00:00 Growing up, I was like, I want to be the

00:01 UFC champion. I want to be the UFC

00:03 champion. But more than anything, I want

00:05 to be the best version of myself and

00:08 like go to my fullest potential. If that

00:11 means being a champ, great. If that

00:14 means being ranked, great. If that means

00:16 none of that, great. But as long as I

00:18 put my like all into this and I achieve

00:21 my fullest potential without holding

00:23 myself back, then I'm going to be at

00:25 peace with it. Hey, Jean Paul Leosani.

00:28 You're here watching the Zo Y2K podcast.

00:31 >> Um, are we rolling, bro? Or

00:32 >> we are rolling.

00:33 >> Nice. All right. What's up, guys?

00:34 Welcome to the Zo Y2K podcast. We're

00:36 here with our special guest, John Paul.

00:38 This is Bosniani. Um, how are you doing,

00:40 man? Good.

00:41 >> Ready for your UFC debut.

00:43 >> Yeah, bro. Super ready.

00:44 >> Yeah. So, you have an amazing story.

00:46 Just doing a lot of research on you on

00:49 kind of like what what has led you to

00:51 this point. It's been a lot of stuff.

00:53 And I want to just, you know, talk about

00:55 your upbringing. You've been training

00:56 since you were three. uh multiple

00:58 disciplines uh ki jiu-jitsu

01:02 um your dad was Hoist Gracie striking

01:04 coach so I want to know more uh about

01:07 how it was like growing up around that

01:08 type of environment.

01:10 >> Yeah. Yeah. So uh

01:13 I I guess the the the age that I say I

01:17 started training was three but I mean

01:19 some of my oldest memories were on the

01:21 mat before that. um you know cleaning

01:24 the mats while my dad was teaching or um

01:27 I don't remember it but I was in his in

01:29 his kangaroo while uh while he was

01:32 teaching the classes. So um you know I'm

01:35 sure there was a few techniques that

01:37 were ingrained even from that that young

01:40 young age but um yeah I mean growing up

01:44 it was uh it was a big part of my

01:45 childhood for sure.

01:46 >> So you grew up in the LA area, Hermosa

01:49 Beach area, correct? So, how was it

01:53 training martial arts and going to

01:54 school? Maybe for a lot of younger

01:56 athletes trying to pursue the same

01:57 dream, it's maybe a little difficult to

01:59 handle and you know, dealing with

02:00 school, social life, all that type of

02:02 stuff. How was it kind of like trying to

02:04 keep everything together?

02:05 >> Yeah, I mean, I obviously was in a like

02:09 interesting scenario because my dad was

02:11 my coach and he owned an academy as

02:14 well. So, training like was a part of my

02:17 my daily schedule. you know, I would go

02:20 um typically like through middle school,

02:23 my schedule, I would wake up at 05:00

02:25 a.m. And I would ride my skateboard to

02:27 our gym and my dad would teach um like

02:31 adults, some law enforcement guys, some

02:33 fire department guys, and uh I would

02:36 wake up and train for an hour as a kid

02:39 basically with these guys and then go

02:41 home, make some breakfast, skate to

02:44 school, go to school all day, and then

02:47 go back, teach for two hours, and then

02:50 train again. Um, and that that was just

02:52 like a repeating cycle um for my

02:54 childhood.

02:56 I know uh we just started the podcast. I

02:58 just remember I got you a little gift.

03:00 So, I want to, you know, give you a

03:01 little gift. Nothing too crazy. So, I

03:03 got you this little book here, Mama

03:05 Mentality Book. Um, you grew up in LA.

03:07 Not sure if uh

03:08 >> you're a Lakers fan or a Kobe fan, but I

03:10 feel like uh the mentality uh is

03:13 something that that you carry with the

03:15 Lion mentality. And plus, I think Andrew

03:17 Bernstein is the one who has uh

03:20 professional photos throughout the book.

03:21 So, I don't know if you're like me,

03:22 picture books. I love picture books, you

03:24 know, since I was a kid. So, um

03:26 professional quality and you know, Kobe

03:28 kind of shared his whole career. Um and

03:31 wrote some notes in there as well. So, I

03:32 thought it would be cool since you're

03:33 also into photography as well. Um kind

03:36 of getting capturing some shots in the

03:37 moment. Hopefully, we could get a book

03:38 about you soon. You know, I think it

03:40 would be cool uh capturing those types

03:42 of moments. So, I just want to give you

03:43 that little gift. um you know just for

03:46 on the podcast.

03:46 >> Thank you so much, bro. Yeah, I grew up

03:48 uh I wasn't really into too many sports,

03:52 but uh uh before like I'd never really

03:55 wanted to be a fighter. It was like very

03:58 forced on me from my dad. Um and

04:01 basketball was actually my thing and

04:03 really Yeah.%

04:05 >> I would uh I would run out like to the

04:07 basketball courts during recess and you

04:09 know try to like

04:11 >> play I was horrible at basketball but I

04:13 loved it. you know, and I would wear a

04:15 Kobe jersey to school every single day.

04:16 >> No way. Okay.

04:17 >> So, uh this is actually this means a lot

04:20 and um yeah, I appreciate this. Thank

04:22 you.

04:23 >> You're welcome, dude. That's awesome to

04:24 hear cuz I loved basketball growing up.

04:27 I think that's where I made most of my

04:28 friends. Fortunately, you know, your boy

04:31 was not really athletic, you know, but I

04:33 I did love the game of basketball and

04:34 how technical it was. So, just like, you

04:37 know, I did want to ask you if you're

04:38 really into another like those types of

04:40 things just because you're you're a

04:42 fighter. you're like kind of trained

04:43 already from a young age to like go and

04:45 you're like, "All right, you're trained

04:46 to kill right away." So, I wanted to

04:47 know how that was, you know, growing up

04:49 competing at these like Naga

04:50 tournaments. You're out here like

04:52 putting people to sleep. I think they

04:53 called you like the lifeguard or

04:54 something. You're putting people to

04:55 sleep, waking them up. Um, how was it

04:57 just like competing or how often were

04:59 you competing um when you were young?

05:01 >> Yeah, I was competing pretty much every

05:04 weekend, every other weekend. Um, we had

05:07 sort of a deal with Naga where our like

05:10 competition fee was like voided or

05:13 whatever. Like we didn't have to pay for

05:15 the tournament.

05:16 >> We just had to like get there. So, um,

05:18 you know, my dad he would fly us every

05:21 weekend and

05:23 >> at the time like it was it was pretty

05:25 difficult for him, you know, like he

05:26 didn't have a lot of money at at that

05:28 time. and um he would fly me and my

05:31 little sister almost every weekend to a

05:34 different Naga tournament and we would

05:35 just pull up and he would have us do as

05:38 many divisions as as possible. So I

05:41 would do my like kids division, expert

05:43 kids division, I would win that and then

05:45 I would do the adult division and

05:47 basically just get as many matches as

05:50 possible, as much experience as

05:51 possible. Um, and that was something

05:54 that like they didn't really allow

05:56 anyone else to do, especially like a kid

05:59 competing in the adult divisions

06:02 because people would get hurt. So like

06:04 kid go up and he would get injured and

06:07 you know then there's like lawsuits and

06:09 stuff like that. But for whatever reason

06:10 they let me do it. Um, and that I think

06:13 that gave me like a lot of experience

06:16 you know going into MMA. Um, just having

06:18 so much time on the mat going up against

06:21 guys that are that I'm not supposed to

06:22 beat, people that are much physically

06:24 like stronger than me because I was

06:26 still a kid and they had man strength.

06:28 Um, but yeah, like that that whole

06:31 experience um definitely helped shape my

06:34 confidence, you know, for MMA. Um,

06:37 because I also like I really wanted to

06:39 to win, you know, I hated to lose, so I

06:42 was trying to win all those divisions.

06:44 And when was it since you were trained

06:46 since you don't you can't even remember

06:47 when you first started. I mean I'm sure

06:49 it was that young. When was it when you

06:51 were like this is I'm going all in. I'm

06:53 putting all my chip. Everything that I

06:54 got even though you're already invested

06:56 but like completely everything else is

06:58 is being sacrificed. When was that

07:00 moment?

07:00 >> Yeah. So I

07:04 my dad was sort of the guy pushing me my

07:08 entire life up until I was 18 years old.

07:12 And then I started kind of wanting to go

07:15 my own path with things. Um, and I kind

07:18 of broke away from my dad. And that's

07:21 sort of when my amateur career, the

07:23 middle of my amateur career is when I

07:25 split basically with my dad and just

07:27 started training completely on my own.

