when I walk to the ice bath for me it's
like the best training for a walkout for
walking out to a fight why yeah so when
I walk to the ice bath I get the same
nerves same feelings as I would to walk
out to a cage interesting I got addicted
to confronting that just doing it first
thing in the morning let me confront the
worst possible feeling as a fighter in
my experience I could ever experience so
I got addicted to doing that and for me
like mentally that completely like
changed my perspective of like the walk
out in the fight because I've done it so
many times you know I've done it
countless times in my Camp leading up to
the fight and when it came time to
walking out it was like oh I've been
here a million times so doing that
difficult thing whatever scares you the
most like facing that head-on can be
immensely powerful when it comes to your
mentality and and what you think scares
you wow
hey guys welcome back to the podcast and
today I have a very special guest he is
a professional MMA fighter a long time
Jiu Jitsu competitor as well as Jiu
Jitsu black belt and I just found out
today an inspiring photographer
my friend Jean-Paul Le bosniani yep oh I
got it right got it I got it right
what's going on bro nothing much bro
blessed to be here I'd say this is like
my first real podcast really the first
one yeah like first I mean in my opinion
like very legitimate one you got an
awesome setup here so bus to be here it
was good to have you man I'm excited to
to get into this conversation as I do
with the people who come on the podcast
even though I know you yeah I'm like let
me do let me do my Googles let me do
some research and I found out that
you're like uh like you were like a
child prodigy like you were competing in
Jiu Jitsu at what like 11 probably maybe
even before that just competing
obviously your your father is a black
belt he's been your instructor pretty
much your whole life so we're getting
into that too but talk to me about how
you started martial arts yeah so I it's
it's pretty crazy my my journey with
martial arts because I it was never
really something that I remember
starting my dad he grew up in martial
arts in hapkido and then eventually into
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with the Gracie
family so from a young age he basically
had this master plan that you know I'm
gonna be like this next big thing so
there was never really like a starting
point for me so I think there's like
some pros and cons to that but
ultimately you know it started in you
know my house as a kid just kind of
punching and kicking my dad's hands and
then eventually move to the mats and I
really like I built a passion for it
over time but I started competing in
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu when I was five
years old was my first competition and
then basically he was driving driving
the car and I was just a passenger going
all these tournaments and you know I
didn't really begin to love it until you
know later on in my life but it was
something that you know I was kind of
forced to do and I'm grateful for it now
because obviously I have like a head
start yeah on a lot of people but um
yeah it's it's something that's been
ingrained in in my blood since since I
was a kid for sure so you started you
started with Jiu Jitsu right yeah Jiu
Jitsu was my was my Foundation but my
dad always like sprinkled in some
striking some kickboxing some Kali like
a little bit of everything so there was
never a point where like I felt
something was extremely new to me I had
a little bit of everything yeah but
obviously you know still learning as
time goes on something that I saw while
I was reading was that you were training
at wild card when you were like 11. yeah
it was nothing that I like was there
consistently yeah yeah but uh there was
a period of time where I was training
there for boxing yeah I wanna I wanna
think about how I even asked this
question because I think for a lot of
people like myself especially me like I
grew up on the East Coast we didn't have
that many opportunities to work with
people or gyms of that magnitude yeah
did you understand at that age like the
the level of access that you had to
people like wild card and Freddie Roach
yeah I think obviously if you know
boxing you know Freddie Roach is like a
legend so even at a young age like I I
knew that going into it but um at the
same time like growing up in California
like we're just so privileged in so many
different ways with with martial arts
and with boxing and all these like
different things that yeah I mean you
kind of take it for granted if if you
you know hear from somebody from let's
say like the Midwest or or you know the
other side of the world you know it's
like oh my God like you know you train
with the Gracies and I'm like yeah yeah
of course that's a normal day so
um I think it's it's important to to
take a moment and like realize you know
how lucky we are to to train and and I
think at a young age it was it was cool
to be in that environment you know
obviously growing up in a Jitsu
environment a boxing environment it's
very different so yeah yeah
um I remember you know seeing some
boxers getting their hands wrapped and I
was like wow what's that you know like
um so that was really cool and and uh
obviously the level of boxers there or
on a different planet from what I was
used to so um it definitely put things
into perspective for me at that age but
yeah it was definitely something that
that I'll never forget for sure was that
around the time that he had just started
striking or were you already doing a
little bit before that was the first
yeah I mean like I said I I kind of
always did a little bit of something but
Jiu Jitsu was like the focus because my
my dad he wanted me to have that
Foundation of Jiu Jitsu to build off of
because ultimately every fight ends on
the ground you know so when it hits the
fan like you want to be able to feel
comfortable on the ground so it was at a
point where I where I first started kind
of like my my spark for striking was
kind of ignited obviously over time that
kind of that kind of built for me for
sure now obviously we've mentioned your
dad a lot in this how important do you
think that it was a two-part question
actually one how important was it to
have a father that was pushing you into
a martial arts but also how annoying was
that because I'm sure it's it's a 24 7
thing because you're in the house you're
with him in the gym so how was that
we'll talk about the the good side of it
first all right good stuff first well I
think in the moment you know when you
have a father figure who's like super
hard on you as a young kid it's hard to
see the good and yeah you know um I
think all I wanted to do was make him
happy as a kid it didn't really matter
what I wanted you know I just wanted to
make him happy and and that's a very
dangerous fuel to like burn present day
I try to find things that that fuel me
like that like they did when I was when
I was a kid so I don't think the I was
able to see the good until I matured a
little bit but if I were to do it again
I wouldn't change anything and I think
with my kids whether it's fighting or
whether it's something else like I
definitely want to you know be on them
be on them about something you know so
that way they they have something to
identify with later and ultimately they
can make a choice later in life life if
they want to stick with it but I think
the fact that he made me do very hard
things at a young age definitely shape
my character and and in fighting and
outside of fighting so I'm definitely
grateful for for you know that sort of
upbringing in hindsight and then having
that same coach day in and day out oh
it's it's tough because I think once
once someone has control of your home
life and then you have to have that
respect on the mat and then they also
have like your managerial sort of yeah
control as well it got to a point where
I I kind of wanted to be my own person
and so I had to like take that step away
and I I went on my separate way for two
and a half years I didn't speak to my
dad and that's kind of when I found
myself but there was a lot of build up
before that happened you know but I
think it's it's necessary and in the
realm of like nature and obviously like
I I associate myself with like lions
like that mentality of a lion and I
think in in a pride of lions like in a
line pack when there's a young Cub that
reaches a certain age The Lion King and
the lion cub they're gonna start butting
heads yeah because ultimately like the
Lion King's territory that's his yeah
you know if a little lion cub thinks
he's gonna start you know marking
territory it's like nah you got to go go
find your own territory and that's kind
of what I did and I think that's made me
who I am today
I agree with that 100 and I think for a
lot of people especially when you have
parents that are hard on you all the
time I had the same conversation with my
mom about how hard she was on me because
when I was younger my father passed so
it was just her and then it's like she
has to be the one that's on me doing all
these things and so for a long time
while I was still living in DC we were
having that same issue where I'm like
we're butting heads all the time and it
