and my family. Instead of having to post about sponsors and, you know, and training and being at the gym and running five miles and just all of it. And it's going to take a lot to really take everything in. and for everybody to understand everything as well. But my family knows what's best for me.

I know what's best for me. And I don't know what's going to come from this with me and my dad. And that's what sucks the most. But I can't do it no more. I can't keep it bottled up. I can't keep it dug down there anymore. It's going to hurt me in the long run more. And I think that's what would have happened if I would have kept trying to push myself

to fight when I didn't want to fight no more. I mean, Francisco's no joke. I knew he wasn't. And I'm devastated that I'm pulling out on him. And but the UFC is going to take care of the guy. He's going to get a fight. I would rather do it now than two weeks out from the fight, you know, hurt myself from cutting weight because I'm not going to make weight and I'm not motivated to train

or for something to just not be there no more. and then give up a week or two out from the fight. So I've got backlash for that. I've got backlash for a lot of things, man. But this isn't retirement to try to get more money. This isn't retirement to go do some other kind of fighting or anything. I might do jiu-jitsu in the future. Again, I love jiu-jitsu, and that's what got me into this.

But this is just not what I want in life, and some people can just not understand it. and the want and the goals the want's not there the goals have been accomplished and I just you know that's not what I want in life no more

how did the UFC react to this information and in your decision to call it a career I only know what the matchmaker said Mick Maynard and from my understanding he's a supporter he understands what I'm going through

I'm pretty sure they have other fighters go through this mentally. And that's what a lot of people think this is, is like I'm going through something mentally or I'm scared to fight or whatever they want to say. Look, I got 20-something pro fights. I fight UFC vet and bare-knuckled world champ fucking Johnny Bedford, you know, a 5-to-1 underdog and was supposed to get murdered. I've been finished by Chris Gurreras with leg kicks.

I got knocked out ugly by Ray Rodriguez with an elbow and woke up and flipped off the camera, you know, because I didn't know where I was at, you know, like, that's not it. I'm 16 and 5, and it's killed or be killed. I only have three fights that went to a decision. Like, if the want is not there no more, I'm not going to do that to my family. I'm not going to do that to my coaches, my training partners, everybody that sacrifices everything to help me keep going forward. It's just, it's not there no more. And it was a hard way to find out. But I'm happy with that. I'm happy where I'm going to go in life.

I'm happy where it got me. And I'm just happy to spend time with my family and let people know the truth. And if you're a fighter and that's not your want to no more, then don't do it. You know, we don't have to put ourselves through this no more. And nine times out of ten, yes, fighters are going to have to get a job after. If not, they open a gym. Well, I like coaching people, but a lot of stuff comes from gym, mentally, physically. Same thing with families.

I've seen it. I've been at multiple gyms. And, you know, if that's not your desire, you don't want to do that either just to make money, you know. I got a great job. A lot of people told me I was going to make it in life because I dropped out of school. Did I not only make it in life? I got a job that pays for me and my family. I got land.

I got a house. And then I made my dreams. I made my goals. I reached what I wanted to. And I stopped on my terms. Nobody else's terms. These fighters go out at the wrong time. We got Chris Levin going to bare knuckle.

We got Chuck Liddell that went back and fought Tito for a third time. That should have never happened. He should have never even lost that fight in his career. But it's obviously because of money. They didn't make the right investments. You know, they didn't do the right stuff. And you got Anderson Silva, 11, 15-time, whatever-time world champ. That, like, he's not even on, like, got a fallback.

so he's going to boxing to try to make one more run at a couple million dollars, you know? Like, who's to say where I'm going to be, just a 125er that, you know, we don't get paid the best money, you know? Like, we've been more exciting here lately, but it doesn't change the paychecks, you know, unless you get that bonus. And I can't guarantee that bonus every time. And then, you know, Mr. Sam takes half of that bonus away from me, you know. like it's crazy man there's a lot to it it's been going on for a long time and it comes down really to what I've lost with my family

and what I've gained with my family and what I want to gain with my family before it's too late are you out of the USADA testing pool yet have you taken that step yet? I got to ask them if I can pull out because the way they do it it's like every three months you sign up and I don't know if you can go in and exit out because I've already put all my

stuff in there for like the next three months. But I will not be doing the other month and I'll look into it. Yeah, as soon as I can get out of it, I'll be out of it. And that's another thing too. So Monday, when I was really going over my decision and everything, I call my coach and I'm like, look, I'm not coming to gym today. I'm really going to, you know, set on this for a couple days and find out what I want to do. You know, if I take a few days off from gym, talk with my wife, my family, and everybody, I want to see what I want to do. And two hours later, I get a call UFC or Yassadas at my gym. You got a drug test, Jimmy. Okay, I'm on my way. So go over there and do my drug test. And it's just like, man, this is not what I want at a life.

And I mean, the drug test is not a problem. I'm clean. I've been drug tested like 10 times from the UFC already, you know? And that's not an issue, but just all the stuff that comes with it. Like you said, the UFC whereabouts. Everybody's like, how do UFC know you're here? Like, UFC knows where I'm at almost all times, y'all. Almost at all times, you know.

I did a live auction for a family member friend of mine that, you know, gotten a motorcycle accident back on January 30th. I did this fundraiser, and I was an auctioneer, and I was the one auctioning stuff off and doing this auction, and my phone kept blowing up during this auction. And I told the people on the mic, I was like, man, my phone keeps ringing, and they're like, it's probably your car warranty, you know. Everybody gets those car warranty calls.

So as a joke, I answered it, you know, and I picked it up. And I'm like, hello? And it's on the mic, and you can. And here, this is blah, blah, blah, from Yassada. We're at your house. You're not here, Jimmy. I'm like, oh, I'm right down the street down here doing this auction. Come down here.

So they come in. And so then I tell everybody on the mic, I got 100 people here at this auction. We're doing live. And said, all right, UFC's on their way. And they're going to drug test me. He said, so I'm going to start drinking a lot of water right now. I said, I fill out this paperwork. I'll get my drug test, and we'll go back and forth between this auction.

And everybody was cool with him. You know, it was a cool experience. Everybody got to see it. But literally, during a fundraiser that I'm doing for somebody that was going through something, I got your shot of showing up and drug testing me, man. And they said, you can't make this stuff up, man. And it's like, I mean, if you really want that for your life, great. You know, a lot of people are going to take it.

They're going to run with it. They're going to enjoy it. And I just found out it. It's not for me. It's not for my family. And there's more to the story. And like I said, I gave you all. some of it and in the book it's going to have way more people will understand it and i'm also going to do

an audio book so when i do my audio and i read my book you're going to hear the passion the pain of everything and it goes all the way back from when i was six years old and i noticed that i wasn't going to live a normal life as six years old there's something happened in my life and when that happened, I knew I was not going to be a normal kid. And ever since then, I told myself, though, I was going to accomplish something in life. I didn't know what it was. I didn't know what it would be. I just knew I was athletic. I loved sports. And I wasn't going to be a nobody. And I've accomplished that. And then now I want to tell my story. One thing that has sort of stemmed from all of this, and you mentioned it earlier, and I've seen a lot of the

reactions to your retirement, was the unionization talk? Like, you know, what would have happened if we unionized and did all these things? So I'm curious to know, like, it doesn't seem like it's happening anytime soon. A few years back, there were conversations, there were different groups that were trying to make it happen. If we were anywhere close to a union, like, or some sort of association where the fighters could come together, like, if we were even sniffing a finish line in that in any way, would that have changed your approach to whether or not you were going to retire or not? 100% man.

If we have a fallback and that's what people don't understand, we don't have a fallback. So therefore, I got to chase my dreams, but also keep my job to have a fallback for my family. But that is not why I made my decision on what I did. And that's why I wanted to make it clear that the UFC never did me wrong. And that's what people were saying too. Oh, Dana stiffed him. Dana did that. No, they did everything that they said they were going to.

going to do in their contract. Everything that I agreed to. There was nothing that I wanted more or anything. It's just the fact that once I got there, I experienced it, and I realized that it's only going to take more from me, and I'm still going to have to keep my job to take care of my family and my loved ones. And as the person I am and what I strive for, I'm only going to train harder. I'm only going to want to do stuff more and more and more and more to accomplish more. And I want to put that towards my family and my kids and my wife. I mean, how many times have I told you all that? My wife was opening up a business, and we were working on that.

Still there, guys. Why do you think? Because of me. Because the fights keep coming. They're never going to stop. they're never going to let you do you can't just go enjoy life sometimes and be like hey man can i take a year off you know because i'm going to work anyway i mean you know that's what i do and no that's not how it works and it took a lot and like i said i had good days i had bad days and i thought i was finding ways to

motivate myself but when i had that talk with my dad and i found out that i was fighting for all the wrong reasons. And I need a fight for my girls and fight for my family and what they want to do in life. And that's what I'm going to do. A couple more things. And I appreciate you giving me so much time. It sounds to me like you are completely content with this decision. But I have to ask because we've seen MMA retirements in the past. Most of them do not stick. So I'll approach it this way. Is there anything that will get you back? Like let's just say like you and your dad work things out. he gets his stuff together. You guys get closer.

We have a union down the line. Like, will anything bring you back? Or are you done, done? Like, have we seen your final fight 100%? I believe so. I'm 30 years old. And I did everything I wanted. And the desire was not the money.

It was not the fame. And by the time they do unionize or by the time me and my dad work things out, I think it'll be too far down the road. I'm not the type that wants to come out of retirement. I already got somebody from bare knuckle. Like, is that your interest? Or you want to do bare knuckle?

I mean, no, I don't want to do bare knuckle. Like, are you freaking stupid? Like, no, like, that's not why I got out of it. And, like, if I want to fight, I would fight in the UFC. You know, that's the biggest stage in the world. is the stage everybody wants to get to and be. And like when you get there, getting there is not always the problem. It's staying there.

Well, for me, getting there was the problem. It took me 12 years, you know. Well, 10 years as a professional, but I started the journey 12 years ago in 2008, training, 2009 when I started fighting, so as an amateur. So I spent a lot of time and everything into this sport and gave it everything I got. Now that I got there, I figured out what it was

and what it's going to be and what else it's going to take. And that's not what I want. If I didn't have two kids already and a wife, yeah, of course. It'd be a lot easier, you know, but that stuff comes, you know? It happens.

But that's also what motivated me to keep pushing. If I wouldn't have had wife and kids, would I still have made it? I don't know. I mean, I was partying like crazy when I first started fighting. too, you know, and you're 3 and O, and you think you're on top of the world as a professional NNA fighter, you know, there's a lot that comes with it, you know, and then I've tried to

open it up a gym early in my career, figured out I didn't want to do that, you know, got back to fighting, I've been working, now I have a job that supports me that I love. I'm happy to come in and work 8 to 430 without training so hard, you know, people, like I've been doing it for so long, You don't have to cut weight. Oh, I can go to Quitrip at break and go grab me something to eat. Oh, snap, you know? Like, there's just so many things to it, man. But family was the most important.

