Latest / The MM-EH Show / Massive Wins & Big Fights Ahead! Clark, Bonin, Moore & Stoby | The MM-EH Show Ep. 9

Transcript

Massive Wins & Big Fights Ahead! Clark, Bonin, Moore & Stoby | The MM-EH Show Ep. 9 · The MM-EH Show

• 0:00
  Hey there fight friends. We have a
• 0:01
  special treat today. We are joined by
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  the main man from Fight League Atlantic
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  himself, Derek Clark. Derek, thanks for
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  joining us.
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  >> Yes, sir. Thanks so much, Andy, for
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  having me on.
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  >> Yeah, this is the second time uh when I
• 0:13
  did the MMA show a few years ago. You're
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  my first guest I ever had. So, that was
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  truly appreciated. And now here we are
• 0:18
  again. And and things have changed
• 0:21
  slightly for both you and I, but mostly
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  they're the same. I mean, you're still
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  living your life. You're still teaching
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  martial arts and you're still putting on
• 0:28
  the best MMA show in the Maritimes.
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  >> Well, thank you very much. And and you
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  you know doing the same, hosting the
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  best show in the country and doing your
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  thing and and pro, you know, pushing the
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  platform forward and that's what it's
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  about. A little bit older, a little bit
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  grayer on my end, but uh
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  >> still here. So, thank you. You know,
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  it's an honor to be on the first show
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  and be back. So, thank you.
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  >> Oh, hey. Always always for sure. So, uh,
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  why don't right off the bat, why don't
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  we just, uh, I'm sure we can talk about
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  whatever we want to today, but let's
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  start off with your next event. Fight
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  League Atlantic 24 is happening on the
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  25th of April in Picto, Nova Scotia, and
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  so far you've got five bouts that are
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  announced for it. Just uh, tell us a
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  little bit about FLA 24 and if it's
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  going to be the same as your other shows
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  or something different or what's going
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  on there. Yeah. So, FLA 24 um back in
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  Picto, my hometown, uh the the Shire
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  town as we call it, a small little
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  hometown of about, you know, maybe 2500
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  people. And so far, we have four pro
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  fights on the card. Maybe maybe we'll
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  have five. We'll see what it'll shake
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  out here. Um but we have a a great
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  roster of pros and a great roster of
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  amateurs as always. So, probably about
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  10 10 to 12 fights as normal proam show.
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  And uh second fight on UFC Fight Pass,
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  which is super exciting for us.
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  Obviously, our first uh first card
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  February, a phenomenal event. The
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  fighters really showed up and Monton
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  showed up. It was a great crowd and it's
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  it's phenomenal for us. So, we're kind
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  of taking that um you know, kind of
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  momentum and moving it into FLA 24 and
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  Picto and just expecting a a big year
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  ahead.
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  >> That's awesome. Oh, yeah. I lost your
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  camera for a sec, but you're back. So,
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  speaking of that, uh UFC Fight Pass is a
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  is potentially a huge thing for you.
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  It's going to get your organization
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  exposed to a whole lot more eyeballs,
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  non-Canadian eyeballs, which is huge.
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  Um, but I noticed it's not it's not
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  live. It's like a like a a licensing
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  deal or something. How's that working?
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  So, they'll replay Fight Atlantic after
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  it's over. And if so, is there ever a
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  chance that you're going to be on the
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  full-time like live shows on on UFC
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  Fight Pass?
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  >> Yeah, it's a great question. So, yeah,
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  it's it's a phenomenal deal for us to be
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  honest. The UFC, we've been kind of in
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  discussions with them for a little bit
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  now. just kind of they've been, you
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  know, I guess we've been on their radar,
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  I guess, here in Canada. You know, our
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  athletes are doing really well and our
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  community and our scene here is, you
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  know, doing really well and and our
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  events are doing great. So, they
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  approach us uh and uh like I said, the
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  deal has been just great because it's
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  it's a we we get to run our pay-per-view
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  and then the video on demand on the
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  other end where you know the the product
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  gets uploaded on UFC fight pass in front
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  of millions of people. the fighters get
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  to see their, you know, fights on the
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  biggest platform in the world for combat
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  sports, which is a no-brainer. And, uh,
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  it's good for us to to a they can get
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  their eyes on our product a little bit
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  more, like the the UFC, get our
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  fighters, uh, on their eyes a little bit
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  more, but, more importantly, kind of
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  develop our brand into that live event
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  product at some point. So, that's the
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  plan. And uh yeah, we're super excited
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  for video on demand and very happy to
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  have what we have. You know, it's for
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  us, you know, small town kids just doing
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  what we love to do and to be on a
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  platform like that. It's an absolute
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  honor and dream and that for our
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  fighters, that's the key, right? So,
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  it's it's awesome.
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  >> Yeah, you're right about doing it for
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  the love of the sport. I I remember
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  before Fight League Atlantic even
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  existed, you were putting on the
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  Kumatay. You were pretty well I actually
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  I'm not sure if that was before FA, but
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  it was around the same time. I know the
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  kumites were there and uh you were
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  putting on events and you were putting a
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  lot of time and effort into it and
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  sometimes uh you expressed your you know
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  uh publicly you expressed your sort of
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  discontent somewhat with like ungrateful
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  athletes and things like that but you
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  know whatever but it seems like it's
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  it's gotten to be to a pretty great
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  state now where it's it's beneficial to
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  everybody. So, you know, how did you for
• 4:16
  the people who are new to Derek Clark,
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  maybe just talk about your your
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  background in combat sports or training?
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  Was it jiu-jitsu you started or
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  something else and how you got to where
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  you are now?
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  >> Yeah, it's I I kind of started late. I
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  was 27 when I started jiu-jitsu. So, I
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  was a little bit late and uh guys like
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  Dan Vanderlands and Mike Kitson who I
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  first kind of met and then I I ended up
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  in a club picana jiu-jitsu with my
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  coaches Jared Macintosh and and Jason
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  Roorson and I've been with them ever
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  since. and and uh I got my black belt in
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  2019 and um just absolutely love the
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  sport and what it kind of did for my
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  life and and just the people around me.
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  It's it's an absolute just like you know
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  you know you go to the gym and you see
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  all these athletes what they dedicate
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  and I'm you know by no means do I think
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  I'm a world-class fighter or anything
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  remotely close right but I really love
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  having that
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  >> like I played team sports growing up and
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  I love that team camaraderie and that
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  like you know that that support from one
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  another and people going through it and
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  having the emotions and the up and down
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  in the sport and and there's really
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  nothing like it and so if I can have you
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  know I come from an event planning
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  background so I kind of mix the two back
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  in today what you're talking about is
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  submission series pro. So we used to do
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  those grappling shows where we would
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  bring like you know like the Diego
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  Sanchez or Tom Delas or you know all
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  these guys would come in and compete
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  against our local black belts and um you
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  know again thankful for people like you
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  know Peter Martell and Mike Williams and
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  these people who they laid the
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  groundwork of putting on events for us
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  and for our athletes to eventually guys
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  like TJ and Gavin and and uh Roger
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  Holllet and the list goes on and on from
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  out here who kind of laid the pathwork
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  for what's going on now out here. And
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  it's it's just awesome to see. So,
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  that's how that's kind of how I got in
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  the sport, just jiu-jitsu. And I have a
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  kids club here now. And I love it. It's
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  just uh it's become my life and and
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  sometimes my identity, which my wife
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  doesn't like so much, but it's, you
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  know, it's it's it's awesome. I love the
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  sport and I'd rather have it no other
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  way.
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  >> I think they're they're lucky to have
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  you out there and I'm really happy that
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  you took a moment to give flowers to the
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  people who came before you. Peter
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  Martell, of course, Extreme Cage Combat.
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  He ran that with Rob Walker and Kevin,
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  >> what's it? Kevin Taylor. Kevin Taylor,
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  three of them. They ran that.
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  >> Yeah. And then Mike, Mike, uh Williams,
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  he he did the Elite One in Monton or New
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  Brunswick. Anyway, uh both great
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  organizations, but uh they went their
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  way and they they stopped for whatever
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  reason. How is it that you saw there was
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  a need for you to step in and create
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  Fight League Atlantic and and how was
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  that process?
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  Well, obviously John and I, you know,
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  like going back to jiu-jitsu a little
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  bit, like John, it's funny because John
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  I, John used to host, as you know, the
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  AIA Open grappling championships, which
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  at that time was the largest grappling
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  tournament on the East Coast. And he did
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  a really, really good job with it for
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  many, many years. And that was the first
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  tournament I ever competed in. He was
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  actually my ref and during the match.
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  like we just all we kind of got along
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  early on and and we kind of ne like
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  Elite One was doing shows, Peter was
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  doing shows, but they were very sporadic
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  at the time and and uh I was heavily
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  involved in the jiu-jitsu shows and just
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  kind I always compared in jiu-jitsu. I
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  was like
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  BMX versus motorbikes, like motocross,
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  what's what are people going to watch if
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  they're side by side? And it's like
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  they're always going to watch motocross
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  cuz it's louder, it's more action, it's
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  more danger. And so I realized like
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  through like just we would sell maybe
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  200 tickets in jiu-jitsu. It's very
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  niche sport. And I said, well, if I'm
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  going to keep wasting my time and and
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  John kind of said the same thing. He's
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  like, let's try it. Like we really have
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  no idea what we're doing, but we can
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  give it a shot. And we did the first
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  one. And um then we got shut down by
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  COVID and we were kind of in a little
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  deep at that point cuz we did the first
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  one and we kind of got the itch and the
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  addiction of what it is. It's cuz it's a
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  very high rush like it's it's a crazy
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  kind of thing when you really when you
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  when you do it. It's like a super it's I
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  don't know how to explain it but it's
• 8:14
  it's awesome. So, long story,
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  long-winded answer, but yeah, that's why
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  >> I I I I bet, you know, I'm not in your
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  situation, so I don't know, but I can
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  imagine that the leadup to the event is
• 8:25
  really stressful and nerve-wracking and
• 8:27
  a lot of moving parts, and you're always
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  probably a little frantic, some degree,
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  franticness, trying to get it ready.
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  >> Do when the event actually comes, are
• 8:35
  you able to sit down and actually enjoy
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  it as it's happening or are you still in
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  that state of uh of effervescence where
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  you're all over the place like concerned
• 8:42
  about everything? Well, it's kind it's
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  funny you say that because like John and
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  I are different kind of like promoters I
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  would say than a lot of other promoters
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  because like you'll see on a lot of
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  events like John's out back dealing with
• 8:54
  athletes sometimes he'll be like you
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  have fighters on the card sometimes as
• 8:57
  an amateur or whatever, right? So he
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  like he's kind of runs the back room
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  with the commission and does that kind
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  of stuff and I'm out front dealing with
• 9:05
  the front of house and the in the
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  production and stuff. And there's been
• 9:08
  many times like we once our intro starts
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  and I'm out back like our technical
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  director will look at me and once the
• 9:16
  show starts like when that intro comes
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  on I'll he's he looks at me and I'll be
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  crying. He's like man what's wrong with
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  you? And I'm like, it's just like the
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  actual emotion after everything because
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  it's
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  >> like the commissioner and I always talk
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  and it's like uh he says at 5:00 he's
• 9:31
  like you can build your the muscle car
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  all the muscle you like but he's like at
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  5:00 you hand me the keys and that's how
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  it works. So it's like I always say like
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  at 7:00's coming whether I'm ready or
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  not. So I I make sure I'm ultra
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  prepared. I'm ultra as people who are
• 9:46
  around me know like they like you're
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  nuts man. But that's like I'm one of a
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  very few group of people and John
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  included and a few other promoters that
• 9:55
  can do this kind of stuff. And that's
• 9:57
  why it's super difficult to do and you
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  have to have a wonderful team around you
• 10:01
  filled with amazing people who really
• 10:03
  know what they're doing. And I'm very
• 10:05
  thankful that because we just we we have
• 10:08
  a wonderful team period like who just
• 10:10
  really like and and also teams like the
• 10:13
  teams make it really easy like it's a
• 10:15
  it's a just the events become really
• 10:17
  smooth at this point because I think we
• 10:19
  just because going back to those
• 10:21
  jiu-jitsu events right
• 10:23
  >> for sure now you said the name John
• 10:25
  twice now so for people listening that's
• 10:27
  of course John Foster. Well I said of
• 10:29
  course but maybe it's not of course to
• 10:30
  you. John Foster is a former
• 10:32
  professional mixed martial artist. I've
• 10:33
  had the pleasure of watching him fight
• 10:34
  in person a handful of times, including
• 10:36
  when he got his wrist broken by Sunjin
• 10:39
  Lim at an elite one with a spinning heel
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  kick. Oh my god, I could hear that snap.
• 10:43
  >> But awesome guy. Uh maybe just take a
• 10:45
  second and talk about John and and how
• 10:47
  he ties in with Fight Atlantic. Is he a
• 10:49
  co-owner? How's that work?
• 10:51
  >> Yeah, John and I own it together. uh you
• 10:54
  know just to again like that we found
• 10:56
  that there was a niche there and we both
• 10:58
  have really
• 10:59
  strong um sides to what we bring to the
• 11:03
  business I think like John is obviously
• 11:04
  he's a you know got a few other
• 11:06
  businesses and so do I and he's been
• 11:08
  like very very helpful for me behind the
• 11:10
  scenes and a lot of things and he just
• 11:12
  he brings a lot of things that I don't
• 11:14
  have and I have a lot of things that he
• 11:15
  doesn't have and really makes a great
• 11:17
  team and he's a great business partner
• 11:19
  great to listen to people and and uh
• 11:22
  just to vent to and just kind of help
• 11:24
  help lead the way with a lot of
• 11:26
  knowledge. And so he's been awesome.
• 11:28
  Like again, he's a black belt in
• 11:29
  jiu-jitsu, so he's he's a great guide
• 11:31
  for a lot of amateur fighters and he's
• 11:33
  well known in the community, too. So,
• 11:35
  especially with that, you know, he's
• 11:36
  been around like you said, he fought
• 11:38
  back in the day and he's been a big part
• 11:39
  of the community from there and then to
• 11:41
  his grappling tournaments and and yeah,
• 11:43
  so he's just a just a great guy and and
• 11:46
  uh yeah, it's so it makes a good team.
• 11:47
  It makes it makes it easy for sure.
• 11:50
  >> That's great. and it's reflected in the
• 11:52
  quality of the of the shows that you put
• 11:54
  on. Uh I've yet to attend a live FLA
• 11:57
  much to my chagrin as you know I I
• 11:59
  really really want to go um and I and
• 12:02
  see it in person but online it looks
• 12:03
  like it's a fantastic it looks like it's
• 12:05
  wellrun well organized you've got people
• 12:07
  that are competent uh your announcers
• 12:09
  Craig Ferguson does a great job
• 12:10
  announcing everybody that seems to be
• 12:12
  there from my external eyes it looks
• 12:14
  like everyone's happy to be there which
• 12:16
  is really kind of cool to see
• 12:19
  >> yeah we really preach environment um at
• 12:22
  our shows it's that's a big thing like I
• 12:24
  I and I like I always said like for me
• 12:27
  I'm like I'm kind of like an event
• 12:29
  planner. I'm not a fight planner. Like
• 12:31
  our events are are events are events.
• 12:33
  It's not a fight night. So you're
• 12:35
  selling an experience and that's what
• 12:36
  like we you know our technical director
• 12:39
  are on air team from you know Craig to
• 12:42
  uh Chris to Tim to Sarah. They all do a
• 12:45
  phenomenal job and bring something
• 12:46
  different to the production. And I think
• 12:48
  that's a lot of the a lot of the what
• 12:51
  people really love is when they come to
• 12:52
  the event, it's an event. It's not just
• 12:54
  like there's a lot going on in between
• 12:57
  the fights. There's no waiting. It's
• 12:59
  like bam bam bam.
