THE ED MYLETT SHOW - UNYIELDING: Michael Chandler on Success and Mental Toughness

Episode Date: June 25, 2024

Get ready for an electrifying journey as we dive deep into the heart and mind of one of the most dynamic fighters in the UFC, Michael Chandler, and uncover what it really takes to create the heart of a champion! This is NOT just a SPORTS interview! It’s a masterclass on unstoppable drive and resilience, visualization and changing your mindset… I’m not exaggerating when I called a masterclass! No matter where you came from or how much of a slump you might be in, it’s time for you to THINK DIFFERENTLY! Michael went 688 days in between wins before he became an “overnight success.” It was all about his mental ability to overcome imposter syndrome, and embrace his past while FIGHTING for his future… for who he was destined to become! This power-packed episode features insights on: Michael's upcoming fight with Conor Mcgregor How to cultivate a winning mentality and prepare for whatever punches might be coming your way. Using adversity as a catalyst for growth. Battling self-doubt and embracing your true potential. Understanding the power of meticulous preparation and visualization techniques in achieving success. The importance of continuous improvement and resilience in your personal development journey. Whether you're a fight fan or simply seeking inspiration to elevate your life, this episode is packed with invaluable lessons on grit, preparation, and achieving excellence. Join us for a conversation that promises to transform your approach to success, right here on today's show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So hey guys, are you frustrated with where you're at right now? Maybe stunted in your progress? Well if you are, I want to recommend a place for you to go called Growthday. Growthday.com forward slash ed. It is the number one personal development app on the planet. It's got all kinds of high performance techniques in there, courses, accountability, journaling, live speeches from some of the top influencers in the world, including me. It's an overall environment to change your life. Growthday.com forward slash ed. That's the sound of unaged whiskey, transforming into Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey in Lynchburg, Tennessee.

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should have to plan for a loss while they're experiencing one. Paying in advance protects your loved ones and gives you the peace of mind you deserve. Let us help you plan every detail with professionalism and compassion. We are your local Dignity Memorial provider. Find us at DignityMemorial.ca This is The Admiring Show. Alright, welcome back to the show everybody. So my guest today is Michael Chandler. He's like a son to me and he is scheduled to fight Conor McGregor on June 29th He doesn't know this but I'm recording this intro just in case I have a suspicion

Conor McGregor doesn't want to fight my dude. And so I'm recording this introduction beforehand just in case there's a cancellation So when I do the interview today, we're gonna talk about that fight But we're gonna talk in general more about success mindset achievement we're gonna talk about that fight, but we're gonna talk in general more about success, mindset, achievement, pressure, all the things that come with being in a big fight, not just the fight itself, because I have a suspicion McGregor wants nothing to do with my dude. And so this is an intro I'm doing right before Michael jumps on. He won't even know I'm doing it, because I don't want him to know right now. I think that maybe Connor won't show up, but I think Connor might not show up. So this is the intro I'm doing before he gets here.

And if Conor doesn't show up, I knew you didn't want to fight my dude, brother. That's why I'm doing this intro on June 12th. Way before the fight, knowing you ain't gonna show up. Alright, here we go. Here's me and Michael Chandler. Quick update, everybody. Hey everybody. So, just got the word 30 seconds ago. Just got off the boat to the news that Conor McGregor has backed out of the fight. As I suspected, you heard in the previous introduction there,

I just had a feeling Conor's claiming that he's got an injury and you never want to question a man when he says he's injured. So we'll take him at his word on that. Fortunately, I had a feeling this was going to happen. And so the interview you're about to see is not really about the fight. It's more about mindset. It's actually one of the best interviews I've ever done on mindset, the winner's mindset, overcoming set setbacks imposter syndrome preparation visualization the reticular activating system It's an incredible interview. There's even a surprise from another four-time world champion of boxing that I bring in I surprised Michael in the interview

you're gonna love that and Really? the only question that I ask about the fight is the first question and Even that I phrase it in such a way that you can hear how to get yourself to believe you're going to win and what you need to do. I've been honored to be working with Michael on his mental game for this fight and so you'll hear a little bit about how that works as well. Even the first question seems about the fight but it's really about getting yourself to believe. Enjoy, Max out. Welcome back to the show everybody. So the young man I'm gonna introduce to you is, he's like a second son to me. I'm honored when he calls me dad.

He's one of the greatest fighters in the world in the UFC, but he's really one of the greatest people that I've ever met. I love him dearly. He's a good man. He knows how to be successful. And so tonight the podcast is really about two things for those of you listening. We're going to talk about this huge fight. He's got upcoming on June 29th with Conor McGregor. We're going to talk about that fight. But for those of you that aren't fight fans, we're going to spend majority of the podcast, not just talking about that fight, but talking about winning, preparing, mindset, preparation. And so if you're a fight fan, this is an exclusive peek into this fight.

And if you're not a fight fan, it's not gonna matter because we're gonna talk all the time, as we always do on the show, about things you can take notes on and apply to your own life. So June 29th, the great Michael Chandler, Conor McGregor, my guest today is my son from another, I don't know, you say son from another mother, is that right? I guess so. I don't know. Michael, welcome to the show. What's up dad? Man, it's uh... Thank you for the kind intro. You're, you are the man. Yeah, so how are you? Update everybody. How are you feeling?

Man, I'm feeling good. I mean as the, as we sit here today, we are 18 days away from the fight. So, it's nice when all the hay is in the barn, so to speak. I mean we've, you know, we still got a little bit of training left, but it's kind of most of the hard stuff is behind us. Feeling great, feeling phenomenal, feeling a little dangerous and ready to go out there and compete. Why are you going to win the fight?

