00:00 All right, boys. We are back with

00:01 another podcast. Today, we are

00:03 interviewing the sniper Israel Adama um

00:06 upcoming fight and uh I'm excited to

00:08 share his his story. So, we're gonna

00:10 just, you know, talk about your early

00:11 life, you know, how you were introduced

00:13 to fighting and kind of just like uh

00:15 your story so far of where to to lead

00:18 you where you are right now.

00:19 >> Uh appreciate you for having me, man. It

00:22 was nice to meet you. Nice to finally

00:23 get in touch with you.

00:24 >> Good training.

00:24 >> Yeah, for sure. We appreciate you coming

00:26 out here, making the trip and and uh

00:29 coming and checking out our work we get

00:30 we get over here. Um fighting for me uh

00:35 it's kind of something that um kind of a

00:39 late bloomerin I want to say in a sense.

00:42 Uh came into the game when I was like 18

00:46 19 years old uh into MMA. Before then, I

00:49 was always into athletics and stuff like

00:51 that, but around 18, 19 years old is

00:53 when I when I came into the MMA game.

00:55 >> For sure. And I did do some research and

00:57 it seemed like you did have like a

00:58 upbringing playing other sports, playing

01:00 basketball. Uh, do you feel like those

01:02 kind of help you in your MMA game?

01:05 >> For sure. I think, uh, yeah, playing

01:07 basketball helped me a lot. Basketball

01:08 is a lot of footwork, a lot of jumping

01:10 movement, explosive stuff, which can

01:13 translate to to to fighting. A lot of

01:15 times when hoopers go into fighting that

01:19 their downfall is like they're a little

01:21 too soft, but I don't think that's ever

01:22 been like my I don't think that I've

01:24 ever had an issue with that.

01:26 >> For sure.

01:27 >> And I would like to like get into like

01:28 where you're from. So I I wasn't aware,

01:30 but you're actually from Akali. I want

01:32 to just know a little bit more about

01:33 your heritage and kind of like your

01:35 upbringing there.

01:36 >> Yeah, of course, man. I'm from Akali.

01:37 I'm I'm super proud of where I'm from.

01:40 uh came over here with my mom and my

01:42 sister when I was 6 years old. Uh we

01:45 were real young. Um my mom kind of came

01:48 and just thugged it out, made it made

01:50 her way on her own and and created a

01:52 path on her own and and that's kind of

01:54 been really inspiring for me in my

01:56 journey. But yeah, I come from Hey Gali.

01:58 Most of my family's over there. My dad's

01:59 over there. I have a little brother

02:01 that's over there uh that's I want to

02:03 say 8 years old now. His name is Ian. Um

02:06 >> shout out Ian.

02:07 >> Shout out to Ian. Yeah. But yeah, my my

02:10 my roots are from from meali. A lot of

02:13 like um I would say

02:17 I don't know. I lost my train of

02:19 thought.

02:19 >> No, no, you're good. No, I just uh was

02:21 very curious on where you're from cuz

02:22 you did mention that you came over here

02:24 like around six six years old, you know,

02:26 just like how was it like you went to

02:28 school over there in Mexico or

02:30 >> Yeah, I went to school over there. I

02:31 hated it when I first came over here. I

02:33 absolutely hated it. I didn't speak

02:34 English. Uh, I would cry and uh every

02:38 day going to school cuz I didn't I

02:40 didn't know any I didn't know anybody. I

02:41 didn't know anything. It was just me and

02:43 my mom and we came and uh at first we

02:46 came and she we moved into her friend's

02:48 apartment. It was a twobedroom, one

02:50 bathroom apartment and it was just me,

02:52 my sister, and my mom in one in one room

02:54 pretty much and we were just thugging it

02:56 out.

02:57 >> When When were you introduced to martial

02:59 arts? I know you said around like 18,

03:00 19, but was there like any like fights

03:02 in like specifically that got you into

03:04 the sport?

03:05 >> I liked watching fighting growing up. Uh

03:07 my dad would watch boxing fights here

03:09 and there. We weren't huge fighting

03:12 fans, but I I I always I was a big

03:15 Dragon Ball Z fan, like huge Dragon Ball

03:18 Z fan growing up. Like I especially like

03:20 I'm from Hegali, like you know, Dragon

03:22 Ball Z is big in Mexico. So, I was I was

03:25 over there powering up, going Super

03:27 Saiyan and [ __ ] like saying like in if

03:29 if you know, you know. Like if you watch

03:31 Dragon Ball Z in Spanish, like the

03:32 sayings they say is super funny. Like

03:34 >> and I would say those things when I was

03:35 like 5 years old. And so

03:37 >> I would say like that was kind of like

03:38 my first like inkling towards fighting.

03:41 I loved it so much. Like I was I would

03:43 fight my cousins all the time, but it

03:46 was mostly like anime. And then later on

03:48 in life, I started getting into I liked

03:50 uh um Anderson Silva and stuff like that

03:52 when I was younger. And yeah, I've

03:54 always liked like um fighters that look

03:57 like they're in like a movie, you know

03:58 what I mean? Like a street fighter type

04:00 of fighter.

04:01 >> And that's that's a like a topic I hear

04:04 a lot like anime, Dragon Ball Z. Seems

04:06 like a lot of fighters are actually into

04:08 that. Do you feel like that's helped you

04:10 along? I know like uh Bobby Green has

04:12 mentioned that like he said his favorite

04:13 Dragon Ball uh fighter is Vegeta, you

04:15 know. Do you have any any characters

04:17 that you feel like uh are similar to you

04:20 in that type of way?

