Michael Chandler | This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von #305

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is it's positive stuff you can check it. out magicmind.co. use promo code theo for 10 off today's. guest is a mixed martial artist. he's a three-time bellator lightweight. world champion he's a. fitness and training entrepreneur as. well i think it's safe to say. and uh he just signed his contract for. the ufc. entering an insane lightweight division. uh happy to have him here today mr.

michael chandler i'll sit. and tell you my stories. [Applause]. and what are you taking right now this.

is just obviously this is just my. vitamins i freaking completely forgot. all the way. okay because a lot of rumors about you. out there what are you taking right now. i just want to know exactly. it was uh um. fish oil is fish oil turmeric. beta-alanine magnesium. bcaas and you take that once a day. um twice a day there's the formula in. the in. at night there's like one or two other. things that help me sleep i think that's. about it.

okay and how i'll send you my supplement. list actually will you i do i just did. it for. my buddy yesterday i needed a little bit. of rest i don't know if i could take. your supplement. no it's dude it's all just it's all just. like the little micronutrients that. you're. probably not getting from your food. that's it and then for me for you for. all of us like just. anti-inflammatory antioxidants like. that's the most important thing. did you see a blood specialist or how. did you how do you start to get on this. regimen. i did i did a couple years ago just to. just to look at all my. stuff like where i was at hormone levels. and all that kind of stuff.

um because that's the idea like how do. you how do you legally. keep your body in tip-top shape good. diet and. rest are like the two most important. thing but then it's supplementation. making sure you're taking care of your. body every. after every single workout like bcaa's. protein those are the two things that i. would. die on a diet on a freaking mountain for. those are the two things that. i've been taking over the last 10 years. that are just that have always. kept me feeling good so you take them. right post-workout obviously. protein and then you do the bcaas yeah.

bc i mean pretty much i have a blender. bottle with me. three times a day like in the morning i. get up and i oh creatine so i'd do. creatine for the brain yeah the brain. who's creating when i would bust boy. actually when i bust tables well that's. the thing like. i kind of steered away from it because i. thought i thought creatine was just. like you know the freaking dudes who. just wanted the big biceps and they. freaking lift weights. in high school you know explode it was. no explode and freaking creatine. that's all it was back in the day we. didn't even read the whole label we just. thought it said knock something nobody. knew what the heck it was like it was.

just like. some dumb kids out there before his test. getting two hits of it. bro you just gotta be an awake idiot i'm. pretty sure i got an a man that's pretty. good i got a good name for sure i got an. a. oh you gotta you got a d kevin kevin. always got sorry. kevin you got a d minus man kevin always. got a d. kevin was that kid who would sit in.

class and he would have the hoodie and. he would close it completely. and then sit there the entire class. exactly just draw both strings down and. just have it completely shut. i'm cool miss davis leave me alone man. had a rough night um so what else you. say your regimen is sleep what is it. because when i watch you man like you. know when i watch your fights. it's like jesus christ even as a viewer. i'm like will this guy stop for a second. so. i can like it's too many frames per.

minute it's like. how can i visually catch up to what's. going on here. dude it's i mean that that to me is just. that's god's just god's gifts man like. some some because you know what it is. it's i'm not afraid to freaking lose. and i'm not afraid i'm not afraid to. not like it becomes cliche i'm not. really not afraid to die in there. and i'm really not afraid to get tired. either. trust me i've been tired i've passed out. i passed out. tired yeah i passed out inside of a. fight once.

from just exhaustion woke up before the. fifth round. coach carried me to the stool woke up on. the stool and then fought the fifth. round. so once you've been there you're just. like well there's really nothing that's. gonna. stop me you know and and i think it's. just it's wrestling like in wrestling. it was seven hard minutes in their face. push him out of bounds take him down do. whatever you got to do like. to win the match like shoot more times. than he does. go harder than he does foot on the gas. all gas. no brakes like didn't just go so i think. that wrestling mindset is just like now.

it doesn't work as well in fighting. because it's 15 minutes it's 25 minutes. you got to be a little more you got to. negotiate those spaces a little bit more. and not go so hard all the time or else. you will die you know yeah. do you is it a psychological thing for. you in that first round because you mean. you come out in some first rounds like. dude i would even you know if they let. me wear a ton of padding i might go. against you in like a ninth round but. a first round would be somebody wanting. to die it seems like. yeah do you come out there with a. different psychology in the first round. kind of like. is that part of your mindset like i'm.

put everything is right here. yeah because i think some people some. people are slow starters. and case in point like i think khabib. habib finished justin geichi the way. that he did because i think. justin gaichi wasn't ready for habib to. come out. with him come out the way they did come. out that hot so you can usually just you. can get guys. flustered you get get guys nervous get. guys scared they immediately become. a defensive fighter right away and. that's why the only fights i've lost are.

the ones that. people have ran away from me you know. and i lose a split decision you know. like that's literally the only. pretty much the way that i've lost you. know when you were watching the khabib. and gateshead what were you uh. would you think after that first round. because i felt like gaechi got a lot of. time on his feet against him. a lot of it got a lot of guys don't get. that it seems like do not get as much. time against khabib on their feet. yeah no and i think i think that's that. i think that was the most surprising. thing is. is we thought the striking was going to. lean. towards gaichi's favor yet khabib i.

think. the manner which could be fights is just. hectic crazy. fast pace it's not that skilled if you. go back and watch the fight there really. wasn't a ton of. strikes that were landed they landed on. justin's hands they landed on. justin's elbows forearms like it wasn't. like he hurt. uh gaichi numerous times he just got i. think he just got gait she's scared and. i hate. using the word scary because i don't. like to talk about the guys in my. division. right obviously just like not a guy who. gets scared but i know what you're. saying that that ner that energy in the. beginning or it's even like uh who was i.

just talking to. oh uh well i was talking to brendan. about it i think like. it it's almost like if you get thrown. into a scenario where you're not you're. just not. ready you can make bad decisions you. know and i think justin gaichi also just. was making bad decisions on the ground. so i don't think necessarily i think. justin gaichi is that bad on the ground. i think he just got there and he was. just like. what do i do this guy's nuts you know. this guy's a freaking mauler. yeah he's like a rare snake kind of yeah. exactly they're like why haven't. scientists. found this dude yet you know it's kind.

of like it's almost like you would see. him more on one of those like david. attenborough kind of like yeah. you know the david the russian anaconda. then you would like it seems like he. hasn't been discovered it's like will. somebody test. this dude yeah he's like never. reptilianism yeah or like or like. three thousand miles below the sea level. yeah yeah. bottom of the ocean somewhere he's. running on some old water. when you're watching that fight did you. think um at. all and i'm a novice fight watcher you. know i'm new into like just even.

absorbing a lot of what you guys world. is like and it's. and the biggest reason is just because. it's something that so scared me my. whole life like. any like physical altercation like never. learned how to defend myself never. learned any of that growing up nobody. even. in my ear like hey just at least stand. there and get hit you know none of that. so. i definitely come from a place of. fascination did you. think when you were watching the uh. khabib and get you that that khabib kind. of let the first round happen do you. feel like he could have finished it. earlier or do you feel like um. it just that the way it played out was.

the way it played out i think the way it. played out was the way it played out. because i think i mean i think. habib just was going and going and just. turned it into a fight real quick. fast paces it and i loved it i he just. fought with reckless abandon and this is. a guy who's undefeated. most of the time you see guys who are. undefeated protect that record. by fighting a little bit more uh. you know a little bit more timid or a. little bit more diplomatic a little bit. smarter you know if you will but he just. went he went in there and wanted to get. into a fist fight with with. you know the craziest striker in the. division it kind of goes back a little.

bit to what you were just saying about. uh the f not being afraid to be. exhausted you know not being. because i've never thought about it like. that like i go into any sort of physical. if i'm at the gym or if i'm training or. something like. yeah i'm thinking okay in a little bit. i'm going to be exhausted out that fear. is a real. like a living fear that's in me i think. i think that's one of the greatest fears. of. of anybody across all walks of life when. it comes to. athletics like nobody likes to get tired. you know people are afraid of getting.

hurt people are afraid of. of losing but man getting tired is the. worst thing in the world. now also getting tired on the football. field means you got caught you know. means you're running down you got 80. yards and you're running. and you get caught by the the d back. who's just faster than you because you. slowed down. that's not that big of a deal but you. get you get tired and locked into a cage. with another man with four ounce gloves. like. that's a scary spot to be in because. when when. when the lactic acid builds up and the. heart rate is through the roof and you. can't feel your arms and legs. and then you got a man coming at you.

trying to knock your head off. that's a scary place to be and that's a. place where nobody wants to be. so you know that you know that scenario. is always right there it's only a couple. a couple crazy moves away or a couple. scrambles or. getting hurt and get your heart rate up. like it's always there. so you just have to it's like the movie. 300 where he always talks about fear is. always a constant when he's when he's. talking to. his young son at the very beginning of. the movie fear is always a constant but. accepting it. that's where we win the battle accepting. the fact that you're always going to the.

fear is always going to be there. and then push him through it that's. where the rub is that's where the. champions go. yeah it's interesting yeah because i. just accepted it in the beginning i was. like oh i'm just afraid as [ __ ] when i. was young. and i just never unaccepted it you know. i just never. but yeah that's interesting man i was. watching that fight last night with you. and eddie alvarez man. what a fight can you go back and watch. that sort of thing like. because i notice at the end it's almost. like a. you know you were winning the fight i. think it was four rounds to maybe you. know. i mean maybe four three one or something.

in the in the final round and. um but it's still been such an amazing. battle like in that last couple of. minutes are you. is do you start to get into a defensive. mindset like okay. i have this i probably have this win in. the bag like when do you kind of. apply like strategic breaks you know. what i'm saying like yeah. like you know uh d um. d accelerate but knowing that you. already probably have the win if you can. get to the finish line. i never do and and that's not a smart.

thing to do you know if you're a young. fighter listing this right now like. it's it's made me a great living it's. got me a lot of fans. because i just i'm all gas no brakes but. it's also bit me in the behind numerous. times you know and and even. you know as we talk about like i passed. out at the end of the fourth round of. the my first benson henderson fight. and then lost the fifth round i won the. first four lost the fifth round. um oh yeah right huh just because i just. kept going and it wasn't because i lost. the fifth round because i took my foot. off. the gas i just i fought so hard the.

first four rounds and i didn't have. anything left in the tank and i freaking. peed blood afterwards and had. rhabdomyolysis and all kinds of crazy. stuff and. um what do you do though so when you're. heading into that type of a round like. when you're heading into that type of. that was you end up in those rounds man. you end up in those. i mean yeah the first fight against. benson that round that. uh that fight was insane i mean you you. know he took a lot of hits in that. in that whole fight i mean that thing. was crazy yeah the suplex i'm like what. i don't even know we had like roman.

times like i didn't know what was going. on right. it was intense right yeah but yeah when. you're going into that type of a round. uh what do you do man so that was you. know that you've run out of a lot of. your natural gas yeah that was uncharted. territory you know i. i never would have thought i would lose. consciousness inside the fight thank god. it happened right at the end of the. bell ring and i'm just sitting there on. my knees and i'm not thinking about. anything because. you got to kind of stumbled right and. they're like that's what the announcer. said i'm not even conscious man like i. was and then i sat down. on the on the the stool one.

one coaches in front of me and then this. coach behind me yells something. and that's when i like did this and then. i asked my coach in front of me did i. get did i just get knocked out did i get. choked out he's like no man this is my. my dutch. kickboxing coach henry hoofty's no man. what are you talking about man we're. going to the fifth round man you're. doing good you're gonna win this fight. yeah you're in spelling class. yeah for sure and i can i remember i. couldn't i couldn't lift my arm because. i don't think the blood. quite got to my because remember i was. you said i was stumbling because my feet.

weren't working. and my arms weren't working so i. couldn't lift my hands up to protect. myself for that fifth round but. that's just uncharted territory but it's. also that that primal. animal instinct that you just have. inside you where it's like. at that point you're a you're a possum. backed up into a corner. and no matter what you just gotta fight. you either just curl your table curl. curl your tail between your legs and die. but how you how do you. adjust your strategy at that point well. at that point the strategy was the. strategy was. somewhat survive you know and and and.

that's why. that's why i would say if i had more in. the tank i would have. just went forward with reckless abandon. but at some point you're like okay well. i need to take a little bit of step back. try to breathe a little bit you know. because i gotten to the point of no. return. there's a difference between being. afraid to get to the point of no return. so all the way leading up to it you. you're only fighting at 50. 60 70 but if you fight at 100 get to the. point of no return after that. you're 100 is like 40.

