0:00

What's going

0:02

on Junky

0:04

Nation? Gorgeous

0:06

Georgia goes. Are

0:08

you ready? Let's

0:11

get it all!

0:13

From the fight

0:16

capital of the

0:18

world. Las Vegas,

0:21

Nevada. This is

0:23

N&A, Junky Radio.

0:25

We roll it! Check in here

0:27

on a Thursday morning for your

0:30

Thursday morning delivery and we're excited

0:32

to talk to you for the

0:34

next hour or so as we

0:36

discuss the latest in mixed martial

0:39

arts. Got a guess for you

0:41

too. Eric Nixon from extreme coutur

0:43

will join us. Long extended interview

0:45

and of course we'll put the

0:47

final touches on USC 313. Gose

0:50

and I will be hosting a

0:52

watch along on Saturday at 8 p.m.m. Eastern,

0:54

5 p.m. That's four featured

0:56

prelims on ESPM Plus. Then

0:59

of course the fights move over

1:01

to the paper view portion, which

1:03

is the main card. 10

1:05

p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Pacific.

1:08

We'll stay with you there. And

1:10

if you choose not to order the

1:12

paper view, don't worry. We'll be

1:15

your eyes and ears. We'll tell

1:17

you what's happening in real

1:19

time. So back to the normal

1:21

nine fights for us. Last

1:23

time we remember we cut it

1:26

short and just did the

1:28

pay-per-view. This one's back to

1:30

normal. All right, we'll be right back

1:32

to start the show. Can I

1:34

just add one thing before we

1:36

do that George? Yeah. Gaston Balanos,

1:39

Vanessa Demopoulos, and

1:41

Benil Daryush will join us on

1:44

our watch alone. Oh, that's really

1:46

cool. Okay. Yeah, I remember you

1:48

mentioned Balanos, but man, all right.

1:51

That's a stack deck. There you

1:53

go. We'll be back. All

2:08

right, by the way, I

2:10

wouldn't mind going with Vanessa

2:12

Demopolis to Sapphire here in

2:14

Las Vegas. Just for like

2:16

an hour. I'd like to

2:18

hear her either compliment what

2:20

she's seeing or does she,

2:22

or is she, can she

2:24

be caddy, you know? Everyone

2:26

thinks guys talk trash, man,

2:28

women can talk trash too.

2:30

She used to be a

2:33

exotic dancer. But I wonder

2:35

if it'd be funny, you

2:37

know, like if she would

2:39

say, oh look, looks like

2:41

she can give a great

2:43

lab dance, or she's got

2:45

what it takes, you know,

2:47

to make a thousand, and

2:49

I, I don't know, that

2:51

type of thing. I'm not

2:53

saying, of course. Me and

2:55

the stripper, but that's a,

2:57

go upstairs. No, I'm not

3:00

saying all that. I just

3:02

think she's funny. I find

3:04

her to be really funny,

3:06

like a, like a, Was

3:08

it like a game plan

3:10

or something like that? It's

3:12

on yeah Exactly All right,

3:14

so We got you know

3:16

the obviously the countdown came

3:18

out last weekend. We have

3:20

a few Embedids You know

3:22

the fighters are in town

3:24

Is there a buzz there?

3:26

Hmm. Oh? I haven't seen

3:29

it It just,

3:31

it was maybe different when we

3:33

were at the hotel broadcasting, because

3:35

we'd have to go buy the

3:37

big signs in town, and then

3:39

you run into people who bring

3:41

it up, but I was out.

3:43

I was out the other day

3:45

with a buddy of mine, we

3:47

had lunch, and we barely touched

3:49

on the subject, and we had,

3:51

you know, at least an hour

3:53

or two to cover it all,

3:55

but it's top heavy. Pahada versus

3:57

Aunt Goliath. We all wanted it.

3:59

Tramp versus the clear number one.

4:01

And then Gagey versus Phil in

4:03

the blank. You know it's going

4:05

to be a good fight. It

4:08

was supposed to be Dan Hooker.

4:10

He fell out. It's back to

4:12

being Raffey Alpha Z. Who's a

4:14

favorite by the way? I couldn't

4:16

believe that on 10 days notice.

4:18

He was doing good in the

4:20

first fight, but he did lose.

4:22

And again, 10 days notice? That

4:24

one's a little bit bizarre. Goes,

4:26

are you feeling it? You know,

4:28

the fight week buzz or anything?

4:30

Let's not forget, there's an LFA

4:32

in town. I think they're gonna

4:34

have a USC 314 press conference.

4:36

A lot of that stuff's happening

4:38

back at the Manolee Bay too.

4:40

Not the fights, but some of

4:42

these media events. No, not really.

4:44

And I think that's kind of

4:46

why Dana White, you know. He's

4:48

done a couple interviews and he's

4:50

said things like if Alex prior

4:52

were to win he could face

4:54

the winner of Jones and Aspenol

4:56

I think he's trying to make

4:58

it so that you You can't

5:00

miss it. You know you got

5:03

to tune in because you're right

5:05

It is very top heavy just

5:07

to start with before all you

5:09

know Dan Hooker falling out all

5:11

that stuff. It was very top

5:13

heavy then you get that switch

5:15

there in the combing event But

5:17

after that like when we talk

5:19

buzz I'll give me an example.

5:21

Like, WrestleMania is supposed to be

5:23

coming to town, right? Like, that

5:25

feels like it's got more buzz.

5:27

And that's not for like another

5:29

month or so. Like, it's, people

5:31

are talking about it. Are you

5:33

going? Are you getting tickets? There's

5:35

Watch-along parties in other places, you

5:37

know? How much your tickets? Probably

5:39

like four or five hundred bucks,

5:41

I think. That's the cheapie, like

5:43

you see it are? Yeah, I

5:45

think so. Geez. That you feel

5:47

like there's a buzz in the

5:49

city Billboard all the stuff you're

5:51

talking about but This not so

5:53

much and I will say this

5:55

that over the last couple years

5:58

With the addition of the Golden

6:00

Nine and the aviators, the aces

6:02

and some of these other

6:04

smaller like lacrosse teams and

6:06

stuff like that volleyball. Things

6:08

do get a little bit more

6:10

lost in the shuffle because there's

6:13

more going on but it's just

6:15

not that strong of a card.

6:17

I didn't even know we had a volleyball

6:20

team. Yeah. More lacrosse team. It's

6:22

fun to watch too. Is it six

6:24

on six indoor or is it like

6:27

two on two at a beach sandy

6:29

area? No, indoor. I like that.

6:31

I've said it too here for

6:33

many years on junkie radio

6:35

that I'm a big man of

6:38

that at the Olympics. Now,

6:40

could I, you know, what I get excited

6:42

about teams? I mean, I

6:44

think that's what it is,

6:47

right? They're teams around

6:49

the United States and

6:51

they compete. We have a Vegas

6:53

team. You know what I really

6:55

came close. If I had just...

6:57

Okay, I knew rugby was coming for

7:00

like a month that had buzz and

7:02

Finally they came but when they

7:04

came it was because I grabbed

7:06

the the weekly Las Vegas weekly

7:08

that told me what's happening and

7:11

Then said there's gonna be arrivals

7:13

player arrivals Fremont Street this

7:15

that whatever and then I

7:17

just forgot about it for a

7:19

day or two and then I woke up on

7:22

a Saturday and Juliet was actually

7:24

off that day. She's usually

7:26

working on Saturdays But it was

7:28

like 1 p.m. when I go, wait a

7:30

minute, isn't that that rugby? And

7:33

sure enough, it was just starting

7:35

at 1 p.m. But there was like

7:37

this one ticket and I think you

7:39

could watch like two to four games

7:41

at the Allegiant, which is convenient

7:44

because if it's too cold to

7:46

keep you warm, it was too hot

7:48

to keep you cool. So and I

7:51

got free parking and man. Allay bay,

7:53

walk over. I really wanted to attend

7:55

that. And I didn't. But now

7:57

that I know there's volleyball here,

7:59

I would... I'm probably trying to check that

8:01

out. Where do they play it at?

8:04

I think it is at Mandalay Bay.

8:06

Oh. And where do they play lacrosse?

8:08

Also at Mandalay Bay. Well, I thought

8:10

that was an outdoor sport. lacrosse? It's

8:13

indoor now? That can be both. Oh,

8:15

the field is small enough. It can

8:17

fit in an arena? Yeah. It looks

8:20

fun. It kind of looks like a

8:22

made up sport. You know, like that

8:24

one in the Olympics where? Right. You

8:26

could kind of play soccer with your

8:29

hands, you know, they're just kind of

8:31

throwing it around with the trying to

8:33

get it by the goalie. It just

8:36

seems like someone made it up on

8:38

the field and just, you know, next

8:40

thing you know, it's an Olympic game

8:42

and I'm like, come on. In junior

8:45

high, there was like a month every

8:47

year, there's one month where they would

8:49

bring these this different equipment and stuff

8:51

and you can play different games. So

8:54

for like one week, we would play

8:56

street hockey and another week. we would

8:58

play lacrosse. And another one we would

9:01

play the game that you're talking about,

9:03

which I think is called handball or

9:05

something like that. Dude, I kid you

9:07

not, those were one of the funnest

9:10

games to play. It was so much

9:12

fun. They even had one where it

9:14

had like a really, really tall basket

9:16

and it was kind of like basketball,

9:19

but that was even really fun. So

9:21

some of these sports looks like a

9:23

lot of running around. It

9:26

is, it is, but once you kind

9:28

of get down like picking up the

9:30

ball and the passing of it, once

9:32

you get the passing down, then you

9:35

realize just how quick the setups can

9:37

be to try and score a goal.

