Transcript of BELIEVE YOU ME Podcast: 617: UFC Is Back!!! Ft. Paul Felder, Jiří Procházka & Merab Dvalishvili

Conceive, believe, achieve. Shut the fk up. You're listening to believe you me with Michael the Count Bisbing.

You know my name yet? And Anthony Lionhardt-Smith.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Paul. That's a very jazzy hat that you're wearing?

It's snowing here. It's a snow day for the kids. So out shoveling, doing fatherly things and making sure that the pavement is salted and no one sews me is what I've been doing today. So I found this hat and figured I'd rock it for a little bit.

Well, you look very good. You look very Eskimo-like. You look very warm and like a guy trying to survive winter. I would say I'm doing it today, but I'm not. You're not. 73 degrees here in California. We haven't seen a drop of rain. So no doubt everything's going to go up in flames at some point soon. The UK is freezing cold. Uk is cold. I mean, not as cold as where you are. What temperature are we talking, Paul?

We are probably around 30 degrees Fahrenheit.

So we're cold. The UK is in Celsius, minus 8, 13 in Scotland.

What is that in Fahrenheit? Any idea?

In the 20s, I'd say something like that. Yeah. I guess.

29 here, says Brian. So it's been anywhere from low. In the mornings, it's in the teens. It's like 15, 16 Fahrenheit, so super cold. And then as the sun comes up, it gets a little warmer. It doesn't get 73 like California, but we'll make do.

That's what happens when the sun comes up.

Things tend to warm up. It's amazing how that works, right?

Things are going to warm up this week.

The sun, as Bryce Mitchell would say.

Well, exactly. Things are warming up here because the UFC is finally back in our lives this week. We've got McKenzie Dern going up against Amanda Hibas. We have Yuri Prohaska joining the show in about 20 minutes or so. That's always fun. Of course, he's fine at 3:11. Marab Devalishvili will be jumping on the show at the end as well. So we have a stacked show for you today. Paul, what's going on in your life? Anything?

Just snow day and sitting in the house ready to get back on the road, to be honest with you, Michael.

I'm trying to find the notes.

Credit to the missus for being here more than I am, because when the two-year-old is screaming and the nine-year-old wants something from her and they're battling, my God, dude. Yeah, don't tell me about it. I'm starting to get the cabin fever. Now that it's snowing out, there's not much to do. You can't take them out and let them just play outside I'm starting to... I need a fight night, and I'm glad to... I'm not calling it, though. I'm not calling it this week.

I'm working the- Whoa, you're not calling it?

I'm working the pre-show and the post-show, so I'm working it. I'll be out there. But the first of the year, and it's not even the full Shabam. I was like, God.

Yeah, but it's a paycheck, Paul.

You get a pay. Yeah, and it's work. I know Vegas is a little cold, but it's still going to be an upgrade from here.

It will be. Does that mean Does that mean? Is it too early? Can we get predictions from Paul Felder? Just on the main event, I don't expect you to go deep because if you're like me, my research hasn't really begun yet. That'll be this afternoon and then all week. So if you ask me I got the first fight on the prelims, I got no idea.

I don't even know how to tell you. I wouldn't even know. I know that Christian Rodriguez is fighting that kid from Contender Series. That's really good. That's a fight I'm interested in. I'm going to forget his name right now, but he was like 15, 16 at all on the Contender Series. He got signed, obviously. Looked really good. And Christian is a kid I used to train with at Rufus Sport quite a bit. So that's a good one. I know that one.

I know that one. I've got the fight card in front of me. Mackenzie Dern versus Amanda Hibas. Co-main event, Santiago Pantenebiop versus Austin Harris. César Almeida, Abdul Razak Al-Hassan, Chris Curtis versus Roman Kapiloff, Kopiloff even. Punaheli Soriani versus Uros Mennik and the list goes on. Tiago Moises down there on the pre-limbs as well. So top to bottom, good to have some UFC back in our lives because I'm like you, Paul. I was tweeting about this yesterday. I tried to watch Man United versus Liverpool. I thought, I'm going to do it. I'm going to be a real guy. I'm going to watch a game. Four out my head. I tweeted about it 40 minutes in, nil, nil, nothing. Some beautiful passing of the bowl, though, I got to say.

Yeah, the footwork was fantastic, but not quite as much action. When you're used to watching people this fight day in and day out, researching that. We get numb to other sports. The Eagles played yesterday with all of our third string people in, basically, because we've already clenched. We're already in the playoffs. We are all set. So now we're facing in Green Bay in the first round, but we still pulled off the win, man. We pulled off the win with literally all of our backups in to keep all the starters safe.

Yes.

I was looking for a good Eagles hat. The one that I was wearing the last time we did the show, that poor thing is falling apart It looked rough, so I figured I'd bring a new hat onto the show.

Well, as Anthony will tell you, the believers love to send in what we call some bits and bobs. You never know, you might get a new Eagles hat in the mail from some random, psychopathic stalker. That would be But what's your sound?

Maybe I'll bring it to my house. I'll bring it to my house.

They'll show up. They'll show up. Harrington, how are you doing? But he jumped on the screen. Let's have a look.

Dude, I'm doing excellent. I'm a little disappointed that the Eagles sat Saquon Barkley and didn't get to break a record, but it is what it is.

Yeah. But Saquon would rather win the playoffs and the Super Bowl, obviously, than that record, I would think.

Yeah, listen, you're speaking a foreign language to me. Okay. Can we just keep it in? Well, they're not nerds. I would say real men, people that love to talk about sports, shoot the shit over a beer, talk about.

Honestly, I'm saying about as much as I know, I've talked to you guys about this before. I watch the games. I'm in. I know Saquan, obviously, I know some of the main starters, but it doesn't go beyond that for me. I'm not a fair weather. I'm with them all the time, but I'm a casual fan, I would say.

Okay, we'll start with... We'll talk about the main event this weekend. Harrington, you be ready to drop a non-MMA story on us in a minute. I think Yuri Prohaski is going to join us in about 20 minutes, so we'll probably get this in. Have you ever had a rematch, Paul? Because this weekend is a rematch, Hibas and Dern. First one was a 30-27 for Amanda Hebas. I watched it this morning. Just Mackenzie Dern, obviously, I think she'd only had two or three fights in the UFC. Oh, no, I think that was Amanda Hebas. And she just sharper striking, beat her to the punch, picked her apart, kept it on the feet for the most part. Now it's five years later. Both ladies will have improved, of course. But more importantly, the psychological aspect when you're going into a rematch. That's why I asked you, Paul, you ever had a rematch?

Yeah, I did with Edson Barboza. I fought him in my third UFC fight ever in Chicago, maybe the end of 2015 or 2016, I forget. But close fight, lost the first one. And then same with me, years A year later, I'd climb my way up into the rankings. Edson was still in the top 10, and I got to fight him in Abu Dhabi. Another one, super close fight, could have gone either way. I got that decision, though. But you're right. It was really hard for me, actually, psychologically, because he had beaten me, because I know what those kicks felt like. I knew how hard he hit, and then you got to prepare for it all over. The first time, there's some ignorance. Even if the guy's a scary fighter, if you haven't faced him already, you You just don't know. But once you've been in there before, and you obviously know all about that as well.

Yeah, but the first time as well, because this is what fighters do, you'll say, Yeah, Edson Barboza, he's great at kicking, but all of his opponents, they're not very good. They're not skilled. They don't know how to check a leg kick. They're not experienced on the feet. So you play it down, and that's what your coach is doing. That's what your teammates do. And then you get in there and you're like, Oh, shit. Oh, shit. I was wrong. He's pretty good. He's not bad. He's pretty nasty. Yeah, exactly. How did that end? Was it a decision in the rematch?

Yeah, it was a split decision the second time around and unanimous for him, the first one. All the judges gave me the first round. He won the last two rounds in the first one. And I think rightfully so. In the moment, I remember when I fought him the first time, it was one of those things I really thought I won the fight. When I watched it back, I was like, okay, I didn't do enough. He landed more strikes. He did a lot of damage at the end of the fight. I did damage in the first round, but not enough. The second one was the bloodbath.

I'm just going to look up your record there, Paul, because you just nonchalantly dropped in Edson Barboza. Of course, we know that you fought and beaten Charles Olive. That is two legendary Brazilians. Top of the last fight you had was Rafael dos Angeles as well. Again, another legend, a former champion. Paul Felder, the Brazilian killer on the sly. I'm trying to have a look at any others. No, that's it, right? They're the three Brazilians.

I fought Trinaldo as well, Francisco Trinaldo. Aceranduba in Brazil. God, that was when I had this whole eyebrow just like...

I think the first Brazilian I fought, because I remember when I first started on the regional scene in the UK, there was this mystique about Brazilian fighters. We're going back 2003, 2004. You know what I mean? And I was like, Shit, I don't know. I'm going to feel fighting a Brazilian that does ballet Tudor, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and all this shit because we didn't have a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt in the entirety of the country. You know what I mean? I was actually matched up to face in my second ever MMA fight, Hinato Babalou Sobral.

Oh, yeah. I remember him.

Somebody got injured, and then I ended up fighting Mark the Beast Epstein for the KDrange belt. I got very lucky there because I was in no way ready. I'd done three months of MMA training. I had no business stepping into a ring against Babaloo.

That would have been a rough early I would have been a rough early fight, man. That would have been a rough early fight, because he was nuts.

Yeah, he was a good man. Babel, he was the man back in the day. Obviously, speaking of Brazilians, this weekend, it is two Brazilians. Mackenzie Dern, trained with Jason Perillo, for quite some time, improved the hands, left Perillo for a little bit and when I did her own thing. I think when she fought Jessica Andrade, Joe Rogan spoke about it on commentary and said that her striking had actually regressed. She's linked back up with Jason now, Because you got to think predominantly this fight, again, will probably play out on the feet. Yes, I think Mackenzie is going to try and take it down. Mackenzie is really tough. She's got a great gas tank. She's got a heart, she's got a chin, but she's going to have to clean things up on the feet if she's going to get the job done.

