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Feb. 27, 2024 - This Past Weekend - Theo Von
02:12:37
E485 Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya is a mixed-martial artist and former 2-time Middleweight champion of the UFC. He is originally from Lagos, Nigeria and currently lives in New Zealand.  Theo heads to New Zealand for a special episode of This Past Weekend, chatting with former UFC champion Israel Adesanya. They talk about his time off from fighting, his thoughts on the current state of the UFC, why he wants a rematch against Sean Strickland, dealing with rowdy fans in public, why you’re never too old to emote, and more.  ------------------------------------------------ Tour Dates! https://theovon.com/tour New Merch: https://www.theovonstore.com ------------------------------------------------- Sponsored By: Celsius: Go to the Celsius Amazon store to check out all of their flavors. #CELSIUSBrandPartner #CELSIUSLiveFit  https://amzn.to/3HbAtPJ  PrizePicks: Download the Prize Picks app and use CODE: THEO. Prize Picks will match your deposit up to $100.  Shopify: Go to http://shopify.com/theo to sign up for a $1-per-month free trial. Tommy John: Go to http://tommyjohn.com/theo to get 20% off your first order.  DoorDash: Sign up for DashPass today, only on DoorDash, and use code THEO24 to get up to 50% off a $10 value when you spend $12 or more after you sign up. ------------------------------------------------- Music: “Shine” by Bishop Gunn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3A_coTcUek ------------------------------------------------ Submit your funny videos, TikToks, questions and topics you'd like to hear on the podcast to: tpwproducer@gmail.com Hit the Hotline: 985-664-9503 Video Hotline for Theo Upload here: https://www.theovon.com/fan-upload Send mail to: This Past Weekend 1906 Glen Echo Rd PO Box #159359 Nashville, TN 37215 ------------------------------------------------ Find Theo: Website: https://theovon.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/theovon Facebook: https://facebook.com/theovon Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thispastweekend Twitter: https://twitter.com/theovon YouTube: https://youtube.com/theovon Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheoVonClips Shorts Channel: https://bit.ly/3ClUj8z ------------------------------------------------ Producer: Zach https://www.instagram.com/zachdpowers Producer: Nick https://www.instagram.com/realnickdavis/ Producer: Colin https://instagram.com/colin_reiner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Time Text
Today's guest brings us to New Zealand, and we're happy to be here.
And he is a fighter, a kickboxer, a artist.
It's fascinating to watch him experience the world.
He's a damn human Van Gogh of some type of sorts.
He's had one of the greatest runs as a UFC champion.
I'm just grateful to spend time with him today, Mr. Israel Adesanya.
Shine that light on me.
I'll sit and tell you my stories.
Shine on me.
And I will find a song I've been singing.
I love this.
Yeah, brother.
Cheers, shit.
Good as I'm gonna look.
Yeah.
That's about it.
Healthy eight.
I'm an eight.
You're pretty handsome.
I mean, they don't have a lot of like, well, let's still fucking go down that road, man.
I can't call another fighter handsome.
Yeah, you can.
Good-looking, though.
I like the hair.
If I could mullet, I'd definitely do it like fourth season.
Really?
Yeah, fuck yeah.
Well, they need someone, and I don't want to say who, but someone of certain culture would be neat to see the jerry curl, really.
Yeah, I know what you mean.
I used to have jerry curls when I was younger.
It was a thing maybe in the late 90s, early 2000s, but then it's not good for your scalp.
All the chemicals in there, you also, the last time I did it, I burnt my scalp.
Oh, damn.
I left it on too long, so then I was like, all right, we're done with that.
But also, it's not good for your scalp for your hair because my hair is meant to be, as you say, nappy, like texturized, you know, so having to burn it out to straighten it and then put perm and all that stuff is not.
Oh, you got to do that.
So it's like you got to straighten it and then.
But yeah, I never had it long.
I had it short, but still.
I mean, a mullet would be nice, though.
Yeah.
I think it'll be a cool fight.
I mean, who, Miguel Torres?
Ricky Simone.
Ricky Simone, yeah, he's got a nice one.
A lot of guys at the gym.
Oh, well, who else?
Ortega has?
Did he have one?
No.
Ryan Ortega?
He just had locks, like nice.
Arnold Allen, did he have?
I'm trying to think.
A lot of Kiwi guys, like my guy, toes him up.
You're not wrong, David.
You'll see a grandma with a hatchet in this.
Like, this is real.
It's standard.
But it would be awesome on some of the highlight videos just to see the fucking whip when you hit someone, bang.
Whenever getting hit.
That's one thing I'm grateful for.
Because I know it looks worse sometimes when you have long hair and you get hit.
And maybe even if you roll with the shot, the crowd goes, oh, and then you're like, fuck, they thought that, bro, that whispered past me.
But it looked like you got hit because of the dude, that's what's interesting about you.
You're that intricate to detail that you want to even man it.
Like you want to have a say-so in how you even get hit.
If that makes any sense.
Like, how does that look to people?
Yeah.
You know, like, you're such an entertainer.
It's like, I even want to make that look as perfect as I can.
I try not to get hit, but if I'm going to get hit, I'm being hit by the best.
You know, a lot of them.
So, and they're always iconic moments, but still, like, yeah, the game is hit and don't get hit so I can preserve my noggin.
Yeah.
My brain want to keep this intact so I can keep doing this and I don't have to talk.
You don't want that.
It is kind of crazy.
Like reporters will totally look over that a guy can't even speak just to be like, hey, how do you feel about this next fight?
I mean, that's why Joe, shout out to him.
He stopped interviewing guys after they've been knocked out because.
Oh, really?
Yeah, he said that.
I think it was after one of the overim, after the overim fight.
And over him, there's a famous meme or saying he says, I clearly felt a tap because he had Steep Air in a guillotine and he thought he tapped.
But again, he just got rocked.
So, you know, your brain's not really all there.
I've been knocked out before, like, called once.
Shout out to Pereira.
Yeah.
Pereira, is that how you say it?
Yeah.
Pereira, alexpuatan Pereira.
Oh, he's a, he's, he's really.
Yeah.
I feel like you're in a fire.
I'm turning my favorite.
Yeah, of course.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I look, people think I'm not a hater, man.
I'm a guy who we're all in this game together, right?
We're all trying to better our lives for our family and all, and generations and all that.
And he's achieved it.
You know, in the beginning, when he first came to the UFC, granted, he didn't have the run that I had.
He got to the spot he got because he already beat me in kickboxing.
And I don't want to hop on too much about this.
But I want to give you the history for you.
For those who don't know, because I'm sure new people will be watching this.
So they understand.
It was literally 3-0.
No, 2-0, 2-0-0.
So technically, the first fight, I thought I won.
Anyone who watched it, he edged that out and they gave it to him.
And I was like, what?
Okay, cool.
Second fight, we go to Brazil.
I think Sao Paulo.
Beautiful.
And I was there on Canival.
Oh, man.
I was cutting weight, so I couldn't be outside.
But I'll tell you what, I'll never forget this.
I go downstairs from the hotel when I get to Sao Paulo because you have to get like a plug that works, you know, a converter.
And then my phone was on 1%, so I left it in my room.
I go downstairs, and I'll never forget it.
I see this guy and two girls.
And then one of them kind of looked back to see what was behind her and smiled and just had the most beautiful racial asterisks I've ever seen in my life.
And I remember thinking like, fuck, I wish I could capture this moment, but I just right there.
I just, right there.
So, but I think they were hookers, though, because he was getting a hook.
It was probably like 2 a.m.
We landed or something.
So he was getting some for to go.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But yeah, that was beautiful.
It's just right there.
Anyway, back to the fight.
So I fight Alex and then.
Oh, especially if you hadn't eaten in a couple days.
Oh, man.
You know what I'm saying?
I'm hungry.
Hungry.
But yeah, I get to the fight with doing work, beating them, and then he catches me because I rocked him in the second round.
And then the third round, he just came back, rallied up, and just caught me, flatlined me.
That's the only time I've ever been knocked out.
And was that the kickboxing?
Yeah, kickboxing.
Okay.
And then, yeah, when I came, I came to and I remember like they were rushing me, trying to put oxygen mask on me.
And I was like, I need that.
Hold up.
And they tried to take me out on the stretcher as well.
And I was like, chill, champ.
It's not that deep.
But then I walked to the back and I remember me and Eugene would just walk silently to the back to this white space and just kind of like, huh.
I was like, what do you hit me with?
He goes, left hook.
He straight away just told me, left hook.
It's like your hand didn't come back fast enough.
I was like, ah.
But again, in that time from being knocked out to that moment, having the mic in my face and then, so how do you feel about this fight?
That wouldn't be ideal.
So I'm glad Joe stopped doing that.
Just so the guys don't have to embarrass themselves or say something that they might regret later on.
Yeah.
Yeah, I never, I didn't even think about how crazy that is that they even do that.
It's almost like, kind of like when you have to do that Dizzyback game, you know, where you spin your head.
In my gym, we have this drill that we haven't done in a while, actually, but the Dizzyback game.
And then you do it 10 times, then you get up and you have to hit the pads.
Just in case.
You never know in a fight where you might get rocked and then you have to keep your composure.
So yeah, Dizzyback game.
And then, you know, most times it's like you have to run straight.
But this one, you have to right there.
One, two, ba, ba, one, two, three.
And you're just.
But again, that's what it's like when you get rocked sometimes.
And you're just like, oh, shit, you have to keep your composure.
Oh, that's interesting.
It's an old school drill that the League About Boys, Balmora League About Boys had.
So Eugene's done it a few times.
But I might bring it back for some fun.
Actually, I might do it for some content.
That'd be a good idea.
I feel like it'd be fascinating.
I've never seen that.
You ever trained?
Yeah, I've trained, but I'm just a one-stripe white belt.
Oh, I see, nice.
But there's still some possibility.
Oh, you can still.
There's levels.
Yeah, yeah.
Three stripes.
Imagine that.
You'd be a badass.
Oh, I'll fuck somebody up outside of a gimmick job.
Three stripes.
Dude, I've watched the documentary, man.
It was really cool.
Thank you.
It was really interesting for you to just like share about like it felt like what it's like to like not only kind of to be to have some of your history but then also to like the pressures of how things change once you achieve your dreams and your goals and then how some of that feels like it doesn't really fulfill maybe what you thought it was gonna do yeah um like i could relate to that a ton man i'm sure wait when did you when did you kind of
like like blow up what age would you say i would say like five years ago i think work started getting busier for me probably maybe so about five years ago you would have been yeah i'm glad i didn't find fame at a young age like say 25 year old izzy with everything that i have now bad idea yeah hey theo bad idea that's that's that's a story for later on but um yeah i'm glad i found fame later on but but still you know they say be careful what
you wish for yeah and i don't regret anything i'm ready i prepared for this life but it's it's still surprising yeah there's levels there's all these variables you don't expect and i've kind of set myself up now to the point where okay i've i've expressed enough like how i example what's one um after the ufc 23 243 in melbourne um i defended my belt against whitaker against whitaka so i defended my belt the first time i like to put it and then going to the airport
i remember just thinking in the car like because i was kind of just it was so much stimulus because i just did what i did and still the to this date the highest attendance in ufc history is six fifty seven thousand one hundred and twenty seven people and all these everywhere i went you know it was just crazy even the week fight week i went down the strip just walked alone just because i was like let me enjoy this while i can you know because i didn't know how long i would have that for i can still do it now but because i've i have boundaries now i didn't have that for
a long time but what i did on the way to the airport going back to nz i just put out a thing on my story or a tweet just saying like look if you see me at the airport just approach me cautiously you don't have to come yelling because for me i was oh my god i'm scary it's very scary sometimes you think you're on fire the bit in the movie where i didn't even plan it and they just kind of like drove by and i'm like what the oh yeah they raised my adrenaline up and then they came to my door and that's why i moved houses because people would just come to my door and oh oh my god i'm and
this is like 9 p.m at night i'm like yo and i had to bounce let me borrow some cash yeah a guy tried to sell me a watch once oh that's perfect yeah and then i was like hold up and i went upstairs came back down i was like i already got this watch bro it was a g short like a black and gold one classic but then for me i just boundaries i had to learn boundaries for myself yeah because you burn out yeah it burns you after i do any kind of media stuff or anything with fans my people just know my friends my security they just know
okay i just go to my room and i just regroup or replenish my social battery if you will and i'm sure you've had to deal with this as well yeah i didn't know that i had to do that when it like about two and a half years ago things were going well you know i was like being able to sell tickets and stuff and just like you worked so hard for it you know and i didn't know like i would go meet every fan after i didn't know i felt like i it was i could never do enough yeah to make people think that i was enough no you gotta there's more they'll
never there's never enough because you give them an inch it'll take a mile i haven't stopped signing um these uh guys who just come camp at the fighter hotel i don't even stay at the fighter hotel anymore i always get my own space now just because i remember like oh can you sign this please and then they'd have like a stack of oh totally and then you know i didn't want to be the bad guy so i'd sign everything but it got to a point where i'm like hang on that's not just for you you're selling that and yo just be honest but again don't take the piss and have like 20 fucking gloves for
me to sign i'm like yo no no no no you need to be signed this for my daughter you sign this for my my grandson oh my god when they use their kids old i don't like it when they use their kids as a trojan horse they come with the kid i'm like don't and i'm like, do you want to take a picture?
Because sometimes the kid will be like, the fuck's this guy?
Yeah.
I'm like, do you want to take a picture?
Or does your dad want to take a picture?
Because if he just said, oh, bro, I'm a big fan.
You know, can I take a picture?
That's cool.
But again, it's just boundaries, boundaries and respect.
Like, I just came back from the gym.
I actually go to a public gym once in a while now.
Because after the last lockdown, again, I come out into the world and people are all locked down.
They're excited.
The energy was always just.
And I just didn't know how to deal with it.
Cause again, I'm human and I'd get really anxious and sometimes a little bit short with my fuse.
Oh, me too, for sure.
Bro, what the fuck?
Like, come, yeah, let's take a photo, but chill.
And then I realized, nah, I got to fix this.
So I went to a public gym just because I was like, immerse myself in people.
And again, I'd have to tell people, nah, not right now.
I'm working.
So that was my way of learning the reps of saying no.
You have to learn how to say no.
Because if you don't say no, they'll just take, they'll take.
And they'll hold you hostage with their conversation as well.
Yeah.
I don't like that.
Oh, they're like, we FaceTime.
My stepmother's dying.
You know, like, we FaceTime.
I'm like, look, she don't want to see me.
What am I going to do?
Tell her some jokes?
And then I get on there and she's like, whoever.
Oh, no.
And the lady is like, what the fuck?
She doesn't give a fuck.
She doesn't give a fuck.
She has bigger problems.
She's trying to die.
She's trying.
Yeah, she's trying to get up.
She's trying to hide whatever bad stuff is left in her home before God comes and gets her.
And now she has to pretend that we can talk.
