Sean O'Malley interview with Teddy Atlas | THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas

Summary:

In this article, we will be discussing an interview with Sean O’Malley conducted by Teddy Atlas on THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas. O’Malley is a professional mixed martial artist and is currently the champion of the world. In the interview, O’Malley talks about his mindset, overcoming mental demons, and his journey in martial arts. He also discusses the possibility of entering the boxing ring for a crossover match. Let’s dive into the details of the interview.

Mindset and Overcoming Mental Demons

O’Malley starts by discussing his mindset walking into the cage. He mentions that he had no fear, nerves, or negative emotions on fight day. He was confident in his abilities and believed in his right hand’s knockout power. O’Malley shares that the last time he felt nervous before a fight was during his UFC debut. Since then, he has been able to maintain a calm and positive mindset through breathing exercises and staying centered and grounded.

Teddy Atlas acknowledges that many fighters experience fear before a fight, but O’Malley seems to be one of those confident fighters who show no signs of fear. O’Malley agrees and mentions that he has always been confident and never let fear affect his performance. He believes that it’s important to control what you do and make choices that lead to success, regardless of external factors.

Getting Back the One Blemish

The conversation then shifts to O’Malley’s only contested loss to Cheeto Rivera. O’Malley clarifies that the loss didn’t bother him personally and didn’t affect his competitive spirit. He states that he didn’t feel like he lost the fight because he didn’t believe Rivera was better than him. O’Malley’s focus is on the next biggest fight, and he sees Rivera as the biggest name in the division. He is excited about the opportunity to fight Rivera and believes he will have a beautiful performance.

Journey in Martial Arts

O’Malley shares his introduction to martial arts and MMA. He explains that he started at the age of 16 because he was insecure and wanted to impress people. He had been an athlete his whole life, playing various sports, but high school sports didn’t interest him. He found boxing and kickboxing and became obsessed with them. At 18, he transitioned to MMA and started wrestling and grappling at the age of 20. O’Malley admits that his journey was different from most fighters, but he persevered through the challenges and continues to learn and improve.

Embracing Being the Worst

Teddy Atlas brings up the importance of being comfortable with being the worst when starting a new sport. O’Malley agrees and shares his own experience. He mentions that even to this day, there are fighters in the gym who can outperform him in certain aspects. When he joined the MMA lab, he had never wrestled before, and it was a challenging experience for his ego. However, he knew that he would improve and become capable of doing what the more experienced fighters were doing. O’Malley emphasizes that the journey of improvement never stops and that being surrounded by talented fighters is a sign of being in a good gym.

Possibility of Entering the Boxing Ring

Teddy Atlas asks O’Malley if he would consider entering the boxing ring for a crossover match, similar to Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather. O’Malley reveals that he has a 1-0 pro boxing record and enjoyed his time boxing when he was injured and unable to wrestle and do jiu-jitsu. He believes he has the skills to be a high-level boxer and has power in both hands, good eyes, timing, speed, and length. O’Malley expresses his desire to box and believes he can beat some of the top boxers, including Javonte Davis. He acknowledges that there are challenges with the UFC’s rights and matchmaking, but he is confident that if the opportunity arises and it makes sense financially, the UFC would support him.

Closing Remarks

Teddy Atlas concludes the interview by thanking O’Malley for his time and commending him for representing himself well and being intelligent and well-spoken. He shares that his son, who is a fan of O’Malley, appreciates his talent and character. O’Malley expresses his gratitude for the kind words and the enjoyable conversation.

