MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - Arnold Allen: "If I don't Achieve that [UFC Title] Everything's A Waste" | Morning Kombat RSD

Episode Date: February 21, 2023

RSD London Edition is here! Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell sit down with featherweight contender Arnold Allen ahead of his fight with Max Holloway. Arnold discusses what makes Max Holloway great, how someone could beat Alexander Volkanovski and what its like to work with Firas Zahabi. Plus Arnold shares some INSANE stories about his family that you won't want to miss. (00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:50) - Nickname (00:03:40) - Max Holloway (00:05:30) - Layoff/Injuries (00:07:05) - UFC Rankings/Popularity (00:09:30) - Fighting Max Holloway (00:14:30) - Firas Zahabi (00:17:00) - Social Media (00:19:15) - Combat sports in the UK (00:21:50) - UFC 284 (00:30:30) - Toughest fight in UFC (00:31:30) - Earning Confidence (00:35:10) - Legendary Stories Featuring Arnold Allen's Dad (00:47:45) - Gas Station Food (00:51:30) - Trolling people vaping (00:52:40) - Toughest part of fighting (00:54:50) - Canada (00:58:00) - Tristar Gym (01:00:05) - UK MMA (01:05:30) - Dream Fight (01:06:30) - Family (01:08:50) - Toughest people in the UK Morning Kombat is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.     For more Combat Sports coverage subscribe here: youtube.com/MorningKombat   Follow our hosts on Twitter: @BCampbellCBS, @lthomasnews, @MorningKombat    For Morning Kombat gear visit:morning kombat.store   Follow our hosts on Instagram: @BrianCampbell, @lukethomasnews, @MorningKombat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing the new McSpicy from McDonald's. It looks like a regular chicken sandwich, but it's actually a spicy chicken sandwich. McSpicy. Consider yourself warned. Limited time only at participating McDonald's in Canada. London, Brian Campbell. Hi, my name is Arnold Allen, and I'm doing room service diaries.

And room service. Arnold's here, ready. This is a weird room. Thanks for the travel, is it okay? Yeah, it's alright. Do you live in, where do you live? It's a little bit weird, but yeah, it's interesting. Getting called up to someone's hotel room for an interview.

But it's alright. I'm just going to go and get my stuff. I'm just going to go and get my stuff. I'm just going to go and get my stuff. I'm just going to go and get my stuff. I'm just going to go and get my stuff. I'm just going to go and get my stuff. I'm just going to go and get my stuff.

I'm just going to go and get my stuff. I'm just going to go and get my stuff. I'm just going to go and get my stuff. I'm just going to go and get my stuff. I'm just going to go and get my stuff. I'm just going to go and get my stuff. Do you live in, where do you live? It's a little bit weird, but yeah, it's interesting. Getting called up to someone's hotel room for an interview. That's all right. Hopefully it's not on the bed. Hopefully there's a sofa, some chairs, and it's nice and professional. 185ers is probably a Scottish last name.

Let's go inside. Well, I gotta tell you what, when this gentleman returns to the cage and takes on Max Holloway April 15th, it's gonna be a big deal. And he's a big deal, so we said when we come to London, Brian Campbell, we better talk to him. It's time to get almighty on that ass. It's time to get almighty with Arnold Allen. Hi, Arnold. How are you? Good, man.

Yourself? I am okay. It's nice to see you. You got the decked out Jordans and a whole lot else going on. Yeah, can we show the foot game here? Those are legit. I like that. It's not their debut, but it's really the second, third outing.

Do you have a Jordan collection? No, not massive. I have a pair of Halloween specials I've been wearing, but second, third outing. Do you have a Jordan collection? No, not massive. I have a pair of Halloween specials I've been wearing, but yeah, only a few. Well, they look great. Thank you. Yes, I'm very excited to be here. Arnold Allen, what do in your native area,

born in Ipswich, raised in Suffolk, what do they call you back there? Like AA, Arnie, what's the deal there? Everyone calls me Mowgli. Like from the Jungle Book? Yeah, yeah. Everyone where I'm from calls me Mowgli. That's a weird nickname. Yeah, yeah. Not Triple A, not A. Everyone

calls me Mowgli. Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. That's a very original nickname in MMA. I don't know if I've ever met another Mowgli. I haven't. Did you know it was from the Jungle Book? I bet you did. Sugar Shane Mowgli? No, no, no. Sugar Shane Mowgli. How did did. Sugar Shane Mowgli? No, no, no. Sugar Shane Mowgli. How did you get the name Mowgli? So my dad wanted to call me Arnold,

and my mom didn't want to call me Arnold. And when I was born in the nursery thing, they had a Jungle Book theme. So my mom just called me Mowgli. She's like, I'm not calling him Arnold. And everyone calls me Mowgli where I'm from. Oh, that's a cool story. His mom's like, fuck this. I'll name him because I have to, but I'm not calling him Arnold and everyone calls me Mowgli where I'm from that's a cool story his mom's like fuck this I'll name him because I have to

but I'm not behind this literally only everyone only people I knew since I've been an adult call me Arnold like only school friends everyone calls me Mowgli so when did you start going when did the almighty nickname take place when I was about

when I was 20 20. So someone came up with the brand Almighty Fightwear and he just approached me and was like I'll give you X amount per fight if you call yourself Almighty. If you wear my shorts. I was like okay. I'm getting paid like 300 pound a fight. I was like what? 500 extra

to call myself Almighty. I was like let's go. Let's go. Entrepreneur. Yeah. And that just stuck I go. Entrepreneur. Yeah. And I just stuck, I guess. Yeah. I mean, you picked the right company. It could have been like, you know, Arnold Manscaped or something like that.

I got to tell you, renting out your nickname, it's not a bad idea. Hire yourself. Yeah. Brian, what would your nickname be? Delta Ape? High T Campbell. High T Campbell. High T Campbell.

Let's talk about it. Let's get into the thing that is the big news. I mean, there's so much I want to ask you about, but let's talk about the big news right up front. It was reported recently, I think even confirmed, you're going to be fighting Max Holloway April 15th. By the way, we don't know if it's going to happen. That might be the same day as Tank Davis, Ryan Garcia.

So it's kind of interesting. What's the city in? There's a Fight Night main event? Yeah, this is a Fight Night main event. Where is that one taking place? Is it the Apex? It's at Felix the Docs. Like, I don't actually know where it is. As far as I know, not the Apex. Not the Apex. I guess we'll figure that out.

Nevertheless... There could be a slap pay-per-view that night. Yeah, there probably could be. But just to clarify, you were initially just to be yeah there probably could be probably could be but just to clarify you were initially were supposed to fight Max on the co-main at UFC 286 yeah

but you injured your rib yeah yeah it was offered and I had a rib injury and I'm like I don't know if I can make that one so yeah a month later

April 15th so still with Max yeah yeah what did they say about when the UFC offers you a fight do they ever tell you why they want you to take a fight

or do they just give you a name no it's usually just name, date that's it question mark oh so you never know if it's pay per view call main

if it's main event or what oh no like yeah you'll know the event the name the date you know yeah

this this this what's what that's gotta I mean you can't control injuries but the idea of co-main eventing Max Holloway in England had a storybook ring to it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it sucks.

But it is what it is, and a lot of setbacks often lead to bigger things, I guess. Okay, so that's become a theme in Arnold Allen's career. I mean, when we look back, it's like the win streak has been hella impressive. You were ready for either, and it may happen on the same night one day, being a world champion or overnight stardom

and the kind of things that happen if you defeat a Max Holloway. How have you navigated the fact that you're kind of only fighting once a year for the most part on this run, and it's like one step ahead, two steps back? You got two in 2022, but then one of them ended early.

How do you keep your head together during that i always wonder that uh yeah it's frustrating so you know a lot of reasons aren't really you know sometimes you know i'm ready to go and then they want you to wait for the next london show like i've got a show in like four months in london i'm like I'm ready now let's go and uh because they want you as a UK guy yeah in the UK yeah exactly yeah so there's been a lot of that you know I've had a lot of fights fall through where opponents are pulled out and I was supposed to fight um Emmett in North Carolina and he got injured the week before we tried to reschedule and then I think he fought someone else instead you You know, it's not always been my fault, me being injured.

But, you know, I've had hand injuries and obviously a little injury there. And, yeah, so it's not always my fault. What are the major injuries you've had? Nothing major, just hands, usually hands. I had a couple of breaks in my hands, so, yeah. Is there anything that can be done? Like, do the doctors ever tell you that, like, how much of this is genetic, how much of this is the way you're training?

No. No, no doctor said anything. But for me, like, even when the fights or the years where I'm fighting once a year, I'm still training all year. And I think that might be one of the factors. Like, I know some guys, they'll do, you know, they'll do, like, a 10-week camp and then just sort of pick things up. And then you don't

really see them the rest of the year. I've always sort of trained camp all year, you know, then pick it up a little bit in camp and actually if anything when camp comes around I back it off a little bit so I don't over train but I think that's probably one of the factors with the hand injuries. You know, it's funny, you're only 29 years old, right? But it feels like you've been around for quite some time but to BC's point it's been, you're only 29 years old, right? But it feels like you've been around for quite some time. But to BC's point, it's been very intermittent. Yeah. What role do you play in the featherweight division, right?

