The Joe Rogan Experience - JRE MMA Show #31 with Daniel Straus & Joe Schilling

Episode Date: June 12, 2018

Joe is joined by former Bellator Featherweight champion Daniel Straus & kickboxer/MMA fighter Joe Schilling.

Here we go in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Boom! Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Schilling and Daniel Strauss in the fucking house. What up? Joe Schilling's just fucking up my kick machine out there, man. That thing ain't reading right, dude. I mean, I hope not. It would really hurt my ego out there. You were lighting that fucker on fire. That thing is not reading. We gotta get that recalibrated.

Joe's in here complaining about a sciatic pain in his hip and still outkicked me. I'm like, what is going on out here? I'm all sweaty. Forget about sciatic pain, Daniel Strauss. You've gone through some fucking pain, dude. You are defying science and doctors. David telling you it was over. Tell everybody the whole story.

Bring this sucker up here. How the story goes, I was out one night, buddy of mine was having trouble, needed somebody to go out with him. So I was around the city that night and after taking him home, we were leaving the highway. As it split off, I was coming around. You on a bike?

Yeah, I was on a bike. And I had a passenger. So what was called 826 is the highway as it splits off to 95 I was going around 826 now here's the tricky part don't really remember what's going on from there right so the what me and the passenger remember we were hit from either the side or from the back but coming coming around the bend, boom, coming around, got pushed into the wall. I wake up under the guardrail, can't move. You know, nobody else is there.

The car is gone. There was not really a witness there until, like, later, pulling up behind us. So it fucked me up for a while. I mean, it fucked me up right now. But, you know, getting back to just what it is. The body's healing. So what was the extent of your injuries? All right, so I had in my C4, 5, and 6, I had contusions on my spinal cord.

And half of my, on the left side of my spinal cord, it was pressure so bad that it, like, shut down my whole nervous system, like, all my body. So, in my, up in my neck and in my middle of my back was just compressed, a lot of the swelling. And that's what caused a lot of the, you know, not being able to walk, not being able to feel the nervous problems, nervous system that I have or the nervous issues that I have. What did they do to fix it? I've been rehabbing. They wanted to do surgery right away. How many months ago was this? This was in December.

This was December 17th. So they wanted to do surgery immediately. I'm trying to tell them, like, no, I'm trying to fight again, blah, blah, blah. What kind of surgery? Fusing? That's what they wanted to do. They wanted to go in and take the, I want to say the 3 to the 5 or 4 to the 6 or something and fuse that all together, which obviously there's no brain. And it's a big spot.

So I wasn't trying to have that. We looked for a couple rehab places and eventually got hooked up with a place called NeroFit 360. So I've been rehabbing there since the accident. Where is that? Where is NeroFit 360? It's in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Close to

Miami. Great crew. But yeah, they've been getting me back in the game. I was doing that extensively every day for like Close to Miami. Great crew. But, yeah, they've been getting me back in the game. I was doing that extensively every day for like two days a week, a couple hours a day, you know, two, three times a day. What kind of shit did they do for your neck? For me, first we had to start with, you know, just the fine motor stuff. Touching, feeling.

You know, I had problems with my sensitivities. So, like, you wake up under the guardrail. You guys don't remember what happened. When you wake up in the hospital, what did they tell you before they got to all this stuff? They were like, could you walk? Could you feel? Could you, like, how were you when you woke up? For me, when I woke up, boom. Yeah, so back to the story.

When I woke up. Just um when i woke up boom yeah so back to the story when i woke up when i woke up so i woke up and uh you know i had my helmet on but i couldn't move my legs um my passenger had went over top she had uh her hands so she wasn't like extremely but she had went out too so i couldn't really feel nothing. Couldn't see nothing. I was just telling her to get my helmet off, get my helmet off. Finally, a truck had pulled up, and seeing that we were in an accident, and what they shouldn't do, but pull me out. And, yeah, because I was, you know, I'm yelling.

You're not supposed to touch anybody. I'm like, hey, get me out of here, get me out of here. Right. You know, I was freaking out. They pulled me out from under it, and you know going to the hospital that whole the scary part was was knowing nothing was broke but not being able to feel nothing trying to wipe my face or trying to grab something and you just couldn't move your arm in my head in my head i moved my leg i moved my arm nothing's going, you know what I'm saying?

So you're thinking you're paralyzed. I'm gone. It's a wrap. Like Paul Williams. Yeah. I'm just like, ah, fuck. So I get to the hospital. Finally, you know, they're trying to work on me.

And I've seen the doctors. He's telling me, well, you know, because of my neck, it's unlikely that I'll be walking anytime soon. A couple of days, a couple of weeks go after that. Just banging out. In the meantime, I'm trying to explain to him, I'm an athlete. I know you see this. I've been through this type of incident before.

I grew up wrestling. I'm from Cincinnati. I grew up wrestling. So I've had neck problems for my whole life. You know what I mean? And so I'm trying to explain to him, like, you know, chill out. Just give me some time. Let me work something out.

I don't want to do the surgery right now. I really want to. They wanted you to do it in the hospital right after the accident. Right then and there. There's no other choice. You're never going to walk again. Do you want to go back to them right now and go, hey, motherfucker, look who's walking around. You already know.

You know what I mean? And it's been like that majority of times in my career where I've done something, something's happened. Oh, you're not going to be able to do this. You got me fucked up. Bro, he was hitting pads with me at the gym yesterday. The guy's been sparring. This happened in fucking December. It's insane.

It's just insane. Well, it just makes me sick that they always want to cut you immediately when it comes to those things. Any kind of bulging disc issue, they want to get you immediately when it comes to those things any any kind of bulging disc issue they want to get in there and it's hurtful to us because you know i understand they got a job to do but do your job right you know what i mean like they have one method yeah yeah the one method is surgery cutting yeah so um but yeah like i said i was uh rehabbing at narrow fit 360 which is a which is a great physical therapy place down there in Pembroke Pines. And, you know, I've been getting back with, you know,

they had me strengthen my neck with just small exercises. Like I said, I started with fine motor stuff. I had to work on a lot of balance stuff. You know... You ever fuck with that iron neck thing? You ever use that thing yet? No, I have not used that. I got one out here, if you want to mess around with it it's fantastic i think it's fantastic so you're

six months out now six months out when did you start walking again it took me uh like even now i'm still like trying to get the form right but but it took me about three months. Because you, like, re-learned how to tie your shoe, right? Re-learned how to tie your shoe? Yeah, my hand, my motor, like, my hand wasn't moving as right. It wasn't working as good. It's just everything slowed down for me because of my spinal cord. Wow.

You know, that is the most, for me, was the scariest part because I was everything so unsure, you know what I mean? Now, the most, was the scariest part because I was everything so unsure. You know what I mean? Now, the most recent MRI, when did you get a, have you gotten one? Got one about a month and a half ago. And what did they say? Everything looks good. It looks good.

All the swellings went down. The left side is clear. The only way I can explain it, there's two lines, white lines, and it gets blocked. You know what I'm saying? That's where the fluid's coming down. My left of my on the fluid was being blocked so now i'm having a clear line of fluid going down my spinal cord so now it's just about healing yeah which you know i've been working and that's the the part to overcome you know the healing part the the neurological part and the nerves and all that part that goes with it it's the body that can only there's not too much that i you know can do to to heal this other than you know eating right all the simple shit but it's the body that's healing but it's

crazy that you're sparring yeah i do a lot of things i shouldn't do now you're sparring with friends so you know that everything's going to be cool? I mean, good training partners. I was sparring down at Henry Hooves. Okay. H-Kick boxing was training down there. So, you know, I live in Fort Lauderdale. So, you know, that's, you know, working out with those guys, you know, no one's out there to hurt me or try to get me hurt or injured.

Everyone's had a lot of respect. They're happy you're back. Yeah, love seeing me back. So I've never been in a situation where I'm trying to go super hard. Not yet, but I'd love to. Anybody wants one, you can get it. Let me know. We can get it.

So when you're hitting the bag or hitting pads, you feel like you have full strength? No, and that's the thing that I'm excited about. I'm a broken toy that is dying to be fixed. You know what I mean? Because I'm a brand new, you know, I could be fixed in any way. Like I'm relearning everything. It's not like I can't box.

It's not like I can't wrestle. But it's now just relearning the, you know. The mechanics of it. Your brain knows how to do it. But your body's got to relearn it. Exactly. Wow. And it's like the nerve stuff is on the right side of your body, right?

Right. It's like the muscle memory coming back. Even yesterday, I was holding pads for him. His jab was a little weak and his lifting of his foot or whatever the thing we were trying to do. But as we were doing it, once he felt the right way to do it, then he could repeat it. You know what I mean? Yeah. I think that's a lot.

That's a lot to do. And it's big for me, man. I really want to be back in the cage by the end of this year. Really? You know what I mean? I want to be fighting by the end of this year. And it's not impossible. Well, you've got a great attitude, man.

This idea that you love it, that you're a broken toy, and you're going to rebuild it and fix it, and it's exciting. For sure. What gives you an opportunity to kind of start again i mean that's been my whole life my whole life so i'm just there again at this point in my career and unfortunately this had to happen for me to turn the corner and get focused in another way but you know it's just what it has to be but it's so exciting that you have this attitude that's the that's the cool thing about it it's like you're has to be. But it's so exciting that you have this attitude. That's the cool thing about it.

It's like you're not, whoa, it's me. You're like, hey, I'm going to rebuild. I'm going to get right back in there. Yeah, man. I mean. You must be so excited that you could just do everything again. Yeah. You know what I mean? I mean, like, first was finding out what worked.

Had to make sure the dick worked first. And then it was like, all right, we're cool. Walking comes next. first all right we cool walking comes next i'll continue living i'm still gonna fight i could always off my back so you know yeah just making sure i could do yeah you know you know the first you know first couple months was just brutal you know not being a weapon i asked my ass, not being able to eat. And did it slowly start to come back where you got like some motion? It did. Well, and I've had a lot of, I think it's stenosis.

Spinal stenosis, yeah, from wrestling? For years, you know what I mean? Right, of course. Do you do any decompression? I do a little bit here and there. Whenever I can get to the chiropractors I'm doing some like I said it's been bad for years

have you seen that thing you hook up to your neck and you hang it from a doorway I don't like those I do the same thing with a rolled up towel it helps mine tremendously I get mine from fighting

I'll lay on my back and watch for like two weeks my neck is terrible for you i know isn't it crazy you're a professional fighter you up your back watching youtube videos for sure for sure but everyone's doing it man that's all we do is i know the whole world is doing this i mean people's necks are changing. Yeah, it's terrible. If it wasn't for, like, you know, being the awareness that I have now for, like, my neck and neck injuries, just seeing a lot of things, I'm, like, trying to posture up and just seeing shit because I'm just, I'm always like this. Necks are always hurting, always hurting. So, you know, it's been one thing after another for years, and that's actually leading into this, you know, this accident or this injury, you know.

Try to keep his mic closer like this. My bad. I'm mobile too, y'all. How old are you now, Daniel? I am 33. I'll be 34. I'm at that age where you forget how old you are. Yeah.

So I'll be 34 in July. Well, you're healthy, and, you know, the ability to recuperate from something that's that devastating that quickly shows what good a shape you're in. That must have a big impact on your rehab process, right? It does. It does. I mean, a regular person that has that kind of injury probably is not going to bounce back like that. Not as quickly. I mean, being, like I said, being an person that has that kind of injury probably is not going to bounce back like that. Not as quickly. I mean, being, like I said, being an athlete has helped me tremendously.

