Transcript of BISPING'S BELIEVE YOU ME Podcast: Khalil Rountree, Brandon Royval, Grant Dawson & Daniel Rodriguez

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.

All right, we're back with the believe you me podcast. Hamilton, how are you doing, buddy? Big show planned today. Four guests, as we know. Anthony Smith is away on a cruise. God bless him. Hope he has a lovely time. That's why he's not here today. So we filled it in with four guests. We have got the one and only Khalil Rountree Jr. He's going to join us. I saw him at the APEX Saturday night. He was there watching the fight, and I just had to have a quick chat with him because the way that he handled the loss, the way that he handled himself through the fight, it was so inspirational. He's such a cool guy. And I was like, Dude, you want to jump on the podcast? He's like, Yeah, absolutely. So he's jumping on. We got Roy Vall jumping on as well because even though we had him on last week after that performance Saturday night, I thought, We've got to talk again. We've also got Grant Dawson that absolutely killed it at the weekend. And at the end of show, Daniel D. Rod Rodriguez, who has an interesting story and got a hard-fought victory over Alex Morono Saturday night.

How the hell are you, Hamilton?

Dude, I'm absolutely incredible. We had a great week of fights. I got to spend some time with the kid around Halloween time. This is my favorite time of year, so everything is good in my book. You know what's even better?

Go on.

Khalil Roundtree already here.

Oh, well, there it is. Well, you sought off then. Get out of here.

Khalil, what's What's up, Mike? How are you doing, man?

I'm good, man. How are you doing? Doing well.

I mean, I've been better, but I'm doing well for sure.

Yeah, I mean, let's address the elephant in the room. How's the nose doing?

Good. Actually, I'm in the parking lot, figured I'd hop on with you guys and then go get this whole situation fixed.

What is the whole situation? I mean, I'm assuming a broken nose. I saw that you did a little video of when they were actually doing the surgery. I've got a lot of questions about how you were able to do that because I wanted to have that done myself. But what was the actual diagnosis after the fight?

So the video that was posted was actually I mentioned that the cut on the bridge of my nose happened three weeks before the fight. I was sparring with my training partners, ended up catching a glove over the nose, and it completely split. So that video was just the doctor just stitching the wound closed. I've had my nose broken many times in fights, and this time it could have been the knee or I don't know, the jabs, but my septum was actually really curved and it closed completely on the left side. The procedure I just had a septoplasty, so just straightening out my septum.

Yeah, because I saw a video that was sticking a chisel up your nose.

Yeah. That's the one I was talking about. Yeah, to make sure that it was clear on both sides. So at the moment, I still have these plastic stents on the inside, super uncomfortable. So hopefully today, I get to get them taken out.

Yeah, well, fingers crossed. I saw you say that this is one of the most painful procedures that you've been through, and I can feel your pain because- I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy, honestly. Well, I had my nose broke a bunch of times. Of course, go figure. We're UFC fighters. They took my ribs, rebuilt my nose. I can't breathe through my nose. I went to see a doctor recently. He said, Oh, yeah, you've got a deviated septum. So they fixed the appearance of it, but they never fixed it internally. The sons of bitches.

Yeah. I would say, man, if you end up getting it fixed and correct it on the inside, prepare for just a world of pain and discomfort. It's not good.

So you want to be a UFC fighter?

Yeah. Oh, my God.

Yeah. All right. Talk to me about the fight. Listen, we all know, first two rounds, you looked phenomenal. The game plan seemed to be to use your speed and explosive power to get in, crack him. You were doing a good job of that, hurt him with the liver kick. And then rounds three and four, it took over and went to work. It seemed like you got tired. Is that an accurate assessment?

Well, yeah, I think I got tired, but I really can't say that it was cardio reasons or altitude because we spent so much time I'm up there. One of the runs, I think prior to fight week, I did 6 miles at 7,000 feet. So I was acclimated. But one thing that I like to make clear is that people don't really realize how it takes a lot of energy when you start absorbing punches. The body responds how it responds. And I think that was it for me. As soon as He kept the pace. Every round, he kept making adjustments. He didn't decline. He didn't come out slower. He actually ended up coming out faster and a little bit more pressure every round. I think that In the third round, having these things, having made these adjustments, they started to wear on me, especially the fourth round. After he started establishing that jab and mixing up the different strikes, I really started to feel it, and that's what slowed me down. I couldn't really engage and continue to cover that distance that I was covering in rounds one and two.

Yeah, that's really interesting. If I'm understanding this right, it wasn't so much the cardiovascular side of things, but it was more like the franticness that was going on inside your mind to a certain degree?

Yeah. For instance, he started to establish his jab after I realized or after he realized that I was catching kicks and stuff. So he really got his range figured out. It's Alex Pajeda. The guy punches hard. Everybody knows this. Not only the left hook, but the jab, man. When he started jab me, boom, and then my brain's just like, whoa. And boom, oh, shit. And so that takes energy. It does. It takes just brain energy, everything. So that's what started to slow me down and make me a little bit more, I guess, hesitant. I wasn't as going to keep going. And then around the fourth round is when I realized, Man, I just have to swing. I have to keep swinging because I can't continue to wear this damage and wear, wear, wear. I was like, Okay, there's only one way out of this. And yeah, that's on my shield.

Well, you did go out on your shield. Me and Anthony were talking about it after the fight last week. I don't know if you've watched it back fully. Have you seen it?

I haven't yet. No, I haven't yet.

In the fourth round, he He's doing his work. He's doing his work and it's a tough time for you. And you're still swinging. You're still having to go. And I was saying it's so inspirational because at that moment there, you've taken some damage, your face is bused up. Anybody can just drop down to the neat, and it would It would have been fully excused. It would have been what any normal person would have done. But you stayed on your feet and you still swinging, still having to go. That's why when I saw you Saturday night and I said, That was some inspirational shit. I truly meant that, man. It was special, man. You should be proud of yourself.

Thank you. Yeah, I feel good. There's definitely a sense of pride in going out that way. I really did do my best. I prepared as tough as I could or as hard as I could. I knew that he was going to be a strong guy, and I knew that no matter what, I just made a promise to myself and to the fans that I wasn't going to back down. I was going to give my best fight. So there's pride in being able to know that I held on to that commitment.

And you did what you said you were going to do. You certainly didn't shoot a takedown.

I told you, Mike. For For this fight, specifically, it wasn't in me. That's not the fighter that I wanted to showcase against Alex. I've said it before. As MMA fighters, we train everything. It's our job. But yeah, for this one, I didn't really want to mix it up, although there are a lot of people that if you wanted to win, you should have... Yeah, whatever. But I think the most thing is I wanted this fight to be memorable. That's That's really what I wanted. And I couldn't have asked for, I guess, a better way to lose.

As you said on the show when we last spoke, that's who you are. And I thought the answer was you said that if I was coaching you and I said, go for a takedown, you would say, well, maybe you shouldn't coach me anymore because you don't know who I am. I just thought that was so... I thought it was a beautiful answer. It wasn't arrogant, it wasn't boastful. It was just like, dude, this is who I am at my core. I'm not going to do that now. So I thought that was brilliant. And you should be proud of yourself. And I truly mean that because you brought the best out of Alex Pereira. I know it's a weird flex. I went four rounds and you dropped when you landed a head kick and stuff like that. But it takes two to tango, and that was a tremendous fight. And you did. You brought the best out of Alex.

Thank you. Yeah, thank you. I do like that. And when I hear that statement, bringing the best out of him, that makes me feel happy, too, because he's great. He's where he is for a reason. And it's not fluky, his career. The guy's a technician. He's smart, he's experienced. And so if I could go there and help bring the best out of him, then I can be happy with that.

I That's amazing. I don't know what else to say to that. I get it. You're beautiful, Khalil. It really is. You sound like a real martial artist. Let's talk about the future. I might see some little rumors, or I know, obviously, it's going to a while before you're back in the octagon, but you and Jamal Hill?

That's definitely like rumors. I think that journalists and MMA media have a way of posting and saying things to really get people's attention. I think that obviously that fight was supposed to happen this year earlier on. And what I said was I think that that fight specifically is inevitable. And what I meant is I'd hope from now moving forward, for me, it's anyone in the top five. You know what I mean? So just put those names in the list and that one comes up. It's not like I don't have any personal vendetta or have my eyes set on one opponent. I'm just really looking to learn and grow from this and come back even better, honestly. I know it's easy and it's cliché for people to say, Oh, I'm going to come back better. But I think after a fight like this, it really showed me how I can continue to grow. It really motivated me to really go and do things a little bit differently, start to bring in more help, more professionals, guys who are really knowledgeable and experienced in craft and learning. There's a lot more for me to learn. I think that knowing Alex, he's 37, I'm 38, I'm 34.

So I'd imagine that in three years time, when I'm the same age, I'd love to have the same similar experience and knowledge. So, yeah, regarding that fight, I think anyone in the top five for me would be great. I'd love to continue to fight guys who have fought for the title already and just stay in those talks until it happens again.

You hit the nail on the head there when you talk about experience. It's only when things go like this, you think, Okay, what can I change? What can I improve? What do I learn about myself? What did I do wrong in a fight? It's just part of the process. And the word is experience, and it's learned. You can't buy it. You can't just accumulate it overnight. You have to learn it. It's as simple as that. And I always use myself as an experience. I mean, I lost plenty along the way, but you keep working, you keep grinding, you keep trying to improve. You be humble enough to look at the mistakes that you might have made. Maybe it was in the fight, maybe it was in the training camp, maybe it was your Cover it. But there's some things that you can change, and then hopefully, eventually, one day you get that belt tied around your waist.

Yeah, 100 %. I talked to my coaches, a couple of them, and we reevaluated. And one of my coaches asked me, Hey, man, I just want to ask you personally, is there anything you think we could have done more of? And is there anything that I could have done more of? And I said, no, I think we did everything we absolutely could, given the information that we had and the time we had. I think we couldn't have done any more. But for myself, personally, after looking at it, I'm like, man, I just have a lot more to learn. That's all it is. It's just I'm going to continue to learn. That's the most exciting thing. And that's one of the biggest things of being a martial artist and being on this journey. People say, even when you become a black belt, that's only the beginning, right?

That's when you truly start to learn.

