The Joe Rogan Experience - JRE MMA Show #87 with Kamaru Usman

Episode Date: January 27, 2020

Joe sits down with UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman.

Three, two, one, champ! What's up? How are you? What's up, Joe? How are you feeling, man? I'm good. I'm good. Life is good. Life is good. It's good. It's stressful, but it's good. Well, I mean, it has to be stressful. You're the king of the hill.

Yes, yes. And there's a lot of things they don't tell you. Dude, I remember Matt Hughes, when he lost to BJ Penn, I was interviewing him in the octagon. He said something like really honest and very shocking. He said, honestly, he goes, it's a relief. He goes, like, being a champ and the stress of it all, he goes, I feel relieved to have been lost. First of all, to lose, it's very, like, the fact that he had the balls to say that, like, just admit it. Like, hey, it's a relief. Like, you know, he just choked me out, but'm happy i'm happy it happened it is for guys like that that have reached that status it is

the anderson silva yeah the george saint pierre those guys it is a relief because you know and i'm just i'm starting to see a little bit why because as soon as i walk out of there defending your title as soon as you just beat this kid up, fans can't wait to say, oh no, this is the guy that's going to beat you. That's the guy that's going to beat you. So there's really no calm down, let me take a vacation, let me do this.

No, because fans are on it. They want a guy to step in there with you tomorrow to beat you. That's always going to happen though, isn't it? Yeah. With everybody, anybody who's a champ. Yeah, but that's... Now imagine doing that five, six, seven times over and over like these guys,

George St. Pierre for decades have done. It just gets overwhelming because it's like nothing's ever good enough for you guys. I can't go out there, put on a flawless performance win and just have you guys say, you know what? He's the best.

No, it's like you were good but yeah this guy's gonna beat you this guy this guy's good enough well there's always gonna be a certain percentage of people that are not happy with anything i saw a lot of people that are tweeting talking shit about connor after he just won flawless victory 40 second knockout of donald cerrone and they were like that doesn't prove know, he's going to fall apart if he fights anybody good. As soon as he gets in there with a wrestler, this and that, blah, blah, blah. It's like some people are just negative. Absolutely.

You can't fix them. You just got to accept them the way they are. Just like, eh. I know. And it's one of the advice that Rashad gave me early on is make friends with this. Make friends with, because you get worked up before a fight. So he's like, no, make friends with this. Make friends with, because you get worked up before a fight. So he's like, no, make friends with that feeling because that's a good feeling.

Or you're backstage before your fight, you're super nervous, you want to take a shit, you want to pee, you pee like 50 times, you're barely drinking water, but somehow there's some kind of pee coming out. And he's like, no, make friends with that feeling. The moment you accept that feeling, it's not that big of a burden anymore. Rashad's a wise man.

A super wise man. That's a very wise piece of advice. Because you can really change your perception based on how you approach something and just deciding. Oh, yeah. This is all right. This is a part of the process. This is what's up. This is how it works.

It's big for me right now it's very very big for me because i uh i'm a creature of uh of a routine i love having a routine and and it's a fine line between routine and obsessive compulsive it's a very very fine line yeah because and it started on for me early on when i when i started to succeed in wrestling i was like okay this is my routine. Okay, I'm looking at the, okay, I'm 10 matches out. So that means I need to get up and I need to warm up. My warm up was the same. Okay, I'm going to jog back and forth twice before I skip back and forth twice.

Before I do my lunges back and forth twice. Before I do my stance in motion back and forth twice. Like it was that routine. I it was, it was that routine. I had to do it at that time. I'm going to the restroom. I need to pee before I go for this match, but I'm going to go into the same bathroom. I'm going to the same stall. You know, I'm going to pee and I'm going to come out and use the same sink to wash my

hand, get one or two paper towels, throw it away, go back out. Like it got to a point where it's like that's my routine. And then I go out there and I perform and I win. I'm like, yeah, that's why I'm performing. So it's like OCD. There's a fine line. So I had to realize that that's a fine line because it's not necessarily OCD because when it becomes obsessive compulsive is when, for me, is when you feel like you can't succeed unless you do those things.

Right. So it's like, dang, I forgot to do that. Well, I'm going to lose. I'm going to lose. No, I had to learn how to control it early because it's like, that's my routine. But even if I didn't do that, I didn't have enough time to do that

because sometimes you don't have enough time to do it. Right. You know, something goes out of whack, matches end early, but you don't have enough time to get your routine in. so it's like had to be able to adjust my mind okay we still go out there and perform we still go out there especially in the fight game you know you go out there's quick two quick knockouts boom boom boom you thinking you've got 30 minutes to warm up and stuff like no you got to coming back you got 10 minutes it's like oh i got 10 minutes i

can't get my whole routine in how much time do you need? like say if you're in the locker room and You like before you walk out for the fight. How much time do you need to get everything loosened up? What do you like? I mean, I'm older now My joints make noises now, so Not too crazy because I work out that morning before the fight I work That's when I really get the hard workout in. You have a hard workout the day of the fight. Yeah, the day of the fight.

I work out in that morning. All my coaches, my training partners, everybody, we go in and we get a good sweat. I like to blow it all out because the night before, I don't because that's the day of weigh-ins. So you just cut that Thursday night. You cut the weight dehydrated you weigh in that morning of that friday morning so that friday is dedicated to just rehydrating and eating how much do you cut i don't get that that that last fight was uh probably one of the biggest i stayed throughout and i think i was up to about maybe 197 and but when i start really full-fledged

going two days in camp i try to keep my weight around 192 191 because that's where i feel strong you know but not my fastest because i've seen you walk around in between fights i'm like how the fuck does that guy make 170 it's it's it It's just, you know. It's fake? What are you talking about? They're air muscles. Bullshit. I do a couple of, you know. No, bro, I've hugged you, man. There's no air in those muscles.

I've got a back and I, you know, I do a couple of, you know, freaking curls and my arms just swell up. Just swell up. But 197, if you're getting up to 197 you're cutting 27 pounds yeah how much does that take out of you well like i said i'm a creature of a routine and and i like to get into that routine so i i'm dieting well eating well so by when i'm down to uh about three percent i think it's probably some of the leanest I've been. 3% body fat? Really?

Is this from calipers or from a dunk? Yeah, from calipers. They say that caliper thing is not totally accurate. Yeah, of course it's not going to be completely accurate. Right. But around that area because I just have nothing. I'm just extremely lean. And at that point, I'm 180, I want to say 84, 85 pounds.

So you're just cutting 15 pounds of water. Yeah, about, I would say 12. Anywhere from 12 is water. But, you know, I have an amazing team behind me. You know, amazing strength and conditioning coach, amazing, you know, nutritionist. I work with Clint up at the PI now. Is he the one who hooks up the weight cutting and all that well yeah they help with it you know because uh he lives in vegas and i'm in south florida so me me and clint we stay in contact you know and uh and one thing that i liked about clint is the fact that he gave me the

time to say hey you know let's let's really test your body, look at all this and that. You're the kind of athlete, you carry a lot of muscle, and there's that stigma that if you have a lot of muscle, you run out of gas really, really fast. But the way you work, we got to make sure that you're eating the right way to make sure you sustain that. And, of course, my strength and conditioning coach, Dr. Corey Peacock, I mean, Ph.D. and the associate professor over at Nova University in exercise physiology.

I mean, smart, brilliant guy. I've been working with him since my first fight in the UFC. And you have particular needs because you've got problems with your knees, so you can't run. Yes, exactly. Which is kind of crazy. And that's why I started working with him. Before that, I was working with Jake Benacci and Jake is amazing. Jake was an extreme couture for a long, long time and Jake knew what he was doing. But the thing with Jake was Jake was a mastermind. You're an athlete. All your body parts work. So this is what we need to do to get you tip top shape.

body parts work so like this is what we need to do to get you tip-top state shape and then when cory came in was after i had that injury because i had a micro fracture surgery and then i had to fight the finale like three and a half months after that so micro fracture surgery is that shit they do to try to rebuild cartilage in your knee is that what it is which was yeah that now some doctors are like oh yeah that's from the stonies. You don't do that anymore. Really? But when they go in, I guess they create tiny little fracture. Right. And whether it's the, you know, for mine, it was the knee. So, either it's the femur or condyle or the, I forget what the bone's called. But they try to, tibia, you know, they try to, I guess, let it bleed in and create, you know, the cartilage, you know.

Does it work at all? No, it didn't work. I think it actually set me back a big amount. I guess let it bleed in and create, you know, the cartilage, you know, and, um, does it work at all? No, it didn't work. I think it actually set me back a big, big amount. That's right. We talked about that the last time.

Yeah. Yeah. But you know, have you ever done stem cells? Yeah. I took your advice. I went and did stem cells. Did you do it in Panama?

No, I didn't go to Panama, but that doctor did it for me in Dallas. Dr. Neil Reardon. Yeah. Yeah. They can do some crazy shit in Panama.

Yeah. I'm in Panama. That's what I need to do. A lot of guys. I sent my mom down there twice. Really? Yeah. They told my mom she needed a knee replacement.

And I was like, before we do this, let's just see what happens. And it took, you know, my mom's in her 70s, so it took a while. But about eight months in, the pain went away. And then I sent her down for a second time and looks even more improved what's really crazy is i saw her over christmas and she looked younger well yeah so i mean i'm sure it has a lot of different effects a lot of different ways that that that thing could help out but in my case the the thing about it is i'm so active that it's very very hard to to sit back and just say, oh, man, that worked. Because I'm still kicking every day.

I still feel that pain of kicking every day. I still feel that pain of bouncing on my knees, taking shots. If you really wanted to heal up, you're going to have to take some time off. But that's not time I can afford. But what about just swimming? Like could you do that for a couple months, just swim only for strength and conditioning and just do that? I do swim. You know, I don't I don't really run a lot, you know, that's the thing with uh, cory peacock is uh, when he came in was

adjusting me to Not being so hard on my knees, you know working away from that because I haven't really done a back squat since Maybe 2014 is that something that's particularly rough on your knees? Oh, yeah. I mean, imagine carrying all that load and squatting. That was bad. And, you know, the Russian split squats and all that, all those were killing my knees. And those were the things that, you know,

we're taught to do for strength. It's like, yeah, I need to be strong and explosive, so I need to squat. I need to do all these things. But, you know, Corey came in and really kind of helped, you know, mold the way that I work and not necessarily killing all those. We still squat. We'll, you know, we'll switch it up. We'll do the, you know, the kettlebell front squats or we'll, you know, we'll do a bunch of different squats.

But he really came in and helped kind of shape the way that I went about it. So, you know, and that's the thing that I always do year round is I try not to slip on my strength and conditioning because I know I have a lot of muscles and at the same time I got to keep, keep. That's also part of your style, right? Your style is you push a pace. Yeah. I got to push that pace and, and a lot of guys are strong right away.

Like the one that hit you and it's like, oh man, that guy's strong. But what about the guy that hits you and then keeps going because guys can't a lot of guys can't maintain that and sustain that and that's where i like to think i have edge over everybody and so this strength and conditioning coach that you've been working with from the beginning like give us like a like what what's a regular routine for you like what kind of shit does he have you do uh dr peak okay so, so we just started getting back in there literally last week. So you took a little time off. How's your hand, your left hand?

That's the thing. I went and I know the doctor's going to hate me for this. I had a cast on, so then I go to Vegas, and I talk to the doctors, the UFC doc and those guys in Vegas. It's not broken. It's just an issue with the ligament. As you can see, seeing this right hand right here at the bottom of the thumb, you can clearly see the ligaments working there.

But in here, there's that bump in between, so they don't come out as much. And that's causing me, I don't have the strength being able to pull. And this is a big part of my game, is if I get around you, I get a body lock, I don't care what you're doing, you're just not getting me off. I've spent years just working on that grip to where you're just not, you're not letting me off until I let off. And so now not being able to do that, but it's healing fast. able to do that but it's it's healing fast and i was in vegas and the doctor's like we can just cut the cast off and make you a hard removable one that i can take off on and off so i can shower because that was the thing you're stuck in this cast for four weeks you can't really shower with it you got to shower with your arm up in the air on your hand sticks so bad when it gets out and then when it itches and you i gotta stick stuff in there. Yeah. And psychologically, I started getting a little anxiety with it too because it's like, I can't get this thing off my hand.

I need this thing off my hand. Sometimes I'm laying there, I'm just like, I want it off my hand and I can't get it off. So is it a ligament tear? Is that what it is? It's not a tear. They thought it was a tear at the bottom, but strength is coming back slowly. Maybe a sprain or something? Yeah, it was like a really bad strain.

And that bump is still there for some reason. So we're working on it. I'm doing everything. But no fracture. No fracture, which is good news. So I don't have to be out for too long. Yeah, because you sent me the tape of when you hurt in training. You can see it.

So it was one of those things where you hit with the thumb instead of the knuckle? Because when you've got those big gloves on, you can't really so it was one of those things where you hit with the thumb instead of the knuckle I hit it with the thumb because you know when you got those big gloves on you know you can't really make a full fist right you know especially when you have wraps

so your hand's kind of in there like this so you throw a punch the wrong way or somebody comes into you the wrong way it's like boom you hurt it so I hurt it at one

I'm like oh shit what am I going to do now you know so now everything's going through my head I got this guy that's been talking shit for years and everybody in the world is telling me you have to kill this guy you can't be

the you can't lose to him so now i'm going through all this in my mind though i can't be that guy i can't lose to that guy i can't lose to that guy and then it's like then i'm like okay no it feels a little better i'm going i'm gonna spar hard So I start sparring. Boom, right away, hurt it again. And a couple of times, I almost cry. And you're getting it taped up hard, too. I'm getting it taped up and everything. But even so, it's still hurting. But then it gets to a point where I'm just like, shit, got to block it out.

You know, fight's a fight. I got to block it out. So I'm in the dressing room. I'm in training. Everything's okay. I block it out. I'm not even thinking about it. I'm thinking about going to work. And then I get in there in the first round. I don't even remember. I just remember throwing I'm training, everything's okay. I block it out. I'm not even thinking about it. I'm thinking about going to work.

And then I get in there in the first round. I don't even remember. I just remember throwing it. Boom, something's wrong. Oh. And then I'm just like, okay, play it off, play it off. And then props to Kobe. Like, you know, he comes on and he's, you know, he's doing his job.

He's fighting me. He's in there landing strikes. And I'm like, okay. You know, but at some point I never thought I'm going to lose this fight because I never think like that. It's like, oh, I'm not going to lose this fight. Even if something's not going my way, I'm going to adapt. Wasn't it like the scorecards at the end of the fight were very close?

Yeah. I knew it was close. I would, because for the first time ever, I asked my coaches, did I win that round? I've never in my career done that. I'm the type of guy, even when I was wrestling, I'm the type of wrestler who I like to run up the scoreboard. I don't like to leave any doubt that I won that round.

I'm going to dominate that round. I'm going to make sure I won. So in my head, I know I won. I don't like to leave any doubt that I won that round. I'm going to dominate that round. I'm going to make sure I won. So in my head, I know I won. I don't need to ask. For the first time in my career, I went back. I'm like, did I win that round? Did I win that round? But even by me asking that, I never thought, oh, I'm not going to finish this fight. I always knew I was going to finish the fight, but I just was like, did I win that? Did I win that? I don't know why. I don't know how or what was going on in my head, but for some reason I asked.

I was asking. So I knew the fight was close. It was a good fucking fight, man. It was a good fight. The thing about Colby is he tricks you into thinking he sucks because he's got a goofy suit on and he talks crazy and you know he wears the MAGA hat and all that stuff but but then if you didn't see any of that if you just watched him fight you're like that motherfucker puts a pace on people yeah a lot he did to Robbie Lawler I was like good lord like nobody does that to Robbie Lawler like he put a fucking pace on him he just stayed on him like guys have wrestled him before Robbie you know like got a

hold of him dragged him down tried to make it a you know a state you know try to stall him out that's not what Kobe did Kobe just stuck on him like glue and just put that pace on him yeah I mean he really he really that he really showed you know like how good he is and I mean I I give respect to respect to you I'm no I'm no hater you know I know this kid could fight I know he was good I know he was good. I knew he was tough, and I knew he was a competitor as well. He's always been a competitor. I knew guys that were on wrestling teams with this guy, besides Jon Jones.

I knew other guys that I'm good friends with that wrestled with him. So I've always known that he was a competitor, that he was going to come out and try to compete. But like I said, mentally, I think i'm just on a different level than these guys just because everything that i've been through that i've done in my life has shaped me into the man that i am so mentally i'm i'm just on a different level than him well you have to have that attitude right yeah and i just i just i felt it i knew it and i felt it. And now more so than ever because now you've got all the fans. He's got his fans.

Everyone has fans that are going to talk shit to you. Well, it was the first time that you had a close fight in the UFC, which is kind of crazy. I mean, think about your career. It's pretty fucking nuts. I mean, you win the title over one of the best welterweights of all time and tyron woodley and you just dominate him right you think about all the other guys dos angeles all those guys you smashed and why i mean that's you had a crazy run up to the title and then a crazy title winning effort and then this was the first

time we saw you in like a very close fight yeah i mean uh and attest to him too like he's a tough guy at the end of the day you know to make fantastic fights you got to have the right dance partner yes and frazier needed ali they need each other and he was the right dance partner and to be honest with you you know if i didn't take too much out of him, because each fight takes something from you, you know, internally. So if I didn't take too much from him, I think I might see him again, to be honest. Because it's clear that we are the two best guys in the division. And so, yeah, I mean, I look forward to seeing him again. I think you guys will see each other again.

I do. I'm really interested to see what happens with Tyron and Leon Edwards. You know, they're fighting next. That's a big fight. A very hard fight for both guys. It is. It's a hard fight for both guys. And stylistically, it matches up well for both guys because Tyron has a lot of successes with Southpaw guys.

That right hand he's got. Yeah, he's got that cannon in his right hand. That right hand he's got. Yeah, he's got that cannon in his right hand. And Tyron is very, very good when guys don't completely dominate and control what's going on. And Leon Edwards has done better at that with guys that he feels like he can keep up with. But with a guy like Tyron Woodley that can wrestle like Tyron Woodley, that's got power like him, I wonder how he's going to do well i feel like leon gets the least amount of attention when it comes to like top flight world-class fighters he's a top flight world-class

fighter but he gets the least amount of attention out of those guys for whatever weird reason it's i mean it's the era that we live in i mean this this is the first fight like if you really think about it this is the first fight you're actually starting to hear his voice. It's like, who is Leon Scott or Edward, whatever his name is. Well, the biggest thing with him was when he had a fist fight with Masvidal. When they had that scrap. It wasn't a fist fight.

Masvidal just cracked him. Whatever that guy, whatever his name is. I mean, openly said it, you have one of the best sucker punches in the game and the best 40-yard dash. So you go in there, you sucker punch somebody backstage, and you run out of there, and they rush you out of London before it. Them Brits can get a hold of you before the London boys came back. You know, so, I mean, yeah, that's kind of, unfortunately for Leon, that's going to put his name out there.

It's kind of crazy, too, because when you're in a foreign country and you commit assault, usually they lock you the fuck up. They got him out of there. Let's just say that. They got him out of there quick. They got him out of there. But it's weird. No charges, no nothing.

They got him out of there. But isn't that kind of... Because there's video. Yes. It's not like we don't know what happened. Yeah. And the crazy thing is he gets praised for that. Yes. They made him bigger.

Yeah. They made him famous. He gets praised for that. Yes. They made him famous. He gets praised for that. Now imagine I do that over there in London. Or imagine anybody else doing that. Anybody else doing that in London. How did he do it? It's weird.

