"I'll Submit Him" – Ilia Topuria CALLS OUT Islam Makhachev, OPENS UP On Putin & Russia | PBD Podcast | Ep. 566

Undefeated UFC champ Ilia Topuria joins Patrick Bet-David to talk about his legacy, fighting Islam Makhachev, out-earning Ronaldo, and his journey from Georgia to global stardom. Raw, confident, and deeply personal. ------ 👕 GET THE LATEST VT MERCH: ⁠https://bit.ly/3BZbD6l⁠ https://bit.ly/3BZbD6l 📕 PBD'S BOOK "THE ACADEMY": ⁠https://bit.ly/41rtEV4⁠ https://bit.ly/41rtEV4 📰 VTNEWS. AI: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3OExClZ⁠ https://bit.ly/3OExClZ 🎙️ FOLLOW THE PODCAST ON SPOTIFY: ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/4g57zR2⁠ https://bit.ly/4g57zR2 🎙️ FOLLOW THE PODCAST ON ITUNES: ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/4g1bXAh⁠ https://bit.ly/4g1bXAh 🎙️ FOLLOW THE PODCAST ON ALL PLATFORMS: ⁠https://bit.ly/4eXQl6A⁠ https://bit.ly/4eXQl6A 📱 CONNECT ON MINNECT: ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/4ikyEkC⁠ https://bit.ly/4ikyEkC 👔 BET-DAVID CONSULTING: ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3ZjWhB7⁠ https://bit.ly/3ZjWhB7 🎓 VALUETAINMENT UNIVERSITY: ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3BfA5Qw⁠ https://bit.ly/3BfA5Qw 📺 JOIN THE CHANNEL: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/4g5C6Or⁠ https://bit.ly/4g5C6Or 💬 TEXT US: Text “PODCAST” to 310-340-1132 to get the latest updates in real-time! ABOUT US:Patrick Bet-David is the founder and CEO of Valuetainment Media. He is the author of the #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller “Your Next Five Moves” (Simon & Schuster) and a father of 2 boys and 2 girls. He currently resides in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:31Speaker 01

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• 1:00Patrick Bet-David?

  I really know that I have the ability to shock the world.

• 1:07Patrick Bet-David?

  You're fight ready. You think he's fight ready to go up against you today? Him? Yeah. No. I finish him in the first round. Me personally, I would ask him like, "What's your favorite submission? I'm gonna submit you with that."

• 1:22Patrick Bet-David?

  I have to do it. Did you say you want to make more money than Ronaldo? I want to make more money than everyone. Why is that? And how are you gonna do it? If you win the medals in the training, you just go to collect them in the fight. That's what Michael would talk about. Yeah, but at the end of the day, he was playing basketball. Now I'm fighting. What do you think about Zelensky, Putin? There's how the world sees it. But then you're in the region. They see your face as saying something, though.

• 1:52Speaker 03

  Look how fat he looks. Little pimple.

• 1:56Patrick Bet-David?

  Little pimple?

• 1:57Speaker 03

  Yeah, potty pimple, pimple.

• 2:00Patrick Bet-David?

  You're waiting for that phone call, huh?

• 2:01Speaker 03

  I'm waiting. I'm very excited, to be honest. Sport is sport, we athletes, I respect all of that. But there are lines that you can't cross.

• 2:32Patrick Bet-David?

  My handshake is better than anything I ever signs, right here.

• 2:37Patrick Bet-David?

  You are a one of one?

• 2:37Speaker 03

  My sundry, right? I don't think I've ever said this before.

• 2:45Speaker 03

  Life, they have, like, business-wise, it's not the best place.

• 2:49Patrick Bet-David?

  Spain.

• 2:50Speaker 03

  Spain.

• 2:50Patrick Bet-David?

  But it's your favorite place, no matter what?

• 2:52Speaker 03

  Like, the quality of life that we have in Spain, you can't find it anywhere in the world. Like, for example, in Miami. I love Miami, but... We are recording?

• 3:03Patrick Bet-David?

  Yes, we're recording.

• 3:07Speaker 03

  Okay, so the quality of the food and everything, it's very different.

• 3:11Patrick Bet-David?

  Not close to Spain.

• 3:12Speaker 03

  Not close to Spain.

• 3:13Patrick Bet-David?

  So the food is the best for you in Spain?

• 3:15Speaker 03

  The food, the product. Then the traffic. I spent an hour to come here. I would be, in Spain, this distance, you, you, you, I would be there, like, I don't know, in thirty minutes. So how, how much time we spend, do you spend here in the traffic? That's quality of life. Like, food, traffic, I don't know, everything's so expensive. You can, you can make a lot of money.

• 3:41Patrick Bet-David?

  Are you very detailed? Like, are you a very detailed guy? Like, you know, personality-wise in business, uh, you know, when, when you try to profile somebody, you're recruiting somebody, like, let me see what personality this person is. Extremely analytical, extremely structured, organized. Like, you had a little bit of thing, you had to go clean it up with the shirt, right? Extremely action-oriented. Let's go out, what are we gonna do? Let's beat them, let's competitive, you know? And in relationship, very good with people, right? You care about the relationship and all that stuff. Are you more analytical, structured, systematized, action-oriented, competitive, or more relationship with friends and family?

• 4:19Speaker 03

  More relationship with friends and family and I'm more with with energy like my with feelings. It depends how I feel with the with the person because I can have a lot of information, for example, about someone. But then I met him in person and and the feeling I have with him is completely different, you know, so, yeah.

• 4:39Patrick Bet-David?

  Very interesting. I ask that because, you know, when you're saying the quality of life. To to think quality of life of the conversation we're having, you have to be analytical a little bit to pay attention to the details to say. It took me one hour to come up, but it would have been thirty minutes where I live, you know. You gotta.

• 4:57Speaker 03

  I have two kids. If you if you are raising a a kids. You gotta take them to the school. You gotta take them to to different activities. So if I have to spend between every activities an hour in the traffic. That's a lot of time for me. So I at the end of the day, I I gotta have to take something from them. To optimize that time. So I look at it from time time wise.

• 5:24Patrick Bet-David?

  Very and you're very active with your kids? Are you very involved?

• 5:27Speaker 03

  My kid, my boy, he he he doesn't live with with me. My girl, she's eight months months old, but we we are like. Planning everything now, like where are we gonna live? Where are we gonna raise them? How are we gonna do it? So I'm planning. I'm twenty years old and.

• 5:45Patrick Bet-David?

  And you're just getting started, you know.

• 5:46Speaker 03

  I'm getting started.

• 5:47Patrick Bet-David?

  You're just getting started. So you're you're what? You're sixteen and oh. You you won the one forty five after winning against Volk, which wasn't, you know, the fight was fireworks.

• 5:58Speaker 03

  Did you watch the fight?

• 5:59Patrick Bet-David?

  Of course, yeah, it's fireworks. And then afterwards, you give up the belt to go to the legendary one fifty five, right? Where everybody that's like D weight. Everybody knows it's the category to be part. I don't even know if. If you look up Rob, who are the top five biggest fights? I think five for five. It's all the lightweight, right? Yeah, it is all lightweight because it's Connor Khabib. I think it's Connor, uh.

• 6:24Speaker 03

  Connor, it's I think he's retired.

• 6:27Patrick Bet-David?

  You think he's retired?

• 6:28Speaker 03

  Yeah, I think so. He's not gonna come back.

• 6:30Patrick Bet-David?

  What do you think happened to him? You think it's the money and the success?

• 6:33Speaker 03

  Uh, I think that he doesn't have the motivation anymore. He, he, he done a great things in the sport, but he doesn't have the motivation. He, he, he got, I think, a lot of money. He's spending also a lot of money, so I don't know. I don't know him personally, I don't know him.

• 6:50Patrick Bet-David?

  You guys have never met?

• 6:51Speaker 03

  Never.

• 6:53Patrick Bet-David?

  So there's no relationship?

• 6:54Speaker 03

  No.

• 6:54Patrick Bet-David?

  Cause he said some stuff about you and you've said some stuff about him.

• 6:57Speaker 03

  Yeah, but n- n- nothing good.

• 7:00Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah, nothing good. Nothing good. So if, if right now you guys were to fight, like right now, right now, let's just say in two weeks, he gets a call?

• 7:09Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 7:09Patrick Bet-David?

  And a fight happens. You're fight ready. You think he's fight ready to go up against you today?

• 7:13Speaker 03

  Him?

• 7:14Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah.

• 7:14Speaker 03

  No, I don't think so. What he, what he did in the last two weeks? Party, drinking beers, what I did in the last two, two weeks. I trained twice a day. Um, I don't know, I'm an active fighter. I defend my, my belt a couple of months ago. When was the last time he fought? He fought, I don't know, three years ago, four years ago? He's not in shape.

• 7:41Patrick Bet-David?

  Your peak, like right now, you, you, some would even say you're not even at your peak yet.

• 7:47Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 7:48Patrick Bet-David?

  Cause you're still getting better, right? You're, you're 28, how old are you?

• 7:52Speaker 03

  28.

• 7:52Patrick Bet-David?

  28 years old. So some of these guys, they peaked at 32, 33, 31, that's the age, right? You're at 28. Your peak versus Connor's peak, who wins that fight? At 155, let's just say.

• 8:07Speaker 03

  My answer is gonna be always me. Every day, all day, I'm gonna beat that guy, no matter when and where. But if you ask him, he's gonna tell you probably the same. So you know how it works. This is sport, no one's gonna give up.

• 8:23Patrick Bet-David?

  When, when you were coming up, was he somebody you looked up to? Were you like, you know, was Connor your guy? Were you a fan of his when you were coming up as a young fighter?

• 8:30Speaker 03

  Yeah, of course, of course. He inspired a lot of fighters, he changed the sport. He did so many great things for, for, for the sport. You can't say like anything different about, about that. But he, he, he like, little by little, he, he changed his, his values. He changed everything. Like, right now, what, what does he represent?

• 8:54Speaker 03

  I always used to say like drugs, alcohol, bad lifestyle. But who gives a fuck?

• 9:02Patrick Bet-David?

  Do you, do you watch closely to make sure you, like as you're going through it? Are you also watching in very detailed on the decisions you're making? To see how you're living because you're watching, okay, this is what this guy did right. That's what this guy did wrong. Are you studying everybody to see what for yourself to be protected up?

• 9:21Speaker 03

  Of course, of course, I always try to develop my skills. I always try to have more abilities. Because at the end of the day, your skills make you rich, right? Not the money. Because if you don't have the skills, you don't have the right mentality, you are poor. So I all the time try to develop my skills and my abilities.

• 9:43Patrick Bet-David?

  And when, when going with someone like you, because I think you said one time, you said you want to make, did you say you want to make more money than Ronaldo? I think you said you want to make more money than Ronaldo.

• 9:52Speaker 03

  I want to make more money than everyone.

• 9:56Patrick Bet-David?

  Why, why is that? And how are you going to do it?

• 10:00Speaker 03

  Uh, okay. Let's switch that a little bit. It's not, it's not like I want to be better than someone. It's like if someone could do it, I want to do it also.

• 10:11Patrick Bet-David?

  I got it.

• 10:11Speaker 03

  And if no one did it, I want to be the first one to do it. So this is the mental, it's not to look up to some, to look down to someone.

• 10:19Patrick Bet-David?

  Sure, right.

• 10:20Speaker 03

  It's not because of that. It's I want to experience that, that also how it feels to be the number one guy.

• 10:30Speaker 03

  Why not?

• 10:30Patrick Bet-David?

  Right, you're saying pay wise.

• 10:33Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 10:33Patrick Bet-David?

  But do you have a strategy on how you want to do it? Have you thought about it? Have you thought about what method you're going to have? Because I, I looked at the pay on what you've done earlier. We were talking to the guys. And when I look at this, your first fight, I don't know if it's your first fight, but one of your first fights that you made thirty eight thousand five hundred. October ten, twenty twenty. Then you made fifty K, then seventy five, then ninety, then you made one fifty four with Bryce Mitchell, one of your good friends. And then?

• 11:01Patrick Bet-David?

  And then you made 200,000 with Josh Emmett, and you made 532 Fighter of the Year 2024 with Volk. And then you made 2.44 million with Holloway. So roughly career earnings 3.5 million. And, you know, this is, this is a very good trajectory. If this is a stock, this, there's some real good things around the corner for you, right? Fight wise.

• 11:24Speaker 03

  It's not only fight wise, it's, it's also business wise. That's why I try to develop all the time my, my skills, you know, whatever. Because at some point I'm gonna retire and I'm gonna make a, a living from, from.

• 11:38Patrick Bet-David?

  Something else.

• 11:39Speaker 03

  Something else.

• 11:40Patrick Bet-David?

  Got it. How much longer you think you'll be fighting? You're 28 now.

• 11:44Speaker 03

  Till I enjoy it, to be honest. Before I used to be like, maybe when I'm 30 or 32. But now, till I enjoy, I will be, will be active.

• 11:57Patrick Bet-David?

  How old was Khabib when he retired?

• 11:58Speaker 03

  I think 32, 34.

• 12:00Patrick Bet-David?

  Was he 32? 32, yeah, you're right. 32, September 201988 when he retired. Interesting. But right now, you're enjoying it. You see yourself going for a few more years.

• 12:09Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 12:10Patrick Bet-David?

  Okay.

• 12:11Speaker 03

  Like now. I have a new motivation, new division. I have a lot of guys there, so why not?

• 12:18Patrick Bet-David?

  What's, what's the, what's, because I watched, I had Khabib on, I don't know when it was. I did an interview with Khabib four years ago? Could have been three years ago, maybe four or five years ago? Probably four years ago. See, pull up the date, Rob, to see when this is. What is the date on this here?

• 12:35Speaker 05

  August 1st, 21st, 2023.

• 12:38Patrick Bet-David?

  Okay, I thought it was a lot longer than that. So we, this, that's what, Rob? Year and a half ago?

• 12:43Speaker 05

  Yep.

• 12:43Patrick Bet-David?

  Soon to be two years, okay? I had him on and I watched, there's a clip, Rob, if you have the clip of Khabib being asked about you.

• 12:54Patrick Bet-David?

