My Mom's Basement - FRIDAY BONUS EPISODE 6 - CHAEL SONNEN/ILIMA-LEI MACFARLANE

Episode Date: June 14, 2019

On a special Friday Bonus Episode of My Mom's Basement, Robbie sits down with “The American Gangster” Chael Sonnen and Bellator Women's Flyweight Champion (and Hawaiian) Ilima-Lei MacFarlane ahead of Bellator 222 at Madison Square Garden where Chael takes on Lyoto Machida and Ilima-Lei makes her commentary debut. Goof or No Goof returns and Barstool HQ finally gets their questions about Hawaii answered!You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/mymomsbasement

Hey My Mom's Basement listeners, you can find our episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, and Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. I am thrilled with the episode that you have in front of you today, because it is maybe my favorite episode of this show that we've done. At least my favorite one where I've brought on guests from the outside world, not from the office, and sat down with them, because I feel it's the most comfortable I've ever been in doing these interviews. Before we get into them, remember, rate, comment, subscribe, review, whatever you got to do to this podcast. I think it's just subscribe, rate, and review on iTunes or Spotify or whatever you can do it on. That helps us out. And talk about the show on Twitter. That's the biggest thing for me is just keep the conversation going on Twitter.

It's the best way to get eyes on the show basically is for me to be tweeting about it, for you to be tweeting about it. So keep that rolling. Thank you very much if you have been doing it. I appreciate it so, so, so much. Now let's get to the interviews. So we have a special Bellator 222 edition of the show today. That card is going down tonight, June 14th, if you're listening to this on release date at Madison Square Garden. I will be there cage side, and I am absolutely stoked. I can't wait. It's just a stacked card from top to bottom. Even the prelims have people like Aaron Pico and Heather the Heat Hardy and Valerie Letourneau, like these big up-and-coming

names on it. So top to bottom, stacked card. It's going to be on DAZN at 10 p.m., I think. This isn't even an ad. I'm just really, really interested in this card as a mixed martial arts fan. I spoke to two people associated with it this week. One who is fighting in the co-main event, and one who is joining the commentary team for the very first time. So, the first interview we're going to get into here is my sit down with Chael P. Sonnen, the bad guy, the American gangster, an absolute legend of the sport and someone I've admired for so many years. You could hear how nervous I was in the beginning of this interview. I think as it goes along, I get a little bit more comfortable. But the second interview is with

Elimele McFarlane, the Bellator 125 pound women's champion and honestly that interview may be the smoothest interview I've ever done and it was one of my favorite interviews I've ever done if not my favorite because she honestly is just the most down-to-earth likable champion mixed martial arts has right now and I really can't wait for her to become one of the biggest megastars in mixed martial arts on Monday's show, I have John Cavanaugh. That's right, the John Cavanaugh, Conor McGregor's coach. He sat down with me this week in New York City, and we talked all things Conor McGregor, all things SBG Ireland, and all things John Cavanaugh, and it is a hell of an interview. You're going to learn a lot. Your mind will be

blown by a few things, as well as Samoa Joe. Jared Karabas and I sat down with Samoa Joe and got to talk to him about working with Ray Mysterio. Joe actually roasted me. It was like the fourth time I've interviewed him, and he absolutely roasted me to begin the interview. So it was tough, but it made for a fun time. Let's get into the first interview of the show here with Chael Sonnen, and I'll catch you afterwards to intro the interview with Alim Alemek Farland. Welcome back to the show. Joining me now is one of my favorite mixed martial artists of all time. He's the undefeated, undisputed champion of the world. It's Chael P. Sonnen. It's true.

The bad guy. It's all true. What's happening, my friend? What's going on? It's Thursday right now. How are you feeling? Still famous, still rich, still good. Yeah, another wonderful day. One day out from the fight? One or two, yeah, I don't know when the fight. What's today? Tuesday? Today's Thursday. Today's Thursday. Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday. Nobody knows.

That's the thing. Nobody knows for sure. See, I'm all messed up now because I looked at my computer. No one knows for sure. I mean, we could debate it back and forth, but yes, the fight's going to be Friday at Madison Square Garden. Yep. On DAZN, did we mention that? It will be on DAZN, and you are facing Loyota Machida. Yes. One of the greatest of all time.

You are two legends. How do you feel about everyone coming into this saying, like, two legends square off? I suppose it's meant to be very nice. I, when I look at legends, look at them as old guys, as guys that have retired, that guys aren't still competing in the sport. And so that's how i've always looked at but i know it's meant to be a compliment so i try to be humble and say thank you yeah and this is an interesting fight because it's at madison square garden and i feel like myself included a lot of reporters are guilty of asking fighters oh my god how does it feel to

fight at madison square garden this iconic building and last time you had fun with it and you were saying i don't want to fight in new York, and even this time a little bit on the go around, you're kind of trashing the city. What was it like as someone that has fought at Madison Square Garden? Was it any different? The building's a dump, in fairness. Not having fun like last time. In all fairness, the building's a dump.

But, you know, there's something special about it, I guess. Here's what people say, that there's been a bunch of legends that have been there, and the Rolling Stones played there, and the blah, blah blah blah is gonna play those people play all over the place you sell tickets people come that's why they built the damn arena i don't really get it myself to be fair i don't really understand it are you excited though like that your name is added to that list when people talk about who has fought there they will say chel sonnen that is a tremendous honor in fairness yes, that is something special. And are you excited about the card? Because you're pretty much an ambassador for all of mixed martial arts, and I feel like you have been for a long time. You were one of the first with

ESPN even before the UFC made a deal with ESPN or anything like that. How do you feel about this card? Because as a fan, there's a lot of legends like yourself, and then there's a lot of young people on the up and up. Aaron Pico is one that I can mention. How do you feel about the card? Oh, I love it. My career started as a fan. I'm a fan now. My career will end as a fan.

I think it's great. I like the main event. Above everything else, even aside from my fight, I'm looking forward to the main event. Rory McDonald, who's the best fighter under Bellator contract, taking on the most rising up-and-comer, 9-0 Neiman Gracie. No politics in this one. Straight line bracket. They figured this one out on themselves. Grand Prix on the line. There's a lot on the line right there. I think it's a special fight. And I saw you mention recently, actually, I think just yesterday, that you wanted to start enjoying the process more and enjoying the fight more, enjoying your career, because you said you have

a lot of regrets in your career, but the number one is that you never enjoyed it. And I thought that was an interesting takeaway. As a fan, you never realized that because you seem like the guy that is enjoying it. You're always doing the press and media and you're always out there and you're always on. What do you feel prevented you from that your whole career? Was it just the stress of fighting or was it the commitments of doing media or was it what prevented you from enjoying some of the fights and places you got to travel and stuff in your career i think you just nailed it so you know i had so much opportunity and i'm so grateful for it it was wonderful to participate and it's very hard to participate in this sport unless you're getting in there and fighting which we're only going to do three times a year

only thing about this sport that drives me crazy is we're only going to do it three times a year so um yeah when i was able to participate and stay busy and active in some other roles, it became a job in some ways. And it became stressful and making towns and making airplanes and checking into hotels. And I just was never able to enjoy it. It was just get on to the next stop, get to the next commitment. Oh, what did you promise to do tomorrow type thing. And before you know it, the days went by and the weeks went by and the months went by and the years went by. And I was really never able to sit back and enjoy it.

I think what you're saying about Madison Square Garden, I call it a dump a minute ago. And it is a dump in fairness. It stinks in there. It's terrible. The area around it, not great. But there is something special about being in there that I wish I could take in and enjoy. And I think that over a period of time, retirement most likely, I'll look back and remember those things very fondly and I'll tell people about the time I fought a man and say, no, they

won't want to talk about it anymore and I'll be talking to them about it. I'll be wanting them to talk about it. So I wish I could live in the moment just a little bit more. So when you say mixed martial arts felt like a job and everything like that, when you were picking up wins, some of your biggest like high-level wins, what was the immediate emotion? Did you have – was it like the satisfaction of victory or did you just have relief that like, OK, I could breathe for a second? Yeah. Was there any of that?

Well, you nailed it because it's those two. Yes, there is a prideful moment and there's something very celebratory not only internally but externally with your family and with your teammates about the victory. But with that victory, ultimately the real satisfaction does come with the relief where you can finally exhale, okay, it's over. You put so much into it and so much work, and the weight cut is hard work. I'm 220 pounds right now. I've got to be 205 pounds in two days. There's just things that go on behind the scenes that take a lot of stress and a lot of effort and a lot of energy.

