The Joe Rogan Experience - JRE MMA Show #23 with Alexander Gustafsson

Episode Date: April 16, 2018

Joe sits down with UFC Light Heavyweight fighter Alexander Gustafsson.

come down here hunting sometimes yeah man come down a lot of wild pigs out here alexander gustafson ladies and gentlemen we're live good to see you buddy what's happening good to be here i'm good i'm good you uh you're just recovering from shoulder surgery did you show what'd you have done uh i was wrestling i wrestled in practice i i got taken down believe it or not and i got i actually slammed and and i landed on i was i was like trying to pose with my arm and i was slammed so just felt something in my shoulder basically and it didn't hurt at first i was trying to stand up and i felt it was just a mess in there and after that i went to hospital and from there i've been i've been i've been rehabbing i got a plate inside

oh wow plate yeah i took it out now in like uh end of last year but I got a plate inside. Oh, wow, a plate. Yeah, I took it out now in like end of last year. But I had a plate for a couple of months, yeah. What was the extent of the injury? Nothing was broken. It was more like the collarbone just dislocated, ripped apart from my shoulder. So they had to put it back in, put the plate on, three screws down. That's the first real injury i had for my whole career i had bruises stitches and all that but this is the first real as i'm probably not back but pull this thing right in front of your face

there so it's all right like this yeah it's under your viking beard it's getting muffled so were there tendons torn or ligaments? Yeah, ligaments, tendons, everything just torn apart. Wow. So they stitched it all back together again, put a plate in there. Yeah. And now I've just been rehabbing. I feel fine. I'm 100% now.

So I'm in training. So how many months was it? Well, this happened in August. And I took away the plate end of last year. And I've been rehabbing for a couple of months. So yeah, I have six months totally maybe.

Oh yes. I was, when you grabbed the bow and you're pulling it back, I'm like, maybe I shouldn't have him do that. That's like, you know,

that kind of movement is like bench pressing. Yeah, but I'm fine now. I'm good. I'm good. It's all good. That's good.

That bow was powerful though. I didn't expect that. Yeah. It's no joke. It's good. That's some real shit. Oh yeah. Yeah, it's definitely good. I'm it's all good. That's the bow was powerful. I didn't expect that. Yeah, it's no joke. It's good That's me. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's definitely good like back training if you wanted to work on those muscles They're very specific 100% Yeah But um, so when you do that, do you go through are you doing like platelet-rich? Plasma and all sorts of different therapies to try to accelerate the healing? Well, I've done my physical rehab.

I've done a lot of like, I don't know the word in English, but a lot of acupuncture. Acupuncture. Yeah, a lot of massage, a lot of acupuncture acupuncture yeah a lot of a lot of massage a lot of rehab and lifting small weights really boring stuff I hate that stuff I I hate it so much but you just have to do it it's just tiny weights I started with that and then I've just been increasing and now that's it well boring as rehabbing you, obviously I'm a big fan of yours. And I was very worried when after the Glover to Chera fight, which I thought was like your masterpiece so far in your career. Thank you.

Well, it's just you've always been a very, very good fighter. But when you see a guy hit this new level, and that's what I felt like you were in the Glover fight, I was like, Jesus Christ. Like that combination that you finished him off with, that was some video game shit. That was crazy. It was for yourself, too, right? Yeah, no, it was just standing there.

It was just standing there, and I just, here is my shot. Here is my uppercuts. Yeah. Uppercut worked all night. It was crazy. So then when I heard that you were injured after that, I'm like, ah, shit. Like, you were just catching your stride. It was just a perfect

no I know that's what I thought because I felt like like you said I had I had everything's go I had such a flow in in training in in life generally everything felt really good and I'm hungry I was motivated I'm I'm very motivated uh but that that time after that that win and and Glover is a tough opponent and everything went so well and with the fight and everything and and I felt I felt really good and then this happened so so it was a big setback but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger right so I just kept working on it and and I just I just like I'm and I just looked forward, and I got a goal in my sight. That's it. Well, the one thing that is good about something like that is it really gives you time to pause and reflect

and pay attention to all the other aspects of your game. You're such a footwork-heavy, movement-heavy guy as it is. That's my thing, footwork. Yeah. Footwork heavy, movement heavy guy as it is. That's my thing, footwork. Yeah. But it's so unusual for a guy as tall and as big as you to be so agile and have so much footwork and movement. I mean, it must be a giant asset for you in fighting.

It is. And for the Glover fight, I could do that for 10 rounds. You know, I wasn't tired at all. I was just, I did my thing and I was out of there. I wasn't in his pocket. I wasn't in his range. Then I did my thing again and I was out of there i wasn't in his pocket i wasn't in his range right then i did my thing again and i was out of there i could do that all night all night long and that's also a thing like i knew i always had it but after that fight i really felt that this this

is working this is my thing and this is what i'm going to use and i'm going to get better at it i'm going to get better than everything the whole game, but this is my key thing. This is it. And I know Movement and footwork. If I fought DC, like I fought Glauco, I'll beat him. I'll beat him all day long, I'm telling you. I'll beat him. Well, it was a very close fight the first time you guys fought. Yeah, but

I still didn't. I didn't do it enough. I was in his pocket too much. One of the things that I really like about you, Alex, is that when you talk about yourself, you're very hard on yourself. You know, like I like that. One of the things that you said is that you're never satisfied. This is the life of a high-level athlete, never satisfied.

Never, never. I just want to improve all the time. And I've always been that guy, I've always been that person that always had to take the hard way in stuff, learning new stuff. I have to all the time take the hard way. I always had to take a beating first before I win. That's how it's been.

And that just makes me stronger. And I got that fire in me. It just grows. Yeah, well, you're still young i mean how old are you now 31 not that young that's young though i mean we think consider how long you've been fighting in the ufc i mean how old were you when you had your first fight in the ufc 21 22 that's crazy it's 10 years now that's crazy it's 10 years do you think about yourself as 21 fighting in the ufc like what yeah no it's it feels feels like, but I think it's 10 years,

it's always 10 years, but it feels like it was yesterday. I'm sure. Time runs, in particular in this business because your life is, it's all about the next fight. It's always about planning

for the next fight, the next fight. So, years are just passing me by. Well, you also have constant growth and improvement, but it gets tested in these big jumps, like every three times a year,

two times a year, whatever it is, your schedule that you're fighting on, you get these big tests and you get to find out how applicable everything that you've worked on is. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's how it is.

And you, you feel, you feel after that test, you just feel like what's next. Yeah. What should I do next you just feel like, what's next? Yeah. What should I do next? What's the next improvement? What's the next opponent?

Where's the belt? Stuff like that. When you get off of, like, you had one of the most spectacular fights with Jon Jones. I mean, down to the wire, as close as it gets. fights with John Jones I mean down to the wire like as close as it gets and when you get out of a fight like that where you almost won the title against the greatest of all time like what is what is that feeling like and where do you go from there? You know it was tough it was really tough because you know everybody was saying like you're winning this fight you're winning this fight you had three rounds saying like you're winning this fight you're winning this fight

you had three rounds against him are you winning this fight like it felt like like you said it was it was just it was just right there at the goal line you know i didn't really pass that goal line at all um i just felt like that it was tough it was tough but but but like now sitting here now talking to you it's a big it's a really good experience for me and and you know i really it's a good time for me the fight was what it's a highlight in my career for sure in my life for sure was such a close fight when when the scorecards are being tabbed and you uh you know you're just sitting there waiting for the decision did you think you had it you know you're just sitting there waiting for the decision did you think you had it you know i didn't know right i didn't know i didn't so much chaos could you

even remember what had happened over the last five rounds i remember i remember i remember the i remember the fight uh and i got uh i remember almost the whole fight, but it was just... Jon Jones is such a beast. I'm telling you, for me, Jon Jones, winning over Jon Jones is bigger than taking the belt. I'm telling you, that guy is such a beast. Yeah, what was the question? No, it's okay. Express yourself. That's fine. I mean, I agree with you. He is a beast know i'm very disappointed with all the stuff that's happened

to him obviously and especially the most recent one which i really i really believe based on the evidence is a mistake i think i think he got a hold of something tainted because if they they tested him before that he was negative they tested him after that he was negative and what he tested for was such a minuscule amount there's no way it was something that he yeah there's no way like according to Novitskiy and according to USADA according to like how they test people what whatever he consumed must have been an extremely small amount it wasn't an amount that would have had any benefit whatsoever in terms of performance performance enhancing, they know the thing.

