Israel Adesanya: Talks Joe Rogan & Prepares to Defend His Championship Belt vs Alex Pereira at UFC 281

FOLLOW THE PIVOT PODCAST: MERCH | https://pivotpodcast.com YOUTUBE | https://www.youtube.com/thepivotpodcast INSTAGRAM | https://instagram.com/thepivot TWITTER | https://twitter.com/thepivot TIKTOK | https://tiktok.com/@thepivot FACEBOOK | https://www.facebook.com/thepivotpodcast FOLLOW HAPPY DAD: https://www.instagram.com/happydad FIND HAPPY DAD: https://www.happydad.com/find In anticipation of Israel's upcoming Middleweight Title fight in UFC 281's main event against Alex Pereira, Izzy is sitting down with Ryan, Fred and Channing a few days ahead of his biggest fight in one of the most candid and entertaining conversations. A global star and one of the top UFC fighters int he sport, Israel knows what's at stake and is embracing it, saying he is going to make this upcoming fight, "A Horror Movie". Fully understanding the energy around this fight knowing that he has lost to Pereira twice in kickboxing, Izzy isn't worried about what others think and knows who he is as the champion and isn't worried about outside pressures. Israel says, people think he is joking when he says, he is prepared to die and prepared to kill, but once he steps into the cage and it lock behind them, it's on. Using the Lion King reference, he explains that sometimes you have to remind yourself who you are like Mufasa did to Simba, and now he is reminding himself who he is, and he knows he's a mother f**cking savage. Getting into how some of his training has changed for this fight and how each of his past bouts have helped him grow and expanded his mind mentally and physically, Izzy shares what it's like preparing for battle and how his outside passions and interests shape his approach to battle, often watching cartoons and reading for motivation and inspiration. Izzy uses the analogy that pressure makes diamonds, and there are moments in a man’s life where he has to step up and this is one of those for me. The last three fights I showed up and made each camp better than the last one and this will be no different. Channing asks him about some of the charismatic traits of his persona, wearing pearls, watching anime cartoons, theatrical fight entrances and why all of these unique aspects of him are important to who he is inside and outside the fight game. Freaky Fred puts some meaning behind his own nickname and asks Izzy about why he has an Only Fans account and what kind of material he puts out there to need one. The friendly banter continues as the guys talk about admiring greatness in other sports and athletes and how it takes a great one to admire a great one. Israel isn't just fighting for himself, he's fighting for his entire team and plans to give it all come Saturday night, even if that comes with physical sacrifice. We are your one-stop platform for all your sports and entertainment content. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY)1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/LA/MI/NJ/PA/TN/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/KS/NH), 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), visit OPGR.org (OR), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA).21+ (18+ NH/WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/LA(select parishes)/MI/NJ/NY/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Void in ONT. Valid 1 per new customer. Min. $5 deposit. Min $5 pregame moneyline bet. Bet must win. $200 issued as eight (8) $25 free bets. Sponsored by DK. Ends 11/20/2022 11:59 PM ET. Eligibility restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com/footballterms.#1 Rated Sportsbook App based on Eilers&Krejcik (2Q22). Product Analysis: Testing, Scoring, and Ranking U. S. Sports Betting Apps Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

• 0:01Speaker 00

  Every game day, you show up for your team. Now, it's your time.

• 0:11Speaker 00

  Ask your prescriber about Wegovy. Semaglutide injection, 2.4mg a GLP-1. Call 1-8334-WEGOVIE or visit wegovie.com to view the medication guide and to learn more about Wegovy. Why wait?

• 0:30Speaker 01

  Right here, big dog. What's up, bro? My dog. Well? How was the training, bro? Good. You good, baby? Yeah. Yes, sir. What's up, big dog? I like the setup, man. You mean, right here? Yes, sir. I thought you was gonna come with the pearls, man. Yeah, that's later on. That's later on, fight week. Fight week, I get my nails done, pearls, everything. What's in the red cup? It's water. Fight week? Water, yeah. I mean, I would've had some Kool-Aid or something, but... Kool-Aid? We need to go grocery shopping. I take that, I like Kool-Aid. Well, he can drink Kool-Aid. He gets to 185 easy on you. Even my dietitian said I can have a couple burgers and stuff. I'm ahead of schedule. You wear pearls? Yeah. Looks good on black skin. Really? Fuck yeah. Like pearls, like the... Pearl pearls.

• 1:14Speaker 01

  Like the lady off Titanic pearls. Exactly. Who said they're for ladies? My assumption, I don't wanna upset you.

• 1:26Speaker 01

  Nah, that's not, it's not that. It's like, you know, I just think they look good on blacks. Just like diamonds. People said diamonds are a girl's best friend. Everybody wears diamonds. All these [bleep] wear diamonds. That sound like somebody that got money. Yeah.

• 1:40Speaker 01

  And now we're getting paid. No doubt. Meanwhile, he got diamonds on his neck right now. Yeah, exactly. Now, pearls, it's a vibe. Only certain men can rock it. I'm that guy.

• 1:50Channing Crowder?

  And you one of them.

• 1:51Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:52Channing Crowder?

  Nobody gonna question you.

• 1:54Speaker 01

  We ain't trying to fight over it.

• 2:19Ryan Clark?

  Hey, but man, welcome to the pivot. Freaky Fred, man, Fred Taylor, Channing Crowder. He's just freaky in general. He's just like a lot of nasty.

• 2:27Speaker 01

  See, cause I don't know football, cause of the way we grew up, where we grew up. But I know your face is these talk shows and whatnot. So I see you guys on Instagram all the time.

• 2:34Ryan Clark?

  This is Israel Adesanya, the UFC middleweight champion, last style bender. The dude that is changing the way we look at fighters and the excitement that he brings. Not only pre-fight, but every time he gets in the octagon. Well, that's at least when people actually try to press him. And so, and I'm RC, man. Draft Kings, Happy Dad, thank you for sponsoring the show. Like we always say, or like Freddie T always says, man, anybody can podcast, but everybody can't pivot. Bro, like we just gonna jump right in, man. First of all, we know you training, the fight's, the fight's close, man. So we appreciate you.

• 3:08Speaker 01

  Literally just got off, got out the gym. So, yeah, fresh.

• 3:11Ryan Clark?

  How'd it go?

• 3:12Speaker 01

  Good, good session. It was a lactate capacity. That's pretty much just getting ready for, we've done it for the last 12 weeks for this camp, but we always do it every camp. Just getting the body used to the lactic acid buildup. And yeah, learning how to push while it's in your muscles.

• 3:28Ryan Clark?

  You know, you mentioned, you know, not necessarily having a ton of familiarity. Like for me, you know, I got the show with DC, DC and RC podcast. I love MMA. I love the UFC. I think what you guys do is so different. Like even our sport, which people call the gladiator sport, you don't lock us in a cage with another man who's trained to kill. That's what you do. So first of all, just so much respect for that, man. But in studying, man, and just reading up on you since you started fighting, cause there was so much charisma, so much confidence, what some might call arrogance. I was like, I wanna see like, what this dude? It was like, you know what I mean? And being from Nigeria and moving to New Zealand. And I know you've told the story before, but when I look at you now, dog, six, three, six, four, one eighty-five,

• 4:13Ryan Clark?

  the best stand-up in the game, I was like, this dude been beating up people his whole life. But it wasn't like that for you in New Zealand. You said it was tough. What was that move like for you?

