REAL AF with Andy Frisella - 687. The Power Of Daily Discipline Ft. Michael Chandler

Episode Date: April 16, 2024

On today's episode, Andy & DJ are joined in the studio by UFC superstar Michael Chandler. They discuss his upcoming fight against Conor McGregor at UFC 303, the daily discipline required to be successful, and how to overcome setbacks and adversities.

What is up guys, it's Andy for Selling, this is the show for the realest, say goodbye to the lies, to fakeness and delusionsusions of modern society. And welcome to motherfucking reality. Guys, today, instead of our normal Cruise the Internet episode, we have a special guest. I'm going to get right into it. Let's do it. Yeah. Michael Chandler. What's up, bro?

Dude, living the dream, dude. I just got the tour of the HQ here. Absolutely ridiculous. So pumped up to be here man thanks bro it's so good to see you man you too man yeah it's awesome so a lot of you guys may or may not know but michael and i grew up 10 minutes from each other and uh we've been trying to connect for years yep and uh dude it's really cool to finally have you here especially after the big announcement this weekend crazy Crazy. 48 hours ago, dude.

Yeah. So I texted you right after. I was like, hey, Monday's about to be lit. Yeah. Yeah. What was the big announcement? There's this fight. Yeah.

There's this little thing. Yeah. Don't worry. We'll get into it later. Yeah. We'll gloss over it. So, dude, how are you feeling about everything? Dude, honestly, you know, I've kind of made the joke.

I really have been in a very unique position the last, it's been about 16 months, really. You know, got done with my last fight in November of 2022. January, I get a phone call. Hey, you want to do the ultimate fighter against Conor McGregor? We'll fight it right after the season. My answer, of course, is absolutely. We do the Ultimate Fighter, and then since the show wrapped up in August, we've kind of just been gone back and forth.

So I feel like I call it MMA purgatory. I've waited too long to not stay on the train of fighting Conor. I've had enough behind-the-scenes indications that the fight's definitely happening, even though media, even though the fans, even though everybody's everybody's like this fight's never happening he's never coming back so honestly it's a huge weight lifted off my shoulders that we can finally talk about it i've known for months that the fight was going to be june 29th um but wasn't exactly public about it and uh now we can talk about it now the cat is out the bag and we got 75 hard days between dude right now we were talking about this this morning so he sends me a text at like 6 a.m and he's like bro i was gonna tell you later but do you know

how many days it is until my fight and i'm like no and he's like 75 days and i'm like holy shit man the fact that i'm sitting right here with the godfather of 75 hard, and now we're about to go into this training. I mean, I've already kind of started, but the fact that it got announced, and this is the first Monday after it gets announced, 75 days, man. Just a dream come true. It's going to be exciting. I told you, bro, I'm going to go as hard as I can.

I'm like day 30 on 75 right now, but I'm just going to finish that out and do phase one so I can be done on the same day you're done yeah so i'll be done on fight day dude let's go but yeah so i'll be doing it with you not the same stuff obviously well i mean yeah i might have dj punched me in the face there you go you got a couple smart sessions man you guys got you got a you got a full basketball quarter over there you got the gyms i heard there was some mats but you had to clear them out for something yeah they're usually right there next to the court yeah the guys train uh jujitsu there every uh i don't know tuesday and thursdays tuesday wednesday thursday seven yeah dude so crazy man yeah man so dude how did this all the the fight i mean was there a lot of negotiation

or was it pretty much like okay we could do this this? I already kind of had my stuff set up because I had the foresight to negotiate with the UFC. Hey, here's my contract. But if I fight Conor, here's my contract. And we came to an agreement. So it's kind of already been set and I'm very happy with it. And lo and behold, obviously that fight happened. The UFC knew about my contract. They were completely okay with it all happening.

And the UFC is about my contract they were completely okay with it all happening and UFC is awesome man they they have been absolute dream to work with behind the scenes even though there's been so much craziness going on you know I mean just for a quick timeline of people who haven't really followed at all there was the big you know the drug testing thing because Connor was outside of USADA the drug testing pool and that was big hangup. Then he got into the USADA testing pool. Then they switched drug testing agencies. Now he's going to be in the new drug testing agency for six months. So it's just been- How do they test you for that? Is it consistently? Completely random. So I got my location on my phone. So my location, they know where my location is. Technically they could call me right now. And I have basically two hours as the time limit. If

you don't show up to where they are or them to you in a two-hour time frame you get a whereabouts failure um you do get three you know it's not like a one and done you get suspended but if you do three whereabouts failures you get suspended for the minimum two years um so it's completely random we are under we're still under wada so it's the same thing the ncaa nfl nhl mlb uses i believe um and it's the same thing the NCAA, NFL, NHL, MLB uses, I believe. And it's completely random, and here we are. Dude, now, it's been cool to watch you come up and do your thing, especially being a fellow St. Louisan, right? Missourian, man.

Missourian. You know, every time we talk, it's always a conversation about two freaking redneck Missouri dudes dudes putting it together man dudes that weren't supposed to be here and so here we are like what i guess we'll keep going and it's been really cool bro to follow your career and see you come up and see you do what you've what you've been doing and what you're gonna do um i mean when you when you think back and you think like, you know, growing up in House Springs and High Ridge, you know, which isn't exactly, you know, for people that don't know, it's not poor. It's just regular America. Regular America. Middle class.

Yeah. Lower middle class. Midwestern, you know place and uh you know to be where you are right now i mean it's fucking awesome dude and like when you think back to like all like did you ever i think this is might be a silly question but i just gotta ask it i mean did you ever think like this is where you wanted to end up or or how did this all play out for you no i mean honestly i didn't even know professional athletic for me to be a professional athlete never really thought about it i don't really think i ever you know first of all i was four foot eleven a hundred pounds in high school going into high school i wasn't gonna be the star quarterback i wasn't gonna be playing basketball

yeah um so i knew i had to wrestle wrestled 103 pounds um so i never really thought about profession being a professional athlete man but so the fact i've been a professional athlete now for 16 years and had the success i've had is just crazy um and then in the sport of wrestling there's really no path after i mean you can maybe go to the olympics and that but that's not it's professional or freestyle or something yeah it's professional athletics kind of but it's not a it's not a big glory thing you know it's it's it's training for the olympics and i was never going to be able to do that um but yeah wrestling northwest high school uh was never never a state champ um and truth be told nobody really wanted me at the division one level um i had i had some scholarship offers from some local schools lyndon wood central missouri state

missouri baptist uh but for some reason something in me said hey if i'm gonna wrestle i'm gonna try to wrestle at the highest level and I took a chance and I walked on to Mizzou and coach didn't know my name coach Brian Smith is still there you know he didn't really look at me there for the first year ended up after my first year I got a starting starting spot but I went to I went to the University of Missouri completely okay with riding the bench for five years if i had to um going through all the workouts never never reaching the pinnacle which would be becoming an all-american division one level um but so i took that chance on myself walked on and ended

up becoming an all-american captain of the team for your uh for your starter for your national qualifier for mizzou um and then friends of ours, Tyron Woodley, Ben Askren, wrestled with both of those guys. They were kind of like my big brothers. I'm the oldest of three boys. So I didn't have older guys to look up to a lot. Those were kind of the first big brothers I had. And they started fighting and ended up graduating in May of 2009,

fought my first fight at Lake of the Ozarks at some Holiday Inn ballroom, got at Lake of the Ozarks. I got paid $500, and after we paid for hotel, after we paid for travel and gas and food, I think I lost like $38. So I was negative, but that's how you kind of get going. And then, man, then through Bellator and now in the UFC and now fighting the biggest combat sports athlete of all time, Connor, 75 days so so how many fights did it take you to go from

like fighting in the in the bars because dude we all know what that's like because that's like a big thing around here man we all love to go watch the local tickets and they're fun you watch they're they're fun and you're seeing people fighting at at kind of that that that level where it's like dude i just want to get somewhere and i gotta fight my tail off they're fighting more than just the opponent yeah yeah dude for sure i mean i love the local level fighters yeah no they're always fun man fun and character filled and the crowd and it's just dude it's it's like it's the epitome of you know kind of just at beer drink beer drinking parties with your buddies and a fight breaks out and you're like, let's go, man. Yeah. So dude, how long did it take you to go from that to Bellator?

Man, I got, I got to say, I have a very, very fortunate path when it came to that. I had that first, I only had one local show, really one local show, Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. It's still on YouTube. I fought a guy named Kyle Swadley who wrestled at lindenwood i think he was one to know at the time it was first blood promotion and uh then they you know as you know you because you've probably seen some of the strike force fights that come to town or bellator they um partner with a local promoter and the local promoter finds local talent because how do you sell tickets you get a guy like me who's got 200 something people from high ridge missouri i can sell uh tickets to them and that's how you put butts in seats and sell out the arenas. So I fought Strikeforce undercard, Strikeforce undercard, one in Kansas City, one in

St. Louis. And then I had a moment where they said I had a Strikeforce offer and I had a Bellator offer. But to me, Strikeforce was kind of just a big wide open net of hey you're signing with the organization and then you're going to get some fights and then eventually maybe fight for the title if you get good enough or you are good enough but bellator had a clear path because back then they used to do a tournament so i fought um two fights in two or three months and then i got the go-ahead to say if you win these first two fights you'll be in the tournament then i got in the tournament i fought fought march april may. I fought March, April, May. So I fought three fights in three months.

And then I fought Eddie Alvarez, who was the number three guy in the world at the time. So I somehow go from May of 2009 to November 2011. And I'm fighting for a world title against the number three guy in the world. So it was just a crazy, crazy, meteoric rise, really. And I had finished most of my opponents. I think I'd finished nine of my, or sorry, eight of my nine fights and like seven of those in the first round. And then I had a knockdown drag out war with Eddie ended up beating him. And it, uh, so it was very, very quick, honestly, which is awesome. It's a huge blessing, but there was, there was some growing pains that I had to go

through. Cause I hadn't some, sometimes it's the right path, but it's a little bit too quick, right? Sometimes it's, you're the right guy. You're just not the right guy yet. And I think I, I use the training that I had all those years through fighting. And I looked across the cage against Eddie Alvarez who had like 30 fights at the time or 20 something fights. And I'm like, dude, I'm going to, I'm going to beat this guy. I know I'm going to beat him. And I go out there and I beat him. And then, you know, later on I had a couple losses, and it's been little ups and downs here. But it's constantly continued to grow.

So it was a very cool path. And, you know, being outside the UFC for so long, coming over to the UFC, and then getting a title shot my second fight in the promotion was part of kind of that buildup that led me to where we are today. Did you have to handle the crowd pressure during that time? Like that fast track? Did you ever have any like self-doubt of like, do I belong here? Or was it, did you kind of just, were you able to block out the noise?