50 and you're fighting at 50 not being. 100. uh you know offensive or or. or kind of trying to come forward but. essentially you're just you're in. survival mode and then once you get your. your wits back about your a little bit. of gas a little bit of. blood back to your brain then you can. start throwing offense again which is. that's kind of what i did in that round. even though. i essentially just got into a grappling. match with them and you know lost the. fifth round pretty bad got a big old cut. you know but uh let's go we got a. question right here riley can you hear. everybody okay. yeah you can everything's good okay.

great. hello hello uh chase maldon out of. virginia. uh for mr chandler if you saw that. anderson silva fight this weekend. what are your thoughts on it and do you. think he should retire because i think. most of us do what do you think about. just you know guys kind of out of their. prime trying to fight anyway. good question good question dude a lot. of good questions came in for you man. um you know anderson silva is you know. one of the greatest of all time but when.

you watch his last couple fights. it's hard to remember the anderson silva. the greatest of all time i think that's. why i think. what gsp did so well is he was like i'm. done you know i'm. i did my thing crushed it i made my. money i got a. i left a good taste in people's mouths. of a who i am as a man as a competitor. what i accomplished and then i want to. be be out the barry sanders. if you will you know um it's always good. to retire before people think you should. because the fans always want more out of.

you you know selfishly the fans all of. his fans in brazil. they want more out of anderson silva. keep going keep going keep going but. before you know it you know you lose you. know in devastating fashion. again or you lose that bad again and. then people can kind of forget so i. would like to see him hang it up. even though you know it sounds like he's. going to but i. i i would have said this two three. fights ago as well man you. he's he's a he's a icon in brazil. you know he's a worldwide you know. superstar when it comes to mixed martial.

arts he's. i never want to talk about someone's. money or what is enough money or what is. enough legacy or whatever but i feel. like he should have enough legacy should. have enough money should have enough. happiness should have enough. of what he's built to be able to sail. off into the sunset so then what do you. think it is that brings someone back at. that moment like what is it. like if you had to get inside of of his. mindset knowing what it's like to be a. fighter. yeah well and i think that's the. difference and i don't want to bring. other people up but i think there's. definitely been guys that you. you're like okay that guy's only. fighting because he blew a bunch of.

money he needs some money. right he needs to come he needs to make. a paycheck oh if i was in brazil dude. with the drugs and women i'd have blown. it all dude. back into the ring on one foot dude well. that well that's that's the thing but i. don't think. i i right you're not saying that about. him no i think anderson silva is the guy. who just. i bet he's i bet he's set for life i. could be wrong you know like i said i. don't know the guy. personally but there's a lot of guys who. you say that guy right there. i know why he's stepping on the cage. tonight he needs another paycheck he. needs to. like nick diaz you mean well yeah i just.

made that up all day. you know i mean i don't know i wonder i. don't know how those diaz brothers are. doing i bet they're doing. all right but i mean i know nate nate. diaz did all right when that that connor. fight made a couple million but. you know it's uh it's it's tough because. i'm going to get to that point. eventually you know where people are. like hey it's time to hang it up you. know. but i'm in my mind in my camp with my. coaches it's something you always have. to go back to. your family and your coaches because. you're never going to want to quit. you know you're never going to want to. stop unless right yeah that's what i'm.

getting at you're never going to want to. quit no even though like a guy like gsp. i mean there's there's him on the rec on. record saying he hated fighting like he. he hated he would show up to the arena. and pray to god that the. that the comet would come down and hit. the arena and just end his misery. that freaking that someone would pull. the fire alarm that there would be a. bomb threat that there would be. something where he would just be like. thank god i could go home and don't have. to do this you know he he. talked about in and documented kind of. like the anxiety that the guy went. through. and this is one of the greatest of all.

time a guy who looked unbeatable at. times you know. still does still yeah i mean still he i. think he could come into the cage right. now. at 155 170 and win the freaking title. 185 possibly you know so. you never know what's motivating a guy. but you got to go back to your coaches. you know your. your closest of kin your mentors your. family and and then the people around. you that. that know no matter how much how much. more that you accomplish how much more. money you make they don't benefit from. it they just want to see. you happy you know those are the people. that's those that's those are people you. got to listen to you know.

it's interesting because even in every. in every form of. entertainment or survival uh anything i. guess maybe i mean i can relate it a. little bit in my own life but. yeah you there's these voices that push. you to succeed and like. even these invisible voices of people. that naysayers you know haters that say. you can't you know. um but then at a certain point. those voices aren't really helping you. anymore it's more the voices that. actually can see you as a human. yeah and saying like okay you know we.

care about you. there's no you've proven yourself. you know what do you do now how do you. manage that because there's. there's a there's a lot of mismanagement. mismanagement at that point as well. and sometimes you're so blind you just. come up so blindly like. just throwing fists especially in you. guys's career you know and i see it with. porya in a lot of his fights and his old. fights you could see. he didn't even have a look in his eyes. he's just like a you know an animal you. have that animal instinct. but then you get to a point where you're. standing on top of the cage. and you're like okay i'm not i'm not in.

this i'm not fighting for nothing. anymore like. i'm at a point where i can make some. choices for myself well yeah i mean a. lot of it comes with maturity and stuff. too and. and i told you it was cool like right. around the time that we met. you know i was getting ready to go fight. and that was the first time i ever met. pourier because pourier was. cornering a guy who was on the same card. and i just went straight in connecticut. he was in connecticut. uh something yeah he just he got a. couple wins in a row yeah he's he's good.

emporia was there the whole fight week. cornering him and whatnot and i just. went straight up to him because i i knew. at this point i was probably gonna go i. was probably going to. leave bellator uh and i was probably. gonna hopefully sign with the ufc. my goal was i wanted to sign with ufc so. i knew i was. about to walk up to a guy that was. probably gonna i'm gonna be in the same. division for sure i'm probably gonna end. up fighting them. but to me the respect level for a guy. like poirier or even anybody in the. division i don't. i respect you if you step inside the. cage you make your living doing what i. do doing what we do because.

this is what was it i understand the. perils the trials the tribulations of. this this tough. sport that we call our our profession. but went up to him and we. were talking a little bit and i just you. know i congratulated on on his last win. he had just beaten dan hooker a couple. weeks prior. congratulating him on the fight of the. year candidate that it was it was a. phenomenal fight. his heart his determination what he does. outside the cage the man that he is the. competitor. that he is the father that he is and. then also we kind of talked like. about the journey a little bit where. it's like man 30. something years old now got a wife got a.

kid got it. you know doing what we're doing is much. different than back in the day i kind of. brought up about how he was some young. shaved head punk kid on that documentary. you saw that. his documentary and that was dustin. poirier from back in the day. and he was in this documentary crazy. this is an insane thing coming out of. the swamp. exactly and but it's so cool to see. where people start. and then where people end up and and. watch and watch people's maturation. throughout the journey and. and he he would probably if he was. sitting here today he would probably say.

man. you know his his career i think is a. blueprint for a guy who. who started at a certain point has ended. up where he's at. he's at the top of the game top of the. division top of the toughest division in. the in the entire world about to fight. the biggest global superstar of of mixed. martial arts and conor mcgregor. he's in a phenomenal spot but you don't. just fall there by accident you'll fall. to the top of the mountain. by just by coincidence you know he had. to build and climb. and plod and and tread towards that and. a lot of it.

comes with good things happen to good. people you know and it's not though. it's not that people don't do the right. things it's that people don't do the. right things for long enough and he has. put his time. in grown into a phenomenal man father. husband and yeah he's gonna be rewarded. role model so it's cool just just seeing. the maturation process of. of of us as fighters you know a decade. later. yeah it's wild and it's also it's. interesting to see because. you know growing up like a lot of kids. in my neighborhood would fight a lot of. like you know it was a lot of like. you know a lot of poor kids kind of.

fight. you know it's just something to do you. don't have cable you [ __ ] throw two. [ __ ] you know. 48 pounders in the ditch and let them go. at it you know what i'm saying like just. different. dude i used to invite friends over like. kind of rich friends. and then we would go on a bike ride in. the neighborhood and i knew some kids. were going to [ __ ] fight. oh my god. my buddy's like i thought we're just. going to rent movies i'm like well dude. you got to deal with [ __ ] little. thomas hoover first son you know.

this dude weighs 47 pounds but he's. dude that's funny that's a true story. that's a true story bro. one of my friends still gets mad at me. about it man but yeah i used to. one of the rich friends one of the rich. friends you guys are still friends i'm. like you'll be fine. he's got a really nice freaking harrow. with pegs on it and stuff and you. get the kid the kid comes out with a. freaking busted up mongoose like hey. what's up. hey what's up tommy hoover yeah tommy. hoover comes out dude he's got that. natural shake in him bro.

you know yeah just the lord's scoliosis. bro you're just missing a couple. elements you know. but yeah i used to do that [ __ ] but so. it's interesting to get to a point it. seems it seems interesting from an. outsider's perspective. to get to a point where yeah you to come. from a place of. fighting for your peace of mind or for. your comfort or to feel okay. you know like i do stand-up comedy to. feel okay i get on a stage i need. something from people you know fighters. they. there's some we're all trying to prove.

something to ourselves or to others. but to come from a place of fighting. because that's such a. physical and brute thing to then get to. a place of. having some sort of peace in your life. where um. where whatever those voices are that. probably made you so angry in the first. place. that's a wild ride you guys are on yeah. and it's and it's funny too. as the sport has evolved and even even. in the very beginning of of the sport. you know the sport. started with uh you know dana white and. these guys they didn't even.

