The Sevan Podcast - #163 - Alexander Volkanovski

Episode Date: October 8, 2021

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My screen is leaving. I will be blacked out. Three, two, one. The recording started. And this is always my favorite part. It gives me the most anxiety is it going to connect to youtube live 163 shows and it's always connected live except for once and that one time has given me fired up my ocd does that ever happen to you alexander do

you go by alexander or alex Alex? Alex would be probably easier for you. What was that question, sorry? You know like if you're walking around, you know like before you go to bed at night, you check your door and see if your doors are locked in your house? Yeah. And then like every night you do that. And then one night you go to the front door and you're pretty sure you locked it, but it's unlocked. And so then all of a sudden you have OCD now. So the next night you got to go back and check the door twice.

Do you ever do any of that stuff? I tend to do that a lot. I always, I'm like, I swear I did it, but I better go check again and lock it again. I always go there. And sure enough,

I did it because of routine, but I always got to double check. And if it's unlocked, it makes it worse. The next day you got to check it like four times. And then you're like, oh shit. Remember that time? That's a fucking sickness um can i ask you a real real personal question

uh yeah i guess so what is it where are you where i'm i'm in quarantine and i hear you right that if you by the way i'm my name is savon savon how are you mate good i'm just talking i'll stop with you on the instagram one uh yeah yeah yeah i i i use my blue check mark blue check mark and my savvy um skills to seduce you and uh get you to jump onto a podcast and here's really what i thought you want to know this guy is going to quarantine he He would talk to fucking anybody. I'm getting them. I'm getting them.

You're on to it. I've got nothing better to do, mate, than chat. I like a good chat anyway. I like to yarn. Good. Do you know Jack de la Magdalena? Jack de la Magdalena. Jack de la Magdalena. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The Aussie fella, yes.

And that's how – go ahead. Yeah, he was on the – it was the Dana White Contender Series. Yeah, I've watched him a few times back home. Live? Yeah, it was good. Live? Oh, sorry. Yeah, no, no, no, it wasn't that.

No, I watched that. I watched that – where were we actually? Oh, no, I was home when I watched that. But that was before I headed over there. Okay. Oh, but had you ever seen him fight live in Australia? Oh, I have, actually. Yes, I commentated one of his fights. Oh, shit. I think it was, or Hex. I can't remember which promotion it was. But I remember watching him and then going, oh, man, this kid goes well.

He had a very well-rounded, and I seen a lot of potential then. And now he's obviously kicked ass on Dana White Contender Series. So good on him. Yeah, he's a tough one. Always supporting the fellow Aussies. Sorry, mate, I've got this set up. I've been doing a heap of media, and this is my spot. I love it. I'm good with it.

Aussie flag. I love spot. I love it. I'm good with it. Aussie flag. I love it. I love it. I wish I could ask you a secret question that only me and Alexander knew to make sure to really prove that I'm talking to you. All right. Basically, what I was going to say about that guy is, one, we can talk about him because he's 171 pounds when he's sucked down. So I don't think you guys will ever be crossing paths unless you go up to your old weight and um and i did the same thing

with him i saw he won the contender series and i'm like oh these australian guys are going into quarantine they're for podcasters like me shooting fish in a barrel right two weeks in the room they'll talk to anybody and he was great he was a gentleman and he's a savage yeah no he's a good dude he's a good dude and yeah man he can fight so my my by the way we're live right now on youtube my my crowd is primarily um crossfitters i was an executive at crossfit headquarters for 15 years from when it started to when it spread to 162 countries i no longer work there i'm retired i'm just a dad that has three kids two four-year-olds and a six-year-old and uh so so my crowd that follows me and watches my youtube channel my podcast i'm not sure how many of them really know who you are but it is fucking really remarkable who you are.

And it's, it's in. So I just like to let people know he's pound for pound in the ultimate fighting in the UFC. He's pound for pound rank number three. I didn't even know that. And, but,

but it makes so much sense. Alexander is 23 and one. And his only loss is to a guy who's 171 pounds and five foot 10. And it was super early in his career. And so to contextualize that Alexander Alex is five, six and fights at 145 pounds. So you see that like, I mean, you could say he's 23 and oh, um, on top of that, there's only four guys in the history of this sport. and this is a hard sport, you guys. This thing is so damn hard. It's brutal, not just the training but the competition.

And Alex is in a category with four other guys. He's in a category with Anderson Silva, with Royce Gracie, with Khabib, and Kamaru Usman is the only guy – one of only five guys in the history of the UFC to win his first 10 fights in the UFC. Fucking nuts. Nuts. It's nuts, dude. And then for those of you who are UFC fans, he beat Chad Mendes, who's a complete savage. And I got a question about that fight. Of all the people who've ever hit you, that one shot he gave you in the first round looks like maybe the hardest i've ever seen anyone hit you and the fact that you won that fight was nuts

um he beat jose aldo who was considered the the best of all time and then he beat max holloway twice who then also was considered the best of all time and and no one could dispute that i mean max is just like was on another planet and you beat him twice and then and then you beat the young unbeatable jiu-jitsu superstar brian ortega and you beat him up i mean it's just not a bad resume holy shit dude it's nuts it's nuts my so um where's josh someone in the comments just said where's josh so when i have fighters on, I sometimes have on my buddy, Josh Bridges. He's the, one of the top 10 best CrossFitters in the world, former Navy SEAL. And he's, he had to do a dinner tonight, that fucking knucklehead. He had to, he's like, Hey, can you switch the, um, the interview to six o'clock? I'm like,

are you fucking kidding me? Hey, Alex, can you switch it from eight to six? I'm like, Josh, I'm not doing that. And he's like's like i gotta go to dinner with my coat he did his first uh amateur boxing match and he's got to go to dinner with his his coach but i'm just like you're fucking nuts dude you're missing your chance to make meet alex um so tell me oh there he is there's a look a little homage to our boy josh bridges and he sells some great coffee do you drink coffee alex i love my coffee mate, mate. I'm a big coffee dude. Big coffee dude. So while we're in here, obviously we've got a little pot machine here,

but I've always got to get mine delivered. I'm a bit of a coffee snob, to be honest. But I do love my coffee. And what is your preferred go-to? Man, usually cappuccinos or flat whites. I like the milk. I like my milk in my coffee. And I like them sort of sweet too.

Oh, I don't do the sweet. Yeah, I've got a big sweet too. Especially after my fights and that weight cutting and all that, I enjoy a sugar or two in my coffee. You fight at 145. What do you walk around at? Man, it's changed. Over the years, it's changed so much.

I used to get up to, what would it be? So I'm trying to think because obviously I do kilograms. So I used to get up to 86 kilograms. I weigh in for featherweight, 66 kilograms. And then within a week or two, I used to get up to 86 kilograms i'll weigh in for uh featherweight 66 kilograms and then within a week or two i used to get up to 86 kilograms so this is how and what's that that is 180 over 185 so 180 we're doing 188 or something i'll get to 188 like one or two weeks after 145 um so you that's why i'm bringing that up to just show you like that's how much I used to fluctuate so much. It was pretty incredible.

Now, through over time and, you know, trying to look after my body a little bit better and not go as crazy, I tend to, you know, usually stick around, you know, I won't go any more than 170. So usually I'm a bit under that. Maybe about 168, you know, one 166 to 168 is usually what I sit at outside of camp now, which is pretty good for me. But yeah. And you kind of have it. What's kind of funny is you kind of have a tremendous weight loss story

too, even though I don't think anyone couches it like this. At 22 years old you were uh kind of a rugby star um and you were weighing 214 pounds 214 often reported as 240 yeah yeah that changes that number changes a lot especially uh with uh joe rogan uh you get everyone always uh on the social media always stirring up. It goes, oh, I heard he weighed 400 pounds. But, yeah, 214 was the number that I was sitting at for a while, which is a lot. Man, you've got to remember I'm 5'6", if I'm lucky. You know, I'm saying I'm 5'6". Like I'm talking if I'm tight, if I'm sitting on the couch and my back's tight, I ain't touching my 5'6".

You know, I'm 5'5". But on a nice loose day when I did a bit of yoga and stretched out, I'm about 5'6". So you can imagine me, 240 pounds at like 5'6". You know, I was as wide as I was tall, mate. Like I was literally just like a solid rock. But, yeah, it's definitely changed. I did definitely look a lot different.

My head was massive back in the day. But, yeah, we've turned that around. Obviously, the whole lifestyle changed. And, you know, obviously me just trying to be professional and stay a bit closer to my weight. Are you happier at, I mean, at 214, putting on your shoes must not even be fun, right? Yeah, well, I used to play rugby league at that weight, so I still could move. I was still reasonably athletic for someone that size. But, yeah, you know what I mean?

Obviously, I feel a lot better now. And, yeah, obviously, you know, look and feel a lot better. Eating better, so, you know, the fuel to the body, right? I'm a professional athlete. You know, we need feel a lot better. Eating better, so the fuel to the body, right? I'm a professional athlete. We need to take that serious. And the nutrition goes a long way. And you know yourself and most of your listeners would know that nutrition is everything. And over my last couple of years, we've really fine-tuned that and make the results that you get not only weight cut performance

performance in the in the gym training you know what i mean and like i used to do whatever i could to lose the weight yeah it was all about losing weight when now i've got a nutritionist on board performance is where it's at we need to perform in the gym yeah we'll get the weight down we'll get it down but we need to perform we need the carbs in between these sessions because we need that energy. I'm busting my ass, you know what I mean, like two, three times a day. When I say busting my ass, again, a lot of the CrossFitters, like yous would understand that. We bust our ass, you know what I mean? We don't take it easy, you know what mean so we need that energy and and i i used to sort of neglect that because i was so worried about the weight where now i'm losing the weight so i'm

bringing the fat down holding the muscle and i'm performing as good as ever in between uh in between like uh in sessions and in between my recovery everything is just on point and that's made a massive difference i i want to propose something to you. I don't want it to become a cross-offensive, but I think one of the reasons why you struggled with COVID was because of the carbohydrates in your diet. And I'm not saying that you shouldn't eat them because, like you said, you're eating for performance. But I think carbohydrates – I think people who eat carbohydrates, I think it affects their immune systems significantly. And then the other thing I think is because you push your body so hard, right? I mean the weakest immune systems in the world are the Tour de France guys, right?