04:21 >> Yeah. Uh growing up, Gohan was my

04:23 favorite. Uh I think

04:25 >> as Yeah, Gohan and Dragon Ball Z was my

04:28 favorite. And I think like as the anime

04:29 has progressed, I'm probably more of a

04:30 Vegeta fan now, too.

04:32 >> Okay.

04:32 >> Vegeta's kind of came into his own. Now

04:35 that going back and watching Dragon Ball

04:37 Z, Vegeta was kind of a like a [ __ ]

04:40 in a way.

04:40 >> A little bit. A little bit. But yeah, he

04:42 has his own story, you know.

04:43 >> Yeah. But but I like the character

04:45 development now. But yeah, man. I I've

04:48 like when I was younger, that that's

04:50 that was all I was into. And uh to this

04:52 day, yeah, I like to to take inspiration

04:55 from from things like that.

04:56 >> You mentioned Anderson Silva. Like do

04:58 you feel like your style kind of

04:59 resembles him or would you say you have

05:02 like kind of your own style when it

05:03 comes to fight?

05:04 >> I think uh I like to take things from

05:06 everybody like uh Yeah, I like to take I

05:09 like to take things from absolutely

05:10 everybody. I saw a cool interview of DDP

05:12 and how he was saying that he he takes

05:14 things from everybody he fights. Like if

05:15 somebody hits him with something nice,

05:17 he's like, "Oh, okay. I got to learn

05:19 that." And I'm the same exact way. Like

05:21 if somebody hits me with something nice,

05:22 I got to dissect it. Cuz if not, then

05:24 I'm just going to be like, "What did he

05:26 hit me with?" You know what I mean? Like

05:27 I feel like me being so curious about

05:29 techniques and stuff like that, that's

05:31 what really evolves my game and and

05:33 that's what forms my style, I think, is

05:35 being able to take things from

05:36 everybody.

05:37 >> Thanks for not throwing me under the

05:39 bus, bro. He's like, "Lonzo says,

05:41 >> hey, Lonzo said you need to move."

05:44 >> No, I just I think that that um that

05:47 everybody has their own style and I

05:49 mean, at least from what I noticed here

05:50 is that you're able to kind of just uh

05:52 you know, help have your training

05:54 partners help you out like uh along the

05:56 way. How important is it to have like

05:58 highle training partners to evolve your

06:00 game and theirs as well?

06:01 >> Extremely important. uh my my my uh main

06:05 training partner, Francisco Ortal, I

06:07 think he's been huge in my development.

06:10 Um I think if I didn't have somebody

06:12 that was at his skill level in my gym,

06:14 like I just wouldn't know what kind of

06:17 skill level there is out there to match,

06:19 you know what I mean? So training with

06:20 him all the time just gives me like the

06:22 utmost confidence. When I go against

06:23 other guys, I'm like, man, like what do

06:24 they really got for me that I haven't

06:26 seen already in my own gym? like I've

06:28 gotten cracked by some crazy dudes in my

06:30 own gym and you know haven't had to

06:32 evolve my game and yeah I think I think

06:35 that's that's huge. I think training

06:37 partners and coaches as well is is huge.

06:40 >> I feel like a lot of fighters like

06:42 remember their first fight pretty

06:43 vividly. Do you remember is there any

06:45 story that that comes along when you

06:47 think about your first time stepping in

06:48 the cage

06:49 >> story? Um, my first fight, funnily

06:52 enough, funnily enough, in MMA is going

06:55 to be against the guy that I'm fighting

06:57 next week.

06:58 >> So, that was my first MMA fight was

07:00 against him. Um, I just remember coming

07:02 out, this crowd was talking a lot of

07:04 [ __ ] Uh, I remember coming out and my

07:07 family was on my left side right at the

07:09 as as I was walking out and then on my

07:11 right side was like these dudes talking

07:13 [ __ ] like talking crazy in my ear. So, I

07:16 was just like kind of smirking at him,

07:17 kind of like nodding my head or

07:19 whatever. And then I got in there and uh

07:22 his crowd was really really loud and I

07:25 got I was laughing and um fight went on

07:29 and uh he took me down a couple times. I

07:32 got up and then once I got up one time

07:33 he hit me with a good shot on the break

07:35 and I remember him hitting me with a

07:37 good shot on the break and I smiled at

07:39 him and I'm I'm sure he thought that I

07:41 was going to like blitz him right after.

07:43 I smiled at him and my coach was like,

07:45 "Take your time. Find your distance

07:46 still." And as soon as I smiled at him,

07:49 I kind of um set up my shot and then

07:52 that was that was the finish right

07:53 there. And uh I just remember after the

07:56 after the finish just like uh my crowd

08:00 my side of the crowd being so hype and

08:02 then once we kind of like announced it

08:04 like it was really really quiet in there

08:06 and that felt good.

08:07 >> Wow. So you're going against someone

08:09 that that was your very first fight. How

08:11 much do you think you have evolved since

08:13 that that first fight you had?

08:15 >> Uh, so much, man. So, so much. When you

08:17 come into the game, like you don't know

08:18 what you don't know. The more

08:20 experience, the more the more you you go

08:22 through trials and tribulations, like

08:24 it's like, oh, wow. I was I was lacking

08:26 so much in this department and it's

08:27 like, okay, now I could now I could

08:29 start to be more complete, you know?

08:32 >> How have you been able to enjoy the

08:33 process more? I know you're an amateur

08:35 fighter looking to go pro, but you know,

08:37 these experiences, you know, uh how have

08:39 you learned to just kind of enjoy where

08:41 you're at right now?