Yeah, I agree. That was always her problem. Even when she was getting better, it's still pretty limited in what she throws. You know what I mean? Clearly, she's aggressive, she's tough, She's shown that time and time again every time she fights, but it's just usually a couple of punches and she leaps in and lunges. So hopefully, being back with Perillo, she can sharpen that up a little bit. It doesn't have to be over complicated. I feel like some of these fighters that aren't natural strikers, they didn't grow up striking. They overcomplicated a little bit. If you can get a good job going and then set up your takedowns, I think that's also a problem for Mackenzie Dernis. Obviously, she's unbelievable once she gets the fight to the mat, but I think she a little trouble in the transitions. And if you have good boxing, that's all you really need to be able to get that a little bit more seamless to get to a double leg, to get to a single leg. Because you see some of these female fighters that don't have the wrestling background, but great jiu-jitsu, they I'm struggling in that medium zone where you've got to get in close.

They end up diving out, and as the fight progresses, you get tired. So we'll see. And Hibas, not easy to take down. She's also a pretty good grappler.

Last time we saw her, she went up against Rose Namaunis, went five rounds, lost her decision, but gave a good account of herself. With all that said, Paul Felder, the Irish dragon, the dare stalker hat wearer. What is the prediction? Let me know which way we're going to go. Harrington, let me know what you think as well. I'm calling the fight so I can't say shit.

I know. I love being in that spot. I love that- It's great. It's the best. I can't say it.

Because the thing is, I don't care. I don't care, right? Giving a prediction. I don't really But as we know, people like Jamal Hill and other fighters and myself, I was the same back in the day. We are sensitive bastard, okay? And we get all bent out of shape and they're like, Oh, really? Well, I'll have a word with Bisping when I see him. You're going to piss off one of these ladies right now, Paul. They're ever going to speak to you ever again. Is it going to be Mackenzie Dern? Is it going to be Amanda Hibas? Who gets the hand raised on Saturday night?

I, at this moment, At this moment. At this moment, I'm leaning towards Amanda Hibas. I just think she's a bit more of a versatile striker on the feet, uses more weapons, coming off that five-round fight with Rose. She's got a lot of experience with other good strikers and people that are well-rounded. I just think she's got more tools. I think if it gets to the ground, she's smart enough and good enough with her defense and tough enough, which she's shown to be able to avoid any crazy submission. So I'm going Amanda Hibas again, probably by decision.

Yeah, I don't think she's going to finish Mackenzie Dern if she does win the fight.

She's tough. Mackenzie's tough, man. When Mackenzie Derm for Angela Hill.

And granted Angela is a veteran, and she has some ups and downs, and she always shows up, but she struggled against the absolute elite of the division. But my God, my God, Mackenzie Dern went out there and put a beating on her. All right, This episode is sponsored by Rocket Money. And let me tell you right now, Rocket Money, you need this in your life because we all sign up to these subscriptions, whether it's an app, it's a gym, it's a streaming service. There's so much stuff that you sign up to online these days, and you don't know. You lose track about it, okay? So I signed up to Rocket Money, and I could not believe what I saw. There was about 40 odd subscriptions that I had no idea of, right? I had three subscriptions or two subscriptions to Amazon Prime. I had four or five to other companies. There was multiple gyms. There was all kinds of stuff. There was a couple of companies that I didn't even know what they were. I was truly astounded when I saw it. So Rocket Money, they make it super simple. For example, you see all your subscriptions in one place.

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Rocketmoney. Com/believe. Harrington, join the show, please, and give us your prediction before we move on and get a non-MMA story from me before we get into all the stuff because there's a lot of stuff to talk about. But Harrington, what do you think? Because by the way, if you don't know this, Harrington does a little thing where he's going to turn people into millionaires if they follow his pics. That's what he did last year. Did anyone become a millionaire, Harrington? I mean, he's doing great.

Me personally, great year for me. Anybody who followed We'll try again this year. I'm going to say... Look, I don't know, man. I'm going to say Mackenzie Dern. She's coming off a win off of Lubigo Dina's Rebus coming off of the loss to Nama Younes. For me, it's like, I don't know. It's just that simple. One person is on an upswing, the other person is on a downswing. I like a lot of the improvements Mackenzie's made. Mackenzie being back with Jason, I think, is incredible for her. I mean, You saw how much she grew leaps and bounds. She built herself into somebody who was in that title picture, a bumpy road after she left Perillo. But it's like, I don't know, man, I literally sat next to him in MSG while she was fighting Jessica Andrade, and Perillo was calling like, now I got to get the hand up there. He could have coached her maybe to a win in that fight. So it's like, I have no reason to believe that the Dern and Perillo combination will not continue to be a winner. I'm also continuing to get you Dern.

And I'll tell you this. She has my number.

We'll get her on the show. We'll get her on the show next week. Although next week I'm going to be in Colombia. I'm stem selling. Before Yuri Prohasca jumps on, we got to talk about this. Matt Hamel, of course, was on the ultimate fight to season 3 with myself. We had a rivalry. We ended up fighting. We had a really close fight. I was lucky to get a decision. I acted like a prick afterwards. He went on a good career, fought John Jones, beat John Jones, is the only person to beat John Jones, beat Cedar Ortiz, I believe, had a fight with Quintin Rampage Jackson. So he fought some really tough opposition along the way. Anyway, the point of the story is, and everyone's probably seen this by now, for the first time ever, he can hear because of some super advanced hearing aid. Now, he said he can hear the sound of footsteps. He can hear the sound of his children and his mother and just everything that we take for granted. Just what a beautiful thing. I mean, it's amazing what technology is doing for people, but I could not be happier for Matt Hamel.

I was going to reach out I said, should we get... I said to my wife, I said, I might ask him to come on the podcast. And she's like, I think it's a bit early for that yet, Michael.

Let the man figure this technology out before he tries to jump on a podcast. He's muted, Matt.

Anyway, we're not making jokes. We're not making jokes. Yeah, I'm so happy for him.

Yeah. Any time I've seen those videos, you ever see the videos of the little kids that get those types of hearing aids or get glasses for the first time and they can actually see their mom and their dad and stuff like that. It will definitely bring some tears to your eyes to see that. I don't know if I get that same effect from Matt Hamill, but my God, He's got to be what in his 40s now and just now being able to hear for the first time?

Yeah, I'm 45. He's going to be 46, 47, maybe. I don't know, something around that, I would say.

That's incredible.

Those videos that you're talking about. They've made me cry. I have a little tear of my eye, I wipe it away on the slide so Rebecca doesn't see it. They are amazing. And listen, you see a lot of bullshit on social media, of course, but you see some nice stuff as well, some That's whole-hearted, heart-warming stuff.

Yeah, stuff like that. And a lot of dog stuff for me is the stuff that makes me either laugh or... He's 48. The first time he's heard in 41 years, that's That's incredible.

So if it's the first time he heard in 41 years, what happened in the first seven?

I guess when he was super young, it might have been declining. You know what I mean? A lot of times kids are born and there's obviously an issue and a birth defect that only he It's going to get worse as they get older. And I imagine that he probably had limited hearing when he was young, and the doctors probably knew as he gets older, he's going to eventually lose his hearing completely.

Yeah. Well, anyway, I just want to say because we were rivals and And that was only because he was so good. He was so good. His wrestling was ridiculous, and he was one of the strongest people ever. So it was just because I knew the biggest threat I had to not win in this show was him. Do you know what I mean? So I didn't like him. It was just that competitive rivalry.

Yeah, that's natural, man. You guys were living in the same damn house, too, all the time.

Yeah. So anyway, I'm very happy. We were talking a second ago about seeing a lot of heartwarming stuff. What What we also see if you go on Twitter is a lot of negativity. I even saw Laura Sanko. Did you see her tweet yesterday?

No.

She said, I don't come on here very often. I don't go on X. It's full of depravity and sadness and this and that and negativity and people making things up that aren't true and stuff like that. And I totally get a point. Anyway, Harrington, jump on. Elon Musk, I believe, is changing the algorithm to reward more positivity. Is that correct?

Yes. So what Elon said is what he sees is a a lot of people spending more time on the platform engaging with stuff that they don't like. He says, Our goal is to maximize unregretted user seconds. Too much negativity is being pushed that technically grows user time, but not unregretted user time. So they're going to be making some changes to promote more informational/entertaining content with a spin towards positivity. The more uplifting it is, the better.

Well, I think the thing is because the monetized eggs, I don't think anyone's going to get rich from it, far from it. I signed up for it. I've got a couple of $17 checks. I don't think anyone's making a fortune. But excuse me. I think what people do, though, the more wild and crazy the stuff is that they tweet, the more it gets shared and the more it gets talked about. Like Sean Strickland, the stuff that he comes out with, of course, that's going to create engagement.

Yeah. So now I see what you're saying. So And now they're trying to change it so that people will get more views based on things that are interesting and more entertaining as opposed to just creating arguments. Brian, is that where you're jumping?

Yeah, they essentially started a social credit score on Twitter. So you can now ask Grok for your social score, and it'll let you know how much your post will be throttled or pushed.

Brian, what is Grok? I see a lot of talk about it. Yeah, me too. I see a lot of talking about it. I see you're not talking about it. I'm not going to go and investigate Grok, but is it like the AI?

Yeah, if you pay for Twitter, it's their ChatGPT.

Is it good?

I haven't used it. I don't pay for Twitter.

Sorry, I just swallowed a lemon pip. What was he going to say? I saw Twitter last night, I was led in bed, and my wife was like, Why are you watching this? It was footage of a Ukrainian and a Russian soldier. And one of them, I don't know which one it was. The knife fight?

The knife fight. That shit was so brutal.

