Club Shay Shay - Kamaru Usman

Episode Date: March 7, 2022

Shannon welcomes in the UFC’s reigning and defending welterweight champion, the Nigerian Nightmare: Kamara Usman. Listen & subscribe to more FOX Sports podcasts: http://sprtspod.fox/applepodcasts#DoSomethinB4TwoSomethin & Follow Club Shay Shay:                                                                 https://www.instagram.com/clubshayshayhttps://twitter.com/clubshayshayhttps://www.facebook.com/clubshayshayhttps://www.youtube.com/c/clubshayshay Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. New from Embedded. Who gets to compete as a woman? This question came up in ugly form at the Paris Olympics.

But it's not new. If she runs like a man and talks like a man, is she a man? not new. If she runs like a man and talks like a man, is she a man? Hear about the long history of sex testing women athletes on Tested, a new series from CBC and NPR's Embedded podcast. Listen to all episodes on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. They want to offer us $100 million. Me and Izzy are going to have to go in the back room and talk about this. What we want to do with your $100 million? Me and Izzy are going to have to go in the back room and talk about this. What we want to do here, $100 million. You got mom and dad now.

They living up there in the upper room. They living somewhere nice now. That's a conversation me and him would have to have. But right now, it don't make no sense for me. And I've said it before, two Nigerians having belts is more important than me. Hello, welcome to another edition of Club Shea Shea. Want a slice, got the rolling dice, that's why, all my life, I've been grinding all my life. Hello, welcome to another edition of Club Shea Shea. I am your host, Shannon Sharp. I'm also the proprietor of Club Shea Shea. The guy that's stopping by for conversation and a drink today is one of the UFC's best. He's the reigning and defending welterweight champ.

He's the pound-for-pound best fighter in the UFC, 2021 fighter of the year, king of the octagon, the Nigerian nightmare, Kamaru Usman. How you doing, bro? I'm good. I'm good. Hold on. Hold on. I got to ask you something. That name, Nigerian nightmare. Now, you know, Christian, of course, you had that name. Yeah. Have you ever met? Yeah, I actually met him. It's a crazy story. I do. I did a little bit of research on it. Okay. Because when you're growing up, a Nigerian athlete growing up, you hear that name a lot. Right. And he's not the first to have the name.

Oh, he's not? No. We've had plenty of famous soccer players that have had the name. Okay. So it was just a name that just signifies excellence. Right. So if it was any Nigerian at the top of their game in their respective sport, that was the name.

You had to carry on that torch. And so growing up, I was like, man, I wish I ever was in a sport where I could carry on that name. So when I got into MMA, I was like, there's no one in this space with that name. I need that. So I carried on the name for a while. So you build in the buzz, you build in the buzz. And then once I got to that level where I was about to challenge for the title, I had the UFC do the research

or reach out to him. And he was actually there. He watched me become the champion. He was there. Also the other Nigerian nightmare was Samuel Peters, WBC heavyweight champion of the world. He was there as well that night in Vegas when I won the title. Oh, okay. Yeah. I'm going to share a little secret, which I haven't told anybody this. I did my ancestry. I'm 90% Nigerian.

Of course. I see it. I see it. The way you talk, the way you give it to them. Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigerian, 90%. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I knew it. We've been claiming you outian. 90%. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I knew it.

We've been claiming you often. So what, okay, what foods do I need to eat? Is there a certain food that I need to eat that's exclusively for you, for the Nigerian? I can tell you like chicken. I do. I can tell you like rice. I do. Right there.

We're good. We like chicken. We like rice. Right. You know, we're're good. We like chicken. We like rice. Right. You know, we mix in other things in there, you know, but that's the staple. That's the foundation. That's the foundation. Okay.

Once you eat those, you got your size, you got your strength. Right. Good. What about gear? See, I know I see you came in here, you catch a nice little jacket on, you got your jeans, you got the double jeans on. So obviously, you know, Nigerians are fashionable. We are very fashionable.

And this is the thing, too, is I think culturally, you know, in this culture that we, a lot of people, they see some of these guys with this jewelry. There's a such thing as being sensible. Right. Especially with all these athletes and when you get money,

you got to be sensible. You got to do the right things first. You got to make sure you have your money in places to where you never run out of money. But of course, having the jewelry and the things, we come from kings. We come from gold and diamonds. So yeah, we like those things. Those are in us. But there's nothing wrong with that.

So yeah, Nigerians, we fashion them, but we like to shine. So we like, okay, so now that explains it. I'm not going out and be flashing half my drill phone. If you don't work for it, you don't earn it, why not? You got to show a little bit. Exactly. It's inspiration. How important is it for you to represent the Nigerian culture and represent it appropriately?

the Nigerian culture and represent it appropriately? It's very important because, and this sounds cliche and cheesy, but it was something in this for me, is that famous line in that Spider-Man movie, with great power comes great responsibility. Okay. You don't choose to be in a certain position. Right. Sometimes you're placed there. Right. To be able to touch and affect change in certain ways.

And that's something that I learned and I understood early because growing up, I didn't really see somebody in the sport to show me that, oh, that can be done. That's something that you can get one day. Once you go down this path, I didn't really see it. Through the positions that I was put in and the doors that I was blessed to be able to walk through I Found myself in this place to where it's very rare nowadays to be the first to ever do anything right and To say that I was the first ever Nigerian born mixed martial arts UFC champion, okay It's something that I I don't take for granted And so it's extremely important for me to show the next generations, everybody else,

all the kids coming up, that, hey, you do have somebody that represents you and that you can get to that point one day. You was born and raised in Nigeria. What was it like and what did, as a kid, you mentioned soccer players, obviously the soccer is big.

So as a kid growing up in Nigeria, what were your aspirations? What did Kamaru Usman want to So as a kid growing up in Nigeria, what were your aspirations? What did Kamaru Usman want to be as a kid? Of course, in sports, we boys, you know, I was growing up, it was three of us, three brothers. My sister came later on, but it was three boys. So if it was problems out there, we fought together. You know, and then if it was sports, we was going to play together. So football, what we called it, which is soccer here,

is what we all played. Of course, everybody wanted to be the best at it. You saw some of the stars, JJ, your coaches, some of those guys. So we all wanted to be like them. So then eventually when we immigrated here, it was like, now you gotta assimilate to what's going on. And the sport wasn't so big.

And I was in Texas. And so it was football. It was football or now you got to assimilate to what's going on. And the sport wasn't so big. And I was in Texas. Right. Football was king in Texas. It was football or you was playing basketball. Right. I didn't have the height for basketball. So it was football. Right.

Middle school, I was okay. Right. And then you got to high school and them boys looked like college players. And I wasn't messing with them. So I was kind of caught in a space where I didn't really know where I could fit in. Okay. Because I was freshman year, I was 5'2", 103 pounds. Yeah, that's not a football player.

