The Joe Rogan Experience - JRE MMA Show #102 with Dustin Poirier

Episode Date: February 26, 2021

Dustin Poirier is a mixed martial artist, one-time UFC interim lightweight champion, and president of The Good Fight, a nonprofit charitable organization.

the Joe Rogan experience train by day Joe Rogan podcast by night all day Dustin Poirier what's up brother what's happening man good to have you here man good to finally be here what does it feel like right now you're on the top of the world son feels good you know everybody's asking me that like but i've been fighting for a while so it's just and it's another win it's a big a big one you know the guy's such a celebrity but uh just another win well if you look at your last the like there's a i think it was an instagram post or someone put up the your last victories all the guys that you've beaten like dude i mean you talk about earning your way to the top i mean you went through a

fucking who's who a murderer's row of the 155 pound division i mean you earned it i mean you really did earn it paid in full yeah 100 man yeah um i'm trying to keep adding them joe i know i know you are but yeah i think it's five or six world champions that I beat in the UFC. Yeah. Yeah. Pettis, Gaethje, Eddie. Max. Max.

Connor. Yeah. Huge. I don't know if there's another one in there, but that's enough. Those are giant victories, man. Yeah, for sure. I mean, those giant, giant victories. And for a guy like you, who's been at it for a long time, you just keep getting better.

You just keep getting better you just keep improving you just keep adding on and and more important i think than or not more important or as important as any of those things is your composure like your composure now is at the like the top of the heap yeah i'm really comfortable in there and and i trust myself you know even when shit's gonna get bad in there you know, I just trust myself to find a way. And I think that comes with fighting at the highest level for as long as I have. Yeah. I've been going on like 11 years in the UFC.

And also like being at the brink a couple of times. Like the Jim Miller fight when your leg was so fucked up. You talk about like lessons learned and how they pay off later. Yeah. So interesting because your leg was so fucked up talk about like lessons learned and how they pay off later yeah so interesting because your leg was so up in that fight and then to have you debilitate connor in the exact same way and then stop him right after that yeah dude that was so painful that was the first time i've been calf kicked in an actual fight and uh i thought my leg was broken we went to the hospital they gave me morphine in the ambulance on the way to the hospital uh it was it was jacked up i was um and then the altitude you know after flying back home i

couldn't walk i couldn't walk for a few days wow yeah i remember that fight because i remember there was a moment where it seemed like you couldn't you couldn't move but then you got the takedown yeah he threw another kick i think i caught his foot and tripped him up yeah i had to get him down and that's what i'm talking about, finding a way. Like, I trust myself to grab that damn foot. Yeah, but isn't it crazy how those pivotal moments in a fight, like it could go this way or it could go that way, and it goes your way. And then, you know, you see guys' careers teeter in the balance of those pivotal moments. Yeah, if it goes that way a couple times in a row, a lot of guys can't come back from that.

But we were talking recently about Anderson Silva. You think about Anderson Silva's spectacular career, and then Weidman knocks him out, and then he doesn't win another fight for years. He wins one fight with a decision over Derek Brunson, and that's it. Every fight since then, he's lost, which is crazy. Yeah. I don't want to say that that's because of just his age and decline,

but it could be that, or it could be some guys just don't know how to lose. Yeah. Some guys just don't know how to lose. He's been on top, so successful for so long, and you start getting – you realize you're human. I'm not saying that's his case, but I've seen it happen. Yeah, it definitely can happen. That is an important thing, right?

Learning how to lose because there's some guys that for whatever reason, they have all this confidence, all this momentum. And then they lose and they, they lose. Like when they lose a fight, it's not just that they lost the fight. They lose like 30% of who they are.

Yeah. They lose, they lose their aura. They lose their confidence. They, they lose this feeling that no one's going to beat them. Yeah. I think the important thing with that is,

is remaining a student. Like when I take my losses, I go back to the gym and try to drown myself in work and remain a student. It kind of blocks out all the thoughts and all the critics. I just get back to work, train hard, and it just drowns all that negativity out. And I think you have to remain a student for longevity in the sport because it's one thing to make it there. It's a whole other thing to stay there.

And these guys who get to that pinnacle and stay there for a while, then they lose. Are they still that student that they were that got them to that height? Yeah. Now you are, you're living in Louisiana, but you train American Top Team for your fights. Like how far out do you go down there? At least eight weeks I try.

Now my fights are bigger. So before, you know, in the past, I would have a fight six weeks notice. But now the fights are bigger, so there's more build up. And I usually try to get at least eight weeks. And in between fights, how do you schedule your workouts? Like, say, like right now, you win this big fight over Conor. What are your workouts like now? So I have a personal gym in Louisiana. and a bunch of my buddies that I grew up with fighting in Louisiana have gyms as well. So I train with their guys, and I train with those guys who will get together at my gym, just throw something together, or I'll go to one of their classes. And I just stay in the mix with that.

Like this Saturday I'm going to Mississippi. We have a local guy who I train with fighting out there. I just stay in the mix. I stay in different gyms working on stuff. Is Alan Belcher down there? Alan Belcher's in Mississippi. He's in Mississippi. Yeah, but Tim Crater is in Louisiana, Lafayette.

Crazy Tim. Nuts. Yeah. I met that guy in 98, I think. 99, something like that. He's the first black belt in Louisiana. Is he really? Yeah.

Yeah, he was a Machado guy. He's a... I trained with him at John Jocks. Rodrigo Medeiros. That's what he is? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I'm a black belt under Tim. So, Rodrigo Medeiros under Carlson what he is? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I'm a black belt under Tim.

So, Rodrigo Medeiros under Carlson Gracie. Yes, sir. That's right. Yeah, Carlson Gracie, for sure. Yeah. Well, he was, like, very high level early, early on in the game. Yeah, I think he's picked it up in the Navy out in San Diego or something. He started doing jiu-jitsu at a young age and then brought it back to Louisiana

and then started choking these Cajuns out, man. Yeah, I trained under Rodrigo Medeiros when he was at Carlson's Place on Hawthorne in Hollywood. That was like when I was a white belt, when I first started in 96. Long time ago. Yeah. Back when Vitor was 19 years old and he fought John Hess in Hawaii. Jacked. Yeah.

Remember? Jacked, jacked, jacked, jacked. Yeah. Rodrigo still comes down to Louisiana for seminars. Does he really? Yeah. Yeah. Jacked. Yeah. Rodrigo still comes down to Louisiana for seminars. Does he really? Yeah. Please tell him I said hello. I will for sure.

Good dude. Real good dude. Yeah, man. Really nice guy. Yeah. It's crazy the lineages of jujitsu and martial arts and where you meet people and train people and learn under their tutelage. Yeah.

And it's growing so much, but it's still a small circle. Yeah. It's growing as fast as it is. Everybody knows somebody that knows somebody. Legitimately. Yeah. So you have your own gym. What's it called? My gym is Diamond Training Center. It's just a private gym. And you got your own hot sauce, which I need to try. Stay spicy. Stay spicy. Louisiana hot sauce. So your gym, is it an mma gym yeah but it's a private gym so there's

no classes being run there i just rent out a warehouse space that i ever last helped me you know deck the whole thing out got i have mats there and uh heavy bags and it's just like a personal space where me and guys get together drill stuff or i get bag work in oh that's great yeah so you don't have to deal with bullshit exactly you know deal with fanboys and asking for pictures and oh yeah that's cool so you got you how much how many square feet is it it's probably 3,000 square feet maybe oh perfect yeah yeah it's a big enough for me yeah my guys everything you need in there yeah and we never have more than like six guys on the mat at once so it's plenty of room so are you drawing from other gyms?

Like when you take your training partners, how are you? Yeah, so like I said, the guys who kind of I came up with in Louisiana fighting, they all have their own gyms now, and they all have their own teams, fight teams, and the higher level guys will just set a time. We have a group text and say, hey, I'm going to be at my gym. If you want to show up, we train. Otherwise, I go to their gyms and run classes with them and do you have local boxing coaches or local muay thai coaches or kickball or jujitsu coaches that you work with yeah i have a boxing coach in louisiana

and uh my kickboxing i kind of do with the with the students we just work stuff back and forth a lot of holland drills a lot of tie pads but um i don't have like somebody i work with on a regular basis really for for striking there i just kind of move around and and have fun so when you get ready for a camp like say if you get ready for a connor fight or khabib fight or something like that when you go down to american top team who formulates the game plans is it mike brown yeah yeah yeah he's a mastermind yeah he's a good dude man and he's been around forever too yeah yeah a pioneer man yep uh fighting over in bodog and wc everywhere he's a man but uh he puts he puts together my training camp and i've been fighting for long

enough i kind of self-regulate throughout camp but mike brown puts down the meat and potatoes of uh what we need to work on and focus on and so when when you get down there, like say a fight like a Khabib fight or something like that, you have like specific things you want to work on and specific timelines you want to get these things in by. Like how does an eight-week camp get structured? Does you write it out? Do you have it on a board somewhere? Like how does that work? We kind of take – well, the strength and conditioning part is written out,

I think, a little bit early. But the technique stuff is week by week. We start, you know, we plan one full week, get through that week, plan the next week. And if things are working and moving right, we'll keep it the same for two weeks maybe and then switch it up again. Mike Brown's pretty good at that. He's always coming over to my house, watching footage,

and helping me plan everything. And he kind of coordinates with the other coaches like my boxing coach um kickboxing coach he kind of sets up everything and and runs the whole thing did you see dc's breakdown and in detail i did the second fight versus the first fight with connor very interesting it is but i see a lot of people talking funny stuff about like the leg kick didn't knock him out what happened like so dc says in the detail breakdown uh i kicked connor's calf and connor steps back and his leg kind of goes and dc says well that's the leg kick that you know hurt his leg or whatever but when he went after that leg kick he kind of reached down to grab the foot and threw an uppercut and i was switch stand

so i threw a cross from my backhand that clipped him good and that's when he took the step back and was hurt um i think that's a detail good. And that's when he took the step back and was hurt. I think that's a detail people are missing, that right hand. Well, you've certainly, you landed a lot of solid shots in that fight. But there's no doubt that leg kick was fucking that right leg up. For sure. But the detail, what I was going to get over is the difference between the first fight and the second fight was you were landing hard leg kicks in the first fight. But you were landing them on the thigh. And then it switched over to the calf what what a crazy difference that calf kick has made in mma over the last few years yeah it's really nuts it is man and it doesn't take many

and it doesn't take as much commitment you know a thigh kick you're turning your hips over muay thai style you're really set in your position whipping this calf kick you can flick you know you can flick it like a jab and just catch the top of the calf. It's so wild that this one kick was almost ignored. I always give Benson Henderson credit because I think he was the first guy to start using it in the UFC. But for whatever reason, he didn't have the same impact with it. I don't know.

I'd have to go over some fights. Huge legs. I'm sure he kicks hard as fuck. I'm sure he kicks hard as fuck. I'm sure he kicks hard as fuck. But for whatever reason, he wasn't stopping guys with calf kicks. But then along the way, somewhere in the last five, six years or something like that. Maybe not even that far back. Which is crazy.

I can't think of a single technique that revolutionized the sport that way. And like I said about the calf you can't take many because there's nowhere for the swelling to go so that's why it's so painful and debilitating your your nerves and your foot kind of stop working with you it's it's bad stuff yeah there's no meat there either i was explaining to someone i'm like just just karate chop your arm right here where the bone is it hurts just to do that now imagine someone kicking that and that's what it's like when you get kicked in the calf. There's nothing there.

There's no meat. And even when you turn your shin outward to check it, you still get it. It's still bad, man. Yeah, well, I noticed that in the Conor fight. You could see somewhere in the first round when he started realizing, like, oh, this is a real problem. And Conor doesn't have the ability to switch stances. Or if he does, he doesn't do it. Yeah, definitely didn't do it in that fight. and it was only going to get worse that was second round

you know we had three more rounds 15 more minutes of me chopping that leg yeah if we do it again it'll be interesting to see what he does uh different in preparation or by defending that you know but you were such such a different guy in the second fight you know you first of all you weren't debilitating yourself getting down to 145 pounds yeah i mean you were a big 145 like how how rough was that cut it was horrible and it made me hate the process because my quality of life sucked you know training camps were torture you know uh i would walk around 190 jesus christ i'd get up to 190 that's so crazy yeah oh my god you get up to 190 and go down to 145 45 fucking pounds let me tell you this when i fought cup swanson in london england i took it on short

notice and i just won a fight before and it was right around christmas so i was eating and when they called me uh they asked me my weight and i told them i'm 170 but i was like 187 or something and it was like really short notice so me and my team fly out told them I'm 170, but I was like 187 or something. And it was like really short notice. So me and my team fly out there. I'm 30 pounds over when we land. You know, fight week, they check. Jesus Christ.

Oh, my God. That's so crazy. They check your weight fight week when you show up to make sure. I was 176, and it was a 45. Oh, my God. But you made it. Made it. How the fuck did you make that?

I don't know. I almost died. I feel like weigh-ins were kind of blurry. I don't, like, my memory's gone from weigh-ins. It's not good for you. Do you have any kidney problems or anything from that? I've never had. That fucked DC up.