And what I went through with my family growing up and where I'm at now with my family. And I really only talked to one of my sisters. Two of my brothers, we don't talk at all. One of my brothers is just without throwing them under the bud. And it's just like I lived a different life than most families and most people. And, you know, and I know what I want in life. And I want my kids. I want my wife.

And I want them to be happy with me. And I'm happy now. And I'm happy to get my story out and happy to let people know and see where life takes me. Sounds like the book is going to be quite the read, quite the listen. Once that comes out, hopefully that comes out sooner rather than later, people purchase it. and get it ready to go. But last thing for me, what do you want to say to your supporters,

your wife, your daughters, the fans that have been on your side, your coaches, teammates, fellow fighters, to those who have been along this ride with you from the very beginning. And I know that it's kind of like a roller coaster ride. Some stay on. Some decide to jump off.

What do you want to say to everybody who's been there since day one for you? And I just, I really, I can't say how much I think. I love everybody. And like I tell people all the time about this, you know, like you see people and they're like, oh, that guy's wearing a tapel shirt. He's probably never fought.

Well, guess what? If that guy doesn't support fighting and that guy doesn't buy a tap out shirt or buy our fight shirts or buy tickets to watches or buy these paper views, fighters don't make no money. Fighters can't fight, you know. So we need those people. We need those fans. Everybody that shares my stuff, they're like, well, Jimmy, I can't make the fight. I can't afford a shirt.

Well, you keep hitting that share button. You know, I really appreciate that. You might share it to somebody that can buy that shirt. Somebody else that might not see it that can buy that shirt or want to sponsor me. I started with one sponsor as a professional fighter. I had one. I'm ending with over 30. 30 sponsors.

And you know how many of them paid me before this fight? Multiple. I call them. every one of them individually. And I had to tell them, I feel obligated that I still owe y'all. I'm not fighting. I'm not doing what I told you I was going to do. I was going to go fight.

I can't advertise them in the UFC. I can only advertise them on social media. I can only thank them on social media. You can only thank them in certain interviews, you know. And they're giving up their money, their time and everything. So I call all of them and I tell them what's going on. personally let them know what's happening in my life and I will give their sponsorship money back not one not one asked for it back not one cared everyone everyone everyone just wants me to be happy

and they love my story they want my book they want to read it they want to hear my story they want to keep supporting me they want to support my wife with my wife's goals you know and it just makes me so happy and it's heartwarming and it helps cover up all these negative comments and everybody like I have a buddy that told me you know you need to just delete your social media I'm not going to delete my social media I'm not running from nothing you know I'm not scared in nothing I'm being honest with people I mean and that's a lot of people's problems they're not honest I mean later on after this I got big interviews I After interviewing with you, I got an interview with Elliot Marshall, a guy I looked up to and watched fight in the UFC.

You know, he wants to know my story. He wants to know why. I'm interviewing with this guy named Luke Thomas from CB Sports, CBS Sports and Showtime. They want to know my story. Maybe I can turn my story into a Netflix series. Maybe I can turn my life into something besides fighting. And I'm happy with that. I'm okay with that.

But I would have never got there without the fans, the supporters, my wife, my coaches, my training partners, everyone in this sport. And if you see my speech, I made it behold that sponsors really help us. And I wanted people to know, like, if you sponsor a fighter, you are amazing and you help us reach goals that we would never be able to reach without y'all. Same thing with fans and anybody that just shares a post, likes a post. And it's just all the support combined is awesome. It's amazing. And it would have never made me the person that I am or helped me reach the goals that I reached without all that. And that's what people need to realize without fans that fans that hate on you, the fans that love you.

As long as they're there commenting, paying money, watching, that's all that matters. and that's what that's all the UFC cares about too you know getting fans to watch and that's why Connor McGregor became the best in the world and I said in my interview I don't want to be the next Connor McGregor I don't want to be the next Demetrius Johnson people's like who's to say you were going to be the next corner McGregor the next to meet him's gun that's not what I'm saying those are other people's goals y'all like I mean if that was my goal then what would it stop me from trying to become that but that my goals. That's what I was trying to explain to people. And like, no, I don't know if I would have.

But if I would have became that, that's not what I wanted for my family is what I was saying. You know, so I just want to say thank you to all the fans, the supporters, guys like you that interviewers that want to know the story that, you know, get the truth out there because too many people who want to jump to stipulations and all kinds of stuff. And the truth, it just needs to be told. And if it wasn't for people like you and people that do these interviews, it wouldn't be possible. And I just thank everybody for the support, the continued support.

And please, just look out for my book. I really want to get it out by the end of the year. And I will be dropping quotes from my book about life. And like I said, one of my quotes is, At six years old is when I realized that I was going to live a different life than most people. And the rest of that story will be in my book for understand what I seen when I was six years old that changed my life. Powerful stuff right there from Jimmy Flick. I mean, I'll be honest.

It wasn't easy to hide my emotion in that conversation. It will go down as one of the more memorable interviews of my entire. career, no matter how long I do this for, how many fighters I interview, that one will be with me for a long, long time. And I appreciate him giving me the first interview since making that announcement. And we wish him nothing but the best, no doubt about that. As you move ahead to a man looking to get back to a welterweight title shot in the UFC, that next step to be taken will go down July 10th at UFC 264. He takes on Gilbert Doreno Burns and the NMF has some words for Jake Paul as well. Let us welcome back, Stephen Thompson.

All right, we move ahead to our next guest who got some good news recently. Not only is he back in action, but it'll also be back in the blue corner for a change. Takes on Gilbert Burns and a big one at UFC 264 on July 10th. Happy to welcome back the NMF champ, Stephen Wonderboy Thompson. How are you, sir? Feeling good, my brother and excited. As you can tell, man, I'm excited to step back out there now out to gone and, you know, put on a show for you guys once again against a top opponent this time. Let's go. There you go. Thank you for being here, as always. First off, with so much craziness going on in this division since we last spoke in January, I know you wanted the fight with Kamar Usman. Of course, he'll be fighting Jorge Mazadol for the second time in less than two

weeks, but I assume you're quite happy with the way things turned out for you, Stephen, getting to take on the number two guy in the division, the last guy to fight for the belt. This is a good consolation prize, is it not? I agree. I agree. Yeah, it really is, man. It's just another movement forward for me. And I've kind of been saying in the same spot for the past year, a year and a half. So this jump up, fighting the number two guy, it's definitely a plus for me. So I'm excited for that.

You know, I feel like a good performance over Gilbert Burns will put me back in that, you know, next in line for that title shot. Yeah, it's interesting you say that because you're in this interesting position because for like the last year or so, you were hoping things in other fights would play out in a certain way, right? Like before the first fight between who was in Mazadol, you were clearly on Team Mazadol because he said your name as a potential first opponent had he won the title. And it sort of came down to like moving parts having to fit into the puzzle perfectly. And while you're not on like a complete clear path of the title, it's a lot clearer than it's been for a while. You're in a position where you're the biggest piece of the puzzle.

You could pretty much control your own destiny. So if you go out there and you blow the doors off on July 10th, you could get a title shot no matter what happens on April 24th. Like how does it feel kind of being in the position to control your own destiny again? It's been a bit. Yeah, man, it's been a while, man. And it does feel great, you know. Like I said before, the good win over him, you know, puts me in that spotlight again.

On one of the biggest cards of the year, the Connemagrager card versus Deso-Pourier, I'm not really sure where I'm going to be at on the card. Maybe co-main event, we'll see who else it will be on it. but it's just a prime time for me to really put on a good show and against an amazing fighter such as Gilbert Burns and another MFF man, another nice guy. But I think he's just a very well-rounded fighter, and I think that's a good, it's good for me to face off against somebody

such as him just because, you know, it prepares me for what's next. I don't know if you've been on. So just a little peek behind the curtain, ladies and gentlemen. It is Monday at noon time Eastern. So have you been on Twitter at all today, Stephen? Have you seen what's going on with Connor and Dustin and all this craziness? No, I have not seen anything yet. I mean, I haven't been on today.

And I'm really not a social media fanatic. But what's up? What's going on? So apparently, so basically it started late last night where Dustin Porier kind of took a shot of Connor McGregor for not coming through. with his donation to the Good Fight Foundation, and it's turned into tweets from his manager, and Connor has responded. And what he said was, you're ripped, call him a hillbilly. And then he said, the fight is off, by the way.

I'm going to fight someone else in the 10th. Good luck on your old contract kid. So it looks like Connor, I don't know what's happening. This is classic Connor, but now he's saying the fights off. Okay, for one, he did say he would donate his purse to Dustin Poetier, right? donation or donate it to his uh his uh you know to his cause dustin's cause i think he's got his own um i don't know what it is yeah i mean what what what basically basically what he's saying is that like Connor agreed to do it now he's like apparently like the Connor's team has like ghosted him

and getting it and Connor saying like dude we like I said how we do it we're doing our due diligence This isn't a debt. This is a donation. We're going to do it. Like we said we were, we're going to do it. And now you're saying not. So now that he's like calling Connor's character into question, Connor is not thrilled about it.

Wow. I didn't see. Did this all this happened today or was it yesterday? This is within the last hour that this Connor stops happening. So Connor's saying he's going to be face love against somebody else next, huh? I wonder who that would be. I know. What is happening right now?

Like Nate's fighting Leon? I think he's going to be. You think so? I think he's blowing smoke. I think Connor's blown smoke. I think he's going to be fighting on the 10th. He's just maybe trying to worry Dustin Porrier a little bit, I believe. Yeah, we know with Connor, by the time this interview drops, like, the whole thing they've changed.

But just there we go. This is what's happening at 12.05 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Monday afternoon. But that's what's going on now. We'll see what happens there. I'm sure we're going to react to it later. But let's kind of go back to you because, you know, one guy you had been calling out for a while, your first like true public calla was Leon Edwards and he comes back after that long layoff, supposed to fight Hamza at Shemayev, fights Bilal Mohammed, who subs in instead, and then the eye poke

and fight ends in a no contest. Like, what are you thinking is this all, is this is all happening? Like Leon's finally back, fights Bilal, then we have an eye poke in a no contest. Yeah, I mean, for me, I thought, I figured they would run it back, but and he's like, no, I'm going straight for the title, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, how do you, you don't deserve, and what Usman said about that was just right on. you have got to, you've got to, you can't get a title shot after an iPoke. You know what I'm saying?

But I thought that was just ridiculous. And everything that's going on with him is just wild. I mean, he hadn't fought in two years. Supposed to fight Chimae, and then he backs out because of COVID or something. And he fights another guy and he wins, it's a no contest, right? It was in a no contest by iPok. I thought he's winning the fight, but Bala doesn't, he doesn't get started until the later rounds anyway. So it was just, it's a mess.

