The Joe Rogan Experience - #1871 - Jon Peters

Episode Date: September 15, 2022

Jon Peters is a veteran Hollywood film producer and executive. His credits include such films as "Batman," "Tango and Cash," "Superman Returns," and "A Star is Born."

Joe Rogan Podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience. Train by day, Joe Rogan Podcast by night, all day. All right, we're up and going. This is the first interview I've ever done except for Barbara Walters 30 years ago. Holy shit. When the first question she asked me was,

that was with Streisand at the time, she said, are you a hustler? And I said, if you mean do I hustle every fucking day of my life yes I'm a hustler what does that mean are you a hustler what was she implying that I was using Barbara wow that I was a hairdresser with the biggest star in the world isn't that crazy she would never dare ask that question if you were a woman no and and you know you were with Roger Moore or whatever. Yeah. Never.

She was angry, you know, and, yeah. That's a wild question to ask someone. Like, a person who's a hairdresser can't fall in love with some famous singer? Yeah. That's not possible? Yeah. Like, are they out of reach? Yeah. famous singer? That's not possible? Are they out of reach? Yeah, I think that the fact

that I was making decisions for her were not making decisions. I was creating alternatives for her and she was like, yeah, man. Star is Born was something that when I first read it, I called her and I said, I read this thing. She said, you schmuck, it's been made three times before

and she hung up the phone on me. That was 1976. And that's when I met Elvis. I went through your IMDB She said, you schmuck, it's been made three times before. And she hung up the phone on me. That was 1976. Wow. And that's when I met Elvis. I went through your IMDb. Holy shit, have you produced a lot of movies. Yeah. A lot of marijuana, man.

A lot of getting fucked up, Jack. You made so many movies, man. Yeah, over 100. That's incredible. That's incredible. Yeah, because I always was a storyteller. And as a kid, I didn't always tell the truth, but they were my stories. My life became my story.

My stories became my life. The things that I'm doing today are things that I said I would do. I wanted to be, I wanted, I was in love with Ali. I made Ali the life story of. I was in love with Presley. I wanted him to be in Stars Born. We flew up to Vegas, and we met with Ali. I made Ali the life story of. I was in love with Presley. I wanted him to be in Starsborne. We flew up to Vegas and we met with him. And he was so fat he couldn't sit in a chair. He was about 100 pounds overweight. Wow. And he said, I got a problem, man. I got a problem. I

said, what's your problem? He said, I'm having a fight with my girlfriend. And I said, what does that mean? He says, well, she's flying in my 747 for two hours. I haven't decided whether to let her land or not. So yeah, so I've been lucky. I've been a really blessed, lucky guy. Did you meet Elvis when he was doing karate? Yeah. So that was when he was really fat. And Colonel Parker called me and said he wants to do the movie, but you can't be a part of it. So I called because I was a producer.

I created it. I wrote it. It was my thing then. I was obsessed with this movie. And the love story was me and Barbara. We copied it. And Barbara said, fuck him. I said, fuck you. And the love story was me and Barbara. We copied it. And Barbara said, fuck him. I said, fuck you.

And so he didn't do it. And then later, after the movie, Priscilla Presley called me and said to me, I got to tell you, he wanted to see it on opening day. And he did. And he cried that he didn't do it because I would have got to the other side of Elvis. I would have got to the pain. I would have got to the feelings. I would have got to the other side of elvis i would have got to the pain i would have got to the feelings i would have got past the other thing it would have been gigantic because i saw that in him i could feel the pain in him so when when you met him was towards the end then like this time towards the end did you watch the film the new one the new elvis movie fantastic

it's amazing right yes because they did it differently yeah they did a completely different Towards the end. Did you watch the film, the new one, the new Elvis movie? Fantastic. It's amazing, right? Amazing, yes, because they did it differently. Yeah, they did an amazing job. They did a completely different take. It was amazing. Just the way it was edited and put together with all the things in between the scenes, it was incredible. Yeah.

It was so good. It's like that story is such a unique story because there had never been a person like him before that was that famous. Ever. Ever. He still gives me chills, man. Michael Jackson was like the next one, right? He'd never been someone like him either. Michael Jackson and I

I went to him when I was doing Stars Born. I mean, Batman. And I had Prince to do the music. And I wanted Michael to do the warring theme. So it was like a fight. So Michael Jackson plays, no, thank you. Michael Jackson plays, you know, Batman, the guy.

And Prince plays the Joker, Jack Nicholson. But Michael backed out. We became friends. He took me to his house. He showed me Thriller. And he said, I show him this because you did American Werewolf in London, and I copied you to do Thriller. Wow. American Werewolf in London is the greatest horror movie of all time.

Yes, I made that. I wrote that. I mean, I didn't write it. You saw The Wolf Out There? Yeah. I fucking worshipped that movie. Yeah. That movie was so fun.

It was such a great movie because it was such a great combination of sheer terror and comedy. Yeah. It was amazing. Yeah. Thank you, man. It's an amazing movie. That's what we did. It stands the test of time.

I watched it again like a year ago. John Landis. It's fucking great. John Landis. Oh. He's the guy that unfortunately- Yeah. Yeah, you know. Yeah. Yeah. The accident. Yeah. The helicopter. It's fucking great. John Landis. He's the guy that unfortunately, yeah, you know. Yeah, the accident, the helicopter, it was terrible. That American Werewolf in London movie, you know, what you guys did was, it's just a real horror classic.

Yeah, thank you. There's a few, like The Shining, there's a few classics. American Werewolf in London is the monster movie classic. Yeah. Well, one of the other things that I was lucky enough to do is Caddyshack. Oh. And everybody golfs, so I'm going to make a new one now. Nice.

And I just got off the phone with Shaq. I'm going to put everybody together in this motherfucker. It's the elite, which will be Billy, Chevy, that own the club. And they one day get Madoffed. Now, all the guys, our kind of guys that have money that they turn down, they take over the club. And these guys work for them. And it's going to be a very funny story. Wow.

How come no one has done another good werewolf movie? Wow. How come no one has done another good werewolf movie? Because any movie that you make is a gift from God. They're so hard. Is that what it is? It's hard, man. I give people the academy where just forget the movie made.

The pieces, the agents, the story, the acting, the distribution, the this, the that, the bullshit, the lying, the cheating. It's impossible. Wow. I have a movie that I'm going to do. It's called Africa. And it's like out of Africa. And Eric Roth wrote it. He's one of the greatest writers in Hollywood.

And he wrote it 22 years ago for me. I've been developing this for 20 years. Because I never got the love story right. I had Brad Pitt. I had Angelina Jolie. They broke up. The story fell apart. But I'm working now on getting the love story and I'm going to make the movie.

It's about a journalist doing a story on a guy who's trying to stop the poaching and the killing of all the animals in Africa. Beautiful love story. Loses two legs. He got shot down by the poachers. Cool. And we see the whole black experience and the culture. And they have one day of fighting.

And you see swords and shit that's amazing. All in the African culture. Wow. What excites you most about making movies at this point in your life? Stories. Stories. Yeah. Because he's got to excite you.

Like Dana White fucking makes me crazy. Crazy. I love him. He wrote me something. JP, I love you. I love you, motherfucker. And he can box. He was going to box.

Knucklehead. I saw that on the thing. I was like, fuck. Got big balls. Tito's not tough. Tito's not tough. Tito's not tough? No, he's tough. Oh, yeah.

He's not not tough. Very tough. Very tough. I was like, man, you have high standards. No, no, no. He's not. No, no, no. I understand what you're saying.

I'm sorry. Although on the standards, the fight that fella, the show before last, with blood all over the face. That happened so often. Which five was that? I remember he put the blood. Oh, Luke Rockhold. Yeah. In Palo Costa.

Brilliant. That was crazy. Until that moment. Then I thought it was a poor loser. I mean, he should have, as opposed to the heavy Samoan guy who got beat up by the big black guy, he was a great loser. Yeah, he was. Yeah, Taito Iwasa. He took his kids, took his thing.

I think Rockhold and that guy had had so many bad words to say to each other, like during training camp and leading up to it. It was like biting of the ear, like Tyson biting the ear. Well, except it's legal. Like, you're allowed to, like, smear your blood all over a guy. Guys do it all the time. They just don't do it that blatantly. I've never seen that before. Yeah, if guys have a cut on their head, you will oftentimes see them leaning towards the guy's face.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, during the fight. They know that blood sucks to get in your eye. They're not stupid, but it's legal. I mean, it's not something they're actively trying to pursue as a technique, but if they find that they're bleeding from their forehead and they see the guy's face right there, they'll just do it. But the way Luke Rockhold did it was just crazy. He just rubbed his bloody nose all over the guy's face.

