MMA Fighting - What the Heck: Episode 71 | Gegard Mousasi, Chad Mendes, Tim Johnson, John Salter & Anthony Taylor

Episode Date: August 10, 2021

This week on What the Heck, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck starts the show with an announcement before a loaded lineup of guests. Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi (9:00) previews his title defense against John Salter this Friday in the main event of Bellator 264, talks his win over Douglas Lima, wanting to be more active, Chris Weidman's injury and clarifying some headlines, Tyron Woodley's chances against Jake Paul, and more. Tim Johnson (30:14) reacts to getting booked against Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator's Oct. 23 event in Moscow and how the fans have responded to it. Chad Mendes (46:30) discusses signing a multi-fight deal with BKFC, getting the UFC's blessing and if he's fought his final MMA fight. Anthony Taylor (1:13:35) previews his boxing match with Tommy Fury on Showtime's pay-per-view event headlined by Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley, coming out of a dark place in his life thanks to Antonio McKee, becoming one of Paul's main sparring partners, and more. Finally, John Salter (1:38:32) talks his preparation for his first world title fight against Gegard Mousasi this Friday at Bellator 264. 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, and welcome to a brand new edition of What the Heck here on MMAfighting.com. I am Mike Heck. Thank you for checking out the program. A lot going on.

A lot of guests joining me this week. We're coming off of UFC 265 this past Saturday, which emanated. from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. It was the coming out party officially for the new interim heavyweight champion, Cyril Ghan. What a performance he had against Derek Lewis in the main event of that card. He has a future date with Destiny

and his former teammate, Francis Inganu, and I, for one, am very, very intrigued and excited to see how that fight plays out. I would love to see those two fight by the end of the year. It's a really interesting matchup. And I mean, I'm all in. I'm all in. It's amazing how recency bias this sport can be.

Because Sean Al-Shadi was talking on our post-fight show, which you can check out right now on the YouTube channel or wherever you find your favorite podcast. And he said he put out a poll and 80% of people pick Cyril Ghan to beat France and Ghana right off the bat. now I don't know if Serogun wins that fight. I don't know if Francine Gunn wins. Who knows?

It's a fight. And that's a really interesting matchup. The styles make things really, really interesting. But man, 80-20. That just seems a little crazy to me at this point. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Cyril Gun is an 80-20 guy when it comes to this fight. But I don't know.

We'll see. It's a really good fight. Hopefully it does happen at the end of the year. But we talked about everything UFC 265 on our post-fight show, AK and I did our. matchmaking show, recapping things. That dropped on Sunday. That is a podcast exclusive.

So you can go listen to that. We did matchmaking for obviously gone. That was too easy. But Derek Lewis, Vicente Lucke, Tisha Torres, Song You Dong, and others. So go check that out if you want our matchmaking thoughts. But we have a big lineup on the show this week. I'll run down the lineup in a matter of moments.

But of course, let's address something right off the bat. Because as you all know, and as you all rightfully should be very excited about, things are changing a bit over here at m-a-fighting.com, beginning this Monday, August 16th, he's back, the return of Ariel Hawani, the return of the mixed martial arts hour here on MMA fighting twice a week. I am getting very, very excited for that.

But with that change, comes other changes, one of which, as you probably saw on Twitter Monday afternoon, from Jose Young's, the A-side Lerner, Live chat will have its final episode this Wednesday, wherever you've consumed that tremendous show before. That'll be a lot of fun. I will be there. Sean Al Shottie will be there.

Maybe some other special guests will join us as well. So that's Wednesday. But also, I am here to let you all know that this will be the final episode of what the heck, at least like in this iteration. And I have had a lot of fun doing this show for the last 71 episodes. and I feel like in a way, we were here to fill a gap, fill a space, and I feel like we have set the table quite nicely

for the return of Ariel and the MMA hour for the last year and a half. And now he is back. He's doing his thing twice a week. Great interviews. Doing the damn thing. And I am totally fine with that. And I'll still be doing interviews. There will be an interview show from me coming soon.

but it'll be different than what we've been doing here, a little more in-depth stuff. So I'm excited to dive in and doing something a little bit different. Obviously, I'll still be doing on to the next one, still be doing pre-and-post fight show stuff, all of that. I'll still be hosting BTL, which, by the way, a little breaking news, BTL is going to be moving to Tuesdays beginning next week. So it usually is on Thursdays.

That is moving to Tuesdays. So in a five-day stretch from this Thursday to, a week from today, you're going to get two episodes of BTL in a five-day stretch. So get excited for that. And in addition, we're going to have some news regarding some new programming on the site. A big announcement coming with what Thursdays will look like over here on M.AFighting.com. And while this show as it looks and feels now, maybe going away, a lot more stuff will be coming down the pipeline coming your way.

And it's exciting. It's very exciting stuff. So prepare yourselves, buckle up, and enjoy the ride. So real quick, thank you for coming along on the show's journey. We did some really good things for sure. I'm very proud of the show. We had a good mix of everything. We had big guests.

We had commentators. We had fighters. We had champions. And what I'm probably the most proud of is we got to shine some light on a lot of fighters who were set to break out, some up-and-comers that got a little extra boost. I feel like, you know, we got on, you know, before Kevin Holland went on that big run, he was on this show. Not the same way he's like, we're the first podcast, Kevin Holland's ever read on,

but I feel like we featured him before anybody else did. Brandon Moreno, another guy, I feel like we kind of saw the writing on the wall. And I just love interviewing Brandon anyways, but I mean, listen, I'm not, this is just what it is. Like I feel like we got to give people some extra shine, some up-and-comers to, some prospects. And that's the stuff that I'm really proud of. Like anyone can, we can get champions and get the biggest stars and all that. And I don't have that ability.

I don't have those relationships. I don't have those contacts yet. Ariel does. And I'm super excited that he does have those. But I got you what I could. I try to, you know, shine some light on the up-and-coming talent. And that's what I wanted to do with the show. show to begin with. We've got a nice eclectic mix of everything. So there you go. Thank you.

I'll just leave it at that. But let's run down the lineup. We're going to wrap, wrap things up with the damn good show. And we're going to end tonight's show. And we're going to end, and we're going to end this week show with one half of the main event for Bellator 24. This Friday night, he will challenge Gayguard Musassi for the middleweight title on Showtime. We'll speak to John Salter ahead of his first world. title opportunity. Anthony Taylor will join us. He's fought for Bellator many times. He will be taking on Tommy Fury in the boxing ring on August 29th. That card headlined, of course, by Jake Paul versus Tyron Woodley. Anthony is also a training, inspiring partner of Jake Paul. The guy has been

through a lot over the last few years. I first interviewed Anthony Taylor in 2015, the end of 2015, interviewed up a few times along the way, but things got a little dark for him, as you'll hear in the conversation, but he's come through it. He's in a great place right now, and he has a big opportunity on August 29. Some big news from last week.

Didn't expect to hear this news, but it's happening. Chad Mendez has signed with BKFC. How about that? A multi-fight deal. He's expected to make his debut October 22nd against the dreaded TBD, the former UFC featherweight title challenge

you will join us to talk about how this all came together. He's still under contract with the UFC. That is not news. He said that on Joe Rogan's podcast, but just the process of getting their blessing. Is he surprised that he got their blessing? So we'll talk about that and more. Another name that was in the news last week is Tim Johnson. We found out he won the Fador-Million-Ako sweepstakes.

He will face Fador, October 23rd at Bellator's event in Moscow, Russia. And this news did not make a lot of people happy. watch right now. Maybe you were one of those people who were not overly thrilled with this announcement, but Tim is here to join us. He has seen what you've had to say. He's got some stuff thrown his way as well, which I don't really understand because he just said yes to a huge fight. We're going to give him the opportunity to come on and give his side of the booking in around 20 or so minutes. But first, we're going to talk to the Challenger later on. Let us kick things off with the Bellator middleweight champion, the one, the only.

Gaygard Musasi. All right, let us say hello to the Belator middleweight champion of the world. Gaygard Musassi defends his title for the first time in his new rain this Friday night in the main event of Bellator 264 against John Salter at Mohegan Sun Arena. Gayguard, how are you, sir? I'm good. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. How are you enjoying this New England summer in beautiful Connecticut right now? Yeah, it's raining a little bit like Holland.

And I'm in quarantine, so I'm in my room. But it's not bad. I'm with my whole team. We laugh, we joke, so it's not that bad. Yeah, you got to have that around you, getting ready for a title fight, right? To kind of distract you from the fighting and all that? I really don't think about the fight. I just think about cutting weights, making the weights.

There's the first battle, and then it's the fight. Then I focus on the fight. So this is the first fight for you in 10 months. You're coming off that hard fought win over Douglas Lima. You've been a part of so many fight weeks that they probably all blend together at this point for you. But in terms of just getting back in the cage and fighting, how excited are you to just dust off the gloves and get back in there? Yeah, it's been a tough year for me.

This is the only thing that's a little bit normal this year. So doing what I always do, fighting. So it's actually nice. When you say it's a tough year, was it, you know, because of COVID and all of that stuff, just kind of held you back a little bit? No, personal issues, family, friends, matters, stuff like that. Okay, we'll leave it at that. But were you hoping to fight a little bit sooner, especially with everything going on?

Like, I mean, you can only take the dates you're given from the promotion, but were you hoping to bounce back a little bit quicker than this? Yeah, definitely. But they couldn't give me any fight. They didn't have fights until April. I don't want to be on the sideline for eight months. And before that, I was also on the sideline for almost a year. So I'm fighting once a year now.

That's just not a lot. So I hope to fight end of the year again after this one. Yeah, I mean, I know when we spoke before the Lima fight, you wanted to kind of bounce back quickly. But that fight was a fight a lot of people were excited about. Lima was trying to go up and get the second title. You went in there. And yeah, he had his moments down the stretch.

But for the most part, you were able to. shut him down. Was the fight what you expected it to be? Because it seemed like you were a step ahead of him for the vast majority of it. Well, I think for the first time, I took him down, I did some good ground upon. I think after that, he didn't have the feeling of winning. And then around two, three, four, five, he didn't step up. And then around five, he was trying to step up and get to do something. But then I already had won the fight. So I just took him down. I didn't have to do anything more.

If he would have brought the fight to me, then it would have been a real good fight. It's unfortunate it just, you know, it wasn't the fight that I wanted. But I got the win easily. But it wasn't, I'm not satisfied with it. Yeah, I mean, you fighters are your own worst critics anyways. But, I mean, you take solace in getting the win and becoming the champion. but overall, you weren't overly thrilled with how you performed. No, definitely not.

But it always depends on the opponent. I think with John Salter, he will have to bring the fight to me because he doesn't want to fight stand up. So it will be a lot of wrestling. But I have to work with him. I'm not going to be laying down on my back. So it's just the mentality of a fight and the style, you know. So I think this fight will definitely make sure someone's going to get finished.

