
Most fighters train their body. Ode Osbourne trains his mind first. UFC veteran Ode Osbourne sits down with Sean before his big fight in Houston to talk about pressure, fight prep, mental toughness, and why the best fighters don’t fight with anger. Ode breaks down what it really takes to survive in the UFC, where the average career is only a few fights. He shares how growing up in Jamaica, getting lost in the woods, wrestling in Florida and Wisconsin, and constantly having his back against the wall shaped him into the fighter he is today. They also get into weight cuts, training at the UFC Performance Institute, Dana White’s growing combat sports empire, Power Slap, meeting Brett Favre in the locker room, social media dopamine, iPad kids, resilience, haters, and why calmness beats rage inside the cage. This episode is about fighting, but it’s really about discipline, pressure, and becoming harder to break. ⏱️ Chapters 0:00 Anger Makes You Weak 0:29 Fight Week Mindset 1:56 Sur...
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A
Teaches you how to be resilient when you're out there in the woods. Nowadays, these iPad kids aren't so resilient. All those dopamine hits from being on social media at the age of 5, 6, 7, 8 slows your brain down. You're not supposed to fight with anger, rage. It lowers your cardio. It makes you tense, makes you stiff, and then so it's harder to breathe. Everything is stiff. The best way to fight is actually to not fight.
B
All right, guys. Got O day right before his big fight in Houston, February 21st, two weeks.
A
Yep.
B
How you feeling?
A
I feel pretty good, man. I feel pretty locked in. I've had some great sparring rounds. You know, Alex Perez just fought Charles Johnson before that fight. I was his main sparring partner, so he gave me some great rounds. I've been working a lot with Al Jermaine, you know, Hanato Canuto. I've got some great guys in the gym. You know, Dewey Cooper, my. My head coach is just phenomenal.
B
Oh, I know. Dewey's been on the show.
A
Oh, yeah?
B
Yeah. Small world, man.
A
He. He's my head coach.
B
He's.
A
He's phenomenal, man. I've been with him for three years now.
B
Wow.
A
Love every year. Just been leveling up, man. Leveling up. So I feel mentally sharp.
B
How do you feel about the opponent? Would you say he's your toughest matchup to date, or.
A
I think every matchup, every fight is going to be my toughest fight. That's the mindset going into a fight, because you don't know, you know? So I. I psychologically tell myself that every fight is your toughest fight, but I personally feel that, you know, man, I don't think he is ready for me. I think he's a little bit unseasoned, but we'll see what happens.
B
Yeah, he's the runner up of the recent Ultimate Fighter. Yeah, my fighter. That's. So he's got the young energy.
A
Yep, he got the young energy. A little spazzy, you know what I mean? And I'm. I'm a veteran. I'm gonna welcome him into the UFC. I'm about to have my 13th, actually, my 14th fight in the UFC. So, you know, he's gonna face the lights, the music, the crowd, all that stuff. So I'm gonna make sure I. I put it on him and see what he's about.
B
Respect, man. Yeah. Not a lot of fighters make it to 13. I think the average career is four fights, right?
A
Three. Three. Yeah. Wow.
B
Huh? That is nothing.
A
It's Nothing.
B
It's like a year or two.
A
Yeah, yeah. Most people get cut after on their first contract.
B
Wow.
A
Average. Average, I should say.
B
Did you know that going into this or you just found that out recently?
A
No, actually my manager told me that about year and a half ago.
B
Okay. That's crazy though. That's a lot of pressure.
A
It is, it's, it is a lot of pressure. And I'm grateful to have made it to 14 fights, you know. Cause I remember my first fight, my second fight, you know what I mean? I'm just like, man, am I going to get out of this contract? You know what I mean? My back was against the wall and I'm just like, wow. I got to, I fought out all the fights. I fought my, I fought out every fight on my first contract, every fight on my second contract, every fight on my third contract, now my fourth contract, you know, so it's like, man, I'm always put into a position where my back is against the wall and I got to go get it. Like my last contract it was Luis guerule, he was 100 from Denver and that was the last fight. And I'm just like, man, this guy is 10 0. He's never lost before. But I know I'm a dog and I know I got hands. So let's, let's, let's see what he's about.
B
Let's get it, you know what I mean? That must be intimidating.
A
Oh, it was a little bit nerve wracking, you know what I mean? But I was just like, you know what? God got me, I'm just going to do, go in there and do me. And then before that it was Charles Johnson. That was the last fight on my, on my third contract or second contract, it was Charles Johnson. I'm like, man, Charles was on a run and you know, it was probably my toughest fight because I had to dig deep for that one.
B
Yeah, yeah. So you're sounds like you're really good under pressure.
A
I am, I am. I'm very good under pressure.
B
When your back's against the wall, it sounds like you know how to deliver.
A
I do, I do.
B
What would you attribute that to? Because that's pretty mental, right at that state.
A
I would say probably from past experiences in life, you know what I'm saying? Because growing up I feel like my back was always against the wall in different situations in life. You know, coming to America and just not knowing if I was gonna make it in certain aspects, like wrestling, you know what I'm saying? I didn't know if I was gonna be go to college or not. But I knew that that was what I wanted to do. And in order to get to college, you got to prove yourself. In order to prove yourself, you got to place at the state tournament. So I knew I had to place at the state tournament or at least make it to the state tournament, and I did that. I placed. I was the first person to place three times at the state tournament.
B
Wow.
A
Yeah.
B
So sophomore or junior? Senior year.
A
Yep, sophomore. I started my freshman year.
B
Wow.
A
Placed all three years.
B
That's insane. What state was that?
A
Florida.
B
Florida. How's the wrestling scene out there?
