Shawn Ryan Show - #221 Joe Pyfer - UFC 17-Sec KO Secrets, Meeting Mike Tyson and Terrifying Childhood Stories

Episode Date: July 24, 2025

Joe Pyfer, born in Vineland, New Jersey, is an American professional mixed martial artist competing in the UFC's Middleweight division, nicknamed "Bodybagz" for his devastating knockout power.  Raised in a challenging environment marked by abuse and homelessness, Pyfer began training in martial arts at age four, starting with jiu-jitsu and judo, and later wrestling in high school. Turning pro in 2018, he captured the Art of War and ROC middleweight titles before earning a UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series in 2022 with a second-round TKO.  With a record of 14-3, including nine knockouts and three submissions, Pyfer has delivered highlight-reel finishes in the Octagon, earning Performance of the Night bonuses for wins over Alen Amedovski, Abdul Razak Alhassan, and Marc-André Barriault. His latest victory came via unanimous decision against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 316 in June 2025. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: https://americanfinancing.net/srs NMLS 182334, nmlsconsumeraccess.org https://tryarmra.com/srs https://meetfabric.com/shawn https://shawnlikesgold.com https://ketone.com/srs Visit https://ketone.com/srs for 30% OFF your subscription order https://lumen.me/srs https://masachips.com/srs – USE CODE SRS https://patriotmobile.com/srs https://rocketmoney.com/srs https://ROKA.com – USE CODE SRS https://USCCA.com/srs https://ziprecruiter.com/srs https://betterhelp.com/srs This episode is sponsored. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/srs and get on your way to being your best self. https://drinkhoist.com – USE CODE SRS Joe Pyfer Links: IG - https://www.instagram.com/joepyfer UFC Profile - https://www.ufc.com/athlete/joe-pyfer  Journey to the UFC: Joe Pyfer debuts on Daily Wire+ July 25th Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joe Pfeiffer, welcome to the show, man. Thank you so much. Like a kid in a candy shop. Well, I'm pumped about this. I am pumped about this. And you know, you know what I'm really excited about for this is your upbringing. And as we were discussing downstairs, I just, I didn't grow up like that.

And I mean, I didn't have it easy, but I didn't grow up like that. And just like through this show, man, I had no idea how many people, how many kids go through some type of abuse, whether it's physical abuse, sexual abuse, or verbal abuse. And like, it's, I picked up on that years ago when I first started this, how many kids

go through shit like that. And then to see people break generational curses and pull out of that, I mean, it's, I'm not going to say it's unheard of, but the majority of people never make it out. And so to bring somebody like you on, it just, with everything that you've been through as a kid, I mean, it just brings so much hope to other children that are going through that, and it proves to them that there's a way out of that.

So that's the biggest thing that I want to interview you about and that I just commend you for pulling through it. And I know this is going to bring a lot of hope to a lot of people, man. So thank you for being here and giving us a window into your life. Of course, man. I'm an open book with it.

And I think the best thing I can do is share the story. So it can inspire kids that are voiceless and don't have a way to express or don't know how. I can only speak on my journey and what I've done with my, I guess, pain and struggle that I've turned it into something that I can be successful at and obviously go and provide a way for myself to live but yeah I mean it's um I think it's

wildly more popular than everybody thinks and mine's kind of average compared to the abuse cases you know so I'm just fortunate that I had good people around me and, you know, as we'll get into it. Yeah, I still have the same long life friendships and the same people right next to me. So I'm excited to tell it and share it and, you know, dive into it. Good deal. Good deal. Well, everybody starts off with an introduction here. So I know I've lost Joe Pfeiffer, a UFC middleweight contender with a professional record of 14 and three, UFC record of five and one.

Secure UFC contract after a knockout performance on Dana White's Contender Series after some significant setbacks. Known for your knockout power and relentless drive, earning you three performance of the night bonuses. and relentless drive earning you three performance of the night bonuses. The subject of the acclaimed documentary journey to the UFC directed by your longtime friend Chandler Henry who won best feature length documentary at the 2024 garden state film festival. You know, and got a couple of the things to get through in the interview, but I read somewhere that you reject the title or the label role model. And I wanted to ask you why you reject that label. Here's why I'm asking, because just in our conversations downstairs and through the research of you know Of your life story for this interview. I mean in my opinion, that's what you are man. You are a

phenomenal athlete and people look up to that and you know, we just Talked about your upbringing and I mean you did you are a fucking role model for kids And I mean, you, dude, you are a fucking role model for kids. You're a role model for everybody, whether you like it or not, but more specifically, like what matters, you know, is, is what matters to me is there's just not that many athletes that people can look up to these days that are decent human beings do the right thing that have been through hard times. And you're one of them, man.

And, uh, so I just wanted to ask you, ask you, why do you reject the title role model? I think I reject the title role model for a couple things. And I think one of them is that I'm an imperfect person and I don't like to view myself as a role model. I'm just a guy that is passionate about what he does and wants to reach the highest level. And I want to find out what my limits are. I have no idea if I'll be a world champion. I have the belief I'll be a world champion. But I make mistakes, right? I say some things that people don't like.

So I don't think I'm fit to deserve, I guess, the title of a role model. And I'm not sure if any human is really fit to be a role model. But I definitely believe I can be an inspiration I hope I could be a little ignite like a little fire in somebody's heart to go and try and whether it's fighting or whether it's soccer or something with school where you can go and try to reach the highest the highest level so I think it just bothers me being a role model because I know I'm not the best person in the world, right? But I don't steal from people. I don't hurt people for no reason and I don't think that uh I've ever gone out of my way to do so

so I think an inspiration is the the safest way for me to be because I think this world is very judgmental obviously and Yeah, I don't know I just don't think that I'm worthy of being a role model. I think my story is inspirational and I think my career has been inspirational you know just a little bit of stats that you read off as someone who's only 28 years old who's only been in the UFC for two and a half years and Yeah, and I think my story is inspirational, but I don't know if it's a role model type It is you know, but being a role model type. It is, but being a role model, I mean, that is a responsibility that nobody asks for.

Your fans are the ones that deem you the role model, not you. And you carry yourself very well. Say some things that, you know what I mean, that a lot of people, whatever, man, it's your beliefs and we see so many people in society, in politics, in Hollywood, in sports, and fuck everywhere that are scared to speak their mind and say what's actually on their mind and that's becoming lost on the American people.

I think from what I know about you and what I'm about to learn, I, I, but from what I know right now, you are a great person. And the one, the one thing I will say as far as the role model too, is I think the reason I say that is if there's going to be a role model type, um, yeah, it's very hard. I guess the role model type would be like how I never quit. Like that could be a role model type part, but as far as just being the person, but you know, there's, there's often when we talk about athletes as being role models, I don't think there is a lot of role models as athletes.

I was like what we're saying, but I think it's because everybody wants all the glory and then they forget who they are. And they fall in love with this identity of, I'm an athlete or I'm somebody famous or I'm a singer and then they start treating people less than them. I treat everybody the same. If you give me respect, I give you respect. And if you treat me like shit, I treat you like shit.

But I'm not gonna go out of my way to be spiteful or anything like that. So, but I do have that other side of me. We all do, don't we? I do have that other side of me. Yeah. So yeah, I'm not a perfect person and that's why I say about the role models because I will fuck up.

And I will say things that people don't like that can be controversial. I've had that recently in my career. I got some funny names, Poopy P, Piper, salty Joe Piper, you know, all kinds of stuff. So yeah, Mexico did me dirty, man. So, uh, but yeah, no, it's, it's, you know, but I do think that my story is inspirational. And I think the part, if you want to take anything and list that as a role model,

you know, I would say the friendships that I have is the best thing to mimic, which is putting good people around you that, you know, aren't yes men, that don't kiss your ass just because of success or just because of spotlight and actually care about you as a human being aside from your performances, especially in this sport. So, yeah. Man, kudos to you for figuring that out at age 28. Yeah. That's, that is a hard lesson to learn. It is it is and it doesn't come easy. It's it's you really got to search for you really have to ask questions and you really have to have good people around you to find it. Otherwise, you get all this fame or success, not that I have fame or success,

but you know, I would say I'm successful in my journey for my goals. And I still have goals that go deeper than just a gold belt. They're more on a human level of being a good person and having good people in my life and achieving success with just a wealth of family around me that I didn't get to have growing up. So super excited for that. And I think the future holds a lot of cool things for me.

So hopefully I find out soon. Well, hey, I don't know think the future holds a lot of cool things for me so I'm sure it does. Hopefully I find out soon. Well hey I don't know what the future holds for it but I do know in the near future so I got you a couple gifts here. Oh yeah. One. Oh yeah. Probably the only reason you came out here. I tried to get this for a year. So I gotta know are these like some special gummy bears or are these just Sean Ryan's gum. They're just they're just gummy bears, man There's nothing there's they're legal in all 50 states So if that tells you anything good, it's just candy at least right now They'll probably become illegal with the red dye shit, but sorry. I'll die for these just once Right up and I got you another gift, you know finding out that you're a gun guy down there

I got a buddy over at Sig Sauer's name's Jason. I told him you were coming on and he wanted you to Ah, all right. Present you with a little a little something there. All right. Let's see. Let's go. Thank you. Oh, wow. Yeah. Oh, this is a big boy. Yeah. So down there, you know, you were talking about I'm sure we'll dive into it

a little bit but you had mentioned that You know if things didn't work out in the in the fighting world that you thought about joining the military. Yeah, and So that is a sig sour p226 I've never even heard of this dude this thing is hefty that is that now this I'm gonna shoot that is the primo so when I joined the SEAL teams the sidearm the secondary that we carry was a six hour P226 Wow and so they revamped it that's the Legion model go ahead pull that trigger. This is a nine mil. That's a nine millimeter. Oh, that's smooth. You got a racket.

Still feels smooth. Yeah, I mean, that's like nothing. Wow. Thank you so much. Yeah, you're welcome. Thank you so much. I didn't expect this. Damn surprise. I love it. Thank you. Thank you. And fantastic. I love it. Thank you so much. You

got it. You're going to have to help me figure out how I'm getting it back. Oh, we got you covered. All right. That's awesome. That's that's amazing. Thank you so much. You're welcome. That's a great piece, man. Another one to the collection. There you go. 31 special one, special one. And then I have a patreon account Patreon account subscription account. We've turned it into one hell of a community. I think we have almost 100,000 people in there now and So one of the things that I do is I offer the community The opportunity to ask each and every guest a question. So this is from Eric Algar

question. So this is from Eric Algar. Joe, you've shared how Dana White not only gave you a UFC contract, but also covered your rent after a tough moment. What gave you the courage to be so open about your situation back then? And how did your life shift the moment you left that meeting? Yeah, I would say, I think it starts way before me being open about my situation. I used to be super shy and super reserved. And then one time, Sam Morpiza, who was probably one of the most monumental people aside from Will Harmon, who you'll learn, took me in, was a high school wrestling coach. But Sam Morpiz I had known since I was 10 years old and he told me when somebody Tells you to eat or offers you food you take it you eat and It always stuck with me. It was just it was something really small, but it was like if you don't

Take the opportunities given to you Then you miss them and just not being shy to ask for something, you know, the worst thing you can be told is no and you don't get what you want. So, you know, I didn't tell him that story or situation for the sake of pity. It was just, hey, look, I let him know I just fought and I'm about to be homeless on Friday.

I have no idea where I'm going to live because the house that I was living in Was sold so I had I'd fought on Tuesday That's when Danaways contender series is and I would have flown home Wednesday Thursday would had to move out and Friday was that Was it I had nowhere to go So he had fronted me some money that got me a condo it worked out where my strength conditioning coach So he had fronted me some money that got me a condo. It worked out where my strength conditioning coach, his landlord, he lived in the same condo complex and she had had one that just literally got like vacated.

She had just let go of tenants and it wasn't even up on the market yet. And I told her I would pay her cash from what he had given me and that paid for my whole year upfront rent. Damn. But how it changed, it was just, you know, like Dana White's gotten a lot of flack, you know, essentially people think that he's a heartless guy and I don't think that he is and he's been super generous with me and super nice to me. And it's been nothing but good business. So it was nice to know that someone of his caliber, you know, who's apparently,

you know, a lot of people talk about him in a way where it's like they don't care about their fighters and you're just a number. And to a certain extent, you know, if you're not bringing the company money, I understand why it's like that. If it don't make money, it don't make sense. It's a business at the end of the day. But it was very nice to see his heart and his genuine care for my well-being and made sure that he took care of me and gave me, I mean, essentially that allowed me to take the next fight the month later. So it was very special.

And then on top of the B. Joe Pfeiffer moment and everything, it was nice that I had that kind of impact on the president of the UFC. So from a guy that I've been watching since I was five years old. So yeah, it was it was a huge moment but it just brought back humanity to My life at the highest level with like somebody of that status So it's probably the most famous guy I've ever been in front of at that time. Yeah, that's cool Yeah, so it was really cool life-changing. It literally was life-changing. So I don't know how my

Career would have been, you know, sleeping on somebody's couch and trying to train full time. And yeah, it was a rough situation, but you know, he made it that much better and made it that much easier. So how long ago was that? Two and a half years ago. Two and a half years ago. I've been in the UFC two and a half years.

Uh, I had that fight in, I think 2022. So a beginning of middle of 2022. So it's been about two and a half years right on yeah What a guy that's cool. It was pretty cool And then a lot of people were talking shit on him recently about the the Ben Askren thing with the lung transplant he had a double lung transplant that he needed to get and People were like oh he didn't help but you know then he came out and the post It actually this after this weekend, this Nashville card,

he said that he had given money to Ben Askren to help him with his transplant. So that's super cool. You know, those are things that go beyond fighting and business and, you know, it's nice to see that he gives back and, you know, actually cares about people. Is there, is there like, what's the community like,

the UFC community? As a whole, it's brutal. Behind the scenes, I mean, does everybody lift each other up or? I will say, nah, not really, man. Not really. So it depends. Like the fans are ruthless, man. They either love you or they fucking hate you. But, you know, as far as like the fighters between each other,

they're really respectful for the most part. Like I've never had an issue. But then, you know, there's the most part. Like I've never had an issue. But then, you know, there's the guys that just had bad blood beef, like guys that could be Nate DS, Jones, DC, things like that. They genuinely hate each other.

Cody Garbrandt, TJ Dillashaw, those rivalries. And so yeah, it's a hit or miss, but I would say for the most part, fighters amongst each other are very respectful. Ultimately, this is our job and we're competitors so I would say it's pretty respectful but as far as the fan base man it is a ruthless business. Y'all bet it is. People will always be a fucking loser if they hate you and they will let you know for years. I mean I have a fan that's been dedicated to telling me that I'm a loser for like the

past year and a half and I save all this this shit. I think it's hilarious, but yeah. So it's, uh, it's 50 50 for sure. How hyped up is it? Uh, as far as what part? Theatrics. None. None? There is no scripted, there's no fake anything. Um, that's all, all the other organizations aside from UFC. UFC is the most-

Let me rephrase that. Let me rephrase that. Let me rephrase that. I don't mean like theatrics in the ring. I don't mean any of that. No, I'm talking about press conferences. No shit, that's all real? All real, all real. Yeah, you don't get any type of,

the only thing we're told is don't touch each other. That's it, everything else is real. So whether the fighters between each other sometimes are cool and they'll say,, let's let's hype this up Let's talk some shit so that way we can get people interested. You know, that's a private conversation, but Yeah, no, none of its fake right on right on I thought for sure some of the drama going on behind the scenes was maybe Encouraged John Jones and DC truly hated each other and they still if you've ever you know followed it they still hate each other I think. So there's a little bit of respect there like DC will give them his respect but they still don't like each other as people.

Interesting. Yeah and they've already competed twice and so yeah none of it's fake. Who's your arch nemesis? us. Fucking Paul Craig. Really? Yeah. I don't like that dude. I don't know. I just, he didn't even do anything to me. I just don't like him.

I don't like, I just don't like the way he looks. I don't like him man because you know, I had a fight last year and I fought this guy, Marc-Andre Barryall, who I did like after the fact, but I called him out. He said he accepted. He was a 205er and I wanted to fight cause he had beat the current champion maga met on Kalaev You know, he just got lucky. I think for sure But you know, he's a 205 er I don't like his theatrics of putting on his face paint and getting in people's face and doing the mean mug and everything like that

But then fights like a bitch in my opinion. He lays on his back. He's a back princess. So I don't and everything like that, but then fights like a bitch, in my opinion, he lays on his back. He's a back princess, so I don't, yeah, I don't know. I don't like the guy. And then I went and took a grapple against him in a jujitsu tournament and he put his name there. Then when they offered my name to him, he disappeared. So it's just, you know, I tried to beg the matchmaker

to give me that fight. It wouldn't happen. And I'm like, you know, any fight that I've asked for, I really haven't gotten, which is kind of frustrating. So it is what it is. You ask for fights? Is that, is that? that I'll give me yeah, I'll give him suggestions Look, do you have see basically is like they offer you a fight you take it if you don't they'll bench you So it is what it is

You know, you're really not in the business of picking your fights, which is fine You got a fight who they tell you to fight So what happens if two people want to fight each other? Does it go farther out all the time? Not all the time. Like, like I said, me and Paul Craig, he said he accepted after I called him out after I won my fight. And then, you know, it never happened.

And it was kind of just lost in the air. So I was pretty disappointed with that. When I first made my debut and I'd won my fight, I wanted to fight the guy I broke my elbow against. He was already in the UFC. He got a contract off of me breaking my fight. I wanted to fight the guy broke my elbow against he was already in the UFC He got a contract off of me breaking my arm And I felt some type of way about that because I didn't think he deserved it. It wasn't It wasn't like he made me tap. It wasn't like he was whupping my ass

It wasn't like he submitted me or you know knocked me out So I was like how does this guy get a contract and then he went on he was like one and three in his first four or something like that or two and four in his first five or six and Yeah, they wouldn't give it to me. I actually talked to Dana White personally I was begging him for the fight because I wanted to get him back Just because you know, I got some pretty bad scarring from it and I wanted to hurt that motherfucker. So damn Unfortunately, I've had to put it in the rearview mirror. I think I'm so far ahead of him that I'm never going to get that fight back.

It is what it is. But yeah, I fucking hate Paul Craig. I think he's a bitch. Right on, man. Well, let's move into your life story. You ready? Yeah. Where'd you grow up? So I was born in Vial, New Jersey. Small town. I lived in Pitts Grove from the time of four years old until 15. And I'm one of five kids. I got four sisters, two older, two younger.

And we're all blood related. And my parents were married for about 20 years before they got divorced. And yeah, so grew up in Pittsburgh. It was more of like a farmland type deal. And I loved nature, things like that. Was a pretty quiet, timid kid. My father started learning Jiu Jitsu and MMA

with a guy named Steven Hegg at probably around when I was about four years old. And then about four and a half years old, my dad started forcing, you know, and I don't want to say it in a bad way, but introducing me into Jiu-Jitsu and MMA. And then that's when I started training. And I wound up having my first Jiu-Jitsu tournament

at five years old. You started at four years old. Four and a half, yeah. Yeah. Four and a half. And then I started competing right before I was six at five years old. My first competition and I think was August Third or August 4th of 2003 and I was born in 1996. So I would have been turned in six that year Wow I've started my kid at three you started him at three. Yeah, man

Even better. I wrestled I wasn't any good, but I wrestled. And I remember in high school, I'd be like, they would come around, oh, this guy started at five. And I'd be like, oh, fuck. Here we go. Yeah, I will say, I think wrestling is the greatest foundation, even over Jiu-Jitsu. I think wrestling, if you're going to go in combative sports, obviously,

I think wrestling is the greatest. Why do you think that? I would also venture to say it's better in Jiu jujitsu, even if you aren't going to be in the UFC because it's still a team sport, but it's an individual score. So the performance is about you, but you're obviously still working with your teammates and you still have discipline, weight class. You're still trying to compete to be on the varsity team, things like that. And it just really teaches you to work as a unit.

Whereas jujitsu is a little bit more selfish. And I think for kids, it's good to work as a team versus working individually and you constantly having all the attention, you know? So, um, cause then you think it's always about you. So I know what wrestling did for me and I started late and I think, um, I think it would be even more dam dangerous had I learned wrestling a little bit earlier than I learned jujitsu. So I think, um, I think it would be even more dangerous had I learned wrestling a little bit earlier than I learned jujitsu.

So I think wrestling is great. Teaches kids discipline, commitment, um, diet, health. How to lose. How to lose. Yeah. Yeah. They don't let you freak out. If you freak out, you lose the team points.

So, and you can get sat out. Yeah. So I would definitely say that that's the greatest foundation. You know, going through your, all the information that I've looked at on you, I mean, it's, I read that your first memories you think are a one-year-old. No, my first memories are about five years old. Five years old. From what I was told, my first memories that were bad is that, and I was told to spy my mother who has pictures, that I started getting beat at a year old. When I was told my first memories that were bad is that and I was told this by my mother who has pictures that I started getting beat at a year old. You started getting beat at a year old.

Yeah so the story behind that and that's when the abuse starts was from my father who I guess beat me because I shit my diaper and wiped it on the wall. But that was because I was left unattended in the crib or I was gonna say crate, but I don't think that's the right word. So I think it was a crib and my mom, you know, I'd come home and there was bruises all over me around the top of my head, down my spine. And it was very frequent that it would happen.

So she was initially gonna call, I'm pretty sure she called the cops on him for some reason I don't know if it was that but then she had wind up calling the cops on him For some abuse at some point, but yeah, I started getting beat at a year old So yeah and We'd had child services in and out of her life all throughout my childhood. But yeah, so my earliest. My earliest remembrance of getting beat was, you know, I would say five years old pretty clearly.

I don't really remember anything before five years old. I don't know if that's normal or not, but that's that's basically when I remember it and it was because of jujitsu. So that's my earliest memories is getting beat over jujitsu, whether I couldn't learn to move fast enough or comprehend or something of that manner. So, yeah. How were your siblings, your sisters?