That's when you truly start to learn. And for me, this feels similar to that. I'm far from my black belt, but it feels similar to that. It's like, okay, I've got Championship experience now. I've been in there once, and this is the beginning. This is truly the beginning where I start to get to mix it up and strategize differently and use my energy differently. Because emotionally, when I was in there, from the start of fight week all the way until the end of the fight, I felt home. I really did feel good. I felt like I belong there. I felt like staring at Alex across the cage was the right thing. I felt prepared. Nothing could have been any different. So I'm grateful for the whole thing.

Yeah, that stare down was epic. You guys have been for quite some time. Which coach was it that asked you, Is there anything we could have done different?

My coach, Lorenzo. He's my guy. He's trying My conditioning would be the title. But when I'm doing all of my road work, from lifting to running to diet, there's everything. He's right in the fight with me. Even fight week, He's eating what I eat, and he doesn't have to. But he's just like, No, we're in this together. The reason I asked that is because that is so humble as a coach to speak to the fighter afterwards and say, What What could we have done different?

What could have we improved? And you don't hear that very often. It's often, Well, you did this wrong. You did that incorrectly. Oh, hold on. There we go. Normally, it's, You did that wrong. You did this incorrectly. You didn't listen to this. We told you to keep your hands up, but they came and they were very humble. I mean, that's just, again, beautiful. Sounds like you've got a tremendous team around you.

Yeah, they're great guys. We've been working together for a long time. John Wood, I've been working with him for 10 years now, for as long as I've been in the UFC. So we have a great connection, great understanding, and we've all come a long way together, and we all just continue to mature and just get better together for sure.

Well, I look forward to the future. Fingers crossed. Good news for you today. Hopefully, they pulled the-Oh, man. The braces out of your nose.

I'm praying for it.

Hey, I got to say as well, fair play, because a lot of people would bury their head in the sand. They wouldn't go to the apex with the nose dressing on or whatever. But you've been like, Hey, it is what it is. I saw you doing interviews and stuff. I got to say, again, I just love that.

This is a part of it, man. This comes with it. It's very rare to lose a fight and still have people wanting to talk to the loser. I've been okay. I've been happy about if people want to speak and just hear my experience. I'm glad that the people were inspired. That was my message going into this fight. The reason why I put it on my merchandise, it's like, I I think that the fans are the people that drive us. We do it for the fans. We do it to entertain the people, to have them feel like they're a part of this moment with us. Regardless of how I look, everybody saw the fight. Yeah. So there's no need to hide. Only recover when I can. Well, I will let you go and recover.

Big things in the future for you, Khalil. Congratulations one more time. It was inspirational. What is the merch? Is there a website?

Yeah. So there's a company that I'm in partnership called Santos Studio, santostudio. Com, and there should be some cool roundtree merchandise on there for sale. Yeah.

Nice. Right on. All right. Well, best of look at the doctors. See you soon.

Thank you, Mike.

Thanks, Kaleil. Take care.

You too.

Bye-bye. Harrington, is there a nicer guy in all of mixed martial arts?

No, truly. I mean, talk about humility. Somebody who just took the champion of the world, gave him the fight of his life for two rounds sitting there being like, Look, I know I'm not a Black Bell yet. It's like, No, dude, you are legitimately one of the most elite strikers that's ever been on two Yeah, just his whole attitude.

Just amazing. So well done, Khalil, and thank you for your time. Passion, drive, and patience. The formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive. Ebay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance. Supercharges, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights, and more. Whether you're into speed, power, or style, eBay Motors has you covered. With over 100 122 million parts for your number one ride or die, you'll always find exactly what you're looking for. And with eBay guaranteed fit, your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time all your money back. Because with eBay Motors, you're burning rubber, not cash. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins. Keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors. Com. Eligible items only, exclusions apply. We didn't even get started with the show, and everyone is showing up early today. Khalil was early. We'll see if the other ones are early as well. But we were talking about Brandon Royval. He's joining us on the show in a little bit.

We had him last week. He took on Tatsuro Taira, Saturday night. Taira, undefeated, 16 and all. What a fight. Absolute back and forth war. Round one, I gave it to Roy Valle, close. Taira had some success, of course. Round two, Taira takes him down, controls him. It was a grappling masterclass. I mean, some of the escapes from Roy Valle, very, very high-level stuff. It's not easy to escape that body triangle, but he escaped it. It was just a chess match, but very, very high-level stuff. Round three, Roy Valle almost finishes him. I mean, boxes his head off, damages him, hurts him. The power in the shots, it was like he couldn't miss. And I thought, Oh, he's going to get it done. But Tyra survives. Round four was just like round two, and then round five, just a back and forth dog fight. Get your words out of this thing. I gave it to him. I think he did more damage. He landed more times. Great fight, though.

Yeah, I thought it was very clearly 2-2 coming out of those first two rounds. I don't think I've seen a clear 2-2. Roy Valle, really, anytime he was able to keep it on the feet and establish himself and get into his boxing rhythm, it was like, this is night and day. Somebody like Tatsu, who is, I've seen him knock people out before, super wild, unconventional, throws with a ton of power from crazy angles. For Roy Valle to be in that nice of a rhythm in the first and third rounds, only to be taken down and held there for the second and fourth, it was insane. I love that adjustment. Dom pointed this out on commentary. In the fifth round, when Tyra went for the body triangle, he immediately just threw his back on the floor and was like, Do whatever you have to do, because if you can get in a guard, you can beat this guy.

Yeah, no, it was an amazing performance. That's why I want to speak to him again. I know we spoke to him last week. You know what I loved as well, just the sign of respect Select from both of them. Tyra is a young man. He's only 24. It's your first loss. He was undefeated. The first loss is always the hardest to take. It's always the hardest. It's like your first love, the first time you get your heart broken because mostly everyone goes through it with this girl, and you think you're going to be together forever, and then she dumps you, and you cry your eyes out. And I don't know if everyone's been through that, but the first one is always the hardest, and the first loss class is always the hardest. So of course, Tyra was very emotional. Brandon Royval was just... You're just all class, man. All class. What a moment that was. Absolutely beautiful. What have we got, Harrington? What should we start with? Fight announcements for the end of the year. We got all kinds of stuff going on. I see a lot of good stuff in the notes. Where do you want to start?

I think the biggest news coming out of the weekend is Conor McGregor might have a fight booked. Just maybe. He might. Again? Again, yeah.

Who's the opponent this time?

So apparently him and Dan Hooker were hanging out at a BKFC in Spain over the weekend, and they came to some a verbal agreement. Conor McGregor was asked as he was leaving the building when he would be making his return to the UFC. He said February first in Saudi Arabia, they asked him who the opponent would be. It was Dan Hooker. Hooker was asked for comment. He said, Yeah, man, we talked about it and we're on board. We just got to get Dana and the whole UFC to agree to it. These guys went out for nose beers and just had an idea.

Yeah, Yeah, the corner's down, Dan's down. There's a key part here, that's UFC's involvement. You know what I mean? They are the promoters. So it remains to be seen. But I did see videos of McGregor all over the place at Barenucle FC. He was having a hell of a time. He was on stage for the weigh-ins and all the rest of it. He was loving it. I tell you what, it was fun to watch. You know what I mean? I didn't see the event. I know that Oscar Willis from the Mac Live. I know he fought another... What is he? A reporter, Ben Davis. I follow him on Twitter. What do you mean?

That's the homie. He does commentary, so I think it's more of like he's like an emcee type of guy, but he does do some interviews. He's the guy. Ben's the man.

I really like Ben. He seems like a cool guy, and I know that Oscar got the job done. Oscar Willis is a cool man. I've had a few beers with him. Great guy. I like him a lot, so well done to him. What was McGregor doing? Was he doubling purses?

Yeah, it was a fun event overall, and the main event, I guess, delivered to the point where Conor McGregor decided in the middle of the that the main event's purses would be doubled. And look at the look on Feldman's face when he says-I haven't seen this.

Let's have a look. Never been done before here in Bear Knuckle.

We're going to do a bonus for this fight. We're going to do a bonus, car. No, no, no, no, no.

Listen, we're going to do bonuses, yes, for both these gentlemen, as well as a multitude of other people that fought on this card.

But what we're going to do for these two gentlemen, as well as a bonus, is double the purse.

They're getting double paid. I just said, I'm going to take it. I'm going to take it. He's like, Yes, go ahead. I'm going to take it. Thank you for your sense. I just said his face. His face is like... Because I don't know, but I think they pay pretty good money. I would bloody hope so anyway. It's bare of knuckle. These guys are mangling their faces up. I think they pay pretty good money. You know what I mean? And Connor's there, and listen, he sounds like he's been having a good time. Fair play to him. I know the symptoms. I know the size. When you rock up like that, you're 10. It's because you've been overdoing it a little bit. Anytime I go to Vegas and if I have a few drinks because the air is so dry, and because I don't shut up and I don't stop talking, my voice goes. Connor sounds like He's had a few good nights there in a row, and then he doubles the purse. Hey, fair play to him. Fair play.

Honestly, if you made that much money out of fighting and you're sitting cage-side and you're now in the owner's seat, I feel like there has to be some fighter in you, the fighter side in you where it's like, Man, these guys should be getting more money. Let's just make that happen.

I love it. Hey, listen, well done to Connor for that one because I absolutely love it. Those guys go out there, pour out the heart and soul. Get covered in blood, fight their asses off. And Connor's like, Double the purses. Let's go. So that's fantastic. Well done. I thought you were going to start with the big news that Dana announced a few days ago. Main event at UFC, what is it? 310, 308 It is next week Abu Dhabi, 3:09, John Jones, Steepay, 3:10. What's the main event? Remind me.

Shabqat Rahmano versus Balal Mohamed.

Yeah, that's right. Yeah, Shabqat versus Balal Mohamed. I like it. Of course, that's the logical fight. It's the logical fight. Fair play to Bilal Mohamed. People like to rip on Bilal because he was when he was campaigning for the belt, it did get a bit tiresome, if you will. But you can't blame the guy. I think he was on a 10 fight, unbeaten streak. So he deserved it. And when he got the shot, he proved up, he backed up everything he said. He went out there and he beat Leon Farran Square. Relatively quick turnaround, July to December. As I'm waiting on the sidelines, as him said, I'm going to have to have surgery. As I said, I'm taking time out for my mental health or anything like that. Taking on Shovcat Rachmanov, 18 and 0, undefeated, all finishes. That's a hell of a fight.

