MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - Michael 'Venom' Page: "You'd Never See A NFL Player Working Another Job" | Morning Kombat RSD

Episode Date: February 28, 2023

Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell sit down with Michael "Venom" Page ahead of his fight with Goiti Yamauchi. The guys discuss MVP's BKFC fight with Mike Perry, What his future goals in fighting are and much more! You won't want to miss this interview.  (1:00) - London (3:50) - Taking a BKFC Fight (5:15) - Mike Perry  (9:55) - Changing Between MMA & Boxing  (13:00) - Celebrity/Youtube Boxing Phenomenon  (17:10) - Fighter Pay  (22:20) - Mental Toughness  (28:00) - Finding His Style  (30:50) - Favorite Knockout (32:20) - Cyborg Knockout (35:30) - David Rickels Fight (37:20) - Favorite Bellator Win (41:50) - Logan Storley Fight  (46:30) - Goiti Yamauchi Fight (50:00) - Amosov vs. Storley 2  (51:00) - Futuring Goals in Combat Sports (00:54:00) - Never Fighting in the UFC  (55:20) - Family/Heritage   (64:50) - Favorite Martial Arts Movie  (68:20) - MVP's Fight Style 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. And participate in McDonald's in Canada. What's good? It's the one and only MVP, and I'm here doing room service diaries.

Luke and Brian, I actually met them, I believe, in Vegas. You know, honestly, I didn't know who it was gonna be. When I saw them just now, I was like, oh man, cool. It's gonna be you guys. Lovely guys, love the energy. I was raised on, like, if you make one mistake in school, a mistake could just be wearing the wrong shoes and you're getting ripped the whole day. All right, here we go. We are joined by one of the most unique MMA fighters, really in the world, certainly in the welterweight division. He's got a big fight coming up, which just

got announced today. We were bouncing through London, BC, like, we can't stop in London without talking to one of London's finest. MVPzzle. MVP, Michael Venom Page, how are you, sir? I'm good, man. A pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me. We're in your neighborhood. Not really, but more or less. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Definitely, like I said, London is small.

As long as it takes ages to get across London, London in general is small. So, yeah, I go everywhere. Do you like London? Yeah, I do. There's a lot that I don't like, and that's more political talk, so I'll leave that. But in general, London is a great city. I was telling you off camera, I haven't been here in 19 years. Yeah, you said. It looks great.

Yeah. There's some cities, like, you leave, and you come back five or ten years later. It looks different. Yeah, shit kind of went to hell. But, no, London looks good. Yeah, it's always new developments and new buildings and things going up all the time. So, and there's always stuff to do here. Always stuff to do.

It's sort of a broader question, but we had an event last night. We met a bunch of MMA fans. We've been here for a few days. We talked to a bunch of fighters. It feels like MMA is big here and is doing really well, but it feels like there's so much untapped potential. A hundred percent. It's still, weirdly enough, I think what it is,

over here in the UK, they're still a bit more of a boxing country so they favor more the boxers they favor you know and even that it's weird even down to like uh sponsorship so for myself trying to get sponsorship especially on the way up it's difficult because people used to kind of turn their nose up at mma so as much as they watched it as much as they knew who i was and as much as they kind of knew a couple key fighters, it was still kind of like, ah, it's a bit too brutal for our company. So it's definitely slowly coming out of that. But yeah, it's not quite there yet. But getting the very small taste I've got of British culture here and the attitude of

people in there, they seem like it's not like they would get caught up on the stereotype of like cage fighting or anything like that. Like these Londoners feel real. They just wear it on their sleeves like this is what i'm about oh you want to fight the cage go ahead no you know what i think it's it's now that you come here now i think it is getting to that point but before you know i think people were still kind of stuck on oh it's a bit too brutal yeah and even when i speak to people now you know as much as they'll come and support me because it's me and you know i have a them, they're still like, oh man, how long are you going to be doing this for?

You know what I mean? They got all these kind of questions. So yeah, there's still slight negative air in MMA and poker. Kind of like how Luke looks at power slap. I was there a little more than slight. Yeah. A lot negative. Yeah.

Thank you, Dana. Power slap. Yeah, I agree. I think it's a joke. I can't do it, man. Isn't that insulting to the mixed martial artist? Especially with a guy like you who's got flashy offense and defense. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? Where defense is such a critical component of what you do.

Yeah, I don't get it. I see random clips that come up on different feeds on social medias and stuff. I don't understand that at all. Pretty soon they're just going to start handing each other hammers. Yeah. Just do your best. It's the toughest, yeah. So you want to be an ultimate hammer?

That's it. That's it. When you, the last time you fought here, this was the Logan Storlie. No, no, you fought here for the Mike Perry fight as well. Yes, yes, yes. So I had the bare knuckle fight, which was obviously very different. It's the first time in, I think, 150 years that they had I had the bare knuckle fight, which was obviously very different. It's the first time in, I think, 150 years that they had an actual live bare knuckle event in the UK.

You had a lot of balls for taking that fight. You had a lot of balls, man. Yeah, man. You know what? To be fair, something that, when I say grew on, not that anybody, well, a few people that I knew that was in the kickboxing world had gone and done it, and it was very undercover.

So I always used to hear about it, and a lot of fighters that I was in the kickboxing world had gone and done it. And it was very undercover. So I always used to hear about it. And a lot of fighters that I used to look up to had all done it before. And it was just their thing back in the day. So I never thought I'd ever have a chance to do it. And when the opportunity came, I was like, oh, man, I have to do at least one. I mean, it's kind of like certain people that come up in certain MMA lineages look at Valley Tudor as the real thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, that's brutal as shit too.

No, definitely. Super fucking brutal. Definitely. What was the, I mean, looking back on it, what did you get from the experience? To be fair, I enjoyed it. It wasn't obviously,

it didn't go the way I wanted it to, but I just enjoyed the, I think everybody kind of loved it as much as it was, it's definitely its own type of brutal. When you connect, you connect, you feel every punch, even if the punch grazes you, it's definitely its own type of brutal uh when you when you connect you connect you feel every punch every even if the punch grazes you it's different even an mma glove it feels very different it's i don't know my knuckles it's bony i can't even explain um you know my face my face my hands

were swollen for about a week afterwards um but it was uh it was definitely something that I just wanted to just kind of get off my chest. And when you share the airspace with somebody like Mike Perry, who comedically, I have a lot of respect for his character. I love Mike. Mike, daddy of ocean. I love that gentleman, all right? Did you grow to find any of that same love?

Because you guys had a wild adversarial that at times almost like, well, you're crazy and i respect that crazy nah i i like mike perry man it's hard not to like someone like him he just he's game he's not you know sometimes you get the guys that you know they're they're trolls but then they can't really back it up you know um he's you know he likes to be you know funny he likes to make noise and sell a fight but he's But he is about fighting. You know what I mean?

So you have to respect someone that comes in and actually backs up the talk. Dude, we got told the wildest story about Mike Perry yesterday. So we talked to... Paul Craig. Do you know who Paul Craig is? He's the 205-er for the UFC out of Scotland. Yes.

So he'll do the Braveheart thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so let me tell you the experience here. As an American, I watched it. because we saw Mel Gibson play William Wallace. But you know, it's like it's Hollywood. That's not real shit that they did. And then as an American, I didn't know anything about it, so he starts wearing that on his face for the weigh-ins and stuff. And I'm like, oh, it must have been real, because a Scottish guy is doing it, right?

We talked to him about it. Do you know where he got the idea from that? He ran into mike perry in a hotel lobby and and mike perry was like so you're from scotland huh he's like yeah he's like you know you should do you should come out with that blue face thing and so so fucking paul craig is like dude that's a brilliant idea that's all mike perry that makes sense to me that wouldn't even surprise me i was like yeah okay yeah that makes sense he's uh he wouldn't even surprise me. I was like, yeah, okay. Yeah, that makes sense. He's wild.

