JRE MMA Show #165 with Jiří Procházka

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Joe Rogan Experience - JRE MMA Show #165 with Jiří Procházka

Release Date: January 25, 2025

In this compelling episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, host Joe Rogan engages in an in-depth conversation with Jiří Procházka, a prominent figure in the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) world. The discussion delves into Jiří's rigorous training regimen, fight strategies, mental fortitude, and his perspectives on the evolving landscape of MMA. Below is a detailed summary capturing the essence of their dialogue, enriched with notable quotes and timestamps for reference.

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1. Introduction and Current State

The episode kicks off with warm greetings as Joe welcomes Jiří Procházka, focusing immediately on Jiří's recent performance and physical condition.

• Jiří Procházka [00:06]: "Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. Great to have you in, man."

Jiří mentions battling the flu shortly before his last fight, highlighting the challenges of intense training.

• Jiří Procházka [00:18]: "Many things were successful. So even if I like was a little bit had a flu. Many things."

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2. Training Regimen and Preparation

Jiří discusses his training philosophy, emphasizing the importance of consistent daily improvement and the balance between pushing limits and avoiding overtraining.

• Jiří Procházka [01:07]: "Every day. And that's my idea of the training life idea to, to go better every day. 1% better."

He elaborates on his high-altitude training in Mexico City, underscoring the meticulous monitoring of his physical health to enhance endurance.

• Jiří Procházka [02:57]: "There I monitor everything. Like take up blood exams before, in and after the camp. Four weeks camp there."

Jiří also touches upon the use of sensory deprivation tanks and meditation to aid in recovery and mental preparation.

• Jiří Procházka [02:19]: "Sometimes is the biggest thing, what you can do is just rest."

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3. Fighting Techniques and Styles

A significant portion of the conversation revolves around Jiří's fighting style, particularly his unique approach of keeping his hands down during fights to maintain a natural posture and enhance movement.

• Jiří Procházka [04:36]: "With the hands down. Yeah. Because this is your natural posture, right?"

Joe praises Jiří's head movement and counter-striking ability, noting substantial improvement in his recent performances.

• Joe Rogan [07:14]: "One thing you said after that fight, you said you have to evolve. And one thing that I saw in this last fight with Jamal Hill was evolution."

Jiří attributes his enhanced counter skills to persistent training focused on anticipating opponents' moves.

• Jiří Procházka [08:04]: "To be not just connect to the opponent and react what's happened right now, but little bit. Be a little bit before what will happen."

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4. Philosophy and Mindset

Jiří delves deep into his philosophical approach to fighting and life, drawing inspiration from Japanese concepts like kaizen—continuous improvement—and the Bushido code.

• Jiří Procházka [17:06]: "This is something, what is like I said, the style of Japanese, they, they call that kaizen. Yes, kaizen. Like daily improvements, small improvements, daily recognizing what's bad, what's good."

He shares his journey towards mental discipline, emphasizing self-reliance and the importance of being present in the moment during fights.

• Jiří Procházka [50:18]: "I can say yes. Because there was a. With the walker as the mirror, there was a. Just a pure raw power. Raw. The aggression. Aggression, aggression."

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5. Weight Cutting and UFC Weight Classes

A critical discussion point is the controversial practice of weight cutting in MMA. Jiří shares his personal experience, detailing the extreme measures he took to meet weight requirements for fights, including extensive sauna use and dehydration.

• Jiří Procházka [17:39]: "Was that why you came in so light?"

• Jiří Procházka [19:36]: "Because yeah, you would because I spent too much time in the sauna."

Joe and Jiří express concerns over the health implications of weight cutting, advocating for reforms in UFC weight classes to ensure fighter safety and performance integrity.

• Joe Rogan [73:43]: "He didn't look as good."

• Joe Rogan [77:11]: "Weight cutting should be eliminated."

Jiří agrees, highlighting the detrimental effects of extreme weight cutting on fighters' health and performance.

• Jiří Procházka [74:44]: "So I like the way the open weights, man."

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6. Promotion and Shit Talk in MMA

The conversation shifts to the culture of promotion in MMA, particularly the prevalent practice of fighters engaging in "shit talk" to hype up fights. Jiří advocates for letting performance in the octagon speak for itself, minimizing unnecessary verbal confrontations.

• Jiří Procházka [63:59]: "The fight will do the promo. This is the main thing of everything."

Joe agrees, noting that excessive trash-talking can distract fighters and negatively impact their performance.

• Joe Rogan [45:10]: "That's what's amazing about having a coach who knows you."

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7. Future Plans and Evolution

Looking ahead, Jiří outlines his aspirations within the UFC, expressing a desire to continue evolving as a fighter, seeking out formidable opponents, and striving for championship titles.

• Jiří Procházka [121:24]: "I want to be a champion and I'm going for it."

He emphasizes the importance of embracing challenges as opportunities for personal and professional growth.

• Jiří Procházka [125:34]: "Only one thing I can say, like, I know the receipt recipe."

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8. Concluding Reflections

In the closing segments, Jiří reflects on his journey, the profound impact of spirituality and mental training on his fighting prowess, and the balance between aggression and discipline. He underscores the significance of staying true to oneself and the continuous pursuit of excellence.

• Jiří Procházka [127:56]: "Watch yourself like an art, like a David, you are right."

• Jiří Procházka [129:16]: "Yeah, that's me. That's me."

Joe commends Jiří's dedication and growth, expressing anticipation for his future performances in the UFC.

• Joe Rogan [129:07]: "You're making a masterpiece."

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Key Takeaways

• Training Balance: Jiří emphasizes the delicate balance between pushing oneself in training and avoiding overtraining to ensure peak performance during fights.

• Mental Discipline: A strong focus on mental fortitude, meditation, and being present in the moment is central to Jiří's fighting strategy.

• Critique of Weight Cutting: Both hosts advocate for the elimination of extreme weight-cutting practices in MMA to preserve fighters' health and performance integrity.

• Promotion Ethics: Jiří advocates for minimal verbal confrontations, letting in-ring performance drive popularity and respect.

• Continuous Evolution: Embracing challenges and seeking continuous improvement (kaizen) are pivotal to Jiří's approach to MMA and life.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Jiří Procházka [01:07]: "Every day. And that's my idea of the training life idea to, to go better every day. 1% better."

• Jiří Procházka [04:36]: "With the hands down. Yeah. Because this is your natural posture, right?"

• Jiří Procházka [17:06]: "This is something, what is like I said, the style of Japanese, they, they call that kaizen. Yes, kaizen. Like daily improvements, small improvements, daily recognizing what's bad, what's good."

• Joe Rogan [73:43]: "He didn't look as good."

• Joe Rogan [77:11]: "Weight cutting should be eliminated."

• Jiří Procházka [63:59]: "The fight will do the promo. This is the main thing of everything."

• Jiří Procházka [121:24]: "I want to be a champion and I'm going for it."

• Joe Rogan [129:07]: "You're making a masterpiece."

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This episode offers a profound glimpse into Jiří Procházka's disciplined approach to MMA, his philosophical underpinnings, and his unwavering commitment to personal growth and excellence. Listeners gain valuable insights into the intricate balance of physical training, mental preparation, and ethical considerations that define a champion fighter.

Transcript

[A]

Joe Rogan podcast.

[B]

Check it out. The Joe Rogan experience.

[A]

Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. Great to have you in, man.

[B]

Great to be here.

[A]

How you feeling? You must be feeling fantastic.

[B]

Many things were successful. So even if I like was a little bit had a flu. Many things.

[A]

You had the flu before that fight?

[B]

Yeah, for one. One week. Like five, five days. Five days. Five days before. Five week. I was in like. How to say that? Heat, like bodies.

[A]

Fever.

[B]

Fever. Fever, yeah, Fever. So, yeah, that's crazy. That was, that was. Yeah, that was something. What I. But every time maybe I'm a little bit glad for that because I'm every time trying to push my preparation too much that I'm every time like hurt myself or I'm over trained.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So that's why I'm maybe just a little bit glad for that.

[A]

That's interesting. Right? Like it's so hard because you want to prepare so hard. You're so disciplined, so driven, but you, you can do yourself a disservice. You can go too far and then you don't recover enough and then you go into the fight a little compromised.

[B]

Yeah, that's right.

[A]

Yeah, we've seen that many times with fighters who just get so enthusiastic about.

[B]

Their training because I feel like self confidence and still there is something what you can do better. Yeah, every day. And that's my idea of the training life idea to, to go better every day. 1% better. 1% better. Even if you don't, if you can't train, you can sit in a meditation and visualize how you train, how the body is working. Sometimes is the most biggest, the biggest thing, what you can do is just rest. Like, like you show me the floating.

[A]

Yes. Yeah. You need one of those, man. If all the people that I know you need, you need one sensory deprivation tank. You should get one of those because I know you're into meditation. I know you spend a lot of time in dark rooms. That's. That's meditation times 100.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Do you monitor your heart rate every day to see what your recovery is at or you just go by feel, feeling, feeling, feeling.

[B]

I did that in high altitude training in all the November in Mexico. Mexico city. Where is a 2, 300, 200 meters.

[A]

Yeah. 7,700ft above sea level, I believe.

[B]

Yes. And there I. There I monitor everything. Like take up blood exams before, in and after the camp. Four weeks camp there. And man, amazing, Amazing how Well, your.

[A]

Endurance was incredible in that fight because that was such a high and still paced fight.

[B]

And still I. I felt like after that flu, I felt a little bit down, but.

[A]

Well, that's pretty amazing then. You must have been in insane shape before the flu. Yeah, it's that fine line, that balance.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Yeah. So you went to Mexico City. Did you. Did you know a gym up there or did you bring your camp up there?

[B]

I was there in UFC Performance Institute there. There's a. There's a new one. Nice, man. Yeah. You have everything here in the performance institute, like regeneration training, coaches, coaches with the pads. And so I was there for. Especially for. To work on. On the things what I. What I took from the last fight with Pereira to. To work on. On the hands up a little bit. Just a little bit. A little bit.

[A]

But we were talking about in the broadcast, your hands down sometimes has a benefit. There's a. There's a real advantage to it because no one sees where those punches are coming from.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So for the people that don't know what I'm talking about, not just punches.

[B]

Movement. Movement. Head movement.

[A]

Head movement was excellent. Everything your head movement was excellent.

[B]

And the feeling, feeling with the hands up is another one with the, that with the hands. With the hands down. Yeah. Because this is your natural posture, right? Yeah. So you spend more. Most of the time in. In this. And it's. It's about just. Just feeling the space, feeling the. I can explain to. To another person like this one, because when I'm. When I am in. In the flow, like you want to be in the flow in the fight, some between the flow and uncomfortable, some somewhere in the center. So when I achieved these attitudes, that's why I don't need to keep my hands up, because this for me means. And for everybody, that means defending. I don't need to defend myself when I see. When I see everything, when I feel everything. And. But like, I understand in this preparation where I tried, where I did all the camp, hands up like this gives you the calm in. In a close distance. In a close distance. It's not so sometimes it's not so smart to. To keep hands down. Yeah.