9:39

You know, if you can really get

9:42

with three other people that can pass

9:44

well, now you're just passing it on

9:46

the perimeter trying to get that opening

9:48

to throw it in. It's actually... Why

9:51

not play soccer though? You're all trying

9:53

to build a score a goal, why

9:55

not? Like soccer just seems to have

9:58

it down to have it down. I

10:00

don't know. It's different. I guess that's

10:02

probably the same question. Why play? hockey

10:04

right like I mean that's got a

10:07

goal to and I think it's just

10:09

different that's true I think soccer and

10:11

hockey contribute you know like hockey is

10:14

a smaller field on ice skate seems

10:16

a little bit bizarre but they're not

10:18

using their feet so they're using I

10:20

think hockey might actually been the better

10:23

question but you know what it feels

10:25

like like let's say there was being

10:27

in the event where you play chess

10:30

but you use your toes you know

10:32

it's the same strategy but we just

10:34

tweaked a little bit that's Kind of

10:37

what it seems like same with rugby

10:39

like again. You're halfway between soccer and

10:41

football But but I guess they have

10:43

their fans. So what am I can't

10:46

hate them? I just finished saying I

10:48

would go to it But I've never

10:50

really understood it too much. I Honestly

10:53

wonder man I want some of those

10:55

guys would do in the NFL or

10:57

in like a soccer and some of

10:59

them have played in the NFL they

11:02

wind up being kickers or hunters but

11:04

some of them actually done really well

11:06

so I'm not clowning on on that

11:09

but all right listen we have a

11:11

long interview with Eric next week so

11:13

let's just get to a couple things

11:15

here how about Pahida and Uncle Laya

11:18

did you see they made a bet

11:20

and it kind of just blew up

11:22

because Uncle Laya kind of took a

11:25

religious tone so it almost sounded like

11:27

you was scolding Paheda after Pahida had

11:29

suggested a bet, you know, for hey,

11:31

it was like, bitch, why are you

11:34

bringing religion into this, you know, like,

11:36

I don't know, and I guess he

11:38

was a little put off by, uh,

11:41

Accolive also bringing up his past, uh,

11:43

bouts with alcoholism, you know, which he

11:45

overcame. So I guess they're kind of

11:47

making it a little personal, which I'm

11:50

always saying that kind of spices things

11:52

up, but these are too very well.

11:54

How can I put it. Low energy

11:57

guys when it comes to mic time,

11:59

they're fabulous. Fighters, so

12:01

I think this is the most we're gonna get

12:03

you know Pajeda just flat out doesn't even

12:05

talk English and ankle eyes is real limited English

12:07

So you ain't gonna get the old your

12:09

mama's gonna feel it when I knock you out.

12:11

You know, it's just this is what we

12:13

got I Think the

12:16

religion Side

12:18

of it is fair, you know if he

12:20

can't do it. He can't do it but

12:23

at the same time The

12:26

alcohol isn't I just felt like was

12:28

maybe a little bit distasteful You

12:30

can't do that, but you know the second he brings

12:32

up religion and says that's why I can't do

12:34

the bet I Would turn

12:36

around and say all right. It's for charity.

12:38

Anyways, why not? Do

12:40

200 hours of community service or something like

12:42

that, you know, like see

12:44

what he says then, you know That

12:48

it's a lot of time But

12:50

200 grand a lot of money

12:52

you you're well What up 100

12:55

,000 under money it's because you

12:57

think you're a win So

12:59

who gives a shit what's on the other side, right?

13:01

If you think you're gonna win make the bet

13:04

Let me read you what happened here Pajeda

13:07

issued uncle I have a bet

13:09

in which the loser of their fight

13:11

donates 200 grand to a charity

13:13

of the others choosing And Goli have

13:15

a practicing Muslim said he doesn't

13:18

gamble because it's forbidden in law but

13:23

It's for charity. That's the

13:25

thing What what Pajeda was

13:27

saying I wasn't gonna pocket

13:29

it It was

13:31

for charity. Like is it a bet?

13:33

I suppose it is but

13:36

I Don't think it was

13:38

as raw as how maybe ankle

13:40

I have When

13:43

he pushed back he almost did it

13:45

in a way to say like You

13:48

gambling fool. I'm a straight edge, you

13:50

know, like I'm here to do my

13:52

job you leave all those tactics

13:55

and antics to yourself, you

13:58

know, and I go I was like you're

14:00

making them sound worse than it

14:02

was, we did talk about this

14:04

benefiting charity. So someone other

14:07

than us will benefit like no

14:09

one's going on a yacht for a week

14:11

on you, you know, on the other guy. So I,

14:13

you know, it was like the slight attempt

14:16

to maybe spice things up and

14:18

it kind of got a little bit

14:20

more square than it needed to

14:22

be. You know, what I found, yeah,

14:24

the alcoholism thing was a little

14:26

bit of a slight dig, but

14:29

again, nothing, nothing like how deep

14:31

Tricus and Sean Strickland

14:33

went at each other. Yeah. What I found

14:35

interesting about that though

14:37

is, let's just say on the weekend,

14:40

you're a, or when you go to

14:42

Vegas, right, you're a blackjack

14:44

guy. And say your limit for

14:46

the weekend is, I don't want

14:48

to lose more than $500 dollars,

14:50

right, or something like that. But

14:53

then you get like a pretty

14:55

decent raise, maybe a better job,

14:57

and you come back a year later,

14:59

and now that limit might be

15:01

like, I can't lose more than

15:03

$1,000 or something like that, right?

15:06

Think about what that, how much

15:08

you have to make for $200,000

15:10

to be your play money, right?

15:12

I thought that was interesting

15:15

for Pereira, because to me,

15:17

personally, for me to ever get

15:19

to a point where that's my play

15:21

money, I'd probably have to

15:24

be making them somewhere around 20

15:26

million or something like that, you

15:28

know, at least 15. I didn't think

15:30

of it like that, but it's a good

15:32

point to just part with 200

15:34

grand. Now granted, and look, if

15:37

you really want to get into

15:39

the whole economics of it all,

15:41

let's not forget a lot of

15:43

these guys when they make, you know,

15:45

I've been listening to NFL talk and

15:47

Brock parties getting an offer

15:50

of 45 million a year. but obviously he's

15:52

in a state where they tax high and

15:54

usually they say rich people you get to

15:56

keep half of it so you're really keeping

15:59

twenty two five But I think one

16:01

of the benefits too is your

16:03

tax write-offs, and I don't know

16:05

for charity, this would help, but

16:07

yeah, to just part with 200

16:10

grand, I'd have to have at

16:12

least 20 in the bank, 20

16:14

million in the bank, and still

16:16

have this big fight ahead of

16:18

me where I know even more

16:20

money's gonna come in, but yeah,

16:23

that is a lot of money.

16:25

I heard Pajeta does real well.

16:27

This is his fourth title defense.

16:29

So he's had three we had

16:31

paper view points and he's considered

16:33

a star Does he sell a

16:36

million paper views? I'm not sure

16:38

of that So much of this

16:40

doesn't get talked about like it

16:42

used to where we knew who

16:44

the million dollar? Paper view stars

16:46

were but I know he's a

16:48

pretty big star and I'm sure

16:51

he has pretty decent contracts outside

16:53

of fighting as well, and he

16:55

definitely does he stays busy. He

16:57

does seminars and things like that

16:59

he prayers a decent price tag,

17:01

but yeah, that's, I hadn't looked

17:04

at it like that. Can you

17:06

believe that Fizziv is minus 160

17:08

and Gagee plus 135? Again, Gagee

17:10

beat him. Mizziv was doing good.

17:12

I know that. But Fizziv also

17:14

just came from Thailand and he

17:17

only knew about the fight 10

17:19

days ago. Was he on the

17:21

couch? No, he was probably training,

17:23

but was it as intense of

17:25

a training camp as normal? And

17:27

did he have time for that?

17:30

Because you know how it is,

17:32

as you get to the end,

17:34

let's say the last seven were

17:36

more focused about the flight and

17:38

the way cut. That means they

17:40

left you maybe three hard days

17:43

to just touch up whatever you,

17:45

you know, you have been doing

17:47

in training. And now you got

17:49

to face Justin Gagee. Like I'm

17:51

baffled by that line. I am

17:53

not. Well, maybe 160 too much.

17:56

I almost turned in fazeeve. And

17:58

I'll tell you why. First fight

18:00

was a good fight. They went

18:02

back and forth. They, you know,

18:04

because he had his moments too.

18:06

But yeah, you're right. It's short

18:08

notice. He's got to travel across

18:11

the world. I get that. But

18:13

Justin Gagee's coming off of a

18:15

nasty kale. Maybe one of the

18:17

worst ones we've ever seen in

18:19

MMA. And I don't know if

18:21

you saw that video a couple

18:24

weeks ago where they actually showed,

18:26

you know, how they normally cut

18:28

to the corners or, you know,

18:30

the guy celebrating celebratingating celebrating. They

18:32

show Just Engagey kind of twitching

18:34

on the ground. It was really

18:37

really bad. And I don't care

18:39

who you are, you just don't

18:41

come back 100% after something like

18:43

that. So I think that would

18:45

chop it down a little bit.

18:47

But then I think the fact

18:50

that the other guys has no

18:52

camp and it's coming halfway across

18:54

the world probably evens it out

18:56

a little bit, right? I would

18:58

say if they both had a

19:00

full camp, I might lean more

19:03

towards Fissive, but barely. but not

19:05

160, but I could see him

19:07

being the favorite. Fizziv is also

19:09

coming off almost a 18-month layoff.

19:11

Yeah. And he's coming off a

19:13

seriously knee injury versus Gagee's coming

19:15

off a vicious K-O. Luckily Gagee

19:18

hasn't fought in about a year.

19:20

I think it'll be about the

19:22

11th, 11th month mark coming back

19:24

from the knockout he took. Well...

19:26

Holloway. He said that they

19:28

asked him What if his Eve points

19:31

to the center of the cage? You

19:33

know would you do all that again?

19:35

And he said yeah, because I would

19:37

always do it So if you got

19:40

money on gauge, yeah, I don't know

19:42

if you'd be too fired up about

19:44

hearing about that and Somebody like that

19:46

that's what kind of scares me is

19:49

just having great fight IQ, but then

19:51

snap of the fingers you have the

19:53

worst fight IQ You talked about the

19:55

moment where points to the ground Gagey

19:58

said he would do it. That's cause

20:00

for concern. All I was going to

20:02

chime in was he luckily has a

20:04

very cerebral coach and Trevor Whitman who

20:07

can hopefully rain him in, but yeah,

20:09

you don't want to hear that. You

20:11

know, you want to hear good fighter

20:13

IQ talk when it when it comes

20:16

to putting down some money on these

20:18

guys. Yeah, yeah, I agree. Let's go

20:20

to Eric Nixon. We'll be right back.

20:22

We're going to catch up with in

20:25

my opinion, the best coach in MMA.

20:40

What's going on? Junkie Nation, gorgeous

20:43

George and goes. Always catch up

20:45

with the big stars in our

20:47

sport. And today we get to

20:49

talk to one of the best,

20:51

if not the best, MMA coaches

20:54

on the planet. He's also the

20:56

general manager at the World Famous

20:58

Extreme Quitor, Jim, Eric, Nickzig. What's

21:00

going on Biggie? Missy Guy, man.