07:30 And I think that was the point where I

07:32 wasn't really doing it because someone

07:34 was making me do it. I was doing it

07:35 because, oh, this is this is my passion.

07:37 This is what I want to do. And prior to

07:40 that, like I really honestly hated it

07:43 because there was a big psychological

07:45 thing going on where if I didn't perform

07:48 or if I didn't do well, like, you know,

07:50 I would be sort of treated a certain way

07:52 by my dad and that would kind of mess

07:55 with me psychologically. So, it wasn't

07:57 really fun for me up until I started

07:59 doing it on my own. Um, and you know, I

08:03 I started uh training with guys like

08:05 Brian Ortega that the beginning of my

08:07 professional career, I was working with

08:09 Brian

08:09 >> T City.

08:10 >> Yeah, exactly. Shout out.

08:11 >> Shout out.

08:12 >> And uh, you know, Brian really kind of

08:15 helped my transition from being this

08:17 like

08:19 young

08:21 kid, you know, trying to like be a

08:23 fighter to like a man, you know? And it

08:26 sounds kind of funny, but like you know,

08:28 he really pushed me and and took me out

08:30 of my comfort zone and um yeah, and that

08:34 ultimately like that led me to even more

08:36 so doing my own thing. But um yeah, I

08:40 would say that's kind of when I started

08:42 doing it for myself.

08:43 >> And you also like trained overseas like

08:45 in Denmark as well. Was that around that

08:47 time period or was that later?

08:48 >> No, that was that was later. So, uh I

08:51 would say that was about four years ago.

08:54 four and a half years ago. Um, yeah, I

08:56 moved out there for certain reasons and

09:00 uh I I sort of built a family out there

09:03 to be honest. Like I I had a whole team.

09:05 Um, there's a team out there called

09:07 Arteab that I was training with

09:09 >> and then I met um a striking coach who

09:12 became one of my really good friends.

09:13 His name's Yan. Um, and basically him

09:17 and I just sort of from the first day we

09:20 met, we were like, "All right, we're

09:21 going to train every single day." And

09:24 that with him, I really started to

09:26 develop my striking because I got so

09:28 many reps on the pads and I had this

09:30 contrast of like training in Denmark and

09:33 then coming back to LA and getting like

09:35 the best of both worlds sort of thing.

09:37 >> Okay.

09:38 >> Um Yeah. So, how was it like leaving

09:42 that kind of uh how can I say the

09:46 jiu-jitsu I'm a jiu-jitsu guy. How how

09:48 were you able to kind of like break free

09:50 from that just because you grew up

09:51 training jiu-jitsu, competing all the

09:53 time, everybody's like if you're if you

09:55 train jiu-jitsu, you're just trying to

09:56 take the the fight to the ground. How

09:57 did you kind of develop more of a

09:59 striking base and feel more comfortable

10:01 everywhere?

10:02 >> Yeah. I mean, I got to give props to my

10:04 dad for this because even though I was

10:06 training jiu-jitsu and that was the main

10:08 focus, like he always implemented

10:11 striking to my training because his plan

10:14 for me was always to be in the UFC and

10:16 to become a UFC champion. So there was

10:19 always that foundation of of striking.

10:21 But obviously like my forte was

10:25 jiu-jitsu and and the ground and and all

10:27 that. So when I made the transition, I

10:30 was about 18 years old when I really

10:31 started like striking seriously. And um

10:36 I honestly like I fell in love with it,

10:38 you know, and and I think having

10:40 jiu-jitsu allows you to really just do

10:42 whatever you want with striking, you

10:45 know. Obviously, you got to keep your

10:46 hands up and,

10:47 >> you know, try not to to get dropped or

10:49 whatever, but it gives you the freedom

10:51 to like, oh, if somebody catches my kick

10:53 and takes me down, like,

10:54 >> welcome to my world type of thing. So,

10:57 >> um, it allowed me to really, um, I guess

11:00 experiment and and invest a lot of time

11:02 in developing my striking. And now I

11:04 think I'm at a point where like

11:07 jiu-jitsu and striking, they're kind of

11:08 like right there, right next to

11:10 >> I think we saw it with the Dana White

11:11 contenders, too. so smooth first round

11:13 like and then you hit the hit the kick

11:15 behind the jab. I think that technique

11:17 was so smooth and being able to do

11:18 something like that. It's like yeah this

11:20 guy most of these guys nowadays it's

11:22 like you have to have you know a a good

11:24 base in all different disciplines. So I

11:26 was like I was very curious on how

11:29 you're able to to do that so well. Like

11:32 is it just drilling or is your are you

11:34 doing different types of things to be

11:35 able to develop those types of skills?

11:37 because I feel like a lot of people who

11:38 are have a good base kind of transition

11:41 to somewhere else and then their other

11:43 skills of like jiu-jitsu or wrestling

11:45 kind of fall behind. How how can you

11:47 kind of have everything balanced in in a

11:49 way?

11:50 >> Yeah, I mean the balance is definitely

11:52 key. Um, and I think

11:55 with jiu-jitsu being my background, I've

11:58 never been like, "Okay, I'm I'm good. I

12:01 don't I can stop training this and start

12:03 focusing on striking." Um, I've never

12:05 done that in my life. I've always kept

12:07 jiu-jitsu as a big part of my training

12:09 regimen. So, two to three times a week,

12:12 like I'm 100% going to be training

12:13 jiu-jitsu. Um, and then everything else

12:16 is sort of supplementary to that

12:20 >> training jiu-jitsu. Do you still uh go

12:22 by that coin philosophy of you're like,

12:24 you flip a coin, I'm going to train, you

12:25 flip a coin, you don't train. Do you

12:27 still do that?

12:27 >> I haven't done that in a long time, to

12:29 be honest. Um, I feel like now being at

12:32 the UFC level, I'm sort of like it's

12:34 this is my job, you know, like it

12:37 doesn't matter how I feel.

12:38 >> Yeah. Okay.

12:38 >> And I'm telling you right now, bro, like

12:40 every morning I wake up and I'm like,

12:43 bro, my body hurts so bad. Like

12:46 everything hurts.

12:47 >> And it doesn't matter how how I feel,

12:49 you know? I'm going to show up to the

12:50 gym. I'm going to do what I need to do.

12:53 And uh I think that's what separates,

12:55 you know, the real professionals from

12:57 the people who are just in it for

12:58 different reasons.

13:00 And we actually ran into you at the 559

13:03 fights. Uh you had Shane Collins and uh

13:06 who you had another

13:07 >> Jonathan.

13:08 >> Jonathan Jonathan uh was uh competed and

13:10 they both won. So I was actually able to

13:12 introduce myself, say what's up and uh I

13:14 have seen online that you're really into

13:15 manifestation and you know just just

13:18 putting things into existence from your

13:20 mind. Uh what are some examples in your

13:22 in your life that kind of like came to

13:24 fruition from just an idea? Yeah, I

13:26 think your mind is really the most

13:28 powerful thing, you know, in this in

13:30 this world. And um I feel like what you

13:34 think about and what you want and what

13:36 you put out there is a direct um

13:39 correlation to your reality. So I would

13:43 say not until like last year did I

13:47 really start actually like trying to

13:50 quote unquote manifest things. Um, and

13:54 really like everything that I sort of

13:57 think about and I'll do like little

13:59 vision boards. So, I'll either Google

14:02 some photos or or uh create some photos

14:05 of things that like I want in my life.

14:08 Some of them I already have, some of

14:10 them I don't have yet, but just getting

14:13 those things down on a piece of paper

14:14 where you can like visually see it. And

14:17 and honestly, you could just do it and

14:19 like throw it away and it still has the

14:22 same effect for me.

14:23 >> Okay.

14:23 >> So, um you know, a lot of things like

14:26 signing my UFC contract, like I had a

14:29 little square on my vision board where

14:31 it said UFC and signature and signed my

14:33 name right there. And sure enough, you

14:36 know, a little less than a year after I

14:37 did that, I I signed my UFC contract.

14:40 Um, and to be honest, like

14:44 one of the other things I was

14:45 manifesting is cameras in my face. And

14:48 look, here I am sitting down with three

14:49 cameras in my face.

14:50 >> Three cameras right here.

14:51 >> So, uh, you know, these are things that

14:54 I want. These are things that, you know,

14:56 uh, I think will come with what I'm

14:58 doing and what I'm pursuing. But yeah,

15:02 it's it's

15:04 really powerful. And you know, in the

15:06 same breath, it's kind of like cringy in

15:09 a way. You can look at it and be like,

15:10 nah. But I'm telling you, like it works.