A
It's pretty good. College is. Is. It's still not what it should be compared to the Midwest. That's why I ended up moving to Wisconsin, because I wanted that high level wrestling.
B
Yeah, that's where all the wrestling goats come out of, right?
A
Yeah.
B
Something in the corn out there, man. What's going on? The Midwest.
A
Cheese. Cheese. That's where I wrestled at. I was in Wisconsin.
B
Yeah, there's not much to do there, right? Cheese. And Russell.
A
Actually, actually, Milwaukee, man, Milwaukee is a dope city. It's like a smaller Chicago.
B
Is it? I've never been there.
A
If you ever get a chance to go to Milwau, Milwaukee, it's like the lost city of Atlantis. Milwaukee is so much fun. It's a really awesome city. The people are cool. Yeah, it's an.
B
It's a super Milwaukee, man.
A
Yeah, man. It's a hidden gem. Speaking of, I met. I met Brett Favre in the locker room yesterday for the. Yeah. And I didn't even know it was Brett Favre because I'm just. You know what I mean? I'm in the locker room and I'm literally in my underwear. And he comes in with my old grappling coach, Jason, and he's like, hey, I'm Brett. And I shake his hand. What's going on? I still didn't know it was Brett Favre. And, you know, we're having a conversation, and he's like. He's like, man, you're shredded. Like, yo, how much do you weigh? And I was like, you know, right Now I'm like, 143. He's like, well, what do you got to cut to? I'm like, 25. He's like, what? 25? How you supposed to do that? And I kind of tell him, like, look, you waterload, you diet, and you got to believe discipline. And he's like, well, how much water do you drink? I was like, it depends. So I start with 2 gallons, and then I go 1 gallon. So I go. I do 2 gallons a day for about a week. And he's like, don't you wake up in the middle of the night and piss everywhere? He's like, I'm old, man. I got to get up every night and limp to the bathroom. I'm like, see, that's why you got to start with one gallon. And then, you know, I was like, what was your name again? And he was like, brett. And then my. My jiu jitsu coach was like, that's Brett Favre. I was like, oh, you're Brett Favre. I was like, oh, Brett Favre. Brett Favre.
B
One of the greatest. Yes.
A
And I was like, I feel like an idiot because I came here from Milwaukee, and I should know who you are, because all of my friends are huge fans of you.
B
Yeah, he's everywhere there.
A
Yeah, man, everywhere. He's. He's a super, super cool, awesome dude, man. We ended up talking for, like, 15, 20 minutes in my underwear in the locker room.
B
That's when you're bonding.
A
Yeah, man, it was. It was cool. It was super dope, man. Super, super dope.
B
That's probably one of the perks of being a fighter. All sorts of people want to watch your craft, right? Yeah, the ufc. I just went to the fight a couple of weeks ago, dude, everyone was there.
A
Everybody was there, man. Y. He said he's going to tune into my fight and everything like that. But, yeah, Two. Was that Patty.
B
Patty's fight?
A
Yeah, yeah, I was there for the. Everyone was there crazy fight. Yeah.
B
All the comedians, all the podcasters, Chris Rock, Chris Rock, Bobby Lee, dude, the list goes on. They were showing people non stop. I couldn't keep up with it.
A
I was there. I was like, man, good networking, right? Yo, the energy, the networking was on point. They did a good job, man. Dana is so smart, the way he organizes everything.
B
Just when you count him out, too, because there was a lot of talk how the UFC is losing stars like, like a year or two ago, and then they signed the Paramount deal, and now there's a lot of rising names. You know what I mean? Don't count that man out.
A
And he knows how to build. You know, there's about, what, four organizations now that he had four sports organ or leagues, I don't know what you call them. But now we have boxing, there's bjj, there's mma, and there's one more I'm missing. Oh, Power slap.
B
Oh, yeah. Power slap.
A
Yeah. So he has Just grabbed all the combat sports, and he's just going crazy.
B
And I know a lot of people give him for Power Slap, but I will attest that I go to all of them, and I meet some amazing people.
A
You do, but here's the thing. Power Slap is the only place you can go and meet celebrities where you don't have to pay extra money or get up front. If you go to a UFC fight, you. You're. You're the celebrities. The fighters, like myself, were all roped off from the fans, so the fans can't just come up and say, what's up to us. Power Slap. It's free game. You can come up to. You can go up to anybody.
B
Yeah. Patty was walking around Powers. Yeah. Last time I was there, Andrew Tate was there. That's how I got him on the pod field. Vaughn's there. Gary Brecker. Shout out to him. He's. He's my doctor or whatever. He's not even a doctor, but he's my health coach.
A
Yeah, that's what's up.
B
He's the man. I'm sure you got really good health. Oh, yeah. In your corner. That's a big part of the sport, right?
A
Yeah, man. Shout out to the ufc. Shout out to my nutritionist, Hannah. She's. She's really great. You know, she's preps all of my. My meals and gave me really good nutritional advice leading into this camp. So my weight right now is. Is pretty smooth. You know, thanks to the UFC performance, they have a really good nutrition team. They have a good pt.
B
Dude, I was there. I met. I saw you there a week ago. I saw the names on the food. I was like, this place is sick.
A
Yeah.
B
I wish I could eat here every day.
A
It reminds me of X Men First Class, because we go in there and. And we beat the shit out of each other, and then we go eat lunch.
B
And you talk to them like nothing happened. Yeah, it is dope.
A
That's how it is.
B
You guys got the saunas, you got the red cryo light.
A
Cold plunge. Hot, hot.
B
It's like a heaven there.