Just living off of carbohydrates. But I mean they're obviously skinny as shit. But I mean you pushed your – some people will be like, hey, this thing must be really fucking serious. Look at one of the greatest athletes walking the planet today. Alexander Volkanovsky got it really bad. And my thought to them is, is like, dude, he's,

he's a formula one race car. He can't even fucking hit. If he hits a pot, I mean, if he hits a pothole, I mean, he's really pushing his body to the fucking limits. Do you think there's any truth to that?

Oh, mate, there, there, there is truth. I don't know the science behind, uh, we said with the carbohydrates,

but then you're talking about the, it puts insulin in your, in your bloodstream. and when insulin gets in your bloodstream if if um all the white blood cells have trouble fighting anything basically there's a ton of the t cells and the nk cells natural killer cells and t cells the white blood cells every time you eat carbohydrates or you know it turns to sugar and then you have to your body releases insulin which is a hormone into your bloodstream. It's like a traffic jam. It's like a traffic jam. Well, there you go.

So yeah, I'm not too aware of that. But again, obviously performance is important. But what you're saying with me actually getting it, I was, like you just said like training really hard yeah so i i would have i must have got um in contact with someone or whatever it is that that passed it to me i wouldn't i was obviously not aware i was in america at the time a week earlier than usual so usually we go five week and we don't need to train hard but i was there two weeks before so i still had my last week of training which is my hardest week yeah so we want to peak at the right time right so we were like absolutely putting that work in while my body was probably fighting

disinfection yeah fighting the the symptom of the covid uh so that's why i didn't end up rattling me pretty good uh your recovery is insane though what's that sorry your recovery is insane yeah well uh as in uh after that or i mean yeah i mean look at you a couple of the other guys who've gotten it in the ufc who are just amazing athletes also the the guy the russian guy who's the freak of nature the guy who fights 171 and 185 yeah i mean he got it and like there was it was retirement talk yeah man yeah it's like the scar tissue in the lungs is was definitely a scare or something that we're very worried about and you have to take take it serious so even easing back in the training we had to literally ease back in training with some people i think they they try and go back to assume why

their lungs uh got the scar tissue while they're damaged and then they go back to assume why their lungs got the scar tissue and why they're damaged. And then they go back to training and then that's what leads to, you know, the more damage on the lungs, which by me, we had the UFC and doctors, you know, make sure it was clear that we took our time getting back into training. Like, let's start off because obviously it got in my lungs. So I had the pneumonia and the infection was getting worse and worse so i had to get on strong medication for that but uh yeah like i said getting back into training we had to just you know ease our way back in and i did i followed uh you know the program they gave me i followed that to a t i didn't want to cut take

any shortcuts uh just purely because you know this i'm a professional athlete and I need to look after myself. So I did that. Sure enough, you know, by the time I started picking the training back up, I was okay. I had it a couple of weeks ago. I continued my strenuous workout regimen of taking care of my kids, driving the minivan, riding the assault bike for 10 to 20 minutes a day. Another thing I'd like to let people know, his first four UFC fights, sorry, his first four amateur fights, Alex's first four amateur fights,

if you combined all the time that those fights lasted, they didn't even last one round. And then he became a professional and um what's that jump like from the amateur to the professional level is it a monster jump in terms of the skill level um yeah i still i believe it is like nowadays uh i don't know i don't know now now because you're getting a lot of people that are staying amateur a bit longer. So I'm not sure if it's changed now. But back in the day, I did feel like it was a pretty big jump. People would have a couple of amateur because it wasn't a massive sport.

So they'll have a couple of amateur fights, if that, and go pro to try and make some money. You know what I mean? Where now people are taking it serious. They're going to ease it. They want to get as much training as they can and whatnot. So you're seeing some of the amateur level fighters, even local scene, like when I watch them here in Australia,

like it's high caliber. You know, they're looking really good. So the jump now I feel isn't as big as it was back then when I took that jump because you went from guys that are really beginners and then two guys that are either – they can. Obviously, some people are going pro early, but if you fight someone that knows what they're doing, it's a big jump. I was the type of guy that – I started this sport late,

so I wanted to fast-track my way through everything. I wanted big fights i wanted guys that were good i didn't want guys that you know i was meant to be type thing so i'll take on guys like my first professional fight he i had a guy that had six fights you know what i mean in a division that i should never have beaten you know what i mean so that was the 171 you were in the welterweight was that welterweight that was welterweight yeah so i had my first uh four fights or yeah four fights was at welterweight so i won the first three um and again all of them were were tough guys really really good fighters at the time i didn't need to fight guys like that but that's just the guy i am and again in the division i should never have been in and then

i end up fighting off my fourth fight my only loss was against the powerful power number one in australia um it was a tournament that's cory cory nelson is that cory nelson and i had the favorite I ended up fighting my fourth fight. My only loss was against the Power for Power number one in Australia. It was a tournament. That's Corey Nelson? Corey Nelson. And I had the favorite straight up. Very early in my career. Again, a weight I should never have been in.

Against the guy that was the number one guy in Australia, I was talking about. So it was obviously a silly fight, but, I mean, they were the fights I wanted. And I was in a tournament, and I wanted to win this tournament, and I drew him first. But, I mean, I was still competitive for someone that, you know, obviously everyone just wrote me straight off, but I was still reasonably competitive, but he got the win.

So that one's going to always be on my record forever, but obviously I'm looking way past that, and I'm not worried about that. But we're on a 25-win streak now, and we'll just keep that running. That's what it is that But we have a 25 win streak now That's what it is It's 20 fight win streak 25 win streak And 10 in the UFC 10 in the UFC

I wonder After you get this 11th win Who you push off that list Of Royce, Khabib Kamaru and Anderson Silva. Man. Yeah, we're not. I think you put on 100,000 Instagram followers this weekend, this week.

After the fight, yeah, dude. So that was, man, again, it's crazy. You know what I mean? This sport is crazy. You can be a superstar overnight. You know what I mean? With the platform they have in can be a superstar overnight. You know what I mean? With the platform they have in the UFC and, you know, you've got ESPN and whatnot.

Like you go out there and you have a highlight reel finish, the next couple of weeks it's just on replay. Everyone, all social media, everyone's talking about it and it just keeps getting shared. You know what I mean? Everyone's talking about it. People are interested. They look into it.

You know what I mean? And that's like it's massive's massive you know what i mean like and that's why this sport it's so much different to a lot of other sports like you know what i mean you you can go and be the best you know what i mean and people are gonna you know what i mean you get the best basketball players and they're hyped up everyone loves them because they're the best you know what i mean same in a lot of other sports you you You praise them for being the best, but, I mean, our sport is a little different. You need to sometimes do more than just win,

do more than just be the best. You can prove you're better than these guys, but you don't do it in wild fashion. Some people, they forget quickly. And, you know, again, it's a little bit different. But, I mean, that's just how our sport is, and you've got to you've got to understand that i understand that now so this last fight was uh i wanted to get the finish but i wanted to go out there and i wanted to i wanted to work i wanted to entertain i wanted to go out there enjoy myself and put on a show

for everyone um which is sort of new for me to be honest but i enjoyed it absolutely loved it even then everyone booed me obviously having a i'm flying this flag through and you know what i mean you go they were people were booing you hello yeah everyone was booing me i had everyone but i loved it man i absolutely loved it just everything about it i didn't even notice that on tv i didn't even notice that it was yeah it was it was loud he definitely got the tears and i was getting the booze but i mean it was that changed at the end of it it was nothing but respect for both of us so that's how quickly you can change people's uh opinion just in 25 minutes you don't even take that you had a tough road I mean I mean I only I only know I watch I watch UFC every Saturday um I feel like you had a really tough road to hoe because Max

Holloway was such a huge fan favorite no one wanted to see him lose he was so sweet he was so cool he was so kicked back you know he was just and then you came in and you beat him you know what i mean you kind of beat like everyone's champion and then you rematched him and you beat him again and then brian ortega the same thing um everyone loved him he was saying all the great shit but then something happened in the ultimate fighter i don't know what i don't know what happened to him he wasn't the same guy that like we had been introduced to by the ufc for all the years prior before he was all about helping the kids and the humble guy and then all of a sudden and i had never watched the ultimate fighter before this

was the first season where i watched the whole thing and i was like holy shit like and that's really when you won my heart in that show and and brian did i don't think he did himself any favors like i mean i know it's just tv i know it's just but either they edit it that way but i don't think he did himself any favors and by by the end i was like holy shit man like i think i'm jumping off the like i think i'm getting on the volkanovski train i mean mean, I'm just telling you. Yeah, it's a tricky one. It is a tricky one.

So that's something that had me thinking the whole time as well. I was like, while we're doing it, you know, he doesn't like confrontation. He's not good under confrontation. Mr. Ortega. Mr. Ortega. He doesn't like it. That's why he's never been the type to do it. And obviously, I was trying to have a bit of fun with it, and I was trying to stir the pot and have a bit of fun with it so i'll put him under the pump a little bit

and you know he would probably just try and say the right thing at the time and end up you know sounding pretty douchey yeah like some people just didn't like it you know what i mean but wherever i had a lot to play with that you know what i mean obviously i was trying to stir the pork in his head trying to split him and his team and uh you know just again play the games and do all that type of stuff. So whether I played a big part in that, maybe. I'm obviously looking for things to dislike the guy and all that. You know what I mean?