But no, I just found it to be fascinating because I thought that once I got to a certain part of success, maybe, or if enough people knew me, I thought everything inside of me would be cool.
And when it wasn't, I mean, it knocked me out.
Because I was like, if this doesn't fix whatever's going on inside of me, then I don't know what else could fix it, you know?
It's never external.
It's always here, internal.
So I had to learn that from watching other people.
Like, example, Rashad Evans, when he won the belt, UFC 92, he said, he thought it'd be different, but nah, it didn't feel any different.
He just felt like it was kind of like, okay, I've done it.
And I felt the same way.
So when I won the belt, I was like, did it feel different?
I still feel the same because I always felt like I was the best.
I always said, this is just a fancy TR.
It comes with me just keep winning.
So I never chased a belt ever.
I've never chased a belt.
I've never even identified myself on my bio or to people as, unless for a promo, I say UFC Middleweight Champion.
But apart from that, nah, I just, I know who I am.
So it never, I don't, the belt doesn't make me.
I make the belt.
I'm still mean.
Look how many people are calling me out and I'm not even the champion currently.
I'm Israel Dison.
I feel like my name has transcended the belt itself.
I don't need the belt to show I'm a champion because how you carry yourself is what makes you a champion.
Yeah.
But I'm still learning though, constantly every day.
Yeah, no, that's what I got from the documentary too.
It was cool, man.
It was inspiring.
It was inspiring.
I appreciate that.
It really was, man.
Because a lot of that I can relate to too.
Like, I remember when I was growing up, I just wanted to be seen.
I remember you saying that at one point.
And it was like, for some reason, I just, I was like, I'm going to make people see me.
And I don't even know what it meant or anything.
It was just, it was like a lighthouse that was inside of me.
I just got like.
Were you a bully?
I wasn't a bully.
I just didn't get any attention.
Now, this haircut might be bullied.
You're like the same size.
Give me your lunch, Wayne.
Look, I was feared in a lot of softball circles because of my haircut.
They're like, this guy's dangerous.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, this guy.
This fella.
But no, I think I just did.
I think I just felt like I didn't want anything to define me except from me.
That was like huge.
It was like, and I don't even know where it came from, but it was like, I didn't want to attach myself to anything.
I wanted to walk to school and not take the bus.
I didn't want anybody determining the only way you were going to learn about me was through me.
Wow.
That was it.
There was nobody else you could add.
There was, it was all, especially my voice.
It was the only thing that I had that was mine.
Yeah.
And so it was like, I'm going to use this.
Are you an only child?
No, I got three siblings, but I think I felt like an only human probably.
Oh, wow.
I felt like an only human.
A lot of solitude when growing up.
Yeah, just a lot of lack of connection with family.
Just like felt like I was in my own world.
Yeah, just working freelance.
Were you the oldest or?
No, I got an older brother.
Older brother.
You're middle?
Yeah, I'm middle.
But we had a lot of just like addiction and people.
It just wasn't like no connection.
So I felt like I'm sentenced into this family, but there's no real family here.
Yeah.
You guys didn't have dinner at the table, none of that.
No, we just had fights.
It was always like fighting and a lot of violence.
And it was like, it just didn't feel like anything.
So it felt like I'm never going to let anything define me again.
You know, not like God got me one time with where I'm born, you know, like he got me there.
But after this.
Where's this from?
Where are you from?
I'm from Louisiana.
I was going to say, same as DC and Cormier.
Cormier and Dustin Poirier.
Corier.
Who else is from there?
Alan Joban is from down there.
He's real Cajun.
He's a handsome fighter.
God.
He is good looking.
He's a model, actually.
He used to model for Calvin Klein.
Dude, if you and then he's modeling against Calvin Qatar, you know, it's like pick up hats.
If I were that good looking, I don't think I would have got in the rank, you know?
I mean, what did Ali say?
It's a pretty ones you got to watch out for.
Because you try.
I mean, I used to do Fashion Week when I was younger, but I think it's just because I'm one of the only black guys out here.
So it was just yeah, I thought there would be because there's Maori people here.
Maori, yeah.
Maori.
Yeah, you got it.
And there's the islanders as well, like the Samoans and Tongans.
Yeah, the big fellas.
Oh, yeah.
There's some of them.
You can't get around them.
You gotta.
Yeah, I had to go around the block.
Yeah.
Get around one guy.
Get in the orbit.
There was who else?
Yeah, there's not a lot of like, I guess what most of the universe would probably consider black, black too.
Is that true?
Yeah, facts.
Wow.
Even when I first moved to New Zealand, I was in a little town called Rotoroa.
And yeah, one of the only black families there.
And you would have seen in the documentary.
Yeah, so definitely.
Even when I went back to the creek I used to play at.
Oh, yes, all those kids, they were amped up.
And I'm like, yeah, bro, I used to play on this creek because my house was literally right there.
And I'm surprised it's still there.
It was beautiful.
But again, one of the only black kids.
So people didn't understand.
So they'd pick on me.
But my way of getting around that was dancing.
Dance was my street cred.
Yeah.
Oh, it was incredible, man.
Watching the documentary was cool.
Like, because one thing I learned a lot is that just, you're such an inner, you like to be an entertainer, huh?
Yeah.
You just love it.
I love it.
It's fun.
Yeah, because I think for me early on, it was just to get people to like me.
Yeah.
That's in back in Nigeria or when I lived in Ghana for a brief, it was just my way of expressing myself.
But when I moved to this country and I realized I dance better than everybody in my school, I was like, okay, that's my thing.
So then I kept on and I tried to make people like me just so I could fit in.
Oh, yeah.
But again, not everyone's going to like you.
And I didn't understand how to deal with that when I was 13, 14, 12. Oh, yeah.
Especially if nobody's telling you how to deal with it.
I'm trying to do that now with the young guys.
That's so.
I try and tell them, like, because I try and be honest with them.
This is where I'm at in my career.
This is when I was your age, I was here.
And I give it to them raw.
Like, let them know the truth without sugarcoating it.
And then they appreciate that because then they can take from, they'll make their own mistakes, you know?
Yeah.
They can take from my mistakes and try not to make the same mistakes or dumb mistakes that I made.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think when I was a kid, I wish somebody just would have given me a little more information about what was going on.
I was making up all my own rules in my head.
And so then I created this own universe and checks and balances, you know?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's how I lived.
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Yeah.
That's how I lived.
What was it like in Nigeria?
Do you have any memories of it kind of?
Heaps.
Yeah.
Nigeria, I grew up, I was born and raised in Lagos City, and my family was quite well off.
And when I say this, people normally think like, oh, he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
I was.
But I still had to do chores.
This is why sometimes people try and help me iron my clothes.
I'm like, no, I got it.
Because my dad would be like, Bola G, come on, come on, iron my shirt.
Like, you know, for work, all that kind of stuff.
I did the dishes.
I swept the compounds, you know, clean up the kennel, the dog kennel.
So I, just because my parents were rich, doesn't mean I didn't have to work.
I had to earn my keep.
Yeah.
And yeah, I learned hard work from them as well.
Even moving to New Zealand, when my mom became a nurse or she was in nursing school, my dad would let her sleep in her cleaning job.
Me and him will go to the bank and clean around 4 a.m.
This is in Rotoroa, the town I was talking about, around 4 a.m., go and help her clean just so she can get enough sleep to go to school the next day.
Oh, that's nice.
That sounds like a thoughtful guy, huh?
Yeah, my dad.
Oh, my dad's the best.
My dad is a real G. He's one of the coolest gangsters I know.
And I'm not talking street gangster.
He's just a mathematical word contract type, like business gangster, you know.
I've said this before.
Look, you know, rest in peace to Khabib's dad.
He was in his corner and fighting.
Michael Jordan has his dad on the court.
So is Steph Curry.
A lot of other dads as well in football.
But my dad helps me off the court.
And I've said this again, and I'll say it again and again.
The UFC knows what I got paid or what I get paid, but they don't know what I'm worth.
And that's thanks to my dad.
Oh, yeah.
Because my dad is a chartered accountant by trade.
And he just knew how to flip my money for me.
Because every time I came back from China, every time I, and I had, I think I came back when I lived there, I came back with six figures or five figures, high five figures.
And then he tried to help me invest it.
And I was like, I don't want to have a house.
He has too much responsibility because I was young and dumb.
And I went broke again.
So I realized every time I don't listen to this guy, I go broke.
I should start listening to him.
So as soon as I got in the UFC, I was like, right, what do I do?
First thing we did, buy my first house.
And then now we've just, it's going crazy.
But again, that's thanks to my dad.
But who else would you rather have in your corner than has the best interest?
If without him, I would have been ripped off so many times, man.
Because people, it's just in their nature.
They take advantage.
They see like, oh, this guy's not really paying attention.
Oh, he didn't.
He just signed that contract.
He didn't even shit.
So I don't sign shit without my pops looking at it and then giving me the green land.
Like, yeah, it's cool.
Boom.
Because he will send it back with highlighted bits.
Amend that.
That's what?
In perpetuity?
No, we can't have that.
Amend that.
yeah, it's interesting because sometimes you'll feel like you trust somebody else more than you would trust your own like kin or family, you know.
In there, yeah, it's weird.
I don't know why that is.
I don't know if you grew up with them, we're familiar with them.
Yeah, you want to branch out.
You're like, I can do this myself.
Yeah, that's probably it.
Nah, silly.
What other, like, what was there traditions that you missed about Nigeria?
Because, I mean, it's to somebody, it sounds fascinating to a lot of people, you know?
Yeah, no, there's a lot of, see, like, even now, Afrobeats has taken over the globe with our sound.
I think we created Afrobeats, and that's mainstream now.
Dances that we do, the way that we dress, but yet, I love my people.
I love my culture.
It's just the government, like the greedy motherfuckers, the old ancient dudes that are still running the country, still finding ways to just rip people off, embezzle money, all that kind of stuff.
It happens worldwide, but it happens really bad in Nigeria.
And then they're just kind of selling the country to different entities and whatnot.
But in time, the young generation, the guys now who have grown up with the internet, they're the ones who are seeing the bullshit and changing it.
UFC was saying that they might do their first startup fight center in Africa.
That has to be, does that feel kind of cool to you?
Do you feel any connection to that?
100%.
I feel bro, that's crazy.
Humbly, I feel like guys like myself, Kamaru and Francis, even before Sokoju paved the way, you know, for them to do that.
And now, Dricus Duplessi, he's an African champion.
I would never ever take that away from him, even though he tried to do that from us.
But yeah, so we're paving the way for the next generation.
And I think, I don't even think, I know, I said this, once we grasp this MMA shit, once we grasp it, because I've seen the talent out there, I don't, look at me, I'm scrunning.
I keep saying I'm the runt of my people.
You look at guys like Kamaru and Francis, there's so many of them just walking around, just rocking the streets, bricklaying mechanics.
And you see them, they just roll like as fuck.
Working at a pet shop.
Yeah, honestly, fucking cloud.
Are you a bunny?
You're like, man, you missed out, bro.
You should be a fighter.
But like, there's so many of them over there, and they don't even have the best nutrition sometimes.
They don't have the best of, you know, what we have.
Oh, it's going to change the game.
And now that they can see that's happened, now there's four African champions that have come from the country or the continent of Africa.
Sorry.
It's crazy.
Yeah, exactly.
Because the level of inspiration of like some kid lay and he sees the fight.
He gets off of his brother's phone.
He's watching or something.
And then he lays in his bed and the electricity in his body.
I get the messages all the time.
Fucking like, this could happen to me.
Like something could happen to me.
They see that we've done it.
So it's like the four-minute mile.
We've unlocked that in your brain.
Like, it's possible.
Even me, when I told my parents I wanted to fight, what the f?
No.
Like.
Yeah, we just left a country.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it's like, why, why do you want to fight?
No, none of that.
Because it was, my parents thought it was beneath me.
They wanted me to do something that was more prestigious, like being, like, my dad is an accountant or lawyer or, you know, doctor, but my grades weren't, they weren't shit.
He had fighters grades.
Yeah.
He had fighters grades.
Yeah.
I was that guy.
So I was not cut out for that.
Even though I wanted Fourier, man.
He's like, I got eighth grade.
He's like, actually, I did it twice, though.
So I was like, well, I guess that kind of counts.
I did form three, twice.
Well, some classes I had to repeat.
But again, I wasn't cut out for it.
My brain was always just wired differently.
Whenever I might be dyslexic, I don't know.
I've never really looked into diagnosing myself or anything because I felt I don't want it to limit me.
So I just, but I know the way I read words sometimes, like it'd, it's, it's even when I read a book sometimes, I won't, I won't get the whole thing.
So I have to go back and read.
That's why I love audiobooks and podcasts.
So I can just listen and do other stuff.
But reading is a little bit weird to me.
But yeah, I lost my train of thought.
We were just talking about the inspiration for the kids.
I mean, just like the fact that some kid could be.
It wanted me to be something prestigious.
But nah, I'm a dreamer.
I'm a daydreamer.
I could sit there and I still do emotes as a 34-year-old.
I'll just be in the gym and you'll see me emoting, but my head is somewhere else.
Oh, yeah.
Same, man.
I think sometimes, yeah, I got late to the emote game, I think, somehow, and a lot of the fucking shit's still dropping off sometimes.
I'll just make my own ones up.
Yeah, I'm a creative person.
I feel like it's just how you express yourself.
This game of life is, it's, it's a game of life.
It's a dangerous game of life if you make it, but I feel like you can play the game how you want to play the game.
This is your avatar.
This is your character.
You can customize this however you want, regardless of what anyone else thinks.
You know, as long as you're not hurting anyone, unless they sign on the contract, but just doing you, it's the best way.
New Zealand's kind of interesting like that.
I think there's a lot of interesting characters here.
Oh, yeah.
I'll take you down K-Road.
It's just up the street somewhere.
Ketamine Road?
Yes.
Yeah.
It could be.
It could be.
Because there's some street over here.
We've seen some people.
You got a gorgeous hair.
You can't tell if he's on like meth or yoga.
Nah, both.
Nah, it's crazy on K-Road.
It's not too bad.
Like, in the daytime, now you get some crazies.
Yeah, you get some.
I've almost been, what was one?
A guy tried to stab me with a stapler.
This is outside the Sky Tower.
I finished, this is probably like six, seven years ago, and he was getting cheeky or something.
He wanted you to stay here.
Yeah.
I thought you might leave.
Yeah.
Try to stay with me.
I was like, the fuck?
First of all, you're homeless.
Where'd you get a stapler from?
Like, what is he going to do?
Like, hit me with a stapler.
But yeah.
People are crazy, though.
Yeah.
Drugs will make you do weird things.
Yeah, I feel lucky.
I mean, I went down that road, but I'm not down it anymore.
That's good.
Yeah, if they, well, what's interesting too, I think, for Africa is say if they, if you start to get organized fighting in a place, right?
And it's real organized, it almost takes the value off of the bullshit fighting people are doing for no reason.