So I have a sister that was born in 94, a sister was born in 95, I'm 96. My younger sister is 98 and then my other sister is in 2000. So Sarah being the oldest, I don't, she was February 16th of 98 or I'm sorry, 94. So I don't know if she's 30 now. We don't talk. You don't talk. Nah, we don't talk. Just because, you know, there's, there's, that's later on, but yeah, we don't talk. Um, we don't

see eye to eye. Um, she she's still going through I think a domestic violent relationship and I don't want to be a part of that and she has kids and you know they kind of cut me off because I whooped one of my sister's boyfriend's asses at one point and um you know when they stopped talking to me over that and then they were upset that I wasn't able to be in their children's lives as much as they'd liked or they said I didn't have an interest that I wasn't able to be in their children's lives as much as they'd liked, or they said I didn't have an interest. And it's just kind of like, you know,

do I want to have people in my life that don't want to move past the past? Or do I want to have people in my life that are trying to, you know, hit new goals and actually achieve, you know, greatness? I just, I don't want to live in the past all the time. So they're kind of still stuck on the past and I just I don't want to live in the past all the time, so They're kind of still stuck on the past, and I'm not with that

Why did you whip your sister's boyfriend's ass because I found out he was a meth head and He told me I wasn't a man on top of it. He called me a pussy So I had to show him what was up then like him anyway. God was a pathological liar Cheated on my sister. Now he's dragging her through a really ugly court case which I'm not involved in or anything. But that's just my outsider's view on him. And he's trying to take her kids away from her type deal. I think she's a great mother. So yeah. it doesn't take much to piss me off, especially if you're a scumbag like he is so Yeah, I don't respect men that get women pregnant, especially my sister and then they're out there doing drugs I don't care what low point I'm at in my life. I would never do drugs Never done drugs and I sure I sure shit wouldn't do it if I was about to have the greatest responsibility in the world, which was fathering a child.

So yeah, I had no respect for him for it. So yeah. I long ago was that. This was two weeks before I broke my elbow in the contender, my first contender fight. So yeah, but unfortunately my, my family has been so damaged By the way that we were brought up and You know that there's really no loyalty between our family or there was none You know, I still I talked to my mother now and I talked to that sister that I didn't talk to

Whose boyfriend I beat up me and her to still talk now. I talked to my youngest sister I've seen my second oldest sister, but I haven't seen my oldest sister in probably six, seven years. Shit, man. Six years, maybe something like that. So. Does that bother you? Oh, of course it bothers me. But I think the, of course it's going to bother me. I don't think that they're bad people. It's just, it's really tough to go around a family that you you know is it's just all broken up and they're all they're all fucked up. They've all had issues and I think a part of it is my father never taking accountability and just kind of damaging our life and then going and living his own life you

know so avoidant of all abuse of of all accusations. And so yeah, yeah, it definitely bothers me. I want to see them do well. Even if we didn't talk, I want to see them do well. And I think that's what bothers me the most is my family's always split. They're never, you'll never go to a holiday and everybody's getting along. It's, well, you're talking to this sister.

Well, you're a traitor. Oh, I tried and you're a traitor. They all, they all look at each other's enemies because they don't understand the value of family. Um, and I think that's the part that's the most damaging about it all is that he really disrupted, you know, he really, I think damaged their insight as to family having their back, you know, it was boys versus girls. It was me and him versus my mom and my sisters.

And that was just a dynamic that we grew up in and you've ratten Each other out or if you ever heard something that was super, you know bothered somebody and you had been told like hey Yeah, you know, I feel this way or I'm depressed about this the second you had an argument you throw it in their face So you never had trust between your siblings and you never had trust in your parents. So Yeah, man, we were all victims of this guy's abuse. And it was like we were little slaves to him. Damn. Let's dive in a little bit more deep. What kind of stuff? So that's positive stuff. What? What were if there is any? What were you into as a kid?

Yeah, no, there's some positive things. I will say one of my favorite singers first memory I ever had that I actually remember from five years old is Celine Dion. I'm freezing by the way. Are you? I'm chattering. Here we go. I've been here a little bit. But yeah, first song I ever remember hearing was I'm Alive by Celine Dion. It was one of my favorites. Yeah, there were some good things, you know, I'd gone fishing with my grandfather a couple times. Who I only met a couple times. And that was a really good memory for me. I used to love it. He would always play Celine Dion, so it was like a monumental point in my life.

And I thought a lot of her music got me through some really lonely times in life especially being young. It was always uplifting, always liked it, you know it sounds funny but I loved it so that was a good memory and even you know I had some really good memories with my pops with some of the jiu-jitsu especially when I won you know he seemed to be very proud early on. And, but that was very short-lived. It was probably for about two tournaments that I can remember. It was the first one and first one and then probably in 2007, one of the Grappler's Quests that I'd won, he was very happy. So my first and then that was probably the last time that I ever felt like he was happy or proud of me.

What other some good times? We went to the beach a few times. Me and him would go play video games at the arcade. I was always into video games. I was homeschooled. So, I grew up homeschooled from, you know, the time I started school until about eighth grade. Then that's when I was in school all the way up until I graduated.

I had a short stint where I was in public school from about five years old, started getting bullied, got pulled out, and then eighth grade, obviously, till graduation I was in public school. So you were getting bullied at five years old? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, well, just because we had hand-me-down clothes, we were probably one of the poorest families

that were going there. So they'd make fun of my clothes or make fun of my hair. Yeah, I don't remember. Kids, I just remember getting into it with a kid in the locker room where they were gonna jump me and a kid was telling me some vulgar things, like, oh, you can suck on these balls, all this shit.

And you're talking about kids there in fifth grade, and I wasn't used to that. I wasn't a fighter. I'd trained, but I didn't have a mean bone in my body. It wasn't, it was kind of a bitch, honestly. So it just wasn't how I was raised. My mom tried to stop me from doing jujitsu, didn't want me to have a mean demeanor and things like that.

She didn't want my growth to get stunted because like when we trained, we trained hard. It wasn't, it wasn't like a little like kid, like, Hey, yeah, you know, good job type thing. It was, what are you retarded? You can't get it getting slapped, getting hit, getting screamed at the entire time, you know, crying and still trying to learn. And you can't put a kid in a stressful situation like that. And yeah, you always felt like I always, I grew up thinking that there was something wrong with me. So just because I always thought I had like a learning disability or maybe I was fucking retarded, like, I don't, I didn't, I had no idea what it was. So who would slap you around?

My father, my father. So, you know, if you couldn't learn something and he was trying to teach you, he would get very frustrated and scream at you, including my sisters. You know, it wasn't just me and my sisters all learned jujitsu too. Um, my older sister used to be a pretty, she was a young Ronda Rousey. Probably would have whipped her ass if she stuck with it. But you know, then you start hitting puberty,

you become a woman and it's just not what they're into. So it becomes uncomfortable for them and they didn't want to do it. And he basically disowned them over it. And hated their guts. So, but yeah, some back to the good memories, you know, we'd gone to the beach a couple of times and we always cherish those moments. You know, we're kids, so it wasn't really hard to, to win us over with, with good times.

Um, my mom did her absolute best. And, um, you know, even though I feel like she was an absent mother, as far as love with me, because of my father and just a dynamic of our family I will always respect her work ethic withholding two and three jobs With the husband that refused to work. He didn't work so he was a little truck driver and he got hit in an accident he got t-boned and Apparently blew his back out or You know had a herniation

I'm not sure what the details were of that but basically had a back injury and then went and got surgery in 2004 and collected SSD ever since and never worked a job he would try some on-and-end jobs like he did really cool woodwork like scroll saw work like portraits but they never really made any money and then he had an outdoor repair business with outboard motors so I would help him with that. I was basically his tool boy, which I loved. I used to love cars. I always loved cars. I always loved loud shit. And I always enjoyed being by the beach. I always loved boats. I always loved fishing.

So that was a cool outlet, even though it was miserable because you're getting screamed at the whole time. Getting the wrong tool, shit like that. though it was miserable because you're getting screamed at the whole time You know getting the wrong tool shit like that, but uh, you know, it was good for me it was really good for me, so you know he tried to do an income as far as that but Never used it to help the family never used it to buy the family shit It was just always for himself and it was never enough money to ever even do anything for the family anyway, but It was never enough money to ever even do anything for the family anyway, but With prices going up on just about everything lately saving money is essential but stressful trying to manage subscriptions track spending and cut costs can feel overwhelming

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said, but those were good memories. Video games were good memories to a certain extent, but everything that was good wind up coming super abusive. So really? Yeah, everything started out good. And my dad had great qualities, he really did. But he let whatever demons that he has take over and things really, really, really went, I mean, he always had a temper, always,

but things really went bad after the surgery. I think he started to lose his mind a little bit because of narcotics. And I never really realized that until a couple of years ago though, but he was always on Gabapentin, Xanax, Perks, Oxy's. What's the other one? I don't remember, but,

and he would always drink a yingling or two yinglings with it. And that shit makes you very thin-tempered what do you mean started out good I mean we just talked about at age one yeah I think when I say started out good is like first tournament super proud super happy I've won I submitted everybody five years old great you know, one of my greatest memories in competition. It's what started everything. You remember that.

It's what started the love. I remember that. Yeah, very well. I'm pretty sure I leg locked a kid and I arm barred a kid and I think I leg locked another kid or maybe I think I arm bar, guillotine and leg lock. So it was a very good memory for me. I got to see Ken Shamrock down there, which was one of my favorite fighters as I was young. It was one of the first people I remember watching, him and his brother Frank Shamrock,

who was pancreasian. And you know, he was proud. And same thing with like video games. It used to be fun. And then it got really bad. I got one of the worst beatings of my life over a video game in the end. Why? For a fucking video game? Because I was fucking good at video games and I was co-op playing with him and I was stealing his kills. Sounds so fucking stupid. Are you serious? Sounds so stupid

brother but sorry I'm fucking nice at video games. Do you remember that? Yeah, of course. Well that that last beating was I was 15 16 I was 15 going on 16 and was right before it was one of the last beings I got before I ran away so Started out good and a bad competition started out good and then if My dad's the kind of guy where if he's not in absolute control and he's not in the spotlight and I don't give all glory to him, you're dead to him. So that's how it changed.

The first competition, he was just happy. And I think he had good intentions. And I will always be grateful for his introduction into the sport. I know what it is. It's how I've gone to do what I've done because, but I will, I will say this, he gave me tools he never thought I would go and build a house with. So, um, he gave me the tools and that's it. And then other people gave me the blueprint and I've gone and built the house.

So that's the best way to look at this story. And, um, yeah, you know, like I said, competition used to be good and turned bad. Um, what would you say your first memory is getting your ass kicked by your dad? I mean, could you be descriptive? What was that about? Yeah, I remember we were wrestling in the living room. It's also a memory of when I first remember here in Celine Dion. And he had a stereo and we were wrestling and I guess I choked him a little too hard at five years old five years old at five years old.

He basically let me take his back and I put a choke on him and I remember squeezing it too hard. I guess for his liking five years old and he wind up flipping me over and slamming me right on my head basically like a DDT the way I landed straight up on my head and then he kicked me and that was the first beating into into jujitsu that I remember so I had been slapped a ton of times numerous times brother more than I could count over learning you know over learning something slow I used to get beat if I took too long with our home school curriculum just to do a phonics page which was English for homeschool curriculum I Mean he would be you would he would be your ass bad, you know split your skin bad

So sisters got the same type of abuse, but I've been hit with a jump rope by him Which was probably the worst I've been hit with the metal end of a fly swatter been hit with Spoons. Yeah, I've been hit with the metal end of a fly swatter, been hit with spoons. Yeah, I've been hit with a lot. So, yeah. And it was almost like he took pleasure. That's the one thing that bothers me about that dude

is he took pleasure in it. The louder you screamed, it was almost like it fed the rage that he had. Like almost if you've, which kind of like what I have with fighting. If I hit somebody and I'll knock him out, I'm gonna keep hitting him. It's like that. It's like that, it's like fuel to the fire. Kind of like what I have with fighting. If I hit somebody and I'll knock them out, I'm gonna keep hitting them.

It's like that, it's like that, it's like fuel to the fire. I don't know, it's a very weird, very weird thing. I think he thought like he was the man by doing it. And yeah, it was a little bit disturbing because it's almost like he wanted an excuse to hit us or punish us. We used to get put in the corner and I'm talking about all of us, not just me.

I got it double time because I was the boy. But I mean our punishments would be standing in the corner too, but we'd be standing in the fucking corner for three plus hours. So yeah. Damn. So that was my first memory of getting beat that I remember. Let's walk through like a daily routine in your life as a kid. I'll wake up, make myself eggs.

He would wake me up at like 7 a.m. Which you know isn't crazy. Sometimes 6 a.m. And I would go outside and we'd have like a cinder block and he'd make me push it, sprint to it. Throw it, sprint to it. We had like tops to outboard motors. They were the capsule and outboard

motors and we'd have like three or four of them because he had a couple boats there that I was working on and we'd set them up like hurdles. So I'd run, jump over, jump over, jump over. Then we would do sprints. We just did a lot of like natural body weight workouts and then we would play video games or I would have to do some type of homeschool. But that time my mom wasn't working three jobs, so she was the one teaching us and the early half before he became disabled and Yeah, so we would do that but then we would play video games we had a PlayStation one I've always been a PlayStation kid, and you know I loved the video games always loved video games it was like a little escape from reality for me and Just like constant seriousness. So, and yeah, that was it.

It was probably video games and training. That was most of my life. And sometimes we'd go to the shore with like 20 bucks and just like, that's all we had and we would fucking play arcade games. So, I used to, those were the good memories, you know? And they didn't last very long. When would he start beating? play arcade games. So I used to those were the good memories, you know, and they didn't last very long. When would he start beating? Did you notice any routine?

Was it drinking? Was it drugs? Was it the same time every day? Was it? No, it wasn't the same time. It was, it was very frequent. I probably got beat a minimum of five times a week. But you know, it usually was over jujitsu. So I started to resent jujitsu and hate it. And I just wanted to play with toys and I wasn't really allowed. And if I did play with toys, he would come in my room and like kick all, I'd been spending like hours building Lincoln Logs.

And he would just come in and took pleasure in making me cry and would like fucking smash all, like kick it all over my room. Just literally, I'd be sitting there peaceful playing and he would come up the stairs and walk in and just kick all my shit over. And then I would cry and he'd call me a pussy and walk out and stop crying like a pussy or fucking toys and then just leave. That was like five years old, you know, it hurts your feelings.

You don't understand it. You don't know how to process it. And it's not that bad, right? But I mean, it's still like, why? So he would do a lot of things that were just didn't make sense. Countless beatings over, over the jujitsu, uh, you know, including my sister screaming at them, smacking them, pulling them by the hair, um, throwing them. Like if you got so frustrated, he would grab you by your hair and fucking throw

you face down and then tell you to Go to your room and leave you in your room for days Hours, and I mean hours like eight to ten hours. It was a minimum of this punishment by him So I used to be so afraid to leave my room after getting punished. I would piss out the window Because if I even tried to go to the bathroom to go get a sip Yeah, I got beat the fuck to go get a sip yeah I got beat the fuck out of for it so I would piss out my window so fucking terrified

and I pissed myself till I was about 12 years old wake up from nightmares and shit like that so I think I think all the beatings and the no I don't know if it's I don't know how the mind works, but I just think from all the trauma of shock of how bad you would get beat, I think just led to really bad nightmares, like devils chasing me and shit like that. So I had a lot of bad nightmares, seeing like... I don't know if they were demons on the wall or whatever the fuck it was that I was thinking I was seeing.

Obviously it was not real, but yeah, I used to be in a really scared, dark place as a kid, so. Damn, man. Yeah. What was the, I mean, what would the conversation be between you and your siblings? We wouldn't really like have a conversation other than that we would say we fucking hated them and that we were afraid of them, you know? We all used to say the same story so we wouldn't get in trouble.

There's one instance, I think. So I lied about turning on an electric heater. We always we were so poor. We got government assistance almost all my life. And, you know, after my dad had became disabled, like it was even harder, you know, and and then our mom was never there to protect us from them because she was working. So that was when shit became scary because it's like, what are we going to do? Like, how are we going to fucking avoid this guy? We couldn't

even take a fucking spelling bee. So you would have 20 words. This is part of homeschool curriculum and you would write the 20 words on a, you know, a piece of paper. And then you had in your homeschool book, you would, you know, spell the word, you would write the 20 words on a you know, a piece of paper and Then you had in your homeschool book you would you know spell the word you would write the word He'll read you the word and then you have to write the word It was part of spelling. I Mean asking this guy just to take a fucking spelling bee was one of the scariest fucking build up the moment of courage parts of your life Because the guy was so fucking aggressive What the fuck you bother me for?

Get the fuck out of you. Don't you see I'm fucking doing something to get the fuck out of my face. So like we were afraid to learn. But our moms at work, so how the fuck are we supposed to learn? And, you know, he was just sitting on his computer and fucking watch fight videos all day and. Talk to his friends and play video games or fucking. Yeah, so it was a little bit scary

Did you guys stand up for each other at all? so unfortunately No, but Yeah, so no it was really like the girls really tag-team me a lot So I used to hate their guts because any time there was a beating that was about to get served they would all rat me out or all blame me just because it was easy and they didn't know any better you know it was just kind of what they were taught it's what we were taught and you know I was the boy so I could handle it but yeah I mean my sister used to be a little little mean people at one time you know I'll get my ass beat and they'd walk by and smile at me and think it was funny and I'm sitting there crying

You know screaming or whatever and he used to do the most humiliating shit where you'd have to pull your pants down They're all sitting in the living room and you make them all sit in the living room and then fucking beat your ass bare naked In front of all of them, which is very humiliating. You know, you got four fucking sisters I'm pulling my ass out in front of them just so you can beat me. And he would beat you till you cried until you screamed. And that's how you get split skin. And I hit you bare ass. Over the dumbest shit, man, over the dumbest shit,

I couldn't even tell you, like necessarily too many specific ones of like why he would do it. But, you know, it's not like we cursed. We were a Christian family. We went to church every Sunday. So we didn't curse. We didn't use foul language. But yeah, so it was it was a little bit.

You definitely hold some resentment and anger for a guy after that. But as a child, you have unconditional love for your parents, you know, that was he I thought he was some great fighter and he came from Kensington, Philadelphia He had an abusive life. He had fucked up parents. I can't speak on his life other than that. I don't know what's true. What's not true but um But yeah, it was uh, it was a very disappointing thing to have as I got older the beatings get worse and the betrayal get worse and He grew up like that. He grew up like that. He definitely had a harder life to me

I don't know what's true and what's not though because of all the lies I don't I think he's the type of guy who tells himself so well he's definitely the type of guy that tells him something until he believes it and then claims that his truth and That's just a little bit. I don't know if that's a little bit narcissist or psychopath or whatever it is. I'm not a psychologist, but yeah, man. He's told some wild stories that literally are not true

that I'll give you an example with. But the one example I wanted to give you is that we had no heat. So we lived in a farmhouse that you had to use oil for heat and we couldn't afford it. It was a couple hundred bucks. I think it was like 450 bucks every time you would fill it. It would last like a month and a half, two months and we couldn't afford it.

And it was winter and I went down and the morning, I think I'm like six years old. And I turned on the heater and I was sitting by the heater and the electric heater takes a long time to heat up. And I was sitting by the heater and the electric heater takes a long time to heat up and I was sitting by the Heater forgot to turn it off So I had it on low, you know, but regardless, you know, he tried to pull Oh, you could have burnt the house down blah blah blah blah So he lied this all up and he was like I'm gonna beat every one of you until when he used tells me the truth And I did a fucked up thing. I blame my sister. I was scared. I knew he would beat me the worst

I knew he wouldn't beat them as bad as he beat me. So I blamed my sister and She got beat and I felt like a piece of shit. And so after I felt guilty I told him that I did it and he beat me anyway So it was kind of like what's the point in telling the truth if I'm gonna get fucked up anyway? But I understand, you know at the the same time, I understand you can't lie or I shouldn't have lied. And I let my sister get beat for something that I did. And that was one thing he always held on to to try to say that I was a piece

of shit kid at six years old and never let me live it down. And my sister hated me for it. And so that caused like a little bit of tension between me and my second older sister and It is what it is, but you know, it was cold and It sucked but I mean he beat the shit out of her pretty bad and it was yeah I still feel some type of way about it felt terrible. So That was one situation With the girls, but there's many he's grabbed my older sister by her neck, literally off her feet and slammed her

head into we had horse hair drywall, I guess, because it was a farmhouse and he's literally put her whole head through the fucking the wall. Um, he strangled them, ripped their hair, stopped them. Same thing as me. Strangled my mother, hit my mother in front of us numerous times. That I'm surprised he never went to jail. He did get locked up once, but I don't remember, I was too young to remember what the charge was for, whether it was domestic violence or whatnot. So why would he beat your mom? Arguments. Couldn't win an argument or

the argument went on too long. One instance was My mom comes in wasn't even confrontational and she has a serial And she sits on the couch and she goes since when do you watch hockey? He gave her the death stare made no sense gets up walks over and literally grabs her by her throat and she's holding her Bowl of cereal out so she doesn't spill it on the couch. She doesn't like making a mess her bowl of cereal out so she doesn't spill it on the couch. She doesn't like making a mess. So he grabs her by her neck and she's just waiting there and you see her turn in purple. She's turning purple, turning purple and he's like fucking holding her still. And then all of us kids start screaming and freaking out until she finally has to drop her bowl of cereal and start fighting him. Starts to fight him and he fucking drops her with a

body shot. We thought he killed her. I mean Florida and all of us kids started by trying to pull him off and she's laying there like oh you know like wind it winded and yeah we all hated him for it so that was one instance he picked up the hammer he had punched her a bunch of times in front of us slapped her a bunch of times in front of us yeah he was just a violent dude man and I don't think he got he there was a huge mood mood change like you know I feel like he was a little bit resentful not early remorseful before 2004 but after that I mean once he was on narcotics every day I mean he was dependent on these things like he couldn't go without but the crazy thing

is when he got the surgery They finished his surgery. He had he had a fusion. So they put like a titanium cage in his back and It's just the wildest thing because they finished his surgery and double the time that it takes to do that surgery I think was like four hours and they finished him too because he was an in-shape guy. So I Learned this from my mom because I was still a little bit too young to comprehend all of it, but you know He has a successful surgery and then he starts claiming that he has all this pain and all this shit and he goes in He's trying to sue the guy and saying that the guy ruined his life and all this crap But when they did MRI and they did x-rays and they were doing it there was no inflammation there was no fluid and they they were telling him like dude we

don't understand we understand what you're saying but we don't see any source for your pain that you're describing like it doesn't exist so we don't know what you're trying to do and he didn't become successful with the lawsuit or anything but he did get ssd off of that and i think that's just what he wanted i don't think he wanted to work work and he claimed to be disabled right in all this pain But anytime he wanted to hop up and fuck you up because you pissed him off it was like he couldn't he wasn't hurt at all, but he could still do jujitsu he could still box and Yeah, it didn't make any sense man, so it just Yeah, I mean I've had surgery and I've tried to take I think they gave me oxy or a perk and I've tried one

I think it was an oxy or a perk don't remember and I fucking vomited I threw up couldn't take it and But I will say I felt very agitated after taking it So I can't imagine if that's what you're on all the time and suppresses emotions or agitates you and that's what you're on And you're dependent on for I think I think it was an addict. There's only way to say it, you're an addict and you would drink with it. And he used to fucking brag about how he could take vikings, like four viking and drink two beers and still drive home and with us in the car. So. Damn. What would snap him out of it? Out of what? Out of what out of his rage nothing you couldn't stop that dude when he wanted to be that way

That's how he was nothing would snap I think I think fear of going to jail would be the only thing that would snap him out of it My mom would threaten to call the cops and put him in jail and then that's when he would like Get even more violent verbally, but you could tell he was afraid to go to jail He's a real big tough guy against people that couldn't fight back. That's always been him. He somehow always seemed to pick the right people to fuck with that he knew couldn't whoop his ass. But his biggest claim to fame is that he was 115 and 4.

