← The Steve Austin Show
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- [00:01]
A
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- [00:49]
B
The following Program is a podcast ONE.com production from Hollywood, California by way of the Broken Skull Ranch, this is the Steve Austin Show.
- [00:57]
A
Give me a Hell yeah.
- [00:59]
B
Hell yeah. Now here's Steve Austin.
- [01:02]
A
All right everybody, welcome to Steve Austin Show. I am coming to you from a silver state. I'm out here at the broken Skull Ranch 2.0 in Nevada. Been up here for about, I don't know, give or take about a week. Good chance to finally unpack some of my shit and hang it up on my walls. I finally got a chance to hang up some of my signs, I got a chance to ride my buggies and we are getting ready to head back to the mean streets of Los Angeles where this week, I guess on Thursday, it is Thanksgiving and I guess that means we're not going to South Texas for Thanksgiving this year. I believe we're gonna head up, ah shit, it seems about hour and a half drive somewhere out of Los Angeles to hang out with my wife's side of the family like we did last year. So man, I tell you what, we got on the road last year and we took my mother in law with us and man, I tell you what, by about 10 miles into that trip I needed a drink. But of course you can't drink and drive. So I got to the party, then I had to kind of, you know, not do too much because I had to drive back with my mother in law who I love dearly, but once again, I could use a beer during those stressful times. I think what we're going to do this year is either Uber and I think that's going to be the most economical way to do it, or book an suv. I think I'm going to Uber it because when I use that Uber service, it turns out to work pretty damn good. And normally I love to drive myself around the mean streets of Los angeles in my 2003 Metallic P Ford Focus. But we ain't cramming everybody into that damn thing with a bunch of damn pecan pies, which my wife is gonna make, and head over and get in that damn traffic. When you get in that Thanksgiving traffic in Los Angeles, holy shit. It is at a whole nother level. And I'm sure it's the same way in every big city across the United States of America, but, man, what a pain in the ass it is. Everybody got to go see the family. That's what it's about. Thanksgiving. Giving thanks for everything you got. So, anyway, everybody, I know this is on my Tuesday show, but there'll be a classic show dropping that day, but Happy Thanksgiving from the Austin family to you and yours, and travel safe during the holidays. If you're flying, driving, doing whatever you're doing, be safe. And hey, man, for all you people out there that are trying to watch your waistlines, celebrate a little bit. Eat a couple pieces of pecan pie, pumpkin pie, turkey and dressing. Drink you a couple of damn beers. Get you a drink. One day ain't gonna hurt your damn physique. Let it go. Take a break and get back in the gym the next day. One day out of 365 ain't gonna kill you. Anyway, enough with that. We heading back to LA tomorrow morning. Well, tomorrow afternoon. And get back to the mean streets. Hit the ground running. Anyway, let's get on to my guest today here on the podcast. Former UFC light heavyweight champion, UFC hall of Famer Tito Ortiz came by the crib over there at the Broken Skull studio in Marina Del Rey, California. We talked about all kinds of stuff and had a real good visit with Tito last time I seen Tito. And we talked about this on a podcast. But. Well, the most recent time I really remember was in about 2001, and we was down there in San Jose or wherever that damn pay per view was, where it was a Survivor Series, I think. And I was Wrestling Kurt Angle 2001, and we had a hell of a match that night. But we were sitting there, I was trying to get ready for my match, and Tito's there. He was a big wrestling fan. Of course, he was still actively fighting, you know, hot and heavy back then. And anyway, had a good chance to visit with him, but we were just talking about fighting, man, Tito's a smart dude. He's got his stuff together, and a really, really well thought out guy. Very articulate, very eloquent. I enjoyed hanging out with him, and I hope you enjoy the podcast, we're talking about all kinds of things in life and, you know, making choices and doing the right things and working hard. And it turns out of all things, Tito has yet another upcoming MMA fight, and he is fighting none other than former WWE superstar Alberto Del Rio. And I believe that Alberto is fighting under Alberto El Patron. So nonetheless, it's down there in South Texas in Hidalgo, Texas, December 7, 2019. Make sure you tune in. Check out this pay per view where MMA legend Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz is fighting former WWE superstar Alberto Del Rio. Alberto El Patron. Never in a million years did I figure this matchup would happen. You know, Brock went from WWE professional wrestling into the mma, and you're getting a lot of this crossing back and forth. Now, Cain Velazquez came from mma and now he's doing some stuff with wwe. Now you got these two guys. You know, Alberto has a shoot background, he has an MMA background. And it's interesting because when you watch his style in professional wrestling, you know, he kind of worked pro style, and you didn't showcase a lot of the abilities that he has. So I'm going to be tuning in. I'm going to buy the fight, and I'm looking forward because Tito seems like he's in outstanding condition, better shape than he's been. He's always in shape, but he just seems really sharp, really in shape. And Alberto, it would just be interesting to see him in that setting because I've never seen any of his MMA fights. So enjoy my conversation with Tito Ortiz, former light heavyweight champion in the UFC and. And UFC hall of Famer, because I sure enjoy talking to him.
- [06:50]
B
The Steve Austin Show. The Steve Austin Show.
- [06:56]
A
Yeah, man, I'm rolling st. Former UFC light heavyweight champion hall of Famer Tito Ortiz rolled in, got all kinds of things to talk about. Man, it's good to see you.
- [07:05]
B
You too, Steve. For sure, man. Thank you for being on the show. I appreciate it.
- [07:08]
A
Here's a memory going way back, and it was about 2001, I guess. We were down in. Was it San Jose? I was about to wrestle Kurt Angle, and it was. It was a SummerSlam or whatever event it was, but it was in Seattle.
- [07:22]
B
And it was WrestleMania.
- [07:24]
A
No, no, no, it wasn't that. It was before that. Because it was about 2001. 2001, that's when it was. But you were. You were sitting in the hallway with me. We were shooting the breeze. I was fixing to go out and have a match. We were talking about fighting and everything like that.
- [07:39]
B
And that was a long Time ago.
- [07:41]
A
It was. It was a long. So that's how long it's been.
- [07:44]
B
Yeah.
- [07:44]
A
But then did we cross paths before after that?
- [07:47]
B
I think maybe once or twice. God, I can't. I can't put my finger on it. It might have been at one of the shows in Anaheim. Yeah, yeah, I think one of the shows in Anaheim.
- [07:56]
A
Yeah. Because I was at. Man, that would have been.
- [07:58]
B
That would have been a WrestleMania, I think.
- [08:00]
A
Was it WrestleMania or was it also an Affliction fight?
- [08:03]
B
Affliction fight too.
- [08:04]
A
Yeah.
- [08:05]
B
Hell, we bumped in the shoulders.
- [08:08]
A
Dude, you're looking great.
- [08:09]
B
Thank you, sir. I'm feeling great. You know, I put in a camp now. We've been 15 weeks. I got another three more weeks left to finish the camp off. Actually four more weeks total with this week. So finish the camp off and I'll be fighting December 7th live on pay per view.
- [08:23]
A
Hey, where's your camp at?
- [08:25]
B
Camp is in Huntington Beach. Everything's done in Huntington Beach. Used to be up in Big Bear, California. But I was using it for altitude.
- [08:30]
A
Yep.
- [08:31]
B
But now I have actually have access to an altitude simulation machine. So simulates 25,000ft. So I do get to rehab in there and recovery. It reproduces red blood cells in my body and. And I do a hyperbaric chamber in the weekends. So that compresses all the red blood cells that I produced and produces white blood cells. So I'm double timing it and I think that's keeping me young and keep me on fire. Man.
- [08:53]
A
Hey, man. But talk to me about the elevation thing because if you're not training at elevation, how does that help you as far. Is it helping you as far as your wind or your gas tank goes once you start the fight?
- [09:04]
B
Yeah. Well, during the fight, I mean every person's heart rate is going to rise up to a red line which meaning anywhere from 180 beats per minute to one. You know, I cruise by about 165. I'm pushing myself hard. And how fast you can get yourself to Recover down to 100 in a minute. That's the recovery that you need to have now with this hyperbaric. Excuse me, this altitude simulation machine, it's called cvac, it's out ascent adaptation in Newport beach. And it's. I just sit in a pod. I don't know. Remember Morgan, Mindy and then.
- [09:37]
A
Yeah, yeah.