It's a mess. That's the guy I really wanted to fight. And now he's fighting Nate Diaz is what I'm hearing. Yeah. What did you think about that? Called him out. Like, why? Why even call him out? You know, what is, what is so intriguing about Leon Edwards that Nate Diaz would call him out, you know? It's wild because Nate did that interview with Ariel Hawani not too long ago. And he basically said, like, I want to fight guys on a streak. I want to fight guys that are dangerous. And if you, if you actually, like the fight came out of nowhere. Like, I was completely surprised, as was everybody else, around the world. But if you actually listen to that interview, it kind of makes sense as of what Nate wants. But like when you found out that this was happening, they're fighting in a five-round

co-made event on May 15th. Like, what did you think of that? I was a little upset because I wanted that fight. I was calling out Nate too. I just want to find everybody. Give me, give me, just give me, gunganoo. Come on, guys. I mean, let's, let's cut to the chase. I'm going to fight for the heavyweight title. Give me nangano. I'm kidding. I would never want to fight that, man. But yeah, I was calling to everybody. And for some reason, I could just never get the fight I wanted until now. I was hoping somebody would take it and Gilbert Burns just, he did it, man. I'm just glad that somebody took the fight. A very, very nice individual himself and Gilbert Burns. But you have to imagine that, especially with the landscape of this division, this is going to be kind of a one-upsmanship

competition between you and Leon, like although Gilbert and Nate would certainly be in the conversation for a title shot of things fall correctly. But I know. you have your own fight to prepare for a dangerous fight with Gilbert Burns, but is it almost better for you that Leon and Nate fight before you do? Like you get to see sort of that benchmark be set that you have to kind of clear? Yeah. I mean, anytime some of these guys that are ranked above me and that are on that level guys that I would like to fight are fighting before me, that's just a bonus. It's a way for me to kind of sit back and see what these guys, what kind of improvement these guys have made. I know Nate Diaz has been out, but he's a lifelong martial artist.

So, you know, he's always back at the gym training. But I would like to see those changes, if any, these guys have made. What better shape are they in? You know, they've worked on the ground game, their stand-up. And that gives me an idea. And I kind of look at that, too, even though I'm preparing for somebody else, it just, it fires me up. You know, makes me want to do better. It makes me want to outperform all, you know, everybody in the division, even, you know, Leon Edwards and Nate Diaz.

So it's a bonus to be able to see these guys fight before me for sure. With Connor and Dustin supposedly headlining this card on July 10th, there may not be any need to like add a title fight or anything to this card. You and Gilbert would make a tremendous co-main event. You mentioned like you don't know where this is going to be on the card. But is there a part of you that thinks that phone's going to ring and be like, hey, Leon and Nate just did a five-round co-main event. Maybe you and Gilbert could do a five-round co-main event?

Like, what are your thoughts on that? I don't know. I would love it to be five-fives. I mean, I just got done doing a five-five on a five-and-a-half week training camp, you know? So give me 15 weeks or 14 weeks, I'm in the best shape of my freaking life. So, you know, yeah, it doesn't matter to me. It really doesn't matter. Three-fives, five-fives, that really doesn't, I really don't care because I'm going to put on the best performance that Steve Warner Boy Thompson has put on. And I say that every time. But, you know, that's just how I feel. feel about it. That's just how hard I want to change and evolve in this game and get better at,

especially my ground game. So you may see a little bit of that going into this next fight. You never know. That would be crazy. Steve Wonderboy Thompson submits Gilbert Burns. Wonderboy gets 15 takedowns and a submission in the late in the late rounds. I know, man. It's funny because it was my third fight. I was fighting. Who was that fighting? Sean Borell, and I really used my wrestling, because the end of the fight before that was Matt Brown. Everybody was saying I didn't have any wrestling. So I was out wrestling

him, and I remember after that fight, I think it was Joe Silva came up to me. It was like, Wonder Boy. Just let you know it wasn't your wrestling that got you here. And that's all I said. I was like, okay, I see where you're coming from. Let's see where you're coming from. So now I basically

use my wrestling to keep the fight standing. So you don't see a whole lot of the wrestling. Just the defense part, you know. So he's like, he's just saying, you know, you're more exciting and you're striking. So keep it there. I'm like, okay. With Gilbert's, you know, mentioning that like with Gilbert's strengths, obviously, you know, you, like you said, you fought guys with grappling pedigrees, high level jiu-jitsu practices,

but Gilbert is as good as it gets in that realm. Plus, the guys got some pop in those hands as well. So would you, would you say, I mean, I know, like, fighting for the title is a whole different ballgame, but would you say this is like the most interesting challenge of your career? in terms of who you're fighting? I wouldn't say in my career. I think he's right up there with Rory McDonald for sure. Roy McDonnell was good everywhere.

I mean, Blackball Jiu-Jitsu, very good wrestling. I think better wrestling than Gilbert Burns. And he's put people away with the striking. I think he's a phenomenal and technical striker. But, you know, Gilbert Burns is kind of right there with him, I believe. He's good everywhere, you know. So it's nothing new for me. Yeah, he's a little shorter, a little less reach.

so I have the advantage there, but he's an explosive guy. He's very explosive. He saw what he did to Tyrone Woodley, and Tyrone Woodley's got a longer reach as well. So this is what makes the fight game so fun for me is to try and figure out my opponent's weakness, is to try and outperform them and beat them at their own game and figure them out, not just before the fight,

but during the fight, you know, being able to adapt to whatever he brings, whatever he got he's gotten better at. So that's what makes this game so fun for me. So I'm really, really interested and excited about this fight. What did you think of Tyrant's fight with Vicente Lucke? Two former opponents, man, that was a crazy fight for as long as it last. At first, man, you know, everybody was talking about, you know,

Turner Woodley not being aggressive, just waiting back. But he goes out, balls to the wall the first round. And I'm like, okay, here's the old Tyrone Woodley we're seeing. And then he rocks, he rocks, he rocks Vicente Lucke. But Vicente just recovered so fast. And he ended up getting tired. I think it was a right or left hook. I don't remember.

But Tyra could, he could not recover after that. Couldn't recover. So we know, I know myself that Vicente Luque can take a shot. He can take a shot and wear it very well. But Tyran couldn't, he couldn't shake that. He couldn't shake it. So it was disappointing because, you know, I don't like to see a veteran like that go out that way, you know, with his submission because he was doing so good. But there again, Vicente Lucke is an up-and-coming guy and he's fired up and very, very good.

So hats off to Vicente Lucke. But I don't know what Tyrone's got next. I don't know where he goes from here. I don't know if should he try one more? Should he retire? I mean, four in a row, that's a lot. And the way he lost those fights, it weren't good. You know, mentally you can see it in Tyrone Woodley.

He's just he's just not all there. You know, he doesn't have that fire, that flame anymore. Yeah, it was nice to see him sort of step up to the plate and, you know, and have that come out guns blazing. Right. It just didn't work out for him. Reportedly, it was last fight on his deal. So I'm curious, just like you, to see what happens there.

But you got your own thing to worry about 14, 15 weeks. from now and you fought on a Connor card before and things are already getting bananas and it's only April. And now it looks like the heat is getting even bigger between these two guys. Are you excited to, because if you're the co-made event, press conference time, like you're probably going to be up there with those two guys. I am fired up because, you know, you know, when you fight on a card with Connor McGregor, you know, it's going to be fired. And now, you know, that, that kind of like that, the old Connor McGregor is kind of coming back a little bit. You know, nobody liked the nice Connor McGregor. You know, everybody, I don't know. I, you know, I don't know,

I was even talking about giving him my M.M.F belt, you know, before his last fight. But he ended in, he tweeted after his fight, no more Mr. Nisgar, going back to the old Connor or something like that. I'm like, okay. You know, at first, everybody was like, oh, I like this new Connor. But then after he lost it, like, no, we don't like to bring back these old Connor. You know, we need the, we need the mean Connor, you know, the BMF Connor. So I'm excited, man. This is great.

Everybody keeps asking me, how do you get on these sick cards, man? I'm like, I don't know. I don't know. but you know the UFC 205 card with that that was one of the biggest fights of all time right there being on that card with him was just amazing so um and exciting just the whole vibe around the whole fight and knowing it's a paper view so you know fans are going to be allowed in the arena i cannot wait yeah fans back man we're getting back to some semblance of uh of some normalcy stephen this is good stuff i agreed agreed and we need to should i wish you should have been like this a long time ago But it was cool to experience the no fans in there, which was pretty cool. I kind of liked it, to be honest with you.

But you just missed the old, you know, the old UFC vibe, man, that the fans being out there, the whole energy leading up, building up to the fight, the electricity in the air from all the fans and excitement. That's just, you know, you can't, I don't know, man, you can't deny that. It's just a fun time, man. It's really awesome to experience all that. You can just say yes or no. You don't have to tell me specifically, but do you know where this fight is happening?

No. Everybody keeps asking me. I have no idea. And even if we did it, I mean, we got a long time until then. Hopefully this fight even happens. 14 weeks is a long time. Anything can happen in 14 weeks. You know, normally it's like six weeks out.

I get a call from the UFC. Hey, you want to fight this guy, blah, blah, blah, blah. I've never had a fight this far out to prepare for, you know? And it's not like I'm doing a 15 or 14 week training camp, not at all. But, you know, working on things here and there. You know, I've always been training twice to three times a day on some days. So this is normal for me. But six weeks out is where that focus is really going to tighten up, you know, my technique, my cardio.

The hard sparring starts, the training starts. So getting preparing myself for that is what I'm doing at this point. You don't know like overthink anything either. Right. And or over train. And when you're, if you do a 15 or 14 week training camp, it's just prone to to injury. So you're just, you got to kind of,

of course you're excited, but you got to kind of pull back a little bit. You know, had Chris Wyman in last week. He was here for sparring. He'll be back in this week. He's got a fight coming up. I'll be cornering him in his fight again and stuff.

uh you're riah hall so i'll be there in jacksonville will you be there i will not be there that's right i was going to say what's up but uh i'm going to be there cornering him so i can't wait to see the the pack stands people in the seats there you go cornering the uh the fellow south carolinian that's right that's right unbelievable new south caroliniian now so uh he'll be back in wednesday to get some some extra training and some drilling in with me so we're excited i'm excited to have him out here. Yeah, so I'm excited for that fight. A rematch from the regional scene. He handed Uriah's

his first professional loss. And Uriah That's right. Knocking out with that Anderson Silver left hook. Yeah, your eyes been stewing on that one for about a decade now, just waiting for his opportunity. It's a good fight. He's the one back for sure. But Chris, man, he is in shape. He's down

away. He's ready to go. This is the most fired up I've ever seen this guy. So he's looking forward to it. So you got a tough fight with a a great fighter in Gilbert Burns where we are a ways away, but I don't even know, how do we get this thing done

and closer to the title fight? Like, what's the goal? What are we thinking about here? I know it's early for like predictions per se, but, you know, what are we thinking right now? You know, like I said before, you go out there and put on a great performance. You know, you go out there and knock out a guy

like Gilbert Burns or you just dominate them every round. That right there is going to get you a title shot for sure. So, I mean, they can't deny me after I go out there and beat Gilbert Burns. They can't. I mean, everybody knows they wanted that fight. I mean, before this fight was even announced, wanted me to fight for the title fights.

The fans wanted to see it. Everybody wanted to see it. And with a good win, like, you know, beating Gilbert Burns, they got to give it to him. I'm the only guy in the division at this point in the top five that Gilber, that Ouzman has not faced. And he even says himself, you know, I'm a very tough matchup, you know, hard to prepare for a kind of guy.