Yeah. I mean, you cannot fault Balal. This is a guy who said he wants to be an active champion, and he's going to be. A lot of people were saying, he needs one more win. Shovokat was booked up against someone else to make that clear. Balal said, No, I'm not waiting. I'm not waiting for the title picture to figure itself out. This guy's good enough. Give me this fight.

Yeah, no. I mean, Shabqat, I understand Balal's point. He's been a lot of great fighters, but not like anyone in the top five, if I'm not mistaken. I'm just looking at the fight card right here. Hold on. His last few wins, what was it like? Neil Magnet, Jeff Neil, or Steven Thompson. There was last three, solid wins. But yeah, I see his point. If he was to argue and say, No, he needs one more. But when you see 18 and 0, it's hard to deny the guy. Of course, core main event is, I Alejandro Pantosia taking on Kai Asakura, a guy that was a rising champion, just beats Juan Archer letter in December. A buddy of mine went out to help Juan out there, so I watched that fight. The guy's good, kids good. He's a good striker, good, well-rounded writer, and I guess they can market this one as rising versus UFC champ, even though officially it's not that. And it's new blood for the Flywire division.

And not only that, I feel like there's been a growing rumble to Dana over the last six months or so being like, Hey, remember when we used to go to Japan? Remember how fun Japan was? So I feel like there is definitely with Tyra's main event last weekend and now this fight coming up, I feel like there is a legitimate push to try to get some Japanese people into these higher up contender and star roles to make the push for the UFC to make a trip back to the land of the Rising Sun.

Oh, yeah, because I'm telling you, at some point, the UFC are going to go back to Japan, and I can't wait for it. If I'm not working that card, I am going to be so annoyed and disappointed. I've always been obsessed with Japan. Started off doing Japanese jiu-jitsu. The food is amazing. Seporo is my favorite beer, and Japan just looks incredible. I saw a video, actually, of... What's he called? Anthony Bourdaine. Anthony Bourdaine, recently, I saw a video, obviously, the late Anthony Bourdaine. So it was an old video saying, If you asked any of the finest chefs on the planet if they had to go and live in one country for the rest of their life and eat their cuisine, he said they would all say Japan. So I got to go. All right, this episode is sponsored by Prizepicks. Prizepicks is the best place to get real money sports action with over 10 million members and billions of dollars in awarded winnings. Prizepicks has made daily fantasy sports accessible to all. You must pick more or less on at least two players for a shot to win up to 100 times your money. Run your game all season long on prizepicks.

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Download the price pics app today. Use the code BELIEVE to get $50 instantly instantly after you play just $5 on your first lineup. As I said, download the price pics app, use the code believe. You will get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Well done, though, to everyone that thought Saturday night. Well done to Tatsudo Tyra, lost his undefeated record. What else is going on, Harrington?

Two, lost his undefeated record, two.

Two, Raw Dog, Brandon, Roy Vall, the victory My God, what a performance.

I'm glad I got to make one, bro.

You're good, buddy. Take your time. Get situated. We will wait, my brother. We will wait. Give me like two seconds. Yeah, you're good, man. Do your thing. Harrington, just jump on a second while Roy Valle gets situated. This guy is punctual. He's on time. He's landing shots. He's defending takedowns, defending rear naked chokes. I think he's got an ice bag in his hand as well.

He's got I got ice in his hand and ice on his neck.

I got ice in his name.

I got ice in my hand. No, he did an all-nighter last night. My friend is on a contender series. He took a seven-day fight notice. So we literally just got home at 6:00 AM when he made wait, and we just got to the Airbnb. We're all back to back, my whole team.

Nice, nice. Amazing. Listen, I won't keep you long because I don't want to bother you too much. You were just on last week. But after that fight Saturday night, I'm I'm telling you, man, I was like, dude, what a performance from start to finish. An absolute war, a dog fight, technical brilliance on both sides. Then the way you guys address one another in the octagon, it was beautiful, man. It was fantastic from start to finish.

Like I said, I did not expect that to be a close fight. He shocked the shit out of me, I'm not going to lie. But that being said is I got to pull it off. It was fun. There's some good moment in there and a lot of cool things. And it was really cool just to make a little bit of an adjustment that fits around that one-week fight.

Yeah. Well, listen, he's really good. I mean, he's 16 and all. He was on a 6-5 win-street. So don't You're going to kick yourself. I know you were confident. I know you thought you were going to go through him. You almost got the finish in the third. Looked like you could have got a finish in the fifth, but the guy is ridiculously talented. So, bro, that was an amazing fight.

Yeah. And there's been moments in my life, there's probably been a handful of times where I'm like, Oh, that feels different than something. You know what I'm saying? When you're used to something, and it's like, I've been having my back taken a million times. I've had a lot of stuff like that. When he locked in that body, trying I immediately was like, Oh, that is a different type of body triangle. I've never felt the body track, and I was like, Oh, that's actually really tight. I drill body travel escapes all day, every day because I'm a little bit of a lengthier fly away. And the last couple of guys that I had, Moreno, Bantosia, and Tyra are all back riders. I really thought he'd probably be the least effective of the back riders. And holy shit, that kid on my back was a whole different strength, a whole different feeling, and really eye-opening.

Yeah, man. Listen, in the third round, it looked like he was going to go down. You were busting his face up. You were landing. You'd found the rhythm, the timing. You had great power as well. I thought he was going to go down. And then there was a couple of times, I think it was round four, you rocked him, he got a hold of your leg, and you were like, No, I'm just going to keep punching. And I was like, In my mind, pull the leg out. Pull the leg out. And you're like, No, I'm staying. I'm staying here. I'm just going to crack him. Then, of course, it gets you down. What were you thinking when you ended up on your back again in round four and it's got the body triangle? What are you thinking at that stage?

I was like, I can't believe this went this far. I was thinking that second round, I'm pretty sure. When it originally happened, I was like, damn, I can't believe When he went this far, I feel like instinctually I have really good body triangle escapes. I could not shake that kid at all. I could not get him off my back. I was rolling. I was doing every escape I could go through. I'm going through the video tutorials in my head because he's on my back for so long. I'm like, All right, how do I get out of this? And it was a different feeling. And every time that I thought I was out of it, he had a way to pull me back into it. Really I'm really big props to him, man. I'm definitely going to go back, watch that video, and just try to steal some ideas because I have a good body triangle. I have a good back. I don't have the best way to maintain the back like he did. And I feel like there was a lot to learn from him on that.

Hey, dude, once people get the body triangle, it's such a pain in the ass, man. And it becomes such a prevalent part of mixed martial arts now. When you get on your back like that, it's hard to shake if it really is. And you did that on multiple occasions. You got back to your feet. In the fifth round, he managed to do it again, but then you escaped, you got back to your feet, you started busting him up. Did you feel like the end was going to come? Did you think you were going to finish him?

When the fifth round came, not necessarily until I jumped the guillotine. When I grabbed the guillotine, I had it right across his neck. It looked loose. When you look at the camera view of it, it looks loose, but I felt direct neck. I could feel panic underneath me. So I thought I had the guillotine, and then he rolled, and then I went to mount and went straight to rear naked choking. I thought that was over, too. But there's two moments that I love. Last second, I'm like, Okay, I know he's tired, and I know going for jokes in these situations is like, you could get him a little quicker because you're in panic breath and all that stuff. I thought I was to get both of them and get escaped. I never was able to sync up that rear naked fully. But yeah, at the very end, I thought it was. In that third round, I thought I was going to finish him. At least two different times where I was like, oh, is I'm not about to call this.

Dude, it was an amazing fight. It really was. It was back and forth the whole time. High output, drama on both sides. It was brilliant, man. Be proud of that performance. Afterwards as well, as I said before, the moment you two shared, He got a little emotional. The first loss is always the toughest to take. And I didn't want to interrupt. So I gave you guys a bit of time because you guys were sharing a really nice, authentic moment. Of course, you know each other, you train with each other a little bit, and you were soul in him saying the nicest things. Just talk to me about that moment there.

I was just speaking my truth, and my truth is I think that kid will be a champion. I've thought that for a long time, even before I've ever trained him. When he bust on the scene, I'm seeing them. Kids like that. Kids like, what is his name? Joshua Van. Those kids are going to be champions one day. They're the next level of fighters. I was just telling them that. I was like, Bro, you're going to be a champion one day. I'm a good loss to have on your record right now. I'm not trying to be a douchebag, but he's 16 and one and his loss is me. It's not a bad for me career so far. Because I have some embarrassing I have a lot of losses on my record.

Come on. Bro, you ain't got embarrassing losses. Who is an embarrassing loss?

No, I was having an embarrassing loss, but I have...

I know what you're saying.

Yeah, exactly. But I Having a loss to the number one ranked fighter right now is not bad.

No, it's not bad at all. It's not bad at all.

And that's good. That's going to be a major pivotal point for him, too. I actually feel like he had a pivot point in this fight, too. It's just getting ready. Like I said, I've got both of them. I've never felt that before. I promise you that I've never felt that before. I feel like he hit another strive. It's just like when you're young like that and you have big moments and you have big lessons, it's like, those are the major You have a lot of points in your career. 16 and those is dope, but it's just like a fighter is a fighter. In MMA, a loss has happened. What makes you a fighter is adversity and how you're going to come back from that. That's really what's going to define you as a fighter, and that's really what's going to define you at a young age and what's going to make you a champion one day. I believe that this was something that's going to make him a champion one day.

I was just having the same conversation with Khalil Rountree. The exact same thing. So commiserations to him, but he'll learn and he'll grow and he'll get better. Congratulations to you. Saturday night or Saturday, they announced the fly away title, Ky Asakura, going up against Alejandro Pantosia. The question is, because I know that you've got the title on your mind, obviously, away. What do you do? Do you fight somebody in the meantime? Do you wait for that to happen and take the winner?