Like how did Masvidal get away with it? It is weird. Well, with the forces that be, the UFC is very good at what they do. And let's just say they got him out of there quick. Let's just say. Let's just say. Yeah. Yeah. He's Let's just say. Yeah. Yeah, he's been talking crazy shit.

Yeah. That might be your next fight. What do you think? Do you think that's going to be your next fight? I hope so because of the way that things – I'm the type of guy to where anything you say can and will be used against you inside that octagon. Oh, you're a court of law.

Exactly. Exactly. I'm the judge the juror and the executioner in there and and that that's how i approach it you know because some guys you just sign the contract to go fight the guys right but i i get obsessed with the fact that i'm i want them to say something i'm i'm waiting for them to say something it's a little tougher than the guys that don't really have to say anything they'll have anything negative to say it's a little tougher to go in there and you know and get angry get angry to fight them

and i'm i i look at i want them to say something they do an interview that pops up my google alerts on you know my someone from my team would tell me boom someone did this interview about this check it out if i have time i'll watch it said that? Okay. You know, and this guy, you know what? It's funny to see the way it's shifted, like his career has shifted. This guy has been doing it for a long, long time. A long time. Yeah. And he was a run-of-the-mill guy.

He would win some, lose some, win some, lose some. I mean, you know, not that long ago, he was losing. And credit to his team as well. They've done a good job at picking the right fights to really get him to where he is now. But do you know what actually happened? His story, he went on a South American game show. Well, yeah, he was 300 pounds before he went and did that.

Was he? He was 300 pounds before he went and did that. Was he? He was really fat? Bruh. Look at pictures. Really? But wasn't this like post-Wonderboy, wasn't it? Yeah. Was it somewhere around then?

Yeah, somewhere around there. I think it was post-Wonderboy right after. He was not fat. Bruh, he got fat. Really? Bad. Fat. When I fought, I fought Wonderboy.

No, when I fought Damian Meyer. I think that was like the tail end of the huskiness on his part. But it was at some point. Listen, everyone's buying into the hype. This is what I'm saying. They've done a good job at creating this hype by picking the fights to where one fight was a gamble. The Ben Askren fight was a gamble.

You win that fight, you take all that hype that this guy has, which this guy didn't belong in there in the first place. But previously in his career, early on in his career, you could make the argument that yes. But at that point in his career, he didn't belong in there but he goes out there let's say Ben Askren does take him down and

does what Ben Askren does we wouldn't be having this conversation right now so he goes that's a gamble on their part and the gamble paid off he went and they took all that hype from Ben then who's the next guy the guy that you know another guy that win some lose some but has a ton of hype because he just fought Conor. Goes in there and fights Nate. Now, that fight turns out the way it did. You get all this hype. Now, you got all these people thinking, oh, my God, this guy's a killer.

Where has he been? This and that. It's the same guy that was 300 pounds not too long ago. He was not 300 pounds. He was damn near close I don't think he was ever north of 200 oh yeah really

oh yeah I never saw him fat yeah you should look at pictures oh yeah but you know hats off to him he got the weight off

and you know he went over and did his thing and I'm no hater I give credit what credit is due yeah but but don't

he was always that guy that said you know what I'm not I'm not this cliche. I'm not playing this character. I'm not doing this. I'm just a real fighter in this. But then you're showing up at fucking press conferences

looking like the knockoff of Scarface. Yeah, but don't you think that that's wise? No, it is wise. It's very smart, right? It is wise. It is. But say it like it is. Don't sit here and say,

oh, these guys are being gimmicked. These guys are doing this. These guys are doing that. You're doing the same damn thing. And then look at what he did that last fight. Oh, my God. He took the biggest L of that night. That was corny.

You want to wear the robe. You want to stand there. You say he was holding that silver belt. They actually think this is a real belt. The BMF belt. What did you think about that BMF belt? It was a strange belt. The BMF belt. What did you think about that BMF belt? It was a strange thing. The mediocre fighter belt.

They didn't need a BMF belt for this last fight with Conor and Cowboy. They just needed a good matchup. Yeah, absolutely. So why does the BMF belt, is that a one-time thing? Yeah, it was something they created to kind of hype that fight. They needed, I mean, it worked. Did they really need a belt, though? Did they need a belt?

No, they didn't. But, you know, if, I mean, and it worked. Did they really need a belt though? Did they need a belt? No, they didn't, but you know, if they get loud enough and Dana hears them and Dana sees that, Dana is a very smart man, greatest promoter we've ever seen,

you know, and to jump on that, like, you know what, shit, let's make him a nice little, let's make a bad motherfucker belt. Let's make a nice little silver belt,

you know, this little replica. Is it silver? It's like a, instead of gold? Yeah, it's like a silver, purplish color. Pull silver instead of gold? Yeah, it's like a silver. It's a different color?

Purpleish color. Pull a picture of it. I want to see that thing again. It's a beautiful belt. What? It's a beautiful belt. The UFC belt is beautiful. Well, that's more beautiful.

That's more, it's like saying, like, you know, I mean, you look at a new Corvette, you go, that's a beautiful car. And then you look at a Ferrari,

you go, oh, that's a better looking car. Oh, yeah. That's better looking. Or a Bentley. Yes. Yes. I want that. It's looking car. Oh, yeah. That's better looking. Or a Bentley. Yes. Yes. I want that.

It's another level. Yeah, but this one's like the Bentley and then the Honda Civic. I'm being honest. I'm being honest. It is silver. Look at that thing. Is that silver? Is that copper?

No, that's not copper. It's like sterling silver. It seems kind of goldish in some. I mean, it seems like the lighting. No, it's not copper. It's like sterling silver. It seems kind of goldish in some. I mean, it seems like the lighting. No, it's sterling silver. It's like the. I kind of think it's gold. No, it's not gold.

Is it gold? No. No? It's not gold. It's not gold. Maybe it's bronze. Yeah, it's like bronze. Is it bronze?

Is it? I can't tell. It's not even silver. It's not even second place. It's bronze, huh? I mean, this is like, honestly, this is like a participation medal. You know how when you do the field day in school and they give you the participation medals? They're like, here you go, kid.

You did a great job. And that's what this is. Well, if you beat him, do you get that belt too? I want that shit. I want it. What would you do with it if you had it? Would you wear both of them? No.

What would you do with it? Just put it aside? Put it in my closet. I would just put it in my closet. I would just put it in my closet I would just put it in my closet But it's like There's no There's no

But that means nothing It was just something to hype-ify But they ran His team has ran with it Like yeah We're the PMF champion And then we did call him this When they called

When they showed the video of him When they went to The camera turned to him During the last pay-per-view The fucking pop was gigantic Everybody went crazy when they saw him yeah i mean the hype is real yeah you the hype is real it's a lot you know it's alive and kicking man big people love him you know but that's the thing is people love you until they really see what you are you know darren till had a lot of hype and shout shout out to Darren Till. I mean, you know, he's still, you know, growing in the sport.

But he had a lot of hype to where people were saying, man, this guy's going to beat Woodley. Right. Like, even at some point, I was like, yo, he might get Woodley. Really? I was like, yeah, he might get Woodley. And you could see in that fight. I thought it was severely disrespectful that they were making him the favorite in that fight. I'm like, you guys are crazy.

You're crazy. I mean, this guy's already fought one of the best strikers twice in Wonderboy and beat him both times. Not just that, he was the only one that hurt him. Yeah. Like, he hurt Wonderboy bad in both of those fights. Wonderboy never hurt him. So you got the guy who's arguably one of the best strikers to ever do it in the welterweight division. I mean, Wonderboy's a fantastic kickboxer.

Oh, yeah. Tyron smashed him. You saw what Wonderboy did to Masvidal. Yeah. He outpointed him. Yeah. Good fight. I mean, he dropped him, like, several times.

Did he drop him? Yeah, a couple times. Well, Darren dropped him, too. Darren Till dropped Masvidal, too, but Masvidal starched him. Yeah, and, you know, I give credit where credit is due is due you know but um like like i'm saying back to that like yeah everyone but i was i was almost like and you saw what like that's i'm sure willie was a little afraid in that fight because it's like do you think so i don't think so yeah you have to be i think he with all the hype they were putting behind them you have to be because at some point as a champ and that's what

makes you sane as a champion, is that little fear. It's like, wow, they're really saying, is this kid really good enough? He's the favorite? Is he good enough? I thought that was so crazy. Sometimes there's odds, and I'm like, this just doesn't make any sense at all to me. I agree.

You know, there's certain odds where I'm like, you guys, who's making these odds? Yeah. Beats me. Especially these rankings, too. I'm like, they've got this kid at number three. He hasn't fought number four. He hasn't fought number one, number two. He hasn't fought number five.

He hasn't fought number six. I'm like, how in the hell is he in number three? Masvidal's number three? Number three. Well, who makes the rankings? The rankings are weird. I don't know who makes the rankings. Because sometimes a guy will beat a guy, and then he'll be below that guy in the rankings.

Like, what? Wonder Boy put on a clinic versus him. Wonder Boy, I think, is he even top 10? I don't think Wonder Boy is. I think he might be like 9 or something like that, which I think is insane. Well, the Vicente Luque fight, which was his last fight Yeah That was That I think I think he was like ranked I want to say 11 or something

Yeah Now that's Vicente Luque was Yeah Vicente is Tough Tough guy Tough guy Maybe too tough

Tough fighter Yeah Like a lot of people Are going to have their hands full Of Vicente Oh he's an animal You know An animal

There's a couple guys In division right now And I see these guys You know Jeff Neal is. Oh, he's an animal. You know, an animal. There's a couple guys in division right now, and I see these guys. You know, Jeff Neal is another guy. Oh, he's the one. I see these guys. That's the dark horse. And I'm not taking my eyes off none of these guys.

I see all these guys, which is why I can't afford to take five months off to let my knee feel this some type of way. Like, I try to keep working. Jeff Neal is the most promising to me. I watch that guy move, and I'm like, Jesus Christ, he's talented. Yeah, he's a killer. You know, he was waiting tables just like a year ago. Man, that's a struggle. Yeah, his last fight against Mike Perry,

I believe that was his first camp where he didn't have a job. I'm pretty sure. I'm sorry if I'm incorrect. I think that's what John Anik said. And big respect to that. He's fucking talented. big respect to that. He's fucking talented. Big respect to that because, you know, a lot of guys are afraid to even do that. You know, and then you get some of the guys that get in the UFC like, oh, my problem is solved.

I'm good. I'm good now. But they're still struggling. Even when you first get in, you're still making less than minimum wage. When you boil it down, you're making less than minimum wage. That's crazy. Yeah. That is so crazy. But it's also like you got to have good food, right? when you boil it down you you're making less than minimum weight that's crazy yeah that's so great

but it's also like you got to have good food right you got to have you got to be able to afford massage you got to be able to afford some things that cost money yeah you're in a hardcore training camp and maybe it is better to have like a little bit of a job and i think jeff was waiting tables yeah it's it to me it's crazy like it just seems like where's the money going like how much money is a cage fight worth it should be worth a lot like if you're fighting on tv like it's worth the whole lot that should be all you need to do yeah now let me see my first fight in the ufc let's say i made 10 and 10 jesus christ that's crazy to me so boom i go and win the fight twenty thousand dollars boom i'm like oh i got 20 grand all right now first and foremost 20

comes up manager and gym boom off the top then taxes gone taxes you know boom off the top yeah and then it's like uh oh yeah yeah, my daughter just turned one. Her birthday party is going to totally cost $2,500. Oh. Because it's one. You got to do it big. Yeah. Boom, off the top, gone.

My car, you know, they've been letting me, you know, kind of pile up that car payment for a while now. So I need to pay that and the insurance, everything that's backed up. So that's like $3,200. Boom, off the top. Money's backed up so that's like 3200 boom off money's all gone everything's gone within two weeks i sat at home still living with rashad like i got 3200 left i fought like two and a half weeks ago what that's crazy what just happened it's gotta last you and it's because that's your source of income. That's it. Thank God I got the performance bonus in that fight. How much was the performance bonus? That was 50.

They used to give locker room bonuses, right? Is that a thing of the past? It is, but I think it depends on if you're the right guy and you go out there and do something special. I mean, I think Dana is still generous enough, depending on his mood, how he's feeling, he's still generous enough to maybe say, you know what, I'll take care of you.

Because you see now, he'll just send a couple of guys extra. He's like, man, these guys did great. I'm going to send them bonuses too. So he'll just bonus these guys. That's very cool. Yeah. Yeah, it's not enough money. It's not enough money for fighting.

It's interesting because a boxing match, some of the people would say, well, that's what boxers get. I don't think boxing is as rough on you. If you're doing a six-round boxing match and you're only making a couple thousand dollars, I kind of get you're moving up the ladder and that's just how it goes. just how it goes but the camps that you guys go through when it comes to wrestling when it comes to submissions when it comes to kickboxing there's so much more potential for damage on your body it's just so much harder it's just getting your legs kicked and just takedowns just those two factors like there's so much more beating on your back boxers are obviously tough as shit and they obviously have a very difficult job it's not no stone saying boxing is easy but no comparatively physically on your body like a six round you know pro boxing match when you're in the the preliminaries yeah as opposed to a ufc fight

oh ufc a three round ufc fight can be fucking chaos oh yeah oh you're only making 10 grand it's uh imagine losing the fight then you only get 10 you only get 10 yeah then you go home now take all this stuff that i just uh mentioned you're in the hole yeah well now imagine you're fighting not even for the ufc you're fighting for bellator right yeah making even less than that less than that it's and i have friends that that fight for bellator i have friends that fight for you know other promotions and my little brother fighting too. And so he's making his way up too. And, you know, the one thing about him is I have to keep him somewhat grounded because, you know, he came, he was a big time football player.

And, you know, potentially should be, you know, still feels like he should be in the NFL. You know, but the thing about that is keeping his mind in where it should be that, hey, this is why it's going to feel good when you start making million dollar paychecks it's okay to make one and one now it's okay to make two thousand and two thousand now how long has he been fighting because they're fighting i want to say a year and a half how long he's been training a year and a half oh shit yeah so he's just getting into it yeah just that's gotta be crazy your brother's a fucking champion of the world and you're just kind of getting your wheels greased up and see and i i try to um honestly i try to make it not not weird for him because it's uh

you know we're a family to where we like we're very very close family but imagine boys that we're all competitive boys like if your brother's doing this good, you want to do it better. And I'm imagining how it is for him to have a brother that's the champion to where now you're in the sport that your brother was the champion in. How is that? And I don't ever want to make it weird for him. I want to make it as easy as possible for him because I want him to be bigger. Because he's a heavyweight. Really he gets yeah once he gets how big is he i think he's like 6

2 255 260 i mean he's a freak my brother's diesel big big dude and if it's um when he gets that striking down and really starts sitting on punches because he wrestled in high school too he was a high school state runner-up when he starts sitting on punches and Because he wrestled in high school too. He was a high school state runner up. When he starts sitting on punches. And really putting his. He just got his first standing knockout. His last fight. So when he starts putting these guys to sleep.

I think he's going to be a humongous star in the sport. And how old is he? He is 30. That's a weird time to start though. Isn't it? He is. But he's so freaking athletic. It's.

Oh my God. Well look at Greg Hardy, right? Yeah. Look, if you guys go online, go to his Instagram, at umuhamed97. Like, look at some of him and his strength coach are the most outrageous, funniest, like, guys that you will see online. I mean, it's the fact that he's still a little under the radar. Now let him get in the UFC and get to where I'm at. Well, you just put him on the radar right now.

Every video would be over millions of views because they do the most outrageous things. But it works for him. That's him right there. But it works for him. Now you watch him training. Let me see some of this. This is him learning counter seat.

He's a big fella. Huge. It's crazy that he's only been doing it a year and a half. Yeah, only been doing it a year and a half. So what made him decide to put football aside and start fighting? He was caught in that transition of of trying to get get into the nfl trying to get back in and uh as a free agent and because the nfl man you got thousands of guys that come out for the same position every year and they're of course the

nfl wants a newer fresher younger guy that they can get for cheaper right and you know and so the longer you're out it makes it so much harder to get back in i can also imagine when you're getting close to 30 yeah there's these kids are 22 21 full of piss and vinegar he still thinks he's 22 he's still my brother still acts like he still got the energy of a 21 year old i mean he is, he's the whole definition in my mind of what it is to be, have a lituation. You know, he's always lit. Always.

Lituation. He's always. Did he come to you and say, Hey, come on, I'm thinking about fighting. Did he, did you guys have a conversation?

that's the, that's the weird, that's the weirdest thing about it is, uh, see, I know my brother so well to where, uh, at some point he's,

he's, and he's very prideful too you know at some point he he didn't want to he's not gonna say i've kind of like round about i i can tell when he's getting into it because i brought him he went my first ever fight you know i brought him to nebraska with me and so he goes to all my fights and i could tell that he was flirting with it because he you know he kind he kind of started, you know, training a little bit. And I heard him tell a coach like, yeah, yeah, I think I'm just start fighting, you know. And I tried to have that conversation, but it's kind of weird with him because it's kind of a weird dynamic, you know, but I love him to death.

But then when I found out that he was kind of really serious about it, I'm like, okay, let's lay the plan out for you because I want you to get there faster than I did. I want you to get there, have an easier time than I did to get to the top. So he's working his way. He's got great coaches that he's working with right now. Where is he training out of? He's training out of Dallas. He goes out and trains at SAIF where Jeff Neal and those guys train as well. He's got striking coaches, Stephen Wright down there who worked with Johnny Hendricks.

Oh, okay. And so, yeah, he's learning. He's learning fast. And, of course, his strength coach out there. Do you train with him at all? Not a lot. We haven't really trained a lot together because I'm in Florida and I'm traveling so much. Right.

But I'm in the process to where I'm going to start getting him to Florida more and more now. Because now he's, you know, he's learning more. Now he knows the ground a little bit. You know, now he's striking, he's starting to pick up. Because the worst thing I want to do is bring him into a camp full of killers like in our gym and have them discourage him. Right. You know, and I would hate to do that. Yeah.

Because he's so talented. He's so athletic. And I would hate to do that. Yeah. Because he's so talented. He's so athletic. I don't want to stun that so early. But now it's getting to the point where now I can bring him in for months at a time to see where he's at. Because he thinks he can fly tomorrow. But I want him to walk first. That's such an important factor of not discouraging a guy, but also testing him. Like, it's a fine line, right?

Yes, very, very fine line because you have to be tested. Because if you're never really tested, the worst place that you want to get tested is inside that cage. I'm a firm believer that there's nothing worse than being locked in the cage, getting the shit beat out of you, and there's nothing you can do about it. You know, so I would hate for that to happen to him. Yeah. And, like, it happened to me in practice before I got there. I don't forget the moment at all. And so I don't want that to happen to him inside that cage.

Yeah, it's got to be strange seeing your brother just getting the ball rolling and just getting into it it's a good feeling though it's a really good feeling seeing him kind of pick it up how many fights has he had now i think he's six and one now oh wow yeah five and one or six and one now and so it's uh so he's got off to a quick start yeah he's having quite a few fights yeah yeah but that's the thing is you know you don't want you know, rake in all this fight and be 10-0. You really haven't fought in a while. You really haven't been tested.

And then you get there and then you get beat up. You're like, oh, man, now you're second guessing yourself. Yeah, that's the difference. And we were talking about this the other day, the difference between the boxing way of raising a fighter versus the UFC. Really, you don't get a chance to pick your fights in the ufc like in a boxer's career the manager would say okay let's try you with a guy who's longer who's got a good jab okay we did that let's try you with a guy who likes to stay glued to your chest let's test him with this let's get him in there with a journeyman who's a little slippery he's

got some good experience and let's let's give you some seasoning. The UFC is like, do you want this fight? Yeah. Like, hey, you want to fight Jon Jones on 18 days notice? Like, what? Yeah, and that's a – see, boxing's been around so long. There's so many boxers that you can pick from because that's – everyone does that. Yeah.