[A]

So.

[B]

But I'm crazy. I'm crazy enough to. To go through, to be in the moment, to stress my body so much in this situation, to see every movement, every start of the movement of my opponent that I can react before he start. And the next level is to try to read the thinking of the opponent, what he wants to do before he do that. So there is many levels of that, but sometimes I can't explain that. Sometimes like in the second fight with Pereira, I was a little bit punched in the end of the first round, so I stepped to the second round and I said to myself, I was too courageous and keep the hands down. So that's why it happened. Right.

[A]

You should have been more defensive, maybe to recover.

[B]

Yes, yes.

[A]

One thing you said after that fight, you said you have to evolve. And one thing that I saw in this last fight with Jamal Hill was evolution. I really saw it. You really see it. Like, the counters, the head movement and the counters were brilliant. There's one that I put on my Instagram stories. It was so incredible. He threw a punch, you slid slightly out of the way, landed a straight left, and then the right hook that dropped him. But it was so dynamic. It was so fast and precise. I was like, that's a different Yuri Prochazka. Like, the. Your earlier fights were always excellent. You always had amazing power and very unusual movement, very difficult to predict. But the sharpness of your counters was on another level in this fight.

[B]

That's what I worked on.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

To be. Not just connect to the opponent and react what's happened right now, but little bit. Be a little bit before what will happen.

[A]

Yes. Well, you're. You're definitely getting better, which is so fascinating, you know, so you. You had a very brilliant approach. You waited until you had reached a certain level before you entered the ufc. You could have been in the UFC years earlier.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, that's right. That's right.

[A]

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[B]

But and I have to say thank you to my. To my coaches for that because we worked on my style. We are consulting like communicate about. About that style. What to make a better. How to. How to do that. That's why I'm keeping like my two coaches. What I began with, began with like all the time with me because I think that's. That's the only thing you can go to be a master with in something to stay with with some people with some tight circle. Yeah. Tight circle in some and go deeper. You can go really deep.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. So it's also. I value loyalty.

[B]

Loyalty is very important and this is.

[A]

Means a lot, you know. And when people worked really hard to get you to a certain level. What I like is there's some coach that they recognize that maybe there's other skill sets they can bring in so they work with other people as well, you know. But always stay with the people that brought. As long as the relationship is good, always stay with the people that brought you to the game.

[B]

Sure, sure. Because in the end you can change whoever but you have to start again with the same people and go and again you will go to the same level to the same problems with these people because. Because it's not about them. It's always about you to recognize what's in you.

[A]

How much tape do you watch? Do you watch a lot of film? Do you watch videos of fights?

[B]

Yeah, yeah. I was five days sick before the fight, so. So I just watched the Spartans 300 ong bak. I watched ong back one. Man, that's wild shit, man. No, no, wild. But my. I was really inspired. I. I was really hungry for to. To see something because long time I didn't see some good. Not good movie. Doesn't matter if it's like good or new. But these old classics of the fighting. Jean Claude Van Damme with kickboxer and all these things.

[A]

Oh yeah.

[B]

That's what. That's what made a spark in inside me to a true love for martial arts. Because they in the mo. In that movies, they live that really leave that and they have no other chance to solve their problems just by martial arts and something. So that's why I'm.

[A]

So you got inspired by movies?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Do you watch a lot of films of fight footage? Like your fights, your opponent's fights?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I don't need to. I don't need many times to study that. I just need to like see once I just see the attitude of the start of the fight, how he's fighting, his. How to say, his spirit, his mindset, how he's thinking, how is the start of moving of his body, how he's reacting for. Not just for opponent, for the many situation, for slipping and movement, but everything like a personal. I'm studying the. The. That guy, his energy, his wife, how is. How he's reacting, how he's react in. In some situation like these eye pokes and all these things, like some. Some breaks in the fight. Every, every time. Because it shows you how he have under control himself all the time. All the time. And this is something what Alex Pereira, I don't know what. What is his story behind, but he have to. He handled that. He handled that and that's why he is how he is now. He's starting to be more relaxed and I wish him to. To stay sharp.

[A]

Well, I think he's more relaxed outside the fight, but in the fight he's always very calm. Very calm and very focused.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Yeah. Did you watch your first fight with him before you watched the second before? You have fought him the second time?

[B]

Yes, sure, sure. I studied him a lot. But the second fight, I. I little push it. Too much, too aggressive. No, no, no. I mean like training after the fight I was like, I want Alex Pereira after. I'm ready for him right now I'm ready too. But I'm open for whoever will UFC will give me like a next opponent to prove that. I. I am. But I want a true challenge. Like I want a true challenge of. From the. I think top five guys. Right.

[A]

The interesting thing about the light heavyweight division is there's. There's only about five really exciting contenders. Four or five really. It's. There's not a deep pool of fighters that would be, you know, very interesting to see you fight.

[B]

That's right. Because there is a. Like I said today, there's a few guys who really have the taste, have the drive to go to the job. I want to go to the job. I want to take it. I feel the energy of the crown and I can take it. That's why I'm doing that. That's why I'm still talking about that, to be there, because I really feel that, that I can be the top. And one thing what I needed is that I had to be stable. Stable to not just get to the top and back and out, but to go to the Top and know how, how it is to be there, know to, to. To keep the, all these weights on the top. What, what, what there is.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Defending the title is more difficult even than, than getting the title. And then it's improving while you're champion. You know, they say that Daniel Cormier always says that every champion improves like significantly once they become champion. Because you have the confidence of being champion. And it's just how long can you maintain the kind of energy that's required to constantly get better? Because it's not just about maintaining. Right. It's about constantly improving. Constant analysis of all your movements and what you're doing right. And what your mistakes that were made, what the thought process was before the mistake and how to eliminate that.

[B]

This is something, what is like I said, the style of Japanese, they, they call that kaizen. Yes, kaizen. Like daily improvements, small improvements, daily recognizing what's bad, what's good. And sometimes it is like feel. I feel like it's like, like a sick. Like to be upset. Too much obsessed in that man. You need a little break. That's, that's why I think the, the life gave me these little break before the little flu. Yeah.

[A]

Was that why you came in so light?

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Was that why that?

[B]

Was that, that was why?

[A]

Because I was watching a video with Luke Thomas was going over your performance. Everybody was very impressed and he was as well. But one of the things that he was talking about was that you only weighed 208 pounds when you walked into the cage.

[B]

I thought I will do my best when I would go to the sauna night before the weighed in and spend there. And again I, I changed. I switched myself in the sauna and I was there like for two hours. Oh no, just like 15 minutes. 15, 15. Like many rounds.

[A]

Right, right, right.

[B]

Two hours there.

[A]

And do you do sauna cold or just sauna?

[B]

Relax, relax, relax. Yeah, okay. No, no, no, sauna cold. Okay.

[A]

Back in the sauna.

[B]

Yes, sure. And cold normally like the cold, cold plunge. I'm doing that daily because I have the. At home the cold punch.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And I'm using that.

[A]

Yeah, they're fantastic. Yeah.

[B]

And. But the fun is the second day after that and I didn't drink anything after the sauna. And next day morning I went, I went to the, to the control weight and then I have. I don't know how these inner Libras. 91 kilograms. I. I'm fighting in, I'm fighting in 93. Right. And half. And I was two and a half kilogram under my my weight so it's like £200. So yeah. So I was the only one guy who who was in row to the Wades wading and and I tried to hide myself before other guys and I drank 1 liter 1 liter of the of the water, second liter of the.

[A]

Wow. Just because you didn't want to weigh.

[B]

In light because yeah I would because I spent too much time in the sauna. Man.

[A]

Wow, that's crazy because you only weighed 208.

[B]

Yeah I felt really like.

[A]

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[B]

It's just all about this man and well if you have the reason why and you can not just you want it like your ego just want it but you feel it like it's your destiny, these moments and you it's yours. So then, then it will happen.

[A]

So do you feel like maybe even the fights with Pereira are a blessing and that it showed you what you.

[B]

Need to work on every time it's this is the only way how to how I want to see that. Yeah yeah especially especially the the guy like him who's really top guy and his style, his mindset. What he showed till now was something what I needed to work on still still I'm on. I'm on the Way. Yeah.

[A]

Well, his style is extraordinary. It's very unusual, as is yours. But the thing that's shocking the most about him is that he only needs to hit you once. He's. Is it much different, the power that you feel from him than anybody else?

[B]

There is a. Different from other guys. Yeah, there is a different. But only one thing I can say, like, I know the receipt recipe.

[A]

You know the recipe?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What's the recipe?

[B]

What's the recipe? How to. Because you have to. You have to know how to give the punch and how to act, like, to. How to accept the punches, how to move, how to move with it, and how to overcome the bad moments and all these things. But it's better, much better to defend the punch with the hand or defend the punch with a movement.

[A]

Did you ever watch any of his glory kickboxing fights?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, this is a good one to watch. The Artem Vahitov fight. Yeah. Because Vahitov's very technical.

[B]

I think he won.

[A]

He won a very close decision. It was very close. It was one of those fights where you could call it either way, but. But he won. But he's very technical. Very interesting to watch him deal with the style of Pereira, because Pereira is such an unusual way of moving. Like, even the way he, like, holds his hands up and looks different. So do you. You look different. Like, there's only a few fighters that, if you saw their silhouette, I could go, oh, that's Yuri Prochazka. I could see it right away. I know how you move, you know, And Alex is that way as well. It's like, very unique way of moving. But his. The way Vahitov handled it is a good blueprint for a lot of people to avoid the power and, you know, keep the volume on him. What was your original style? What did. What was the first martial art that you learned?

[B]

Muay Thai. Muay Thai, Yeah. I started in. In my high school. I started with karate because there was. It was in. In a daily, daily schedule.

[A]

What kind of karate?

[B]

Shotokan. Shotokan and judo. There was two. And I felt like I need. I need something more contact, more. More aggressive. So not aggressive, but more.

[A]

More potent.

[B]

More potent, yeah. So I started with Muay Thai.

[A]

Yeah, the most potent. Yeah. Muay Thai is fascinating to me that this one island figured out how to fight better than anybody on the feet.

[B]

Yeah, that's right.

[A]

And a lot of it, they did it through gambling. Yeah, that's a lot of it. Because they're so into gambling that they had so many Fights and then people just fought a lot and then they're like, what works best? And then they figured it out.

[B]

Yeah. And right now after watching ong back, I'm just, I'm just still realizing what is the, what is the best style, what is the best movements, best deadly techniques, what to do? And right now after the watch too long back, I. I see the Muay Boran, right. Like, like my next chapter to what I want to see real, real like in, in Thailand to see really how to use that and how to, how to. Because I'm the man who's like taking the piece here, taking the piece here and making.

[A]

Combining it all.

[B]

Yeah. All together. Yep.

[A]

So have you trained in Thailand?

[B]

Thailand?

[A]

In Thailand?

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, just a little bit for like three weeks there before, before the title fight with Teixeira. Then I was there with. For camp. Yeah. Phuket. Yeah.

[A]

The one of the bank tall one of the greatest knockouts that you had was that Dominic Reyes spinning elbow, which is beautiful. Muay Thai flow.