I'll tell you what it was. And because I can, I stand firm on knowing that I live a champion lifestyle more than anybody else I've ever met in the sport of mixed martial arts. And that's nothing against anybody else. There's other guys who do it right. I just truly believe I do it better and I do it different and more attention to detail, but I was building up this body. I was doing all the physical things. Um, but I wasn't really taking care of the mindset part of things. I wasn't really, I wasn't really winning the battle between the ears and you do start to feel the pressure. You do start to hear, hear hear the doubt or you do start to drink your own kool-aid of hey he's the next big thing

because right i i beat eddie alvarez and then immediately like well that's cool he beat eddie alvarez he's a top five guy in the world but we want to see him fight anthony pettis in the ufc we don't see him fight benson henderson who were the champions at the time and you start to feel this pressure and i started to get this i started to get this so much pressure put on myself to be perfect right because you win the world title you're you in your mind you know you earned it but you don't really know if you deserved it maybe it was too quick so then i had my first loss to eddie uh coincidentally lost the rematch and then i lost three fights in a row, 688 days.

I went without winning a fight. And for those that do follow the sport or don't follow the sport, that's kind of like a career death sentence for a fighter losing three fights in a row. So I did. I started to feel that pressure. Because once you win a world title and everyone's looking at you, now it's not just, hey, I'm going to go in and I'm going to have fun today. Me and you are going, I could beat you for four minutes and 50 seconds of a round but if i lose 10 seconds of a round to me that was a failure so i failed every single day and when you when you feel like you're failing every single day when you're really not it's all

about perspective i felt like i was failing every single day every single day wasn't a day to get better and have fun and enjoy this beautiful life that I get to live. It was either, Hey, I'm perfect or I'm a loser. I'm going to perfect. I'm going to dominate everybody or I'm a failure. And, uh, so I kind of fell into that trap. And, and right now I was, I back then I was sad. I was depressed. I was upset. I was mad. I was all the emotions, but now I look back at that and think, man, I had to go through that. I had to be forged in a major. Yeah. Yeah. I and and it now it's made me a better fighter it's it's it's propelled me to where i am i'm a better husband because of it a better father because of a better businessman just a better man because of it yeah people don't stop to think you know when you're

pushing to be great or pushing to be the best at what you do, you're going to, it's always, it feels like you're losing. It feels like you're struggling, right? Because you're pushing the boundaries and the boundary to push it. You have all these setbacks and all these doubts. Like when you lose three fights in a row, bro, that's a mental, that's a mental battle. You know what i'm saying and people sometimes think that like winning and moving forward feels good but it doesn't ever feel good it always feels like a major struggle i i think of the times when i've elevated in my life dude

and they've been the hardest times of my life no doubt like no doubt but like you said dude it's what teaches you everything you need to know. Yeah. You know? Yeah. And when you, and when you have a, a setback or a loss, you know, I, I talk about these three big mistakes that I made too, you know, right away. And, and it was partly because, you know, you kind of, you start to hear, hear all the chatter and hear all the noise, but, but until something bad happens and you're like, Oh, I knew it.

I knew what they said. There it is. They were all right. When really they weren't. Yeah. Right. But it was my perception of it. I knew what they said. There it is. They were all right. When really they weren't. Yeah. Right. But it was my perception of it. Right. So I, I immediately, I wanted to hide from everybody. I got, I got offered to come out and present the, or present an award at the world MMA awards for fight of the year and all the different stuff wasn't errands from my phone. I wanted to hide from it right now, man, I wear my losses on my, I wear my losses on my sleeve.

I'm almost proud of them. I'm almost, proud to be the man in the arena, right? And not almost. I am proud to be that man in the arena because it doesn't matter if I fall flat on my face my next 10 fights. I'm going to pick myself up and you're still going to see the blueprint for how a man continues to operate through the series of vicissitudes and the ups and the downs of what we call life. Mine is just in a cage. Right. And then I forgot how good I was. You know, you had that first loss. You're like, well, I just, I'm just not good anymore. Right. And I know, dude, I was just as fast, just as strong, just as powerful when I walked into that cage

is when I walked out of that cage. It was just my perception in my mind, you know, and then you kind of fall into that comfort jail cell of, of, of self pity. You start pointing the fingers, you know, all these different mistakes that I needed to make that really were immature. And I'm glad we all have to go through those immature moments. We all have those immature moments, but they make you into the mature man that you are today, you know, and even thinking about, you know, the old story about the man pushing the rock, right?

God comes to him in a vision, says he's pushed the rock right by the hill and he's pushing the rock and he's pushing the rock and he can't, he can't move it. He can't budget. Maybe it moves an inch and it comes back two inches, right? His shoulders are jacked up. His hands are bleeding. And then finally he's just like, God, why would you, why would you send me on this journey? If you knew I wasn't gonna be able to push this rock up the hill. And he's like, dude, I didn't tell you to push the rock up the hill. I just told you to push the tell you to push the rock up the hill i just told you to push the rock just push the rock and so it's the obedience in moving forward and like you said that visual of thinking about the hardest some of the hardest times in your life is when you are winning right because you're always pushing and you're always forgetting about what people

are saying and continuing to move forward it doesn't always feel good yeah that's why people follow you and watch you and we don't follow you because of the virtual certainty of your success but because of your failures that's what we love as human beings yeah because we can all relate yeah right we've we failed eight times out of ten nine times out of ten that's the reality of pursuing anything worthy do you ever stop and think how fortunate you are to have had those lessons at such a young age in life because a lot of people they don't they spend their whole lives and they never learn what you're talking about and because of the circumstances of your life you were able to learn these lessons as a young man not as

an old man you just think about that no i do because especially in a sport like mixed martial arts that obviously i i am so truly blessed to be in the sport, man. It's, it's made me who I am. It's made me a beautiful life, a beautiful fortune, a beautiful living. And the, the platform that I have, everything goes back to mixed martial arts. Um, and I've seen so many guys who maybe had more talent than me, or maybe had were even bigger than me at one point. And I've continued to gain ground and continue to pass them up and continue to grow bigger. And at one point and i've continued to gain ground and continue to pass them up and continue to grow bigger and and it's just but it was only because of the lessons that i had to go go through you know and and doing it with as much humility as

i possibly could and and it really does have so much to do with how i was raised right my mom and dad went through things their entire life they went they were working two and three jobs nonstop. My dad was up every single morning, putting his carpenter work boots on every single day at five in the morning and watching the way that they operated, watching the way that they lived their lives, watching the way that they always just tried their best and tried to be a better person today than they were yesterday. Um, it, it, it's got me so grounded and I'm so fortunate to have that and there was times where i would look back and be mad at the way that i was raised or the way that i things that happened in my young man brain as i was growing and but it's all kept me so it's kept my perspective so

crystal clear and knowing that i was created for great things, but I ain't any, I ain't greater than anybody else, you know? And it's, and it's such a beautiful thing. And I really do feel for people who, who have somehow fallen victim to the entitlements and the, Oh, holier than thou is and the bigger than thou. And I deserve this. And I deserve that when I'm like, man, I don't deserve anything, man. I know I work hard enough to deserve it more than this guy but i'm gonna work harder than him in order to force my deservedness and continue to force more and more accomplishment through the deservedness through the work that i do um there's nobody working harder than you bro no i i try not try i know i know you you you may not say that but

it's the truth there's nobody working harder than you yeah and i i my biggest thing is taking pride in the small the small little hard work the things that nobody ever sees the little disciplines where it's just me and my supplements or it's just me and my shopping cart and at the grocery store or it's just me and that piece of litter right there. Or that's me. And this little decision I can make to be like, okay, this is how 90% of people would do it, but I'm going to go ahead and go the extra mile to do this right now, because we act as though are these little acts and these little thoughts that they happen in a vacuum and they happen in private. And maybe they do happen in private and people, people,

they don't see them, but they do eventually manifest themselves into your circumstances. Right. So I've just, that's the way I was raised and that's the way I operate. And it doesn't matter. It didn't matter. Here's one thing too, you know, being trusted in the small things, if you can be trusted in the small things, then and only then can you be trusted in the big things. Right. So this training camp that I'm about to put, put on starting today and moving forward to fight the biggest combat sports superstar on the planet will be no more disciplined no more hard no more extra than when i was fighting kyle swadley my first fight ever or

fighting david rickles a guy who maybe you guys have never heard about. Or Derek Campos, one of these guys. I was training and doing the small things right, whether I was fighting the number 150 guy in the world or I'm fighting the biggest name on the entire planet in the history of mixed martial arts. So if I could be trusted with those small things, that's how you end up in this spot. And it even feels uncomfortable to say because it's not really me. It's the things you're doing. I'm product i'm a product of my environment yeah and how i was raised and what if you work watching it is exactly it is you because it's a choice yeah that we all get to make we all get to make a choice about how disciplined we're going to be

and we all get to make a choice about how serious we're going to take our lives. And we don't always start at the same spot, but we do have a choice with what we make of that. And when I look at you, I look at a regular guy who comes from what I know very well, just a very regular place. You know, St. Louis is St. Louis. I love it. Everybody here loves it. But, you know, it's a different place, man.

It's very blue collar it's very hard working it's not la it's not miami and i'm thankful for that people are often like why do you still live there i'm like bro because it's not that yeah you know but you when i look at you dude i see someone who represents those midwestern values who, and not just in your work ethic, in your life as a man, as a family man. And, um, when I, I had a very cool experience that I think you'll, you'll, you'll enjoy. Um, this weekend I had, I was, I was working out in the gym and this guy comes walking into the gym, holding a football. And and i'm like i can't see him all the way across the gym like who is that why has he got a football and he's walking right towards me

and he gets closer i'm like who is that who who's here and then he gets like from me to you away and i'm like holy shit dude that's jerry rice that's jerry rice and he's got a football in his hand what's what's that football for? And he hands it to me. I'm working out. He hands it to me. And it says, to Andy, hold the standard. And like this, a little message and sign Jerry Rice.

And he says, hey, I'm here with Ben Newman. Thank you so much for allowing me to come out. This place is amazing. And I'm like, and I don't get starstruck. But dude, it's Jerry Rice. You know what I'm saying? You don't get starstruck yeah dude it's Jerry Rice you know what I'm saying you don't get starstruck but that's Jerry Rice like very like when we talk about the greatest ever at what they did like you you've met a lot of great people I've met a lot of great people

people who were at the top of the game but when you say Jerry Rice dude like it's undeniable he is the greatest NFL wide receiver ever in history and he's standing in front of me and so I'm like halfway through my workout and I'm like all right well I'll skip the workout for this yeah so so we start talking and we hit it off immediately and I got to talk to him for about two hours just me and him because they were running an event so I went to the locker room and I got to sit down and we had a conversation. And dude, this guy, he, dude, you remind me a ton of them, like exactly the same kind of thing. Normal guy comes from normal place, has figured out the very same thing that you're talking about. It's about the discipline execution on a day-by-day basis.

It's not some big play. It's not get lucky. It's not talent. It's win the day. And when you win the day, you win tomorrow. And when you win tomorrow, you win the next day. And, dude, it was so cool hearing him tell me this because I thought, you know, yes, you can win the day and you can become very good. But when you see someone who ran a four, seven 40 in the NFL, cause let's be real. That's not

fast for a wide receiver. There's guys that run four sevens on every single high school team in this state. Okay. Who became the greatest receiver ever. And you hear him talk about how hard he worked and what he did on a daily basis and how he became who he was. It just inspired me so much because I thought, yes, you could become very successful winning the day. But in reality, like when I look at you and I look at him and I look at guys like that, there's actually no upper ceiling when it comes to that. It's not talent. It's not skill. It really is. How long do you want to execute and how at what level do you want to execute? And dude, it was one of the coolest conversations I've ever had. And bro, you remind me a lot of them.