You know, there's long guys that are journeymen that have a lot of losses, some guys that are kind of 500. You can kind of just pick the guys, and then you have the promising guy that you're trying to build, and then you can just kind of pick guys around him. But MMA is not really like that yet because it's still so new. Everybody's trying to be a champion. Yeah. So it makes it difficult to be able to pick guys. And on top of it, then you get to the ufc where it's like this

is a fight yes or no which i have gotten a call hey you're gonna go to brazil you're gonna fight this guy if you say no all right we're gonna extend your contract if you say yes all right i can see you there yeah it's weird right you can't you can't negotiate like you can with a normal promoter no it's very no so we were talking about your strength and conditioning because of your knees. We kind of got sidetracked. Like what kind of stuff does he have you doing to replace running? And like, like to replace run.

Like I, I work in the pool a lot on myself. I run a lot in the pool and you know, I swim too. I'm not the best swimmer in the world, but you know, I get in there and I, I get after it and I i get after and i get

tired you know those things that gsp uses where he has like these yeah i see them i see puts on his hands and on his feet no you like i play with those yeah what are those things what are those they're kind of they create the resistance in the water you know so it kind of gives you the resistance pulling pushing and you know throwing punches with them it just gives you that extra work that you need. George loves that shit. He loves it. It's like his main training, like strength and conditioning.

You want that fight? If I could give you a magic wand. Absolutely. If I could give you a magic wand, so Kamau, you can pick. Bing. Who are you pointing that magic wand at? GSP all day. GSP.

All day. Just for the legend status. Yeah, because George did. He went out the way you're supposed to go out. And he can still do it. He proved it two years ago. Came back and not just do it, go up a weight class and get it done. He can still do it. He's training.

He's one of those guys that's not just going to stop training. He's been training. He's still training. And I know he can compete still. Farras says he's still the best fucking guy he's been training he's still training um and i know he's he can compete still farah says he's still the best fucking guy he's ever seen he's like the guy's still a fucking man right now in the gym training hard like nobody could touch him yeah and i like to test that you know with and and i a big respect to george this is no disrespect by any means but there's a reason guys like myself and and khabib want to fight him is because we we

we want to test ourselves this is not a matter of disrespect and i want to beat this guy's ass no it's george was the best he did everything the right way and and got to the top and walked away and he can still do it so we want to to test ourselves against a guy like that because we pride ourselves on being the best. We've worked tirelessly to get to this point to where it's not necessarily for hype, it's not for the money. Like, oh, that is good, yes. You know, that's great.

But we want to test ourselves against the best to ever do it. And that's what George symbolizes. And, of course, i'm he's in my weight i'm you know now i'm the king he was the king like it's interesting that you would prefer that over connor because i think the connor fight would be the biggest payday right absolutely i think you don't think so well i mean i don't know red panties night that's red panties we all love red panties i mean the last pay-per-view they're saying tracked just below Conor and Khabib.

It's a fucking... They think it's more than 2 million pay-per-view buys. Wow. Huge, huge. His comeback. Yeah. That motherfucker has charisma. Absolutely.

And you can't take anything away from Conor, man. Conor has put himself in that part, in that status, to be that guy. And even sometimes I have to think, I'm like, part, in that status to be that guy. And even sometimes I have to think, man, like that. Because some guys get envious of that. Like, how did he do that? Like some guys are just special like that.

And Conor is that guy. He's special like that. So people just gravitate towards him. And he's a special guy. But can you imagine me fighting Conor? Like that wouldn't even be fair it would not be fair like i give everyone has a puncher's chance but it would not be fair like you saw what khabib did to him at 55 now imagine me doing that to him at 70 and i'm not just gonna take him down i'm i'm gonna

march forward i'm gonna hit this guy i'm gonna beat on him i'm gonna take him down i'm going to march forward. I'm going to hit this guy. I'm going to beat on him. I'm going to take him down. I'm going to, I would do some, some bad things to Connor. And, and not just because I, it's not that I don't like the guy.

I mean, Connor is Connor. You just think that he's a natural 55. Yeah. And he fought at 45 and you'd have to chop both your fucking legs off to make 45. That's when they say impossible, that's absolutely impossible. Literally impossible. Impossible. You'd have to chop both your fucking legs off to make 45 that's yeah when they say impossible that's absolutely impossible literally impossible impossible you'd have to get a tapeworm yeah it would be it would be bad like you ever see like you ever see me at weight get down to

weight yeah i look real african don't i you look very thin well i mean you see how joe said that you're very thin you i can tell you're sucking a lot of water but yeah you know um george lockhart says that big muscular guys like yourself that it's easier for them to cut weight because your muscles mostly water and that's yeah and that's the thing i worked with with cory on is um we've we've been able to keep more muscle on now to camp to where it makes that cut a lot easier. That's so funny because that's sort of, in a lot of people's eyes, that would be counterintuitive. Like he was talking about Yoel Romero.

And he's like, that's the perfect body for cutting weight. And I'm like, that is so crazy. Like it looks like the guy's got no weight to lose. Yoel is hard too. Like a brick. Yeah, have you ever hugged him? Yes. Like I hugged him a couple weeks ago.

I'm like, what? Well, Luke Rockhold said when he fought him, he said, it feels like he's made out of steel. Yeah. He was like, even when you hit him, it hurts. I can understand that. Because Luke kicked him. Luke tore up his legs in that fight. Yeah.

And we're in the back, and I'm looking at Luke's shin. It's all torn up. Yeah. He's bleeding and cut up. Was that before the staph infection? Yeah. Is that what caused the staph infection? I don't know.

It could have been because I think it was at that same leg. His knees, I mean, his shin rather is so fucked up. He's had skin grafts and all kinds of shit, and he still has to put a sleeve over it when he fights. Yeah. It was bad. Good thing he's good looking. He's a handsome devil, isn't he?

No homo, but he's a good looking dude. A little too handsome. It's confusing. How are you so good at fighting? You're so beautiful. Can you imagine a good looking guy beating you up? Beating the fuck out of you too. Not just beating you up, but you have zero chance.

Yeah, and then kicking you in the head at the same time you wake up. What happened? Oh no, that good looking guy beat the shit out of you beautiful world champion like what that's not supposed beautiful tall perfect bone structure world champion and now you walk through every airport or every uh a mall yeah and his face is on colognes his face is on the zoo ladder steel blue steel that means that's what he's doing now right

he's done he's basically done fighting right for now I don't know you can't you know Luke is one of those

weird guys you can't just say oh it's over you know Luke is one of those guys I think he can wake up get up tomorrow

on the couch like ah I want to go train let's take a fight really you know I think he's one of those guys. And yeah, I don't think it's over for him completely.

I think he can still compete. Don't you think that he should be 185 though? Well, here's my thought. Luke's a big guy. He is a big guy. But here's my thought. There should be more weight classes, period. 85 to 205 is bonkers.

The fact there's a 20-pound gap like that, that's 20 steaks. Think of 20 steaks. That's a giant amount of fucking meat. That's true. Like you're talking about two different categories of people. 10 pounds is reasonable. And, you know, obviously boxing is much less. You know, they have 54, then they have 60, then they have 68.

They have weird gaps. Like boxing has some strange gaps, like 47, 54. It's weird. But I think 10 is good. Yeah, I agree with you. But then, you know, like look at boxing. Do you even know all the weight classes? Can you?

I don't because I'm not that much of a fan. I don't know who the champions are in all the weight classes. And then it's, you know, that's the thing about it is, you know, UFC has this mystique right now to where you know the champions. Yes. There's only a few weight classes. Now you start adding to that, which I agree there should be more. Does that dilute everything that's going on? I don't think it will because I thought once the UFC went to change and left Fox or left this,

I'm like, oh, man, this is going to die out. Did it really? I was like, man, I don't know if the sport's going to keep going the way it is. Or when they sold to WME, I'm like, I don't know if this is going to keep going. And then it's just, it's one of those things, it's an original sport. It doesn't matter where you're at. Everybody speaks fighting. Yes.

Well, I felt like when they went to ESPN, I'm jesus this is perfect it's gonna be bigger i thought it was an amazing move oh yeah it's proven to be that right now everybody watches espn yes i mean it's on every fucking bar all over the country everywhere it's just too big of a network for like also fox had all sorts of other shit going on too yeah and, yeah. And then fighting. Yes. But ESPN is all sports. There's no distraction. You go there looking to watch some shit.

Either you're watching a game or you're watching a fight. Yeah, and that's what Dana Hess came out and said. That was the plan. That's what he wanted to get to. I was worried about the ESPN Plus shit. When they went all pay-per-views to ESPN Plus, I was oh no this could be a disaster but it's not well i mean when you got guys like connor yes you know that he's an outlier that that doesn't really right you know he can still do numbers but i love it because i can watch it on my phone that's what i love because sometimes i have to do some family shit or something like that i can sneak away if there's a big fight. And I can watch it.

I just put the headphones on and watch it on my phone. But it makes sense because the world is shifting to that. Everybody's streaming now. Everything's streaming. Everything is streaming. So it makes sense for them to go on that route. Initially, for guys like myself, it didn't make sense. But at the end of the day, you just kind of have to make friends with it.

You mean in terms of the amount of money that you can make? Yeah, absolutely. Was it a significant cut? Well, initially, it's going to be because now you go from where the average Joe is just like, oh, you know what? Let's watch some UFC today. I see it on my cable. All right, just order.

Boom, right there. Order. To where now you got to get online and you got to order. You got to buy this. Buy the subscription and all of that to where it made it tough because people are lazy. People don't want to do that extra work. It's like, oh, I can't. Oh, fine.

Screw it. I don't care about it. So, of course, it hit the numbers really, really hard. But I think eventually it's going to level out and it's going to make sense. Yeah, I think so, too. I think more people are having those smart TVs where you can just download apps. Oh, yeah. I use Apple TV, which is the shit.

You can just get everything. You can get the zone. You can get anything. ESPN, UFC. It's too much for my brain. Fight Pass. Too much? It's too much.

You've got Apple TV. You've got Amazon TV. You've got Hulu. You've got Netflix. You've got this. I have 10 different subscriptions and I'm paying for cable to where it's like, this is crazy. This is ridiculous. Well, they're trying to battle it out, right?

Disney Plus and then HBO's got, what is HBO's called? HBO Max? HBO Max. And now they're all like linking up with musical guys as well. Like Amazon's got Amazon Music. One of them is like with Pandora. The other one's like with uh what is it spotify like they're like it's it's a battle right now with all these guys yeah it's

it is interesting it's it's gonna be interesting to see how this all plays out i was really shocked when hbo got out of boxing i was like i can't believe that from when i was a kid hbo boxing was the shit yeah jim lampley larry merchant you know i mean that that's how it was back in the day it was just you you always knew george farmer was doing commentary roy jones jr was doing commentary yeah i think when it's when when the change of the figureheads change i think that that makes a big difference yeah the people that are calling the shots when they you know because hbo you see that as something that's like a generational type of deal like like that's the big boss it's not just you know yeah you'd be the boss now i think that's something that's passed down so when the next guy in line is not you know with

boxing then they're going to slowly pull out or not with the sport. It's just such a tradition. Boxing on HBO was such a tradition. Yeah. It was so part of HBO. Yeah, it was. And I mean, thinking back, all those big, big fights, the Tyson era, all these guys.

Roy Jones Jr. Roy Jones Jr. All that was on HBO. Yeah, and so it's... Max Kellerman. It's crazy how it's gone now. Yeah that was on HBO. Yeah. And so it's- Max Kellerman. It's crazy how it's gone now. Yeah. That's weird.

Yeah. Speaking of Tyson, I spent some time with him not too long ago. Did you get high as fuck? No. You don't have to say. You know what? Just go, no. I did their podcast and the hot box.

Did you get hot boxed? I think I did. I think I caught some contact. I'm not going to lie. They were all smoking in there. And I walked out of there feeling lighter. Oh, yeah. I felt so much lighter.

I was like, what? I feel great. Getting high with Mike Tyson and doing a podcast was one of the weirdest moments of my life. Really? Yeah, man, because I idolized him as a kid and here i am i'm sitting across from him dude when i was young and mike tyson was the champ he was a fucking icon it was different still that way yeah but it was back but what i'm saying is like when he was the champ it was different than any other champ people forget the heavyweight division back there was in stagn. It was stagnant.

Nobody cared. Larry Holmes was a phenomenal boxer, but Larry Holmes had beaten Muhammad Ali, and no one ever forgave him. He beat the fuck out of Ali, and it was when Ali was already done, and everybody felt sad that now Larry Holmes was the champ, and they didn't appreciate him. And then the people that Larry Holmes fought, they were kind of lackluster. No one stood out as being this fucking guy. And then when Spinks beat him by decision, it's like the whole division was just stagnant. And then Tyson came along, and you weren't even watching a fight. You were watching an execution, and you were watching an event.

Like, everybody wanted to watch it. And we'd get mad. It would only last 30 seconds. Like, fuck! Yes. And that's, like, those guys are special. Yeah. And which is, I believe, what we're witnessing with Conor. You know, there comes guys that are special who may not win all the time

because towards the end of Tyson's career, it didn't win all the time. Right. But he was still that special. Yeah, he was an iconic person. And now being able to hang around him. And I get that feeling that you got, Joe. I get that feeling. I'm so nervous, man.

I sat next to Mike. Shout out to those guys at the Tyson Ranch, Rob and all those guys. Every time I spend time with Mike I'm just like that's weird that's Mike Tyson he's right there and we talk

and he gave us some me and Henry a Cejudo that's like my brother we spent some time together we spent some time with Mike and he gave us some crazy advice

what did he say? some important advice because we see certain situations like now as competitors as fighters we'll be in the gym and your training partner would just beat the shit out of you one day. And you will leave you feeling like, I suck. I'm not that good. I'm not this guy.

I'm not that good anymore. I can't. Like, no, I'm sucking. Because I'm starting to feel that more and more now, because when I, uh, when I spar for these big fights, I like to make them kind of like an event. I want to make them feel like I'm going to fight. So I like to just, I don't want music. I don't want this. I want it to be me and just them. And not just when you're in a room and everybody's sparring at the same time, it's a different feel. You don't really get that adrenaline feel, that really fight or flight mode. You never feel that because there's so much distractions going on,

so many things, so many different sounds that you're hearing. But when it's just you and them, it's a completely different ballgame. So I like to make it feel like that. So I will get beat up some Saturdays. I will just get the shit beat out of me because i've got maybe three four different guys rotating in on me that my coach is all picked and it sucks when you get in a new guy every round and this guy's just beating on you the you know that my last fight guys were taking me down and holding me down and he's beating on me and i would go home thinking

man i suck like i'm not good anymore. Like, this sucks. How do I deal with this? Like, I'm going to lose this fight. This sucks. But somehow, some way, you always turn the corner. When do you feel like the corner gets turned? Do you have like a, you know, I know you're big on routine,

but do you have it in your head that like somewhere around like six weeks in, things start to turn? Two and a half three weeks out three weeks out three weeks out from the fight so how many weeks into training are you and when you threw out like what's a particular i'm always training but i like to do like maybe i want to say uh 11 10 11 week camp so for eight weeks yeah shit might be going bad yeah so you'll have like about eight weeks out i'm feeling good like you know i'm still feeling good i'm still kind of beating these guys up i'm still kind of doing what

i want then six weeks your body's starting to be like oh man bro we've been training for a while i'm kind of tired so it's even now and then you're five four weeks out and now you're just getting beat up like these guys are just beating on you your Your body's tired. Your body's like, I'm done. I'm done training. I'm done training. Like, you know, I don't want to do this anymore. And you're getting beat on. And mentally you're thinking, bro, I'm going to lose this fight. I suck.

I'm not good. I suck. And then, I mean, you're mad. I suck bad. I'm cursing myself in the car. Bro, that was trash. And, of course, I'm watching the videos recording how'd you get hit with that you got taken brother you're trash you you're bad you're

gonna lose you're gonna get knocked out in front of thousands of people bro and then it's like after about three weeks out you start to kind of turn the corner because you're getting close and close to the fight now my mind's like oh bro we're getting close to this fight we're about to this dude and then you start turning the corner mentally you start getting strong and i started getting stronger and stronger and then at that point i'm okay with whatever's gonna happen because my training partners just beat the crap out of me for weeks on end and i went through that and we asked mike like my god what do you think about this? Like, is this normal, feeling like this? Mike's like, yeah, hell yeah, that's normal.

And in a special way, in his voice, he's like, there were certain times where, you know, you would come in the room in the practice, and you'd watch me practice, and you would see my training partner just kick the shit out of me. You would think he was the champion. You would think he was the champion, that I was just a scrub in there giving him some rounds. But then you take him out there and you put him under the lights, put 17,000, 20,000 people around him, and he can't do it. And he just can't do it. That's what makes champions champions, being able to deal and handle all the chaotic stuff that happens before, after, and what's happening around them.

And so that was just like, man, he's so right. Because some guys, and I've watched several guys in the practice room be doing techniques. It's like, how is that even possible? Like hitting you with crazy stuff. But then you put him in there, put him under the lights, and it looks like he's an amateur. That is one of the weirder things about gyms

is those guys who are gym killers. Yes. Inside the gym, they are fucking killers. And then for whatever reason, they can't do it. Can't do it. My thought is always like, can you teach those guys how to keep it together when it comes to a fight? Or is that just something that's inside? It's something that's inside.

Because I've seen guys that they know, like these guys put on clinics inside the practice room. But then they get out there, they just find a way to lose. They find a way to lose. They can't deal with it. They can't handle it. The pressure. The pressure. They can't handle everything that comes with it.

They just find a way to lose to where you're just like how is that possible even if the guy's nowhere near their level they find a way to lose yeah it's a weird psychological characteristic that these gym killers have because you would feel like they would have so much confidence because they do so well in the gym. But some guys, like the difference between the way they look in the gym and the way they look when they're fighting is like, who are you? You're not even the same person. You drop in your hands. You get tired real easy.

You're all nervous. It's weird. It goes to, I think, because in the gym, they're familiar with you. They know how hard I'm going to hit them. They know if I'm going to come forward or if I'm i'm gonna back down if they hit me with this this and this you know so it makes it easier to be safer in the gym yeah but then when you gotta fight a guy you don't really know how well he trained you don't know if he's coming for a war or if this guy's coming for a point fight so you don't know all of that all that anxiety plays into it and that it

takes a champion's mentality to be able to hone all that control and still go out there and do your job. And some guys just don't have that in them. Yeah, and some guys get really wrapped up in the fear of looking bad. Yes. The looking bad is just like hanging over their head. I'm about to get knocked out. Everyone's going to laugh. I'm going to be the one to make fun of me.

They're going to fuck with me. That's very real. Can you're gonna fuck with me that's very real can you imagine me losing a kobe coming to you that would have been the biggest one right there was so much oh my god it was so bad man i'm telling you i'm in different and i'm in abu dhabi people run up to me in the mall man i can't wait for you to kill this guy i go i'm in brazil oh my god i can't wait for you to kill this guy i'm in dominican republic they can't even speak english but they're like i can't wait for you to kill this guy my friend and bro everywhere so like imagine me going out there and and what i was feeling i had to really i took advice from rashad i had to really make friends with that feeling and accept it.

Well, I'll tell you what, man. At the weigh-ins, when Suzy painted the Nigerian flag on your face and you're staring him down and you just had this big smile on your face, you looked so calm. And I was like, that guy is ready. But you were so composed at the weigh-in. I was like, there's no bullshit. There was no fuck you.