It was crazy. And the guy's on top of him. And they're fighting to the death. And the guy kills him. Well, he doesn't kill him, he gives him a fatal wound, slices his throat open. And the guy's on his back going, please get off me. Let me die. You've caught me. I'm going to die. And then the guy's like, okay. He's like, just let me die in peace. And the guy was out. And they were talking. It was like a scene from a movie.

And the guy was I know.

I know. But he's like, just let me die in peace, please. And he said, okay. And he's like, you're the best and stuff. And I'm sitting there watching it because it is fascinating. You know what I mean? For the wrong reasons, it's mind-blowing. And Rebecca is like, what are you doing? Why are you watching that? And I'm like, well, it's compelling viewing.

Yeah. We're intrigued by sanctioned boxing and kickboxing and MMA fights. So you'd imagine when you a real battle, two soldiers actually fighting for their lives. You don't think you want to see, but once you start watching something like that, you're almost like, I got to see how this plays out. Who's filming that, though?

Well, I think it was from a satellite.

Okay. I was going to say, he's sitting there going...

Exactly. It's your boy.

I saw a body cam.

Yeah, well, I saw it like it was an overhead thing and it had Like a cross in the middle. I don't know. I forget what you call it, like a target thing.

Yeah.

Brian saw the body cam. Anyway, I had a nice segue there, but I forgot. Oh, yeah. No, what you're saying. Same thing on Twitter, you see all these people standing around filming five people in one having the shit kicked out of them. What are you doing? Be a decent human being.

That shit, this is me off. You see it all the time. You see phones before you see somebody even calling for help. They got to film it. It's like, first thing you should be doing One is if something really dangerous is going on and you don't feel like you can help, at least get on your phone and call 911, call the cops, call something. But instead, especially young people are more interested in getting the clip of it. I saw a cool picture, too. It was around New Year's, and it was New Year's, obviously, 2019 turning 2020. It was Times Square, and it was that versus 2024 when the ball is getting ready to drop. All you can see in 2024 is everyone doing this. In 2020, even though we had it, we weren't quite as dependent on cell phones, and we had a lot of crappier ones that didn't have as good of a camera. Man, that's all you saw. I'm not good at social media, but mainly because sometimes when I'm out and there's something I should be filming or could be filming that could get some potential feedback on social media. Sometimes I'm still a little too old school, unfortunately.

I'm there. I'm a part of it as opposed to being like, oh, I do have to get better, though. It's 2024.

You have to. By the way, ladies and gentlemen, in case anyone's saying this is supposed to be an MMA show, we're just shooting the shit for a minute because Jury Prohasker is joining any second now. Yeah, you're right. It's like when you see them... I don't know. Who goes back and watches that stuff? Nobody. Nobody When you watch it, you see them, you got to Disneyland with the children for the first time ever, and you're filming the fireworks. Well, I see people filming the fireworks or whatever it is. You're not going to watch that back. Or when you do watch it back, no one's interested. Nobody wants to see. Nobody cares. Nobody cares. Sit there, be present. Enjoy the moment. Be nice. Put your arm around your wife. Hug your kid. Enjoy it. Put that goddamn phone away. All right. If body order is a problem that you're concerned about, then guess what? You are in love because this episode is sponsored by mando. Com. It will have you smelling a zero out of 10. What am I talking about? Well, first of all, the average man's grundle odor level is about a five out of 10.

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Well, you were talking about UFC 311 there for a second. I think this is a pretty good one. Arman Sarukian says that he's not 100% invested in MMA at the moment. He's actually training in the mountains of Russia rather than his normal home gym, which is ATT. He says this fight will be a test to see if someone who is, in fact, not 100% committed to the sport can become a world champion.

Yeah, I saw that Omen obviously did some podcast, and there's a lot of clips come from it. He was talking about he pulled up in a phantom next to Dana White or something, and Dana was like, What the hell? And he was in a private But Jay and this and that, because he comes from a very wealthy family, and good for him. God bless him. Saying that, I don't believe him. I don't believe that Orman is not fully invested in this, because when you see him and you see the skill that he has and you see the gas tank and you see what he's capable of. That looks like a pretty committed guy.

When I saw that, too, before we started the show, I was like, This is the guy that every time I've seen him, he's just all about it, all about getting back to that fight. This fight that he's waiting to have right now has been the story and been his goal ever since he débuted against Islam back in Russia years and years ago. And it's like, how are you not fully invested? And did he mention what other things are you that driven about right now other than you're on the cusp of potentially becoming the UFC lightweight champion? That blew my mind because this is a guy that I thought was, like you said, nothing but committed Every time I watch his social or YouTube stuff, he's all over the place training and getting different looks. So that threw me through a loop.

Yeah, but I'll tell you what, if there is a little bit of truth to that, if there is a little bit of truth, he loses to Islam Makhachev. Because there's one guy that is committed. There is one guy that pushes himself, and that's Islams. In fact, that whole team, to Eagle MMA, Mahajkala Daghistan, they're monsters. That's That's all they do. They live and breathe the sport of mixed martial arts or wrestling or whatever it is. They are training pretty much 24/7. Obviously, they're Muslim, so they're not out drinking, they're not partying, they're not having late nights. They live and breathe this shit. And I'm not sure what Arman's background is. He's Romanian, isn't he? So he's not Muslim, but I don't buy that. As you said, that's all he's ever wanted. That's all he talks about. And now you finally got it and you're going to say, I'm not that invested in this shit, really.

I wonder if it's a head game. Yeah, just a bit of mental warfare and get Islam thinking that you're not fully into it. I don't know. I don't think it's going to matter. Islam is not the guy that you can try to play those mental warfare games with saying, I'm not in it. Maybe get him overconfident and go in there and make a mistake. That team, Eagle MMA and Habiba, I think they'll be ready for anything. Let me ask you this. Yeah.

And Orman, if you're watching this, this is a question, right? Don't do a Jamal Hill. This is a podcast, okay? No, but you know what I'm saying? Don't take everything we say, literally, right? I'm not saying this is the case, but going up against Azam Makhachev. He's on a crazy roll. He's coming close to catching up with George St. Pierre for the unbeaten streak. I think he's 113 fights in a row now. He's taking out people. He's the champion. He's defending the belt. Is Arman Saurukium laying an insurance policy, setting the little excuses, giving himself, saying, Look, listen, guys, I'm not even that fully invested in this because I do this for fun. It's great, but I don't need it. I've got a Rolls-Royce phantom. Now, I'm just saying subconsciously, that could be true. I'm not saying it is I've got a lot of respect for Arman Saurukium. I think he's a phenomenal fighter, but it's a good conversation to have. There's my insurance His policy.

Yeah. And like you said, he might not even realize that that's what he's doing by saying that. But I mean, that's how we all take it as the audience and the people viewing this. You start saying that you're not fully invested in getting to this spot, into becoming champion over the guy that beat you way back in your debut. I mean, it's the best story. The guy that you debut against on short notice, you give him a run for your money. One of the scarier guys in the division, even back then, and now here you are with an opportunity to fight him for the belt in LA in a new stadium, all this stuff. And now you're not all that into it.

And I think he lives in Glendale, or he trains out of Glendale. He's 28 years old. I was just looking up his age. He's only 28 years old. He's had an incredible run. The only two people to beat him in the UFC, of course, Islam and Mataj Gamrock, which was a phenomenal fight with Mataj. I don't know. I don't buy it. I always talk about this, and Paul, you know this, and maybe you can elaborate. People don't understand it the more I talk about it. The mental side of the fight game is the biggest. We can all be strong. We can all be aggressive. We can all be talented at kickboxing. We could all go and learn jiu-jitsu and apply ourselves. But the mental side of things is what can win you or lose you the fight before it even takes place. Having the confidence to push yourself, having the confidence to believe in yourself. It's like Luke Rockhols famously said, I'm a Samurai. I I believe in these things. But he was right, though. I took the piss, but he was absolutely right in what he said.

Yeah, it is critical, especially on fight night, the stress, the waiting, especially when you're the main event and fighting for a championship, you sit in the back, everybody's got to go out there, you see everything happen, and you've got to still stay focused and confident. And those moments is when all that doubt tries to creep in, tries to get in your head, starts to think, Oh, you didn't do this. It goes through all the checklist of things that maybe you could have done in preparation for this. To be saying already those things, you're not putting yourself in. Even if it was true, just to say it out loud, I think, does show a bit of weakness in his preparation mentally more than anything, because physically, you look at the kid, he's always in phenomenal shape. He's super flexible, too. Have you ever seen any of those videos where he's on the machine twisting his back?

I have seen that exact one where he's rotating I'm waiting like crazy.

Oh, my God. That would have shattered your back into a thousand pieces doing that same move right there.

Bro, I'm going to bio-accelerate to Medai in Colombia at the weekend. I'm coming back a new man, okay?

You're going to look like Serukian when you come back.

I'm on my way there already. Hey, bro.

Make sure you bring back some souvenirs from Colombia for the rest of us.

What do you want? Some marching powder?

Yeah, we'll figure it out.

What was he going to say there? Harrington, just look up real quick for me. What were the words that he said? Because he said that Dana was pulled up next to him in a car. He had some quote what he said on the podcast. But speaking of Arman and speaking of the longest winning streaks, Jon Jones has the record at 19 fight win streak. Anderson Silva next at 16, and Islam Maka We have 14 fights in a row. It's pretty good. Don't play the clip, Brian Harrington. Just put it in the chat because it's not English. It's not English. Just see if you can interpret it. I think he said something like he was driving in his Phantom and then Dana and Hunter pulled up and he made the point of saying in a regular BMW. And I was like, bullshit, Dana and Hunter, they are rolling around in regular BMWs. You know what I mean? They're not in a three series. That's for damn sure.

Yeah, they're rolling around in the best. There's no doubt about that. I saw a little bit of that clip when he pulled up and Dana got out of the car and he's like, What are you doing, son?

