My Hardest Fight Was After Retirement...| TJ Dillashaw | #2062

Summary

Digital Social Hour Ep. "My Hardest Fight Was After Retirement...| TJ Dillashaw | #2062"

Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: TJ Dillashaw (Former UFC Bantamweight Champion, entrepreneur)
Date: July 12, 2026

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Episode Theme

This episode explores the intense transition from elite athlete to entrepreneur through the personal journey of TJ Dillashaw. It covers the psychological and physical aftermath of retirement, the drive behind his new supplement company, hard-earned nutrition wisdom, and candid reflections on fighting, health, and adapting to new business and cultural landscapes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Psychological Toll of Retirement

• Chasing Adrenaline & Identity Loss
  • TJ reveals the challenge of walking away from fighting:

    “You're chasing that adrenaline. You're chasing that rush. You're chasing that high. And fighting is the biggest high in the world. Something I miss a lot.” (00:00)

  • Retirement led to an identity crisis:

    “It was my identity to an extent... The first six months is like, what am I gonna do now?” (06:19–06:33)

  • He filled that void with entrepreneurship and building a nutrition brand, stating he's now "busier than ever."

2. The Journey Into Entrepreneurship

• Motivation Behind Wild Society Nutrition

  • TJ’s negative experience with inauthentic sponsorships during his career pushed him toward creating products he truly believes in:

    “I was sponsored by countless brands to post about products I didn't actually believe in. And I always felt a little guilty about it.” (00:53)

  • He highlights the commitment to clean ingredients:

    “I built a very clean ingredient facts panel with all of our protein powders, our caveman eats... It's clean and actually good for you.” (01:06)

  • Insights into market entry:

    “We went straight to market into Sprouts... they have a kill list of ingredients you can't have in your products and live within their four walls.” (01:28)

• TJ As a True Operator

  • He stresses he's not just a figurehead, but deeply involved:

    “I'm actually the CEO of the company. This is my 10, 12 hour day. Every day is Monday.” (13:09)

• Success Milestones

  • Wild Society’s growth:
    • Expansion into Sprouts, GNC, Vitamin Shoppe, and Whole Foods
    • Plans to also reach the convenience market

3. Nutrition Philosophy & Supplement Insights

• Evolution of His Approach

  • TJ credits Sam Calavita and the Training Lab for revolutionizing his nutrition during his career (02:49–03:28).
  • He now applies this to his family and products.

• Key Nutrition Beliefs

  • No plastic, focus on aluminum or glass for health and hormone reasons

    "Everyone's finding out how much plastic you actually have in your body now and what it's doing to you..." (04:09)

  • Animal proteins and bioavailability:

    "An animal based protein is so much greater... leucine is your on switch for protein synthesis." (10:19)

  • Avoids grains due to hormone and processing impacts; prefers carbs from sweet potatoes, fruit, and vegetables
  • Advocates for rigorous testing (blood, urine, hair) to reveal deficiencies or toxin loads

• Supplements & Fitness Trends

  • Critique of supplement industry fillers and misleading labels (09:35–10:53)
  • Dangers of quick-fix drugs (e.g., Ozempic) that strip muscle and bone (16:10–16:26)
  • Supports high protein, clean fats, and unprocessed carbs for longevity and performance

4. Physical Toll of Fighting & Seeking Longevity

• Revealing the True Costs
  • Multiple shoulder surgeries — recounts a harrowing laundry list:

    "I've had six surgeries on my left shoulder... I had a chronic rotator cuff failure... fighting titles with it." (06:57–08:21)

  • Fought through full muscle tears for paychecks and title shots.
  • On surgery vs. stem cells:

    “I've been real heavy into stem cells since 2016... preventing surgeries if there's things...” (08:55-09:13)

5. Candid Reflections on Competition & Psychology

• Mental vs. Physical in Fighting
  • Emphasizes supreme importance of mentality:

    “A lot more mental than people think... how you pick yourself back up and do it again and continue to believe in yourself” (19:24–20:00)

  • Champions are “delusionally optimistic”
  • Importance of sports psychology:

    “I believe that athletes should find a therapist to help them believe in themselves...” (20:01)

• Pressure of Family Legacy
  • Worries about pressure on his son, enabling happiness and strong work ethic (17:19-18:23)
• Biggest Career Regrets
  • Admits anger derailed his strategy vs. Dominick Cruz:

    “I fought him so angry... if I would’ve fought him a lot smarter... it would have been a lot easier fight.” (20:58–22:04)

  • Economic stakes of a title loss:

    “…just like millions of dollars taken out of my pocket.” (22:07–22:11)

6. Trends in Health, AI, and Streaming

• AI in Judging Sports
  • Sees promise in objective scoring:

    “I do think that. I think that they're gonna start be able to do a lot more of like a strike counter and damage and control time...” (23:04–23:25)

• Rise of Streaming
  • TJ is skeptical of streaming culture due to privacy, pace, and its effect on his family’s life (32:25–34:56)
  • Discusses swatting incident and the intrusive, sometimes dangerous fan culture
  • On the streaming economy:

    “People watching this would not believe how much money these streamers are making.” (33:13)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Fighting's Unique High:

  "Walking out of that tunnel in front of millions of people watching on tv, it's just so energetic, you know, and something you can never replace. I miss that." (00:07)

• On Nutrition Industry Fakery:

  "A lot of professional athletes will build their brand, slap their face on it... Those products could be made in my garage. You have no idea." (13:00)

• On Creating Lasting Health:

  "It's not only about living longer, it's about living a greater life while doing it." (10:19)

• On Career & Injury Regret:

  "I just kind of had a bomb go off in there. It wasn't really repairable... now I'm a candidate for a reverse shoulder replacement." (08:21)

• On Pressures for Athlete Offspring:

  "I almost wanted to put my wife's maiden name on his, like bracketing... because I wrestled in the area that he's growing up in." (18:03)

• On Regrets Against Dominick Cruz:

  "I wanted to knock him out... I still think I won the fight... but he did a very good job of getting under my skin." (20:58–21:47)

• On Supplements Label Reading:

  "Going back and reading the ingredient facts panel... finding something that's clean like a clear way isolated..." (15:00)

