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Speaker 1: This is Unbreakable with Jay Glacier, a Mental Wealth podcast

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Speaker 1: Build you from the inside out.

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Speaker 2: Now here's Jay Glacier.

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Speaker 3: Welcome in to Unbreakable, a Mental Wealth podcast with Jay Glazer.

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Speaker 2: I'm Jay Glazer and Mike Yesterday.

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Speaker 3: Matt is one of the most remarkable people you'll ever

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Speaker 3: be around your life because he is.

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Speaker 2: He is a legit world champion. He's a world champion

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Speaker 2: in a couple different sports.

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Speaker 3: The last time I saw this man, I was actually

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Speaker 3: calling his fight where he won the middleweight Championship of

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Speaker 3: the World for Belator, and then suddenly it all got

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Speaker 3: taken from him and he has since then turned it

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Speaker 3: all back around. He is an incredible human being, an

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Speaker 3: incredible champion, but an incredible comeback story.

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Speaker 2: The one and only Raphael Levado Junior.

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Speaker 1: How you doing, brother, I'm doing amazing. Thank you so

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Speaker 1: much for the kind words. Jay. It's great to do here.

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Speaker 2: Man. Oh no, dude, man, and you're listen man.

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Speaker 3: I mean the way you fight too is something that

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Speaker 3: we always kind of try and teach all our football

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Speaker 3: players that we trained and our fighters.

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Speaker 2: Also just relent. Let's relent. Let's relent because a lot

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Speaker 2: of people sign up for sport. They don't sign up for.

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Speaker 3: A fight, right, and you get to fight when you

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Speaker 3: just constantly pressure people.

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Speaker 2: And I use it for business too.

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Speaker 3: Constantly pressure people, most people just tend to tap the

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Speaker 3: fuck out, right.

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Speaker 2: So I love the way you approach it all.

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Speaker 3: And you know, I'm kind of I'm going to kind

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Speaker 3: of just give you the floor here and instead of

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Speaker 3: just you know, back going to the hall.

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Speaker 2: You know, how'd you get invited to start and fighting

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Speaker 2: all that stuff?

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Speaker 3: Tell the story about your ascending to the title and

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Speaker 3: then what happened?

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Speaker 2: Will you how to give it up?

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Speaker 4: Okay, it's a long story, but uh I got you

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Speaker 4: it short and sweet.

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Speaker 2: Oh tell it?

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Speaker 1: Tell it kind of bullet points. First thing, my father

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Speaker 1: is a lifetime martial artist. So I've been doing martial

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Speaker 1: arts since I was a kid. I'm an only child,

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Speaker 1: and it was basically my way to connect and bond

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Speaker 1: with my father. We would always his train. He was

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Speaker 1: my first teacher, my first coach, everything, and and so

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Speaker 1: I grew up doing martial arts under my dad. He

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Speaker 1: was a jee Kundo instructor and that was the main

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Speaker 1: thing that we did as I was growing up.

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Speaker 4: And then in the mid nineties, real.

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Speaker 2: Quick for people don't know what Chacundo's.

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Speaker 3: It was Bruce Lee style that he created, yes, right,

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Speaker 3: and really was the first style that also integrated ground

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Speaker 3: fighting also into you know, your kung fu and stand

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Speaker 3: up and ever they got.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it was the first mixed martial arts before mixed

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Speaker 1: martial arts. Bruce Lee was way ahead of his time,

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Speaker 1: and so we were always on the cutting edge of

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Speaker 1: what was going on in the martial arts world. And

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Speaker 1: then in the early to mid nineties, my father discovered

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Speaker 1: Brazilian through Gikundo and so I loved martial arts, but

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Speaker 1: I really loved my dad. I loved just being with

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Speaker 1: my dad and feeling like I was one of the guys.

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Speaker 1: But when jiu jitsu came into our lives, then I

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Speaker 1: really found my passion. You know, I was still a kid,

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Speaker 1: so I was and you know, I was a big

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Speaker 1: kid though of course I'm a big guy, and I

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Speaker 1: was already around the same size as my dad when

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Speaker 1: I was a teenager, and you know, he's a smaller guy.

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Speaker 1: And jiu jitsu was just a way for us to

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Speaker 1: you know, really connect because he was traveling to learn

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Speaker 1: jiu jitsu. We were living here in Oklahoma, he was

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Speaker 1: going all the way to California to learn jiu jitsu,

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Speaker 1: and then you know, once or twice a year, and

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Speaker 1: then he would come home and he would show it

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Speaker 1: all to me, everything that he learned, and then we

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Speaker 1: would work through it together. And so we were like

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Speaker 1: each other's best training partners. And I was learning very quickly,

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Speaker 1: and being that most of our students were adult students,

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Speaker 1: you know, when I was doing like the stand up

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Speaker 1: arts and stuff like that, sparring with the big grown

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Speaker 1: ups when I'm a kid wasn't fun. But then when

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Speaker 1: we started really diving into the technique of the grappling,

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Speaker 1: I mean, I was holding my own right away, even

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Speaker 1: like beating a lot of the adults at you know,

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Speaker 1: thirteen years old. And so that's when I like, oh man,

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Speaker 1: I really love this, you know, And so I fell

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Speaker 1: in love with jiu jitsu and basically kind of went

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Speaker 1: away not too far away. I always practiced muy Thai,

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Speaker 1: and we had an MMA fight team back in those days,

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Speaker 1: and I was training with them, helping them, but my

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Speaker 1: main priority was to compete it in as much jiu

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Speaker 1: jitsu competition as I could, learn as much as I could.

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Speaker 1: That was what I really loved and I started going

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Speaker 1: to Brazil in nineteen ninety nine. I was sixteen years old,

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Speaker 1: had just turned sixteen. My parents flew me to Brazil

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Speaker 1: with like a team of Americans that were going there

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Speaker 1: to compete in the World Championships. And that was really

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Speaker 1: life changing for me because then I experienced jiu jitsu

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Speaker 1: and it's you know, mother Mother Earth, you know what

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Speaker 1: I mean where it all started.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, and the Motherland.

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Speaker 1: And just the pure raw like energy and everything about

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Speaker 1: it was just so captivating. And you know, I'm from

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Speaker 1: Oklahoma and now I'm in a third world country in Brazil.

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Speaker 1: The cold shock, all of it put together just really

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Speaker 1: changed my life. And then I was like, Okay, I

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Speaker 1: want to be an American who can win in Brazil.

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Speaker 1: That became like my first goal. And then the next

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Speaker 1: year I saw BJ Penn win the World Championships in

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Speaker 1: two thousand and I really set my sights just like,

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Speaker 1: I want to be the next guy to do that.

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Speaker 4: And so I devoted my whole life to jiu jitsu.

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Speaker 1: Basically all of my twenties, you know, was dedicated in

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Speaker 1: the competition space towards Brazilian jiu jitsu and my father

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Speaker 1: and I we became the first American son jiu jitsu

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Speaker 1: black belt. I ended up making a lot of history

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Speaker 1: as a non Brazilian in the sport of jiu jitsu,

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Speaker 1: winning many titles that hadn't been won by one before,

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Speaker 1: by anyone that wasn't.

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Speaker 4: Brazilian, Like what tell people like what? Well?

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Speaker 1: I became the first person to grand slam, the first

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Speaker 1: person not just you know, Brazilian or not good matters,

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Speaker 1: the first person which means winning the four major ib

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Speaker 1: JJF events in the same year, which is the European Championships,

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Speaker 1: the Pan American Championships, the Brazilian National Championships, and the

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Speaker 1: World Championships. So I did that in one year, and

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Speaker 1: with that, I also became the first American to win

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Speaker 1: all of those tournaments except the worlds BJ Pennat already

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Speaker 1: won the World So you know, I kind of just

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Speaker 1: broke a lot of records all in one shot.

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Speaker 2: Class.

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Speaker 1: It was my weight class, which was what my weight

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Speaker 1: class back then. I competed mostly at two twenty. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I kind of floated around a little bit, but it was, uh,

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Speaker 1: you weigh in the day for jiu jitsu, like right

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Speaker 1: before your first match so you don't really cut too

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Speaker 1: much weight. And my training partner at the time, he

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Speaker 1: was in the two hundred pound weight class, so I

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Speaker 1: just kind of went up to not be in the

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Speaker 1: same division as him. But so I made a lot

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Speaker 1: of history and I won things repeatedly, and then I

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Speaker 1: became a NOG World Champion, ADCCS, all that kind of stuff,

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Speaker 1: and basically my whole twenties I dedicated to trying to

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Speaker 1: win as much as I could in jiu jitsu, and

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Speaker 1: you know, there were still a couple of things that

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Speaker 1: I felt like I didn't achieve that I was hoping

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Speaker 1: I would achieve. But for the most part, I became

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Speaker 1: very content and I started to lose the fire a

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Speaker 1: little bit. For jiu jitsu competition, I competed against so

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Speaker 1: many generations, all the best guys, fighting them multiple times.

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Speaker 1: You know. It was the same tournaments, the same people

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Speaker 1: over and over, and there was some growth in the sport,

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Speaker 1: but nothing like what's happened in the last five to

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Speaker 1: ten years, and so I kind of felt a little stagnant,

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Speaker 1: and I knew that at some point I was going

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Speaker 1: to enter in the mixed martial arts arena as a

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Speaker 1: martial artist. Growing up as a martial artist first and

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Speaker 1: then doing jiu jitsu second. I knew that at some

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Speaker 1: point I had to put it all together and put

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Speaker 1: myself in the ultimate challenge, which is, you know, getting

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Speaker 1: locked in the cage. And so when I got to

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Speaker 1: be thirty and I was like, I'm just I'm not

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Speaker 1: feeling the inspiration the way that I used to. Now

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Speaker 1: is the time to switch over. So I had my

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Speaker 1: first fight in twenty fourteen. I actually just celebrated ten

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Speaker 1: year anniversary. It was in September of twenty fourteen and

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Speaker 1: I was thirty one years old. So I started late.

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Speaker 3: I just started my I just celebrated my twenty second

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Speaker 3: adversary of my first fight.

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Speaker 1: I'm oh, yeah, fuck, that was back in the days

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Speaker 1: two thousand and three, baby, nice, nice, go ahead. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you know there I was doing my first fight, and

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Speaker 1: you know, it felt like the right time, even though

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Speaker 1: you know, older for mma age. I knew that I

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Speaker 1: had done everything. You know in jiu jitsu. There's not

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Speaker 1: going to be any regrets. It was time to go

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Speaker 1: to the next stage. And I had good people around me,

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Speaker 1: and I was mature enough to you know, really understand

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Speaker 1: how to prepare and just what I was out there

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Speaker 1: to do, like what my purpose was, Well, my why

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Speaker 1: was the people that I need around me, and we

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Speaker 1: went all in, you know. From twenty fourteen was my

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Speaker 1: first fight and I became the Legacy champion and then

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Speaker 1: got signed to Bellatore and it was within five years

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Speaker 1: that I was fighting for that world title there in

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Speaker 1: London with you as the commentator, and you know, it

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Speaker 1: was just kind of a whole whirlwind.