In this interview, Sean O’Malley provides insights into his mindset, journey in martial arts, and the possibility of entering the boxing ring. He showcases his confidence and determination to continue improving and taking on new challenges. O’Malley’s story serves as an inspiration for aspiring fighters and highlights the importance of perseverance and embracing the journey of improvement.

welcome to the fight with Teddy Atlas presented by Dynamic striking I’m Ken
rydo joined as always the legend Teddy Atlas and today’s special guest I guess
we could have introduced the show as the sugar show we’ve got the Superstar himself the new world champion Suga Sean
O’Malley Sean welcome to the show well thank you guys for having me on thank you Sean for being on and um
what’s the name of your daughter we just heard the princess yup her name’s Elena
um yeah she’ll be three in November and she’s acting like it lately so uh it’s been fun though Ah that’s a nice name
beautiful all that enjoy enjoy these years I have four grandchildren they go
fast they um they do do what the older people used to tell us when we were
young time does go by quickly yeah you you you they’re doing different
things every day and I’m sure that you’re witnessing it already um
so it was an electric atmosphere I was there covering a fight in Boston of
course Ken already told you that he was there with his son but
tell me and tell us tell the audience you know what what that moment felt like
um I mean most of the people were there for you uh congratulations I don’t think I said that yet congratulations on that
the wind was as electrifying as the crowd was um it matched up it matched up perfectly
uh what it was it everything I think this is what fans often think was it
everything that you envisioned it to be when you won the title you know it’s a long journey uh to get to your dreams
and to get to the Pinnacle of your success um in that kind of way not that you don’t still have more Mountains to climb
but what what did it feel like what I mean was it everything that you would
hope it would be maybe that’s the best way to ask yeah it’s a tricky
answer because I don’t know if I have the vocabulary for the emotions that I felt or or how to express it or explain
it but Boston will forever have a special place in my heart um first time going out there it was a
perfect fight week as far as you know everything went smooth and it was just uh the arena even the press conference
leaving the press conference people banging on the Sprinter van just crowds of people you know I Me growing up not
growing up but more recently watching Connor kind of go through that I was like damn that’s that’s what I want
that’s legendary that’s what I want and that was kind of my first time getting
that Superstar feel being the main event and uh so just the whole event was
incredible and then to go out there and put algeman Sterling lights out in the second round um yeah it’s hard to explain it it
didn’t it didn’t feel maybe I’ll say I wasn’t as emotional as I thought I would have been
but I also you know a lot of people if they win the world tighter title they’re
like like Sean Strickland this weekend’s like I never ever in my life thought I would you know be that be there for me
it’s different I’ve known in my mind in a delusional sense that 100 not
delusional not delusional but go ahead I’m sorry I think well I think you know when I’m 16 17 years old and I’ve never
even you know been in an MMA fight telling people I’m gonna be World Champ there was a little bit of delusion early
on in my career which I think is important for you know a little bit of delusion in in uh some people might just
call it a dream yeah yeah but it felt it felt good so I feel I still feel like I
do have a lot more work to do and a lot more you know a lot a lot more big big
big special fights in my future um and I’m 28 right now so I still have
a good amount of time left so so so it was exciting but it was on to the next right away has has the time that
it’s been it’s been a few weeks now has the time that has passed help you kind
of come to terms with it a little more where you couldn’t that night because
you just said it perfectly that your emotions were in all kinds of places they had never been in before now with
time having passed do you have a better sense of it
yeah I do think the more the weeks have went on it kind of hits me a little bit
more like whoa like when people you know I’ve been called champ for a long time but now people call me champ it’s like
it’s official it is a little bit different it definitely hits me a little bit I’ve
watched that I’ve rewatched the fight like thrown on the pay-per-view throwing on the song Superstar because when you
go watch the the fight on ESPN they took out the walkout music and for me the
walkout is is as exciting as just being me watching it as the fight itself so I
I’ll mute the audio I’ll throw on Superstar on my speaker and I’ll watch the walk out all the boys gather around
and we’ve watched the fight two or three times kind of pretending like we don’t know what’s gonna happen and that’s
what’s that’s so fun for me yeah that’s cool they’re Rolling Stones coming on stage ladies and gentlemen