Yeah. So I didn't know. In my mind, I was like, I'm not going to grow. Right. And I'm watching all these guys, and I just couldn't find out where I fit in. And the assistant football coach was the assistant wrestling coach. Right. And he kept, why don't you come in and try wrestling?

And I remember the wrestling I was watching with my dad, Stone Cold Steve Austin. Right, right. So I told him, I said, man, I don't want to get hit with chairs. I ain't trying to do that. And he laughed at me. He said, why don't you come on in there and try it one day? And I was walking by the gym, and I peeked my head in there one day and it was it was an odor it was a smell was it that i just i was like nah that's not for me right and and i

but i was i was a little shook on the inside right i just seen it was about 60 70 kids in there slamming each other down and and i was like yeah that's not funny that's not for me and that was the thing is football players, because football is king here in this country. So football players, we liked it. We tough. You the toughest guy. You the big, bad football player.

So we don't like to admit that it's something else that's more difficult out there that we can't do. So I was like, no, I'm a big, bad football player. Even though I was 103 pounds, 5'2". Nah, I'm a football player. Nah, we don't do that. But I was shook on the inside. So the coach kept making fun of me, making fun of me. I was like, man, you know what?

I'm going to shut him up one day. I'm going to go in there and show him up. And I went in there one day. And they put me in a group with two other guys and a girl. And yeah, it was all out of salt know this girl beat on me so bad took me down slammed me i didn't know how to get up it was the first time in my life to where i felt like i didn't understand something and there was nothing i could do about it and i just remember walking home that day and i I was thinking, man, I'm going to get it back tomorrow.

So I kept showing up and showing up and showing up. Next thing you know it, I've been in there for about a month, two months. And one day we were wrestling, I threw a move, and I landed it. And I was walking home that day, I said, man, I actually learned something. Oh, I'm coming back. The next year, I didn't go out for football. I went straight to wrestling, and the rest was history. Being in Nigeria, I'm coming back. The next year, I didn't go out for football. I went straight to wrestling. And the rest was history.

Being in Nigeria, you was raised on a farm. So what did you do? What did you have? Like, pigs? You had chickens? I mean, what kind of farm were you on? We were kind of, it wasn't a full-bred, like here we full-bred farm.

Right, right. It wasn't necessarily full-bred farm like that. We did a seasonal to where, at the point, my dad was already here. My dad was going to school here. Okay. And so my mom is there with three boys. Right. So we grew corn, yams.

We had chickens. Was it for the sale or just for you guys to eat? The sale. Okay, okay. The sale. Sometimes we, of course, you know, you eat at special occasions. You had corn, you had chicken. Yeah, but it's hard work to get enough.

I grew up on a farm. You got to plant it, watch them grow. Yeah, yeah. And so we had all of that. And my mom was the ultimate hustler. She was a teacher. She owned the store, all of the above. And so going up, I got to see every level of hustle.

I got to see it all. So coming here and immigrating here, it was just, I just, I say it's a different level of hustle in my mind, you know, than most kids that I grew up with. You say you had three boys, then your sister came along. How was the discipline? Because your father's away. Because there's something about a father's voice and a boy that will resonate a little bit more than a mother. So your dad is thousands and thousands of miles away. You and your brothers get to tussling. Somebody gets the best of one. And all of a sudden, all hell break loose. How did your mama control that situation?

My dad always had a voice. Yes. So even though he wasn't there, his voice was My dad always had a voice. Yes. So even though he wasn't there, his voice was loud. He had a voice. He coming back now. He had a voice. And so that was a big thing about growing up in Nigeria as well. It wasn't just mom and dad that raised you.

The village. The whole village raised you. You know, you did something up the street at their house over there, always coming back to your house. Yeah. Or they might whoop you over there, and then they gonna bring you back to your house. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you gonna be whooping. Yeah, you got the whooping over there, came back to your house, and you got the whooping

again. Yep, when they told on you. Yeah, and so it was a whole village, so you knew how you was growing up. The whole village knew how you was growing up. And so, even then, my mom still had a firm grip on things. Even though you understand the dynamic, a mother's going to be the loving one. But she still was able to deal with the three boys. And at that point, we were still relatively young.

So we weren't rambunctious yet. Not quite yet. When your dad said, we're going to the States, obviously born and raised in Nigeria, you got friends in Nigeria. Now, when you go to the States, this is not like, okay, I'm in California and I'm going to move to Arizona or I'm in Georgia. I'm going to move to Florida. You're on one continent. You're about to move to another continent and there's a very good chance you're probably not going to see these again. Yeah. continent and there's a very good chance you're probably not going to see these again yeah what went through your mind i mean at that at that point you're a young man you don't you just going

with the flow you don't really know what to expect right you know you don't have that mental capability to be able to okay i don't like this so i liked it you just knew that this is what's happening right and you were going along with it but you had heard about you had heard about oh yeah you heard about the u.s you heard about mcdonald's happening. Right. And you were going along with it. But you had heard about, you had heard about. Oh yeah. You had heard about the US. You heard about McDonald's. Yeah. I didn't even know what McDonald's was,

but I wanted some McDonald's. Okay. I didn't know what it was. So you heard about all these things. You seen them on TV. Right. And so now you get up, first time been on an airplane.

Right. Get off the airplane after hours and hours on the flight. And crazy thing is the day we landed was one of the first times it snowed in Texas in a long time.

I think maybe over 10 years. So the night we get out was the first night. It started snowing. So when did you arrive here? Like 2009? No, I want to say 90, 90, I want to say 98. Okay. Somewhere around there. So we come out and we like, we in Nigeria, it's nothing but sun and rain.

Sun and rain. And I'm like, what is this white stuff? And we tongue out the car, we trying to see what this is. Okay. And, you know, the car slipping and sliding. Right. And that was my first experience. So it shattered everything that you thought. Right.

Whatever you thought that you were going to experience when you came out, there was no words that could describe it. How much TV did you watch? How much? that can describe it. How much TV did you watch? How much? Because obviously being from another country and the language, obviously.

And then, so how much American TV did you watch to figure out, okay, this is what I should say when they say this, this is how I should do, this is what I should do when they do that. A lot of it. A lot of it. And that's the thing. When you're a kid, TV is one of the biggest teachers.

Yes. So that's why, obviously, the parental guidance and the certain things that you should be able to, children should be able to watch on television is so important nowadays because you don't realize how big that is. Right. We watch TV constantly to where we learn

what you could or you couldn't say. And I learned quickly. Right. How much English did you speak before you arrived to? We spoke English. I mean, the root of the language in Nigeria is English. Okay. So you speak a bit of English, but it's just different English.

Right, okay. So certain words are differently. You can tell, obviously, the Europeans colonized that area. So our English is different than American English. Like, obviously, the trash can, here we call it the trash can, but that's the dustbin. So you say certain words differently. But we spoke English, but then you come to America,

the slang is what got us. The slang is what gets you. And I remember,. That's where, going back to the TV and the things that you should watch, it was, obviously,

we might remember Marriage with Children. Yes. With Al Bundy. Yeah, Al Bundy, yeah. And so that was the show I used to love to watch that show.