15:14 >> And you have a tattoo on your leg says

15:16 everything is temporary. What does that

15:18 mean to you? I feel like it could mean a

15:20 different things for different people,

15:21 but for sure. So, it's actually a funny

15:24 story. Um, I got it like during CO and

15:28 my idea with it was I wanted it like

15:31 super small and it was going to be like

15:33 if I was on the stool in between rounds,

15:35 I could look down on it, look down at it

15:38 and be like, "All right, you know,

15:39 >> is it facing it? It's not facing.

15:40 >> It's not facing me,

15:41 >> but I wanted it to be facing me." And

15:43 luckily, like the the artist convinced

15:45 me not to do that. But

15:47 >> um that was the original thought was

15:49 like in between rounds if I'm like

15:51 [clears throat] dying I could look at it

15:52 and be like

15:53 >> all right you know this sucks right now

15:55 but like this is temporary enjoy it.

15:57 >> And uh so yeah the the tattoo artist at

16:00 the time was like no like you don't want

16:02 it to be small like we want it to be

16:04 big. And I just kind of like I don't

16:07 know what happened. It just I allowed

16:09 him to do whatever he wanted to do and

16:11 now I'm stuck with this giant tattoo.

16:14 So, I think all in all, like uh the the

16:18 the years that I've lived with it on my

16:21 leg, it's actually had like a huge

16:23 impact on me because it doesn't matter

16:25 what I'm going through, whether it's

16:27 heartbreak, loss, like really good

16:30 times, you know, if I look down and see

16:32 it, it reminds me that, you know, no

16:34 matter what this is, good or bad, like

16:36 enjoy it because it's not going to last.

16:38 And literally nothing in your life is

16:41 going to last. So, you got to embrace it

16:43 no matter what it is. Um, and so like

16:46 even right now, you know, I think about

16:47 it all the time like I'm on a four fight

16:51 win streak, you know, and I'm like enjoy

16:54 that now cuz that might change, you

16:55 know, and I'm at peace with that or it

16:57 might be a fiveight win streak or I

16:59 might never lose again, you know. So,

17:02 uh, it's it's definitely something that,

17:04 you know, uh, it's it's a big lesson for

17:07 me and sort of a lesson that I didn't

17:09 really know that I was teaching myself

17:12 by by getting the tattoo, you know, and

17:14 yeah, I think that's a good point just

17:16 because I feel like a life of a fighter

17:17 has to be so chaotic. It's like, should

17:19 I drink that? Should I not like think

17:21 about this fight or like if you get like

17:22 superstitious like stuff like that. Um,

17:25 so how like when you were younger, how

17:28 did those type of beliefs change until

17:31 >> That's a great question, bro. Like it

17:33 really is because that's something

17:34 that's so true in my in my experience is

17:38 there's been uh it's been a total roller

17:42 coaster. Like from the time where I've

17:44 had my first MMA fight to where I'm at

17:45 now, like I used to be so mentally like

17:51 consumed by fighting, you know? I

17:53 remember going to sleep and thinking

17:55 like ah you know four more weeks until I

17:58 have to go fight like all this stress

18:00 like what if I lose what if I win and

18:03 now I'm just like I'm at peace with

18:05 whatever you know and I don't think

18:07 about it too much. It's really to me

18:09 it's like fighting life is only as

18:11 serious as you make it. So why not just

18:14 like not make it that serious? Show up,

18:16 do what you're supposed to do. Have the

18:18 vision of what you want to happen and

18:20 then everything else will come. good or

18:22 bad, just flow, you know, flow through

18:24 it like water and whatever's gonna

18:26 happen is going to happen. It's a great

18:28 kind of like Bruce Lee type of way of

18:30 looking at like just because like if you

18:31 think about everything's temporary like

18:33 you could look at it like all this is

18:35 going to go away or you could be like

18:36 man like everything just changes and

18:39 adapts just like nature and everything

18:40 else. And that's the type of stuff I

18:42 really like to hear just because you

18:43 know there's always ifs ands. What if

18:46 this happens? What if that happens and

18:47 adapting? I feel like fighters are the

18:49 best at doing that. just adapting to

18:50 situations like you're on the feet, next

18:51 thing you blink, you're open your eyes,

18:53 you're like, "Oh, got to do my thing."

18:55 And you feel comfortable doing that.

18:57 Like say if it's like jiu-jitsu. Um, I

18:59 really like your your performance. Um,

19:02 I'm forgetting the the guy's name. was

19:04 in LFA where you hit him with a triangle

19:05 and you you went under the leg and you

19:07 had blood all over and it was like man

19:09 that is that that is

19:12 >> takes so much time to be able to to do

19:14 that and maneuver and just know in the

19:16 right times to you know scoop under and

19:18 other stuff like that like how long have

19:20 you been training just that just that

19:22 triangle alone?

19:23 >> Yeah. So, um, being somebody that was

19:27 brought up under sort of like the Gracie

19:29 system, you know, very traditional

19:31 jiu-jitsu, um, things like arm bars,

19:35 triangles, rear naked chokes, those are

19:37 like the foundations of jiu-jitsu. And

19:41 that's what I have like thousands and

19:43 thousands of reps on. So, I'm not

19:46 necessarily like the flashiest guy, but

19:49 because I have the foundation of, you

19:51 know, the fundamentals, I can build on

19:53 top of that. Um, and when it comes to

19:55 triangles like that, like that's

19:57 something I've literally been doing

19:59 since I was a like a little baby. Um,

20:02 and in moments like that, like in a

20:05 fight or in a scramble, genuinely, I

20:07 have no idea what I'm doing. It's just

20:09 all flow state. You know, there's

20:11 there's a lot of grapplers out there

20:13 that are like tech technicians. You

20:15 know, they can break down positions,

20:17 submissions, everything. Bro, I have no

20:20 idea what I'm doing. I'm just doing it.

20:22 >> And you you can ask me to break it down,

20:24 but chances are that I already forgot

20:26 what I did. And I think that's sort of

20:28 like my like, you know, ace in my sleeve

20:33 type of thing, you know? Like, good luck

20:35 training for me cuz I don't even know

20:37 what I'm doing, bro.

20:38 >> Never let them know your next move,

20:39 >> bro. I don't know my next move.

20:41 [laughter]

20:42 Yeah, I was I was training uh a few days

20:45 ago and I was just like trying to get

20:47 more rounds than I usually do and I'm

20:49 just like in the bottom of side control

20:50 trying to escape. I'm like I don't even

20:52 know exactly what to do here. There's so

20:54 many options, but I just like I I I

20:57 understand kind of what you what you

20:58 mean by just like in in the moment just

21:02 just doing just action. No, not a lot of

21:04 thought into it. And how how was it like

21:07 feeling that for the first time where

21:09 you're on the competition, you're you

21:10 get on the mat, you bow, you shake your

21:12 hand, and then it's just like boom. And

21:13 I feel like it's a different realm of

21:16 just existence. I I never really

21:17 experienced that until I was like 23. So

21:20 I never wrestled, never did I just

21:22 played basketball. Never really got into

21:23 that state where it's just like you're

21:25 it's like almost like super it's super

21:27 primal like the the feeling of it. What

21:29 how did you kind of like feel that for

21:31 the first time? Yeah, I remember the

21:33 first time I ever competed. I think I

21:35 was like 5 years old and it was an

21:37 in-house tournament. So, it was a

21:39 tournament at someone else's academy and

21:42 uh it was a guy named Havaldo. So, my

21:46 dad is a black belt under horse and so

21:49 was Evaldo. So, it was kind of like, you

21:52 know, a scrimmage type of thing.

21:53 >> Okay. So we went to Havaldo's academy

21:56 and I remember I was sitting on one side

21:59 of the academy and then the other team

22:02 was sitting on the other side and I was

22:04 sitting in my dad's lap and you know

22:07 being like the way I was brought up like

22:10 I've always been super affectionate with

22:12 my mom and my dad like you know he'll

22:14 hug me, kiss me like you know that's

22:16 just that's just how I was brought up.

22:18 So, I remember like I was sitting in my

22:20 dad's lap and the kids across from me

22:22 were like kind of pointing and like

22:25 making fun of me that I was like sitting

22:26 on my dad's lap. And even at that age in

22:29 my mind, I was like, "All right, like I

22:32 know what time it is right now."

22:34 >> And uh I fought I ended up going up

22:37 against the kid that was like making fun

22:38 of me and I belly down arm barred him

22:41 and just cranked like cranked his arm.