He's a character, man. He's a great character. Great character. He's 2% black and 98% heart. I like that. I like that. No, but he is,

and to be fair. The fight itself, tell me what you learned in terms of both the... Because he's in pro boxing. So he's done it all. For folks who don't remember, it had to go,

correct me if I'm wrong, it had to go to a sudden death round and he kind of edged it out late. Walk me through the fight. Like what happened in there from your vantage point? How did it go? So it was the first round,

usually a feeling that process. He just came all guns blazing coming in and caught me. I just made a silly mistake footwork wise. Caught me clean and just kind of just rung my bell kind of fell off fell over got back up and i just realized when i stood up i was like my legs are just not with me

right now but you had mental clarity just about just about yeah i was like yeah my legs are not with me right now i guess it's actually going to be a fight like i can't make it technical and not be able to move because i'm just going to walk into shots. Like I can't make it technical and not be able to move because I'm just going to walk into shots again. So I was like, we're just going to have to fight. And it just felt like a bit more toe to toe. I tried to kind of, every now and again, I felt like I had moments where my legs came back to me

and then it would just disappear again. Then it's like taking shots, landing shots. It was bad, technically, from my point, but I really couldn't figure any way else out just because of that early shot. So that really set the tone

for the whole fight? Yeah, 100%. And honestly, I personally feel if I didn't get caught so early, it would have gone very differently.

But even in the last round, so when they've kind of announced that, yeah, they're going to do an extra round. Did you remember that was a spec? Yeah. I remember them saying it. I was like,

it's never going to go that far. And so we get to, you know, they're like, oh, I'm going to do another round. Everyone's cheering. I've gone over to my corner.

I was like, I said to my coach, I was like, gosh, I cannot feel my legs. And he looked at me. He was like, fuck your leg. Go out there. I remember that. I remember me, he was like, fuck your leg, go out there.

I remember that, I remember that. He's like, fuck your leg, go out there. And I was like, fair enough, man. Who was this coach? Alexis, yeah. He's the head shoot fighter coach. Also a guy that's training KSI now as well. Yes, yes.

And he's trained Chisora, David Hayes, like just everywhere. He kind of likes to keep himself silent. Doesn't like the spotlight, but unbelievable coach. It's a very Luke Thomas-like reaction. Fuck you, Alex. Yeah, he's psyched. That's what I would have told you.

I would be like, get up there and fight my period. Yeah, get back in. Dude, but the end of that fight was brutal. It was awesome. It was almost too much. And I'm like, man, because I know Paulie Malignaggi did it. And you can get sliced up for good there. To be fair, I don't cut too easily, which is why I just swell.

So he had cuts all over him. But for me, I just kind of ballooned up. I've looked slightly different for about a week, but went to Carnival like the week after or whenever it was. It was good to go? Oh, yeah, I was good. I was actually worried. I was like, how am I going to?

I don't think I can go out in public. And by the end, I was icing every minute of the day. And yeah, I was back worried. I was like, I don't think I can go out in public. But I was icing every minute of the day. And yeah, I was back out afterwards. How do you make decisions now moving forward? Because you're in kind of a cool spot where you're a name fighter. You're in the title picture in your division. You could have been the interim champion right now.

Like they could have probably should have been. We'll get to that. But the whole point is you've had two pro boxing matches. You just did a BKFC match. You're 35. How do you know that you're making the right decision on what to take next, when to do it? Because when they announced the BKFC fight, I was like, I didn't even know that was legal.

Okay, let's do this. I have to say thanks to Bellator for even allowing it for both the boxing and obviously the BKFC because if they wanted to, they didn't have to let me. So having Bellator as my team, I guess, in terms of where I fight MMA, allows me to do these kind of things. I always push them a little bit,

but as long as timing works out, they're always kind of happy for me to do these kind of things but with regards to what you're saying you never know what the best thing or when the best thing is you know what the best thing i just kind of have to just go with it and see what happens i feel like um i can't say i've made bad decisions i think a lot of decisions that i've made has just been the wrong timing of things because even when i started doing the um the boxing i was genuinely gonna push i did i took i had my license down the same time as a lawrence a goalie a big boxer over here fought the same day as joe joyce and so on and so forth and you've seen all their their progression since um i had a couple of fights and then somebody complained that i shouldn't be allowed to be to

do both mma and boxing at the same time which is ridiculous because you say someone you mean i couldn't literally it was a anonymous complaint written in uh to the board so i got called into the boxing to the boxing board i got called into the boxing board they had to sit down and go we need to figure this out because you know they've complained and technically by the rules you got. And I sat there like, mate, I can just go back and do MMA. I don't need to be here. You guys can figure it out.

Sure. And let me know when you're ready. And the reason I say that's technically bad timing is because flash forward, everybody's doing boxing and now I'm getting calls left, right, and center. We need, we want you to come back to boxing. What's the good?

It's like, but I could have already been winning great like uh you know pushing for belts and stuff within the boxing world as well as the MMA and I feel competent enough to to do both um and I've sparred loads of names in boxing high level boxers and I'm sure every single one can account for my boxing ability as well. And yeah, just technically, a couple of those things happened, technically for me, was just the wrong time. Yeah, I mean, because as a businessman, which you have to be as well, the window's small, but there are moments, if you make a power move,

that could change the rest of your life. 100%. And when Jake Paul and the celebrity bubble opens back up, like you said, you become... You're boys with KSI, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. What is your relationship to KSI? He just trains at our gym. Like I said, he's working with our coach now.

I think he's a lovely guy. How long have you known him? Ever since he's come to our gym. He's been there for about just over a year now. Yeah, so I saw him. He was with him this morning training. What do you think of the whole KSI- Paul phenomenon again a few different like elements to it what stands out to you for me it kind of makes it makes sense I get why everybody

jumped on it it was at first a bit disappointing when all the boxing guys kind of jumped in and was just like giving them the platform I was like I get it if they're doing their own thing but now you guys are kind of jumped in and was just like giving them the the platform i was like i get it if they're doing their own thing but now you guys are kind of really endorsing them um but then i think that was me earlier on i get it the amount of p his following is ridiculous like okay sorry oh just yeah that there's all these kind of youtubers and stuff like when i went to the one of the shows there's guys that's just running off, this guy over here, he's like, oh man, I saw your TikTok, and then they run over that guy,

this guy on YouTube, and they're running over that guy, and I was like, I haven't a clue who any of these people are. You're getting old, Michael. I'm definitely getting old. Definitely getting old. I just don't have a clue,

but like their following is ridiculous. Like there was a family in the last KSI fight, he was in the hotel, waiting to kind of cross over. There was a family waiting in the hotel. There was a grandma, mom, two daughters and a son. And it's like 17,

like nine and six. And they were there for about five hours, refusing that. The grandma was like, I don't know who these people are. I just want to go home. Makes sense. And they had them there. I don't want to move until I see KSI. Five hours.

They were waiting there. In hope that they might see him walk past. And the mom's like, I can't get them to move. They're just, they're not. Michael Jackson level commitment. I mean,

that's like you. No, a hundred percent. It's obsessive. And then like, seeing all this stuff that's going on with the prime drinks now, that is legit crack on the road. These kids will do anything to get a prime drink and again i was

like so will they know why yeah but so i get why people are jumping on it i get because there's a lot of money there's a lot of massive following that you're going to get that comes with these guys um and for me it's a case of as mma fighters boxing fighters you, the only difference between us and the likes of the Jake Pauls and stuff is you don't know where we started. So there's guys in MMA that started as rugby players. There's guys that started as mechanics. There's guys that started as this. But they're not recorded.

They're not publicizing themselves. So technically, if they was, would people be complaining like, oh, you're just a mechanic. You shouldn't be doing boxing. If you take it seriously, any combat form, if you're taking it seriously i respect it and i'm watching these guys put in work calling people out you know winning fights i respect it the other part too about the the jake paul stuff we haven't seen the ksi side but we've seen the jake paul side the other part too about it is like it it is it reflects the actual truth of consumer preferences. And I'll tell you what I mean.

Obviously, Mayweather Pacquiao sold a lot of pay-per-view buys, an inordinate amount. But so did Mayweather and McGregor. The idea that what the public wants every time is number one versus number two, yes, sometimes they want that, and sometimes that sells well. People just like who they like, and they want to see that against someone else they like. I said this before. Kimbo Slice still has the highest-rated episodes of The Ultimate Fighter. He has the highest-rated event on CBS, and he has the highest-rated event for Bellator ever, ever. Did you know Kimbo Slice is the most popular fighter in Bellator history?