I don't usually do that. This time I did. You know what I mean? Just to build some fire anger and, you know, build up some hype. So it was definitely different. But, I mean, again, I said some things. You know, he tried not to get too caught up in it while we were doing the press conferences and all that type of stuff.

Most words were said on my half. But, again, then you go and you fight him and he showed a lot of heart and all that, you know what I mean? I said I see weakness and all this type of stuff and I was going to expose him there and I almost did and he was able to come back strong and turn that around. So he won my respect. I had some things to say, and I take them back.

I do take them back. I feel like, again, you sit there, like you said, a lot of people probably change their opinion on him. But whether my games had something to do with that, maybe did, you know what I mean? Because, you know, again, he's not a bad human being. I guess I try to stir him up and get in between his team and him and act like he doesn't care and all that.

And then he'll try and defend himself and sometimes say the wrong thing. And then that just added to it. So it was a tricky one. But, again, there was a bit of hate. I would say hate was a word, but maybe a dislike. But now the respect's there. After what we shared in that octagon, respect's there. His story was kind of like, hey, I'm coming up from the hood.

I'm working hard. Nothing was given to me in life. I want to pay it forward. And then by the time the ultimate fighter was there he was the kid who was too cool for school you know just a little too cool like like you know yeah well just that's again that's sort of obviously i was talking about you know being professional and all that that's a lot of that stuff yeah again that doesn't make you a bad human being but i mean i'm a professional and that's what i live by you know

i'm going to call you out on that and you know some people are going to you know say the right things yeah i do this you know i'm professional that and if some people aren't but they're going to say that but if uh if i notice you aren't i'm going to call you out on it so that's why i was calling him out on it and and and that's that so it was yeah i was a bit uh i had a few things to say leading up to the fight but again i guess my was yeah i was a bit uh i had a few things to say leading up to the fight but again i guess my opinions maybe changed a little bit uh for what we shared in the in octagon after after every fight i guess this is hard since you've had so many fights are there fights where after the fight you're like holy shit i had no idea i was that tough

are there moments during the fights where you're like fighting a dude and you're like, holy shit, I had no idea I was that tough. Are there moments during the fights where you're fighting a dude and you're like, God damn, I'm tough? No, I've always knew that, man. You did. I've always, I guess, again, in the gym, put myself in positions that a lot of people don't want to put themselves. You know what I mean? When we talk about being comfortable in uncomfortable situations,

how uncomfortable are people getting themselves, you know what I mean? Yeah. You know, I'm the type of guy that I get real uncomfortable, you know what I mean? And it's never going to be comfortable. But I'm going to change that saying and say it's not being comfortable in uncomfortable positions, it's accepting uncomfortable positions. Okay, I like that.

It is going to stay uncomfortable. I'm going to be uncomfortable. Some of the sessions we do, I'm not comfortable at all, you know what I mean, but I've accepted it. I've accepted it and I'm still looking forward. I'm still looking at what needs to be done. Yeah, I'm barely able to get back to my feet, but I'm going to do it and I've got a guy that's about to take me down.

I'm going to defend it, you know what I mean that's about to take me down. I'm going to defend it. You know what I mean? I've accepted this uncomfortable feeling, but, I mean, I still need to move forward. I still need to play what's in front of me. So I've put myself in that situation time and time again that I understand that, you know, I just accept these things. And when you're in the fight, again, I've got a job to do.

Even though someone can hurt me so bad, I don't look at the pain the pain's nothing to me it's it's what i can and can't do at the time you know if they hit me with a good shot and i lose my vision that's a problem i can't see you hit me with something and it hurts i don't give a shit you know i mean i don't care you You can hurt me. It's all good. I can still see you. I can still do what I'm doing. You know what I mean? So I'm all good.

So I don't feel pain. I don't care about the pain and the heat of the moment. Again, a worry in that guillotine, all right, you're at a stage where you're like, shit, I don't care how tough I am. No more oxygen and blood to the brain. Lights out, fight over. Don't care how tough you are. No more oxygen and blood to the brain. Lights out, fight over. Don't care how tough you are. So we need to do something.

So in that situation when I felt like shit was going different colors and that, I'm like, uh-oh, we need to make space. You know what I mean? So it wasn't about, oh, no, oh, no, this is it. Like I had the moment like, please don't tell me this is it. You know, I thought of my family and all that type of stuff. I was thinking of that and it gave me that drive to just try that extra bit harder. So it was never a fact that, oh, no, let's see if I can survive and not do nothing.

Like, hopefully he gets tired. It was, oh, shit, this isn't good. Let's make space. Why did he let go? There was a couple of adjustments that I made. Freed me and then he noticed once I got a decent angle and got my chin under his arm. Did he let go? There was a couple of adjustments that I made freed me, and then he noticed once I got a decent angle and got my chin under his arm, he knew that the choke wasn't there.

So he let go because obviously he would have been getting tired anyway, but the fact that I end up defending and get myself to a better position because he locked it up and he had it deep, everything, his hips, his legs, his arms, my head, head my body and his body were in the perfect position for him to finish that choke yeah you guys look like he was very good at he was very good at holding that position so it took me a lot to sort of loosen that but i mean once i got the hips a little bit away from me um i made that little bit of space here pulled on his hand enough to make that little bit of space there he realized it because again he knows that position he's been there a million times he knows when it's when it's on and he knew that was on and that's why he couldn't believe it he

didn't get it and then once it was off he knew exactly when it was off damn um did you talk to him about that afterwards at all did you guys have any exchange in there? I talked to him on Instagram as well. Afterwards, he calls me Houdini. He goes, I call you Houdini. I don't know how the fuck you got out of that submission. And I'm like, mate, it was deep. Let me tell you, it was deep. You had me working in there.

But, yeah, it was – yeah, again, obviously it was respect. There was different lean going in. But halfway through the fight, you've seen that, you know, even though we had our little alpha moments where we're standing each other face-to-face, you know, again, that was it. And then that third round happened. And then for him to get up and, again, like after that third round, he didn't – you know, I thought he didn't want to come back out.

He was waiting for the round. I don't think he wanted to come back out either. He was waiting for them. He's like, I'm never going to quit. I'm never going to tell them I'm done. But, I mean, surely they can see I'm done. So he's there, and that was happening. So I thought, he's done.

Even though they let him fight, he's got that in his head. He's done. Like even now, even though they let him fight, he's got that in his head. Like he's done. He's hoping that, you know, or he is that delirious because he's that busted up. It's going to be a walk in the park. The bell goes. Like eventually they give him the extra minute, which I was a bit dirty on. But anyway, so he comes back out and I'm like, oh, I'm going to put it on him. And then he was back in the fight. I still seen him sharp.

His footwork was still there. He was still trying to counter me. So I was like, man, this bloke's back into it. So I had to be a little bit careful again. And then after the fourth round, same thing. Thought he was done. And then he comes back and probably stronger than he did in any of the other rounds. So that's what I mean.

He ended up burning my respect as the fight went on. Yeah, crazy. You didn't – let me ask you this. You're not going to want to answer this, but would a lesser of man tapped? I do want to answer this because it's – Okay. Again, I'm not the type to talk myself up, you know what I mean? At the end of the day, I've got the belt.

I'm a champ. I'm doing this stuff. I'm allowed the type to talk myself up, you know what I mean? Like at the end of the day, I've got the belt, I'm a champ, I'm doing this stuff, I'm allowed to be real. Mate, like again, not many people could be in that position and get themselves out of that position or as long as last as they did. Like I said, like it was deep and I tried everything I could. Before it got so deep, I tried everything I could to get out of that and it still got that deep. A lot of people would have just thought I tried, you know what I mean, and now it's going out and then they'll either tap it

because they can't breathe anymore or they just let themselves go out. They might have to tell themselves that I can't get out of this but there's no way I'm tapping but I'll just go out then in that position not many people will even think it was possible to fight for an extra couple of seconds you know no one not many people could do that so again like that's something I do believe that and you're hearing a lot of people say it you're Joe Rogan and all that like 99.99 people that has ever lived wouldn would get out of that situation. And man, like, I want to say, I believe that because again, it was, you watch back the

tape and I know the, I know the position I was in, you know what I mean? Like, you know, I feel like there's not many people alive that could actually do that. Not saying that if I would have tapped. They would have went to sleep. Oh, right. Or they would have tapped. But in other words, they still would have gave up. They would have understood that there was nowhere else to go. There was nothing else I could do.

What else can I do now? Like I did everything and it still wasn't enough. But for me, I'm just, oh, I'm going to keep trying that anyway. That's where I was at. I tried. i was in the deepest position you could be i only had limited things i could do it still wasn't working most people give up there and be like tap or we go out for me i was like no i'm gonna keep doing it it's either i do go out but i'm gonna keep fighting till that happens. Would you have done that if that was your first fight or a championship fight?

Is that just who you are? Like no matter what, like let's say. That's who I am. I told you before about the type of guy I am in the gym, about the positions I put myself in. I'll constantly put myself in positions. You know, we talk about uncomfortable. Like I have been in that guillotine that many times in camp.

A lot of people, like they'll start going in that guillotine that many times in camp a lot of people like they'll they'll start going into the the guillotine and again i'm probably getting into too much detail no no you're not they'll go into they'll go into that position and and fight so try to prevent these positions from happening i i do that but i put myself in the deepest position these guys can get. I go, I want a dick. Go, get a dick, get a dick, get a dick, then I defend. So I'm constantly putting myself in the worst position. You sound like my wife.