Man, I think, you know, you and I have obviously talked about this a lot over the last year and a half throughout this whole process, but also really in-depth these last couple months, man, I just, I just believe I've earned it. I really do. I think I, for a guy who never thought that he would be in these kinds of positions, that idea sounded so foreign to me, like I, like I didn't deserve it. I have now become that man and stepped into that role. And I've done everything right. I've trained years and years and years for this moment. I've grown as a man. I've taken my losses, continued to

tick forward and I was born for a time such as this. So I think this performance will not only be the biggest fight of my life but the best performance of my life and I think that's the way it was supposed to happen. It was supposed to be against the biggest name in the sport. It was supposed to be against a guy like Connor who is a little bit different than me in a lot of ways. I mean a lot of people would say in a lot of ways. And it's got a great storyline and I want to be the hero of this story. I love that. Most of you don't know but I'm honored that I get a little bit of chance, a little bit, to work with Michael on this fight just in his brain a little bit and honored to get a chance to do a little bit of the work with him on that.

Did you, you know, what you just said applies to everything in life about success, that we earn it, that we've been preparing for these moments all of our lives, but I'm curious in your case, like, we'll show the clip right now on YouTube, we'll do the audio here as well, but like you called him out way back when after Big W. I'm just curious, were you planning on doing that if you want to? I've never even asked you this. Was it just like random? You're like, was it like, did you know you were gonna do that? Or was that completely like Holy Spirit or inspired moment standing there after a W? I've had a lot of those Holy Spirit moments, but this one was premeditated. I

think, uh, you know, with the sport of mixed martial arts, A, it moves fast. B, we are all victims of timing and circumstance, like whether it be a certain opponent not ready or a certain opponent ready too soon and you're not ready. It just, the stars were going to align and it made a lot of sense in my mind thinking ahead in the future for right after I knocked out Tony Ferguson that night and he was just on his way coming back talking about coming back the timing was going to work out perfectly. And I wanted to shoot my shot.

I mean there's every single person in the sport of mixed martial arts within two or three weight classes of Conor McGregor says his name often and there's a reason why he's the biggest name in the sport and I'm a guy who I know that we will we will we will create some magic create some fireworks inside of a UFC octagon I believe I will be the victor and I do believe that I I deserved to be in that moment if anybody was gonna have that bright of a light shine on them if anybody was gonna have those high of stakes I wanted it to me be me because why not? I love that. Oh, here's my surprise for you, Mr. Chandler. So I have my really, really good friend joining us today, everybody, and Michael. This is Mikey Garcia, who is a four-time, he's a boxing

champion, four division champion, and has had one of the most prolific careers in all of boxing and I love him and he's been a guest on my show and I just thought you know what from one champion to another I thought I'd have him whisper some words of wisdom to you here today if he would so Mikey thanks for jumping in brother. Yeah thank you thank you then Michael pleasure to meet you brother. You as well man you are a legend dude it's awesome to meet you brother. You as well man, you are a legend dude. It's awesome to meet you. Are you surprised? Yes I am. That is awesome dude.

That's awesome, great, great. Mikey's one of the most giving dudes in the world. As long as you buy him dinner at Javier's, you're gonna have a paper dinner when you're with him. So bro, I'm just curious Mikey, if you're talking, you've had these huge fights. In fact, I've been at Texas Stadium with this dude in front of 50,000 people. I mean he's had huge, huge fights. Is it different in a big fight Mikey? Like anything you would say to Michael, you know, mentally? Is there anything different when it's a huge high-profile fight as opposed to, you know, something, no offense to any of great boxers, but some casino on the come up compared to,

you know, a big arena Vegas fight or whatever. Did that affect your mentality? Did you look at the fight differently? Is it just another fight? Look, you've been in it you know your whole life. You know I was in it since I was a little kid. So I always take each fight as a big fight because I knew you know winning one fight would lead to the next and move my career forward. So getting to the big arena, to the big stage, you talked about AT&T Stadium in Texas, and 50,000 people there. But to me, it was just another night. I worked my whole life to get there.

And I think I was just excited to finally make it to that, you know, stage to the highest, you know, in my career. And what I did do a lot is I visualized that a lot. I visualized the fight, I visualized, you know, training, I visualized, you know, every scenario during the fight, winning or losing rounds, you know, overcoming challenges in the fight, a cut, a knockdown, whatever it could be, I would losing rounds, you know, overcoming challenges in the fight, a cut, a knockdown, whatever it could be, I would always visualize, you know, and that went for every fight, but especially on the big one, because I didn't want anything to

be, you know, out of, you know, my norm to scare me or timid me in any way, you know. So for me, it was visualizing everything, the ring walk, you know, the introduction to the fight, just so that I could have that already in my head. When I experienced it, it wasn't as new. It was already there before I had already logged it in. I've already seen myself in front of that kind of attendance, that kind of crowd, and I just felt comfortable. I felt normal. It felt like another day. The attendance, that kind of crowd. And I just felt comfortable. I felt normal.

It felt like another day. The training obviously was harder. The training was more vigorous for the training camp and longer weeks and all that because I was fighting a bigger guy. I was fighting a bigger man in the ring on fight night. So I had to prepare a little differently, but mentally I was strong. It was like a normal thing. Like I just need to be

here. Um, I visualized David Brown, even, even though the fight didn't go the way I originally wanted to, I, I thought was my first loss, but I walked out of that a hundred percent healthy. Fine. We hung out the next day. We flew back together. We flew back together. You can tell, you can tell that my, my mindset was sharp as ever. I was still confident, I was still having plans for the future and it didn't send me back.

It wasn't ever like that. So that's where I got. Let me ask you, by the way, does that sound familiar, Michael, about the visualization? By the way, all of you, this is a gift you're getting today that I didn't intend to give you publicly and I don't know that I'll put all this out either, by the way, all of you, this is a gift you're getting today that you know, I didn't intend to give you publicly and I don't know that I'll put all this out either by the way, but to have two gladiators talk to one another like this about it. What's, and by the way, Mikey and I did fly back after that fight together and I was like just struck by how calm he was like, sorry bro, we're gonna another one, we're gonna do this, we're gonna do that.