And when you can just wipe them off the plate, at least for a couple of months, yeah, you can kind of wipe your the plate, at least for a couple of months, yeah, you can kind of wipe your brow and be satisfied for a few moments. Do you remember the fight where you felt that the most, the relief? I had a fight with a guy named Shogun. And it was a five-round, scheduled for five rounds. And I thought it would be a long, drawn-out evening. And I thought I would win more rounds than he did.

And that's how I was going to beat him. And I ended up getting a submission in the very first round so we were done I thought I was gonna be out there for 25 minutes I was out there closer to four and a half minutes and that was just a great feeling yeah being done not having to work as hard as you thought you were going to have to work yeah there was something fun about that you're approaching 50 professional fights in your entire career which very few are able to achieve What fight do you look back among all of the fights you've had in your career and think I've learned the most from that one? Like, or maybe that was a turning point in my career. A big fight for me as far as getting attention and getting some

opportunities and getting some exposure that I was, I was really yearning for, you know, jealousy of other guys, competitive spirit, however you want to look at it. But I fought a guy named Nate Marquardt, and it was said to be the number one contender's fight. And he was supposed to win that fight, and then he was supposed to become the number one contender. So when I won that fight, they were kind of stuck. And they even tried to double-cross me behind the scenes, but the commitment was already made. And that was a major opportunity for me. It's funny that you say that they tried to double-cross you behind the scenes, but the commitment was already made. MMA has kind of moved away from that, it seems, in that a lot of commitments are made and we get told a lot of stuff.

And then it just changes out of nowhere. Tomorrow there's something new and we're all just supposed to accept it. When do you think that happened? Was it the era of money fights? Because originally MMA was very much the best always fight the best, the best always fight the best, and that's what separated it from boxing, right? Now it seems there's a lot more politics than there ever have been in the MMA game. Agreed. When do you think that happened?

Well, I'll tell you this. You want to know what surprised me about that? Okay. Let's say there's a card you're trying to sell tomorrow. So you come in and you put an extra cherry on top and go, ah, this is number one contendership just because it's just something a little extra to drive business so people come and they part with their time they part with their money and they have a reasonable expectation to take you at your word the match gets resolved it's not the outcome the promoter was looking or hoping to have and all of a sudden he changes his mind the next day to me that feels as though

that is a bit dishonest to your consumer the consumer and here's where the surprise part comes the consumers never pushed back i've never heard anybody say hey i'm pissed off you promise i tuned in for this reason this is what you told me you took my money you took my time you owe me in any other business you would owe them if you're doing a retail business and you are exchanging words and promises for a good or a service, you owe them. But there's never been an uprising from the fans. So it continues. And I'm not complaining as much as I'm pointing out for you.

That has surprised me. It is interesting. That the people have not revolted in some way and gone, look, a deal is a deal. And especially like that the fighters almost haven't revolted in some way. I know fighters unions get – that word gets thrown around all the time and it doesn't seem like we're anywhere near something like that coming to fruition. But do you think that would add something and take that away from the promoters?

Maybe do you think a fighters union eventually would be a smart idea? Well, I don't know. I don't know that it would be a smart idea. You know, I mean, I think you have to understand. So you're talking about collective bargaining as opposed to the each

individual bargaining. And that's the difference. There seems to be a misconception that bargaining gets taken out. No, everybody gets to go into the office. Everybody gets to bring in whatever representation they want, make whatever case they want for themselves, and generally will succeed on some level. The promoters generally will listen, and you'll meet in the middle, and everybody shakes hands and leaves happy. So I don't know that you would need one voice to go in and do that for everybody.

But I will offer you this. As much as I'm telling you it has surprised me that fans have not revolted and said, hey, wait a minute, we are buying something, and we have a reasonable expectation as a consumer that you deliver on your end. As much as I tell you that, it would stop the business. The business needs to be able to blow in the wind. It just does. The top guy, we have very short-term memories in this sport.

The sport used to have five and six events a year, so it was a little easier to define rankings and top contenders and build fights and look forward to the top guys. Now, with well over 100 events just in North America per year, it changes a lot more rapidly, and the promoter does need to have the ability to change as the opinions and the performances change, which is week to week. That's very interesting. I'm always fascinated by getting fighters takes on stuff like that.

Now, moving on to Bellator on Friday night, 2-22, your fight with Loyota Machida. You guys, it's crazy that you haven't fought already. i feel like a lot of people have been throwing that around because you guys are kind of always mentioned in the same circles of legends and pioneers of mixed martial arts of the ufc when you look back at machida's career you were present for a lot of it you have you ever fought on the same card as him i fought yes i was i fought uh yushino kami on an under, and Machida won the world championship later that night. Wow. That's kind of crazy. So when you look back at Machida's career, what do you feel his legacy has been for MMA? Oh, he's done a fantastic job.

I mean, he's a Hall of Famer, a former world champion, sitting number one contender at middleweight. Now he and I are going to fight for the number one contendership at light heavyweight. So I think he's had a very special career that he can be very proud of. But when I do look at this fight, I think it's pretty straightforward. If he keeps the distance, I'm in a lot of trouble. And if I get my hands on him, he's getting beat up. And you're one of the few fighters to admit that, yes, if he keeps the distance, I'm in trouble. You said interesting things in the lead up to your fight with Fedor about like, yep, if he does this, I'm in trouble. When did that take over for you? Because early on in your UFC career, there were no faults.

When did you change your kind of the way you look at fights and the way you talk about fights, upcoming fights? I will tell you this. I've never manufactured anything in my career. If I didn't mean it, I wouldn't say it. I never did anything to sell or hype. I have people say that about me, but they're actually wrong. I didn't do that.

Now, it's kind of what you alluded to. I had more fights. You have more fights. All of a sudden, you get exposed to some more things and you realize, no, wait just a second. I thought I was invincible in this area. I need to work on that area. I also thought I needed to work on another area, but maybe that's a little stronger. So when you have more experiences and you have more fights and you see more and you analyze more, you're able to form a little bit more of a sophisticated opinion. I used to truly believe and go to bed every single night knowing I'm the baddest dude alive and nobody can beat me. I'm going to share with you, I had never had a fight yet. I was just sure that it was true. I went in there and had my very first fight. Whoa, this isn't what I thought this was going to be. And I've had that same revelation

multiple times, Mike. You put 10 fights away, you you know it takes two or three years you look at it differently you have another few you look at it differently but i think it's very important to admit to it and address it so that you can fix your strategy i want to have the right strategy i got a great skill set i got a skill set to beat machida i just need to acknowledge he's got one to beat me too so he's got to play his game i got to play mine then i got to guess what his game is and try to i mean it becomes chess at that point um but for me it's helpful do you think you would uh say things like that if you were fighting someone younger who may be not that you're giving anything away in that yes loyota machida works very well at the distance works well with kicks but if you were fighting somebody younger do you think you would still say well if i did do this he'll have an advantage and

if i and if he does this he'll have an advantage whatever i don't know that it would be based on age i mean i think i i would answer any question that was asked to me i would do my best to answer it accurately i suppose there's some gamesmanship that goes into that and sometimes you don't want to tell a guy what to do it seems like there is kind of like a mutual respect between you and machida he seems like a very nice guy i've been around him i you know our paths weren't supposed to cross even here at Bellator. I thought I was going to be fighting Vitor Belfort.

Have you signed about agreement for this fight? Whether I have or I haven't, I definitely will before they let me on the scale. That much I know. So the fight's going down. The fight's going down, yeah. But as far as has it been signed, I don't actually know. At the commission, the way that works, behind the scenes before you walk out and get on the scale, they go through all of your paperwork, make sure everything's signed and dated.

So if that's been done – okay, great. But if that hasn't been – it will be done. I can assure you that will be done. Very relaxed mindset leading into the fight. So, yeah, as far as Machida goes, I do think that it's pretty straightforward. And it's not that I would have a huge hesitation with my skills to stand on my feet and fight with somebody. It's just that he is so unique. I haven't – I've never sparred with anybody that stands like him, let alone fights like him.

I've never fought anybody. So it's a one-off for me. I've got to guess. I've got a good idea of what he's going to do. I've seen what he's done to other guys from the comfort of my living room watching him. But I have been in there with some guys before that have a unique feel. You just you got one shot to crack the code. Do you try to spar with guys that try to emulate your opponents still? I see some fighters that don't agree with that or some fighters that do. Do you try to do that? My coach controls that and he does try to get the guys to do that. I don't I don't look into

it all that much. I have never known in my life if a guy's a southpaw or orthodox. Never. If you ask me any fight I've ever—I have no idea. He's got two hands and two legs, and whatever leg stands in front, I don't give a damn. Donald Cowboy Cerrone is the same way. I mean, I couldn't possibly care less what leg he leads with. But I know some other guys that are fighting a southpaw.

