WEBVTT - Ep. 41: Chad Mendes 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:06.760 Hey everybody, and welcome to another episode of The Hunting Collective. 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:11.639 I'm Ben and Brian. Today I am joined by Great 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:17.400 Chad Mendez. Chad Mendez is a man that you may 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:21.599 know from his exploits in the fighting game. He's a 0:00:21.760 --> 0:00:25.160 UFC featherweight fighter with a record of eighteen and four. 0:00:25.320 --> 0:00:27.920 He's had some some legendary fight start his career. He's 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:30.880 currently in the midst of a comeback. He's gonna fight 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:35.479 in UFC two thirty two Saturday December in Vegas against 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:40.320 one Alexander Volkanovski. But that's not really the reason I 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:44.080 sat down with Chad. I met Chad a couple of 0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:46.880 years ago on a Turkey camp at John Dudley's place 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:50.000 and was was immediately stricken by like just how cool 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:52.400 a duty was, how much fun we had together, how 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:55.920 much he really cared about while meat, wild animals, wild places, 0:00:56.160 --> 0:01:00.120 all the things that I and you care about. So 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:03.200 I figured for all these reasons, he's a great person 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:05.800 to talk to. Um. He has a good angle on 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:08.000 being a celebrity outside the hunting space and having to 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:11.240 deal with speaking about hunting to a broader public, and 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:13.679 this heighting his awareness around what he says and does 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:18.800 what his goals are. So, without further ado, Chad Mendez 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:24.000 from Sacramento, the at his gym, getting ready to punch 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:32.000 it up UFC two two Enjoy no pressure. Chad Mendes, 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:35.600 How you doing, sir, I'm doing great, man. I'm here 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:38.320 in Sacramento. We're about a week and a half out 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:40.960 from my fight. Yes, the biggest fight of my life. 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:42.920 And yeah, every fight is the biggest fight of my life. 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:45.200 But with no small thing to be taking some time 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:47.800 out to sit with my dumbass and talk about hunting 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:50.160 different things, Like I could talk about hunting all day. 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:53.720 That's like, I know you're back fighting. I mean it 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:55.919 took took a break for a while and you mostly 0:01:55.920 --> 0:01:58.920 just hunted, right, I mean like, yeah, So I started 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:01.240 a business called Finns and Feathers, and basically what it is, 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:04.000 we call it like a celebrity outdoor service and we 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:07.440 take people on different hunting, fishing, crazy trips all over 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:09.080 the world, Like we go to New Zealand, we do 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:11.600 stuff in Mexico for fishing, and just all kinds of 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:13.920 stuff in the United States. Um, and then we have 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:17.520 like twenty different celebrity pro staff members different UFC fighters. 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:21.240 You have some PBR guys, pro basketball, baseball, football player, 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:23.680 just kind of a mix of a different group of people, 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:26.560 and all of them absolutely love hunting, love fishing, love 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:29.360 the outdoor. So we'll get a group of people, send 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:31.360 them on, say like a mule deer hunt in Utah, 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:33.440 and then we'll put one one or sometimes even two 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:35.480 of our celebrities on the trip and they're in there 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:38.320 hunting with all the hanging out and hanging with them 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:41.040 hanging out. Yeah, it's it's cool, man. So we launched 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:44.120 that launched that um back in the into two thousand fifteen. 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:49.400 So it's done well for you, right, what kind of 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:52.200 fishes that? Yeah, it's been awesome man. Just being able 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:55.920 to travel and and not only just make money, doing 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:58.240 something in the outdoors is like a dream of mine, 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:01.040 but doing it with so many people that share the 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:04.160 same passions that I share you. So it's it's been awesome. 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:06.240 I feel very blessed to be able to do it. 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:09.799 Certainly looks awesome from the outside looking in. What's your next? 