No, I didn't know. Kimbo fucking Slice. He was never going to be a world champion, but they loved him. This kind of reminds me a little bit of that. Yeah, fair enough. Yeah, fair enough. That definitely makes sense. And as you say, if you just like somebody,

you're just going to follow them regardless of what they're doing. And obviously from the KSI side, I'm seeing him sell out tours doing music. He's doing podcasts, and they're sold out. He's doing charity football events podcasts and they're sold out he's doing charity football events and they're sold out everything he touches right now

blows up like I said it's just the fan base is wild so I get it I'm seeing him do it in multiple different

you know industries and the same result so right now he's hot and the same with Jake Paul but with Jake Paul I kind of

after regardless of that the antics and stuff because that's just him selling fights I kind of have to regard it so that the antics and stuff, because that's just him selling fights, I kind of like what he's talking about with regards to the MMA fighters being paid well and stuff. It's something that I'm an advocate for. Why do some fighters get mad at him for that? I don't understand that.

That doesn't make sense to me, because he's technically doing you guys a favor. If he is successful in making that that happen then everybody that's in the sport gets paid better so why would even if he doesn't mean it and i don't know what level of his robin hood thing is like pure and real or just yeah you know it makes sense to be dana's enemy either way you can people can benefit from the change that can come when somebody that famous enough is speaking out 100 and you know obviously you've seen with the uh francis and garner and what's happened there, it's just disappointing.

Things like that I think just shouldn't happen. You know what I mean? You guys are as a show. What should have happened there? Because Francis, like Deontay Wilder was even calling out Francis for it. Yeah, I think everyone is now. So like, maybe it works out in the end,

but so what did you mean when you say it shouldn't have gone that way? As in, for me, you're the biggest and best champion, combat champion, because MMA for me is the toughest sport combat-wise, and you're in a heavyweight division. It's a division that everybody wants to see. Everyone loves to see two big people fighting. You win a belt and you're complaining about finances and you're complaining. That stuff shouldn't even be getting out to public it should that shouldn't

even be a story um i think as hard as we train to just get to the ufc or get to these higher shows once you get there you shouldn't still have to be struggling for the same thing i'm watching people in my gym guys that come into the gym train hard they're busting their ass because they're they're fighting on the same shows as me and once they finish their session they have to quickly get washed and changed because in the evening they got to stand on the door as a security guard and then they got to do that till six in the morning sleep for a couple of hours to then get back up and come and train with us again and they're doing that

just so they can, but they've already made it, if you know what I mean. They've made it to the pinnacle of their career and yet they're still having to do all these kind of things. And I personally think

that's disgusting. It shouldn't be, that shouldn't be the case. You'd never see an NFL player or a football player or a basketball player get to the height,

the pinnacle and have to still be working somewhere else just to keep doing what you love. You keep doing your passion. And then not only have you got to the show, you've got to the highest point of the show. You are the heavyweight champion of the world and you're complaining about finances. For me, that's just, it's a letdown for everybody I think um and I

think these kind of stories shouldn't be coming out it just it should just be like yeah no problem before you even complain about anything this is all sorted for you I don't know the the ins and outs I don't know the specifics on on um you know what he's getting exactly and maybe other potential benefits but yeah there's a lot that needs to be done better. And that's not just UFC, it's everybody. Do you feel satisfied with, we'll just ask you outright, with your treatment in Bellator? Yeah, like, I think it's, I went through a phase

and I'm not sure if some people might have seen it or not, but I had issues with them. And then they, you know, we sat down with them and they were like, okay, look, next time just come straight to us, spoke to them, and then they rectified it. So I'm'm fortunate i know not everybody's getting that treatment and it's i also know there's other fighters that have complained still in my organization but they're not as say popular as me yet so they you know they have to i guess they have to work their way up but again my point is why are you still having to hustle in the same way

once you're there? Yeah, the system's broken. Yeah, the system doesn't work. I think there should be some format where they get a little bit more help in that department. Would you like to see a union? Oh, a union would help everybody. But at the same time, it potentially could slow certain things down. So there'll be a bit of a back and forth before you kind of find you know the the balance but

yeah I guess a union just protects us and I think we've seen it with like the likes of Ariel Hawane getting kicked out by Dana White and immediately put back in just because he has support elsewhere and everybody's like yep you know if you're not if you're going to kick him out then we're not coming all right fine we'll bring him back in. It's just having that kind of support allows you to have a bit more negotiating power and it not just be one-sided, because it is. And unfortunately, there's times that I've seen,

you know, if somebody in the UFC or other shows are unhappy about certain things, you can get cut as well. So again, then potentially your next paycheck down is very different to what you were get cut as well. So again, then potentially your next paycheck down is very different to what you were getting there as well. Because they dominate the majority of the sport. So it's very difficult for fighters. You have to be careful.

You don't want to piss anybody off. And you're always starting out churning on eggshells while still hustling. Just to be there. We just make enemies. We just make enemies. Like I said in part two, it's a very difficult industry in which to be candid. Yeah, 100%.

For all the people who claim they're tough guys, but it's really not the case. Like they get very upset with words. It's kind of a contradiction, but it's true. They're tough in different departments, though. I think one thing that we don't talk about is that just the mental side of just even getting to a fight or the mental side during a fight um i've seen and i'm sure loads of people have seen it you see some some of the most amazing athletes in your gym and they just struggle to transfer that when the

lights are on yeah you know i mean the the crowd is there and lights on and all of a sudden they're like, you know, deer in headlights and they don't they struggle to get over that. I'm fortunate to kind of. Yeah, you're the opposite. Yeah, I get lifted from that environment, but not everybody's the same. Even when when the COVID stuff happened, people are like, you know, how do you think it's going to,

you know, it's going to affect people? I said, weird enough, I think we'll see better fighters come out of it cause they'll go there thinking, almost feeling like it's another training session. And they'll probably perform better than when, you know, when there's a crowd there and there's a bit more pressure. And I feel like there's a lot of people,

in a lot of sports, the same thing happened. What's your makeup? What's your background that lifts you? Cause I've seen it. It's funny, right? Like with you, it brings you alive to a degree. And you happened what's your makeup what's your background that that lifts you because i've seen it it's funny right like with you it brings you alive to a degree and you know it's funny i saw in wrestling there was a guy named kyle dake he's the only guy in um in uh in amateur wrestling in college in the united states he won the national title in college all four years but he did it in a different weight class all four years pretty impressive right

no one else has ever done that and dude when you would see the lights come on dude he was a different animal he had a twinkle in his eye but so i've seen it in striking guys i've seen in wrestling guys what is that is that a negotiation with the anxiety because we're all human so is it just like no i'm in control of this energy no i in the earlier stages i wouldn't say that at all i think I was fortunate because the industry that I was in before is like freestyle kickboxing, which is similar to taekwondo or sport karate. You once called it 630 striking. Yeah, 630, hands down. So that style is just a very chaotic industry. And it kind of reminds me of like the jujitsu world. You go in in there it's just mats just going on like six seven

mats and just everybody's moving around the refs are moving everyone's shouting this it's just very messy and i've been doing that since i was five years old so i'm used to chaos so for me i had to just learn just because of my circumstance being able to perform in chaos and it got to the point where, because these are people that I travel with and see week in, week out. So, you know, you're friends with the coaches, you're friends with referees,

you're friends with just other competitors. So I might be in an event and somebody calls my name, Michael, you know, we need you to coach this guy. Yeah, no problem, no problem. Stand behind him, coach. Next, Michael, can you referee this on this mat this guy yeah no problem stand behind him coach next Michael can you referee this on this mat

yeah no problem I jump on the mat start refereeing just get called out my name because I need to get ready to go and fight and imagine having to

just rush around doing all of that and then you've got to quickly rush get changed quick warm up jump on the mat and perform

so I had to get used to just turning on in that moment. That's really interesting to hear how those muscles got formed. That's it. I can see it now. Do you know what I mean? Yeah.