But Mikey, what was interesting about what you just said and Michael, I'll let you ask Mikey anything you want to, that's why I brought him here today, but Mikey, you would actually visualize negatives too. You're okay with visiting, I lost a round or whatever. I'm interested in that. You think that was an okay thing too, because I do as well. Might as well. I mean, you're gonna lose a round, you're gonna get hit, something bad is gonna happen. To avoid thinking about it, to me seems sort of silly. Why not become familiar with it so you can respond? Is that why you would do it? Yes, it's just so that you don't get nervous or panic if something does happen during the fight.

It's better to be well prepared for any scenario, you know, including a knockdown or a cut, you know, something of that nature. But no matter what I envisioned or I visualized, I always came out the winner. I would always visualize myself winning at the end of the night, whether it was I lost a couple of rounds or, or it was a tough fight. I got, I got dropped in one of the rounds, you know, and, but I got up and I know how, how to react. And I know how to continue with, with, with the remainder the remainder rounds and and always winning at the end of the night. In other instances different fights I did get dropped on two separate occasions

but I knew what to do I knew how to react. I had already planned how to even get up from a knock down. I didn't want to get up in any way that would make the the referee think that I was hurt and stop the fight. So I purposely figured how to position myself, how to take my time, how to take a knee first, and then slowly gradually walk up and then walk a little bit towards the neutral corner, give my opponent more space, more space so that when the fight resumed, I wasn't right in front of him, you know, and he's attacking me, I give him more space. You know, so I would visualize that and prepare myself. I didn't do it in training camp

where I would purposely go down and get up, no, but I would do it here, you know, training my mind to be able to react in those scenarios. If I got cut, I knew exactly to signal my corner, let them know that I was cut so they could prepare the medicine so that as soon as the end of the round was there, you know, the bell rang, I was already close to my corner.

In fact, a lot of the rounds I would walk close to my corner at the 10 second count. I walked close to my corner. So in case there was anything, they'd be the first ones to attend me while my opponent still has to walk all the way across to his corner. Those are a few seconds, a few seconds extra that I will have that my opponent doesn't have. So I want to practice all this. What I want everybody to get, whether you're an entrepreneur or you're an athlete or I want Michael too for this, is the specificity of preparation, right?

To think that you would actually, and in Michael's case it's not quite as easy if he's on the ground, but the specific thing that you're actually edging towards your corner early to get those extra few seconds of cuts. So, hey guys, as you know, I've partnered up with my good friend Brennan Bruchard, who's created the greatest personal development system that has ever been designed called Growth Day. There's everything from journaling to accountability programs, live messages every Monday from myself and other influencers. There's an opportunity for you to get courses that would cost thousands of dollars completely for free. It's incredible.

Go to growthday.com forward slash ed and check it out. If you listen to the show for awhile, you've heard me and my guests talk a lot about how critical it is to have your wellness goals in order, especially lately with me, so you know how powerful visualization is. When you visualize yourself one, ten, thirty years from now, you've achieved all your goals. Ask yourself this, am I healthy at that point? In your visions, of course you are, but like anything else without a plan to get and remain healthy, you can't hit the goal. That's why I'm so thrilled to be partnering with LifeForce. It's co-founded by my good friend Tony

Robbins and Peter Diamanis. LifeForce is a leader in proactive care. The LifeForce. It's co-founded by my good friend Tony Robbins and Peter Diamandis. LifeForce is a leader in proactive care. The LifeForce membership includes everything you need to understand your wellness and help you make good decisions today to keep you on track in the future for your health. Listeners on my show get $250 when they first sign up for their membership by going to mylifeforce.com. That's mylifeforce.com slash ed. Take control of your wellness with LifeForce and see what the healthiest version of you actually looks like and is capable of. These products and statements have not been evaluated

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These statements and products have not been evaluated by the food and drug administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. Now, one thing you were great at, this is more like inside stuff for Michael. One of the things Mikey was most well known for in boxing was his ability to go in with a game plan for the fight because his brother is the greatest trainer in the world.

And so they had a game plan for the fight but mid fight mid round begin to pick up on tendencies that he didn't see on film. In other words react when things don't go the way he expected them to go, Michael. Right? But that was, I think, Mikey, you correct me if I'm wrong, I think that was actually your greatest strength in the ring, was your ability to adapt to a dude, whatever you saw that night. First, am I right about that? And two, any insight for him? Let's say he gets in there with Connor, right?

He's gonna have a game plan, we're not gonna say what it is. But like most fights, you know, like Tyson says says everything can change when you get punched in the mouth or just Connor comes in there with something totally different, right? Connor's gonna throw some things out of me hasn't seen before Were you were you consciously thinking as you're going or is it some depth perception thing? You're using a feel thing. Like what would you do to read him look I'm looking at my opponent you know I'm taking the first round or two rounds to study my opponent the way I study my opponent is that I feel his his speed I let him punch a few times to be able to time the other reaction you know time the the speed of the punches and also timing his defense.