• 4:22Speaker 01

  It was a culture shock. I mean, I've always said, like, I never knew I was black till I moved to New Zealand. Like, I knew my skin was black, but I never knew it was like a problem, because I never really experienced racism in Nigeria. And then, yeah, it's part of my story, so, you know, I have to tell it, you know? And not just for me, for, um, like, the up-and-coming guy, like, there's a young kid, Ram, in my gym, Diddy, we call him. He's a young black kid, uh, and I know he really looks up to me. When I see him and I see what he goes through, and I see the way people treat him sometimes outside the gym, then I like, it shows, it reminds me that, oh, it's still happening. It's still here, even in New Zealand, you know? Twenty twenty-two, it's still happening. So, yeah, I speak out just so I help young guys like that understand,

• 5:06Speaker 01

  like, this ain't the end of the road, because when I was coming up, there was some dark times, and I was like, man, this is, this is it. Like, you know, when you're young, you think this is the rest of your life, but then, yeah, I speak out, just let them know, like, look at me now. We're shining.

• 5:19Ryan Clark?

  But what were those dark times like? Like, you say that you didn't, you didn't know you were black. That's a, that's a phrase that.

• 5:25Speaker 01

  Yeah, because I knew my skin was dark, but I didn't know it was a problem, until, like, you're, I don't know, you're walking home and kids on the bus start insulting you, you know, making monkey noises and shit like that. You're like, what the, do I even know these kids? I even told a famous story, I've told before, of a kid who kept on riding by my house on the weekend, you know, going back to your country, Blackanese. And I was just like, I've seen this kid at school, but I don't know him. He didn't know me enough to have a problem with me. And then the next Monday, we had a little scrap, and he realized what to fuck with me after that. I wasn't a fighter then. Right. But I was just, I just got mad, because after lunchtime, he just comes up to me, "What's up, black boy?" Boom, and pushed me. And I remember I was already having a bad day, so I got up crying and I just whooped his ass.

• 6:05Speaker 01

  Yeah, so shit like that still happens, but you know, it's part of life now and I just, you just get tougher skin.

• 6:12Fred Taylor?

  You have a platform, obviously, so many eyes on you. Knowing that, how much motivation is it, you know, for you to continue to be in great? So you can inspire these kids, allow them to know that in spite of everything that goes on, wherever you are now, you don't have to stay there, you're gonna have these challenges.

• 6:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:32Fred Taylor?

  You know, but continue to push through much like yourself did. How much of, you know, having your platform is motivation to continue to stay there?

• 6:40Speaker 01

  To be honest, I used to shy away from it a little bit, because I hate the term role model. Like Pac said it best, it's two of the fakest words, you're playing a role or you're modeling a behavior. So I used to hate that, but then when I did, um, you know, I sat down with Mike Tyson, Hot Boxing, and he kind of challenged me on the idea that, no, you can't, you're that guy, you can't take that away from you. And I'm like, nah, nah, nah, we'll have like a little back and forth. And he said something like, I'm the kind of guy that if you, I'm not married to any idea, no matter what, no matter what. If you give me new information that makes sense, I have to ponder about it myself and then my ideas can change. And he said like, well, are you faking a behavior, are you modeling, are you just being yourself?

• 7:23Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 7:23Speaker 01

  And do these kids or these people love you? Then you're a role model. But I think it's because that word is so charged with like, you know, you're that guy that's like,

• 7:31Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 7:32Speaker 01

  I'm, I'm, I never do no wrong. So, but when I talked to Mike, and I was high as fuck on Hot Boxing, it was crazy. So then, and then I saw some joints from the spot and I went back to the house that night in L.A. And I had to think about it and I was just like, he's right, I'm not faking myself, I'm being my authentic self. And people still like me and look up to me, so I am that guy and I am a, people, I don't want to say a role model, but people, someone that people look up to. Being, having this platform doesn't really, it never really, I guess, pushed, it wasn't what I did it for. But if people look at my life and see my story, whether they're black, white, Asian, Indian, whatever, and they take inspiration from the way I live my life authentically, then I'm happy with it and I'm happy to have this platform.

• 8:17Speaker 01

  You're living under a microscope, so I still. I live my life, but I try not to push any kind of agenda like, oh, this is me, I'm perfect. This is, you know, you know that kind of shit, yeah.

• 8:27Ryan Clark?

  I think that's the, but that's the best way to teach people, that's the best way to have people begin to admire you is authenticity. You know what I'm saying? Like, there's so much, there's so much fake in the world, and now, like, the real ones pick up on it. And they pick up on it quick. And I think since you became, and, you know, probably, you know, right before, you know, Kelvin, I think that's when I, when I got an opportunity to meet you, like, and meet you, I was like, oh, no, he's just a real dude. You know what I mean? And I thought that was always, you know, great to see. But another thing I love that's dope, you know, you mentioned, you know, not necessarily knowing you were black before New Zealand, and as being a UFC fan, like, other than John, Daniel, like, we haven't had a lot of fighters that are just like, oh, I relate to dude.

• 9:12Ryan Clark?

  Like, you know, like, when Kamaru walks in, and I mess with him all the time when we talk, you know, I'm like, dawg, put a shirt on. Like, nobody care if that you bitch, like, you got a suit on, dawg, put a shirt on. But, like, seeing you and Kamaru and Francis, you know, as champions and winning, and you guys sharing that bond, what has it been like to, you know, because I've seen you, like, on those podiums at the press, at the press conferences, and saw Strickland talking big and all these people. You the only face up there that's like yours, but having that bond with guys like that and being able to share in the moments of you guys having a strap, what has it been like to have people close?

• 9:48Speaker 01

  Yeah, I, I, sometimes I wish I was closer, as in, like, living in the States, because, you know, when I see them doing things and being out and about, but, you know, I just be like, man, I want to be with my dogs, my brothers, but, uh, whenever I'm in the States, they always tap in, they always make sure I'm good. Before Fight Week, um, they always check in and make sure, you know, everything's all right. And, yeah, um, I think we're not just the last ones, there's more to come. There's definitely more to come, because we've inspired a whole continent. Like, this is news, people don't even realize how big Africa is, like, the continent of Africa. People just, they say Africa, like, it's, oh, I'm going to just some country, but I was like, nah, this is a whole continent with how many different countries in it, you know, so.

• 10:32Speaker 01

  We've inspired them because now they've seen like, you know, football or soccer isn't the only way to make it in sports. They've seen like, man, we are, you know, we know who our ancestors are. We know who we are. So when they see guys like us on the big screen doing what we do, I know they really thrive off it. And I get the messages all the time. I get people hitting me up, hitting my people up, you know, telling us how inspired they are by myself, Kamaru and Francis. And I know for a fact, like, I mean, right now, the, MMA always has like a certain nation dominating. At one point, it was the Americans, the Brazilians. Now, I think like the Daghestanis are the guys with the wave right now. But I'm telling you, and I've said this for the last year and a half, two years, when the Nigerians or Africans, like when they really grasp the sport,

• 11:17Speaker 01

  just, it's over like when 50 Cent dropped in the club. Like, it's gonna be over for a few years, man. I'm being serious. Once they grasp it, because they're doing the most they can with what they have. But once they grasp that, man, we're great at this. It's, everyone just take a seat, yeah.

• 11:33Channing Crowder?

  And talking about grasping it though, because you boxed, then you kickboxed, and then MMA, and that, I know the worldwide MMA is. You know what I'm saying?

• 11:41Speaker 01

  Yes, sir.

• 11:42Channing Crowder?

  What was that maturation of your fighting career?

• 11:47Speaker 01

  For me, well, I never wanted to be a fighter. It wasn't like that's what I wanted to be. I wanted, actually, I wanted to be a WWE superstar. That's what me and my family grew up watching.

• 11:58Channing Crowder?

  It's probably still coming, dawg.

• 11:59Speaker 01

  Oh, no, later on.

• 12:00Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, it's probably still coming.