you know there’s there’s nothing quite like that yeah
um you used his name so I I had his name in my mind so I’m gonna piggyback off
that a little bit Conor McGregor Are You The Heir Apparent uh to the throne I think you are but listen I know it’s
your throne I know you’re gonna create your own Throne I get all that um obviously but there’s always a pretty
decides that there’s always somebody that does it first you know and to his credit he’s a Pioneer he he changed
things in his sport you know he brought purses to a higher level do you envision yourself as again the the you know
taking that baton of your will having that torch passed on to you and taking
the the sport uh to other places and Fighters uh and the recognition of these
fighters to other places and as Connor did the persons to higher places do you
envision yourself as that guy yeah 100 it was but you know before Connor got into the UFC I kind of had
this Vision in my head that I wanted to I wanted to come in and take over to the next level because I didn’t feel like
UFC at least from when I started watching ever had someone come in and be that guy so for me watching Connor do it
it was legendary I’m the probably the biggest Conor fan in the world I’ve I’ve watched every interview every fight you
know every everything that Connor’s ever said I’ve watched I’ve studied I’m a massive fan of Connor so yeah I
definitely you know took inspiration from Connor and he took it to the next level and I do truly believe I can be
the next guy to take it to the next level the ufd has grown massively in the last three years once Cove had started I
think Dana said they grew about 40 which is you know they damn near doubled since
kovitz started and Conor hasn’t really fought since then so uh you know Conor
was a massive massive Superstar and now they’ve grown 40 since then so my
opportunity to to be more viewed is is huge and I do think I can take it to the
next level as far as a lot of different things money wise um I I’ve been preaching about
management stuff I think Fighters are getting screwed over in certain management situations and I do think you
know once it’s my time to be able to uh make a change I’m gonna make a change
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take advantage of the special offer 10 free travel packs I want to get right to the fight now
and I you set up a beautiful
matter of fact before I even say that I have to touch on what you just said about being a big kind of McGregor fan
and influenced by Conor McGregor I I would almost be you know
wrong if I didn’t ask you having said that that he influenced I know your
skills didn’t I know your temperament did and your instincts did I I understand that but did he influence you
being more prone to be the great kind of puncher that you are because for me
Conor McGregor he was a great I mean really at his period during that that
that that margin of time that he was really special he was a tremendous
obviously he could punch but he was a tremendous kind of punch and he knew how to set traps and you are you are that
too so before I go down the road of the question I was about to ask did he influence you in that way as far as
saying wow when I watched this guy and how beautiful it is that he gets guys to do what he wants them to do
um come in get a little reckless where he can pull the trap on him did did he
have some influence over that um maybe a little bit I I don’t I don’t
maybe not because I feel like I’ve been uh kind of counter punching and doing that
similar style before I even just naturally have a 16 17 year old kid that was never I was never taught how to
properly slip to you know to these certain movements I just kind of naturally did
them as I feel like I’m truly born to be a fighter and my instincts are there and uh I’ve definitely improved on all of
those and I’ve you know I’ve picked up Little tips and tricks from so many different Fighters Conor being one of
them for sure um but as far as counter punch I think I was just naturally I think a lot of
people are either counter punchers or they’re not I feel like what makes me different is I can literally do both at
a very high level I can punch going backwards I can punch going forward um true but yeah I agree Connor Connor
definitely is one one of the nicest counter punchers and I’ve definitely take a little influence from it but not
a not not a ton from that well that’ll bring me to this you just touched on it again
um that you first of all I think that part of being a counter puncher or whatever it is is attached to your
personality I I and I think that that goes hand in hand with you you know the
I use the word electric you could say different I
I describe certain special Fighters Roy Jones one of them where they could do
things differently they could even do things wrong they could go against the one-on-one Playbook the manuscript of
how to do things and they can make wrong right I see you as that guy I also see you as a guy that and I said this about
again special Fighters um kind of like Anderson Silva who to me
is one of the greatest of all time um in in your sport and Terence Crawford who just had a