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Speaker 2: Fighting a legend. Yeah, and gig Or Masasi.

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Speaker 3: Were like, I don't know what the odds were for

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Speaker 3: that fight, but they just always it was like five

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Speaker 3: to one.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, underdog. I had been an underdog several times throughout

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Speaker 1: my career. I was always fighting guys with a lot

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Speaker 1: more fights, a lot more experience, you know, from from

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Speaker 1: from the get go, and uh my debut, I was

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Speaker 1: an underdog.

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Speaker 4: You know, everyone had had good records. I never thought

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Speaker 4: it underdog.

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Speaker 2: Your debut when you swept through everything in jiu jitsu.

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Speaker 1: But everyone thought I was just a jiu jitsu guy. Jay.

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Speaker 1: They didn't know that I had the j E D background,

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Speaker 1: the upbringing in the striking arts. You know that everyone

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Speaker 1: just thought I was jiu jitsu guy, and I was

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Speaker 1: fighting with good records, you know, guys that were undefeated

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Speaker 1: or my first opponent was like five to one and

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Speaker 1: he had just had a couple of knockouts in a row,

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Speaker 1: so I was used to it. But definitely the Massosse fight,

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Speaker 1: you know, I was a huge underdog. It was on

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Speaker 1: his turf in Europe. You know, he was a legend,

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Speaker 1: considered one of the all time best, arguably in two

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Speaker 1: different way classes one eighty five and two five, and

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Speaker 1: he was like on a six year undefeated streak, beating

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Speaker 1: a multiple champions of UFC and Belltour, right, and so

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Speaker 1: it was like, you know, a lot of how to say,

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Speaker 1: there's a lot of pressure already, you know, just a lot. Okay,

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Speaker 1: this is the big one.

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Speaker 4: You work so.

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Speaker 1: Hard to get to this stage, to get to this point,

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Speaker 1: it's a lifetime of work, you know, and then everything

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Speaker 1: else happened on top of it. You know, it's like

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Speaker 1: you don't need to throw in more stress and more pressure.

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Speaker 1: But you know, basically, London, the title fight was in London,

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Speaker 1: and that was the first place that required me to

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Speaker 1: get a brain scan done as part of my pre

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Speaker 1: fight requirements and medicals and whatnot, and so oh, that's

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Speaker 1: my first time you had to get one. That was

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Speaker 1: the first time.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, God yeah.

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Speaker 4: Every other place here in the US, it's just one.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, in Jersey and we were a lot of fucking

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Speaker 3: head but I still got to cat one. But wow,

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Speaker 3: I'm surprised that was the first one.

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Speaker 1: That's yeah, that'sb I just never fought in a state

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Speaker 1: that required it.

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Speaker 2: Wow.

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Speaker 4: And so it just worked out that way.

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Speaker 1: And I never had any concussions, never had any issues,

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Speaker 1: and so I never had reason to just go and

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Speaker 1: get one done on my own. And so you know,

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Speaker 1: all right, it's part of the requirements. And so I

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Speaker 1: go to get one done six weeks before the fight,

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Speaker 1: plenty of time. And actually like two days later from

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Speaker 1: the time that I was going to get the scan done,

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Speaker 1: I was flying to Brazil because my MMA team where

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Speaker 1: I do like my heart stint of sparring and just

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Speaker 1: intense training there in the south of Brazil in a

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Speaker 1: place called Kudi, Chiba where shoe Box is from, legendary place. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: And actually Vanderla was part of the team that I

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Speaker 1: trained with, and I've been training with him a few

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Speaker 1: years already at this point. But that's where I go

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Speaker 1: to get my like really hard part of that Rocky style,

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Speaker 1: just get away, full focus, you know. And so I

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Speaker 1: had that, like I was flying there Saturday to get

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Speaker 1: their Sunday and I got scanned on like Thursday, and

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Speaker 1: so I get my scan done here in Oklahoma, and uh,

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Speaker 1: I'll never forget it. Man. It was just like, you know,

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Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, just get it done. Have my paper

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Speaker 1: this thing that they're supposed to fill out for me afterwards.

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Speaker 1: And of course it's just the radiologist, you know, it's

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Speaker 1: not like a doctor doctor, just the person running the machine.

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Speaker 1: And he does, we do the procedure, and the machine stops,

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Speaker 1: and he's like taking forever to say okay, come on

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Speaker 1: get out, and you know, like come on out, doesn't

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Speaker 1: he doesn't leave the place where he sees the screen

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Speaker 1: and he's looking at my brain and he takes his time.

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Speaker 1: Finally he comes in and he pulls me out and

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Speaker 1: he's like, look, I don't know what's going on here,

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Speaker 1: but you need to see this. And he shows me

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Speaker 1: my skin and I see all these like blobs of

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Speaker 1: discoloration and basically just like white spots, and he's like,

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Speaker 1: I'm not one hundred percent sure what this is. But

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Speaker 1: you're not healthy, like you're not normal. There's something here.

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Speaker 1: And I'm like, uh okay, I mean I feel fine,

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Speaker 1: Like are you gonna sign my paper? You know what

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Speaker 1: I mean? And he's like no, and he's like, I

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Speaker 1: want to do a little research, look at this a

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Speaker 1: little more. Come back tomorrow and I'll give you your disc.

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Speaker 1: And so I go back the next day and he

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Speaker 1: gives me the disc. He refuses to sign the paper

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Speaker 1: and he's like, look, I think you have this and

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Speaker 1: it's called cavernoma. And he's like, I'm not sure, but

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Speaker 1: you need to really see some doctors, see some specialists.

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Speaker 1: And I got to say that there's no way, you know,

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Speaker 1: I can have you, I can recommend you to fight.

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Speaker 1: And so I'm just like completely shocked, just like and wait,

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Speaker 1: what is chavronova? So cabronoma now they call it. Yeah,

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00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:23,440
Speaker 1: it's like they change the name a little bit. It's

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Speaker 1: like cavernous malformations. It has a longer name, but the

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00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:31,440
Speaker 1: long story, or the abbreviated version of it is cavernoma.

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Speaker 1: And basically it's where your brain develops these extra blood

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Speaker 1: vessels and they grow like vines and they tend to

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Speaker 1: like wrap up and over time they have the you know,

295
00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:50,080
Speaker 1: the the risk of bleed and they can ooze blood

296
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Speaker 1: very very slowly, but of course it can build and

297
00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:57,680
Speaker 1: accumulate and there's a risk of hemorrhaging and a lot

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Speaker 1: of different things. You know, people have seizure, there's loss

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Speaker 1: of vision, paralysis, you know, comas and worst worst case,

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Speaker 1: worst case is death.

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Speaker 4: But it's more common than you think. I think in

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Speaker 4: the US it's.

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Speaker 1: Like one in four hundred people have it, maybe one

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00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:19,520
Speaker 1: in five something like that. But most people don't know

305
00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:23,040
Speaker 1: that they have it, and it's usually a hereditary thing.

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00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:26,160
Speaker 1: A lot of Hispanics have it, and I'm pretty sure

307
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Speaker 1: that's how I got it in my blood. I did

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Speaker 1: do the DNA test later on, and I was born

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Speaker 1: with it, So I do have the genetic deficiency. I've

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Speaker 1: had it my whole life. It's been there, but I

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Speaker 1: just didn't know. And most people don't know because they

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00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:45,640
Speaker 1: don't have symptoms. And you know, you don't really get

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Speaker 1: symptoms usually until you're much older, you know, and in

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Speaker 1: the extreme cases, when you're younger, you know, you'll have

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Speaker 1: some issues and then they find it. Right, So then

316
00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:56,360
Speaker 1: you know you have it, but who knows. There may

317
00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:59,160
Speaker 1: be so many more people out there that have it

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Speaker 1: that don't know.

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Speaker 2: But if you get punched in the head for a

320
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Speaker 2: living to speed up the process.

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Speaker 1: It's not ideal. It's not ideal. You know. Now we'll

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Speaker 1: go to the next phase of the story. So I

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Speaker 1: found this out and it's Friday. I'm leaving Saturday for Brazil.

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Speaker 2: I end up.

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Speaker 1: I had a dinner plan with my wife that night,

326
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Speaker 1: she was my girlfriend. Then it was like, you know,

327
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Speaker 1: a goodbye dinner before I leave the next day. And

328
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Speaker 1: I'm like, I have nothing to say. I'm just like.

329
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Speaker 4: Dead quiet the whole night.

330
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Speaker 1: I'm just trying to process this and I'm just like

331
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Speaker 1: I don't know what I'm going to do. And so anyways,

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Speaker 1: I get to Brazil and my coach is there. They're

333
00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:38,640
Speaker 1: like legends. They grew up in Kudichiba. They know everybody

334
00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:43,880
Speaker 1: there were world renowned fighters, and so they have connections

335
00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:47,600
Speaker 1: all over and down there. Fighting is like, you know,

336
00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:51,640
Speaker 1: it's very well respected and so you know, they know

337
00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:56,920
Speaker 1: like big up people, right, and so they're pulling out

338
00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:58,880
Speaker 1: all the all the stops, just trying to get me

339
00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:03,840
Speaker 1: in everywhere and anywhere possible, and so I get another

340
00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:05,879
Speaker 1: scan done in Brazil because they want to see a

341
00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,159
Speaker 1: scan that's done in Brazil. So I get another scan done,

342
00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:13,639
Speaker 1: and I start seeing every doctor possible and act like neurology.

343
00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:17,280
Speaker 2: At this point, are you trying to find that information?

344
00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:18,879
Speaker 3: Are you just trying to get a doctor to clearly

345
00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:21,040
Speaker 3: clear you because you want to fly for that title.

346
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Speaker 1: I'm all over the place at this point, Jay, You know,

347
00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:31,399
Speaker 1: I'm like extremely emotional feeling like okay, you know, you

348
00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:33,320
Speaker 1: know when you can tell that you're hurt, you know

349
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Speaker 1: what I mean, Like you feel it and you're like,

350
00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:37,680
Speaker 1: I'm not I'm not good.

351
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Speaker 2: You know.