Well, it's really cool too, because I mean, I feel, uh, you know, sometimes things have to get, I don't know, worse before they get better. Right. Or you have to, you have to kind of go the sensational route. I mean, I feel like we've, we've become very sensationalized as, as a society. Right. And we see, we see all of these crazy successes and, and of course, yeah, there there's, there's lightning striking in a bottle or whatever you call it or yeah it does happen there's these things that happen dude but as a whole the people that are at the top the people that get to to those lofty places it really is just normal everyday people doing normal everyday things as fat or as, as disciplined as possible and, and not being

afraid to take the long road, the hard road brick by boring brick. We do it every single day. And then eventually you look around and you're like, how did I get here? Right. I mean, and you knew you were on your way, right. But it was enjoying the journey and, and, and enjoying and taking pride in the small things right because once again he who can be trusted with the small things then you can be trusted in the big things right when he ends up in the hall of fame he wanted to get there but he's not going to get to the hall of fame unless you can be trusted in the small things whether whether you believe in god the universe serendipity whatever it is it's going to work out like that it's the

small that's how do you eat an elephant you eat eat a big old elephant, one tiny little bite at a time, you know, but taking pride in every single one of those little bitty bites, every single one of those boring bricks that you're laying and doing it perfectly. Yeah. That's what Nick Saban talks about. You know, he talks about, we're not going to run the play until we get it right. We're going to run the play until we can't get it wrong. And that's what it comes down to. And I think what's important to point out about what we're talking about is that most people who have big dreams, who have big goals, who have aspirations, and you young guys who listen, you need to really listen to this. Okay. You guys have to understand you may not be LeBron James. You may not run a 4-2-40. You might not have this exceptional talent, but what Michael's done and what guys like Jerry Rice have done is they've taken very average upbringings and skill sets.

I mean, you were 103. Is that fair to say? 103 pounds, yeah. I mean, is it fair to say average, right? Yeah, very average. Well, most people would deem average. Yes, most people. Normal circumstance.

Like, everybody out here starts at a place like that. And they say because they're not that gifted guy on the wrestling team, or they're not that gifted guy on the football field, or they're not that gifted guy with business who happened to start something and in two years he was worth, you know, $50 million or whatever, right? Or $10 million or a million, right? These, we tend to, whatever, right? Or 10 million or a million, right? These, we, we tend to like sell ourselves short and we say, well, dude, I don't have that. I don't have those parents that

lended me the money to start my business. I didn't, I didn't, I wasn't born with four or five 40 speed. You know, I don't have good genetics. We tell ourselves all these stories and we fail to realize that there is a way. And the way is what we're talking about with Michael and Jerry Rice, these guys. And by the way, that's been true for me too. I don't have special talent. I don't have special skillset. But what I do have is I have grit and fortitude and I'm willing to get up every day and do everything I can do to get there.

Yes. And I appreciate the sentiment that you have thrown my direction right now, but let me, let me just talk about you for a second. Now, for those guys, listen, listening, I'm here at the HQ when I was, I was going to ask you if you even have a cleaning crew here, but I did see someone come around. I saw no less than 10 people wash their hands and then they're cleaning down and wiping down the countertops in the, in the, uh, in the gym, every single weight is lined up perfectly. Every single dumbbell is, is lined up perfectly. The place is spic and span and it's a, it's a, we mentality and you leading from the front. I mean, you don't, you don't even have to, I don't even have to know you to walk into your establishment, to see your team and see the way that

these people operate and it is the physical manifestation of the way that you do one thing is the way that you do everything and it is the little things right first form is not going to become the one of the biggest companies on the world because your weights are perfectly right sat right it's really not right maybe it does maybe it doesn't matter at all but it's just it's a it's a standard that is set. Right. And that, and that's what people can really see. I mean, I wish people could see and, and, and really see it because it is inspiring. And this, this place is a, it's, it's people here, but it just, the building itself, if I was walking into this building,

it's itself, just the bricks and the mortars and the pieces of equipment and the walls and that kind of stuff. This is perfection personified, right? It's, it's absolutely, but it's a standard that you, that you set and you're leading from the front too, right? It's not, Hey, you guys all do this, but really whenever you put the weights, you got your Butler behind you putting them all. Yeah, I know. Yeah. It only works if you live it yeah man and it's but it's it's those little bitty things done with enthusiasm and done done as if it's not even a question there is no question it's going to get done and it's and it's going to be done well we're very blessed to have you know because of how authentic and open i am about my feelings about the world and my standards on the podcast we are very blessed to have high drive,

high standard individuals want to come to work here. Very rarely do we get someone that's not like that, you know? And I'll tell you a little secret about that, that a lot of you guys, you know, we have a big entrepreneurship listenership here on the show. If you want your team to do that, you all, I get this, this is probably my most asked question. How do you get your team to do that stuff? What do you do? Do you find them? No, dude,

look, it's very simple. And I think you'll agree with this. You already said it. Those little things that we do, they add up into the big things, how we do the big things. So when you're a leader and you're trying to get your team to execute at a high level, what you have, it's not, hey, do this. It's this is how it is. Hey, man, look, when we straighten those weights, you're making an investment in your discipline and your attention to detail in your ability to recognize something that needs to be fixed and fixing it. And every time you do that, you're making a deposit into your own skillset, which will translate into how you execute in your

career, in your life. And here your goal is to make money and build a career. So if you can build that skillset better, you're going to do better as a career. And so when we teach our team that, you know, they're already exceptional human beings. They're already high drive. They're hungry to get better. They buy into that immediately because they're like, yeah, dude, I'm looking to get better. Yeah. Like you said, it's not the actual weight itself. Yeah.

It's the act of the weight, but it's what it does to your deservedness. That one little penny in the bank. Yeah. The deservedness to be, like we were all created with greatness inside of us, but not everyone deserves to get to that if they don't make the requisite sacrifices or have the requisite discipline. Right. Even and obviously my my life is has been fitness and fighting and wrestling and all these different things. And every business now and now business. Yeah. But every single little practice. I mean, you don't see the results. You know, I'm putting dollars in in the bank in the discipline bank today that i won't see until june 29th right i'll start

to get a little bit more shredded or start to get a little bit more fast or start to get a little bit more x y and z but it's it's doing things today and maybe not seeing results for two months but that is exactly what you're talking about too these little things that add up to the thing when you stand at your greatest moment of opportunity or your darkest hour you have to be able to ask answer that question did I do enough am I enough and you are enough if you've done the little things leading up to it and that's the thing dude the path does not get easier now so we have to build ourselves into these people that can endure the path. Because you just said,

that hour of darkness, that's coming for all of us. And it looks different in different ways. And by the way, it doesn't just come for us once. It comes over and over and over again. It comes in the form of losing a job, or it comes in the form of getting a divorce, or it comes in the form of getting an illness or a death in the family and there's all these things that come at us for our whole lives and if we don't build ourselves into someone of determination grit resilience discipline we're in a situation where we can't handle these things and and and dude our families our friends our significant others they look up to us for these things.

And if we're not there to handle it, that's a life failure. That is a life failure. And people don't realize how much these little things actually create the character skill set, because I call it a skill set, right? Because we're developing it. It's not a trait. People aren't naturally highly disciplined. I maybe some people are but really it's something that we build and we can all build it and you mentioned the litter thing right that's a big deal for me like i will walk freaking half a mile out of my way if i see a bag going because i'm like dude i can't let it go yeah i can't let it go i'll remember that you know and when we little things like that people just don't think

about and then you think about if everybody did think about those things how much different would the world be how much different would the world look if everybody said hey i cannot let that go i've got to fix that you know what i mean and, and dude, we live in a completely different society, uh, in general society of excellence, high standards, treating people with respect. That's one of the things I love about you most, bro, is as good of a fighter as you are, you're a better dude. You're a better man and a better husband and a better father. And it's very, very admirable, dude.

And, um, I really appreciate the standard that you set as a man, not just as a fighter. It's really special, bro. Thank you. Yeah, I know. It was actually funny because I was just with my wife, you know, and we've kind of been having these conversations because you also, well, one thing, going back to what you just said too, you can be a absolute optimist and love life and full of joy and all those things and still admit that you're going to suffer hardship. You're going to get kicked in the mouth. There's going to be bad things that happen. You're going to get things that you don't deserve to happen to you, but they're going to happen. So you have to be built up and ready for those things. And even right now, having the foresight to realize what's about to happen in my life. Right. And it's, and it's what

I asked for this. I prayed for this moment. I asked for this moment and even talked to my mom or my my wife this past weekend it was just like you know pray for continue to pray for humility pray for wisdom man because the enemy is going to attack and this is going to be big and this is going to be an out-of-body experience in this in my eye my the temptation for my eye to be taken off of the ball is going to be so immense right so you you have to know that you got a big battle ahead of you and you got some things that are going to happen to you but you can still be optimistic and know that you're the man for the job know that you

have earned it know that you're right where you're supposed to be because the next season for me is going to be you know it's going to be i can can't even really put into words what's going to happen. I can't, all I can do is ask for wisdom and know and hope and pray that I'm able to operate. Right. And that's what you got to do every single day because life is going to continue to get thrown at you. Let me ask you this. So, you know, you mentioned your mom, your dad, your upbringing. What was the support like when you decided to get into fighting what where it was it was mom like no my baby like i mean did

you have any of that no my mom's my mom's pretty rough around the edges man like she's a she's a sweetheart sweet little betty little little bitty italian lady um and she's she's an amazing soul but she's a little rough around the edges right when it When it comes to, like, she loved wrestling, man. Like, she was getting arguments and fights in the stands. You know, the wrestling community is like. Bro, that's Midwest moms, bro. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

I love it. But, you know, but obviously for me, too, I had my big brothers, right? Tyron and Ben, who we looked up to, and my mom idolized them as well. She's like, well, Tyron and Ben think you'll be all right so I think you'll be good I mean and it wasn't the way that I wrestled anyway it wasn't real slick and and fast or whatever it was just it was basically a fight every single time I stepped on the wrestling mat anyway you know except I wasn't allowed to punch legally or kick and that kind of stuff it was aggressive but it was aggressive man because it really was you know hey because I started wrestling as a freshman in high school like I i didn't really have i wrestled a couple years when i was younger

like but like five years old when you're basically running around the mats and just playing games playing tag and i started really taking it serious and dedicated my life to the sport when i was 14 years old and i've been doing hand-to-hand combat since so i wasn't going to be able to out slick you out technique you out wrestle you but i could freaking out fight you i could out cardio you i could push you off the mat run back to the center and headbutt you and get my hands make it very uncomfortable and make it listen you might beat me you might be better than me but you don't you don't want to wrestle me again that was kind of the mentality i had and then as i got more and more skilled i've been able to dial that back a little bit you see a lot in my fight style you know it's kind of it's kind of the way I've been.