A
It is. It is. I definitely take advantage of it. And you save a lot of money on food, I think. I feel like food is one of the most expensive things, especially these days. Yeah, man. To constantly pay for. And the fact that you can order breakfast, lunch, and dinner there is amazing.
B
Dude, that saves you 5k a month.
A
It does.
B
For real, though, because if you order every day, that's like 5k a month.
A
Yeah. And especially for fighters, too, because I know you probably eat really healthy.
B
Yeah.
A
You know, when you eat really healthy, it's more expensive, which I don't understand why. Why that is. You know, I feel like healthy food should be cheaper.
B
You know, they should reward you for eating healthy.
A
Yeah, that's how it should be. But that's just unfortunately not how our society is ran.
B
Not in America, but I will say this, man. I know you're from Jamaica. I just met someone. Where? His grandfather was a farmer. Jamaica. He lived to 100, too.
A
Yeah. My grandmother, I. I'm not even joking. She lived up in the mountains. I'm going to see her when I was about 6 years old, and she climbed up in a tree and picked the fruits and climbed back down. She was like 80 years old.
B
What?
A
Yeah. And no, I'm not making that up. I remember watching her climb this tree.
B
How tall was the tree?
A
Probably like a story.
B
Okay. That's still pretty. At that age, one fall could end it for you. I thought it.
A
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. About like a story and a half. Something like that.
B
Damn.
A
I was. I was a kid, so maybe. Maybe it wasn't that. That tall, but, you know, when you're a kid, everything seems bigger.
B
Either way, they. They live off the land, right? They. They create clean there.
A
Yeah. Jamaica is one of the only places. Not only places, but it's not like America where you have to go to the store to get fruits and vegetables. You know, in Jamaica, I remember just getting lost in the woods, like on purpose. I would just go out every day. I wake up, I go off into the woods. When the summertime, you know, I go off into the woods and I didn't need to come back home until nighttime because it was like I was an only child.
B
Yeah.
A
And it was an adventure. Every day was an adventure. I didn't need to eat food because there was fruits, vegetables, running water from the river you can drink from, you know. So you never really needed to go outside. I mean. Sorry. You never really needed to. To go. To go home?
B
Yeah. Yeah. To go inside.
A
Inside. Yeah.
B
That's actually crazy. You live like how they used to live back in the day, basically.
A
Yeah, yeah. It was. It was a lot of fun, too. And you let your imagination run w. You know, and I think that's why I'm so creative. Because, you know, you'd step on for me. I mean, I'd step on like, a piece of thorn or something like that, and, you know, you're a mile away from home, and you got to figure out how to get that thorn out your foot. You know what I mean? You. You sprain your ankle or, you know, you got to figure out how to get your way back home. So it teaches you how to be resilient when you're out there in the woods, you know, versus here nowadays. These iPad kids aren't so resilient because, you know, they say that the dopamine at an early age, all those dopamine hits from being on social media at the age of 5, 6, 7, 8. You know, it slows your brain down.
B
Ruins the brain.
A
It ruins your brain. Yeah.
B
Yeah. I just had Tim Welch on the show, and he was saying how Sean took a year off of social media dopamine with Sean. Sean o'. Malley.
A
Oh, did he?
B
Yeah, he took a year off because of what you're saying. Dopamine and just all the negative haters and all that.
A
Yeah.
B
You know what I mean? It could get to your head.
A
It definitely could get to your head, Especially with the negative haters, man. It's. I still. You know what. What's crazy, though. It actually helped me a lot because you get numb to it. You're like, I don't care what? What. They don't know me. I don't know them. Yeah, but there's still those times where one person says that one thing, and you're like, man, what's this dude's address?
B
Let me pull up on his ass.
A
For real?
B
Yeah. I don't respond to haters. Do you? Nope.
A
Never. No, but everyone. You know what, though? I lied. Sometimes I'll just put them. I give him a heart emoji, or I'll say, hey, man, I love you. You know what I mean?
B
Kill them with love.
A
Yeah. And they'll come back on my DM like, hey, man, I'm sorry. You know? I mean, I think you're a really dope dude.
B
I saw some guy, Grant Cardone, if you know him. Yeah. He was saying haters are misguided fans.
A
Is that 10x?
B
Yeah. 10x.
A
Yeah.
B
10x. Health haters are misguided fans. Yes, that's what he said.
A
No, it's 100% true. Because whatever happened, you know, we live. It's weird, man. We live in a society now where. You ever notice that most of the people that like your stuff are just random people? The people who you grew up with don't like your post.
B
True.
A
They don't like your post because they feel like if I like your post, then you're gonna be above me, you know? And I don't want you to elevate above me. I want. I want to be at the same level.
B
You're comparing.
A
Yeah, it's always a comparison. But the strangers always like your post. But then you go on like Kim Kardashian, Theo Vaughn, Grant Cardone's post, and those same friends, heart emojis, you know, commenting on their stuff, sharing it to their story, and you're like, what the hell? Why are you not doing that? You know, why are you not supporting me, but you're supporting this stranger that you don't even know?
B
It is weird time.
A
Yeah.
B
We're in a comparison culture.
A
We are.
B
Yeah. I. I used to be victim of it in high school and college, and I was like, I need to get out of this. I need to do my own thing. I can't be worried about this. I used to compare myself based off looks, based off money, based off followers.
A
Yep.
B
It's all a rat race.
A
It is, it is. And you get. It's so easy to get sucked into it. And then you, like, dig yourself into this deep hole and you're like, how did I get here?
B
Yeah. So easy. Yeah. I didn't even know I was in it. That's how easy it is, you know? And then I was like, why am I comparing my followers? Like, what the is this?