You know what I'm saying?
In the streets.
Right.
It starts to be like, if you're a street fighter, you almost feel like I'm dumb Out here because that's where at least the you know it starts to change where the focus of it is.
So I could see that being super helpful to like just curb a lot of that type of violence and stuff that they have.
I think even me, it's been a long time since anyone has tried me in the streets because now I'm kind of known.
But before that, when I was only known in Auckland, you get people who just, you know, they drunk.
I'm drunk on a night out.
They think, oh, this guy, oh, yeah, you're a tough guy.
You're that kickboxer guy.
But I'm just like, bro, I'm not going to whip your ass for free.
I get paid for this shit.
I'm not even working for free.
Yeah, I'm not, nah.
Why would I whoop your ass for free?
Like, it's even now, my knockouts in the UFC, you get a bonus, 50K, and I get paid crazy money to fight.
But why would I do that for free?
And also, if I hurt someone, it's assault with a deadly weapon because I'm a trained professional.
So I don't want to put that.
That's why I have people think I have security for me?
No.
It's for people, for the public.
Because sometimes people will try and get a reaction out of you.
And I'm a very patient guy, as I've said.
And sometimes, no.
So I'm glad I have them to be like, right, let's change the situation so that way I don't get in trouble for.
Yeah, I've had a couple of instances where it's like, I needed a security person because my perspective wasn't good.
No.
Like people that'll come up and start filming you.
Oh, they're fucking with you, though.
Yeah.
And they're trying to get a reaction, right?
Yep.
And I like, yeah, one time I like, I don't even want to talk about it too much because then people are going to start doing it more.
No, no, no.
But yeah, it was, I'm just glad.
Yeah, I'm glad it just ended because it could have got bad because you get heated and the next thing you know.
You're a human being.
You're a man.
You got testosterone.
If someone tries to punk you, you're like, oh, the fuck are you?
Yeah.
Allegedly, allegedly, I might have slapped a couple people.
Yeah.
Allegedly.
Because, okay, example, I hate when they do this, man.
I'm walking through a crowd and a guy just let's go check out nowhere just slaps me on the back like four times and I was like bro it's kind of like what Will Smith did not he did that to he did it to what's it called Chris Rock not like that but he did it to this reporter one time where he backhanded him like because the guy tried to like he was messing with him try to kiss him he's like what the fuck man like yeah you know like someone did it's a reaction what are you gonna do yeah I think well I mean they say what hit first or
if you get wait what do you call it wait till you get yeah or if they fuck with you but I'm like nah I'm not like chill song I can't let you get close I can't let once you break that barrier that range and you seem like a threat it's I have to defend myself yeah and your instincts are so tuned to that shit that you got to trust your instincts my friends don't scare me anymore it was funny at first but they don't scare me anymore jump scares because I don't like them oh yeah I'm very quick behind the shit no when they try and scare me I'm very quick oh yeah yeah I but
luckily I'm controlled with what I do but I can just turn around and pah yeah some kung fu and then like yeah yeah watching you like it feels like you're watching like a um a fucking violent drawing or something you know damn i like that that's interesting good adjective um violent drawing you were at you know one that one i think my first fight you ever saw was me versus gastolem yep it was amazing i got to meet your brother you guys walked by in the hallway and i got to meet david man and it was uh was that when my face was all lumpy like
a potato bro that was an insane fight classic one of the best fights in the history of mankind it was unbelievable i yeah that fight i think was and then that that was also poor and holloway were on that card they set it up for the core main event so then for us to have to do that the main event so cool yeah um if there's a fight in in africa like on the first card is that something that you i'm i'm come on is yes
definitely 100 it should have happened a long time ago but again so many red tapes to get over dude it would be like the thriller in manila remember that yeah bro i mean it's good we're going to africa yeah yeah people get to be outside talking just yeah i mean honestly i already see i've seen it i've seen this but i've said this many times but the shower is the most honest place in the planet i feel i can just be i'm in my birthday suit and i have the element of water running over me so it helps me just create all this white space and
i can just go in my head and just create and i've seen i've predicted i've manifested i've made things happen in there that come to fruition and i've seen it so many times when i get to to to south africa or morocco or nigeria wherever it is the event is when i get there and my people see me it's just it's it's mob city it becomes it's like that when i went last time went to nigeria at the airport there was just it was insane the police officers the the street thugs the area boys who were doing 419 like they all
just yeah they with even the people like in the comas are dead buddies on the road just like oh i just want you to die tomorrow yeah nah but i love i love the love i get out there man i love the love i get out there well the energy of that would be crazy um do you and would that probably be versus ddp for the belt you think dricus yeah definitely i'm oh there's some things that were meant to happen uh they summoned me they summoned me i'm sure this is out there now eugene said some stuff but
they summoned me they summoned me for 300 and i was like yep let's roll but their side didn't want it so i was like well it i'm just gonna keep who ddp side yeah they didn't want it but i you know they just fought strickland so maybe he had a little bit niggly injuries and stuff but hey we all we all got little you know niggles and whatnot so yeah um but i've i've fought injured for the last how many fights so that's why i took time off just to let my body heal and
it has healed and yeah i'm sure there'll be more injuries it just happens through training like what we do for work i can't even imagine it just constantly there's always something your finger your toe your back your legs your whatever it might be your ankle there's always i hurt my neck the other day just looking for something yeah out here yeah i was just kind of looking like that and i was like oh something got me be like that man well you're 43 i forget yeah it's crazy man you train at all what do you do like yep i do yoga i watch 12 miles a week yeah i'm doing pretty good man nice
because on stage i want to be able to show as much as ix you're very innovative yeah you know it's real important uh because i like to move and also when you move sometimes a new thought can come into your head because you hit a motion and that's what keeps me inspired that's all dancing that's what That's what happens.
That's how you freestyle.
Wow.
Next movement, it just leads to the next movement and it can create a new thought.
That's beautiful the way you put that.
I didn't realize it was like that for you as well.
Yeah, sometimes I'll be like, oh man, if I just hit that and then it's almost like if you use your instrument, it will use you kind of in a way.
And, you know, sometimes I feel that.
Yeah.
What about like, yeah, Demetrius Johnson was talking about to beat DDP, you would need, you'd need to brush up on your ground game.
Or for me.
Yeah.
Yeah, I got some.
I got a little some.
Do you prefer to fight guys where it's more like, because some people like to fight up top, like Pori is like that.
He likes to, and it's fun to watch him there, you know?
And some of the fights where it's on the ground, honestly, respect 100%, but they can be a little less exciting.
Yeah, especially for the fans because they're being there since five hours, six hours drinking, and they're just like, God, stand them up, ref.
I enjoy grappling.
I enjoy.
I love it.
But no one's been able to keep me in that position.
That's the thing.
And how many UFC fights?
And people think, oh, he's about to get exposed in this fight.
It's like, actually, the only person would know, Jan.
But he didn't do anything.
He just used his weight.
He didn't try and finish me.
He didn't really try and beat me up to the last like eight seconds.
But yeah, he just wanted to win the round.
So he kept me there, used his weight.
And I wasn't really used to that at the time.
That's a good point.
Yeah, Costa couldn't catch.
Yeah, a lot of the guys, they can't catch you.
So you can't say, hey, this guy doesn't like to go to the ground.
It's like, well, if you can't get him to the ground, you shouldn't lay down there and meet a guy down there.
Am I going to butt scoot and be like, come on, buddy?
I don't want to get you.
No, I'm great on the feet.
So I like to keep the fight standing.
But I do enjoy the clinch.
I enjoy the clinch.
I enjoy the ground as well.
But in the gym, it's different than in a fight.
And I'm getting more comfortable on the ground in the gym, which makes me, you know, even better in a fight.
But yeah, just no one's been able to take me and keep me there to see anything.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That shouldn't be like, yeah, that's not a fault of yours.
It's interesting because sometimes you'll just hear a lead.
Yeah.
You'll hear a lead and you'll be like, yeah, that's right.
Yeah.
No, I mean, fake news.
It happens all the time.
They just throw something out there, hope it sticks and everyone latches onto it.
And then that can just be clicks.
Oh, yeah.
Clicks, views, attention.
That turns to money for them.
Is that the same in New Zealand, you feel like?
Yeah, everywhere, worldwide.
Now everyone got these.
So everyone just thinks like people just run up on you, start filming.
Like someone tried to get a randomly, what was I doing?
I was about to go fishing.
So I was filling up the skis.
And then a guy is waiting there and watching me.
I was like, you want to take a pic?
Okay, let's step away from the gas pump because it says no phone.
We took a pic and he goes, oh, hold on, hold on, hold on.
No, so what?
I was like, what are you doing?
I'm not like a random pop-up interview.
You think you are, TMZ?
I wonder what may like in our society, I guess we just see that more because you see like younger, younger people do it without even thinking that it's weird.
Entitlement.
Yeah.
It's entitlement.
And I've had people even say, like, oh, but you're famous.
I'm like, fuck no.
I'm a human being.
Like, no.
Just because, look, I've always said this, fuck fame, but I like the perks.
If I had known what fame would have brought, I would have just rather been rich.
You know, I only wanted to get famous so I could be rich, so I can have money, so I can do whatever I wanted to, whenever I wanted to, the life I live right now.
So, but the fame was not what I expected, and I'm grateful for it, but at the same time, I had to learn how to adapt to the newfound fame when it came.
Oh, it's heartbreaking, some of it.
Yeah.
I mean, people don't want to hear that.
I know it's like people don't want to hear that.
A part of you disappears that you didn't even realize was about to leave.
And I didn't even get to write everything down that I knew about that guy.
And that's the shit that sometimes makes me kind of bump.
Like, I don't know.
I'm not trying to sound like self-pity or anything, but there's be vulnerable.
Yeah, there's a cost to everything, you know?
And there's a part of me, it's like, man, I don't even, I wish I remembered a little bit more what I was like, because I really liked myself then.
And then now it's like a different self.
You almost have to learn about a new self.
Yeah, you have to make, make peace with your new life.
Yes.
That's the thing.
Yeah, make peace with your new life.
This is it now.
This is my life now.
I think I did that about two years ago because, okay, I used to love grocery shopping.
I'd have my headphones in and I'd just be blah, blah, blah.
Just listen to a podcast on music and across.
Yeah, you know, sliding around on the cart.
That was fun.
I don't do that anymore, you know, because the grocery store, you know, you just get every step.
Can I get a photo?
And then it becomes a meet and greet.
And I'm like, no, boundaries.
I've had that before with people just around me.
And my boy Matt was like, bro, you're just like a toy that passed around.
Because people were just like, oh, my turn, my turn.
My turn.
And some of them won't even know anything about fighting.
That's the worst.
And then they just went, my husband said something.
Oh, my God.
The worst is when, especially when bitch is trying to like, who are you?
I'm like, it's all good.
Don't worry about it.
No, but like, who are you?
And I'm like, baby, who are you?
I don't know who you are either.
It's mutual.
They do it on purpose to lower you.
But they think it does, but I'm like, bitch, I don't give a fuck.
Like, it's like, who are you?
Who are you?
I'm like, well, who are you?
And the thing, I actually enjoy meeting people for the first time because it's rare for me these days.
So when I meet someone and they're like, oh, I'm sorry, I don't know who you are.
It's okay.
I'm Israel.
What's your name?
Oh, nice to meet you.
And I can actually meet them without them having a preconceived notion of who they think I am from TV or YouTube or my promos or anything like that.
They can actually meet me for me, face value.
Right.
So I enjoy that.
But people think I, because of how they would be if they were in my position, they think I'm going to be like everybody knows me.
No matter where I go, I still introduce myself.
Yeah.
Because it's just rude if you don't.
It's weird when people don't.
But no, I agree.
One of the things that I miss, I used to love meeting people.
It was one of my favorite things to do because it was like a new, it was almost like a brand new show.
You got a new chance to feel a certain way with somebody.
You could brighten their day.
You could do it.
You could have anything.
The world was any, all the options were there.
And then the fact that that's not the case sometimes now, it's a blessing.
I'm not saying that, but it is a bummer sometimes because I miss that thing like, oh, here's a new like space I get to play in.
You could make things up.
It was just fun.
I love that.
I said, new people or new countries.
Whenever I go there, I was just in Switzerland and I met a couple new people, but I was there for some work.
And yeah, new culture, new food.
Even the weather was muggy, but I loved it.
I was like, I'm experiencing what it's like to be in Switzerland when it's cold.
And I saw the sun out of three days I saw the sun once.
Wow.
You know, and the guy who even brought me there was like, yeah, last time I saw the sun was like two weeks ago.
You know, it's different out there.
But I enjoyed it.
I enjoyed the vibe and just meeting new people.
Like, this world's too big, man.
Like, we can't all just be in our own little bubble.
Yeah, it's so important to get out, man.
Even coming here was interesting coming to New Zealand.
First time?
Yeah.
Seeing what it's like.
I had no idea what it was going to be like.
People are like, we don't have any snakes, you know?
Yeah, we don't.
Nothing dangerous.
Not these kinds, but there's some snakes in the streets.
Oh, like, you don't have a fucking ozone layer either.
Bro, dude.
My God.
Like, how are you?
When you got here, how black were you?
I was black were you, really?
I swear.
Light skin now, semi-light skin.
In two days, people are going to start calling me Nelly.
No, but for me, I went fishing the other day.
No, this is this one the other week.
So I thought, you know what?
I'm black.
I'm protected by menlining.
By God.
Yeah.
By God.
Amen.
Ordained.
But yeah, for me, I don't need sunblock.
But I put on my tattoos just to kind of protect them.
But then my skin started peeling the next day, like my shoulders, because the life jacket was on me.
So my shoulders were peeling my neck, my face.
And I was like, what the fuck is this?
And then someone told me, oh, you're sunburnt.
I was like, what?
And I was like, oh, that's right.
Because in Nigeria, on the continent of Africa, we have an ozone layer.
They don't have that here.
So when I get hit by the sun here, it's...
Actually, it's raw.
Brawdogging you.
The sun is.
It's unbelievable.
It's really crazy.
Have you been to any beaches here yet?
We're going to mar to maybe Waheiku.
Waiheke Island.
Waikiki Island.
Okay, yeah.
You'll enjoy it there.
There's some nice beaches there.
Yeah, people are like, Auckland ones.
People are like, you got to get out.
We just got here.
People are like, you got to leave.
You got to get out.
You need to go to Need.
It's just like everybody wants you to leave.
It's like, we just got here.
There's some fun stuff in Auckland.
Auckland's fun.
I like the city because.
Yeah, what makes you stay here?
My gym.
My gym.
Really?
Definitely.
My gym.
100%.
I would have been fucked off by now.
Like, gone.
I'm just gypsying, traveling around.
But my gym keeps me here because they're my people and they're the ones that got me to where I'm at.
So that's loyalty.
And that's huge.
You got great guys over there.
Dan Hooker's there.