352
00:17:39,119 --> 00:17:41,840
Speaker 1: I have that kind of feeling. But it's weird because

353
00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:44,359
Speaker 1: I feel the same I don't, you know. So I

354
00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,639
Speaker 1: have this feeling like man, I'm not okay, but I

355
00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:52,440
Speaker 1: can't see it or I don't really feel pain. And

356
00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:56,520
Speaker 1: then I'm worried, like am I putting myself at risk?

357
00:17:56,680 --> 00:17:56,840
Speaker 1: You know?

358
00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:00,520
Speaker 4: Is this something that could cause serious damage?

359
00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:04,080
Speaker 1: You know? I kept thinking about Muhammad Ali and you know,

360
00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:07,240
Speaker 1: Parkinson's and just stuff like that, and like I want

361
00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:09,640
Speaker 1: to have a family one day, and all these things

362
00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:11,680
Speaker 1: were going through my mind. I just really did not

363
00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:15,280
Speaker 1: know how to process it. And then at the same time,

364
00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:19,960
Speaker 1: I'm like, you know, if you're about like you're climbing

365
00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:23,760
Speaker 1: this mountain, right that is your life's career, your life's work.

366
00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,600
Speaker 1: I'm like right there about to hit the peak, you know,

367
00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:32,359
Speaker 1: and I'm like, man, is it? Am I really not

368
00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:34,040
Speaker 1: even going to be able to fight? You know? I

369
00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:37,040
Speaker 1: have no idea? And then I'm trying to train at

370
00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:39,440
Speaker 1: the same time to prepare just in case it is

371
00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:42,480
Speaker 1: going to happen, and I'm not sleeping and I'm super emotional.

372
00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:45,960
Speaker 1: I'm like crying every day. And then I so obviously

373
00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:49,320
Speaker 1: my training is going terrible, and every time I take

374
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Speaker 1: a good hit in the head, I'm just like, dude,

375
00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:53,800
Speaker 1: what am I doing? What am I doing? You know?

376
00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:59,679
Speaker 1: And so it was like terrible, terrible, terrible energy to

377
00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:03,600
Speaker 1: have in a World Championship camp, you know what I mean.

378
00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:08,560
Speaker 1: And so we're starting to do the rounds to the doctors,

379
00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:13,760
Speaker 1: and you know, the first couple of doctors we sit

380
00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:16,600
Speaker 1: down and talk to and they're just like they're shutting

381
00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:21,959
Speaker 1: it down quick, and you know, they're really pleading with

382
00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:26,080
Speaker 1: me not to fight and not to spar not to

383
00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:29,800
Speaker 1: like to live another life, basically, to do something else.

384
00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:33,400
Speaker 1: And one doctor, it got so bad we stopped even

385
00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:35,560
Speaker 1: going to the doctors. We just sent them the scans

386
00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:38,960
Speaker 1: and just say hey, just tell us over the phone

387
00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:42,920
Speaker 1: yes or no. You know, like we're trying to get

388
00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:44,720
Speaker 1: through all of them and just speed up the process.

389
00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:48,200
Speaker 1: And it's no, no, no, no, no, over and over

390
00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:51,159
Speaker 1: again for a whole week. This is week two, my

391
00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:55,480
Speaker 1: second week in Brazil, Like we went through the whole

392
00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:59,840
Speaker 1: freaking Rolodex. And one doctor even says, you shouldn't even

393
00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:03,560
Speaker 1: do jiu jitsu because choking and the loss of blood

394
00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:08,560
Speaker 1: to my brain could be dangerous, and you know, like

395
00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:11,520
Speaker 1: just a combination of all those effects could be bad.

396
00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:14,520
Speaker 1: And then, you know, when I heard that news, all

397
00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:15,200
Speaker 1: its just like.

398
00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:17,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, take away your purpose?

399
00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:21,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, like what now? And then of course, literally that

400
00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:25,200
Speaker 1: same day, I'm sparring and then I tear my ham

401
00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:30,199
Speaker 1: strength and sparring it pops really bad, like just in

402
00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:32,960
Speaker 1: a takedown sequence. It stretched, it pops, and it just

403
00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:36,159
Speaker 1: makes sense. You know. Of course I'm stressed and you know,

404
00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:38,240
Speaker 1: just not in a good frame of mind, and I

405
00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:40,159
Speaker 1: brought that interergy to my training, and of course that's

406
00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:42,640
Speaker 1: when you get hurt. And I had to get carried

407
00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:45,360
Speaker 1: out of the academy that day, and I'm just bawling,

408
00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:48,000
Speaker 1: just crying, and then I tell my coach, I'm like,

409
00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:48,919
Speaker 1: I give up.

410
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,120
Speaker 4: It's not happening. That's it, you know, it's not happening.

411
00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:55,320
Speaker 1: And at this point, we are four weeks out from

412
00:20:55,359 --> 00:21:00,119
Speaker 1: the fight, and that was like Thursday, and so that

413
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,200
Speaker 1: that whole weekend, Friday through Sunday, I just stay home.

414
00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:05,080
Speaker 1: I can't train. I'm trying to do whatever I can

415
00:21:05,119 --> 00:21:07,000
Speaker 1: to heal my leg. I set up, I'm putting like

416
00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:09,320
Speaker 1: creams on it and doing all that stuff, trying to

417
00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:13,439
Speaker 1: stretch it, and I'm just like whatever. And we had

418
00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:17,800
Speaker 1: one more doctor to see on Monday. And this doctor

419
00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:21,440
Speaker 1: happened to be like the professor. He was like the

420
00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:28,960
Speaker 1: most experienced, you know, most senior neurologist of that area

421
00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:31,040
Speaker 1: of Brazil, and he was the professor for many of

422
00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:33,359
Speaker 1: the other doctors I had already seen. He was a ner,

423
00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:37,160
Speaker 1: not only just a neurologist, but a neurosurgeon as well,

424
00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:41,800
Speaker 1: so he actually has hands on experience operating on the brain.

425
00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:45,960
Speaker 1: And so we see him Monday night and I'm just like, okay,

426
00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:50,600
Speaker 1: that final one right, literally the last guy prepared for

427
00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:53,719
Speaker 1: him to say no. We sit down with him and

428
00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:56,399
Speaker 1: he was the first one to ask me, tell me

429
00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:59,359
Speaker 1: how you feel. And so I feel good, Like I've

430
00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,520
Speaker 1: never had any I don't even really get headaches. There's

431
00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:04,560
Speaker 1: never been anything in my life to make me think

432
00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:06,760
Speaker 1: that I had some sort of problem, you know. Upstairs,

433
00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:10,399
Speaker 1: and he's like okay, and he does a series of

434
00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,760
Speaker 1: tests with me, just keeps talking with me, and he

435
00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:16,320
Speaker 1: was like, look, it's not a perfect world that you're

436
00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:20,320
Speaker 1: doing what you're doing, but listen, your condition.

437
00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:23,680
Speaker 4: It has the ability to change at any given time

438
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:28,359
Speaker 4: without any signs, any symptoms, any nothing like.

439
00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:31,240
Speaker 1: It's something that can just take the term for the

440
00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:33,359
Speaker 1: worst at any point in your life. And we have

441
00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:37,280
Speaker 1: no way of predicting. And and he pulls out he's

442
00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:38,960
Speaker 1: got his computer there, and he starts typing. He's like,

443
00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:41,119
Speaker 1: I'm gonna look to see if there's some sort of

444
00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:45,640
Speaker 1: journals or studies or research papers or anything that says

445
00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:50,520
Speaker 1: that head trauma can can make it worse, you know.

446
00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:52,600
Speaker 1: And he was like, I guarantee I'm not going to

447
00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:55,439
Speaker 1: find anything. He starts typing, da, da da, No, there's nothing.

448
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:59,399
Speaker 1: There's nothing. There's nothing here that says clearly that me

449
00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:01,359
Speaker 1: get in the head, hitting the head is gonna make

450
00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:05,879
Speaker 1: it worse or speed it up. And so I'm like, okay,

451
00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:08,560
Speaker 1: so what are you saying. He was like, I don't

452
00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:10,359
Speaker 1: think it's a problem for you to fight. You keep

453
00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:13,639
Speaker 1: doing what you're doing. And now that we know, we

454
00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:15,600
Speaker 1: can really keep our eyes on this and if there's

455
00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:20,440
Speaker 1: a change, then I'm gonna tell you not to fight anymore.

456
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:23,520
Speaker 1: But for now we're gonna I want you to get

457
00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:26,200
Speaker 1: another scan done we get closer to the fight and

458
00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:28,159
Speaker 1: get scans in after fight, and he's like, basically, you're

459
00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:31,080
Speaker 1: gonna need to get scans done pretty routinely, you know,

460
00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:33,240
Speaker 1: for the rest of your life, and just keep tabs

461
00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:35,680
Speaker 1: on it. And if we see a change, then we're

462
00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:38,360
Speaker 1: gonna have to, you know, change something with your lifestyle.

463
00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,640
Speaker 1: And I'm like, okay, so are you going to sign

464
00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:44,040
Speaker 1: my letter? You know, are you going to sign the paper?

465
00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:46,199
Speaker 1: He's like, yes, I have no problem with that.

466
00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:47,080
Speaker 2: Wow.

467
00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:51,720
Speaker 1: So he signs the paper and makes another letter giving

468
00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:54,080
Speaker 1: all of his credentials and why he thinks what he thinks,

469
00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:56,800
Speaker 1: Da da da stamps it the whole thing. And as

470
00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:59,400
Speaker 1: soon as I walked out of that office, man, I

471
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,800
Speaker 1: just started balley and I hugged my coach. He was

472
00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:04,600
Speaker 1: there with me. And it's not just my coach, he's

473
00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:07,040
Speaker 1: my brother. We had been on this journey at this

474
00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:10,679
Speaker 1: point for ten years together. He's my black belt in

475
00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:12,720
Speaker 1: jiu jitsu and I'm his black belt in Muay tie.

476
00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:17,199
Speaker 1: So we have this beautiful teacher student relationship. And you know,

477
00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,480
Speaker 1: it just started crying. I'm like, okay, we're gonna fight.

478
00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:23,320
Speaker 1: We're gonna fight. And now it's less than a month out,

479
00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:26,959
Speaker 1: but I got a freaking torn hamstring backed Yeah, so

480
00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:32,159
Speaker 1: not ideal. And basically I work around the hamstring for

481
00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:35,359
Speaker 1: the next couple of weeks. I send everything into Bellotour.

482
00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:39,120
Speaker 1: They have to send it all into the commission in London.

483
00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:42,040
Speaker 1: And we didn't get the news that they were going

484
00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:44,680
Speaker 1: to allow me to fight until two weeks before the fight.