You sound like my wife when you do that. Yeah. So that's, you get what I mean? So that's, again, when I talk about- Sorry, that's the 14-year-old boy in me. I just can't get rid of him. That's all good. But yeah, again, mate, it was definitely – it's just preparation, mate.

Like, again, it's whatever. It's the type of guy I am. And why I'm like that is maybe, you know, people want to ask me, like, what made you who you are today? What made you this resilient guy that doesn't stop, never quit attitude? I know why. I know why. How? How?

Because your mom is Greek and your dad is from northern Macedonia. You are the reincarnation of Alexander the Great. Well, you know what? I was actually going to go in there. I was actually going to go there and say. Do it. People ask where did it come from, and then you talk about life experiences. Yeah, you could say it's in my blood, warrior blood, you know, the Macedonian shit out of Macedonia, shout out to Greece.

You could say that. And let me tell you, your mom's people have been through some fucked up shit. Yeah, yeah. The Greeks have been really persecuted over time, but go on, sorry. Yeah, you're right. But I mean, so obviously, you know, people say you've got the warrior blood and whatnot. But, I mean, not just that. Growing up, you know, hard working family, obviously, you know, they did whatever they could for us and, you know, they're always working.

So there was times where they were working many hours and we had to even fend for ourselves in a way. When I say fend for ourselves, you know, cook my own dinner or, like, get myself to school or you know you know do things like that while they're they're they're trying to make a get put food on the table so uh you know there was a even are your parents still together are your parents still together uh no they're not no but um you know so i've been being through that as at a young age uh so getting a bit of resilience there through things like that. And then through sports, just the type of person my father is

and my mother is, you know, very strong-willed people, having that and... I have to say it was before I started sports, something was built in me. But again, I feel like that was... I wasn't born with it i don't believe whether you could say believe that that was something that was uh built in me you know i mean i like to say that i wasn't born i was built you know i mean it's a it's a saying that it's the same one of my mates used to say yeah but i mean again i don't don't think – I think you earned everything.

Hey? Yeah, I think you've earned – from the little bit I know about how human beings become, talent is a bit of a myth, and I believe that you've built everything. Now, of course, there's genetics, 10 feet tall, 6 feet tall, 4 feet tall. But, yeah, I mean, it's clearly your your work ethic at 12 trying to get the is that better let's try let's just get blurry for some reason my phone oh trying to get the focus back in oh yeah you look good you look good okay i think i think what happened is i think our internet connection something happened to your internet connection so like it down res or something um uh juan lamb made a comment what the fuck how did

sebon get volkanovsky in here hey juan how about you eat a dick next question um uh there's actually a bunch of nice comments i just i just like yelling it to people in the comments um tons of positive stuff the champ is here amazing work thanks for coming on the show alex so tons of great stuff um at 12 years old you won the greco um roman wrestling national title tell me about that how do you do that at 12 years old how did you get into wrestling tell me about that kind of that journey up to that point getting into wrestling was a was a was a weird one. So I was playing soccer at the time, I think.

How old were you? Yeah, I would have been 11 and that, 11 years old maybe, 11, 12. And I remember going to, what do we call it, Police Boys Club. So it was like a youth group. I don't know if you have that over there. But yeah, Police Boys Club. So they go there and they had a games night. It was like a youth group i don't know if you have that in over there but um yeah police boys club so they go then they had a games night it was called a games night so uh everyone would go there and then they'll play sports and and or whatever they used to go they have a sausage sizzle

and whatnot and then they would finish i'm from california that's something totally different here the sausage sizzle but different show okay. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I was thinking. Sausage Sanger. So it's, yeah, just like a barbecue anyway. I'd have a barbecue and play games, and then I would have wrestling and I just would wrestle because they had a wrestling club at every police boys club. And so I had a couple of matches there, and I did really good, and the coach was like, the guy that was there was,

mate, you need to come in and train. You're really good at the coach was was like the guy that was there was mate you need to come in and train you're really good at this so I decided to do that so with the wrestling come in just from uh having to go having a go at it and and uh yeah the coach going mate you're good at this give it a crack so I went there and started uh training and I was good I was actually really good I think I I wish I sort of pursued that a bit longer because I definitely felt like I could have went a long way. I only did it for maybe two years, if that. And, you know, I was a national champion and whatnot. You know what I mean? I was versing people because I've always been a heavyset guy.

I would compete against guys twice the size of me. A lot older. A lot older at the time. Like I would have been 12. They would be 14, a lot older, a lot older at the time. Like I would have been 12, they would be 14, 16, which is a big difference at that age. Huge, huge. But I would still beat all these guys. So I was sort of known around the area like, well,

there's that kid that beats up all the older people, you know what I mean? So I've always had something in me. But, yeah, so that was a big part. But then, you know know i think i got over wearing the tights and i wanted to play football with a mate so uh rugby league so that's when i played rugby league so i got over that pretty quick but i mean i wish i stuck to it because i believe i was really good at it are you are you nice alex are you nice man am i nice yeah

yeah man oh hopefully that's coming across throughout the interview. I don't know. But, I mean, yeah, man. Again, I'm a, you know, I've always been a pretty easygoing type of guy, pretty friendly fella, easy to talk to, you know what I mean? But, yeah, I think it's funny you say that because, again, it's tough because I've always been the type of guy that, you i'm always going to give people the benefit of the doubt i'm always worried about offending people and all that and i used to let that take over too much to be honest i was if

anything too far like that way you know i mean where again like i would i would never mean to offend anyone but i'll be like i'll write a post and i'll be worried or what if they take it this way clearly doesn't mean that but they might take the war you write a post and I'll be worried or what if they take it this way clearly doesn't mean that but they might take the war you know what I mean I was so worried about offending people and all that and it used to take over my life too much uh we're now I understand that I'm a I'm a genuine bloke I'm a cool dude I don't need to worry about offending people if people are going to be offended it's probably them though you you know they're probably going to be offended by what I said anyway they're probably hating me and didn't like me anyway so i can't try and

please everyone i've always been a people pleaser try and please everyone and that's impossible it's impossible and i've come to realize that way now i can be myself i can be a bit more real but i mean even me being more real and saying having what i want to say i still feel like i come across like a half decent person. I hope so. If not, you come across. So you come across so fucking nice. Um,

I like, there's a message you continuously send, um, that, Hey, I'm just a regular guy. And if I can do this, anybody can do this.

And I think that's a great message for all of humanity. How old are you? 33. Just turned 33 last week. And you've been doing MMA for 10 10 years yeah about 10 years so i started when i was 22 years old so there's a there there's a good example for you yeah a normal human being like i said i started this sport at 22 years old and now i'm ufc champion chasing goat status you know what i mean so it's uh people, yeah, I've always been strong.

You know, maybe, you know, if anything that I could say that separated me from people is being strong. I've always been a strong type of guy. What do you mean strong? What do you mean strong? What do you mean strong? Like, you can, what do you mean strong? Like, you can carry all the groceries inside strong? Or you mean, like, strong up here?

I can carry a fair few plastic bags of groceries. Yeah, yeah. But I mean, yeah, like all that. I've always been very strong at arm wrestling and, you know, wrestling. I obviously was just strong for my age for that. But I mean, in saying that, you know, what do you have to show for that? You know, it could be upbringing. You know what I mean?

You know, the type of, it could be certain things that that i did or obviously it could be in your blood as well but not freakishly strong whereas in you know what i mean it's not like it was something like again like i'm not athletically gifted where i can jump over tables you know what i mean like i'm not like that you know i mean you me hit pads, I look like most people hitting pads. You know, you get guys that look way more – Oh, I don't know. I don't know. I don't agree with that.

You hit hard as shit. You hit hard as shit. Yeah, of course. Of course. But, I mean, again, so does a lot of people. A lot of people hit hard. Right. But, I mean, that's not why I'm winning fights.

You talk about fight IQ, always being fit, always being ready, being composed. You know, a lot of these things can be done through preparation. You know what I mean? Like, you know what I mean? Like, I truly do believe that. You know what I mean? And, again, you look at me, you know, talk about striking, wrestling,

all of it. I put it all together and I can beat anyone. The greatest jiu-jitsu guys, I can beat them at their own game. The greatest wrestlers, I can beat them at their own game. Greatest strikers, I can beat them at their own game through strategy, game planning, good cardio, all that type of stuff. So a lot more goes into it. Is fighter IQ situational awareness?

Is that all of it or is that just a piece of it there's there's a lot that goes into that you know what i mean there's a you know body you know even just positional the mechanics of your body and putting your body in the right position something like you can't even think about that you don't have time to think about that you know your body just needs to know you know what i mean i guess through preparation you know understanding the body putting needs to know, you know what I mean, I guess through preparation, you know, understanding the body, putting yourself in all types of different situations where your body learns to know where it needs to be

to be in a based position. You know what I mean? It's the same as when you do a deadlift or whatever it is. Your body needs to be in a good position for you to be at your strongest point and lift that weight. You know, it's the same as whatever position you're in. When someone's trying to take you down, your feet needs to be in the right position, you know what I mean?'s trying to take you down your feet needs to be in the right position you know what i mean even when you're striking your range needs to be at a right position all this type of stuff so you need to know

and just have an understanding of that um have an understanding of that but not just that you know play what's in front of you while working a game plan while getting reads uh again i don't know why why can i do all these things uh you know what i mean i believe it does separate me from the rest there's not many fighters i can do all that at once uh but i've proved that that i can you know not only i can put a puzzle in front of someone i can put a puzzle in front of them keep a high pace read what what they're giving back take that information capitalize on it you know what i mean all that while so much is happening while all this is happening i'm somehow getting reads

and letting him you know fight my fight so it goes real deep but i mean for people to really understand what's happening there you know it would take me a long time to to sort of explain that um when you would when you would go to your sporting events when you were a kid, did your parents attend them? Yeah, yeah, my parents went whenever they could. Again, my dad was concreting every day and whatnot, and my mom owned restaurants and things like that. But, yeah, they would come whenever they could.