08:42 >> I try to talk to God every day and uh

08:46 just be thankful, man. I just try to

08:48 talk talk to God and be thankful that

08:50 I'm able to be able, if that makes

08:53 sense. You know, like there's so many

08:54 people that wish they had the

08:56 opportunity to do what I'm doing and for

08:58 whatever reason they can't. Whether it's

08:59 physically what they have going on in

09:01 life, you know, and

09:04 uh thankful to God I'm able to. I'm in a

09:06 great position. I have my wife, I have

09:09 um my home, you know, uh my my job. I'm

09:12 just thankful for for all the things I'm

09:14 blessed with. So So that's that's the

09:15 way I try to stay present in the moment,

09:18 just being thankful of being able to be

09:21 able.

09:21 >> For sure. And I just I've been impressed

09:25 by just like your your social media

09:27 performance. I I appreciate you just

09:28 like, you know, staying active,

09:29 commenting on on the videos. You feel

09:31 like that's something that, you know,

09:33 you need to take advantage of while

09:34 while you're, you know, um up up and

09:37 coming.

09:38 >> Yeah, unfortunately. So, bro,

09:40 unfortunately, I got to be a IG thy to

09:44 >> to make some money, you know what I

09:46 mean? To to do something in in MMA, like

09:48 you got to you got to have people that

09:50 care about you fighting, you know what I

09:52 mean? So that's what I try to do. I try

09:54 to get hype around it. I try to make um

09:56 make make people be emotionally involved

10:00 whether it's them liking me or disliking

10:02 me, you know what I mean? So

10:03 >> unfortunately, yeah, I do got to be

10:05 involved in Instagram. I'm more of I'm

10:07 I'm a pretty chill guy. I'm kind of out

10:09 the way, you know what I mean? At a

10:11 certain point in time when I was

10:12 younger, I was a lot wanted to be all

10:15 everybody's face a little flashier. Now

10:16 I'm kind of more reserved with my wife

10:17 and stuff, but I still I still pop out

10:19 on Instagram here and then.

10:21 >> For sure. No, I just I noticed it a lot

10:22 just with like fighters, you know,

10:24 having a big reach. You know, you have

10:25 people like Desense who maybe aren't

10:28 talented, but they'll they'll make a,

10:30 you know, make a wave on social media

10:32 online. Yeah. Um, honestly, just seeing

10:34 more stuff uh more and more like with

10:36 the Mighty Journey and stuff like that.

10:38 Do you see yourself just, you know, kind

10:40 of uh, you know, traveling, exploring

10:42 the world with mixed martial arts?

10:44 >> That's the goal. Yeah, that's the goal

10:46 for sure is for it to take me around the

10:47 world, take me and my lady, my coaches,

10:50 my teammates, you know, people that have

10:52 uh had a part in it and uh for us just

10:55 to be able to go have a good time, go

10:57 coach, you know what I mean? He just

10:58 went out with his fighter Cody Gibson to

11:00 Saudi Arabia. Like that sounds that

11:01 sounds dope. You know, I want to do

11:03 things like that.

11:04 >> So, the main goal is the UFC.

11:07 >> Um, you know, shout out to the UFC,

11:09 shout out to Zana White and all them

11:10 guys. No disrespect to them, but the

11:13 fight game is big. the fight game is is

11:15 very big and the main goal is to um like

11:19 you said put my name in in the top with

11:21 those elite fighters and then once my

11:23 name is at the top with those elite

11:24 fighters then then my name is going to

11:26 carry enough weight to to you know I can

11:28 go anywhere like right now you know

11:32 we'll talk about this a little bit off

11:33 script but right now like uh the fight

11:36 game is like the wild wild west the they

11:38 the UFC you know they got going they

11:40 have going on what they have going on

11:41 they just got a billion dollars Um

11:43 Netflix, they have going on what they

11:45 have going on with MVP. Um and uh Scott

11:50 Coker, I want to say his name is, he

11:52 started out San Jose Fight Nights, uh

11:55 which is which is still going on right

11:56 now. It's like a pro promotion. They're

11:58 starting to get bigger, but he just got

12:00 Saudi Arabia money. I think he got like

12:02 $50 million to start a fight promotion

12:04 this next year. So, he's starting his

12:06 own fight promotion. So, which is good.

12:07 Like more competition, more of that.

12:09 Like, I'm I'm open for it. I feel like

12:11 I'm a very progressive forward moving

12:14 mind. I feel like the fight game is

12:15 [ __ ] up right now. Like I don't want

12:16 to I don't want to put myself in a six

12:20 fight fight deal with the UFC and lock

12:22 myself down. You know what I mean?

12:23 >> Yeah, for sure.

12:24 >> Like I want to be smart moving forward.

12:27 >> Yeah, I think that's that's that's good.

12:29 And I think it's also good for other

12:31 fighters to take note of what's

12:33 happening. I would just say like maybe

12:34 even like Brian Battle situation, you

12:36 know, like he was

12:36 >> he was fighting the UFC, missed weight,

12:39 now he's like kind of just hopping

12:41 different promotion just to, you know,

12:42 stay afloat. You know, the thing with

12:43 the fight game and the thing that I've

12:45 noticed interviewing more fighters is

12:47 that like anything could really happen.

12:49 You know, you you have to be prepared

12:50 >> for the unexpected. And that's that's

12:52 something that um I also appreciate from

12:54 you guys. You guys are just you guys are

12:56 just locked in. Like whatever

12:57 opportunity presents itself in front of

12:59 you guys, you guys are just ready for

13:00 the next moment. And uh I feel like a

13:02 lot of you guys also are quick learners.