485
00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:47,240
Speaker 1: So two weeks before the fight that I finally know

486
00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:52,280
Speaker 1: for sure the fight was gonna happen. Wow, And I

487
00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:54,840
Speaker 1: didn't have like all of these things.

488
00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:56,480
Speaker 2: What's It's hard to train like that too, because you

489
00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:58,160
Speaker 2: gotta have no right.

490
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:02,879
Speaker 3: It's man, it's horrible horrible to take a beat and

491
00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:06,880
Speaker 3: when you don't know if you have something because even.

492
00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:08,359
Speaker 4: Gonna happen, Yeah, it's gonna happen.

493
00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:12,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, And and trying to stay positive, like you're confident.

494
00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:15,119
Speaker 1: You need confidence, you know. And it was the worst

495
00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:17,840
Speaker 1: camp I've ever done in my life, one hundred percent.

496
00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:19,920
Speaker 2: It's got to be like, I'm not doing Shark when

497
00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:22,399
Speaker 2: I'm on fight. I'm not fucking going against five guys

498
00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:24,480
Speaker 2: in fucking five minutes. This, I'm not doing this. I'm

499
00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:27,280
Speaker 2: not Yeah, I don't. Yeah.

500
00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:30,760
Speaker 1: The internal conversation was all over the place, stuff like that,

501
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:31,720
Speaker 1: just all of it.

502
00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:36,000
Speaker 4: But inside of that couple of weeks from.

503
00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:39,160
Speaker 1: Finding out to that seeing that doctor there, I did

504
00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:41,440
Speaker 1: a lot of walks, I did a lot of meditation,

505
00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:44,920
Speaker 1: and I knew that I had to do that fight.

506
00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:47,879
Speaker 1: I knew if there was any way I could do it,

507
00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:51,080
Speaker 1: I had to do it because it meant everything, you know.

508
00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:55,160
Speaker 1: It was like my legacy, you know, my my name,

509
00:25:55,359 --> 00:26:00,120
Speaker 1: for my father being his son and and him raising

510
00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:02,640
Speaker 1: me as a martial artist and everything that we had

511
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:06,719
Speaker 1: been through in our journey and my team and just

512
00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:09,440
Speaker 1: all of it. I was like, if there's no other fight,

513
00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:11,120
Speaker 1: I can have I have to do this one.

514
00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:13,040
Speaker 2: I have so you being a lot to go on

515
00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:15,400
Speaker 2: year terms instead of having it.

516
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:21,960
Speaker 1: Taken from you right right, And so I really honed in, deep,

517
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:25,320
Speaker 1: deep to my sense of purpose and what that fight

518
00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:27,679
Speaker 1: meant to me. More than just being a world champion.

519
00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,679
Speaker 1: It was so much deeper than that. And you know,

520
00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:33,400
Speaker 1: so basically the whole team gets out there. I'm dealing

521
00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:35,640
Speaker 1: with my leg all the way until the very end.

522
00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:39,080
Speaker 1: But you know, I'll never forget when we were in

523
00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:42,080
Speaker 1: the warm up area backstage's getting ready to go. I

524
00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:46,160
Speaker 1: talked about this on Joe's podcast, Joe Rogan Show. When

525
00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:48,120
Speaker 1: I when I came out with all of this information.

526
00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:50,439
Speaker 1: You know, I had this book with me that I

527
00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:53,080
Speaker 1: took to all of my fights. It's a Think and

528
00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:57,639
Speaker 1: Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. So many great pieces in

529
00:26:57,680 --> 00:27:00,399
Speaker 1: that book that just really changed my life when I

530
00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:03,600
Speaker 1: was younger and just keeps me focused. And I didn't

531
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:07,600
Speaker 1: open it up the whole time during camp, even out

532
00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:10,120
Speaker 1: there in London, but I always pack it in my bag.

533
00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:13,440
Speaker 1: I just take it with me and backstage I open

534
00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:16,400
Speaker 1: it up to read a little bit before I'm really

535
00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:20,359
Speaker 1: starting to you know, get get the Blood flowing and

536
00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:24,720
Speaker 1: that the flap was saved in a spot of in

537
00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:27,679
Speaker 1: the book. And so where I opened the book, the

538
00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:30,040
Speaker 1: first thing I see is a highlighted section that I

539
00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:34,359
Speaker 1: had marked, and it reads, every adversity carries with it

540
00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:38,879
Speaker 1: the seed of an equivalent advantage. And right then and

541
00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:41,760
Speaker 1: there it hit me. And I was like, I remember

542
00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:44,160
Speaker 1: smiling and kind of getting a little little teary eye,

543
00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:45,920
Speaker 1: and I looked at my dad, I looked at my coaches,

544
00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,560
Speaker 1: my you know, my team, my family, and I'm just like,

545
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:52,000
Speaker 1: I'm gonna win this fucking fight, you know. And and

546
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:53,719
Speaker 1: I kind of smiled at them, and I was just like,

547
00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:55,960
Speaker 1: this is our night, you know. And I mean, I'm

548
00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:59,680
Speaker 1: getting good goosebumps right now. And that was it, man,

549
00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:00,640
Speaker 1: You know of the fight.

550
00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:02,680
Speaker 3: That at that point, the fight becomes the easy part

551
00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:03,800
Speaker 3: compared to the struggle.

552
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:07,920
Speaker 1: You're just one hundred percent right. And my opponent had

553
00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:11,040
Speaker 1: been very vocal about how he was fighting for money

554
00:28:11,359 --> 00:28:16,440
Speaker 1: and just you know, not price, not purpose, not purpose,

555
00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:19,399
Speaker 1: and uh, and I knew right there I want this

556
00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:21,920
Speaker 1: more than he does one hundred percent. There's I wouldn't

557
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,800
Speaker 1: be here, I wouldn't have made it there if I

558
00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:28,520
Speaker 1: didn't want it with every inch, every ounce of my being,

559
00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:28,959
Speaker 1: you know.

560
00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:32,360
Speaker 4: So that was it, man, And sure enough the fight

561
00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:33,240
Speaker 4: went the way it did.

562
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:33,800
Speaker 2: Well.

563
00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:37,040
Speaker 3: You you again, you fought that night too, like you

564
00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:40,760
Speaker 3: were relentless. You fought that night like, hey man, someone's

565
00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:43,000
Speaker 3: trying to take this from me, and I am going

566
00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:46,280
Speaker 3: to brutalize this person in front of me and make

567
00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:48,680
Speaker 3: sure there is no way I don't come out here

568
00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:53,720
Speaker 3: with my hand raised. It was clear you absolutely just

569
00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:55,400
Speaker 3: impose your will in every way.

570
00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:56,840
Speaker 2: From the time the bell.

571
00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,000
Speaker 4: Rang, well, I mean it had. It was a back

572
00:28:59,000 --> 00:28:59,600
Speaker 4: and forth fight.

573
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:03,880
Speaker 1: He had his moments, for sure, and my whole thing was,

574
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:07,000
Speaker 1: I'm leaving everything out here, you know, I'm not every

575
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,600
Speaker 1: possible amount of effort I can put. I'm gonna put

576
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:14,239
Speaker 1: into this, into this fight in this cage. And you know,

577
00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:16,760
Speaker 1: I'd only had nine fights. He had like fifty, you know,

578
00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:19,800
Speaker 1: he had only lost like five fights. For I think

579
00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:21,360
Speaker 1: it was even less at that point. You know, I'm

580
00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:25,320
Speaker 1: a huge underdog. I'd never done championship rounds, you know,

581
00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:27,800
Speaker 1: going to the fourth and fifth round, you know, and

582
00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:32,479
Speaker 1: like after the second round ended, and I was like

583
00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:35,360
Speaker 1: holding him so much and using the grappling and the

584
00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:38,560
Speaker 1: wrestling my arms like the lactic acid was pumping, and

585
00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:41,800
Speaker 1: I was like, dude, I'm kind of a little tired already.

586
00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:45,560
Speaker 1: And we still got three more rounds, you know, And

587
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:49,800
Speaker 1: I was winning the third round until the last couple

588
00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:52,600
Speaker 1: of minutes. I was on his back and I had

589
00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:55,680
Speaker 1: this half a second of like, I can tell I'm

590
00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:58,840
Speaker 1: starting to fall off his back, ye, and I needed

591
00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,680
Speaker 1: to put more energy climb back on his back and

592
00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:02,960
Speaker 1: stay on his back and hold him.

593
00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:05,080
Speaker 4: But I was like, ah, I'm.

594
00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:07,520
Speaker 1: A little tired, and say I have a good guard,

595
00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:10,240
Speaker 1: It's okay if I land on bottom. And that was

596
00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:14,920
Speaker 1: terrible and I accepted bottom position, and you know, he

597
00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:18,280
Speaker 1: is well well known for having incredible ground and pound,

598
00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:20,120
Speaker 1: and I kind of took him lightly in that moment.

599
00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:21,960
Speaker 1: I was like, I'm so much better on the ground.

600
00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:24,560
Speaker 1: I'll do guard. I'll be fine. And I gave him

601
00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:27,040
Speaker 1: that a little bit of life when he finally got

602
00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:30,479
Speaker 1: me off and he just unleashed and I got cut

603
00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:34,120
Speaker 1: and you know, definitely lost that around, got beat up.

604
00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:37,760
Speaker 1: And then in the fourth round, I couldn't see because

605
00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:40,600
Speaker 1: I'm bleeding in my eye, and so I'm like trying

606
00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:42,600
Speaker 1: to fight with one eye, and then he he poked

607
00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:46,280
Speaker 1: me in the other eye, in my good eye, and so.

608
00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:47,920
Speaker 4: Then I'm like totally like I can't see.

609
00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:49,520
Speaker 1: I didn't complain the ref or anything, and I'm like

610
00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:52,160
Speaker 1: this and then boom, he sticks an uppercut right in

611
00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:54,200
Speaker 1: the middle. I had no idea where it came from,

612
00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,360
Speaker 1: and I fell. It wasn't like it rocked me so bad,

613
00:30:57,360 --> 00:30:58,760
Speaker 1: but I just didn't know where they were coming from,

614
00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:01,720
Speaker 1: and so I just I fell it, and you know,

615
00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:04,280
Speaker 1: so then he scored a knockdown and so he won

616
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:06,760
Speaker 1: that round. So now we're too too going into the

617
00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:12,120
Speaker 1: fifth round, and my corner is just like calmly but intensely,

618
00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:14,800
Speaker 1: you know, one more round.

619
00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:18,040
Speaker 4: Everything you got, you know, this is your destiny.