They'll bring in a bunch of southpaws to camp. They'll only spar with southpaws. Good for them. I'm just open to change. I mean, if Machida decided to pull out of this fight tonight and they wanted to throw somebody else in, no problem.

You're a fighter. Now, we've got to put the interview on pause for a second. I mean, the interview's still going on, but the MMA talk on pause. Sure. And go back to something you said earlier. You said you went to sleep every night,

knew I'm the baddest man on the planet. You've just got to give me some advice on being a man because clearly sitting across from the table from you, you're much more of a man than me. Now, that's very interesting. I may have more muscle than you, but I must tell you, you have very high energy. You have a fantastic voice. You're a handsome guy. I was nervous with the interview. I got the date wrong, the whole thing. Nobody knows what day it is. That wasn't on you. Nobody knows. I was like, oh, we're one day out. I thought about all that. It could be April. Nobody knows what day it is. That wasn't on you. Nobody knows. I was like, oh, we're one day out. I thought about all that.

It could be April. Nobody knows. I feel like the jail peace on in Persona, you walk into a room and everyone's like, oh, fuck, jail's here. Well, that's very nice of you.

You better be on your toes. That's very nice of you. I will tell you, I have never walked in a room in my life and not looked around and asked myself, am I the most powerful man

in this room? See, that's crazy. That's like animal instinct. Not every time has the answer been yes. It hasn't always been yes, but I the most powerful man in this room? See, that's crazy. That's like animal instinct. Not every time has the answer been yes. It hasn't always been, but I do, every single room I go into, I do ask myself, am I the Every single room I've gone into this room, I look around and say, am I the weakest man in this room? And the answer is generally yes.

No, you're very lean. You're very fit. Come on. You're saying weak? You're fit. The people know what I look like. It's a podcast, but they know what I look like. I'm not lean. I'm not fit. I'm out of shape. We got a Nerf war in the office today. I didn't think I would sell anything. I'm telling you. No, you look good. Come on. You're saying you're fit. The people know what I look like. It's a podcast, but they know what I look like. I'm not lean.

I'm not fit. I'm out of shape. I didn't think I was selling anything. I'm telling you. No, you look good. Come on. What does it take to be a man? I don't really know.

I don't think it comes down to bravado and macho-ness, though. I think, are you willing to work hard? Are you willing to get up early when that alarm goes off, whether you feel like it or not? Early is I snooze a few times, yeah. Come on. Me too. But I mean, will you follow through on your word? Then you're a man.

All right. Maybe I'm more of a man than I thought. Absolutely. Maybe I'm more of a man than I thought. I can tell by looking at you. All right. I got a good read on you, despite those tattoos. Oh, you're not a tattoo guy, yeah.

Probably broke your mother's heart. No, no. Did you think about that when you're getting tattoos? Did you think about mother crying? I didn't because I have a brother 12 years older than me and a sister 9 years older than me. And they'd already destroyed her heart? My brother's so tatted up. My sister's tatted up.

So she was already a broken woman. Yeah. She actually – I brought my mom to my tattoo artist and she got one. First time I've ever heard that. Yeah. Well done. Respect. Now I got a little game for you.

That's a man. That's a man right there. And all my tattoos, to be fair, are referencing like my mom, my sister, my brother. That's kind of a man thing, you know? Guys, there's a dagger on your wrist. But go ahead. Okay, what's the question? We got to have a game.

It's not even a question. Now this is a game that I played with Dana White. I played with your pal Ben Askren. Yep. And it's a fun one. It's named after Dana's favorite insult. It's called goof or no goof. Oh, gosh.

You're the one that did this? I've seen this with Dana. Yes. So I'm just going to run through a list favorite insult. It's called goof or no goof. Oh, gosh. You're the one that did this? I've seen this with Dana. Yes. So I'm just going to run through a list of names. That's funny. Thank you. Yes. I've seen Dana do that.

Yeah, go ahead. We're going to run through a list of names, and you just tell me whether or not they're a goof. I have a few of them. Loyola Machida. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dana White. No, you tricked me. You said it too fast.

Not a goof. Dana White's not a goof. No, he coined the phrase. How could he possibly be part of it? No, of course not. I don't know anderson silva goof i agree anderson silva let me tell you this you were my favorite when i was younger because i hated anderson silva still do really uh you know that hatred never goes away why would how do you feel about him still fighting goof i will tell you this i am attached to his career and for many

negative reasons he's my mortal enemy however i'm still attached and when he does go out there it is there's a there's a special moment for me as well i am in i am in there even if it's in the smallest phase i am in there with him that's interesting i like that you said that you're mortal enemies i hope that in 20 or 30 years that energy is still there and there's some kind of like movie made about like two old men that are mortal enemies and it's you guys sure in your 80s, 90s. I'll fight him at 80 or 90. Tito Ortiz.

Goof. I mean, I know the answer to this one. For heaven's sakes. What's wrong with this guy? Is he coming back? I don't even want that guy to be a goof. I honest to goodness don't. I've known Tito 21 years.

He says he wants to fight you again. I don't know what's wrong with him. I begged him for the fight. I pleaded with him for the fight. I thought I was going to have the fight. They just didn't want to do business with him. Can't be trusted. Bellator didn't want to do business with him? Well, be trusted. Bellator didn't want to do business with him?

Well, speaking of doing business with Tito Ortiz, Oscar De La Hoya? Goof. Big goof. He goofed up. He did 25,000 pay-per-views on Tito Ortiz versus Chuck Liddell. I like you. So you know your stuff. I don't know how you do that.

Because we have something here. We do rough and rowdy. Have you ever heard of rough and rowdy? Yes, I have. We do 40,000, 50,000 buys. How does Tito Ortiz go out there, put the Iceman against him, and then also, like, Chuck Liddell should not have been in that cage. True. That's a hindsight issue.

That wouldn't actually affect the sales going in. But was it a hindsight issue? I mean, I was one of those 25,000. I bought it, and I had no idea that Chuck was done. Poorly prepared. Yeah. All right. Scott Coker. Oh, not a goof. Great guy. Isn't that Scott, haven't you? Oh, yeah. I like done. Poorly prepared. Yeah. All right.

Scott Coker. Oh, not a goof. Great guy. Isn't that Scott, haven't you? Oh, yeah. I like Scott. Wonderful guy. I like Scott. I don't know if you'll actually ever meet a guy that says anything bad about Coker.

To his face or behind his back. No, I actually agree with that because I've met many people at Bellator, like people behind the scenes at Bellator that actually love Scott Coker. Everybody in fighting is a dirtbag. I mean, it's a hated sport. And it starts at the top. I mean, it's just the way it goes. Boxing started this.

Came over to MMA. You'll never meet anybody like Scott Coker. Do you think he should possibly take over for the UFC when Dana White is done? When Dana White is done, if that day ever came. I mean, and I feel like this is a morbid question because you're ultimately predicting Dana White's death. You think he's a Vince McMahon type? Yes, I think that the keys to that office leave in his cold, dead hand, if you know what I'm saying. Yeah.

However, sure. Great replacement. Okay. Ariel Hawani. Not a goof. Not a goof. Ariel doesn't like me. Really?

I got in the background of a shot of his. Yeah? He's hated me ever since. That's it? Well, I was in the background. On purpose? Oh, yeah. Oh, okay.

They call that a photo op. It was Conor McGregor's court date. Okay. And I had a big free Conor sign and Oh, yeah. Oh, okay. They call that a photo box. It was Conor McGregor's court date. Okay. And I had a big free Conor sign and an Irish flag. And I got in the background and then the camera guy moved. Okay. I ran and I just did this shuffle back and forth. It looked like some kind of bonanza.

That's brilliant. He didn't respect that? Oh, he hated it. That's something he would have done in his younger days. He hated it. He hated it. I feel bad, but he hated it. Rampage Jackson.

Not a goof. not a goof not a goof very i expected you to say you know what i would have said goof a number of years ago very honorable man wow what changed he and i had a bet before our fight and he made it very off-handed he said i'll give you ten thousand dollars for every time you take me down now when i say it was a bet i i didn't have to risk anything yep i just had to say to say okay. And I didn't hold him to it. We were doing press. We were doing media. He made a statement.

I won that fight. He got a hold. That's hard. When you lose a fight, then you've got to go talk to the guy that just beat you very hard. He contacted me and said, I need your address to send out the money. Unreal. That's an honorable man. Yeah.