There was no emotions. You just had a big smile on your face. Yeah, I mean, at some point, you get to where it's no longer the talking. Like, yeah, I get it. You got to sell a fight here and there, you know, this and that. But I try to stay as true to myself as possible.

Like, obviously, I understand people want to be entertaining. I'm going to do the best that I can now of selling a fight without going too far out of myself. But when that contract is signed and I know that I have to go in there and take care of business, there's no more of that. I have to be myself. I have to be real. And this guy said a lot of things that were very, very personal. A lot of things about my previous manager, a lot of things about my team, my current manager, and a lot of things about my previous manager, a lot of things about my team, my current manager, and a lot of things about my family and my situation as well,

as far as my father, all of that to where it really hit home to where it's the best way for me to teach you a lesson. It's not by going in there fighting angry. I have to go in there being calculated like my normal self and really teach you a lesson because anything you

say can and will be used against you inside that octagon what was he saying to you he was talking to you i couldn't hear because it was so loud in that the arena when you were weighing in what was he saying to you i think he was saying i'll be ready i hope you're ready tomorrow junior hope you're ready hope you're ready i'm i'm i'm coming hope you're ready tomorrow i hope you're ready hope you're ready i'm i'm coming hope you're ready tomorrow i'm coming he seemed so calm too he had a big ass smile on his face but but you know when i look at these guys i'm looking for more than just that like i'm reading his body i'm reading everything and he's looking at me the whole time and he did the best because i know he's a competitor he did the best he could to hide his fear you know and and i was afraid too i'm afraid every one of

these fights you you got to be afraid but i make friends with it i'm okay with being afraid i'm not i'm not worried about i am okay with that so i'm watching him and there's there's a moment if you see that wayne video we the stare down one year you know after we stare down we stare down and i'm watching him i'm watching him the whole time i'm'm just watching him. And he's doing this good job. He's trying to stay on me, stay on me, stay on me, stay on me. And then he looks away. And I just read his body. I'm just like, okay.

I know how worried he is. I know how worried he is. Isn't it weird? You know that your opponent is worried. You know. Everyone's worried, right? Everyone's nervous. But you've got to kind of see it.

Because you could fuck yourself in your mind that this guy's not even scared. Yes. I'm scared and he's not. Yes. You can mind fuck yourself, even though you know it's not even, like, everyone before a cage fight has to be nervous. Absolutely. And, yeah, it's weird because I'm looking at him and I'm studying him and I'm seeing the level of fear that he has. And, you know, I'm trying to assess the level of fear, whether it's something I can deal with or something that, shit, I'm just going to have to go in there.

I have no choice. He looked pretty fucking confident to me. He was very confident, but, you know, I could see how superior I was to him. My level of fear and his level of fear I can see where they were at because and and you got to be mindful of his level of fear as well because you a caged animal is very dangerous animal you know and so I can I'm seeing them and that's kind of how the way he that was that went I watched that fight again the other day um I was playing it in the gym while I was working I was like that is a crazy pace like you fuckers came out guns blazing I mean it in the gym while I was working. I was like, that is a crazy pace. Like, you fuckers came out guns blazing. I mean, in my opinion,

is one of the very best welterweight title fights ever. I mean, it was epic. It was epic. I'm watching. The pace. Yeah, there it is. I'm watching. I'm watching.

I'm watching. I'm watching. I'm watching. Keep it on him. Keep it on him. I'm watching. I'm watching. I'm watching.

And boom, it looks away. Well, he had to. I was talking to him. Yeah. he just got it in your head man he looked down i i'm i'm like i'm like oh there was just a little moment just to read his spirit i felt his spirit at that moment and i'm just like uh it's not the same it's not the same like i'm gonna hurt this kid it's not the same but he's gonna come out he's gonna fight but i'm gonna hurt him you know at no point in that fight did i think i wasn't gonna hurt him when you dropped him in in the the final round when you stopped the fight yeah when you when you dropped him you saw him go down what was going through your head i was like oh i'm hitting now i'm hitting because i you know when you when you landed a perfect uh you landed punch good you

don't really feel it and so at that that moment, I was kind of clipping him. I was connecting. Everything I clipped him with was he was feeling the power at that point. I'd heard him a few times before, but everyone kept talking about his pace, his pace, and this and that. And I carry power all the way throughout. That's how I train. The power is going to be the same.

The way I hit mitts with my coaches, Henry Hoot and all these, it's all the same. It's not all tap, tap, tap, tap, tap here and then a little bit of power here. Tap, tap, tap, tap a little bit. Yes, I know how to do that. I know how to mix it up like boxers do. They know how to put a little bit into this, distract you with this, then touch you with that. I know how to do that too. But I carry the power all the way throughout.

this then touch you with that i know how to do that too but i carry the power all the way throughout so by the fifth round when i hit him with the i think um i hit him with the body and i hit a punch i hit him with a right hand that stunned him and he stumbled back and at that point i was in i was just in the driver's seat i'm like okay i'm feeling him but then i hit him with a left foot boom that hurt him i could feel everyone they hurt him because i'm not barely feeling the punches here and then when i put that cannon on his face boom and he went down i'm just like oh stay relaxed stay relaxed we got time you know the goal is to get him out of here i'm not gonna jump on him because i've made that mistake before i've dropped the guy now and jumped on him going crazy trying to get him out of there let me stay on him just stay relaxed and i'm gonna get him done and at

that point i was just in you get to a certain zone to where you see him coming, and he's just like, punches are going by. And then I land the other one, and he drops. And I'm just like, okay, it's time to get on him and finish him here. Did you recognize that something was wrong with his jaw? Boom, there it is. No. And I watched the fight over, and my corner told me that his jaw was broken. I didn't even hear them.

Boom, that second right hand. I didn't even hear them. Boom, that second right hand. I didn't even hear them. Were you surprised the way they stopped the fight? No. No, but, you know, and this is what I'm saying is. I got to say I was a little surprised when I looked at it. Yeah, I mean, you think about it like that. And it's like, oh, man, he got up right away.

You know, like it might have been an early stoppage. oh, man, he got up right away. It might have been an early stoppage. But then if you watch that last, that 30 second before that, you see the shots that he was taking. I hit him with that right hand, boom, he stumbled back, almost fell down.

I was wondering if they knew that his jaw was broken. I mean, that's between a referee. The referee might know. But I personally didn't. But if you see him take shots like that, you just got dropped twice right and now you're holding on to a leg and now this is just an earmuff you're trying to protect yourself and i'm have no sign of stopping you know that's the referee's job to get in there and stop you you know and i know some guys are like oh well they should have let him go it's a title fight you should have let him get knocked

out completely or this and that you know but it's a referee's not doing his job of protecting you if if that happens it's interesting that you said every fight takes a little bit out of you yes and that's i think that's important for people to hear because i you know we've all seen fighters and you know like we go to boxing, the perfect example is Meldrick Taylor when he fought Julio Cesar Chavez. Did you ever see that fight? No. Tremendous fight.

Meldrick Taylor was winning the fight, but Chavez just kept the pressure on him, kept the pressure on him, was beating his body, beating his body, kept the pressure on him. And then finally with like, literally, I think the fight was stopped with four seconds to go. Wow. Yeah. Richard Steele waved it off and Meldrick Taylor stood up and he talked to him, but you could tell Meldrick Taylor was out of it and they stopped the fight was stopped with four seconds to go. Wow. Yeah, Richard Steele waved it off, and Meldrick Taylor stood up, and he talked to him,

but you could tell Meldrick Taylor was out of it, and they stopped the fight. Meldrick Taylor was never the same again. He was never the same again. Terry Norris started him after that. He started slurring his words. It was real bad. It was like that one fight took everything out of him.

Yeah, there's something people don't really see. I mean, everyone's attracted to violence. Everybody wants to see see the violence they want to see you get hit i want to see you hit someone they want to see the blood you know but people don't see what this takes away from your spirit each fight win or lose it takes something from you like only myself and kobe covington are gonna know what that fight did to us now could i do it i can do it again next week i have no problem doing it yet but each and every fight takes something away from you but is it balanced out more so for sure if you take a beating right but if is it balanced out by hard training and recuperation to where you can maintain the exact same level or is every fight you're like slightly

Less good than you were before but you're so much better that you still have enough leeway That know that as far as the preparation and training all of that stuff. Yeah that accounts So yeah that takes it takes away from you, but I'm saying the act of actually fighting the fight From your spirit from your energy that takes away from you. So you mean like your ability to get up for it? Yes, your ability to fight another man. Your ability to that bravado to fight another person, that spirit, that killer spirit, it takes away from you. And it could add to it.

It changes that spirit in some shape form of fashion it absolutely does it's there's this video a while back I forget the fighter he was a wrestler turn fighter he's like bleach blonde hair I forget his name but I think the video was called unfaded glory I think USA wrestling made it put it together and it had all these wrestlers on it, you know, Brandon Slay, Travelle DeLognan, who was my teammate. A lot of different, you know, was on that video. And I watched that while I was training for the 2012 Olympics, trying to make the team. And that video stays with me. It changed my mentality of how to think because it really put

things in perspective. Because you go out there and you battle this hard match and you lose to this guy. Like, Joe, I've won hundreds of wrestling matches. I can't remember hardly any of them. The ones that I've lost, though, I remember most of them. Why is that? Because each one took something away from my spirit somehow. I remember each, the one, they took something away from me. Like, I can tell you really, the fights that I won, MMA fights, I can really, I don't really care that much about.

I win and I move on. But the one that I lost, oh yeah. I know exactly why I knew what happened. I knew, I, you know what happened in that fight. Do you remember when you had that fight

with Damian Maia and early in the fight Damian Maia is kind of standing and holding onto your back and then the referee separated you? Yeah.

Were you like, thank God that fucking referee? No, because I wasn't going to give that, there's no way he was, I was prepared to stand there that fucking referee. No, because I wasn't going to give that. There's no way. I was prepared to stand there the whole round.

But didn't you think that that was a weird way to separate you? It was when he did eventually separate. Yeah, the timing wasn't very good. No. Because at some point we stood there. We were there for like almost a minute. But it's hard to get to that position on a guy like you. It's very. I mean, that Damien, people don't realize how good like in ben askren found out the hard way

yeah how good this guy is and yeah i could have taken him down whenever i wanted and tried to play that game but that's that's not a game you play right it's like trying to swim with sharks and and and you're you're you're a little bitty shark yourself, but you're trying to swim with these mammoth sharks. Yeah. And it just doesn't, you know, Damien Maia is just that guy to where I'm like, why even flirt with this? Right. Why?

His jiu-jitsu is just so high level. It's so high level, so tricky. I mean, he's just done it so much and so well to where he's just, he's good in certain positions to where it's like, I'm like, you know what? There's no point in even going there. But I was prepared to die rather than let him take me down and go down here. Even though we never know. I might have been able to defend down there on the ground,

which I worked a lot on my defense down there. My ground is no slouch. Well, Rory McDonald did. Remember Rory McDonald? Yeah, Rory McDonald. I was fully prepared to do that. But why? Masvidal did as well.

Yeah, he did a good job of not getting submitted. But at the end of the day, he still took an L on that. I'm just saying. I know you have to say that. Are you in conversation with the UFC about your next fight? Or do you just rest up heal up and then let them know hey i'm good to go no how does that work you know if they're like hey does this date work all right if it does it does if it doesn't it doesn't but i'm not i've worked to get

to the point where now i don't have to call guys out i'm not trying to pick fights oh no i want that fight i want that fight i'm right oh this fight. I'm begging for this guy to fight me. No, the belt has to move. It has to move. So when the UFC says, okay, here, this is the next fight, hey, that's the next fight. I've never turned down a fight. So you haven't had any conversation with them at all

where they said, hey, when do you think you'll be ready? Have you had any of these kind of conversations? Me and Dana, we've talked. My management, we've talked about it and yeah i've told them when you know i'll be ready like i'll be ready give me a month you know let this thing you know heal out because i mean you can see i can make a fist now you know let this thing heal out and i'm i'm cracking and what is the conversation that they have with you do they say say, hey, we would like you to fight X guy? How does it work?

I'm fishing here. No, they put out the guys. Let's be honest. If you really look at the division, I've beaten almost everybody there in that top 10. It's a matter of who everybody really wants, who they think is next. And Dana agrees. Dana thinks that – what's his name? George is the next guy.

And I have no problem with that. I told Dana, Dana, I have never turned down a fight. You say when and you say who, and let's get that money. Will you try to make it for both belts? Because I want to see you make a video if you beat him of you throwing that thing in the closet. You know what? I absolutely will do that now. Do you know how funny that would be?

This is what I think of this belt. I'm going to tell Dana, Dana, I need that belt. No, you know what? Don't even make me a new one. I want his. Take that. Give it back to me. I want that. But that's always weirded me out that you don't get that person's belt you get a new belt i'm like but aren't you fighting for the belt no it makes

sense i guess because then someone's holding on to it yeah yeah it makes funk all over it and shit yeah i don't want the same you know that dirt i don't know what they've done with that thing tim silvio when he won the heavyweight title he used to wear his belt everywhere he would go to clubs he'd wear his fucking UFC belt I said that I would do that I said that I would do that because

I hear a lot of guys like Mike Tyson said he wore his what was it the WBC he wore it for like a week straight he showered with I think there's a picture of him

in the shower with it and and I was like yeah I'm of him in the shower with it. And I was like, yeah, I'm going to do that when I get it. But then I got it, and I went home. I'm like, there's no fucking way I'm going to get in the shower with this. It does seem kind of crazy to do. Plus, you can fuck up the leather, right? Yeah.

It's so nice. I'm like, ah. And my daughter had it for a couple days. She just laid next to it. She likes looking at it. I'm like, ah. And my daughter had it for a couple days. She just laid next to it. She likes looking at it. I'm sure. And I told all her friends at school, my daddy has a gold belt.

How crazy is that? For her, my daddy's the champion of the world. Yeah, but she doesn't really understand that. I mean, she knows that, that I'm the champion. She tells me all the time. Yeah. And it's cute. I'm so soft for her. Dude, when you brought her into the octagon when you beat tyron and you're holding her i almost

cried i every time i see that you know i always said i'm not gonna be that guy because you know parents have thousands of pictures on their phones of their kids i'm like i'm never gonna be that guy i have literally i looked the other day, I had 4,500 pictures. And I guarantee that maybe 4,000 of them are of my daughter. Of course. And then I was thinking, I'm like, man, when she grows up, which is why some guys, yeah, you can switch up to be an entertainer, but I can't switch up too much because at some point, my daughter's going to grow up one day and she's going to be like,

who is that guy? Why did you say that? Why did you say that? Why did you do this? That's the picture right there. And, oh, man, I look at it and I just want it. But you could see how happy you were, how proud you were. And her, she was smiling.

Man, that's an intense moment. That's such an intense moment. When she grows up, I want her to be able to look at that. Do you have a picture of that? Are you holding her while they gave you the belt um they're making me one damn that should be yeah they're making of course i'm gonna frame one and i have one too i have a picture of um god damn i'm tearing up i have a picture of the and the one that gets me the most and i think it was shot by a photographer eric coleman is um i was we were training on the track.

And it was right after I fought the finale, Ultimate Fighter. And I just got into the UFC. And she's in a stroller. And we came right from it. It was a Saturday morning workout. We had to go to the FAU track. And the team, guys were running. I couldn't really run, so I'm hitting mitts with Henry. And she's in the stroller. I took her mitts with Henry and she's in the stroller.

I took her straight out of bed. She's in the stroller sitting there watching me and I'm hitting mitts and Eric shot the shot and somehow got her in the back. She's just in the stroller. She's like maybe two years old, if that, and just watching me train. And that, that one is the one that when i look at i can't help i can't fight those emotions because that was and and the worst thing was that was the camp where i was having the most issues to where i literally a couple of times i cried physically cried because

i can i'm like man my career's just starting and I can't even walk upstairs. Like my career's already done. I tell people what you told me about not being able to walk on the concrete. You had to walk on grass. Yeah. I walk on grass. It was that bad. And I come down because I go down the stairs backwards and everyone's kind of like, why

you do that? Why you do that? You still do that? Yeah. I still do that. Really? Yeah. It takes pressures off.

It takes pressure off my knees. And so I still do it. The longest Yeah. It takes pressure off my knees. And so I still do it. The longest I... Now it's a mental thing. The longer I can preserve my knees, the better. And that's the thing too, is my manager makes fun of me. We got to get you to Panama. Yeah, but my manager makes fun of me.

He's like, oh man, you're a herd. You walk like an old man, but then you cross into that cage and you fight like an... I'm like, yeah, because when I cross that barrier, in my mind, I turn into the Nigerian nightmare. I don't give a shit what happens. I'm ready to die in here. I don't care. I'm going to sacrifice my body completely in here to accomplish this goal. Do you worry about your knees not being able to hold up?

Because obviously your mind is strong enough that you can fight even though you're in pain. Not being able to hold up because obviously your mind is strong enough that you could fight even though you're in pain not being able to hold on fighting yes yes not so much no no because um i mean it's it's i've been making this decision for a long time i remember the first knee surgery i had in college and i just my thing my my mind was i just can't wait to get back what gets me back the fastest Oh scope just take just I snip it out whatever gets me back to fasten because I just can't wait to compete I think as long as I have this burning desire to compete I'm okay with sacrificing my body but once this

desire starts to kind of do a no doubt I'm okay well when you see a guy like Michael Bisping who's Michael's like 41 maybe? How old is Michael? I think, yeah, he's in his 40s, I think. And he just had a knee replacement. You know, when you see that, does that make you think like, fuck, is that going to be me? Yeah, I'm already, I'm okay with that. I've made friends with that.

Really? I've made friends with the fact that I'm going to probably have to have my knees both replaced. Jesus, man. I'm going to have my shoulders probably done. Your shoulders are fucked up too? I mean, just from, I'm a wrestler. Just from wrestling over time. Like my back, at some point, I'm going to have to get done.

Really? I've made friends with these, you know, with these. Like I'm going to have to do these. And you don't even mind, that's interesting, you don't mind talking about these injuries. You don't mind talking about it because you feel like it's still not going to save them i don't give a shit yeah i don't it's not gonna save you like guys all these knees are bad yeah my knees were real bad before kobe my knees were real bad before damien my reels were real bad before tyrant or the other guy doesn't matter once i cross in and i get in when i I'm locked into that cage, you're trying to hurt me, but I'm going to hurt you worse.

And all these guys right now, like everybody has their time. Tyron had his time. You know, George had his time. You know, right now, God is just saying, this is my time. And I'm going to maximize it to my ability. So I don't care. I'm going to give everything in there just because of my knees. You can know it's my knees.