Because he's a bit of a bitch. Luke Rockhold is? Yeah. I would not say that. No, in my opinion as an audience. For doing that? No, just in general. Really?

The way he behaves. It's just something about him that, I don't know, I see him as an actor. I see him as a movie star. I see him. But then that fight, he was amazing. So maybe he isn't. He's cursed with being impossibly good looking. Maybe that's what it is.

That's a big part of it. It's easy to hate him. He's so pretty. Maybe that's what it is. That's what it is. It bothers men. I always say that the only reason anyone gets laid is because Luke Rockhold didn't show up first. Yes, it's true.

And he's got a beautiful body. He's perfect. And he's tall. Yeah, and so that bothers people. So if he was just a regular guy, it wouldn't bother you as much. Could be. Part of the arrogance that bothers people, but all prize fighters have arrogance. Yeah.

It's so common. You kind of have to have a certain amount of arrogance and bravado to be successful. Yeah. I mean, they don't all. Some of them are pretty humble. They keep it to themselves. But inside, there's a bravado there. And when it comes from a super good-looking guy, it's a—

Hard to take. People don't like it. It's hard to take. That's why people get mad at me, man. I still got hair. You know what I mean? You do. Mine's bald. So mad at me, man. I still got hair, you know what I mean? You do. So, you know, yeah, no, it's

been, I've had an amazing career. The UFC thing has been my hobby. I try to pick every fight before it happens within about, I made it into the round by the way they walk and move and stuff and everything. It's like a hobby. Weren't you entertained by that Luke Rockhold fight,

though? That was very entertaining. Phenomenal. That was that was very entertaining phenomenal incredible phenomenal i was i loved him for that because he let it all go and there were scenes in it that were like a movie where he said yes yes yes yes it was definitely a movie even you said it it was like a movie on the thing this is like a movie and i was like this is like a movie it really was it was like if you saw that in a movie like come on especially if you had a got to know him and had his life before and realized that this was his real in his way because he's been so beautiful this is his license of manhood because now he could actually be tough and beautiful well he was even when he was the champion you know he was a strike force champion right he was then he was a UFC champion. And when he was in his prime, like, see, the thing about an elite, high-level fighter, and this is the reality of it, the consequences on your body are so grave.

There's so much going wrong. Your neck and your fucking shoulder and your knee. It's always happening. And so these guys only have a few years to perform at, like, the elite level. I saw it with Victor. When that first guy knocked out, he went across the ring. He didn't bang, bang, bang. He charged Vanley Silva.

The guy took half his face off. It was in Oklahoma. Are you talking about the first fight? The first fight in the UFC? That was against Trey Tellington? Yeah, with the red-headed kid. I don't think he had red hair. He had light hair. But his face, he had red hair. Or he had light hair.

But his face, he had to go to the hospital. He broke the whole thing. Yeah, well, I would imagine Vitor had crazy hands. He did, and those shoulders. And the shoulders. Yeah. And the back. Yeah, then he beat Scott Ferrozzo and won the tournament, the heavyweight tournament.

He was 19 years old. Yeah. I loved it when he took out the bar fighter. Tank Abbott. Yeah. You were telling me that you knew Carlson Gracie. I trained with him. That's wild. For three years, man. Every day. When he was on Hawthorne?

When he was at my house. Oh, he came to your house to train you. Yeah, with Victor. But that was back when they were calling him Victor. Yeah. I interviewed Victor the Marijuana. Because he wouldn't train to your house to train you. Yeah, with Victor. Oh, but that was back when they were calling him Victor. Yeah, yeah. I introduced Victor to marijuana. Because he wouldn't train and I got him loaded and he stayed in the gym the whole day.

Really? Yeah. He wouldn't train unless he got a high? Well, he was lazy. A lot of guys that are good looking and built like that,

they're lazy. Because he beats people up like that. Wow, he was a spectacular athlete. He was, yeah. He was so fast. Yeah, that's when I called Dana and I said, remember me? We almost bought the thing together and da, da, da. When, he was a spectacular athlete. He was, yeah. He was so fast. That's when I called Dana and I said, remember me? We almost bought the thing together and da da da. When I think about a guy like Vitor

who's really at his best between 185 and 205 pounds, if Vitor had come up now where the weight classes are already established and he wouldn't have to be fighting heavyweights, he was fighting guys like Randy Couture.

Scott Froese was a big guy. If he was able from the time he was 19 to fight like at the weight class that looked natural to his body, he'd been one of the greatest of all time. I'll tell you a name. See if you remember it. Al Stanky. Oh, yeah. Sure.

I found a man. I put Victor with Al Stanky. Oh, no kidding. Al Stanky was hilarious. That's how he learned how to fight. People forgot about. I put Victor with Al Stanky. Oh, no kidding. Al Stanky was hilarious. That's how he learned how to fight. People forgot about, I forgot about Al Stanky. I found him and I did a movie on him. Al Stanky was hilarious.

In the copter, he was a tough motherfucker. Oh, yeah. He could swim. We would race in the pool. I would do 10 laps. He'd do 30 laps in the water. He's like an amazing guy. But he taught Victor how to bob and had a weave and everything yeah and

there were in the ufc in those days there was no stand-up it was all on the ground almost 80 nobody had ground skills like vitor had but also had the kind of hands yeah exactly that was what was interesting yeah i just think that if you go to like the early part of his career if that guy was in a like a weight class That was natural to his body like 185 pound weight class something like that I agree with you would have been one of the great champions. He would have been one of the great champion Yeah, I just trained years ago as a kid. He got up to like 240 pounds. Yeah, I know He got to 241 I went to 281. I'm now down. I got to lose another 30 pounds. What do you do when you lose it?

No food, raw fish, and vegetables, and that's it. Raw fish. Yeah, I love it, man. Yeah? Yeah, I have a chef, and she's the greatest chef in the world, and she cooks for me wherever I go. And, yeah, I got to lose another. I want to get—I'm'm 260 i want to get down to i really like it's down to 200. i'd like to have a trainer yeah oh yeah that's brazilian

great guys that's awesome amazing black belt trainer guy champion from brazil i brought him over he's fantastic so you're doing jiu jitsu with him as much as i can because i'm all broke up yeah my knees so he's got you doing other stuff too? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's great. Having someone like that, especially for a guy like you that's very busy, having someone like, this is my job. I train for my life, Ben. From the morning I tell you, I train. I live in my spa.

I live in, I've never gone to an office. Everybody revolves around my schnoodle. I have great talented people. When you were talking to Elon Musk about how does he do it all, delegation. Yeah. Finding smart people. You put them, then you don't have to do nothing. You just tell them what you want to do and they figure out how to do it and you adjust it.

I do that. I run like 30 companies. Oh, that's genius. That's probably fun too. I'm excited. That's why I'm breathing heavy. I'm like, I want to go. I know.

You seem excited. I am. You're fired up. I'm talking about training. I will do this again. This is my one. I'm excited. That's why I'm breathing heavy. I want to go. I know, you seem excited. I am. You're fired up. I will do this again. I didn't. I was going to do a book. They gave me like a big advance. Barbara and everybody got angry. So I gave the money back

and I never did it. This is the first time I'm being interviewed, really being interviewed. Where someone can watch and say, oh, that's who he is. Well, I always think about it just like having a conversation. Like, I've always just wanted to talk to you. Just think, you know, when I look at your body of work and the history that you've had in making movies,

it's incredible. You know, when I did Stars Born and We Came Back, everybody put me down. I was like a joke. I was a pimp. I was that how dare me produce the biggest movie with the biggest star and I must have a 12 foot dick. Although I did learn in life that I'm actually a lesbian. So I

really learned how to make love with women. Once I saw my friend, this model and this lesbian lady and I said, what do you do? How did you get her? Because I would always come too fast. I could never make it work right. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. And I learned now that with my wife, my lady, we make love with three hours. It becomes an orchestra with my love for her and my gratitude that she saved my life by bringing spirituality into me.

Because I was, like, getting tired of living. So when you say spirituality, like, in what form? Studying. Joe Dispenza, genius. You should look him up. He's a fucking... 100,000 people, shells out 100,000. He's like you, but he's amazing.

Studying people every night for six, seven hours. Learning. Therapy. Working on what it was like to be in jail as a kid. See my father die in front of me. My best friend shot as he was going over the fence in juvie. A lot of stuff that happened to me as a kid. You just glossed over some pretty crazy stories.

Yeah. You saw your father die in front of you yeah shit piss and go it took a long time to get over it but i never got over it but women saved my life because every time i got somebody good she was smart she was talented and she filled in that thing barbara gave me a career and my wife gave me love that's beautiful yeah and peter guber i love him we broke up not in a good way one of the smartest most wonderful men i ever met in my life i wish i had not lost him as my friend after a partnership of 15 years what happened what how How'd it go south? I got it.