I mean, that kept DC out of the Olympics. Yeah. It's the weight cut. So many guys get kidney problems because of it. Yeah Yeah, you're lucky not yet Jesus Christ not knock on wood for that. That wasn't like I didn't cut 30 normally I would show up like 18 fight week or 16 week but I was sucked down to get that close and I should suck down those last pounds Even if it's three pounds, it's it's's it's horrible yeah yeah i just had to stop it how do you do that are you one of those guys that like drinks a lot of distilled water and flushes your body out like how do you do it i used to do that but we kind of

stopped doing distilled water i do drink a lot of water we water load we do like three gallons for a couple days two gallons half a gallon so you're just peeing constantly yeah and you kind of flush out all your minerals you know the the process um sodium and everything everything that holds water and keeps you hydrated kind of gets flushed out in that process because you're not putting anything back no potassium no no anything so your body naturally dehydrates itself over the the fight week um that's and that's basically how we do it i diet down for eight weeks get as close as i can and then the water cut is usually like 12 10 pounds at 55. so it's it's a complex process right yeah like who who's the guy who figured that out was it a

wrestler that came to mma camps and figured it out like who who figured out how to do that i i have no clue i wish they wouldn't have because i'd rather just fight at my walking around weight you know yeah but if i fight at, these guys are 200 plus pounds. Right. That is the problem. What do you weigh around right now? Probably 180, 176-ish. You look so much bigger than you looked when you were at 145.

One of the things that we were talking about was when you were fighting Conor, your fucking back looks huge. Your back, you're so much wider. You're just so much thicker. Yeah. i'm built like that though i'm kind of built like a spongebob a little bit well that's where the punching power comes from right that width right and and you know the the the reach the length when i'm twisting my body i feel like you know guys feel like they're out of range but i can still touch them right yeah well guys with long arms like we were commenting a fight

recently it was andre yule andre yule has these crazy long arms he had like a seven inch reach advantage over his opponent they were the same height and you look at him like that is nuts like he's pretty tall for that weight class too yeah yeah there's so many guys that have like these long like john jones famously it's so hard to even just get close to him because he's so good at utilizing that reach. And reach is just such a huge advantage. It's a giant advantage. Especially with a good jab, you know. Yeah.

With a good jab. Guys who use it right because you talk about reach and Dan Hooker's last fight with Chandler. You know, you got to use it. You got to get along. Even when I fought Dan, he fought me in the pocket a lot. Yeah, I feel like Dan was trying to pace himself or something. Like he was setting himself up for a long fight. And Chandler just charged, just charged forward.

And that's MMA. One shot, man. Well, especially with a guy like Chandler, who's such a tank. He's so explosive. And he can move forward so quickly. Yeah. That division is on fire right now yeah man a lot of killers it's it's and it's kind of been murky waters in the 55 pound

division for a while it's been very top heavy um and it's taken forever for this thing to play out yeah but it's played out right now at the peak you know olivera still waiting the thing that's holding everything up is we don't know what khabib's gonna do and dana white seems to be trying to convince khabib to keep fighting yeah that's that's dana white yeah i talked to dc he thinks khabib's done but you know i don't know what's said behind doors and well all it would take is like khabib's mom to change her mind that's what he said after the gaethje fight right yeah if khabib's mom to change her mind that's what he said after the gaethje fight right yeah if khabib's mom was like a couple more fights fuck it right he'll be back in there yeah it's quick yeah it's interesting to see what's going to happen because charles

olivera is definitely up there with for a title shot man he's been around a long time and put some put some wins together i was super impressed with him in the tony ferguson fight yeah i mean i was impressed with him in the kevin leaf i had been impressed with him in the Tony Ferguson fight. Yeah, I mean I was impressed with him in the Kevin Leaf I had been impressive him for years, but that was that was a virtual so performance against Tony I mean, that was really really impressive stuff. I mean, I'm Interested to see how Tony bounces back from that one. Yeah, or who he gets matched up with next. Yeah I don't know what they're gonna do. I mean, I don't know what they're gonna do in terms of the title They can't just let it sit. I mean What are they going to do?

Yeah. I have no clue. I haven't heard anything. Yeah, it's an interesting situation. What was it like fighting Conor when he wasn't an asshole? Was that weird? Dude, you know fighting is hectic already. You're about to go in there for 25 minutes, and you've been training.

You know what's on the line, so it's just a lot of pressure so uh just it being a little bit more calm for me was was was smooth sailing man you know because it's already hectic enough i say the same thing about the fans like when i fought at the apex it was nice you know because like i said fighting is crazy so without having guys spilling beer yelling you're gonna die right you know we're on the way to the walk is it's relaxing to me yeah yeah so it's just makes makes it smooth sailing so it's not good for him it's really better for him to be an asshole yeah be an asshole but it seemed so odd it's just like he just decided that he respected you and just but he did the same thing with the cowboy i thought like maybe this is him just maturing and he's got a few kids now i think he has one or he does have one on the way like maybe he's just maturing and he's a different you know we all change maybe he's a different person but yeah could be but i think also the

amount of shit that he caused in the khabib fight. I mean, realizing at the end of it, what had happened, dudes jumped into the cage and beat his ass. Guys were jumping. I mean, Khabib jumped out of the cage, got in a fight with Dylan Danis. It's chaos.

I mean, it was so nuts. Yeah. And then, you know, what had happened before that with him throwing the card at the bus and, you know, fights got canceled because Broken Glass got of kiesa got cut i think a couple other guys got cut with with the glass

that was flying it's like he had done so much and fucked up so much throwing energy cans at press conferences remember oh that's right yeah that's right yeah but that was kind of like minor compared to comparison cutting people with broken glass in a bus yeah but the um the chaos that he caused is so much but that had also been a part of what sold fights yeah like like the jose aldo fight he tortured jose aldo for months remember they did that crazy press conference where they toured all over the world i mean he ripped the picture yes stole his belt it's my belt and by the time they got into the cage josie also was frayed right and his i don't know afraid just overthought yeah oh you know in his own head

in his own head yeah he seemed compared to what i what i'd seen from aldo in the past he seemed much more nervous much more aware of the magnitude of the moment and connor seemed so relaxed and i felt that same thing though the first time i fought connor i felt like that when the bell rang i was like a deer in the headlights it's happening here we go all this you know all that talk and everything over the months just sat in my head yeah and uh i just read into it too much thought too much and i think that's probably what happened with aldo that is what shit talking can do to a person, right? It's the art of war, man. I mean, fighting is mental. As much mental as it is physical, I believe.

Well, there's so much mental involved. I mean, it's for sure physical, but it's also, look, it's mental just to get yourself through training camp, right? Yeah. To cut weight, to show up, to do interview after interview, press conference after press conference. How hard is that to do while you're getting ready for a fight while you're cutting weight it's doing these interviews and they're boring ass questions it's the same question over and over what's different between uh this dustin and dustin six years ago and connor beat you like if i heard that question a thousand times um it just gets redundant it's aggravating you know

before you even sit down and do the interview you know the gets redundant and it's aggravating. You know, before you even sit down and do the interview, you know the questions and it's just, going through the motions, I just, some are fun though. Some interviewers are good

and change it up and then it's a fun conversation but most of them it's the same thing. How was camp? How are you feeling? What's different between this Dustin?

I don't know how much of that stuff sells a fight either. I really don't. I feel like you should cut it off about two weeks out. I feel like you can get the interviews in before and then the last two weeks. Just leave the fucking fighters alone. Leave them alone.

Right. Just let them train. Only do the big ones, like an ESPN SportsCenter interview or something. Yeah, something quick. Just the big ones. Just a quick one. Cut out all the media, MMA media. How many hours of that shit do you have to do in a week? For this last Conor one, I was stuck in the hotel on Fight Island.

So it was all mostly from my computer. I would say over that whole Fight Week, three hours maybe, total. Oh, that's not too bad. No. That's not too bad. Yeah. What did you think of Conor pulling up to the fight island in that yacht that's baller man i was mad i'm like damn i want a fucking yacht you do but you don't you

know that shit that seems like you have to have so much more money than the yacht cost to enjoy the yacht you know what i mean i mean it looked like a big one it looked like a big one but if like you have a yacht this is my thought like if you if you have a yacht and the yacht is worth whatever a yacht's worth what does a yacht cost 10 million bucks okay let's say 10 million that one probably more that probably more let's say 20 million bucks let's say you got a 20 million dollar yacht for you to not be sweating that yacht you better have 100 million right you know you got like how much does it cost to gas up how much does it cost how much does the pilot cost how much is the captain what is what am i doing for repairs shit those big yachts have to have a crew i think you're year round yeah all year round

all year round yeah so you're paying a staff salary they live on it it's their house you just go and sit in it every now and then and i heard there's a big docking fee as well. So wherever the boat stays, you're paying a big docking fee. So you're thinking about all that while you're about to fight. That seems like more money, more problems. He's got that whiskey money, man. He's all right. He does have that whiskey money.

That is a different thing. I got that whiskey money. Yeah, whiskey money is a different thing. I'm building it up, man. I got the hot sauce money coming in. I'll pull up on like a bass boat next time. Yeah, it's just the idea of pulling up in a yacht is the end. It's the opposite of what everybody tells you about fighting, right?

Fighting, you have to stay hungry, like stay humble, you know, like Rocky III style. Yeah. Like you don't pull up in a fucking yacht. But if you do, the only person who's been able to do like that is Floyd Mayweather. He's the only guy who's been able to just be balling out of control, constantly flashing money, million-dollar watches, you know, a fleet of super expensive cars, and still fucks everybody up.

He does. He's the only guy. Yeah. Literally the only guy. Yeah. Literally the only guy. I'm trying to think of other guys besides him and Conor who's really Adrian Broner, but he's... He's... He just won, I think.

He won. He won. Disputed decision. But he seems to be more concerned with having fun and being crazy. The thing about Floyd is he never lost his discipline. Floyd's discipline was undeniable. Right. But through that ball and nights, he never, I don't think he was doing drugs or drinking.

No. He kept his pretty. Floyd would famously run home from the nightclub. So he would go out in Vegas. He'd be partying. It looked like he was partying. He was drinking water. And then he would have his driver drive.

And with his fucking pants on, with jeans on, he would jog home. I mean, the dude was always training, always training, never got out of shape. Dude, the jog home in jeans isn't the torture. The torture is sitting around a bunch of drunk people drinking water in a club. I jog home all night. Rather than that, right?

Yeah. It's an interesting thing, though the the keeping your motivation as you reach a certain level of fame and success because that's a lot of the motivation for fighters is to to one day be that champion one day have that money where your family's going to be taken care of for life you don't have to worry anymore do you hit that spot like and then what keeps you going yeah how do you remain a student in that spot yeah there's the famous quote that it's hard to wake up and run the miles when you're sleeping in silk pajamas i forget what boxer said that but yeah it's got to be true you know um what unless you just keep setting goals maybe he's trying to

to do something that's never been done maybe that's the driving factor now you know because a lot of guys money might be the driving factor but once you get the money maybe you set it up to try to leave legendary things behind like well the thing about floyd is he spends so much money maybe that maybe money's still the motivation because he's just always about to go broke because he's just spends like a maniac i would like to think even though he's spending like that, he's made some great investments. Yeah, I'd like to think that too, but I bet it's not the case. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely spent a lot of money.

But he's made so much, man. Over a billion, right? Isn't that crazy? Over a billion. Over a billion dollars in fighting. A billion. With a B. And now he's about to fight Logan Paul in a boxing match in Japan

but apparently they postponed that right I thought it was a different fight in Japan no I think it's Logan Paul right it is

yeah no it's Logan Paul they postponed it though because they weren't they didn't have enough pay-per-view interest right is that the

Jamie you know the not according to them but not according to them probably to cover I mean Mayweather's side. Yeah.

A new date's coming soon. Yeah. Whatever that means. I mean, he's fighting 200 pounders. I mean, obviously Logan Paul's not a real professional boxer in terms of like, certainly not in the caliber of Floyd Mayweather, but he's a big fucking dude. Yeah, huge, because Floyd's not a big guy. No. I've never seen the other guy in person. I don't know how big he dude. Yeah, huge, because Floyd's not a big guy. No.

I've never seen the other guy in person. I don't know how big he is. I met him. He's a big fucker. Yeah? Yeah, he's big. Skills pay the bills, man. I guess so.

He doesn't give a shit, man. Well, he also fought Tenshin Nazukawa, the little tiny dude in Japan, which was ridiculous. And that guy fights at like 126. Yeah. I was surprised how that went. I thought Floyd was going to beat him, but I thought it would be a little bit more happening than that. Floyd didn't even look like he trained a day for that fight. He looked like he was a little bit out of shape, like a little ring around the midsection and smiling.

Like smiling like he knew what he was going to do. Like, how are you going to beat me? He's so little. Yeah. Like, he's been fighting these big power punchers, and he's fighting this little guy who's known for his kicks. Tension is a badass kickboxer. Have you ever seen him kickbox?

No. Oh, my God, man. He's a bad motherfucker. As a striker, he's really exceptional. He does some wild shit. It's really kind of unfortunate that he took that fight because if you just look at his career as a kickboxer, he's really exceptional. He's really special. He does some wild shit. Like he knocked this tie out with one of the weirdest back kicks

I think I've ever seen. He set this dude up with this very, he set him up. I forget what the setup was, but he hit him with this wild spinning back kick to the face and KO'd him. And he does shit like that. He's very intuitive and he's very creative inside the ring. But as a striker, just with his whole arsenal, kicks and punches, someone his size in a kickboxing match, he's a genius. I mean, he really is really genius. It really is special.

It sucks that people only know him for getting lit up by Floyd Mayweather. Yeah, I need to go back and watch some of his fights. Watch some of his kickboxing fights. See if you can find that one. You found it? Did he beat a... Watch this.

It's a wild dude, man. He did the san chai that was one ko that was not the uh no he's got a oh he's got a shitload of a man he's got a shitload of him he's a bad motherfucker dude and again it's stuff like this. He's really creative. You got to see him fight. But he's tiny, man. He fights at 125, 126. I mean, he just doesn't have the power. And he's a kicker, really, more than anything.