spectacular win against Spence so I think it’s in a special place I look at you in that kind of way and I don’t look
at too many people that way where they create their own music they they have a music in their head and
and they just created and they can make up tunes that up until that point we
might not have been familiar with kind of like a Jimi Hendrix on a guitar you know all of a sudden he hits a different
string and you say whoa that’s different you know um do you see are you that I mean
because to me you are like does that make sense to you that and and I guess
the final way it ended would be the way I ended with with Crawford when I
interviewed him was that he makes things up as he does it
you know where he’s got that ability again to make his own music of your will
um to make it up right at the moment to just improvise uh I know you train of what you do I
know you’re working what you do I know you drill it what you do but there is improvisation uh with the special ones
the ones that have those kind of instincts can you talk about that can you explain that or uh yeah I feel like
I feel like I know exactly what you’re saying and yeah I do feel like category it’s not like
uh my faint my speed are really Next Level I do think I was just
naturally gifted with speed and I think for many speeds the number one attribute that I would you know if I was creating
a fighter I want to be the fastest guy in there if you can’t hit me low chances if you win in the fight so
yeah I do think I kind of fit into my own category and as far as improvising before every fight I walk out I have a
conversation with myself that I’m going to completely you know let go and let my higher self take over and I’m not gonna
I’m gonna react to the situation yeah we have game plans like my game plan this fight was to no low kicks Al Joe every
single time he gets it not every time but a lot of the times he gets a takedown people are trying to kick his legs and he pushes forward knocks him
off balance so it was it was a simple game plan no leg kicks box and teeth that was simple don’t get taken down
um but as far as that like that I’m not thinking I’m not in there trying to I’m literally just reacting to whatever
happens I have no remembrance I have no memory of you know throwing that that
punch I don’t I have very little memory of actually being in the Octagon because I feel like I completely kind of you
know disassociate and let my higher self take over um I would add one other thing to the attributes besides speed which
obviously stands out um timing your timing is is pretty damn
good actually um I wanna I wanna go right to the fight you did something unfolded and it
usually does for me the watching them fight is like reading a book there’s chapters to it you know sometimes the
chapters are kind of quick but sometimes sometimes the book is longer there’s a
story to it and there was a story taking place for my eyes where the first round
was a non-eventful round not much goal but there was something going on you were watching you were you were storing
data up in your head and you know the cliche would be it was a fill out round
okay you’re seeing things and I thought I saw things and I wonder if I saw the same things you did where
even though it was non-eventful he tried to go to your body a couple times and he overextended a little early in around
you didn’t do nothing you saw it I would think you put it in your memory
bank in the computer if you will but you didn’t act on it and then something
happened I thought train changed really the whole trajectory of the fight
where and I believe in faith I believe in things happen because we put ourselves in position to make them
happen and there’s a comma and at the end of the first round another
eventful round I mean you probably give it to the referee rather than to you or or to Sterling uh and then all of a
sudden he gets a little aggressive and he gets into you and he gets his hands on you which is what everyone was
waiting for to get you where the next step would be get you to the ground and
he gets into you doesn’t get you on the ground and the bell rings and I said to myself right there wow that might be the
end of Sterling and and people thought I was like out of my mind like he just
went around teddy he just stalled around I said yeah yeah no no no no doubt about it he but to me it was kind of like he
he might have won a battle but he just lost the war because he’s gonna think he
could do more of that he’s going to get more aggressive and that means that he’s going to play into the hands of Sean
O’Malley who is great at kind of punching you can’t kind of punch if somebody doesn’t come forward if
somebody doesn’t give you something to counter and he’s going to give him something to kind of now and I think it
might be his downfall and then sure enough the second round the Bell Rings what
does he do he comes in there he Elven extends he reaches well left hand to the body and this time you didn’t do nothing
this time bang you chew the counter punch and that was it can you take us
through that please am I right am I out of my mind no I mean look for the first
round yeah I definitely wasn’t a everyone on the the judges scored it him
