The Ariel Helwani Show - Darren Till, Maven Huffman in studio, Benoit Saint Denis, Bryan Battle, Modestas Bukauskas, UFC Paris recap

Episode Date: September 8, 2025

Ariel Helwani is back, starting with his reaction to UFC Paris and specifically Nassourdine Imavov’s big win over Caio Borralho (07:45).Benoit Saint Denis discusses his flawless performance against Mauricio Ruffy in Paris, bouncing back in a big way after the lows of 2024, wanting to fight Mateusz Gamrot, and more (23:10).Darren Till returns with thoughts on the state of the influencer boxing scene, potential fights against Andrew Tate and Jake Paul, his continued feud with Carl Froch, and more (51:47).Bryan Battle calls in to reveal details of his recent PFL signing, then talks about wanting to compete in the promotion’s tournament and his fears after being released by the UFC (1:27:05).Maven Huffman joins Ariel in-studio to tell stories from his WWE career, discuss his meteoric rise as a YouTube creator, whether he’d work with any wrestling promotions in the future, his upbringing, and more (1:48:35).Modestas Bukauskas rounds out the day by recapping his win over Paul Craig, including his reaction to Paul’s retirement, and looking back at his early life as a basketball player (3:12:01).

Ladies and gentlemen, now, welcome to the Eria, Hawaii Show. Back in your life on this Monday, September 8, 2000. And 25. Hello again, everyone. I sure hope you're doing well. hope you had a lovely weekend if you are watching us live yeah we're a little late yes sometimes we go five and a half hours nbd all right in the end it's all the same if you're watching us after the fact or listening to us after the fact uh you have no idea what i'm talking

about and that's all well and good it is so good to be here on a monday afternoon around some parts of the country they're calling it a victory monday and look i understand i respect and i appreciate the fact that you guys come here for combat sports talk. And I appreciate also the fact that you may be a fan of other sports. And I also appreciate the fact that you're probably not, chances are, a fan of my favorite sports teams. I get that. But, you know, sometimes I come on here after a devastating playoff loss, i.e. like the one that happened back in late January or there was a really bad one in May. And I'm all somber and sad. And I feel, I feel like I'm doing you a disservice. I feel like I'm letting you

down when I come on the program, oh, I'm sad, lamenting my choices in life, but you have Mondays like this, you have nights like last night, you have nights like last night where your team, the Bills of Buffalo led by that man, are down 40 to 25 with less than four minutes to play, an all-time, classic, the odds of them winning.01%. And they pull off one of the all-time great upsets, one of the all-time great comebacks, Maybe the greatest comeback in Buffalo Bill's history since the greatest playoff comeback back in 1993 against the Houston Oilers. What a scene it was at Orchard Park. I stayed up the whole way through.

I had the receipts. I was posting online. The whole freaking way, I never gave up hope. Told my kid to go to bed. Feel horrible about it. Woke him up this morning. Told them they lost. Showed him the highlights.

And then slowly but surely I saw the hope come back to him. It was a beautiful thing. It was an amazing thing. Bill's 1-0 to start season. An incredible, and I'm not going to blame this on the Ravens. I'm not going to do the Pacers thing and say this is a choke job. I'm not going to do the Reggie Miller thing in the type. No, no, no, no.

That's just Josh Allen being Josh Allen. That's just the MVP doing MVP things. That's the best player in the league, doing what he does best, willing his team to the top. And that's Matt Prater, 41 years young. Join the team late Thursday night with the kick of the century. I mean, what a time. High Mark Stadium.

Send-off season. Something special. on Sunday morning. Something in my bones is telling me this is it. Bills, Knicks, I die in peace and you'll never have to hear from me again, at least when it comes to those teams. I won't even watch sports again. Bill's Super Bowl in February, Knicks championship in June, I'm done. I retire. Going to the game this Sunday at MetLife, can't wait. Great, great weekend. I'm in a great mood today because we have a great show and a great weekend of combat sports to talk about. The UFC was in Paris, an incredible show, historic show.

Nine KOs slash TKOs. That's a record. Eleven stoppages total. Two subs. Tied for the most ever. Solid main event. Nassal D. Imov. Punching his ticket maybe to the number one contender spot.

We shall see. We have a lot to discuss. Now, in about 20 minutes time, Benoit Saint-Dinia is going to join us to talk about his incredible win over Mauricio Huffy. What a difference a year makes for BSD. Unbelievable. a year ago, round almost exactly a year ago.

He's losing his second in a row. He was my pick for breakout fighter of 2024. He ends up having a nightmare year, losing twice, once to DP, the other to Moikano, 0 and 2 against ATT fighters, and now he might be in the running for perhaps comeback fighter of the year. He wins on Saturday. Very, very impressive, very dominant performance,

derailing Risha Hofia. A tough night for the fighting nerds, Kayao Bahaliyo losing in the main event to Imov, 50 to 45, 49, 46, whatever. It was pretty one-sided. So we'll talk to BSD about that. Darren Till's going to join us at 2 Eastern to talk about his big win

a little over a week ago. Misfits 22. He's tweeting all kinds of things about who might be next, Top Mong. I don't know who he's talking about. Is he talking about Andrew Tate? Is he talking about Mike Perry? is he talking about

Tommy Fury? I don't know but always great to catch up with the Darden at 2 o'clock Brian Battle has signed with the

PFL the professional fighters league what a month for him less than a month ago he was in the

UFC about the fight on the pay-per-view card 319 doesn't make weight gets cut fights in DBX

and now has signed with PFL I think he should fight on the Nantes card at the end of the month, he probably isn't going to do that, but the butcher back in France makes all the sense of the world. We'll talk to him about how this all went down. At 3 o'clock, my friends, I cannot wait to talk to Maven Huffman, the winner of the first ever season of Tough Enough, the

WWF, it was then known as WWF slash WWE reality show, had a four-year run in WWE, fell in some hard times, and about two years ago, a little over two years ago, started up a YouTube channel, and he has now become perhaps the biggest baby face in the biz. Everyone loves him. Everyone adores him. His YouTube channel is on fire. People love his YouTube channel. And so I'm looking forward to having him on in studio, an incredible, incredible talent

who does a great job of talking about the business, talking about stories, just a great storyteller. It's amazing to see what he's turned into. And really, no one says a bad word about this guy. Everyone seems to love him. In a business, in an industry where it's very divided, it's very tribal. Maven seems to be Switzerland. We'll talk to him about that.

And then Modestis Bukascus is going to stop by to talk about retiring Paul Craig on Saturday, the Baltic Gladiator, the pride of Lithuania and England. Huge win for him. And what a run he's been on as far as his return to the UFC is concerned. Are we all good with the stream? Is everything okay? Oh yeah We're looking good

Feeling good Yeah there's the five pack Well thank you to everyone For your patience It's great to be here Let's get into things This is the This is the list of results

From this past Saturday The UFC was back in Paris Akor Arena Imov with the big win Over Kayo Bahalio Like I said BSD over a hoofi

Bukascus Retiring Paul Craig Mason Jones With a big comeback win The Axel Sola stoppage was awful, really, really bad. Reese McKee deserved better. I thought it was a horrible stoppage. Very premature. William Gomi with the win as well.

Umarcy had a great win. The crowd going crazy for him. Antidellia, some five years after he was supposed to debut in the UFC, winning a PFL contract, teaming up with the Aspinall's. Great win, great moment for him. Defeating Marcin Tibera. You feel for Harry Hardwick, he takes a fight on. in less than a week's notice, he moves up a weight class, Cage Warriors guy, comes into the UFC, gets absolutely battered by Cayu Fernandez. Sam Patterson has the longest active first-round stoppage streak

currently in the UFC. Doesn't really look the part, but he's devastating and on quite a run, four in a row now, for Sam Patterson in the first round. Robert Breitich with the win. Fakhredinov, Renat Fakhredinov, defeating Andreas Gustafson and Sam Hughes,

got things started with a submission win over Shauna Bannon in the Curtin Jerker. Sometimes on this program, I lament the fact that the UFC doesn't come out and say definitively, this fight is a number one contender fight. Sometimes they come out and say, oh, if this guy looks good, if this guy looks dominant, if this guy does it, whatever it, Whatever it is, they kind of like hold the cards close to their vest. They try to not back themselves into a corner. And prior to this fight, which we all thought was going to be a number one contender fight, they never came out and said it was going to be a number one contender fight.

Boholio is weighing in before the Hamza DDP fight as the backup, which sometimes, not always, but sometimes is a sign that like you're right there. Nasser Dien is making fun of him but it seems for the longest time that these are the two guys who will fight and they will determine the number contender. Along the way because they hadn't fought in so long

here comes RDR and here comes Fluffy Hernandez and Dana White essentially said like it's between these four I don't typically like that but now you kind of understand why they do that because I'm not saying Imov

isn't going to do excuse me, I'm not saying Imavov isn't going to get the title shot, isn't going to be next for Hamzad. He has certainly done enough. He has won five in a row, it's against quality opposition. He was very, very dominant against Kayo Bahalio. But what I'm saying is, if Fluffy Hernandez and or RDR do something spectacular on October 18th in Vancouver, British Columbia, I would not be surprised if they get the shot over Imovov. Because the imov win felt bigger. If that fight was at the apex, he'd be in trouble. It felt bigger and more exciting because he was in Paris and that crowd is just absolutely unbelievable.

They continue to raise the bar. But it lacked the excitement, the highlight real finish that perhaps the UFC was looking for. If Fluffy or RDR pull that off in Vancouver, I would not be surprised if either of them leapfrog imov. Does anyone disagree with me? Not even a little. Not even a little. I think you both said that exactly at the same time. we tend to do that it's it is bizarre you're in sync yeah we're in sync tell me rick why uh the performance

was by imovov was flawless right like it did it felt like there was only one moment where the momentum could have changed and it was in that after that third round where kayo had uh i think the clearest win uh one round felt like okay if he can turn it on and take four then maybe he has so momentum heading into the end of this fight imov shut that down won the fourth round in my opinion, and it never felt like Kyle really ever got started. We can kind of talk about whether the weight cut or anything like that was a factor. But having said that, it was a masterclass, but it was not the performance that if I'm sitting there as Dana White or the UFC going, I must give this guy a title shot. And I say that all because this is no disrespect to Imov

or the body of work that he's done. I think his resume is the best at middleweight outside of Hamza Tshamayev. If the win over Israel to Sanya did not get you the title shot, certainly this was not more impressive than that, right? Certainly, this was not the one that you all of a sudden open your eyes and all of a sudden you've discovered Naserdinia Mavov. This was not that one. This was a counter striking technical masterclass. So to me, the door was left wide, wide, wide, wide open for absolute savages in Fluffy Hernandez and RDR to steal that title opportunity and earn that opportunity just based on the fact that they have the momentum right now and the fans are going to want to see that performance. Pete, you agree?

Yeah, absolutely. Like, it doesn't really, I don't think our feelings come into this at all, to be honest, because it's not how we feel. This is what the UFC have been rewarding guys. Like, this is how they have been doing it. It's about being spectacular. Like I can tell you, I had three phone calls from professional fighters in the UFC yesterday, talking about how blown away they were by him of off and how technically sound he is

and how they love how he sets his body up before he throws a single strike. He's always in the right place. That's not really what the UFC are. in this day and age. They want big, spectacular moments and that's why it's still open here. We're not trying, again, as Rick just said, this is no way of critique of Imov's ability. He's absolutely brilliant. As I said, his own peers are waxing lyrical about what he did to Barlow in this main event, but that's just not what the UFC incentive was. They want the biggest exclamation mark you can get. So I agree with you. I think it's fully on the plate here for the

two lads in October to take away from him of off. It's not. not the meritocracy way, but it is the UFC way. G.C., just to be very clear, I would not be upset. I think he deserves it. I think he's done enough. I just think he left the door open, right? Yeah, if Dana White came out and announced that Imov was going to get the title shot, I wouldn't be shocked, and I wouldn't be upset about it either. Obviously, his credentials back up him getting a title shot. But Dana White opened the door when he made the announcement and said that it's either going to be between these two or the RDR Fluffy Hernandez fight, and then Imov's performance on Saturday left that door even more open for two guys.

guys whose fighting style lends to exciting moments, lends to finish his, lends to those big, giant moments. And now that the door is open, I think they're going to capitalize on that next month in Vancouver. Yeah, and the timing works out, right? Because it's a little over a month away, so it's not like we have to wait very long. The champion just fought, so it's not like he's itching to get back in there. All three of these fights happening around, I don't know, less than two months of each, almost exactly two months, because I think the last one was August 19th, if my memory serves me correct. And this is October 18th. Anyway, point being, I think, again, I just want to be very clear. He has done

enough. He has won five in Rogan's quality opposition. There are a couple of eye pokes here and there. There's a little bit of that. But ultimately, like, Boholio just didn't have anything for him. You do wonder, Pizzi, on this Monday's Bohalio kicking himself for the weight cut in August. This was mentioned. Imov was poking him, right? He was saying, you're an idiot. Why did you do this? even Sean Strickland himself who has trained with Kyle Bahalio with a tweet insinuating the same feelings

Kyle's my buddy but he's an idiot okay he trained with us and was useless me what's wrong with you Kyle I'm cutting I'm an alternate so you're giving up four weeks of your camp cutting weight twice while having a fight coming up

whoever told you to do that please hit him not fire him just hit him what do you think of that PT yeah no absolutely and look anyone who spent any time around Foyer is cutting weight will understand how much of these guys

deplete themselves. It seems completely counterintuitive to do this to your body before a massive fight. If you've ever been around someone that's cutting weight, it is the closest to death that most people can get while still being alive. So I think it absolutely had an impact. And look, it's not only Kyo when you come away from this event because obviously Huffy had the bad result as well. I feel like people are using this as a kind of a stick to beat the fighting nerds with. I've seen this kind of thing before with SBG over the years when you are the hot gym that everyone's talking about. When you do hit a poor patch of form, people tend to turn on you very quickly. We know what the online fan base is like in MMA. I think I think Kyle would

have wanted to do a lot more in that fight. But again, as we've been saying since the start of this show, I think we're overlooking how good Imovov was, how ready he was for everything that Brallow was going to come to him with. He was perfectly set up to throw strikes at all times. He had his body in perfect positions over the 25 minutes. He made it very difficult for him. But if you're going to tell me that cutting weight to that extreme had no impact on this performance just a month before they took to the cage in Paris, I have some magic beans to sell the Ariel.

It's a little bit of a weird one, right? Because he had the number one contender fight for all intents of purposes a couple of weeks later. So did he only do it for the extra 30K, 40K? Like, they're not giving you 100K. So why did you do it? You had the fight. Guys like Volkinovsky have done this to try to secure the fight, right? He had the fight.

So I don't understand why he did this. Because you want to impress the bosses. You want to keep them happy. Certainly that. I agree with PT 100%. And also, as we have seen, this is not the fight. It wasn't the fight. It could have been the fight, but it was not the fight.

So without that guarantee, guarantee, I think you just have to stay in as good standing as you possibly can with the UFC. Because as Pizzi laid out, right, the game is now a political game and a spectacular game. Like, you have to put on the spectacular performance. So I think Kyos put himself in good position to at least get a nice rebound fight and then maybe put himself back there. But I agree with you. Maybe the risk was not worth the reward. But I also think, like, Nassardine wins that fight every time. Like, that style is just a bad one for Kyle. And I think Nassardine can do that every single time they would fight.

Who was the star of UFC Paris? Other than you with your refereeing, GC. Amazing job against. I mean, we talk about Herzog, we talk about Dean. It's constant fuck up. You never fuck up. It's crazy. I, like, made a post on Instagram, and I think people are starting to comment, like,

actually thinking I'm that guy. It's unbelievable. Great calls. It's getting way too many likes now, and, like, a bunch of people that don't follow me are commenting being, like, good shit on Saturday. I'm like, no, not actually. Does anybody know the ref's name? What is his name?

It's like Brett's... Connor Brooks. It's, uh, I had his name. I follow him on IG. He's got it. He's a great follow on Instagram. Is he? One of the best reps.

What is he offer? What does he offer up on Instagram? Pictures of him reffing. Octagon shows, local European shows. I mean, he's only there for the, for the Europe and the Abu Dhabi cards. That's why he's so great, man. Benoit Saint-Dinie is, is the star of the night. Lucas Bosaki.

Yeah, Lucas Bosaki. Oh, Lucas Bosaki. Legend. of, I do believe, Polish fame or definitely Eastern European? It's a good-looking guy, that's all I know. Benoit Saint-D, right? Why BSD, Rick?

I think it was one of the bigger spots, right? It was a huge opportunity. It was one of these opportunities that it felt like he was kind of being served up and maybe in the same way that Dustin Porre once was being served up against him. And he turned, and Dustin was able to turn the tables. In this scenario, BSD was the one who kind of corrected the record, let everybody see what that there's levels to this game. and that he's on a different level.

So for me, he was the biggest star in the biggest spot. I will say I've seen a lot of people kind of piling on fighting nerds, a lot of people piling on Hoofie. It wasn't too long ago. You go back a few months, and BSD was in the same spot that Hoofee was. Everybody's going, oh, this guy is trash, he's overrated. Was he a fraud? And now look at him.

Now he's back on top. So I think there's still plenty of life in Hoofie and opportunity for him to kind of come back. But for me, that BSD was the star of the next. Also, I sort of feel like Carlos Pratchez gets a spinning back elbow knockout two weeks ago when everyone's like, fighting nerds are back. Yeah. Yeah, it's also funny how like anything that becomes popular, people automatically hate it. Ah, these guys.

Like they were the darlings, but now they start losing all the haters come out for it. I'm with Rick. I say BSD. Just the dominance that he showed. Who if you had nothing for him. And what about that celebration? The celebration is. Cellie was hard.

Heart terrifying, part exhilarating. Hit the bang and then hold out the extra pistol to fucking finish the job. He knew where the hard cam was, but it's like it felt like he felt like he was. went to a dark place that he went to another another life there with that. It was all too real. It was it was damn impressive. What about you, Pizzi? Because there were a lot of your boys there. A lot of

the guys that you've been following and covering for a long time from the European team. Yeah, I mean, it was just great fights. I think Rick put it perfectly that BSD basically had his porre moment against Hoofee, which was quite ironic. I was all over whofy had to lead up to this fight as the lads, no.

Apologies, boys. Look, I think he didn't win Paul Craig's retired and that's a guy that's given me a lot of time over the years. He's been in the USC for nine years. I remember him during his first UFC contract. He lost a fight and suddenly he was like, yeah, I'll just retire if I don't win the next one. And it was this kind of defeatist kind of attitude. And when you're interviewing, you're kind of like, this guy has one foot out the door.

He completely rededicated himself to fight. And obviously this is why he's lasted so long. he's had some of the some amazing wins he's beat three ufc champions showgun he's beat ankeloyff and he's beaten jemal hill and jemal hill the win over him was like a masker that was a crazy crazy fight and look he's beloved in scotland and he also he also humanized fighters in in this part of the world a lot more than people will give him credit for this guy was a school teacher he was uh incredibly intelligent like he was uh he was always put forward on these BBC shows and the people that could understand them, I know your audience sometimes struggled with

the Verdeus, his brogue, Ariel, but very, very intelligent guy. So I think that was one of my big takeaways from the night. Mason Jones had an absolutely unbelievable fight with Balaji Oki, Oki from Belgium, highly touted prospect, drops Jones, Jones comes back and bludges his way to victory, elbows from Mount, finished the job there. But just so many great fights, obviously not a great night for the Irish, Reese McKee, so for the lost Axel Sola, I agree with it was a bad stoppage solo one of the highly touted prospects from France he kind of reminds me of

where Tom Dukinwa was back in the day he's that guy that everyone's really hot on from the scene so Reese's taking that fight in short notice and I felt like he had the fight exactly where he wanted it going into the tour to end like that I'm sure he's very disappointed and of course Sean Abannon lost earlier on as well so not a great note for the

Irish but I'm sure we will be back as always yes sir the fighting Irish let us talk to one of those big winners and according to several of us on the program, the biggest winner of the evening. And I say evening. It was the evening in Paris afternoon here in America. I do hope they do more of these. Probably not during college football season, but an afternoon card like that on a Saturday is just what the doctor ordered. He comes back after a tough 2024 wins in Montreal and then back home in France,

an absolute dominant performance against a stud that a lot of people were excited. about, but he is very much back in the title picture, if you ask me. He is the one and only Benoit Saint-Denie, kind enough to join us on this Monday evening. Fadicitation, Benoit. Thank you very much for the time. Congrats on the win. Thank you very much, I. I'm really happy to be back. Oh my gosh, you are back in a very big way. Have you had a chance in the last two days, Benoit, to think, like, this time last year, I know it was late September of the Paris Show, how different your life was, because that was the Moikano fight, a forgettable 2024. Now, Look look at the difference the year makes for you,

Montreal and then this win, all of a sudden you're all the way back in people's eyes. Yeah, it's a tough course. You have to keep faith in what you are doing at all time despite being tested in every aspect of the game and every aspect of the mentality that this game is asking you to keep as high as possible, as much time as possible. And like I say, 2024 was a tough year,

but I learned really a lot from this year. First of all, humility on getting back to being the stud I was when I tried my MMAC career in 2019 and stop special forces for, 400 dollars fight to start my MMA Pro Carriers being back to be

the soul in the approach of the fight in having a great coach and believe in him and in what I'm doing day after day to get as good as I can and getting back to the basics

fighting as much as possible and winning as much as possible, no matter who is against you. You mentioned keeping the faith, Benoit. Did you ever lose face? Did you ever feel like you were never going to get back to the guy who was doing so well in 23? No, because I knew I made very huge and bad mistakes for my two fights, the one against Dustin. Obviously, I got there with a lot of tension between myself and my former coach.

And the human values were not anymore the same. We were not connected anymore. And it's very hard to fight hard and to concentrate on what you have to do. When the relationship of such an importance for a fighter is very bad. A training camp to go as smooth as possible because what you do in a training, training camp is already hard enough to put yourself in a bad spot if your life is not good and your mental health is not good around you when you are doing it and for the moikano fight i coach myself which is the biggest mistake i made i did the the baddest first front of my

entire career because yeah I had no strategic approach to the fight and I thought I learned enough but I forgot that I'm just a newcomer in the sport and that with a beginning

in 2019 you cannot coach yourself and I think no matter who you are and the experience you have you can never really coach yourself you have to have a good stuff around you with that shares the same value and that goes in the same direction with the same goals.

So you can concentrate on your mission and on what you have to do inside the fight, which I was able to do last fight, and especially this fight, because now it's been six months I'm working with Nicholas Hott and the work is starting to pay off. Yes, and in a very big way. to have the Moikano fight in Paris and go the way in which it did and now a year later to have this moment back in Paris

did you feel like you appreciated it more to be celebrated to be showered with love the way in which you were did it feel different than your other ones in France because you went through last year like I say

the experience has been huge for me it has been giving me a lot because no the pressure is off because I have a different approach to pressure No, I see pressure as a privilege, not anymore as a way I have to do things. I really see it as if you have pressure, it's because you have stuff on the line and that your fight is important for the people you are fighting for the MMA world.

And it means it's huge. and it's a privilege to be in such a position. You have to enjoy it. You don't have to put pressure on yourself. It's just a privilege. Enjoy your time there as much as you can. You have been working out to get at this position of having those high pressure fights

with a lot of expectation on yourself, on your staff, on everything. So just enjoy the journey and enjoy the process. And yeah, then everything will go, we'll do and will go good for you and for your family, your stuff, your friends, and everybody's expectation. Hoofee was on a role. A lot of people were excited about him. You absolutely dominated him, neutralized him, took him down at will, submitted him. You were obviously confident going into the fight, but did you think it would be that one-sided, that dominant? I was really confident in myself because I really am back in the version

I had when I started MMA in 2019 I really enjoy putting myself in difficult spots in the training room and with Nicholas Aud what is good for me is I have the opportunity to spa as much as I want with Nasur and you know being able to spar with one of the best middleweight if not I do believe the best middleweight on the planet makes it really exciting to go to training and to test

yourself and having this quality of sparring partners there and the quality of coaching with Nikola is huge for me and I enjoy the process to be The sole day on just wanting to become really the best fighter in the world and not looking at anything else anymore. I mean, 2004, things got big and I was not able to manage pressure. I had the lack of humility, I do believe, and of clarity in my head. I was looking on stuff outside the fight because when fight are getting this huge, you get opportunities and you can lose a bit yourself.