• 13:00
  >> It's like you open the doors on time,
• 13:02
  the the show ends on time. There's never
• 13:05
  knock on wood other than the
• 13:06
  power going out. So like things like
• 13:09
  that. It's like you know and and I will
• 13:11
  say too um our crowds like we draw from
• 13:15
  three different provinces and as you
• 13:16
  know the east coast are a little bit of
• 13:18
  a different funny rowdy kind of crowd
• 13:21
  who love a good night out and we have
• 13:24
  phenomenal fans man and a lot of them
• 13:26
  are young like young kids who come out
• 13:29
  and just like have a ball of a time and
• 13:31
  and that's that's what we love here man.
• 13:33
  We want to make it a good experience. We
• 13:35
  want people to come back but also
• 13:36
  familyfriendly like you know you can
• 13:38
  bring your kids the it's not a like you
• 13:40
  see kid like Ben Lee he might knock a
• 13:42
  guy out and then next thing you know
• 13:44
  he's out in the crowd taking a picture
• 13:45
  and have with the kid and that's what we
• 13:47
  want right build the sport in the right
• 13:49
  way a classy way and yeah
• 13:52
  >> you just said the words build the sport
• 13:53
  in a right way and a classy way and I
• 13:56
  think that applies as well to fight
• 13:57
  league Atlantic itself. I think you've
• 13:59
  built it in a very smart way and I've
• 14:01
  commented to this you uh several times
• 14:03
  and that when you started out it wasn't
• 14:05
  like you see a lot of fight promotions
• 14:06
  they come into existence out of nowhere
• 14:08
  and they all of a sudden bring in like a
• 14:09
  a UFC veteran for the main event and and
• 14:12
  sure maybe a couple of the local people
• 14:14
  might recognize the name from a UFC or
• 14:16
  something but to to sustain an
• 14:18
  organization at a local level you need
• 14:20
  to really have the support of local
• 14:22
  athletes and their support systems and
• 14:24
  their families and their friends and
• 14:25
  stuff and you've done a great job with
• 14:26
  that from the start. always bring in
• 14:28
  local guys. It was really at the start
• 14:30
  it was like a lot of your fights were 0
• 14:32
  and0 fighters fighting 0 and0 fighters
• 14:35
  >> and then you know the event later you
• 14:37
  had a 1 and0 fighter facing another 1
• 14:38
  and0 fighter and pretty soon you've
• 14:40
  built up your roster you've got guys
• 14:41
  who've been with you for 10 fights and
• 14:43
  more. Uh they're having a lot of success
• 14:45
  they moved on to professional. Um was
• 14:47
  that something that you really took the
• 14:48
  time to to make sure you wanted to do at
• 14:51
  the start or was there any other option?
• 14:54
  >> Well it was kind of kind of a mixture of
• 14:56
  both. That's a really good question cuz
• 14:58
  like obviously you know at that time
• 14:59
  going back to like the other promotions
• 15:01
  at that time like they did a really good
• 15:03
  job of building that that crop of
• 15:05
  fighters like the the Savois the Pat
• 15:07
  Carrolls the the Alder Keith the Justin
• 15:10
  Bourgeois the Morgans the guys who
• 15:12
  really like built again like the local
• 15:14
  stars in the community. So um and then
• 15:17
  it kind of was like again events were a
• 15:19
  little stagnant and then of course CO
• 15:21
  happened. So co really like every
• 15:24
  community it kind of delayed and and
• 15:26
  derailed a lot of people's careers, a
• 15:28
  lot of people's businesses. So we had to
• 15:30
  really kind of restart. But that was our
• 15:32
  always our goal. Like that was a some
• 15:34
  coaches I get into it with them because
• 15:36
  it's like I went 17 guys on this card
• 15:39
  and it's like no I'm like this is how
• 15:41
  this like this whole business was built
• 15:43
  community focused and when we went back
• 15:45
  to submission series it was always I
• 15:47
  said that's how this is going to sell
• 15:49
  because again the O and O amateur
• 15:51
  fighter is going to sell 50 tickets and
• 15:53
  the more he fights unless he's a star
• 15:57
  he's probably going to sell less. So
• 16:00
  like you have to be real special because
• 16:02
  only so many people are going to
• 16:03
  continue to spend their money to keep
• 16:05
  coming to watch you every 3 months or
• 16:07
  four months or whatever it is. It's a
• 16:09
  very expensive sport to watch. So you
• 16:12
  have to be good and you have to take
• 16:13
  those opportunities and you have to kind
• 16:15
  of run with them. But
• 16:16
  >> um that was always our goal going back
• 16:18
  to like the pro amateur like have have
• 16:21
  this person from St. John fight this
• 16:23
  person from anesh and this person from
• 16:24
  Cape Breton fight this person from
• 16:26
  Freredton or PEI versus wherever. So it
• 16:28
  was spread out and all like you you have
• 16:30
  everybody from one team. You sell no
• 16:32
  tickets. So it's it's some people miss
• 16:35
  that. But it's a business unfortunately.
• 16:37
  It's a business and it that's
• 16:39
  >> everybody's got to eat, everybody's got
• 16:41
  to make money and everybody's got to,
• 16:43
  you know, have
• 16:45
  uh value for their time to move forward.
• 16:48
  And so, you know, John again, you know,
• 16:50
  been a been a great leader in the
• 16:52
  business department for, you know, for
• 16:53
  us. And it's it's been going great. We
• 16:55
  we try to do everything like I said
• 16:58
  before within our means and that's very
• 17:00
  important for us. Um we try not to spend
• 17:03
  we have amazing athletes but you're not
• 17:04
  going to see us bring Shogun Rua in or
• 17:06
  or
• 17:08
  >> Forest Griffin to commentate or whatever
• 17:10
  like you know nothing but respect but we
• 17:12
  just can't afford it. So
• 17:16
  >> in your opinion who are some of the
• 17:17
  breakout fighters from the Fight League
• 17:19
  Atlantic structure that you've built?
• 17:22
  I'm talking about fighters that maybe
• 17:23
  can potentially become household names
• 17:25
  around the world at some point.
• 17:28
  >> Well, you obviously you got the mummy
• 17:30
  there. You know, Abdell, you know, he's
• 17:32
  got star written all over him. The kid
• 17:34
  is absolutely phenomenal. He's yet to be
• 17:37
  kind of tested. So, we'll see what
• 17:38
  happens here in June. Hopefully, he can
• 17:40
  defend his title and and uh get the call
• 17:43
  because like that kid deserves it. You
• 17:45
  know, he's put in the work and very very
• 17:47
  short amount of time, too. He hasn't
• 17:48
  been training that long to be honest.
• 17:50
  Like I remember back when we were doing
• 17:51
  the puma which like he started and then
• 17:54
  he started tearing those up and then
• 17:55
  just moved into MMA and
• 17:57
  >> so that's why they call him the mummy.
• 17:58
  But
• 17:59
  >> that's of course Abdel Abdeliz and when
• 18:01
  I posted my interview with him a couple
• 18:03
  months ago I think did he say he started
• 18:05
  when he was 30 something like that or am
• 18:07
  I wrong?
• 18:07
  >> Uh no I think he's 30 now or may well
• 18:10
  maybe you're right. I think he might be
• 18:11
  31 now but I think he started a little
• 18:13
  bit before that.
• 18:14
  >> Okay. Yeah, I'm I'm
• 18:16
  >> I could be incorrect there, too. But,
• 18:18
  um, you know, I I think then obviously
• 18:20
  you got a couple other guys. You know,
• 18:22
  Cam Nelson is, you know, right behind
• 18:23
  him. He's 6 and1 who's a a local kid who
• 18:26
  who Henzo Gracie um product um God bless
• 18:30
  his soul. Matt McGrath, you know,
• 18:32
  brought him up from amateur right into
• 18:33
  pro and now he's splitting his time and
• 18:35
  he's in Niagara top team, too. Um and
• 18:38
  and doing phenomenal. Great kid.
• 18:40
  Represents the sport really really well.
• 18:42
  Represents himself well. um speaks well,
• 18:44
  fights well, and uh definitely has star
• 18:47
  potential. Um our champ in that same
• 18:50
  division at the moment, Jeff Craig. Um
• 18:54
  170 lbs out of California. Um kid is
• 18:58
  fighting. He's fighting coming up in
• 19:00
  dirty boxing and then you can see him
• 19:01
  back you're going to see him back
• 19:03
  defending the title I would expect in
• 19:04
  June. So
• 19:06
  >> um that kid has a ton of star potential.
• 19:09
  uh he came here and when he fought
• 19:10
  Christian and hell of a fight and not
• 19:13
  only that he won over the crowd being an
• 19:15
  American they booed him on the way out
• 19:16
  and on the after he won the fight they
• 19:18
  were applauding him and you're just
• 19:20
  really good on the mic and and uh really
• 19:22
  flashy. Um and then you got to you know
• 19:25
  the other the other pros you got you
• 19:26
  know on our roster we have a few other
• 19:28
  pros on our roster but the one who's
• 19:29
  kind of made uh you know who's who's
• 19:32
  really made an impression on me as of
• 19:34
  late is Gino Porier. He's uh you know
• 19:37
  the kid you know he's he's only 2 and0
• 19:39
  but more importantly Andy he's willing
• 19:42
  to fight anybody
• 19:43
  >> like we I I I went through almost 120
• 19:47
  people to find him his first fight with
• 19:49
  us there against Ruiz. It was a lot of
• 19:52
  work to to get him that and he was
• 19:53
  willing to
• 19:55
  >> you know he fought a guy with 15 pro
• 19:56
  fights on his you know second pro fight.
• 19:59
  So even though it was a couple weight
• 20:00
  classes below him but
• 20:01
  >> just a great kid all around good kid too
• 20:04
  and you know you got Luke to St. Qua
• 20:06
  there who just, you know, he's a 3 and 0
• 20:07
  who's been with us for a long time,
• 20:10
  former amateur champ and wonderful kid.
• 20:13
  Um, you know, Ben Lee, Rory Gillis, the
• 20:15
  list goes on and on, but you know, the
• 20:17
  breakout stars that I think, like you
• 20:18
  say, could rate now who are ready, uh,
• 20:21
  you know, I would say those, you know,
• 20:22
  top three or four guys.
• 20:24
  >> Sure. Now, you mentioned Gino Poria.
• 20:26
  He's from Tristar in Montreal. It's not
• 20:29
  often that you see outsiders come to
• 20:31
  fight the Atlantic. I'm not saying you
• 20:32
  never do. It does happen, but it's not
• 20:34
  like it happens every card or half the
• 20:36
  card sometimes are fighters from away.
• 20:38
  Most of the guys are local. How did you
• 20:40
  attract Gino to come and is it do you
• 20:42
  see yourself bringing in fighters from
• 20:44
  more fighters from Quebec or Ontario in
• 20:47
  the future?
• 20:48
  >> Well, it go again. So, Gino's local, so
• 20:50
  he's actually from just outside of
• 20:52
  Monton originally, St. Louis de Kent.
• 20:54
  So, he wrestled there. He grew up there.
• 20:57
  Sorry, my phone's at 10%. I might just
• 20:59
  have to run and get a charger. uh he
• 21:01
  wrestled and grew up there. Um and his
• 21:04
  brother Jeremy Poria, who's also, you
• 21:06
  know, I think you've had him on the
• 21:07
  podcast as well. Um wonderful kids. And
• 21:10
  the thing is, again, going back to it's
• 21:12
  a business, he sells tickets. He
• 21:15
  understands the task. He he fights. He's
• 21:17
  exciting. Has a super exciting walk out.
• 21:20
  And you know, like a lot of times for
• 21:22
  us, like we'll sign guys to like an
• 21:24
  entry- level contract and we'll say,
• 21:25
  "Okay, like let let's see how it goes."
• 21:28
  almost like an, you know, it's like a
• 21:29
  probation period. If if anywhere else
• 21:31
  you would go to work, you know, if it's
• 21:32
  not working out, then okay, after two or
• 21:34
  three fights, then all right, you know,
• 21:36
  maybe we'll just do one-on-one contract
• 21:38
  kind of thing, right? So,
• 21:40
  >> um that way you can fight more or or
• 21:42
  whatever it happens to be. So,
• 21:44
  >> but he's uh you know, he's from Tristar.
• 21:46
  He's he's super easy to work with and
• 21:48
  we're definitely open to more. you know,
• 21:51
  like again, him being local and selling
• 21:54
  tickets is important, but um you know,
• 21:57
  as we grow as a promotion, I think
• 21:59
  you're going to see, you know, at the
• 22:00
  pro level, you're going to see other
• 22:02
  guys, you know, come look at Jeff Craig.
• 22:03
  He's our champ. He's from California.
• 22:05
  We're going to fly him in to defend his
• 22:07
  title.
• 22:08
  >> So, you know, we're committed to that.
• 22:09
  We want to keep growing. And I think,
• 22:11
  you know, the bigger we get, uh, you're
• 22:13
  definitely going to see that happen.
• 22:14
  >> Nice. Yeah, I knew Well, I knew Gino
• 22:17
  trained at Triar. I didn't realize he
• 22:18
  was local. So, thank you for correcting
• 22:20
  me on that. I appreciate that.
• 22:21
  >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Great kid.
• 22:23
  >> Something else you said about how it
• 22:25
  took you, you know, 120 fighters fight
• 22:27
  offers to get him a fight. I had a great
• 22:29
  conversation with a unified MMA owner
• 22:31
  Sunny Serene about a month or so ago.
• 22:33
  And we talked extensively about that
• 22:35
  about how he gets really annoyed with
• 22:37
  the fighters who really want to
• 22:39
  cherrypick to the to the nth degree the
• 22:42
  the type of fighter they want. like they
• 22:43
  he said a phrase like they only want to
• 22:45
  fight a guy who's one and five in his
• 22:47
  last six events. What's your experience
• 22:49
  like with that with your with the local
• 22:51
  fighters to FLA? Are they mostly willing
• 22:54
  to just fight or do they want to be very
• 22:57
  specific when they get an opponent?
• 22:59
  Everybody's different, you know, and
• 23:01
  it's at first, you know, when that used
• 23:03
  to happen because I do a lot of the
• 23:04
  matchmaking myself and you know, amateur
• 23:07
  I for me I'll tell you and like I've
• 23:09
  told a lot of fighters like an amateur
• 23:11
  it's like like I I there's not a lot of
• 23:13
  tolerance for it to be honest. Like it's
• 23:15
  if you don't want to accept the fight
• 23:16
  then I guess we're just going to move on
• 23:18
  to someone else who wants to fight and
• 23:19
  there's not really we have a business
• 23:20
  and we have an event to put on. So we
• 23:22
  just we can't let everybody just I get
• 23:25
  it. I understand. It's like you I want I
• 23:28
  want things cheaper and I want things
• 23:30
  easier for me too. Like it's every it's
• 23:32
  the nature of the human beast, but it's
• 23:34
  unfortunately for us, we just can't do
• 23:36
  that because if everybody got treated
• 23:37
  that way, then you know it's just it's
• 23:40
  uh it's not a sustainable business,
• 23:42
  especially if you don't sell tickets.
• 23:43
  That's I I can't stress that enough.
• 23:45
  When like it's a business, so you like
• 23:48
  at the end of the day, you have to sell
• 23:49
  tickets. So if you if you're selling
• 23:50
  tickets,
• 23:52
  maybe you'll have a little more pull,
• 23:54
  you know? It's it's just that simple.