• 12:01Speaker 01

  Later on, later on. Well, yeah, I got some shit to do right now. I gotta, you know, keep this on this side. But, um, yeah, so, and also Jackie Chan was my guy. It was Bruce Lee to me, you know? Everyone loved Bruce Lee, but Jackie Chan was the guy that made me look at fighting and look at it fun. But, um, yeah, over time, I just, I think I had my first fight at 18. And the confidence I had for leaving that ring in kickboxing was just like, The surge of just like, I don't know what it was and I just chased that dragon. Like I've had it since, you know, I was catching a different moment, different pockets and I keep catching it. But it's something that you can't recreate, like no matter what you do. Dana says it the best, like it's in our DNA. That's how you have basketball, football, you have, I don't know, even hockey on that side.

• 12:46Speaker 01

  If a bright, if a fight breaks out on that corner, everybody stops what they're doing and just like, oh shit. Well, they going at it. Oh, because it's in our DNA. We all want to see a fight. So yeah, once I started to get it done and see how great I was at doing it. I realized like, man, I could be the best at this. Like what Ali said, I'm the greatest. I said it before I knew I was. Yeah, I did that.

• 13:09Ryan Clark?

  Fellas, I'm not even gonna lie, man. It's just so dope to have great teammates. And it's truly hard to build a great team. And in football, it's about your GM and all of those people. But listen, in business, it's about something like ziprecruiter.com. It's a great scout to go out and find you people that match exactly what you want to do. Whether you're in Louisiana and you need a registered nurse, we got you. If you can be in Colorado and thinking to yourself, you know what? I need to find an accountant, a CPA, somebody that can really work with me. Ziprecruiter.com is the place to be and the place to find what you need.

• 13:42Channing Crowder?

  Bring up sports, recruiting, recruiting good talent. You said in all aspects of life, whatever you're looking for, you have somebody that's vetting and bringing in the best. I don't need to look at everybody. I need to look at the small few that's gonna help my team and help my company become what they can be and maximize it. And that's what ZipRecruiter does.

• 14:01Fred Taylor?

  You just have the best though. If you want to get the best, there's so many different tools and reviews you can get. Because you don't want to hire anybody. You want to have the right person for your job, especially in this economical environment. You want to make sure you're getting the right person for the job without making a mistake. So filtering, reviews, just line your person up, you got your man.

• 14:21Ryan Clark?

  And you know what's crazy though? Four out of five employers that post on ziprecruiter.com, they find a quality match within the first 24 hours. And so if you go to ziprecruiter.com/draftkings, you can start right now to find your perfect match. That's ziprecruiter.com/dr-a-f-t-k-i-n-g-s. Check it out.

• 14:45Fred Taylor?

  But it's crazy because I'm a novice in the sport. RC is the man. And you know, I thought fighting was just fighting.

• 14:55Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 14:55Fred Taylor?

  You know, and you told yourself you can be great at this. But a novice like myself, what would I have to hone in on and pay attention to if I'm just sitting there watching you fight for the first time?

• 15:09Speaker 01

  Watching me fight for the first time, um, to be honest, just enjoy the show. Like especially when someone like this next guy is going to bring the fight. So I'd say enjoy the show, boy. If you're watching any of my fights, um, something to watch out for is if you understand the game is the setups in the beginning. If you watch some, what's his name, Jake Paul versus Anderson Silva recently. Anderson was the guy, like he was the guy that inspired me to be like, man, this skinny black dude whooping everyone's ass. I'm skinny, I'm black. I can whip ass. So, but seeing the way he even fought Jake Paul in the first round, he threw no punches and then threw one punch and landed. You know what I mean? I was just like, that's that guy. No matter what, I even said it on my YouTube, like, I watch guys like that, like Mayweather,

• 15:54Speaker 01

  when I see him hit the bag or hit the pads or even in an exhibition fight, I still appreciate the movement. I love to watch the movement. So when I was watching Anderson fight, for me, it was just like, oh shit. And watching the way he set things up. So you watch me fight, you watch the way I set things up. It's not about, it's about investing. I'm investing for later on, the leg kicks, the body shots, the jabs, I'm investing for later on. But then sometimes you get a fight where someone comes at me, like the Gastelum, like, you know what I mean? Someone comes at me, have you seen that fight? The Gastelum fight. I see the shirt. Hey, no, I know. Yeah, exactly. Like that fight was the first fight where I got rocked. I never got dropped, my ass never hit the ground, but I got rocked in the first round and everyone was like, this is it, he's about to. They were waiting on it. Yeah, they were waiting on it. They were like, oh, the hype train is about to go down.

• 16:39Speaker 01

  And then for me, second round, I came focused and I dropped him. But when a fight like that happens, just embrace the chaos, embrace the violence and just watch it, yeah.

• 16:48Fred Taylor?

  And playing football, we understand our training and what it entails and how difficult it can be. You mentioned lactic capacity.

• 16:56Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's what we just did today.

• 16:57Fred Taylor?

  And the science side of it, you know, talk about that in addition to, you know, fighting itself, the training and detailing the training. And then I think you were watching film when we first pulled up, right?

• 17:10Speaker 01

  Yeah, oh, no, wait.

• 17:11Fred Taylor?

  You weren't watching?

• 17:12Speaker 01

  He was watching his YouTube channel. I was watching film, but the preview, the preview. Freestyle Ben and my crew. Luca, the best editor in the game. Jeff, camera guy right there. And Jeff St. La. My brother David, that's us. So they, they, you know, show me the preview first. Make sure I okay everything. And then I was just checking to make sure like, okay.

• 17:34Fred Taylor?

  Nah, I just wanted to get, really speak to training, right? Being more than just pulling up to the fight. Like this is real stuff.

• 17:41Speaker 01

  So much.

• 17:41Fred Taylor?

  And then how much film do you watch?

• 17:43Speaker 01

  Me, I watch a lot of film when it gets closer to the fight. You know what I mean? Even lately, he just been on my Instagram or my pop up on my YouTube shorts. So I have a look and I'm like, oh yeah, huh, cool. But I leave it to my team. Eugene is almost like he recruited the old school guys, the Expendables, the guys who used to fight with him back in the day. So Twister, Mike Angov, Adam Johnson, Andre and Frank, you know, our wrestling coaches, he's just recruited them to like, and they have their own, I guess, group chat where they talk about.

• 18:15Speaker 00

  Every game day you show up for your team. Now it's your time.

• 18:25Speaker 00

  Ask your prescriber about Wegovy. Somemagnitide injection 2.4 milligrams a GLP-1. Call 1-8334-WEGOVIE or visit wegovie.com to view the medication guide and to learn more about Wegovy. Why wait?

• 18:44Speaker 01

  You know, the tendencies of this other guy or things I've done that day. You know, was I shit today? Was I good today? And Eugene, I think is the mastermind that created the culture around what we do and the way we train. He's the one that organizes everything to make sure that, I guess, we're, we're fight ready. But it's more than just, like you said, I used to be like that as well. I, when I was, everyone thinks you just, you see a fight and it just happens.

• 19:05Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 19:05Speaker 01

  It's like nah, there's so much science behind it, so much. You watch a fight like, okay, let's talk about the Whittaker fight. That one, we had a game plan, but in the moment I called an audible. So I was just like, I was feeling him out and I was like, I can bang with this dude. I can go toe to toe, match energy, because I felt like that moment. Was too much for him. That's why I came out dancing.

• 19:27Channing Crowder?

  So you're talking about one?