22:44 Um, and that feeling was like nothing

22:47 else in the world, you know, because I'm

22:50 not the type of guy to talk crap or to

22:52 bully people or anything like that, but

22:54 I'm 100% the type of guy to like end

22:57 that. So, um, and that that's been a

22:59 theme like throughout my like

23:02 competition um, career of jiu-jitsu, you

23:05 know, um, even in wrestling, you know,

23:07 there's like always that cocky guy that,

23:09 you know, tries to get in your head and

23:11 I'm like, "All right, bro." You know,

23:13 like

23:13 >> we'll find out. Let's just let's just

23:14 wait till we compete and we're going to

23:16 see what's about to happen. So to answer

23:18 your question, like competing for me was

23:20 always primal. Like as a kid, I was

23:23 like, kill or be killed. And these kids

23:25 are like trying to like be kids, you

23:28 know, before the tournament or whatever.

23:30 And I remember I would like stare at

23:31 people, growl,

23:33 >> I would growlit. I was curious where the

23:36 name kind of came from. Bro, I'm telling

23:39 you, like as a kid, I would growl at

23:41 little kids and they would look at me

23:43 like, "Bro, what the hell's wrong

23:43 [laughter] with this kid?" And I'm like,

23:44 "Bro, I'm not here to play. I'm here to

23:46 win cuz if I don't win that, then I'm

23:48 going to get my ass beat by my dad." So,

23:50 >> yeah,

23:50 >> that's that was like the the different

23:53 fuel source that I had over these kids.

23:55 >> This extra motivation to to be able to

23:57 do that. So, okay. I was uh Did you Did

24:00 you give yourself that nickname or

24:02 people just kind of just like already?

24:04 >> Yeah, I mean I guess my dad as a kid

24:06 always, you know, referred to me as like

24:08 his little lion type of thing. And then

24:10 when um when I was in high school, I

24:14 don't remember exactly how, but my my

24:16 like high school teammates like the name

24:19 Mufasa just kind of came about

24:21 >> and it it sort of stuck. I had it on my

24:23 Leatherman's jacket. Um, and yeah, I

24:26 mean, it's sort of stuck, so we're here

24:30 now.

24:30 >> Okay. Well, I I wanted to do a little

24:32 segment here. Uh, I don't know if you

24:34 watch Hot Ones or anything like that

24:35 where it's kind of like

24:37 >> um you go on Instagram, explain that

24:39 Graham kind of type thing. So, I printed

24:40 out a few pictures and if you uh I'll

24:42 have it up in the video as well. Okay.

24:44 >> Uh just so you could see what where you

24:47 are in the moment and if there was a

24:48 story behind it, I would love to hear

24:49 it.

24:50 >> Okay.

24:50 >> All right. I'm nervous.

24:52 >> Nervous? That's nothing too crazy. Oh,

24:56 >> I'm nervous.

24:58 [laughter]

24:59 >> All right. So, first picture. I'll go

25:01 one at a time. Here we have young

25:04 Mufasa. Are you talking about near that

25:07 uh near that time was on on the news? Is

25:10 it a karate champion? What What can we

25:12 uh see in that image, Mr. Jean Paul? Um

25:16 probably I remember trying not to like

25:18 stutter my words here, trying to get get

25:21 it all out right. And I think at this

25:24 time I was trying to go to the Olympics

25:26 for boxing and jiu-jitsu, which looking

25:28 back on it now is like, "Bro, what were

25:31 you thinking?" Um, but you know, we're

25:34 in the UFC now, so we can we can look

25:36 back on that one and smile.

25:38 >> Yeah, that's uh that was great. I

25:40 watched actually watched that last night

25:41 prepping for that and I was just like,

25:43 man, this guy literally has been

25:45 training for so long now. He's going to

25:46 make his UFC debut. So everything's just

25:48 aligning. So the next picture I have

25:50 five total here. Uh, next one is you and

25:53 Mr. Conor McGregor.

25:56 >> First thing that comes to mind is I am

25:58 the man. [laughter]

26:00 18 years old training with Conor

26:01 McGregor like I am the man. And shout

26:04 out to Connor for being so cool. Um, you

26:07 know, I know he gets viewed in certain

26:09 ways, but when I train with him, he was

26:12 the most humble um, guy and really

26:16 honestly someone that I aspire to be um,

26:19 when it comes to training was someone

26:20 that, you know, looks up to me. Um, he

26:23 was super cool. And this also helped

26:26 shape kind of who I am now because I

26:29 went through a phase where, uh, I

26:32 thought I was the double champ even

26:33 though I had nothing to my name. So, uh,

26:37 this kind of helped bring me back to

26:39 like, you know, who I want to be and,

26:42 um, you know, being a little little more

26:44 humble and not trying to be someone that

26:48 I'm not being just genuinely who I am.

26:50 So, but I think it's important to to

26:52 interact with different people to see

26:54 kind of, you know, who you align with,

26:56 >> right? I have another picture with Mr.

26:58 Conor McGregor. Um, did you guys train

27:00 jiu-jitsu or what kind of uh what were

27:03 you guys doing in the

27:04 >> So, here we were in Chris Hower's

27:06 garage. Um, this we were just training

27:09 jiu-jitsu. This was when he was supposed

27:11 to fight um Nate Diaz the first time

27:14 >> and uh the place we're training is

27:16 actually really cool cuz it was in

27:18 someone's backyard. Um, they have like a

27:21 literally a garage with some mats down

27:24 and yeah, Connor and I got like a lot of

27:29 rounds in, you know, and I just thought

27:30 it was really cool to be going to be

27:32 training with someone while they're at

27:34 like the very peak cuz this is prime

27:36 Connor.

27:37 >> That is like a high highest level you

27:38 can get, I think.

27:40 >> Yeah, this was prime Connor. So just to

27:42 experience you know his mentality um how

27:45 he was like taking care of his body and

27:47 he was like a master manifesttor

27:50 especially at that time. So um you know

27:53 I feel like being around him

27:56 >> really inspired me at that age. So

28:00 >> yeah. Awesome. Now we talked about this

28:02 a little bit earlier in the episode. It

28:04 was you and Mr. T City himself. Um, how

28:08 where was uh where was this and what

28:10 kind of uh period in your life were you

28:12 in right there?

28:13 >> Yeah, so here we are at the Gracie

28:15 Academy training in the private room.

28:17 Um, me and Brian, we prepared for a lot

28:20 of camps in in these rooms. It's

28:23 basically just a room like this with,

28:25 you know, mats on the wall, uh, mats on

28:28 the ground. And um you know, we did a

28:30 lot of I think I did most of the

28:32 beginning of my pro debut or my pro

28:34 career, you know, training with Brian.

28:36 And uh you know, he really helped

28:38 sharpen my my jiu-jitsu skills, my

28:40 guillotines, my triangles. Um and yeah,

28:45 like I said, you know, gave me a lot of

28:46 experience and you know, becoming a man

28:49 and you know, having a different sort of

28:51 perspective on fighting. So yeah, shout

28:54 out to to Brian.

28:55 >> Shout out to Brian. [snorts] And uh do

28:57 you guys train train with music on or do

29:00 you guys just go just without music?

29:03 >> Um

29:05 yeah. Yeah, we train

29:06 >> with music cuz I'm always curious like

29:08 sometimes I'm in the training room

29:09 depends on what gym I'm at. Sometimes

29:10 there's like heavy metal playing. I'm

29:12 like, "Oh my god, this is insane." And

29:13 sometimes it's more chill. Um so I was

29:15 always curious to see like if the UFC

29:17 guys if they even train in music or they

29:19 stepped it.

29:19 >> Yeah. Yeah. Brian Brian would always

29:21 train with music. Um, and like if we

29:25 were doing a class at the Grace Academy,

29:27 obviously no music, but when it was just

29:29 sort of our our tight like group and

29:32 team, there was always good vibes

29:34 playing for sure.

29:34 >> Awesome. Now, last one here is you uh

29:37 getting your black belt here with uh

29:40 these your pops.

29:41 >> Yeah. So,

29:41 >> yeah. So, this was a moment in the

29:44 making from the day I was born. Um, you

29:47 know, he was the person that gave me my

29:49 white belt. So, for him to give me my

29:51 black belt was definitely a a full

29:53 circle moment. Um, and it was definitely

29:58 a a date that I'll never forget. I

30:01 actually have it tattooed on the inside

30:03 of my arm right here.

30:04 >> Oh, wow.

30:04 >> This is the day I got my black belt. So,

30:07 um, yeah, this was a moment that, you

30:09 know, I'll never forget. and just to

30:12 have him sort of get me get me started

30:14 in all of this and then sort of you know

30:16 tie the tie the belt that you know I

30:19 made it to the master level of jiu-jitsu

30:22 was you know obviously very special.

30:24 >> So much time in the making was it over

30:26 it was over 20 years correct?

30:28 >> Yeah. I mean I got my black belt pretty

30:30 late compared to a lot of the the guys

30:33 that I train with coming up. Um like for

30:36 instance the Rutella brothers they they

30:39 were always training or they were always

30:41 competing when uh when I was competing.