• On Streaming Culture:

  "I just don't think I'm the right character for streaming... You always have to come up with like new things to do and be entertaining the people. People want to watch you. It's a crazy world." (32:31)

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Important Timestamps

| Time | Segment / Key Topic | |----------|-----------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | The adrenaline (psychological high) of fighting | | 01:06 | Transition to supplement entrepreneurship | | 02:49 | Deep dive: learning health from Sam Calavita | | 06:19 | The identity shock after retirement | | 06:57 | Recounting major shoulder injuries/surgeries | | 08:55 | The promise of stem cells over surgery | | 09:35 | Critique of the supplement industry and clean labels| | 10:19 | Animal protein vs. plant for longevity | | 16:10 | Critique of Ozempic/weight loss drugs | | 17:19 | On raising his son, work ethic, and pressure | | 19:24 | "Delusionally optimistic" mindset of champions | | 20:58 | Regrets: the Cruz fight and mindset impact | | 23:04 | AI as future of combat sports judging | | 25:09 | Jon Jones, superstars, and event card discussion | | 32:25 | Skepticism about streaming and privacy | | 34:18 | Swatting incident during a streaming event | | 36:07 | Grass-fed jerky & Wild Society Nutrition products |

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Additional Highlights

• Supplement Details:

  • New clear whey protein isolate with electrolytes – first to combine both; clean labels to suit Sprouts’ strict standards.
  • Natural jerky: only grass-fed beef and salt; convenience-focused packaging.

• Fighting Wisdom:

  • Tips for recognizing quality protein, avoiding over-processed or filler-laden brands, and the importance of reading nutrition panels.
  • Emphasis on regular blood/urine/hair analysis for health monitoring (quarterly testing for TJ).

• Cultural Shifts:

  • Noted decline in alcohol among young people; rising health awareness post-COVID.
  • Commented on the evolution of food guidelines—“the food pyramid turning upside down.”

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Tone & Style

The episode is conversational, energetic, and unflinchingly honest. TJ is humble yet intense, willing to admit mistakes, pain, and the difficulty in transitioning to life after sports, while offering practical and science-backed advice on nutrition and peak performance. The host, Sean Kelly, keeps the discussion brisk and relatable, often chiming in with his own wellness struggles or observations.

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Summary Takeaway

Whether as champion or CEO, TJ Dillashaw is all-in—a trait that both cost and benefited him. His journey illuminates the difficult path of leaving a lifelong identity behind, the discipline and science required for lasting health, and the realities beneath the flashy surface of sports and entrepreneurship. His story will resonate with anyone striving for excellence—or recovering when life demands a new direction.

Transcript

[TJ Dillashaw]

You're chasing that adrenaline. You're chasing that rush. You're chasing that high. And fighting is the biggest high in the world. Something I miss a lot.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Walking out of that tunnel in front of millions of people watching on tv, it's just so energetic, you know, and something you can never replace. I miss that. I miss that a lot. I was part of Was it Neon and his stream, and we got the SWAT team called on us. We were at a UFC gym, and I was, like, running him through some, like, drills and working out and sparring with him a little bit, just doing silly. And then the cops don't show up. And I was like, what's going on? He's like,

[Podcast Host]

All right, guys, got TJ Dillashaw here in town. He's got a big fight this week. One of his fighters.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yes.

[Podcast Host]

Thanks for coming on, man.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, of course. Yeah. Josh him. It's fighting on Saturday, the 14th. He's a main event. Super excited for him to get back into the win column and show everything we've been working on.

[Podcast Host]

Nice. Brought some fun products, too.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I. I did, man. Since retirement, my life has led into entrepreneurship. Something that was, like, a big part of my career was nutrition and supplementation. I was sponsored by countless brands to post about products I didn't actually believe in. And I always felt a little guilty about it. Like, my fan base and my followers think that I'm becoming a world champion of products that actually aren't really good for you. And it made me feel bad, you know? And so when I retired, I felt like I wanted to get into. And that's why we've launched in the natural sector is I built a very clean ingredient facts panel with all of our protein powders, our caveman eats, our RTD launching next week. It's clean and actually good for you.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

We went straight to market into Sprouts, which is one of the leaders in the natural sector, and they have a kill list of ingredients you can't have in your products and live within their four walls.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, I didn't know that.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. So, you know, when you're going there, you're actually shopping for the most part, stuff that's good for you.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Can't have, like, artificial flavoring and dyes and sweeteners and things like that within it, which is what I stood for anyways. And it made so much sense to add some validity to what I was building.

[Podcast Host]

I love that. And both of these are super unique.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. Thank you, man. Thank you. Yeah. Our. Our clear way isolates you're drinking there drinks more like a Gatorade than it does a protein powder.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. This does not taste like a protein shake. There's 20 grams of protein in this.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. And it's got 385 milligrams of electrolytes too. If you're someone that's chasing protein fitness and longevity, you need both of those. So we're the first ones to add them together. Which is exciting.

[Podcast Host]

Very exciting. Cuz I, I drink both separately usually.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Exactly.

[Podcast Host]

You know what I mean? Which is kind of annoying.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. You have to. So I'm simplifying you. Like my pantry is ridiculous. This right. Like I'm chasing peak performance and so I have all these supplements. So everything we've kind of created, we've had synergies to them. Like our concentrates have an organic mushroom blend in it for the adaptogens can help with stress and performance and cognitive function. I have a longevity protein powder that's got not only whey protein isolators, got collagen, creatine, urethan, a lactoferrin, like the Rolls Royce are products to chase longevity and peak performance.

[Podcast Host]

Did you know all this about health when you were actively fighting?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, I learned about it towards the end of my career when I met Sam Calavita at the training lab. He really flipped my nutrition and my supplementation upside down when I first met him. Taught me a lot of like things that I was doing that was hindering my performance and my hormones. Like my hormones were in the toilet when I met. Because we, we test everything, we test like what minerals I have in my body. We do a hair analysis for what heavy metals and toxins I have in my body get my body back to homeostasis. So it really taught me the way that I should eat, the ways that I should train, recover supplementations, all that I Learned back in 2016 into 17. And I've been on that, that lifestyle now for the last decade.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, I, I wish I knew what I knew now. When I was an athlete I, I was running, I, I was a distance runner.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Okay.