• 23:56
  But if you're not selling tickets and
• 23:57
  you're costing $7,000 to put the fight
• 23:59
  on, you sold 20 tickets,
• 24:02
  >> you don't really have that leverage. So,
• 24:04
  it's it's everybody has a different, you
• 24:06
  know, uh road map, I guess. But it's
• 24:08
  100% Yeah, I think it's
• 24:10
  >> I don't I understand it, but I don't
• 24:13
  like again, I'm not a fighter, you know,
• 24:15
  but I certainly know what going through
• 24:17
  tough times are like and putting on
• 24:19
  events and and not, you know, like
• 24:21
  dealing with that kind of stuff. And
• 24:22
  it's you have to go through those tough
• 24:24
  times for when you're ready for the UFC,
• 24:27
  too. So, I I don't know. It's it's a
• 24:30
  it's it's super difficult. And I don't
• 24:32
  want to call anybody out by any means,
• 24:34
  but it's Yeah, it's it's a matchmaking.
• 24:37
  It's I wouldn't wish it on my worst
• 24:39
  enemy. Let's just say that.
• 24:41
  >> It's a challenging job, I'm sure. But,
• 24:43
  >> you got to take emotion out of it and
• 24:45
  just be like, listen, that's a coach
• 24:47
  who's trying to get the best for their
• 24:49
  guy. Mhm.
• 24:51
  >> And so if you take all the emotion out
• 24:53
  of it, that's that's all I do now. I'm
• 24:56
  just like, you know what? It's just a
• 24:57
  coach trying to get and I can't do it
• 24:59
  right now, but maybe down the road
• 25:00
  that'll work out, but right now that's
• 25:02
  not going to work out. So it's not like
• 25:04
  sometimes I think some people take it
• 25:05
  like like emotionally, but it's like
• 25:07
  it's it can't be. It has to because
• 25:09
  you're dealing with so much, right? So
• 25:10
  it can't be, I don't think.
• 25:12
  >> Yeah. Let's move on now to the future.
• 25:15
  Do you and John have a game plan or
• 25:18
  goals for Fight League Atlantic moving
• 25:20
  on the future?
• 25:22
  >> Yeah. Uh yeah, we definitely do. Um you
• 25:24
  know, there's a couple things on the
• 25:26
  radar, but our number one um you know,
• 25:28
  operating right now out of New Brunswick
• 25:30
  and Nova Scotia, so two provinces. Um
• 25:32
  and then, uh in 2026, you're going to
• 25:34
  see us move or 2027, you'll see us move
• 25:37
  into a third province. Um, I can't say
• 25:40
  exactly when it's going to happen, but
• 25:42
  uh, you know, I I and I shouldn't say
• 25:44
  guarantee, but uh, Prince Howard Island
• 25:46
  is very close um, to hopefully getting
• 25:49
  things in place where, you know, events
• 25:51
  can happen and we've been working with
• 25:52
  them tirelessly to to really make that
• 25:55
  happen. They've been great to work with
• 25:56
  and I think you're going to see uh, it
• 25:58
  passing legislation here in the spring
• 25:59
  and and hopefully we can get over there
• 26:01
  very soon. So, that would be great for
• 26:03
  us. We have three provinces. We can do
• 26:04
  two shows in every province. Um, which
• 26:07
  is really phenomenal for us. Like again
• 26:10
  going back to like staying within our
• 26:11
  means, staying in our lane. Um, you
• 26:14
  know, that's for us. Uh,
• 26:16
  we like I I try to explain it to people
• 26:19
  a lot. Andy, you lived out here and um,
• 26:22
  some people don't quite understand that
• 26:24
  the East Coast is a little bit of a
• 26:26
  different place than everywhere else.
• 26:27
  It's a lot farther than people I think
• 26:29
  think it is.
• 26:30
  >> Yeah. They have no idea. It's a lot
• 26:32
  harder to do business out here and like
• 26:35
  to get people together to do big events.
• 26:37
  It's it's you don't have the millions of
• 26:39
  people. You have a you know very small
• 26:41
  groups of people who are you know making
• 26:43
  these trips over to come to these
• 26:44
  events. So it's a really fun thing to be
• 26:48
  a part of but you know we we've taken it
• 26:50
  really slow. The growth is slow on
• 26:52
  purpose and uh yeah I think you'll
• 26:55
  continue to see us do that. Like we just
• 26:57
  we want to make sure it's done right,
• 26:58
  done at classy and uh slow growth. So
• 27:01
  everybody's happy and because you know
• 27:03
  what for you know we're not out here to
• 27:05
  lose money. You know we're not out here
• 27:07
  to lose money. We're out here to you
• 27:08
  know do things the right way and
• 27:10
  hopefully we can continue forward. So
• 27:12
  >> yeah.
• 27:14
  >> Now I know I'm pretty sure I know the
• 27:15
  answer already but I'll ask the question
• 27:17
  regardless.
• 27:18
  >> Yeah.
• 27:18
  >> What about what about Newfoundland? Is
• 27:20
  it something that could ever happen with
• 27:21
  Fight League Atlantic?
• 27:23
  >> I think for sure it's something that
• 27:24
  could happen. You know again your talk
• 27:26
  about expenses. It would be like going
• 27:28
  to the moon, I think. But it would be
• 27:30
  >> exponential. Sure. Yeah,
• 27:32
  >> it really would. Even like pe you know
• 27:33
  like again like people like the
• 27:37
  commissions are an ex like you know I
• 27:39
  heard you know um Sunny talking about on
• 27:41
  your podcast too like the government and
• 27:43
  the commissions to regulate the sport is
• 27:45
  extremely expensive for people who don't
• 27:47
  understand how these events work. And
• 27:49
  it's fine. like I'm okay with it because
• 27:51
  at the end of the day they're taking the
• 27:52
  responsibility and they're the ones
• 27:54
  taking the liability if things happen
• 27:56
  which needs to be a thing like it's it
• 27:58
  has to be regulated right if you want
• 28:00
  the sport to grow. So that's where
• 28:02
  people complain about the UFC, but it's
• 28:04
  like they've given you a product like
• 28:06
  NASCAR now that is on every single week
• 28:08
  and it's streamline. It's just the same
• 28:10
  thing, but it's there every week in
• 28:12
  front of you whether you like it or not.
• 28:13
  It's it's so um sorry going back to
• 28:17
  Newfoundland it like I can't say that
• 28:19
  it'll like obviously it's like going to
• 28:21
  PEI here like so it's taken them you
• 28:24
  know probably just like you dealt with
• 28:26
  in Ontario it's the the the eyes have to
• 28:29
  be dotted the te's have to be crossed
• 28:30
  and has to be done the right way
• 28:32
  >> so I would say once you see PEI get up
• 28:36
  and running and then you know maybe you
• 28:38
  know three four five years down the road
• 28:40
  you might see us in PE or Newfoundland
• 28:42
  and we would love to get over there, you
• 28:44
  know, we like to be in all four
• 28:45
  provinces would be incredible for us.
• 28:48
  So, that's our growth goal. We're not
• 28:51
  looking to go,
• 28:52
  you know, to any other province or
• 28:54
  anything like that at the moment. You
• 28:56
  know, like I said, we stay in our lane
• 28:57
  and,
• 28:58
  >> you know, just try to get back to the
• 28:59
  Canadian combat sports community and and
• 29:01
  do the right thing. So, it's not about
• 29:04
  being bigger than we are, like I said.
• 29:07
  >> Yeah. I've just thought of a question
• 29:08
  that I didn't I didn't have pre-planned
• 29:11
  and so I don't know really anything
• 29:13
  about this so I'll just ask you I know
• 29:15
  in the past that BFL in British Columbia
• 29:19
  Samurai in Quebec and Unified in Ontario
• 29:22
  have all piggybacked events the night
• 29:24
  prior to a UFC event when they come
• 29:26
  there. So like say if the UFC is
• 29:28
  fighting in Vancouver on January 10th
• 29:30
  then on the 9th BFL will have a fight
• 29:32
  with an event with with Canadian
• 29:34
  fighters and the UFC is like
• 29:36
  international fighters. If the UFC ever
• 29:38
  had a show again in the Maritimes, is
• 29:40
  that something you'd consider doing?
• 29:42
  >> Oh, it's a no-brainer. 100%. Yeah. Yeah.
• 29:47
  We we plan to do some big things with
• 29:49
  the UFC in the future and um we're we're
• 29:52
  at their beck and call, man. Um you
• 29:54
  know, we we like so far we've loved
• 29:56
  working with them. They've been they've
• 29:58
  been great to work with for us. One big
• 30:00
  thing that we have out here that you
• 30:02
  know is a huge advantage compared to a
• 30:04
  lot of other promotions is again from
• 30:06
  doing this from the long long time. We
• 30:09
  own a lot of our own gear and we we
• 30:12
  stream all of our own product. So every
• 30:15
  it's the same crew that's been doing
• 30:17
  like I've probably done a hundred shows
• 30:19
  with my director at this point between
• 30:21
  our jiu-jitsu shows back in the day and
• 30:22
  me. So,
• 30:23
  >> it's been a ton a ton of practice and we
• 30:26
  just keep buying and buying and buying
• 30:28
  and um so yeah, I think there's a ton of
• 30:32
  like potential that way where we have
• 30:34
  that ability where a lot of other
• 30:36
  promotions just don't have that.
• 30:37
  >> Yeah, I think when you look at anything,
• 30:39
  any endeavor, it's always a discussion
• 30:41
  to be had whether or not purchasing or
• 30:44
  leasing equipment is the way to go. But
• 30:45
  the true benefit to owning your own
• 30:47
  stuff is that you don't have to wait on
• 30:49
  other people's timelines. You don't have
• 30:50
  to worry about what they say if they say
• 30:51
  yes or no. Maybe they just got into a
• 30:53
  car accident. They're in the hospital
• 30:54
  for a month and they can't get to your
• 30:56
  request. Like you've got your stuff, you
• 30:57
  can do it. Uh there's really nobody who
• 30:59
  can tell you you can't.
• 31:01
  >> No, it's that's the thing like the John
• 31:03
  I always say that the more we can
• 31:04
  control the better, right? Yeah. Like
• 31:06
  cuz in our business it's all vendors.
• 31:08
  It's all variables that you're like from
• 31:10
  everything from the from the fighter who
• 31:12
  getting his medicals from a doctor to
• 31:16
  then getting on a plane flying here like
• 31:19
  10 of them to all your other athletes
• 31:21
  doing that to your hotels to your
• 31:23
  commissions to everybody showing up do
• 31:25
  what they're supposed to do and not be
• 31:27
  sick. It's it's quite commendable
• 31:29
  honestly that people like events even
• 31:31
  happen. And I think in our everyday life
• 31:33
  now that we've we I always say in life
• 31:36
  now people kind of live their life like
• 31:38
  Instagram like it's a very everyone says
• 31:40
  like a such a short memory like they
• 31:42
  don't even focus on anything and it's
• 31:45
  events are a beautiful thing but we
• 31:46
  really don't like and I'm like there's a
• 31:48
  couple guys on my staff who are like man
• 31:50
  you're a psycho cuz you never appreciate
• 31:53
  what you guys just did because I'm
• 31:55
  always like I can't because you ask
• 31:57
  about during the event like during the
• 31:59
  event I'm still running the social media
• 32:00
  or I'm out backing with pay-per-view
• 32:02
  issues or I'm dealing with the
• 32:03
  commission or whatever it happens to be.
• 32:05
  So,
• 32:05
  >> you're dealing with that and then I
• 32:07
  finally kind of like on Sunday when I
• 32:09
  get home, I'm just like,
• 32:10
  >> but at that point, you're working on the
• 32:12
  next event already and the next fighters
• 32:14
  and so it's just like it's a it's a fun
• 32:17
  thing, man. But it's it's tiring for
• 32:20
  sure.
• 32:21
  >> Another thing I've appreciated about
• 32:23
  Fight League Atlantic for quite some
• 32:24
  time, almost right from the beginning,
• 32:25
  was that your graphics are excellent
• 32:27
  when you have social media posts and
• 32:29
  things like that. The event posters are
• 32:31
  really well done. When you've got the
• 32:32
  fighter matchups, you know, the one
• 32:33
  fighter versus the other fighter on the
• 32:35
  page, everything looks seamless. I think
• 32:37
  that was you that did it for the longest
• 32:39
  time. Am I right?
• 32:40
  >> Uh, no, I didn't. So, earlier, like
• 32:43
  early in the day, um, John I think did
• 32:46
  FLA1, I No, Adam. Adam Frasier, he was a
• 32:49
  guy who was involved with my jiu-jitsu
• 32:52
  events and and he was involved in early
• 32:54
  FLA1, but he did the first one. And then
• 32:55
  Dave Frretz, uh, shout out Dave. He's a
• 32:58
  good uh he lives in Air Ontario. He's
• 33:00
  been down to quite a few of our events
• 33:01
  and he's been uh our graphics guy since
• 33:04
  FLA
• 33:06
  I want to say FLA
• 33:09
  3 FLA3 onward he has been involved. So
• 33:12
  we we have a really good graphics team.
• 33:14
  We have a really good videography team.
• 33:15
  We have three different videographers
• 33:17
  who work for us and uh Sam as well
• 33:20
  Samantha Armstrong she does our
• 33:21
  photography for our events. And we just
• 33:23
  have a good team, good group of people.
• 33:25
  And Fretz is a a true true pro at what
• 33:27
  he does. He makes it look so easy and uh
• 33:31
  yeah, it was a it was a real struggle
• 33:33
  for the for the longest time getting
• 33:34
  them, you know, pictures from fighters
• 33:36
  or to pose the right way and but through
• 33:39
  the through the time you make templates
• 33:41
  and make things easier on your he's been
• 33:42
  very patient. Let's just say that.
• 33:45
  >> Well, please pass him for me that he's
• 33:46
  got a fan in me. He does a great job. I
• 33:48
  I really like your graphics.
• 33:50
  >> Yeah. Um,
• 33:53
  >> sorry to get off there for a second.
• 33:54
  >> Oh, I said for sure. Definitely. Yeah,
• 33:56
  he's probably a big fan of you, too.
• 33:58
  >> Do you bring him down for every event?
• 34:00
  Does he take pictures the night of?
• 34:02
  >> No. So, he's came down for probably I
• 34:04
  would say he's been down for probably
• 34:06
  five, four or five events maybe. I would
• 34:08
  say maybe less than that, but um you
• 34:10
  know, a lot of times he does he just
• 34:12
  works from home kind of thing. But we're
• 34:14
  for us again our production like I've
• 34:17
  worked with a couple other productions
• 34:18
  and um like we're like we're so like and
• 34:22
  I'm not trying to pat ourselves in the
• 34:25
  back too much here but we're very
• 34:27
  organized and I think that just goes
• 34:28
  back to like look at a fighter like a
• 34:31
  guy like you know TJ or Gavin or these
• 34:34
  guys who are like so polished in what
• 34:36
  they do when they're coaching and that's
• 34:39
  because preparation right at the highest
• 34:41
  level and and that's for us. I think
• 34:43
  it's just the same thing. We're very
• 34:45
  organized and Dave is on spot with
• 34:48
  everything he does and and Danny, our
• 34:50
  director, so it makes life kind of easy
• 34:53
  in a really hard environment.
• 34:55
  >> That's great.
• 34:56
  >> Yeah.
• 34:56
  >> Okay, Derek, I think I've uh exhausted
• 34:58
  my question pool. So, uh I think we're
• 35:01
  going to let it go at here. I'm just
• 35:02
  wondering though before we go, um is
• 35:04
  there anything that you think we should
• 35:05
  have talked about that we didn't talk
• 35:06
  about?
• 35:08
  >> No. Uh, I just want to, you know, wish
• 35:10
  everybody in the in the Canadian
• 35:12
  community a a strong 2026. Hopefully
• 35:15
  Mike Malot takes and Jazz take these
• 35:17
  victories home in April and and the rest
• 35:18
  of the Canadian fighters and and
• 35:20
  everybody keeps kind of is it's as hard
• 35:22
  as it you don't have to work together,
• 35:24
  but I think you have to kind of
• 35:27
  I don't know. I don't know. Edit that
• 35:29
  out, I guess, about working together.