So, you know, just let the expert handle that. I don't know what to say. I know for a fact that he's been in that same situation a couple of times. This is not the first time. So, you know, it's just… Well, he definitely is a wild motherfucker. He is. He is.

He definitely does some shit he probably shouldn't do. Yeah, 100%, man. But the thing is, it's so stupid because he is what he is. He's the best guy pound for pound out there. He's done things nobody else has done. He's just a beast and still shit just comes up all the time. He doesn't even need that steroids. He doesn't even need that shit in him.

He's still the best guy out there. I don't think he took anything. I really don't, but I agree with you on that. And I think you need a guy like that. You need a guy like that out there to bring you to your full potential. Do you agree? Yeah, I agree with you. I agree with you agree with you

yeah no like I said to you fighting him and beating him that's bigger than taking the belt right now that's how I feel because he's look what he did to DC man yeah and DC is tough he's really he finished DC yeah that's just insane it is just insane yeah and he finished him with a kick that DC said he's never gonna hit him with yeah that's crazy that's insane yeah he's like you're never gonna hit me with that left eye kick oh wow yeah just look for the opportunity it takes it yeah tendencies are crazy it's just some of them just get so ingrained in the way your body moves yeah no he's he's an expert, of course, in what he's doing, and he's studying his opponent very well. Everything is just such planted in details for the fights, and he knows exactly when he should go for that or that or that,

and staying creative and using his fantasy, and it's amazing to see. Yeah, that Jackson-Winklejohn team is a truly exceptional team. I mean, they really do phenomenal with him. Now, where you're at now is a very interesting situation because John is in exile. No one knows what's going to happen in terms of how long he's going to be suspended. DC is now fighting Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title. And who knows what's happening there.

I mean, does that bother you? Because it seems like it kind of like puts the 205 title in limbo it does yeah it does i didn't see that coming at all this is typified at all you know it's a it's a great fight for for them and for the fans and for the sport but you know for us standing in standing in line we just you know we're just sitting there on our on our like we're just sitting there and waiting for for an opportunity and it's not going to come it's not going to be there so you know and and and you know i will that's also a thing that's been motivating me a lot because uh after the fight with glove i got injured and all that and And I was really looking forward to come back and make a really strong performance,

you know, a very strong next performance. I just really wanted to, I had my eyes on that goal. And then I actually counted almost, you know, fighting DC. But then it was all gone by him going up the steeple. So it's a crazy situation. The whole division is just crazy right now. Yeah, it really is because that fight is not even going to take place until July. So here we are in April, May, June, July.

We have three months till that fight takes place. I know. So that fight and then obviously at least three months, most likely more before the title could be challenged again so that's we don't even know

if it comes back right who knows what happens in that fight plus once he gets used to eating again like you know DC wins

I see it in pictures now you know I'm gonna meet him a couple of days he looks a little bit you know heavy right now

well he was on on tv the other day eating potato chips like man you're in camp what the fuck you eating no he loved that yeah he loves food that's for sure i mean and uh i you know you look back at his performance in strike force as a heavyweight it was phenomenal he did good phenomenal he didn't lose no he didn't lose that heavyweight and he's good tossed around gorillas like Josh Barnett. Yeah, lift him up like nothing crazy right, you know this fight against tip is You know if it will be another I guess another heavyweight I'll probably see stupid was gonna win this fight But do you see it's like you said he's he's a really good heavyweight. So who knows what happens?

Well, his wrestling is just so next level. Yeah. It's such a, it's an interesting position, because Stipe is a very good wrestler, but of course, DC's world class. He's world class, and he doesn't take one step back, man. He just comes at you. Yeah. He's just in your face. But it's tough to count out Stipe, too,

because Stipe is the pound-for-pound consensus best heavyweight ever. I mean, the guy has defended the title more than anybody you look at his resume it's impeccable he knocks out uh Junior Dos Santos knocks out Overeem beats Francis Ngannou who's everybody's scared of I mean he's a badass he's a badass yeah so you know but DC it's he's such a competitive guy you know he doesn't he doesn't want he doesn't take a step back and he just goes for it. Even in tough situations, he just eats it and comes back and does what he does always.

And for being a fat guy, that guy works. He's screaming at you right now. Hey, man, settle down. But that guy is doing five rounds like nothing. Yeah. So the conditioning is on top. Yeah, he just eats the wrong food. That's all it is.

I mean, maybe some of it's genetic. I just think he's just eating the wrong food. I mean, there's evidence. He was eating potato chips. Yeah. I mean, there's evidence. It's not like I'm just talking out of my ass. I've seen him eat the wrong food.

Yeah, me too. Yeah. But yeah, nothing but respect for that guy. He's an awesome human being too. He's a great guy. He's a fantastic guy. Have you ever thought about fighting heavyweight? It crossed my mind from time to time, but I feel

I'm not done with, I'm not done in light heavyweight yet. I have still things to do. What do you walk around at? I'm heavy. I'm calling DC fat, but I probably shouldn things to do. What do you walk around at? I'm heavy. I'm heavy. I'm calling DC fat, but I probably shouldn't say anything.

Yeah, but you have an excuse. I've been in America for two days. I gain directly 10 pounds. Oh, yeah. Just being here. All our GMO food fucks you up. So when you normally are getting down to 205, what do you walk around at?

Two, you know, maybe I stop my camps 235 really yeah wow yeah i go up to 240 sometimes no kidding wow are you healthy at 240 or are you just like i move like never before it's crazy really yeah i do i got some speed in my my foot footwork. Do you feel good at 240? I feel pretty good being heavy. I do. And I feel strong. I feel strong. I'm sparring big guys. I'm sparring heavy guys. And I feel really strong being a heavyweight.

But like I told you, man, I'm not finishing light yet. I understand. I understand. But how much of you gets diminished in that cut to 205? Not that bad no it's like you know

when I start because off season I do maybe off season I do I do 8 to 10 sessions a week

I don't stress you know I don't eat shit food I of course sometimes I drink a couple of beers or I have a

pizza or whatever you know I have to live sometimes. But it's good regular meals, doing a little bit of lifting, some weights. And when I stop my camps, it's like my body feels like, okay, it's time now to start working here. And I start doing my sprints and my miles on the treadmill. From one week to another, I maybe lose like 10 pounds. It's crazy.

It's like my body just knows, okay, it's time to work. And then I just drop like nothing. Wow, so your body is just accustomed to the drop. Yeah, and I feel it's because I've done it many times. So it's just like in all the routines. Now, I know you do a lot of hunting and you were showing me some photos before the podcast. Do you incorporate wild game into your diet? That's all I do.

That's all I do. I wouldn't say never, but I barely buy anything from the store when it comes to meat or all that. I just hunt. I just hunt everything i eat i try to support my family with with with the with what i'm hunting you know we gotta i'm hunting a lot of wild boars we have a lot of wild boars in sweden i'm hunting deers we got red deer fallow deers uh we got moose and you can't compare the meat it's's a science just to cook it right. But if you cook it right and you know what you're doing, it's the best thing ever.

Yeah, I agree. And I've always wondered, as a professional athlete, what it would be like, whether or not you see the benefit in eating such protein-rich, nutrient-dense meat as opposed to pasture-raised or farm cattle. Yeah, you can't compare it. You can't compare it yeah you can't compare it and and and and and everything around it too you know they're suffering they do like it's it's not a good it's not a good business you know i don't like that business i don't want

to support it at all so i'd rather do my hunting no i agree and i mean there's to me that's the best way if you're going to eat meat it's absolutely the best way but what i'm thinking is like i don't know a lot of pro athletes that only eat wild game and only hunt wild game but i would think that there would be a great benefit in that 100 100 you can get better nutrition to your body than eating eating that meat it's the best thing there is you know i feel You know, I feel like just how do you feel after eating like a 400 gram steak after eating like a 400 gram whatever dairy you've been hunting? You don't feel the same. You don't feel tired. You don't feel like you're getting this food coma and stuff like that. You feel fresh.

Yeah. It's weird, right? Wild game has almost an invigorating sensation to it when you eat it. Yeah. It actually feels good. You feel strong. You feel strong. You feel good about doing it.