I just don't know who I'd fight in the meantime. Everybody fights back to back. So it's like, I could wait and see who Moreno and Albaazze is What happens between them? Which is like, I'm going to have to do no matter what. But then they fight December. So it's like that fight's two months away, barely. So it's like there's not much time in between then. And by that time, it's like, if I take a fight, then the champion might need a fight already by then, too. So it's just like, I don't know. I think the smart idea is to be the backup role. And if they can give me the backup role and just line myself up to what happens accordingly. So it's like, if something happens, Casa Cura has made flyway in years. If something happens, I can go step in on a moment's notice. If something doesn't happen, if Casa Cura wins, I'm sure that I'll be the next title shot. If Casa Cura doesn't win, maybe they'll look past me and go somewhere else, but then I can just fight the next person in line. But as of right now, I feel like I must be wasting my time getting myself booked.

Yeah, no, I totally agree. It's about six weeks away. It's around the corner. In the fight world, that's nothing. Seven weeks, six weeks, whatever it is, it's nothing. So I think you put yourself right in line. When you said you pulled an all-nighter, what did you mean by that? When you said we pulled an all-nighter, I thought, Oh, shit, the guy has been partying since Saturday night. But you meant you've been cornering.

Yeah, I haven't had a look of alcohol. My friend got called to the Contender Series the day that we flew out because he got called the day that we were flying out. Like, hey, can you make wait? Homeboy was 1:53, just want to fire. Days celebrating and being an asshole, of course. The Oasis calls, you have to just take it. Seven days or not, just slam in water. Homeboy woke up 1:42 this morning. I was 1:42 2:00, 3:00 yesterday. We just started cutting weight at about noon, about noon or 1:00, and just been going for it, hitting a little moment, giving a couple hours break. Finally, at 6:00 AM this morning, waited 126 exactly, or 125.5. Wow. We did it, bro. But as soon as he did it, the coaches that we have out here, they stood with them. They're at the hotel, but me and Alex went back to our Airbnb and we were like, Fuck this. I'm trying to get a couple of hours to sleep. I hit up the PI and just try to get myself a little work done.

Dude, a true professional until the end. As I said, I weren't going to keep you long, but I just wanted... That was an amazing performance. I I was blown away by the technical brilliance of it, by the pace, by just the relentlessness of both of you because it takes you to tango. So well done, Brandon. Hopefully, you get a fight for the title next because you deserve it. Love that fight. I'll let you go back to being a teammate.

I appreciate you, man. Thank you for having me.

Right on, Brandon. Take it easy, brother. What a true professional, Harry. He said to me, he said, I'm having an all-nighter. I thought, Oh, shit. All right. Well, okay, fair enough. You deserve to sell celebrate. He meant no, he's helping his teammate cook weight because that's why I remember now. As they were in Vegas, his teammate got a phone call to be on the contender. So stayed around in Vegas, helping his teammate cook weight. What a guy.

It's absolutely incredible. It shows that work ethic. Somebody who's ready to just jump right back in. Hey, I'm good for backup in December. I'm good for backup in Ontario. Whenever you need me, I will be ready on wait, prepared to fight.

And that's the type of guy that you want to be. In the words of Conor McGregor, You stay ready so you don't have to get ready. That's what he said, right?

I mean, that's- That's what he said. Yeah, sure. That might be what he said.

He had a look on the face.

That's not how he's living. Did you see him? You know what I mean? I'm trying to think of an example. It's like taking advice from Robert Downey Jr. In the '80s about how to get more rest and live a decent, healthy life. That's nuts.

Listen, I'm not going to kick a man and talk shit with the man enjoying himself.

He's living the life. You were about to say, I can't kick a man while he's down. There's never been anyone who's more up. So it doesn't even work.

He's up. He's well and truly up. I'm telling you, he's having a wail of a time. You see him with the way he was loving it, jumping up and down in the suit and everything. But I wasn't bringing up Conor McGregor. You did that again. But fair play to him, doubling those purses as well. Again, absolutely brilliant. All right, this episode is sponsored by Mando, and they are going to simplify your travel with the Mando 4-in-1 Acidified Cleansing Bar. It is a five-ounce bar that does the work of a shampoo, face wash, body wash, and deodorant. You can also use it to create a rich shaving leather. So technically a five in one. It's clinically proven to control order for 24 hours. Mandos four in one, a certified cleansing bar is formulated with gentle alpha hydroxy acid that stops order at the source. Regular salt cannot do that because the PH is just too high. This simplifies your hygiene routine and it's the only thing that you really need to pack. You can get it in three cologne quality scents. Mount Fuji is fresh and woodsy, leather is sweet and sophisticated, and the Pro Sport is clean and citrusy.

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What's her sister called? Eileen?

I believe it's Eileen Pereira. I want to say that. I could be calling her.

It's Eileen Perez, I think. Look at this. Look at whatever her name is.

It is Eileen Pereira, yeah.

Eileen, yeah, it is. Check this out. Right hand, left hook. I've seen some other footage of her as well in some of the kickboxing fights, I don't know, on YouTube or social media or whatever. I'm telling you right now, there she is jumping into the arms of her brother. She will be, I don't know what weight she fights at. She's going to be a champion. This might be the first time we see a brother and a sister, simultaneously many as champs in the UFC. How cool would that be?

I'm telling you, man, everything about this guy is he's... Alex Pereira is becoming synonymous with MMA. I was listening to Phil Simmons, who's a very popular sports podcast, he said this is the first crossover star that has hit him. Alex Pereira is the first one that's got it. That's his guy. He's known who Chuck Liddell was, known Conor McGregor when he crossed over. This is the first one where he's like, I cannot miss a paper interview where this guy is fighting. He is, if not going to be, already is the biggest star in MMA. And it's for story lines like this. Now we're talking about his sister who gave him full credit. She said, That is the Pereira left hook. My brother taught me that. It's what I'm going to put girls down with. I cannot get past how much this dude has taken over the sport of MMA. I want to look.

We're talking about a bloody sister, Harrington. I'm trying to give the sister prompts, but you're right. Yeah, she's going to end up in the UFC. As simple as that. I'm just trying to look up a record. Do you want to do me a favor and just look up a record, please, as I'm talking?

Certainly, because I know that was Karate Combats.

Yeah, Karate Combat, kickboxing, see if she's done any MMA. But that's genetic, clearly. That ability The frame, the power, because they talk about power being God given or whatever. The reality is a lot of the time you do either have it or you don't have it. You can go out there and you can train your ass up and you can improve it. But if you ain't got it, you ain't going to get it necessarily. It says she is 6 and 2 with one knockout. In mixed martial arts?

I'm seeing 1 and 2 in MMA.

Okay.

Yeah, she She's had three fights in LFA, and she's 1 and 2 across those. Okay.

All right, so maybe we'll slow our roll a little bit then.

21 and 3 is an amateur.

Yeah. Mma? Kickboxing. Yeah. They're a kickboxing family. Well, anyway, regardless, it was cool seeing her in karate combat. Speaking of coolness, they don't get much cooler than Daniel Rodriguez.

Hey, what up? What up, Mike? How are you doing? How are you doing, D-Rod? Good, man. Just right here back home in LA, celebrating to win.

Dude, tough, hard, four victory. Congratulations. We'll talk about that. When you were having that fight, because you've got such an interesting story. I was like, We've never had D-Rod on the podcast. What the hell is going on, man? We got to get him on. Saturday night, though, Morono, he's got a weird rhythm and timing, and it seemed like it took you a little minute to settle in and make the reads. Is that correct?

Yeah, the first round, definitely during fight camp, didn't expect him to be swinging as hard as he was. He throwing every strike pretty much with bad intentions. And he was a lot faster. And of course, he has a very unorthodox style. It's like untraditional compared to the normal... It's not as technical, but it's different. It reminded me a lot of a street fight. It took me a round to To figure it out.

Yeah, absolutely. As you say, it is weird because... And again, I've said this a few times on the show, but if people don't follow the rules, it makes it really hard to read. You know what I mean? Typically, there's a pattern to the striking, and he's a little unconventional. He was winging that overhand right, and he was looking for the knockout. I don't know if you knew, but Saif Saoud was in between rounds. He's like, Dip your head more. You could knock this guy out. Go for it. And he was trying to swing, man.

Yeah, the guy definitely packed some power, which made me a little hesitant in the first round. I'm like, Okay, it's like... Because a couple of those hit me, and it weren't enough to stun me or anything like that, but I knew he was dangerous. So as the wound But as the round went on in the first round, I could tell he was starting to slow down, and I started feeling as much power. So going into the second round, I knew I had to pick up the pace, definitely. And my coaches were telling me, I'll give it to him. He did take the first I was trying to figure him out. But in this game, it's five minutes, and I'll get his five minutes around, and I had to act quickly and make the adjustments.

Yeah, well, you did make the adjustments, and you clearly won the next two rounds. It was a fun fight. You'll be proud of yourself. And I'm assuming there's a bit of relief now because the last three fights, there's been circumstances, but you didn't get the wins. How good does it feel now to have that pressure off?

Man, it's a huge relief. It's a good feeling, man. I've been giving this shit my all. I've been given the sport of MMA my all the past few years since being in the UFC. And I've been given some tough fights, and it's a good feeling to be fighting these big names and guys with all the experience because it makes me feel amongst. I definitely feel I'm one of these guys. I'm one of these tough top name opponents in the UFC. And to finally get a win after having a couple of tough losses, close fights, it's a good feeling. It's definitely a relief. It makes me feel like I'm still where I belong, and I feel like I still have a lot more to accomplish in the game.

Yeah, no, without doubt. And I always love watching your fights, Daniel. I'd like it if you could share a little bit about your story and what brought you to Mix Martial Arts, because you've been very open, that you're in trouble with the and stuff like that. And I think it's inspirational. And I think people should know about that. And I've been very open. I was a similar way, not quite as much trouble as you, but you find something that gives you a purpose and you use your energies and your certain talents that you have and channel it in the right way, and then you can turn it all around. And I think you're a living proof of that.

Yeah, man. For the people that don't know, what brought me to the sport of MMA was just I became a fan of the sport late in my life. I want to say late. I was 23, 24 when I first discovered MMA or UFC as a fan because before that, I had just been a fan of boxing. I always wanted to be a boxer. As long as I can remember, all my family functions were boxing events. It's just in our culture. But really, my upbringing was totally unconventional and untraditional to the average fighter that's been doing this since they were a kid doing karate and shit. I grew up in the system, in the jail system out in LA, Los Angeles County. I've been all over the juvenile system. I've been all over the LA County Jail. I never went to a state prison, but I did get a prison sentence that I served in the LA County Jail. Out of a year, I ended up doing eight months and 20 days. That was my longest stint. Really, what helped me change is I got tired of it, man. I got tired of going to jail and coming back.