I have it here. Dana and Hunter went for a drive after dinner. He said, Yeah, they jumped into a regular BMW W, and they rolled out. He said his driver drove up alongside them in a phantom and they waved to the driver. Then Arman put his window down and they were like, Yo, what are you doing back there? And they said, I know you got in a fight at UFC 300, but is there something we don't know about the payout? Or is there something we don't know how much we paid you for the fight at UFC 300?

Harrington, give us an MMA story. Sorry, give us an MMA story We please. In fact, I'll pick one from the list. Let's have a look what we got. So what do you think? Colby Covington says he wants to go up to middleweight. I don't know about that. Arma says he's not interested. Should we talk about the GFL, the Global Fight League? Do you know about this? Have you seen this stuff? How would you be ready with some stats, some figures, some names, some info.

It seems like everybody's getting signed up for this.

They got some big names. It's crazy. They got Page Van Zandt, they got Wandala Silver.

Hey, I think Pettus might be on there. Velasquez is being brought on as, I don't know if he's a fighter or as a mentor or coach or something.

He's a coach, I believe.

So are they doing it like the old days when we had-IFL? Was it IFL? Is that what they're going for? Like an IFL team thing?

Yeah, Harrington, if you've got the information, I'll jump on and share, but it's going to be like the IFL. I think they're going to have drafting and stuff like that. You get certain points for winning, and it's like a team thing. They tried it with the IFL. It was a novel thing. It didn't really work. I don't think that setup is applicable.

It's tough. Team anything for- It's not a team sport.

It's a singular mano a mano or woman versus woman, one against one. Who's the best? Let's go. It's not a team situation, but, Harrington, what you got?

So, yeah, there is nine former UFC champions who they claim to have signed so far, as well as some big names like Gagar Musasi, Hector Lombard, Kyle Daukis, Luke Rockhold is signed on with them.

Daukis got on?

Yeah, Daukis got over there. Greg Hardy, Junior Dos Santos, Alexander Gustoveson, to name a few. And the idea is they want to treat it like a regular sports league. So the concept would be 50 % like how the NFL, NBA, all All of those weeks, they have a 50-50 revenue share, about, right? Some are 55, some are 40, whatever the case may be. But the idea is they want whatever money comes in to half of it to be redistributed back to the athletes. The issue is they don't have any dates, nothing planned yet, no venue signed. And what people are claiming is that all of these quote unquote signings are just them building a roster to then go and fish for investment to get this thing actually off the a la the Affliction Model.

That's exactly what I was going to say because messing around in the acting world, it's always the same shit. A lot of the stuff that I even talk about, it's going to be an independent thing. And someone comes out and they talk to you and the mage is like, Mike, they just want to attach a few people. And then when they've got a few people attached, then they go and try and get the money. So we've got this actor, we got that actor, this actor. So it's the same thing because who's the money Me, behind it, Harrington? Who's spearheading this movement? Do they have experience in the fight world? Do they have respect in the fight world? Because look, listen, I'm very happy for all these guys, I hope. I saw on Twitter, apparently one guy signed a contract for $1.4 million for his fight. Apparently, that's all well and good.

Having a contract- That doesn't exist. We can say we're going to give you that.

Do you actually get to fight? Do you actually get to cash that check? That's a very, very Very different thing. Listen, it's all well and good. These are names that we all know, so there will be some nostalgia added to it. I mean, Vandele Silver is a bloody legend for crying out loud. But they're past it.

I was just going to say that, too. I was going to say who on that list is under 35 years old?

I'm not saying they're all past it, and they can provide some entertainment for sure.

But it's not the young, up and coming, title contending type athletes, right? You're getting a lot of the guys. If we know them and have name value and they're no longer under big contracts, that's, again, like you said, not that they're not fantastic, but it probably means they're at the tail end of it, right? Where they were former champions in the UFC years ago at this point. And listen, I'm here for it. I'm all about other league, especially for this one, with at least a different concept, because I think that's where a lot of these other league fail. They try to do what the UFC does. We do it best. We just do. They're the best at putting on the shows the way we put on shows and running in the business. If you want to compete and have something different, you've got to do something different so that people can still watch UFC and the top athletes. And then if we have this on the side and it's a cool fight league with teams and things like that. But again, it's been tried before and there's a lot of money being talked about. But like Harrington said, where maybe they're just using it to fish for the bankroll, that doesn't It doesn't exist yet.

But I don't know.

And I think everyone sees the UFC, right? And this is a weird thing any time we talk about it because we both work for the company, of course. It's a global sensation. It's one of the most valuable sports enterprises on the planet, right? What they've achieved. Here's Yuri. Here's Yuri. He sent me a message.

Hey, Mike. Sorry, man. I forgot because I had a training here in PI. And give me, please, Give me please 50 minutes and I'll be there.

Easy. All right, well, there we go. So Yuri is coming. He's working hard. It's almost like he's got a big fight with Jamal Hill around the corner next week.

Right around the corner, man. Pay-per-view around the corner, fight night this weekend. Let's go.

What do you think about that fight between Jamal and Yuri?

Well, first off, I love it. Those guys are savages. Jamal has just got knockout power, and he's so I don't mean this in a bad way towards him, but he's so bitter with the way that things have gone recently. But you know what I mean? That you can't help but think that he knows he wants to go make a statement. He knows he wants to go out there and shut up because he's been vocal. Anytime people talk trash to him on social media, he'll come back at you. He'll do an interview about it. He's vocal about his feelings towards things. You know when he's He's going to go out there, he wants to just shove it in the faces of all the haters because if you look at social media, everyone comes out of the woodwork against him, just talking shit constantly. And then Yuri is a shit Samurai. So that's all that needs to be said about that guy. It's going to be fun. I don't know who's going to win. I really don't, Michael.

I don't know. I'm at the gym this morning. I'm doing my warm up, the Star Master 20 minutes because I pulled my calf last year. Now, the first of January, I'm on the bag in the I'm like, Oh, my God, I'm feeling good. I'm doing spinning back.

Yeah, I'm ready to come back.

Hold my cough like a dickhead. And then it was getting better. And then I re-heard it again yesterday. So I'm plodding along on the Stairmaster this morning. Little tip, you want the time to go quick? Watch YouTube videos. Don't listen to music. Watch some YouTube videos before you know it, 10 minutes has passed. Anyway, I'm watching an interview with Jamal with what's his name? James Lynch. Have you seen his stuff?

Yeah. Yeah, I know James.

James is really good at what he does by the way. So I'm watching them two having an interview, and James said to him, So what's the plan with you? Is there anything particular that you got to take into consideration given his style and the way that he operates and stuff like that? He's like, No, it's just business as usual. I just do my I think. I couldn't care less what they're going to do. And I was like, Well, yeah, you have got to fight your fight. Of course you do. But you've also got to look at what the threat that your opponent brings. Yuri is unique in many ways. He's very awkward, unique, powerful, aggressive, is in your face, massively unpredictable, ridiculously experienced. Jamal did say some he doesn't believe that Yuri's chin will be marginalized because of the two knockouts to Alex Pereira. And I agreed with what he said there. He said, Unless you get really badly knocked out, I thought he was going to say bisping against Henderson, but he didn't. I thought he was going to say that. He said, But unless you get sparked out where you're unconscious for minutes, he said he doesn't think that that really affects your chin in general.

What do you think about that?

I don't know if it works that way. Do you know what I mean? I think sometimes it can actually be the opposite. I'm not trying to just play in devil's advocate, but they say that the trauma really comes from the-Devils Avocado.

On this show, anytime you want to say devil's advocate, you got to say devil's avocado.Devil's.

Avocado.it's an old one. I'll play devil's avocado. I think the accumulation of shots, and if you don't go out... I mean, obviously, if you get knocked out cold, it's doing some damage to us for some reason. But accumulation of shots is what really, I think, over time takes your chin away. There he is.

Mama, how are we doing champ?

Yeah, sorry for a delay, but I have a training, so Of course.

Well, thank you for your time, Yuri. I really appreciate it. I know you got a massive fight coming up next week. Jamal Hill, what do you think about this fight? Obviously, he's upsetting a lot of people online at the moment. You guys have a similar opponent with Alex Pereira. You both fought him last. What do you think about this matchup? How do you feel about Jamal in general?

In general, I think he's a guy he can catch the people with the punches. With Glover, he showed very good cardio and very good insurance in a fight, how to catch the and how to endure till the fifth round. But like I said, there is a few things when I see the space, how to catch him. And also, he said the same. So I think this fight will be how we handle that here. Yeah, that will be about that.

Yeah.

Yri, in terms of how Jamal still seems to be mentally really focused and so concerned about the Alex Pareda fight, how does that make you feel as his opponent? Do you feel at all that you're being disrespected or overlooked when he's still going up to Alex in the PI and starting drama? How How do you take all that?

I don't care about that, really. I don't care about that. Like today's morning training, I had a strength training here in PI. Jamal has two in the same room. We had a strength training, but I don't care what he's doing, what he's saying right now, because I don't know him personally. I really don't care what he's doing, how is his preparation looking. I just want to see him in a fight day and show my best performance to be strongest mentally, physically on the weighting and in a fight day. That's all what I want. No other focus for So any other things. So that's it.

None of that other bullshit is important at the end of the day, let's be honest. Let me ask you a question, Yuri. You walk up to Alex Pereira in a gym, you're talking to him. He throws a pair of gloves at your feet. What do you do?

Let's fight.

Yuri, you're a very interesting, awesome martial artist of a guy, and you've always intrigued a lot of fans with some of the stuff that you do outside of the octagon, whether it be meditation, whether it be physical things that you challenge yourself just to prove your mental toughness to yourself to get ready. Is there been anything interesting or unique that you've done in this camp in preparation for Jamal Hill, something that would be fun for the fans that like to follow your journey?