- [09:37]
B
I mean sitting. Setting a pod. Well, it's a pod like that and it, it's all by pressure. There's no fresh oxygen pumped into it. It's all by Pressure, So it simulates 25,000ft of altitude. And I get up to that altitude for about maybe, I don't know, anywhere from two to three minutes. And it drops down to a thousand in like four seconds. And then it builds back up to that pressure again. So my body is being tricked by this machine that thinking that it's going in high altitude. So I'm doing 20 minute sessions four times a day, five days a week, Saturdays and Sundays. I do my hyperbaric chamber, that I do an hour and a half each session. I and that's actually compressing all those red blood cells that I produce through the week to make more red blood cells. So what happens is my blood's pretty thick, so every once in a while I gotta need aspirin every once in a while to kinda thin my blood a little bit. But my recovery is just amazing. I mean, I'm recovering after doing a five minute round of sparring or wrestling anywhere from 30 seconds, 45 seconds at the most, I'm recovered, I'm ready to go. And right now my shape is that.
- [10:39]
A
I don't want to beat a dead horse about that pod. But just when it's taking you to 25,000, back down to 1,000 and. But you're just sitting there, how does that help you? So I mean, I'm thinking about the people who train in like Denver, because it's a mile up and the air.
- [10:54]
B
Stand and it's hard to breathe. Yes, super hard to breathe, super hard to walk.
- [10:57]
A
You've done that?
- [10:58]
B
I've done that.
- [10:59]
A
So why is this?
- [11:00]
B
Well, because like I say, it tricks the body to think that it's lack of oxygen. There's a lack of oxygen.
- [11:07]
A
So what do you feel when you're in the pod?
- [11:09]
B
Lightheaded. Okay, so you're feeling it. Are you feeling your lips get a little numb, you get a little tingly, the fingers when you drop, like, because I try to do the highest ones, which is a tier six.
- [11:20]
A
And like, of course you do the highest one.
- [11:24]
B
But I've been doing it since like around 2000, 2001. And I mean all the surgeries I've had, you know, I've had eight major surgeries. I've had ACL replace my left knee, ACL replace my right knee. 50 semicond meniscus taken on my right knee. L45s1 fuse in my lower back, T3, T2, T2, T1, T1, C7, disc replacement, C7, C6, fused, C6, C5, fused, C5, C4, disc replacement and a reattached retina. And I'm still battling, I'm still doing this, and I love it and I'm healthy and I feel good, I feel strong and I feel young. I just like, man, I'm on fire right now.
- [12:00]
A
I hate to listen to you list off all those injuries, but I'm proud of you for doing some in such articulate and eloquent fashion. You're a guy who's very in tune with his body as. Because it obviously, along with your brain, is your moneymaker.
- [12:11]
B
Yeah, it's my money maker. But, you know, when I went through college, you know, I got my AA degree and junior college, I went to get my bachelor's degree and it was in physical education, so doing kinesiology and anatomy. I was doing it strictly just to be a wrestling coach. I mean, I said I wanted to be a high school wrestling coach. I wanted to go back and be a teacher in special education resource teaching. And that's what I wanted to be. That's what I wanted to do. But there was a bigger game for me, you know, when I got into wrestling, you know, as a freshman, walking into the wrestling room, I was asking the coach, man, where's the ring at? Being a huge fan of wwf, now wwe, that was my dream. That's what I was telling my mom as a kid is like, one day, mom, you're seeing my name in big bright light saying, Tito Ortiz. And it happened, but just in a totally different realm in professional fighting. And it was because of wrestling, though, you know, my true name is Jacob, and in the Bible, Jacob wrestled against an angel. The angel beat him and saved his life. I found wrestling as a kid at the age of, you know, 15 years old, and it saved my life, man.
- [13:12]
A
I've been listening to your story on a lot of the interviews that you've been going around giving, and God dang, man, you came up the hard way.
- [13:20]
B
Super, super hard. Really hard. I have never had anything given to me. I think the only thing I ever have given to me is an opportunity. And I've taken advantage of that opportunity and I've worked hard. You know, I don't step on anybody to get ahead. You know, I stay honest with myself. I don't lie, cheat or steal. I just try to be an honest man. And I think that's what helps me in my life to do things the right way. When I go to bed at night, I can look in the mirror, brush my teeth and say, you know what? You've done good today. And that's what all that matters. I mean, that's what human society should truly be about, is just helping others as you become successful. And I've done that. And I'm lucky. I'm fortunate, Very fortunate, man.
- [13:58]
A
How do you figure? Because I watched the interview with you and Chuck Liddell on the Adam Carolla show, and I thought Adam did a wonderful interview with you guys because he kind of changed his format. He doesn't really do those type of things. He more kind of just talks about day to day happenings. He comes from a boxing background, so he's talking some familiar language. I really enjoyed that interview. But. And listen to you. Listen to. Your dad was a heroin addict. I guess your mother was at four time as well.
- [14:22]
B
Yeah, she was at that time till I was 13.
- [14:24]
A
But so, I mean, you could have very easily in life is about choices. And that's one of the things you kind of say a lot. And you were able to make the right choices. Flirted around with a little bit of meth for just a cup of coffee, got off that. But I mean, you could have very well been a spinster, a drug dealer, a drug addict. And how then, or was it the coach who asked you? All right, and you looked yourself in the mirror and you weren't looking that great, dude. What got you on the right path? Because you could have very well been down harm's way.
- [15:01]
B
I think that time when I looked in the mirror, I was seeing a mirror of my parents and it scared the shit out of me. I didn't want to become my parents. I want to make something different myself. I want to be different. I wanted to be my own person. And I had to bite down hard on my tongue and I had to say, you know what, what is life to me? You know, what does it really mean to me? You know, am I going to be a person and say, woe is me and my parents are drug addicts. So I could be a drug addict and I could go in and out of jail and, you know, and play the victim card. Or can I separate myself from everybody else and not do that and do something better for myself? Get educated, live with an open mind, be a free thinker and just think outside the box. And I've done that through the hard work. And like I said, if it was for wrestling, I wouldn't be where I am because it taught me a lot of sacrifice. It taught me a lot of dedication, the perseverance, you know, and just the integrity that I needed for my name, you know, at the End of the day, I have two things. Rest of my life, my name, my word, you know, And I try not to tarnish my name. Actually, I never tarnish my name for anything. And I always keep my word, no matter what. And I think it's really important. It just shows the type of person you are.
- [16:11]
A
Well, I think so too, because really, one, not the only other person, but someone very close to me was said the same thing you did. My mother was from Oklahoma, and she had an extremely rough childhood. And I don't need to go into specifics, but she was a very, very rough time. And then once she got out of and she moved us up to Austin, Texas, and she was telling me about what was going on, and she goes, I swore right then and there that I would never let myself become that person, and I was going to be better than that. And that's the way she raised us. And you just see so many people. I don't want to jump on a soapbox, but you see so many people who use a rough upbringing as an excuse. And sometimes it's ingrained in some people, and sometimes it's DNA or genetics. But, man, if you do make the right choices, you can be something different. You're not. Just because you may be born into something doesn't necessarily. That doesn't define you. You make the choices and you define yourself 100%.
- [17:09]
B
And it's hard. Every day is hard. You know, I remember after graduating high school, I thought I was the big man and I'm gonna go get a job and I'm gonna work at a moving service and, you know, working 16 hour shifts. And all of a sudden my buddies dabbled and we dabbled into speed methamphetamine, and I got hooked on it, you know, for a good year. And they say 6% of people who use methamphetamine get. Get recovered from it and don't use it again. And I guess I'm one of that 6%. But once again, it's making that decision of knowing that I'm going to change and I change them. And I've never thought about it ever again after that. For the first two years were hardened, but after that, it was like I thought of, why am I going to waste my life on something that everybody else have lost their lives completely on? And I want to be successful. I want to. I want. I want to live this American dream that everybody's chasing. And I look back now, you know, it must have been 22 years, and I'm living that American dream. I'm lucky. Now I have children, I have three boys and I give them goals that I didn't have those goals until I was 22 years old. I mean, and these, my kids are 10 years old and they have goals of going to college and, you know, graduate and want to be businessmen. And I instill this in their mind now. So when they get to the age, it's already instilled in them. They know, they understand it. I mean, they're trying to be straight A students. You know, they don't get all straight A's, they get A's and B's, which is fine. But I try to make them have straight A student. I mean, I try to make sure that they read books every day. You know, reading is a huge factor. My parents never pressed education on me as a kid. They just make sure that I got to school and that was it. And sometimes they even care. I went to school, but I look at it now. It's my job. It's tough being a parent. It's hard to be a parent. What's easy is being a parent and let your kid do whatever he wants. That's easy. What's hard is being a responsible parent, being a present parent, being a loving parent and being a part of the kid's life as he grows up. Until he's eight. And after that the kid will come back and he'll be a part of your life forever. Hey, this is Adam Carolla from the Adam Carolla Show. Betonline continues to be your number one source for all your football betting action. Betonline has more ways to get in and stay in on action with the latest odds news and scores. Even live in game betting. From every NFL and college game to mlb, UFC and NHL futures as well, Betonline remains your choice. For sports wagering info, head to the website today and take advantage of their industry leading VIP program with level up bonuses and weekly cash boost. In between games, head over to Betonline's casino with all the top Vegas style games including poker and live casino. Betonline. The game starts here. Shopify's point of sale system helps you sell at every stage of your business. Need a fast and secure way to take payments in person? We've got you covered. How about card readers you can rely on anywhere you sell? Thanks. Have a good one. Yep, that too. Want one place to manage all your online and in person sales? That's kind of our thing. Wherever you sell. Businesses that grow grow with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 a month trial@shopify.com Listen, shopify.com Listen.