30:44 Me and my little sister were competing

30:46 and uh I know they got their black belts

30:48 before I did and I remember feeling like

30:50 ah when am I going to get my black belt

30:51 but just another testament that you know

30:54 everybody's journey is different. So we

30:57 talked a little bit about the past.

30:58 Let's talk about the future and what's

31:00 in store for you. How do you feel about

31:01 this uh next matchup?

31:02 >> Man I feel great. you know, I think um

31:06 everything's sort of playing out the way

31:07 it's supposed to um with my camp, with

31:11 the matchup, with everything. I'm I'm

31:13 really excited. In my mind, I was hoping

31:15 to fight um right here at the Apex,

31:19 >> you know, just cuz I'm living in Vegas.

31:20 It would be nice to just wake up and,

31:22 you know, go there and fight, but uh you

31:24 know, I think the universe had different

31:27 different cards in store for me. Um, so

31:29 I think fighting in an arena is

31:32 definitely sort of more my style and a

31:34 little more out of my comfort zone,

31:36 which I also like. Um, and yeah, no, I

31:39 can't I can't wait. You know,

31:40 everybody's asking me, you know, how do

31:42 you feel this and that, but honestly,

31:44 like I feel good right now, you know,

31:46 and that's what I'm focusing on, you

31:48 know, just taking it one day at a time,

31:50 being present through all my training

31:51 sessions, through everything the day

31:54 brings and um just kind of carrying that

31:56 energy into, you know, fight week, fight

31:59 night, and, you know, eventually getting

32:01 my hand raised. So, feel really good.

32:04 Nice. And just getting ready for that

32:07 first fight. I know your uh your family

32:09 and your crowd moves deep. I think they

32:10 made that very apparent at the Dana

32:12 White contenders. Like we never heard a

32:14 place go so crazy in this small small

32:17 arena. So I do think it would be cool

32:18 just to be able to, you know, bring as

32:20 many people out there and I think that

32:21 that card's really great. I think it's

32:23 Hernandez versus Strickland on the main

32:25 card. So we're going to be tuning in for

32:27 sure. Uh, I'm super excited and, you

32:29 know, once I was able to have the

32:30 opportunity to speak to you, it is just

32:32 awesome that there's, you know, six six

32:34 weeks away from from your first fight

32:36 and this is like the only time that we

32:38 can get to talk to you before your

32:39 debut. You know, it's like there's only

32:41 a certain pocket amount of time that I

32:43 don't know. I I think of things in a

32:45 certain way where it's just like all the

32:47 fights that you won, the few that you've

32:48 lost, like the way that they have ended

32:50 and has brought you here today and just

32:53 the the way you are. every uh little

32:55 injury, knockouts, all that stuff is

32:57 here and we get to have the opportunity.

32:59 I'm just so very grateful um to be able

33:01 to talk to you like that. But I

33:02 sometimes I like, you know, get in my

33:03 head a little bit when it comes to

33:04 things like that. But I'm just just

33:06 wanted to say I'm grateful and um

33:08 getting ready for this. Um are you going

33:11 to do the Armen Serukian back kick?

33:13 >> I don't know, bro. That was a that was a

33:16 funny little thing.

33:17 >> That was actually the first time I saw

33:18 you was that clip. I'm like, who's this

33:20 who's this guy? I'm like, okay. And

33:22 then, you know, saw a little bit more,

33:24 but I saw you did the the Armen Suruki

33:26 little back kick. I don't know if people

33:28 thought you were playing around or not

33:29 because they have to know some context.

33:31 >> I was trolling for sure. I was trolling.

33:33 But, uh, no, I mean, Arman's a hell of a

33:37 fighter. You know, he's Armenian. He's

33:39 somebody that, you know, I look up to in

33:41 the sport. Um, especially his fighting

33:43 style. Uh, so it was kind of like a

33:45 little tribute to him, but really like

33:48 me and my team, like we're just messing

33:50 around like constantly, bro. Like we we

33:53 we don't take anything serious. So we

33:55 were in the back. Um, my boy Bruno was

33:58 like like, "Are you going to do it? Are

34:00 you going to do it?" And I was like,

34:01 "No, I'm do it. Do it." And uh, it was

34:04 just kind of like me and him that knew

34:05 what was going on. And so when the

34:07 camera came out, I did it and threw a

34:09 little smirk. Um, but I think honestly I

34:12 I got to come up with my own thing.

34:14 >> Yeah.

34:15 >> Yeah, that would be sick, guys.

34:16 >> Definitely a little zest sprinkle,

34:18 [laughter]

34:18 you know? But,

34:20 >> um, yeah, I'm going to be spending the

34:21 majority of this camp kind of dialing in

34:24 whatever zesty move I'm going to do.

34:26 >> Okay. That's where the

34:27 >> on the fight warm up. Yeah. I think

34:28 there's something super funny about, you

34:30 know, when like they show the people

34:32 like warming up.

34:33 >> I see Derrick Lewis, I'm like, "Bro,

34:35 people are doing like the dumbest things

34:37 ever." Yeah.

34:38 >> It's like that's definitely the type of

34:39 energy I'm trying to bring.

34:40 >> I thought they were live. I thought they

34:41 were like live. I'm like, "Okay, he's

34:43 getting ready." Oh, he looks

34:44 >> That's crazy just seeing that.

34:47 >> Um,

34:47 >> so I want to talk about the Cobra team

34:49 for a little bit just because we got

34:50 able to, you know, talk to Shane after

34:52 his win. You talked about how, you know,

34:53 you guys are intimate group. You know,

34:55 there's a lot of these gyms that just

34:56 have hundreds of fighters and you can

34:58 don't really have that connection. Like,

34:59 what do you think makes the Cobra team

35:01 different from, you know, other other

35:02 squads out there?

35:05 I think the main thing that makes us

35:08 different is that we are all like

35:12 family, you know, like we're I went to

35:14 high school with Shane, you know, Shane

35:17 Shane's best friends with Jonathan.

35:19 >> I've known Bruno for like over seven

35:22 years.

35:22 >> Aussie as well, right?

35:23 >> Bruno's known Aussie for longer than

35:25 that. So, you know, our our we all kind

35:28 of mesh really well together and um you

35:32 know, we are all like individually

35:35 selfish in our own careers,

35:37 >> but we also take the five of us like our

35:40 careers just as seriously. So, you know,

35:43 anytime we get a matchup, it gets sent

35:44 to our team group chat. We all will

35:46 study film. We'll send a breakdown. Um

35:49 and ultimately, we'll all decide, you

35:51 know, whether to take the fight, whether

35:52 to look for a different matchup or

35:54 whatever it may be. Um, but essentially

35:57 that's that's kind of what separates us

35:59 and also just like kind of just how

36:02 we're a bunch. It feels like we're a

36:03 bunch of kids, you know, just having

36:04 fun.

36:04 >> You guys move deep once we saw you guys

36:06 walk out. We had our little cameras out.

36:08 It's like, yeah, this is like a legit

36:10 team. Like you could tell that there's

36:11 some care and

36:12 >> we got motion for sure.

36:13 >> Yeah, you guys got motion. We got

36:14 motion. I really enjoyed your coaching,

36:16 especially for Jonathan's match. You

36:17 know, you're talking about like

36:18 conserving the energy and not being, you

36:20 know, not squeezing too hard right away.

36:22 I feel like, you know, maybe with all

36:24 the adrenaline and stuff, it's kind of

36:25 hard to think of not to just spend the

36:26 whole gas tank like that. And also with

36:28 Shane, it was a little bit of a

36:29 different coaching style, um, which was

36:31 I don't know, as as a fan, I'm like,

36:33 okay, he's he's trying to, you know,

36:35 help his guy out here and obviously it

36:38 helped out. So, how was it being like

36:40 kind of like a coach as well, you know,

36:42 being in their ear, understanding them?

36:44 How was what have you learned from from

36:45 that role?

36:46 >> So, the fact that we've been together

36:48 for so long, we all know each other's

36:49 styles really well. So, we know kind of

36:52 what what uh Shane's thinking, you know,

36:55 or what Jonathan's thinking or what they

36:57 want to do. Um, so it makes it really

36:59 easy for us to kind of coach and, you

37:01 know, say, you know, what we want in in

37:03 the fight. Um, and obviously like you

37:08 know things can happen in a fight or

37:10 whatever, but ultimately like we all

37:14 kind of have that chemistry and know

37:16 each other to where we know where we're

37:20 we're strong, where we're weak, and what

37:22 we need to do in order to, you know, win

37:24 those positions or win those moments.