I do believe I have lost myself doing that year, doing too many stuff and not concentrating on the real goal of a fighter, fighting as much as you can and winning as much as you can and becoming the best fighter and the best version of yourself as possible. And that's only go through work, it doesn't go through media. doesn't go through shining. It only goes through hard work and dedication to this game.

I saw the former UFC lightweight champion Isam Ahachev tweet that Maricio doesn't have any grappling skills. Do you agree with that assessment or is it just, you were just so much better than him on the ground? I mean, you don't get to number 15

position in this weight class. without skill but I think the fight went my way because I worked very hard to get those positions and I have been getting better and

yeah I cannot wait to get other opportunities to show that it's a fight with Benoit Sandini that makes you look like that you recently welcomed a new baby into this world right like about a month or so ago yeah exactly congratulations thank you very much a boy right yeah exactly yeah my my wife my wife was very courageous um it's always out for the family uh during training game because we don't see each other um as much as we would like to um i didn't see my son for

one month but I enjoy the three first day of his life and then I want on my mission to get that win. Wow, so when was he born? He was born exactly one month before the UFC Paris fight. Wow, and so you saw him for three days and then where did you go? I go to Paris to We have my three weeks training camp with Nicolas in Paris and with Nassau and Gomez. How difficult was that to not be able to see him? Yeah, it's always difficult, but it's a life of a fighter and you have to make sacrifice if you want to get the job done. And at the end of the day, what will be remembered and your family will suffer.

a lot more of the defeat with those high pressure fights if you don't do your job correctly, it's always bad stuff for your family

and your friends, so it's better to get the job done and to do the sacrifice you need to do. I mean, you probably don't need any more motivation at this point, and you have a daughter, right? yeah exactly but did you feel like the the birth of your son gave you any extra motivation any energy going into the fight because it was so close to the fight did you feel any sort of difference

after he he was born i it's it's always a huge moment of happiness but i have to say you don't sleep for three days but it's a huge moment of happiness and uh um motivation is um I don't need this for motivation, but it's just pure joy and family and my life outside of my fight career is the most important thing for me as well. So everything is just pure happiness and it's the way of life we have chosen with my. My wife, though we know those moments can happen, but we enjoy each other even more because we know the sacrifice and we put in to have the job done. I love it. He's got a long ways to go, but do you want your son to be like you? Do you want him to be a fighter?

I don't know. I want him to enjoy his life and to give him the best education possible to make him a good. man in this world and an happy man. Fair enough. You did say in the post fight, Gamrod, Hooker, you mentioned a bunch of the big names. Now that you've had a couple of days,

who do you think will be next? Who do you think will be offered to you? Yeah, like I said, I'm honored and privileged to be in this division. There are so many enjoyable fights for me. Anybody inside the top ten will be a great opportunity

Yeah, I mean, like you say, there are a huge name out there and I want a huge fight, of course, but I do believe I'm going back to fighting as much as possible and I want to win as much as possible and I will accept any opportunities. The UFC is giving me to fight somebody inside this top 10. I saw also from Mateus Gamrod on social media. He said, I was close yesterday and waited for reaction, but it was silence.

If you want to smoke, let's go in December, Benoit-Saint-Dunee. Do you like that idea, December? Yeah, I mean, finally he found the pen. I signed him for the ATT because I know I have been writing the address good. So I don't know how he lost that paid for Paris. but yeah of course matthews gamorat is a is a very talented fighter

young fighter he is in the top ten since a long time he will be a great fight like I said anybody they give me in the top ten and as soon as possible I get that opportunity I'm ready to

to step up and you know I'm even looking at physye from Oliver so if somebody gets injured But, you know, I do really believe I'm back to the version. I want to fight as much and win as much as possible.

And, yeah, I'm looking for opportunities. Let's see what the UFC is going to work for me. And, of course, like I said, I'm honored to be there at this placement. And anyone they give me, I will prepare it hard and be ready for it. That you did this, that you did after the submission. Who is that directed to? I just, you know, I want to, yeah, the MMR world is crazy. You are the best fighter in the world one day, the day after you can be considered as a fraud and vice versa, you know.

It goes the other way as well. So, yeah, just to remind that. the top 15 of this division is hard and anybody that makes it there will be very hard to take out. And also the celebration, I have to say, it felt like, talking about

the old Benoit, do you know that that camera was on you? You know what I'm talking about when you did this right here? Like you're going right at the camera, straight down the barrel so to speak, maybe a sort of signal to your old days. Did you realize that you were looking right at the camera there?

I don't know, but maybe with I don't really remember how well I know is I did like it's a transition work you do a lot you shoot with your I have 15 and then you transition to your Glock and yeah

it's just a basic tactics stuff you train when you are in the military and yeah just a moment of joy and I let to I had to let it go

away on another. So was that kind of like a nod to your, to your, your friends, your colleagues in the military? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We do that a lot and yeah, it's a little like a wink to the time I was in the French. By the way, are you surprised by the crowds? Like, now it's become a thing, but every time there's a show in France, I'm blown away by how passionate the crowds are. Were you expecting all of this when the UFC finally came or is this surprising you as well how great they are?

I'm really blessed to be there every year and the crowd is crazy. You know, it's the same spirit as this crowd is when Pesier is playing during

Champions League or when France is playing for rugby or football. French crowd is really passionate and around his people and this is why they are also very demanding and like you say our media is as crazy as the crowd is crazy so when you win you are getting put over the sun and when you lose it goes very fast as well because there's so much love around the French fighters, around the clubs, and around the French sports, that the expectation are

very high from the people. They like to celebrate, and it's the way it is, and I love it. I really, like I said, it's a privilege to be there every year, and I enjoy my moment. Two more things. I saw that you were in a celebrity football match in Monaco. How did you do? I did okay I did okay because

I did play a little bit when I was little so I did okay but I don't think I did as good as Cyril. Seril Gan has been playing for a long time football and then basketball I think he has more football in him than I do but I did okay how do you think he does against Tom

To be honest, I think we are going to finally have our first French UFC champion. I think Cyril, I've been talking with him. I have been taking more time with him this year than the past years, talking and training. And yeah, I think he's ready. and I think he has this fire inside him of wanting to become champion and working out since a long time he's not talking a lot

this past month but he has been doing a real good job and he has been working hard and I do believe he's an exceptional athlete even for the heavyweight division And on five rounds, I do believe he's going to beat Thomas Pinal. And I cannot wait to see it because, of course, it's going to be tactical on very high-level stuff. But I do believe CERILA can do it and you will.

Wow. All right. Well, I look forward to that. That's next month. For now, again, congratulations. Felicitation to you and your family. most importantly on the new edition, the great win, everything you've done this year.

I think you might be the comeback fighter of the year after what happened last year. Now you're right back in the mix, Benoit. So again, enjoy it. Congratulations. Well done. And thank you for joining us. Thank you very much, Aya. Okay.

All the best. There he is. Benoit Saint-Denie, the god of war. One of the most exciting fighters to watch in the UFC. Really, it's like killer be killed with him. It's never boring. it's either going to be, you know, a couple of losses, but for the most part, it's been a lot of dominant wins. And he's back on track with a win back in Montreal in May and then this past

weekend against Hufi. And again, everyone's going to talk about, like, Hufi will be fine. He just fought a really tough guy on his home turf. Bohalio will be fine. People lose an MMA. People lose an MMA and they win a couple and all is forgotten. Look no further than this gentleman. What were they saying about him after the Porier lost? What were they saying about him after the Moycana lost? He looked broken. He looked broken. And he has shed some light on the training situation, and that could do it.

But look, look what a massive difference just a few months can make. Big prediction there. He's backing his guy. What a smart idea from the UFC to do the press conference for the Abu Dhabi card on Friday in Paris in front of that raucous crowd. They were unbelievable, and they were giving it to Tom, and they should give it to Tom. That's what you should do. The Irish crowd gave it to José Aldo. I joked rude.

I was kidding, of course. They're backing their guy. I thought it was brilliant. It made the fight bigger. It added a little spice to it. In case you missed it, here's a great little compilation of how they were treating Tom on Friday evening. I mean... I mean, there was nobody else to fight.

I'll just like, Cyril, you just do your thing, man. You just do your thing, I'll just chill. Oh, it was amazing. Every time he spoke, it was that. If someone asked him a question, the media guy got booed like that. It was absolutely brilliant. The face-off was great. Both guys looked gigantic.

Look at these guys. Behemoths. John who Look at these guys Look at Surreal Mick Wake up Look at surreal

Look at that Look at that neck tat Yo These are big boys I don't care what any It should be Volkov No it shouldn't be Volkov All right

This is the fight we've wanted And Tom already beat Volkov Ah so good So good to have it there so good to have it there loved it there there there was another clip right of uh i think tom being asked about john jones let's play that one you were originally supposed to fight john jones for the belt now it's cyril so my question is simple considering that jones is nearing the end and serial is in his prime who do you consider the biggest test right now

Cyril's a guy I'm fighting so he's the biggest test right now John Jones is retired so I don't really have much to say on that to be honest so I'm fighting this guy and this guy's really good so I'll be as ready as I can be Is he retired though

Is John Jones retired Because I saw him yesterday Now this is a great clip He was at the MTV VMAs Should be told I didn't even know the VMAs were still a thing Frank Did you know the VMAs were still a thing I knew the VMAs were still a thing

Yeah Sabrina Carvin had a great performance the video music awards who comes out with a music video anymore chapel roan had a great performance last year yeah come on chapel what are you what are you talking about the only music videos i watched these days are ice man courtesy of uh drizzy tree you know what i'm talking about right what you're talking about the 90 minutes streams i mean a work of art anyway uh i didn't know but but i saw a clip of john jones and then i was like wait i i recognized the person talking to him i recognize the voice and then we looked at where it came from and john was on the red carpet talking to his long time publicist Denise White, who does a great job. She's been with him for a very long time.

And I don't know if it's because he didn't want to talk to anyone or no one wanted to talk to him, but I thought it was a little bit weird that he was just answering questions as if it was a media interview on the red carpet. Anyway, some things were addressed, the main one being that John isn't retired and the main one being that he wants to still fight on this White House card. Now, to me, and I'll play it in a moment, this comes across as someone, in my opinion, and let us not speak of the hat and the glasses, who was offered a lot of money to fight Tom Aspinall, said no, and I think he's having buyer's remorse. I think he regrets it. I think he regrets saying no to the 30 million. That's the only explanation I have

for this insanity of retiring, and then three days later saying, oh, but wait, I want to fight on the White House card. In case you missed it, here's what John had to say. Okay, we're here with John Bones-Jones, the most decorated UFC fighter in the fight history. John, where are you this evening? I am at the 2025 BMAs. And what are you doing tonight? Tonight I am introducing Bailey Zimmerman for Best Country Music. He's going to be performing.

Great. All right. So let's get to a little fight news really quick. So there's a lot of rumors out there. Let's dispel a couple of them. First and foremost, are you retired? I am not retired. I'm actively training five days a week. and I'm in the UFC's drug testing COVID.

Great. And what's the status of the fight at the White House? I don't really know. It's kind of out of my control right now. I'm training for the event. I'll be ready for the event. That's my goal. That's my attention. But ultimately, it's up to the boss. None of it makes any sense. So if the boss says you're not fighting on the event, is he retired then? Like, you're only coming back for one event? What does that mean? What is going on? And what's going on with the glasses, John? What is this? Edge and Christian circa

1999? What's happening over here? Fucking out. I mean, really? And can I be so bold as to say something? And this is going to come across as a little bit harsh, but I mean, Darren Till's coming up. I just hear a collective

we don't care from the audience. We don't care. Do you not feel that way? I feel that way. If he fights, people will care. But right now, does anyone care? Until that gets booked? Yeah.

cares about this. This feels a bit like Connor McGregor, where it's like, unless you really feel like he's stepping in there, people are just kind of tuning out. There was a mega fight. It was right there. I believe we want to sit. Well, what's the point? I believe he actually wants to fight on the card. I think

he has buyers remorse, and I think this is Dana White saying, no, you fucked with us. We got you the money. We called in the big guns. You dragged this out. You made me look like a liar. I said it was 100%. You You said yes. You went back on word, and now you want back in

to hell with you? No? Does it not feel that way? What's going on here? Dana White, going so far as to say, you know, one billion percent John Jones won't fight on it. I think if John Jones demonstrates that he is training five days a week and ready

and July starts rolling around and it looks like he can fight, they will make that fight. I feel that very much so. I think, yeah, sure. I mean, obviously a lot can happen in the next 10 months. Plus, like Tom said, there's not a ton of people for him to fight. No, no, I get it.

Circumstances line up, they'll make it happen. It's just all very weird. And also, the interview with the PR person is a little. Glasses were fired, bro. Yeah, I'd love to see you in those glasses. Hat, too? Sure? I rock a Galbo Hat.

I don't know about the glasses. Well, that's the story. That's the story. Let's see. I didn't see him at the VMAs, but apparently still think. Did it air on MTV? Yes, sir. All right, all right.

let's go back to two weekends ago Misfits 22 What a scene it was Our old friend Darren telling me We talk about Benoit Saint-Dene Turning things around Who has turned things around Perhaps he is the comeback fighter of the year

Because he has found a lane He has found a niche He has found his groove Like Stella he has gotten his groove back And he is the talk of the boxing world now The one and only Darren Till Kind enough to join us about everything going on in his life Is he really there?

Yeah, hello Darren, how are you Now you talk to all the boxing YouTube guys. You forgot about your old friends on this side of the fence. I see you. No, I haven't spoken to anyone until and you're the first person. Okay, well, it's good to see you. I just like to be a little bit, you know, needy.

I'm the same. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. You have found something here. Did you expect to find something here? Like, you are a different person. There was once a moment where it felt like you were sort of floating. We weren't sure if you were going to fight. From this side of the, no, I'm wrong?

Everyone's wrong. I'm obviously, I sort of portray like a wild stupid persona of set this fears, but behind the scenes, behind my little weird brain, I'm very tactical and I'm very, I know exactly what I want. I've always known what I wanted now. It's not like I've found a niche. At the end of the day, Ariel, I've always been a tremendous strike. I've always been IQ high striking.

Academically, I'm probably not the smartest guy out there. But when it comes down to the fighting game, not the strongest, not the quickest, fastest, but I'm certainly one of the cleverest. So striking's my niche, whether it was my tie, kickboxing, and essentially boxing. So I'm in it now, getting better, every

fight. I don't care what anyone's saying. I did say a few years ago, like I'm going to come in and just end this influencer game, and that's essentially what I'm doing. And the sky is the limit. It's big things on the horizon.

So why end it? you're succeeding in it. It's treating you well. Yeah, but I've still got other goals and aspirations and at one point yet it did look like you know, it looked like a lot. Behind the scenes

there was a lot of, it was hard the first year but what I've done cleverly other than these other MMA fighters is I've really, really dedicated myself to the art and craft of boxing, learned the small details obviously got better with each fighters, and first three fights

obviously won in Dubai and the other two this year wasn't as maybe high profile as Luke was obviously the higher competition obviously former UFC world champion obviously a little bit older but still you know a force to be that hindway

and just showing exactly why everyone should really be avoiding me and all these guys and yeah was there anything about Luke going into this fight that concerned you? Sorry? Was there anything about Luke that concerned you

going into this fight you thought this would be a cake walk? There's boxing's too slow a stance guard I really studied Luke for this fight I really studied

how he throws his hooks how he throws his like got a good job because he had like I think he had like four inches on me reach-wise big and strong guy

obviously keeps himself in shape that's there to see but when it comes down to power and just pure present in there, you know, you've seen what I even do to these Uefsky guys when it's standing on the feet and on my MMA dwindled a little bit at the end down to a few things, but when it comes to pure striking, hard to match me, and I've got formidable power, so, yep.

Do you feel bad for him? I feel bad for anyone. I've been on the end of losses. Obviously, I feel like I did intimidate. Look, before the fight, that was clear to see. I did really intimidate. joking with me before the fight-fight week. I just went for him at any point I could. I did feel bad at one point. I was thinking he just doesn't want to be here.

I could feel off from him. And then obviously, you know, that knockout, he even said that in an interview. He was like, it's the worst he's ever been knocked out. It was like took years off his life. I don't think Luke should fight again. Okay. Was that your last fight with the Misfits?

Yeah. Are you going to resign with them? Potentially. I hope they're going to come through with what is promised now as I say same in the UFC had a great relationship with Dana White

really good relationship with misfits we're both talking on the same page which is good but obviously now Ariel as well I know me worth I know what I'm worth I know what I can sell

you know I'm the face of misfits I can sell that even going back to the UFC you know it's still be one of the biggest stars in there now people are even saying till could easily walk back into the top 10 which I know it could there's not many there I'd be worried about

So, you know, there's a lot of options. There's bear knuckle potentially. There's big fights with Jake Paul, Andrew Tait, even Karl Froch, our mate, man, and your mate, he wants to go. So, yep. Okay, so a few things there. You tweeted earlier today about a call you had regarding the Top Mong. Who are you referring to?

Do you think I'm referring to? Okay, there's a few options. The first thing I came to mind was Top G, Andrew Tate, because he refers to himself as Top G. Is that him? Yeah, so in my eyes This is how I see things here If you're going to go around

I'm referring to yourself as the top G The alpha of all alphas Then I obviously You know I don't want to take that title off You because I don't think I'm The top G Because if Tom Aswaner was to walk in this room now

And told me to fucking sit down and shut up I'm going to sit down and shut up But yeah I'm an alpha I can fight most people out there I wouldn't certainly go around calling myself top G And you know the big lead

these, man, this, that, the other, you know, I'm a one-woman guy. Like, you know, I'm not one of these guys out there trying to impress girls with money and this that. I'm actually very humble, I think, you know, I don't give a fuck about doing these interviews and I don't give a fuck about, you know, obviously fame and that. It does go higher and people appreciate. But I live a simple life, and so for me, he's the top G. He's definitely not going to decline a fight with me as he's going to come in and show me why he's the top G.

so top mong top alpha uh i'm i'm certainly expecting them to accept the fight with me real soon and by the way i i do take a bit of offense you saying you don't care about the interviews i thought you actually enjoyed them too no i really care about speaking to you we we have good in-depth conversations and i obviously have always said i'm a fan the way you do things look some some guys along the way sometimes they do get offended by the things you do and saying you are you've got your tendencies but why would i take offense to that you're doing a job you're very you're very you're very good at your job I'm one of them

I don't really take offence like even if you was on a you know pick and side it's just your job is your job mate and people need to it's like Dana's job like I understand

what Dana it is Dana's not going to be coming over to me for Christmas he's not coming over for Christmas dinner is he but you know he's never majorly disrespect him

he does have a big ego and obviously he's a businessman and a promoter he's one of the best but I don't get offended you know even if Daniel called me he's on the commentary box and he's saying stuff

it's saying unsavory about me, blah, blah, blah, et cetera. It's his job. So I don't take offense. It's very hard to get me offended. No, no, I know. I mean, yeah, no, I've been on the receiving end of when you are offended, and it's not very fun.

Going back to the top G, I reported that they're in advanced talks, and it seems like it's going to happen. I can't see any scenario, Darren, where this guy who claims to have this big ego, who in reality, I think, has a very fragile ego would ever sign up for a fight against someone like you? He's going to want a tomato can. He's going to want a cupcake to show everyone that he's an apple.

Why would he sign up against you? Do you think otherwise? I definitely do think otherwise, but again, I don't go around calling myself the top year. I don't try to, you know, I don't try to belittle women. I have four daughters, so I'm like, you know, I have four daughters and a beautiful girlfriend, and, you know, I have many girls that I look up to and respect.

You know, for me, women are the power. they bring life into this world so I'm I'm girl power so like I don't need to masculate women for my own ego and sense of alpha you know like I think I think as a man

you know we're providers and stuff like that if your woman wants to work and stuff like that albeit you know support you and whatever but you know at the end there you have the final say

as an alpha but you also listen to your woman and you listen to your my daughters are essentially going to grow up and be at one point treated like shit like men that's just the way of life so you know

all this ego bollocks and that, it's just not for me. Obviously, all of us out here in this life, whether either man or woman, we have egos, that's just life. But when do you put your ego aside? When do you not think you're the big boy? So obviously, there's a lot of views I agree with with Andrew Tate, but, you know, any man that calls him the top G and top alpha,

he's obviously going to come and have to prove it like me. But I'm just a different kind of man. He's a very intelligent, like, high IQ guy. That's for sure. but his ego is what it'll hurt him if he ever comes up against me on the mic at the presser I'm willing to go all the way like I honestly truthfully

there's men out there who are bigger stronger whatever but I genuinely don't give a shit about anyone like I'm willing to go all the fucking way Andrew Tate's I'd have to probably calm down on him a little because as I said with Luke I didn't get many chances in the UFC to get on the mic and give it to people you know, Luke, I just, I was not stopping with Luke

and I could see he was intimidated at the end of it all. The same had happened with Tommy, Andrew Tate. Carl Frock can say whatever he wants. Prolific boxer, can't take away his accolades. I hope he's listening to this. Or to me, you didn't get in the ring and face off at me, and that does tell me a little bit about things. One more thing about Andrew,

is this an active thing that Misfits is trying to get done? Do they want to make this fight happen for you? Yeah, I think all parties do. Andrew Tate definitely is interested or he wouldn't have tweeted me back Miss Fitts are interested My management are interested His management potentially

It's like a fight that's going to be made Before the end of the year In a great location And obviously he's In my eyes He's probably one of the most famous people on the planet Certainly the most Googles Well big a name than Jake Paul

And stuff like that So you know For me it's huge Wow It's money changing It's life changing money is right you fight

Andrew Tate you don't have to think about working again and obviously the money is obviously tasty for him

as well so it's definitely it's I'd say at the moment of 75% made fight from what I'm hearing as well

where would it take place not in England anyway okay Middle East okay what happened

with Carl Frotch you called him out he's sitting there he responded on his YouTube channel Was that ever discussed? I saw Caller Sowerland of Wasserman say he was going to go to Nottingham

and sit down and talk to him last week so that probably would have happened by now. Any idea what happened? Eddie Ayn is definitely potentially interested in the fight. Well, he would be. He's one of the smartest businessman out there. We can't take that away from him, even though he's a top G, top man, top alpha. He's got a big ego. But I didn't know Carl was at the fight, to be totally honestly.

And then my coach got in the ring and said Carl's over there, you know, going obviously, you know make the fight and I said I went over with a lot of aggression and intensity and he was sat there like he wasn't bothered eating an apple will if you're not bothered getting the you certainly are bothered because you're making YouTube videos and stuff like that so there's a sense of again it's it's the ego

I'm not bothered about that until you are a little bit bothered about me you're turning up to misfits like you're a professional boxer where you guys all sort of look down on misfits which is fine but there's a sense of yeah you're interested so get in the ring and let's face it he's definitely intimidated by me

And it's that thing again You know As a boxer in his heyday If we'd come up against each other You know You're fucking one of the best boxes To come out of England But don't start saying this and that

About him may You're talking about me You're talking about me getting choked out By the absolute cream Of the crop in the world I have fought There's no better fighters That I've ever

I've fought the highest levels But you're going to say About me getting choked out Do you realise what I could do To these normal boxes Do you, like Does he realise 10 seconds flat He's just getting

totally strangulated begging for his life. That's what I could do to Carl and there's nothing he could do about it. And this is not to say, this is just facts. And so do you think that there is a chance that this happens or do you think that ship has sailed? I'm not, I'm going to

be honest with you. I'm not begging no one for fights. I certainly won't beg Jake Paul and I certainly won't beg Carl Frach. I'm not interested in Carlymore. I'd probably at this point to climb in the fight with him because you know, you want to go on YouTube and say stuff with your little shitty channel. And you want to act like you're not bothered.