wasn't until I left and came to
California took some space and now like
it's like our relationship is better
than it ever was but I think like you
said you needed to leave to find
yourself yeah see like who you are kind
of struggle a little bit on your own
figure out stuff on your own almost like
become a man yeah and then when you come
back it's like I'm a different person
now I'm my own person now so I'm meeting
you as an as a different person and not
just your son but an adult yeah and I
think it also gives you the the
perspective of also appreciating who
they are absolutely you know because
when you're with someone 24 7 you kind
of take them for granted absolutely and
what they've accomplished so taking that
step back definitely also made me
respect my dad a lot more than I did
before I had left you know speaking of
lions I also found out another
interesting fact so for as long as I've
known you your nickname was Mufasa yeah
The Lion King exactly but then I saw
that your nickname before was the life
okay so tell me a little bit about that
so obviously like Cali boy growing up by
the beach in the summertime I would do
this thing called Junior Lifeguards I
mean it wasn't like a beach camp it like
I took it seriously you know I took it
seriously like you think lifeguard like
kiddie pool lifeguard no no no no this
is like ocean right okay waves Mother
Nature you don't know so I took it very
seriously and I did I would do it every
summer and it was like a great cross
training for fighting oh yeah I would
consider it part of my conditioning
because they would have us do these like
crazy buoy swims running swimming like
paddling and it was something that I was
also very passionate about having the
contradiction of like knowing how to
kill someone but also knowing how to
save someone so ultimately that's how
that nickname came into play who gave
you that nickname it was uh something on
YouTube or online or something like that
some random person some random some
random person but how it came up was I
was in Paris with my dad and my sister
so my dad and my sister and which
basically traveled the world competing
in uh mainly like nagas a couple ibjfs
and you know some other tournaments as
well but like Naga was like basically my
Proving Ground
um so I was doing an adult Division I
was like I don't know maybe 13 14 years
old doing an adult Division and I would
like put people to sleep with
guillotines
thank you
[Music]
foreign
you know like people just people with
nagas sometimes you see some crazy crazy
things
yeah you know you're seeing legs break
but I feel like like Naga I don't know
if you knew about U.S grappling also but
those are like the two ones on the East
Coast for us yeah you never know what
you're gonna get yeah you never know
what you're gonna get you might get like
world-class competitors or you might get
some guy like I don't know doing like
cartwheels or something exactly you
never know so ultimately I would choke
these people out and then I would
instantly like get up and you can find
this on YouTube I would like lift their
legs before the ref even kind of knew
what was going on that's where the like
lifeguard nickname came out I put him to
sleep and then you know bring them back
to life
I know it doesn't like sound good but
that's hilarious when I looked at it I
was like oh that's funny but now that I
have the context behind I'm like okay
that that makes a lot of sense that's
pretty random for sure yeah for sure
because I was like that must be a typo
it was it's still on I think it's sure
dog that stuff yeah like that yeah I
don't know what I think it was sure dog
okay that's what it was yeah I'm pretty
sure it's still there and then it says
like some like Kung Fu or like that's
not my background
um obviously you grew up here in
California yeah you were wrestling did
you wrestle all uh four years in high
school okay yeah I wrestled yeah okay I
wrestled my dad he had me wrestle with a
private coach two years before and then
I wrestled for four years that's so
[ __ ] up
you smart you know like I gotta give it
to him yeah I gotta give it to him he he
did a lot of things right for me because
you got to catch up to those kids that
have been wrestling yeah way before yeah
because Jitsu and wrestling are very
different things very different it was
uh an interesting experience because I
think with jiu-jitsu with grappling it
was always like I was always good at it
especially at a young age I was
something that came very natural to me
and then wrestling came into play and I
think me personally the best way to
describe wrestling is Jiu Jitsu with
handcuffs on you know you're just
getting like aided with all these things
you can't do this neck is right here I
know I want it I like I want to choke
you and I can't tell you you know so
that was tough transition for me but um
I don't think it was until my senior
year where I started to use my Jiu Jitsu
to get me far in wrestling in the ways
that you could use it yeah yeah I also I
wasn't a huge fan of it I wasn't super
passionate about wrestling no because my
love and understanding for jiu jitsu was
so high that I just I was also like a
kid I wasn't able to like see that side
of wrestling like a handicap yeah 100
but towards my senior year I was able to
start just connecting things instead of
separating wrestling Jiu Jitsu and just
kind of making it grappling you know
then stuff started to really make sense
for me another experience that I was
super grateful to have and to add to my
resume for for MMA as well was there
anything in that time where you were
more focused on wrestling something that
I do in Jiu Jitsu really works well in
wrestling and other people are not privy
to it what was that thing I think it was
riding legs like rides basically like if
you're someone's on like a bottom
position and you're behind them throwing
your legs in almost like throwing hooks
in and then triangling your own legs and
using that as like a fulcrum point to
turn them over and tilt them I have to
give credit to my wrestling coaches
because they also had like a background
in Jiu Jitsu so they understood me and
thankful thankfully to them
make it sense to me you know they were
like instead of trying to teach this kid
how to like throw in a half and turn
somebody like let's use what do you
already know to benefit him and and I
think that was definitely a big switch
riding legs writing legs for sure
listening to you talk about that switch
from being very Jujitsu focused to more
wrestling initially I started with Muay
Thai and then I started Jujitsu actually
on my 18th birthday I started Jujitsu
when I transitioned into MMA for a long
time my brain was still Jiu Jitsu
oriented I didn't wasn't really doing
any wrestling at the time so anybody
would shoot on me and it's like
Guillotine City and I was catching a lot
of people and then all of a sudden
I wasn't catching anyone anymore but I
would still still try it and then I
remember in certain fights that I had
where I would fight wrestlers I would
try the guillotine and it would never
work and I'm like okay well now I have
to figure out something because every
time I go for this gay team I'm getting
taken down like and then started
training wrestling specifically in San
Diego I was working with J flow Justin
Flores we started working on defending
the takedowns and it slowly started to
remove that natural reaction that I have
of going for The Guillotines and now
it's like my automatic reaction and a
lot of different scenarios not just off
of takedowns but just certain scenarios
where I would be with people who have
wrestled before where I would do
Jiu-Jitsu things and they wouldn't work
that was kind of a pivotal moment for me
to understand where and when you can use
Jiu Jitsu and then where and when you
can use wrestling but the leg ride is a
good one just to touch on that I've felt
the same exact thing that you just
described yeah it still it still doesn't
fully like make sense to me because
there was a period of time where they
were like goaded neck magnet
and then someone just changed but
probably from white belt up until purple
belt Guillotine City on it yeah and then
all of a sudden purple ball is like no
more you gotta like you gotta work for
that yeah Guillotine now and then
obviously you got people like Brian who
can [ __ ] find a way to make that [ __ ]
work regardless speaking of Brian we've
both trained with him I know you've
trained with him much longer than I have
were you training with him when you were
like a kid I met Brian when I was 16. by
the way we're talking about Brian Ortega
sorry go ahead yeah so I met Brian when
I was 16 at the Gracie Academy he's
definitely one of the people that one of
the only people that has that I've
experienced an MMA that has like really
taken me under his wing and so I I have
to give a lot of respect to him for
helping evolve my game you know that
that period of time where I wasn't with
my dad Brian was there you know really
kind of showing me how to become my own
man when it comes to MMA and and outside
of that like I had my Pro debut with
Brian in my corner you know doing
multiple camps with him for his fights
and and vice versa so yeah he's as you
know one of a kind dude yeah talk to me