Did you have siblings? Yeah. That helps too. You know what, I'll be honest, that helps. I was the youngest. i was the youngest i was the youngest i have an older brother um and uh two two sisters so my brother and my sister are twins and then i got an older sister and my older sister used to beat me up a little bit too so me and my brother used to wrestle do your wwe wwf type stuff all through uh you know my parents bed uh breaking the heaps of beds and stuff all through, you know, my parents' bed,

breaking heaps of beds and getting ass kicks for that. So, you know, again, you talk about your upbringing and then things like that come into play, you know, being roughened up with you and your brother, you know, just being, you know what I mean, all that type of stuff. Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? A lot of it comes into play.

And, again, having an older brother and trying to compete with him the whole time, having my older sisters and all of them picking on me and me having something to prove my whole life. You know what I mean? I need to prove my worth. You know what I mean? And then my brother, you know, not picking on me, but I mean, like, you know,

we'll do that and I'll try and hold my own and, you know, things like that. So it made me who I am. Is there anything, any deeper pathology or something that's really driven you? Like, like, like, like someone passed away or someone called you a name or the principals told you in front of the whole school, Alex will never amount to anything. Is there any like memory that you're like, I'm going to fucking hold on to this thing and drive this thing to the end?

Like just some just some some like like you mentioned go ahead there's one like a and i don't there's no malice behind this there's no you know there's no anger towards them but it was i had a hobby people that cared about me and me and my wife yeah me and emma and emma have like her relatives, not even her relatives, close friends of ours, while I was chasing the dream, right? So while you're chasing the dream, let's remember, this sport ain't financially forgiving. You know what I mean?

It's not, especially when you're going through the local scene and on your rise up. So we were struggling. There was a lot of sacrifices made for me chasing this dream. And you would have a lot of people that would talk to the wife and even myself, like, you know, how long are you going to chase this dream for you know i mean like you know you know you know you you can't live at your parents house forever you've got a kid uh you know your daughter you know what i mean like when are you going to get a real job so you can look after your family so these people are saying it's because they cared and not having an understanding

of what i'm capable of, not even on the sport. You've got to remember, at the time, the sport wasn't that big in our country. So they're like, what sport is this? You haven't made it yet. How long are you willing to chase this? How long are you willing to, you know, I was renting my house out while I lived at my parents' house, you know what I mean,

and things like that. Oh, I know. You know what I mean, and things like that. Oh, I know. You know what I mean? How are you doing this? How long are you going to do this for? So, again, they're doing it out of love. But I was like, you know, I never took offense to it, but I was always like, you'll see.

You'll see. You know what I mean? So, again, it wasn't like, fuck you, I'm going to prove you wrong. It was more just I understand your caring, but you will understand soon. So you used it as healthy pressure too, I guess. Yes, exactly right, healthy pressure. I would even do that. I taught myself that.

I used that. I'm going to be in the UFC by the time I have my first born. I put pressure on myself. I do things like that. I didn't do that. That killed me. Absolutely killed me. I put pressure on myself. I do things like that. I didn't do that. That killed me. Absolutely killed me. I wasn't in the UFC.

I made a promise to myself I'll be in the UFC looking after my firstborn child. It didn't happen. Shit. You know what I mean? Did you ever say that out loud or was that just in your head? Did you ever say that out loud? No, to myself. That was in my head.

You know what I mean? That was in my head. I might have I mean? That was in my head. I might have mentioned it to the wife. I was like, we need to be in the UFC. But you know what I mean? It didn't happen. But again, there was moments where you're like, man, what do we do? So there was times where I was like, all right, I'm going to have to do both.

I need to work now. I need to concrete. So I was concreting and being a world champion outside of UFC, waiting for the UFC contract. You were fighting and concreting? Yes, yeah, I was fighting. So full-time fighter while I was concreting in between. So again, I'm a very driven person, especially when it comes to family. You talk about, well, my main motivation is family.

I mentioned about that was a moment that I was like, I'll show you this, but my real drive is my family. So again, I've got a family to feed, right? What do you got? What do you got? You got a wife? But I need money. I need money.

Yeah, I've got a wife and two kids now. But again, sacrificed a lot, stuck to it, believed in myself. Luckily from the support from my wife, she believed in me, and we chased a dream. And now look. is that real that's the other one is that a real belt that's my real belt are you really alex volkanovsky that's the real belt oh juan go fuck yourself he wrote back he wrote back i love this some people just like getting yelled at right you just need a little bit of abuse

um i want to go i want to go back even even younger or or maybe it's older what sport that wasn't the martial arts translated to we were talking about fighter iq and just just your comfortableness and your grit and your stability to see and comprehend and put it all together while it's happening what sport do you think um did you harness did you did you kind of uh cultivate some of those skills that now you bring into the ring that you didn't even know what you were cultivating them for your future as a fighter that's that's a good point uh there was there's a lot of uh tools that i had a rugby league would be uh the sport probably uh that comes to mind when you say that but there's a lot of traits that i had in my rugby league and you know going into but i mean a couple of years

ago i couldn't talk about it like I do now. I didn't understand any of that. Now I've got a real understanding of it. So now I can go back and then say that I've got this trait from this, you know. I mean, I'm trying to still figure all that out because, again, man, I'm just a small man from a small town, you know what I mean? Like I'm not the most educated person, you know what I mean?

But I'm the type of person that I adapt and, you know what I mean, I'm always learning. So I've ended up picking up these traits that I had, like, earlier on. So playing rugby league especially, like, going out there and being here at the moment. Again, I've always been strong. I've always held my own. I'm powerful and always very strong.

But I've always had the mentality of the never quit attitude, never die attitude. Even I was the type of guy that in our 10-meter line. So we're on our try line trying to get the ball out. In your what line? What did you call it? Try line. Okay.

Sorry. Yeah, how could I say? Goal line. You know what I mean? So we're on our end of the rugby league feed nfl i'm trying to translate okay so you're on your end and we need we need to get the ball to the other end you know where the pressure's on they're ready to pound us they want to keep us exactly where we are they don't want us to make any meters so they're ready to just pummel you no one really wants the ball then you know a lot of people

you know they don't have any choice and they're gonna run but you you see people go missing then that's when you see me put my hand up the most that's when you see me push people out of the way to to take that that hit up it wasn't it was always like you know i knew people you know probably didn't want to do it i did give me that ball i'm gonna get us out of, you know, I knew people probably didn't want to do it. I did. Give me that ball. I'm going to get us out of here. You know, that's the type of guy I was. I'll get us out of here. I know I can.

You know, I know I'm going to make my 10 metres. I'm going to get a quick play of the ball and we're going to go. So I knew, you know, I was the man to do it and I took that on. I was like, push people out of the way. Give me the ball. I'll hit up. Someone will take it. I'll push the next person.

Give me the ball. You know, having two, three hit ups in the one set. Not many people do that. But that's the type of guy I've hit up. Someone will take it. I'll push the next person out. Give me the ball, you know, having two, three hit-ups in the one set. Not many people do that, but that's the type of guy I've always been. And you see that in today, like in the gym, in my fights, where I'm like, you know, I'm not going to shy away from an uncomfortable position. Or, you know, the pressure's on. That's when I get going, bring it on. The pressure's, yeah, there's a lot of pressure,

but I'm still just me in this, in this moment. I'm still, uh, I don't, I don't let the pressure get to, I'm still composed. I'm level headed in, in the chaos. You know what I mean? Are you even more level headed? Like, do you love it? Like more level headed? Yeah, maybe, maybe, maybe there's times where I, I, uh, I'll do it. Like you're laying in bed and you're going crazy, but the pressure's on the night before a fight and you're like, maybe, maybe, maybe there's times where I, I, uh, I'll do it. You're laying in bed and you're going crazy, but the pressure's on the night before a fight and you're like, ah,

yeah, man. Yeah. I have my best sleep. Uh, but even like I'll do interviews and then I won't really think about it next minute. I'm getting more nervous for an interview or, or I get more nervous watching my teammates fight. Cause I'm not trying to control. I'm not trying to control the situation or I'm not in control. Uh, where when control where when it's go time, I'm the type of guy that'd be like, hey, we've got a job to do, you know what I mean? And I talk to myself and I'm always checking myself,

you know what I mean? So, you know, I'm always doing that. But now I was able to do that where I was getting booed and the crowd was going nuts. I was the crowd you know what i mean i'm trying to trying to the showmanship all that type of stuff but i was still so level-headed i don't usually usually do all that i just go out and i just got a job to do i don't think of anything else tunnel vision well now i didn't want that now i didn't want that i wanted to soak it up i wanted to work the crowd i wanted to get in or take his face you know i wanted to do that you know i wanted you know i wanted the animosity there you know i wanted that and i wanted to hear the crowd i

wanted to shake their hands i wanted to do all of that and i was still so composed in that moment i couldn't believe how composed i was while i was writing trying to trying to get the blood pumping how level-headed i was so i had the perfect balance so now he was a good guy to do that with too better him than max that wouldn't have been i think he was the perfect guy to do that with yeah what do you mean he's saying just that just that like with like like i was saying before max was like the darling of that division like he had really cemented himself. No one thought he was going fucking anywhere.