[B]

That's beautiful.

[A]

Flow. It's like you just timed that out. That was a real coming out party for you, that fight. Because that was when people like, my God, like this guy.

[B]

Yeah. Always find a way. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

When you first started fighting in mma, was this something? First of all, how old were you when you had your first fight?

[B]

Oh, when I was. First fight in my 18, 19.

[A]

And were you looking at it as a career?

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Right from the beginning, were you looking at it to do that was what you wanted to do professionally?

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Right, right away.

[B]

Right away. Yeah. It's from my. Yeah, 20. 20. Around my 20. Yeah.

[A]

You knew you wanted to be a championship fighter.

[B]

Yes, yes. Because that was something. What I was too inspired by because I was a young guy who tried to challenge everything around himself. Everything. Every man, every situation, everywhere. I am better than this. I am better than this. Maybe not the school, just. Just not in the school, but I like the fighting. I fall in love with the fighting, with. Looking for finding my biggest strength. And that's, that's the. Why I'm going every time to the nature, to sleeping in the mountains, to. That's why I'm living in the cottage. To be in the contact with the nature, to feel the present moment and rare natural power of the water fire, of all these things, of the sun.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. I was going to ask you about that. Like, when did you start this training in nature? Because when you look at your setup that you have at your place and everything's outside, you Put pads over trees and you punch and kick trees.

[B]

Yeah, sometimes it sometimes looks. Looks. Looks weird but. But you know, wow. I don't like to. I don't like. Right now I. I realize I. I need to. I want. I. Right now I want to overcome the. The people demands, the. The sparring partners in the. In the training. But like in my personal way, I was inspired by. Once I was inspired by Masutatsu Oyama, who was the founder of Kyokushinkai Karate. And I saw his movie and how he spent more than one year, one and a half year in the mountains. And he trained just in the mountains under the waterfall in the winter. In the winter. And he made from himself a really, really something like unshakable mind, self confidence. So deep because he. He found a way how to overcome. How to rule his body. How to. He's describing that in his book like the mind without the thinking, like without the thoughts. Pure mind, pure focus, pure consciousness right here, right now. And I took that like my own way and. And I think it was year 214, 215. And I took everything in myself. I. I took Tent. Tent. Yeah. And I. And I went to the. To the mountains, to the mountains. And I slept there for just for like one week. Two weeks, one and a half week. Yeah. And I, I was inspired too much. So I did the same thing. I ran there and I punched to the. To the rock and.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And. Yeah. And I just. And I just want to fight with the environment. Like with the. With the nature around me. And in the end you can realize there is no fighting, there is nothing. This is the pure life. Because this is the pure life. Because the pure. The life has the one reason to overcome everything around and survive. Survive, survive, survived. And this is the. This is the nature what is in us. So this is. And as deeper you can go in this uncomfortable environment and all these things that deep, you can understand the life. And like be a philosopher about that. Like understand more deeply. And I don't know how to say.

[A]

Yeah, no, you're saying it right. Yeah, I understand what you're saying.

[B]

So that's why. So I was inspired by the Masutatsu Oyama and that's why I decide after the second fight with Alex, I need to go to Japan. To Japan, to the places to make a black belt from Kyokushinkai Karate and really feel all these things. Like a realist. Realist. Not just think about that, how it can be, how. How is this style can be. But to leave that, that's it. Because I like, like to take an inspiration and take it and go there. Fight that fight that guy. Live that experience. Yeah, this is it. This is. Yeah.

[A]

Playoffs. We're talking about playoffs. You bet. We are. Get in on the action with DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL. Scoring touchdowns is key to winning the playo and you can score big by betting on them at DraftKings, the number one place to bet touchdowns. Ready to place your bet? Try betting on something simple like a player to score six. Go to DraftKings Sportsbook app and make your pick. New DraftKing customers can bet five bucks to get $200 in bonus bets instantly. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use the code Rogan. That's Code Rogan for new customers to get $200 in bonus bets instantly. When you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings sportsbook, the crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York, call 877-8-HOPENY or text hopeny467-369 In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino and resort in Kansas. 21 and over. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void. In Ontario, bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkng. Well, you're obviously very physically talented, but I think one of the things that does separate you from other fighters is this mindset that you've cultivated and that you embrace. And I think, I think it's the only way. It's also something fascinating about the fact that you do do it outside. I think that scares people. I think something about the fact that you like to be fighting in nature and punching trees like this because, Because.

[B]

I'm coming like from. From. From a. From one village where was the. A lot of like good guys but everybody we were. We are still like really crazy when we are celebrating. It's all the time about right now. We are trying to slow down to. To show others like we are adults. Like we. We know we are the man. But still it's about like the show showing the strength what to destroy, how to punch other guy, how to show the strength above others. So and when there started on the. Okay, like I said, when on these parties started the level of like it was really dangerous fire and firearms and the cars and fire and it was not safe. Then I said guys, okay, we Are a man.

[A]

Let's be mature.

[B]

Let's. Yeah. Please.

[A]

Yeah. Take it down a notch because somebody could die.

[B]

Yeah. That's something what you have to realize. And these. This essence of a. Looking for a strength. These. Something this true madness. Like. Like when I see these. This picture of that and remembered me that when I saw that when I came here. The JRE logo. Yeah, the logo. Yeah. And when I saw that, it remembered me like. Yes. Go through. Going through all the time. Choose the hardest way and go through, overcome whatever and show you are the. You are the boss. Yeah. And this is. This is it. This is why I came from that place where we are. Tried to. To show each other this one. And I Trying to carry that energy. Carry that energy and put it in the. In the calm way to. To. To show it in the. In the cage. And that's why the samurai ideas, the Bushido Codex, helping me in that too, to show it.

[A]

That's all I understand. And. And then you feel that in training in nature and then experiencing the wild and getting it out there, it becomes even more pure because you recognize that all around you is survival.

[B]

That's. That's right.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. You are on the wave now.

[A]

We're on the same wave. Yeah. So when. What year did you start doing this training in the wild?

[B]

Like I said, in 2014. 2014. Yeah. Like I was. I started. Was inspired by. By Masutatsu Oyama and then I realized it's not about opponents, man. It's about just your body. Just about rule your body, how much you can. You can rule your body, rule your mind, rule your emotions. Logical state of. Of thinking. Yeah. To find the way. How to not overcome, how to rule your breath. Because this is this. This is it. This is the way. And because this is the most primal thing of the body. Yeah. First when the child is born, like first is breath. Everything is like you can settle by the breath in the body, not just by thoughts. The thinking and thoughts is like a great serf, but a bad boss, really.

[A]

So it serves you well, but you can't let it control you.

[B]

Yes. So there's a many levels. What you have to. What you have to rule in your. In your body. What you have to understand and put it in. Put it in one way in the. In the present moment. So. Yeah.

[A]

So you had your first fights when you're around 18, 19.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

And then how long. When did you decide that you were ready for the ufc and how did you make that decision? Because I do know that you were offered fights before, but you said, I want more development time.

[B]

That was in. Somewhere in the center of between in my sixth, seventh fight in Horizon. So around the year two to 17 to 18. Yeah, something like that. And yeah, I realized that, man, there is a, there is a way in the rising yet. Yeah. So I need, I need to know, I need to, I want to take a title here. I wanna prove that I'm the. How to say, like the, the King of Japan. Like, yes. To, to rule. Rule these guys real really. And then I can go to the, to the league of the Best. Because if you want to go to the league of the Best, better to be prepared for. Yeah.

[A]

And yeah, I think that happens too often.

[B]

That's why I can, can fight for a title in, in three fights.

[A]

So I think boxing has it right in, in that boxing, they look at fighters, managers look at fighters as an investment. So if you're a manager and you have like Floyd Mayweather, you don't give Floyd Mayweather the best fight. You can get him right away with the toughest guy. You want to see how he performs with a guy who's an inside puncher, a body body puncher, who's a brawler. You want to see how he handles a slick guy like Emmanuel Augustus with unorthodox movement. You want to, how's he handled Diego Corrales? Long, tall reach. And you, you build them with fighters that you think you got to know when they're ready. And then there's an objective assessment, okay, he's ready, then you start moving him into top 10 contenders. Then you move him to a title shot. UFC throws you right to the wolves.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. It's good to, to have this objective.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And if you, if I like to, to be just a watcher of the, of my progress of the, of the situation, think about that, how to plan to, how to see that not, not personally, just to see yourself as another person and put it in myself in a way where, where it will be the best for these, for these targets. And then go in and do that.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. And when you, you had a very quick rise in the UFC to a title fight. So you fought. Was Vulcan Ozdemir your first fight?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So you beat Volkan Ozdemir, then Dominic Reyes was the second fight and then bam. Title shot. Crazy. So that's the reason to be so prepared.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Because if you're successful, things go very quickly.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

You have to be ready. When you look at your first fight with Volkan Oezdemir and then you look at your fight with Jamal Hill, do you see significant improvement with who?

[B]

The first one.

[A]

When you look at your first fight in the ufc, when you fought Volkan Oezdemir, and now you look at yourself now in the most spectacular performance against Jamal Hill, do you see the improvement right now?

[B]

I can say yes.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Because there was a. With the walker as the mirror, there was a. Just a pure raw power. Raw. The aggression. Aggression, aggression. But not so refined. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, you can see that in the fight, man, there was just a pure chaos. Pure chaos, man. I was too, too, too much. Sometimes it's the self confident. Like, when you are too much self confident, it's a bad thing. Yeah. Like, because ego will. Took you to another. Another line, and it will. It will destroy you. Yeah. It will burn you. So you have to keep that. Burn, that fire under control. And to give the. These. These attacks, these aggressive aggression, aggressiveness in just a small. To keep it under control, just.

[A]

Yeah, I like what you just said. That ego will take you to another line, man.

[B]

It's. It's good to be. To have it. Yeah, It's. We can't live without in this world, with cooperations, with collaboration, talking relationships. Yeah, you can't live without. But also, you have to cultivate that in like. So there is a two. Two worlds, like. Yeah, like without in life. So you have to go in.

[A]

Yeah, they have to be working together. The mind and the ego have to be working together. And the. No mind, the Zen.

[B]

That's right. The flow. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And the ego will take you out of the flow. Yeah, the ego, like, I'm gonna go him up and then boom, you get hit.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Yeah. I like what you said, though, about it takes you out of the line because it takes you into a different line. It takes you in a different line of fighting. And then sometimes in that line, you'll realize you're out of place. You realize you're leaving openings that shouldn't be there. And you're trying to force.

[B]

Yeah, good force. Yeah. Force and power.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

And good. When you. You said, like, when you realize that, it's bad when you don't realize. And sometimes it's good when you have the people around you to. To man bring you back. Bring you back. And that's why I'm sometimes really glad for my team, my people around me to keep me back.

[A]

That's what's amazing about having a coach who knows you, having trainers who know you. They Know, they're like. They know where you're at. Like, calm down, calm down. Everything's great. But you're hitting the gas too much. Like, so be a little more technical. Move around more.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, but not too much.