[Podcast Host]

So I was running pretty fast miles and eight hundreds. But dude, if I knew what I knew now, I would have been like a D1 athlete for sure.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Dude, I wish I would have known this when I was competing as a kid. And now my kid's going to get to know all this. He's wrestling now and why it. And I put them in aluminum because I don't drink anything out of plastic. Is he like wanted a Gatorade? I was like no, we're not going to be drinking Gatorade. Right. So it was like I wanted to create something that looks cool, tastes great, and it's healthy for you in. In a cleaning container.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, yeah. You got to drink out of aluminum and glass, right?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. Yep.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. The same way plastic is just so bad.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. I mean, we just use too much of it. And like, everyone's finding out how much plastic you actually have in your body now and what it's doing to you and how it hinders all your hormones and your gut microbiome. And we're just. We're waking up a lot like this longevity push right now with all these, you know, social media experts. It's like this is the first time ever alcohol sales have been down since prohibition. Like, younger kids aren't drinking anymore. Right. They're trying to really focus on health and wellness. And it's cool. It's really, really cool to see things that I wish I would have known, but no one knew when you. I was younger, you know, were you

[Podcast Host]

drinking a lot growing up?

[TJ Dillashaw]

I did my fair share of. I mean, wrestling kept me on the straight and narrow. I was always, like, on a goal to become the best. I've continue that ever since I was 8 years old. So it kept me on the straight and narrow, but I wasn't afraid to let loose and have fun, which I don't. I think that's okay to do. Right. But just to consistently doing it to you and just ruining your body. Yeah. I don't think that's.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Very good.

[Podcast Host]

I pretty much gave it up. I don't see many positives to it.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. I have as well recently because of the fact that for two reasons I know it's not good for me. It makes me feel like crap the next day. And then I don't have an off switch. You know, like, whatever I do, I do it all in, you know? So I just realized it's better for me to just not even drink.

[Podcast Host]

That's what made you a great fighter. But then you see it go the other way where people fall into addiction.

[TJ Dillashaw]

You know, 100. You're chasing that adrenaline, you're chasing that rush, you're chasing that high. And fighting is the biggest high in the world. Something I miss a lot. Walking out of that tunnel in front of millions of people, watching on tv. It's just so energetic, you know, and something that you can never replace. I miss that. I miss that a lot.

[Podcast Host]

Hey, guys. You know, I don't do promos for just anybody. The only Reason I'm talking about Legends right now is because they completely flip the script. Look, the reason I know it's different is because I actually met the team in person in Las Vegas. I trust these guys, and how they run the site changes everything. Legends is a premium US Sweepstakes casino. It's free to play, and when you win, they feature lightning fast Redemptions. They have a massive game variety, hundreds of premium slots, sports, and live tables you can play entirely for free. Stop dealing with platforms that lock up your funds. Hit my link right now and go see why Legends has earned its name. Hit the link below. I bet. Yeah. That transition must have been tough, right?

[TJ Dillashaw]

It was, man. The first six months was kind of like. It was my identity to an extent.

[Podcast Host]

Your whole life, you were fighting, wrestling.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, I was just trying to reach peak performance, you know, and was able to do it in the ufc, and it just be kind of becomes you.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

You know, and so then when that first six months is like, what am I gonna do now? You know? And then one thing led to the next, and now I'm running a brand, and I'm busier now than I've ever been. If I. If I could go back and kick people in the head for a living, I.

[Podcast Host]

But the money's right.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Oh, just my. My shoulder doesn't work anymore. I'm 40 years old. I was in the sport for 13 years. I need a reverse shoulder replacement. I'm putting it off right now until the science gets better.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. A reverse shoulder, you said?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, reverse.

[Podcast Host]

How is that?

[TJ Dillashaw]

So I've had six surgeries on my left shoulder. Some really big ones. The last two were really big. I did a lower trap transfer. So I. I had a chronic rotator cuff failure because my shoulder was torn. Ever since 2017, I was fighting titles with it.

[Podcast Host]

Geez. Never wanted to fix it while it was torn.

[TJ Dillashaw]

You're out for a year and a half.

[Podcast Host]

Damn.

[TJ Dillashaw]

You know, and my paycheck is fighting, and I'm. When you're making the most money is when you're champion.

[Podcast Host]

Right.

[TJ Dillashaw]

So you just kind of push through it. There's a lot of guys that fight injured, and they don't tell you, wow,

[Podcast Host]

even with torn muscles.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, like full tears. Super spinatus and infraspinatus. Fully torn from the bone. Like, I just kind of competed through it, but it got really bad and it started dislocating. And so my last two surgery, I took a lower trap transfer. They take a piece of your trap out of your back, and they replaced my infra My superspinatus, they took a piece of my lower lat to replace my subscapularis in the front. I had to have a cadaver bone graft to make my shoulder round again because I dislocated it so many times. I did all that to avoid a replacement. Unfortunately, it didn't work. I just kind of had a bomb go off in there. It wasn't really repairable. And so now I'm a candidate for a reverse shoulder replacement. So you don't even use your rotator cuffs anymore. What they do is they cut off the head of your humerus. And the reason why it's called the reverse is the ball is now in your armpit, and then the head of your humerus is like a plastic plunger that goes around it, and then they connect your deltoids to it.

[Podcast Host]

Whoa.

[TJ Dillashaw]

The science isn't super great on yet, and it's getting better and better every year. And so I'm not super eager to throw a bunch of metal on my body yet until it's better. Like, that's all the range of motion I got in my left arm, like, passively. I'm good. Like, I can do this, but I can't. I can't hold it up there. Wow. The muscles just aren't engaging. Like, the nerves aren't firing in there. I either messed a nerve up from dislocating it sometimes, or they cut it when they did surgery.

[Podcast Host]

Damn.

[TJ Dillashaw]

And so. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. That's why surgery is always the last resort, Right?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Exactly.