- [20:26]
A
I want to go back to your decision. Once you were, I guess a freshman in high school, so you discovered wrestling or you're already fan, maybe from pro wrestling. And so you got into the path that you got onto, which would lead you to be one of the most well known MMA fighters of all time and in the hall of Fame. But did you actually flirt with maybe because you saw WWF on tv, have aspirations or. It was my dream being a professional wrestler, guys.
- [20:53]
B
Steve, you gotta understand, it was my dream since a kid. I mean, I mean back in the Georgia Animal Steel, Hulk Hogan, I mean back in those days, I mean, I remember watching WrestleMania 1, I mean, Andre the Giant. And then as it just transpired when you came in and I mean, I took a little page and I wanted to talk about this. I took a page out of your book. If anybody watched me fight the lions, then, you know, I fought Guy Metzger for the second time. And I put a T shirt said guy Metzger is my bitch. And I turned around, I gave him the guns, I shot him off, and then I flipped the corner off. And that was for you. I just want to say that was for you because you taught me that. And it was just one of those things, if it ain't said, Stone Cold did say so.
- [21:33]
A
I appreciate it.
- [21:34]
B
Let me tell you. I mean, I respect you. I mean just the entertainment value that professional wrestling had. You know, I was a huge fan of Muhammad Ali, rest in peace. One of the greatest boxers ever to find the happy medium in between of professional wrestling and professional fighting. And I was able to have that with mixed martial arts. I was able to do that. You know, I have flames on my shorts, bleach, blonde hair, you know, now I can't have that bleach, blonde hair because, you know, a little bit of age catches up to me a little bit. But thank God we got beautiful bald heads.
- [22:04]
A
But you know, you got a good shaped head. Kind of like I did. Yes, sir. For me, like, like when I was in shit, I was still in wcw, started losing my hair and I was, you know, back in the day, everybody, you had to have long hair to be a pro wrestler. So anyway, it turns out that shaving my head would be the best career to I could ever make. Along with coming up with the Stone Cold thing is awesome.
- [22:24]
B
I know.
- [22:24]
A
We want to talk about your, your YouTube channel. But also coming up, you have a fight on December 7th in Hidalgo, Texas with Alberto El Patron. El Patron, who used to be Alberto Del Rio.
- [22:38]
B
Yes.
- [22:38]
A
And from the wwe. And of course, he's probably, what, second, maybe third generation? Second generation, for sure. A professional wrestler. Also had some MMA experience before he got into the business. I never really saw him utilize too many of those skills. But I've been watching a couple of episodes of your show, and it's Tito Ortiz uncaged.
- [22:58]
B
Correct.
- [22:59]
A
And great production value. Looks like you guys are really spending some money to do these things because they look phenomenal.
- [23:05]
B
I have a really good editor, Chris Martinez, but the lighting is.
- [23:09]
A
Everything about it is really nice.
- [23:11]
B
Thank you very much. I think when you have someone who puts their heart and soul into something that I love and he has my back the same way, I think you get a good product and it shows. I mean, I look at it, I'm just like, wow, this is getting better and better and better. And how do you redo yours? How do you reinvent yourself each and every time to make it better? And Chris Martinez is doing that, and I'm very thankful. And I just. I think I got something pretty good that is gonna keep working through my hard work, you know, and through his hard work, and we're showing the fans how life is, truly is as MMA fighter. I mean, I. I've been through hell and back and raked over the coals a couple times, and I really have made something of myself. And now it's time to show my fans of who the true Tito Ortiz is. You know, I am the Huntington beach bad Boy.
- [23:58]
A
How was that created? I just wrote that down because I meant to ask you that as we were kind of coming out of the pro wrestling, when you created a Persona of the Huntington Beach Bad boy. I mean, you've always had this kind of, I don't want to say attitude because of the attitude era, but you just had this demeanor about you. You're friendless guy. One of the friendless guys I know. But all of a sudden, when you kind of get that game face on or that fight face as it pertains to you, everything changes. Was it the bad Boy because of the past or a flirt with the past, or just, hey, man, here's. This is who I am?
- [24:36]
B
I think it was a mixture of both, you know, of my past, and I grew up in the punk rock era here in Orange County, California, and I was a kid with the Mohawk or all the punk rock gear on, you know, combat boots and TSOL T shirt, and, you know, we drink beers, and I couldn't count the times that we would be crushing Coors like cans. The Same way you did in the squared circle, but at a young age, man, I was a bad kid. I was a really bad kid. You know, I just really didn't have any guidance. I didn't have any. My parents, like I say, they said, just make sure you're in before the lights come on. And there was times from, I don't know, 8 to 14 that I didn't have any time. I had to be home. I just had to be home one time or another.
- [25:18]
A
Y' all just out raising hell.
- [25:20]
B
Out raising hell and doing whatever I wanted, however I wanted. No one ever told me. And I had no rules. And I think when I got into wrestling in high school, I kind of had that same mentality. But, I mean, I was a kid from Huntington Beach. I mean, I lived in Santa Ana at the time, which is a little east of Huntington, a little inland. We a lot of the gang members there. And I had a really bad attitude when I got into wrestling, I had that same type of attitude, but I put in the work, you know, I kept away from the party and because it was wrestling time, and I had to do good in school to keep my eligibility for wrestling. But all of a sudden, it was just. I had that same mentality. I was a T. Ortiz, a Mexican kid from Huntington Beach. Like, Mexican kid from Huntington Beach. But I was just smashing guys, and I did really well. And when I got into junior college, I did the same thing. Won the state two times in a row. Only lost one match my freshman year. And I would bleach my hair a different color. I'd bleach it blonde, and then I'd bleach it purple or green or just different colors. And once again, I was finding that character. And every week, the wrestlers like, what color are you going to do your hair this week? And I would just wait and watch. But then I'd give them, you know, the aspect of what to expect next. And when I became fighting, you know, Tank Abbott, a guy who I trained with, who was in wcw, I believe, wrestled with them and of course fought in UFC for a long time. He was the UFC bad boy because he just said it how it was. And I had that same mentality. I just said it how it was. I was being honest. I always had three things, three rules of chalk. Talking trash is don't lie about a person, don't talk about a person's family, and don't talk about a person's country. Those three things I held to my heart. But everything else was free game. I would smash on guys and just talk about the mistakes they would make or the things they would say or just, you know, anything just to get them pissed as possible. You know, this kind of goes down to Ken Shamrock. I would just. I would pick him apart so bad. He would so be so frustrated and so mad at just things I would say to him. But I understood what I was doing. You know, once again, I was taking a page out of Muhammad Ali's book is if you get a guy so frustrated and so aggro, where he forgets about his game plan, anything, game plan goes out the window, and he just wants to kill. You pick guys apart to do that because they make mistakes. They throw punches really wide, and they want to try to knock you out with one punch. And the punches are the ones that are small inside, fast punches that don't look like they have anything on them. Those are the hard ones, and those are the ones that are most controlled. And so I was trying to control the fight before the fight was even started. And I did that by talking trash and, you know, having that bad boy image.
- [27:52]
A
When I thought about the bad boy image, when I first came across you in mma, of course, this is years ago. Your career has been 22 years long.
- [27:58]
B
Yes, sir.
- [27:59]
A
So go back to way back then. And I'm thinking, okay, man, here's Tito Ortizi smashing people. His Huntington beach bad boy. It's like, okay, I didn't know your past guy. I didn't just start researching you. Oh, man. This kid come up in harm's way. His parents, you know, mess with heroin. He's out on the streets. I just thought a dude kind of, you know, surfer. Huntington beach sounds like a good idea. I had that.