So I think it just makes sense. Go out there and just dominate. Dominate. do you think uzman beats mazadol again i mean on paper yes i mean of course there's something in me that would be cool to have a new just to throw things around you know a little bit more to make things more exciting it'd be cool if if mazvadal wins but i got ozman it's an interesting fight it's going down less than two weeks i mean mosvidal what he he's stuffed 12 of ozman's fight uh takedowns his last fight and i don't think he started getting taken down so he got a little

tired, got to get exhausted. So he's got a full camp in now. So you know he's in great shape. And I've fired up minds of it all is nobody to be playing around with. Let me tell you. You know this. I'm excited. He can pull anything off. I mean, you know, look what he's done in the past. Flying knee dudes, you know, TKO freaking Nate Diaz, knocked out Darren Till. The dude's an animal. So you cannot, you can't, you can't call him off. Speaking of flying knees, are you going to watch Ben Asker. versus Jake Paul on Saturday? I refuse.

I refuse. I refuse to watch that. Why? I don't know, man. It's just, it's, it is kind of cringe. I think it's kind of cringe. I mean, the YouTube people, the people who are just in it for the entertainment, which, you know, everybody's watching for the entertainment,

but as an athlete, like that shouldn't even make sense. That shouldn't even make sense to me. You know what I mean? I think it would just hurt Ben Ashken's legacy. I know. Some other guy was his brother tried to get the fight with Mayweather. I think it would just hurt their legacy. I mean, you got to hit as an athlete, I don't think it makes sense, but as an entertainment, as a fan of the game.

And me being a YouTuber as well, like, those guys are making moves, man. You know, the Paul brothers are making moves. So, I mean, hats off to those guys. But I just want to slap them. I want to slap them. I do. Like I hope that Ben Asking goes out there. I know it's boxing, but picks him up and slams him, gets disqualified,

and looks at him and says, that's real fighting. You know what I mean? You know what I'm saying? Just goes out and just, I think Ben Asking could have a chance to win, though. If he goes out there, I think Paul, Jake Paul, he's going to go out there guns blazing. And we all know Ben can take a punch. He's tough. I think he can weather the storm and just lay on him.

and mean mug him and then dirty boxing and tire him out and win the fight. That would be nuts. He'd be a hero. He'd be a hero. Winning a boxing match. Have you seen a guy hit a bag? Yeah. The Rocky videos are tremendous, though.

Oh, my gosh. That's funny. He cracks me up. What's funny was the press conference was hilarious. And where he just leaned back and touch Jake's face and Jake gave a little pitty pat to the body. I'm like, what is that? What was that? What was that?

What was that? Oh my gosh It's funny So you'll be watching Whitaker versus Gasselm I'll be watching Whitaker versus Gasolm for sure Fair enough

I think Tony My brother's over here You're going to be watching the Jake Paul fight Well now that you just said all that about There's no way I can watch it anymore So no Thompson viewing No No Thompson viewing

No Thompson We'll find out what happened on social media Oh, man. Speaking of YouTube, how is your YouTube life going? How's the podcast? You're everywhere these days. How's that all going? It's going great, man.

We had Houston Jones back. I don't know if you saw that video of me kicking him, that guy in the leg. So we did some other crazy video. He was in this weekend, so we collab with him. We got a lot of videos done with him. Stay tuned, watch it. I mean, this is going to go viral as well. What we did this past weekend.

It's going to go viral. We spent some time out Kentucky with Kentucky ballistics, shots in 50 Cal. some elephant guns. It was fun, man, it's been going great. And meeting new people, that's what's so cool

about the YouTube thing. This is something me and Tony, my brother, my brother have, you know, been talking about for the longest time and it was just like,

eh, you know, we'll just, we'll just wing it, let's do it. Let's just wing it, you know. And we didn't think it was going to be as popular

as it is. And we're all, we're at 300,000 subscribers in what, two years? Yeah, right at two years, which is crazy and still growing. And just be able to meet new people from all over the world is great.

It's great, man. We're having a great time. And, you know, the impact that we're having on people and the positivity of the channel is just awesome. It's changing people's vibes, man. It really is. So we're enjoying it. The show is just better when he's on it, isn't it?

It just is. Big shout out to Wonderboy for coming on. Big fight with Gilbert's coming up, UFC 24 in July 10th. I hope they make this the co-main event. and make it a five-round fight. They're doing it with Leon Edwards versus Nate Diaz. When you got Jorge and McGregor at the top, trilogy fight,

you don't need to add title fights or a whole bunch of craziness to it. You have a really good co-man event right there. Wonderboy versus Burns. It's a big fight. Number five versus number two. Wonderboy beats Gilbert Burns and does it impressively.

He could be the next guy to fight for the belt. Who knows? Especially, and, you know, we'll see what happens on May 15th when Leon Edwards fights Nate Diaz, but it's a huge fight. If that fight's going to go in five rounds, and these two fights are going to determine who's going to fight the winner of Usman versus Mazadol on April 24th, this one has to be five rounds.

Just go ahead and make that happen. Wonder Boys in. I'm sure Gibble Burns would be in for that. Let's make it happen. Pay these men. Give them the extra 10 minutes. I'm down for it. As we move ahead to our next guest,

we go from the NMF to the beginning of maybe the NMFR. God, NMFR. God, that's so hard to say. The nicest MFN rivalry, maybe in the UFC, in the history of the UFC. That's easier to say than NFR. God, that's so bad.

But listen, Randy Costa is going to join us. He wants to fight Adrianianas, but in the most competitively respectful reasoning possible. Like, it really was refreshing. Here he is, the Zohan, Randy Costa, on what the heck. All right, let us say hello to Randy Costa,

a fellow New Englander, living the good life in sunny Florida these days. How are you, my man? Mike, heck, what's going on, man? How you doing? I'm doing great. Happy to have you back, my man. There's a lot going on in the world of MMA these days.

You've been out there quite a bit with a fight you'd like to have, and we'll talk about that in a moment, but you were supposed to compete last month against Trevin Jones. You were forced to withdraw from that fight with an injury. seems like if people follow you on social media, you are on the other end of that now.

What happened? How are you feeling now? I'm feeling great now. So before going into the fight against journey last year, it was a few weeks before. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but it did happen. I tore a muscle in my hip.

So I was pretty fucked up and I never really got it like fixed or taken care of and obviously I'm still throwing kicks and running and doing everything that I'm not supposed to do. It caught up with me. Everything started overcompensating and like my hips are supposed to be square like this. This hip, the muscle was torn, so everything over-compensated.

So one of my legs was longer than the other. I was like way fucked up. I thought I had a slipped disc in my back. I couldn't bend, cough, shit, sneeze, nothing for like probably like three solid weeks. The initial like flare up with my back happened probably about six weeks before the fight. I rested about a week and then a rest of two weeks and then it came back about three weeks for the fight. And I figured at that point there's really no chance that I can do any

kind of training. I couldn't even stand up. I couldn't, or I can't stand up, but I couldn't walk. It was a whole process to get myself up off the ground, roll out of bed, sleep. And I've talked to a lot of other people that have had similar injuries to this. And I always thought back injury, lower back injuries were just kind of like a crock of shit. Like, oh,

dude, just rub some dirt on it, you'll be fine. But now I know. It's not a fucking game. Thankfully, it was nothing serious. I had to do PT for, or two times a week for a month and I was like, then when I come, coming back from that, I was still super careful,

like with the hard wrestling and hard grappling and hard kickbox and things like that. But as of last week or two weeks ago, I'm 100% good to go. We've been training, 100% wrestling, grappling, all those things. But we're talking about like a six week gap

of like limited training and restricted training and just, dude, it was like super fucked up. I don't ever want to have back injury like that again. Like, that really suck. Did it kind of show you that,

you know, when things flare up, It's not just, I mean, you mentioned like, especially at the back, you can't just rub dirt on it. But, you know, just kind of getting into it a little bit more and just seeing what the actual problem is so you don't have to go through this again. Dude, I could even believe it. I mean, I run a lot and, you know, I've always been a runner. So I always had, like, you know, sore knees and ankles and joints and little things like that. But like my hip was like, that was like a real fuck up.

And I like got to checked out after the fight and they told me that it's torn and that I should do this, that, the other thing. And because I guess I'm ignorant towards what actually the problem is, I didn't really give a fuck and I kind of just washed it away. And then kind of got payback for it. But honestly, dude, it might have been a blessing in disguise. I don't think I've been in this good of shape in a long time. Like, I don't even have a fucking fight lined up. I have a fight. I had a fight canceled, you know, and I'm on weight.

I'm talking like I can make weight in three days. I haven't been in this good of shape in a long time. So as shitty as it happened And I felt awful for Trevin And I'm happy that he He won got a fight And then two got another big win I'm happy that I was able to

You know, take a step back And kind of realize like the things I need to do To get back in the cage Because man, I'm too young to be having Like stupid lingering Like actual real injuries So could be a blessing in disguise Man, you know me, I'm a positive guy

It is what it is We're on to the next one We're good to go now So you can make weight in three days Big difference from where you were last year, right? When the pandemic was like just kicking off and you know you said you got up to the,

you balloon to the biggest weight of your life. We're in a much different place now, right? I couldn't make weight in fucking three months, never mind for days. I'm good now. We've turned the page. We're good to go. There you go.

I saw on social media you've been training with the fine folks over at Sanford MMA these days. A lot going on over at that gym as always, but I know Adam Borge just came home with the big win over at Bellator. How have you been enjoying your time over at Sanford MMA? Dude, I can't I can't even begin to start

They are so awesome over there Everybody's like it's so awesome And the facility is Fucking gorgeous Everything is gorgeous The coaches Everybody's so welcome Everyone's so awesome

I really You know what At Lozons back at home In Massachusetts when I was trained At Lozons Gym it's very much like a family There Sanford Sanford feels that way too Everybody's super cool

hanging out with each other On the weekends Talking and checking in with each other There's a big group chat Within the gym I can't say enough good things about that. You know, you have Henry, you have Kami, you have Greg Jones, those guys, they know what they're doing it.

I mean, the proof is in the pudding. Let me look at the names that they have there and what they have accomplished. I can't say better things about that gym and how I've been treated there. I'll be there for a long run for sure. That's good to hear. So let's talk about something that has gotten a lot of people excited over the last couple of weeks. A call out of sorts to another rising Bannamweight in Adrian Yonnas.

you were hoping to give him his wish, fight on that Houston card May 15th and his hometown. You've got to experience what it's like fighting in front of your home fans. What inspired this idea, this call-up, this Resey's versus Dr. Pepper rivalry

that we're seeing. Well, dude, it wasn't even like I went out of my way. It was like, I want that guy. It wasn't that way at all. I don't remember exactly how it happened, but someone had tweeted like, oh, Randy Kossovers, Adrian Yadas would be a good fight.

And I chimed in, I'm like, yeah, I mean, that would be a good fight too. Like, whatever. Like, I'm sure it would be. Like, whatever. He's, like, very good. And they said something, like, oh, he wants to fight May 15th. And I said, well, I don't really know how to talk shit, but I know he likes Dr. Pepper and Dr. Pepper sucks.