Lima said after the fight that he felt the biggest downfall was, you know, obviously he got going or tried to get going a little too late in the game, but he said he showed you too much respect in the fight. Did you notice that at all? Did you feel that from him? Well, I think after I took him down, I think he felt the strength difference. And I did hurt him with punches, I think. maybe he's faced in this change,

but I think I earned respect in the first round. And after that, I think he didn't really, he was just happy fighting, not getting to a real war, let's say. Do you feel, did you watch his follow-up fight with Amosoff when he lost the title? What did you think of that? Did you think he didn't maybe learn enough from fighting you

and especially with the wrestling and everything. Because Amosov's a monster. And like once he gets a hold of you, it's really hard to stop his takedowns. Yeah, I did see his fight. Maybe also a weight cut coming out, because it was a big middleweight when I fought him. He wasn't a small.

He wasn't a Leroy McDonald. So maybe the weight cut was also difficult for him. And I think his opponent was a game's opponent, you know? Sometimes you can always say, oh, it was because of the previous fight. You always look for a reason. but I think his opponent was had a good game plan. Didn't do anything.

It just took him down, controlled him. But it's also credit to his opponent, I think. But yeah, I don't know. He will be back, I'm sure. When we spoke before that fight, you seemed to have a pretty good feeling that John Salter was going to be waiting in the wings for your first title defense,

and that's exactly what's happened here. And you were more than okay with that idea. I know you're not a guy who thinks of revenge, for him beating Castello von Stenis, but is there like at least a small part of you who wants to sort of get that one back for him, like a little piece, just like in the back of your mind? No, I really haven't thought about it like that.

I just see him being an opponent, and he's fighting for the belt. He's hungry. I see him as a challenger. Nothing more, nothing more, you know. Costello wasn't hurt in that fight. I mean, we just got taken down and controlled. It wasn't like he hurt him and now I want to revenge or something.

So this isn't personal at all. This is just, I mean, it's the fight business, right? Yeah, of course, it's a fight. He won, so it wasn't a dirty fight, anything like that. You mentioned it because it seems pretty clear what Salter's path to victory is going to try to be. He's going to try to take you down and control you on the map. same time, like you said, he's going to come after you in order to do that, which ultimately could be a very good thing for you. Like, do you see it the same way? Like, yeah, it's striker versus

grappler, but in order for him to implement his game plan, he's going to have to come play with that Musassi fire, so to speak. Well, yeah, I think also especially, it all depends how I want to fight. I want to really get the finish this time because the last two fights were not finishes. I was just too tactical. So I want to come. I want to really fight him. And he will have to bring the fight to me. So I think that's going to provide a good fight. I'm sure you've worked on your wrestling a little bit more for this camp, but 10 months between fights, you sort of had an idea where this is going to go. Did you put on a little bit of size? Like, did you have a little bit more of an intense strength program to add a little power

in preparation for this fight? Well, the strength is going to, going to be better than ever. But yeah, he will know. I think it will be surprised with the strength difference. But I didn't do any of the weight lifting. I'm a little bit heavier than the same weight cut. Everything is the same. Nothing different.

I will make the weight a little bit more difficult to lose the weight this training camp. But I'm 100% ready, you know. So if you weren't lifting weights, like what were you doing to sort of increase eating bonbons and chocolate. So you're eating that strength. You're eating that like pop-by with the spinach. I'm heavier. Also, with age, you get a little bit more heavier.

It's more difficult to lose weight than you're a little bit. In the last two years, I got older. And I didn't have many fights to be in shape constantly. So maybe got bigger naturally, you know. There you go. Look at you. See, we're a little bit older, but we're still spry at our youthful older age, right? Come on.

We're okay. I mean, look, look, you've been doing this for so long. You're not in the prediction game, so to speak, but you want to go out there and get a finish. But what kind of fight are you at least expecting here? Like, how do you see this all playing out in your mind? Well, I expect a very high-paced fight because the way I'm at least I want to fight him is once, if it takes, me down, I work constantly to get up. And

in the stand-up, he's not comfortable. So he will have to work for the takedowns constantly, and that's going to drain his energy. So it's very easily the way we're going to fight him. We're going to fight high pace. So he gets tired, and he gets tired from the takedowns. A little bit like

Chris Weidman, you know. Even if he takes me down in the later rounds, the takedown won't be that explosive. It's going to be much easier to defend the takedown. It's going to be a really interesting fight, but I mean, you mentioned Chris Wyden, and I know you talked about recently what happened in his last fight. You two certainly have not been the best of friends over the years, but, uh, I don't have anything against White Man. I know.

It's not personal. But you said, you said that, uh, you thought he should retire after what happened, but it doesn't seem like that that should be on his to do list. He has another surgery coming up. That was just a horrible, nasty injury. Why do you feel that, that he should retire? Well, it's not up to People ask me in my opinion It's not like I go on

On media and say you should retire But if they ask me, I say if it was me And if I had 29-inch surgeries, I would say this is not good. And especially if you get knocked out like two, four times in a row And then you break your leg in a bad way Where it's going to take a year to come

At this age, he's a little bit older than me I think, 37 maybe. And then he's going to come back at 38, 39. It's difficult to come back. And then how long are you going to continue? You're at 38, 39, you're over your peak. You know what I mean? It's not like you're going to get better,

especially coming losses, losses, losses. It's, you know, that's my opinion. I wouldn't continue. If I had a serious injury like that, I would right away stop it fighting. Okay. At this age, at this age, I would retire. All right. So just to clarify for everybody out there, because I'm sure people are going to be asking you about this all week.

Gayguard Busasi is not saying Chris Wyden should retire. He's saying if it were him, he would retire. Yeah, yeah. All right. So let's get that out there. Don't be asking Gayguard about this because. Yeah. No, no. Did you see the injury, though? Did you see him break his leg? What did you think of it? Yeah, it's not nice to see a fight like that. You don't wish that on anybody. But, you know, that's the fighting, you know, you go in there. When I was younger, I would go in. I would never think about injuries and whatever because, you know, everything was going well. But if you have many fights and you get injured and you have setbacks and whatever,

and then when you have to fight that, you take those experiences into the fight. So it's a little bit more difficult, let's say. And I think for him also, if he had an injury like that, it all will be a trauma. Even if he comes back, it will always be in his back and he's in mind. Oh, I can get injured. Something bad can happen to me. So that's why I'm saying at this age, it's more difficult. I don't say it cannot be done, but it's, you know, yeah.

Fair enough. We will move on a few more questions. It seems, at least in his team's eyes, because I talked to a few of them a couple weeks ago. Austin Vanderford is next in line. after beating Fabian Edwards. Like, I know you're not looking past Friday, of course, but does that fight excite you trying to take that undefeated record, like another really good wrestler and ground guy?

Does that one excite you at this point? He's a tough opponent. I had difficulty even to get John Salter because Belto wants to put me against big names, you know. I don't blame anybody. I just fight the number one contenders. Whoever it is, I would fight him. but as name recognition, Bellator is hesitant

putting those fights. You know what I mean? They rather see me against Joe Romero, let's say, even if he's on a losing streak because he has a bigger name. So as a promotion, I understand that. So it's not up to me. What's his name? Austin Vanderford.

Yes. I think he's a phenomenal fight. fighter is a and if the bellator gives it, I would love to get the fight. Okay, so since we're in the business of clarifying things, I want you to clarify one other thing for me because I watched, I did watch a recent interview you did and correct me if I'm wrong here, but I thought you said that the promotions plans were, and this is if everything falls into place perfectly. Yeah.

You beat John, maybe beat Austin, get a couple defenses in. is the plan to have you face the winner of the light heavyweight Grand Prix? Did I hear that right? Yeah, 100% of the fight eventually. So whoever the winner is, that's the fight we're going to do. All right. Going back to the fight schedule you've had recently, like one fight in 2020, one fight on the books for 2021. You know, like you said, you want to be more active.

And with the world being what it is, obviously it's a little bit tougher these days. Does that affect your motivation at all? Like I know we've discussed like how much longer you want to do this, but does the lack of activity, does it sort of open that door to turning the page? Does it open it a little bit wider for you? Well, you know, I'm not getting younger. So, and with injuries I have to consider that.

I want to be stay busy when I'm healthy. One injury is going to set me back another six months, maybe sometimes a year, you know? So when my body is healthy, I want to fight as regular as possible. But if I fight once a year, I'm aging and no fighting. So eventually it's not like I can make 10 fights. Let's say if I fight once a year, eventually I will retire with four fights after four fights I'm retired because I'm 40 maybe. So but if they give me eight, nine fights, yeah, I will retire after.

in four years, let's say, with 10-fights. It's not up to me. I just want to fight, and we're going to push for that. Yeah, and if you go up to 205, you're probably going to want to take some time to get a little bigger. Yeah, that's also a problem. Yeah, and then I have to put muscle on.

That's going to take me another six to eight months at least. It's not like, you know, you're going to get 20 pounds of muscle in a couple months. So that's another thing, you know, But I can understand why they want me to go up to, like, because, you know, also the challenge would be nice. I would welcome it. Yeah, there's some big names up there. Like, is there a certain fight up there that has kind of alluded you over the years

that you really want? Like, I mean, Newell Romero seems to be a popular name, gets brought up all the time, there's Rumble, there's some bigger names. New Yorker, I can fight him in middleweight. Why would I want to give him the advantage in, at the light headweight because he will have a lot of advantage in light headweight.

I think light weight, Anthony Johnson would be most favorable. As a big name, I would love to fight. What did you think of his last fight with a

they brought in a substitution? Yeah, I think he did well, especially being, he's still the same guy. He knocked out. Anthony Johnson is not the most he's just powerful.

He just knocked people out and that's what he did. But he got caught himself. But, you know, coming out of retirement, I think that was a good performance. He will get his written back again. You go, but look at you. You're still in your prime. You got a title defense coming up on Friday

and the main event of Belichitch, 664. You're back on Showtime, Gayguard. Some nostalgia, right? That's got to be pretty cool. Yeah, yeah, it's nice. But, you know, when I fight, I don't think it's Showtime or CBS. For me, it doesn't make difference.

You know, it's just another fight. Did you think about that at all, like back in the Strike Force days? I didn't even know it's on Showtime until this week. People mentioned your own Showtime. I was like, okay, that's nice. Oh, there you go. So that doesn't even like, you're just fighting. It doesn't matter what network it's on.

Yeah. Well, there you go, man. Well, Showtime is better because there more people and, you know, maybe opportunities for boxing, whenever, you know, it's always nice to be on a big, big network. Would you want to do that?

Maybe get into the, do a boxing fight here and there. Maybe you fight Jake Paul. Who knows? Everyone is doing it. So if they give it to me, why wouldn't I do it? Yeah, go fight Jake Paul.

Everybody else wants to fight Jake Paul. I always wanted to do the boxing, but they just, yeah, but Jake Paul has so many options. So, yeah, if they invite me and say, fight Jake Paul, why wouldn't I fight him? But I think there's 100 people in line to fight.

And you're not, you don't want to be one of those guys. Yeah, why not? 101. Now we got 101. Because he brings a lot of attention. And he does promote it well. People don't like him. But I think he's a decent boxer.