How long have you been hunting? I've been hunting since I was a kid. I grew up on a farm, and my dad was hunting a lot when I was a kid. And then I didn't hunt for a for a long time and i get back to 2012 actually i took my license and and and i just you know after i've been hunting if i don't train i'm outdoors if i don't train i'm outdoors and we have seasons in sweden so it's not like you're hunting all year round right but but i make sure i i fill the freezer under those seasons um so yeah and i'm not training i'm hunting that's awesome man well you don't use

bows there though it's not it's not legal right yeah a lot of european countries i know in spain it's legal oh yeah yeah in spain where you said you hunted those red deer yeah yeah yeah you can i have a friend of mine who lives in spain he's a big bow hunter okay yeah no it's only rifles in sweden yeah but that works too man it works i mean it's the most effective way for sure and obviously you can shoot them at a higher distance and a lot of people think it's more humane too if you're not good with a bow they're right yeah yeah you know but when it comes to the feeling of being outdoors, being close to the animal and stuff like that, I don't even think you can compare it to actually the bow hunting. No.

It's a whole other technique. It's a whole other way to hunt. Well, a guy like you who loves challenges, who thrives off of that, you would thrive off of bow hunting. I haven't done it, but if I try, I'd probably love it. Listen, man, I'll hook you up. I appreciate that. I'll set it all up. I'll be back.

My friend John Dudley is tall like you, too, so he'd be the perfect guy to coach you. He could explain it to you and take you out on a hunt. Yeah, no, I can't wait, man. I love that. Well, especially wild pigs. There's a place that he has in Oklahoma that they hunt a lot of wild pigs. I mean, they just have to eradicate them. There's so many of them.

I heard about it. Yeah. It's crazy. It's too many. I heard it's... And how they hunt they hunt them too is kind of crazy oh the ones in texas where they do it from helicopters i saw that on youtube channels and stuff like that going crazy down there they just have to there's i mean texas is so big and there's so many pigs there's millions and millions of pigs there and they're constantly breeding yeah yeah they'll have like three four littles a year and each litter they'll have four six piglets and they just keep going and going and

going and going and there's no end wow and they don't have very many predators a few mountain lions take them out occasionally yeah for the most part they just run and gun it and they keep breeding do they get big in here yeah they get big yeah they do big several hundred pounds yeah yeah it's common to see three, 400-pound pigs. Wow. In Sweden, we have a couple of them, but they don't get that big, though. The thing is, how we hunt them in Sweden is when the farmers, when they, you know, they have all their acres and all their, you know, the lands, they actually call us in. Because of the pigs?

Yeah. Yeah. To help them out. And we're just out there all night. The sun never goes down in Sweden in summer times. Oh, really? Now we just out there all night the sun never goes down in sweden in summer times oh really now we had like a midnight sun so it's so cozy being out there it's kind of warm it's nice you're going around you're checking the lands and it's pretty good man you would like it i'm sure i would i've only been to sweden once for the ufc when i was there but i loved it stockholm's a beautiful city. Fantastic.

Really enjoyed it there. Thank you. Very nice people, too. Oh, they are. They are. They are. So how did you get aligned with Alliance? How did that wind up happening, where you started coming to America to train?

And how far into your career was that? Right off the field fight. Really? Yeah, right off the field fight. And back then, we didn't have those resources in Stockholm at all. You said Phil Davis we were talking about. Yeah, Phil Davis. Yeah, yeah.

Mr. Wonderful. Who is also an Alliance fighter. Yeah. Which is pretty cool, man, that you guys fought and then you went to train with him. Yeah. How'd that work out? It went good. He just kicked my ass the first couple of times before I started learning the whole wrestling part

and how you need to defend a takedown. And after that, I just become good at it. And I really enjoy coming down here, meeting the guys and training. It's a whole other type of life. Well, it's so cool that he, you know, accepted you after you were an opponent, too, and had you come and learn with him. Yeah, we just talked after the fight right away, and I just swallowed my pride and I just talked to him after the fight.

He invited me over, and we just came meeting my coach we just came over and we had no idea what to expect and i remember we just we just landed now we landed at night time so we went to the gym to sleep i woke up the the day after and i was hitting someone hitting the bags down there like in the in the mat area like early now super early i'm like who's this i went down it was phil it was hitting the bags and i felt so like oh damn i have to do this too i have to say that we started to like you know train together so it was a really good time and then he came actually down to us to help me with with glover to share it too so you went to sweden yeah yeah for a couple of weeks so any love it too and that and you

know it's it means so much to me to to have these guys training with me you know with Phil, Ili Latifi, we have Jimmy Manoa and all those guys yeah such a such a great guys and love training with them and it makes my training just I just steps up you, steps up even more. We have a bunch of guys. We have like Russian coming in. We established a really good place now at All-Stars in Sweden and Europe, around Europe. And getting so much good guys. And my level of fighting just rises through the top, man. I'm telling you.

If I spar with Phil, Jimmy or Ilya, I just feel like every day is a fight. You can't be relaxed. You can't just throw a jab and not care about the counter. You have to – such amazing training. Well, it's so fantastic, too, over the last decade, the level of talent that's coming out of Europe has just escalated. It's been so different and so big. And the wrestling, too, which is a big part of it,

so much more wrestling so much so much more talent exactly now we you know we have we have we have guys coming from from from Uzbekistan we have different Russian countries down there they're coming in and those guys are beast I'm telling they are beast and they're they're they're driving their their double legs to take downs they And they eat shots, though. They eat shots. They take it like nothing, and it just comes at you. So they make me work a lot.

And, yeah, that's exactly what I need. Exactly what I need. Yeah, that's been one of the more interesting things over the last five or six years is the rise of the Russians. There's been so many from the former Soviet Union. Yeah. Now they have such a working capacity. They, they, they work a lot. We have a couple of guys down at the gym now and, you know, they're at the gym when I come

to the gym, they're at the gym when I leave the gym. They never leave. Oh, wait, they live in there though, so they never leave basically, but, but they live They live there, so they actually do live there. Yeah, we have, we have, we have, we have. We have a facility so people can stay and train. Oh, that's excellent. Yeah. But they just work, man.

They work all day long. That's a great asset to have a facility where people can train and live there. I know American Top Team put something like that in. Winkle John and Greg Jackson put something like that in. Yeah. That's got to help so much where young guys who don't have much money but, you know, want a place to train. 100%. It's a really good way to also to, you know, give something back, man.

It's, you know, they have their rooms to sleep in. We manage so they have really good foods, you know foods to bring lunches and stuff. And we also got it from here. Because at the beginning when we came to San Diego, like I told you, it was another type of training, another type of lifestyle. And we saw that, me and my coach, Andreas Michael. We just, after doing this years and years and years uh we now managed to do it but at home and i just love it you know i'll be i'll be traveling i've been traveling all my all my career to to to america to train and around the place so i now we establish a good a good

training system that works and we establish it good and i feel great to be home uh you know when you're getting a family and stuff i'm 31 years old and it works man it works i i've never been as that shape of my life than i've been like training at home and feeling good that's fantastic where you don't have to drain yourself by flying over across the country and staying somewhere you don't know. Exactly. You were a real pioneer in terms of European mixed martial arts. What is it like now seeing all this sort of explode around you? I mean, it's become so popular all over the world now.

I mean, MMA from when you started 10 years ago to now, it's barely recognizable. No, you were a gangster back then. Or you were a psychopath. Either one or two of those when you're training. But nowadays, it's amazing. I walk around in Stockholm and people are junkies. They know even more than I know about the techniques, about the sport.

We have old ladies and all gentlemen coming in, one on an autograph or a picture. It's grown so much. Like you said, it's been exploded all over the world. Now, what I was getting at was that when you first started out, how much of a structure was in place, like in terms of how much strength and conditioning you should do, how much sparring you should do, how much drilling you should do?

conditioning you should do how much sparring you should do how much drilling you should do you know i just i let andreas michael to handle that to me he's he's he's a he's a mastermind of coaching he he he puts me in situations i you know i hate him he's the worst ever i'm telling we've been such an we've always been fighting sometimes you know be like uh but he has this old mentality of training uh he doesn't do we don't do too much of the scientific thing like with you know you watch your pulse you you measure your thing we just do the hardcore things and of course we do that to the scientific a little bit but not too much so we're trying to balance it out uh but just we yeah he plans everything out he's a mastermind of coaching and he knows me in and out and i know him that's another very important part in the development of young fighters is having

someone that they can entrust that has knowledge where it's an eric del fiero or andreas or you know jackson winklejohn like whoever it is. Having someone who really understands the sport, who can guide you. And that's just such a giant resource for a guy. Yeah, it is. And as the sport explodes and gets bigger, you have those fake ones coming in and think they know everything. And they want to have a piece of the cake, basically. But you have these guys like Eric Del Fierro and Andreas Michael,

and they're masterminds, man. What is Andreas, what is his background? Boxing. He was a professional boxer back then. He has like 19 or 20 now in his boxing record. And then he broke his arm and he had to finish by, he had to finish career because of his arm. But no, that's his background.