People kick me all the time. Kobe kicked me a few times. I don't give a shit. to give everything in there just because of my knees you can know it's my knees people kick me all the time Kobe kicked me a few times I don't give a shit it's not going to save you it's not going to save these guys and with Kobe as well I mean he you know that fight was a lot more personal than a lot of people

think you know obviously with you know the whole situation with my dad and him i'm saying whatever he said and and i know he like people say certain things and connor's a master at this to try to get you off your game to try to make you to rattle you make you mad enough to where you come out and you're just crazy you know fighting them and to where you could be the best conditioned athlete you can get in there and get an adrenaline dump you look like you haven't trained a day in your life and i knew that's what they were like i'm not stupid i knew what that's what these guys were

trying to do i knew that's what especially him he was trying to do but i wasn't going to play into that you had a very steady pace it was very interesting you could see that when you're fighting like right away in the first round first of all his pace is fucking crazy i mean that guy throws a lot of volume but you you had you could tell that you were not gonna blow your water early no you were fighting very measured very disciplined and you were throwing a lot of front kicks to the body man that front kick to the body is nasty yeah i mean i you know just looking at his style stylistically and matching him up with mine like I could have came in there we could have wrestled yeah everyone thought they're just gonna wrestle each other you know but did you think that was possible that he was gonna try

to wrestle with you more you know there was a possibility of him trying to wrestle but I knew that he was worried about my wrestling because because Tyron was a two-time All-American. Tyron did better than him in Division I wrestling, better accolades. And we saw what happened with that fight. So I knew he was worried about me wrestling, me taking him down. Because if I take you down, you're not getting up unless I let you up. So I knew he was worried about that. But then there came a moment in the fight to where we just looked at each other

and it was just like, no, not today. Let's do it. Let's do it. And I was fully aware. I was fully prepared to bang it out with him. It was very surprising because it really did turn out to be basically a kickboxing fight. Yeah. I mean, that was. Yeah, we just looked at each other and was just like all right let's let's do it

mano a mano let's go you know there's not gonna be wrestling tonight so let's do it man it could you the two you guys together depending on how the rest of the division stacks up because it's just such a fucking talented division there's so much talent in that division there's so many good fighters but depending on how everything plays out you guys could have two or three fights easily we'll see yeah i mean we'll see first of all i want to see how you bounce it back from that because uh like i said there was a lot that went into that fight he said a lot he did a lot like getting all that weight on having all that weight on your shoulders saying all the things that you said ruffling all the feathers that you ruffled and then coming out and and he took a beating from the fans after that like the

backlash that he took oh yeah it was was i don't know if you saw some of the shit that was online like he took a humongous. Oh, I'm sure. And rightfully so. I mean, you. That's the game. Yeah, that's the game. That's the game.

You want to talk crazy shit, then they're going to. I mean, the reason why they're tuning into the fight, so many of them. Yeah. Is because of all the crazy shit you've talked. Yes. So naturally, if he loses, all the people that are rooting for you are like, yeah, you fucking knew it. I knew it. I knew it.

Yeah. And so I want to see how he bounces back from all that because he's never had to do it before. Psychologically. Yeah. He's never had to do it before. He's never had to talk all that shit and go in there and get your mouth shut, literally. And it's literally. It's going to be interesting to see who they match him up with.

I mean, who do they? I mean, he's got possibilities like he can fight masvidal yeah for sure you know he can fight masvidal they used to be boys right yeah they used to be boys used to be training partners and there's videos online of i mean you see what he was doing with masvidal early on like you know like there's videos online with with with that of and then it's like he can fight tyron woodley like tyron wins this fight like i think they both fight for the number one contender you know so it's it is what it like the possibilities are endless for him because there's so many guys that want to kick his ass yeah so many guys in

the division but i don't think so a lot of guys in division can kick his ass right you know so it's he's got he's you know he's got possibilities he can he could fight guys and it's also possible that he can learn from that fight with you and come back a better fighter that is possible too we don't know how much it's going to take out of him but it is possible that he could come from that i mean that was a fucking crazy fight and that was the first really crazy fight that he's experienced other than the one submission loss that he had in the ufc where the UFC where he had an injured rib. He had to take the fight.

Was that Worley Alves? Worley Alves. Yeah. So when you see him next, then we'll get an understanding of where he's at. Yeah, but the thing, though, is there's just certain guys you can't beat. I don't know what it is or why it is, but there's just certain guys you can't beat. I don't know what it is or why it is, but there's just certain guys that you cannot beat. And I think I'm that guy that he's just not going to beat.

I will not allow myself to lose to him. Do you think if you had two good hands, if your hand wasn't hurt, it would have been a different fight? Yeah, I think I hurt him. I think I hurt him earlier. But, man, hats off to him. He's a tough guy. I don't take anything away from him.

He fought a very good fight. That had to be the most satisfying. The most I've ever been hit ever. Yeah. He was hitting me. He was touching me. And I was never really hurt bad, but they were stinging shots. Like, they stung me a couple times.

I'm like, this motherfucker, he's touching me right now. He's touching me. But at no point did I, I was like, I'm going to come forward. I'm going to hurt him. He's touching me. But at no point did I, I was like, I'm going to come forward. I'm going to hurt him. He's a fucking swinger, man.

I mean, he throws a lot of shots too. His volume is incredible, but that had to be the most satisfying to you. It was. When I, when I got back to the hotel and I, and I sat there,

it's just, I mean, it was like, and I just was by myself. Cause I like to decompress and I'm just like, we got it done. I mean, it was like, and I just was by myself because I like to decompress. And I'm just like, we got it done. I mean, all this shit that this guy said, even my dad was, you know, like, go take care of business, you know. And to know that I went in there and I did take care of business was extremely satisfying.

And it didn't hurt when a freaking i mean a surplus of like celebrities crazy celebrities thank you for a kid well that whole magazine out of this guy you know you attach yourself to that whole mega thing and you know there's a lot of people that'll support you because of that but man there's so many like if you fall down there's so many they just can't wait to piss on you and kick you oh man yeah it's such a polarizing position that he took he did but uh you know i'm friends with the trump now yeah let's talk about that you were saying that you were gonna go visit the white house and you tell me about the book because that's what's hilarious yeah i'm gonna do it i'm gonna go to the white house but you also me and dan talked about it donald trump

i picked up the book and um you know initially was like okay uh because this guy tried to troll me during our press conference he was trolling me like he sat there while i was talking he was reading the book and pretending like he was reading the book yeah and and um and then i'm at the airport and i'm like oh there's the book and i'm like fuck it i've got time today and i'm trolling them and i and i buy the book i'm like screw it i'm gonna buy this book so i actually buy the book and and i take the screenshot and i uh and i posted it you should have seen the reaction that i got from fans after that it was it was she was ridiculous did donald trump jr reach out to you actually, yeah. We actually, you know, messages back and forth. Hey, you're wearing a red hat, too.

It's the wrong red hat, but you're wearing a red hat. No, but yeah. That is fucking hilarious. We actually messaged out. And, you know, I don't know the Trumps personally. So, you know, I can't go out there and like, oh, I'm bashing them just because this idiot was attaching himself to them.

So I look forward to meeting them and actually talking to them. Listen, that would be a great moment for you to bring that title to the White House, despite of all the bullshit, and just let everybody know. You rise. Yeah, I mean uh who would ever imagine that i you know coming from the village in africa that i did you know and and getting to this point and actually going in there to the white house

well you know we had talked about your dad and your dad being in jail. And of all people, man, Kim Kardashian has had, I think something like 28 people wrongly accused, released from prison. She's all about like prison justice reform. And she makes these regular trips to the White House to talk to the president about prison reform and about getting people out of jail that got bad deals. Yeah, and i mean

that's that's a worthy cause it's an amazing cause i stopped making fun of her yeah i was like i'm not gonna make fun of her anymore she's a she's doing great things like she's a good person you know and i mean like i don't know that family personally so you know i could never really speak on them but for someone to come out and, because there's so many people that are behind bars because of being wrongfully accused and the fact that she, a celebrity like her, of her stature is really shedding light on that and actually taking the steps to go out and actually help some of these guys is just amazing. It's amazing. And speaking of my father, like I said, this is no accident that we're here.

Life is, this is no accident, Joe. Like, the last time I was here, you know, was the first time I ever talked about it and opened up about it. And this attorney, Gray Tesh, out of South Florida, actually contacted me. He's like, hey, you know, I would love to take a look at the case and, you know, look at what's going on here. I would love to take a look at the case and, you know, look at what's going on here. And so, you know, he's kind of been like looking into it, working on it and, you know, sending the letters that need to be sent and making the calls that need to be made. And Joe, the moment I just walked in here and this is no lie. I just showed you the text. I just walked in here and I'm in the bathroom and i get the text that says

he's gonna be released soon that's incredible and it's like that's incredible you should bring him with you to the white house i would definitely try dude i will definitely try how wild that would be oh man you know the big thing to me that would mean so much to me is to have my dad front and center for my fight. Having my dad come into the cage and put that belt around me. There's these moments in life that I call it being floored. And that's just when your heart hits the floor. And I think those moments arrive. Which is what, for me, when you think about the pursuit of happiness

these are the definitions of that is when you can make your parents heart hit the floor by doing something like doing something to where you're recognized so much to where they're recognized for the work that they did raising you the good work that they did whether it's winning a Rhodes Scholar whether it's winning the you know a road scholar

whether it's winning the novelle peace prize like can you imagine as a parent watching your child accomplish something great like that feeling is the feeling that i long for i long i want i want to make my parents feel that as many times as possible before they're called home and they pass from this earth. And I'm sure my daughter at one point is going to want to do that. And, you know, I think winning that title, I would have loved to see my dad's face when I won that title. And just look into him and see how he felt.

So I can't wait for him to be at the next one. I can't wait for him to actually feel that how long has he been locked up for i think since 2009 shit 11 years i think yeah and and uh my dad did miss beat too like you go see him my dad's the same guy really the same guy you would think this is something i would defeat somebody that would crush them and kill them. And, of course, I'm not with him day in and day out. But my dad's still the same guy to me. And so, man, I'm not going to cry, but I can't wait for him to actually hold my dad again. If you could choose, who would you like to see him cage side when you fight? Who would you like to be fighting when he's there

for the first time if i could choose if you could choose would it be red panties night oh man that's a toss-up i don't know how you can pass up on red listen to me connor can get it too but you know at the same time it, it's his choice. Conor has worked to get to the point where if Conor decides, I want to get my ass kicked by Usman, that's his choice. He has the right to make that decision because he's put himself in that position. But it's not a fight that I'm going to beg for, that I really want. But I think someone brought it after my last fight that I'm sitting at

right under George's record for most consecutive wins in the welterweight division. And I think I'm like one behind. And so I think imagine me breaking that record, fighting the guy that has the record. That would be insane for me. I think besides Conor, that's the biggest fight to make too. The other biggest fight to make is Khabib. If Khabib decided to go up to 170. Yeah, I would never fight Khabib. Really?

Yeah. That's my brother. It's just like a mutual respect where I don't see myself ever fighting Khabib. I don't see myself ever fighting Israel. Even though a lot of people have kind of been hinting towards it. They're like, yeah, you guys need to fight. You guys need to fight. I don't see myself ever fighting Israel. You know, even though a lot of people

have kind of been hinting towards it. They're like, yeah, you guys need to fight. You guys need to fight. I don't see myself fighting him.

You know, there's plenty of people having to, yeah, plenty of people having two belts in Nigeria is better than just having one guy

holding two belts. Yeah, I hear what you're saying. I hear what you're saying. And so, yeah, there's no, there's no desire there,

man. That's, that's my guy. I'm a giant fan of him. Oh my God. Everything about him. Everything. He's hilarious. He's special. He's got a that's my guy i'm a giant fan of him oh my god everything about him everything he's hilarious he's got a fantastic personality he could be a huge huge stupid superstar globally oh he will be i think he will be he really could he really could i mean he's got everything first of all his striking is some of the most intricate complex and creative striking

i've ever seen just fluid angles fluid yeah just the way he switches stances and sets you up and leaves traps

and yes and I'm a fan of I'm a fan of a lot of UFC fighters almost every UFC like UFC fighters I'm a fan of especially now

getting into the analyst work too like I get to actually have to watch some of these guys that are just making their debuts and things like that so I'm a fan of a lot of these guys not just the champions and you know israel is is he's special he's special and i'm i get kind of envious so i'm like damn i wish i could do that shit i wish i wish i could do this whip my hands around the

way he does it in the way he you know throws this little that little question mark kick and the i'm i'm a fan of these guys and israel is one of those guys that's special and this ain't francis i'm a fan of francis i want to be able to swing at somebody even if the punch doesn't land they fall over i want to be able to have power like that francis's power is preposterous it doesn't make sense it's preposterous yes it doesn't make sense. It's preposterous. It doesn't make sense at all. Well, his power kind of makes sense because he's so big. And you see him hit hard. You know who makes no sense? Deontay Wilder.

Yeah. Deontay Wilder freaks me out, man. He foreheads guys. Blop! And they just go. Like they just get shut off. I don't think I've ever seen a heavyweight boxer punch like that guy. Because, you know, when he fought Tyson Fury.

Throw that punch. Yeah. The way, that straight right. Oh my God. I don't think anyone's ever thrown that. Because the straight right, it's a power punch. But it's not really considered the powerful punch that puts you out like a hook. Right.

Or a deadly uppercut. He hits you in the face. Like anywhere in the face, you go unconscious unconscious it doesn't have to hit your jaw it's when luis ortiz is on the ground going what in the fuck and you watch that fight again you watch the punch land it landed on his forehead yeah it's crazy and the way he set him up too it's just like which which makes it very intriguing to see this tyson fury too oh my god so intriguing the way he set that punch up the guy's got 42 fights 40 knockouts one draw one decision what the fuck i mean who who the fuck has that that is crazy insane in the history of the heavyweight boxing division, there's never been a guy like that. No. Who starches everybody.

The only one he didn't starch was Tyson Fury and that other dude, Stiverne. Stiverne. Stiverne. And then he fucked him up in the rematch. Yeah, that was bad. Crazy. That rematch was real bad. The rematch was crazy.

I mean, he basically just swung on him. Yeah. It was like he threw boxing out the window once he had him hurt. Call that hood fight dude you're just trying to you're just trying to get him off get him out of there deontay's on another level he he is the way he lands that punch it's it's unreal but you tyson fury man like and i wasn't i wasn't a fan of tyson fury i wasn't i was just like because i come from the era of watching guys like mike Tyson, who's just there to bang it out and boxing. But Tyson Fury, the way that he boxes, makes you miss, slips, and just rolls punches.

It was just like. And for a guy who's 6'9". And he's goofy looking. Yes. He's so goofy looking. He acts goofy, too. He's got that goofy personality. But to watch him box is beautiful.

It's beautiful. It's amazing. And just big respect to him. Just the fact that he got off the deck. That 12th round, I was at home like, oh shit, he knocked him out in the 12th round. Did you see the way he got up? Like Lazarus. He was possessed.

Just up. And he didn't even look wobbly. Yeah, he was like, I'm good. I'm good I'm good And arguably won the rest of that round Yes Yes Stunned him

Stunned Deontay It was crazy It was crazy to me Crazy to me I can't wait to see that second fight That's gonna be interesting That heavyweight boxing division Is fucking very very interesting

It is Those top I wanna say top five guys I was very sad for Andy Ruiz though I was like, you know, it's one thing if Joshua came back with a great game plan and beat him, but it was also like Andy's preparation was so bad.

I wasn't sad for him. I was disappointed in him. Yeah. Like, that's a better word. I was extremely, extremely disappointed. Yeah.

It's like, who in your corner, who in your circle is that big of an idiot that can't make you take this seriously? Because the only way to guarantee that you get another big payday is to go out there and win that fight. Yeah. Because now you're still the champion.

Like, the big payday has got to come. Right. But now people are just going to avoid it. No one cares. Yeah. Yeah, no one cares now. People might not even fight you again because you're a tough fight, and they get nothing out of beating you.

But there's also something about, like, Mexican boxing is so deeply rich with tradition, and Mexican fighters are so proud. Like, if you go back and think about all the great Mexican champions, when a Mexican fighter falls short or they don't show heart like look at julio cesar chavez's son julio cesar chavez junior bro they shit on that guy hard yeah but i think that last fight i think that come i feel like he's quitting the last couple of fights yeah but i think um some people just can't handle the expectations i think put upon you there's that but i think with him and i mean he might be doing it for the wrong reasons exactly it's almost like

you shouldn't have even been in boxing in the first place but he grew up rich how do you mean your dad is one of the greatest boxers of all time he's a huge superstar and you're following in his footsteps i mean julio cesar chavez is a fucking savage yeah i mean the his dad was one of the all-time greats yes and to just to fall short with that guy as your dad i mean that has got to be so it's just gonna be so hard to follow his footsteps but that's the thing is and i think that's where dads could do a better job of of footsteps but that's the thing is and i think that's where dads could do a better job of of making the kids being okay with not actually having to do what i did yeah you know you don't have to be a you know a boxer or a champ a boxer and i know it's it's easier said than done because as men we want to we want our kids we want we want that bond with our kids yeah you know we want to

see our kids do what we did and do it better and so we can be there sit there and be proud of them but you know he didn't necessarily have to box no and and you know the worst part of that whole situation is you chose to box yeah but you're not all the way in well he missed weight too yeah i mean he's done that before he i think he missed weight for the canelo fight yeah it's really crazy because he's a good fucking puncher. He's a tough guy. He's a big guy. But for whatever reason, you know.

Have you ever thought about a boxing match? Absolutely. Have you really? I actually thought I was going to, instead of MMA, I actually wanted to box. Really? Yeah, because I was living at the Olympic Training Center. And my girlfriend at the olympic training center and and my girlfriend at the time was an olympic boxer and uh whoa yeah and so uh i was like man this wrestling thing is

not really working out because i've been hurt a few times and it's hurting my motivation to want to be olympic champion wrestler so i can tell my motivation was starting to die down and i'm like what else can i do like i but i still want to compete and of course you know dating a boxer and having to kind of watch them now you start to be engulfed in what they're doing in the preparation and i'm deeply enriched in it now to where and i was already a boxing fan but now i'm actually starting to learn what's going on and i'm like maybe i should just come back and box for the next four years and try to make the Olympic team and go win the Olympics. But then I'm like, wait, so I'm going to throw away this skill

that I just spent almost 10 years perfecting and learning? Just throw that away and then just start a new sport off the rip. You're an idiot. How old were you at the time? I might have been, what, 23, 24. So now you've been striking for many, many years now. Yeah. You're an idiot. How old were you at the time? I might have been what 20 23 24 So now you've been striking for many many years now. Yeah, and so When you see something happen like with Connor and Floyd Mayweather, yeah, if something like that comes your way

Would I take it? Would you take it? Absolutely Know that the issue the the thing with that is a lot of people are gonna say no You can't box. I you can't box like these guys. No, they said the issue, the thing with that is a lot of people are going to say, no, you can't box like these guys. No, listen, at the end of the day, no, I'm not conditioned to be able to box like them. To be able to go 12 three-minute rounds, even though, yes, MMA rounds, the five-minute rounds might be more intense than those three-minute rounds, but it's different conditioning. Yeah.

To be able to slip punches, move and throw punches and block punches. And be efficient and comfortable it's it's a it's man it's hard work to where we go mma fighters we go into boxing you do four rounds you feel like you want to die to where a boxer can come into you know mma and might not even be able to get through a round right you know it's just different mechanics you know just being able to work the mind and relax the mind to get the work done, it's different. Yeah, it's stunning. But if I got the opportunity, I would definitely give it a try. Because, I mean, that's part of being a champion is taking on new challenges and going out there and giving it your best shot.

Well, a fight like that would be Canelo, right? Because Canelo just won the 175-pound title. Are you trying to throw me to the wolves? I mean, that would be Canelo, right? Because Canelo just won the 175-pound title. Are you trying to throw me to the wolves? I mean, that would be the big fight. I mean, I'm not trying to throw you to the wolves, but if they came with you with that big Floyd Mayweather money. To fight Canelo? Like if they started doing shit like that.

I would give it my all. I think I would take that. Absolutely. Would you really? Yeah, I think I would take that. Would you like one fight first, though? Would you like a boxing match first? Before you

Because I think like Connor When Connor fought Floyd Floyd's a genius I would Yeah but I would Of course I would spar with I'd get some big time boxers

In there to spar with me And it would really help me prepare How much time would you need? Because what I'm saying is like Floyd was a genius Canelo? He gave Connor A very short window of time

To get ready Yeah Floyd was like Yeah I'll give you like six weeks. But Floyd's a mastermind. He's a mastermind. That's his game. That's his world.