I always fucked his wife. Whoops. We got so close that she started feeling for me, and because I'm a talker and Peter isn't, she started getting very connected to me. Not in my intention, not in my want, it didn't thing. I didn't, you know, but I did feel romantic

because she was she was different than barbara too she was very loving but i never touched her and i think that was a breach that my karma it kicked my ass for 10 years i couldn't i was so fucked up by losing him it took me a while to get myself back and to take responsibility for what I did. I never touched her, but she would come sit in the jacuzzi with me and 10 other girls and smoke dope. It just got too close. Is that one of the hardest things about putting together all these films is the relationships between all the people that are involved?

Yeah, you have to master manipulator. And you got to be with each other all the time. All the time. Because you're working 16 hour days. 16 hour days. And you have to be a master manipulator. And you've got to be with each other all the time. All the time. Because you're working 16-hour days. 16-hour days. And you have to get them to do things they don't want to do. That's why I didn't do the thing with Dana. And you have to maintain a vision.

I didn't want to be in Vegas with fighters. I wanted to be with girls with titties. I like it. When you go titties. I love titties. Show me. But I am. No, you know titties. I love titties. Show me. But I am. No, you know, I was a professional ladies man because I was a hairdresser.

So every day if I wasn't busy, I had to go out and find pretty girls and say, come on, let me do your hair. When you're doing these films and it takes like 16 hour days and there's all these different personalities you're juggling how do you keep like a vision of what same way you guys did in the ufc i have a vision of the movie i sat with dana and i said this is bigger than the power rangers dana and dana said i never thought i said yeah i said because you guys naked and thing and And I was dating Catherine Zeta-Jones. We went to a big fight in Oklahoma. There was a gun show right here. After the fight, the Brazilian wiped everybody out.

All the red guys, rednecks and people, they started fighting with us. And I was with Catherine and Victor and Hoyce and Hickson and Carlson. Everybody got around us and walked us to our car to get us out. Wow. And that's when Catherine said, man, is Victor sexy? I said, okay. You know what I mean? I said, let's open it. I opened him a dojo.

I did everything I got. I put him in business. Wow. I opened a dojo. I did everything I got. I put them in business. Wow. That's a crazy history you've had.

Yes, I have, sir. You've had a lot of wild experiences in your life. Yeah, and as a little boy, my dad was an American Indian, Cherokee. My mom's Italian. So I was riding horses early, and they came to cast the Ten Commandments and I got picked out of like a thousand people to be in that and meet John Derrick, Cecil B. DeMille

and I was an extra riding on a big bison with a little goat and the guy said if any of these animals go to the bathroom, call pickup, because when they go to the bathroom, it's that big, because they're like 1,500 pounds.

So we're going down the thing, and my little goat starts to shit, and I went, oh, pickup! And they cut, and Joe Miller came out and said, who said that? He said, the fucking big ones, man, not the little ones. Now shut the fuck up or something like that, you know? Oh, he should have been more specific. Well, they're just little teeny things.

Yeah, little pellets. But yeah, so from that time on, I got hooked in the movie business. So something about, look, the UFC is a movie. I went to Dana years ago and said, I want to do your movie. Yeah, but can you encapsulate something like the UFC in a two-hour movie? No. No. No.

But you can do your best. You'd have to tell the story from the Gracie's angle. Yeah. And the street fights and the 14-hour fights. Yeah, UFC 1 is the story. Yeah, man. That's the real story. The Hoyes-Gracie story. Yeah, that's me. That's how I got in. Yeah, UFC 1 is the story. Yeah, man. That's the real story. It's the Hoyes-Gracie story.

Yeah, that's me. That's how I got in. Yeah, how come... Hoyes, Hickson, all those guys. They were my guys. No one's really done a movie on that. No, but that's the thing I want to do. And then I can involve Dana and you and all this stuff,

but I want to tell it from Brazil. That's a great idea. And then bring it back. That's a great idea. Yeah, it's a big epic. But I see it in my head. That's a great idea. And then bring it back. That's a great idea. Yeah, it's a big epic. But I see it in my head. That's what happens. I see things finished.

The Gracies are the most important family in the history of martial arts. Totally. They're the most important. Totally. They're the most important contributors to the overall. One hundred percent. Hey, it's in the culture, man. Watch a TV show and the lead actor's doing a choke in an arm bar.

It's like, what? It's like a big permeation. Because when we did it, the police would come. We'd have to leave. The cops would come. They've got it so that the whole world practices Jiu-Jitsu. Yes, I see it. And it was all them. The kids and the kids.

Yeah, having Hoyce on TV for UFC 1 started it all. I remember it. And you. You're a big, big part of it. Thank you very much. Big part of it. You're part of that culture. I remember it. And you. You're a big, big part of it. Thank you very much. Big part of it. You're part of that culture. I'm a professional fan. Yeah.

Well, you are. It's nice to... And the way you handle yourself is like Dana's guy. And between the two of you, without compromising each other, you do a brilliant job. If you left the show, I would be very upset. Well, if Dana leaves... As a fan. If Dana leaves, I'm gone. That's in my contract.

There is no show without Dana White. No, no, no. Take it down 60%. Yeah, what he does is very different. He knows what the fighters are. He knows what their drama is. Shut the fuck up. You know how hard it is to do this fucking show? You don't know fuck all.

You don't know how to fucking fight. Shut the fuck up. He's a real guy. Oh man, the fuck up. He's a real guy. Oh, man, he's great. He's a real guy. Like, that's really him. He's a real guy all day long. I'm nothing to him. But to say that he loved me,

and you know why? Because I made Vision Quest. And Vision Quest, he said, changed his life. Changed so many wrestlers' lives. Yeah, that's it. That's what I was learning to wrestle, and that's why I did that show. And I found Madonna. You know, it's one of my favorite scenes in that movie, in any movie,

is the scene where the guy who works at the place with him is telling him about the soccer player. Yeah. And about how he is watching it at home, and just for that one moment, everyone gets elevated. Yes, it's true. Yes. It's a great speech, though.

The other night when I had the first time in my life, and I've seen a thousand fights, and I've been in 200 of them to the death almost in the street. When that guy was getting beat up by that black guy and he was punching him like a bag, I looked away. I couldn't watch it. It was the first time. It was so brutal. And it looked great. On the other hand,

what's he going to do when he comes across someone that can punch and really bob and weave? Which guys are you talking about? The black guy and the Salon guy. Oh, Cyril Ghosn and Tai Tuivasa. I'm bad with names. I'm sorry. No worries. Cyril Ghosn, man.ivasa. Yeah, I'm bad with names. I'm sorry. Yeah, no worries. No worries. Yeah, Cyril Ghosn, man. God damn, that was good.

Yeah. He's insane. Yeah. He's such a smooth striker. But it was a perfect storm. Yeah. He didn't have anybody coming at him. This guy was big punches.

He was always open. Well, Cyril Ghosn is very agile. Yeah, he was great. He's very unusually agile for a big guy. When we started, there were no black fighters. That's great. Usually agile for a big guy. When we started, there were no black fighters. I used to say when we get the black fighters in, you're going to see rhythm and movement and punches and things coming from here and there and everything else.

Dancing, man. Life is a fucking musical. You're either in it or you're out of it. And you have to make your own life, which is what all these guys talk about every day, their own musical. Their own pieces that work, that fulfill your life to make you happy. Because if you're not happy and you have money, you have nothing. Take it from me. This year, twice in the hospital for what they call accidental suicide. And because I had, I was, we were breaking up and I was self-medicating, which I've always done legally, but not so much.

And luckily, I'm- That's a hilarious definition right there. What? Legally, but not so much. Yeah, right. Exactly. I was self-medicating. Legally, but-

Yeah, exactly. A little sketchy. Yeah. So I know the feeling of just, especially at my age, 77, people, I'm preparing for another 20. So I'm training for another 20. Beautiful. The way I eat, the way I think, the way I do. You're alive right now.

All you have to do is just keep pushing. One day at a time, yeah. Yeah, man. It's like when you're at a certain stage of your life, if you're mobile and you want to do better, you can do better. If you're alive, you can get better. Totally. 100%. Everybody can. You'll feel better. I know a lot of billionaires are dead.

Yeah. Unfortunately, there's so much stress involved in that kind of a job. That's the problem. Do you see Mark Zuckerberg's training MMA? Yes. He's really pretty good at it. Yes, yes. Good for him. I mean, for a guy, he's doing the right thing. I'm looking at the exercises they're doing Yes, yes. Good for him. I mean, for a guy, he's doing the right thing. I'm looking at the exercises.