So I'll jab a couple of times and see how fast he can either block or dodge the punch. So I can make my adjustments as the rounds go by second round. I'm still feeling him out, but maybe by the third round, you know, I'm already have a good idea of what to do. However, things can change. Like you just mentioned things change. So I prepared myself to be able to adapt. And as the rounds kept going, I'm also listening to the guy's breathing. I'm listening to the way he's his body is posture, you know, are his hands still up high and is he still got the same intensity behind it? Or is he starting

to slow down? He's starting to wear out. Are we tying up if we're hugging if we're tying up? Is he trying to let loose to continue fighting or is he just kind of trying to rest now it's an eighth round? Maybe he's just resting a little bit, you know, something attached to all that. And at the same time, I'm, I'm, I'm figuring out what I got to do to keep countering his, you know, fight his game. If he's changing something, if he's still on it, if he's still trying to do something, okay, maybe I got to box a little bit more, maybe I got a pressure. So all that training came from being in shape in the gym, training hard in the gym, all those weeks of

training, you know, all that there's days in sparring sessions where I would box 12 rounds, beautiful footwork, beautiful speed, counter punch for 12 rounds. So that I knew I can do that for 12 rounds on finite. But then there was other days where I would switch it. Where I'd be fighting, you know, eight rounds, solid, forward, pressure, pressure. In case I needed to do that on finite, I know I'm capable of doing that as well. So training, I would do all that. I would do all that in training. A lot of people would say, well, some of that he's got time because there's 12 rounds.

But there are, but there are eight, but there's a ton of guys in the UFC that are spending time reading. I think of Izzy, he does that. He's reading cadence. He's reading speed. He's reading pace. John Jones, St. Pierre did it. This is done in the UFC as well. They're pacing themselves in the round. They're making, these are just things for Michael as he's ready for the fight that I want him to at least have the gift of in considering and then just, you know, for back and forth. Was there anything, and then Michael, I'll let you ask him something. Anything press-wise that week, this is more of like an inside thing, but like big fights, there's more press. There's more demands on your time, particularly fight week, right? And I mean, can you imagine McGregor Chandler what the press demands will be that week? Did you, one of the biggest fights

in the history of the sport. So anything you did to mentally stay a particular way or pace yourself or that you would think of in dealing with just even press for the week. The press that media is going to be tough is going to be rough. Everybody's going to be pulling you left and right. Everybody wants, you know, 10 minutes of your time and and you're obligated, you know, to some extent you have to give,

you know, praise you got to give the media some time. You got to give them interviews. It's part of promoting part of being professional, you know, praise, you got to give the media some time, you got to give them interviews. It's part of promoting, it's part of being professional, you know, at that level. But what I, what I used to do was any moments that I had free time, I'd go rest, I would always make sure I get enough rest. Even if it was only a 20, 30 minute little nap, even if you don't go to sleep, but just laying down, chilling and resting your eyes for those 20, 30 minutes will help. At the end of the day, your number one goal is to perform and fight on Saturday night, on fight night, to your best of your capabilities. The media can wait a little bit. The media can be put to the side. You

got to give them a little bit, but it's not all that matters. The number one thing is winning the fight. You know, that's number one. So you got to give them a little bit, but it's not all that matters. The number one thing is winning the fight. You know, that's number one. So you got to give them some time. Yeah, it's part of promoting part of the business, part of, you know, marketing the fight. But every moment that I had every hour, every 30 minutes that I had, I'd go take a break. I go take a nap because that would really, really help me continue my day and keep the energy.

It's exhausting to be in front of media repeating the same over and over and over and over and you have to have the smile and same energy. You're exerting a lot of energy over the days. You know, you may not be working out as hard anymore because now it's chill week, it's lighter work until you got to cut weight. You're kind of slowing down on the pace of the training, but the whole media, the whole press, it's exhausting. So take all the time that you have to rest your body. Like I said, at the end of the day, if you really don't feel like doing this every single interview, you don't have to, you don't feel so good. Hey, I'm not doing that one.

I'm only doing the ones that really, really matter. Cause I'm contractually obligated. I'll do that. You know, the network or the main ones. After that, hey, I'm done. I'm resting because I want to win the fight. Yeah, these are all things, by the way, everybody. And by the way, let's just be clear. Michael's had tons of huge fights.

Madison Square Garden. I mean, he's fought in the biggest arena in the world, just like Mikey has, right? He's done this. But everyone listening to this, it's getting an inside peek of what top athletes in the world think about and talk about. Same thing comes in business.

Sometimes you got to say no to meetings because you got a big close at the end of the week. You got to be your best and peak at that moment, right? So these are all the same principles. Mikey, all the, Michael rather, all the big fights you've had. I just wanted to put someone almost the same sport but a little bit different. We could have, to just have you think about it just from a little bit out of the box, but still in the same box type thing. Both of you guys have had the biggest fights in the world. You've both won them. This fight, Mikey's, Michael rather, is going up and wait a little bit per his own decision. So cutting won't be as bad. You went up and wait too, Mikey, four different times. Michael, anything you want to ask Mikey before I let him go so we can have the rest of the show and talk, but anything you want to ask him? Yeah, I mean, more than anything, I just I love to piggyback off of like, you know, what you were saying about the visualization.

I mean, just for the audience listening and even hearing it from a world class guy like Mikey, who I have watched on TV so many times, knowing that before going into that fight during the visualization, it isn't all just about success. It's also about overcoming obstacles, right? Because who doesn't want to be able to see themselves knowing that, you know, you're going to be in the trenches taking grenades and you're going to be able to get through them and how you're going to react and respond and seeing yourself become victorious, even when there is a little bit of adversity as well as, you know, we're not there yet to fight week yet. Next week, I got to go out to New York for a full day to do some press stuff. The press is about to start picking up. And I think for me, realizing that I have such a great crowd of witnesses, this is I've had big fights, but this is even bigger. So therefore it's even more of a conviction to show up with a smile on my face as much as I can,

but also be selfish when I need to, to take a little bit of time and maybe say no to a couple of them, or you're like, yeah, this one's not exactly one of the big ones. But no, that inside of even just thinking about and your highlights and the fights that I've seen you in and thinking about that man, because you've always just been that man, that dominant guy out there. But then also hearing those little idiosyncrasies about the the visualization and all the different things that you looked at and watched and played inside of your head, even leading into those fights. And they weren't always positive,