How do you view yourself among your peers, given where you're at now, what could be ahead? What space are you occupying? It's an awkward space. When they announced it in the room, a lot of people said it should have awkward space. Like, a lot of people, when they announced it in the room, like, a lot of people said it should have been me and, you know,

I wouldn't have, I wouldn't have been too surprised if I was offered that spot. For which one? For the interim shot. Oh, this is being shot before UFC 284, yeah.

Oh, okay, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so, I'm, you know,

in a funny space. I'm like the dark horse, just sort of creeping under and sneaking his way up and, yeah, I like that. I like that. It's, it's working. sneaking his way up and uh yeah i like that i like that it's uh it's it's working it's working well do you feel like you got to develop because you know what's funny you always had a bit of hype around you and then it got a little quiet

with all the injuries and like the once a year fighting but then it took a turn i'm not exactly sure where it took a turn maybe the gil melendez fight but it took a turn and now you're at the space where it's kind of funny it's not it'sez fight, but it took a turn, and now you're at the space where... It's kind of funny. It's not that I don't understand that the UFC wanted you to compete in the UK. I totally get it. But you're also in a space now where, like,

if you're fighting the very top guys, they can't hold you like that. It either has to work or it doesn't. Yeah. Right? Yeah. And when you're fighting the top guys, you do this once, twice a year, isn't it?

Right. So it's like, that's kind of my thing anyway. But I feel like all the accreditation came in the Dan Hooker fight for anybody who had doubts. It crystallized there. Yeah. It just became like, Oh shit,

this guy actually is that level of for real with that type of performance. I mean, do you feel like you kind of needed that or to just like, because it's gotta be frustrating when you know how good you are, you want to fight the champion, you're in and out of the lineup, you're pulling out more than him in his four years in college. Yeah, it's a lot.

Yeah, definitely needed a performance like that. But also there's a lot of question marks over there, like him coming down a weight and then him, you know, obviously I think everyone knows he probably shouldn't have done that weight drop and shouldn't have been at that weight. So there's all those factors as well, isn't there? But he had a big name. Yeah, yeah, the name.

Dan Hooker's got a name. And you know, win or lose. He's got big wins over big names as well. People forget, dude, Dan Hooker stopped Gilbert Burns. It's like, holy shit. Now, Gilbert probably shouldn't have been at 155 when they were fighting. I don't know how they made it. It's not easy to do that.

How did Chiesa ever make, you know, lightweight? It's like, I don't understand any of this. Have you seen Chiesa in person? Yeah, he's a big man. What the fuck did that dude make 155? Yeah,

you don't know. All right, but when you get the call and it ends up being Max, is it safe to say that's literally the equivalent of fighting for a title? Oh,

no, no, it's a number one contender fight, isn't it, you know? Yeah, but the validation. Yeah,

yeah, no, the validation, that's, when they announced, are we not talking about theender fight, isn't it? Yeah, but the validation. Yeah, yeah. No, the validation. When they announced... Are we not talking about the interim fight? We could talk about it, yeah. What I'm saying is you just have to make sure people understand because by the time this gets out, 284 will have already aired.

Ah, okay, okay. Right, gotcha. Yeah, so when they announced Josh Emmett fight and Jair Rodriguez, it was like the only thing that would be better than not getting an interim fight was to fight Max Holloway, to beat Max Holloway. Obviously, Max beat Yair in the last one, so he, for me, is a more credible spot than beating Emmett or Yair. Let's talk about Max.

Where do you think he is? I mean, here's the reality about him, right? He's still young. He's not much older than you. I think 30, 31. Yeah, 31, I think. Not that old, but Miles. Whoa that that's the one difference right i mean i know you're training all the time and everyone's like oh a lot of the miles come in training

but i can't say this in the fights not a lot of miles on you from the fights themselves yeah how do you assess max holloway yeah you know he's he's max holloway he's great uh but yeah that's one of the things I always think. His mileage, it's going to catch up. It doesn't matter how old you are. If you have 20 fights, when every fight is a back and forth, 50-50, you know, I've been in a bit of a war. Even where he's been very dominant, he's taken a lot of shots.

So, yeah, the miles have got to add up. What did you make of his last fight with Volkanovski? Because the first two, extremely close. Some folks thought he won the first or the second. But, dude, there ain't no one coming out saying, like, the third one. The third one was a blowout. What happened? I think Volkanovski just improves every time he fights.

He just looks better and better every time. And he just figured him out. Like, the second fight, Holloway came out and he did really well. He didn't adjust. Volkanovski didn't adjust until the later rounds. And then the third fight, from the off, every time he stepped forward, he was away, countered, got off the angle, and he looked great. And Max just didn't adjust.

He just did the same thing over, over, over. So, yeah, yeah. Here's the weird thing. Max is a living legend. He's been at the elite level for like a full decade. Stop Jose Aldo in back-to-back fights. That doesn't happen very often. Yeah, I mean, you know, fought Conor McGregor and Poirier

like in his first day as a teenager, basically. So you're a young guy yourself. At some point, you had to have looked up or enjoyed. Like, what is your history as a fan of Max? And how weird is that actually now where you're getting calls and offered to fight these guys? Yeah, I've always liked watching Max I mean, who hasn't? He's fun to watch he seems like a top bloke

not when he fights though, he's an arse at when he fights you see him, he hits you, he's shaking his hand he's like mocking you he talks to the commentators so there's that, you need to be aware of that he's a nice guy outside the cage, but in there, nah. He's not.

But do you have to walk through that aura at all or any other opponents you've fought? Or is Max the first time where you're sort of like, I've got to check any level of respect in legend status, put that aside, it's just another fight? Yeah, nah. When I fought Gilbert Melendez, there was a little bit of that. But then it was like, once the bell rang, I was like,

you know, fuck this guy. But yeah, before, it's a much polite way, anyone's ever said that, yeah. Yeah,

before, I'm looking at his tape and watching him fight, and I think, that's fucking Gilbert Melendez, he's done this, he's done that, he's done that,

and then, yeah, once you're in there, I'm like, oh, I'm better than this guy, I'm going to beat this guy, so,

yeah, there's no being overwhelmed with who it is, and it's just another man, isn't it? mean if you had if any other answer you wouldn't be sitting here so i expect that from you but it's got to be pretty fucking cool that yeah you're closing in on on your dream i would assume of becoming a world champion and the guy you have to get through the final boss at the end of the video game is max holloway like that's pretty awesome yeah and it's uh you know beating him there's no more sort of legitimate run to get into a title than this. I was gonna say like you beat him

yeah that's it like you're the guy at that point right? That's it that's that's the plan you know like get a win there then it's not it's not like a win over number five or win over someone that lost to the number one guy recently so it's it's the real deal. We've got to get his quick thoughts on 284. I do. What is Max good at? What are you up against?

His gamesmanship. His mentality. It's like his skills are great. His skills are good. But it's not that. That's the trouble is that the mental warfare he's good at in the cage, not even outside because he's not like McGregor who would break people down before like he did to Aldo. He seems to do that in the cage. Not even outside, because he's not like McGregor who would break people down before,

like he did to Aldo. He seems to do that in the cage. He does all his talking there and riles you up and gets you off your game plan and gets you frustrated. I think that's what he's good at. Not necessarily his skill set. It's his mental warfare and his toughness as well, obviously. I want to get to 284, but this is kind of cool for me.

Who comes up with your game plans? Faraz Ahabi. Faraz Ahabi does. Does he consult you about them? Like, do you guys, how does, okay, walk me through how a game plan for a major fight, because now you're in major fights, the Cater fight was a major fight, blah, blah, blah. How does a game plan come together for you guys? How do you do that so now because fras like being the mastermind is i just he watches the tape he'll say

work on this this and this and i'm like okay no questions no questions yeah and i i trusted him uh when i first went to canada 2015 i've been real close close with ferraz since then and uh i trust him with everything. He watches it. The strategy he comes up with, you know, if it's not working in the camp and sparring, I'll say, Coach, this is happening. I'm trying what you said, and it's not happening.

He's like, okay, try this instead. Yeah, yeah, he's great. Faraz is an interesting guy. How did you get hooked up with him? So after my UFC debut, I was like the first... Alan O'Meara, right? Yeah, that's right.

It was the first time I had a bit of money. And I was like, I had all these ideas to spend my 50 grand bonus on fancy cars and shoes and whatnot. But I thought,

fuck that. I'm going to try to start a train. And yeah, ever since I've been... That's investing back in the product. That's right. That's right.

That's putting the money back in the business. Yeah. Funnily enough, when I first went there, it was George St. Pierre. He said that was his advice. His advice was, in his French accent, it was invest in yourself. You know, he said fighters are too scared to invest in themselves. He's like, spend your money on you. I was like, okay.