- [28:22]
B
Yeah. No, I surfed for a year. I almost got drowned, you know, on the north side of the pier. I thought it'd be like, my brothers. My brothers are full American. I'm half Mexican American. But they have separate fathers than myself, and they surfed all the time. So I went and I surfed, and I tried it for about a good half a year to a year. I ended up going on the north side of the pier, and I took the first sets. Usually, sets come in threes. I took the first set. The first set was a wallow, which means it broke all at once. And it took me under, put me in the washing machine. I came up to breathe. Then the next set comes. Put me in the washing machine again. I came up to breathe. Then the third set comes. I almost drowned. I sat on the beach with my board And I was like, I will never do this again. I almost drowned. I go, I better find another sport.
- [29:10]
A
So I'm not a big fan of the water. We grew up jet ski. I mean, skiing in the Gulf of Mexico and Intercoastal Canal down there in South Texas. And then I can't remember, it was 74 or 76 when jaws came out. Our whole family went to the theater and saw Jaw. I live a mile from the water here in Marina del Rey. My wife can go out there and sunbathe and. Or whatever. I'm too add just to lay around and do anything like that. And I ain't gonna get in water because it's so polluted. And then also there's a bunch of needles out there. But the biggest thing is I'm not gonna give a shark an opportunity to bite off one of my limbs. That is.
- [29:45]
B
I'm not gonna put myself gonna happen. I mean, the chances of you getting an airplane crash.
- [29:51]
A
Tito, that's my story. I'm sticking to it.
- [29:54]
B
Stick to it.
- [29:54]
A
I want to talk to you about what you just said. As far as selling a fight. You never talk about a guy's family, never talk about a guy's country. What was the third one?
- [30:03]
B
Never lie about a person.
- [30:04]
A
Never lie about a person. So. So how far will you go to sell a fight or just due to your background and you, you have to make the decisions that you've had to make in your life. What brought you on to those three principles? Because those, those are pretty honorable.
- [30:20]
B
Once again, I think it just goes down to my character of what type of person I truly am. How what would I do to be a successful person and not to step on another person in a harmful way? Saying about a person's country is wrong because that person is where he is because of where he lived. Never lie about a person, because I don't want to tell a facade of something that is not true about a person. You know, I think a person's religion, I mean, that's what they believe in, you know, that's what they truly believe in. And why cut into something that, that holds them together? But don't get me wrong, when it talking about a person be like, man, you're slow. I'm gonna smash you. You understand? I mean, it would be just so many things that I can feed off of is why really attack a person's character in that way when all they're trying to do is provide for their family.
- [31:15]
A
No, I'm down with that very, very interesting approach. And not Everybody takes that approach. I was watching, I guess it was on your YouTube channel, your new show Uncaged. And when you flip a switch, when you go into fight mode, or even if it's just kind of turning on your game face, just, just in a pose down as you guys are building to this fight. But, but let's, let's talk specifically for the fight, when you flip the switch, what happens to Tito the person to become Tito the fighter? Because your, your whole demeanor or you're laser focused. What would tell me about the process? Because it's a whole, you're a whole different, you're a whole different man.
- [31:53]
B
It's stages, it's huge stages. And I think the first stage of my warm up is just getting warmed up is, you know, I put my headphones on, I have my running shoes on and I'll be in the arena and I'll go run in the Concord and have you guys have the Concord and some Concords. There's actually on the base, there's actually an opening for the public and I'll still run through the public and I'll do my jog and I do my jog and that's my warmup. And now it's just getting my stretch. And now through the last of all my fights, you know, either they're 7 weeks, 8 weeks, 9 weeks, 14 weeks. My last one was 18 weeks, this one would be 20 weeks. But I'm visualizing the things in the fight that's going to happen if I get punched. What's, how am I going to react if I punch him and how am I take him down? How am I going to react? Now I'm going through this over my mind. It's called visualization. I learned it when I was in college. And wrestling is visualizing what's going to happen and do it in a positive manner and not doing in fear. Because I've. Through my whole fights, I've always had fear prior to a fight. And I never understanded why I cried before I came out towards a fight and why I threw up. My emotions would be soaked through the roof, but it was because fear was in my body and it was, it was the fear leaving my body. The tears would be coming down. It wasn't tears of crying of pain. It was tears of, of a fear of losing from my fans. Losing in front of my friends, losing in front of my family and letting them down. Well, my last fight against Chuck Liddell, I had that same fear in my body. It was weird because I had to find A way to stop thinking like that. And I always call my son before my fights. My oldest son, Jacob, I mean, he's been watching me. He's 17 now, so he's been watching me fight for a while. And I called him on, he lives in Arizona with my ex wife. And I told him, I go, hey, son, dad's gonna be okay. He goes, dad, I'm not worried. He goes, I know you're gonna be okay. You put in a long camp for this one. You look healthy, you look strong. He goes, you're gonna be fine. I go, yeah, man, I just, I just have that fear a little bit. He goes, dad, I get that same way in wrestling matches too. He goes, I was just reading online and they said that if you turn that fear into happiness, it's the same feeling. Because think about it that way. And I sat there and thought, from.
- [34:00]
A
Your 17 year old.
- [34:00]
B
So my 17 year old son, I was like, and I thought about it, I was like, God, I remember him being born. I had that smile, like, wow, this is like beautiful. I remember crying just like, and there's the crying. I was like, it wasn't the fact of crying of pain or anything. It was kind of happiness and, and, and, and joy. And I remember one of my light heavyweight world title. I remember the joy and sleeping with it for a week and a half in my bed. And my girlfriend's like, what the hell are you doing? I'm going, man, I work so hard for this happiness and that joy. And I turned that fear into happiness. And it was because my son. And I remember hanging the phone with him right before the fight and I looked at my girlfriend Amber and I was like, babe, I'm gonna kill Chuck. She goes, I know you are. And I go, I just, I feel happy now. And from that point all the way up to the fight and my hand being raised and so forth, and just having that happiness in my body was just, it was a crazy feeling. But it's emotional, just like, like a roller coaster. And you better hang on to that roller coaster. But let me tell you, when that lock, that cage is locked behind me, I turn into a lion. And that's the only way I could kind of explain the attitude of my. Of me is a lion that hasn't eaten for a year and he finally got an opportunity to eat off a gazelle. And that gazelle's gonna be running around that cage. That cage is being locked and I'm gonna attack and I'm gonna come forward in every one of my fights. I don't try to win by points. I don't try to win my judge's decision. I try to go in there and finish. And I think over the 22 years, every one of the fans have ever watched my fights. They know that I come in to fight, I wear my heart on my sleeve. And I'm a fighter and I understand it. I'm an entertainer, but I'm a fighter and I love it. I mean, this is, this is my game and this is what I've been doing. This is what I love. I never had an opportunity to get into professional wrestling. I watched the Hardy Boys and the Dudley Brothers at UFC or, excuse me, at WWE in Anaheim and I watched them do the ladder match. And that kind of, of deviated my idea of being a pro wrestler because how vicious it was.
- [35:54]
A
Those guys kind of took it to the extreme nose.
- [35:56]
B
That was a different, I mean, yeah.
- [35:58]
A
That was way different level. And props to those guys because they put on some spectacular death defying matches. That was. I had a ground game. Yeah. And I had like three moves.
- [36:07]
B
I was like, I think the Shane, like, Shane, I want to do the ground game stuff because that, that changed my whole attitude of pro wrestling. Because I, you know, I mean, all the way up to, gosh, I would say 19, you know, I automatically assumed everything was completely real. I didn't know how the matches worked, I didn't know how it done. But as I got educated and I understood and I was like, okay, now I know who's gonna win. I knew, I had a feeling who's gonna lose and how I was gonna.
- [36:35]
A
Get put over just based on trajectory of where they're going.
- [36:37]
B
Right. But then, then I got an opportunity to go and work with tna, with Dixie Carter and, and watch these guys and to understand that yes, it's some predetermined, but the athleticism it takes to do this stuff day in and day out for what, 345 days a year? Yeah, sometimes more than that.
- [36:58]
A
You don't defy gravity and physics. Things happen and you always want to land on a good flat back bump and slap the mat. But the truth is, when you do it that many times a year, it don't always happen like that. In a perfect world, yeah. But when you start at landing your, you're L level first or your C level first, and everything kind of follows along behind it and you get those whips and all the other stuff. I mean, you end up with all the injuries that you've had as a real fighter.