A
Yeah. But I'll tell you what. For me, what's helped me the most? It's going to sound weird. What's helped me the most has been my losses. Because throughout all of my losses, I took three losses back to back, you know what I mean? And, man, that was like the lowest point in my career. And the people who I thought was there for me weren't there for me. And the people who I didn't even know came out of the woodwork and supported me and was just like, man, you got this. Keep it up. And, you know, But I learned. I learned to not seek so much validation from people in those losses. You know what I mean? When you're winning and you're on top, you don't have to work on yourself because everything's Gucci, everything's good. But when you're losing and struggling and you feel down and out, you're like, man, I need to work on myself. I got to get out. You know what I mean?
B
100%.
A
Yeah. So that's. That's. I think I'm grateful for those three back to back losses because it's gotten me to where I am here, you know, just leveled up. Like, I've leveled up so heavy in the Past couple years.
B
I love that, man. I could tell because I interviewed you two years ago on the red carpet at the MMA Awards, and your confidence was not there.
A
Yeah, no, man, I just wasn't. I was. I was at such a low place, you know, mentally, because I'm just. And then every fight camp would be so stressful. Every fight camp would be stressful now, man. It's crazy. I don't even feel like I'm in fight camp. It's the weirdest thing. It's so strange. I don't even feel like I'm in fight camp. I'm happy. I've been having so much fun. This fight camp, it's interesting. Yeah. And it's almost like. It's almost kind of scary because you almost psych yourself out a little bit, you know what I mean? Because you're like, man, should I be having this much fun? You knew I was saying.
B
Yeah.
A
You ever get like that sometimes where
B
I would say I get too comfortable sometimes? Yeah.
A
Yeah.
B
I'm like, why am I chilling? I need to, like, work harder. You know what I mean?
A
Yeah.
B
So I've definitely been there. But I agree with you. In your lowest moments, you find out your real ones. I agree there's been points where the podcast almost failed, and I. I really looked at who was still riding with me.
A
Yeah.
B
You know, and.
A
And how was that when you. When you were at the lowest moments in your podcast?
B
Like, what did you do different? Similar to you. Like, the friends I thought were there were not supporting me. So then I was like, okay, let me just lock in. Like, I need to take it back to the roots of why I started the show.
A
Yeah.
B
Because you get lost. You do chasing numbers, and it's easy to chase numbers as a podcast host and in social media, as you know, you live stream every day, but you got to get back to why you started it. Yeah.
A
I'm funny that, you know that I live stream every day.
B
Yeah. Tick tock. When I pulled up on you at the. UFC. What's it called?
A
Center Performance.
B
Performance Institute, you were live, I think.
A
Yeah, I do an hour a day.
B
Just.
A
Just an hour, you know, either at lunch or an hour when I get home. Yeah, I've been enjoying it, and I, you know, just. And myself on there, and the people just kind of, like, gravitate to me. But, yeah, I'm sorry, continue.
B
At one point on the live streaming, I do worry about these live streamers that are live streaming 20 hours a day, 15 hours a day.
A
Can't do it.
B
And then they're running people over. They're doing all sorts of weird.
A
Can't do it. And not just that. Those people also tend to please the fans. Meaning the fans are like, hey, man, you know, I want you to take your clothes off and run through the woods. And then they're doing it, you know, and they lose their character because they become more of pleasing to the fans.
B
Yeah. They become what the chat wants.
A
Yes.
B
They're constantly looking at the chat, like, doing whatever they're telling me.
A
Yes. And that's not how I do it, man. I just get on there. I actually, I like. I like motivating people, you know what I mean? And I have some moderators. I just tell them to kick anyone who's coming in here with negative energy.
B
I love it.
A
Yeah.
B
Yeah. An hour day is very doable.
A
Yeah. And I just motivate people for an hour. I just tell them, because people ask me, you know, like, hey, man, how do you think I should go about being an amateur fighter? Or how do you think I should go about being a pro fighter? Or what? What does it take to get to the ufc? What do you think is the best art? You know, things like that. So I just, I go on there and people know that I'm on here to motivate, so they, they, they come with the questions that they want to be answered. You know what I mean?
B
Yeah. Very positive community.
A
And the minute they start asking me stupid stuff, I tell the moderator, like, look, get them out of here. And then I say in the chat, I'm like, hey, guys. Like, this is. This is not what my live stream's about. If you want that, go on Rampage's live. Live stream.
B
Yeah.
A
You know, shout out to Rampage. He's dope. You know, not trying to hate on Rampage. He's a. His live stream is dope.
B
He has his own lane.
A
Yeah, he's got his own lane. That's not him.
B
And Neon. And he runs around with those streamers.
A
Yeah.
B
What's your advice when it comes to amateur fighting? Getting into that because I get asked like, how can I be a podcaster? Dude, It's a very hard space. Yes. Similar to your spot. You're a top 1% fighter in the world. It's very.
A
It's difficult. I tell people this. Do it for four years strong and then decide if you really want to do it for the long haul. Because after four years is when you really fine tune everything. You don't really learn anything in a year. You don't learn much in Two years, three, four years. That's when you're like, okay, now we're starting to build a little bit. So I tell them, do it for four years, and then you'll know if it's for you or not for you.
B
Okay. That's why I tell everybody it's good advice. And with pods, it's pretty similar. I think 90% of shows don't make it to episode 10.
A
Yeah.
B
And then I think it's 99% don't make it to 100.
A
Wow.
B
So I guess my advice would be get to 100 episodes and see if you want to still do it.
A
If you want to still.
B
You know what I mean?
A
Yeah. And you have a solid team around you. You pretty much what got you into podcasting.
B
Weird story. But basically, I sold my company. I had a ton of money at a young age, but had no purpose or happiness or fulfillment. Like, I felt so empty.