[Podcast Host]

Because the risk to reward, sometimes they could get botched.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. And there's a lot of things. I've been real heavy into stem cells since 2016.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

And they do wonders for, you know, preventing surgeries if there's things that. I mean, full. Full tears are different, but when partial tears or meniscus problems or autoimmune disease, things like stem cells have done fantastic for that.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. I tried exosomes.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Similar to stem cells, right?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. Yeah. They're like a signaler for stem cells. Yeah. They help go to inflammation and where you actually need it. Finding the right place to do it is. Is very important. You know, there's a lot of snake oil out there as well.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Especially in the health space, too. I noticed big time. They'll market their brand as healthy, and then you read the ingredients, and their seed oil is the second ingredient.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Like, really, dude?

[TJ Dillashaw]

That's why this started. Right. Because of the brands that I was behind. They had, like, all these fillers. They had protein that wasn't bioavailable. All these plant based proteins as well too. How over processed they are and they don't have the full essential amino panels that you actually get from animal based proteins. And I noticed this throughout my career and competing firsthand. But then when you actually dive into the science of it as well too is like the more bioavailable protein is. An animal based protein is so much greater. It's got all the like leucine is your. You're on switch for protein synthesis. And there's been so much science behind longevity and skeletal muscle mass and how it's not only about living longer, it's about living a greater life while doing it. The more, the longer you can stay active, the longer you're gonna live.

[Podcast Host]

Health span, right?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, exactly 100.

[Podcast Host]

How do you know if it's bioavailable protein? Does it say it?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Oh, just whey protein or like animal based proteins because of the essential amino acids and the B12 you're getting from it, the creatine. Your. It's the closest thing to muscle tissue in the human body to where if you're taking plant like you can put muscle on with plant based proteins.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

You're just gonna have to take a lot more of it and you're probably gonna have to supplement essential amino acids at the same time to flip on protein synthesis.

[Podcast Host]

Interesting.

[TJ Dillashaw]

So rather than having to eat more of it and spend more money, you can get an animal based product that's going to do a lot better for you.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. I tried the veggie vegetarian diet for a bit. It didn't work for me.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

You know. Have you dabbled with that? Sort of.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I've never done it. I, I've. I mean I, I eat a ton of vegetables and I do a ton of fruit and good sim like carbs that way. But I've always like I'm a. Want to be a fast tweet, fast twitch athlete. Like I need animal based proteins.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, I feel you.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. I know some athletes can pull it off but they're pretty rare. I feel like most people need meat these days, you know.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. You're gonna have to supplement other products to get what you need.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

And now this whole food pyramid turning upside down is just great.

[Podcast Host]

Thank God they did that.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I love to see it.

[Podcast Host]

It was so bad before all grains

[TJ Dillashaw]

and I don't need any grains.

[Podcast Host]

Oh no grains?

[TJ Dillashaw]

No.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, I don't need any grains. They're all like super processed. They mess up your hormone levels.

[Podcast Host]

No carbs.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I Eat carbs.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. But I'm eating my carbs from like some starches, like sweet potatoes and vegetables and a ton of fruit things that your body's actually going to use and aren't processed.

[Podcast Host]

The organic fruit.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, of course.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. There's a debate right now.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I know.

[Podcast Host]

Who knows, though? I know Brian Johnson said it doesn't matter, but who knows?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. I mean, you know, I even do like these urine analysis to see what kind of like toxins you have in your body. And I eat completely organic. These could have been from a long time ago, but I do have some pesticides in there and it could be from my HOA spraying things as well. But that's where it comes from. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. I mean, as I always tell people, do what you can.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

There's so much like us up like the lights, the WI fi.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

You know, the chemtrails, pesticides. Yeah. You don't want to focus on that too because people get lost in that

[TJ Dillashaw]

and you get overstressed about it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Right. Like, it is great to do what you can without having to be overstressed about every single thing. I do take things to another level. And like I said, I don't drink out of plastic. I do all these things. Like my whole house is on a reverse osmosis system. I go, I go above and beyond. But if you can't do it, like, don't stress about it, but do best you can.

[Podcast Host]

Absolutely. Sounds like the company's doing really well done.

[TJ Dillashaw]

We're doing very well. Man. We're growing fast. We've only been in the market now for like 19, 20 months. We went into spring sprouts farmers market nationwide to start.

[Podcast Host]

Wow. Not a lot of people can pull that off. Was that because of your connections from fighting and building a brand?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, and also building something that was clean.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

So, yeah, my. My likeness helped with that. A lot of professional athletes will build their brand, slap their face on it. They don't actually work for the company. Then they'll sell it online.

[Podcast Host]

Y.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Those products could be made in my garage. You have no idea. Especially in the supplement industry. And so I wanted to add some validity. What I was doing to like, I'm rolling into a national distribution of the leaders in the natural sector. And I'm actually the CEO of the company. This is my 10, 12 hour day. Every day. Every day is Monday. So I'm building this thing nice. And it goes a long ways and adds some validity to what I'm actually doing. We're going into whole Foods next month.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[TJ Dillashaw]

We're in GNC vitamin shop talking with convenience stores like extra mile quick trip without our caveman eats and crushing it. Yeah. People are just becoming more aware of what they're putting in their body. I mean, I know Covet has helped a lot with that.

[Podcast Host]

Yep.

[TJ Dillashaw]

You know, so I, I love that the now we know everything. Right. I love that the younger generation is already in that.

[Podcast Host]

No, well done, man. Because this is a tough space. People don't know that, but very. It's a very competitive, very tough, thin margin space.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yes.

[Podcast Host]

And it's all about volume. Right.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Big time. Big time. If you're growing your brand, you're. You're not making money.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

You know, like I'm not making money. I'm just continuing to grow. And it's fun. It's fun to see my products on shelves across the nation. People picking it up on sprouts and taking a picture and posting on social media like, yo, I found you here.

[Podcast Host]

I love them.

[TJ Dillashaw]

And that feels awesome, you know, because

[Podcast Host]

you're also helping them, which is a great feeling.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yes, exactly.

[Podcast Host]

You know they're eating cleaner because regular jerky, I mean, oh my God. When I looked at what's in a slim Jim.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

It's not even meat.

[TJ Dillashaw]

It's like 20 ingredients. You can't even read.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. I used to eat those growing up. Yeah. I would never eat that.