So you want to take that as talking shit. Like, if that's what we can, like, fight about it, I don't dislike the guy. So I'm not, like, calling shots at him. It was simply just, like, a Twitter reply that had turned like this big thing. And then, like, it started catching steam. And, like, the Schmo started talking about it. And other journalists or, or MMA journalism platforms started talking. started talking about it.

And then it was like just became this thing of it was actually really cool because it was the first time that I had seen something like people actually get behind a fight that was provoked with nothing but positivity. Like it was really fucking cool. Like people were like, wow, dude, this would be such a good fight. Like, but it was, there was no animosity. We weren't talking shit about each other. It was, if anything, we were giving compliments to each other.

And, you know, it was just really cool to see and change the. of what sometimes MMA fighters can do. I know I have never seen a fight come to fruition or at least like get back so hard of literally just positivity. There was no negativity. There was no shit talk. It was really

cool. So even if it doesn't if the fight doesn't happen like great, I'm just happy like people you know he he got to boost his stock a little bit. I got to make my name a little bit and it was just out of complete positivity. There's no nobody's talking shit about anybody. I mean his fans aren't even talking

shit about me and my people aren't talking shit about him. It's like just one big fucking party. It's really cool. We just want to see this fight happen because like, you know, like both of you guys are coming up back to back finishes and it's funny. I host a matchmaking show. Like it happens after all these events and I don't know why I didn't think of this matchup to begin with, but as soon as you like sent that tweet that caught my attention,

I was like, damn, this is a lot of fun. And you like to just like, like you said, you're not a trash talker. You just want exciting fights. You want bangers as the kids say today. It seems like this fight would try. check off like every single box you'd be looking for, right? I mean, one thousand percent, dude, 1,000 percent, it would really be

too exciting martial artists going after you, going at it, right? And the whole thing with him being from Houston or around Houston or whatever it may be. And then obviously the story about his father and, you know, I was gifted with the opportunity to fight in my hometown so early in my career. So if I can almost like help him get to it by,

you know, I want to fight. I want to be the guy that's what. fucking ow and i want all of houston to tell me i fucking suck and then i'm gonna die like that'd be fucking so cool i would love for that happening you know it's like but i don't really like the fight will be really exciting everybody knows it would be really exciting i can see why the ufc wouldn't want to put it together but i could also see why the ufc would want it to put it would want to put it together especially now that there are fans in the crowd um yeah dude i i don't really know where it's going to go with that as a realist it's not going to happen in houston texas

unless it's on like four or five days notice. The car has like fucking 25 fights on it, so that's not happening. But I mean, maybe sometime, maybe shortly thereafter. I mean, I'm sure Adrian Yannis and I are going to fight. I'm sure that's the inevitable. Maybe not this fight. Maybe not the next fight. That fight's going to happen.

Look at the trajectory of where we're going. He has a head kick knockout and a right-hand knockout in the UFC. What do I have? The same fucking thing. Both young, both exciting kids, both fun, both know how to talk. No, not talking shit, where we know how to, bring some energy. So I'm sure that fight is going to happen.

It's the inevitable. I'm not sure if it's going to happen right now. I don't think it's going to happen in Houston, but I'm ready for it. I mean, fuck, it's going to be so fun. See, here's what's interesting. Because, like, if you talk about any other division in the UFC besides maybe heavyweight,

like, you can make the argument that are like, oh, we shouldn't match these guys up because they're two prospects. They're both finishers. They're both on a run. We don't want to match these guys up. But at Bannum weight, there's, like, no other way around it, man.

Like, no matter what happens, you're going to have to go up against like another surging prospect. So why not just make this fight now? You know what I mean? Like it doesn't hurt either of your stocks. Like if you make this fight now, like you're both young. You're both rising. You're both haven't even come close to where your prime is going to be.

I feel like now would be a good time to have it. And whatever happens, you know, once you guys get up into the top 15 title contention, there's a story to run it back down the road. Let's make this story start now. Like it's already starting on Twitter. Everyone's getting excited. Let's just make the freaking fight now. I agree.

And if anything, it would, boost our stock, right? Because even the loser, whoever, I mean, I could lose, he could, whoever the loser is, it's still, it's still going to be an exciting fight. It's still going to be a fun fight. The public recognizes that we're both very skilled in what we do, and the loser wouldn't be discredited if he loses. It would be an exciting fight that could get run down at some point down the road. But as you mentioned, dude, the ban on white division is no fucking joke. I mean, outside the top 10, it's kind of a toss-up. You could have, like, the 11 guy, fight the number 26 guy

and it's still going to be a close fight. You can't really say that about every other division. The Bannamweight division is just fucking scary, dude. It is Monday at 1.40 p.m. Eastern time as you record this, a little peel back from the curtain.

And I was talking to Wonderboy, Thompson, right, is this like Connor McGregor, Dustin Porier stuff is going on. And like Wonderboy's just reacted because he's on the card. So he's like reacting to this in real time. So to hear you talk about how people are responding to this

fight between you and Adrian Yannes after seeing what's going on on Twitter between those two guys. This is a breath of fresh air, Randy. Thank you for this. Thank you on behalf of all the positive fans up there. Yeah. But I mean, fuck. I mean, at the very least, we can get some. I mean, we don't even have a fight signed or happening.

And there's no contracts or anything like that. But people are, you know, excited about our fake Twitter fight that we have going on. I don't know what's going on. I want to see you guys, like, just watch a fight together or something. Like, do something. Like, the UFC should jump on this. Put you guys both on a Twitch stream. watching a car together and just get your insights like do something yeah i mean i think there's there's

there's definitely that there's something that can be done um with whatever lead-up can happen in whatever direction i'll fight between adrian yanez and myself go whether he gets a different opponent i get a different opponent we fight each other something can be done um by bringing us together and i think i think we're both pretty positive like figures for the sport i mean we're not out here shit. We're not bashing anybody. We're playing, we're making stupid fun. He's like, uh, doing a fundraiser right now. And I, I want to like plug that and make a little shout out for that. He's like he has a little fundraiser for someone that was affected by COVID close to his circle. I don't want to butcher what's going on. So I'm just going to spit my knowledge.

Somebody that was affected. So he had everybody on the card that he fought for signed the UFC gloves and he's raffling them off. So he's just like a good whole dude and like a wholesome dude. He's a fucking savage in the cage. He's so funny. That's the kind of style fight. Well, that's the kind of style that my style compliments or we compliments each other's style. Somebody would 100% get knocked out. It would be the inevitable, right?

I mean, someone has to be asleep. I hope it's not me, but someone would have to be asleep. God, this is so friendly and inspiring, I got to say. Has there been any interest from the UFC at all? Like, has anyone reached out to you about, like, maybe dates? Like, could this happen? Like, anything? I know that definitely not on my side.

I mean, I know that myself or my management has asked for this fight. I imagine that he's done the same, given that this whole thing is extremely public. But I have no idea if there's anything further. I mean, only Sean Shelby knows Sean Shelby's agenda. We can't speculate. We've seen all these fucking crazy things in the UFC. We don't really know what's going to happen. And people like me and it.

Adriane Yane is right now, where probably on the last, on the bottom of the list of what their, you know, what their priorities are. So I don't think they're, I doubt they're in a rush to kind of get us booked or anything like that. But I mean, dude, like this, this fight, it makes sense in terms of like where the rankings are and or rankings, whatever you want to fucking call them. It makes sense of where we are in our career and, like, stylistically putting that fight together. The only reason, like I said, why I can see why it wouldn't make sense, as if they want to kind of build us a little bit more and create a bigger fight.

But you can see, on the other hand, look at the biggest fight that's going on right now is McGregor and Porri. They fought, what was that, six years ago or eight years ago, whatever it was, in the beginning of their careers, the beginning part of their careers. That's kind of the same thing that's going on right now,

and now it's going to be the biggest trilogy maybe ever, right? I mean, who knows what's going to go on. But I know if we get that contract, I mean, I'm going to sign it, and I imagine Adrian is too, and we will put together a hell of a fight. but we're not really in control of that. I mean, that's completely out of our control.

We can only ask so many times. But at this point, it's like, are we beat a dead horse or like, are we going to get anything? Is this going to happen? Like, yes or no, if not, then, like, it's fine. But I'm glad that we don't have, like, real animosity towards each other because if this fight didn't happen

and we've been only raging on Twitter about it, I mean, one of us would be flying somewhere else to fucking try to make a fight happen, right? I mean, so it's good that if it doesn't happen, we can just kind of separate and it is what it is. But, I mean, I'm ready. I mean, if it happens, great. If not, then also great.

I don't really give a fuck. I just want to fight. So all things consider, whether it's Janice, May 15th or any other day, like, you're just looking to get back as soon as possible at this point. You're in great shape. You're ready for whatever date comes along. Yeah, dude. I mean, if something falls off Jacksonville, what's that two weeks, ready for Jacksonville, literally the only thing that would have me say no is if I can't get my medical stuff fast enough.

If someone calls me on Wednesday for a fight on Saturday, that might be tough to get my medicals done. But if somebody calls me for a fight in two weeks, it's going to be a second. I'm going to start getting my medicals done now. I only need my physical and blood, and those are easy. I can go right across the street.

And I have those done. I'm on weight. I'm in shape. I've been training. Like, I have a fight. And then you can see all my social media and stuff that I'm not just sitting around eating fucking potato chips and drink a beer on the beach, right?

I'm actually like working out. I'm in shape training. I'm ready, dude. I just need. I just waiting at this. point. It's annoying, but I mean, in the UFC's defense, I just pulled out of a fight, so I can't really be the one, you know, talking shit. I'll book me, book me, book me, like they did already, and I pulled. So, I don't know, we'll see what happens. You're really as good as your last

fight at this point. My last fight isn't the journey fight anymore. It's the fight I pulled out of. So I'm on the, I'm on the low part of the UFC's priority list, but, you know, once we get booked, we get another performance and I'll be higher priority. But I'm ready for whatever, dude. I'm just going to keep doing what I have to do and see what happens. Let's talk about things you have a little bit of control over, this newly bonded friendship with Jared Gordon, who is one of our favorites on the show. He had the greatest quote in the history of the podcast last year.

When talking about friendship, he was talking about his longstanding relationship with Bilal Muhammad over the years. And, you know, we see you on Twitter. You're asking him to lunch and he knows shows. And then you guys have lunch later in the week. I mean, what is going on here? This is 90 sitcom stuff. for Randy Costco.

Well, dude, you know what's funny is there were, like, so I had just met Jared in September, so right before I had fought Journey, because he was trained at Sanford. I was training at a different gym at the time, and I had met him at DeRuse, at Phil Derues, Jim. And before I met him, I was always, like, telling, like, my girlfriend and, like, my other friends, like, hey, you have to watch this kid, Jared Gordon. He's, you know, if anything else, it's inspiring. He rock bottom came back from things that people don't even live through and let it

own, he's now making a career off fighting and spreading his message. So he was one of the people in the UFC that there's not many of them that I have, but like I really like I root for it. Like I genuinely like, hey, I hope that dude wins. Like I, I just back that guy. So now that like I meet him, you know, I'm friends with him. Now it's like, I fuck you, Jared, like kick rocks. But like, like he is like, he is a good dude and he's such an easy guy to like get behind

and root for it given his past. And the message he's trying to spread and the people he's or, or, or, he is, he's, or, he's, how he's trying to help people now and just like being a good, wholesome dude. But he's, he's, he's fucking cool, man. He's, he's a fucking idiot. We go to eat twice. We go to lunch twice a week. So every Tuesday and Thursday, we'll go to lunch.