So we watched the show and there were certain words, you know, Kelly was the blonde. Right, uh-huh. And so she was, you know, you can't say those words nowadays.

Right, right. And it was a word that was said to her. And I went to school. I was like, ah, I guess you call girls that. Right. And I said it to a girl. And I think I was in the fourth grade at that point. I said it to a girl.

Yeah, I was in the principal's office. They called my dad. I got a who a girl. Yeah, I was in the principal's office. They called my dad. I got a whooping that day. You start to learn very quickly. There's certain things you can and certain things you can't say. If you moved to Texas, you moved to Arlington, you're in Texas. Football is king.

Pro sports. Cowboys. Tell me about your love of the Cowboys. Skip, I was with you back in the day. Skip, I was with you. Of course, by default, I'm a Cowboys fan. I got to, by default. But now in my position, I have so many friends that play for so many different teams.

I support my friends. So if my friends play for the Saints, I got to support them. If they play for the Ravens, I got to support them. So that's mainly what I support. But by default, in my heart, if the Cowboys are succeeding, I have to support them. Well, you ain't seen them a day. They ain't done much in a very long time.

You came here in 98. You ain't seen a whole lot of success. Oh, man. I'm going to give you an opportunity before we end this interview to get on another team that's possibly winning if you like. See, that's the thing, though.

I watched the game. And they I was tired of being disappointed. They told me this was a year. Skip said this was a year. It was going to do it. So I watched the game and I was just like, man, so many opportunities. And we just couldn't get over it. But we, y'all in my heart, Cowboys, y'all

in my heart. You come here, you say, well, I'm too small to play football. You start wrestling. Did you view wrestling as your opportunity to get out, to do, go places? No. I didn't. It's one thing about when you're coming from an immigrant family, especially an African family,

there's certain career fields that you were going to be able to go into. You're going to be a doctor. Doctor. You're going to be an engineer. You're going to be a pharmacist It's going to be an engineer. Yeah. It's going to be a pharmacist. And it's maybe a lawyer.

Right. You know, nothing else. That's it. Those are the accepted fields that you are always going to get a job. Right. So that's where you wanted to be. Okay. Not an athlete.

That wasn't in there. Right. And so for the first two years of me wrestling, I actually lied to my parents about it. Right. So, once they said, the grades, you got to keep the grades up. So, I said, okay, once the grades are up, could I practice? Could I go to football? And they said, yeah, of course, you could do that. That's on the side, though.

Right. I said, okay. So, they didn't know I was done with football after freshman year. I was wise in knowing that, hey, I didn't have the size. It's time to move on. Okay. So, I was done with it after freshman year. I was wise in knowing that, hey, I didn't have the size. It's time to move on. So I was done with it after freshman year. So now I was into wrestling. So I was going to practice. And of course, same thing I thought when I first was introduced to wrestling. If they would have heard wrestling, they would have said, no, we just watched Summer Slam with Stone Cold Steve Austin. We don't want you in that. So I didn't say nothing for the first

two years. So I was wrestling say nothing for the first two years. So I was wrestling and I started to kind of get better and better and better at it. And then the junior year, I actually was in the city championships and took third place. And my mother was flipping through, we had of course the channel in the city, the city channel. My mom was flipping through the television had, of course, the channel in the city, the city channel. My mom was flipping through the television, and she saw me wrestling on there. Oh. So you got both on local TV.

Oh, yeah. So I got home. By that point now, it was already too late. Right. I found something. And so at that point, she was able to talk my dad down and say, okay, let's let him keep doing this. Right. At that point, she was able to talk my dad down and say, okay, let's let him keep doing this. And so the next year, I think that summer I made the decision in my mind that I wanted to be good at something. Okay.

Because I had ups and downs. I would win some. I would lose some. And then I got sick of it. I said, no, in order for me to ensure that I continue to win, I need to do something that I haven't been doing. Right. And so I dedicated myself fully to it, and it was just... The trajectory that I saw in my career at that point

was astronomical. So I said, I'm not turning back. Did your mom understand that this could be an opportunity that could help you get an education that they wouldn't have to finance, that you could get a scholarship, go to school, get an engineering degree or towards a lawyer or a pharmacy, pharmacist. That's why they let me stay in it.

Once we discovered that, hey, there's scholarships for these things. Yeah. All right. You could keep doing that thing. You could keep doing that because now you don't have to cost us so much. Right. I mean, and all my brothers, we all had scholarships. We all had, my whole family was athletes. So we all had athletes.

My oldest brother, Cash, who is a pharmacist. Doctor, Cash, I should say. But he was a semi-pro soccer player. He played at the University of South Carolina Aiken and got done and played semi-pro. My little brother, football player, played at University of Arizona. Okay.

Big boy. So I got my chance, and I got the scholarship. So athletics running your family. Oh, yeah. So your mom and dad had to be athletes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Even though they didn't really want you guys to be athletes. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, we had the athletic genes. Yeah. My uncles look like you. They got the size. And so we got athletic genes. You were. We got, my uncles, you know, look like you. They got the size. And so we got those genes in our family. But once I got to that point, I was getting ready to graduate. And now we found out that, hey, schools do offer scholarships. Yes.

And at that point, I didn't even know there was more than five schools. Right. I thought it was Texas, University of Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, and SMU, and that was it for football. And then I'm starting to get all these letters from these small schools or different schools all across the country. I'm like, oh, they got wrestling out there. Okay. Now we can do that. And thankfully, I was able to get a scholarship to go out there and compete. And it just built that fire. Who was your favorite wrestler growing up? Favorite wrestler growing up?

See, I gravitate towards the ones that I respect all the wrestlers. You like the outgoing. Kenny Monday. Okay. Oh, you're talking about pro wrestlers? Yeah, pro wrestlers. Pro wrestlers. Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Okay. Undertaker. Yeah. Of course. Harlem Heat. Yeah. You're talking Boog pro wrestling. Yeah, pro wrestling. Pro wrestling. Stone Cold Steve Austin. Okay. Undertaker. Yeah. Of course, Harlem Heat. Yeah. You're talking Boogatee. Yeah. So these was the guys that I grew up watching and I love.

So, you know, growing up and seeing them dudes, I was like, oh, yeah, that's fun to watch. Right. Me and my brothers, we played that in the living room. Right. But we can't do that. Right. So, like, the actual competition, the freestyle, which you were a freestyle wrestler, did you know any great freestyle wrestlers?

Yeah, of course. When you start to progress in something, this was something that I even tell kids now when they ask me about certain things, about my careers. When you want to get to a place, you want to find out who's been there. Right. And then once you find out who's been there, it. And then once you find out who's been there, it's like, who look like me that's been there? Right.