start the ufc it was it was started by a. different group and then the ufc and the. fertittas. dana white bought it and turned it into. what it is today but. i'm sure there was guys who fought just. for there was no money in it either so. it wasn't like they were trying to make. a bunch of money it was really. who was the toughest who's the baddest. dude on the planet from. what uh vocation from what background. you got you got your boxer there was. a boxer wearing one boxing glove where. he could throw a jab but he could also. grapple. he had your karate guys your sumo. wrestling guys your street fighters your. whatever.

back flipper some guys get in there just. do a backflip and then get their ass. kicked yeah exactly you know see. that's how it kind of started and then. and then and then it. evolved into the sport of okay we can. make a living out of this or or it's. just a really cool hobby. so you saw guys who kind of came from a. place of anger but then you see. a guy like myself i just like. hand-to-hand combat and i. and i don't i don't really like. confrontation the funny thing is i'm. very similar to you like if someone. walked in right now i wanted to fight. i'd get this weird nervous tension and. i'm like i'm not trying to fight man i'm. not. here to fight but you put me inside the. cage with you and you and you put a.

check on the line and it's a competition. and i can prove myself in a co in a. contest. of hand-to-hand combat that's when the. real competitor comes out of me because. i love. the contest but i don't like the. conflict you know. um so somewhere in between there is is. where you. so some of your drive comes from the. competition aspect of it no all of it. does i think. i mean at this point i realize that. all of my all of my admirers fans or. people. who who follow me on my platforms or.

wanna. wan want to say man that guy is a guy. that i want my kid to be like. they don't do it because i can kick. people's ass like they don't care about. that. they do it because they say man that guy. is a. is a symbol and a a manifestation of a. little guy from a little town who was. taught to do little things who had a. bunch of ups a couple downs never quit. pulled himself up by his bootstraps. dusted himself off every time he got. knocked down. and became a champion because of it now. isn't is in the best position of his. career. because of of his stick-to-itiveness and.

has continued and drive to move forward. and yeah it's really cool that he you. know it's a bonus that he likes to bite. down on his mouthpiece and get into a. brawl inside of a a cage inside of an. octagon. but really we like him for the symbol. of what he is the metaphor for what his. his career stands for and i think that's. what. that's what i like because to me. fighting is so much. deeper than just the 15 minutes inside. the cage the 25. minutes inside the cage it's how you. live your life the honor the respect the.

integrity. and the the the character that you can. build because someday i'm gonna be. retired i'm gonna look back and say man. that was a really fun ride it was. painful at times but man i. impacted a lot of people throughout it. and we had a really good time and made. some. made some some coin to be able to take. care of my family. yeah it's funny and i i hate to keep. bringing up dustin but we're dustin. poirier fans here and uh. i'm a desperate fan yeah i'm gonna fight. him someday you know it's gonna happen. oh it would be a great fight that's the. thing like it would be a great place you. don't have to hate each other right so. it's. yeah 100 it's and it seems like there's.

a lot of respect especially in that. division man there's. i mean there's some uh god that's insane. that's just bumper to bumper traffic in. that division but. yeah i remember like about a year ago. there was just kind of this thing where. you got to start to see who dustin was. as a person through his fighting. yep and it was even after the khabib. loss but i. i mean he was bummed i remember talking. we talked a little bit and i. said but man you don't understand like. people are seeing you you're becoming. like a hero to people like you're. becoming. win or loot and it doesn't matter. anymore not that that this is just my.

mindset i mean obviously he wants to win. every time but i'm like you're becoming. people can see who you are through your. art and that's one thing that. that's what's really amazing i think. about having the ability to be. in some sort of performance whether it's. fighting stand-up anything if you can. or anything i mean if you're just even. if you're just somebody that's going you. know. picking up garbage if you can if people. could see your heart through. through whatever you're doing man that's. pretty powerful. dude that's that's what it is because. and that's and that's why we have to be.

careful as a. as a human race as a society to be. separated from one another. six foot distance wearing masks like i. don't want to turn it into a. the political thing or the or the you. know the pandemic thing or any of that. kind of stuff but it's like. i believe god created us for. relationships and not just personal. one-on-one relationships but even the. the relationship that dustin poirier's. fans have with him. by watching him via social media by. watching him. in his fights and truth be told people.

would care less about him. if he was undefeated people would care. less about him if he was perfect. yeah i love the fact that he gets beaten. up. battered bruised and then and then picks. himself back himself up. gets back on the mic and says you know. what i'm not perfect i'm not. i'm not undefeated i have blemishes on. my record look at me. you know when you mess up raise your. hand and say hey this is me this is this. is my baggage this is my loss but this. is my loss to deal with. and you can and you will say things.

about me and you will criticize and you. will nitpick. but trust me this is i may have lost the. the battle tonight but the war will be. won down the line and that's. and that's what is the beauty of mixed. martial arts i have five losses on my. record. but people don't care about my losses. whenever i win my next fight or even if. i lose my next fight they don't care. they just. the best fighters in the in the entire. on the entire planet right now are the. ones with multiple losses the biggest. superstores your jar. george maswa doll has like 10 11 losses. you know like. diaz yes more losses than wins conor's.

got. almost five losses now you know khabib. phenomenal what he has done jon jones. phenomenal what they have done. but it's also the ups and the downs the. ebbs and the flows the. losses and the wins that that really. draw people. to these fighters yeah and the different. types of fighters yeah it's like some. people are like yeah they just want the. undefeated. but i think more people can relate to a. guy that has uh. like a you know has the ups and downs. it's like. even like anthony smith is one of my. favorites you know and it's not.

i could care less if he wins or loses. it's like every time he comes out of. that tunnel. it makes me feel like damn bro. whatever's going on in my life. i can i'll it's gonna be fine you know. this guy can do if this guy can come. back. um you know i can keep it just reminds. me that i can keep going. dude and that's so cool like even even. you just saying that like i. even it gives me a different perspective. knowing you and then. and and him like i don't i don't know. him and and i.

don't watch a ton of his fights either. like it's but it's just funny how. certain people gravitate towards or are. drawn to. certain fighters and i think that's. what's so beautiful about mixed martial. arts and. obviously i'm biased because i'm in it. but it's. it's so much easier to look at a guy. like anthony smith or even any any of us. fighters. compared to like say a baseball player. who. you know he chances are the only thing. the only thing you see inside of his. performance is okay can he catch the. ball. can he run the bases can he hit the ball. we we get the luxury.

of being inside of a cage fighting and. there's. second to second to second in each. second that happens inside. each of those five minute rounds is up. very very high very very low somewhere. in the middle craziness going on. uncertainty. and it's it's just a beautiful sport. it's a really really beautiful sport. and man it's just really cool to be a. part of it i would argue like wrestling. is the same. same way amateur wrestling college. wrestling i love it because it's it. built me into the man that i am but. but mixed martial arts on a global.

platform is just it's such a beautiful. sport because even the guy like you who. you know anthony smith. watching him and it's just like like we. said he's in there painting a. masterpiece. of the physical manifestation of the ups. the downs the. the your your greatest opportunities and. your darkest hour that you. personally feel when you watch him fight. and maybe he knows you maybe he doesn't. like obviously you're a. celebrity but like the average person. the average person who's like anthony. anthony smith is my favorite fighter who. anthony may never ever meet.

but he made that person sitting on his. couch in poughkeepsie mississippi. watching the ufc paper feel something. yeah it's really freaking cool man. pretty crazy it's powerful you guys i. mean you guys this sport is unlike any. other because there's so many moments. where it's like. okay how does this how does he approach. the beginning of the fight. uh what is this what is his behavior. been like going up to the fight. um how does he uh how is he managing. himself in this beginning like in this. kind of. capoeira kind of beginning dance feeling.

each other out. uh win or lose how did they then behave. you know it's like. there's so many moments for people to. show. every side of humanity it's it's almost. yeah i think. that's why i think there's so many new. fans coming to it too it's like wow it's. not just about the fighting there's. there's just so much more to it um yeah. it's like kind of what you said too like. it's almost it's almost like of course. the fight is the most entertaining part. but man think about the walk out think. about the.

you know the shaking the hands and the. hugging of your your your teammates. and your coaches before you go into. battle it's literally like. roman times where they were back in the. back and they were shaking their hands. you know like you see gladiator with the. strength and honor thing before they. went out there and. like it's don't not to sound cheesy but. that's a lot. different than so many other sports this. is so much more raw and real and it's. and and and ronda rousey said it back in. the day on this this documentary it's on. netflix called the hurt business that i. was in it was pretty. really cool documentary about fighting.

and she said you. whether you love it or you hate it. you're drawn to it people are drawn. to it because even if we're the most. peaceful person in the world we are. somewhat at some level drawn to. to conflict yeah or we're drawn to sport. we're drawn to competition we're drawn. to the contest and and mixed martial. arts is. all of that rolled into one and like you. said. there's so many different aspects of the. fight that are that are. outside of just the fight the build-up. and then afterwards. whether or not me and you hated say you.

know we sold it on tv that we hated each. other or it was real that we hated each. other. are we gonna shake hands afterwards are. we gonna are we gonna hug afterwards are. we yeah what's the shed tears afterwards. like what's gonna happen. you knock me out do i swallow my pride. and say hi to you know say. congratulations or vice versa. or there's any one million different. scenarios that could manifest himself. and happen inside the cage and it's. it's the most unpredictable uh sport in. the world like being tied into a tornado. every single time and that's why people. love it and that's why i love it look.

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hey man first off. congrats on the ufc contract congrats on. making it to fight island. getting to hang out there making the cut. like a professional like you always have. been. i gotta know though i i can tell you're. a guy who likes to stay in shape you're. very disciplined but. what's your cheat like say you go out. friday night or whatever. what's your cheat meal or like just. cheat activity what do you like to do. whenever you give yourself a day off to. just. unwind i gotta know gang gang. good luck buddy okay yeah you ever pull.

off the side of the interstate and have. a [ __ ] five or six doritos dude. i could see you having five or six two. cool ranch doritos individual. triangles and you freaking go only two. no man like. you know the most and i love this. question because i think i am one of the. guys that people look at and they're. just like. man that dude lives it and i do but you. also have to realize that you're a human. being. and not a robot you know i'm not a. cyborg sent back in time to freaking. you know fighting a cage like okay right. then yeah.

take that question no but uh you know. just a normal person so like right now. you know you're catching me in between. like i just got done making weight. what was it pretty much like 14 days ago. yeah it was exactly 14 days ago so. for the last two weeks i've gotten i've. gotten workouts in. five six workouts so like a workout on. average every other day. just to give myself a some time to heal. and b some time to. almost feel lazy almost feel. like a schlub like you know like you eat. a little bit of crap you drink some.

alcoholic beverages be like i love. taking my wife out. eating some good food having some drinks. open up a bottle of wine. but i don't feel great afterwards and it. reminds me why i go into a 12-week. training camp where there's no alcohol. there's no bad food i'm eating out of. tupperware containers or. or my mega-fit meals which is a food. prep company that i that i use. and it's all just chicken lean ground. beef salmon. turkey lamb what about a lamb maybe no. not not in there but. i do i do like lamb lambs not bad lamb. my wife makes some good lamb and then i.