[A]

Not too much. Not too much.

[B]

Right? That's right. Because sometimes it's the. These wildness, dude, the aggression, dude, to take over. Like, it's too necessary. But.

[A]

Well, that's what I asked you after the fight. I said there's something about you where you thrive. You get better. When it's chaotic, there's something like. It seems like you relish in the chaos of these wild exchanges. There's. It's very. Because sometimes fighters like to piece people up where they're not getting hit. Like, Jamal Hill's really good at that. Like the Glover Teixeira fight, he did a fantastic job of utilizing his game and his accuracy and reach, and he just put it on Glover.

[B]

Yep, yep.

[A]

But they don't want to be in these wild exchanges. You seem to want to be in these wild exchanges because you thrive there.

[B]

Yeah, that's right. That's right. And sometimes it's. I don't know where. Where is the. Where it. This. To keeping yourself and the control is going through. Sometimes it's going from the fear to be. Not hit. Sometimes it's going from. To be careful for the takedowns and. But I want to be, like, fearless in that. Like, to stay behind, stay before the opponent and have no. No fear. No. You can go as close you want to, as close you want. And try to hit me. And you will not hit me because I'm here and I feel you. I'm. I got you. So I can't explain it. And I don't want to explain it. I want to show that in a fight. So.

[A]

Right. So I know what you're saying. When you. One of the things that we were talking about, Daniel and I were talking about when we were doing the commentary was your head movement was so good. It was. It was different than before. It was like at another level. Like, what. What specifically had you do. Had you done to prepare that made your head movement so much better?

[B]

I have, like, a long time I'm working on that. Like, since my. Before I stepped in the uf. No, since my title finding. I really. I really exactly know what. What's. When I started to work on. Especially on that, because I realized that this is my game. This is really what's me. And it was around the title fight with. With King Molaval in Rising. So that was a title or title fight in Rising. And it's about the feeling the opponent. The feel the opponent, but not be. But to not be. How to say? Do not let the. This feeling to push you in some way. You know, I understand. To feel the space, but still be calm, be unshakable. And you can feel the. Then you can feel the space around you. The everything and whatever will move right now. You will react for that and naturally because you will feel all these things like yourself, like everything is you. And then you can step to the level. I am everywhere because there is no difference between me. This thing. This thing, the opponent. But still. And that's sometimes why I need to be. Why I need to be a little bit hit to feel the aggression. Back to the fight. That was before the. Before the ufc. And I was needed to get hit because I need to. Because I felt him, felt the movement, felt the right movement. Everything was right. But I also needed to be more aggressive to wanted to go through the opponent. Yeah. Because I was too. How to say. Too nice. Too nice for them to just. Just. Just show them I can sleep and I can move everything. You can. You don't. You can't hit me. But this is not the fight. The fight is to answer. To catch him in. In the right moment. So. So yes. To be here and now, to be. Like I said, to be everything, but still to not be pushed by this feeling. Like to be. To be so nice. Not too much aggressive, but something in the middle. Still control that. It's all about control, balance. Yeah.

[A]

I like what you said like that there's no difference between you and your opponent. Like you're not even. You're just in this flow of movement and life and this thing you're choosing to do, there's no difference between you and them. You're not. You don't even exist. You're just a part of it all.

[B]

Yes. And the bad is bad for fighting is when you really realized we are doing this. We are doing. We are fighting each other. And right now I'm going to hurt other person. And you don't see are really the difference between you and him. So you know you are doing to. To yourself. But this is the game what we chose.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And we are here to. To have a fun. So not just have a fun. To. To live this experience.

[A]

To live this experience and an extreme experience that will teach you about yourself. Like no other experience.

[B]

Yeah, that's right.

[A]

There's. If you want to learn about yourself, go fight.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You'll. You'll really find out. You can yourself all you want, but until you fight.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

And when you go through a loss, like the losses to Pereira, what is your process like of like evaluating what went wrong and how to. How to change things.

[B]

What's. What's wrong?

[A]

Yeah. Like, how do you. What do. What's your process? Like, what do you do when you. When you lose a fight and then you come back? Like, what is your thought process? What do you say? I have to learn. I have to figure out what went wrong. Let me.

[B]

After that last. Last. The second fight, first time I can. First time in my life, I realized that, man, that was really, like. I will not say what was that, how hard it was, because I don't like it. But it was something what I didn't experience yet, not like till now. So that time I really realized how powerful the meditation and the true self talking with how the true meditation look like. Because I have no other chance than the start. Stop doing a bullshit. Stop doing just pure inspirational training in the garden. Stop doing all the. All these things and start doing just things what really matter. What have a real effect. How you can feel how you want to be and. Yeah. The power of true self talking. Power of true. Overcoming the mistakes in the law, in. In the life, and be the boss of your mind. Because sometimes it's. Sometimes it's. Yeah, it was. It was the next level. Yeah.

[A]

Very difficult to recover from a loss like that. But you.

[B]

Yeah, because especially when you lost, like, that was. That was bad. Yeah, for me, like, how to say, like. Like a man who likes the honor and. And all these. All these coats, like from Bushido, moral code, like, that was something. What was for me, really bad.

[A]

He gotcha.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

That's how it goes, man.

[B]

You can say it like that, but I really work on every. Every move, every thought, every catching the. Every Every move in the inner fighting. And now this happened. That was not me. That was. That was really. It was me. But, man, you show yourself your worst. Your. Your worst to the world, man. But. So that's why.

[A]

But then you came after that and showed your best. So this is the thing about overcoming a loss like that is that I'm sure it was awful, but because of it, the pain that you felt from it caused you to rise to another level.

[B]

That is what is life about. Yeah. Yeah. I'm still.

[A]

Yeah, you need the challenge. Do you need tong po? You know?

[B]

Yeah. No, no. That's right. And. And how I see this world and this is what I wanted to speak with you. What is here right now, the true challenges in, true challenges in this world, in this age, like in a human's life, what is there? Because how I see that, like there is not too much thing what we. Not, not too much. There is a lot. But still we can go. Right now we have to go to another level because there is a. Too much of the, of the, of the comfort life of the, of the people. Because like that you can have the food, like that you can have a drink, a massage, every, everything. So there is, there is no price like I see in the young people, what they want to pay to achieve some really achieve something.

[A]

Because yeah, they just want things handed to them.

[B]

That's it.

[A]

Yeah, this is an entitlement era because things are very easy. And when things are easy, it's very difficult to develop character. That's why for young people, I always tell them, you should choose to do something hard. Choose to do something hard for your human development, for you as a human being. Because if you just live your life in comfort, you will have a terrible life.

[B]

Yeah. I think, and only one reason, only one thing. What I realized, like, maybe the one, one, one thing the step up will be like, take us two steps back and understand the true life.

[A]

I think so. I think we'll realize that the people that live this way are living disastrous lives and people will learn from that mistake. Because this level of comfort that most people have is very new historically. It's very new in human history. There's never really been a time where the poor people were fat.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

This is a weird time.

[B]

That's right. Yeah.

[A]

The poorest amongst us have no worries about, about starving to death. They're in America, they're fat. It's more common than not. I think some crazy number of people in this country are obese. What was the number? It was like 60%, 60% of people are obese. Something crazy like that, which is just nuts. And it's too easy. It's too easy to exist. And I don't mean it's too easy. Like you don't have to work and I'm sure everybody has to work. And your work sucks. It's hard and you gotta get up every day. But physically, you have to do something to test your will and your discipline. And if you don't, you're gonna have a shitty life.

[B]

That's right. That's right. That's right.

[A]

And you won't be able to control yourself in situations that Require you to stay calm.

[B]

I think right now it's up to like it was in every culture up to the. The old, older, all the people to teach the younger to real life, to tell them like the. Simply tell them the stories, listen the stories. Yes. Live the true life, man. Because we are forgotten for all these things because we have the phones and this is the fake lives.

[A]

It's a fake life. It's a fake life and it's bad for you. It's bad for your development. It'll hinder your potential. Like whatever you want to do in life, if you want to be an artist, if you want to be a musician, whatever you want to. You want to be an author, it will hinder your development if you live the comfort life.

[B]

And okay, so this is it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And how you, how you see the. Like in the 10 years, in the 50 years, in 100 years, what's the next step? Further?

[A]

Not good.

[B]

Right now I'm trying to lead you in some way, but. No, this is your podcast. Sorry. I'm curious about that because I'm trying to. This is my true motivation, the human evolution. The evolution of myself. How to fight better, how to overcome the opponent better, how to show him that I am everywhere and you have no chance around me. Please keep. Hold your head down and tell the other I'm the winner. You know? You know, this is like, yeah, my ego wants this, but the way to this there is. But still in some humble way. Humble way to show it like peacefully.

[A]

Show it, show it like show violence peacefully.

[B]

Yeah, that's it.

[A]

Yeah. It was nice seeing you and Jamal Hill out after the fight, having a drink together. That was nice to see.

[B]

Yeah, I, I bought him the, like my original drink, what I'm drinking the vodka, vodka soda, lime. And I told him, like, we fight together, we drink together. Let's go, let's go for that. Yeah. Because, man, we are everybody. We are, we are one. In the end, there is no enemy. Even if you even with. With your. The baddest enemy of the role, man. It was a good life. It was a good fight. Let's drink together. Let's celebrate together. That's all.

[A]

Was it cool? Was it cool hanging out with him?

[B]

That was, that was cool. That's something. Was what, what I like to. To do with my opponents. Whoever won, you win, you lose, whatever.

[A]

Yeah, that's great. Yeah, it was just. It's always nice to see this. One thing that people really do love about a great fight is afterwards when the guys hug.

[B]

Yeah. But still Still, I don't like to, to speak about opponent in some way, in some bad way before the fight and after fight. Change it like right. It's not exist. And right now we are the friends and everything. Good man, please.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Let's be honest. You talk a about me. Talk a about me. Okay, so you are the. But doesn't matter. Let's drink together. You are who you are. I am who I am. Let's drink together. But stay, stay honest.

[A]

Right? Man, that energy, man. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Because that's, that's why I, I like to keep same word, same attitude before the fight in the preparation and after the fight. In the fight, after the fight, all the time, like the same. That's me. And I want to show me, not me before and me after.

[A]

Right. There's a lot of guys, just for the sake of promotion, they talk a lot of shit and they're just trying to stir things up and make the fight more exciting by insulting people, insulting their families. And it gets very ugly. And I think the audience turns on them over that. And one of the things that's shown with your success and your popularity and guys like Alex is that you don't even have to speak English. Like it doesn't matter if you kick ass. I mean, if it doesn't matter, you could talk all the shit you want, get everything hyped up. What really matters is how you perform inside the octagon. When you perform inside the octagon like Alex has, like you have, it doesn't. There's no need for shit talking. It's you. People love you and they love you just by the style of your fighting. And you're expressing your soul inside that cage, like who you are as a man inside that case. You don't have to talk about someone's wife or all that crap.

[B]

Yeah, that's, that's why many people around me, like the My manager team try to be more, more focused for a promo and all these things, man. The fight will do the promo. This is the main thing of everything.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Not selling these things. This thing, this, this giving the. The main thing is the.