37:26 Um, and I think the greatest addition to

37:29 our team since last December was our

37:33 head coach, Matteas. He was sort of the

37:36 missing key piece to the Cobra team. Um,

37:40 and we met him here at the PI and ever

37:43 since we met him, we kind of just hit it

37:44 off. He's very like-minded and he's

37:47 really taken all of our skill sets to a

37:49 completely different level. So, how has

37:52 the PI been, especially as a person

37:53 who's like always, you know, dreamed

37:55 about being in the UFC? I saw a video of

37:57 you getting to the, you know, the

37:58 facility and you're like your eyes lit

38:00 up like, "Oh my gosh, like I'm I'm

38:01 here." How has that just being able to

38:03 walk into a gym and you're just like,

38:04 "Oh, there's this guy, there's that

38:06 guy." It's got to feel like a GTA lobby

38:08 just seeing just

38:09 >> like, "Oh my god, there's there's

38:10 Brandon Marino, there's this guy." Like,

38:11 how how does it feel like, you know,

38:13 training there? I'm sure you got a

38:14 little used to it by now, but

38:15 >> yeah, definitely gotten more used to it.

38:17 But I would say the first couple months

38:19 that we were there, it's like, you know,

38:20 kid in the candy shop, like, you know,

38:24 everything about it is so cool. The the

38:26 recovery room, you know, the mat space

38:29 upstairs, um the prestige of it all, you

38:32 know, the exclusivity of like having to

38:35 sign in and you got to know somebody to

38:37 get in there. Not everybody can get in

38:39 there. Um, so for a long time I was a

38:44 guest. You know, shout out to Azie for

38:46 getting signed. You know, I would use

38:47 his name for many months preparing for

38:49 my LFA fights and ultimately for the

38:52 Contender Series. If it wasn't for him,

38:54 I wouldn't even be able to get in there.

38:55 So, um, you know, there was many days

38:58 where I would show up to the PI like

39:00 early cuz I like getting to the gym

39:02 early and I would just be sitting at the

39:04 front desk waiting for a fighter that I

39:05 knew to like walk in through the door so

39:08 that I could sign in with their name and

39:09 then use the facility. Um, so that

39:12 really taught me like the the privilege

39:15 that it is to be there. So, there's no

39:17 day that I'm there that I take it for

39:18 granted, you know, I'm always there to,

39:20 you know, make the most of it. Um

39:22 because I know what it's like to not be

39:24 able to even get in there. So,

39:26 >> well, you're definitely a go-getter. I

39:28 mean, just trying to get the opportunity

39:29 to go train with these guys. I feel like

39:31 [clears throat] even you've been

39:32 training for so long, maybe some people

39:33 would feel like, you know, I've I've had

39:35 so much experience, I don't really, you

39:36 know, I've been training with the

39:37 Gracies, you know, you still have that

39:39 urge to to get better. And it's just

39:40 like

39:41 >> I will never lose that. I will never

39:43 lose that.

39:43 >> Where do you think that came from?

39:45 >> I think it's honestly insecurity.

39:48 >> Really?

39:48 >> Yeah. 100%.

39:49 >> Okay. I like that% like

39:52 >> with the second you think you're the man

39:53 and you think you don't need to do this

39:55 or that, like that's when you know

39:57 you're falling off. And for me, like I

40:00 feel like I balance it really well. Like

40:02 when it's time to perform, I'm the man.

40:04 You know, nobody can beat me. But

40:07 outside of, you know, those [snorts] 15

40:08 minutes, I'm complete imposttor syndrome

40:12 in the sense that I'm like trying to do

40:13 the most to to improve as much as

40:15 possible and be the best version of

40:18 myself that I can possibly be. Um, so I

40:21 think that truly like my insecurities

40:24 fuel me to be the best version of

40:26 myself. And um, I don't think there'll

40:28 ever be a day where I'm like, "All

40:31 right, I can take my foot off the gas at

40:33 all." I've never done that in my life.

40:35 win, lose, I always show up and, you

40:38 know, try to do my best to keep

40:40 improving.

40:40 >> I see. And like trying to keep up with

40:42 that insecurity thing, what are some

40:44 like non-negotiables for you like when

40:45 it comes to training or when you wake

40:47 up, like what are some things that

40:48 you're hitting and you can't miss? Like

40:50 those are the things that you get done.

40:53 >> First thing that comes to mind is lemon

40:55 water.

40:55 >> Lemon water. Okay. I wake up, get some

40:57 lemon water, a little hydration um in

41:00 me, and then uh to be honest, like it's

41:05 very rare that I ever miss any session.

41:08 Like if it's on my schedule, I'm doing

41:09 it. It doesn't matter how I feel.

41:11 >> Um and I think for me, the hardest part

41:14 is resting.

41:16 >> Um like taking time off, taking a day

41:18 off.

41:18 >> You feel guilt if you feel like you're

41:20 not doing what you're supposed to be

41:21 doing.

41:22 >> Yeah, for sure. Guilt. Um, and then also

41:25 just like an itch of like, oh, I want to

41:26 like do something. I want to want to get

41:29 better. I want to train. I want to, you

41:30 know, whatever. Um, but really like the

41:33 rest is just as important, if not even

41:36 more important than training. So, I

41:38 think it's a good problem to have. You

41:39 know, it could be could be the other way

41:41 around where, you know, my coach is

41:42 calling me trying to get me to practice

41:44 on time or whatever, but that's never

41:46 the case.

41:46 >> I think Kobe had a thing. It's like if

41:48 you had someone struggling to get in the

41:49 gym, like that's a red flag. like you

41:51 should always be in the gym and then

41:53 we'll work from there. So I always I

41:54 always try to think of those types of

41:56 quotes or

41:57 >> you know just getting up and doing the

41:59 thing would be a little bit better if

42:00 you know I feel like for me personally

42:02 sometimes I deal with a lot of like like

42:04 procrastination or stuff like that and

42:06 just like what I realize helps me is

42:08 just starting and then I'll figure it

42:10 out later. I don't know have to feel

42:11 like it but

42:13 >> um yeah every time I I do some workouts

42:15 I'm thinking of like a UFC fighter. I'm

42:16 like, yo, if I'm if I'm going on this

42:18 run, I got I got to beat my last time or

42:21 I got to at least push myself where I

42:23 feel like I didn't leave anything on the

42:24 table. I feel like that's the kind of

42:25 the hardest thing uh for me personally

42:27 is like when I get to the training room

42:29 and I feel like if I left something in

42:30 there, like I feel terrible. I'm like I

42:33 that can't happen. So hearing that just

42:35 those little non-negotiables, I feel

42:37 like, you know, they go a long way. And

42:38 you instilled these since since a kid,

42:41 right? You're like, I'm not missing a

42:42 training session. That's got to be hard

42:43 on the body, though, since you're, you

42:45 know,

42:47 Yeah, it's hard on the body if you don't

42:49 take care of your body.

42:50 >> You do ice baths, right?

42:51 >> Yeah, I do ice baths, sauna, I do yoga,

42:54 I stretch a bunch, I get now I get PT at

42:58 the PI, so I'm doing everything.

43:00 >> Hot yoga has got to be so hard to do,

43:01 >> bro. It's harder than fighting,

43:03 >> dude. I I like

43:04 >> hot yoga.

43:05 >> If I were to pop in there, I'm look like

43:07 a freaking fighting fool.

43:09 >> Trust me, bro. Hot yoga is harder than

43:11 fighting. Like,

43:11 >> when did you start that? if it's harder

43:13 than fighting. Like

43:13 >> I started that in middle school. Um but

43:17 I didn't really start taking it

43:18 seriously I would say until maybe four

43:22 years ago.

43:23 >> But it's a big like it's the yin to my

43:25 yang, you know, like fighting is just

43:28 such a crazy thing going hard all the

43:30 time. And yoga is more so like you and

43:32 your body. Um and you're kind of more so

43:36 battling yourself instead of somebody

43:38 else. So, um, yeah, it's some it's a big

43:41 part of my training for sure. And, um,

43:45 there's moments when I'm in the heated

43:48 room where I'll look at my watch, my

43:50 heart rate's at like 190.

43:52 >> Yeah. I feel like my heart's going to

43:54 explode and I'm like, "Bro, this is way

43:56 harder than fighting." And then there's

43:58 some like 60-year-old lady who's just

44:00 like totally vibing. I'm like, "Bro,

44:02 how?" [laughter] I do want to try. Maybe

44:04 one day we'll just try. I'm not even

44:06 flex. I feel like flexibility is

44:08 something I really want to work on. You

44:10 know, you see guys like Eddie Bravo

44:11 doing all this like

44:12 >> crazy like me hook and rubber guard, all

44:14 this type of stuff. It's like how do how

44:16 do you even get to that point where

44:17 you're able to do all that type of

44:18 stuff? But

44:19 >> yeah, I'll definitely definitely try it

44:20 out.