• 19:29Speaker 01

  Uh, yeah, the first fight, the first fight, my bad, yeah. So that was UFC 243 in Melbourne. Still the biggest show in history in the UFC to date. Fifty-seven thousand, one hundred and twenty-seven people. You know, and I remember the sound in that arena. Back in the day, I watched Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm from the stands in that same arena. So, I mean, I'm very clued up, but yeah, that moment was too much for him. So I just decided to call an audible and I just imposed my will on him. But then there's times when I'm scientific and calculated, like the Brunson or the Costa fight, or the Brad Tavares fight, where I just smoke a dude and it's just finesse.

• 20:03Channing Crowder?

  You changed trainers, correct?

• 20:05Speaker 01

  Me? Trainers? No, no, well, my strength coach, uh, Base Benefit.

• 20:10Channing Crowder?

  Okay, cuz I heard, I was gonna say, I was reading and they said something about complacency.

• 20:13Speaker 01

  Training, oh, training.

• 20:14Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, he's finally on time. He was like, he was like, he was like, I'm not saying, he was like, I'm not saying he was late, but he would show up right before.

• 20:23Speaker 01

  Yeah, this, this, this camp was different cuz, I mean, it's only us four, right? No one's listening.

• 20:30Ryan Clark?

  Right, not at all.

• 20:32Speaker 01

  This camp was different, like, I, I just, there's times when, like I've said, this pressure makes diamonds. And there's, there's moments in a man's life where you have to step up. And this was one of them for me cuz the last three fights, I showed up and I made each camp better than the last camp. The Whitaker part two fight, the, was it Vittori part two fight and the Cannonier fight. Each camp, I made sure it was better than the last one. But I knew I was gonna whip these dudes, man. I knew I was gonna whip these dudes. And then round one, I'm doing my thing, drop him, touch him, whatever. And then they realize after round one, fuck, that's ain't, that's ain't what I thought it was. Then they, they fight differently after that. I see it, I feel it, they know it, they'll never admit this, but they know it. They fight differently after that.

• 21:15Speaker 01

  And then they'll still go back to their game plan, but they don't fight with the same gusto. You watch the Whitaker part one fight, he fought trying to, trying to fight. Part two, once he realized, oh shit, this ain't what it was. Exactly, then they start to like move back a bit, go into defensive, but this next guy's gonna bring it. So that's why I had to step myself up and get to a new level, a whole new level for this fight. And. I've said less this whole fight, you know, he's talking. He doesn't even speak English, so I don't even have anything to say to him. Cause he won't understand me.

• 21:45Ryan Clark?

  Doesn't he have the right to talk?

• 21:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly. He beat me, so he has a right to talk. So I'm, I kinda understand where Widdick was coming from, because the second time I fought him, he didn't really say much. So I was like, I bet, but I'll show him. I don't have to say much, I'll show him. The fight's already sold. I'm the champion, he's chased me from kickboxing, trying to get this off me, but I'm like, alright. I'm gonna show you this ain't kickboxing.

• 22:05Ryan Clark?

  You know, you already mentioned, you know, what UFC 281 is gonna be, right? It's Alex, Paredes, I've been trying to say that, bro. I got a UFC show, and I've been messing up that last name.

• 22:16Speaker 01

  Nah, you got it right, you got it.

• 22:17Ryan Clark?

  For like five months. And the excitement, when he came over to the UFC, was weird to me. Because it almost seemed like the excitement wasn't about him, it was about having somebody.

• 22:31Speaker 01

  It's off me, everything's off me, he's coming off my hype. You know what I mean? Who's he beat, apart from Shawn Strickland?

• 22:38Ryan Clark?

  Nobody.

• 22:39Speaker 01

  He's beat some people, but no one of substance, you know.

• 22:42Ryan Clark?

  Right, you think even the fight before, Shawn, it goes.

• 22:45Speaker 01

  Three rounds. Yeah, that was, who's his name? Bruno, Bruno Silva, yep. So he did, I mean, I saw that fight as well, and I was like, huh. You wanna go five rounds? You wouldn't even go one round, at my pace, at my pace right now. But yeah, I know what it is, and I welcome this, because I know that this is where. This is like the big money fights, there's nobody else for me to fight at one, not nobody else, but like. At that time, there was no one else that was really making noise at 185, so. I'm glad that UFC pushed him, and gave me this opportunity to rewrite history.

• 23:15Ryan Clark?

  You think about, you know, getting into this fight, and what this moment is for. And we're doing DC and RC, and there was a clip of you, and you were talking about the fight. And you said, somebody's gonna get knocked out. And he's like, you know, if he's gonna get knocked out, or I'm gonna get knocked out. And I follow you closely, and listen to what you say often. And the thing that struck me, is I'd never heard you say that.

• 23:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, it is a reality. So normally, when I fight someone, they've never, I've never fought them. They've never hurt me or anything like that, so I'm like. In my mind, this guy can't touch me. But the reality is, this guy has. The first fight was, eh, we all know, if you watched the fight, it was like, some scrupulous judging. Second fight, I hurt him, had him on the ropes, referee saved him, and third round, beautiful story, comes back and finishes me. In his own country, his hometown. Um, this time, this time is my time to rewrite history. So I can't pretend like it didn't happen. I've, I've accepted that a long time ago. I never held on to it. I never chased this fight. I never thought like, I gotta get this one back. I was never that guy. So I let it go. I've made peace with it.

• 24:22Speaker 01

  This is a whole new fight now, but the fact that that's a reality of it, that it can't happen. But I'm like, cool. But I, I know what can happen as well. This ain't, what is it, 12, 8 ounces? He's a 4 ounce gloves and I hit sharp. I, people don't say, oh, he doesn't have any power. He's too skinny, this and that. You see me in real life and you know what it is. But trust me, when I put this on people and I hit sharp, it's different. So I know when I touch him and I'm very accurate. I'm very accurate and also defensively smart. So when I touch him enough times and he's gonna, I would be, his head is a fucking block. Like I fought a few block heads in my time, but I remember his head is a block. Even when I watched the fight, the second fight back, when I heard him, there was a point I kept on putting it on him and he tried to come back and I, I kept on beating him, beating him, beating him.

• 25:07Speaker 01

  And the referee had to jump in to save him. I know he's gonna bring it, but he has to realize, I hope he underestimates me. It feels like he is. It feels like he's underestimating me, but yeah.

• 25:16Fred Taylor?

  Is that, is that because he's talking a lot?

• 25:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, he's beat me. So he's making all these memes and all this kind of stuff and I'm like, alright, I'm working. I'm just gonna keep working. And when it's time, when they shut that door and they lock him, they, they can't save him. He's gonna back his words up.

• 25:31Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, that, that, where does that come from? Belt? You said that about this fight?

• 25:36Speaker 01

  I've been saying that years ago. It's never been about the belt. Like the belt looks nice. Gold looks good on black skin, so does pearls.

• 25:43Speaker 01

  But um, yeah, for me, it's never about, like, without the belt, I'm still me. I've always been.

• 25:48Channing Crowder?

  But that belt says you're the best though. That says you're the best.

• 25:51Speaker 01

  I've been saying I'm the best. I, before I had that, I said I was the best. I said it before I knew I was. When I got in the UFC, I told them I was gonna be champion. Before I got in the UFC, I told people I was gonna be in the UFC. Before I was in King in the Ring, I told people I was gonna be a King in the Ring champion. Three times now, at two different weight classes, one king, you know? Um, I've been saying all this, but for me, I didn't even know where my belt was. This is the first time seeing it in how long? I don't attach myself to it because a lot of people do. And I see the way they carry themselves over, over the years, a lot of people. And then when they lose it or they lose a fight, or even sometimes they're undefeated record. I see people get, get attached to that. Who said it recently? Uh, what's his name? Sean Brady even just said, it was like a pressure off him. I didn't feel that. I felt a little bit of it, but he said like, oh. Because I knew like you can lose.