620
00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:20,480
Speaker 1: Go out there. All you need to do is get

621
00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:23,680
Speaker 1: one more takedown. And I had this surge of energy.

622
00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:25,160
Speaker 1: It was like everything that I went through in the

623
00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:27,240
Speaker 1: camp just hit me. And it was like here we are,

624
00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:29,520
Speaker 1: last five minutes, Like how bad do you want it?

625
00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:31,040
Speaker 4: Let's go, Let's go.

626
00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:36,000
Speaker 1: And I remember getting up and just being like.

627
00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:36,920
Speaker 4: Like, okay, here we are.

628
00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:40,720
Speaker 1: And I told myself I had this saying I'm wearing

629
00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:43,880
Speaker 1: it on my shirt. Right now. I've been saying it

630
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:46,680
Speaker 1: like for a long time. I can't even I mean

631
00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:49,640
Speaker 1: even before I started MMA. Every time I'm in a

632
00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:52,600
Speaker 1: camp and I'm you know, preparing for something big. When

633
00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:56,600
Speaker 1: I do my last round of sparring training or a

634
00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:59,080
Speaker 1: conditioning circuit, whatever it is, when it comes down to

635
00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:02,360
Speaker 1: that last round, I used to tell myself the last

636
00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:04,960
Speaker 1: round is my best round. Last round is my best round.

637
00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:07,600
Speaker 1: I always try to finish strong, always try to finish strong.

638
00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:12,320
Speaker 1: And I was telling that to myself walking out for

639
00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:16,480
Speaker 1: that fifth and final round, and it just energized me.

640
00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:18,760
Speaker 1: And the referee brings us to the middle to shake

641
00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:21,240
Speaker 1: hands for the final round, and I remember looking right

642
00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:24,680
Speaker 1: into Sassy's eyes and smiling and I'm.

643
00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:27,680
Speaker 4: Just like, you know, just ready, like okay, here we go.

644
00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:29,720
Speaker 1: And it turned out to be my best round, My

645
00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:31,720
Speaker 1: best round of the whole fight was the last round.

646
00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:33,440
Speaker 2: Were talking about you imposing your will.

647
00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:35,600
Speaker 4: Yes, he didn't even touch me that round.

648
00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:37,880
Speaker 1: I immediately pressured him, put him against the cage, took

649
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:40,960
Speaker 1: him down, did a lot of damage that round and

650
00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:44,680
Speaker 1: completely controlled it. And that won me the fight. And

651
00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:47,120
Speaker 1: so that was I said, I was going to keep

652
00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:49,280
Speaker 1: it short and sweet. That was a long great I

653
00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:49,960
Speaker 1: love it you kid.

654
00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:51,640
Speaker 4: That was it so again.

655
00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:54,640
Speaker 3: Now so now here's the second part though. Okay, so

656
00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:55,960
Speaker 3: you win this title fight.

657
00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:58,760
Speaker 2: You were again, you were you were man. You were

658
00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:00,880
Speaker 2: all world in that.

659
00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:03,440
Speaker 3: That fight because you did go through adversity. Her round

660
00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:05,520
Speaker 3: was kind of you dominated for the first four minutes.

661
00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:07,920
Speaker 3: They sent along those lines and then got caught right,

662
00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:10,200
Speaker 3: you know, sloppy there. But that fifth round, man, it

663
00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:12,720
Speaker 3: was just like, man, every once in a while, like

664
00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:14,200
Speaker 3: only a couple of times in your life, you get

665
00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:15,920
Speaker 3: to find out who the fuck you are. A you

666
00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:18,560
Speaker 3: did for that fifth round, yes, sir, and we're like, man,

667
00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:20,120
Speaker 3: what he just did to Massasse?

668
00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:23,800
Speaker 2: No one's beating his cat for a while. And then

669
00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:26,360
Speaker 2: after that, now I want you to take you there

670
00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:27,280
Speaker 2: because that was your last fight.

671
00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:31,720
Speaker 1: So I came out of it and in my head

672
00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:35,200
Speaker 1: I just kind of like turned off all that stuff

673
00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:39,200
Speaker 1: I went through. And up to this point in time,

674
00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:42,479
Speaker 1: nobody knew except my coaches that were in Brazil with

675
00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:46,640
Speaker 1: me and my girlfriend is now my wife, you know,

676
00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:49,360
Speaker 1: they were the only ones that knew even about the

677
00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:52,560
Speaker 1: medical issue, and I just I didn't want to tell anybody,

678
00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:54,680
Speaker 1: you know, I didn't want to worry like my parents.

679
00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:55,920
Speaker 4: My dad was in my corner.

680
00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:58,920
Speaker 1: I didn't even tell my dad. I didn't want to really, yeah,

681
00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:01,720
Speaker 1: I didn't want him to to, you know, to pull

682
00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:04,840
Speaker 1: me back or to not you know, be confident in me.

683
00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:08,000
Speaker 2: And it's also a celebration time. You're the middleweight champ

684
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:08,480
Speaker 2: in the world.

685
00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:14,239
Speaker 1: Yeah, and so you know, definitely super happy, you know,

686
00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:18,839
Speaker 1: feel very fulfilled and moving forward, you know, belt who

687
00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:22,040
Speaker 1: gives me a little break? Da da da, And they're like, okay,

688
00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:25,360
Speaker 1: we want to do the rematch. And I said, great,

689
00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:29,120
Speaker 1: let's do it. And in my head, I'm like, after that,

690
00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:32,080
Speaker 1: you know, if I get a good camp and the

691
00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:37,680
Speaker 1: evolution that came in my training after that fight, going

692
00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:40,880
Speaker 1: five rounds and knowing, you know, you find yourself. I mean,

693
00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:44,480
Speaker 1: it takes time. I was just then hitting my black

694
00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:47,719
Speaker 1: belt level of MMA. I felt like I graduated to

695
00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:50,080
Speaker 1: a black belt in MMA at that point, like Okay,

696
00:34:50,200 --> 00:34:51,960
Speaker 1: now I really am getting this.

697
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:54,200
Speaker 4: And so we signed a rematch.

698
00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:57,960
Speaker 1: The fight was in the very end of June, and

699
00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:00,600
Speaker 1: then we signed the rematch to happen in Janeuary in

700
00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:05,160
Speaker 1: LA and so, you know, by the fall October November

701
00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:08,120
Speaker 1: I'm starting to get into camp again, and uh and

702
00:35:08,160 --> 00:35:10,520
Speaker 1: I'm just on fire. I'm feeling so good. I'm so

703
00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:12,840
Speaker 1: confident and there's no way he's going to make it

704
00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:15,799
Speaker 1: out five rounds this time. I'm going to finish him

705
00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:19,560
Speaker 1: this time. And we signed everything. I renegotiated my contract

706
00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:22,279
Speaker 1: and my life is about to get really really good

707
00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:24,960
Speaker 1: because I'm the you know, I'm the champion. Now I

708
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:27,719
Speaker 1: can headline big cards. I want to fight, you know,

709
00:35:27,719 --> 00:35:29,919
Speaker 1: it's gonna fight at the form. I had a dream

710
00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:32,439
Speaker 1: of fighting in Madison Square Garden and Bellatore was going

711
00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:35,040
Speaker 1: there and I had all this like, man, my name

712
00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:36,640
Speaker 1: is going to be up there. I'm going to headline.

713
00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:39,360
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be the champ, and we're going to finally

714
00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:43,240
Speaker 1: make some money and I'm going to set up my my,

715
00:35:43,239 --> 00:35:45,080
Speaker 1: my whole life, you know, with this. This is going

716
00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:49,560
Speaker 1: to be career, retirement, everything. And so life is looking good. Well,

717
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:54,200
Speaker 1: I'm in the in the camp for the rematch and

718
00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:59,279
Speaker 1: I get a call super random and it's a it's

719
00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:04,799
Speaker 1: a neurology just from Ireland and he tells me that

720
00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:10,640
Speaker 1: after the fight, they decided to make a whole board

721
00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:17,160
Speaker 1: to study my case. Look at my scans and come

722
00:36:17,239 --> 00:36:21,600
Speaker 1: up with some sort of precedent for what if this

723
00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:23,440
Speaker 1: happens again in the future. Because it was such a

724
00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:25,960
Speaker 1: unique situation, no one really knew what to do and

725
00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:29,000
Speaker 1: how to how to approach it. And he's like, look,

726
00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:32,200
Speaker 1: we made this board, we talked about your case, we

727
00:36:32,200 --> 00:36:36,520
Speaker 1: looked at your scans, and we all voted, and you

728
00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:39,760
Speaker 1: will not be allowed to fight here in Europe ever again.

729
00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:42,840
Speaker 1: And I'm telling you right now you need to stop fighting.

730
00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:46,799
Speaker 1: And I'm like, oh, okay, here we are again, you know.

731
00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:50,680
Speaker 1: And I'm in another camp already and I already had

732
00:36:50,680 --> 00:36:55,360
Speaker 1: everything set up and it's still it's like November and

733
00:36:55,760 --> 00:36:56,760
Speaker 1: some still a couple.

734
00:36:56,560 --> 00:36:58,920
Speaker 4: Months out, so I have some time, but not that

735
00:36:59,000 --> 00:36:59,479
Speaker 4: much time.

736
00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:02,719
Speaker 1: And so I call it Rich and I'm like, Rich,

737
00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:06,799
Speaker 1: I just got this call from with Rich show with

738
00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:10,480
Speaker 1: the BELLI right, yeah, yeah, our guy guy exactly, great guy.

739
00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:13,400
Speaker 1: Here's my my contact for everything. Him and Mike Cogan,

740
00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:16,360
Speaker 1: another great guy. And I call it Bridge and I'm like, dude,

741
00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:18,479
Speaker 1: this doctor, he just hit me with a big one.

742
00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:21,520
Speaker 1: And I'm really concerned to what California is gonna say.

743
00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:25,520
Speaker 1: So let's let's start the process now, because I'm not

744
00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:27,680
Speaker 1: doing a whole camp and waiting till two weeks before

745
00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:29,080
Speaker 1: the fight to know if I'm going to fight again,

746
00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:32,000
Speaker 1: And so they give me set up at UCLA.

747
00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:33,720
Speaker 4: We book a trip.

748
00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:39,879
Speaker 1: Immediately, I go to California, go to UCLA and and.

749
00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:41,960
Speaker 4: See a specialist there.