A
Yeah.
B
I had more happiness when I was broke. Eating Chipotle burritos every day, Isn't it?
A
It's weird how that happened.
B
Yeah. So weird, dude. And you hear stories like this. You're like, a guy sold his company for a billion, and he's depressed.
A
Yeah.
B
And you're like, no, get the fuck out of here. Like, if I had a billion dollars,
A
man, I'd be on a. You know, a private jet every day.
B
Yeah. So that happened to me, but on a much smaller level. I had, like, millions to play with and started the pod just looking for conversations. I was very socially awkward. I have autism. I have adhd. I have all these issues.
A
I feel like I feel the same way, man. I, like, it's so funny. I make fun of myself all the time. I'm always like, you know, I blame everything. I was like, yeah. You know, my ADHD or my autism. It's funny because I feel like if you run from it, you don't get a chance to express it, you know? I mean. But I feel like it's a superpower. Honestly, I feel like ADHD is a superpower. It really is. Like, I enjoy doing, like, 10 things at once.
B
Yeah.
A
If I have to do one tedious thing, I can't do it.
B
I go crazy.
A
I go crazy. And I was a teacher, so a lot of my students had autism. And they were my favorite students, man, because they were so smart, and they were obsessed with one simple thing. And the thing that they're obsessed with, they're so good at it. So good at it. This one kid was obsessed with, like, he knew everything about military Airplanes, tanks, anything about the military. He told me anything.
B
That's dope.
A
And then my other student was an ocean. He was obsessed with the ocean. He could tell me anything about the ocean. And he was so smart.
B
That's why I consider it a superpower. But when you and I were growing up, it was very, like, looked down on.
A
Yeah.
B
It was like a. Like ill. Let me stay away from that kid. You know what I mean? Like.
A
Well, even like adhd, they call it attention deficit disorder, which is crazy to me because I don't think it's a disorder. It can't. It can hinder certain things. Like for me, remembering. Ah. I'm terrible at remembering memories. And organization. I'm horrible at organization. You know what I mean? Unless I use chat. Gbt.
B
Yeah.
A
To organize everything for me.
B
I agree there's downsides to it, but overall, ADHD helps you focus on what you want to focus on.
A
Yes.
B
Everything else.
A
Yeah.
B
You don't give. Give a. About your brain. Can't compute it.
A
Nope. Nope.
B
And that was me in school. I failed almost every topic same. Because I didn't care about it same.
A
I, I probably. You know, it's so crazy. I went my. I failed everything. And then from sophomore, junior, senior year, something just clicked and I. And I just started going on a. On a roll and I started leveling up my thought process, you know, and I became captain of the wrestling team, play football. And I realized, oh, man, I'm just bored with this. Like, this is just. This, this just doesn't entertain me. And so I started doing multiple things. When I started playing football, started wrestling, started, you know, doing extracurricular activities, that's when I started leveling up. And then I realized, oh, okay, I need to do multiple things in order to please my brain. It just. My brain gets bored really easy.
B
Same. Literally, when I'm listening to a podcast, it has to be 2x speed.
A
Yeah.
B
And I have to be doing something on top of it. I have to be doing the laundry or something.
A
Ye. So it's so funny because even when I'm live streaming, so I'll live stream and I'll have my other phone here and I'll like be commenting as I'm answering questions. You know, I'm commenting on my other phone and that's the only way I do it because it works for me.
B
Yeah. Dude, when I'm sleeping, I need something playing.
A
Yeah.
B
When I'm watching tv, I need to be on my phone.
A
Do you ever have this thing where you wake up at four or Five in the morning and you have these ideas and it's like the most creative thoughts ever.
B
Yeah, that used to happen to me a lot.
A
Yeah, that's me right now. If I go back to sleep, I lose it. You gotta write it down right away.
B
Some of the greatest inventions come at those hours. I believe that's me. Something to do with the. The frequency of your mind in those hours.
A
Yeah. Well, they say your brain is more creative in that sleep state.
B
Yeah.
A
Because we're constantly worrying about something in the back of our head. Whether it's psychological or it's like, you know, whether it's. We're in tune with it, but we're constantly worrying about 100 something.
B
That's something I just learned.
A
Yeah.
B
Because I just got this aura ring. Do you have one of these?
A
I used to, but then I stopped using it because it would tell me that every day it would be like, you don't have. You didn't get enough sleep. So then I get to the gym and I'm like, you know, it messed with me because I'm like, I'm in the gym trying to train, but then in the back of my head I'm like, wait, I'm in the red. I didn't get enough sleep today, so I guess I shouldn't be optimal.
B
That's funny. Yeah.
A
So I took it off. I'm like, nah, man, I can't do this.
B
Yeah. Definitely has been messing with me because it says I'm stressed like five, six hours a day.
A
Yeah.
B
And I'm like, what?
A
Right.
B
As a guy, I feel like we just push through stress and don't even worry about it. You know what I mean? But I'm starting to see some gray hairs at 28, man, so I got to chill.
A
They're wisdom hairs, man.
B
Yeah. 28 though. That's pretty young.
A
That is young. But look at all you've done. Look at. Look what all you've accomplished at 28.
B
Yeah.
A
Not a lot of 28 year olds.
B
Sacrificed a lot. 2,000 episodes, man.
A
Wow.
B
Crazy.
A
Well, it's funny, I just talked about this on the live stream yesterday. The only way you grow is by sacrifice and pain. If you don't have pain, you don't have struggle, you don't grow. Because when you're comfortable, you're just sitting in that comfortability the whole time and you're like, ah, I don't have anything to work on.
B
Facts.