winning the round for me I wasn’t in there to fight for Rounds I’m not I don’t I didn’t care if he won the first
four rounds I literally go into these fights trying to take someone’s head off that’s my game plan
um so for me to go in there in the first round and not get taken down once and have him in a clinch and not be able to
take me down was a huge win for me that even for my confidence just for the game
plan itself because every second that went by when aljo didn’t take me down
made him frustrated made him think that this isn’t go even if he won the round it’s
not where he wants it to be he does not want it to be on the feet so for that first round was a huge win for me
um and then the second round yeah I mean it very well could have been him thinking okay now I’ve got in on him once
I can do it again and I’m gonna Force something very well could have been that I feel like it was just I give him so
much anxiety from me not really doing anything other than fainting at him fainting out and fainting at him moving
circling him not being able to grab me that he’s you know he’s just gonna he’s gonna say it and I’m gonna try to
hit this dude and uh you know I wasn’t there to be hit and he was so but yeah I mean it very well could have been I
think only aljo really knows what what he was thinking and feeling but for me it was it was the to play that kind of
game the whole fight even if it was a boring fight um I wasn’t gonna go in there and um
make the first mistake do you think maybe you gave him a force I guess maybe this is the way I want to say did you
give him a full sense of confidence where he could be more aggressive than
he should have been you know in the way that it turns out to be Reckless where he could just come in whether it was to
come in to draw punch the body or whether it was coming to get you know the the takedown but that by not
punching by only feigning by doing your dance if you will for the first round that maybe he forgot how dangerous you
are maybe he forgot what he should not do yeah yeah I think looking thinking
back too like it really wasn’t a bad punch you look at the UFC this weekend like how many people made that kind of
same punch that same it wasn’t like a bad mistake or a bad over extension it
was just my timing of speed was just on the next the next level I I think you
know it really it really wasn’t like a super bad puncher it was just no but you
created it you did create it I mean I’m not you know I mean you did your own
painting there uh you you for me you were the spider that invited the beetle
into the web you know and and you you gave them another old cliche give
somebody enough rope to hang themselves you gave them enough space to basically make a mistake and leave a hole and um
obviously you took great great advantage of that um I the the one other thing before I
give it to Ken I guess I want to ask you just something about this weekend that
just passed because she touched on it about the punches that took place um
for me when we talk about special talents it’s you now I think adesanya is
one of those guys and he obviously just got beat it was a big big upset
were you as shocked as most people were um by what
Maybe by what and I know some of it’s got to do with Strickland obviously he had a great fight plan great fight plan
you got to give him credit um they’re using his jab not getting out of position not making mistakes being
steady you know there’s talent in being steady you know there’s talent in the neon talents but there’s always talent
and ability and just being steady and consistent and he was all of that but Arizona didn’t seem to be himself
with that you know creating his own music type style um Rhythm uh
electricity did that when you watch that were you surprised that that
out of sign it was not quite what he had been in the past yeah I I mean I was
for me I was like Izzy didn’t look he didn’t look as sh as quick he looked a
little bit more flat-footed I know he likes to pull back he kind of pulled back but just punches and leaves his
feet flat and he gets away with that a lot of guys but I think uh I think everyone including myself was underestimating Sean Strickland’s skills
and um and what he brought to the table he had really really good pressure and again he wasn’t is he such a good
counter-striker but Sean really wasn’t throwing a ton to be countered if he
were thrown were hard and fast and accurate so it was hard to counter those he wasn’t popping his jab out there too
much just randomly to be countered Sean had a really really good fight a game plan even though he says game plan was
to wrestle but I mean his that style it was a tricky one that pressure
for I did not feel like anything was himself I feel like he you need to get respect early in that
fight and crack Strickland like in the first round and really kind of let him know hey you can’t just walk forward but
who knows what was going on with Izzy if he had uh you know mental if he had something going on mentally or
physically maybe an injury of some sort or Sean Strickland just showed up no excuses and Izzy lost that fight but I’m
a huge Izzy fan and uh you know he definitely didn’t look like the you know