So it's, weirdly enough, it wasn't because I was able to program myself. It sounds like acting almost. Yeah. Like, and action. A hundred percent. But I had to get used to that simply because of what was going on prior to. And I always say that I think because of what what was going on uh prior to and i always said i think because of that i really genuinely i think i could have the worst day craziness happen i can crash a car

jump out the car get into the mat and still perform just because i have an on button now that i'm just used to having to just press and it's just through habit then i crossed over to the mma world and it's weird i always tell everybody watch my first ever mma fight uh just the walkout because everybody knows me for me you know dancing smiling my first mma fight i was like this i was a robot because i was shitting myself i did i i didn't like I, obviously the coaches, I think the belief that the coaches had in me and what I've seen of them, let me know that, okay, I must be good enough,

but this is not my world still. This is my first ever MMA fight. And I was dying inside and my walkout, literally, face is straight as hell. I just like, I just want this over and done with. I got to the cage and again, I'm just kind of like pacing around. I got quite a lot of like following

from the kickboxing world. You know, they're screaming my name and I'm just, I'm dying inside. I've never felt like this before, never. And the bell went and I started fighting. And I was like, the second I started bouncing, I was like, oh, this is is the same this is the same as everything literally the same button happened

as much as I had all this pressure in me it just disappeared in a second and then I had a viral knockout you know what I mean so for me

I was lucky enough to be in like grow in chaos which allowed me to kind of you know be used to it

so that's your baseline then in baseline man you can handle the moment you know how to act like a star and sell yourself but then there's levels to this and there's a level to be able to almost slow it down that's how they say in basketball they say like a larry bird could just or michael could just see the action so slow so is it because of that strong foundation that it's easy for you to jump into a zone because you're as a striker you're kind of like an artist like you can i know you care about winning more than anything at the end of the day but i know you really care about leaving your mark in the moment as an entertainer

like it's part of your mindset so like do you feel like you can almost just float in and out of the zone and things just happen so i i would say so the entertainment side of things is both i think the caribbean background um we're all very loud i would like trying to get attention like love to dance and sing and this and that so when you see my if my family's here like it's just noise like very festive oh very festive um and i guess another you know thing that i've been grown in um my when my dad used to fight in the kickboxing he was the same used to put on a show dance and stuff after kicking someone in the head. So I've seen it as well.

But then also, like I said, imagine going to these competitions and there's multiple different mats. People used to compete. So if you're fighting, even if I'm not fighting the next top guy, if I'm fighting on area one and he's fighting on area three,

I'm trying to drag as many people over to my mat right and he's trying to do the same thing within the game it was weird yeah exactly i'm gonna do some crazy kick over here everyone's like oh my god and then rush over to your mat so it that became a weird battle in itself. And it got to the point for me where I used to do so much antics that the second I jumped on a mat, the competition stopped because referees wanted to see me fight as well. They're like, time, wait. They'd all be like standing there, there'd be a crowd around my mat and I'm like, yeah, I love that. So I won. I won everything, it doesn't matter if I won the match, I won. I won everything. So that for me as well, also helped with that, that

performance side of me. And I kinda, I think just, I've spent years of people just trying to punch and kick me. Um, yeah, but you tend to create these moments and even if you don't land the moment that I watch you differently than I watch other elite mixed martial artists. So I say, I used to say this about the Cuban boxers, right? They believe in their craft so much that it's almost art.

It is art to where if there's ever a criticism ever of a Cuban boxer, it's like he's so focused on painting this picture that he should have done this instead to win the fight. They're artists. Do you walk around and feel like an artist when you're in that game? Oh, 100%. I always, for a long time forget that combat is what i'm doing it's i always forget that it's dangerous it's only when i talk to

when i say civilians like they're asking me questions about your fighting and stuff and you know i forget that punching and kicking people is not normal but i've done it since i was three years old but it's not normal so for me i'm not talking to them like oh yeah i landed this punch in their head they're like oh my god but i'm like oh no but since I was three years old, but it's not normal. So for me, I'm not talking to them like, oh yeah, I landed this punch in their head. They're like, oh my God. But I'm like, oh no, but it's a game. Like in my head, I've done it for so long, it's a game.

I used to punch and kick my brothers and sisters that all used to compete with me as well. And if I can hit them, I'm sorry, but you have no chance. Do you have a favorite viral knockout? The Pokemon ball one? I think the Pokemon ball is probably just going to be the one that is just attributed to me. Yeah, attributed to me the most. I've actually had a kid. You're the Pokemon man.

Yeah. What was the fallout from that? Because there was so many things that happened in that time. Obviously, the injury itself drew a lot of attention. That was gnarly. Yeah. I want to ask you about that in a minute. But go ahead.

The injury itself drew a lot of attention. The jump knee drew a lot of attention. And then the Pokemon celebration drew a lot of attention. And just all three of those things that obviously happened in that moment, it just went crazy. But it's weird. I get it get similar to what i spoke about earlier about how people were a bit standoffish about those things so we were we had nintendo like reach out to like i think it's um paradigm and they're like man that was we got we know we saw it it was great they're there so they're like yeah so how about

we do some work together they're like yeah but it's a bit brutal for our audience. And I was like, that's crazy. But I kind of get it. But then, yeah. So it was just a lot of noise. And I think it was a lot of fighters that maybe didn't respect me at that time started to second guess themselves. And we're like, actually, this guy might actually be a pro.

Yeah, we can fuck around and find out. that injury i want i thought about that injury like so we're talking about cyborg santos if you didn't see you cracked his skull actually in a few places at the very front right and i remember looking at the x-rays and i thought to myself i was like now the good news is a he'll be okay b this is a very rare injury in fact i don't think i've ever seen it since but i thought to myself i was like dude if this is a very rare injury. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen it since. But I thought to myself, I was like, dude, if this was a thing that was like, imagine if you got in a fist fight, you run the risk of every time that happening. MMA wouldn't be legal.

Yeah, 100%. You couldn't have the sport. This was nearly Faces of Death. We'll allow this exception. That's it. That's one of the most fucking insane injuries I've ever seen. Did you know it right when you hit it? Not at all he because he got hit and turned away from me face down yes he got kicked the mat with his yeah yeah he's kicking so he was holding his face so i assumed that i got his nose ah so i knew he was like he's a because he's kicking i'm like i know you're not

knocked out you're just in pain so i just thought yeah you know but even the sound when watching it back didn't sound like that sound like an egg being crushed yeah it was like it was like the you know hitting a home run yeah that sound just went out but i didn't hear that in that moment i just did the jump and another thing is i've landed knees before and most of the time i get a cut or i feel bruised from the meat landing the knee nothing so this must have been the perfect connection yeah yeah and like i said like one in a gazillion chance of this ever happening um yeah it was it was weird it was weird were you worried at all like i always the day after yeah because it's it's like obviously you feel for the fighter who's injured but i often feel for the guy

who fought the other guy how How does it not change? Because they're always like, dude, I didn't, like, I'm not trying to send this person home in this condition, you know? So the, because I did, again, I didn't know that evening. So my coach said he saw it because he saw him when he was walking out and didn't want to ruin my evening. So he was just like, didn't tell me. The next day, my sister sent me a picture of

the the picture that he put out uh from hospital so when she sent me the picture i started laughing because my family are full of jokers yeah so i assume that she edited the picture you guys are too deep in the meme generation here i thought she edited the picture she was like look what you did and i was like i ha ha ha, look what you did. And I was like, I started laughing. She's like, no, this is, he put the picture out. This is serious. I was like, what?

So I phoned my coach. He said he's kind of confirmed it from Paradigm guys. So we started to try to do things to raise money and so on and so forth. Cause I heard he teaches. But again, this guy's a man of all man's. One, he checked himself out of hospital, to do things to raise money and so on and so forth because i heard he teaches and um but again this guy's a man of all man's one he checked himself out of hospital even though he shouldn't have i think he flew home as well that wasn't smart it wasn't smart done it um to have the

operation uh home um and then all the money that was raised uh he gave it to um i think one of his charities he's gonna get it so he's like i don't need money and uh he gave it to um i think one of his charities he's gonna get so he's like i don't need money and then gave gave it away so much respect to him yeah as well and like i said i'm happy to hear that you know it wasn't a bad obviously it was a bad injury but in terms of what happened afterwards and he's completely fine i mean i mean that's a there may be the moment when the highlight reel of mv MVP one day is finished that sticks out first because it was so crazy. Yeah. But, dude, no disrespect to a guy.

I've always liked Caveman Rickles because he's a badass. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You did things to him that Anderson Silva did to Forrest Griffin. You know what I mean? That it was just like it was a video game and you were the controller. And, I mean, talk about in the flow, in the moment. That's it, right? Yeah, no, I definitely,

there's, you're always seeing a fight with me, is it starts off from a bit, not cautious, oh cautious, yeah, I'll say cautious in terms of, you know, I'm faking a lot, I'm moving a lot, I'm trying to read, I call it attaching strings. So I'll fake my jab to see what hand or what leg twitches for you. And that's my string that I attach to that.