And he brings a lot of viewers. So it's entertainment. This finding business is entertainment. This is not the Olympics, where it's all first sports. And the Olympics, if you win gold, then you get 30,000. At least this is entertainment. You get paid much better. This is first entertainment and then it's sports.

So, yeah, Jake Paul is a good thing, I think. And they're doing well. See, I'm glad you said that. I agree with you. We have to take this for what it is. Like, this isn't, like, sport per se. I mean, they're boxing, but at the same time, it's a circus. It's fun.

Just enjoy it for what it is. Yes, 100%. Do you think Tyron Willie could beat him? To be honest, no. You know, Tyrone Woodley is 40. He has lost all his fight. They choose him because he's a short guy. He's not a boxer. I don't know why people think he can box.

Who said Tyrone Woodley is a boxer? He's just got power. Like, he knocks people up. He has one right hand with a small glove. So you don't think it's going to go well for him. 100% is not going to go well for him. But it's going to make money and I wish him well. I don't have anything against Tyra Woodley.

But let's be honest, they didn't choose him because he's going to, Jake Paul chose him because he thinks it's beautiful. There you go. The breakdown from Gagar Rusasi. But listen, man, thank you for the time as always. I'm very excited to see you back in there on Friday. I appreciate it. All the best to you in quarantine.

and in the fight on Friday night, my man. Yeah, nothing against Iron Woodley. I know. Don't be making headlines, people. Don't be making headlines. It's just a man's prediction. That's all it is. Always enjoy chatting with Gagar Musassi.

Always get something out of it. He's got that dry wit that's just hilarious. And it should be a pretty interesting title fight on Friday night in Angusville, Connecticut. Stylistically, man, it's interesting. And we'll hear from John Salter. later on to get his take on the fight and how he sees it all going down. But we're going to move ahead to our next guest.

He'll be headlining a big Bellator card himself this time in two months in Russia, whether you like it or not. Tim Johnson. All right, let us welcome in Tim Johnson, as you may have seen around a week or so ago. This man filled the spot that a lot of people in the heavyweight division were hoping to fill. He's scheduled to travel to Moscow, Russia, to fight Fedor, Emilianenko on October, Tim, first off, congratulations on getting the fight. How are you? Thanks. I appreciate that. I'm doing pretty good.

Life is getting a little more hectic by the day, I guess. I bet. It is great to have you here. A lot to discuss with you. First off, we heard a lot of names in this conversation. You were preparing to fight for an interim heavyweight title against Fador protege Valentin Baldowski when this news started to come that Fado was coming back. How did this all happen? Like, what was sort of the timeline from that fight with Badovsky for the interim title to landing this fight with Fadour in October? Ready to head to the right after the Moldowski fight, ready to head to the hospital, get stitched up.

And I called the agent right away. I'm like, hey, throw my name in the hat for Fadour. I know there's a lot of names getting thrown around. I was like, well, I don't like sit. I'm not going to like sitting around. and so yeah, just see what happens. Talking to it a little bit after that, it's like, oh, maybe there's other names or something.

I didn't really know how much it was good of a chance I had. And, yeah, you know, they called me like, hey, you know, they decided on you. And, yeah, that's kind of surprised by it. And, you know, that said, I wasn't expecting the backlash from it that I thought. Yeah, I mean, the reaction to this booking, for some, just hasn't been met with a lot of positivity.

Like, Bellator's taking a little bit of a beating online because of it, because, more because of some of the names that were thrown out there. And this is obviously no fault of your own because you were offered a fight with one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. And you said yes to an opportunity. So I wanted to sort of give you the floor to respond to these folks who may not be looking kindly on this piece of business. Yeah, I know, I found two different, two different trains of thought from people.

You know, one is people who want to. it's been a month so people got to build up these fantasy, you know, matchups in their head for a month and all that. And now when they announced it, there's some people that think that I'm either going to get smashed or whatever because, you know, they think I'm a shitty fighter or the other part is they think that Fador is going to get smashed by me. They think it's a, you should have two legends on someone going like my age, fight him.

And, you know, here's the thing. Fader had all the names in front of him as well. This isn't on Ballotaur. This is on Scott Coker. They gave him a list of names just as well. He picked me. The reason why I think he picked me is he got 25 minutes of firsthand experience. He doesn't want to,

Fader's a warrior. He's been in this forever. He doesn't want to go out there and get an easy knockout win or fight someone who's washed up. He wants to fight. And, you know, he knows that I'm going to go out there and bring a fight to him. And it's not going to be easy. And, yeah, he's come back with your shield or on your. shield type of personality.

And that's why he picked me. And did everyone hate me? I don't know what I don't tell you. I'm going to go out there and try to knock off a legend. And yeah, I'm on roster. I'm ready to fight. Everyone else's hypotheticals. Here I am.

I'm ready to go. So people have actually been giving you personally grief about this? Like on social meetings, some people have been saying stuff to you? Really? Well, no, just on, you know, just on like a, Twitter comments, you know, but I, but my name will be in their mouth when they're like saying and shit like that. Yes. I mean, it's like you can have an issue with the matchmaking if you want, but it's not your fault. Like, what are you going to do? Say no to fighting Fador. Like,

seems a little ridiculous to me. Exactly. Any, you know, Francis or Cyril, any of these guys, they had a, or no, any heavyweight at any point of their career gets a chance to fight Fador, they're going to fight him just because he is the greatest of all time. Like, you can't, you can not, not take that fight. And I'm more than happy to do it. I mean, you look at some of the names that Scott Koker had mentioned that in other names that were just sort of sprinkled in, like Junior DeSantos, Alastorovrim, Josh Bardad, who I talked to, he really wanted it. Even Jake Hager made a case for this fight. So, I mean, I know ultimately, and you, what was that face? Two fights. You want to fight, Fador? That will move on.

I mean, Fador picked you, obviously. It seems that that was the case. But like, why do you feel that you were maybe the better or the right choice over all those other guys? I mean, again, it's not your problem. You're the guy who got picked. But why do you feel like you were the better guy? I, for reasons, I think that, you know, Fador picked me because he knew that I was going to be a war. These other guys, for some reason or not, maybe, or maybe Fadour thinks I'm going to be easy win for him.

I don't know. Maybe that's why he picked me. I don't know. And I'm just going off of what, you know, some insiders, some people from that over that camp or that side of the world have kind of been telling me. And, you know, they have a lot of respect for me. They told me they like my style. They like the way I fight and the way I present myself.

And everyone who doesn't want to turn into this or tune in and watch this for some reasons of they're angry at it or whatever, that's, that's, you'd be stupid not to watch. this fight. If this is into, if this is his actual last fight, this is going to be, this is going to be Fador putting everything that he has into these rounds, into these minutes, into these seconds of this fight. He knows it will be his last one if it is. And it is going to be a war. He's not going to be, you know, he's not going to get accidentally tapped on his jaw and drop. He's going to have to be taken out of a stretcher for him that we want to come

out of this fight. And that's what I'm preparing for. I'm preparing for Fador 10 years ago, not Fador, you know, last couple, his last couple. fights. The fog, like the negativity that that has appeared since this announcement's been made. This is MMA. Things change all the time. The new cycle frequently changes. Do you feel like the closer we get to this fight, the more the fog will fade away and

nobody will have a big problem with it? Yeah, I think so. I think the main problem is, like I said, everyone had this fantasy land of things. Like, you know, people are like, oh, he'll fight, you know, Brock Lesnar. Like, where the heck did that come from? I don't know. people. It's just like, they just had this fantasy built up.

And they're like, Tim Johnson, who the fucks Tim Johnson? Well, fucking look me up. It's not my fault. You don't know who I am. I've been in the game for quite a fucking while. Do you feel like if the announcer was just like, I mean, I know you're already getting ready for a title fight, but if they just came out and said, Fador's coming back October 23rd in fighting Tim Johnson just without any of this other fantasy matchmaking, do you think, like,

no one would have cared? Like, it just would have been. They would have been like. there'd probably been like 10% out of care of the rest of it. Like, oh, okay, and we'll get to watch Fador fight, you know. So, yeah, it is. Everyone just had this fantasy built up. You know, maybe it'll be a tag team match or so I don't fucking know.

But the fact of the matter is you're getting this fight now. You are signed on to fight Fador in Moscow. Like, how fired up are you for this opportunity just for yourself, man? I'm fucking, I'm stoked about it. My friends and family, everything that I, like, you know, they always, I scratched their head, but since I've been in high school, I'm like, man, the long country I want to go see is Russia. Now I finally get to go to Russia and get to fight the greatest heavyweight of all time while I do it. I mean, it's like a kind of a dream come true.

Just kind of going back to the Moldowski fight, you know, you came up short in your bid to become an interim heavyweight champion. I'm sure you've mentally moved on from that. You got something big on the horizon, but just kind of going back to that night and that fight in particular, like how do you look back on it around a month and a half or so later? I rewatch the fight a couple times and had some friends, as coaches, rewatched, and gave Audub some biased opinion. You know, I knew it was going to be a close fight at the end of the fight. I think that nice little head butt cut where I was bleeding all over,

definitely kind of swayed some judges. But, you know, I was happy. I was super happy about performance. I'm not hanging my head about it at all. I think I surprised a lot of people that I could go 25 minutes. But no, the only thing I was really kind of disappointed was the judge who gave me, didn't even give me one around. That was the only thing I was pissed off.

I could handle the loss because I was happy with the way I fought. But I was like, wait, come on, 45, 50. What was that guy smoking? I mean, it was a hard, grueling fight for 25 minutes. And I'm curious if you felt frustrated at times because at certain points you were like, come on, dude, let's go. You wanted him to engage a little bit more. Was it a little frustrating while you were in that?

You know, I'm not a very animated person or fighter, I should say, when I get in there, I don't really kind of compose myself a little bit. And, you know, I was just feeling it. I was feeling good. I was like, that's funny. I'm tired of, we were going in circles. I was starting to get dizzy. I'm like, stop moving.

Let's sit here and throw some leather. Who knows what this crazy world is going to look like in October? I mean, obviously the plan is to do it in Moscow. You want to enemy territory. And like you said, maybe this is the very last time. that Fador competes, at least it'll be the last time he probably competes in front of his home fans. How much does that add to this equation? Like, I know you've always wanted to go to Russia, but being able to be the American and go over there and fight a Russian hero, like, you must be loving this.

No, I am. I definitely am. You know, I imagine it was probably a little bit, even a little more intense than when I went and fought in Brazil. I fought a Brazilian in Brazil, you know, that goes, Oudalay, Udalae. But, you know, I expect this to be even more intense than that. But I welcome it. It's fun. How many people in the world get the experiences in their lifetime? That's the way I always look at stuff like this. Scott Coker was asked about this during the last card in L.A.

And he said that because of COVID and everything, that he is planning on having some sort of contingency in place if for some reason this can't happen in Moscow. If that happens, like there might be a couple other locations. They might be able to hold it. Does that lose a little bit of its luster in your eyes? Does it take a little bit of sizzle out of the stake if it doesn't happen in Russia? It will a little bit.