13:04 Like what what have uh what has helped

13:06 you kind of just learn technique and uh

13:08 being able to just have be like an open

13:10 mind when it comes to learning?

13:11 >> Yeah, I think that's that's one of my

13:13 biggest uh strengths is is being is

13:16 being a quick learner. It has to be

13:18 because like I said, I'm a kind of a

13:20 late bloomer in the game. Mhm.

13:22 >> So, um, just being a like a passionate

13:25 about it, being a film junkie, I'm

13:27 always watching techniques, always

13:28 watching different stuff, different

13:30 fighters. Even if I'm not watching a a

13:32 specific technique I'm I'm interested

13:33 in, I'm usually watching a fight. And,

13:36 uh, usually get to see a little move

13:38 that they do some there that that I feel

13:40 like I could like practice or or

13:42 incorporate into my game. And so, yeah,

13:44 just being passionate, I think, about it

13:46 is is what helps me

13:48 >> for sure. And I I just been seeing you

13:52 like kind of just uh recently in your

13:54 past few fights like I feel like when I

13:56 when I see you fight and perform like

13:58 you're very calm and stoic in the way

14:00 you you fight. Is that intentional or is

14:02 it just that how how you are?

14:04 >> 100%. Yeah, it's definitely intentional.

14:07 Um fighting uh is very emotional. It's a

14:12 lot of emotions uh that go into it.

14:14 >> And uh a big thing that that has helped

14:17 me is being present in the moment, not

14:20 thinking about what this person might

14:23 think or this person might think

14:24 afterwards or before or who cares. You

14:27 know what I mean? Just being present in

14:28 that moment, doing my job in that

14:30 moment, trying to simplify things as

14:32 much as for myself as possible, I think

14:34 helps me perform a lot.

14:35 >> For sure. So, you say you're like a

14:37 quick learner. Were you also a quick

14:38 learner in school and stuff like that?

14:40 Yeah, I was very smart. Always very

14:42 smart. Uh, as I got older, I was, you

14:46 know, um, too like curious for my own

14:50 good. I wanted to be I wanted to be

14:51 outside. I wanted to ditch school, just

14:54 be outside doing whatever I wanted to

14:56 do. But I was I was a very smart kid

14:58 growing up.

14:59 >> I feel like uh that that pays off very

15:02 well. And would you how would you

15:03 describe your your fight style if you're

15:05 if someone were to see you for the first

15:07 time? Like how would you describe the

15:08 way you fight?

15:10 Uh, I would say it's very cerebral. Um,

15:13 like we said, I'm uh I'm a thinker. I

15:16 think um a lot of people go in there and

15:19 try to impose their will, which is part

15:22 of fighting, but I think you got to

15:25 strategize how to impose your will and

15:27 uh strategize how to like fighting, it's

15:31 um the way I would explain it, it's like

15:34 how can I damage this person, hurt this

15:38 person, make them as tired as possible

15:40 while being uh as efficient as possible,

15:44 conser conserving as much energy as

15:46 possible cuz you never know what's going

15:47 to happen. This person that you're

15:49 fighting might be the toughest

15:50 [ __ ] ever. You might be fighting

15:51 Hhabib Narov and you know he's not going

15:54 to quit. He's never going to quit. So

15:56 you have to still be efficient in what

15:58 you're doing.

15:58 >> For sure. And before the podcast, we

16:00 were kind of just having like a like a

16:01 casual conversation talking about Hhabib

16:03 and Lex Freeman podcast. Like what what

16:05 kind of like things jumped out to you

16:07 when you were checking that out?

16:09 >> Uh so many things, man. just the morals

16:11 and values that that that he came up

16:13 with and I think I could relate a lot to

16:18 not so much his his upbringing but just

16:20 um kind of like the the mentality that

16:23 that people had from out there where

16:25 where I'm from it's it's like similar

16:28 mentality but it's a lot of it's not as

16:31 uh as hopeful as uh he was explaining it

16:34 which I'm sure it came from the way the

16:37 way Habib explained it. Uh he kind of

16:39 his dad was like he would bring all the

16:42 kids like the kids who didn't have dads

16:43 and the kids whose parents were

16:45 struggling like he would bring them all

16:46 put them under one roof and kind of do

16:48 like a boot camp like they would all

16:49 live like like uh soldiers pretty much.

16:52 Where I'm from it's a lot of the same

16:54 type of situations. Some people don't

16:55 have some people have broken homes. Some

16:57 people have broken families. But it's a

16:59 lot more hopelessness like people are

17:02 just like ah this how we are this how

17:04 we're always going to be. You know what

17:05 I mean? So it kind of see him seeing him

17:08 talk about that and how how his dad

17:10 brought people together like that it was

17:11 very inspirational.

17:13 >> And do you feel did you feel like you

17:15 had like outside pressure growing up or

17:17 just choosing this this path you know

17:19 because you know uh you were so young do

17:21 you feel like you were a getting uh some

17:23 pressure from from other people just on

17:25 what you're doing?

17:27 >> No I don't think I was ever uh like

17:31 pressured into into doing what I'm

17:33 doing. I think it was more

17:36 uh people that weren't in my close

17:38 circle and seeing how hard I was

17:39 working. It was more kind of like doubt

17:41 like you know like what the hell does

17:43 this dude think he's doing.

17:44 >> Yeah.

17:45 >> Till uh till people kind of started

17:47 seeing like results and stuff like that.