I mean, with my neck being obviously as strong as it was, the damage would have been worse. But being able to bounce back was being young, being able to put my body through so much that this is, yeah, compared to what, you know, it's been through. So, yeah, being young has definitely helped me. And I'm trying to keep that time away. But, you know. So how will you know when you can get back in there? Are you wrestling yet? Yeah, I'm wrestling, doing everything.

You're wrestling? Wrestling. Full clip? I've wrestled, yeah. Wow. Are you not nervous about getting your neck yanked on? I was nervous before, you know what I mean? But now I'm just getting confident with getting my neck strong,

making sure I don't do the stupid moves that I've been doing to cause the injuries. So my next step is just being clear, being seen by a doctor, a neurologist. Yes, he can fight, sign off off let's get back to business so and how's bellator treating all this great man i can't say anything negative about him because they've always done nothing but help me out in situations uh you know i've been with them for some time you know and uh two times yeah world champion two- world champion. If y'all motherfuckers didn't know. If you don't know, now you know. No, but yeah, they've always been fair to me. That's great.

Obviously, you've always had problems here and there, but I've never really had any major issues. I love Scott Coker. I do, too. He's a good dude. He's always been good to me. He's always been really good. I hear nothing but good things, too, about bellator and how they treat people like guys who have gone over there said it's a it's just a huge relief they get treated with respect you know like they're

a little nervous about going over there right right you know a lot of people are always asking hey what you want i'm like yeah this is home for me you know what i mean like man the all ideal for everybody would be bellator gets to the same state as the ufc the same level that would be ideal i mean that's that would help the world like if you see ganadi golovkin fighting canelo alvarez you don't give a fuck if it's golden boy versus bob allen nobody gives a shit they want to see two world champions go after it right that's that's what everybody wants to see ultimately that's what i would like to see across the board. I don't think it harms anybody. I think it helps everybody.

Competition is definitely good. It's better for everybody. It's better for the athletes for sure. The more money that gets thrown around and the more... If a superstar emerges from Bellator that's at the same level that Ronda was or Connor is or something like that, that's great for everybody.

There's a possibility there too. Michael Venom amazing. That's great for everybody. For everybody. And, you know, there's a possibility there, too. I mean, Michael Venom Page, he's getting a lot of mainstream press. People are paying attention to him now because of all the crazy shit he does. We need more of that. I thought he actually had retired from MMA. Because he boxed for a while? I thought he, like, retired from MMA, boxed or something, nothing. You know what, man?

A dude like that would probably retire and un-retire just for the press. You know? Yeah. That seems to be the thing. Yeah. It happens a lot now. Yeah. It's going on.

Speaking of retiring and un-retiring, Joe Schillen, back to MMA. Yeah. I know you competed in the High Rollers event this weekend,

which, by the way, Eddie Bravo told me he was so high he thought he was going to jail. He told me, he goes, I was convinced I was going to jail.

It was sick. Because I was so paranoid. It was such a cool event. I really loved it. Explain the event for people who don't know what the fuck we're talking about. So it was an event put on by Matt Stout and Big Lon on my buddies. They're called the High Rollers. And it's a cannabis-infused jiu-jitsu tournament is what they call it.

What are those two dudes that slapped each other and then they smoked a joint joint together yeah they got like he did there's something between and they stepped out with a joint i mean it was good before every match everybody smoked uh they kind of smoked together and the whole event was a cannabis thing there was no alcohol the vibe was super chill they played um like uh hip-hop in the background it was like kind of star-studded event it was really fucking cool it was by far the coolest martial arts event I've ever been to. It was dope. Shout out to that DJ, man. He did like eight hours straight with playing the same song like only twice,

played it twice. That motherfucker was dope. Really? DJ Bonnings. Was it? DJ Bonnings, yeah. It's a weird connection, marijuana with jiu-jitsu, and it's always been there.

And people that don't know people that don't smoke weed I have to tell them that here's Jeff Glover and his opponent smoking weed

it's hilarious man it is really really fun that they're doing that man but I like it it was a real

cool event it was real cool jujitsu and weed have always been connected for as long as I've been doing jujitsu and weed have always been connected. For as long as I've been doing jiu-jitsu, people smoked pot in the parking lot and then went in and rolled.

Right. That's, you know. They still do. Yeah. Kickboxing apparently is the same way. Is it? Yeah. It's how you practice. It's how you get focused.

Yeah. I always found that I'm not good at learning when I'm high, or maybe I get too high and I can't learn. Like someone will show me something and I'm not good at learning when I'm high Or maybe I get too high And I can't learn Like someone will show me something And I'm not sure where to put my legs Like what do I do? Step over here?

Where do I put my right foot? What? Yeah, I find that a little bit But when I'm rolling If I'm rolling high Then you just get into that zone I almost feel like it's like programming You know like when they say

If you take When you study for a test you're sucking on peppermint and the day of the test you take pepper you like suck on peppermint you're supposed to help you remember have you heard that before

oh yeah yeah I feel like that's kind of how it is with uh with martial arts for me anyway like I'm high as fuck and I'm

kind of like just uh programming into my deep subconscious or whatever yeah I know that's my thought maybe you think smoking all the time when you train and then smoking not smoking when you perform into my deep subconscious or whatever. Yeah. I know, but that's my thought, maybe.

You think smoking all the time when you train and then not smoking when you perform, do you think that has a positive or negative effect? I don't know. I don't really, well. Well, let me ask you this. If Bellator said, we're not testing for weed,

you could fight high as fuck, what would you do? I'd smoke that day. Ooh. I wouldn't smoke probably 10 minutes before. minutes before a lot of shit going on in my head this is cool this is cool the high rollers are bad but like yeah it's different for a fight well it's also you know the consequences are a lot different you know zigging and zagging right a lot different when kicks and punches are being thrown. Yeah, for sure.

For sure. Well, remember when Nate D, or Nick, rather, fought Gomi? Nick fought Gomi. Well, I mean, I know Nick, and if you asked him that question,

he'd be like, oh, I'd be smoking right there. He would for sure smoke smoke. Oh, yeah. For sure. Yeah. I bet he would fight better.

Probably. Yeah. I'm not a fan of it. You're not a fan of fighting high? No. No? No.

I fought once high. What happened? Well, for once, for one, I went through the crowd instead of the walkway to the cage. That's what I know I fucked up. Well, how did you do it? Which way? Like, you're supposed to come out. It was at shark fights.

Okay. And you come out And then you go at an L shape And go straight to the cage Right I came out The ushers always fuck that shit up though That's happened like every time

You try to walk out the cage the wrong way Like no I'm wrong on the other way So I came out Just crowd sitting there Just beeline straight to the crowd Excuse me Excuse me Stepping over people

That's hilarious Got to the cage Like stepped over the stepping over people that's hilarious got to the cage like stepped over the fence check me out got in there i'm like i remember shark fights that was uh bud brutsman's thing yeah some guy yeah he's a buddy of mine bullshit yeah he was one of the original guys that owned king of the cage was it yeah yeah and then he got involved in shark fights yeah somebody what did they have something to do with like shine fights as well i don't know maybe there's a few people involved that was a good it was a good card that i was on had uh georgie paul daly had uh uh shokajew on it uh fuck it was a bunch of people on them

so what was it like fighting high well for me at the, that was my biggest event. And I was fighting Karen Darbaridian. So it was the biggest name I had fought. To me, it was like, ah, fuck. You know what I mean? I just was kind of overwhelmed. I wasn't a jujitsu. I didn't know much about jujitsu. Actually, that whole fight was weird because on Monday, I separated my arm or separated my shoulder.

Wednesday, they called me for the fight. Saturday, I fought. You separated your – I guess I'll get a high for this. Right. You know what I mean? When you say you separated your shoulder, like what? Like separation, like a separated shoulder.

Like a torn muscle? No, no, no. Yeah. Up in the – I don't know what the fuck you asked me for. Did it heal up? Yeah. Well, we got it, like, bandaged up, got it working, fought with it. You fought with a bandage on it?

No, no, I didn't fight with a bandage on it. But the next two days, kind of healed on it, iced it, worked on it as much as I can. Went out there. I was in Texas, fought. And, yeah, it was just, for me, it was weird. How'd the fight go? One decision. Like I said, first round, he threw a bunch of, like, it was just, for me, it was weird. How'd the fight go? One decision. Like I said, first round, he threw a bunch of, like, leg locks.

Yeah, he's a serious leg lock dude. That's what I was saying, like, high leg locks, don't know what's going on. Like, I just want to get out of here. So, yeah, it was a bad thing for me. So, one and done for fighting high. Yeah, one and done. I was like, yeah, I'm cool in thing for me. So one and done for fighting high. One and done. I was like, yeah, I'm cool in this.

Have you ever fought high? I mean, I'm sure I fought and spar high all the time. Yeah, I fought high. What's your feeling about that? I think it, like, well, for this jiu-jitsu tournament, you know, jiu-jitsu is not my strong suit, obviously. And so, for me, that was my first jiu-jitsu tournament, you know, jiu-jitsu is not my strong suit, obviously. And so for me, that was my first jiu-jitsu tournament. And we just put on the gi like about a month ago when Matt told me about the things. He's like, oh, you should do it.

Mickey Gall, I train with every day. And him and Bamba. And we're like, all right, fuck it, we'll do it. So we started putting on the gi. And, yeah, I didn't want to make a fool of myself. So being high and having that, like, pressure,, not being completely comfortable, I think was different. But in a kickboxing fight, I could probably be drunk and still be pretty comfortable with what I'm doing.

It's me up next. Yeah, there's a lot of people that think that, and I'm one of them, that think that marijuana is a performance-enhancing drug. I definitely think so. On certain levels. Yeah, on certain levels. I think it could fuck you up.

But if you get the dose right I think it puts you in a zone you know a comfortable zone right and I think for performance

like how it's gonna increase your performance is not being super stressed out over bullshit the week of that's where I find the most benefit like when I would

quit smoking weed for a couple days before the fight that was when it's like now is when I need it the most. Now is when I'm most stressed out. It's when I have the most anxiety.

When I'm the hungriest. I was like, this sucks. If I can just blaze and just relax, I think that helps. Hey, man, are you doing any cryotherapy or anything to reduce swelling? Like I said, I was doing a little bit with the chiropractor that I was going to. But I haven't done much of it. But that's one thing I really wanted to get into because of the swelling. Like I said, a lot of it went down over the time.

But body milk feels amazing after a crowd. Yeah, dude, I'm a big fan. And you're doing, like, super doses of CBD, though, too. Yeah, a lot of CBD. A lot of CBD. That was a big part of it. Is that some of that in that bag you gave me? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Check that out. That's some Flavor X stuff. There's a Can't Stop Crazy shirt in there too? There is quite a few Can't Stop Crazy shirts in there. I texted you this morning. I'm like, is he a medium or a large or an extra large? No, Joe's freaking yoked. I'm like, what do you mean?