• 35:31
  But it's, you know, I I wish everybody
• 35:33
  has a great year and we're just going to
• 35:35
  continue to focus doing a great thing
• 35:36
  out here and and uh hopefully lots of
• 35:40
  fighters from can to get the call.
• 35:42
  >> Yeah, I'm going to keep that in there
• 35:43
  because I think it's an important
• 35:44
  message. I think it's true. I think
• 35:46
  we're all in this together. I think
• 35:47
  we're all working together towards a
• 35:48
  certain goal. And unless you're standing
• 35:51
  across me in in a cage with the door
• 35:53
  about to close, you're not my enemy. I
• 35:54
  want the best for you. I want you to
• 35:56
  kick ass. I want you to do well. So, in
• 35:58
  that respect, I think you're right.
• 36:00
  Well, and that's where it it's it's it
• 36:02
  is. And I've learned like through the
• 36:03
  years though, Andy, because it's I was,
• 36:04
  you know, it's worked together. But I've
• 36:06
  learned in this business though, because
• 36:08
  again, it goes back to your ticket
• 36:09
  sales. And if you can't sell tickets,
• 36:11
  you don't have a business. And it only
• 36:13
  takes one bad event in a sport for your
• 36:15
  business to shut down. That's what
• 36:16
  people don't understand. It's not like a
• 36:17
  needs or a convenience store that's
• 36:19
  always going to be there. It's like for
• 36:21
  fighters, they don't understand that.
• 36:22
  Listen, one bad event,
• 36:25
  >> maybe you don't have a promotion at all.
• 36:27
  So, it's like if if the sport is made
• 36:30
  for people to kind of turn on promoters
• 36:32
  and fighters to turn on each other and
• 36:35
  it's just a weird because it's not like
• 36:36
  I always say like in in major junior
• 36:39
  hockey or other h you're you're brought
• 36:41
  up to a certain level. You're taught how
• 36:42
  to talk. You're taught how to act.
• 36:44
  You're taught how to do certain things
• 36:46
  and that's how it is. And then
• 36:47
  eventually you get drafted and whatever.
• 36:49
  MMA is a little bit of a different case
• 36:51
  obviously and as it should be but um
• 36:54
  it's just you know I think working
• 36:56
  together is the ultimate goal for sure
• 36:58
  and if if you're not about fighter
• 37:01
  progression and if you're not about the
• 37:03
  athletes truly getting to the highest
• 37:05
  level then I don't know why you're doing
• 37:07
  this at all.
• 37:08
  >> Yeah and that's something else I'm glad
• 37:10
  we're continuing this conversation
• 37:12
  somewhat. you know, I encountered you
• 37:13
  and John at a Samurai event in Montreal
• 37:15
  Resort Gatau last year, the year before,
• 37:17
  and it seems like you've got a really
• 37:19
  good relationship with other Canadian
• 37:20
  promoters. And so I I absolutely love to
• 37:23
  see that cuz when I started out in the
• 37:24
  day, it was like if if like somebody put
• 37:27
  on MMA event, then like the opposing gym
• 37:29
  in the same city, they wouldn't let
• 37:30
  their fighters fight in it because they
• 37:32
  didn't want the other team to have any
• 37:33
  rec. It was it was all silly. But I
• 37:36
  really like the way I like the way you
• 37:37
  do it. Well, man, like I I say it a lot,
• 37:40
  you know, I'm a guy who, you know, went
• 37:42
  through a pretty scary experience at a
• 37:44
  young age, and I always say we you like
• 37:46
  I I repeat it a lot. Like, you get one
• 37:48
  kick at the can and at the end of the
• 37:50
  day, we're going to be old and thinking
• 37:52
  about this and be like, man, what a time
• 37:54
  that was. Think of how amazing that was.
• 37:56
  And that's how I look at my life because
• 37:58
  some everything ends at some point.
• 38:00
  Like, and nobody's the Mecca and
• 38:02
  nobody's going to like whatever. At some
• 38:04
  point, the journey ends for us all. So
• 38:06
  when you're here, you might as well give
• 38:08
  an impact, give back to the community,
• 38:09
  and have a damn fun time when you're
• 38:11
  here. So that's for me, it's a it's a
• 38:14
  great fun. I love being a small part of
• 38:15
  the journey of these athletes and I'm a
• 38:18
  fan of the sport. It gives me goosebumps
• 38:20
  thinking of Mike Malad as the main
• 38:21
  event. Mhm.
• 38:22
  >> Like I remember the story I'll never
• 38:24
  forget Andy a quick story like that
• 38:26
  going back to John's tournament at Abaya
• 38:28
  and this is when Peter Martell like you
• 38:30
  know he had Titans MMA and remember they
• 38:32
  all had their track suits and these guys
• 38:34
  were like gods to me as a white belt you
• 38:36
  know never trained a day in my life and
• 38:38
  you go to the tournament and you see
• 38:40
  Malot and Rorson and Gavin and all these
• 38:43
  guys in their tracksuits and I'll never
• 38:44
  forget Mike Malot was sitting there
• 38:46
  beside the mat and I was watching a
• 38:48
  fight and he just kind of started
• 38:50
  talking to me just like hey how are you?
• 38:52
  Whatever, right? And it just really
• 38:54
  shows you a true character of what
• 38:55
  somebody is like because he didn't need
• 38:57
  to talk to me at all. Like you he just
• 38:59
  but he probably at that point had like
• 39:01
  three or four pro fights and it was just
• 39:02
  a super humble
• 39:04
  >> guy and it you know if he was rude to me
• 39:06
  I might not have be here today. It's
• 39:09
  those little interactions that really
• 39:11
  build in this sport and show you what
• 39:14
  people are really like. So it's I love
• 39:16
  it, man. And I think it's it's awesome
• 39:18
  and and I'm just it's to me like John
• 39:20
  and I said like to we're to go to UFC
• 39:22
  events or like to eventually maybe get
• 39:24
  to go to the Apex like we're not in
• 39:27
  Toronto. We're smalltown Nova Scotia
• 39:29
  boys. So it's like a dream come true for
• 39:31
  us to even be mentioned in the in the
• 39:33
  name of UFC, right? So it's awesome. We
• 39:35
  love it and yeah, whatever happens
• 39:38
  happens. But we're going to keep
• 39:39
  grinding her out.
• 39:40
  >> That's such a good story about Mike. I'm
• 39:42
  going to make sure that he he hears it
• 39:43
  and this your your words get to him. Are
• 39:46
  you going to be in Winnipeg on April
• 39:47
  18th?
• 39:49
  >> I don't know yet. I think that probably
• 39:51
  you'll see us there, but we haven't made
• 39:53
  the decision. But I think probably Yeah.
• 39:55
  Yeah.
• 39:55
  >> Yeah. I'll be there for sure. So,
• 39:56
  hopefully I run into
• 39:57
  >> Oh, nice. Okay. Awesome. Yeah. Great.
• 39:59
  >> Now, I This is kind of a a couple
• 40:01
  things. It's funny how the more we talk,
• 40:03
  the more there is to talk about.
• 40:05
  >> You mentioned about having a scary
• 40:07
  something in your in your in your past.
• 40:08
  Is that something you're willing to talk
• 40:09
  about? You want to you want to share or
• 40:11
  you don't have to if you don't want to.
• 40:12
  >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. I've uh I mentioned it
• 40:14
  before. Uh I thought I mentioned on the
• 40:16
  podcaster I uh when I was 11, I got hit
• 40:18
  head on by an 18-wheeler. Um yeah. Yeah.
• 40:23
  So it's um I get it was kind of a crazy
• 40:25
  story. my grandfather and grandmother.
• 40:27
  My grandfather passed away in the
• 40:28
  accident. But I was I was it was it was
• 40:32
  nuts like how fate works because I I
• 40:34
  tried to sit behind him when we got in
• 40:36
  the car and he said like I you know I
• 40:38
  wanted to pretend to drive and I and he
• 40:39
  said no I'm putting the luggage there
• 40:40
  and I sat in the other side and whatever
• 40:44
  happened in the car but the car when it
• 40:45
  smashed it hit the the left side of the
• 40:48
  car. So my grandmother and I survived
• 40:50
  but he didn't because the car smashed
• 40:52
  the left side. So yeah, it was it was
• 40:54
  pretty pretty traumatic thing at a young
• 40:56
  age and uh you know kind of you know
• 40:59
  it's been a challenge for for some parts
• 41:02
  of my life for sure but uh yeah you know
• 41:05
  everybody's got issues and everybody's
• 41:07
  got things they got to go through and
• 41:08
  and again going back to jiu-jitsu it
• 41:10
  helped me a lot in my late 20s because I
• 41:13
  played sports my whole life but then I
• 41:15
  was like oh what am I going to do you
• 41:16
  know now like as I keep getting older
• 41:18
  and then I found jiu-jitsu and realized
• 41:21
  that getting choked or choking people
• 41:22
  made me feel a lot better. So,
• 41:26
  >> well, you you actually had told the
• 41:27
  story before, but this is more for the
• 41:29
  benefit of the people watching because I
• 41:30
  think it's it it tells something about
• 41:33
  you and you just mentioned how it gives
• 41:34
  you a perspective on life. You know,
• 41:36
  tomorrow we could be gone. And I just
• 41:38
  want to share something else with you.
• 41:40
  I'm I'm a student of history. I I love
• 41:42
  history. I've been a fan ever since I
• 41:44
  was a little boy. I got that from my
• 41:45
  father. So, I'm going to tie in your
• 41:47
  story to the story about uh Roman
• 41:50
  generals back in in ancient Rome. So
• 41:53
  whenever a general would have a great
• 41:55
  victory in Rome, they'd come back into
• 41:57
  Rome proper and they'd have what's
• 41:58
  called a triumph. A triumph is it's a
• 42:00
  big parade where the whole city comes
• 42:02
  out and they they line the roads, line
• 42:04
  the avenues, the the paved cobblestones
• 42:06
  and the Roman general goes by in his
• 42:08
  chariot with the being pulled by the
• 42:09
  horses and they all throw laurels at him
• 42:11
  and roses at him. But one thing people
• 42:14
  don't might not realize, if you if you
• 42:16
  ever take a look back at most of the
• 42:18
  accurate representations, any any
• 42:20
  paintings or drawings of these triumphs,
• 42:22
  there'd always be the Roman general and
• 42:24
  there'd be a second person in the
• 42:25
  chariot with him. And the second person
• 42:28
  could have been a nobody. It was could
• 42:29
  have been just a regular soldier. It
• 42:30
  could have been a family member. I don't
• 42:32
  know who it could have been, but that
• 42:33
  person had a very, very important role.
• 42:36
  And that was as they were going through
• 42:38
  and the Roman general was getting all
• 42:40
  the accolades and all the acclaim and
• 42:42
  all the all the roses and all the all
• 42:44
  the the cheers and the claps, that
• 42:46
  person would lean into the general's ear
• 42:48
  and whisper very quietly, momento mori.
• 42:51
  Momento mori over and over. And momento
• 42:54
  mori is a Latin phrase that means
• 42:56
  someday you will die. And that was just
• 42:59
  to remind the general at the time, you
• 43:00
  know, hey man, don't get your head too
• 43:02
  swollen. You're you're not going to be
• 43:04
  here long. You're going to be gone
• 43:05
  someday. just enjoy this while you can
• 43:07
  and and don't get too big for your
• 43:08
  riches.
• 43:09
  >> Yeah, it's that's that's a cool story
• 43:12
  and it's it's so true because we all
• 43:14
  like I've been as guilty of it too like
• 43:16
  you're out there and you're promoting
• 43:18
  the sport and whatever. It's like hold
• 43:19
  on humble. Stay humble, man. You're
• 43:22
  nobody. You're literally nobody. You
• 43:23
  drive a Ford focus. Relax, you know?
• 43:26
  Like it just like just be your be
• 43:28
  yourself and try to be a good person.
• 43:30
  And that's truly what I live my life by.
• 43:33
  And that's what FLA stands for, man. Be
• 43:36
  good vibes, good people. And you know, I
• 43:39
  can be a stressy guy like during the
• 43:41
  events. Like people are like, "Man,
• 43:42
  what's wrong with you?" But like they
• 43:43
  really and I try not to put myself in
• 43:46
  their position, but they they can't put
• 43:48
  themselves in mine either. So it's like
• 43:50
  it's it's not about figuring out why
• 43:52
  each like we just know that the show's
• 43:54
  going to start at seven and you're going
• 43:55
  to have a good time. That's all you need
• 43:56
  to know.
• 43:57
  >> That's great. On that note, Derek Clark,
• 43:59
  we're going to get going. I just want to
• 44:00
  thank you so much for all your time. Uh
• 44:02
  is there anybody you'd like to thank or
• 44:04
  anything you'd like to say finally on
• 44:05
  your own before we sign off?
• 44:07
  >> Yeah, I'd like to thank my team uh
• 44:09
  everybody at Fightley Atlantic who
• 44:10
  really works tirelessly behind the
• 44:13
  scenes to make the the events happen. Um
• 44:15
  our sponsors as well um from Philips
• 44:18
  Fishery and and Ethan all the way uh
• 44:21
  Kier Mloud siding here um and all of our
• 44:23
  other phenomenal sponsors. And I'd like
• 44:25
  to thank uh you uh for for what you do
• 44:27
  in Canadian combat, man. I know it's
• 44:29
  like it's it's like we talked about
• 44:30
  before, it's tireless sometimes and and
• 44:33
  often thankless, but you know, you're
• 44:35
  you're well respected here in the East
• 44:36
  Coast and we love, you know, hopefully
• 44:38
  we can uh you can grace us with your
• 44:40
  presence again here, buddy.
• 44:42
  >> I promise I will. I just don't know
• 44:44
  when, but yeah. Okay, Derek. Thanks,
• 44:45
  man. Uh you're you're a true diamond. I
• 44:48
  appreciate you. Thanks for your time.
• 44:49
  And there you go, Fight Friends. Derek
• 44:50
  Clark, co-owner of the Maritimes premier
• 44:53
  MMA organization, Fight League Atlantic.
• 44:56
  Next show is FLA 24 24 on March, sorry,
• 45:01
  April 25th in Picto, Nova Scotia.
• 45:03
  Thanks, Derek.
• 45:04
  >> Yeah, thank you.
• 45:06
  >> Leo Bonan, congratulations on your
• 45:08
  impressive victory at Unified MMA68 last
• 45:11
  weekend.
• 45:12
  >> Thank you very much.
• 45:14
  >> So, it's a few days removed now. Give us
• 45:16
  your reflections on the fight. And
• 45:18
  >> uh he hits hard and he hits fast. As you
• 45:20
  can see, there's a big big black eye
• 45:23
  right here.
• 45:24
  >> Yeah. some cuts and scrapes all over the
• 45:26
  face, but
• 45:27
  >> a war wound.
• 45:29
  >> Yeah, exactly.
• 45:30
  >> So, give us your thoughts on the fight,
• 45:32
  the impression of the fight. How did it
• 45:33
  go compared to how you expected it to
• 45:34
  go?
• 45:35
  >> Um, it it was expecting Yeah, I was
• 45:38
  expecting him to come out there with a
• 45:39
  flurry. Not quite as initially as he
• 45:42
  did. He came out there and just
• 45:43
  immediately took my head off and I
• 45:45
  dropped two times, but we got back up
• 45:47
  and then it slowed down and then it
• 45:49
  turned into more my fight where we were
• 45:51
  grappling and exchanging and getting
• 45:52
  closer and closer. And then when I got
• 45:54
  him to the ground, I knew it's a weird
• 45:56
  feeling when a lot of jiu-jitsu guys
• 45:58
  would understand this when they hear
• 45:59
  this, but when you're on top of somebody
• 46:00
  and you know your levels above them, you
• 46:02
  can you just know what's happening next.