Bro, you're a fucking bulldog, man. Since I was 14. Yeah. Dude, I told you that. Remember after the Poirier fight? Remember me texting you? I don't know what you said. And I said, bro, even though you lost,

I said that was the greatest fucking fight I'd ever seen in my life. And it was because of how tough you fought that fight bro yeah like that was i don't know how you feel about no i do no it's one of those that was a loss yeah that was a win yeah you know like and that's and that's what you realize too man it is it was a loss on paper yeah absolutely you're gonna you're gonna when i retire you're gonna look at it no that was a loss on his record but dude i won right look at the fight i have now every single time i've lost it's been another win it's another it feels like a demotion but it's a promotion if you've done the right things you get rewarded yeah fuck dude does anything change because you're because you typically you fight at lightweight right but

this is a welterweight fight yeah so so that's 170 i think no nothing's really going to change except i'll be able to i'll be able to eat a little bit more and eat a little bit more carbs This this you know a lot of people I fucking love car. Yeah. Yeah Well, they bring up Michael Phelps, right? Cuz everyone's heard the stories like dude Are you just pounding the calories with how much you're training and you'd be? flabbergasted to know like I'm usually eating between like 1200 and 1500 calories per day and training twice a day

Five days a week or five days a week, once on Saturday. And then two of those, two of those five days in between, I'm hitting a third cardio session, a third workout on 1200 to 1500 calories a day, shrinking my body down, losing a little bit of muscle, getting rid of all the fat and then dehydrating myself at the end. But so for 170, you know, I'm like 185 is-ish right now because I've already been training for the last four weeks. So I'll probably eat enough to keep myself, get like shred down a little bit, lose a little bit of body fat, get myself right where I need to be, which is going to be like that 177 mark. And then just a nice little easy water cut at the end. It's going to be the best camp of my life, man.

I can't wait to fight 170. That's awesome. What's the difference between your, what's your normal fight weight 155 okay do you do you think that there's a a difference in the the cardio aspect that those two weights um like fighting at 155 versus fighting at 170 yeah like in general the two weight classes yeah i think there's i mean there's a generally i don't listen man i don't know a ton about mma i'm a fan but i'm a casual fan yeah but generally generally the lower the the more you get up in weight class the hot the lower the pace right the slower the pace so yeah 155 there's there's better cardio than then at 170 you know but for me i feel like i'm i'm gonna be

just weighing in at 170 instead of dehydrating myself to 155 and once again i'm gonna do the exact same training camp just eat a little bit more maybe thank god you know yeah take drink a couple more protein shakes what kind of diet do you follow man so since i have to get i basically have to shrink my body down i'm eating basically no carbs like starchy carbs at all i'm basically doing protein and veggies two two meals a day with a snack in between um and a protein shake once a day mainly um so it's really just meat and veggies for low carbs eight eight weeks so this time i'll be able to have a yeah this this way this time i'll have a little bit of sweet potato yeah daily yeah thank god yeah well dude listen man i i i think it's really cool to hear you talk about you know the work ethic aspect you know out of all the guys that you fought and trained with who who do you respect

the most for their work ethic who's a who's a guy that like you look at and you're like damn dude he gets it i think eddie alvarez yeah um and i say that too because i have inside scoop because i now i train with i train with my coaches you know henry hoofed who was who was eddie's coach i think for like four or five years he henry who is my my head coach right now cornered against me whenever i when he coached eddie against me when i lost my my first fight rematch yeah yeah so it's you know it's kind of funny how it all came full circle but it's numerous times he's been like you know you remind me of eddie because because i'm always like 30 minutes early to practice i'll already be rolling out by the time uh coach comes in or other guys are coming in

because i want to get there a little bit early i want to i want to be stretched i want to be warmed up i want to be ready because when it's time to go I don't want to take me 30 minutes to get my, get the juices. You want to get good work in. Yeah. I want to get the good work in. I already want to be ready. He's like, you know, he's always said that. And I'm like, yeah. And the funny thing between me and Eddie is like, dude, you cannot try to kill somebody for 25, almost 50 minutes. He and I had two of the best fights in MMA history. Um, you can not do that with somebody for that many minutes inside of a cage and not have a ton of respect for each other. So we have a ton of respect for each other. Um, those were fun fights and it's always good when you know, a guy lives that life too, right?

You know, he's, he, he lives the champion lifestyle. He does things right. He's a good dude. He's a family man. It's the kind of guys that you're like, dude, you deserve it. I deserve it. I believe I deserve it a little bit more. I want to beat you. But, dude, this is about to be a good one. Yeah.

That's awesome, man. Yeah. Dude, I was over here thinking too, man, because when you had mentioned even that you went three fights, losses back to back. It was like how many days you said? Like 600? 688 to go that long you know work all that time for this big climax of an event to have that even just that and then to deal with that one time how did you bounce back off of that well so there there is a little bit of a lesson in there and there's and and it was it was the way that i was conditioned right because the sport

of wrestling the great the greatest thing about it is you're going to get 30 or 40 opportunities to wrestle per year right if i lost a tough match on wednesday i'm down on myself wednesday night i get back to practice thursday saturday i get the opportunity to write that wrong to go from the loss column to the win column very quick you get another opportunity but in mixed martial arts it's like dude i mean i haven't fought since november 2022 and most of the time we're fighting when you get to the upper echelon and the higher levels you're fighting twice a year maybe three times a year but probably usually twice a year so you got to sit on that loss for five months six months right so the biggest thing for me was is getting back in the mistake that i made was right away i wanted to hide from it i

kind of i i didn't it. I kind of, I didn't want to, you kind of lose that motivation to train a little bit. You're like, was it like an embarrassment? Big time embarrassment, man. You know, and it's in, but now not anymore. No, no, no. I get it. I'm glad I had to go through that to, to realize it. And anybody who is listening right now, and if you have that, it really is ego, right? People don't care that much. We think people care more about us, so much more about us than we do. Right. And when you, and almost, like I said, sometimes it's, it's supposed to be a part of the journey. It's supposed to be a part of your journey. It's, I was supposed to lose those fights or I was supposed to have this shortcoming because if a bad thing happens,

but a good thing comes from it, was it really a bad thing? And how many times have you had that play out in your life? Right. And you'd ask, you're like, well, a good thing came from it. So I, that thing that I thought was a bad thing, I can't really call it a bad thing anymore because it turned into a really good thing. And a God had me in the palm of his hand the entire time. And then it led to this and it led to that. Um, but yeah, the problem was losing that fight and then going in, like dealing with uncharted territory. Cause I hadn't lost a competition since two or three years prior and wrestling. And at that point it didn't really matter. Cause I had just become an all American. I kind of got to where I wanted to go anyway. Um, so I dealt with it and not in a great way, not in a very

mature way. And, uh, and then I didn't get the opportunity to write that wrong for months and months and months. It was probably six months that I had to sit out and go through a training camp, figure out who's next, who am I fighting next? Um, and, uh, yeah, it's just, I, I deal with losses so much better now and so much, and maybe it's just, you kind of just, isn't it awesome though, too? I was thinking about that today. Just the older you get, you just don't care as much anymore when it comes to like, dude, I used to care so much about what people thought and used to care. So I'm like, I'm so solidly standing on my own two feet now. And, and the 50, if you thought 15 year old Michael

saw the 38 year old Michael, he would be like, ah, how did you get there, dude? Cause I don't see how we get from here to there. Cause we are, we're on like another planet, you know, but it was just the constant every single day, great things in my life. And some of the tough things getting kicked right in the teeth. And this sport wants to keep you down as long as it, as long as you will let it. And it's up to you to pick yourself back up and been able to do it now for 16 17 years that's the key dude you know a lot of people they will they will get in those dark times and and they don't understand that that time is meant to build a new skill set to give you a new perspective and the only way that you can discover that is by continuing down the path. There's so many people that have

the hardship happen and then they stop, right? They get embarrassed. They get, they get, because dude, I'm going to tell you this, as much as you guys think it's embarrassing to start and be bad at something, it's a million times more embarrassing to be great at something and have everybody in the world. See a fucking fall on your face.'s way worse and it is ego and and i do agree with you as you get older you start to realize it's not as big of a deal but i also think that that comes from us firmly understanding the work that needs to be done to get past that right um i think when you're when i at least when i was younger and i felt i felt setbacks i didn't have enough confidence in the work the work that needed to be done to understand that i could pull myself out of it and and ignorantly but also thankfully

i just got up the next day and kept going dude like i didn't know what else to do so i would get up and i would go and you know think dude think, dude, I can't, I mean, most of my business life, I live within weeks of being out of business. People don't think that about entrepreneurs, dude. Like you're, you're living on the edge all the time, you know, until you get to a, you know, where we're at now, it's not like that anymore. But, you know, most of your life as an entrepreneur, the first 10, 10 plus years, it's, it's scary and you're going to take hits. And sometimes those hits are nearly ending of your journey. But like when you don't know what else to do, you wake up the next day and you just keep doing what you've been doing. Um, and because people don't do that and they get embarrassed and they get humiliated in their own mind, I can relate to that, bro.

I can relate to the hiding and the shame and the embarrassment and the feeling of letting people down. And if you guys just push through those times and you continue down the path, what you'll figure out is what Michael's talking about, which is, dude, this is here to serve you. This is here to build you. This is here to give you a new perspective and a new skill set, which will eventually lead to a place like you were saying, where you're standing on your own two feet and you have total real confidence in yourself. Not fake confidence, not bravado, beating my chest, not running my mouth, but knowing that if something negative comes around or I get a setback, that it's not a total devastating loss. It's exactly that. It's a bump in the road. It's a setback. Yeah. I mean, and what I did, what I started doing too, and I forced myself to do

this, you know, when I take a loss, I'm making sure I get on as big of a platform as I possibly can ASAP and talk about it, right? Because, right, ego would say, well, let's just hide because if you get on the microphone, all those people who doubted you and they're going to point the fingers, now you're on a microphone, you're talking about this loss, you're reliving this loss in real time on a microphone. And I have forced myself to do that. You know, busting with the boys. I don't know if you know those guys. Yeah, yeah. Dude, Will Compton is my first guy. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, he's St. Louis. He's a St. Louis guy. That's right. So, yeah. So those guys are in Nashville, too. So I like to make it a habit. Will's hilarious.

Yeah. Win, lose, or draw. I mean, I'm going to try to go on the bus on Monday, and I've done it with black eyes and still stitches. And my nose is all jacked up from the fight 48 hours prior, because I want to do that. And it's not for Will and Taylor. It's not for you. And I honestly love my fans and supporters, but it's not for anybody. It's for me. Yeah. So I can get on there and I can sit right here and say, yeah, you know what? Look at me, look at my scars, but this reminds you that I'm still here. Look at the black eyes, look what I've gone through. And if I can get on here and talk right now, after I just had the whole world laughing at me in my mind and I can brave that and hop on this microphone you know it it wells something up inside of you and then once you've

done it a couple times you're like man I got so much positive feedback from that because people want to see that they don't because they don't expect they expect you to not drift off not going to hiding necessarily but hey let's let them take some time off it's like no I'm doing this for me and I want to get on here. And I'm going to, it's kind of like writing the wrong that we just talked about. It's like, I'm writing the wrong. I'm taking the power away from it until you talk about it, until you, until you wear it like a badge of honor.