I'm going to be just to speak frankly and honest. Yeah, I mean, that's part of the lure of this whole thing is, you know, we're fighting in Russia in Moscow, you know, and yeah, that will take, that would take some of the way, but still, it's Fador. He, you know, he brings his own, you know, his own persona with whatever he fights. It doesn't have to be in Russia. But he brings Russia with him. That's what I'll say.

I'm wondering how you're maybe factoring in like the mystique factor of Fador because I've talked to like fighters who have fought Anderson Silva and they don't think it's going to be a problem. But when they get in that cage with them and they look across and they see Anderson Silva, they're like, oh my God, I'm fighting Anderson Silva. And they kind of get lost in that for a couple of rounds. Have you thought about that all? Is Fador a guy that? I mean, obviously you know who he is, but is he a guy that you followed and just been like, man, like this guy's the man. But now you're going to stand across and fight him. Like, have you thought about how you're going to handle that?

Yeah, it's cross the head. I just'm going to treat it like, you know, hopefully everything when the door closes, that my body will take over, my brain will shut off, and I can just kind of fight. Do you have a favorite Fador moment, Fadour fight that you like to go back to and watch? Not offhand. Just the whole collection. Yeah, yeah. Getting the rabbit hole.

Yeah, I know, right? I mean, I mean, 28 straight wins. I mean, that itself is pretty amazing at heavyweight. What will beating Fador-Amalion ankle mean to you? Like, what does that do for you personally? Like, I know it does big things for your career, your legacy, to have that name on your resume, but what does that mean to you personally to be able to go into Russia, get a win over Fader? Like, what will that mean to you?

I can forever hold that. You know, I can put that feather in my hat forever, you know, 20 years down the line when people are talking about the greatest ever and all that. Like, I found him. And actually, you know what, I beat him. You know, it's something cool to be able to say. Right now you're in Minnesota. You wear many hats.

Tell the folks why you're in Minnesota right now. Actually, I just flew in the Minnesota Day. I got to go up to Camp Ripley for a week of military training. So I've got to check the, you know, out the eyes, cross the T's and make the check marks for all of our yearly, yearly tasks that we have to get done. I'll be up there playing with C4 going out to the 240 range, and just kind of doing that old Army Guard thing. There you go, man.

How often do you have to travel to take care of that business? That's once a month and two to three weeks a year. So like this one is actually condensed to five days, which is usually, it's usually two weeks in the summer. but since we were deployed to the Minneapolis for April, kind of, you know, took away from our training days. So they just kind of took away our training days and moved them all into like a little, you know, I guess, compact version of our two-week training.

What was that like being in Minnesota in April with everything going on, being deployed out there? What was that I like for you? It was interesting. I got called a few names. And yeah, no, but other than that, like I said, just a little bit ago about fighting Fador or something like that crowd, how many people get to witness that for stuff like that firsthand. I love, you know, kind of being in a situation like that.

I recognize that not everyone gets to be able to those positions, and I take it to heart. And here you are. And now you're going to go into that territory, October 23rd. Tim, I appreciate you giving your thoughts on all this. I don't think any criticism at all should be thrown your way. It's kind of ridiculous. But any parting words for the fine folks tuning in or listening to this conversation right now before you let you go. You know what?

I think I'll just reiterate that if you don't want to watch this fight for some reason because you got a chip on your shoulder about me being the opponent. I would highly recommend not doing that. You'd be stupid not to watch this fight. Like I said, Fador is going to come out and be an animal. and I'm going to try to tame it. There he is, Tim Johnson, again. If you don't like the booking, that's fine. I get it.

I understand there were lots of names, lots of carrots sort of dangled in front of us in terms of who it could be, but you can't blame him. You can't blame him. And as I said on other shows, I don't even know if you can give Bellator that much of a blame because you knew that Fador had a lot of power,

a lot of stroke. if you will, for all the old 90s attitude era pro wrestling fans. It was up to him ultimately. Fador's going to pick who he wants to fight. And it sounds like that's who he picked. So don't get mad at Tim Johnson. I mean, if you want to throw a little shade at Bellator, go ahead. I mean, they're the promotion.

But ultimately, this was Fador's choice. And he went with Tim Johnson. So there you go. And Tim shouldn't get any flack at all because any other heavyweight on planet Earth would have said yes to this opportunity. They're not going to be like, no, I'm not going to just the fans will be upset. No way. So there you go. Big opportunity. He is one of the good guys in our sport. He's a soldier on top of that, it's a vet, and he's a fighter. And it should be a fun fight. It should be a fun fight. Well, let's move ahead to the newest name on the BKFC roster. Let's welcome

in Chad Mendez. All right, big news last week. We found out via the Joe Rogan experience that Chad Mendez is back, but it's happening in BKFC, signs a multi-fight deal with the promotion. This is very exciting stuff. Happy to have Chad Money Mendez with us right now to talk all about it. Chad, good to see you, man. How are you? Yeah, thanks for having me, man. It's been good.

Just got to finish with the hard practice and jumping in the office, get some work done before workout number two. So it's great to talk to you. It's definitely been a while since I've been doing a lot of this media stuff. I have your second, the second one today. So I got to get back in the swing of this stuff for sure. Yeah, you seem very, it seemed like you haven't missed a beat, Chad. I think it's been like five or six years since we spoke. So time has fled where different places in our lives is just crazy.

But I'm not going to beat around the bush, man. The first question is an obvious one. How did this happen? You were retired from MMA. I know this is different, but still there's punches to the face. And, you know, there's a lot of the same preparation that goes into this. And a lot of people feel that the sport can be a bit more brutal than than fighting in MMA. Like, how did this all?

happen? You know, I mean, for me, when I left the UFC, I mean, there was a few reasons for me leaving. Obviously, I was still in my prime, still competing with a lot of the guys, the top guys. I mean, my loss came to Volcanovsky, who's now, you know, somebody that's just been crushing through everybody. But for me, it was, you know, we were about to have our first baby. We have a baby girl at that time. So obviously, that brings a lot. lot of different emotions and stuff into the fight game, at least for me anyways, but, you know, and for me, I just started, I mean, I launched a, like an outdoor service back in 2015, and had at that point had been dumping a ton of time and energy into growing that.

And then started a couple other businesses as well. So for me, going into that last fight, I feel like there was a lot of other things on my mind that I was, you know, dumping my time and energy into that, you know, MMA is, it's dangerous. Like, as much as I love it and I love competing, you know, if you're not 100%, you know, focused on it, you can get in there and get hurt for sure. So I just at that time, my contract, when I signed it,

what, it would have been, what, four or five years ago, was a decent contract. And it's not a good contract anymore in the UFC. And for me, it was like, look, I, you know, I'm making X amount of money. I can make that double doing stuff in the outdoor industry and doing these things with my businesses. Like, is this something I'm even like in the mood to do anymore? Is it something I love?

Like, why am I doing this? You know? And so I basically just sat down with my wife and the team and we kind of just game plan and figured that, look, I'm just basically going to hang them up. I'm going to go start these other ventures and put a lot of time and effort into growing this stuff. And, you know, who knows, if there's bigger opportunities that come down the road, I'm going to be open to it. I know I'm still able to compete with the best in the world.

It's not, that was never any issue of, of me leaving. It just, I just at that time felt like it wasn't right for me anymore. And, you know, getting in the last, I don't know, year, just getting back into the gym a little bit here and there and really picking up the training over the last couple months, I've just really gotten that itch to compete. And, you know, I'd say over the last. It's probably been a little less than a year. I know on Rogan's, I said it was probably the last year,

but a little less than a year. But we've been kind of going back and forth to these guys talking numbers, you know. And when the right numbers get thrown out, it's pretty hard to, especially when you have that itch, to say no to it. And we ended up figuring out a price that worked for me, it worked for them. I get to basically get in there and compete in a sport that I've always wanted to try. You know, boxing has always been something I've been interested in. You know, obviously being a wrestler in my whole life, when I made the transition into

MMA, boxing was like my favorite thing out of everything that I got to train. It was like that new thing. I took to it really well. I think being explosive and powerful and basically my body style, it just worked well for me. I was able to figure out the techniques that worked great for me. And so wrestling and boxing when I was in the UFC were basically like the heart of my style. you know it was late in my career that I finally got confident enough to really start throwing my hands and when we got that stuff out, I felt like, you know, my fight game completely changed.

I was going out there and knocking guys out and, you know, I had an complete stand-up war with Jose Aldo, fight of the year, you know, and so, you know, I feel like even my fight with Connor, I was, you know, getting some great shots in on the feet and, you know, I just felt good with my striking. You know, and so for me, it was like, look, this deal makes sense. I'm still in my prime. You know, obviously my baby girl is older now. We have the whole baby situation figured out. We have our second one coming now. But, you know, it was just a big scary thing at that time, you know, and so I feel like we are confident as parents now. And I feel like it's a time where I can get back in there and compete while I still have the opportunity. You know, I'm 36 years old.

I turned 36 in May, probably maybe have two years, maybe three years before. I'm probably going to be like, look, dude, that's probably enough for me. But like I said, this opportunity came up. You know, I'm training. I feel good. So why not get in there? And to bring up the point of it being brutal, I just talked about this in the last interview.

It's, I mean, think about when the UFC was first growing. Like, everyone looked at it like it was so barbaric. Like my manager is telling me, like, Back in the day, we could not get any company to sponsor any fighters. They're just like, oh, no, we cannot be a part of that. That is just too barbaric. Like, we can't be associated with it. Now it's like everybody wants to be a part of it.

And I think we're probably moving in that direction. But, I mean, really, I personally think MMA is way more dangerous than bare knuckle. I mean, I got someone throwing head kicks and cracking basically a baseball bat against my head. I got big knees. I got elbows, you know, wrestling. people trying to rip limbs off and tear tendons and ligaments. And, you know, I think the room for error is definitely a lot bigger in the MMA side. Yeah, I think you're going to get cut a lot more with bare knuckle just because it's sharper surfaces.

But the concussion is not going to be any different. If you take an MMA glove and look at it, you got about a half an inch of padding. So I'm basically taking a half inch, maybe even less off of your knuckle. So it's not like it's going to change much of the concussion to the head, you know. but all and on, that was kind of my arguing point with wife anyways, because she's not, you know, she definitely doesn't want me getting back in there and getting hurt, which is understandable. But for me, this is, you know, it's always been a passion of mine. It's been something I absolutely love to do and that's competing.