Yeah.
I love Dan.
Is he a cool guy?
He's the best.
He's the best.
Bro, he seems so entertaining.
He's an asshole, but he's the best.
Cara France.
There's so many guys I'm sure that I don't know.
I don't know a lot of them.
There's new ones coming up as well.
Like Carlos is now in the UFC.
Kevin's in the UFC.
Even Tyson Pedro is training with us now.
Tyson will be coming tonight to see the show.
Oh, sweet.
Yeah.
So I can't wait for that.
How was last night?
How was the show?
It was good.
Yeah.
Yeah, I thought it was good.
It was kind of scary because you don't know what you say.
Yeah.
And you don't know.
You'll be telling a story and you're like, oh, shit, they don't have this business.
Does it relate?
Yeah.
So now you've gone six minutes into a story.
You just have to give up.
You're like a senior citizen.
I get the references sometimes when I, like, maybe even Eddie Murphy, Delarius.
There was a few references I didn't understand when I watched it the first time because I was like, I didn't, you know, I didn't live in America, so I didn't know what he was talking about.
But yeah, you get older, so you understand, like, ah, that's that.
That's that shit he was talking about.
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When I started podcasting, having an online store was really the furthest thing from my mind.
You know, I remember we first started and just put something through a universal type of shop and sold it through Instagram.
And then people wanted different things.
And that's when we turned to Shopify.
Shopify helped us.
You know, at every point where it was like, okay, now we're trying to be too big.
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So the gym keeps you here.
That's huge, man.
Yeah.
If not, I would have been gone.
I would have been gypsying around.
But also, my family's here.
I got siblings in Australia as well.
They're gypsying around.
But I think the gym keeps me here.
And I like the fact that New Zealand's not too grandiose in a sense.
Like, Auckland's not so big where it's going to take me, unless it's traffic, it's going to take me like an hour and something to get across town, you know?
Yeah, I don't like that in Sydney or certain Australian territories.
It takes you an hour and a half to go from here to here.
And I'm like, that's a no from me.
Yeah.
No, I think this is a, it's a super unique place.
I'll say this.
It's one of the most unique places that I've been.
I wish I was going to get to travel around the country more.
I'm going to come back and do it again.
South Island next time.
That's what everybody says.
And you're like, shit, I wish I would have asked anybody.
Yeah, South Island.
But it's great, though.
Everybody's been super nice.
It's interesting what people think of what life means here.
It's kind of interesting.
So it's a bit more compared to maybe where you're from.
Laid back.
Yeah, they don't take themselves as serious, you know?
And I think it allows for a lot more peace probably in their own world.
Yeah.
And a lot of individuality here.
And that's one thing I could see, like, because you were like a hyper individual, it seems like.
So I could see, it'd be like, oh, this makes sense.
This is a very- I don't even sound like I'm from here.
Right.
Because I was influenced by TV and all that kind of stuff.
But individuality here or individualism, you still get that crabs in the bucket mentality.
Like people will try and do that.
Oh, people don't want you being fancy here.
They don't want you getting braces here.
Nah, man.
It's like, oh, bro, don't you going to be the fucking mayor?
They want you to be like, they'll try to support you.
I think it's worldwide, but it's a weird thing with Australia and New Zealand.
I can't remember what the history is, but you're downplaying your achievement.
A lot of humility.
That's not real humility, though.
That's bullshit.
That's like saying, like, you don't want to seem bigger than yourself.
Like, if I know I'm the man, I'm going to say I'm the fucking man.
Like, I know who I am because I'm treated wherever I go.
But they don't like you saying that outwardly here because it's not humble.
But I'm like, nah, that's not, that's, that's being fake because I'm not really expressing how I feel.
Like, example, one of the national teams will win something crazy, like the World Cup or whatever.
They get on the mic and it's like, oh, yeah, no, we did all right.
Yeah, we just want to thank the Lord Jesus for.
I'm like, bro, say how you feel.
Say it with your chest.
Like, fucking did it.
Yeah.
Like, you know, like, I want people to express.
And I've said this already.
There was a viral video that went when I won this Sportsman of the Year New Zealand Award.
And I gave the speech and it went viral for a while, but it wasn't going to change the culture.
But just, I'm just stating the fact that I was like, like, I'm being humble is when Dan Hooker punches me in the face.
That's real humility.
Right.
Because then I have to address, like, okay, how do I deal with that?
You know, when Carlos kicks me in the leg, you know, that's real humility.
But me trying to be confident.
Yeah, but me trying to like say, be subservient to make other people feel better about themselves.
Put it this way, even recently.
No, it's interesting.
It's like you don't want to be subservient to your own spirit.
Yeah.
You know, it's like you.
Because I'm doing myself a disservice.
Right.
Yeah.
So for me, even recently, I realized, how do I put this without seeming pompous?
I realized I've lived the peasant life, if you put it this way.
My last job was September 4th, 2013.
Next day I moved to China.
I planned for months to make that happen.
I failed three times before it actually happened.
I've lived that life.
I've lived for the weekend, all that kind of stuff.
But then the bigger I got, I still fell into that trap where I didn't want to seem like I was too cool.
Oh, yeah.
I get afraid a lot of times of being proud.
It's a weird thing.
I'm almost being proud of yourself in a way.
You should be.
You don't want people to know you're proud of yourself.
Yeah, but I didn't want to seem like I'm too cool.
So I still try and relate to the commoners, if you will.
Like when I'm out, if I'm at a bar.
You want to be inside?
Yeah.
And I am normal.
And you are.
And you are.
But I can still walk around the street, but I just know.
I know I'm the shit, but I know I ain't shit.
That's like a good balance to have.
It's always fluctuating.
I know I'm the shit, and sometimes I ain't shit.
So it's a good balance to have.
It's a good balance for anybody.
It is.
And yeah, you're right.
I think the society here, maybe they have a different approach to some of that.
And maybe some of that needs to evolve, you know?
But yeah, I think it's okay to, you're just learning about your own spirit and how do I navigate this.
No one gave me a book of being like, this is how you, now you're famous.
Here's what you do.
Nah, even me, sometimes I might not be in the mood.
I might be having a shit day.
The day my cat died, I was having a really shit day.
And the guy at the gas station again was like, oh my God, bro, bro, hold up, hold up.
Bro, I don't sonia, bro.
Can you talk to my cousin?
I'm like, bro, my cat just died this morning.
I don't really, I'm not.
And he's like, oh, oh, go, gee, I'm like, and I thought you felt bad.
And I was like, give me the phone.
And then I grabbed the phone.
I was talking to him.
I was like, wait, hang on.
Nigga, I'm pumping gas.
Like, fuck, go away.
I was like, bro.
And then I'm a bad guy forever.
And then that's the only story they have about me.
But again, I'm comfortable with that now.
When people have a bad story about me, I'm like, they probably deserved it.
Because when people bring manners and respect, I reflect that back.
And they get more out of me.
I stick around with them.
And even if, even if I'm too, I'm in a rush, I still try and make people feel seen.
I still want to make them feel like we connected.
Yeah.
You know, just even for a brief moment, like, bro, I'm not doing photos right now.
I'm in a rush, but I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
And I just move.
But again, I'll try and connect with them and let them know.
I really appreciate you.
I think it's the best that you can do, man.
I really do.
I'm human.
Yeah.
I'm human.
And it's a crazy thing that you don't learn how to be.
And it's, there's, there's so many like nice parts about it, but there's, there's parts about it that are like, especially nowadays with like the viralness of things, you can't ever go back, you know?
And so then it's, anyway, we're going to start to sound like a couple of psyches back as we keep talking about it.
Yeah.
But it's interesting.
But the thing is, it's relatable.
To you and me, it's relatable because you live this life as well.
And I don't get to talk about this for most people.
That's a good point, man.
Like, my friends, they can understand because they see it, you know, but most people don't get it.
Yeah.
You know, they'll never get it because they're not in this position.
Yeah, I've been afraid to, like, I've been afraid sometimes to get like, like, I have a nice home, you know, I've been afraid to like even go look sometimes at like a real, like, fancy home or something, or maybe they had a little bit more space or a garage where I could put two cars or something, you know.
You could only put one in your garage now.
Yeah.
Really?
So I just like, because I think there's a big part of me.
Humble.
Well, it's like, I don't know who would I be.
Yeah.
I don't know how I, who I am if I'm in this.
If you found that extra space for the car.
Yeah.
No, I think.
It's like, I just, I know, I, it's so much of my life I've been able to like, like manage what's going on.
And it's gotten a little bit tougher for sure over the past few years.
But I'm like, if I had another element, then will I even know my, like, am I going to get further away from like myself, I guess?
Knowing who you are, you'd be fine.
You'd be able to handle having a nicer house.
It's just things are easier, you know?
But money would have changed me.
If it was going to change me, it would have changed me years ago.
Probably about four years ago, it would have changed me if money was going to change me.
You get to a certain point where you make so many M's and you're just like, it doesn't really matter because you're already, as long as I can put a full tank of gas in, I don't even check the price of gas.
I just put a full tank in.
That's when I know I'm good.
Like, I'm good.
Because I remember the days when I'd be like, can I get $10 on number five, please?
Thank you.
I remember those days.
I did that.
I was me.
Even $5, just $5 on number five, please.
Thank you very much.
Appreciate that.
But now I can just go, Phil, boom, I didn't even go inside.
I just used my card.
Bang.
That's when I know I'm comfortable.
And as long as I can do that, I'm good.
Anything else is just bonuses.
Yeah.
You know, it's just bonuses.
Like I said, I would rather be rich than famous, but I do appreciate the fame because it brought me this life.
So I'm grateful.
When you're a good entertainer, and that's one of the interesting things to see, too.
It's like, it's a blessing.
And it's like one of the cool things about being a good entertainer is sometimes God will even move this entertainer along so that more people can see him.
Yeah.
You know, it's like I was interviewing this guy, Billy Strings, a couple weeks ago, this guitarist, and he grew up in Michigan, like in just like drug and like big drug culture, like people all around him dying, you know, opioids, everything.
And he has a big, a tough time with like people coming to see him and paying the tickets to see and stuff.
And I was like, but dude, you don't know like the guy who's cleaning up after your show, he might be listening to your music that's making him keeping his fucking day.
You know, it's like sometimes God uses all of us as like candles, I feel like at some point.
Oh, no, we're all vessels.
We can all be used at any moment.
Any given moment.
You need another water?
I'm good for now.
Okay for now.
Yeah.
Now you're you're a guy on you're great on the mic, so you've definitely been a vessel, you know, at times.
Yeah.
I think there was how I actually became a fan of you wasn't just your comedy.
It was it was it was one clip.
If you probably scroll up to our first conversation, I would have sent it to you.
It was something of you being vulnerable on the mic.
And I think you even got teary and I was just, I related to what you said.
And I was just like, and that's when I DM'd you and I was like, oh, this guy follows me.
So I followed you back and then talked like, bro, I really appreciate you being this vulnerable.
I can't remember what it was, but I felt that.
I felt that.
I think even Burt Christ, the same thing.
He was talking to Tom and talking about his daughters and something and how he feels like he's not doing enough and whatnot.
And I was just like, that shit hits me, bro.
I'm a softy, man.
I'm a softy.
I'm like, I'm hot as fuck because look what I did for a job.
But I am a softy.
Like, oh, my heart strings.
Sometimes something will just hit me and I'm just like, yeah.
Oh, I see two people hug at an airport and I just start fucking.
Oh, you know, yeah.
Or somebody waiting with flowers for somebody to come.
I'm like, oh, yeah.
Those moments, man, yeah.
I'm crying in the handicaps off.
No, it's interesting, man.
Well, I don't think I started to evolve.
Like, I got into recovery from drugs and alcohol like probably six years ago.
And that's when I started for the first time in my life.
Before that, I'd been kind of- It wasn't crazy bad, but it was getting like a little.
You were just living your life.
Yeah, but it was like I didn't, I wanted to have some cocaine sometimes.
So I got afraid to have a beer because I was worried I would have cocaine.
One leads to the other.
Yeah.
And I never had a drinking problem, but I was just, if I do have a beer, then if somebody has cocaine, I'm done.
Yeah, you know.
Even me right now, like, so I lost my license because of this DUI.
But you had a DUI?
Yeah, I know.
First one.
But it was a silly mistake.
I had dinner, two cocktails.
It's out now.
But then there were some reports.
I couldn't speak about it then because there was still an ongoing court case.
But then there was reports coming out saying he was two times over the legal limit and all this.
And there's no excuse.
I just, if I'm going to go out out, yeah, I have people to drive for me.
But this was just dinner, two cocktails.
So I was 0.07 over the legal limit.
And everyone else that they've had this and they've had their licensee, they were like, how come you weren't in court?
All I got was a fine.
And they did.
And I'm like, yeah, but you're not me.
This New Zealand media finally got me.
So they wanted to guard him.
They want to parade him.
But I handled it well.
And shout out to the judge for being kind and thoughtful and could see this is just a silly mistake that this guy can learn from.
He's done more good than, and this doesn't take away from that.
So I'm grateful for that.
But even me at the moment, I haven't drank since fuck last year.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
I just, look, I had this procedure done with stem cells last year.
And then I was like, you know what?
I want my body to heal properly.
So I just kind of stained.
They keep all the negative toxins out of you.
Exactly.
And I started, I have one of my boys who's a chef for 13 years.
He works for me now.
He fuck every day I eat is a culinary experience.
One of the best investments I've made in the last four years.
Really?
I love it.
Oh my God.
Fuck buying all that kind of shit.
Like, get a chef.
It's the best.
If you love food and you can't afford it, get a chef.
Holy shit.
Damn.
It's the best.
Every day.
Quesadillas and everything?
His phrase, I can cook anything.
Oh, my God.
He can cook anything.
So for me, I would have something.
I would have fish at night.
I think we're going to have horse maybe sometime in two weeks.
I'm going to try some horse tacos, bro.
They got reindeer in damn Sweden.
Yeah, I was at a restaurant, they pull up with the fucking R-deer, bro.
I live in China.
I didn't question too many things I ate there, but I ate some things.
I ate some.
I know I've eaten donkey.
I don't know if dog or cat.
I can't remember.
I've eaten pigeons, eaten alligator.
Oh, yeah.
My buddy just got a read on some penguin meat.
Ooh, damn.
Penguin.
What would that be like?
Because it's fluffy feathers and then it's insulation and then meat.
Would it be lean?
No, they're fat.
They're fat.
They're blubber.
They'd be a little bit of marbling.
Yeah, kind of a marble chicken.
Ooh.
It's a bird.
Yeah, it might be a marble chicken, like a steak chicken.
Yeah.
Or do you have to cook it medium rare or do you have to cook it all the way through?
I don't know.
I hope it's headless.
The head looks too cute.
That's the thing.
I think their PR is so cute.
You're like, happy feet.
Yeah, yeah.
You're like, damn people.
Sorry, happy feet.