All right. I got to give him his credit. Definitely not a goof after that. Definitely not a goof. Well, I didn't take the – so he did a goofy move. I didn't take the money because I didn't think we had a real deal. Oh, that's nice. Very honorable of you, Rampage. Full credit, but I will not cash that he did a goofy move. I didn't take the money because I didn't think we had a real deal. Oh, that's nice. Very honorable of you, Rampage. Full credit, but I will not cash that check. I was going to ask if you took the money.

I figured you did, though. So he went and took like 10% of it, which was... Whatever that is. Again, nobody knows what date it is. Didn't you take him down four times? Three. Three. Finding out 10% of $30,000, it's like one of these impossible numbers. But whatever that number was, he took to the strip club and gave it to the girls instead.

And then put it on Instagram. He said, here's what I did with Chael's money. I got Vince McMahon. I've never met Vince, but from afar, I have studied Vince many times, and he does not appear to be a goof. I think he used to not be a goof. I think he's reaching goof territory, maybe Mad King territory, where he's kind of going crazy nowadays i know you're a big wrestling fan though and i wanted to ask as well uh while we're on the subject do you cite anyone for inspiration as far as your trash talk went in the wrestling world oh you know i had some um i thought that uh stone cold of course yep was

was the best uh and i thought the only person you could argue with him was The Rock. I didn't do a whole lot of... Which is insane that they were around in the same era. And totally different too. Totally different guys. I never emulated myself after The Rock

though I did admire him but I did a little bit after Stone Cold. Yeah? Maybe a little like... I feel like I've heard a little Jim Cornette in you at times.

I love Jim Cornette. A little older school. I've never missed a Jim Cornette podcast. Is that true? Not one. That's crazy. He does two a week so it's a good at times. I love Jim Cornette. A little older school. I've never missed a Jim Cornette podcast. Is that true? Not one. That's crazy. He does two a week.

Oh, my God. So it's this good-sized commitment for me. God bless you. Never missed. Dylan Danis, who's also on this card. Great guy. Not a goof. I agree with that.

I've had him in the studio. Because you've met him. Yep. Okay. Now, if you don't meet him, goof. Yeah. If you meet him, definitely not a goof. Smart guy.

There's a method to the madness. That's exactly right. Absolutely. He's playing the game. His teammate, Conor McGregor. Yep. Not a goof. Not a goof? No. Now, I'm the madness. That's exactly right. He's playing the game. His teammate, Conor McGregor. Yep. Not a goof. Not a goof?

No. Now, I'm the biggest Conor guy there is. Conor recently has rubbed me the wrong way with a lot of things. And I'm telling you, I'm the biggest nut hugger in the world. Now, a couple goofy moments. A couple goofy moments recently for sure. No, he could go down goof path very quickly if he is not careful. But again, I was answering that question similar to the way we answered the Dylan Danis question

of having information and knowing him behind the scenes and he was a real gentleman. He got me a ticket to UFC 229. Cool move. And sat me next to his bodyguard because I was getting some death threats from the Habib fans. That's a cool move. Which is a very cool move. So he's not a goof in my book, of course. And Habib himself.

Definitely not a goof. Even with the jump in the cage stuff? No, solid move. Jumped out of the cage. That was a bad moment. I did think, however, when he went to the press conference about eight minutes later

and somebody asked him about it and he responded by saying, I don't know why you're still talking about this. That's one of my favorite press conferences. We were literally just talking about it the other day in the office. I don't know why you're still talking about this. I don't know why people talk about this.

Conor threw Dolly at bus. He could have killed the guy. Which I don't know how, like if he threw it at the engine and the bus exploded. Sure. Like maybe he could have killed somebody. But he immediately threw it. Well, if the Dolly went through the bus – yeah, I mean, yes, Conor pulled – that was a knucklehead moment for both of them. But I thought that was so funny when Khabib said, why are you still talking – Khabib, it's been eight minutes.

Yeah. You're going to be on ice for at least a year. You're going to have a commission. We're not going to stop talking about this. We still haven't. So we're talking about it right now. Eight minutes minutes. Yeah. You got, you're going to be on ice for at least a year. You're going to have a commission. We're not going to stop talking about this. We still haven't. So we're talking about it right now. Eight minutes afterwards. Yeah.

Why are you still talking about it? What else are we going to talk about? Kaviv? That was the moment of the night. Yeah. It was unbelievable. That, that's a goof or no goof. No, more, come on.

This is fun. Make somebody a throw in there. This is a great game. Can I think of some names? Um, Rory McDonald. Not a goof. Now, what did, how did you feel about his words after his last fight where he's like, I don't really have the motivation to fight anymore. And then a quick turnaround, he's fighting an MSG.

I thought it was a very real moment. I thought we caught a guy being vulnerable, which you are many times after a fight. You are exhausted. You are tired. You are topless. And I thought he just answered a very honest question, and it was having an interflective moment. You have to understand whenever you have adrenaline mixed in there, a guy is not

himself. At that point in his life, he was being very kind. He was being very humble and calm. But you'll also see guys go the other way with it, where they break bad, and all of a sudden they're cursing, and they want to fight this guy, and they're calling out Dana, and they're pointing fingers at coker and he's come on don't do that you knucklehead but they deserve to be forgiven as well when you have that adrenaline you have that big rush and you took a couple of shots to the

head come on full pass john jones oh goof biggest goof i'm glad i'm glad you said that he plays the sympathy card every time he comes back this this the next thing he is a scumbag he's my least favorite fighter of all time yeah and talented son of a bitch scumbag would you consider him the greatest of all time no i would consider george saint pierre you know the greatest of all time no and you know what he's gonna have problems with his legacy down the road if he doesn't change weight classes yeah oh if he doesn't change weight well you've got these guys now that are doing the champ champ thing now you guys are talking about a champ champ champ thing i mean it's good if that's a very real thing the pound for pound greatest fighter of all time is supposed to mean who could go any weight class and win that's what it's supposed to mean it usually comes down to who is the most

dynamic fighter of which john is fantastically dynamic he's right up there with israel adesanya i don't know that john is even the best of this time though he's fantastic i think that it probably is adesanya and i think we going to figure that out sooner or later. I think those guys are going to get in there with each other. Let's see how that all goes. At 205? I think probably 205. You don't think Adesanya would be way too tiny?

He feels skinny for middleweight. And he is more likely to go to 170 than he is to 205. But he has an ego, and he wants Jon Jones. And I think he'll find a way, and I think he'll get there. That would be a hell of a fight between those two. I don't think that's tomorrow. It would be a very special fight. Yeah.

He's a special guy, man. He is. Have you met him? No, I haven't. All right, he's also a guy behind the scenes who you would very much be endeared to. Did you see what he said the other day on Twitter about his debut? No, but I already like it. What did he say?

I feel bad. There's a nice lady in the room. He said that there was pre-cum squeaking out of his pee-pee after his debut. The fuck is he—why do you have to say that? Your delivery of the F-word right there was fantastic. Eddie Murphy would be proud of you. I mean – That might have been the greatest F-word I've ever heard.

Wow. That's a high honor from a guy that I know has said many F-words. No. Never publicly. I've actually never – You've never publicly cursed? I've been called by Sports Illustrated and ESPN the greatest SHI in all of sports. I've never cursed publicly.

Wow. No. See, I have to – I tried to curse privately, but I will admit it has happened. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's it, though. I can't think of – who else could we goof or no goof here? John Jones will get goof status.

We'll see how long he holds that belt. He's not finding near as good as he used to. That's because of the Peds. When the Peds are gone. However, he holds that belt. He's not fighting near as good as he used to. That's because of the Peds. When the Peds are gone. However, he's still fantastic. That Gustafson fight was really good. I can pick on all I want. He has not lost a round in a meaningful period of time.

But the fights are closer. That's also true. Yeah, absolutely. So, Chael, thank you so much. Make sure you tune in on DAZN. Bellator 222 at Madison Square Garden. I will be in attendance. Friday or something.

No one knows. This Friday. We haven. Friday or something. No one knows. This Friday. We haven't told the date. No one knows. This Friday. Is it this Friday? It'll be this Friday. For sure?

You're fighting Machida. It's going to be a big thing. I might be in your corner. We'll see. Yeah. No one knows. No one knows. We'll see.

All right. Thank you so much to Chael for joining the show. It meant the world that he did it. It meant the world that I was able to do it. And it meant the world that he said I dropped the greatest F-bomb of all time. I will take that and wear it with pride. Now, let's get into my chat with Alimale McFarlane. I think after this, a lot of you guys are going to have a new favorite fighter. And hopefully, after this, I'll be forced to go to Hawaii to cover her next fight. Okay, welcome back to the show. And aloha.