44:21 >> And um I listened to it was one of your

44:24 buddies that the podcast you did a few

44:26 years ago. His name Sunny. Yeah, Sunny.

44:28 So you the

44:30 >> in the beginning he was talking about

44:31 the your walk out and kind of like you

44:33 know your ice bath and the walk out

44:35 because it was ice baths like super

44:37 difficult to do. Do you still feel that

44:39 feel that way with you don't?

44:41 >> It's still hard, but like I don't view

44:44 the walk out as being hard anymore, you

44:46 know? And I think that's a perfect

44:48 example of like how you change over

44:50 time, you know, at that point in my

44:52 life, you know,

44:53 >> great podcast by the way. It was I

44:55 really I just

44:56 >> Yeah. Shout out to Shout.

44:57 >> Yeah. Okay. But uh no, at that time, you

45:01 know, I viewed the walk out as like this

45:03 crazy thing right before you fight and

45:05 like, oh my god, you know, and and the

45:08 cold plunge was sort of that, too, you

45:10 know, just like, oh, this is going to

45:12 suck. Like, I don't want to do this.

45:13 But, like I said, now I'm just like,

45:16 bro, whatever. You know, what's going to

45:18 happen is going to happen. I'm just

45:20 going to just flow through whatever I'm

45:23 feeling and um it'll work itself out.

45:25 So, what's your walk out song? Very

45:28 curious.

45:28 >> I don't know.

45:28 >> Oh, you don't know yet?

45:29 >> I don't know. I've had many.

45:31 >> I thought you were like one of those

45:32 guys who just has one.

45:34 >> Okay. I've had many. I've had many. So,

45:36 I've got a [snorts] few that I'm sort of

45:38 like rotating for for this fight. I

45:40 haven't really figured it out quite yet,

45:42 but

45:43 >> um I think it's going to be good.

45:45 >> I don't know. I listen I I asked him

45:46 like, "What kind of music do you like?"

45:47 I'm talking like 50 Cent. I'm like, "I

45:49 love 50 Cent.

45:50 >> Maybe you get some 50 Cent out there." I

45:52 listen to that. Just trying to get in

45:53 the right head space, you know? Listen

45:54 to hip-hop a little bit, you know? I

45:56 think also like the the fans got to vibe

45:58 with it too, you know, like that energy

46:00 of like you're vibing, they're vibing,

46:03 >> it's uh it's it's more powerful that

46:06 way. So, I got to find something that's

46:08 good, something that sticks. Okay. So,

46:10 like going into your UFC career, like I

46:13 know it's kind of like a weird question

46:16 to ask of like what kind of what kind of

46:18 mark are you trying to leave in this

46:20 game that we're in? like what what do

46:22 you think you want to be known for or

46:26 by?

46:28 Yeah, that's a good question. Um,

46:32 I mean, honestly, like the first thing

46:34 that comes to mind is just like me, like

46:37 myself, you know, being genuine, being

46:40 authentic, not trying to like be

46:42 somebody that I'm not. Um, while still

46:46 letting like my skills speak for

46:47 themselves. And uh yeah, like I I I I

46:52 feel like the most powerful

46:54 um energy that you can bring is

46:57 authenticity. And that's really what I'm

46:59 trying to channel, you know, and I feel

47:01 like as long as I'm being myself, um

47:03 love it or hate it, uh I'm going to feel

47:06 good about it. Um in terms of like

47:09 skills and accomplishments,

47:11 I growing up I was like, I want to be

47:14 the UFC champion. I want to be the UFC

47:15 champion. But more than anything, I want

47:18 to be the best version of myself and

47:21 like go to my fullest potential. If that

47:24 means being a champ, great. If that

47:26 means being ranked, great. If that means

47:28 none of that, great. But as long as I

47:31 put my like all into this and I achieve

47:34 my fullest potential without holding

47:36 myself back, then I'm going to be at

47:38 peace with it.

47:39 >> Dude, I kind of [clears throat] saw you

47:40 as a lion for like half a second. That

47:42 was [laughter] really weird. But hey, I

47:44 think that that mindset going into there

47:47 was just like or going into a fight in

47:50 general is like you are putting

47:52 everything out there. You know, you got

47:53 the cameras on. It's just you at the end

47:55 of the day. So, I was very curious on

47:56 asking you that type of question just

47:58 because, you know, you're going into

47:59 UFC, you're making your debut and you

48:01 want other people to kind of, you know,

48:02 see all the hard work that you put in.

48:04 We only get to see this much of how much

48:06 you've put in. And I just want to know

48:08 what kind of what are the things that

48:10 people don't get to hear or or or see

48:13 from uh a person who's been trained his

48:15 whole life to to to fight in the UFC.

48:22 I mean,

48:24 I guess

48:27 like obviously like waking up feeling

48:30 pretty trashed from the training before

48:32 and still deciding to show up to

48:33 practice is is a big part of it. Um, and

48:36 then, you know, moving out here to Vegas

48:39 has been a huge sacrifice. Um, you know,

48:42 I lived grow grew up in LA my entire

48:44 life. So, um, making the move out here

48:48 to Vegas. I live with two of my

48:50 teammates. You know, me and Shane, we

48:52 share a room. I sleep on a little twin

48:54 bed.

48:55 >> Okay.

48:56 >> Um, and, you know, it's a very humble

48:58 life. And

49:01 you know, I think the biggest thing

49:03 honestly for me is like, you know, I I

49:08 guess I would say I come from like a

49:10 little bit of money, you know, like I I

49:12 wouldn't have to fight at all, you know,

49:14 like I could very much just be like some

49:16 spoiled rich kid 100%. You know, I could

49:19 just be living that lifestyle, doing

49:21 whatever I want, like living off of mom

49:23 and dad, and I would be good. But, you

49:26 know, I choose to fight because this is

49:28 what I want to do, you know, and it's

49:30 not easy. And, you know, I try my best

49:33 to not be, you know, a spoiled little

49:35 kid or whatever. But, um, you know, I'm

49:38 really trying to, you know, make my own

49:40 path, make my own money, make my own

49:42 reputation. And, uh, you know, I feel

49:45 like, you know, this fight in Houston is

49:47 going to be the start of that. When did

49:49 you make the move out here?

49:51 >> Last December.

49:52 >> Last December. So, about a year.

49:54 >> Okay. Yeah. Wow. So,

49:57 >> no. No. Two December ago.

49:59 >> Two December.

49:59 >> Yeah. So, I've been out here for about a

50:01 year.

50:01 >> Okay. Yeah.

50:02 >> And this is like uh similar to Cody

50:04 Steel. He kind of moved from Texas to to

50:08 Vegas to pursue the same dream. Like um

50:11 yesterday you guys posted that you guys

50:13 were training with Cody Steel and Andrew

50:14 Tacket. Like how was that experience

50:16 being able to

50:17 >> to uh roll with those types of guys?

50:19 Because like we just had we had Cody

50:20 Steel on and got to talk to him and it's

50:22 like man both these guys know each

50:24 other. You guys also compete against

50:25 each other

50:26 >> uh back in the day. You know, a little

50:27 bit of palm strikes here, but you had

50:29 longer hair.

50:30 >> So, um yeah. Well, um you know, how has

50:32 that been? You know, me and these guys

50:34 having the relationships and just, you

50:35 know, being able to kind of like,

50:37 >> you know, build live this journey along

50:39 with other people who are pursuing, you

50:41 know, their own type of

50:42 >> Yeah. So, Cody's like one of the nicest

50:44 guys ever. I've seen I've been seeing

50:46 him at the PI for, you know, about a

50:48 year and it wasn't until last night that

50:50 we finally got to train together. Um but

50:54 yeah, you know, he I think his journey

50:57 is sort of similar to mine cuz he came

50:59 came up through the Contender Series. Um

51:02 so before I had my fight, you know, he

51:03 was kind of giving me some pointers and

51:06 uh you know, telling me, you know, what

51:07 his experience was like just to give me

51:09 a little heads up. Um and you know,

51:11 everything worked out. I got signed and

51:13 you know, now he's telling me, you know,

51:15 what his debut was like. Um, so it's

51:17 just cool to get, you know, that

51:19 experience from somebody who's already

51:20 done it. And, uh, yeah, we we got some

51:24 rounds in last night. Um, Cody,

51:26 >> no strikes.