21:02

Talk to you guys again. Or

21:05

as a fan. watch your kids

21:07

but I always know your mind's

21:09

probably processing things as well because

21:11

you have this broad mind that

21:13

allows you to learn from kids

21:16

sports from the first fight at

21:18

a tough enough amateur an event

21:20

or to you know and gone

21:22

who fighting fear or boxing fury

21:24

and boxing it seems like you're

21:27

always soaking it up and learning

21:29

so that's what I wanted to

21:31

start with was have you ever

21:33

learned something from watching little CMC

21:35

knocks in the flag football is

21:38

a superstar for folks that don't

21:40

know or your daughter that I

21:42

think is a wide receiver tied

21:44

in and just scores non-stop and

21:46

flag football. But have you ever

21:49

learned anything from them that you

21:51

can bring to MMA? Patience, patience,

21:53

delivery, understanding like how to how

21:55

to speak to all different types

21:57

of individuals. and not everyone's going

22:00

to react or respond to the

22:02

same sort of constructive criticism, the

22:04

same style of coaching. So being

22:06

around and coaching my son, and

22:08

at that level, of course, it's

22:11

all about positive reinforcement. And it's

22:13

a sport, yes, you want to

22:15

win. But at the end of

22:17

the day, we're trying to build

22:20

better men and better characters. And

22:22

then with my daughter, man, honestly,

22:24

my daughters, it helps me a

22:26

ton on understanding how to understand

22:28

how to coach women, women fighters.

22:31

the ups and downs and things

22:33

like that. So I certainly love

22:35

watching my daughter's compete. My oldest

22:37

just won the national championship at

22:39

Coronado and dance. My middle daughter

22:42

won team MVP for Coronado and

22:44

Flag. So, you know, it's a

22:46

lot of athletes in the Knicks

22:48

at home, so it keeps you on

22:50

your toes, that's for sure. Will

22:53

that possibly pay for college on

22:55

college on college, the for women

22:57

or? Yeah, so right now, flag football is

22:59

starting to become a collegiate sport

23:01

for women. There are some schools

23:03

that are offering full ride scholarships.

23:05

With Avery being a freshman right

23:07

now, we predict in the next

23:09

three to four years that more

23:11

colleges will accept that and then

23:13

have more female opportunities for flag

23:15

football. So there's a possibility for

23:17

her to get scholarships, but her

23:20

mindset is on the Olympics. Like

23:22

she wants to be an Olympic

23:24

athlete and compete in the Olympics

23:26

where they. and now women's flag

23:28

football. And then McKenna, yeah, she's already

23:30

looking at schools for dance. So University

23:32

of Texas, she's definitely interested in going

23:34

there. There's some California school she has

23:37

on her list. And really, man, it's

23:39

kind of cool like looking at around

23:41

like now we're gonna go travel as

23:43

a family to go look at colleges

23:46

for my oldest daughter. NIL, don't forget

23:48

about NIL. Exactly, 100%. Guys, she's a

23:50

star. I mean, you just throw it

23:52

up and she grabs it up and

23:55

she grabs it. You know, she's a

23:57

woman among girls out there on the

23:59

field. Her breakaway speed man, it's like

24:01

Stefan digs or something. Oh yeah, she

24:03

can go. She's tall, but she has

24:06

this stride, man. Yeah, she can go.

24:08

It's so it's so funny, George, because

24:10

like all my old coaches will call

24:12

me and like give me shit. They're

24:14

like, she's way better than you ever

24:16

were. Like 100% like she's way better

24:18

than me. She's unreal. That's hilarious. All

24:20

right, so let me hit you with

24:22

this one. Wow, oh man Now I'm

24:25

racking my brain. I feel like I've

24:27

met most of them to be honest

24:29

with you. Oh, I'm gonna say Matt

24:31

Hume. I don't think I've ever really

24:33

got to meet Matt Hume I've met

24:35

Greg Nelson Kind of but I never

24:37

really got a like these guys have

24:39

never really got to work with So

24:42

definitely like a guy that really stands

24:44

out to me that flies under the

24:46

radar. I'd say Matt Hume. I think

24:48

he's one of like one of the

24:50

best coaches of all time that doesn't

24:52

get the credit, maybe he deserves. I've

24:54

never got to work with Javier Mendez.

24:56

I've met him a few times, but

24:59

never got to work with him. But

25:01

definitely, I think Matt Hume was a

25:03

guy that stands out when you're asking

25:05

that question. The reason I ask that

25:07

is because in our circle, and I'm

25:09

guilty of it too, when somebody says,

25:11

hey, name a good fighter, name a

25:13

good, we always go to our homies,

25:15

right, we give my love, and that's

25:18

what I didn't want you to do,

25:20

you know, because I know you're close

25:22

with Marshall and Hoof, they are great

25:24

coaches in Montoya, they are great, but

25:26

I just figured there might be someone

25:28

he watches from a distance that he

25:30

would now tell us who it is

25:32

because he's never met them. versus someone

25:35

that runs in the circle. So that

25:37

was my little. Great question, man. And

25:39

I mean, like, you know, I know

25:41

Frost personally, but I never got to

25:43

like work and see like hands-on stuff.

25:45

You know, I know Greg personally, but

25:47

I never really got to work hands-on

25:49

stuff with him. So guys like that,

25:52

like really that paved the way that

25:54

you've been watching for years. Even like

25:56

hacklemen, like guys you used to watch

25:58

as a kid. You know, those things.

26:00

to me or those guys are pioneers

26:02

when it comes to this sport. And

26:04

then lastly, and then I'll turn it

26:06

over to goes, the Celtics coach Missoula

26:09

who's a buddy of yours, Max Crosby

26:11

seems to be a buddy of yours

26:13

and the team. Have you ever picked

26:15

up anything from them? They're staring at

26:17

our sport from their from the sidelines,

26:19

you know, their fans, but they're obviously

26:21

very successful in their own in their

26:23

own way as a coach and as

26:25

a player. Have they ever added anything.

26:28

to you that you've been able to

26:30

apply? Oh, Joe, Joe Missoula 100%. I

26:32

talked to Joe probably two or three

26:34

times a week. And what I noticed

26:36

about Joe is like, I'll reach out

26:38

to him to check in on him,

26:40

but he's like, wants to know immediately,

26:42

like, how's everything going in your life?

26:45

And like, he's guiding me a little

26:47

bit more to look at my faith,

26:49

a little bit more, a little bit

26:51

more, a little bit more, a little

26:53

bit more than I have in the

26:55

past. I've never really been like a

26:57

big faithful God fearing or anything like

26:59

that kind of went on with strictly.

27:02

and everything else, you know, the perspective

27:04

that he gave me on a situation

27:06

like that, that it's a privilege to

27:08

be able to deal with these things.

27:10

Like this is a privilege, although it

27:12

feels like a bad thing, it's actually

27:14

a good thing in a lot of

27:16

ways. You know, like you've put yourself

27:19

in a good position and you've, this

27:21

is something that is put on your

27:23

shoulders for a reason. So, you know,

27:25

Joe's been a huge inspiration to me

27:27

and he's a guy that reached out

27:29

to me a couple years ago, a

27:31

couple years ago, a couple years ago,

27:33

and we forged this friendship, Eric, you've

27:35

been such a big part of our

27:38

sport, not just in coaching. I feel

27:40

like your footprint goes further than that.

27:42

Have you ever thought, you know, we

27:44

brought up Matt Hume and Matt Hume

27:46

for a long time was a coach

27:48

and then you see his role now

27:50

with like one championship, you know, kind

27:52

of changing things up. Would you ever

27:55

consider retirement from coaching and possibly taking

27:57

another job but within our field because,

27:59

man, that come with what you do.

28:01

You're tremendous at it, but it's got

28:03

to be a lot, no? Yeah, I would love

28:05

to. And, you know, over the years,

28:08

I've thought more about how I can

28:10

get into more like a McMate or

28:12

Sean Shelby role in matchmaking or finding

28:14

talent for the UFC or bigger promotions.

28:16

I think having a pivot or having

28:19

something that we can always angle off

28:21

to is very important. You know, that's

28:23

why we started the podcast and it's

28:25

nice to have. other avenues in this

28:28

sport that we can kind of branch

28:30

off of. But, you know, I love

28:32

Dean Thomas's role as what he does

28:34

as an analyst. I've reached out to

28:36

Zach Candido and said, hey, I would

28:39

love to mirror Dean or follow Dean

28:41

around. And so if there's ever an

28:43

event that Dean or follow Dean around

28:45

and so if there's ever an event

28:48

that Dean isn't going to be available

28:50

or is that the Apex, I would

28:52

love to be able to expand on

28:54

what I do as a code. and

28:57

get into some other avenues within

28:59

MMA. Wait, wait, can I jump

29:01

in? What did Candido say?

29:03

He said he loved the idea. Oh,

29:05

there you go. Yeah, cool. I

29:07

wasn't sure if he said, get

29:09

at me. Or like, I gotta,

29:11

I gotta, I gotta, I gotta,

29:13

I gotta press some more though.

29:15

But I'm like, listen, I'm here,

29:18

I'm not traveling, I mean, unfortunately,

29:20

it's good. I work damn near

29:22

every event. But, you know, if

29:24

there's. It's all reps, it's all

29:26

about getting good reps, so being

29:28

able to watch more fights and,

29:30

and, and, you know, gives you homework

29:32

to do, I'm all for it. I

29:35

actually think you'd be great in

29:37

that role, because, you know, for

29:39

as good as you are with

29:41

X's and O's, the one thing

29:43

I've always enjoyed about your company

29:45

is you're never not you, you know,

29:47

you always find a way to, to, whatever you're

29:49

doing, do it as Eric Nixon, So I think

29:51

you'd be tremendous at it. I think that's a

29:53

big thing, man, is when you're doing that type

29:56

of stuff, you have to hold it true to

29:58

what you believe and how you see this. things

30:00

because that's why we're tuning in. So

30:02

I think you'd be awesome. So hopefully

30:04

that does happen for you, Eric. As

30:06

far as extreme couture goes and like

30:08

practices and all that, I know that

30:11

you guys are very structured and all

30:13

that, but the things that happen day

30:15

to day, you know, we've had two

30:17

cards back to back with something related

30:19

with eye pokes or scrapes, whatever you

30:21

want to call them, right. judging all

30:23

that stuff. How many times do you

30:25

guys need to have like resets as

30:27

a team and sit down and say

30:30

look, this is what's going on right

30:32

now. This is the new technique or

30:34

this is what's happening when the judges

30:36

have their input. How many times do

30:38

you guys have to have that reset

30:40

and how different has it been throughout

30:42

the months or even years? Great question

30:44

goes when we do it every every

30:47

every every practice every week if something

30:49

comes up or we need to discuss

30:51

it We bring it up and we

30:53

talk about it For example recently with

30:55

the rule changes with the 12 to

30:57

6 elbows the knees to a grounded

30:59

opponent Those rule changes we put into

31:01

effect when we heard the rule change

31:03

was going to happen, we were already

31:06

drilling it. We were putting ourselves in

31:08

positions on the ground where, okay, if

31:10

we were in a high cross and

31:12

the guy puts his hands on the

31:14

ground, we're going to be able to

31:16

kick here. So we're already drilling that

31:18

to make it a legal kick for

31:20

us. So we're already drilling that to

31:23

make it a legal kick for us.