17:49 You know what I mean? But like I mean

17:50 those people that were kind of saying

17:52 stuff like that I kind of don't I don't

17:54 speak to those people. You know what I

17:55 mean? Like those those are people that

17:56 aren't really my friends or whatever. I

17:58 don't really talk to them type of

17:59 people. But I live in a small town, so

18:02 where I'm from, I'm sure people were

18:04 watching and uh feeling whatever they

18:06 were feeling about it. But no one really

18:08 ever pushed me to towards fighting. It

18:10 it was something that came as a passion,

18:14 >> man. And just just hearing that, I feel

18:16 like um a lot of fighters can probably

18:18 relate to that. Just being able to just

18:20 hone in on one thing. And I feel like

18:23 fighting is such a deep thing, though.

18:24 I've seen you like repost a few things

18:26 on Instagram just like you know the

18:28 feeling when the when the cage door

18:30 locks and you just know you're going to

18:31 be fighting for your life. Like if is

18:32 there any words that you could put to to

18:34 describe how you feel getting ready for

18:36 a fight or the moments before a fight

18:38 starts?

18:41 >> Uh

18:43 words to describe it? Uh it's it's tough

18:45 to describe it. Um it's definitely like

18:49 uh like you got fire in your chest a

18:53 little bit. your your breath is um you

18:56 could feel every inhale and exhale. Um

19:00 there's no there's not there's nothing

19:01 quite to describe it like we were

19:02 talking about earlier like you could

19:05 simulate a fight but there's nothing

19:08 that's quite going to put you in that

19:10 fighting position till you're really

19:11 there and how have you been able to kind

19:13 of adjust to those kind of feelings

19:15 because I feel like most even the the

19:17 most experienced of fighters they they

19:19 say that you you still experience those

19:21 types of emotions. Yeah, 100%. Always.

19:23 If you don't feel nerves, if you don't

19:26 feel uh you know what I mean? Yeah. If

19:29 you don't feel nerves, it means you're

19:30 not prepared for what whatever is in

19:32 front of you. You don't you're not aware

19:33 of the danger that's in front of you.

19:35 >> My teammate Enoch Matra, he he he gave

19:38 me some really good advice about it. He

19:40 told me that um he likes to visualize

19:43 everything about the fight from uh the

19:46 weigh-ins to the warm-ups hitting back

19:49 hitting pads in the back uh to walking

19:52 out. He likes to visualize every single

19:54 part of it so that when he's in there

19:56 and they lock the gate the gate and uh

19:58 the ref is like you ready you ready.

20:00 It's not like oh [ __ ] like we're ready

20:02 about like no I've been here before and

20:04 you know what I mean I'm ready for it

20:05 >> for sure. And what kind of like for the

20:07 people who don't know about like what it

20:09 takes to be a fighter, like what what is

20:11 your like schedule like looking like

20:13 when it comes to training and kind of

20:14 recovery and stuff like that?

20:18 >> Okay, so today Saturday, we're out here

20:22 in San Lucispo at the pit. Shout out to

20:24 pit.

20:24 >> Shout out to pit.

20:25 >> Um we're getting some really good work

20:27 today. We we did some technical

20:28 sparring, sprinting yesterday. We did uh

20:31 we drove out here did some some

20:33 wrestling wrestling class technical

20:36 wrestling like a two-hour class.

20:38 Tomorrow we'll head back to Kolinga. Um

20:41 well today tonight we'll head back to

20:42 Kol Kinga. Maybe I'll go move around at

20:44 the gym for a little bit. Tomorrow uh at

20:47 5 we'll have like a hard cardio class.

20:51 This is fight week, so it's going to be

20:52 a little bit different. But let me just

20:53 explain like what a regular training

20:54 week would be. So tomorrow would be like

20:56 a hard cardio class. Monday, I would

20:59 probably wake up and

21:02 probably wake up and stretch, do some

21:04 light stuff at the house. I have like a

21:06 little gym set up by my house. And then,

21:08 um, at 700 p.m. we have wrestling class,

21:12 which is like MMA based wrestling with

21:14 our coach, Bubby. Tuesday, 05:00 p.m. we

21:18 have jiu-jitsu,

21:20 and then 6 p.m. we have MMA class.

21:23 Tuesday, I usually try to get like uh I

21:25 I try to go to the gym in the morning

21:26 and get um the sprint interval that I do

21:29 on the on the assault bike. I'm I'm

21:33 going to give that to you. That's going

21:34 to be your your key your cardio key for

21:36 your next competition.

21:36 >> My my assessment here, my assignment.

21:38 >> Yeah, that's going to be your assignment

21:39 for your next competition.

21:41 >> Yeah, for sure.

21:41 >> So, I got this sprint interval I usually

21:43 do in the morning. Then we got the class

21:44 at night. Wednesdays we got um Avenel

21:48 boxing gym. This is like an ideal

21:50 schedule, but usually I'm working

21:52 nights. So, um

21:54 >> Oh, so where where do you work if you

21:55 don't mind me asking?

21:56 >> I work at theos the the regional

21:58 hospital in Kolinga. Uh and I work

22:01 nights. Um they just changed my schedule

22:04 though, so it's going to be a lot of

22:05 moving around. But

22:08 >> so Wednesday I'll go to the boxing gym.

22:11 Thursday back to jiu-jitsu MMA. Friday,

22:15 ideally go to the boxing gym, but

22:17 usually it's more like a like a day off

22:19 if I'm not heading back out here.

22:20 >> But if not, then I'm heading back out

22:22 here and Friday, Saturday, and we're

22:23 doing the whole thing again.

22:24 >> Is that six days a week?

22:27 >> Seven, six, seven.