but they always ended with your hand getting raised. Yeah. Yep. Mikey, I gotta tell you man, I'm really grateful you did this today bro. Like, you know, you didn't need to do it immediately, Michael. Just so you know, immediately I asked Mikey, he's like, yep, I got you. He was in New York. He's like, I got it. I'll make it happen. I had to change the time on him. He's like, no problem bro. And the other thing everybody should know, and I talked about this to change the time on him. He's like, no problem bro. And the other thing everybody should know,

and I talk about this Michael O'Time, Mikey saved his money. Mikey saved his money. All you athletes listening. That's why he's real casual in a t-shirt and me and Chandler are still working right now. Chandler saved his money too. But Mikey saved his money and he's a young wealthy man. Bunch of real estate. He's done really, really well for himself. So I love you brother. Thank you for jumping in. I appreciate it. I'll text you when we're done here. Let me know. Thanks, Ed. And I wanna wish you the very best, Michael. You know, we know how gangster you are.

We know, you know, you're such a badass you are. You got this. I mean, you've been training your whole life for this. There's nothing more that we gotta give you, you know, much more tips on fighting. I mean, you've done it. You just gotta go in there and take care of business, brother. I wish you the very best. I'll be checking it out.

Thank you so much, man. I appreciate you, man. And I'm gonna have Ed connect us. So we can do it today. I'll connect you when we're done. I would love that. You're the man, Mike. I appreciate you, brother. We'll go get some dinner after your fight. Yeah. Yeah. What'd you say? Julio's or where you want to say? We're going to go to Javier's, but you're going to win this fight. You're going to win the fight and you're gonna buy us dinner. So that's what I got.

I got you guys. All right, brother. Take care, Mikey. All right. Have a good one, guys. How cool was that, bro? Was that cool? It's so cool, man.

Absolute warrior. I mean, that was the thing too. Obviously phenomenal technician, phenomenal at boxing, but also just a warrior, man. Like it's, and obviously, like you said, different sports, but they're the same. It's hand to hand combat, like it's and obviously like you said different sports but they're the same. It's hand-to-hand combat whether it's wrestling, boxing, kickboxing, these hand-to-hand combat competitions man. Yep and one of the things that you all should know that you know kind of inside baseball stuff

that Mikey and I work on and that Michael and I work on is visualization. A lot of you ask about that but it's like really detailed stuff and it's okay to visit failure. It's okay to visit a down cycle. And in fact, I think it's really important because then you can program yourself out of it. So anyway, I just wanted to have you visit with him for a minute and have the audience listen to the two of you. So let's go to let's go shift a little bit. How did Mikey got there and you've gotten there? Did you get there? How much of this was natural for you? Like you're a college wrestler. How much of where you got was, you know, you're just athletically super gifted and how much

of it was the actual grind? Like did you when you were in college, did you see dudes were just better than you? Even in college? Did you see guys athletically that were even better than you? And how do you end up being this guy that's on the world stage, one of the most famous fighters, obviously the most electrifying fighter probably in the history of the UFC? Was it just gifted talent or were you always seeing dudes that you thought even were more naturally physically gifted than you? I think you know especially in college, once I've become

you know more of an adult or a young adult, a young man, if you will. Yeah, I mean, a lot of guys had a lot more talent than I did. But yeah, but I think it was, you know, I think we can talk about talent and hard work and how that how they intersect, right? But you're you're given a certain amount of gifts, but then it's up to you to just continue to see if you can find the edge of those gifts. And then all of a sudden, it seems as though those gifts compound on themselves, and then you're able to stretch them even more

than they compound on themselves. And you stretch even more. I mean, I think more than anything, and this is why you know, you and I talk about it's all up in here as well. You know, obviously, I look a certain way I look like an athlete, I can jump on a box, I can lift weights, I look like an animal inside the cage. Obviously, I have built this man that you see before you who steps into the octagon. I have built him into who I am.

I've got some natural gifts, but there's so much of it was being trapped inside of my mind and I can see in the mirror a guy who looks like he should be successful in hand to hand combat, but my mind didn't truly believe it. And then once you start adding that belief into it, and you're able to sprinkle a little bit more confidence week by week, month by month, and then all of a sudden you just watch it

flourish. And it's that butterfly effect that started back when I was 14 years old, when I first started. And then each level up brings about a little bit more confidence. And then you have a couple of setbacks you got to go through. And I think more than anything, I've just been given a, I've been given gifts to show what hard work and what is capable if hard work is put in. I'm not saying I didn't have any natural talent. People see my workouts now and they're like, man, I wish I had those kind of gifts and it's like, well, we can't really tell if I'm gifted or not because I've been doing it non-stop since I was 14 years old. 28 years. Yep and that's what everybody needs to get too. You know, success does not come as quickly sometimes as we think.

This man's been at this now. How long have you been some sort of combat? 28 years since I was 14 years old. Watch this everybody. How old were you when you got your UFC contract this time? How old were you? 34. Do you hear that everyone? That is highly unusual. He got his UFC contract at 34 years old.

That's a long time. So a lot of you, it's, there's just a point of where you'll quit. You'll just give up. It would have been really easy when he'd lose a fight at Bellator. Bellator, yeah. He'd lose a fight in Bellator or something and you'd think, well, that's it, you know, and then to come back and to come back and to win and become a champion again and to get into these huge fights is just unbelievable. So sometimes it's going to take longer than you think it's going to take. One thing Michael did is he just stuck around long enough to collect on all the deposits he had made. He's finally getting a withdrawal. So I get asked all the time, how did I get so much attention on social media,

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nutrition program. Go to ProlonLife.com slash My let that's P R O L O N life.com slash my let for this special offer. That's prolonlife.com slash my let these statements and products have not been evaluated by the food and drug administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. Now, do you leverage the dark side? You know, we talk a lot in sports about there's like leveraging the dark side, which is, you know, going to that dark place and coming from there. And then there's sort of like the other side, which is like dream and vision and chasing the light and chasing the good stuff.