Right. The kicks will set up his hands, probably. Yeah. He's KOing these little tiny dudes with punches. But, I mean, he's very small. Did he beat Horiguchi in MMA? I don't know I don't know how many MMA fights he's had I think he's only had a handful of MMA fights I think most of his fights have been striking

I think he beat Kyoji Yeah? I think so And Horiguchi's also 125, right? He fights flyweight Yeah, he's fighting 35, I think And bouncing around And Bellator, he's fighting 35, I think, and bouncing around. And Bellator, he won the 35 belt.

But he was 25. What do you think of 1FC's decision to try to eliminate weight cutting? I love it because I hate cutting weight. I just don't know the protocol they have. I don't know how it can be really monitored and safely done. I don't know what they're doing, but I would love if we didn't cut weight. Do you think there's a way to do that? It would have to be long.

It would have to be like a long... During camp, somebody comes down, checks your weight every couple weeks, every two weeks. How else are you going to... And then maybe a hydration test. I know they do that in high school wrestling, right? Yeah, that's what it would have to be. It would have then maybe a hydration test. I know they do that in high school wrestling, right? Yeah, that's what it would have to be. It would have to be a hydration test.

Yeah. But I would love if we didn't have to do that. Yeah, it is a crazy thing because it's almost like a sanctioned cheating. Like everybody does it. I wouldn't do it if the other guys wouldn't, but I'm not going to be the outweighed by 30 pounds. Yeah, I mean, when you think about what you did in the Cub Swanson fight, losing that much weight, I mean, how bananas is that? Yeah. You're so much larger than actually 145 pounds.

And if you think about guys like Usman, like say if you went up to 170. He's so big. He's so big. He's so jacked, too. I mean, he's got to be walking. Or like one of the best examples that didn't work out well was Rodolfo Vieira in his last fight. Did you see that fight? Yeah.

He looked like he was about 210, 215 pounds, and he's fighting 185. He was so big. Chiseled. Like a fucking specimen. Yeah, yeah. But. It wasn't durable. You could tell he was gassing.

Yeah. Quick. Yeah. It's not good for you. Where the fans are, we're taking away from the performances of our fights you're really about doing that for sure yeah for sure there's a lot of fighters who haven't gone up in weight have reached the best look at that fucking dude a greek god ridiculous yeah and his jujitsu is off the charts what's crazy is when you watch that fight with, was it Anthony Hernandez who stopped him?

Submitted him, right? Yeah. Beat the shit out of him and then submitted him. For him, that's just gigantic. But Vieira was dead by the end of the first round. It didn't even make sense. And he was trying to figure it out. I was like, I don't know what happened.

I'd like to know what he walks around at. He looks so big. He used to be an American Top Team, actually. Yeah, he's a big guy. I gotta think he's well over 210. Yeah's that's what he looks like at least but that shit has got to be terrible for you how the fuck does Paula close to do it I've never seen him in person but he looks huge I can't yeah he's gigantic you see him in between fights I mean he literally looks like a heavyweight it's like there's two schools of thought right there's like the school like like

came velasquez as a heavyweight when he was in his prime to me was the most impressive heavyweight i've ever seen and he was you know 235 240 yeah i feel like um the length might play a little bit of part in in cutting down you know like for somebody 135 who weighs what's the 135 or walk around at you think 55 something like that yeah usually that jump between if they did fight at 45 or 55 that jumped in in length of of those weight classes you know the reach the leg reach is so huge yeah and i think they you know so if you're a shorter guy you might cut more weight to kind of not be around those big long guys that that's what i think a lot of it is um and then it's just it's a trend now that we have to cut weight to to just be competitive to

be so you're not standing across a guy weighing 30 40 pounds more than you do you think there should be more weight classes i do yeah what do you think like every 10 pounds every 10 pounds but i'd like to see something if they don't if they wouldn't do it every team 10 pounds i'd like to see something between 55 and 70 yeah yeah like a 62 or something why not 55 65 75 i mean it's just not that big a deal the 70s would be like, like, if you told Usman, hey, guess what? Now your weight class is 175. Shit, he might look even better. I mean. Would you just promote the guys at that weight to the champion at that weight,

or they just carry the belts over? I think you just carry the belts over. I mean, there's room for the 65, right? You'd have to have a 65-pound title. But the 75-pound title, why would you? I mean, you already have one of the best 70s ever as your champion. Just change the weight class. That's what they did in the early days of the UFC where they had a 200-pound division.

They changed it to 205. But don't you think that would make weight cutting more – more people would be willing to cut because, like, somebody who can't make 55 – Maybe. Yeah. Yeah, maybe. But at least you give more options. I just think there's some gaps that are too big. Like 85 to 205 is crazy. Yeah. Yeah, maybe. But at least you give more options. I just think there's some gaps that are too big. Like 85 to 205 is crazy.

Yeah. 20 pounds is an enormous weight class. Yeah. I mean, so the weight gap between the middleweights and the light heavyweights is so big. It's just, that's 20 pounds. That's a lot of fucking weight, man. You know? That's multiple weight classes in boxing.

Dude, Luke Rockhold's so big. When I him at well no he 185 I couldn't believe it man yeah I mean there's a guy I'd like to talk to him about his weight cuts but he must have been torturing himself yeah but nobody looked bigger than yo L yo Romero did my show he was about 230 pounds you know he's going up to 205 yeah he was so big though He was sitting there And Joey Diaz was translating for him It was one of the most fun times I've ever had

But you see Yoel sitting there And you're like How the fuck are you ever Making that weight? He was so big Yeah Two something shredded No fat

Yeah A specimen Yeah I've seen him at American Top Team A few times man I think he trains in Miami But he came up to Coconut Creek A times, and he's just doing flips and all kinds of crazy stuff on the mat. Just an incredible athlete. Yeah. Yeah. One of the best I've ever seen.

waiting for him to slow down like he doesn't slow down i don't see any i mean he's lost some fights but those look at let's look at the fights that yoel's lost okay second fight with robert whittaker arguably he won that fight he hurt rob whittaker a lot in that fight and robert whittaker really didn't hurt him and in the in the remaining rounds he had whittaker in trouble on at least two occasions we had him in deep shit where I think he should have won the rounds. So that's one fight that he could have easily won. Knocks out Luke Rockhold, but didn't make the weight so he doesn't get the title.

Then you gotta think about his you know, the fight with Adesanya, he just kind of didn't do anything. That was weird. That fight was weird. They both kind of... Well, I think Adesanya realized. Like, early on in the fight, Adesanya, he attacked, and Yoel countered with a big left hand and clipped him. And you could see Izzy realizing, like, this motherfucker is fast,

and he's playing this weird game where he just wants to stand there and wait for you and then just explode on you. But you look at some of his knockouts, like the knockout of Chris Weidman. You're like, Jesus Christ. Look at him. He's 44. And he's going up, man. So maybe cutting less weight, he might...

Bro, he might be better. Yeah. And it's crazy fighting Rumble. Rumble's been out for how many years now? Rumble is huge too, man. Yeah, enormous. Rumble's been out for At least four years Right

I wanna say Not that long No I wouldn't think Well Cormier Was the light heavyweight champ At the time And he beat Rumble

And this is when John Jones was suspended When they stripped John Of the title What year was that 17 Yeah Four years ago

Damn Almost exactly. It doesn't feel like that long. I know. So that was UFC 210. And then he's coming back. And, you know, it's interesting, too, because Bellator, they don't have USADA.

They do not. They do not. So they're a little bit looser. Yeah. You know, you basically, I think what it is, it's like the old days where you just get tested at the weigh-ins. Sometimes you don't even get tested. Really? Mm-hmm.

When do you not get tested at the weigh-ins? No, it's, so that's just, they go by the athletic commission, whatever that state that the Bellator shows in. Oh. That's what it goes by. Just like a small circuit show. Like, if the athletic commission's testing then they get tested if not you don't oh that makes sense yeah because there were some dudes that were fighting i don't want to mention any names but i'd look at them like get the fuck out of

here just get the fuck out of here most of the time it's post fight when you get back to your locker room if the if the athletic commission that state's doing tests then yeah they'll test you but there's some places you could do it, like especially if you do it on Native American reservations, like those fights, they probably don't test. I know that – let me think. I think that they do at the Bellator when we go up to Connecticut. Foxwoods?

No. The other one? Mohegan Sun. Mohegan Sun. I think they test. They test? I believe so. So do they have their own commission?

I'm not sure. They might – I don't. So do they have their own commission? I'm not sure. They might. I don't know. I don't know how they do it. But I'm pretty sure I remember being with a buddy who got tested. Does USADA wake you up at like 6 o'clock in the morning? Do they knock on your door? 7 a.m. one time on Super Bowl Sunday, they came.

I'm like, man. Yeah. Yeah, they come all the time. They come all the time. How annoying is that, though? I like it. I mean, I don't like being woke up and taking blood that early in the morning but i if it's cleaning up the sport you know i like i don't mind i like

the cleaning up the sport i don't like waking up athletes when they need their sleep sleep is so important it's such a factor yeah it's such a factor recovery you could fuck up a training session that could lead to an injury easily yeah that's i mean that's my thought they could come late in the afternoon they don't have to be that early but there is no other way to you have to randomly get tested to to pop these guys otherwise right if you know when you fight like like on a normal fight like we're talking about with bellator or something you know you're getting tested that night probably so you do your drugs whatever you're going to do and just make sure you're clean that night yeah yeah you can plan that's the problem this is a short acting uh compounds that they can take that will be out of your system

in six to eight hours so if you did go to bed at midnight and you knew that you're gonna get tested at 10 a.m you'd be golden yeah the random thing is is is i get it but still it's just fucked up an athlete in the middle of a training camp for a big fight, and you're waking them up early in the morning to test them. For me, it's usually 8 a.m. they come, around 8 a.m. 8 a.m. is not too bad. Yeah. I sleep till, yeah.

Do they always take blood as well? Do they take urine and blood sometimes? Most of the time it's just urine, and every now and then it'll be urine and blood. Huh. They come in with a nurse to wherever you're at and just I wonder how long they're gonna keep doing that you know wonder how long is the deal they don't know they sign these you saw the deal I don't know not sure it seems expensive and but they have caught

people you know yeah and you've seen some physiques melt. Have you? I'm just glad I didn't come up like training with Tim Crater and stuff like that early in my career. That wasn't a part of the gym. I wasn't at a big gym or where that was around. So I've never really been exposed to it. Yeah. Well, I wonder with some gyms, you know, if they have chemists and scientists and they're trying to figure out workarounds. and scientists and they're trying to figure out workarounds. Because one of the weird things about MMA is you've got some very wealthy people who invest in MMA and it's a super positive thing like Dan Lambert. Like Dan Lambert, fucking love that guy. And what he did with the American Top Team is literally helped elevate the sport

in a gigantic way. He spent millions and millions of dollars. He took care of the fighters. He created dormitories. He built a state-of-the-art, world-class facility, hired the best instructors, and really elevated what it means to have a world-class MMA gym. American Top Team is an institution.

It's like you drive by it. It's huge. Like you said, dorms. The amenities there are incredible. And Dan goes out of the way to make sure you're good. For me in training camps, if we want a different look, he'll fly sparring partners in and never ask me for a dollar. He wants to make sure the fighters are prepared. He's a good dude, man.

He's a great guy. I've known him forever. The sport is very fortunate yeah to have dan lambert around and there's been a few guys like that you know that have kind of maybe not become as prominent and stay in the shadows but i wonder how many of them are shading you know how many of them are shading a little higher and a little chemist like listen we're gonna help this guy we're gonna make a super team yeah what can we do what's what's legal and what's not or what is uh what can show up in tests you know like when you hear about that victor conte thing with balco when they

developed that the clear that they use for barry bonds they had this undetectable steroid they basically had a steroid that when they went to look for the steroids in the test the standard tests that they used this steroid wouldn't show Yeah, the crooks are always out in front trying to figure a new way. Then the other side catches up and you've got to figure something else out. It's a cat and mouse game of getting checked. Well, I always wonder what's happening right now. What's happening right now that we're going to hear about in the future? Did you ever see the documentary Icarus?

Yeah. Crazy, right? Right. So the EPO thing was one that kind of got away, right? Guys were using EPO.'t yeah yeah yeah the epo one was uh one that a few guys got popped for it i remember uh bagutinov got popped for it when uh back when he fought mighty mouse he got popped for or during that time period he got popped for EPO But you didn't hear about very many guys until TJ. Yeah, TJ was a big one when TJ got popped for EPO I think people had suspected TJ was doing something because he looked like a dead man Like literally look like a dead man as he was like you get the guys got to be doing something just to show up in the

morning because he had Dehydrated and starved himself down to like a fucking skeleton to try to make 125 i don't know a whole lot about epo but it gives you energy as well it raises your blood it raises your blood count so what it is is it makes your body produce more red blood cells and uh which is similar we're talking before the sauna has a similar effect but just not as potent yeah you know but um but so with that you get more oxygen and yeah everything to the nutrients to the muscles yeah you get more endurance yeah famously this is one of the things they use in cycling right yeah because they need

that endurance but you know for a guy like tj i guess i i read an interview recently where he's talking about it that he was anemic because he had starved himself to try to make 125. He's big, man. I've been around him. Yeah. For 125, he's – Well, he started – he was 145 in the Ultimate Fighter and then won the title at 135 and then tried to get down to 125 to fight Henry. Yeah.

I mean, he made it. He did make it. But, God, he looked like shit. He looked scary. To do that, you have to have a team and a chemist behind you to get you by. I mean, that's just as extreme as it gets. Right. Yeah, and that's a perfect example of why not just fight at your weight class.

Yeah. It's a bummer, man. I think before I'm done fighting, I'm going to fight at 170. You think so? Yeah, I'll go up to 170 and fight Nate. For sure. So you would do that now? Yeah.

You think that fight's interesting? I do. Yeah. Also because of the way it fell apart. Me and him were supposed to fight Madison Square Garden. Right. And I kind of was the fall guy. He gets the point and say I pulled out of the fight.