And the crazy thing about that is, you know, I'm Joseph Oliver Pike for the 5 fifth. He's Joseph Oliver Pfeiffer the fourth. You look my name up. I'm sanctioned. I fought for commissions. I've done medicals. You can find my name anywhere. Obviously I'm in the UFC.

I'm legit. This dude's been telling people for 20 plus fucking years, probably 35 plus years. Now he's 54, 53 that he's 115 and for how do we have sugar a Leonard sugar a Robinson fucking Jersey Joe Walcott? Walcott Floyd Mayweather, you know Rocky Marciano. We have all these guys amateur records My dad's down everybody's on 115 to four where look his name up try to find it He's a fucking liar. He's but he said it so many times and he's a convincing guy. He's easily good master manipulator They can say it to you straight to your face without blinking without switching up like yeah, I'm 115 to 4

Where bro? Even in his he's even made a documentary recently to try and say that I stole his story He's the real homeless kid and people been trying to put his name down in the MMA world talking about me. Um, but you know, there's no proof behind anything. He said he made a documentary. Yeah. So he's made a whole documentary.

He was even trying to make another one. He made a documentary basically saying that, uh, his son stole his story being me and I did it to get clout and attention and sympathy from people. Where is this documentary? YouTube. And he's got 50,000 views off my name. So, but if you look at the documentary

and you watch the documentary, there's nothing that addresses the allegations of me saying that he abused my mother. There's nothing that addresses the abuse of his daughters. And one thing that stands true, what he doesn't realize is there's six fucking people that say the same thing. And he completely acts like they don't exist the same way that, you know, it's been 12 or 14 years since I don't remember exact years,

but, you know, it's been 12 to 14 years that he left my mother and moved in with another fucking reject and now divorced him but I think she's a piece of shit too because she stood there and watched me get beat worse than I ever got beat in my life and didn't do a fucking thing about it so I don't like that fucking lady but I still have like anger for that woman but yeah why do you do you think, so he left your mom, your mom didn't leave him? Yeah, so the whole story is, you know, obviously all the things between me and him,

when I was 15, he was already cheating on my mother with a girl that liked me in high school's mom. And my mom and my four sisters left me and my father because she couldn't take it anymore and the abuse of the daughters and she just needed to get away from them and I hated my mom on why did why did you stay with him because all I had was jujitsu that's why I was a jujitsu yeah and I was brainwashed by him to believe that my mother was out to get us and

ruin my life and his life and I loved him unconditionally despite all the abuse Whoa hold on yeah, how does he mind fuck you into thinking that your mother is the one after you when he's the one? That's kicking your ass every day yeah, I mean I got beat by my mom to nowhere near the same extent by him but the reason being is because like I said my mom was kind of absent with me because I Was like a little clone for my dad with me because I was like a little clone for my dad. Everything he told me to say, I would say it. And I think a part of the reason that became true is because we're homeschooled. So not to say that we developed slower, but we definitely didn't realize what was normal and what was... We had no idea we were in an abusive home. We just thought that that's the way it was

because we were homeschooled until fucking eighth grade You didn't have any friends. Nope, none. I didn't have my first friend over till I was 14. Are you serious? Yeah, yeah, no friends. No phone I didn't have a phone till I had a job and I would fucking bail Hey and do odds and end jobs here, you know Mow lawns and do things like that to be able to pay for my phone bill So I had no friends how the fuck are we supposed to know when we're sheltered from everything? And we always were told and I think my mom, my mom always had the best intentions.

But my dad, you know, it was like we were little slaves for him. He would bang on the fucking upstairs if he wanted one of the kids to come and fucking make him something to eat. I never seen that dude fucking cook a meal for himself ever. He didn't treat us like kids that he loved he treated us like servants that he had so Yeah, so yeah, you know I was in jujitsu and that was my identity That was the only thing that I could excel in with regard to so what he felt But after that first competition if I had ever beat anyone, it was,

oh, you beat tomato cans, you beat crumbs, your sandbag and all this bullshit. And I was, mind you, I was 13, 12, I was always going against older kids. And if I lost, I was a disgrace to his fucking name and I was pathetic and he can't believe it, wasted his fucking time and his money and I was a piece of shit and I would get beat over that you know if I lost I would get my ass fucking what because I embarrassed him in his name

And that was the craziest thing is embarrassed his name. What the fuck is your name? What have you done I? Couldn't tell you the guy right now lives in a one-bedroom apartment. He's been divorced twice The chick that he left my mother for divorced him don't know why but I'm sure it's something abusive there's plenty of cases that I could say that you know prove that he fucking views people as his slave and his servant more than he does a companion or someone that he loves but you know he's been divorced twice he lives in a one-bed. He has no money. And he has one recent friend that all of a sudden came out of the woodwork as his best

friend to be in the documentary against me who's never met my mother or my sisters. And now he goes back to a black Baptist church when he was one of the most racist people I've ever met. So maybe not now. But I mean, that's kind of the dynamic of this guy's snakeskin. And so yeah, nobody knew what was going on. Like, what about your jujitsu coach? Yeah, so team and so my jujitsu coach was my father when I was young. He's the one that taught me

everything when I was young. So you wouldn one that taught me everything when I was young. So you wouldn't even interact with other kids unless you're in a tournament. Yep, and I wouldn't even interact with them, I would just compete against them. The only people I interacted with, so Steve Haag owned Fight Factory, and I'm not sure if you're familiar with Eddie Alvarez. He was a former UFC champion, he fought Conor McGregor. He was a 155 champion, fought in Bellator, fought Michael Chandler, really big name in MMA.

And he knew me since I was five years old. There was numerous times that Steve Hegg, Eddie Alvarez, Sam Morpiza, you know, had mentioned like, yo, you're going too hard on this kid. He would make me fist fight fucking 16 years old, 16 year olds at 13, just to fucking do it and I'd be getting my head caved in. But I was no bitch. I would still fight him at the gym. And then they would stop it.

I remember Steve Hegg stopped it and he was like, dude, what are you doing? Like you're making this kid fight a 16 year old who's like way bigger than, like a big kid's been in fucking 50 street fights. And what are you doing trying to, like you're getting his fucking head caved in and he's crying and I'm bleeding.

Like you're just, the whole time he's telling me I'm a fucking loser,'m not fucking listen see this kid's fucking retarded so they wind up pulling him aside and we're like yo you can't treat this kid like this and just numerous times they'd heard how he talked to me and they would try to tell him and he would tell him to fuck off stay out of his business don't tell me how to parent you don't have fucking kids who are you to talk to me and so eventually all their friendships ended because of it. And yeah, so many people saw it. They didn't know the extent of it because nobody was ever over at our house for the most part. So you legitimately had

no idea that that wasn't normal? No idea. Not until I went to public school. And then I went to public school. And then I went to public school and I was starting to get smart. I was hearing about the things that kids would do with their parents and going on vacations and shit like that. And I'm like, what the fuck? And they're like, oh, yeah, we're all going. Like some kids would be like, oh, if you want to go hang out here, if you want to go do this or do that.

And I'm like, I can't. My dad wouldn't even fucking drop me off. My dad wouldn't drive me anywhere. So how quick did you pick up on that. My dad wouldn't drive me anywhere. So. How quick did you pick up on that stuff? I don't think very fast. I mean, I would say, not very, not slow either, but I would say by the end of my eighth grade year,

my first year in public school, my first full year in public school, I was like, this shit is not fucking normal. And then until like my sophomore year, I really realized like how sheltered we were and how good, you know, some parents were involved. They were like he wouldn't take me to wrestling and it was wild.

It was like he didn't want the whole reason he didn't want me to wrestle is because he didn't want somebody else to coach me and how he always talked about me was like property. Like somebody's going to take what I built. That's how he would talk. I built you. You owe me your fucking life. Like those were the things he would tell me every fucking day. So you feel fucking worthless. You don't feel like you have any value. You just feel like a fucking servant all the time. And it's like, dude, what about me? What about what I want to do? I don't give a fuck about your feelings. Kill yourself. All this shit. Like,

he would tell you to kill yourself. Yeah, the last one of the last beatings I got before I ran away I remember telling him I started having like depression to a severe level that's what I think it was I always felt like I never had always felt like this empty hole in my stomach and I could never identify what it was or understand what it was but after my father and I had left my mom and we moved in with this new fucking woman that he was with he he didn't do anything with me like nothing and it was almost like he paraded me it was almost like he took pride in beating me up in front of her to show her what a tough guy he was like how bad he was and

like It was just fucking corny man. It was corny you know he knew I would never swing on him because he had told me a story and because I was a Christian and He had told me a story about how he hit his father and knocked him out Which I don't know is true. I have no idea if it's true, but that's what he told me when I was really young And he was like you got a promise that you'll never you'll never put your hands on your parents I don't know if it's true. I have no idea if it's true, but that's the way he had told me when I was really young. And he was like, you gotta promise that you'll never, you'll never put your hands on your parents.

And I remember promising and like, I always held that close. Like I never wanted to have that kind of relationship where I'd hit my father or fall back against him, but he would fucking tee off on me. And I wasn't getting slapped, bro. I wasn't getting, you know, like a spanking. I was getting fucked up.

And I would have to cover like a real man and fucking Shield and hide so I wasn't I mean he broke two of my teeth. He fractured my orbital bone Yeah, so The dude was he actually broke my teeth in front of my friend what the first friend I had over his name is Billy Cruz and Great kid still friends with him today he had a fucked up life too and we were over playing video games playing Call of Duty think I was whupping his ass as usual on there and fucking he was trying to like pick on me the whole time pick on me the whole time pick on me the whole time and

I finally got sick of it I was like dude why do you always got to do this one my friends over? It's all I said man this dude jumped up and fucking punched me like he was fighting for a world title All the way into the kitchen and I was covering up and he fucking uppercut me and broke my teeth out of my mouth 13 14 years old and my friend standing there like what the fuck like he got sent home after that His wife his second wife watched me get beat to death basically and did nothing about it. Did nothing about it.

And then he brainwashed her to the point that she was like, oh, you were a bad kid. You were always mouthing off, mouthing off. And I was like, questioning isn't mouthing off. Questioning why I'm getting beat isn't mouthing off. But his thing was like, when I say jump, you say how high you would ask him why you're getting beat all the time. How would you ask him?

Um, after I got fucked up, I would say, why do you hate me so much? And you tell me he hopes I fucking die and I kill myself and my feelings don't matter. And, um, yeah, that was pretty much the premise of it. So, um, he would never give me an explanation It was just a rage you could tell he had like the crazy eyes man. He's one of them guys that has the crazy eyes And uh, I really started to fucking hate him So then I really started contemplating killing the motherfucker in his sleep or kill myself

And that's when I had to get the fuck out of there So but he left my mom to lead up to that part he left my mom and was already cheating on her he had cheated on her already but then he was talking to this this lady and he moved in with her and she had already had two of her own kids and basically there was like fucking four or five of us in a two-bedroom apartment and the whole situation was fucked up and Yeah, I mean

He did nothing with me he told me if I joined the wrestling team I can fucking walk to school So that's where will Harmon came into play who was my wrestling coach who had drip would pick me up in the morning Drop me off. I'd walk to school if I ever missed a bus you know when I was living with him I had to walk to school a couple miles in the winter so it is what it is I'm appreciative of Will Harmon I think he saved my life in a dark place he was the only person who looked at me and

actually gave a fuck about me and said, yeah, I think you can do it. I think you can be a great wrestler. I think you can be an MMA fighter. I think you can do, I think Joe Pfeiffer can do whatever the fuck he puts his mind to. And he was the first person in my life that ever really made me feel like that. Like, man, somebody actually believes in me and cares about me because I'm just me, not because of him. Sam Orpiza, he tried to cut me off from Jiu-Jitsu at 15 years old. I started submitting that motherfucker when I was 16. And so I think it started fucking with his head, like, this kid's starting to get strong.

This kid's starting to, like, I could manhandle him a little bit on the ground. And so I think that's why the beatings got worse. I think he was literally trying to beat me into submission and like being a coward and just always being under his thumb and never leaving him. I think that was his biggest fear was once he realized I started excelling and getting in shape and really started loving it for myself from the time at 13 years old on, it was my way of like rebelling against him. I was like, fuck you.

I'll start doing this for me. And I remember telling him that one time. I'm not competing for you anymore I'm competing for me and I remember seeing like grudges teeth like pissed off like if he could have killed me would have And the amount of times that this man is starting to shoot me is fucking crazy crazy He would have to shoot you all the time all the time all the time and thank God when I lived with him He didn't have a gun but Dennis his fucking wife had a gun a couple guns and he made sure to tell me he had him he's trying to kill my coach my high school coach and a wah-wah or threatened to beat his ass I don't remember which one you're the threatened

to kill him or threatened to beat his ass but he was like you're the one helping my kid and he was like yeah he's a guy I should fuck you up or something like that or I should fucking kill you and it was like for what because he's being the father role that you wouldn't be you know because he gives a fucking you don't and you know but I think my biggest gripe with that guy is the amount of the lack of remorse and the lack of accountability. He's not a man. Men take accountability. Men face you know they face the choir and they say hey I fucked up. Never has he ever done that and anytime. The worst part after I had left was that he made fun of the fact that

I was sleeping in a park. Mind you I slept in a park for less than two weeks and I joined the wrestling team so I would shower there. I got one free meal from school. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Whoa, let's go back. So, one thing that is on my mind is, you know, you had just said that you had thought about either killing yourself or your father. So, what were those thoughts like?

Yeah, man, so. Which one were you leaning towards the most? Killing myself. Yeah. How were you gonna do it? The only thing that ever came to mind, because it was the only thing I had access to, was caught in my throat. Jeez.

How old? I was 15. 15 years old? Yeah, so... You, so about slitting your own fucking throat Yeah, or his or his I got tired of it, man You know, I got tired of expressing myself and I got tired of feeling that feeling of like worthlessness I felt like I had no value in life. I felt like I was just breathing air and Then when he's trying to cut me off from jujitsu I'm literally going to school and coming home to an abusive home

and there's nothing positive in my life. And he made it clear to let him know how much he fucking hated me and I should have stayed with your fucking mom. If you were with my mom, if I was with my mom, I probably would have been put in juvie, which was probably true at that point with our relationship. She had threatened to put me away in a home.

But I also hated my mom's guts because it's what I was convinced to do. And I started cursing at my mom, you know, before we had left, you know, tell her to fuck off. And one of the worst things for me that I still feel bad about what my mom is lying about where my dad was when he was cheating on her because I was given that responsibility to not tell. You knew. I knew. Yeah. You knew. Lying about where my dad was when he was cheating on her because I was given that responsibility to my now I know yeah You know so when she left? There was one instance. He took advantage that I love video games and

It was the only thing I had I didn't have friends come over all the time You know any me it's not like I had a cell phone Unless I had like a little phone, but I had like two people's numbers his and like one friend and unless I had like a little phone, but I had like two people's numbers, his and like one friend. And one time he fuck it was like 2am and he fucking leaves. This is actually a great great part to tell. So my mom's living with one of her friends at a farm with my four sisters and they're living in like it basically was a shithole and they were all sleeping in her living room on fucking couches and like blow up mattresses and stuff. So it's not like they had the comfort of like living in a nice house They were living in a shitty situation, but they were just happy to be away from him

And I wasn't I was stuck with him and we lived off she was gone for about six months and me and my father lived on instant oatmeal for breakfast lunch and dinner besides the free lunch that I would get sometimes from the school and dinner besides the free lunch that I would get sometimes from the school and electric got shut off at one point and one of my black friends named Scott Rosebarrow, his grandmother had fronted us money so we could stay there because we were going to get evicted and then our electric got shut off and she paid that all for him in the end, you know, short story, all for him in the end to call him a racial slur,

which you know what that means. And never pay her back. So he ruined my friendship with her. I was still close with, you know, my friend Scott, but you know, we lost connection over the years just because I think things just got awkward. But yeah, so at like 2am, he goes and leaves to go bang this woman who was cheating on her husband as well and they they fuck in a car and only time he let me play fucking video games is when he was going out to do something fucked up and And then when he was with this woman that he wind up moving at bite boy before I jump on to that So he goes and he does that thing the ladies husband winds up finding out

I don't know if it was days later or weeks later or whatever because they were fucking around for a little while And I wasn't talking to my mom at all when she had left. So The guy finds out and comes to the house says he's gonna kill me and him and He's an older dude and he couldn't fight do as a bitch but show shows up banging on the door and my dad the coward that he is fucking hides in the other room and tells me if he walks in hit him with this and I had a he had a wooden bat like a wooden staff and I had like fucking I don't know if it was electrical tape or something but basically out of wooden bat so I still be on the door and if he was gonna walk in I was gonna crack that motherfucker right in

his head and Thank God he didn't come in the house but my dad was in the fucking dining room hiding like a little bitch and was ready to let me take the downfall for something he did. Holy shit. But it shows the type of coward he is. How old were you when that happened? 15. 15 just turned 15. So and You know what's fucked up about that situation is the girl had spent her sweet 16 money on me and brought us Thanksgiving dinner and So it was a really it was just a really dark time It was a very that was the first part where I remember feeling like I was always like sad and felt alone I always felt like a voiceless kid where I Didn't know how to express myself because I couldn't talk to anybody.

I couldn't confide in my sisters because they didn't know any better. We're all taught the same thing which is fucking telling each other. And the second you get in a fight throw something that's hurtful in their face. And we would cut deep. So I wouldn't tell anybody anything but that was the first time where I just really started feeling depressed. And I'm like what the fuck is wrong with me? I didn't know it was depression, I didn't know what it was, I just, I had never learned what emotions were and didn't know how to process it and it was just like what the fuck is going on in my life? And so that was that

situation. Then my mother moves back and they try to figure things out and he's like you know about your mom coming back I missed her you did regardless of how I hated her or thought I hated her I missed her it felt yeah it felt like a part of me died when she left and just felt very empty I mean we would blanket off when she was gone we were so broke because he would only make like 800 bucks a month. We blanket off the living room and get a propane torch and a propane tank and that's how we'd heat the living room and eat instant oatmeal for about six months. We would boil water just to have hot water because we didn't have propane. I couldn't afford to do it. Didn't have oil to heat the house So I would boil it would take fucking two hours to boil water just to have a warm bath

And by the time you fucking did all that the water's warm And it's fucking like 39 degrees in your fucking house where you can't even sleep in your room You have to sleep on the couch. So yeah, and I'm still going to school and things like that came home though That trick was off. It was just fucking dark. It sucked. I had my first Thanksgiving without my mom and that's where music was such a big help in my life. And this guy seemed to be fucking thriving because he was getting pussy. So then my mom came back and he was still cheating on her. And I remember my mom crying because they were supposed to be working things out and she was crying and begging and asking me to Tell her the truth and I was like, hey, is that the gym training?

And she knew that wasn't true but I just remember her crying and I just kept a Straight face and kept playing video games and refused to like answer her question because I thought if I had said something I was Fucking putting me and him in a jeopardizing situation And that's one thing that still bothers me because I know how hurtful that is having gone through my own relationships and failures and so yeah that sucked so then we fucking move he leaves her we move we move into an apartment and after the divorce and everything with my mom and stuff I

testified that I never wanted to see her again Which would stick until I was about 18 Because I thought she fucking hated our guts and was gonna take money from us and we were broke and all this shit but I was really just a brainwashed man, so it sucked I didn't have any contact with her and You know then this lady kind of tried to like force this role of like a mom and he tried to say that You know, your mom doesn't even give a fuck about you That's why she doesn't want to fucking see you and all this and she's the one that got you into school He acted like because they put me in public school

What you're supposed to fucking do that this was like my new mom and I had to treat her that way And I was like fuck out of here. I got a mom. So I never adopted her as my mom I never fucking liked the woman Always thought she was fucking on the spectrum in my opinion so and Yeah, I hated her guts and every time she had an autistic daughter And she would basically go in and touch my family photos that I had taken and I would get really upset and be like get The fuck off my shit, and he would come back and beat me to fuck up over that So

The fact that he bit beat me up over another woman's daughter who was touching my fucking belongings that weren't hers regardless of your special needs stay the fuck off my shit and You know one time she was like yeah, I Don't mean to, like, the daughter, she was like, I don't mean to, you know, talk about your family or nothing, but your mom sounds like a complete fucking bitch. I was like, bro, you can't even fucking feed yourself. Shut the fuck up. I remember, like, snapping out. And he beat the fuck out of me for that.