Joining me now is the Bellator women's flyweight champion, Alimale McFarlane, a.k.a. the Pineapple Princess. Alimale, how are you? My cutie, my cutie. Oh, oi. See, already throwing me off, already rattling me. What does that mean? I just said, good, good, how are you?

And yourself. And how would I respond to that? You can say... If I'm like, yeah, I'm good. Yeah? And yourself. And how would I respond to that? You can say... If I'm like, yeah, I'm good. Yeah, just say, maikai. Maikai. Perfect. Oh, you're a native already. Oh, man. So we're going to get to Hawaii questions at the end of this interview.

But Alimale, as I mentioned, is the Bellator champion at 125 pounds in the women's division. And I think we have a lot of listeners of this podcast that are fans of yours. But for those that aren't, let's take it back to the beginning. What got you into fighting? I know this story and it's a very fascinating story. So how did you get into fighting? So it kind of happened on accident, actually. I was just wrapping up my bachelor's degree at San Diego State. I actually was an athlete my entire life, but did not play any sports in college. I didn't want to. I actually had some wrestling offers to wrestle in college, you know, from Menlo and out in the Midwest, but I said no. And as a result, you were a wrestler? Yeah, I was wrestling in high school. And as a result, I ended up

packing on a lot of weight. You know, San Diego State's notorious party school. And that's exactly what I did. So yeah, I partied, I got up to about 175. How are the parties? Were the parties sick? Yeah, they were great. Yeah, I mainly hung out with the athletes, surprisingly. But yeah, I ended up putting on a lot of weight. As soon as I finished my bachelor's degree, I had a summer off before I went straight into a graduate program. And so I was like, okay, you know, I'm going to use this time off to try to get back into shape. So I ended up randomly joining this MMA gym on my way to work. Uh, cause I used to wait tables to help put me through college and on my way to work, I was like, I'm just going to

stop into this place. So it was, What gave you the urge to go like MMA? Were you, did you ever watch MMA or? You know, I. Was it just the wrestling component? I think it was because actually I was seeing girls from Hawaii find success in MMA, like Raquel Pa'aluhi, Kylan Curran. And we had all wrestled together, even though we were from different schools. You know, the wrestling community is small. So we had all known each other back in high school and middle school so I was seeing these girls fight and I'm like you know I feel like I could probably do it you

know just just try it out I think it would be fun so I joined an MMA gym which was the gym of Liz Carmouche she was actually the one that signed me up and I actually joined a CrossFit gym and so I told myself okay just decide which one you want to do by the end of the summer which one you want to thank God by the way you decided MMA not because you're the champ now and it obviously it seems like you were put on this earth to be a fighter but because if you were a CrossFit gym member you just wouldn't shut up about it yeah yeah they never shut up about it yeah you know if somebody does CrossFit CrossFit vegans like all of those kind of people, they'll tell you right away.

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm pretty happy with my decision to stay with the MMA gym. And here I am now. So you have this fight that goes super viral. It's your pro debut. It's known as the soccer mom fight. We won't spend too much time on it because I've seen you talk about it all over. But if you haven't seen it, you should watch it because it's unbelievable. It's an absolutely like, it's just a surreal video

that it happened. You have the soccer mom fight, you immediately go to Bellator. And you were in talks with Bellator before that. But as a person that's 10 and 0 right now, nine of your fights have been in Bellator. What was that jump like? Was it like jarring at first that your second pro fight is in the second biggest mma promotion in the world well yeah and especially because at that point i still wasn't convinced that i wanted to fight so i mean when you signed with bellator you don't know dude even like almost it was it took me to win the belt basically that i was like oh okay i can do this your fall back plan was was teaching i've heard you say, right? Yes, because I did, in fact, I finished my master's degree.

Oh, wow, good for you. Yeah, so during the course of my amateur career, I was in graduate school. That's crazy. Yeah. Were you showing up to class with bruises on your face and all that kind of stuff? Dude, yes, and I also, my professors were all amazing. I would tell them, like, hey, so I have a fight this weekend. Is it okay if I push the deadline? So they were all very understanding. They all thought it was the coolest thing ever.

So shout out to all my professors from SDSU. But yeah, it was really interesting timing because I had actually finished my graduate program one semester early. So I basically finished it in December and I fought in january that was my pro debut yep and that's the soccer mom that was the soccer mom fight i fought in january and then it didn't actually go viral until like april or may or something and at that by that point we were already in talks with bellator yeah so people thought that i got signed to bellator because it went viral and i was like no we were actually talking it with Bellator. So people thought that I got signed to Bellator because it went viral. And I was like, no, we were actually talking to them.

It definitely helped. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I think it definitely put me out into the viral fame and community out there. That was like a major moment for mixed martial arts. I remember where I was when I watched the soccer mom fight. You know what I mean? Yeah.

So when we did get the call call from bellator then it was kind of unheard of because it's like all right i i do not only do i only have one pro fight but it was also the soccer mom fight so i'm sure you have a thousand doubters like everyone that saw the signing was probably like oh my god yeah did they sign and it was unsanctioned. Yeah. So, yes, there was definitely a lot of critics, a lot of trolls, a lot of shit talkers. But like the biggest one was my own self-doubt because I'm like, yeah, do I even belong here? Did it put a chip on your shoulder though? But just self-doubt. No, it was for sure self-doubt.

And I always think it's because it wasn't my intention to become a fighter. It kind of just happened we always joke that I'm the accidental champ yeah I just I just like wandered into an MMA gym like it is kind of it's a crazy story yeah so I think it's like that self-doubt like do I even want to do this and so again it wasn't until like my fifth fight or something with Bellator that I was like okay yeah, yeah, I'll do this. And that's so interesting because you're undefeated still to this day. Was there ever a moment in that, in the buildup to say your fifth fight where you were, was there a moment

where you're like, okay, this isn't for me? Every time I stepped in that cage and the doorbell or the cage door was shut, I'm like, how did I get here? What am I even doing here? Do you have anxiety about fighting? I do. I do. And, you know, obviously the more you do it, the easier it comes. And so, yeah, every fight that I do, I'm still getting better. Of course, I still get the nerve.

Because I couldn't imagine. Yeah. Anytime I have to do anything, I get anxiety. So let alone closing the cage door and someone's trying to rip my head off. Like that seems like the scariest thing in the world. Yes, it is. But I now this is my life. This is my identity. This is what I love to do. And you're the champ. I'm the champ. And that's got to boost the ego knowing you're the champ, knowing you're the baddest woman in your weight class. Not just the ego. And I don't have a problem calling it ego, too, because, again,

I've been battling with like my own self-doubt and self-critic this entire time so yeah to finally be able to say like no i'm a badass bitch yeah it took me a long time it's like validating almost exactly when did you get involved with 10th planet jujitsu and eddie bravo so i've been at the same gym my entire career the same gym that i stepped and. And same coaches as well, right? Same coaches, yeah. And so we were originally known as San Diego Combat Academy. We still kind of are, but then Boogie came along.

And actually, Richie Boogieman Martinez, he is my jiu-jitsu instructor, black belt under Eddie Bravo. and he actually came to just start training mma with us back like in 2015 or no 2014 or something like that he was uh training with our mma team because he actually fought one of our other teammates james was like oh like you're really good where do you train at can i come train with you guys and while he was training mma you know he's he got offered to teach a 6 a.m jiu-jitsu class like twice a week which he's like okay cool and our jiu-jitsu program wasn't very big and I wasn't even doing the jiu-jitsu consistently I was mainly just doing the MMA classes and so Boogie started teaching at 6 a.m and then slowly his classes started building and building until pretty soon it was like dude you gotta you we should just make this a 10th planet school yeah and so then we became

10th planet san diego and jujitsu is our shit oh that's very interesting i thought you on your own went off to 10th planet and said let me improve the jujitsu game jujitsu kind of came to you yes yes and you're a brown belt now yes so in honor of eddie bravo uh do you have a favorite conspiracy theory oh my gosh i did not even want to go down the rabbit hole yeah i mean but are you a conspiracy theory person i am so not okay but i will not really yeah i will tell you this like so i did a jiu-jitsu camp with him out in singapore and yeah we'd go out afterwards and and talk story and everything is that like what he wants to talk about when you go out after well no one of the people in that like what he wants to talk about when you go out after? Well, no.

One of the people in the group was like asking about it. So then we go down that rabbit hole. I'm just like shaking my head. What are we doing? But he told me it's called – is it Royal Blood Conspiracy Theory? I think it's called Royal Blood Conspiracy Theory. I don't even know if I should talk about this on here. Let's do it.