And I did. I went to get stem cells done on my hip. But I was going to fight. I was going to go through with camp and fight him. If they wouldn't have started offering me other, you know, replacement opponents, Nate was playing games with the UFC. UFC started offering me opponents. And I said, look guys, if this is happening, I'm just going to go get my hip taken care of. Right. And, uh, he's a guy I've, I've always wanted to fight. You had a labrum issue, right? I had a bunch of bone spurs. My labrum was torn, but it's the head of my femur that was the big problem.

It wasn't round anymore. Oh, wow. Yeah. And so what did they do? So the stem cells didn't work because stem cells might help connective tissue and stuff like that. But it was the construction of my... The bone was rubbing against... It was a structural issue.

Yeah. Stem cells aren't going to change the shape of your femur right so uh i went to vale colorado to the stedman clinic and they they fractured my femur rerounded it dude five hour surgery whoa i had to get an epidural it was nuts they rerounded it and fractured it how do they fracture it they drill a bunch of micro holes in the head of it oh my god until it kind of cracks and then with that stem cells and healing stuff comes out and creates a new surface on top of the femur holy shit so i couldn't put any weight at all for eight weeks because uh the surface of my femur was was you know wow yeah that's a long recovery

process then huh yeah and it was after right after the khabib fight so like i was telling you earlier i usually when i lose get back in the gym and i went straight to surgery like a couple weeks after so i had to just sit there and think about that l i couldn't get back in the gym dude eight weeks i'm like i'm like bruce lee man i'm like trying to do the mental training when he when he was hurt you know i'm sitting there watching fights writing stuff down i became a student. I watched a lot of old boxing matches. Oh yeah? Yeah.

So you used the time wisely. Yeah. Well that's good though. At least you got something out of it. Yeah. I was still like really focused on

becoming a better defensive fighter and trying to make less mistakes so I watched a lot of Peniel Whitaker and stuff like that. I got to really sit back

and just watch fights. Absorb. And think. I couldn't train at all. Couldn't even walk on it couldn't even walk had the eight weeks had to sleep in a machine um a metal machine every night that like moves your leg so i had to sleep with my leg moving constant motion machine i had one of those when i had my acl done they i had a patella tendon graft and immediately after surgery they put you in this

thing that shit's annoying i had to sleep in that for like maybe six weeks what yeah oh my god wow it sucked what was it like to take the first steps after eight weeks i had kind of started putting weight on it and i wasn't supposed to with the crutches because i was on crutches for eight weeks so i wasn't like my balance and everything still felt good but i definitely felt weak you know like my like my ass, my back. I felt it there. When I started grappling and stuff, I felt like my hips. And, you know, when you're trying to get back on top in your fighting position, I just felt a difference there.

How long did you wait before you trained hard again? I went, the next fight after that one was the hooker fight. Not that long. The next fight after that one was the hooker fight. Not that long. Yeah, that seemed like you would need more time to recover from eight weeks of nothing. Yeah. And then also just whatever's going on inside of your hip.

Yeah, and it was sore for a while, even after the surgery, like when everything was supposed to be healed. I think it takes a lot longer than eight weeks for bones to really get back to. How does it feel now? I feel good. Every now and then I'm sore. My range of motion isn't a whole lot better but uh but it's not doing the damage to the inside of your yeah hopefully in the long run the arthritis won't be as bad from you know the bone on bone stuff but they repaired the labrum and uh i'm still sore here and there but my quality of life is better it's like before if i'd go to the mall with my wife and daughter and we'd walk around for an hour and a half, I'd be hurting. Really?

I'd like to stand on it that long, yeah. Isn't that crazy? Professional fighter at the highest level, and it hurts walking through the mall. Right. Like if we'd sit down in the food court, and I'd go to get up too fast, I'd have to sit back down real quick. It's like a shock in my hip. It was very painful, and I don't have that anymore, so that's a big problem.

That's crazy, and you were fighting like that. Yeah kicking people and shit i couldn't run like so for that before the surgery sprints if i ran sprints i would pay for it for a week and a half with my hip so i'd have to pick and choose what i'm gonna do or if i repped a bunch of kicks on my left leg anything over the body like if i went high or even the body too many of them i would i would pay for it for a week and a half after it was always usually a week a week and a half of really bad soreness if i pushed it too far with my hip so the hooker fight was how many months ago june i believe okay so that's not that long yeah as soon as i was got the green light to to be full steam training i i went right into camp

a couple weeks after it was at eight months that's not that long for a severe injury like that you know like a real injury like that where they're getting into the bones and doing all that micro fracturing shit i've had some friends that have had that done to their knees and it's a it's a long brutal process to get back to 100 that's amazing that you were able to fight so quickly after that because the khabib fight was only a few months before that right september yeah yeah i got a picture man they took a lot of bone out it was a lot a lot like how much what it looked like show me it yeah yeah it was jamie so we could put on the screen they put a uh they me it. Yeah, yeah. Can you send it to Jamie so we can put it on the screen?

They put it next to like a ruler so you can really get a scale of how big it was, how big the pieces were. But pretty serious, man. Let me see here. Like enough to fill up like a water bottle top? Oh, more. Really? Oh, yeah. Let me find this.

More than that, dude. Like a mouthwash cap? I would say mouthwash cap. Really? Oh, yeah. Let me find this. More than that, dude. Like a mouthwash cap? I would say mouthwash cap. Really? Maybe more, dude. Oh, my God. Let me see. Here we go.

September. Let's keep you guys waiting here. No, that's okay. We're waiting. We're excited. I remember when Jacare got his elbow done. Oh, here we go. I stared at that shit for weeks.

I actually have a... So here's an actual ruler. Oh, my God. You might better fill up a coffee cup with that, bro. Dude, this is crazy. This is crazy. Yeah. Wow.

Okay, let me airdrop this. I don't have an iPhone. What do you have? What is this nonsense? Samsung. How dare you? I can't get it to my computer. I know I hear it all the time.

I can't get it to my computer. It's okay. If you could text it to me. Here, hold on a second. I don't even know what my number is. I'm sure you've got a new one. I'll probably have your old one. Yeah.

It's the bottom one. The bottom one the bottom one there yeah text it to me gotcha yeah but they took a lot of one of those samsung renegades huh one of those dudes living on the edge living on the edge bro operate with an android do people give you shit about it all the time isn't it weird yeah because like on twitter you know you can see um twitter for android or something like that and people just isn't it weird yeah because like on twitter you know you can see um twitter for android or something like that and people just isn't that weird though why does it matter why is it a gang thing it's weird it's like a republican democrat thing why is it a gang thing it is it's a weird thing like people decide they don't like the my friend ian edwards look at this that's your hip oh yeah

that's that thing in my stomach so i had an epidural line in my back and this in my stomach is a nerve block and a a piece of cloth casually covering your hog so that's all went in there god damn dude so these uh this picture he's gonna send it to me jam, Jamie, and then I'm going to text it to you. I'm trying to. Did you send it to me? I'm doing it now. It literally looks like pebbles that you found on the beach.

It looks like a handful, like a solid handful of pebbles. So that's probably the worst injury you've ever had, I would imagine, right? Yeah. I've had two surgeries on my nose. I have a cadaver rib cartilage in my nose bridge. Oh, really? Yeah. When I fought Joe Duffy, he crushed my nose.

Yeah? Crushed it. Yeah. And the first surgery, I still couldn't breathe. So we had to do it again. They had to re-break it and stuff. Some guys, you can hear them talk, like Justin Gaethje, and you know that dude can't breathe. Yeah. There's no way he's breathing out of his nose. I think that's so smart to do that. It's so smart to be able to breathe out of your nose. And I know guys are like, well, I'm just going to break it anyway. But so what? Yeah, I'm not going to mess with it again until I'm done fighting.

Because it's going to get smashed. Actually, when I went for the second surgery, they said, you've only broke your nose once? I was like, yeah. They said, no, you've broken it three or four or five times. I guess the healing lines of the cartilage and bone, they saw it was crushed or cracked a bunch i'm sure yeah i'm sure just micro micro cracks all the time sure just even probably from sparring you know what's happening with your phone i'm having trouble you need help yes maybe you should get an iphone be super fucking easy yeah i'm gonna get it you're gonna get an iphone no no i'm gonna get oh you're. You're going to get an iPhone? No.

No? I'm going to get this. Oh, you're committed? You're committed to the Android phone? I am. Because people fuck with you, right? You're one of those guys. I'm just used to it. I don't want to switch it up.

I get it. I'm just used to it. But you're right. We would have this message. We would have the picture up if I had an iPhone. But it's an interesting thing, the commitment that people have to Android. When they have it, they're like, no, fuck you. I'm guns and then when they do give in they do give in a lot of them give in i've thought about it really so i've thought about it what have you thought be easier

does your wife have an android uh iphone oh that's a problem i've tried i can't i can't get it you can't do it here listen man write your fucking phone number down on this write your phone number down on this and i will uh i'll send you a text and then you can text me the photo if you could figure out how to do that i feel like we're in the 80s this is outrageous isn't it come on man It shouldn't be this hard. For some reason, when I go to the photo, it doesn't let me add a new number. It's going to my contact list. Really?

Yeah. That's what's happening. It doesn't let you add a new number? You can't just text in a number? I guess I have to have your number saved to share a photo from my... All right. I'm calling you right now. That's me.

You got that? Got you. All right. There you go. Now, send a text message. Maybe I'll just text you because it's confusing to you. No, I got it, Joe. Hey, it's Joe.

There you go. Got it. All right. Send me that picture, bro. Come on. We can do this. This is a 10-minute, but it's going to be worth it, folks, for the people at home, for the people that want to see how fucked up.

And this is the worst Samsung advertisement of all time. Don't do it. Don't go to the Samsung. I'm going to get it. Hold on. You good? Great. Dude, I'm just saving your number now.

Oh, you're saving it. Better than good. I understand. you good great dude i'm just i gotta i'm saving your number now oh you're saving it better than good i understand now and now you have to say you have to save it first and then now i can add it you can't just send me a picture that doesn't make any sense boom how about that just send it to you okay here we go come on baby come on nothing where is this bitch nothing all right i'm gonna Come on, baby. Come on. Nothing. Where is this bitch? Nothing. All right, I'm going to hold on to my phone.

And, Jamie, the moment it comes to me could be within the hour. It's going through some routing in South Korea. Oh, man. You know what else? Ah, I got it. Boom. All right, here we go. You know what else? From Android to iPhone, if I send a pic, it gets grainy.

I noticed my wife and her friends, when they send pics, it stays clear. Yeah, it's because AirDrop and because of iMessage. iMessage, here, Jamie, I'm going to AirDrop it to you. Look how quick this is. This will take literally seconds, Dustin. You send me the picture. It took about 10 minutes, and then, bam, Jamie's got the picture. Sorry about that.

No worries, bro. No worries. We got it now. There you go. Oh, the other one is your hip. The other one is the hip before they reshaped it. Oh, wow. So look at all that debris.

That is fucking crazy. All that shit was floating around inside your hip, and you were fighting with that. That's nuts. That's big. Yeah. That's a, I mean, mean that's some of those chunks are like a half an inch i mean that those are big fucking chunks it was a five-hour surgery jamie look how big those chunks are those are floating or they break those are what broke off i don't know. They're both. And this one here is the, my body was pushing more bone growth to the outsides of my femur. So it's kind of mushroomed out in that picture there. You see the edges of it are kind of mushroomed out.

Yeah. So that was not allowing me to, anytime my leg would go laterally, that edge would hit inside of the inside of my hip and rip it up so would you concern that this was kind of a career-ender like what was the doctor's prognosis when he saw how bad it wasn't there he kind of gave me some confidence because he told me the spacing in my hip from my femur to my hip socket the spacing is healthy so that's what they usually like hip replacements and stuff if you're spacing you have no no room in there that's when they usually have to do something or it's a threat to your career. But my spacing is healthy.

It was just the bone growth. My body pushed more bone on the outside of my femur and wouldn't allow me to. So it's basically an injury that you should have taken care of a while ago. And you kind of let it go a little too long and it started getting weird. Yeah. When did it first start fucking up? So it's been years. it's been bothering me for years and then we did stem cells did that help at all i thought it did you know i was i was hoping but

it turned out i was still in a lot of pain you know did it help in the beginning and then stopped helping i thought i was uh less sore like if i did run sprints instead of taking a week and a half i thought maybe like three or four days i was good so i noticed a little bit in that but then it felt like it went back to exactly how it was before it sounds like the structure was just tearing up all the inside of your and exactly structurally they had to re-round it but seems like it now if you got stem cells since they've re-rounded it and everything maybe it would help heal up that area a little bit better. Yeah, we did PRP when they closed it up after surgery.

Where did you get the stem cells done? In L.A., but I don't know what doctor. It was a doctor that does a lot of NBA players. You've got to go to another country, bro. Yeah. Where they can really do it. You've got to go to Panama. I didn't get the good stuff.

But still, it wouldn't have reshaped the head of my... No, no, it wouldn't have. But I mean, like, to now, to heal up the area. There's shit that they can do in other countries that the United States, for whatever reason, they just don't want to take those chances. I sent my mom down to Panama twice. They wanted her to get an ear replacement, and she was in some pretty significant pain, and eight months later, no pain.