Well, I've tried, I've tried, I've called you, I'll call you out. You come to the fight, you're not bothered. So, I ain't no beg. I ain't, I ain't no fucking dick-heads. Yes, people that either love me or hate me. I do have a real sense of, you know, I am an out-dear character, but that's obviously because I don't give a fuck. But I'm not going to sit there and beg for a fight where you can go and get to fuck.

Like, fuck off, you little maggots. Like, I don't give a shit about you. Go away with your fucking stupid nose. You and Eddie going to shagge each other. I couldn't give a fucker by you. I'll decline the fight now that gets made because I'm not, no dickhead. I was looking forward to that one.

I like that one. Fucking. I don't give a shit. What about Tommy? Because you tweeted the video of him running. That's another huge one. Again, I'm out here, I'm out here, mate. I'm out here making press conferences going mental.

I'm out here trying to make fights. And I'm not getting a lot back. It's like in a relationship, if it's all give, give, give. and, you know, it's all take, take, take, take, and no give back. Like, well, what the fuck? It's like friendship. It's all, you know, give, give, take, take, take, and no give. It's the same thing.

I'm in a relationship with these guys and I'm not getting nothing back from them. Tommy's not giving me nothing back. He's just calling me a mong and an idiot. His dad the same. Well, you're obviously arsed by me, so either fight me or keep my name out your mouth, or I'll punch your skulls in when I see you, and I will. I was there in front of John and Tommy.

They walked out of the room. Like, so keep my fucking. name out your mouth. Because you're a free agent, are you talking to Eddie about Matrum? Are you talking to Frank Warren about Queensberry? Are you talking to these guys? If they want to speak to me, I'll speak to anyone openly in a respectful

manner. Misfits have got 90 days to come back with an offer with me. So I'm obviously team misfits. But if Eddie and Frank come on the table, I'm all about that right now. I want to make a big name for myself. I want to punch all these guys, Edson. Potentially, if I go back to the UFC, if that could ever be a thing, you know, get

the aisle, knee-sorted and stuff like that. My knee actually popped out before my fight against Luke. 20 minutes in the afternoon before I was to fight Luke, it popped out. Wow. So, yeah, it popped. What happened? I was doing my warm-up. I have a running coach.

I have a nutritionist and a strength-conditioner coach around me these days, and I was obviously doing it. I had real, like, warm-up, like foot drills, speed drills, and obviously box jumps. And as I done a jump, I sort of let my knee go a little bit limp. And I come back down, it just pops. So I had to go in the toilet, repop it back in. And I just said to me, coaches, don't worry about that, I can get through this fight.

And then after the fight, it was even worse when I took my boxing boots off. So I'm in talks now to get the knee actually completely fixed. It's actually going to cost me a big chunk. But it's time now because it's just popping way too much. How long were that sidelined you for? Not a long time. I've been speaking to the best people in the world, and they're ready to help me. Okay.

And what is it? MCL, ACL. ACL. I popped it eight weeks before my Derek Brunson fight. with Tom Asperol, that cheeky little bastard popped a big cunt, and, you know, it was either pull out or do the fight. I should have probably pulled out, but I took the fight

and that's where my wrestling sort of went downhill because before that, no one could take me down. Calvin Gasselman, Woodley, couldn't take me down, he knocked me down, Wittaker couldn't take me down, do I have to speak about anyone else? Stephen Thompson couldn't take me down or Hay Mazvedo couldn't take me down. So this enigma with wrestling,

I wasn't getting taken down, and if I did, I pop back up, Ashlam tried to take me down three, four times, popped back up. Whittaker, fifth round, took me down twice, popped back up. So... What's amazing about your situation right now is, like, I could see a scenario where the UFC says, yeah, come on back. I wouldn't necessarily go in that direction if I were you

because you're enjoying so much success here. You've got all the former MMAA... I see the Mazvedals of the world mentioning you. Perry, you're talking about him. He would obviously still be interested, BKFC, all that stuff. Then you've got the crazy ones out there, like Andrew Tate. the Jake one everyone afterwards said

that's the one that's the one for Jake same size same age that's the one the options are it's definitely the one but we have to look

at the facts with Jake he's fighting Javonza Davis for a mega mega fight you know Jake Jake can really really box

he's got power he's a big strong lump like let's stop talking about YouTube and he's a fighter he's a professional boxer like now I would

I would knock Jake out. Just my switches and just the experience I would knock Jake flat out but that would be a fight where I would train like never before I'd bring a whole team around me 12, 14 weeks do I see him taking it right now

to a bit of a danger zone for him and again with the ego stuff like that he's always like he's always terse people at the press conference and stuff like that he just wouldn't last I'm too quick for that guy just talking about money to me I don't really give a shit about all that

you can have all the money you can have the best model girlfriend in the world you can have everything you've actually got it all like it don't matter Jake Paul don't matter

what do you think of the tank fight I think Jake's just terrorize in the whole boxing world everyone's so mad about it I don't give a fuck like if it's an exhibition then I don't agree with it again like tanks should be fighting them really tank should beat them if it was a real fight

but again they've got everyone talking it's on Netflix hundreds of millions, you know, Jake, very smart businessman, you know, he's obviously always terrorise and Dana. Jake's a very, very clever individual. I saw you this morning tweeting again about Mike Perry. Why not move on from that at this point? I just have fun. You know what, Ariel, as I said, deep down, I'm just having a lot of fun with Perry. I speak to Perry's managers every day, and I just terrorize them two pair of dopes. Ooh, who, Abe and Malky?

I just terrorize the pair of them. Why? Are they still trying to make it happen? I mean, yeah, what it is with them, it's a cock-off with me, and it, you know, Perry's worth more than you, where the A-side, come here, do that. I'm like, okay, well, let's do it. Like, what's the hold of? And so what do you think? Because I know you heard what David Feldman said.

At this point, why even do it in bare-knuckle? Just do it in boxing. If that's the hold-up. Again, it's a cock-off because it's like, no, you come to bare-uncle because you said you were scared. No, look, let's get something straight. I've had a heavy amount of fights in my life on the street, in the ring, Muay Thai, boxing.

Like, I had about five on-licensed boxing fights before I even went into, like, MMA and stuff like that. I've had a lot of fights. I spar with no headgear. I don't mind fighting that man. Bearing mad, he is the King of Ireland. He was Taylor May of Benechle. I do not mind, but I'm sort of in my prime.

I'm getting bigger, stronger, better with every week that goes. by, I don't really need that in my life right now, just getting cut to pieces, like 36, yeah, sad, but not really for me right now. That's just the truth. I'm not saying I'm scared, but right now

it's just not for me. I just don't want that type of damage. Is there any part of you that just kind of wants to be a top-ranked WBC fighter and just prove that you can hang with these guys? No crazy name, no celebrity, just now be a normal boxer. That, that

Look, that's an option as well. I think everyone's just completely in awe by the knockout, the combination, the way I looked, the way it was. And I know it's Luke Rockold. He's not a pro. But, you know, he come out and said he's been sparring all these kind of pros in his gym

and he's doing this and that. And I've spied a lot of pro guys in my gym, you know, and no one's ever took the piss with me. No one's ever... I've never walked away going, wow. Like, there was one guy who come to gym one time. heavyweight, small, strong and he just, the first time he spied,

he fucking just pummeled me from pillar to post in the ring, and I was like, he had no respect for me. He was just, it was hard, and after the spa, I said to my coaches, I was like, can we get him back up next week? Like, I need that. And then obviously I sparring him again.

After we had a pretty even spy, he still was immense, but he's the only guy where I've sort of questioned and gone, oh fuck, but he had a style that was really hard to figure out. Earlier, the pros who've come to gym, not a problem with not one of them. At this point, what are we,

September? Probably not fighting again this year, right? Yes, definitely fighting again this year. Oh, really? Okay. When? Yeah. December? December.

Okay. And right now, would you say the frontrunner is the Tate fight? I'd say Andrew Tate, more than likely, then... Wow. Carl, Tommy and Perry and Masvedal just

nothing to say Tommy Fiore is moaning to his father how tough life is he has way more money than me he's probably better looking than me he has his wife his brother's a world champion he's got a big mansion

you know what are you moaning about you fucking stiff dope of a man the the tate fight uh pro fight i would think so yeah okay uh how many rounds well as i said i asked luke

luke and his team for eight and i could only get six so i don't think and you could do eight with me so maybe six and wait i don't i don't really give a shit i couldn't give a shit i honestly couldn't give a shit would it be under

the misfits umbrella? I think that's what they're trying to do. Okay. Well, look, if someone else comes in and makes the fight, then that's it then. Do you get it? Yeah. What about this unholy alliance that you seem to have put together with Tony Ferguson and Dylan Dennis?

At the end of the night, the three of you were like the Avengers. Yeah, as I said, never had a bad way to say about Tony. Tony got a lot of time for him. Dylan, we've went back and bought for years, but I don't think it's, actually I can't figure Dylan out Dylan, he fucking doesn't

have to troll a lot of people I've seen him doing it and you like oh Darren doesn't want to smoke like me come on

I've terrorised you millions of times on Twitter and he's obviously terrorise me I think with me and Dylan it's just one of them

like we don't mind going to the depths of hell to terrorise someone and troll them so it's like I met him

and it's like no come come on I'm not gonna start like you know and he said a few nice things

about me it's all good we've been in the DM's for I've got no problem with Dylan I don't mind, Dylan.

Overall, dealing with MAMS and the whole Misfits crew, has it been more enjoyable than you thought it would be, KSI as well? It's been fantastic. KSai can't really say a bad word about him. Mams got nothing bad. Calais, was a man, a whole Misfits team, all very, very, it's very enjoyable to be around them, fight week. They do things like the UFC on a professional level.

But growing, everyone wants to be with Misfits now. They can see how much money is getting made, what kinds of fights they're making, that the shows, the production, what's not to like, Ariel? So, okay, so if this comes to fruition, would it be a one-fight deal with Misfits or do you think you'll sign another longer-term deal with them?

I would sign longer with them, for sure. I would sign on the basis that we could do co-promotions with other promotions. If I want to do a fight outside, you know, maybe you let me do it. They take a percentage of it. I'm very much more switched on now with the business. I've always been switched on with business here.

You know, I've got a budding business. business there that we've just relocated to Dubai. Block asset, blockbets, you know, our online casino is absolutely flying. You know, obviously I've been a big part of that. I got as, you know, I was involved in the partnership we made with the UFC and stuff like that. You know, we own the

rights to Mohammed Ali's digital artwork, you know, these are big things. So, you know, I've always been quite crafty and savvy in business. And, you know, as I say to it, behind the scenes in my little weird brain, you know, I'm quite stretched on. But with the business of fighting, management, making fights and stuff like that, you know, I'm, my team is a perfect team around

me. And I'm getting more switched on in the business. By the way, given all your success, the going rate for like a photo of a gorilla eating a cupcake, has it gone up? No, NFTs are really down on the world. That was a, that was a little wave, wasn't it, for two years. We made a lot of money, actually. We done really well. It's still a good thing. You know, you've got a digital piece of art on your phone, verified, stuff like that. It's just people, it was a wave that came and gone, you know, the real money and in that. that area is, you know, your crypto, getting in at the bottom, holding it for a certain amongst a time, you know, it's really coming into the real world and stuff like that.

And obviously, we've gone off that and made our online air casino, mainly in crypto. So, yeah, look, it's doing well, you know. Okay, very. It's doing well. And just so, I understand, the deal with Frotch, like, what is the genesis? Why is there this friction between you two? Where did it all start? What's, what's like the actual catalyst for?

it. I just make a bee laugh at people some days when I'm drunk in my house on Twitter and it becomes a thing then, you know what I mean? So that's how it started between you two? Well, how did it start with Froch? I couldn't for the life of a member, but it was started

from my side. You know, I'm good at making these beefs. I love having beef. I really enjoy having a lot of beef in my life. He did say that he's going to go to the gym and feel it out and see you know, there's anything there.

He's been saying that for years, though, Ariel, like, at some point, like, there's no, as I said, there's no give back from him. You know, it's like, he's like my girlfriend who just doesn't give me nothing back. He doesn't suck me dick or not like that. It's like all, all give to him and no take. Sure, sure, sure.

By the way, four daughters. What are the ages? We have a six-year-old, nearly. We have a four-year-old, we have a two-year-old, and we have an 11 year old wow

that's a lot yeah you know what they say about guys who just have girls like that's a real man alpha male the testosterone like Mark Coleman

only girls uh kale Sanderson the great American wrestler only girls like the alfest of the alpha male only have girls yes my daughter's

one of my daughters was my daughter's birthday this month and yeah I'd like to think that I'm an alpha I'd really do you know, I've had my relationships over the years

you know, you know, whatever, whatever but yeah, I've got a hell of a lot of respect for women and I just want me, you know, me three daughters that obviously live here in England they're beautiful little souls, their mother is a tremendous mother. I can't fault her in it. Obviously, we're separated, but, you know, she is a tremendous mother. I know my girls are going to grow up to be really, really,

like good human beings and obviously my daughter in Brazil who I'm shortly going to visit same again so I've been really lucky yeah I've been really lucky Ariel you have a relationship with all four yeah yeah

I have a relationship yeah obviously you know when you're separated it's a little bit tougher and stuff like that but yeah as I say I can't fault the mothers I'm happy with the way they're being raised And, you know, that's it.

As I said, I'm a girl, I'm for the power of the women. I think women are much more extremely intelligent animals than us men. And sometimes they don't get enough credit for that. Is that the issue with Tate? You don't like the way he treats women, and you're doing this for all the women out there? No, because I think Tate does have a lot of points with women. Like, you know, but he also has a lot of very strange points.

Like, he's talking about, like, you know, you get a game. you've got to get her young and stuff. I'm not a big fan. Obviously, if you meet a woman and, you know, 25, close to 30s, you know, she's been in a past relationship as long as she's carried herself well and stuff like that. Like, what, is she just meant to live in a box and not have a boyfriend until she meets you?

You know, if you meet your girlfriend when you're both young, like that, that's fine, but it does come up across a little bit rapy, some of the things he says. Like, obviously, you don't want to meet a girl and she's been around the town and stuff like that. I get that what he's saying, because, you know, it's different with women and men. I don't want to be too much of a,

whatever I should call them, misogynist or something like that, but it's just even as other views, it's all, it's all alpha, alpha, alpha. I'm top G, top G, top D, top G. It's like, you are top G, but if you came around me and my friends in Liverpool, we'd just absolutely terrorise you.

You'd just get told to sit in the corner and shut up, and you'd have to, you'd have to sit in the corner and shut up, or you just get slapped up. You just get slapped up completely, just an open palm slapped to the cross of his face. What's he going to do against the, someone like me really he can fight but what are you going to do against me if i turn on him like

tell me what he's going to do i whip his leg up take him down and just again with carl strangulate the life out of him so can he really fight though has he ever fought anyone on your level yeah i think take him fight i don't think he's no dickhead i think he can definitely fight but again you know just did his certain levels i did see that tweet he said i've got a lot of experience in beating up scousers, I smashed two of them to pieces in playground on New Year's Eve, 2017. He most probably did, yeah. A playground was a famous club in Liverpool years ago. He mugs probably did.

You know, what? You're beating up civilians. You're an actual fighters. You beat up to civilians. As I said, if he came around me and my friends, you know, it's a real problem. He's going to get a steel bar smashed over his head and get all the shit up and sit in the corner. But, you know, that's it. When do you expect us to know if this is happening?

I'm just fucking waiting Okay I'm bored If I wait any longer I'll probably end up on the booze You're fucking my life up So hurry up You're in tremendous shape

Stick to that Thank you sir Thank you sir Are you sticking with that Yeah I've trained yesterday I've done a little run So yeah I'm sticking with it All right

As I said when I've got no fighting routine area That's a scary place for me Obviously my woman keeps me in check but I'm volatile and I love I love living life on the edge what a time for Darren Till this is some kind of story I don't know if we thought it would turn out this way it looked for a moment you may not think so that it was going in a different direction and all of a sudden you're the talk of the town it's wonderful to see I have to say

yeah because you know deep down I'm not a bad soul aerial in here you know I'm not out here robbing people and telling lies and being fake I'm just me and not a lot of people like that but I'm for the good of this world you know what I mean I'm not out there being a piece of shit well thank you very much congratulations shout out to Lee

Lee has changed my life because now that I met Lee we have some sort of like normal person in the relationship who can actually contact you it's not it's not for not I just get I'm such a procrastinator like I procrastinate

everything it's always been my biggest star for so yeah Lee rang me before this and she was like he's going on I was like yeah I'm all ready I'm all prepped and ready You wrote to me like five days later You said I just woke up What were you doing?

I went on a bit of a mad one Was it? Was it a crazy one? Oh, it was crazy for sure, Ariel. What would you do? Ariel, come on, mate. Okay, I just want to know. Let me live vicariously.

Yeah, no, look, I just celebrated with, you know, a couple of close friends and obviously my woman. I have to give shout out to, you know, my coaches and my wife. And like, without them, you know, I was coming home every day to three prepped meals. Even in the night when I was waking up hungry, I'm getting meals prepped for me. You know, I'm getting waited on hand and foot, you know, so I have to give props to head.

And obviously, my coaches were just there for me every minute of every day. So, as I said, good solid foundations, you know, so we celebrated, took the celebrations a little too far. But, yeah. All was good. No one got arrested? And no, no he didn't And Brendan was a part of the celebrations He loves it doesn't he

He's like my little partner and crying Locknain Lock Lane Yeah, legend, legend, I love it Legend, legend of the game Well congrats, enjoy it And looking forward to this news Thank you for coming on Darren

Always a pleasure Thank you sir And yep, I hope you have a good week here And hopefully we'll speak soon Yes sir Anytime, there he is The One and Only Gorilla Darren Till

Joining us coming off his massive win over Luke Rockhold, hinting at a big fight announcement against Andrew Tate. Wasn't expecting that. Let's see if it actually comes to fruition. All right. There's a flying fuck about Carl Frocker what he's got to say. Is anybody really interested? Apparently not.

Apparently not, Frank. Well played. Frank won and well played Frank two. Thank you for that. A couple weeks ago, we spoke to Brian Battle after his difficult weekend in Chicago. At the time, he was at the airport going home. no fight at UFC 319. And since then, he's fought in dirty boxing. And since then, he has signed with PFL. What happened? Let us get some answers from the man himself, Brian Battle,

kind enough to join us. Hey, Brian, how are you? Good to talk to you again. Hey, it was good to talk to you. Thanks for having me again, brother. What a month for us here, because the first time we spoke, you're getting ready for the fight in Chicago. Then we speak on the Monday after Chicago. There is no fight. We don't need to go over all of that. We go away for a little bit. You fight dirty boxing, and then over the weekend, Friday, to be exact, we find out PFL. So can I ask from when we spoke to you in the airport there on that Monday after the Chicago card, did you already know at that point you were going to leave the UFC that you're run there at this point? I was done. No. No. I had no idea, brother.

No, I tell you, this, these, the past six months period, I've been absolutely crazy. But the past month has been probably the craziest month of my, like, adult life. You know what I mean? Like, things are happening so fast, you know, it's crazy. It's a blessing, you know, I'm thankful all the opportunities that I still have. And I'm excited for the opportunities that are coming up, brother. Okay. And so I remember it was, so we spoke on a Monday. It was on the Wednesday that we found out that you were parting ways with the UFC. When you got that call, I'm just trying to go in chronological here. When you got that call, were you shocked? Were you disappointed? How did you receive the news? Man, so I was, I had, was helping my buddy out with something. And, you know, he took me.

He took me out to eat, and I went to go to the bathroom. And I missed a call from my agent, Jason House, the best agent in the game. I missed the call from him. So I just like, I literally, I was, we were literally talking about it. We're literally talking about, hey, do you think you're released by the UFC? I was like, I don't know. I mean, it hasn't happened yet. So if it hasn't happened yet, I went to go sit down in the toilet, looked at my phone.

Hey, Brian, the USC just let us go. I was like, fuck. You know what I'm saying? I was like, oh, shit. And, like, I'm just telling you, things happen fast, man. You know what I mean? You can't, there's no time, no time to, like, feel sorry or feel, have a pity party, you know? Just, like, keep on going.

The sun comes up, sun comes down. You know what I'm saying? We keep moving. How quickly after that call do you get signed to DBX? I can't give you an exact time. Because, like I said, this whole past month has just been. so crazy but it was pretty soon afterwards um i think as soon as it went public that i got released um i think um dbx was reaching out to my people and uh as soon as my people reached out to me

that there was a fight available i was like of course you know like um like dbx offered a fight before i even had an opponent you know what i'm saying it was one of those things they're just like all right brian's free let's let's go ahead and scoop them up and let's let's do this so um Yeah, man, things happen fast as hell. You know, I'm grateful for everything. You know what I'm saying? It's been a hell of a ride. It's been a lot of fun.

It's been hella ups and downs. It was not fun. The DBX, DBX was great. The DBX was great. It seemed actually like the perfect thing in a few ways because it allowed you to very quickly make weight, allowed you to very quickly erase the bad taste of Chicago, get a nice win,

and sort of, if anyone didn't want to be, the place that picked you up post-UFC release like it was a nice little buffer in between what happened in Chicago and now we see what happened in PFL before I get to PFL what was your experience like with DBX? They're new obviously, they've got some big names behind it. Did you enjoy the experience

with the promotion and then with that rule set as well? I'll tell you, well, first of all, just with the promotion DVX was, I think they have so many people that have been involved with UFC the behind-the-scenes UFC and stuff that even before you start to walk and make weight, a lot of those things are

very similar to the DBX fight week is very similar to the UFC fight week. They model it very similarly. So for people who have never fought in the UFC and might graduate from the DBX to the UFC, they'll feel familiar from people who are in the UFC who go to DBX, you know what I'm saying? You're going to feel very similar situation. So, you know, shout out to Heidi I did not know that John Anick had a twin brother I thought Jason was fucking with me

for the first several minutes like we were talking he was like yeah I'm John's twin brother I was like no you're fucking that you're fucking John Anick dude stop playing with me bro and he actually has a twin brother you know they're cool as fuck and you know

DBX I have no bad things to say about them they were awesome everything about it was great they did um they went above and beyond and um i'm grateful for the opportunity that i had to fight with them you know what i'm saying maybe maybe we'll do a little bit more with them you know what i'm saying um we'll see what happens okay so then how does pfl come into play after that um pfl i wasn't just like another opportunity i was blessed with you know what i'm saying i mean shout out once again i got the best agent in the game brother you know what i'm saying like This is nothing I did on my own.

I got an incredible agent. Shout out to Eridium agency. If you're an MMA fighter, you know, that is a great agency. It was just like, hey, hey, bro, we got this. We got this deal with PFL. You try to do it? Hell, you know, I'm trying to do it. I'm an MMA fighter.

What's up? You know what I mean? So I was blessed with the opportunity to compete for PFL, you know. And, you know, PFL is a great. organization with great talent you know what i'm saying if you can win in pfl you know that just shows how good you are you know i'm saying if you can go do well in pfl you can do well anywhere okay so as far as pfl is concerned which weight class will you be competing in uh 185 okay i'm i'm brand on competing more regularly so since i have to compete more regularly i'm i'm just gonna cut the bullshit like

let's do at 185 you know what i'm saying no i get it is you know Especially if you're maybe wait often. Are you going to be a part of a tournament for them? Yes, sir. Okay, that'll be next year. Yes, sir. So usually their tournaments start like the end of first quarter of the year. Here we are September.