• 26:35Speaker 01

  I've lost in life, I've lost in kickboxing, I've lost in boxing, you know. I understand losses is part of life, but they make you better. They make you have to step up or they can crush you. So it all depends on how you take it. So for me, this is nice. And with or without this, I'm still the champ.

• 26:49Ryan Clark?

  You know, you mentioned Kelvin earlier. And I think people, people always get a kick out of it because you fought Jared, you fought Romero, Paulo Costa, like all these people that when you look at them, it's like, shit, I ain't trying to get in the octagon with them. And then like Kelvin steps up and he's like short and pudgy. Going into the last round though, it's the famous, the famous video and people always put the captions.

• 27:17Speaker 01

  Let's go, every fucking time, every fight, they need to replay that video.

• 27:20Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, people look at the captions.

• 27:22Speaker 01

  The story of that fight, first round, first time anyone's ever like rocked me in a fight in the UFC, right? Second round, I come back and I rock him. Third round, I whip his ass, do some work. Fourth round, I'm beating his ass. And then he places like the masterful chess move of throwing a high kick after not throwing a high kick the whole fight. And then we get to the corner and I never sit down in between corners. I never sit down, but then my arms are on the fence and then Eugene's telling me something, giving me the speech. But then I turn and face him and I remember just like, in a split second, I sign my life away. I accepted that this is, this is how I'm gonna die. Or I'm gonna whip this dude. So I said to him, you're not gonna beat me, I'm prepared to die. And I said in my Yoruba phrase, ayabieku.

• 28:07Speaker 01

  And then we just went at it. In the fifth round, I just found this new level of gusto that I never even knew I had. I just took it, I took it to a whole new level that, I dropped him, I think, four times. Most knockdowns in a championship fight in the UFC history. And I was trying to, when I say I'm, I'm prepared to die, I'm prepared to kill as well. And people think I'm joking about that, but if I had died right there, what a glorious death. But then if, God forbid, a knockout wouldn't have happened, if he didn't make it out of that fight, I would have slept well that night because I was willing to give myself. I was willing to give my life and people think that's some, oh, he thinks he's in the anime. Well, whatever. I live my life the way I live my life. You know, I was ready to go and I just went, you know, and that, that round is crazy. Yeah.

• 28:51Fred Taylor?

  That's crazy. Uh, just going back really quick. Mike even said on our show when he came on that, uh, after he lost to Buster Douglas, he felt so much relieved, so much relief lifted off his shoulders. But you said, the belt, obviously you're the champ and we know what comes with that. Sometimes complacency can set in, right? And sometimes you can get hungrier to maintain. What's that constant, that one thing that you have to constantly, you as Izzy gotta remind the champ and vice versa?

• 29:23Speaker 01

  I just have to remember who I am, like the way, um, Mufasa says to Simba, remember who you are. Like remember who I am, cause sometimes I don't live in this frame of mind where I'm like, cause you see a lot of people in my position, they walk around looking for static. They're like the mantra guy, this and that. Like me, I'm soft, you know, I'm chill. I don't have to prove anything to anyone. I'm like, damn, that would've been cool if I caught it.

• 29:46Fred Taylor?

  Strike two.

• 29:48Speaker 01

  I hit him though, I hit him. I was like, ah, he got away. But, um, yeah, so for me, I mean, I don't like to walk around like, you know, boisterous and macho. I have nothing to prove, you know? You see what's happening these days, a lot of these men are emotionally dumb. They don't have emotional intelligence. I'm very emotionally intelligent, so I have to remind myself that remember who you are. I'm a motherfucking savage, bro. Like I, I don't live that way. I don't ride around with no guns or nothing. But I have to remind myself, once in a while I remind myself, certain workouts. The last one that reminded me of that was our last sparring session in NZ.

• 30:28Speaker 01

  Yeah, I, blood was shed and I remember I was just, it's on my YouTube. You see me, I was like, ah, I was, I was loving it. So I remember I went home that day, just hiked, got the clip off Jeff, studied the footage. And I was just like, it just reminded me like, I'm that dude. Everyone's like, I'm him, I'm him, I'm him. I'm like, nah, I'm Z, they, whatever. Nah, I'm me. I am me.

• 30:50Fred Taylor?

  Izzy talking to the champ.

• 30:51Speaker 01

  Yeah, I am me, exactly.

• 30:52Fred Taylor?

  Is that the same mindset?

• 30:53Speaker 01

  Vice versa, yeah. I am me every time. So I, it's just good to remind myself that yeah, I'm that dude. I can go to that place, that darkness and thrive, not survive, thrive. Yeah.

• 31:04Channing Crowder?

  That, and that, that's the thing too, and I'm not ready to die.

• 31:09Channing Crowder?

  Please don't get upset with me.

• 31:10Speaker 01

  I'm not either. But in that moment, in that moment, I swear to God, wallahi, I was ready. Like, in that moment, I was, I was like, this is it. If he takes me out, he takes me out. But even with this fight, I've already accepted, this is, it's not gonna be a long fight, but we're gonna see who's that dude. We're gonna see who's that guy. Can he hack it? Can he go five minutes with me? Can he go five minutes at my pace? Can he go, you know, 10 minutes at my pace? You know, that's, that's, we're gonna find out, who's that dude? If we're swimming, who's gonna drown? I'm gonna drown him.

• 31:39Channing Crowder?

  You gonna drown him, so don't drown me, cuz if I get my ass whooped by a guy in flip flops, you gonna take all my confidence, man. In white flip flops. You're lucky I ain't got the pearls on. Yeah, if you wear, if you pearls, if you whooped my ass in pearls, I, I'm ready to die there. But, but man, you talking about this savage stuff. But you a grown ass man that loves cartoons.

• 32:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's me.

• 32:02Channing Crowder?

  That anime stuff, like, what is that? You be doing the little, the little Naruto run? Naruto, man. The Roto Run and all that.

• 32:12Speaker 01

  What did I do that? I did that in, um, the Brad Tavoras fight, I did Leroy Pulling in the Ring and Naruto Run. Yeah, that's just me having fun. You know, people like different things, like, example, I see people spend $10,000 on a bottle of wine. I don't get it. I don't, I wouldn't say it's stupid, because I don't get it. I don't understand. So it's, it would be ignorant of me to say, oh, that's stupid, oh, why would you spend $10,000? It doesn't mean anything to me. But even the wine tastings, I've been in them, and I'm like, tastes like bad Kool-Aid. That's just me, I don't drink wine, you know, this is, no disrespect, but certain things just vibe with me, and that's, what I was saying earlier, living authentically me.

• 32:55Speaker 01

  You know, when I fought Robert and I did the whole dance, you know, cuz back in the day, people used to make fun of me for crumping in the, in the streets with my boys, throwing sessions at nighttime. So for me, that was a big fuck you, like, yeah, I'm crumping on the biggest stage in the world. And I did the whole shadow clone, whatever, with my boys, Naruto Run, that's just, and then people start to vibe. If I'm living authentically me, those who love me will flock to me. So, and I see CCB was like, oh, you trying to capture that anime fandom? I was like, nah, I was just being me. You know, if you're you, no matter who you are. If build it and they will come, isn't that what they say? Build it and I built it, they keep coming.

• 33:32Channing Crowder?

  You, you a grown ass man, one of the most dangerous people in the world with your body. And you leave that to go watch a cartoon? I, I don't, to your point, I don't understand it.

• 33:42Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 33:43Channing Crowder?

  I don't understand what an anime is.

• 33:45Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 33:45Channing Crowder?

  Like, you know what I'm saying?