750
00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:44,680
Speaker 1: Keep in mind, the fight had already been signed and everything,

751
00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:49,000
Speaker 1: but they hadn't announced it yet. And behind the scenes,

752
00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:51,680
Speaker 1: I'm like telling people, Oh, yeah, we're gonna fight. We're

753
00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:54,239
Speaker 1: gonna fight, that the news is coming, news is coming,

754
00:37:54,280 --> 00:37:56,719
Speaker 1: news is coming, and nothing's going out because we're all

755
00:37:56,760 --> 00:38:00,560
Speaker 1: concerned about California. And I'm getting like, message, what are

756
00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:02,200
Speaker 1: you going to defend your bell? You're scared of Messa

757
00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:04,320
Speaker 1: see all this stuff. I'm like, dude, I've already signed,

758
00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:07,400
Speaker 1: I'm ready to go, you know. I'm I'm dealing with

759
00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:09,640
Speaker 1: all of this, trying to keep it quiet. So I

760
00:38:09,719 --> 00:38:14,319
Speaker 1: go to UCLA, see a specialist, get more scans again. Uh,

761
00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:17,400
Speaker 1: nothing had got nothing changed. There's not like anything had

762
00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:20,800
Speaker 1: grown or nothing had gotten worse. And that was after

763
00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:23,160
Speaker 1: the fight. I mean, really, my whole career, I didn't

764
00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:25,439
Speaker 1: really ever get hit in a fight until that fight,

765
00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:30,280
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, nothing changed. So good signs. Everything

766
00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:34,439
Speaker 1: look good. Talk to UCLA, tell them the whole thing.

767
00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:37,680
Speaker 1: They say the same thing. Man, there's no there's no

768
00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:40,719
Speaker 1: evidence and there's nothing that supports this is going to

769
00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:44,319
Speaker 1: make it worse. The extra risk is very very very

770
00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:47,879
Speaker 1: very small. We're okay with it as long as you're

771
00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:50,040
Speaker 1: okay with it. And we keep getting scans. We see

772
00:38:50,040 --> 00:38:52,360
Speaker 1: you again, Da da dad, And I'm like, yes, yes, yes,

773
00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:55,040
Speaker 1: they ride out of thing. We get it all to

774
00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:57,840
Speaker 1: Belletour and they sent it to the California Athletic Commission.

775
00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:00,919
Speaker 1: Now it's all up to them. Wait wait, wait, wait,

776
00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:04,399
Speaker 1: wait comes back. No. I got a call from Rich

777
00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:08,319
Speaker 1: not going to happen. He was like, look now that

778
00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:13,040
Speaker 1: it's official. California says no. Europe says no, we don't

779
00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:16,959
Speaker 1: know what to do. You're our champ and we don't

780
00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:20,040
Speaker 1: want to put you in freaking you know, Kansas or

781
00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:23,640
Speaker 1: Idaho or whatever. We need you to fight on big shows.

782
00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:26,680
Speaker 1: But these are going to be in states and places

783
00:39:27,120 --> 00:39:29,839
Speaker 1: that you know I mean. And even if they tried

784
00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:32,879
Speaker 1: to undercover slide me in somewhere else, that commission could

785
00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:35,080
Speaker 1: talk to them and say, hey, you guys, know what's

786
00:39:35,120 --> 00:39:37,400
Speaker 1: going on. You know, and so it was this whole

787
00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:38,920
Speaker 1: thing and they're like, we don't know what we're going

788
00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:41,920
Speaker 1: to do with you. And I'm in limbo for a

789
00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:44,680
Speaker 1: few weeks, and then finally I had this opportunity to

790
00:39:44,719 --> 00:39:48,560
Speaker 1: get on Joe's Show, and I'm just like, man, guys,

791
00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:50,600
Speaker 1: let me just get my story out there, because I

792
00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:52,800
Speaker 1: need to get off my chest. Still to this point.

793
00:39:53,239 --> 00:39:55,080
Speaker 1: All the way until like a week before I went

794
00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:58,319
Speaker 1: to do Joe Show, I hadn't told anybody. I hadn't

795
00:39:58,320 --> 00:40:01,839
Speaker 1: told even my family. And finally I tell them and

796
00:40:01,880 --> 00:40:04,000
Speaker 1: I say, hey, I'm just going to let it all

797
00:40:04,040 --> 00:40:06,400
Speaker 1: out on Joe's show so everyone can hear it all

798
00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:09,960
Speaker 1: at once and get the record straight, know what's going on.

799
00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:13,200
Speaker 1: And so basically no one was going to approve me.

800
00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:17,719
Speaker 1: And that was that, and so I had to relinquish

801
00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:20,600
Speaker 1: my belt. I told the whole story and got it

802
00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:23,719
Speaker 1: out there, huge weight off my shoulders. I felt so

803
00:40:23,840 --> 00:40:26,400
Speaker 1: much better, so much lighter after that, and it was

804
00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:29,360
Speaker 1: one of the toughest things I'd ever been through, ever

805
00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:31,760
Speaker 1: did in that moment.

806
00:40:31,880 --> 00:40:33,520
Speaker 4: You know, just letting it all out on Joe's show

807
00:40:33,600 --> 00:40:34,600
Speaker 4: is very emotional for me.

808
00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:38,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was that. It was just like you get

809
00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:40,160
Speaker 1: to the top of the mountain, you're so happy and

810
00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:44,000
Speaker 1: you know, and then it's over. You know. But as

811
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:46,480
Speaker 1: hard as all that was, I'll tell you what I've

812
00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:50,840
Speaker 1: been through since, just so grateful, you know. I realized

813
00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:53,200
Speaker 1: that that was this part of my destiny, part of

814
00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:57,759
Speaker 1: my story, and I really like honed in on a

815
00:40:57,800 --> 00:41:01,319
Speaker 1: new purpose. I came back to to got to save

816
00:41:01,400 --> 00:41:04,520
Speaker 1: my goodbye to jujitsu and grappling, and been able to

817
00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:06,720
Speaker 1: do some big things on this side of the sport,

818
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:07,759
Speaker 1: my other love, you.

819
00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:11,320
Speaker 4: Know, gee and no gee, and have you won several

820
00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:12,200
Speaker 4: more world titles?

821
00:41:12,280 --> 00:41:12,440
Speaker 1: Right?

822
00:41:13,560 --> 00:41:14,440
Speaker 4: Not world titles.

823
00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:16,560
Speaker 1: I did win some of the titles and won some

824
00:41:16,600 --> 00:41:19,239
Speaker 1: big matches, and I did ABCC and I was just

825
00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:23,719
Speaker 1: recently the silver medallist and the nine to nine kilogram

826
00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:26,759
Speaker 1: division and that's like our Olympics. Yeah, I was the

827
00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:29,040
Speaker 1: oldest guy to ever make it to the finals of

828
00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:34,000
Speaker 1: that division. So you know, good stuff, you know, definitely

829
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:36,680
Speaker 1: no complaints of course that happened.

830
00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:37,120
Speaker 2: You know.

831
00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:39,720
Speaker 1: The fight was in nineteen and I did Joe Show

832
00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:43,719
Speaker 1: in January of twenty twenty, and then I had the

833
00:41:43,760 --> 00:41:48,240
Speaker 1: grand opening for my academy, my new academy huge, beautiful,

834
00:41:48,320 --> 00:41:51,360
Speaker 1: ten thousand square foot space. I used all my earnings

835
00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:56,040
Speaker 1: from my fights to invest in this place, and I

836
00:41:56,040 --> 00:41:58,920
Speaker 1: had to take on a pretty substantial commercial loan, you know.

837
00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:02,200
Speaker 1: So I went into to make this place possible. And

838
00:42:02,239 --> 00:42:04,479
Speaker 1: I did that thinking, Oh, all the money I'm gonna

839
00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:07,319
Speaker 1: make from my fights, now, I'm gonna pay this off

840
00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:09,560
Speaker 1: in less than a year, like it's gonna be no problem.

841
00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:12,400
Speaker 1: And you know, I had all these plans, but then

842
00:42:12,440 --> 00:42:15,480
Speaker 1: fighting stopped, and then I'm like, well, that's okay. Business

843
00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:18,240
Speaker 1: is going to do great. You know, the beautiful new school.

844
00:42:18,520 --> 00:42:21,720
Speaker 4: I'm I'm world champion, mm a, you know, great everything.

845
00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:27,640
Speaker 1: Dad. Pandemic hits two weeks after our grand opening, had

846
00:42:27,640 --> 00:42:30,799
Speaker 1: to close the doors for three months. Not near as

847
00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:35,839
Speaker 1: bad here in Oklahoma as where it was everyone. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

848
00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:39,239
Speaker 1: terrible out there, terrible, So I can't imagine that. But

849
00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:42,240
Speaker 1: it was just a whirlwind of all these things hitting

850
00:42:42,239 --> 00:42:47,560
Speaker 1: me like, you know, down, little up, down and even

851
00:42:47,600 --> 00:42:50,000
Speaker 1: harder again, you know, and it's just like, dude, what's

852
00:42:50,080 --> 00:42:53,440
Speaker 1: going on? But it got me to where I am today,

853
00:42:53,719 --> 00:42:57,799
Speaker 1: and my girlfriend became my wife. We have kids now.

854
00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:02,359
Speaker 1: I have two year old twins and at the end

855
00:43:02,680 --> 00:43:08,160
Speaker 1: of twenty two, Japan's borders opened back up and they

856
00:43:08,200 --> 00:43:13,240
Speaker 1: started having international fighters come in for fighting events there,

857
00:43:13,719 --> 00:43:16,680
Speaker 1: and I got the opportunity to come back and fight

858
00:43:16,719 --> 00:43:20,520
Speaker 1: one more time three and a half years after that

859
00:43:20,600 --> 00:43:24,040
Speaker 1: title fight, and the fact that I stayed active in

860
00:43:24,120 --> 00:43:25,880
Speaker 1: jiu jitsu and I didn't just stop. You know, I

861
00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:29,680
Speaker 1: could have said, Okay, good career, did my thing. Gee

862
00:43:29,840 --> 00:43:34,560
Speaker 1: noge jiu jitsu, MMA world champion, good career, I'm gonna

863
00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:38,360
Speaker 1: call it. But instead I just like, let me keep pushing,

864
00:43:38,440 --> 00:43:40,360
Speaker 1: let me go back to jiu jitsu, fight all the

865
00:43:40,400 --> 00:43:43,480
Speaker 1: new young guys I hadn't competed against yet, do all

866
00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:46,879
Speaker 1: these competitions again. Just keep pushing, keep pushing. And that

867
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:49,279
Speaker 1: kept me in shape, and it kept me, It kept

868
00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:52,239
Speaker 1: me sharp. And so when Japan called and I had

869
00:43:52,239 --> 00:43:55,440
Speaker 1: the opportunity to do a fight in Japan, I was like,

870
00:43:55,640 --> 00:43:58,680
Speaker 1: I was ready and I had my MMA guys, my team.