That's great advice to a young fighter. So what is your breakdown of how, do you go to Montreal for camp? Yeah, so I was, the last couple of camps, it's kind of been working out good. So I've been doing my camps in Renegade

with sort of Fred's overseeing and like speaking with him. I think he's going to come out. Renegade for folks who don't know is where? Birmingham, Leon Edwards Gym. So yeah, and I had some great training partners

like some perfect bodies for like Dan Hooker and then the Calvin Cato fight came through and like even more like perfect guys and now for Max Holloway

he's kind of similar stamp tall sort of long boxer perfect again so I think for someone like Volkanovski if that fight was to ever happen

in Montreal the bodies there would be better for me. Sure. The strip clubs in Montreal are legit, right? Yeah. I wouldn't know. We'll have a Patreon edition one day

just to cover that on our Only Pipes channel. We're going to get this later. My man's tweeting pictures of his dog's balls. I mean... Yeah, yeah. He's such... I've interviewed Arnold before. I know you won't remember it

because I probably don't remember because you're such a polite guy most of the time. But you've been coming out lately on social media as being a rebel rouser, as being a funny guy. Has this been a calculated move to just kind of show yourself to the world? Tweeting the PM of the country? He didn't get back to me. No, he didn't.

Prime minister for the people that don't know him. To be fair, I was always doing that. I was always doing that. And then I got to the UFC and I was like, I should probably stop being a dick. Wait, hang on a minute. I can just do whatever I want. I can say whatever.

No one's going to tell me not to post. It was a stupid thing to try and be more professional. Yeah, it's like a stupid thing to try and be more professional. Yeah, it's not really me. You got written up in a good way by local media for tweeting him. Oh, really? Yeah, you see that? Because among your many attacks at the prime minister was to try to get your girlfriend a visa? Yeah, so my girlfriend's from Canada.

She's been over there, and they keep denying her visa. Yeah, so I thought I'll just send her a tweet. I'll ask. Dude, you generated some legitimately, I put your name into Google News and then I fired it up and it's like UFC fighter tweets PM Sunak.

I didn't know that. Dude, they generated some buzz. We ain't given her a visa yet. Once they saw your dog's balls, they were like this. The dog balls was really the one that sent it over. You're not going to get your dog neutered? I don't know. He's only a puppy, so maybe so.

What's his name? Carlos. Carlos. Yeah, Carlos. Which, by the way, I've got to say, great name for a dog. So we got him from a Cuban footballer, like a soccer player. He plays for Norwich, which is like the rival team.

That's a good team. Yeah. Relatively speaking. He's a Norwich Ipswich's rival. And we got Carlos from him. So our family, my, she's like a cousin,

is married to him. And he's like, you want a dog? I was like, okay. So now we called him Carlos. Carlos, I love that name.

He's a Cuban. That's fantastic. I got to ask you this question because I'm so envious of many parts of the UK culture, but obviously for our job and passions, the combat sports has exploded, whether you want to trace it back to the 2012 London Olympics for boxing or Bisping winning a championship in his original rise, obviously, in UFC. But, I mean, it's it's football yes right it's but you grew up i gotta add like what's it like growing up in this culture and what role does combat sports play because we come from an american culture where there's so much

competition i know i have zero friends that like combat sports you know what i mean like they may tweet me like none of my friends hey did you watch this fight the other day but like very few people that are on the ball week to week yeah i have to make friends online and my wife thinks it's creepy but um what's it like growing up in this how what role did mma boxing play in your youth yeah so yeah kind of the same right most of my friends like you're in england you're like you're a football fan so growing up everyone we played football and uh i think it was probably about 12 i was was about 12, 13, I realized I was shit at football and that's when I was like, you know what, I'm going to boxing.

So I started boxing and then it's just kind of like a one-man journey doing that. All my friends playing football, I go to boxing because I'm good at that. I'm better at that. Why not?

Yeah, but there's a passion for it in the average person in terms of a sports fan, right? Yeah. So then when I got to the UFC, even people I went to school with were hyped about McGregor, posted shit about the UFC. And I'm like, they don't know I'm in the UFC. They don't even know I'm in the UFC.

The people you grew up with didn't even know. Yeah, yeah. So I was like, people were tweeting him and supporting him. I'm like, I sat in class with you, man. I know you. We live in the same town. It's only about 5,000 people. What are you talking about?

It's like, dude, we cheated off the same kid in chemistry class only about 5 000 people it's like dude we cheated off the same kid in chemistry class and you're fucking supporting him and not me oh yeah yeah nice but but the town i grew up in is like uh it's sad to say like some people say it's like uh it's a town where people go to die right it's like over time it's kind of like florida right yeah it's like an old person town so they don't give a shit. They ask me what I do, and I'm just like, I box. I say I box because it's harder to explain. You know, there's kicking, there's wrestling, all this.

They're just like, what? But yeah, I box. So yeah, they think I box. When you run into those kids now, when you see them, you're like, did you say anything to them? I guess after the cater fight and then the hooker fight, did it finally catch on a little bit? Not really. Not in my town. I walk through my village, town, and no one knows what I do. It's amazing. It's nice. I like it. It's like Luke and his family. They don't give a damn. No one texted me about this trip. It's pretty nice. It's great.

Alright, so let's talk a little bit about UFC 284. Yeah. All right. So we've got in the main event, we've got Alexander Volkanovsky and Islam Makachev. It's a power move, but is it a good move by Alexander? Yeah. By the way, I don't think if he wins, he holds the belt either. Oh, well, he keeps it.

Yeah, yeah. I know Volkanovsky has said, I'm going to defend both, but that's just not realistic. No, no. It's not. Yeah, I think if he wins, he's dropping that featherweight belt straight away. You think so? Yeah, yeah. I think for sure.

10 pounds, it's not boxing. It's a lot to go up and down. And also, Volk's not old, but I think he turns 34 this year, which is kind of getting to that Michael Chandler stage of your career. All right, but what happens in the fight? Gun to your head. I think Volkanovski loses, but I think he looks good doing so. I don't think he's going to get outclassed.

I think he's going to make a good effort, but I think he's going to lose. Like Adesanya did against Blachowicz, comparison-wise? No, no, I didn't think he did that great. Yeah, no, I think he'll make a good thing, like maybe probably a decision. Sure. Yeah, but just the size difference, the weight, I think it'll make a good thing. Maybe probably a decision. Sure. Yeah. But just the size difference, the weight,

it's going to be too much, I think. Machov's a hammer. I mean, that's also a big part of the equation. Whether they were the same weight or not, he's a fucking hammer. It's a problem. It's a problem, Luke. Well, I was just going to say, too,

you never know how this is going to go when you go up a weight. But at 145, Volkanovski is not a big power hitter. No, no. So at 155, he will have a little bit more heft, but I wonder if he would have enough for a natural 155er. I don't know. I don't know the answer to that. I was thinking the other day, actually.

I was comparing it when Conor McGregor went up to fight Eddie Alvarez. It was like he was the bigger man. Conor was bigger. He carried the power, went up a weight. And also he was so accurate. Yeah, he was so accurate. But it's like this fight fight isn't that it's a smaller guy coming against a guy that could be a welterweight like he'd probably go up away easy and uh yeah and like you say he's not carrying the power up he's not bringing power with him and he's not restricted from cutting weight mcgregor at featherweight was you know it was horrible he shouldn't have he looked great

the performances were great but uh you see him on the scales. He didn't look good. So, yeah. Yeah. I think it's not going to be a positive move for him. What's the key to beating Volkanovski? For anyone, what is the key? I think, you know, he's short, stocky.

You have to maximize that. Keep your range with him. I thought Max did good in I think it was the second fight yeah rounds one and two of the

second fight he dropped in each round he established himself as the bigger man yeah exactly he was keeping

it long I don't think Max has got the longest arms but he was throwing good attacks with like

knees he landed some nice uppercuts did he drop a head kick wasn't it yeah

like the long range attacks I, I think, are key. And yeah, he looked great. Then he just sort of got away from his game plan. Or maybe Volkanovski slipped out. I don't know, but yeah. Volkanovski's good. Here's what he... I don't want to overstate the comparison,

but guys who are good in the middle of a fight, switching things up and then executing a new-ish game plan, those mid-fight adjustments, Volkanovski and his team are good at in the middle of a fight switching things up and then executing a newish newish game plan those mid fight adjustments Volkanovski and his team are good at those right? I feel like that's a big difference That's that's one of the things I've always liked the most every time I watch Volkanovski fight like not not the more recent fights But earlier coming up I would always sort of ah, you know, he's alright. He's good. Then you're like He's good. Oh shit. He beat Aldo. He'd be you know, he looks better every time but's good. Then you're like, oh, he's good. Oh, shit, he beat Aldo. You know, he looks better every time. But it's not necessarily like you say, it's not the power. It's not like, it's not the skills again.

It's the tactics. The tactics his team apply and his ability to stick to the tactics and stick to the plan. How about the focus he showed under pressure against Ortega? Yeah. Resiliency, yeah, resiliency. Yeah, it's not like you're not sitting there thinking, oh, he's going to fire these submissions off if

I take him down, or if he's on top, he's going to sub me, he's going to get my back, or he's going to throw nice kicks or big power punches. It's just his strategy. He's a great strategist, and I think that's the scariest thing about him. Alright, so you're co-main. Yeah. Josh Emmett, with a beard

now. Did you notice that? That man's got a big old beard. Like Lesnar versus Kane type of beard? Yeah. He's got, you know what's funny, man? It's like, you ever notice that like dudes will go through like a, we all kind of have a little bit of facial hair in different ways, but. You have a very aggressive path.