Who possess some of the athletic abilities that I possess that's been there? So I started researching that. Then you realize, oh, there's a Kenny Monday out there. There's a Kevin Jackson out there. Right. There's a Lee Kemp out there. There's all these guys, Bobby Douglas out there

that look like me. Right. That have accomplished heights greater than where I'm trying to go to. So being able to research those guys, I started to say, okay, they've done it, so I can get there. You, am I reading this correct? You wrestled alongside Jon Jones?

No, see, me and Jon Jones actually met. It's crazy how this intertwines. We met senior year because there's this tournament called Senior National. Right. And it's a tournament just for the best seniors all across the country. Okay. From different states get to meet in a location and we wrestle to see who's the best.

Okay. And Jon Jones and Arthur Jones were in the tournament as well. So like I said, it's not a lot of brothers that look like me in wrestling. And my buddy Aaron at the time. So we were the two from our area in Texas that were in the tournament. Right. So we in Cleveland, Ohio, and in the hotel we're staying at, see these two big tall brothers eating breakfast in the cafeteria where we were eating breakfast in the hotel we staying at, see these two big, tall brothers eating breakfast in

the cafeteria where we were eating breakfast in the hotel. So of course, naturally you gravitate towards them, you gotta say what's up to them. So then we start talking, what's your name? Arthur Jones, John Jones, oh yeah, I wrestle too? Yeah, we wrestle, we from New York, Endicott, New York. Okay. So we get acquainted and then we watch them. Now you got to follow them and see how they doing in the tournament.

And they do well. I'm like, oh, these are bad dudes. Right. And then Arthur said, oh, I'm going to go play football at Syracuse. Right. I'm like, okay. Then John said, I'm going to go wrestle at a small school in Iowa. Right.

I said, oh, well, I've been getting calls from a small school in Iowa, too. So I'm like, okay, what school? And he tells me his school, and I tell him my school. We say we're about an hour and a half apart. So I said, okay, we'll exchange numbers. We'll link up next year if we end up in Iowa. All right, cool. Then the following year, we end up in Iowa.

So we stay in touch. And my fall break, which is a week off of school, was a week before their fall break. So we talked. I said, hey, I'm going to come see you, come hang out with you for our fall break because I didn't want to go all the way back to Texas. Right. So I drove up there, hung out with them all fall break. And while I was hanging out with them that week, we had got invited to, I guess, a friend of the wrestling team's house to watch some fights. Never seen an MMA fight ever in my life Never seen anything

So we go to the to the house It's the first time John and myself actually watched MMA fight so we watched the fight and and and and the dude the guy was saying hey gosh you get into this I should try this. Yeah, I think we looked at each other like now Hey, y'all should get into this. Y'all should try this. Yeah, I think we looked at each other like, nah, we're not doing that. That's crazy right there.

These dudes hitting each other, kneeing each other. We're not doing that. And we left. And it was just the next year I transferred out. And John went on his path. I think he moved back to New York. And then a couple years later, I'm wrestling at Nebraska. You're wrestling at Nebraska at Kearney.

And I see him on television. I'm like, oh, that's my guy. He's fighting now for the UFC. He's doing well. And 2000, I believe, 2011, 2011, I watched him win the title. And I'm like, if he can do it, all right, I'm doing it. I made the decision right there. I wrote it down in my journal. I said, I'm going to go be champion in this.

And fast forward to 2019, me and him end up fighting same night. He defended his title, and I become the welterweight champion. Wow. So crazy how, you know, I'm just a small kid from Auchi, Nigeria, end up, you know, being on this platform and on this stage. Well, here's the thing. Obviously you got to have a background in something if you're going to do the MMA, UFC. And the more disciplines that you're good at, the better you're going to be.

Absolutely. Wrestling background, obviously, so you're good at the takedown. So how difficult was it for you to transition? Because it's just not about getting somebody on the ground. No. It was difficult, but a thing that helped me is being able to deal with competition. Right. I have been just trained in dealing with competition, dealing with wins,

dealing with losses. No, you're dealing with your brothers. That was a competition. That too. That too. So dealing with wins and losses, I was accustomed in dealing with competition, dealing with wins, dealing with losses. No, you're dealing with your brothers. That was a competition. That too, that too. So dealing with wins and losses, I was accustomed to that. Learning, knowing how to bounce back from a loss and getting back on the horse and continuing.

And so the biggest thing that wrestling teaches you is how to be able to deal with adversity and overcoming, which is a big part of what people don't really understand. And now the thing with wrestling too is you got the leg up. If you already mastered the wrestling, you got the leg up. Right. Because you think about it, you go out there and you see a street fight happening right now.

It's only three positions you can end up in in a street fight. You guys could both be standing punching each other, or one guy could be on top of the other guy punching him, or flip, vice versa, the other guy's on top of the other standing punching each other. Or one guy could be on top of the other guy punching him. Or flip, vice versa. The other guy's on top of the other guy punching each other. So two-thirds of that fight is on the ground. Now, as a wrestler, I have the ability to control the real estate where that fight takes place. So I already have a 67% advantage of a fight. And so it takes some years to get used to getting hit.

Now that was a tough one. You know, you don't... Because you know, if somebody come in here right now and wail off on you, you're going to get mad and it's... Right, so you got to be able

to control that. Being able to control the mind, being able to control enough to where you can see these shots coming. Right. To where you can defend yourself intelligently and plan and put them and set see these shots come. Right. To where you could defend yourself intelligently

and plan and put them and set them up for something. Right. That took years to come, but it was all a mixture of learning how to compete, learning the wrestling, because, you know, you get lit up too much now standing up. Right. I can take them down.

Right. So when you're getting ready for a fight, Floyd Mayweather says, I don't watch other fighters. If I'm going to fight a fighter, I don't watch him fight. My corner handles that. When you're getting ready to fight someone, do you watch them or you just trust your corner? It's like, okay, this is what we need to do. This is what he's good at. This is where we're going to try to stay away from.

Or do you sit down and actually watch him and try to break him down? Because when I play football, I'm watching my opponent. Okay, I'm trying to pick up any tendencies. Okay, he got a stagger. Probably going to blitz. Okay, he's square. Probably going to buzz the flat. So I'm trying to just the slightest thing.

He doesn't know he's doing it. He's just playing football. But I'm just trying to pick up the slightest tendency to give me an advantage because it's not about yards. It's about inches. It's about seconds. I agree. I think different things work for different people.

Okay. There's certain things that make certain people great. Okay. Like Floyd is great. Yeah. That's a special individual. Right. To be able to do what he does.