Right. And then you come in and fucking get him twice. And, um, I just, I think the posturing or like the showmanship on him wouldn't have been good for your brand, but,

but Ortega people like it's good for it. Like the rest of us are like, yeah. Or like those of us at home who are watching, who are like former Ortega, uh, Brian Ortega fans. We's good for it. Like the rest of us are like, yeah. Or like those of us at home who are watching, who are like former Ortega, Brian Ortega fans, we're kind of like, yeah, he's kind of like full of himself. Like this is good that Volkanovsky is kind of giving it to him a little bit. Like I'm glad that Volkanovsky is standing up to him.

You know what I mean? Or maybe it's just because you're five, six and I'm five, five. And I liked it that you were just like giving it to the big dude. Don't tell anyone. One for the little guys. How did you meet your wife? What is she seeing you? What is she seeing you?

How did you meet her? Yeah, tell me. We're very young. So I'm trying to think how old. I think I was, yeah, we were like 15 years old or something like that. We were 15 years old. So that's how long we've been together, which is pretty crazy. So we were like in high school together and whatnot.

So again, man, she's been through the whole journey, through all the – we're from – no, not wrestling at the time, but rugby league and then obviously transitioning. Yeah, she's been there through it all. So we met through school actually a little a disco under 16s under 16 under 18s disco i think it was uh was the first time we met i think that you know what uh msn messenger uh-huh is that msn is that it like like on yahoo or aOL or some shit like that? Remember back in the day, MSN or –

I think I was homeless then. I don't even think I owned a computer then. I think I was just a dirt-tortling hippie back then. All right. Now, it was a long time ago where you had these weird chaps up well before Facebook or anything like that. You know what I mean? I remember talking to her through that and then uh yeah that's that's all it is so we've been together that that long

so she went to your high school yeah and and you guys were in the same grade uh I think I was a year above okay and uh and and the courtship was just on oh look at look at Sousa showing us that oh yeah yeah I that. Was that the thing like you've got mail? Was that that shit? I can't see it. I can't see it. It's not coming up on mine. Oh, that's because you're on your phone.

I'm surprised you're not on your computer. Do you have a computer in your quarantine lockdown? No, we don't. I should be more professional and maybe do that. Not more professional. Just something to watch. I mean, the technology technology now the phone usually does most of it but i guess not all of it i agree um so so you guys meet and and do you know that she's the one right away man like i guess you're never gonna know know that. But, I mean, especially at that age. But, I mean, what we've been together, you know, we don't know anything different either.

You know what I mean? Like, you know what I mean? Like, you couldn't imagine life without each other. That is life. You know what I mean? Like, right now, like, you know, we clicked from the start and, like, we still are. We're still, you know, we're still, like, best friends.

You know what I mean? So it's good we do everything together. When I'm not fighting or in quarantine, I'm with my family. You know what I mean? That's all I care about, you know, the love I have for my family. And that's why I do this, purely for them. Like I said, when I'm in my darkest moments, my, you know what I mean, the worst position you could have been in a fight, I'm thinking of them and that's what gets me through.

So, you know what I mean? But it's good, man. It's good to finally give back to Emma, you know, my wife, especially because we both had to sacrifice so much. She had to support me. She was working at the time while I was chasing the dream. You know what I mean? Like there was a time where she was the breadwinner.

You know what I mean? And it was, that's tough so uh now i can give back now we can live in a house on a beach you know i mean and finally just give back and appreciate you know all that hard work that we've been through together did she believe in you the whole time yeah 100 100 she never whatever i wanted to do she she supported 100 you guys should listen to this shit ma'am i i have a very similar story i met my wife i'm 49 i met my wife i don't know if i was 23 or 25 or whatever it was in a college town i was a homeless guy i met her i was homeless for two three four five years um you know just living in my car, saving every cent I can. But I was a good dude. I was disciplined.

I had structure in my life. I was a good dude. I just chose to like, fuck it. I'm not playing the game. And she stayed with me. And now I'm 49. And like you said, we got like – I'm living the dream. I got a big house a couple miles from the beach here in California.

I got a bunch of other houses around. Was smart with my money because I know how to because I lived homeless. But and I got a woman who stayed with me from fucking me getting clothes out of the free box to flying in the G5 to Hawaii together. So it's like there's really no one you can trust more. And I do believe and I wonder what you think about this. I do believe that one of the crowning achievements of my life is my relationship with my wife. Like, it's not easy. I don't mean to say it's bad or it's hard, but, but it's just not easy. I don't want to say the opposite is that it's hard, but like, it's an achievement to get along with someone for so long and to be,

and to stay in love. I mean, and it's worth it. It's worth it. For sure. Especially when you've been through so much. Yeah. You know what I mean?

And again, right now we're at a stage where again, like I feel like I can give it, give back so we can appreciate it. I mean, I lived with her. I lived with her too. She got an apartment and I was lived with her too she got an apartment

and i was living with her and she's paying all the rent and all that shit before my shit exploded yeah so right right right now i've been champ uh through covid you know i mean like covid took over my my champ like rain right now you know what i mean so i haven't i actually hasn't been able to do the you know like you know flying business with me a first class and traveling the world like doing all that type of stuff like we haven't really the you know like you know flying business with me a first class and traveling the world like doing all that type of stuff like we haven't really obviously you know it's good but i mean i still want to spoil her because she deserves it you know what i mean so yes that's um that that'll change soon for us anyway because everything's opening up soon right uh for us

your country will be locked down forever my friend your country will be locked down forever. My friend. I'm sorry to tell you that they've built a plan with, for you with no exit strategy. It is. Are you good with your money? Are you, are you thinking of your future? Are you like, God damn, this is going to be awesome. I'm going to save every fucking penny. I'm not buying a new couch. I'm not getting that fucking Lamborghini.

I'm going to be so fucking smart. Are you like, fuck it, I only live once. I'm getting it all right now. We've got a good balance. So obviously you've got to invest your money in the right places and be smart with your money. But you know what i mean uh we want to we want to take take advantage of what we have right now as well so we've got a good good balance

we could do better with the saving but i mean that is something that we obviously look heavily into and i'm planning on being chairman a long time but that's not good enough uh the money we have now we need to be clever we need to you know we need to we need to have some things to fall back on which which obviously obviously we are doing yeah i'm so happy i did that if i'm so happy because basically what happened is is i ended up losing my job this fucking whole pandemic came i'm watching the whole world fall fall apart in front of me but for the last 15 years i just lived on a 25 of my income so the other 75 i invested and it's like holy shit this is dope last two years been the greatest two years of my life it's been just great and i have two and i have two four-year-olds and a six-year-old

so it's just been i've just been just twins yeah i got twins okay yeah yeah and i would say my brother and my sister twins yeah how was that i know this is a whole different conversation but how's no it's it i mean um it's it's like it's one of the greatest things ever uh if i i had the the one kid first and then i had the twins and and we're kind we kind of we started so late we never thought we were going to get married we never thought we were going to have kids and then finally one day she was 39 and i was like 43 and she's like hey i want a kid i was like yeah i can do that for you and she had one and then i'm like holy shit i'm a dad i need like 20 kids so then we had two more but uh two kids is um it's like getting two puppies at the same time you see shit

that no one will see if you just get one puppy do you know what i mean or if you have two cats like they do crazy shit together like they fight over the ball of yarn. They flip around. I mean, it's just nuts. It's nuts. And I'm taking them to jujitsu tournaments now. We did our first three tournaments in the last six months. And I'm just loving this. Homeschooling them so I can be with them 24-7.

You know, it's, yeah, kids are great. I see you spend a lot of time with your kids and how many times have you said in this show that, Oh yeah, look at there's my boys and they're Garth Taylor jujitsu. Oh yeah. You can't, he can't see it, Matt Souza. Thanks for trying to show off for me though. Um, do you get, when you're home, like you keep mentioning your family, are you spending just a ton of time with them? Like the second you get out of this quarantine, will you just be glued to your kids? Oh man that's exactly the last time i was here when i did the ultimate fight um i was gone for three months the longest i've ever been away from my family because i was obviously meant to fight then i had to i got covered i was in quarantine

to come back home then we found out about it and then it wasn't for a few weeks after that then we filmed it then i went home then i had to do two-week quarantine. It ended up being three months all up. So it was – that was tough. You know what I mean? It's tough doing that. But, I mean, you know, when you get home, you know, you spend that much time away from – I don't have time for anything but the family, you know what I mean?

Like so – you know, that's all I care about. Obviously, you know, there's a – I care about a lot more than that, but I just want to be home with the family. The lockdown is going to change. Sorry, the quarantine is going to go to seven-day home isolation. Oh, really? So that helps a lot. Yeah, you need that.

Because I don't care. That's only where I want to be anyway. So I'm going to travel, no dramas, you know what I mean? Travel, come back, home quarantine. And you said you live on the beach? You live by the beach? You live on the beach? Yes.

Yeah. Yeah, seven-day quarantine on the beach with your kids. That's right. Got our own track to the beach. So, yeah. So I'll be taken full advantage of that. Has anyone said, holy shit, like going back to the beach so yeah so i'll be taking full advantage of that are you has anyone said holy shit like going back to the story about people who are saying like like my mom used to tell me when i was 34 years old hey get a job at starbucks so you can have health insurance and like pushing

me to do shit and i'm like no i'm a photographer i'm a filmmaker and like i was just pushing and pushing you know and then has anyone come back and said like, holy shit, like you did it. Like, I can't fucking believe it. Like in your family, like, are they just tripping on you? I don't know. I mean, cause it's why you go through it. Like you, you go through the process with them. Yeah.