I'm jacked. Oh, fuck. Fuck. I put larges in there perfect perfect a shrink for you Joe what is this man it's a

a company called Flav it's a CBD company I've been working with oh is it a CBD pen yeah that's a like medicated drops like it gives you like a certain dose

every time you click it oh I've been using you ever heard that company jambo they just sent me some cbd uh rub on holy shit does that work for you fuck yeah 2 000 milligrams cbd rub on i told you the sciatic pain's been fucking with me over the last week or so and uh i rub it on my hip like it's like my ass muscle like right over like right here that's where like it travels down and i rub that shit on before i go to bed i wake up slave has these uh they have like

medicated patches you can use they have roll-ons that you could use they have that salve stuff and uh i just feel like i smoke so much weed with cbd in it all the time that i don't it doesn't seem to work for me i don't notice it you know and then they have like these droppers i use that like crazy yeah maybe you just got too much of a tolerance well i just think if you you know if you smoke weed constantly there's cbd and everything you know you're hitting both so like when when my coach who's like 65 and never smokes weed and i give him put that on him he's like oh my god my elbow feels crazy i'll get you some of that jambo it's better than anything i've ever used before yeah it's They have two versions

They have a thousand milligram And two thousand milligram And I put that two thousand milligram on And it's got like Menthol in it So you feel it Like in your skin Like ooh

It heats up Only time I've really ever Feeling that Is like Using it on my neck Yeah Like using it on my neck And I've used it on my hand too

Where I've Like the achiness The achiness goes away But on my neck Is where I felt it the achiness doesn't the achiness goes away but on my neck is where i felt it the most like up in the pain but i put uh there's uh cbd vaporizers in there there's cbd bath bomb we used that before on my buddy's fight the day of the fight we dropped it in the uh in the hot tub cbd bomb there are some monsters out there that are trying to make this illegal it It is crazy.

Oh, my God. Those pharmaceutical assholes. Fuck those guys. It's so scary that someone would do that. They would try to spend money to try to make this stuff illegal. And while they're doing that, they legalize the fucking GMO synthetic version, which is actually killing people. Exactly.

Seriously, fuck those people. Or fentanyl. That shit's killing everybody. That shit killed Prince. It killed David Bowie. It killed... Who the fuck else did it kill? It killed...

It killed a bunch of people this year. Tom Petty. Killed Tom Petty, too. Did it kill David Bowie or make that up? Something killed David Bowie. Who knows? What's the ball? What's this?

It's a CBD bath bomb damn you just drop that in that's it that's fucking good I'm not fucking around you stoners that shit's legit

they don't fuck around that's the only time I really feel like a rub on effect from CBD is like I'll soak in one of those just relax

never did the bath bomb yet it's good yeah and it's fun to watch so you drop it in it all dissolves it's good my ass I got a lot of to watch. You drop it in, it all dissolves. It's real quick.

It's in. Sam, this is a lot of shit. I got a lot of shit in here. I brought you some stuff, Joe. Beautiful. Thank you. You got some good little, you know, chilies and edibles and stuff. CBD candy.

Yeah. Ooh. Good stuff. Right? Good stuff. Exciting. Librex got it all. And this is awesome.

I take this on my international flights. Allegedly. The key fire. Is it legal? I mean, it's illegal, but it's, And this is awesome. I take this on my international flights, allegedly. Is it legal? I mean, it's illegal, but when you put the vape pen into it, it looks like a car key. So you can fold it in. Nightclubs, whatever you want. Look at that.

I just walk right into security. Oh, that's crazy. And this pops up? Yeah. So you screw the caps on from this? Yeah. You put it in there. I mean I think And these look at these

candy so jazz so my complaint about the candy thing is if they're gonna have like Those are CBD, but they have a THC once too and if you're gonna have THC like super potent candy they shouldn't taste so fucking good because they'll eat the whole bag. You know what I mean? Like who's going to eat just one? That's very good. That's watermelon.

Watermelon. Two or three bags. Have one. Yeah. This is watermelon belts. It's like a belt. Super low key. Dude, that's the shit.

This is the shit. Look at this thing. I love it. And then I think it has like, there's three different settings of heat, of how you, I don't know, just burn it. These kids today. Oh, you got to turn it on five times. Click it five times. One, two.

How's that? One, two, three, four, five. There it goes. Boom. Boom. Nope. Maybe it has to heat up. Good work, Joe. Fucking it up here, Joe.

You got it? You got it going. Maybe it had to heat up. There it goes. There it goes. Burn it. That's good. How is Bellator's drug testing policy? You know what?

Standard, I think. You know, we don't have, like, the additional, you saw the random test, but I get tested before or after every fight. I haven't tested most of my fights. I know that. Yeah. So, and I've had people talk shit, like, oh, they don't test. Well.

I don't know what you're talking about. They test after fights, but obviously there's a big difference between that and, hey, it's four weeks out. Wake up at 630 in the morning. What have you been up to, Daniel? Here, pissing this cup. Look at that. It's terrible. It's crazy.

I mean, they have lost a lot of people off the roster in the UFC. The really crazy thing is the body's changing. People, you weren't sure. Everybody passed the test when they were doing it on the weigh-in day. But then you're looking at their bodies changing like whoa who's this guy so many of them just shriveled up and they just look totally different their performances are different their mindset's different like guys they were just unstoppable and they saw they came in now it's like you're on like a six fight losing streak crazy drop two weight classes can't get away

anybody who says their steroids doesn't work they're crazy you're out of your fucking mind they're not taking it for fun right you know they're not going all the way down to tijuana and buying this shit because it's it's fun they're good to do something yeah on the weekend so do you feel like you got a new lease on life um i do man right now i'm just grinding. I'm fully focused on getting back into the cage. Having what happened to me and being in the position that I'm in, I don't really have too many things to go back to. Having a new lease on life really isn't how I would say it is. It's just what it is. I'm just focused on the next step, you know what I mean,

the next step in my career and the next step in, you know, the path and what I've been going through. You know, it's always just something for me. So, you know, I wouldn't say it's a new lease of life, but just a new chapter. But you must feel very fortunate that you can recover from this. I do. I do. It's an amazing story. I mean, I love hearing shit like that.

Thank you. Yeah, it just sucks you know i mean it sucks to be in this position but i'm i'm here i'm talking to you talking with this guy you know walking around so i'm blessed more than anything but this has just fired me up to just get shit going you know what i mean so you gotta feel pretty fucking unstoppable after that you know go flying through the air slamming the guard before this shit and you come back like what's gonna stop you yeah that's the goal get another belt get back get another belt show people i'm not you know i'm not done not done at all yeah you know so uh yeah i'm even still riding like are

you really you savage oh yeah jesus christ savage. Oh, yeah. Jesus Christ. Just hit 176 the other day. Dude, I'd be in a H1, the real one, a real Hummer. Yeah. I'd be in one of those bitches, and I'd ride in the middle of it. Right. I'd figure out a way to put the steering wheel in the middle. Fuck that.

I don't want to be on either side and strap me in with a race harness and put fucking airbags everywhere. I want this thing to be like an inflatable bath toy. But I'm an adrenaline junkie, so I'd love to do anything. You know, I shouldn't be riding, obviously. But, you know, I need something to steady my mind. So, like I said, training's been going. Something I got back into, riding something I got back into.

And it's pushing me to, me to move forward with everything. How long was it before you rode again? Oh, man. I probably started riding again maybe about a month and a half ago. What? About a month ago. What? About a month ago.

Oh, a month ago. Okay, not a month in. So five months after the injury. Yeah, probably about a month ago. If you did a month after the injury, like, this dude is fucking crazy. He can barely walk. Nah, that's some shit I would try, though. I mean, I would definitely try, but.

What do you think makes you such an adrenaline junkie? I don't know. Even right before all my fights, like, it's just been that way. Like, I would always ride a lot before my fights because I had to release, you know, all the adrenaline, all the pent-up anxiety going on. And that's just how I've always been. I've always wanted to see what was it like to kill yourself. What was it like to—not in that way.

What the fuck? You know what I mean? Adrenaline-wise, what was it like to do something fun, exciting, push the limit? Get on the edge. You know what I mean? Yeah. That sounds very different. I didn't mean it like that.

There's so many fighters that are like that. I mean, Diego Corrales, he died in a motorcycle accident, right? Paul Williams, you know, he got fucked up. There's so many fighters that have gotten into motorcycles for that very reason. But it's not just motorcycles. I mean, I'm into all types of shit. Like what else? I mean, I love diving.

Water is one of my favorite things. The ocean is one of my favorite things to do. I've never been in any situation where I'm about to die or anything. But I want to do skydiving. I want to do rock climbing. I want to do all these things. I mean, Joe Schillen's on my page. Me and Joe are on the same page.

Fuck all that. I don't even like roller coasters Until you drag me on it the first time Then I'm like we're going again Until that point I'm like no fuck that Do you ride bikes? A little bit But when I'm down at the ranch with Cowboy

I'll ride with him But they make fun of me Because I'll go like 60 Once I hit like 60 Then it starts again I'm like I don't know Let's be cool Cowboy's a perfect example.

Cowboy will be fucking going down the highway 90 with his hat off, like resizing his hat. You know, no hands, 90 down the highway. He's fucking nuts. Yeah. Or snapping pictures of us while he's riding. Oh, Jesus. I don't want to hear this. He's in that for sure.

I love that dude. I don't want him to get hurt. I don't want to hear that. Yeah. Fuck. He's good at it, I guess. Oh, Jesus, I don't want to hear this. He's in that, for sure. I love that dude. I don't want him to get hurt. I don't want to hear that. Yeah. Fuck. He's good at it, I guess. Oh, yeah, I'm sure he is. He's good at fighting, too, but it's fucking dangerous.

Just like you should dot your I's. For sure. Cross your T's. For sure. You're going 90 on the highway. Fuck that. Yeah, he's a perfect example of a legit adrenaline junkie. Oh, 100%.

Yeah. 100%. 100%. Yeah. 100%. 100%. I guess just some people once, I guess fighting is a big part of it. Like once you've experienced the highs of fighting, I guess the lows of regular life are just too fucking boring. Is that what it is? Man, imagine that. I feel like you would get, I would definitely, I haven't thought about retiring, but when I stop fighting, I think that'll really bother me.

Right, you'll need something. Because I'm addicted to, not the adrenaline side of it, but the challenge. You can't do this, me versus the world. That really gets me going. I think if I didn't have that when I'm old, I'd be pretty pissed off. You versus the world, how so? Even me versus, man versus man like one on one like no other just you're the only one that you can that you uh can count on in that scenario

i guess but like that that personal challenge is what drives me and fuels me and that's why i like i think in uh my career the the fights that i wasn't supposed to win were always the ones that i really showed up for because that gen that that hit me where it was if wasn't supposed to win were always the ones that I really showed up for because that hit me. If I was supposed to win, everyone thought I was going to win. On some level, I would not show up the same way. Very common. That's very common. Yeah, a lot of guys, when they think it's going to be an easy fight, they can't get up.

They just have this weird... And it's weird because your coaches won't let you know, your coaches won't let you not train that way. Like you train hard for the fight. Right. But you're not nervous. That something about that thing in your head doesn't click or it doesn't. Yeah.

You don't go after the same one. Yeah. It's like the thing that everybody hates the most about before a fight, that discomfort and anxiety and just fuck, why am I doing this? Fuck. That is what is your friend when you're in there yeah yeah it's the fights where guys to an extent yeah that's what fucking drowns you at the same time could be right people like fucking their whole camp is perfect and as soon as they walk

out in front of that crowd it's like their coach is like who the fuck is this what the fuck's going on but don't you think that but that's always that kind of person. A guy like you doesn't have that. That's not a thing that you experience. The type of people that crumble are usually the guys who are just murderers in the gym. And then for whatever reason, under the bright lights, they falter. But they rarely rise. Those guys rarely win the big fights that they're not supposed to win. They're not the same psychological makeup.

Something about the challenge or the unknown to some people, it just overwhelms them. Whereas other people, whatever their psychological makeup is, that challenge is what fires them up and gets them excited. Yeah. Yeah. It's weird, right? I think the consistency is the hard part and longevity for the fighters in general in their career. That's what makes Floyd Medweather so impressive to me is for him to be at the top of the game for so long

and can make all the money and continue to be at the top of the game and still do that. Yeah. Versus like, you know, the guys that blow up and then, you know, John Jones has trouble. They don't know how to deal with the fame. Fucking Connor throwing shit through bus windows.