And that's where I got my footwork from. That's where I got my foundation in fighting from. And then also one thing about a coach, like for Andreas, for example, or Eric Tufiero, they don't care about the don't they don't care about the glory they don't care about the attention you know they they don't care about they they're the head coaches but they they they take in if they they are honest to to to me and to themselves you know i don't know these things i don't know the grappling things i don't know the wrestling things they learn as they learn too as it as it grows and they

learn with me but they take in people that you know so we cover the whole thing because we cover the whole the whole the all the aspects of the game basically so yeah eric is one of the most important but yet the most humble guys yeah he's super humble he's very in the background there's a few guys like that that i really respect john crouch from the mma lab he's super humble. He's very in the background. There's a few guys like that that I really respect. John Crouch from the MMA lab, he's very similar to. They're not looking for attention, just laying back. And there's a lot of guys that aren't looking for attention, they just get it because they're so good. Like Firas Zahabi, you can keep going on and on.

There's a lot of them. But those guys are so important. I mean, it's so critical. Like finding a big camp with great fighters and a fantastic coaching staff is what the difference between you realizing your full potential and not that sometimes is the difference yeah that's that's just having the right coach is the key basically that's the key coaches and training partners yeah 100 yeah now so you you give him like full reign in terms of like everything you do and we discuss it all the time we argue sometimes we're hugging sometimes you know it's

it's like a relationship man it's my it's my family too so so you know we that's all it is i remember we had a we had good... We were in Vegas, actually, for a camp. I thought I was fighting Tiago Silva. And he was putting me in there in the cage with some big-ass wrestlers. And I wasn't 235 back then. I was like 220, 219, walking around with... These guys was heavy. Big American heavyweights.

Good wrestling guys. And they were just taking me down taking me down like submitting me and I was like I stand up in the cage I throw all of my things I'm like it's enough

I can't take it anymore let me out let me out of the cage so I was hitting the door I wanted out of the cage and the gym was full of people now so everybody just froze looking at me like

and the cage was like on a pedestal so everybody could see me I went crazy so I was hitting the door, and I see Andreas. He's outside the door. He's like doing this. Nope.

Nope. He's staying in there. One more round. I was so close to. Meanwhile, when you took Jon Jones down, you had to be thinking, God damn, I'm glad he didn't open up that door. Exactly. I was surprised when I ended up in that position on top of him.

You shocked the shit out of me. Did this really happen? I didn't think you were going to go for it. So when you went for it and then took him down, we were like, oh, shit. I was shocked. I was laying on top of him. I'm like, wow, I'm actually on top of this guy. I didn't even think that was possible.

But it wasn't that too hard to take down, you know? I think you caught him by surprise. Yeah, yeah, I did. It was pretty awesome. I think he was surprised, too. Yeah, yeah. Well, it was pretty fucking awesome. Now, what is a typical day in your camp?

Like, do you break up conditioning days with skill work days? Do you do conditioning in the morning? Do you do it after you're done with your skill work? How do you work that? I do from 10 to 12 sessions a week when I'm in camp. I try to,

we have actually the group, we had the group workouts with the whole group, the whole elite group in the mornings. And then we do everything from sparring to to good kickboxing drills to yeah whatever it's that's when the group is training and that's that's it's all the time it's the same group at the same time every morning and then the night time is more like individual okay what i'm doing today yeah

you'd maybe do five five rounds of pads and then you do the sprints or it could be either one or strength or yeah it could be either one so that's how we that's how we how we do it basically so do you have a separate jiu-jitsu coach a separate muay thai coach like how do you how do you work all that stuff out yeah the guy that was with me now joachim carlson he's actually the, he's actually the national coach of Thai boxing. He's right. And he's coaching me in my kicks and my knees and my kickboxing. And then Alan Nascimento, it's a Brazilian. He lives in, I've been living in Sweden many years, and he's a family and everything. So he has my jiu-jitsu and my grappling, and he's such a competitive guy.

He still competes. He beats me up, and he spars with me, basically. That guy, he spars with me, and he just makes me learn the hard way. So you've got just an amazing staff over there. Amazing staff. It's amazing staff. That's fantastic. Yeah, I love it. And so when you say you do these 10 to 12 sessions per week,

do you have, like, a board up on the wall where you outline the week ahead or do you do it day by day? How do you do that? No, I get a text from Andreas. That's it. This is the week. Today we're doing this. I'm just waiting for that text, man.

I put the silos on fire. I put my phone like I don't want to see it, man. But I have to, man. So that's how it works. He gave me a text. but I have to man so that's how it works he gave me a text it could be on the board too

we have a big board on the wall it could be on the wall too he puts down the session if it's something particular we have maybe sparring coming in we have to adapt the schedule a little bit it's a difference from every week yeah I can imagine

are you still training yeah i still train yeah yeah i've got some serious injuries and i'm trying to heal up right now what's the injuries two uh problems uh one big one is i got tendonitis in my elbow i've never had tendonitis before and i don't know what that is though it's fucking strain in the tendon that just does if you tendons have low blood supply So the problem with tendonitis is It takes forever to heal You overstretched the arm?

It was from pulling, from cleans And from chin-ups This one on the inside This muscle right here Man, I fucked it up I kept training with it You got an inflammation in it? Yeah, real bad I kept training with it. I kept getting information in it real bad to the point where it wasn't healing. And I did stem cells and PRP. I finally got a hold

of it. But this thing right here, I keep it with me all the time. This helped me more than anything. It's a thing called the TheraBand. And what you do is you hold it because it's on, this is the elbow that's injured. So I hold it out like this. I twist it, and then I slowly untwist it with this side. And that therapy, just doing this, I do this like five, six times a day. I'll do like 10 reps. That's been like the best thing. That's helped me more than anything.

Will you be able to train now, or you've been just now? No, pretty soon. Pretty soon. I think I'm good in about two weeks. I'm going to give myself two more weeks. You have some badass kicks. Oh, thank you. That's what I heard. I think I'm good in about two weeks. I'm going to give myself two more weeks. You have some badass kicks. Oh, thank you.

That's what I heard. I'm seeing. I'll show you. I can still kick. I have no problem with my kicks. Flexible? Yeah, I'm very flexible. Cool.

Cool. I did Taekwondo when I was a little kid. I started out with that and then got into Muay Thai later. But yeah. Cool. I'm not flexible at all. No? No.

I have to stretch for an hour before the workouts really yeah I think it's I don't know I think it's from my genetics or something

I'm just a stiff Vikings I'm telling you carrying swords swinging swords all the time I should be happy if I kick over your knees I can only move fast

with my feet that's all yeah but I guarantee you you could improve that flexibility yeah no I work it on it all that's the thing I have to that's the thing I have through my whole career.

I'm just working on my flexibility. And when I'm stepping in that octagon, I'm flexible as hell. But that's just two times a year, though. So once you get to the full peak of camp, then you're flexible. As soon as I leave the cage, it's gone. It all tightens back up. Are you doing a lot of weightlifting? Is that what it is?

You're doing a lot of squats or deadlifts or something like that? No, it's in my genetics, I think. I'm super stiff. It depends. I'm not stiff everywhere. It's just my hamstrings are stiff. When did you start martial arts? For real, when I was starting MMA, end of 2006.

Really? Yeah. Okay, so it was fairly late in end of 2006. Really? Yeah. Okay, so it was fairly late in life. It was. I've been boxing and stuff, but that's just been an amateur level. I don't even count that as a serious doing sport thing. It was just... Fucking around?