I don't want to speak about what I did have to do to make this camp successful. But what I want to say, everybody knows that I had a camp in Japan, beautiful camp, amazing camp, visiting beautiful places, trained with big masters, the biggest masters of karate, made a black belt in Kyukushin Karate, visited the beautiful... Visited the beautiful places and trained on the really strong places in Japan. Then in Mexico City, climbed the popo at the back of the mountain, the volcano, final, then another one. There is a many things what I did, but this is all a part of the preparation, what I have to you because this is about that one thing. This is about to be the strongest man. It's really simple. If you know the principle of how to get the true power from the nature, from the people, from your opponent, from experiences, then you just have to challenge yourself everywhere. Sometimes it's really stupid, sometimes it's really Really weird. Sometimes it's really numb. But this is all about. This is all about because we choose that to be the fighter to be the strongest persons on this planet. So this is all about.

See, this is why I love talking to you, Yuri, and this is why I truly believe you are unique in this sport. Of course, we're all martial artists. We train in martial arts. We do wrestling and jiu-jitsu, and kick-boxing and things like that. But I feel like a lot of people do the physical side of martial arts, but they don't go down the same spiritual journey, that side of martial arts like you do. Do you feel like a lot of the UFC roster and a lot of fighters all around the world because mixed martial arts as a sport is very big. Do you feel there is a little bit lacking on the spiritual side?

Oh, man. And the spiritual side is the same like the personal side of the life of each other's person. Because the spiritual thing is nothing else, just our inner state of our mind, of how we can embrace our inner space. And this is what it's about. And for me, right now, I was there so long, so I totally forgot to be a normal man, to have a girl, to To have a child, because this is the thing for me right now, what is really What is really on the place right now, most important. Because if you want to be a strong guy, you have to be not just in a one part, this really strong guy, a strong man, but you have to evolve in every part. To be a good person, to be a spiritual man, to be a physically good man, to be a mentally strong man. And the life will make you really strong. If you ask for the strength for a discipline, the God will give you these opportunities to prove you how discipline can you be in the hardest moments.

What's more important to you, Yuri, is it... Because a lot of people, they go on this journey for money, right? But what's important to you? I feel like What is different for you. Is it about being the best martial artist? Is it about being the champion? Or is it about securing financial freedom? What's more important to you?

These values, what we are fighting for is for every fighter different. Some guys, they The money is really important for them because they feel like they need to make a money to give them for your family, for the family, or I can't speak for another people, but for me, they have to be, and it's necessary on the first place, the God. Everyone can choose whatever is for him the most important What is the God for him? What is the most important? Where to give the focus? If you have to fight till death, till the victory and... How to say? To give To give whatever to take a win, sacrifice. This is the right moment. If you have to sacrifice whatever, if you have to sacrifice yourself. For what? For money, for victory, for... For me is a simple. This is the God. And behind the word God, every spiritual learn will show you the Behind the word God, there is the word I, every one of each us. So we are looking for the truest, the strongest ourselves. That's all. So we have to sacrifice ourselves to find ourselves in the purest form. That's some big words, Jire.

No No money. There's no prize for that. There is no such a big thing, what you can give to win yourself in the purest form. That's all.

I love it. I don't know about you, Paul, but I could speak to you all day, Jury, because you're a very, very deep thinker. You're a unique guy. Let me ask, what makes you smile? Because you're very intent.

I'm not saying I'm not telling you that because I want to be interested or I want to be... This is the... No, I'm not. I'm just honest. This is just honest. And that's why people love to watch the sport, because the sports, every sportman, every athlete, and especially the fighters who's fighting, who have to show the truest form of themselves, the strongest form of themselves. This is the purest form of our self, and we have to show this to the world because this world is a little bit crazy.

My man, you're messing with the jury. You froze up for the longest time, brother.

Sorry. Catching the signal.

No, do not be sorry.

Here is the best signal.

Yeah. No, thank you. Don't be Sorry, Yuri. We really, really appreciate your time. Where were we? What were we talking about? You were talking about God and behind every meaning of God, there's an I and all the rest of it. And it was very deep stuff. And just while you jumped off, I was saying to Paul, we've got to remember that English is not even your first language. And I would love to speak to you in your native language because I'm sure there's a lot more to it. But what makes you smile, Yuri? What puts a smile on that face What makes you happy?

Man, right now, I'm in a part of life in this in the cycle of life where I don't care what makes me happy. I don't care What's there? What's about the material things, what was the best and who's the best, who's around me. I just know I need to work. I need to hard work and I need to overcome myself and show the best performance to the world, to myself, to the world, and to be the best version of myself because this is what I really want inside myself, and that make me smile.

And Yuri, you have a very fun style, a very unique style. We were talking about it earlier before you came on. You're a guy, you talk about going to Japan, you talk about going to Mexico City and seeking out all these places and training in the environment that you feel you almost gain some energy from. We hear a lot of martial artists nowadays talk about this team and that team, but you seem to be a guy that has your own schedule, do your own thing. Is that true? Are there people that you always keep around you when you're training, or does it change depending on where you're at and who you're seeking out for that particular fight?

So the question is...

So I'm asking, do you have the same group of people around you all the time, or does that change from camp to camp? Sorry.

No, for me, it's necessary to keep not the same people, but to evolve with these same people, to show them that I'm on another level. And show me the same. You can go with me. Sometimes the coaches, sometimes the partners, somebody leave, somebody come new. But in the basic, there is still the same people, the same people. I really like to go together, step by step, evolve in a training like a person, like a friend, like professional sparring partners. So first I was with coaches. They showed me the way how to be a man. Right now, it's more about to be partners, to be a good friends to show where is the small spaces where you can be better in a fighting. I believe them because they have a lot of experiences, not just life experiences, but from fighting, especially from fighting. That's why I like to be with the same people. Still, going to the camps, go to the camps, find a new experience, fight a new sparring partners, but going back to the same team who made me to be a world champion and to work with them to be better and better.

Me, them, everybody.

Excellent. Let me ask you about Alex Pereira. You've been a champion. You've got respect all over the world. If you watch the sport, everybody knows Yuri Proashka. Everybody Everybody knows what you're capable of. They know how good you are. You were a champion. You fought Alex Pereira, and you fought him twice. I know, or I think I know, what competitor you are. Does Alex Pereira fuel you and motivate you to get better? And is he the ultimate boss? You know what I mean? That's the guy. There he is. In a video game, the final boss. I'm going to get him. I'm going to get him eventually. I'm going to beat this game. I'm going to get Alex Pereira. Is that the whole mission for you or am I wrong?

It can be funny for somebody, but still, I believe I can fight them and I can win the fight. It's like in the game, just don't give up. Just don't give up Find a way how to overcome yourself, how to be a better person, how to be a better fighter, and find a way how to win, how to win this level. That's all. Like you said, yes, I'm really glad that he showed me biggest mistakes because I'm all the time speaking about the best mastermind and all these things. And he just showed that. He really showed that. And he really showed that in the fight, in the technique. He ride away to catch me. So yeah, that was for me, one of the biggest lesson in my life. Right now, I'm in a part of life where I have no other chance. That is the answer when you ask me, what's what's make you smile right now? For me right now, make me smile to understand why all these happen Where was the mistakes? What not repeat, and what to do to be a better person and better fighter to overcome this level?

Well, Jury, what you've achieved so far has been incredible. So be proud of yourself because it took me a very, very long time. I lost fights, I won fights, I lost fights, I won fights. You don't give up. We're always evolving, we're always learning, we're always improving as martial artists. What you've achieved so far is incredible. Good luck at UFC 311. It's going to be an incredible contest. I'm very, very excited for it. You're one of my favorites here. I mean that. I am a huge fan. I love everything about you. I love the way you operate. I love the violence that you bring. I love the awareness to martial arts that you bring. I I love the fact that you're a family of Samurai, and I mean that with so much respect, and I mean that. So thank you for your time. Us, my man. Let's go.

Thanks, Yuri. You're the man. Yeah, that's good.

Thank you, Yuri. He's gone. No, but I mean everything I said. He's so unique and original, and I love that.

I love it, too. And that is somebody that grew up in traditional martial arts and followed the traditional ways of everything, the mental approach, all that doing knuckle push-ups on boards, getting in trouble by my sensei if I talk back to my mom or my dad around them. So I always appreciate another guy that has that, but even more than I ever did. I appreciate it as well.

Get it up, Paul. Get it up.

Yeah, exactly. He's got to get the WiFi figured out. That's all.

He's got to get the WiFi figured out.

But man, when you're traveling the world and living in dark rooms and doing awesome things like that, the WiFi is not always good. You got to be able to It doesn't matter.

I mean, fortunately, with modern technology, that's how we're able to just get guests on the fly like that. It's amazing, but sometimes it's not the best. But Yuri, thank you. But I do think that is lacking. I love the fact that mixed martial arts and the UFC is so popular. I love the fact there's so much awareness and skill and every bloody nerd down the street has got cauliflower ears these days. Be careful what you're doing. Don't be bullying some little pencil neck dickhead. You're going to get choked out. But a lot We said the spiritual side. I use that for Yuri because he mentioned that word a second ago. People probably know I'm not an overly spiritual guy, but I know what I mean there by the martial arts and the discipline and the respect and all that side of it. That side of it doesn't seem to have been dragged along with the technique side of it. Do you agree with that, Paul?

Yeah, 100 %. When MMA started to really take over, the other martial arts fell off. Karate wasn't as popular, taekwondo, judo, all those things weren't quite as popular as they were when we were younger. That's all we had really around us. When I started wanting to do martial arts, UFC existed, but in its early, early stages and the traditional stuff, that's what people used to have to do to do martial arts. Now you can just go in a T-shirt and short. So as much as I love all that and it's convenient, I do miss that you had to put in the work and the time and prove that you were a good person to be able to learn some of the things that you had to back in the day. You're right, that has been lost on the new generation of fighters where it's just a sport. It's like playing football. It's just MMA. You go and you train, shower afterwards, drink a protein shake and get out of there. We didn't used to be able to drink water, which, of course, scientifically is stupid. I wasn't allowed to have water on the mat.