Let's do it. Okay. Okay. So it's a conspiracy that what's the head rabbis? Yep. They are kidnapping children. That's why the most like missing children, the highest numbers in Washington, D.C., because it's all of these like powerful Jews, right?

Yeah. They're kidnapping children and they are sucking the blood out of them. So they terrify the children and then they poke holes in them because the kid's adrenaline is growing and they believe that this gives them never-ending life. Bananaland. Changing topics.

Your tattoos. I like your tattoos a lot. Are they Polynesian tribal tattoos, I assume? Yes, they're Polynesian. So you have a bunch of them. You have have an elbow one you have one on your side uh I'm fascinated by like they always have meanings I know American tribal tattoos are like you listen to headstrong you listen to metal you know and you fight in an MMA cage yes Polynesian tattoos have much more meaning and tradition behind them so like can you uh share like what yours mean or absolutely yeah all of my tattoos are very deliberate there's um a lot of a lot of meaning in all of them so the first one i actually

got was my side piece and that one has um how old were you when you got it uh that was actually right when i signed with bellator so yeah like four years ago you got yourself within your contract kind of something like that and um so i got the side piece and mind you my nobody in my family has tattoos i am oh really i'm the baby of six kids no one has tattoos disappointed this was a big step um they weren't disappointed but when i showed it to them they're like that's really beautiful okay no more no more and then of course that's not gonna happen uh so the more. No more. And then, of course, that's not going to happen. So the first was a side piece, and it was a combination of different Polynesian cultures. It has my family in there.

It has our amakua, which is like our family guardian, which is an owl. Yeah, it has a lot of meanings. And then the second tattoo I got was actually, it comes, it's behind my ear. It goes down my neck, and it ends up on my shoulder. And that is actually it has Tahitian and Marquesan designs, which is still part of Polynesia. And I got that because my brother was a voyager on the Hokule'a to the Marquesan Islands. And there's symbols in there that represent my siblings. And then my last most recent tattoo is actually probably one of my favorites.

And that is on my forearm. I saw your post about this. I liked it a lot. It was really cool. I actually got it in New Zealand and I wanted to get it for my dad because I think he's the most amazing man in the world. And I had it, I had, and this was the first tattoo that I got by a woman and so she was just such posi vibes about her just incredible incredible uh woman and and I had her connect it to my ring finger because I'm like whatever man I end up marrying needs to be as great as my

dad and so yeah this was like a tattoo for my dad and then it goes throughout your arm and you said the next fight you threw more elbows than you've ever thrown in your life. Yes. Which is very cool. Like, you know, going back to like the hidden meanings of tattoos and like the spirit behind them. Yeah, because when I initially was getting it done, when I looked up this artist in New Zealand, she had a little bit more like daintier feminine looking tattoos on her page so that's kind of what i thought i was gonna get and so when she was done with the outline i was like oh that's that's a lot of ink that's really big it was like a free hand like you didn't really you kind of just put your

arm and you were like oh all of them are all of them are free hands oh wow yeah because i believe and we do believe that um no stencil no stencil and interesting and because we believe that you know they the artist feeds off of your vibes you know and they're the ones that create this like well you both create this story together yeah but i totally trust all of my artists to just like dude do what you did this i just want it to have uh you know my siblings in it go i want this to be about my dad and and so throughout the tattoo she's actually asking me okay so like what does he do and this is she's still she's going and but adding as i talked to her about my dad so it was really special

and um but i was like that's a lot of that's a lot of ink like and it's a big one yeah it's a big one and she was like no you're gonna need it in the cage. It's going to protect you in the cage. I'm like, okay. She called it a shield, right? That's your shield? It was, yeah, my armor shield. And lo and behold, the next couple of fights, I was like throwing elbows. I never throw elbows.

You threw that one elbow that finished a fight. I did. You hit Dr. Stoppage. And that was with my tatted side. And everybody thought that, oh, Ilima's elbow must be all messed up. I'm like, dude, it didn't even bruise. Crazy. Yeah.

Let's talk about winning the title. So you said that was the moment where you really like realized this is for me. Everything got validated in that moment. When you won it, was it more relief than anything? Yes. I mean – I talk to fighters about this all the time and I find the balance between the emotions of relief and like satisfaction interesting after wins. Oh, I see. Yeah, no.

It was definitely relief. And I think because, yeah, there was so much buildup for this fight. There was so much on the line for this belt uh not only would i be making history with bellator as the the inaugural women's fly world champion but i felt like i was actually making history within the entire mma world because we started the women's flyweight division before the ufc did and the ufc was going to crown their champion like a month later or so so i felt like there was a lot on the line you know also for hawaii exactly i they didn't have a native hawaiian female fighter world champion yet they had angela lee but you know she's not native hawaiian so i just i felt

like i was kind of um fighting for all the canucks and and everybody back home and then i really really wanted to do this for my team for my gym because i was built up from the ground with them grown yes i was i'm their homegrown fighter they've never had a world champion at their gym so like those three for me i was like all right there's everything's at stake here so did you feel more pressure to win that fight or do you feel more pressure now as as the champion because we just saw rose nama unis lost her title in the ufc her immediate reaction afterwards was she's like oh my god this was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders the pressure of being a champion seemed to you know wear and tear on her do you feel that now now i don't because that's good yeah it is

like and i've already accomplished everything that I set out to accomplish. And starting with my first fight in Bellator, my goal for that fight, I didn't care if I won or lost. My goal was to prove to everybody that I could fight, that the soccer mom fight wasn't going to define me as a fighter, that I wasn't a chump. I did that. And then the next fight came and the next week. And so I was like, OK, why don't I finish this? My first contract with Bellator. My next goal is to get resigned with them. I accomplished that goal. And then the more I fought, the more I was like, OK, next fight. Be a contender. Get on the main.

You know, so it's just I've been accomplishing every goal as I've set them. And after I won the belt, I was like, all right, my next goal, I need to defend it. Because like everybody says, you're not a real champion until you defend it. So now that I've done that, then my next goal is, okay, now I want to fight in Hawaii. I want to defend it at home. And that was what I was just about to get to. Yeah. That fight in Hawaii was one of the most legendary, magical crowd experiences and the whole aura i wasn't there i wish i was but there are so many people that were there john cavanaugh was in here the other day and he actually mentioned um that fight being the craziest crowd atmosphere he had ever seen like next to he was

there connor in ireland i think he was right yeah that's crazy um that must have been outrageous for you is that the best night of your life? Yes, it really was. Because there was even a videographer with you before the fight. Casey Lennon. Yes, with your team. And the video is like, it made me emotional, not even knowing you personally, not even knowing your team. And it's crazy because that video doesn't even have that many views.

And I'm like, people need to see it. Whether you're an MMA fan, whether you're an Ilima post it it's such a great video it's just a beautiful piece and it's so uh it's so like moving in that you can feel how important this is just by the pre-fight preparations exactly so that night the best night of your life you get the finish and it's against valerie letourneau who was such a game opponent. She had fought Joanna Young-Jacek, and she took her five rounds, and she's just tough as nails. After that fight, what do you feel is left to accomplish? Do you want to go down with the all-time greats?

You've done pretty much everything there is to do, and you're only 10-0. Yeah. It's crazy. So that's why I almost feel like I don't feel pressure when I do go into fights because I'm because i'm like well i already kind of i did a lot of stuff that a lot of people haven't done like at age 29 you know so um it's nice that the pressure has taken off for me in that sense but i think now i'm actually looking more towards the future of what i'm gonna how am i gonna build a future for my future family um how am i going to build a future for my future family? How am I going to make the most amount of money taking the least damage possible?

Like least damage possible? Yeah. And just so I can, I can have a career after fighting. How am I going to do that? Oh, they want me to commentate the Mass Square Garden card. Of course I will, because that is a very, very amazing career to have after fighting. Did you express interest in doing that or did Bellator come to you totally on their own? They came to me on their own, but I've done so much PR for them.

Media. Yeah, media for them. This kind of stuff. Yeah, so I'm just super – at this point in my career, I still love to fight, of course. Like even being here during fight week and seeing all the fighters, I'm low-key kind of jealous because I'm like, oh, gosh, like I love fight week. I love the fight. Especially the garden is a legendary garden and all that. Do you ever envision yourself hopping weight classes?

We see the new trend in MMA is double champs and everything like that. Do you see that in your future? Yes. I would love to try to go for a double champ. And so it would definitely be at bantamweight, knowing how I'm going to make 115. So actually that has been on my mind, or even maybe a cross-promotional thing.