Like, it's hard to stay balanced and consistent through that whole thing. I think for me, one of my biggest things has been, you know, the mental part of fighting. You know, getting to the top, being pushed back down, getting to the top, you know, just dealing with that as a fighter has put a lot of stress on, like, you know, every time that I got into the cage, like how I thought or how I acted or how I, you know, performed. Yeah.

You did some work with Vinny Shorman, right? Yep. How did that help? Vinny helped me a lot. I worked with Vinny for, I think, three years, two or three years. And I find that... Tell everybody, Vinnyormund's a hypnotist who's been on the show

a couple times three times I actually I was the one that told you about Vinny that's right brought him up on the show oh shit

someone wants credit I made you Vinny he hypnotized me it was a trip right wow this is real it really worked for me and then

I find that as I've grown I think just like any technique you get better at it it needs time to like kind of resonate inside of you and I feel I mean I've grown, I think just like any technique, you get better at it. It needs time to resonate inside of you. I haven't worked with him in over a year. I still am figuring out, oh, that was the fuck he was talking about.

It starts to sink in. I think the mental game is a huge asset. Do you ever work with a sports psychologist or a hypnotist or anything like that? I haven't. I mean, I've worked a little bit with a guy named Will back in Florida. This was some years ago, but something I've always wanted to dabble in, something I've wanted to explore. I haven't really got

the chance to do a lot of things, but that's one thing I've always, like I said, the mental part has been key to me, so I've always wanted to do that. It might be a good thing to help you during your recovery too. Yeah. You know, like to just really concentrate on recovery and really concentrate on the

parts of your body that need to be fixed. Yeah. I mean, I'm going to, you know, I really need to reach out to the right people to get the right, you know, the help as far as like,

you know, people to talk to as far as hypnotist and stuff like that I don't really know anybody like that Vinny Shorman to the rescue send out the bat phone

yeah he's probably listening he'll do it over Skype too you do it over you know you do fucking FaceTime

he used to he used to hypnotize me over FaceTime all the time and then on fight day he would call me and we'd be backstage.

He'll be back in the States in October. I'll look it up. I'll make the connection. I would definitely look into it. But you've been using the lion's mane mushrooms too, right? Yeah.

I sent him that video and uh started talking to him about it when i found out about what happened to him you know it was like i'm sure not as bad as what he was going through but like we just bet oh i don't think he's gonna walk again oh daniel was in a horrible accident and then every time i talked to him he would just be like real like nah fuck them it's gonna happen nah fuck them and uh i'm like all right you need to take this lion's mane mushroom you need some of these cordyceps mushrooms take all the flavor xcbd that you can get i'm gonna send you some other mushrooms it's good for your brain you'll be cool and uh i mean look at him look what i did look it's all joe what i did all joe it is crazy though

seeing you walking around and hearing that you're sparring and hitting the bag and hitting pads. Yeah, I mean, all these things put together is just what's getting me back. So nothing's impossible. I mean, I can prove that. Nothing's impossible. Shit, doing the, like you said, eating the lion's mane and the different CBDs I've been taking and just getting my body back to like feeling good, mentally feeling good. Just everything's working like in steps. Little steps at a time.

Basically. Yeah. Day by day. So would you say like 80% now? I'll give you 75. 75 is good. You know, 75. 75 means you can get to 100.

Yeah. You know, like I'm running. You know what I'm saying? Woo! That was one of my big goals was like like in six months I want to be running. Nice. Set a goal, started running, boom. From a guy who couldn't walk.

Exactly. That's awesome. I don't know. It gets me in a – every time I think about it, the reason why I stop is because every time i have to talk about it i get in the mental thought of it and the process of from going laying in the bed not be able to feel to you know dragging your foot after you're walking with a you know walker to being able to pull up your pants now it's crazy it is crazy you know what i mean and it just it keeps me It's fucking crazy. You know what I mean?

And it just keeps me, I don't know, it keeps me, I don't know, humble enough to just talk about the situation and love it, love life. That's a beautiful story, man. I love hearing things like that, people recovering from things. It just makes you appreciate the fact that you are all healthy. Every time anything goes wrong in your life it's an opportunity to appreciate what it's like when things go right

and if you can get back to where you were you'll have a new perspective I do for sure always for sure are you fucking with

that lion's mane stuff too yeah how often do you take it I was taking it every day I made a bunch of capsules with lion's mane and cordyceps you made the capsules yourself

yeah you can buy it on what a capsule machine aceps. You made the capsules yourself? Yeah. You can buy it on Amazon. A little capsule machine, make 100 capsules. Nice, nice. Got my little concoction there. Nice. When I saw on your show, Paul Stimitz was talking about how the, I think it was CTE, you guys were talking about how the Lion's Mane

helps find – I don't know if it repairs it or if it just helps like the – it find a way around blockages or whatever with nerves. It regenerates neural tissue. Neural tissue. And I was like, Daniel, like hit him up with it right away. No, that Lion's Mane stuff is miraculous. I mean, it's amazing that more people don't know about it

and that more people aren't talking about it. But anybody that's involved in contact sports, any athlete that, you know, is getting hit and they're getting their cage rattled a lot, they should be taking that stuff all the time. Yeah. And CBD as well, right? Yeah, for sure. I mean, I just look at it like the business that we're in is really dangerous. know that there's something that, you know, guys get punchy, right, or guys lose their chin or have problems, like, performing on fight night or whatever.

Like, if you can take CBD to do better for swelling, you can take Lion's Mane to repair the concussions and shit that we're getting constantly. Like, I just think you're kind of stupid if you're not actively trying to figure out a solution to all these problems. Have you ever fucked with Kratom? I never. Not really.

I know people that have. I was hanging out with Simon Rex yesterday, and he was telling me some awesome stories about people that were addicted to opiates. They got off of it with Kratom. I think it's awesome. Simon Rex, a.k.a. Dirt Nasty? Yeah. So good. So funny, dude.

Such an awesome dude. He's a good dude I uh I took eight create eight pills yesterday which uh most of the time I was taking two and then I took four and then yesterday I took eight now I get it that stuff makes you high as fuck when you take eight my whole body felt weird I was I was pretending to be sober. I was walking around pretending to be sober, but not drunk, not reaction time. I almost knocked something off the counter. I caught it real quick. It's like everything's normal.

Your body moves good, but you're like, ooh. You feel weird. You feel like, ooh. You're under the effects. Mentally or physically? Mentally, it's very nice. Like body buzz? Yeah, it gives you a body buzz, but it's great at alleviating anxiety.

Like it makes you really chill. It's weird. It just like puts you in this nice head space where you're just like, like everything's calm. I think the idea is that it fills up these opium receptors, and that's what people that have had real problems with opiates, that's why they like it. Because even if you are fucked up on it, you're not fucked up like, you're fucked up like,

ooh, I feel something, something crazy's going on. And I was taking eight, and my buddy Chris Bell, he's the guy who directed that Bigger, Stronger, Faster documentary, he had a real problem with opiates. He got a pretty serious hip injury. Had to get hip replacement surgery and was in massive pain. He has serious arthritis, like genetic arthritis. And when he got his hip replaced and got on pain pills, he got hooked bad. In the middle of making a documentary about prescription drugs, which is crazy.

In the middle of it, he got hooked himself. Just total random synchronicity. And he takes 10. He takes 10 of those. So he takes two more than I took yesterday for like four hours. I was walking around like this. But there's no real side effects in comparison to the other stuff? No, no real side effects.

After that last man standing tournament with Gloria, I had three fights in one night. I had like super bad chest. I had this contusion of my chest. It's still there years later. The swelling. It's still there. Yeah, swelling in my sternum.

And it would pinch off nerves running down my shoulder. And then I think it actually pinched off the nerve root, which is when I started doing the decompression with the chiropractor. And so my left side started getting, like, it was noticeably getting smaller. Like, it was the muscle atrophies. Because what you don't know is that, well, I didn't know. You might know it, Joe. You know everything.

Is that the nerve root actually feeds the muscle and allows it to grow. Once that's fucked up, then your muscle won't grow anymore. It's when you atrophy and shit. It's very difficult to get it to grow back back too, if you don't catch it quickly. Right. And, uh, did you have a problem getting to grow back or did you catch it quickly? Well, I think when we started doing the decompression and all that stuff, it worked. Um, I mean, it grew back, I think. Um, but the, the pain that I was feeling from all this shit, I kept, I kept getting Vicodin prescriptions, Vic an oracle like and you're literally in pain so I would take them at the medicine but

after like two months like I looked at my kitchen counter and there was just empty pill bottles like everywhere and I noticed that I was like really fucking aggressive and like short and like I just stopped right away when I when I realized that but I could totally see how that would be, that could become an addictive thing for sure. I was there for that last man. Because you really need it. You know, it wasn't like I was, like, trying to get fucked up. I was like, oh, I'm in pain.

I take a pill. And then. Did you go to a doctor and get it looked at? Yeah, I went to. What did they say about your sternum? They said that there was nothing wrong with it. I went to the hospital twice. I woke up screaming and shaking from the pain.

I went to the doctor at the hospital, and they did an x-ray, and they said there was nothing wrong with it. I'm like, look at the swelling. It looked like a tennis ball. They said that it was inner cartilage or between the ribs or had gotten some sort of contusion. You know when somebody gets a hit in the elbow and their head swells up? The man was doing that under the rib or under the

sternum plates or some shit so there's nothing to do about it i just started taking advil like it was going out of style and then that would make the swelling go down and then i wasn't in pain anymore and the problem that i was having with the vicodin was it's not an anti-inflammatory so it did nothing for the for the actual cause of the pain and i was just eating fucking vicodin like crazy so um and then uh yeah but now i pretty much eat i take advil every day regardless for my knees hurting or my toes are hurting or like just years of you're not supposed to fuck with that stuff every day yeah well it's not good yeah you gotta do the the on it gut health, right? Well, it's just,

that'll help. I mean, kimchi helps too, probiotics, kombucha. Right, I do all that. But it just, it ruins your gut health and it causes inflammation.

This is what, my friend Cameron Haynes who runs ultra marathons, he was taking 800 milligrams a day, sometimes twice a day. Yeah. And,

because he was in pain all the time because he runs fucking, dude runs a marathon every day. On Saturday, this Saturday was in pain all the time because he runs fucking, the dude runs a marathon every day. On Saturday, this Saturday coming up, he's running for 24 hours and his goal is 120 miles in 24 hours. I mean, he's a fucking maniac.

So this dude's always in pain. And I had Dr. Rhonda Patrick on and she was explaining about how non-steroidal anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen actually cause inflammation because they fuck up your gut bacteria and they fuck up your body's ability to process inflammation and it causes pain so he listened and there's there's connections to stroke and all sorts of other problems so he gets off of it and all his pain went away his pain was caused in part by the fact that he was taking this stuff for his pain which is is a terrible, ridiculous, vicious cycle. That's awful. For how long straight did you say?

What's that? For how long straight was he taking it? He was taking it for years. Yeah. For years. Yeah. Well, because he's been a runner forever. He's been doing marathons.

He ran 238 miles last year, the Moab 230. That's insane. Yeah, Moab 240. How is that even possible? It takes three days. Three fucking days what's really crazy is i'm sorry you after the first day you woke up next day like another 24 hours of running so there's a type of mindset that you have to have to be able to do something

like that that's just superhuman you have to be able to just every step left foot right foot left foot right foot agony and pain all your toenails are falling off. Everything's in. Yeah, I've seen them post pictures of no toes. Nasty fucking feet. Feet all fucked up. Yeah. What's crazy is a woman beat everybody by more than 10 hours. A woman who I had on, her name was Courtney DeWalter.