Oh, man, he couldn't wait to do it. I mean, this dude rushed home to beat me up. Whatever he was doing, he rushed home to stop my fucking head. Beat the fuck out wait to do it. I mean this dude rushed home to beat me up Whatever he was doing he rushed home to stop my fucking head beat the fuck out of me for it And it goes in there and next thing you know, I hear him fucking this fucking girl. So He's a lucky man, bro He's a lucky man and and he's still out there till this day trying to fuck with me The news just doesn't stop between the national debt and the economic uncertainty, it's hard to know what to do. But if you look above the noise, you'll see many high net worth individuals and central

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Right before I turned 16. You started- I literally was turning like 16 that week. When are you in eighth grade? Like 13, 14 years old? Yeah. So it took you two years to figure it out. Yeah, two and a half years. I realized at 15 he was a liar and that's when it really broke my heart. I realized all the lies he was telling and I was like damn my father's a fucking liar and then that's when I started turning on him and I started having resentment for him

and then I was starting to challenge him by asking questions which he hated. And uh. What kind of questions would you ask him? Like, why'd you tell this person this when you just did this? And he would be like, mind your fucking business. And, um, you know, I'd be like, well, you told me when we left, we were gonna do this and play games,

and you were gonna live the bachelor life, but we were gonna do everything together, like build this business with the outboard motors, or we were gonna rebuild this and play games and play games and you were gonna live the bachelor life But we were gonna do everything together like build this business with the outboard motors or we were gonna rebuild a truck together And it wouldn't happen and I was a bro you do nothing with me anymore and just the stories he would tell people Like the guy has his god complex like he has something that everybody else fucking wants at 15 years old Like I said, he tried to cut me off from jujitsu. He goes. I'm fucking done with the game. All these motherfuckers want what I got What the fuck do you got? What did you go do that? Everybody wants bro, like I'm not even insulting. I'm just asking the question So I remember telling him why do you tell everybody that you were 115 and four?

But I've looked you up on the internet. I can't find it Who the fuck are you to question me got beat up beat up over that. Fucking jumped up, fucking punched me in my face. Simple things. Mind you, this happened almost all the time. Like, I would play basketball across the street. We used to live on, it's called Sandy Bank Fucking Road in Media PA. We lived at one Sandy Bank Road.

Nobody lives there anymore, so I don't give a fuck to say the address. But, Walden Elementary was right across the street and a little basketball court So I would go play fucking basketball with the kids that I just became friends with as the new kid which was already uncomfortable You know I went from a school of 340 fucking kids in the middle of nowhere to a school that had 1,600 kids and I'm the new guy again So I would go fuck and play basketball I was supposed to be home at 8 o'clock. I walked in the door at 8 or 3. Second, I'm- the guy was malicious.

So that means you would have had to watch out the window to watch me fucking walk home. And he would wait behind the door and second I walked in and fucking punched me in the face as hard as he could and dropped me. Just because I was three minutes late. From across the street where you can visually fucking see me playing basketball with kids. Not stealing, not doing drugs, not- never did it. three minutes late from across the street where you can visually fucking see me playing basketball with kids, not stealing, not doing drugs, not never did it. Not lying about where I'm at. And yeah, so it was just the kind of guy

that he fucking was, man. And, but I would question him all the time. And so after the beatings, I would go on like these hour long fucking runs, like two hour runs, or I would just go walk for like six hours straight. In the documentary, there's a good part where my coach is driving by. He used to live in Delco. It's the area, it's like a couple towns in one.

It's a couple towns and all, but they could just call the area Delco. My coach, San Morppiza lived in that area and I just got fucked up got beat up and I'm walking down the street and I have like fucking Walgreens headphones and and I'm like crying and I'm angry and I'm squeezing my fucking hands because I want to kill him so I just would go on walks for an hour and he would see me crying down the street walking and he was like I just wanted to pull over and help you but I wasn't in the position to you know you're still living over and help you, but I wasn't in the position to. You're still living at home with your father.

But I would just walk for hours, and then he would threaten to call the cops if I didn't come back. So it's like, you beat the fuck out of me, and then I go to leave and just walk, clear my head, and then he would say, get the fuck back now. It was always, it was just a control thing, man. And one of the last

beatings I got I'll give you the last beating that I got it was a three-part beating so it starts over this game called I think it was uncharted 3 or uncharted 4 and we're playing co-op and I was getting all the kills I've always been good at video games whatever dude starts freaking the fuck out bugging out over me getting more kills on him You steal my fucking kills. You always trying to outdo me and all this shit. You fucking scumbag piece of shit all And I'm just sitting there I'm like smiling at first and he takes the controller and that's why he fucking freaks out

He takes me smiling like what the fuck do you want me to respond like I'm just gonna keep doing my thing like I'm playing A fucking video game. We're on the same team you dick like so he takes the controller fucking chucks at me splits my fucking head I still have a scar in the middle of my head from it and so I have start blood come down my face And I looked at him like I wanted to kill him and he was like, yeah, you want to fucking try me? So he jumps up. You know, you want to fucking try me start typing himself up and then just starts letting off on me in the living room, so I just curl up and Eventually have like a blood-full mouth. I started laughing at him I guess I was I don't give a fuck. You can't break me bitch. Like so I started laughing

He's like go pack your shit. So I started packing my bag comes in the room Takes all my shit throws on the floor starts fucking swinging on me again He was like, yeah, there's all the shit I've done floor starts fucking swinging on me again He was like it is all the shit I've done for you start swinging on me again We fight in the fucking and I never swung back and when I say fight, I'm just curling up I'm just trying to defend as best as I can And he's like like grunting like you could tell he loved it. He would grunt every time he hit me like every single time trying to put everything he had into it, but little bitch couldn't knock me out. So

There's that and then I wind up walking out of the room I put my bag on the couch and he corners me in the kitchen and he starts fucking swinging on me again And he's like I'm gonna kill you motherfucker. I'm gonna fucking kill you comes back fucking like leaves for like five seconds comes back I should have just ran out of the door But you know a little fear locked up, I guess at that point. Or a little hope that he was gonna like fucking calm down before I fucking left.

And he fucking pulls out a pocket knife and he starts walking towards me. He's gonna fucking stab me with it. He's like, I'll fucking kill you. I'm gonna fucking gut you and all this shit. So I fucking shoved him right over the fucking table. It was like a little plastic table Shoved them over the table grabbed my fucking bag ran out of the house and never went back

Damn, man slept in the park for almost two weeks Wind up meeting a kid that was getting racially bullied that I stood up for Hold on you slept in a park for two weeks almost two weeks. Yeah, How old? Fifteen? Nine days, yeah. Fifteen. I was turning sixteen like the week after. So no birthday for me. But joined the wrestling team. School had started.

Did the school have any idea that you were sleeping in the park? Eventually, eventually, no. Because this was before school season. School started like, I was in the park for maybe three days before school season school started like I Was in a park for maybe three days before school started So then I was in the park for about a week after that and then you know We had pre-practice and things like that. So I would just use the locker rooms to go shower but uh

Yeah, it was uh, it was unfortunate, but we had the pre-practice for the summertime already for wrestling season So we would do lifts and we do runs. So that's how it was already being able to shower and go to school already And I went up meeting this kid who was getting racially bullied in the lifting room They were calling him fat and all this shit and listen He was definitely he definitely has a disability of some sort special something, even if it's on the spectrum, something, like it was very socially awkward child and it was very evident, but yeah, I wound up asking him if he had anywhere or knew anyone of a place that I could live

or room that I could rent. And he happened to have his brother that was in juvie for arson, he tried to light somebody's house on fire with a trash can In the garage and he was away at juvie There were two African kids adopted by a white Welsh man Who was the middle school teacher at Springton Lake to Pencrest high school, which is where I went in the same town, which was media PA and Man talk about living conditions there was fucking maggots black mold

asbestos what's what was once like white carpets or cream colored carpets were fucking the color of this couch from cat piss infested house they never cleaned anything it was disgusting it probably took a couple years off my health to be honest I lived off microwave food for the next two years of my rest of my high school life. The father was a really bad alcoholic, wound up losing his job, was suffering with liver failure, started having eyesight problems and all these things. When I had gotten my license, I was the one taking him to the doctor's appointments. I was the one buying groceries. I was the one trying to make the house clean. I bought like the glue tiles where you would buy glue and then fucking

put it on the floor and fucking like, you know, I tried to make it nice. And you know, I'd wind up doing the whole upstairs and things like that. His father funded it. My dad spends it now that I stole from him by doing that. Or by saying that because the guy would give me his card to go buy his groceries that he wanted because he was physically unable and I was the only one that was trusted as a driver and had a driver's license to go do it. My dad tells people that I stole from him

and has now been friends with the kid that I used to live with and says that I was a racist to him, says that I stole from his father and the kid believes it so but that's what my dad does he finds weak people to prey on and brainwash and Unfortunately for them, they're not smart enough to look past the type of true person that he is So we aren't friends and we haven't been friends and you know also my gripe with him was that he was friends with friends.

See the thing is man it's like I'm trying to be a little bit reserved because I don't want to put people's shit out there but basically I mean I mean this kid is trying to fucking text my family who he met one time. Things that are very unfair but the kid's best friend was a fucking child molester and my dad says I beat him up because I'm a racist, but I beat him up because he brought a fucking child molester over to the house. And the kid was 19 and fucked a 12 year old. So I told him clear as day, I don't give a fuck if this is your house or not.

I take care of the house, I take care of your dad that you don't give a fuck about. If you fucking bring that kid over here, I'm gonna fuck you up Brought the kid over here kicked the kid the fuck out threw him out and then fucked him up And that was that was the end of us and then one time I told him that he didn't give a fuck about his father And you know, but mind you mind you the things that my dad is trying to stick on me are things as a teenager I'm still not a man. I'm still an adolescent child. I'm still a teenager trying to figure out his way. You know, I got to make decisions now as a man.

And that's one thing I always owned up to. I've fucked up. I have fucked up. I've said some things that I probably shouldn't have said. I've done some things that I probably shouldn't have done, but I didn't hurt anybody in that process. I didn't take anything from everybody. I was never malicious.

I never tried to ruin anybody's life. And you are a product of my environment to a certain extent. But is that an excuse after you leave home? No, I don't take that. I'm not trying to give you, I'm not trying to give you an excuse, but I mean, you don't fucking know any better. Yeah. That's how you were raised for. I had no guidance. Exactly. I had no, I met my grandfather a few times. I met my grandmother a few times on my dad's side. I don't remember my mom's mom. I didn't, we weren't, I didn't have aunts, uncles, cousins, fucking grandparents that we saw or watched us or ever came to visit us. I think my grandfather came to visit us maybe two or three times ever. Um, but I don't blame the guy because my dad's a fucking douchebag to work with.

You know, I, I, I, looking back dad's a fucking douchebag to work with. Looking back, it was like we used to be really upset about that, like he never comes and sees us, but that's how he would say it, to be like, look, your grandfather's a fucking scumbag. But it's not, he's the scumbag. He's the one who's always fucking causing division. So yeah, this kid fucking brought him over and we wound up parting ways and now my dad has latched onto him and tried to coach him in boxing to not get bullied

by people like me and has convinced him that I did him wrong and I stole from his father and all these things and it's just wild man, it's really wild. He latched onto an ex-girlfriend of mine that I had an abusive relationship with where she was physically abusive to me. And I don't give a fuck to say it because I can own it as a man, but this girl had cheated on me so many times so I would put holes in the wall. Not knowing how to channel that rage or wanting to fight guys over it and things like that. But I was one of these guys who was like, Oh, you're broken. I'm

broken. Me and you against the world. But you know, that's not, that's not healthy. And it didn't work out that way. So yeah, man. Um, my dad has been there. I'll tell you this, he's never been there to one single fight that I've left him tickets for, which was my first three or four amateur fights. Um fights And he took pleasure in it because one time I shouted it out Thinking he was there because he told me he was there and he was never there and he never showed up But in his documentary, he tells me my hands people a guy who doesn't even fucking know me They're saying that my hands were the best they ever were when I was working with my father and that's why I'm the fighter I am and all this I'm like brother we stopped training together at 15

He said he was done with the game all these guys want what he's got He said you ain't fucking training with these people no more fuck this guy fuck that guy And he calls my one coach Sam or Pisa Sammy the snake because he was so threatened To have somebody else come and coach his kid because like he said all he cared about was they're gonna come take what I built That's how exactly how he would say in front of me They're gonna tell they're gonna come try to fucking take what I built I built you motherfucker You owe me my you owe me your life. You ain't shit without me. You've never been shit without me You would be a fucking bum. You'd be fucking sweeping floors like but that was the normal talk

That's how I was talked to every day in my fucking life every day of my life including my sisters they you know I think yoga pants started coming out when which I agree I don't think fucking little girls should be wearing fucking yoga pants that's my own opinion I'm a traditional guy but they would have little pocketbooks and that my mom would get them very inexpensive you know and they'd want to walk around or they started getting into makeup girly things and they would call them fucking whores and skanks and a great example of how you treat one of my sisters with their own abuses my second oldest sister was in

her junior year of high school I believe I may be wrong but I think it was junior year and she told somebody in school or her counselor that she wanted to kill herself because she felt like her father didn't love her So the confirmed the concerned Joe Pfeiffer that my father the fourth that my father is goes to the school with I think my mom My mom I asked my mom about it. She don't remember it She remembers the situation, but she doesn't remember if she was there or not it she remembers the situation but she doesn't remember if she was there or not but anyway I'm pretty sure all those kids went to pick her up with my dad and he's like oh man I don't know why she would say that super concerned like you know looking at her like he's upset about it like you know I don't know why

she'd be like that so we go home he gives her the keys to open the door as she's opening the door and all of us kids are there, he grabs her by her fucking hair in the back of her jeans and fucking chucks her on her fucking face, face first on the floor. Second, we get home. Then he picks her up by her fucking neck and slams her in between the couch and starts strangling her in between the couch. And then we all start trying to pull him off and he fucking beats the shit out of me for it. And that's how you treated your daughter who was suicidal. So there was an instance where one of my friends were over

and my sister was like trying to convince him to cut her wrists and he fucking beat the shit out of the kid. But you know, it was some dark shit, dude. It was some weird fucking just, just weird fucking shit. Just, you know, but the guy Has never taken accountability for one single fucking thing I've watched this guy literally tell me to my face that my grandmother on my mom's side had a miscarriage Um and buried the kid in the backyard and he was crying to me one time after I'd already moved away for about a year

after I'd already moved away for about a year after I ran away. And I'm trying to reconcile with them or have some type of relationship because at the time everybody that didn't know details is saying, you only have one father, you only have one father and that used to guilt me because I had a good heart, man. And I was a Christian and I always believed in trying to forgive, trying to forgive, get past it, trying to forgive. But you were a Christian or you are a Christian? I am a Christian.

Yeah. And, um, I lost my faith a little bit from the, probably about 18 to like 23, maybe 24. See that. Um, I was pretty bitter, um, cause there was a lot of things that I prayed for that never came true the way I wanted, but, you know, looking back, I've lived a beautiful life, um, of pain and success. And everything that has happened has happened for a reason. And it's all been, I think, God's timing. So...

I saw that you carry a picture of yourself at age 10 years old. You saw I carry a picture? Yeah, is that true? I don't carry a picture of myself. No. What picture is this? I must've read it somewhere that said that you, to remind you. I have a, I don't carry it with me,

but I do have a picture. I don't carry a picture of myself, but I do have a picture that I hold onto, and it's me at probably under two years old with boxing gloves and head gear on. And I hold on to that because I was really convinced I was going to be a fucking nobody. But I will say the thing that kept me going was I had this gut feeling that I was, I don't want to say better than other people, but I always believed I was above the competition.

I always believed like, I had this feeling like I'm meant to be more than average. I just had this feeling, just had this feeling, just had this feeling. So I had all the other depression and all the other feelings too, but this, I know I'm not, this isn't, this isn't it for me.

And that's what kept me going, you know, from not hurting myself. And then, high school was the hardest time for me because I was fucking angry at that point and I Really didn't have any filter anymore And I didn't give a fuck how people viewed me whether they thought I was crazy or angry or whatever But I had been saying since I was in middle school. I was gonna fight. I wanted to hurt people

I went to fight. I wanted to fight. I wanted to hurt people. I wanted to fight. I wanted to fight. I wanted to fight. And that's exactly what I would say. I want to fuck people up. I want to hurt people. And I want to make them feel the same fucking pain that I felt. And it was the greatest motivation I could.

Rage has its time and its place. And it got me through the early years until I became more mature and understood emotions and was able to control and just digest why I'm angry or what are you holding on to that you haven't let go or what are you holding on to that you haven't forgiven? And yeah, so yeah. What was it that made you understand emotions? My coaches, my coaches, you know, seeing the way that they lived, how they loved their wives, how they loved their kids, how they treated their friends. And you know, Sam Morpiz and Will Harmon combined have been a savior for me.

Will Harmon, if I didn't have that guy, regardless of everything that I went through, if that man didn't take me in, I wouldn't be here. I would have never made the UFC. He gave me four years of free housing and a home, a stable life, good food, and unconditional love and support, which I've never had. Was that your wrestling coach? That was my wrestling coach. And how did that relationship develop?

So I was wrestling, I joined the wrestling team and we had red versus gold, which was, you know, for varsity matches, but I'd already won my position. Another kid had already won his position. He was a weight class above me. I was a weight class below him. I was 170. He was 182. And they wanted to find out who the best kid in the school was. And I actually hated my head coach for it. Gregory Jacobs, who I love now, you know, dumb child and me hated him, but they wanted to see who the best wrestler was on our team. And I went up beating them. But I remember being so angry about it because I felt like they're trying to, they just

want to see me fucking lose. Cause I've said, I was an MMA kid, like all these people are against me. And I remember everybody's parents being there and I was the only one on the other side of the gym by myself and the only other person. So we had we had the wrestling mat, the gym floor, the basketball court. And then we had an upstairs indoor track. And Will Harmon was up on the indoor track on my side. Only guy. And I got my headphones and I'm pacing back and forth and I'm like fucking mad. Like I'm going to try to kill this kid and blah blah blah.

It was just my attitude for competition and I look up at him and I'm like, look at this. I was like, look at all these motherfuckers and their parents and I say, I ain't got shit. He goes, who cares about that? He's like, just go out there and give it your best, man. He was like, I believe you. I believe you can do it. And those words, man, because I just remember his face I just remember his face looking down and he was like I believe you can do it and

that's all I needed bro that was that was like a fucking fire to the most it lit a fire that was crazy and I went out there and I beat him you know it's not nothing to brag about it was you know he was a good teammate and a friend till this day but at that time you know everybody was talking shit that I was gonna get beat He's the kid that's been the states or been to regions already I've never wrestled because that was my first real year of wrestling and I beat him and Now no now I was you know known as the best wrestler in that high school on our team at that time as far as like heavy Heavier weights and yeah, you know, it was good

That was the start of our relationship. And, you know, he was the first person to tell me he loved me in a long time. And I remember I would I would be there at 6 a.m., train, go to school, be there. I was the first one there and the last one to go. And often a lot of times I would just sit in a wrestling room and just fucking sob after practice at the end of the day because I hated my life and I Wanted to be something and I didn't know how to do it But I was just putting all my energy into wrestling and I fucking loved wrestling. I loved it. I loved working hard

I loved fucking suffering And uh, yeah, I remember just fucking sobbing many times after practice and Harmon happened to walk in and he comes over and just gives me a hug and didn't say anything other than, I love you kid. And yeah. Damn man. That was the start of that and every lunch period I would sit and not sit with kids. I hated people my age and I would sit every single day with that man and he would split one of his sandwiches that his wife made him and

we would just sit there and play chess and talk about life and Yeah, that's how I spent my fucking lunch periods with him so those are sentimental and I get Chuck choked up over those because you know I'm so appreciative of what he did and that he didn't have to do and he put his name on the line and his reputation on the line to support a kid like me that could have gone off the deep end. And you know, I never wanted to let him down. And you know, obviously, he's been one of the most important people. But you know, to answer your question to circling back about did the school ever know?

I don't know if it's called a truancy officer for if you miss a bunch of school or if you have troubled home or something. But somebody did come to the house and I don't know how it's called a truancy officer for if you miss a bunch of school or if you have troubled home or something but somebody did come to the house and I don't know how I got away with it but basically they were like saying I was gonna have to come with them and they came to the place where I was living because I was 17 and um uh by that time they had come there I was 17 and they were like oh yeah you know you're gonna have to come with us or saying something about like if I my parents lived here or was I Emancipated or anything like that something it was very vague I'm vague on the details of what they were there for but it was something about you know, possibly taking me away

And I remember looking at the chick And I was a little arrogant prick and I was like do I look like I'm fucking unhealthy Do I click I need your fucking help and I was like trust me if you take me away from here you ruin my fucking life and I slammed the door in Her face and I never heard shit But then they the psychologist started reaching out to schools child services things like that And I remember snapping on will harm it because I was like who the fuck did you tell like I wind up almost turning on him because I thought he ratted me out and I was gonna get put in a home and Luckily I didn't I don't know how that's possible or how that happened but I'm sure it helped that I was living with somebody who was

a schoolteacher at the Springton Middle Lake School but I don't know the details behind as to why you know regardless of how I felt I'm sure they could have taken me but they didn't and I'm just grateful that they didn't. So, but yeah, they wanted to find it. Harmon knew. Harmon knew everything. He was the only person I would tell everything to. I would come into school with a fucked up face back when I was living with him.

So yeah. Damn. Yeah. Why do you think you hated everybody your age? Because all they cared about was being cool. And I didn't give a fuck about being cool. I wanted to be somebody and I didn't care about telling fucking high school stories about what girl you fucked or you know what core you fucking sport. I also didn't like all the fucking football kids.

I didn't like any of the track kids. Like they all thought they were hot shit because they were wearing jerseys and I don't know. I don't like kids. I don't like kids. Do you think it was because you felt resentment that you weren't living like the way that you were brought up? I always wanted to play football and I didn't get to. But I don't know if it was resentment.

I think I was much more mature than I thought I was by that time. And I saw the real ugly part of life in one way, you know, obviously, you know, like I said, mine's very average compared to some of the stories out there, but Yeah, I just think I didn't Connect with kids that did dumb shit talking about smoking weed and drinking and fucking girls and going to parties That wasn't me. I had no desire to drink, party, smoke. I definitely did my fair share of whoring around, but that was to fill a void. It was the only love or acceptance or validation that I got when I was frustrated and felt alone.

Yeah, I just didn't see the value in what they did. I wanted to be an athlete, I wanted to be in the UFC, and I was saying that since I was in middle school. So I didn't relate to these kids when they would talk about these stories. And then they would always fucking try to tell you, like, you weren't allowed to say the R word, you can't say retard.