You can't encourage Jim either. Apparently, you can't stop for a drink whenever you want one.

And look at those guys. There's an element of that. It's a different tradition and how they handle things. But Habib has that same style, that almost hardcore sensei style about the way he handles it, just like his dad did I'm sure.

When I started doing jiu-jitsu when I was a kid, Japanese jiu-jitsu, I loved. Looking back, I loved it. You lined up in great order. The sensei at the front with the sampe, that's what we used to call it. And then like, black belts. And then the black belts all up, and then there would be multiple rows, and you'd walk in on your first day and you wouldn't have a gear or anything, and you're at the back with the other knob heads. Do you know what I mean? And you were like, you had to do as you told. You had to shut the hell up. You It doesn't say shit, you know what I mean? Or get out, this isn't for you. You know what I mean? And if you told the line and you were respectful and you listened and you trained, you could come back next week. And then after two or three times, where you got to get a gear. You know what I mean? And then you slowly work way up and before, years later, it felt so good, you're at the front. Or the sensei is like, Can you run the warmup?

Or whatever.

Oh my God. That was huge, man. Yeah, he still love that.

When I was a kid, if the sensei Ken, can you run the warmup? I'm like, I can't.

You damn right, I can. You're damn right, I can.

This is going to be the best warmup you have ever seen in your goddamn life.

Yeah, people are gassed out after it. You're so pumped.

Anyway, you is the absolute goddamn man. All right, Harrington, what you got, bud?

So I think this one's interesting. At UFC 311, Temba Garemba was not victorious. He actually had a TKL loss against Encente Luke. He said the messed up part, his family members back in Africa were celebrating the loss. He said he saw videos of his little cousins like dancing around, just being jubilant at the fact that he was viciously knocked against Vincente Luque.

That pisses me off.

Yeah. I saw that. He was doing an interview about it, and he was pretty genuine about it. With the interview person, imagine how that makes you feel seeing people that are your relatives back from where you're born and raised, celebrating your loss. And it's like, is it jealousy? Is it because he left to try to better himself that you're hating on him? Like, oh, look, you left us and now you're having some failure.

It's just families no matter what.

It just shows you that sometimes people are jealous and hate when you try something great.

Tember came on this show a while ago, and he shared with us his story and what he went through. And it's wild, man. I mean, fighters, we've all got a story for the most part, what we went through to shape who we are today. But what that guy went through He was crazy working in the diamond fields and people shooting at him and all kinds of shit, not eating for days on end and stuff like that. He's made it out to America. He's made a success of himself. He's fighting in the UFC. You would think that people back home from his community, his bloody family members, of course, would all be cheering for him, supporting him, inspired by him and saying, Hey, look, we can all do better. Look at Timber. He was able to get out. He was able to break break them all, break the cycle, make something of himself. But no, his own cousins cheering and celebrating the fact that he got knocked out. I think that's utterly disgusting. And sadly, though, it's not uncommon because I guarantee it's happened to me. I don't know about instances, but I know about people that I know that I heard from friends, and they were talking shit and all the rest of it.

And when I started trying to get my life on track and I was making something of myself, people were talking shit. Who does he think he is? What's he doing? He's kidding himself just because he's a bit of a tough nut in the pubs. He thinks he's going to go off and become this and become that and all the rest of it. Well, they ain't laughing now. Do you know what I mean? That just really pisses me off.

Yeah. I hope that a part of him, though, over time, realizes, though, that the more success you have, the more haters you're going to have. We know this. Anything Any time that you get yourself put in a spotlight, even if it is people that you know are close to you, the more people are wishing for your demise, it means the bigger things that you're doing. So for Timba, just keep doing your thing, man. And obviously, you're going to take losses in this organization. You're fighting the best guys, and that was a big step up in facing Vicente Luque, who's a stud and has been around the game as long as he has. It was a big learning lesson. That guy is no joke, and you took it on short notice. It was a change of opponent. So just don't ever send any presents back for them. That's for goddamn sure.

Yeah. I mean, it's easy for them to hate him, I guess. He's got the rock buying him apartments and stuff like that.

And that's the thing, right? I'm sure they're looking at that, and there's going to be jealousy. It'd be one thing if it was his parents or something celebrating it, but it's cousins. They're just jealous. They can be assholes.

And as you said, losses, they come. We were just speaking to Yuri Proashka. Granted, there's people out there. You got your Habib Nama Madha made of's. You've got your Islam Makhachev, who got beat once by Adriana Martins, but other than that, he's been perfect. You've got your Alex Pereira, even though he did He was to Israel at a sign. But you know what I mean? You have these people like a Conor McGregor when he was coming up. Smoked everybody, became a two-weight division champion. But in mixed martial arts and boxing, as we know, the trajectory normally is you do well, you do pretty good, you lose one, you learn, you get better, and you work, and you scratch, and you call your way to the top. And I think that's what Yuri Prohaska was talking about. And that's why I said to him, I wasn't being disrespectful. I'm like, I'm assuming your big motivation. And then when I said it's like the final level in a video game, the big boss is Alex Carrera. That's the guy that gets you out of bed. That's the guy that's the reason, probably, that you're flying to Japan and going to Mexico City and doing all this stuff because you're like, Hold on a minute, I've got to get better.

And stuff like that just makes you improve. And especially when you've got people at home celebrating and cheering that you got knocked out, that you got slept, your own family members, fuck me. If that was me, that's going to just push me and fuel me to the absolute next level.

Oh, yeah. You want to talk about shutting up the haters, especially when they're your own family. Oh, boy. That'll get you going. And I think for the Yuri thing, that's what's so fascinating also about that matchup is that that's clearly what both of these guys are hungry to get back. Jamal is more vocal about it, but you got Yuri to open up. Like, yeah, I think about those things. That guy showed me that I need to get better. That guy showed me that there are still flaws in my game and I need to become better. And that's how that guy's mind looks at these things. And that's what's so fascinating him about it. He's not going to dwell on it in a negative way. He's going to look at it as almost like a thank you for showing me that I have things that need improvement. And that's the martial artist. That's where that old school mentality comes from.

Yeah. And I was going to ask Yri, but it was hard because of his signal issues and stuff like that. And he was very generous with his time, so I didn't want to go into it. But he was talking about trying to improve himself. And I did want to ask him what that stuff looked like because Yuri is very true to his style in terms of... He's a kharatika by nature. He's very formal. The chin is high, his hands and his guard is wide. And I wanted to ask him in a respectful way, are those some of the things that he's looking at and giving attention to? Because they're the things that stand stand out. Do you know what I mean? Because Jamal Hill, more of a boxing style, tight guard, powerful hands. And I'm sure that Jamal is just going to approach it from a boxing style. Look for those openings, look for the chin. So Yuri, whilst he has got a tremendous amount of advantages, certainly in his skillset and his approach and the varied attacks that he has, the glaring open target, if you will, the chin is somewhat a little exposed.

Yeah. That's why when I heard him going to Pan, though, I would think if he's working with a lot of those karate guys, it's still going to be that same style. But how do you still keep that? Because that is what makes you a major weapon is that open karate style and the way he leaps in with stuff. But can you do that and still tighten the guard? Yeah, it's a shame we didn't get to talk to him too much because that was actually something I wanted to ask about. Are you a guy that then looks at those and tries to game plan? Because he doesn't really strike me as that guy that's going to go through and really try to have a set game plan in place. Oh, this happened to me last time. I need to fix these things. I feel like he's just, yeah.

What will be.

Because it's going to be how it's going to be.

Will be complete. Okay. Yeah, he ain't game planning. He's just going to be the best version of himself, going to get in crazy shape. He's going to meditate naked on top of a volcano for 24 hours straight. He's going to have bone broth for 75 hours. He's going to pray at the Buddha temple for A hundred hours, and then he's going to go fight. The man he makes is awesome. I've got to love every second of it. Earlier today, I was able to sit down with the machine, Marab De Valeshvili. Paul was out there doing a thousand miles on a bike, so I I have to do this on my own. Where are you? The PI?

Yes, the UFC, yes.

You're at the UFC PI. Let me ask you, this time getting into the PI, was there any issues?

No issue this time.

What about Umar? Was Umar around?

I think now he's here morning, and I guess I'm allowed to come after, too, I guess.

You looked pretty pissed off in that video when I saw it.

Yeah, I was mad because he disrespect me in Twitter, which is I don't deserve it from him because I know him in person and I always show him respect. And I always have a nice conversation with him. And I understand, of course, he wants to fight for the belt, but to disrespect me like that, to call me fake champion and make some... He makes some... What's it called? Expression, then he say it's a Georgian expression, which is not Georgian expression. He even mentioned my country and he called me fake champion, which is I don't deserve it. I was mad. When I see him, I ask him, Why you disrespect me? He said, I don't want to disrespect me. He said, Because I want. But in press conference, he lie. He said, I never disrespect you. And I was mad. But now I move on, Mike, and I'm just focusing for the fight and the life is good. I'm grateful for everything, and I'm going to show up January 18, and you guys are going to see a good fight.

We can't wait, Marab. We cannot wait. There's one thing you are not, brother, and that is a fake champion. You went out there, you beat Sean O'Malley, fair and square. You gave him a few kisses on the shoulder for good measure. Talk to me about that whole experience before we talk about Umar. I mean, fighting at the sphere, becoming the champion. I mean, what a night.

Thank you, sir. Yeah, it was a great night for me and I was focused for fight. It was easy actually for me. I was just doing smart work and I was able to win the belt. And I was so happy because I earned it. Nobody give it to me nothing and I deserve it. That was great experience and I always will be grateful. Life is good. Now, I'm hungry, I'm motivated, and I want to keep going. I'm coming back. It's going to be a little bit short. No, that shouldn't be short. Whatever it is, I'm coming back, quick turnaround and ready You need to go again.