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:11.320 What do you got playing? I mean, your season just 0:03:11.320 --> 0:03:13.640 about over. You get any like after your fight, you're 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:16.800 you gonna you know you know right back to Yeah, yeah, 0:03:16.840 --> 0:03:18.480 I think it's like a week and a half, two weeks, 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:21.000 and then I'm straight to Ohio. I usually do a 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:23.480 late season white till hunt with my buddy Zack Singler 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:27.240 out there, um, and he leases some farms and he 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:29.400 actually owns a couple of farms that I mean, the 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:31.360 guys completely ate up with hunting like we are just 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:35.240 eats breeze sleeps it like he'll he'll buy a property 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:38.560 and just completely set it up for hunting. That's it, 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:42.040 like no house on or anything, you know. And uh, 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:44.520 I just go out there with him and we'll run 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:47.240 some cameras and try to hopefully locate some some shooter 0:03:47.280 --> 0:03:48.840 bucks and go out there. I usually go out there 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:50.360 for like four or five days and then go straight 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:55.760 to the A T A show. Yeah, go fight somebody 0:03:55.880 --> 0:04:00.440 up and then go and relax. Yeah exactly what. It's 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:02.880 usually like twenty degrees or colder, so there's not a 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:06.040 ton of relaxing when you're sitting out there. But that's 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:08.320 my type of paradise. I'll take it im me too, 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:12.040 me too. Well. I mean we're in the gym, we're 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:17.000 in ultimate fitness here in Sacramental gym sneaky old gym. Um. 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:18.680 You spend a lot of time in here in the 0:04:18.760 --> 0:04:22.120 last you know, training for your last fight and then 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:26.400 training for this one. What's it like at this I mean, 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:28.360 this is your ten days out. You've gone through all 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:30.320 the pay all the motions, You've done this before, You're 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:32.960 no stranger to this. What's it feel like now? Like, 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:35.800 what's the what's the feeling right now? At this point 0:04:35.800 --> 0:04:39.040 in my camp, it's it's kind of the home stretch, 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:41.520 Like the hard work is all done. I'm kind of 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:45.560 the maintenance mode and kind of recovery mode. UM. You know, 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:50.600 I'm I'll do probably one or two more UM relatively 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:53.880 intense workouts. They're short, but it's just to basically hit 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:56.000 that red zone a little bit and kind of keep 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:59.120 my body. UM fine tune as far as staying in 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:02.880 those zone, but I don't. The stretching is over, like 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:05.599 pushing my body the limits. That's all done. That's that 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:07.760 was the last, you know, seven weeks of camp. So 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:10.880 UM right now, it's like I said, it's just the recovery. 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:13.440 I feel good. My weights on point using a new 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:17.279 UM diet system that I haven't used before. UM and 0:05:17.320 --> 0:05:21.039 I've felt unbelievable this entire camp. So what's what's the 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:25.080 diet system? Um, It's called RP Strength is the company 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:28.760 that set it up for me. But it's so for me. 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:34.960 I think what my biggest um, my biggest well, probably 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:36.600 a thing that sucks for me most as far as 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:40.000 the fight game goes. I wasn't eating enough. I'm training 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:43.680 my butt off and I'm working out too, sometimes three 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:47.240 times a day, but usually one to two times a day. Um. 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:49.279 And then you know, so you get up in the morning, 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:52.800 I'm rushing. I'll eat something really small, like a banana 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:54.760 and maybe a protein shake. I come here, I do 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:56.720 like an hour and a half two hour hard workout, 0:05:57.160 --> 0:05:59.960 and then I'll you know, drink a protein shake, shower 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:03.760 or um, go home, eat one big mill usually try 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:05.240 to take like a nap and rest, and then I 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:07.039 get up and go straight back to the gym for 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:10.359 my second workout. UM. And that's usually you know, between 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:13.160 an hour or two hours long. Go home, I'll eat 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:16.240 a dinner and it's bedtime. You know. That's what I 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:20.479 probably had a thousand calories, you know, maybe calories. It 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:23.080 just wasn't enough food for me. And I always felt 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:24.800 like that when I when I started getting later into 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:26.560 the camps, like I could tell my body is just 0:06:26.600 --> 0:06:29.479 like not keeping up. Um. And so I I talked 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:32.720 to this company, um before this fight, and they start 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:35.520 they reach out to your eye actually and UM, I 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:37.160 told him what my issues were, like how I was 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:38.680 feeling later in the camps, and like we you know, 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:41.039 we'll set something up for you. So what this diet is, 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:45.080 I'm eating very clean, Like there's a very strict list 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:48.120 of stuff that they want you eating, but it's I 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:49.960 get to decide