[TJ Dillashaw]

We all did.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, we all did, man. And now all these. Everyone knows how important protein is, right? For longevity and for just peak performance, which they go hand in hand. So every product is now listing how much protein they have on the front of their packaging. But a lot of it's protein.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, let's dive into that. So like when you see a product with 20 grams of protein, how do you know if it's quality?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Going back and reading the ingredient facts panel, like a lot of pea proteins are in there, which isn't that great. Over processed. Tons of lead and iron.

[Podcast Host]

Damn. I didn't know that.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Or. Yeah. Lots of metals within the processing part of it. So finding something that's clean like a clear way isolated. It's an. There's no lactose in this either too. We. It is derived from whey.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

But it's isolated though. The protein is isolated out of the way and it's fast acting like an isolate will create protein synthesis within 30 minutes.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. I couldn't drink way growing up cuz I would get acne.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Probably cuz the lactose within it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

You know, and so someone like you probably wouldn't be good for like a casein or a concentrate because it's got a lot more lactose in it. Like me, I do fine with it. And it does have a lot of the great fast. It'll do like protein synthesis over six hours. So a lot of times I'm trying to put size on, I'll drink it 90 minutes before I go to bed because I'm doing protein synthesis while I'm sleeping.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I'm so active that I can keep that protein synthesis going and put on more skeletal muscle.

[Podcast Host]

When you were fighting though, you were trying to lose weight most of the time, right?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, but I still, I still needed the, you know, I didn't want to lose muscle while I'm losing weight. So being important of what your diet looked like and still on a high protein, high fat, good carb diet.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. That's the issue with Ozempic.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yes.

[Podcast Host]

You lose muscle too. Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

You lose muscle mass. And that's why these GLP1s are great for the protein industry as well, because you need a lot more of it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

You know, you're not only losing fat, you're losing muscle mass big time. And bone density, bro, you can see

[Podcast Host]

it in people's face.

[TJ Dillashaw]

It's crazy, right?

[Podcast Host]

Disgusting. Why would you want that?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Look like a skeleton.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. They don't look healthy, man.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I know.

[Podcast Host]

People just want a quick solution. Yeah, but it's not like that with health.

[TJ Dillashaw]

No.

[Podcast Host]

You gotta like put in the work, spend a little extra.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

You know, it's a lifestyle.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. Yeah. That's why we're wild society. Getting back to the wild. Getting back to like our ancestors and like how we were created and that was eating animal based proteins.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

You know, for sure.

[Podcast Host]

Was your family pretty healthy overall growing up though?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, growing up, we ate healthy. Like my dad was a big hunter. He got me into hunting as a kid. And so all the meat we ate was either I raised pigs and steers my whole life growing up and. Or that we would hunt it nice. So that was a good form of it. But there's a lot of things that I did throughout my life of eating fast food and I was wrestling like just because it was quick and easy.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

You know, but I'm so excited that my son doesn't know that life, you know, and now he's like, he's gonna be a beast. Hopefully. I mean. Hopefully. I mean, as long as he's happy, you know.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Is that the main thing for you? Happiness for him?

[TJ Dillashaw]

100. I want him to Work hard. I want him to have a sense of self worth because if everything's given to you, I don't feel like you build this character that you need to be successful in life. So I wanted to work hard for it and I've introduced him to every sport. I want him to be active and the only one he's really stuck with and likes, which I cannot believe it, is wrestling. Wrestling's like the hardest sport I've ever done. And for him to stick with it just makes me feel so good that we're, you know, doing something right and he has to work hard to be good at it. And so. And as long as he's happy doing all that, awesome. But no matter what, he's gonna have to work hard at something. Not going to let him coast in life, you know?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. I'm always fascinated with pro athletes, kids, cuz I feel like they have some pre additional pressure. Right. To live up to the name.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I almost wanted to put my wife's maiden name on his, like bracketing and stuff, so people don't see like Dill, because I wrestled in the area that we're. That he's grown up in.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. And so people know he's your son.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, yeah. He's got my last name. And so I don't want that added pressure for him. That sucks.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

You know, but it's just the card he's dealt, unfortunately.

[Podcast Host]

You know, some people thrive under it. Some people shut down for sure. You know, I'm sure you saw that as a fighter.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yep. I mean, I see guys in the gym that could have been world champions that never panned out. Right. Like, there were such good gym warriors, like, great in the practice and like super talented, and look back on it, and they never even made it into the UFC when they definitely could have. And it's about dealing with that pressure under the lights.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

And then you got some guys in the gym that you're like, how is he as good as he is? And then he gets out in front of it and just turns it on, gets into that flow state. And something I use a lot is being delusionally optimistic. Right. Like always believing in yourself. Because everyone, in every way of life, entrepreneurship, being a mom, you're going to have these negative thoughts in your head and just smashing them down with positivity and getting yourself to believe in yourself at no matter what. And it can. I believe every champion, every great athlete has that. But it can also get you into trouble too, Right?

[Podcast Host]

Absolutely.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

When you look at a pie chart Mental versus physical, what would you say? The best fighters.

[TJ Dillashaw]

A lot more mental than people think. You know, Like, I love this book, Winning by Tim Grover. Is that Kobe Bryant?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Transitioning coach.

[Podcast Host]

I love his stuff.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I was like resonated with it so well because, like, that's the mindset I had and I didn't. It wasn't taught. It just kind of happened and happened through the mental toughness of competing every week. And like wrestling in college as well, too. It's. It's like seven, six months of season and you're competing like every weekend. So you have a lot of failures. You have. A lot of times you're going to get out there, you're going to get beat. But how you pick yourself back up and do it again and continue to believe in yourself is something that was just naturally taught.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I believe that athletes should find a therapist to help them believe in themselves if they're having troubles with that.

[Podcast Host]

Now all the top teams have a sports psychologist.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yes.

[Podcast Host]

That wasn't a thing 20 years ago.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yes, I know.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. I think it's very important. I'm not surprised by your answer because all you guys physically are like about the same level at the top. Right. Like, they're all training the same amount.