a little bit about your transition into
MMA was it a gradual transition were you
like doing amateur fights and still
doing Jitsu was just like once you
decided MMA you were all in there was a
gradual transition when it comes to
Jitsu to MMA but I feel like it was
through my amateur fights and even my
Pro fights that I started to transition
fully them and then for a while it was
like it was still Jiu Jitsu that was
winning me fights and that was keeping
me winning heavy emphasis on striking
and and kickboxing because that was what
I was lacking you know I still don't
think I've been able to like show my
striking fully in a fight even now I'm
still making that transition you know
and I think that's that's super cool
because I don't think that the best
version of myself has been like
completed yet personally I love that
because there's so much like more to
find out about myself was it you who
decided I want to fight MMA or was it
more of your father who was like I would
like for you to fight him yeah that's a
good that's a good question
um I remember there was pancreation
fighting yes and I remember I was like
between like 16 and 17 my dad was like
tell me when you know like we'll get you
in there pancreation yeah and to me it
was like kind of scary you know like Jiu
Jitsu I felt like I knew what I was
doing but I was like nah I'm just you
know I'll just wait until I'm 18. you
know and then I'll fight for real you
know and then and then 18 came around
and I was like all right like we gotta
do this like we gotta we gotta fight
that was when that transition happened
when I turned 18 and it was like okay
now I can legally fight as an amateur
with with everything you know not just
like body strikes or slaps or whatever
so yeah when I turned 18 was was that
initial transition so you had your first
amateur fight when you were yeah I was
still in high school which was kind of
cool oh I know that yeah I know yeah
that is that's something I actually want
to talk to you about because I also was
fighting when I was in school too how
was that Duality like living that life
of being an a combat sports athlete not
just any athlete it's not like you're
just a football player because yeah the
football players are cool but it's very
different when you have a football
player right here a basketball player
right here and then someone who tells
you they fight yeah you know what I mean
what was that like at school when people
knew that you were like the Jiu Jitsu
guy or the NBA guy that's a that's a
very multi-faceted questions I don't
know which way to go about it start
let's start with how you felt I was
extremely motivated by my friends to
fight because I just wanted to be cool
fair I want like a 16 year old kid all
honest yeah yeah all honesty on the
table like because a lot of like my
teachers some of my best friends like
some kids I wasn't that close with like
they would all come to my fights too
which was awesome like my principal was
at one of my fights yeah so so that was
really cool and it was extremely
motivating as well and one of the
coolest things looking back back on it
was everybody understood where I wanted
my life to go there was no question I
was not going to go to college I wasn't
going to like pursue an academic career
in any way they not only supported that
but like sometimes in the classroom they
would give me a pass sometimes they'd be
like he's not going to college you know
like I I was definitely I took School
seriously but there wasn't that pressure
that I had to go to college because it
was so apparent where I wanted to go and
they were super respectful of that so I
think that was also that was also cool
about you know being a fighter in high
school of course doing something as
amazing and interesting as being a
fighter comes a lot of attention to how
did the other guys in school feel about
that and did anybody ever like try you
which I'm sure they did because we're
all [ __ ] dumb men right and then the
second thing is how did the girls feel
about it and what was that experience
like because I'm sure again it's like
you're the coolest [ __ ] person in
school because you're fighting so yeah
being a fighter I think obviously you
understand this as well but people do
want to test you especially if there's
alcohol Hall involved you know it's
everybody just feels like they're it's
Superman you know so I definitely
learned my lessons in terms of fighting
for free
um that's not something I'm I'm doing
going forward going forward
you gotta pay me at least you know a
thousand dollars yeah and then when we
get in the UFC yeah we could up that
number right now that's what we got
um but yeah no more fighting for free
that was something I think that was like
necessary as a kid to understand you
know the Spider-Man quote like great
power great responsibility you know so
as a fighter we need to know that I
think my first like real fight where I
got like suspended in school actually
ended up being with some of my best
friends yeah shout out Nick and kit
they're like some of my closest friends
but they would like Bully me as a kid
they would bully me as a kid and then
ultimately they were like all right we
want this guy on our side so let's be
nice to him okay and then when it comes
to like the girls I've actually thought
about this so since like MMA and like
boxing has grown so much I feel like
when I was in school it wasn't as cool
especially in California like wrestling
is not like football where it's like oh
he's a wrestler it's like oh he's
wearing a singlet like wrestling dudes
really yeah yeah I would have thought
that like wrestling out here would have
been like the [ __ ] no at least not in my
opinion okay you know not in my
experience at least in Southern
California maybe some other schools it
was different but where I grew up it
wasn't no one was coming to wrestling
meets to like watch wrestling other than
like my homies you know she's like oh
yeah unless you're in like Iowa or some
[ __ ] worse yeah it's different there
yeah it's different there but what I've
noticed is like now I can't go anywhere
without people talking about fighting
even if it's like has nothing to do with
me yeah it's just like it's the new like
football it's a new basketball which I
think is amazing that the sport is like
growing so much in that sense so I think
it would be cooler if you know everybody
had that mentality when I when I was
still in school but you know it's kids
that are like starting to train now I
see it you know like people are so
excited and stoked to be Fighters I
think something that's super interesting
about that too when you talk about
wrestling is when I was younger I was
only doing Muay Thai up until 18 right
people didn't understand what Muay Thai
was so they just called it karate and it
was like an insult they were like yeah
this [ __ ] guy does karate whatever
you know and you know of course they
would try you and then fighting all the
time I fought so much in school dude I
almost didn't graduate eighth grade
because I got suspended so much but I
never started any of these fights I'm
sure you can understand that it's always
like people trying to yeah yeah that's
very interesting so the girls didn't get
they didn't care I don't think so at
least I didn't see it that way I didn't
see it that way I'm not really care I'm
sure they care now I feel like now I
just really by the way this is he's a
taken man so any girls that are thinking
about it don't even try
when you were doing amateur fights was
there ever a point where you were like I
don't know if I want to do this maybe I
want to just do Jiu Jitsu or was it
always like once you started MMA
fighting you were like yeah I'm this is
it it wasn't until my first loss that I
felt that way um okay that was tough
because I had my first loss and then
covet hit so there was no like avenging
it you know there's no avenging it it
was a lot of like finding out you know
who I am I have to give props to you you
know and and to our mental coach Caleb
yes that kind of got me out of that hole
but yeah that was tough because after
that first loss it was like I was
training my garage I was like putting
mats down you know having friends come
over and train lifting weights like
there was no like let's there's no
foreseeable time to avenge my loss
exactly because we didn't know what was
going on yeah yeah so that was a tough
time that was probably the first time
where I was kind of like is this what I
want to do you know like am I even good
at this yeah is this I the the love for
fighting was like a question mark and
luckily now I'm in a very different
place yeah uh but that that took a lot
of work to to now be where I'm at now
before we started the podcast I stopped
us from talking about it and um we were
talking about podcasting sitting in
front of a camera that just being
anxiety inducing and then you asked me
if it was worse than fighting yeah and
then we both kind of had the same
reaction where I was like my last fight
I actually was a little bit too
comfortable and you said the same thing
so I wanna I'd like to hear what what
your thoughts are yeah yeah it was
definitely a weird experience because
normally I do get nervous before a fight
and you know you hear people say like