it. Like what's great about this is 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:52.000 I can use all my wild game, you know, all 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:55.799 the stuff that I was Yeah, so I can implement 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:58.440 all that stuff into the diet. Um. But you know, 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:01.720 my fats are very UM clean fats, you know, avocado, 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:07.239 olive oil, UM, peanut butter um, natural peanut butter um, 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:10.720 and then healthy carbs um, all the lean protein obviously 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:14.040 UM and then uh, fruits and vegetables are mixing there 0:07:14.080 --> 0:07:17.280 as well. But it's all on time schedule. Like right 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:18.560 before I sat down with you, I was like trying 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:20.200 to crammel his food in my mouth because I'm supposed 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:22.960 to eat right at two o'clock UM was the next workout. 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:25.760 So for me, what that's done is forced me to 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:28.640 eat all these mills throughout the day. Like if I'm 0:07:28.640 --> 0:07:30.400 going to take a nap, I'm like, I'm gonna eat 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:32.080 right now. I'm gonna take a quick nap because i 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:34.680 know I have to eat again soon. So everything is 0:07:34.680 --> 0:07:37.640 just kind of it's it's pretty life consuming. It sucks. 0:07:37.840 --> 0:07:41.440 It's such a regiment you're so locked in. Yeah. I 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:46.000 felt guilty about like, hey, let's because yeah, you're you're 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:49.480 so so regimented. And I'm sure it pays off in 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:51.720 the end, but it's quite the sacrifice. Yeah. And and 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:54.400 like I said, I've never done it before, so it 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:55.880 was kind of the thing. I was like, well, let's 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:57.880 test this out for like a two or three week thing. 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:00.760 If I'm filing like crap, or you know, my weights 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:03.400 ballooning up or something like that, then you know, maybe 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:05.080 I won't do it. But right off the bat, I 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:08.640 felt unbelievable. My endurance, my strength, speed, everything is like 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:13.520 on point. I've never eaten this clean and this UM 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:17.240 schedule throughout any training camp in my fight career. So yeah, 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:20.680 I mean, I mean, you look damn good. Sir, thank you, 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:25.440 thank you very much. Um. But when you talk to 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:27.960 the experts about diet and about health and about eating right, 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:29.920 does how much does wild game come up to You'd 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:31.960 be like, that's part of my diet, that's what I do, 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:33.880 and they say, hell, yeah, that's a great thing to do. 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:36.040 Oh yeah, I'm sure. I mean it seems to obvious 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:37.920 to me. But yeah, when I sat down this this 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:42.960 company and I was like, look, there's like chicken, turkey, uh, 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:45.840 you know, beef, but it's got to be or leaner. 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:48.000 And I'm like, can I just substitute all this with 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:51.360 all the wild stuff? And They're like, absolutely, that's actually better. 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:54.160 So I'm like perfect, And then this is definitely a 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:56.480 diet that I can give it a venison that your 0:08:56.559 --> 0:09:01.120 elk and it's in um, you know what turkey. We 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:05.120 just finished our false season here in California. Um uh 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:08.160 duck goose. Like you mean I can pretty much eat 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:11.280 all that stuff, Yet how do you usually prepare it? 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:13.440 And the like how have you prepared to them this diet? 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:16.040 A lot of this diet, I've done a lot of 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:18.320 ground stuff because it's the easiest and quickest, you know, 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:20.920 I throw a pack of ground elk or something. I 0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:23.520 can use that so many different things, and it's easy 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:26.320 for meal prep um. But we'll do you know, like 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:28.560 whild turkey breasts. I'll throw it in a slow cooker 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:31.719 or even a pressure cooker. I'll throw some vegetables in 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:33.880 a little bit of chicken broth or something there and 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:36.480 then shred all that up and I can keep that. 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:39.319 Actually that's what I just had before I came up here. 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:41.400 But I can keep that for like a you know, 0:09:41.520 --> 0:09:43.840 four or five days and just eating that throughout the 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:47.760 throughout the days. But um, yeah, I mean the trigger 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:50.120 I'll throw like sometimes I'll throw a whole elk rows 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:53.000 on the trigger or something, smoke it and then slice it. 