• 33:46Speaker 01

  I'm gonna make one in my life at some point, yeah. It, it excites me and I get a lot of inspiration from the stories. If you what, uh, like say, what's a good one? Avatar, you know, um, The Last Airman, if, if you watch that, if you have kids, watch that with your kids just cause they'll get so many life lessons, so many beautiful life lessons from those stories. And also for me, the main thing about anime is the fight scenes. I love the fight scenes, they're so cool, the way they're, they're flowy, they're animated. Just, you know, I just wanna emulate that sometimes and I do, yeah.

• 34:18Fred Taylor?

  Have you been able to parlay that in marketing?

• 34:22Speaker 01

  Yep, definitely, um, but we're, we're, I mean, I, I'm in talks with, uh, I mean, I've done, what did I do? Baki, voiceover, that was my foot in the door. I did the voiceover for Cameraman Lesson, um, but yeah, we've got some things. I've turned down a lot of things too, Tim knows, like a lot of things that just cause I couldn't do because of time constraints, but later on in the future, best believe you will hear me on Pixar, some Disney Works, um, yeah. Even my own production, I'll make my own, like, I guess, what's that thing, Love/Death Robots? I'll make my own little shorts as well and voiceover on that, that'll be cool.

• 34:55Fred Taylor?

  Just real quick, who's the, who's the best anime character out there? Is it the Kamehameha?

• 34:59Speaker 01

  Nah, that's Goku, everyone, Goku is a classic, legend, legend, yes, definitely, but everyone is different. This is art, art is subjective and one man's Goku might be another man's Vegeta. So it's, uh, depends, the, the best out there, I can't say there's a best out there, but each, each fight.

• 35:18Speaker 01

  I channel some kind of character, like the Anderson Silva fight. I was challenging, uh, what's his name, Rock Lee. You see me when Bruce Buffer was announcing my name. I took the weights off, like Rock Lee did. I dropped it, did like this cool cartwheel. Fucking ninja shit. Yeah, it looked cool. What was another one? The Robert Whitaker one fight, Death Note. That was the anime, so I took the... His name wrote in Death Note. Round two, KO.

• 35:46Ryan Clark?

  That was Jared?

• 35:47Speaker 01

  Jared, Jared. What was that?

• 35:48Ryan Clark?

  That was, that was this summer?

• 35:50Speaker 01

  Undertaker, I had, uh, but the theme for that was darkness. Undertaker, uh, it was anime.

• 35:54Ryan Clark?

  How'd you come up with that? Cause I'm sitting in the arena and you come on, everybody goes, goes crazy. One, it was the longest walk ever to the octagon.

• 36:02Speaker 01

  You know why? Miyamoto Musashi. He's a great samurai, great samurai. If you read the Book of Five Rings, it's about him. He used to make opponents wait for hours, for hours. And then by the time, uh, he gets to the fight, you know, they're like frustrated. Where the fuck are you being? Da, da, da, da. And then they draw their sword wrong and then one slice, they're dead. So that was a little tactic to like make him wait a little bit. Let him get cold, you know, while I walk out, you know? And I could see he was trying to kind of break me a little bit, cause he was looking behind. And I didn't break, I just looked at him. But yeah, um, this fight though, I want to make it a horror movie. Yeah, I want to make it a horror movie. You'll see.

• 36:46Speaker 01

  Those who's already been around me, they know what I've been playing. They know the, the, what I've been working with, but you'll see. When it's time, I'll make it a horror movie.

• 36:55Channing Crowder?

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• 38:45Fred Taylor?

  All right, so they call me Freaky Fred. I don't know why.

• 38:48Speaker 01

  I like it.

• 38:49Fred Taylor?

  Still trying to figure it out.

• 38:50Speaker 01

  I like it.

• 38:50Ryan Clark?

  You know why they call you Freaky Fred.

• 38:52Fred Taylor?

  We know why Channing's freaky. Cause he like, he like meat and his eggs when he at the music. RC's neutral.

• 39:00Speaker 01

  Neutral, I bet.

• 39:02Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 39:02Ryan Clark?

  Neutral sounds bad.

• 39:05Speaker 01

  He just like everybody. Neutral means they can go either way. He open to love.

• 39:11Fred Taylor?

  But you know, you're a savage killer. You the champ. How do you find time? I don't fucking want to really know, cause I ain't gonna, I ain't gonna subscribe to it.

• 39:22Speaker 01

  I want to know.

• 39:23Fred Taylor?

  But you're, oh, you do? He has an OnlyFans account.

• 39:25Speaker 01

  I don't want to know. How you know?

• 39:27Fred Taylor?

  That's what I'm saying.

• 39:28Speaker 01

  So my idea, okay, so this, I was the first.

• 39:31Fred Taylor?

  What kind of shit you be doing on OnlyFans, bro?

• 39:33Speaker 01

  Nah, that's not what you think, but I was the first.

• 39:37Speaker 01

  I like the fact he knows that. Respect. But I was the first. So when OnlyFans first came out, this was about two years ago, right? And for me, you know, all the sex workers and whatnot were, you know, gravitating towards it. And, you know, I was looking at it like, it's in the name. What does the name say? OnlyFans. Exactly. So I was like, and I've seen sex workers or sex work has been the indicator for any technology that's gonna... The internet was not made for porn, but it's the biggest thing on the internet. Like eighty percent of internet is porn or something crazy. Exactly. So it indicated to me that this is gonna be the next platform. I know right now it's a little bit dirt. And also, I like a little, you know, I'm freaky too, so I was just like...

• 40:21Speaker 01

  I wanted to attach myself to that, but without getting freaky on OnlyFans. But all the stuff I'm doing on YouTube right now would have been on OnlyFans with a paywall. But only problem was Nigeria had it blocked, UAE had it blocked, China had it blocked. I lived in China for a while, so big market over there for me. So I was just like, ah, that means I cut like half my viewers or demographic. They can't see my shit. So that's the only reason I went to YouTube. Shout out to my brother David. He's the one that kinda headhunter that. And then yeah, we're doing well now, like over seven hundred K subscribers, whatnot. But OnlyFans would have been the one. I liked the idea. It was like, it was great, the paywall, all the great content we're doing, but just maybe three dollars a month. Right. You know what I mean? And I did the calculations as well. Yeah.

• 41:06Speaker 01

  So I was like, if I... And I was like, oh, I'll be rich.

• 41:12Ryan Clark?

  Chan, I'm surprised, I'm surprised you let the OnlyFan things go.

• 41:16Channing Crowder?

  No, I had to ask now. I was letting him get finished on why he did the OnlyFan. Cause I know you, you, you, you doing okay with the women though, ain't it?

• 41:23Speaker 01

  Yeah, nah, I'm good. Nah, I got, I got a woman. I'm good, I'm good.

• 41:26Channing Crowder?

  Why you do that?

• 41:29Ryan Clark?

  They gotta use that accent, right?

• 41:31Speaker 01

  I don't want no me too. I've seen the way these people's moving out these days, man. I don't want no me too. I'm just trying to chill, live righteous.

• 41:39Ryan Clark?

  Man, you know, there's been, like, it's so dope to sit down with you. I've heard, you know, some of these stories, some of this stuff is new. You talked earlier about moving to New Zealand and not necessarily finding out that you were black, but the first time you realizing, hold on, some people, some people don't vibe with it. This is not something that's accepted.

• 42:00Speaker 01

  Never talked to them, nothing, but they just didn't vibe with mine?

• 42:02Ryan Clark?

  Right, just based on, based on the color of your skin. You're obviously one of the biggest stars in MMA, obviously one of the biggest stars in UFC. And inversely, and I don't know if it's inversely, but Joe Rogan is also one of the biggest stars in the UFC. It was the big thing of Joe Rogan where people got really bored and they went, pulled every time he said the N-word.

• 42:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 42:23Ryan Clark?