  And he's asking a question about whether you're ready, and I'm sure you've seen this yourself. I'm sure you've seen the comments that he made. I don't know if you've seen it or not. If you haven't, Rob, I want to text it over to you. There's an interview he's being asked about whether you're ready to fight, you know, whether you've earned the right to fight for the number one spot. Have you seen this clip yet of Khabib talking about you or no?

• 13:17Speaker 03

  Hmm, I have watched some of them. I watched with Henry, yeah.

• 13:22Patrick Bet-David?

  You've seen this. Okay, play this clip up for the audience if they haven't seen it. Go for it.

• 13:27Speaker 05

  He said, you know what? I want to go up to 155 pounds, fight the number one contender. And then if he wins that, then he fights Islam. I think that's good, brother. I think he deserves.

• 13:35Speaker 06

  I think if he move up and he beat somebody like Dustin Poirier or Charles Alivera, he's next. Why not? Because there is nobody.

• 13:41Speaker 05

  So you don't think right now Ilya deserves a shot at 155 pounds?

• 13:45Speaker 06

  Without fighting in 155? Without, no, I don't think. Because Islam already give chance. And people talk bad about like, oh, he fight two time with Volkanovski. But UFC push this fight. And this fight was good in first fight. But why Islam have to give three time chance for 145 champion? Why? It's not fair for 155 pounds.

• 14:06Speaker 05

  Right, right, but...

• 14:07Speaker 06

  But if he move up and he beat somebody like Charles Alivera, of course. You know what I think?

• 14:12Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 14:12Speaker 06

  I think he can beat him.

• 14:13Speaker 05

  Yeah. I like Charles, but I think so too.

• 14:17Speaker 06

  No, I think Ilya can beat him.

• 14:19Speaker 05

  Ilya...

• 14:21Speaker 03

  He's saying that I don't deserve it. But he's saying from a fighter's perspective. But as a promoter, it works a little bit different.

• 14:34Patrick Bet-David?

  So now you're thinking Dana?

• 14:36Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 14:37Patrick Bet-David?

  Got it. So you think Dana would be excited about you fighting Dustin or Charles? I don't think so.

• 14:44Speaker 03

  I don't think so.

• 14:45Patrick Bet-David?

  Right.

• 14:45Speaker 03

  That will be making a step back, I think.

• 14:49Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah. I understand what he's saying, but I tell you who I want to see as a fan. I'm talking purely as a fan.

• 14:56Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 14:56Patrick Bet-David?

  If there is the fight with you and Islam,

• 15:00Patrick Bet-David?

  that could be one of the biggest pay-per-views if that takes place.

• 15:03Speaker 03

  I think so also. Look, Henry Cejula, you watch him in the video. He moved up, he fought for the second belt. Conor, he fought for the second belt. George Seipier, he fought for the second belt. You had, I can like mention you so many names that fought for that second belt. Why not me?

• 15:26Speaker 03

  That had that opportunity to fight for the next weight class world championship for the belt.

• 15:34Patrick Bet-David?

  So, right now with where you're at, are you wanting your next to be that?

• 15:39Speaker 03

  I'm sure that that's gonna happen. I'm fighting for the belt.

• 15:42Patrick Bet-David?

  Okay, so right now you gave the belt back at 145.

• 15:47Speaker 03

  I gave it because I didn't want to hold the division.

• 15:50Patrick Bet-David?

  Right.

• 15:50Speaker 03

  This is what I did. I could hold it for a year, year and a half, but I didn't. Because at the end, I knew that I wouldn't fight again in 145. But I could have the position where I would say like, listen, I'm holding the belt till you give me the chance to fight for the next weight class belt. But I'm like, I'm okaying the belt because they gave me their world. That was all easy.

• 16:20Patrick Bet-David?

  Who is the ranking right now in 155?

• 16:23Speaker 03

  The number one is Charles Oliveira. And the champion is Islam. I don't know who is the number two.

• 16:34Patrick Bet-David?

  Can you look at that, Rob? I'm curious now because I, is, Charles is number, oh, Armon is number two.

• 16:42Speaker 03

  Armon, number two.

• 16:43Patrick Bet-David?

  So would you fight an Armon before you go? Like, let's just say Dana says, I want you to fight Armon before you fight Islam. Would you entertain that?

• 16:49Speaker 03

  He wouldn't, he wouldn't tell me that.

• 16:51Patrick Bet-David?

  He wouldn't tell you?

• 16:52Speaker 03

  No.

• 16:54Patrick Bet-David?

  Dana would say Islam.

• 16:56Speaker 03

  He would say for the belt.

• 16:58Patrick Bet-David?

  He would say for the belt?

• 16:59Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 17:00Patrick Bet-David?

  I think so as well because you're undefeated.

• 17:02Speaker 03

  Of course.

• 17:03Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah.

• 17:04Speaker 03

  There's no way that I have to fight to the number one contender. I have to fight directly for the belt.

• 17:11Patrick Bet-David?

  How soon you think that would happen?

• 17:14Speaker 03

  Personally, I don't know. I hope in summer, maybe in September. I don't know. Whenever it happens, it's gonna be.

• 17:23Patrick Bet-David?

  How does it normally happen? I'm not in your world. Do you, do you, do you normally make the call? And tell Dana, or do you kind of do the podcast and kind of find a way that the video makes it to Dana?

• 17:32Speaker 03

  No, no, no.

• 17:32Patrick Bet-David?

  Or does he call you and tell you?

• 17:34Speaker 03

  It never works like that. They call you, they, they tell you like, I need you in this day, in this place.

• 17:41Patrick Bet-David?

  Do you have a warning, or no, they just kind of call you and tell you, I gotta fight for you?

• 17:44Speaker 03

  I gotta fight for you.

• 17:45Patrick Bet-David?

  Okay.

• 17:45Speaker 03

  This is how it works. Of course, they, they like have a conversation with you because they want you to feel also comfortable with the day, with the place, with, with the opponent, with, with everything.

• 17:57Patrick Bet-David?

  Got it.

• 17:58Speaker 03

  They, they figure it out with you and you go after that. But at least, what, what they do always with the champions is that they give you at least 12 weeks of, of preparation.

• 18:13Patrick Bet-David?

  Yo, if you're champion, they give you that 12 week respect?

• 18:16Speaker 03

  Yeah, because you need a training camp. You need to figure out you, how you're gonna do it, how you're gonna organize you, everything. I don't know, you gotta move your whole team.

• 18:26Patrick Bet-David?

  Let me, let me ask this question. For someone like you, you give me the idea you're very meticulous, you're very detailed.

• 18:33Patrick Bet-David?

  Are you, is your current training a regular training? Or is your current training, specific training targeted for your next fight being Islam? Like psychologically, in your mind, are you, you're already there?

• 18:47Speaker 03

  Yeah. I have two names in my mind right now and, and we focus all trainings in two names. It's Charles, Charles and Islam.

• 18:58Patrick Bet-David?

  In case if he says you're fighting Charles?

• 18:59Speaker 03

  Yeah, in case that he's, he says that I'm, I gotta fight Charles, I'm ready for that.

• 19:07Speaker 03

  Because I'm doing a lot of, like, we're watching his fights, seeing his weaknesses, where he's doing like, I don't know, where he's dangerous. All that, we study him, the same thing with Islam, he's salt pole, he moves a little bit different, he tends to go for the takedowns. So we are preparing, I'm so excited, that's why. Me, if someone asks to me, like, I would love to fight with Islam, that would be a great one, because I really know that I have the ability to to shock the world. Because I know that for me, it's gonna be like, I know that I'm gonna beat him, but for the world, it's gonna be like, just what happened.

• 19:52Speaker 03

  The same thing that happened with Woll, the same thing that happened with Max Holloway, no one never knocked him out, no one did it, and it was like a surprise for everyone, but me personally, I always knew it.

• 20:06Patrick Bet-David?

  You always knew.

• 20:07Speaker 03

  Before I walk in the octagon, I was like, thank God to give me the opportunity to be the first one to knock him out.

• 20:15Patrick Bet-David?

  Where does the confidence come from?

• 20:17Speaker 03

  From hard work and dedication, and from God, I think so. And I'm gonna sound a little bit repetitive, but I always prefer to to think about, to have the kind of thoughts that make me feel happy, that empowers me. Because I feel fear, fear, of course I do. But both of them, fear and faith, demand you to believe that you never saw. I always prefer to believe in something that makes me feel happy.

• 20:57Patrick Bet-David?

  Fear?

• 20:58Speaker 03

  Yeah, fear.

• 21:00Patrick Bet-David?

  So you feel fear while you're going into the ring, or at that point, you're not?

• 21:05Speaker 03

  When you are backstage, you feel that.

• 21:07Patrick Bet-David?

  You feel fear backstage?

• 21:08Speaker 03

  Of course.

• 21:09Patrick Bet-David?

  Adrenaline, right here?

• 21:10Speaker 03

  Of course you do, everyone does it, everyone.

• 21:13Patrick Bet-David?

  How do you deal with it? How do you deal with it?

• 21:16Speaker 03

  I use it like, from a positive way, I use it from, like...

• 21:23Speaker 03

  I don't know. The first thing that happens where you are in backstage, your mind used to take you to the octagon. And in reality, you are in the backstage. And I'm like, listen, right now, I'm with my people, wrapping my hands, warm up, I don't know, whatever I'm doing, but I'm not fighting with anyone. So don't worry about anything. Just save that energy because you are gonna need that that concentration, that focus inside the octagon. So if you are able to, don't let your mind to travel to the future,

• 22:01Speaker 03

  you are ahead of your opponents.

• 22:02Patrick Bet-David?

  When you're backstage and your anxiety goes, is there anybody you want around you that brings you down?

• 22:09Speaker 03

  No.

• 22:09Patrick Bet-David?

  Or is there like your brother calms you down? Is it a coach that calms you down? You just wanna be left alone to yourself to have the conversations in your mind yourself?

• 22:18Speaker 03

  Myself.

• 22:18Patrick Bet-David?

  Nobody else?

• 22:19Speaker 03

  Nobody else. I just go, I watch myself in the mirror and I'm like, this is the person you have to beat.

• 22:26Patrick Bet-David?

  The person in the mirror?

• 22:27Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 22:27Patrick Bet-David?

  This is the person you have to beat?

• 22:29Speaker 03

  This is the person you have to beat.

• 22:30Patrick Bet-David?

  Are you listening to any music or no?

• 22:32Speaker 03

  I don't like, whatever, like, oh, I play the music, someone from my team plays the music. I don't have any, I don't know how to say it in English.

• 22:45Patrick Bet-David?

  Ritual?

• 22:46Speaker 03

  Supersticiones.

• 22:47Patrick Bet-David?

  Oh, supersticiones, got it. You're not superstitious?

• 22:49Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 22:50Patrick Bet-David?

  You're not at all?

• 22:51Speaker 03

  Not at all.

• 22:51Patrick Bet-David?

  So you will step on a line? You won't step over a line? You're not, if you touch something, you won't have to touch it three times?

• 22:56Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 22:57Patrick Bet-David?

  You're not like that at all?

• 22:58Speaker 03

  No, no, no, not at all.

• 22:59Patrick Bet-David?

  Really?

• 22:59Speaker 03

  No, not at all.

• 23:00Patrick Bet-David?

  Why not? It's interesting.

• 23:03Speaker 03

  Because I don't like to depend on anything. I'm like, you wake me up at four o'clock, you tell me that I gotta fight with someone, I do it. I don't care.

• 23:16Speaker 03

  So that's why it's like I don't need my shorts. If I don't have my shorts, I have a bad luck. Or if I'm not wearing this or he's not able to come to watch my fight or whatever. I don't know, nothing.

• 23:30Patrick Bet-David?

  You're that ice cold.

• 23:31Speaker 03

  Nothing.

• 23:31Patrick Bet-David?

  Mentally, you're that ice cold. They call that ice cold. That's great.

• 23:36Speaker 03

  I don't know.

• 23:36Patrick Bet-David?

  Nothing gets through.

• 23:37Speaker 03

  Nothing. I can walk like, I can go alone. Like just imagine that my coaches can come with me, but my brother can't come with me. No one and I have to go alone. No problem.

• 23:50Patrick Bet-David?

  Can anybody get under your skin? Does anybody get under your skin? You know what that means? Like, you know what I'm saying? Like somebody that knows to say something that triggers. They see your face is saying something though.

• 24:08Speaker 03

  I think the only person is my wife, probably.

• 24:13Speaker 03

  She's the only person. No one else, I think.

• 24:16Patrick Bet-David?

  Seriously.

• 24:17Speaker 03

  I think so.

• 24:18Patrick Bet-David?

  That's very good.

• 24:19Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 24:20Patrick Bet-David?

  You, you know, because, uh, you know, that, that is, that is a, a, a big strength of a lot of, uh, great ones were like that. Some of it wanted it. Some people wanted like Michael Jordan's was, he, he wanted you to say something to him. And then he would convince himself that you said something about him really bad. And then he wanted to kill you. That's what Michael would talk about.

• 24:43Speaker 03

  Yeah, but at the end, end, end of the day, he was playing basketball.

• 24:47Patrick Bet-David?

  Right.

• 24:47Speaker 03

  And I have enough of that energy that I wanna, I wanna go in and take his head off. You know, I'm fighting.

• 24:55Patrick Bet-David?

  What are you telling yourself when you're looking at your opponent? Are you telling anything yourself about the opponent right before the fight or no?

• 25:00Speaker 03

  Before the fight, no, I'm just telling to myself that I need myself cold to be calculated. This is how I need myself.

• 25:09Speaker 03

  Emotions underground. I don't need my emotions at that moment.

• 25:13Patrick Bet-David?

  Who taught you this? Who, who shared this with you? Who, who, who, is it a mentor, a coach, somebody, the book, or brother or family, or no, it's just you?

• 25:22Speaker 03

  Maybe I read it somewhere because I used to read a lot of books. But i- it was like, I always had that kind of mentality. And also, I, I, I probed it that it was working for me in the, in the fights. So, all the time I go in, I'm like, my emotions are under zero, underground. I'm very calm.

• 25:47Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah, because you know, when you, when you think about rituals, right, like you're saying, superstitious. I remember, uh, back in the days, Diego Sanchez, I don't know if you remember Diego Sanchez. He's one of my favorite guys to watch fights. Yes, yes, yes, and he was just fire, young, exciting. Uh, uh, Ali used to predict rounds. I'm gonna beat you in this round, right? Tyson used to look at the person in the eyes until the person looked away, like he wanted to kind of do that. Tyson Fury would sing after the fight and he would like to sing for, uh, the fighters. Manny Pacquiao would take ice showers, ice cold showers and pray before the fight. There was another guy, uh, uh, uh, Leoto or something, Leoto Machado, where he would drink urine before a fight. I don't know if you've heard this or, this or not.