[TJ Dillashaw]

1. I mean, obviously there's, there's, there's gaps, especially with our sport. There's so many different aspects of martial arts. Like, this guy could be a great boxer, but maybe his ground game's not as good. So there are those differences. But I really believe the mind is the most powerful part of it all, I feel. I mean, look what Conor McGregor did just with like the. And he was able to speak it out there and put it into the world. Now you have to do it. And if you're willing to speak about it, you're the greatest ever. And to do all these things, like he like the secret. He's put it out there.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, he manifested it.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Exactly.

[Podcast Host]

He backed up everything he said he

[TJ Dillashaw]

was gonna do, you know.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, he was the best I've seen do that.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Was there ever an opponent you couldn't figure out mentally, you'd say that you struggled with?

[TJ Dillashaw]

I feel like at the time, probably Dominic Cruz, he was like, I didn't had to deal with animosity ever before up to my career until that fight, I never really had to like, talk. I won my belt against Barral and there wasn't really like any, like bantering back and forth. And Cruz is a very cerebral guy and he wanted to figure out any advantage he possibly Could. And so he was digging to get under my skin. And when I fought him, remember the first, like, three rounds, I fought him so angry I wanted to knock him out to where, like, I would have fought him a lot smarter and like, stuck to the game, kicked his legs out, done what I was supposed to do. It would have been a lot easier fight. I still think I won the fight. I was a split decision loss, but he did a very good job of getting under my skin. And so I had to learn a lot through that fight, which helped me out later in my career when I had to deal with Garbrandt and a lot of the back and forth talking,

[Podcast Host]

you know, that's actually so brilliant. He basically wanted you to tire yourself out by fighting angrily and, like, get

[TJ Dillashaw]

out of my game plan. Right. Like, if I would have fought technical and chopped his legs out and seen his weaknesses, like, which I started to do in the fourth and fifth round when I finally calmed down.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

It could have been a completely different fight, you know?

[Podcast Host]

Was that the one fight you wish you could take back 100?

[TJ Dillashaw]

That one. Just like millions of dollars taken out of my pocket.

[Podcast Host]

Damn.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

So when you lose, it's that big of a spread?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Well, it can be just because promote, like, I was going to be on the longest win streak in the UFC and continue my. My title reign. I was going to fight other. Like, I probably would have fought favor next, which would have been a big rivalry. Just a lot of things that happened where now I have to go back down to my old pay and I have to work my way back up to get the belt.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[TJ Dillashaw]

And when I was champion, there was, like, pay per view points involved in well, too. Now there's no more pay per view, but you get a percentage of the pay per view, and the more you promote yourself, the bigger the pay per view does, the more money you can make.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, that makes sense. So the swings are pretty nuts if you lost a title fight big time. Damn. I didn't know that.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Holy crap.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. And then, like, your whole life is in the hands of the judges. And that's why I tell you, never leave it in the hands of the judges. Right. Not because they also want exciting fights, but also because, like, someone else's. Like your. Your livelihood is relying in their opinion.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Do you think with AI emerging, do you think that could be a future where judges go to AI?

[TJ Dillashaw]

I do. I do think that. I think that they're gonna start be able to do a lot more of like a strike counter and damage and control time. I mean, there's a couple sports doing. Until you brought it up, I haven't really even thought about that. But now you're like, yeah, AI is going to take over everything.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. X Games is doing it. A few other sports. I think it's inevitable, man.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Especially with kind of subjective judging like boxing even. Because boxing, I feel like you could easily put some AI in there and it would count the strikes and who got knocked down. You know what I mean? UFC might be a little tougher to judge.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. Just because there's so many different aspects of the fight.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

But I do see that being a possibility.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Because to have a human judge, even though they say they're not biased, it's like subconscious. You don't even know you're a little. A little biased. You know what I mean? Like, you can't even control it.

[TJ Dillashaw]

And there's not very many sports. There's not a scoreboard, you know? Like, I feel like it'd be cool, too, to be, like, as a fighter from round around, knowing exactly how the judge scored.

[Podcast Host]

That'd be cool.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Because then, you know, if you got to turn it on, I think that

[Podcast Host]

would help the fighters.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Like, I think it'd be better television. Yeah. Because then they know they're down two to one. Let me turn it up. Fourth round.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Because sometimes when you're watching, you don't know what the round scores are, especially the close fights. Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

And they're big title fights. And you're like, dang, this is a tough one to judge. I wonder who's winning. It'd be nice to know that when you sit down in the corner, like, all right, hey, you lost that round. Yeah. And your corner is going to do a good job of hopefully telling you what they think, but you don't know.

[Podcast Host]

Absolutely.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

What do you think of the White House card just got announced?

[TJ Dillashaw]

I think there was a lot of expectations of it being a lot bigger.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

You expected some bigger stars, bigger names to be on it. I still think it's a good card, but it. For as hyped up as it was, and it's. Look, we're at the White House. Like, that's insane.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. It's nuts.

[TJ Dillashaw]

You know, you expected to see some bigger names on there, and they were talking originally like, oh, there's going to be eight title fights on there, and there's not. So I think people are a little bit let down.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

So maybe they shouldn't have hyped it up as much. But it'll be a great show.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. I thought Connor was going to come back. I thought Jon Jones was going to come back. Looks like they're. Looks like they're both done, actually. Jon Jones and Dan is beefing right now.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I seen that. I think. I think they were actually going through negotiations to be on the cards.

[Podcast Host]

That's what John said.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. And it just didn't happen, which I. I can't believe it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. He's the goat, in my opinion.

[TJ Dillashaw]

How could you, how could he not be? I mean, for what, two decades now, he's just been on top of the game. He's not a spring chicken anymore either.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. He's beaten multiple weight classes. Right.

[TJ Dillashaw]

And when he was the champion, it was a very tough weight class.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Was he someone you studied a lot when you were fighting?

[TJ Dillashaw]

To an extent. Except for he's got so many attributes that I couldn't have, like his reach.

[Podcast Host]

Right.

[TJ Dillashaw]

And his length and things like that. That is a different fighting style.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, that makes sense.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Everyone's got to kind of create their own abilities off genetically the way you're made up. You know, like Merab's a great example at 135s right now. I know he just lost his belt, but he's like a genetic freak when it comes to cardio and he can push your pace that a lot of guys can't push. And so he's going to use that as a weapon to where if you're someone that's more of a fast twitch athlete and you feel like you gas out a little bit, like you're going to control the pace a little bit more, maybe more footwork and faints and controlling your opponent. So everyone's got like these genetic skills that you got to be able to balance.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. What was yours you saw?