I saw him on the show. I saw him on the show. He was great. Interesting. And that's one of the— Crazy job that guy has. Yes, he's a genius. Yeah.

And now he has to feed the genius. But, I mean, imagine being responsible for 3 billion people's content. And also you have shareholders. I couldn't do it. And also you have, like, CEOs and all these people meeting. I wouldn't be able to sleep. I don't know how he does it me neither and you know he said that uh training was one of the best things for him because he was running but unfortunately running he said made him think more yeah so he's thinking about all his problems while he's running quiet time but when he's training yeah right but when he's training he can't think of anything else

like when someone's trying to tackle him exactly so all you're focused on is that and that cleanses the mind. Have you ever been in a fight where it's full blown to whoever gets knocked out? You mean like a full contact fight? Yes. Yeah. Like a street fight fight. No, I didn't really get in street fights. No, I avoided street fights. I mean, the

last street fight I had was probably when I was like 14. I had a, the last one I got in, I lost. And the guy didn't even hurt me. He got me in a headlock. Like, I didn't even know we were going to fight. I was like, why is this guy staring at me like this? Like, he got in my face.

He grabbed me in a headlock, and he threw me to the ground. And he got on top of me in the bathroom, the boys' room. And he went like that. He was going to punch me, and then he'd laugh. He was like, nah, I don't even have to. And he just let me up. And it was humiliating. Yeah. He was going to punch me. And then he'd laugh. He was like, nah, I don't even have to. And he just let me up. And it was humiliating. It was humiliating.

And then I realized, like, oh, my God, I got to learn how to wrestle. And then I joined the wrestling team. And then when I wrestled, I was wrestling. And then I started doing Taekwondo the same year. And I like Taekwondo a lot more. I just like the idea of knocking someone unconscious. It was very exciting to me. So I got involved in that and I did that for there was a time

when Jerry Bruckheimer was partners with a guy named Don Simpson Don Simpson was a genius so is Jerry a top gun is one of the best movies I've ever seen in my life I've seen it ten times I just watch it over and over and over and over. It's so damn fucking brilliantly done. It's like I did Stars Born two years ago. We had the soundtrack. We had the thing. They had everything.

And at the time, Top Gun was just, blew the roof off the world. It did, but this is better. This one. This one that they did now. The new one you think is better? I need to watch it. Oh. I haven't watched it yet. The new one you think is better? I need to watch it. Oh, wait. I haven't watched it yet.

The cameras are in the cockpit, man. And they go like this. And you're in the cockpit. And you got the music. And you got the score. Talk about a musical. It's a musical. Wow.

And he's phenomenal. You're going to go, how's he doing that? How's he doing that? How's he doing that? Do they play Highway to the Danger Zone? Yes. The hair steps on the back of your neck, man. Of course they do.

Of course they do. Crazy. That's amazing. A brilliant movie. I called Brett Cameron. I said, look, you're the camp, man. I love you. This is a brilliant movie.

But see, it's like I am with them the way fighters are with each other. You know, somebody's good and they're damn good. Right. Right. Yeah. Look, that's a classic movie. That's a goddamn cool movie. Do you have have a favorite at all the movies you've done well i like batman because it was one that was it broke nobody had any done anything like that before right and i had a big affair with

kim bay singer over there and we fell in love and i hired all hired all UFC fighters to fight my stuff. There's no such thing as UFC fighters, but those guys. Martial arts guys. Yeah, hit guys from the tongue, sword guys. Two guys went to the hospital and they got cut because I pushed the limit on the damn thing. And we shot it on the table with the fight sequences, with the way we shot shot it everything that we did

it may not look like it today but in those days we were tim burton was going to use a six inch knife i said no we got the blade and we got the guys and they didn't think so michael keaton was a great bat genius he was a great the best because he's the best actor in the world he's one of the top five actresses ever lived he's look at actor in the world. He's one of the top five actors that's ever lived. Look at his career. Look what he does. Look what he did on Quaaludes or whatever it is, on Vicodin or whatever it is. That three-hour piece is, you know, and I'm sure he's in the program.

I would have to guess. I know he did because I hired him out of a movie called Clean and Sober. And I saw in his eyes he could fight. Because as a kid, I got in so many fights, but I would read your eyes before I'd even make a move. If I saw something I didn't like, I'd probably figure a way to get out of it. And that's how I went from Hollywood

to the chairman of Sony, to biotech companies, to this, to that, to the UFC. Maybe it would have been great because I have good instincts and I kind of have like ordinary taste, let's say. Did people resist? They resisted Michael Keaton as Batman. Nobody wanted him.

Yeah. They didn't like that idea that a comedian... Because he was a stand-up comic. Yeah, they wanted a six-foot-three guy to come in with the big muscles. I said, no, look in his eyes. He's a killer. He'll stab you five times in the neck before you even know what happened. Is he your favorite Batman? Yeah.

Christian Bale's a pretty fucking good Batman, too. Brilliant. He was brilliant. Those two guys. That guy's willing to do things that most people are not willing to do. He's willing to get fat. He's willing to almost die of starvation. That's how they have a career. If you watch that Machinist, which is not the best movie, but what's interesting about

the movie is just Christian Bale. The fact that he's basically a skeleton. Yeah. He ate a can of tuna and an apple a day. I know. They're crazy. Most actors are crazy. They're crazy.

And then six months later, he was Batman. Yeah. I know. Jacked. I know. You have to be crazy. You have to be crazy to be that good. Jack Nicholson is my good friend, and he's crazy as a loon.

Has to be. And a brilliant guy. And thank God he kind of retired like 10 years ago. Watch Chinatown. Yeah, I know. Watch Chinatown. I do. I love it.

Fucking amazing. I know. Like that guy, of course he's crazy. How else could he be that good? You can't. I'm standing on a corner, La Cienega in Santa Monica, and with my wife at the time,

Leslie Ann Warren, she's pregnant with my son. This goes back 50 years ago, maybe, whatever it was. Four guys pulled by in the car, and they go, Cinderella sucks, and they flip it off.

Now, I'm from the Valley. So I said, just wait. She played Cinderella on television. That was her thing. So I said, wait here. I jumped Cinderella on television. That was her thing. So I said, wait here. I jumped in my car and I chased these guys down the street. I caught them at a signal.

I came up next to him. I was about to hit him. He said, no, no, no. I'm in her acting class, man. We're all actors. That was a joke, whatever it is. Many years later, I do Witches of Eastwick. And we're going to meet Jack Nicholson. And as I walk in, he looks at me and says,

Hey, Cinderella sucks. It was him. It was him? Yes! That's hilarious! Yes! Holy shit! Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Oh my God, that's hilarious. Yeah, no, I've got... You almost beat up Jack Nicholson. Yeah, no, but I mean... That's hilarious that it's him all those years later. Yeah, I was defending what I thought was my pregnant lady. How fucking good is he in The Shining? Yeah, no, he's...

God, I watched that again recently, too. God. He's a... He's a genius. Yeah, he's a genius. There's a few of those guys that, like, they... Have you ever seen the video? I'm sure you have.

There's a video of him warming up for his scene where he goes through the bathroom door with the hatchet. Yeah, I saw it, yeah. And he's just, like, jumping around the room and getting so fired up. I'm like, God damn. He never knew how to fight, but he's a tough guy. Yeah, well. He'll fight if he has to. He's an extraordinary talent.

There's people that just, like, captivate a story. And so, like, when you're, like, casting, when you're, like're like putting together a film yeah and you got a big film that's very important to you how do you know who the right guy is like do you just go on instant how do you know who the good fighters are they speak to you they speak to me in other words i knew that that brad and angelina together in the right thing would be amazing right and. And it's a love story fell apart. So I'm going to get Brad again and I'm going to try to get Margot Robbie or somebody like that. But if somebody,

if I get it for a guy, I want to work with them. If a girl gives it to me, I want to work with her. I, they speak to me. They speak to you. Yeah.

For you, it's just about how you communicate with them. Yeah. And when their energies, what they've done, Victor Belford, when I saw him the first time roll with a couple of like three guys in a row, It's just about how you communicate with them. Yeah, and their energies. The feeling you get off of them. Victor Belford, when I saw him the first time roll with a couple of, like three guys in a row. And when Catherine Zeta-Jones went, ooh, amazing, his balls were hanging.

You know, they were those little tight things and he's ripped like shit. I come in like, you know, I'm doing my stuff, you know. So, no, it's just like I have a gift of instinct. You know, I mean, look, I've been following you from the beginning, man. Of all the people in the whole world, whether it matters, you're the only one that I wanted to talk to because I figured you're the only one we get what I am. I couldn't talk fights with anybody, and I really love it more than anything. Well, I appreciate that very much, and it's an honor.