Yeah, they're the damn French bulldogs of the north, you know?
Actual.
Yeah, they kind of look like them without the face.
Yeah, so maybe I don't know, but I got to email them back.
So when you do look at, like, so you've had some time off and stuff, when you, was it to, like, did you want to recalibrate what you, because you've, you've gotten to achieve your dreams, right?
Yeah.
And there's something.
Over and over and over and over again.
Yeah.
Like, I mean, it's unprecedented, you know, like you've, you mastered what you set out to do.
So then it's interesting because now you're a master who is who's already achieved everything you can achieve in the game, but there's still more that I want to do for myself.
Right.
That's one.
I guess I'm wondering, like, how does that, how do you start to separate those two?
And what is that even, you know, I mastered the game.
Yeah, I'm still learning every day.
Even right now, we're working again on my jab because I'm changing it up now because there's so much footage on me.
People can watch the smart coaches and they can kind of game plan.
Like my question mark kick was fucking everyone up early on.
Got to like maybe after the Robert Whitaker fight, maybe the Romero fight.
No, Costa fight.
Actually, Costa avoided it, but he fell for a different kick.
But so from that fight, people kind of like know the question marks coming.
So they're all scared of it.
My jab was vicious.
It still is, but I'm just bringing it back.
I'm tuning it up again.
So it's constant evolution, constant learning every time.
And with my grappling as well, I want to show it off.
I do want to show it off in the cage.
I did a little bit in my fight with Alex in New York.
A little bit.
You want to more.
You still got things you want to do.
Fuck yeah.
Oh, wow.
Fuck the belt and all that.
It's more about highlights.
Yeah.
For me, I'm a highlight guy.
Yeah, I know.
That's what's interesting.
like, that's what I was wondering.
I was like, does he miss some of the trash talking and just the fucking, you know, like...
Like me and Costa, it was good because I didn't like the guy.
He didn't like me.
Barachino, is that his name?
Bohachina.
Bohachina.
Whatever.
Yeah.
So again, like he's a guy that when I fought him, and again, I had a lackluster performance against Romero because he didn't want to engage.
So people were like, oh, fuck him.
And it was.
I have the most exciting title fight in history and the most boring title fight in history.
I do it all.
But after that fight, people were talking shit like, oh, this and that, right, right, right.
He's a boring fighter.
And it's weird.
I see it now.
They just forget.
They forget.
And I'm like, bro, I gave you so much classics.
So quick people forget, man.
Yeah, but then for me, when that fight came about, I didn't like him.
And he reminded me of every jock I had.
Oh, yeah.
He was very, you know, good looking.
Oh, like, just very muscular.
Conditioner.
Yeah.
Oh, bro.
And he was talking so much to everyone.
And then the streets was like, he went three rounds of Romero.
He went three rounds of.
I was like, yeah, I went five rounds of Romero.
But he didn't do shit.
Fuck you.
I was like, okay, watch this.
Watch this.
So when I fought him, I remember I just, I was so, I was dialed in, bro.
I was dialed in.
I remember watching that.
After the show, we went to a bar.
I think we're in Indiana somewhere.
We're in the Apex at the time.
Oh, not the Apex.
The Fight Island.
That was Fight Island.
And yeah, I took him out.
I took him for a ride.
I took him for Jewelry.
He didn't catch me as well.
Nah, he didn't touch me once.
I popped from in the legs as well.
I did.
Seeing that.
Yeah, and he just approved 100%.
Well, it's also in some cultures, it's more appropriate, too.
Yeah, but I mean, like, for me, I just felt it was the most dominating thing I could do to him because he was in that position.
Yeah, in Brazil, being gay is just like two guys dancing.
Yeah, or just dancing.
High five, yeah.
Oh, so they'll have some high fives that'll last a long time.
Look at the technique.
Look at the squat on the man.
Oh, it's crazy.
Brawl dogged him.
It was good.
It was a good time.
I enjoyed it.
No regrets.
What did you think of his fight with Whitaker?
It's a good fight.
I liked it.
I liked his jab in that fight.
I was like, okay, he came back.
But man, that end of the first round, when you rocked him with the wheel kick, did not expect that.
And then again, at the end of the round, so he got saved by the bell, came back, and Whitaker just outguts him.
He just outguts him.
I thought it was close.
I thought maybe Costa might have won.
I felt he might have won.
But then when he gave it to Whitaker, I was like, huh, okay.
Well, it wasn't a robbery, but I thought Costa probably had it.
But yeah, he was good.
He looked good in that fight.
He wasn't the same after this.
Everyone keeps telling me that you ruined that man.
Really?
You think that?
I don't think after that fight, he wasn't the same.
He was on a run.
He had this.
I'll tell you this.
You look at the fight, you look at the first round, the way he looked at me, and they look at the second round when he's like, like, you see his face, the demeanor changed.
I love those moments.
You take their soul away.
You just know, like, this guy knows he doesn't want to be locked in here with me.
It's like during a video game, but their controller is gone.
Yeah.
Bad dream for him.
Bad dream for him.
So it's like, yeah, I like that moment.
But yeah, I like the guy.
He's funny.
I think he's an entertainer.
I go to Twitter.
He's like entertaining.
He's got secret juice and all that.
It's fun.
There's so many.
That's one thing I was wondering, do you miss sometimes just in the past year being off or so?
Like, do you miss some of the entertainment?
Like, because there's been a lot of great, like the trash talk and everything's that kind of like, you know, like, like, Strickland's so ridiculous.
Like, him and MGK are arguing.
Like, that shit is.
Why?
It's so hilarious, though.
Like, do you laugh at some of it?
Like, it's just.
I didn't really pay attention to it.
I was like, oh, Strickland.
I mean, Strickland, you can put him in public.
It's a different story.
Yeah.
Yeah.
He's always got something to say, man.
Yeah.
Is that a fight that you feel like you want to go?
Oh, 100%.
Yeah.
100%.
Come on, man.
I don't know.
I don't know what, like, if guys get like i care about going and revisiting that not because of the fight but just because you care or not care so for me when pereira beat me he beat me the first time i went to brazil he beat me knocked me out and then i didn't chase it i was like you know what i'm done with kickboxing and then he said he got motivated because he saw me you know talking about him and then decided i'm gonna go mm and chase this guy and he did and then got to the ufc they fast tracked
him he got to me they did fast track him yeah i mean it is what it is i don't blame them it's it was look at what we have now we have classics so um he beat me in almost similar fashion in the way i was beating his ass and then in the last round he just had that spirit and just something behind him some kind of shinigami he just came and just beat me and i was just like fuck again how is this guy and then i let it go and then i just knew this is the last one like after this i'm done with this guy but i have to get him now
i have to get him now and in that moment when i when i got it done i got it done it took me six years and then i went after his kids too i was like yeah where you at because i'm a petty motherfucker sometimes you want to end you know just let the lineage know what's up of course not like because you don't want their kid fighting your kid at school or something yeah no it won't even go to the same school but like the fact is i had to teach his kids a lesson because of what they did prior and this took me what six years to accomplish with strickland it wouldn't take me that long uh let me just get through ddp first let me
handle i i look i look i look to the next fight never i look ahead like a little peek at the future but i don't try and focus on it and i just know the strickland fight will come back around and i'm i'm in a good place now health-wise mentally and i know exactly what happened in that fight that just wasn't for me he's a great fighter put it he's also a good champion what a reign i mean he did what he did uh strickland yeah but i mean like he did what he did everybody can beat me no
but i mean like he did what he did look even the way he beat me it was spectacular it was his moment it was his moment like yeah like sometimes dave chappelle said something in this dreamer special he said oh how did he put it hold up i got i have it saved here i have to find it no no i have it saved here give me two seconds i'll play it right now in five four three two one and that's the trick to life you have to be wise
enough to know when you are living in your dream and you have to be humble enough to accept when you are in someone else's they said that in this new special um i think dreamer and i felt that and i was like yeah because look life is a game i always use this moniker of player one and even people sometimes think oh he's so narcissistic he thinks he's player one
i'm like don't you are you a bot like everyone can grab the controller and play the game but most people don't most people i'm sure you see it most people just go through life just on the programming they just go with the flow whatever it's good to go with the flow but whose flow are you going with oh yeah so for me i had to like pause and question everything and i realized that was his night that was his night he was just he just fought the perfect fight no matter what i made no excuses and i gave it to him but
again like i say i'm a patient i take my time i reassess and yeah i go for what what i want you know yeah but you still feel a real fire for it oh yeah of course yeah i mean even the way look i had bars ready but i just the way he reacted when ddp mentioned some of his stuff his trauma i was like oh yeah that let me that let me know something again even look that moment you guys had was beautiful i'll say that that was
beautiful because i've never seen him like that like after the fight he's crying because he's so in like what the i just be i i i clocked it and i was like as a jerk i was like hey you're crying like a bitch he kind of laughed and i was like come here and whatever but then when he was talking with you and then you guys kind of got really vulnerable i was like man no kitchen after you know go through that yeah it's heartbreaking yeah it was heartbreaking to even see that but again look i'm a human being and i can connect with people on a human level but it doesn't mean i'm not gonna get
you i'm not gonna look i even said this about silver look just because i'm a fan doesn't mean you can't catch these hands you know silver was my michael jordan of this game and i was just like i was never i thought i would never fight him and then the opportunity present presented itself and i was just i had this trip planned for amsterdam france all this kind of stuff and then the opportunity came and i was just thinking like i gotta do it i have to do it and i did it and it was a beautiful fight beautiful
way to like i wish he stopped after that i wish maybe he moved to boxing after that because he even he said to me in the case like i passed the baton to you and no no no and just kind of like blessed me all these words and i'm there like like just crying you know for me because that was never meant to happen oh fuck it was never meant to happen but it happened and i even have it framed in my house we're fighting on this chess piece like a chessboard because that's what the fight was and i hit him with that rock
lee stance from naruto and he's standing there like gara it just looks so cool like that fight was electric it was beautiful just a master just a masterful way to play the game from two tai jutsu masters if you will yeah there's a composer element to you that i think is really interesting because it's like and that's why i wonder about like yeah does he still love like what does he want to do with fighting just because there's a lot of options in life yeah and sometimes creativity can you know flow and just you know you can decide like yeah i've you know
what i do i want to fucking you know be uh an actor do i want to you know i'll act i've already like turned on a few roles a few high profile roles because i wanted to make sure i focus on fighting that's the one thing i wanted to focus on was fighting i don't ever want to get sidetracked and lose yeah because i i know what i can focus on and then if i do then things can get squirrely so i'd rather not but um yeah, dude, if you were like a fighter pilot or something, that would be so sick.
Or if you were like in a war, like in a war movie.
Yeah.
But I wouldn't say it.
No, I wouldn't say, I'll say it off.
I'll say it after this.
But yeah, I'm definitely going to have, you know, I already got ties in Hollywood.
Like, people want to work with me, which is cool.
And I do my own stunts.
I mean, save money.
You know what I'm saying?
I like what you're thinking.
Yeah, save money.
I do my own stunts.
You don't have to get a stunt double.
But also, I'll have my own production company and I will maybe make some characters, like some anime or just weird ideas, bro.
Like sometimes I don't know how to write a screenplay, but I'll get someone who can.
I can just vomit words at them and they can just put it in a way that's digestible for TV or Netflix or, you know, a Crunchyroll or whatever.
Yeah, Stylebitter Studios.
I mean, Style Bitter is such a great, it's like the greatest moniker, honestly, in a lot of ways, because there's just so many.
You don't even know what it is, but you know what it is.
Yeah.
I got it from, even they just dropped the live action, the Avatar series, The Last Airbender just dropped yesterday in New Zealand.
I'm going to watch it tonight.
But for me, when I was watching that, I love that show.
I grew up on that show.
So for me, I got the name because I felt in this realm, I want to master all the elements of martial arts and realize my destiny as the avatar.
And I felt like I was the one.
So I have.
And I'm still doing it.
And now, you know, the middleweight division needs me again.
So it's all about the story you're telling yourself.
Yeah, exactly.
Like, what story are you telling yourself?
This is the life we live.
And most people don't.
They just kind of go with the flow.
You're so true.
And because that shapes your perspective.
And then your pers, that's the huge ingredient that I think so many people that have that I didn't realize for years is that perspective.
Even me now, six months without driving, I'm like, oh, well, I'm saving gas for six months.
And then while I'm not driving, I'm busy doing other shit, making shit happen.
So I just flip it around in my head.
So that way it's more tolerable.
Was it when you got, when you got to walk out with like fury, what was that fight you guys walked out?
Oh, and Gondu.
Yeah.
Oh, bro.
Bro, what was that like, bro?
It was like three kings back together.
That was beautiful.
That was a moment.
I'll tell you one thing.
I'm very laid back, like contrary to popular belief.
I'm very laid back.
But for me, I wish I dressed a little nicer for that walkout.
It still looked good.
We still had our moment, but like, I kind of wore, it's chic, like, low-key, like, just, it was too low-key for the moment.
The look.
There's other outfits I've worn that I'm like, I could have still worn my slides and like have that moment.
Like, it was beautiful, like, you know, three kings.
But regardless, we just looked epic walking together.
And Francis, just the Adonis that he is, just his story itself is bananas.
Like, if you know his history, you've listened to it on JRE and whatnot.
The way he's come up now and now he's doing this when people said he wouldn't do this.
Yeah.
Making crazy money.
Crazy money.
So I'm happy for him.
Even Mike Tyson right there.
It was a moment, bro.
It was a moment for just for history.
I love that.
These are moments for life.
I would never forget these moments, man.
Yeah, it's crazy.
I mean, it just, it's almost like you could never even understand what's going on, you know?
Yeah, that's so cool.
Yeah, see, Kamaru was dressed with that.
I kind of had a similar outfit That I was in mind But then I was like Nah It's his moment Francis So I kind of You're like, I'm going to dress down.
This is about looking at him.
Yeah, but then I still think for moments like that, next time Israel, don't be so...
But again, regardless if I was dressed with a fucking headdress or whatever, he would have shined in that moment because it's his moment.
So I just wanted to make it about him.
When you see stuff like this, like fights like this, do you get tempted when you see these guys fighting like Jake Paul's mom and stuff like that?
Like fighting like Kid Leroy or whatever?
Like there's always this shit online.
Nah.
You mean like the boxers that everyone wants to box now?
Yeah, there's always like a care bear fighting like Sneeko or something.
Every week there's somebody's like fighting a drawing of somebody's grandparents.
It's good for the sport.
I think it's good for boxing because look, look what it's done for, but also shout out to his Excellency Turkey, the guy that organized all this.
He has lit a fire in the combat sports world in a sense.
Step it up.
Bro, they've been sitting on how much money of oil money, like just crazy amounts, just disposable income, like constant.
And even the ad, there was an ad for Fury and Usic, and they had all these mainstream Hollywood actors and actresses in it.
Because they just have the money, huh?
Just hair.