31:25

So by the time, the rule change

31:27

was in effect, we were already ahead

31:29

of the curve, right? So yeah, man,

31:31

we try to stay ahead of the

31:33

curve and it comes to that stuff.

31:35

And then with the fouls, I mean,

31:37

you know, it's one of those things

31:40

where it's like, you just bring it

31:42

up, we talk about it, how can

31:44

you adapt to that, and within the

31:46

rule set, I think what happened, I

31:48

think, and within the rule set, you

31:50

know, I think what happened with Manel

31:52

over the weekend, I didn't really see,

31:54

I saw the first one where he

31:56

thought it was an I poked, our

31:59

vantage point from our perspective in that

32:01

moment as a coach without my belt

32:03

hand saying time I'm yelling go continue

32:05

because he never stopped he never stopped

32:07

if you're on the flip side of

32:09

that like how do you how do

32:11

you get the time out how do

32:13

you shoot for a takedown which he

32:16

did so you know we kind of

32:18

run through those scenarios if you're on

32:20

both sides of the fence and see

32:22

how we would adapt on those. Is

32:24

it difficult in this in these types

32:26

of situations where you know I'll give

32:28

you an example? We've gone to visit

32:30

the military, right? And they don't really

32:33

cry over situations. They just react, right?

32:35

And they're so good and so well

32:37

trained that it's just in them. They

32:39

react with fighters. Of course, we want

32:41

everything to be as fair as possible,

32:43

but sometimes referees don't see things. Sometimes

32:45

judges don't see things. What is it

32:47

like to get inside the mindset of

32:49

a fighter? And although you want to

32:52

protect them and of course you want

32:54

everything to be fair, it's not always

32:56

going to be fair. How do you

32:58

get inside their mind to get them

33:00

to be able to just keep going

33:02

and react? Man, it's hard.

33:04

It's hard, but like you put yourself

33:06

in those situations, hopefully in the training

33:08

room. Obviously, you're not, you're not drilling

33:10

eye poaks or anything like that. But

33:12

you're trying to say, you're trying to

33:14

stay cool under fire and understand that

33:16

like, hey, there are these positions, there

33:18

are these scenarios that where our reaction

33:21

might garner something that we're not expecting.

33:23

You know, I always look back at

33:25

the kid and PFL, where we had

33:27

the kid and PFL. So like those

33:29

are scenarios that maybe it's one in

33:31

a million, but you have to like

33:33

go over those things with your team

33:35

and speak about those things and how

33:37

are we going to react in those

33:39

positions or those situations. Then I think

33:41

for me too goes is having the

33:43

resource like Jason Herzog or guys and

33:45

I'm friends with to where I can

33:47

have that open dialogue and speak about

33:49

those things and really understand what the

33:51

rule set is. So if that does

33:53

happen as a coach, how can we

33:55

react and how can we prepare for

33:57

it? in as a coach and then

33:59

be able to bring it over to

34:01

your team and try to drill it

34:03

to some capacity is very important for

34:05

us. How has it been establishing connections

34:07

throughout now generations of fighters where veterans

34:09

have their effects on the younger guys

34:11

and even that younger mindset sometimes can

34:13

help the veterans out? What's it like

34:15

kind of being the bridge for that?

34:17

Oh man, I love it because I

34:20

mean, you know, we have Jay and

34:22

Ron and Mike Powell in here, race

34:24

FO's obviously still foreign and those guys

34:26

I think are just, they're a resource,

34:28

they're encyclopedia for the younger generation of

34:30

fighters. But it's also nice too because

34:32

the younger generation of fighters. But it's

34:34

also nice too because like Jay comes

34:36

to all of our drill sessions and

34:38

practices because he's constantly looking to evolve.

34:40

throughout his career, those guys are a

34:42

huge resource. And I think it's always

34:44

important to lean on them because they

34:46

did pave the way, you know, and

34:48

they went through a lot of those

34:50

things. So having those guys in the

34:52

room, man, has been such a blessing

34:54

for us. And I think being able

34:56

to just a point at like, oh,

34:58

go talk to Pyle, he'll help you

35:00

out with that. And you know, it's

35:02

super important for us. You know, I

35:04

always talk about you're not supposed to

35:06

say what goes on in the what

35:08

goes on in the gym, what goes

35:10

on in the gym, what goes on

35:12

in the gym, but goes on in

35:14

the gym, but, but, but, but, but,

35:16

but, but, but, but, but, but, but,

35:19

but, but, what I have always witnessed

35:21

is kind of like a family environment,

35:23

not so much this guy's just checking

35:25

in and checking out. You guys have

35:27

always had that family environment. And so

35:29

what I wanted to ask you was,

35:31

you know, you brought up Sean Strickland,

35:33

right? And I know you had to

35:35

kind of go through a lot of

35:37

stuff with all that, but your bubble

35:39

is a lot smaller than the one

35:41

out here, right? So things that we

35:43

see happen here can get fixed relatively

35:45

quickly, but it doesn't really get out

35:47

to here. having such a strong relationship

35:49

with that guy and with just the

35:51

team in general, is there anything that

35:53

you want to clear up that's happened

35:55

since then or anything that's changed or

35:57

something that you felt maybe wasn't correct

35:59

that got out there that It seems

36:01

moving forward, it seems like everything's pretty

36:03

good right now, right? Yeah, I mean, the

36:06

timing was wrong. The timing was wrong

36:08

on my part and the wording wasn't

36:10

as crystal clear as what I should

36:12

have gotten out. Everyone in the gym

36:14

that knows me, Sean included, knew where

36:16

my heart was and knew where my

36:19

head was and the point that I

36:21

was trying to get across. And Sean

36:23

said that to me immediately via text,

36:26

you know, and he's like, hey man,

36:28

I know exactly what you mean. And

36:30

I saw him in person that same

36:32

Thursday. We hugged high five. He's going

36:35

out snowboarding. We had a good conversation.

36:37

So as far as I'm concerned, everything's

36:39

good on our end. Whether I'm in

36:41

his coach, I'm in his corner, I

36:43

don't, none of that bothers me. What I

36:46

said was from the heart because I love

36:48

him and I care about him and I

36:50

care about him. And if I lie as

36:52

a coach, I'm not doing my job. And

36:54

if I feel like we're missing something, then

36:57

I'm not doing my job. So should I

36:59

say it publicly? Maybe I shouldn't have.

37:01

I don't know. But I do come

37:03

from a football background. We've been in

37:06

positions where people are critical of us

37:08

publicly. And maybe I shouldn't have done

37:10

it publicly when it came to a

37:12

fighter. But of all the people in

37:15

the world that I, you know, in

37:17

my mind that would taking it. you

37:19

know what the green assault would have been

37:21

shown and maybe the timing of it wasn't

37:23

right from my end and I have to

37:25

be better there but at the end of

37:28

the day my heart was in the right

37:30

place I love the guy to death he's

37:32

always gonna be my friend whether I'm in

37:34

his corner or not I just want the

37:36

best from these guys you know no

37:38

matter what so you know it is what it

37:40

is you know your passion and your intensity

37:43

for people who don't know it's

37:45

across the board you know whether

37:47

it's mixed martial arts Right, like

37:49

I mean, you don't pick, we

37:51

were talking about our flag football

37:53

game a couple days ago, me

37:55

and Brad, laughing about that. That's

37:57

another one. So I mean, it's.

38:00

you're like that for everything, right? So

38:02

I guess like from week to week,

38:04

because of sport, back when we were

38:06

growing up in the sport, you get

38:08

a paper view, you had to wait

38:10

three months before the next one. Now

38:12

it's week to week, and sometimes you

38:15

even have just days before one car

38:17

to the next. How do you process

38:19

wins and losses now? And how have

38:21

you learned to turn the page? Man,

38:23

you got to stay neutral. It's so

38:25

important. I know it sounds cliche, but

38:27

you can ride in too high. on

38:29

a big win or you can get

38:32

real low off of a loss. And

38:34

it's usually that, like, like, I usually

38:36

am too low. The winds, you feel

38:38

good about, but I'm usually able to

38:40

reset those pretty quick, but it's more

38:42

about when you lose. And maybe you

38:44

didn't do your job as well as

38:47

a coach or you didn't look good

38:49

or whatever it may be with the

38:51

camp or the fight. And you can

38:53

be too low and that can have

38:55

an effect, a negative effect on not

38:57

only your own psyche, but it can

38:59

reflect on your next fighter. So it's

39:01

very important to be able to turn

39:04

the page. And that was my mindset

39:06

when I got back home from Sydney

39:08

was I had Edmund coming up right

39:10

away. I had Edmund Sebastian. you know

39:12

I had a couple days where I

39:14

was like all right I get to

39:16

get refocused and then now it's this

39:18

is all about Edmund and thankfully I've

39:21

been went out and did his job

39:23

and now I'm now so we're on

39:25

a little run but again it's like

39:27

now you can't get too high you

39:29

know because now you got you got

39:31

Myron this week so for me it's

39:33

about just trying to stay in that

39:36

middle ground and never too low mentality.

39:38

Eric I got some questions for you.

39:40

Are you in your prime as a

39:42

coach? I would like to say yes.

39:44

I would like to say yes. I

39:46

would like to be consistent. That's my

39:48

biggest thing. And I think, you know,

39:50

thankfully because of you guys in 2020

39:53

when I was nominated co-coach of the

39:55

year with Tyson, I think that helped

39:57

put us on the map and people

39:59

started to understand what we were doing.

40:01

But now I've been nominated four years

40:03

in a row, I think three times,

40:05

to me it's about the level of

40:07

consistency. Are we continually putting out good

40:10

products? Are we continuing to build new

40:12

talent? And is that talent performing as

40:14

well? You know, so, you know, the

40:16

Francises and those guys that are going

40:18

to kind of be on the end

40:20

and tail under their careers. Who are

40:22

we replacing them with with our ideologies

40:25

or our systems? And are they those

40:27

guys winning and they're winning emphatically? So

40:29

that to me is equally important. Why

40:31

are you better now than you were

40:33

in 2020 when you not only were

40:35

nominated, but you won the MMA Junky

40:37

Coach of the Year Award? Experience, man.