  Right, they pull it and then Joe comes out with a statement. And I thought the statement, I thought the statement was very aware to, to be honest about what he felt at the time. And then moving forward, who he decided that he needs to be and what he's learned from that. You actually came out and said, in defense of him, and it was tongue in cheek, and I don't say it, but you was like, "Joe Rogan's mine, that's my N-word." What, you know, we talked about your platform earlier, we talked about the things that you've gone through. What was it that made you come out in defense of him and use that phrase in that manner when talking about Joe Rogan?

• 42:58Speaker 01

  First off, I like to piss people off, but secondly, I know Joe. I know Joe, and that's far from the truth. And I could see what was happening at the time. He signed this deal with Spotify, $100 million. He had this platform that he controlled. No executives, no head honcho telling him who he can put on. And Joe would put... I don't know, they have their left and right wing or whatever. He would put someone from the left wing, sit there, ask questions and listen to them. And he'll put someone on the right wing, sit there, ask and listen to them. And let the audience make their decision. But some of the people he was having at the time weren't fitting the narrative with the whole COVID thing. And the misinformation, which we find out now that wasn't really misinformation, that they were spreading. But no one talks about that. So for me, I can see through the bullshit.

• 43:43Speaker 01

  I can see through the bullshit. And I was like, you guys, you. We've seen this fucking thing play out before. You try and cancel somebody. So for me, I just felt like, yeah, fuck him. I'm not gonna let people try and like, you know, take down a guy that I know who's far from it. And for me, I was like, do you know how much manpower it takes? They don't get bored, they didn't get bored. That was a whole systematic approach to try and deplatform him or whatever. But it didn't work. He's still the biggest platform in the world. So for me, I went to defense for him because that's my dude. I actually know him. And I know that's far from the truth. And I'd hate for someone, bro, go on my Twitter, I'm sure you'll find something. I'm sure they'll find, they can find anything to try and, you know, cancel me. Yeah, but I'm like, I live my life the way I am. I've told people I'm not perfect.

• 44:26Speaker 01

  So that's why I say the same thing about me being a role model. So if, you know, you go deep and they go like, oh, well, he actually liked this porn star's tweet from 2018. And, you know, she was doing this. I'm like, yeah, she was raw with it.

• 44:43Channing Crowder?

  Hey, hey, hey, this X and XX.

• 44:45Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 44:46Channing Crowder?

  You know that one?

• 44:48Speaker 01

  My dog, my dog.

• 44:49Ryan Clark?

  Why you, why you use that one, Chang?

• 44:51Speaker 01

  Hey, it's, it's raw.

• 44:53Channing Crowder?

  It's quick, yeah.

• 44:54Speaker 01

  Exactly. And that blue screen is kind of seedy.

• 44:56Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, I like a little, yeah.

• 44:59Speaker 01

  It's giving like Windows 98.

• 45:01Channing Crowder?

  Standard definition. I don't want no high definition porn.

• 45:04Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 45:04Channing Crowder?

  I want that old school. A little bush.

• 45:07Speaker 01

  I like, I like this guy. I like this guy. So he freaky freaky.

• 45:11Channing Crowder?

  I'm getting freaky Fred, he's freaky freaky.

• 45:14Ryan Clark?

  He was, I think he was trying to talk your brother into going to a nudist colony with him, so.

• 45:18Speaker 01

  What?

• 45:19Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 45:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, what was that?

• 45:21Channing Crowder?

  The nudist colony.

• 45:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 45:23Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, well, it was the whole thing with, um, we had Kevin Hart on. And I explained to him that, yeah, me and my wife, we go to like a nudist resort.

• 45:29Speaker 01

  Okay, I watched this.

• 45:30Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, yeah. And you more than welcome to come.

• 45:32Speaker 01

  Nah, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good.

• 45:33Channing Crowder?

  Was it Pereira?

• 45:35Ryan Clark?

  Pereira?

• 45:35Channing Crowder?

  Yeah. You go out here, Pereira's ass?

• 45:38Speaker 01

  Pereira, oh Pereira.

• 45:40Channing Crowder?

  And then, man, we go over there, hang out, have a good time.

• 45:42Speaker 01

  Done, done, Tim, go get.

• 45:45Ryan Clark?

  Izzy, I think, you know, and we've got to cover a lot. When you lost to Yan, you know, it seemed like one of those things that, one, you took it extremely well, like you was talking to him. And, you know, you mentioned that it's not about the belt and you're not attaching yourself to undefeated records and those things. A move up to fight a champion that was bigger than you, that took you down and kind of laid on you for the last two rounds and losing that way. That's different than being the king of 185 pounds and fighting someone who has beat you, who for the first time, I think, in your UFC career, people are saying, okay, this is the one, this is the time. And we had Floyd on the show and Floyd's a good friend of the show.

• 46:30Ryan Clark?

  And I remember when people used to buy his pay-per-views, there were some that wanted to see him win, but most watched to see him fail. When you think about what you've become in the UFC, did you always expect to be this polarizing?

• 46:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, I always did, just because I know who I am. And I knew I wasn't going to sell out, I guess, my values or my essence, my way of being for a dollar or just to please people, you know? I did come from that background, living, you know, trying to fit in. I used to be a people pleaser, so as I got older as an adult, I had to like, just, I wouldn't say kill that side of myself or that young side of myself, but I had to show them love. And just be like, nah, that doesn't serve us anymore. So now, I just live me. If people don't like it, they don't like it. And I like the fact that people this fight, they're like, this is the one. Because they always say that. When I fought, let's go to Bronson. Oh, he's never fought a real wrestler.

• 47:29Speaker 01

  He's going to take him down and whip his ass. I fought Tavarez before that, was it before that? Yeah, oh, he's never, too soon. Top 10 guy already? Nah, too soon. Took care of him. So they always say that, and this time is again, I'm like, and that's why I say, I'm like, do you wanna watch me get knocked out, or you wanna watch him get knocked out? Tune in, buy the pay-per-view, you'll find out. But we got the check, my pops got the check like a week and a half ago. Second best, my bad. Oh, it was nice, it was nice. Oh no, was the Yan one the best? Yan was the best, yes. Second best, this is the second best, it was a nice check.

• 48:01Speaker 01

  This is gonna be the best one yet. I know this guy, I don't have to say shit. I've said less this whole, this whole, this is the most I've spoke about this fight, leading up to this, uh, this game, but um, yeah, the fight's already sold. I know what I'm bringing to the table. I know exactly what I have to do to keep, you know, being me. And yeah, I look forward to it, but I just want people to think whatever they wanna think, and just, cuz that sells. Same thing as Floyd, it's like, ah, we'll see.

• 48:31Fred Taylor?

  With that, man, you're a champ, bro, and you shout out your team, you've given everybody their flowers and their credit. You know, that's a lot of work, a lot of, you named a lot of people. We just play football.

• 48:43Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:44Fred Taylor?

  We go out, we train, we get it in, we got a financial guy, you know, maybe one other, maybe two other people in place to manage our lives, right? But you just named a million people. And you talk about the checks and your dad getting a check. How much input, you know, do you have? How much do you worry about all those outside things versus, you know, yourself getting ready for these fights? Do you put a lot of input on your, your management?

• 49:10Speaker 01

  Everything, the buck stops with me. I don't like, it does, the buck stops with me, like, nothing major happens without my final say-so. You know, I have people who are smarter than me, around me. People who are smarter in their field around me. So that way, I don't wanna end up as, cuz I've, I've watched, you know, the news and tabloids and whatnot for so long, and knock on wood, I still haven't ended up in TMZ for the wrong reasons. I go there voluntarily is the reason why. So um, yeah, I just have the right people around me, smart people around me to look after me. Even if you talk about, say, example, the money thing, my dad's a chartered accountant by trade.