We've been doing a lot of cross-promotions. There's a fight this week on Friday, tomorrow. Yeah, yeah with darian codwell versus horiguchi from ryzen yep and so yeah i think that those are definitely um those are definitely possibilities in the future would i say they're necessarily like goals that i'm focusing on right now no yeah but like you said you're looking for you know what's best for your future family if an opportunity arises i assume you would take it if it were you know yeah in that area so we talked about you doing commentary tomorrow night um it will be tonight if you're listening to this what fight are you looking forward to the most because the car is stacked

oh my gosh i'm like as a fan just very excited for bellator 222 yes me too um okay honestly i'm probably most excited there's there's a lot of flight fights under the radar yep so i'm just gonna say even that caldwell horiguchi fight like is kind of flying under the radar for a bunch of people yeah don't sleep on this yeah and um obviously i'm very interested in all the girl fights yep uh it doesn't matter what their record is. I just love watching girl fights. It doesn't even matter if it's not my division. So there's three girl fights on the prelims. Heather Hardy, I'm a really huge

fan of her. I can't wait to see her back in there. Valerie Loretta versus Larkin Dash. Dasha, I believe. I broke the news for that fight. I'm proud of that one. I'm excited for that one. You know, Valerie is kind of like the next up and coming.

Muay Thai phenom. Yeah. Well, Taekwondo, right? Is it Taekwondo? Yeah, she's Taekwondo. Yes. I'll edit that out. Make it sound like I knew that, you know.

Taekwondo phenom. Yeah. So Bellator is putting a lot of stock into her. So I'm excited to see how she's doing. And then there's a strawweight bout with another cross promotional. It's Rina Kubota from Rizin who's fighting. Did you there's a strawweight bout with another cross promotional. It's Rina Kubota from Rizin who's fighting. Did you see her at the weigh-ins today?

I did not. She had maybe the swaggiest outfit I've ever seen. Oh, man. Okay, please. This outfit, she stepped on the scale and I was like, I have never in my life seen any. I didn't even know what I was looking at, to be honest with you. Japanese, that's why. What? Yeah.

I don't even understand this. I know. I didn't know what I was looking at. You're not supposed to understand the Japanese outfits. What? Yeah. I don't even understand this. I know. I didn't know what I was looking at. You're not supposed to understand their Japanese outfits. Oh, clearly. It's way too fashionable for me. Now, before we get into the Hawaii questions that I had, or Hawaii, is that how you say it? Perfect.

Yeah. You're native. Well, I'm getting better at it. It's been my dream to go there for so many years. Before we get to that, though, we had the whole office compile them. You just trained with Canelo Alvarez. Oh, yesil how was that how did that come about oh is it through a dazone thing or yeah so it was actually my birthday it was my birthday the next day so it's like my birthday week but um i had so we were filming that whole weekend and they're like hey

on monday we're gonna take you at three o'clock to go do something i'm like okay what they're like it's a surprise i'm like okay so i'm thinking that they're just gonna literally take me out for birthday ice cream or something yeah and um so we go and i'm like well what should i wear you know whatever they're like oh what you have on right now is fine i had just finished working out. And so – Oh, they sandbagged you. You just finished working out? Dude, they totally sandbagged me.

Damn. So then they take me to this unmarked building in this like unknown location. They're like, go inside. I'm like, are you guys going to murder me or something? Yeah, you're getting whacked like you're a good fella. There's like newspaper on the windows. It's all blacked out. I'm like, dude, this is really sketchy, actually.

But I walk in and I'm still at this point. I'm very confused. So it's a gym. Yeah, it's a gym. There's pictures of Canelo everywhere, but I'm still very confused. And I'm like, oh, is this a DAZN gym? What's going on? And then they start introducing me to everybody.

And then that's when i like start putting everything out they're like oh this is his gym okay but he wasn't there yet and then they sit me down they start wrapping my hands and i'm like what am i what are we doing they're like oh you're gonna train i'm like what the fuck and actually actually i didn't tell them this but my coach had actually uh given me that day off from mitt work because my shoulder was hurt and so when they started wrapping me up I was like oh oh no oh this is gonna be bad and so but of course I'm not gonna say anything it's like Canelo's trainer yeah um so and there was a slight language barrier so actually the editing made it look like I was doing really well.

But in reality, I was doing really, really poorly because I couldn't understand like the combos he was doing. And then Canelo comes and I'm just total. Holy shit. Yeah. Canelo Alvarez. Yeah. So he's watching and I'm just like, oh, I'm looking terrible right now. But they're really cool.

The whole time thinking about your shoulder. Do you want to tell them the whole time? Like, my shoulder's here and I swear I'm better. I can't do it. Yeah. And so I kept saying, like, I'm not a boxer. I'm a grappler. I'm not a jiu-jitsu girl.

And then so afterwards it was cool. Like, we talked story very briefly because of the language barrier. Yeah. But, yeah, it was really cool. Everybody was awesome. And just seeing him, him like prepare for his training session i got to pick his brain a little bit about his camp uh there was one point where i was like how much weight do you have and he was like 15 i was like 15 he's like 50 i was like wait like

15 one five and then he was like 50 and there so but he meant like Kinsale. So I was like, you could have said Kinsale. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I understand the numbers. So then I was like, okay, I'm not going to ask him any more questions. All right. Speaking of questions, we're going to do a lightning round of Hawaii questions. Okay. Hawaii. Because I have so many of them.

I basically just went up to everyone in the office. I was like, you ever meet anyone from Hawaii? And they were like, no. And I was like, don't you have so many questions? So first one, how awesome is Hawaii? Hawaii is super awesome if you're a visitor. What does that mean? It means that it is becoming very overpopulated and the cost of living is through the roof right now.

And unfortunately, a lot of locals can't even afford to live there. Oh, shit. What a downer. Yeah. What a downer. So. What a downer. So make sure you guys go home if you visit Hawaii. What's your favorite island? Oahu.

That's where I'm from. That's where you're from. Yeah. What's the best Hawaiian food? Like restaurant? No, like a meal or something. Oh, I always get lomi salmon, poi, and poke. First stop when I get off the airplane.

Which is? Lomi salmon is like a salmon dish, obviously. It's like cubed and it has green onions, onions, and tomatoes in there. Nice. It's a cold dish. And then poke. Obviously, you guys have poke, right? But Hawaiian poke is much different.

It's cubed raw fish. Okay. Hawaiian poke is. I'm such a plain guy. I'm one of those like chicken fingers and french fries. I don't really know. Yeah. But Hawaiian poke is completely different from the poke up here in the mainland so you guys need to try real hawaiian poke and then adding it to the list yeah and then poi is a the root of the taro that's grounded uh mashed up into a paste and that's like a main staple for native hawaiians so what does it taste like? It's actually super bland.

It's an acquired taste. Like we were raised off of it. Oh, is it the kind of thing where if like someone not from there goes and they think it's weird? They'll be like, what? Yeah, but we use it to balance out the salty food. They got something like that in Australia too, right? Yeah, Danny's like nodding his head.

We've made them eat it too. What's the best Hawaiian drink? That'd be a bunch of tropical stuff You guys try to try 1944 Mai Tai. Is that an alcoholic drink? Yeah. Okay. Oh, is that what you're asking for? I was just asking for anything really.

I don't really drink often, but when I do, I just go to the bartender. I'm like, make me the girliest thing possible. I can't do alcohol. Alcohol is just gross. Yeah. And aren't you like 20? I mean, are you an officer? I just heard that you can't drink alcohol? I mean, are you an officer?

I just heard that you can't drink alcohol. I mean, that's true, but, you know. Yeah, yeah. So get the 1944 Mai Tai because that's when the drink was created. And pretty much most bars will have it. It will fuck you up. So, yeah, just try it. I'm sure it will.

I'm 120 pounds soaking wet. Oh, what's the time difference in Hawaii? Like, so everything is super early. Like if you're watching sports, you're watching it during the afternoon. Yeah. Yeah. So it's either two or three hours based on daylight saving time. OK. But that.

Oh, sorry. We're on the East Coast. From. Yeah. OK. So from California. From California. From us.

Yeah. So from California, it's two or three hour difference. And we don't have daylight saving time in Hawaii. So like we shouldn't have it saving time in Hawaii. So like. We shouldn't have it here either. It's so stupid. I read a whole thing about it. It doesn't make any sense.

Yeah. It was like a brand new thing to me when I moved to the mainland. Like, I'm like, what is this? It's stupid. Yeah. Sorry about that. Oh, what's the most exotic animal you've ever seen? Well, OK, so there's no snakes in Hawaii.