So if I twitch and that leg twitches, I'm like, okay, you like to do this when I do this. And I'll do it a couple of times just to see, oh yeah, you definitely, you know, you're waiting for something when I do this. So the first minute... If you did that, I'm just going to cover in the fetal position. I'm not, you're not attaching any strings to me.

So that's what I usually do in the earlier stages, just to kind of work out what my opponent's looking for as well. You're playing marionette in your head. You're like, I can make you do this. Yeah, 100%. And then that's when you start seeing me, you know, shoulder rolling and like smiling. For me, I've attached all the strings I need.

And now it's a case of how I'm going to, which move am I going to assign to this? It's literally like Luke and, what's that game you play? Here we go. Mortal Kombat 11.

There it is. I do love Mortal Kombat. You do? MK5? You're doing it with your fingers. The thing is, I don't play any video games except Mortal Kombat.

That's it. I don't play shit else games except Mortal Kombat. Okay, okay, okay. I don't play shit else. Fair enough. Do you have a favorite Bellator win for you? Here's why I bring it up. I wonder about the Douglas Lima win, because you did lose to him the first time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then you get the redemption in the second time.

Is that your last win? I think that's pretty close, right? In MMA. I think that's pretty close, right? In MMA. I think it was Derek. I can never remember the order, but. But in any case, is that the most satisfying one to get that one back? Yes and no. Really?

Yeah, yes and no. Again, I think, I don't know if I can be hard on myself. But as much as I want, I didn't get it the way I wanted to get it. So it's a win and it's, you know, great. But yeah, I wanted and I know I can get more out of that situation. So it wasn't like a, there's been many a times where I've won fights and come away pissed, like furious at myself because I didn't do what I wanted to do. So, yeah, I mean, I got to ask what happened against Paul Daly. It wasn't the fight we thought.

Yeah, yeah. To be fair, that was quite shocking for me in terms of what the game plan that he came out. I think annoyingly. A lot of wrestling. Yeah, he turned into a wrestler that day. But I think annoyingly the potential of the million dollars made him focus more on the money than this fight this issue that we've had for however long it was so he tried to cheat his way through I was just game like let's fight let's just settle yeah it was like an the chick's hot.

So yeah, that was annoying for me. Personally, and I never like to even make excuses, but I think we're far enough away now. But I'm trying to think the timing of it. I believe it was like three or four months before my father passed away. And it was weird because my coach even said to me, even after the fight, I was trying to find any reason to pull you out, but you were doing everything right in training.

In which I said to him, the only reason I was doing everything right in training is because that was my piece. Cause if I had to go home, my mind was just going crazy. So I was in the gym more training and doing everything right weird thing is second i got to the fight i had nothing in my head i got there bell rings and i was blank then he starts wrestling and i'm like oh i know this move

don't worry and then he takes me down i'm like okay and i can almost hear myself thinking step by step okay what do i need to do now and you can't be that slow in a fight right it has to be reactive yeah it has to be reactionary um and i just scraped uh a win and i think it's more to do with the last round or first round he decided to just run which was annoying but stupidly that gave me the round because i think i only landed like two like a punch and a kick but he didn't do anything and he was on the back foot so that he kind of gave a round away then kind of made it back up with a lot of the wrestling uh we had a couple even rounds and then the fifth round he made a mistake and I ended up taking his back and then landing a load of shots and I basically I finished uh the fifth round on top so he gave me a round he gave me the fifth

round I only had to win one round in between that um I can't remember what round they gave me um but yeah I felt like the game plan he came for was just stupid he should have just tried to strike like you put your best foot forward. But for me, that also shows how intimidated he was of me. I don't mean, like, scared of me. I just mean, like, worried about me landing a flashy knockout or knocking out the stop. Your good thing was the million.

He didn't want to get memed. He didn't want to get memed, but he also just wanted to just sneak the, go focus more on the money. And, again, disappointing for a lot of people, including myself. I wasn't in the right mind frame, but the fact that I won that fight shows me that if he actually just fought, he probably would have knocked me out. You think so? Because, well, the way I was, how I feel about how I was in that fight.

Oh, I see. My mind wasn't there. So technically, if he just put his best foot forward, the likeliness is he probably could have just won. And this game is so unfair, and I'm sure you feel that as a public figure. Win or lose, people coming at you, but it's like you beat Paul Daly

and you get criticized for, you know, you got lucky or you didn't deserve it, and then you fight for the interim title. Yeah, and it happens all the way around. And, you know, from your game plan to how you defended against Logan Storlie to, you know, you got to. That was here in London, correct? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You get taken down, but you get back up.

You win the striking moments. That's a different scenario because it comes down to judging criteria, which I feel like is all over the place. Yeah, definitely. From judges to media members to fighters. No one really knows exactly what it is. I mean, I felt like you took that like a gentleman and a sportsman, but that's the game, right? You could be the interim champion right now,

and it came down to judges' interpretation of whether he was active in the guard, which I don't think Logan was when he took you down. I agree with you. For me, this is the side that I guess people haven't seen of me is, like I said, when I was in the kickboxing world, I used to get my ass kicked week in week out we'll drive three hours down to Manchester and drive all the way up to Scotland and drive to this place and that place every single weekend we were somewhere and I'm fighting all day or I get there and it's knockout so you get there first fight lose and I have to sit down

and just watch everybody all my brothers and sisters still fighting and then I got to watch the adults going because the kids went first and we have to sit down and watch the adults

and you know we start the day starts at 7 of us getting picked up in the morning drive all the way 3 hours down to our competition

starting at 10 and then we're there till 9, 10 and have to drive all the way back this is every weekend and seriously those guys that I'd, 10 and have to drive all the way back. This is every weekend. And seriously,

those guys that I'd get there and every time I saw them, I was like, shit, man. I'm just going to get my ass kicked. And that was for at least four or five years as a kid, but four or five years. And I think as a kid, it was difficult,

especially I think a lot of kids nowadays are too impatient. I don't think anybody would have stayed. I think I stayed just because it was a family thing. you know we're driving all the way up you know feeling good get there i lose everybody comes back with medals on their neck i don't know i'm sitting there like this and i'm just hearing clink clink those moments grind everyone's like slick rick yeah my brothers and like my brothers and sisters like my older brothers sisters they were really good from young and they would always get place.

My sister was really good. My brother was really good. A lot of the adults, we had a team called London Predators. They were unbelievable. People used to get scared just seeing you in your uniform. They did,

everywhere we went, made noise, but just not me. Bro, do you watch Karate Kid like the TV show oh yeah I think it's getting

a bit same-ish now but I still watch it I mean I don't watch it because I don't like I don't find the lives of teens interesting but short of that I wondered if you felt

like a little watching it this guy loves the lives of teens Tyron Woodley plays Sensei Odell it's a great role there's a reason why Romeo and Juliet

is Shakespeare's worst work don't give a shit about the last two. You're saying Romeo would have ended up waiting in the diner that I go to? Yeah, for the waitress.