And we are great in our right, own right. And so what makes us great is your ability to be able to see, study a little bit into where you know. For me, at the end of the day, my coaches ain't going to go in there for me and fight for me. I have to be able to fight for me. So whatever can make that easier for me, I'm willing to do. So if I can see a for me, I'm willing to do. So if I can see a little bit of taste of where I know an overview, like I can tell just by watching,

I know an overview, okay, you don't breathe well. So you're going to have a problem once I push that heart rate. Your striking ain't the greatest. So I can stand with you as long as I want. Or your wrestling ain't the greatest. So if you're starting to get the best of me with the striking, I can take you down if I want. And I'll have the the greatest. So if you're starting to get the best of me with the striking, I can take you

down if I want and I'll have the advantage there. So I like to be able to see a little bit of film so I have an overview. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps, and

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And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you're watching film, are you listening to the TV copy? Because, see, I couldn't listen to the TV copy because the commentators, because you get a false sense. They're talking about, oh, he's so good, you should see that play. So I need to listen to it on silent. So when you watch tape, are you watching a TV copy or are you just watching in silent, just watching him see what he does? Okay. Circling. Okay. I can set him up. I can,

you know, I can take him down and do that. That's a very, very good assessment, but I watch every aspect. I watch it with, and I watch it watch it without. And the reason I do it is a lot of people don't understand. Have you ever been to a UFC fight? I have. As a matter of fact, I went to the first two UFC fights in Denver, Colorado in 1993. So way before, way, way before. There was no Dana Walden.

I'm talking about Dan Severin and all those guys. Ken Shamrock, Horace Gracie. Have you been to one recently? No, the last one I've been to is that Jon Jones beat Sugar Rashad Evans in Atlanta.

I need to go to one. I'll tell you what, when you fight again, I'm coming. Yeah, you got to come to one now. It's different. It's different. Yeah. So it's one thing about a UFC event. It's infectious. I don't care where. So it's one thing about a UFC event. It's infectious. I don't care where you've been at football game, basketball game. It's infectious. You know, the sound of a kick landing and the crowd go from quiet to erupt like that. It's infectious. It's nothing like it. And you have to be able to understand what that does to a fighter when you're fighting.

So when I watch film, I'm not just watching, okay, he's doing these moves, he's doing that. You're watching how he reacts. I'm watching how he reacts. Okay. I'm watching his heart. That's what I call it. I'm watching his heart, how he's affected by what's going on. Okay.

So I like to hear the crowd because I like to put myself in there with that fighter. Okay. How I would react when I hear this crowd. Okay, he's a fan favorite. So the crowd's going I like to put myself in there with that fighter. How I would react when I hear this crowd. Okay, he's a fan favorite. So the crowd's going to chant for him. How does he react when they chant for him? Does he turn up a little bit more? Or is he able to deal with that? So I

like to watch it that way. And then I can watch just for the moves. I can turn the sound off and watch him. Okay, he's a good striker. He set you up with this, this, and this. But I watch all of them. But what about him being a fan favorite, and the least little thing, the's a good striker. He set you up with this, this, and this. But I watch all of them. But what about him being a fan favorite and the least little thing, the crowd is going to erupt. They're trying to sway the judges.

So how do you like, okay, man, he didn't even hit me. What y'all yelling and screaming for? He didn't touch me. No, that's my job. That's my job to control the outcome. That's why I do everything outside to make sure by the time I step in there, there's no question.

There's not a fight that I've been in to where I don't understand if I won the round or not. There's no question. If I even remotely feel like I lost that round, okay, you're not going to make it out of this fight. I'm not going to let it go to the judges. I don't want to let it go to the judges and then I'm wondering, oh, did I win? Did I not don't want to let it go to the judges, and then I'm wondering, oh, did I win?

Did I not win? No, if it goes to the judges, I know I won. You have one loss in the UFC. Do you remember why you lost? One loss in my career. Through your career. Yeah. Yes, I know exactly why I lost.

What happened? It was ignorance. I got into the sport. When I got in, I was this high-level wrestler. Right. I mean, I could control. I don't care whether you were a flyweight or you were a heavyweight. If I got a hold of you, you're going to end up on the ground.

Right. I could control all of that. So it was a certain ignorance that came with that. Arrogance. Yeah, that I didn't even realize at the time i'm a team player i'm gonna help everybody i'm not cocky with it i'm not none of that but when you've spent so many years and you get to a certain level of controlling um the engagements there's a certain level of ignorance that comes with it that you don't really realize.

And I had that. So with MMA practice, we were practicing. I hated the striking days because I knew I was going to get beat up. I had to train with Sugar Rashad Evans and Tyrone Spong and Vitor Belfort was in there at certain times and Cosmo Alexander these, Cosmo, Alexander. Some of these guys that were more tight world champions, they knew what they were doing. So I knew I was going to get beat up on kickboxing day. MMA day, I knew I was going to get beat up too.

But I could still kind of control what's going on. Wrestling day was my favorite day. Right. That was my day. Everybody knew they better stay away from me because I'm going to put it on you. Right. That's my day. Everybody knew, they better stay away from me because I'm going to put it on you. And with that being said, it was just, you developed this, I felt like, okay, jiu-jitsu, I didn't need to study what was on the ground because I control if the fight goes there or not. So if I want to take somebody down, I control if the fight goes there or not. Right. So if I want to take somebody down, I'm going to take them down.

That's it. You know, I dominate there. But my ignorance was understanding that there's tricks from being down there. Yeah. And jujitsu is kind of like the counter for wrestling. Yeah. You could take them down, but what you want to do? They want to be, a lot of them want to be on the ground.

They want to be on the ground. Yeah. I saw Horace Grayson. He would lay on the ground. Yeah. He would. Jump down on him if you want to. No, that's exactly what happened. And so, and then you got teammates, because my teammates knew what I was capable of. They were like, oh man, you about to fight this guy.

Oh, we know this guy, Ronnie. Oh, you're going to get him. You're going to get him. He's nothing. So I was one that I never wanted to believe that. Right. Because I still got to do my homework. I still got to do my research. But for the first time, I started to believe that. Right. Because I still got to do my homework. I still got to do my research.

But for the first time, I started to believe that a little bit. Okay. Oh, I'm going to. No, that's the former champ. He said, I'm going to get him. I'm going to get him. I know I'm going to get him. So I get in a fight. And I didn't really train jujitsu like that.

So I get in a fight. And, of course, I threw a one-two. Boom. Shot. Took him down. It was ease. Took him down. Mounted him. Now, in your mind, you're boom, shot, took him down. It was ease. Took him down, mounted him.

Now in your mind, you're like, okay, see? Yeah, yeah. So I'm punching. And this dude was about six, I want to say six, three, six, four, tall. Skinny for the weight class, but tall, long, and flexible. Okay. And come from a family, they do this. They've been training for a while.