• 26:31Patrick Bet-David?

  Very weird stuff that you think about before fights.

• 26:33Speaker 03

  Hmm.

• 26:33Patrick Bet-David?

  You don't have no rituals like that?

• 26:35Speaker 03

  No ritual. I, I used to pray, of course, I used to pray. And I used to, yeah, I used to pray. This is what I do all the time. I wake up in the morning, I pray. And I feel thankful about everything that's happening to me for the opportunity. And I thank the gods before I'm getting the victory. I'm, I'm, I'm thanking to him like, thank you for the victory.

• 27:00Patrick Bet-David?

  As a kid, did, did you watch something a lot? Like, are you, you know, uh, uh, do you link your mindset to like a Rocky? Did you watch Gladiator? Were you a movie person? Did you watch somebody as a fighter coming up? Did you aspire to be somebody? Did you look up to someone? Wha- what was it for you?

• 27:17Speaker 03

  Um, my, um, as a kid, my, my coach in, in Greco-Romual wrestling, he used to say it like this, like, you were, you were, you win the medals in the training. You just go to collect them in the, in, in the fight. So, this is like my mentality, I think so. I worked so hard, I know everything that I did, that I did everything that I could. And there's no way that I'm not gonna walk out from that octagon with the victory. This is how I feel. Really.

• 27:55Patrick Bet-David?

  What's the one fight where you got a call for a fight, I think it was two weeks out, where you got kicked on the side, who was that?

• 28:04Speaker 03

  Jai Herbert.

• 28:06Patrick Bet-David?

  That's right, Jai Herbert, and I think even Rogan talks about this, where he explains where you got kicked, and, you know, and then everybody's like, "Oh my god, this thing's done with," and then boom, boom, boom, it's over with.

• 28:18Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 28:18Patrick Bet-David?

  Right? Your opponents, who you've gone up against, who have you fought where you sat there and when they hit you, obviously, let's just say he's one of them, who hits you where you felt the pain, or you saw their technical skills to say, "This guy's legit, this guy's very capable." Your opponents, people you've gone against.

• 28:38Speaker 03

  The last two opponents I had, Walk and Max Holloway, they both were very skillful.

• 28:44Patrick Bet-David?

  What was different about Max versus Walk?

• 28:51Speaker 03

  What was the difference between Max and Walk? Good question, I never thought about that. What was the difference?

• 29:00Speaker 03

  I don't know. What was the difference?

• 29:05Speaker 03

  I felt both of them like the same way, fast, very calculated. Like, they are smart people inside the octagon, they have that fight IQ, you know what I mean? Normally, I used to go inside the octagon, and I'm... I feel that I'm the smartest guy. But with them, I felt that they were smart also. Because you can be very powerful, very fast, but if you don't have that mentality, if you don't have that fight IQ...

• 29:39Patrick Bet-David?

  What does that mean, Alia? What does fight IQ mean? What does being smart in the ring?

• 29:43Speaker 03

  To use the technique at the right time. You know? May you have a lot of information. One thing is what you know and the other thing is what you do with what you know. You know what I mean? To use it at the right time. So that's for me the fight IQ. When you need something and you use it at the right time. For example, I don't know. If I feel that I can beat someone with only jabs, I go and I don't switch the strategy in the whole fight. I do jabs, jabs, jabs, jabs. I don't know how to explain to you. It's a little bit difficult to explain from a fighter's perspective.

• 30:27Speaker 03

  Yeah, but basically it's to choose the right technique at the right time. And they were doing that. They know how to.

• 30:41Speaker 03

  Quitar de la paciencia. I don't know how to say that.

• 30:45Patrick Bet-David?

  Humberto, can you text that to me? Quitar de la apensia?

• 30:49Speaker 03

  Yeah, take paciencia. Take away the patience from you, you know? Because you go in, you're very patient, you're very patient. But there are some kind of fighters that have the ability to take you from your place, you know? And to make your play their game.

• 31:07Patrick Bet-David?

  Who did you fight that would talk to you and try to play mind games? Did anybody talk to you in the ring?

• 31:12Speaker 03

  No, no one talked to me in the ring. Usually they don't have time to talk to me.

• 31:23Speaker 03

  Because I put so much pressure on them that they don't have the time. They don't have even time to breathe properly.

• 31:31Patrick Bet-David?

  What was it like fighting Bryce Mitchell?

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• 32:04Speaker 01

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• 32:38Speaker 03

  To be honest, he surprised me because he was the first person to take me down.

• 32:44Speaker 03

  And he had that proper technique for takedowns. But then, I don't know. I just felt that I break him mentally, physically, everywhere. He was known as a great grappler. I said, "Met him." "Like, what do you want me to do with you?"

• 33:08Speaker 03

  He's like, I don't know, crazy guy. "The earth is flat, and what? Okay, just suppose that the earth is flat, and what we do with that information, bro? What the fuck are you talking about?"

• 33:20Patrick Bet-David?

  So for the record, you don't think the earth is flat?

• 33:23Speaker 03

  To be honest, I think that it's not flat because this is what they teach me since I was a kid. But even if it's flat, what it changed to me? What I do with that information? Okay, someone comes to me, "The earth is flat." "Okay, you convinced me, and what? What happens now?"

• 33:44Patrick Bet-David?

  What are you interested in? What other things are you interested in outside of fighting?

• 33:51Speaker 03

  I wanna serve the most amount of people that I can. I wanna, yeah, serve, inspire, motivate people.

• 33:59Patrick Bet-David?

  You know, again, I ask that because right after you say, "What is it to me to know?" About whether the earth is flat or not, what am I gonna do with that information? It's, it's, the way I hear it is, I don't need additional information in my brain. I just need to focus on the stuff that I need to study that's gonna get my life to the next level. Everything else, I don't need any distractions. Is that kinda how you see it?

• 34:21Speaker 03

  Hundred percent. That's how I see it. Like, what I do with that information? Like, sometimes, sometimes people want to convince you about something. It's like, okay, you're right. And what? What happens now? What I do with that? My life change? I get better? I make more money? I don't know. What happens? Nothing. So what?

• 34:47Patrick Bet-David?

  It's true, though. It's true to stay locked in. And it's not easy to stay locked in. Athletes, are there any athletes that you now have a relationship with? That they're high-level athletes, competitors from different sports, soccer, football? Do any one of them, did any one of them call you? And if yes, when did that happen? What was the first fight where people said this guy's special?

• 35:12Speaker 03

  I think that since the moment that I fought, I don't know, when I made two fights in the UFC, probably. Yeah, after that, I, I start.

• 35:22Patrick Bet-David?

  After two fights?

• 35:23Speaker 03

  After two fights in the UFC, I start feeling that people was reaching me out, like, calling me, texting me, wanted to meet me. Yeah, after two fights.

• 35:36Speaker 03

  Of course, once you become a world champion, it's different. You defend, you battle, it's different.

• 35:42Patrick Bet-David?

  You were the fighter of the year last year, 2024.

• 35:45Speaker 03

  I think that it was Pereira. They gave it to Pereira.

• 35:49Patrick Bet-David?

  They gave it to Pereira?

• 35:50Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 35:50Patrick Bet-David?

  Why do I see 2024 says fighter of the year? You?

• 35:53Speaker 03

  Because many people gave it to me, but they gave it to Alex Pereira also.

• 36:02Patrick Bet-David?

  One or tie, who's, oh, they gave it to both of you? Oh, they give it to both of you?

• 36:10Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 36:10Patrick Bet-David?

  I got it, okay. And you, there's a picture of the two of you guys together.

• 36:13Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah.

• 36:14Patrick Bet-David?

  So you guys, you guys are friends, you guys have a relationship?

• 36:16Speaker 03

  N- n- not friends, I met him in, in Australia. We, we meet each other for, for first time there in Sydney. I went there to watch my, my brother fight, yeah.

• 36:28Patrick Bet-David?

  Do you watch the sport yourself? Like, are you also interested in watching the sport and how other people do? Or like, this weekend Miami is fight, you know, there's gonna be UFC fight here. Are you somebody that's interested in how other people will perform?

• 36:41Speaker 03

  Eh, not always, but eh, in this event specifically, may I watch it? But normally, I, I watch a lot of fights because I have a promotion in Spain. And now I started to, to watch a lot of fights because I ha- I wanna discover new talents and...

• 36:58Patrick Bet-David?

  So business, you're thinking from the business side?

• 37:00Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 37:01Patrick Bet-David?

  Got it, okay. So this card that's coming up, which fighter are you excited about? This, this eh, weekend's card?

• 37:07Speaker 03

  Eh, I'm excited, I'm excited about eh, we have in, in the fight card, Walk against Diego Lopez. We have Paddy Pimblett against Mike Chandler. Eh, Jai Rodriguez is like, either if he's fighting or not, no one gives a fuck. Eh, Bryce Mitchell, the same thing with eh, John Silva. I don't know what to say, he's an upcoming, upcoming fighter. And hmm, that fight, I don't know, Danny, you get the same thing.

• 37:42Patrick Bet-David?

  So which, which one of them, go, go back up top, Rob? So...

• 37:47Speaker 03

  The Paddy one?

• 37:49Patrick Bet-David?

  Paddy Chandler should be exciting.

• 37:50Speaker 03

  Yeah, he needs to win.

• 37:52Patrick Bet-David?

  Who, Chandler?

• 37:53Speaker 03

  Eh, no, no, no, Paddy. He's, he's fighting with, with, with a vet- veteran, you know, he needs to win. And hopefully, he, he, he win, he wins because may, who knows? May in the future, we, we face each other, it could be a great fight.

• 38:10Patrick Bet-David?

  You and Patty?

• 38:11Speaker 03

  Me and Patty. I'm looking forward for that fight.

• 38:15Patrick Bet-David?

  Did some, was it something happened with you and Patty?

• 38:18Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 38:19Patrick Bet-David?

  Something happened with you guys, right? What was that all about? I saw the video.

• 38:23Speaker 03

  He said some stupid shit about Georgia, about my country. He said something like, now I understand why Russia is throwing bombs to Georgia. And like, bro, you never live in a situation where your country had a war. I lived there in 2008. Don't joke with that.

• 38:46Patrick Bet-David?

  Got it. So that's what the context was about?

• 38:48Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 38:49Patrick Bet-David?

  And what prompted him to say something like that?

• 38:53Speaker 03

  I don't know, to be honest, I don't know.

• 38:58Patrick Bet-David?

  Wow.

• 38:59Speaker 03

  You know?

• 39:00Patrick Bet-David?

  He said that to your face, or he said that on Twitter?

• 39:02Speaker 03

  No, he said that on Twitter.

• 39:03Patrick Bet-David?

  Oh, I got it. And then you went and, you guys were at the same event and you ran into each other?

• 39:10Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 39:10Patrick Bet-David?

  Oh, I got it.

• 39:11Speaker 03

  I saw him and I went to, after him, like, boom.

• 39:16Patrick Bet-David?

  And it wasn't promotional? It was, it was, it was very real, raw, because it's not like it's a fight you guys are promoting together.

• 39:21Speaker 03

  How can you say this kind of stupid shit? You know what I mean? You can't joke. Sport is sport, we athletes, I respect all of that. But there are lines that you can't cross, you know? The people's lives are involved in this joke. You can't do that.

• 39:39Patrick Bet-David?

  Where is this at? Where is this location?

• 39:41Speaker 03

  In London.

• 39:42Patrick Bet-David?

  This is in London? How long ago? Oh, this is a while back. This is three years ago.

• 39:45Speaker 03

  Yeah, three years ago.

• 39:46Patrick Bet-David?

  Got it.

• 39:47Speaker 03

  So hopefully, hopefully, he puts himself in the spot where we can share the octagon one day. And he's gonna realize.

• 39:59Patrick Bet-David?

  So you want to fight him?

• 40:02Speaker 03

  I want to fight him. Of course I want it. Of course. While I'm an active fighter, if he, we, right now, we are in the same weight division. Yeah. Look how fat he looks.

• 40:18Patrick Bet-David?

  But he does that quite often, right? He puts on the weight and then he trims down. He puts on the weight and he trims down.

• 40:23Speaker 03

  Pimple.

• 40:24Patrick Bet-David?

  That's part of his, uh...

• 40:25Speaker 03

  Little pimple.

• 40:26Patrick Bet-David?

  Little pimple?

• 40:27Speaker 03

  Yeah. Patty pimple, pimplet.

• 40:31Speaker 03

  Yeah. He gets so fat, I don't know, anti-athletic.

• 40:38Speaker 03

  And to be honest, I don't know what to tell you. If he's a good fighter, he's not a good fighter. Sometimes he's fight sucks. Sometimes he does something that looks good. Some, nah, I don't know. He's a very average level of fighter. Let's say like that.

• 40:55Patrick Bet-David?

  So, so you think the fight, oh wow. Is that AI or is that real?

• 41:00Speaker 03

  No, no, no, that's real. He gets fat.

• 41:05Patrick Bet-David?

  There's no way, that's AI, do I don't, I don't click on the picture, Rob? I mean, I knew he put on weight, but that's a lot of weight right there.

• 41:13Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 41:14Patrick Bet-David?

  Oh wow.

• 41:14Speaker 05

  That looks like a real photo.

• 41:17Patrick Bet-David?

  That's, that's not his brother or like a relative or that's him?

• 41:19Speaker 03

  No, no, no.

• 41:20Patrick Bet-David?

  I'm not being funny. Can you see if that's actually him, Rob?

• 41:23Speaker 03

  Ugly as fuck.

• 41:24Patrick Bet-David?

  Wow, that is, that's unbelievable. Yeah, I mean, you know, there was a bodybuilder, uh, his name is Kevin LeRone. Uh, LeRone, one of the greatest physiques in bodybuilding, ever. Uh, to me, I think is a top five physique guy of all time. He used to just completely get skinny. This is his physique, by the way. One of the greatest bodybuilders of all time. Back in the days in the nineties, he placed second place multiple times. He should have won a couple of them. Never ended up winning one.