Yeah, just been playing around. So you were basically like 18, 19 when you really got into it? Around there, yeah. So your body already matured. See, one of the things that you see about kicking in particular is when you get young fighters before their body is matured then their flexibility usually stays yeah you know like if you start karate or something like that phil davis for example that guy is massive but still he's flexible as he's great he's like a fucking stud he looks like a superhero I know like you look at

his waist to shoulder ratio I know it's the same with Jimmy though Jimmy Manoa I don't put on my t-shirt when I'm training with him

I don't want to just keep my hoodie on me just keep my hoodie on me same with Phil yeah those guys are jacked

yeah I know even if they're off season that's the thing I just get chubby like a big

big ass farmer body. These guys, they look like athletes all year round. Is that frustrating? Sometimes. But is that just genetics? But it's good, though, when I'm winning the rounds sometimes. Right, when you're winning rounds as a fat guy.

Fat guys all over the world. So do you watch your diet at all outside of camp? I do. I do, actually. I do. I try to stay away from sugar. Sugar, I don't. When I do sugar, if I do like sodas and stuff like that, candy, whatever, I gain a lot of weight.

But as soon as I quit it, I just drop in weight. Sugar's the devil. It is. I hate sugar. It's the worst in weight. Sugar's the devil. It is. I hate sugar. It's the worst. Yeah. It's the worst. When you realize what it's actually doing to your body and then you realize it's everywhere

and that most people that you run into are just eating sugar all day long. Yeah. And it actually doesn't taste that good if you don't do it. Right. That's the weird thing, right? Once your gut bacteria becomes acclimated to eating healthy food, you start craving salads and shit. Yeah.

It's weird, right? Yeah. Now, when you talk about flexibility, do you ever do yoga? I don't. You don't? No, I don't like that. No. Vikings and yoga don't mix.

No, I think it's just because I'm so battered. You need patience. You need a lot of patience. And I wish I liked it. Because I probably need it more than ever but it's the don't get me wrong um uh you know i stretch i do my flexible things in in my training and all that but yeah put a whole workout in just to just to stretch your body i'm i don't know i don't i don't have the patience for it it's not just that though that's what's interesting about it it's a strengthening thing too it just strengthens your

body in an unusual way i've seen a lot more fighters getting involved in it and really seeing benefits one of them was uh nathan corbett you know nathan corbett the muay thai champion yeah i heard about it yeah he's doing some interview recently talking about how much yoga he does and how much it's helped his power and helped his movement. No, I believe it does. I believe it does. But you're still not interested? I probably have to think about it.

Well, I was thinking a guy like you who's so driven that trying to succeed, you know, at all costs, like trying to figure out what's the best way to succeed. Yeah. You might want to investigate that. I should. I should actually do it i should do it i think it will i think i will you know like people telling me you know they're telling me like my kicks i have to work on my case more i have to use my kicks more in the fights and they're all right i need to start doing my kicks more and the thing i kick but i kick with a certain maybe uh unsecurity i don't know i i i i like i think it is from from back in the days

when i was getting taken down all the time doing my kicks but nowadays people taking me down but i'm you know they can't hold me down right nobody if they take me down nobody can hold me down so that's something i need to like start doing even more not just kicking to the to the legs or you know more powerful kicks to the body my knees are good i work on my knees all the time and i'm putting in more in my fights and i love my knees i'm i'm getting really high with my knees what's one of the beautiful things about mma and martial arts in general is that there's always room for improvement there's always things to work on no one is the best at everything. Even if you're 31 years old,

you're doing this for 10 years, you still have so much to learn. Yeah. That's the good thing with the sport. No, it's such a

comprehensive sport. I mean, I really don't think people appreciate how much thought is involved in the preparation. Yeah. No, it's a lot.

It's a lot. It's a lot. So. How long do you think you'll be doing it? You say 31 like you're old, but you're not. But it seems like you've been doing it a long time, right? Yeah.

How many years do you think you have left? I feel really hungry and motivated. I don't think the age is going to be. I don't think the age is going to be, I don't think my age in terms of, you know, have pain in your body or injuries or anything like that is going to stop me. It's more like as long as I'm having fun, as long as I'm enjoying what I'm doing,

I'll do it. I'll do it. You have guys that are like doing it late in 40s. That's also a good thing with the sport. It's such an old age of of of peaking if you compare it to other sports so i have i have a lot more to gain i can't give you a number but i have a lot more to to give you've had moments in your career though that you were kind of down right like yeah of course where you're thinking how much longer am i going to do this exactly now after anthony johnson lost that was a tough one um you know uh but but i always told

myself like you know either either either i just put my either i just get the fuck out of there or just learn from it and keep going doing it And I just love my life as it is. You know, I have the, I have my, I'm so flexible in my schedule, my, you know,

in my time with the family. And I gain everything from the sport. So, so, I have to do it more. And I'm going to do it more. That's, that's what I,

if I, if I probably going to like, if I would like, for example, say, you know, fuck it. I don't like, if I would like, for example, say, you know, fuck it. I don't, after I lost against, for example, I regret myself like a lot. Like in the late 40s maybe.

Right. So. Well, because you had your finest performance after that. Yeah. I mean, the Glover to Sheriff fight. And I just feel like that's the thing. You know, I just feel like I'm just keep going like this. Right. share a fight. And I just feel like that's the thing. I just feel like I just keep going like this. Right.

Then I have a couple of setbacks, but I'm still seeing those marginals. I see the numbers going up. I see myself doing better. So I believe in myself 100%, and I believe I have what it takes to take that belt. I believe I have what it takes. And I believe I can beat Jon Jones.

I believe 100%. I have what it takes and i believe i can beat john jones i believe 100 i have what it takes to beat john jones and i have what it takes to beat dc so i'm just looking for that opportunity i want to you know step in there people say i'm not active enough i don't say enough but that's never been my thing i've never been like a conor mcgregor and if i should start doing what he's doing people are going to tell me like shut the fuck up you know I see right through you you're not that guy right right I was just like selling myself so yeah so I just you know doing what I do I'm always going to do what I do and and and I show what I have when I when I fight and I've been a little bit inactive because of because of my injury now and because of all that but you know whatever people say I'm I'm down,

and I'm just waiting for the next opportunity, basically. I can't wait. The Rumble Johnson fight was a tough one for you to swallow, too, because it was in Stockholm. It was this enormous event. Everybody was there to see you. And in that fight, we didn't pick it up while the fight was going on, but you guys collided heads.

Yeah, it was a headbutt. I'm not i'm not i'm not taking anything away from anthony johnson that guy is a beast and he hits a hot he's one of the hardest hitter in the in the no doubt fucking sport no doubt i mean no one's taking anything away from him he's truly exceptional but the thing is i was throwing my my my kick there and he just came in there and his forehead hit my my chin yeah and from and I just I just blacked out I didn't I went down I went up again I was in the I was in the match again but he just you know when he gets a taste of blood he just goes for it and and I should just keep my guard up I'm very like this right you know I'm very lengthy and he just caught me as I'm doing all that.

But isn't that one of those situations where until you've been there and you've been that hurt in a big fight like that, it's like the experience is, it's an alien experience. It is. It is. It is. You don't recognize any of it. It's like you can't, nothing controls your mind trying to control your legs, your arms like this and that but I was just disorientated man

it was four in the morning in one of the big stadium in Sweden, four in the morning, we filled it up we filled it up it was huge man and like I said, four in the morning when the people told me like

oh we're gonna do this i'm like no hell it's not gonna it's not gonna happen how should we manage to fill this place up right but still people went there to see it and it was just amazing feeling stepping out there well for people who don't understand why they did it to coordinate it with american pay-per-view yeah exactly exactly uh so yeah that was it that was it yeah it was rough man it was a rough loss and now rumble just decided he doesn't want to fight anymore which is kind of crazy yeah every now and then he thinks about it he says he wants to come back as a heavyweight yeah yeah i don't think he's even going to make it to light heavy anymore no he's not suspicious i've seen it's so crazy to think that that guy fought at 170 at one point in his career. I can't even see that now.

Yeah, I don't understand how he even did it. I mean, it just doesn't make any sense. Such a massive guy. His neck is like the size of his head. He has not a small head. He has like this big round head. Yeah. And the neck is the size of his head.

So he's a big guy, a really big guy. I ran into him once while he was fighting 170. He was in the lobby of a hotel. I came downstairs and I go, Anthony, how much do you weigh? And he starts laughing. He's like, 230. I was like, 230? You weighed 230? You gotta get down to

170? That makes my weight cut easy, man. I'm telling you, that makes my weight cut easy. His weight cut was horrific. His cheeks used to suck. He has prominent cheekbones, right? So when his weight cut was fully dehydrated, when his body was really, really thin, it was horrible. It was like a skeleton.