And like I said, I feel like I'm still in my prime, so I need to jump on this while I came. So did you approach them? Did they approach you? Like, how did the conversations actually start? they well I guess originally they probably I think is they reached out to your eye I think is where it originally started and then talking to my managers and stuff kind of going back and forth is how it started so they they originally reached out um you know and the original numbers back then it just wasn't something that that enticed me enough to want to leave what I'm doing business wise and

take that chance you know and so It's like I said, it almost took about a year before we finally figured things out. But I feel good with where we're at. I feel, you know, this is bigger than any UFC contract I've ever signed. And it makes me feel good and motivates me to train hard. You know, I have this very awesome end game at the end of this fight contract. And it's like, I can take that and do so many things with my family, you know, and grow things and help my businesses.

and, you know, I just feel good about it. And like I said, I feel good in training. So it's like I don't feel like I have to like talk myself to get in there. It's like I'm excited to do it and I'm feeling good. So why not? I mean, there's so much to unpack. But I guess like, I guess the premise of all this is that the itch was never gone. Like the itch compete never left you.

It was just it's, it was more about the family. It was more about it's got to be right for you. It's got to be worth it. It's got to be worth your time. Like you realized what your value was and you weren't going to take anything less. Is that sort of the way you looked at it as well? Basically, I mean, I think I wouldn't say the itch was gone, but the passion for it was kind of dulled a bit towards the end right there.

You know, I just, like I said, I was growing the different businesses and I was getting ready to have the baby. So there were so many other things that were pulling my attention away from the fight game and that excitement for it just from doing it for so long, I think, was doling, you know? And without that, without that excitement to want to get in there and train, to want to get in there and get better, to want to get in there and get punched in the face, it's a tough sport, man. It's a tough road to fight through that and do it. So, you know, and I always told myself I would fight even when I signed in college with my management team. And my goal was I'm going to fight until about 35.

I'm going to reassess my life and see what things look like. and if it's something that makes sense to keep going, I'll keep going. If there's another avenue, I'm going to go do something else. And at that time, which I was 35, it just didn't in my mind make sense anymore. And like I said, everything was dulled, the excitement wise. So I took that of the road. But it's crazy how everything kind of just goes full circle and we're right back here. So we'll see.

Yeah, man. It is. I mean, especially like when you're that young to have the sort of presence of mind to to set a number at 35, we're going to sit down and reassess this. A lot of people might do that, but then like a year later, it's gone. Like they're so busy with everything else. So did you have that like written down? Was that something that you had to sort of work with the entire time that was always

in the back of your mind, like 35, we're going to sit down and figure this thing out? I think what reminded me all the time and especially the reason why I even said that at such a young age was I had so many friends and family members that were like, come on, dude, you just graduated college. like you have a college degree, what are you doing? And it's like, look, I've competed. I started wrestling when I was five years old. Never took a year off from five all the way up through college.

And it's like, what am I going to do? Like, I don't want to go sit in an office if I don't have to. Like, if I can continue to compete and make money, you know, it's like I could have tried for the Olympics, but, you know, you don't make much money in the Olympics. And it's like if I have this opportunity to get in there and compete and make money and start growing financially. like why wouldn't I do that? So I think it was those people that were kind of always like,

well, I don't know, just be safe. And so that's kind of where I was like, all right, well, let's just set this boundary. Like when I get to about 35, let's reassess. And that way I'm not doing it into my 40s. And there, you know, obviously everybody's worried about brain damage, which I am too. That's always something that I've paid attention to. I lost a good buddy to see TE a few years ago. And, you know, even retiring, that was something that weighed heavy on my mind, like, why am I doing this? Like, is this something that, am I being selfish, basically,

because I want to keep competing? I'm making money, but I could probably make money the same amount or more doing something else that I'm not damaging my head for, you know, or, you know, am I just being selfish?

Just kind of what I thought. Almost felt guilty, if you know what I mean. But, you know, it just, like I said, it didn't make sense at that time. And so we, like I said, took the different road. We grew the businesses. I feel,

very confident with what we have going over the last few years and how we've grown these things. And for me, it's really just me living my dream, which is freaking phenomenal. But I think comes full circle with grinding my whole life and going through the wrestling and then jumping into the UFC and building the brand and pushing through those awful days of training when everything hurts from head to toe. And I think that all just kind of came full circle. But we took that out of the road. And like I said, it led us right back to where we are now.

So who knows, maybe this is what I'm supposed to do and where I'm supposed to be. There you go. I mean, I have a child. I have a wife. So I understand that maybe there's some trepidation on her parts to, you know, not just coming back, but coming back into something that's, you know, compared to the UFC. I know bare and uncle boxing has been around for centuries. But in terms of being in the mainstream or for a lot of eyes to see, like you said,

like it looks worse than it probably is. So how long did it take for you to actually get the blessing from the wife and get the go-ahead? I wouldn't say I'd necessarily have the blessing still, but, you know, we've kind of talked it through. And I think just kind of explaining this stuff to her, you know, like honestly, like I probably have more of a chance getting injured in MMA than boxing, you know. And I think laying all that stuff out, it kind of opened her eyes a bit. But yeah, I mean, she just loves me. I understand it. She doesn't want me going out there getting hurt if we can be successful.

doing other things, like do other things. But, you know, I don't want to say I'm being selfish again, but I'm kind of being selfish in the sense that I want to compete still. Like I'm not done. I'm still, like I said, still in my prime. I feel great. And this is just a huge opportunity. So it's like, you know, but I think, I think explaining everything she understood, which is great. And she's awesome and definitely supports me. And she's an amazing mom. And thankfully, because it gives me time to get to the gym and do all the work stuff in between that I need to do. So cool. Not easy to find in the sport. No. So, I mean, one of the storylines that came out of this is, speaking of getting blessings,

is that you are still under contract with the UFC. And I assume you got said blessing from the UFC to go ahead and do this. Is that accurate? Was there any blowback from them at all? I did. I did. And it's actually really cool. I mean, they technically could have just said, you're not going anywhere. Like, if you're not fighting here, you're not fighting. But, you know, I've always had a great relationship with UFC and I think this is an awesome thing for them to just let me go and make some money. Obviously it's boxing. It's not MMA. There's no way they would have let me go fight in another MMA organization. I understand that. But still, they definitely could have just been like, no, we're not doing this. So no, it's my hat's off to them for being cool in this

situation for sure. Did you think they would? I didn't, honestly. I thought it would be a hell no. But, you know, it's pretty cool. What did you, I think about this whole thing, you going over to the bare knuckle world. What was his initial reaction to it? I think he's more excited. Yeah, I think he's more excited than I am. He was actually trying to kind of talk me into it from the beginning, but he knows that it's got to make sense.

I mean, he understands like, you know, we're doing well with these other businesses. It's not anything that isn't needed, you know? And so he was actually helping lock these deals up. So he was going back and forth a little bit. My manager is going back and forth a little bit. So, you know, I think there was a bunch of moving parts with all this. But yeah, Faber is definitely in there going about for me. So that's cool.

It's fun, man. Like I covered the last show in Tampa, the one that Paige and Rachel fought on. It was nuts. The whole car was insane, man. It's so much different going to one of those events and watching those events than watching a UFC or Belvoir events. It's like night and day. I haven't been to any live events. I've been watching them, you know, but I'm excited to go.

I might have to go just check one out in person before my fight. just to see it firsthand. But yeah, man, it's an exciting sport. Like, you know, you're starting off toe to toe, which is pretty cool, you know. They're shorter rounds or two-minute rounds. So it's like I know guys in the UFC, me being one of them with certain fighters, like you want to pace yourself, you know? You can't go balls to the wall the whole time.

A two-minute round, like, I've been doing training and hitting minutes and doing stuff for two-minute rounds. And I'm like, God, it feels like 30 seconds. after training in five, five minute rounds, you know. And so I feel like guys and girls, uh, feel that way too. And they're just letting it rip in there. So, uh, it's definitely pretty exciting for the fans to watch when there's, when there's no pacing yourself for sure. One thing that we've sort of that I've noticed and, and page is kind of one is,

is probably the best example I can use for this because the first fight that you had, and this is just me. I'm not a fighter. Maybe you, you can kind of give your take on this. The first fight you have at Britain heart, I thought, it was more like an MMA fighter going into bare knuckle boxing. The second fight with Rachel, I thought she focused a lot of time on her boxing.

Her boxing was way better than it was. Like it was much more technically sound. But I felt like there needs to be like a middle ground between the two. You know what I mean? Like do you have to sort of deal with that? Like think about that yourself. Like what's the best way to approach this? Like I can't be the wild MMA guy,

but I have to have some technique as well. Yeah. No, I agree. And I think, I agree on that. I think Paige definitely looked a lot more technical and looked a lot more like a boxer in that second fight. But, no, I think there's definitely got to be some middle ground. I think for me, I'm trying to find that, you know, going, it's definitely, I mean, even hitting myths over the last probably couple, I don't know, five, six years in my MMA career, we focused a lot on just boxing. I didn't, I mean, let's be honest, I got short legs.

I'm not flexible at all. A head kick for me was something that was extremely rare. So I didn't work at a ton. I mean, when Dwayne was there, we did did a bit. But, you know, I focused a lot on late kicks and basically boxing, you know. And so I definitely, you know, for me, at least I'm excited to really hone all my energy and just efforts to that one discipline, the boxing, just focus everything. And to me, like, I'd say we've been doing that for probably the last two months now. And from the first time we really started to now, I feel night and day.

Like my boxing, I feel like has gotten so much better, which, you know, in MMA, it's like, you got three practices a day. You got a full pro practice in the morning, which is all of MMA. Then you go and do something, strength and conditioning. Then you got to try to get a wrestling or a jiu-jitsu practice in in the evening. you know, and there's just like so many different disciplines that you have to try to fit in. I almost feel like it waters everything out and dilutes everything. Like being able to just focus on one thing like my wrestling career,

you're just grinding on wrestling every single day. Like I make leaps and bounds and I feel like I get so much better in such a short amount of time. So yeah, all in all, I think I think I'm finding that middle ground of the MMA fighter and the boxer. We'll see. We'll see when I get in there again. guess. So it sounds to me like you're very content with what's happening right now. Like you're, you're you like doing the one discipline, makes life a little bit easier, but it's still very, very challenging and very fun. You're, you're trying to hone this whole thing. Are you able to

say that you've had your last MMA fight? I mean, maybe. I mean, here's the thing. Like, I'm still under UFC contract. I think I still have three fights or four fights on that contract. And the last interview was asking this, like, would I ever come back to the UFC? And I can't say no. but like, of course, like if the money, obviously for what my contract is right now, hell no, not a chance at hell. But if we were to talk and numbers made sense and we could get something that does make sense, I would think about it, you know, it was definitely something that I'm not done with, but I just don't know if that's ever going to happen.

So, you know, we'll see. But you'd be fine with not fighting in the UFC again. Yeah. I mean, it was fun, but it's not like it's. something I'm like missing extremely bad right now you know it would have to be opportunistic more than anything yeah especially because I have other avenues now that they will eat up that that itch to compete like this like this is cool you know or you know I was even doing some jiu jitsu tournaments and making some money doing that obviously not a lot of money but some money just kind of fitting those in here

in there, which is fun, you know, very low stress. I can, you know, train pretty, you know, basically just fit stuff in my work schedule and then just make it work. But yeah, we'll see. Like I said, it's got to make sense for sure. So the debut for you October 22nd, right? That's the plan. Yep.