It's quite the journey, Marab, because you were on Dana White looking for a fight. They signed you then, and now here you are, all these years later, champion of the world. You take out Sean O'Malley, who I'm a big fan of Sean. I think he's an incredible fighter. Of course, you shut him down, you use the game plan to a T, use that wrestling that you're known for. Against Jemimah and Nemmaga, Madoff, what fight are you expecting? I mean, does anything change for you? Do you just go out there and use the Georgian wrestling, the Georgian power? Show us the machine, or are we going to see something different?

Exactly. I'm going to show Georgian wrestling and Georgian toughness. I'm I'm going to break the guy. It's going to be a great fight. Umar is a good fighter, but usually when I fight against good fighter and against tough fighter, I always show up. And as long as I'm healthy, I'm good and I'll be fine. It's going to be a great fight. I'm not accepting any easy fights from Umar as a fighter. I always respect him and I always know that he's a good fighter. I'm excited to fight a good fighter like Umar. He's under the field, and I'm going to change his record.

Obviously, as you say, he's undefeated. He comes from a great team, a great lineage, if you will. Why do you think he's getting personal? It seems a little bit out of character for him. Why do you think he's on the attack and being a bit disrespectful to you?

I have no idea. He should not do that because Like I said, we have to be men first and we have to be... I don't did anything disrespectful to him. I don't know why he was doing that, but it's a mistake for him. Like I said, he respects... In my eyes, I don't give him any more respect as a man. But as a fighter, like I said, he's a good fighter, and I'm excited to fight him. So it's going to be a great fight.

When I look at your style and I look at his style, he's a good wrestler, you're a good wrestler. A lot of the time in the UFC, when two Two wrest fight each other, a lot of the time, they cancel each other out and the fight ends up on the feet. Is that a scenario that you think might come true or you don't think about that?

Maybe, because you're right. I'm ready for striking. I'm really training for... I'm not going to look for take him down control, like lay on top like O'Malley. No, I'm going to punch his face, kick his legs, and keep in the feet, and I'm going to show good fight. It's going to be a great fight. Even it's going to be a lot of scraping A lot of exchanges, lots of... I believe it's going to be maybe fight of the night or something, good fight.

Yeah, and it's a great fight card from top to bottom. So congratulations on everything, Murabe. You get to fight in Los Angeles at the brand new arena, the Intuit dorm, it costs like $2 billion. Have you seen that place?

No, of course not. But I heard it's a great arena and I'm excited.

My son went there recently to watch a basketball game. He said, It's unbelievable. The technology is out of this world. So enjoy, buddy. Enjoy. I'm not going to be there. Sadly, I won't be there. But you are Georgian. You are the champion of the world. There's now two Georgian champs. We saw a video of you going back to Georgia when you became the champion and the response that you got from your people. That was beautiful, Murab. It was amazing to see.

Thank you. I appreciate you, Mike. It was a really crazy experience for me because I am the same guy. When I left my country and I have a big goal to fighting big, big, big organization like UFC, but even I'm in UFC, I'm I'm still hungry. I'm still going forward. I'm still learning. I think that I have to learn more and I have to get better. But when I win the belt and I go in my country, I was shocked at how people were so happy, excited for me. And then I see them, I still love and support and happy. And I was shocked. You and me, standing this little guy on top of the bus and then looking all these people I came out from me outside and waiting for me. And I was crazy. I wish this can feel everyone. This is just crazy moment. No, that is.

Yeah, that's crazy, man. It's crazy. When we start this journey as being a fighter, we never expect stuff like that. We're just trying to make some money. We're trying to do whatever we can with the skills that God gave us, so to speak. You never expect that you're going to be standing on top of a bloody bus and there's hundreds of people just going crazy for you. I mean, you deserve it, Omar Ab. You've been very quiet on the social media front for this one. Normally, you're out there, you're talking a little bit of shit, you're doing these skits, you had the Sean O'Malley in the car and the party going on and everything. Why have you been so quiet this time?

I'm extra focused for my next fight. Also, Umar, he don't deserve to me make fun of him. I'm not going to joke with him. It's serious. It's a serious, serious battle. I don't have time for joke now. I'm really training hard. It's going to be a good fight. I don't think I have to... First, I don't want to this fight because I'm like, How I'm going to make fun of him? How I'm going to joke with him? He's from different worlds. He doesn't understand. Especially, he disrespect me now. But I don't think I don't have to promote this fight. I don't have to promote this fight. I'm a champion now. He has to promote this fight if he wants, but not to disrespect me and call me to fake champion. We are fighting come anyway, But I think most fans are excited. No, I think fans are excited to our fight most, I think.

Yeah, no, absolutely. Those top three fights, they're all ridiculous. It really is a great event. Marab, do you think Umar is the toughest fight for you in the division? And once you get through Umar, then that's just it. You're going to have a field day and just destroy everybody.

No, I won't say that because... No, I won't say this because Bautista, he has a seven-fight win streak now, and he's good catender also. And then we don't know. I did beat Peter, but Rematch will be interesting. Now, O'Malley will have a different game plan. He landed me two punch or something. I felt that he can really knock people out, and he has a really powerful... He hits really hard. And then next fight will be next challenge. There is guys that are coming up. I know there is guys in top 15. I just don't really remember names, but I think number 15 and number 14, the guys, they are really good. They have long win strict also. There is so many... I'm excited. I just want to be busy now. I was thinking, Mike, too. Maybe I will become champion and I will fight every six months and I But it's not like this. It's just so much pressure and like this. Then now I realize no more vacation, nothing. I'm just going to be focused for a fight, and I'm just going to I was going to keep fighting because I was going to do...

But didn't you say you want three fights in six months?

I do. Yes.

Yeah, that's crazy. And would one of those be Sean O'Malley? He wants a rematch, of course. You're happy to give him a rematch?

Yes, absolutely. Because first I have to focus on my fight and I'm going to, God willing, I'm going to win this fight. So I I don't want to fight in March. Actually, after my fight, I want to take five months or maximum six months. The five months was in February and six months was in April. Sorry. Five months was from my fight in February and six months was in March. When I say this, Umar, of He most disrespect me in Twitter. And he said, Mirab, February fight is in Alshalia and I'm not fighting there. And March is Ramadan. And I had no idea when was the Ramadan because Ramadan was in May last year. I'm a Christian, so I didn't know when was the Ramadan. It's not my problem, so I'm a champion. And Belal Muhammad fighting in Ramadan. And I had no idea, but he disrespect me. So Ideally, I wanted to fight in March because fight is in Vegas and I would love to fight here. Now, if O'Malley not will be ready for March, I will fight Peterian March. I know Omalynat I said he will be ready for April, and the April fight is in Miami, and O'Malley said he's on the period in Miami, he's on the period in rematches, and let's go.

I give him a chance, and I'm excited too. Like I said, rematches You had rematch, and Kamara Ousma had rematch. So not always go first time.

Yeah, of course. So you're saying now, because you are the champion, you get to call the shots, but this guy wanted to fight a little bit later, but you're like, You know what? You've pissed me off. I'll do it short notice and we'll fight in January because you want to settle a score.

I No, UFC needs me, and I step up and I said, No problem. I'm grateful for UFC and no problem. For me, the best option was a I had a fight in February or March because I was dealing with some injuries. Also, Aljo had fight in December. It was short time from December to January. It's only almost one month I was in preparation and I wasn't focused. I don't have camp. But Umal was training for SongiDong, and he ended up not fighting him and he ended up fighting for the belt now. So here we are, and it's all good.

It's all good. It's all good when you're the champion of the world, Marab. Congratulations on everything, brother. What's the best thing that's happened since you're the champion, other than the people of Georgia losing their mind and celebrating? What's the most mind-blowing thing that's happened to you since you were the champ?

For me, most important is people like you, the former champions. The UFC fighters, give me respect. And for me, that's the best because I've been experienced everything last couple of years. I see people and I see supporters, I see haters, everything else. But the real people like you are and give me respect and show me love and support, that's most important for me. And I'm grateful and I'm so happy and I can die happy tomorrow. I'm good.

Yeah, I'm going to let you go. I haven't got another question, but that's a really interesting answer because I remember as well when I was coming up, when a lot of people, when they talk shit and you hear it and you You see it online and you don't feel respected by the people that are doing the same profession as you. We call it our peers. When our peers don't respect us, it's annoying. But now you're the champion of the world. You did that fair and square. And one of the best things is that you now feel that you're getting the respect that you deserve. It's beautiful. It's beautiful, man. It's beautiful. Go out there. Have a great fight. Thank you for your time. Ufc 311, Marabda Machine, the Valajvili, Georgia's The finest is going to get it done. Let's go, brother. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much, sir.

My man, my man. Take care. Thanks for a wrap. And there he is, the one and only machine who defends the belt for the first time next week. Harrington, what is going on in Florida? In the world of porn and.

Yeah, well, I mean, so Florida recently put in an age verification thing, right? So if you want to access any of those 18 plus sites, you need to verify your age. Pornhub does not offer that. They're not complying with that. So they pulled out of the state entirely. You can't access the worldwide leader, let's say, in illicit content. So the workaround, the use of VPNs in Florida has surged by 1,150 % following Pornhub leaving the state. Pretty sure those two are maybe related.

Just Just a little bit.

And did you notice that Harrington knew the ins and outs of that story? I mean, there was no looking at the notes. He knew about the restrictions. He knew who the biggest player in the space was.

I'm very familiar with the ins and outs, Mike.

Yeah, I see what you did there. Now, I was sitting in the sauna this morning with Rebecca, and she's scrolling, and she found that story. She said, Michael, you got to talk about this. I'm like, What do you want me to say? What do you want me to say about this? Yes, okay. There's a lot of Brandy young children in Florida that are pissed off and they're signing up for ExpressVPN.