She had her day, though, and in her day, whoo. No, the spirit of my question, though, which I said incorrectly, was like, you get villainized

when you win a close fight people didn't love, and then you fight great against Logan and could have actually won, and people are like, that might be the best performance of his career did you think you had

won and in the moment yeah i did before they announced yeah and my coach was telling me kind of like letting me know how things was going on i knew it was going to be close but in my head as well i was like he hadn't done enough as well even like when i was in like dangerous positions like even i was talking to him during the fires like you can like, you can do better. Your face was not marked. I wasn't yet. Nothing, nothing. And it's weird because even,

I don't know how he feels about, I haven't spoken to him again afterwards, but there's pictures of him and like videos of him. And he, he looks so disappointed. Again, I've been disappointed winning, but in a different way,

not because it was close because I've made mistakes, but I've, you know, I still got a knockout or something, but I'm just disappointed in a couple of things that I could have done better. Him, he just seemed very, even his speech afterwards was like, well, what do you expect me to do? It's MVP. I'm not going to stand in front of it. Like he, he kind of lost his shit. But yeah, for me, I'm not,

I'm not shy of losing fights. You know, I'm, I'm good at what I do, which is why I win more than I more than I lose but a loss is a loss. Obviously, you grew up in that. That's just the environment and amateur wrestlers say it when they went to tournaments

all the time, you know, I got used to losing, you have to get used to dealing with them. Dude, in the sports where the best fight the best,

like, dude, the best lose. Like, I'm sorry, they just lose. And it's just, you are the better man

on this day. It doesn't mean I can't beat you. Right. It just means you, today, you are the better man. People who don't watch the mean I can't beat you. It just means you today, you are the better man. People who don't watch the other combat sports where there's lots of competition all the time,

they don't understand. Like, do you look at Jordan Burroughs, like the most decorated American wrestler ever? Dude, I've seen him get absolutely mollywhacked by some of his audience. It just is inevitable. A hundred percent. So if there was any question that MVP's desire to win a title

was stopped at all with the tight loss to Storlie, you're coming right back against Goichi Yamauchi. March 10th. March 10th, San Jose. And for people that don't know, there's the two fights in the Grand Prix that are going to be in there. Usman Nurmagomedov is going to take on Benson Henderson. A lot of interesting fights up and down that card. Now we add that fight to the card.

So look, he's coming off a very impressive knockout. Very impressive. Was that Neiman Gracie? Yes, which I did not think he was going to do. But he also does, like, fun shit. These are two guys that do fun shit that are coming together. And, oh, by the way, it's probably a number one contender's fight. So are you thinking, like, man, we can make some fireworks

and I can get back to the title here? Yeah, so, again, just I always say anybody that thinks I'm thinking like, man, we can make some fireworks and I can get back to the title here. Yeah. So, again, just I always say anybody that thinks I'm like, you know, lost interest. After losing to Douglas Lima, I fought five times. And after every single time, I'm like, I want to fight again. I want to fight again. I want to fight again. I was just calling them out.

They wouldn't give it to me. I was like, cool, give me another fight. Like, immediately. For five times in one year, just to get back to what I needed to do. After that fight, I was like, when am I fighting again? Because I'm trying to get back.

Same attitude. They were like, unfortunately, we don't have the space on the shows that we have. Come in, it's not going to be a little while, which is why they gave me the opportunity to fight bare knuckle, just to kind of, because they know i'm just going to be sitting there bugging bugging them every day so like okay let's let him do something um you know while while we're sorting stuff out over here now it's time for me to get back and it's the same attitude it's going

to be different i kind of not like i did it i didn't expect him to knock him out like that but i kind of did expect that both their two jujitsu stars to cancel each other out. And it was going to be more of a striking thing. And there's a lot of stuff that I've seen with Nima Gracey. I don't rate his striking.

He kind of goes, he's aggressive and like throws big shots, but it's just very predictable. It's not, there's no real combinations and things that put together well, in my opinion. No panache. Yeah, no panache. But so it didn't shock me.

I was shocked at a knockout, but it didn't shock me that he won the fight. But, dude, he stood there and, like, he head-butted Neiman Gracie's punches on purpose like that and then polished him off. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dude, this is a guy that fought, correct me if I'm wrong, Yamauchi has fought a 145. Yes, exactly. So he's knocking out a true one. Neiman Gracie's not the biggest one-seven here I've ever seen, but he's a true welterweight.

He's a big guy. He's a true welterweight, yeah, 100%. And he can take a punch, too. He can take a punch for a while, too. Who, Yamauchi? No, Gracie. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's a tough guy.

I was impressed. I was surprised. No, definitely. And the thing is, I'm sure he's got the most submissions in bellator yes he's got the most in bellator history that's right um so he's yeah like he said he's that's where he's gonna be best with neiman gracie it probably smart for him to be like there's no reason for me to see who's better at jiu-jitsu. We can do that at the mat somewhere else. Here it's about winning the fight. And yeah, that's why I thought it would cancel out.

It seemed more like Neiman wanted to kind of take him down and he was just being defensive. But we kind of have a final four now because if whoever comes out of you and Yamauchi and we're going to get the rematch now, the unification with Yaroslav Amosov, the unbeaten champion, and of course, Logan Storley,

maybe with your interim belt, depending on which side of the line you're on. Who comes out of that fight? We've seen it already, and that fight was really good the first time around. The first one was three rounds, though. It was three rounds. Just three rounds.

And I don't want to, like, Amosov's been off for a long time, and he's been doing things that are different than training for fights, and we respect that, but, like, we're asking him to come right back and fight Logan Storlie.

How do you sort of handicap this one? I think Logan might have a slight advantage. From their first fight, to be fair, Amosov defended very well because I'm sure it was like

something ridiculous. Like he only got taken down three times? Not even. I think it was twice. of like 14 attempts yes so he knows how to defend but it did burn him out yes um so what we're saying is in the fourth and fifth round can does Logan still have the energy to keep shooting right Because we've seen after three rounds that he was dead as well. But I think both of them were. So it's a difficult one to call.

You're 35. You've probably got some time left to do some good work. What do you want to do? What's important to you? What do you want to achieve with the time you have remaining in some of the best form of your career? I do want to box again. Probably with gloves on this time.

Mike, you're getting a taste for it, right? I've got to say, I thought you were going to win that one. But then when Mike Perry edged it out, I was like, okay, here's what worked against you, right? Dude, that ring is so small. A guy like you needs room to duck and dodge and move and pivot. You just had no room. There's a circle. It's two.

It's not edges. It's a circle, but the ropes don't go all the way back to the edge of the circle. So the platform itself is actually quite big. But then it's like a, let's say if this is the edge of the platform, the ropes start here. Yeah. So it just, when you actually get in, you're like,

oh shit, this is kind of tight. So yeah, it definitely didn't favor me in that moment, but I would never use that as an excuse. I know if I was to do that again, I know I can figure that out. That's not.

So there's not like going to be a three fight series with Mike Perry, one real boxing, one BKFC, one MMA. I like that, though. That'd be kind of fun. I do like that. They'd be good fights every which way. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's what I'm saying. He's game every single time. Okay, but when he asked you what else you want to accomplish, you win this fight, you could be fighting for the full title. Is that still the day one? We mentioned we talked to Paul Craig, and one of the big things he told us was like, or who said it?

Was it Arnold Allen who said it? Yeah, Arnold Allen was like, if I don't win a title, everything I've done is a waste. He's a great fighter. He's a great fighter. But also, I just don't agree with that. As a spectator, I don't agree. I personally don't agree,

because I think, unfortunately, people do look at your medals and your accolades that you do get on the way that justify how good you are. But then you have the exceptions. But if you have people that just look at the sport and the talent in football, soccer, there are players that, unfortunately, when they went to specific teams then the teams just didn't win but they themselves transformed that team and that person is an unbelievable player but because he doesn't have all the medals and the things to go along with it people are like oh no he's definitely better because he's got you know five champions leagues and this and that and i don't i don't agree with that. I think you can, if you can,

if you're just watching and paying attention to talent, you can, you can see talent. But for me, a hundred percent, win this fight. I definitely want to belt, you know,

I think it's, it's nice to be able to just say you, you've achieved. So that's the goal. And like I said, I would like to also lean into boxing again. I would love to take it seriously, though, without people complaining about me.

Just go in there and actually push to try and get some big fights in boxing as well. You're one of the more interesting fighters who never fought in UFC. I wonder how you feel about that. It doesn't seem like it was really ever necessary for you. Some guys it would have been more necessary for than others. You know, Michael Chandler didn't go to UFC until like the last chapter of his career. He's made a lot of it. He spent most of his time in Belter.

How do you feel about never having competed there? I don't see it as anything big. Again, as you said about decisions, it was a decision that I made a lot earlier that, you know, what I'm getting here um and you know me supporting this show as well was important to me i feel like i was making enough noise uh myself um there are a hundred percent there's always fights i always look at that like oh man it'd be it'd be nice to fight against this guy and try my skills against this guy.