Wow. I don't fully understand how stem cells, like what was arthritis or is she having a tear? Yeah. Arthritis, you know, some cartilage issues and some meniscus issues. And, you know, it just, it's soft tissue and it can regenerate tissue and reduces inflammation pretty radically. And it can, it's really should be used much more extensively in the United States, but for whatever reason, I mean, whether it's political, whether it's the FDA, who is responsible for regulating it, I mean, it's not showing,

they're not showing any like real significant problems from people using it, but they are showing a lot of significant benefits. It's crazy how they go into your body and know what to repair and what to do, right? Yeah, it's crazy how those how they go into your body and know what to what to repair and what to do right it's not intelligent yeah they've got a lot of people are going down to columbia now and uh dr neil reardon who's been on my show before he's he took care of tj tj went down to uh to panama that's where i sent my mom what tj get that shoulder shoulders yeah i think he got his knee done too i mean every but by the time one of you guys gets to be 32 years old, I mean, how many fucking injuries are you dealing with constantly?

Yeah. Have you had any back issues? Never. That's amazing. Never. Now, do you do stuff to strengthen your back? Do you do maintenance work in training? Yeah.

And beginning of every training camp, my strengthening coach, Phil DeRue, kind of gets a base. Like we build off the base and switch it up in phases throughout the training camp. So the base at the beginning of camp is a lot of legs, a lot of lifting, heavy stuff. That guy's very respected. Yeah. Highly respected guy. Yeah. He's a good dude, man.

A student. Like I said about Mike Brown, with fighting phil's a student of strength and body movement you know not just getting strong but efficient and he's helped me out a lot with a lot of different hip stuff we do um and he knows my limits as well so he knows if i run a bunch of sprints i'm going to be banged up for the rest of the week so we've just called audibles on a lot of different things we do and and he's really he's helped me out a lot man what have you done like audibles on a lot of different things we do and and he's really he's helped me out a lot man what have you done like in terms of like um supplementary exercises when if you can't do sprints and you're trying to develop explosive endurance do what do you how do you do it like what do you what's your

your standard cardio stuff we do a lot of aerodyne stuff i do a lot of swimming myself and then i use my actual training honestly as as a lot of cardio stuff, like my sparring rounds, my hard wrestling rounds every Monday. That's, you know, that's cardio. For sure. Yeah. And the best way you can get it, getting the muscles tired that you're going to use, getting your heart rate up. I like to do that. I like to use my training as my conditioning. I don't do a whole lot of extra things for conditioning. Like I said, aerodyne bike here and there, sprints, but we don't do anything crazy or really focus on cardio. And I think naturally I have a little bit of a gift with,

and everybody's different. My cardio, even off the couch, I'm pretty good. Do you, so the stuff that you do with Phil Darrow, is that more strength stuff? Strength stuff and accessory works, like keep my shoulders healthy, my hips healthy, my flexibility, stuff like that. But at the beginning, the first phase is strength. We get a base, and then we kind of start branching off every week after that.

And so when you said that he does stuff to keep your body healthy, do you do stuff specifically to work your back muscles to keep from being injured? I'm not sure. Because that seems like a big issue with MMA fighters. Neck. Back and neck. Neck. How's your neck?

My neck's fine. Yeah? Yeah. Nothing? I mean, every now and then I have a crick in it. Or not a crick, but like I'll jam it in wrestling. Shooting a double leg and get my head jammed back. And then I'm sore for a few days.

But nothing serious. That's amazing. Yeah. Do you do neck exercises? I do. I do. What do you do? At the gym we have a few days, but nothing serious. That's amazing. Yeah. Do you do neck exercises? I do. I do. What do you do? At the gym, we have a machine with two pads on it.

You stack, it's like, you know, free weights. You stack on it and you go forward, you go sideways. Normal neck exercises. And at my gym back in Louisiana, I have the head harness that you see guys use. Do you ever fuck with an iron neck? Do you know what that is? I saw one before. I've never used it.

I'll get one sent to you. Yeah. Those guys will send one to anybody that likes it. It's the shit. And the good thing about that is it doesn't put like weird pressure on your joints you can and the rotational uh resistance yes exactly that's it's a big deal yeah that's where the whip is right when you're getting cracked and punch you yeah yeah yeah um that's another thing strengthening the neck seems to really help guys ability to absorb shots right have you found that? Of course.

Of course. I tell guys all the time, like younger fighters that I work with, of course it's punching power. Some guys just have natural punching power. But a lot of times in fights, you see guys go down. It's their positioning when they receive the shot. And not being grounded. Feet on the ground. Neck in a position ready to receive a blow like that. If you're throwing a hook and your neck's disconnected, like Anderson Silva, Chris Weidman,

pulling back, your neck disconnected from your body, it's going to take all of that spin and whip. Or the opposite side of that, you got a guy like Justin Gaethje who sits down and just takes, but he's set and ready to receive, like his body's ready for the impact. I think that's important, man, on the receiving side of it. So I tell guys that a lot. And strengthening those muscles that cause that whip, of course, would help. Do you do hard sparring? I used to do it way too much, way too much.

Now I only do five weeks every camp, and I don't spar. Like, right now between fights, I'm not fighting anybody. I'm not sparring at all. What did you think of Max Holloway's fight with Calvin Cater, which was like probably one of his best performances ever? Not probably. One of his best performances ever. No sparring at all.

He looked amazing, man. Crazy. Amazing. Does that make you think? I think at the beginning it's important, though. Because young fighters who have one or two fights, they're still kind of figuring things out. I think you need that time under pressure.

You need to be— For young fighters. Yeah. Right. But then you get to a point where Max, Max's level, former champion, one of the best in the sport, for a guy like him. I think you should. Obviously not as much, but I think you should just to get your timing. I'm not going to stop just completely cut out sparring from my training camps.

I won't stop, but I have moved it to five weeks. I only spar five weeks at the end of camp. Yeah, there's so many schools of thought regarding this. That's why when Max decided to not spar at all and then puts in a performance like that, I think that opened up a lot of people's eyes. they're like wow this is kind of crazy on the reverse side of that before robbie came to american top team when he when he came he hadn't sparred for years right years and years and years came to american top team started sparring and stuff and then had an incredible run yeah and at an not say older age but in his 30s, you know? That's true too, right? There's two different, yeah.

And our genetics are different. Some guys might be able to spar their whole career and still be composed and have their faculties. Another guy might not be able to. Yeah, that's the weird thing about CTE, right? That there's a genetic component to it and some people get it and they get it pretty quickly. And then some people,

they can just fight their whole career and they're fine. I meanesus christ alistair over him has been fighting forever i mean he's been ko'd so many times and you hear him talk seems fine yeah andre alowski yeah another guy who's witty and sharp and yeah yeah seems fine it's not even it's not like you you like 10 shots for you is 10 shots for this guy. No, it's different for everybody. It's interesting, too, when you see the Thais who fight a lot. They don't spar hard at all. They touch each other in the gym. They're basically playing.

They're just getting their timing down and moving light. But when they hit each other, it's not hard at all. That's kind of what I do between fights with my buddies and training partners. We just touch and we have that. But you have to have the right people to be able to do that with because you know it's uh yeah everybody's trying to show themselves something especially now right yeah yeah how do you avoid those guys how do you keep those guys out of your circle i don't go to to gyms and just train with anybody it's usually people i know i don't just unless it's jiu-jitsu or something i'll bump hands and roll with guys i don't know

right but if we're doing mma stuff it's fighters who i know and they have experience i can trust them and i've worked with them before i probably wouldn't even bump bump fists and do mma rounds with with somebody i didn't know at a gym, I would make sure it's... For my money, that guillotine you got Khabib in is the closest he's ever been caught. Dude, it was so close. That was so close. My plan was to guillotine Conor

and change it from Fight Island to Guillotine Island. That was the plan. But I'll take a knockout. Yeah, no, the Khabib fight was close. I should have went full guard. It was so close. I jumped out of my seat. I jumped out of my seat. I jumped out of my seat when I was watching that.

Oh, my God. It was locked in. You got a nasty guillotine, too. You could see. It was tight as fuck. I haven't finished anybody in the UFC with it. It's coming. It's coming.

I'm going to get you. It's going to happen. I have a couple variations I do with the guillotine. And, man, I submit people all the time. Put people unconscious. it's gonna happen yeah i have a i have a couple variations i do with the guillotine and man i submit people all the time put people unconscious you know uh you think if you went to full guard you would have got it hindsight joe oh hindsight is that the moment of the fight that fucks with you i just know how close it was a game of inches and see if you can pull that up i know how close it was let's get let's take a look at it it was so tight i jumped out of my fucking seat because i wasn't there for that fight right

yeah that was at on fight island i i jumped up and i gripped the corners of the chair but oh shit what what haunts me more than the full guard is me not switching to like a darts or anaconda when he rolled to his side that's what gets me more like why didn't i why didn't i punch that arm through you know well he's a beast dude that motherfucker so so intelligent um people ask me all the time is he strong i mean he's strong i don't know if he's the strongest guy i've ever fought but he's strong at all they're all strong nothing overwhelming or that really surprises me it's just his understanding of balance and weight placement was incredible dude like i've been fighting and wrestling a long time as well but he just knew where my weight was

and where it needed to be for me to stay up with his foot trips and uh it's hard to explain man but he's good no that makes a lot of sense i mean his positioning he's he's so good at taking guys down and holding them down it's kind of stunning you know when you see here it is so he shoots oh my goodness that's tight that is so tight i should have crunched over too to keep him but but look how tight that is right it's tight right there i was like oh my god oh my god this is like reliving this what is this like like right there like i should have pushed your arm through right but still you still got it locked in man you still got right here god he's in deep shit he is in deep shit here and now he's that right elbow he's that right elbow really effectively to create some space

but even then fuck he gets through and then moves right to mount and then the motherfucker is good break you down yeah motherfucker is good so technical you know it's like part of me doesn't want him to come back because i just love the fact that a guy escaped with 29 and oh yeah it's a pretty impressive record you know and fought everybody fought everybody mauled everybody got to the top fought the best guys fought you fought justin you know silence connor just did did the thing you know got out yeah and it's obviously a great man you know on top of being a great fighter he's a great man and so unusual the way he lives being a great fighter. He's a great man. And it's so unusual the way he lives, you know.

Guy drives around in a Toyota pickup truck. Doesn't give a fuck. Lives in the same house. He helped me raise a bunch of money for my foundation, and we hooked up with Justin Wren and Fight for the Forgotten. So Khabib was a huge part of getting those water wells built. That's awesome. Yeah.

No, he's a beautiful person and just a great example of a champion, you know? Yeah. But you want it again. Of course. Yeah. Of course. How old is he? I believe he's 32.

Dude, he's prime time. Yeah, 33, 32, 32. Yeah, he's prime. 32 and never really taken damage. Yeah, not really. Yeah. I'm sure his body probably hurts from years of training like a maniac, but in actual fights he's never michael johnson's the only one who dinged him yeah you know and he recovered from that beat him and that was uh you know one fight other than that nobody

really stunned him yeah 29 you know got away pretty amazing yeah but the longer you stay it's not a long game at that point. Something bad is going to happen. Yeah, anything can happen. And also, all these fighters have so much time to study you. So much time to look at how many people are going to look at the Justin Gaethje fight and go, wow, he was in danger with those leg kicks. How many people are going to look at that like, hey, that Gaethje was fucking tight.

How many people are going to look at that like, hey, that game team was fucking tight. Yeah. You know? How many people are going to look at the moments that he's had or maybe he had some vulnerability where someone has a specific skill set that could have capitalized on that? Yeah. What? I think Gleason Tebow is the closest to ever beating him. Yeah. Very close. That guy's ridiculous.

How the fuck does that dude ever make 155? That's a gorilla. That dude's so big. Yeah, I trade with him in American Top Team. He's a good that dude's so big with the mid-american top team he's a good dude too man funny guy and just real nice guy always wants to help yeah he's so big he looks like he's a 190 pounder oh he is plus he's two something really oh yeah and he gets down to 155 and when he weighs in he's one of those guys like like uh yoel romero's the same way when he weighs at 185 you're like what guys like Yoel Romero is the same way. When he weighs at 185, you're like, what?

Wait a minute. Let me look at that fucking scale. Right. That's not 185 pounds. It doesn't make sense. But he'll sit in the sauna for hours on hours smiling. Yeah? Yeah, that's the energy he has.

He's so happy and positive. He's never down. Even when he's suffering, he's happy. He loves it. Really? Yeah, man. Wow. I think he's been to Germany a even when he's suffering he's happy he loves it really yeah man wow i think he's been in germany a bunch helping some uh fight team out there oh is that what he's doing now yeah he just got back to american top team right before my i left for my fight is he done fighting i don't know he was talking about going up to 170 i think how old is he now

he's got to be pushing 40 right 37 yeah it's hard man you know you're it's a crazy sport you're relying on your your tissue and your bones and your brain and you know you only have a certain amount of time yeah and everybody's time is different yeah that odometer yeah look at yoel yoel's like a toyota you could put 300 000 miles on that thing it's like it is true do you, Yoel? Yoel's like a Toyota. You could put 300,000 miles on that thing. It is true. Do you have thoughts on when you're going to get out? I always said before. How old are you now?

32. I turned 32 in January. I always said 35. That's a number I've been having for a while. I doubt 35. It seems like a good number. Yeah, think after 35 you're not gonna in fighting you're not gonna get any any more durable or any healthier or any more athletic 35 is you know yeah and you still have a whole life ahead of you outside of fighting right you know like at 35 i can go to college for five

years six years and still have a whole career after that right so i'm just trying to you know be smart with it i have a family and but i love fighting i hate the process at this where i'm at in my career now i don't enjoy that at all what but i love the fight the process of fighting of cutting all the weight doing the interviews um the fashion show that mixed martial arts turned into with with instagram and social media yeah and the call outs and just all that hype stuff i don't like that stuff at all you seem very smart about that stuff in particularly with social media you don't seem to get into any weird back and forths with people you don't seem to be paying attention to haters i'll make fun of myself with with the guys you know like because i know that with the social media stuff when i was younger man like around

the connor fight i used to read everything and thought about every comment and stuff. And I don't really care anymore because just over maturity, I realized that they're not they don't know me. They don't. So the things they're saying is it's meaningless. It's not like social media is a mirror. Those people who are saying all that shit really don't like themselves, man. You know, that's what I've started to realize as I got got older and i just don't want to play in any part of that for sure one of the things that i've always said is greatness like if someone is truly chasing greatness in their life they don't have time to leave comments on your page and be mean yeah and

talk about what a loser you are the type of people that are doing that they're not fulfilled in their own life that's just the fact the type of people that are doing that, they're not fulfilled in their own life. That's just the fact. The type of people that are saying mean shit to a professional fighter to try to make them feel bad, they're not fulfilled. Or maybe they're young and they're dumb. They could be 15. Yeah.