871
00:43:58,840 --> 00:44:02,240
Speaker 1: I was still helping them. So I had still been sparring,

872
00:44:02,320 --> 00:44:05,080
Speaker 1: still been moving, and I got to fight in Japan.

873
00:44:05,680 --> 00:44:08,239
Speaker 1: That's a picture of me in the ring right after

874
00:44:08,280 --> 00:44:14,560
Speaker 1: it happened with our twin babies in Japan, just five

875
00:44:14,600 --> 00:44:18,279
Speaker 1: months after they were born, and I got to do

876
00:44:18,360 --> 00:44:21,480
Speaker 1: my goodbye, my go out on my terms, you know,

877
00:44:21,560 --> 00:44:24,719
Speaker 1: because the commission told me I couldn't fight anymore. Good

878
00:44:24,719 --> 00:44:27,880
Speaker 1: thing about Japan, they don't care about anything, right. I

879
00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:31,719
Speaker 1: was like, you guys need a letter something, and they're like, nah,

880
00:44:31,920 --> 00:44:33,239
Speaker 1: I know.

881
00:44:33,320 --> 00:44:37,200
Speaker 2: It was great. Yeah, people, it's great. Oh yeah, it's great. Yeah. Yeah.

882
00:44:37,280 --> 00:44:40,400
Speaker 4: They're like, no, you're fine, You're good. I'm like, okay, cool.

883
00:44:40,840 --> 00:44:42,359
Speaker 4: So I got to fight there.

884
00:44:43,560 --> 00:44:46,000
Speaker 1: I thought an undefeated kid, he's like twenty five years

885
00:44:46,040 --> 00:44:46,759
Speaker 1: old eight and O.

886
00:44:47,360 --> 00:44:50,160
Speaker 4: Submit him in the first round and that was that.

887
00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:53,640
Speaker 1: Still retired undefeated, but didn't go the way I planned it,

888
00:44:53,680 --> 00:44:56,759
Speaker 1: but still a beautiful story nonetheless, and I still got

889
00:44:56,760 --> 00:44:58,080
Speaker 1: to make my last round the best round.

890
00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:01,320
Speaker 2: Here's a couple of things I'll try with one I want.

891
00:45:01,200 --> 00:45:03,719
Speaker 3: You to always remember, right, And I just went through

892
00:45:03,760 --> 00:45:08,080
Speaker 3: this with Mark Kerr, the smashing machine, right, legend of legends.

893
00:45:08,360 --> 00:45:09,840
Speaker 3: He went through a hard time and he and I

894
00:45:09,880 --> 00:45:12,520
Speaker 3: were training in Arizona and he's like, you know, I'm

895
00:45:12,719 --> 00:45:15,360
Speaker 3: really fucking struggling like I used to be Mark Kerr.

896
00:45:15,680 --> 00:45:19,640
Speaker 3: I'm like, no, motherfucker, You're always Mark Kerr. You'll never

897
00:45:19,800 --> 00:45:23,080
Speaker 3: not be if you won a title, you got suddenly

898
00:45:23,520 --> 00:45:27,200
Speaker 3: like people won world titles and they lose, doesn't take

899
00:45:27,239 --> 00:45:28,320
Speaker 3: away you were a world champion.

900
00:45:28,360 --> 00:45:30,520
Speaker 2: You were one and one at one point. So for

901
00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:31,680
Speaker 2: the rest of your life, you take that.

902
00:45:31,719 --> 00:45:34,640
Speaker 3: By the way, the funny part was is as he

903
00:45:34,840 --> 00:45:37,759
Speaker 3: said that, the kid behind the desk wherever were said,

904
00:45:37,960 --> 00:45:40,399
Speaker 3: I'm sorry, are you Mark Kerr? I'm like you say

905
00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:44,040
Speaker 3: it like man, right there, it's like godlike step like

906
00:45:44,080 --> 00:45:45,799
Speaker 3: stepped in, like I'm gonna remind you.

907
00:45:46,200 --> 00:45:49,319
Speaker 2: Just for you to always remind yourself, okay, no matter what.

908
00:45:49,680 --> 00:45:53,640
Speaker 3: You fucking climbed the top of the mountain. That's it, right.

909
00:45:53,760 --> 00:45:56,200
Speaker 3: And you know the other great thing about the sport.

910
00:45:56,760 --> 00:45:59,040
Speaker 3: I try and teach my guys like, fuck the winner

911
00:45:59,040 --> 00:46:00,080
Speaker 3: of the lost, don't worry about it.

912
00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:02,799
Speaker 2: It's, man, the fight, the honor of the fight.

913
00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:05,000
Speaker 3: If you take that ego part out of it, it

914
00:46:05,040 --> 00:46:07,200
Speaker 3: makes you a lot more dangerous than everybody who's trying

915
00:46:07,200 --> 00:46:09,880
Speaker 3: to fucking not lose, er trying only when you know,

916
00:46:09,960 --> 00:46:10,760
Speaker 3: put on that pressure.

917
00:46:10,760 --> 00:46:13,560
Speaker 2: It's the fight itself. But the fight itself comes from

918
00:46:13,560 --> 00:46:16,160
Speaker 2: this fucking community. And you're such a big part of

919
00:46:16,160 --> 00:46:18,680
Speaker 2: this fucking community. It's the most special beautiful.

920
00:46:18,920 --> 00:46:21,319
Speaker 3: Like my life is great because I have football and

921
00:46:21,360 --> 00:46:24,080
Speaker 3: fighting and the two best locker rooms on the planet.

922
00:46:24,360 --> 00:46:26,320
Speaker 3: You put a bunch of football players and fighters together,

923
00:46:26,440 --> 00:46:29,440
Speaker 3: you'll solve all the world's problems, you know, And you

924
00:46:29,560 --> 00:46:31,719
Speaker 3: have that, and you're such an integral part of that.

925
00:46:32,040 --> 00:46:33,680
Speaker 3: I hope you've been able to love yourself up for

926
00:46:33,719 --> 00:46:35,600
Speaker 3: this and go, oh no, I fucking was at the

927
00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:39,520
Speaker 3: pinnacle and I've reached every dream every other fighter wished

928
00:46:39,520 --> 00:46:41,560
Speaker 3: she could have done. And use that as your equity

929
00:46:41,600 --> 00:46:43,920
Speaker 3: for the rest of your life. That suddainly doesn't leave

930
00:46:44,200 --> 00:46:46,799
Speaker 3: when the uniform comes off, when the helmet comes off,

931
00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:47,960
Speaker 3: or when your gloves come off.

932
00:46:48,200 --> 00:46:52,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, one hundred percent, Jay, You know the journey, The

933
00:46:52,160 --> 00:46:56,400
Speaker 1: journey is beautiful, man, And I've been so fortunate to

934
00:46:56,440 --> 00:46:59,719
Speaker 1: have this incredible martial arts journey, you know, from going

935
00:46:59,760 --> 00:47:03,560
Speaker 1: to zil as a kid, and you know, experiencing jiu

936
00:47:03,640 --> 00:47:07,279
Speaker 1: jitsu in the roots before it's become this big, you know,

937
00:47:08,239 --> 00:47:13,240
Speaker 1: global sport now and having the opportunity to represent myself

938
00:47:13,239 --> 00:47:16,239
Speaker 1: in the cage and express myself as a true martial artist.

939
00:47:16,320 --> 00:47:20,680
Speaker 1: You know, I've had so many losses in jiu jitsu

940
00:47:20,880 --> 00:47:23,440
Speaker 1: on those mats and so you know, I know what

941
00:47:23,480 --> 00:47:26,359
Speaker 1: it's like to have to pick yourself back up again

942
00:47:26,440 --> 00:47:27,360
Speaker 1: and stay positive.

943
00:47:27,440 --> 00:47:29,319
Speaker 4: You know, I was never a world champion at the

944
00:47:29,360 --> 00:47:30,040
Speaker 4: lower belts.

945
00:47:30,120 --> 00:47:32,919
Speaker 1: You know, nowadays these kids that are winning black belt

946
00:47:32,920 --> 00:47:37,040
Speaker 1: world titles, ninety nine percent of them, like they've been

947
00:47:37,040 --> 00:47:40,160
Speaker 1: world champion at blue, purple, brown, like over and over again.

948
00:47:40,200 --> 00:47:43,239
Speaker 1: There they've been phenoms. Like people expect all of this

949
00:47:43,320 --> 00:47:45,440
Speaker 1: of them. You know, I was a kid from Oklahoma

950
00:47:45,960 --> 00:47:47,799
Speaker 1: who never had a black belt. You know, it's just

951
00:47:47,800 --> 00:47:49,960
Speaker 1: me and my dad on her own. We were studying

952
00:47:49,960 --> 00:47:52,480
Speaker 1: on VHS tapes. We're having to fly all over the

953
00:47:52,520 --> 00:47:54,160
Speaker 1: world just to learn, just to be able to go

954
00:47:54,239 --> 00:47:57,279
Speaker 1: somewhere to ask someone our question. You know, hey, can

955
00:47:57,320 --> 00:47:59,719
Speaker 1: you answer a question? You know, and all these things

956
00:47:59,719 --> 00:48:01,839
Speaker 1: like I wasn't supposed to get to where I got

957
00:48:02,840 --> 00:48:06,759
Speaker 1: by any means, and you know, it was that unbreakable

958
00:48:06,760 --> 00:48:10,239
Speaker 1: spirit and just never stopped believing and under and how

959
00:48:10,239 --> 00:48:13,160
Speaker 1: to like you turn your adversity into the advantage like

960
00:48:14,040 --> 00:48:18,520
Speaker 1: gift exactly exactly, and it makes you appreciate it so

961
00:48:18,680 --> 00:48:21,600
Speaker 1: much more and then you have so much more to

962
00:48:21,640 --> 00:48:23,560
Speaker 1: offer as well, because at the end of the day,

963
00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:26,919
Speaker 1: the fighting I mean in jiu jitsu. Don't get me wrong,

964
00:48:27,680 --> 00:48:32,440
Speaker 1: there's old guye divisions, you know, until until you're you know,

965
00:48:32,600 --> 00:48:35,560
Speaker 1: until you're doster. Yeah, Master seven eight. I don't know

966
00:48:35,560 --> 00:48:37,319
Speaker 1: how far it goes, but I'll be in there, I

967
00:48:37,360 --> 00:48:40,120
Speaker 1: promise you, because I love it. I love it and

968
00:48:40,360 --> 00:48:44,400
Speaker 1: it's who I am. But you know, the glory days

969
00:48:44,920 --> 00:48:48,960
Speaker 1: come to an end. But then it's like what you learned,

970
00:48:49,400 --> 00:48:53,040
Speaker 1: who you became, all the lessons and the experience that

971
00:48:53,080 --> 00:48:55,400
Speaker 1: you get to share with everyone else, you know, with

972
00:48:55,440 --> 00:48:57,800
Speaker 1: those around you. You know, that.