the dancing having fun Izzy in there but you know that’s yeah yeah I do want to
give credit to Sean Strickland because he looked like a Savage yeah me too I want to get more and listen I said I’d
give it to Ken but one other thing um I you just touched again and you
don’t you never know if there’s something wrong you don’t know what a person’s Camp was you don’t know where
he is mentally you don’t know where he is physical you just don’t know I gotta ask this question then going into this
there was a lot of talk about that you were injured your ribs that you couldn’t do certain things going into your fight
um with Sterling that you had an injury you couldn’t do certain kind of training
that you normally would do um can you talk on that a little bit I mean obviously you had such an
extraordinary performance everybody forgot about that but for me fighting is about overcoming the guys have become
Champions they’re not only talented they’re resilient they’re determined they’re tough mentally they find a way
to overcome something and I just want to put out for the audience because a lot of times when you see these special
athletes do something special like you they don’t realize that they may have been compromised they may have been
injured but you know what this part takes over the mental part where they just do it because you have to do it
because you’re not going to get another and that’s part of being a champion and um I just see if you could maybe expand
on that yeah you know what’s really cool UFC’s having a crazy documentary that’s going out in 2024 and so they were
following me around you know 10 12 days before the fight and then after the fight but yeah I had a six weeks before
the fight you know I’m smart I’m sparring really really good Grapplers and I’m spotting really really strong
guys so I’m trying to emulate algebra Sterling the best Grappler so everyone’s plan in sparring was to go in take me
down take my back that was that was the game plan for all my sparring partners I was sparring good Grapplers so my third
round fresh guy so first round fresh guy stuck around fresh guy third round fresh guy comes in and uh you know I was on my
back and he was trying to take my back I turned real hard and I feel my rib feel something and I know instantly that it’s
you know that’s not that’s not good I’ve had plenty of rib injuries and and it sucked and and yeah so for six
weeks I couldn’t grapple at all I couldn’t even play in the clinch a little bit we kind of tested it a couple
weeks after I heard it and I realized I was like yeah there’s no way I could even you know it can’t do any kind of
wrestling so there was thoughts about pulling out for like a couple couple days and then I was like it’s in it’s in
Boston I’m fighting for a title I’m gonna go out there and I’m gonna try to knock this dude out and if I get
finished I I get finished I was I accepted that if if the fight doesn’t
play out my way you know I’m 28 I’m gonna get it out there and heal up and
get out there again so in my mind it was like it was it was life or death being taken down before the injury now that I
have this injury it was for sure like I have to execute my game plan I had no choice but to execute my game plan that
was my mindset um all fight week was just I have to keep it on the feet if I keep it on the feet I will knock this dude out
um so yeah but yeah that was I was dealing with a lot of mental demons for sure yeah and you dealt with them and that’s
why you’re championing the world and that’s the point I want to make to the people out there because everyone deals with their demons I I don’t give you an
octagon you’re in a ring or if you’re going to work for your family whatever it is everyone’s dealing with these
obstacles these demons and they’re you know at the end of the day there’s a way
to overcome them by making your mind up that you’re going to overcome them that
you know by controlling what you do that at the end of the day I always say no
matter what’s going on no matter how you feel it’s your choice what you do it’s
it’s not the guy in front of you it’s it’s not the air that’s going on and
swirling around with all the crazy stuff going on it’s your choice and obviously
you made the choice to be your champion of the world and I’m glad that you touched on that and you said that to
audience um Ken oh thanks Teddy hey Sean real quick uh just two questions first
um talk about your mindset walking into the cage because we’ve interviewed a ton of world champions Teddy’s trained 18
world champions in boxing and one thing that most guys will admit is that they do feel an incredible amount of fear how
how it manifests itself is different in every guy but as you’re walking in do you ever does does it go through your
mind like I have put in so much work and now it’s time I’m fighting for the world title or do you have you blocked that
fear out and it’s just complete enthusiasm and blind confidence or are you wrestling with holy it’s on
it’s time like talk to me about those feelings yeah zero fear zero nerve zero any
negative emotions uh fight day I mean really all fight week I was you know I I
was very confident and I said it in all my interviews that I have a right hand that can snipe someone’s chin