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:57.280 You got you know, munch meat or whatever. So well, 0:09:57.280 --> 0:09:58.800 it's good to hear. It's good to hear for everybody 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:01.520 out there listening that that game. That's fair cause you 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:04.640 want to join the UFC any soon. It's the right 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:08.720 thing to eat. And usually supplying most of the guys 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:10.520 on my team. There's only one other guy, Tyler Diamond. 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:13.040 He actually just walked by, But everybody else hunts only 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:15.920 me and Tyler and um, I'll usually bring like a 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:18.400 big box or something to meat, and it's like the 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:20.480 the giveaway day, Like everyone's like fighting to get it. 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:23.439 Let me get something to get up. But supply these 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:26.439 guys you're doing it right, doing it right? Do you do? 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:29.920 You feel like, um, I know, there's always every time 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:32.000 I'm you're talking to somebody that is like an athlete, 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:34.880 professional in the professional sense, or really in any sense, 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:37.960 you always try to compare hunting to whatever you do. 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:40.480 I feel like sometimes that's the easy way out. It's 0:10:40.520 --> 0:10:43.320 kind of a weak um way to go about these storylines. 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:45.680 But there's something to it. I'm sure there's something to 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:48.360 it for you, the way it balances your life a 0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:51.600 little bit, I'm sure. But explain to people, you know, 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:54.480 the different the difference in the feelings, and how maybe 0:10:54.520 --> 0:10:56.480 hunting sets you up for fighting, and fighting might such 0:10:56.600 --> 0:10:58.840 up for hunting. Is there what's the relationship with Yeah, 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:00.319 I mean, I think there's a lot of similar these. 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:02.440 I mean, for me, one of the biggest things obviously 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:04.960 being in shape. My job as a fighter is to 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:08.360 be in shape. So getting in shape for any certain 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:10.480 hunt is never anything I've ever thought about, you know, 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:13.440 It's like that's just part of my normal job. So 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:17.079 that just rolls right over into hunting, you know. Um. 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:21.920 But as far as like the patients and being disciplined 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:25.800 and and practicing you know, what you need to practice 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:27.959 in order to be successful, I think all those things 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:30.320 are exactly the same. As far as the fight game 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:34.160 goes and being a successful hunter. Um, you know, if 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:36.080 I'm not using my bow, I'm not practicing with him, 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:38.320 I'm gonna go out there and a either wound something, 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:41.959 not find it or miss. You know. It's pretty simple 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:45.520 as that. But um, if I'm not practicing my punch combinations, 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:47.320 I'm gonna go and fight and get knocked out or something. 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:50.520 You know. So the preparation is definitely key. Um, And 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:55.360 that's very similar in the two. But um, um patients, 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:58.840 I mean, being patient in a fight is very very 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:03.120 very important. I have a lot of emotion and uh rage, 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:05.760 and I go out there and just try to freaking 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:08.480 take you guy's head off. That's when a good fighter 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:11.200 will capitalize and see your mistakes that you're making into 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:14.839 and punch and finish you. But um, same thing in 0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:16.719 the fight. You gave me a target panic, I mean, 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:18.960 if you're not prepared for that, and if you get 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:21.760 too excited if you're not patient. I mean, we've all 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:24.520 been there. I know I've been there quite a bit, um, 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:27.200 but it's all part of it. So you gather like 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:29.280 we're just sitting in the sitting in the gym here 0:12:29.280 --> 0:12:32.400 and and dudes are walking bilex up chat like that. 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:34.959 You know, there's a brotherhood from what you do, Like 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:37.080 you're training with these guys, you're sweating with them, You're 0:12:37.080 --> 0:12:40.320 doing that stuff that strikes me about what you do. 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:43.559 And then there's there's a there's a brotherhood and hunting 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:45.680 the same kind of way, man Like you're walking around 0:12:46.000 --> 0:12:47.480 the A T A and a couple of a month 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:52.080 or so and it's up. Um talk about that part. 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:54.760 I mean, is there parallels to to those two things? Is? 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:58.480 And I think it's something very primitive and primal a 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:01.760 fighting another human, like two guys to get in the 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:04.560 cage and beat the crap out of each other, sometimes 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:08.760 almost near death. I would imagine, um, you know, like 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:11.680 for me fighting Josie Aldo, this is the prime example. 