This is trimmed up. This is trimmed up. I've noticed, like someone mentioned this to me once and I've never been able to forget it, which is that like dudes grow beards after like bad breakups or like bankruptcy or something like that. When they start balding, the beard can fall. And nothing bad happened to him. He earned the spot that he's in. He had a really tough fight with Calvin Cater.

But it's like he's got that beard post-divorce or something. All right. But he's going up against Yair Rodriguez. Give me the X's and O's on this one. So I think Rodriguez wins it. He's got too many tools, like up close, knees and elbows. I think at range, it's just side kicks, teeps, head kicks, everything he does. I don't think he'll throw low kicks.

Someone swinging big punches like Emmett, it's not a good idea. But yeah, if Emmett needs to get close, then he needs to get close and shut the range down to land his big shots but he's susceptible to elbows and knees and i think uh yeah he's got he's very dangerous up close as well as at range so he's got both ranges covered the only way i can see emmett doing well is if he uh maybe stalls him on the fence maybe shoots some takedowns even then like rodriguez looks very annoying if you take him down he's like kicking and screaming his elbows flying everywhere you know submissions coming up he's not an easy guy to hold down what do you think changed for yair because he was like a he was hit or miss for a while he always had the potential but what what do you think happened

where now he's just dialed the hell in i don't know i don't know uh since the frankie edgar fight he's uh yeah like he's settled on the ground. Edgar obviously beat him up to a win, but as soon as he hits the floor, he's throwing his legs up. He's elbowing you in the top of the head. He's not accepting the situation. Yeah, that's a great adjustment. You wouldn't want to sit in his guard.

The other part about Rodriguez, so it sounds to me like, based on what you're saying here, is out of UFC 284 We're going to probably get A Volkanovski and Rodriguez fight Sounds like that's Kind of where your head is at Yeah

What does that look like? I think Volkanovski Because Volk's strategy To your point Don't give it away yet Because what if he comes out there Against Max and finishes him We may just

We may just Okay so let's ask that question We may have a problem here So if Emmett versus Rodriguez, which we'll have an interim title guy, they're going to go that direction. The interim title does guarantee they're probably going to win. It is interesting to think about what happens if

someone ekes out a win in that one, and then let's say you go in there and blow the doors off of Max. I guess it won't because the title reunification... Well, if Volkanovski wins. Yeah, and he doesn't come back. Then I guess the winner of this fight gets a title shot no matter what. Yeah.

You're in a good spot. Yeah, no, it's a good time. You know, like you said earlier, I haven't got too many miles on the clock. I haven't taken, you know, I try not to take too many shots in sparring. I'm pretty working with, like, Perez, the way he spars. And funny enough, the guys at Renegade in Birmingham like Tom Breeze is one of the owners

of the gym there and he was over at TriStar before so he's carried that sort of ideology back to his team and they train

kind of the same way you know no one's getting I mean I've seen a few people go over and spar with like Leon Edwards for some head kicks

but it's not you know every sparring isn't a war it's he's training we're training smart training hard but try not to hurt your partners you know every sparring isn't a war it's uh he's training we're training smart training hard

but try not to hurt your partners you know how I can tell you don't have a lot of miles I'm being serious everyone always points out the cauliflower ears but it's not that

when I the fighters I've seen who've been in a long time who've taken a lot of damage their eyebrows and then their forehead look chewed yeah yeah

because they've had so many cuts scar tissue scar tissue and it goes past the eyebrow line into like here. You don't have any of that. Fresh as a baby over there. Yeah, and all fresh. So connected to

that is like, okay, when I'm looking at the title picture, the thing that jumps out at me about Yair in particular is I don't know what his true ceiling is. I don't know how dynamic and great he can be in a single moment to go over the top and maybe win the championship. The only other person I say that about is you

because there's not a lot of tape of you being compromised and having to battle back. You've won this win streak and you've looked awesome. So there's a lot of unknown. Do you actually know the depth and the degree of the unknown or is it sort of like, man, I need somebody to pull that out of me in a five-round championship fight so i can find out how great i am or do you already know that well i got that in me uh yeah you know i've always had the uh opinion that like the better you put me

in there with someone like the better i'm gonna rise and i'm gonna rise to the occasion and do better so what better than max holloway right so yeah you're gonna see probably the best version of myself or if we get vulcan obviously I have to see a better version of myself because he beat him three times. So, yeah. What would you say is your toughest fight to date? Toughest I've had? Yeah.

Oh. Hmm. I don't know. I had a really crap fight with Mads Minnell. I felt bad. You submitted him. Yeah, I know. I fought like shit.

He's tricky on the feet, though. He's a little tricky. Yeah. A little shifty. I had COVID before COVID, okay? It was 2018. He's tricky on the feet, though. He's a little tricky. Yeah. A little shifty. I had COVID before COVID. Okay? It was 2018. Oh, he had the 18 and a half.

You had that COVID. I was patient zero. Yeah. In like December of 2019, he had just come back from Vegas. He was like, I feel like I'm dying. Yeah. And then we got drunk and then I went to the ER. It was terrible.

My wife was making funeral plans. It was a rough situation but uh i mean like no but the general theme of my question is sort of like you believe in yourself to the nth degree because you've had enough moments either challenges and fights things overcoming training things overcoming your personal life which which fuel your confidence in a lot of ways but you also don't know how great you can be. Yeah, of course. It's the only way you get caught. This is a thing like a lot of young guys,

I see at gyms now, it blows my mind and I'm kind of jealous, but like they don't work hard. Not every young guy, I'm not saying for every young guys, but these guys come through, they don't work hard, but they're cocky as fuck.

I'm like, where'd you get this confidence from? Like your training is your confidence. So see, that's not confidence. Right. Because here's my view on that. These young guys, you see them. To your point, some of them work hard. But then a lot of them are real young.

They've got a little bit of ability, but not a lot. The problem is they don't know that, and they think that everyone else has got what they've got or less. They just don't understand the depth of difficulty that they're up against. So they've got, you know, 50 bucks in the bank and they're like, I'm rich. I'm like, that 50's not going to get you very far. It's not going to get you very far.

You have to have a con man level of delusion and self-belief in yourself at all times to get you over every single hurdle. Yeah, my thought on that always has been, you earn that right. You put in the work in the gym and you earn that right to be confident. That's what I mean. This is the difference.

There's confidence based on, I don't actually understand what I'm up against, and that will collapse instantly. I got shit, whatever. Whatever that is, I don't even have to worry about it, which is different from yours, which is, homie, I've been in the trenches, and because I persevered, now I know. To me me those are very distinct things like this kid like Raul Rosas

Jr. he's very good he's undefeated like he's really talented but he's like I'm gonna be the first three way champ and I'm gonna be a bantamweight champ in a year and I'm like dude I'm not saying he's not good and I'm not even saying he won't be champion sure as fuck you're not gonna be champion in a year

at 135 and like to say something like that to me indicates he won't be champion. Sure as fuck, you're not going to be champion in a year at 135. No, no, no. And to say something like that, to me, indicates you don't really know what you're up against. Okay, but couldn't you say that same thing about McGregor

on the initial rise? We look back at it as a superpower. He had a vision of his future that was like Luke Skywalker in episode four. You know what I'm saying? I'm not comparing him in all ways, but that run that Conor was on,

that was a Michael fucking Jordan run. That run. It's like, well, would you say that's a Michael Jordan? Well, that's different. I mean, that's a different guy in a different moment. Dude, seriously, you think about all the runs in MMA. That's one of the best. That's one of the best ones I've ever seen.

Definitely, definitely. He just blew up, didn't he? And it just kept going. Did that inspire you at all when you were in the midst of trying to become a fighter? Well, do you know what? When he was at Cage Wrestling, I fought in Cage Wrestling. I think probably my first fight was maybe like his last, around the time of his last fight.

Okay, so there's close enough crossover. When that wind blew through and that meteor, that comet, I mean, what does that do for you as a young fighter, seeing that? Yeah, you know, I was always a fan of his style and, like, watching him. But the thing is, I'm the complete opposite person. Like, I don't talk any shit. I don't say nothing. And I just send some weird tweets every now and then.

I mean, he sends some weird tweets, but, you know, a bit different. Yeah, he's, I think there might have been something different at the confidence there he uh two weight world champion or european champion i guess you could say on cage warriors and low weight featherweight and i guess that you're gonna be confident yeah going in there and yeah it worked out it was a good run all right how would you answer when i say what gives you the confidence in your personal life experience to to be where you're at right now to be entering a max holloway fight and being like yep I'm gonna win this I'm gonna face the champion next I mean you gotta have that so where does that how does that ruin you

uh I've just been putting the graft in for like I don't know 15 years now or something so you know I've done all the the shit stuff having no money and but like were you a scrappy kid so it was when you got into into fighting as a as a hobby that it became like a natural fit yeah yeah i mean yeah i felt pretty comfortable doing it i grew up around like fighting and you know my dad fighting and he was a doorman and there's some other dodgy stuff like that so uh oh so you're so you're like i've seen dad knock a few fools yeah yeah yeah and one of my favorite times was when my dad was, he was a strongman and he retired. Was he really? Yeah.