And I'm like, bro, shut the fuck up. Like, I'll say what the fuck I want. And so I didn't like being around those fucking nerdy kids then you had the guys that thought they were fucking tough and I was almost in a fistfight every fucking day but none of them would fistfight dude when I went to this school where the school I came from everybody would fistfight then I go to this school and it's like preppy kids and they all talk shit but then you would run up in their face and they'd be like kind of shocked that you're about to fight them

And I'm like well, what the fuck did you talk shit for if you weren't ready to fight? It was like mind-boggling to me and everybody thought I was crazy because I was actually wanting to fight people over talking shit so a lot of kids thought I was fucking nuts and what wasn't it just was about it and Not a couple funny instances so Never like a full blown out fight in high school but yeah I had some funny things so how did you how did you reconnect with your mom so it's very recent it's recent it Yeah, it's very recent. It's been almost a year. I despised my mom for a little bit when I was a little less mature, but how can I really fault a woman who was getting abused the same way as I was? And just for that reason reason because she's a woman is why I give her forgiveness and an excuse because

She was traditional she was a Christian woman Was a Christian woman. She doesn't really identify with Christianity anymore, but nonetheless, she lives her life how she wants but She was a 24 year old woman who had never been with another man and grew up in the church and met my father at the church because he was going to commit suicide apparently by jumping off the bridge they wind up sending him to a church after they got him off the bridge and then that's how he met my mother that's how they got connected so she thought he was her

forever after you know and she was willing to go through thick and thin and you know and do anything possible to make it work. And obviously it failed and she has never been with another man since. So he ruined the rest of her happy ending. So how did you reconnect? My sister, it's a fucked up situation. My youngest sister was basically homeless because my, like I said, they're very backbiting towards each other and they've been much better since I've been in the picture. Because I won't tolerate it.

Because the way I see it, to under so that you so you understand why I think they respect it is because the perspective in which I've given it to him if I can fucking come out and be a better person so can you and you have no fucking excuse because I kept enduring the abuse while you guys were free from it free from it and I had to run away you guys got the privilege of not having to deal with him again and and you guys got the privilege of not having to deal with him again and And you guys have one life, and I tried to put it in the perspective of we have one life to know each other I have one life to know you and everybody else that I meet And if you're genuinely okay with treating each other like this when we're supposed to be the deepest love bonded people in our lives like then you're a true piece of shit and that's exactly what I told him if you guys don't learn

to love each other then you're all pieces of shit so I think they've kind of been trying their best and it's been pretty good but they've done some malicious things to each other so I'm not proud of it and I don't support it and I don't condone it and I want't condone it, and I want them to be better because that's what I want to be around. I don't want to be around shitty people. Whether you call yourself my mother, or my sister, or my father, if you're a shitty person,

I'm not gonna be around you. I don't have time for that shit. My life's too short as it is. I can't believe I'm 28 already. I can't believe I'm here. Like, who would've thought fucking little Jelly Piper is sitting on a Sean Ryan show or has been on Joe Rogan Who's about to break in the top 15 in the UFC? but because I believed and put it out there and put the work in

put the right people around me all this has come true, right, you know, so I Reconnected with them because my sister Rachel So I have two younger sisters the older of the two youngest is Rachel and then there's Amy and basically they were feuding and Amy had basically told my sisters I guess you can say baby daddy some problems that she was having and basically ratted on her and it kind of like was a really scumbag fucking thing to do knowing that she's going through a custody battle So my sister refused to let her come back to the house after she had lost her job So my sister was sleeping in the car in the park. I don't think it was that long I think it was a day or two or a week or something like that

but you know nonetheless that your fucking baby sister and I hadn't talked to these people in six years almost after I'd punched my sister's boyfriend in the fucking mouth. And this is two weeks before my last fight last year, International Fight Week, I had knocked out a guy named Mark Andre Barryall and I just had this guilty conscience because they had all reached out before trying to ask for help, but it was all monetary.

And I was like, no, fuck off. Like if you can't fucking have a relationship with me and give a fuck about me as a person but I'm only good enough for you guys to need something then go fuck yourself get away from me and that's how my attitude was but you know I'm not a it bothered me when I heard she was really struggling and then that's when I was like okay now I need to step in because this is just fucking ridiculous like what is going on with these people? And my sister had kind of taken over in a sense.

You know, I don't think she meant to, but she was kind of stuck in this fog where she thought she was running shit at the house. And I had to remind her, this is my mom's house since I was four years old. You don't run shit. And don't give a fuck what bill you pay if you don't pay the rent and you're not on the lease. You don't run shit. And don't give a fuck what bill you pay if you don't pay the rent and you're not on the lease you don't run shit and don't be a fucking scumbag you know shoot the shoe was on the other foot you would always want somebody to give you a little bit of grace and give you that chance it's not

like somebody got killed it's not like somebody got you know raped or fucking stolen or something you know crazy this is a family fight get the fuck over it and I tried to give them that perspective and so I showed up I went down there I met her at the park and then I drove there my sister started running her mouth and she was heated obviously because she felt like my youngest sister had a role in her having a really bad case with her children custody wise which I understand I don't think you should fuck with somebody's kids but yeah I went to pay in the rent for a few months for them so they could Which I understand I don't think you should fuck with somebody's kids But yeah, I went to pay in the rent for a few months for them

So they could get on their feet and she could handle some of the lawyer bills and things like that And then I also paid a couple thousand dollars to fix my mom's truck that they that blew up on her It's all they had it was the only thing they had to drive hours to exchange their kids for my sister. So between You know my mom working full full time, she's a truck driver, and my sister needing to drive fucking six, seven hours every other week to exchange her daughter at that time, that's the only car they have. So I did it for the kids, I did it for her, I did it for my mom. So I get back and I helped them and I told them, I'm not here to reconcile, But I'm here to hopefully inspire you guys to fucking give a fuck about each other again as it breaks my heart And that's why I don't want to be around you. I want to see my sisters fucking thriving in life

But this is the thing that I hate about my father though This motherfucker did so much damage women take damage differently the men. 100%. They're just different creatures. And I'm sure you would agree. They all have been in domestic violent abusive relationships, except for my second oldest sister. I think he's a pretty even keeled guy. He's had his problems. I'm not going to put them out there, but I'm pretty sure he's pretty good to her, or at least works. I have my feelings about him is what it is but you know they have four kids together my oldest sister has two kids together apparently you know he hits her and is starting to kill her and things like

that and my sister hit me up to help her get the kids out of the house and I said no because it's been six years and I can't afford to jeopardize everything that I've built for someone I don't even think gives a fuck about me unless they need something. And it's always been funny to me. They've done this thing where they've cut me out or I've cut them off. It's really them that cuts me off. And then when shit really gets tough and there's some deep shit going down, then the brother's good enough.

I'm the only one that understands. That's what they've all hit me with the same punchline. And it took me a while to forgive them, you know, but I forgive them. I love them all. I forgive them all. I love them all. I've said some shit that's mean to to them, you know, so hopefully they forgive me. But, you know, I was like why would I go and get involved in helping you take kids from a man that I have no idea? All I know is when I'm being told, I don't know the other side of that,

and I don't believe in fucking with another man's family. So, maybe if you were active in my life and I knew things that were going on, but she had said he had threatened to shoot me, so I don't know what's true or what's not, you know? I wouldn't doubt if he would threaten to shoot me. He can't beat me, you know? But I don't wanna fucking put myself in this situation. I haven't talked to you in years. I don't know if he would threaten to shoot me. He can't beat me, you know, so but I don't want to fucking put myself in that situation

I haven't talked to you in years. I don't know what's going on. And now you asked me to put myself in that situation But I don't remember where I was going with that to be honest CTE kicked reconnecting with her mom reconnected with my mom So yeah, I went and paid their rent and everything and then you know, naturally I talked to my mom and she thanked me. She reached out to me and thanked me. And yeah, we just kind of started slow from there, man. And it's been really good. You know, this was probably a year ago. Yeah. Almost a year, almost hasn't been a year yet, but it's almost a year and this has probably been the longest connection that I've had with them since I was a child, since about 15. Jeez, man.

But it's been the most rewarding too. Is it hard? Is it hard? I think what's hard, I think, no, it's not hard right now. It's not hard right now. I think what does get to me though is that my mom's older and I lost a lot of time with her. So that kinda gets to me a little bit.

So I think she has a beautiful heart. I think she's got a beautiful soul. And she's a respectable woman is how she likes to call herself. And I agree with that. And I used to hate her guts at one point. And it irks my soul that I ever did and it's because of that motherfucker. So but luckily I'm a grown man now and I can I can you know defer for bright and wrong good and bad and But yeah, he damaged all them I think for life So that's the only thing that I really think that is hard is just that I lost a lot of time with her But this is what it is

You know I have I have now and the present moment, and that's where I think the maturity has really helped my career, right? Is being in the present moment and now, living in the now, versus looking in the past, looking in the past, looking in the past. That shit eats you up.

Do you guys have any tough conversations? All the time, yeah, all the time. We agree to disagree all the time, but that's okay. I think we developed a relationship now where it's You can have those without we can have those tough talks and know that we aren't gonna disappear from each other You know, I'm not I'm also Not talking to her every single day because she understands that I have a busy life I also have people that I love and care about that

I'm taking care of or you know trying to provide for and things like that so Yeah But yeah, it's good. It's good now and Joe That's tough man. Yeah. Yeah, this this fucking guy is Interesting Interesting, I think you should be studied. I think I really do should be studied. I mean, he hides in the church now. Claims that he's a Christian. Does nothing Christian.

A great example is I did a little podcast for a little bit with me and my coach Sam Morpiza. His best friend was Steve Hegge coming in the Fight Factory, which was like the pinnacle of MMA in Philadelphia. Like we had all the killers. We had my coach Sam, we had this guy Zach Mikoski, Eddie Alvarez. A lot of really good killers that came out of there. And the guy got cancer and he had it right behind his nose, like basically in the middle of his head. And because the guy came on my podcast, mind you, this was my dad's best friend for like 10 years. And then, you know, he basically disrespected his wife

with my mom and him separated one time. He was sleeping over there and disrespected his wife. And he, you know, Steve kicked him out. And that's how they stopped being friends. My dad called him a traitor and all this and started talking shit on his wife and all that crap claims to be a Christian. And this is really funny because if you watch the documentary, tries to play, talks real soft, talks like he's just like, yeah, yeah, you know, if I didn't use God as my compass,

I wouldn't be here today. And it's the fakest shit I've ever fucking heard, especially if you know the real dude that he is. And You watched the documentary? Yeah. Yeah. I want to know the lies He says because everybody's tagging me, you know, he's he hasn't talked to let me put it this way. So he has five kids

This is the most crazy. This is the craziest shit. He has five fucking kids Me and four daughters Three of those daughters have never reached out to this motherfucker since he left Why? Is it because you were such a great guy is because you didn't abuse them reached out to this motherfucker since he left. Why? Is it because you were such a great guy? Is it because you didn't abuse them like you say? Is it because they were brainwashed by their mom? Is that your best excuse?

Is that for over 12 years, I know for sure, plus it might even be 14 years, I don't remember what it is. I think it's 12 years, plus, none of them give a fuck to talk to their father. Why? What could you have done that they don't give a fuck about you that much? Or they hate you that much?

Dude can't answer that question, but nobody's asking him that question. You don't watch the documentary, all it is is a fucking victim card. My mom this and my dad this, he hated his fucking dad, wants to kill his dad, hated his fucking mom, apparently. And then now he's all fucking hated his fucking mom. Apparently.

And then now he's all fucking sad that his mom passed away. And it's like, dude, you tell so many fucking lies you can't even keep track. But that's my biggest question to him. How come none of your daughters give a fuck to talk to you? Why? And how come six people can say you did the same shit that I said? Can you explain that? And he just doesn't address it. But he's going to make a documentary saying I stole the story, I used to beat up the kid

I used to live with, I stole from his dad and I'm a piece of shit and I had an abusive relationship as a kid and all that. It's like bro, you're talking about a teenager. His claim to fame is that I was a terrible fucking kid, even though I didn't steal, I didn't smoke. I didn't fucking hide things. Like his biggest thing is like that. I lied about my sister turning on the heater and she got her ass beat. So I was a piece of shit kid. Yeah. He said,

it showed the character that I was. I was a scumbag willing to throw somebody else onto the bus at six years old. And I'm like, yeah, you're right. It was a scumbag fucking thing. But I've learned from it. Unlike you. So yeah, it's just wild. You know, he's trying to make another documentary now and people are trying to get me to go on shows and things like that to go talk to this guy and confront him face to face. But I don't want to give him that platform. Yeah, I don't want to give him that relevancy.. I don't want to give him that relevancy. And that's all he cares about.

This man has never been there for any of my success, but he has been there more than anybody for every fucking failure. Not realizing it's a lesson that I just keep growing from, but he's been there for every single failure. When I broke my elbow, he sent a picture face down, ass up, told you this would happen. Soon as you fight anybody real, you get your fucking ass beat. You're a fucking bum You'll never make it in the UFC. I bet he fucking is rolling over in his bed now

Like even recently, you know, I heard something, you know, like he fucking tells people first of all brother He's never coached me for one of my fights ever. He's never been to one of my fights But he tells everybody he was I was the best boxer because we trained for two weeks for my fourth amateur fight and then our last stint was he shows up in my house I just it is what it is I just slept with a chick right so we had a an agreeance that we were trained at 730 I think it was every morning and I had a garage at a place that was living before I wound up being homeless again and had to go live with Armand So he would show up and he shows up at fucking 7 o'clock and I'm not up yet

I just you know done whatever with some chick and I fucking wake up to my phone fucking going off going off going off Going off and I'm like dude, what the fuck like so I answered the phone but I can hear like a Like he's in my fucking house. Just walked in the house, no invite or nothing. It's not his house. And he's like, get the fuck downstairs now. I'm like, who the fuck are you? So I freaked the fuck out.

I'm like, who the fuck are you talking to? I'm like 19 at this point, or just about to turn 19. And he's standing at the bottom of the stairs. He's like gonna fuck it, whoop my ass with his he's standing at the bottom of the stairs, like he's like gonna fucking whoop my ass with his arms crossed, across at the bottom of the stairs in the house that he wasn't invited in. I fucking fly down the stairs.

I'm like, who the fuck are you talking to? I call him all this shit. And he threatens to come back and put a bullet in my head and all this shit. And I was like, yeah, I was like, touch me motherfucker. And I was like, I'll kill you. I swear to God. I was like, I'll beat you so fucking bad.

Like you'll die on a fucking feeding tube for all the times you hit my mom for all the times you hit my sister and it was the first time I ever saw like the bitch in him because he realized that he wasn't chain quivering Joe no more I was a little Joey Pfeiffer that he could intimidate that he could bully that he could fucking make his bitch and I think that's why he threatened me with the gun because he realized he couldn't fuck with me no more and I was ready to fucking hit him at any point but the only thing I wouldn't do is I would never hit him first and that was just

because of my Christianity and because of my moral high ground that I tried to stick to and yeah he fucking drove away like a little bitch and didn't do anything. Another instance he threatened to shoot me was I was at my insurance agent guy's place, who I've been friends with since I was 17. And I just always go up there to say hi every now and then and talk. And I'd already obviously been away. I'm like fucking 20 years old, disappointed that I'm harming. And she sees my black Mustang.

She worked down the street, his wife, and she pulls in and asks, comes in and she sees my black Mustang she worked down the street his wife and she pulls in and asked comes in and says I need one of my ID cards for my cars she didn't need a fucking ID card she saw she saw my car wanted to come in and fucking talk shit so she comes in mind you I haven't seen her maybe it was only like three four months and by that time like she used to be sympathetic and be like oh yeah I don't know why he's so angry I don't get it. He just gets snaps out and all the shit. She like she like spoke super fast and fucking weird and She comes in she was like, what's up? You fucking piece of shit like right in front of the guy and starts like coming at me heavy

And I just start smiling and I'm sitting here real real calm And I'm like, oh, what's the matter? I said, did he fucking finally brainwash you? And she was like, yeah, you're a fucking piece of shit and you're a scumbag kid and all this like, just going off. And I'm like, and she was like, yeah, because you're a mom this and that. I said, you know, it's crazy you speak about it,

but I was like, you weren't there for it. I said, all you are is just fucking vomiting all he's told you. I was like, you never witnessed any of it. It's just fucking wild. So we wanna go on out in the front. What do you know? Who pulls up? Fucking disabled Joe, fucking pulls up. And the only thing he's mad about

is where the fuck were you when I called you? You're supposed to be at work, bitch. Go to fuck back to work. Why aren't you where you're supposed to be? This guy don't work. So he grabs her by her fucking arm and shoes her to her car, like fucking throws her to her car and tells her to go back to work. I started laughing and I'm we're out front Because my friend was like, you know, if you guys are gonna argue can you argue out front whatever and he didn't want it Inside the business and I was like, yeah, of course. I was like, I'm not even arguing. She's just fucking yelling at me so he grabs her by arm shoes that air tells her to go back to work and then He goes I started walking behind them and I'm like laughing because I wanted

a reason to fight him. And I was like, what you so angry about? Huh? I was like, what you all upset about? I was like, what's the matter? And he like, you know, I was antagonizing him and he turns around and he's like, come back and fucking kill you motherfucker. I'll shoot you right in your fucking face.

Right in front of my guy, right in front of the insurance dude. He fucking gets in his car and he speeds off. I was like alright pussy I was like, but you still haven't done shit, and he's like yeah, you keep calling that shit off fucking He's like I ever see you again. I'm gonna fucking kill you and whatever so I wound up telling his wife I said wait till he fucking turns on you bitch watch and see wait till his fucking Wait till his fucking demeanor changes, and he puts his hands on you I said I guarantee you you'll be the next victim I say cuz I'm not around to get punched on no more. I was like, he's got to have somebody, a guy like that's got to have something to abuse. He's always had it. He's never not

hit somebody. He's never not abused somebody. So I have no idea why they got divorced, but I would love to know. Damn man. I know how he talked to her. I heard how he talked to her. I just can't imagine with nobody else there to stop him. What else has happened. So yeah. I know there's some chatter about Dr. Phil. Yeah there's some chatter about Dr. Phil and going on there but you know. How did they get to him? So there's a guy that goes to this gym that he trains at and his son trains there and

he met this guy. Whose gym? Your gym or your dad's gym? No, not my gym. If he came to my gym, we would all beat him to death. He knows better than to do that. He's not that dumb. My coach, my coach, my boys are loyal at Marquez MMA in Philly.

They're loyal and he'd be damned if he ever even comes close to that city and steps near there. If they see him, they'll kill him. But no, this is a gym that's... I'm not gonna mention it because it doesn't deserve fucking clout. But there is a gym and he goes and trains there and this guy's son trains there and this guy was on Dr. Phil his name is Butch. He was on there because of his father murdering his mother when he was a child so that was his storyline on there. Super cool guy, like him a lot, but he was gathering content to do the story a story on my dad becoming Joe Pfeiffer, the person he is. And I'm not to, I don't want to put everything out there because I don't

know what he's comfortable with or not. But basically the executive producer has reached out to me and has been trying to convince me that it's a good idea to go on there if you know, if there's some reconciliation. And I said, look, at the very least I forgive the guy. I hate the things that he's done, but I forgive the guy. I don't really, do you really forgive him? A hundred percent.

Cause I wake up and I don't think about him. Good. He has no control over my life, you know? Like he could sit across from me like this and I have, there's no intimidation. There's no, there's no threat. The only threat is if he had a gun and that's it, you know? But I carry too, so.

And hopefully it never ever happens, you know? And I don't think it's funny to gamble about life But I mean there's got to be a sense of being extremely uneasy after I've been through that No, no, I think that would mean that I haven't forgiven him still there's nothing uneasy about it. What could he say? I stand on the truth. I stand on the truth. I'm on a mountain of truth. I have sources to back up my truth I have witnesses to back up my truth. I have sources to back up my truth. I have witnesses to back up my truth. I have friends to back up my truth. I have teammates that have seen what he's done or how he's talked or how he's acted. He has nobody. He literally is going to die alone. It's fucked up. It's sad. And I really want him to change. And the only reason I was even contemplating it is because my mom wanted me to do it. She

wants him to leave me alone but he just fucking attaches everything. I can't see any of his social media. Pretty sure he hasn't been blocked or whatever, but I know he's always, people are always telling me he's talking shit on me, he's writing essays, he'll post pictures. So like one of the things that he does is he'll show pictures in the documentary of making him smiling. So what he does is he takes a child's unconditional love for his parent of constant forgiveness

and shows only the good memories and says, does that look like a kid that's abused? Does that look like a kid that's abused? Oh look, he's smiling there. Oh look, he's smiling here. Well no shit, do you ever beat the fuck out of your kid and then tell him to fucking smile for the camera? I don't think anybody does that.

So his logic is very fucking shallow and really dumb. So it doesn't threaten me whatsoever. You know, I think he's just a sick dude. I think the narcotics for 20 plus years has really warped his fucking brain. I don't really know if he has sympathy or remorse. I think that part of his brain is probably damaged. So he might be on the borderline a psychopath or is a psychopath. He's for sure a narcissist He's always talked about himself like the God complex like he's always had something everybody wants and he's destroyed every single

This is how I have to look at it before I'm in the UFC. I've had lifelong friendships and I still have those same lifelong friendships today this man has no fucking friends no like bro you went from a family of five and a wife that loved you and carried and kids that loved you unconditionally to damaging them all to where they hate your guts like I just don't want to carry around hate for the guy. I just recognize who he is. Bro, I used to fight out of anger all the time.

When I was fighting early in my career, I would just blitz motherfuckers and just fucking try to kill them. I was literally like... and I still have that side of me, but I know how to control it a lot better where it doesn't involve him. I just want to kill a motherfucker because you're trying to take my money from me. But before it was like I I really wanted to like hurt people. And, um, even in my everyday to day life, like road rage, things like that, wanting to fight people.

And, you know, I've definitely saved myself from a couple of big damaging blows where I could have been in prison. And, um, I'm glad I have, you know, but that's because of the strong men that taught me how to be men. He always claims that the only reason I am what I am is because of him. And I think it's such an insult because people like Will Harmon, who put their neck on the line, who put their, you know, open their door to me, open their home, Sam or Pisa, the guy was working two jobs, sleeping on

floor in between his fucking jobs to provide for his family and people like Chandler Henry, you know, who were able to in the documentary, you know, I can express myself now verbally, but he has a way with, you know, filming where he is able to express what I couldn't put into words. And I think that's his talent. And I think that's why this is doing going to do so well and help a lot of kids. So you know, but because of those men in my life, that's why I'm where I'm at, because I was smart.

I asked questions. I never was somebody that didn't ask questions. I always challenged everything. Ask questions, ask questions. I don't give a fuck if you laugh. If you think it's a stupid question, if I don't know it, I will say I don't know it. Because once I learn it, I'm not going to forget it. So. Yeah, dude's fucking there and just waiting for me to fail at every moment, brother.