She beat everybody by 22 miles. She was 22 miles ahead of the second place dude. That's unbelievable. She's a fucking animal. She slept for miles ahead of the second place dude. That's unbelievable. She's a fucking animal. She slept for one minute in three days. One minute. She slept for a minute. Lance Armstrong. Armstrong's chick. You think so?

Yeah, 22 miles? Come on. I don't think steroids help in that world. I think in that world, those people are just, it's just mental. I really don't think it helps. And they don't think it helps and they don't get paid they do that they do it for a little bit they get sponsors and shit right cam doesn't get paid me he has sponsors under armor sponsors them and right you know but not really it's just because they're animals i know you can't every step i'd be like ching ching ching

like thinking about what am i doing this for well it's also you're used to psychotic interactions with other people in short amount of time like you're used to like a 20 minute experience description chaos i mean dude that last man standing was one of my favorite events i've ever been to i fucking loved it i don't want you to ever do it again because i love you i don't want you fighting fucking four times in a night oh man i kind, I kind of want to do it again, though. It's so crazy. There's something about doing that that you know you're doing something special and epic. That was my main, the last man standing tournament, that was my main focus. After I knocked out Simon Marcus, and then I guess after I beat, after the first two fights, going into the third one,

like I'm pretty sure I wasn't going to beat Artem, I was too beat up, but I was like, just had this crazy buzz about knowing that I was doing something like special. Like this was really fucking cool, which I like doing. I would love to do it again. I think that's how those people feel when they're running those crazy ultra marathons.

They know they're about to do something insane. I mean, a regular fight is insane. Two mean, a regular fight is insane. Two regular fights in a night is insane. Three regular fights in a night against world-class kickboxers, and then the first fight you had to go four rounds because after three rounds it was a draw. What in the fuck, man?

It's a good night of fights. I'd do that shit right now. Would you? You look and you get excited. I get excited hearing you talk about it. Make it sound good. I like tournaments, though. I've always loved tournaments.

I've always wanted to be in an eight-day tournament like that. That shit would be dope. Now, you're making your move back to MMA because kickboxing is just not what it should be. I think we both feel that. Kickboxing is one of my favorite things to watch. I'm a giant fan of it. And for whatever reason, it is just not caught on in America the same way boxing has or the same way MMA has. No.

And I've spent my whole—I've been doing it since I was 15 and I'm 34. So all of that time I've been thinking about the same question. You know, it is what it is. Yeah. It's like you can't hold on to it anymore. It's not for me. The sport is going to grow. It's going to keep doing good.

And I hope that that continues. But for me, I need to keep progressing, so to speak. That is – it is what it is. I mean, that's the best way to put it. Because there's no way we're going to fix it. But I don't understand. I mean, I really, really don't understand. I fucking love watching kickboxing.

And when people tell me about how they love boxing, I'm like, that's great. Boxing is great. I love boxing too. Kickboxing is way better than boxing. I'm like, that's great. Boxing is great. I love boxing too. Kickboxing is way better than boxing. That extra level of throwing in kicks and knees, and especially if you go to Muay Thai, elbows and clinch, it's a wilder, crazier striking sport.

And I just don't understand it. I mean, when I watch you fight or Kevin fight or Kevin Ross or Gorgio petrosian john wayne parr how the fuck would you not want to watch that right it's so exciting and then continuously like the they just don't they just don't tune in this doesn't like i don't know i don't know what it is i just don't understand this does bellator have real problems with their ratings when they air it um i don't i don't know exactly what their the ratings are. I know that they're they're average. They're not super fantastic on any So it's below what their average is for their MMA fights. Yeah. Yeah for sure man. It's a bummer. It's a real fucking bummer

Because for for anybody who's a fan anybody who likes watching it like shit like that event in la that last man standing holy fuck was that fun that was crazy yeah that was that was probably one of the best kickboxing events i mean it was the best kickboxing event i've ever been to yeah me too the whole energy and the forum just in general that layout of that was was badass that yeah that forum is perfect for that i mean and everybody knew it was a special night like there was that it was crazy you know that they were doing this you know what is it like knowing that like how much time do you have in between your second and third fight and everything is fucked up and sore and you know you're about to go into another fight uh i think it's probably like 30 minutes, 30, 40 minutes,

like maybe one other fight between you. So just enough time for everything to start hurting. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I guess it was because of the money. I knew that each time I fought, I was going to get more money, and that was my focus in the 30 minutes.

Not wanting to go back out never crossed my mind. Versus if I think if I wasn't getting paid for it, I'd be like, it's cool. That was fine. You know what I mean? So that's why I was asking about those ultra marathons, how they get paid for it or not because I don't think that would be my main focus.

You say that, but I think that if you were there, just your competitive spirit would kick in and you would go let me see what I could fucking do here give me another minute and then I cigarette yeah mile 79 and you're like shit I'll have to do is 21 more miles I could do that do you think you'd like to fight in a tournament like old school UFC 1 style always wanted to

always wanted to you know being part of Bellator's tournament it was dope being a part of like a you know

monthly tournament right I've always wanted to be like in a night yeah what's good would again

you know fighting some of the best fighters in the world three times a night yeah that's really what's going to attach you, to me.

Yeah. So, yeah. There's so many factors involved, so many variables, right? Like, your opponent could get a quick first round knockout. Right. And you could go a three round war. Right, right. You know, and then you face each other in the next round.

It's just, I get the commission's not wanting to do it anymore. I get it. The only place they would let you do it is probably one of them Native American casinos. It's like, come on in, Bobby Lashley. Come on in. I think the commission. Is the commission a problem? I think they would do it in California.

You think so? They did it with Glory when I did it. Yeah, but that's kickboxing. I don't know if they would do that with MMA. Even with kickboxing, it's widely criticized, though. A lot of people think that was a bad idea. Right. Well, I think the way they can do it with kickboxing is because of boxing. The boxing rule says you get up to 12 rounds or whatever.

So for kickboxing, that's three fights. Right, right. I don't know how that works with MMA, though. That makes sense with kickboxing. That makes sense. Because I think they probably would have a hard time saying, like, oh, Daniel can fight 10 rounds of MMA tonight. Legally, that's probably not.

What's the most rounds of kickboxing you ever fought in a night? Other than that tournament. Like, one single fight. Oh, five. Five rounds. When I was fighting Muay Thai, it was always five rounds. It's pretty always like that, right? Why is that?

I think the rule set in Thailand is based primarily around gambling. It's like human cockfighting is what Muay Thai is in Thailand, essentially. It sounds negative, but it's kind of that way. Everybody in the audience is gambling. They're betting, yelling, and motioning back and forth between the betting. So in Thailand, it's a three-minute round, but it's a two-minute rest, which I think is awesome. That is awesome. You ever fight over there yeah i fought for the wbc world title over there and wow what year was this i don't know jamie they play the music yeah yeah

for sure and i fought a rajadamnan stadium in thailand which is one of the... Raja Dhamnan and Lumpini are the two big ones, so I fought over there. The two-minute rest is cool, except you kind of run out of things to talk about. My coach and I were just like, I'm looking at ring girls. Did you fight a Thai guy?

No. Both times, no. First time, I fought a guy from argentina at roger domner stadium and the second time i fought uh carapet carapetian from golden glory gym yeah for the wbc world title now when you um fight over there in thailand did they still expect westerners to take it easy on that first round? Because the idea is during the first round, most ties, they go fairly light because they're ready for the betting to get established. Yeah, they don't want to, I think, you don't want to come out too strong

because then nobody will bet on you or against the other person. I don't think they expect that from the foreigners, though. I think just as a whole, they think that the foreigners suck. They think foreigners won't block leg kicks, so a lot of times you'll see the ties come out though i think just as a whole they think that the foreigners suck and like they think like foreigners won't block leg kicks so a lot of times you'll see like the ties come out and just wreck the fucking foreigner in the first round with again so yeah i don't think they're expecting

the foreigners to uh participate i would i would love to go back in time and watch ramon decker right when he first got there right and that was like the golden era of Muay Thai in the 90s when they didn't have the, you know. Like right now, it's the first round they don't really fight. The second and third round they fight. And the fourth round they may or may not fight depending on who won the first two. They take it off because they do nothing.

Really? Yeah. I mean, not not nothing but almost nothing they're not really trying to win because they know they're gonna fight in a week right and then like in the golden era it was like when like those guys would come out and just it was the prime time and everybody would fight every round and uh it was supposedly was better does ramon decker fights anybody who doesn't know anything about muay thai go on YouTube right now and watch Ramon Decker's and watch Chaos.

That dude. He fought guys who was his size, too. That was what was interesting about him. He was a small guy. It wasn't like a big guy who was going over there to fight the Thais. He was their size. Yeah, and he fought the top, top, top guys in, like, their prime, which is pretty rare.

Now you see, like, San Chai is super famous, but, like, Sam Chai is, like, the celebrity guy who's fighting, like, the older, heavier Thais. Like, the top Thais right now in Thailand are, like, 120 pounds, 115 pounds. They're, like, 16 years old. Those are, like, the top guys. Right. Then you build a name

where you're a big enough name that the foreigners know about you and the rest of the world. They market you and then you fight, you know. You go to America and you fight in America and you go to wherever.

So you're like San Chai, Bukow, those guys. He's fighting constantly and he seems to be fighting on the road a lot. He'll go to these weird places and fight some dude who looks like he's in real trouble almost immediately. Right.

You know? Well, they're like, oh, we're going to bring San Chai over for this fight. And I'm like, oh, he's got to fight somebody. And then a lot of times the Thais don't fight each other. It's very rare that you'll see outside of a Thai stadium. It's very rare that you'll see outside of a Thai stadium. You're not going to see Yahtzee, Klai Phi, Bukow, or a Thai versus Thai. The Thais to kill the foreigners and then still all be on the same team. Well, Sanchar's got such an interesting style, too, because if you looked at him,

if you only saw a silhouette and you saw him move around, you'd go immediately, oh, that's Sanchar. You could tell like instantly yeah this is constantly moving shuffling his feet switching back and forth real light on his feet he just moves different than everybody else he does like the old moe baron some moe baron was like the original martial art of they turned into muay thai if you watch like the old tony john like on bark where they like whatever and they run up on your leg and drop an elbow on your head. There's the Muay Boran stuff and a lot of the techniques that Sanjay does, like the cartwheel kick or the games that he plays. Lerdzilla is another one that's really similar to him from the watch. Did you see when they let Lerdzilla fight in Lion Fight against a dude with zero fights?

Yeah. They let him fight a dude with zero fights. The. They let him fight a dude with zero fights. The dude had zero Muay Thai fights. And Lerdzilla's like over 400. Yeah. He got... Top of the top. And he head kicked this dude into another dimension.

But it was one of those things where it was inevitable from the first minute of the first round. You're like, this guy was an MMA fighter. Not a bad fighter, but just doesn't belong in there with Lurtzilla. It was ridiculous. And when I put it online, the please don't ever do

that again, they're like, oh, Conor McGregor is going to fight Floyd Mayweather. Yeah, that's for $100 million, bro. Kind of different. Pretty sure Lion Fight didn't pay that guy anywhere close to that. Pretty sure that guy got his head knocked off for a thousand bucks. And it wasn't the same.

That guy's not Conor McGregor either. Yeah, right. I mean, if Conor McGregor fought Lurdzilla in an MMA fight or a Muay Thai fight, I'd go, okay, let's see what happens. You know, I mean, I don't think he's going to win, but that might be interesting. But, you know, seeing those guys and the real high-level guys and seeing, like, what they're able to do, seeing the way they move. It's so important, especially for MMA guys that don't understand the levels of striking.