• 41:48Speaker 03

  He gets big also?

• 41:50Patrick Bet-David?

  He gets super big, then he gets super small. And then look what would happen. And then he gets super big and it would get super small. But a different kind of a, uh, this is the opposite of what Patty's doing.

• 42:02Patrick Bet-David?

  Very different story with what Patty's doing. But it was a massive, uh, body transformation.

• 42:09Speaker 03

  It is.

• 42:10Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah. So, i- i- i- other weight classes, when it comes down to fighters. Like, who do you like to watch? Is there anyone you would like to watch? Like, did you like to watch, you know, John Jones? Are you, who were, who were some of the guys you personally like to watch fight?

• 42:26Speaker 03

  Let, let's say like that. I would pay a pay-per-view for, to watch

• 42:33Speaker 03

  someone fight right now.

• 42:38Speaker 03

  Hmm, I don't know who it, it will be. Merab, I love him watch, wa- wa- watch.

• 42:46Patrick Bet-David?

  He's exciting.

• 42:46Speaker 03

  I love watching him fight. His last fight, unbelievable, unbelievable. You gotta watch that fight. Did you watch it?

• 42:55Patrick Bet-David?

  Me, who was it with?

• 42:57Speaker 03

  With, eh, with the cousin of, of Khabib.

• 43:03Patrick Bet-David?

  Abdul? Rob, can you pull up the fight? I watch his fights. Whoever he fought, I probably-

• 43:09Speaker 03

  Umar Nurmagomedov. That fight was amazing. I watched that fight, I don't know how many times. I love-

• 43:17Patrick Bet-David?

  Really?

• 43:17Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 43:20Patrick Bet-David?

  Can you say who he fought last? I'm curious now.

• 43:24Speaker 03

  No, he fought Umar Nurmagomedov. Yeah.

• 43:29Speaker 03

  And he's fighting now, again, the rematch, against Sean Amali.

• 43:35Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah, of course I watch his-

• 43:36Speaker 03

  That was a great fight.

• 43:37Patrick Bet-David?

  That was a great fight, yeah. You wonder, so for you, you say you're selective on who you would pay to watch fight, pay-per-view?

• 43:44Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 43:47Patrick Bet-David?

  So, your style coming up, what makes you as a fighter different than your peers? You started training very early, if I'm not mistaken. I think you started training at five years old, at the wrestling, rec.

• 43:57Speaker 03

  I started with you. At four-

• 43:59Patrick Bet-David?

  Got it.

• 44:00Speaker 03

  Then, we moved from Germany to Georgia. We started with the Greco-Roman wrestling. Then, when I was fifteen years old, we moved to Spain. And finally, we started with MMA, with the mixed martial arts.

• 44:17Patrick Bet-David?

  At fifteen years old, you're living where? You're living in Georgia?

• 44:22Speaker 03

  At fifteen, I was living in Georgia and we moved to Spain.

• 44:25Patrick Bet-David?

  Okay, so, what was the culture of where you were living? Was it a fight culture? Was there a lot of people that fought? Or no, you were part of a very small community?

• 44:34Speaker 03

  No one.

• 44:35Patrick Bet-David?

  Oh, really?

• 44:35Speaker 03

  No one. If you would say to someone ten years ago in Spain that you were doing MMA, they would look at you and like, kid, take a book, read something, live that crazy, crazy thing.

• 44:51Patrick Bet-David?

  Don't go that route.

• 44:52Speaker 03

  Don't, yeah.

• 44:53Patrick Bet-David?

  So, who did you train with in Spain at fifteen, sixteen years old?

• 44:58Speaker 03

  I find, actually, my mom found, completely by chance, a gym where we started training, me and my brother, because we wanted to keep with the Greco-Roman wrestling, but they didn't have the culture of that sport. So, by chance, we find this gym.

• 45:18Speaker 03

  And we we meet the sport. I didn't even know what jiu jitsu was, what MMA was. I didn't know anything about the that that word. So we discovered and I fell in love since the first second.

• 45:31Patrick Bet-David?

  What's the age difference between you and your brother?

• 45:34Speaker 03

  One year. He's older.

• 45:36Patrick Bet-David?

  He's older?

• 45:36Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 45:36Patrick Bet-David?

  Would he bully you as a kid?

• 45:38Speaker 03

  If he was a bully?

• 45:40Patrick Bet-David?

  Would he bully you as a kid? Did he push you around?

• 45:42Speaker 03

  Eh, no, no, no, never.

• 45:44Patrick Bet-David?

  You guys were close?

• 45:45Speaker 03

  Close, close. We fought a lot with with each other like every brother, but he never bullied me.

• 45:50Patrick Bet-David?

  Okay, but you guys would fight a lot, so um up until what age? Because if you guys are training together, there's advantage if both brothers are like, you know, there's this uh uh. Can you pull up his brother's picture if you don't mind, Rob? Uh uh there's there's advantage. There's this guy named um uh LeVar Ball. LeVar Ball, is that the father's name, uh Rob? Uh uh is it LeVar Ball?

• 46:14Speaker 05

  I believe so, yes, LeVar.

• 46:15Patrick Bet-David?

  LeVar and his three sons, they all uh play basketball, all three of them. And you have the oldest, makes it in the NBA. I think you have the second one, almost made it, and the third one, I think youngest one is Lonzo. Lonzo is probably the best one out of the three, the youngest one.

• 46:31Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 46:32Patrick Bet-David?

  And but they were all basketball players.

• 46:34Speaker 03

  Don't say that. Don't compare never ever brothers between each others. They hate it.

• 46:39Patrick Bet-David?

  They they hate it. But you know why I ask this question? I don't ask it from the standpoint, the the older brother typically helps the younger brother

• 46:47Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 46:47Patrick Bet-David?

  become better at whatever they do. They play a role of a mentor.

• 46:50Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 46:51Patrick Bet-David?

  What's what's the dynamics of you and your brother? What's your relationship like that? Okay.

• 46:55Speaker 03

  At uh at some point, he became my my my like head coach. He was in charge of all my trainings. Yeah, he was like kind of my mentor at at some point. Yeah, he helped me a lot. And of course, it's a huge advantage to have a brother doing the same thing with you. We were going in the morning, the first people to go in in in the gym and the last ones to leave it.

• 47:27Patrick Bet-David?

  At what point did the two of you guys build a reputation? Like, listen, don't mess with the Topuria brothers. At what age was their reputation?

• 47:42Patrick Bet-David?

  They're gonna hate it.

• 47:44Speaker 03

  I think like, since the first day, I don't know, since the first year, since the moment where whenever we were going, the people were meeting us, it's not like don't mess with them because they are, I don't know, they're gonna fuck you up.

• 48:01Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah.

• 48:01Speaker 03

  Not because of that. We got people, we have great relation with the people, it's not because we are aggressive. You know what I mean? I know how to trade people and I trade people how I like to be treated.

• 48:15Patrick Bet-David?

  Did any kids at a young age try you guys that maybe didn't know that they tested you and then they had to learn that you guys know how to fight or not a lot?

• 48:24Speaker 03

  It happens only, only once, like a random fight in the street, but I don't remember a lot of them.

• 48:32Patrick Bet-David?

  It's funny you say.

• 48:33Speaker 03

  In Georgia, I was fighting every day.

• 48:36Patrick Bet-David?

  In the streets?

• 48:37Speaker 03

  Yeah, in the school, in the school.

• 48:39Patrick Bet-David?

  So people were picking, you were starting the fights or they were starting the fights?

• 48:44Speaker 03

  To be honest, I always had problems with people that were bully, with the weak, you know, I hated that since I was a kid. So I always had problems with people that was bully, were bully with others.

• 49:02Patrick Bet-David?

  Who's the biggest guy you ever took down?

• 49:06Speaker 03

  The biggest guy?

• 49:08Patrick Bet-David?

  Who's the biggest guy that tested you at a bar, at a, you know?

• 49:13Speaker 03

  In trainings, it happens to me many, many, many times, like when I was 15 years old, a lot of big guys, like security guys that were, that they were working in like a securities, they were coming to the gym and when the time was coming for sparring.

• 49:31Speaker 03

  My coach was like, okay, go with Ilya. They were looking to me like, no, but he's too small. Go with him. And I'm like, now you're gonna find out.

• 49:43Speaker 03

  And after that, I was, I was going to that nightclub. They were like, coming, coming.

• 49:48Patrick Bet-David?

  Respect.

• 49:49Speaker 03

  Yeah, respect.

• 49:51Patrick Bet-David?

  How old were you when you were going to the nightclub?

• 49:53Speaker 03

  I'm not gonna repeat that.

• 49:58Speaker 03

  I'm not gonna repeat that.

• 50:00Patrick Bet-David?

  That is fun. So you, you and your brother were, you know, super tight till today.

• 50:04Speaker 03

  Very close. Yeah, very close.

• 50:06Patrick Bet-David?

  And when you have the big fights, is he always in the corner with you?

• 50:08Speaker 03

  Always, always.

• 50:09Patrick Bet-David?

  Always.

• 50:10Speaker 03

  He's the main man.

• 50:11Patrick Bet-David?

  Got it.

• 50:12Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 50:12Patrick Bet-David?

  Nowadays, more than ever, the brand you wear reflects and represents who you are. So for us, if you wear a Future Looks Bright hat or a value taming gear, you're telling the world, I'm optimistic. I'm excited about what's gonna be happening, but you're a free thinker. You question things, you like debate. And by the way, last year, a hundred and twenty thousand people got a piece of Future Looks Bright gear with value tainment. We have so many new things. The cuff links are here. New Future Looks Bright. This is my favorite, the green one. Just yesterday, somebody placed an order for a hundred of these. If you watch the PBD podcast, you got a bunch to choose from. White ones, black ones. I, if you, if you, if you smoke cigars and you come to our cigar lounge,

• 50:56Patrick Bet-David?

  we have this high quality lighter cutter and a holder for the cigars. We got sweaters with the value tainment logo on it. We got mugs, we got a bunch of different things. But if you believe the future looks bright, if you follow our content and what we represent with value tainment, with PBD podcast, go to vtmerch.com. And by the way, if you order right now, there's gonna be a special VT gift inside just for you. So again, go to vtmerch.com, place your order. Tell the world that you believe the future looks bright. Have you guys spent any time with Nate and Nick Diaz or no?

• 51:30Speaker 03

  Never.

• 51:31Patrick Bet-David?

  Never?

• 51:31Speaker 03

  No.

• 51:32Patrick Bet-David?

  What do you think about those guys?

• 51:34Speaker 03

  I like them, the charact, the character they represent in the sport. I always like it.

• 51:38Patrick Bet-David?

  They were so much fun to watch.

• 51:40Speaker 03

  So much fun to watch. They always provide a show for the fans.

• 51:45Patrick Bet-David?

  In the most unique way, but they would do it.

• 51:49Speaker 03

  You can't copy that.

• 51:50Patrick Bet-David?

  No, you can't.

• 51:51Speaker 03

  They are special.

• 51:52Patrick Bet-David?

  They are very special.

• 51:53Speaker 03

  Yeah, very special.

• 51:53Patrick Bet-David?

  Who were your favorite fighters coming up? Like favorite, I know we talk about Connor, we talk Diaz, but who were some of your favorite fighters? You and your brother, you're like, oh, this guy's good. I like watching this guy.

• 52:03Speaker 03

  We, like from MMA or?

• 52:05Patrick Bet-David?

  Anything.

• 52:06Speaker 03

  Anything. We liked a lot Canelo. Canelo was, and he's one of my favorite athletes. Yeah, I learned so much from him.

• 52:16Patrick Bet-David?

  Why Canelo? Technical skills?

• 52:18Speaker 03

  Technical skills. I learned like we were watching his videos, his training footage, like everything. And we were trying to copy that, to repeat that. He inspired us a lot.

• 52:29Patrick Bet-David?

  Have you ever met him or no?

• 52:30Speaker 03

  No, never.

• 52:31Patrick Bet-David?

  So you guys have never trained?

• 52:33Speaker 03

  Never. Hopefully one day I, I met him in, in person.

• 52:38Patrick Bet-David?

  Wow. Ilya, let me ask you, like in, in the specific boxing side, right? Like when they ask him, they're like, hey, Jake Paul, uh, you know, fighting as Canelo. To Canelo, it's like, you know, it's a very different world. Is your technical abilities in boxing?

• 52:55Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 52:55Patrick Bet-David?

  Stand up? How good do you think you stand technical abilities with somebody that's a professional boxer?

• 53:02Speaker 03

  Okay. Don't say Canelo because I wouldn't fight him because.

• 53:06Patrick Bet-David?

  He's somebody you look up to.

• 53:07Speaker 03

  Yeah. He inspired me so much. At some point, as I said, like I would fight, no, no, no, I wouldn't. If I prepare for six months, like only boxing, I don't do anything about wrestling, about, I don't know, knees, elbows, grappling, whatever, only boxing, bro, put me whoever you want in front of me. Whoever, whoever. And I hear a lot of guys talking about like boxers. No, Ilya, he, he has a good box, boxing before MMA, but he has nothing to do with me in, in, in the boxing ring. I'm like, listen, you don't have anything to do with me outside, inside,

• 53:49Speaker 03

  whatever you want, like what you wanna do. Even, even if you wanna play a chess match, I beat you.

• 53:57Patrick Bet-David?

  Why do you think that? Why do you believe that?

• 54:00Speaker 03

  Because I know how good I am.

• 54:02Patrick Bet-David?

  In boxing?

• 54:02Speaker 03

  I train every day boxing, every day. That's part of my life. I spar with pro boxers. I learn boxing. I like, I don't know. I consider myself that I can box with anyone. Just give me six months. Only boxing preparation. I'm not even telling you like three because I needed to switch so many things. That I do it because of MMA, like the stance, the movement is a little bit different for the boxing of MMA than for boxing boxing. Pure boxing.

• 54:40Patrick Bet-David?

  Makes sense. And by the way, for a long, I mean Max Holloway was known, you know, as a guy that he would say he had the best stand up.

• 54:47Speaker 03

  No, no, no.

• 54:48Patrick Bet-David?

  He would say it.

• 54:49Speaker 03

  He was saying that, but that wasn't the truth.

• 54:51Patrick Bet-David?

  So you don't even think he's the best stand up?

• 54:53Speaker 03

  No, no, no.