[A]

The fight.

[B]

The performance, the performance.

[A]

That's what kind of drives me crazy about when championship level fighters have to do a lot of promotion before the fight. I'm like, man, leave that guy alone. What's really important is how he's going to perform. If you want to promote it, have a bunch of people like me or, you know, Daniel Cormier or Chael Son and have people talk about the fight. Hype the fight up. You don't have to bother this guy at 7:00 in the morning and talk to him for an hour about some nonsense.

[B]

That's what I like.

[A]

Leave alone.

[B]

Yeah, that's what I like on ufc. They are focused for performance.

[A]

That's great.

[B]

Every time. And no talking before. No one fight, other fight, no special promo before the, like, afterwards, do interviews.

[A]

Like right now, afterwards, relax. But when leading up to the fight, the most important thing is that you're 100 prepared, and anything that distracts from that should be eliminated.

[B]

That's right, that's right, that's right. And yeah. And many, many, many fighters are. Yeah, we are like, focus for. Yeah.

[A]

Still, there are things about shit talking that I do like. And what I do like is that, first of all, it gets a lot of people excited about it, which makes me happy because I want more people to watch the sport. But also, there's a psychological aspect, especially Conor McGregor. He's so good at talking shit that he gets people so angry that, like, when he fought Jose Aldo, for instance, like, no one had ever treated Jose Aldo any way other than with respect. He was one of the greatest champions. He's an elite fighter. He defended his title multiple times, destroyed his division. But you could tell that all that shit talking from Conor had an effect on him emotionally. And I think his ego made him go out of line. So he ran right at Conor and tried to hit him, and Conor stepped back and cracked him. He was so energetic. So now imagine if instead, if Jose Aldo fought that fight and dragged it into the fourth and fifth round and started using the leg kicks that he used on Uriah Faber and started, like, picking him apart from. Be careful in the beginning, but stay inside the game plan. Stay inside. Fight the best of your ability. Don't get emotional. That could have been a very different fight.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

But that's the weapon, the weapon of talking.

[B]

Yeah. And especially if you know how to use that. Oh, yeah.

[A]

He uses it better than anybody. He gets people so mad.

[B]

That's. That's right. That's. That's right. But still, it's a big weight. Yeah, it's a big weight. What you need to. What you need to hand. What you know how. How to handle that. Yeah.

[A]

Well, it's also. That big weight weighs on you as well. It doesn't just weigh on your opponent. When you talk a lot of shit, it puts extra weight on you and it gets. That can get you out of line.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That. The additional pressure you might Hear the audience boo when they introduce you, like, oh, what have I done?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, that's right. Not everybody has the, this, this big self confidence to, to, to keep that.

[A]

Yeah, it's, it's an interesting aspect, but I don't like it. If I had to choose one way or the other, I would say just fight. There's no need to talk shit. We should behave like martial artists.

[B]

You know my attitude about that is a true self confident man, a true man who overcome and understand his body, his mind, his opponent's mind and body. And his mind don't need to. That guy don't need to talk shit. Talk shit. Doesn't matter. To show that to others, to the crowd, or to fear the opponent. Because why I know that and all. I don't need to make this show to anybody because I know it, I know what, what, what will happen. I have this self confidence.

[A]

So the thing about talking shit though, it does make you more money because it does, it does cause more people to pay attention. Like. A good example of someone who doesn't need to talk but talks a lot of and becomes successful is Gordon Ryan. You know Gordon Ryan, Jiu Jitsu champion. That's his belt up there. That's his Abu Dhabi belt. Gordon talks a lot of.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And he's the greatest of all time.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

And he still talks a lot of shit.

[B]

That's him.

[A]

But that's also why he's so popular.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Is because like people talk back to him and there's a lot of back and forth on social media.

[B]

The most important thing is to be, to be him. To be, not like to play it right. To play to Right, right. To be true yourself.

[A]

Right.

[B]

When you are like that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay, be a bad guy or, or whatever. But just show yourself. That's it. Right.

[A]

Who are you? You for real? Express who you are in there and you might not even like who you are after it.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Yeah. So a lot of guys, that aggression, especially after a loss, it leads them to a place where they're like, I don't even like how I behave. I don't even like me. Especially with the bad feelings of a loss. So when you have all this aggression and talking and then a loss and a bad loss and you have this feeling of like, I was an asshole and I lost and the crowd cheered.

[B]

When I lost, like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

But that's the game they play though.

[B]

That's the, that's the game. And this is something. What, what is for me, I can't Forget, like for myself. Because I want to show really true myself. So I can't talk and.

[A]

Yeah, you've got to be yourself.

[B]

Yeah, that's me. That's.

[A]

Yeah, you can't. Especially now. If you try to become an now, everybody would be confused, like, what, what's. What's going on if you took a heel turn.

[B]

I am, but, but so, so big ones. So I need to keep myself like so straight. So I can't, I can't do that because. Because that will be just like I said, ego line. I will show you just this one line. No, I need to show you the center.

[A]

Right. You need to be pure. You need to be you with no bullshit. And that's how you perform at your best. So after a fight like this, there was a lot of space. And this is. I brought back to the Luke Thomas video. He was saying, like, you could be the middleweight champion, like if you made two. Oh, you fought at 208. Like, that's a lot lighter probably than Drekkers du Plessis. Yeah, Drekus is huge. I look at him, I was like, how Does Drekus make 185? He's so big. Have you thought about that? I know there was some talk about that at one point in time.

[B]

Yes, I thought, I thought about that. But the main thing for me is right now I see the way in light heavyweight because I'm this one of the strongest guy in this division. And I still feel like there is a way in light heavyweight. And I said to myself, like, okay, you can go to the middleweight, but first show the consistency in light heavyweight. Take a belt, then you can. With the belt from light heavyweight, you can fight for the belt from.

[A]

A double check.

[B]

Yeah, so. Yeah.

[A]

Well, you know, it's interesting because weight cutting is, in my opinion the worst aspect of the sport. Josh Barnett was just talking about this. He was on the Ariel Helwani show and he was talking about the dangers of weight cutting in reference to Armand Sorukians having to pull out of that fight. Arman is big. He's big. When I stand next to him, I cannot believe he makes 150. He's very muscular, very dense and very lean. And so for him to make 155, it must be an absolutely brutal weight cut. I gotta think he weighs 180 easy, maybe more. You know, he's big and I think off when he's out of camp, I bet he weighs closer to 200. I mean, he's thick, man.

[B]

So for a guy, why they do that. Why they don't fighting in. In higher weight classes?

[A]

Well, the thing is, at that weight class, Islam Makhachev is so good, and he's so big. He's another one. You stand next to him, you're like, how the does this guy make 170? And he was actually talking about his first fight with Alexander Volkanovsky. And one of the problems that he faced was that the fight was very early Australia time, so that it could be on Pay Per View in America. So he was getting ready at 5am so he did not have the time to recover from the weight cut from the previous day. So instead of having a full 24 plus hours. So if you're weighing in at 10 o'clock in the morning, now is it. What time do you weigh in? What time did you weigh in in Los Angeles?

[B]

Eight.

[A]

Eight in the morning.

[B]

Eight in the morning.

[A]

So eight in the morning and then you have a full 36 hours plus before you fight.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Which is plenty of time to recover and rehydrate. But he did not get that with the Volkanovski fight. And you saw it in his performance. He didn't look as good.

[B]

Okay?

[A]

And because he's fucking big, man. So he's. I think weight cutting should be eliminated. I said this to Ari Emanuel when they first bought the ufc. I said, listen, man, you know what you should do? Get rid of weight cutting to stop it. It's not. Look, if you can randomly test people for drugs, you can randomly test their weight. Show up with a scale. Hey, buddy, step on the scale. You're 190 pounds. How the fuck are you making 145? Do something like that and come up with more weight classes. There should be a weight class every 10 pounds. This idea of these giant gaps, like 185 to 205, that's a 20 pound gap. That's huge. That doesn't exist in boxing. They should have every 10 pounds, 85, 95, 205, 225, and then unlimited, instead of 265, let them weigh whatever the fuck they weigh. He's got giant guys out there that can't fight in the UFC because they can't make 265, which is kind of crazy, right? Like Bigfoot. Bigfoot Silva when he was at his prime, when he was. When he was saucy, he was like £300. He was fucking huge.

[B]

So I like the way the open weights, man.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, open weight, not 265. Let Francis Ngannou weigh Whatever the fuck he weighs when he doesn't cut weight, probably weighs like 290. Instead of having weight cuts, just take the champions. Find out what the champion weighs. Like, don't get rid of the championship belts. Find out what is Islam Makhachev weigh. Islam Makhachev is a UFC champion, best pound for pound fighter on earth. Find out what he weighs. What do you weigh? If you were healthy, if weight cutting didn't exist, would it be 185? Okay, 190, whatever that is, that's how you fight now. And we're not going to weigh you in the day before and let you rehydrate. That's crazy talk. Fight people your size. And also the fights would be better because too many guys get depleted horribly by these weight. Like Max Holloway said he would never make 145 again. After he fought Ilya Toporia. He's like, I can't do it anymore. Because he had gone up to 55, he got thicker and then he went back to 45. He's just drained. He just wasn't himself. He didn't look good. So I think that would be. And I know this is not an easy thing to do, but I do think it's just like getting steroids out of fighting. When they brought in usada, when USADA came in, you saw people's physiques melt. You saw people that were doing steroids on a regular basis and gaming the system and testing negative on the day of the fight. But all throughout their camp, they were using. You saw their bodies change. They had started looking like doughy and flabby because they didn't have any testosterone anymore, because they fucking up their endocrine systems. Instead of allowing that, they brought in usada and USADA started randomly testing and a lot of people fell off. Great champions fell off. Guys like Vitor Belfort fell off. Great, great fighters who when they were using, were unbelievably good. But then as soon as they had to be natural, okay, so we realized that we're going to have to sacrifice some fighters for that. This is the same approach that should be made with weight cutting. Weight cutting should not exist. It's terrible for you, it's unnecessary, it's not necessary. It's just sanctioned cheating that we've done forever. If you're telling me that Alex Pereira, when he fought Israel adesanya, he weighed 185 one day and 226 the next day. That's crazy.

[B]

That's crazy.

[A]

It's crazy.

[B]

That's not a slight Against Alex.

[A]

Because Alex is willing to fight heavyweight. He's willing to fight at what he weighs. It should. Weight cutting is something that exists. It's. It's sanctioned. They allow it to happen. They know what's going on and it's cheating.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

They're not really 170 pounds. That guy's 195. He's depleted and dried out, and then he's going to swell back up again and he's going to look huge the next day.

[B]

Everything is evolving.

[A]

Yes, they should evolve that. Because for the safety of the fighters. For the safety of the fighters. It's not good to dehydrate your brain 24 hours before a cage fight.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

It's dumb, but nobody's gonna listen to me. Nobody listens to me, Yuri. Nobody.

[B]

Maybe offset.