It's an honor to have you on. It really is. Yes, so, man, so I'd love to come back another time sometime maybe. You can stay on now. Oh, good. Okay. Great. Great.

Great. Keep going, man. Great. Great. So listen. So I'm going to tell you something that's not supposed to be. I shouldn't say this. Don't.

Don't. Don't get yourself in trouble. Okay. I don't want to get in trouble. I think you already got into a little trouble. I did already. All I can tell you is. I love that.

I love that you're you though. You know what I'm saying? I love that. But I love that. That that you're you though you know what I'm saying but I love that that's the hardest thing that people have I don't know how to be anything else so many people

they get stuck at a job where they can't be themselves my sister died yesterday what? yeah and I found out at 3 o'clock in the afternoon and it really shook me up

because she has 5 kids she was 58 she had been having a hard time but she just had a fall and a blood clot and this, that, and the rest. So, you know, I didn't want to cancel this because this is more important to me. I'll be there tomorrow. I'll help take care of the business. She has a husband. She has a husband.

But these things happen. And I told you, when that happened with my dad, it hardened me. It hardened me. And not until I met Julia did she really open my heart. And then came craziness, drugs, because my heart was open. I was feeling good and bad things. Once you open that door, man, a lot of shit comes out. once you open that door man a lot of shit comes out and that door can be opened by your children by your wife or whoever yeah but not everything comes out good so you realized before that that

you were kind of protecting who you were totally i was numb i was dating 20 women at a time my plane pick them up in paris and bring them here and, and jacuzzi and this, and covers and magazines. So you were distracting yourself from all this stuff. Totally, totally. Until I met this woman, therapist, Dr. Bita, and I just sat on her couch and we both cried. She held me for an hour and I began to unravel the mystery. Have you done much psychedelic drugs?

Early on. Early on? Yeah. Psilocy? Early on. Early on? Yeah. Psilocybin. How long early on? Not like today, probably 30 years ago. How come you haven't done it more recently? Because anxiety scares me, and I'm afraid if I lose control, what's going to happen?

You know, the way to get over that is to do it slowly, like microdose. That's what my girl wants to do. She likes microdose. I what my girl wants to do she's microdose i think it would be good for everybody it's you know it's really good for soldiers for soldiers who come back with ptsd yeah that's me yeah i'm a soldier and i came back from with peter did yeah my early beginning my stepfather beat my mother up every night one day i got a two by four and broke both his legs that's how i got to juvie. That's 100% the same kind of thing. Yeah, I used to watch it for a year.

Trauma. Blood, yeah. Yeah, that's real PTSD. And he would drink, you know. And that affects kids sometimes in a way that they don't even realize until they're adults. When I would fight, Joe, I didn't feel the punches, ever. I went right through everybody. I never lost a fight.

And I was a gymnast on the off-bar. You never lost a fight and I was a gymnast you never lost a fight? never now a lot of reasons I wasn't a professional fighter and I could choose where I got it was the only reason so you just made good choices I made good choices

yeah I made good choices absolutely could I have lost a lot of them? yes I started training this fella took a liking to me years ago his name was Art Aragon

and he's a Spanish fighter that's aragon. And he's a Spanish fighter. That's a great name. Yeah, he's a Spanish fighter. And he had razor blades for hands. And he, early on, taught me how to box. So I had a mixture of lots of things. And Bob Otto. We were going to talk about Bob Otto.

My grandfather, who worked for the May Company, was a big department store on the Italian side, Pagano. He ran the alterations department and he had a lot of people working for him. And so in the valley, he had a couple acres and he had a house and one of the houses his gardener lives on, his gardener was Bob Otto, the early teachers of the Gracie's dad. And he started, the first thing he ever did was choke me out with my own jacket. What was Bob Otto's style?

I don't know. Jiu-jitsu. So when you say early teacher of the Gracie's dad, what do you mean? In other words— He trained with them? When I met them and I brought it up, they acknowledged him. And his dad had known him. Under what degree— Oh, so they trained together.

My dad had known him. Under what degree? Oh, so they trained together. They may have. Or their reputation may be because Otto was, she had two schools, 500 kids. I mean, had a big operation. Right. So I learned early because the way I was going to Van Nuys and Van Nuys Junior High School in those days was all Hispanic.

A lot of fighting. You know who's a super legit martial artist and an actor is Chuck Norris. I trained with him for four years. Did you really? Yeah, on Ventura Boulevard. No kidding. With my son, yeah. What years were this?

I don't know. Long time ago. Wow. Yeah, yeah. Chuck Norris was a legit karate champion. Yep, incredible kicks. Yeah. And then recognized that he needed to learn jujitsu, went to the Machados and got his black belt in jujitsu. He's legit. A hundred percent above board. He brought in the Machados to all of his Chuck Norris academies. They all taught them. They were all humbled. They realized like, oh my God, I'm so vulnerable.

All these guys back in that day, like in the Gracie in Action series, all these guys thought they were killers. They were so vulnerable. They had no idea. I understand. I was there. It was amazing. Watching those guys do four or five fights a night.

Yeah. Incredible. And that crazy man came in with the cross. Chemo. And ponytail. Yeah. Hoist was grabbing him by the ponytail and punching him in the face. I know.

I loved it, man. Yeah, it was incredible. I loved it. He caught him in an armbar. That was like a four- We talked about it the other day. It was like a four-minute-something fight. How about that Oriental guy and the fireman holding each other?

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. Oh, yeah. Takayama and Don Fry. Don Fry was one. Don, the Predator Fry. If he could move- He was one of the toughest men that's ever lived. Wow.

That guy was a fucking monster. Amazing, man. He's all banged up now because of all his surgeries. Yeah. He did some pro wrestling, too, which is not so good on the back, either. You know, Don Fry was a beast. Yeah. I've had a lot of, my back has been a problem, too.

Yeah, everybody trains. Yeah, well, you'll see when you get older. I'm old. Yeah, you're a baby. Yeah, you're a baby. I'm a baby. Oh, nice. I'm 22 years older than you. Fuck. I'm old. Yeah, you're a baby. Yeah, you're a baby. I'm a baby. Oh, nice. I'm 22 years older than you.

Fuck you. You're a baby. You look like a teenager, man. Yeah, like a teenager. Look at your life. Like a little kid. Look at your life. You smoked a joint, and you made your life work.

It's very childlike in that regard. No, inspirational. Oh, thank you. Because it's exploring the things that you really dig and like. And it's inspirational. A lot of cool people in here. I love everybody. Well, I'm very fortunate.

I'm very fortunate that I can have conversations like this with you. It's fun. It means a lot to me. It means a lot to me, too, man. It's a cool thing to be able to do. And I'm glad you chose this. Thank you. As I wanted.

I'm honored. I said to Dana, I said, he's the only one who'll get me. Otherwise, no point. What's the point? Yeah. Well, when Dana contacted me, he's like, I hate fucking doing this. Yeah, I know. Because he doesn't do it with most of the time.

I know, I know, I know. But with you, I went, yeah, fuck yeah, let's go. Let's go. I'll tell you a story that he won't tell you. Uh-oh. Don't tell me that. Don't tell me the whole world. If Dana won't tell me, don't tell the whole world.

Yeah, I'll tell the world. Okay. So I called him up, and I said, look, Dana, I said, I got an idea. Let me do a little special on the fighting girls of the UFC. He said, done. So I said, okay. So I put together a team. I started putting this thing together.

I had these amazing girls hosting it. It was incredible. He calls me back almost when it's done. Actually, it was almost done. We were just done editing. He said, can't hosting it. It was incredible. He calls me back almost when it's done. Actually, it was almost done. We were just done editing. He said, can't do it. They don't want any outside producers. And I'd already spent 60 grand.

So I went, that's cool, man. I love you. I said, I don't want to cause a rift. He said, you know, you said yes right away because you love me, not thinking that the new company has rules. And I'm kind of an outlaw in Hollywood, so I get it. And that was that.

And he was a mensch. So when I called him, I said, look, I need a favor. I really want to do this before I die. I said, it's important to me to speak and then take a look at it and see what I look like because I don't know really. And he said, I'll talk to him that was it well I love Dana to death so anytime Dana has something like that I'm down for it yeah that was really sweet he's the best yeah I love that guy yeah I do too you know what I say in every weigh-in I said Dana White when I want to introduce everybody I say Dana White without him none of this would be possible none

of it none of it yeah he's uh you got to realize like none of this would be possible. None of it. None of it. Yeah, he's, you got to realize, like, the success that it has now, a lot of it is that guy's driving force. He's a fucking maniac. Heartbeat. His heartbeat. He lives for it. Your heartbeat.