So if he ducks me or bells on me, last week, like his mom was in town or something. So, you know, I took that right away and I just like to start talking shit about him. But yeah, he's, he's cool, man. He's the man. He's the man. Good dude. Yeah, he's a good guy. I root for him.

We text chat every so often. But, like we talked about, man, Bannamway. is on fire right now. Your fellow Bostonian Rob Font is getting a main event fight with Cody Garbrand on May 22nd. I feel like the New England MMA scene, even though you live in Florida now, but you're still, you're still New England or at heart. The scene is in as good a place as I've ever seen it. And I don't know if you agree with that or not, but what do you think of Rob getting a main

event spot against Cody, the comeback, and just the region itself getting a little bit more love these days? Well, I'll definitely speak on. on Rob and Calvin, dude, I couldn't be happier for those guys, couldn't be, I mean, for whatever it means, I couldn't be more proud of them. And everything that's done, Tyson, too, Tyson, you know, taking control of what's going on. They are, they are, too. They're just good dudes.

You know, before I made my pro debut, Rob is kind of who kickstarted me, get me to get me, you know, back in gear. I was in the open workout with him at UFC Boston when he fought Thomas Almeida. You know, they're just good people and I really couldn't be happy for. him and the, you know, Calvin obviously had a tough fight, but, I mean, it was to the goat. So, I mean, he really didn't lose stock from that. And then you have Font going up to fight Garbrand after coming off a big knockout of a Morayas, who was, you know, that was the guy at 135, and Fawn just did that to him.

I'm very happy and I'm very excited for those guys. And they fucking work, dude. They earn it. And I'm so pumped that Fon has now, you know, he's had what, at a nine-month or a 12-month layup because of his knee after the Ricky Simone fight. So it's just everything's kind of coming full circle with him and I'm so pumped for him and New England. You know, if they're repping New England, it's fucking awesome what they're doing.

But it's tough. I'm sure like over the next two years, COVID, not COVID, but New England and MMA was going to start booming even more because this COVID shit shut Massachusetts down completely and all the Northeast because it's just a different government type. Everything is still really close. So MMA scene is not even possible there. So once that clears, I'm sure things are going to start booming again. But I'm really happy and excited and proud of Fon and Calvin for what they have done and what they're doing and what they're going to continue to do.

And Fawn's up next on May 8th, and I think he's going to get the job done over Garberra. I really and truly do. I think this is that big opportunity that font needs to really put his name in the mix. And I think he's going to get it done. Can't wait for that fight. And of course, T.J. Dillishat is fighting Corey Sandhagan. So it's going to be a good darn month for the band and weight division. So I have to ask before we let you go, will you, I could see you and Jared ordering a pizza and hanging out watching Ben Asking versus Jake Paul on Saturday.

You're going to be watching that fight. Is that on your radar? I mean, you fucking have to, dude, right? You have to. Do you want to? Probably not. But like, you have to. It's an obligation as a fan of the sport. You have to watch what's going on. And fuck, dude. Like, what's going to happen? I mean, you can say Jake Paul is like this YouTuber. this, that, like, yeah, that's all very true. And Ben Ascran's that wrestler. Like, they all very true things. But like Jake Paul has shown that he can, he has power behind his punch. And Ben Aspen can't rely on his wrestling in this fight. So what, what's going to happen? You can have the fighter kid who can't use his best or the, the, the route to his winnings, to his

past winnings. He can't use that in this fight. And you have Jake Paul who's never really actually fought a real fighter. Ben Ascran's a real, I don't fuck. I have to watch it. I'm so mad about it, I'm, I'm embarrassed about it that I'm going to be watching it, but I am going to be watching it.

Did it break your heart? Did it break your heart watching Jake Paul knockout former Boston Celtic, Nate Robinson? I mean, he was always there for a brief run, right? There was a cup of coffee.

He was, yeah, it was, it was in and now. I don't fucking, I don't, what the fuck was he doing in there, dude?

I don't know. You know what I mean? Like, what's going on? No, we got the YouTube kid, selling out shows in fucking Atlanta, Georgia. Now we have a concert with, you know, going on in, like, intermission.

Like, what is going? And he's doing it right. You can talk shit about him, but I can tell you one thing. He has more money in his bank account than I do. And me. Definitely me. Probably together. Who are you picking?

Got to make a pick. I'm handing you 50 bucks right now to place on one of these guys. Or I take the 50 bucks back if you don't bet it. You bet in Ben or you're betting Jake? Jake Paul. Yeah? Yeah. Knockout?

Yeah. What happens if it gets past like the fourth round? Are you, are you starting to get nervous on your pick? Not getting nervous on my pick, but my, if I'm 100% certain that, I'm not 100% certain, but if I'm 100% certain that Jake Paul is going to knock Ben Asking out, that's before the halfway point of the match.

And the latter part of the match, I would say closer to like maybe 70%, 65%, because Ben Askman is like that he's a wet blanket, right? So, I mean, you can probably anticipate him because he's trying to hang on Jake Paul's neck as often as he can, right? So if he does that, how long, how good is Jake Paul's conditioning? Ben Asker knows what it's like to be under the lights. Ben Asker knows what it's like to, you know, have to hang on somebody and come and being a dog fight. Does Jake Paul know that? So it's just a toss-up.

But we're talking about like, you know, eight-ounce gloves or 10-ounce gloves. And Jake Paul is not like a small guy. He's a pretty big guy. I don't know, dude. It's kind of concerning. It might make the MMM community look pretty bad. Ben's dropped some guys too, though, in his past. I know he's not like the most beautiful striker.

He's not Ali. No doubt about it. But he has dropped guys before. Like, heck. Is he dropping people with a straight up stance and a one, two, down the plate? Or is he threatening takedowns for three minutes and then throwing an all right hand to drop someone? I knew I was in trouble when you used my full name, Randy. Yeah.

Come on, Mike. I think I have no idea. I have no idea. Like, I'm like my heart's going with Ben. I'm 100%. I want Ben to win. I want to see it. It'd be a great thing.

And listen, it's obvious. If this thing goes deep, that's Ben's best chance to win. But who the hell knows, man? Who knows? Like, I'm surprised this fight's even happening. This guy just had major hip surgery in September, had to retire from MMA. and now he's, and it's my fault. This fight's happening, Randy.

It's my fault. Is it? I'm taking the blame for it because right before I interviewed Ben Ascran, Jake was getting ready to fight Nate Robinson, and he mentioned Ben's name. So I interviewed Ben like three days later, and I mentioned it and wrote the article and released the video and the thing blew up,

and now they're fighting. So I'm taking the blame. I have almost like a hypothetical quote. I'm not really hypothetical, but maybe a different way to think about things. Is the UFC doing as good as it is right now because of Ben Ascran getting knocked up by Massadol? It didn't hurt.

Who stepped in to save the day when Burns had COVID? Mazel. Maspedal's win. Massadol got his stock booming from the Ben Askman fight, right? Yeah. Could he have something to do with it? I mean, was he the same plan for the UFC gods? I mean, he could be, but Ben made that fight what it was.

You know what I mean? Like Ben, Ben built that fight. Because, I mean, for a guy that went one and two in the UFC, and that one win was super controversial. I mean, that guy did big business for the UFC. He was, I mean, he cashed in. So to the UFC. For the three fights he had, he did big business for them, win or lose. Ben's whole

Ben's a UFC fighter or UFC vet with a massive asterisk next to it, right? I would agree. I would agree with that, but that's what makes his story so compelling. That's what kind of makes him who he is.

And he lives up. So if you're a dickhead, you act like a dickhead. If you're Ben Astrid, you act like Ben Astrid. He is killing it, dude. He's killing it. He trolls the trolls.

He's, too good, right? His fucking punching bag has Jake Paul's face on. I mean, you know what I mean? Like, it's too good. I knew nothing about cryptocurrency until I followed Ben Asker on Twitter. I still don't know much, but I know way more than I did a year ago. Yeah, and he's like, he's sneaky smart.

You look at me like he's just like a bonehead, right? He's just like a kid that would wear like a dunce cap. But like that's not him. He's actually like a really intelligent guy. He is. He knows. he's doing. He knows what he's doing. He's he's like, uh, I don't know, he's, he's like a Diaz brother, but just from like a different side of the country, like very business savvy, but, okay, you know,

approaches things in different ways than, than the typical fighter does. But it works out. Like, Nick Diaz doesn't fought in like seven years, but everybody still wants to see him. Like, he does like little things here and there that make you still want to see him. Yeah, and you're just active enough on social media to be alive. Just enough. Just to be alive. Yeah. No, I, I want Ben to win, but I'd be lying if I said I was confident. Not really confident. Yeah. Well, the good thing for Ben is that no matter what happens, the man's getting paid and paid a lot of money.

So he can deal. I mean, he dealt with the Mazadol loss, and he'd handle that as well as anybody on planet Earth could have handled that. I don't know how you handle losing to Jake, but I think the $100 bills will dry the tears away at the end of the day. Yeah, I don't think he's going to be upset for too long. He's going to be crying all the way to the bank, and then he's done crying. That's it. Then he can move on and hang out with his family and be good to go, man.

So you and Adrian should like Twitch watching that fight together. That'd be a blast. I'll watch it. I'll watch you guys talk some snack. Or like Instagram Live. Oh, there you go. See? Do it. Get it done. You guys can eat and be friendly. I'll have to consult with my business partner, Adrian, as he gets down. Very much enjoy when I get the chance. to catch up with a fellow New Englander, Randy Costa. I think the UFC just needs to go ahead and make this fight with Adrienneana's and do it now.

It's just too good. The build will be amazing. It'll be so respectful. I'm down for it. If for some reason they can get it on that May 15th card, like if one of these fights falls off, and I think Adrianianas tweet about this Monday night saying that he heard there's a fight off.

Let's get him in there. This is a no-brainer. Book this fight for May 15th. If you can do it, if not, book it on the same card as Fonten Garbrand. Let's do it. I'm ready for it. It's a great fight. Two up-and-comers.

Anim weights loaded. You can have to fight prospects anyways. Really good fighters. This is what 135 is all about right now. Top to bottom. It is ridiculous. So hopefully you can make that happen. I really want to see it.

But we do have one more great chat to get to with one of the big winners from Saturday nights. UFC Vegas 23 event on ABC. We're going to wrap up this portion of the program. We'll leave you with that conversation. But just a reminder. of the programming this week. Maybe not a reminder. Maybe you're hearing this for the first time.