So, uh, it's hard. Obviously you do meet people that, you know, probably like me and a couple of them. I remember, you know, we're lucky to, they remember well before I was champion or, you know, me chasing the dream, you know, probably like, man, I can't believe it. I remember, you know, we're lucky that they remember well before I was champion or, you know, me chasing the dream. You know, people will bring it up. I haven't had any of them moments. Like I said, how I was telling you about people out of, you know,

just purely caring for us, you know, when's he going to sort of give this up? You know, I don't think we end up having follow-up conversations about that once I was champion because I guess they got to see the progress right they seen my first spot right they seen me win they seen the hype around just that they saw you went five hundred dollars to five hundred thousand dollars and it was in small increments yeah exactly and then they're like oh i get it now i now. I get it. I get it. He's on the paper every fucking day, you know what I mean? Like he's all over my Facebook.

You know, fight day, literally, I could just imagine their Instagram or like, you know what I mean, the back home, the support's incredible. So like that's all they're saying. So now they're like, all right, I get it. That's why he kept chasing her. That's why, you know what I mean? They're seeing what I'm doing and they understand now. And that, all right, I get it. That's why I kept chasing it. That's why, you know what I mean? They see what I'm doing and they understand now. And that's all I wanted.

It was like I told you. It was just me want to be like, I get it, but look, I'll show you. I'll show you that I'm capable of it and why I'm doing it. And like, again, it was never like, ha-ha, I told you. It's just, there you go. You get it? You get it? Sweet.

Now you get it. What else can you do? Like, you beat everyone up. I mean, like, who else can you fight? I mean, obviously, Henry wants to fight you because he wants to get the payday. I'm guessing, and I'm not hating on him at all for that. And you can see Dana, from what it looks like, just from an outsider's perspective, Dana's playing him good.

Like, ah, you want to jump and cut in line, like just working the press machine. But I'm like, I mean, does Conor have to come? Like, who can fight you? Does Conor have to come back down to 145 and fight you? Like, who is there for you? I'm just looking at it i mean are you going to fight cater i mean i mean well again like we do we need to let this

division sort itself out right so uh that's something and and then you do have that you've got max and year rodriguez fighting a november obviously i've already uh who do who's fighting in november i'm sorry say that again. Yeah, Rodriguez and Max Holloway. Oh, right. And they're fighting for the number one contender. So the winner of that gets a third shot at the title, which I know some people would look at that and be like, what, three chances?

But again, he's going back and he's taking out the number one contenders. You know what I mean? He's competing again and showing that he's still the number one guy. Obviously, our last battle was a close one. People are still talking about it and people carrying on about it. So, you know, people still feel like there's unfinished business. So there's still hype around it. So, again, and I just want the big fights.

I want the big fights and the toughest fights. Again, we talk about legacy. I'm doing this for my family. But legacy, you know, you build a legacy, that sets you up, sets your family up forever. So I'm all in. I'm all in on the legacy now. So that's why, you know, I want the big fights and money fights.

You know, you want guys. You go out and beat Chad Mendes, Aldo, Max three times, Ortega. You know what I mean? Like how can they take the GOAT status away from you? You know what I mean? There's Aldo, Max three times, Ortega. You know what I mean? Like how can they take the GOAT status away from you? You know what I mean? That's your GOAT. That's your number one pound for pound.

You know what I mean? Like, again, like you have these big fights. Keep taking out these number one guys. And, you know, again, people are going to, I guarantee you, once the fight with Max, all Max is going to do in this time, you know, there's going to be a lot of hype and all that. You go there, silence him again, and then people are just going to go, wow, this kid is unbeatable. Number one pound for pound.

You know what I mean? Then you talk about your legacy. So they're the fights that are going to do it. Even though I've done it twice, I just need to do it in a better fashion the next time. And then, you know, that's when you're going to really, you know, again, like I'm the type of guy, I'm a realist. So I feel like being a champ for 10 years like Aldo, you know,

you're going to have off days. You know what I mean? I don't know if we already talked about this. You're going to have off days. You know what I mean? You're going to be injured, all that type of stuff. To be a winner and keep defending your belt that many times for that long under them circumstances in this sport

is incredible so I'm going to always show that but I mean the resume I have I think I just need one more fight and that puts me right up there I think what happened to Yair there was tons of hype around him and then he vanished did he pop for drugs or what happened to him he vanished for a while do you know, I think there was like injuries. I remember he was meant to fight Zabit a couple of times. He pulled out a couple of times. So there was, he didn't want that fight. So there was a bit of a, there's a bit of drama around that. The fact that like, you know, it seemed like he was dodging fights and I'm not trying to shit on him, but I mean, that's sort of what it looked like. That's sort of what it looked like. So again, he copped

a bit of flack for that. So that put him out of the picture. But I mean, that's sort of what it looked like. That's sort of what it looked like. So, again, he copped a bit of flack for that. So that put him out of the picture. But, I mean, obviously he had that win over Zombie, the big knockout. Yeah. But, yeah, so he hasn't fought for a long time. But he's fighting. He was meant to fight Max, but Max got injured. So now they're fighting again in November.

Who was the guy you mentioned? Is that the guy that got COVID and that retired and now he's coming back? The Russian guy, Zaib? Who did you say? I said Zombie? No, okay. Zaib Rodriguez? Okay, no. You're talking about Hazmat Makachev. Makachev,

I think I said that right. No, not the 71 guy. There was a smaller guy too. Maybe he was a 55. Cody Garber? Nah, he's a Russian dude. He got COVID? He was a Russian dude. I'm trying to think who he is.

All right. I'm not sure. And what, he had COVID, did you say? I'm thinking he had COVID, but maybe I'm wrong. There was a little Russian guy. There was a guy, I don't know if he's a 55 or a 45 Russian guy. There was a guy, you know, like I don't know if he's a 55 or a 45 or he's a Russian guy,

and he tapped. He basically set him out of the UFC, and he was like super-duper promising. Maybe he was even 135. And then recently, there's talk about him coming back. And then, of course, there's the two guys at 55,

that Armenian guy and that Russian guy who've only lost once. Trying to think what that guy's name is. It's not going to come to me. The Russian, I'm horrible to Russian names. Unless they're, yeah, I'm horrible at them. Unless they sound like a vodka bottle. Oh, is this it?

Oh, yeah. That's the guy. Holy shit. Chimenev has 2.6 million followers? So it is Hazmat. Yeah, Hazmat. Am I saying that right? No.

Matt, the producer, just brought this up just for shits and giggles. This isn't the guy I'm actually thinking of. Anyway, do you think Holloway is going to be – I think Max is going to beat up Zaire. What do you think? Oops. Sorry, mate. That's okay. I'll get you back. Am I still there?

I can hear you. I just can't see you. All right, my bad. Half the fun is gone. What, are you going to sneak away to take a pee or something? I'm going to get back. Are you there? Can you see me?

Yes, yes, yes. I'm going to get back. Let's see if this works now. There you go. Turn that there. Oh, man, you look so much better. You should have been using that camera angle the whole show. Oh, you look...

Oh, yeah. You're good. You're good. I can hear you good. I can see you. You're just like... It's like I'm on acid. Did you ever smoke cigarettes? Did you ever smoke cigarettes? Nah, just lean it up against something. Don't do that. You're the champ. You shouldn't be holding shit. Really? You can turn the phone sideways, too. I can still hear you. You're good. You can turn the phone sideways, too. That's fine. You're good. You can turn the phone sideways too. That's fine.

I wonder if we did the rest of the show sideways like this, if my neck would start to hurt. Oh, and he's gone. You think he'll click the link again? God damn it. Hey guys, listen, I'm thinking about putting out the phone number. So one of you knuckleheads can call in and talk to him. Should I do that? I have it all queued up. All I have to do is hit return on the keyboard and the phone number will pop up there. One of you guys can call in and talk to him. I bet you he's going to click the link and call back.

What do you think, Susan? You think he's calling back? I can't hear you. I think he just... I think he had to take a leak. And he's just making that shit up. Man, he's cool. He's coming back. I think he is. Me too.

I think he's coming back too. I can't tell who I think is cooler. Me for getting him on the show or him. And you know what's fucked about that? As I said it, I'm saying it to the guy who actually got him on the show or him oh and you know what's fucked about that as i said i'm saying it to the guy who actually got him on the show matt what a fucking selfish asshole i am no man i just laid it up you queued it up i laid it up you laid it up you alley-ooped that shit yeah that's what i'm looking through the comments here i can't tell if i'm offended by this one lamb guy being like, holy shit.

How'd you get Volkanovski? There was a couple of, I want, I'm wondering the same thing. I got to act cool. Why can't you act cool? Why you got to be like, I can't believe you had,

you have Volkanovski. Why can't we just be cool and just like roll with it? Like it's normal. I think there's shit. Not, not at us. Oh, that was fun. That was.

Hour and 18 minutes. He seems like a great guy. Hey, maybe that's an excuse to get him back on after his next fight. Be like, dude, you hung up on me. That's fucked up. Yeah, I guess he's just gone, huh? Jeff, you have twins? Did I know that?

I talked to you so much. How could huh? Jeff, you have twins? Did I know that? I talk to you so much. How could I have not known you have twins? I know you're old, and I know we argue a little bit in the DMs. I know I like you. But I didn't. Did I know you have twins? I'm so sorry. Keith Greenshields.

Oh, Keith, you're going to love this. Tomorrow morning, I'm doing another podcast with Matt and Josh. You're going to love it. Get out your tub of Vaseline and get ready for that one, Keith. I'm not. I'm not doing a podcast with Matt and Josh tomorrow. But Keith, man, Keith is just a fucking he's a tyrant in the fucking youtube comments there's a couple of those ones i am gonna i am gonna have hopper on in a few more days you

guys want to see funny you guys want to see some funny comments uh go to the um daniel brandon one of her more recent posts she's wearing this blue shirt and it's just like a couple sizes too big it just looks like baggy and awkward on her and i made a comment that her shirt's too big and like the psycho fucking like psychos have come out and are like how dare you as a man tell a woman that blah blah blah i'm like dude what are you talking about i'll tell anyone their shirt's too big it was like why do you have to be sexist why do you have to bring her her being female into it doesn't even matter her shirt's fucking too big look at this shirt i just think it looks a little baggy like look in the armpits there and look in the neck see that it's like it's like it's just it's it's weird but it looks like a nice shirt you know i like that like thing the way it wraps around like

her rib cage at the bottom there i like the blue color the sleeves are kind of cool it looks like a soft material shit is that cashmere? But it's just too big. You want to see? How are the comments going in there? Is it blowing up? One chick goes, well, you have a small dick. I mean, like, what? How does me having a small dick have anything to do with her shirt being too big?