When guys are just striking, there's some elite upon elite upon elite levels. It's like black belt versus a blue belt. Yeah. You'd be like a really badass blue belt, and then you go to the black belt, and you're just completely lost. Like, it's not even close. You're just getting dominated.

Yeah, you just get shut down. You know, or like, you're a good high school wrestler, and you go against, like, world champions. It's not going to happen. Yeah. That's, I mean, one of the more unique things about combat sports is that there are these deep deep levels

and you don't you know sometimes you need to see like a guy like um khabib never met off it's a perfect example you got to see him fight against guys who you know are badass and see him smush them just to realize the difference right yeah, to realize where this guy's at. Because he's not doing anything. It's not like he's doing jump 360 wheel kicks in the air that nobody else can do. He's doing things that everybody else does. He's just doing them at a level that no one else is doing it at.

It's crazy. His wrestling is like 10 times the level of a lot of wrestlers I've seen. Khabib? Yeah. Have you ever trained with him? Never trained with him. He just impressed me with watching him fight. Who was the best wrestler at American Top Team when you were there?

Who do you think is the best wrestler you trained with? I mean, wasn't a fighter. Had to be Brownie. I mean, Brownie's a dog. Just coach-wise, he he was just what's his name mike brownie where's he i was brownie mike no no where's he out of att no but where is he was he a college wrestler i'm saying mike brownie not uh um a uh fighter was a coach mike brownie was probably the best wrestler at oh the coach was interesting Mike Browning which has had his hands he was movement his strength

it's just a dog and he wasn't a fighter no just coaching wrestling yeah yeah but he he had a college career too though yeah where'd he go I think he was in Boston maybe or what was my brown Browning from? Up north somewhere. So he's never had any MMA fights? No, Browning has, yeah. How many? Oh, fuck. Fuck if I know.

Fought for the UFC. Fought for a fucking, what was that before UFC? What was that? Younger. Beat Uriah. WEC? you know WEC yeah WEC had a good career

oh Mike Brown you're saying yeah you're saying Browning it's Mike Brown I was like who's this Browning guy yeah that's what I said

I'm like what the fuck is he talking about Jesus Christ I thought I was I still don't know what the fuck he said I'm like he fought for the UFC

I'm going through my Rolodex Mike Browning Browning Browninging? Browning. Who's Browning? Yeah. What the fuck is he talking about? No, Mike Brown's a beast.

He was a bad motherfucker in his day. Cool motherfucker, too. Very good dude. When I was down at 8th and D, he was probably my favorite person to fuck with. Well, he's a great coach now, too. He was in Colby Covington's corner this weekend, and he told me after the fight, he's like, dude, this kid's cardio is insane. He's like, it's insane. He goes, I it might be like just a natural gift that he has i mean he trains really

really hard but he said his cardio is just off the charts yeah interesting it's funny how much attention he's like i don't know if he wasn't that good before but it seems like he got a ton of fucking attention as soon as he started talking shit. Oh, for sure. I mean, the talking shit. That just worked nice. The champ. Yeah, well, the talking shit got him to the dance. But beating Maia the way he beat Maia, everybody had to open their eyes up and go, huh. But a lot of people had doubts.

They were like, Dos Anjos is a fucking straight-up assassin. He's going in there against a guy who fucked up Robbie Lawler, a guy who murked Neil Magny. Like, how's he going to beat this guy? And he beat the shit out of him. He literally beat him every round. It was crazy. Like, he, watching, I mean, maybe you could give the first round to Dos Anjos,

and, you know, he was always a threat because he still got power, but Colby's just on, and it was like Nick Diaz style. Just pop, pop, constant attack. Constant kicking him, constant punching him i was very impressed very impressed i have to go back and watch it i didn't see it so i can't really say anything very impressive man the most impressive thing was the pace he put on him because del

sanchos is known for his cardio and he had a real problem with that cardio when he was at 155 because he diminished his body so much and then he moves up to 170, and you're like, well, now he literally doubled his output. If you look at the strikes per minute in the 155-pound division and then 170, it was double at 170. And still, Colby melted him. Just stayed on him, kept that heat on him. It was crazy. That's impressive. Very impressive.

But now he's got Tyron so mad. Tyron wants to fucking kill him that is that's a different person like tyron has so mad because he hates him all the shit talking colby's been doing he did he did interviews with people he told them don't bring up colby's name i don't want you to even bring up his name because he didn't want colby getting any attention but now it's too late you know now he's got anyone's name't want Anyone's name Other than his bro Ever All the time

On any show Ever Period Ever They're gonna fight now Ever They're gonna fight now He should be happy

That guy talks a lot of shit now Cause that's what's gonna make him money You're right I mean It's good for both of them Fuck yeah It's good for both of them How do you feel about shit talking?

I was never a shit talker But Because I never wanted to be That guy that shit that talks shit and can't back it up. So I like when people talk shit because I'm going to beat your ass anyways. But, you know, it works for some. It doesn't, like I said, for me, I was never one of those guys. But it has been one of those things that, like, you see every couple years, it's those one guy that stands out from talking shit.

And it's like, ah, it works for him. Then you start to see everybody try to trickle it. Right. Well, I think Conor did that for a lot of people. But Kobe's saying some hilarious shit. I'm going to take this belt and bring it to Donald Trump. He's doing some shit to piss some people off. It's fucking funny, though, man.

It works. It's the same thing though, man. It works. I mean, it's the same thing Chael did, right? Exactly. Chael was like, it's obviously fun, like, just, it's obviously bullshit, but it fucking works, yeah.

Exactly. Chael's still the best, in my opinion. See, the manner you make me get. I could watch him talk about anything. Yeah. I really like watching him.

Well, he's a smart dude. He's really good. Yeah. His little, his Instagram videos that he does in his car are fucking great. Yeah, they're excellent.

Fucking great. I would take a class from Chael on how to do that shit. I would totally do it. Yeah, man, when he was fighting Anderson Silva, those were the glory days of shit talking in MMA. He opened up the door for everybody. Oh, they're feeding the Noguera brothers a carrot. Yes!

Oh, my God, it's so good. They thought a bus was a donkey. I didn't know that they had the internet there. I swear I didn't know. I thought it was

on a private forum, the internet. And that guy's balls, he went over and did the ultimate fighter in Brazil. I mean, went over to Brazil,

stayed there for six weeks and did the ultimate fighter and coached alongside Vanderlei. And Vanderlei... And got jumped by Dita ultimate fighter and coached alongside Vanderlei and Vanderlei got jumped by uh Dita right yeah and Vanderlei got so goofy on the show that Vanderlei lost Brazilian fans because Vanderlei was coming after him and Chael was trying to be calm about it and Chael's like look you know like uh don't touch me don't come near me and you know Vanderlei comes

near him he grabs him takes him down he's like it was so it was so interesting like watching him turn it all around and have people mad at vanderley i mean the brazilians were mad at vanvile they're like you're making us look bad perfect place is perfect place is perfect yeah i mean there's a there's a time and a place for talking and this is the time and this is the place. It just seems like to make money now, it's such a wise move. I mean, it's sports entertainment at the end of the day. This is what anybody wants to say or think about it. I mean, I'd watch two guys that aren't that good at fighting. You know, like the tough man contest, if it's marketed right.

Bouncers and bartenders, like whatever. If it's entertainment, it's entertainment. Some of the best fights have been against guys who aren't some of the best fighters Butterbean I'd love that guy Cabbage one of the best fights ever

for sure I'm gonna start like a fucking tough man contest promotion well and even good guys who aren't world champions like when Arturo Gatti fought Mickey Ward

we knew that they were both perfectly matched and they were just gonna collide in the middle of the ring and beat the fuck out of each other. But those were some of the classic boxing matches. Classic. For sure. Didn't have to be

for the heavyweight championship. No. No. No. I mean there's been some amazing fights in the UFC that are similar to that. Like Gilbert Melendez vs. Diego Sanchez. Right. That wasn't for a title. That was one of the greatest fights I've ever seen. That shit was crazy. The whole classic style makes fights. I mean, I've always, like,

I think that shit's... Two fighters that don't really have too much on their mind and talking shit about a fight hyping it. The hype behind a fight is what makes fights. Yeah. As long as you can actually still fight. That's what makes it interesting with a guy like Conor or a guy like Colby.

They can fucking fight. They're talking a lot of shit, but when the bell rings, they're backing it up. I mean, we were talking about this earlier, but that's what bugs me most about CM Punk was that he has the WWE background. You would think he would at least be great on the mic. You know what I mean? Maybe he can't back it up

or fight or whatever but like he goes from like cocky and confident I'm the fucking champ or whatever at WWE

to like oh you know just believe in yourself kids it's like really hard to understand don't get it don't believe in yourself

and he has no physical like no physique he doesn't he's not like it's kind of sad I just shit on CM Punk no listen you didn't shit on him

You suck You were honest about him You were honest about what you saw I don't think that's shitting on him Right He's a very nice guy He's a very nice guy And he's a hard worker

But he does not have athletic talent He's missing a lot And he's a showman And when he was in the WWE He was allowed to say I am the fucking man And throw his arms up in the air And they had it scripted so that he was

the man. But, you know, when you're in there with a guy like Mike Jackson who had zero fear of him and just was so casual and just popping him in the face anytime he wanted to and literally could have stopped him anytime. If he just got angry

and wanted to stop him, he could have stopped him at any point in the fight. And even though he beat him decisively, the performance pissed Dana White off so bad, the way he was fighting, that he called him a fucking idiot and he said he'll never fight in the UFC again. And he won. So if Mike Jackson went out there

and just starched CM Punk with a right hand, left hook combination and that was the end of it, they would say, well, CM Punk, you gave it a shot. That's it. It's over. Mike, who would you like to fight next and now it's like you know you're not even fighting in the ufc anymore because you should have you should have stopped him like what you were doing he tickled him yeah he fucking tickled him i'll make a joke of the sport like it's already like a joke that if this guy you know everyone thinks cm punk's like a fucking joke i guess he is if that's what they look. But don't make a joke of the sport.

You know what I mean? They've been kind of just poking fun at the fans. I get where Dean is coming from. I get where Dean is coming from, too. I'd have starched him. Yeah. The whole thing was very weird. The whole thing was very weird.

Right away, when you see CM Punk holding his hands up and moving stiff and throwing kicks, you're like, oh, Jesus. Like, I don't like that being on pay-per-view. I understand that they're selling pay-per-view cards, but pay-per-view in the UFC should be the elite fighters. Curtis Blades versus Alistair Overeem should have been on that pay-per-view card. That's what should have been there, not what we got to see. You know, what we got to see was just.

Yeah. It's like you're playing a trick on the fence. You know what we got to see was just yeah i don't like when it's like now like you're playing a trick on the fence you know what i mean you're promoting this guy as if he's something and then it's like sparring videos come out and it's like what the fuck is this sparring videos are crazy it was awful it was like a guy who just showed how to spar awful it's like you took a dude who's no wrestling background no nothing and you're like all right this one i want you to do this is a jab this is the right hand and this is when, this is what I want you to do. This is a jab. This is a right hand. And when you throw a kick, I want you to pivot your hips. Go ahead and ask Barr.

I mean, he doesn't have the ability to move his body right. There's a lot of guys you could take out there that are track and field guys or football players, and you could get them to fight better than him in a couple of weeks. Right. Easily, because they're athletes. They're athletes. They would understand how to shift their weight, throw a punch.