just couple that with like. three or four vegetables broccoli. cauliflower brussels sprouts sweet. potato and that's literally all i eat. for 12 weeks straight. so you could [ __ ] in a garden and help. it out. pretty much you know like a human human. compost and so so to answer his question. i love pizza um i i like a thin crust. pizza because man too much bread gets me. i'm not a chicago deep dish type of guy. i'm actually like a st louis style thin. crust pizza guy. true food here in town have you eaten. truffles yeah i've been over there true. food.

pizza divorcees in there too looking for. that next man yeah. exactly you know you can go in there. somebody ordered me i was like. hey i'm right there good looking woman. with mullet i'll take him with a side of. chardonnay. uh and so true food pizza is actually. like one of my favorite pizzas. but um and then man uh yeah so that's. what you cheated some. so also getting yourself probably to. feel a little bit like it gives you a. place to come back from and also. rewarding your body probably from what. you went through i mean that's very kind. of native american of you in a lot of. ways.

is just for sure rewarding your body. knowing that it's doing things for you. it does and and. and of course we got to be careful. because the food system that we live in. the agricultural system that we live in. is not very it's not as good as our. grandparents. our green peppers now are not as good as. our grandparents green peppers. unless you get them from the right spot. you know and trying to eat good. whole organic foods and whatnot so of. course you're doing a little bit of. damage by eating the crap but you're. also. a kind of kind of rewarding your body. rewarding your mind that okay let me.

take. take the let me take my foot off the gas. a little bit let me be a normal person. for a second let me let me harvest a. little body fat and let my body. thicken back up into into a kind of a. normal a normal body. and then obviously i'll shrink it back. down once fight comes but i was in. training camp essentially from march. all the way through october with my last. two fights and. and well like the fight october 24th i. didn't actually fight but i appreciate. our man there saying making 155 like a. professional that's why i did it you. know i wanted i wanted dana white. and the ufc fan base right away to see.

who michael chandler is i'm going to. show up. i'm going to be there on time on weight. i've never pulled out of a fight never. said no to a fight i've never missed. weight show up on the dot. who were you most excited so say you're. there i mean you were there. and overall was it a good experience was. it pretty crazy going over there had you. ever been to the middle east i had not. been in the middle east but. to me it was just more my first fight. week with the ufc and it couldn't have. been. better man it was so awesome obviously i. think. fight island fight week is a little bit. different than other fight weeks so they. rolled out the. red carpet for us they you know i was.

just getting to rub elbows with. my new colleagues my new my new. co-workers the from. dana white all the way down to the. person who like checks you in at the. very beginning who's. kind of new to the ufc all of them are. the new heartbeats that are in my life. they're it's part of my company. who i'm going to you know kind of sail. off into the rest of my career with. working with so i wanted to make it a. good impression on them show them who i. am. show them did you wear cologne or not be. honest cologne no. axe really no i'm joking no.

do people wear axe anymore sorry i don't. know great if you did it'd be awesome. hey i'm just wondering i gotta go check. in. yeah totally i'm sure this is guys doing. that. yeah yeah uh but yeah i just wonder if. you put on cologne or something yeah. because you're showing up you're kind of. the new kind of kid in the candy store. you're also kind of the new candy in the. candy store i am it and it's great too. because i'm not just. i'm not the young kid who got a really. sweet spinning back kick knockout from. dana white contender siri who's. 19 years old right i mean you can say.

sugar shawn o'malley if you want to. oh yeah actually actually that is. exactly who he is. but he came in great but yeah no but i. like you know sean's amazing and and. but you don't have that young you don't. it's not like you have you this youthful. hype you have this long trajectory yeah. and anybody who. the good thing is and i talked about. this the other day. you you can't outrun your reputation and. your reputation. takes years to build and seconds to. break down and just. fall by the wayside you know and i i. think i think i have a good reputation.

in the industry you know when it comes. to. and it was and it was great it got me in. trouble with a lot of the journalists. throughout my free agency process. because you know the biggest names in. in mixed martial arts like journalism. were like hey man give me some inside. information hey man let me break the. story but. i'm like listen back off this is gonna. i'm gonna let the ufc do their thing. whenever whenever. it comes out it's gonna come out i don't. i didn't get into the position that i'm. in without being a phenomenal employee. be a good employee and that's what these. young kids miss they got to remember man.

you're still an employee these guys. still sign your paycheck don't bite the. hand that feeds you. and that was me protecting myself. protecting bellator from before i. left bellator that was me protecting the. ufc that was me protecting the other. organizations that i was negotiating. with even though i knew i was most i was. gonna. head in the ufc direction if that door. opened itself but. you know i had a good reputation coming. into this. fight week and i think i exceeded x. people's expectations i hopefully were. like hope i had a lot of. a lot of the ufc reach out to me and say. hey man this is great to work with you.

you're easy to work with. you're eager i also just got done. talking yesterday to the one of the ufc. pr people and it's like. i appreciate you saying that but you. have no idea how underutilized i feel. like i've been over the last 10 years. you know. no offense to bellator but they didn't. use me enough they didn't build me. enough they didn't give me the outside. the outside uh opportunities to be on. the big stages i. i was utilized at about 20 percent i. believe. 20 percent was me stepping into the cage. putting on great performances for them.

which that's. you know one of the most important parts. but when it comes to being an athlete. man. microphones cameras voice word of mouth. that's how you build a great platform do. you feel like it's uh do you feel like. it was any. like like it was a shun towards you at. all or do you just feel like it's just. their company the way it is the size of. the company. you know like you can only get so big at. kmart you know before you walk into. walmart you're like damn you know they. got everything 100 no. i think it was it's their business model. they are they are the legitimate number.

two organization in the world. and their business model was hey we're. gonna run a skeleton crew we're gonna. put on. the best fights we can and we're going. to we're going to coast and we're going. to do our thing. that's fine but that's not it's it was. against the antithesis. against the theos of who i am what i am. is. is moving forward taking chances. investing time energy resources to. eventually reap the benefits and i think. that's what. that's what dana white and the ufc have. done man they they.

you saw it during the pandemic dana. white was the first person to get on the. microphone and say we will be back we. will be the first sport back. and you know guys like guys like i mean. it was it was uh. justin gaichy tony ferguson headlined. that that first card. and those guys were waiting in the wings. and i'm over here in bellator last fight. on my contract worldwide pandemic. waiting man when am i going to get the. fight and that's when fighting is. growing. fighting in itself like was growing at. that point like i started to learn a lot. more about bellator like. nick davis is our producer back in l.a.

and he's a huge. uh degenerate gambler and mma fan and um. but he's always like he knows every. fighter from top to bottom of every. organization. but he started getting me into different. bellator he's like you got to watch this. um so it's and even then fighting was. growing and so it is interesting kind of. that maybe. were you was bellator missing some. opportunities to grab onto some of that. market share even if. ufc was the one that was kind of leading. it 100 percent. one one thousand percent because even.

even though. you know they're different organizations. and and i think bellator. i think bellator it of course they used. you know they use the. coronavirus a pandemic in which the. whole world right now if if you you know. order a t-shirt offline it takes an. extra two weeks all they got to say is. well it's. coveted oh it's crazy everything it's. like you know it's like like we were. saying like you could go freaking rear. end somebody be like oh man i'm sorry. dude. you know covet and yeah it's like. coronavirus. so it's like everybody can use that and. not to downplay you know the disease but. people can use coronavirus right now as.

as a totally. an excuse for anything and oh i told a. guy you get an erection i was like i got. it. coronavirus exactly homovirus in my. penis. she's like it's nervous it's about. coronavirus but i had somewhere else but. she was a nice girl too actually man. she [ __ ] took care for like two weeks. hoping it would get better and it didn't. oh my god you know maybe it wasn't green. she brought you soup yeah it might just. be erectile dysfunction yeah. um so yeah it is interesting to see how. they haven't. maybe it maybe haven't picked up a lot.

of like. or just haven't grown their own business. and maybe they have i don't know but you. didn't feel like they were. no they haven't and they have grown and. they've they've built and that was the. thing about it like. i was i was content too and i said this. i i knew i was probably going to make a. change but i would have been. happy as well getting a really great. offer from bellator and. and retiring there and doing all that. and maybe maybe that was true maybe. maybe it was just a little bit of. negotiation taxes but there was part of. me that that that said man like i. i cared about those guys i cared i cared.

about building that organization is not. who they are without my fights with. eddie alvarez oh man benson henderson. me losing to will brooks and then coming. who was that pigskin guy you lost what. was that guy's name. pigskin no what was his nickname punch. uh. punch dog or something pitbull pitbull. pit bump. sorry i didn't know i didn't know who it. was. exactly did you feel bad did you feel. were you bummed that you didn't get to. fight him again before you left. no and that's that's the beautiful thing. about it i i've never really i'm not.

about. because to me it's not the person and. trust me i. there's no more animosity that i've ever. had with any of my. opponents than him because he's made. some baseless claims about me using peds. and just this kind of silly stuff that. has no. there's there's no he has a brother that. does it either like a stunt double or. something like a twin brother that's a. machine. for sure and they're both they're both. from brazil they if anything they you. know. probably have dab or and it's like. so i'm not really worried [ __ ] papaya. yeah. exactly so so we've had we had some you.

know our. interactions where we don't really like. each other but to me i'm like i don't. need to get that one back i don't care. the funny thing is i'm in a much better. position right now getting ready to. fight i'm one i'm one degree of. separation away from fighting for. ufc title i will be ufc champion by july. of 2021. so you think i'm worried about his. little self you know. yeah disgruntled he is he's not he's not. happy about his contract he's not happy. about. his promotion or where he's at or what. he's doing he's just an unhappy person. and. he wanted to throw shade at me because.

he has a scarcity mindset where. whereas i have an abundance mindset and. there's and it's very important to. distinguish the two. a scarcity mindset says because you are. having success that. that is going to take away from the. success that i could possibly grab. because there's a pie there's a pie and. there's only so much of it. man there's an abundance of of money. there's an abundance of success there's. an abundance of impact out there for you. to grab and your success. does nothing to take away from my. success that i'm allowed to have or able. to have and. there's a lot of people that's huge man.

and i've struggled with that in my own. success like getting more successful and. then getting scared you know and. operating from a place of fear man. that's it's very. and and it's it's the it's the wounds of. our past the. the stories that we've told ourselves. man i've told myself so many stories. inside my head that. where i would just sabotage myself and. give myself permission to lose instead. of permission. to to win permission to be successful. you know i grew out of it after college. luckily. but i just under performed so much in. college that. i said man i got to stop this i got to.

figure something out i got to take. extreme ownership of what's going on in. between these ears like you are what you. are and where you are because of what. has gone into your mind and the stories. and the in the. the myths and the trends that you tell. yourself over. you know your 30-year life or 40 your. life your 15 year old life whatever it. may be and. man you got to you got to kick that in. the teeth. here's a guy right here who has a. question right here. hey mike and theo it's aaron from. oklahoma city.