By the way, that is not true. Her fucking shirt being too big by the way that is not true but her fucking shirt is too big it looks fucking sloppy yeah your mom says yeah that chick told me i had a small dick i said that's not what your mom says um gosh all right well that i don't think he's coming back i don't think so either i was hoping he would but we're probably past that threshold now oh what do you guys think

do you think that do you think that should I post the phone number so I can fight with some people do you think that do you think that he got here I'm gonna post the phone number in case anyone wants to call in. Maybe he'll call in.

That would be awesome. Oh, yeah, he should do that. Oh, Alexander, if you tuned into the YouTube channel now, you should just call in. There's the phone number right there. Bam. I'll pin that shit on the top. Hey, do you think that like maybe he just had to pee or he was just tired of my shit and so he just fucking purposely had a technical problem

i think it was probably just cutting out and it was difficult for him to refigure back out he he already gave an hour so he was like screw it before this guy asked me any more questions i tried to i tried to throw a few risque you know jokes in there like 14 year old like prepubescent boy jokes but when he talked about like the sausage fest and things like that but he he's too he's he's pretty he seemed pretty straight-laced yeah all business yeah focused he's a focused man a good but fun yeah fun i have to tell you i chub up a little bit when i ask people like a question and they're like that's a good question or when they say like i get so excited i'm like well thank you

okay guys thank you everyone for tuning in if someone doesn't call in the next three seconds getting off thanks for all the the the money you guys donated tonight that was incredible um 24 likes 34 viewers isn't that funny 34 viewers with the great alexander volkanovsky and you know what's crazy is at one point suzy he goes uh i wanted two fights away from being in the talk of being the goat and it really is true that's how good he is but yet for some reason people don't and and he was talking about like going out there and feeling like he needs to be more of a showman dude he beats the fuck out of people that was one of the questions i really wanted to ask him about do you ever feel bad for the beating you put on people in his first two

fights i'm sitting there watching them and i'm like uh the referee needs to stop this i mean he punched a guy in the face. No shit. On the ground, holding a guy in the ground, he punched a guy in the face like 30, 40 times unanswered. Jeez. I know. Brutal. It's like one of the – did you see that video that went viral recently? I don't know if it went viral.

I don't know why I said that. But it was on Instagram of the mountain lion attacking the dog and the guys beating it with a machete and the mountain lion won't let go. Oh, no. Did you see that won't let go. Oh no. See that? It's nuts, but it's like that. I mean, you can't even believe this mountain lion is holding onto this dog.

Crazy. Okay. And I think that's a wrap. All right. Any more minutes? How many more minutes do you think I should give him? Three more minutes? Oh, to jump back in?

Yeah. I don't know. You think now I'm just like, I'm like the dude who's parked in front of a girl's house just hoping she comes out so I can see her? Yeah. Start to drive away, then turn back around thinking she opened the door.

I did shit like that probably like in the third or fourth grade like just like there was a girl who lived down the street from me who was pretty and i just wanted to look at her so i'd like walk by her house like 200 times a day just ride your bike right there yeah just hoping just like i could just like just like maybe like see her get into her parents car or some shit that would make me happy oh i'm looking at all these questions that i never even got to man it is pretty crazy that he thinks his country is gonna um come out of quarantine

australia isn't bad i mean you would have to though otherwise it would be a pretty helpless situation right oh you mean to think that you're going to? Yeah. I mean, are you seeing some of the shit? Like they have some policies in place where if you have to like take a picture of yourself next to your COVID test and send it to like some government agency, like they got that going somewhere in Australia. I mean, the shit coming out of there is like, holy fuck. Like they're basically asking people to imprison themselves and people are doing it. Yeah, it's insane. When you think, if you had to give a one word definition for freedom, what would it be?

Freedom? Yeah, one word definition. Freedom? No, you can't. For freedom. Like a synonym for freedom. Or the first word that comes to mind. Oh, liberty. The first word that comes to mind is liberty. First word that comes to mind for me is always choice. Yeah. Yeah. Even better. Yes.

And I always feel that like how, no matter what side of the fence you fall on, how are you not just a little bit uncomfortable with what's happening as the choices are narrowing? What people don't understand is it doesn't matter whether what's happening is what you want to happen or don't want to happen. You have to think big picture. What do I mean by that? Don't want to – even if you are pro-life, you have to think of the implications of putting – in the bigger picture of putting a law on someone's body, prohibiting someone from doing something with their body. It's always a slippery slope. It's the same thing with hate speech. You cannot get rid of hate speech.

Why can you not get rid of hate speech? Because it's a slippery slope. It's the same thing with hate speech. You cannot get rid of hate speech. Why can you not get rid of hate speech? Because it's a slippery slope. And we know how stupid we are. What you think is hate, I think is love. What I think is love, you think is hate. That's why you have to think big picture. You can't be like, well, I like that law. It works for me. You have to go bigger picture. Does that make sense to you, Susan? Do you see what I'm saying? Absolutely. Absolutely. You got to see the 30,000 foot view. And I think sometimes people get too caught up in the mundane and what's right in front of them. And they're almost complicit. I mean, you see it in lifestyle choices, it's complicit. And then to

act against these things, it's easier to go with the flow. It's easier to stay sleepwalking. act against these things, it's easier to go with the flow. It's easier to stay sleepwalking. I know people think this isn't a possibility, but if you coerce people into taking an injection today, it will be cutting their balls off tomorrow. It will be some sort of other medical procedure. It always works that way. It always works that way. They just keep taking more and more, and you have to push back. You have to push back. Even if you're so over-the-top pro-vaccine, yes, this thing is the godsend, you cannot force people to do it because something bad is going to be forced on you eventually. You have to see that. Please, people, see that please people see that that

requires coming out of your head a little bit it's like those people who want that and then what's worse is that they say it's in the name of selflessness and that the other people are being selfish it's actually the exact opposite you have to be crazy selfless to see that ask if you will fight henry sahudo wow you have alexander volkanovsky on with no views what the fuck my podcast one night you're a monster yeah i like that i did do two live podcasts isn't that nuts i did uh bill dawes this morning and that was why that was pretty wild and uh how long you know i've only jeffrey i've only been married a couple years. I've been with my wife forever, but we only got married – I think Avi was – I think my wife was pregnant with the twins when we got married.

We weren't going to have kids or get married. I thought getting married was like you're just a tool of the man. Jake Johnson, choice. Wow. Yeah, choice. That's a good one. Point for Sousa. All right, fuck it. No one's calling. Volkanovski's not coming back.

I got on my high horse and started preaching again. Guys, tomorrow morning, 7 a.m. Can you fucking believe I'm going to do another podcast with Facundo? Facundo. I'm going to go inside for the the next hour and a half research Facundo Facundo is I've always seen him in the CrossFit space he's been everywhere that I've been for years and years and years I don't know

exactly what he does I don't know if he's a trainer I don't know if he's a manager he's basically just this silent handsome dude who is always in the right place at the right time. I don't know if he's like – and he's somehow affiliated with CrossFit Mayhem. But he's always been – he always has this pleasant vibe. He looks fit.

He kind of looks like a Prada model or like a Rolex model or some shit. Will there be Patty the baddie? I mean I'm i i don't know i want to tell you yes but i'm starting to think no i mean i was dming with them like thousands of times and uh which really means like a hundred times and uh basically he got too big and and vanished facundo there he is and notice how he has E there, so I had to look up his name. Is he representing Gi now? Scroll down a little bit. Or is he training

Gi? Yeah, I can't wait to get to the bottom of this guy. I wonder if he has an accent. I mean, I've smiled, I've met him, I've shook his hand. I've seen him for 10 years now. I just don't know what he does. But it must be something important

the athletes keep him super close that's a great picture right of him uh who's that who's that guy to the right of him do you know who's flexing you knew exactly which picture i was talking about man those guys have amazing bodies he i don't know who oh lu, Luke Parker. Oh, okay. Is Luke Parker one of the cameramen over there at Mayhem? Is that the guy I've heard people talk about? No, I think he was on The Bachelor or something, like a reality TV show or something like that, and then kind of joined up with the crew. Can you zoom in on that a little bit more?

Can you make that bigger? This? Yeah. And go down to their shorts. Oh, man, they're mayhem shorts, of course. Oh, I wanted to critique their shorts, like say their shorts were too big or too small or something like that. But look, guys, those are all perfectly fitting clothes on those guys.

You know, when I was watching the video of Danielle's shirt, I don't know if it was too big or if it was just that cut was just a little weird with the tote bar. Say that again one more time. I was just saying, I don't know if the shirt was too big or if it was just a weird cut, like the way it laid on her. So that when she was doing tote bar, it looked funky. Yeah, it's just not a perfect shirt. And her clothes should fit perfectly. She should get one of these shirts.

It's just so funny that someone would take it to a man and woman thing just like right away. Like, dude, you fucking psycho. Are you sure it wasn't Brian Friend on a burner account? Oh, poor Brian. Poor Brian got accused of being sexist for talking about who's better tear than that i mean this is this is just people projecting their delusions on them all right okie dokie thanks guys peace and love bam we're off