But that's good for the game because now they forced Vegas, you know, everywhere else to like raise the bar.
So it's good.
Competition is good.
Yeah, this ad, insane.
Look at the production.
And this is an ad for a boxing fight.
Wow.
Yeah.
And they pulled out, but, you know, the fight will still happen later in the year.
I think they've rescheduled, but yeah, like this is...
What?
Yeah.
That's what I'm saying.
Jesus.
For an advert.
And he's not cheap.
Nuh-uh.
Not for that.
Not for acting, but.
Oh, wow.
So you're saying that they have all this money like at like, it's just like they're doing with Live Golf where they're like.
Yeah.
So that they bought that as well.
So for me, I've been invited now three times to Saudi Arabia.
And each time I went back, it just felt like it was more.
They were doing more.
With the next seven years, eight years, it's going to be bigger than Dubai, I think, or like the UAE or match them for like tourism.
Because now they just even lifted the alcohol ban.
I think it was in the last year or this year, they lifted the alcohol ban.
You can drink there now.
I haven't been back to Japan, but apparently you can.
That's going to change everything.
It will.
It will invite more people through.
And then there's more buildings going up every time I go over there.
Are you impressed by it over there?
Yeah, I am very impressed.
Also, one thing I'm the culture, I like the culture over there.
They've preserved their culture still, even as the landscape moves into the 21st century a little bit more, invites the world into the even in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
They still, you see the cultures heavily present there.
And I respect that.
I love seeing that when you go to a place.
So it's not too, I guess, westernized, you know, like you see McDonald's or whatever, all that kind of stuff.
You still see essences of their culture everywhere, which is good.
And I feel like over there, they've done that heavily in 70 years.
Saudi Arabia, first alcohol sales in 70 years, dividing opinion.
Can you zoom in on it a little bit?
The news that Saudi Arabia will allow.
Go down a little.
The news that Saudi Arabia will allow its first alcohol shop has citizens and foreigners alike mulling one question.
Is this a minor policy tweak or a major upheaval?
Sources familiar with the preparations for the store disclosed details of the plan on Wednesday.
Located in the capital's diplomatic quarter, the store, it looks like one store will be accessible only to non-Muslim diplomats.
What's a diplomat?
That's, I don't know.
I'm not really political enough to know what that is.
But all it takes is one.
That's a Trojan horse.
I mean, kind of like medical marijuana.
That was a gateway.
Now it's going to be a bunch of people just doing fireball on camels.
I love fireballs.
A bunch of people on camels doing fireball.
Yeah.
What's your drink of choice when you drink?
When I drank, I liked beer, I think.
And I like sometimes like a dang, like a piña colada, sometimes like a Captain Morgan and Coke.
I'm a sweet tooth guy, but my standard is bourbon and Coke.
But I like a sweet cocktail.
I love a sweet cocktail.
Look, beer, my dad used to distribute Guinness all over West Africa when I was a kid.
What do you mean he would distribute?
Like he was part of a group that would, so he trucks, trucks all over West Africa.
Yeah, cargoes.
And we had so much in the house.
And one time I was like, maybe six or seven.
I was like, can I taste that?
He's like, yeah, sure.
I had to taste something.
And I did not touch alcohol from that point till one time.
I think I was 18, maybe a little bit heartbroken.
And then hanging out with my boys.
And, you know, I just have it.
And I have, I found Woodstock, bourbon, and Coke.
And then when I first got drunk, it was at this park with my boys.
I realized why, like, this is why that girl outside the party's crying.
This is why that guy wants to fight everyone.
This is why that guy wants to, because it opened my eyes to understand what being drunk was like.
But yeah.
It's so interesting, man, because one thing that's interesting, I think, about you, man, and this is a judgment, but you are yourself, but you also are able to watch yourself be yourself.
And some people, it's something that we all need more of.
Self-awareness.
We have to find ways to get it because I think it used to be the crux of a human being.
Like you had a relationship with yourself that was evolving constantly.
Like, you know, a lot of the greats, like Marcus Aurelius and stuff, not only would they learn something, but then they would sit there with what they learned and develop a relationship with it.
You know, like, what have I learned here?
What does this mean to me?
What am I getting from this?
What is this serving me?
Do I need to let go of this?
Right.
I'm constantly questioning even things that I've been told.
That's interesting, bro.
No, no, no.
I think just living life.
Okay, example, when I was young, Sunday school, I remember, you know, you learned about God made the world in seven days and this and that, right around Adam and Eve.
Yeah.
And then for me, I remember asking the question to my Sunday school teacher was like, well, if God made the world, who made God?
And then no answer.
Just kind of like, well, and then I asked my parents, asked the housemaids, my aunties.
And then eventually one of my aunties was like, if you keep asking that question, you'll go mad.
And then I kind of thought like, I don't think they understand.
I don't think these motherfuckers understand what's really going on.
So it made me question, you know, what they tell me.
And over time through life, I've had moments when I've done stuff and I'm just like, why did I do that?
Why did I feel that way?
And then again, I call it like you identify the monster that you can kill it.
So once I identify the feeling of, you know, maybe envy or anger or sadness, I'm like, why am I feeling this way?
And I can backwards engineer it or something.
So go into that a little bit because I think that's important, man, because I think a lot of people deal with that.
So say if somebody's kind of going through that, like what, like, what kind of process are you kind of talking about?
Okay.
So for example, if say, okay, it takes a skill to be happy for someone.
And I've noticed this because when I was younger and growing up in NZ, the culture kind of caught me a little bit where if someone's doing well, you know, it might look like, ah, because I noticed myself, one of my friends, old friend, I noticed myself like distancing myself away from him because he was doing so well.
And then I realized, I was like, wait, hang on.
So I had to kind of, cause I was like, that's my boy.
I was like, why am I, why am I feeling this way?
Why am I feeling like I'm jealous of him when he's not doing anything to me?
And I've seen people do it to me as well.
The bigger I got, it kept on getting.
People would start, oh, it must be nice type shit, you know?
Yeah.
Like, oh, and then you see them start to treat me differently.
So for me, I noticed myself starting to treat him differently and distance myself from him.
So I pulled the brakes, sat with it for a few weeks probably, and just kind of identify like, why I should be happy for him.
And it takes a skill to learn that.
And then it becomes your second nature over time once he becomes like reps, reps, reps, reps.
Because to learn to be a hater was just natural in the environment I was in.
So I had to learn, nah, that's not the way I want to be.
So you can unlearn behaviors as well.
Even as I get older, things, things, even women, I have to unlearn certain behaviors.
And be like, yeah, you have to know, like, this is maybe approaching this, being more honest or being more communicative and all that kind of stuff.
You have to unlearn, unlearn and constantly learn new ways of being.
When you look at the UFC today, like, who really kind of excites you?
Like, are there guys?
You're like, oh, this is fun.
I like this storyline.
Like, um, are you able to get a different look at it being away from it a little bit?
thing is, before the UFC, I watched everything, I would watch all the embeddeds, all the countdowns, all the shows they have on the UFC websites.
I would watch everything, but then even when I was in it, I was watching everything, but then over time, I'm starting to understand sometimes the way maybe Nate and Nick Diaz feel because you've done so much for this game, you've put so much in this game, and then you still feel sometimes disrespected, and then you're just like, man, fuck this shit.
Like, fuck this game.
But because I don't remember the last time I watched the countdown, I don't remember the last time I watched it.
I don't even watch the embeddeds anymore.
I've kind of like, it's played out to me in a way.
But I was watching it when I was coming up and that helped me a lot because when I got to the UFC, I just knew what to expect.
I was like, oh, yeah, I've seen this before.
Oh, I see.
Yeah, because at that point, you're also surveying the stage.
So, you know, like, I know where the camera's here.
I know where to look up right there.
This is why I have these moments, man.
These people think it's all like...
Nah, I have these moments because, again, the shower.
I operate there and I just know.
Like, example, the speech I gave after I knocked out Alex.
I remember being in the shower, visualizing winning in Miami and just like, because I put myself, I immersed myself because of my imagination in that moment.
And I remember feeling so happy.
And in that moment, I was just like, I just, fuck, I just want everyone to feel how happy I am.
And that's all I wanted to say.
Yeah.
And then the rest came, vessel.
I was just like, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And I just said what I said and people fuck with it.
And it became this moment.
And I'm glad it became that moment because people still, to this day, there's like, man, you made me feel so happy.
I remember that speech and this and that.
And when I speak from the heart, I feel it hits people because I'm trying to connect.
We're all human beings, no matter what, race, color.
Like you just, when you speak from the heart, I can touch people, man.
I don't know if it's.
Yeah, no, she's supposed to say that.
No, you're right.
It's tough to even trust her own mom.
But like, I think from doing it over time now with reps, even one of my boys is, I was a groomsman at this wedding.
I didn't write shit for the speech.
I just spoke from the heart.
And I was like, man, I killed that shit.
And yeah, it's, you know, it's a skill in a way, but at the same time, it might be a gift.
But who knows?
We're all gifted.
We just have to speak.
And you get more practice with it.
You've gotten practice over the years after fights, after fights in China.
People just speak English.
I just said whatever I wanted.
Got 40 reps over there.
Nobody even watched.
I'm going to go back, man.
That's the thing.
Because people actually, like, they make a joke of it, not my time in China, but I'm grateful for those times, man.
Like, China, man, adventures.
Really?
Like, unicycles and stuff?
What are you talking about?
Talking like adventures.
Fuck.
I don't.
This is a worldwide internet thing, but adventures.
Like, say, just after fight.
Okay, so me and my, one of my teammates, Blood Diamond, we kind of had each other's back in China.
He's a Zimbabwean guy.
And so we'd be living.
At one point, we were in Henan province, Zhengzhou, and we were just outside the city at this camp.
That was our base.
After a fight, we'll come back to the camp, you know, wherever we are.
I traveled so many places in China.
Some places I can't even pronounce.
I don't even know.
I forgot.
I'd go straight from the hotel, fight, fight, hotel, airport.
But then we'd go back to our base and then we'd take a weekend away just to go to the city, which is like 40, 30 minute drive, boom.
Get a hotel, go out there.
And they like foreigners in their clubs because it looks like the club is more popping.
So we just get given free boost, black label, Johnny Walker, you know, sit down and have a time.
Some things I can never say on the camera, but we had some good fun in China.
The hotels over there, the massages, all that.
It was a good time.
But again, I fought, I was there for maybe 10 months.
I fought about 24 or 25 times.
One of those months, I fought every weekend because I had four fights that month and I had two knockouts.
But I was fighting constantly and it just elevated me because it's just reps.
I'm fighting.
I'm training with these guys and they spa hard over there.
The Chinese, you ever believe?
They spa hard.
And sometimes, well, back then, they were still in the mindset, like to train your chin, you have to.
So it did stand in.
Yeah.
which is not really the smartest.
Well, the Russians do.
What's that clip with...
Have you seen this kind of stuff?
Yeah.
The Russians.
Yeah, it's like instead of fiber, they use this thing.
Oh, no, he's going to hurt himself.
Oh, what the fuck?
What in the Kama Sutra?
Oh!
What the fuck is that?
Is that punishment?
That's got to be punishment.
That's torture.
Now this is training, bro.
It makes him stronger.
They're trying to separate the man from himself.
Jesus.
It kind of looks fun.
But at the same time, they don't have a shadow anymore.
Rip a solo pot.
What is that training for?
I need to know.
The Russian fitness training method, Pravilo, is still used in mini-boxing gyms today to increase strength and punching power.
Can you give it up too?
Okay, I'm trying to even see what the physics is.
I don't understand.
Well, I guess if you let yourself sag, if you have to pull on all the ropes and like hold your core.
Yeah, like Samson.
Just, ah.
Is that something?
Yeah.
I have to ask my strength coach because that's why I have someone who's smarter than me.
I wouldn't ask anybody about that.
I don't think I'm going to be able to do that.
That looks like some torture.
He might be like, that's a good idea.
Let's add that to your regimen.
I don't want to see Gene setting that up for you.
Is that your coach, Gene?
No, Eugene, yeah.
He's my.
And he goes by Eugene.
Yeah, Eugene.
Yeah.
Yeah, sorry.
No, he's good.
I just call him, yeah, a lot of names.
We call each other a lot of names.
Well, you guys have had a long relationship.
Pravillo Machine builds strength, mobility, the old-fashioned way, stretching out.
Yeah, let me see a little bit more of that.
I'm intrigued.
I'm straight.