But the A side, live chat goes down on Wednesday. We'll have the Bellator Media Day on Wednesday as well. Thursday, Jed Mishu will defend his BTL title. I don't know who he's defending it against. But when Jed's here, you know the fire's coming. He will also be our boots on the ground for the Ascran v. Paul card. So look for his coverage. Friday, we'll have our preview show for both Ascran Paul and UFC Vegas 24.

will be all over Bellator 257, the two events on Saturday. Just a lot going on. Like I said, this is a crazy week in the combat sports world. But big thank you to all of you for watching and listening to the show. Big thank you to Casey Leiden on the production. Alex Savis on the graphics this week. And as always, you know what I'm going to say. Have a heck of a week, everybody.

We leave you with my conversation with the always entertaining Julian Marquez. All right, let us say hello to one. One of the big winners from this past weekend at UFC Vegas 23, got the main card treatment on ABC and delivered at the big time finish of Sam Alvey. He heard him with strikes. Then he put him to sleep at the rear naked choke in the fight of the night. Let us say hello to the Cuban Missile Crisis himself, Julian Marquez. Julian, how are you, man?

Man, I am golden, happy, satisfied, and energetic here on this day today. I'm pumped. How are you today? I'm doing great. And you know what? I think back to the last time we spoke is right after, it was the Monday after the first fight this year. And from a personal level,

you're doing way better this time because you're not dealing with car problems, heat issues on a freezing cold day in Missouri. So you got that going for you already. That's crazy. I'm back at the same location, just hanging out. So it's way better, though. But I mean, I think you're just like calling me when I'm here at the auto shop.

I know. How about that? in all seriousness. Congratulations on the win. You took this fight on a little bit of short notice for your teammate, Zach Cummings. You made the most of this opportunity. How does this all feel from a competitive standpoint less than 48 hours later? Man, I feel amazing.

I'm on top of the world. Like I said, I'm pumped, dude. You know, I took a short notice fight. I get someone that I loved watching fight. I watched a lot growing up. It was a huge test for me. It was a huge. nerve-wracking fight for myself.

And I can't put into words how it feels to be able to compete against someone as Sam Alvey is and a veteran of the sport. I'm blessed, man. When you say nerve-wracking, is this something you typically feel for a fight or is this kind of a different situation altogether? No, no, no.

I was so nervous for him. in the back I almost felt like I was going to throw up. James kept talking to me, just knows how to talk to me. And for some reason, man, it's just so weird. But whenever I get into the octagon, whenever the lights come on, whenever camera shows up, this person inside me comes out that no one's ever seen before. And if you want to give James Krause an interview and talk to him, just solely on like my gym performance and what he sees in the gym versus what.

what he sees in the octagon. He'll explain to you there. There's two different people that, that compete in there. And he'll even testify prior to it, how nervous I was. And I have never been like that. It's just I'm fighting someone like Sam Alvey,

who I've watched since the tough series. And I've trained with him prior before he's helped me out with some, you know, just knowledge in the sport a few years back. So it was just, it had a lot of emotions going into that. that. Yeah, I actually spoke with James the day before your first fight of the year. And we talked

about how, you know, you've made a difference in the gym with your personality and how that could translate over, how you've been out for so long. So I'll have to catch up and kind of get his take on the man that actually enters the octagon and competes. And you mentioned Sam Alvey being a veteran. He's a tough, duff dog who just gets after it every time. Of course, stepping in for a teammate is good motivation. You had to have liked this matchup to go in there and have some fun. Plus, fighting on ABC, this must have been a really big deal for you, kind of maybe making, do you think the ABC thing kind of

helped with the nerves as well that maybe it extended it a little bit more? No, man, having the being on national television, having being on ABC, having being the first fight with the new Venom gear, like that had

nothing to do with it. The only thing that it was was Sam Alvey. Sam Alvey is what made me nervous for Sam Alvey prior to, to it. It was him. Again, it doesn't matter if you put me on pay-per-view. It doesn't matter if you put me on ESPN Plus, ESPN, or ABC. I'm going to show up. I'm going to make it entertaining, because that's who I am. I am an entertainer. I am a fighter. I am the most entertaining fighter. You guys see. And it's just, I'm going to show up. And I will have nerves eventually,

again, but it does not matter because the moment I step into that. oxygen, that is my home. That is where I live. That is where my heart is. And there's no one that's going to take that place away for me. You were, I guess, patiently aggressive in the fight because your shots had violent intentions behind them. But even when you had them hurt in the first round, like, you didn't rush in or do anything crazy. It was still very tactical. And it was both, like, offensive yet defensive at the same time. Like, how important was it to you to exercise that patience in that kind of a fight like you did? If you watch Sam Alvey's fights, man, it was he's always that person knows how to fight

injured. He knows how to fight tired and he knows how to fight rocked. And he's come back multiple times. So a lot of people would try to go for the kill and try to attack his head, which everyone fights him to the head. And if you watch his previous fights with Ryan Span Dungeon, they all try to, you. to knock him out. They try to wrestle him. But no one really hit his body. No one really attacked that middle section. And that was all I was trying to do is I was trying to get him

to think that I was only going to go for the body. I was trying to sit there and make him question what I was doing every ounce of the moment or every ounce of the fight. Like I wanted him to wonder what was coming. Where I was going to punch? Was it going low? Was it going high? was I even going to shoot a shot or was it going to throw a punch? Was it going to bring a kick? I wanted him to questioning and being on the tail end. And that opened up a lot of my striking and it opened up a lot of the range for me to land these devastating shots and these punches.

But when he was injured, I knew he wasn't injured because that's what he, that's where he lives at. As you watch, I dropped him to his knees in the first round and he got back up and he still was fighting. And it's like, I'm not going to sit there and try to give him any ounce of the fight. You know, he wants that brawl. He wants that exchange so he can catch it. And I mean, at the end of the round, he ended up punching me directly into the eye. Like his knuckle went in. I thought it was his finger at all honesty. He hit me and I thought it was his finger. And I thought it to myself, like, my chest got warm and my like leg started hurting. Like my ankle started hurting. I thought I

rolled my ankle and I thought he poked me in the eye and I was backing up and I thought my ankle it's funny I thought my ankle was broken so I was slamming my foot on the ground to try to see if it will pop it back in place and and then we had the like he had the exchange he came at me kicked me in the leg again I had the the roll I came underneath came up and I slapped him across the face with my knuckles and that was the end of round one I walked to the corner sitting there thinking, looking down at my ankle, I was like, oh, it's not broken. I was like, but damn, that really hurts what happened to my ankle. And the whole time James was talking to me, I was thinking to him, and I wanted to tell him, like, hey, man, what happened to my ankle?

Something really hurts in my ankle. And then after the fight, my ankle is swollen up and come to find out, he kicked me right in the ankle. And right whenever I got that punch, when he hit me in the eye, I guess it triggered something. And I started feeling it in my ankle. How's the ankle now? It hurts still. It still hurts. He can't, dude, he punched me so hard, my ankle hurt.

You know what I mean? Like, have you ever heard that before? No. I've never either. I was like, I sat there and I was like, man, like, never been hit that hard. And he hits hard, you know? Have you had it, like, checked out or anything? Is it just like a sprain?

Do you know what happened? Yeah, we're going to get everything checked out. My right hand as well and my ankle, we're getting it checked out. sometimes this week. I'm talking to the medical staff at the moment, but I don't think anything's wrong with it, but it definitely, my ankle is swollen and my foot hurts for sure. So I watched the fight on ESPN Plus because I was sitting in my computer working,

but one thing that drives me insane about ESPN Plus sometimes, Julian, when we're watching these cards, it goes to commercial in between every round pretty much during these cards, and especially when James Krauss is in the corner, I want to hear what this man is saying in these moments between rounds because I didn't see the Grant Dawson speech until after the fight on social media because I was watching on ESPN Plus and we didn't get to see it. So what did James have to say to you between the first and second rounds?

Again, he did exactly what he needed to do. I mean, if you listen and watched the fight, James literally called for everything and I did everything he said. It was like he was playing a video game. He stated, and James, is in the round was sitting there like, hey, man, you know, you got to keep that, it was a close round. I don't know if it went to you or to him, but we got to keep this volume up, keep it there. He's tired. He's slowing down. I need you to keep that front hand popping. Every time you

keep that front hand popping, your strikes are landing a lot better. When you stop doing that and you're going in to punch him, you create the brawl and you're staying there to brawl him and you're giving him an opportunity. He's like, quit that. Keep the front hand popping. When you see the strike, hit it and then get out and just keep that going. And that's pretty much a summary of our minute segment in that round. Walked off and that was everything played out. I kept the front hand popping in the second round. I saw an opportunity.

I took it. I hit it. I saw him back up and he, you know, called for a combination. I hit the sequence. I switched to South Paul and confused Sam in that process. hit him with an overhand left or a hook and dropped him and then the rest was history. Yeah, I mean, then the choke was there, no neck. I mean, no hooks, no nothing.

You choked them unconscious and I'm not a fighter. I won't be fighting on ABC ever like you did. But can you kind of take us through the finish from your perspective in the cage and why he made the decision to was just the neck was there, it was just an opening for it? Yeah. So if you watch Michael Bisbing versus GSP, GSP drops Michael Bisbing and he went down and secured a rear and a good choke and everyone was sitting there thinking like oh you know keep punching him you're going to knock him out you have the knock out this that

and the other but in my mind I was sitting there like no man that was actually super intelligent you knock him down and then you go for the choke because it's harder for them to defend they think that you're going to keep punching them but yet you secure a safe way to finish the fight and also 100% finish so in the sense when whenever I was hitting him, I realized these punches, even though they were hard, he was still battling through. And that's Sam Alvey. So when I took his back, I immediately went for the rear naked choke, a modify where I could drag him and make him lose his balance, but still have the grip and the grab. And that way, instead of having him think that I'm going to punch him and

keep waking him up, I'm just going to put him to sleep by taking his breath away. there was some criticism of referee mark smith after the fight for allowing it to go a little too long perhaps a lot of people thought the fight should have been stopped well before the choke happened i mean in the cage it is your job to go until the referee tells you to stop but i'm sure you've went back and watched it but do you feel like there should the like the criticism was warranted like should the fight have been stopped sooner you think absolutely not look this is the thing man is that he let he literally let sam go out on his shield I dropped Sam. Sam dropped into a double leg, went in there. I kept hitting Sam. I sprawled out. Sam got stretched out. I'm hitting him with rabbit punches. Sam's still pushing me back. He's driving his feet. He's pushing me back. He has one hand on my leg. I'm hitting him. Mark Smith gives him a warning, Sam. I need you to defend yourself. But Sam is still pushing and still going there. Now, Mark in the angles, if you watch the fight, Mark at the angles, didn't see certain things. that the camera would see to where if you saw me throwing the rabbit punches,

you're going to see the camera angle over my right shoulder and Mark is on my left shoulder. And on my left shoulder, you see Sam Alvey with his right arm around my left leg and he's still driving forward. So it looks like Sam's still defending. He's still doing his stuff. And then when Mark runs to the other side of my right shoulder,

He ends up seeing Sam bringing his, you know, left arm up to my leg again, bringing his left arm up to my leg again. And I ended up taking his back. And then I got the submission locked in. And it was just perfect, you know, it didn't look like he was tapping in my, in my sense. It looked like he was coming to defend the arms and try to peel the arms off. But I had it so tight that he ended up, you know, passing out. I think Mark did an exceptional job. If you watch Sam Alvey's fights previously, he has been dropped straight flat to his back.