• 46:04
  Like even when he threw in that heel
• 46:05
  hook and tried to rip my knee apart, I
• 46:08
  just rolled out of it, jumped on the
• 46:09
  back, did exactly what I've been doing
• 46:11
  for years. Go after the back, attack
• 46:13
  next to the safest place in the fight.
• 46:15
  >> Yeah, for sure. Okay, before we get too
• 46:17
  much further in into the interview, take
• 46:19
  a moment and just introduce yourself to
• 46:21
  the audience. say who you are, where
• 46:23
  you're from, and how you got involved in
• 46:24
  combat sports.
• 46:25
  >> Yeah, my name is Leo Bonan. Leo the lion
• 46:28
  in the cage. I'm from uh I was born in
• 46:31
  Red Deer, Alberta. I live in Silven
• 46:32
  Lake, Alberta now. Uh born and raised
• 46:35
  and I got into karate when I was about
• 46:38
  four with Chinese karate and then I got
• 46:41
  into a rashido jiu-jitsu when I was
• 46:44
  about 12, 13. took a bit of a break in
• 46:48
  high school because I just had to get my
• 46:49
  high school diploma and get into college
• 46:50
  and stuff, but then I got back into it
• 46:52
  and been steadily MMA, kickboxing,
• 46:55
  wrestling, jiu-jitsu, all the works
• 46:56
  since. So, basically my whole life been
• 46:58
  in martial arts.
• 46:59
  >> That's awesome. And you're 27 years old
• 47:01
  right now?
• 47:02
  >> Yes, sir.
• 47:03
  >> Describe your fight style to the
• 47:04
  audience.
• 47:05
  >> I am uh in your face. A lot of
• 47:09
  grappling, a lot of wrestling, pressure,
• 47:11
  uh kickboxing, if you can call it that.
• 47:13
  Sometimes it looks a little wild. I'm a
• 47:15
  bit of an anarchist when it comes to the
• 47:16
  fighting. I just want to get in there,
• 47:18
  get my hands on you, and throw anything
• 47:19
  I can at you to win.
• 47:22
  >> Awesome. Uh your father is uh I've
• 47:24
  chatted with your father quite
• 47:26
  extensively. He's a huge proponent for
• 47:28
  you in your career, he's always uh
• 47:29
  making posts about you and he every time
• 47:32
  something happens with you, he messages
• 47:33
  me and he sends me videos constantly.
• 47:35
  What's it like having uh a support
• 47:38
  system like that that's just
• 47:39
  overpoweringly positive and supportive
• 47:41
  of you? It's probably one of my biggest
• 47:44
  um motivators, I'd say, is that doing
• 47:48
  not just for myself, but all the people
• 47:49
  that have put the effort and the time
• 47:51
  into me, I is is amazing. It feels
• 47:55
  great. It's nice knowing that your
• 47:56
  people in your corner have your back.
• 47:57
  Like all my all my coaching and stuff is
• 47:59
  very very tightly knit. We we we eat
• 48:02
  together. We we play together. We enjoy
• 48:04
  each each other's time together. And we
• 48:05
  train hard together. So, it's very very
• 48:07
  family oriented style. Yeah, that's
• 48:10
  that's important to note because I think
• 48:12
  a lot of people well maybe not people
• 48:13
  that are in our circles uh but maybe
• 48:16
  outsiders, people just regular fight
• 48:18
  fans. I tend to think that they think
• 48:20
  that MMA is a solo sports. It's an
• 48:22
  individual sport because you get one
• 48:24
  well one fighter in the cage against
• 48:26
  another fighter. But you know it's
• 48:27
  anything but. It takes a community like
• 48:29
  you said without support of a whole
• 48:31
  bunch of people you're not going to go
• 48:32
  anywhere fast.
• 48:33
  >> Yeah. It it t it takes a village or
• 48:35
  however the saying goes to raise
• 48:37
  someone. So, it's especially in a sport
• 48:39
  as demanding and as aggressive and so
• 48:42
  many things can come into your head at
• 48:43
  any time. I've I've woken up with
• 48:45
  messages with people hate messaging me
• 48:47
  where I just have to ignore it. Luckily,
• 48:48
  my dad and my coaches have access to my
• 48:51
  social media and I just go silent about
• 48:52
  two three weeks out from a fight. So, I
• 48:54
  don't have to see any of that. So, it's
• 48:55
  nice.
• 48:56
  >> Yeah, that sounds like it's a really
• 48:58
  good idea, actually.
• 49:00
  Talk about where you train right now and
• 49:01
  what your team's like and who your
• 49:03
  training partners are and your coaches.
• 49:05
  My uh my main coaches is in Red Dear and
• 49:08
  Silvin here with Black Dragon with Gil
• 49:10
  Gilbert Lafante
• 49:12
  >> and with Kenneth Summers out in Silvin
• 49:15
  there.
• 49:16
  >> They're my probably two most um highest
• 49:19
  level coaching that I'm yet at all the
• 49:20
  time. I travel to Calgary to train with
• 49:22
  Kurt Demars
• 49:24
  >> and every so often I'll maybe go up to
• 49:26
  Edmonton with some people but I try and
• 49:28
  stick to the the one route back and
• 49:30
  forth from Calgary to Red Deer.
• 49:32
  >> Sure. Yeah. Yeah.
• 49:33
  >> Nice. And uh a lot of good training
• 49:35
  partners. I have uh my brother lives in
• 49:38
  Calgary there, Jaden. Uh me and him
• 49:40
  probably we we beat each other up like
• 49:42
  we're in a fight every time we're
• 49:43
  training together. So that's a really
• 49:44
  good training partner. And then I got
• 49:46
  some younger guys that are they're
• 49:47
  actually competing this weekend that
• 49:49
  have pushed me because just they're
• 49:51
  fresh. They're 16, 17, 18 years old. So
• 49:53
  they're just they're full of energy. So
• 49:55
  they'll just come at me and at me and at
• 49:57
  me.
• 49:57
  >> So those are really good guys. Some of
• 49:59
  those kids these days, the youngsters,
• 50:00
  like the the the late teenagers, it's
• 50:03
  incredible how good they are. I mean,
• 50:04
  back in my day, you know, 35 year olds
• 50:07
  weren't that good.
• 50:08
  >> No, no, there wasn't. Now, there's a kid
• 50:10
  who's competing this weekend, uh, V or
• 50:13
  Vitali, sorry, his name. He would smack
• 50:17
  me around. Put 15-year-old me and
• 50:19
  15-year-old him, he would dogwalk me. He
• 50:21
  would dog me. I just beat him now
• 50:23
  because I just got man strength and more
• 50:25
  experience.
• 50:26
  >> Yeah.
• 50:28
  Um, so you're in Red Deer. You said
• 50:31
  you're in Red Deer or Silven Lake?
• 50:32
  >> Uh, both. I I I work and train in Red
• 50:34
  Deer, but I live in Silven Lake.
• 50:36
  >> Cool. I'm curious to know what it is
• 50:38
  about fighting that you like. I mean, a
• 50:40
  lot of people train martial arts and
• 50:42
  maybe kickboxing classes or jiu-jitsu,
• 50:43
  but to make the step into actual
• 50:46
  competition and now professional
• 50:47
  competition where you're actually
• 50:48
  getting paid to to put your body on the
• 50:51
  line, what is it about the whole process
• 50:52
  that that enthrals you the most?
• 50:55
  Uh the pro the process mostly well it's
• 50:58
  it's been in my blood my whole life. Um
• 51:01
  for for for Pete's sake my my
• 51:04
  grandmother her first date with her my
• 51:06
  grandpa he got into a fight in front of
• 51:07
  her on the hockey rink in like 1968 or
• 51:10
  something like that. So we're I'm from a
• 51:12
  family of fighters and that's if anybody
• 51:15
  knows my dad they know he when he was
• 51:16
  bartending there would always be big
• 51:17
  brawls that he'd always be in the middle
• 51:19
  of. My uncle same thing. Even my aunt
• 51:21
  got in a bunch of high school fights all
• 51:22
  the time. Uh even on my mom's side, we
• 51:26
  come from a bunch of Germanb born
• 51:28
  fighters that are all out there and
• 51:30
  athletes from there. So it's that's
• 51:32
  that's just the history. And the way the
• 51:34
  reason I like it is I don't really feel
• 51:36
  good anywhere else. It's I like the gym.
• 51:39
  I like competing. I like I like having
• 51:41
  fun and these kids that are coming up
• 51:43
  like like you were saying, they're just
• 51:44
  so good and they're it's fun to mess
• 51:46
  with them and like oh I'll throw a head
• 51:47
  kick at them and they'll shoot a
• 51:49
  takedown and now I'm having fun. It's a
• 51:51
  it's fun. And I find MMA and martial
• 51:53
  arts very fun to do things with and and
• 51:56
  I wouldn't really be my me. I would be
• 51:58
  bored out of my mind if I didn't have
• 52:00
  it.
• 52:00
  >> Yeah. Yeah. Uh do you uh are you able to
• 52:03
  train MMA full-time or do you have a job
• 52:05
  outside?
• 52:06
  >> I have a I have a part-time job right
• 52:07
  now. I just uh work down at U-Haul in
• 52:10
  Red Deer here.
• 52:11
  >> Yeah. Awesome. Yeah. You got to pay the
• 52:12
  bills somehow. Hey,
• 52:13
  >> do have to pay the bills until we get on
• 52:15
  the bigger shows.
• 52:17
  So, Unified is actually a as far as
• 52:19
  regional shows go, Unifi's a pretty
• 52:21
  decent sized show. It's good. They've
• 52:22
  got great production. Uh, Sunny Serene
• 52:24
  has really turned it up the past handful
• 52:26
  of events. I mean, even the wins are
• 52:28
  really cool. Now, what's it like
• 52:29
  fighting for Unified and uh knowing that
• 52:32
  they they like you,
• 52:34
  >> it's it's it's awesome. I I got lucky
• 52:36
  right after uh the pandemic happened.
• 52:38
  They picked me up as an amateur and I
• 52:40
  was I was 0 and1 so I wasn't really a
• 52:42
  good hot take but got three consecutive
• 52:45
  wins with them as an amateur. Fought the
• 52:47
  top guy in the country at the time Usman
• 52:49
  Katak. Took a bad loss but we moved on.
• 52:52
  Had another win. Took a loss then went
• 52:53
  pro. I love fighting for them. They're
• 52:56
  probably one of the best organizations
• 52:58
  uh probably top 10 in the world right
• 53:01
  now just for production value and what
• 53:03
  they can bring in. Like they brought a
• 53:04
  gentleman in to fight me from Morocco.
• 53:06
  >> Wow. all the way across the world. Like,
• 53:08
  yeah, he trained in he came to Canada to
• 53:09
  train, but he's from like totally across
• 53:11
  the pond. Like, they they can really
• 53:14
  pull strings and they really have a lot
• 53:15
  of connections. So, I'm really excited
• 53:17
  that I got to I got to fight I think 12
• 53:20
  times for them now. 11 or 12 times.
• 53:23
  >> And of course, you know, they're
• 53:25
  planning on start Well, Sunonny Serene
• 53:26
  is intending to start the Dubai Fight
• 53:28
  League. So, he hopes to bring some
• 53:30
  Canadian fighters over there at some
• 53:31
  point. That'd be kind of cool to go on
• 53:32
  as well.
• 53:33
  >> Yep. Hope I hope so, too. Well, uh,
• 53:36
  we'll see where we're at. Um, now,
• 53:39
  basically, I know the belt right now at
• 53:41
  145 is what I really want, but they're
• 53:42
  fighting for it, so I might have to wait
• 53:44
  a fight or two for that one. But, I'll
• 53:45
  take whatever I can get after if it's
• 53:46
  with Unified
• 53:48
  >> or if a bigger show like PFL or UFC
• 53:50
  calls.
• 53:51
  >> There's always opport there's there's
• 53:52
  always opportunities and I'm happy that
• 53:54
  I got to have the opportunities with
• 53:56
  Unified. They've given me those
• 53:57
  opportunities and they will they're the
• 53:59
  biggest show in Canada, so every
• 54:01
  everyone's eyes are on them when they're
• 54:02
  playing.
• 54:03
  >> Yeah. And you just mentioned the the
• 54:04
  featherweight, the 145 belt for unified.
• 54:07
  Uh former champion Matteo Vogle has been
• 54:09
  injured for a couple years. Hakeem
• 54:11
  Dawood, who is the current champion, and
• 54:13
  he's defending that title against Matteo
• 54:15
  coming up. Who do you like in that fight
• 54:16
  and who do you think is going to win?
• 54:19
  >> It's hard to say. I've seen both of them
• 54:21
  fight live. Uh I saw um Vogle's last uh
• 54:24
  live performance when he beat um John
• 54:27
  Nugan for the belt back in 24 or
• 54:30
  something like that. I can't remember
• 54:31
  what it was. I think it was a couple
• 54:32
  years ago. and he looked real solid.
• 54:34
  Like he's shot takedowns, dominated him
• 54:36
  on the ground. Even on the feet, look
• 54:37
  like he won most of the exchanges. So,
• 54:39
  he he's he's not someone to trifle with
• 54:42
  easily. Definitely on the ground, I'll
• 54:43
  give him the edge 100%. If it hits the
• 54:45
  ground, I think Vogle will take it. But
• 54:46
  if it stays standing the whole fight,
• 54:48
  you can't deny one of the best strikers
• 54:50
  in Canada. Right.
• 54:51
  >> No, he's scary. He's scary good on the
• 54:53
  feet.
• 54:54
  >> Yeah.
• 54:56
  >> I would say it depends on where it goes.
• 54:58
  I won't I won't take a side because I'll
• 55:00
  fight either of them. I want I want to
• 55:02
  fight both of them. It would be not at
• 55:04
  the same time, but maybe back to back.
• 55:06
  We could do something, but um overall, I
• 55:09
  think on the feet, Hakee's got it. Goes
• 55:11
  to the ground. I'm giving it to Vogga.
• 55:13
  >> Yeah, for that's a pretty pretty valid
• 55:16
  assessment. So, that's a good idea. Um
• 55:18
  I'd like to take a step back and and go
• 55:20
  back in time a little bit. Let's go to
• 55:21
  your fight before this past one where
• 55:23
  you fought Nick Lamal. Going into that
• 55:25
  fight, a lot of people were saying that
• 55:27
  that you were the underdog going into
• 55:28
  that fight. everyone, not everyone, but
• 55:31
  online it seemed to me like a lot of
• 55:32
  people were expecting Nick to win. Your
• 55:34
  father, on the other hand, as I
• 55:35
  mentioned, he talks to me behind the
• 55:37
  scenes. Uh, what was your perspective on
• 55:40
  on the fight leading up to that? Did you
• 55:42
  feel like an underdog or did you know
• 55:43
  that you were going to take that fight?
• 55:45
  >> I did feel like an underdog. I won't I
• 55:46
  won't deny that. He had was he five and
• 55:49
  one at that time? Yeah, he was 5-1 and
• 55:51
  he had like 15 or 16 kickboxing matches
• 55:54
  where he had a dozen or so knockouts
• 55:56
  from there like from years prior.
• 55:59
  >> He was it was it was a bit it was a bit
• 56:01
  of a what do you call it? Heart pounder
• 56:04
  going all the way into it until we
• 56:05
  started fighting and then I realized I
• 56:07
  could I could swing with him. Yeah, he
• 56:09
  got some good shots on me but I got some
• 56:10
  good shots back on him and the minute we
• 56:12
  hit the ground like I said whenever I
• 56:13
  hit the ground and I'm on top of
• 56:14
  somebody I usually can feel that
• 56:16
  dominating wind coming out of any
• 56:18
  >> Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah.
• 56:20
  >> Well, you're doing well, man. It's
• 56:21
  probably too early to ask when your next
• 56:22
  fight is, but I'm willing to bet you're
• 56:24
  going to want to get back in there in a
• 56:25
  in a couple two, three, four months. So,
• 56:29
  up until then, talk uh to us about your
• 56:31
  what's a typical training week look like
• 56:33
  for Leo Bonan.