Do you know what? Chandler, it was Chandler, Arizona. I think it's where it's going to be. Yep, just outside of Phoenix. Do you know what, like weight-wise, where you're going to be fighting at, like around what weight? I know the weight class are a little different BKFC, but do you know, like, what you plan to walk around at? I think, so basically what we talked about with bare knuckle is going 155s,

mainly because their 45, uh, opponent selection is pretty slim. There's not a lot of guys that fight at 45s, I guess. Um, so they're like, look, you're going to have a lot more opportunities for fights at 55s,

which I'm fine with. I mean, I'm walking around like 170, 175 with a full belly. Um, so it's making, 45s wouldn't be super fun. But yeah, I think 155s probably. Is there an opponent yet? I mean, you don't have to tell me who it is, but do you know, honestly there isn't. I'm still waiting, man. I'm like, come on, guys. I want to give me a name so I can start doing some research and like

start game planning and putting some stuff together. But I'm hoping they said probably anytime soon. They're just trying to find, find someone. So, okay. So it's not just like they've, they haven't thrown any names at you at you at nothing at all nothing at all so fingers crossed that comes back soon i don't know like i know you watch the events are there any names that you want like maybe not for this first one but you're like it's not and it's not trash dog and this is like you're a competitive guy like you want to go in there and fight good guys and challenge yourself maybe there's someone on a nice little run right now some that sticks out to you that you want to get in there with like is that something you thought about it all or you just kind of just waiting for this first one to go before we start looking down yeah honestly i have

and I want to get in there, get my feet wet. I want to see what, I mean, I've never competed in a boxing fight before, you know, like I don't think it's going to be like super crazy different than an MMA fight, but it might be, you know, who knows? Maybe this is something I'm just like, what the hell am I doing, you know, and, you know, we'll see. But there isn't any particular names. I know Palomino has the belt.

Good John. I know some of these guys, obviously I've been watching them fight at 55s. Those are all tough guys. I'm sure those guys are people that I'm probably going to end up getting in there with. If everything goes smooth, you know. So, yeah, we'll see. But no, I don't, there's not like one specific dude that I'm like, I have to get in there and fight this dude. You know, I'm sure I'll be making a little belt run.

But, you know, let's get in there and get a win first before we say anything. Well said. Speaking of 1-45ers, which you were not in the UFC right now, Josh Emmett has been trying to get back in there. He's, he had a slew of injuries after the burgos fight. And he told me a few months ago, and I spoke with him that he had a setback and it sort of delayed things even more. And his hope was that maybe November, December, he gets back in there. He wants to try to get him before the end of the year. Like, how's he doing these days? Like, I saw, you know, a couple posts recently on social media, you guys training together. Do you still see him a lot? How's he doing

right now? Actually, I was just finished up doing my midwork with my coach. And then he was coming in to work with them right after. So I got to see him a little bit. But he's, he's moving along nice. man, he's, you know, starting to get back in good shape. He's, you know, slowly but surely, the injuries just have been plaguing him, unfortunately. I feel horrible for him, but the dude is a beast. I mean, he's getting in there and he's doing some, like, sparring now and starting to hit Mitz, picking up the pace on that stuff too and jumping in some of the MMA stuff too. So I think as as of right now, everything's right on track to come back. So fingers crossed, nothing else crazy happens for him. But, I mean, I'm excited to see him get back in there and start knocking dudes out.

Yeah, I feel like he's, he's always been a guy that like any moment that he gets, like the injuries, like you said, it just kind of slowed him down. And after that burgos fight, I think his stock was bigger than it ever was. And then once they found out what the injuries were, it actually like boosted his stock even more. But now in MMA, as you know, like the world turns very quickly. And. Oh, yeah. But people want to see him. They're excited to see him again. I feel like he's in a better spot now than he's ever been in his career. Yeah, and that's awesome to hear, man. Josh is a hard worker, super nice guy. And the guy just, you know, he definitely has probably some of the highest talent in our gym.

I mean, I'll say that guy hits harder than anybody in our gym. I do not like getting hit by that dude. But yeah, man, hopefully that stuff all plays out and he's back in there soon. Chad Monty Mendez joining us. Good for him. Get that money, son. Got the blessing from the UFC, which was shocking to him. probably more shocking to me, honestly. And my take, just hearing that conversation,

even though he didn't flat out, didn't come on and just like flat out say it, I think he's had his last time in May fight. One, I just don't think the UFC is going to let him out of the contract. Two, I just don't know if the desire is there from Chad, unless the money's there. I think money probably outweighs desire at this point. And the other reason, I don't think,

I don't think the money he feels he deserves and probably does deserve, which all fighters deserve, will be there from the UFC. So he's going to go to BKFC. He's going to make some good money. He's going to keep his businesses flourishing. Be a dad, be outdoors, train, be happy. And that's what life is all about. So good for Chad Money Mendez.

But let us shift gears to the boxing ring with the gloves, the gloved boxing, still kind of in the MMA space, as the show typically does. but Anthony Taylor, multi-time Belator vets. He's got himself at a big-time spot, August 29, in the squared circle, showtime pay-per-view, big card, big opportunity. Let's hear from right now on what the heck. All right, let us welcome Anthony Taylor to the show. He has his next fight booked, and it's going to take place in the boxing ring.

He's going to fight Tommy Fury, the brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury on August 29, the event headlined by Jake Paul versus Tyrone Woodley on Showtime pay-per-view. It has been a minute, man. How are you? I'm doing great, man. I'm doing really good. Mike, doing pretty good. So this is quite the opportunity for you, Anthony.

Being on this card with the main event that has the whole world talking right now. This is big. This is big time stuff for you. Oh, man, yeah. I mean, I've been in this position so many times inside the gym when you're sparring with age, hit the key, baby slicing, rampage. It's like the main event every time when they're going with those guys. So you and I, just to give people a little bit of a rundown when you and I were trying to move up in this crazy world that we live in, you and I did some interviews, 2015, 2016, I think 2017. It was like the mid to end 2017 that we last spoke. It was early on your pro-on-may career. And I've sort of followed along on your journey since then. And you've been through a lot, man, from everything that I had seen it. If I told you this time in 2017 that you would be in this position that you're in right now, would you have believe me?

I don't know. I was like two and five at the time of my record. God manifested so much things to happen this year. It's crazy. And I remember sort of back in that time frame, some very dark posts on social media because you and I were Facebook friends for a while, had a lot of people concerned about, you know, possible suicide.

Things are just really rough. And I mean, look, you're in your late 20s. You're trying to figure out this crazy thing called life. then things began to sort of turn around for you. Antonio McKee reaches out and it seemed like he said the right thing at the right time and things turned the corner for you. What was going on in your life at that time, if you don't mind me asking? You know, I was dealing with a lot of personal issues with family, relationship,

fighting, living situations, you know, not just one particular thing, but everything coming together was more like, fuck this. I don't want to be here no more. Like, I'm giving up. I'm a quitter. You know, and I think, you know, Antonio really helped me out because he really, like, help me. You know, and, damn, since so long, you know,

I just really had to take control of my life. You know, at the time I had to control my life. I never really had control of my life, of my career. And this was the first time I actually took control of my life, my career. How big of a presence has Antonio been in your life? Like, not just in the gym, not just because of that moment in your life. But, I mean, obviously, something has to trigger you to make these changes in your life. It seemed like Antonio was the guy to help lead you in that direction.

So, I mean, just overall, how big of a presence has that man been for you? Well, give me one second. Sure. He's been in my career since the day I started in the day. He's been like a father to me, brother to me, a mentor to me. Overall, everything to me. You know, he's the reason where I'm at with my career too. I'm not going to take all, oops.

I'm not going to take all the, you know, all the glory of this. He's the reason where I'm at. He gave me an opportunity to fight on Bell-Torre. He gave me an opportunity to express myself. He gave me an opportunity to express myself. to travel the world and see life. Antonio has done a really good job on handling my personality. He's done a really good job handling the chemistry with me and AJ and everybody in the gym.

Yeah, I mean, you still get some of that pretty boy swagger going on. There's no doubt about it. But it's definitely it's definitely toned down a little bit. Like you found like sort of a happy medium between, I guess humble guy, but the pretty boy swagger. Like you found like a sort of a happy medium between the two. Is that fair to say? At least that's what I see. Absolutely.

You know, Antonio is a joke certain self. You know, he's a very hardworking man. He's one of those guys who are in a gym with every fighter team, training, sparring, grappling with everybody. Do you remember? And the last thing about this and then we'll move on. But do you remember sort of the turning point where you felt like things are. back to normal for you? Like you'd crawled out of that hole. I mean, maybe it's just a fight you have to deal with every single day to not get back there. But do you remember when you felt

comfortable with yourself again and that like, listen, I was being, I was wrong. This life is worth living right now. I don't think any of us are actually comfortable with the way we live every day. You know, I think we're all working on getting out of our comfort zone every single day. You know, we can never truly understand who we are ourselves. you know, everybody's different. And, you know, with me, I think it starts with the foundation of who you are. How's your relationship with your parents? You know, how's your relationship with your friends?

How's your relationship with yourself? And not a lot of people is wanting to accept that or accept the truth about that. And being comfortable in those environments. or situations, you know, especially when you're a fighter. There's an eye in fighting. There's eyes, there's an eye and fight, just two eyes and fighting. The eyes mean, I is the other guy. I am fighting you, you know.

And the comfort zone of that, it takes time. You never know when. It can be like, hey, I win this fight. When two more fights, I'm a multi-manian. I'm like, kind of McGregor. Then I have to be like, okay, I'm comfortable. you know, you just never know when you're comfortable. Even though Conner's where he at,

Connor's not comfortable because look out what he's doing. That's a great point. You can never know when you're comfortable. Yeah, that's an interesting way to look at this. And we talked about Antonio now seeing what freaking AJ's been able to do. My God, becoming a world champion, defeating Patricia Pitbull and relatively short order. I mean, that was an unbelievable performance.

How did you react to that, watching that all go down? I knew it was going to happen quick. AJ's a fast starter. And he ends the fight the way he starts. He's going all out. AJ's not taking no, he's not taking no showcuts. AJ takes the hard way around things.

Look where he's at. He's a champion, multi-time millionaire. Taking no damage and no fights. You know, he's in a good position. I mean, look at him, but look at you right now. You've come back.

You've won five fights in a row. You're about to be on this big card at the end of the month. You're out in Puerto Rico freaking training with George St. Pierre and John Danaher. I mean, this is quite the change from where you were a few years ago, isn't it? Isn't it kind of like surreal to think about?

Man, it was like, man, I'm thinking like, well, I'm with the goat. Like George and John, you know, I'm in Puerto Rico or Jake Paul, you know, and every other fighter out there. Like, man, like, you know, I'm a cool. I'm the coolest MMA fighter right now. Like, that's what I'm thinking. I'm the coolest enemy fighter. You know, Jake Paul is a top 10 guy that everybody talks about boxing.