nerves are good you know they keep you
sharp but I felt like I did so much
preparation like mental work building up
for it like visualization and also that
like sense of no this is like what I'm
built for I was born for this right this
is normal for me to feel normal but in
that present moment it was so strange to
be fighting for a world title and being
like why am I not nervous feels like a
normal Friday night in the moment it's
hard to differentiate whether it's a
good thing or a bad thing you know in
hindsight it's hard to pinpoint whether
or not that feeling was a determining
factor of the outcome I don't think I'll
ever really know that right but I think
um looking back on it like I I can kind
of like
relax into the fact that in those like
crazy moments where you know
everything's on the line there is some
truth to like I am born for this I am
Built For This and when you prepare for
something not to be surprised that you
know you're ready for what you prepared
for but I guess I won't find that out
until my next fight yeah I think uh as a
fighter it's one of the most extreme
things you can humanly do so and
everybody's journey is different so I
think like as you go through it you're
learning it's all a learning experience
so I guess I I'll need to have a little
more contrast to really be able to
analyze like why I felt the way I felt
but it was weird it was weird you know
what's funny before my last fight I was
having the same thoughts normally I
again I do get nervous right and then
I'm just like I'm not nervous Not only
was it my last fight but it was the one
before that and I remember Caleb called
me and I wasn't doing any sessions with
him or anything just called to check in
he said yeah I know you're fighting next
week but I'll just you know how are you
feeling and I was like I feel weird
because cause I'm not nervous but I'm
now nervous about the fact that I don't
feel nervous and I'm like I don't know
what I should you know what I should be
feeling and he said to me that's just
you not being aware of the change that
has happened now I'm in a different
space now I am a little bit more
comfortable now I am more confident in
myself and I'm not used to being in that
space because when you're in that space
you're also not as anxious or nervous or
any of any of that stuff right and
because of that it's a new feeling it's
not like you're going to a job interview
you're about to go fist fight somebody
else a drastic change like that can kind
of mess up your thought process and make
you think that something's wrong when in
reality this is you as the most
confident the most you just you've
prepared like you said you've prepared
you're built for this why why don't I
feel nervous right now when I have
before in a way I felt that in different
areas of my life and sometimes it kind
of feels like uh like imposter syndrome
yes at one point I had almost like my
dream job getting paid six figures and
I'm like two days before I start I'm
like do I even deserve this like
you know am I even worthy of having this
but it took me having some conversations
for people to tell me like yo you've
done all the things to get to it's not
like someone just gave you this
opportunity like you worked your ass off
for this opportunity you you've studied
the things you've done the the different
projects you've done everything you
needed to do to be in that position so
don't feel like you don't deserve it or
questioning if you should be here or not
you did what you were supposed to do you
earned it go go do what you're supposed
to do yeah it's a constant like journey
of acknowledging what you've done and
not forgetting what you've done but also
not letting it make you big-headed right
but the thing is I think that's like a
that's a certain type of person you know
I think everybody's different right
everybody's different but me personally
like I my insecurities keep me humble
from keep me grounded you know so
regardless of how how big my head wants
to get deep down like I still have
things that keep me humble and keep me
hungry for what I want in that sense so
it's a a trip it's definitely a trip
yeah it's a trip do you have a thing
that you say to yourself in those
moments of weakness or perceived
weakness right and I'll tell you what
mine is I was I'm sure you've done this
exercise we have like heavy ass
dumbbells in your hand or like plates or
something and you're trying to work on
your grip and you're just walking and
for and trying to hold it for as long as
you can I was walking I'm walking and I
felt my arms trying to give out and I
literally just kept telling myself don't
be a [ __ ] don't be a [ __ ] don't be a
[ __ ] and it sounds crazy and it's not
like if I said it out loud it's like
dude why are you talking yourself like
that but like for me that's how I talk
to myself so I'm in this I'm straining
and I'm like nope you can't be a [ __ ]
right now you dude every time I did that
just for me saying that I added a minute
yeah every time when we have these I
don't want to call it a mantra but like
just this phrase that we say to
ourselves to kind of just like get
ourselves to focus you have do you have
one of those yeah so the crazy thing is
like that's one of them
I think the first time I heard it was
with Brian one of his buddies is a uh a
frog man which is like uh it's like a
Navy SEAL type uh I don't know the
specifications but like a very serious
person yeah and he would he would say
that he'd be like whenever you're scared
of something like we tell our guys like
the frogmen they would say like [ __ ] it
don't be a [ __ ] and just go and that
always stuck with me and I actually I
started getting into like taking ice
baths and stuff and I got like one of
those horse troughs yeah metal ones and
I wrote on the trough in in Sharpie
don't be a [ __ ] every time I walk up to
it I'm like all right don't be a [ __ ]
and it works it does work like I wish
there was one that sounded better but I
wanted it just works it has power it has
power yeah yeah I would say that's that
that's first place yeah and then another
one that I'll cycle is uh is like I was
born this okay that's like a more
serious one for me yeah but I still
think that one works better that one
works better it works bro because you
don't you don't want to be one and it's
so simple it's just a few words yeah
don't be a [ __ ] it's self-explanatory
you don't need more than that you don't
need more than that how does it change
your mind when you're in that because I
think a lot of people they think that we
don't that we don't have that right that
we're just like all disciplined 24 7 and
we never break we never feel like we
don't want to do anything but it happens
damn for me it happens damn near weekly
like that's as you know something that's
always that I have to deal with and I
think as I mature as a person and as a
fighter one thing that has been very
apparent is to have balance knowing that
like and it's very hard because at least
me personally like a lot of my
confidence comes from my work ethic yes
you know I don't inherently just believe
that I'm great at what I do it comes
from no I train my ass off and that's
going to give me the edge So lately it's
been like okay I still want that
mentality of like work work work but if
I show up to work like half of me you
know depleted or run down or if I'm
always run down 24 7. how is that going
to benefit me in a fight or in a camp
and having contrast between maintenance
training and training camp you know I
feel like most of my life I'm just
always in training camp there's no
contrast yeah so that you can burn out
there pretty easily so I'll have like a
conversation with myself I'll ask myself
you know like do I want to train and if
the answer is yes I'll whip out my phone
and I have a trusty little coin flip
so I'll flip a coin and you have to
honor the coin so if it's heads I go to
training Tails I stay home and rest you
flip that coin no matter what it is you
have to do it interesting because if you
if you take away the power of the coin
then what are you doing exactly because
then you're just making up your own
rules so yeah that's been something that
like has really helped me you know and
if if the answer is no right off the bat
you also have to respect that yeah
because there's been times where I show
up to the gym and if I'm not loving what
I do if I'm not loving that the training
like I'm not really doing what I want to
be doing and I think there's also that
side of it of like I think Mike Tyson
said like the discipline is doing what
you hate to do but do it like you love
it and for me personally like that's not
a question for me you know like it's a
love-hate relationship with with what I
do and I'm always gonna do it I'm not
cutting any Corners it's a matter of how
can I do this in a way where I can be
the best version of myself when it
matters yeah and how can I live a happy
and full life while still pushing myself
and for me coin app Flip because you
don't always have a coin on you yeah so
yeah you always have your phone on you
so that's been working for me that's a
good one yeah I've never thought about a
about a coin you gotta respect the power
of the coin yeah so if it says don't go
to practice you don't go but if it says