Yeah, the sparring videos that I saw, I think it was from his first fight. But even then, wasn't he signed for two years before he had his first fight or something? Yes. There's no way that you're six years deep in the game and you're still that bad. You know what I mean? He doesn't have any talent. That's all it is. He just doesn't have physical talent. There's no way that you're six years deep in the game and you're still that bad. You know what I mean? He doesn't have any talent. That's all it is.

He just doesn't have physical talent for whatever reason, whether it's his approach, his intensity, whether it's not his coaching. He's with Duke fucking Rufus. You know? Yeah. I mean, Duke Cushman. He talks about Duke Rufus. In one of the pre-fights, he said, how do you see this fight?

He's like, oh, I really like a head kick. Duke would love to see a head kick. I'm like, I don't think that's going to happen. Oh, that's so crazy. That's such a crazy thing to say. Duke's a beautiful person. He's a great guy in every sense of the word. He just is.

He's a great guy. He did his best. There's only so much you could do. I mean, I'm sure you would love working with Duke. I'm sure he would love working with you. If you and Duke worked together, I'm sure you guys would have a great old time because you're Joe fucking Chilling. And he's Duke fucking Rufus.

Let him know. Let him know. But you know what I mean? You have to have something to work with. I mean, if Duke just grabbed some dude from a gas station that has been drinking beer and smoking cigarettes his whole life and had a fight in six months, how much can you possibly expect? I don't know, but I would rather see that fight against CM Punk

than these other ones, really. Let's find out how that one would go. I know a guy you can find at a gas station, beer and cigarettes. What's interesting is both guys fought Mickey Gall first, which is weird. Did you see his Instagram? Mickey's? Yeah, he did his own pre-fight analysis of how it was going to go. It was really good.

Yeah, well, that was a disaster. When I saw Mickey fight and then I saw that he was going to fight CM Punk, I was like who said yes to this why the fuck would you say yes to this this is a hundred percent guaranteed brain damage there's no way you're going to beat him there's not you don't have a goddamn chance in hell you have no chance and i was saying that people get mad at me the cm punk fans get mad at me i'm like look this is what i do my job job is to analyze shit. I look at fighters. I look at movies. I understand what I'm talking about, man.

This is like I got a pit bull, and I'm going to put him in a cage with a puppy. What do you think is going to happen? The pit bull is going to kill the puppy. This is how it works. This isn't like maybe that puppy is going to grab him by the face. No, no, no. No, no, no. Listen to me.

I'm telling you. This is how bad this matchup is. This is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt with a nasty back game. He's strong and fast. You look at the matchup that CM Punk just had, Mike Jackson. Mickey beat Mike Jackson in like under a minute, I think, right? Yeah, smushed him. Took his back, strangled him.

He's been out here training with me for like three months now, and the kid's getting really good. His striking's getting really, really good. He's fucking talented, man. Really good. And he talks a lot of shit, too. Yeah, he's good. Plus, he's got hilarious walkout music.

When he comes out, Oh, Mickey, you're so fine. You're so fine. I've been trying to convince him. Ever since he got here, I called his phone, and it's like, you know those people that have those ringback songs, and they're like fucking horrible elevator music? Every time he answers, I'm like, dude dude turn that fucking shit off you change it or at least have it be hey mickey you're so fine yeah and what is his music i don't want some trash

it's just just elevator like something awful fucking change it mickey that Fucking change it, Mickey. Change it, buddy. Change the shit. When is he fighting again? I don't think he has anything booked yet. I think he's calling Sean Shelby. So he's working with you with his striking? Yep. Nice. He's helping me with my ground game.

Who is he working with his ground game out here? Jason Manley and Bamba Vasconcelos. Where's that out of? Bamba trades with me, and Jason Manley is, uh, Bomba Vasconcelos. Where's that out of? Uh, Bomba trades with me and Jason Manley is, uh, I think they're training at Muscle Farm. That's cool. So where is he? Uh, is he staying in Burbank out there? Is he staying near you?

He's, uh, staying near me and, um, uh, Eagle Rock. Nice. He's actually roommates with Eve Edwards. No shit. Yeah. Oh, that's right. He's like, I need a place to stay here. We got me in this little. I love Eve. He's a good dude. Thing to go Yeah. Oh, that's right. He's like, I need a place to stay here. We got me getting this little.

I love Eve. Getting this little. He's a good dude. Thing to go on. Yeah, man. He's great, isn't he? He's a great dude. He's a great dude.

He's very good on the desk, too. It's interesting to see former fighters on the desk. Some dudes are lost and some dudes are smooth. Some dudes are very good at it. I think he does great, right? He's very good at it. I think he's one of my favorite ones to watch. Yeah, I tweeted about it years ago when he first good at it. I think he does great, right? He's very good at it. I think he's one of my favorite ones to watch. Yeah, I tweeted about it years ago when he first started doing it.

I'm like, I really appreciate him doing it. Michael Bisping's very good at it, too. Although he and Colby got at it. It was a little awkward. They went after it after the fight. Bisping can't not talk shit, right? No, he can't help it. He can't help himself, which I really appreciate that about him, actually.

Well, he's a dog, man. His competitive drive is pretty intense. You know, Bisping is, in my opinion, like one of the best. He's like one of the best poster boys for just hard work, mental toughness, and determination. Yeah, and also being that, like, British dude at the bar that'll, like, have a beer and tell you to go fuck yourself exactly yeah piss off you mother yeah yeah that's good he's got problems with his other eye now too does he yeah that sucks he got some sort of a detachment in his other eye his good eye and i thought they were gonna fix fix one i thought it was like gonna get better or something.

He's got some sort of oil in it that protects it before he retires. And then when he retires, he's going to get it operated on to fix it. But now he has a new problem with his right eye. He was seeing some flash or something like that in his right eye. And he went to the doctor and found out it's got a detachment there. And he's like, all right, fuck this. I'm done. Because he was going to have one more fight.

And now he's like, I'm done. He did it all, man. He won the Ultimate Fighter. He won the title. He's been hated. He's been loved. Yeah. And now he's a good analyst, too.

He's very good on the desk. He's got a cushy thing going. His podcasts, I think, are great, too. He's doing really well. He's doing good. That is a nice thing. And acting, too, right now? Yeah.

Is he in some movies? Yeah, he's always got something going on. It's nice that guys do have those other options too, like podcasts and different things now. There's ways out, you know? Especially looking at what Schaub's done. Schaub has taken it to a whole other level. I mean, as far as guys being able to get out of the fight game and then make a living as a podcaster, he's fucking doing stand-up now and headlining clubs and shit and traveling all over the

country. And he's good, man. He's fucking funny. He's a funny dude. Yeah. It's hilarious, you know? It's just nice that fighters have options because, you know, seeing a guy stick around when he shouldn't be doing it anymore is one of the hardest things.

Oh, for sure. And then you look at all the NFL guys or any pro sport, most of those guys are broke within four years of when they finish. And there's not a whole lot of other options for a lot of the guys. So I think it's good. It's nice that we have other options. Yeah. For sure. So with you signing.

You showed everybody the way. There's a way. There's a way. There's ways. With the internet, man, there's just crazy ways. I mean, how much money do you think Mighty Mouse makes on his Twitch stream? I would say a decent amount. I don't know how much.

This is like the video game thing? Yeah. Dude's Twitch stream, and they're not even like the best gamers in the world, and they make thousands and thousands at all. I know Rampage is on there all the time. What'd you say? He's playing in something right now. Sugar Sean's in it, too.

Ah! Thoughts on it. Not that we're going to watch it, but yeah, it's on. Rampage is on there all the time. What'd you say? He's playing in something right now. Sugar Sean's in it, too. Ah! Fun, fun. Not that we're going to watch it, but yeah, it's on. Rampage does that, too? I think so, yeah. He's a good big gamer. He's always talking about it.

Is he still active? Is he still going to fight again? Yeah, I was trying to get a fight with him not too long ago, and I'm not sure what. Well, he's like 290 pounds right now. Yeah, but I feel like for that size, i feel like that for that size i could do that i could do that i could beat rampage i don't know if i'd go for like brock lesnar well the rampage fight would be a good fight for you because he doesn't he doesn't try to take you down right most likely he's going to try to stand with you right yeah do you have a set schedule for your return to mma uh i hopefully going to get something around September,

late August, early September, I think. And you just decided that where kickboxing is right now just doesn't have enough juice? Yeah, I want to keep progressing financially. And like I said, money motivates me a lot. And if I reach the ceiling of the sport, so to speak, and there's, oh, MMA is right here, right next door. And, yeah. Does that make sense?

Yeah. No, it does make sense. You say you're 34? Yeah. I mean, how many more years do you think you're going to do it? Four, five. Four, five. Yeah. I want to make big fights, as much money as I can. you think you're going to do it? Four, five. Four, five, yeah.

I want to make big fights, as much money as I can, and set up for life after fighting, I think. You can't just quit, right? You've got to find ways to market yourself at the highest level to get as much attention as possible so that you're relevant in the space that you pass. And I just don't think that kickboxing is going to get me there. Yeah, man, it's a bummer, but I think you're right.

I think it's a smart – if you're just dealing strictly financially, I think it's a very smart move. It's very unfortunate. I really wish there was a solution. I do not know what it would be, though. I mean, everybody's tried. Spike TV tried. They tried with the Paramount Network.

They tried with Glory. Well, I think also with Bellator, maybe I'll come back. Maybe there's a big fight. Maybe Musashi's like, you know what? I think I want the Bellator kickboxing title too. Right, yeah. Let's do it. Right, yeah.

But I would fight. If they let me, I would fight fucking kickboxing first, win that fight, and then come back out the same night and fight MMA. Really? Hell yeah. I brought it up. I brought it up to Coker at our meeting

not too long ago. What'd they say? They just kind of looked at me like, ah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's fucking, you can't stop crazy, huh? It's the same way they looked at me when I said I wanted to fight Rampage and Vanderlei.

They were like, ah, yeah, well. Now, what is Vanderlei's deal? Is he back? Like,

what's going on with Vanderlei? I don't know I just thought it was an opportunity When Chael beat him His complaint was that He just took him down and laid on top of him Which has been kind of my complaint for a while

So I figured But they don't want that fight No? Why don't they want that fight? Well I think Vanderlei already had his face surgery done once I don't think he wants to have it done twice. Oh, shit. Rampage is my buddy, but he just doesn't want that fight.

He said he wants the easy fight like Vanderlei. Well, there's a lot of history between those two guys, too. Yeah, that makes sense. If you'd want a big money fight for him. Vanderlei was an interesting story, too, right? When he was fighting over in Pride, and then he came over to the UFC. Just a completely different human being. Yeah. Just in the Rampage

fights when Rampage fought him over in Pride and then also a lot of miles on him too. You gotta think of both things. You know? Just got me thinking about Felony talking about you know, fighting him over. Felony, the fighter formerly known as

crazy horse crazy horse has now changed his name to felony ladies and gentlemen no longer refer to him as crazy horse you ever see that fight backstage yeah i've seen it it's nothing i swear swears up and down yeah i beat him up uh i'm like all right choked to sleep. He definitely got choked to sleep. But that was somebody else, right? That was somebody else. But didn't he KO?

He says he KO'd Vanderlei. He said he sucker punched him and KO'd him. Well, then after he got choked out on the video that you see, he fought later on that night and won by knockout, I think. Yeah. After being choked unconscious in the back. And he said he knocked out Vanderlei. Oh, it happened before his fight. Yes. And out Vanderlei. Oh, and really went fight

Yeah, yes, and then really went no no no haven't before he fought in the locker room And he went out and won and then he says he knocked out Vanderlei punched him and knocked him out Vanderlei went out and won a decision so Vanderlei if he's telling the truth he KO'd Vanderlei earlier that night If he's telling the truth, he KO'd Vandele earlier that night. Yeah, this is it. Here's the fight. This is Vandele when, you know. That doesn't even look like the same person. I know.