[TJ Dillashaw]

I was very well rounded. I felt like was mine was. I didn't really have holes in my game when it came to an actual martial art. And I left no stone unturned. I made sure I trained them all. I feel like just how well rounded I was. And then when I got really good, it was my movement really being able to ambidextrous be able to fight both stances and one of the first to like really start doing it and being effective while switching stances. Guys will switch stances now, but they're switching stances to switch stances rather than using it as a weapon. If I can fight both directions, like I have so many more weapons have power on both sides. Right. My left kick is just as good as my Right. Kick. And so I can switch stances up and I can catch you on the exit going this way or that way.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. You know, that's impressive that you were able to get equal strength in both arms and both legs.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Your. Your openings are just a lot greater when you're able to be comfortable within, like, offensively and defensively. Right. You can find a guy that doesn't fight as well against the southpaw. Maybe he's got a lane that he keeps open when he fights a southpaw. It's like, all right, I'm gonna fight this guy more southpaw because I can see the holes in his game for my offense, but he also can't attack as well either. So I feel like it's a massive advantage if you train it. Old boxing coaches hated it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

They didn't want you to do it. But then you see the Terence Crawfords of the world go out and be the pound for pound best in the world by doing it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Gotta adapt right down to the times. The sport's always changing and evolving.

[TJ Dillashaw]

100.

[Podcast Host]

So would you say you had any major holes near the end?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, I'd say maybe. Like, if I was gonna pick a hole in myself, it'd be like staying in the pocket boxing range. I like to be a little bit further and keep you guessing and keep my offense and angles a lot greater to where maybe I wasn't as, like, dangerous inside the pocket in that close boxing range to where, like a guard brand that I was fighting. Very powerful, very fast there.

[Podcast Host]

Right.

[TJ Dillashaw]

So I didn't want to play in that game. Right. So depends on who you're fighting. Right? 100.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Who's impressive to you right now that's active? Anyone?

[TJ Dillashaw]

I mean to Poria Toporia. I think he's the. The most skilled fighter in the UFC right now. His boxing's great. He's got good jiu jitsu. He's shown that as well, too, and hasn't had to show it in a while. I think he's probably got the most skills, but there's a lot of them. There's.

[Podcast Host]

I mean, Oliveira.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Oliveira is great. Right. We've seen him show up, though, and not look the same. Right. He. But as of late, he's looked fantastic. And I was very impressed with his fight against Max Holloway. To do what he did against him.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. 5, 0 against Holloway's. That's nuts. I don't think anyone's ever done that.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. And just to show how easy and, like, how much stronger he was to, like, Body lock him and toss him around a little bit. Yeah. We all know he's got fantastic jiu jitsu, but for him to do it against Holloway was very impressive.

[Podcast Host]

He was the underdog, I believe.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

He was betting for him to win 5 0.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

No one saw that?

[TJ Dillashaw]

No.

[Podcast Host]

Do you ever bet or are you allowed to or.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I'm allowed to, yeah. I mean, I don't do a lot of it. Sometimes I get a little too biased.

[Podcast Host]

Right. Like you're still friends with these guys.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, I have favorites and if. If I did a better job of just paying attention to everyone on their come up, I could probably be a little bit better at it. But I have a pretty good record on picking fights. I just haven't really gotten into the sports betting, I guess, as much as,

[Podcast Host]

I mean, you're making some moves with wild societies. You're busy.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, very busy.

[Podcast Host]

Congrats on Whole Foods. That's a big one.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Thank you. It's. It's. It was a goal in the very beginning, and now it's happening. It's a little surreal. It's a little feather in our cap too.

[Podcast Host]

The. Probably the top grocery store, right?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, I would say so. Yeah. I mean, there's. I mean, Sprouts is growing year over year. They're opening like 10 to 15 stores a year.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. I go to those two. Only sprouts and Whole Foods.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Me too.

[Podcast Host]

That's it.

[TJ Dillashaw]

And some like, co ops and things like that. But yeah, they're a fantastic partner.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Sometimes Costco, but you got to know what you're doing at a store like that. Yeah. Unfortunately, these days you got to really look at the labels.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yep, yep. And. And Costco's done a good job of being more of like an everyday shopper rather than just going there for bulk.

[Podcast Host]

Right, right.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Like you can go there and do like weekly shopping now.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

You know.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, they're great. Yeah. It used to be so much quantity, but I think they've toned it back. Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. And they've gotten really big in the organic space as well too.

[Podcast Host]

I've noticed that.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I think they're one of the leaders in supplying the nation with organic products.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Yeah. I love seeing you go on. I saw you on Breca show Santa Cruz. It's cool to see athletes really embrace this world, man. The spiral hacking space.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. I've followed Brecken now for some time. I mean, obviously see what he's done with Dana, switching things around. And I love the lifestyle he's teaching because it was things that I Was already doing. It makes me feel good that, like, I turned my career around in 2017. I'm. I was already doing these things that are now popular. It's like, all right, we were on the right path. And so, yeah, I'm a big fan of what he stands for. And so getting on his podcast was really cool.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. He changed my life.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

He was the first health guest I had on the show. Didn't take a blood test prior to meeting him. Took that. I was deficient in everything. Yeah. I think of vitamin C, vitamin D, testosterone. Literally everything important I was deficient in. But when you're young, you kind of brush it off, you know, you don't even think you're unhealthy. But on paper, I was really unhealthy and then fixed all that. Now I'm feeling amazing.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. Yeah. Like you said, when you're young, you feel like you're invincible.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Right.

[TJ Dillashaw]

And then Father Time is undefeated. He always catches up.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. You got to be more proactive than reactive, you know, especially when it comes to health agreement. Like, you got to. I think you should take blood tests every year.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I do. I probably take four.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, wow.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Once a quarter usually. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

And do you see swings that much?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, you'll definitely see some swings on the. The lifestyle you're living and what you're doing. Not as much when you get consistent.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

But, yeah, there's things like, I just did a. A test, and I found out that I had some molds that I need to, like, you know, I got my house tested to see where it's coming from.