A
But when you're struggling and then you get over that struggle and you don't have to, you know, it's never like, people always think, oh, you get over the struggle, and then you get to the next level. It's like, nah, you got to go over the struggle and get over it again and get over it again and get over it again. Probably, like, sometimes that struggle will last a year, two years, three years, four years. But when you keep trying to surpass that struggle or that pain, that's when you level up.
B
Yeah.
A
So I do think strength comes from sacrifice and struggle.
B
I agree. I think the most growth happens when you're struggling or trying to push through something.
A
Yeah. I think there's two types of people. The kind of people that say, you know what? I'm just gonna ignore it. I'm fine. And then there's the people that go, what's. What's. What's wrong with me? How can I get past this? You know? And, yeah, that's when you level up.
B
Yeah. There's always a new challenge too, whether it's financially with health. Like, for me, it's conflict.
A
Yeah. What do you mean by that?
B
I'm an avoidant. I grew up in a house, divorced household, so I always avoided conflict. So that's the next challenge for me.
A
Yeah. Do you think hard conversations are hard for you? Like, having difficult conversations?
B
Yeah. Especially in a business slash friendship setting. Like, if you're friends with someone you're doing business with those same way. Yeah. I find a lot of uncomfortable moments with that.
A
Yeah. I'm the same way. Wait till you get to 30.
B
Really?
A
Yes. When you're 30. 31 is when I really didn't care and started forcing those hard conversations. But when I was in my 20s, I. I would avoid. I did everything to avoid it.
B
That's surprising because you're. You have all this confidence from being a fighter, and you're still avoid them.
A
Yep. Yep. Still avoided them. When I got to about, like I said, 30, 31, 32, I just didn't care anymore. I was like, you know what? We're gonna. We're gonna face this head on.
B
Yeah.
A
Because that was the only way to do it. But when you do it enough, when you face them head on, enough now, it becomes normal. And so I will say that it does get easier because I was the same way.
B
Yeah. No, it's. It's bad, though, because the more you prolong it, the worse it gets. The problem just doesn't go away. It gets even worse. It's true. I need to step it up. I think I need to build some confidence. I actually do want to learn jiu Jitsu this year, really? Just to have that.
A
Okay.
B
So I've heard it helps a lot with confidence.
A
It does, it does. You should also, if you ever get a chance and you want to come do some. Some bag work with Dewey, you know, he wants great back work.
B
Man, I'm down.
A
Yeah, it's just you. It's. It's hard, but it's you versus you. It's you in the bag. You know what I mean? And Dewey's, like, calling out numbers. You gotta. He said hit. Ah. Hit. Ah.
B
Yeah.
A
And you gotta go and go and go and go. And then he's like. And then you're. And then he'll say, all right, cool down. And then you cool down for, like, 15 seconds, but you're still hitting, but you're not hitting hard. And then he says, speed and power. Go. And you got to hit it as fast and hard as you can.
B
It's like a hit workout.
A
It is, it is. But it's so great for your mental state, you know, it's so you leave it feeling amazing. I mean, you don't feel amazing physically.
B
It's like a meditation.
A
Yeah, you're dead. You're done for. But it's. It's so good.
B
I love that, man. Well, dude, you're in way better spirits. I'm happy to see you this way. Thank you. You're honestly like a new person. Like, I got to watch her old interview, but it's like a night and day difference.
A
I appreciate that.
B
So I love it.
A
Yeah, man. I think I used to be a recovering people pleaser. Now I'm no longer. I think in some ways, I'll always be a people pleaser. You know what I mean? I would say that I'm a recovering people pleaser, but in some ways, I'll always be a people pleaser, but not to that level anymore. Yeah, when I say that, I just mean now. If I offend somebody, you know, I will go and apologize. Like, hey, man, I apologize if I offend you. You know, that in that way, I will be a people pleaser, which I'm fine with. But no longer am I a people pleaser in the way of going out of my way to please somebody. For example, if you message me, and I used to feel like I always had to respond to every text message.
B
Always.
A
I'll be like, oh, man, I have to. I don't. I don't want to not respond to this message because this person might get offended that I'm not responding to the text message. But then I got, like. I said, I got into my 30s and realized, like, dude, you're a UFC fighter. You have so much stuff going on. People will understand. If they don't understand, then they're not for you.
B
Yeah.
A
You know, and now I just like, if I don't. I'm like, it's cool if I don't understand. If I don't respond, they'll message me again if they really need something.
B
Yeah.
A
You know what I mean? But I have so much going on, and.
B
Yeah, you got a lot of businesses, man.
A
Yeah. And I was. Oh, man. I used to feel, like, so guilty about I got to respond to every text message, especially after a fight.
B
Yeah.
A
When I'm getting hundreds of messages, I'm, like, still stressing myself out, like.
B
Yeah. People pleasing is an interesting one. That usually comes from childhood trauma.
A
Yeah.
B
Did you. You were an only child, you said I was. You always trying to please people to fit in.
A
I was. That was me, 100%. So when I came to the States, you know, I'm Jamaican.
B
Yeah.
A
When I came to the States, my mom would have me tuck my shirt in, and I didn't work. I didn't have contacts at the time when I was younger, so she had me wear glasses, and, you know, everybody would call me Urkel.
B
For real.
A
And I spoke. I spoke very proper. Yeah, not at first. I had a Jamaican accent. You know what I mean? But then I spoke very proper. I wore glasses. My mom would make me tuck my shirt in. Yeah.
B
Classic.
A
And people make fun of me all the time. And then. So I would purposely untuck my shirt and sag my pants.
B
Yeah.
A
And put my. Put my glasses in my pocket. You know, I'm saying, yeah, I could walk around blind all day, but I walk around with this swag, you know, trying to please people.