My life would be I'd have to reset. I'd have to restart my life. I lost everything, my job, my car, everything. I got tired of that. I got tired of the cycle. In LA, it's really hard to get out of the cycle. The system is built like a... It's like a system, like a revolving door. Yeah, they let you out of jail, but they also have restrictions, and you can't drive, and you can't do this and this and that. So it makes it extra hard. But I just got tired of that lifestyle, man. I got tired of living just on the run, living a bad life. I got tired of the gang life. I got tired of going in and out of jail. I started having kids and I started looking for a way with no experience, with no life experience. I started looking for a way to live a different life. I found MMA.

I found I found that- Do you mind if I ask, Daniel, what stuff are we talking about?

Yeah, just like a gang-related activity. A lot of the stuff that I did was sometimes for fighting at clubs, selling drugs, stealing cars, vandalism, doing graffiti and stuff. I was really into graffiti art. A lot of the times that I did go back to jail was because I'd be in my old neighborhood and the cops already know who I was, so they'll pull me over. They'll be like, Hey, you know you're not supposed to be here. And then they'll have weed on me or my probation officer will come and they'll drug test me and I'll be smoking weed or hanging out with my friends. There's a thing called a gang in junction where you're not supposed to be in your neighborhood or be with your friends. And a lot of times I'll violate my probation. So for a long time- What would happen?

Let's just say you're hanging out with your friends because I'm trying to understand that. Obviously, I grew up in the Northwest of England. Very, very different to the area that you grew up in. So you're prohibited from hanging around with certain friends, gang members, whatever you want to call them. So you're hanging out. They find out that you are. They come and arrest you. What's the next step from there?

Yeah. Then I'll have, let's say, I'm out with my friends on a Friday, and they'll keep me over the weekend in a substation in LA somewhere. Then come Monday morning, I'll go to court, and they'll set up a probation violation hearing. So A lot of the times when they'll pull me over, they'll ask, Are you on parole or probation? I would have to say yes because if I say yeah, and they look anyways, and they find out that's a violation in its own. I have to keep it real with them, and then they'll run my stuff and they'll be like, Hey, you know you're not supposed to be here in this neighborhood or hanging with this guy. Or they have a right to search you or anything. And if I have anything on me, it's a reason to violate me. So that's the reason. There would be a reason to take me in and give me another three months. So for a long Three months? Yeah, three months, two months as a violation. So for a long time, I was stuck in this cycle.

Just for a bullshit thing like that, three months?

Yeah, probation violation. And that's what I'm saying for a lot of people, it's hard to get out because a lot of us don't have anywhere else but the house we were in when we got arrested, and they're saying we can't be there. So it's like a trap, man. It's like a system that's really hard to get out. And to get out of it, it takes a lot. You got to I truly want it from the inside. So I found MMA, man. But before that, I'm not going to lie, I've been in a ton of street fights. I've been in jail fights. I've been in fights with my cellmate. I've been in a fight, so I carry that into the cage when people are like, Man, he looks like he's calm. I'm just in a comfortable and uncomfortable situation. So I found the sport of MMA and On top of having kids, but I finally had something I was good at, which was pretty much everything I've been through in life just made me good at fighting and surviving tough situations. That helped change the whole path, man. It just kept winning. As soon as I figured it out and figured something I was actually good at, I gave it everything I got because I never played any sports.

I never I never was good at anything. I was just a troublemaker. I just always was in love with the... Of having respect in the neighborhood. Now I get it in a whole different... Excuse my language. In a whole different in a whole different sense. It's just for a guy like me and the story that I have and where I've taken it now is so inspirational, especially in the city of LA and California and anyone who's ever been in my situation where you live in the hood and you want to make a way out. But it's very hard, especially given the background and all the criminal history. It's just the tattoos. It makes it really hard to Once you decide or have kids or whatever it is that makes you want to change. It makes it even harder to try to find something because I had found a decent job in construction, but man, I hated it. It was It was the toughest job in construction. I was a Union ironworker where pretty much I was just hauling rebar on my shoulder all day, placing it. And I was just an apprentice. They were like, Hey, go get this, go get that.

And I hated it. Man, I hated that job.

How was the pay, though? Was the pay okay?

Given my history and everything, it was okay.

Yeah. No, because I've done a lot of jobs like that, but a lot of the shit is super hard labor. Back in the day when I was 18, I was like, Oh, shit, this is pretty good. Let me ask you, I come from a small town called Clithero. They don't have a gang culture there, but there's a lot of dickheads. There was a lot of trouble growing up when I was a kid. And in all the neighboring towns, there was a lot of violence, like fighting, nothing like... We don't even have guns, so it wasn't like gang violence that you have in America. However, with that said, when I go back home now, I still sometimes I have to avoid certain people because certain people are involved in certain things. And I've grown and I know who they are, so I stay away and all the rest of it. How hard is it for you now, given that you have a profile and you've just moved back to LA now, let's say you go back to one of your neighborhoods where you know some people. I mean, is it hard to avoid certain people or stay out of trouble?

It is in a sense. There's a lot of people that I grew up with or Actually, it's not that hard, man. I got a lot of- Just they're proud of you. Yeah, they're so proud of me, and no one wants me to get in trouble. No one wants to bring no negativity around me. A lot of people want to see me and say, Hey, what's up, man? How's it going? Like, I have to see you again. I do come back to the old neighborhood sometimes, and I do. But it's real easy because my generation, we're all older. Ain't nobody doing no crazy stuff like that no more. We all got kids now. We all grown up. There's the younger generation are doing their thing. I don't even know any of them. But for the most part, everybody just has a ton of love for me and a ton of respect, and no one really tries to bring no negativity around me like that, even Even some of the dudes that I wasn't getting along with, the dudes that we were sworn to fight and kill each other, now they see me on the streets and they're like, Hey, man.

They can't help. They're like, Hey, respect.

Yeah. I ran into him at a bar not too long ago. They're like, Hey, man, get your money. You're out here doing it. You're making the city proud. So we're all grown up now, so it's really easy to avoid all problems.

Good. I'm glad to hear it. If you could, as you say, it's a different generation now, and you've moved on, and you're a family man, and you're a success. If there's someone in a similar situation, I'm not sure how many... What's the term? Is it offensive to say young gangbangers are listening listening to this? Is that offensive? But I'm not sure how many young kids from those kinds of neighborhoods are listening to this podcast. But if there's someone... And there is gangs in England, of course there is. If there's a young man out there or a young woman that's in a similar situation, what advice would you give them, Dan?

I'm 100 % sure that there is someone that's watching this because because of me, they know I'm going to be on here. And I represent a whole culture of I represent LA to its entirety. The little gangbangers out there, I know what you are going through, and I know where you are, where you've been at, and how it is. Me personally, I would love to go to the juvenile hall system and give them a little speech and be like, Hey, man, I was right here where you are. I remember when I was hopeless, I remember that I didn't care about nothing but the gang and the respect. I was like, for them to know that there's another way to gain respect. There's another way to have pride and to hold it down for your hood, your community. That's in the cage or in the ring or doing something else. I would never want to promote fighting in the jail system. I don't want to be like, Hey, go out there and start fighting this shit. But know that there's a way out. If I find a way out, and I was as bad as they come, as bad as it gets.

But there's a way out. There's a different way of life. I feel like just by believing in that and trusting in yourself and having a positive influence, a support team around you, I mean, nothing's impossible. You could do anything, literally.

I always say the same thing. I think it's a lot of people, they just don't believe that their circumstances can change. They just think, what's the point? This is the card that are in doubt, and this is how my life is going to be. They don't truly believe that if they do the right things and step by step, just try. And yeah, it ain't going to be easy. I think people don't believe that they can change it.

Yeah. Even if it's baby steps. I think people's most fear is taking the first step. And that's the hardest part for a lot of people. And I think a lot of people are afraid to take the first step because people are scared to change. People aren't willing to sacrifice the time, the energy, and just have belief within themselves. It's just a matter of time when you're aiming to do something and head it in the right direction, that's where you're going to be and that's what you're going to do. I stuck to the script, and no matter how hard it got, because I've had my ups and downs like crazy. It took me so much to get to this point, and I'm happy I made the sacrifices. It all worked out for the best.

Yeah. No, congratulations. It's a hell of a story. How many kids? Four?

I got five.

Five kids. What age is?

I got 16, 11. My boy is about to turn 10. My daughter is seven, and I got a baby boy who's two.

So when you came home, what? Sunday?

When you go home- Yeah, Sunday. Yesterday, we just had a big old family function. Hey, man, I'm Mexican. I got a big-ass family, man. We had a big old fiesta going on right here. So all the kids were here. We rewrites the fight. Man, the feeling that I got when I saw how invested my kids are, they're zoned in, locked in. And man, watching that yesterday, I'm not going to lie, it changed a little perspective for me in a sense of who and why I'm fighting for and what my kids, I'm their hero, bro. I'm their hero 100%, and that's the best feeling in the world for my kids. Watching my kids' face when I'm on TV, getting my hands raised, their smile and their happiness and their faith is just on their faces. It makes every single hard part of this worth it.

I'm sitting there grinning like a dickhead because I remember those moments. I remember coming back and watching it back on the Sunday, just like you said, with all my friends that are flown in for it and just having a few drinks and reliving the moments. It's amazing, Dan. And you've worked your ass off. You've fought all over the world Last time before this, you were in Saudi Arabia. You got dealt a shitty card against Kelvin Gastelen, but you still showed up. You give it a hell of a fight. You got to win on Saturday, and I look forward to the future. Thanks for sharing that with us today, Dan. I really appreciate it. No problem.

Hey, thanks for having me, Mike. You're the best, bro. I got a lot of love for you, dog.

My man. Thank you, brother. Enjoy the moment. Can't wait to see you back in the octagon again, and enjoy the rest of your day.

All right, man. Thanks.

My man. Take care. Bye-bye.

Yes, sir.

There he is. Tell you, Harrington, What a story, man.

It's impossible not to grab your heart strength, right? Somebody who was able to focus this passion for fighting into something that's not only improving their life, but the life of their community and the people around them. It's inspirational stuff. Love to see it. Yeah.