well this is a question for both of you. i guess theo you already have one but. mike would you ever consider growing. a nebraska nick warmer. you got that work of that bromane maybe. hanging off it maybe that's nice and. nice and not did he straighten that he. may have straightened he also may have. dyed it a little which i don't mind. what do you call it uh nebraska that's. skunk dip i don't know what it is uh. what's that you call it the nebraska. nebraska or you play the end of that for. us again riley. yes theo you already have one but mike. would you ever consider growing.

a nebraska nick warmer. neck warmer baby good have you ever. tried to uh. you know to increase your flare by doing. something wild like that you ever do a. rat tail or something i could see you. with a rat tail man i could i could do a. rat tail no. i i mean i haven't i haven't really i. mean the. i did have a haircut that was kind of a. little edgy you know when that movie the. fury came out with brad pitt i don't. know brad pitt where he's the tank war. he's not taking. that pitcher do you mind riley uh he's. the tank uh. operator and he's got like four other. guys three other guys shia labeouf and.

some young guy and. michael uh michael sarah michael sarah. michael sarah the skinny little white. guy yeah no not him michael. pena the like uh the latino guy yeah. he's hilarious yeah he's awesome. greatest haircut of all time dude and. you know he's got freaking. you know he's got plugs in in the front. or something where he got a hair. hair transplant had that hairline yeah i. got it did you really. yeah i got some of the mullet taken out. of the back and put into the front bro. did it ever fall out unprecedented i. don't know i don't even know if it ever.

even came in that's the problem. they they your hairline's like your. hairline's perfect though right they put. you to sleep. and then they or they don't put you to. sleep but they take it out of the back. and they put it into the front and so. the robot. uh no i have it do them hand by hand. some [ __ ] robot back there. you know what i'm saying that's how i. have a [ __ ] mustache. don't record this right now cause i are. you recording. it's fine i have a mustache because i. thought about it man like i got a. freaking. receding hairline you could do it easy. man it's real easy process. that's cool i thought about trying to. find somebody locally that would uh.

do it pro bono you know just to talk. about it i mean everybody's had it done. there's there's a. pla there's we grow hair dot com oh i've. seen the way i've seen that. you see the billboards right we grow. hair that [ __ ] sounds vague it's [ __ ]. up. i'm not trying to find a sharecropper. i'm trying to find somebody see this is. important this is important for for our. you know like our like you know 30 40. aged graphic where it's like man you. know a lot of people got some got some. head like look at the one look at brad. pitt right there. in his tuxedo man like look at that.

hairline that is absolutely perfect yeah. go click on that. uh riley please he's from missouri man. you know wow. but but anyway so that was probably the. most uh that was probably the most. kind of statement of a haircut i ever. made is i kind of did the fury for a. little while till my receding hairline. started creeping up too much and i was. like i mean it's. not working anymore i got to go with. this fauxhawk thing yeah it falls good. though. it's longer now i gotta get a haircut. but so yeah so that's about as. wild as you would go in the hair world. yeah i think so i'm going to ask you let.

me ask you about um. and sorry if riley seems a little off. right they just had his first kiss. actually the other day. kissed a girl for the first time really. what's her name man. uh where are we maddie yeah okay you. like her well. let's just say i did you did what. something happened. oh yeah uh last night i found out yeah. that she kissed another guy oh it was. way more than that. oh gosh oh my god man i'm sorry dude i. didn't know that and. unfortunately we didn't have you on mike.

today either riley i'm sorry about that. but. man well you had a first kiss. yeah a long time ago it wasn't bro who. was it be honest. uh i don't i don't remember. okay brandy. it was brandi with an eye oh yeah bro. brandi with an i. always kiss people dude brandi with an. eye yeah is the most missouri is that. where you're from missouri yeah missouri.

is the most missouri. randy with an eye lifts close to the. interstate bro i know that. brandi with an eye she used to uh she. used to invite all the rich girls. into she used to invite the rich girls. over and they'd ride bikes out and. they'd get in fights with the the other. kids yeah the poor kids. my kind of girl brand new that i. my first one was chrissy with an eye. christie hello christy when i would come. out of the woodwork and beat up mongoose. like what's up girl. you're on the wrong side of the tracks. [Laughter].

christy with a high damn so riley man it. fell apart huh yeah it did. oh sorry how do you feel about it you. all right are you. i'm i'm keeping it together keeping it. together that's good i am. well thanks for being here today man i. didn't know that that had happened and. we'll discuss it next time. um and sorry you had to be here to learn. about that news as well mike yeah what. the heck man. but it's not you man it's her you know. it's definitely her it's her loss man. um here's a young fella right here he.

says post malone dude. that could be post malone this one's for. mike i'm just wondering how long does it. take to get that freaking insanely. ripped. is it something that um it's always been. with you. or at one point when you started to. fight you know and do what you're doing. in training. did you notice it happening over time. and if so how long. gang gang gang brother yeah you're the. when i envision you being born that's. what i envisioned i envision you come. out of the womb.

you turn around and then you start doing. the ropes exercise with your own. umbilical cord. i like that no i think that's pretty. much how it happened. no i uh who got you into fitness. i mean i just it was a it was a it was a. byproduct of what i have to do. you know and i i just truly believe and. i and i get this all the time like. people will see me squatting heavy or. bench pressing heavy or. doing some dynamic stuff and people like. oh my god i'm my knees hurt just. watching that or my back hurts just.

watching this and i just. i feel for people because i don't know. what position they're in or what their. background is or how much they have or. haven't worked out but i truly believe. i've wrestled i wrestled for um. 12 years or whatever and now i've been. fighting now for 11 and whatever it is. 20 last 20 years i've been wrestling and. then now fighting and i have very few. injuries and i think a lot of it has to. do with. i think there's a genetic component. there's a luck component of course i'm. never gonna. never gonna act like there isn't but.

lifting weights heavy. external force of adding weights and. lifting heavy and bulletproofing your. body through strength and conditioning. has really made my body. you know very very dense i think my bone. density is very very. high and i get very few injuries because. of. strength training so i just loved it and. i realized if i can. put put in the work in the weight room. it's going to bulletproof my body inside. those wrestling matches inside those. wrestling practices and now inside the. mixed martial arts world and so i've.

been doing it. since college i mean college we lifted. two three days a week heavy. hard intense and then we were wrestling. six days a week so my body just became a. machine but. you know to answer his question it takes. me about 12 weeks. you know to get primed up to get. completely primed up you know to go from. you know 10 but i never get above 10. body fat. and that's one of the things about mixed. martial arts people like oh he walks. around at 198. and cuts down to 155 or 190 and cuts. down to 155 and it's like yeah. but how fat is he how how chunky is he.

you know we can all. have a propensity to get chunky and get. heavy but. for me i keep i keep my weight around. 180 two to 187. max usually right around 183 to 185 um. and 10 body fat you know because i just. don't like to get that. far out of shape and then it takes me 12. weeks of discipline. to shrink my body a little bit obviously. a lot of get rid of a lot of body fat or. probably six percent get down to about. four or five. six percent body fat lose a little bit. of muscle.

and then get down to 155. damn dude i. freaking i think i ate 10. body fat last night honestly yeah. um when you're in uh when you're in. uh dubai right that's where the fight. abu dhabi sorry when you're in abuja. and and it's getting close to fight time. did you have an inkling are you getting. word from people there that. both guys are making the fight like are. you is there a point where it starts to. feel like okay. i might actually be a real substitute.

and then it goes from okay this is i'm. just gonna be here yeah i mean i it. wasn't until the day before wayne's that. my man that my manager even kind of. asked. you know and then even then the ufc was. essentially like. well i would imagine you know by by the. morning after fight. fight or the morning after weigh-ins the. day at the morning of the fight by the. time that. we get word that habib and gaichi both. pass their coveted tests and they're. negative. you know you you should be pretty good. to go and then they were like well but. actually.

like what if they get hurt on the way to. the arena it was one of those deals. where i was essentially just the backup. all the way until those guys stepped. into the cage. at that point i you know had pizza for. lunch because. i mean what was i going to do like just. continue to eat chicken and broccoli all. the way till 9 pm and no. you know at that point you kind of just. look foolish you're just hanging out. outside of the ring like. going like this yeah exactly exactly and. it's one of those things too where it's. like. it would be an even better story i i. also like of course we joked. like with my manager my manager long. time manager randall allman was there. who.

um good friends with but he also handles. my stuff so we were there and it was. like. maybe just you know go like have a. celebratory beer or celebratory. you know have drink before this and be. like well yeah what if i get the call. joke and be like well kind of even. better story great story even better. story got the call while you know they. just pour to stella or something you. know and i'm eating a pizza. chandler beat khabib after two mai tai. exactly. you know like so i didn't end up having. an alcoholic beverage that day until. after the fights were over whatever but. it would have been we were just joking.

like it would have been an even better. story. and who would you let's go sorry guys i. would say and in some ways it would. probably make me fight even better. because i'd be like. i got nothing to lose for sure because i. just had you know two my ties and uh. um who would you was there a rather when. you're like if you started to think like. who would i rather fight. i i my answer to that is i love. i would love the idea of fighting both. of them but at that point you have to. fight khabib just because he's the.

number one guy oh wow really. yeah because if you're gonna fight i. mean yeah it would be better to have a. 12-week training camp focused just on. habib obviously when you have the. opportunity of a lifetime to. you know beat an undefeated fighter the. best fighter in lightweight history. and get the world title um but for me. you got to take the opportunities when. you can they don't just hand out ufc. you know title fights like it's nothing. so um. for me it would have been habib just. because i would have had the opportunity. to capture the belt that night. uh and a fight with me and justin gaiji.

is going to happen just like i said the. fight with me and poya is going to. happen these fights are going to happen. but so if you had the opportunity and i. knew we all knew habib. we didn't know he was going to retire. that night or at least say he's going to. retire we don't know yet but. i thought for sure he's going to have. one maybe two fights left in him so you. want to i want to get that fight before. he retires. i would not want to get that fight but. but that's a different mindsets man. now is when you're there and you're in. that environment is there a level of. royalty that kind of proceeds and.

surrounds khabib that doesn't surround. anybody else in a way. no i yeah i'm not i'm not really i'm not. that. do you feel is there anything like that. in the air no i'm just wondering well he. wasn't there that much to be honest with. you like i saw. justin gates a couple times his mom and. dad were there his brothers his brother. looks just like him they're all from. arizona they're kind of doing their. thing. man me and justin gates are very similar. man small. town blue collar wrestling families like. that's. it looked like my family walking around. if we were in in abu dhabi. at a at a hotel somewhere so he was.

there he was. present and he was seen a lot had a. couple conversations with him or his. team or whatever. habib was nowhere to be found habib had. like his own training facility he had. his own. hotel he had his own everything he. showed up in armored cars and. motorcades and helicopters and all kinds. of stuff so. he is like royalty over there because. it's middle east it's close to russia. he's he's uh. muslim you know so he's he's like. royalty so there there is but for me as. like a red white and blue blood in.