The VPN business is very happy about that decision to move out of Florida, I'm sure.

It's popping off.

Some other countries where VPNs probably pop off, and they might be illegal there. I don't know.

Yeah. Well, it's a good thing. Let's be honest. Here's the thing. I've got a young teenager. He's 14 years old. He's glued to his phone all the time. I don't even want to talk about it. I don't even want to talk about it, but I hope he's not doing that stuff. I really hope he's not, but it's not- Never.

He would never do that. No young man would ever want to look at illicit material, as we so call it.

Yeah, illicit it is indeed. In fact, Harrington gives another one. There's not really a big conversation now unless we want to go into our porn habits and stuff like that. This is in the podcast for it.

Let's stay away from that.

Oh, dear. What else you got, Harrington, before we let Paul get out of here?

Well, all right. I got a... This is interesting. Starting this Tuesday, all businesses that offer a subscription must have a one click to cancel policy. So that includes everything from your Netflix or online things to in-person stuff like a gym membership, which I know are notoriously hard to get out of. Oh, they're the worst.

They're the worst. We're going to need you to come back into the office, sir. It's like, I moved across the country. I'm not coming into the office.

Oh, well. So, yeah, now you will be able to get out all that with one click. It goes into effect this Tuesday, but it's not going to be enforced anywhere until about May. So these companies are going to have a little bit longer to It's all good. I'm going to use it out of you.

Well, that's huge because we just recently signed up for Rocket Money, right? Are you familiar with Rocket Money?

Is that where it tells you all your subscription things that you're raising money on? Yeah.

So we signed up for it, and oh, my God, I was shocked. I expected I expected there to be a good few. There was way more than what I ever imagined. And there were so many. We had four. We had four subscriptions to Amazon Prime. Do you know what I mean? How does that even happen? We had so many. There were some that I didn't even know what they were. I'm like, What is that? And then it's so good. Push up a button, done, gone. I'm going to do it. The fact that now that these companies are going to make that, well, the government or whoever it is, the authorities are going to make it, it's that for everybody. I mean, that is big news. The gym's, of course.

Huge, too, because just even little things that you sign up for on apps and stuff. The problem is, yeah, there's a contract that says all the stuff, the cancelation policies. Man, that's a lot to read. Sometimes we're just clicking through and you decide something's a good idea in the moment. And then five days later, you forget that you ever even signed up for that thing. You only need it at one time, and now you've probably been paying for it for five years. I got I got to sign up for that. I've been seeing advertisements for that and wanting to try that out because I know for sure that there's multiple accounts to things that we don't need multiple accounts to. Amazon being one, Netflix, I'm sure. I know I'm paying for one, even though we share the same one here. So I got some work to do.

We had multiple VPN subscriptions. I'm not going to lie. We had two for Tunnelbearer, three for ExpressVPN. I'm assuming Rebecca signs up for one. I sign up for one, and the kids have done that. I've told this story before, but it's pretty funny. Rebecca came in one day, she wasn't happy. She was like, What do I explain yourself? I'm like, What for? She goes, OnlyFans? I'm like, What are you talking about? Onlyfans? She goes, Yeah, did you enjoy yourself in OnlyFans? I'm like, It wasn't me. She goes, Look. And it was her on this statement. And I'm like, That wasn't me. I'm telling you right now. Anyway, I don't know who it was, but it was someone else living in this house. It wasn't me. So then Rebecca I had to call them up on the phone. And she's like, Look, listen. No, she had to call the bank and say, We got to cancel this because we're paying for this. And they're like, Well, someone in your house. She goes, Well, it's not my husband. And she was like, She could tell the woman on the other end of the phone we're going, to her husband.

He That's shit. But yeah, I think that's a great rule. I like that one. How long we've been going for? There. I think we've been going long enough. This weekend, Mackenzie Durn versus Amanda Hibas. Paul Felder, the iron lung on the desk, Michael The Count on the commentary. Who are you working with on the desk? Do you know?

I'm not even sure yet. I'm not even sure yet.

Okay.

Well, I'll see you. Who are you calling him with? Do you know who you're calling with?

I don't know.

Is it Dom, maybe?

Dom or DC or Sanco.

Yeah, it could be Dom, DC, Sanco, and we know it ain't Rogan.

It ain't Felda.

We know that. And it ain't me.

It is not.

Although I'm ready to step in on a moment's notice.

You will do that. Take my job if you could. My God, you're I did. Ladies and gentlemen, wherever you are in the world, thanks for watching. Subscribe and ring the bell. In fact, what am I talking about? Let's do a quick question. Do we have any questions, Brian? And if you do have a question, send it in to bympod@gmail. Com. Please subscribe it helps us out. Please leave a little comment that helps us out in the algorithm. Brian, I know what you're going to say. There's no questions, right?

No, I got a question here from Mr. Creative 8. He doesn't look like an eight. What's up, Mike? Hope you're well. I'm actually in Thailand right now. The reason why I'm asking this question is because I'm listening to when George St. Pierre went on the Joe Rogan podcast. He's been on twice. This was the first time in around like 35, 36 minutes in there basically discussing yours and GSP's fight, but then also discussing you as a fighter in general. Gsp was saying how it's a really big honor to fight you because you guys stand for the same stuff. He said some of the guys that beat you were on steroids, and then obviously some of the guys that you beat were also on steroids. One thing I was wondering is that, I guess sometimes you can tell by looks, when you look at Vidor, he was obviously based out of his mind. I'm not asking for specific names, but can you tell when someone is on steroids? Can you tell? Can you feel the difference? But yeah, if you haven't seen that, I would recommend going to listen to that because they They had a lot of complementary things to say, but not just that, it's also interesting things as well.

You're talking about how your strategy in the second round, like fight IQ, how you were jabbing the hand and then coming over the top with the two. So, yeah, really interesting.

Well, thank you, sir. I appreciate that. And he does look a little ape-like. Paul, it's hard to tell who's on steroids. Obviously, Veto Belfort. You could take one look at that guy. I mean, Look at him at heavyweight for crying out loud. My God. Early days granted. When he was on the middleweight run down in Brazil, again, take one look at him. But mentioning another Brazilian, no offense, and I hate to do this, Anderson Silva. He wouldn't be somebody that you look at and think this guy took performance-enhancing drugs. And sadly, I hate to bring it up because he's a legend, but he did fail a couple of tests. The point that I'm making is the eye test Rest isn't always reliable.

Yeah, because there's things that you can take that aren't just to build muscle and make you look jacked, right? I mean, EPO and things like that, they're there to enhance your cardio and to just make you an absolute machine. And more importantly, it's for recovery a lot of the time, too. And being able to do more, which then just makes you a better athlete. If you're already a good athlete and then you're on just a little bit of this stuff, you're going to be able to recover better and you're going to be able to go do more sessions, ultimately getting you in better shape. So it's not like the guys that are cheating, it's not like they're taking the same stuff that a bodybuilder would be taking to get huge and jacked. So you're right. That's where it gets difficult. You might look at somebody, they might not even look all that amazing, but they're able to put in insane sessions and recover and just be fitter at the end. So that's the problem with this shit is you can't just be like, Oh, that guy's on this, or, Oh, he felt really strong. It's like, Yeah, well, everybody I fought felt pretty damn strong when I fought them.

It's hard to really pinpoint any one thing when you're in there with them on, Oh, this guy's definitely juiced, other than, Oh, they look too ridiculous. Sometimes there's guys that just genetically are built like freaks.

Yeah, that is correct as well. You got to remember that. There's a couple of people who's got some of the best physiques? And they're not on steroids. I know everybody thinks everybody's on steroids these days. Maybe there's cutting edge technology The technology that can get around. Is it Varda? Varda that they use now? Regardless, the testing protocol that they do, they show up, they're randomly drug testing people. And if you're cheating, you're getting caught these days. Sure, I'm sure there's probably the odd one here and there that slips through the neck that gets away with it. But en masse, people are getting caught. But there is some people, as you say, with genetics, that when you look at them, you think, holy shit. Well, guess what? They're just blessed. That's That's just how they look. God damn it.

Yeah, there are some, man. I had a friend, Anthony Tarroll, that I trained with for years. The dude was always just shredded out of his mind. He wasn't taking anything. He was a really good friend and training partner. And I I used to hate him because I'd get fat in between fights, and he'd have fought at the same time, and you come back in the gym, I'm like, Dude, you still have an eight-pack, and I've got a beer belly now, and I know you're doing the same. I see what you're eating, and you don't look like me. So screw you.

Was he a Black guy? Yeah, exactly. You got to be careful when you say things like that, but Black guys tend to have killer bodies for the most part. Do you know what I mean? It's insane.

He was jacked.

Absolutely jacked. Do you know what I mean?

He'd get a kick out of this. Hopefully, he sees this.

Yeah. God damn. I've lost a few pounds this week. I'm on my way down. I've cut out all the boots, Paul.

It's been a week. Me too. I know. It's been good. The only thing I'm telling you, the only thing that gets me is at night, I just I'm like, I feel like I don't know what to do. I want to have every... Especially on Saturday, I'm like, I want to I'm going to have a drink, but...

No drinks for me this weekend.

I've been over it, man. I'm over it. I'm going to make it all the way until after Saudi Arabia. After Saudi Arabia, I'm going to do the same thing. When I get back, I'm not going to go crazy, obviously, for any reason. I don't have anything to celebrate necessarily.

But it's more fun when you go crazy.

That flight back from Saudi, I'll definitely have a drink.

It's going to be a good one. Ladies and gentlemen. It is. The pre-nap drink on the fly. It's a good one.

Oh, yeah, baby.

Oh, yeah. And this was a good one. Thanks for your time as always, Paul. Thanks to Marab. Thanks to Yuri. Thanks to Brian. Thanks to Hamilton. Thanks to you guys. Take care. See you soon.