So there's definitely fights I guess I would have liked to have made over there. But I think it's just part of my journey is what it is. I want to make the mistake because I saw a picture with you with Israel. I'm going to say his last name wrong. Adesanya. Adesanya.esanya so I thought he was and that was the weekend

he walked out for the Okoli fight was it Anthony Joshua and somebody else I forget the third one just those two just those two for some reason

I also thought well he saw MVP so he must be Nigerian as well you are not right your family is from where Jamaica and Trinidad and how often

do you get back there quite regularly obviously the last time jamaica was before uh the lockdown and the last time in trinidad was not too long ago i think it was last year yeah so i go i go back and forth but we'd like to do my ancestry this by way of ghana ah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I go back. I went to Ghana two years ago, Christmas. I'm going again in June. Ghana's like actively recruiting people to move home. Oh, man. People who are descendants of Ghana to move back.

It's beautiful over there. It is beautiful over there, man. They're making a pitch to African-Americans. Yeah. Incredible boxing culture in Africa. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I actually spot some of the guys. Africa, Ghana, right?

Yeah, yeah. I spot some of the guys over there as well. There's a guy, a famous guy over there called Azuma Nelson. Oh, yeah, I actually sparred some of the guys. I forgot, right? Yeah, yeah, I sparred some of the guys over there as well. There's a guy, a famous guy over there called Azuma Nelson. Oh, yeah. Went to his house. Did you really? Yeah, he went to his house. You know, I got invited to his house.

He's got a gym in his house. He's trying to train with some of the guys that train there with him. It was cool. It was cool. It was cool. I really have to say I just fell in love with the place. As soon as I got there, it just felt like, I was like, this is home. I've got to say, Jamaican champions right now.

Leon Edwards, Jamaican champion. Oh, man. Aljamain Sterling, Jamaican champion. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you see Jamaica in the track and field of the Olympics. It's time to get busy, dude. That's some athletic talent that comes out of there. A hundred percent, a hundred percent.

I think Jamaica's always on the map somewhere, but for some reason, whether it be music. Big E in WWE. He's Jamaican? Yep, I saw when I was at a resort, they had a E and WWE. He's Jamaican? Yep. I saw when I was at a resort, they had like a picture of all famous people

of Jamaican family descent and like all athletes, entertainers, and they had this giant picture and I'm like, yeah, man. And you met Usain Bolt, right? Yes.

My son had almost like a make a wish type thing. His wish was, because he's been battling a lot of physical health and cerebral palsy and his wish, because my son runs

on the middle school and high school cross-country teams, he looks at Usain Bull as the ultimate. And we ended up getting a chance to meet him. Wow. What an icon. What a guy that shows you his real heart.

He's a real dude. He's just a good dude. Also, another showman. Yeah, 100%. Just for the 10 seconds that he's running for, a good dude. Also, another showman. Yeah, yeah, 100%. Everyone, you know, just for the 10 seconds that he's running for. Still found a way. It's just like

everybody wants to see him. Still found a way. I mean, he was like so far ahead of people he could look over the shoulder. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Remember when Ben Johnson took all the steroids in 88

and he was like turned around and Carl Lewis was like at the starting block still? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's crazy. It's like that with Usain. I gotta ask you because, you know,

when my wife and I argue she'll be like, you missed your calling in life. You should have been a gross defense lawyer who doesn't listen to facts and just keeps, you know. Do you feel like with your competitiveness and athleticism that if you had picked a different sport or passion that it could have gone the same way? So I'll say, yeah, because everything that I seem to touch physically,

I do well at um i got into basketball when i was younger but done extremely well football done extremely well cricket done extremely well i went skiing on a ski trip that's a ski trip with a school and the actual coach there was like would you want to train for the olympics i was like no i like skiing but but he was like man you're really good and like I pick things when it comes to like just movement I pick it up really well um so I always always kind of excel in these things but I think it's just martial arts was just because it was just so close to home in my heart family it was always something that I I'd never I'd never switch so I'd be playing

football and I'd get bored and I'd be doing this i get bored i'd be doing this i get bored but always in between all of those things i'm always doing martial arts one thing my dad said when he when when i was younger was so uh your training and school what are two things you can't negotiate though you have to go you don't have to compete you just have to train for the discipline you just have to train you never go I get it now but I never explained at the time he's just like and even when he kept saying remember guys you don't have to train you don't have to compete I was like why are you telling that we love competing I don't know why he keeps telling us this but um yeah those are the two things that non-negotiable school you have to go to and uh training you

have to go to see when I got in trouble and like if i got in trouble doing anything my mom was like get annoyed she's like oh you're not going training today he's like no no no let him go training i get my ass kicked and i knew anytime i'm even questioning making a bad decision i was like i gotta go training this week ah forget it i'll leave it your mom like she got overruled when dad was like, I gotta go training this week. Ah, forget it, I'll leave it. Your mom, like she got overruled when dad was like, it's training time? No, but just because she kind of, she trusted him enough with the martial arts side to know that I was gonna get punished anyway.

So I'll be sitting there like in horse riding starts for bloody ages, like shaking and quivering. Cause we started, the actual thing I started in was Lao-Ga Kung Kung Fu so that's the first thing that we did but the competitions were kickboxing competitions so yeah

a lot of our training is like really traditional old school style training so yeah it was pain so your dad got to see

you become a star yeah yeah your dad fought kickboxing yeah yeah wow man so how proud was he most dads don't do that. Like when you meet most kids,

what does your dad do? Yeah, well, he's a carpenter. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, he fought for years. That became his passion because he was doing electrician BT, doing the BT phone lines

back then, and he just dropped everything. His mom nearly killed him. He's like, yeah, I dropped everything. He's like, what are you going to do? He's going to start teaching kickboxing. Which of your family moved from the islands here? So both of them.

So, weirdly enough, my mom moved from Jamaica. So they grew up over there and then moved here. Yeah, so they were, my mom was six, I think, when she came over. I think my dad was a little bit older when he came over. Weirdly enough, there was something I actually want to talk about with at some point. But there's a weird community back in the day in the UK of Caribbeans that was drawn to kung fu films. So there used to be a thing called late night cinema. And after it showed the commercial cinema, like the commercial movies, the Hollywood movies and stuff,

it would then show a load of like kung fu films. And for some reason, the Caribbean community was just drawn to that. And they'd go late night, watch the film, come out thinking that they could do all the different moves that they've seen. But then they would go and seek out classes and it became a thing.

So when my mom came over, because she didn't know anybody her older cousin stan brown who's actually a master kung fu artist um she was like ah can i just come to class with you so i guess it's like a social for her like you know i get to meet people and so on and so forth and you know they'll go out to cinema stuff and that's when she met my dad my dad was training under stan brown um and then obviously she got into it herself. She used to compete and fight. Mom too? Yeah, everybody.

Okay, so you start training when you're three, and your dad's an ex-fighter, or maybe a current one at the time. So what head start are you getting over the average kid? You're getting like discipline, toughness, knowledge, you know, at such a young age. So many skills. That's why he said he wanted me to do it.

And I think this is why I was so adaptable to going, when I was, I used to break dance, did, like I said, football. Everything that I went into, I picked up really quickly by fingers because I had the coordination

and strength from a young age. I could, I was just adaptable to absolutely anything that was in front of me physically. So no football coach was able to get you into the soccer pitch?

So, weird enough, I had, again, so I started off with, I think it was the QPR youth team. Then it was Fulham. Greens Park Rangers? Yeah. He doesn't know that. I'm not cultured. Then, yeah, Fulham youth, then I played for Epsom Eagles.

I did quite a few bits in football. I just didn't push myself enough. Even when I went to, so a friend of my mum's, her and her daughter went, she used to have her daughter doing private tennis lessons. And she was like, oh, there was a couple of days where she could bring a friend if she wanted to. I was her friend.

So she's like yeah you can go i went and smashed all the kids that these guys have been training every single day i've had no technique and i'm just like whacking this ball back and then just go rushing over to the other side whacking this ball back and smashing them and the guy was one of the coaches that was really interested in me but my mom didn't have the money for us to continue doing that kind of stuff um so but yeah i just pick things up pick things up and it has 100 i attribute all of it to the martial arts training i did when i was young by the way just as sort of a side note there's a i think it's

in the showtime documentary about the wu-tang clan yeah you ever seen it yeah yeah they talk about like in the 80s and the 90s uh like you hear if you listen to enter the 36 chambers they have all those samples from the kung fu movies and how there was one of my favorites right and you look at like you look at all the uh the blaxploitation movies that came out at the same time all the kung flu influences it's interesting that you said the caribbean got into it because if there was something similar happening in new york i can't remember i speak i think it was renata i was speaking to and he was telling me that his dad exactly the same thing there's a culture of uh things back then but he he got into karate, not kung fu.