• 49:52Speaker 01

  Who else on this planet is gonna have my best interest at heart? The UFC knows what I get paid, they don't know what I'm worth. My dad quadrupled my money, like crazy. So, and he wants the best for me authentically. I don't charge him, but I've semi-retired my mom. I've been trying to retire my dad, but he's still... My man, he's Nigerian, he like to work, he like to get, you know. Oh, also, they like to also, so, um... But yeah, I'm gonna retire him soon and just make him just work for the family, not me. But just put my little brothers, my little sisters on as well. And yeah, I just have the right people around me to make sure that I'm good. Izzy, you gotta ask your dad for money still? Me? Nah.

• 50:36Speaker 01

  No, if he got the money, like, I got finance... I got my own money, but trust me... But I got financial advisors too, and you be like, "Hey, you gotta shoot me fifty racks." I mean, I just grab myself. He asks me for money. No, no, it's not even that, no. Like, I bless my people. I bless my mom, my pops, I bless them so many ways because they've done so much for me. So, um, yeah, I feel like, they don't even have to ask, I just bless them all the time. Like, you see, with my car, my dad drives now, my mom drives. Um, the house they're building right now, you know, all that is just, look what they've done for me, you know? How long did it take for you to get really rich fighting? To be honest, I... It's subjective.

• 51:17Speaker 01

  Me and Mike even talked about this, cuz when I was in, when I came back from China, I made a lot of money, and then I was losing it because then the Chinese company I was fighting for didn't wanna give me any fights anymore. And then, shout to Engage, cuz they hooked me up. Um, Ash hooked me up like a spot before my UFC debut cuz I was running out of money. But the moment I realized I was rich was when I never had to go, "Yo, can you give me twenty dollars on number five, please?" I'll just fill my car up, and that's when I was, that's like my indicator to know, like, I'm good. So as long as I can fill my car up every time, I'm good. And I haven't had to ask for, you know, "Can I get fifty, just fifteen dollars?"

• 51:58Ryan Clark?

  This is the last question for me, man. Anybody that follows you understands, one, how great your gym is, City Kickboxing.

• 52:06Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 52:07Ryan Clark?

  Uh, Volk, Kai Kaur France, uh, obviously you.

• 52:13Ryan Clark?

  They have video of you watching Kai fight Brandon Marino. And then also video of you guys in the locker room. And you still telling him, like, just basically telling him that he's still worth everything he was worth before he walked out to the octagon that night. You know, we're in this big old house, man, and it's not just you here. Like, it's not just like, oh, this is Izzy's house. This is a family house. This is a team house. When you walk into the octagon, like you said, and they shut the gate and they put the latch on, like, you're in there by yourself, but I've watched. It's a team accomplishment.

• 52:47Speaker 01

  Yes, sir.

• 52:47Ryan Clark?

  What would this team accomplishment of beating Alex mean for all of y'all?

• 52:53Speaker 01

  To be honest, I'm not even putting it on him. It's just the accomplishments of where we are as a group. Because you have to realize, like, we're a team who wasn't government-funded. You know, the bureaucrats from NZ, they don't really fuck with us, to be honest. When Dan had to fight during COVID and they let all the other teams have their own quarantine spots, we had to sneak around and train. And they were constantly trying to shut our operation down. Journalists taking pictures sneakily. So it's not really about them. We're doing this for the people that support us, regardless if they're from New Zealand or from Australia, you know, Yugoslavia, wherever. But what it would mean for the team is just keeping what we already know. We're the best.

• 53:38Speaker 01

  We're still the best. I mean, it's subjective. You can say, oh, this. And there's one point, they had us as like the most winning team in the world in MMA. You know, yeah, that was when we burst onto the scene and just taking over everything. And we've taken some L since then, but I still feel like we're the best. Even Kai, I've told him this and I've said this on record, the way he attacked that last camp inspired me. I've been in the cold water every day, every day for this camp because I see what Kai did. I see the way he did it, the way he attacked it. It inspires me, you know. Volkanovski, the way he conducts himself now and he's starting to blossom as a champion. He's like, nah, it's like, New Zealand has this weird fucking, Australia even, like, of like being humble

• 54:21Speaker 01

  as like being subservient, like, oh, he's humble. But that's like, it's not really humility. It's just like you're trying to lowball yourself and sell yourself short to make other people feel comfortable. But like the fact that Volk right now is just like, nah. He's speaking his truth. He's still a, he's a, he's a real humble guy. True humility, not fake humility, true humility. But after his last fight, he's like, pretty much he was telling his kids, like, you know, get your shit together if you wanna strap or shut at the strap, you know? I like the fact he's speaking that way. He's speaking like a champion. So yeah, um, I take inspiration from everyone on this team. And I make sure I give them their flowers while they're here. I tell everyone, all my teammates. Uh, even, there'll be a moment I, I might be on the bike with,

• 55:02Speaker 01

  you know, Dan, and I just tell him like, you know, I think this about you, right, right, right, I respect you. And I give people their flowers while they're here, cause you know, as we know, you never know when you're gonna go, yeah.

• 55:13Ryan Clark?

  Man, listen, bro. I can't wait. Saturday night, Madison Square Garden, UFC.

• 55:19Speaker 01

  History rewritten, yeah.

• 55:22Ryan Clark?

  Listen, man, we wish you the best. Thank you so much for sitting down with me.

• 55:25Speaker 01

  This has been awesome, man. I like, this is the most comfortable interview I've had. Yeah, I wish all interviews could be like this, just so I'm like, ah, kick back, relax. So thank you, guys. I appreciate it. I want to ask you too. I know we wrapping up. Yeah. You watch football coming up? See, I don't have a chance to watch sports. I never really got that bug, even on Nigerian soccer was never my thing. Christian Okoye, Nigerian Nightmare. Nigerian Nightmare, Kamara, oh no, I know, I know him, yes. I've seen him. No, so I know, I don't follow sports, but I follow greatness. Okay. So there's certain guys I follow, even on Instagram, like example, um, who's one? Paul George, you know, I met him and he was a fan, so I follow him, cause I see he's doing great things. Um, who else? Uh, what's his name? Zion I was watching for a while, just cause I see greatness in people.

• 56:09Speaker 01

  LeBron James, I always watch this, cause he's great. He's a great. So I don't really follow sports, but certain individuals that are great, I just tap into them, cause I like to recognize greatness in them.

• 56:20Ryan Clark?

  Man, we appreciate you, dawg. That was dope, bruh. That was cool.

• 56:22Speaker 01

  Bless you. Thank you so much, brother. Appreciate you, guys. You gonna pick a four bounce?

• 56:26Ryan Clark?

  Hell yeah. I'm about to take one, I'm about to take one anyway.

• 56:28Speaker 01

  Why your ears ain't fucked up like everybody? Cause I go with genetics. Good genetics, yeah. That's what it is, because you see my dudes. The closest I got was this camp, I had a little burn behind the ear, but. But you don't got that, that cauliflower shit, yeah. Not me, I don't need it. I like, hey, I like earbuds.

• 56:46Ryan Clark?

  Is it, is it because you came from?

• 56:48Speaker 01

  Kickboxing, yeah.

• 56:48Ryan Clark?

  You understand what?

• 56:49Speaker 01

  If I did wrestling, maybe as a kid.

• 56:51Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 56:51Speaker 01

  Like a teenager at those years, maybe, but because I'm older now, it's just my ears just.

• 56:55Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 56:56Speaker 01

  I'm great with it, yeah, easy.

• 57:21Speaker 00

  Every game day, you show up for your team. Now, it's your time.

• 57:26Speaker 05

  We go V.

• 57:29Speaker 00

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