We'll talk about that in a second. Yeah, for sure. That's amazing. His dad's Butterbean, by the way. Butterbean. Butterbean, America's hero. Don't besmirch Butterbean. He is a hero.

So he got into strongman, he retired strongman and to get healthy and lose the weight and get fit, whatever, he got into MMA. And get healthy and lose the weight and get fit, whatever, he got into MMA. And this is like... What year is this? He was probably in his 40s, so I was a kid.

It must have been about at least 15 years, 16 years. A while then. Yeah, it was, what was the show in, he was trying to get on

Cage Rage in London. Cage Rage, yeah. That's where the, that's where the Cyborg and Mellow Manhoof pulled up his legs. your dad's a badass. That's where the Cyborg and Mellow Manhoof were.

Wait, so your dad's a badass. Was he doing a full-time job on the side? Yeah, he was a truck driver, a doorman, doing the old

cage fight. Dude, factory town approved. Factory town approved. He felt the aura. He was like, oh, I'm comfortable. I don't know about that.

But yeah, so there's this game we used to play if you're doing in America, we call it Kirby. We don't know about that. But yeah, so this game we used to play, if you do it in America, we call it Kirby. So in the street... We don't have Kirby. So there's two streets. In a road, you have a curb this side and a curb that side, right?

So one guy stands on one side and the other guy stands on the other. Is it going to end like American History X? Where's the story going? No, no, no. It's not like that. So you have a ball and you basically have to hit the curb and the ball bounces back to you. That's a point, right? So you hit the curb and the ball bounces back to you. That's a point, right?

So you hit the curb. That's creative. That's curvy. So then if you hit the curb, you get a shot from the middle. That's a curvy. I was playing curvy in the street and my ball kept bouncing and it hit this guy's window. I was like, oh, sorry. And he came out and took my ball.

And just kept it? Yeah. I tried to grab it and he slapped me. This guy hit me. A neighbor? Yeah, yeah. And he hit me and I was like, it's like oh you're fucked i was like you're fucked like my dad happens to feast on fools like you yeah it was more like i knew i was like oh you idiot i like i felt bad for i was like i had to go tell him because my ear was all red like my face

was all red here with this guy to slap me i went home but that's like what happened i was like go around the corner hit me he. He's like, right. I worry we're practicing MMA. Like, he wanted to try his moves out. So he scored like a... I think he scored like a double leg on him. And, like, ground and pounded him a bit. I was just like, what the fuck?

And you watched your dad beat up neighbors? His dad on the street corner played Kirby with this guy. Took him right down and just started... His dad is the kids in Step Brothers who made Will Ferrell eat the dog poop. The white dog poop. He's seen me, yeah. And I took my ball back. I was like, told you.

Yeah. And I just went away. Told you. Okay, so you just. So, boy, you must have had an awkward Halloween every year, huh? Yeah. Dude, is that the best explanation ever to like what fuels your confidence to be able to do this for a living?

He's like, yeah. Yeah, dad beat the fuck out of the neighbors when they got sideways with me. So your dad was a strongman competitor? Yeah, he was a strongman. Dude, first of all, I love fucking strongman. Oh, really? Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm a big deadlift, and obviously strongman's a little bit more

because you've got to carry weird stones. So was your dad ever carrying weird shit like beer kegs and stones in the house? We've got Atlas stones in the garden. Holy shit! Atlas stones are the big rounded stones. Yeah. That was borderline, you know, Pueblo-y celebration.

I enjoyed that pure joy coming out of you right there. So my dad used to put on events as well. And then when he was in gym, he had like a lock up with his private stuff, his weights and like frames for the cars to carry and all that. It got shut down so all the stuff came home. We have an Atlas stone. It's a 140-kilo Atlas stone. Fuck.

What is that, like 250 pounds? No, it's closer to three. Yeah, it's over double. And it's like an ornament with the plants. So my mom just rolled it in there. And it's with plants, and there's a Buddha next to it. My brother lifts it. He can lift it.

But here's the thing about strongman. They have strongman like, strongmans like MMA where they have like weight classes. But the very best strongman are all giant humans. Yeah.

Is your dad a giant human? Nah, he's, so he's my height, but he used to be, I can't think in pounds. So in stone, he was about 20 stone, which is over 200,

maybe like 280 pounds, 300 fucking big 300 pounds so you used to walk around i just thought it was a big fat guy like uh this fat man juiced off his head as well i'm like i've watched you like sticking needles in his ass like that what are you doing he's like steroid son yeah obviously wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait this is the game we used to play as a kid me and my brother that's the best ever right in the Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, Please so I would be driving back from somewhere and my brother would be like the attack me like kick it kick the seat Keep the see it like nah I'm not gonna do it. So kick the seats. I'm like, fuck it I'm like if I don't do it, my brother's gonna beat me up. So then my fuck it

I'm like kicking the seat kick in the seat. I can see where they're just going red like red. He's got ready I stop it stop it. My brother's good carry on fucking carry on Kick next you just stop the car in the middle of the road like drag me out snap snap snap Stop it. Stop it. My brother's going, carry on, fucking carry on. Next, you just stop the car in the middle of the road, like drag me out, snap, snap,

snap, fucking roid rage. My brother's dying laughing, like, like it's my fucking, like I'm an idiot. Okay. Yeah.

We said that was the game just to get the, I'm glad you've had positive role models in your life. Yeah. That's kind of, but the funniest thing is now he's like,

he's retired. Like he takes, uh, he says, he says it's TRT, but it's, uh, models in your life. He's the best kind of male robot. But the funniest thing is now he's retired. He says it's TRT, but it's self-prescribed. He's just blasting and cruising. Yeah, there's no measuring or whatever. There's no doctors. He's just like, yeah, I'm on TRT. And I'm like, that's not how it works, Dad.

Dad, you can't be pulsing every day. Yeah, but he's like the calmest, friendliest, softest. I feel like I slap him in the face. Why'd you do that? Now, has he been to your UFC fights at all? Yeah, he corners me. Yeah, he's in the corner. Oh, shit. In the corner, like he has a cornerman's license?

Yeah, he's in the corner. Like he's the second or third or what is he? He just like flaps the towel about usually. Yeah. Yeah. Fraz says, shut up. Well, dude, your dad, because what does your brother do? So my brother, he's a strong man now as well. does like the flaps the towel about usually yeah yeah Francis shut up well dude your dad okay so what does your brother do so my brother is he's a

strong man oh yeah under so under 105 kilos so he's yeah yeah what's your brothers Jake Jake yeah my dad's name is named off the Jake the snake but I don't know if that's true first of all can you leave and bring your dad in here we want to interview him instead yeah It would be bad. He's like, yeah, name my son after Jake the Snake Roberts. That's incredible, dude. What's your dad's first name? Peso.

Generally, Peso. Pesa? Peso, yeah. Oh, Peso. No, like the Indiana Pesos. Oh, Peser. Peser. Sorry, it was the heavy.

This is his first time in Europe. Did you know that? Yeah, I'm going to need a translator the rest of the time here. We were at dinner last night. I was like, I don't understand their accents. This is a weird. He goes, this is a weird country. Kaser Allen is one of the cooler names of all time.

Yeah. By the way, your dad is amazing. Yeah, I'll always imagine. So is he going to travel with you to, assuming that the. Yeah. So if it's in the States, he'll still travel with you? Yeah, he comes the, if it's in the States, he'll still travel with you? Yeah, he comes everywhere, yeah.

He had a spell in prison a long time ago. Okay, this is a lot. Can we ask you how and why? Yes. Why did your dad go to prison? I don't really know. Does he know Big John Fury by any chance? I mean, come on.

We set up a fight. Big Face versus Big John. So, yeah. Because I i fought who did i fight so deep when i fought so deep i got off the plane and i had loads of calls i missed calls from uh on the way home from like the u.s and it was like more voicemails from like the commission and like nevada commission i'm like oh fuck like what's happening here like what's going on and they just wanted to like check his paperwork or something because he'd had a prison record or something. I was like, yeah, it's a fucking bit late now.

So I got home at four in the morning. You're calling me about some shit. I'm like, what's happened? What have I done? It was him. They wanted to question him about his time in prison. Do you know why he went to prison? Aside from being awesome.

So he was a doorman all I know is he got stabbed and I think the guy got beat up pretty bad yeah he got polished off yeah

yeah so if he was here telling stories you'd think he did like a life sentence or something I think he did like

five months but he's got so many stories I gotta tell you five months in prison though I don't want to do five months. He's got so many stories. I got to tell you, five months in prison, though. I don't want to do five months. He starts telling stories like, Dad, you were in for a fucking holiday. Like, what are you on about?