[A]

I don't think they should even have cages. I think it should be an open floor. I think it should be an open floor. Like a basketball court.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because I think the cage allows you to get up when you wouldn't ordinarily be able to get up. You could walk, wall walk. The cage allows someone to press you up against an unnatural object. There's a cage there. So you could press a guy up against a cage, whereas if you were standing in the center, you could do Muay Thai sweeps. You could rotate around each other. There'd be more action, there'd be more movement.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

I also think if someone takes you down at the beginning of the first round, at the end of the round, you're on your back. You start that second round in the same position.

[B]

Yeah. You see that? Like, yeah. I have the similar. Similar of the fighting first. I thought, like, why there is a ruse, why there is a. The eye gouging. Eye pokes is not allowed. So I'm glad for after this last fight, it's not allowed. It shouldn't be allowed.

[A]

But it's very effective, man.

[B]

Yeah, but show all your weapon of your body how you can defeat this man. That's all. One against one. That's all.

[A]

Yes, one against one. That's all. And the. The minimal amount of rules possible. You know, another thing that I think they should do, and I'm going to talk to Dana about this this week. Cover the fingers. There's no reason to have these fingers exposed. It doesn't help anything. It doesn't help grappling. You never grapple like this, right? You never. You never use the fingers?

[B]

No, no, no. Nobody does.

[A]

You do this.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Or you do this, yes. Or you do different things with your hands, but your fingers.

[B]

But still the feeling. Still the feeling.

[A]

I understand. But the problem is the pokes. Because everybody does this. Because you're used to sparring with gloves on.

[B]

So allow the eye pokes, man. Everybody. You know what will happen. Every. Everybody will be more prepared for. No, for eyeballs. For every possible attack. For an eye. Because eyes is the weapon too. For my vulnerable especially. I can. I can speak about that because I'm using like I see. So I know what you're saying. Maybe, maybe it's weird. Yeah.

[A]

The problem is you don't want people to go blind. Like Michael Bisping can't see out of his right eye.

[B]

Y.

[A]

You know, and that. I just. I feel like for the sake of.

[B]

The athlete's future, everybody will took every. Sorry. Every. Every. Every fight. Every fight so seriously. So preparation will be so. And every people in the crowd will watch that with man. In this fight there can happened something what after that fight, we will not. Can. Nobody can change.

[A]

Right? Right.

[B]

So we will like the fighters. We will speak better, perform better, train better, be prepared to die.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And not like just in our mind just to die. To show the best performance. Like. Like. I mean that, like philosophically, like you have to stop thinking and be in the moment and all the. All these things.

[A]

Right.

[B]

But like. But that's what. That's. We are right now speaking like about ancient fights, like about the fight for the life.

[A]

Real fight.

[B]

Yeah, real fight.

[A]

No rules at all. Do you think maybe get rid of cups too and allow kicks to the balls? That's real. It's a real target. It's a vulnerability of the human body to ignore. Vulnerability of the human body.

[B]

It sounds weird. Especially in this age of the full of laws and all these things. Yeah, but that's. That's how I am. How I see that we are living in the age where the loss is work laws and the system is working. So we put the. We have to put some. Some system on the fighting too.

[A]

Right. So Eddie Bravo actually came up with an idea. It was. He was joking around, but he wanted to call it ultimate sack fighting. Where you would allow to kick a guy in the balls and that your balls would be exposed. So it's like when the balls are in play, the game changes. And the idea was that like your balls are so vulnerable, but yet you cover them like a tie cup, you know?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And that if they didn't. If the balls were hanging out, like your, you know, your chin is hanging out. That it would change everything. Yeah, he was just joking around. It was very funny that the guy who would win would just have like iron balls. But nobody has iron balls. I mean, the human body has the eye pokes and ball shots.

[B]

You didn't see vulnerabilities. You didn't saw the Monks. Yeah. How they kicking?

[A]

I don't understand that. I think they're just hitting each other in the taint. I think their balls are tucked up. I think otherwise it doesn't make any sense that you could just slam your foot. Because also the way they're doing it, the Monks, they're kicking up. They're kicking up. So I think they just slamming their shin into their instep. Into the taint.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

It's not really the balls, man. Like if you front kick that monk in the balls, just front snap, front, he would fall down dead. He'd be like, nobody has iron balls. Nobody has iron eyeballs either. You know the problem with eyeballs is. Yeah, these guys. Yeah. See how he's doing that? He's getting kicked. Yeah, yeah. He's getting kicked in a taint his balls. I can even see the way his sack has pulled up. See that little thing that he's got on there?

[B]

But still he's right.

[A]

Yeah, he probably has little balls too. Unfortunately, it's stupid either way. That's stupid. That doesn't. If that was the only way, like, if you could train that way and you know, like a lot of the ties, they kick banana trees and kick sandbags. You know, we have a sandbag out there. It's so brutal to kick. But if you do that enough, you'll develop those micro fractures on your shins and it'll make your shins much tougher. You can't make your bones tougher. You can't make your balls tougher.

[B]

Yeah, there I think there is no, no, no reason.

[A]

This guy just punched himself in the dick.

[B]

Reason to.

[A]

This is so ridiculous. This is so ridiculous. This guy's us to take.

[B]

Oh, no, man. Oh.

[A]

Oh, no. Don't do it. Oh, God. He's getting slam the nuts by a log. These guys just hitting each other in the ball. But again, I think if you step to one of those guys and front snap kicked him right in the balls and then they'd fall down. This is stupid.

[B]

What I realized when I saw the like a lot of masters of. Of a lot of masters of. Of these kung fu doing these weird stuff and all these things. So there's a way to like about obsession of the. Of the Martial arts of the doing something in in your life to the deepest level. But still this is a fighting yeah about this is about the win. So I don't know if this will. Can, can. Will help you to really defeat the. No, no especially this is just defense.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay. So you are the preferred prepared to defend your your boss. And so man really like think about it like in real don't, don't be don't, don't give it too much on these, on this side of an art of the like just doing. It's good to, to know one thing. One, two.

[A]

Right.

[B]

One, two. Really really deeply. So you can time that timing that in every situation to know how to what. How to do this movement in every situation. But these movements, they're not an effective.

[A]

Use of your time.

[B]

Yes yeah.

[A]

It's not going to help you be a better fighter. It's. There's a lot of ancient movements that are probably good for the development of your consciousness and they're probably good overall for your ability to be a better martial artist because they teach you certain movements which are almost like a form like kata. A lot of people talk about forms and they say it's a waste of time, but I think it's a moving meditation. I used to think it was a waste of time when I was a young man everything is. When I got my black belt I just learned the katas and then afterwards I'd forgotten them as soon as I just learned them so that I could pass the next test. And then once I knew all the forms and the cottas, I didn't care anymore. I just wanted fight. So like.

[B]

Yeah, but, but all these moves they're important are written in, in your, in your body, in your. Maybe maybe you don't realize that yet but in hardest situation in maybe there will one move will right. Wow. Will will jump up and bomb.

[A]

Because you've trained system. You've trained your system about those things.

[B]

Like the Neo in the Matrix, man. Yeah, I know the kung fu.

[A]

I know kung.

[B]

Yeah yeah.

[A]

They think they're going to be able to do that now this is a. They. I was just reading an article about that and they were comparing it to Neo in the Matrix. They think they're going to be able to download skills into people's brains man.

[B]

It's.

[A]

Which sucks.

[B]

This is. No, but it sucks because it's a.

[A]

I want them to learn the way you learned.

[B]

I think no man. There is a. The ego. The force. The Force. We will do that by. I will take it and this There it is me Dimitri.

[A]

Yeah, that's Dimitri.

[B]

Dimitri. Hey. And instead of like to take a. Take a. Find a real snake and whatever I. I cannot describe on the snake.

[A]

So I know what you're saying. Like train those movements so when the punch comes, you block, you counter and then that it's in your mind.

[B]

You will take some information and by the force you will give it in. In yourself. Yeah. To I don't know which. Which form you. You meant like. Like the way like the matrix.

[A]

Let's google that because they were Jamie will find the article.

[B]

Maybe like Elon Musk have that neural link or something like that.

[A]

I don't think it was that invasive. I think it was with some other technology that they think they're going to be able to utilize. Scientists use matrix style learning to write skills into human brains. See non invasively so they don't have to inject anything. Put up a wire in your brain Techniques use real time brain imagery and neurofeedback. It bypasses learning processes that require effort, study or practice. With our method, not only can we nudge complex patterns around in the brain towards known ones, but also for the first time write directly a new pattern into the brain and measure what effect that has on a person's behavior. Said Dr. Coralene Lorden, lead author of the study and assistant professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester. That's crazy.

[B]

Okay. And this is. This is the one one side. The second side how I'm. How I'm looking at how I'm taking that is about right now. I have no antenna.

[A]

Right. But.

[B]

But it's not about. About just about the hair. It's about the. To be open, to be connect with with the consciousness. And there. I don't know how it working but it's working to be just connected for all the information what's. Whatever happened and will happen is there in this moment right here, right now. And it's just about the state if you are. If you can be really connect for that. Because I don't know where many moves. I didn't rehearse them, I didn't trained.

[A]

They just came out while you're fighting.

[B]

They just came out. Yeah. And in the fighting. In the fight. And I don't know. I don't know where and I didn't train Spinning elbow. Never.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Never man.

[A]

Really?

[B]

I didn't train that never. That's crazy. And just follow.

[A]

You just saw it. It was just there.

[B]

I just following the flow, following the moment. Because there is a one Elbow. Okay. You have to. And it's going really slow. You have a second.

[A]

Here it is.

[B]

Yeah. You have the second album. Use that.

[A]

Boom, boom.

[B]

And between one and second one, there was a long conversation of, you can do that. Try to do that. Okay. I don't believe that. No, do that, please.

[A]

And this was such a phenomenal exchange. People love that antenna, too. They love that crazy hair. Are you gonna bring that back? I liked you like this, man. I streamlined the thing. I worried about that antenna. Like, that could get caught in something.

[B]

Do what?

[A]

It could get caught. Like, if you're in a submission situation and you know how people grab shorts. I don't think anyone should wear shorts either. I think she wear tight.

[B]

Maybe I can grab it. Like, that's some choke.

[A]

You could. Yeah, you could. You know what? You could. And it would be legal.

[B]

Dominic Reyes caught me in a. In a guillotina in Gilatina. And I was there and. And I said, my. My. I have the hair. Big hair. I can't. Can't give the. The heads up. So, yeah, that was the problem. Yeah. That's what I was saying in that moment. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. I think shaved is better for you, but it looks cool.

[B]

And that's what I'm saying. Like, it's not about right. Right now. I feel like. No, it's not about the hair. It's not about the anything. It's just about to. To ex. Love to say to. To be there, be here and now. That's all. That's. Yeah, that's all. What?

[A]

No, just be in the moment. Especially right now in the moment. You have all this momentum on your side because of that spectacular victory. So you must be very energized right now. You must be really feeling like you're on the right path.