- [37:24]
B
And like, I Said I had huge respect for that. But I just, I'm thankful that I've been having the opportunity and the vessel of being a professional mixed martial artist because I kind of guide my career. You know, I. I know when I'm gonna lose or I'm gonna, or I'm gonna win. You know, at least I believe it when I go out there and I fight and I'm gonna win every single one of them. And yeah, I've. But the losses I've had have been former world champions. You know, I've always had close matches. The one I have lost by close matches, those guys became world champions. So I've always been competitive on everybody I fought against. Always. You know, I've never been stopped unconscious where they had to wake me up. Thank God. Go ahead and knock on wood on that one. I know Chuck Liddell stopped me the first time we fought. You know, he dropped me and feet came out from under me, hit me with 12 punch combination. Finally dropped me and took my mouthpiece out and I stood up and chuckled a better man that night. And things happen, but I think you really got to enjoy the moment. Enjoy the moment of what it feels like to be in front of millions of people and willing to sacrifice your life, willing to sacrifice your name, willing to sacrifice your character for what you love. And I did a mixed martial arts. It's what I love. And it's scary. It's the most loneliest sport in the world. It is so lonely because when I go to bed at night and I lay down, the pressure's on me. Everything's on me that I got to perform. I got to get up and I got to train. I got to train four times a day, five days a week, twice on Saturdays. Take a Sunday off. And that's my family time. And it's. It's really, really difficult to get through those things. But the ending performance is the best thing in the world of getting my hand raised and knowing that I put in the work, that every rock behind me is unturned. And I did everything to make that happen.
- [39:10]
A
This November, action is free on Pluto tv. Go on the run with Jack Reacher.
- [39:16]
B
Every suspect was a train killer.
- [39:18]
A
Then buckle up for drive. World War Z.
- [39:20]
B
Every human being we save is one.
- [39:23]
A
Less fight and Charlie's Angels.
- [39:25]
B
Damn, I hate to fly.
- [39:26]
A
Launch into sci fi adventure with the fifth Element and laugh through the mayhem in Tropic Thunder. What is going on here? All the thrills, all for free. Pluto TV Stream now. Pay never.
- [39:41]
B
This is the Steve Austin Show.
- [39:44]
A
What about through everything that you're going through now. We'll leave the. The Jenna stuff for, you know, you've covered that so many times. I watched a lot of interviews. But you're around a lot of toxicity. Maybe some negativity. I mean, maybe non support.
- [39:56]
B
Some.
- [39:57]
A
So talk to me about the support system from your girlfriend now, Amber Nicole.
- [40:03]
B
Yes, that's correct. And Nicole Miller.
- [40:06]
A
And that's been ongoing a while, but just from your camp and the people you surround yourself, I know it's all about you and leaving a legacy for your kids. And hey, man, when you look back at 60, you're putting the work in now because you're a model of success, self made.
- [40:22]
B
Thank you, sir.
- [40:22]
A
But you always have to. It's nice to have a support system. So who do you lean on? Because you're a man's man, you're a lone wolf. But when you need that support, where does it come from?
- [40:34]
B
I think it comes. Well, not think I know. It comes from my girlfriend, Amber Nicole Miller and my kids. You know, when I come home and everything is in a perfect situation. House is clean, the boys are happy, food is made, my clothes are clean, my bedroom I walk in is made perfect, and first thing she says, you walk in is, how was your day? That is what makes me be motivated. That's what makes me feel like life is okay. With my ex, it was a totally different world. It was the most toxic relationship I think I ever been in. And I had to go through therapy about learning, stop trying to fix my mom because I can't fix my mom. It's not my job.
- [41:20]
A
How does a guy like you decide, hey, man, I need therapy to learn how to deal with this?
- [41:27]
B
Well, the courts kind of demanded it because I was getting full custody for my kids. And I was thankful that they made me do it because when I did it, I understood a lot of things that I have in my closet. I kind of had to let them out. I had.
- [41:40]
A
So it was good for you? Oh, it was.
- [41:43]
B
It. I sleep 100% better at night because I understand the problems that I have had as a kid coming up and what I've been through. I got to a point where I had to go visit, not have I had to go visit my dad. I haven't seen him in almost 14 years. Prior to that was 23 years, he's still on drugs. And I had to forgive him. I had to kind of tell him, you know, dad, I know parenting is very hard and I understand that you couldn't do it. And you were only taught as good as you learned, and I'm not going to make that mistake. So I got to come to you and tell you I forgive you and I love you. I wish you wouldn't have done the things you did, but that's all you knew. That's the best that you knew. And I'm not gonna be a father to look and go, my dad was a piece of shit, so I'm gonna be a piece of shit, too. No, I'm gonna be everything my father was not. And I had to do that.
- [42:41]
A
But when you said you forgave him, and you did, right?
- [42:43]
B
Yes.
- [42:44]
A
So now is there ongoing dialogue? Do you. No. You crossed a bridge, and I crossed.
- [42:50]
B
The bridge, and I left it there. And it was. I went from having nightmares all the time about it, crying and asking him why he put me through that and why we went through that as a family, why he quit on us. And I got an opportunity to talk to him, and he really didn't have any much answers for it, but I had my own answers, I guess. And I looked at it, and I was like, you know, I learned a lot from this, and it is the hardest thing in the world to do. And a lot of my fans have reached out to me because I posted on social media. I'm transparent as possible. I want to be open. You know, I. I don't hold anything down because I want other people who go through the same type of life situations that I've gone through to have some type of relevance in their life, that they've had something to associate to. And I've gone through almost everything that anybody could ever go through in their life. I've gone through. I've gone through some stuff that I shouldn't be here right now. I mean, there is a factor of. With my ex, that when she said that, I beat her, and that was the lowest part of my life, because I'm a man's man, and I would never put a hand on a woman ever in my life. And I remember drinking with my buddies that night after I got kicked out of my house, and TMZ was chasing me everywhere. And I just. I thought my life was over. I thought I was done. I had Xanax at the time. I had a handful of them, probably about 15 of them. I was drunk, and I was very emotional. And I sat on the bed in the hotel room and I put them all in my mouth. And my son's eyes opened my eyes, and I spit it out. And I almost killed myself. Almost did because I was a broken person. I was a broken person. That was someone who was just ripping me down and tearing me apart. And I have been able to take that as a life lesson of knowing that life is too short. Why waste it on someone else's emotions If I can't be responsible for my actions? I need to learn and find a way to be strong enough to get through these hard times. Because when you get through the hard times, the great times are so much better. And the hard times is what makes you a real person. And it's tough.
- [45:03]
A
Yeah, I watched all that unfold as the world did.
- [45:06]
B
Really? Yeah, the world did. It was sad.
- [45:08]
A
I was under my two high profile people, especially, you know, you with the career. But anyway, bad. When you told your dad you loved him, did he say I love you back?
- [45:21]
B
No, he didn't.
- [45:22]
A
I always wondered. Yeah, I met my dad. My parents got a divorce when we lived in Austin. Whatever happened, I know my mom's side of the story. We went down to Victoria, we moved. And all these years later I got in the business and my dad came to the wrestling matches in Austin, Texas. So I met him and we just shook hands. I could immediately see the resemblance. And then that was all there was to it. I said, hi, but another guy. And so my stepdad adopted us. And then I was talking to my dad one time on the telephone because he's down in South Texas. And I said, man, you know Steve, you tough ass, you know, pro wrestler guys guy. You gotta tell dad that you love him one time. So he knows, you know, I know what he did for us. You know, he adopted us, took us under his wing, taught us our work ethic, everything else, else. And he was always good to us. Not, not the same background you have. And so I, you know, I said, hey, dad, I just want you to let you know I love you and kind of hesitation. Okay, I'll see you later. We hung up the phone. But it's a hard thing to do. And I didn't know if he's going to say it back. It's the first time I ever told the story. But I, I just figured he's such a man's man. They didn't say it back. Now I know he loves me. It'd be cool if he'd say, hey, you know, I love you too. But you know, that's such a macho to two macho guys. It's just one of them can't say it, I guess. And he didn't.
- [46:52]
B
I don't.
- [46:52]
A
And it didn't hurt me.