I'm going to be, after this fight, I'm going to be a top 10 MMA fighter that everybody's talking about an MMA. Everybody's going to be, I'm going to be trending on social media on Twitter watch. All right. So for those, you mentioned it, for those who follow you on social media, you and Jake Paul have been apparently traveling the world together. You're getting the rounds in. You've been doing it for a little while.

when did you first meet Jake Paul? Like, how did this relationship begin? Well, it was funny because I was talking crap about him on Twitter. And as coach BJ Floress, and they're like, hey, if you want to fight Jake Paul, why don't you come down to Miami to spar? I'm like, sure, win, just jokingly. You know, I'm like, I'm never going to happen. So, BJ's like, Spine next week, Miami, come on down.

Here's the address. I'm like, holy shit. I'm really about to spar Jake Paul. So I fly out to Miami. I go to Miami. I'm like, man, we're about to really get it in. All of a sudden, we go Rocky.

We go Rocky 2 at the end of the Rocky 2 scene. Ding, ding, bang. We go, we do her thing. You know, we had our difference on social media. And then, you know, after the been asking fight, he's getting ready for the, you know, power on Willie fight, he calls me up. obviously I made an impression.

You know, I did something right in a sparring match. I'm not going to talk about the sparring match, you know, because I don't talk about sparring, but I done something for him and wanted to bring me back. Jake could have called anybody else in the world, anybody else in the world, or any of the S firefighters, boxers, but he just told me Kobe.

I was, yeah, I mean, because I have to say, I was kind of surprised about your involvement in this camp because this whole thing is being structured as, at least like on the marquees and how the storylines go, it's boxing versus MMA. It's fighting MMA fighters and taking on some of the bigger names and trying to prove a point to MMA. And, you know, you've been involved in the sport for several years.

You've been on a role competing inside cages. While a big chunk of the M.MA community, the fighters, et cetera, they seem to be all against Jake Paul, hoping Tyron Willie just destroys him and we put it into the circus. Like, and you're out there sparring with them and training with them and building this relationship with him. Like, you know what I mean? Like, do you, like after that first sparring session, do you no longer look at it like other MMA people do?

Like it's boxing versus MAA, but more of two guys just trying to get each other better. You know, how does this all work? Well, here's what people make mistakes. A lot of these fighters make mistakes. They look at Jake Paul as a YouTuber. He's not a YouTuber. He's a boxer. He's a fighter.

And the mistake where people get is, oh, he's a YouTuber. when I flew to Miami and the reason why I got called back because I didn't look at Jake Plas as a YouTuber. I looked at him as a fighter. Anybody, I don't care if you had a plumber, a firefighter, a police officer, or nanny. Hell, I wouldn't even care for you to DEA.

You know, the DA, the district attorney. You step in that ring or a cage, you're considered a fighter now, especially when I'm in that cage and what you are at ring with you. I don't care who you are. If my mom's stepping in that ring of cage, you're a fighter now. Because you're telling me you're risking your life against the other person that risked your life. You're a fighter. You know, you don't put on that police uniform just because you want girls and

show a boat for a gram. You go in there and you put on that police uniform, you put on that firefighter uniform. You're risking your life. You're now saying, hey, I'm a fighter for the people. I'm a fighter for myself. overall, I'm a fighter. So that's the mentality I had when I went to Miami, he sparred Jay Paul. So he got your respect after that sparring session. We don't have to get into the details, but you walked out of it.

You were like, damn, I respect this guy. Well, I knew he was training. I knew he could box. I mean, damn, he's like 6-2, 220. I mean, shit. You've been knowing it for three years, so you better know how to boxing. Jake's improved a lot, man. This guy is unbelievably good.

You know, don't be surprised if you actually seen him as far in that alone three years. People, what's interesting about Jake is like, and you can attest to this being an MMA, people talk about like Colby all the time. Like he has this character, Colby Coffey's feathers when the cameras are on. He's playing the villain. But those in his inner circle, if you will, those close to him, a lot of his training partners, they say like how good of a guy is. He's just, he's not the same guy as you see on camera.

And Jake and Kobe are obviously different people. But, you know, Jake comes off a certain way on television. But he's, he's a promoter. He's trying to promote fights and get people to watch. I mean, true. I mean, Jake, Mike, Jake is Jake. Who am I to tell Jake can be? You know, a lot of people say, oh, well, he's a YouTuber.

Well, shit. No one brings up the fact that I was a stripper, got into MMA, you know, from being flamboying, you know. What Jake does? Jake speaks his truth and his facts about other people or what he does. I don't get involved in the night. You know, that's him. That's him engaging with people.

You know, I listen. I watch and I listen. You know, because Jake is Jake. I'm not going to say here, it'd be like, what Jake is telling lies. Jake is telling the truth. That's something for the fans to see and follow through and see if you're fall through on that lie or that comment, you know, like

he speaks up on fighter pay. I don't know about the UFC on Daniel White in their pay, so I don't speak on that because I don't know. I'm not in that position. I've never received backlash on fighter pay. You know, I don't know. I can't speak

on the UFC in their pay stuff because I'm not in the UFC. You know, I fought for Belcher my whole career. You know, so the best thing I can do is just watch from a far and see how things play out. I try to stay away from me. Fair enough. I was just wondering if he is kind of different. Is he a cool guy? Like, I think that's kind of where I'm going in the short answer. Okay. He's a cool guy, man. The guy's business, he's funny, friendly. He invited me over for dinner

with him and his family. He met his mom, his family, his brothers. His brother, I'm sorry. Jake is a really good kid. Like, very honest. Like, it was crazy. Jake paid me more money in three months training with him being a sparring partner than I did in my whole career in MMA of six years. Wow. And I fought for Belcher five times. It's wild, man.

It's freaking crazy. So it seems like you find yourself in a pretty good spot in a number of ways. but obviously Jake's, yeah, Jake's got a big fight with Tyron. It's on the marquee, but before that fight happens, you're going to be boxing Tommy Fury. And it's been fun to watch, man. You guys have been going back and forth with videos. You're singing songs, cutting promos on the guy. Like, how do we get to this place?

Like, when did this beef with Tommy Star? It's such hostility, Anthony. Man, I mean, the day I was out there trying with Jake, Jake was like, hey, I got some good news. It's some good opportunity for you. I'm like, what's going on? He's like, I'm going to give you the opportunity in a lifetime to change your up. world to change your life. He's like, you ever heard of time of fear?

I'm like, yeah. This guy isn't asking you out. Jake's like, hey, I want you to fight this guy. Beat him up, change your life. I'm like, ooh, okay. Okay, okay. I'm gonna do it. Just do it. And look where I'm at. I manifested this day what happened. I said on my Twitter,

May 31st, June 1st, I said, I called him out. I called Tommy out. Fight me. Fight me. You find these bombs. All of a sudden, I'm fighting Tommy now. Because I manifested and stuff.

There's no love loss. No love lost here. Why lose this fight? Why I lose? I got everything to lose, but everything to gain. If I lose, oh, he's just an MMA fighter. He's not a boxer. I go straight back to MMA. My record's not.

Nothing belongs on our record. I beat this guy? Holy crap, this guy's a real deal. Dakes Paul Sparantorner partner. Anthony's the real deal. Sky's the limit for me, you know? So you're playing with House Money on August 29th. Man, I'm playing.

I'm not even playing with house money. I'm playing with my money. I'm betting my own money because I know I'm going to want this and get it back. You know? Right now, we're playing blackjack and I just hit an ace on our first hand. Whoop. What's up? You know what I'm saying?

I got two aces. I'm either going to double down or hit me. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, split those. Split those. You know? Look, we play poker. Hey, I got a royal flush.

I'm just trying to make sure I can hit that jackpot. You know, if you got any aces will split the pot. Tommy is 6 and 0 thus far as a pro boxer. You seem to have a little bit of an issue with the records of the opponents that he's faced. Of course, he's been trying to get a fight with Jake as well, as you mentioned. Have you watched Tommy box at all? Have you seen any of his fights? No need.

I have a better job. I have a better. chance watching regular amateur spar in the Olympics. Oh, that's your video. That's all good. I have a better chance. I have a better chance watching Olympics and getting more work from that. You know, I'm not, I'm not getting the best out of it.

All right. So you're just, you're ready to go. You don't, you've seen everything you need to see already. I've seen everything I can't see. He's only as good as the last fight. and he looks sloppy as hell. All right. So you have seen something on him.

Yeah. And not impressed. Not impressed at all. What they say, hey, you're not that guy, pal, trust me. You're not that guy. And Tommy looks at me and you are and I'm like, absolutely. Speaking of MMA, because you said whatever happened, like, if you lose, you just go back to MMA, you did fight your last fight for Bellator. Are you under contract with them or is that just a one and done?

That's a one and done. I'm free agent. If UFC wanted to pick me up and pick me up, Belator wanted to talk to me, we could talk. But right now, I'm a free agent and I'm going to focus on showtime. Showtime, baby, because I'm showtime. And if you win, you're still planning on doing MMA as well.

Who knows? If I win, I might stay with that, I might stay with, you know, with boxing. Who knows where I go? All right, hold on. second. Chad, if you can hear me, just hang tight for like two more minutes, all right? All right.

So how does this is what I'll go down, Anthony? How do you set the table for Jake? How do you kick off the festivities in Cleveland, August 29? What's the headline going to read? Second round TKO. Pretty boy does pretty quick work. Tommy theory. And what's the prediction for the main event?

Because I don't think you're going to go out there and say second two? Fourth round TKL, Jake Ball. All right. So we're going to go to the fourth round here. Anthony, I got to say, I'm very happy for you, man. Like, you have been through a lot. You've come through on the other side. Big things are happening for you.

And a big opportunity awaits you August 29th in Cleveland. Any parting words for Mr. Fury before you say goodbye? Hey, Fury. Hope you and your family are healthy, COVID-free. Hope you have a healthy weight cut. I'm looking forward to meeting you. Come professional. Come on wait.

Come on time. And let the best man win or the pretty one win. Of course, it's me. And let's make it happen. Anthony Pretty Boy, Taylor, quite a story there. He's found his why. He's found happiness. Some acceptance as well.

And it seems like he is just in a tremendous place right now. And looking at where he was four or so years ago to where he's at right now, I'm very happy for him, good on him. He's got a nice opportunity to make some money and potentially shock some people at the same time on August 29. But we're going to wrap things up. We have one more conversation. But once again, thank you to all of you who have watched, listened to, commented on, or really anything in regards to the show. The good, the bad, the indifference, much appreciated from all of you.

It means the world. I learned from all of it. And like I said at the top, we have a lot of irons in the fire. Of course, the M. May hour is back next week. That is just massive news. I'm so happy about that. But one thing I, one thing that I sort of teased on Twitter, kind of going back to the irons in the fire, I've sort of engulfed myself into this big project. And I've been working on it for several weeks now, well over a month. And what just started as a simple interview has just become everything. I mean, it's just been a wild journey. I got obsessed with the story. And after doing so many different interviews about it and talking to so many different people, it really has become one of the most unbelievable stories that I've ever heard. An MMA outside of MMA bubble, I mean, it's just, it's wild.