[B]

Yeah. But still, this is. This state and this feeling have the two sides. Yeah. So that's why I. Because I know how it is to be a champion. How is this. All this feeling and still. How is. What is the. To not be the champion. To really lost. Like. Like a. Like. Like a shit fell on the ground. Like a shit after. And so I realized that it's about to be just here right now. To be just here right now in this moment and show through yourself. Not playing, not you. Don't do stupid shit. Don't do. Don't have the war hair. Be angry. Be. No, just be. That's it. Show your true self. That's. That's all that. And that's what I like on. On the States, on. On America like they. Everywhere, like they are, they are okay with that. To show yourself through yourself. And we in Europe, we have some special, special thinking about America that like there is something, something better than. Something better than everywhere. And you and you here, just pushing more to everyone to just live through yourself. And maybe I'm wrong.

[A]

No, you're right.

[B]

But freedom, this is free freedom. Fuck, man.

[A]

Freedom allows you to be your best self. Yeah.

[B]

And this is something. What, man? What is for me, so inspirational.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But still it's a gift. A big gift, but a big, how to say, Big weight.

[A]

Yes. Big responsibility.

[B]

Responsibility. Big responsibility. Because if you don't know how to work with the gun, it can be dangerous.

[A]

Right?

[B]

Yeah. So.

[A]

Right, right, right. Yeah. With great power comes great responsibility. Yeah. Where you, you sit right now at the top of the heap, like after Ankalaev, especially after that performance. It's very likely that either you or a lot of people are forgetting about Jan Blachowicz. Always like to give him his props because Jan Bohovic is still one of the best fighters in the world. And I would like to see him get another shot because he's also 41 or 42, I think now, and you know, he doesn't have much time left. In his prime.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

And Jan has maintained like even at 40 years old, still doesn't show any signs of a deterioration.

[B]

That's right, man. When I thought about my next opponents, there was just like these guys, Uncalaev, Pereira, the Pereira's most. But let's see how the negotiations will be. The Pereira, Ankalaev and maybe the Bachelovic. So these three guys I see still there. I see the challenge. Yes, the challenge. Because I want to go somewhere where I will feel I can. Because every time when. When there is a challenge, there is a new you and there is a new. Something new. What you need to overcome, what you need to rule, what you need to. What you need to observe.

[A]

Yes. Yeah. They're the elite level of the game.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, Jan Bohovic, he's one of the, I think, the only gods to go the distance with Pereira other than Bruno Silva. Right?

[B]

Yeah. Because he have the hands up.

[A]

Also. That guy's made out of iron. I mean, I'll never forget the fight with Uncle IV when he was just going shin to shin with Uncle Ivan. Goliath could barely walk. Yambachovich is made out of rocks, man.

[B]

That dude, man, I thought like, he.

[A]

Won that fight, but very close, very close fight. But you could definitely see giving it to Jan Bohovic. There's a lot of those fights. Here's another thing that I think should happen in the ufc. I think we need more than three judges. I don't even think that the judges. Some judges are very good. I think the judging in California was very good. I think overall, I think we need at least five judges. I think three is too little. I think we need. Because there's too many times where two judges get it wrong and the crowd is like, what the fuck? I think if you had five judges, then you have two judges that would counterbalance that other and they'd be three, two in the right direction and you would get a good result.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I think you're more likely to get a good result, an accurate result of what the fans and the experts see about the result of a fight than you would if there was only three.

[B]

Judges or fighting to win.

[A]

Yes, fighting to win. Well, that, that's the. I mean, what Gordon likes to do, Gordon Ryan likes to do is no, no time limit fights. He does no time limit fights with no points. Like, listen, we're going to submission. This is what this game is about. It's a bit. Me strengthening you.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Imagine that if they started doing the UFC, like the old UFC, like UFC 1, no rules.

[B]

Maybe for somebody it will be a little bit like they will not like it because maybe sometimes it will be long maybe, but maybe so what? Yeah, yeah, that's fighting. Yeah, that's fighting.

[A]

People watch baseball.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

No, no offense against baseball, but that shit's boring as fuck compared to fighting.

[B]

You know, what's my theory about that? So there is a sports, a lot of sports, but the first one, first sport, first. First version of sports, version of sport was like, one man wants to overcome the second man.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And it came from DNA from. From DNA from fight. From fight. For this piece of being caveman. For food. From eat. For food.

[A]

Fighting predators.

[B]

Yeah. This is it. This, this. That's why it came from. And in the, in the, in the time there was like, let's. Let's do some other. Another competition. Another competition to not be so violent. So violent. But then, to be honest, the realest one competition is the one man against the second man.

[A]

That's why that sport translates through all languages. It's the only sport that translates. Like cricket. Cricket is huge in other parts of the world. Nobody watches cricket in America. In other parts of the world, billions of people watch cricket. Nobody gives a about cricket here. Put cricket on tv, no one's gonna.

[B]

Watch and we, in the time we gave the. Some rules, the kimonos, the. All these things. No, let's.

[A]

Well, that was the beauty of the first ufc. The first UFC was just wild. No weight classes, no, no. No real rules other than I post you. There's a. There's a. There's a. Joe. Joe Son was fighting Keith Hackney, and Keith Hackney was caught in a guillotine. And he's just punching Joseon in the balls. It's a famous scene.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Do you remember that?

[A]

Yeah, it was like. I remember watching that going, oh, this is awful. This is awful. There's another one in Brazil. Big Daddy Goodrich was fighting this guy named the Pedro. Look at this. Just pure nutshots. Just one after the other, right to the balls. This was horrible to watch.

[B]

Show me the monk training.

[A]

But here's the thing. If he's wearing a cup, especially if he's wearing a tie cup, a steel cup, which I also think should be illegal. I don't think you should have steel cups, because steel cups act as a leverage point as well. You know, not only you could break your foot on it, it's an unnatural object. And then if you get someone in an arm bar with a steel cup. Yeah, you could break it. It's like, it's. That's an extra leverage point. Like, it's like bending a stick over a rock.

[B]

Use it like a weapon.

[A]

Yeah. And you. Kenny Florian, used to always fight with a Thai steel cup. And he's like, I don't know why anybody would fight with anything else. Because it hurts them when they kick me. Yeah, yeah. And it really is like a good leverage point. It's also good for the mount if somebody mounts you. There was a guy that I used to train with, Amir Renovardi, and he used to get on top of you and mount you and drive his cup, drive his dick in your solar plexus and you'd want to tap. It was horrible. But it was smart. I mean, if it's legal, it's. It's a smart thing.

[B]

Find a way between the laws.

[A]

Imagine if nobody had cups. If cups were illegal, there'd be so much more nutshots.

[B]

You know, maybe somebody will find a way. How to jump with these kapu to do a face like those guys.

[A]

I don't think so. I don't think that's real. I don't think that would work. But other than that, the, you know, the rules, they're pretty good. They're getting a little bit better. I'd like knees on the ground as well. Knees to the head. I don't think opponent should be allowed to be in a turtle when your head is vulnerable. You have to move. You have to avoid those knees. And that's a.

[B]

Like before my last fight. Right now the, the referee. Referee. Sorry, I didn't. With the big mustache.

[A]

Oh, Mike Beltran.

[B]

Mike Belcher. Yes, sorry. Mike Beltran. Because he's a good guy and he tried to. To tell me like how to when. Because I didn't know that the change of the rules. The change of the rules. Like when the hands down.

[A]

Right.

[B]

When he's not the one is not the elbow. When the hands down and you staying and the legs and hands down you can knee the opponent.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Still.

[A]

So.

[B]

Man, that's.

[A]

That's better.

[B]

That's better.

[A]

Much better. Because guys were gaming the system. They put a hand down so they couldn't get kneed in the face. That's crazy.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That doesn't make any sense. You should not be doing that. Yeah, that, that's a good rule that they changed. Another rule is the 12 to 6 elbow. That should be legal too. And now that's legal again. That's the only reason for Jon Jones ever having a loss. You know, so there's, there's good movement on the rules. Ryzen allowed knees to the head to a grounded opponent and kicking. Did you get accustomed to that and have to like get that out of your system? When you came to the ufc, is there any moments where you like thought about throwing a soccer.

[B]

No, no, I didn't thought about that. But when you are still. When you are in the control in, in the fighting, what's the. I think the, the biggest, biggest thing of the fighter in the fighting to stay in. In the control so you know what to do, what can't to do. But some. There is a moment when you don't. Don't control yourself too much. So it's dangerous. But in racing I use that. I did that like I think twice. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, it's very effective. It should be allowed. Yeah, I think it should be allowed.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I think the only problem with soccer kicks is the cage. So the cage, if your head is right there and you get stomped, you can't move.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

So this. It's the unnatural barrier of the cage. That's a problem. That's why I think basketball court. Yeah. Matted down basketball court. Just two men in the center of it have a warning track where you go outside the warning track. Too many times you lose points because you're trying to avoid the fight. Plenty of movement, plenty of time to. And if someone gets you down.

[B]

I was just trying to imagine that. And it's better. It's good. It's much better.

[A]

Yeah, it's better because you wouldn't be able to just stall the fight out by holding someone against the cage.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Sometimes when fighters are exhausted, they'll just clinch against the cage, try to catch their breath. That wouldn't be allowed. You couldn't do it. There would be no opportunity to do that.

[B]

That's right. That's right.

[A]

Also, if you got taken down, you'd have to get up with skill. You can't just use the cage to get up. It's very hard. Especially if you got a great wrestler like Islam on top of you. Very hard to get up any other way than wall walking.

[B]

Yeah, just right now I'm thinking about it. I think about. About the. What's the name of the movie? Hunger Games.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Just to put somebody and somebody somewhere. And they will find each other's in the natural environment. Environments. And they will fight together. And everybody will watch that. So.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So give them weapons.

[A]

Well, have you seen those? They do have like people with armor on fighting sword fights now.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. Crazy.

[A]

Just a matter of time before they take that armor off.

[B]

Yep. Yep. Yeah, that's right.

[A]

And some crazy country, some wilder country. That million dollar purse. You fight with swords, then you're back to the Roman days. The Colosseum.

[B]

Yeah. But still how I see that when we are going higher in understanding everything, we have to go. Maybe I'm wrong. Deeper in. In the. In the. These raw things. We want to see more raw. Because to be. Not poo. Something.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

To go. You understand me?

[A]

Yes, I do. Because the consequences are higher. You have to get more pure.

[B]

So balance.

[A]

Did you ever read any Miyamoto Musashi?

[B]

You know, I read. Yeah, of course.