You own it. Yeah. You're giving it all the power until you take that power back and say, here it is. It's right here. You want to talk about it? And it's okay. And it's okay. Yeah.

Because this is what, this is what, what, what it is. This is what it is. And this is how it's right here you want to talk about it it's okay me and it's okay yeah because this is what this is what what it is this is what it is and this is how it's supposed to happen and those those areas of us right will be broken the the weakest areas of us where we need to get better where we're falling short where we've got some ego where we've got all these shortcomings those little areas will break and then scar tissue will be laid over top of it. And then you will be stronger in those areas where we were weak. And that's, it's, it's life. It's like, it's life revealing to you where you need to get better. Let's talk about the technical aspect of improving from your losses.

Do you watch film? I was just about to ask that. I like film study. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't watch a ton of film. I obviously got to go back and watch my fights back. Win, lose, or draw.

Obviously, I love to watch the wins better than I love to watch the losses. But that's another part of the healing process, too. It's like, hey, sit down here right now and watch it. Don't watch it too many times. You don't want to sit there and have a negative mental highlight reel in my head. No, just to learn. Yeah. I could have done this better.

Is that what you do? Yeah. And even just watching yourself, whether it be technical, whether it be spiritual, cause you can see those moments where you had a momentary lapse of judgment or where you lost a little bit of focus, or maybe you got a little bit tired or maybe you made a silly decision. You see that on the film. Yeah. And you can kind of see it cause it, cause, cause you start to have flashbacks a little bit and it's not necessarily because it's a fight and you're getting punched in the head that you don't really remember a lot of stuff. You're just,

you're really in that kind of fight or flight mode. You're tied onto a tornado fight and you're getting punched in the head that you don't really remember a lot of stuff. You're just, you're really in that kind of fight or flight mode. You're tied onto a tornado. So you're, you don't remember a ton of it. So you need to go back and then as you're watching it, you're kind of starting to feel and see mental glimpses of what you remember in your mind. And, uh, yeah, just going back and seeing different areas. Um, and then it's also a place of gratitude when loser draw, you just go back and then, then you can hear the announcers talking, you know, you hear John Anik and Joe Rogan, Daniel Cormier, whoever it might be. And you're watching it and you're just like, man, I'm watching this movie happen. And I'm the main character, whether I win or lose,

it's another, it's another cool way to, to, to remind yourself, man, you're doing what you were called to do when loser draw, you're not defined by your wins and losses. You're defined by how you carry yourself. And, yeah, take some notes. Talk to the coaches. Take a little bit of time off. Stay in shape and stay built up and start kind of the recovery process of the mind and the heart

after a loss especially. And continuing to be out in the public and not be afraid to wear it like a badge of honor let me ask you this because you obviously i mean the people love you right you have a shit ton of support the people absolutely love you the nfl has armchair quarterbacks what's the ufc guy what do you what do you guys call it yeah no how do you address those those those people you know what i'm talking about yeah no for sure um i see red bro all you had to do was hit him with the overhand right here hold my beer i'll show you what yeah exactly no i mean oh we got a lot of them man and you know you guys have a special name for him

no i don't really think so i'm sure i'm sure that you know the chat might have him you know later on what they call him but yeah dude i mean i actually just was talking to some guy today. Um, and I sent him a message and just said, Hey, uh, I hate to hear, I hate to hear about the passing of your, uh, of your thread of videos that you, that you made like 10 videos talking about how I'm an idiot and I'm waiting for Connor and it's never, Connor's never going to come back and fight me and fights never going to get booked and all this kind of stuff. So we kind of had a little banter back and forth and it's all fun and games because i heard it from a million people um but yeah i mean you hear those people and it is just really funny and and and some of the sometimes you agree with them you're like yeah dude shit you go back and watch this in slow

motion you reverse it and watch it five times you're like yeah that was a dumb decision why did i do that or why didn't i do that but what they don't realize is they are, they are criticizing and critiquing something that was happening in real time, making split second decisions with the information that you have part muscle memory, part instinct, part training. And you just hope that you zig when you should have zagged or, or vice versa or whatever. And you're just in there, you're in there responding and reacting. So it is a, it is really funny because yeah, I mean, especially mixed martial arts, right. Cause there's so many dudes who talk trash, who would never in a million years say anything to me, to my face or, and that's what I've realized

moving over to the UFC. I mean, I went from Bellator. I was, I was the biggest name in Bellator had the largest sort largest social media following in bellator kind of the the biggest name there and everybody saw the writing on the wall that i was going to test free agency the day that i signed with the ufc i got like 600 000 followers in like 24 hours right on just on instagram and that's not and that doesn't mean i'm any cooler than anybody else but it was just that's pretty cool it was but it was just how quickly it happened. And then I was like, oh, shoot, man. Most of the time, people were just talking to me because they liked me.

Now it's like people just want to talk to me because they want to hate on me. And it went to a way different level, which was so good for me because I needed it. I really am. I got into this sport wanting everybody to love me. And I'm like, man, if I just do the right things and I fight hard and I entertain them and I, and I say what I believe and I do it, people are going to love me, man. Everyone's going to love me. Nobody's going to dislike me. Oh, it's like, you know, so I had to get over that and it was really good. It was a very immature thing. I mean, you, you know, like, and, and even hearing you speak and the way that you operate and, and, and you've unlocked things in me

because it really is a blessing to be in a, in a position where people are hating on you. Cause it means you're doing something right. But I was, I wasn't ready for it. Um, and now with the whole Connor thing, now it's about to go to the moon. so I'm going to have to continue to add layers to my skin over these next 75 days. When you're authentic, when you are an authentic human being, people are going to hate you, dude. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if you just for that. Bro, exactly. They're going to hate the way that you show up, that you shine, bro.

It's not even about being successful. It's just about being authentic people do not like people with authentic opinions they are very used to seeing people pander they are very used to seeing people go with the flow or tiptoe around and when you show up like we do every day and we're like this is what i think regardless of what you think people don't like that. You know what I'm saying? And it doesn't matter if you are curing cancer or if you're solving world hunger

or you're creating world peace, people are still gonna be pissed off about it, man. And so many people hide behind trying to avoid that criticism when in reality, if you are doing something of any significance at all, the fact that people are giving you that sort of attention is a really good sign. And what's really cool is that, at least in my case, and I know this is your case too because I've seen it, a lot of people start off hating. They're like, God, dude, I can't stand that guy all he ever does is talk shit Yeah And then after six months there, they're like this man

You know what I used to know how like you dude, but I really like you here Yeah, that is my favorite thing because because and uh you know there's a good example of that right now is a guy named bo nickel he was bo nickel's first form oh there you go so bo is exactly like me in a lot of ways yeah he's he got booed yeah you know he got booed at the weigh-ins or he's got a little bit of boo in the crowd for no reason just the fact that that he's getting this this love from the ufc and he's getting he's getting pushed and he's being promoted and and there was the same thing with me i came into the ufc and everybody's like who's this bellator punk getting this and getting that i got a title shot on my second fight and i'm like guys first of all i didn't choose this it wasn't like i came in and and all of a

sudden i'm in charge of dana and dana's making his decisions like this is how they're doing it and don't be mad at me right and a year in and i talked to bo about this too man because they're gonna hate on you because because they they see it and maybe their favorite fighter is this guy and you're getting more shine than that guy everybody's got their reasons why they don't like you right and then but then eventually you're just like man and i think bo said that in his post-fight press conference or in his post-fight speech he was just like hey just give it time i promise you're gonna like me yeah and that's kind of what i said i'm like dude there's no reason why you should dislike me just give it time and my favorite my favorite interactions are those ones

where it's like dude i didn't like you when he came into the ufc because of this because of that or whatever it might have been but dude i've come around i'm like dude me winning you over is actually so much better than me you liking me than me. You liking me from the get. Yes. Liking me from the get go because all you can do is just be authentically yourself. And I think it is, it is unbecoming to so many people because, because they're living a life of, they're living a life of knowing that they're not being their authentic self. And when they see somebody operating in authenticity, it feels weird to them, you know?

And I, and I think I was somewhat like that when I was younger. Right. You know, and then, and I've, as I've grown, we all try to be what we think the success part of looks like, you know? And, and what we don't realize brother is that it looks like us. It looks like who we are, you know? And we live in social media where it's all marketing And it's all look at me, and it's all clicks and likes and shares and when you're an authentic person Especially when you're a person who doesn't buy into the debauchery of society It makes people feel weird, you know that makes people feel like you're being too good or you're standing on a pedestal

Which dude I know this in your case that is not the case at all yeah and yeah and that's i think that's the toughest ones for me is where people like uh i don't know there's just something about him i don't think it's i don't think it's authentic i don't think that's really who he is and i'm just like i don't know man whatever yeah those people save everybody like i got some so many skeletons in my closet and i was like i don't know dude whatever i ain't perfect i'll tell you that show me your first sorry sorry if you don't like me but well i think that's where people get in trouble too is they pretend to be perfect yeah you know they're like oh yeah i'm a perfect guy i've never made any mistakes fuck dude i fucked it all up yeah all the shit you know what i'm saying well you know what was funny

for me too was going on to the ultimate fighter and i had this real conversation with my wife i was just like hey babe i'm i'm i gotta be honest with you i'm like really nervous because you know we're on espn and it's like you're miked up and you know i'm something's gonna happen i'm gonna end up mother effing connor saying whatever and like and it ended up happening you know it really ended up happening and i'm like and i'm like worried about my father-in-law who I respect like Like it's a little respect them so much my parents and my sons my it lives on the internet forever My sons will hear me, you know say the f-word on ESPN and they bleeped it out to Connor when we got got our little You know put pushing match

But my wife who I like obviously she is my favorite human being on the planet the one that I confide in the one that I Love the most out of anybody. And she just looked at me. She's like, Hey, you're not perfect. Don't try to be perfect. If you try to be perfectly, it's not real. You're not perfect. I love you that you're not perfect. I love you through your imperfections. And if you swear, you cuss or you do this, you do that, or you come off any way you come, come off. It doesn't matter. I love you. And everybody who really loves you, loves you. And I'm like, absolutely. Dang, dude, I'm about to cry. You know, she's like, yeah. And then it gave me that permission because it really is a scary thing because you don't, I don't want to come off

differently than, than I want to be. Right. I just want to be myself and do it. And if something bad happens or I say something I wish I wouldn't have said, I might have to apologize or maybe I don't need to apologize. Well, bro, I think that the fact that, you know how I see that, I see that from a little bit different perspective. I see that as a testament to how hard you you put the effort in to not be that way. Yeah. Right. Like if you're just how you are, where you don't really curse and you're you're very

composed and you have a good disposition and you're very composed and you have a good disposition and you're polite and respectful, sometimes when that gets out of whack a little bit, it actually just is a testament to how hard someone works to keep that in check. Yeah. And so that's how I see those things. Yeah, no, I like that.