• 54:54Patrick Bet-David?

  Compared to you or compared to anybody else?

• 55:01Speaker 03

  It's not like, take me out from the equation.

• 55:04Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah.

• 55:06Speaker 03

  Like, I don't think that I saw anyone in MMA that I was like, he has a great boxing. No one. It doesn't matter from.

• 55:19Patrick Bet-David?

  Connor?

• 55:22Speaker 03

  You see, he was one of those, but even Connor, he had a great boxing for MMA. Uh, very, I don't know. MMA stance, you know, in boxing you can't go like that because you're gonna suffer.

• 55:42Speaker 03

  But he had better boxing than a lot of people. He had it. But Max?

• 55:50Speaker 03

  You know boxing is about simple movements. You can do so much movements and switch the standards, switch the stands all the time. That's not boxing. In boxing, you have to be like very disciplined all the time and very protected. You have to select all your combinations. You have to move your head and you have to be very good to administrate your energy. You know, because you have 12 rounds and that's a completely different, different movie.

• 56:23Patrick Bet-David?

  Your matchup with Mark Chiff, where do you have the advantage and where does he?

• 56:35Speaker 03

  This is what I told you. You ask me, I feel that I have the advantage in everything. This is what I truly believe you. Me personally, I would ask him like, what's your favorite submission?

• 56:49Speaker 03

  Whatever, I don't know. Dark show, I'm gonna submit you with that.

• 56:53Speaker 00

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• 58:01Patrick Bet-David?

  So if you ask him what his favorite submission is, you would do that to him?

• 58:05Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 58:08Patrick Bet-David?

  This is a guy that's trained and coached by Khabib, who, you know, 28 and 0, you know, stories that he's never lost around in his life.

• 58:17Speaker 03

  I take him close to Khabib. I will submit him closer to Khabib.

• 58:21Patrick Bet-David?

  You'll submit him in front of Khabib?

• 58:22Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 58:25Speaker 03

  I take him. Khabib used to take people and he should take them down and talk to Dana. I would do it to Khabib. Like, I will take him, but...

• 58:35Patrick Bet-David?

  And then talk to Khabib?

• 58:36Speaker 03

  Talk to Khabib. Khabib, I have to do it.

• 58:42Patrick Bet-David?

  What would you tell him?

• 58:44Speaker 03

  No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't. Like, all the respect, but this is how I feel. I feel that I submit him with the DARS. Like, which one is your favorite?

• 58:53Patrick Bet-David?

  So this part, you're not joking. Whatever he tells you, you would do it to him?

• 58:55Speaker 03

  No, no. This one, I'm not joking. Like, I truly believe that I submit him with the DARS or whatever. I don't know. Tell me, which one's your favorite? Don't tell me a hell hook or some bullshit submissions that, I don't know.

• 59:10Patrick Bet-David?

  Now I'm curious. Now I'm actually curious to know what would be his... What do you think his favorite would be?

• 59:17Speaker 03

  I think DARS or Guillotine.

• 59:19Patrick Bet-David?

  And if he says that?

• 59:21Speaker 03

  Yeah, I'd go for that. No problem. It's gonna be even more entertaining for me. Yeah.

• 59:28Speaker 03

  The people didn't realize that my background comes from wrestling from the ground game. Actually, I grew up in, with wrestling and with BJJ. And I developed my skills when I was 20 years old in boxing game. But my best skills...

• 59:53Speaker 03

  Yeah, on the ground.

• 59:55Patrick Bet-David?

  It's so weird that you did this in Georgia and Spain. Who's there? Who, I mean, you understand, like, it's kind of weird to say that, that, because some of the guys, you're coming from this camp, okay. You know, he, he is, I mean, he comes from what camp? We know what camp he's coming from. We've seen the videos, we've seen the training, we've seen how disciplined their camp is.

• 1:00:17Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:00:17Patrick Bet-David?

  And everyone's from a different camp. Who, who else is a very well-known person from the camp that you came up of, outside of you and your brother? Who is well-known? See, Elliot, that's weird.

• 1:00:29Speaker 03

  It is, it is. But that's why God's everywhere.

• 1:00:35Speaker 03

  He's everywhere.

• 1:00:35Patrick Bet-David?

  God's everywhere.

• 1:00:40Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah, that's, uh,

• 1:00:42Speaker 03

  It's weird.

• 1:00:42Patrick Bet-David?

  It is weird. That's the part that's very weird with you, where, you know, where did this come from? Do you think, well, I mean, it's not even that, because you have access to everything. Would you guys watch a lot of YouTube and kind of repeated, you and your brother, watch what he?

• 1:00:54Speaker 03

  That's what I told you, we were the first people to go into the gym, I, we were taking our phones, watching the videos, I don't know, drills, in, in BJJ, for example, to take, to take someone's back. And we were drilling that, the whole day, all the drilling. Uh, single legs, double legs, I don't know, the cage work, boxing, kickboxing, elbows, knees, I don't know, whatever. How can we develop our cardio, or, or strength, or power, or whatever? I was like, so obsessed with everything, I was working all day, every day. That was my obsession, all the time.

• 1:01:34Patrick Bet-David?

  But there's not a professional UFC fighter that's coaching you guys with your career?

• 1:01:38Speaker 03

  No.

• 1:01:39Patrick Bet-David?

  So what is your first?

• 1:01:40Speaker 03

  Not even a professional boxer, or professional, no one.

• 1:01:44Patrick Bet-David?

  Elliot, that's weird.

• 1:01:45Speaker 03

  Yeah, it is.

• 1:01:46Patrick Bet-David?

  That, that's very weird. So what is the first interaction, like, the, the way you were found? How, how were you found? Who found you? Who saw you fight to say, hey, come on then? Or did you say, I'm coming into the UFC to fight?

• 1:02:00Speaker 03

  No, so I had four fights when I started with my professional career in in Spain and at that point become very difficult to find a fight for me because in Spain at that point we didn't even had any events, you know. So I was like, listen, I have to do something because no one is gonna come to me and touch my door.

• 1:02:23Patrick Bet-David?

  How old were you at this time?

• 1:02:25Speaker 03

  Eighteen.

• 1:02:25Patrick Bet-David?

  Okay, so ten years ago.

• 1:02:26Speaker 03

  Yeah, eighteen.

• 1:02:27Patrick Bet-David?

  Okay, so eighteen, twenty fifteen.

• 1:02:30Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:02:31Patrick Bet-David?

  Who who's on top of the world in twenty fifteen? Conor's on top of the world, right? It's UFC, it's.

• 1:02:35Speaker 03

  Conor and John Jones, Joseph Pierre, all all, yeah. Those, I think.

• 1:02:47Patrick Bet-David?

  Who were the biggest names of UFC in twenty fifteen? Conor, Holly Holm, go a little bit lower, Ronda Rousey, Daniel Cormier, John. Okay, got it.

• 1:02:57Speaker 03

  So I'm like, I have to do something, I need a plan.

• 1:03:02Patrick Bet-David?

  Demetrius Johnson, yeah. So you you need a plan.

• 1:03:05Speaker 03

  So I started to talk to myself, I'm like, what can I do? And at that point, Gustafsson, Alexander Gustafsson, was fighting for the belt against John Jones. And that guy was training in in Sweden, in All Stars Gym at that time. And that was the the the most recognized like gym in in Europe. And I'm like, I have to go there because I'm sure that he's manager, so someone is gonna.

• 1:03:34Patrick Bet-David?

  He's in Sweden.

• 1:03:35Speaker 03

  In Sweden, in Stockholm. So I'm like, I I need to go there because I know that someone is gonna see me and the only thing I need is I need an opportunity, I need a I need a fight, I need to prove my. My skills. Then I had the second problem that I didn't have enough money to to travel because you need money to to go from Spain to to Sweden and stay there I don't know for two weeks, three weeks, whatever. So I did, I don't know, crazy things with with when I was eighteen years old. I went to that place. I went to my my first training.

• 1:04:15Speaker 03

  I finished the training and the guy who who was representing everyone at that time and actually he's the manager of Kamsat also at this time Kamsat Chima, you know. He came to me and he was like. Do you have some someone to that is representing you and I'm like, no.

• 1:04:33Patrick Bet-David?

  Who who did he see you train? Who who did he see you spar?

• 1:04:35Speaker 03

  That guy.

• 1:04:36Patrick Bet-David?

  This guy?

• 1:04:37Speaker 03

  Yeah, this guy saw him saw him in in the training with everyone in the mat.

• 1:04:40Patrick Bet-David?

  Oh, but there's not a fight that he saw you, he's just watching you on the mat.

• 1:04:44Speaker 03

  Exactly. He saw me training with with everyone, you know.

• 1:04:47Patrick Bet-David?

  Purely ground, no boxing, nothing yet.

• 1:04:50Speaker 03

  I think we did a little bit of ba- boxing, we we we mix it up. We did something in in the ground, we did something with in in the striking. And once I finished the training, he came to me and he asked me like. Do you have a a manager? I'm like, no. Do you want me to represent you? And I'm like, this is why I came here. And in three weeks. He called me, no, in one week, he called me like, I have a fight for you. And I started my my journey there and the rest is history.

• 1:05:22Patrick Bet-David?

  Who was your first fight?

• 1:05:24Speaker 03

  I start I started to fight in Finland. My first international fight.

• 1:05:30Patrick Bet-David?

  Who who was it with?

• 1:05:31Speaker 03

  Uh, it was. Mika, I don't I don't remember he's uh he's.

• 1:05:37Patrick Bet-David?

  Can you look this up, I'm actually really curious, so so it so this is.

• 1:05:41Speaker 03

  Watch that fight.

• 1:05:45Speaker 03

  I finished him in the first round. Then after that one, in three and a half weeks, he called me and he, he gave me the, the, the fight for the Cage Warriors World Championship.

• 1:05:56Patrick Bet-David?

  So this is not UFC yet?

• 1:05:58Speaker 03

  No, no, no, no, no. This is not UFC. Look, no, the, the.

• 1:06:03Patrick Bet-David?

  Mika, there's Mika.

• 1:06:05Speaker 03

  I had four fights and I went to Sweden. And he gave me that fight, Mika Hamalainen.

• 1:06:12Patrick Bet-David?

  Submission, guillotine choke.

• 1:06:13Speaker 03

  Yeah. And the first.

• 1:06:15Patrick Bet-David?

  First round, 335.

• 1:06:17Speaker 03

  After that fight, he called me in a three and a half weeks or four weeks. Look, I fought April 28th.

• 1:06:24Patrick Bet-David?

  Six weeks later.

• 1:06:25Speaker 03

  Yeah, something like that.

• 1:06:26Patrick Bet-David?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:06:27Speaker 03

  Then I fought June 16th for the Cage Warriors, uh, World Championship. Then I was signed by Brave. I did the two fights and I get the call from the UFC.

• 1:06:43Patrick Bet-David?

  Oh, got it. So your, Yosef Salal is your first UFC fight?

• 1:06:46Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:06:47Patrick Bet-David?

  So each one of those fights, back to back to back, it's first round. Go back down a little bit, Rob. Right there, look at first round. Mika, 335, first round, 139, keep going up. First round, 115, Luis Gomez, first round, 342, Steven Goncalves. And then you're in the UFC.

• 1:07:04Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:07:06Patrick Bet-David?

  And then you win third round, five minutes.

• 1:07:08Speaker 03

  Yeah, I, I get the call.

• 1:07:10Patrick Bet-David?

  Oh, that's COVID.

• 1:07:12Speaker 03

  Yeah, that's COVID. I was sick. And they called me and they told me, do you wanna fight in the UFC in eight days? And I'm like, of course. I had to cut like 12 kilos.

• 1:07:26Patrick Bet-David?

  Kilos?

• 1:07:26Speaker 03

  Kilos, like, I don't know how much, it's like 25 pounds, something like that. It's a lot. In eight days, that's a lot.

• 1:07:33Patrick Bet-David?

  Holy shit.

• 1:07:34Speaker 03

  I had to fight at 4:00 PM local time in Abu Dhabi. Because they were like.

• 1:07:41Patrick Bet-David?

  26 pounds you had to lose at, at this weight?

• 1:07:44Speaker 03

  Yeah. In eight days.

• 1:07:46Patrick Bet-David?

  How, how'd you lose 26 in eight days?

• 1:07:49Speaker 03

  It's like dehydration.

• 1:07:53Patrick Bet-David?

  That's tough. That's a lot on that body. That's a lot. I'm I'm 245. If I lose 26 pounds is a lot, but.

• 1:08:01Speaker 03

  I had to spend a day in the hospital because the UFC is asking you for a lot of.

• 1:08:07Patrick Bet-David?

  Medical?

• 1:08:08Speaker 03

  Medicals. Then I had to go. I spent a day to get my visa. I don't know. I had in reality, five days. So crazy.

• 1:08:19Patrick Bet-David?

  So you go to UAE for the fight. Rob, can you go back to the fight list? So you go to UAE. You have that fight.

• 1:08:26Speaker 03

  Yeah. October 11.

• 1:08:30Patrick Bet-David?

  I remember that. I watched that card.

• 1:08:32Speaker 03

  Yeah. And then I fought December 5.

• 1:08:37Patrick Bet-David?

  And that's ESPN.

• 1:08:38Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:08:40Patrick Bet-David?

  It's not even a main ones yet.

• 1:08:42Speaker 03

  No.

• 1:08:42Patrick Bet-David?

  And then go to Ryan Hall, Vegas.

• 1:08:46Patrick Bet-David?

  Genji Herbert, that's the one with the kick. That's the one that they gave you two weeks, right? When they called you two week prep?

• 1:08:52Speaker 03

  Which one? The Jai Herbert?

• 1:08:54Patrick Bet-David?

  Yes.

• 1:08:55Speaker 03

  Uh, that has a huge story behind that. That I have a huge story behind that fight because I was supposed to fight in January against Mosar Evloev. He pulled out from the fight.

• 1:09:09Speaker 03

  Then I I came back to home and they called me, but in reality, I was prepared. I was prepared, but it was a different weight class. I went up to 155. That fight is not in my weight class. It's in lightweight.

• 1:09:22Patrick Bet-David?

  So that's not 145. You went to 155. So that happens if they just call you to say, do you want to take a fight that's not at your weight class? They can make those calls?

• 1:09:30Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:09:31Patrick Bet-David?