Do you, that duality, I'm just curious, like, do you, is it fight night, you leverage the dark side? Do you lever leverage it? Is that your main lever? Like, I'm gonna kill this dumb, I hate him. Or how do you do it? It's a great question. I mean, honestly, I've said this numerous times.

I know I'm about to have the best performance of my life when tears of joy are coming down my face and I'm listening to my music and I'm thinking about my wife and my kids and I'm thinking about some kid who I don't even know his name who's looking up to me some mom who's like thinking man I want my son to grow up just like Michael with it thinking about the generational curses and the chains that I'm able to lift off of people that I don't even know that I've never come into contact with. And obviously, most importantly, my wife, my two sons. That's when I know when the tears of joy are welling up inside of me or I'm getting goosebumps

before. That's when I know. So I think I'm so much more tied to the joy. And it's just gratitude. I think I'm just so grateful. It really is crazy. I'm not supposed to be here compared to what my little 14 year old 18 year old 20 year old self thought I was going to be doing, you know, athletically. I'm not supposed to be here. If you ask them, you know, with all the self doubt and it's like I'm living a dream. So I'm so much more tied into that joy. But as the fight gets closer, I do know that I have that kind of pissed off for greatness. I have my moments I have my don't take any any crap from anybody type of mentality, especially when I'm training when I'm training. And I'm in the room. I'm not this guy that you know, right? And, you know, I, I'm different. And it's not that I'm trying to hurt anybody, or it's not that I'm

angry. But there's this little bit of, I don't know what word I would use, but it's like, Hey, you guys know who I am. But I can't be trusted when I'm in here, because I'm in my zone. Like, this is me in my zone. I'm not gonna hurt anybody. Am I here to hurt anybody or do anything illegal in a training partner, but like, my willingness to go to a place where I don't care whose feelings I hurt or how badly I dominate somebody. So it's a different and then all of a sudden the practice is over. I

sit there, heart rate comes out. I'm like, Okay, I'm gonna go grab some lunch and you know, and I think it's a gift. I think it's a gift. I think it's beautiful. And I, I love that I can be that guy. And my wife doesn't know who that guy is. My sons don't know who that guy is. The fans watch that guy on fight night. But very few people get to see it unless you're really training with me on hard, hard days or you're in the cage with me. I was watching, just prepping for you and I, I watched last week, I watched Connor and Diaz too.

I watched that fight and something really interesting struck me that night. He was in, there's a long time ago to everybody, but that night Connor was in the biggest fight at that time in the history of the UFC. And I was just thinking where you were that night about the same time. And it was complete relative obscurity, right? At that time, no one knew Michael Chandler at that time. And he was actually in the middle during same time. And it was complete relative obscurity, right? At that time. No one knew Michael Chandler at that time. And he was actually in the middle during that time. I think it was when you had some of that streak that was not going the way that you wanted it to go, ironically. And if you would have said at that time, here's a guy who's, you know, had a couple setbacks at the, what is

sort of the, the B level of the MMA, no offense to Bellatorque, that's probably not even fair, but B level, at least in notoriety. Yeah, that is probably not even fair, but B level at least in notoriety. No, it's fine. Yeah, that is fair, you know, and I admit that. In notoriety, and then you got this dude that night pulling out a W in the biggest fight of the UFC, and if you would have told the world that night, now that dude that's over there in Bellatorque that's struggling right now, he's gonna end up in Vegas June 29th, 2024, going head to head with this dude in the biggest fight in the

history of the UFC potentially. It just should give everybody hope that anything is possible in their life man and you embody all of that. Is there a part of you though that has imposter syndrome if you're being candid with the audience that you do come from humble beginnings you have had ups and downs you are you, you know, coming off of, you know, you haven't had a six fight win streak even right now, if we're being candid, right? So is there a part of you that has to overcome these mental demons, so to speak, of believing you belong, believing you can win, that I think most people struggle with, or have you passed that stage of your life?

I think I definitely still have a certain degree of it, but I think I've gotten to the point where it's been revealed to me enough through life, the course of life that the older you get, the more people you come into contact with, the more people you train with or you're in business with, or you watch their work ethic, or you watch how they live their lives, both in front of the camera,

behind the camera, behind closed doors, in front of, you know, in front of the public. And you start to really look around and take stock and think, you know what, I do think that the golden diamonds was, was, was reserved for God's people, not the devil's bunch. You know, I do think that the good among us are supposed to go out and capture those things. And before it used to be like, yeah, but you don't deserve it. You don't you know, you don't deserve that. And if you do get that, well, what's going to happen? Maybe maybe you're going to start rubbing people the wrong way. And I think I've

gotten over that and realize, man, if you don't have a bunch of fruit on the back of your cart, you can't pass it out to people. If you've got nothing on your cart, you can't pass it out to people. And I do think I have I have a duty to be successful because I can then use it to change people's lives where until I got to a certain point, it was like, well, I'm a little bit afraid you actually were the first person I heard talk about the thermometer. Right. And I was that guy. were the first person I heard talking about the thermometer, right? And I was that guy. Like I'm okay with the thermometer getting to here, but I'm a little nervous if it gets too high and that, that thermometer just keeps getting higher

and higher and higher and I'm getting okay with it each time. So I do think I have a little bit of a degree of that as, you know, once again, you keep leveling up every time you level up, now you're into a new realm. So of course there's a little bit of it, but you say, wait a second, I've been here before. Let me watch how this plays out. And at the end of the day, when I lay my head on the pillow at night, I know that I deserve it. I'm the one of those guys who deserves to, to go and capture that because of the way