Oh, shit. It's like, man, that guy. That's not good for you at all. He missed weight a bunch of times, too. Now, going up to light heavyweights is probably the best thing he's ever done in his career. I agree. Yeah. Yeah, I was kind of stunned when he decided to retire.

But what he said was interesting. He said, I'm not a fighter. He goes, I'm an athlete. He goes, I'm just really good at fighting. I don't like fighting. I don't know if that's correct, though. I would see him more like a fighter. You know, he's a great athlete, but I see him more like a hardcore fighter.

I don't, you know, of course, we all are athletes doing this, but he's more like the fighter. You know, Phil Davies is an athlete. He's an athlete, but this guy, he's just like, he's a fighter, man, I'm telling you. You gotta tell him, man. I mean, if you watch his fight with Glover Teixeira, or you watch his fight with Little Nog, you go, yeah, that motherfucker's a destroyer. He does. He's a destroyer.

You don't want to be in front of him. And that shows you how fucking tough DC is. Yeah. DC beat that guy twice. I throw everything I had at him. Everything I had. I kneed him in the face. I kicked him in his body.

Sometimes I hit him and I saw his eyes go like this. And he just kept going. DC's an animal. Yeah. A four-wheel drive just kept on going. He's a fucking animal, man. Whatever. And he just, same pace, same pace.

Yeah. You know, if I fight him again, I will not stand in his pocket. I will not stand in front of him. So you think that was the critical error? 100%. Like being right in front of him? Yeah, 100%. Especially when you have such a reach advantage.

Yeah. I respect him he's wrestling too much so yeah like if I fought him again I would do it a way different way yeah I'm sure he'd do

something different too though right he'd probably do he'd probably do but he'd still do one thing like all the time he just keeps moving forward that's what he does

what you gotta do is you gotta catch him when he's coming down from heavyweight yeah you remember the towel when he was coming down from heavyweight. You remember the towel. He's pushing down on us. I saw that.

I saw that. No, I want him to come down. I hope he's coming down. Yeah. He can't just like, you know, take that fight now. You know, even if he wins, he has to come down and defend. Listen, if he beats Stipe, he might to come down and... Defend? Defend and fight. Listen, if he beats Stipe, he might fight Francis again.

Who knows? He might fight Volkov. You know, he could fight... No, he has to fight me. He doesn't want to fight me, but he has to fight me. He has to, in your mind. He has to fight me. That's what you need. Yeah, that's what I need.

Yeah. That's my... It's him or John. So if John's back first, you would like to be the first guy to fight John? I want him back right away. Yeah. I mean, I'm training. I'm in camp.

I'm not in camp. Sorry. I'm training. Right. I'm feeling great. My shoulder is good. And I'm just waiting for an opportunity. The light heavyweight is pretty wide open right now.

It is. Particularly with this decision for DC to fight against Stipe. So you have, you know, it's interesting. Like, you have Ozdemir, who just lost, right? You got your friend Jimmy Manua. You have a few guys who are at the top of the heap, you know, but you're the standout right now. I am.

With John being in limbo. Yeah, he's gone. Nobody knows what's happening with him. Who else stands out to you in that division? Elir. Yeah, he's gone. Nobody knows what's happening with him. Who else stands out to you in that division? Aaliyah. Yeah, yeah, Aaliyah. You know, I wouldn't fight my teammates. I don't fight my teammates.

Aaliyah, I've been training with him since I started my career. So Jimmy and Aaliyah, we've been saying to each other that whatever happens, we're not fighting each other. But, yeah for the only the only the only fight that makes sense for me right now it's uh it's fighting if fighting the top guys you know i'm ranked number one right now so i can't look back i can't look down i have to look up right what's what's the next up here and uh if we take it from there we take it from there and and uh like you said with Jon Jones

he's in limbo I hope he comes back if he doesn't come back maybe I'll fight him in boxing I'll fight him in boxing too why does he want to box?

he's been boxing on his Instagram that's all he do he's boxing right now really? yeah I haven't paid attention to his Instagram

nah he's boxing all the time yeah I don't see him coming back as a boxer, though. Maybe he just sees that Conor McGregor money. Yeah, that's another thing. But we can take it like, you know, maybe a sideshow here. We can box.

Whatever. So you just want to get in there with him somehow or another. Yeah, somehow or another. Somehow or another, your competitive drive once you get in there with him. That's my, like I told you, it's bigger than winning the belt that's your mount everest john jones it is john's out there going yeah he knows that he knows that there he is yeah there he is he's still got that corvette yo sell that thing get a minivan drive slow it looks good man looks real good yeah you do it's got to be so frustrating for him to be in a situation that he's in.

Yeah, I can't even imagine. Yeah, I can't imagine either. It's fucked up. It's a crazy situation to be in. Yeah. Did you see the article, Colby Covington? No, what did he say? What he said about Jon Jones?

I don't even want to hear it. No, okay. We shouldn't even go there. I mean, you can bring it up if you want to, but Colby... No, he was talking. It was like a text like this, just about Jon Jones, how piece of shit he is. Now, I was even surprised when I saw it myself. You know, I was like, is this right or wrong?

I don't know. Jon Jones is going to be in front of you one day. You got to be careful. Watch your fucking words. Yeah. You're going to get slapped in the face by a guy who can kill you with his hands that's a that's a bad move i i get what colby's doing i mean he's making a lot of noise and trying to do business you know and if you fight him you're gonna make a lot of money because a lot of people are gonna come to see him get his ass kicked you

know you know he's probably not he's not probably on the on the on the popular list it's probably on the i want to see i want to see you get knocked out list. He's in a dangerous situation right now. He's going to fight Dos Anjos. Rafael Dos Anjos is Brazilian. He talked crazy shit about Brazil and they were going to fight in Brazil, but they moved the fight to Chicago, which

for Kobe, thank the baby Jesus. Exactly. I would say the same thing. He don't want to be fighting Rafael Dos Anjos, Brazilian. You don't even want to be close to Brazilian right now if you're Kobe Coving same thing. He don't want to be fighting Rafael dos Anjos, Brazilian. You don't even want to be close to Brazilian right now if you were Colby Covington. You don't even want to be close to him. No, I would not go if I was him. He'd probably go anywhere, man. He doesn't

give a fuck. He'll go if the money's right. I'm sure he would. But dos Anjos right now at Welterweight, I think, is a murderer. He's a fucking killer at Welterweight because for him, that cut down to 55 was just too big. Too big. He's a big guy. He's big. I mean, it's just too much of a murderer. He's a fucking killer at welterweight. Because for him, that cut down to 55 was just too big. Too big. No, he's a big guy.

He's big. I mean, it's just too much of a cut. Too draining on his body. And then you see the way he beat Robbie Lawler in his last fight. You're like, holy shit. Goes through Neil Magny, Robbie Lawler. And you look at how good he looks at 170. You're like, holy shit.

It's a good fight. It's a good fight. It's a very good fight. It's a really good fight. Particularly stand-up. He has a big advantage, I think, over Colby. Yeah. Stand-up.

What does he do, Colby? Is he a wrestler? He's a wrestler. He's a wrestler. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. His stand-up is good.

I mean, he beat Damian Maia. He beat him up. But I feel like Maia is, you know, I mean, Maia was coming off of that very, very hard fight against Tyron Woodley. Five hard rounds, got beat up. And then he's going to go five, I think he went three rounds with Colby, but I just don't think he's the same guy anymore.

I think he's 41, I think, Maya. He's been in the game for a very long time. Long time. He's been in the game for a very long time. Yeah, and I think those long, hard five-round wars like he did with Woodley. It takes a toll on you, yeah. It takes a toll on you.

Not taking anything away from Colby, but I also think Colby's style is probably tailor-made for a guy like Maia. Yeah. You know, wrestling, very strong. That's what you usually see. Like, he wrestles against Brazilian jiu-jitsu guys. Yeah. You know?

Yeah. Now, you're a fucking decent guy. You don't get in any bullshit. You're not involved in any brawls. You don't get involved in any stupidity. You're an excellent representative of a professional athlete. Thanks. What do you think about all this Conor McGregor bullshit?