Like, you're going on like you did 10 years. Like, come on. Dude, he must have so much fun being in your corner at this level when the crowd's going insane. Like, what is it like for him watching his son do this? What do you think it's like? I think he gets pretty nervous, to be fair. Yeah, he's... You can never shut him up.

Like, he never stops talking. That's why I love having him in the corner. Not for his... Not if he's watching, I offend him. Not his fight advice, but like... Dad, not for your breakdowns. Just for your energy. I don't know if you could relate

or, like, you've ever been in a situation, but, like... Let me assure you, I cannot relate. So, like, when you're, you're backstage, you're warming up, it's like you have a room with, sometimes it's like a small room with a few mats. You've got a few people warming up and there's a bit of nervous energy and it's awkward. It's like one guy's fucking over there screaming

and kicking the wall or something and some guy's just come in with his face hanging off because he lost and you're like, all right, cool, I'm on next. The thing with having my dad there is like he always has a story he always like whatever the situation he has some like story whether it's true or not like just a funny story and it just always has something to say and it just breaks that tension of being backstage in a bit like you know sit there like building the nerves and all that shit. All right.

When did he start being in your corner? Has he always done it? No. Actually, first, so he has a lot of my amateur fights been in the corner. Some of the earlier pro ones. And then he wasn't after I went away to Canada. And then when I fought Mads Bernal, my coach, his flight got stuck somewhere. One of my coaches, he got stuck,

his plane got, there was a storm or something. And I was like, fuck it. My dad looks the same. So for the UFC, they're like both ball blokes. I was like,

you can just be in there. So we don't have to change the paperwork or whatever. You can just be in the corner as him. And, but the funniest thing is he came on stage and, for the way, and he came on stage,

you know, he shakes his hands like you know good luck whatever he put he just said to my dad

good luck coach my dad's like I'm not the fucking coach what are you about so I was like and Dave's just like what I was like dad

shut up he's like you're the coach you just snuck him through no problem yeah yeah dude if I ever get the balls to pull a Oscar Willis

or E. Casey Lydon and take a you know what do they call that company the rags to Riches? I think Ulta? Yeah, Dork to Champion mode. And I take an amateur fight.

Here's my dream corner. You're going to be my head trainer for the X's and O's. All right, sir. Coach Latorre Gonzalez for encouragement. All right. And Coach Pacer Allen for story. I think you need Big John Fury in there, too. Big John.

Yeah, yeah. He did scoop an eyeball out at one point. But, dude, you're telling those stories explains to me exactly how you got here. I always wonder, how do quiet guys who are, like, you know, seemingly unassuming, how do they get into MMA? Oh, right. Now I know. Yeah. He must have shown you.

Do you remember the first time you saw MMA? Yeah, he had all the old DVDs. Actually, funnily enough, the first time i saw mma so my very first coach uh mark nixon his name is he had uh he was really into like valley tudor and like he loved it and there was there was nothing like nothing around like that and i remember he was doing like drills he was holding the pad there and doing like soccer kicks and stuff like that on the floor and he gave me this dvd or it might have been like a vhs it might have been a VHS. It might have been a videotape. And it was Vandalay

doing his old fights and some little Y-fronts. Fucking headbutting people and soccer kicking people. I was like, this is the shit. I was like, this is the one. And that little net under the bottom rope that you have. Remember Pele Landy Johns was the big guy for that?

I loved it. I was watching it and I was like, yes. He got someone to clinch and he was headbutting. His was watching and I was like yes he got someone to clinch and he was headbutting his head split and he was like that's awesome but I've never

headbutted anyone in my life but I just thought that was cool we need to go out drinking with Arnold Allen we'll see some headbutts we need to go drinking

with Pacer Allen thank you so I'm ready to by the way induct you into my fledgling MMA promotion called Factory Town MMA because you know we are from the same ilk, just different hometowns. But part of that lifestyle is I'm the king of gas station food cuisine to the point, Arnold, where at 44 I've been diagnosed with fatty liver disease, non-alcoholic, which basically means if I continue to eat hot dogs from Crumplin Farms

that I'm going to die soon. I heard on social media that you, in your own way, in your own area, love to eat the shit out of a gas station. Yeah, we heard you eat garbage. Is that true? No, it's not true. You fancy it on like a, I need to get off here, I'm going to go get off with some hot dogs.

Tell me about some British gas station food. Petrol station. The thing I will say... That is a cool phone call. Anyway... Oh, yeah. This is my... I got this on Arnold Schwarzenegger's... I don't know if you can see it or not.

That's amazing. I got it on Arnold Schwarzenegger's website. So the camera bump is the rocket launcher. Yeah, so... What I've learned from being in America and being in Canada and whatever, you're like, gas station food is shit. Like, it is shit.

Here, it's at a higher standard. So when I post something like that. Okay, that's a bold statement. I've had prawn chips at Crisp. They're not that money. Yeah, but you don't have to have prawn. That's the shit. If you go to M&S, Marks and Spencer's, that's high-quality shit.

You go there, it's going to cost you an arm and a leg. Just ask the cab driver. Some place, S&M, wherever. I'm sure you'll end up in a... I come back. I was in Canada for a long time when all the COVID shit was going on. I was there. You were in Canada during their COVID lockdowns?

Yeah, so they had all the lockdown and then I overstayed my visa a little bit and now I'm back. So I come back. His life is one long misdemeanor, and I'm here for it. It's nothing ever too serious. It's just a series of slightly, you know. I tweeted some stupid shit.

I was like, the best thing about being home is the three-pound meal deals. All right, walk me through what that is. When you order that, when you order that, what are you eating? Alright, so it's typically a sandwich, crisps or a chocolate bar or anything, and a drink. That's it. What kind of sandwich though?

What do you mean, what kind of sandwich? There's lots of sandwiches. Is it a feces rock salt sandwich? It's always different. There's so many options. You've got your fucking chicken baker, they do the seasonal, you've got the Christmas one with like the turkey trimmings. It does sound alright, but I've got so many options. You've got your fucking chicken bacon. They do the seasonal. You've got the Christmas one with the turkey trimmings. It does sound all right, but I've got to tell you, I'm like, I've got to say British food. Okay, but he sounds like he's describing a Wawa or a Sheetz in the States. It's like an elite gas station.

Have you been to a Wawa? No, no, no. Oh, motherfucker. This is like if they put a deli of the future inside a gas station, and on the computer screen, you can add anything. So in a Wawa or a Sheetz, you go in there and you can buy all your Mountain Dews and you can pay for your gas,

all that stuff. But in the corner, they have like a, you order, made to order screen and you pump in rice bowls, hoagies, wraps, you name it.

That sounds good. Order, made to order and then they make it fresh and then give it to you. And if you go to a Sheetz, everything there has a sh sound so you can order a schmuffin or a schmagle. You can add it to you. And if you go to Sheetz, everything there has a sh sound, so you can order a schmuffin or a schmegel. You can add anything to

anything. You can crossbreed different cities. I know, but they are money. Alright, so you... So next time you come to the States, we gotta do the Arnold Allen Wawa or Sheetz tour. Cumberland Farms is how I get down. But there's like five Cumberland Farms.

This is a problem as well. Since I've been off the... I stopped eating pork right and the meal deal selection the gas station selection has fucking plummeted

England is like back everything's pork everything good is pork so since I've come off the pork it's been pretty shit alright

every man has a vice in life some people's are worse than others as I look around our gross staff. Tristan might stab you and eat you. It's possible. You know, Luke

is a pretty presenting, decent human being. He's a great dad and a great citizen, but he vapes like a white trash piece of shit. What is the vice that's threatening to get in the way of your fight career that you've got to keep down?

Is it the gas station food or what is it? Is it the trashy women? Do you vape? Fuck no. It is white trash. I have a game I play actually. Is it Kirby? No.

You know when you see someone driving, you vape so you probably do it. They always have their window cracked like two inches. there. We see him getting a bit angry in traffic They get that yeah, I do that yeah, yeah Anytime you're in traffic you see a cloud beep any time then you true the more I beep the more smoke comes out the window So I sit in traffic just gonna be So his vices shit starting. He's basically the dick behind me trolling. Yeah Yeah, yeah through my day

I started doing it because I was driving so much training I was so bored and I see someone driving like big cloud of smoke I have some of that another cloud but how hard is it to live the Spartan lifestyle ahead of a fight to be like I have to say no to this

dessert or this anything because I am focused on victory. It's fucking easy. I don't really have any vices. I don't drink, don't smoke. What is the hardest part about your life? And what I mean by that is the life you've chosen. So training, there's traveling, there's fighting, which is dangerous.

When you think about it day to day, what would you say are the biggest, most difficult parts about it? It's a pretty fucking good life. I've got not a lot to complain about, to be honest uh not getting injured so i could train more um yeah i don't know just uh the hardest part i like doing i go like mountain biking i do a bit off-roading in my my truck and that but just not injuring myself doing that so i go like mountain biking there'll be jumps and stuff and i kind of look at it like i can jump that but i might break my leg I was just like the cowboy serrani thing right yeah yeah I'm just gonna go ride some great white sharks with some saddles that I made I'm like I don't know if that's a good idea someone told me

they put it in his contract like uh yeah they did fight week or something yeah it's like atv shit like that he can't do yeah he's retired no skydiving until like after the fight yeah so that that was that's nice probably not as extreme as him. But the week before I fought Sadiq, I was in Montreal. And I didn't know they had this thing. It's French-Canadian. They call it dégel. And it means defrost.