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:13.880 There was some beef between us, you know, both of us, 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:16.480 kind of talking crap and some media before the fight, 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:19.440 but we got in there and went through an absolute 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:22.360 war like, hands down the toughest fight I've ever been 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:24.560 in and probably the hardest thing I've ever done in 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:27.840 my entire life. And like, I have no choice, and 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:30.280 I know he feels the same that there's you have 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:33.640 no choice but to like grow and and feel some 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:36.440 type of respect for that human after going through that 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:39.960 feeling that pain. Um. And I think you know the 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:43.439 same thing with with hunting. I mean the very primitive thing. 0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:46.199 You know, I got a bunch of guys around the 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:49.920 campfire at night and girls even, um, you know, sharing 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:53.120 the stories. Everyone has the same passion and love for 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.520 the outdoors, and you know that's something that you know, 0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:59.680 it's it's something we all love. And I think that 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:03.440 just maybe grow some type of bond that's outside of 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:05.480 what you would see on the on the streets. Yeah, 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:07.600 it's a pretty intense. I mean both those two things 0:14:07.640 --> 0:14:10.840 are pretty intense situations and the intensities of what draws 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:13.920 you close like you can't well. I was I was 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:16.760 talking on Rogan's podcast yesterday about like the three D 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:20.480 experience of hunting. Right. You you practice, and you gather 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:22.720 these skills, and you gather this experience and then you 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:27.080 put them to work. Um, it's not similar to fighting 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:29.440 in the way that you're against, but you're you're still against. 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:34.320 It's you know, yeah, a wild animal at some level. Um, 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:36.360 But it's a three dimensial experience. Once that, once you 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:40.160 get that, once the thrill happens and you get the 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:42.560 exertion of you know, you sling that arrow, then it's 0:14:42.600 --> 0:14:44.520 the three dimensional sperence. You get to feed your family, 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:49.120 you get to to be closer the people that you're with. Um. 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:51.600 And that's that's what strikes me about about fighting too. 0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:53.840 There's a similar accountability. Like when you throw a punch, 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:56.360 your accountable for what happens on the other end of it. 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:58.960 When you send an arrow, you are accountable for what 0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:01.560 happens in the the other end of it. And that 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:04.720 accountability like just brings people together. I've never thought of 0:15:04.760 --> 0:15:07.480 it like that, but it's exactly what it is. Yeah. 0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:13.120 Well I'm glad I thought nailed it. Um. And you're 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:15.560 you know, through all this all this crazy stuff in 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:19.280 your life, you're you're about to have uh your wife 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:24.520 is pregnant. Yeah. I didn't break any news. No, I 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:26.720 haven't like posted anything on social She's talked about it 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:29.720 on social but um, you know, there's a lot of 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:33.520 creepy people out there for me just posting that. I mean, 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:37.280 I'll probably do it a little bit later, but yeah, 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:39.600 I don't know. I'm still kind of thinking about it. Yeah, 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:41.480 it's a heavy thing. It was heavy for me. It's 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:43.040 like this is kind of for me for a while. 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:45.760 Me and my family want to enjoy this. So yeah, 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:48.120 a little bit of time. How's a feeling right now? 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:51.520 That's good, man, I mean, knock on wood, everything's been 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:54.360 very easy so far. I think my biggest fear was heard. 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:57.120 You know, I hear so many horror stories about the 0:15:57.200 --> 0:16:00.280 women's hormones going nuts and just girls getting out of roll. 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:04.200 But she's been. It's it's been really easy, and in fact, 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:07.600 it's weird. She actually has lightened up and like I 0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:09.600 feel like she's very calm and kind of just like 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:12.200 cool and relax. I'm like, I like this happy a 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:17.040 lot better. But hey, babe, it's gonna keep you praying 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:20.000 for right. But no, it's been good. She didn't have 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:23.760 any morning sickness. Like I'm gonna jinx myself by saying 0:16:23.800 --> 0:16:26.400 all this, but it's been it's been awesome. That's awesome, man. 