that I live my life. That's exactly right. You've earned this. And by the way, everyone, a little bit of everything in moderation is actually good. So a little bit of imposter syndrome keeps you what you see in this young man right here. Humble, keeps you training hard, reminds you, I better outwork this dude because maybe I don't have everything they have. A lot of imposter syndrome will cause your thermometer to put on the air conditioner on

and you'll cool your life back down. So a little bit of it is not, you don't have to eradicate all of your imposter syndrome. You have to eradicate that it's your dominant thought, but to have that in the back a little bit is not all that bad. I have it, which is what causes me to prepare for a speech or a podcast. It's what's caused me to save my money because I don't believe all my press clippings. I don't believe I'm always going to win. Everything's entitled to me. And so it's a healthy thing to some extent. Let me ask you this I was watching some fights, you know preparing for you know our work and And my son's like dad. These guys are so good

and you know I've I've hit bags and spar and you you know all that part of my background and I said max the different thing that you Don't realize because it looks like a video game when you watch people fight is they're getting hit and still throwing punches back at the same time. That's the one thing I think when people watch any sort of combat, whether it's Mikey's sport in boxing or yours, they just underestimate how difficult it is to absorb punishment and return it. It's one thing to just dole out punishment into a bag, right? Or to hit mitts. It's a very different thing. And that's really, I told my son, I said,

Max, that's the game of life. The game of life is everything looks good at the seminar. When you read the book or listen to the podcast, it's sort of like these offensive strategies. But the people that I've seen win, and I want you to talk about this in fighting it in your life. The people that I've seen win, and I want you to talk about this and fighting it in your life, the people that I've seen win, they have this very special ability to absorb a punch and still throw back.

And that's the separator in life. And it certainly is in sports as well. So just speak to that, Michael. I mean, metaphorically, you do it in there. And by the way, you may want to be the greats at all time at doing that. This is a dude who almost out on his feet can still knock people out better than anybody that's ever probably been in the sport or at least one of them. But what about that fact of life and actually in the sport literally? Yeah, I mean, it's very interesting, because I do think metaphorically, right, there's there's a lot of similarity similarities there. But even realistically, I think from a physical standpoint, I think sometimes it's easier to take the blows inside of taking huge shots inside of a fight and keep coming forward where because there's not as much of an ego involved because I'm not really worried about what how everybody perceives the punch that just landed on me. Whereas in life, in business, in our relationships, we have a failed account or a failed relationship or we have a setback here, immediately everybody stops and thinks, looks in the mirror and says, what's everybody else thinking around me?

You know? Whereas in mixed martial arts, I don't have the time and I call it a luxury. I think I have the luxury of not having any time. If I sit and I dwell on that one punch that just landed in it, and it rocked me and I start thinking about what the people in the nosebleeds are in the front row are thinking about that shot that just landed. The second, the third, the fourth are going to come and the knockout is going to ensue. Whereas in life, a lot of times we are stifled and stymied so much by we take one blow, we take one shot, we take one setback, and we're just worried

about everything else instead of just, the definition of persistence is continuing in the course of action with complete disregard to previous failures and future opposition, right? So in life, we stop and we think way too much about what's everybody else thinking or how is this gonna look on social media? What are the press clippings gonna say, like you said?

Like there's so much to it. And I've gotten really good at, and this happened to me when I came to the UFC. Like you said, I was outside the UFC, relative obscurity. I trained hard. I was a good athlete, but I wasn't a famous athlete. Then all of a sudden you come over, you're the biggest free agent signing maybe in UFC history.

And everything doubles in five times the following and five times the interviews and five times the platform. And all of a sudden, you're like, wait a second, I better get used to public criticism very quickly or else I'm going to this thing, this ship's going to sink. So I've just gotten really good at realizing, man, no matter what, this is my race that I'm running and I love you matter what, this is my race that I'm running and I love you, but it's still my race and I love my wife, my kids and I love my coaches, but this is still my race.

And if I could just focus on me and know, know that if I just keep moving forward. And if anything, we don't follow people because of their successes. We follow people more even for their failures because they were able to overcome something. People love us. People love a comeback. And that's what my story, my whole story has been about. I am a blueprint for how you get knocked down, get back up and keep moving forward and then somehow end up in the biggest fight of the last decade. By the way, he's also has a future in my space, in the personal development, motivational coaching space, as you could tell, because he's got this insane

ability to articulate his thoughts. Okay, a couple more things. Separations and the preparation. I don't know if there's a more finely trained athlete on the planet than you right now. I mean, in any sport, this dude's a specimen. He trains his ass off. Do you like to train or do you do it because you know it produces a result and how important in anything someone's doing particularly if maybe they think they lack something is to gain their confidence from the prep from the preparation. I think I do love to do it because you ever ask yourself, what's the alternative? What is the alternative? I do think I use the word easy lightly because I'm sure the audience is like, dude, I watched the training.

It looks crazy. But for me, it's easy. My heart is different than your heart and different than hard for everyone else. Me thinking about doing some of the things that you do. That sounds crazy to me. But to me, maybe working out as hard as I do half the audience is like, man, I would die in the warm-up. But it's become not easy in the sense that it's not hard every time I do it, but it's what I do. It's not who I be, but it is what I do and I'm pretty darn

good at it. And I do know that it produces results. And I do think, you know, going back to the imposter syndrome, or going back to the the self sabotage and going back to the temperature gauge, going back to my self concept, or my lowly self concept that I used to have, if back when I was 14 years old, I didn't get into hand to hand combat thinking, okay, I'm not that talented. So I have to outwork everybody.