22:28 >> That's crazy. That's crazy. That's crazy

22:30 work. So, like just just being healthy,

22:33 you know, is a blessing on its own. Just

22:35 just training that much and putting that

22:37 much through your body, would you say?

22:38 Yeah, it definitely um it doesn't come

22:42 like uh by accident being healthy like

22:45 that all the time. I I've completely

22:47 like um like how I said how I study uh

22:51 techniques all the time. It's not always

22:53 techniques, sometimes it's nutrition,

22:54 you know what I mean? Sometimes I'm on

22:56 my phone and I'm looking up nutrition,

22:57 like what stuff to eat, when to eat it,

23:00 things like that. And I'm kind of I've

23:02 gotten my um nutrition down to like a

23:04 science now to where like I don't really

23:07 have to starve myself to to make weight.

23:10 Uh I just know what I have to eat when I

23:12 have to eat it. And yeah, I think that's

23:15 made it so much easier for me. But that

23:17 the nutrition and and just knowing how

23:19 to recover, knowing like the type of

23:20 stretches, mobility to do is huge, bro.

23:23 cuz I've I've been through

23:26 uh earlier in my career where it's like

23:29 you're training so hard and then boom,

23:30 you got an injury, you got to take two

23:31 weeks off. Then you train so hard is a

23:32 boom, you got an injury, you got to take

23:34 some some weeks off and it's like I come

23:36 back from this injury early and it's

23:37 like boom, I got to take some months

23:39 off. You know what I mean? So I' I've

23:41 been there before. I've been there where

23:42 you got those nagging injuries. But if

23:44 you really like dial in your nutrition,

23:47 you really dial in um learning about

23:50 your body and like how to how to how to

23:52 take care of it, how to be nice to your

23:54 body, like it it ups your training so

23:56 much cuz you think I'm going to go so

23:59 hard this week and I'm going to get

24:01 better. But really, it's just one week.

24:03 You know what I mean? You could go you

24:04 could train this week, do your thing,

24:07 and then just keep training, keep

24:08 steadily training, and and you're going

24:09 to beat that person that went so hard in

24:11 one week and then took a month off. You

24:13 know what I mean?

24:14 >> What kind of advice would you give to

24:16 like younger fighters or people who are

24:18 interested in taking this path? No,

24:19 someone who maybe would look up to you

24:21 or what what would you tell them?

24:23 >> Uh just stay working, stay in the gym.

24:27 Um if you really want to fight, if you

24:30 really because fighting is not something

24:32 that it's like uh you know, [ __ ] it, I'm

24:35 going just fight. [ __ ] it.

24:36 >> A game, you know, it's not like a game.

24:38 >> It ain't it ain't a game. It's not.

24:39 That's that's what I would say is like

24:41 don't treat it as if it's a game. like

24:42 this is your life. This is your health

24:44 on the line. So, your health and your

24:47 pride. So, there's people out there

24:49 that's going to watch you and um I say

24:51 just take it serious. Just just be as

24:54 serious and as uh addicted to it as

24:57 possible for the time being and it'll

24:59 pay off.

25:00 >> Is there like a balance of or can you be

25:02 like too addicted to to one thing? Have

25:04 you felt that way or

25:06 >> For sure. You definitely got to have a

25:07 balance. Like I said, it's just about

25:09 treating your body nice, treating your

25:11 body good. Um, you could be too

25:13 addicted, go too way too hard. I mean,

25:15 MMA culture, a lot of gyms

25:19 go too hard. Um, I don't want to give

25:23 out too much too much game, but

25:24 >> Yeah.

25:25 >> But a lot of gyms just go one hour, like

25:29 one hour and a half a day, and [ __ ]

25:31 go hard as [ __ ] that one hour and a half

25:33 every single day, and they're just going

25:35 as hard as they can. And there's not a

25:36 lot of improvement there. Like, you need

25:38 some nuance to your training. M

25:40 >> you need to you need to train smart.

25:41 Train train smarter, not harder. You

25:43 know what I mean?

25:44 >> There's times for hard training, but

25:47 >> you got to up your skills. And like I

25:50 said, yeah, train smart.

25:51 >> Is there any type of like movies you

25:53 like watching before fights or anything

25:55 like that? Music movies.

25:58 >> Um before my last fight, I actually uh

26:01 watched Solo Leveling.

26:03 >> I don't know. That's tough.

26:04 >> Fire anime. Yeah, I was pretty late on

26:06 it. And that was really really fire

26:09 before my last fight. I want to I want

26:11 to hop on a new one, but I'm actually

26:14 kind of dry right now on anime.

26:16 >> Yeah, that one's good. I I've actually

26:17 seen that one. I'm not like a huge anime

26:19 guy, but actually watch the solo

26:21 leveling one. That one's just about a

26:22 guy who really

26:24 low rank and then kind of just levels

26:26 up. I mean, solo it's it's in the name,

26:28 but it's it's a really sick show.

26:29 >> I wanted to make an edit to it, too, but

26:31 I wasn't I was like, whatever.

26:33 >> You make edits yourself or

26:34 >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'll be [ __ ] around

26:35 on Cap Cut.

26:36 >> Yeah, me too. I mean, I like I like uh I

26:38 that's kind of how I started off with

26:40 just making edits of fighters

26:42 >> and then eventually it kind of

26:43 >> Yeah, your edits are hard, bro. I've

26:44 seen

26:45 >> I try to just be intentional with it.

26:46 Try to see like what kind of fits the

26:48 vibe, you know, of the fighters. So, is

26:50 there any like uh like artists that you

26:52 like listening to before like a fight or

26:54 what what are you kind of jamming out

26:56 to?