- [46:53]
B
I don't know if it's here, just in America, but. And I see it a lot, and it's very, very, very, very, very frustrating. But people don't like to be wrong, and they don't like to admit to be wrong. They always want to be right. Even when they're wrong, they want to be right. I rather take responsibility for my actions and showing that I was wrong. And I'm teaching this to my kids right now, too, because they have excuses and excuses they go, excuses, excuses don't work. Excuses saying you did something and you're trying to find a way to get out of that. I go, if you own it, I will respect you more for that. And I guarantee you longer later in life, a lot more people will respect you for doing that if you didn't do well on it. Say, I didn't do well on it because I didn't study hard enough. Dad, don't say I didn't do well. I didn't do it enough because the teacher didn't show me and she didn't do this. And give me. Give me excuse. I don't want excuses. Do not want excuses. I want you to be a true person. And let me tell you, with my kids, I tell them I love them every day. Every day before they go to bed at night. I love you. I hug you. I'm so proud of you. Because my dad was never there for me. I never had that. I never had. I mean, I didn't have a stepdad like that. I mean, my stepdad gave me two bucks for lunch and you better get your ass, schoolboy. And that's how it was. And I was thankful for him. I mean, I remember we used to be able to watch, was it Formula one race car. And I mean, Mario Landretti. I never knew about that stuff. I'd sit and I'd be our family time and sit down and watch. But it was cool because I can remember it as a kid. I remember it. But I never had a father come watch my wrestling matches to say, you know, good job, son. I'm proud of you. And I see the hard work my mom did. I mean, she never came to the matches, but she always said, I'm proud of you working so hard. I mean, I used to make my own meals. I mean, I was in high school and I was making my own meals. I make chicken breasts with a little bit of pasta, and that was my food. And she was trying to make me eat Mexican food. I'm like, I can't eat that. I got to make weight. And she's like, what do you mean you got to make weight? I got to lose 10 pounds. She's like, I don't want you to be starving. I'm like, no, Mom. This is what I love. This is what I want. And that's how I was willing to sacrifice for it. And I've been cutting weight since my sophomore year in high school, and I'm 44 years old, and I still cut weight. I walk around about 230 right now, and I get down to 210 for this fight against Alberto Del Rio on December 7th, live on pay Per View.
- [49:03]
A
I want to talk about that. When you walked in the door, I gave you a hug, and, dude, you. You feel in shape.
- [49:10]
B
I mean, like, hugging a brick wall. Thank you. I'm in, like, some really, really, really, really, really good shape.
- [49:18]
A
That's a catch. Weight at 210.
- [49:19]
B
210. He got to get down 210. So he walks around about 2:45.
- [49:24]
A
And what are you walking right now?
- [49:26]
B
230. Yeah, I know. So I was. I was 247 in August. I was. I'm not gonna say sloppy. I was just husky. I like to have some cold ones. I like to enjoy myself. You know, I'm still young. I like to go to Vegas and enjoy myself.
- [49:40]
A
That's good to hear.
- [49:41]
B
I like to enjoy and, you know.
- [49:42]
A
Listen to all the discipline. It's nice to say, hey, I can have a little balance here and enjoy myself.
- [49:47]
B
That's important, because when it is discipline time, that's when I know that it's time to be.
- [49:52]
A
You put the blinders on.
- [49:53]
B
Blinders on. I'm like that racehorse. I'm that breed that pred. Brad. Every horse that. Knowing that I gotta do with the work right now and the discipline comes in, because when it's time to have fun, I. You know. All right.
- [50:06]
A
Ain't nothing wrong with having fun, right?
- [50:07]
B
Let's go to Vegas. Let's go, you know, enjoy the nightlife and gamble a little bit and have some drinks with friends, and, you know, it's good. But when it's time to come home, it's time to come to reality and to life. And making sure my kids are in school, making sure that they're studying, making sure that they're reading the books, you know, instill that greatness into them. And being a present parent, I mean, that's. That's what I signed up for. I wanted to have kids. I wanted to have boys. And I'm thankful I have three boys, but that's what I signed up for. I didn't sign up to be a party or to be not present with my children. I signed up to be a parent and that's my job. And thank God I have my partner, Amber Nicole Miller, who is my partner. I said I would never get married again. But I've come to a crossroad in my life. That's. That's not even a question. It's just a matter of time, I think. And she deserves it because she did something that no other woman that I in my life that I've ever experienced that would step up and be a parent to two kids that she did not birth. But she loves them like her own. She does everything in her power to be for them and non selfish. When we first got together, she actually was doing a thing for Maxim magazine. She got a call to do a spread, Max magazine. She's a model. And she said, well, what day is it? Well, it's Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday. And she goes, what time is in? She goes, they gave her a timer. So she goes, well I can't really do that because I have my kids and they have school. I got to make sure that they're up in the morning because I was training for a fight. She helps me. She gets up in the morning with them while I'm sleeping in. And I looked over at her and I was just like, really? Yeah. How much are they going to pay you? They're going to $5,000. I was like, was like, scratched my head and I was like, this woman right here just sacrificed $5,000 a time to be in a Maxim magazine to give my kids a future. This is a keeper right here. This is something that she put herself before or she put my kids before herself. And I love her, man. I just probably listen, tripping out, going to. God, Tito is such a soft hearted guy. And yes I am. I'm a fighter because I have to fight for what I want. I'm a fighter because I love competition. I'm not a fighter because I don't like beating people's asses. I don't like doing that. I don't like causing harm to another person. If anybody's ever hung out with me, anybody's ever been a friend of mine, I'm a person who's a giver. I'm a giver. I've been a giver so much that it's been my fault that people taking advantage of the situation. But that's just my Character. That's who I am, who the person is in the cage. I'm an animal, I'm a lion. I'm gonna eat first, and, and that's all that's going to come. And then the others could feed after. But my number one goal is getting my hand raised. Whatever it takes to make that happen, I'm going to make happen. But outside of that, I'm an Aquarius. I mean, I'm watch that to a T of how Aquariuses are. They're very giving, they're very loving, they help others.
- [53:06]
A
So you're into the zodiac thing.
- [53:07]
B
Yeah, yeah. I'm very stubborn. I get that. But I want it my way. And then if I can't get it my way, I'll find a way to get it my. Make it my way. But it's just, once again, hard work. But I.
- [53:21]
A
It'll be interesting to see as the future unfolds, whether you get married or not. I remember after I had three divorces and I met my wife 15 years ago, and we kind of got to a part of the relationship where, you know, she kind of, she's kind of like, we need to, pardon my French. I need to share to get off the bottom and, or, you know, she was just investing time. I told her, I said flat out after, after the, some of the things and the ones that I went through, it was like, ain't doing it again.
- [53:48]
B
Yeah.
- [53:49]
A
And then it was like, I kind of rethought that. And I'm not trying to influence you at all. I'm just telling my story. I was like, hey, man, this is, this is the woman that makes me a better person. And this, this is the best thing that ever happened to me from a relationship standpoint. And so I said, you know what, dude? Dude, you're gonna do it one more time. This is gonna be the last time. So I married my soulmate, and I'm glad I did. But I was where you're at, and I can understand.
- [54:13]
B
And I'm. I'm there too. I mean, we had a little battle last week, and it was just one of those things. She's like, what, what do I mean to you? You know, if, if you leave me, I have nothing left. And I was like, what do you mean? I'm like, I love you. I mean, I, I, I'm not gonna leave you. I want you. She's like, yeah, but you're always out of town. And, And I'm like, babe, it don't matter. When I come home, I'm coming Home to you. I'm not going anywhere else. My kids are here. My family's here. You're my family. You're my only family. You're my family. And she kind of gets a little bit, but, I mean, like I say, there's still just that envelope that needs to be pressed a little bit more, and I understand it. And, you know, I'm not getting any younger. And she's a beautiful woman, and she's an awesome woman. I mean, beautiful to the bone. Comes from a family. Family. I mean, her talks to her mom and her dad all the time. Her mom and her dad are separated, but they. She just has that family value, and it's important.
- [55:05]
A
It's hard to find anymore.
- [55:06]
B
Yes. Really, really hard to find.
- [55:08]
A
Hey, I don't want to jump out this, but I do want to cover, because I know you don't have all day here, but I do want to cover. I want to cover the fight on December 7th on Combat America. And this is going to be on pay per View, correct? Down there in Hidalgo, Texas.
- [55:22]
B
Smack dab on the border.
- [55:23]
A
Right on the border. Get down to my neck of the woods. I'm South Texas. Not quite that far south, but South Texas. Texas. So how did this relationship come about? You were a part of UFC for so long. You know, no love loss there with whatever. We don't need to get into that. But how does Combate America come to you and say, hey, man, let's do this deal? And then along the way, here's this guy who used to be a pro wrestler. We want you to fight him. How does that come about? And how seriously do you take him?