40:39

Just reps. just reps, you know, and

40:42

that's that's the best part about it,

40:44

is getting these these these valuable reps,

40:46

understanding what championship material looks like, understanding,

40:48

you know, just the drive that I

40:50

have to see people realize that same

40:52

success that France has had, that Aljo

40:54

had, that, you know, Lance Palmer and

40:56

Raffey on stops and Sean Strickland, you

40:59

know, that that that helping these fighters

41:01

realize their full potential and putting them

41:03

in a position where they can better

41:05

their lives, you know, that's been my

41:07

journey. I love so much about this

41:09

sport. I kid you not. There are

41:11

times where I get more excited to

41:14

hear, not just you, but a lot

41:16

of coaches communicate in those 60 seconds

41:18

in a big fight versus some of

41:20

the fights that I've seen. Like I'm

41:22

literally gonna shut up, shut up, you

41:24

know, when they say we're gonna go

41:26

to the coaches corner or whatever. How

41:28

intense are those 30 seconds? Well, it's

41:31

60 seconds. That's actually about 50 because

41:33

it takes you something to get in,

41:35

some to get out. And you know,

41:37

you manage to say something and you

41:39

always leave like 10 or 20 for

41:41

the other coach. But how intense and

41:43

fun are those 60 seconds? The most

41:45

comfortable place I've ever been in my

41:48

entire life. You know, I think as

41:50

a kid, trying to find a career

41:52

path for me or or a coaching

41:54

path for me and things that I

41:56

wanted to do. I live for that

41:58

minute, man, like I really do. I

42:00

love it. I love the pressure. I

42:03

love to be able to pull the

42:05

best out of my fighters in that

42:07

moment when I'm able to look in

42:09

their eyes when they're on that stool,

42:11

whether we're down, or it's even, or

42:13

we're up, or whatever it may be,

42:15

and be able to pull the best

42:17

out of that individual in that moment.

42:20

It's what I live for, man. that

42:22

one minute of what do we need

42:24

to do to make this happen so

42:26

we can get this win. So I

42:28

appreciate you saying that man because it's

42:30

definitely my favorite my favorite thing to

42:32

do in my you know I think

42:34

of my life right like and I'm

42:37

very fortunate every time we walk and

42:39

hit that curtain. And I, you know,

42:41

I walk behind my fighter and I

42:43

look around and I think, man, I

42:45

got the best job in the world.

42:47

You know, I couldn't ask for a

42:49

better thing in my life than being

42:52

able to be a coach at this

42:54

level and be around the individuals that

42:56

that make me a better person. If

42:58

those 60 seconds aren't your favorite thing

43:00

to do, it's smashing food at Roberto's

43:02

$25, I think that's up there as

43:04

well. But no, seriously, I have the

43:06

honor, pleasure, pleasure, whatever. the I was

43:09

in the right place at the right

43:11

time I got to sit at a

43:13

NASCAR pit stop and I got a

43:15

chance to talk to a rear tire

43:17

changer yeah and you know before and

43:19

during but that that point four point

43:21

you know one second or point eight

43:23

that you can shave off make such

43:26

a difference in the race could make

43:28

a difference in the the points you

43:30

know that they accumulate or whatever but

43:32

same thing these adjustments that are being

43:34

made you know can be the difference

43:36

between a fight that's too too going

43:38

into the fifth and pulling it out

43:41

of that fighter you know um so

43:43

yeah i love it man it's intense

43:45

uh... i really love it i see

43:47

how some of the other coaches aren't

43:49

all about it it seems like they

43:51

deferred to you and they might hang

43:53

back but they'll get the reps in

43:55

and they'll eventually get there Sure, I

43:58

mean it is, and it's just that,

44:00

it's just reps, and some guys do

44:02

a really good job of motivating their

44:04

fighters with not a lot of technical

44:06

advice, and I think it's really depicted

44:08

on the fighter and what the fighter

44:10

needs in that moment, and knowing your

44:12

fighter. I think that's important. There's been

44:15

rounds where I've never given one piece

44:17

of technical advice, but just yelled and

44:19

try to motivate. You know, because the

44:21

fighter might be... might know what they

44:23

need to do and we've worked on

44:25

it time and time again but we're

44:27

not getting the best out of them

44:30

in that moment. You know and then

44:32

there's times where you're just calm cool

44:34

collect and you're just all technique you

44:36

know so I think it's just a

44:38

matter of just getting reps and knowing

44:40

the guy and knowing the fighter and

44:42

knowing the fighter and knowing how to

44:44

pull the best out of them in

44:47

that moment. You played other sports but

44:49

eventually you wanted to be part of

44:51

a team and that's what led you

44:53

to the extreme rapporteur about 20 years.

44:55

Has you never, have you never officially

44:57

fought? Boy, I'm probably given the worst

44:59

English grammar there. You never having fought

45:01

before. Do you think there's ever been

45:04

a point where that maybe helped you?

45:06

I do. And you know, I think

45:08

the problem for me, I say problem,

45:10

the situation for me being in that

45:12

scenario, you always kind of have this

45:14

like level of imposter syndrome. It's like,

45:16

well, how can I do this if

45:19

I didn't do that? And I remember

45:21

having an offensive coordinator in college that

45:23

never played football. And I remember saying

45:25

that to my dad, I'm like, this

45:27

guy never played football, like how do

45:29

I want to listen to what he

45:31

has to say? I'll never forget this

45:33

conversation. My dad said to me, he

45:36

goes, sometimes it's the people that are

45:38

outside of the lines that have a

45:40

different perspective that can bring some new

45:42

inside or new Intel. So I'll never

45:44

forget that conversation having with my own

45:46

man to the point when I got

45:48

into this sport. And it was Ray's

45:50

Fo that brought it up to me.

45:53

I fought a specific way, I coach

45:55

a specific way that fits my style.

45:57

So it goes if you've never fought

45:59

professionally... you don't have this style that's

46:01

innated in you. So you're gonna be

46:03

able to look at things differently from other

46:05

perspectives that might fit a different individual. So

46:07

it was really rare that kind of helped

46:10

me understand that in my head to kind

46:12

of combat that like, oh, well, if I

46:14

didn't fight, then how can I say this?

46:16

He's like, bro, you train every day, you

46:18

drill every day, but you drill with some

46:20

of the best and train with some of

46:22

the best. all around and you don't, it

46:24

doesn't give you a particular style, it's going

46:26

to make you more well rounded for anybody

46:28

that you were able to coach. And I

46:31

feel like that. I can change my game,

46:33

whether it's Dan E. Gai, you know,

46:35

Francis Niganu, Daniel Zalhuber, whoever it is,

46:37

Kai Kamaka, I can give them what

46:39

they need due to their athletic ability

46:41

and I think it makes me a better

46:43

coach for it. Do you still get nervous

46:45

before fights? Not that the guy might...

46:48

lose just nerves because of bright lights and

46:50

shit like that now no really okay I

46:52

love it I love it um but I

46:54

always your heartbeat doesn't go

46:57

up huh your heartbeat doesn't

46:59

go up in the prep point or anything

47:01

like that no not really not really

47:03

um I would say like guys that

47:05

they said to me like I'm nervous

47:07

I always asking like what are nerves

47:10

right what are nerves and it's kind of

47:12

how you perceive them I always I always

47:14

think it's excitement. So I'm excited. Like I'm

47:16

not nervous, I'm excited. Like I can't wait

47:18

to be in this position. So no, I

47:20

don't really get nervous. And I think there's

47:22

a part of me that doesn't want to

47:24

because I feel like the fighter feeds off

47:27

of those nerves if you are and you're

47:29

a little jittery and jumpy. So I do

47:31

in my mind have a conscious effort of

47:33

being calm and cool and collect because I

47:35

want that to pass on to my fighter

47:37

as well. You know how Dwayne Ludwig

47:39

has Bang Muitai and Kenny Johnson

47:42

has Bolt wrestling? Will Eric, Nixic,

47:44

ever come up with a, like

47:46

a system, I guess, or anything

47:49

like that? Not just like, hey,

47:51

I'm doing videos, actually like an

47:53

MMA coaching system. I mean, definitely,

47:56

but I'm a Dwayne guy, so I

47:58

mean, I'm actually a brother. under Duane.

48:00

So a lot of my a lot

48:02

of my ideologies and system for striking

48:05

are distant relatives of Duane or direct

48:07

relatives of Duane I should say. So

48:09

um you know I could I could

48:11

develop that into something else but if

48:13

I were to do anything I would

48:15

definitely do something with Wayne because of

48:17

the you know the lineage that I

48:19

do have is through him and probably

48:22

with Dennis something like that with Dennis

48:24

Davis where we can mix something in

48:26

together because he's he's been my other

48:28

main coach for forever so if I

48:30

were to do anything it would definitely

48:32

be that like team quest lineage into

48:34

something that Wayne has done for me.

48:37

What do you do with all your

48:39

fight kits since you are in these

48:41

corners every week? So you probably have

48:43

multiple egates multiple strip wins everywhere like

48:45

I have boxes all over my office

48:47

right now like so like venom or

48:49

rebok or whoever they never look at

48:52

you go muck we've given you like

48:54

20 just bring that one or is

48:56

it always got to be fresh dude

48:58

so this is what I've been doing

49:00

I bring I have them all in

49:02

the gym and then like this recently

49:04

we had a couple kids come in

49:06

from Australia a dad came in with

49:09

like two of his sons and I

49:11

said hey Pick out whatever gear you

49:13

guys went out of these boxes. and

49:15

these like they're teenage boys and they're

49:17

losing their shit. They're like, what? They

49:19

got Strickland's and Chris Curtis's and E.

49:21

Gaze and whatever. So like they literally

49:24

like they left with like three different

49:26

sets of gear and everything else. So

49:28

that's been fun for me. Like my

49:30

wife will throw them on. She started

49:32

doing this like Facebook marketplace. I'm like,

49:34

you don't even worry about it. I'll

49:36

just give them to people when they

49:38

come in to the gym. We have

49:41

enough visitors and they come in. when

49:43

I go on the walk, like there's

49:45

a hat laying around. So you always

49:47

see a kid with his hand out

49:49

and like wants to shake your hand

49:51

or something, I'll give him a hat.

49:53

You know, because I don't want to

49:56

cattle and bring all this shit home

49:58

and out of my life gets mad

50:00

because I have so much shit everywhere.

50:02

So I'm just trying to hand it

50:04

out to whoever I can when I

50:06

have the opportunity. I like the walkout

50:08

idea, all right, that's a good one.

50:11

All right, what you got for the

50:13

coach, we got for the coach, we

50:15

got to. up here. I wanted to

50:17

ask you, Alex Pereira, you've been around

50:19

him and he's such a special fighter

50:21

and we get to see him again,

50:23

but there are things about him that

50:25

kind of reminds me about Francis and

50:28

Ghanou and the way he kind of

50:30

walks into a fight and approaches a

50:32

fight. Can you maybe share one thing

50:34

that you feel like they have in

50:36

common and then one thing that might

50:38

be a little different? Yeah, I can

50:40

give you the best analogy, man. It's

50:43

like, it's like when you watch a

50:45

great white white, white white, It's kind

50:47

of just in this like stalking motion

50:49

and then when it goes it hits.