• 56:35
  >> Training week is you wake up way too
• 56:37
  early, probably six, seven o'clock for
• 56:39
  me. And some people might be that's
• 56:41
  pretty late, too, but it's early for me.
• 56:43
  I hit uh cardio, usually a weight
• 56:45
  session of some sort, depending on the
• 56:47
  day. I
• 56:49
  I don't do the classic. I I lift things
• 56:51
  up, I put things down. Sometimes it'll
• 56:52
  just be a neck workout day. Sometimes
• 56:54
  it'll be a back workout. I have a whole
• 56:55
  system that works for me really
• 56:58
  efficiently. And then every day it's
• 57:00
  either uh doing some kind of kickboxing
• 57:03
  work right after I right after I'm done
• 57:05
  here at work, doing some jiu-jitsu, and
• 57:07
  then either some sparring rounds,
• 57:09
  something like that. And then I go home,
• 57:12
  go recover, have a shower, pass out,
• 57:14
  repeat the same thing. I try and I try
• 57:16
  and spar about twice a week if I'm
• 57:20
  really getting close. If it's a really
• 57:21
  big fight, like when I was going up
• 57:22
  against Nick, I think I was sparring
• 57:24
  four times a week, just getting there.
• 57:26
  For this gentleman, I just fought there.
• 57:28
  I think I was at three times a week. And
• 57:30
  then you just taper off as the time goes
• 57:31
  on. But you definitely want to spar spar
• 57:33
  spar early while I can. And then later
• 57:35
  in my career, I'll probably be doing the
• 57:37
  max all the way like probably sparring
• 57:38
  once or twice a month. Yeah.
• 57:39
  >> Sticking away from it. So you're save
• 57:41
  your head.
• 57:42
  >> Yeah. A lot of fighters don't even go go
• 57:44
  hard when they spar too. Like no strikes
• 57:46
  to the head, just really light taps and
• 57:47
  touches, which is probably a good idea
• 57:49
  for longevity.
• 57:50
  >> Yeah, I've uh I've I've probably done
• 57:53
  for this last camp, I think I only did
• 57:55
  five hard sparring days leading up to
• 57:57
  it. Everything else was just uh
• 57:59
  positional work, like hard rolling, like
• 58:01
  guys are trying to keep you on the
• 58:02
  ground, trying to go after submissions
• 58:04
  that you can go hard with that, but when
• 58:06
  it comes to strikes to the face or body
• 58:08
  shots, like you do have to be really
• 58:10
  careful. And I I have very select few
• 58:12
  people that I go like over 60% with
• 58:15
  sparring.
• 58:16
  >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Smart. Smart.
• 58:18
  >> Yeah.
• 58:18
  >> I'm curious to know where the the I know
• 58:21
  your name is Leo, but where did the the
• 58:22
  lion persona come from? And you've you
• 58:24
  come out to the entrance. You've got the
• 58:26
  lion headdress on. It's kind of scary.
• 58:28
  How'd that all come about?
• 58:30
  >> Uh the the name itself I was getting
• 58:34
  even before I was fighting, people would
• 58:35
  call me Leo. Sorry,
• 58:40
  just getting over a bit of a little bit
• 58:42
  of a bug here. Sorry.
• 58:44
  >> That's all right.
• 58:44
  >> But um the name itself, I I just like
• 58:47
  the name Lion, Leo Lion. It just rolls
• 58:50
  off the tongue pretty easily and it's a
• 58:52
  nice persona to grab. The the headdress
• 58:54
  was my uh my dad's idea. I didn't wear
• 58:58
  it for my first unified fight because I
• 58:59
  was a little embarrassed by it. I will I
• 59:01
  will say that it was a little
• 59:02
  embarrassing. But then uh Sunny there
• 59:06
  who's uh the runs unified, he's he asked
• 59:08
  me he's like, "Where's a lion head? The
• 59:10
  last amateur fight I saw you on, you
• 59:11
  were wearing one. Where was it this
• 59:12
  time?" I was like, "Okay, I'll I'll wear
• 59:14
  it next time. I'll start wear." So, ever
• 59:16
  since then, I started wearing I was a
• 59:17
  little embarrassed, but then it's it's
• 59:19
  it's personified into its own thing.
• 59:21
  Now, it's expected of me. And I like I
• 59:23
  like that it's expected of me and I'm
• 59:24
  leaning more and more into it as you can
• 59:26
  see like with my own personal hats from
• 59:28
  Bosi here. It's a very um it means a lot
• 59:32
  to me. It's felines are also like my
• 59:34
  favorite animal. They're they're great.
• 59:36
  They're just the perfect killing
• 59:37
  machine. So, why not connect yourself
• 59:39
  with that?
• 59:40
  >> And I think like I don't know if you've
• 59:41
  really thought this fully through, but
• 59:44
  uh having a persona like that and having
• 59:45
  a character, it's probably really smart
• 59:48
  when it comes to marketing, the
• 59:49
  marketing perspective, because
• 59:51
  every fighter has to find a way to
• 59:53
  differentiate themselves to stand out.
• 59:54
  And you can do that, of course, by your
• 59:56
  by your performances in the cage. You
• 59:58
  have to look good. Uh but as you see in
• 1:00:00
  the UFC, there's hundreds of fighters in
• 1:00:02
  the UFC. There's hundreds of fighters
• 1:00:03
  who are in the UFC and out of the UFC
• 1:00:05
  and some of them I don't even know their
• 1:00:06
  names anymore. Like they come and go, I
• 1:00:08
  don't even know who they are. So if you
• 1:00:10
  have something to identify yourself to
• 1:00:11
  the fans they can latch on to, that's
• 1:00:13
  probably probably a good thing.
• 1:00:15
  >> Yeah. And that's and that's what I like
• 1:00:17
  to bring um to anything. I don't how do
• 1:00:20
  you say it? I don't just want to go in
• 1:00:22
  there and fight and get put a put a put
• 1:00:24
  a good show just in the fight. I want to
• 1:00:26
  have a show on the on the buildup, on
• 1:00:27
  the marketing, on the on the after
• 1:00:29
  effect, on everything. Like even I was
• 1:00:31
  after the fight I was wearing, you you
• 1:00:33
  know Craven the Hunter.
• 1:00:34
  >> Yeah, of course.
• 1:00:36
  >> I was going to say, yeah, uh I have uh
• 1:00:38
  the jacket now for it. It's a leather
• 1:00:40
  jacket with all the fur and stuff. So
• 1:00:42
  now that's after a fight. I walk around
• 1:00:43
  take photos with people. So it's
• 1:00:46
  >> I I want to be an it's we're
• 1:00:48
  entertainers. We really are as MMA
• 1:00:50
  fighters and MMA's become more of an
• 1:00:52
  entertaining sport than even boxing has
• 1:00:54
  these days. Like guys have a stickick
• 1:00:56
  when they walk out of their cage. Yeah,
• 1:00:58
  Tyson Fury gets carried out by a a
• 1:01:00
  freaking crowned and king and king of
• 1:01:02
  gypsies, but he's really the only one
• 1:01:04
  that anyone can reference.
• 1:01:06
  >> Yeah.
• 1:01:06
  >> I want to start being referenced even
• 1:01:08
  before I have the title. I want people
• 1:01:09
  to be like, "Oh, the lion's coming for
• 1:01:11
  that belt."
• 1:01:12
  >> So that's what I want.
• 1:01:13
  >> You don't see too many pe too many
• 1:01:14
  fighters going that route. I have a
• 1:01:17
  friend of mine named Tristan Johnson. He
• 1:01:18
  used to fight in the Maritimes at
• 1:01:19
  Extreme Cage Combat at least one time. I
• 1:01:22
  know he came out like Hannibal Lecter.
• 1:01:24
  He was put on a uh he had a an orange
• 1:01:26
  jumpsuit. He had a straight jacket on
• 1:01:28
  and a face mask to cover his mouth
• 1:01:30
  because Hannibal was a cannibal.
• 1:01:31
  >> And then they put him on a on a dolly
• 1:01:33
  and they lifted up and they wheeled him
• 1:01:34
  out to the cage and it was incredible.
• 1:01:35
  The fans went wild.
• 1:01:37
  >> That's awesome. Yeah, that's that's uh I
• 1:01:40
  I love to see it. The more umh that that
• 1:01:43
  that kid that came out, that 17-year-old
• 1:01:46
  that fought that just made his debut at
• 1:01:47
  the Unified, he was
• 1:01:49
  >> Yeah, him. He was well came out there
• 1:01:52
  and he showed off his skills and he
• 1:01:54
  looked good. His little the little gun
• 1:01:55
  things. I was like, "Yeah, K." I was
• 1:01:57
  like, "Kill it, kid. Keep doing it." I
• 1:01:59
  was like, "Keep doing that."
• 1:02:00
  >> Yeah, that's awesome. All right, Leo,
• 1:02:03
  this has been a a really good chat. It
• 1:02:04
  was really nice to talk to you in person
• 1:02:06
  for for the first time. I'd like to know
• 1:02:08
  though, is there anything that you think
• 1:02:09
  I should have asked you that I didn't
• 1:02:10
  ask?
• 1:02:11
  Uh,
• 1:02:13
  other than what my next plan is is that
• 1:02:15
  I want the belt, but we have to wait
• 1:02:17
  until till they're done fighting to call
• 1:02:19
  one of them out for the belt, but other
• 1:02:20
  than that, I don't think so.
• 1:02:24
  >> Is that what you want? You want to you
• 1:02:25
  want to fight for the belt next?
• 1:02:26
  >> I want to get I want to get the belt. I
• 1:02:28
  want to get a title off the shot at this
• 1:02:29
  year or a bigger show title like another
• 1:02:31
  like maybe the Contender Series or
• 1:02:33
  something. But I want
• 1:02:36
  >> I want that big that big ticket, that
• 1:02:38
  belt, that big ticket to go down to
• 1:02:40
  Vegas to fight anything like that. I
• 1:02:41
  want that and I'm willing to fight
• 1:02:42
  whoever I need to to have that happen.
• 1:02:45
  >> Well, you're looking great so far. It
• 1:02:47
  looks like you've got a lot of
• 1:02:48
  potential. So, I'm excited to see where
• 1:02:49
  you're going to go. I'm just going to
• 1:02:50
  wish you best of luck. Keep on training
• 1:02:52
  hard. Uh and I'll be watching your
• 1:02:54
  fights.
• 1:02:56
  >> Appreciate it. Okay, there you go fight
• 1:02:58
  friends. Leo Bonan just victorious this
• 1:03:00
  past weekend at Unified MMA 68. Make
• 1:03:02
  sure you watch him in the future.
• 1:03:06
  >> Hey fight friends, we are joined today
• 1:03:08
  by John Moore, a 6 and1 professional
• 1:03:10
  mixed martial artist out of Calgary who
• 1:03:12
  is fighting at LFA230 this Friday night
• 1:03:15
  in Shaunie, Oklahoma, I think it is.
• 1:03:17
  John, how you doing?
• 1:03:18
  >> Yeah, I'm doing good. How are you doing?
• 1:03:20
  >> Doing fantastic. I'm really happy I get
• 1:03:22
  a chance to speak with you. You're one
• 1:03:23
  of those guys who uh you're not part of
• 1:03:25
  a big fight team that I'm familiar with
• 1:03:27
  and uh you know, you're just a guy I
• 1:03:29
  haven't ever really spent much time
• 1:03:31
  seeing. I mean, you're kind of quiet. Is
• 1:03:33
  that like a a normal part of your life?
• 1:03:38
  >> Uh yeah, I'm not a super
• 1:03:41
  uh out there kind of guy, but uh the
• 1:03:43
  fight team I'm from is we're kind of
• 1:03:46
  we're growing. We're I mean, my coach is
• 1:03:48
  Jake Peacock. He's in one championship.
• 1:03:52
  um very well known in the Muay Thai
• 1:03:56
  world um for popular and we've got a
• 1:03:59
  honestly our our team is maybe just a
• 1:04:03
  little unknown but we're growing in
• 1:04:05
  massive sizes. We've got quite a few
• 1:04:08
  pros now and I know probably some that
• 1:04:10
  you know you know we got like John Newan
• 1:04:12
  and
• 1:04:12
  >> uh Tim Smith uh Atma brothers and uh got
• 1:04:18
  a and tons of amateurs as well.
• 1:04:21
  What's the name of your team?
• 1:04:23
  >> Uh, Dunamis.
• 1:04:25
  >> Yeah, I was just uh looking through
• 1:04:27
  Instagram a couple minutes before we
• 1:04:28
  chatted and I I saw Dunamis and I was
• 1:04:30
  It's quite honestly I'm I'm not familiar
• 1:04:33
  with them whatsoever. So, I'm glad
• 1:04:35
  you're Yeah, I'm glad you're introducing
• 1:04:36
  me to them. This is really cool.
• 1:04:38
  >> Yeah. No, it's definitely We're a
• 1:04:40
  >> We're a gym to watch out for for sure.
• 1:04:42
  We've got
• 1:04:44
  >> um
• 1:04:45
  tons of pros. We have tons of uh Muay
• 1:04:48
  Thai pros. you have uh multiple belts
• 1:04:51
  and multiple divisions, people ranked in
• 1:04:54
  the top 15 on the world stage in Muay
• 1:04:57
  Thai and high level MMA and so
• 1:05:00
  definitely a gym to watch out for.
• 1:05:02
  >> Well, I'm aware of you now and I'll be
• 1:05:04
  making sure that my eyes are wide open
• 1:05:06
  for all of you guys. I know the Atma
• 1:05:07
  brothers, I know, of course, Tim Smith,
• 1:05:09
  John Newan. Yeah, all good fighters. All
• 1:05:11
  really good fighters. So, that's
• 1:05:12
  exciting.
• 1:05:14
  >> Uh let's take a second now. I maybe I
• 1:05:15
  should have started off with this, but
• 1:05:17
  just take maybe 30 seconds and just talk
• 1:05:19
  about yourself. Who are you? Where
• 1:05:20
  you're from, and how you got involved in
• 1:05:22
  combat sports.
• 1:05:24
  >> Yeah. Well, uh, John Moore, I'm from
• 1:05:27
  Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Uh, born and
• 1:05:31
  raised here. I I did traditional martial
• 1:05:34
  arts when I was a kid. Um, have keto,
• 1:05:37
  some grappling,
• 1:05:39
  uh, stuff like that. it was uh it was
• 1:05:41
  good to get me in get me in shape and
• 1:05:43
  kind of introduced me to that and then I
• 1:05:46
  you know started watching MMA when I was
• 1:05:48
  a teenager and then I started doing
• 1:05:51
  Brazilian jiu-jitsu
• 1:05:53
  and then after I kind of started there I
• 1:05:55
  was there for a few months I think I was
• 1:05:57
  like a two-stripe white belt at the time
• 1:05:58
  and I was like I I want to have an MMA
• 1:06:01
  fight and then like a couple days couple
• 1:06:05
  days later uh Lee mean from Rumble in
• 1:06:08
  the Cage
• 1:06:09
  >> was like hey someone want to fight in a
• 1:06:11
  week and a half. Um, so then I had my
• 1:06:14
  that was my amateur debut. Um, doing a
• 1:06:17
  little bit of jiu-jitsu and some
• 1:06:18
  traditional martial arts and I actually
• 1:06:21
  had uh I had my first four amateur
• 1:06:24
  fights only doing jiu-jitsu and going to
• 1:06:28
  a boxing gym. And then I I fought
• 1:06:30
  someone
• 1:06:32
  and his coach and you've probably you've
• 1:06:35
  probably heard of him, Brad Cardinal,
• 1:06:37
  >> of course. Um, so I fought one of his
• 1:06:39
  guys. Yeah, I fought one of his guys.