And I'm also working on sort of a little mini documentary podcast on this story as well, since there were so many great voices that took part in this, not all of which were able to be used in this feature that I'm doing. And some of the great quotes, some of the amazing stories that were told didn't make it as well. They just didn't fit in the overall theme of the piece. And there's reasons why. But with this doc, we can add some of those voice. We can add some of those great quotes, some of those great stories.

And I'm excited. I've never really written anything like this before. I produced a lot of things. I've never really produced a mini doc from an audio sense like this before. So I'm looking forward to dropping it soon. I'm a little anxiety written when it comes to this. I've had conversations with Sean Al-Shoddy about this,

especially like the day before. I'm probably going to lose my mind. Probably not going to sleep the night before. So hopefully that's going to, you'll see that in the next few days. So no worries there. But a lot of ums here. I want to thank Jose Young's. and Alex Savas for all of their help with the graphics,

the social media, the clips, all of their help. It means a lot. Early stages of the show, Esther Lynn, tremendous help getting graphics put together and figuring out a lot of different things and helping out on that end. I really appreciate that. And of course, E. Casey Liden for his work producing the show.

Countless hours, him sitting on Skype calls with me, sitting in on interviews, just listening and recording and producing. It is not easy. it's probably not all that fun. There were probably some interviews were a lot of fun. Some were a little heavy. But he sat through

hours and hours and hours of these and he's done it from the beginning. He's crushed it every time. So big shouts to my man, EKC, the baddest stash in MMA meeting. Of course, can't leave out the fighters, the commentators, the promoters,

everyone, even the pro wrestlers who have been on the show, So everyone who has been a guest on the program, I really do appreciate it. But like I said, more interviews coming down the pipeline, just in a little bit different form, not in a show quite like this. And then we're going to do some other cool stuff along the way as well. But we are done here on what the heck. One more time, have a heck of a week, everybody.

We will leave you with my chat with the Challenger for this Friday night's middleweight title fight at Bellator 24, John Salter. All right. Let us say hello to John Salter, who returns to the Bellator cage. This Friday night in the main event of Bellator 264, he will challenge Gagard Musassi for the Belator Middleweight title, an ongoing journey for over two decades with wrestling and MMA. Now he has the opportunity to have all that work culminate into a world championship. John, how are you, man? I'm doing great.

How are you? I'm doing great. So I'm wondering if your initial reaction to getting this title fight was about time, because, I mean, it has been like a really long journey for you. Like, you've been knocking on the door for a while now. and now you have the chance to get up an answer. Was that sort of how you reacted to this? Yeah, I was really excited when I got the call.

I believe it was February. Got the call about potentially fighting in June. So I was really excited about that, you know, and then obviously got pushed back. So here we are in August. But, you know, like I said, I think it's been a long time coming. And I'm excited to finally get this opportunity.

Do you know why it got push back from June? I have no idea. never told, just that we needed to push it back. So I was, I was okay with that as long as we kept to fight. I know you wear a lot of different hats, training partner coach, mentor to a lot of fighters, and there's more that I'm probably missing here. But, you know, I bring these things up because you are a very busy man. And with you being out of action for pretty much a year by the time you make the walk on Friday, you seem to be okay with the timing now. But in hindsight, if you could have done it sooner, would you have preferred it being sooner? Absolutely. Yeah, I would have loved for

to have been, you know, quite a bit sooner. But, you know, it is what it is. And like I said, I've got other things going on with the gym and other things. So it's not the end of the world. Would have been nicer to do it maybe six months ago. But this is fine with me. Just glad we're here when we are. Many have felt like you've deserved this opportunity for a while now.

And you know that. But when I spoke with Gayguard before he fought Douglas Lima, I mean, he felt like you would be next in line had he won that fight, which you did. Were you worried at all that Bell's, or might go in a different direction with this first title defense, or were you confident that this was definitely going to happen for you? Yeah, at first I was a little concerned. You know, I know they had talked about him going up to a five,

you know, and that puts the division kind of on hold. And, you know, there was also the word that if Lima had won, that he goes back down to 170 defend his title there, you know. So a lot of things could have happened. I'm really glad that it went the way it did, obviously. And so now we can keep the division. you're moving. Because of this journey that you've been on, John, this long road to a title shot and it arriving just a few days from right now, does this fight week feel different? Like,

do you have to take any feelings and bury them or is that something that you feed off of? You know, I kind of just put that out. Just try to, it's fight. You know, it's just like any other fight week, not, and nothing's really changing too much. So just trying to keep it like that. And then, you know, obviously there is the, you know, kind of looming over you. This is a different different thing, different opportunity, different opponent. But at the end of the day, it's still a fight weak and just try to treat it like no longer. Gaygard won that title in November against Lima. It was a big fight for the promotion.

It was something that had been in the works for a while. And then COVID kind of like shut down the world and it got pushed back several months. What did you think of that fight being booked to begin with as a guy that was so close to getting that shot? Like, did you understand that? And, you know, what was your initial thoughts when you saw that fight was booked? Obviously, I was upset. that, you know, I thought it should have been me and Gayguard fighting for the title there. But, you know, at the same time, Lima had kind of cleared out the Walterweight division for a little while.

So I think that's, you know, when it is acceptable to somebody to jump up a weight class. And obviously, you know, he had a tough fight coming up after that. But, you know, I understood it, but was obviously upset because I think I was the guy that should have been right there, ready to fight for it. I'm sure you were watching that fight very closely. What did you think of the fight? Did it go the way you expected it to? Did anything sort of surprise you in that fight? You know, I think just once again, it was kind of the same thing that we always see,

is that Gayguard is able to pull people into his fight base and roll people into what he wants to happen, you know. And you saw it with Roy McDonald's. You saw it with Lima. You know, you see it a lot of times when he fights that he kind of just pulls people into what he does and guys never get out of that once they get sucked in. And I think that's kind of what happened to Lima. He just never really got going because Gaegard never gave him an opportunity. I spoke with Gayguard a little earlier and he feels at least the way a lot of people look at this fight on paper feel when you look at this matchup. It's a classic catch-as-catch-catch-can

striker versus wrestler type of matchup. And, you know, he's certainly down for that battle. He's been there many times. But one thing he's looking forward to are the exchanges that may have to take place in order for you to get this fight to the ground, to your bread and butter. How have you prepared for that aspect of the fight? Is there anything extra that you've had to do in preparation from a striking aspect to get yourself ready to sort of implement your game? Yeah, you know, there's not a lot of guys that strike like him, you know, so kind of got to bring, you know, I got a got a guy that's got a fantastic fast, long jab like he has. Got a guy. It's got a guy. does a really good right hand and just walks you down like he does, you know,

guys that are throwing odd angles that you don't normally see, you know, so I'm kind of having to use different training partners to build that massacian in the gym, but I think it's going to live well. A potential 25 minutes of fighting is on our hands this Friday, Mohegan Sun. And even when you've been in five-round fights, they haven't gone very long, but it's been, what, around a decade or so since you've been in like a title fight for five rounds? Is that right? Yeah, that's about right. So, you know, and that one ended in the second round. So, you know, I haven't

gone deep that many times. Been in the third round a few times. You know, I had a bad turn, I had a couple of third rounds that were rough and a few well. So prepared a little differently for this one that I ever have before. So I think those later rounds will be a lot better than they have in the past. So you don't feel like going into the championship round is going to be much of a big deal for Plus, like, you have this long wrestling pedigree, so I'm sure you've been, you know, used to the grind and getting your conditioning up to that point, right? Yeah. So, you know, I think we figured it out. Obviously, you know, there's that aspect of just go out there and work hard and get in shape.

And there's an aspect of doing it the right way and where everything makes sense, you know, and looking at the science behind it. I think I've blended those together pretty well this time. I know becoming a world champion is a big thing for you in this journey, but being able to fight someone like Gaygard, you know, a true legend of the sport. He's been around for so long, former Strike Force champion, never really got a chance to fight for the UFC title. But, I mean, that's a big deal to be able to fight that guy. Like, what would that mean to you to not only just become a champion,

but to do it by defeating a guy like Gayguard? It just shows where I belong in the sport, you know. So I think it just puts me where I think I should be. And that's all I'm looking for is an opportunity to do that. Recently, Brian Barbarina returned to action. And he lost a tough decision, had a great third round. made things really interesting, but to see him sort of firsthand go through what he went through physically

to even get back in the cage? Like how much motivation is that, did that give not only you, but just like the rest of your team, everybody around him? Because that, I mean, I don't think a lot of enough attention was put into what this man had to do

in order to get back into the cage. Yeah. You know, I think the craziest thing about that that, I don't think was touched on a whole lot, was just that everything was a, testing process, you know, there was, nobody knew, is he going to make it through this practice? Is he going to make it for the next one?

You know, okay, we stepped it up a little bit. He did well, what about this next one? Now, the first time he gets it in the body, how's he going to deal with that? You know, obviously every single step went well. And, you know, we got a great coach who took it at, you know, if there's one day that we see something we don't like, it's over. We don't push again, you know, it's not worth it. And just his body held up through everything.

So it was great to see because it was a big question all the way through. And to see him go out there and be able to have a fight like that and walk away without anything wrong with him. It was really great. Was that something you guys had to pay really close attention to, like even on Fight Week? You had to monitor everything along the way? You know, I wasn't there for Five Week. But I said knowing Jeff, the way he is with everything, he's very meticulous about everything. I know that, you know, he had his eye on every single single thing, you know,

because even he finished a hard training camp and he did well, and then you go, wow, can he, is the body able to handle cutting weight again? You know, how's that going to go? And obviously, everything went well. So, I mean, obviously, you know, it would have been better if you got the win, but to see him have a, you know, a fight of the night performance like that and this body hold up was really good. Yeah, there's not a lot of Brian Barbarina is running around here. That's for sure.

He's won in a million, no doubt about that. But how does everything translate into Friday night, John? Like your shot at a world championship against the legend. It's going to be on Showtime, which is pretty cool for you, too, I'm sure. But how does this all go down in your mind? How do you see this fight playing out? Josh, I'd love to say when we go out there and finish him in the first round, that'd be great.

But, yeah, this is the guy that doesn't make mistakes. So it's somebody that it's not capitalizing on him making a mistake. It's forcing him into bad positions and just keeping pressure on and keep him on his back foot. And, you know, that's going to be the name of the game. And I think it's going to have to take five rounds to do it. It seems like Austin Vanderford will be the man waiting in the wings for the winner of this fight. Are you even looking at that right now or is just all laser focused on Friday night?

Yeah, I'm not having put any thought into anything after Friday night. Right now, Friday night is something that matters. Well said. Looking forward to this fight, John. Appreciate the time very much. Well earned opportunity. Long overdue, in a lot of people's opinion at a world champion. Chip. It goes down this Friday night. Belator 264 live on Showtime. John, I appreciate it very much, man,

especially this close to the fight. All the best to you this week and in the cage on Friday. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.