go you go you gotta get up and go you
got to carry the boats wow that's a good
one I like that so kind of sticking on
the on the on the mental side of
training and competing people ask me all
the time about pre-fight nerves and my
number one answer whenever anyone says
any of this to me is
GO train harder because I found for
myself personally and I I'm not gonna
act like I just made that up it actually
came from gsp's book um I don't know if
you ever read it the way of the fight
[ __ ] amazing anybody who like please
just go read that it's like one of the
greatest books ever [ __ ] written
today audiobook version I don't know
okay I don't know but I know they have
the digital and then you can buy like
the physical copy I like the physical
copy of books so
[Laughter]
I respect it though
it's better because it's almost like a
podcast my only issue with audiobooks is
unless it's the actual person's voice
it's kind of hard for me to stay with it
because it's just one person talking for
an extended period of time and there's
no like give and take you know but what
in the book he talks about gaining
mental strength from training and he's
like when he first signs the contract I
know that between now and the day of the
fight I need to put so much [ __ ] work
in that by the time I get to the end I
know I've done every single thing
possible to win this fight he's like I
know that the outcome is not in my
control yeah like we could go in there
and [ __ ] be jumping up and down and
before the fight starts and [ __ ] up you
like you never know what can happen
right but he's like I just want to make
sure that prior to the fight I put as
many cards in my deck as many chips on
my side as possible so that when I go
out there there is more likely a chance
of me winning the fight how I see myself
winning the fight I'll tell you right
now and this might have been the reason
why I felt so calm and the last fight is
because I literally did [ __ ]
everything Sam dude there was days where
I did not want to run but I put that
[ __ ] sauna suit on and I ran there
was days I did not want to wake up to go
to dude you know that that morning when
you wake up in the morning you got to go
to train it and it's like a Thursday
yeah and you've been crushing yourself
all week and you wake up and you try to
turn over and your shoulder hurts and
your back hurts and your legs are sore
and you got to have that conversation
with yourself in the bed and you're like
do I need to go to practice right now
yes I have a fight in two weeks well I
gotta get up I gotta go and doing that
and forcing yourself to do those things
builds so much [ __ ] confidence I
don't think people understand and so
when they like do what you said where
they're like oh well maybe they do have
the coin flip but they don't honor it
and like yeah I'll do it and then it
says go to the gym and like ah but I
gotta do oh but I gotta do this I gotta
do that don't do it because then what
ends up happening is you get to the
fight and right before you step into the
cage you start or when they're doing the
announcements you're thinking
I didn't run that day man I didn't lift
this day man I didn't go to that that
wrestling practice I didn't go to that
striking practice I didn't do these
things and it kind of like pulls away
from the confidence and the more you do
the more you keep the confidence the
less you do the more it takes away dude
that book changed my whole perspective
on on that I definitely have to check
that out especially like I'm a big GSP
fan of course it's hard not to be it's
hard not to be but I I think it's
important to also differentiate between
like camp and out of camp for sure yeah
yeah yeah there's a difference in Camp I
don't no it's not whipping out the
corner
but that's why it's important to have
the contrast between non-camp training
and camp training because I there was a
period of time where I was like I didn't
know if I was going to fight next week
or if I was going to fight in three
months yeah so I was just always ready
yeah and so that that coin flip would
kind of help me just keep going but yeah
like you said the main reason why I felt
so confident is because I'm the same way
there if there's one little thing that I
didn't do or is going to eat out too if
it's even like a little sweet yeah you
know a little chocolate here like it
doesn't matter you sign that contract
it's like a a a switch flips and it's
easy and it's effortless to like do
everything right because if I win I want
to know why if I lose I don't want to be
like oh yep that's the reason right
though because I ate this sweet or I
didn't go to this yeah yeah yeah so I'm
right there with you on that and you
were talking about maintenance training
versus in Camp Caleb was the one who
brought that to my attention actually
because I've been training my whole life
so I only know go to the gym every day
yeah right one of my first sessions with
him he asked me like you know what's
your training schedule like I'm like oh
I trained you know twice a day I go this
time and then I go in the afternoon and
this is like not in Camp I'm like no
he's like okay so what are you doing
Camp I was like oh well I basically do
the same thing I just add like more
conditioning and then he's like dude
like what what are you doing he's like
I've he works with a lot of professional
athletes he's like 90 of the fighters
that I they don't they're not doing that
they're not doing that they're not doing
and I'm like I mean that's they can live
like that I this is my life yeah what
should I do he's like take some sessions
off and I'm like okay but then this is
my thought process behind it I've had
this since like the day that I decided I
wanted to fight if I'm not training
somebody else is getting better speaking
for both of us right now you're speaking
for both of us the other person that I
could potentially fight is getting
better I need to be able to keep up with
them so I have to be training yeah and
so he's like I get that but like when do
you rest I was like oh man like even now
like I'm still not that great at
recovery and I think for a long time I
actually need to focus on yeah recovery
because when I was younger dude I didn't
give up dude I was like going to
training every day yeah sore don't
matter still going but now it's like oh
if I do that enough Something's Gonna
Start here and I might end up [ __ ]
myself up you know but yeah because you
were saying we're speaking for both of
us no yeah 100 I literally feel the
exact same way yeah when you're
explaining that I'm like yeah you I'll
just let you talk because I'm gonna say
the same same [ __ ] yeah
um but I like I'm starting to see now
that because we have that mindset not
everybody has that mindset you know
because we have that mindset I think
it's okay for us to try to be better at
resting because the effort that it takes
to rest is just as hard as training oh
yeah for us yeah you know like taking a
rest day is like just dealing with the
mental things I come up with
like what are you doing bro what are you
doing you're like resting on the couch
right now everybody's training like that
in itself even though it's like it
doesn't make sense to me but like you
have to you have to do that and and you
know I've experienced it where like if I
do take a rest day or if I do prioritize
you know recovery that the following
training is better than if what it would
have been yeah you know if I just pushed
the day before so I think it's like uh
it's kind of like driving a car like a
race car like you you have your foot on
the gas pedal and if you're constantly
just flooring it you're not gonna finish
the track you know you have to be able
to take your foot off at the right time
hit the brakes at the right time in
order to make it around you know the
race with the fuel that you have yeah
you know you got to stop and refuel at
some point um but at the same time I'm
like forget all that like I don't care
like I'm gonna I'm gonna be the fastest
until I run run out of gas yeah so it's
it's tough It's a battle it is Switching
gears off of this now I mentioned in the
beginning that you're uh an aspiring
professional photographer now I don't
know about professionals definitely
definitely a passion of mine for sure is
that new or is that something you've
kind of messed around with your whole
life and yeah I would say it's something
that's always kind of been there for me
at least in like my in my 20s but I
think where it stems from for me is like
because I had such a tough childhood and
I mean obviously you know everybody has
a tough childhood but for me personally
like I don't have like a lot of memories
of my childhood you know they were
blocked out by like you know me wanting
to be the best in the world and you know
focusing on the tournament every weekend
like there was a lot that just kind of
got like blocked out you know or filed
away somewhere that I can't really reach
it so for me taking taking photos is a
way for me to create memories that I can
look back on regardless of what my mind
chooses to remember or not yeah so
that's really where like my passion for
photography comes is like I just want to
take pictures of like my life the
experiences that I have my friend