- [55:51]
B
Well, it started, you know, I was UFC for 16 years. I was UFC from 1997 until 2013. Me and the President didn't get along. Dana White, we didn't get along. I was in a toxic relationship, so I had to fix my family. So I was like, you know what? I need to step away from the fight game for a year, and I need to get my life in order. And I did. I got my life in order. I got full custody of my kids, and then I met Amber. And all of a sudden I was like, wow. I felt regenerated again. I was like, I got the gym. I started working out. I was like, I think I want to do this. Let's try this. Bellator came about, and they signed a deal with me. You know, I'm making as good as money as I was with ufc. It was really, really good money. I was like, cool. I fought with them for four years. I ended up going three and one. Only had one loss, and I was to their world champion. And then I bought Chelsanen, and I stopped Chelsea in two and a half minutes. And this is right before I had three level disc replacement. My neck T3 to 2, RC7. And I got the surgery. I was like, man, I really don't want to fight anymore. I got into the car business stuff. I had my management company, had my clothing company. I had my supplement line. I started doing appearances. I was making great money. Then all of a sudden, Chuck Liddell came out of the woodworks, and he says he wants to fight me. He wants to kick my ass, and he wants to, you know, embarrass me. And how can a real man not say, okay, well, shit, let's do this? Then I got into the gym, I trained for about a month, and I was like, I had no more pain in my neck. I was like, this is amazing. No more pain. I haven't had this with no pain for six years. I was like, I'm in. Let's do this. We reached out to Bellator. They didn't want to do it. Reached out to usa. They didn't want to do it. But they wanted to back it. They didn't want to do well to back it. Went to Oscar De La Hoya. And Del Hoya said, oh, this is this. I'm in. Let's do this. We'll do a even cut between all of us of the pay per view. We'll make a pay per view fight. Anything money made on it, and I'll put up 500,000. You and Chuck could split it. And I said, I don't care. That's fine. I'm willing on the. I'm banking on. On the back end. We do no promotion for the fight. UFC helped promote it a little bit. We do the hall of Fame. And they said, tito, will you face off with Chuck here at the hall of Fame? I was like, are you sure Dana will be okay with that? They're like, no, no. Yeah, we want to do. We want to do it. I was like, okay, cool, cool. Me and Chase. Me and Chuck face off. And he's saying how he's gonna knock me out. Camp goes around. Promotion's fine. It wasn't promoted the way that this fight against Alberto Rio is being promoted, because Combata America is doing an amazing job. I stopped Chuck in the first round. And all of a sudden, Dana gets on. On social media and everything else saying, oh, Chuck should never fought this and that. I was like, but what happened when you guys just said, let's face off and you guys are gonna fight each other, but if it was the other way and let's flip flop this, and I would have lost to him. It would have been, oh, see, I told you Tito's done. He should never came back and fought and this and that. But it was a flip flop. I ended that fight, and there was still that hunger in my body. It was in my mind of, what am I gonna do now? I have this hunger. I feel good. I feel strong. So I had to pick up the horn, I had to call the phone, and I had to call Randy Couture, who's a close friend of mine. I called Randy. I go, randy, Randy, when you were 43. At the time, I was 43. I go, when you were 43, what made you come back and win the heavyweight world title? He goes, well, Tito, I didn't feel like I was done. I felt like I had a lot more. I wanted to make sure that I was done. Thank you, Randy. That's all I had to hear. Hung up the phone. I brought my kids downstairs from my house, brought Amber down. We sat down and I said, guys, I want to continue to fight. I think I'm gonna continue to do this. My kids had a big smile on their face. They're like, dad, we know you can do it. Amber looked at me, she goes, babe, this is the best I've seen you since you were the champ. I go, this. You look amazing. I mean, I watch your training. The fight was easy against Chuck. You made him look old and slow. You're sparring with younger guys, you're wrestling with younger guys. You're doing what you love. He goes, I support you. My kids are like, dad, you kick anybody's butt. And I was like, yeah, yeah, I know, son. I gotta put in the work, dog. Oh, yeah.
- [60:01]
A
No way.
- [60:01]
B
You know that. But we know you're gonna do good. So I was reaching out to Bellator, didn't really want to reach out to UFC just because the situation with Dana. I just said, getting bullied, and all of a sudden, Combata America Campbell came to me, who's the CEO for the company. And he came to me and he was like, tito, we heard you want to continue to fight. Yeah, I do. I really. I want to fight. I want. You know, I. I believe I want to make the best of my time right now. He's like, well, we think we have an opponent for you. He actually wants to fight. You I go, okay. And I was thinking, who could they have? I need a big name so they can make money off of it. I can make money off it, of course. And all of a sudden they said, alberto Del Rio. I was like, excuse me, you mean Alberto Del Rio that wrestles in wwe? He's like, yeah. And I knew nothing. I was like, okay, am I getting set up right here? Before I said yes, I really had to like go look him up and couldn't realize that he has a record of nine and five in mixed martial arts. And a couple of the fights I watched, his wrestling skills were great. I mean, this is legit, like collegiate wrestling. His wrestling skills are good and he's a Greco Roman wrestler, wrestling the Pan Ams and so forth. His striking wasn't great because I watched a CRO Cop fight of him getting kicked in the head. And I was like, okay. I thought I was being set up for a second, but then I realized that you don't have to wave the big carrot in front of me to say yes. And I called them back and I said, let's do this, I'm in, let's go. And I started camp right after the 4th of July, 4th of July weekend. And once again, I love Vegas. Went to Vegas, enjoyed myself, and came home that Monday and said, put on the shoes, strapped it on, and started camping camp. And I've been going since I've been non stop. And people kind of say, you know, this guy's gonna be a walkthrough for you. This isn't a setup. This is easy. I'm not getting paid to fight this guy. I'm getting paid to train for this guy. And I'm putting in the training, I'm putting in the hard work, I'm putting in the rigorous days, three to four times a day, five days a week, twice on Saturdays, eating the right stuff. You know, I don't drink right now at all. I mean, I haven't drank in shit, 15 weeks. I mean, at all. I mean, and I like to have a glass of wine with dinner, but I don't, because I want to sacrifice. I'm willing to sacrifice because I see the end of the day of, you know, that big seven figure paycheck and my hand being raised. But what's going to make a little more interesting, I said, shit, I'm a light heavyweight world champ for ufc and I have five belts, actually six belts, because the sixth title fight, they give it, when you lose it, you still get the belt. But I was like, I wonder if If I would put my light heavyweight belt on the line. Because I know Alberto Del Rio is a former heavyweight champion. If I put it on the line, if he would put his belt on the line. Because I always want to be a WWE champ.
- [62:53]
A
I've always.
- [62:54]
B
I mean, that's always been a dream. Back in Hulk Hogan days, as a kid, I used to. I used to make my fake belts, and I would be like, yeah, the champions here. And when I won my light heavyweight world title for ufc, I was like, okay, so I have an opportunity now. So I told Campbell McLaren and the guys that come out to America, I was like, tell Alberta put his belt on the line. I'll put my belt on the line. Winner takes all. Next day, they called me, said, he's in. I was like. I told my boys, I got Jesse Journey. I go, guess what? I showed him the picture of me and Alberta Real facing off each other, him holding his belt, me holding my belt. I go, the winner gets both belts. They're like, we're gonna have a WWE belt. I said, son, I gotta put in the work. I gotta put in the work.
- [63:37]
A
But, you know, it's interesting because a few weeks ago, UFC brought the BMF belt between Masvidal and Diaz. So that belt was on the line, and it was an interesting fight, and people were invested in that fight because it was a very interesting matchup. But there was that belt on the line, and I thought, man, you know, hell of a cut. But, hey, man, Katie, bar the door. It's the BMF title, so they should let anything go. And probably in Vegas, they wouldn't have stopped the fight, but it was in New York, and they stopped the fight. So anyway, that was what it was. I'm just talking about that just because this is belt versus belt, and to me, the money is the big payoff. But to me, if you have to hand somebody your belt now, you're bringing pride in.
- [64:24]
B
That's exactly.
- [64:25]
A
Because I don't know what you want to say when you're holding a belt in wwf. That's what I still call it. I mean, that so much is everything to you, and it's very personal, and it's a company that believes in you to take them to the next level or maybe your transition. Gavin, unless it's a belt. You had to fight your whole life for this belt. I just don't fancy that Tito Ortiz in any way, shape, or form wants to hand a belt over to Alberto Del Rio for him to display over his mantle and forever say, hey, Man, I beat Tito Ortiz for this belt. So that brings a personal, huge personal thing.
- [65:02]
B
I mean, pride. I mean, I. And people say, oh, it's just a belt. Well, those people just say, oh, they just a belt. They've never been to a gym, they never had a fight. They never had a world championship fight. They were put in the time for it. Or they'd never been in a wrestling match or been, you know, in the gym taking a bumps and. And been traveling and taking those bumps night after night after night after night to build your brand big enough to become the champ. Because all of a sudden, they're just not going to give a guy a belt. I don't give a shit what you're doing. Either. It's professional wrestling or mixed Martial arts. Your guy just doesn't get a belt. You got to earn that. You got to make sure you put in the work and be a presence that is known to be the champion. And Alberto Del Rio has earned that. I have earned that. We're willing to put it on the line, and that is just all. Everything on the table. I mean, that's my heart and soul. And I. And I'm going to be happy to have a WWE Heavyweight championship belt on my mantle because I'm taking that song bitch away from.