america i'm like. this is silly man right now it's like. whatever you know right so. but you got to respect it now i don't i. don't want to i don't want that to come. off like i don't respect. him like i respect him a ton as a. competitor inside the cage what he's. done his accomplishments. plus winning his last fight after the. loss of his father and all that kind of. stuff i respect him respect the heck out. of him for that but. for the most part he was like that's. just like all right bro. and i don't know he showed up he looked. like a skeleton at weigh-ins he looked. like. it was it was questionable whether he.

even made weight wow you know. you're just like dude be a professional. make the weight. show up with your chest puffed out a. smile on your face do your job. yeah there's a video where it says it. looks like they didn't even check his. weight kind of. did you supposedly they did you know did. you i mean. does that seem normal to you did it feel. i mean i will say i will say daniel. cormier brought this up. and it is true they at the hotel. i had to step on the scale and i weighed. 154.9. and uh then they said okay you can get.

on the bus. so if i was 155.2 or whatever there. they might have been like no you know. you can't get on the bus until you cut. the weight. then again maybe habib was like i'm. right at 155.1 by the time i get over. there i can float point one maybe the. scale. it's a a lot of times your balance. scales you know those old-school balance. scales are a little bit more lenient. than. your digital scale because the digital. scale will tell you point boom whatever. it is right. the balance scale all they have to do is. have a little bit of daylight. and you're technically in there so. there's almost like a 0.2 swing.

yeah um but yeah i mean he stepped on. the scale it was going up. they swiped it and but it's you know. it's conspiracy theory. yeah i mean it's it's man they've been. doing this for 26 27 years. you know there hasn't been many. controversies so whatever it wasn't. meant to be for me to step inside the. cage tonight nor nor would have. if khabib didn't make weight at that. moment he would have got time to cut. weight anyway so. i wasn't worried about it um here's a. question right here from a young fellow. right here.

what up theo it's your boy brody from. spartanburg south carolina. calling with a question from michael. chandler how you keep your head held. high after. ass whipping that's something i want to. know. gang baby love you love you too bro well. i know it's for michael but i i'll tell. you i remember when i was in school i've. told this story before but they. some kid beat my ass right which is easy. to do. if i was somebody else i would beat my. ass you know what i'm saying bro so. don't take a lot of. clout out of it you know like easy dude.

i was it was easy to beat my ass but. uh but afterwards at school they made us. stand in the hall. me and the kid that beat my ass and hope. put our arms on each other's shoulders. and we had to stand like that all day in. the hole so then like. i ended up becoming friends with the guy. he's still a friend of mine today this. kid brad castleman great guy. no way um yeah and it wasn't that good i. let him i let him hit me a couple. first three or four times i let him hit. me and then i fell down bro that was my. so you didn't get in trouble you just. had to do that. we had to do that yeah that's cool dude.

that's but it was interesting because by. the end of the day we were friends dude. you're like well we gotta say oh man. what so what do you like to do for fun. yeah yeah i'm totally proud that was it. right. like i know i hated you this morning but. like dude i really hate brad i really. hate joe you know like. yeah let's go we should go find joe man. bro come over i'll invite you over this. weekend. i got a rich kid coming over once you. come over and help me he's coming over. in his real shiny yellow horror with the. gyro over on the front. pegs yeah and his duck head freaking. shirt and shorts. um what uh that's a good question though.

how do you. how do you maintain some composure and. keep your head up after a loss. man i think uh kind of like what we were. talking earlier is it's it's all about. the process. too you know if whenever you realize. that the journey. is really the process you know like the. process is the goal the journey is the. goal realizing that you're going to have. wins you're going to have losses. and i realized over the last couple. years and it took me a while to realize. this that. every single person that i've ever. looked up to whether i know them or. there's. or or there's some sports figures some.

icon i'm like man that person i respect. them. they all have losses in their past. they've all have ups they all have downs. every single person you've ever looked. up to who has one has at one point or. another been a failure. failure of a competition failure or. failure of something. so when you realize like my next fight i. might lose i don't know. but don't be afraid of the loss don't be. afraid of it but when i have lost. for me it's the it's it's the beauty of. it being the most embarrassing one of. the most embarrassing moments of your. life because it's not like. you lost a a baseball game it's not like.

you lost a football game and you just. lost a fight. you know you just got bested by another. individual who is getting their hand. raised while you have to hang your head. or. and and collect half a paycheck and go. home and lick your wounds. um but i think it's just once again. realizing that losses are part of the. journey. right you know lick your wounds get. around the most important people in your. life be around the people that love you. be around. the people that believe in you be around. the people that love you whether you win. or lose make sure you stay built up.

and then take notes on how you can get. better how you can how you can become a. better. man competitor woman whatever it may be. wow man dude i wish you lived in my head. bro that would be helpful i could live. well we live in the same city now it's a. good point dude it's close man it's. pretty clean close pretty close because. that's definitely getting closer. uh here's a question right here that we. have from a young man. what up theo gang brother uh what up. michael hope you're doing well. hope your brain works all right uh mine. doesn't.

you know nine concussions and whatnot. but i imagine you feel similar sometimes. anyways i was wanting someone who's like. just getting into fighting and stuff and. like wanting to have that ability of. of of true self defense not just. swinging and wailing. um if if all i'm doing is watching these. videos right and not going to any. classes or anything like that what would. you say is the number one thing to pay. attention to some of the takeaways that. someone who is. overall like a youtube type learner how. can what can i do to take away from from. actual.

legitimate professional fights that. would help me. if i were to get in some sort you know. scrap of dapple. out here on these streets because it. gets tough out here in the central east. sometimes. amen you know so uh yeah man just. wondering what some of that advice might. be. i love what you guys do keep it up theo. you're the man. gang gang brother let's keep rolling. amen let's keep rolling man. that's a good question man because a lot. of net bangers out there they call them. when food's going wild they call them. net bangers and it's just me like. people that are learned just doing stuff.

only on the net not in real time. but that's a great question man nine. concussions damn bro he's [ __ ]. thinking with a rubik's cube at that. point. that was no offense bud but um but yeah. that's a great question michael what do. you got. yeah i mean uh there's a lot of people. you've talked about there's a lot of. people learning things through youtube. these days but i mean whenever when. you're watching fights. whether it's you know hopefully it's. professional fights you know so you're. you're learning from professionals if. you will um. man defense is underrated you know keep.

your hands up. uh learning watch watch how in a fight. people use the distance and the timing. a lot of times it's not necessarily the. biggest. punch that lands the one that they see. coming it's the one that they don't see. coming because you timed it perfectly. so when you watch some of these crazy. knockouts where a guy's looking looking. at you this way. expecting you to throw that jab but the. hook comes here and hits him in the in. the. in the chin from almost a side the side. you know. the t the distance the timing defense um.

and then the space between the two the. spatial awareness of of the the fighters. whether they're. uh going in for a takedown and then. throwing an uppercut. or looking like they're gonna throw a. head strike. and then go for the takedown you know i. mean obviously i don't know if my man's. looking to get into mixed martial arts. fighting in professional rings or if. he's just like he said. you know in the streets i guess he was. saying in the streets just have a little. bit of uh. self-defense but can you learn from. youtube or do you have to get out there. and practice. i think fighting you need to be that's.

something you need to need to be there. in the physical like in in person i. would say you know like obviously. you know you can you can't watch some. [ __ ] on your phone and then go fight i. mean it's gonna be harder. it is i mean i mean obviously there's. something to be said for fighters like. myself who uh. who i watch film and then i can like. almost learn through osmosis and say man. okay in my next sparring session i'm. gonna try this but. without that sparring session it was. just you know. and it's also real time it's fast the. craziest thing about fighting. is it's just so fast you're constantly.

reaction time and you only get that. reaction time. through 10 000 hours of repetition and. getting after it so you got to be there. there in the physical form i don't know. if they're in the central east if his. if his mma gyms are open now because of. the pandemic but man. get somewhere and get some drills in you. know in america we have. sometimes traditions that you know are. half half-handed. or haphazard and old-fashioned. it's kind of wild to think that a lot of. people are still wiping their buttocks. instead of washing it after they go to.

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you see like the fight between dustin. and connor supposed to happen. right um is there a preference and i. watched you the other day you were. talking about like a top 10 guys and. kind of raiding the top ten just just. sharing your thoughts on them you know. i thought it was really real eloquent. about it and shared some nice thoughts. about all the guys um. um is there like a fight that you really. want is there a fight that you. does it change day to day week to week. like a month ago if i'd. asked you was it a different person than. today so a month ago if you would ask me.

i would have said. you know it's tony ferguson um but then. after habib we saw my retiring and then. justin gates he was talking about. fighting within six to eight weeks. and then also connor and poirier were. talking about fighting 170 dana white. has made it very clear. if those guys are fighting 170 they're. not going to be you know. they obviously aren't going to be. getting a title shot you know anytime. soon. um as soon as habib retired you know i. was like hey man i'll fight justin. gaichi. next week for the title six weeks from. now november december [ __ ] i'll fight.

him at the breakfast buffet yeah. i'll fight him next tomorrow morning. before the plane takes off you know like. let's just. keep keep the octagon set up let's go uh. you know so so that was then so at that. point you that you're like yeah. so khabib's retired they kind of changed. things it changed things and i said hey. i'll fight i'll fight dustin. or i'll fight tony or gaichi. for you know whether it's the number one. contender spot or whether it's for the. title. because you had connor and and poirier. talking about fighting 170 so they were. almost. out of the discussion still right now.

you have. connor and poirier it looks like it's. almost done it looks like they're going. to be fighting 155 so those two are. booked. you got gateshea who just fought so. chances are he might want a little bit. of time off. so i think tony ferguson i say tony. ferguson for two reasons number one. he makes the most sense because he's. been the guy who set out the longest and. secondly. if i if i do think habib is coming back. i would say. he's beaten connor khabib has beaten. conor he's beaten pourier he's beating. gaichi now.

and he the only fight left out there for. him was the ferguson fight but if i. beat ferguson i leap frog ferguson and. now you get chandler habib for. his 30-0 fight or 29 in one fight. instead of tony ferguson so that kind of. gives me the best option to. to win leapfrog him fight a top five guy. and be the most appealing matchup the. most challenging match up for habit or. magamadoff wow. was it disappointing um when. and have you talked to tony about it you.

guys had some exchange about it right we. didn't exchange a little bit. um and then even he he commented on one. of my instagram posts like. train hard see you soon you know yeah so. he's such a unique guy he's such like a. yeah he's such a. he is an anomaly kind of he's an anomaly. he's a unique guy you don't know. you don't know you don't know what he's. going to say and then you also don't. know what he's going to do inside the. cage. you know so it's wild and it's just like. i think it's a perfect. it's a fight that scares me you know so. it's a fight that's great you know it's. great for me it's great for. great introduction for me so he's a top.

five guy he's a scary guy he was 12-0. before. he was on a 12-fight win streak before. he lost his last fight we can't forget. that like he's still. one of the most dangerous guys in the. division definitely the most. unpredictable guy. and how quickly that gets forgotten. after the gaechi fight so. he's in a crate i mean how quickly. suddenly he's like he seems. like there's this uh you know yeah he's. not the same guy. exactly and granted he took a lot of. damage in that fight but still man like. we all take damage you know we all. win or lose we take damage you know uh. so it's just.