973
00:48:57,800 --> 00:49:00,680
Speaker 4: Becomes the new mission.

974
00:49:00,880 --> 00:49:03,040
Speaker 1: Right It's like, okay, let me pass this on, let

975
00:49:03,040 --> 00:49:04,839
Speaker 1: me help the next generation, let me try to make

976
00:49:04,840 --> 00:49:08,359
Speaker 1: a positive impact on everybody else. That's what Last Round,

977
00:49:08,360 --> 00:49:09,960
Speaker 1: Best Round is all about for me. That's why I

978
00:49:10,000 --> 00:49:12,759
Speaker 1: put it out there to help everybody else, you know,

979
00:49:12,880 --> 00:49:16,560
Speaker 1: stay positive and never give up and learn how to

980
00:49:17,320 --> 00:49:21,239
Speaker 1: you know, just appreciate the journey and you know, take

981
00:49:21,320 --> 00:49:25,279
Speaker 1: all those those obstacles and just say, okay, this is

982
00:49:25,320 --> 00:49:28,480
Speaker 1: going to make my story even better and just make

983
00:49:28,520 --> 00:49:29,480
Speaker 1: you stronger, and you.

984
00:49:29,520 --> 00:49:31,000
Speaker 2: Got to celebrate yourself forever. You know.

985
00:49:31,200 --> 00:49:33,239
Speaker 3: I have friends like Lindsey Vonn who just keeps your

986
00:49:33,239 --> 00:49:35,759
Speaker 3: metals away. I'm like, no, put them up there because

987
00:49:35,800 --> 00:49:36,799
Speaker 3: that was my past life.

988
00:49:36,840 --> 00:49:37,279
Speaker 2: No, it's not.

989
00:49:37,760 --> 00:49:40,719
Speaker 3: What's behind your ribcage got you to be that, So

990
00:49:40,840 --> 00:49:44,839
Speaker 3: celebrate it forever. For you, your title belt means more

991
00:49:44,880 --> 00:49:46,799
Speaker 3: than everybody else's. So I hope you have it up

992
00:49:46,840 --> 00:49:51,320
Speaker 3: there prominently somewhere forever because it says a different story

993
00:49:51,640 --> 00:49:54,680
Speaker 3: from every other champion who's ever fought.

994
00:49:55,040 --> 00:49:56,759
Speaker 2: I hope you can always celebrate yourself for that.

995
00:49:57,440 --> 00:49:58,840
Speaker 1: Thank you, Jay, It means a lot to me.

996
00:49:59,160 --> 00:50:02,040
Speaker 2: Absolutely, yeah, brother, I love you, man. I appreciate you

997
00:50:02,160 --> 00:50:04,080
Speaker 2: joining me. I was gonna ask you what your unbreakable

998
00:50:04,080 --> 00:50:05,719
Speaker 2: moment is, but you fucking you answered it.

999
00:50:06,040 --> 00:50:08,319
Speaker 4: So I had a lot, man, I have a lot.

1000
00:50:08,440 --> 00:50:12,040
Speaker 1: Like I said, all the times I failed in jiu

1001
00:50:12,120 --> 00:50:14,440
Speaker 1: jitsu and wondering if it was going to happen, and

1002
00:50:14,600 --> 00:50:17,600
Speaker 1: you know, it just kept going. You know, That's what

1003
00:50:17,640 --> 00:50:20,160
Speaker 1: it's all about. And uh, what I've grown to learn

1004
00:50:20,480 --> 00:50:24,560
Speaker 1: is it just gets better and better. Like you know,

1005
00:50:24,600 --> 00:50:26,839
Speaker 1: the best is always yet to come, right, as long

1006
00:50:26,880 --> 00:50:29,480
Speaker 1: as you keep going, the best is always yet to come. People, Okay,

1007
00:50:29,920 --> 00:50:32,640
Speaker 1: I'm not you know, fighting on a world stage at

1008
00:50:32,680 --> 00:50:36,680
Speaker 1: Wimbley Arena in London, right now. But there's new meaning,

1009
00:50:36,719 --> 00:50:39,719
Speaker 1: new purpose, and you know, I have my kids like

1010
00:50:39,760 --> 00:50:42,839
Speaker 1: that right there, you know, with with my twins in

1011
00:50:42,880 --> 00:50:45,480
Speaker 1: the cage in Japan on a come like on a

1012
00:50:45,520 --> 00:50:48,360
Speaker 1: fight that shouldn't have happened. But you know, that was

1013
00:50:48,440 --> 00:50:50,759
Speaker 1: something that was even sweeter even though it wasn't a

1014
00:50:50,800 --> 00:50:55,000
Speaker 1: world title, even sweeter than winning the world title because

1015
00:50:56,120 --> 00:50:58,760
Speaker 1: that is going to live in their lives forever, that moment,

1016
00:50:58,880 --> 00:51:02,080
Speaker 1: like you know, their dad didn't give up and I

1017
00:51:02,120 --> 00:51:05,200
Speaker 1: got that opportunity and three and a half years after

1018
00:51:05,360 --> 00:51:08,120
Speaker 1: it all went down, you know, at like forty years old,

1019
00:51:08,239 --> 00:51:10,600
Speaker 1: I went in that cage or in that ring and

1020
00:51:10,680 --> 00:51:13,920
Speaker 1: I won, and I brought them in there, and having

1021
00:51:13,960 --> 00:51:17,279
Speaker 1: them in my life is a big reason why I

1022
00:51:17,360 --> 00:51:19,279
Speaker 1: did it, you know, because it's like I got to

1023
00:51:19,360 --> 00:51:22,360
Speaker 1: show them anything is possible when you don't give up. So,

1024
00:51:22,760 --> 00:51:25,239
Speaker 1: you know, like I said, it just the journey just

1025
00:51:25,280 --> 00:51:28,239
Speaker 1: gets sweeter. You appreciate it more. The relationships to people

1026
00:51:28,239 --> 00:51:32,520
Speaker 1: that you have around you, if you keep going, those

1027
00:51:32,600 --> 00:51:33,240
Speaker 1: grow stronger.

1028
00:51:33,280 --> 00:51:37,000
Speaker 4: You appreciate those people more. Like just you know, it's beautiful.

1029
00:51:37,000 --> 00:51:39,080
Speaker 1: Man. I've had such a blessed life and I'm very

1030
00:51:39,160 --> 00:51:41,759
Speaker 1: very grateful and you know, getting to talk to you

1031
00:51:41,840 --> 00:51:43,360
Speaker 1: about it, like, hey, this is awesome.

1032
00:51:43,480 --> 00:51:45,359
Speaker 2: You know what I mean. Bless you came on to brother.

1033
00:51:45,360 --> 00:51:46,399
Speaker 2: I really appreciate it, man.

1034
00:51:46,640 --> 00:51:48,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, I've always had a lot of love for you

1035
00:51:48,080 --> 00:51:51,120
Speaker 3: to dude, and just man, I've admired your you know,

1036
00:51:51,360 --> 00:51:53,239
Speaker 3: your decision always to be like.

1037
00:51:53,280 --> 00:51:55,520
Speaker 2: I'm just going to keep fucking going, and it's just

1038
00:51:55,840 --> 00:51:56,319
Speaker 2: it's huge.

1039
00:51:56,320 --> 00:51:58,600
Speaker 3: A lot of people sit back and go, oh, man,

1040
00:51:59,560 --> 00:52:02,319
Speaker 3: life me a shitty hand. So as a result, I'm

1041
00:52:02,320 --> 00:52:04,759
Speaker 3: gonna just sit down here and sulk about my shitty hand.

1042
00:52:04,800 --> 00:52:07,399
Speaker 2: And you never did, and I'm sure you know there's

1043
00:52:07,440 --> 00:52:08,440
Speaker 2: a lot of shitty moments.

1044
00:52:08,960 --> 00:52:11,840
Speaker 3: He just kept moving forward, man, And that well, like

1045
00:52:11,920 --> 00:52:14,400
Speaker 3: I said, the unbreakable part is things that could have

1046
00:52:14,400 --> 00:52:16,799
Speaker 3: broken us and didn't. As a result, we came through

1047
00:52:16,840 --> 00:52:18,640
Speaker 3: the other side of that tunnel stronger. And that is

1048
00:52:18,640 --> 00:52:20,120
Speaker 3: our fucking equity forever in life.

1049
00:52:20,200 --> 00:52:23,000
Speaker 2: Yes, that's our superpower. So I'm proud of you, brother.

1050
00:52:23,320 --> 00:52:24,440
Speaker 2: I appreciate you joining me.

1051
00:52:24,480 --> 00:52:24,640
Speaker 1: Man.

1052
00:52:24,680 --> 00:52:26,239
Speaker 2: I love the dude. When you come out to l A,

1053
00:52:26,520 --> 00:52:28,120
Speaker 2: We're definitely fucking breaking bread.

1054
00:52:28,400 --> 00:52:30,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, for sure, I'm looking forward to it.

1055
00:52:30,200 --> 00:52:32,120
Speaker 1: And if I can put it out there, Last Round,

1056
00:52:32,120 --> 00:52:35,560
Speaker 1: Best Round dot Com. There's a whole documentary that Will

1057
00:52:35,600 --> 00:52:39,160
Speaker 1: Harris did about that Japan fight. He went to Japan

1058
00:52:39,239 --> 00:52:43,040
Speaker 1: with us, Will Harris Anatomy of a Fighter. A beautiful,

1059
00:52:43,040 --> 00:52:47,480
Speaker 1: beautiful job he did. And and stay tuned because you're

1060
00:52:47,480 --> 00:52:49,239
Speaker 1: gonna hear a lot more about Last Round, Best Round

1061
00:52:49,239 --> 00:52:52,719
Speaker 1: in the future. And and that's it. So thank you

1062
00:52:52,760 --> 00:52:53,120
Speaker 1: so much.

1063
00:52:53,040 --> 00:52:54,759
Speaker 2: God can do to help promote brother. I got you,

1064
00:52:55,200 --> 00:52:56,399
Speaker 2: I got right back, all right.

1065
00:52:56,520 --> 00:52:57,279
Speaker 1: I appreciate that.

1066
00:52:58,640 --> 00:53:02,359
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you my brother, love you body.

1067
00:53:02,600 --> 00:53:03,000
Speaker 1: Thank you.