- [65:57]
A
You've won many more fights than you've lost in an octagon. I can imagine the feeling of winning, but the feeling of loss, everybody takes differently. How bad do you beat yourself up after a loss? Or tell me about the disappointment or depression or just downside of what you personally feel as a fighter and as a man.
- [66:20]
B
As a fighter, as a man, taking a loss is like a loved one down. I feel I let my family down. I feel like I let my fans down. I feel like I let myself down. And I think the biggest loss that I can remember that I took that hurt the most was when I lost to Rennie Couture, the light heavyweight title. I remember going back to my hotel room at Mandalay Bay and sitting in the shower just crying because it hurt that bad. I mean, it hurts. I hate losing, but it goes back to my high school wrestling of getting taken down and getting pinned for the first time and going, am I just going to get up and smile about it and say, okay, I'll do it next time? No. I get up and be cussing me like, what the. I can't believe this happened. And one of my coaches put it to my mind and instilled it into me as it's like a person disrespecting you, person stealing your lunch money from you. You, a person clowning in front of everybody and laughing. You can't do nothing about it. If you want to do something about it, get your ass up off the couch and work for it. Put yourself. And when I lost a Randy Couture, don't get me wrong, I took a month off. I didn't go to the gym, I didn't do nothing. And I wasn't injured, I was fine. I took time off and I sat on my couch. I sat there and said, you know what, am I going to feel sorry for myself or am I going to suck this up and I'm going to continue on? And that was in 2003. I mean, that's the beginning of my career. I said, you know what? I'm gonna put in the work. And I didn't stop. And I never haven't looked back since. I've had major surgeries and I still continue on. Don't matter what surgery it was. I believed I can get through it. I believe that my mind can get through it, my body can get through it. I never set limitations on my goals. I've always tried to surpass each and everything. And it was because of the loss of. I think the losses are the ones that taught me the most out of any of my wins. Just because when I lost is how am I going to pick myself up again? How am I going to hop in that horse and ride on? How am I going to do that? And it's through dedication, determination, discipline. I call it the triple Ds and I always keep doing that each and every fight, each and every day, every year, every month, every week, every day, every hour, every minute. I try to just better myself by doing that. I want to fail because when I fail, it just shows my character. I'm going to get up and what type of person I am to get up and try it again. As long as I'm learning from those failures, I am successful for that day. Even with the failure, I'm successful from it.
- [68:59]
A
As we speak here in the back end of 2019. Heading into the fight December 7th with Alberto El Patron in Hidalgo, Texas, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots is 42 years old, 42 years young. He still wants to play another one, two, possibly three seasons. You're 44, I think you have a multi year deal with combate, but nonetheless, whatever. I mean, how long can Tito Ortiz fight or how long do you want to fight or is that on a, on a fight by fight basis? Per your performance.
- [69:39]
B
Maybe a five by five basis because of my performance, how my camps are run, how my camps, how my body feels. After my camps, my body feels great. I have got only two more weeks of hard training. I mean, I've been through a lot.
- [69:52]
A
It's right around the corner.
- [69:53]
B
Right around the corner. I mean, I've been. I've been through a lot. You know, I have, you know, one more for sure after this one. I mean, it's in my contract, guaranteed, one more. Do I do any more after that? Yeah. People always talk about you fought your whole life or you wrestled your whole life. You've been in front of millions of fans, thousands of fans in your arenas. That feeling not there anymore. What else do I do? If my body's intact, my mind's intact, I'm reaction, everything's great. I mean, I'm not punch drunk. I'm doing everything perfect. That to keep my body healthy. Why not keep grinding at it? I don't know, man. I see. Who's it? Kane Velasquez. Take a little liking to professional wrestling. Can I make my dream come true? I don't know. Do they need a real heel? I think the wrestlers are afraid of me stepping in that sword circle against them and choking somebody unconscious, knocking somebody out for real.
- [70:52]
A
I mean, you want to go down that road.
- [70:54]
B
I would like to take an interest into it, Yes. I think it would be fun. I think it would not only be fun, I think the hard work that it would to become champion would be a great road and a great dream and a great storyline to be the first ufc. Actually, I would be the second because Brock Lesnar did be the first Mexican American UFC champion and WWE Heavyweight Champion in the world ever.
- [71:20]
A
I think you would be just fine on the mic.
- [71:23]
B
Yes.
- [71:23]
A
As far as talking trash and backing it up and laying it down, you got to be entertaining in the business. And I certainly don't think that would be a hindrance to you. But talking about the here, the now. The fight's coming up on December 7th. Let's give it to go home Q and bring this thing full circle. Tell people about the fight. Tell people about Tito Ortiz uncaged and your social media stuff where everybody can find you and everything you have got going on.
- [71:53]
B
Well, everybody can find me, of course, on Twitter, it's Tito Ortiz. Instagram, it is Tito Ortiz 1999. Of course, on YouTube is T. Ortiz uncaged. We do an episode every single week. We literally go from training stuff, wrestling, boxing, kickboxing, running, running stairs. Some Motivational stuff, stuff with my kids. We just shot some Halloween stuff. I went to the Marine Ball. We got some stuff coming out for, of course, our troops. I'm a huge supporter of our United States troops. Very, very thankful for each one of the men and women who sacrificed their time for our country. So I always got to give love to them, of course. The build up for this fight up to December 7th in Hidalgo, Texas, live from the Paint arena. As I step on Alberto Del Rio's face over and over and over, I can't wait. He doesn't realize what he's got himself into to. He chose this fight. I'm going to beat him down. I'm going to smash him. I don't see this fight getting out of the first round. If it gets out of the first round, as I told him and I told everybody else, I will donate $50,000 to his charity of his choice if he gets out of the first round. This fight is not just a fight to me. This is my legacy. This is my name. This is my career. This is for my light heavyweight world title. But I want that heavyweight world title that he's holding. And I know it means the world to him. My title means the world to me. But like I said live on pay per view, December 7, Alberto del Rio, he's gonna step in the cage as a lion and I'm hungry. I'm ready to roar and eat for the first time.
- [73:24]
A
I dig it. I couldn't have said it any better myself. I will be tuning in on December 7, wherever in the world I am. Tito Ortiz, it was awesome speaking with you.
- [73:32]
B
Thank you, Steve. I appreciate you, man. Thank you.
- [73:39]
A
All right, everybody, give me to go home. Q. It's time to wrap up this podcast and ride off in sunset. Before I do that, I want to thank Tito Ortiz and his buddy Chris for coming by the crib and shooting the breeze and talking about his upcoming fight and everything that we talked about. It was real fun talking with Tito and I had a damn good time and nice meeting you, Chris. Enjoyed meeting you as well. Don't forget to check out that fight. December 7, 2019. Coming from Hidalgo, Texas on pay per view, Tito Ortiz versus Alberto El Patron. Should be a very interesting fight. Hey, don't forget to rate and review the Steve Austin show on Apple Podcasts. Tell your friends to check us out. If you want to reach me here on the podcast, send an email to questionsteveaustinshow.com hey man, I want to thank everybody on the east coast for man being so receptive to Broken Skull ipa. What I consider the best IPA in America over there in the East Coast. We've been in New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts. We've got another shipment heading that way and the reviews have been off the charts. People are real happy with the beer and I'm super proud of it. And we're really looking to grow and take some steps in 2020 and get to a couple different states and as soon as I'm at liberty to say, I'll disclose what states those are. But the Broken Skull IPA is available at Whole Foods and Total Wine in almost all of California, specifically SoCal, and we are spreading that footprint as well. Check out the El segundobrewing.com interactive website for Broken Skull IPA to find out where a store near you sells it. It just might be headed your way and right there in a neighborhood where you are at. Hey, don't forget, got a couple T shirts over at Pro Wrestling Tees. Gonna bring out some new designs. I kind of been a little bit lagging on this and I need to get off my ass. King of attitude sh broken skull ranch apparel shirts there@prowrestlingtees.com and hey man, the Christmas season is coming right around the horn so you might want to start thinking about that if you're looking to give somebody a cool ass gift. I got some badass pocket knives from Cold Steel, the Broken Skull or the Working man and you can get them at my Amazon store. Amazon's got the best price on both knives. Just go to Amazon.com shop steveaulston and that's the bottom line folks. I'm about to head out and get on my Kawasaki KRX1000, the baddest side by side on the market before I have to head off to the mean streets of Los Angeles, California. Until next time, my name is Steve Austin. Have yourselves a wonderful Thanksgiving and safe travels to everybody and I will catch your ass down the road.
- [76:17]
B
This has been a Podcast one production. Download new episodes of the Steve Austin show every Tuesday and@podcast1.com that's podcastone.com.
- [76:31]
A
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