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:29.600 I'm happy for it. Uh, thank you. It's a life 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:32.760 changer and it you know when I when my wife 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:34.360 is pregning with our son, everybody tries to give you 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:36.720 advice and tell you their experiences, but really that you can't. 0:16:36.720 --> 0:16:38.960 There's no way to prepare when you just gotta ride 0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:44.080 and it's it's my dad said something to me like, um, 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:49.280 it's it's gonna get real now son. Yeah here, I'm terrified. 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:52.840 I'm very excited, but I'm terrified. You know, I have 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:56.520 a lot of friends that have newborns and have young kids, 0:16:56.560 --> 0:16:59.760 and you know, you're right, you hear the horror stories 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:03.080 all the time. Um, I'm sure they probably talk about 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:04.560 that because it's something that sticks in their head a 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:07.560 lot more. But the good times are everyone says that 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:11.800 it's well worth it. You know, there's no no matter 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:13.920 how many hard times you have with it, And there 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:15.840 are a lot of hard times like the first three 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:17.800 or four months, or just like being a boot camp 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:21.000 with your just with your wife and a hole like 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:23.080 she's like, we can't leave that house. We don't know 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:27.920 what to do. Poop everywhere, What are we gonna do everywhere? 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:31.560 What are we gonna do? So but that's that's what 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:33.880 it's like. But then like the intensity of the love, 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:36.760 the intensity of like how you see the world through 0:17:36.800 --> 0:17:39.040 their eyes, all of a sudden is that that's there's 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:43.320 no amount of shitty diapers that match that. It just isn't. 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:45.480 So everyone says too, if you have a girl that 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:49.400 you you get soft, and I'm like, I better. I'm 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:51.600 hoping I have a boy. But I'll be happy either way. 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:54.119 But man, I gotta make sure I stay tough for 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:57.159 this fight game while I'm stilling it. Yeah, do you 0:17:57.160 --> 0:17:58.760 think you got some years left in you for the 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:00.480 for the fight game? I mean you're on a mission 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:04.880 right now that yeah. Well, um, you know the plan 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:06.960 for me was always to kind of fight right around 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:10.320 thirty five. You know, I've been doing this for almost 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:12.840 eleven years now, and I started wrestling when I was 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:15.359 five years old and wrestled every single year all the 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:17.359 way up through college, and then the day after graduate 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:19.879 college jumped right into the fight game. So you know, 0:18:19.920 --> 0:18:23.680 I've been doing this my entire life. So I don't 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:27.119 have any any problem with when it's time to call 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:30.640 it quits. Calling it quits, you know, um, like it's 0:18:30.720 --> 0:18:32.760 I don't have a chip on my shoulder. You know, 0:18:32.800 --> 0:18:34.960 when it's time, it's time. So you know, I'm gonna 0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:38.760 keep fighting until everything tells me that it's not. Let 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:40.639 you seem content right now. I mean, with all the 0:18:40.640 --> 0:18:42.639 crazy ships you got going on, it seemed like a 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:44.439 happy dude to me. I mean, it seems like our 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:47.280 life is good. Man. I feel really lucky that I 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:49.919 can come in I can basically make my own scheduled training. 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:54.080 I'm I'm getting paid to be in shape and get 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:57.160 in there and compete, you know, being be an athlete, 0:18:57.200 --> 0:19:00.280 which is awesome, you know, and then also of doing 0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:03.080 all this stuff in the outdoor world, which in my 0:19:03.200 --> 0:19:06.399 perfect world that you know, I'm fighting, I'd love to 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:08.679 finish up my fight career and then kind of make 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:11.040 a transition into the outdoor world to where I can 0:19:11.240 --> 0:19:14.720 find a way to do something making a living, doing 0:19:15.040 --> 0:19:17.199 what else, you know, something else I absolutely love. So 0:19:18.200 --> 0:19:20.479 right now, just trying to you know, build a name 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:24.120 in the outdoor world and just do something to get 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:27.639 that recognition, I guess, and make the transition as you 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:30.119 do as you build that name. I mean, it comes 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:33.880 with um the same as being I think the question 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:36.719 I wanted to ask you is you want to make 0:19:36.720 --> 0:19:39.280 a name for yourself in the hunting world, right, UM, 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:41.359 A lot. You know, you and I both know a 0:19:41.400 --> 0:19:43.160 lot of people that have names in the hunting world 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:45.399 and have done it for a long time. And it's like, 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:47.399 how do you hope to craft that? What do you 0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:48.760