50:51

That's what they both remind me, they

50:53

have that element of like, is this,

50:55

is this thing is sleep? Like, like

50:57

we need to wake it up. And

51:00

then all of a sudden when it

51:02

goes, it's sudden and it's on you

51:04

and it's tearing you apart. You're like,

51:06

holy shit. Yeah, it's wide awake. So

51:08

that's, that's, that's what I get from

51:10

both of them. To be honest with

51:12

you, you're like, this is this, this

51:15

great white sharp, this apex predator predator

51:17

that's predator predator predator that's coming at

51:19

you. right? But when it decides to

51:21

go, it goes and it's tearing shit

51:23

to shreds, to shreds. You know, they

51:25

say, you know, they say aliens walk

51:27

among us. He would be the first

51:30

guy I would point to, because he

51:32

just seems like he knows what's going

51:34

to happen before it does. Right. So

51:36

cool about it. You're like, you actually

51:38

know what's about to happen? Like, so

51:40

weird, what were you saying? Well, I

51:42

was going to say, how tough will

51:44

this weekend be, because I've seen Mangalman

51:47

and Kaleive in Extrinkator for many years,

51:49

but I know that Paheda was also

51:51

part of Teen Strickland. Sure. And, you

51:53

know, you've, you like that guy. So,

51:55

hey, have a great fight, you know,

51:57

have a great fight. You know, Aikalives,

51:59

more of a teammate to me because

52:02

of time served, you know, Aikalives. been

52:04

here for eight camps, you know, in

52:06

the past, so. I've no Inca live

52:08

really well. I know Suk Rob is

52:10

coached really well. But I also love

52:12

Polino and I love Alex at the

52:14

same time. They've been a huge resource

52:16

for us, competed against them. So yeah,

52:19

for me, this is a, you know,

52:21

put my fan cap on and get

52:23

a watch, two of the best light

52:25

heavy weights to ever do it. And

52:27

I want to see the adjustments. I

52:29

want to see what these guys are

52:31

going to do game plan wise, you

52:34

know. So I'm excited for the fight.

52:36

I'm glad I'm going to be there.

52:38

We have Myron Stanceos on the card,

52:40

so we'll be early, so I get

52:42

to sit back and watch some good

52:44

fights. You still good on time? Yeah,

52:46

great on time. What was your first

52:49

fight? Do you remember it? As a

52:51

coach? First USC, first USC was, oh,

52:53

first fight ever corner was Dennis Davis

52:55

at the Riviera. Here in town. And

52:57

that was, man, 2014. No, that's 2014.

52:59

No, I'm tripping 2014. 2007, I bet.

53:01

Yeah. Okay. When Campman was, first USC

53:03

fight ever corner was Martin Campman, Carlos

53:06

Condit, too. Ooh. First title fight, USC?

53:08

First title fight, you see? First title

53:10

fight would have been. Winner lose, just,

53:12

yeah, just the title. Just the title,

53:14

if I could. Jessica, Jessica, I fought.

53:16

Oh, that's a tough one, man. Poor

53:18

girl, it was tough. It was tough.

53:21

Yeah, yeah, so yeah, but Cameron, Cameron

53:23

really opened the door for me in

53:25

a lot of ways. Martin was not

53:27

only, is a very good friend of

53:29

mine still to this day, but training

53:31

partner, you know, teacher, coach, all those

53:33

things, but a guy who, when he

53:35

put me in his corner, you know,

53:38

help me, you know, believe in myself

53:40

as a coach and understand what the

53:42

value that I had. And then more

53:44

and more fighters started to see that.

53:46

And then it was Brad Tavares, it

53:48

was like, yo, you know, I want

53:50

you in my corner. So I've been

53:53

with Brad ever since. So those opportunities

53:55

I think that like allowed me to

53:57

be in the position I have today

53:59

is definitely like Martin and Dennis. Paul

54:01

Wintello, former U of C heavyweight, used

54:03

to say he threw up before every

54:05

fight, and he said it publicly. So

54:08

I'm not outing him. I'm wondering, do

54:10

you have a fighter that's had some

54:12

sort of a ritual, good or bad?

54:14

And I understand if you can't share

54:16

it, you can't share it, but maybe

54:18

a good one, that's funny, where like,

54:20

you know, they do 10 push-ups, for

54:22

example, before they go out, or maybe

54:25

the better. Yeah, nothing nothing too crazy.

54:27

But there was there was one guy

54:29

and I won't out him, but he

54:31

did he did right he vomited every

54:33

time and he was like, he was

54:35

a nervous wreck to the point where

54:37

it was like, it was like, it

54:40

was like, it was like, it was

54:42

like, come on, bro, what are we

54:44

doing here? You know, but yeah, he

54:46

was, he was always pretty nervous going

54:48

out. He would dry he even loud

54:50

noises would get them all frantic and

54:52

stuff, but, but, for the most part,

54:54

I haven't. like Brad of corner for

54:57

like 20 fights. Brad's never been, you

54:59

know, he has to have a secret

55:01

handshake or, you know, something he's got

55:03

to do. Chicken Alfredo, he'll always eat

55:05

that after way. It's always, I still

55:07

don't just say like, no, why don't

55:09

you want Chicken Alfredo? But yeah, nothing,

55:12

nothing, nothing too crazy. Braintrig used to

55:14

like two M, still lights. Yeah. Did

55:16

that ever tempt you to maybe have

55:18

a fun fight like versus another coach?

55:20

Hey, we'll still be friends. But let's

55:22

just mix it up on a on

55:24

a on a setting and not tell

55:27

anyone. Remember the secretary of state Nevada

55:29

once did a fight and he didn't

55:31

tell anyone to a fight and he

55:33

didn't tell anyone to fight night. I

55:35

think it was Sandoval or something like

55:37

that. But did any of that ever

55:39

tempt you even even if I wouldn't

55:41

have any issue with any of that

55:44

stuff for me. It was just more

55:46

about like when I got into this

55:48

sport. I was just coming off a

55:50

lot of the concussions from football. So

55:52

protecting my head and protecting, you know,

55:54

my, the, you know, I actually talked

55:56

to Brandon Roy Val yesterday, because I

55:59

saw him post something about what he

56:01

was going through with his concussion. And

56:03

ironically that's a lot what I had

56:05

was and I'm not I'm not saying

56:07

what he does have is the same

56:09

but I I thought it might be

56:11

vestibular and inner ear crystals because of

56:13

the vertigo. And that's a lot what

56:16

I experienced. And thankfully for me, I

56:18

guess blessing in disguise was when I

56:20

went through that with football was the

56:22

same thing that Martin was going through

56:24

when Martin ended up having to retire.

56:26

So for me being able to navigate

56:28

through some of that concussions before a

56:31

lot of these guys and understanding those

56:33

symptoms, it was a blessing in disguise

56:35

because I knew what they were going

56:37

through, but I also knew. the resources

56:39

that I had with Dr. Brian Warner

56:41

and a couple other guys that I

56:43

knew that could help them get through

56:46

a lot of that stuff. So for

56:48

me, a lot of my process in

56:50

the sport was not to continue to

56:52

get concussions. So that was my biggest

56:54

concern and biggest worry. All right, and

56:56

this one, I don't want to get

56:58

you in trouble. So just hear me

57:00

out. If you could choose the three

57:03

judges and the ref for the world

57:05

title fights for your fighters, who would

57:07

it be? Don't tell me who you

57:09

want. Give me Sal. I know I

57:11

know I've been, I've been critical of

57:13

Sal in the past, but I think

57:15

Sal is very consistent. Same with Mike

57:18

Bell. I think Mike Bell can be

57:20

very consistent. And I know these guys

57:22

have had their off days. Give me

57:24

Sal, give me Mike. Who else? I'm

57:26

trying to think. Maybe Ron McCarthy. Okay.

57:28

I think who do want to arrest

57:30

your fight? Herzog. Herzog. Herzog. Okay. Got

57:32

it. And the last question, the UFC

57:35

gives, here's this interview and goes, all

57:37

right man, you're our new director of

57:39

scouting because they throw so much money

57:41

at you, you can refuse. Where do

57:43

you think you would gravitate to? It's

57:45

your first night and they all happen

57:47

to be in town. ADCC, would you

57:50

sit there and go, okay, that guy

57:52

is athletic, if I can just get

57:54

him to wrestle and develop some hands,

57:56

we got something here. Or would you

57:58

rather go to like the NC2A's and

58:00

go to like the NC2A's? this wrestler

58:02

just wanted if i can develop some

58:05

hands and some jigitsi we got something

58:07

here or like a golden glory you

58:09

know like what isian poeton did oh

58:11

man this guy can strike we just

58:13

got to teach him how to avoid

58:15

the ground and avoid submissions like what's

58:17

the route that attracts you the most

58:19

in terms of like building a fighter

58:22

if you had the chance to scout

58:24

and pick one out you know and

58:26

because you're gonna throw a lot of

58:28

money at them to take that's a

58:30

good one George Personally, I think I

58:32

go to like, I go to NCAs,

58:34

I go to Fargo, I go, I

58:37

go get a griny wrestler because we

58:39

can, we can dictate the pace and

58:41

where the fight goes. And then you

58:43

have a guy who understands how to

58:45

cut weight. There's a greediness and a

58:47

toughness about them that, you know, I

58:49

think is forged in the wrestling room.

58:51

So yeah, give me that, give me

58:54

that NCA wrestler. And we'll put some

58:56

hands behind them and then we can,

58:58

we can, we can, we can make

59:00

them a world class fighter. That's easier

59:02

than teaching the takedown defense and avoid

59:04

the subs from the kickboxer? I wouldn't

59:06

say easier and I think I think

59:09

you know you have time served and

59:11

you can make these guys into a

59:13

complete mixed martial artist in the right

59:15

environment you know and obviously with Francis

59:17

we've had enough time and in the

59:19

right environment the right coaching the right

59:21

training partners. It's so important to have

59:24

that village right like... and that and

59:26

that right there is in the right

59:28

mindset was Francis was open to learning.