The ref went to stop it. He gets back up. The opponents got on top of him. He fights his way back up. He's still standing. And then they go into a decision into the third round, you know, into the next rounds. Like, it was a great decision. That was a legit way to handle it.

Now, everybody else wants to see it in a different way. but I like the fact that he let Sam try his hardest and get out and go out on his shield. Because who would have known? If I would have kept punching, Sam more than likely would have got up and we would have had another round. Yeah, I'm glad I got your perspective on that. And it was a great win. And if there's one thing we've learned about you, Julian, is we never know what will happen when there's a live microphone near you. You were asked to make a call out last time.

It was the Miley Cyrus call out that. got so much attention. This time, you call out Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey of the Kansas City Chiefs to a game of pickleball or badminton to crown the pound for pound best in Kansas City. What inspired this callout of yours? Tiree Kill as well, don't leave them out. Look, this is the thing. We're all from Kansas City. We rep our city. We wear our city. We're all athletes. And this is the thing, man, like during the time of my, you know, layoff where I was recovering these guys gave me a lot of hope and showed a lot of heart winning the Super Bowl, coming back to back to the Super Bowl.

There's a lot of things they did for me that, you know, and for the city that I want to soon be doing the same to others. I want to have that same inspiration. I want to have the same drive. And the thing is, is that I love pickleball and I want to play against some of like the people why I love watching and play football. Now, I can't play them in football because they are really good at their sport. Very, very good.

I mean, like, literally the number one across the board in all categories. And, you know, I don't want to fight them because I need them for season 2022 and I need another Super Bowl. So, you know, just pickleball is a safe way to play. And I'm really good at it. And I know that they like to play the same thing here in Kansas City. We had this place called Chicken and Pickle, which is a pickle ball court, and it had amazing chicken sandwiches.

So that's, it's going down. 100%. There's going down. We're in talks. We're figuring out dates. And let's go. Yeah. And did not take long for these gentlemen to respond, all of them.

Holmes, Kelsey, Tyreek. I mean, look at you. You're getting the attention of all these heavy hitters. It just war my heart, Julian. How did you react to getting their attention so quickly? Kansas City supports Kansas City and they'll ride with Kansas City. That's the thing. Like, you know, we're the middle of the map, heart of America, get it how you live it.

And that's the thing is that I knew that they were going to respond back because we're on the same team. We represent the same city. We walk with KC. We bleed red and red, yellow and blue. Like, that's us. So I'm just pumped that they want to play. So this is definitely happening. I love it.

Like any talks of like when, like a date, how it's going to go down? Like, are we going to be able to watch this, this matchup? We're in the process of figuring everything out at this moment. You know, we still, Mahomes is injured, you know, not injured, but he just had surgery. So we have to do that. We're talking with the chiefs. I was actually texting or messaging Travis Kelsey going back and forth, but joking around. But the chiefs are in there.

Kelsey's not even in Casey right now. He's doing some stuff. So we're going to, it's going to happen. Again, I'm thinking at a month, two months maybe, but we're not rushing this. We're going to make it big. We're going to make it worth it for Kansas City. We're going to make it worth it for our city. We're going to build it up.

We're going to find the right charity to donate to. And the world will be watching again. I was thinking, like, on Sunday that you might be on to something here, Julian. And, like, I think UFC Fight Pass should jump on this kind of thing immediately. They could be onto a gold mine, the Julian Marquez experience, where you challenge all of these, you know, big athletes, celebrities to different competitions, different sports. Like, people would watch that, man, like the crossover competition series with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Like, this is, this is gold right here. We need to make this happen.

I mean, yeah, absolutely. Let's go. You know, the thing is, is that it was funny. Everybody called me a clown and an idiot after my last call out. now everybody's like, well, I think Julian might be on to something. Well, think about it. I know what I'm doing and I know I know how to market. I know how to promote myself.

I do my job and Dana loves the fact that I do my job. I don't know if he loves the fact, but I do my job better than everybody else. So like when I see these fighters that complain about the Venom deal or complain about the Reebok deal, it's like, well, if you look at their social media, they don't have sponsors themselves. so why do you think, like, why would you complain about that? Like, you don't even promote yourself. You don't even promote your fight.

I'm over here promoting my fights and promoting everything. And also doing the coolest shit like a kid would love to do. Like when I was a kid, how awesome would it be to talk to Miley Cyrus? How awesome would it be to play, you know, pickleball with, you know, football stars that you watch and you love? And it's going to keep going. I have a lot more things that will come into my head that I don't even know that I haven't even thought of. But when I win, someone's going to get called out. Everyone's going to know.

And they're all going to try to wonder what's coming up next, you know. That's one thing for sure when it comes to you. I have to, speaking of crossovers, will you be partaking in the big boxing match on Saturday between Ben Askren and Jake Paul? I don't know. I don't know if I'll watch that in all honesty. I support, you know, Ben Ascran. I just don't, like, I'm not, it's not something that I'm like going to be like,

oh, I don't take up a whole Saturday night for, like if I watch UFC fights, if I watch a bunch of stuff, I watch a bunch of stuff, I want, I like fights, man, and that's a, that's a fun fight to watch for sure, but I'm not, if someone has it on and it's there, I'm going there and watching it,

or other than that, that, man, I'm just going to do my own thing and then read about it on Twitter and now everyone says it and see the highlights. I mean, to be honest, the real winners are Ben Ascreen and Jake Paul. They're going to get paid. They're going to go out there. And whoever wins the fight, it really doesn't justify any means, you know, like if Ben wins, like it just shuts up everyone that hates Ben and it shuts up everyone that likes Jake Paul.

and if you go vice versa, it's the same thing. Like, it doesn't mean, like, one of them's getting a title. They're not, you're fighting, you're fighting a guy that's retired and that's done MMA, and you're an up-and-coming boxer. Like, you have good amateur boxing skills. I would even say that. It's a stretch, but you're not fighting boxers. You're fighting celebrities.

It's a celebrity boxing match, and it's cool, but I like boxing fights. You know, I like real fighting. like these guys that, you know, have put hours and hours and countless hours and competed against ridiculous, you know, ridiculous competition where you're just like, holy shit. Like, I would love, I'd rather go watch Crawford fight. I'd pay $200 a pay-per-view to watch Crawford fight again. E-roll Spence, let's put, if we could see Crawford and E-roll Spence, I'd spend $300 on a paper view. I just don't want to pay 20 bucks or however much it is to see Ben and him

fight. I support Ben. I like Ben and I hope Ben wins. Yeah, it's a lot more than 20 bucks, but there you go. Your Saturday night is is filled with other things. As far as you go, two and no start this year after the long layoff. It's been a another hellacious start for the glory MMA squad this year. James Krause getting that early nom for coach of the year. Or, Obviously, you've got some things you're going to get looked at medically, but if all is clear and all as well and clean bill of health, you want to keep this train rolling as soon as possible? Yeah, July, September, right around there, July, September, between July and September, I should say, would probably be the next time you'll see me in the octagon, you know, probably more towards September. Again, I cut weight four times, six months. my body is feeling it.

My body hurts, you know, like, I don't know what I hit Sam with this weekend, but my hand does not feel too great. My foot and ankle, as I stated at the beginning, it does not feel good. I can walk on it. It's not bad, but I just, I want to make sure that this keeps going. And the last thing I want to do is step into another fight and get injured. when I knew my body is, is hurting. You know, I did that with the Lesio fight.

I stepped in there and I felt something was off. And I missed weight. And then I stepped in the fight and I ripped my lad off the bone to severe surgery. And it put me out for 31 months. So when it comes down to it, I know you guys need the entertainment of Julia Marquez. I know you need that that person on the car to steal the show yet again and get all these views. but I got to do what's best for me to make sure that we keep going. And it's not like, come on, it's not like, you know,

September's that long away. Like, you guys can wait. And the moment you guys see my name on the headlines, you all are going to freak out, probably be a co-main event spot, probably against another fighter that everyone's going to be excited about, and the entertainment's on. And you guys are going to literally tune in and enjoy every bit of it.

One last thing before you let you go, now that I'm not frozen anymore, you were obviously quite active on social media on Sunday responding to everybody. You responded to me because not only did I react to the performance, but I also reacted to the venom shorts that you wore that got to show off a lot of your lower body. You were looking handsome as ever. I thought Miley would be picking up that phone immediately to give you a call, man, the way you were looking in there. But, you know, you were very active for sure.

So I'm curious, like, what, what is that day like for you going through these tweets after the fight? Like the mention, so to speak, because I assume most people were very complimentary. Some may not have been, like, what is that like for you? Man, it's kind of wild, you know, like, it's so hard to see all of that. And I try not to be on there that long because of just there's just so much to read. I didn't even know I responded to you. Like, that's how, that is literally how many times I was responding. But, like, you know, there are people that congratulated me.

I, you know, I liked their stuff. I talked to him. I responded back. But, like, at the same time, you know, there was people that I saw on there. Like, I'll even go into it. I had a thing with James Lynch, but Bloody Elbow, like, Bloody Elbow is just always writing negative reports about me. And it's almost like, it's almost just like, dude, you guys aren't reporting. you made a statement based upon zero facts.

It was all an arrogant post, and I called them out on it. And yet I said, I called them out and I said, hey, I'm not going to ever do an interview with bloody elbow based off of this. The person that stated it was like, oh, that's a little extreme,

but I'm not going to argue. It's like, no, there's no need for you to not argue. There's no argument. You literally post negative stuff about me and you don't support me. so why should I support you type of deal? So, you know, it's one of those things. Like, I'll respond to you whether you say something positive or negative,

but you do have to know that I'll call you out for, you know, being rude and being just arrogant with no factual base behind it. Like a lot of people that call me cringe, okay, call me cringe, hate what you want. But at the end of the day, like, why are you upset that I just did what exactly. you wish you could have done and call out the chiefs players and set up a pickleball tournament. Why is it that you guys have so much hate in your heart that you get on the internet to say something negative rather than say something positive? Like it sucks to see that. But it's so cool to see all the people that responded and all the positive stuff, especially the shorts. That's what you said.

The smallest shorts of Ingear. That's what it was. I remember it now. Yes, I remember it. It's true. I get my shorts cut, by the way, like that. I asked to get them cut. It was amazing.

Yeah, I just want people to see that I have beautiful legs and a magnificent beard and just a great butt. That's it. I just want people to see that. Fair enough. But listen, all in all, no matter what people say, Julian, you got two checks, three checks, actually, with the 50 Gs. So that's a pretty, pretty damn good day at the office, no matter what anybody's saying on social media. So congratulations, Julia. Well done all around from the fight to the callout. I appreciate the time as always. Enjoy the victory. We'll talk soon. And hopefully we see you doing

some pick a ball at the Chiefs sooner rather than later. Let's go. All right, Bubba. Thank you so much. I appreciate you. And put me on your show. I love it. Absolutely, man. Thank you. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.