um and I knew I knew that was a possibility in the fight I I don’t remember the last time I was
actually I do the last time I was nervous for a walkout and everything was my UFC debut when I fought Tyrion where
I was that was the last time I was nervous in the backstage before a fight um I have zero nerves zero yeah zero
negative emotions in the back can’t just pure positive mantras positive feelings
and and for me I get if zero level zero was you know the most calm you could
possibly be penned was excited negative 10 scared I’m right out of zero I’m
emotionless for the most part I’m very calm and uh that’s how I perform best
and that’s kind of how I I get to that state just through breathing um a series of breath work that I have
with my my strength and conditioning coach Brandon Harris we run through some breath work and I just I’m very centered
and grounded and just very calm before my fights I love that the reason I asked
it is because some guys you could tell they’re they’re scared and they’ll tell you like yeah I was scared to death but
I knew I had a job to do it doesn’t get in the way of their performance but then there’s a few guys where they’re so
confident and almost bordering on arrogant that I’m like I don’t think this guy is scared and you’re one of
those guys Izzy has that Conor has a degree of that but there are a few guys and I’m just like man do they really not
fair any feel any fear anyway it didn’t look like you were scared by any means I was just curious next question how
important is it for you to get back that one blemish I know you’re still undefeated but the one uh contested lost
to Cheeto Rivera I say that obviously in jest uh how important is it to you to get that one back and right that wrong
I mean to be honest as a
I don’t have to fight I was it never affected me The Undefeated part comes from the competitor in me and I
didn’t feel like I lost that fight because he was better um but for like getting that fight back on a personal level it’s never bothered
me once ever you know I’m you know I’ve made way more money than
that dude will ever make of where that dude wants to be so I’ve never felt like that took away anything from me on a
competitive level again I still never felt like I really lost that fight so for me I wanted the Cheeto fight because
simply it’s the next biggest fight I’m getting Pay-Per-View fight if marab was the biggest fight I would want murab if
Corey was the next biggest fight I’d wait for Corey none of those guys are biggest fights Cheetos the biggest fight
you know partially because of our past and just because I think he’s got the biggest name uh the second biggest name
in the division so uh you know that fight just works out really well with
that uh art with our history so um but yeah I’m excited to get to get in
there with Cheeto I feel like I will uh have a beautiful performance if that’s what’s next
love it last thing uh I told you before we started my eight-year-old son is a
jiu jitsu fighter he’s wrestlings taking Judo he boxes with Teddy he’s obsessed with it can you just quickly talk me
through how what was your introduction to uh martial arts MMA Etc how’d you get started and what was that what’d that
Journey look like in a nutshell well I’ll I’ll uh limit it then um I was 16
years old and I was super insecure going into high school and I wanted to get chicks so
that’s partially true you know I I wanted to I was super insecure I was going to I think I was going to like my
sophomore year freshman year somewhere around whatever that age is and uh just a little little dude and wanted to
wanted to impress people wanted to be I was an athlete my entire life football basketball soccer baseball every single
month of every single year I was playing a sport and uh you know I was starting to get old like high school sports
weren’t really my thing because I didn’t enjoy High School I didn’t get good grades I didn’t even want to go to school so I needed to find something
that I could do that didn’t require that and and I found uh found boxing I found kickboxing and you know I kind of became
obsessed with that then when once I turned 18 I got into MMA and uh start I
didn’t even really start wrestling and grappling hard till I was 20 years old to move to the MMA lab so my journey was
a little bit different I feel like the most but everyone’s unique to themselves uh but yeah it was it’s been good so far
right last thing along those lines is one of the things that I talked to him about all the time is because he’s
trying all these new sports like when he went to wrestling and he had been doing Jiu Jitsu I said to him listen if you’re
not comfortable being the worst the first day you’re never gonna get to be the best you don’t just get to show up
and be the best because if you did what the hell good would it be to be the best if some guy could just show up off the
street and beat the brakes off you I said get comfortable not be in the best and learn how comfortable how easy was
it for you to get up to speed because we all know about that first day you walk into a gym and you just feel like you have two left feet you can’t throw a