Like you see someone throwing a dolly at a bus and shattering a window. No, I don't even have words for it, man. I have no words for it. What did you think of when you heard the news? I heard the news when I landed. I was in the plane when it was all happening, flying to New York. And when I landed,

my phone was like, all these text messages coming in going, what the fuck is wrong with Connor? What the, I'm like, what happened? You know? And then I checked the news and I was like,

Oh Christ. And then I hear that two fights were pulled from the card. Then three fights were pulled from the card. No, Conor McGregor, he's just, he's just losing it right now it feels like he's he's lost it i i feel like you know i i've never really been you know i respect all the things this does he's he's he's a he's a great businessman he do what it takes to make money he do what it takes to make money. He knows what it takes to get money.

And he do it really good. He's a mastermind when it comes to trash talking, man. He's a wizard. He takes it to another level. But like this thing he did now, it's just crazy. You don't do that. You don't do that at all. I don't know what it is.

Why is he doing it? Yeah, I don't know either. Is he drunk as fuck or is he just uh i wouldn't say it's booze i wouldn't think that's a booze move that seems more like a coke move could be i don't know or it just could be part of his act yeah but that's the thing like do you really take it that far you really take it that far to to just make some noise i don't know what if my thing is like, what if that, that dolly hit the car where Rose was sitting

and cut Rose's face up? That would just be, fuck man. That would be crazy. Michael Chiesa, I'm sad that he got cut, but Chiesa's a tough bastard. He'll be fine.

He's probably pissed off and he's going to sue Connor and he'll probably make a shitload of money suing him. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But what if it hit Rose? No, that would be bad. That would be really bad. I would feel terrible. The fucking world suing him. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But what if it hit Rose? No, that would be bad. That would be really bad.

I would feel terrible. The fucking world would hate him. Oh, yeah. Like what if Rose was blinded in one eye because of that? Oh, no. For real. What the fuck? Look, look.

Ray Borg got cuts in his eyes. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's entirely possible. Yeah, he got glass cuts in his eye. Yeah, yeah. He got glass shards. He got a scratched cornea. Are they all suing Konono?

Oh, my God. They should be. I don't know. Find out how many lawsuits. Yeah, he got glass shards. He got a scratched cornea. Are they all suing Conor now? They should be. I don't know. Find out how many lawsuits. I know Chiesa filed. Chiesa definitely filed a lawsuit or filed a complaint which will lead to a lawsuit, I imagine. Look, I imagine if I was Conor, I would settle the fucking every single thing outside of court. Because if he loses, if he loses and he gets a felony he's fucked he probably won't even be able to come into the country no exactly no here's my thing imagine switch it

around imagine if ray borg threw that dolly at the bus and connor was no he'll be yeah he will smoke be gone he will be gone for sure that's this one of the more fucked up things about this yeah yeah he will be gone is that you know connor's getting special treatment exactly of course he is yeah of course of course that's not good for anybody no it's not it's not and like as like i told you he's just he's just losing his mind right now it's uh you do it to a certain certain level and then you just like you just chill you don't take it further than what it just did so I don't have any words for it man I just feel like it's terrible

it's terrible for for everybody in the sport man no it's terrible it's terrible for Conor even because you don't want to be in a position like that yeah he's making money I don't know what he made

what he made for that Mayweather fight but I'm telling you if he keep doing what he's doing that money is not going to be enough to pay all that shit he has to pay. No, no. He'll burn right through that money. But he's probably burning through that money anyway. Every time you see him, he's got a new Bentley.

He probably lives in a mansion now. Oh yeah, he does. 100%. He has his private jet. I don't know how many bounces, I don't know how many what you call it, body guards you have when you hit that guy in Ireland, the gangster guy

he hit in Ireland. He had a bunch of like bodyguards I heard around him. But they cost every day. They're not cheap though. Yeah. That money piles up. Yeah.

But when you're 29 years old like Connor, you don't even think about it. No, you don't. He's thinking about now, not the future. And he probably thinks he's going to make

hundreds of millions more. That's the sad part of it, man. That's the sad part because doing what he's doing, whatever it is, a billion or whatever it is, it's not a lot of money. It's going to run through you. Well, there's that. But then there's the thing that really gets me is that what Conor is, is an exceptional world championship fighter. I mean, that's what he really is. All this other stuff, the bullshit is going to get in the way of his legacy.

I mean, his legacy shouldn't be a boxing match where he's TKO'd by the greatest boxer ever. That's fucking stupid. Yeah, I know. His legacy should be the next fight after Eddie Alvarez. Yeah, I know what you mean, man. I know what you mean. Eddie Alvarez, that was a masterful performance. He's been smashing beasts.

Yeah. He's been taking two belts. Yeah. He's just a regular guy from Ireland. He comes to America and he just lives the American dream. Nobody's done before. So it's terrible to see all this shit happen. Yeah, because I'm saying that all these things that are happening, it's bad for him.

Yeah, of course. It's not just bad for the sport to let him get away with it. It's bad for him. With all this happening, you don't even think of what he's been doing in the octagon. Right, exactly. Exactly. I mean, just think about setting him up with Khabib, having that fight. Like, Jesus fucking Christ, that would be a giant fight. That might be one of the biggest MMA fights ever to make. Him versus Khabib, you know, having that fight. Like, Jesus fucking Christ, that would be a giant fight.

That might be one of the biggest MMA fights ever to make. Him versus Khabib. Yeah, Khabib is, what's his record, 25 and 0? 26 now. 26 and 0. 26 and 0. That's amazing. And he's barely tested.

Yeah. He barely gets tested. Yeah, that's amazing. You see one little flaw in him, you get all excited. Yeah. Because it's like, ooh, look, he's keeping his chin up. Who do you think win that fight? What's that?

Who do you think win that fight? It's a good question it's well the question is can connor catch him can connor catch him while he's coming in yeah and if connor can catch him look connor can knock anybody out yeah i mean you see what he did to eddie alvarez you see what he did to aldo nobody had ever done that to aldo before that's world that's the best strikers in the in the division yeah and what connor has is incredible precision and the ability he's he's fast he's so fast so fast his speed his angles he moves he moves create an angle and he just counter the shit out of the guys and yeah that's that's all he needs he also moves unusual he moves almost like a karate guy yeah he does you know like wide stance but then knocks you out like a like a real pro boxer like the only thing i'm doubting it's on connor yeah you know he's he's the best striker

and all of that but does he have the conditioning for khabib that's a good question he just he just keeps going and just for an animal yeah and it's also the wrestling yeah like khabib's wrestling is not just a level above everybody else, but multiple levels. Yeah. Like, he just— I heard, like, heavy guys—I'm talking about heavyweights—talking about Khabib's pressure on the ground, being on top. Yeah. Yeah. You know, taking that seatbelt around, taking his hands, moving that leg up.

You know, just neutrals the guy totally, so. Luke Rockhold said he never loses a round in training. Oh, he said? He said he doesn't lose a round Yeah Khabib Khabib doesn't lose a round He just smashes everybody That's insane

Everybody who wrestles with him Are like fuck Here we go Time to go through the grinder It's like those fucking guys in Dagestan man New York Times had an article About Dagestan wrestling And about how these guys

They have very few options And so a lot of them You know they go towards the dark side and get involved in terrorism, all these other things. And this is the way to go towards the light side. They compete. Yeah. And they have a different mindset there too.

If you're doing good, if you are like, if you win the World Games or whatever, they take care of you. They really support you. The whole government, the whole country is carrying you out from the mat. They carry you into the, you're a king there yeah just that it's a great motivation man that's they're they're just yeah they're animals man they're animals did you see zabit fight who zabit magomed sharapov he fought uh on the undercard of uh no i don't think so holy shit he's another one from dagestan. Another one of those.

Another one. But he's totally different. He's like six foot one, fights at 145. Yeah, that guy. The karate guy. Yeah, that guy. I think his background is actually like... I want to say it's Wushu or something like that.

I think he started off as a Kung Fu guy. Who did he go? He won that fight. Kyle Bokniak. Great fight. Crazy three-round fight. Bokniak just kept coming at him. Kept coming at him. And then at the end of the third round, Bokniak finally has him cornered up against the cage and he's teeing off on him. Phenomenal fight. I mean, phenomenal fight for the toughness of Bokniak and the skill of Zabit.