it is a very much and that's the hardest. thing about it but i think it's also the. most beautiful thing about it. because the some of the fans do realize. what us fighters have to go through like. that our head is on the chopping block. essentially every single time we fight. where it's like man it's it's a what. have you done for me lately business. but going back to like you were talking. about poirier it's like it's cool to see. his. he he's become a hero win or lose he's. been one of those guys who are going to. come in if he wins people love him if he. loses people are. rooting for him wanting to pick himself. back up and get back in the wind column. and i looked at myself that kind of same.

way i'm gonna. i'm gonna come into the ufc no matter. what i might have you know five fights. left in me 12 fights left to me but. either way there's a bunch of big fights. out there for me to just have a blast to. be put on this. you know awesome platform who knows i. could go 500 the next. six fights i could go 8-0 my next eight. fights i could win the title and. hold it for ten years i don't know you. know so we'll see it's wild man. it's crazy and and it's so it's amazing. really that 155 is i mean it's really. almost the bet i mean it's. is there any division that has that much.

that many individual guys who have so. much. just like you're saying they can all. fight they could all stay in that in the. top 10 for the next five. 10 years yeah i i don't think so not not. when it comes to divisions you know you. got your individual guys and. then you've got a guy like israel. arasana who's who fights at 185 now he's. going up the fight for the title at 205. and jon jones just left 205 went to. heavyweight and. as adasana is talking about going up to. heavyweight so that right there kind of. shows you that there's not a ton of. depth in some of these and i don't say. that like they're still.

it's sometimes the depth that sometimes. it looks like there's a lack of depth. because. the champion has beaten all the one. number one contenders similar to like. kind of how khabib has done. jones too jonjo was nobody left for him. really he was fighting guys two and. three times. exactly but but you look at all the guys. that jones fought and if jones if we. take jones out of the picture and he. retired tomorrow like khabib did. you immediately start looking at dominic. reyes and john levojovic and. the guy with the thor hammer on his. chest he fights this weekend. uh santos thiago santos you know.

um just a ton of big name guys you know. so it's. big name guys but they looked not that. great against a guy like jon jones you. know so. alexander gustafson if yeah i love him. exactly so. but man look at the light look at the. lightweight division connor. is the anchor he's like the biggest name. obviously you got me the new guy who. came in. who came in right at the right time tony. ferguson was a household name poor yeah. he was a household name justin gaichi. who. is a household name and i mean you've. gotten thrown in i mean you.

suddenly like does it feel a lot. different being michael chandler. two months ago who was uh in. just you know in the not the xfl because. it's certainly a lot bigger than that. that's a shitty comparison but. it's it's similar i mean it's not it's. not the nfl you know. right yeah being adjacent right being. ufc adjacent to suddenly i mean this is. you know it's it's i mean it's. definitely like. it's like put you in a star spot in a. way you know it is it's cool and.

and it and a lot of it or some of it had. to do with the way that i came over and. and the. i guess even i i did bruce buffer's. podcast and he's like he's. like michael yeah exactly it's time. podcast bruce buffer was like hey you. know i've been with the ufc now for 25. years and i'm hard-pressed to. rack in my brain trying to think of. another free agent that came over and. got this much splash. and this much you know momentum and part. of that is great but part of that also. you know uh kind of exposes you to some. hate too because people like who's this. guy think he is man why is the ufc.

why are they force-feeding us mike this. michael chandler again who's this pretty. boy. yeah zach well that's part of it too. they're like this guy doesn't look like. he's just handsome. who's this lifeguard i read one comment. who's this lifeguard. exactly that's i'm like hey man i know. but it's like you even know cpr honestly. no i don't. unbelievable exactly man i can't even. swim. no it's like you know. but the good thing is i will get into. the octagon soon and people will realize. okay he's not just about. the bodyguard lifeguard looking dude. whatever and bodybuilder.

someone called me a fitness model. because i you know the ufc took some. photos of me on the beach and i'm like. what am i supposed to do man i'm out. here on fight island i'm probably not. gonna fight. let me do something you know like yeah. uh so it's one of them deals where. you know just do a little bit of. research look up my fights on youtube. yeah i've lost but i've also won i've. won in dominant fashion. you'll see you'll see the passion that i. bring to the cage and being bring to. that. and i will bring to the octagon so it's. uh. because it feels much bigger a lot of. people this is their first introduction. to your name. exactly so it does and it does feel much.

bigger it does you know the. the numbers are growing the the. notoriety is growing and in a lot of. ways. it it inspires me and motivates me to to. be better to. to work even harder to build even more. you know because like i said. it wasn't enough for me to just put on. the ufc gloves and put on the ufc fight. kit and take the photos. in front of the ufc green screen and get. on the ufc broadcast like man. i want to get inside that octagon and i. want to fight and i want to prove to not. prove i want to show the people who i am. win lose or draw that's that's going to.

take care of itself. yeah but the passion that i bring to the. k to the octagon. the preparation and the manner at which. i prepare myself. is is all going to stay the same if if. not be even more increased right now and. i'm excited for the opportunity how big. is that white chair there now. and uh in um abu dhabi. the white chair at the yeah that big. white chair at the ufc thing and then. like a big white chair out there that. people were sitting in. in the w at the um at the hotel in abu.

dhabi yeah at the ufc ring at the ring. out there didn't they have. a i didn't see a white chair he didn't. uh i just seen pictures of people. sitting in one. um did you see the picture was it like a. a wooden white chair or a beach. on the beach yeah it looks real big it. is big it is. it is it's really big and it's really. deep because i was like trying to lean. back and i couldn't. i got short legs don't tell anybody i. got some shorts. i mean i've watched a lot of hours of. footage of you i got some freaking short. legs. you can tell they're not extremely long. but yeah me and my i mean we have we. have a big couch in my house too and i. was like gosh dang i hate these long.

couches man because. if i get my my low back up against the. back of the couch my little feet. dangling. off you know like you're waiting for. christmas morning. like i'm so excited mom and dad you know. um is there a fighter you think that. that would that doesn't want to fight. you in that in that top group. i will say for a lot of guys it's risky. because you're that new element it's. like. and you're coming from a different place. where i mean i'm sure all the guys are. familiar with you for sure. but it's not what they've been looking. at it's not their you know when they're. looking at their top ten it's not what.

they've been looking at. the problem with mixed martial arts is. not the problem it's just the nature of. mixed martial arts is. everybody's tough to some degree then. there's some really then there's some. really really tough guys. who don't have that big of names and. then there's some really really big. names who aren't that tough. so there's this kind of paradigm shift. between. the two polar opposites of you know like. a guy like conor mcgregor his. i would say his name is bigger than his. fight skills but his fight skills are.

way up there but his name is way bigger. just because he's such a big superstar. right but then he got a guy like myself. who. my fight skills much much supersede. my my my name status in the game. because i've been outside the ufc for so. long and that's not. me comparing my skill against conor i. think we match up well together whatever. but. connor or uh you know poirier and. ferguson were both offered. me offered to fight me october 24th they. both turned it down for their different. reasons and you know.

some you know some they both brought up. money or they both brought up. don't whether it's timeline or maybe. they wanted to fight each other they. talked about you know. standing up for each other and then and. then poirier got the counter fight. or whatever so it was all an interesting. thing but i think i'm a dark horse of. the division. because people don't really want to. fight me because there's not really not. a lot of. upside to fighting me you know you could. fight it you can fight another guy in. the top 10 who's in the ufc who is a. household name like. i say a charizard charles oliveira he's. on a long flight. street yeah he's good he's got some wins.

he's been in the ufc would you fight him. i would fight anybody right but when i. already have the opportunity to fight a. top five guy and i've been told i was. going to get a top five. guy right away poor yeah or ferguson. like why would i ever. think about and that was the problem too. right the. khabib's training partner freaking. everybody wanted me to fight him because. his. because his opponent rafael dossanos got. covered and fell off the card so. everybody was like oh yeah. i'm like why am i gonna fight number 12. right when i already basically have. a name on a contract that's in the top.

five i'm gonna get a top five guy right. away i'm sorry if that makes people. feel a certain way i'm sorry if the fans. think that i'm entitled. or i'm sorry if the fans think that i. you know don't deserve it. maybe i do maybe i don't it's the ufc's. decision let me step into the cage let. me freaking. figure it out butt whipped or let me. prove to you guys that i deserve to be. in top five either way we'll know pretty. soon. man a lot of you just gotta wait to get. in there every time huh yeah. man well that's a problem that's the. problem with mixed martial arts man is. wrestling was great because if i lost it.

was 48 hours 72 hours four three four. days until i got to get back in the win. column and get a win if i wanted you. know if i if i had the opportunity. mixed martial arts man if i lose it. takes me four five six months to get a. win. and that's why that time between fights. and that's why i. i went into a hole man i lost i lost. three fights in a row. 688 days without a win back when i first. i've lost my first fight ever to eddie. alvarez very close. razor thin split decision lost my next. two fights because i just wasn't.

prepared. mentally to lose a and then when i did. lose it took me so long. to get in to get to my next competition. that i self-sabotaged or. or didn't build myself up enough and. told myself the lies that i wasn't as. good as i thought i was and. my doubters were correct and all that. kind of stuff um. it's not my journey to come back from. because especially when that's your. first fight. the first fight that first fight that i. lost and there was just like man. i can't can't i'm not who i thought i. was they were they were right.

the naysayers were right the media who. didn't believe in me was right. you know and then i just lost through. and that you know someday when i write a. book it'll be called 688 days. talking about you know and eddie alvarez. is a gangster. is there a guy god he's such a dude when. you're watching he remind he reminds me. like the greatest. guy to like i don't know what he reminds. me of. is there a guy out there when you're. fighting them when they who's the. craziest look in the eye person you've. ever seen. and it doesn't have nothing to do with. their fighting skills or anything but. who've you ever gotten in the ring with.

and you're like. jesus christ this guy is missing a. little bit of something. uh for me uh i think there's this guy. named dave rickles. who uh i fought twice who's uh. he he had a he has a really pretty good. career he actually went over to bare. knuckle. bare knuckle fighting so that'll show. you wow he's you know you got to have. kind of have a screw loose to go to that. place and fight freaking bare knuckle. right yeah yeah um but man he was just. he had this look in his eyes he was a. little nuts he was a little crazy. he was he's the kind of guy who would. carry like he was caveman it was.

his uh his name so he'd wear a barney. rubble flintstones. thing to the kids and carry a big old. club like barney flips. flintstone one time they they wheeled. him out in a coffin he opened himself up. pulled himself out of the coffin and got. out there like. he was a true showman but he was also. kind of a little bit nuts you know um. he was he was probably one of the. craziest guys i've ever fought. is there more are you noticing over the. time more of that wrestling kind of. flair. get into uh fighting as well or has it. gotten. less as your career has gotten into.

bigger fights. and you know more higher purse fights. and stuff and you. you know just more professional is there. more of that at a lower level or do you. think there's just more that coming into. the sport everywhere. i think i think there was a i think. there was the conor mcgregor. conor mcgregor era um that said okay. i need a trash talk i need gucci. sunglasses i need gucci flip-flops. i need a uh real or fake. good-looking watch i don't care if it's. fake i just want people to think i got. money. i got to talk i got to wear wear certain.