punch but how was the journey for you from getting to that point to the point where you couldn’t get to the gym fast
enough yeah I mean for me it’s even still to this day I go to the gym and there’s
guys that I’m are whooping up on me choking me Jiu Jitsu and it’s just like I
especially going to the MMA lab never have you wrestled like the MMA lab is known for grappling High Pace wrestling
just you know and I came there as at 19 years old never Wrestled a day of my life so it was miserable for years
literally years and it was very hard for my ego but you know I knew I was going
to improve and I knew I just needed to learn and I could be capable of doing what they’re doing but yeah for a long
long long time and even still to this day I’ll go to the gym and get whooped up on so I I feel like yeah it’s I’m
still going through that and I don’t think I’ll ever stop and that’s how you know you’re at a good gym you walk in
there against some Brazilian Jiu Jitsu guy and uh you know you shouldn’t be the
best guy in the gym ever thank you brother you know Sean I said while commentating
on you know performances at times uh especially when you were when I was
senior early on that you look like a boxer in the ring would you and obviously you do would you
consider going into the ring in a crossover match you know Allah McGregor and and Mayweather you know some years
ago yeah I mean I before I think I have 1-0 pro boxing record nothing crazy right
but I got injured I got injured on uh and I wasn’t wasn’t able to really wrestler Jujitsu so for about six months
there I just dead I just went to boxing I straight boxed went to the boxing gym was sparring Monday Wednesday Friday you
know running do just training boxing and uh you know I loved it I thought it was a lot of fun and uh you know I’ve I’ve
knocked the dude out broke the dude’s jaw in the first round with a left hand and uh that I can I can box really high
level from both stances I have power in both hands I have really good eyes I have good timing I have good speed I
have good length I have all you everything you need to become a good boxer I haven’t dedicated my life to boxing and if I did I’d be a world
champion boxer but I still truly believe that I can beat some of these guys especially guys like javonta Davis who
are five two and I know that’s uh people don’t like the idea like oh you’re copying Conor and all this stuff but I
mean I’ve had a pro box and fight before Connor and Floyd even you know did their boxing match so I’ve liked boxing for a
long time I want to and I will the same feeling I had of me becoming a World Champ that true knowing in my heart that
I was gonna happen I will box I don’t know if it’s going to be Javonte Davis because I know uh and I I think I think they know that
maybe hey let’s not we don’t need to do that what happens if jabante loses to me that’s not good for him so I don’t know
if it’ll be jervante because I don’t think they’d take that but there’s there you know maybe I start lower on the on the on the the list of boxers and go out
there and box a guy that’s not too good but you know It’s Tricky with the UFC you know I’ve signed my rights away at
UFC which I’m happy to do I loved UFC and I’ve talked to UFC about this before
and they said hey if you and you know opponent are both
big enough and you guys can do massive pay-per-views we are 100 down to get behind it I don’t even know what Javonte
Davis is a big enough star at this point right now I think maybe he needs to go out there and get a couple more wins but
that’s something I want to do bad that’s something that’s going to happen and uh
I I would be very excited if I got a six month boxing Camp I think I would be very very dangerous and surprise a lot
of people if you do that I know a boxing trainer that might be able to help you right
listen last thing first of all thank you for giving us this time and uh being so
gracious uh and again giving the people a chance to see another side to you you know besides just the colorful hair and
the Great and the great talent um but to see the person this is how I’m
gonna end it um when I Was preparing to cover and it’s got nothing to do with other than a
nice way of saying thank you but when I Was preparing uh to cover your fight for
ESPN the one in Boston I asked my son because I want to get a little perspective from a younger audience of
what he thought of you and the obviously besides the talent which obviously he
talked about how how Talent you were and about the things that I had said about that kind of special talent creating
your own music all of that stuff but what he said to me was that you were
very intelligent well spoken and although promoting yourself as everyone
needs to he felt that you represented yourself really well and smart and um
that was just a lot to you in that kind of way so again thank you for coming on
the show I’m wishing you uh nothing but more success in your career and
continued comments from people like those of my son to keep coming your way uh God bless and thank you yeah thank
you guys so guys don’t appreciate all the kind words and the conversation had a good time so thank you guys thank you sir thank you brother

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