friends my family be able to like one
day you know look back and be like oh I
remember that you know because I don't
have a lot of that from my childhood and
it is what it is but you know I kind of
reached the point where I was like you
know what like starting now like I'm
gonna remember everything most most
things that are important to me yeah
very good reason I encourage everybody
like I try to get all my friends to like
either you know get a little film camera
or you know I mean we all have phones
but yeah you know there's something
about having like a tool specifically
for taking photos and making memories
and you know you start to like see
things like in the parking lot you know
you pointed out yeah you know the sunset
and those palm trees and I looked over
and I was like oh yeah that's like a
perfect yeah photo right there you know
it's some take a second and take it in
so that's definitely something that you
know outside of fighting that I
definitely like it kind of grounds me
you think once you're done fighting
that's probably something you're gonna
do a little bit more is more photography
I think not at least right now not in
any kind kind of professional way sure I
think it's something that I will always
have a passion for you know something
that will keep me like you know switched
on and and uh trying to get better at
and like the other thing that's really
cool is from the beginning when I
started taking photos to like where I've
gotten now it's like I can tell that
I've gotten a little bit better at it so
seeing that Improvement as well and I'm
also like blessed to have a lot of like
my close friends being like legitimate
professional photographers so I learned
a lot from them as well do you have any
photographers that you really like whose
work you've seen and you're like oh yeah
that's that's it personally like one of
my my good friends his name's Nicholas
small and he's been uh he's been
documenting my journey
um pretty much my professional career
are these the photos the ones that you
post on Instagram and stuff yeah like
yeah typically the ones from like my
fights are like preparing for the fight
so kind of seeing his uh view of how he
kind of tells the story and I think is
really cool yeah
um and it's also crazy to think think
that you know I'm going to have those
photos to look back on yeah you know
regardless and how how it makes me feel
when he's there taking photos and how I
feel when I see them is how I want to
make other people feel you know like
some of my friends that are Fighters you
know I always bring my camera to the
fights and try to capture some moments
because as a fighter unless you're at
like a high level you're not really
getting people with cameras on you
you're not you know maybe one or two
like shitty photos from the fight but
yeah no one's really like capturing
those moments for you and knowing how it
makes me feel I'm like all right I want
to like try to do that for someone and
and seeing their reactions to the photos
you take is is one of my favorite things
because I'm super grateful for it yeah
yeah yeah and like you they wouldn't
have it if you didn't decide to capture
that moment or whatever yeah so are
there any other hobbies that you have
outside of Photography that you try to
do a little bit of everything like I
like to ski I like to play volleyball I
like being in the ocean spending time
Outdoors but as you know it's it's it's
very difficult to like have a hobby
while you're a fighter because
everything matters when you're a fighter
you know any time away from fighting
like you said you know there could be
somebody else that's spending a little
more time than yeah you know it's just
that that's the type of mind we have as
Fighters
um where everything matters but at the
same time nothing matters you know I
have a I have a phrase that I say
everything and nothing so true because
like people ask oh how's training going
or how's life going it's like everything
and nothing everything matters but also
none of it really means [ __ ] and who
knows if they even know what you're
talking about yeah yeah I'm sure they
don't but it's okay I do I know what
you're talking about
um earlier we were talking about don't
be a [ __ ]
and you mentioned that you have it
written on on your ice bath yeah how
long have you haven't been doing ice
baths I started doing them kind of on my
own where I would just fill up this
bucket this human-sized bucket with ice
and I would go in there and that's kind
of when I first started doing it very
inconsistently I would go in there
hyperventilate and like my body would
like tense up and freeze and I would
have like a panic attack yeah and get
out and ultimately like I wasn't a [ __ ]
but you know my body said otherwise
right yeah
and it wasn't until I started doing ice
baths in Denmark
um in like the cold winter there where
it's like below zero
um and I started meeting with a group of
people and we have kind of like a a ice
bath bathing Club
[Music]
oh
[Music]
it's people from all walks of life
um there's photographers there's rock
climbers designers all kinds of people
and we all kind of meet and there's a
little culture aspect to it and jump in
the water and then go about our days is
that like in the morning yeah okay yeah
it's early in the morning and so when I
came back to California after doing that
I kind of got addicted to like doing
that doing that you know it was like
doing something really difficult first
thing in the morning so I started doing
ice baths at home me personally I don't
really see like the recovery aspect of
it like I I'm still sore the next day
you know I'm still sore I'm still like
hurting maybe there's a small percentage
of you know being a little less sore
than not doing it but ultimately for me
it's like the best training for a
walkout for walking out to a fight
interesting so why yeah so when I walk
to the ice bath you know take off your
slippers whatever that is like I get the
same nerves same feeling things as I
would to walk out to a cage interesting
so I got addicted to confronting that
and then just doing it first thing in
the morning you know like let me
confront the worst possible feeling that
as a fighter in my experience I could
ever experience yeah so I got addicted
to doing that and for me like mentally
that completely like changed my
perspective of like the walk out in the
fight because I've done it so many times
you know I've done it countless times in
my Camp leading up to the fight and when
it came time to walking out it was like
oh I've been here a million times so
doing that difficult thing whatever
scares you the most like facing that
head-on can be immensely powerful when
it comes to your mentality and and what
you think scares you wow that's why you
were [ __ ] not not probably nervous or
anything I think yeah mentally you did
the walk a thousand times every time you
went into that ice bath wow well the
other thing too is like when you make
that walk as a fighter like there's no
point where you're just gonna like turn
around and you can't walk away yeah you
know it's like you're locked in you're
locked in until you walk out after it's
done with the ice baths never deciding
no I'm not doing this you know I've
already made the decision you're already
in your board shorts like you're already
like there's never like a uh not today
yeah like I'm gonna go about my day it's
like you gotta do it do you think that
there is a difference between that and
like a cold shower not necessarily I
think because I started with the cold
showers okay yeah like I got addicted to
the same kind of thing with cold showers
obviously the ice bath is like way more
extreme of course yes the cold shower it
still does the same thing I believe like
with your mind you know you're still
doing something you don't want to do
first thing in the morning and
everybody's tolerance is different so
like cold shower to me now isn't as like
scary as it was because obviously the
ice bath is like the big scary thing
right definitely you know you hear it
everywhere but like start with the cold
showers you know and see see how you
like that
um and then you can you can gradually
step up from there but from my
experience like just doing whatever
scares you what if you can find
something that scares you and find a way
to do it every day it takes the power
away you know it takes the fear away and
it gives you that confidence of knowing
that you did it the day before something
that we've kind of touched on a few
different times in this conversation do
the hard things do the things that are
super difficult do the things that you
don't want to do it's something that I
kind of live by in a way because if I'm
being honest with you every maybe not
every good thing but like most of the
good things that have happened in my
life have come on the back of me being
super anxious or afraid of doing that
thing and then I'm like [ __ ] it I'm
gonna do it literally yesterday as we're
recording this this Tuesday I did the
live the podcast live I told everybody
in the Stream while we were talking I
was like like me continuing this after
Courtney left the show almost did not
happen yeah because I was so [ __ ]
afraid to just sit in front of a camera
and talk with no one else yeah part of