  And you get to say yes or no?

• 1:09:33Speaker 03

  Yeah, of course. You always have a choose.

• 1:09:35Patrick Bet-David?

  Got it.

• 1:09:36Speaker 03

  And then after that, I fought with your friend.

• 1:09:42Patrick Bet-David?

  Bryce Mitchell and then Josh Emmett.

• 1:09:44Speaker 03

  Yeah, we wish him best of luck.

• 1:09:48Patrick Bet-David?

  You're being sincere.

• 1:09:49Speaker 03

  What?

• 1:09:50Patrick Bet-David?

  You're being sincere or you're joking?

• 1:09:52Speaker 03

  No, no, no, no. I wish him all the best. I hope the best wins.

• 1:09:55Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah.

• 1:09:57Patrick Bet-David?

  What a story.

• 1:09:59Speaker 03

  Everything started from Sweden in reality.

• 1:10:01Patrick Bet-David?

  Wow. You went to Sweden, this guy signed you.

• 1:10:04Speaker 03

  This is what I used to say to everyone. If you want, if you want to have something that you never had, you have to do things that you never did.

• 1:10:12Speaker 03

  Move your ass.

• 1:10:13Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah, but, but what is, what is very unique about what you're saying? I, I told, I talked about a bodybuilding story earlier. I had a guy named Dorian Yates. I don't know if you know who Dorian Yates is. Some bodybuilding, he's, he won six Mr. Olympias. The guy had the most ridiculous physique. This is Dorian Yates. He won six Mr. Olympias. He's from UK. Okay? And what made him unique is all the other bodybuilders that would compete, they were all in the US and so they would all train at the same gym.

• 1:10:43Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 1:10:43Patrick Bet-David?

  So they could see what kind of improvement you're making. Cause they're all here. Flex Wheeler, Kevin, you know, all the guys. This guy was in London, not even in London, in a city outside of London, like in a regular city. And you would only see him once a year. So everybody's like, well, is he training guard? Is he not training guard? Is he training guard? And then when he would come, he was a scientist. He paid attention to everything. And he would come and dominate and he won six of them in a row. Because nobody could see him. Yeah, he was a real, real. Um, a lot of people try to model their bodybuilding after this guy. He does a very, he lives a very different life right now. Yoga.

• 1:11:22Speaker 03

  I don't follow that sport, but who, who is, who is the, the number one for you in?

• 1:11:27Patrick Bet-David?

  In bodybuilding ever?

• 1:11:29Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:11:29Patrick Bet-David?

  It's probably Ronnie Coleman, Arnold. Uh, old school would be a guy named Lee Haney. Phil Heath has an incredible physique. Kevin LeRoni, Flex Wheeler. Jay Cutler's got a good, good amount of following, but it's probably this guy, Ronnie Coleman. Uh, he, he is a, he's a, if you go to a different picture, Rob, go to images.

• 1:11:48Speaker 03

  And, and let me ask you, do you really think that they only? Drink whey proteins to get this big?

• 1:11:57Patrick Bet-David?

  You know, it's at a point that they tell you everything they use now.

• 1:12:01Speaker 03

  Yeah?

• 1:12:02Patrick Bet-David?

  Oh, yeah.

• 1:12:02Speaker 03

  But they don't do drug tests, like?

• 1:12:04Patrick Bet-David?

  No, not Mr. Olympia. No, they don't do any drug tests. No, but they they put so many things in their body. It it it's a it's a very, well, by the way, some people say like, you know, hey, even if you put it in your body, that doesn't mean you're gonna win Mr. Olympia.

• 1:12:19Speaker 03

  No, no.

• 1:12:19Patrick Bet-David?

  It's a lot of detail. It's a lot of stuff that you gotta do to be able. These guys are.

• 1:12:23Speaker 03

  A diet.

• 1:12:24Patrick Bet-David?

  That's diet. By the way, it it sucks as a life. It's not a good life.

• 1:12:29Speaker 03

  It sucks.

• 1:12:29Patrick Bet-David?

  It's not a good life at all. Like, it's a very different life.

• 1:12:32Speaker 03

  It's not even a healthy life.

• 1:12:33Patrick Bet-David?

  It's not a healthy life. Most of them would say. Few of them can keep it. Like, some of the guys were able to continue their life and still do okay, but it's a different life. So the reason why I'm saying this is for you. Here's a guy and his brother living in Georgia, go to Spain. This is not a UFC market. And then you guys through YouTube, watching videos, you train independently on your own. And then you come up. And then fighter, you're undefeated. Now you're at a place lightweight, about to have a big fight, hopefully soon. We'd love to see that fight happen this year.

• 1:13:08Speaker 03

  Hopefully, hopefully.

• 1:13:11Speaker 03

  Crazy.

• 1:13:12Patrick Bet-David?

  You're waiting for that phone call, huh?

• 1:13:14Speaker 03

  I'm waiting. I'm waiting. I'm waiting. I'm very excited, to be honest. Either if it's Charles or Islam, it's gonna be a huge one. And I I know that the the fans are gonna gonna enjoy it a lot.

• 1:13:28Patrick Bet-David?

  What do you think's unique about Charles' style? Because Charles, you know, his history, it's very interesting. The way he came at the beginning and then he reputation, he changed his reputation. And then you would think he was gonna be losing it, and he won with Michael Chandler, and he had a few very good back-to-back-to-back wins that were unbelievable, the way he recreated himself. But what's your opinion on his style of fighting?

• 1:13:54Speaker 03

  I like him, of course. He he has a great ground game and striking, nothing special for me. And in the ground, he's dangerous. He he has the most submissions in the UFC history, I think so.

• 1:14:09Patrick Bet-David?

  Him?

• 1:14:10Speaker 03

  Yeah, I think so. He he's a dangerous guy in the in the ground, but I think that he's the the kind of guy where that when he feels that.

• 1:14:24Speaker 03

  You are more powerful, he gives up. He gives up, like, fast. I don't think that he's the kind of fighter where he finds like some

• 1:14:37Speaker 03

  adversidad, how would you say that?

• 1:14:39Patrick Bet-David?

  Adversary?

• 1:14:40Speaker 03

  Yeah, adversary that he keeps going, keeps going, keeps going. No, he's like, he gives up. Ten losses.

• 1:14:49Speaker 03

  Ten. It's not one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, it's ten.

• 1:14:56Patrick Bet-David?

  Go to his Wikipedia, Rob, just to see how it is because, you know, I've seen this guy's story and yeah, but the ten losses, a lot of them are

• 1:15:07Speaker 03

  By submission, by knockout, and one by decision.

• 1:15:11Patrick Bet-David?

  But you wouldn't want to fight Arman?

• 1:15:14Patrick Bet-David?

  The one that's first place right now, behind the

• 1:15:17Speaker 03

  Hmm, I think that he needs to build himself a little bit more, but if the UFC tells me that

• 1:15:23Patrick Bet-David?

  You're good with that as well.

• 1:15:25Speaker 03

  It's for the belts.

• 1:15:26Patrick Bet-David?

  You'll take anything right now, as long as you're gonna get the chance. Got it.

• 1:15:31Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah, it'll be

• 1:15:34Patrick Bet-David?

  it'll be interesting to see what happens. The thing with him is, he's 28 years old. You guys are similar ages. He's also young.

• 1:15:39Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:15:39Patrick Bet-David?

  Charles is 35, so 28, 28.

• 1:15:43Speaker 03

  He needs one, two fights.

• 1:15:47Patrick Bet-David?

  He needs one or two fights before he fights you.

• 1:15:52Patrick Bet-David?

  He's Armenian, by the way.

• 1:15:56Patrick Bet-David?

  You ever fought an Armenian?

• 1:15:57Speaker 03

  What?

• 1:15:58Patrick Bet-David?

  Have you ever fought an Armenian?

• 1:15:59Speaker 03

  No.

• 1:16:00Patrick Bet-David?

  No?

• 1:16:00Speaker 03

  We Georgians have a great relationship with Armenians, yeah. I have a lot of friends, Armenians.

• 1:16:06Patrick Bet-David?

  You look Armenian, like, you know, yeah, I mean, you look, you're a good-looking Armenian, is what you are. You're a very good-looking guy, but obviously it's from the same region. My mother's side, they're from Baku.

• 1:16:18Speaker 03

  Baku, Azerbaijan, yeah.

• 1:16:20Patrick Bet-David?

  Baku, Azerbaijan, so they, after the whole, everything

• 1:16:23Speaker 03

  They all are neighbors, Azerbaijan.

• 1:16:26Patrick Bet-David?

  All in the same region. Do you follow any of the politics, like, what's going on with Ukraine and Russia? Do you follow any of that stuff, or not really?

• 1:16:33Speaker 03

  Yeah, a little bit.

• 1:16:34Patrick Bet-David?

  What do you think about it? What do you think about what's going on there? What do you think about Zelensky, Putin? You know, there's how the world sees it, but then you're in the region, right? You're there. So in America, you know, Putin's a bad guy. Let me tell you this, this, this is that. He started the war or Zelensky, all he wants is money. He's bad, he just keeps taking money. What do you think about what's going on there?

• 1:16:59Speaker 03

  Even if he wants to take the money and all that, I don't know. I'm against to kill the people always. I'm always gonna work for the peace always. So I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't know that deep about who. But something that I know from my history, from my livings are that they are, they are, the Russians are Putin. Let's say like the politicians that run Russia, because nothing against the people, regular people from Russia. I'm talking about the politicians. They don't give a damn about anyone. Yeah.

• 1:17:44Speaker 03

  In Georgia, I was living in 2008. I saw what they were doing to, to my people. So.

• 1:17:52Patrick Bet-David?

  Russians, Russians.

• 1:17:53Speaker 03

  Russians, yeah, Russians.

• 1:17:57Speaker 03

  I don't know. Dangerous people, dangerous people.

• 1:18:00Patrick Bet-David?

  Interesting.

• 1:18:01Speaker 03

  And I think that you can't trust at all in, in Russians. And I repeat, I'm not talking about the regular people. I'm talking about the politicians. It's, it's crazy. I don't know.

• 1:18:18Patrick Bet-David?

  Is, is there a, where's Khabib and Islam? Where are they from? They're from.

• 1:18:22Speaker 03

  Dagestan.

• 1:18:23Patrick Bet-David?

  Dagestan.

• 1:18:23Speaker 03

  That's, that's part of, of, they are Russians.

• 1:18:25Patrick Bet-David?

  Right.

• 1:18:26Speaker 03

  They are Russian. And when they start to attack any place in the world, the first people they send to the war is like Russians, Chechenians, and the people they have not, you're, you're not gonna see any Russian Russian in a war. Always gonna see the people they have like, call yourself a Russian, but wait for my call because.

• 1:18:48Patrick Bet-David?

  Why do you think that is?

• 1:18:50Speaker 03

  Because they use them. Of course, they use them, they they they give them a a position, a place.

• 1:18:59Speaker 03

  But at some point, I'm gonna, may I'm gonna ask you to do something for me. That's how it works everywhere in the world. You do something for from for someone. You want something back.

• 1:19:15Speaker 03

  This is how it works.

• 1:19:18Speaker 03

  Yeah. It's crazy. I don't know. What what are your thoughts from here, from the United States? Like, what do you think about?

• 1:19:27Speaker 03

  What's going on in Ukraine?

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• 1:20:30Patrick Bet-David?

  Well, I mean, you know, when you when you watch Zelensky at first, everybody's like, whoa, Putin invaded. What's that all about? And then as it gets deeper and deeper and you hear the stories, the money being funneled through, constantly wanting the money to continue, coming up here, talking to the president as if America needs to give him more money, disrespecting the US president a little bit on the way he handled himself at the White House. He has lost all credibility with a lot of people in America. Most Americans now don't. Fully support and trust Zelensky. They see Putin as exactly who he is. He's a Russia loyalist, number one. He's an old school guy. Uh, but you know what you get with him.

• 1:21:14Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:21:15Patrick Bet-David?

  You know.

• 1:21:15Speaker 03

  I think that you can't judge a whole country because of of one person.

• 1:21:19Patrick Bet-David?

  I don't disagree. No, I don't disagree. I think you're right. That goes to Iran.

• 1:21:22Speaker 03

  Because we don't like Zelensky. We are not supporting the Ukrainians. And we are gonna gonna say that. Um, the Russians are not the the los. Can baden. How how you say that in English?

• 1:21:37Patrick Bet-David?

  Can buy in.

• 1:21:38Speaker 03

  Invaders.

• 1:21:39Patrick Bet-David?

  Invaders. Humberto, can you send it to me?

• 1:21:41Speaker 03

  If I'm even saying correctly.

• 1:21:44Patrick Bet-David?

  Invaders?

• 1:21:45Speaker 03

  Invaders.

• 1:21:45Patrick Bet-David?

  Invaders.

• 1:21:46Speaker 03

  They they are the invaders. Hundred percent, they are the invaders.

• 1:21:51Patrick Bet-David?

  Right. No, and then.

• 1:21:52Speaker 03

  Do you think the the opposite, that they are not?

• 1:21:55Patrick Bet-David?

  I think if in the the history is a little bit complicated. When you go back and you read about the fact that US made a promise when Putin went to Clinton is like, hey, I'd like to join NATO. Would you guys wanted to entertain the idea? And it's like, yeah, let me call you back. Calls him like five minutes, not right now. Putin wanted to join NATO. Why don't you want him to join NATO? Because if they don't join NATO, you need war so you can make more money. So you need a bad guy. So you want to kind of isolate Putin to the side and, you know.

• 1:22:23Speaker 03

  Do you really think that if Putin wants to join NATO, he he he couldn't do that?

• 1:22:30Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah, because they said no.

• 1:22:31Speaker 03

  Why he is not a part of NATO?

• 1:22:33Patrick Bet-David?

  You think they would want him to join NATO?

• 1:22:35Speaker 03

  Of course, they they don't they they don't want it.

• 1:22:37Patrick Bet-David?

  You think you think Putin, you think they would want Putin to join NATO?

• 1:22:41Speaker 03

  If they want Putin to join the NATO, why not?

• 1:22:47Patrick Bet-David?

  You think NATO wants Pu- Putin to join NATO?

• 1:22:50Speaker 03

  At this point, I wish that no. I wish that no, because I don't I don't I don't want to have.