59:30

and growing as a martial artist. It

59:32

wasn't about him defending the takedown. It

59:34

was about making him a better wrestler

59:36

all around. And now we've seen what

59:38

he's capable of when he does score

59:41

takedowns. And the offensive side of things

59:43

where it becomes another attribute, another tool,

59:45

not a deficiency. So that was something

59:47

that where Francis was open-minded to. And

59:49

now it developed into a new skill

59:51

for him that we see him easily

59:53

take people down and we saw what

59:56

he did with hen and fajeda. You

59:58

know why I thought the tide was

1:00:00

turning? because the gritty arrest is probably

1:00:02

the correct answer and it's probably what

1:00:04

most people have said for the last

1:00:06

30 years and continue saying but one

1:00:08

thing I've noticed is they don't really become

1:00:10

big charismatic stars you know you got your

1:00:13

chanders that can talk of Ben Asker and

1:00:15

that can talk trash you know a few

1:00:17

other guys that have a certain swag to

1:00:19

them but a lot of them are just

1:00:21

Midwest kids northeast kids and they you

1:00:23

know they work hard and I've noticed

1:00:25

the kickboxer kind of has a little

1:00:28

bit more like The rhythm of Pizzas, yeah.

1:00:30

But that's obviously now I'm thinking from

1:00:32

the money side, you know, things and

1:00:34

creating a star. Yeah, I completely agree

1:00:36

with that too. And I'm sure the

1:00:39

promotion prefers the guys that are in

1:00:41

there, you know, knocking each other out.

1:00:43

But, you know, I look at the

1:00:45

guy like Kamara Usman, who really developed

1:00:47

into a beautiful striker out of both

1:00:50

stances, but was able to blend it,

1:00:52

you know, blend his, his wrestling into

1:00:54

his striking. I look at Hamzat, the

1:00:56

guy who is such a offensive style

1:00:58

grappler, where it's not boring, you know,

1:01:00

like he's going to take your head

1:01:02

off. Right, and Fluffy Hernandez. He's a

1:01:05

fun and mild grappler who's implementing ground

1:01:07

and pound and he's putting a different

1:01:09

type of pace, you know, on somebody

1:01:11

to where, yeah, I remember like, you

1:01:13

know, the promotion wasn't big on like

1:01:16

John Fitch back in the day, but,

1:01:18

you know, John Fitch was, you know,

1:01:20

trying to hold another grown man down

1:01:22

like that for 15 to 25 minutes

1:01:24

is very difficult. You know, and then

1:01:26

you have Jake, Jake Shields, who has

1:01:29

a very offensive style to his grappling.

1:01:31

So I think when you start blending

1:01:33

and connecting those things is very important

1:01:35

because it makes it a fan friendly

1:01:37

type. You know, and I see, you

1:01:39

see that with Fluffy, Fluffy Hernandez. He's

1:01:41

a fun guy to watch when he gets

1:01:43

on the ground. Fluffies, Alow, Mario Bautista.

1:01:45

There's a few guys that. people

1:01:47

don't even think about but I'm like I'm fans

1:01:50

of theirs for one reason or another man because

1:01:52

you know you got to you got to develop

1:01:54

new favorite fighters as the old ones start to

1:01:56

retire I hope you never retire anytime soon I

1:01:58

think you can do some legendary stuff in this

1:02:00

sport, you're young and like I say,

1:02:02

you just have this great attitude

1:02:04

towards it all. So anyway, it's

1:02:06

a pleasure always to talk to

1:02:08

you. Our fans love it and

1:02:11

thanks for spending a lot of

1:02:13

time with us answering a ton

1:02:15

of questions. And you know how

1:02:17

much I love you both and

1:02:19

you know without you guys I'm

1:02:21

not in this position too you

1:02:23

know I tell you guys that

1:02:25

every time but you guys you

1:02:28

guys been my my rider dies

1:02:30

for a long long time so

1:02:32

love being on the show love

1:02:34

seeing both you guys in both

1:02:36

you guys miss skiing you guys

1:02:38

in the gym I don't see

1:02:40

you as much as I used

1:02:42

to but you know so I

1:02:45

just I always anytime home on

1:02:47

the show it pulls up our

1:02:49

heartstrings because you guys know how

1:02:51

much you mean you mean to

1:02:53

me to me to me to

1:02:55

me? He was gonna say the

1:02:57

fighting nerds coach or someone else

1:02:59

when I asked them name a

1:03:01

good coach that you haven't met

1:03:04

and what I meant by that

1:03:06

was if you fist bump someone

1:03:08

or shook hands and had a

1:03:10

word that no, that I meant

1:03:12

someone where you've actually had long

1:03:14

extended conversations Where now they become

1:03:16

your boy and so when you

1:03:18

ask someone You know like if

1:03:21

you were to go to extreme

1:03:23

coutur right now and go hey,

1:03:25

man, who's some poor some of

1:03:27

your favorite fighters? And they'll go

1:03:29

oh Jay her on And you

1:03:31

know, patchy mix and Francis and

1:03:33

Ghana, I'm like, pretend you're not

1:03:35

here and now tell me who's

1:03:38

some of your favorite fighters are.

1:03:40

Or you ask, you know, Frankie

1:03:42

Edgar, who's the greatest coach of

1:03:44

all time? Man, you know, what,

1:03:46

it's probably Mark Henry, you know,

1:03:48

aside from Mark Henry, like, everyone's

1:03:50

very loyal in a way. It's

1:03:52

not a bad thing, but they're

1:03:55

all very loyal. In fact they're

1:03:57

all very loyal. Homer so much

1:03:59

and to the point where sometimes

1:04:01

they won't even fight each other

1:04:03

Like that story last week where

1:04:05

Julian Marquez was like what? He

1:04:07

was surprised that Cody Brundage took

1:04:09

the fight. Now I guess they

1:04:11

had been teammates and Julian called

1:04:14

him and said, hey, did you

1:04:16

take the fight? And the other

1:04:18

guy goes, yeah. You know, some

1:04:20

people are a little bit more

1:04:22

invested in the whole, but I

1:04:24

thought we were boys, we trained,

1:04:26

you know, and then others are

1:04:28

like, well, we do, but you

1:04:31

know, it's like we share meals

1:04:33

with like what Dana White said

1:04:35

about Stitch Duran. He wasn't been

1:04:37

over to my house. But no,

1:04:39

for us, he says he hasn't

1:04:41

spent too much time with for

1:04:43

us. He says he hasn't spent

1:04:45

too much time with too much

1:04:48

time with for us. because it's

1:04:50

when you know he's got his

1:04:52

brother and a couple of the

1:04:54

guys from the cartel went over

1:04:56

there. I really love the work

1:04:58

he's done with Rob Bond and

1:05:00

he's just he holds up man

1:05:02

he's been around for such a

1:05:05

long time. Of course he had

1:05:07

the epic GSP run and then

1:05:09

a little bit of Rory and

1:05:11

some other guys. I've always liked

1:05:13

coaching style. When you asked that

1:05:15

question I was thinking man. Just

1:05:17

based off the people I've seen

1:05:19

in in his gym There might

1:05:21

not be very many, but you

1:05:24

know who I was thinking of

1:05:26

was? Patneris, maybe Hmm. Yeah, that's

1:05:28

a good one What was it

1:05:30

gonna say? Oh regarding fighting nerds.

1:05:32

I just happened to see That's

1:05:34

special that Nolan King did with

1:05:36

fighting nerds. You can look for

1:05:38

it on YouTube I'll probably post

1:05:41

it on my Facebook if we're

1:05:43

friends You'll see it But roofie

1:05:45

is one of their fighting nerds

1:05:47

and he's coming up. He's fighting

1:05:49

this weekend John Silva not only

1:05:51

just fought. He's got a fight

1:05:53

coming up at USC 314 against

1:05:55

Bryce Mitchell Kyle Brio, but I

1:05:58

saw it about a year ago,

1:06:00

and I saw it again last

1:06:02

night. It was really good Fighting

1:06:04

nerds Nolan King YouTube just Google

1:06:06

that and it's only 10 minutes,

1:06:08

but Yeah, man those guys have

1:06:10

some killers That's that coach right

1:06:12

there. I wonder right now. What

1:06:15

is he scheming? They say that

1:06:17

he's kind of a nerd He's

1:06:19

got a notebook and things like

1:06:21

that. And I remember about five

1:06:23

years ago, seven years ago, we

1:06:25

were saying the same thing about

1:06:27

Eugene Barmon from New Zealand. Just

1:06:29

all of a sudden, his team

1:06:31

got hot, you know. So was

1:06:34

it just because they really had

1:06:36

the best fighters in the world

1:06:38

or is everyone good, but the

1:06:40

tactics is what, you know, can

1:06:42

pull you through? Who knows? Dana

1:06:44

White and. Big turkey goes around

1:06:46

business. They shook hands on a

1:06:48

deal, man, that's supposed to change

1:06:51

boxing a little. I don't know

1:06:53

that it will. Obviously, Big turkey

1:06:55

slings a lot of money, and

1:06:57

he's gained some respect in the

1:06:59

boxing community. But I think the

1:07:01

history of boxing, it's just too

1:07:03

entrenched for that much change to

1:07:05

happen. You know, you can do

1:07:08

your Jake Paul side shows. That

1:07:10

just feels like it's a part.

1:07:12

Aside from boxing, but I don't

1:07:14

know that some of the big

1:07:16

names are gonna wanna follow some

1:07:18

of the things that Dana White

1:07:20

likes to promote the way he

1:07:22

likes to promote. They've already got

1:07:25

a lot of money. You know,

1:07:27

these guys in the UFC, they

1:07:29

don't have a choice. They don't

1:07:31

have a choice. They want to

1:07:33

make money. I think a lot

1:07:35

of these boxers, they don't, they've

1:07:37

already got tons of money. So

1:07:39

I think they're gonna be like,

1:07:41

they're gonna have that kind of

1:07:44

attitude. This is what Big Turkey

1:07:46

said. This landmark partnership between industry

1:07:48

powerhouses sets the stage for unparalleled

1:07:50

experience for boxers and fans. Together

1:07:52

we are developing the next generation

1:07:54

of talent and delivering world-class events

1:07:56

at a time when the sport

1:07:58

is prime for further disruption. And

1:08:01

quote, Mark Shapiro, president and COO

1:08:03

of TKO, which owns USC and

1:08:05

WEW. He said quote, this is

1:08:07

a strategic opportunity to reimagine the

1:08:09

sport of boxing globally. TKL has

1:08:11

deep expertise, promotional prowess, and long-standing

1:08:13

relationships. He, Turkey, Alishik, and Sela

1:08:15

share our passion and vision for

1:08:18

evolving the current model. Together we

1:08:20

can bring the sweet science back

1:08:22

to its rightful place in the

1:08:24

forefront of the global sports ecosystem.

1:08:26

Now one thing that concerns me

1:08:28

a little bit. Well, let me

1:08:30

just say this one sentence. This

1:08:32

might clear up what's happening. TKO

1:08:35

will serve as managing partner. This

1:08:37

isn't a quote. This is part

1:08:39

of the article. TKO will serve

1:08:41

as managing partner, providing day-to-day operational

1:08:43

expertise, management, and oversight of the

1:08:45

promotion with executive leadership anchored by

1:08:47

U.C. President and CEO, Nick Khan.