But still, they just wanted to do some form of martial art. And I think he did taekwondo or something. Yeah. By the way, as kind of like an acrobatic martial arts guy, do you have a favorite martial arts movie? It's hard to narrow it down to one. Why is the answer The Raid? I love The Raid, though. Why is the answer the raid? No.

I love the raid, though. Come on. I love the raid. The raid is amazing. I love the raid, though. And even raid two. With the hammers? Oh, my God. I've never, especially over here, people don't applaud in cinemas.

Everyone tries to be polite. Yes. Yeah? There was, I think there was two moments in that film where everyone, after the fight scene stopped, everyone was just like, it was so instinctive. No one can help it. It was like, what the hell did I just watch?

They were- I did that in Star Wars Episode VII, not a bit. I was like, no seriously, because we just needed to get the prequels on. Oh, when they showed the money in the locker room. Yeah. They were like, you motherfucker, you. But exactly that.

So yeah, I find it an epic film, but I love the, I think I'm just drawn to a lot of the traditional arts. So the 36 Chambers of Shaolin, one of my favorites. Tai Chi Masters with Jet Li is one of my favorites. I think they call it, it's because they have different titles sometimes. I think Tai Chi Masters is also called Twin Warriors. So sometimes they have different titles.

Massive Jackie Chan fan. So a lot of his- Does all his own stunts, man. Amazing, amazing. A lot of his films i was like obsessed obsessed with um so him john claude van damme back in the day as well steven seagal no i i can't i'm not a fan he fucking sucks he's his okay yes the rest of his career. I was never a Seagal guy. Never, never. I'm not talking about the one where they went to Alaska with the spilled oil. That one was weird. But every other one, then the prime run.

You know what annoyed me about Steven Seagal is he could go get into a car crash, explosion, like jump out a plane, and his hair was perfect every single time. Not a scratch. No dirt on his body, nothing. But everybody that he was in the scene with was just completely fucked up. I was like, ah, this guy's crap, man. Juno Jean Lebel made him shit himself. So that's all you need to know.

You know that story? No. You don't know that story? No, no. Dude, they were on the set of a movie. And I guess there was some kind of conflict. Dude, Juno Jean Lebel, he's dead now. But in his day.

Was there an argument and a bet that Seagal thought he couldn't be choked out? Yeah, yeah. There was someone on set that couldn't put it on him. Judo Gene LaBelle did it and put his fucking ass to sleep on a movie set with multiple witnesses to it. No, I believe it. I'm sorry. I don't believe him, even as a martial artist, personally.

Hey, he taught Anderson that front kick. Yeah, even that. Oh, man, I hate him. Thank him. I hated buy one too. Hey, he taught Anderson that front kick. Yeah, even that. Oh, man, I hate him. Thank him. I hate all of that. I hated all of that. But, yeah, he's made a career out of it. And, dude, now he just dresses like Rosie O'Donnell.

It's the worst. And he plays guitar kind of like a badass, but he's just going nuts with his band doing solos. He didn't become a cop for a while. He's living the life. He's chasing bail chasing bail jumpers. So yeah, not him.

Yeah. Unfortunately. But yeah, those are a lot of old school films I was raised on and absolutely love. Five Deadly Venoms

is one of the reasons why a friend of mine called me Venom as well. Is that right? Yeah. All right. So when Jean-Claude Van Damme walked into the cage

and gave, who did he call? Brendan Ward. Brendan Ward. And gave him an awkward hug afterwards. We were like, yeah, yeah.

I was going to say, I didn't see that. Yeah. When was that? The last one. Yeah, yeah. It was the first one on the main card And gave him an awkward hug afterwards. We were like, yeah, yeah, get that. Oh, see, I didn't see that. When was that? The last one. The last Bellator, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was the first one on the main card. I only watched the clips afterwards.

So I never got to see it. I didn't know he was there. That was cool. He showed up. That's cool. That's cool. His hair was looking a little weird. Yeah, you know, he's old enough.

I don't think it's as brown as it looked. Yeah, but that movie where he became a hockey goalie, Sudden Death, that was pretty cool. That's terrible. MVP, we don't that was pretty cool. That's terrible. MVP, we don't have much time left. So one question I sort of wanted to get to was, your career has kind of been looked at as like, oh, we've got a guy who's got this unusual style.

Could this be a new thing that gets picked up more in MMA? And it hasn't really been too much. Robert Whitaker has some elements of the style. Yeah, I'm a massive fan of him. But he's got a lot of, he's got his own thing. Of course, of course. And maybe that's it, right? Is Robert Whitaker the future in the style. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm a massive fan of him. Yeah, but he's got a lot of, he's got his own thing. Of course, of course. And maybe that's it, right?

Is Robert Whitaker the future in the sense that like, no one's going to really have your style. Wonderboy's got a little bit of it as well. Yeah, yeah, Wonderboy, Wonderboy. But I think people might take things from it. Like how is your, the style of striking you come from?

Will you see more influence of it? Just will it be very style dependent? How do you see the future of it? So I actually posted a clip, weird enough, of KSI's last knockout. I saw that on Instagram. Yeah, yeah.

And again, it is just a, it was nice because even the responses and what people were saying, but it's nice to remind of what I have brought to the table. Whether everybody takes it or not is one thing. There's a lot of young kids that I know come from my sport as well that are now training in our gym.

So I know eventually it will, you know eventually it will creep back up again. And you see it even like Norbert Nveni. A lot of his style now is bouncing. And a lot of the guys in my gym, they're moving where I come from. I've actually brought some guys from the points world into shoot fighters. And they're sparring with some of the guys. And I did not expect them to move like how we moved. I thought that was going to be our advantage. brought some guys from the points world into, into shoot fighters and aspiring with some of the guys. And like, I did not expect them to move like how we moved.

I thought that was going to be our advantage, you know, be able to, they'll struggle to kind of find us. But I think I've brought something to the table, at least over here anyway, that I know people, it will continue and certain people will pick up certain attributes.

In a way. Yeah. Everybody can do it. You know, a hundred percent, but it's even at a basic level, it's effective. It's effective. People struggle to understand the bounce

and the rhythm of it. So even if you take away all the flashiness and it's just a basic bounce, people are landing some shots. I'm seeing a few people doing it. What influence? I have a feeling there had to have been Prince Nassim Hamed. What influence did that have

at all on anything? Weird enough, I didn't watch boxing for a long time. So it was only when he was like on his way out. I think just before his last fight

that I started watching a lot of his stuff before. Muhammad Ali, it's only because my family was massively into Ali, so I watched the boxing. And then I got into Penel Whitaker as well.

So Sweet Pea was my guy. I love watching his stuff. Fluid movement. I mean, just look at that. It's beautiful. So I draw inspiration from everything, but it's not always martial arts-based. People have seen me act like I'm playing basketball

while I'm fighting, and I love the movement of basketball. I've slipped punches pretending that I'm crossing over someone. I slip punches and come back. So I just draw inspiration from absolutely anything. And I just try to be as creative as possible. But you're kind of like a rock star in the cage. You know what I mean?

You're doing two things at once. You're actively carrying out a game plan and winning fights. And you're unap out a game plan and winning fights and you're not you know unapologetically flashy and entertaining and i in like you know you you've probably received criticism at times for that but to balance that out at the highest level and be who you are underneath and also have massive success it's like that's the that's the model no thank you and it's i don't think I wouldn't, in fact, I would never have been able to do any other way.

If I had to try to just be or learn how a traditional MMA fighter would be, I'd lose many, I would have lost a lot of fights and nobody would know who MVP even is. So there was only one way I was gonna do it. If it wasn't successful, it wasn't successful, but I had to do it my way Well, you've done a lot of it your way. It's gone for the most part pretty damn well, so congratulations on everything

Thanks for making the trip across. I come see us March 10. Oh, you can see him Bellator 292 Uchi that is a hell of a fight. It's a great way great fight. Enjoy that trip to California. Oh, yeah, that's a long one I'm just gonna be out sleeping a hell of a fight. It's a great fight. I cannot wait. Enjoy that trip to California. Oh, yeah. That's a long one. I'm just going to be out sleeping. There he is. Michael Venn and Paige.