And he did something that I never seen because I don't really do jiu-jitsu. So he threw his legs around my waist while I'm in a full mount. And I was like, I never felt that before. What was going on? So I panic. And I try to turn up and get up. He just crawled up my back. This was a minute and a half into the fight. We're not sweating yet. I'm dry. He's on my back. I'm carrying a backpack for about another minute and a half. I don't know the defenses to what's going on here because I haven't spent time learning it because of my ignorance and thinking that just because I'm a wrestler, I control everything. And I learned a hard lesson that day. I just remember before I had to tap because, and there's a story behind this because in

the back, the commission, they have a talk with you and they tell you, okay, if you're choked unconscious or if you're knocked unconscious, it's automatic six months suspension. Now, I'm fighting for 11,000 and $1,000. So I'm out here struggling. Right. I'm staying with my big bro, Sugar Rashad Evans. Right. I ain't got no money.

So I got about $17 in the bank account. And I'm like, okay, if I can't fight for six months, I can't make no money. So now I'm in this compromising position. And of course, going into a fight, I'm like, oh, I'm a warrior. I'm not willing to tap out. I'm going out of my shield. I'm dying here. I'm not tapping out. And I'm in that position. And I realized for the first time, And I'm in that position and I realized for the first time I didn't have the knowledge to be able to get out. So either I was going to just try to be tough, get choked unconscious, or tap and live to fight another day. And for the first time and the last time in my career, I made a decision to give up on myself.

But then I made peace with it later because I gave up because I didn't have the knowledge. I didn't give up because I had the knowledge and I was incapable of doing it. I gave up because I didn't have the knowledge. And I walked out of that cage that night. I paced in the back for about two hours just by myself. I was pacing and I made a decision to myself and I said that I will never go into a fight without The knowledge to be able to defend myself right after that day the rest was history You're great at freestyle at wrestling. So now How much time do you spend in your areas of weakness? Okay, Virginia Jiu Jitsu Obviously, you know striking your bet your most. You're probably most comfortable on the ground.

So you're talking about the Muay Thai, the kickboxing. So in a given week, how much time are you spending in, say, kickboxing? How much time are you spending in jiu-jitsu? How much time are you spending in wrestling? How much time are you spending in striking? I spend a lot of time, I think. Where is the most of your time spent? Most of my time was spent on striking because I gotten so far in wrestling. Yeah to where

Now all I had to do was maintain right I had gotten to what you consider an elite level of wrestling right where now all I? Had to do was maintain That because once you stop wrestling, it's a quick rapid decline, right? So I just had to slow down that process, right? And if I could slow down that process to spend a lot more time on my areas of weakness I was gonna be there right and so one of the biggest things is as an athlete that I think makes the Best the best in the world is Being able to be honest with yourself. Yeah.

It's not just drinking your own Kool-Aid, but be honest with yourself. Because if you're weak in that area, you're honest with yourself to say, oh, I'm weak there. I need to get better. Right. And I see that's why a lot of people can't do that. Because they get to a certain level and they're good at something. They're like, oh, no, I'm not weak in nowhere. Right.

I know I'm still weak. I'm still learning to this day. But the fact that you're willing to still train a strength because a lot of people, well, you train your weaknesses, just train your weaknesses, but you're still willing to work on that strength also. Oh yeah. Because I knew it's the thing. I knew what got me to the dance.

Right. And I wasn't just going to give it up right away because they're guys that have been striking since they were five years old. Right. And now they 30 years old to give it up right away. Because they're guys that have been striking since they were five years old. Right. And now they're 30 years old. They got 25 years of experience on me. It's something different about 25 years compared to five years of experience. Of course.

I don't care how good you are. Right. And so knowing what got me to dance, I have to make sure that I stay polished on that. Right. But of course, I'm honest with myself to know that I'm weak with the striking and I got to get better at it. Yeah, but I watched you and you have gotten exponentially better at striking. It's now you're sitting down on punches. You're throwing punches with intent.

I ain't just trying, bro. I ain't trying to get your attention. I'm trying to get you out of here. Oh, yeah. I'm trying to put him in the right place. Yeah, yeah, yeah, bro. I see you sit down on the punches. The punches.

But you did something to Marford. I don't know if anybody saw it. You knocked his hand down and caught him with the overhand, right? Yeah, that sequence, I got to give it up to my coach, Trevor Whitman. He really, we spent a lot of time that camp committing to punches and just committing all the way through, throwing it. Even if it lands, throw it. If it doesn't land, still throw it.

Right. So he going to feel you. He going to know that you almost put something on him. You came out there with that intent. You came out to get him out of there. No, that second one, because I was unhappy with the first one. Okay. Because a lot was made of him taking the fight on six days notice.

Right. But I also took the fight on six days notice. Right. But I also took the fight on six days notice. Right. And I also had to fly across the world to go fight him when I prepared for a whole nother. That's what I'm saying. And people don't realize that. They don't. You had a decided disadvantage because I'm preparing for one type of fighter and then

you send me somebody else on a week's notice. Yeah. I haven't prepared for him. Forget who he is. Oh, and that's the big thing is as a champion, all eyes on you. You have to entertain. Yes. You have to go out and you have to put on that performance each and every time.

Right. So you give me six days notice with a completely different style, a completely different fighter that I haven't prepared for. Right. But you want the fireworks that you want from a champion. Right. And I couldn't give that that night. So I was disappointed in myself.

Okay. And I was dealing with other little injuries and things like that that kind of hindered it but i knew that i had to still see burns first and once i got through burns i said no we got to do that one over right because he's still walking around here he's still talking about now i took him i took the man on six days yeah i get a full training camp he gonna have to see me he's gonna have to feel me yeah so i So I said, all right, you want me to feel you? I'm going to feel you.

And so I asked for that one person and I said, Dana, we got to run that one back over. And Dana said, all right, let's do it. I said, okay. I was going to go out there. I was going to put something on him

that he was never going to forget. Okay. Colby Covington. You hear what he's saying. He's a MAGA guy. Okay. If that's where you want to be, okay, I got no he's saying. He's a MAGA guy. Okay, if that's where you want to be, okay, I got no problem with that. That's who you are. How do you, after you hear all the things he says,

knowing that you got to fight him but remain calm, ooh, I just want to do something so bad to him, but I got to be calm. I got to stay within myself because the one thing that you can't do is get outside of yourself because now you play into his hands. And maybe he says a lot of that stuff to get you to play into his hands. He does. He does. And I don't think it was intentional at first. I think it was just, he was trying to find his own lane, but then it got to a point where he's like, okay, I might be able to use this to my advantage because of his specific skill set. But I got into the sport. I got to where I got to because not because I wanted to

be rich. I want to be famous or any of that. That came later. But I got into it because of competition. I wanted to be the best at it. And so studying all the grades and learning what it takes to be the best at it is your wit and not just what you got out here and your strength and all that. And so with him and some of these guys that I deal with is learning how to deal with them. You sign that contract. So that means it's a date. We're going to get in there. Right.

And it's going to go down. Right. And so that was it for me. Once that's signed, okay, you're going to compensate me for this, to do this with him? All right. That's the date? Okay. So now I'm going to do everything in my power to prepare to make sure that I go out there and I dish out that discipline the right way.