[A]

I don't even have to ask. But the Book of Five Rings, he talks about that. Because Miyamoto Musashi was such a great sword fighter that he. He believed the only way to fight at your best is you have to be a balanced person. Very balanced. You have to be an artist. You have to be able to do calligraphy and write poetry. You can't just be aggression. You have to be completely balanced. And he believed in that so strongly and taught that so strongly in the Book of Five Rings that if you. If you think about how he applied it to sword fighting, it makes sense. Everything what you're saying makes sense. Because you have to be completely pure. When it's just two men and swords, you can't have any bullshit. You can't let the ego get you on the wrong line because you're not just going to get punched in the face, you're going to lose your head.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That's right. There is no yeah no time. And that's why. That's why I don't like it. There's no time for talking. There is no time for a bad word in your talk. No time for a bad move in the fighting. So your mind have to stay controlled, stay present and use do nothing. What's not useful for this moment right now we are natural here. But when our life will these podcasts, these talking may be when you will not talk your everything true and everything honestly it will cost you a life. So we will every we both we will pay attention of every our world because in. In that ages of Miyamoto Musashi there was a. Even. Even the word can cost somebody's life.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So that's why they were so precise in everything in every. That's the Japan every movement every. Even the. Even the teapot, even the tea ritual is the. Is the. Is the art. So that's why they was and still they are so precise in the thinking, in expressing in expressing your true self. Not just talking whatever matter. Hey, how are you? Hey, what's up? I don't. This is something what I don't like to America like everybody asks you hey how are you? And don't care about your they don't care about your answer so and. And I want to stay in hey, I'm great. How are you today? No he's don't care and he's going somewhere right. So so why. Why why you why ask me why are you doing this so right.

[A]

So it's a figure of speech unfortunately.

[B]

But still it's a.

[A]

It's a kind figure speech.

[B]

I know it's not real.

[A]

Yes, but it's not real. They don't really care what you're doing.

[B]

They don't care how I understand so Kaizen yeah let's be real but sometimes don't push it too much to the I'm important every My vault is important every movement. So the true power is coming with lightness to be lightness and lightness is not to taken so much seriously and taking too too much lights so taking like like don't care about what I'm saying So some still balance. Balance.

[A]

It's just balance. Yes constant balance and staying pure staying here do you. Is that what you're feeling when you stare your opponents down? Because like these one of the fights with Pereira and the fight with Jamal Hill, you. You just lock on your opponent and you stare. And is that what you're doing in that moment? Just trying to be completely present, just empty yourself of all.

[B]

That's the. Yeah, this is the moment before the fight. Yeah, it's all about that. Because there is no opponent, there is a just a moment. This moment. I'm everywhere. That's all.

[A]

I like it. I'm everywhere.

[B]

But this is not something. What I'm telling you that because I want to be cool.

[A]

No, no, no. I don't think you are.

[B]

This is a real truth. Yeah, that's all.

[A]

So now that you have this big victory, what happens next? Do you wait for the UFC to call you? Do you wait for Uncle Live and Pereira to fight to see what happens next?

[B]

This is what I. What I am right now not expecting. What I want to see the fight if. If they fight will happen because they are translating that so much this their fight. So, so let's see. Let's see who's the best and my attitude. And right now I know that how I what to do to not to get better, to do a real serious preparation, to get prepared for both of them, doesn't matter who and be ready for negotiation about the next fight. I want a title, but I will let the life to give me who's before me right now. Who's the. Who's the challenge right now before me?

[A]

So it's just about whatever the challenge is, accept it and then try to find your best self for that's neck this next performance as well.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

It's an exciting time for you, man. How old are you right now?

[B]

32.

[A]

Say perfect prime. That's in your prime. It's exciting time. Are you enjoying this life?

[B]

Yes, yes, yes, yes. Enjoying. But oh man, long time nobody asked me for like, for these questions, so I didn't thought about that long time. But yes, since I decide I want to go this way of the. Of the warrior, of a true man. To feel the true power and take it to my life and live with that. Not just to feel that and go away, but to keep it in a daily life. Yes, yes, I'm enjoying that. And I don't know who said that. Like, watch yourself like an art, like a David, you are right.

[A]

You're making a masterpiece.

[B]

Make a masterpiece from your life. And that's what I like to do in my Meditations to take a step up. Watch yourself. Watch where you're going. What. Who you spend time with. Where is your daily. Daily. What's your daily routines, how it make it better. And then go into the deepest level of the present moment and live that and stay with these your best ideas. What you. What you are connected with. Yes. So yes, you asked me. Yes, I live that. But I didn't in the time right now. I can say it right now. I didn't expect. It will cost you everything like it will cost you your old personality. And you will reborn like a new personality. But still I know somebody, my spirit, whoever choose that because I know this is the way.

[A]

One of the things that I have to talk to you about was in the Alex Pereira fight. You thought that they were using some magic spirits, Black magic.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What do you. Why.

[B]

Why did you think that you know. Okay, I will take it from another. From another start. Okay. When I'm doing something, I'm doing that like I'm extreme in every. In everything what I'm doing. So I want to go to the. To the bottom. To the bottom of the. To the start where it. The. The source of that. Where it's going and the source of the spiritual world of that question what is the spiritual world? Where the source is. If there is some weapons, how they use that in the cage? And I went in that so deep. So I get lost really. So I had to. I had. I had another. No other chance just to totally close this. Close these doors. Just believe that I am who I am who to believe. Just for ideas which I started with like the martial arts and all these things and just be in the gym and train. Don't do another these bullshit. Because with Pereira I really get lost. And I started to believe to another people to not just myself. And this is something. This is the. This is the way to the hell to when you start stop believing yourself. Your true yourself. And when you start believing some spiritual guys who's trying to protect you or giving you something and trying to lead you and they know what's the best for you. And that was my biggest school in this life. I think to. So yeah, that was my like last preparation to just believe in myself. Go to the gym and train. Do a good camp. Do a camp. What. What's was the. What was the first. Your biggest inspiration? So in Japan I made a camp in Japan. Then I made in high altitude training in Mexic. Then I went back to my city brno for my guys, for my team and we made A solid good camp, hard camp. And the last fight, I'm happy that. Happy.

[A]

What is it about getting down to the source that made you think he was using black magic?

[B]

Yeah, it's every time a big no big difference experience. I said that that word big power. When you are responsibility, it's big responsibility. Not just big responsibility. We are, we are. I want to speak right now. So I don't want to speak about that fully because still it is something what I am humble for and I can say this is it. This is it. Yeah. Because everyone, everyone has their own way and nobody is like even me prepared for to saying something what can be for somebody like take it seriously, you know, maybe. Yeah. Again I get lost in that. So the thing is I just started to believe. I will not speak about where is the magic, how to use the magic.

[A]

But you believed that there was magic working against you, man.

[B]

I. And that was the, that was the biggest power to my. For my opponent because I was focused for him, not for me, you know.

[A]

And that's where the black magic lies. And then because it gets you outside of your own head. Is that. But is that black magic or is that just his presence as a champion? Because that's the, the aura of a fighter is a weapon.

[B]

He have Israel Adesanya when he was.

[A]

In his prime, Mike Tyson in his prime had that. There's Anderson Silva had that. There's an aura that champions have when they're in their prime that makes you think about them instead of yourself. And it probably seems like black magic.

[B]

Yeah. But still this is the. Just for me is a pure self confidence. And to be pure self confident, you.

[A]

You can't think about your opponent.

[B]

And that was the. That was something what I made. That was something what I really went to another level. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

So when you look at yourself now in this amazing performance against Jamal Hill, do you. Are you imagining yourself even better? Are you constantly imagining yourself even more precise, even more accurate, even more effective?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, sure. But right now I'm more in reality about that. Not, not just in, not just in imagination. I want to see that in video. I want to be real. I want to see the results of my work. All these things real. Not just think like still think about I can be better, I can do this. But I no, I want to do. I want to be a champion and I'm going for it. And I want to show that to everyone. That's all. And I will show that. And then, then we can speak about, about the black magic again. No because.

[A]

So right now you don't even want to concentrate on the idea of that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And to protect yourself from that, you just don't think about it and be.

[B]

In your own mind. It's all about that. Yeah, it's all about that. Because in the. Like I said, the mind is a big greatest serve but the baddest. Baddest the boss. Yeah. Yeah. So that's why it can run away from you. Yep.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That's why I had to go back to the Japan where like my old belief started to go really deep because there I started to be. I don't know how to say, like not. Not just inspired but to live, live it, really live it without. Without no anything. So.

[A]

In, in managing your mind, I'm sure one of the most important things is to not have a lot of like negative influence. Not have a lot of negative thoughts. And do you spend any time on social media when you're in camp?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, but. But I'm doing just some posts and that's all.

[A]

Yeah, just post and go, post and go. Yeah, that's it. That's how to do it.

[B]

Or posting maybe some answer to my. Just a few. Few of my friends and that's all. No, no reading comments, no reading anything because I'm here to. Right now. I'm here to show you my way of the martial arts, of my way to the strength where I still feel the way. And this is it.

[A]

What is the days that you spend in darkness and silence. What does that do for you.

[B]

To still. It's about explore your mind. Keep your mind disciplined. Keep your thoughts on the ground. Observe them. It's all about the mind and then about the training because I trained there too. In that dark. You mean that dark room?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So meditation, observing mind follow follow your and find the best. The best of your. What you can, what you can achieve in this life. What you can if you can, if you want. Really. And this is the question what everybody have to answer for to. To. To ourselves. Which life we want to live, which thoughts is the useful. Which not which I need to let go and which I want to keeps in my life.

[A]

And so it's just a deep exploration of your own mind.

[B]

Yes, maybe because there is a lot of. Lot of levels like imagination see some visualization, some life dreams, all these things because after three days there is an opening. The third eye is opening and you can see, you can. You can see truly who you are and maybe sometimes somebody needs more days without food. So it's going to be then it's without food, it's going to be like more intensive. Yeah. Everything's going much faster. So. Yeah.

[A]

So when you started doing this, you do no food, you just drink water when you're in there.

[B]

Yeah. And if you to understand me, all these things I'm doing, because I really decide like to use everything like a weapon in a fighting, to use my mind, use my visualization, use the everything. And that's. That's why I went to this trip of the spirituality so deep. Because I fall, I thought there will be some special weapons what I can use in the fighting. And the biggest special weapon is to be yourself, the realest yourself. That's all there is. The. That's the key.

[A]

That's the key.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Well, listen, brother, I'm a big fan. I love watching you fight. I really enjoy talking to you. I wish you nothing but success and I can't wait to see you get after it again. And I'm very happy for you and your improvement. The last fight was incredible. And thank you for everything.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

Tell everybody you have a website. Do you have a website online? What is your website?

[B]

I have just a brand. You mean like, do you have a.

[A]

Website or you just have social media?

[B]

Oh, social media, yeah, sure, social media.

[A]

Just Instagram, Yuri Prohazka.

[B]

Yerka Prochazka. Yes, in Instagram. Twitter too. Twitter is Yuri bjp.

[A]

There it is. Yep, that's it. What does BJP stand for?

[B]

Wow, man. This is. Wow. What. I came from the stands. The. That's. That's young Yuri. Not Young Yuri. The. The true Yuri. Who's. But UFC don't like that because I'm. I'm. I'm trying to tell them like, this is the best Yuri Prochazka. But in the real is. In Czech is a Bombayak picha. And that mean like bombs as so because. Yeah, that's it. That's it.

[A]

So it's bomb as Yuri Prohaska.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

That's it.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Beautiful.

[B]

Yeah. Looking for a bigger strength. That's all.

[A]

Yes, sir. All right. Thank you, brother. This was awesome.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

Really appreciate you. Thank you very much. All right, bye.