He lives for it. The wrestler guy, I love him, the heartbeat. Dana and I, I'll call him sometimes at, like, midnight, and we'll talk on the phone for, like, two hours. Just talk about fights. Yeah. Just talk about fights. Yeah, I can do that, too that too not as good as you guys but you see i do know a little bit you know yeah well we've seen them all yeah i know i know up close i know i know i've probably seen like a thousand fights plus up close yeah yeah no at least yeah you know um

the fella the brazilian kid that is so damn good looking. Did he do not- Paulo Costa? Yeah, did he not? He looked like he was doing fine. He didn't use all of the body shots he could have in the last time. Well, Luke Rockhold is a bad motherfucker. That's what I mean. That's what it is.

It was a tough fight for him. It's a tough fight. If Luke Rockhold was in his prime, it would be a way tougher fight. If he fought the Luke Rockhold that beat Chris Weidman, one of the greatest middleweights that's ever lived, he was a fucking machine. But the reality of that kind of level of competition is you can only maintain it for so long.

Like every human body has an expiration date, you know, where you start getting too injured and too fucked up, and Luke has been dealing with a lot of that himself. He's just not totally healthy. He's banged up. So all these guys, when they get to that point, there's like this point where they're like, or they're just firing on all cylinders.

And that only lasts for like a few years. Yeah, I know. I lived it. Yeah, I'm sure you did. Slightly differently, but yeah. No, but I've lived it three or four times. Yeah. How so?

Well, first time was in the fashion business. That's not the same as fighting. Well, no. Career. Career. Career. Yes, yes. Career.

Career. Career. Career. But I'm saying like with a fighter, they can't come back. But it is the same of fighting. Except I'm fighting 500 people to get it done. See, it is the same because I've used that analogy throughout my career, knowing that I could kick the ass of anybody I was doing business with.

It gave me an edge in the meeting, in my mind. In your mind. Yeah. Right. So now putting it all together, doing it together, it gave me an edge in the meeting, in my mind. In your mind. Yeah. Right. So now putting it all together, doing it together, sacrificing doing it, getting it out, having a movie be a hit, it's hard. I'm sure it's hard. It's not like fighting.

I understand that. The reason why it's not like fighting is because the fighter's body stops working and their mind wants to continue. Their body just can't do it anymore. In a funny way, it happens in my business, too. I think it parallels in all forms of life. If you're in the upper one-tenth of one percent, you do have a time when it's all over.

I think that's with everything in life. It is. I think that is. I think that's the cycle that's supposed to take place. And then new people come up. It is. It does. It's beautiful. And in a good culture, the new people salute the people that were there before them. 100%.

Yes. Yes, I agree. It's mutually beneficial, and it's also beautiful. It's beautiful to see the art form carry on. Yeah, it is. Whatever you're doing. When I saw Top Gun, and I called Bruckheimer, and wherever he was, he called me back. Because I worked with him on Flashdance.

Oh, wow. Flashdance. I hired him as my line producer. God damn, you did so many good movies. Thank you. Pull up his IMDB. It's crazy. It's wild to see. Yeah.

I mean, just producing. How many did you produce? As far as producing executives, because in our case, executive produce is the same thing because we own it. Right, right, right. So we put everybody.

It's like Joe, like Dana. What's the overall number, though? Oh, I don't know. With everything, 80, 90, something like that. And so many fucking hits. Yeah, yeah. So many hits. You know.

American Well of London, Caddyshack, the main event, Eyes of Laura Mars. That's a fucking classic. I haven't thought about that movie in a long time. Vision Quest, the greatest wrestling movie of all time. What was the legend of Billie Jean? It was a story about a young girl who took charge of her life because her mother was being raped by her father, and she went after these guys, and she was the first female vigilante.

Click on that. I know I saw that. I know I saw that. But that was from 85? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I remember this movie. I loved her, man. She was a wonderful lady.

I remember this movie. Yeah. All right, go back to the IMDb. Female vigilante. You were in Gambler with Madonna. The Color Purple. Wow. Yeah.

Clan of the Cave Bear. That was... Yeah. That girl is gorgeous. I forgot her name. God damn it. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, there she is. Daryl Hannah. Daryl Hannah. I have a Daryl Hannah story. Yeah. When I first moved to Hollywood, it was like 1994, I was at Cantor's Deli and I was sitting tableside to Daryl Hannah and a couple of her friends and I couldn't fucking believe that it was debt first of all she's so beautiful no makeup just sitting there chilling right and looks so normal

Just hang on I'm like that's Daryl fucking Hannah, and she's just sitting next to me at Cantor's yeah, and they were They were real friendly they were real friendly. Everybody was real friendly. Hey, what's up? How you doing? You know, she recognized that everybody was going to know who she was, but she was, like, so casual. Yeah.

And they were playing some sort of a game, some sort of a trivia game. Mm-hmm. And she looked at me, and I had the answer, just luckily. It was, like, some state. You know, and I go, it's, like, Kentucky. And it was, whatever it was. I don't remember what the answer was. But, like, I was, and that was it. That was all of our interaction, but I was, like I was and that was it that was all of our interaction but I was like she's

so nice like so no she's a person she is even though she's Daryl fucking Hannah it's one of the first people that I'd ever like sat next to yeah that was that famous so I was a little like weirded out by it yeah see I grew up with that because my uncle's the Paganos the Italian twins they did Marilyn Monroe they did all the movie stars so when i was a little kid i was in their beauty shop wow and i got married the first time you saw like a movie star how old oh three whoa so it wasn't even weird to you no and then i did it their hair see right you're you know on the magazine thing, clients come.

They tell their friends. I was doing 30, 40 people a day. So how did you go from, was it Barbra Streisand? You went from hair to hair? It was basically Barbra, yeah. I met her. I put the word out that I wanted to meet her, and I'd go anywhere, anytime, anyplace for free. And I knew the free would get her.

John, are you a hustler? Yeah, baby, I am. Motherfucker, every sense of the goddamn would get her are you a hustler yeah baby i am motherfucker every sense of the goddamn word what a crazy question what a crazy question to ask someone such a strange question i don't know is dana white a hustler are you a hustler okay so you hustle right yeah even when your leg hurts you hustle me too the only difference is that i had to deal with overwhelming anxiety which i have now pretty much got under control. Well, that's another thing. Just going into the fight because everything was like a fight to me.

Right. So you were constantly on edge. So when I was a kid and we were at Van Nuys Junior High School and one of the Chicanos told me off, I'd meet them in the back of the gym. 500 kids would show up and we'd go at it. I'd take them out. I'd wrestle them down. Boom. It was it.

Really? And it happened 30 times. People would challenge me, the kids would come. I always had a sense of dramatic. One time I knew I couldn't beat this kid. There was the bleachers, he was standing there. I went up on the bleachers and I did a Superman punch. I dove off the bleachers and hit him like that

and knocked him out. I went this way, that way, and he went out. I didn't know it was a Superman punch. I used the bleachers as a launching pad for my punch. That's a creative maneuver. Yeah, I'm a creative guy. I get it. I never got in any street fights like that.

Yeah, one time. I avoided them all. One time. Yeah, I was smart, but I was hurt. Yeah, I was like, I'm going to get the fuck out of here. My dad died. I was in a lot of pain. I get it.

I didn't feel the punches. I didn't feel nothing. Yeah. I got shot, but I was hurt. My dad died. I was in a lot of pain. I didn't feel the punches. I didn't feel nothing. I got shot right in my chest. I didn't feel it. You got shot in your chest? Yeah. What caliber? 22.

So it stayed. Why did somebody shoot you? It was a gang fight, and a guy brought a couple of guns, and this guy shot the gun, and a bullet hit me in the chest. And then many years later, when I married Leslie Ann Warren, who was a big broadway star we went to the doctor and the guy took me in the room he said i said what he said you know you got a bullet in your chest i said don't tell anybody he was in the fatty part of the thing and it's still

there right now you have still have a bullet right now so you go through an x-ray it just shows up yes is that good to have lead in your body the whole time they doctors have said it's okay it's in like a fatty part of my body. Yeah, but isn't lead toxic? Probably. It probably should come out. But do I want to be cut? No.

Yeah. You know, when you get my age. Yeah, I know what you're saying. Yeah. I'm done. How far did it go in? Oh, it's only like an inch in? Yeah.

In this part. I might take it out myself. In this part. Okay. You got an operating room behind this thing. That's good. Smoke another part. I might take it out myself. In this part, okay. You got an operating room behind this thing, that's good. Smoke another joint, now we'll be a surgeon. I got this little bench made pocket knife.

We're good to go. I'll take that fucker out for you. Yeah, it's I don't think it's good to have lead in your body. No, probably not, but you know you get to a point like me where every day that's a good day, every day I'm grateful. I hear you. And I have to work on it.