Because you could just tie, like, there was a torture method back in the medieval times where you can like tie a guy to this horse and his upper buddy to this horse and then they just like hit the horse and then they separate so maybe that could be an old school version but that was a way to kill people torture them yeah it works to stretch and strengthen the internal framework of joints tendons and ligaments as well as improve mental clarity and ability to work under stress okay by stretching all the connective tissues and removing knots like the fascia blockages okay
pravilo practice increases blood flow to the entire body i bet it's definitely i mean if it's you know the russians are pretty good at sport um so yeah and what do you do it looks like your wife's mad at you i feel like to get 10 lashes or something next minute damn it kind of looks fun that's heady i'm crazy so i like crazy so while i wasn't fighting i um i took up other things like okay september i feel like when you're not fighting i feel like you're in zelda breath
of the wild i see that's what it's like i think from like a fight perspective like not playing the game literally yeah i know but you're in the in the like i can do anything like i'm i've got money i've got a passport go anywhere but um for me i took up things like golf golf's my new favorite pastime in a way because i like it because it's it's soft it's it's a bit more um slow paced people say oh what about tennis or
something i'm like something soft something that's true because my life is chaos when i'm in the gym murderers trying to kill me all the time working out cardio strength so then when i'm on the golf course i mean i'm not trying to even flex but i got pretty good i want to see it i can't believe it i got i got pretty good in about how many months let me say i got pretty good i'll send you guys this clip as well i got pretty good in about five months so this is me now oh my
that's not bad look at the hips on them that's clean bro yeah wow well even like the last one this is my i was my final one i was like you know what there's a lot of great golfers from your country yeah from nigeria oh no see i sent that to the moon i sent that to the moon i was like ah and look again emotes this is how i live my life yeah because when you were a kid you'd be doing like this and that's what you do huh bro i'd be i'm a power
ranger when i was a kid i was a ninja turtle i was action man like you can be anyone you want i was a bus boy for halloween i was like i was like yeah a bus boy i was like hopeful like yeah like we had a lot of like low low hopes in our area i mean i didn't really have the costume but in my mind i was i was legit a power ranger i was always the black ranger either him or the red ranger that's fair but yeah um um what was i saying before before i go on this tender of golf yeah so i like golf just because it's something different and
who do you play with golf yeah you just go by yourself oh my homies oh go to the driving range well like last time was a slava joe hopkins and my boy matt and this other guy jackson i believe oh some local guys yeah my friends oh nice uh slava and joe were fighters as well um joe still fights slava is just a big time businessman now but he just likes to you know hit the hit the the golf sticks once in a while it's fun yeah you golf oh yeah i like to golf i'm not good at it but i do like to do it yeah i i would
say i'm coachable i'm very very coachable because i'm the guy like the details because at first i used to do this i was this guy when i hit the so i would like yep and then i'd strike it down and then it wasn't until um this this guy was named daryl i believe out south auckland at the airport there's a golf a driving range over there he told me like i've watched your videos mate um see the way you when you set up your kicks you know and he explained to me and showed me my hip feint and said like that's the way and
then from then i got to this where it's like and then from there ah i can get that in there so once he's once he told me that we can fix the frame sorry once he told me that then i was like and that's that's the day i started ascending and i was like oh i'm getting this shit now but now it's about learning what face of the club i want to hit with so i can determine which way the ball goes if i wanted to go a bit to the right or
to the left because right now it goes to the right at least 60 65 percent of the time but oh yeah that's what i'm doing yeah i'm constantly and i'm okay maybe change the club face so the details of it intrigues me and again it's slow pace and it just gets in my brain so i suck my teeth into that last year i went skydiving first time first time did it in uh abu dhabi and that was dope it was sick no way who'd you go with other fighters or no no uh devin haney was there actually he
did it after me yeah the boxer and then um yeah uh dude that's crazy it's fun like people you've never been nah i wanted and you only have to do it seven more times i can go by myself so there's a place like a bad idea no no i'm gonna do it you are so even okay bruh this is me yeah i'm already even i've got a motorcycle riding lesson on saturday because and again my mom's a nurse so she's already told me nope nope oh she's seen the worst yeah a lot of the organ
donors are come from motorcyclists that's what i've heard you could do pink slips with strickland if you guys oh does he ride oh yeah he does ride motorcycles but somebody would get i'd rather fight him yeah i'd rather fight him yeah do what we do the man dance i want to do a man dance but um yeah so for me skydiving motorcycle riding i might get into that unless i get talked out of it but um yeah something that just gets me going that's why for me i know when i'm done with this game at least every few months i need to do something that will make me feel like i'm about to die
like something scary something that makes me go fuck like this is this is happening this is legit this is real i could die in this so why is that so important you think to people i think it's for me i'm an adrenaline junkie really yeah i'm an adrenaline junkie i've accepted that about myself um and i think you just i i even alex spoke about it after his islam fight where he said like you know just sitting around like you you know you need to do something you need to do something
and i felt that a lot of fighters felt that so for me that's why i say giving me free time with what i have now can be a bad idea but i'm glad that i'm older now a little a lot wiser, a lot wiser now.
I'm surprised I don't have any babies out there.
Well, that I know of, maybe in China, but we'll wait another, we'll see.
We'll see.
But like, no, I've just, I've lived a life, Theo.
I've made some dumb decisions, you know, I've been places.
I've been places, some scary stories, some good times, and some bad ones.
But no regrets, because it all led me to these moments and the lessons I've learned from them, priceless.
And stories.
I'm sure you got some stories as well.
Oh, yeah.
Some I gotta keep to myself.
I just want to say for me, because I've never really expressed this.
Maybe after I'm done fighting, I'll make like another doco or docus series and then I'll go deeper.
Or a memoir, even.
A book, yeah.
I mean, get someone to fucking write that, co-write that with me.
Because even while I was in the UFC, man, I was just, I went through my own ups and downs, but I'm glad they weren't caught by the media.
Because then one thing is like, sometimes if someone goes through something, you want to go through it alone without the world watching you.
Because there's already like a magnifying glass on your life.
You know, everyone's watching you waiting for you to fail or something like that.
People take their own lives because they can't handle what the media does.
I've said this, bro.
And the media has no accountability.
The media has no...
Because it's a lot.
And I've been there before where I'm just like, fuck, this is too much.
And I just, I find myself going my shell.
I'll just become a crab and I just, and then I just, I wouldn't really want to.
You don't trust the world then?
I don't trust the world.
Nah, I feel like I ought to protect myself.
So I become a turtle, ninja turtle.
But then.
Little less ninja, little more turtle.
Yeah, more turtle.
Yeah, less ninja, more turtle.
Turner ninja, yeah.
Oh, bro, man.
For me, it's just about learning, learning how to come out of that.
And that's where you've seen in the, in the docker talking to Janet, who's my, she doesn't like to call herself a therapist.
She calls herself a possibility manager.
Bro, she's impressive.
I was actually going to ask you for her information, which crazy.
She's here.
She might be, I think she might be.
She retired and just travels the country now in a caravan seeing her grandkids.
Wow.
That's her life.
So she's already set herself up.
She's left that life behind of the nine of five or whatnot.
So she just lives her life on her.
She asked the best questions, it felt like.
Yeah, that's what it is.
People think therapy is this thing where this motherfucker don't know shit about me, but they don't need to.
That's why you talk.
And it's like dating in a sense.
You kind of go to try different people.
100%.
So many times people go see the first therapist and they stay with them for years.
It's like, are you changing?
Are you evolving?
It's nobody's fault if you're not, but you got to put yourself into like some boiling water.
Yeah.
Because you want to see what the fuck flavors are in you, bro.
You got to figure it out.
If you get the wrong person, they can see like a therapist could sit there and be like, oh, this chick with blue hair, cha-ching, and then just keep him for two years and just keep making money off them.
A great therapist or not or someone.
I'm talking about Billie Eilish all the time and shit when you come in.
But like a great one is one that would kind of like a doctor.
A doctor shouldn't keep you sick constantly.
She's trying to help you.
Okay, Jenna, last time I saw her would have been over a year now.
I talked to her maybe about two months ago, briefly through text when things were getting rocky.
But thing is, she's given me so many tools that I can use that when things get a little because I'm human and life be lifing.
So then I have the tools that I can use to help me.
But then someone who just kind of keeps you in that suffering phase and they can milk off you is not someone you want to be with.
So shop around, find the right person that can kind of want the best for you.
And then you see, am I getting something out of this?
Once you're not getting anything out of it, pull back.
I'm sure there's something that's going to happen.
Life is always life thing.
Something's going to happen that'll rock my world.
And then boom.
Janet, are you free?
Can I talk to you?
Boom.
And that's it.
But yeah, at the moment, I haven't seen her because I've just been, I've been awesome.
I've just been living my life and I've had my ups and downs.
But again, she's given me the tools to use that could help me bring myself back to balance.
And that's what you want.
No, bro.
I think that's just so important.
Because you don't hear that part about therapy.
You just hear like, go see a therapist.
People are like, this didn't work.
I'm not doing it anymore.
And it's like, there's somebody.
Yeah, there's somebody that works.
You talked in a documentary about...
And we'll get out of here in a minute, man.
You talked in a documentary about doing...
Wait, probably a couple hours, huh?
92 hours.
Hour 50. No way.
Fuck off.
We barely even go, man.
You wait till I retire.
We'll do this again.
We'll talk about some shit.
One thing I like is your perspective on things.
You just, oh, the clips fucking, there's, I think, even the Instagram page, Theovon Clips, that censor our group chat a lot.
And now I just crack up like, you just say the most out-the-gate shit.
I'm like, how did you even think of that?
Yeah, I don't know.
No, it's you.
It's your perspective.
And that's the beautiful thing of it.
You're able to express it so people can follow the way your mind works.
You know what I mean?
It's cool to see.
Thanks, man.
Yeah, I like to, I don't know.
I was just always like, I just wanted to find a way to be myself.
Whatever that even means.
It was just like, man.
Authentically be yourself.
Yeah.
And who even am I?
And I just had no idea.
I didn't know what I, I built this kind of thing.
I didn't even know what I was doing for so long.
Life's crazy, bro.
It is, especially the life we live.
I'm grateful, but it is crazy.
All of it's fucking unbelievable that we're just, you know, loud animals, you know?
Like, what if you were in the woods and you saw a bear like on his computer or something?
You'd be like, this bear is yogi?
Yeah.
This bear is mentally on wood.
But it's like, it's just weird being in society.
But what about ayahuasca?
Did you ever try it?
You talked about it.
So that's on the list.
It's definitely on the list.
I like the segue.
It's like, whoops.
Well, you got to get it, man.
It's so fast.
Have you been?
Yeah.
Damn.
I just went a couple of weeks ago.
Did you go to the jungle or you found a guy that can actually do it properly?
Because for me, I've heard like because of the popularity now, there's a lot of shamans who aren't really shamans that they just oh, come sit down in a circle with us, kumbaya, and then give you the drug and or the plant medicine.
And then, you know, you don't really get the you might get the trip, but you don't really get the benefits from like the shaman to guide you through that, you know, the purging and all that kind of stuff.
But um, it's it's been on my list, but the reason I haven't done it yet, and I told even Mike Tyson this was because you probably haven't watched Avatar, but that's the best way I can explain it.
I've seen it.
It's about the air blues or whatever.
No, no, no, no, no.
Avatar, the last airband of the series.
Like the Tuskegee Indians or whatever?
Tuskegee Airmen.
No, no, no, no, no.
You're thinking James Cameron's Avatar.
I'm thinking the cartoon.
Okay, I gotta watch it.
Oh, there we go.
So yeah, this avatar.
Yeah, the show.
I'm a big fan.
That's one of my favorite animes.
But it gets to a point where this guy doesn't know how to fireband anymore because he became friends with this little kid, Aang.
So for me, I felt like if I go to the jungle and then I realize a lot of my shit and I actualize myself and I come out of, you know, clarity.
And I'm just like, will it affect my fighting?
That's the thing.
Because I fight.
I mean, you've seen this in the doco.
I got chips in the dip.
I'm very, I have something to prove.
I gotta prove something, you know?
So for me, it's not always to other people.
It's to myself, to my younger self.
Because I used to get fucked with a lot.
So it was a way to like let, I became strong so no one could fuck with me.
So no one could, you know, I'm fortified in myself.
And I'm like, yeah, you can't fuck with me.
And I can, and that's why I'm able to be vulnerable now about all this kind of stuff.
Cause I'm like, you can't beat my ass.
It's all good.
Right.
I'm safe enough now.
You know what?
That's interesting, man.
I can relate to that.
It was like, once I got, like, I always just felt like people judged me so much because I was poor, where I lived, how I got to school, what we drove, how we were, you know, and it just like, I was just like, I just want to, you, I want to be able to be in control.
And like, and that younger kid, like now, like that kid that was all bummed out, like now I can still notice when he's upset about something.
He comes up.
Right.
But as an adult, I can be like, hey, it's cool.
Right.
I got you.
Right.
Because if I sit here and cry, if I sit here and cry with him, then I'm making him suffer two times.
Exactly.
Oh, that's so good where you put that.
The kid inside.
Because sometimes someone will do something.
Okay, I'll say this.
I was in Switzerland, right?
And then we're in this like thing, the setting, classroom setting.
And I went to go get a coffee, came back, and this lady had moved my stuff.
They put me in the front of the class.
She moved my stuff.
And I was like, what do you mean?
He's like, oh, I just, she kind of like made it.
And she's like, I wanted some girl time with her.
And I was like, oh, that's cool.
I prefer the back of the class anyway.
But then I sat there.
And for the first 15, 10 minutes of the lecture, I remember just feeling rage.
I'm like, who the fuck's this bitch?
If you want to sit with her, get her to move.
Oh, you have to move my stuff.
And again, it's this older white lady and then move my stuff.
And it just felt like, it just took me back to that moment, like just young Izzy.
And I could feel myself boiling.
So I kind of calm him down.
Like, it's okay.
It's all right.
You're fine.
You're safe.
Yeah.
And then focus on what was doing.
But then that was just recent.
That was like two weeks ago.
And again, people can do something that triggers you.
Triggered.
But you got to notice where that trigger is because it's not a task.
I'll get so angry.
And then afterwards, I'll be like, oh my, what was I?
So that wasn't even whatever happened had nothing.
It's old shit.
I know.
It's old shit that we've just taught to repress to put down.
And that's what Iowa said.
That shit turns that old shit into a champagne, bro.
Yeah, champagne, man.
Bubbling up.
Yeah.
It comes in.
Damn, it is a party.
I've been doing some trips.
Like, example, before the Miami Pedetta fight, I was micro-dosing and I micro-dosed a little bit on psilocybin.
And I went on some journeys within myself.
And I just sit on my couch, watch the lights, and just listen to this kind of like lo-fi music and just question everything even deeper.
Like, who am I?
Why am I this?
Why do I feel this way?
And then speak to my younger self.
But tapping into that is key because if you can make him feel safe, you're able to go through life easier because you'll be surprised how many moments that just eras itself.
Even like I said, my people pleasing thing.
I know how to identify it when it comes up now.
And I just did it.
I did it straight away.
Even me, like people, I told you, I don't live like the commoners anymore because I realize I've lived that life because when I'd be at a bar, I'm like, hey, can I get 30 fireballs, you know, shots?
Why?
And then people start to hang around me because they know I'll be like shouting drinks and whatnot.
And then I get to the point where I'm just like, the next day I wake up, I'm like, why did I ever let those guys around me?
Oh, I didn't like those people.
But then boundaries.
When I'm drunk, I'm like a Labrador.
I just think everyone's my friend.
Yeah.
I'm the opposite of some people drink bourbon and they think like, oh, it's, they call it fighting beer.
I'm like, hell no.
That's the last thing I want to do.
I want to hug people.
I want to high-five.
I'm super nice, super flirty.
It's just being your mouth.
Yeah, why not?
Yeah, it's like a golden retriever.
I am.
No, but like a golden retriever is just friendly with everyone.
So that's what I become when I'm drunk.
But yeah, for me, I just realized, you know what?
Boundaries.
For me, boundaries.
So that way I don't have to, I don't have to, I don't have to be liked.
I don't need to prove to you that I'm down, that I'm just another dude.
Because sometimes I feel like I have to do that to people, but I'm like, if you can't handle who I am, fuck, bounce.
I don't have to prove to you that I'm cool.
I can relate to you.
It's like, nah, I've lived your life.
You've never lived mine.
Right, right.
I don't have to constantly adjust.
Reassure you.
Yes.
I don't have to constantly adjust every moment in my life to reassure every single person that I come in contact with.
That's what that shit is.
Yeah, that's what that humble shit is when they talk about in New Zealand when it's like, oh, he's humble.
It's like, oh, some people, I see them.
I'm like, not that they're not humble.
I just know that they're different off camera or they're different when other people are around.
But when they're in the public, they want to, you know, be relatable.
And that's cool.
But I'm like, nah, bro.
You're not.
They already, they relate to you because of your story.
Like, they relate to you because of what you've done in your field, you know, and they fuck with it on some level.
So you don't have to constantly bring yourself down to their level.
Just stay where you are and connect with them.
Yeah.
That's one thing I learned as well.
I don't have to raise, because when people come yelling at me now, back in the day, I'd have to like, hey, what's up, man?
Even if I'm on field, you know, but nah, I just watch wrestling or whatever on my phone or something.