Do you want to reconcile with him? No. No? There's nothing to reconcile. I know what he is. I know what he's done. I want him to take accountability. So that's reconciliation for me.

Take some fucking accountability and don't die a piece of shit. You owe that to my mother. You owe that to my sisters because you fucked up their future too. And they're still going through it. Luckily I'm not, but they're still going through it. How do you think you, I mean, think downstairs for the interview you said you've been, you have a significant other. Yeah. you've been you have a significant other Yeah, been with her for three years almost six almost six years Sounds like your sisters don't have healthy relationships. Hmm. I don't know about your mom now. Does she have any healthy relationships? Oh, she's got a couple healthy friendships, but no significant other

How have you learned how to treat a significant other respectfully and with honor? People like Will Harman. Seeing how he loves his wife. Now he has kids that he loves. He's got three now and he has one special needs daughter with Prager-Willi syndrome and loves her unconditionally and provides for her better than anybody else could. And the irony of it is that he was a special needs teacher when I was in high school for over eight years. And then his first daughter has special needs.

Wow. So who better equipped to take care of it? Nobody ever wishes for that, but who better could handle that than him? So it's kind of crazy, but yeah, you know, just understanding right and wrong is super simple. Super simple. Hating your wife is wrong. You know? It's really easy not to do.

You love the person, you would never want to do that. But you know, it is a a struggle because I disconnect very often. We have our struggles in our relationship and separations and things like that. But one thing I will say, because like I said, I don't really put my personal life out there or the status of whether I'm single or dating or anything like that, just because I don't want people involved in my shit. But that specific person, no matter how it makes anybody feel, was there for me when I was a loser. She was there when my arm broke.

She was there after my arm broke. She was there when I got in the UFC. She's probably one of the most special people in my life. She always believed I could do it. Probably one of the most special people in your life? Yeah, aside from Harmon. He gets first place. I think because he saved my life. But yeah, it's him and her. We'll call him a tie. Right on, man. Yeah.

You know? And, yeah, I used to look at her when my elbow was broke because they told me I would never fight again. And I used to be like, I'm going to make it. And she'd well up and I'd well up. And I was like, I'm going to make it. I'm going to change our lives. I'm going to change our lives.

I'm going to change our lives. And, man, damn if I didn't fucking get it back and do it. And I'm still going. You've done it. it I'm still going so it was a hard fucking road you know we've been talking about all my family shit but the fighting road was a whole nother fucking fight that had nothing to do with that guy nothing to do with my past and that was a fucking struggle in itself you know aside from my upbringing I had one of the fucking hardest roads to get in the UFC as well well we're gonna get into that here next,

but before we leave this segment, just wanna ask, what advice do you have for kids that are going through this kind of stuff right now? Speak up, speak up, talk to somebody. If you don't know who to talk to, find somebody. Get an opinion, you know? Gather information is the best thing you can do. Like, since I've been out here dealing with everybody from, you know, gather information is the best thing you can do. Um, like since I've been out here dealing with everybody from, you know, uh, the

daily wire, which is what the documentary is going to be on July 25th and whatnot. Um, I've gotten all their opinions on the whole Dr. Phil thing too, you know, cause I like Dr. Phil, I think it's, you know, it's cool or whatever, but I'm, I, it's gotta make sense and it doesn't really make sense to give this guy what he's always wanted, which is to be relevant. He's nobody without me. That's how I see it. But yeah, speak up.

Put your fucking pent up energy into a sport. If you're a sports guy or girl or whatever, if you're a books person, fucking study more than anybody else. Educate yourself more than anybody else. Whatever you put that time into, it will pay you back. It will, hard work doesn't go unnoticed when you have to put it to the test.

You know, sometimes it goes unnoticed because nobody sees you doing it, but when you start to perform and you've done all the hard work, there's no denying success from that. So put that anger and energy into a sport is the only thing I can relate to. And no matter how crazy an idea,

within reason, I'm not talking about these fucking fruitcakes in the world today, but as long as you have that self belief that you can go on and be something fucking big, why can't you? Why can't you? be something fucking big, why can't you? Why can't you? Good advice, man. Why can't you?

I'm a fucking nobody. All generations of my family have been fucking bums. I don't even say that my grandfather's been a bum, that's not fair to say, but when I say my father's a straight fucking loser, dude hasn't taken a fucking ounce of risk for his family or tried to better his life as a person or as a man, as a man at all.

That's a shame. I'm 28 years old and I know more than that dude does. He's fucking 54, 53, you know? Take the risk, take the risk. Be willing to fail. Cause failure's only a fucking, hey, I took a shot and I missed. But you might learn how to do better next time.

So take 100% of those fucking shots, no matter how crazy they are is my advice. Love that. Go for it. Thank you. Let's take a break. The most important action you can take today is to help protect your family's future from cyber criminals and online predators. And Bunker, that's B-U-N-K-R can help you do just that. Bunker was developed by experts with 25 years of experience catching criminals and fighting cybercrime. They created Bunker to help protect their own families, and now they're sharing it with you. Bunker even offers a family plan.

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but I did I wanted to ask one more thing. And this actually comes from a guy that's on my team who's got, believe it or not, a very similar upbringing to you. And I'm just so fucking proud of him because he has changed his, his, his lineage and in his, he's gotten away from that generational curse. And he's been with me since he was 17 years old and still with me today. He's I think he's 26, but he wanted, this question is from him. And so I told you at the beginning,

like this is gonna touch a lot of people who've been in similar situations as you. And what he wanted me to ask you is, is you start to amass the success that you're seeing and getting in the UFC and making a name for yourself and how do you combat the, the voices in your head, the self-sabotage from all the shit that you went through with your dad and your family and, and you'll never amount to nothing, hoping you would die, I'll fucking kill you. How do you keep those voices from entering your head or what do you do when they do?

I don't think you'll ever stop them from coming into your head, especially if you've had trauma or anything abusive in your childhood that has stuck with you for years. It's always going to be there. I think it's natural for humans to doubt themselves. It's our protective mechanisms. When you go to do something scary, your brain tries to stop you from doing it because it knows the risks, the damage, the hurt.

But I think it's being in the present moment. I think that is the master key to everything. And Sean Brady, my teammate, who's also, you know, get on his title run, he's a top two guy, he's number two at welterweight. You know, he had a lot of performance anxiety in his career and he turned it around. And, you know, I used to pick his brain too.

This is where it comes back to what I said about asking questions, because I still had the doubts. If I lacked anything I lacked, I'm a very confident guy. There's not a guy you could put in a room that I don't think I could knock out. I think I have that chance against anybody, big, small, doesn't matter. I think you've proven that.

Yeah, except Calvin, that guy's tough. But I still dropped him. But yeah, so I asked him, like, man, what do you think you did to change? He was like, just being where my feet are being my present moment, you know, he went and got help and sports, uh, sports therapy and all those things, but I'm not really big on like therapists. I'd like to just kind of figure it out.

Um, or ask questions of people that I trust and things like that versus somebody who don't really trust and pay money to just, I don't connect with people like that, but you know, he was like being where my present and being in the present moment, like and just appreciating where you are, you know, no matter what was done to me, it's what shaped me to be the human that I am. I think a part of anxiety comes from obviously doubt and the things that can go wrong. But. If all I worry about is my effort and controlling that effort

and my confidence and my preparation and my confidence and my education on things that I want to learn about and things like that, like I can't fail. I can't fail. Like I'm not defined by a win or loss in the UFC. Even if I got cut from the UFC, that's not my identity anymore. It's me going out there and taking the risk and giving it all that I have that I can judge. And that's who I am. I go out there and I put it on the line every time. And I try to look for the finish every time. Or I try to apply myself to be a better person in my everyday life because that's the person

you have to go to sleep with. That's the person you have to wake up to. That's the person you get your work ethic from. So I would just say it's been in the present moment and realizing that your past doesn't define you, fighting doesn't define you and how you treat the people you love is true success. The friendships that you have is true success. Um, it's not monetary.

It's not, it's not money. Um, it's not cars. I love cars, but it's not cars. It's not the fucking big house. It's not the jewelry. It's not the watches. It's not the chains. It's not cars. I love cars, but it's not cars. It's not the fucking big house. It's not the jewelry. It's not the watches It's not the chains. It's not the fame. It's how you treat the people that you love most in your life that's how you're gonna be based that's how you're gonna fucking keep a sound mind and Yeah, so no, I don't think anything in the past is like

Affected me anymore. It used to you know I used to be like off oh, if I lose, this motherfucker's gonna laugh at me, or everybody's gonna think I suck, and all this shit. Now, I've had my struggles when I lost my first UFC fight. I walked into a fight, I wasn't 100%, whatever. I lost. I wasn't the better man that night.

And everybody turned on me. It was the first time I got famous pretty quick in the fight world. I got a lot of hype behind me and then I lost. And then everybody was like, you fucking suck, you're a fraud, you're a bum, you lost my fucking bet and all this shit. Kill yourself, you're this or you're that.

So it still continues. Now it's not my father saying it, but it's people. But these fucking people are unhappy in their life. Imagine taking time to go and fucking shit talk and a professional athlete you've never met. Oh, that's why. I could relate to you all day on this. Of course, of course. But you could do, you could touch a hundred thousand fucking lives and save a hundred thousand people

but if you piss one fucking person off and they don't like it, oh, you're a piece of shit to them. Yeah, who cares? So live your life by the standards of the people that, by the standards of the people that you keep in your circle is what I would say and I think that's helped me, you know, not let the negative thoughts get in my way. And if they come in my brain, I've been reading this book called Inter Excellence. I think for athletes, it's a must read. Samor Pisa is always influencing me to read books.

I hate reading books, but I'm not a big book reader. Little too retaliated for it, but I still do it and you know, Yeah, it's been a great it's the ego. It's the ego. A lot of our fears are ego driven. So it's been the most humbling fucking annoying thing to try and digest because your ego gets in the way of everything. It influences everything. Like why you're insecure about something, well because you're afraid to fucking lose

in front of thousands of people or millions of people on the TV. And it's like, bro, you gotta let go of all that. You can't control all that. The only thing I can control is my performance. Did you work hard for this moment? Yes, I fucking turned over every stone I could. I had to go out there and give it your best effort.

Might be a win on the other side, might be a loss, but whatever it is, you're fucking ready for it. Man, it is astounding that you figured this out, like to age 28 years old. Because I got real fucking men in my life. Now imagine if my father fucking had been a real man. Yeah. Maybe I would have fucking got it, maybe I wouldn't have,

but I think this is my story to tell. This is my platform to tell it. And, um, you know, thanks to guys like you, I get to do it. Let's talk about, so let's start moving into Will. I know he was, what was his last name? Harmon. Will Harmon. You had mentioned earlier that he had put his job on the line for you. How did he do that?

I mean, he was picking me up, you know, not that that's against the rules, but he was trying to take me in his house before I had gone homeless, but he couldn't do it because the student teacher thing, can't do it, or he would have. But you know, he didn't consult with anybody even after, you know, I graduated and opened up his home,

and I think he put his job on the line just by simply fucking protecting my story and the things that I was going through and keeping that close to heart. I'm sure he had conversations about it in some way, but I know he got a lot of people off my back. He stopped me from getting suspended from school a bunch of times for slamming kids into shit. One kid was saying some homophobic slurs and I said some shit back

and threatened him and didn't get suspended so he was always putting his neck out there for me. I broke doors in high school and fucking did a lot of stupid shit out of anger and he always was just there cleaning up my trail so I didn't get in trouble. So yeah, necessarily not anything to get fired over at all but you know, just even those small things went a long way. Like I lost my senior night and I fucking broke one of the Bill Code doors, like big ass door,

fucking kicked it right off the hinges and broke it. He came in the next morning before anybody knew and fucking fixed it. Wow. And I slammed the kid into, you know, the glass and busted his face. And he went on and I should have got suspended. And he stood behind me saying yeah

It's like, you know, I know what was being said and this is what's going on in his life And you know really went to bat for me and I couldn't really afford like if I had gotten I probably would just dropped out of school So he kept me going to school I didn't have good grades and all I wanted to come to school with was to see him play chess with him eat lunch with him and wrestle So my man was there. Well, I mean what was it like for you. So you didn't move in with him until 18 I was 19 19 19. Yeah, I lived so I moved in with a friend at the time Who was not a real friend

And he moved in with his girlfriend and I moved in with my first girlfriend at the time and we were both in very, very toxic relationships and yeah, I don't even give a fuck to say it because it is what it is but when I was working 60 hours a week the dude was fucking around with my girl while he was engaged to his girl and I didn't find out until six months after I'd already broke up with her and then you know we couldn't afford to stay where we were staying and I got my car repossessed my phone got shut off my insurance got shut off and Harmon took me in and The worst part about it is my teammate

One of my teammates had a former team that I was at fucked the girl of my friend so it was like a big fuckfest between everybody but me. And yeah, that is what eventually led them to break up, which means we couldn't afford to stay where we were. And then I found out that and then I was like, man, I'm going to kill this motherfucker too. And, you know, I told Harmon about it and he was like, you got to come with me. You got to come live with me. He's like, I just bought this house. He just bought the house. It was perfect timing. And he was like, you gotta come live with me. He's like, I just bought this house. He just bought the house. It was perfect timing and he was like,

I got extra room for you. And my car got taken away. It was one of the most humiliating feelings. And you know, he taught me a very good lesson. It was like probably the first lesson he gave me under his roof as to what it is to be a man of your word. And he gave me the money to get my car out of repossession and pay it off and he said I'm giving you this money not because I expect you to pay it back but if you tell me you're going to pay it back

that's your word and if you don't I'll still be friends with you and I'll still love you and support you but I might look at you differently and that was right before my pro debut I moved in with him I paid him back over two fights but I moved in with him right after my fourth amateur fight so then I had one more amateur fight and then went pro and I paid him back by that fight cash and it was one of the best feelings in the world and yeah I finally had a stable home I finally had good food I finally had a stable home. I finally had good food. I finally had heat. Finally had my own bathroom.

Yeah, it was special. What was that like for you going, I mean, you went 19 years in the same environment, same type of environments, different abuses, different experiences, but none of them a loving, traditional family dynamic. And so then you get inserted into Will's home with his kids, with his wife, with him. I mean, it was just me, him and his wife. It's something that you'd never, it was just you and him?

Yeah, just me, him and his wife before they had kids. And this was before they and him? Yeah, just me, him, and his wife, before they had kids. And then they had kids before. This was before they had kids. Yeah. So what was it like for you to experience real love in a real home? I developed this mentality that things were too good to be true.

So every time I thought something good was happening, it was going to happen, I, I expected it not to happen. Even something as simple as going to a fucking water park as a kid. Nah, it's too good to be true. It's not going to fucking happen because it didn't. Every good thing that we looked forward to as kids, including my sisters, we all expected it not to happen. It would just get shot down.

We never got to enjoy it. It was very uncomfortable for me for a long time. And then when I moved in there, it was like I had this overwhelming peace of like I can fucking heal. Like I can rest. Like I can go to sleep and not worry about someone kicking my door in.

Like one of the triggers I used to have was somebody knocking on my door. Cause there used to be a slit in my room at my old house. And there was an old farmhouse. So everything was like slanted and lopsided and shit and like beat up and I had a little slit in the door from him fucking kicking my door in all the time so he would, I just remember seeing his fucking eyeballs look in to see if I was in my room when he would punish me or to see if I was like asleep

or something. I would fake sleep every time and I remember one of the most traumatic fucking things is hearing that motherfucker walk up the stairs Because I used to Creek and hear the fucking Creek and I would jump in bed and then truck and try to hold my breath So he didn't think I was awake and he wouldn't bother me and I remember fucking I had a like a mesh Unmesh blanket and I remember seeing this fucking eyeballs. It was like it was in prison, bro The dude was fucking like I'd be like real quiet He always did like traumatic like like not traumatic but startling shit like kick the fucking door and scare the fuck out of me

And then trash all my toys and then fucking leave and laugh And so it was like I always I always like Or he would kick the fucking door and I didn't even know why and I start beating the fuck out of me for something I apparently did fucking wrong Well, it was getting in an argument my sisters or maybe a fucking fist fight earlier. Me and my older sister used to fucking fight all the time. But my rule was I wasn't allowed to fucking hit her back so I used to hate her. She fucked me up all the time.

And until I got older. But yeah, so one of my triggers was like somebody knocking on the fucking door. I didn't have to deal with that. He did it a couple times and I would freak the fuck out. It was like a PTSD fucking thing. I hated it. It made me angry as fuck. I don't know why.

I was ready to fucking fight people over it. But I didn't have to deal with danger anymore. I was able to be in a house where I could have food. I used to get yelled at, all those kids, for even opening the door for more than 15 seconds in the fridge Get the fuck out of the fridge like you were afraid to fucking eat Damn man, or you were told you couldn't eat you know because we only had so much food and it would fucking go so fast, you know, we're household of seven and

So yeah, it was like, you know, I didn't have to worry about how much food I ate he used to make fun of me for how fast I ate because I would like scarf down food and because we always had a lack of food. But yeah, it was the first real peaceful moment in my life that I had. Was there an adjustment period? Definitely, definitely. It didn't feel real. It felt like it was only going to last so long. And then probably after like the first year I was like man like this is fucking awesome this is amazing and yeah I'll never I'll never not be thankful for that man. Do you still train with him? Nah he's old man he's 40 he claims he's old he's not old he's he's on a different goal in life he's out there trying to run five miles in 30 minutes. That's one of his goals. And, uh, yeah, he's a little banged up from wrestling.

Plus I whoop his ass now. It's not even fair. Yeah. We used to be competitive. Yeah. I still would, he still would catch me in high school, but I could beat him. But now it's like, yeah, I'm a lot bigger. And yeah, so he don't, oh man, don't want that ass whooping no more.

I've been trying to get him back into lifting and everything, but you know, he's got three kids now and one daughter has special needs and he's got a wife and everything. This is really hard for him to take the time to, you know, really go out and train, but he was only ever a wrestler. Anyway, you guys still see each other a lot. Yeah. Pretty often. Um, you know, there's sometimes where we're going luls and I don't get to see him that often and we don't talk that much, but you know, we still, I got him out to the last fight because it was in our home, like in our state.

And, um, you know, anytime I get to talk about him, I do. And, uh, you know, we still hang out and still see each other. And I hope to do that till the day he passes away and I pass away. So I hope that happens. That's a friend for life for me, man. So I'll never forget everything that he's done. And I'll always cherish our lunchtime periods, playing chess, splitting the sandwich that his wife would make.

I've never seen somebody put so much meat on a sandwich, but it was banging, man. It was banging. I used to take that that was like the most like, man, how do you afford this? Like that's how broke I was. Man. Oh man, so yeah yeah now Harmon is a

godsend to my life and for sure saved my life from very very very dark times and you know, he Literally looked at me when he took me and he said I believe you can make it and he's like and I want to see how far you can go and I'm gonna see what you're made of and You can live here for free But if this is what you really want to do I want to see you chase it that's all I did bro eat sleep train just kept going and that's why when I lost my first contender that's why I felt like a fucking loser because when they told me it was over I was

like I lied to everybody little did I know let's move let's move into so I mean 19 you're living with him you had already gone pro. No, so I turned pro By the time I was 21. I had five amateur fights 21 or 22. When did you start fighting amateur? 2017 2017 how old were you then? 2017? Yeah, 2017. How old were you then? 19? 19?

So I had already had fights by the time I moved with him. I had four fights by the time I moved with him. And then I did my last amateur fight with him and then my pro debut. So I think I was 19. 19 or 20. Whatever, I'm 28 now. Full MMA fight? Full MMA fight.

How old were you with the first one? 19, yeah. 19, yeah, because I was still getting escorted. I was either 19 or just turned 20 because I still got an escort across the casino floor holy shit and Harmon was the escort how did that I mean how did that come about how do you transition from wrestling jiu-jitsu and to so I always had this dream though I always had this dream I always wanted to fight I always wanted

to fucking be in the UFC I was I always envisioned people chanting my name and 20,000 fans and me walking out and In the UFC it was never anything else. It wasn't Bellator wasn't one championship. It was always UFC UFC UFC And I was working fucking 60 hours a week in a deadbeat job for Verizon fucking wireless phone sales that I fucking hated. I hated everybody I worked with. I fucking... I cannot see you selling cell phone plans. Everybody laughs, yeah, it was fucking terrible. I hated that fucking job.

Fucking dookie, bro. Oh man, I didn't sell shit. So yeah, I was working 60 hours a week and I went up just taking a fight just to take it. Who approached you? I mean, how did you even, how did you get in there? Um, I, I told Sam Morpiza, who wound up becoming my coach. He wasn't my coach for my first four, I'm sorry, he wasn't my coach for my first three

amateur fights. I was at a school called Bounce Studios with a guy named Rick Miguel-Rees who's a long time black belt, was there at my first competition when I was five years old. Like, dude's known me for years. Loved him to death. Great inspiration. Like, fucking solid fucking dude. So I was a part of that team for a while.

After Fight Factory went away, he closed the gym, Steve Head closed the gym, I joined Bounce Studios. And so I was working 60 hours a week and I had one of my teammates Basil and I had Rick Miguirese as my corner but I had reached out to Sam about wanting to fight and he got me my first fight with an organization called XCC at the time and um, real scumbag promoter. I'm not going to mention her name. She fucking flipped me off right before my last fight. Fucking bitch.