26:56 >> Depends. Uh my all my fights early on

27:00 till my till my last fight were I would

27:04 always walk out to Young Boy songs. Hey,

27:06 >> I was always on that Murder Time.

27:08 >> I'm big I was I was big like Young Boy

27:10 fan for sure. Okay. Um

27:13 yeah, I I was I would listen to a lot of

27:15 Young Boy before. Uh recently I've been

27:18 rocking with Rio. Rio just came out with

27:20 his new album. I like his album a lot.

27:22 Uh I like everything mostly mostly

27:24 hip-hop, but I I like vibing with with

27:26 whatever like coach just playlist that

27:28 he had today was dope.

27:29 >> It was good.

27:30 >> What was I going to say? the Oh, was

27:32 there like any outside hobbies that you

27:34 have besides fighting? Anything that

27:35 kind of just, you know, keeps you sane

27:37 while you're while you're not training

27:38 and stuff like that?

27:40 >> Um, keeping me sane, I think it's just

27:41 my family, being able to um in my

27:44 downtime just chill. I I'll hop on the

27:46 game, my wife is behind me watching

27:48 whatever, you know what I mean? My dog

27:50 is chilling. So, that's like my safe

27:52 space, my chill space. Um, I walk my

27:55 dog, you know, take him out to the park

27:57 on my on my downtime and things like

27:58 that. That's the type of stuff I like to

28:00 do. Be outside, be outside in nature, be

28:02 able to to enjoy. Um, fighting kind of

28:05 killed all my hobbies to be honest with

28:07 you. I used to Yeah, fighting definitely

28:09 killed all my hobbies. I used to like be

28:11 into gaming a little more, be into other

28:14 things a little more, but it's like nah,

28:15 >> you got to be all in now. That makes

28:17 sense. I mean, what what game when you

28:19 do play, what kind of games are you

28:20 playing?

28:21 >> Uh, bro, it's unfortunate the gaming

28:23 community the that's the reason why I

28:25 fell off too games. There's no games. I

28:27 just feel like maybe I just got older or

28:29 the games just kind of

28:30 >> Bro, there's no games, bro. What games

28:32 are there to play? I play 2K.

28:34 >> Yeah, 2K fell off a long time ago.

28:36 >> Yeah. And it's like 2K is just cool cuz

28:37 like all right, you play with the

28:38 homies, but it's like there's no games

28:40 to play. PS5 ain't coming out with no

28:42 games. You could go play, if you want to

28:44 go play COD, you could play a COD from

28:46 10 years ago.

28:47 >> What is there to play?

28:48 >> Nah, I mean, have you played Ghost of

28:50 Tsushima? I feel like that that game is

28:52 probably one of my favorite ones. But

28:54 besides that, it's like a Samurai game.

28:56 But that that was pretty tough. But I

28:58 guess we got to wait on GTA, right? The

29:00 GTA probably hop back on.

29:02 >> But it's like

29:04 that. It's sad that that's the only

29:05 thing we're waiting on, man. Like the

29:06 games have fallen off.

29:07 >> I mean, Prime Fortnite was crazy,

29:09 though. I mean, I feel like everybody

29:10 played that

29:11 >> and I was an advocate. I was like, "This

29:12 is the best game ever. Why y'all

29:13 hating?"

29:13 >> It was so fun. It was literally the best

29:15 thing. Like, I couldn't wait to get home

29:17 just to play Fortnite.

29:18 >> Facts.

29:18 >> And I feel like Yeah, that's definitely

29:20 gone. And I think it's just it's just

29:22 weird now that we have so many options

29:25 for everything. Like we could literally

29:27 we have thousands and thousands of

29:29 things that we could potentially do in

29:31 our phone, you know? It's like

29:32 >> you'll be watching any movie, any show

29:35 >> and it's at the palm of our our fingers,

29:38 you know? So, it's kind of tough now,

29:39 but

29:40 >> oversaturated for sure.

29:41 >> Yeah. I just think even with YouTube,

29:44 there's there's so many things, you

29:45 know, so it's a lot harder now. So, that

29:47 is kind of one of the struggles, I

29:48 guess, of our generation. We're both 26

29:50 which I found out. So just like uh yeah

29:53 I was curious on just how you grew up

29:54 like were you like like part of the the

29:57 shuffle culture in like 2012 like what

29:59 were you what were you like when you

30:00 were younger like?

30:01 >> Uh when I was younger describe yourself

30:04 >> I was uh shuffle culture passed me a

30:07 little bit. I have older sister so I was

30:08 definitely like around. I was trying to

30:10 shuffle in in my bathroom and [ __ ] like

30:12 that.

30:13 >> I mean I think a lot of us kind of just

30:15 like were consumed in that culture.

30:16 >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know you

30:18 know exactly what I'm talking about. I

30:19 mean, I grew up in California, bro.

30:20 >> Like a button up and some like some

30:23 [ __ ] glasses that don't

30:25 >> type [ __ ] But that's that was my vibe

30:28 back like in middle school. We know, you

30:30 know, in the cringe days. Um, as I got

30:32 older, I don't know. I don't know. I

30:35 think when I was younger, I tried I was

30:37 I was trying to I was trying every

30:39 genre. I was trying to take myself too

30:40 serious sometimes. I was trying to do

30:42 here, trying to do this, trying to do

30:44 that.

30:45 >> Um, yeah. Yeah, I think as I've gotten

30:47 older, I've kind of found myself and

30:48 been able to just been okay just being

30:52 chill, being myself, you know what I

30:53 mean?