Right. So when these guys talk, and I tell it to all these guys now. I am the judge, the juror, and the executioner when we step inside that octagon. So anything you say outside leading up to the fight, I'm going to hear it. Somehow, somebody going to send it. My mom now is a big fan. So my mom watch everything.

So she going to tell me, you see what he said? You see what the? Yeah. So I'm going to see it. And I'm going to use it against him when we get in there. Right. So Masvidal, there's a famous viral clip of him doing an interview. He was sitting down.

He said, yeah, this guy's not... He just don't possess the macho-ness to be able to say, you know, set a man apart from his consciousness or something like that. Yeah. I seen it. I said, okay, all right. I'm going to give it to him. And then somebody, of course, later on

they put the clip together of when he's saying that and I'm sending him over to the rafters. And it was a good feeling. But at the end of the day for me, it's about competition. Was that the cleanest punch you ever landed on someone? Yeah. Yeah.

Because you hit him flush. Yeah, that was- I mean, he was out before he even hit the floor. Yeah, that one was the cleanest in competition, this flush landing. It was another one that I landed a few fights before. I fought a Brazilian, Sergio Marias, a few fights before on, I fought a Brazilian Sergio Marias a few fights before, but this one was the clean one shot, you know, sent all the sweat flying. You separated him from his soul.

Yeah, you gotta send him off. So that one was it. Let me, Covington too, you won that fight. He's talking about, I don't know if he really proved yet that he's the better the man. Do you want a trilogy? I wouldn't mind. Now, this is the thing, and these guys realize that. When you fight for the title, the most money you're going to make, you're going to make when you fight for the title. Right. So, of course, they want to fight me. Right.

Everybody want to fight me because you fight me, you're going to get the big check. Right. So, I have no problem with that. Covington is a guy that he has proven that he's one of the best in the division. If he's not the next best guy in the division, he has proven that. He tough now. Yeah, he tough. So he's a guy that's always going to make me, there's no cutting corners. I don't want to cut corners anyways when I train, but with him, especially, there's no cutting corners. And so there's a certain level of discipline that you earn, that you get from that training camp when you compete against a guy like that. So I like it

each and every time. So being able to overcome that level of competition, you know, as an athlete, it's something that really solidifies where you are as an elite. What about I Look at you you you well to wait champ is the Israel at Asana in France and in Ghana You got three African champs UFC needs to take take the show on the road and go over go go to Africa. They absolutely And you all three you guys want to fight on the same card? Of course. It's something that

like I said, it's very rare nowadays to be the first or be part of something that's the first, never been done. And so, to be able to do something like that, it's monumental. And I don't know whether, obviously there's a lot of details behind the scenes that we don't understand.

That the partners and the deals and the TV contracts that UFC have that might not permit them to do it. Or they might not feel like they have the landscape to do it. Which is why myself, I've started a promotion in Nigeria right now. The AKAO show, you know, face-off, fight night two. We're about to have the second event March 18th. And I want to let them know that. I want to show them that because this sport is not really that big in Africa. Right.

And you have three champions. Right. Now imagine once we're able to spread that sport around. You bring the sport over there. I mean, it's not even fair. You were in Francis Ngannou's corner against Cyril Ghosn. Why did you decide? What did you bring?

Was it just a different set of eyes that you could see some things? Like, Francis, I think this is what we can do. I think this is how you can neutralize some of his strengths. Stay away from his strength. Play to your strength and to his weaknesses. Why were you in the corner with Francis? See, the thing with Francis is me and Francis are like brothers. Right.

And so I'm always going to have my brothers back. Right. And so I'm there mainly for that moral support right because I understand what it is when I'm going to a fight right I like to know that everybody behind me next to me is ready to ride right so if something broke out in here right now and I'm going to if I know that everybody on my corner is throwing that we fight yeah and so it's something in that solace as a fighter when you walk, when you're going to compete.

Now, as far as game plan, Francis has excellent coaching. Eric Nixick and Dewey Cooper, those guys down there, they're great coaches for Francis. But Francis is a competitor. You know, some of the greats, there's just a lot of things that you just can't teach them. They know how to win. And that's the thing about Francis. He was dealing with a lot.

He had a knee injury and he still resorted to the wrestling to get the job done. And so it wasn't much for me. Of course, being there, I'm going to tell him, okay, I think this is where we should go. But at the end of the day, Francis is the one that's going to step in there. He's going to make the decisions that's going to win or lose him the fight. And that's exactly what he did alongside with his coaches. I mean, they do a good job with him, and he's proven it.

He's the baddest man on the planet. I mean, when Francis walks in the room, you know Francis is going to win the world. What transpired? Dana wasn't in the ring to put the belt on him. He wasn't there in the press conference. And I don't know if I've ever seen him not put the belt on the champion, not go to the after-fight press conference. Obviously, there's a lot going on.

His contract was up after that fight, but since he won, he has to resign for another two, three fights, however that goes. How do you guys bridge the gap? Because the pay scale, we're going to talk about Jake Paul saying, come on over here, fight your boy, make a big payday. You make triple, quadruple what you're making in the UFC. How do you guys get the money that you believe you deserve? Because there's a big piece of the pie out there. I'm trying to get you in trouble with your boss, but there's a big piece of the pie out there. I'm trying to start trying to get you in trouble with your boss, but there's a big piece of the pie out there, and I know you want a bigger slice of it. Absolutely. I don't care what it is. You give me

$100 million today, that's fine. I'll fight for $100 million, but the next fight... I'm trying to get $250. I'm going to need $250. So, I understand that as an athlete, as a man, it doesn't matter what it is. As a competitor, I'm always going to want more absolutely right um could we have bigger slice of the pie absolutely right you could argue

that with any and everybody in every sport 100 now there's there's things that of course francis and and his coach in the camp that they need to you know work out with the ufc that's absolutely everybody knows that right i mean the the situation, the way it got, it doesn't look good. It didn't have to get like that. It didn't have to get like that, absolutely. There's things that they need to sit down and they need to talk about 100%.

Francis Garner, that's my brother. I believe Francis is always going to be worth more than he's getting, absolutely. If he can go to boxing tomorrow and they're paying 50 million, I think he's worth more than that. Right. So that's something that they need to sit down with the company because there's plenty and plenty of athletes that were unhappy that eventually sat down and something was done. That's business. No one side is always going to get more. You're going to come to a compromise.

I think they need to come to a compromise. Can he get more than that. You know, you, you're going to come to a compromise. Right. And I think they need to come to a compromise. You know, can he get more? Absolutely. Right. Should we get more? Absolutely. Should football players get more? Absolutely. Would you be willing to go fight a Jake Paul or Logan Paul? Absolutely. But these guys don't make, these guys don't, they, they, they making a lot of noise. That's good. They, they got't, they making a lot of noise. That's good. They got the YouTubers and they got the new generation, these new kids involved and watching them.