A lot of that is. Fuck. Somebody gave me an Instagram account when I was 15, I'd probably say horrible shit to people. I'm so happy it wasn't around. Me too. Me too. I was so dumb.

I can only imagine. Yeah, but it's wise that you've you've figured that out and that you avoid it now yeah try my best when i do get on there i honestly try to give positivity out because there's so much darkness on there man yeah yeah i try to encourage guys or reply to fans who i you know i just try to keep it good the darkness the darkness and the negativity it's it's so much more uh impactful that's what's so weird it's like if you read a hundred comments and they're great and one of them that's horrible that one is the one that sticks with you you don't you know it doesn't get drowned out by the hundred people that love you exactly that one that's so mean you're like whoa this guy really hates me yeah and why yeah what what did i do but this guy doesn't know

me right he hates himself that's the problem they don't really yeah and they also they're trying to diminish what you are because what you are is what most men wish they could be a championship level fighter most men wish they were bad motherfuckers you could pretend you know like if you gave any hater dork that's never worked out a day in his life and he said hey man i'm gonna give you a pill and the pill is gonna turn you into a beast like with this pill you'll be able to fuck people up you'll you'll have all the skills be able to fuck people they'd all take it they'd be able to fuck people too have people actually want to fuck you yeah yeah they would take that pill yeah for sure yeah it's just it's a thing where you see someone who's so much more successful than you in this most

manliest of things you know you're a fucking fighter and you see the comments like i've i i genuinely get confused when i see comments on fighters pages after losses you know because some people are so goddamn vicious dude what about the guy who just freaking uh facetime somehow these guys are getting numbers i was just in uh they're getting our cell phone personal cell phone number somehow because i was just in in utah on a ski trip uh last weekend and somebody called me and was like is this dustin i'm like who's this dude he's like oh my god you're a legend. I'm like, how the fuck do you get my number? I'm a big fan.

Well, if you use your number to buy things or if you use your number to- Shit leaks. Yeah, you rent a car. But talking about being vicious, the guy who just called Curtis Blaze, you see that? No. Somebody FaceTimed him and he answered it. And the guy's like, you got knocked the fuck out. Like just a shit fan.

And he filmed it? I don't know how it got filmed. Oh, the other guy must have filmed it yeah oh my god i just felt so bad because i've been knocked out and i know that spot i don't know where he's at mentally but i know where you're at you know where i was and dude do they know who it is the guy who did it i'm not sure i haven't really looked into it but i saw show up with that guy's work yeah i'll show up with him yeah right he can take him down. I'll punch the shit out of him. Dude, how scary is Derek Lewis, though?

God. Such an athlete. Damn. Such an athlete. God damn, he can crack. I just saw a montage of him doing get-ups from half guard, being down the bottom, from side control. He just fucking puts his arm in people's armpits and sits up like, I getting out of here he's so strong i'm getting out of here yeah he you know

he's had some back issues and i guess he's got those squared away because if if he's healthy if he doesn't have any back problems every moment you're standing with that guy is a dangerous dangerous moment yeah he's got that one punch sleep power a man doesn't tattoo knockout king on his chest unless he's got that fucking one sleep one hit a quitter he's so crazy too his instagram is one of the most hilarious things online if if you don't know go to derrick lewis's instagram i think it's beast beast ufc what is his uh the, the beast, the beast, the beast UFC. I think it is. I forget what his,

uh, yeah, it's a good sense of humor. Hilarious. And everything is, he's okay. Like when dudes, you know,

the guy's dead, you know, he's like, he's okay. I saw the thumbs up thing. That's so fucked up that he did that. Oh, this one's a good one.

Yeah. The beast UFC. This is guy. He throws the net and totally misses. Look at this. Look how terrible this is's a good one. Yeah, the Beast UFC. This is this guy. He throws the net and totally misses. Look at this. Look how terrible this is. He's okay. Yeah.

Look how bad this guy is. I wonder what country that is. Oh, a series of? Yeah, that's what I was talking about. Look at this. I'm out of here. Just lifts you up. Boom.

He's so powerful and explosive like when he jumps for knees or kicks you can just tell how much well he'll throw a fucking switch kick a left high switch kick and you're like holy shit heavyweights aren't moving like that yeah look at this boom the power he has my god and a legit 265 you know like full-on i'll tell you what man crazy just gets up just gets up i mean if rex quando style yeah if he if francis and ganu beat stipe and that's a big if right because stipe look if you look at it on paper he's the GOAT. Stipe's the most accomplished heavyweight of all time. If Francis beats Stipe, and it's a big if, him versus Francis. Derek Lewis is the rematch.

Right. That's a crazy fight. Lewis won the first one. He won the first fight. Yeah. But it was the most uneventful fight ever. Yeah, not a lot happened. Well, that's the thing about Lewis, too.

People don't give him credit. He's patient. He's patient. He's patient. He'll wait on, you know, the first round with Curtis Blades, very patient. Very patient. Waited his moment. And then when Blades went in for that very obvious takedown and he stepped back and caught him with that uppercut. Boom!

That was a weird motion by Blades, too. He kind of changed levels without a penetration step or drive. He kind of just changed levels and was there. Yeah, he didn't hide it with punches. Yeah. And, you know, you just can't have any room with Derek. You can't have any errors. Because all he has to have is one.

Boom! The great equalizer. It is. Power is the great equalizer. Yeah. Especially in the heavyweight division, right? Four-ounce gloves. There's some fights in the heavyweight,

like Francis versus Alistair Overeem. To this day, I watch that KO and just go, shit. Yeah, that's horrible. He's had another one like that, right? Francis? Oh, yeah. What else?

Rosenstreich KO'd him horribly. Everybody, he hits really hard, except Derek, he KOs. he's uh he's one of the scariest him and derrick are the two scariest heavyweight punchers ever yeah i want to see it again fuck yeah yeah it's not gonna be like the first one i don't think i don't think so unless both guys just respect the power so much that they're both trying to well hopefully it'll be five rounds too yeah and if it's for the title again i think derrick will get get himself in really good shape and it'll be crazy who the fuck knows but then

again that's like a big if to get past stipe i mean stipe is the only guy who's been able to figure out how to avoid francis's punches and get him down and that's that's big and i don't know i mean i know he's an extreme couture now. I'm sure they're working on takedown defense. I'm sure they're working on the grappling. Have to be. That's the biggest thing, right? If he can keep it on the feet, he's...

Yeah. Oh, Stipe's a motherfucker on the feet too, though. He's good everywhere. Stipe's good everywhere, you know? I always felt like the Cormier fight, first of all, was the perfect punch when Cormier knocked him out. It was perfect. He didn't see it coming. In the pocket.

In the pocket, from the clinch. But also, I always wondered how much of that KO was him recovering from the Francis fight. Because the Francis fight was just a few months before that, and that was a brutal five-round war. And Francis hit him with some big shots, man. For sure. Every shot is a big shot. Yeah, it's just, what do you think is the most brutal war that you've been in? The hooker fight was a war.

Man, that's not good for you. Hooker fight was a war. Korean zombie fight was a war. Yeah. Yeah. That was a while back Korean zombie fight was a war. Yeah. Yeah. That was a while back, but that was a pretty bad one. Probably the hooker. I probably took more damage in the hooker fight.

That was a crazy back and forth fight. Yeah. But like, I've never had headaches or anything after those fights. Like the next day is fine. The worst head trauma that I think i've had in my career and i've been stopped you know a couple times from from strikes was uh in dallas when eddie alvarez need me yeah yeah that's the most symptoms i've had from a uh you know head head shot like that that was the disqualification yeah yeah yeah now and i wasn't out out or anything

like that but the symptoms the next day me and now and i wasn't out out or anything like that but the symptoms the next day me and my because my wife drove there and we drove back to louisiana right after the fight the next day and i was sick car sick the bumps in the road the light was messing with me i said this is for sure you know for sure from from getting hit in the head right yeah what do you plan on doing when you're done do you have a plan not really um keep growing the hot sauce i have an idea for a tv show that's kind of getting some traction uh call if i want to call it food fight and travel to different cities and train at gyms and then explore local restaurants because you know i like to cook and i'm a foodie i think it's

a good idea i don't know if that's a career. It might be. Why not? We got to see how it goes, I guess. Fuck, why not, man? It sounds like a good idea to me. No, I'm saying a success. One season, if it doesn't do well, it's not a career. Well, here's the thing, man. Put it on YouTube.

Put it on YouTube, let it grow, and then sell it somewhere. The thing about these shows is they don't give it a chance to find its place, find what it is. about these shows is they don't give it a chance to find its place find what it is you know and if you're doing a show like that and you're you know you're you're a slave to the ratings you know if you put it up on youtube first of all it's going to get an automatic audience because it's free it's available and it's you and you're popular and it's an it's an interesting idea and it also doesn't have to be as structured you know when you do something yeah you're right for a network you know there's a lot of pressure involved they have advertisers they have if they don't reach a certain number of ratings you know the certain number of viewers they have to cancel the show yeah

i've always been interested in real estate as well um but i don't know i don't want to i don't want to look too far at plan b right um still focus on plan a but do you think i mean it's it's gonna it's how it's gonna happen but do you think you're gonna miss it yeah that's the problem right but if i can find some because for me joe i've self-evaluated i was self-evaluated myself and i'm a maniac so it's probably wrong but i think i have to be in some kind of constant conflict. Like whether that's preparing for a fight or, you know, doing something with my foundation. Like I have to have a goal where I'm full steam in trying to get something done. Otherwise, I'm self-destructive. I noticed that about myself.

I do dumb stuff. You know, I start drinking too much. If I don't have something set for me to be working towards, I just feel like that's when I do dumb stuff you know i start drinking too much or i've just if i don't have something set for me to be working towards i just feel like i always that's when i do dumb stuff like not huge things or but i just feel like that's where i'm start to get like depressed or i don't even know what to call it but it's not a good place for me to be and i have to have something i'm working on and when i'm working on something that's where i'm most comfortable. So whether it's a fight, like I said, or the foundation or, you know, building a house right now, just, I have to be all in on something.

It makes sense. You know, some people are just built for high pressure situations. I have to. And if I can find something that puts me in that position and as much as fighting does, I'm going to be, I'm going to be successful at that. I don't know what that is yet, something that puts me in that position and and as much as fighting does i'm gonna be i'm gonna be successful with that i don't know what that is yet but when i find it i'm gonna be in conflict with that all the way and that's just need to find that whatever that is but i'm still all in on fighting so what do you like cooking louisiana foods gumbos uh jambalaya's i mean i cook anything joe damn we need a kitchen in this place. That's what we need.

We need to have a special, because there's been a bunch of people that come in and say they like cooking. Yeah. Have a special segment. I love cooking. Right before I flew out here, I made my wife meal prep for the week. I did lemon butter, caper fish, kale saute, and all kind of stuff. I get down, man. Really?

I get down in the kitchen, yeah. Do you read books? Do you- I watch a lot yeah youtube and stuff youtube also food network just any food shows i've been a fan for a long long time yeah dude you need a food show yeah that's a good idea i'm trying to do it i like it i like it so but louisiana food is your specialty of course yeah because that's where you're from Creole food Yeah Yeah Like when you When you cook Are you a guy that Like do you go to the supermarket

And get all your prep in advance And you got like a shopping list And the whole deal Do you wear an apron Do you put an apron on No I do not What about one of them crazy hats

If I had it I'd wear it For sure I'm not going to buy one But I'm going to wear it A hat with a diamond in the middle There you go there you go yeah i get my list together and then even when i'm cooking stuff that i don't know a whole lot about like if i'm trying to do something new i'll get the list kind of read read the uh instructions or the recipe then i won't look at it again i kind of got an idea of how okay and then i just put my own twist on everything

yeah add a little of this a little of that yeah and i enjoy that dude getting all the stuff for the grocery store going back home prepping everything i enjoy that do you have a specific way do you like grilling do you like frying things like what's your what's your favorite way i like grilling uh baking stuff but i like cooking down sauces and stuff like that like cooking down sauces really yeah like uh meat and gravy over rice you know cooking down something in a good uh so you get serious oh yeah come on you get serious that's a lot of work man yeah that's interesting so you say when you do meal prep do you do this while you're training too or do you not have the time when i'm in florida i do all my own cooking really so you don't have like a meal prep company that you use?

I work with Lockhart. He kind of gives me the pointers of my nutrition. He helps you cut weight as well? Yeah. But I cook all my own stuff. He'll tell me, okay, you can have a four-ounce piece of salmon or something like that, and I'll just kind of prep it out for the week and keep it switched up. So I'll cook salmon and chicken for the week.

And that way I'm not eating salmon every, every day. Right. Yeah. And when you do something like that, do you have to be careful about like sodium content and content of sugar and different things that you put in your sugar for sure. Sodium.

I don't, I don't, um, you know, I, I use salt and, and stuff during training camp. I don't limit that at all.