He knows what he's doing there. If you were going to fight a real, like legit boxer. Canelo? Danny Jacobs. Someone like that. Yeah, Danny Jacobs. Six months. Six months.

Yeah, six months. Six months to be confident in my preparation. To just go out there and do it. I mean, yeah, of course I could do it in less time but but six months for me to do it right to feel confident going in there to box a boxer not and not saying that i i would definitely win no it's me i'm gonna give it my all like i'm gonna come you're not gonna just walk over me you're gonna fill me now i'm not trying to set you up with a big fight but what i'm saying is what with zufa boxing right now because the ufc is getting involved in boxing.

Absolutely. And they do have some plans on promoting some big boxing matches and perhaps having some crossover fights. Another power move by Dana. Like, Terrence Crawford is talking about fighting. He's like, I'll fight you one boxing match with Conor. He's like, I'll fight you one boxing match, and we'll fight you one MMA match. I think he can do it. I think Terrence could do anything.

I mean, you see his kids are wrestlers. Yes, yes. Yeah, he can wrestle. You know, from Omaha, you from that Midwest, you've touched a mat a couple times. You've wrestled a bit. And his hands. Dude, that guy. And that guy switches up as good as anybody on the planet.

That's the thing I was going to say. That's the guy that I like to watch a lot too. Boxing. He's an artist. Learn some things from him. He's very good. He's an orthodox fighter. But when he switches southpaw, he's deadly.

He's just as good. If not better. Yeah, he can do anything. And he's like a computer. He starts seeing where there's openings, finds your weaknesses, and then starts putting it on you and putting it on you. Terrence is special. He's got a dog in him, too. Yes.

Oh, yeah. He loves it. He loves it. That's the thing that a lot of people might not take away, but when he turns on that dog, you're in trouble. Yeah. No, he's special. I think he could do it. I think he could, too.

I just don't know if he's famous enough to entice, you know, like. Not making Floyd and Conor money. Right, right. I mean, who knows? I mean, maybe Conor wants to have a bunch of, I mean, look, Conor's got probably $100 million in the bank, right? He probably, if he's doing it right now, he's barely doing it for the money anyway. He's doing it for the challenge and for the rise. Yeah. It might be something that he would be interested in but he just said he wants a Billy like

He might get there yeah, I think he is well enough could get there I mean they did they posted his earnings the other day on one of the pay-per-views that we just did and they were saying that he's Already made more than 200 million dollars in his career. Yeah, career. Yeah. That's a fifth of the way. Yeah. Yeah. No, I definitely think he can do it. A bill. A bill. I mean, I'm shooting for $250.

$250 million? Yes. And then you retire? I think, not retire, I'm going to do other jobs as well, but $250 million, I think, because at that point, it's generational wealth. Oh, yeah, yeah, oh yeah yeah yeah it's something that you know my kids kids and my family is going to be able to live off of that's dynasty

money yeah that's that's that's all i care about when you say you do other things like what do you think you'll do when you stop fighting i'm still passionate about i want to be a marriage counselor a marriage counselor that was if i wouldn't fight and that was what i'd be that is hilarious do you know how funny that is yeah me and my wife went to see a marriage counselor yeah kamaru usman what what the fuck did you say yeah yeah he's sideline he's got a side gig he's a marriage counselor yeah i want to be a marriage counselor why it's just something about it um i was always i think personally i was always very good at being able to step back from situations and what's going on keep a level head and being able to dissect what's going on and give advice side and give advice and and and i do this with my friends when my friends tell you like think when your boy tells you a story like, man, this happened with my daughter's mom, my wife, or this and that.

You know, she came home and she said this and that and all this. And then she kicked me out of the house. Man, she's wrong for this. But when they're telling the story, I don't know why, but in my head how I'm taking it in is he's saying, oh, she called me a bitch. But what did you say before that? Naturally, that goes into my head. What did you say before that?

And then she threw this at me. Why did she do that? What did you do? What did you say? You know, so when everyone tells you a story, when they say there's three sides to every story, there's yours, hers. Everyone tells you a story when they say there's three sides to every story. There's yours, hers. And I literally, like in my mind, that's what goes on when someone's telling me a story.

But do you know how funny it is that you want to be a marriage counselor? Do you understand how crazy that sounds? Yeah, it does sound weird, but. You're the UFC welterweight champion of the world. You go out and smash people. And you're like, I think I'll be a marriage counselor. we'll narrow it down we'll make it marriage if you give me a list of a hundred things do you think kamaru usman wants to be a longshoreman does he want to be a brain surgeon does he want to be a fighter pilot marriage counselors number 100 i'm like that's definitely not real he definitely doesn't want to be a who the fuck is a marriage counselor that's not real he definitely doesn't want to be a marriage counselor that's not real yeah that that marriage counselor would be there or just um a counselor of some sort a counselor yeah helping

helping shape and mold well i want to leave this when i leave this world i want to leave it better than when i came in or when i lived through it i want to leave it better situation well one thing you can do you have you could have a tremendous impact on young people because of what you've accomplished where you've come from how inspirational you are and then just the physical difficulties you're dealing with while you're doing that with your injuries and all the the preparation that you have to do to fight for the title and your honesty about it when people what a young person hears your story like that it'll make them think like with hard work anything is possible with the right

mindset and the right discipline almost anything is possible yes absolutely anything is possible because um you know we're everybody thinks nowadays oh i'm limited i can't do that because it is i can't do it because and it's funny because my daughter sometimes you know will be uh she's when we're we're tying her you know her shoes when we're there was a certain point where i'm teaching her to tie her shoes and she gets to the point where she can do it she's doing it she's doing it and then she'll just decide one day that she doesn't want to do it so So she'll play this game like, Daddy, I can't do it.

I'm like, why? Why can't you do it? She's like, because I'm four. I can't do it because I'm only four. So I don't know how to do it. I'm like, but you did it yesterday, right? You can do it. No, I can't do it.

I don't know how to do it. And mentally, she just wants to feel that she can't do it because everyone's like, oh, you're four years old. She knows she's four years old. So she wants to just, I'm four, so I shouldn't be able to do it. I don't want to do it. And I'm like, no, you can do anything that you want to do. Or she'll be outside playing soccer because I got her into soccer. And she's like, no, I can't.

I'm not good. I can't play. I don't know how to do. And she's like, no, I can't. I'm not good. I can't play. I don't know how to do it. I'm like, yeah, you can do it. No, but I don't. I didn't get the ball today. I don't know how to play. I'm like, you can do anything you want to do.

If you put your mind to it, baby, you can do anything. And it's sound. And even when I say that to her, I'm like, she's only five. But if I say it enough, by the time she's 10, but if I say it enough by the time she's 10 it's gonna stick in her mind it's there and so the the fact that people live go through life like that now oh I can't do it because I'm not I can't do it I'm not supposed to do it I'm not doing people just feel like no I shouldn't be able to do it but it's the matter of putting the work in. Like you can't tell somebody, like if they do something well enough over and over and over and over and over and over,

they're not going to improve. Even though you suck, you're going to get good at sucking at some point. Like you're going to improve. And so people just don't want to try sometimes because they're just like, oh, I can't do it. I can't be good enough at that,

so I won't do it. I can't be good enough at that, so I won't do it. And I learned that lesson the hard way because when I started wrestling, I used to see there was this poster that ASIC put out, USA Wrestling. They put out this poster of the best wrestlers in the country in high school. And I remember the first time I went to Fargo, I was looking at the poster, and it's just nerdy-looking kids. I mean, there's just one kid. He was super nerdy. He had glasses. I'm like, you know, the kind of kid that I know kids picked on in my school.

And then I see the name, I read the name, and I hear it. I'm like, oh, okay. I don't know who that is Cause he's from Some other state Maybe like Pennsylvania Or something And um

And then I could hear Through the loudspeaker They call They're like Oh this kid's Wrestling on mat one So then I look

On mat one And yeah he looks goofy Goofy looking kid You see he walk up To the mat Takes his glasses off Puts them down Goes out there

and just whips the shit out of these other kids. Like, I mean, he was rolling kids up. I'm like, what? What just happened?

Rolling kids up. And I think if he can do it and, you know, that's the kind of kid that you would look at and judge

and be like oh man I can bully this kid that'd be a bad day for a bully well how about Chase Hooper you know Chase Hooper

the 20 year old kid that's fighting the UFC oh yeah the one that with the curly hair yeah he says I'm gonna go get

M&M's afterwards didn't he who did he call he went up to Masvidal and said you beat up my dad oh yeah Masvidal's like

what he's like, what? He's like, I did? I'm sorry, I'm just fucking around. He's hilarious. That kid, my wife saw him. She goes, he looks like he goes to Calabasas High. He looks like a kid with a backpack. Like, hey, how's everybody doing?

He's going to play video games. He'll fuck you up. He will fuck you up. He's a nasty grappler, too yeah his jiu-jitsu is very legit yeah and he can take it too man like he got cracked in that fight and he just rolls with shit and just he's all jiu-jitsu like his most jiu-jitsu and grounded pound yeah he's fucking 20 years old and he's so cute he's cute you See him like pull up a video of Chase Hooper. He's a cute kid.

Look at him. Oh my God. Come on man. You would never believe. He's got that teenage chest too you know when the muscles aren't really in yet.

I remember having that chest where I'd be in the mirror like trying to make my boobs move. He's tough as shit man. He's a savage. I like his approach. He's a good fighter too man. He's a savage. I like his approach. He's a good fighter too, man.

He's a really good fighter. Guys like these are the future of the sport. And afterwards, he's talking about, oh, I'm going to go get some candy. I think I saw a clip of Dana White talking about that. He was saying he's going to go get candy after the fight. He's like, okay. He's going to get M&M's or something. My daughter just told me the other day.

She's like, daddy, do you know there's an M&M's store in New York? I was like, okay, he's going to get M&M's or something. My daughter just told me the other day, she's like, daddy, do you know there's an M&M's store in New York? I was like, what? You can get M&M's anywhere. We don't have to go to fucking New York. But I guess there's like these stores, these like the M&M's store, like they actually have a store store to where they like sell all the products, M&M's products, whether it's flasks, it's clothes, it's stuff.

Is that necessary? It feels like M&M's are readily available. You know what I'm saying? It's like if they had a Diet Coke store. Do we just need a store? There has to be a Coke store, isn't there? I think there is. There's got to be a Coke store.

But M&M's store? That sounds so crazy. Yeah. It's a big thing. I think big, big store. I mean, I'm a fan of M&M's. I like the peanut ones. I used to like M&M's. Peanut ones are the shit. If I'm in a hotel and they got a snack I'm a fan of M&M's. I like the peanut ones. I used to like M&M's.

Peanut ones are the shit. If I'm in a hotel and they got a snack bar and it's peanut M&M's, I'm like, oh. Yeah. You know what? I had a little thing with those in college. Yes. Those are my favorite. I love peanut M&M's.

Yeah. I used to. There was a little fun size one. They'd be in the little vending machine. fun size one they'd be in the uh little vending machine when i was in college i um i did the i was the the laundry guy for the uh athletic the sports athletic team so that was my work i had a work study job and so yes uh all american wrestler but then you know i did the laundry for all the athletes a lot of them didn't know but i would you know do you know go practice go to school whatnot and then go home and then after all the sports were done at night i would come back into the school

to go do all the athletes laundry and hang them up for them to have tomorrow before they all go to practice football basketball you know soccer all the sports and so they were these m&m things so that was like my treat that was like my little i like it was like a little snack thing that i i would have even when i was cutting weight that was my little cheat deal it had like maybe six little peanut m&ms in there but then i got a little addicted to this i like them because you could pretend you're eating something good because there's protein in them it's the only candy that you can have that actually gives you protein it makes yourself feel good huh you're like yeah there's protein in here it's the only candy that you can have that actually gives you protein it makes yourself feel good huh you're like yeah this protein in here it's healthy but it is like how much protein you

think is in a bag of peanut m&ms gotta be a few grams a bag like a good size one of the nice bags the big bag yeah good bag that's because i'll eat i'll fuck up a big bag of peanut M&M's. How much? There's got to be. Let's say a large bag. No. Two, three grams. It might be more. Really? I don't know. Nah.

Because the whole bag, a serving size is the whole bag, right? One package contains two grams of dietary fiber, five grams of protein. Oh. Woo. Peanut M&M's because they're rich in protein and fiber can actually help you stave off hunger cravings by leaving you feeling fuller longer. Did you know? That sounds like an ad.

Yeah. Superiornutstore.com. That sounds like the wrong name for something. I got RZA from Wu-Tang Clan was here. RZA is a vegan. And I had this F-bomb. This is nut butter. Yeah. And it was there

and he's like nut butter he's like they need a better fucking name and Don L what's going Don L Roberts

there's a lot of products out there now that are just like putting it out there yeah nut butter there's that what is it

is it Manscaped or something like that yeah and they make something they make what's called ball wash. I'm like, just take no subtlety in it at all.

It's just like, yeah, these are just for your balls. Yeah, just wash your balls. That's what it is. Just wash your balls. Ball wash. Yeah, we don't need to beat around the bush here, literally. Yeah. Yeah.

So they just, I mean, they just put it out there now. Superior nut store in the house but five grams of protein is legitimate like you're getting candy about yourself now that's legitimate that's like an actual amount of protein and the chocolate chocolate is supposed to be if it was dark chocolate that's what someone needs to make like a real good chocolate one like with a, solid, dark chocolate, like cacao. Yeah. So you actually get the antioxidants from the dark chocolate. So the chocolate that's being sold in the store, that's not the good chocolate. It's not the worst thing for you.

Of all the candy, I bet chocolate is... I mean, does chocolate always have cacao in it? I don't know. Does it? Do you know? Like, could it be both? Man, I feel like that's the definition of it, but. Right.

But, like, that really does. You would think so. My favorite cheat dessert is dark chocolate and peanut butter. Really? Just, you know, because I remember, I like Reese's peanut butter cups, but I remember, like, you got your peanut in my chocolate. You got your chocolate in my peanut butter. It's delicious.

Remember that? Yeah. And I was like, well, why fuck around? Why not just get a bowl of fucking peanut butter and an actual good chocolate bar and mix those two up together? It's fucking way better than a Reese's peanut butter cup. Really? Oh, man.

Yeah. Yeah. Like good organic peanut butter and like a real good dark chocolate. It's fucking delicious, and you don't feel that guilty because you're getting real peanut butter and real good dark chocolate. It's kind of good for you. Well, I mean, you could kind of be a testament of that because you're weirdly in shape.

People talk about it. People make up these fantasy matches Joe Rogan versus this guy Joe Rogan versus that guy I'm 52 I'm not fighting anybody but the thing is

you don't look 52 you're like one of those weirdly organic like in shape guy it's like I'm scared of losing it Joe Rogan could kick someone's ass I just keep it

keep it going because one day the wheels are going to fall off like right now I could do pretty much everything but I mean one day like sometimes I'll work out off. Like right now I could do pretty much everything. Yeah. But, I mean, one day. Like sometimes I'll work out, I'll hit the bag, and I'm like, this is amazing.

I can still do this. Yeah. Because one day, you know, I'm going to be throwing a kick and I'm going to be like, ah, ah, it's just a matter of time. Like my back is just definitely, it's a lot, there's a lot fucked up in there. Yeah. There's a lot of discs are shrinking. My discs are getting compressed.

There's a lot fucked up in there. There's a lot of discs are shrinking. My discs are getting compressed. I do all these stretches on these different, like there's a reverse hyper machine that decompresses your discs. But that's the one thing as you get older, particularly if you've done wrestling or jujitsu, your discs get squished.

And so many guys have to get their discs fused. Yeah. Remember DC threw out his back before. He threw out the day of the fight, I think, when he fought Derrick Lewis. Really? I think he, I remember the day of that fight in the morning. It was like a Saturday morning. I'm getting ready to head out and go to practice. And I get a call. It's from DC.

I'm like, what does the champ call? He got fights. What are you calling me for? So I pick up from D.C. I'm like, what is it, champ? You got fights. What are you calling me for? So I pick up the phone. I'm like, yo, what's up, champ? And he's like, yo, you got Heather's number? I was like, what? Heather's the physical therapist for the UFC,

the head physical therapist. And I'm like, yeah, I got her number. What, you good? He's like, I just woke up. I sneezed and I threw out my back. Heavyweight champion of the world. I sneezed and threw out his back. And I remember laughing at him. I'm like, yeah, because I thought he was joking.

But he's like, yeah, man, I don't think I'm going to. I got to fight this fight. I'm like, whoa, he's serious. And so, you know, Heather works on him. And, of course, he goes out there and puts on an amazing performance and winning that fight. But before this last fight, I woke up. I've got my bags and stuff. And in the morning, I'm getting ready to get in the car.

And I sneeze. And I hear a little pop in my back no my back is out i'm like no i'm barely turning i'm like what just i'm like almost crying and the first thing i go to i'm like i'm 32 i'm only 32 i'm only 32 what is going on i'm only 32 i just sneeze and my back is out and I call my strength and conditioning coach

I'm like yo Corey I don't know if I behaved I'll bro I just sneezed and I threw out my back bro and he's like what I was like yeah

I just sneezed and I threw out my back man cause at that point it's like one thing after the other and that's my hand was hurt you know

not too long before that and he's just like come in you know we'll we'll do some stretches and you know i'll stretch you and do some certain things and then we'll try to loosen it up and it was bad for like three or four days like really bad jesus christ really bad to where i'm just like what is happening with the body like So what do you do when that happens? Do you ice it? Do you put heat on it? It was, you know, because I got to train.

That's the thing with me. It's like I have to train. Right. And so I put heat on it because heat loosens everything up so you can go out and actually somewhat move it around and train. So I just tried to stretch, tried to kind of, to kind of do certain things that I could do

because I could barely get in the car at this point. It's so crazy that sometimes things like that will happen. One of the worst times I ever hurt my neck was in the shower, just turned to grab something like shampoo back when I had hair. I turned for shampoo

and something went pop. I'm like, ah! Didn't make any sense. And I had a drive to vegas me and my friends went to see some uh kickboxing event in vegas and i'm driving i literally couldn't do this to park yeah if i was gonna turn around i had to turn around like my whole body had to turn around like my neck was not moving yeah from just turning just turning crazy how the body works just like just like that yeah pop ah for

no reason and now i i see a car because i got some you know um who was it that uh errol spence you know the boxer oh yeah oh so i was uh i was training at their their gym when i was in town because i i worked with uh his coach sometimes and and i'm like, I forgot what they were saying. He was like, his back was tight one day or something like that. I was like, you got a good chiropractor out here that you see? He's like, no, I don't do that stuff. I was like, what you mean? He's like, yeah, I don't know whether it's his dad has said something to him early on

or he's just like, I don't believe in that. I think they make you worse off than when you went in and and i just been seeing chiropractors for a while before that i'm like damn is he right do you know how chiropractors were invented no you ready for this chiropractors were invented in the 1800s by a magnetic healer during a seance he apparently came up with this idea that you could fix all the ailments of the body by manipulating the spine he was murdered by his son his son ran him over with a car his son was a con man and his son took over the business and his son started promoting that chiropractic healing could fix all these problems literally the whole art of chiropractic manipulation and

i'm not denying that some people do get pain relief from chiropractors and most chiropractors today really act as more as physical therapists they do a lot of deep tissue work a lot of other things but the origin of chiropractic medicine came from a fucking bullshit artist a straight up bullshit but it happened in the 1800s. So it just got grandfathered in where people took it seriously. But there's a crazy article by a woman who was a guest on my podcast in the past.