Are you going to get one in beforehand? That's above my pay grade, brother. You know what I'm saying? Like I said, things have been happening fast. You know what I'm saying? We're taking things one day at a time. If I get in one in beforehand, I'd be. thrilled, but if not, I'm looking

forward to the tournament. You know what I'm saying? There's a lot of really, really high level guys in PFL. So, you know, I got to get ready to bust some heads over there, bust some high level heads, you feel me? Do you like the idea of being a part of the tournament? Some people don't like it. I know there's a big pot of gold at the end, like 500K or so unless they change it. Do you like that idea? man i'm built for tournaments you know what i'm saying if you don't like the idea of a tournament like kind of a pussy to me you know what i'm saying like

i like it i romanticized pride pride to me is like the most romantic era of like yeah m-ma you know what i'm saying like i would love to do a one-night tournament but um i love the idea of a tournament you know what i'm saying i won the ultimate fighter that was a tournament competing regularly that's why like I said 185 no bullshit like all right you know what I'm saying let's let's keep it simple let's make wait let's go bus heads

and with that being said it's also super high level competition so there's like the margin of error is super low you know what I'm saying I don't care what anyone else got to say like especially at 185 they got a stacked roster at 185 so I'm really excited to get in there I'm really excited to compete, really excited to see, you know, what happens, brother.

The PFL deal, does that preclude you from competing for DBX? Like, is it exclusive, or can you do both? Once again, I spoke my pay great, brother. Okay, all right, all right. You know, I'm not a lawyer. I read the contract, but, you know, I'm a fighter, brother. You know what I'm saying? So I'll let the people who are smarter than me handle those things.

You know what I'm saying? I'm down to fight DBX. But, you know, I let my bosses handle those things. You know, it was almost exactly a year ago that you cut that incredible promo in Paris. They have a show PFL does at the end of the month in a place called Nan France, which is not Paris, Western France. But I thought, what a better way to introduce you to the PFL audience and to put you back in France and rekindle that feud with the French people. Is there any chance? I know it's in like 18 days from now, but to me, that's just like a layup.

Let's make it happen, no? I mean, I would do it. I would do it. I would do it hands down. And it's funny because, like, you say that, and I also, I also peep that. And Kevin Jusay, who I fought is, like, headlining that card. So I know he would be, he'd be annoyed as fuck if I was on that, on that motherfucker. You know what?

I didn't even notice that. That's freaking amazing. This is brilliant. They have to put you on this. And I'd be down. But with all that being said, you know. I'm just, whatever opportunity I have I'm grateful for. I'm training right now.

I'm buzzing my ass right now. You know, I went to training earlier, came back, going to do some interviews, going to go to training later after I pick up my kids from daycare. You know what I mean? So, you know, I feel extremely blessed. Whatever opportunity comes in my way, I will take it and make the most out of it.

But I'm not demanding anything by any stretch of the imagination. You have a great perspective on all this. Could you have ever imagined, like a year ago, when you cut that promo on fire, that a year later, you would be in the P.F. Like, what a crazy year, man. It's been a hell of a year, brother. You know, I think they're going to, by the time my story is all said and done, they're going to make a movie about this. You know what I'm saying? They're going to write books and make movies about this stuff because, you know, a lot of people are writing me off now.

Like you said, like a year ago, I was on top of the world. Right now, a lot of people are writing me off. off. And my story is far from finished. You know, I'm really just entering my prime right now. So I'm going to go out there, just keep on winning. That's the most important thing, just to keep on winning. You know, stay dialed in, keep winning fights, keep making weight, show everyone that I'm professional. And, you know, I got a couple things that I'm like, I need to do. You know, There's a couple goals I need to hit. And after I hit those goals, I'll be good.

But until I hit those goals, like, I can't stop. What are the goals? Become the world champion, you know what I'm saying? Become a USC world champion. And so now I didn't know PFL would be an option. So now PFL world champion, PFL tournament champion or world champion, they're both in the picture now. You know, becoming a world champion of any organization I step my foot in is a goal.

So now it's like before, like this time last year, I thought I'd be a UFC guy for life. You know, and so now I have the opportunity to go do things in other organizations that I didn't think I'd have the opportunity to do. And I'm extremely excited to do that. And so you just signed with the PFL. you seem happy, you seem thankful, grateful. If when it's all said and done, you don't get a chance to write the wrong in the UFC, will you feel a void? Will you feel like, you know, no, you won't feel any regret?

Man, I don't regret anything in life, brother. You know what I'm saying? Like, life's too short to be dealing with regrets. I have too many things. Like, fighting is one part of my life. You know what I'm saying? so many other facts I have two beautiful children you know what I'm saying I have a lot of great people in my life you know um and you know who knows what's going to happen over the course of

the next year you know I mean so I have so much in my life to be thankful for you know it's hard to in my run in the UFC was if if what I've done in the UFC is all I'll ever do I had a great run I won the ultimate fighter you know what I'm saying I was technically speaking seven one and one but we all know that was really eight and one um you know i enjoyed every second of it you know what i'm saying it was a hell of a ride brother now with that being said i'm determined to get back and finish some things that are left undone you know what i'm saying to um to shut some people up but with that being said if i never get that chance if i never get that opportunity i'll be able to uh put my gloves down and um

things with a smile on my face. You know what I'm saying? Move on to the next phase of life. So even over the past month, no regrets on how everything kind of played out at the end there. I mean, if I went back in time, there's things I would do differently,

but, you know, I think having regrets is like unhealthy, man. You know what I'm saying? You can't have regrets. Like, would I do things differently for sure? You know what I mean? Like, making wait for Roosevelt, with a couple

adjustments is like a piece of cake you know what I'm saying like it was really like tactical errors but um you know now I know that you know what I'm saying

like it's a it's a rough way to learn but I learn you know what I'm saying so um I'm really just I'm grateful I think everything happens for a reason you know what I'm saying there's things it's bigger than just fighting

you know what I mean so um you know the highs and lows I'm grateful for the highs as much as I'm grateful for the lows you know what I mean so um you know all I can do as a man

is to learn and to grow from that and be a better man when when you got that call that they were releasing you did you expect to get back on your feet this quickly or were you kind of thinking like man next few months are going to be rough I'm going to have to work my way up through like

you know the indies or something what were you thinking as far as how this would play out because it's very rare that it happens this quickly on the back end. I thought things were going to be rough for a little bit. You know what I'm saying? I definitely thought I was like, yeah, I might have to get a civilian job. Things are going to be rough for a little bit.

But, like, I was determined. It's funny because, you know, you'll see people in the comments talking about, I don't feel bad for him, blah, blah, blah. I never asked for anyone's sympathy. You know what I'm saying? Like, I never asked for anyone to feel sorry for me. First of all, you're talking about I don't feel bad for you. You ain't did half the stuff I did.

I feel bad for you. You know what I mean? And I know my story's not done yet. You know what I'm saying? I know my career is not over with. So I know there's still things left to be done. I know I still got a lot left in the gas tank. So I'm excited, you know.

Everything that's happened is a chance to grow and become better. And so I'm excited to see how I come out on the other end of all this. Are you going to make any changes in terms of nutrition, dieting, the drinking the what kind of changes are we doing well and I said that

on the one pocket I think you know people really like like even I reposted someone took a picture of me and I reposted it

someone's like I see you with the beer in your hand I was like chill bro that's an old picture people are on my ass right now

yeah yeah people are people are on my ass right now and honestly I love it you know I love accountability um definitely got a nutritionist lined up um you know um and you know the next

time you're going to see me fight we're going to have some abs we're going to be shredded and whatnot you know um like i said we're going to get better from all this you know what i'm saying we're not going backwards we're only going forward so um you know i'm working with my team you know what i'm saying we're developing a game plan you know you know get some things out put some more things in you know what I'm saying we're going to be better than ever baby I love it do you follow PFL are you familiar with the product oh yeah man I've been following PFL since again technically since they were world series of fighting okay I've been I've been a fan for a minute um you know there there's several guys you know when um Frank like you know Francis went over there that was a big deal you know um someone I came up in the game with Impa when Impa won the tournament twice you know you know what I'm saying, I was, I was always looking at that, you know what I'm saying? There's been, you know, PFL, they are, especially, you know, now Bellator's gone, PFL, you know, they are the, outside of the UFC, they're the biggest MMA organization in the world to me. And so, as of right now, just to recap, you don't know if you'll fight again this year, is that fair?

They haven't really told you what the timeline is in terms of how you'll be introduced. sometimes they'll do like these non-tournament fights and put, as of right now, you're sort of waiting to hear what the plan is. You don't know who the opponent will be for your debut. Right now, it's all TBD. Yes, sir, yes, sir.

Right now, I don't know who it is, but I'm getting ready to fight anybody right now. This time next year, you will have fought in their tournament final. You'll be $500,000 richer, and we can look back on this moment. What's the message to the haters and the supporters? The message is,

Like, don't stop. Don't stop. You know what I'm saying? You know, I grew up in church, brother. You know what I'm saying? God will never give you more than you can bear. You know what I'm saying? That don't mean you're not going to fuck up.

You know what I'm saying? That don't mean you're not going to fall flat on your face in front of the whole entire world. It means you just keep on getting up and you keep on going. You're going to get stronger and you're going to get better. And you're going to do what you're supposed to do. I haven't known what I'm supposed to do yet. And I'm going to do what I'm supposed to do. So just keep on watching.

Hop on the bandwagon while you can. And it's going to be a hell of a journey. Good luck, Brian. Great stuff. Great perspective. Dare I say inspirational. Despite the issues, you're maintaining a positive outlook. I like the way you're speaking.

You're acting. Great to see you back on the winning track at DBX. They gave you a great opportunity. And I thought this was a brilliant move from PFL. I still think they should put you on that France card. 18 days, but if not, I get it in the whole time. I just want to see another promo. I want to see another promo.

Listen, France went undefeated this past weekend, and I was, I was, I was, you know, whatever. I did everything that I did, you know what I'm saying? But I thought there should have been someone there that should have ruined their day a little bit, you know what I'm saying? Like, 5 and 0, you're going to 5 and 0? Like, all right, 4 and 1 at least, fuck. If the butcher was there, it would have been different. It was 100% would have been different, but, you know, whatever.

You know, you can say that, but if you're not there, you know, what can you really say? You know what I mean? Appreciate it. Congrats on the New Deal and looking very much forward to the debut. Thank you, Brian. Thank you. I appreciate you very much. Shout out to my boy, my boy Frankie, he loves you.

He watches everything, you know what I'm saying? He's been your number one fan since as long as I've known. Much love Frankie. Thank you so much, my man. Thank you, Brian. All the best. Talk to you soon. Thank you, really.

Yes, sir. There he is. Brian Battle. I don't know. I was wondering. Do you think he was talking about you, Frankie? Quite possibly, yeah. Yeah, I was wondering. I was wondering. Great guy, met him, and he's a very good signing for PFL, just what they need, in my opinion. Get him on that France card. It makes all the sense in the world. Let me just rock this up. Oh, my God. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. All right, I am so excited to have our next guest on. We sort of go way back, but not. If you get what I'm saying, you'll understand in a moment. but he has been absolutely killing it. I said that he is the biggest baby face in pro wrestling today. What he's doing on YouTube, what he's done over the past two plus years, a little over two years has been incredible, outstanding, inspirational, mind-blowing to go from a sort of non-factor on YouTube to one of the most beloved characters in wrestling

and one of the most popular channels is amazing. And if you watch wrestling back in the early 2000s, you know all about him winning tough enough, you know all about his run, you know about the Undertaker elimination at the Royal Rumble and then you know he kind of just fizzled into the night but now he has resurfaced in a very big way and we mentioned about a month or so ago

we need to get him on I just said it I just said it I wanted to get him on some way somehow and there he was and now here we are let us say hello to the one and only

Maven Huffman is he here? Ah yes one of the best dressed guys in the business if got the best yes I am here Hey Maven

Ariel here Hey. I wanted to say, how are you, sir? It's such a pleasure. Thank you so much. Thank you. Are you recording this? What's how?

Is this for the channel? There you go. Are we live right now? We're not live, but it is for, it is for my partner. I, um, I just got off the phone. Okay. Oh, did you drop your phone? I did.

Yeah, yeah. I just got off the phone with Diamond Dallas Page. DDP. Wanted me to tell you hello. The man. One of the true, truly one of the nicest. Yes. Individuals from the professional wrestling business.

ever had the pleasure of war. I'm sort of in awe of you sitting right in front of me here. Why is that? Because I watch you so much on YouTube these days. Like, you're my thing. You're my thing. That's good. It's unbelievable. And, and you know, I don't know if you know this, but this is actually the second time we've met. Oh, gosh, you're going to Tony con me. No, no. I evidently met Tony Khan back in 2004 with Randy Orton. I did not remember that. So tell me. When did we? Okay. And first of all, that might be the first and only time that someone says that I'm Tony conning them. Yeah, we have a bit of a history. In 2002, I'm in college at Syracuse University.

In fact, I had a wrestling MMA radio show called The Main Event. I wanted to be doing this, what I'm doing right here. I'm Canadian. WrestleMania 18 is in Toronto. My friends and I buy tickets in the rafters, like literally fourth to last row of the Skydome. You're on that card. I was. You're new to the roster.

I was. You had just won tough enough a few months prior. they don't care about the guys, the autographs, the pictures. I want to go to the Fan Access. And there I am with Maven Huffman. Right over there. There we are. Get out.

Taking a picture together at the Fan Access, 2002 in Toronto. You were doing a little thing, a little sort of like seminar thing in the ring. There were some guys who did like meeting greets. You were just kind of out and about. There I am. There you are. I was stoked. I still remember that they gave us the jerseys.

When I interviewed Spike Dudley on our channel, he wore that exact same jersey. It said like WM 18. Yes, yes, yes, with the X-8, the X-8. Yeah, with the X-8, yeah. That is so cool. Oh, gosh, looking at younger me. You still look good. No, you look fantastic.

I look like a child. I look like such a... So there we are. What about these suits, by the way? Who's making these suits for you? You always look fantastic. You know, and there's a little bit of a story behind. But when I did Chris Van Vleet's show for the first time, yeah, absolutely, another Canadian.

Another Canadian. I, and I don't want to say, because I don't want to demean our first interview, but it was in Hamburg, Pennsylvania. It was after about a three-hour signing, and it was in a building that was no lie about 90 degrees. I looked like a garbage collector. And no, no pun intended to garbage collectors, thank you. for what you do but i just i wasn't dressed to to to respect chris but respect myself and i've always said i said after that very first interview because anytime i see anything that comes up from that i kind of cringe a little bit i just i want and demand more of myself the suits come from when

i thought wrestling was in my rear view i started working a few blocks down the street on wall street and working on Wall Street, you have to look the part. And I just invested in and looking nice. And then I see guys like Cody Rhodes. I see, you know, just a lot of guys from today's wrestling business. They're always dressed, dressed sharp. And I'm like, yeah, I'm going to do that too. Showing respect to you, showing respect to me.

And just, you know, when you look good, you feel better. I mean, well, you look fantastic. I want to make you look even better because this is covering your face. You got a shot of Maven right there. There we go. I'm number three. You see that? Yeah, there you go, because it was covering your face.

Ah. Is this your full-time job now? What you're doing with the YouTube channel? More or less. Okay. And it just demands so much. It demands more of my time than I thought. When we first started, I had an X amount dollar figure that I wanted to hit.

And I said, if I can make X amount of dollars per month, it'll change my life. We did that in month one. Wow. And since then, it's just managed to grow. And I have an amazing partner. My partner, Zach, you know, occasionally you get put and teamed with the right people. And we both have this same vision. I would not be where I am in my second run in the wrestling business without him.

And I don't think he'd be where he is without me. So we meld together. We're 100% 50, 50. And there's not a day that goes by. We don't talk and make plans. You know, right before I jumped in the car to come out here, I was filming something for a fan, you know, who wants to meet one of the wrestlers. So it's what I thought was going to be a part-time job as turned into. I'm doing something daily for the YouTube channel, and I could not be happier.

How did you meet, Zach? And was he the one that explained to this business and said you should do it? Or did you look for someone to help you do it? The thought of doing a YouTube channel was so far removed from my mind. Okay. When I did the first interview with Chris, I didn't even have an Instagram set up. And Zach reached out to me on LinkedIn, sent a message just saying he didn't even admit it. He didn't think anything would ever come from it.

I answered him within a day, and we started the planning stages. So what do you say? Like, we should be in business, we should do a YouTube channel? Here's basically what he said. I have a YouTube channel, his current YouTube channel, his tapout corner. He said, I make X amount of dollars from it a month. I've always wanted to do a channel with a former wrestler. I think you'd be great.

Would you be interested? I said, absolutely. We then set up a Zoom call where we talked for about an hour and a half. He explained what it takes to be a successful YouTuber. And he gave me some homework. He gave me guys like Mr. Beast and Mark Rober, guys to watch. And he said, watch what they do. and tell me if you watch more than one video, why?

And at that point, I didn't realize it, but my YouTube lesson planning had started. Wow. And it's been over two years now, and it's been, I'm steadily learning what it takes to be successful on that platform. And so you didn't think at first, like, oh, this is a scam.

This guy just tries to, you know, convince me to do this, but he's going to steal my money or something. Like, you were fully all in off the bat. Once you meet my partner, Okay. He's just, he's salt of the earth guy. He's, and yeah, I don't think, I never thought he was a scam or it was a scam in any way,

but I've met him, and I was, I've been comfortable with him since day one. He's just, he's literally the nicest guy I've ever met. Wow. Yeah. Okay. No one I'd rather be partnered with. Yeah, that's incredible. And it seems like it, because I always see you.

He's stealing this mug, by the way, please. I told your, I told your guy. And I want to see it in a, in a video. I want to pop for that. So thank you. It's going to go on my desk. home. I appreciate that. You launch a June of 20203 is your first video. When do you start talking and how long does it take to launch it? We started talking in April. I think it was

April 26th was the date that he sent me. Okay. So it didn't take long for you to put out the first. Yeah. You put it out, like you turn the lights on. What are your expectations? And are you sitting there like fixated on the numbers? My, well, it took about two weeks of videos being out before I was fixated. He told me and it still rings in my head because we put two videos out and I still remember looking at our very first video where I was raiding wrestlers part one. Yes. And I remember seeing that I think it was 571 people had viewed that video. I couldn't believe it. And I'm thinking there's no way 500 people woke up wondering what Maven was doing. It's just not no chance. And I told him and I was flipping out. I'm like, I can't believe this. And he told me and it still

rings in my head because it was just so weird. He said, ah, that's nothing. I'll tell you when we wake YouTube up. Okay. And I was like, I don't know what that means, but, and I think it was two days later, I woke up, it was a Sunday morning, and he said, okay, we've done it. And I looked on and I looked at the number and I was like, what, 200,000? And our first video had, I think it was 225,000 views, and our second video was around the 150 mark, and I did what any normal human being would do. I closed YouTube out because there's no way this is accurate. This is false. I opened it up, and I called him immediately, and I was like, am I seeing what I think I'm seeing? He's like, yeah. He's like, we woke YouTube up, meaning we got into the algorithm.

Right. And the, and then the next three days was a whirlwind. I had people, you know, people that I worked with on the home shopping network that I haven't talked to for years, reaching out saying, your video came up in my feed. And that is the key to YouTube. Being able to touch non- Wrestling games. That's why we've had the success we've had. I'm surprised it only took two weeks. I mean, I'm just on. I thought you would say two months. No, it took about two weeks. Wow. Yeah. And then he told me, he was like, we have something here. We're doing, but he also explained it to me, you know, and part of his pitch was wrestlers do it wrong. And no offense to any wrestler that goes out and does a Zoom or do what they do. But YouTube's just a different beast. And we, from the start, we said we're never going to do an interview over Zoom. We're going to do exactly what we're doing here in person. We're going to do a little bit, take that extra step to make our videos. a little better in everyone. For instance, we did our Mount Rushmore, my Mount Rushmore of professional wrestling. And what we went to, Mount Rushmore and filmed it. I was walking in unrestricted areas with the little, you know, the little game wardens there allowing us to

film. But it's just that little bit extra that makes our videos different. At that point, when he's reaching out to you and you're getting this going, are you following the pro wrestling world? Not a bit. Not a bit. Not a bit. Nothing. Still don't. Still don't. Still don't. Well, that's interesting because the majority of your content isn't this happened last night.

It won't be. It won't be. No, that's, we do, and you'll know the term, we do evergreen content, meaning whether they watch it today, tomorrow, or in 10 years, it's still going to be relevant content. It's still going to be something that they can, you know, click on and say, huh, I'm still learning something. This is still valuable to me. If we do what I think's going to happen in SummerSlam this Sunday,

Well, two weeks from now, that's, no one's going to watch that. And meaning you're not, there's no earning potential moving past whatever event you're talking about. Why don't you watch wrestling? It's too hard. It's like. The time commitment? Nah, the tie, it has nothing to do with that. It's just too difficult.

Really? It'd be like watching, you know, the love of my life, my ex, going on the next date and tell me, hey, this is my new boyfriend. He's great. Even 20-something years later? Yeah. It's still too tough. It's still too difficult. Really?

And despite the fact that you've enjoyed the success, perhaps great? I love wrestling. Okay. I love it. I love everything about it. I think it's truly one of the best forms of entertainment going. And I root for its success. I hope all the superstars, I hope the Cody Rhodes, I hope the Seths, I hope the Uso's, I hope the MJFs, I hope the Adam Pages, I hope all those guys have careers I never dreamed of.

I just can't watch it. It's just, I mean, I'm a human being. I get jealous. I watch them and I mean, a little bit of me is, is upset that I still can't do it, that age, father time has indeed done what father time does. And it's just, it's just too tough. Yeah, it's too hard. And has it been that way since you left in 2005? Absolutely. And even if it's a WrestleMania or you know there's a big angle, won't watch. Won't watch. You haven't had a WrestleMania party or been invited. I went to, and it was just because it was a booking, a few years back. And actually, the guy who booked me on this, I officiated his wedding this past weekend. Wow. Yeah. He had me come, and I watched that WrestleMania.

I think it was one of the first years they did the two nights. I did his night, night one, and I did another guy's. But that was just because it was a booking. And I was being paid to be there. But it's just too tough to watch. I've heard on your channel, you told the story about the tryout in Florida right before the pandemic. it seemed like you're going to be brought in as a broadcaster, right? At that point, you don't know who these guys are, or did you have to watch a little bit just to catch? Because if you're

about to get hired by the company, you have to be somewhat up to speed, right? They did, and they encouraged me to get up to speed. Perfect, perfect turn of phrase there. And I did. I watched for probably two to three weeks. Okay. And so I knew who a lot of the guys were. I knew storylines. I knew angles going into it, just so I could speak intelligently to it. But then the tryout, They put matches of guys that I was familiar with. They've put a few matches to call with the talent and the stars of today, but I think one of the matches they had me calling was Matt Cardone and Brian Myers because they knew they were buddies and mine.

Do you have resentment towards the business? Not at all. Gosh, no. Wrestling has given me every. I wouldn't be sitting here. I wouldn't have met you. I wouldn't be sitting in the new house. I just moved in this last week.

Wrestling has done everything. that the eight-year-old me that grew up in Virginia wouldn't have even dared to dream. Wrestling's given me a life. It's given me purpose, as crazy as that sounds. And I think without purpose, we're aimless in life. Now, perhaps an easier question to answer in 2025 when you're killing it in this sort of like new chapter in wrestling,

if we're talking in 2015, where you're sort of the guy who, you know, had the brief run and then had the issues, you giving the same answer, or was there a time where you did actually feel resentment towards it? I don't want to say feel resentment towards wrestling itself. Wrestling didn't make the decisions I made. I made them. I have never and will never blame anything or anyone for anything bad that's ever happened in my life. I'm a man that I own my baggage, like I like to say. It's just there was a time when I was so far removed from wrestling. I would not take any bookings.

somebody called, I would politely and respectfully decline. I wouldn't, you know, you, maybe we want you to do the big event. No, thanks. No, I'm good. We want you to come on our podcast. Nope, I'm good. Really? Yeah.