You sweat so much. Yeah. Yeah. But, um, sugar for sure. Sugar. I don't limit that at all. You sweat so much. Yeah. Yeah. But sugar for sure. Sugar I do. Do you, like, when you're, you're one of those guys that eats like six meals a day or do you, is that what you do?

Yeah, usually like five or six. Breakfast, a light snack. Lunch, a light snack. Dinner. So you're just constantly keeping food in your body? Yeah. And how many times are you training a day when you're in camp? Usually two times or one time with a run or one time with a swim.

I do like active recovery stuff between. And like I said, I self-regulate my camp. So if I'm feeling a little run down or something's hurting, I'll pull back. But usually two times. And do you use anything like a whoop strap or a monitor heart rate monitor anything like that so i started using a whoop strap and i used it for a while and then i was like let me take this shit off because it's messing with my head because of course because work needs to get done i'm working i'm waking up i'm not ready but fuck i got this guy's i got to

get ready for this fight so it's oh it's saying you're not recovered enough I'm not recovered enough, but I got to go to the gym and work. What am I going to do? So that was fucking with your head? It just, I feel, well, not fucking with my head, but making me say, why am I wearing this and paying this membership whenever it's saying you're not ready, but I'm fucking, I'm getting ready. I'm packing my bags. I'm getting ready.

I got to go train. I understand. Yeah. Some guys like using it particularly to see what your resting heart rate is and to make sure it's not elevated you know steve maxwell once told me that if you pay attention to your resting heart rate and if it's 10 10 beats above what it normally is when you wake up in the morning he's like take the day off he goes like your body's fighting some shit off it's gonna be a lot of days off if I do that.

I can't afford to do that. My resting heart rate gets pretty low, like 32, 34 in camp. Well, that was the thing. Like, we were talking about how you had COVID. You didn't even know it. I just found out right now before we jumped on these mics. He's got the antibodies. You were negative for the disease, but you had the antibodies.

So you had it and beat it, and you didn't even know. And I fought a month ago. And she said, like said like it was pretty recent the way the test came out like that strong of the lines and result so it was pretty recent and my last test was was fight night or the day before the fight so that was exactly one month ago so in the last three weeks or so i've had it that's crazy didn't even know well when you get off of a fight like that what is your general routine do you take a couple weeks off and just chill, eat gumbo, and have margaritas? Yeah, and I'm never really off. I'm always in the gym. I trained yesterday.

I'm never really off. I'm always training, but I'm not focused on my weight. I'm not running miles. I'll run here and there, but I eat. Eat and drink whiskey, dude. I'm from Louisiana. I like it. I like it okay yeah so i know they're talking about connor again what is what has the ufc brought up to you and what is what has the conversation been like so connor wants the trilogy and i do too if they want to do it let's do it well that's where the loot is

right that's where the loot and that's that's pretty much it we're just trying to get the right deal structured you know this is going to be a big fight. Oh, my God. He knocked me out. I knocked him out. Yeah. This would be one of the biggest fights ever. The trilogy.

Yeah. Yeah. For sure, one of the biggest fights this year, but maybe of all time. Yeah. It could easily be one of the biggest fights of all time. Just the hype machine behind Conor. He's got such a cult of personality behind him. He's such a powerful person you know yeah and i know he like uh mayweather stopped him but he's never been stopped it was a different

kind of stoppage yeah it was exhaustion and overwhelmed with punches no you you wrecked him stopped him yeah yeah no ifs ands or buts yeah he was out yeah when you stepped in and hit him with that big right hook it was like whoa and when he dropped and then you put him away that's it yeah there's no ifs ands or buts about that yeah and when he went down i got one more shot off that was a good one he was out you know yeah you could see it so i think the trilogy makes a lot of sense and a lot of money so we're just trying to get the right deal structured and see what the time frame is because for connor for a guy like connor you want you want fans in there even if it's limited and right now

at the apex where they're set up in America there's obviously no fans so where do you do that at Florida baby what's the time frame

Florida doesn't give a fuck do it like three blocks away from an American top team let's do it they don't give a fuck you could do it in a goddamn arena

in Florida well Canelo's fighting there right he's fighting this weekend is he fighting in an arena I think he's fighting in the uh a stadium packed probably right i don't know packed i don't know what the limit is they don't have a capacity limit it's florida but dana's saying well that'd be interesting because dana's saying he doesn't want to do it in a stadium or arena unless he can fully

sell tickets or whatever but yeah we just went to abu dhabi so i'm thinking like if me and connor did have the trilogy it might be in abu Dhabi because they're allowed limited ticket sales or whatever. Just do it in Miami. I mean, fuck. I train on the street. I'll drive there. That's what I'm saying. They can do it.

That governor doesn't give a fuck. So it's either going to be that or Nate Diaz, I think. Now, how much time, if you want to be honest, how much time does a man need after a knockout like that like if i was i was hearing that they were talking about connor fighting you again in may or june and i was like that seems crazy to me it does yeah i don't know what are they saying what are they saying to you in terms of like when they want to? So they haven't gave me a date. Okay. They haven't gave me a date. Do they ask you like when, how much time you need?

Like how, what is the conversation like when something like this happens? So I don't directly talk to them. You have a manager. Yeah. Who's your manager? They talked to my manager, um, Rob Roveta. And so, and, uh, a guy named Wayne, they kind of, we've kind of, you know, tried to put ourselves in the best position to sit at the table with them

and have a legit conversation about getting this fight booked. And like I said, man, we're trying to structure the right deal. And when it happens, I think the fight will be on. But until then, we'll see. So, because when I heard June or July, I was like, that just seems so soon.

That seems so soon for a bad KO like that. Like a legit out cold KO. That's a concussion. I mean, that's brain trauma. You would think you want six months after something like that. Yeah. How often do you like to fight? Like, especially now that you don't have the injury anymore and you're healed up from that

and you're riding high right now. Would you prefer maybe get the Nate Diaz fight in first? No, because I think the longer removed from this last fight with me and Conor, the further we remove and it just takes away from the heat behind it. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, I think that's, I think the only problem is that's the fight for the title. You are, in my eyes, if Khabib steps down, you're the uncrowned champ. In true Thug Jitsu fashion. Shout out to Eve Edwards.

I'm the only other guy to ever fight in the UFC under the Thug Jitsu banner. And he was the uncrowned world champion. Yeah, he was. He was. Yeah, when he knocked out Josh Thompson. Yeah, so I'm keeping Thug Jitsu alive all right beautiful i love i love eve um this but but you're there for the real title though too and i want to know what the fuck is going to happen i really want to know if khabib is going to if khabib is going to step down you should be the guy fighting for the title no

ifs ands or buts do you think it makes sense though for you to be fighting con fighting for the title. No ifs, ands, or buts. Do you think it makes sense, though, for you to be fighting Conor for the title? No. I don't think so. Do you think it should be Oliveira? Conor's been away so long. His last two fights at 155, he's lost. So you can't put him in there for a title fight. Right.

How could you justify doing that when you have guys like Oliveira? But if Kabib retires and they say hey this is for all the marbles you're not gonna say no what are you gonna say you're gonna say i'm a purist what are you gonna say i don't know if dana pulls you aside he goes it doesn't have to make sense of course what but yeah let's make some money yeah we're fighting for the belt yeah you have to fight for the belt yeah we'll see what happens man i think it's going to be something soon because we've got to keep Yeah. We're fighting for the belt. Yeah, you have to fight for the belt. Yeah. We'll see what happens, man.

I think it's going to be something soon because we've got to keep it moving. They're not going to sit forever chasing Khabib, and the division has to move on. It is interesting that in the time where that low calf kick is coming to prominence, and this is also the time when Conor started moving away from the sport, took time off, fought boxing, you know, then came back and had the fight with Khabib, and then came back and had the fight with Cowboy. The calf kick was never in play in any of his fights. But if you look at him stylistically, and this is one of the things, I love DC's detail that he does on ESPN. It's amazing.

But when he broke down Conor's heavy weight on the right leg he leans in like this all the time he puts a lot of weight on that right leg when he paused in that southpaw stance and because you fight southpaw a lot as well it just opens up that kick so big it's such a big weapon and sometimes he like you said that wide stance as well it's just hard to check the kick from that wide stance you know what's a crazy stance for everything other as well, it's just hard to check the kick from that wide stance. Well, it's a crazy stance for everything other than calf kicks. It's a great stance. I mean, he's so good at moving in and covering distance with that stance. It's very karate-like.

Great countering. Like you see in karate, bounce back and forth until, boom, attack. And he has a hell of a left hand where he's knocked out a bunch of guys with that counter, counter with that pull too and that's what we we worked on a lot that training camp with my boxing coach dia davis is is that pull to baiting him in to throw the pull too yeah the one time when you it was one of the times you caught him several times but one time you caught him with that counter right hook and you pointed out i'll be like ah got you bitch yeah yeah that felt good i just felt like like I was kind of grabbing the wheel and starting to let him understand, oh, this guy's changed. Yeah.

Like, this isn't the same fight. DC also broke down at the end of the first round. You kind of gently punched him in the stomach. Just gently. Like, hey, man, good round. Good game, buddy. Good round. There was a little gamesmanship going on there. I didn't do it the in the moment i didn't do it like uh like you're thinking about

it yeah it just happened just natural yeah what did you say to him at the end of the first round you said something when we were hitting each other with with the with the shoulders i was uh having fun asking him i think i told him how'd you like that clavicle like just messing around you know that's funny how'd you like that clavicle like just messing around you know how'd you like that clavicle has anybody ever said that in life yeah it might be the first time a human being has said how'd you like that clavicle a delivered one i think that's probably he got me back better though you think all the sentences that people have said throughout history how might that clavicle yeah there might be like two or three other humans that have ever lived

that have said those words together how did you like that clavicle right yeah that's not a that's not a that's not a word you a phrase you use often very uncommon phrase how'd you like that then he started cracking me with him yeah and well he had more pop on his for sure the cowboy fight that was bananas that he was able to do that kind of damage Broke his nose maybe Yeah, for sure, he was bleeding out of the nose right away That was nuts, a lot of people didn't even understand what was happening I wonder why

Because when he started hitting me with them I just naturally felt like I just put my head on the other side Yeah, here it is He just said to him It's obviously something that he's practiced yeah the one of the things about this fight is you look like the bigger guy i i'm pretty sure i weighed more than him yeah you looked like it you look more muscular he's uh you know he's muscular but his waist is small he's just built just built different and i just

i'll probably walk around heavier than him do you feel like now after that first fight that you got his number or after the second fight it's uh it's fighting man i don't think you ever really he'll make adjustments yeah he'll make adjustments it'll be a completely different fight like the first one and the second was different the third one's going to be different as well because i'm going to make adjustments as well. I've got to switch it up and keep things fresh and keep him guessing. Yeah. Now, ideally, when would you like the rematch? June, July.

June, July. Because I'm still – my wife's birthday's coming up, so we're going to go somewhere for a couple days. I'm still not – I will if I get the call and it's time to go to work. I will lock myself in training camp. But I'm still not right now ready to just go back to Florida a month removed from the last fight and then lock down for another 10 weeks or whatever it is. So we'll see.

If they call, I will do it, but I'd rather it be a little bit further. Let me enjoy my life back home in Louisiana before I go right back out to Florida. So if they call you and say, man, you will be doing it, but you would rather – Yeah, I'll do it be a little bit further. Let me enjoy my life back home in Louisiana before I go right back out to Florida. So if they call you and say May, you will be doing it, but you would rather June or July? Yeah, I'll do it anytime. I would be really shocked if they decided to do it in May. Just that close after that KO, I just don't think that's wise. Yeah, it is soon. Yeah.

And obviously, I mean, honestly, it's not a lot of time to adjust and work on what he needs to work on for the calf kick or what I want to switch up. We're just right back in camp getting ready to fight. We're not really evolving outside of training camp. For me, I learn things in training camp because it's just constant every day under pressure. It's the time between camps, like right now when I'm in the gym having fun, rolling and doing light kickboxing drills with my friends where I feel like the big gains are made when I'm having fun. Because I'm kind of tunnel vision in training camp. I'm showing up, all right, let's wrestle.

I'm not having fun and exploring different things. So in between camps, that's when you're loose and you experiment and learn things? Yeah, trying stuff I wouldn't normally do. And do you ever find yourself, like, doing stuff like that and then applying those in fights? For sure. Yeah? Oh, yeah, for sure.

All the time. Like, and I don't even think about it. Like, in the Dan Hooker fight, against the fence, having fun, messing with my guys, I always chop them with the inside of my hand, like, from a clinch position. And I did it in the fight. Didn't even think about it. It just happened.

But that's from just having fun and you know fighting now when you look at your career you've had this amazing career so far and you're talking about maybe retiring somewhere around 35 do you have specific milestones like i know you said you want to fight at 170 do you do you have specific fighters in mind that you would like to fight both in lightweight and maybe in welterweight for sure diaz in welterweight welterweight for him yeah other than that i don't have like any i mean i fought them all i fought i fought them all when eddie was in the ufc he was a guy i really wanted to fight because i've watched him for so long i watched him back in uh when he was fighting in Japan.

You know, I don't think it was Dream. I don't, you know, he's had these crazy fights with Hellboy Hanson and stuff when I was a younger fighter watching this guy and like just blown. I forgot about Hellboy Hanson. Hell of a fighter.

Southpaw, just always entertaining fights. Ahead of his time. Yeah. Wild dude. Yeah, but like watching Eddie when I was younger, watching Eddie fight him, and then being in a place in my career

where Eddie was in the UFC in the same division, I'm like, fuck, this could happen. You know, because I'm a fan of the sport as well. And I know those are fun matchups. Same with the Nate fight. Now, there's been a lot of talk about Chandler because of his big opening fight in the UFC. He's got this spectacular knockout of Hooker.