When the ice is defrosting, the mud in the mountains becomes a swamp. Do not go up there. So I'm like, whatever, fuck that. I'm going up the mountain. What do these Canadians know about Canada? I was like, I just finished my last sparring of camp. I'm going up now. I'm taking my Jeep and I'm driving off road up that mountain.

And yeah, I nearly rolled down a cliff basically. And I have a few photos hanging out. It doesn't actually look that bad in the cliff, but I was with my missus and she was like crying and thinking we're going to die and all this. And I had get some like guy to come this is a tuesday in my youth yeah and i'm just sitting on the cliff in my jeep like looking down thinking i fucking hope i don't roll down there i probably have to pull out this fight and uh you're probably dead yeah i rolled down that hill also that rusty old jeep yeah probably the yeah luckily i didn't roll down

and the fight went through all right best, best and worst things about Canada. Oh, it's going to be... Now, let me ask you, when you were in Montreal and you stayed there, did you see Toronto? Did you see Vancouver? Yeah, I went to Toronto and everyone was really nice. Toronto, yeah, there really is a Toronto... That's not a joke.

No, no, no. The Canadians are actually very friendly. So the weird thing is when I first went there, this is my missus she's Canadian as well she made a joke like she's from where? Montreal

so she's nah nah she's not she's a she's a nah she's a yeah I don't feel that good

little rapey sound on that no no no I'm saying like French like people she speaks French but she's not not like that

but when I first went there it never clicked in my mind why George St-Pierre talked the way he did. I thought they were all like English in Canada. And then someone said, she said to me, she was like, why the fuck do you think George speaks the way he speaks? I was like, huh.

They've been under us too. You didn't know the Canadians. No, the first day I was like, I was on the way there. And someone goes, what if they teach in French? I was like, what do you mean teach in French? It's fucking Canada. I was like, it's going to be English. It's not Canada. It's like the queen's on the way there and someone goes, what if they teach in French? I was like, what do you mean teach in French? It's fucking Canada. I was like, it's going to be English. It's not Canada.

It's like the queen's on the money. It's like, what are you talking about? Yeah, fortunately they don't, but I didn't know. But yeah, the French is probably, I have a lot of like Quebecois friends and French friends. That's probably the worst thing about Quebec, especially being English.

The worst thing about it is all of my French friends. Yeah, sorry. The best part about Canada? The mayonnaise on the French fries? Poutine, a little overrated. Yeah, no, I will go with that. Another worst thing, the gas stations, they have greasy bags of cheese curds at the checkout. You go pay and it's like, as if it's sweets and candy. It's like a greasy bag of cheese withds at the checkout. You go pay and it's like as if it's like sweets and candy

and stuff. It's like a greasy bag of cheese with some paprika on it. What the fuck is wrong with you guys? French Canadians do know how to fuck around. I like that. That's that sneaky side of me that you don't trust. What was that strip club you went to in Montreal? Club Super Sex. Club Super Sex.

I'm not allowed legally to speak any more about that. Wow. Dude, I feel like we, I'm not allowed legally to speak any more about that. Wow. Wow, dude, I feel like we could have been hanging a long time ago. You know, when we met Michael Chiesa, we're like, man,

you are a proper American dirt hole and we love you. Yeah, you're a proper British dirt bag. Oh, yeah, I like Canada. It's nice. I like the winter and stuff because I like the off-roading. I like going and take the truck.

I like that. Dude, Canadian winters are fucking brutal. Yeah. This is one of my thoughts so like i said when i first got a bit of money i won my bonus i'm like i'm going to one of the big gyms i'm going to go train there it's going to be great i was trying out tri-star and uh i wasn't because france does this figure he's like i think he does it everyone says he does it to her father he might not be aware he does it but he seemed like really mean like i went there for one month yeah and i was like man was he'd make jokes he'd use me for the the demo and he's like mock me in front of the

100 people i'm like i'm supposed to cover i've traveled all the way across the world to come here and yeah treat me like i'll tell my dad on you first of all and uh i have actually a funny story with my dad uh so yeah frazz is like that and i was like okay that's weird i'm not coming back here like the end of my month was up i was like i made some friends but i ain't coming back here and he took me aside he's like uh you know we're family now like make sure you come back anything you need wherever you're fighting i'm there like i'm your man if you need me i'm there i was like i'm confused i'm like okay and then i went home and i was thinking i was looking at going like att or something and uh someone like that and then i always thought if you went somewhere like miami it's gonna make you soft you know like i end up sitting on the beach

drinking like wherever they are the mimosas and and hanging out and doing that i was like nah like canada's the way it's fucking shit it's not a shit scene but where the gym is just like industrial yeah it's not like all nice it's uh winter is fucking shit it's horrible it keeps you sort of like tough party yeah so i like that and uh i went back and he was nicer and nicer and nicer so now he's a sweetheart honestly like literally from that first session but I've had people go there and say the same thing and then they went back and he's like yeah he said we're like family now and invite me over for meals that hero Machida broke Hulk Hogan's leg the first time he tried

out for yeah I don't care because he wanted to test him so yeah tough enough yeah but uh so your way what the one thing I say with my dad someone the first time my dad came to TriStar, GSB was on the map. My dad definitely knows who GSB is. He must know who GSB is. Friars is like, oh, like, please come over. I'll introduce you to George. And my dad went up to GSB. He's like, what is it?

George said, oh, your son's doing really well. Like, maybe, you know. I am impressed by your son's performance. Yeah, my dad. And my dad was like, patting him on the back. He's like, keep working hard, mate. You'll get there. And George is like,

okay. And he just sort of walked off and turned around like, keep up, mate. You'll get there. He says that to everybody. But surely he's taking the piss.

You're fucking messing around, right? He's like, nah, who's George? You're a dick. I'm adamant he knows. He's just been, he does know. He's been in a relationship.

That's such a great bit, by the way. That's so fantastic. All right, we've had breakthrough moments. We've been lucky the last year and a half as UFC fans. Like, Juliana Pena, Jamal Hill, Poetan, Leon Edwards, where someone went from, you know, contender to, like, breakthrough world champion in an emotional way. When I watch that, I get inspired about my own life.

It's like the human spirit watching it break out. What do you way when i watch that i get inspired about my own life it's like the human spirit watching it break out what do you feel when you watch leon edwards head kick in round five when you watch jamal hill become the new champion because like you could close this calendar year with that exact same thing happening yeah i was going nuts when leon got that to be fair i was up at like four in the morning just screaming at the tv but um yeah it's uh especially with someone like you know personally, you've trained with him,

you see him achieve what your dreams are and it just makes it more attainable, you know? Like I was saying, coming from like a small village, small town,

the first time anyone remotely close to our area got to the UFC was like, oh shit, that can be done, you know? He was like from an hour and a half away.

Who was it? The first, John McGuire. John McG done. He was like from an hour and a half away. Who was it? John Maguire. He's a coach now, right? John Maguire, yeah. I know he's training out in Vegas a lot. But that was one of the first guys. There was a gym, Tsunami Gym, and they had

loads of really good guys. I don't know if you know, but Rob Olivier and Jack Mason, guys like that. John McGuire. And Joachim Hansen was there. I trained with Joachim Hansen. That was pretty cool. Hellboy.

Yeah, yeah. We had a lunch with him. He's an interesting guy. They don't talk about him. Him and Fedor are two of the guys. I mean, Fedor's obviously a different level. But two guys who were loved, who never fought in UFC. Yeah, he was a cool guy.

But he had some interesting ideas. Something about transhumanism and a chip and some stuff. All right, well, you know. But I mean, when you watch this stuff, what would it actually mean for you to close this year and become a UFC champion? Yeah, my whole thing, if I don't achieve that ever, everything I've done is a fucking waste.

I've just trained my ass off. So this is all or nothing. You're all in, yeah. Yeah, I'm fucking going to retire with some arthritic hands and some fucked up ears for no reason. So yeah, that's it. Anything less is shit.

It's everything. I love that. Dude, it means everything. I do want to ask one question before we wrap here, which is, so from the American perspective, the English are clearly football crazy, and they appear to be very boxing crazy as well.