And if there was any type of resentment, it was a resentment that led me to just distancing myself from the business. And so now when you say, okay, we're only going to do Evergreen, we're not going to talk about the news. We try. We try. We try. And there's things that obviously you're doing.

But is there any fear that you'll run out of things? There was for a while. But fortunately, like I said, my partner, he's good. And he comes up with ideas that make me think, oh, okay, I haven't thought about that. That's a great idea. Let's look into it. I've already changed what I said I wouldn't do, like originally, and I still won't. But when we first started the channel, I said, I'm not going to tell other guy's stories.

You know, DeVon Dudley, for instance. Devon's one of my best friends in the business. Oh, and by the way, wants to come on your show. Oh, yeah. I'll pass on his information. But Devon has stories. Let's say Devon wanted to talk about the TLC matches. I could do those videos, but it wouldn't be doing them justice because they're not my stories.

So the way we get around that is we just have Devon come on our platform and talk and tell his stories. So when I first started, I didn't think we would be in court. I'm incorporating others into the channel, but I quickly found out that it's a way to keep what we do fresh, and it's a way to just keep the audience tuning in week after week. Because one week I might be talking about what it's like for me to get fired, the day I got fired. And the next week I might be showcasing Buff Bagwell and the journey he's going through, or talking about interviewing Mark Lida and having him tell his story about what it's like to not. be on six feet under anymore. That's how we have managed to not only stay relevant, but tell

other stories and do it in a respectful way. Why do you think people like you so much? Because it's all positivity. Lack of lack of knowledge. I was saying earlier, like, wrestling is so tribal and you go on Twitter and it's like, AW this, WW this, they think I'm biased, they think this guy's bias. They're mad at bully Ray. You get none of that. Why are you so down the middle? Why does everyone seem to love Maven? You want to know my honest answer? Please. I'm every man. I'm still the fan that made it. The fan that sent a video into Tough Enough. The fan that lived every person's dream. Tonight's Monday night. People are going to tune into Netflix. They're going to watch Monday Night Raw. And a good majority of the men that watch are going to say to themselves,

man, I could do that. Man, I could go out there. I could do that. I'm entertaining. I'm I could do that. And I'm the fan that actually got to live it, got to do it. And then I, we live in such a world now where you can make a living off of being a victim. And I refuse to do that. I refuse to place blame on any, anyone. I take what the good and the bad parts of my life and I lay it all out there. And I say, this is where I messed up. Here's what I've learned. here's where I'm going to try to be better. And I think we live in a world where people don't do that. And I think it's refreshing when you do see it.

I know for me, I'm so refreshed when I see someone who, you use the word bitter. I'm refreshed when I see someone who isn't bitter about bad breaks they've received along the ways. They view opportunity as something that they can either take or they can let pass them by. Or let define them, right? and then they sort of wallow in it. And so a perfect example of this is you do the video on Raja Jackson. It's received a certain way. You quickly go on live with your partner, Zach, and you say like, yo, you know what?

I think I messed that one up. Yeah. Wrong. We were trying to get a video out. We had an hour to do it. And I misspoke. No one forced me to it. My bad.

Here's what I said. I probably shouldn't have used the term, the phrase that I used. Which was what? I said, oh, because we were talking about, you know, the Raja incident where, and I said it was borderline assault. I mean, it wasn't. You got so mad. Yeah, they got pissed. Yes.

But rightfully so. Because it was nothing borderline about it. It was assault. And in my mind, I'm just not thinking at the moment, throwing the word borderline in it. So the next day, we tried to make amends. But here's the thing about it. I didn't go on there and apologize for anybody out there. there. I did it for me because if I offer an apology, you either can accept it or not. But I have to

be the one that looks at myself every morning and every night in the mirror. And I have to be happy and proud of the man I am. Trust me, I've been, not in about 10 years ago, I hated looking at myself in the mirror. Really? Yeah. I just. Why? Because for the early part of the 2000s, I mean, And I had everything going in my favor, in my way. And again, to no fault to anybody but me, I messed it all up. And I had taken opportunity and I had squandered it. And there for a while I was wondering, maybe I'm not, maybe I don't have what I think I have to offer. And, I mean, I went from being on live television to being out in a bar at three in the morning, you know, taking people's IDs, you know.

doing security. I mean, that's a, that's quite a step. That's one of the many different hats you wore. Exactly. Yeah. It humbled me. That was the word I was good. Yeah. Did you feel at any point embarrassed, ashamed? Honeyly. Okay. Did you get recognized? Occasionally. And I hated it every time I did. So you were literally the guy at the door saying, wow. Yeah. Decided if people were getting in a bar. Because you, because you couldn't get any kind of other job? We moved. After my arrest in 2012, we moved from Florida back to New York because my girl, she's from this area. And, you know, when people say that they're starting from scratch, I lost two houses, and every possession I had fit in the back of my truck. Wow.

Now that's starting from scratch. And when you're in your 30s and you're trying to start afresh, trying to start new, it's tough to stand out with a business resume, you know. Because most people want to hire entry level. And entry level means you're in your early 20s and you're not in your late 30s. So it was tough. It was tough to stand out. And I needed money to come in and, you know, doing security work with at least easy money night in and night out. But yeah, occasionally I would get noticed and it was tough.

I'm not going to lie. It was embarrassing every time I got. People would want to take pictures. I would do it. But I certainly wasn't having the candid conversation. that you and I are having. This is in the city? It was.

Do you know the name of the place? Oh, yeah. It was the first place I worked at, and I'm, listen, I'm on. I'm so thankful that I had friends that stepped out and said, you're moving. Let's put some money in your pocket. The first place was called Sutton Place, Midtown 1015. It was over on second half. And the second place I worked was a gentleman's club called Vivid Cabaret.

Wow. Yeah. And so guys come up there occasionally and say, Aren't you? Yes. Did you ever try to lie to them? No. I mean, I would joke with them.

I'm like, ah, that's my brother. Okay, okay. He's a jerk. But, no, I never tried to run away or hide from who I was. I just hoped people wouldn't recognize me, if that makes sense. The girl that you speak of, same one you're with now? Same one. Gina?

Yeah, same one that's in my videos. Well, yes, because she made it a few appearances. Yes. You guys aren't married, though. I mean, no, we're not married, but. But you've been together for so long. She's stuck with you through all these ups and times. Downs. How many years? We started, got together in 2011. Okay. And think about it. My arrest happened

about a year later. And we had a house in Florida right on the water. I still had my house in Virginia. And following my arrest, I mean, I'm talking everything crumbled, everything caved in. Because I had no income coming in. My HSN job, gone. And yeah, she never gave me a hard time about it either. Really? Yeah. She could have easily. She didn't threaten to leave you, you got to clean this up. She said, we're going to New York because she had connections here. She was like, I can make money in New York now, and it's time. Wow.

Yeah. She's a Jersey girl, though. She hated being down in Florida anyway. Okay, so this was a good reason. Wow, yeah, it was her chance to get back to her home. I mentioned everyone loves you. When I say that, I speak of the fans, do you think any of the guys, and I know there's been some things with the RVDs of the world and whatnot, do you think there are

some guys who don't like that you speak so much about the behind-the-scenes stuff. I know it's somewhat the norm now, unreal, all this stuff, but do you know of any guys who are like, man, you're talking a little bit too much? Probably some. When we did the AEW video, I... That was tremendous. Oh, thank you. When we did that video, I mentioned on Chris Van Vleach's channel that there were a few guys, you know, and we're there with a camera, but we're by no means making anyone go on on camera with us. And Max Castor came up, and I go up, and I've known Max from Brian Myers' school. And I go up just to say hi, and he respectfully tells me, hey, don't want to be on film,

you know, just want to keep K-Fabe, no problem. Absolutely no problem. If anyone does have an issue with anything that I'm saying, I respect their decision. I respect their stance. I'm not going to tell anybody how they should feel about what we do. We're all adults. Have your feelings. And, I mean, we're still going to do what we're going to do.

We just live in a new world. We live in a world where this, where information is as important as the action in the ring. I truly believe that. Does it ever get to you? You what? Meaning does someone reach out to you and be like, that was a little too much? Nah. No.

They don't pay my bills. No, yeah, okay. Well, I'm not telling you. you, that they're going to ask you to stop, but just be like, yo man, no. I'm 48 years old. I'm not trying to make friends. Okay. That's fair.

How did you pull off the AEW visit? Did you reach out to them? Actually, one of the guys that I worked with in my time in WW, guy that I would work with almost weekly, reached out, and he's doing for AEW what his job was for the WWE. Anytime we would have a media day, anytime we would be doing anything. you know, outside the ring, you know, go to Vancouver and do radio and TV spots for an upcoming show. He was the guy that was setting it up. Well, he reached out through Colt Cabana.

You know, Colt put us in contact and he said, we'd love to have you come in. And here's where I talk about my partner and just how amazing he is. We started just the normal conversation on what some ideas might be. Within 20 minutes, my partner had listed 10 ideas. of videos that we could run with AEW, we sent them over, and we said, here's 10, 10 ideas, choose which one you want us to do. Wow. Because at the end of the day, it's still YouTube. We have to make a YouTube video, which is where the I snuck-in idea came from.

Obviously, I did not sneak in, but we have to make it a YouTube video. We have to grab people. If people want to say it's Click Beatty, I get it, but it's still, you know, we're still telling a story. At any point, was there conversations of you working for AEW? Working for them, like, full-time? Doing stuff for them, TV stuff, commentary stuff. None that went anywhere. So this conversation was just about doing like...

Yeah, one-off. Yeah, covering them. Absolutely. Okay. Would, I mean, would I entertain ideas from all three of the big... I'm shocked. Has anyone reached out to you recently? Nobody.

I'm shocked. Nobody. Why do you think that is? You're such a good speaker. So charismatic. Are you interested? I would explore any options that came my way. Like I said, I still and always will love professional wrestling. I will always be an ambassador for the business. I would, I'd like to think that I'm old enough now where the childish mistakes that I made in my 20s and early 30s are

behind me. I'd like to think so. So I think I'd be a good representation for any company that might bring me in. And at the end of the day, I think I can talk. I think if there's one thing God blessed me with, it's the ability to run this hole under my nose. But it hasn't happened, and I'm never going to look at opportunities that aren't in my lap and be upset. I'm only going to look at what I have in front of me and be grateful. And right now, we have a successful YouTube channel that is making me more money than I thought possible. and I am, I thank the good Lord day in and day out for this opportunity. At this point, you can live off of what you make on the YouTube channel.

And live well. We live well. And live well. More than you ever could have dreamed. I make more now than I made when I was wrestling. Really? Yes. What about in the financial world?

Yeah. Yeah, that's so hit or miss, though. Close enough. It's a conversation. It is. It is. If a company said we want you to come on, we're going to give you the perfect job for you. You're on board.

You love it. You love the salary, but you have to shut down the channel. Not happening. Not happening. It's a hard no. Really? Hard no. Even, we'll pay you a little extra.

Hard not. Really? Why? Because right now I'm my own boss. Yeah. Because right now, two months ago, I got to jump in my car and drive and tell the Buff Bagwell story. Incredible. And after that, we were there with Buff for three days, and we went straight from Buff in Atlanta

and drove four hours to, um, Savannah, and I got to tell the Matt Lida story. And my partner and I, we're a two-man show, and his brother does our editing. So totally, totally, we have three people doing what we do. And as hard as it is to fathom, we break wrestling news occasionally. Big time, yeah. I mean, that's great journalism. What you guys did with Buff is, like, legit journalism.

Yeah, and it's, there's not. I wouldn't give that up for, I've learned, I chased money for so long, and I learned that, man, I'd rather be happy and just, I'm happier now than I was back when I was wrestling, back when I was working for the big company. I'm way happier now. And I'll take happy over filthy rich any day. Is that because you don't have to answer to anyone because it's so political? It's because I'm, it's because I'm doing what I want to do.

And I can say no. occasionally my partner will have ideas and I'm nah I don't think I can tell that story or let's let's avoid that topic we're our own bosses yeah is it not exhausting though at times like when you're I saw your I saw your video no you did a video about like the unwritten rules way back in the day you did the unwritten rules and it's like number one shake everyone's hand number two like there's so much that you have to do otherwise that's exhausting right stupid it's just stupid wrestling has a bunch is just dumb. And I guess it's, you know,

and you'll hear people talk about, well, it's showing that you'll take care of people in the room. It's not. It's just a way to get people heat, you know. I've seen so many times wrestlers would, oh, so-and-so didn't shake so-and-so's hand, and then they had heat backstage. It's just stupid, you know.

Does that still exist? Of course it exists. Oh, well, let me say. I'm not in a locker room. Sure. So I don't know if it exists to the level of the way it was when I was there. when I was backstage at AEW, that environment seemed like a good place to work. Okay, I was going to ask you about that.

It seemed like a good place to work. Good vibe. Great vibes. And Tony Kahn seemed like the best boss to work for. I know he gets a lot of critics talking about him online. I sat and watched. We were, there were about 30 minutes away from ending the show. And my contact told me, Tony wants to meet with you.

He just has to wait till obviously the show's over. So we... Yeah, no problem. I mean, we're here. We don't have any place to be. So I sat and I watched Tony for 30 minutes, and every wrestler that came out of that ring, he got up from his producing chair,

took his headphones off, made sure every one of them was healthy, happy, with the match that they had just had. And you can tell when someone cares, as opposed to when someone's going through the motion. He cares. I left, and I told him to his face, you have changed my perception on what I thought you were. And everybody that I talked to there seemed happy to be there and seemed happy with the product that they were putting out in front of the fans.

That behavior are not common? You get back. I've worked in locker rooms where it was a job. Okay. And there were times, especially in WWE. And, you know, remember when, you know, the Vince bought WCW and you had an influx of brand new. talent. And then it's just, I mean, it's, it was a rough place, a rough locker room. I often tell people wrestling, wrestling is, the wrestling locker room, it's high school all over again. Only

difference. Every person is the homecoming king and every girl is the homecoming queen. There are just so many big A type personalities. It's just tough to juggle from time to time. Is that because all these, so they bought it in March of 2001. You win in September of 2001. You debut in October. So it's still very fresh where these new faces are coming in. What a fascinating time in the business. You could tell when a new face comes in, like they're trying to mesh, they're not meshing, they're trying to do, you could feel all that. Even though you're new to it, you could understand. Really? Yeah, you could see little, and no pun intended, little clicks warming. You could see and you could hear people just talking under their breath about, uh,

see they're not going to make it, or did you see that match they had or whatever? You could just see competition and and it was basically like like lions at a watering hole with a limited amount of water it's just it was yeah it was dog eat dog although it kind of helped me because it took some of the heat right tough enough off my shoulders intimidating completely the most in a wrestling locker room is the most intimidating place on earth I mean but I walked in young a child still and then I mean there's stone cold oh there's the rock there's taker yeah there's Sean, you know, all these faces, all these men I had idolized growing up. And then on top of that, add in, you do a match with one of them and maybe you don't perform to their expectations.

And then, oh my gosh, I just let my idols down. Yeah, it's very intimidating. Who was the nicest to you? Because obviously you had the relationship. That Devon was an asshole to me. He was an asshole, right? He was an asshole, right? Lead asshole to me. Yeah. And, but who was the nicest? Stevie Richards. Really? Stevie was nice. Why? Another YouTuber? Just, yeah, just, he's just, another salt of the earth guy. Went out of his way?

Out of his way. But a lot of, and, and a lot. I thought you'd say Al Snow. Al's, well, Al was like a father, though. Right, right. But there's a lot of guys that went out of their way and never viewed me. Yeah, like I said, we did an interview, we did that, that interview with PJ, with Just Incredible. He was always cool to me.

God rest his soul, and I can't wait to see what his son does. Umaga. Umaga. me under his wing when I got to A. Really? Absolutely. And from day one, him and Jimmy Yang and easy money, you know, they took me in and

made me one of them. So at least at HWA, I didn't have to worry about any of that BS. But the guys like Valvinus was always great to me. Rico was great to me. There were, more people were good to me than weren't. Did you ever feel like someone was

trying to sabotage you? I don't I want to say sabotage, no, but I mean, I definitely think that there were probably people that, you know. And here's what's crazy about it, man. And I found this out in real time, real time. We're doing our video on tonight I was GM. We're all GM. I hadn't watched that match in over 20 years. I don't watch my stuff.

I don't watch my wrestling matches. I'm way too critical. I'm like, I should have done this or why did I do that? So I'm watching this match for our YouTube video. And I noticed because I just. know the business now way different than I did then. Hunter was having to call every spot to me, every spot. And it just hit me, like slap me across the face. Man, I wasn't ready. I wasn't. Like, yeah, the veterans should be leading the rookie or the less knowledgeable guy through a match,

but he shouldn't have to call every spot. There was a spot where I came up and I punched him. and you see him his head go down and he tells me stay on me punch me again stuff I know now but I didn't know then so yeah it's just yeah I was I was mad and I was hurt and I was upset when they let me go but this is all stuff I should have known he should not have had to walk me through every every as far as punch okay punch me punch me I should have known stay on him stay on him Finding that out in real time while we were doing a video, it made me look at things a whole lot different. So an anger I might have had at somebody or something for me feeling. Maybe they didn't give me my full opportunity.

It was, you know, they should have. They had every right to let me go when they did. Do you think that if they maybe put you somewhere for a year and they didn't do the thing where you come in a month later and then the under and and you really got to be somewhat seasoned it would have turned out differently but then you're not capitalizing on the buzz right right right they had they had the only move which was hey this is a show we just did we need to maximize it I get why they did what they did I mean would it have probably bowed better for my career absolutely but you know that's that's not the cards I was right right you did a video on unreal and you

said something that I kind of made a lot of news where he said no one trusted you Hunter other than Sean I guess what did you mean and I'm not going to say who but I had at least five five wrestlers reach out to me and thank me for what I said wow five active non active okay what did you mean when you said no one trusted you everybody knew backstage everybody and and I know it got a lot And that's not what I, I didn't mean to, you know, break news or whatever, but, you know, just, people knew Hunter what he was positioning himself for, which is what he's got now. But I don't want to act like he didn't deserve it or he didn't earn it. He does. You're never going to find a better or a more intelligent mind when it comes to professional wrestling than with Triple H.

He's earned every right. Every right that he has, he has truly earned. but yeah if people want to act like guys backstage felt different okay that's their opinion I see it differently so what's interesting about that word is like

when I think of trust I think of like oh he and I know this is not what you mean but initially you're like oh did he try to like take liberties with you? No he was never like that never no I wrestled wrestled him several times and I'll always put he protected you

100%. Okay. And there was never anybody better to be in the ring with. Hunter could keep me from blowing up, meaning getting tired as I'm wrestling. And he was always the easiest person to put a match together with just because his knowledge is so expansive. But people just backstage, they knew, okay, Hunter's office. It's that simple. He was office.

And guys knew that. And guys knew if you're saying something in front of him, it's going to get back. to the office understood that's what I meant by that the the decision to have you eliminate the undertaker who who who is to to get that credit who came up with that I always and for 20 some years I thought it was shame I thought shame because Royal Rumble was the thing right absolutely and when I got there that day when I because I flew in I woke up the morning of the Rumble in Cincinnati and Les Thatcher told me you're flying to Atlanta kid and I jumped on a plane and flew that

That day. That day. Wow. Arrived in Atlanta for the Rumble, got to the arena late. I think I got there around 3 o'clock, and they immediately ushered me to the ring where I found Taker and Shane. And Shane was the one who told me, you're eliminating Taker. So I've always thought that it was Shane's idea. And when I did six feet under with Taker, he told me it was his idea.

Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Does that blow you way? It blows me away. When you were told that information, you're like, what the hell, right? Absolutely. I remember that.

I remember exactly where I was. I was in my dorm room. I remember what you used to wear. I love the fact that they would just give you, like, running shoes and the pants. Oh, no, they didn't give me, though. Oh, those were yours. Yes, yes. The pajama pants?

Yeah. Easy money made me those, those pants with that M on it. Yeah, yeah. He made me those literally spur of the moment because I needed something. But it was perfect because you kind of look like rags to riches, like your heart on your, at your luck right now. You don't have the money. It was brilliant.

And the drop kick was a thing of beauty. Imagine, imagine. Like, you nailed him with that. Yeah. How nervous were you? As nervous as I've ever been and will ever be doing anything in my entire life. Wow. I could, I could be in any position, whether it be on TV or whether it be in front of a live audience.

And I'll never be as nervous as I was before I went out for that. Because I knew. Taker was, he was pretty clear with me. He said, as long as you hit me with this drop kick, I can, I can protect you on everything else. Wow. Because remember, his back at that point is turned away from me. If I miss him, he can't take the bump. The spot is ruined.

And, yeah, everything in my career I owe to not only The Undertaker, but to that drop kick. And I'm happy. That's why he told me he's like, kick. kicked the shit out of me and I'm glad I did because after that my night was over the rest of that night was easy getting hit with the chair that was easy the popcorn machine everything else was easy I just needed to hit him with that drop kick do you remember getting to the back after that oh yeah what was said to you everyone happy everybody well yeah I mean everybody still had a job to do remember they're still you know wrestling in the midst of the pay-per-view but I remember sitting

and I was probably like a little lost puppy dog looking for a belly rug I remember following Takeer everywhere, just making sure he was okay with it. And he was just, he's just like the coolest dude. He's like, yeah, man, it was perfect. It was perfect. Wow. As long as he was okay, then I knew I was fine. And then later on that night, I started getting calls, again, from Umaga, from guys, Rosie, easy money, Jimmy Yang, guys from HWA.

And when I knew, when I had those guys calling me, I knew I'd done something that was pretty special. Did you ever suffer from imposter syndrome? Oh, I still do. Still do. Still do. Yes. I think everybody suffers from a little bit of imposter syndrome. Because if you don't, that's telling everybody I deserve and I belong to be in this seat right here.

And I don't think that's just the way we as human beings are wired. I think everybody has a little bit of, whether it be nerves or just, yeah, I don't know if I can necessarily do this. But I think that's healthy. I think that's good. I think that forces us to be our best versions of ourselves. I've heard you tell the story multiple times where it's like one of the cardinal sins that you made, for lack of a better word, was you didn't go to the ring when you get to the show, go to the ring, work on stuff. You didn't do that. What did you do instead of that?

Oh, I went to the gym. I was riding with Randy. And Randy was a, you know, Randy's one of those talents that comes along every hundred years. and Randy Randy was great from day one and I probably thought unwisely that I was in his league

I was not I did everything but we'd go to the gym I'd go shoot there was times I'd go find an empty office and take a nap Wow

yeah just when I should have been and when I mean say by going to the road I should have went because there were guys there were the Fit Finley's and the Shelton Benjamin's

and there were guys the Dean Malenco It was guys with unlimited wrestling knowledge in that ring, just waiting, hoping they can pass it on. And I should have been there just soaking up like a sponge every bit of that knowledge. And I didn't. And did anyone tell you like, hey, man.

Oh, yeah. Johnny Ais told me all the time. Wow. Get to the ring. And what did you say? Oh, yeah, Johnny, yeah. I'll get there. Yeah.

Going to eat and I'll be right there. And you would never go. I wouldn't say never. I just didn't go as much as I should have. I would go find whoever I was wrestling on Raw that night, go over my match, make sure I had my match down, and then go do something else. Wow. Again, kid, stupid. And when you say go to the gym, like you wouldn't leave the arena.

Yes, 100%. Oh, really? I would leave the facility and go off to a gym and get a workout in. Oh, my gosh. And no one told you, hey, that's a mistake. I mean, they probably told me, but they didn't. So you thought you were the man. You thought you were the shit.

Yes. Really? Yeah. And no point in that are you humbled to the point where you're like, hey, man, I might lose my job if I don't start, you know, like, no one, no one's scaring you? The day I got fired. Wow. I was humble. You were blindsided by it.

Because you had just signed a new deal, right? I just signed a new deal. And I felt like I was getting better. If you watch my work, if you watch my, and when you watch somebody wrestle, here's an easy way to find out how. comfortable they are. Their aggression level. If they're aggressive, if everything they do looks like, oh my gosh, they're putting everything into it, they're pretty comfortable in the ring. If their aggression level isn't not, isn't elevated, that means they're thinking. That means they're trying to not have a bad match. And my aggression level was starting to improve.