• 1:06:41
  And then after the fight, I went up to
• 1:06:44
  Brad and I was like, "Hey, can I uh can
• 1:06:46
  I come train with you guys?" And I
• 1:06:48
  showed up the next week and I was there
• 1:06:49
  for uh several years. And then he ended
• 1:06:53
  up closing up shop and moving on to
• 1:06:56
  other things. And then I started
• 1:06:57
  training uh at Dunamis. And then I go to
• 1:07:00
  uh a couple other gyms. I go to uh it's
• 1:07:02
  called Dojo 9 now, a jiu-jitsu gym. and
• 1:07:04
  I also go to uh Rocky Mountain
• 1:07:06
  Jiu-Jitsu.
• 1:07:08
  Um, so yeah, it's a it's been a an
• 1:07:11
  adventure.
• 1:07:13
  >> How did you find Dynamis as a gym and
• 1:07:15
  how did you pick them?
• 1:07:17
  Uh, I knew they were just around. Like I
• 1:07:21
  kn I knew a couple people from when I
• 1:07:23
  was a kid that were there and I knew um
• 1:07:26
  I knew of uh the coach Jake like seen
• 1:07:29
  him around, seen him on Instagram and
• 1:07:31
  some of the other gyms at the time in
• 1:07:34
  the city. I wasn't particularly
• 1:07:37
  interested in
• 1:07:39
  in going there. I just kind of heard
• 1:07:41
  some maybe negative things um and I was
• 1:07:44
  like, well, I really want to improve my
• 1:07:45
  striking. So, we're better than a a gym
• 1:07:49
  with a world class striking coach.
• 1:07:52
  >> Um, so yeah, I just I uh showed up there
• 1:07:54
  and they had a at the time it was the
• 1:07:57
  MMA program there was probably, you
• 1:07:59
  know, four four or five guys.
• 1:08:03
  Um, and then just kind of all like
• 1:08:05
  training at, you know, jiu-jitsu and
• 1:08:07
  doing Muay Thai there and just kind of
• 1:08:09
  building off each other. Uh, so I knew
• 1:08:12
  that there was a good base there. And
• 1:08:14
  then I had a few other people
• 1:08:16
  um that were training with me at Brad's
• 1:08:19
  like Tim Smith was we were both training
• 1:08:21
  there and then he was like I'm going to
• 1:08:23
  go here and I was like well I'm going to
• 1:08:25
  go here too and just kind of keep things
• 1:08:27
  together and it's nice to move if you're
• 1:08:29
  going to move a gym it's nice to move a
• 1:08:30
  gym with people that you know and so
• 1:08:33
  >> yeah of course the people that you can
• 1:08:35
  trust because when you're when you're
• 1:08:36
  training to fight it's very important to
• 1:08:38
  have people on your same same page
• 1:08:40
  because you want to have people that
• 1:08:41
  push you
• 1:08:42
  >> but you also want to have people that
• 1:08:43
  care for you and look out for you so
• 1:08:44
  that when you're training Yeah,
• 1:08:45
  >> they're not going to hurt you.
• 1:08:47
  >> Absolutely. That's the That's one of the
• 1:08:48
  biggest things I see with so many people
• 1:08:51
  is like if training at 110%
• 1:08:55
  makes you 10% better, I'd rather train
• 1:08:58
  at, you know, 90% be a little bit worse
• 1:09:00
  and be able to train all the time, not
• 1:09:03
  be constantly worried about injuries.
• 1:09:05
  And if you can't fight, what's the
• 1:09:08
  point? You know, if you're getting
• 1:09:09
  injured, so you can't train, you can't
• 1:09:11
  fight. This is all pointless. like we're
• 1:09:13
  trying to make a career out of this and
• 1:09:15
  there's so many people out there that
• 1:09:17
  are willing to risk it all to secure a
• 1:09:21
  takedown or something and it just you
• 1:09:22
  got to avoid people like that.
• 1:09:25
  >> You're uh you're from Calgary. Is your
• 1:09:27
  family there as well? Do you have
• 1:09:28
  parents siblings?
• 1:09:29
  >> Yeah. Yeah, parents here. Uh I've got
• 1:09:31
  some siblings in Manitoba and Edmonton,
• 1:09:34
  but for the most part we're all in all
• 1:09:36
  still in Calgary.
• 1:09:37
  >> What's their overall thought process
• 1:09:39
  about you being a fighter? Uh, I think
• 1:09:43
  the people have gotten used to it. Um, I
• 1:09:46
  think my parents have gotten used to it
• 1:09:47
  for the most part. They uh they don't
• 1:09:49
  tell me to stop all the time anymore.
• 1:09:51
  So,
• 1:09:53
  >> yeah. How old are you right now, John?
• 1:09:55
  >> 27.
• 1:09:56
  >> Nice. And your career is a little bit
• 1:09:58
  more unusual than maybe some other
• 1:10:00
  fighters. You started off, you had a
• 1:10:02
  really good amateur career, like you
• 1:10:03
  said, with Rumble in the Cage, which by
• 1:10:05
  the way is Canada's oldest mixed martial
• 1:10:07
  arts approach, and it's been around
• 1:10:08
  longer than anybody else. And then you
• 1:10:10
  uh you know you're six and one as a
• 1:10:12
  professional as I said you had some
• 1:10:13
  fights in Canada you fought at at FLA
• 1:10:16
  and a couple others but then your past
• 1:10:17
  three fights you fought at Throne MMA
• 1:10:19
  you fought at Tough Enough I think it
• 1:10:21
  was and also your last fight was at LFA
• 1:10:23
  and your next fight's at LFA which is a
• 1:10:25
  big organization.
• 1:10:26
  >> How is it that you made the leap from a
• 1:10:28
  national Canadian fighter to an
• 1:10:30
  international fighter so quickly in your
• 1:10:31
  career?
• 1:10:33
  Uh well, I had after my first three
• 1:10:35
  fights in Canada,
• 1:10:37
  uh I had some fights that were going to
• 1:10:40
  happen. I had some injuries. I had to
• 1:10:42
  pull out a one. Um and then I had an
• 1:10:45
  opportunity, one of my coaches was just,
• 1:10:48
  you know, sending like everyone's name
• 1:10:50
  in the gym out to promoters over Canada
• 1:10:52
  and the US. And I had a an opportunity,
• 1:10:55
  the fight for throne was for a title. It
• 1:10:57
  was up a weight class and was like, "Oh,
• 1:10:59
  that sounds great." like you know the
• 1:11:01
  having a belt even you know a lowlevel
• 1:11:03
  regional belt is still a belt and
• 1:11:06
  >> so I was like oh that'll be great fight
• 1:11:08
  there and then I had that fight and then
• 1:11:11
  after that I
• 1:11:13
  I signed with my management company that
• 1:11:16
  I'm with now it's a all fight management
• 1:11:18
  >> and they had some connections with tough
• 1:11:20
  enough
• 1:11:22
  um or actually no I after my fourth
• 1:11:24
  fight then I had one more with throne
• 1:11:28
  um that was actually uh So that was my
• 1:11:30
  fifth professional fight. It was one of
• 1:11:32
  the hardest fights just to get to a day
• 1:11:35
  before weigh-ins.
• 1:11:37
  I got a fever and I got a really bad eye
• 1:11:41
  infection.
• 1:11:43
  >> So I'm at a fight day in the back room
• 1:11:46
  and stuff. I'm like shaking with chills
• 1:11:49
  trying to warm up. And I got there and
• 1:11:51
  thankfully I got a I got a first round
• 1:11:53
  finish, but it was uh mentally very
• 1:11:56
  difficult to get myself into the fight
• 1:11:59
  and get there, but I got to win. And
• 1:12:02
  then after that fight, I signed with my
• 1:12:04
  management company and they had some
• 1:12:05
  some bigger connections with Tough
• 1:12:07
  Enough and LFA. So that's how I ended up
• 1:12:11
  there.
• 1:12:12
  >> Yeah, that's awesome. LFA, of course, at
• 1:12:14
  Legacy Fighting Alliance, they've got a
• 1:12:15
  really a large viewership. They're on
• 1:12:17
  UFC Fight Pass. Where did they just
• 1:12:19
  leave UFC Fight Pass? I think maybe they
• 1:12:21
  >> I think they just left it. I think
• 1:12:22
  >> Yeah. Yeah.
• 1:12:23
  >> If you're in the US, it's on Vice and
• 1:12:26
  everywhere else is YouTube, I believe.
• 1:12:28
  >> Mhm. Regardless, they've got a long
• 1:12:30
  history of promoting their fighters to
• 1:12:32
  the UFC. They sent literally hundreds of
• 1:12:34
  their fighters to the UFC. So, it's
• 1:12:36
  probably not a bad spot for you to be,
• 1:12:37
  is it?
• 1:12:38
  >> Yeah, definitely. I think it's uh it's a
• 1:12:41
  great promotion for that. as you say, I
• 1:12:42
  do have, you know, every single time
• 1:12:44
  there's a UFC card, you'll see LFA
• 1:12:46
  posting about their alumni that are on
• 1:12:48
  the card. And so, yes, it's definitely
• 1:12:50
  uh one of the big UFC feeders for sure.
• 1:12:53
  >> Okay. Just going to take a second and
• 1:12:55
  scroll my eyeballs over to your fight
• 1:12:57
  page. Well, your fight page on my
• 1:12:59
  website, MMA, and you're fighting a guy
• 1:13:01
  named David Wright this weekend. What do
• 1:13:03
  you know about David Wright? And and how
• 1:13:05
  do you see yourself taking him out?
• 1:13:07
  >> Well, he's a
• 1:13:09
  southpaw. He's big guy. seems like he's
• 1:13:12
  explosive.
• 1:13:13
  Um, wrestling background, I believe, and
• 1:13:16
  he's got good uh good jiu-jitsu. Comes
• 1:13:18
  from a good jiu-jitsu gym. I believe
• 1:13:20
  it's uh Hafa Lovato Jr. is his coach.
• 1:13:24
  So, good grappling overall and seems
• 1:13:27
  like he's got power in his hands. So,
• 1:13:30
  you know, watching out for watching out
• 1:13:32
  for that. But I think it's a very
• 1:13:34
  winnable fight with uh you know
• 1:13:36
  implementing movement and
• 1:13:40
  uh I don't want to don't want to say too
• 1:13:41
  much but you know moving and just
• 1:13:43
  wearing him out working uh working on
• 1:13:48
  seems like he uh wears out during the
• 1:13:50
  fight.
• 1:13:51
  >> Okay.
• 1:13:51
  >> And so just you know finding my finding
• 1:13:54
  my moment to pick the shot and hopefully
• 1:13:56
  get a maybe a first late first or second
• 1:13:59
  round uh finish on them.
• 1:14:02
  Do you prefer I finish by submission or
• 1:14:04
  or knockout?
• 1:14:05
  >> Uh it'd be kind of fun to have a
• 1:14:07
  submission. I uh my background is
• 1:14:09
  actually grappling, but all my fights
• 1:14:11
  have mostly been standup. Um so that'd
• 1:14:15
  be fun to fun to get a submission, but
• 1:14:17
  it really
• 1:14:18
  >> Yeah.
• 1:14:19
  >> finishes the finish.
• 1:14:20
  >> Yeah. You mentioned that earlier on as
• 1:14:22
  well that you are really grappling heavy
• 1:14:24
  at the start. Now that you've spended a
• 1:14:25
  lot more time training and preparing,
• 1:14:27
  how how do you evaluate yourself as a
• 1:14:29
  fighter now? What's your skill set like?
• 1:14:30
  What are you good at? What are you still
• 1:14:32
  working on? What uh is something that
• 1:14:34
  you know you think is your major
• 1:14:36
  strength?
• 1:14:37
  >> Uh yeah, I think I think overall I'm
• 1:14:40
  quite wellrounded. I think I've shown
• 1:14:41
  that in my fights. I you know, I've got
• 1:14:44
  several ground and pound TKO finishes
• 1:14:48
  and I've knocked people out on the feet.
• 1:14:51
  Um, you know, I've demonstrated some
• 1:14:55
  I think pretty technical striking
• 1:14:57
  overall. And so I think
• 1:15:01
  a big strength of mine is
• 1:15:04
  game planning. Honestly, I I I feel like
• 1:15:06
  me and my team, we game plan really
• 1:15:08
  well. And like most of my fights kind of
• 1:15:11
  go exactly how we plan, you know, like,
• 1:15:13
  oh, we're going to do this and this and
• 1:15:14
  this and, you know, just watch out for
• 1:15:16
  that and when he does this, do this. So,
• 1:15:18
  I've I've found that that's a that's
• 1:15:20
  definitely a big strength of mine. Um,
• 1:15:24
  yeah.
• 1:15:25
  >> Who's going to be going with you down to
• 1:15:27
  the States? Your coach Jake. Anybody
• 1:15:28
  else?
• 1:15:29
  >> Uh, he's not actually going to be coming
• 1:15:32
  down to me. I'm going to have my my one
• 1:15:33
  coach uh Shane Ball and then another uh
• 1:15:37
  jiu-jitsu coach from the gym, Alex
• 1:15:39
  Marquette. You probably probably heard
• 1:15:42
  of him.
• 1:15:42
  >> Yeah, of course. I didn't know it was
• 1:15:44
  pronounced Marquette. I always thought
• 1:15:45
  it was market, but now you let you know.
• 1:15:47
  Um, no, you're you're right. You're
• 1:15:48
  right. You totally used market. I uh I
• 1:15:51
  always hear it so many different ways
• 1:15:52
  and I can never never keep it straight.
• 1:15:55
  >> I just didn't know. So, yeah, I'll take
• 1:15:57
  your word for it. Okay, I'm right. Yay.
• 1:15:59
  All right. Cool. All right. So, assuming
• 1:16:01
  everything goes great this weekend,
• 1:16:02
  you're uh you wake up on Saturday
• 1:16:04
  morning. You look reflect on the night
• 1:16:06
  before. Maybe you're still awake and you
• 1:16:08
  think about your victory where your arm
• 1:16:09
  was raised. What did that fight look
• 1:16:11
  like to you? What's a perfect fight for
• 1:16:12
  John Moore?
• 1:16:14
  just going out there controlling the
• 1:16:16
  range.
• 1:16:18
  Uh
• 1:16:19
  being uh being elusive, being evasive.
• 1:16:22
  In my last fight, made some mistakes on
• 1:16:26
  uh kind of range control and distance
• 1:16:28
  management and things that I've in my
• 1:16:31
  previous fights been really good at, but
• 1:16:33
  you know, sometimes you just go out
• 1:16:35
  there and you do something stupid. So, I
• 1:16:38
  think uh the perfect fight will be
• 1:16:41
  being evasive, picking my picking the
• 1:16:44
  shots, not just getting into a brawl,
• 1:16:46
  just having a precise technical
• 1:16:49
  breakdown of them.
• 1:16:51
  >> Yeah, sounds fair enough to me. As long
• 1:16:53
  as you get your arm raised anyway.
• 1:16:54
  >> Yeah.
• 1:16:56
  >> Okay, John, last question. Is there
• 1:16:58
  anything that you think we should have
• 1:16:59
  talked about that I didn't mention?
• 1:17:01
  Cool.
• 1:17:03
  Uh
• 1:17:08
  Well, I guess uh
• 1:17:11
  yeah, I think we covered everything
• 1:17:13
  pretty well.
• 1:17:14
  >> Okay. All right. Well, I'm sure we'll
• 1:17:15
  get a chance to speak at some point
• 1:17:17
  again in the future because it looks
• 1:17:18
  like your future's bright. Uh so, I just
• 1:17:20
  wanted to say uh thank you. I appreciate
• 1:17:22
  your time. Is it Would you like to thank
• 1:17:24
  anybody? Family, friends, sponsors?