Yeah, I hear you. And I can't be around negativity. Well, that's a good rule for everybody in life. When you're my age, you can be. When you're older, when you're younger, it's not so easy. But for me, I don't do it. Yeah, it's not necessary. All my people go to therapy.

All my people talk about their feelings. Whoa. Everybody I have works on themselves otherwise i can't be there because i i'm i'm a somebody called me a shaman my once but i see things in people and if it's not good and i can't help makes me anxious well you kind of are a shaman if you're leading people in a spiritual direction and i'm trying to get as many the problem with the word shaman is it comes with culty thinking. I try to help

with money, with spirituality. I spend a lot of my day helping people. That's beautiful. That feels good, doesn't it? The best. Tyson is maybe one of the consistently smartest guys I've listened to with all the guys on the thing. He's not articulate.

He fumpers and schmumpers, but sometimes he'll say some beautiful on the thing. He's not articulate. He fumpers and schmumpers, but sometimes he'll say some beautiful things, man. Well, he's a thoughtful person. He's very. And he knows a lot about history. And pain. Yeah, he knows a lot about pain for sure. I saw the whole thing on the kings and queens and all that shit, but more so, he's developing

his emotional intelligence. That's what gives you a happy life. You know, I got to see two sides of Tyson because I got to see Mike when he was not fighting at all. And he was just running that weed company. And he came in. We had the greatest time. We just got high as fuck and laughed and joked around. It was so much fun. And he said he doesn't even work out.

And I said, how come? He goes, I don't want to reignite my ego. That's how I felt. I was afraid to get back in the gym, starting thing and then i'm tough on people i lose my temper i get edgy what the fuck come on man yes that's when he said that i went oh i feel the same way he said something when he was leading up to that fight with roy jones jr the the the gods of war have reignited his ego yes i'm sure if he can find him he's going to walk through

in his prime man he was like no one ever before who? Mike Tyson in his prime he was like no one ever before but he still hits damn hard I can see how he twerks his body he was training with Rafael Cordero who was one of the original shoot to box instructors from the old

legendary gym in Brazil so Rafael Cordero, who was one of the original shoot-to-box instructors from the old, like the legendary gym in Brazil. So Rafael Cordero came over, and now he's running King's MMA. And Tyson went to him to train. Wow. So Tyson was hitting mitts with Rafael Cordero. It was fucking phenomenal watching him rip off combinations at 55 years old. I know. Like, Jesus.

Amazing. Oh, my God. Still. you have the same body so do i i fucking definitely don't no no in the sense of compact and strong not long and relatively and lean you know i mean i prefer short and thick but what he is is uh he he's like he was a phenomenal combination of like a kid who came from a horrible background to getting adopted by this guy who was a genius boxing instructor and having incredible work ethic and having incredible genetics and having incredible drive. You know, he was 190 pounds when he was 13 years old. Yeah, amazing. Built like a fucking tank. And Teddy Atlas used to bring him to these smokers.

And he said he's 13. Like, get the fuck out of here. He's 16. Like, OK, amazing. Built like a fucking tank. And Teddy Atlas used to bring him to these smokers, and he said, he's 13. Like, get the fuck out of here. He's 16. They're like, okay, he's 16. So he'd have to fight 16-year-olds because nobody believed he was 13. You know, the thing about Mike is that what beat everybody was his brain. Mike was very smart. Oh, he's very intense.

Yeah, but he's smart. He knew what to take from Gus. Yes. He knew how to be open to it. He saw that Gus would, yeah, he's smart he knew what to take from gus yes he knew how to be open to it he saw the gus would yeah he's smart well cuss was a hypnotist that's the other thing he hypnotized mike when he was very very young yeah and he trained him to think of nothing but the task like you don't even exist it's just the task the task exists don't think about yourself i know that's how i am he was fucking phenomenal yeah you have to be that way. My partner, Peter Guber, God love his soul.

Yes, he's like that too. Everywhere we go, we'd fly around. He'd have 40 pages of notes, and I had no notes because I remember everything. Don't you think that for anything you want to do in life, if you really want to be at the top of your craft, you kind of have to be obsessed like that? Yes, you have to be. You have to be driven.

You have to want to be better. You have to almost feel like you're going to die if you aren't. That's where it mirrors itself in everything in life, no matter what you're doing. If there's a thing that you find that you're obsessed with, no matter what that thing is, whether it's painting, making music, whatever that thing is, if you find that thing that you are obsessed with, that is the thing that's going to bring you the most joy. But you've got to give it everything you 100 yeah that's what i did as a hairdresser when i was a hairdresser that was my thing man i'd go to paris the

collections the girls i was like oh my god i'm in heaven but i was i loved doing hair how did you get into hairdressing when i got out of juvie, my mother, the judge said, you have to put him somewhere. So she put me in beauty school and I had shot five guys. You shot five guys? Yeah. Yeah. How'd you shoot them? Yeah. It was an accident. I never said this before. Five people bags in it? Yeah. No, it was a gang fight. It was a fight in San Fernando. And it was like 30 guys. And – Has the statute of limitations passed on this? Or should we edit this out?

Yes. Yes. You're out there shooting people. And it was somebody else's – everybody in woodshop was making a weapon. I remember that from high school. Yeah. I used to make nunchucks and say they were tableware. Yes, yes, exactly.

Yeah, that's what happened. And this guy came with these guns and these guys was, and I bang, bang, and then this guy was, it was, and then I was like, oh my God, what the fuck? That was the changing of my life. That, and when I was in juvie, a guy that I met from Boys Town, which was in the middle of the country, a place where a lot of fucked up kids would go. He came from Boys Town. He ran away. He went to Juvie. And they weren't supposed to.

They weren't supposed to have things. And they covered it up. But he tried to get away. And they shot him on the fence right in front of me and 30 other guys. And he was, fuck you. I said, man, you you're gonna get killed you gotta shut your fucking mouth you gotta take it cool if you're gonna get out of here you gotta work your way out there's no escaping this strong big blond haired guy farmer boy years ago and then i'm

getting tired i gotta go but um uh years ago when I was with Leslie and Warren, I had a beauty shop, and it was on the corner of Rodeo and Brighton Way. It was called the John Peters Salon. OJ would come hunt the girls, everybody's hunting the girls, because I'd have like 40 or 50 beautiful girls getting their hair done all day long. This guy comes in, my mother happened to be working at the desk, and he comes in in big

overalls, big tall guy, and he says, I'm here to see Cinderella, you know, Leslie Ann Warren, and I came out, I said I'm her husband, and he was like a fan of Mission Impossible, whatever it was, I don't remember what the time. Next thing I know, we went home that night, and he had been there in the colony. He had come to the colony. So I sent out a bunch of my guys, because a lot of the hairdressers I had were guys like you. They were tough kids that were smart, and they needed a chance. They went to beauty school, and they got out, and women were lined up around the block.

That sounds like a movie. It is. My life is like a crazy movie. That does sound like a movie, a bunch of tough guy hairdressers out there protecting you. Right out in front with all the motorcycles all lined up. Wow. Tough guy hairdressers on motorcycles. Yes.

That's a movie. When the thing was over, the L.A. Times said they don't make hairdressers like they used to because the guy was coming into the house. He had a little pistol in his hand like this. He was walking in. I had a mezzanine. I looked at him. I was naked.

I jumped on the mezzanine, off the mezzanine, jumped on him. He went through the— You jumped on him with his pistol? Oh, yeah. I didn't see it until I was in the air. Oh, Jesus. And he was like this, and it was dark, and he was backlit. And you're naked.

And I was naked. Yeah, I woke up. I could hear him walking around. I wasn't thinking. I just moved. That's a surprise. A naked dude jumps on you from a mezzanine? And he ended up with 160 stitches because he came to rob me.

He came to kidnap her. Jesus Christ. So we fought out into the colony. Naked. Me naked and him in a farmer outfit, yeah. Good thing I didn't get a heart on, right? Oh, my God. Good thing.

You didn't have questions. It's a true story. I believe it. You can look it up in the L.A. Times. That's a wild story, man. How have you had so many stories? Well, because I grew up John Waynene elvis you know i i'm a living superhero even though i don't ever do anything but in my mind i am right right i mean

because those narratives are like stuck in your head that's why i like victor that's why i like when i saw john jones i would like oh fuck oh i love him man yeah i love him yeah you love conquerors yeah oh yeah and and and and wrestler guy I didn't like at the beginning, now I'm madly in love with him. Which guy? You know, that beat everybody, but kind of chubby. Your commentator fellow, you know. Oh, DC. Yeah, DC.

Daniel Cormier. Amazing. Oh, he's incredible. I love him. Love him. You didn't like him at first? I didn't like him. He didn't fit the view of what I thought he was supposed to look like.