There's a lot of talk about him fighting for the title soon. Do you think that when a guy comes in from another organization like that and just immediately jumps up to the top of the heap, obviously he earned a lot of respect with that Hooker knockout, but do you think it makes sense for him to fight for a title really quickly when there's all these guys like Justin, like you, like Charles Oliver in particular that have had to pay their dues? to fight for a title really quickly when there's all these guys like justin like you like charles all over here in particular that have had to pay their dues dude i'm not in position to call it

right but i just feel like he needs to cut you know and i respect the guy and he's a great fighter but he just needs to cut his teeth in the ufc a little bit a little bit more a little bit longer do you think that for marketing standpoint like to make a big name fight for you and him or like like let's say they do connor and you for the title and you win you got the title and then they say next up for you is michael chandler like do you think that makes sense or do you think chandler's gotta get a resume in the ufc first if if he goes and beats olivera and me and connor fight then it makes sense yeah you know you beat two guys in the top five, top ten,

one guy's fight away from a title shot. I think that makes sense. But you're coming in right now where he's at and beating a guy who's coming off of a loss. I didn't finish him, but I beat him. So you beat a guy who's coming off of a loss and then you're going to jump into a title fight. I just think there's higher-ranked guys coming off of wins that put you in that position so when you look at guys outside of connor the

guys that are interesting to you are nate and olivera olivera for the title and just you know the hard style to figure out he's just so good man everything's good with that guy yeah yeah stand-up is as well yeah those are three fights that in my head I think about, but I'm sure there's a bunch of fights, fun fights that could happen. But those three are the ones I think are possibilities of what's next. And when you say one day you want to fight at 170, do you think that's when you're 34? Like when do you think you're going to finish your career at 170? I think I'll be able to finish my career at 55, finish your career at 170? I think I'll be able to finish my career at 55, but I'm interested in going to 70, see how I feel. And Nate's at 170. Instead, he's not fighting 55. So that's a little bit more motivation to go up there. And it'd be cool to say, you know, at the end of my career

that I fought in three different weight classes in the UFC. But I can maintain 55 for the rest of my career. Now, do you think that you'll maintain a gym when you're gone? And when you're out of the sport? Do you think you'll coach? That's at right now where I'm at. That's not a passion of mine. I really enjoy not for like people who don't know how to fight. It's a passion for fighters. But you can't just have like a fighters only gym and make money, you know, you have to be established and then maybe build a team. But I'm very passionate about helping that, talking and training and helping younger fighters who know about fighting. But to start on a blank slate and teach the kids and teach people who don't know how to fight, that's not a passion of mine. I'd love to be around the sport forever.

Like you said, what am I doing next? I would love to commentate or get an opportunity to sit up at a desk and see how I do there. You would be great at it yeah have they ever talked to you about it no actually yeah but i got a story for that one so yeah i never even told anybody this but when paul felder right got his shot then he started on um what was it dana white's looking for a contender series or looking for a fight he he was like one of the guys on there that's where he started i'm pretty sure that they offered me that spot to come in and give it a test run but i have a buddy of mine named tim metcalf who owns a couple restaurants he's like just a good buddy of mine who was fighting a kickboxing fight he's 50 something years old just for charity and for fun and i and i told him i was going to corner him and i'd already told him i was going to corner him

before the ufc called and offered me this like step sit-in gig as a commentator to see how I did. And I think Paul Felder took it. But you could do it still. They haven't called back and offered me anything. They will. I think one of the cool things about the UFC is they do take guys like Dominic Cruz, take guys like DC, Paul Felder, and they give them careers as commentators, and I think they're the best commentators. Dominic Cruz is fucking

fantastic. He's so good at breaking things down. So good, and so is DC. DC and I, when we do commentary, I have more fun with that dude. It's just all fun. We're always having a great time. He's such a great dude. Speaking the same language. Yeah.

I would love to for the opportunity like that just to see how i do so that would be some way you would stay in the sport yeah because i'm never going to be i'm never going to be away from the sport for like disconnected from it i'm going to be part of this sport until i die you know it's it's it's given me everything i have uh it's given me it's taught me a lot about myself it's put me in rooms with with people i wouldn't like you sitting here you know it's it's just i've learned so much through fighting that i i want to i want to give that back and be part of it for i mean as long as i can do you feel now like you have a responsibility to be a role model or an example to young up-and-coming fighters not because i used to do dumb stuff man all the time maybe there's an example i'm flawed you yeah but you're still very successful in fighting

in fighting um i feel like i have a lot to to teach young fighters yeah just from from bouncing back from from evolving from staying true to the path and and understanding yourself and finding about out about yourself through through the struggles of fighting the good and the bad i think i can help you know and i do that back home i have a lot of buddies who i talk to and you know when they when they lose i talk to them about my losses and and just other things i have a lot to give and I've learned a lot through fighting. And I would love to shed some light on that with people and continue to do that. But outside of fighting, I'm doing some awesome things with my foundation

I'm very proud of, but I'm not trying to be a role model or anything like that outside of fighting. Bouncing back from losses and teaching a fighter how to do that by the example of you bouncing back from losses and teaching a fighter how to do that by the example of you bouncing back back from losses i think is gigantic because it's one of the most devastating things for a fighter you train for weeks or months and then you have this big moment and then before you know it it's over and you've lost or maybe you got stopped yeah and then you have to figure out how to rebuild what's been the most difficult fight for you to bounce back from?

The first Conor McGregor loss was a big one, but my loss to Michael Johnson was painful, man. Was that painful because you had already moved up to 55 and you had found the best weight class? Yeah. And I started establishing myself. I was on a streak and I was just so confident I was going to win that fight. And then to get stopped, that one just hurt because I was just so confident I was going to win that fight and then you know that and then to get stopped that one just hurt because I had just built myself back up in a different way class the Conor thing when I lost to Conor at 45 the goal was to stay at 45 and be the world champ or at least fight for the belt before I moved up but me and my coaches always knew that I had to move up I was just getting too heavy and it was hurting me too much so when I lost to Conor I

realized I got two or three more fights to put myself back in that title position and we just can't do it. So we went up to 55 and I kind of reestablished myself and I got a streak going. I don't know how many fights it was, but I beat some good guys and I went on a run and then I lost. And it just put me back in that down position, that down on myself position that I was when I lost to Conor. When you go back and look at the Johnson fight, is there anything that stands out that you did wrong or anything that stands out in camp that you did wrong? Like we talked about earlier,

being in position when receiving a shot. I was throwing an uppercut. My feet weren't connected to the ground. My chin was in the air and he spun my head. He spun my brain with a good shot. After that fight, I started being defensively responsible. That was my goal. Offense is there. the air and he spun he spun my head you know he spun my brain with a good shot that after that fight i started being defensively responsible that was my goal offense is there i know how to hurt people now let me let me how to let me learn how to preserve myself and how to let the fights

unfold and not just come out because before i would come out like a like a drag racer i would just put on the gas i'm going out or you're going out. And it works most of the time, but then sometimes it doesn't. It's like flipping a coin. And I just wanted to use my skills because I know I have all the attributes and the knowledge and understanding of breaking guys down and being a smart fighter and putting great performances together. It's just to pull back the maniac inside and not step on the gas early. And I think that fight really made me start worrying and

focusing on defense do you think in some ways that fight was actually important for your future they all are everyone everyone every loss every win it it it teaches you something different and that one was a huge one for for being defensively responsible like i said for protecting myself in there and not that i didn't think before I know I'm a man I know I can go down I've you know I've lost before that fight but uh just really really made me think about the longevity and of fighting and and protecting myself yeah that was uh about three years ago that was maybe 2015 was it it was a while. Maybe 2016 at the latest. And, you know, when you see Michael Johnson is a very underrated fighter.

I mean, that war that he got in with Justin Gaethje, he had Justin in all kinds of trouble. Yeah, I was cage-side for that one, dude. That was wild. That was wild. And Justin has kind of adjusted his style as well. He used to be this guy that goes like a drag racer as well. But then saw the ferguson fight he's really stepped away from that and was far more effective just a lot more feints a lot more movement and you know looks for his his moments yeah the fight that he had with you was drag racing right yeah and i think uh kind of calming down and patience helped me in that

fight um in the later rounds, you know. But that's another fight where my leg got torn up. He partially tore my quad. Really? Yeah. Jesus Christ. He partially tore my quad. Yeah. Just from the leg kicks?

From inside leg kicks. What do you do to recover from that? I did a lot of physical therapy. Surgery wasn't needed. But, dude, like right now, if I pick my leg up, you know how when you tell your bicep it slides up so right now when i do that my leg i have this big knot that slides up my thigh really with the move motion on my leg yeah just from his shins yeah i guess like a one of the muscles slid up oh shit that's crazy yeah but it doesn't bother me at all oh not not Not now. I mean, it did. Were they thinking about the surgery? No, it was never even an option.

Oh, okay. Yeah. A lot of physical therapy. The big thing was getting a range of motion. My heel to my butt. Anytime I would pull on my heel to my butt, it felt like my leg was ripping. Oh. My thigh was just so much pain.

So that was hard to get the range of motion back. That dude can throw leg kicks from the weirdest positions. He could be in a collar tie and he'll hit you with a leg kick yeah nobody does that you got must have really flexible hips to do that right to whip it that close yeah and with reckless abandon uh abandonment for his own health you know most like especially inside leg kicks are easy to check and very devastating when they do get checked and he just doesn't care no he's a wild he doesn't even set it up he'll just throw kicks by themselves he kind of established what he was going to do before i ever got to the ufc he's like i'm gonna get knocked out he's like uh i'm gonna

be the most exciting fighter in the sport and i'm gonna win some and when i lose i'm gonna get knocked out like wow who the fuck says that a maniac i'm tuning in when he fights every time fuck yeah fuck yeah yeah and that's a possibility too you know if he gets uh some wins in we could fight again me and him yeah for sure yeah i mean without a doubt i mean his his fight with khabib was very interesting um in the moments when they were standing it was very interesting it was interesting watching how much pressure khabib is putting on him because Because you never see Dustin moving that much, just trying to get away from him, chopping at the legs. But he was having some success with that leg kick.

It looked like the pressure, too, gassed Justin a little bit. Yeah. I thought he looked winded early in that fight. It could be the pressure of the fight. It could be the pressure of the movement. It could be he can't breathe out of his nose. I mean, you hear him talk. He's talking like this.

There's no fucking way that nose works. He has to breathe out of his mouth and i talked to him about that he's like you know when he's done fighting he'll get that fixed but not until then but i feel like for fighters not being able to breathe out of your nose is such a huge disadvantage you know yeah even to this day my right nostrils is blocked even after two surgeries? Just get in there and poke around. Clean it out like they did your hip. I have to pull my skin on my face to let the air pass. Really? Oh, Jesus.

I don't know what's going on with that. Not good. Not good. It's not COVID for sure. It's not COVID yet. They checked. Yeah, it's... I think Justin and Chandler is a great fight fuck yeah

that's what i would make i think that is the fight to make and justin's one fight remove you know that'll be the next fight from a title fight yeah if if uh chandler wins then you know as a purist what i would like to see is you and olivera for the title as a person who wants to see you make a fuckload of money i want to see a rematch with connor that's what i want to see you know july 4th weekend fans come on in florida just covet everywhere who gives a fuck by then maybe everybody would be vaccinated i bet uh ireland to miami is a is a quick flight yeah five hour flight yeah he'll go over in his boat. Let's go. Yeah. Call Dana. Just have people cooking for him and shit, meditating on the dock.

Yeah, pulling in his boat. Yeah, I think that's the fight for money. I mean, if you want to be wise. And with that, just being a man who I have a family to take care of, and of course I want to make as much money as I can in the sport, but I also want to be the world champion. Those are goals before I'm done fighting. I was the interim world champion, but that's going to be an asterisk next to that forever because it's interim.

Even though I beat a current champ, or at the time he was a current champ, it's just a lot of gray area with that stuff. I want to be undisputed world champion, no argument. And I can walk away a champion forever. And what I originally set out to do is be the world champion. I'll hit that goal. But I have a family to take care of, and I can't fight forever. So it's just a lot of pulling me in different directions mentally with that stuff. Yeah, if they gave you the option, fight for the title or fight a rematch with Conor?

Fight for the title versus Oliveira, rematch versus Conor. Would you have to think about it? Yeah, I'm thinking about it right now because I knew you were about to ask me. I'm like, shit, what am I? Let me talk to you. Fight Conor. Take the Conor fight. Yeah.

You're going to fight for the title again. Yeah, well, go out there, beat Conor, then the next fight is the title fight, no doubt about it. 100%. Yeah. And how often do you put yourself in a position for a trilogy of that magnitude? You know, it might happen once in your career, it might never happen. And for fighters and for fans alike, it's just an amazing, interesting encounter. It's just, it's an amazing opportunity.

The fact that he stops you in the first fight, you stop him in the second fight. Jesus Christ. I mean, that's just. And then because of who Conor is as just this larger than life personality, it makes it enormous. And if Conor can convince people that he's figured it out and he's more dedicated than before and he can convince people that. Oh, yeah. And people love a comeback story. Fuck yeah, they do.

And have that shit in a giant arena in florida i'm in i'll sign the contract right now come on jamie's gonna fly out too he's gonna be there look at him he's excited his eyebrows are going up so um listen man uh thanks for being here i appreciate you big fan thank you watched you fight from the time in your early 20s, man. It's been amazing watching you mature and grow and become who you are now. And so it's awesome to see and best of luck to you, sir. Thank you, Joe. I appreciate that, man. My pleasure, brother. And thanks for the hot sauce. Tell people where they can buy this. They can buy that at heatness.com. If you want to check out more info, go to diamondpourier.com. That's my website. Heat-a-nest. Heat-a-nest.

Dot com. Stay spicy, kids. Woo!