Is that a common misconception? Maybe. But there's no snakes. So anytime I see a common misconception? Maybe. But there's no snakes. So anytime I see a snake anywhere up in the mainland, I freak out because we don't have that in Hawaii. Interesting. Yeah. Did you like Moana? Yes.

I loved it. Lilo and Stitch? Yes. I loved it. I cosplayed all of those for my weigh-ins. No, I know. But I'm setting you up for a question. Okay.

What movie gives the most accurate representation of Hawaii? Lilo and Stitch. Really? Yeah, because her older sister Nani has to take care of her baby sister and is struggling

and like living in poverty and they're Hawaiian. Oh, wow. Yeah, so that's very accurate. Very interesting. I like Lilo and Stitch too. Can you hang less than 10? I do not surf.

I am like the only Hawaiian that doesn't surf. All right. I mean, you fight. You got that skill. Yeah that skill yeah yeah yeah here's one does hawaii claim hawaiian punch that's a good question i think they do but we i think we we drink more pog pog what's pog pog is passion orange guava juice oh wow yeah i. Sounds good. I haven't had Hawaiian punch forever. Does Hawaii claim the rock? He always talks about being Hawaiian, but he also talks about being from California and everywhere. Is he like a fake Hawaiian?

I wouldn't call him fake. And he's actually Samoan, which is Polynesian. So he's definitely like he's from Hawaii. He's local. But it's really funny. There's this instagram what's it i don't but but it's a it's a hawaiian guy that puts the the rock like face swap thing on oh yeah and he calls himself pohaku which is actually translated to rock in hawaiian oh nice

but the way he talks he's like hello this is pohaku aloha and he like talks with a super white accent but says hawai Hawaiian whereas it's freaking hilarious. So I would say that's pretty accurate in how we think of Dwayne Johnson. Okay. Okay. Fair. Do they make lays with real flowers? Yes.

Oh, wow. I didn't know. I figured they were all fake because here when we get them for like my sister's Sweet 16 had like a Hawaiian theme. It was all fake. Oh, yeah. All that stuff's fake but ours is real. Do you guys eat canned ham all the time?

I heard you guys just eat spam. It's spam. Yes, we do. What's up with that? It's delicious. I've never had it. It's delicious. You've got to try it, fry it up, put it on some rice, and wrap it with nori or nori, sorry. And it'll be a spam musubi. All right. I'll try it.

What's the bug situation in Hawaii like? I hate bugs. My worst fear. I want to go to Hawaii real bad, though. You see sometimes there's these crazy bugs are there crazy bugs in hawaii um no but there are well no there are but just get mosquito repellent they're not super crazy mosquitoes but the mosquitoes dude i get eaten alive by mosquitoes might be bad but only in like the valley so like my house has mosquitoes because we have a stream in there but yeah if you're like in waikiki and i think there's no mosquitoes down there. But no crazy like giant spiders?

No. All right, good. What do we got next? Oh, have you ever met Dog the Bounty Hunter? No, but he went to my sister's house one time looking for a crackhead. Oh, shit. That's awesome. Have you ever seen a shark?

Yes. Small though. A little small. You see the fin? Yes. Oh, no. Like I was in the water when I saw them. Oh, shit. That's even scarier. Yeah, it's Small though. A little small. You see the fin? Yes. Oh, no. I was in the water when I saw them. Oh, shit. That's even scarier.

Yeah, it's fine though. We were just picking up piki off the coast of Molokai. They're small sharks. And when you see it, you don't run for your life? No, I'm terrified. I'm like, oh, fuck. But you just have to be calm. You say it's okay like crazy. This one is a question on behalf of me. Do you ever get too high sometimes and then just think about how far Hawaii is from everything else and get worried? I looked at it on Google Maps today and I was like, oh my god. I wrote it down.

2,390 miles away from the closest thing. And I read that if there's some kind of disaster happened where we couldn't get food there. We're fucked. The island only has food for three days. Yep. Because we get everything imported. Does that scare you? Yeah.

That's terrifying. It is. I read that before. My heart started beating fast. Yeah, like the whole island shuts down. Like there was a power outage one year and like everybody lost their shit. The whole island shut down. Or if there's like a hurricane warning, Costco is empty.

What about the nuclear warning? Oh, dude, that was crazy. All your family get texts like a bomb has been incoming? I was there. texts like i was there i was actually home so did you get the notification i was home and it was um it was super crazy because that was right after my belt burned in a house fire i'm not sure if you saw that on my social media but literally less than a month after i won the belt for the first time i was at a sponsor's house on a different island doing promo and left my belt at their house we went out to party when we came back the whole house was on fire i'm like oh okay uh bellator uh there's my belt inside that house right now um and so i lost my belt

in the fire and then we're all we're literally all covered in ashes and soot we didn't sleep all night all of our phones are pretty much dead because our charges were inside there we have to go through extra security because all of our shit was in the house like when we go to the airport oh yeah and then um we finally make it back to oahu and i finally get showered i'm nice and clean i lay down in bed i'm like oh so nice and then my I lay down in bed. I'm like, oh, so nice. And then my phone starts ringing. I look at it and it's like a nuke is incoming. Missile inbound.

Seek shelter immediately. This is not a drill. Oh, my God. And I'm like, oh, OK. What are you trying to tell me? How long was it before they knew that that wasn't like real? Was it minutes? It was.

No, it was like 15 minutes. 15 minutes holy shit yeah so were you like actually like seeking shelter panicking or are you like there's no way this is real my sister at first the only ones at our home were uh my dad and i and of course we start getting everybody starts calling us my sisters are all calling they're all worried about us they're you know and and they're like in their car one of them is like frantically bawling she's like close the windows close the window she's freaking out so me and my dad are like going around the house trying to close everything and then after a while it wouldn't help with a nuke dude yeah and then my dad's like honey if it if it lands we're dead because these are single panel like walls like let's just go

inside the room i was like okay so we just went inside uh his bedroom we just laid in bed and we're like we started saying our goodbyes like he started god tech because someone hit the wrong button yeah and i was like you know what dad we've accomplished a lot i was like we've lived a really good life like i could die right now and i'd be happy holy shit so yeah we just accepted it teenager hit the wrong button yeah um what's up with the hawaiian alphabet you got 12 letters yeah so does that work the vowels are the same i e o u and then the consonants are ahakalama napava so and all hawaiian words are just made up of those 12 letters? Yes. That's bananas.

And there's never going to be two consonants next to each other. But there can be as many as three to four vowels. I've seen some words. Ka'a'awa. Yeah, that's crazy. Is that super hard to learn, I assume? No, and it has the same structure as Spanish. So that's why a lot of Spanish people Spanish and the same pronunciation for the vowels.

So that's why Spanish speakers are the only ones that get my name right in the first try. Oh, interesting. Did I get it wrong? No, it was fine. But you've heard it before. Oh, yeah. You kind of say it like a white person, but whatever. I mean, look at me.

Yeah. Duh. I'm about as white as it gets. And what's your favorite Hawaiian music? Who makes the best Hawaiian music? That's the final one. Hawaiian music? Who makes the best Hawaiian music? That's the final one. Hawaiian music. I'm going to say Dennis Pavao because he was the one that I walked out to for Bellator Hawaii.

I walked out to, we call him the golden voice of Hawaii. Can you compare him like for Hawaiians? Like who would that be for us? Is he like a, is he like an Elvis figure? Is he like a Prince figure? Is he like a. Like someone who's very classic. Like what's a classic?

Like James Brown? I'm trying to think more... Frank Sinatra? Like a Frank Sinatra? Yeah, because he's the golden voice. Yeah. Dennis Paveau. But also my brother-in-law's really badass. His group is called Nahoa and they're amazing. How do you spell that?

N-A space H-O-A. I'll check them out. Nahoa. I'll check them out. And maybe we'll finish this episode with one of their songs. Yes,

please. We'll do that. They love it. Yeah, we'll do that. All right, that's it for my interview with Alimale McFarlane.

It was a pleasure sitting down with you, champ. Thank you, brother. I can't wait to see you back in the cage again. Yes,

thank you. You got to make your way to Hawaii in December. Oh, shit. Yeah, I really do. Thanks again to Alimale for joining the show. Yes, thank you. You got to make your way to Hawaii in December. Oh, shit. Yeah, I really do. Thanks again to Alimale for joining the show.

It was my pleasure having her in the office this week, and I can't wait to do it again with her sometime. Enjoy Bellator 222 tonight. I know I will.

I'll be tweeting about it at Robbie Barstool.