And I've been able to take that now for the last 28 years and I've never ever lost it. And I've won world titles. I fought for the world title in the UFC. I have fought Madison Square Garden twice, fight of the year, debut of the year. I've got all of these different accolades, but still the cornerstone always is me remembering

that little 14 year old boy who walked into Northwest High School and knew that I was I had just started wrestling and everybody else had been there for years and I need to I need to outwork all these people or I'm never going to get to where I'm going and I still have that as a 38 year old in the sport 20 28 years in the sport. So I look at it like I am grateful that I have these two capable arms and these two capable legs to be able to do what I do, you know, and I, you know, I look at it as a blessing that I you know I I see people coming in with cerebral palsy, and I see people coming in with really bad injuries, car accidents, paralysis, all these different things. And I know it sounds a little bit dark to think about, right? But I am so blessed to be able to do what I get to do. And every single one of those people

would give anything to trade one week of this well-enabled body to be able to live in this well-enabled body and I really always have looked at that blessing that most people are have they can talk about depression or they can talk about anxiety and sadness and all these different things but we have so many things to be thankful for that we just gloss over and overlook and just keep moving forward and I think That's where it is knowing I cannot work everybody Taking my gratefulness and my gratitude for the abilities that I have and the opportunity that I have and thinking about the alternative The alternative is me going to get in a job somewhere and I love what I do and I get to do it every single day

It's my producers I guarantee you are just their mouths are open right now because right before you got here, I recorded a podcast, I'll come out after this one, but I talked about focusing on what you possess as opposed to what you don't have and then having perspective questions about the fact that someone's got it worse than you. And when you're actually able to do those two things and focus on what you have as opposed to what you're missing and focus on the fact that you're blessed to have what you do have that someone's got it worse, it's just amazing then you just go say this. How much is your... two last questions... So hey guys, you know when I love technology and a great idea revolutionizes an old

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ZocDoc is a free app and website where you can search and compare highly rated in-network doctors near you and instantly book appointments with them online. Tons of different reviews on the doctors and they're local to you. You can find out if they take your insurance. I just did it for a tear I had in my shoulder. One day later I'm in the doctor's office getting some help getting an order for an MRI. So go to ZocDoc.com slash my let and download the Zocdoc app for free then find a book a top rated doctor today. That's zocdoc.com slash my let zocdoc.com slash my let How much is your growth on you like most people can tell from listening to you now

but I want everyone to know. Spann works very hard on himself like Michael and his downtime, I'm not his only friend in this space. Michael will attend events. He's read the books. He listens to the podcast. He'll speak at these events as well. He's worked very hard on the internal him, and there's two elements of that. He's a man of very strong faith, but he's also worked on his mind, worked on his thinking, worked on himself, worked on that thermostat setting. How much of that aside from all the physical training do you attribute to the fact that you're going to be in the octagon on the 29th with McGregor? I think it's got, I mean it has everything to do with it. I mean really, and I made this, you know, I made this

realization years ago when you were talking about, you know, if for the people that don't know, I went 688 days without winning a fight. And for a lot of people, that's a, that's a death sentence for an MMA career, you know, going from world champion in Bellator to losing three fights in a row, thinking that at any point in time, I was going to get my walking papers or get a phone call that I was going to get cut from the organization. And in that time, I realized I was doing all the physical work. If you're my coach, and you tell me to run through that wall, I will run through that wall, no questions asked, and I will do it harder and faster and better than every single else behind

me. But what I wasn't working on was my mind. And what I wasn't working on is this self image. And I was letting that get away from me, all I was doing was building up a bigger, faster, stronger, subpar version of the man that I was really created to be because inside of here, inside of my mind was so, it was lacking and it was so important, but it needed to be revealed to me. And that was a thing too. If a bad thing happens to you, but a good thing comes from it and you become a better person, a better man, a better father, a better husband, a better comes from it and you become a better person, a better man, a better father, a better husband, a better, a better human being. You got to ask yourself, was it really a bad thing if a good

thing comes from it? And I think I look at that point in my career and realize that was the catalyst and the, the springboard that was going to catapult me. That was the winding of the spring and it was a painful winding of the spring. It was, it came with tears. It came with self-doubt. It came with embarrassment, overwhelming embarrassment, but it was that painful winding of the spring. It came with tears, it came with self doubt, it came with embarrassment, overwhelming embarrassment, but it was that coiling of that spring that eventually springboarded me to becoming the next version of the man that I needed to be. And yeah, I mean, I've always just been curious

and admired people like yourself who are trying to make the world a better place, admitting their flaws, showing and wearing their heart on their sleeve, and talking about the struggles that you have gone through and how there's a lesson in every single loss. And, you know, I've been very blessed with so many great friends, and I have a duty to them to continue to be a part of that community. And I have a duty to my family, and I have a duty to them to continue to be a part of that community. I have and I have a duty to my family and I have a duty to myself.

And most importantly, I have a duty to my Almighty God who created me, not just to be good, not just to be that little boy who was going to play it small and and think that he doesn't deserve great things and think that I could just, you know, barely get enough and barely get by and live paycheck to paycheck and nobody knows my name. I was commissioned and I have this conviction, this deep conviction to know that I was created to do something extraordinary.

And it took years and years and years and I just wanna keep on adding to that. And when people say the sky is the limit, it's a term that we use, but at some point you start to believe it. And you believe it not because of the Bentleys and the Bugattis and the boats and the watches and all the material things but it's the things that you make people feel just with your presence and with your words and your voice and that's

what I want to be able to do and now we got the biggest platform we ever could have asked for and the sky is the limit. Yeah, by the way, you are doing that. Alright, Michael, I love you. Everybody, I hope this blessed you today. I'm sure that it did. Really cool to get into the mind of this absolute champion here and actually for a few minutes, two of them at the same time.

So, alright everybody, God bless you. Share this episode and tune in on June 29th and if it's after that time, share this episode with anybody who wants to hear about being a champion, winning, mindset, pressure, overcoming adversity, etc. etc. God bless you everyone!