How do you say her name? Yvette to chiropractors are bullshit. How do you say her last name? It's a complicated last name. But I didn't know. I had no idea because I had gone to a chiropractor once. I had a bulging disc in my neck from jujitsu.

And I was like, this just is not getting any better. And he's like, oh, you got a muscle pull. I'm just going to manipulate you. Everything will be fine. I went to him for like a year. And it never got any better. And then finally I went to a real doctor. And he's like, hey, you got a fucking bulging disc, man.

My hands were going numb. I was like, why is my hands going numb? And he's like, yeah, your disc is pushing out it's pressing and then i did regenequin and it fixed it how do you say her name yvette de antremont she's very cool she was on the podcast she's pretty hilarious but this the the article is actually pretty hilarious but it's basically about like how chiropractic medicine got started out. Yeah. And they call themselves doctors, right? Yeah.

They don't go to medical school. They're not. Well, they have the MD, don't they? No. No? No. Wow. I know, right?

You're like, wait a minute. What are you talking about? No, they get a doctor in chiropractic. A doctor. A PhD, right? I'm a doctor. No, it's not a PhD. No, it's not a PhD.

No, no, no. No, they go to chiropractor school. Yeah. Do you know what percentage of people get accepted to chiropractor school yeah do you know what percentage of people get accepted to chiropractic school take a guess 10 100 100 you know but you know i i will attest to the i work with some uh some some good ones some good guys oh to where they they they can help me they get me right yeah you know like um i work with this guy dr mengi and also dr davidson and they they do a good job

at really kind of because i'll go on and my neck will be tight and then pop pop pop here and there and it's like i just feel a little bit of relief i feel a little bit a little bit of psychological too i think but you know the massage that's The massage is the big one. That's the thing too. Yeah, the massage. But that's the thing for me too is like I'm very aware of the whole placebo effect of certain things. Because I was a skeptic. I'm a skeptic sometimes. And so going in and actually feeling relief. There's Dr. Mengi.

He works with a lot of football players as well. And he's, like you said, those guys, those guys, yeah, he adjusts you and gets you right. But he does a lot of physical therapy work as well. That's what more they are now. Yeah. And he really kind of helps, you know, some of those ailments that I have. And he's helped me for a few camps as well as Dr. Davidson. These guys have helped me a lot in my fight.

So, you know, that's what I mean. That's the thing, too, is like when Arrow's like, oh, no, I don't see them. And I'm like, you know, they can't help. Yeah, I know. But I'm speaking off of my experiences because these guys not just crack, crack and pop me back. They actually, you know, physically help work some things out to where I'm good to go. So, of course, I'm pushing that. I just thought they were doctors.

I did, too. I thought you had to go to medical school to be called a doctor. You don't. Speaking of Errol Spence, how the fuck did that guy get out of that car crash without a scratch? I mean, what are you, a chip of tooth? Oh, man. That is the craziest. You watch that video, you're like, he's dead.

One of the best boxers in the world is dead. And then nothing. And if he was wearing a seat belt they said i think he would have died yeah i think he would have died i think yeah you know and i don't know maybe he was asleep when he was thrown out of the car because you know you don't really feel much when you're asleep you know especially yeah if you're asleep your body just is there. You're relaxing. But, you know, God just got him. I guess. Somebody's watching over him because that's not his time to go. There was a video of him getting interviewed a couple months after the car accident. He's at a fight, and they're interviewing him.

And it doesn't look like anything's wrong. No, they said he had a bruise or scratch somewhere. Scratches and bruises. Play that video. Can you find that video? The video is i watched about 10 times but every like hey and he's not 488 a ferrari so he's he must have been cooking i mean he that is a crazy fast car those 480s are ridiculous you can't have that car and go to speed limit and especially with the convertible man like man you know so you know God's really watching.

Someone's watching. Someone's. Somebody's watching over him. Yeah, I want to see this. Because. You find it? No? Is that it?

Yeah, here it is. Look at that. Bam. Boom. And he went flying out of it right there. That is crazy. How the fuck is he okay? I mean, if he was in that car strapped in he would probably be fucked up paralyzed or dead or brain damaged meanwhile he just sad part is how many

boxers have gone through similar situation you know how many box like what's uh what's his name uh is it paul paul williams yes yeah motorcycle motorcycle crash yeah that's things like that you know fighters like and then and who was that my buddy daniel strouds you know daniel's back daniel has fought yeah since then you know but imagine like something like that and because i i watched daniel kind of slowly because i would try to check up on him you know because i i like that guy. I really liked him. He was training with us at the time. Watching him slowly work back, because he didn't have any feeling here at one point.

And then slowly have to build it back up to the, you know, I don't know. And then fight and win. And then fight and win. Yeah. He came in here with Joe Schilling. It's impressive. Like, while he was on his way up. Oh, his way back, rather. And remember Diego Corrales?

Diego Corrales died from a motorcycle accident as well. There's been a lot of fatalities like that. Like, can you imagine how sad this story would have been?

I mean, I mean... With Errol Spence. Oh, my God. That's a guy that's loved, man, loved, not just in Dallas, but all over the world. Well, after he beat

Mikey Garcia, everybody's like, holy shit, is this guy for real? I mean, I knew he was for real way, way before that. But really after he beat Mikey Garcia, everybody's like, holy shit, is this guy for real? I mean, I knew he was for real way, way before that. But really for real. Mikey Garcia's a very good fighter.

He shot him down. Yes. I mean, he couldn't do anything to him. He's one of those special guys. Yes. Special fighter, special boxer. You gotta get him up here. I would love to.

I would love to. Well, him and Terrence could be a big fight in the future. And they were thinking about him and Terrence Crawford before the accident Yeah, you know, I would love to have him in he's an interesting dude. He's sponsored by on it, too. Really? Yeah Yeah, I was out of Dallas right Austin Austin Yeah, no, he's there's there's a great group of like super talented boxers now Like this is a an amazing time group of like super talented boxers now like this is a an amazing time yeah and the thing about him too that i like is that uh he's this he's been the same guy now that he that he was when he was

an amateur because i met him while he was an amateur oh really i was living at the olympic training center and i was dating a boxer at the time and you know all the boxers when they have national team practices they would come through before that olympic cycle and they would all come through and do two three words or maybe a month training camp all up there at the training center so i got to kind of meet these boxers and and you know talk to and get you know acquainted with some of them like was it marcus brown who was a world champion roshan warren jamilon. I got to kind of see these guys. And that's when I finally first recognized them. And then watching them all make the switch to the pros and get to where they are now.

Earl Spence has been that same guy the whole time. Which is one thing that I love. Because I feel like that's kind of how I am in my sport. I don't have to turn on this charm. Just because it works for Conor, it works for this guy. For him, them to be just brash and out there. That doesn't necessarily mean it's going to work for me. That's Conor's personality.

That's him. Yeah, that's Conor. It works for him. That's him. Like Tyson became a superstar and he had none of that in him. He had a totally different way of talking very soft-spoken in a lot of ways you know yeah terrifying but the tyson the fighter the result and the tyson that the just the tyson in general is is well i would say mike and i would say tyson

are two different people yeah and then knowing him now, man, it's like, that guy was that guy. It's, I mean, he's amazing, man. Now I, I've been pretty jazzed up talking to a lot of people on the podcast, but I've never felt weirder than talking to him.

You're always going to feel that way. I still feel that way. I still feel it's like there's a lion sitting next to you. The whole time. Like we just spent New Year's together in New York. And it's me, it's him, and it's Henry Cejudo. And we're talking and we're just getting knowledge from him. The whole time there's a alliance you can't shake that feeling you can't shake it

you never will right you just you never will it's just what makes a guy like that special you know it's like if Muhammad Ali was in a room which you know I never got to ever experience or see but if Muhammad Ali was in the room, I'm sure, guys, it didn't matter. And Dana said this at one point. You could have Michael Jordan, the best baseball player, and you have the

best football player, and you have the best musicians in the world. All these guys in a room. But when Mike Tyson walks in a room, everybody knows Mike Tyson is in the room. It's just something different about a fighter like that. When they walk in the room, everyone is on alert. Oh, shit, there's a lion in the room. It's the pinnacle of sports is the elite fighter.

It's the pinnacle of sports is the elite fighter. Yeah. It's the pinnacle of sports. And especially the elite heavyweight champion. And especially a guy like Tyson who, you know, in his prime was just, he changed everything. Like I said, the vision was so lackluster before he rose to prominence.

And when he did, I mean, I remember when he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, he was 19 years old and they had the cover. It said kid dynamite and it was him and he looks years old. And they had the cover. It said Kid Dynamite. And it was him. And he looked so young. And that's how I found out about him.

I remember I saw, maybe I'd seen some clips or something like that of him sending some guy flying with a left hook. But then watching, you know, seeing the cover of that magazine, I was like, this guy's 19 years old? Like, that is crazy. And they're talking about being the next heavyweight champion? Yeah. 19 years old?

Like, that is crazy. And they're talking about being the next heavyweight champion? Yeah. I mean, and, you know, even now, like, knowing all of that and seeing all of that, because, you know, you kind of try to bring it. And I'm like, man, and talking to him now, it's like, he's just like, huh? That was such a long time ago. I love his beard, too. It makes him look scholarly.

I know. He's a wise old master. Yeah, and it kind of gives him a little, it's kind of like a little cover. You think it hides him a little bit. Yeah. But we had lunch in New York, and then we walk out this little place in New York,

and we come out. We're on the street. And somehow a bus full of tourists. I don't know if they were there. Asian tourists. Like a bus somewhere from Asia. Like there. Just pulls up right in front of us.

We're like right there. And they all get out. And initially, because he's wearing a beanie and he's wearing a big jacket. And we're kind of standing outside. And they're doing out. And initially, because he's wearing a beanie and he's wearing a big jacket, we're kind of standing outside and they're doing some recreational stuff. And so we're just kind of standing there initially. And, you know, one guy walks up. One guy, like, is walking by and kind of just looks back. And you could see it because you know that look.

You know. Right. Like, you know, like, when you're somewhere, and people are trying to figure out if it's you. Right. You see them kind of do the double take, and they're thinking in their mind, and they're like, is that who I think it is?

And then he gets, like, halfway down the street, and at this point, I peep, and I'm seeing him, and he turns around, and he walks back. Like, Mike? Mike, is that you? And like, he's freaking. He's like, please, please, can I get a picture? Please, please.

And of course, Mike is like, such a nice guy. He's a sweetheart. And Mike takes a picture. One. Then one of the tourists sees him. Now it's a swarm. It's a swarm. It's a swarm. Thankfully, his wife is just pulling up in the car and Mike hops in.

But I'm like, Mike hasn't fought in how long? When his last fight was what? About 15 years ago or something. And that's how the reception he still gets. Like people still freak out that it's Mike Tyson. It was incredible for me to see that. It's like at some point, that's what we want to get to. That's the level of respect and the level that as a fighter that you want to get.

It's so interesting that now he's in the weed business. Yeah. I mean, and he's in the weed business. Yeah. I mean, and he smokes weed all day long. He's one of the, and he's like, it makes me nicer. It's like, calms me down, keeps me sane. Yeah, I mean, it works. You know, certain guys, you know, it depends on some guys.

Some guys abuse it, but certain guys use it as medicine. But it's also like, who doesn't want to get high with Mike Tyson? You know? I've thought about it. I was on the podcast. I'm like, Henry, you want to pass me one of those? Was Henry hitting it?

Oh, yeah. Yeah? Yeah. So you don't get high at all? No. No? Never? I have.

You have? Yeah. For my 26th birthday was the first time I tried it. What happened? Nothing. Nothing? Nothing. I mean, I guess I didn't know how to do it.

I didn't know how to inhale it. I didn't know how to smoke it. And, you know, I'm like, this does nothing. I hit it like maybe two, three times. It does nothing. I didn't feel a thing. And then that same year I had to, I think it was 26. Yeah, I think it was the last year I was at the training center, the Olympic training center.

And I had to do, I did the Ultimate Fighter Season 14. I was the wrestling coach for Team Mayhem Miller. And me and Mayhem, we'd sit, because we were in the same house. And we'd sit on the balcony at night after filming all day. And he would smoke. And we'd just relax. And he'd decompress. And that was the crazy thing about Mayhem, too.

Smart guy. I mean, yeah, he had a crazy path. But a smart guy. He would just come back and sit there and relax and just think. And he would say certain things. And then he was like, yo, you should try this. You should try this. I'm like, nah, you should try this. You should try this. I'm like, nah, that doesn't do nothing for me, man.

I already tried it. Weed does nothing for me. He's like, you're doing it wrong. And I'm like, no, it doesn't do anything for me, man. And then he's like, try this edible. And it's an edible. It's a peanut brittle. Oh, Jesus.

It's like a just like a fat piece i'm like bro this don't weed doesn't do it doesn't affect me bro it doesn't do anything for me and uh i had the edible i had a big piece too i'm eating it because it was like it was good it was chocolate it was canned i'm just eating them eating i'm like this is nothing and uh maybe like six seven minutes later i'm like uh i need to go get water, so I open the door, I'm like, let me go get some water inside, and you walk in the balcony, the sliding door, you walk inside, my room is, our rooms are this way, down the hall, his room's further, my room's just to the right, and the kitchen's right in front, so I walk in, I'm like, okay,

get some water, I'm like, three steps before I get to the I walk in. I'm like, okay, get some water. I'm like three steps before I get to the counter, but I'm just like there. What's going on? I never touched the water. I eventually just somehow turn up to my right, just stumble into my room. I fell on my bed like this. I woke up 10 hours later.

I woke up just like that. Didn't move. Best rest I ever got. Wow. I was like, no. Did you have crazy dreams? No. You just went out?

But it was a fun time. Because that was the first time I experienced Vegas. So we were shooting the show in Vegas. And so that was my first time being in Vegas. But it was a fun time. And I was just like, wow, okay. But then after that, I smoked again with my friends down in Florida,

like years ago, maybe four years ago, and that was when I actually got high from smoking, you know, I hit it hard at first, I'm like, because I'm the same, I'm like,

this doesn't affect me guys, you know, because I was like, the reason it hit me is because it was an edible, I'm never doing edibles again, okay, never again, so I already wrote that out.

Like, weed doesn't affect me, guys. So I hit it hard. Then I hold it. You got to hold it in. I'm holding it. Then I start coughing. I cough for like maybe six minutes straight. Oh, no.

Hard. Coughing. Almost. So I'm like, bro, this is nothing. I hit it again. Like, right away, pass me that. I hit it again. Like right away, pass me that. I hit it again hard. Coughing.

This is not going to do nothing for it. I hit it again hard. Coughing. Bro, I told you guys, this does nothing for me, man. And we're sitting on the couch. And my little brother calls me. And I think this was when he was making the transition. He was leaving football. He calls me and he was, I think this was when he was making the transition.

He was leaving football. He calls me, he's talking to me on the phone and we're talking. I'm like, man, everything's good, man. You'll,

you'll be fine. We'll, we'll do something else. And boom, I forget everything I was just talking about. I was a, I'll call you back. So I hang up.

And I immediately, I'm one of those guys, if I don't have control and I feel like I don't have control of my body, my thoughts, what's going on, I kind of have anxiety. So I kind of start going to the panic mode. And so I'm sitting there on the couch, and these guys are looking at me, and I look left at these guys. I'm like, guys, something's wrong. Something's wrong.

Something is wrong. Something's wrong. I don wrong. Something's wrong. I don't know what's going on. I was just trying to talk to my brother, and I forgot everything I was talking about. Something's wrong. And they're laughing hysterically. They're laughing at me bad.

And then now I'm like, okay, no, I got to be cool. I got to try to be cool. I got to control this. I got to be cool. I got to be cool. But the biggest thing is I couldn't control what was going on. The fact that I was feeling what I was feeling, I couldn't shut it off. That was it for me.

I was like, yeah, I can't. That's too much though. I can't smoke weed anymore. Like that's not what you're supposed to do. Oh, I did it wrong. There's also a thing that happens when you cough like i don't know why it gets it deeper in your lungs i don't know if there's science behind that is there any science behind that is that real like coughing gets you more high because it is for me when i when if i'm

smoking pot and i cough i go oh no yeah what have i done if i open up the door it gets inside yeah they say they say well from what i've heard they say oh it makes it worse when you're coughing it gets deeper into your lung i've heard that a bunch of times i've heard that a bunch of times i don't know if it's i don't know if that's real though or maybe just really high and that's why you're coughing oh no i'm not sure maybe it's the smoke because i'm not used to having smoke in my lungs at all because even now if i walk through casinos i'm i'm sick for a while with pot you just want to if you're if you're a rookie, if you're not a veteran, you don't do it a lot, you want this. Ready?

That's it. Stop. Stop right there. Wait. Give yourself some time. Which reminds me. I smoked again after that. Uh-oh.

I think a couple years ago. But it was almost like peer pressure. He didn't years ago but I it was like almost like peer pressure he didn't pressure me but it was like who was peer pressured Rashad

he didn't peer pressure me but it was like I'm with Rashad that's my brother if he's doing it I gotta try it you know so he's

like he knows how to do it like for him it's like medicinal like now it's like you know he so I We were at a cool going to a comedy show Country Wayne is that was the comedian comedian and we were going to see him and a funny guy So we're going country when she Wayne. Yeah, he's a big following now and on the south and and I don't he does his whole show

I don't think he curses at all. Really a funny guy if you look him up very funny guy and um so we're at the show and before the show starts and he's like let's take a walk so we're walking and no rashad is like me and him like the wisdom that he passes on to me it's crazy i love being around him i love spending time with him and so we're walking and and you know and then he whips it out and he's smoking. I'm like, shoot, I've always heard like people, things get funnier when you smoke weed. I'm like, oh man, it's going to be the best comedy show ever because this guy's already funny. I think it's funny. And this is going to make it funnier.

Oh my gosh, it's a good idea so i take it on but i'm like i learned from last time i'm not gonna hit it like that just light hit you know once maybe twice but that's it so i hit it boom i cough a little bit but not as bad you know cough just a little bit and i'm okay and so we still walking, and then I hit it again light. This time I didn't cough. I'm like, all right, that should be good. That should be perfect. This show is going to be phenomenal.

So we get in. Now we're sitting in. And we're sitting in because you know those improv comedy clubs are very, very tight, especially the big, nice ones. But the VIP tickets, you're right there on the floor next to them. So we're like maybe three seats away from the stage. So we're there, and it's a packed house. It's everything's sold out. And we're watching him.

We're watching him. We're watching him. And I remember like now I start feeling something. I'm getting, I'm like paranoid now. I'm like, oh shit. So I'm talking to Rashad. Well, in my head, I think I'm talking paranoid now I'm like shit so I'm I'm talking to Rashad well in my head

I think I'm talking to him so I'm thinking I'm trying to whisper because I don't want to interrupt the show because I want the comedian because I've heard

comedians would go go after you so I'm like trying not to interrupt the show I'm like I'm thinking I'm like Rashad

Rashad but I'm really like shh shh and and I'm like, I'm thinking, I'm like, Rashad, Rashad. But I'm really like, shh, shh. And I'm like, why is he not paying attention to me? Why is he, Rashad, I'm looking at him like, Rashad, something's wrong. I'm trying to signal him. I'm using my eyes. I'm trying to signal him like, bro, I got to get out. Because I almost, I was this close to running out of the improv comedy club.

Where would you have gone? I just run out of there. In those cases, you're better off just sitting still and waiting for it to pass. I know. But I was like, in my mind, I was like, I got to get out of here. I got to get out of here. Exactly. Exactly what I thought. I'm like, I got to get out of here. I got to get out of here. Exactly. Exactly what I thought.