30:53 >> For sure. And uh one thing that I was I

30:56 noticed right away the first time I see

30:58 you fight is just your your tattoos,

30:59 bro. You're tatted everywhere. Like do

31:01 you have any like stories when it comes

31:03 to tattoos or your first tattoo? I feel

31:04 like you have a lot. You have one that

31:06 says like chosen right here and you have

31:08 like a scarface t like

31:10 >> Yeah. Shout out to Killc Cupid. He's

31:11 done all my tattoos.

31:12 >> Wow.

31:12 >> Um shout out Killc Cupid. He's going to

31:14 get a new shop here in St. Louis Abyspo.

31:17 Um

31:19 his uh his name is Mark Fernandez and

31:22 funny enough he my first tattoo was

31:24 during COVID like right like prime co

31:27 and uh he was it was at his house and he

31:31 he did this like in his living room like

31:33 my whole chest he just smacked it on

31:35 there but he's he's quick and he and he

31:38 does this thing um crazy t crazy tattoo

31:41 stories. I don't know. I I'll tell you

31:44 if I had, you know what I mean? If I had

31:46 more money and more downtime, I would be

31:47 more tatted.

31:48 >> You spend all your VC on on your

31:50 tattoos, right?

31:51 >> Yeah. I spent all my VC on a sleeve and

31:53 a leg sleeve. That's about it. But I

31:55 definitely I have like a million tattoo

31:57 ideas. Like I'm uh very artistic in that

32:00 way. I would say like all my tattoos I

32:02 kind of not sketched them out, but like

32:04 I those are my ideas that I put

32:06 together, you know what I mean? And gave

32:07 him and had him bring to life. So I

32:10 think that's I like I like my tattoo.

32:12 Like not that I like my tattoos, but I

32:14 like tattoos and and thinking about new

32:16 ideas. Like that's what I feel like is a

32:18 way to express myself.

32:19 >> For sure. I'm excited for your fight,

32:21 bro. I think I think uh your style is

32:22 very entertaining to watch and like I

32:26 said or like you said, very cerebral,

32:28 you know. So, I'm excited for your next

32:29 fight. Is there anything that you want

32:30 to, you know, prove to yourself in this

32:32 fight just because it is you are facing

32:34 an opponent that you faced for the your

32:35 very first fight?

32:37 >> Um prove to myself? I I just want to

32:41 showcase my skills, you know what I

32:43 mean? Showcase uh God God's blessed me

32:46 enough to be able to train a whole lot

32:48 and I want to I just want to show that

32:50 >> for sure.

32:51 >> And also a little bit before like we we

32:53 were just having just a natural

32:54 conversation before you started talking

32:56 a little bit about conspiracies. Are you

32:57 a big conspiracy guy? You kind of just

32:59 like you kind of dabble here and there.

33:02 >> I try to I try to hide my uh my tinfoil

33:06 hat.

33:06 >> Me too, bro. But I'm very big on

33:09 conspiracies. Like, and it's not even a

33:11 con like conspiracy. Like, man, we live

33:13 in the United States, bro. Look at the

33:14 [ __ ] that's going on with our

33:15 government. There's no conspiracies

33:16 going on. Like, everything is

33:20 smoking mirrors. Like, there's there's

33:21 it's like they're doing one thing right

33:23 here in front of us and doing some [ __ ]

33:24 behind their back. And that's with like

33:26 most things. That's with most

33:27 organizations. Like, if our government's

33:29 corrupt, what's stopping or what's

33:31 stopping any other business from being

33:32 corrupt? You know what I mean?

33:33 >> Right.

33:34 >> So, it's it's just sad, bro. It's sad. I

33:36 try to just be thankful for what I have,

33:39 be thankful for my people, protect my

33:41 people, and live that way. Uh, I try not

33:44 to go

33:46 Okay, we're almost last question.

33:49 >> Um, I try to go not too deep down the

33:51 rabbit hole cuz Yeah, it just pisses me

33:54 off to be honest with you.

33:55 >> Yeah, I I always like asking, you know,

33:57 people I feel like the mixed martial

33:58 arts space is just kind of full of like

34:00 conspiracy theorists. I would love to

34:03 talk to Eddie Bravo. I feel like that

34:04 would be a fun conversation, you know?

34:05 Yeah, I feel like Eddie Bravo is such a

34:06 cool ass dude. I feel like he's my type

34:08 of guy.

34:08 >> Yeah, like he's he's very open. He's

34:10 openminded and he's not afraid to just

34:12 say whatever is on his mind. You know

34:13 what I'm saying?

34:14 >> So, yeah, man. I'm excited for your next

34:16 fight and uh you know, wishing you the

34:18 best. Hopefully just a few more before

34:20 you before you go pro

34:22 >> and uh wishing you the best along your

34:24 career, man. That's awesome that you

34:26 invited us out here. You didn't have to

34:27 do that. You know, we made the trip. Um

34:29 but yeah, they're putting in real work

34:30 over here. It's not just, you know, for

34:31 IG clips or actually uh, you know,

34:34 running, sprinting, wrestling, striking,

34:36 doing the whole nine. So, I think it's

34:38 cool just to see a little bit behind the

34:39 scenes and, you know, get to know you a

34:41 little bit better. Um, and I appreciate

34:43 you for for coming on the podcast, bro.

34:44 >> Thank you for coming out, man.

34:47 >> Stay tuned. Yep. 559 fights in Viceelia

34:52 or No, we're actually it's

34:53 >> Yeah. August 22nd in Vicelia. Don't

34:56 blink.

34:57 >> Don't blink. All right. We'll see you

34:58 guys on the next episode. Like,

34:59 subscribe, follow him on socials.