[Podcast Host]

Damn.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Things like that.

[Podcast Host]

You had mold in your blood?

[TJ Dillashaw]

In my urine, so. Which could be from a lot longer. Like, blood's probably right. More right then and there. So that'd probably be, like, the next step to do, but, like, I know it's in there. So now I'm, like, doing a lot more sauna sessions, and I'm doing some binders to get it out and just sweating a lot more.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

To push out of your body.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Saunas get out mold and plastics.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Brian Johnson did a whole study on them.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Crazy. Those things are powerful. Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

And I wasn't doing the sauna. I know how great, great saunas are for you, but I wasn't doing it for, like, five fertility reasons. But now I'm just using ice packs.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. They make them for your balls. Yeah. Yeah, I got one of those.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. Yeah. So now I'm. I'm doing it with that.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. You want more kids? Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I mean, if, if the timing's right, it'd be awesome.

[Podcast Host]

I love it, man. What else you going to get into? Streaming? Because Rampage is going hard on that.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I, I just don't think I'm the right character for streaming. Like, you always have to be on. You always have to be entertaining. Like that's a full time job. Like, I think he streams like six days a week. And you always have to come up with like new things to do and be entertaining the people. People want to watch you. It's a crazy world.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I, I remember like when kids started watching other kids play with their toys or watch. Kids would watch people play video games. It never made sense to me. It's like, why don't you just play video games? Why don't you just like play with your toys? And that's kind of how I feel. Like streaming is like you're living vicariously through someone else's life rather than just trying to live in your own. But I can, I can see the, the, the reasons why. The entertainment factor of it. It's just crazy.

[Podcast Host]

Crazy.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

The money's insane.

[TJ Dillashaw]

It's so crazy.

[Podcast Host]

People watching this would not believe how much money these streamers are making.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I know, I know firsthand because of Rampage. Like, and now he's so busy he can't be a part of the podcast because he's doing so much streaming. But it's financially the smartest choice for him to do it.

[Podcast Host]

I'd say streaming and pods right now are like two of the top in the social media space.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yep. Agree.

[Podcast Host]

You know, but streaming is next level. I know. Guys making millions a month.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I know.

[Podcast Host]

Off stream.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I know.

[Podcast Host]

It's crazy.

[TJ Dillashaw]

I know.

[Podcast Host]

And then the whole clipping game and you're just everywhere. Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

So people can have their own like, like accounts by just clipping other streamers

[Podcast Host]

and they get paid. That's crazy. Yeah. So like basically they clip, save. Rampage does an eight hour stream. He'll make 20 clips. If he gets 10 million views on that, he'll make a certain amount of dollars. And these are kids. So like they're high schoolers, middle schoolers, college kids. Making thousands.

[TJ Dillashaw]

That's wild.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. For them it's easy money.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Do you get clipped?

[Podcast Host]

I get clipped a lot. Yeah. On the podcast. But the streamers get clipped way more.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Okay.

[Podcast Host]

Because they're just constantly doing crazy.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Which I think is kind of dangerous.

[TJ Dillashaw]

For sure. You know, I was part of Was it Neon and his stream a year ago? And we got the SWAT team called on us.

[Podcast Host]

Damn. Yeah. Or like, please, your house or.

[TJ Dillashaw]

No, no, no, I didn't do. At my house. We were at a UFC gym and I was like, running him through some, like, drills and working out and sparring with him a little bit. Just doing silly. And then the cops all show up and I was like, what's going on? He's like, oh, don't worry. This happens all the time. And. And they show up and they see him. They're like, okay, a false call. But they have to answer the calls because what if it isn't false? It's crazy.

[Podcast Host]

That sucks, dude.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

I feel like the lack of privacy in that world with the streamers is not.

[TJ Dillashaw]

That's why I couldn't do it as well.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Not only that, like, I don't think I'd want to be that entertaining all the time, but also just like losing your privacy. Like, my family's too important to want to do that to them, you know, and people knowing where you're at all the time.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, yeah. And I feel that you got to move smart.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Have you always kept the family pretty private?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. My wife's pretty private and so. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, I do the same thing. I think it's good to have that grounding, you know, because when they're both. When you're dating someone in the spotlight as well, you rarely see that shit work out, honestly. Yeah, you know, it's tough.

[TJ Dillashaw]

It makes sense.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. But dude, this was great. Can people buy these online?

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yes. Yeah, we're on Amazon. We're on our website, wild society nutrition.com.

[Podcast Host]

cool. I'm gonna try this jerky too.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Thank you. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

85 or 95 grams of protein.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. So in every five ounce bag that we sell is a 20 ounce ribeye. In there, it's grass fed. All this is grass fed beef and salt. It's only two ingredients in it. It's like, is the most wild you could get. We do like, it's hard for me to only take a few bites and end up crushing a whole bag. I don't travel without it because it's impossible to eat healthy while flying and traveling. And so it's a big part of my diet. So yeah, I travel with it. So we have a five ounce bag. We also have a two and a half ounce bag that's got a 10 ounce ribeye with 48 grams of protein. So a little bit better price point, but it is amazing what it's doing.

[Podcast Host]

Love that, man. Grass fed too, which is great.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah. I mean, it's a ribeye you know, it's like. It's the best cut of meat you can get in a bag. It doesn't eat like jerky. Right. You can take a bite. I don't have to rip it off

[Podcast Host]

apart as soon as I just bite it.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, it's like this perfect, like, crispy and. And buttery texture. And that's why it's hard to just only eat a little bit of a unit. Crushing a whole bag.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. This is my new studio snack, man.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Heck, yeah. I'll have to send you some for sure.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Good luck this weekend and great meeting you, man.

[TJ Dillashaw]

Yeah, very nice to meet you. Thanks for having me on.

[Podcast Host]

Absolutely. Check them out, guys. Check out the company. We'll link it below. Peace. If you learned anything from this episode or got any value at all, please share this episode with a friend. It helps us grow the channel, it helps us grow the podcast, and it means a lot to us. Thank you so much.