That's why when I said I didn't want to be disrespectful and say gangbangers, but I guess that's what they call them, right? And in England, there's lots of gangs. There's lots of gangbangers. It's not really from where I'm from, but it is. It's just all that little groups of people. They don't necessarily They have the names and the tattoos and stuff like that. But there's certain people that group together and they become a tribe, and you end up getting involved in fights. And probably looking back, it was gangs. And there's a lot of gang violence all up and down the UK and all over the bloody world. So Daniel Rodriguez is an inspiration to a lot of people. So well done, Dan, because I'm sure that was not easy. And he's a great fighter as well. All right, what else have we got? I mean, go on.

Well, I was going to say, I think the biggest thing, the next big pay-per-view coming up, Ilya Toporia.

I was going to go there.

He was talking a bit of smack, but not about his opponent or even the guy in the next division up. He was aiming shots at Balal Muhammad, something fierce.

I mean, Ilya, All right, listen, I like Balal. I'm not going to kick it. I'm not going to add to it, but there's no need to add. I mean, that is what he says. No finishes, no knockouts, no knockouts, no girlfriend, no kids. Balal has never finished any man or woman. What What a prick. What a prick. He has knocked out Sean braided. But if people are going to talk shit, I guess they're going to start talking shit. Since when did Balal and Ilya to Portia have, quote, unquote, been?

I couldn't tell you, but I know that he was asked for comment about who wins in the Shabqat fight, and he said that Shabqat absolutely runs through Balal, and that's what got Balal to respond to Ilya.

Oh, I see. So Balal responded first, and then it's a hold. They're all just talking shit back and forth. That's the way it goes. Someone says something one time. Fair play to Ilya. Maybe he's got a relationship with Shabqat. Who knows? Maybe he's just not a fan or an admirer of Balal Muhammad. We talked a lot about Ilya last week. I'm excited. This Sunday, I fly out to Abu Dhabi. Not excited about the 19-hour journey or whatever it is, but that fight card top to bottom is looking absolutely ridiculous. Anyway, enough for that. We're going to talk a lot about Max and Elliott next week. Guess what? I said four guests, and we have the fourth one joining us now, the victorious Grant KgD Dawson. All right, we are joined by the one and only Grant KgD Dawson. Grant, I'm telling you, man, Saturday night, not only with the performance, but with the post-fight interview, I'm like, I got to talk to this guy.

Yeah, man, it was definitely a good one. It went viral. And I think some of the best comments I got is that after I said the whole dumb truck line, you said, Congratulations at the end. And that was so funny. In the actual octagon, I didn't actually hear you say congratulations, and I'm watching it back, and I'm like, She's got a dumb truck you can bounce a quarter off of. And you said, Congratulations.

I meant more like congratulations on the moment.

No, you meant on having a big booty wife, and I'm okay with it.

I tell you what, you rocked the apex. You had a lot of supporters there.

Yeah, I didn't know any of them, too. Really? Yeah, No, I didn't know any of those guys, but they were cheering, and they teared when I got announced, which I thought was really weird because usually they don't cheer until the end. Well, they usually cheer at the beginning and then boo at the end because sometimes I put on boring performances. But this time, everybody was going crazy, so it was definitely a great night.

No, man, you always use your wrestling to an absolute T, but just going back to that point, when you walked out, as I said, the energy in the apex, it just went through the roof, and then everyone was screaming and cheering and shouting. I thought you must have brought in 30 or 40 friends or something because the energy in the building really lifted. The performance was great. I mean, you were super aggressive. I spoke to you last week. You said Rafa Garcia is fantastic. And you were right. He He is fantastic, but you made pretty short work of him with respect to Rafa.

Yeah, man. It was one of those things where I was such a big favorite. He was a huge underdog, and I thought a lot of people were overlooking him. And for me, I was like, Man, I know how tough this guy is. And everybody's always talking about how good his takedown defense is. Everybody's always talking about how tough he is and how durable he is. This is going to be a good fight. This is going to be a competitive matchup. And so for me, it was almost like, Guys, you got to give me my credit when I beat this guy because I knew I was going to win, but I didn't think it was going to be that easy. And I was worried that it was going to be a decently close fight, and people were going to be like, Oh, Grant's not as good as we thought it was. I was like, No, guys, this guy's just really, really good. But I think that mentality helped me going into the fight because it makes sure I'm on my Ps and Qs. I take everybody very seriously, and I look to dominate. And those are the type of performances we get.

Yeah, it was a dominating performance And to be honest, Grant, not kissing your ass. You know this. That's pretty much what you've done to most people inside the octagon. Your wrestling is phenomenal. And then, of course, Saturday night, the ground on pound. You were hyper aggressive. Was that important to you to not only get get the win, but of course, put on an exciting performance and get the finish.

Yeah, it was very important to me because how it went with my last bite was, I'm coming off of a loss to Bobby Green. I just want to get in the win calm. I don't care if I get booed out of that arena. I don't care if anybody's unhappy with me, I'm going to do whatever I have to do just to get back into the win calm. I don't want to lose twice in a row. And then with this fight, it was like, Look, I'm so much better than that last performance. I know that I can be in the top 15. I know that I can be world champion. And tonight, I'm going to show what happens when you put me in a mismatch. And I went out there, again, respecting him. I know how tough he is, but it was very, very important to me to not only get a finish, but get a dominating finish to where it's not just like a rear naked choke where I catch him. I wanted to brutalize him and make sure that we open up more on the ground. And then we did that.

And show your personality as well.

Yeah, that's a nice part, too. I keep telling people I'm funny, man. I'm really funny.

It doesn't work when you've got to tell people that you're funny, though.

What's that?

It doesn't work when you've got to tell people that you're funny.

Right. Yeah. It's like telling people you're good at fighting. If you tell them you're good at fighting, they're going to be like, Yeah, okay.

Yeah, no, but it was a viral moment. People will be talking about it. You are a funny guy. You do have a personality. You've got the skills to back up all the talk as well. And to be honest, you're not really a shit talker anyway. You're very humble. I'm just looking at your record here. On the contender, two, three, four, five, a draw with Ricky Glenn, call it six, seven, eight, nine in a row, undefeated in the UFC, and then you run into Bobby Green. What was that? How long was it? Bobby Green, 33 seconds. He catches you. How much? I mean, of course, it's a learning process. We all know this, but how much does that piss you off? Because you were on one hell of a street.

Yeah, I mean, it's never fun losing. But I'm going to be completely honest with you, Michael. I was more upset about going to a draw with Ricky Glenn than I was losing to Bobby Green. And the reason why is I was dominating Ricky Glenn. I still think I won that fight. A lot of people still think I won that fight. They gave him a 10-8 in the third round because I got tired, because I didn't have the training partners that were pushing me enough. And that really Really, really would upset me. I lost that fight because it was in my control or I went to a draw in that fight, and it was still in my control to be able to win that fight. I can't control my chin, right? If I get caught and I get put down, I have no control over that. That doesn't matter how tough I It doesn't matter how good of shape I am. If you hit me in the right spot and I go down, I don't really have control over that. So I'm not going to sweat it. I could have made a better decision. I could have made a better read, and that's what we're working on.

But for the most part, losing to Bobby Green, I don't like I don't believe in luck or flukes or say anything like that. But it was one of those things where I still think I'm the better fighter. I think if me and Bobby fought, I would be a favorite still. Maybe not as big of a favorite, but I would still be a favorite. So it was easier for me to move on. You take your lickings, you get better, When you move on. I still want to be a world champion.

And that's really honest. You know what I mean? Because to a lot of people hearing that, they might think that you're making excuses. It doesn't sound like an excuse to me. You go out there, you get caught, you fight again. It could be completely different. Harrington, just jump on a second. You put a link here saying, best post fight speech. Is this Grant's speech? Because if it is, let's play it. I want you to talk us through it.

No, I'll find that right now.

Well, what the hell is he putting in the link? He's put a link, you can't see it. It says, Oh, it's a Bivel post fight speech. Bivel. I've got bad eyes. I thought it said best. Ignore that part. So you went out there against Rafa Garcia, a tough dude that has got great take down defense. You finish him in the second round. You turn into a superstar. You rock the apex. I mean, who do you want next? And when do you want to get back in there?

Yeah. I mean, for me, anybody in the top 15 would be great. Patty Pimble. I was planning to call out the Neil Darius, but He got booked with somebody right before the fight. So that's why I stayed away from it because I don't like calling out guys that are booked. If I don't get a top 15 guy, there is a name that intrigues me immensely, and that is Jacquard Close. Jacquard Close has wins over both of the guys that have beaten me in my professional career. I have two losses in my professional career. Jacquard Close has beaten both of them. So if I get a win over Jacquard Close, it doesn't necessarily right those wrongs, but it does show how much better I've gotten since those losses.

Yeah, no, absolutely. We've got the actual link to the interview. Do you want to take a look? Should we live that moment again? Ryan, roll the tape because it was a good one. The biggest cheat code that I have is having the most amazing and supportive wife that you could possibly have.

How much she supports me is literally my favorite thing about her. Well, it's my second favorite thing about her. My first favorite thing is she's got a dump truck you could bounce a quarter off of.

We missed the part where you said, Congratulations.

And there she is, your beautiful wife. You know what? Hearing that back and watching that on Saturday night when I was flying home, I was thinking about it and I was jealous because I always thanked my wife in the octagon. But you really went out of your way to explain the support system that she is for you. And behind every great man, there's always a great woman. And I don't think a lot of people realize that you need a stable your full home life. You need somebody that supports you. You need somebody that's not causing drama and that is just there to help you and guide you because mixed martial arts is a tough path. And when you've got a rock at home, it just makes it so much easier. Yeah.

And I think that's something that a lot of these kids are missing. I help out a lot of the younger MMA fighters, the younger guys coming up, and they're always asking me, Hey, what's the secret? What's the key? What's this? And you know as well as everybody else that it's just dedication, staying with it. There's no secret to success. But the man, the biggest thing that I can tell these kids is finding a good partner that is going to support you and not emphasize drama and not make it worse for you when you come home. Because when you come home, that's your sanctuary, right? You just spent all day fighting other half-naked, sweating men. You don't want to come home and have to argue about who did the dishes and why is this sitting now? And now, look, we don't have a perfect marriage by any stretch of the imagination. Obviously, We fight, but it's always done respectfully. It's always done... Women need to feel loved and men need to feel respected. And I think that is one of the biggest keys is I do everything I can to make her feel loved, and she does everything she can to make me feel respected.