B
Yeah.
A
But eventually I realized, you know, someone said to me, someone was like, why. Why. Why do you sound like that? You don't sound like us, you know? I mean, I was like, what am I. What am I supposed to sound like? You know? And they were like, well, you don't. You don't talk black. And I was like, oh, what does that mean? I don't talk black. I'm like, so since I'm black, am I supposed to speak improper English? You know, because my mom always. She was a stickler in grammar. My mom was, like, one of the smartest kids in her school. You know, she graduated probably top two of her class, so she was really big with grammar. And so I always adopted that from Her. And so I would get made fun of because I spoke so, so proper all the time.
B
Yeah.
A
And then I got really educated, and I was. I'd be like, man. So you're saying that I'm. Because I speak proper English. I'm not. Black people shouldn't speak proper English.
B
It's ironic, right?
A
Yeah, it was crazy. I was like, yeah, this is. I'm like, this is crazy that you're telling me this right now. And I broke it down for her, and then she was like, oh, I see what you're saying now. Okay. You're just well educated. I was like, yes.
B
Yeah, yeah. It's kind of ironic, but that's funny, man. So you got bullied a lot growing up?
A
Oh, yeah, I got bullied so much. That's how I got into fighting.
B
I was just going to bring that up.
A
Yeah, that's how I got into fighting, man. I remember seventh grade, I got into my first fight, this dude, you know, I just got sick of it.
B
Yeah.
A
And I was. I was tired of it. And he walked up to me and he hit me. Boom. And I was like, you know what? Yeah.
B
Damn.
A
Yeah. Because I finally just said something back, you know? I mean, I was like, I'm done with it. I said something back, hit me in the face. And then we started fighting, and then I just got. You know, I just dominated.
B
I was just like, oh, you got him.
A
Oh, yeah. I was just like, got to the ground, and then, like, all his friends obviously start kicking me. You know what I mean?
B
Yeah.
A
But at that moment, everybody was surprised. They were like, yo, this kid could fight. I was surprised. I was like, yo, I could fight.
B
A lot of years of anger built in.
A
Real. I was like. I was just telling Kyla.
B
Yeah.
A
I was telling Kyla that I'm like, I have a really, really long fuse, but when I get angry, man, it's like I turn into, like, the Hulk.
B
Yeah, I just hulk out. Seeing black. You black out sometimes.
A
Sometimes, but I just hulk out and I just get so, like. I'm just like. I just go crazy, man. I go crazy.
B
Are you able to channel that in the ufc, or is that kind of like a survival thing?
A
It's more of a survival thing. If I could. If I could channel that in the ufc, I'd win every fight. But then, I guess really fast, because you're not supposed to fight with anger.
B
Oh, really?
A
Yeah, because then you gas out. Because remember, rage will. Will boost your.
B
Your strength.
A
Well, not just that, but it lowers your cardio. You know what I mean, because you're. Now you're.
B
Oh, you're tight.
A
Yeah. It makes you tense. It makes you stiff, and then so it's harder to breathe. Everything is stiff, and so you're using more oxygen or lactic acid buildup. You know what I'm saying?
B
Wow. I did not even think about that. Yeah, that makes sense.
A
The best way to fight is actually to not fight is. Is to move like the wind.
B
Be fluid.
A
Yeah, fluid.
B
That's what Jon Jones did.
A
Yes. You got to flow with it. You. You want to use minimal energy as possible and just use the technique and flow. That's the best way to fight.
B
Israel Adesanya.
A
Exactly. Yep. When you tense up now, your punches become so stiff. If you watch Diego Lopez vs. Volk this week, this last weekend, I don't know if you watched.
B
I didn't see that one.
A
Yeah. But the thing that I noticed was Volk was so fluid. You know what I'm saying? He was.
B
Yeah.
A
Every punch was super fluid. And Diego, actually, he looked really good, even though he lost almost every round. I thought Diego looked better this fight, but he was just still a little bit stiff on his punches. And so Volk was able to get out of there, and then he was able to go in and out, in and out, because he was so fluid. You know, fighting the. The. The fastest distance from point A to point B is a straight line. And so if you see the fighters like Sean O', Malley, Conor McGregor, Poatan, they. They fight like this. It's like throwing a dart through a tube. Like, they rotate their shoulders through. You know what I'm saying?
B
Right.
A
But then you have the fighters who are stiff and throw looping punches. It. It's easier to telegraph.
B
You could dodge those.
A
You can dodge those much easier. So I tried to replicate that because I was always a stiff fighter. I was always so tense. You know, Dewey Cooper really helped me with that channeling, the art of being fluid.
B
That's so interesting, because when people think of fighters they think are just strong dudes.
A
Yeah.
B
Can throw like a hook.
A
And, you know, you're actually not supposed to use your shoulders and arms at all. No. Punch comes from your hips and your feet.
B
Wow.
A
Yes. Your back, foot and your hip. That's where the punch comes from. So you're like generating, you know, 4s equals speed times mass or speed times acceleration. So you generate the force with your legs, and then you rotate your shoulder through, and that's where the power comes from. The power comes from that turnover at the end.
B
One inch Punch.
A
Yeah, exactly.
B
Those videos are crazy.
A
Yeah. No, it's, it's true, though. But when you master that, that's when it's like, wow. That's when everything opens. Yeah. I'm not trying. I shouldn't give out something.
B
Oh, you're giving out the song.
A
Giving out too much. Too much.
B
So you didn't have that in the bag until recently?
A
Yeah, yeah. I did not. I did not. Everything was just.
B
Just ground force.
A
Yeah.
B
Interesting.
A
And I get gas. I mean, I'd be like, I. I fight about a round and a half and then I'm just gas.