I'm like, I got to get out of here. I got to get out of here. I got to get out of here now. But then, in my mind, I was like, no, man, stop being a punk. Stop being a punk. You can handle this. So I'm like trying to reel myself back in. In my mind, I'm like, just breathe.

Relax. Breathe. Relax. Watch the show. Breathe. And I'm getting through the show. I'm getting through it. But every now and again, it reel myself back in in my mind. I'm like, just breathe, relax, breathe, relax, watch the show, breathe. And I'm getting to the show. I'm getting to it. But every now and again, it'll creep back in.

You're high, bro. You're high. Get out of here. Get out. But that's it. That was it for me. After that one, I'm like, you know what? Weed's just not for me.

It's just not for me. I've had those experiences a hundred times, at least. Maybe more. Probably more than a hundred. Yeah. had those experiences a hundred times at least. Maybe more. Probably more than a hundred. Yeah. Like, I'm never doing this again. You know, it just gets so high. It just gets ridiculous. But you still do it.

I like it. I always learn something when I get that high. When I get real high and something's bothering me, I'm probably like, well, I probably have an issue I need to take care of. Like, something's bothering me in the first place. Really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like if I get paranoid about something or I feel bad about something,

maybe I said or something I did. Like marijuana, like if you have something that you're like maybe pushing in the back of your head, marijuana is like, hey, hey, what the fuck is that? What's that? Let's turn a light on. Click. Put a flashlight on it. It makes you think.

Eddie Bravo told me this once, and it really made a lot of sense. He goes, the best time to get high is when nothing's fucking with you. If nothing's fucking with you and you get high, it's like, oh, you can just enjoy it. But if you got anything that you're putting off, anything that you're half-assing, anything you're doing wrong in your life, anything you're procrastinating, anything where you're not really doing your best, you're not giving it your all, if you get high, you start thinking, like, what am I doing with my life? But isn't that like everybody and every time?

Like very seldom is everything okay. That's true, too. Very seldom is everything okay. That's true, too. Like I can count on one hand how many times i've just sat back and said everything is beautiful everything is good yeah that's true right i mean if you're doing difficult shit especially and clearly you're doing difficult shit if you're doing something difficult with your life like you're always in a state of some kind of struggle, right? Yeah. It's never like, oh, man, this is perfect.

Isn't that funny? Man, this is wonderful. It's such a true thing you just said. You know, everything, at some point, something is always going, there's something always going on. But isn't that weird that everybody wants everything to be perfect and it really never is? Yeah. It never is. You're in a constant state of of that but

you see people like that's what social media is all about right social media projects this image of perfect yes like you see some guy leaning on a cool car standing in front of a nice house beautiful girl with him like this fucking guy's got it made he doesn't feel any pain or suffering he's just smooth sailing through life. Look at him. With a six pack. You know the funny, and I blame you. I blame this show, actually.

The last time I was here, the last time I was here, after that, it just got worse. Oh, the hate? No, not just hate, but now people are like, oh, I need help. I need help with this. Hey, I'm going to get evicted uh can you just put money in my account hey people were sending me requests on paypal somehow they found me on paypal put in request just send me money requests really bro just bless me with a couple bless me that is hilarious it was crazy bless me. Bless me. Just bless me, man.

What are you, a saint? Bless me. I don't know. Bless me. But people were just sending requests left and right. Really? And then some would, of course, got this big story on Instagram. They would send me these.

Because sometimes I go. Now I just don't really. I can't. It's impossible to go through messages. Yeah. And it would be this guy's like, send me, oh man, this is wrong. This is wrong. You know, my mother just died.

I am left alone. No, no money, nothing. Could you help me? And I click on their Instagram on the photo. They're rocking a Gucci hat. They're sitting down like arms crossed next to this nice car get the fuck I'm like what get out of here with this you know they just do that with everybody yeah imagine if like that's how they make a

living they just get a lot of people do that no a lot of people do that yeah that's but it's it's that it's that whole deal is like that everyone puts on social media it's a smokes screen, puts everything out there, the best part of them out there. Speaking of social media, I just got hacked. Did you see that I just got hacked? Did you really get hacked? No, I got hacked bad.

Is Ali still your manager? Yes. Let me tell you something, what I thought. I thought Ali did that and said, oh, look, you got hacked. But if you, no, but if you, if you, no, let's, you know, the, when said, oh, look, you got hacked. No, but if you – Damn. No, let's – when I – Look me in the eyes.

You definitely got hacked? I would tell you if I got it. Ali didn't. Did Ali lie to you? No, Ali didn't lie to me because the crazy thing is we were preparing to go to the fight. They were coming to get us because the fight's already started. The prelims have started. And he was about to go to the fight. Like, they were coming to get us. Because the fight's already started, the prelims have started. And he was about to start the main card.

So we're preparing to go. It's a Saturday. And, you know, my phone's just bloop, bloop. I'm getting text message, text message, text message. I'm just like, maybe it's just one person. He wanted to get there. I'm like, damn. Because my phone just blows up sometimes.

So I'm not really looking at my phone. I'm just trying to get out of there and go. And somehow I picked my phone up. We're walking down to the car. I slide it up, and I have 26 messages. Like, what the – what just happened? So then the top one was – what's her name? Paige.

You know, used to work for the ufc he's like uh are you looking at your twitter right now i was like what what are you talking about he's like yeah this is like what i thought i thought you something's wrong with your twitter right now you need to get on there so i'm like what i get on my phone i try to go into my twitter i can't i'm locked out so someone had got in and changed the password in the email so I can't even get into my Twitter. And then I'm with Ali because he's with me. And we're walking down. I'm like, yo, Ali, yo, I need to see your phone now.

I need to see your phone because I can't even see what they were tweeting. And so I get his phone and I go to my page. phone and I go to my page and the first couple the first like the first one was like it was wrong and on so many levels was kind of funny if you're a troll you know but he was tweeting Connor he was like I'm gonna be raw dogging or do something with your wife tonight I was like whoa bro that that's a little you know that's a little much you know and then the next one another one comes in another one comes in another i'm like now he's going all the way left and now he's at one point he said something about mike tyson you're n word like you're effing n word you're this he said to mike tyson yeah so he's tweeting to a bunch of people now he's tweeting to a bunch of people like you

know you're effing n word or this and that like like going in like that oh Jesus Christ and then screenshots my bank account somehow he gets got into my bank account got into my bank account screenshots it

and puts it out now I'm getting like messages like yo what is going like and then of course

that was right there I'm like oh they got my bank account boom I call the bank I'm on the phone with my bank. And we're in the car going to the arena to Connors fight. And now we're getting calls from – messages from everybody like, yo, now the UFC is working on getting the Twitter shut down.

And by the time they called and got the Twitter shut down, he had tweeted my bank – you you know screenshot of my bank accounts he you know they tweeted um um you know the random people a lot of a lot of disrespectful things he was like on one he was at one one tweet he was like you know if i get over a hundred a thousand followers or a thousand comments or retweets on this i'm gonna put his pin up a pin code out or his like internet password the password for that out there i'm like how the because i have my phone right like how did they get in to my stuff and i have everything now instagram they shut down my instagram right away before he could post anything you know because that i have a lot more followers on there and it was just like i was so like just just flustered by it all

to where i couldn't do anything but smile like i i just does anybody ever post for you yeah they used to they used to yeah but i i'm i still like to have some level of control but but meaning that other people besides you have your password. Yeah. Yeah. But it's someone that I know, someone that I trust. It's not like random people. No, it's one person. But is it possible that that one person left their phone laying around or something and someone saw the password?

No. No? Because it wasn't just my Twitter. They got my bank account. Right. That's what's crazy. I mean, how are they connected? How's the bank account and the Twitter?

And from what I'm learning now is hackers can easily hack you from an IP. Like you're a Starbucks Wi-Fi. They can easily hack you from that. That's why you want a virtual private network, a VPN. Yeah. We use ExpressVPN, but there's a bunch of them. You could use that and the good thing about it is also you could get into accounts like you could do stuff like you know you're in other countries they lock you out of things yeah like you can't look certain

parts of the web you can if you have a vpn yeah because this this was what and obviously something they were using because you know they signed when they sign in to my, they tried to get into my email. They got into my, when they sign in, because now you have that two-factor authenticator or whatever. And when they sign in, it showed, one of them showed that they were in New York. Another one showed that they were in, like, Bali. So they were switching up. Yeah. Like, whoever knew what they were, they knew what they were doing because they were getting were getting in there saying something and it was like and of course and i saw that and

and it was unfair to to my manager for people to actually say that because you know automatically everybody assumed of course everyone's saying and then connor said something about it too which was kind of which was very low i understand that the comments that that were tweeted out were very very disrespectful first of all that's not me i don't even talk like that of course you know and i would Which was very low. I understand that the comments that were tweeted out were very, very disrespectful. First of all, that's not me. I don't even talk like that. Of course. And I would never say anything like that.

Even though as much as I want to beat him up, if Conor wants to fight, we can fight. But I would never. There's lines that you don't cross. That's not you at all. I would never disrespect. You're not even saying it. You're saying like effing. Yeah. I mean, don't get it wrong.

I'll say, you know, eff for here and there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, but It was just I would never Say anything about Someone's family Someone's wife Someone's children

I would never say that No I never thought for a second It was you And Ali is a guy That's so into his family Would never say I don't care how much

He hates Connor Or how much he doesn't like him I thought he was just Trying to stir up the pot Nah But I didn't know Honestly I didn't know The extent Of course not I didn't know the extent Of No, no. But I didn't know the extent.

Of course not. I didn't know the extent of what he had said either. I didn't know he had tweeted to a bunch of other people. It's bad. It was bad. It was some of the things. Can they find out who did it? Is it their way?

I would think so, but I'm sure something like that is going to be expensive. Someone's got to investigate that. Tell the UFC, pony up, bitch. Come on. Is it worth it for them to be expensive. Someone's got to investigate that. Tell the UFC, pony up, bitch. Come on. Is it worth it for them to do it? If it is, if it's Ali. That's true. That's the only way it's worth it.

That's true. If it's just some random crazy dude, some Russian hacker or something, that's not worth it. But that's what I'm saying. In order to find out if it's worth it or not, you got to do the investigation. You got to pay for all of that.

Turns out it's Dana White. The funny thing is, as soon as we get there, You got to do the investigation. You got to pay for all of that. Yeah. But I, you know, there's, there's, you know, the funny, the funny thing is, as soon as we get there, Danny comes up and it's like, initially I didn't know what he meant, but he was like, it was like,

yeah, I talked, I had to talk with him. Like, you know, I made sure everything was okay. And I'm thinking like, I had to talk with who,

what are you talking about? And, and this was before I really saw the tweets. He's like, yeah, I had to talk with Connor. I'm thinking like, I don't give a shit about Connor.

I got hacked. What are you talking about? Right. Until I saw the comments of what was said towards him. I was like, oh shit. Okay,

I understand. This guy's going into one of the biggest fights. I mean, he's, this is a return fight, you know, with everything he's gone through

and having that hanging around or someone saying that. Of course, yeah. Like, it's just, first of all, we're not that thirsty. I'm the champion.

The belt's going to move. I'm going to fight somebody. Yeah. You know, so I don't really care who it is. I'm going to fight somebody. Has he mentioned, he has mentioned your name, right? Yeah, and the only reason

we're even talking about Conor, Conor's even in the conversation because he came out and said, like, he wanted my belt. Yeah. Like, I don't give like I don't give it I don't give two shits about Connor well the idea would be that 45 tap to 55 tap to 70 I don't really care but 70 if he could win a title at 70 I mean goddamn

45 55 and 70 that would be arguably would be one of the biggest fights because because he's trying to make history no one ever done that to go up three weight classes and get a belt in all three weight classes. No one has ever done that. Well, the UFC is campaigning for Khabib. And Khabib's like, give me 100 million bucks. Yeah. And I get it.

He's in this position to ask that. He's the fucking champ. Yeah. And he doesn't want to fight him. He's like, fuck that guy. No, I've been there, done that. Yeah. And also, he's like, why am I going to give this guy more attention and hear him say more crazy shit about me and all that stuff that he did before?

Yeah, I see some people don't care for that. No. Khabib is a very honorable guy. He's not in the business of talking shit. He doesn't have anything to do with that. But he said one of the darkest things I ever heard a guy say. He said, I want to change his face. I want to change his face I want to change his face

yes I changed his and did you see the conviction in his face when he looked at the camera and said send me location send location send me location

I fucking love that statement too we could do this Brooklyn Moscow send me location he's not fucking around and that's how I feel too

you know like a lot of these guys do all this talking now and do this and this whole Masvid these guys do all this talking now and do this. And this whole Masvidal character do all this talking. And, you know, I respected Masvidal a lot before. You know, but, you know, after years and years of being in the game, you finally start to get a little shine.

And this is how you're going to do it. This is what you, you know, now you're that gimmicky guy. Yeah, but now you're talking about him. You know, exactly. That's how it works. I get that. And his management team, even though, you know you're talking about him. You know, exactly. That's how it works. I get that. And his management team, even though my management

is taking care of his management team, you know, that's another story. But, you know, they've done a good job of getting him to this point where he's got this hype around him now. But that's what it is. It's hype.

They've done a little bit of a good job, but knocking out Donald Cerrone, knocking out Darren Till, and putting Ben Askren into another dimension with a flying knee, all that helped. And then fucking up Nate Diaz and opening up two vaginas on his face. That is why he got popular, right? You know that.

Yeah, but were those the hardest fights at that time? Well, Darren Till was thought to be a very hard fight. Darren Till was a good one. Yeah, that was thought to be a good one. He was coming off of the Tyron Woodley fight, but still, Darren Till was thought to be a very hard fight. Darren Till was a good one. Yeah, that was thought to be a good one. He was coming off of the Tyron Woodley fight, but still, Darren Till was thought to be a very good fight. Yes. And Donald Cerrone, you know, Donald is a real 55-pounder.

Yes, yes. But I'm talking about those big fights. Yes. So Donald Cerrone, Darren Till, and then the Ben Askren one, that was, no matter how you slice it, that's goddamn crazy what he did to him. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, to land how he sliced it, that's goddamn crazy what he did to him. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, to land that knee, yeah, it was crazy.

But what happens if that knee not landed? Who knows? I mean, he might just fuck him up standing up. That was the gamble fight. I think that was the gamble fight that paid off and sent him away. He took all that hype from Ben Askren. Yeah. But I understand.

I get it, rightfully so. But now to kind of make all this noise and say you're this and now you're going to do this. I've heard him gone as far as saying, oh, he's going to break my face. He's going to do all of this and do that. But then I see you backstage and nothing was said. Nothing. We sat in the same row in Conor's fight, the same row, maybe 10 people apart. Nothing was said.

I'm that type of guy. If I say what I'm going to do, I'm going to do something to you. When I see you, it's on sight. That's not me. I don't like to talk to shit and this and that, but if I feel a certain way about you, when I see you, I'm going to confront you about it. So your number one pick is GSP. Number one is GSP. Number one is Gsp for legacy for history for everything number two red panties night connor of course absolutely very close red panties night number two number three

is that yeah yeah that kid masvidal yes why does he call you owl what is owl hunting what is owl about because I say who because who is this guy who who is that guy I didn't get it I was like why is he an owl that makes perfect sense who is that guy

who no because when people try to bring him up oh man like he's just killing I'm like who that's hilarious it's the same guy that's

what are you talking about who come on that's hilarious on both sides yeah I mean it is what it is. Let's just be honest. Unless they somehow, because they're doing everything possible not to fight me right now.

They're begging for a counter fight. They're begging for that fight. Because I get it. Let's be honest. My manager said it too. If I was his manager, yes, why would I fight you? I've got all this hype right now. I would do everything possible to fight you.

Of course I want to fight Conor. You fight Conor and lose, guess what? I still got the payday. Who cares? A giant one. Yeah, a giant payday. Who cares? But he fights me.

He goes back down to making 50 and 50 or whatever he was making before. All that hype is done. So, yeah, why would I fight you? Hell no. I have the opportunity to potentially fight Conor if Conor picks him. It's real interesting right now, right? It's like, how does this all play out? We're just waiting for the UFC to put all the pieces together. But listen, the problem is everyone has been saying,

oh, they need to give him a title shot, need to give him a title shot, need to give him a title shot. Well, guess what? You just might get what you wish for. But now you realize, oh, I don't really want the title shot. No, I want this money over here. I want this guy to pick me so I can get that money. I don't really want the title shot because we both know what's going to happen.

Him and I both know. His management team knows. Everybody knows what's truly going to happen. But that's the nature of the game because he's got his fans who really believe that he can beat anybody in the world. That he can't be touched. They're just like, oh yeah, that's the guy that's going to beat you. He's going to knock

you out. He's going to do whatever he wants to do to you. No. It's not going to happen. Not even remotely possible for it to happen. Be an exciting fight to set up. Oh yeah. I mean, I don't care. I'll fight anybody. The hype behind it would be gigantic.

I'll fight anybody. Actually, for all three of those fights. All three of those fights, you're in the driver's seat, which is beautiful. You really are, because everybody wants that title. Yeah. The BMF titles, no one's trying to get that. No one cares. It's just a cool-looking belt that he gets to carry around with him. But everybody wants your belt.

Yeah. So, you know, at the end of the day, Dana said that's the fight that he wants. And we're in the business of doing business with Dana right now. So if that's the fight that Dana wants to make, then we're going to go in and we're going to talk. What kind of timeline do you think you're looking at? Ideally for you. Well, let's see. April is taken already.

March is taken. What about the July? May, July. Is it a july event i'm ready to fight as soon as possible after april i'm ready to fight that's gonna be in vegas too the big july event yeah i'm ready to fight you know we'll see what dana says if it makes sense for them that's what i want to see oh yeah want to see red pants tonight. You and him would be fucking crazy. God damn, that would be huge. If it happens, it happens, but I'm not holding my breath on that. I'm excited about all three

of those matchups, honestly. They're doing everything and they're good around it and it is what it is for them, but I'm going to get a fight. I don't think I'd be extra hyped for any of those fights. I think all three of them, I'm at 100. Yeah. Whether it's GSP, I'm at 100.

Masvidal, I'm at 100. Red Panties Knight. Come on. I'm fucking pumped. I'm 100% pumped for all three of those fights. You know what? Honestly, at some point, we just look and I'm like, that actually kind of makes more sense than even.

Obviously, the Masvidal being in the welterweight, it has been doing its thing, but it's like this guy hasn't beat anybody in the top five. Hasn't even fought anyone in the top five. Well, if Conor jumps right ahead of everybody and gets a title shot, people will be like, what the fuck?

People will frown upon it, but at the same time, at the same time, he's fought. He just fought at welterweight. And they'll get it because, look look connor just did the same thing for lightweight he went straight into a fight he didn't even fight a tune-up fight he just fought a tune-up fight yeah at welterweight at lightweight he didn't he just jumped right into the title and you saw what he did there yep so people are intrigued to see if connor is really this mystical creature that can go in and win three titles. Dude.

You know, like that, I mean, it makes sense. If Conor wants that opportunity, who am I to try to stand in the way of his opportunity

to try to be great? I don't mind. Red panties night, July. Set it up, UFC. Listen, champ, it was great having you in here. As always,

appreciate you, brother. Thank you so much. So happy to hear your father's getting out. It's amazing. Thank you. And that's it. Tell everybody your Instagram, your Twitter, all that jazz. Instagram, Twitter.

You got it all back. It's back. At Usman, U-S-M-A-N 84 KG. You know, we back, people. We back. Bye, everybody. Thank you, brother. Woo!