So it really does make the weight cut easier. It makes the training camp easier. It's such a big cheat code. And I think a lot of people don't want to date nowadays. They're so worried because there's a lot of hos out there trying to snag some stuff. And I totally get it. But you can weave your way through those. And when you find the right partner, I really think it is a huge sheet code.

Yeah, no, it really is. And you sound like Jason Perillo, my former coach, because that's exactly what he used to say, you go to the gym, you fight another guy, you're expelling all of this physical energy. Last thing you want to do is go home and then do another 10 rounds with your wife or your girlfriend or whatever, and then just use all this mental energy because it's It's exhausting on both fronts. It really is. So it seems like you guys have got it figured out. How long have you been married?

So we'll be married for three years in November, but we've been together for eight. So it's definitely been a long time, and I think it's taken a long time to really figure out our path. And we had the bumps and the bruises for sure, but I think we're really in a great spot here, man. Life is just so good for me right now. I'm honestly waiting to get cancer results or something because I'm way too right now.

No, I get it. I mean, look at this, 22 and 2. That's a hell of a record, brother. It really is. 22 and 2. You got a beautiful wife. Life is good. You're winning. You know what I mean? I mean, what more do you want? Because mixed martial arts is a tough path. It's a really, really tough path. And there's only a very small percentage of people that turn it into what they dream of it being. I'm assuming that you're pretty happy with the way things are going.

Yeah, dude, I'm not even I'm joking. On the way home, I was on this high of adrenaline and endorphins and just so happy with everything I have right now. I'm flying home and I'm like, Dude, something has to go wrong here. Things can't be going this smoothly for me. Did I die a long time ago? And I'm actually living out some weird coma fantasy right now because this is absolutely amazing. But no, I do think that a lot of these guys, they don't set their goals high enough. I want to be a world champion. And I'm aiming for a star, and if I hit the moon, I'm still in space. So that's great. But aim high. Always try to get to where you want to be, but realize that the higher you aim, the farther you're going to go. And I think I'm going to be a world champion. That's not me saying I'm aiming high and not going to make it. I will be a world champion, but I can step back and say, dude, you've come a really long way.

Listen, I want to know what the skeletons in the closet are because you seem like the nicest guy, the best person, the funiest guy, grateful, the best husband. You know what I mean? There's got to be some side to Grant Dawson because right now you're looking I'm not the perfect human being.

Yeah, I'm definitely far from the perfect human being, 100 %. I don't know if I've got skeletons in my closet, per se. I mean, maybe it's a passive of a porn addiction, but I guess that I'm teasing.

I know. I know. I know, I'm listening. Listen, listen. Congrats on everything, Grant. I really mean, and every time I speak to you, you're so calculated and methodical, and you really have a thinking mind for this game. Talk to me How you speak about it a lot going down to American Top Team and the difference that that has made to your approach and just the training that you're getting.

Yeah. I mean, American Top Team, I was just talking about them earlier. I think one of the best advantages that we have is that we've been around for a long time. Back when MMA was first starting, you had these big teams like Team Alpha male. You had big teams like ATT. What was the other? There was another big one out there, a TriStar, and they're all still here. They're all still doing great. But I think that American top team is the only one that's really still producing multiple contenders. Tristar has a couple of good contenders. Alphamail has a couple of good contenders. But ATT is just constantly like, wow, that guy's really, really good. He could fight for a world championship. Where does he train? Oh, American top team. Of course he does. So I think that's one of the things is we have a young gym funding, but we have an old gym's experience. And I think that goes so far for us. We have such good training partners, such good coaches, and the facility It's absolutely amazing. Dan Lambert really created something special.

I've never been there. I've seen it online. I know that Dan Lambert is a wealthy man that loves mixed martial arts that takes care of the fighters. You guys apparently have a fantastic deal down there, but it's more for his passion for the sport, why he started this facility. But what's it like on a day to day when you walk in there? I mean, is it just world-class fighters all over the map? Because that's half the problem. When I were fighting, just trying to find good people to train with. Every training camp, trying to solve the puzzle. I'm fighting Richard Evans. I live in England. I need some good wrestlers, calling people around and all the rest. Then I got to fly them in. Then I've got to pay for hotels and things like that. But you've got it all there at your disposal, plus all the supplementation and recovery protocol. I mean, that is a dream place to train.

Yeah. It's literally like training at the NFL Combine. You have everything that you could possibly want. When I did train at smaller gyms in Missouri, I ran into exactly what you're talking about. I'm the best wrestler in the room. I'm fighting a really good wrestler. We need to bring in other wrest to push me and help me go. The problem is, you're saying you got to pay for their hotel. You got to pay for them to come and visit. And I was totally willing to do all that. Nobody wanted to come because nobody wants to spend six weeks in freezing cold, Missouri, to help some kid that hasn't become a superstar yet get ready for one of his UFC fights. But here at American Top Team, we have every single body that you would possibly need. And the nice thing is if you do need some outside help, maybe you're fighting a specialist that we just don't have, it's really easy to get them to come to American Top Team because you've got beautiful weather, you've got fight dorms, you've got everything that you could possibly need. It's super easy to find everything you're going to need.

I felt like I was playing for a high school team when I first started out, and then I was playing for a really good college team, and now I'm playing in the NFL. And that's really what it feels like training.

That's amazing. It really is. And you're so lucky, and you obviously realize that. So Grant, I just want to say well done again. We'll let you go. American top team. I'm not going to show my face down there sometime. Pahumper and all the guys down there are fantastic. Congrats on all your success. Congrats on the post fight speech. Congrats on everything. Grant, thank you for your time, brother. I'll say goodbye.

I appreciate it, my brother. Come down to American Top team, man, anytime, man.

I would love to, but I'll get my ass kicked. I'm too old these days. Mike, do you want to come and roll? I'm like, No, I'm good. I'll just walk on the sidelines.

Hey, bro, you still got it. I can tell, man.

Still got it. All right, Grant, take care, bud. All right, thank you to Grant Dawson and all of the guests. Daniel Rodriguez, what a story as well, by the way. So we haven't done a non-MMA topic. Harrington. I I sent this to you yesterday. I finished commentating the fights on Saturday. Fights finished at 7:00. There was a frontier flight at 7:55. Well, the fights finished at 7:05. I'm like, Rebecca, book it. When the co-main event was on, I'm like, Just book it, just book it. Finish, ran out, grabbed my suitcase. Ufc had a car waiting for me. I jump in the car, we're driving to the airport. I get changed in the back. I said to the woman, It's a woman driving, of course. I'm like, Excuse me, do you mind if I get changed in the back of the car? She's like, I don't give a shit. I'm like, Okay, great. I'm getting pretty much naked just in my underpants rushing, just make it to the flight on time. Fly home, wake up in my own bed, Sunday morning. Turn the news on as I'm having my morning coffee and I see the video of SpaceX.

They've launched a rocket into space, and then the booster part separates and it comes back down. Do we have a video of it, Brian? Because this is just unbelievable. So that bit there, that's the booster that we're seeing that's separated from the rest of the rocket that blasts off into space and just orbits. But look at this. It comes back down so it can be used again. They call these chopsticks, and it catches it perfectly. So they can refuel it, use it again, save a fortune. And just seeing that, I was just in amazement. Is this a video of it taking off or is that the end of it?

No, that's where it settled in.

It's just it settling down. I mean, talk about... I put this on Twitter. It's a marvel of modern engineering, something like that. And everyone was like, What do you know about engineering? And I'm like, Nothing. I don't have to know about engineering to know that to be able to get a rocket into space, that's pretty impressive, right? But then the bit that thrust it up to break off and then come back and to be able to land right back into that, it is just It's unreal.

Yeah. And it's like, I don't know, man. Elon Musk is the only billionaire I've seen who he says something, and then he does it. When he said, Yeah, we're going to launch rockets and then have them come back down and land on a thing so that we can reuse it, we were all like, Okay, Star Trek. Yeah, right, dude. There's no way. Then two years later, he's doing it. It's one of those things where I'm like, Is he actually going to go to Mars? Is Elon Musk actually going to go to Mars? We're going to be living on Mars before we're dead, man.

I'm telling you because we've spoke about the robots quite a lot, so we're not going to go into it where he unveiled the Optimus just recently. But I was watching those videos and the pouring drinks and the having conversations, and it's like actually talking to a person. And Callum was like, Yeah, Elon, he comes out with a lot of shit on Twitter. And I'm like, So what? So what? By the way, I like a lot of the things that he says, and I agree with 99.999 % of everything that he says. But Callum was like, Oh, I don't know. I don't know. That's a bit of a bad take. I'm like, So from what? We're not talking about that right now. Look at what he's doing to further man. I mean, doing this stuff. I mean, those robots, $20,000, $30,000. I'm getting one of those. That is a fact. And Rebecca is like, No, we don't need that. I said, Babe, look at this. We went for sushi last night. I said, We can say to Optimus, after we've given him whatever name we want to give him, Clean the house, vacuum, do this, do that, make me a meal.

And it'll all be done when you come back in. You can use it to teach you stuff, teach you a new language, or read you a book or whatever. Just unbelievable. And it's all down to innovation from Elon Musk and people like him. And to see... Because think about this, I'm 45. The world has changed in my lifetime alone, let alone my mother's lifetime or my father's lifetime. I remember when there was no internet, when there was no social media. Kids now have no concept of that. It is a very, very different world. Can you Can you imagine what we're going to have in 20 years time? This stuff right now, these Optimus robots, the spacecraft going up into orbit and the thrusters coming back down, life on Mars and all this type of stuff. We're just scratching the surface.

Yeah, and it's like the trajectory is so crazy. It's like you look at the 1800s, everybody's living on farms. Then the industrial revolution happens. Over that 100 years, more got accomplished than the 2000 years before it.

If you go back to the 1800s, there was raw sewage in the streets. You know what I mean? I think so. Anyway, there was raw sewage in the streets. There was massive piles of shit from horses outside every building in New York. Do you know what I mean? And now you look at it and you take it all for granted. And I'm telling you, when we said, what's that 300,000? What's that, Brian? That's how many years people have been around.