B
And as you get older, you probably have to adapt, right?
A
Yes.
B
Like in the NBA, you have to develop a three point shot when you get older because you don't have the speed. So as a fighter, you probably have to think of new techniques to keep up with the younger guys.
A
Agreed. And then you learn how to throw a hard punch without using energy. You use your, your legs and your hips.
B
Yeah.
A
And then you learn how to manage that gas tank. Instead of using a full tank of gas in a round, now you're only using a quarter tank of gas in the first round, a quarter and a half in the second round, third round. All right, now we can use the rest of the tank, but still not be stiff, still be fluid with it.
B
Yeah. Because it's all about energy management, right?
A
It is. There's so many different variables that goes on in fighting. That's why I love fighting, though, is it's such a. It's an interesting sport. Yeah, it's very interesting. But it's straight to the point. Like, I can't, I can't go. But I used to be a big football fan. I can't go back to watching football, basketball, because there's too many, you know, referees calling plays and, you know, too. Too much other stuff going on. Fighting is straight to the point.
B
You get in there, it's more skill based, right?
A
Yeah. You fight the other person. That's it. You know?
B
Yeah.
A
I don't have a ref stopping me every three seconds if I do something like step on somebody's toes or I trip them. You know what I'm saying?
B
Yeah. I agree, though. I'm always a fan of sports that involve the most skill. I don't like luck.
A
I don't either.
B
You know what I mean? And certain sports, one guy gets injured, you know that team's losing.
A
Yeah.
B
You know what I mean?
A
Like, and that's crazy. That one guy could carry the whole team.
B
Especially in basketball. Yeah, especially. And in football with the quarterback and. Yeah, wide receiver, running back, carrying the whole team.
A
And I play football, too. And our quarterback actually is Jacoby Berset, who plays for. I don't know what. I think he plays for the Cardinals now, but he was a great football player, you know, great quarterback. But one of the things when I played football, it was always like, oh, we lost because that guy did something wrong or this guy over here did something wrong. And I was like, man, I'm gonna go into wrestling. Because I. Wrestling was whatever amount of effort I put in, that's what I was gonna get back.
B
Right.
A
So if I decided to only put half the effort in and I'm gonna get back half the effort.
B
Yeah, no, I feel you on that. Because I played sports growing up. Soccer, basketball, and there was.
A
Soccer is. Man, that's a hard sport.
B
Yeah. But if you have a goalie, you're.
A
Yeah.
B
So that happened to me my whole life. And then I'm like, dude, screw this, I'm going to track and field. Like, let me.
A
It's a long ass leg. Yeah.
B
Yeah. So I was a distance runner. Oh, I ran the mile, half mile, and I was a beast.
A
I bet you got some long ass legs.
B
Yeah.
A
Yeah.
B
I wish I knew what I knew now about diet, though. Oh, my God, that would have been a problem.
A
Yeah, everybody was like that, though. Even me. I remember football practice, we go to McDonald's and like, come back. But, man, the game day. We go. We go to McDonald's. No, we walk to McDonald's.
B
Game day, that's inflammation all over your body.
A
Yeah. In high school, we didn't care. We just. We just ate. We ate anything. Game day, we go Burger King, McDonald's. What? You know, I mean, but also, though, back then BURGER King and McDonald's was different.
B
They weren't using as many seed oils and all that.
A
Yeah, it was a little bit different.
B
Yeah.
A
But still, regardless, we shouldn't have been eating that.
B
No, not at all.
A
Shouldn't have been eating it.
B
I don't know. But, dude, this has been great. Where can people keep up with you, man? Support you and watch the fight and all that?
A
Well, I make it easy for everybody, you know, Oday Osborne on everything. And if you guys want to check out my live stream on TikTok, I'm streaming fight Week. I don't know if anyone has done that yet.
B
I haven't seen that.
A
Yeah. So all of Fight Week, I'm gonna stream. I'm gonna live stream everything from the media day, you know, the press conference, the meals that we get, the water loading, all that stuff, the, you know, hanging out with all the UFC fighters, maybe some training sessions. I'm not going to do anything. I'm not going to be holding my phone. I'm going to have somebody shout me so I don't have to focus on. You know what I mean? I'm focused on my fight. But I'm going to live stream all of Fight Week for UFC Houston. So people want to tap into my TikTok. It's Ode Osbourne ufc. And you can find me and yeah, man, we're gonna do a big. And get. Get a good, awesome live stream going Fight Week.
B
Hope you win, brother. I'll be watching.
A
Thank you, man. Appreciate that.
B
Absolutely. Peace. Thanks for staying all the way to the end, guys. It means a lot to me. If you could please leave a review on Apple that helps us climb the charts, it helps us get way more guests, and it helps us continue growing the podcast and the team. So it would mean a lot to me if you left a review on Apple or wherever else you're listening. Thanks so much.
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Ode Osbourne
Date: May 8, 2026
This episode features UFC fighter Ode Osbourne as he prepares for his upcoming fight in Houston. Host Sean Kelly delves into Ode's journey from struggles and losses to personal growth, touching on themes such as resilience, mental health, the realities of a fighting career, the role of social media, overcoming childhood trauma, and the power of finding purpose through adversity. The conversation is candid, motivational, and full of personal insight, especially around the mental battles fighters face and the importance of staying true to oneself.
This episode is packed with hard-earned wisdom, a behind-the-scenes look at the life of a fighter, and motivational takeaways about resilience, growth through adversity, and the importance of authenticity in life and career. Whether you’re a fighter, creator, or someone overcoming your own setbacks, Ode’s journey and mindset shifts will resonate, inspire, and offer practical takeaways.