• 1:22:59Speaker 03

  Listen, the history I have, my family has with Russia, I'm like with with the people that runs that country, it's like, I don't give a damn about them, you know? I'm all against Putin.

• 1:23:16Patrick Bet-David?

  Against Putin. Sure, I get that. No, listen. I lived in Iran. We had a war with Saddam Hussein, Iraq. And Jimmy Carter in the US. I understand, like, I'm there is emotion here. I grew up with, you know, Christian family in a country where ninety-nine percent were Muslims in Iran. I saw what they did to Christians. I have memories of that. I didn't leave at two years old or four years old. I left at almost eleven years old, so those memories stay. They're in the blood. They don't go away. I have mine as well on experiences, but to me, I think sometimes I sit there and I wonder that they need a bad guy for them to, um, think about it this way.

• 1:23:59Patrick Bet-David?

  What has been the biggest boxing fight of all time that made the most money?

• 1:24:06Speaker 03

  Uh, it was Floyd against Pacquiao, yeah.

• 1:24:10Patrick Bet-David?

  What is the biggest, Rob, can you pull up, what is the biggest boxing pay, actual money, pay of all time? You know, I think it's Connor against, uh,

• 1:24:21Speaker 03

  Okay, and what you wanna tell me with?

• 1:24:23Patrick Bet-David?

  I'm gonna tell you the point I'm making to you here. That's number one.

• 1:24:26Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 1:24:26Patrick Bet-David?

  So, okay, so number six is, go back up, Rob. Six is De La Hoya against Mayweather, good fight, go to the next one. Okay, Floyd, Canelo, go to the next one. Both of those, he made fun of him because he would wear the Cinco de Mayo. Conor McGregor, who's that fight with? Is that with Mayweather?

• 1:24:45Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 1:24:45Patrick Bet-David?

  Okay, what's the next one? And then Pacquiao, okay, that's one of them. And then Mayweather again with Pacquiao. What's the first one? I'm actually curious now, what's the first one? Who's that with? Is that Connor?

• 1:24:57Speaker 03

  Mayweather, McConner.

• 1:24:58Patrick Bet-David?

  Okay, so, do you remember two hundred and seventy-five million dollars, a billion dollars in earnings, one fight?

• 1:25:07Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:25:08Patrick Bet-David?

  One billion dollars in earnings, one fight, right?

• 1:25:10Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 1:25:10Patrick Bet-David?

  The reason why this did so well is because everybody was convinced they hated each other. They needed an enemy.

• 1:25:19Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 1:25:19Patrick Bet-David?

  Okay, so, my opinion, Ilya.

• 1:25:26Patrick Bet-David?

  There's a lot of money being made when there's wars. Who makes money? Weapons. Things, you know, a lot of good weapons being sold. If there's no war, they don't make money.

• 1:25:40Patrick Bet-David?

  Like, just like in UFC, if there's not a, like, for example, what's gonna get more eyeballs? You against Charles? Or you against Islam?

• 1:25:47Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:25:47Patrick Bet-David?

  Of course. Why? Because it's more personal. Dagestan against Georgia against, are you kidding me? That could be like, but why? Because it's emotion, it's here. So then, people gonna come and see more pay-per-view, money's gonna be made. Of course, it's a great business model, I totally get it. End of the year, Jon Jones against Ospina, right? Everybody wants to see that heavyweight fight, to see if it's gonna take place or not. Jon wants money for it, because it's probably gonna be his last fight. If that happens, that fight's gonna be insane, right? Okay.

• 1:26:19Patrick Bet-David?

  If all of a sudden, Putin's in NATO, and he is now, there's peace in the world and no issues, how do you sell stuff? Who made money with Ukraine and Russia? The war. Who makes money when there's this stuff with Israel, Iran, Hamas? Who makes money when Iran and, you know, Iraq or Afghanistan? Who made money? These guys that make weapons. It's a business model. So, I think, a part of it is, yes, Putin is a loyalist to him, KGB background, I know his background, but his loyalty is to. But I'm also not naive to believe that there's people in the back that go like this. Hey, Ilya, let me tell you what he said about you. Hey, let me say what he said about you.

• 1:27:05Patrick Bet-David?

  And they're poking you, right? To upset you. Why? Because it sells more. So they, they can't have all these guys get along, because then those guys don't make money. And these are big contracts. Do you know who's the first company that came in on the contract with Ukraine after all the damages that happened in Ukraine? Did you see a company came out and they got a 400 billion dollar contract to fix Ukraine?

• 1:27:30Speaker 03

  The, the Rockefeller's? No.

• 1:27:32Patrick Bet-David?

  Right here. So, you hear the story about BlackRock announces new investment initiative to rebuild Ukraine.

• 1:27:39Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 1:27:39Patrick Bet-David?

  Well, why rebuild it? Why rebuild it? So, but you need war to rebuild.

• 1:27:45Speaker 03

  Of course.

• 1:27:45Patrick Bet-David?

  You need damages to rebuild. So, I am just as careful with the money people that wanna see war as I am with world leaders like Putin, Xi, all the other guys. Both of them you have to be careful with.

• 1:27:59Speaker 03

  So, do you believe that they do it because of the business?

• 1:28:03Patrick Bet-David?

  Of course.

• 1:28:04Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 1:28:07Patrick Bet-David?

  Not Putin. Putin is here.

• 1:28:10Speaker 03

  I think that it's, it goes a little bit more far than only sell weapons.

• 1:28:16Patrick Bet-David?

  For who though? For Putin?

• 1:28:18Speaker 03

  Yeah, for Putin and for the United States and for everyone that has the weapons to sell.

• 1:28:24Patrick Bet-David?

  Maybe let me explain it a different way to you. Khabib against Connor. The fight. Who fought for money? Who fought for heart?

• 1:28:33Speaker 03

  For money Connor, for heart Khabib.

• 1:28:35Patrick Bet-David?

  Okay. So Putin against the people that sell weapons.

• 1:28:40Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:28:41Patrick Bet-David?

  Who's fighting for his country? Who's fighting for money?

• 1:28:47Patrick Bet-David?

  See, that's the difference.

• 1:28:48Speaker 03

  Yeah, but I'm not very agree with that because I don't think that he is looking only for the weapons. You know what I mean? How many people dies in the war? I don't know, two hundred thousand? How much weapons they need? I don't know. How much money is that in total?

• 1:29:08Patrick Bet-David?

  No.

• 1:29:08Speaker 03

  How much money did they spend in the weapons in the war with Ukraine?

• 1:29:14Patrick Bet-David?

  A lot of money. It's in the billions on top of billions. And I'm not talking about Russia or Ukraine. I'm talking about all the people that make those weapons.

• 1:29:24Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 1:29:25Patrick Bet-David?

  The general dynamics, the, you know, you can list the name of the companies that these guys that sell the weapons. That's a business model. Do you know who Eisenhower is?

• 1:29:35Speaker 03

  No.

• 1:29:35Patrick Bet-David?

  The president of US Eisenhower? No, okay, so when he was- Show me the face, maybe. He was a former general. Oh, many years ago. This is before my time and your time. This was a long time ago. So this guy died in nineteen sixty-nine. I was born in seventy-eight. So this is before my time. When he was done, this guy was a, was he a four-star general, Rob, or a five-star general? Can you go a little bit lower? Five-star. He was a five-star general. I mean, Ilia, five, you know what five-star is, like- Yeah, I can imagine. We don't have a lot of, I don't know how, type in how many five-star generals America's had. How many five-star, how many five-star generals has America had? I think it's a few. Okay, there you go.

• 1:30:16Patrick Bet-David?

  George C. Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, Eisenhower, Henry H. Arnold, and Omar Bradley. Five of them, okay? Eisenhower is the only one from the five that becomes a president. Okay. When he's done being a president, he's giving his last speech. He gives this famous speech that everybody always talks about. And he says, be very, this is the speech right here. Oh, sure. Very curious about this one. Yeah, can you play it, Rob?

• 1:30:43Speaker 08

  Now, this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience.

• 1:30:50Patrick Bet-David?

  Large arms industry, composite, like, arms like they're selling weapons. It's a large weapons industry. Keep going, the total influence-

• 1:30:58Speaker 08

  Economic, political, even spiritual-

• 1:31:01Patrick Bet-David?

  There you go.

• 1:31:01Speaker 08

  Is felt in every city, every state house, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend-

• 1:31:13Patrick Bet-David?

  There we go.

• 1:31:14Speaker 08

  Its grave implications. Our toil, resources, and livelihood are all involved. So is the very structure of our society.

• 1:31:25Speaker 08

  In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought-

• 1:31:32Patrick Bet-David?

  Go back, Rob. The acquisition, so this is very important, I want to explain this part to you. Humberto, can you come here and explain this? Unwarranted. Humberto, can you come in here just to explain this part? I think he's gonna come here if you can. Can you just translate this part if you could? If you want to give him the mic? So when he's saying it, just translate the key word. So the acquisition of unwarranted influence.

• 1:31:58Speaker 03

  La compra de influencias sin límites.

• 1:32:02Patrick Bet-David?

  Keep playing it.

• 1:32:03Speaker 08

  The acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.

• 1:32:11Patrick Bet-David?

  Pause it right there.

• 1:32:12Speaker 03

  Por la industria militar.

• 1:32:16Patrick Bet-David?

  Military-industrial complex, so, meaning, there is these guys that buy influence, politically, economically, and spiritually. Military-industrial complex, by selling weapons. So, be very careful how much influence those guys have. Because those guys, imagine on the back end, they make tens of billions of dollars, hundreds of billions of dollars. And they come and they buy politicians. Here's fifty thousand dollars, here's a hundred thousand dollars, here's three hundred thousand dollars, here's two hundred thousand dollars. Go make this law. Or go do this, or go do that. The more wars, the more money they make. Okay. So, he's saying, when he's done being a president,

• 1:33:00Patrick Bet-David?

  as a five-star general, be very careful with these companies that are gonna use their money, economically, politically, and spiritually, to create and start wars. All the narrative theory. Yeah, so you would just, to me, I used to always like, I used to think this way. You know how you grow up? You think everything they taught you in school. You know how you said like, the earth is flat? What did you say? I don't care if the earth is flat or not. But there are certain things were taught, right? And then later on, you're like,

• 1:33:32Patrick Bet-David?

  man, I don't know about that, I don't know about this, I don't know about this. And then, you know, you create your own opinions as you're going through it. There's the core belief, there's the values, there's family, there's pride, there's faith, there's God, there's all of that stuff. But sometimes you gotta be...

• 1:33:48Patrick Bet-David?

  When people are wanting to poke the bear, you know.

• 1:33:53Patrick Bet-David?

  Don't get me wrong, did Putin take advantage of the fact that a weak leader was in America? Like Biden? Yeah, of course he took advantage of it. Would it have happened with Trump? By the way, what do you think about Trump? Have you met Trump yet?

• 1:34:03Speaker 03

  No, no, no, no. I, I, actually, I'll. I, I like the hard personality that.

• 1:34:11Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah.

• 1:34:11Speaker 03

  The strong personality that Trump represents, you know, he. He's like, we do it this way, or we don't do it, and I like that, you know? I don't know, I don't know. He's, he's playing his game. Me and you, we can think whatever we wanna think, but at the end of the day. I, as I said, I vote for peace and I, I hope and I. I think that Trump is seeking for, for, for the peaceful in the world, even if it doesn't look like that at some point and someone. Uh, I don't know, you see a lot of crazy, crazy things in the social media. I really think that he's doing that and.

• 1:34:52Speaker 03

  And he's looking like for the best interest for, for the United States. And this is what he has to do. That's why the people chose him as a, as a leader.

• 1:35:02Patrick Bet-David?

  So you like him?

• 1:35:03Speaker 03

  Of course I like him.

• 1:35:04Patrick Bet-David?

  You haven't met him yet?

• 1:35:05Speaker 03

  Not yet.

• 1:35:06Patrick Bet-David?

  You know, he probably really likes the way you fight.

• 1:35:08Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:35:09Patrick Bet-David?

  You know, he's a big fan of the fight. He watches like everything.

• 1:35:13Speaker 03

  I know. I never saw him in, in, in, in my fights because he goes sometimes like randomly. I go to this, this event, this one. We never.

• 1:35:23Patrick Bet-David?

  At the same time?

• 1:35:23Speaker 03

  At the same time.

• 1:35:24Patrick Bet-David?

  Are you going to this fight or no? Are you going this weekend? You're not gonna be there? Okay. Oh, if you're in that place, it's gonna be crazy.

• 1:35:30Speaker 03

  Yeah, that's why.

• 1:35:32Patrick Bet-David?

  That's why you're not going?

• 1:35:33Speaker 03

  I'm not going to watch. To, to like, hmm, other sporty, I, I don't go.

• 1:35:42Speaker 03

  I enjoy mine and that's it.

• 1:35:44Patrick Bet-David?

  Well, listen, you fight Islam, he's gonna be at that fight.

• 1:35:48Speaker 03

  I think so.

• 1:35:49Patrick Bet-David?

  I mean, I, uh, listen, of course, if he's got political, different things that he's dealing with, this, he's got a big job. But I think if the two of you guys fight, he's gonna tell China, he's gonna tell Russia, he's gonna tell, hey, guys, we're not fighting this weekend, no tariffs on anybody, everybody's good, we're gonna get along, I'm going to a fight, I'll come back Monday.

• 1:36:07Speaker 03

  I wanna understand, understand some kind of things like you, American people that live, that are living here, like, what's your perception, perception about like what's happening in the, in Ukraine, what happened in, in, in Georgia first? I don't know if you know the story, like, what do you think about all that? Like, I, I wanna know you, you, your thoughts.

• 1:36:27Patrick Bet-David?

  Specific to what? Specific to Georgia, specific to?

• 1:36:31Speaker 03

  Specific to the world, like, what, what, what's your prediction? What do you think that it's gonna happen in the next five, five years?

• 1:36:37Patrick Bet-David?

  So do you know, like, America was divided in between Ukraine and, you know, Zelensky or not Zelensky? Some, some groups were, they thought Zelensky was the greatest hero in the world. And they were fully supporting, uh, Zelensky. And some people thought Zelensky was a bot and people were just giving money to him. And, you know, a continuous war, not necessary, every time coming and saying, I need more money, I need more money. I need more money. And so, American taxpayers are sending money, we're like, wait a minute. We're sending all this money to Ukraine, war with Russia, but we have problems in America right now.