Because it definitely came out. I'm like, whatever. Well, let's be real, dude. In a fight situation, there are no rules. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, whatever. But let's be real, dude. In a fight situation, there are no rules. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. And the funny thing was, was that my father-in-law was visiting that day to Vegas whenever that whole fight thing happened. And I just got done.

Mother effing Connor or whatever. But it was funny, too, because now that it's happened, I'm like, that was actually wasn't that bad. You know, it's once again, and it's weird how as a 38 years old, I'm like dealing with this and I'm still learning the uncharted territory of of that. Right. And you're like into people who are out there like, well, Michael Chandler looks like he's got all figured out. I'm like, dude, I'm trying to get this thing figured out every single day. Yeah, bro. Dude, we talk a little bit about your faith. Yeah. Yeah, man. So, yeah, dude. So was this something that you grew up with or something that you came around? So High Ridge, Missouri, on High Ridge Boulevard, there was a little Catholic church up there.

So I was raised Catholic. We did our first Holy Communion, and we did PSR, which is public school religion, on Mondays. We would go there for an hour or two on Mondays. First Holy Communion, got confirmation. And then we kind of stopped going to church for a little while. You know, three boys, baseball, getting very, very busy, family. And then I got invited by another guy from St. Louis who was on my wrestling team. His name's Kenny Bowen, to Twin Rivers Church on Lee May Ferry Tesson Ferry one

of the two and he's like hey man we got this youth group that we got on Wednesday nights you know we're gonna go after practice I'm like sure dude I don't have a car but if you want to pick me up let's go so that was the first time that I kind of started going to like a spirit-filled non-denominational church and then after I started going then my brother started going and then my mom and dad started going so that was kind of our first introduction to kind of a spirit filled church, if you will. And that's where I really got saved. I was 14, 15 years old. Um, and it was an invitation. It started with an invitation from a guy who I looked up to is a year older than me,

Kenny Bowen, all the girls loved him. He was cute. He was handsome. He was an athlete. Like he was the guy, right. But he was also a really, really great dude. Um, so that's not always the best. Yeah. Isn't that the best when you meet someone who's got all the skill, all the talent, got all the stuff and you find out that they're even a better dude. Yeah, dude, that's the best. Like it's, you know, and that's the guys that I always kind of gravitated towards and then wanted to be, um, obviously. And then, um, so yeah, I mean, that's the guys that I always kind of gravitated towards and then wanted to be, obviously. And then, yeah, I mean, that's really when I got saved. And then, you know, it's been my guiding light since then. And it definitely ain't all sunshine and rainbows.

And just because you got, you know, Jesus in your heart and you've accepted him, that all of a sudden things are going to work out for you. You know, your faith is tested every single day. But it's been the one thing, obviously, that I've been able to look back on and be like, man, once again, looking at this whole big picture, right? The bad things that have happened to me that, that ended up being good and how God's had me in the palm of his hand the entire time, whether it be through the right person, through the wrong person, through the ups, through the downs, through everything. It's just been, um, you know, and then now to have a platform where I can,

you know, I don't talk a ton about my faith, but it's, it's my favorite. It shines through, bro. It shines through. And my two favorite kind of philosophies about faith for me, and this is how I do it, right. Is live your life with so much joy and zeal and happiness that uptight Christians question your salvation. All right. That's number one. Um, and number two, preach the gospel at all times, but, but only use words when necessary, right? You are a living testimony, the way that you operate, the way that you live your life, the way that you love people, um, the way that you compete, the way that you just live life is your, your, your testimony and your expression of your faith. You don't, I don't have to sit here and talk to you about my favorite scriptures or try to get

every single person that I talked to saved because it's not the right time for the right, or it might be the right person, but at the wrong time and everybody's going through their different things. And if I can be a light in that way and, uh, and that's, that's what feels authentic to me. And that's how I share my faith as much as possible. Bro, I'll be honest with you. Uh, just knowing you and observing that part of you has inspired me in that way. Just so you know. Thank you, man. Yeah. It's, it's really cool. And I recognize that you live it. And, um, it's just, it. And it's one of the things I admire most about you, bro. Because you've been at the top of the world. You're one of the most famous guys in the world.

In the most famous sport in the world. And you've never let that change who you are. And you've always continued to live that message and be a good dude. And you are that dude. always continued to live that message and and be a good dude and uh you are that dude you know what i'm saying you're that guy that i'm talking about when you say you meet this guy who's got this and this and this and this and then you find out dude this guy's even a better human and um it's one it's my favorite thing about you bro dude thank you man that's cool i appreciate it man yeah and i'm that's that's, cause I do hear it a lot where people, I mean, I really thank you. Thank you for talking about your faith. And to me, I don't really feel

like I talk about it that much in, in, in a very, uh, I think in a very, uh, formal way, if you will. Right. Cause you think like, what, what does it, what does it sound like to talk about your faith? Right. Do we have to talk scripture? Do we have to talk about God's perspective on every single thing? Do we have to operate as Jesus would? How do you do it? I think the biggest thing is if the Holy Spirit is inside of you and you try to do your best and you're just operating in that way, He doesn't necessarily want you to be talking about him all the time. He just wants you to be a shining light to live it, just to just live it.

That's really preaching the gospel at all times, but only using words when necessary, only quoting scripture when necessary, you know, and, and people can tell, people can tell how you, by how you live your life most of the time, where your faith is at. And that's a lot more effective than a lot, like you said, the uptight Christians. I like that one. Yeah, it makes me feel uncomfortable. I like that one. Well, we see this in society right now, right?

Because things have gotten so far out of control that people are finding Jesus again, which is awesome. But what I'm seeing and observing is like people are going so far to where they're standing on their little pedestal and they're preaching at you trying to say this and then really when you look at them you're like well bro are you actually living that or are you just good at quoting the numbers numbers and the passages and this and that. And I personally believe in by, by no means am I an expert, but I personally believe that leading the way in that and how you live, how you treat people, how kind you are, how graceful you are.

And that doesn't mean that sometimes you don't have to stand for yourself or, you know, Jesus flips some tables over once in a while. You know what I mean? He wasn't a pacifist um but i think that's far more important and far more impactful than someone who just preaches all the time yeah no one one thousand i think i think it's damaging a lot of times i think a lot of people are so preachy that people who are kind of on their way to finding it are like oh man we all feel it yeah we all feel that whenever you're whenever you're around somebody who you're just like dude you you are unattainable like nobody wants somebody who's nobody wants to really be around nobody wants would you really want to be a christian if it if it seems like the level at which you need to be to be a good little boy and a good little

christian i think it's unbecoming and it makes it makes me feel uncomfortable yeah right you know like you're not good enough. Yeah. And that is the biggest problem. God doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called. He is qualifying you every single day. Whether you are, like you said, know every single chapter and verse or you're absolutely perfect or you have screwed every single thing up but you've had a change of heart and you're trying to work your way you know back into being a man of faith and walking in a certain direction and a lot of times man it's those who have gone through the craziest things the most embarrassing things the most the most painful sinful down in the dumps down in the valley

things that god uses the most, man. Those are the people who I can look at him and say, yeah, but look where he came from and look what God did with his life. And look at how, look at the testimony that he has. You know, you can't have a testimony without a, without a few scars, man, you know? Um, because it is, it's on, it's on, uh, it's unattainable, you know? And then there's, there's people who, you know, like a guy like Tim Tebow, you know, he's, he's he's very very every single thing that he talks about is is faith driven right and that's what feels authentically to him and that's his calling right it feels authentic from him from him yeah from him and he's got a calling on his life man and he's that guy but but if if

you were like hey man i need you to be a little bit more like Tebow, I'd be like, hey, dude. It's not you. I don't know if that's my thing. And that's, does that make him, does that mean when we stand at the pearly gates, we're not both walking, waltzing right in? No. You know? No, we both are. But my testimony is different. I actually did a podcast with Brian Tome, who's a pastor. And we were talking back and forth and we

were kind of talking about you know because I've spoken at churches before I've spoken at men's conferences I've spoken on you know on the at the pulpit right and and you'd be so surprised at how many people you would think would be like well dude how can this guy be a fighter and a Christian it's like well fighting is just the science shiny object right? We've all got, we've all got these talents and these gifts and these shiny objects that get people to look both the followers and the non-followers and the people who have not come to Christ yet. We've all got that shiny thing that we can say, Hey, this is, this is going to get you to look now, peel back the layers. And now let me make

you feel something right now through our interaction. Mine just happens to be fighting in a cage and it's no more, it's no more better or worse than anybody else's calling on their life because, you know, in this pastor said this, Brian said, he's like, man, you are reaching people that I would never in a million years be able to reach. Right. That's right. Like if you look at it just straight from a faith standpoint and you say, well, this guy fights in a cage and he can win this many but this guy's a preacher and he can win this many it's not it's not crazy to think that i have a greater crowd of witnesses and i have i have some impact that i can make that leads maybe not that person to me to then give their life to christ but that person to the next rung

to the next rung but i was one of the catalysts that started that, right? That's the way that I look at it. And the way that I operate is, uh, just authentically to myself and speaking about it when I want to, or, or me too, or when I'm asked about it or what I feel led to. Um, but that's one of the biggest things God doesn't call the, he doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called and he, and he will well, something up inside of you. And at different times, different seasons, right? Once again, the fighter that I am today needed to go through that lost streak or needed to go through this self doubt and needed to go through that and needed to have

this upbringing. That's the, that's the faith journey in a nutshell, right? As long as it eventually leads to this one spot, you're going to go through these different seasons and you might, and it might be, it might be the right path right path it might and you might be the right person but it just might not be time yet might not be the right time you know I love it I love it so what's what's so so what's after fighting man now I know this but yeah I want people to hear and support you. Yeah.

I mean, after fighting, man, you know, so I'm involved in a couple different companies, both through investment and then kind of leadership roles. And, you know, I have a fitness app that I work on and we're building a community. I mean, obviously fitness is always going to be a part of my life and it's changed my life. It's made me a living. It's made me a platform. It's made me everything, right? If I hadn't found the sport or Florida

wrestling, and then it turned me into the man that I am today. Um, you know, I just, I just owe a debt of gratitude to fitness and making people find the best versions of themselves. Right. Um, so continue to work on my businesses, build that. Um, I want to speak on stages. I want to write, I want to just impact as many people as possible. Um, I want to speak on stages. I want to write, I want to just impact as many people as possible. Um, both, you know, in front of the camera, behind the camera, on the microphone, behind the microphone, um, and just leave my mark on this planet. Um, you know, when I get done fighting and it's really great to like hearing, you know, we have a lot of the same friends who have, who have kind of always said the same thing, man. Like you're the fortune you're going to make and the impact that you're going to make and the platform that you're going to make is going to be tenfold after you lay the gloves down.