Are they MMA crazy yet? I mean, if you're Paddy Pimley, you'd probably say yes. Yes, yes. So in certain ways, they might be. Yeah. Certain areas. See, the thing with Liverpool is if you're from there, the people that support their people there, they're so's like if you're from there the people that support

the people there they're so passionate like if you're from there you're getting support it's great like it's so good the way they back their boxes their fighters

their football team like they're all in like you could just be born in the same street they're in well every tennis yeah well like if you're

from where I'm from like I said earlier they don't give a shit like they couldn't care less. I kind of like it that way, to be honest, but yeah. Do you think with Leon becoming a champion, obviously we already had Bisping, but, like, having two British champions at one time,

would that transform UK MMA? I don't think it would make a difference in my area. I think the old ladies in the high street were still, who the fuck's that guy yeah I don't think they really I don't think they're gonna be watching the UFC

they definitely you never know like there's never been like Michael Michael obviously is very famous but he got famous largely during his

American run he was with Wolf Slayer at the time remember that Wolf Slayer but what I mean is someone homegrown who's here

who also becomes a big star here. That really hasn't happened yet. Like, Leon got the belt, and God bless him, that was an amazing thing that he did. But he's not, like, a huge star yet. Like, imagine if Paddy had Leon's ability. What would that look like? I don't know what that would look like.

Yeah, like, I think if he was champion, he'd be, like, McGregor level, isn't he? Yeah, right. It's that, I don't know if I keep bringing him up, but it's the perfect example that there would be that kind of level of fame. Someone asked me the other day about, someone introduced me at some engagement party, and he said, oh, this is my friend Arnold, he fights in the UFC.

And he's like, oh, cool, when's your last, like, you know, did you fight in the London card? He was there. And I was like, yeah, yeah. He was like, oh, you was on the Paddy Under card. I was like, wow. I was like, this is a co-main event but yeah

people don't know people don't people that don't really follow it they're kind of more football fans that follow I think they think

someone like that has got a bit of noise they assume he's the champion automatically good yeah so they were he's the champ right

no no the good part is for you not to say there's anything wrong with fame seeking good yeah yeah yeah so that they were in like they're just he's the champ right no no yeah but the good part is for you like not to say there's anything wrong with fame seeking no no there is no but if you don't want it uh you're in a pretty good spot to there's some that's going to come with it no matter i mean if you're on just stay in your hometown you'll never be stay in your hometown exactly like you don't have to really worry about it yeah but it's um leon leon for me is like the perfect blueprint he's the champion

he's famous but he's not like everywhere he's not seeking the fame one of the things when the press conference at Usman they asked him about the boxing Canelo

if he won and he shut it down and showed it out I love that I was like yeah that's so real why are you chasing that other than for money and fame,

it's like, yeah, obviously we want to get paid, but it's nice to hear someone be realistic about it. Like, yeah, I'd love the box, but I don't think I'm going to go take them boys out now. The top world weight or whatever it is. Or separate from the path you're on, separate from fighting for and winning the title, separate from fighting Max Holloway,

which is a big deal, separate from the title. Is there anybody that you're like, I want to fight that person? Before my career's over, I would love to fight that. And it could be crossover, mixing in the middle weight. I mean, you know,

it could be Conor, it could be Paddy. I mean, who the hell is it? Who the hell is your dream opponent separate from the title chase? My brother. Oh, shit. This family gets better and better right now.

Years and years of it. So it's Jake Allen. You've been calling this motherfucker out for a long time, right? Yeah, he's beaten me up for a long time. So I used to collect dragons. I used to collect pottery dragons, like porcelain dragons, when I was a kid, yeah.

And my brother, my brother, he's a dick. So he used to go in my room, and I'd be downstairs, and he'd shout, he'd shout, Moog, Moog. And I'd come off, and I'm like, oh, fuck. He's got, like, the the big one he's got the big dragon and he would just throw it at me downstairs and it would smash like he would torment me and then he'd get no more smash it you i'd save up all my pocket money i'd buy this dragon and he would smash it sounds like a bully beatdown episode yeah he's in order here so my

brother yeah dad thumbs up brother thumbs down yeah he used to torment me he used to he'd pin me down he'd pin me down he'd shave like stupid haircuts in my hair he'd spray after shaving my eyes to see if which one

you know I'm not sure any of this is legal okay so but when you got to the level you're at now did the respect change or is he still is he the older brother

yeah he's the older brother so you'll never not be the younger brother no the problem is like in an MMA fight I beat him hands down but in a street fight he fucking killed me yeah he's the older brother. So you'll never not be the younger brother? No, the problem is, like, in an MMA fight, I beat him hands down. But in a street fight, he fucking killed me. He's insane.

The older brother thing, man. Yeah, because, you know, he's got that strongman grip. Your older brother doesn't care about your achievements. No, he doesn't care at all. He's horrible. Like, he's, yeah, he's nasty, man. I wouldn't want to fight him in a street fight. Like, no way.

Does he go to your fights? Yeah, yeah, he comes. Yeah, actually, he was in the corner for the last one oh shit I gotta pay more close attention here to get that audio that corner audio so it's just Faraz

and then a bunch of guys from Suffolk yeah just my family a lot of farmers but the funny thing with my brother he's uh

if he was like in my position he would be the guy talking shit to everyone he would be the loud one cause he's always saying he's like listen they all call me up he's like I to start fucking telling everyone it's our year,

we're fucking coming. I'm like, what? He's like, tell Max Holloway he's getting it. He's like, tell Calvin Cato. This one before, he was telling me he was going to be fucked up. I'm like, shut up. Have you ever thought about unleashing either your dad or your brother full time on the MMA community? I'm thinking, next time we're here, we've got to get the whole family. Like, Tyson Fury's got a big mouth, but John Fury does a lot of it for Tommy Fury. Also, like in boxing,

Teofimo Lopez talks a little bit, but his dad just talks crazy shit. You gotta be like the guy like, oh, I don't talk like that. And then bring in your family members

and just have them assault motherfuckers. Yeah. My father would be that guy. I was worried about it when we brought him to, because it was the first time I was in the club. He might get a bit weird

because he's a bit hyped up. I'm like fuck's sake and he sort of was really respectful of the call but yeah he's always calling me like you need to fucking talk some shit like you need to start calling everyone tell Volkanovski he's getting it I'm like that's not me do you want to tell anybody on this show that they're getting it male or female in the UFC my brother well listen man I gotta tell you it's been great to have you here this is my first time interviewing you so I'm glad we made it in this kind of scenario. My man Mowgli over here. Yeah, Mowgli, April 15th, the Big Max Holloway fight.

Don't know where it is just yet. Felix the Docs. Yeah, can't wait to find out. All right, to close stereotypically, when we're talking about the UK and Ireland, I call it UK+, people don't want to join me on that. I warned him against this. You know, we're talking about Scotland, Wales, the Geordie Shore. We're talking about everything.

Where are the toughest people from? Is it like the U.S. military where they all argue Marines want to fight Navy to prove that they're the toughest? You're all fucked. British Royal Marines are pretty tough. Okay, but who are the toughest? Where do you have to be from? Is it Ipswich, England?

Does that provide the toughest? You know, Suffolk is all about farmers. I heard a guy drop the horse once with a punch. Oh, shit, dude. Okay, we're just punching horses in the English countryside now. Someone said it wouldn't like, I don't know, he was trying to train it and it wouldn't settle and he hit it and it dropped it. I don't know how true it is. It's probably bullshit.

Like if we had a tough man contest like Birmingham versus Crumlin. Bolton. You know, I mean, who's,ton. What area are those the real motherfuckers at? It's hard to say anymore. They're kind of... I don't know if there is any. He's like

the malehood in this part that got softened. Yeah. That's why the Allens are keeping it old school. I love it. Keeping it old school.

Tucked away in the cut. That's what they're doing. Damn. I gotta tell you, Arnold, it's been great to meet you. Yeah, indeed. And I can't wait to see

what happens on April 15th. I wish you nothing but the best of luck. Max, we love you, but according to Arnold and his family, you're been great to meet you. Yeah, indeed. And I can't wait to see what happens on April 15th. I wish you nothing but the best of luck. Max, we love you, but according to Arnold and his family, you're getting it. You are getting it, okay? Sorry if Jake Allen sends you any messages. Honestly, he does. He was speaking to...

Dude, he's sending your opponent's voicemails on Insta? I don't know if you're trying to wrap it up, but he asked me, he said, after the Dan Hooker fight, he said, did you guys speak after? I was like, oh, no, I saw him in the hotel after and he didn't want to talk It's fair enough. Like he had his glasses on one the guy fair enough long way to fucking get that result I get it. He said boy didn't like wish you lucky didn't speak to him enough That's that knows up. I'm gonna fucking send him a message like no respect like nothing

To you off your fucking head like what is wrong? I get it. There are levels to be in a badass Yeah, he's willing to actually tussle the street with any of these guys, right? fucking head, man. I get it. There are levels to being a badass. He's willing to actually tussle in the street with any of these guys, right? I think it's Calvin's coach, Tyson. Tyson Chartier. My brother was talking

to him after that. He was like, oh, he sent us a nice message. I was like, what? I'm like, what? I'm like, what are you on about? He's just like, yeah, he's just wishing us well

and all that. His brother's at home just checking receipts, keeping people... His bro and dad. I mean, that's a buddy comedy right there. He's insane. I'm like, fuck, man. Until they're arrested.

Until they're arrested. Yeah. Arnold, great work on everything. We'll see what happens April 15th, but I hope 2023 is a great year for you. Appreciate it. It's my favorite RST guest. Arnold Allen, everyone. Sweet. sweet