It's a funny story. She fucking flipped me off right before my last fight fucking bitch Funny story Nobody talks shit on you woman, but uh, so yeah, she uh, I got a flight and I fought this guy I was 178 pounds fighting at 185 Didn't left have my own schedule didn't do shit barely was training But trained like once every fucking once a Sunday was sparring and just went took a fight knocked the guy out in fucking 17 seconds flatline 17 seconds 17 seconds threw a fucking inside kick hit him with a cross right hand put him out face down They took him out in a stretcher oxygen tank and he had like like brain hemorrhaging

I don't know if that's brain bleeding or something, but he was never cleared or allowed to fight again ever since So I felt terrible about that. I actually saw his coach last year for the first time and he was like hey you know he never was allowed to fight after that he's the one that told me and I was like damn bro that fucking sucks like tell him I'm sorry like but uh yeah I smoked that dude immediately had another fight was training for it this is why I said this woman is a scumbag was training for my next fight was going through that toxic relationship at that first girlfriend still living in that environment you know like I told you about all the shit that had happened there and she basically would fucking break up with me and then go to a college party and fuck dudes and

Fucking I was like fucking gutted I was one of them dumb kids that didn't have any confidence in the love world didn't know how how to navigate it, didn't know it wasn't love, you know, two broken kids against the world type thing like I had said and fucking, I was heartbroken so I wasn't eating, I wasn't sleeping, I got down to like 168 and I had to force drink myself to get up to 174. And I still fought. And this is where I don't like the woman is that she had known I was gonna fight a collegiate wrestler the entire time So I was training for a boxing guy and then she switched it the day before and says oh, yeah your opponent pulled out But we have somebody else for you. I

Asked the kid the kids like yeah, I had a little training camp. So anyway, I thought this kid he was much bigger than me Whatever. I rocked him. He just fucking wrestled fucked me for like three rounds and I wasn't upset about it And I was like what the fuck like this is what I want to do But I'm not upset about it and I was like I can't have a half foot in half foot out So I fought one more fight after that. So I'm one-on-one. I go a fight again. I took a dude out smoke him in the first round and And then I was like, you you know what this just isn't fulfilling I feel like I'm fucking off

and I was like I can't have one foot in one foot out I'm gonna quit my job and at that time I'd already quit my job at Verizon I worked at Honda Piazza Honda for a little bit as a salesman got fucking bent over with that job. Didn't get any fucking sales. Oh fuck. Fuck. I'm sorry. No, it is funny, bro. You just don't strike me as a salesman. This reminds me of like my first job after the SEAL team,

so I became a real estate agent for like two weeks. Oh, man. Didn't work out. Yeah, and you, Raj, you're like, dude, this shit sucks. So I was like, man, fuck that. So then I worked even better, it gets better. I worked at fucking LA Fitness for a little while.

Nice. I was doing memberships and then this fucking turd of a manager I had was changing the last names of the people that I would schedule to come in to buy memberships or join the gym and was taking my commissions. So I remember I worked like 67 hours one week and I got like a $453 paycheck.

And I was like, you fucking bitch like I hate your guts and I was like what am I doing I was like I'd rather be broke than fucking work this much to just have that little bit of money and I hadn't had any sponsorships yet and fighting or anything like that and I was begging Sam Morpizzo to coach me and he put me through the fucking ringer man so I went up quitting my job and I went in I gave her the finger and fucking throw shit off her desk and I said you're a fucking scumbag for stealing from a kid and I gave it a finger and left it she tried to tell me she was gonna call the cops I was like call him bitch you fat fuck like I was fucking I like said a lot of

fucked up shit to her but I quit and then I just pursued fighting full time, man. And I always knew I could have done so much more because I would go in and train with guys that were training full time and do hold my own and do better than hold my own. And I was like, man, these guys train every day and they're bigger than me. They got strength conditioning,

they have money for supplements, and I'm still fucking them up. So I finally got serious, man. And I was like, this is is it plan a or nothing and That's what my car got repossessed all those things so then I fought another fight against this guy had real beef with It's a hilarious fucking thing. He was like talking shit. He was gonna be eat McDonald's and knock me the fuck out He said he was gonna knock it and put his nuts on my face if he knocked me out all this shit mind You this guy's like 34. I'm 20 So I was like alright bitch like you know it was the first time that I sold tickets I was in the negative every time I sold tickets before that I didn't sell shit nobody wanted to see me fight

Nobody gave a fuck this one. I sold 150 tickets as an amateur which was huge back then and I actually made a couple hundred bucks and I Knocked him the fuck out. I dropped him on a jab. I was screaming. I was like, get up motherfucker. I was like, come take my name, talk all that shit.

I was like, get up motherfucker. I tried to kill this guy. So I fucking send him to the shadow realm, knock him the fuck out and knocked him out bad. He was in a pool of blood, split his fucking mouth open and put him out one shot. That's when my career really started taking off. That's when people were like, yo, this kid's got something.

I mean, you're known for knocking people out fast. Yeah. How do you do it? I've been in a lot of bar fights. Never dropped somebody. That's crazy. Hey, I hit. Doesn't connect, buddy.

Yeah, I think. Well, that's part of the problem. You gotta connect to be able to put somebody out. Yeah, I think, I just that's part of the problem. You got to connect to be able to put somebody out. Yeah, I think, I just think, you know, this is where I credit my father. I got to start so young. So my understanding is better than someone who just started. I understand rotation, rotating my hips and landing at one time and having speed, you know, it's not all about just power, but it's speed, it's timing.

It's the perfect, it's the perfect shot. When you land that perfect shot, you'll feel a whip right through your body. You'll feel like a, it's almost like's timing. It's it's the perfect. It's the perfect shot when you land that perfect shot You'll feel whip right through your body. You'll feel like oh, it's almost like a snap like boom like a whip crack and you'll feel it It's like a it's like a wave it like travels up You'll see like the whip in your muscle If you watch some of my fights after this and you see like some of the shots that I hit people with you'll see It like riffle all the way through my tricep like Like it'll get like a jiggle, like, and it's, um, so I think that's part of it, you know, and everybody at this level has knockout power and they're all good.

And they're all. Where's the placement? The placement. I mean, listen, temple ear, this is probably the most dangerous one. And then if you can catch that chin, because really all a knockout is, is your brain bouncing off your skull and then you go unconscious. It's a, it's your body's way of protecting you. Or at least that's what I think.

I'm not a fucking... It doesn't seem like good protection. It's not, because then you're fucking defenseless. But yeah, so I just have a really good understanding and I always prided myself in power. I actually never knocked anybody out. I've dropped people before that and I've hurt people, but I never never knocked anybody out. I've dropped people before that and I've hurt people but I never really knocked anybody out until I knocked out the first guy in my amateur fight so I won that fight and then I

Fought again knocked that guy out made my pro debut knocked that guy out Fought another fight wanted decision. It was how did you make your pro debut? So I made my pro debut. I How did you make your pro debut? So I made my pro debut. I was four and one as an amateur and I just felt held back. I was like, bro, I want to elbow motherfuckers. I want to knee them in their face. I want to kick them in their face. I'm a complete mixed martial artist.

I want to use all the tools. I felt so held back with like when you're an amateur and so you become an advanced amateur, you can kick the legs without shin guards, but you can't kick them in the face. If you drop somebody in the amateurs with the shin guards, you can't hit them in the face. If you drop somebody in the amateurs with the shin guards, you can't hit them in the face. You can only hit them in the body. I'm like, well, what the fuck's the point in dropping them? So I made sure when I hit people,

I just had to fucking put them out in one shot. And it was the intention. My intention was to actually, like I used to picture Mortal Kombat when I hit you, your head fucking shatters. And I still had that rage. I still had that anger. I still had that anger So when I was hitting you I was putting everything into every shot

And it paid off Now it doesn't pay off because you got guys that are defensively responsible They know how to weather the storm and you know they have good game plans And they've been there done that against guys who everybody hits hard, so it's a little bit different now You have to really be technical to get that shot So it's a little bit different now. You have to really be technical to get that shot But I was ready to make my pro debut at this point I already got Sam came on board Sam or Pisa who's very monumental as to why my hands are as good as they are He came on board for my fourth amateur fight against that guy that I told you was talking shit on me

his name was Adam Attia complete fucking loser and Yeah, so I beat him I had Sam Sam used to fucking make me show up at 3 a.m. just to see if I would show up. Make 5 a.m., 6 a.m. drive all the way to Philly, 40 minutes just to see if I would show up. And I did it time and time again, time and time again. And I kept asking him and begging him to coach me and I finally got him on board and I told him I would do whatever it takes to be successful at this and I'll wake up at any hour. I don't give a fuck what time it is, let's do it.

And I did that. He definitely tested that. And I just started improving and getting better and getting better and getting better. I would say where I developed the slowest was the diet. I didn't have money to really eat super, super clean like I do now. But yeah, I made my pro debut and fucking smashed the dude, smashed the dude. I mounted him and fucking, like I was just,

bang, this is where I say I wouldn't stop if there wasn't a ref at that time because I was so anger filled that I would like get off on fucking hurting people. So I remember I was sitting on top, I like, I fucking was beating his ass for like, I did it in the first round, but I was beating his ass and I fucking took him down, threw him down, I already cut him with an elbow on his head and I fucking mounted him and I posture up

and just started hitting him. And the dumbest thing he could have done was try to hit me back. And then I wound up hitting him and his eyes rolled. I must have hit him like eight times before the ref got me off and he was like, he was like crucified like out and I just kept fucking hitting him. Like I wouldn't stop. And the ref like threw me off and he was like, he was like crucified like out and I just kept fucking hitting him like I wouldn't stop. And the ref like threw me off and that was my pro debut. It was probably one of my favorite wins because just how violent it was.

Like you could see the anger and shit like that. And for me it wasn't just anger towards my father and my life, but it was anger towards like you motherfuckers don't think I'm going to make it and I'm coming. So that was my pro debut. Then I fought my second fight against a guy who fought in Bellator who had like a lot more experience than me and I beat his ass, dominated him. It was so slippery. I definitely could have finished the fight, but it was so slippery and humid in there.

I remember I couldn't like fucking place my feet or anything and I won a decision and then I won all finishes. I was 6-0 Won my first title for art of war this this company called our venue called art of war And then I lost my first fight because what Sam thinking leading up to this Leading up to what? To your first loss. I mean you're just crushing him. He knew, he, I was more than ready. I was more than ready, but I didn't let him know where I was mentally.

I was suicidal again. You were suicidal through the wins? Yeah. Yeah, I was angry, man. It was eat me up. I hadn't forgiven my father. I hated my life. Like, I still wasn't making any money.

You know, you basically fight for free, bro. All the way up until you get to the UFC. You know, they might give you two grand. Maybe that's as a professional with like fight experience. You know, when you're an amateur, you don't get paid a purse. You only get ticket sales. And I didn't sell any tickets at the, for my first three. So I wound up owing money because I would spend the money I had, I needed to fucking survive, you know, before I was living with Harmon, but then, you know,

my first, I think I made 500, 500 my first pro fight, maybe 700, 700, or maybe 350, 350, something like that. I don't remember what it was. And, um, but I started picking up some sponsorships. So it made it a little easier, you know, and Sam, like Sam didn't just coach me, Sam, he was a fighter too. He fought in Bellator. He was 13 to three as a professional, very successful MMA guy. But then he had a kid and then he had another kid and just like fighting was not feasible if you lost and he lost one of his last fights as an MMA fighter and it just wasn't, it just didn't make sense for him to do it anymore.

I mean when you say suicidal, how suicidal are you talking about? Bro. Thinking about it every day, multiple times? Yeah, every day. Every day I just had this dark cloud over me. I started feeling worthless because I had the problem with now that I'm a fighter, my identity is fighting. And then I forgave my father.

I tried to let go of it right before my, I was six and L, right before my seventh fight, professional fight. So I'd already won a title art award. Then I went to this company called Ring of Combat, which were awesome. And I won the title there. And mind mind you I was finishing everybody in the first round I only had one decision so I was not knocked everybody the fuck out and

Won the belt and like 50 seconds or something like smash this guy and then I was fighting a guy who Honestly wasn't really that good he was like six and four at the time or five and four or five and three something like that and I was six and oh and He was like six and four at the time or five and four or five and three or something like that and I was six and L. And I was supposed to fight a guy who was 10 and three, but he was the replacement because the guy pulled out, got hurt or something. And it was the first time I ever walked into a fight and I was like, there was no music that could heighten me. There was no people that could motivate me.

And I was just like, I don't want to do this. It was the weirdest fucking feeling, man. It was the weirdest feeling. And it was the first time that I had had my girl's family come and watch me, because we didn't like each other at first. They didn't like me. I didn't like them. You know, I'm the disgruntled, angry kid

who used to fight kids and fucking was an angry kid. And they didn't want me with their daughter type shit. And you know, I didn't blame them. Looking back, I don't blame them at all. And I love their family. You know, they didn't want me with it there with their daughter type shit And you know, I didn't blame him looking back. I don't blame them at all and I love their family You know, they are family to me and the Khakha family is probably another godsend not even probably they are godsend They've been wonderful people so Walked out there man was trashing this fucking guy dominating and everything and then I fucking was tired I had his back I had mount but I didn't have the finishing mentality.

So I wasn't trying to ground and pound like to get him out of there. I was just trying to control him and I don't know why. And it was it's still it's still fucking bothers me because like bro, I took him down at will I dominated and everything so then I took a shot. I was already tired. I blew my nut. I was done and I didn't have anything to fight for. I didn't know what I was fighting for. First time ever happened to me didn't have the anger didn't have the fucking let me prove Everybody wrong and I fucking took a shot like slipped I kind of like did a split and I was against a cage and he stuck a guillotine

I didn't tap and got put to sleep Wake up and fucking that was the first time I was devastated and I was fucking crying looking at myself in the mirror like what a fucking loser what a pussy and all these things and just like real negative and you know that's where that girl is very special you know I mean did you talk to anybody about suicidal tendencies or not before that you just know just bottled it. I was always used to handling emotions on my own. One foot in front of the other. I didn't tell Harmon, I didn't tell Sam, I didn't tell, you know, I told Harmon about the abuse at home,

but I would never tell him about suicide, I would never tell him about depression, because I thought it was weak to talk about it as a man. And when it's not, there's nothing wrong with talking about it. Especially if you're struggling with it, you know? So after that I did and you know I got myself right and I came back and I also went and got a different look from another team because the team that I was training

at which was Bounce Studios, they're an amazing jujitsu school but they are not an MMA program school. And at least to make it to that level, to the UFC level. And so I went out to Colorado and trained with a team called Elevation. I went and trained with Neil Magni, who's in the UFC, been a longtime vet, whatever. And I got a different look, was training at altitude, came back, you know, got another first round or second round knockout and got my mind right. Got myself physically right. Like was lifting and eating right and doing all these things.

And I just started going on a tear. And then I got that contender series fight. How did that come on your plate? After my return. So I lost, then I won. And then I got that contender series fight. And so now I'm seven and one, and I go to fight this guy, Stoltzfuss, who I broke my arm against.

I mean, did they approach you? Yes. So, uh, they approached my manager. Well, my management approached them with my record. You have a manager that goes, who I've signed with since I was one and L, his name's Lloyd Pearson and I've been with him. He's under Vayner Sports and I've been with him since I was one and L. And he doesn't take people that are that young in their career, but Chandler had initially

done a documentary that was about my life trying to get into the UFC, but it was deleted because we just redid it once the story made sense when I got UFC. But anyway, nonetheless, they saw the documentary Eddie Alvarez I was close with who was in the UFC, former champion. He was a champion in Bellatoria, champion in UFC, fought in one, fought Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor, fucking all kinds of people. Rafael de Sánchez is who we beat to win the belt. So anyway, Lloyd manages Eddie and then that's how that connection happened and then they signed me up 1 and 0. So Lloyd paid for me to go out to Denver.

That's how I got to go out there because I didn't have the money for it. He gave me a car and everything and me and my girl went out there and you know, so, it was a good experience for me. But yeah, so he contacted the UFC. UFC offered me a fight against this guy who was 12 and one, which was Dustin Stoltzfus. I go out there and I fight him. And I had Samor Pisan, I had one of my best friends

at the time in my corner. That was it. I had one real coach. I had no training partners. It was just me and him. And it was during COVID, so yeah, it was bad, it sucked. And so I got out there and I fight and I lost, I broke my elbow, get put in an ambulance,

don't get to meet Dana White, all he posts is like, oh yeah, Joe had a dislocation, he'll be fine, because that's all we thought it was at first turns out I exploded the radial head in my Elbow which was like I can turn my hand like this, but I can't turn my hand like this So now I have I can't power clean. I can't turn my hand. My arm doesn't go straight When I had my first surgery, so before I skipped it I got an ambulance I'm fucking crying, and I'm like, dude, I did 20 years

in this fucking sport to fail. And I remember asking God, like, why? What the fuck am I supposed to learn from this? What is the point? And da da da da da da da. Victim. Victim mentality. And, you know, had I just been patient

and realized that no storm lasts forever, I would be okay. But I went to another dark place again. And I got the first surgery, but they told me, you never fight again. They were like, you're done. You're not fighting again. Like you'll slip the, you'll dislocate it even easier now. Because they had to cut one of the capsules, which I guess is like a saran wrap that holds all your joints and muscles

and ligaments in place or something like that. Could be fucking that up, but that's essentially the idea. So I get the surgery and my arm's like this, literally like this. So, and I do all the therapy and the rehab and all this shit. And I come and I see, I drive to Sam's house and I'm like, look, man, I was like, I'm gonna fucking come back, I'm gonna fight,

I'm gonna fight. And he's looking at me like, what the man, I was like, I'm gonna fucking come back, I'm gonna fight, I'm gonna fight. He's looking at me like, what the fuck Joe? It's not gonna happen. And then I tried to go back, I joined team Marquez, which is where I'm at now. My head coach is John Marquez, Jonathan Webb's my Jiu Jitsu coach, and then I was close with Sean Brady.

I knew Sean Brady since I was 13 years old, and he was 16 years old. And I'd always like stay in contact with him not often, but every now and then we always had a good mutual respect for each other. And I'd been telling them before I lost the contender series that I wanted to make the move over there because I knew I needed a real team. If I was going to make this my career and I needed real sparring partners, real regiment, like we didn't even have an MMA program.

All the way I made it to the UFC. And the way I want all these fights was literally simply hitting pads. Wow. Hardly sparring. Maybe once a week I sparred with Basil Hafez who's in the UFC. I'd spar with him who was a 70 pounder, who I would do very well against.

Um, and it wasn't enough. Wow. I had my best friend at the time that it was only a wrestler who knew no fighting at all. And I would just use him as a drill dummy and that's how I made my first fucking contender series run. Holy shit. No strength conditioning coach or nothing. So look at all these pieces that I didn't have to the puzzle. And that's the other thing that gave me motivation is like once I get these things right I'm going

to go on a fucking terror. Once I get these things right I'm going to go on a fucking terror. So anyway I have the first surgery. I'm fucked up from it. My elbows fucking stuck I have excruciating pain every time I extend it's the worst nerve pain I've ever felt in my life, let alone the surgery itself plus the break worst fucking pain I ever felt and You know all the while I keep telling my girl like You know at that time like I'm gonna make at that time, like, I'm going to make it. I'm going to make it.

I'm going to do it for us. I'm going to do it for us. I promise. I promise. I promise. I promise. So I go and I go back to the same surgeon. I'm like, look, dude, something's fucking wrong.

It takes an x-ray. He's like, ah, there's nothing we can do. Like, you know, if we do any more surgery, like, you're going to have nerve damage. You're going to have fucking, it's going to be loose. It's going to be like flailing around in there every time you punch, which it was. And so I went to this guy named Dr. Tosti, who I'm friends with today, and I fucking love that man,

and he got me back in the fucking cage. And he said, you have a 30% chance of success, and as soon as he said that, as he was talking, I was like, when when let's do it when scheduled at four days later or a week later and Right there in the office and fucking went and did it all over so I was back to square one So I wasted a whole year of therapy and rehab just to go do it all over again Except this time he slit the whole outside again, and he slipped the whole inside and he had to cut the capsule

I had a torn forearm still which is why I was in so much pain for almost a year and Mind you what why having a torn forearm? They're hanging fucking weights off of you and chains and fucking making you do all this shit stretching it while I have a torn form so the pain was fucking I've never felt something like that and So I go get the second surgery and here we go long road to fucking recovery again by the time I was good. I went and joined team Marquez and went over there and I was training with Sean and You know, I got cleared probably two weeks right before I was allowed to fight I

Scheduled a fight when I wasn't cleared and then I got cleared literally two weeks before the fight But two weeks before the fight I break my left thumb off the joint and I already have all these nerves like do I still got it? Am I gonna be able to make it blah blah blah fighting a world team trials rush wrestler? I was supposed to fight a former UFC fighter. His name was Kyle Magalhaes Brazilian and he pulled out of the fight I think he was just a bitch and didn't want to fight because apparently he had a heart issue But then he was eating fucking burgers on his Instagram I don't know what really

went down but yeah I don't know what down went down so they gave me this fucking guy who was Derek Brunson who was also a UFC fighters wrestling coach guy made he was he he didn't make the world team world team for wrestling but he did compete in the world team trials which is a very high you know respectable level of wrestling and mind you he was young in his career He was three and oh four. No, I was seven and one or seven and two But I was out for two years so Yeah, so I go and I have that fight I fucking squeeze my hand into the glove got past the Commission without them

knowing I had a broken hand and I Couldn't throw my left hand all the time in the return fight. But I remember my nerves being the worst they ever were. Scared as fuck like, dude, what the fuck am I doing? Why am I doing this? Like, do I still got it? Like, what the fuck? I went out there and faced those demons and, you know, got the second round knockout and fucked that dude up.

And you know, then my coach told the commentators, he's like, you just did that with a broken hand. And they were taken back by that. And I had my speech about like, I didn't lose that fucking fight. It was a freak accident and I want to get my fucking shot back, I deserve it. And especially after what I've gone through just to get back

here and I said, I knew as soon as I came in here and that bell rang, like that this wasn't fucking over and I'm coming. And shortly after that, you know, they hit up my manager, the UFC, and they said, hey, look, we got another fight for him if he wants to do this. And I think it was August. And when I got the call, I was playing a lot of streetball and I fucking broke my ankle, dislocated my ankle like three

weeks after the fight. So I'm in a boot and they're like, do you want this fight? And I was like, yeah. This is the UFC. The UFC. Yeah. My manager calls me he's like, do you want to take this fight? And I said, well, I'm sitting in a boot, but I was like, fuck yeah, let's do it.

Let's run it back. And it was against a guy who was LFA middleweight champion, used to be a 205 champion. I think he was a two weight champion. I don't remember, but he was like seven one or eight and one, had all knockouts, all finishes, and I was the underdog again. The guy that I was living with, me, my girl, and him, all lived in the same house at that time.

And fucking, when I went away to corner one of my teammates, Andrei Petrovsky, in the UFC, they had done a bunch of showings, and we didn't know they were going to sell the house. Um, but the showings happened while I was away, and then when we got back, he tells me like two, three weeks before, we didn't think we were going to have to move for like months. And he tells me like two, two weeks, three weeks before my fight, yeah, you guys got to find somewhere to live because we're out of here on this date.