It was starting to get better. And my, you know, my moves looked better. I was about as comfortable with my position as I'd ever been. I'd had a little bit of a run with doing main event at Survivor Series. I'd had a little bit of a run with, you know, working with guys like, you know, with Hunter, with Batista, a couple matches, with, you know, just, you know, the Jericho's. And, and I thought, okay, they gave me a taste of what it's like to be up here. Now they're going to pull me back and give me a few years to just get better. That's where I thought they were put, why they were bringing me down, back to mid-card status, where I belonged, and I thought within time, I'll earn my way back up to main event status. And then the rug got pulled

out. But again, I go back to my match with Hunter. They weren't wrong. Right. They weren't wrong. How did you handle fame, like being recognized, being popular? You go from being a teacher to the reality. Looking back? I don't, I mean, I don't think. You forget, I've been around and in a room with the rock. That's fame. Right, right. That's fame. So you didn't walk around thinking like you were, okay. No. I've never considered myself famous in any way whatsoever. And it's only because I've been around truly famous people. Right, right, right. You know, where somebody walks in and just like the movie where the record skips and every eye is on that. Be in a room with

the rock. Every eye's on him. Everybody wants a piece of. Everybody wants to go up to him. I've never experienced that. I can't imagine what it would be like. At that point, you're like, how old? When I got fired, I think I was 28. 28. So, like, you're in your mid-20s and you're around these larger-than-life superstars. I can't imagine what life is like. It's crazy, especially coming from, I mean, I grew up in the country. I know I don't look it, but I'm as country as you can get. Your story is unbelievable. I need to do a movie on you. It should be. Has anyone done a movie on you? They have not. A documentary? They should. I feel bad. One thing I hate one. My life is crazy. easier than my wrestling story.

Yes, absolutely. I'm sorry for bringing this up, but in short, you have a mom and a dad. You've never met your dad. Never met my biological father. It was, you were born out of sort of like an affair. I was. Your dad was married.

Yes. From what I heard. From what you heard. Never saw a picture of him. Never saw a picture of him. Like I said, don't even know what he looks like. I know he's devastatingly handsome. That's all I know.

You even know his name? No. You've never even been tempted to look him up. tempted maybe but he didn't want anything to do with me here's the story I have I heard from my uncle from my mom's my mom's brother my birth mother her brother that well because I was born in Nashville Tennessee a few days old my mother invites him over and he comes over and she wants to show here's your son he had just bought a new Cadillac and he came the story I heard was he He walked in, took one look at me, and then told my mother, come out and look at my new

Cadillac, which I guess the apple doesn't fall far because I've been a cat, I own a Cadillac. But he never wanted anything to do with me. And if that's the way he felt, I'm fine with it. Do you know if he's still alive? No clue. Okay. Don't care. Don't care.

Okay. He didn't try to reach out when you became famous. Never. Do you know why you're named Maven? It's a very unique name. Yeah, no clue of that either. And my middle name Clayton, I mean, Clayt, everybody always thought it was Clayton, but it's Clayton, I always thought maybe my birth father's name was Clayton, but I don't even have that answer either.

And my birth mom, she committed suicide the day after Christmas in 78 when I was two, so I never got to ask her any of these questions. Do you know why she did? I can only assume, late 70s. 70s, she was white. Late 70s, having a little black curly-haired kid in Virginia, wasn't easy. When my, I was then adopted by my, if you could follow this. Yes. My birth mother passes, her brother and his wife, my aunt and uncle, they adopt me.

That's who I grew up and still called mom and dad. And before my mom died in 04, I got to ask her, what was the hardest thing about raising me? and she told me she was like the looks I would get I would have you in a grocery store and just the evil looks I would get you know with pierced glass and so I've often thought it was probably just tough and you know they happened to deal with that she didn't have she didn't have you know wasn't employed it's probably just tough you put that on yourself though because you're saying that you were part of the reason is that fair I would probably think I was a good majority of

the reason I would think but that's a tough thing to put on yourself but I don't want to say I carry the the burden I think more than anything I'm realistic it's just life I get I get how life gets hard sometimes and I get how sometimes we get you know we get overburdened with stuff and sometimes the only outlet or the only answer we might have might be the one we can't consider do you have do you have do you have you have you have of her no you were too young right I wish I did right and so so your dad obviously we got to know your your mother yeah on the show and I'm sorry obviously that she that she passed but I heard you say recently that you cherish I do the footage that you have on tough enough that they let you go back

and and be with her right because she was dealing with cancer right yeah is your dad still alive he is okay he's still still alive still lives in the same house I grew up on he's actually remarried and if you can believe this has four kids from the ages of 2 to 13. Oh my. How old is he? 74. Wow.

God bless. Yeah. If anything ever happens, they need to repopulate society. Just call him. You don't have any kids, right? I have none. Didn't want?

I wanted them, but wanted them probably too late. Okay. I used to see Devon on the road, and he had to be a father away from his kids. And DeVon's a great day. dad. He's so, he's always there for him, but I know the challenges that it must have been because it's tough being on the road and providing and then just missing birthdays, missing

holidays, missing important dance recitals, missing this. And Devon juggles it so well. I always, if I had kids, I wanted to be there. And I just, I don't know if I ever wanted to, I don't know if I ever wanted to have a kid that might have the same experiences that I had growing up. Yeah, it was tough. I'm not going to lie, it was tough. When you say experiences, what do you mean by that?

Do you mean from like a race standpoint? Not a race standpoint, but just, it's just tough. For the longest time, it was me and my mom. It was just us. And I would see people that have, you know, they're going home for the holidays and they have a big family

that they're getting together. And I just never had that. And I don't know if it scared me all for it just, yeah. If I ever had kids, it would have been because I could be there day in and day out. And I was never gonna put a kid through divorce and I was going to be able to provide for them. And yeah, all the stuff that I know I never had 100%

confidently when I was growing up. So your adoptive parents, they got divorced? They did when I was 10. When you were 10, gosh. That's another traumatic thing. Did you have siblings? No, well, I have two older brothers, but they were from my adopted parents. Okay, okay.

But no biological siblings. No biological. Were you close with them, at least? Like, were they someone? I wouldn't say close. Close when they, they were the kind of siblings that would come and visit during the summer. Okay.

And, yeah, I mean, you know, they were seven years older than me. They made me, like, I still remember, I thank them for making me. tough because they would beat the hell out of them really oh they would come home for the summer and beat you up what yeah but it toughened me up it toughened me there's seven years older or so yeah seven years old je louise i mean they would literally hold me down outside i remember i remember getting into a first fist fight i had was with my brother and i remember growing up and just all i wanted to do was get to the point to where i was big enough and tough enough to where I could take him.

And yeah, when I knew when I did that, then, okay, I'm becoming a man. Are you close with them now? No, no. Okay. So it's just you and Gina? Just us. Unbelievable. And it's really amazing.

I was looking at your LinkedIn, actually, and you've talked about this a little bit, but you kind of gloss over. I'm a big basketball fan. And stuck in between there is a cup of coffee with the Brooklyn Nets. What did you do for them? Sales. I was in sales. Maven Huffman, tough enough winter.

You're doing sales for the Brooklyn Nets. It was great because it was my entrance, my entry-level job into the business world. And it gave my resume a little bit more legitimacy. Yeah. But that didn't happen without some strife along the way, too. I was trying to get into the business world, and I would send my resume out, and I just couldn't get a callback. And finally, wrestler Pete Gas, who was the mean street posse. Bingo.

So I told him, you know, I'm trying to find a job, trying, trying, and finally, he was pretty high up with W.B. Mason. He was like, let me send you in. But I never wanted to use anybody. I never wanted to get a job out of a favor. But he hooked me up with an interview, met with them, went great. They offered me a job. And then they did a background check on me. And when they found my arrest, they had to pull it. And once that happened, My best friend from college, who was at the time a vice president with the Brooklyn Nets, he's now a vice president with the Islanders. He was like, okay, he's like, come in, I'm giving you. And he pretty much got me a job with the Nets. How long were you there for? Two seasons. Which era was this?

Was this like the K.D.? This was the first year one was the year before KD. Okay. And once they brought Katie and Kiree in. Your job got easier probably, right? Well, it got easier, but then and then was eliminated. Right, right, right. I mean, once you sell out the building because of those guys.

Oh, really? Yeah, they don't. So you got let go? You were not needed. My whole department got let go. Really? Yeah, and not only my whole department, but the three managers that I had above me, they're no longer with the Nets either.

Yeah. Because they just didn't need people selling tickets anymore? Right, right, right. When you sell out that arena. Right. And when you work for a team like the Brooklyn Nets, we weren't allowed to sell Mariah Carey tickets or if, Matt Reif, the comedian, comes.

We're not selling. We're only selling basketball. Okay. So once you sell out, what else is there to do? What else is there to do? But that led me to my job on Wall Street. Right. Which I cherished.

And that didn't give you any problems. Like the arrest, no issues there. That's, and I never wanted to use a friend, but he told me I can, I'll gloss that over. And when it, when, so I go in, I do the interview, I meet with everybody. And then when it came time for the background. check, that's when he stepped in. Okay. And he, you know, he made it to where it wasn't an issue.

And the arrest is 2012. Dr. Shopping. Dr. shopping. Uh, opioids. Yeah. I had a couple doctors that I was just getting, getting painkillers off of. Yeah.

And how'd you get caught? Because I, and this is going to sound ridiculous, but I didn't think I was doing anything wrong. I wasn't buying them illegally. I wasn't buying them on the streets. And when I got them, I wasn't selling them. Never sold one a day in my life. life. I was just taking more than I should have. And I was getting them from the pharmacy. So I literally thought I wasn't doing anything wrong. But come to find out, there's a certain amount of painkillers you can get per month. And I was exceeding that limit. So I wasn't trying to hide it. I just, yeah, I got busted. And for you who like tips them off? It's the DEA database. No one had to tip them off. Okay. It's a big gigantic red flag.

Okay, okay. You know, just shining. Hey, this guy, these assholes getting way too many painkillers. Do you spend... At the same pharmacy. Right, right, right. Do you spend any time in prison? No, no.

Why not? A, I got a good attorney. Okay. I mean, at the time, I was living in, me and Gina were living in Florida, and our next-door neighbor was an attorney. And when they came, and they, they scheduled, they came, picked me up in the morning. I had my attorney ready. He followed me.

to the jail. I basically did my intake and bonded out. And then at that point, from then on, it just became how much of a fine I was going to pay. Which was what? It was a lot, it's 25 grand. Okay. Yeah. Did you feel like that was Rock Bottom? Well, Rock Bottom was losing my job. Rock Bob, because I thought I did. WWE job. No, no, no, no. Rock Bottom was losing the HSN job because that was just a, that was a great gig. So you were just like a salesman on TV? Yeah. Yeah, I was their sports host. And doing well? Doing very well. And it was the easiest job.

I'd basically stand and have these amount of cameras, and I would talk and sell NFL merchandise or sports memorabilia. I did a show with when they put prime time, Dion Sanders, and the Hall of Fame. He came in with a line of merchandise and I got to do a few shows with him. It was easy.

It's just basically me standing up there, running my mouth, selling NFL stuff. Right. Yeah, and great money. And so they let you go because of the arrest. And that felt like rock bottom. Yeah, that was Rock Bottom. How did you handle Rock Bottom?

Probably. Labored in self-pity for a few years. Years? Yeah, which is why I'll never allow myself to get in self-pity again. Because it stopped me from growth. I should have just picked myself up, which I eventually did. And rather than think and dwell on all the things that I no longer had, I should have looked forward to the things that I lost, but let's get some more stuff back.

Let's start rebuilding the person that you are. Because again, I had days where I just hated the person that I had become, and that was my lowest point. Being embarrassed of a job that I'm having, which was honest work. No one was giving me money. I was going out there and standing in front of that bar and earning that money, but it wasn't the job that I once had, so I looked down upon it, which was wrong. That was my lowest point. I feel like I'm kind of going all over the place, but your life is so fascinating and you've had so many different chapters. Going back to that WWE try out right before the pandemic,

you try out, it looks like you're about to get it, and you're there, and then the pandemic hits and everything changes. Why didn't they, like once things started to roll back, why didn't those talks get picked up again? That happened the day that the world shut down. Right. We're in a hotel, And I'm sitting there watching how they're shutting down the NBA season. They're shutting down this, shutting down that. And we were in Florida, and I immediately thought, I got to get back to New Jersey. Because I don't, you know, this is fresh territory for everybody. We don't know.

Are they going to not allow interstate travel? Who knows? So my job was immediately to get back to New Jersey. And I still had hope. I still thought, okay, maybe this is just a small hiccup along. the way but once they started doing the show from the performance center with a very skeleton crew with a very limited cast of characters they started letting people go and I knew once they start letting people go they're more than likely if they do

bring people back they're gonna be bring the people back that are familiar right with the current product and I knew it was a long shot even like eight nine ten months later those talks didn't get rekindled never got rekindled Did you try? Did you say, hey, guys, we were talking before? The guy who I was put in touch with, the guy who set up everything, he was one of the ones that was let go. And that was it. Yeah.

Is that one that you lament? Do you say, like, what if? Do you wonder about that? No. I mean, what's the, what does that get you? Right. It's like sitting in a rocking chair. It's something to do.

Right. I don't get you anywhere. Instead, I'm, man, I'm happy with the direction it took. I'm happy with the job that I got. on, you know, working on Wall Street. I'm happy with because it led me to where I am now. Again, I love what I do. I do.

I love every Friday when a video goes out. I love seeing the reaction if it's a good one. And I like learning when we do a video that doesn't work. We did a video a couple months back, and it was AI slop. And the fans had no problem in the comments telling me, Maven, this ain't. I think one person wrote, Maven, this ain't it. And I love that. Like, it's because it's learning.

I get to learn. Okay, we tried something. It missed the mark. It didn't work. And I now, I get to, I'm forcing myself to get better week after week. And I just love that. I like where my life's at. I like where I'm headed. I love that I'm my own boss. I often talk to Matt Cardona, who I think was the person that, that showed wrestlers, once you leave one of the feds,

there is a life outside of wrestling, and there's a life that you can build for yourself. I think the path he laid forward is just inspirational. And I've told him, I'd love being my own boss, do you? And he does. Now, he wants to go back, but I think he recognizes that he gets to decide how much work he does.

just something to be said for that. If one of the big organizations hit you up and said, we want you, we love everything about you, keep the channel. What's the ideal job? What are you saying? It would either be in commentary doing something like this or I've always wanted to be a man. I love old school manager. Oh yeah. Like Bobby Heenan. Paul Heyman now. Like I think I could do that. You'd want to be a character. Yeah. Not someone behind the scenes, a producer, an executive. I wouldn't want to be a producer. I wouldn't want that stress. I wouldn't want, because, you know, the producer, that's a thankless job. If the match goes great, then the wrestlers get all the credit.

If it sucks, they're pointing fingers at you. I wouldn't want that gig. This is going to happen in the next, like, couple of years. What is? Someone's going to call you. I can't believe no one's called you. I'm blown away. If they don't, I put it, I'm not, I don't keep that phone on.

No, I know, but I mean, you're so hot right now. You're so beloved. Like, you have a connection with people. You're such a great storyteller. way, I mean, just the whole thing, why wouldn't someone? But that just might not be my path. Right. I'm not saying it's a bad thing.

What if my path is to do what I'm doing? And I hope it remains that way. If someone tells you to close the channel, I hope you never listened to them. But my point is, if I was leading a company right now, you'd be one of the first people I'd call. Oh, well, thank you. From your lips to God's ears. And you know that, right?

I think I, I think I could provide value to a company. Yes, I do. But then what would that value be? Would it be a position that they need filled? Would it be a role that they currently don't have? And I think that's where the trouble falls. There's no shortage of commentators for the WWE. The guys that are doing it, they do a great job.

So whose position would I take? Am I going to do better than Corey Graves? Probably not. So I get it. I completely understand. Um, but like I said, I'm always open to any opportunity. I'm never going to close the chapter on professional wrestling. When's the last time you've been backstage at a WW event?

Oh, WW event? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I can't even give you a date. Really? Yeah, I cannot give you a date. It's been that long. Like over a decade? Yeah, oh yeah.

Oh, yeah. Did you ever go back when you weren't in the company? I did. Um, shoot, I think it was like when I was doing, I did a show, I had my own, or, uh, show and R&B show on BET. in 2006 and they were doing a show in I want to say Nassau Coliseum

and I went backstage then and it might have been that long Wow, is that weird for you? No. Because at that point you were still in the mix you were doing things you were relatively happy, right? Yeah, I was happy because I had moved on. Right.

I had allowed my next chapter to start so I was perfectly content. If there was one thing I could do over, if I could get a do over, Johnny Ace reached out to me in 2008 and asked me to come back. I wish I would have taken him up on that.

And because I had just got the job with HSN and I didn't want to get rid of guaranteed money. But what I didn't take into consideration at that moment was I'm not going to be young forever. My body's not going to feel the way it did in 2008 forever. HSM, I could have done at any time. wrestling, wrestling had a shelf life. And I just wish I would have. Okay, Johnny, where are you want me to go? Where am I going? FCW? Sure. I'll go do it. And then go with a new, a new, maybe new gimmick, new appreciation for the business and basically start my career in wrestling over again. What was the pitch when he called you? Let's, the pitch was enough time has passed. You're no

longer going to be the tough enough kid let's get you back let's see what you let's see what you got and was it no i remember telling me he he said you're still good looking let's get you back was it no on the spot or you like really wrestled with it no i told him i had to think about it and then the no turned into the no came probably two weeks later when i was looking at guaranteed money on hsn and you know talking to people that were like you can be on hsn for the next 20 years and And it's hard to, again, it's why I've made decisions based on money before, and I just don't want to make that mistake again. Did he try to convince you?

He tried. Yeah. I mean, I don't know if he, you know, he didn't show up. And I've heard stories of guys, you know, Vince flying the man on their jet. It didn't go that far. I've never been on Vince's jet. But he tried. I mean, and by try, I mean, it was a few calls.

Do you think Vince liked you? I think Vince is a businessman. Man. Vince signs the front of the checks. I sign the back. And I think when you make Vince money, he loves you. And then when you don't, he no longer has a purpose for you, which you can think that's heartless, but that's every businessman. That's every business person. and so if you saw him now what do you what do you think like do you think he'd have anything to say to you do you think he'd i think we would catch up the same way when i see hunter it's a handshake hey how you doing how's the family how's everybody it's a hug it's just it's brief but it's heartfelt and i mean it and i know he means it when he sees me too whether there's any animosity or anything man we're all human beings yeah like like who cares get past that like i if i saw any of those guys

I don't concern myself with any way I was treated or any slight I might have felt in the past. Man, I'm moving forward. I'll let you go to me. This has been great. This has really been great. And if anyone out there is unfamiliar if you're watching this with the YouTube channel,

I urge you to subscribe. Please. Subscribe and watch every Friday. A new video comes out. By the way, why'd you guys pick Fridays? I'd have to ask my partner, though. Okay. But that was, he told me when we first started,

he was like, we're going to have a day. Yeah, yeah. And it's going to be. something that we're going to teach the people that on this day expect our video. 52 weeks? Every week, every, yeah, we haven't missed a video in two years. And how far in advance are you right now? We have about eight weeks in the can.

All righty. Okay, so you're going, like, you already know what's going out on Friday? I do. Teaser? You want it? Sure. Exclusive? Yeah, so we had a video idea.

Okay. Going off of the Mr. Beast, Mr. Beast likes round numbers. Okay. because it works. It looks good in the title. So we went to Brian Myers' school with the idea of me, I take 100 finishers. Wow. Yeah. And it was, it was tough. And I used a bunch of Brian students. I used Brian.

And I think at Finisher 65, I popped my shoulder out. Damn. How long ago was this? Month, month and a month. Okay. And it's a shoulder. I dislocated this shoulder when I first started wrestling, and I never let it heal. and I've probably popped it out 23 times since then. But it goes, it's like lethal weapon. It goes right back in.

And I popped it out doing the finishers. So you're getting physical. Yeah. This means you're getting back in there. No, no. You're taking bumps. No, it means I like the idea of a YouTube video doing good. And any time, we've done two different videos at Bryan School, and they've done well.

Okay. So, but the one, I always had other people doing the moves. So this is just a payoff. off of you guys have wanted you guys have given me a hard time because i got these students doing the moves now i'm doing it originally we wanted to get to a hundred so you know because that title would be just great right right and for all you YouTubers out there title thumbnail content there's your secret sauce for YouTube how involved are you and all that um do you look at the thumbnail saying I don't like this or just yeah okay okay okay but it's probably I've maybe changed or you know

had given my my two cents about maybe five along the way. That's it. I trust my partner implicitly. He knows what makes for good. And I think we were probably three months into doing this. And I'm just thinking, my gosh, is he ever going to make me look decent in any thumbnail? Because it's always just a stupid foul. Right, right, right, yeah, yeah.

But then again, who cares? Why do I care? I don't care. Right, right, right. It's a thumbnail. Like, as long as people watch, that's all I care about. That is it. Everything's about a gimmick, and you've got, hey, guys, Maven here.

How did that start? No clue. You just kept saying it. Yeah, well, another thing with YouTube, I tell people all the time, get to the meat of what your video is about quick. Because people will scroll. You'll lose people if you don't get to the point fast. So we were just looking for ways. And when we first started doing it was, you know, in 2001, 2005, I had the coolest job in the world.

Well, that's too wordy. It's too long. So we were just looking for something quick. And my partner, there's another YouTube, I forget the guy's name. But he always would start, hey, so-and-so, hey, guys, so-and-so here. So my partner was like, try, hey, guys, Maven here. And it just took off. It's so good.

In the comments, it's hilarious. Yeah, and people leaned into it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I lean it. Hey, Maven, guys here. Yeah. Like, it's fantastic. I've heard it.

The wedding I officiated last weekend. I started the wedding. And I got permission from the bride and room. a hey guys wedding officiant making uh it's tremendous yeah everything you do is so great like it's it's so buttoned up i hope i'm not like glazing you here as the kids say thank you but you even do that thing you thank you at the end it's like well that's my story on this if you want to know about this that and that click on this you like every you guys do it so well it's a credit and testament to you and your team it's it's really and i know it's a very small team but you you do

youtube perfect well that's real estate you have to view that as real estate at the end of your video and that real estate is a value. And if I can send somebody from one video to the next, then that is value added. That is me. That's why whenever we have somebody on, I make it a big deal to tell them. To thank you, not only some guys we pay, but to thank you, I'm going to shout you out and send people at the end of our video to wherever you want them sent. Because that's just if people go and subscribe or look at your stuff or buy your merch or whatever, man, that's value

at it, you know? You thought I was kidding? I'm stealing this. I know, no, no, no. No, I'm stealing this. This is mine now. You pay. You pay some guys? Yeah, absolutely. Okay, because that's kind of like a, I know you talk to Chris about that. That's sort of like a rule, but you aren't a journalist, per se. No. So you don't, okay. Here's why.

Because I know when people reach out to me, I know time is, time costs. I know how much my time is worth to me And whenever anybody Whenever anybody is going to give me their time Especially one of the boys I want to pay them back in some way

You know and yeah There's been guys though I tried I tried like hell to hand Oh shoot Raj Oh gosh Raj what's his wrestling name Raj Raj What was his gimmick?

Oh, goodness gracious. I can't believe I'm drawing a blank. This is the concussions coming out in me. But anyway, I tried to... The Raj, the Maharaja. Oh, the modern-day Maharaja. Oh, the Canadian. Now I'm drawing a blank.

And he's Canadian, and you're Canadian. Wow. What brotherhood. Oh, my God. What brotherhood. Gender Mahal. Gender. Yes.