• 1:17:26
  >> Yeah, I thank my uh my family, my wife.
• 1:17:29
  Very supportive. Uh thanks my my
• 1:17:30
  sponsors I have right now. uh frontline
• 1:17:33
  parallegal and dynamic YC
• 1:17:36
  any sponsors I've ever had. It's such a
• 1:17:38
  such a massive blessing to uh go into a
• 1:17:41
  fight even with just a little bit of
• 1:17:43
  extra help covering expenses and stuff.
• 1:17:45
  So yeah, big thanks to them.
• 1:17:47
  >> Oh, it's huge for sure. So that's that's
• 1:17:49
  pretty awesome.
• 1:17:51
  >> Okay, John, that's it. Thank you so much
• 1:17:53
  again. And there you go, fight friends.
• 1:17:54
  John Moore fighting at Legacy Fighting
• 1:17:56
  Alliance 230 in Shaunie, Oklahoma this
• 1:17:59
  Friday night. Make sure you watch it.
• 1:18:01
  Ian Stoby, welcome to the MMA show. It's
• 1:18:04
  great to see you again and I want to
• 1:18:05
  give you a big congratulations on an
• 1:18:06
  excellent win at Samurai MMA 18 last
• 1:18:09
  weekend.
• 1:18:10
  >> Ah, thanks Andy. Feels good.
• 1:18:13
  >> You're 3 and0 as a professional and your
• 1:18:15
  last fight uh as I just mentioned was at
• 1:18:17
  Samurai 18. It was a it was I I don't
• 1:18:20
  like overexaggerating too much, but I
• 1:18:23
  think it's safe to say that it was a
• 1:18:24
  domination on your part in that fight.
• 1:18:25
  How did you feel about that fight
• 1:18:26
  afterwards about your performance?
• 1:18:29
  >> Yeah, I felt really good. Uh, I always
• 1:18:32
  like to I was talking to Richard
• 1:18:34
  afterward. I was always kind of want to
• 1:18:36
  show more in my fights, you know, but
• 1:18:39
  >> it like I take the easiest path to
• 1:18:41
  victory, you know. I took him down and
• 1:18:42
  then just he didn't really give me much
• 1:18:45
  resistance and just kind of smashed him
• 1:18:47
  there.
• 1:18:49
  >> Just what you said right there, it
• 1:18:50
  actually it's prompted me to ask you a
• 1:18:52
  question now that I was intending to ask
• 1:18:53
  later on. And this is a question I ask a
• 1:18:55
  lot of fighters because it interests me.
• 1:18:57
  Based on what you just said, I think I
• 1:18:59
  know the answer. Would you rather have a
• 1:19:02
  fight, perform excellently in it, and
• 1:19:05
  win in impressive fashion by either
• 1:19:08
  submission or TKO or submission or KO in
• 1:19:11
  the first 10 seconds of the fight or in
• 1:19:12
  the last 10 seconds of the fight?
• 1:19:15
  >> Probably first 10 seconds. I mean, uh,
• 1:19:18
  10 last 10 seconds would feel maybe a
• 1:19:20
  little bit more fulfilling, but I mean,
• 1:19:22
  if I can get in a fight or get out of a
• 1:19:24
  fight and not injured, I feel like
• 1:19:26
  that's that's best case scenario. You
• 1:19:28
  know, I'm healthy. Okay.
• 1:19:30
  Yeah, that's right. Good answer. Good
• 1:19:32
  answer. Okay, Ian, before we get too far
• 1:19:33
  into this, would you mind just taking 60
• 1:19:35
  seconds and just introducing yourself to
• 1:19:37
  the fans here who might not know who you
• 1:19:39
  are yet, but they uh they will in the
• 1:19:40
  soon in the future?
• 1:19:42
  >> Yeah, for sure. So, I'm Ian Stoie. If
• 1:19:45
  you don't know my name, I'm 3 and 0 as a
• 1:19:48
  pro now. Uh I'm 23 years old, living and
• 1:19:52
  training out of Montreal under Richard
• 1:19:54
  Hoe at H2O MMA.
• 1:19:56
  And uh yeah, that's my uh that's my
• 1:20:01
  introduction.
• 1:20:02
  >> There you go. So 3 and 0 and you clearly
• 1:20:04
  didn't take any damage. Uh well, not
• 1:20:06
  that I saw anyway in the last fight. So
• 1:20:08
  you're probably already back to training
• 1:20:10
  already if I know no guys of your type.
• 1:20:12
  You're probably maybe not training
• 1:20:13
  hardcore yet, but you're back in the gym
• 1:20:15
  and and you're getting ready for
• 1:20:17
  whatever's next. What does your future
• 1:20:18
  career look like to you? How do you want
• 1:20:20
  it to go?
• 1:20:21
  H my future career. I mean, I'm with
• 1:20:23
  Samurai right now and uh I think I'll
• 1:20:26
  stay with them for the next maybe year,
• 1:20:29
  two years. We'll see how it goes. I
• 1:20:30
  mean,
• 1:20:31
  >> I'm going to be fighting in June back
• 1:20:34
  home in Grand Prairie. My uncle Bill
• 1:20:36
  Mood's putting on a professional and
• 1:20:38
  amateur show this June, so I'll fight on
• 1:20:41
  that show. I think I'm going to main
• 1:20:42
  event that.
• 1:20:43
  >> I didn't know Bill Mood was your uncle.
• 1:20:45
  Holy moly, that's impressive.
• 1:20:47
  >> Yeah, you didn't know that.
• 1:20:48
  >> I didn't know he was your uncle. Yeah,
• 1:20:49
  he's Canadian royalty man.
• 1:20:51
  >> Yeah. Yeah. No, so I'm really lucky to
• 1:20:54
  have him. And I I feel like most people
• 1:20:56
  don't know that. Yeah.
• 1:20:58
  >> Yeah. And I cut you off. You said you
• 1:20:59
  you might headline that card.
• 1:21:01
  >> Yeah. Well, I'm going to headline that
• 1:21:02
  card.
• 1:21:03
  >> So, it's just a matter of matchmaking
• 1:21:05
  and uh finding an opponent for me.
• 1:21:09
  >> That's incredible. That's like probably
• 1:21:11
  the first time I've been caught by
• 1:21:12
  surprise in quite a while about
• 1:21:13
  something like this. No, I've known Bill
• 1:21:14
  for years. He for fans who who don't
• 1:21:16
  know, Bill was uh like a couple
• 1:21:18
  generations ago when he came up with
• 1:21:20
  Dennis Kang and Jason the athlete
• 1:21:22
  McDonald all in Alberta, British
• 1:21:23
  Columbia, that area and they were really
• 1:21:25
  pioneers in Canadian mixed martial arts.
• 1:21:27
  So when you were growing up, was he a
• 1:21:29
  big part of your life? Is that what
• 1:21:30
  brought you?
• 1:21:31
  >> I mean, Bill Bill is probably the reason
• 1:21:34
  I am where I am today. you know, without
• 1:21:36
  him, he was always pushing me, you know,
• 1:21:39
  cuz I started with Taekwond do and then
• 1:21:41
  uh when I was 11 or 12, my uncle or
• 1:21:44
  Bill, he moved to my town, started
• 1:21:46
  teaching MMA and then I would go in and
• 1:21:49
  get beat up by all the 30 35 year olds
• 1:21:53
  and me, I'm like 11, 12 year old, you
• 1:21:56
  know, so I kind of grew up underneath
• 1:21:58
  him and then uh yeah, the rest is
• 1:22:00
  history.
• 1:22:01
  >> That's Oh, I'm so happy for you. That's
• 1:22:03
  that's incredible. That's fantastic.
• 1:22:04
  Thanks for sharing that. Yeah.
• 1:22:06
  >> Okay. Uh, you also mentioned a few
• 1:22:08
  minutes ago Richard Hoe, of course,
• 1:22:10
  Coach Richard Hoe from H2O MMA. I've met
• 1:22:12
  Richard a handful of times, a very
• 1:22:14
  quiet, unassuming man. And I've been
• 1:22:16
  told that in the in the training room,
• 1:22:18
  he's very similar, like he's he's
• 1:22:19
  patient. He's mostly calm and quiet, but
• 1:22:22
  that kind of energy that he shares, I'm
• 1:22:25
  guessing it probably gives you guys a
• 1:22:26
  lot of comfort in the gym when he's he's
• 1:22:28
  coaching.
• 1:22:29
  >> Yeah, for sure. I mean, he's his style
• 1:22:31
  of coaching I really like. um kind of
• 1:22:34
  laidback, but he also knows
• 1:22:38
  when to kind of push us and tell us what
• 1:22:40
  we need to work on, you know, without
• 1:22:42
  always whipping us, you know, so it's a
• 1:22:45
  nice balance. Richard's great.
• 1:22:47
  >> Yeah, for sure. Let's take a look at
• 1:22:50
  your your fight style. Um you've been
• 1:22:53
  training for quite a while now. Would
• 1:22:55
  you describe your fight style as as as
• 1:22:57
  grappling heavy or striking heavy or are
• 1:22:59
  you really well-rounded?
• 1:23:01
  Uh, I'm well-rounded, man. I think I'm I
• 1:23:05
  can grapple just as good as I can
• 1:23:06
  strike. I can wrestle just as good as my
• 1:23:08
  jiu-jitsu. Um,
• 1:23:12
  I like I like grappling, you know, and
• 1:23:13
  it seems like in every fight I'm
• 1:23:16
  finishing guys on the ground.
• 1:23:18
  >> And I think that's just because the
• 1:23:20
  level of the guys I'm fighting, their
• 1:23:21
  jiu-jitsu is not up to mine. And maybe
• 1:23:23
  they're better strikers. But we'll see.
• 1:23:26
  In the next couple fights, maybe I'm
• 1:23:28
  going to start finishing people on the
• 1:23:30
  feet. It's just the way things have been
• 1:23:32
  going.
• 1:23:33
  >> Mhm. You never know.
• 1:23:35
  >> Yeah.
• 1:23:36
  >> Take take us through a typical training
• 1:23:37
  week for you.
• 1:23:40
  Uh typical week, uh well, I'm pretty
• 1:23:43
  much training twice a day, Monday to
• 1:23:46
  Friday, and then uh Saturday I'll spar,
• 1:23:50
  and then Sunday, usually I'll do
• 1:23:52
  something light and either recovery or
• 1:23:55
  go for a run. Uh so yeah, pretty much
• 1:23:58
  two days throughout the week, and then
• 1:24:01
  uh weekends a little bit more chill.
• 1:24:04
  talk about your uh your environment at
• 1:24:07
  H2 MMA of I know of course a handful of
• 1:24:10
  your more well-known uh uh teammates. Uh
• 1:24:13
  Mike Duour, Fred Dupra, other fighters
• 1:24:15
  like that. Olivia Obi Merc was used to
• 1:24:17
  be there. Um talk about some of the
• 1:24:19
  other training partners you have and
• 1:24:20
  what it's like being in that training
• 1:24:21
  room.
• 1:24:22
  >> Yeah. No, it's awesome. Mikuel Dupor,
• 1:24:25
  he's great. He's a he's a beast. He's a
• 1:24:27
  lightweight and uh he never complains,
• 1:24:31
  you know. I'm like probably 30 30 pounds
• 1:24:33
  heavier than him. And you know, he's
• 1:24:34
  still freaking choking me out most
• 1:24:37
  sessions, you know. So Mick's great.
• 1:24:40
  Fred's great, too. He's a beast. We got
• 1:24:42
  a bunch of amateurs coming up, bigger
• 1:24:45
  guys that give me good rounds.
• 1:24:47
  And uh yeah, and then Richard's always
• 1:24:49
  there, too, kind of overseeing
• 1:24:50
  everything. So, we got a we got a good
• 1:24:52
  thing going on there.
• 1:24:54
  It must be a really cool feeling knowing
• 1:24:55
  that you're in in something with other
• 1:24:57
  people and you're all working together
• 1:24:59
  in unison to to build it up and grow it
• 1:25:01
  and just uh imagine where it's going to
• 1:25:03
  be in the future. It's it's got to be
• 1:25:04
  exciting.
• 1:25:05
  >> Yeah. No, it's it's really nice really
• 1:25:08
  nice to have be surrounded by other
• 1:25:09
  professionals, you know, like
• 1:25:12
  uh that's one of the things too back in
• 1:25:14
  Grand Fay, I mean, Bill and uh Luis
• 1:25:17
  Martinez, we had amazing coaches and I
• 1:25:20
  had some good training partners, Alex
• 1:25:21
  Martinez, but the problem is is that
• 1:25:24
  there's not a lot of fighters that are
• 1:25:26
  doing that as a career, you know,
• 1:25:28
  whereas here in Montreal, I'm surrounded
• 1:25:30
  by we're all like-minded. We all want to
• 1:25:32
  make it to the big show, you know. So,
• 1:25:34
  it's kind of motivating seeing guys like
• 1:25:36
  Mick put in the work and Fred and all
• 1:25:39
  these guys doing well in big shows. So,
• 1:25:41
  it kind of builds a path for me.
• 1:25:45
  >> Yeah, for sure. Okay, Ian. Uh, I don't
• 1:25:48
  think I have anything else to ask, but
• 1:25:50
  except my last question for you is uh if
• 1:25:53
  there's anything that you think we
• 1:25:54
  should have talked about that I didn't
• 1:25:55
  ask you.
• 1:25:58
  >> Anything? Nothing comes to mind. I mean,
• 1:26:00
  uh, what do you want to know? I can tell
• 1:26:02
  you anything. Oh, that's pretty much it
• 1:26:04
  for now. I think uh yeah, it's it's it's
• 1:26:07
  really interesting to see, you know,
• 1:26:08
  your progression so far because I I
• 1:26:10
  didn't actually get to watch you perform
• 1:26:12
  live as an amateur, but I you know, as
• 1:26:14
  as a professional, definitely you're
• 1:26:16
  you're you're looking really good, man.
• 1:26:17
  You look really sharp and you're one of
• 1:26:19
  those fighters where I, you know, you
• 1:26:20
  just get an idea. I don't know if you
• 1:26:21
  know this, anybody else has told you
• 1:26:23
  this, but when when I anyway look at
• 1:26:26
  fighters, I can sort of get a sense of
• 1:26:29
  their trajectory, how they're going to
• 1:26:30
  go, if they have potential or if they're
• 1:26:32
  just like somebody who's going to, you
• 1:26:33
  know, be a 50-50 fighter. Uh, I get the
• 1:26:36
  feeling like you're somebody who could
• 1:26:37
  go really far in the sport if you choose
• 1:26:38
  to.
• 1:26:40
  >> Yeah, man. That's the goal. Uh, I've
• 1:26:42
  been at this since I was 14, 15 with the
• 1:26:46
  goal to make it to the big show. So, I'm
• 1:26:49
  uh I'm all in on this.
• 1:26:52
  >> Okay, that's awesome. Well, I'm all in
• 1:26:54
  as a fan to get to watch you. It's
• 1:26:56
  pretty exciting. Uh before we go, is
• 1:26:57
  there any uh any final words? Anything
• 1:27:00
  you'd like to say? Anyone you'd like to
• 1:27:01
  thank?
• 1:27:02
  >> Uh I mean, I guess I'll give a big shout
• 1:27:04
  out to my team, Richard Hoe, all my
• 1:27:06
  training partners, and uh all my family
• 1:27:09
  friends back home for tuning in to the
• 1:27:11
  fights. Uh they're just going to get
• 1:27:13
  more and more exciting, so stay tuned.
• 1:27:16
  >> Awesome. Well, Ian, thanks again for
• 1:27:18
  your time. I appreciate it. And there
• 1:27:20
  you go, fight friends. Ian Stoby
• 1:27:21
  victorious in his third professional MMA
• 1:27:24
  fight at Samurai M18 last weekend.
• 1:27:27
  >> Awesome. Thanks, Andy.