1:08:49

So I don't know that that

1:08:51

clears up too much about what,

1:08:54

you know, who will do what,

1:08:56

but here are the key words,

1:08:58

day-to-day operational expertise. So does that

1:09:00

mean when the fighters get to

1:09:02

town, the U.S.C. people are kind

1:09:04

of handling that, oversight of the

1:09:06

promotion, that's Dana White and maybe

1:09:08

using the TKO brand, you know,

1:09:11

their W.W.E. and U.S. brand to

1:09:13

promote boxing events, executive leadership. But

1:09:15

I think what goes alluding to

1:09:17

is fight purses right goes like

1:09:19

the way that works 80% goes

1:09:21

to the fighters 20% goes to

1:09:23

the promotion in MMA it's different

1:09:25

Will boxers sign you know exclusive

1:09:28

contracts with these with these people

1:09:30

or might they be a little?

1:09:32

hesitant because of the stories that

1:09:34

they've heard with UFC fighters who

1:09:36

can't seem to break away when

1:09:38

they want to Yeah, that well,

1:09:40

I'm I'm more of fear of

1:09:42

just whatever new stuff Dana White

1:09:45

is bringing in is guy to

1:09:47

be stuff that's somewhat relative to

1:09:49

what he's done in the U

1:09:51

of C. And so yeah, they're

1:09:53

very big on exclusivity and that

1:09:55

doesn't really happen in boxing. In

1:09:57

boxing yet, there are contracts and

1:09:59

there are things you can't do,

1:10:01

but for the most part, you

1:10:04

have your freedom as a fighter.

1:10:06

You know, if you wanted to

1:10:08

go do this or do that,

1:10:10

if you wanted to pro-russle, you

1:10:12

can do that. Things like that

1:10:14

I think fighters might start to

1:10:16

have a problem with. This maybe

1:10:18

clears a few things up. The

1:10:21

new promotion will feature, and these

1:10:23

are some bullet points, a highly

1:10:25

structured system to develop new talent

1:10:27

from around the world, including athlete

1:10:29

combines and academies. Access for all

1:10:31

boxers to the UFC Performance Institute,

1:10:33

the world's leading combat sports training,

1:10:35

research rehabilitation and nutrition center, featuring

1:10:38

locations in Las Vegas, Mexico City,

1:10:40

and Shanghai. And finally, TCO's production,

1:10:42

media, and promotional expertise to deliver

1:10:44

both in-areen experiences and top-tier state-of-the-art

1:10:46

broadcasts, two fans around the world.

1:10:48

Okay, let's focus on that before

1:10:50

we get out of here. I

1:10:52

think what they're, they're gonna say,

1:10:55

look, when things are in the

1:10:57

Middle East, obviously you guys, we

1:10:59

will have support. and help you

1:11:01

run it, but you seem to

1:11:03

be knowing what's going on over

1:11:05

there. And then stateside, the athletes

1:11:07

can come over here and become

1:11:09

better athletes in general and we'll

1:11:11

feed them. But I think the

1:11:14

Apex is where they probably want

1:11:16

to have some events because that

1:11:18

guy Shapiro, COO, TKO, he recently

1:11:20

did like an earnings call where

1:11:22

he talked about he wants more

1:11:24

shows at the Apex because it's

1:11:26

economically viable for them. And remember

1:11:28

Dana White is one like, no

1:11:31

man, we gotta get out to

1:11:33

the fans. We're always breaking records,

1:11:35

you know, wherever we go for

1:11:37

these fight nights and the other.

1:11:39

guy's saying I don't think the

1:11:41

other guy's disputing that but what

1:11:43

he's saying is we keep a

1:11:45

lot more because we own the

1:11:48

arena but the key thing he

1:11:50

said was I don't think people

1:11:52

can notice and I thought that

1:11:54

was very very that was way

1:11:56

off hell yeah you could know

1:11:58

how can you not notice the

1:12:00

difference between a fight night and

1:12:02

a fight night at the Apex

1:12:05

that one in Seattle was loud

1:12:07

goes they were calling it the

1:12:09

12th fan and that's that's a

1:12:11

reference from the University of Washington

1:12:13

and the Seattle Seahawks They were

1:12:15

loud, they were chanting, you don't

1:12:17

get that at the Apex? Yeah,

1:12:19

you can notice for sure, but

1:12:21

we're never gonna stop tuning in

1:12:24

because it's at the Apex, right?

1:12:26

That's, I think, what his point

1:12:28

is, no matter what, they're gonna

1:12:30

watch. And that's, I think, what

1:12:32

his point is, no matter what,

1:12:34

they're gonna watch. And that's, I

1:12:36

think, what his point is, no

1:12:38

matter what, they're gonna go, you

1:12:41

know, you're just no way around

1:12:43

it. I've there that guy's all

1:12:45

on that maybe instead of saying

1:12:47

from the outside you can the

1:12:49

only time that I will give

1:12:51

him that is that W. W.

1:12:53

event. They spruce that one up

1:12:55

a little bit and I thought

1:12:58

if anything that was scolding U.

1:13:00

S. C. Look what they did

1:13:02

to your apex. You know, it

1:13:04

looked a lot better than when

1:13:06

you just have your quiet apex

1:13:08

shows. It seems it seems kind

1:13:10

of cheap. Now I don't mind

1:13:12

it as much as others because

1:13:15

I can go to it if

1:13:17

I want. I usually don't because

1:13:19

I like to sit at home

1:13:21

and gamble and you know whatever

1:13:23

and just drinking. Watch it that

1:13:25

way I've been to so many

1:13:27

but more than anything the cards

1:13:29

aren't sexy. So when I look

1:13:31

at the card I go oh

1:13:34

man I gotta be there in

1:13:36

person. You know a ranked fighters

1:13:38

or fighters that just have given

1:13:40

me tons of great highlights over

1:13:42

the years I'm gonna go. I

1:13:44

mean they're gonna pay for ticket

1:13:46

drive down there, pay for parking

1:13:48

whatever you know I... Do you

1:13:51

drunk? No. Now do I sit

1:13:53

at home? Oh man, those are

1:13:55

some good fights. Yeah, because it's

1:13:57

not hard for me to be

1:13:59

entertained. I'm like, I'm like an

1:14:01

orangutang over here. Just give me

1:14:03

a banana, occasionally, put on a

1:14:05

fight, and I'll just tickle myself

1:14:08

and watch and make a big

1:14:10

deal out of a KO or

1:14:12

whatever. But we don't know that

1:14:14

until the fight happens. But at

1:14:16

the same time, I can be

1:14:18

over one of them bridges in

1:14:20

Las Vegas or at Fremont Street

1:14:22

and two bombs might get into

1:14:25

a great fight that I might

1:14:27

enjoy that I might enjoy. I

1:14:29

don't know. But yeah, he said that.

1:14:32

And I couldn't believe he said that,

1:14:34

that he wants more shows at the

1:14:36

Apex, and you can't tell the difference

1:14:39

is what he said. Come on, man.

1:14:41

How can he not tell the difference?

1:14:43

He's tripping. Anyway, all right, folks. You

1:14:45

have C on Saturday, 3.13, super top

1:14:48

heavy. I like Baja Mondays and Jaylon

1:14:50

Turner, and I'm a fan of Amanda

1:14:52

Lemos. Don't get me wrong. But I'm

1:14:55

struggling here guys. Wait till you see

1:14:57

what 314 has in store. That's one

1:14:59

where you get really, really excited and

1:15:01

talk about barbecues and friends coming over

1:15:04

or whatever. This is one where it's

1:15:06

like, yeah, the great Poetant. Can't wait

1:15:08

for the walkout. And and and Justin

1:15:11

Gagee. You know, he's a human highlight

1:15:13

film like they used to call. Dominic

1:15:15

Wilkins. But yeah, after that's like, who's

1:15:17

big fall. And it's just going to

1:15:20

be up to the great athletes of

1:15:22

MMA to go out there because again

1:15:24

if two people get into it a

1:15:27

scrap can be a scrap but on

1:15:29

paper I don't know how they're charging

1:15:31

people a lot of money and I

1:15:34

don't know that they're going to get

1:15:36

a lot of paper views hopefully we

1:15:38

get a lot of traffic on our

1:15:40

watch along starting at 8 p.m.m. Eastern

1:15:43

5 p.m. Pacific goes any final words

1:15:45

before we get out. No I just

1:15:47

think a lot can happen here for.

1:15:50

the future of mixed martial arts just

1:15:52

in this main event. So it's definitely

1:15:54

worth watching but I think a lot

1:15:56

of people are accounting and Goliath out

1:15:59

a little but too much. It goes

1:16:01

before we exit. Did you see

1:16:03

Colby Covington at the PI when

1:16:05

he saw Thumba Garimbo? His

1:16:07

face when he kind of went like

1:16:10

that was funny. It was funny.

1:16:12

I haven't talked to Colby in

1:16:14

years. When I did, I got a kick

1:16:16

out of him. I liked him. He didn't

1:16:18

come off too well in that video,

1:16:20

man. He didn't come off like any

1:16:23

form of a gangster at all. And

1:16:25

then he went up some stairs and

1:16:27

kind of looked in another direction. It

1:16:29

kind of feeds into that whole thing

1:16:31

where Kobe's more of a tough guy

1:16:34

when the cameras aren't on or when

1:16:36

the numbers are on his side. And

1:16:38

that's, you know, he usually is built

1:16:40

on this persona, you know, being a

1:16:42

king of Miami and I ain't scared

1:16:45

of no one. I mean, he has

1:16:47

to go at John Jones. In that

1:16:49

room, instead of Thumba Garimbo

1:16:51

as much as he's come

1:16:53

at him, they used to be teammates

1:16:55

in college. Yeah, yeah, I don't know.

1:16:58

Maybe he might just be like, look,

1:17:00

if I'm gonna get in that kind

1:17:02

of problem, it's not gonna

1:17:04

be over Thumba. So who knows?

1:17:07

Yeah, Thumba told him, don't be

1:17:09

scared, I like you, but don't

1:17:11

be scared, but he did not

1:17:13

come off well in that video,

1:17:15

man. Anyway folks, listen, enjoy your

1:17:17

day. DMs, things like that to get

1:17:20

the word out. We would appreciate

1:17:22

it. Our watch along on Saturday,

1:17:24

starting at 8 p.m. Eastern, 5

1:17:26

p.m. Pacific, and don't forget our

1:17:28

colleague, Bata Hanoon, with Danny Sagora,

1:17:30

they'll do their preview show at

1:17:32

5 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Pacific.

1:17:34

We're out of here. Go out

1:17:36

and be a champion.