things i think connor came in. and it worked for connor conor mcgregor. is. an anomaly he is great on the mic he is. well read he's well. well rehearsed you're crazy if you don't. think that a lot of the stuff connor has. said on the on this microphone. wasn't rehearsed in the back in you know. in in in his room before he's going to. bed at night he's just rehearsing. different things. and so i think when i first got into the. sport there was almost none of it. then conor came in i think a lot of. people started you know.

trying to look high class nice cars and. this that and the other thing which. that's also just instagram models. there's so many of them out there so. we're also in the age of instagram. instagram but i also think. the tide is now shifting towards the. respectful honorable warriors i mean. look at our division i mean like poirier. is one of the most respectable guys. ever conor punched a guy punched an old. man in an irish whiskey bar and then. like his next fight was like he. apologized and he. he had his hair slicked back beat up. cowboy cerrone but it was a nice he he's.

trying to. play the respectable card realizing like. man i don't want to keep carrying around. this heaviness it's. it's a lot of heaviness to have a lot of. animosity in your life you know man like. you you can have certain spats with. people like if you're not on good terms. with people man like you don't need. enemies in life yeah it sucks. just so for anybody who's listening. right now if you've got toxic people in. your life. now imagine taking that and having a. toxic relationship between you and the. guy that you're fighting. how how would you perform when you have. that some people do well with it some. people do really bad with it i.

personally do really bad with it. bellator tried to build up this big. animosity thing between me and pitbull. and i'm not saying i lost because of it. but i didn't feel myself going into that. fight. so to answer your question i think the. sport is moving towards the more. respectable and i'll tell you right now. had a conversation with dana white on. fight island he told me hey kid. keep doing exactly what you're doing. we're getting a ton of great feedback. from the ufc staff from the ufc fans. from all the social media pages from all. the content all the stuff like people. are you are resonating with the fan base.

with the audience and. i'm the kind of guy where i'm just going. to be respectful i'm i'm gonna hey i. have honor in the sport. integrity of my life high character high. reputation and. it's always worked out well for me. pretty you know could i have sold some. more tickets and made some more money by. you know custom spitting fighting a. little bit more. maybe but i wouldn't have felt better it. wouldn't be not doing it yeah exactly. exactly maybe not let's get this. question right here man we might be. about to finish up what do we have here. riley. what's up theo what's up michael this is. quincy coming at you from the great.

state of texas. my question for michael chandler being. uh just lay out for me. what your dream career in the ufc is. when a lot of guys get here. they think you know hey i want the money. fights you know and do the connor gig. or you know i just want to chase glory i. just want a legacy i want a name. you know i want to know what that. championship so just lay out what's your. ideal career with the ufc and where do. you see it going. gang gang bro yeah cause that belt's. back in play now man it is that's a good. question man because that's. it's good because it's it's like what's.

what's the philosophy of of why i'd made. the decision you know just just to give. a little context i left. i left the relative uh the relative. surety of. easier fights and good money in bellator. good contract and bellator. comfortability of. being the big fish little pond and being. kind of the poster boy for an. organization. to essentially come over to ufc ask to. get thrown to the sharks thrown to the. wolves right away and see what happens. so to answer that question i think a guy. like. gaichi or tony ferguson.

fighting and showing the fans who i am. win that fight fight the way exactly the. way that i fight. prove to the fans okay this guy's here. to stay this guy's a legit contender for. the lightweight belt. and then fight for the belt whether it's. habib or whether it's connor poirier. whether it's. whether i'm the number one contender. after beating one of those guys and then. connor poirier is the number one. contender. we fight for the title sometime middle. of 2021 and then. uh and then after that just defend the.

belt and get the big fights because i. think. and a crown they should put a crown on. you guys man crown would be cool you. know or like a metal you know like. like an olympic gold medal you know yeah. crown would be crown would be cool. but keep going sorry oh no but then. you'll get a crown hopefully. and then uh and then defend the belt a. few times defend the belt a few times. and then for me i don't say get the big. fights just for the money but you get. the big fights because that's how you. get the attention you know it's like. it's like the gary vee uh approach of. capturing as much attention as possible.

if you don't have people's attention or. you can't get people's attention they. can't. they won't pay attention to you and they. won't you know. life is all about who knows you who. trusts you. and then who's going to to buy what. you're selling not just. money-wise not just buying products but. by what you're selling like. what kind of motivation are you selling. people what kind of. character are you selling people what. kind of what kind of theos are you are. you selling to the people so that you. can reach the masses and for me it's all. about. touching as many people as i possibly. can through this platform that i've been.

given. touching every walk of life every corner. of the globe hopefully. and uh so winning the world title. and then getting big fights either. defending the belt or you know. bmf belt or the big you know the big. fights with the big name guys to get as. much. attention and eyeballs on me not for the. you know not for the ego of it but for. the platform of it. yeah that platform yeah that's a good. point you know once people know you then. you can do stuff with it. yeah i mean that's and that's really. what it is because it's it's a catch-22.

and it's like. he just did that for attention and it's. like yeah as long as you don't ever. sacrifice your morals or your character. it's okay to do things for attention. you know like i came over the ufc. essentially for attention you know i. came over to ufc for. competition competition and attention. those are two things that i get from the. ufc that i'm that i couldn't. not that i wasn't getting a bellator but. i get more in the ufc. so it's okay to want more attention. especially if you've done things to earn. it you know. was there a time previously you were. going to come to the ufc and it didn't. work out or was there. how long did this i mean how long is.

this whole convo going on is it one of. those ongoing conversations for like a. decade what is it like so it's one of. those it's one of those deals where i. never actually became a free agent there. was some reports out there that. chandler's a free agent he's you know. he's gonna you know but i ever actually. you know two years ago and four years. ago. was on the last fight on my contract. ended up re-signing with bellator with. the one. fight left on my contract so i was never. a free agent until. august of of 2020 and uh. it just seemed like the right time this. time back then. because it's also it also depended on.

what the ufc lightweight division looked. like too. you know two years ago the landscape. looked a lot different you had habib as. the champion. you had conor off doing 100 million. dollar fights with floyd mayweather. he could come back leapfrog me whenever. you had poorier. coming in you one or one of those guys. had an interim title two years ago it. was either tony or. it wasn't poor yeah because i think. point was after that but maybe it was. tony i think tony had an interim title. habib had the title habib wasn't coming. back necessarily so it was just a weird. time.

it was a weird time for me to come in. now it. exactly what we thought now it's perfect. two years later i'm coming in at this. time which couldn't have been even more. so. two years ago and i said this to dana. when i spoke to him i said listen two. years ago. four years ago i wouldn't have been the. guy that you needed to be to come in and. be the champion and be the superstar of. this division and i truly believe that. i'm going to be that i don't say that in. a. cocky i don't say that in a cocky way i. just believe like i want. you got to believe it i just believe. that that's that's what's going to. happen and. and maybe there's going to be people. that laugh at me i fall flat on my face.

and that's fine but at least i find out. you know that's how i feel in my heart. right now and you can't you can't. knock a man for how he feels in his. heart you know a man who hitches his. dream to a star. that's the only way you can go out and. create create impact in your life and do. amazing things so. that's what i'm doing and man it's been. uh it's been cool but i never became a. free agent until just this year. and it just never seemed like the right. time to become a free agent until this. year. damn so it worked out perfect well i'm. inspired how do you feel riley. i loved every minute of it come on riley.

i like that man yeah. you're great thanks man did it make you. feel better about the girl. yeah hey there are so many fish in the. sea man. i didn't even meet my wife till i was. like 27 years old. yeah where'd you meet her at dude that's. a funny story. crazy story actually this tooth right. here. chipped it like broke it in half in in. college. my buddy justin cole jumped off the side. of the pool jumped on me. and i bit it down broke it but i told. them that i did it in wrestling so they. sent me to this mizzou.

a casual move there. yeah come on dude this sent it to them. to send me to the mizzou dentist the guy. who did all the dentist stuff. his name was kent willett i knew who he. was because he was a bible study leader. of my bible study leader he had a great. great uh reputation in town and i was. looking at these pictures of him i'm. like man. who's this cute little brunette girl and. all these family pictures of him it must. be his daughter and he's awesome i like. him. and i don't even know him if she's half. as good as she must be by being his. daughter he must you know she must be. awesome he fixes my tooth i don't say.

anything but i start looking her up on. facebook and just freaking fall in love. with her. yeah i've been there before yeah right. and then a couple a couple. weeks later i joined a bible study and. they start talking about this brie will. it girl and. that was her name pre will it i'm like. man that's that's that freaking girl man. like i love that girl and now. i hear them talking i'm just like kind. of listening like oh so she goes to. school here like what. is she cool what path does she take to. walk exactly yeah no well she wasn't in. the town she was she was out of town. you know she was a couple hours away in. indiana but luckily through facebook i.

think i frame requested her. she said yes because i had i had some. friends. that she respected and were like well if. he's friends with these guys he must be. all right. ends up being five years later until i. finally freaking send her a facebook. message i'm like hey. how are things like acted i kind of. acted like i knew her and she. you know she uh she you know responded. we talked. for a couple months she said hey i'm i'm. doing residencies or i'm applying for. residencies i'm getting off here here's. my email so we emailed back and forth. for almost two years.

she would she would wait like four five. six months to respond to me. i would email her and she wait freaking. three months to respond to me and i'd. email her right away. she'd wait two months to respond to me. 60 days for two years you know and then. finally i wore her down enough she got. coffee with me and then we fell in love. right there january 24th 2013 and called. his coffee in columbia missouri and. you met her the other night yeah. beautiful lady man we had a nice time i. came over for the um. just to watch some of the election and. yeah it was a nice time man yeah it was. fun man and then uh took some.

to go played i wish i would have taken a. bigger one yeah dude you should have man. we still got like. six pounds of brisket and i was thinking. i was like somebody's like i'm gonna. take it to go plate i'm like yes. they only got three people living here. yeah yeah yeah you need all of this. four-year-old exactly i was going out of. town yeah dude i'm glad you took some. that was still awesome if you want. something that was fun man um. yeah that's like my that must yeah my. whole thing is like oh yeah i'll send. girls like dms i'd be like hey did i see. you at the grocery. and then they're like i live in moscow. and i'm like oh.

well yeah i was there yeah. but i've seen those i must have been on. my friend's face time. he was walking through the grocery i saw. you but in the background. his name was vladimir yeah yeah yeah. that's [ __ ] great right over here um. that's all i got riley any questions you. want me to ask for you. all right michael chandler man dude it's. it's a pleasure to watch your ride man. and thank you so much for coming and. joining us today man. man thanks for having me it's fun yeah.

now i'm just floating on the breeze and. i feel like these. [Music]. oh but when i reach that ground i'll. share this piece of mind i found i can. feel it in my. it's gonna take a little. time for me to set that parking brake.

and let myself online. that light on me. i'll sit and tell you my story. [Music].