I'm like, hold on, dude. I don't know. You know, you kind of get into that mode where you're like, really, dude? Well, okay. Well, if you see that, man, I'm going to keep on working and I'm going to keep on talking and I'm going to keep on getting after it. And, uh, you know, I, I just see myself in a position to be able to use the lessons that I've learned through the last 23 years of, of, uh, 24 years of hand-to-hand combat. And it's, uh, it's similarities to the fights that all of us are going through in every single aspect of our life and, uh, turning it into a masterpiece that's going to be able to reach

the masses. Yeah. And you're close to going to be able to reach the masses. Yeah, and you're close to some of the best entrepreneurs in the world. I know you're really good with Ed. You're close to Ed. You're close to Dana. People see Dana on the UFC, but they fail to realize how intelligent and how smart he is as a businessman. So smart, man.

Bro. And it was really revealed this weekend, and I'm really really happy that it happened But you saw there was three hundred thousand dollar bonuses this weekend. Yeah max Holloway won six hundred thousand dollars in bonuses So there's four bonuses One bonus each for the two guys in the in the fight of the night and then one performance of the night and one knockout of the night Normally, they're fifty thousand dollar bonuses, which isn't a bad night at the office for a bonus. One of the reporters asked, Hey, UFC 300, you should up into 300,000. And

about one second later, he goes done. And he just, and it's bad-ass. It was very bad-ass. And I almost tweeted it. Um, and I talked to Dana a little bit after the fights via kind of voice notes and stuff. But when I was negotiating with Dana, it was he and I, and he made me an offer and I asked for, I think it was like 30% more, you know, I was like, Dana, what's holding you back from, you know, 30% more. He's like, you know what kid, fuck it done. And I was just like, and it was, and that's how Dana talks. Right. Yeah. And, uh, that, so hearing the word done, it just, it, it, it made me remember if you bring enough to the table, the problem is don't outpunt your coverage. The problem is don't, don't take all the meat off the bone, man.

Don't make it, make it a win for them. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Don't, yeah. Make it a, make it a win, win, man. Make it, make it so that if you win they're like dang we got a great investment if you lose they're like dang man well at least we didn't at least he didn't

come in and swing for the fence as you know yeah so it was really cool and i what's really funny about dana and the ufc is i just don't understand you know obviously he gets a ton of a ton of flack for not paying the fighters enough and fighter pay and this and that, man. But he's taking care of guys so much better than I think a lot of people even realize. Well, also, too, nobody sees the inner, like people, dude, people think that you get a bottle of protein here and it costs you 50 cents and you're selling it for $60. When they look at the UFC, they don't think about all the expense, all the operating costs, all the things that it takes to run a business. Nobody thinks about those things. They just think.

They do the math, how many people watched. How much was the ticket? How much was the ticket? How much are the ad revenue? They don't even think about the sponsorship because they don't think that far ahead yeah and then they say okay well everybody should be making a hundred million dollars and it's like everybody should have yeah dude now see the superpower that i have and why i think why i have such a great relationship with the with the ufc and why i will always love the ufc is i have the i have the unique perspective of the other organizations

right bellator was the number two organization in the world. And I would watch how the UFC would promote their fights. And I don't think it's crazy to say that the UFC spends more money promoting one fight than Bellator spent the entire year on promotion. The UFC was continuing to elevate the game of mixed martial arts the whole sport of mixed martial arts and bellator pfl one championship all these other organizations were just rising with the tide that the ufc was raising um and i and i said that to dana and he actually just uh he actually just talked to me yesterday about this sent me the voice notes we were kind of so he's like because i basically Hey, Hey man, it's been a long journey. Glad we

got this thing done. Can't wait to go out there and put on a crazy show on June 29th. And he was kind of reminiscing about my first phone call with Dana. Basically he was on, he was on the tarmac in Las Vegas about to head out to somewhere. We're talking for like five minutes. We're having a great back and forth conversation. And I, and I said this and it's a hundred percent true. It was just as, just as true then as it is now. And even five years prior, I said, Dana, number one, I didn't know. I don't, I don't know if I would have been the man that you needed me to be a couple of years ago when I had these other opportunities, these other opportunities to come over to the UFC. So I'm really happy, happy it's happening right now. And you have not paid me $1. You have not signed your name on one of my checks over the

last 12 years, but indirectly your name has been on every single one of my checks because you have built and quarterbacked and championed this entire sport. And then Dana's like, Oh my God, I love it. He basically hangs up on me, calls Hunter, calls me back and he said,, hey, dude, I know we got some sticking points, but, dude, I don't know what you've been saying to my people, but they absolutely love you. I love you. I've always known we've loved you. You're awesome. You're every single thing that we need, and we want you to come over.

We're going to get you whatever we need to get you to come over to the UFC. And that's how the conversation went. That's badass. But it wasn't a negotiation tactic. It wasn't a ploy. No, it was genuine. It was so genuine, and it wasn't, it wasn't a negotiation tactic. It wasn't a ploy. No, it was genuine. It was so genuine. And it is true, man.

It's like, and they get, they take so much flack, but of course they do because the tallest nail is always going to get hammered, you know, and they're going to continue to get hammered and they're going to continue to keep looking down while everybody else is, is, you know, trying to grab their ankles and pull them down instead of trying to just reach up to the next rung. Instead of them reaching themselves up and trying to get themselves to the next rung, they're trying to reach up and pull the UFC down. And that's just never a recipe for success, man.

And the way that he operates, man, it's special, man. And it's a blessing to be a part of it. I think he sets a great example for a lot of business owners who are afraid to stand for what they believe in and speak for what they believe in. Now, you don't have to agree. I happen to agree. I love Dan Moore. Yeah.

I think we all agree in this way. I got this little note in my phone, you know, because, dude, I catch a lot of shit, right? Yeah. You don't say what we say and not catch stuff. You can get a little something. A couple of armchair coordinates. Hey, listen, the best part about it is I become immune to it. say and not catch stuff. You can get a little something. A couple of armchair coordinates. Hey, listen. The best part about it is I become immune to it.

It does not affect me. I think the best part about it is- But I had this note. What? The people came back and said, you were right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, exactly. No, not me.

We. But I had this note in my phone. This was like, I don't know, five years ago. And it says, for when the heat would come, it would always, it just says very simply, what would Dana White do? What would he say? Yeah.

And you know what? I just follow that blueprint. I'm like, you know what? Hey, fuck you. This is what I do. If you don't like it, turn the channel. And once again, like, it's very hard for people to see that because they're like, dude, I don't like that guy because he is so confident in himself. I don't like because he really does not care.

I don't like him because all the things that I have to deal with, all my doubts and fears and insecurities. That bother me. All the stuff that bothers me, I don't like him because he doesn't have to deal with what I have to deal with. And it really is tougher in 2024 than it was in 1924 because of social media and the world that we live in now and keeping up with the Joneses and all of this stuff. I will admit, and I will concede that it is tougher to live in the world that we live in from that standpoint, from the criticism standpoint, it's easier to make money. You didn't have to, you didn't have to see it back then.

Yeah. It's easier to make money. It's easier to be successful. It's easier to do all those things because of the internet and all these different things, but it is very challenging from that perspective. So when we see somebody like that, or a guy like yourself, you're like, dang dude, I don't like him. And it's like, well, do you not like him? Why don't you like him? You just don't like him because you wish you were more like that. I mean, I want to be more like that. Everybody wants to be more like that. That is, that is that is freedom yeah and that really is you get this short window of opportunity to live on this earth right and if you can operate the way that he's operating man well you got to stand in the fire dude like that's the thing people don't understand

like when you don't stand in the fire right when you don't let the heat come and you just censor yourself first of all you're degrading your own sense of worth you're saying i'm not being authentic i'm not being who i am for fear of judgment for fear of criticism and that will drive your self-esteem your self-worth your trust in yourself into the basement because you know you're not presenting what you truly believe and if you would just stand out in the heat a little bit it's like getting out in the sun, bro The first day you get burnt you're like, oh man. Yeah, I should have put some sunblock on right not really cuz I don't need it. Yeah

I get darker than you But but dude, we're we're in a situation you get immune to it like you're yeah that you get conditioned to it it's like a cold plunge yeah like you the first time you're in the cold plunge you're like oh dude this is horrible and then you you get in it more and more and more and more and before you know it you're in there for eight minutes at 35 degrees and you're like bro this is the best part of my day yeah you know and and dude so when you get in that situation if people would just step out and just allow themselves to feel it eventually you become conditioned to it and it doesn't bother you it's just like anything else it's like when you start to go out and train the first day it's hard second day it's hard and then

it gets like kind of really hard for a minute and then all of a sudden you acclimate and it gets easy yeah and uh and because people can't stand out there and take it the first time or the second time or the third time they don't realize that like if you would just stand there and and stand on your own two feet this stuff would stop stop killing you man yeah and i think and i think you might have been the first person to ever really hear like kind of of drill it into this, this idea of being able to trust yourself, this, this idea of like self-image, how do you have a high self-image if you can't trust yourself? I mean, we've, we've, we've talked about it 20 different ways about doing the small things and setting a certain standard. Cause you know, when you're, that's another part of it. When you, when you, when you cut corners, are you lazy or you, you leave your shopping cart sitting over there,

you do litter, whatever that's, you know, whether you thought about it or're lazy or you leave your shopping cart sitting over there or you litter or whatever, you know whether you thought about it or not or you felt entitled enough to leave your hotel room a mess because the cleaning lady is going to take care of it. You're losing a little bit of trust with yourself to get the job done. So whether it's fighting in a cage or whether it's running a business or whether it's running a household or whether it's being a parent how are you going to be able to trust yourself in those moments if you know you can't get small little things done and and that's that's something that i think you you just spoke about but people probably just heard it and didn't they kind of glossed over it you really are breaking a promise to yourself every single time you don't stand up for what you believe in that's right every single time that you every single time that you water yourself down every single time that you you copy there was I actually had a mindset coach named Jim Hensel he

called it moving the truth right it's kind of like omitting the truth but you're moving the truth like it's not really the truth but you're moving the truth you accommodate others yeah you make up you make up a story or you or you you say sorry for this when really you're not sorry because you're doing what you're doing what it was authentically yourself you're breaking the trust and promise that you have with yourself and you do it long enough before you know it you're a shell of the man that you were called to be and you i owe it to my family i owe it to my wife i owe it to my god my creator i owe it to society and i got i 100 honest. Even you, you're, you seem like you're,

and he may be even Dana every now and then there might be those moments where, Oh, for sure. You're like, okay, I probably should have just said what I wanted to say there for sure. But that's, that unlocks things too,

where you're like, okay, that Dana's imprinted and penetrable. He always says what's on his mind. I'm sure he's got those moments where, but when they become more and more far and few between, you're not a hundred thousand percent trustworthy but it's 99.9 percent yeah and 99.9 is a heck of a place to be yeah dude you know i get criticized

a lot for my positions on things in the world obviously but like first of all i don't expect everybody to agree with me that's not the purpose of me sharing them the purpose of me sharing them. The purpose of me sharing them is to give my take on it, right? I feel like I have a skill set, a knowledge base. I have enough life experience to give a reasonable take that should be considered. And, you know, people will say to me, they will say, well, why don't you just take it easy on this? Or why don't you just, because dude, if I don't say what I believe to be true, if I do not say exactly what I believe to be true, I am lowering all of the qualities that I need to operate as a human being. And if we would just look at it instead of saying, oh, just let people do whatever they