• 1:37:15Patrick Bet-David?

  Why are we doing this? So there, there's a big part of Americans where if support, can you type in, Rob, where the support was for Zelensky?

• 1:37:23Speaker 03

  It's, it's, it's easy like, like that, like how you explaining? Like, Zelensky was coming, knocking, knocking the door, I need money, and they were giving the money to him. And do you think, do you really think that it happens like that? And they, they didn't have any interest behind, behind that money, behind that moment?

• 1:37:46Patrick Bet-David?

  Accountability or interest?

• 1:37:48Speaker 03

  Whatever. I don't know. It's like, do you really think that, let's say Biden was giving the money to, to Zelensky? Like that? I don't know. Take thi- take this, take that, whatever.

• 1:38:01Patrick Bet-David?

  Well, Zelensky has, Biden had interest with, with Ukraine that he got in trouble with. On a hot mic, when he said certain things. Because they were going after his son. There were some issues that was going on at a time. So. There are a lot of things that you see to, to see that. Financially, the president may have even benefited from it, may have benefited from it. On that deal with Zelensky. And then people on the back end also probably benefited from a little bit of a war. It turns into, you know, it's a $400 billion contract to rebuild Ukraine? That's a lot of money, Ilya. It's a lot of money. So. I, I think, I think this is what we see. Then I think this is what's going on.

• 1:38:43Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:38:44Patrick Bet-David?

  You know, and we don't see this, right? But at the same time.

• 1:38:49Patrick Bet-David?

  What we learned the last eight years with the news is you can't trust everything you see. You have to stay skeptical and you have to question a lot of things. And I learned one thing a long time ago, and I, I think this, this will make sense to you.

• 1:39:07Patrick Bet-David?

  What's most important to in your life? What's the top five most important things in your life?

• 1:39:14Speaker 03

  My family.

• 1:39:15Patrick Bet-David?

  Okay.

• 1:39:19Speaker 03

  Let's say me, myself. Uh, my relationship with God, my spiritual world.

• 1:39:29Speaker 03

  My job, my work, I don't know, my.

• 1:39:32Patrick Bet-David?

  Occupation, pride, right?

• 1:39:34Speaker 03

  Of course.

• 1:39:34Patrick Bet-David?

  Okay.

• 1:39:36Speaker 03

  And.

• 1:39:38Patrick Bet-David?

  Is your pride more Georgia, or is it more Spain? Would you say you're more Georgian?

• 1:39:43Speaker 03

  Ah, it's difficult to choose between mom and dad, you know?

• 1:39:45Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah, I know. That's why I ask.

• 1:39:47Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:39:48Patrick Bet-David?

  So both are important to you? Because you have both fans, right? They both love you, okay? But something probably, like, when, when you were a kid, how did you guys look at Russia? In a good way?

• 1:40:02Speaker 03

  No.

• 1:40:02Patrick Bet-David?

  Okay, alright. From what age? Probably very young age.

• 1:40:06Speaker 03

  Hmm, since I was born.

• 1:40:08Patrick Bet-David?

  Who can change your mind?

• 1:40:10Speaker 03

  Hmm, I think that it's, it's a little bit difficult to, to forgive something like that. A lot of my family members were, uh, lost their lives in, in that war. So, how you can forgive that?

• 1:40:24Patrick Bet-David?

  I agree. So here's what I learned a long time ago.

• 1:40:28Patrick Bet-David?

  You know how you said, what's the point of, Earth is flat?

• 1:40:31Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:40:31Patrick Bet-David?

  There's no point of that argument. There is no point here. The reason for it is because it's personal. Do you know what I'm saying? You went through the pain. I don't know that. Just like when I lived in Iran, I went through the pain. And trying to explain it to somebody else, it's like, wait a minute, what do you mean? You don't know what I went through. Just like what you went through, right? So, you know.

• 1:40:56Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah, as a kid, my dad was my hero. My parents got a divorce. My mother's family, they were communist. I hated it. It was always over money, always arguing over money. Money caused my parents to get a divorce and politics. I don't want to deal with politics, and I'm gonna make a lot of money. So my drive to make money was because we had nothing.

• 1:41:16Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 1:41:17Patrick Bet-David?

  You, you see what I'm saying? So, now, try to convince me that communism is good. You're never gonna do it.

• 1:41:24Speaker 03

  Of course.

• 1:41:24Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah.

• 1:41:25Speaker 03

  Me, him, neither.

• 1:41:27Patrick Bet-David?

  I know, so, but, but to me, in a situation like this, when talking to somebody that experienced what happened in Georgia? That's why when Patty said what he said to you.

• 1:41:38Speaker 03

  It was personal.

• 1:41:39Patrick Bet-David?

  Of course it was personal, yeah. And that's similar to what happened with Connor and Khabib. When they were fighting and some of the comments was made. Connor was probably trying to sell the event. But Khabib's not trying to sell the event.

• 1:41:52Speaker 03

  I know. I know what you mean.

• 1:41:54Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah, so to me, I understand why this is an important, sensitive topic to you. And to many people, not just you, to a lot of different people in the world. But I always watched the people that. When my parents were together, I would watch an aunt. She would come to our house when my dad was at work. As a kid, I'll never forget this. She would sit there and just go for three hours. I'm a six, seven year old kid, just three hours, talking bad things about my dad. Did your husband buy you a necklace? You know such and such bought such and so wife their necklace? Why doesn't he do that for you? Did he ever take you to dinner? You know such and such, did he take you to Italy? You know such and so? I don't think he takes care of you. Look how beautiful you are. He's lucky to have somebody like you.

• 1:42:38Patrick Bet-David?

  And I would watch this. And then my dad would come home after working 12 hours, driving two hours to work at 8:30. And then my mom would go and scream at him.

• 1:42:48Speaker 03

  Boom.

• 1:42:49Patrick Bet-David?

  And you know who it was? It wasn't my mom, it was that lady.

• 1:42:52Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 1:42:52Patrick Bet-David?

  So to me, I'm very careful with people like that.

• 1:42:55Speaker 03

  Of course.

• 1:42:56Patrick Bet-David?

  And it happens in wars and in politics. So that's what I'm saying. When, when they say, hey, why don't they let him join NATO and all this other stuff? I don't know the people behind closed doors that are. Hey, let me tell you. Hey, let me tell you. Hey, let me tell you. You know, that's the part that, at this phase of my life, I'm very careful with.

• 1:43:18Speaker 03

  Of course.

• 1:43:19Patrick Bet-David?

  I sat closely, yeah.

• 1:43:21Speaker 03

  To anyone, to anyone. Me personally, I'm, at this point, I wouldn't be surprised with, with anyone. Because sometimes you try to go to the top with, with, with the people that don't even wanna see you at the top.

• 1:43:39Patrick Bet-David?

  Mm-hmm. Yeah. There was a book called Loss of Human Nature, Robert Greene. I think you would like this book.

• 1:43:46Speaker 03

  Which one?

• 1:43:47Patrick Bet-David?

  Uh, Loss of Human Nature by Robert Greene. Can you go to images, Rob? Go to images?

• 1:43:54Speaker 03

  I read some, some of his book.

• 1:43:57Patrick Bet-David?

  So you probably read Forty Laws of Power.

• 1:43:59Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:43:59Patrick Bet-David?

  Okay. So if you read Forty Laws of Power, you will love this. He's probably have a translated Spanish, different language.

• 1:44:06Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, I have it. I have it in Spanish.

• 1:44:08Patrick Bet-David?

  Ilya, you're gonna love this.

• 1:44:10Speaker 03

  But I read the books also in English. I tried. I tried to.

• 1:44:13Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah, you'll love, you'll love this.

• 1:44:14Speaker 03

  Actually, I, I learned my English reading books.

• 1:44:17Patrick Bet-David?

  You did?

• 1:44:17Speaker 03

  Yeah. I was going like page by. What?

• 1:44:21Patrick Bet-David?

  You speak very good?

• 1:44:22Speaker 03

  I try to. I try to. And I'm not living here in reality. I don't have any contact with someone that, that speaks in English. My wife, she, she does.

• 1:44:33Patrick Bet-David?

  She's from Miami?

• 1:44:34Speaker 03

  Yeah. And sometimes we try to speak in, in English and we also try to watch some movies. But I don't go outside and talk to the people in, in English. And I try to, I don't know, read the books. And if I don't, I, I don't understand any word, like I try to go word by word.

• 1:44:54Patrick Bet-David?

  Now, I think you, you'll love this because he says something in the book. He says, if you really wanna know if someone's your friend or not, test them by telling them some good news and some bad news. If you tell them bad news, if they get a little bit happy, be very careful with that person. You'll see it on their face. He explains it. And he says, give some of your friends a little bit of good news. If you see they get a little bit not happy, be careful with them. Because they, you know, you know, there are people that are very happy for you no matter what.

• 1:45:24Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:45:25Patrick Bet-David?

  And if something happens to you, like, how can I help? What do you need from me? Right? You see it immediately.

• 1:45:29Speaker 03

  Your family.

• 1:45:29Patrick Bet-David?

  Yeah, your, well, your family, sometimes your friends as well. Certain friends that are maybe very cool. Not a lot of them, but you probably have one or two or three of them like that. He explains that in this book here on, you know, breaking that part down.

• 1:45:41Speaker 03

  I will.

• 1:45:42Patrick Bet-David?

  I think you'll like it.

• 1:45:43Speaker 03

  I will read this book.

• 1:45:44Patrick Bet-David?

  Ilya, I can't wait to see the fight. And I can't wait to be there when you guys fight. And I can't wait to be there and the president to be there when you guys have that fight. I can't wait for that.

• 1:45:55Speaker 03

  And hopefully, we, we have peace in the world and.

• 1:45:58Patrick Bet-David?

  Hopefully, we have peace in the world then.

• 1:45:59Speaker 03

  Hopefully.

• 1:46:00Patrick Bet-David?

  Oh, yeah, hopefully. Would you ever wanna meet Putin? Would you ever wanna meet Putin?

• 1:46:04Speaker 03

  No, no, never.

• 1:46:06Patrick Bet-David?

  What if there's peace? Would you ever wanna fight in Russia? What if this fight is in Russia?

• 1:46:13Speaker 03

  I wouldn't fight in Russia.

• 1:46:15Patrick Bet-David?

  Really?

• 1:46:16Speaker 03

  Hmm.

• 1:46:16Patrick Bet-David?

  So if Islam's fights in Russia, you wouldn't fight there?

• 1:46:18Speaker 03

  I wouldn't.

• 1:46:19Patrick Bet-David?

  Why is that?

• 1:46:20Speaker 03

  Because there's so much place in the world that I could fight, why I would fight in Russia? I would love to fight in the United States.

• 1:46:28Patrick Bet-David?

  But not in Russia?

• 1:46:30Speaker 03

  Not in Russia. Actually, I, the only place I would fight is in the United States or in Spain.

• 1:46:40Patrick Bet-David?

  Got it.

• 1:46:42Patrick Bet-David?

  But would you ever fight in Russia?

• 1:46:44Speaker 03

  No.

• 1:46:44Patrick Bet-David?

  Never?

• 1:46:45Speaker 03

  Never.

• 1:46:45Patrick Bet-David?

  Have you ever gone to Russia?

• 1:46:47Speaker 03

  No.

• 1:46:47Patrick Bet-David?

  Would you want to visit Russia?

• 1:46:49Speaker 03

  I don't want it, but if the destiny wants me to go or I have to go for some reasons, I would go, but not fighting, not, not putting a show in Russia and working there. I don't know.

• 1:47:01Patrick Bet-David?

  Ilya, you're so interesting, bro.

• 1:47:04Speaker 03

  I would.

• 1:47:04Patrick Bet-David?

  You're so interesting, seriously. So interesting, the way you are. Yeah, I'm telling you, like, we have guys here that they absolutely love you. And seriously, like, when we're doing, like, we're going through the podcast, you know, the prepping, talking about it, who love you? Hundred percent. Like, this is, this is, I'm telling you, this guy's this, he's a trifecta, he's got the looks, he can fight, he's got the confidence, all this stuff, right? But just talking to you, you are so interesting. You're locked in here.

• 1:47:36Speaker 03

  I don't know, maybe, sometimes it, it happens to me also that I switch my mentality, sometimes I switch my thoughts, maybe, but at this point right now, you're asking me, this is my answer, I don't know, I, I, right now, I wouldn't fight in, in Russia.

• 1:47:51Patrick Bet-David?

  Okay.

• 1:47:52Speaker 03

  Maybe tomorrow, who knows what's gonna happen tomorrow?

• 1:47:54Patrick Bet-David?

  If you fight in Russia, I'm gonna text you, I'm gonna say, Ilya, why are you fighting in Russia? What's going on?

• 1:47:58Speaker 03

  Please.

• 1:48:00Patrick Bet-David?

  When is your birthday? What month's your birthday?

• 1:48:02Speaker 03

  January twenty first.

• 1:48:03Patrick Bet-David?

  January twenty first, alright.

• 1:48:04Speaker 03

  January twenty first.

• 1:48:05Patrick Bet-David?

  Well, brother, it's been a pleasure having you on.

• 1:48:08Speaker 03

  Please.

• 1:48:09Patrick Bet-David?

  You're an interesting guy, I'm excited to see you go and get everything you want in life, you know, the highest paid athlete, the biggest fights, biggest pay-per-view.

• 1:48:19Speaker 03

  Let's live it, let's live it there, I, I, I don't like that conversation, but I don't know where I said it, and it became like viral that I, I said it, in reality...

• 1:48:28Patrick Bet-David?

  You don't really care about it.

• 1:48:29Speaker 03

  I don't care about that, you know what I mean? I said it, but God bless everyone, peace for everyone, there's...

• 1:48:38Speaker 03

  A place for everyone, so I wish.

• 1:48:40Patrick Bet-David?

  I agree. Yeah, well, you're competitive. You're competitive, which is okay.

• 1:48:44Speaker 03

  Always, always. I was born like that. Thank you very much. It's been my pleasure.

• 1:48:48Patrick Bet-David?

  Brother, I really, really enjoyed it, man. Truly enjoyed it.

• 1:48:51Speaker 03

  And I learned a lot of things.

• 1:48:52Patrick Bet-David?

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• 1:49:36Patrick Bet-David?

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