I tried like hell. I met gender in the parking lot where we were filming, and he drove two hours to to film with us. And I had an envelope, and I tried to hand it. it to him immediately. He wouldn't take it. Wow. He refused. He refused. We filmed. We were there for two, three hours.

I tried to give it to him on his way out. I'm like, gender, you drove two hours, you're driving back two hours, you're jumping on a plane tomorrow and morning. Please let me give you so. And he refused. But, like, that's unheard of with wrestlers. But I want to just make sure guys know that I appreciate what they're providing me.

And I want to make it worth their time. That's class. That's class on your part. Last one, I'll say, so I'm, you know, in my early 20s when you're on tough enough and then on WWB, like this is my, I had a tough time in college. This is not about me, but I would just watch wrestling all day in my dorm. And so there you are. You get this opportunity. You're living the dream. You're the fan turned wrestler. You get to eliminate the Undertaker. You get to be on Ross, Smackdown, all this stuff. And, you know, I'm 21. I'm a freshman in college. I had the biggest crush on Tori Wilson.

Me too. And then you get to be in an angle with her. And then not only an angle, like a love angle with her. Like this guy's living the freak. He's leaving Ardrie. He's a wrestler. He eliminates the other ticker.

And now he's with Tori Wilson. Yeah. What a life. Yeah, whirlwind. I still remember thinking, because I had the biggest crush on Tori Wilson. Everyone did. I remember watching her with when she was in WCW.

Yeah, with Billy Kidman. Yes. And thinking she's the perfect specimen. She's just perfect. And how my mind works, that is perfect. and then I'm you know then I got a kisser and it's the worst kiss ever you did a video on that with your partner yes I did I talked about how that's that was you know the night to all toys dreams came true that's right you got you that's a video we got to get you guys together I would

love a 20 year reunion I would love to I follow her on Instagram and I yeah I just haven't reached out I haven't asked yet but here I I allow my partner you know when I know whenever he wants to do something there's a reason and that reason is usually because it's going to be good. Now with the Buff video, Buff reached out to me and about two months before his surgery and said, this is about to happen. I want you, you guys to document it.

So, I mean, that was just, you sure about this? Okay. But I was honored to do that. But for the most part, my partner, he'll get ideas in his head and he'll be like, what if we do a video with so-and-so? And then at that point, it's my responsibility to reach out and try to set it up. Some people say yes immediately.

Some people, it takes a while to get in touch with. Others don't return my message or whatever. And all of it's fine. It's all fine. But, Tori, I'm going to... That one needs to happen, man. I can't even imagine what that was like back in the day. Well done, man.

Thank you, well done. Congratulations. Coming from you? No, no, seriously. It's really impressive what you're doing. It's great to see all these years later. You thriving like this and having this success. I'm a huge, huge fan.

Congrats to you and your partner as well. well. And thank you for coming in. I know there's a lot going on your life right now with the move and everything like that, really. I was so excited to have you in because I'm a genuine fan of what you're doing from all the way back then. I have the receipt. I have the photo from all the way back then. Crazy. So there he is. If you aren't a fan of your work. Thank you. Appreciate that. If you're not subscribing, please do so. It's Maven Huffman. Just put his name in there. Tremendous tremendous content. Even if you aren't the biggest pro wrestling fan, the way he tells stories, the journalism that he's doing is second to none right now. So well done. Thank you so. We'll take a

quick break. Say goodbye to Maven. Back with Modestis, Bukascus. Some of your questions as well, don't go anywhere. All right, back on the program. That was Ben, folks, and Ptzee. I told Pizzi this. When did I tell him this on Friday? The chemistry that he has developed with Ben and Chuck, but on this particular episode, it was just Ben and Pizzi has been one of the great, pleasant, beautiful developments of the one-year uncrowned era. Love the show. Perfect way to end the week, speak, take you into the weekend. They do a great job. That was a taste of it. So if you missed it, a lot of the stuff still stands. Obviously, they spoke about the Paris card, which has come and gone, but a great chat about the smashing machine, which is receiving a ton of praise right now.

So I highly recommend you checking it out. And what about Maven? Godly, I'm such a big fan of that guy. He is a true gent. And I love what he's doing. And it's inspiring. It really is. You can stumble, You can fail. You can pick yourself back up. You can brush yourself off. You can reinvent yourself. Tremendous stuff. Hope you enjoyed that.

No! No! Stop it, Frank. How dare you? Did you get a pick with... Oh, ho ho. That's a good... Is that a new one?

That's a new one. Shut up, chat. Okay, one more guest. He is known as the Baltic Gladiator. Had a tremendous win over Paul Craig. In fact, will hold the distinction of Paul Craig's final. opponent, at least for now in the UFC, who knows, people come back, but it

sound pretty definitive. The finish there, the ground and pound, the knockout, the elbow, the sound, sounded like a baseball hitting like an aluminum bat. It was devastating and it was at the very end of the first round. Actually, the fight wasn't

stop, and then it was very clear that Paul could not continue. So it's another big win for the man they called the Baltic Gladiator. A big win for team Aspinall, if you will, because not only did he win, but his teammate, Auntie Delia won as well. I'm talking about Modestis Bukascus, who is kind enough to join us right here now on the program to talk about the big win. Hello, sir. How are you?

Hey, how are you doing, my man? Always great speaking to you. It's great. I know it's been a minute, but what a run you've been on, and what a win that was on Saturday. Congratulations on the win. Did you know, because like I said, in that moment, it seemed as though the fight was going to continue. The horn had just sounded, but Paul was clearly out and the right call was made. Could you tell that that last shot was the finishing blow? Yeah. Well, I knew that I landed a pretty heavy shot on him, that last elbow. I literally went from the hands of God to land that shot. I literally put everything into it because my corner were literally screaming to me, finish him, finish him. And I knew I landed one big elbow

that I think maybe cut him in the eye. And then another one that obviously ended and ended the fight. When I landed it and then I saw, obviously, his reaction afterwards, I was like, can he continue? Can he not? But obviously, there was a split second where I was like, okay, the bell has went, so I'm ready for the second round. But, you know, it was evident that, you know, Paul couldn't get up afterwards. And then as soon as Mark waved off the fight, then I knew it was over. But I knew that I landed a pretty heavy shot. So I didn't know whether he was going to continue or not. Four in a row now in the UFC, the confidence must be at an all-time high, right?

You've had winning streaks, but not on this level. And obviously, we know about your first run in the UFC didn't quite go your way. Could you even describe how you're feeling on the Monday after a win like that at a venue like that against the guy like Paul Craig? Yeah, I mean, listen, Paul Craig is an absolutely incredible MMA fighter. He's done a hell of a lot in the sport, beaten three former champion, one current champion and two former champions. So he's an absolute legend of the sport.

So, you know, to get a win over him is obviously incredible for me. You know, I wish him all the best in his retirement. He's a proper stand-up, stand-up guy. But, yeah, I mean, you know, four wins in a row now, you know, in the light heavyweight division, usually things start racking up pretty quickly to get yourself into the top 15 and then working your way up the ranks. And that's exactly what I intend to go and do.

The idea that you have, for all intents and purposes, retired Paul Craig. He probably continues, if he wins, we assume. How does that sit with you? How do you feel about that? Well, from what I understand, I'm pretty sure he signed like a deal with the UFC right before my fight. So, yeah, you could potentially say, you know, obviously his first fight at Light Heavyweight ended in a no contest. So he's thinking, okay, we've got a guy who's had a couple of wins on the Troy. you know, I beat him and then I can go towards the top 15.

So maybe in his head he thought, you know, had he won that fight, he would continue. But, you know, had he lost, which is ultimately what happened, then he would have to call it a day. Because obviously, I can imagine he probably wanted one more stab, you know, trying to get the belt. We'll try and work his way back into the ranking. So, you know, it's unfortunate. Like, obviously for me, like, because I thought he signed a new deal that he would continue fighting. But, you know, obviously it would mean that he would have to fight another up-and-comer, another guy probably, you know, sitting a bit lower in the rankings and maybe he didn't want to do that. You know, again, he's done, had such an amazing flourishing career, you know, essentially, I can imagine on his end, you know, what more can be done.

So, you know, it was sad at the end of it. I was upset at that point because, like I said, I view Paul Craig in such a high degree. He's such an amazing athlete. So to see him walk away from the sport was obviously sad, but at the same time, that was probably the best decision for him. And like I say, I just wish him well. Did you say anything to him afterwards? I pretty much just said everything that I said to you. I just said, mate, you're an absolute legend of the sport.

I said, listen, if you're free later, let's go and grab a beer later. I said, I look up to you massively. I told him as well that facing you made me prepare the best that I could ever prepare. I was literally preparing myself to be in the best shape possible. I said, you're the one that forced me to do that, and I thank you. So, yeah, I was just basically saying how much of a legend he was and how much I appreciated the fight. And yeah, like I say, massive respect to him because he's an absolutely amazing guy outside the cage and inside the cage. when you're out of the UFC and then you have a brief moment we're on the outside looking in

did you allow yourself to think I'm going to get a second chance and it's going to go like this or was there a moment where you thought that was it that was your brief cup of coffee and this will never come and now I always knew that the story couldn't just end there I mean imagine if you're writing a book and it's like oh cage warriors champion then he gets to the UFC then then he's cut and then that's it like how crap of a story with that I've been you know so always always in my head I was kind of thinking imagine imagine what it would be you know you you come back you get back to the UFC and you make a statement you start showing people who you really are and show what you're really capable of

and that was something that my dad kept on plugging into me all the time is basically saying you're much better than this you know we just need to find a way of unlocking it and and releasing out in the cage and obviously correcting a lot of the errors in in my training in in my ways of being in my mindset. There was just so many things that just needed correcting. So even at that time, I was thinking the story can't end there.

I was still young. I got cut when I was 27, just about to turn 28. So, you know, I was still very young in the sport. So, yeah, I just knew that the story wouldn't end there. And, you know,

looking back now at what situation I was in, looking at the situation I am now, this is everything that I imagined it would be and more. When did you link up with Tom's team? So it was beginning of 2024. So essentially I had two wins on the trot just after re-signed to the UFC. And then I ended up having a good fight in Brazil by I ended up losing that fight. And then I just realized that there needed to be some changes. And I realized I just wasn't sparring or training with big, heavy guys. And, you know, me and my dad were just talking about and we were like, oh, do you know what? Like, you know, Tom, like he had loads of pictures of him. him training with, like, loads of big guys and, like, loads of great athletes. And I thought, you know, he was to pace and tell him, why don't you drop him a message and see if you can go

up there and train with those guys. And then literally, I messaged Tom, I think it was around March time. And then he answered me straight away. He hooked me up with his dad. And then, obviously, I took a trip up there. I basically spent like a week up there the first time I went up there. And literally, I never looked back. Like, every single week, I'll go up there for a couple of days, just, you know, book like a hotel and just stay out there. And, you know, I've been going ever since. I've just noticed, like, the improvements in my mindset, in my, in my skill set. And especially, like, the first couple of training sessions, I just noticed, like, how much harder it was going with much bigger, heavier guys. It's like, when you're the biggest guy in the room, you think,

oh, my gosh, like, my strength is there and this and that. But then when you actually try and haul around 120 kilo body, it's not as easy as you kind of think it to be in your head. Like, it was a lot harder having to deal with the bigger bodies. So it was absolutely amazing. And then like I say, I've never looked back. And they took me in with open arms. They're all absolutely amazing people. I love Tom and his whole team and his dad. And they're all absolutely great people. And I'm so grateful and honored to be part of their team. No secret, I think very highly of Tom and his dad. And to see, like, you can't fake the emotion that he had on Saturday watching you and Auntie win, like the genuine happiness. I know people are happy for their teammates.

and friends, but I'm continuously so impressed by the way he conducts himself, the way his dad conducts himself, and it seems like there's something really special over there. Even that gym, that champion training center, those photos look, I mean, what a spot that is. It looks beautiful. Mate, it's absolutely brilliant. It's got, like I said, their own private match space, and the funny thing is there's still more to be done to that gym. You know, it's very private in a great location, you know, and it just brings all the guys

that are there to help him and help each other. And we just got a great team spirit and great team energy. You know, I was so happy for Ante as well. I know how emotional was for him because it's been literally, like he said on his interview like it was a lifetime of

work and, you know, he literally would spend like weeks and months away from his family back home to just stay in Manchester and he's like really jelled in with the group and, you know, we have such great camaraderie and great team spirit. And it's just amazing to see him get such an amazing finish

and it's such an amazing performance. I know that was big for him. And yeah, like I say, everyone really cares about each other and everyone just really wants everyone to improve. We've got such a mindset of just helping each other and developing each other's skillset. There's no egos in the room.

Obviously, we're trying to train hard. We're trying to get each other better, but it's all a collective effort to make everyone better and, you know, the results are showing. And I'm very happy and excited for everyone. there at Team Aspenal. What was the vibe? Like, you weren't fighting a fellow Frenchman,

but that crowd seemed unbelievable. It seemed electric. And you fought in front of some great crowds. How did Paris compare it to some of the other ones you fought in Europe and around the world? Yeah. So in Manchester, it was actually a pretty big crowd just because of obviously the time.

Like, I think I thought about 1230. So, you know, the arena was pretty packed. But it was mad because I saw even when, even the first fight, first fight in the night, when I was watching it on UFC Fight Pass at the hotel, the arena was packed. And it's funny, one of my really close friends, he's actually one of my,

he's my videographer, he's a French guy. So I invited him to come to the fight. And he was telling me the whole time, he said, mate, there's no crowd quite like the French crowd. And I can see exactly what he means. It's mad because as I was walking out, I was watching to the left-hand corner. There was actually a bunch of Scottish flags out there.

So it was actually pretty crazy. But yeah, the fans were absolutely amazing that it was electric. Even when I was in the changing room, you could hear like, you know, when people do the shuffles on the floor with their feet, like you could hear everything. And it was absolutely amazing. Definitely the best crowd I fought in so far. And I was really blessed to obviously fight quite late on the card as well. So the arena was pretty packed.

And it was electric and I enjoyed every second of it. So over the years, I've had the pleasure of a. meeting a lot of fans from all parts of the world, England in particular. And there's a young man named Nim that I met and stick with me here. You'll understand where I'm going with this several years back. And he has continuously asked me to have you on the program. Why? Because he attended the same high school as you entitled, I want to get this right, Haberdashers. Haberdashers? Yes. Haberdashers. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the way in which he describes Haberdashers, you don't know him. I think he was there before you, one of the best schools in the country, it would produce mainly

Oxbridge students, doctors, bankers, lawyers, etc. He's curious, and I'm now curious, as he explains this to me, how someone goes to a school like that and ends up doing what you do for a living. And by the way, is that a fair assessment in your opinion of the kind of people that graduate from Haberdashers? Yeah, usually, like I say, this school is meant for like extremely clever people, which I definitely don't think that I am by any means. You know, you can say I'm quite well spoken and stuff like this, but, you know, my parents have always tried to get me to go to like the best schools and stuff like this, and they wanted me to have a really good education. So essentially, there was a school that I went to

before Haberdashers where I was just getting into too much trouble. I was a kid that liked to be to myself, but for some reason, people used to just keep picking on me. me. So I just got into too many fights and essentially that forced to move because my dad was like, well, there's no point you're going here. You know, you're just getting into trouble all the time. And like I say, for the most part, I'd just like to be to myself. I was quite shy, quite conserved. So I was never brashed or outspoken. And then essentially there was a choice to have entrance exams to two different schools. And one of them was Haberdashers. And Haberdash is actually well-renowned for being the best school in the country academically.

All of their students end up graduating and going to the top universities. And, you know, people, like, I remember the first year I went there, like, genuinely, I flop so hard, flopped so bad. Like, it was actually unbelievable. I didn't even know how I even managed to get into that school because I had to take, like, seven entrance exams, like free interviews. But I think, you know, looking back, there was, in the last, interview that I had. Obviously, I got quite emotional because he asked me certain questions

that, um, that, you know, obviously I delve quite deep into and like the choices as to why I wanted to go to that school. And, um, I think that's ultimately what got me the place because looking at when I was doing those exams, mate, for that school, I was literally sitting there just like looking at like blank pages and all. And it was me against like three other dudes for this one spot. And they're all like literally just rushing through their papers like frantically like ripping their papers over like writing like essays and I'm sitting here still like my second word so I don't think I got into that school because I'm I have much academic prowess I just know that I work hard and you know maybe I offered something athletically that the school didn't have you know I was a

four-time British kitboxing champion you know I did play basketball as well and you know I've always tried to do very well in sports so maybe they thought that I would offer them something a little bit different. So first two years, I flop really bad. But then my last year before my GCSE exams, that's when I sort of pulled out the bag. And I actually managed to get very good grades. And if I would have went there for A levels, for six form, then I, you know, I would have got the grades necessary to go back. So it was extremely difficult, but it was a massive part of my growing process. And yeah, I guess it's what's helped me to become well-spoken. And, you know, and stuff like this in my future, essentially.

And I was very grateful and thankful that my parents paid for me to go to that school. It was very difficult. But, yeah, like I say, I'm very thankful. But, yeah, you would never think, like, if you look at all of the people that went to that school and what their job titles are, you wouldn't even think UFC fighter would come anywhere near to it. You have to be the only one, right, in the history of the school. Yeah, I'm literally the, yeah, exactly, I'm literally the only one.

I'm pretty sure there's two guys in entertainment that I'm pretty sure Sasha Barron Cohen went to my school. Wow. Funny enough, and he's a very, you know, very intelligent guy and he's done absolutely incredible. So, yeah, I think I'm like the lone shot of the guy being a UFC fighter. So, yeah, I'm happy to grab that title, I guess. How was your basketball game? So I've played basketball pretty much from the ages of like 11 to 18. I actually went to high school in Louisiana.

I went to St. Thomas Aquinas High School. It was a two-way school. And essentially my coach at the time in England, he went to that school when he was younger. And the coach that was coaching there when he was there was still coaching. They were, I think, two or three-time state champions. in Louisiana at 2A and so he still knew the coach obviously he got in contact you know talked about me and stuff like this I think showed a bit of footage and then next thing you know they said yeah bring him over here so at 16 years old I went to live with enough basically on my own

with a host family and a guy that played on the basketball team at the time so I went for my junior and senior years in high school in America and it was my dream obviously at that point to become a professional basketball player. Ultimately, I wanted to get a Division I scholarship. That didn't happen. So at 18 years old, that's when I had a conversation with my daddy says, listen, you can either go to university and study for four years and try and walk on, or you can go back home and start your MMA career. And obviously, I was still even competing up to 14 in kit boxing, even while alongside me playing basketball. And I've always been good at martial arts. So one of my big dreams and goals in life was to become a professional

athlete. So literally, I start to lose a little bit of love for basketball. And yeah, so the decision was quite easy for me. Okay, I'm going to go back home, start working, and basically start my, my MMA dream and my MMA journey. The reason I ask is, I don't know if you've been following the Eurobasket that's going on now. I know Lithuania won the other day. They did. They beat Latvia on Saturday morning. So when you, you fought, Great Britain was in it, and won one game. I believe their first time winning at Eurobasket. So at the very end, before they got, I believe they beat Montenegro before they got

bounced. But, you know, so you don't often hear of, you know, people from the UK playing basketball. Perhaps there's something brewing. I don't know. They've got a ways to go, I think, before reaching the France's and the Germany's of the world. But, yeah, I was going to say that I think that individually the players, like I've seen some players go on to do really well in, like, college in America. Like, I knew a guy that

I used to play with, his name is Duane Lautea Ogunleje, I think that's his name. He, I think he played for Bradley University. And he was, he actually did really well. I think now he plays in Europe. But they, like, you know, there's been some really top talent from the UK. But I think it's just a, you know, there's not a lot of funding as, as much as in, in other countries. And obviously, in terms of playing as a team that stuff obviously is probably not as good as some of the other European countries

but hey hopefully in the next couple years maybe they'll start you know doing some damage but obviously I'm Lithuanian born so I'm obviously You've got great blood massively supporting Lithuania and I'm glad that they're doing so well

I know that there was like a news article saying that that you know the whole country to watch obviously the basketball game and then there was my fight like literally a couple hours later. Wow. It was a massive day of sports for Lithuania, and obviously it was amazing to be a part of that.

I love that. I've also seen on the St. Thomas Aquini's Regional Catholic High School Wikipedia page, you're listed as a notable alum. There you have it, at the bottom there, the Destis. I don't even know that. Yeah. That's crazy. Thank you for pulling that up, mate.

No problem. That's mad. I love that. How far do you think you are from, you know, light heavyweight is going through a bit of a transitional phase here. There's some great young talent coming in. It seemed like they were sort of, I don't know, the division was sort of stalled for a moment there. How far do you think you are away from, you know, getting into those really interesting fights in the top 15 and top 10? I definitely think my next fight should be a top 15 matchup. You know, I've just now

beaten a guy who was ranked at light heavyweight in the top 10 for many years before then. And then he moved out to middleweight and got a ranked at middleweight and then obviously moved back up to light heavyweight and i've got four wins on the trot three of them being finishes um you know i've been some notable names so i feel like my time is now and i feel like in the light heavyweight division you win a couple of fights in a row things can happen very quickly um so you know i want to test myself against the best in the world so i definitely feel i deserve a shot for my next fight uh at the top 15 and so how quickly do you want to return now after that uh fight on saturday one round fight. I would imagine you want some time off, but are you hoping to fight again at the end of the

year? So I'm going to be taken. I literally just booked it today, funny enough. I'm going on a holiday with my girlfriend on Thursday and I'm going to Tuesday, but I'm actually getting back to training to obviously help Tom help prepare for his fight against Cyril Garne. So I'm going to be straight back into training anyways. I'm going to be staying in shape, making sure I don't eat too many cakes or drink too many beers but but yeah so end of the year would be absolutely amazing or early next year so whichever one i'm absolutely fine with but i'm going to make sure that i'm going to be training working on my skill set working on improving but you know ultimately that's down that that's down to my management amazing management eridium so um yeah which whichever comes

i'm ready for it if they offer me a top 15 at the end of the year let's go if they offer me at the beginning, again, let's go. I'm really, you know, sort of open and ready for whatever. Pereira or Ancolaev on October 4th? Who do you like? I personally think Ancolaev will get the job done again. He's done absolutely amazing in the first fight to sort of neutralize Pereira's game. Obviously, Pereira is going to be working on the holes in his game from the first fight, but I still think Ankolyev has the skill set to, like I say, to give Pereira a lot of trouble. So in my opinion, I'll say that Anka Lide takes it.

That's a big night for the light heavyweight. It's actually a big stretch coming up, right? Yeah. With the fight in Perth, the weekend before, and then, of course, the two fights on that card with Khalil Roundtree and Yuri Prakashka. So a lot of activity coming up in your wake class, and you kick things off with your big win over Paul Craig. Looking forward to it very much, looking forward to seeing how you continue to rise in this division

and your story is a great one. So congratulations on your success, on everything you've done on the win on Saturday, and we'll see you, hopefully, by the end of the year, early next year. Thank you, Modestis. Yeah, thank you so much, Moniz. And as always, it's a happy pleasure talking to you. And thank you so much for having me on your show. Our pleasure.

All the best to you. We'll talk to you soon. There he is, the pride of both Lithuania and Great Britain, the one and only Modestis Pukascus, who is known as the Baltic Gladiator, who has won now four in a row, defeating Paul Craig Iwan Kuchelaba back in May in Montreal. all, it's been a good run for him. Three and O in 2025. That's a, that's a tremendous run after being out of the UFC, getting another shot and making the most of it. Well done to him. All right. A few more things to do before we go. One just crossed a wire here. Remember Cynthia Calveo, we haven't talked

about her in quite some time. There was once a time where the UFC and Dana White in particular thought that she would be the future of the women's division. Well, it appears as though she has called it a career. She posted this on Instagram earlier today. It's time to say goodbye to a sport that I gave everything to and that I loved so much. I wasn't ready to let it go just yet, but life and opportunities that fizzled out

has led me to pursue the next chapter in my life. I just want to say thank you to every single person that helped me live this crazy dream of mine to all the coaches that believed in me and spent countless hours making me the best I could be. Y'all don't know how much it means to. me to the UFC, Dana White, Sean Shelby McMainer, thanks for letting this little girl from Eastside San Jose live her dream. It was fucking dope being a superhero. That's pretty

damn cool. Congratulations to her. Did she become a UFC champion? No, but you make it to the UFC. She had a good run, and we wish her the best. Always enjoyed my conversations with her. Let me go to my little list here. Islam Ahachev did some media recently, saying that he thinks Ilya is ducking, Armant-Turuki, and let's hear from Islam. In a matter of... Do you just pause for this again? Sorry, could we just pause?