the reason why I wanted to do the
podcast was I was like oh if I have
someone else to talk to this is easy
right like I don't have to think about
the cameras I have to think about
anything but when it's just you and the
camera and then I'm doing it live so
there's people sitting there watching
yeah listening to a conversation that
I'm having basically with myself that
[ __ ] is scary dude I remember the first
time like it wasn't until right before
the day before that Sunday I was sitting
there and I was like man I'm not doing
it I was like I'm not gonna do it and I
was almost like yeah well it's done I'm
not gonna do it by myself I'm not gonna
do anything and then the fact that
you're afraid of it means you need to do
it yeah so you need to [ __ ] do it I
[ __ ] drank some tea cause I don't
drink coffee I got some black tea dude
15 minutes before I'm like
hyperventilating and [ __ ] and I'm just
like [ __ ] I got up away from my computer
I laid down on my bed and I'm just like
what why am I doing this right now and I
sat in front of that computer and I did
it and I remember afterwards I I
literally felt like I fought wow like I
was my my armpits were sweaty I was like
emotionally I I literally felt like I
had just fought but I was also the most
happy in that moment because I was like
yes I feel like [ __ ] right now but also
I just did something that I didn't want
to do and it wasn't as bad as I thought
it was going to be wow almost everything
that I've done with tangible risk versus
reward and I've taken that chance even
if I didn't get what I wanted
immediately it always turned out yeah
for the better you know so I like that
you said that and I like that it's
something that has consistently come up
in this conversation because I don't
think people think about that enough
yeah that so many of the things that we
want in life we're afraid of it yeah
like there's people that are working
like nine to five jobs that have so many
ideas about things they could do you
know whether it's like real estate or
YouTube or starting a business of
something that they actually enjoy and
they don't do it simply because they're
afraid to give up what they think is
security and consistency in having a job
and somebody paying you money you know
yeah something my mom always tells me
when I express things you know that are
toughest she says nothing worth having
comes easy and that's always been
something that has stuck with me I can't
think of anything that I want that I
could just get like that you know like
you have to go through the fire if you
want something that really truly does
mean something to you and I think it's
super cool that outside of fighting
you've found something that makes you
feel all those things because I think
that's I mean that's part of the reason
why we fight is like we like that
confrontation of that thing that scares
you and overcoming it yes so that's
definitely inspirational you know for me
to sort of try to find something other
than fighting that yeah that that can
challenge me that way I think when
you're in it so deep it's hard to
believe that there's something else out
there that can do that for you yeah so
that's really cool that you found that
and I think too what a lot of people end
up getting locked into fighting with is
because they they've done damn near the
hardest thing you could do with
confronting something you're afraid of
it's almost like yeah I've done this and
now I want to stay with this and it's
hard for them to like remove that
connection to fighting and like making
it their sole identity yeah and then
trying to do something else and that I
learned from Dominic Cruz okay because
he talked about it I was like to train
at Alliance MMA when he tore his MC or
ACL I think it was for the second time
and then they like took his belt and had
the whole thing and he would still come
to the gym every day and I remember he
talked at a press conference after he
beat his comeback fight was TJ right
when he came back and won the belt I
think so and um so he came back he won
the belt and then I remember him saying
like I love being the champion of the
world I love being the best on Earth but
I don't need it to be happy and that
actually releases me and keeps me free I
can still be happy and defeat that's a
freedom I don't I can't say that I've
always had that but I still feel free I
still feel at peace I'm still happy I'm
still happy that God gave me this uh
platform to be able to challenge myself
as a man and evolve as a man and become
a better man regardless of what anybody
says about prize Fighters every single
one of these fights is a life lesson if
you look at it and view it right and if
you use it correctly and I use this
eight ten weeks of camp and this
challenge in front of the media and
saying what you're going to say and
backing it up and taking your loss into
feet and all this to grow as a human
being that's why we're here we're not
here just to be the best at everything
we're here to kind of be attached to
everything but nothing at the same time
it sucks to lose it's the worst feeling
in the world it's not what I survive off
of is being the title holder I'm a very
happy individual outside of that and for
that I'm I'm thankful that always stuck
with me I know that in this exact moment
when I'm training or when I'm you know
at the fight I am a fighter but once I
leave that that's not who I am that's
not my identity you know and I think for
a lot of Fighters it's hard for them to
like walk away from that or separate
themselves from fighting and they end up
fighting too long or you know just not
being in a good place once they leave
because they can't do it anymore yeah I
can imagine too for like the greats like
people that are extremely well known as
Fighters yeah you know to to be at least
from an outside perspective to be viewed
as that for the rest of your life like
that that's that's also really tough
yeah I can't imagine what that's like I
mean we are in a lot of ways our biggest
accomplishments right especially if
you're in the public eye so if you're
somebody like a professional athlete I
mean I'm sure football players get it
too yeah if you're an All-Star football
player true for the rest of your life no
matter what you do you can be have all
kinds of businesses and be doing other
things but unless you make a name for
yourself just as big right doing
something else you're always going to be
the football player you're always going
to be the the Superstar football player
it's never going to be anything else
unless people get to know you on a
personal level then you become you right
but and I'm sure you've probably had
these these experiences too where you
you go out maybe you're you know at a
bar or party or something and people ask
you what you do I never tell them I'm a
fighter well you can what do you mean
because your ears aren't that bad that's
true that's true I mean you could just
be like oh I used to wrestle in high
school or something yeah you want to
hear something messed up what's that
like depending on the house someone
approaches me like if they're like very
rude about it I'll just say it's a birth
defect like I was born with it
but like if you're gonna come at me with
like the like not like a respectful
manner yeah because I guess it's like
how I would go up to someone you know if
I like idolize someone in a certain way
like I would be respectful about it so
people are not always respectful to what
it would it what are some of the like
disrespectful ways that someone has come
up to you it's like uh like uh oh do you
fight bro like I train I don't want to I
don't want to like relate to you right
now based off of that it's not even
relating this no they're it's a that's a
dick measuring contest where they're
trying to get in I'm not I don't I'm not
measuring right now yeah like yeah not
right now you know like so that that
that for me can get kind of tough but
you just gotta own it yeah you know it's
just hard to own it all the time but
yeah sometimes like if someone doesn't
know yeah like I'll try to play out as
long as I can before it's like uh if
they haven't noticed
yeah yeah I've actually like if I go to
the grocery store I almost always just
put a hoodie over my ears like just over
my head just so I can like be Incognito
it's so interesting you said that so I
went to the grocery store yesterday I
try not to wear my my hood up if I'm
just like living everyday life yeah if
I'm like coming from training or
something like that and I'm all bummy
yeah whatever I'm gonna put the hood up
but yesterday I don't know I just didn't
want to be perceived by anyone yeah and
I'm at the I'm at the grocery store I'm
at Trader Joe's in [ __ ] Marina Del
Rey and it's like Trader Joe's bro
Traders
you're checking
check it out you're like no yes oh and
so the entire time I was in the store
it's the first I go to that Trader Joe's
all the [ __ ] time yeah the entire
time I was in there everybody's looking
at me because I don't I don't know if
it's because I have my hood on yeah I
don't know what it is but everybody's
staring at me like I'm walking through
the aisles and there's just like people
just like
it's like looking I get to the register
and the girls being all [ __ ] weird