But also today, you have to worry about people shit in major cities.

No, you have to worry about people shit. We've gone a little I try and avoid that at all costs.

Although I get a lot of people shit online, they can piss off as well. No, but it's wild. If you just think about the future, man, when you look at that and you see what's possible, when you see Terminator 2, now we're living through that. Yeah, granted, they're not trying to kill us just yet. Skynet is not a thing, but those Optimus robots will pour you a drink, cook you a meal. There's a Chinese company. Have you seen the Chinese ones?

No.

They're pretty good-looking. Like they are.

Oh, yeah? They made hot ones?

I'm telling you, Brian, just try and find them. There's a Chinese company that are doing the rivaling Elon Optimus robots, and they look like humans in the face, and they've made them attractive-looking people. Do you know what I mean? As opposed to like Elon's that are just black faces. I don't know why he didn't put some eyes or a mouth on.

Did you see... Oh, yeah. Wow. Okay.

They're not bad. I mean, it's not my cup of tea. I'm not interested in it. I'm a robot. But you know what I mean? There's some people out there that might be.

Did you see the guy who made the movie I, Robot? He came out today. He says that Elon stole all of his designs from him. So the Tesla, the cars in that movie look like the Teslas, the robots in that movie look like the Optimus, and there's just more and more of those.

Yeah, but I would say, yeah, okay, maybe on surface level, I can't move the technology, you absolute buffoon. You know what I mean? You use a regular car and painted it and put some paneling on it for it to look a certain way. I made it. I made it. It's not driving.

It's cool that you can make it in your computer, but do it in real life.

Yeah, no, exactly. I don't think that lawsuit is going to get off the ground. It's wild, man. It is wild where the world is going. What do you think... I mean, they're already talking about robot taxis in New York. You've seen that, right? Yeah. What do you think the next big thing is going to be?

I was talking to Alex about this recently. I think my daughter is going to go to space. I don't think I ever will, but my daughter at some point will be in space.

I think... Well, that's what Elon says, because eventually, Eventually, and this sounds a stupid thing to say, and I often say stupid things, but TV and films, they seem to be doing a really good job of predicting the future. And look at where we were 200 years ago to where we are now. If we're still around in 200 years time, think of the technology that's going to be at our fingertips because it's growing in the fastest way that it ever has. So you're absolutely right. We will be going to outer space. In fact, NASA are launching a rocket today, I believe, to go to a moon that's orbiting Jupiter, and it's supposed to be able to sustain life.Cold what?Europa.

It's like a big ocean covered in ice. It's covered in ice. Yeah, it's covered in ice, but underneath it, just filled with water.

And geological activity.

So they're like, well, there's energy down there, so there's a good chance that there's something living. And by the way, a moon orbiting Jupiter will be gigantic. Jupiter is just massive. Do you know what I mean? So we are. We are going to be flying in and out of space, and we need to get to Mars. We do because the way it's going here, it's a shit show. Someone's going to press one of those nuclear bombs.

Somebody must have pressed something on your end because your video disappeared.

I know I did it, and I'll tell you what it is. Can you hear me?

Yes.

Oh, you got me. It's just you riding solo, don't unsubscribe. Coming back. It does this sometimes. I got to get a new cable. Anyway, we talked enough nonsense there. What else have we got? So Saturday night, I was commentating. I didn't see the boxing, but Bivel was fighting- Bitterbep. I've seen all this shit online. I didn't see the fight. I wanted to watch it before we had this conversation because I saw some of the post-fight stuff. We know the MMA judging has been... It's atrocious sometimes. Sometimes they get it right. And we know in boxing, people have, they say the fraud, the amount of robberies, just the crazy judging and just the fascicle nonsense that goes on in boxing has corrupted it for quite some time. But apparently, did you see the fire, haven't you? Apparently, this was one of the worst. I never saw it.

No, I watched a bunch of highlights, but I did listen to some of my friends who are degenerate gamblers who lost a decent amount of money on what they consider to be an absolute robbery.

Right. Okay. Well, Eddie Hearn, he had some choice words to say about it. I think we've got the video here. I think that what we saw tonight was just one of the great fights, one of the greatest examples of our sport. We saw a guy that had never gone the distance before, the biggest monster in the sport. And we saw one of the purest boxers, one of the most skillful fighters I've ever seen. And I don't want to disrespect Arthur Betta Biav and his team because they're just incredible fighters. But I find it sickening that after a lifetime of hard work, Dimitri Bivo is not undisputed champion tonight. He won that I struggled to find anybody on our road, a row behind on the TV rows, who didn't score a fight to Dimitri Bivol. To find a judge, give that fight 116, 112, and give Dimitri Bivol four rounds in that fight, this judge should never work in the sport again. And I'm sorry. Everything you're going to get out Dimitri is, I can do better. It's boxing. That will do on that. I haven't seen the fight, so I strong comment. They always were strong words.

And the reason why we're bringing this up is because you see Eddie Hearn talking like that. And as you said, your friends all feel the same way. The general consensus online agrees with what Eddie Hearn is saying as well. And then this is what just blew my mind. And I was so impressed because Bivol, at the post-fight press conference, he was so accepting of the situation and blamed himself. Brian, just play that video that I sent you earlier, please. This is inspirational. I was learned more clean punches. But boxing is not about only clean punches.

It's about pressure also, about how you're impressed judges, and you need to count in sometimes rounds, not punches.

To be honest, I don't like excuses, explanations.

My philosophy is to be perfect, to not answer on questions, why you did this, why you did that, and have some excuses. I feel ashamed by trying to explain you why I didn't win this fight.

I didn't win, and that's it.

I felt like I- There's a lesson in that for everybody because the fact that he said, I feel ashamed sitting here explaining to you why I lost. First of all, as a fighter, you do feel that. So I resonate with that and I understand. But it is what it is. It has happened. And to his point, you got to be perfect. He wasn't perfect. He wanted to get the knockout. He wanted to get the finish. It went to the judges. And by all accounts, he was robbed. But him sitting there and getting all worked up and pissed off and all the rest of it isn't going to achieve anything. Instead, he searches within himself and thinks, Okay, well, what could I have done better? And that's a better man than me because I'd have been pissed off. I'd have been talking shit about the judges just like Eddie Herm was. But he just sat there and took responsibility for himself because in his mind, he could have done better. I'm like, I'm so impressed with that attitude.

Well, not to quote Conor McGregor again, but he said, You either win or you learn. It's like for somebody to go out there and complain, Oh, this judge got this wrong, or if I had done whatever the case may be. Instead, he put all the onus on himself, said, I pressure could have been there more. There is different factors that I could be looking at, and I need to take that into my next fight where I do want to be, as he said, the goal of perfect.

Yeah, and very well said, by the way. I saw that video and I just had to play it on here because I just thought that is just a lesson to everybody on so many levels, never mind just boxing. You know what I mean? It didn't go your way. Why? What could you have done differently? Why are you in this situation? What did you that you could have done better? You know what I mean? What is the reason why you maybe lost your job? Why your girlfriend left you? Why your life isn't going the way that it is? It's easy to start pointing the fingers at everybody else, but a lot of the time it's within yourself, just like Khalil Rountree was saying as well. Do you know what I mean? You could have done things better, could have done things differently. I'm not a perfect human. Far from it. And you always try and learn and evolve and just develop as a person. And seeing Bivol handle it like that and just like, so matter of fact, and laying it out in black and white like that, I thought it was beautiful. I really did.

Anyway, we've waffled. Enough, long enough. Bympod@gmail. Com. That is an email address. That is the email address you need to use if you want to send in a question. Please do so. Brian, what do we have today? We have one question today, and it's from a lady. Hallo. This is Roland Roland Vicks's daughter from Germany. If you could lock up your worst enemy in your basement for eternity, what song would you play 24/7 in that basement to torture your enemy? Roland Wichser's daughter This is number one bullshit, yeah? Definitely. But whatever, fair play.

I don't know if it is.

It comes from the same email address he sent stuff from. Oh, does it really? Yeah. Oh, God. Roland Vicks is a real person. She speaks very softly. What was it? If I could play one song to torture them.

If you could lock up your worst enemy in your basement and then play one song for eternity to torture them.

What would yours be? Well, I think of mine.

What's that Kylie Minogue song All Around the World? It was on the GTA song track.

I just can't get you out of my head. Yeah, maybe that one. I mean, that's annoying. It's a terrible song. Yeah, well, I don't know. I used to have a little dance to that back in the day, back in the late '90s, I believe, '99, 2000. Any song, when you hear it enough, starts to do your tits in. Simple as that. What's yours, Harrington?

I was thinking the biggest earworms possible. So something like Size Gangam Style or Baby Shark, something you've already heard a billion times, and it's already painful the first time it comes on.

I have it, and I need to unlike it on my Spotify. I don't know why I liked it because I thought it was funny. And again, it reminded me of the '90s when I used to go out. I liked it on Spotify, and I need to unlike this goddamn song, but Cotton Eye Joe. Do you know what that is?

Oh, that song rocks. I love me some Cotnageo. This is a good point.

Rebekah is like, Stop, turn that off, because I was like, Oh, it's good this. I like it. It reminds me, it takes me back to a pub, the Key Street that we all used to go to. She's like, No, never I'll say that again. What's the opposite end of the spectrum? One song that if you had to choose one song, that's a tough one, but one song that I'm really feeling right now, that when it comes on in the garage, because that's predominantly where I work at, when it comes on, the intensity goes up, I think about coming out of retirement. Tina Turner, Simply the Best. I'm telling you. That was Oh, God. Prince Nassim Hammond's Walkout song.

Okay.

That is a tune, man. That is a tune.

I like that one. I got into... Well, I was thinking for Sean O'Malley's last fight, I've noticed as I was driving into work a couple of days, I listened to that Lupe Fiasco Superstar. That song was pretty fun. I think if we're talking hype up, can go take on the whole world, it's got to be either M&M's till I Collapse or DMX's Party Up.

I mean, Blur Song 2 is a pretty good one as well. It's a pretty good one. Let's be honest. Let's be honest. We've rambled for long enough. We will be back on... What day is it? Monday. Thursday. We'll be back on Thursday. See you soon.