51:27 >> No, no,

51:27 >> no. I was just kind in with the the EBI

51:30 that you

51:31 >> I mean, yeah, Cody was giving me good

51:33 looks. He was, you know, throwing little

51:34 punches in certain positions just to

51:36 keep me honest. But,

51:38 >> um,

51:38 >> yeah, Cody and Andrew were, you know,

51:41 best in the world. So, uh, training with

51:44 them was definitely, uh, a big

51:46 confidence boost in the sense that, uh,

51:49 you know, if I can just like hang with

51:51 these guys, you know, I feel pretty

51:53 good. So,

51:54 >> um, I'm looking forward to training with

51:56 them a lot. And, you know, I train with

51:58 Hinato Kunto quite a bit, too.

52:00 >> Go see JJ.

52:02 >> Yeah. He's a, uh,

52:03 >> even his wife, right?

52:04 >> Yeah. And is amazing, man. He's he's one

52:07 of the best people, best humans out

52:09 there. And, uh, you know, he's helped me

52:11 a lot. So just you know having guys like

52:13 that here in Vegas having access to them

52:15 and and learning from them it's it's all

52:18 you know not just in my belt and and

52:20 experience. So okay next question that I

52:23 had for you was um if you had the chance

52:25 to speak to your white belt self or just

52:29 you know maybe around 5 years old 6

52:31 years old um what would you tell him

52:33 before uh like say you saw you saw him

52:36 and you're like hey man what what would

52:37 you go what would you say? Yeah, if I

52:40 were to speak to my white belt self, I

52:42 would say

52:43 your life is going to be absolutely

52:45 nothing like you expect it to be. Like

52:49 nothing at all, but it's going to be

52:50 amazing. And just sort of trust that. Um

52:54 cuz I think I had a lot of expectations

52:56 growing up. You know, I had a lot of

52:57 goals that, you know, I thought I was

53:00 going to achieve, you know, different

53:02 paths I was going to go down and

53:04 ultimately like none of that happened.

53:07 And uh it was all very different than

53:10 what I expected, but in the end, you

53:12 know, it was beautiful. So, you know,

53:14 I'm here about to make my debut. Um

53:17 that's that was one thing that, you

53:18 know, I definitely wanted. So, that came

53:21 true, but it was not how I thought it

53:23 would for sure.

53:24 >> What pointers would you can like give

53:26 them like, "Hey, man, just do a little

53:28 bit of this. Be all right."

53:30 >> Yeah. Um,

53:33 I mean, I think the biggest thing for me

53:35 was like just don't stress so much, you

53:39 know, like stressing about, you know,

53:41 winning or losing or, you know, having

53:43 certain expectations. It's it's all um

53:47 just made up nonsense in your mind. And

53:51 if you can find a way to just not

53:54 stress, life is like so much better. Um,

53:58 and thinking about it right now,

54:00 actually at the 559 fights, I was in the

54:02 back and I was like looking at some of

54:04 the fighters just like petrified like

54:08 you know pre-fight feels of like damn

54:10 like I'm about to go walk out there and

54:13 you feel that energy and I've been there

54:16 many times in my career and I had this

54:18 moment of I just like smiled to myself

54:20 and I was like I'm past that now and

54:23 that's that's amazing, you know, like

54:25 this isn't this big scary thing for me

54:27 anymore. more. You know, this is just

54:29 another day. And honestly, I never

54:32 thought I would be in this position.

54:35 >> Really?

54:35 >> Yeah.

54:36 >> Hearing that is kind of crazy of being

54:37 someone who's trained their whole life.

54:39 And that's

54:41 >> Yeah. No, I think part of that has made

54:44 me as good as I am now having that

54:46 pressure. But now I actually can enjoy

54:49 it, you know? I can actually enjoy what

54:51 I'm doing. So, that's nice. Where have

54:53 you felt like you were like in alignment

54:55 where things just felt right? You know,

54:57 things were just moving and you're like,

54:59 "This is this is something where I feel

55:01 like I'm on the right path right now."

55:04 Right now, being right here, you know,

55:06 having this conversation with you, um,

55:09 you know, I feel like what you're saying

55:11 is very like-minded to, you know, how I

55:13 roll. And um I think to be in alignment

55:18 is

55:20 if if you're doing it right, it should

55:21 be how you're breathing, how you're

55:22 living constantly. You're constantly in

55:25 alignment. And I have moments when I can

55:27 feel myself coming out of line and I'll

55:29 bring myself back. Um and I think those

55:32 moments help show you what's right and

55:34 wrong, right? So

55:36 >> yeah. Yeah. Wow. That's it's awesome to

55:38 hear. I mean, I didn't really expect

55:40 that answer, but yeah. I just feel like,

55:41 you know, when I'm when I'm talking and

55:44 speaking to you, I feel like there's

55:45 certain um certain feelings that you

55:48 kind of get to have when you're having a

55:50 conversation. And I think that's

55:52 something I really enjoy from doing

55:53 podcast and stuff just because uh

55:55 there's a lot of external factors of,

55:57 you know, other things. And it's it's

55:58 cool to have like a one-on-one cuz

55:59 sometimes I do online ones and online

56:01 ones are cool, but I feel like they're

56:02 not they don't really hit the same. So,

56:04 I think it's it's cool to meet you, you

56:06 know, shake your hand, do all that

56:07 stuff. So, um,

56:08 >> I want to shake your hand. Where's that

56:10 from? Where's that from? Am I missing a

56:12 am I missing a

56:13 >> You got to look it up. You got to look

56:14 up. Oh, man.

56:17 >> You'll have to clip it. You [laughter]

56:18 have to clip it.

56:20 >> It's this dude on a plane. It's this

56:22 dude on the plane and like I guess he

56:24 had like an argument with somebody.

56:27 >> He just wanted to shake his hand.

56:28 >> Shake his hand.

56:29 >> I think I want to shake your hand.

56:31 >> I've watched so many short form things.

56:33 My brain's kind of fried at this point,

56:35 but I'm sure once I see it.

56:37 >> It's a good one, bro. It's a good one.

56:39 >> Right there. We I'll definitely add that

56:40 in the notes, but um yeah, man. I mean,

56:43 just getting ready for your your debut,

56:45 I feel like is is something that, you

56:46 know, we all want to see, but you know,

56:48 I'm sure you're locked in everything you

56:49 have to do. I just want to say thank you

56:51 for coming on and, you know, sharing

56:52 your story and hopefully other people

56:54 are get inspired, start training, start

56:56 doing something where they're able to

56:58 achieve um that type of stuff. I I

57:00 always get inspired when I hear Israel

57:02 Adosana talking about when you go on the

57:03 mic when you beat Pereira like I wish

57:05 you guys could feel this level of

57:06 happiness right now and I feel there's

57:08 so much work that has to be done to be

57:09 able to do that but you know the the was

57:13 it the gold at the end of the rainbow

57:15 like you have to yeah you have to have

57:16 something in front of you to chase and I

57:18 feel like you're you're there and I

57:19 don't even think that you know this this

57:21 is just the beginning you know you're

57:22 you're you've had your whole life

57:24 getting ready for this point but we're

57:26 also getting ready for the next chapter

57:27 so

57:28 >> best of best of luck to you man. Thank

57:29 you so much, bro. And, you know, that's

57:31 that's felt. It's matched. And, uh, you

57:34 know, I appreciate you guys having me on

57:35 and having this conversation, getting

57:37 the opportunity to, you know, share a

57:39 little bit about me, learn a little bit

57:41 about you guys. And, uh, yeah.

57:43 Hopefully, this uh, this ages really

57:45 well, I guess. Yes. Yes. Thank you.

57:47 Thank you, Jean Paul. Of

57:48 >> course. And also, thank you to my broke

57:51 behind the camera again. Wa got three

57:54 cameras going on. So, yeah. Thank you,

57:55 man. Of

57:56 >> course. Got it done. Got it done. Cool.

57:58 That was awesome. That was awesome.

58:00 >> Follow I'll have your links for your

58:01 Instagram, your You have a you have a

58:03 couple, you know, I have a photography

58:04 one. I don't know if it's like lowkey or

58:06 not. You want people to find it?

58:07 >> Go for it.

58:08 >> Yeah. Just uh check them out on

58:10 Instagram. Check out the Cobra team on

58:12 Instagram as well, guys. Um you know,

58:14 want to give a shout out to Drew as

58:16 well. He's the one that kind of like

58:17 like, oh, check out check out Jean Paul.

58:19 And you know, I started doing more

58:20 research and it's like, yeah, this is

58:21 like a lot of work in the making and,

58:24 you know, we'll be able to to see you

58:26 perform and do your thing.

58:29 >> Oh, yeah. Let's get it.

58:31 >> All right.

58:33 >> Thanks, boys. Thank you, man.