Talk to my dead aunt.
But like for me, it's like, nah, if I'm at a three and you come at me at a seven or ten, I'm going to keep it a three.
Hey, what's up, man?
How you doing?
Or even, I'm like, chill, bro.
What's up?
How you doing, man?
You good?
And I can bring them back to my level of chill.
Oh my God, I'm such a big fan.
I'm like, that's cool.
Come here, give me a hug.
Give me a hug.
And I love those moments, man, when people are really genuine.
Ah, it feels my heart.
I know, huh?
Because you want to be genuine too.
Yeah.
And so it's tough because people don't know where you're at sometimes because it's been a unique experience.
And yeah, I think it's a learning curve.
And it's a learning curve for both people, you know?
And life's such a learning curve, man.
And I'm glad it is because it would get fucking boring, you know?
We keep learning.
I'm still learning even to this day.
Like I said, two weeks ago, that happened in Switzerland.
And I tell you, okay, calm down, young Izzy.
Calm down.
It's okay.
But then there's going to be something else that comes through.
Something else that comes through.
Great, shit, good, bad, beautiful, ugly, smiles and frowns, whatever it is.
I'm going through it all.
And right now, I'm just taking my time.
That's all I can.
I'm taking my time with everything.
Because if I, I don't know if you feel this way sometimes.
If I, if I try and think, because, you know, you've got too many things to deal with, you know, you like, it can get overwhelming.
Yeah.
So I'm like, okay, that's too much.
Then I just have to like, right, let me think, what can I handle?
I can handle this right now and just prioritize what I do.
Yeah.
Still learning, though.
Adulting.
Yeah.
It's interesting.
I'm glad that God or the gods that are out there let us adult, that they let us experience and evolve and learn and it's pretty masterful.
What has been created out of life is pretty, it's unbelievable.
It's like it's definitely one of the best Zeldas, probably.
Yeah, Zeldas.
I've only played one of it.
I never clocked it, not even close, but like, I know Link, that's the main character, right?
Yeah.
Did you play it a lot when you were a kid?
Yeah, I played it when I was a kid, and then Breath of the Wild came out, and I played that on DS Switch.
Yeah, so that's the one I have, Breath of the Wild.
Yeah, it's good.
And they just came out with a new one.
Oh, yeah.
And it's cool too, but Breath of the Wild is still cool, so you could stick with that one too.
Yeah, no, I still got that one.
But right now, I just started playing Helldivers.
It's a great game.
Helldivers.
Holy shit.
And went to like Pearl Mountain or whatever?
It's like Halo, Helldivers 2. It's like Halo, but...
I played Call of Duty, but it's just so you go liberate these planets or these worlds from these robots or these aliens.
But it's just the way the gameplay, you play with your friends online.
It's keeping me out of trouble, put it that way.
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, it's important, dude.
Knowing when to get in trouble and not.
I mean, I like a little bit of trouble once in a while, but at the same time, I'd rather not because it always finds me somehow.
It's a challenge.
It's a way that, like you say, God will just put this problem in front of you so that way, oh, this is what I have to learn from this situation.
Learn this.
If I don't learn it, guess what?
It comes back again.
It always does.
It'll come back again.
I'm like, fuck, I thought I learned last year.
Years, a decade, you'll be doing the same thing.
And trouble's always in a gift.
It's always gift rap too.
Trouble is not like, ah, trouble's not like, fucking, hey, I'm troubled.
Trouble's like, looks cool.
I'm trouble in my sass.
Yeah.
You got that rumper don't.
There we go.
Trouble got that.
Yeah.
Got that.
Yeah.
But I've learned, though.
That's the thing.
Even younger guys now, I try and teach them just don't think of your dick.
Just, yeah.
You got it.
You got to use this.
And yeah, many, many, many mistakes have he made, but many great, great connections have been made as well.
So I thank God for it all, but I still try and tell the young guys that watch me, I just teach them just don't do this.
Yeah, because there is some like you're like, fuck, I learned such the hard way.
Like, I have got to tell somebody.
Oh, yeah.
Some of it's not even like you're preaching to people.
You're just like, for the love of God, don't do this.
If I don't let somebody know, then that's not good.
Even another one is like, because I'm not married, but I don't even know if I want to.
I didn't really want to, but I don't know.
It'll happen.
Maybe.
Yeah, one day you'll do it.
Yeah.
It'll be married.
I'm not married, but I would like to be married.
But I have a tough time with doing commitment.
Yeah.
I'm in my selfish era right now.
I feel like these next few years, I'm definitely on the back end of my career.
So, and I said, I was the most active champion, me and Volkanovsky, the most active champions.
That's crazy.
And bro, most people get the belt.
Right now, Drake has got the belt.
He kind of wants to chill.
They want to hold the belt for a little bit, look nice.
You know what I'm saying?
I was like, who am I fighting next?
Cool.
Put that guy on.
Who am I fighting next?
Because you risk it every fucking time.
Every fucking time.
That's how I have so many defenses.
Because I'd be like, who am I fighting next?
Boom.
Let's go.
You know, but for me, everything I have to do right now is going towards this.
Bro, I only just started having breakfast.
Oh, but context.
I used to wake up and just go straight to the gym, work out like two workouts back to back, and then have breakfast around one.
I'm 34 now, you know, almost 35. I know my body's different.
I have to put the right fuels in my body.
I was living off Ubi Eats, bro.
Yeah, man.
Training for fights off Uber Eats.
Yeah, that was...
Because of skills.
Yeah, you know what I'm saying?
Like, Carl's Jr., Indian food, anything.
Chinese food.
You were defeating other men on Carl.
Fuel like Carl's Jr.?
Yeah, anything.
Burger King.
McDonald's only when I'm drunk because I didn't really like the quality.
Yeah, it's gone.
Yeah.
It's like paper.
Yeah.
Like, oh, man, I ate a Big Mac one time that did not sit well with me.
And I was like, yep.
So only when I'm drunk, I'd have McDonald's.
But yeah, if a brother can't have a burger in this.
Insane, bro.
I've had over 100 fights, so I didn't really think like the way I ate would affect my skills, but again, it does at a certain point.
Because when I was younger, bro, when I was 26, 25, I'd be out, you know, I'd be getting home around, say, four, trying to get some pussy.
Yeah.
And from there, you know, you sleep around 6, 6, 30. You have to wake up at 10 to go spot at 11, get punched in the head, hung over.
And it's like, I could do it and just kick ass.
But then the older you get.
You can't do it.
Your body doesn't metabolize outfit the same.
That's what I'm saying.
Now I'm like, how did I do that?
That was fucking wild.
How did I do that?
No.
So then now it's about, like I say, putting the right fuel in my body.
Like I said, I've got my boy, Matt, who cooks for me now.
Every day is a fucking cuisine.
Oh, yeah.
You know, and I feel better as well.
My body, I can't do it.
I'm just gonna lamb, too.
Y'all ever have that?
Lamb.
We've got lamb.
We've got more sheep than people in New Zealand.
Really?
Yeah, I think five to one.
And well, a lot of people are sheep, but they're sheep.
See some furry hind ends in the area.
You can see them.
They got mullets in the back as well.
Same, same.
If the world ends, what's your strategy?
What's your plan?
Well, right now I'm building.
Also having a bunker in there, allegedly, maybe.
I shouldn't have said that.
Fuck.
It's all right.
But yeah, I just feel, I mean, you saw that world, the movie, Leave the World Behind.
Yeah, that's possible.
Very possible.
What if the internet shuts down?
Who knows?
Yeah, you wake up and the phone doesn't work.
They shut down all New Zealand's connection to the world.
Or you have two calls left.
What do you do and where do you go?
Oh, I call my dad, first person, call my dad.
And I'd probably go, yeah, drive down to Wanganui.
But thing is, funny enough, during lockdown, people were doing that when they made the call or like you get the alert.
Lockdown starts at midnight tonight.
Some fucking purge type shit.
People were getting out of Auckland.
People were going down to their batches if they could.
People were trying to see with their family.
And some people, these guys got caught going to Hamilton, which is about 45 minutes away from Auckland.
Maybe an hour away.
They went over through like some farm roads just to get KFC in Hamilton.
Yeah.
Just to get KFC in Hamilton and bring it back.
I think they were gang members as well.
I swear to God.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Look this up.
I love that.
Looking for KFC.
They were looking for KFC during lockdown.
Yeah, look at Kiwi, MS-13.
Yeah, I can't remember which gangs it was, but nah, we don't have no Sorenos out here.
Oh, really?
Nah, nah, no Mexican gangs.
But yeah, you know, they're prevalent.
KFC Hamilton KFC.
Lockdown.
Lockdown.
I just want to see him start.
Yeah.
Right there.
Yeah, it'll be there.
Men caught.
Yeah, there it is.
Look at that.
I love how the police confiscated it.
Yeah, man, we got that.
That's their lunch right there for the next three days.
At least there's no crime in this country if this is a bad deal.
Yeah, listen, oh, we got you now.
A couple wings and a breast.
New Zealand police have made a bizarre arrest after a pair of alleged gang associates were caught trying to enter Auckland with a boot full of KFC chicken.
Sell that shit on the low.
Are you not allowed to bring it in?
Nah, you couldn't leave the Auckland district.
So they left to go get KFC and bring it back.
Stormhunters, huh?
Actual.
So everything was shut down.
The lockdown was bizarre, man.
Did you guys, where were you living?
I moved to Tennessee during the lockdown, and it was us.
You could dance.
That's why everyone moves to Texas as well.
Yeah.
Texas changed everything.
Yeah.
That's why the comedy scene moved over there once.
Joe and the mothership.
And there's a good energy there now.
Of like possibility and new.
And like, people are excited there, man.
I love watching Kill Tony because.
Dude, it's so good.
I used to watch it back in the day.
Just talking about it.
Actually, I used to watch it.
No, I used to listen to it at my old job.
You should listen to it and roast battle.
And then when I saw Tony in Texas one time, he's like, yeah, man, we've.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Ha, ha, ha.
He's like, yeah, man.
And he was telling me how it's gone up.
And I was like, I bet I'll have a look.
So now I watched it on YouTube and I got my flatmate hooked.
And now we've just been watching it.
That's okay.
The whole Hans Kim Rick Diaz thing just took it to a new level.
Rick Diaz has got some fucking cajonas on him, man.
Out of nowhere.
The guy just like, stop protecting him.
I want his spot.
And I just, I saw it about two weeks ago where the light cut out and he came out and then was flipping him off.
Exactly.
Rick Diaz appeared after the New Year's show.
He just, the next week, the lights cut out and then came back on.
And then Hans Kimmers doing a set on stage and then Rick Diaz is right there just flipping him off.
It's like a soap opera now.
It is.
Yeah, it's got a storyline.
It's got a storyline to it now.
It's so amazing, bro, to go there and watch.
I'm going to go one day.
Like, definitely.
I know Sean O'Malley went and then he did the New Year show, but then at some point, I would go to Austin, Texas, and I'll go to Kill Tony.
I just want to sit there.
I don't even go to talk.
I'll just sit there, answer questions, and just watch the chaos ensue just live in front of me.
That's so crazy.
And they got the blind guy.
He's like, oh, yeah.
What's his name?
And he's playing.
Is it bones?
No, I don't know.
The blind guy that hates gays.
What's his name?
I can't remember his name now.
Oh, my God.
Fuck, I know his name.
It's going to come to me.
They got Chris Rogers, the painter, there, painting the whole time.
The crazy part is you get one minute, which is impossible.
It would almost be like, hey, be the best UFC fighter in one minute.
You got to be throwing hope.
But then they roast the guy.
Oh, that's a woman.
If they suck, and if they're obnoxious, then you can see Tony's like, oh, I got a good, I got a live one.
And he could just pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, roast the motherfucker.
Dude, the other day, I tuned in on YouTube.
It was streaming live.
They had 81,000 people watching.
Damn.
Live.
That's worldwide, bro.
Unbelievable.
Yeah.
I mean, the concept itself is wild.
But now to do it in an arena, and then they've had these main characters now, like the regulars, like Hans Kim and David Lucas.
Yeah.
And now, oh, Cam Newton.
Oh, Cam Patterson.
Oh, Pat.
Fuck.
Yeah.
Racist.
Cam Patterson.
Yeah.
But yeah, even he's hilarious, dude.
I want to have him come on here.
Yeah, soon.
Where are you based right now?
I'm based in Tennessee and LA.
In Tennessee.
in LA.
Yeah, I see.
You go back.
How often do you spend between both?
A tour probably six months, and the rest I do like four months in Tennessee.
Road Dog.
Two months in LA.
So where's next after this?
You're going to Australia, right?
We're going to Australia.
And then we got like Atlanta, New Orleans.
New Orleans.
We're going to put a show up at Iowa sometime soon.
So a lot of great places still to go perform, man.
It's been awesome, man.
The world's a big place, man.
I know.
We want to go to South Africa.
We want to go perform there.
Wait till the UFC goes there.
Yeah.
Yeah, wait till there's a good thing.
Yeah.
Like the UFC is definitely going to go there.
And when it does, I'll be right there, too.
Well, I watch you perform tonight.
I think it'll be my first time seeing you live.
Oh, yeah.
Well, we better go get ready, too.
Yeah, I've only seen you on Netflix, but yeah, I can't wait.
Oh, this will hopefully be better, I think.
David enjoyed it.
My brother enjoyed it last night.
Yeah, fuck you.
That's fair.
So it was dope.
Yeah.
So I can't wait.
That'll bring some of the gang.
Yeah, that's a lot, huh?
Easy.
Izzy, thanks so much, man.
I don't think there's anything else to say right now.
Wait till I retire and we'll talk.
All right.
We'll get deep.
Deal, bro.
I appreciate it, man.
Thank you so much for your time.
Thank you for your time, man.
And thanks for documenting me too.
Thanks for being vulnerable.
I really respect that, especially when people in opposition don't have to fake the funk.
You can just be honest about what's really going on.
So I appreciate that.
And that's good for everyone else to see.
We're human.
Yeah, we're trying our best to get it.
That's adults.
I'm adulting.
I don't even know sometimes.
I'm like, how did we get here?
How do I?
I know.
I'm like, am I just meant to?
I have houses now.
I know.
That's crazy.
I'm like, I'm doing all right.
I know.
Even Rogan told me one time, he's like, sometimes it's scary because I'll pull into my house in the garage and I'll feel like somebody's going to come in right after me and just take it all away.
Damn.
He said, sometimes keeps you hungry, though.
It's a thing that just happens to people.
But Israel, thank you so much.
Thank you, Theo Von.
Yeah, brother.
Gang, baby.
We'll see you in the baby.
We'll see you in Africa, baby.
Praise, baby.
Throw it up.
Now I'm just floating on the breeze, and I feel I'm falling like these leaves.
I must be cornerstone.
Oh, but when I reach that ground, I'll share this piece of my life out.
I can feel it in my bones.
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