His biceps are gigantic. Holy shit. 170 pound Islam. What in the world? He looks huge. Also, I forgot that this is, I believe they're speaking Russian. So I'm going to read the, the, what's the word that I'm looking for? The words on the screen?

Captions. So can we start it over? Sorry. Do you think Armin is the most serious opponent? Kralia. And don't you think Tuporia is ducking him? Well, ducking is no secret or I've always seen their battles on the internet

It's going faster I'd rather end my career than fight him And I think at this point Armin has gained good momentum And this is the most serious test for the champion I don't know I don't think I'llia is ducking Armin I think he's just

I mean has Ilya actually said no to Armin Maybe it's hard to keep up with all this Meshugas I mean, there are some people out there who would say, Armin is ducking Iliam. No, sorry, there's some people out there who would say that Islam is ducking Ilya. Not I don't know who that is.

I wonder if they would say that. No, you don't think so? No, I don't think so. Ilya now trying to pick a fight with Terrence Crawford. I saw someone post like a checklist, like the Connor McGregor checklist, and they say like this is... He's on step four or whatever.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Who wins in a fight? Now, everyone was going crazy over this. I don't think that this is a recent photo of Terrence Crawford because there have been some photos of him that were posted recently, and he looks absolutely shredded. He's not shredded here. I mean, he looks in tremendous shape, but he's not the same guy, obviously.

Also, why would he be in Vegas, right? Yeah, he's not. He's posting photos of himself at home training and all that stuff. And people go crazy. Oh, my God, it's fake. Anyway, do we think that this fight ever happens? Now with the Zufa boxing? I think it's closer to reality than it would have been

a year ago. Unlikely, but anything could happen. If they can come to a deal with Zouva, like Terrence Crawford is now fighting conceivably on an event that is involved with Dana White and Zufa, if he

if Zufa stands to benefit from it, it seems like it could be possible. If he beats Canelo and Ilya continues to rise as a star, like I guess I wouldn't see why not. It would be a massive money-making opportunity. Connor will this into existence and made it a hot commodity, it's nowhere near that at this point.

Yeah, Ilya put out one tweet. But we felt that way about Connor versus Floyd, and then it happened. There was much more momentum, I think, when it became a thing. It could happen, but I don't think we're anywhere near that right now. And I think he's just kind of having some fun. I mean, obviously, I think he would take it. But I don't think that's the direction that Zufa boxing wants to go. I don't think they wanted cross-pollinate. And honestly, I don't know, How old is Terrence Crawford at this point? 37. I'm about saying he's done anytime soon,

but I don't think he's looking for these kinds of fights. The older he gets, the more realistic it becomes for me. In his prime, it becomes even less realistic. The fight to make, though, is this fight in M.M.A. Because Terrence Crawford is a wrestler. I saw some people saying that with the wrestling acumen, Terence Crawford would be able to beat him in both sports. Oh, imagine it.

We're going too far now. I saw people actually tweeting that in response. A two-fight Derby? Terrence Crawford's... They would have to do boxing first because I don't think there would be another one after the M.M.A. one. Terrence Crawford's wrestling has reached

like legendary levels of, like the tales about Terence Crawford's wrestling. He should never show us his wrestling. He grew up in Dagestan wrestling. Yes, yes, yes. It's become that he's Habib. No, he actually turned down a scholarship to Oklahoma State in order to be a golden-in-gloves boxer.

that's that's DC told me this by the way level of level of interest excitement for Canello Crawford five days out like an eight it's get oh wow okay I'm much higher than that

I'm pretty excited for it 10 do you feel like it's building no like I don't I don't feel any like additional excitement about it but this is one of those that I care so much about the fight itself I don't think Canello or Terrence are particularly like good at

amplifying the trash talk as it leads up, nor do I think they're kind of going to go that route. So as long as we get to Saturday and they fight, I'm still out of 10. Like, I'm 10. I can't wait for it, and I can't wait for Saturday. Crocker Donovan 2 in Belfast at the big stadium there.

Noce, UFC. And, I mean, it's between the three of those, it's going to be like legit. Max Holzer in Germany, Octagon 75. No, I think he's off. Oh, is he? Yeah, I think he's off. Wow.

So I'll tweet about that. Wow, that's heartbreaking. You don't know. In Hanover, too. Like, he's like hometown. It's like nine, ten hours of straight, really good high-level fighting. I'm really curious about just the production. Like, this is, this is the UFC and WWE coming together to put on the biggest type of boxing event possible.

On Netflix. Yeah, I'm really curious about the bells and whistles. It's fast. But how it's all going to look and sound and feel. Is it going to look like old-school boxing? Is there going to be? be as much dead time in between. Let's send it over to the desk, to the this, to the that. Is it going to feel like a UFC event, which has very little of that?

You know, just all the little production, businessy type things I'm just as excited about. I honestly can't wait. Speaking of new ventures and whatnot, Dave Shaw, the UFC was speaking to the media after the event in Paris, which was a smashing success. Again, nine stoppages via KOTCO record, 11. stoppage is total, tie for a record. Massive business, once again. France has just become a behemoth when it comes to combat sports.

Here's what Dave said. A lot of the international fans would be interested in this as far as new potential destinations for the UFC in 2026 and beyond. So England, France, Spain, Germany, Scandinavia, Serbia. We're looking at Turkey. There's a number of different destinations that we're hopeful for in the next couple years. Turkey, those are new ones. Scandinavia, they've been to Sweden,

never to Finland. I don't think Norway. He later talked about Italy, which I thought was super interesting. You know, after everything that we learned last week, I thought that was, you know, with the Panini and the Pinino and the... You think they did it so you could go back?

No, no, no, no, I think I just put it on their map. You know, I put it on their radar. They definitely weren't thinking... They were hearing us talking about that. They were thinking UFC Belgrade, But then they were like, you see how they got? So they're like, oh, this would be so good. This guy's talking about the cheese wheel.

We need to go there. This guy's talking about the afogato. We need to go to. The muzzarel. We need to go there. Any Scandinavian country, I'm there. You're there? I'm there.

I would love to go back to Sweden one day. I had an incredible time in Sweden, if only because it was so fascinating to see how short the day was. It was in January. It was for Alex Gustav's. against Rumble Johnson on Fox. And I swear it was like three hours of sunlight and the fight was in the middle of the night as well. But there was just something about Sweden

that I really, really enjoyed. Stockholm, to be exact. That was a long-ass time ago. That was January of 2015. So let's see. But it definitely seems like a lot more international. Do you think that with the Paramount Plus deal, he also talked about pay-per-view

going to be at the same time or PLEs or whatever they're going to call it? Nothing's holding them back anymore. They can no longer say, oh, paper views aren't being. Now, they could say viewing habits aren't as good. And I wouldn't imagine they would do a lot of afternoon cards during college football. That doesn't make a lot of sense. But give us more of these afternoon international cards, no?

Or do you think that these are still going to be the same? I don't know, but Saturday was tremendous. Middle of day, unbelievable crowd. It doesn't make sense to go up against college football, in my opinion. Yeah. Like, W.W.E. is very smart about that. They don't do it as much as UFC does. does for whatever reason.

I just think that there's enough dates. Like, do it after football. Spring, summer. Afternoon cards are the best. They're the best. Who doesn't like that? Make all the fight nights in the afternoon. Now we're talking.

PLEs 9 p.m. start. Saturday afternoons and Friday nights for the fight nights. Perfect. PLEs 8 p.m. starts. Perfect. 8 p.m. Yeah. By the way, European crowds would be so much happier about that.

They would love it. That's what I'm doing it for. Hell yeah. Negotiations done. Did you guys happen to see the interaction between Fernand Lopez and Tom Aspinall? I sure did. He even got a name drop in there. Yeah, he did.

Did you see that? Fernand said my name. He was saying he was talking to you. He said something to you. The final perspective, that's what happened genuinely. The finger gets mighty close. I swear God, I'm the pigeon. And I was asking John and this is from, I didn't want to tell me, talk with enter.

Yeah, yeah. With Dana, never there has mentioned your name or any fan before Manchester. That's the first time to like Manchester. But you have to understand for us, they did mention Cyril's name before. Maybe not to you, but to us. No, no. Mention is like, do you want to fight him? They never even mentioned to me, I swear.

I can talk with any one of them. So seriously, it was like, this is. I don't understand because this guy looks so good with me. I'm always saying from, but from my perspective, it's the truth. I'm not going to start making up some lies. But from our perspective, we got off with it before Manchester and then again in Manchester. And that's what I know. So it was a good guy.

I wouldn't say it for no reason. Yeah, yeah. We're going to fight, man. We're going to fight and it's going to be good. How about that? The story that will never die. Why do we care so much about the permutations of? This story will never die.

I don't care. I just liked how close that finger was getting to the test. There was one where it got. There was one, it looked like a touch show. It looked like it touched. Tom's going to take a good. And not to suggest that Fernand isn't a tough guy in his own right, but it was getting. And then I saw another one where I think, was it Carlos Prochis and I think it was

Kayo's manager. Or no, Carlos, no, what were we talking about? Carlos Prochis and Imovvob's manager got into it at the way-ins. Did you see that? There was all kinds of interaction. I remember hearing that, but I don't recall seeing the video of it. A lot of tension over there. A lot of tension.

No tension between Purchas and E and Gary. Boys. Boys. Look at this. Months after they fought. Now lamenting the loss. This was after Huffy's loss, right? Yeah.

The submission. In puts the armor. Yeah. Purchas, by the way, shaped the stash. You think they're actual friends? I think they're friendly. Yeah. I don't know if they're calling.

It didn't look like that way. Just like, get the fuck. To give a big update on your life. Carlos didn't seem as interested in the commiseration. He could have also been just really upset. Yeah, I think he was really upset. Yeah. Do we have any super chats, Frankie?

Damn right, we do. Okay. Spencer says, ask BSD what that cow photo above him is all about. Well, this is like four hours too late. Yeah, well, yeah. I actually have. had the same questions. What is the cow photo?

I don't even remember that. He had a little Polaroid of a cow behind him, and it was very, uh, he was very curious. Oh. Do you want to call him? Yeah, one second. Let me just go. And then lastly, we have Leap and Larry says, love the show, AW. I don't, I don't, I'm thinking the root beer, but I'm not certain.

You mean Ariel Wani? Erowani. A&W? A&W would be the root beer, right. Okay. Uh, what else? That was, that was it. Okay. Thank you very much to the two of you for your tremendous super chats.

I did see this from John Nash. A vote of support for the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act is postponed so that the CSAC could do more research and they will revisit it at the end of the year. Okay. Eric McGracken, who we've had on the show before, says, Heck yeah, California postpones their motion to support the Ali Destruction Act after the public hammered them in the open comments, democracy, and action. California about the vote.

Okay, this is, all right, so some people who are unhappy with that are happy right now. Speaking of being, I mean, I kind of felt like I rushed it at the top because we had a bit of a technical issue. But I mean, do we want to talk, like, before we just say something about the bills win, like anything? I was, it was basically PT and I. Everyone went to sleep. No, that's it. You? That whole game, man.

I was there for you. I went to sleep. I was happy to wake up later to find out that they won. Frank was watching the VMAs. The husband of a 7-1-6er? She's honked out too. Oh, my God. You're like, did you see that catch by Keon Coleman?

And he's like, did you see that performance by Sabrina Carpardt? One of the best. Frank actually texts me and be like, oh my God, John Jones is introducing a singer on VMAs right now. Is that true? That's not true. Have I ever lied to you? No. I'm still, I can't wait to go back and rewatch the highlights.

I watched the 21-minute highlight video this morning. I watched that same one. It was just, I mean, the whole time I was like, how do they end up winning this? They missed one critical play in that because I've watched it now four times. A beautiful dime to Joshua Palmer, who's a great edition Canadian guy, Brampton. Shout out. Look, there's some time. I threw it out there.

I said road trip. Thursday night, September 18th, Miami, no one took the bait. So it was all crickets. Let it be known. Let it be known. I'm ready to go. I'm going to MetLife.

I want to go to a game at home, final season, high mark. I'll go to a road game. Don't mind going to another. Let's go to a Sunday afternoon one. No invite for the jet scan. No, that's me and the boys. My other boys.

No, no. The kids. Noted, man. I also did notice in the 21-minute highlight reel. They did leave out two very important plays, number 43, Dorian Strong, getting to solo tackles last night. Virginia Tech Zone. His first appearance was a pass interference. No, no, it was a holding.

His first appearance was a little rough. Got the start, a little banged up in the secondary. And then he wasn't mentioned at all because he was that solid. I was going to say, that's a good thing. Yeah. But he was covering Zay Flowers a lot, and Zay Flowers ended up with him. Nah, you know. Ed Oliver was fantastic

probably because I bought my son in Oliver Jersey Cook was great solid, solid Josh was generational 251 yards in the fourth quarter guys in the fourth quarter

251 yards there's a lot of quarterbacks they didn't get 251 in the entire day is this it is this it easy big fella I know I know

I needed a couple solid defensive performances I started to think they didn't look too hot I know that was a little bit of a problem. I started to think, man, Super Bowl is going to be when I'm going to be in Italy. I'm going to have to stay up till like 6 a.m. to watch it with my kids on FaceTime. I'm starting to plan the whole, like, how I'm going to react when they win the Super Bowl after one week.

Feels premature. Just pumped the brakes a little bit. Easy, easy. I remember the feelings at the end of last season. Yeah, those were sad. I mean, to think eight months later, after I had to walk around the neighborhood, in the dark, depressed, down on my luck to think that I would get this joy

I thought I'd never get the joy again I mean he always get the joy That's awesome I know I thought it was gone It's always a new season Frankie will we're breaking out The all black Josh Allen Yeah

I'm wearing it right now Man I gotta say Look everyone It is it is such a pleasure It is such a pleasure My son said to me yesterday I don't know how much longer I can live without the Knicks in my life

And I was like Wow wow He's at that sports Oh he is all in And then last night, we get to the end of the third. Get out of you. Sorry about that. Then we get to the end of the third quarter.

I was, I don't know, my son here. You were like, sorry if I'm glazing you right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, as the kids say. As the kids say, apologies if I'm glazing you, sir. It's getting to the end of the third. I'm like, you got to go to bed. It's 10.30.

It wasn't even quite the end of the third. He's like, no, no, please, please, please, please, please. please please I'm like we can't let's just go up let's get ready let's brush our teeth I'm watching it on the phone and then they get to 40 to 25 and I'm like man it's it's not going to happen is cook gets that big run you got to go to bed because what's going to happen is you're going to stay up I'm happy to stay up with you because I'm staying up but I'm going to get blamed tomorrow when you don't want to wake up and you're all like you're all moody I'm going to get blamed for this especially if they lose oh my god

Then he's double-moody. And so he goes to bed. I go into my bed. Everyone's sleeping, and I'm watching like this. On the phone. On the phone. I'm watching like this. And then I'm like, okay, okay, like the misery, but I don't know.

I want to see it through. I want to see it through. I fell out of week one, I was hyped. I was wearing my Thurmond jersey. And then it's like, tick, tick, tick. And then it goes, and then they missed the field boomer. They missed the – tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, they missed the point after. Okay, that's something.

Then we get it to 40. Something. That was everything. Oh, for three. Oh, for three in terms of freaking two points. We get to 32, 40 to 32 with the Keon Coleman tip, touchdown. Coleman was great. He's going to take a huge step.

Then the Ed Oliver freaking fumble was gigantic. Derek Henry could do no wrong. Get the fumble. Josh comes back, he scores it. So you're still in bed? I'm still in bed. Are you in bed in the Thurmond Thomas jersey? I'm in bed.

I took the Thurmond Thomas jersey off. I can't, well, I was in bed like I was put my pajamas on. I'm in bed like this. And now people are texting me like my Bill's chat is texting me. Mark Henry and his son Pino, we're in the chat. He's texting me, the MMA coach. When do you make the switch over? Okay, I'll tell you when I make the switch over.

I make the switch over when they start. stop them on third, kick back, we have the ball now, Josh, Josh throws the dime to Josh Palmer, he goes out of bounds, and then for a brief second, the freaking wheel comes on the phone, I say, oh, fuck this, I run all the way downstairs for the last couple plays, kneel, kneel, time out, time out, time out, and then I texted, I actually, before the drive, I texted Henry and his son, shout out Mark Henry and Pino, bigger Bill's fans and I'll ever be, I want them to win just for them and their family.

They're such great people. I said, Prater's going to win this for us. This is before the drive. Prater's, it just seemed too perfect that this guy that joined the team on Thursday he's going to win this for us. And there he has to say, it looked for a moment when he walked up there

like he was shitting in his pants, but he freaking, he nailed it. That Prater's a legend, bro. You've been in the league for like 20 years. What a line when they're like, is this the craziest game you've ever been a part of? He's like, we had some pretty good ones with Tebow back in the day.

Like, just to hammer out of Tibo, this guy's talking about 2013. Also, him getting interviewed and it's like all these young bucks Josh Allen and everything and then it's him with like all the gray and he's like a little bit overweight. He was he was coaching

he was the assistant coach on his son's football team back home in Arizona. He gets the call. He gets on a red eye gets into Buffalo late Thursday early, early Friday morning and meets the players on Friday.

He said that he was in the locker room showing videos of his son playing quarterback who's in like middle school to another teammate he's like you should show this to Josh he's like I'm not going to bother Josh he happens to walk by in the moment and that's when he meets Josh for the first time

he's like take a look at my son fast forward two days he wins the game for them no introduction needed with Matt Prater man two time pro bowler legend legend what's he two time pro bowler Matt Prater man Tyler Bass who no I love Tyler Bass is Tyler Bass hurt is that way he's hurt yeah he's hurt

yeah it's a beautiful thing I mean there's nothing that makes like there's nothing that makes you so irrationally happy there's nothing that that is like the joy of sports there's nothing that breaks your heart like sports but these moments man gosh I cherish them

I feel like you taught a bad lesson though if I'm being honest shouldn't have sent him to bed don't go to bed let me give you a little tip that my parents used to trick me you're who Josh Allen was calling out at the end of the day no I know I stayed up you you stayed up you were good you didn't have faith but you didn't have real faith he would have been up with you he would have been up with I didn't want to get playing

you blew it The trick is you've got to go into bed, but we'll put the game on the radio. By the time it hits a commercial, you're out. That's what my parents used to do all the time. Okay, so you're not the bad guy? Yeah, you can listen to the game. You can stay up and listen to the game if you can, but you're most likely falling asleep the first time a commercial hits. Okay, so here's the problem.

My boy's share room. Older brother was long gone. He was, so how can I let him? So for a moment, we're both in bed. Hey, sometimes it's good to have a favorite. By the way, by the way. What do you mean? I don't understand.

You just let the younger one get away with shit. Well, here's the funny thing. In the bed, we're sitting there, and he's like, come on, easy. And when James gets the huge, the 51-yard run, he's like, yes, yes. And I swear to God, it's like, I don't know how the world functioned, but I am sitting next to myself. He is exactly me. He is the spitting image of me.

This is exactly how I would behave, crazy, irrational, yelling, begging my parents not to go to bed, all this stuff. And for a moment there, I'm on cloud nine. But again, you know, I'm trying to not to be blamed. It was against my better judgment Here's the thing that I didn't say When I darted downstairs I went and tried to wake him up

Oh, okay Then you get a pass Now I accept I swear I was like If this was him I was like Walter, wake up Wake up He would not

I should shake him I don't think you're supposed to shake him And he's like Yeah yeah yeah I was like Walter I tried I tried He didn't believe me

Did you celebrate when the win happened yeah I posted a video I was going nuts in the house do you get like yeah but I was gonna say yeah it's like the wife stirring at all are you like they did it they came back in one and she just rolls back over She had been sleeping for an hour

I went back upstairs And then I get back and she's like What is going on over there And I was like Oh my God it's the craziest come back Yeah she doesn't know what happened Not a fucking she did I flinch

She's right back out Shut the fuck up with this shit it. No, not even, not even, she didn't say that, but it was implied. Could not care less. Could not care less. Yeah, it was applied. It was implied. It was definitely implied. And even this morning, I tried to explain it to everyone. Claire included. And she kind of was into it for a moment. But then I told her that we're going to the game on Sunday and I didn't have a ticket for her and

then she said to hell with all of you. So it was a great day. It was a great day. The bills are back. And yeah, one and no. Commiserations to the Ravens fans out there, really. I do feel bad for you guys because it's no fun. I know what it feels like. I know what it feels like to have your heart ripped out

and stomped on. Who the fuck is we? And we're not going to talk about the Jay's Yankees series because on-air Jordan will. I think he might miss the playoffs still. Yeah, I was waiting for that. He's cheering for them to miss the playoffs

so he can act like he's some miserable fan when their team has been below 500 since like 1990s. Enjoy your ALEs title, you know, the Blue Jays will won the ALEs. It'll be great. It'll be great. All right, tomorrow, guys, tomorrow, we do have some guests already in the can.

Oh, we have a new system. This is too inside baseball, but we have a new system that needs to be changed as far as the... Yeah, we need to talk about the... No, it's a mess. It's actually... That's fucking bullshit. It's actually been a huge problem in my life. I have a running list of notes of things to address.

The system you demanded? No, no, it's been... Talk. Execution. What's the deal with the guest sheet? Yeah, no, it's a mess. Corey Anderson, going to be... be joining us in studio, the

the PFL light heavyweight contender, Carlos Prachas, as well of the fighting nerds. Diego Lopez, one half of the main event for UFC Noce, and perhaps one or two others. So, you know, no hard outs on Tuesdays these days. So we could

go till like legit 7 o'clock. Who knows? The world is I always stay. That's fucking illegal. And some very exciting things in the works that I can't wait to tell you all about. But we have to go. It's time to go, my friends. It's been a great day here on the program. Hey, did you clear something up for us here?

Yeah. Picture of you and Maven. Yes. We were just curious as to what hat this is. I went... That's a Chicago Cubs hat. Yeah, I was guessing Cubs. Jordan was making a hard push for Colgate University.

Wow. But I felt like it was Cubs. No. I... What? No. Well, okay, so that was 2002. Yeah, 2002. I was big into hats back in the day

So I was one of those guys who wore I had an Astros hat that I wore all the time I had a pirate's hat that I wore all the time I had an angel's hat that I wore all the time I just liked hats I was a big baseball hat guy Sort of like Drewski with the baseball jerseys You know

So that was my hat But it was a great I mean who would have thought guys really I mean 23 years later If you would have told me maybe it would be in studio And what a great guy And what a great storyteller, right? Isn't he great with the stories, the way he speaks and the outfit? He's got something. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, clearly. Why doesn't anyone hire him? I mean, he doesn't need to be hired. I don't know if he'd want to. As he said, he's his own boss, all the control. Just stay with that. Yeah, he's doing fantastic. There's one more super chat here.

DJ Serenity now saying, we heard the fart. Who was it? What the fuck? Sometimes your chair makes a little squeaky sound. Who was it? That could sound like a fart to those who don't know. What time? What time?

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, right when that super chat came through. We need a time step on that thing. Is it the first one? I don't know. The first one? What? No, I don't have a talk.

I don't know if it was the first on the list. Did they hear the first? You're so good for it. Thank you, Darren, Melvin, Huffman, Ben, West St. Denis, Brian, Battle, Modestisus, Buccas. Back tomorrow. Same time and place, I'll say, I'm out here.