like usually they always talk to me when
I'm up there and I have a small talk
[ __ ] girl didn't say [ __ ] I was like
what the [ __ ] is going on in here yeah
that's very unlike Trader Joe's
it's like the that's like the the
Chick-fil-A of of grocery stores yeah
they're all super nice and [ __ ] and it
was like oh yeah
for everything yeah random yeah story
but yeah that was a very interesting
thing that happened to me actually you
wanna you wanna not be noticed for once
and then everybody's like yeah so kind
of going back into into uh to martial
arts for a while now I've been seeing
like you're traveling overseas to Europe
and then you're back here I know your
your girlfriend lives in Denver but
you're also training while you're over
there so how is that Dynamic like
preparing for fights and just training
in general going back and forth it's
been like a total blessing the fact that
you know it just so happens like where
my girlfriend works and lives like I'm
able to find such great training so when
I'm out there I I train with uh my
striking coach his name's Jan he holds
pads for me and is that the guy his name
is like Filipino yeah yeah Filipino
flash yeah yeah so uh it's kind of cool
he um him and I have a really good
relationship where it's not like Master
student it's just student student yeah
so you learn from him he learns from you
yeah yeah yeah and we you know if we see
something cool you know in the UFC
fights like we'll we'll send it to each
other on Instagram like all right we're
working on this tomorrow so working with
him has really helped me like be super
creative in my striking so shout out to
him and then I train uh an MMA team
there called Artis swab so uh they have
a lot of like really solid um
welterweights there
um and a really good Jiu Jitsu system
and and some great coaches as well
um so being able to like go there and
and train in like a completely different
environment and a completely different
like like ebb and flow of life as well
uh so culture is very different yeah
here I'm sure yeah yeah super different
and it's helped me mature as a person
too
um just being exposed to different
things so having like the contrast
training at CMA with Chad and and with
with all the athletes that we have there
and being able to have like two pools of
like solid people to learn from yeah has
been really cool and to be able to go
back and forth is yeah it's been great
all around you know I have I because as
a fighter typically like you stay loyal
to one gym yeah you know where you're at
but the fact that like you know my
girlfriend's out there it kind of gives
me a little pass yeah to let go train at
a completely different gym and it's like
chill I'm actually going back uh this
week so I'm excited to to switch it up
and train with some of the guys out
there as well how is the uh how would
you say that the culture is different
from LA and the United States versus
Europe Denmark yeah I mean it's
different in a lot of ways but the most
apparent is probably
just how
the lifestyle of living in a city like
that like here it's like you have to get
in your car to go anywhere yeah you know
where it's there everybody walks or
bikes everywhere it's a biking City okay
so I'm like biking the trainings and and
a lot of times I'm there when it's like
snowing and hailing so I'll be able to
go riding in the bikes in the snow yeah
oh yeah okay yeah where they take the
metro but I'll just like rough it out
and bike to training and so there's also
that like element it makes you a little
bit tough you know you're not just cozy
in your car
but um yeah I would say like the the
transportation you know like just going
from point A to point B like you know
there's more of a culture of like
stopping at a coffee shop you know
seeing some friends whereas here you I
feel like you kind of get stuck in like
your pattern of like work home work home
work home yeah so I definitely like that
when I'm there I'm able to Branch out in
different ways and keep my mind a little
more Diversified and what I do yeah for
me personally like out of Camp the
pastry's there
pastries are unreal Danish pastries are
unreal so like every Sunday I'll go to
my favorite Bakery Juno and I'll have uh
my favorite cardamom croissant and I'll
have one of those and it's different in
in the best ways possible for me so if
you know there's a way that you can
travel and also train like I recommend
that to everybody yeah it kind of sounds
like East Coast living people are not as
nice but yeah I can imagine that it's
very similar I would say I hate the
whole being cold and still having to
like get on the train and do all that
[ __ ] because it [ __ ] sucks but I did
enjoy the fact that you know if you are
taking public transport even if you're
not taking public transportation a lot
of the different pockets in DC there's
it's walkable still yeah so like even if
I drive from you know my house to the
gym when I get to the gym there's still
so like I can walk around and get stuff
so like after training we can walk down
the street there's like all kinds of
shops and stuff like that so it's very
similar I didn't really understand it
growing up in these see why everybody
was like oh you know I want to live in a
walkable area I want to live in a walk
and then I move here and I'm like oh
yeah I get it now because I lived in it
I kind of took it for granted I didn't
really understand it yeah and then when
I was living in San Diego I kind of had
that you know I was living in North Park
and it's like that yeah like if you get
it if you live in a good area like you
can walk around and there's different
stuff all around like dude North Park is
I love North Park I don't know if you've
been up here in La yeah especially where
we trained that yeah Warehouse District
shitty yeah 7-Eleven maybe yeah yeah I
definitely appreciate it more now that
I've left that but it's good that you've
that you've found that over there and it
gives you that that feeling oh
definitely it also makes me appreciate
you know what we have here you know like
there's definitely so many things that
we take for granted when when we're just
in the same place yeah
um so it's good both ways for sure I
love La yeah you know yeah if you live
you lived in La your whole life yeah
yeah out of any of the places I'm sure
you've traveled a lot you talked about
traveling when you were a kid to
different competitions and stuff and
we're excluding Denmark because I don't
want you to use that one but is there a
place that you two different places one
that you enjoy simply because you enjoy
it as a human being and then another
place that you enjoy because of the
training so I don't I can't say that
I've trained in too many places other
than Denmark and uh in L.A but I would
say the the one time where I did train
somewhere was at uh with for us for US
Canada okay yeah so I went to Canada and
I trained with frost for like a week and
that was a super cool experience he's a
great coach yeah you know hopefully one
day I can work with him again yeah
um but in terms of a place where I can
just like be was probably the summer I
had like one of the craziest Summers
ever just traveling which it just kind
of ended up working out that way but um
my girlfriend's mom lives in Spain Okay
so it's uh her house is like very
secluded it's in this very small town
very secluded from like it feels like
Civilization and it was kind of the
first time where I could just like be
you know and just you know not feel like
I have to go wake up and like run a
marathon or yeah yeah just like wake up
and you know just take life as it is and
and how it comes so that's probably so
far my favorite like destination in
terms of like being able to just take
everything in and last question before
we get out of here obviously we've been
talking about fighting yeah Fighters you
recently fought for the for the LFA
title that didn't go your way but what
is next for you what's next for me is
fight in October that's my next goal is
to get back in there yeah what is it
that you want when your career is over
for people to say about you what do you
want people to think about you when
you're done yeah that's a really good
question
I think my answer right now is that I
gave it my all and didn't cut any
corners and that when I step in there
that
there's no quit in me and I leave it all
inside that cage
um regardless of the outcome because
it's what I love to do hmm
so I hope that you know by the time I
think as time goes on you know you're
what you think changes but in this
present moment I think
what I would want is for people to just
see that see my dedication and see my
passion
for fighting when I'm done with it wow I
love that answer I do
all right guys very insightful podcast
here with John Paul I'm glad we finally
got to do this we've been talking about
it for a little bit thank you for having
me of course how can anybody get in
touch with you if they wanted to follow
um yeah just my Instagram is my name
Jean-Paul MMA and that's pretty much my
main social media Source hopefully get
something on the books in October for
LFA so look out for me there and uh
that's pretty much it all right all
right guys thank you so much for
watching the podcast I hope you enjoyed
it
we will see you next time
peace