His nose was smashed in. It does not even look like the same person. Yeah. Now he's got like the Mario Brothers mustache. He attacked this dude and he got caught in a triangle. Very danger, very danger. Oh, that's it, baby. I forget who it was that did this to him.

But it was one of Carlson Gracie's black belts How big is how big is a phone Gary now you got a hundred and fifty five pounds maybe He's out cold here. All right. Yeah, out cold. Oh, they're very nice to him. Right, like they stopped. Look at his eyes open up.

He's like, what? I think, like, you did a, I saw a clip the other day, well they're very nice to him right like they stop look at his eyes open up he's like what i think like uh you did i saw a clip the other day you were the guys asked you uh what's the practical use of jujitsu and you're like well in a street if we got in a fight i would kill you that's like i think people don't realize that like without the ref to like stop the fight or like though even those guys like they stopped him like okay yeah let him go he's already unconscious like that would kill you yeah you would be dead yeah

you would be dead if that guy doesn't want to let go of you like you die he just holds on until your brain doesn't work anymore yeah

and that's a wrap and that's that yeah that's nuts that's real yeah that's my friend Eric trying to come up

with some excuse to not work out that's why I said what's the practical use of jujitsu if we had a fight I would kill you. What is this another crazy horse fight?

No, these are the two guys in the basketball court. They got into a big fight, and then he takes it down really, really quick. He attacked the guy. Oh, yeah, he fucked up, son. Oh, yeah. Oh, he thinks he's a badass, and he doesn't know how to fight. Oh, look at this. Oh, punch in the back of the head.

Oh, shit. Oh, look at this. Look at him. He's still trying to punch him. H, shit. Ooh, look at this. Look at him. He's still trying to punch him. Hilarious. I like that. Lost it. He's taking that leg apart, though, right here.

He's got him in a heel hook right here. You'll never play basketball again, motherfucker. And in that position, he's telling the truth. Yeah, right. All he has to do is yank that fucking thing up clockwise, and that's a wrap. Pop, pop, pop. That horrible pain of getting heel hooked and not tapping. Not the business.

Especially that inside heel hook. That is so nasty when it goes across the body. The amount of torque on your knee. Especially that inside heel hook. That is so nasty when it goes across the body. The amount of torque on your knee. There's just like no way your knee can hang in there. It just rips apart. I'm good on knee surgeries. Is that that Paul Harris? Yeah, that guy was doing

that same move. Well, he does outside and inside, but the inside one is just, the outside one you got a little bit more, there's a little more movement like this just the outside one you got a little bit more there's a little more movement like this i mean you got to tap eventually but the problem is when someone's got you in this way across the body and then they go like that man you got about an inch or two of movement just it's horrible too it sounds terrible you can hear the everything pulling apart snapping off the bone and people screaming pojaras would not

let go either that was his thing he would just hang on to heel hooks it sounds so bad it sounds so bad i got a guy with a uh a fucking kimura maybe it was americana i'm not sure what the difference is but uh it sounds like a towel this is an americana this is a kimura i think it was this way and uh it sounded like ripping a towel. A terrycloth towel. If you pull it all apart and the fibers start popping, that's what it sounded like. And you can still hear it in my head. It sucks.

Did he tap? I mean, after. He's like, it's cool, it's cool. And I'm like, that's not fucking cool. I didn't mean to break your fucking arm. You could have just tapped, you dickhead. Yeah, I saw. Now I got to hear this shit in my head all night.

I saw a video of a street fight. There's another video where this dude gets a guy in an omoplata, and he's pushing his arm up. You see the guy's arm just give out. Oh, in a street fight? I saw that. You see that? Yeah. It was like Mexico or something, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Something Brazil or something. Good groundwork, though. Dude got his nice omoplata in a street fight. It's always a plus. Right? I mean, the street fight game is changing drastically. People know how to fight.

Dude, people know how to fight. Super dangerous. Super dangerous. Take a chance. When I was a kid, it was like on the playground, it was like flying karate kick kicks and shit. Now they're going to be rear naked choking each other. Oh, for sure. And fucking heel hooking little kids.

Little kids grow up watching Bellator and the UFC and kickboxing. They know what a leg kick is now. They know all that shit. They know how to grab the back of the head. Other kids are yelling, knee, knee, knee. They know what to do now. Oh, is this it? Yeah, this is it.

Yeah, this is awful. The dude gets, he brings out Lego. That guy, the guy on the top has no understanding of what to do with his arm. Here it is. Oh, sir, I'm just going to. Here it comes. Here it comes. Here it comes.

Watch this. Get ready. And here comes the noise. It's awful, man. The sound. Oh, there it is. Oh. Look at it just laying fucked up backwards on his arm.

Oh, don't move it. Jesus Christ. He's just laying there like. He must have been drunk, too. Because he didn't even pull his arm out. He had no idea what he was doing. Listen. Yeah. You guys, you don't know you're in out. He had no idea what he was doing. Listen. Yeah.

You guys, you don't know you're in trouble. Do you smoke, Daniel? Is that what that is? Cigarettes there? These are empty. It was something else in here. Come on, man. Something else in there.

Do you smoke cigarettes? Yes. Yes, I do. How often do you smoke? As soon as I get out of here. As soon as you get out of here? As soon as I get out of here. How many a day?

I try to go, I don't know, probably about half a bag. Jesus, you're hanging out with this motherfucker. It's okay. This is part of it. You just got to get it. You just got to take it. Just go ahead. Get a job.

Well, I'm just looking out for your best interest, man. Have you ever tried to switch to vape or anything like that? I've done, man, listen. I've done it all. Vape, I've chewed, I've tried to stop gum, everything. I just, I'm an individual. You're an individual? I'm an individual.

I'm just one of those weird guys that just does it all. Were you smoking when you were the current Bellator champ? Yeah, I was. Both of them? I was. Really? them? I was. Really? Damn. That's so crazy.

I've been smoking since I was like chewing in, smoking since I was 12, 13. There's a lot of Thai fighters who smoke, right? Skarbowski, doesn't he always smoke? There's actually a lot of fighters. I mean, not a lot of fighters. I don't want to put it out there and put people on blast, but a lot of fighters that you know at a high level in the UFC smoke cigarettes.c smoke cigarettes i used to try to hide it like that we that used to be my thing you know trying to hide it uh and then you always oh i can't believe you're an athlete

you're smoking it's like all right leave me the fuck alone people hear you talk and they go man are you an 80 year old blues singer what the fuck's going on with your voice man it's the cigarettes yeah they give you that hard living voice yeah there's definitely a benefit

and a level to like not hiding who you are like I was just talking to somebody about that the other day like it is nice that I can say

that I smoke weed and be myself and you know whatever so shit especially weed yeah you know I mean there's a lot of people It is nice that I can say that I smoke weed and be myself and whatever. Shit, especially weed. There's a lot of people that have some dumb ideas about what weed does to you. It's nice that guys like you are out about it so you can realize. Thank you, Joe.

It's nice that guys like you are out there too. Pro athletes. I'm a stoner. I'm a comedian. It makes sense. But pro athletes, seeing that a guy who takes care of his body smokes weed, it's not ruining his career. The other thing is that people want to think that it's lazy people.

Yeah, that's what bothers me most about the misconception of it is that you're not a productive person. You just sit around the house and holler. Someday, like on Sunday, I sit around the house and holler. I'm a motherfucker. Not a big shit. But every other day, I'm working my ass off constantly. You earn those days off though For sure

For sure For sure There's a photo in the green room From Ryan Loco Shout out to Ryan Shout out to Ryan You smoking cigarettes Is that from

Last Man Standing? It's in between fights Isn't it? Yeah I think I don't know if it was Last Man Standing Or if it was It was in the locker room One of the glory fights I don't know if it was Last Man Standing or if it was, it

was the locker room, one of the glory fights. I don't know if it was between fights or not. Yeah, there it is. That's up in the green room right now. You're there often. It was like, uh, Jimi Hendrix and Elvis, right? We had the same, the four pictures. Yes.

Yeah. Yeah. I got a gang of new ones coming now. I got, um, Steven Tyler when he was a teenager, got arrested for weed. I got him. I got Conor McGregor. Mug shots? Yeah, I got Conor McGregor mug shot.

I got the real Jimi Hendrix mug shot, not the photo that we had on before, which was like his real mug shot label, but the photo was like from one of them Jimi Hendrix experience photos. We got the real mug shot photo now. Wow. Jimi Hendrix has some heroin in i'm trying to go to toronto with that hair on there it is right there yeah when someone's trying to tell me jimmy hendrix didn't do heroin well tell that to the toronto police department when they fucking arrested him for it there's a picture of meme on instagram i saw the other day that was Bruno Mars fucking Justin Bieber,

like two other Brit celebrities, whatever. They were all smiling in their mugshot, and it was like, when you know you have bail money. Yeah, I saw that. They just got Vince Vaughn. Yeah? Yeah, they just busted him, DUI. Ah, sucks. Yeah, they just busted him DUI. Ah, sucks.

Yeah, drinking and driving is so good. I got a DUI when I was 22 on shrooms. Dude. Shrooms and drunk. Dude, they tested you for shrooms? No, they didn't get me for the shrooms, but they fucking got me for the DUI. I would think that maybe the shrooms would help balance out the booze yeah the problem was i kept arguing with the guy and he's like trying to get me to blow

on the street and i'm like oh yeah i didn't think nothing happening like pretending to blow and then they take me downtown and i was like in and out of like falling asleep and i kept like waking up and they had like the dui uh the breathalyzer machine, it looks kind of like this or whatever, the actual big machine. And I remember I gargled with him like, what happens if I don't blow? And he's like, then you're going to get suspended for six months. And I'm like, and what if I blow and it's bad as a union,

he was suspended for a year. And then I asked him that back and forth like 20 times. I kept falling asleep. I ended up not blowing. Well, that would make you want to not blow like yeah that's why I didn't blow that's ridiculous what do you think I'm fucking stupid so by the time you go to jail or you go to court anyway your suspension's almost up so I ended up I ended up getting off on that because it was uh uh they pulled me over for turning the wrong way on a one-way street but I just showed that I wasn't um i didn't do any field sobriety tests i'm not you shouldn't drink and drive i'm not i'm trying to back that but if

you do drink and uh i didn't do the field sobriety test so they didn't have any probable cause that i was actually drunk and then when he didn't blow and uh they said well he was driving the wrong way in a one-way street and i was like i've never been to that area before. side note. Technicalities. Don't blow. Yeah. Never had a DUI. Good for you. You're driving a fucking motorcycle,

man. You better be sober. Yeah, well. Plus you're smoking cigarettes, not paying attention to what you're doing. I mean, with Uber and Lyft

and all this shit now, it's kind of, it's pretty irresponsible to get a fucking DUI. I bet it's dropped down significantly because of Uber and Lyft I really bet it has for sure

thanks man listen boys let's wrap this bitch up thanks for bringing me all this stuff Daniel much love and

I appreciate you for having me man hey my pleasure dude and best of luck in your recovery it's a great story I love hearing it and just all the best man

thank you Joe Schillen you know you're my man appreciate it, appreciate it, buddy. And Daniel Strauss on Twitter and on Instagram. Joe underscore Schilling. You know what? I had this fucking

plan. I was just going to keep saying my Instagram password throughout the whole show and I fucking forgot. So Joe underscore Schilling on Instagram. There you go. Holler at your boy. Holler at your boy. Holler at your boy. Thanks, Joe. Appreciate it.

Thank you. Thank you.