Which is Tuesday, I thought, Friday we were kicked out. And I'm like, well fuck, where am I gonna go? I don't have any money, I don't, I don't, you know, whatever. But first things first, I gotta win this fucking fight. And um, meanwhile while that's happening, he fucking overdosed on pills or something. And I remember I found him in his room fucking bugging the fuck out like cross-eyed as fuck I'd never dealt with anybody overdosed in front of my face but I knew something was wrong and I went in the room and I was like yeah I'm gonna go train or whatever and dude was like fucking like couldn't even talk he's like mmm I'm like what the fuck is wrong

with you remember making fun of him like what do you what the fuck are you doing like what the fuck's wrong he's like and then I uh, I'm like, what the fuck is wrong with you? Remember making fun of him? Like, what do you, what the fuck are you doing? Like, what the fuck's wrong? And he's like, uh, like, and then I realized he was fucked up. And I don't till this day, I have no idea what it was. Um, but his parents, I told his parents, I said, look, I can't deal with this motherfucker. You gotta come get him and take him to the hospital. I'm fucking done with this dude. And there was a whole lot of shit leading up to it that I don't care to talk about, but

the dude was just a fuck up. And there was a whole lot of shit leading up to it that I don't care to talk about, but the dude was just a fuck up. And so I go train, whatever, the week before the fight, dude disappears again. First of all, he went to a rehab, and then I picked him up in the rehab and I was like, dude, you know, you'd always talk to me like, what the fuck, bro? Like, why wouldn't you tell me something like this and all that? He said, oh, I'm sorry, all this crap. And then fucking does it again the week.

It disappears and nobody can find him. Overdosed again in a hotel. And then at that point, my attitude was like, I hope you fucking die this time. Because if you're gonna keep fucking taking advantage of everybody that loves you, something I never had, and you have good parents, and you have a good mother, you have a good father, and all you give a fuck about is fucking up every opportunity that was ever given to you, then I don't want

you around me. And then he tried to call me the day before my fight and be like, yeah, I figured you want to hear that I'm alive. And I'm like, bro, honestly, I didn't care if you were dead. And I remember hanging up the phone and being like, fuck off. So then I fought. All the fights sucked ass on that fucking card. There's five fights, 10 fighters.

And I fight. And once again, I'm standing. You know what I thought was fucked up is I'm standing in the fucking room behind the doors. You walk out of these doors and you go right to the cage at the apex. So it's a very big moment. It's very intimate.

You don't have any walkout music. It's very quiet. There's no fans. it's just UFC staff and your fighters, that's it, and the coaches. So you can hear everything. And that was my first environment, like second time trying to do it in this environment, which I kind of liked, but it's a little more intimate. And they're fucking playing on the screen, my arm breaking in front of my face before

I walk out. And I remember just being like, all right, motherfucker. Like, I don't know. I had that victim mentality still. I felt like they were doing it on purpose. I'm like, why the fuck would they play? Why would they have a TV right at the entrance where I can see my fucking armory? Looking back, that's not what they were trying to do.

It's just, you know, telling the backstory as to my journey coming back. So anyway, I go out there, I fight, I fucking knock the guy out. And then I scream at Dana white thank you for the fucking opportunity and I was like sign my shit and I screamed at him and Nobody's ever screamed at Dana so and My coaches were worried that yo motherfucker. You might not get a contract cuz you just cursed at him

And I was the only one that got a contract and he drops the whole B Joe Pfeiffer if you want to get in the UFC. Act like Joe Pfeiffer, B Joe Pfeiffer and it was fun. What did he mean by that? I think it was, the way I interpret it is he knows the story of how I broke my elbow and it was done and I came back and I won a fight and I still asked for a fight and I took it and I came back and I was the only one that was like passionate. I was the only one that was like Relentless like I was gonna fucking get it finished

like I didn't stop try to win the fight like he said like I was trying to fucking smash this dude and I Think he loved the energy afterwards. It was like I was fighting for something much more than just to fight for the win I was fighting for something much more than just the fight for the win. I was fighting for my fucking life. I was fighting for a fucking way to provide for me and my girl and things like that. I think he appreciated that. I think it was just the resilience of my story, the resilience of the journey, not accepting no and going away. I fought and I came back. They promised me a return fight and they didn't give it to me. They said, no, go get one more win.

So I was fucking pissed about that. Came back, got the win, then I get the thing. All the media, basically everybody wrote me to fuck off. One of the most hurtful things about the first fucking loss in the Contender series was I heard sponsors telling people, they were like, yeah, he's fucking done Yeah, I fucking wasted my money on this kid and all this shit and like I didn't hear from they wouldn't answer my texts It's my phone calls. No nothing. I lost so many people through that process you find out who's real when you're at your low and I'm thankful for it again. And

So yeah, I think B Joe Pfeiffer is just the resilience of never accepting the odds So yeah, I think Bjo Pfeiffer is just the resilience of never accepting the odds Not being in my favor and I kept fighting kept fighting kept fighting and I wasn't I wasn't gonna quit so I go out there and I beat a guy I was supposed to lose against on paper, which means nothing and And then I scream at him to give him my fucking opportunity You know, I think that I think that fired him up to like somebody who wants to be here Somebody who's dying to get this opportunity, that's a motherfucker that deserves it. So I think that's why he used me as an example.

And he was very frustrated at the other performances of the night. So it also helped that they didn't do good. And then, yeah. How did that make you feel to get that kind of recognition from Dana White? Man, I was fucking floating on cloud nine. I'd never smiled so much in my life It felt so good to just smile and just be happy of what I've done for once I didn't have that moment before that, you know And even even people on the regional scene like local to home. I don't think that they thought I was gonna make it

I think they knew I had potential before I got hurt but then after that nobody really thought I was coming back. They thought I was done. And so yeah it was it was one of the best feelings in the world and then he wound up flying me out that weekend. So it was cool how things transpired right. So obviously I felt in cloud nine he wound up giving me money to house me for the next you know I told that story for the next year. But then Dana personally flew me and my girl out to Texas for the Amanda Nunes-Joey Anapena 2 fight, I think it was, where she got her belt back. And you know I got to meet Mike Tyson, which was like my favorite fighter of all time. I'm not a

guy that's a fanboy, I don't really care to meet people aside from, honestly, you've probably been one of the people that I'm most excited to meet aside from Mike Tyson. And but I would say this is a lot more meaningful just because of the impact of it. But he was one of my favorite boxers. I grew up watching him. I loved his aura, like the black shorts, the mean mentality, like I really related with that. So he flew me out there. So I won my fight on Tuesday. I flew home in the airport on Wednesday they had already sent me another fight and I accepted the fight in The baggage claim area waiting for my

Fucking bags and it was on my birthday one month later on September 17th So I I flew home Tuesday. I'm sorry. I fought Tuesday, flew home Wednesday, accepted another fight. Thursday, I moved out of the condo that I was in. It works out like I told you with the condo with my strength conditioning coach, Adam Ferris. He owns Pursuit. He's the one that got me fucking yoked now. But that man changed my fucking life too. Bro, every person that I've added has fucking done. They've changed my life. So um Yeah, wednesday I flew home took another fight thursday moved out on friday. I moved into the condo saturday I flew out to the fights and uh,

first time I'd you know ever been able to go to an event that fucking close like sitting right next to right next to Dana right behind him and uh, Yeah, it was a fucking fairytale, man. And even just fucking walking through the title, the fighter tunnel, because I started fighting, I hadn't made my debut yet, so I don't know what any of that's like, but I'm walking out through the tunnel

where the fighters would walk, and people are screaming my name, and saying, yo, Piper, yo, B. Joe Piper, and all this shit. And it was like, damn, that's how fast it changes. And it was just great, you know, to see the smile on my girl's face and the smile on my face. And yeah, it was a true moment to always be proud of and never forget. So it was beautiful.

It was beautiful. That's awesome. And I finally got my chance. That's all I ever wanted was just an opportunity, man. I didn't want anything given to me. I just wanted an opportunity. And I knew I ever wanted was just an opportunity, man. I didn't want anything given to me. I just wanted an opportunity. And I knew that's the kind of performance I could have.

I knew that was the type of breakout I could be because I'm not a character, I'm just me. So there's no sifting through my attitude to find out who the real guy is. I just say how I feel. And what better sport to be in than fucking UFC to say how you feel. I don't have a boss that's like fucking checking in on me or monitoring what I say to a certain

extent like, so yeah. Yeah, so it was cool, man. It was cool. It was really cool. Very grateful and fucking fuck man. Now I could look my girl in the face back then and say, I fucking did it. We fucking did it. And that was the most, man, I'll just leave it at that

so I don't cry like a pussy. That's amazing, that's amazing, man. Mm-hmm. And I get to look at Sam or Pisa in his face after all the time, never charged me a fucking dime, just wanted to see me do better than he did because he got screwed over with some management and some people and things like that.

Like the MMA world did him dirty, but I could look Harmon in the face and say, hey, we've been saying this before everybody else believed. You were one of the only motherfuckers that believed. And then Sam, and then my best friend at the time, and then Chandler, you know, I've been friends with Chandler since I was in high school. So, and then now he look at the time and then Chandler, you know, I've been friends with Chandler since I was in high school So and then now he look at the career. He's got I think he is one of the most gifted people behind the camera And I think his gift is expressing what you don't know how to say

So now he lives a life where he gets to do this shit and make documentaries about fucking stories that are ten times mine How the fuck is that not a fairy tale? Don't hype him up too much or I'm gonna steal him. Take him. He's available. You help him by doing that. Now he's married, you know, he's able to provide, he's got two kids, two beautiful little kids. It's a really cool full circle moment, you know. Is there a driver behind when you're going out there that is to prove your old man wrong?

Not no more. Nothing. Nah. Not even a little bit. He's so far in the rear view mirror, not even a little bit. Fucking A-man, good for you dude. You know why? You know why?

Because this is me. Good for you. I did all this for me and the people that I love and he's not one of them. So he can't be included in that. What's the point in proving him wrong? I already did that. What has he done that's better than me? Not even from a fucking money standpoint, but who has he impacted?

What lives has he changed? What lives has he inspired? I'll say my wrongs. I'll admit my wrongs. I'm a man. I can say what I'm wrong I'll admit my wrongs. I'm a man. I can say what I'm wrong Something he's never done All he's ever been is a victim and that's not me and I refuse to die that way and I refuse to live that way

Because I only get to live once so When I say fuck that guy, it's not I hate you. It's like fuck that guy. Who are you? Yeah, you could sit across from me and even compare You're not a man. So how's your relationship with your girl's parents now? Amazing. Yeah? Amazing. They're awesome.

They're amazing. They're great Christian people. I love her brothers, her sister. They've included me on holidays where that's my tradition, which I used to always hate holidays and now I look forward to it because I get to see her whole family. And yeah, it's very special. They made me a fucking cornhole master. Her brothers used to hate cornhole.

Her brothers got me so good at cornhole now. And you know, it's just the simple things, man. It's the simple things, you know. Even when we- You better marry that one. Huh? You better marry that one. Yeah simple things, man. It's the simple things, you know? Even when we- You better marry that one. Huh? You better marry that one. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

There's a lot of stuff I still want to do. There's a lot of things I want to accomplish before that. But yeah, if I'm going to have kids and I'm never going to get married, that's probably the one. So hopefully I don't fuck it up. What turned it for her, for her parents? I think just realizing the person that I was. They had this stigma about who I was.

And yeah, they had this stigma about who I was and didn't know who I was. They had an idea of what everybody has said, who I am versus who I was. And I was a little douchebag then. She had only had one guy before me and one boyfriend and you know, like I said, grew up super Christian and everything.

So I didn't have to deal with any baggage. I know the girl's not a whore, she doesn't have a past. I don't have to deal with any of that crap. And got a good head on her shoulders. And, but, you know, there was an instance where I just, there was a couple where I just, there was a couple, which I'm not gonna, I'm not even gonna fucking put it out there because I was immature, but, you know,

I used to fucking have a loud car, never fucking pull in the driveway because I felt like they were against me because they didn't want her to ever like, leave her ex at first. And I basically took her from him. So, probably not the way that they wanted it to go. And they also wanted to protect her daughter

and make sure she wasn't getting involved in something bad or with a bad guy. And there's this stigma around fighters that were violent, mean people and all this shit. So I don't blame them. And I also didn't act accordingly to change their minds. I was kind of like this, think what you want of me type shit. I don't need to win nothing over with you

but now it's just I don't know when it changed man, but they just it just clicked one day and I think it's just a realization of like what I was trying to do how I've done it and When I won my contender series fight, you know, I made sure to say that I love the Kakka family and all that. I do. I love them kids. I love her parents. They're very wholesome, great people. And I'm very fortunate to be involved in their family.

What's it like going to Christmas and Easter and Thanksgiving? Oh me. I love it. Did you have any of that as a kid? We had some Christmases. Oh me. I love it. Yeah. Did you have any of that as a kid? We had some Christmases, but the Christmases that we had were always... They weren't as special because you knew how much was going on. You can't really just fake because a holiday comes around that the everyday life isn't

terrible. Yeah. So it wasn't very meaningful for my mom getting abused, me getting abused, my sisters getting abused, to us all faking smiles because we got gifts. Now as kids, we're not faking the smiles, but you know the parents are because you know what's going on. But my mom, like I said, I always give my mom. She's a respectable woman and Like I said despite the absent years that we've had between us

she always worked her ass off and that's where I get my work ethic from and Yeah, you know I hope that she is proud of herself because she did the best that she could in that situation and that she is proud of herself because she did the best that she could in that situation. And she didn't make all the right decisions. And she probably... If you told her that? Yeah, we've had that difficult conversation. You know, I've let her know how she wasn't there

and didn't protect me the way she protected the girls. If you told her that you hope that she's proud of herself? Oh, 100%. I've told her over and over, she should be proud of herself. She still works every single day and goes out there and fucking hustles while that dude sits on his fucking back playing with his dick fucking acting like he's a cripple. But the second you give him something ego driven, he's on it. Guy doesn't have any physical ailments anymore. So, you know, she's probably going to work till the day she dies, which sucks, unless I have a chance to change that one day.

What would you like to see for your mom? I would like her to meet somebody and be happy. You know, I don't think there's anything worse than leaving this place without a significant other. To hold hands with when you close your eyes for the last time. So I think it's a beautiful thing. And, you know, she kinda has a sour taste towards men. I think she's getting much better with it because of me, because not all men are pieces of shit.

By a large margin, I think, you know, it's definitely hard to find a lot of really good men. But I would like to see her meet somebody and be happy. And even if happiness doesn't include a significant other, I just want to see her happy and, you know, enjoy some things. I want her to go do some things. A lot of her life has been dealing with her daughter's troubles because they all have troubles and I've tried to tell her you can help how you can but you're not obligated to. They need to figure it the fuck out. So I just hope she puts herself first sometimes so that's my wish for her.

Put yourself first sometimes. You're 58 years old. Your life shouldn't be fucking dealing with your kids' problems. Joe, I know you got a flight to catch so we're wrapping up the interview but I got just a couple of topics that I want to ask you about. One of them is we didn't get a chance to dive into it much, but you know, you were talking about CTD, traumatic brain injury. That's a lot of stuff that guys from my background deal with. And I know that comes with, you know,

with fighting, with striking football, with everything that you've experienced. And you said that, I think you said that you wanted to have kids in the future, would you want your kids? To fight? To fight. No. It's not the right sport to make the most money. You can go play football, you can go play baseball. The pay grade is so much different.

MMA is going to be on its way there, I hope, in the future, but it'll probably be past my time or at the end of my time. But the pay grade is fucking drastically different. And I wouldn't want to see my kids, like this is a very brutal sport. And when I say it's brutal, it's brutal fan base wise. These motherfuckers are relentless. They'll follow you the fuck around for a year just to insult you. Are you serious? It's that bad? Oh yeah, I'll show you some shit. But yeah, they'll follow you around for a year and tell

you you're a fucking pussy, you suck, oh you're a fraud, you lost my fucking parlay, like anything and everything, salty Joe, poopy pants Joe, oh you talk shit on Mexico, yeah I did and fuck it. You talk shit on Mexico. Yeah, I did fuck it When I stand behind it, so it is what it is, but yeah, I mean Yeah, no, I don't think I would want it. You don't make no money. You don't make no money You're gonna fucking spend 20 years trying to be the best and MMA is gonna evolve so much by the time. I'm done That it's gonna be fucking impossible to get in So I would rather see my kid go and fucking play MLB and make fucking millions or go play in NFL and make fucking millions. I mean, I'm a big sports guy, but yeah, so I don't

think I would direct my kid. I definitely want to teach my kid to defend himself and take no shit from nobody. And he'll definitely learn to fight, but he won't learn to fight in an abusive fucking environment like I did because then they'll resent you, they'll resent the sport. It's honestly that way with a lot of kids even in just simple wrestling. So because the parents try to live through their fucking kids too much instead of just being proud of them and trying to push them. There's a fine line between pushing and motivating and fucking breaking downing. What, uh, uh, what's the fucking word? Uh, discouraging, you know, and, um, you gotta have some positive

reinforcement behind what a child is doing or else they don't want to fucking do it or if you looked into. If you looked into CT and TBI and shit like that, is there any discussion about that in the fight community? About what you're, what you're in for when it's over? When these injuries- No, I've kind of steered clear of it because I don't want to fucking think about it. It's like me getting on a motorcycle and being like, well, you could fucking get smashed in the road. I don't fucking think about it. I do a good job protecting myself for

the most part, but yeah, I'm going to have some form of fucking CTE because of just the training it takes to get to a fight. That's where the real damage is. And, you know, I worry about it when I do think about it. Have you looked at psychedelics at all? Are you aware of what those are doing? Like mushrooms? Mushrooms, Ibogaine. You haven't? I've heard of mushrooms and like my teammate does them. One of my teammates does them, like micro doses and shit like that, but I haven't I've heard of mushrooms and like my teammate does them one of my teammates does them like micro doses and shit like that but I Haven't done it yet. I want to Because I think it'll be helpful. But uh right now I know that uh My boys over and out

They're protecting me against dementia all timers and opening up a few neuro passages Well, let me educate you a little bit if you don't mind Yeah, so this came up on my radar because a lot of you know a lot of from and opening up a few neuro passages. Well, let me educate you a little bit if you don't mind. Yeah. So, this came up on my radar. Because a lot of, you know, a lot of, from explosions, getting blown up, breaching doors, falling out of helos, whatever. You know, a lot of, a lot of CT, a lot of traumatic brain injury.

And so through my interviews, actually this guy, DJ Shipley, who I just, I don't know why I think you should connect with him. He's a fucking animal, but a good friend of mine. Eddie Gallagher brought it up. He was, I don't know if you know, he was a seal. He had brought up psychedelics, caught my ear. Then I interviewed this guy, Marcus Capone, former dev group guy who started this, this nonprofit with his wife wife Amber called Vets.

Interviewed him, started researching all about psychedelics and so at the time Stanford was doing the study on Ibogaine and there were flying in guys that had verified TBIs which you know if you look at it on the imagery whatever whatever the whatever, their whatever imagery they're using, it shows like these black spots in the brain. These guys would fly down there and you know, they're forgetting shit. They're losing their tempers. They're you know, it just fucking changes you, man. It changes who you are, your temperament, your memory, all kinds of your mood, all kinds of stuff.

And they fly these guys down to Mexico because it's illegal here and they do Ibogaine. And then they'd have a rest day and then they'd fly right back to Stanford. In every, I think it was, we'll have to pull from the studies, but everyone that came back, the black spots were gone. Done.

Brain's totally lit up, changes our lives, changes our mood, cures addiction, cures, I mean, I've been drinking over three years now and I didn't even go down there for that. I'm drinking it. But basically, what it does is it replenishes the receptors in your brain, which take the cravings away. So it was like, you know, people congratulate me. Oh, congratulations on three years. So dude, I didn't. It was like a light switch. I just didn't want it anymore. Yeah. Came off Adderall, came off sleeping pills, came off. I wasn't really doing any opiates at the time, but

but it cures it like that and it cures, seems to cure TBI. What is TBI? Traumatic Brain Injury. Oh, okay, okay. So if you're getting kicked in the head, you're gonna have TBI's. Yeah, I've been hit where I've seen, I've never been knocked out,

but I've been hit where I've lost like half vision. I've been hit where I see black spots, I've been hit where I've seen white flashes. So, you you know I may have been doing the sport for a long time my dad dropped me when I was 12 I was still conscious but I think I was like the first like real I'm sure I packed concussions before that from getting stopped but that was the first time I ever got hit and got dropped but yeah I'm definitely I would love to talk to him for sure. Well This is the key. Yeah, giving you the key for your future health is wealth

Yep, so if you don't value your body, you're probably a fucking turd One more question Looking back What would you tell your ten-year-old self? Hold on The rise about to get wild. Just hold on. Just have faith. Hold on.

Don't quit. Life is precious. Life is beautiful. Depending on the perspective you choose to see it through. What lens you choose to see it through. And then there's a really fucking ugly dark evil side to it. And that's why it's super important to people with the company you keep.

And there's always good that you can find and there's always evil that you can find. Both exist. Good is losing. But try to keep it as calm and quiet as you can. Value being in your own home and doing the simple things in life. But hold on, man.

Hold on, don't let go. And don't let anybody discourage you from any idea you have. Go out there and try it, and if it don't work, try the next thing. Just keep fucking trying. Keep trying, keep trying, keep trying. It's like water in a fucking crack.

You'll find a way to break through. And make sure you have something higher than yourself It's like water in a fucking crack. You'll find a way to break through and Make sure you have something higher than yourself to pray to And that being God I Don't think there's any other thing that you should pray to others in God. So he's the one for all of us. I think That's how I'll choose to live my life and all of us, I think. That's how I'll choose to live my life. And, uh, yeah, hold on brother.

But for you, man. Thank you. Well, Joe, it was an honor to interview you, man. And it really is. And, uh, I know this is going to help a ton of people. So thank you for being open. Yes. Thank you for having me on and thank you for being open yes thank you for having me on and thank you for this milestone in my life I can honestly say until this past week

never ever in the fucking million years where I thought I was gonna be able to sit here and talk to you that's pretty fucking and I've been watching this for a while well it's my honor thank you thank you The card. playing me with rapid fire takes and a lot to get to and I'm not sure you're gonna like all of it honestly I don't even care if you like all of it or not I have a job to do scorching debates on any given week you have lots to beef about ticket manager but get up in here he's the Spitfire of sports smack she's not my fault we will get to all of that the Jim Rome show podcast get up in here and we'll beef later on what's your beef follow and listen on your favorite platform you've been warned