Fucking phenomenal. Just this ridiculous technique. And this guy is not even a wrestler. He's a striker. He's a striker, but he's got wrestling too. I mean, his wrestling is good too and his takedown defense

is very good and his jujitsu is very good too, but his fucking striking, crazy shit, wheel kicks, front leg roundhouse kicks to the face,

switch kicks, just everything. That's crazy, man. Everything, lightning fast, perfect technique. And here's a big thing too is his footwork when he lands he's always in perfect position

everything he does when he comes down he's never awkward he's never like his legs are never balanced yeah nothing but phenomenal technique that's impressive to see it's impressive to see what when when when guys are like good strike good guys with good kicks for example John, John Jones, for example, they kick high. They kick from different angles. And they just land like they haven't kicked. They land like really good, good base. They're ready for another.

They're ready for a counter. They're ready for this. It's impressive to see. So for you as a guy who, if you had to say, you have one area in your game that needs the most work, you would say that's your kicking? Wow. I think, you know, I don't know.

Yeah. Of course, kicking is one of the things I think I have to work on a lot, man. I'm far from, I will probably never be a complete fighter. I have to work on everything. I need to keep working on my boxing. I have to keep working on my footwork. I have to keep working on my kicks, my knees, my elbows, my grappling, my wrestling, keep my chin down, guard up,

all that shit. It never ends. It never ends. It just keeps going. It just keeps going. Who do you like to watch fight? I like to watch my teammates fight. I like seeing guys in my division.

I should be honest to you. I'm not a guy that really watches fights. I don't watch all the fights. I barely watch any fights I just fight is if I know either my teammate my teammates or competition fights my competition is fighting I fight I look at fights but oh good good title defenses and stuff like that but I don't I don't better watch fights do you think it's because it's just too much, a part of your life? I think it's important that you have some distance to work.

It is a work. Even if it's your hobby and your lifestyle and your passion, it's a work. And you need some distance. And my distance, like I told you, is being outdoors. My distance is being outdoors, hunting, friendly friends. So it doesn't interest me to watch the fights. It's getting too much of it. Particularly when I'm in camp, I don't watch fights at all.

It gets too much. I would imagine. I mean, you're probably spending five hours a day just training. Yeah. No, it gets too much, man. But if I know Jon Jones is fighting, DC is fighting, Vulcan is fighting, I'm watching those fights. Right. Do you have a guy that's like your favorite guy to watch?

Like a Mighty Mouse or someone or Anderson Silva or someone? Yeah, those guys. I watch those guys. Yeah, I watch Mighty Mouse. That guy is incredible. Yeah. He's, hands down, he's the best guy out there right now competing wonder what it would be like if you were that light wonder what it'd be like if you only weighed 125 pounds i'll

be so fast i'm fast and light heavy i would be do you see my shadow in there running around like this i know it'd be crazy right i mean mighty mouse is so fast one time i've told the story before but one time i grabbed him just playing around from behind. I'm like, what's up? I grabbed him. He turned and kneed me in the body two times before I even knew he did anything, man. He went, da-da! And I went, oh, dude, that was ridiculous.

I'm like, how the fuck did you move that quick? Like, you know, his fights is amazing to see and the way he he finished his fights the one he Is like throwing the guy taking that armbar in the air Yeah, it was right now. It was just amazing to see Suplex him and took the armbar on the way down. I mean that is fucking video game shit It is it is he said he drills that no, it's insane. He said that's something he drills all the time like that I pay for video games a lot. So it probably gets it from the video It is. He said he drills that. No, it's insane. He said that's something he drills all the time like that. No, he plays video games a lot.

So he probably gets it from the video. I have to try this. If there's something in the video, I have to try this. And then he goes and do it. Yeah, that's crazy. Now, do you watch a lot of boxing? Well, yeah, I watch the big fights. I watch the big fights.

I do. But I'm not really a guy that watches a lot of fights overall. You're saying it's just because, like you said, you need distance? Distance. Yeah. It's not in my interest. You know, I got guys in my team. They're like such a nerd. They know everything about everyone.

They don't even train themselves. They just know everything about everyone, and that's enough for me. just tell me who's this I asked them they're like oh don't you know I'm no who's this yes the skills this is okay good so oh yeah so like when you're in camp do you what do you do to try to relax and like for downtime do you try to read books do you watch TV do you play video games like what do you do i'm i'm actually i'm actually spending time outdoors during camp during camp that's what i do that's my way to to get away from everything uh you know watch watch a series hanging out with with my family and stuff but but for me the the real distance I get when I'm outdoors hunting or up with the dogs or, you know.

I usually, I don't even have to hunt. I just go out there. Hike. Yeah, hike. I got some lands not far from Stockholm. I go out there and just hanging out. You know, sometimes I'm just tracking. Oh, what's this?

Oh, that's a wild boar. You know you know and i just follow it where it goes or could be could be could be anything just out i like to be outdoors even if it's like 10 minus degrees or if it's summertime i'm all i'm out all the time that's awesome that's a great way to put things into perspective too right yeah and the guys are telling me they're like if you put that much time being like you're doing in hunting you did that in training or be not time but just having that interest yeah you know they they all the time telling me that so don't you think that those interests things like hunting are a relief for your mind? But it is. I wish everybody could see that.

It's a healthy way of living, I think. Yeah. I think, especially to a guy who has such an intense pursuit, it's probably good to have another thing that you're interested in so that it gives you like a relief from not always thinking about fighting all the time. There's a break you have because it's obviously hunting is not competitive so what you're doing when you're hunting is is more primal and natural but also very difficult and time consuming yeah yeah because it's like you you train you you compete at the gym you compete in the in the octagon you're you're competing in business you're competing in everything is just a competitive way of you live a competitive way of way it's a competitive way

of living basically and and uh it gets a toll on you after a while and when i was when i was young when i started this sport i was just that was you know i was just like I wanted to smash everybody at the gym. All bomb. But nowadays I'm like I know my body better. I know what my body needs. I know, okay, this is – I found a way where I – even if I was doing what I was doing six, seven years ago, I wouldn't – even if I, if I do that in training wise, being such a nerd in training and just training, training seven days a week, 24 hours a day, I wouldn't be a better competitor. I wouldn't do better in fights. Now I found a way of,

I basically found a way of, okay, this is what I need to, to make my life better and make my competition better. I perform much better doing this. I perform, I perform much better having that distance from, from, from all that competitive things. And, and so, yeah, I need it now. I need it. So where are you saying right now you're healed up you're ready to go do you just sit and wait for a call your manager uh informs the ufc that you're ready to go into camp i'm i'm ready i'm ready i'm ready to i'm ready to go in camp i'm training right now um i'm healed up i'm 100 so but how does that work do you do you contact the ufc and try to negotiate something to try to get something going do you wait for them to contact you or do you wait

for this steep a mio chick uh dc fight basically i'm just waiting for them to to come with something that makes sense for me and so there's been no discussion so far? Not, not, not really, not really, no. That's gotta be kind of frustrating. Yeah, you know, it's been some discussions,

but, but nothing that really, nothing that really, nothing that really I count on, or anything like that. It's just been, just been up in the air, and I'm just waiting for something on the table that makes sense, and I'm ready to go, man.

So what would make sense? Other than Jon Jones, other than DC, what would make sense? You as the number one contender right now. Jon's unranked because right now he's currently suspended, but as soon as they put him back in, he's likely to be right up there with you. And then you have DC. I mean, who else in your division makes any sense now? If they were to offer you a fight now, if Jon Jones is going to be suspended still for another six months

or whatever it's going to be, who makes sense in your division for you other than DC? Well, I wish I had an answer to that right now, but I really don't. I just feel like it has to be a meaningful offer. It has to be something that I feel this is right. This is what I want. I feel like, man, in my position, in my career right now, every fight has to mean something. Yeah, that's what I'm getting at.

With you at the top, really the fight to make is one of two, DC or John. Those are the two fights yeah or or it could be something else too uh joe but it has to be it has to be it has to feel right though it has to feel right and and it has to be it has to be something meaningful like a big main event on fox or something like that yeah something where it's a big fight to showcase something good man something good and you know everybody knows that when i'm stepping up in that octagon, I'm going to perform and I'm going to make a show. And I'm looking for that gold.

That's all I'm seeing. Well, listen, man, I'm a fan. It's been a pleasure to be able to commentate your fights. I really enjoy watching you fight. I really enjoy watching you develop the whole process. And I really appreciate you coming on here, man. Appreciate it, Joe. Thank you, brother.

I appreciate that. Thank you very much, man. Thanks for having me, man. And good luck to you. Appreciate that. The Mauler, ladies and gentlemen. Oh, that was great.