want and let dude, there's limits to that. There's limits to this because eventually when we're pacifying other people and moving the truth to your point, we do become, we lose our confidence. We lose our swagger. We lose our belief in self that we need to be us. Like you can't walk out in the middle of a ring in front of a hundred million people on television or whatever it is right and not think you're the man bro like you have to and it has to be real it has to be real dude and that requires being authentic to self as a baseline foundation and um you know i think if people would consider what not being authentic does to their character and does to their belief in themselves they would be a lot more likely to do so yeah and i think

it's kind of what i what i said earlier because i was just thinking about it how the older you get you just start caring less and less and is it that you care less and less or is it that you know what it feels like to move the truth and not be authentically yourself that eventually you just start to be like no wait why have i done that for so long and then and then obviously there's usually the older you get there's more success or the older you get now maybe you've got a wife and kids and you got people or you got your company has now tripled quadrupled 10x in time in size right so it doesn't matter you you've just got more and more life experience and you care less also because you know you used

to care and you used to move the truth and you used to pander and you used to water yourself down and it really was just so inauthentic yeah and it bothered me like it like anytime i've ever done that in my life i i like dude i'll remember it forever for like years yeah i'm like i can't wait till i see that guy again because i'm going to tell him the truth this time that's what i think that's i think when i get the maddest yeah it's really hard for somebody else to steal my joy and make me mad at them yeah and it's funny too because me and my wife are very similar right like and that's how it is when she gets her most upset. It's never in anybody else. Cause it's like, dude, someone can't do that. Someone can't do enough to you to make you as mad as you could probably get at yourself

when you know, you've made a mistake or pandered or man, this is not who I am. Why did I do this? Why didn't I just tell him, this is what I want. This is how I want it to be. This is how it should be. And I deserve it. Not in a cocky, uh, entitled way, but like, this is what we got to do. Right. You know? And, and that's when you get really mad at yourself. Right. And it's, and it's, uh,

that's when I get, and I will remember it. Right. But it also, sometimes you need to go through that also to, to finally put you back in line. Yeah. Put you back in line. But also I feel like sometimes that's a little bit of a, an inadvertent that you probably shouldn't have let it happen. But each time it does happen, you're getting closer and closer to that person who just doesn't sometimes that's a little bit of a an inadvertent like you probably shouldn't let it happen but each time it does happen you're getting closer and closer to that person who just doesn't give a heck yeah like i don't give a rip dude yeah you know and it helps you and it doesn't mean you got to be it doesn't mean you're gonna take advantage of people be a bad person not a person of integrity do bad things you're doing really really good things but i'm just not going to sacrifice who

i am and how i do things that's right you know you know i want to ask you this man like like give me a give me a straight fucking answer the first time that bruce acknowledged you how was that dude my my first experience of fighting in the ufc was i've had some really really really great moments in my entire career but that one was extra extra special so i mean yeah i get chills thinking about it because yeah when it happened because it's one of those deals where i've watched the ufc from afar from so long and i've got to be honest with you i've done interviews where i'm like yeah i deserve to be in the ufc but i didn't really truly believe it you know when i was a little bit younger and then i needed to get to

the point where i finally believed it and i deserved it. And I knew I, I almost forced the door to open about four or five years ago. Cause I went through three different contract renewals or four different contract renewals with UFC or with Bellator each time I was going to have the opportunity to become a free agent, take a chance and go to the UFC. And each time it just never felt like the right time until it felt like the exact right time which was you know 2020 when it happened and i was taking a chance on myself i was leaving relative i was leaving relative security bellator loved me they were paying me very well i was going to come over to the ufc i thought i was going to take a pay cut turns out

i did not take a pay cut and i was very pleasantly surprised. Um, but I was still taking a chance. I still, there's a lot of people who were like, I mean, you know, and even my wife, you know, for, for years, it's like, well, we got a great thing going, but I want you to do what you want to do. And I was like, yeah, babe. But if I go there, if I go to a barbecue, it's over, I'm getting cut. And she's like, is that what you want to do? I'm like, yeah, that's what I want to do. Cause I wasn't going to be able to lay my, I pictured the 40 year old me, the 42 year old me retired laying in bed at night. And I just cannot get comfortable. Cause my head is laying on this 40 pound cinder block of why did you not go test yourself against the best guys? The biggest, the baddest, the best guys in the world.

Why did you not take a chance on yourself? You walked onto Mizzou. Nobody knew who you were. Everyone from High Ridge, Missouri was like, Hey dude, why don't you just go to Missouri Baptist? Or why don't you just go to CMSU? They're offering you scholarship. You did it back then. How could, how could 18 year old Michael make that choice? But 34 year old Michael can't make that choice after all of God's faithfulness after all the things that you've done. Right. But that moment when I was walking out there to that first fight in the UFC, man, you can just see the joy. Like it was, it was, I knew I was right where I was supposed to be. I wouldn't, and I had zero doubts whatsoever, which most of the time I do

luckily walking into the cage, but that was, it was a special, special night. And Dan Hooker's number five in the world, knock them out in the first two and a half minutes. He had just went 25 minutes with Dustin Poirier, the number two guy in the world at that point and yeah bruce announcing the name and finally watching the ufc from afar hearing bruce buffer from afar all those years and now he's saying iron michael chandler man it's uh that's pretty crazy dude we're gonna wrap it up because i i uh we got some other stuff to do too. Yeah. We got some other stuff. Yeah.

But it's more, it's more spotty. It's more, it's more, it's in this guy. So dude, let me, before we go,

I'd like, I'd like to close with, with just one thing. Um, what's, what's your message to Connor? I'm just kidding. Let's go.

You know, I would actually like to clear something up. So I actually, I got to ask this a little while back before the fight was announced and whatever, like, what's the message to Connor? You know, Ed and I have been talking about this a lot. And he's like, the thing we're going to hammer home, Michael, is that you have earned this. You really, really have. And I know there's got to be a tiny little part of you, that little guy from that little town. It was taught to do little things that I always talk about. He's still in there. And there's a part of you that's like, Hey man,

yeah, you're here, but you haven't earned it. You don't deserve it. Right. And I'm like, yeah, no, there's, there's, there's always that little inkling in all of us. Right. And he's like, but we got to hammer home that you earned this. Right. You have. Yeah. And I, and I, and I, and I answered this question, um, a couple of ago, and I was getting a little bit of hate for it because it kind of came off like, hey, Conor hasn't earned it and I have earned it. We must be very clear. Conor McGregor was the best thing for mixed martial arts ever in the history of the sport. He has built the sport. I'm making more money because of him.

The next fighter is making more money because of him. More people know us because of him. He's elevated the sport. The UFC has done a lot of that as well. Conor McGregor has earned every single thing that he's ever gotten. He's probably earned more. He probably could have made more had there not been some other decisions that he has made. He has done every single thing that he needs to do to be exactly where he is at.

But when it comes to the last couple of years, when it comes to who's going to put more work in, who has been putting more work in, who has been more steadfast, more immovable, more disciplined, I'm the guy who has earned it, right? I'm the guy who stepping into that cage when I do finish him and his eyes roll back in the back of his head, I'm not going to feel anything, but I am very, very blessed, man, and I earned this, and I deserve this, and I think I finished him in the second round. Let's go.

All right, one thing. This is what I was really going to ask. Sorry. I love it. I just hijacked you. No, no, no. I loved it. But what I really want to ask,

because I think it's important, because we have a lot of young, hungry, ambitious people that listen to the show. If you could go back from where you are now, and you said earlier, you couldn't see that 15 year old connecting the dots to be where you are now. What would your message be to the young men and the young women and that 15 year old Michael Chandler who is filled with uncertainty and uncertain about the path and really can't connect the dots. They know they want to get somewhere, but they're not sure how to do it. What would that message be? Man, I think the message is going to be, it's all going to work out and never, ever, ever grow weary in doing good.

People are going to try to put you into a box. People are going to tell you that you have to live your life this way. You have to talk like this. You have to walk like this. You have to do this. You have to act like this. These are the things. This is what society says that you have to do.

This is what we say you need to do. This is what society says that you have to do this is what we say you need to do this is what your parents say you need to do this is what your friends say you need to do there's going to be all of these conflicting things and then you're going to get into your path and then there's going to be even more people talking and and and the road to where to every way you're going to go and there's going to be so much uncertainty because you're not quite sure how to build it. If you step on that square right there, is it a foothold? Is it going to fall out underneath you or is it going to take you to the next step? You're not quite sure.

All you can do is boil it all the way back down, distill it all the way back down to just operating with integrity and doing the best, becoming the best version of yourself, brick by boring brick and doing the small little things. Because yeah, when I was younger, um, if, if you would have told me that I was going to be sitting here on the cusp of 75 days away from the pinnacle of what mixed martial arts is, um, I would have thought you were absolutely crazy. I would have told you right there, don't you bring that energy toward me right now because I feel like you're lying to me. There is no way that that is going to happen. And then eventually you get to the point

where you look back at that 15-year-old boy and you think, man, I'm so proud of you for never giving up and I'm proud of you for making those decisions. I'm proud of you for walking on. I'm proud of you in the face of adversity. You pulled yourself back up. I'm proud of you for the way that you've operated. And I'm proud of you for never, ever wavering because it's going to be the things that kept you small,

the things that suppressed you. It's going to be the things that held you down that will eventually springboard you into something that is so much bigger than you ever thought could ever, ever be possible. You're going to get the opportunities for the big, big things because of the things that kept you small because of the things that held you down because of the things that you hated yourself for and the way that you did operate and how you were afraid and the fear and the doubt and all of that, all of that stuff is the reason you're going to get this opportunity. So just stay steadfast in that. And as long as you're doing what you can do, as long as you're doing the best that you can do,

it might not be tomorrow. It might not be next week, but eventually the hard work will pay off, but you still have to be standing there to receive it when it does. Bro. I love that, man, dude. Thank you so much, man. This has been an awesome conversation. Uh, this has been an amazing show. It's one of my favorite conversations we've ever had. Thank you. And, um, 75 days, bro. 75 days. I give you my word. I'm going to go as hard as I can go for the next 75 days just to support. That's going to be my way to support. All right? And I know there's going to be a lot of people listening that will do the same.

We're going to get behind you in this fight. Heck yeah, dude. I would say good luck, but I don't think you need it. I know you're going to show up every day, and I know you're going to do the work. Brother, I'm proud to be your friend. I'm proud to have you as part of First Form. I'm proud of who you are as a man, and you're a great example for everybody listening, including myself. And, bro, I just appreciate you, man.

Thank you, bro. It's an honor to be here. Thank you for this, and I'm proud to be part of First Form and what you have created here because I am extremely, extremely proud of it. Well, it's day one, bro. Day one, baby. That's right. Day one. All right, guys, that's the show.

I appreciate you guys. I love you guys. And don't be a hoe. Enjoy the show. Outro Music