That's fine. Right. But they don't equate to dollars. So all the money they talking about, they making they numbers. No, it's not them. You know, like what's the other one? Logan Paul, Paul Floyd, but that's Floyd. Right.

Floyd been making a hundred million dollar payments. So that Logan Paul, Paul Floyd. But that's Floyd. Right. Floyd been making $100 million payments. Right. So that money came because of Floyd. Right. But Jake Paul, he says, oh, we doing these numbers. We doing these numbers. You can add up every fight Jake Paul has had, and they pay-per-view numbers weren't more than what I did in my last fight. So they can say whatever they want to say. He can say this, or I can say that. Or you write me a check for $100 million, Jake Paul, and I'll be there to kick your ass next week. Do you blame Conor for UFC fighters wanting the box? Because he got

$100 million paid. He got $100 million paid. No. No, you don't blame him. You got $100 million. Conor don't have to work no more. Right. Is that why he's been unsuccessful? He hasn't been the same fighter. It's hard. It's hard now. There's a difference when I got on a Gucci, when I got on a Louis Vuitton robe, I got on mink slippers, I got someone bringing me all three of my meals in bed if I need that. I got a yacht. I got a rose. I got a Ferrari. It's a good one. It's a good one. It's a good one. You're right. You're absolutely right. It's a difference. But I think it also depends on the individual. Yeah.

Because you mentioned Floyd. Floyd had all that, and he's still going out there putting the work in and giving folks the business. Exactly. It depends on the individual because some guys, that's what they aspire to get. Right. So that's everything that they do, they do it for that. And then once they get it. And then once they get it, that's everything that they do they do it for that and then once they get once they get it it's oh i got it right you know and i think it was back in the day whether it's sugar ray or maybe haglo and they said that it is things is different when you

start sleeping on silk sheets because yeah so when you when you sleep sleeping on that, now the hustle is not the same. And now, sleeping on silk sheets, I have to say, I still have that hustle. Right. I still want to get up and go get it. Right. So I think it's on the individual. So with him, I don't know why he's not that successful. Maybe he got a lot of different things going on.

He's got his demons that he's battling. You know, I'm not here to kick. You're conditioning. Yeah. You're one-trick pony. Tell the truth. But I'm not here to kick a man while he's down. That's the best time to kick a man. I can't think of a better time to kick a man.

He right there. It's the easiest. He close to you. It's the easiest to get him. Right there. But he one-trick. He never evolved. The same thing happened to Ronda Rousey.

She didn't evolve. He didn't evolve. He's striking. Take same thing happened to Ronda Rousey. She didn't evolve. He didn't evolve. He's striking. Take him to the ground, he never gets up. If you take him down to the mat, 30 seconds into the round, he down the rest of the round. He down the rest. You see that.

They take him out in the deep water, and they drown him. Khabib told him what he was going to do. Oh, yeah. He said, I'm going to drag you to the deep, and I'm going to drown you. Yeah. No, I mean, that's the thing about this sport is you have to be honest with yourself. Right. You have to be able to understand that

I'm weak in these areas. I need to make sure that I'm bringing those up to par. So by the time I step out there, that's when people don't realize. It's not just, oh, I won this fight. Right. It's I want to be the best mixed martial artist in the planet. Right.

And that's being able to mix it all up together. You gotta be good at everything when you step in there. And that's what I think I do better than everybody right now. Right. Would you fight Conor? Would you fight Khabib? I would not fight Khabib. You know, Khabib is like my brother.

I see no interest in that. Conor, absolutely. I gave him a chance. He got scared, absolutely. I gave him a chance. He got scared, huh? I gave him a chance. He was barking. Because that's what he do now. He tweet a lot.

Yeah. We call him Twitter fingers now. He tweeting a lot. And so he, one time, before I fought Masvidal. Right. He was tweeting a lot. And I said, here's your chance. If you picked up the phone right now and called the UFC, they ain't not going to say no to you.

Right. To challenge for the belt. Right. And he was quiet. And then the next week, he started calling out Anderson Silva, retired fighters and things like that. So, without Fight Conor, the offer is there. But you know the fight. But it don't make no sense.

The fight people want to see, they want to see you step up and see him step down easy. Are you interested in that? Of course they'd like to see you step up and see him step down easy. Are you interested in that? Of course they'd like to see that. No, I've said it before. I'm not interested in that because right now I'm a part of something that's bigger than me. Right. And at certain points, you kind of have to stand your ground on certain things. Now, they want to offer us $100 million.

Me and Izzy are going to have to go in the back room and talk about this. What we want to do with your $100 million? You got mom and dad now. They living up there in the upper room. They living somewhere nice now. That's a conversation me and him would have to have. But right now, it don't make no sense for me. And I've said it

before Two Nigerians having belts right is more important to me to Three Africans all three of us have a belt right is more important to me than one African with all belts John Jones Francis Ngannou That's I'm gonna tell you right now where am I I'm over here I'm gonna tell you right now Francis Ngannou is a tall, full glass of milk for anybody to drink. Now, you know, John, when they come out with the rankings, you know who the greatest, they say the number one UFC fighter of all time.

It always is JJ. Oh, yeah. I'm going to give it to Jon Jones. You look at what Jon Jones has done in his career and the way he's done it. I'll put him up there. Of course, I'll put him up there. But times have changed. Okay.

And it's always like, come on now. We know how this goes. You can't be the best forever. Okay. What about Jon and Izzy? That's a tough one. I want to see that one. I want to see that one.

I mean, Izzy called him out. John said, yeah, I want to see that one. I mean, they want to fight each other. I know that. But John moved up now to heavyweight. But that's a fight that I was really intrigued by. You know, I think Izzy is a ninja. He's a sniper.

But John, I mean, mixing it up, John has proven that he's been the best for a long, long time. So that was a fight that I was very intrigued about. And that's one thing about MMA is there's no math about this. It's not, okay, Floyd fighting Maidana, you know who's going to win. No. This, anything can happen. But when you fight Francis Ngannou, though. I want to see it.

I want to see it, of course. I want to see it July. Dana, let's make it happen. International fight. Didn't ask you about the hand, but I see you got the hand bandage. I saw it on Dana's page. You had Sergio on the hand.

You're looking for a fight in mid-July? July. You're going to be ready? Who you want to fight? It don't matter. Throw him in there. It don't July. You're going to be ready? Who do you want to fight? It don't matter. Throw them in there. It don't matter. You go find them and you throw them in there.

I'm just in a place now to where I'm having fun with this. Okay. I'm having fun. Like I said, we was running a race early on. You know, I done passed them all up. Now I'm coming back around. And like you saying both, I'm looking back and I'm smiling. So it don't matter who you throw in there.

Throw them all in there. Thank you for your time, brother. Thank you. My brother. Kamaru Usman, ladies and gentlemen. I've been grinding all my life. Sacrifice. Muscle paid the price. Want a slice. Got the rolling dice. That's why all my life I've been grinding all my life. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast,

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