You know what I mean? But I did like him, but not as much as Jon Jones. Just his physique? Yeah. Really? Yeah, and just that he was more of a, he would more of, yes, it's just, I like Jon Jones. He was my hero. See, one of the greatest of all time is Fedor Milonenko.

And Fedor had the most unimposing physique. I mean, he looked strong but he like had like a russian yeah the russian he had like a little bit of a belly yeah and he was always like calm and relaxed and he would fuck everyone up well i would fuck everyone up in his prime i always had good hands yeah big strong hands yeah and you know i'm almost 80 so they shrunk you know but but yeah i knocked a lot of people out Yeah, when you look like Daniel Cormier like he reminded me in a lot of ways of like Fedor's totally like absolutely They don't have low body fat, but don't get twisted. Yeah. Well, I'm a phenomenal athlete

Yeah, I know both of them DCN and Fedor Fedor was a phenomenal athlete. He was so good. You never saw him fight I did of course. Yeah, okay many times we that was one of He was so good. You never saw him fight? I did, of course. Yeah, okay. Many times. That was one of the biggest regrets, that they never got him to the UFC. One of the great fights that I saw was the black, tell them, whatever, the black guy with blonde hair and that crazy guy from Europe. Kevin Randleman and Mirko Krokop?

No, the other one. No? from Europe. Kevin Randleman and Mirko Krokop? No. The other one, Kevin Randleman and the guy, my son said he was in a bar once, saw him knock out about 10 guys. Bas Rutten. Oh, Bas Rutten. Oh my god. Was that guy tough? From Holland.

Oh my god, Bas was a machine. I saw him fight. He was the first intelligent, aggressive attacker. That was like a high-level striker and built a fight Oh my god, you know, he fought Teosha Kosaka and His neck was so fucked up that he couldn't even wrestle. He couldn't do any wrestling for that fight Like he had like some serious disc problems in his neck and he went up actually getting his neck fused like later on in his Life, but he like even when he was competing at the highest level his neck and he wound up actually getting his neck fused like later on in his life. Amazing. But even when he was competing at the highest level, his neck was already fucked up.

He was a fucking monster. Yeah. In his prime, Boss Rootin was a fucking monster. My son was training with him. He was one of the only guys that won off of his back. When he beat Randleman, Randleman took him down. I know. He was just smashing him off of his back.

I saw him. He was bang, bang, bang. I saw it, yeah. It was very effective. You can't back. I saw him. He was bang, bang, bang. I saw it, yeah. It was very effective. You can't just assume that just because you're on top, if you're getting fucked up while you're on top, you're losing the fight, believe it or not. But it's also called the guard, isn't it? Yep. Yeah.

And Brandelman was an elite wrestler. But Boss Rudin had a very effective way of attacking off his back. He did. He was so powerful. He did, yeah. Yeah, he was a machine, man. Yeah. He really was.

You know, if you see, like, an alligator go after its prey, they go like that. They don't go like that. Right. They move back and boom, boom. Jump and jive. Yeah. Moving around a lot. Okay, man.

John Peters, you're the fucking man. Yeah, I love this shit. Appreciate you very much. I got some great stories one day I'll tell you again. Tell me more. Let's keep going. No, no, I can't do any more. I'm tired already. You know what I'll tell you again. Tell me more. Let's keep going. No, no, I can't do any more. I'm tired already.

You wore me out. Can't you see it? I'm vibrating in the chair. You look great, man. You look great. Thank you very much. The guy that I watched the other day, because I studied all your tapes for the last week. You studied?

Every single tape you did almost. Oh, boy. And all your clients and people and stuff. Yes, I wanted to learn. I wanted to learn. And what I learned was all I can be is honest in whatever that is it is. And so what was I going to say?

I can't remember exactly. But you were yourself. That's the goal. Yeah, that's it. The goal is to be yourself. That's it. And this is, you know, I relate to these kids. I love these kids.

I've been fortunate enough to make a ton of money. And I buy and sell companies for hundreds of millions of dollars and I've been, like I said, lucky and I'm going to really start to now put some money to work in a way that's going to help a lot of people. Beautiful. Because I love, there's nothing to, Tyson, he said everything. I like winning

men, but I love giving. Because he's a sensitive soul. If you think he's anything but frightened to death about this fight you're wrong he's not excited about it he's frightened the fucking death of it and in that and as he gets better he's building his confidence little by little but he won't really feel good until he absolutely explodes on that guy that'll be the climax of his thing and the real question is is will he be able to wait him out? Because that guy's going to be dancing and doing and dancing and doing. And Tyson's going to have a hard time navigating that.

He'll have to cut off the ring. It's not going to be an easy fight. Because otherwise, if they fought, fought, my God, I'm frightened for the other guy. Tyson would break him in half. What fight are you talking about? Tyson in a fight. Maybe it already happened. I don't know.

Which fight? The boxer. Roy Jones Jr.? Yeah. Oh, yeah, that already happened. I don't know. Which fight? The boxer? Roy Jones Jr.? Yeah. Oh, yeah, that already happened. Oh, it did? Yeah, it happened like a year ago. Oh, what happened?

It looked like, if I'm being honest, it looked like they really like each other and they were trying not to knock each other out, but they put on a boxing exhibition. That's what it looked like. Yeah. That's what it looked like. Like. That's what it looked like. Like, there wasn't a lot of head shots. You know, they moved around a lot. And Mike Tyson hit him with some ferocious body punches.

And Roy Jones Jr. is tough as fuck. He is. Because those are hard shots. Those are hard shots for the body. That's what I was wondering about, yeah. And, you know, Roy, he's had knee problems, so it was hard for him to train properly. Yeah. Like, you see him running.

It's kind of painful to watch him run. Me too. And Roy's knees and his footwork and his movement was a giant part of his success early in his career. I mean, he was so fleet of foot. I didn't see the date on the tape. Sorry. Oh, my God. If you watched the Roy Jones Jr.

You saw Roy Jones Jr. in his prime. Every fight. Yeah. He was phenomenal. But that sort of style relies so much on speed and movement. I introduced Sugar Ray to UFC because he said spar with me and I kicked him in the knee.

Sugar Ray Leonard? Yeah. Really? Yeah, I kicked him in the knee. He said, what the fuck? I said, it's called M&A. I want you to take a look at it. It's called M&A?

Well, no, it was called the Ultimate Fighting Championships. Remember with the orange thing and everything? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I had all those shirts and all that stuff. I went around everywhere. My arms were big. You were doing leg kicks?

Oh, I've been doing leg kicks since I was a little kid. Wow. But I would do leg kicks. That's what I want to tell you about Don Simpson's story is that we had an argument, and I chose him off to meet me in the Beverly Hills Park. First thing I did is put on my big boots because I was going to come up and kick the fuck out of him before I even put my hands on him. He didn't show up. He was afraid.

But I was serious because he was taking snaps at me. And I said, why don't we just fight? And then it'll be done. He didn't want to. So you, how did you know Sugar Ray? Through, through everybody I knew. This guy, Jeff Wall, just passed away. I've been kind of looking after his daughter. He was a great guy. He managed all these guys, and I got friendly with everybody. And you would spar with him?

You sparred with Sugar Ray Leonard? Oh, yeah, but not spar, spar. Just play, play, spar. Yes. Play, spar. Yes. Yeah. Because that was back when Sugar Ray was still Sugar Ray.

It was, he was not fighting then but how old was he well i don't know but he was i i met him socially so we didn't really do the sparring we did was in the living room of somebody's house it wasn't in the gym yeah we're just fucking around sugar ray still works out all the time yeah he posts stuff on his instagram he still gets after that's how he stays young yeah it, it's nice. It's nice to see. And he's got a great wife. He's a guy of everybody, for the most part, that has really done it all. Got a great family. Got a great wife, I think.

He looks like he's made some money. He was an amazing champion. He's had a great life. Oh, he was the elite of the elite when he was in his prime. I flew in from Paris to see him fight Hearns. Did you really? Wow. Yeah. So the first fight he was in his prime. I flew in from Paris to see him fight Hearns. Did you really? Yeah. Wow.

So the first fight? Fuckin' A, man. Wow. Yeah. I was in Paris with Michael Jackson when he did his first thing, when he did Thriller and all those things. And there was riots in the streets. When he started doing his shit, man, Michael,

and you were, ooh, it was amazing. Wow. John Peters, you've had a hell of a life. Yeah, man, thank you. So have you. And I really, I'd love to come back at some point. Yes. Because then I can think about what I didn't tell you.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell me some other stories. Fuck yeah. Come back. Thank you so much. Thank you, brother. Appreciate you very much. Thank you.

All right. Bye, everybody. Thank you.